Over the last few months I have had the opportunity to visit San Francisco on two occasions. The first time was back in December as I tagged along with my wife on a business trip and more recently towards the end of February. Each trip was a short one,fly in at night- have a day to tour the city and fly out the next day. I would have liked more time to explore the city and sample all the culinary things it has to offer but I can’t be picky, so on both trips I made it a point to visit Mission Chinese Food.
If you are not familiar with MCF it could seem like an odd place to visit or even find if you are not aware of it. I forget how I first found out about Mission Chinese Street Food but most likely it was from reading the chef of Lazy Bear - David Barzelay’s blog Eat Foo. To get a better idea of how Mission Chinese Food came to be and why the signage still bears the original restuarant’s name you can read THIS Food & Wine article or THIS story on their own blog.
In 2011 the married duo behind Mission Street Food and it’s current incarnation – Mission Chinese Food put out a cookbook. It’s a little bit unusual to say the least simply because only about a 1/3 of it contains recipes. The other parts are about how MSF and MCF came to be and the philosophy that drives the idea behind the restaurant. As soon as it was released I bought a copy and read the whole thing cover to cover. It is a very inspirational book and has shaped the way I have done some things with my own Gulf Pig Dinners, I would highly recommend going out and purchasing this.
The Mission Street Burger that was sold at Duc Loi Supermarket.
This is the exterior of Mission Chinese Food. If you didn’t know any better you would walk right on by but there is a small menu posted on the door.
The menu on the door
For my first trip to MCF I went on a Friday night but I had been warned by a friend to get there early or else I would be waiting a while. Since Ann had a business dinner north of SF I had quite a bit of free time so I was able to get there around 5pm ( which for anyone that knows me is waaayyy early for my eating habits). I got a table towards the back of the restaurant which allowed me to view the whole space as well as people watch the other diners 
I was also in close proximity to their sound system – a Mac Book blaring late 90′s rock, I loved it. After looking at all the interesting items on the menu I decided on two dishes – the Thrice Cooked Bacon and the Chicken Wings with Explosive Chili Peppers.
Thrice Cooked Bacon – Benton’s Bacon stir-fried with Korean duk rice cakes, bitter melon, tofu skin, scallion, black bean and chili oil.
The Chicken wings, though topped with an extraordinary amount of sauteed dried peppers was not as hot as I expected it to be, which was a good thing. I hate food that burns your taste buds – whats the point of eating after that? These were really tasty and this was also my first experience with szechuan peppers (which were in the spice mix). On our last trip to Dallas I was able to find them in bulk at Central Market.
On my 2nd trip to SF back in February I was able to hit up MCF for lunch. Our hotel was located downtown and on our last trip I either walked everywhere or took a cab. This time I decided to splurge and spend $2 and rode the bus 
Let me say this,it was interesting to say the least. While traveling to MCF I noticed the bus had a quite large advertisement for a schizophrenia study, after that 20 minute trip I can see why that may be their target audience.
Luck struck again and although I got there right at noon I was able to get a table fairly quick. This time I started with a cold dish of Szechuan Pickles – Salt pickled Napa Cabbage, Carrot, Roasted Peanut, Fresh Coriander and Chili Oil.
For my main dish I decided to go with the Ma Po Tofu – Tofu, Ground Kurobuta Pork, Szechuan peppercorn, chili oil and steamed white rice. I had heard really good things about this one and was itching to try it. Now this picture doesn’t really show how MUCH is in this bowl. I barely finished a 1/3 of it. It was so good though.
The Dragon…..a Kickstarter Project
I know San Francisco has a ton of really good restaurants but I may have to make a trip to Mission Chinese Food on each visit. Something about this place just resonates with me and wants me to keep coming back time and time again. When I find a restaurant I like,even though we don’t travel that much, I stick with it ( see Cochon Butcher). I don’t know if it is the fact that it is a temporary restaurant that morphed into a permanent one, the eclectic 90′s rock blaring from the Mac Book perched on top of the beer cooler, the Christmas lights (who deep down could admit they hate these) or just the fact that they do not seem to follow any rules when it comes to Restaurant 101. I can admit that I try and follow everything Mission Chinese Food on the web ( blogs,reviews,write ups,videos), I guess I am a Anthony Myint/Danny Bowien junkie.( Anthony btw was in the kitchen when I went for lunch). The chef and co-owner Danny Bowien was also just nominated for a James Beard award. He has an interesting back story as well,look it up. Maybe next time Ann can come with me but I have a feeling her deathly allergic reaction to onions would kill the mood.
