From the management: I am now coming at you as Starchy Marie (no longer "Starchy")! Since it's always been my url, I'm guessing most of you already thought of me as Starchy Marie. I'm changing my blog name to make it a tad more personal.
I don't know that you all have anything to update with this NEWSFLASH, but as they say, please be advised!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Practice Makes Prettier (I Hope)
Taking good pictures of food is harder than you might think. I have a lot to learn, but I have recently acquired two reinforcements to help me photograph "better":
1. Photoshop Express: a free Photoshop service that probably does not come anywhere close to being a substitute for Photoshop, but is great for people like me (read: newbie to editing photos and without the funds to purchase Photoshop).
Yellow curry noodles at Nakkara: $8 lunch special! This photo was auto-corrected slightly with Photoshop Express; even though it was daytime, there wasn't a ton of light at my table.
2. Lowel EGO Light: Charles got me one of these lights for my birthday, which I'm very happy about! I need to play around and get better acquainted with how to best use this light, but I love it and the crisper looking photos it provides like the one below.
Spaghetti with mushrooms, garlic and pecorino: I was lazy that night and didn't use the reflector board, which would have given a brighter look on all sides (or so I would conjecture).
I leave you with a little round-up of bloggers whose photos have given me a dash of inspiration lately:
- udon & stilettos and her lovely posts about a recent trip to Napa. I've never been, but as her pictures prove, I should've gone ages ago!
- Gazing at Last Night's Dinner on any given day makes me wish I lived next door to this woman. Seriously.
- Each time I visit I'm Mad and I Eat, I wonder, why am I not eating that right this second? Mostly inspiring, but also (excuse the pun) maddening!
1. Photoshop Express: a free Photoshop service that probably does not come anywhere close to being a substitute for Photoshop, but is great for people like me (read: newbie to editing photos and without the funds to purchase Photoshop).
Yellow curry noodles at Nakkara: $8 lunch special! This photo was auto-corrected slightly with Photoshop Express; even though it was daytime, there wasn't a ton of light at my table.
2. Lowel EGO Light: Charles got me one of these lights for my birthday, which I'm very happy about! I need to play around and get better acquainted with how to best use this light, but I love it and the crisper looking photos it provides like the one below.
Spaghetti with mushrooms, garlic and pecorino: I was lazy that night and didn't use the reflector board, which would have given a brighter look on all sides (or so I would conjecture).
I leave you with a little round-up of bloggers whose photos have given me a dash of inspiration lately:
- udon & stilettos and her lovely posts about a recent trip to Napa. I've never been, but as her pictures prove, I should've gone ages ago!
- Gazing at Last Night's Dinner on any given day makes me wish I lived next door to this woman. Seriously.
- Each time I visit I'm Mad and I Eat, I wonder, why am I not eating that right this second? Mostly inspiring, but also (excuse the pun) maddening!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Spinach Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
My nutritional intake has been very questionable lately. Weeknights are especially dicey as I will almost never enter the fray that is the dinner-time-rush at the grocery store (I know I should be better about stocking up over the weekend, but let's not dwell on that right now). I have not been abiding by Ellie Krieger's "eat the colors of the rainbow" advice at all, which is probably why I found myself craving a spinach salad over the weekend.
I baked the bacon in the oven (anything to keep the smell of bacon out of my hair), boiled some eggs and whisked up a dressing with dijon, honey, salt, pepper and... bacon fat (you can pretend this part never happened for the sake of your opinion of me). I planned on using extra virgin olive oil, but got to thinking deviously when I saw the fat on the baking sheet.
This salad can be put together very quickly; it only took me about 20 min. from start to finish. Definitely going to be a keeper as the warmer months approach, but it's funny because I can count on one hand the number of spinach salads I eat in a year and I never order honey mustard dressing. Maybe 2009 is the year everything changes!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Hite Kwang Jang
I have been curious about Hite Kwang Jang for a long time; it's on Wilshire, one of Koreatown's major streets, and the word "Hite" always catches my eye. Now, I have no idea how the delicious Korean beer Hite is affiliated with this establishment, but I do know that I could put away a lot of pitchers here with the kind of no frills bar food they've got going on. Charles and I wrapped up the weekend with a Sunday night dinner amidst the kitschy decor (aside from the Korean alcohol ads, Hite Kwang Jang looks like a place that could serve Swedish meatballs and waffles; as in they have an inexplicable nutcracker statue).
