the arugula files

The Vietnamese Meatballs At ShopHouse Are Crazy Delicious (Lucky Peach Magazine: Not So Much)

 

As soon as I heard about ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen,  the new concept by Chipotle's founder Steve Ells, I had high hopes for the "Asian Chipotle," mostly because it's close to my office. It's convenience food that's conveniently located (for me anyway).  

I didn't expect it to be crazy delicious.  

I mean it's Asian fast food, and, quite frankly, while I'll eat at Chipotle, I don't love, love it.  I much prefer Baja Fresh, if I'm comparing apples to apples, and if I'm comparing apples to oranges, I would much rather eat tacos here or here.  So I was really surprised that Shophouse's Vietnamese offerings are full of flavor.  Like the flavor just reaches out and grabs you.  Then it makes you do the truffle shuffle.

My 2012 Culinary Resolutions 2011, Not So Much

I'm not going to lie to you.  I didn't do so well on my culinary resolutions.  I finished 13.5 out of 25.  And, let's be honest, they were the easy ones.  Like making whoopi pies with Modern Domestic, buying more pieces for my Russel Wright collection, or eating at Estadio.

What's a girl to do?  Cram.  Just last night I was thinking, I can finish at least six of "the big 25" THIS WEEKEND. Next thought: but do I really want to?  Have I lost the point of it all?  This list isn't a "to do list." It's a "live life list" and if I don't want to do the things on the list, well, I don't have to.  

Yeah! Screw you, list-I-didn't-finish.  

Here's the thing: I still like the idea of having a list.  And who knows, maybe someday I'll actually finish one. So here goes; my culinary resolutions for 2012.  Basically a list of things that I like to imagine myself doing, but probably won't do.  

Some of these are leftovers from 2011 or 2010.

25.  Use my pressure cooker

24.  Make sausages from scratch.  

23.  Eat at Toki Underground

22.  Create a recipe for the Vietnamese meatball like the ones at Shophouse

21.  Take a class with Mrs. Wheelbarrow

20.  Start a Catherineholm collection

19.  Build a backyard pizza oven

18.  Make some fancy popcorn

17.  Paint my kitchen a nice, bright color

16.  Organize my food magazines and get rid of some

15.  Make more salads for dinner

14.  Eat at Ethiopic

13.  Cook fish more often

12.  Eat dinner in another country

11.  Throw a tiki party

10.  Make a gorgeous cheese plate

9.  Make a chocolate cake

8.  Try those blueberry capers at Ripple

7.   Make more dishes that include leeks

6.  Make at least one dish that includes cauliflower

5.  Share my recipe for lentil soup

4.  Make crab rangoon from scratch (ok, it's true, I already did this one and I'm adding it to the list after the fact.)

3.  Save enough money to buy a 5D

2.  Make a few recipes from Plenty.

1.  Re-design this blog

 

I love reading about people's culinary resolutions.  Like here and here. 

What are your culinary resolutions?

 

"Chinese Coleslaw"

 

I singled this dish out at a work potluck.  It was a holiday party so it's no surprise that it was the lone dish on the conference room table that actually included vegetables.  I had a bite and immediately fell in love with it.  I'm sold because, while it appears healthy (and, for the most part, is healthy), it actually includes Ramen as one of the main ingredients.  Which is, of course, not healthy.  But, oh well, at least you get some cabbage, carrots, and almonds.  What's the saying...just a spoon full of Ramen?  

By the way, when I asked my co-worker for the recipe she called the dish "Chinese Coleslaw," which I found odd because I've always thought of Ramen as Japanese.  After some extensive internet research on Wikipedia I found that ramen noodles actually originated in China, not Japan.  Who knew.  Anyway, I place quotes around the name of the dish because no matter where ramen noodles come from, no one in China is eating this cole slaw.  Plus, I like to put quotes around things; especially air quotes.  And sometimes I get carried away and use air quotes when they are not really called for.   Yes, I'm one of those people.

I recently made this dish for dinner on New Year's Eve.  It paired nicely with homemade egg rolls and crab rangoon. 

Thirteen Layer Chocolate and Vanilla Cake (Plus, Cheers to 2012!)

I didn't feel particularly productive in 2011.  Well, I did produce something major.  But otherwise, I don't even want to talk about my culinary resolutions right now.  I'll visit those some time next week.  That may give me a few days to cross one or two more off the list.  It's definitely in my nature to cram things in at the last minute.  Meanwhile, I offer you this cake. Since I didn't make the cake, it's an endorsement rather than a recipe. 

It's a delicious dessert, more of a torte than a cake, rich, with dark chocolate and caramel.  My friend Denise brought it over for dinner. Imagine that.  You ask someone to bring dessert and they bring you a thirteen layer cake (twelve for 2012, plus one layer for good luck).  It's like going horseback riding, but the ranch hand brings you a unicorn to ride instead of a horse.  Pure magic.

Denise followed the recipe from smitten kitchen.  You know it worked perfectly, as Deb's recipes always do. But, as Denise pointed out, she made her cake the hard way: round instead of square.  What an inspiration.  And with that, I'll say cheers to 2012!