Here is a few pics of the surrounding neighborhood where the Mission Chinese Food is located. And less you think this is the only food place I visited this last trip I also made it to the Ferry Building, Hogs & Rocks and finally a late dinner at State Bird Provisions which was just an awesome place and one I will need to devote more time to on the next trip.
Oh and by the way, I cabbed it back to the hotel
Got my copy about two weeks a go at a local bookstore. This concept is interesting but I am still going through it. Looking forward to what the other issues cover as well as the soon to be released IPad app.
As we are planting and planning the garden this year I have decided to do something different from years past. Normally I would just have a garden in the back consisting mainly of tomatoes with a few other assorted vegetables. Last year I placed a smalled garden box closer to our house that only had assorted herbs and microgreens but El Diggo decided that he liked digging in this spot more than having herbs growing there.
This year I constructed a somewhat small semi-circle garden in the front yard on the corner of the house. This will be the herb and salad greens garden. I planted a mix of potted herbs and plants as well as herbs and salad greens started from seed. I have added a few things that normally I have never planted or have had difficulty finding in this area. One of the main things that (I thought) was difficult to find are Nasturtiums. They are an edible flower with a green leaf. I first heard about this plant in the Alinea cookbook where they used it as a garnish as well as in a soup. Over the past year I saw this edible flower/herb used in a lot of dishes on the blogs and food sites I read. I did some searching and realized that is a very common plant that can be found quite easily. I went to Wal-Mart and there it was right besides the other herb and flower seed packets, they even had several different varieties. I planted these all along the border of the semi-circle and saved the middle for the assorted herbs and salad greens. I am hoping that it looks more like landscaping than just having an edible garden in the front yard.
Some of the other herbs I planted are : Red Veined Sorrel , Red & Green Shiso, Lemon Thyme, Thyme, Basil, Pineapple Sage, Italian Parsley & Garlic Chives.
I plan on starting on the back garden this week. To be planted are : several different varieties of tomato, golden beets, carrots, radishes, padron peppers, poblano peppers, garlic, carrots & corn. Where last year's herb garden was we are planning on planting a beans and peas that will be supported by a trellis to encourage upward growth and vines. Ethan, my 6 year old, has already started his garden in the back which consists of three types of Corn and two types of Carrots.
CLICK on pic to view larger sizes
The day before St Patrick's day my wife informed me that she need to bring something to work for a party. I really did not have anything particular in mind but I recalled reading about Cake Pops on one of the food blogs I follow – Bakerella. I went back the blog to see the technique and came across a new post using cake pops for St Patrick's Day. With Ethan in tow (spring break) we headed out the next morning to get all the ingredients. You would think mint chocolate chips would be easy to find,especially around this time of year, but not so much. We had to go to several different stores to find them. Target btw is where they were ultimately waiting to be sacrificed to the cake gods.
My mistake was waiting till the morning to tackle these. The recipe calls for several hours of chilling once the cake is made then also once the cake balls are formed and set on the lollipop sticks. I was only able to make about 6 of these before the balls started falling down on the sicks and coming apart while dipping in the white chocolate bark. I was disappointed to say the least not only because I wasn't able to make enough for Ann's work but also because I went all out Martha Stewart on these to set up a background to be photographed with them. Oh well maybe next time.
During all this I got a message on Facebook from someone I met through this blog asking me about my St Patrick's Day dinner menu and what I would be preparing. I have been so busy lately that I just wasn't in the mood for planning something,especially after failing at the cake pops. I got to thinking though that being an O'Boyle on St Patrick's Day and not cooking anything remotely considered Irish would be a travesty and once again I turned to inspiration from the blogosphere.
You may have herd of a fellow in NYC named David Chang who is king of the Momofuku( I really love just saying this word – Momofuku, Momofuku, Momofuku……) Empire. I have his recently released cookbookand it is very inspiring and well thought out. Though the inspiration actually did not come from a recipe in the cookbook but rather from a recipe that was shared online from someone who is cooking her way through the Momofuku cookbook and documenting it. Check her out at Momofuku for 2. The recipe is for what Chang calls a Volcano and is served at his restaurant Milk Bar. Now I guess you are wondering where I am going with this and how in the heck this is related to Irish cooking, well here goes.
