Thursday, February 27, 2014

Marble vs Wood



Decisions-Decisions...

I am looking for a pastry board and can't decide which one i want. I like Williams-Sonoma but I love shopping at Sur la Table.

Unfortunately I can't have both >_<
Let the debate begin-

Sur La Table Marble Pastry Board

Pros: 
-cool surface for the dough (great for Houston's heat)
-$60 cheaper than Williams-Sonoma

Cons:
-Heavy
-can break/crack easily 
-need nonslip mat or towel underneath board to prevent from sliding


Williams-Sonoma Reversible Wooden Pastry Board

Pros:
-measurement guide on board
-Reversible 
-multi use as cutting board 
-wraps over island & stays in place 

Cons:
-too big to store away
-$60 more than Sur la table marble
-apply mineral oil to keep it from drying 
-must be store away from extreme temperatures. 


Hmmmmmm....

Monday, February 24, 2014

I'm back!

BMG is back from hibernation!

Stay tuned for the next project -

Thanks to one of my inspirations to keep me going.


Saturday, November 3, 2012

saturday night in

its been awhile since i had a nothing to do on my agenda on a weekend...actually my to do list was 'chores. chores.chores'

and that mission FAILED!

Tonight is also daylight savings...what to do with my extra hour... I shall blog hahahah
lets go back 12 hours from now...

I was going to attend the Korean Festival today, but laziness and low funds changed my mind..good thing I didn't go, bc it RAINED!!!
 So I spent the lovely day being "STUCK" with my bf... we ate lunch at HK market and what do you know it was pouring cats and dogs..so we were 'stuck' inside of HK..crazy how things have changed over a decade...I remembered it was all nice when I use to spend my summers there working for my aunt when it first opened. On the next shopping trip was Costco..got 'stuck' there because my genius boyfriend threw away our receipt, that we needed to exit the store. While waiting for him to retrieve a new receipt, my thinking skills came on...also keeping me sane from choking his ass..

Since I didn't go to K-Fest..Korean BBQ was on mind..ground beef is cheaper than the fancy rib eye cuts or short ribs...so I came up with a ground beef banh mi..with a korean flavor twist..
I must say, this is one of my favorite banh mi I made. Its cheap, simple, and delicious!
I will need a little more tweaking though.My pickles were left over ingredients from my previous banh mi fling, and the bread was not french bread. I bought the bollos(sp) from Heb.Looks like french bread, but softer..wasn't so bad. Can't wait to share with my friends my 'Ko-fusion on the cheap banh mi'

later gaters,
bmg



Ko-fusion ground beef

spicy pickled kimchi carrots & daikons



I present you 'ko-fusion on the cheap'



Sunday, September 9, 2012

Cooking Mode

I've been naughty and neglected my kitchen...No love for my cooking tools...

I think it's time for me to hang out in my kitchen again...

Here are previous cooking adventures...

 I had leftover salad & tomato rice from my previous meal I whipped up. Didn't want the sides to go to waste....what to make?

Ever since I dined at Tan Ba Le, I was itching to make their 'Bo Ne' with no baguette deal. 
mmmmmmmmmmMMMM
 
my wanna be Bo Ne

 
 
 

Semi-homemade cooking : Korean Instant Ramen Noodle with kim chi, Pork, egg strips
 
 I love my green cooking tools~

 

Lime.Garlic.Salt.Pepper.Pinenuts.Basil.OliveOil.Parmesean
 

Chicken Pesto
 
 
add the coco soda~
 I had left over frozen chicken wings. I seriously didn't want to leave my house. Whipped up some random chicken dish..and amazingly it was delicious! I guess you can say its like a thit kho dish?
 Sear & Sizzle~
Random Ga Kho
 
 
 I was craving the 'My Fit Foods' Turkey & Rice dish. I googled on line for mimics. Surprisingly I found a few. Hhaha I felt like I was on the Food Network TV Show 'Chopped' with the 3 ingredients.
 
