Author Archives: Renate Valencia

Costco’s pasta salad with salmon

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Costco started selling a bow-tie pasta and salmon salad recently, and I gave it a try a couple of weeks ago.  I applaud them for finding a way to utilize what I assume to be unsold farmed salmon, but the recipe leaves much to be desired.

I can’t prove it, but it tastes (and looks) as if chunks of cooked salmon are combined with bow-tie pasta and containers of one of the bruschetta spreads or tapenades they sell.  The flavor is very harsh, in my opinion, due to the lack of any creamy element.  They either have to cut that heavy, olive-laden “dressing” with something gentle, or start from scratch.  Perhaps a modified Caesar might work.  If they don’t want creamy then they need to use some kind of vinaigrette.  Something.  Anything.

I also taste preservatives in there, but it’s hard to figure out what is going on because it hits you like gangbusters.  My taste memory brings me to the subtle rancidity of some canned antipasto I tried once as a child.

Costco Asian chicken wraps

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Costco’s new Asian chicken wraps

I try to maintain an awareness of new products at Costco, particularly their “take home and eat” items, partly because I like to see how creative they can be with their own leftovers.

In this case we have two huge spinach tortilla shells stuffed with the suspects one finds in a Chinese chicken salad.  Each is rolled, burrito-style, and cut in half to offer four portions.  A dipping sauce is provided in a cup on the side.

Inside the wrap you’ll find chunks of breast meat from their house-made rotisserie chickens, dry chow mein noodles and shredded fresh veggies, including cabbage and carrot.

The wrap itself is good – ample and fresh-tasting due to quality ingredients and a generous hand – but the dressing is too viscous for me.  I don’t know if there are gums present, or if they simply make a thick, vinaigrette-style, Chinese chicken salad dressing and use a stabilizer to keep it from separating.  There is something “off” in that dressing, too, but I may be getting unpleasant notes as a by-product of the texture, which I associate with  bad commercial salad dressing.

At $8.99, I don’t know that I’ll be buying them again, but if you don’t want to deal with the prep involved in making your own, I’d give ’em a try – but with a better dressing on standby.

Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland

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Matthew’s plate at The Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland

Matt and I thought we should have something decadent in honor of school starting this week.  Having gone through all the acting classes offered at Berkeley City College, he registered for one at Laney College, which put us near downtown Oakland as we eyeballed the location of the campus vis a vis the Lake Merritt BART station.

After getting our business taken care of, we decided to go to Home of Chicken and Waffles (444 Embarcadero West, Oakland), which is right across from Barnes & Noble near the main entrance to Jack London Square.  It’d certainly be hard to get more decadent than fried chicken, waffles and macaroni and cheese, plus we wanted to give this place one more shot after having had a mediocre meal with poor service a few years back.

When we walked in, we were greeted immediately and made comfortable while a table was prepared for us.  I noticed that the restaurant, which has a kind of retro-diner theme, added a bar with a nightclubby feel in a space to the right of the main dining area.  Nice.

Once seated in a comfy booth by the windows, we were introduced to our server, who handed us a menu with a huge selection of combo plates, whose names and representations were part of a colorful mural behind the counter.  Home of Chicken and Waffles bills itself as a Southern-style restaurant, and accordingly offers quite a variety of eats, including salads, a full range of breakfast foods, and a number of Southern sides, like greens and mac and cheese.

The problem I had (and I recall having it the last time) was finding a combo that had enough chicken and not too much else.  While you can order extra chicken a la carte, it is not really cost effective, given that combo prices are not really low to begin with.

I settled on a combo called “Kim’s Creation,” that came with a breast, wing, grits, two eggs and a biscuit for just under $11.  Matthew chose the “Princess Jordan,” for just under $12:  one breast, mac and cheese, greens and corn bread.  We also threw caution to the wind and got the fried chicken livers appetizer for $6.75.  What the heck, in for a penny.

My plate at The Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland

The entrees came first, the livers therafter, so we wound up eating everything together, which worked out fine, though they should be more careful about this.  It’s not like the place was jammed at that time of day, so an error like this always makes me wonder about busy times.  That said, the server was attentive and friendly, so that makes other things better for me.

There is no doubt that things are made to order here.  While the massive chicken breasts were a bit dry, they were not greasy and had good flavor.  My wing, however, was excellent, and I will make a point of ordering them exclusivly the next time.  The two eggs on my plate were cooked perfectly (over easy), so I had plenty of yolk action with the grits.

The mac and cheese was proclaimed “very good” by his nibs, and he should know, because it is the defining part of a Southern meal for him.  I prefer greens, which were standard here, and I did get some sandy grit in the forkfuls I nabbed off Matt’s plate.

While the cornbread was good, the biscuit was seriously top-notch – tender and tasty, with just enough density to satisfy.  I was sorry I traded it for greens, to be honest with you.

The highlight of the meal for me was the fried chicken livers.  A goodly amount arrived straight out of the fryer, and, joy of joys!, they were not overcooked, rather creamy inside and crispy outside, with just enough batter and seasoning to enhance and not overpower them.  If you eat this kind of thing once every five years, you want it done right.  I would have been crestfallen if they arrived like tennis balls.

One beverage issue I should mention here is that the sweet tea ($2.50 a pop) does not come with refills, like the regular iced tea and soda.  I don’t understand this.  Isn’t sweet tea just iced tea with lots of sugar?

Matthew at the home of chicken and waffles in oakland

I will certainly come back because our overall experience was much better this time around, though I’ll apply all we learned to my next order.

