Kitchen Remodel – Week 4

Instant gratification, who doesn’t like that right? This week’s progress has certainly been that. As a matter of fact, moving forward through the last half of the project, I know most of the milestones will have instant gratification.

At the beginning of this week (Week 4), it was all about preparing the drywall: taping, mudding, texturing. The changes were subtle those days but significant for the next milestone, painting. Last weekend, the Mister and I finalized the last few remaining “big” items, wall paint being one of them. So here’s what it looks like after Week 4.

Astron (Frazee)

This is the corner of the kitchen and pantry entrance. The wall color is Astron from Frazee. My kitchen designer, Shelly, and I chose this color to compliment the cherry cabinets and the granite, Madura Gold. But since we were also painting the family room the same color, Shelly thought creating an accent wall will not only break up what would have been a sea of “Astron” but also give the entire living space a more finished look. She was absolutely correct.

Aston and Vine Bloom (Frazee)

The result is very stunning, even in the current state of the room. The picture just doesn’t do it justice to the overall feel of the contrast. Without the darker Vine Bloom, we would have been swimming in a sea of gold-yellow. I’ll post a better picture once everything is a bit more tidy. But as you can see between the two pictures, Astron takes on different shades with light changes and luckily for us, all the various shades work well in the rooms. I should also mention the ceiling is Swiss Coffee (also Frazee). The Mister thought Swiss Coffee was going to be some kind of color from the tan/beige family. Uh, no. It’s white. White as white is.

I won’t be posting a remodel update next week since Week 5 will be a quiet week, being Thanksgiving week and all. Week 6 will be a very exciting week because cabinets are scheduled to be installed!

Meals for the week:

• Ipo BBQ (yes, again) 
• Frozen meals
• Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs with leftover Laos Style Papaya Salad (from Sab-E-Lee 2)

A quick explanation on that last food item. I believe I have forever spoiled myself on hot dog condiments. I cooked up some Nathan’s (love their dogs!) on the hot plate for dinner one night. Typical condiments for me are ketchup and sweet relish. Mustard only for the Mister. We like other things too but these aren’t usual items we have around. On this evening, we had leftover Papaya Salad from our visit to Sab-E-Lee 2 and I thought it would be really good on the hot dogs. I had no idea the heat from the papaya salad and the sweetness from the relish and ketchup would result in a wonderful blend of tastes. I loved the combination so much, we had it again a couple of nights later. The Mister wasn’t impressed at first but then he said it was like a Thai kraut dog and was very addictive. I told him that he’ll have to make a run to Sab-E-Lee from now on if we’re having hot dogs, hehe. I kid you not, I loved it that much. Hmm, wonder what Kobe would think of that?

So has everyone already started to plan for Thanksgiving week?  I don’t have to cuz, uh, I have no kitchen! Have a fantastic weekend!

Kaminski’s Bar BQ & Sports Lounge

We typically don’t like BBQs that are vinegar and/or ketchup based and haven’t found a place we like in SD. But on a recent evening when we needed a break from another evening of microwaved dinners, I chose to try the new Kaminski’s Bar BQ & Sports Lounge in Poway. The Kaminski family has a long history in Poway and with KGB DSC’s Dave enjoying a recent meal at Kaminski’s, I thought we’d try it. The Mister was gamed since we’ve never been to Kaminski’s, the old and the newly built place. I also wanted to check out what kind of TV set-ups they had just in case we needed to find a sports bar that carries NHL playoff games (long and annoying story between DirecTV and Versus).

The place was busy and lots of buzz (Monday Night Football playing on most screens). There weren’t any open booths so we settled for a table in the midst of the packed dining room. A nice waitress stopped by to take our drink order. We pondered over the menu and it finally dawned on me that we’d be experiencing North Carolina BBQ. Whether it will be East or West, I didn’t know but NC BBQ nonetheless. I know it’s on their website but I think I missed that connection when I was reading their history. Don’t think I’ve ever had NC BBQ so it’ll be a first for me. After taking a few minute to peruse, we placed our order.

As starters, I ordered the Garlic Fries ($3.49) and the Hot and Spicy Chicken Wings ($7.99). I love chicken wings of all sorts and I’m not alone in this love affair! The Garlic Fries came out first.

Garlic Fries

I could smell these before they even hit the table so I was really excited. These were thinner than the standard 1/4 cut fries, piping hot and good crunch. If these were “regular” fries, they would have been a winner. But these were suppose to be garlic fries and there wasn’t much of garlic taste to them. We did enjoy the fries even with the disappointment that it wasn’t more garlicky. Next up were the Hot and Spicy Chicken Wings.

