St. Patty's Day Corned Beef, Cabbage and Red Potatoes

What would St. Patty's Day be like without corned beef? BLEH! Hahahahaha! For those of you who are a fan of corned beef and cabbage here is a simple way to make this yummy dish with red potatoes.

What you'll need is

*Corned beef brisket-they have two cuts available-Flat cut which is less fatty and the point cut which is fatty. About 3 lbs will feed a family of 5.
*Cabbage-1 head
*6-8 Red potatoes
*1 Small Yellow Onion quartered
*5-6 Peppercorns
**Baby Carrots are good in here too!

Fill a pot with water to cover meat (add spice packet-if one is included)
Add quartered onion and peppercorns
Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes a pound

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Quarter cabbage and red potatoes. Once oven is preheated transfer brisket to a oven-safe dish (save stock) and bake for 30-45 minutes.

Place quartered red potatoes and baby carrots in stock and cook until fork tender. Place cabbage in pot and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Slice brisket and serve with veggies. We filipinos enjoy this over rice. Try it you might like it! Enjoy!

Picante Restaurant

So I opened my big mouth on Facebook about loving this place and Chris called me out. So, the secret is out and one of mine and Teri's favorite places to eat in Berkeley is Picante.

It's off of Gilman on 6th Street, close to the Pyramid Brewery and Target. I know Chevy's likes to say they have "Fresh Mex" -- but screw Chevy's, Picante is the real deal. The ingredients are always fresh and the Mexican food is the best in the East Bay. Well, it's in my Top 3. The other two awesome places out here are Juan's Place and Cactus Taqueria.

The restuarant isn't a traditional sit-down place, because it's usually busy, you stand in line and order your food first and then find a table. The waiters bring out your dishes to you -- the wait isn't too long, maybe five minutes at the most.

And because it does tend to get packed, they kindly ask that you don't get in line and then send someone out to save a table. THAT is totally frowned upon. There are plenty of tables and the turnaround there is pretty fast so you'll always be able to find a seat. Teri and I found this out the hard way when she was getting dirty looks for holding a table while I stood in line. But that was totally our fault since we didn't see the posted sign asking people not to hold tables -- thankfully we weren't banned from the restaurant.

Anyway, just wanted to get that piece of etiquette out of the way before I get to THE FOOD:


Pictured here: Tamales, Flautas, Nachos w/Chicken, Tortialla Soup. My personal favorite dish is the Tacos Pescado (or fish tacos), the fish is lightly battered and the sauce has got a little kick without being too spicy.

Miso-Glazed Sea Bass

This is from Katrina's kitchen!! Enjoy!

Not sure if I have shared this or not, but this is one of mine and Greg's favorite dishes. I prepare it in a freezer bag the night before or at least4 hours before cooking.


Miso-Glazed Sea Bass,it is so easy, and taste delicious!!!!!!!


* 1/3 cup sake
* 1/3 cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
* 1/3 cup light yellow miso (fermented soybean paste)
* 3 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 4 6-ounce sea bass fillets (each about 3/4 inch thick)
* 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil


Mix first 5 ingredients in shallow glass baking dish. Add fish and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.

Preheat broiler. Remove fish from marinade. Place fish on rimmed baking sheet. With broiler door slightly open, broil fish 6 inches from heat source until just opaque in center, about 6 minutes. Transfer to plates.

Sprinkle with green onions and basil and serve.

Let's go a G-N-O!

Last Friday, we had our monthly Girl's Night Out. We ate at two delicious places in the Nut Tree Village that I highly recommend.

For dinner, the girls meet at Spice Thai Kitchen and Bar. We ordered the Roti, Lettuce Wraps and Fresh Shrimp Rolls. They were all delicious starters. Michelle and I split the Garlic Pepper Shrimp (all entrees come with steamed rice) and the Chicken Pad Thai. This was my first time having Pad Thai and I loved it. They had a large selection of entrees on their menu. I can't wait to go back and try more of their plates!

For dessert, we walked across the street to Bayberry Yogurt and Gelato. I ordered the Spumoni gelato, which was very creamy and had a lot of pistachio pieces. Val ordered the Rocky Road gelato and she loved the marshmallow cream they used. Jae ordered the strawberry yogurt topped with fresh strawberries. I will be getting that next time with their cheesecake chunks!

Monterey Dining - Massaro and Santos

While in Monterey recently, we asked the concierge to refer a seafood restaurant that was unique, yet delicious.

He recommended Massaro and Santos. They are an Italian/Filipino restaurant. Odd, right?

Well...the food was AMAZING! Aside from the menu (which we didn't even really look at) they had at least 10 specials of the evening to choose from.

Being filipino, I enjoyed that the first item on the menu for appetizers was "lumpia". =)

I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Monterey. The atmosphere was beautiful (they are located at the end of Coast Guard Pier) and the food was DELICIOUS!

For those with kids, they are very kid friendly and have a tasty variation on Kraft's Mac N Cheese! =)

http://www.massaroandsantos.com/

Cheddar Biscuits

I just love Red Lobster biscuits. Here is a recipe to make your own!

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix

¾ cup cold whole milk

4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese

Bush on Top:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ teaspoon dried parsley flakes

½ teaspoon garlic powder

pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. You don't want to mix too thoroughly. There should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

3. Drop approximately ¼-cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

5. When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter is a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in ½ teaspoon garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter. Makes one dozen biscuits. Enjoy!!