Chana masala without those super-pricy spice packets

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Chana masala

Chana masala

There is no reason you need to rely on those spice and spice paste packets enrobed in colorful little cardboard sleeves that have flooded the market in recent years when making Indian dishes.  These packets, produced by American companies mainly for American cooks, are often good for only one meal – and won’t even give you that, if you have a large family.  Most of the ones I have tried (and there are at least three companies that I know of) are perfectly fine in terms of results – no complaints there.  The problem is the price, which ranges from outrageous to high for what you are really getting.

If you don’t want to be bothered by mixing your own spices, or with making curry pastes, buy these items in Asian/Indian markets in quantity once you have the technique down.  There are blends produced and used in India but also packed for export, many of which have instructions in English, though asking the storekeeper for what you want is your best bet, since many shops sell spice mix in bulk.

One brand I like for chana masala is MDH, which is sold in boxes of 100 grams (3.5 ounces), which gives you enough for five batches (or three, for larger families).  Some regular supermarkets in the Bay Area carry this for about $3, which is handy.  It’s much cheaper in Indian groceries, though.  This stuff makes an excellent chana masala!

MDH spice blend for chana masala

If you want the recipe from the box, here it is:

MDH’s Chana Masala

“Soak 200g [a tad more than 7 ounces] chick peas overnight with extra water.  Strain.  In a large pan heat 50g cooking oil.  Fry 120g [1 3/4 ounces] chopped red onions till golden brown.  Add two chopped tomatoes (120g) [4 1/4 ounces]and stir.  Add 20g [a bit less than 3/4 ounce] chana masala, 1 tspn. salt, and chick peas.  Stir for 5 minutes then add 800ml [27 ounces] fresh water.  Mix [in] 1/2 tspn. baking soda.  Bring to boil & cover.  Simmer for 40 min on low heat.  Alternately pressure cook for 20 min. with 400ml [just under 14 ounces] water and 1/2 tspn. baking soda.  Read cooking instructions on chick peas pack also.”

My notes:
1)  The stovetop method may need way more cooking time than 40 minutes
2)  You must soak your own chick peas!  Do not do this with canned chick peas!
3)  Do not omit the baking soda because you think it’s odd!
4)  I have no idea what the last sentence means; I ignore it

Eisbein

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A panorama of Eisbein

Being no stranger to all edible parts of an animal and coming from German farm stock via my maternal grandmother, I like to make Eisbein (pork hocks) once every couple of years.

There are many recipes for this traditional German dish – called Schweinehaxe in Bavaria, BTW.  I’ve had them braised (which is how my family does it), roasted, and first boiled and then roasted.  If you roast them you’ll get a crispy skin, which yields a more visually-pleasing result, but I don’t care much about that.  I only care about what I want to have on that day – what kind of texture I crave.  Speaking of texture, Eisbein is not for everyone because you are dealing with lots of skin, fat and connective tissue.  Saturated fat content aside, if you never developed an affinity for these textures, then stay away.  If you are the kind of person who cuts every tiny piece of fat and gristle off a steak, stay away.  If your squeamishness is limited to wobbly skin, then find a good recipe that involves roasting.  On the flip-side, if you love Shanghai-style dishes that involve pork belly, you should like this dish, though it has a more limited flavor profile.  If you like oxtails, then no problem.

Family-style Eisbein

8 1-lb fresh pork hocks (these can come in sizes from small to humongous; clearly you’ll need to decide how many you need, but they make great leftovers, and I like to use a heavy-guage dutch oven, so I use enough hocks to prevent them from swimming in too much liquid )
1 gallon cold water (approximately – you need to cover the hocks to brine them)
3 T. kosher salt
1 t. black pepper
2 T. white vinegar
2 bay leaves
Water to cover

1)  Place the 1 gallon of water in a tall plastic container with 2 T. of the salt to create a brine; add hocks and cover
2)  Place in refrigerator and allow to brine overnight
3)  Drain hocks and place in dutch oven with remaining salt, pepper, vinegar and bay leaves
4)  Add water so that hocks are 4/5 covered
5)  Bring to boil and them simmer for about two hours – checking every now and then to see how they are doing, and to turn them over, if needed, without losing the skin, which may stick to the pot!  If you have 1-lb hocks, they should be done.  Pierce with a sharp knife; you’ll want them nice and tender but not mushy.  Large hocks will need to continue to simmer.
6)  Remove (carefully) with tongs and serve

Traditionally, this is served with boiled potatoes and sauerkraut*, but I had red cabbage on hand the day I made the ones in the photo, and this works well, too.

*Sauerkraut cannot be served right out of the can or jar!  If you want to make it the traditional way, then you need to rinse it well several times and cook it down with some peeled, grated potatoes.  Grate them right into the sauerkraut — you want the potato water, as well.  Use one average-sized potato for each quart of kraut and about a cup of water.  Cook it down until it’s a little gummy (which means the potatoes have cooked and released their starch).  Note that “real” sauerkraut is fermented using salt, and is the one German cooks still use.  Vinegar, used to quick-brine most commercially-produced sauerkraut in the US, results in an undesirable flavor and must be gotten rid of to the extent possible.

Final note:  If you wish to be frugal, mix unused cooking juices with a little white vinegar, pour into a plastic container over diced hock leftovers mixed with chopped pickles (you can even add some diced egg), via a cheese cloth-lined strainer, cool, cover and then place in fridge.  Next day, peel off the fat and you’ll have some nice headcheese.  This is why I don’t want an overabundance of cooking liquid, which would dilute the gelatin from the hocks.