I ended up making 3 courses with the artichoke.
Artichoke Petals with my Rice
Stuffed Artichoke

Artichoke beverage

Turkey & Rice wanna be my fit foods
 

stuffed artichoke
 

One of my favorite beverage my mother made
 That's a wrap...i'm too lazy to upload my banh mi flings...BRB >_<

Go TEXANS!
-bmg
 

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Thanh Noi

Thanh Noi Sandwich located in the hear of Diho Shopping Center...
along with 2 other banh mi joints (B10 and Don's Cafe) For more info on Thanh Noi Click Me

I wanted some banh mi for lunch and Thanh Noi was the only one with a open spot in the parking lot for me to rush in and rush out. As a kid, I don't recall my family taking me here to eat. I think I been to TN once or twice like 10 years ago..TN also serves noodle and rice plates.. The place is old, but looks clean compare to the other hole in walls. The pre-packaaged plates also looks fresh..Not sure if it was made by Thanh Noi or resale.
I believe there was 4-5 ppl dining in and I was the only take out at the moment. I was surprised it wasn't that busy for lunch time. I wanted to check the place out and see what kind of sandwiches they were serving..plus I read on reviews on the Ga-chicken....too bad, I ended up with Thit Nuong. I felt like I was suckered in to ordering Thit Nuong. Not because the lady was suggesting me to buy it..I guess seeing the fresh grilled batch of Thit Nuong she was putting out caught my attention. Majority of the times, all the other banh mi joints the bbq would be reheated in the microwave.

Clear is good-Homer Simpson


Service: Not so rude or too friendly. Cash Only. Was in and out in 5-6 minutes $3.90 for a banh mi & can of tea

Bread Quality: Not baked fresh in store, Bread was over baked and uber crispy

Meat Filling: nice and fresh from the grill, very generous on the Thit Nuong, but was quite bland. no green onion oil topping
Veggie Filling: grated carrots, chopped cilantro, chunky halves of jalapenos, decent cut of cucumber

Spread: even spread of Butter(no taste)

Presentation: Sloppy from the grease & veggies.


As you can see the banh mi looks very brown...extremely crispy. Since I didn't see any bread for sale, its obviously bought. My jaws weren't in that much pain compared to my last bite I had last time with Parisian Bakery.

Notice the big chunk of jalapeno? Boy, did I sure taste that heat! It was quite overwhelming with the jalapeno, to where my mouth went slightly numb. I think if they had the butter spread ed on the top of the veggies, instead of under the hot fresh bbq would've been better. My banh mi was just leaking grease from the melted butter. The carrots were grated and wasn't quite the pickled-crispy texture. So not a fan of chopped up cilantro. Since my bf doesn't like Cilantro, I have been neglecting that in my food lately. That's one powerful herb, and chops of cilantrot over powered my banh mi. If you were to ask me how was my banh mi...I can't even describe anything except the hot jalapeno & cilantro.
Debating if I want to go back and try the chicken.

and another one off my list...
I have so much more blogging to do...no joke...haha my family & friends were looking through my camera the other day..they said I should be a food junkie instead of banh mi with all the foodie pictures I took. I do not qualify myself as a food critic lol...I have the most random taste buds and picky with a few things I eat.. Food entertains me rather than fashion or beauty. Fashion, I feel is a recycle of style/trends or new look. You like it today and its replaced with something else the next. As for beauty...as I get older I'm leaning towards more to natural than cosmetic..Don't get me wrong, I have my moments to play dress up and be pretty..but just for a moment. With food, its art to me. People can be so creative with the ingredients and materials they use to create something OMFG-so effin delicious-melts in your mouth- that feeling that will have you talking or thinking for days! Cooking by yourself or with someone can be fun. Food is something we need in our system. Too bad the unhealthy food sucks for me...i supppose everyone else too. It satisfy my taste buds, but makes me fluffy. Dieting isn't on my to do list, but eating clean is. I'm learning to use natural spices rather than salt(baths..KIDDING) bake or steam, rather than frying. Going Organic...umm I'm not a baller so I'll be ok with unorganic stuff.

Oh yea..GUESS WHAT??!? I was able to squeezed in TWO banh mi flings in NEWYORK!
I will try to turn my blog back into my banhmi related...if not something about food blog...haha since my emo random rants are getting boooorrrrinnnggggg! hey, its a free therapy session for me...don't hate... ^_^

That's all for now folks,
later gators,
bmg