Charles pours icy cool goodness into a glass mug, which I'm sure he would love to own. The beer was wonderfully cold!
One of Charles's favorite Korean dishes: dduk-bok-ghee (I hyphenate to facilitate). A spicy rice cake dish that is probably more snack or late night fare than an actual entree. HKJ's version is quite good and a healthy portion, to say the least.
Korean style (sort of) fried chicken aka tong-dak: see, I don't think of this dish as fried chicken straight up. More like roast chicken with super crispy skin and no breading. That pile of shredded cabbage has the obligatory Thousand Island dressing (Koreans love themselves some Thousand Island).
Sweet pickled radish cubes, which is served with the chicken. ONE OF MY FAVORITE ITEMS ON EARTH.
Freebie (I think) pan-fried cake: I heart Korean savory pancakes. I'm fairly sure this one had green onions and kimchi in it. Simple, but tasty.
We really enjoyed our meal here, it's harder than you'd think to find a quiet place to grab a drink and some grub without breaking the bank. Our bill was about $40, which included the cute 1000cc baby pitcher of Hite. Looking forward to many visits in the future!
Hite Kwang Jang
3839 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010
(213) 384-8999
Charles pours icy cool goodness into a glass mug, which I'm sure he would love to own. The beer was wonderfully cold!
One of Charles's favorite Korean dishes: dduk-bok-ghee (I hyphenate to facilitate). A spicy rice cake dish that is probably more snack or late night fare than an actual entree. HKJ's version is quite good and a healthy portion, to say the least.
Korean style (sort of) fried chicken aka tong-dak: see, I don't think of this dish as fried chicken straight up. More like roast chicken with super crispy skin and no breading. That pile of shredded cabbage has the obligatory Thousand Island dressing (Koreans love themselves some Thousand Island).
Sweet pickled radish cubes, which is served with the chicken. ONE OF MY FAVORITE ITEMS ON EARTH.
Freebie (I think) pan-fried cake: I heart Korean savory pancakes. I'm fairly sure this one had green onions and kimchi in it. Simple, but tasty.
We really enjoyed our meal here, it's harder than you'd think to find a quiet place to grab a drink and some grub without breaking the bank. Our bill was about $40, which included the cute 1000cc baby pitcher of Hite. Looking forward to many visits in the future!
Hite Kwang Jang
3839 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010
(213) 384-8999
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
8oz Burger Bar
We had dinner at 8oz over the weekend, but this is the only photo I could salvage:
Let me describe my Melrose burger in detail as my photo is not much help: house blend beef patty, wild baby arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes and red onion marmalade. I added Bel Paese cheese (it was described to me as similar to provolone, I shrugged and said why not).
Very tasty, although I wasn't stuffed afterwards. I don't like unwieldy burgers, so I don't want these babies to be larger really. Maybe a salad or CHEESE CURDS (never had 'em, but have high hopes) would have been a good way to fill out the meal.
Charles and I split an order of fries, which were a pleasant surprise due to the amount of slightly crispy bits. I am extremely interested in trying a bloody mary on a future visit; maybe the smoky bacon one? A bacon stir-stick sounds worthy of investigation.
8oz Burger Bar
7661 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 852-0008
Let me describe my Melrose burger in detail as my photo is not much help: house blend beef patty, wild baby arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes and red onion marmalade. I added Bel Paese cheese (it was described to me as similar to provolone, I shrugged and said why not).
Very tasty, although I wasn't stuffed afterwards. I don't like unwieldy burgers, so I don't want these babies to be larger really. Maybe a salad or CHEESE CURDS (never had 'em, but have high hopes) would have been a good way to fill out the meal.
Charles and I split an order of fries, which were a pleasant surprise due to the amount of slightly crispy bits. I am extremely interested in trying a bloody mary on a future visit; maybe the smoky bacon one? A bacon stir-stick sounds worthy of investigation.