Instead of using caramelized onions and bacon, I used steak that was cooked with 4 parts Guinness beer and 1 part water and then diced up into small chunks. I also braised some cabbage in the same pot as the steak and used this as the base of the volcano. I made a potato gratin with Irish cheddar and put this on top of the cabbage and beef. I finished by rolling the dough up into a ball and topping it with more Irish Cheddar and chopped parsley before baking it in the oven. I strained the left over Guinness cooking liquid and simmered it down until it had a sauce like consistency and served this with the volcano once it came out of the oven. The white sauce is a mornay with Irish Cheddar as well. Not the prettiest thing in the world but very tasty.
Maybe in hindsight I should stop calling my version a volcano but rather a Blarney Stone.
So I put together a video of our Mardi Gras experience here in Shreveport LA. I probably won’t win any Convention and Tourist Bureau awards but I like it. This covers a span of two weekends of parades and The saints Superbowl championship in-between.
Watch the video on the Vimeo site for a bigger picture……………
Mardi Gras 2010 Shreveport LA EDITED & UPDATED from Michael O’Boyle on Vimeo.
I’ll post recipes for the TurboDog Pork and Momofuku Chicken wings shortly…………ENJOY
This is a quick bastardized version of the Ramen recipe from David Chang's awesome cookbook Momofuku. I have never made something like this so I wanted to try something new.
It consists of seared citrus soy pork, hard boiled egg, lime, carrots, enoki and shitake mushrooms and a broth of pork,chicken,shitake,aromatics and lemongrass.
Here are the cookbooks I have received over this holiday season……
lot of reading and experimenting to do
I know what you are thinking…blueberries seriously ??? But really this works on all sorts of levels and isn't this why you come here, to see al the culinary wacko stuff I try to pull off?
This is an adaptation of a recipe from Marc Vetri's new cookbookthat pairs blueberries with Porcini Crusted Halibut. Chef Vetri has a restaurant in Philadelphia that I would love to try if I ever make it that way. Philly seems to be giving NYC and Chicago some play for a progressive foodie town from what I am seeing.
As I am not the biggest fan of fish I substituted chicken breast. The basics of this recipe are to finely grind dried porcini mushrooms use this powder to crust your protein and sear/cook in a non stick skillet (to keep the porcini powder from burning). The sauce is prepared by simmering blueberries in sugar, water and some champagne vinegar (I used white wine vinegar). I felt like the end product of the sauce needed something so I added some freshly ground black pepper as well as some fresh blueberries. The recipe does not call for polenta but hey, polenta goes with everything as does it's southern cousin, grits. I added some Romano cheese to the polenta as well.
This turned out really well. The blueberries cut into the earthiness of the mushroom crusted chicken as well as the creaminess of the polenta, a very nice balance. Marc's cookbook also has a recipe for a free form lasagna with blueberries and porcini that I will need to try in the future after tasting this combination.
If you want a different type of Italian cookbook then look no further than Marc Vetri.
I pretty much read thru the Alinea Cookbook on a daily basis. Not only are the recipes creative and challenging but they also stimulate you to think of food in different ways. Yesterday I decided to try the Blackberry and Tobacco cream recipe in the book. It is meant to be a bridge between a savory entree course and a dessert. Its one of the more straight forward and simpler recipes in the book. Some other food bloggers out there are attempting to recreate ALL the recipes from the book and Martin at Alineaphile seems to be going pretty strong on it.
This was an interesting "one bite" dish, nobody could really put their finger on that extra taste till I told them it was the tobacco infused cream and then there was that "aha" moment. The recipe called for bee balm but I was unable to find any ( hello this is Shreveport after all ) so it did say you could substitute mint instead. After sampling quality controla few I found the mint to be pretty overpowering so I used only a tiny little sliver on each. The recipe also called for Danish smoked salt but I had some Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt that I had gotten from the salt bar at Central Market in Dallas (best place in the world for food for this area). The smoked salt was pretty strong as well so I mixed it with some Maldon Sea Salt to tone it down a little. This is a recipe that I will need to play around with and use as a bridge for one of my dinners soon.