8oz Burger Bar
7661 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 852-0008
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Ugo
My friend Mike and I have a long-standing brunch tradition we call Coffee'n'Cobb. Our latest meet-up was at Ugo, a casual Italian spot in Culver City (a place that does not offer Cobb salad, but we had a delightful time regardless). They were still serving breakfast, but I already had pasta on the brain.
I had the rigatoni with bolognese sauce. Pretty flavorful and the pasta was not overcooked! As Jean K. Jean would say: incroyable! And the basil on top complemented the bolognese really well; sometimes I find fresh basil overpowering, but I loved it here.
Mike ordered the egg, bacon and mozzarella breakfast panini. I believe his eyes rolled into the back of his head upon his first bite, so I'm guessing quite good. Didn't get a good shot of the filling, but yes, there was a lot of bread (not an optical illusion)!
And if there's an immense display case of gelato directly across from our table, you know we had to order some:
Mike's mango gelato (an intense fresh mango flavor and would be really good in the summer. Thanks to our server for the initially-confusing-but-later illuminating two spoons per dish, which allowed us to try each other's gelato!)
My dulce de leche gelato (very sweet and awesome! I know I should try another flavor next time, but it'll be hard to branch out from this caramel-y goodness.)
I thought maybe Ugo was yet another hyped restaurant with mediocre food, but I enjoyed the food and the prices were reasonable (with the above and two coffees, our bill was under $40). Their menu has many items I'd like to try, such as lasagna and ravioli, salads and antipasti. Service was okay; friendly, but it took us a while to pay the server. I plan on coming back to Ugo soon (hopefully next time I won't be knocking stuff off the table while trying to photograph my dining companion's food)!
Ugo
3865 Cardiff Ave
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 474-4482
I had the rigatoni with bolognese sauce. Pretty flavorful and the pasta was not overcooked! As Jean K. Jean would say: incroyable! And the basil on top complemented the bolognese really well; sometimes I find fresh basil overpowering, but I loved it here.
Mike ordered the egg, bacon and mozzarella breakfast panini. I believe his eyes rolled into the back of his head upon his first bite, so I'm guessing quite good. Didn't get a good shot of the filling, but yes, there was a lot of bread (not an optical illusion)!
And if there's an immense display case of gelato directly across from our table, you know we had to order some:
Mike's mango gelato (an intense fresh mango flavor and would be really good in the summer. Thanks to our server for the initially-confusing-but-later illuminating two spoons per dish, which allowed us to try each other's gelato!)
My dulce de leche gelato (very sweet and awesome! I know I should try another flavor next time, but it'll be hard to branch out from this caramel-y goodness.)
I thought maybe Ugo was yet another hyped restaurant with mediocre food, but I enjoyed the food and the prices were reasonable (with the above and two coffees, our bill was under $40). Their menu has many items I'd like to try, such as lasagna and ravioli, salads and antipasti. Service was okay; friendly, but it took us a while to pay the server. I plan on coming back to Ugo soon (hopefully next time I won't be knocking stuff off the table while trying to photograph my dining companion's food)!
Ugo
3865 Cardiff Ave
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 474-4482
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Russet Potato Salad with Greens and Bacon
I had two potatoes in my possession, which had been planned as cheapo dinner options, but I didn't think about how long it'd take me to preheat the oven and bake them on a weeknight. So, they were still just sitting on the counter by the time the weekend rolled around. After a search on trusty Epicurious, I found this recipe for Yam and Russet Potato Salad with Greens and Bacon. I tweaked it a bit: only used potatoes, had to use regular mustard after realizing I had thrown out the dijon, and halved the recipe measurements. I had some parsley on hand, so threw that in as well.
I liked this warm salad a lot! The smoky bacon worked really well with the greens and the sweet and vinegary dressing (I imagine it is even better with dijon, the regular yellow mustard was a bit harsh). I'm always pumped to discover new ways to cook familiar-bordering-on-boring ingredients! I highly recommend this recipe, folks.
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