Hot & Spicy Chicken Wings

The first thing that came to my mind was “holy crap, how am I going to eat this without getting sauce all over my face?” With dainty pinkies up and delicate touch, obviously. Thank goodness there’s a large sink, soap and paper towels nearby for customers to wash up (nifty idea). I’m not sure how the wings were cooked except that it wasn’t fried. The sauce had a vinegar-hot sauce flavor to it with just a tinge of sweetness. There was definitely a strong smoky flavor to it. No bottled smoke here (thank goodness). The Ranch dressing, carrots and celery were standard issue. I liked the wings more than the Mister but don’t think I’d order the wings again.

We both chose to get ribs, although the Mister surprised me by ordering the beef ribs. Beef ribs just has a tendency to be drier and less meaty than pork ribs but hey, he wanted to try it. 

 The Mister chose the 1/2 order of Cowboy Sized Beef Ribs with a side of Ranch Beans and Potato Salad ($9.99).

1/2 Order Cowboy Sized Beef Ribs

With the name “Cowboy Sized” I had expected larger beef ribs but these were pretty standard sized. You can definitely smell the smokiness from these ribs. The sauce was similar to that on the chicken wings without the hot and spicy. The Mister really didn’t care for the taste of the BBQ sauce. The beans were meh and the potato salad lacked any kind of flavor (needed a whole lot of salt and something). It also came with Texas Toast but I don’t think he ate those.

I ordered a 1/4 order of the Iowa Baby Back Pork Ribs ($10.99) with a salad with blue cheese dressing and potato salad as my sides.

1/4 Order of Iowa Baby Back Port Ribs

The baby backs also came with the same Kaminski BBQ sauce. I thought the sauce was tangy from the vinegar with a slight sweetness (molasses, ketchup, brown sugar maybe?). The salad was standard greens with lots of chunks of blue cheese. The same Texas Toast as the beef ribs. Potato salad was the same bland meh as with the Mister’s meal. We swapped some of our ribs so we can try both. The baby back, as expected, had a lot more meat, tender although not fall off the bone (not sure if they are suppose to be that way). I didn’t really care for the beef ribs although most of the meat was tender. There were bottles of Carolina Sauce on the tables so I tried a little bit of it with one of my ribs. It was vinegar based and added a distinctive flavor to the already tangy BBQ sauce.

Overall a so-so meal for us but we knew going in since we’ve never been big fans of that type of BBQ sauce. I enjoyed the meal more so than the Mister. As far as service, efficient and friendly but the waitress only came by once to ask how the food was and never asked me if I wanted a refill on my soda (free refills). If you’re into long smoked meat, you’ll probably enjoy some of the options offered by Kaminski. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that there were plenty of TV screens with one large wall of multiple screens. Definitely a good option to watch sports. I think I will probably stick with Chicken Fingers or a Louisiana Hot Link next time. Or maybe even the slow smoked prime rib (Friday, Saturday and Sunday only).

Kaminski’s Bar BQ  & Sport Lounge
12735 Poway Rd
Poway, CA 92064

Hours of Operation:
Sunday – Thursday
11:00AM – Midnight
Closed Tuesdays (usually for private parties)
Friday & Saturday
11:00AM – 1:00AM
*additional hour during football season Saturday & Sunday open 9:00AM for limited breakfast

Kitchen Remodel – Week 3

In some ways, it doesn’t seem like it’s already the end of Week 3. And what a difference in just 2 weeks. All the plumbing, electrical, lighting and most of the drywall are done.

In what seems like no time at all, it went from this:

To this:

I realized this weekend that I never took before shots when all the old crappy cabinets and sink were still in. Bummer. Maybe I’ll have some shots of it in other pictures somewhere.

Meals for the week:

• Golden City (provided lots of leftovers!)
• Frozen meals (of course)
• Island Style Grill 
• Ipo BBQ (review below; you can read about the first visit here)

On my subsequent visit to Ipo BBQ (Week 2), I decided to try Ipo’s Spicy BBQ Ribs ($7.49) as well as the BBQ Beef Bulgogi Rice Bowl ($5.25). Let’s start with the ribs.

Ipo's Spicy BBQ Ribs

Compared to the regular BBQ ribs, this version is a bit spicy which made the ribs seem less sweet. I like this version and I think I’d be hard pressed to choose between the two. Guess it’ll just boil down to what I’m in the mood for at the moment. Other than the sauce, everything is the same as the regular BBQ ribs. A note that on a more recent lunch visit, the number of spicy ribs went from 4 to 3. I don’t know if this is a permanent change but I”ll confirm it next time I’m there.

Now the BBQ Beef Bulgogi Rice Bowl.

The size is about the same size as other rice bowl combos I’ve seen and reasonable for the price. There was enough beef to rice ratio to satisfy my hunger but I probably could have eaten just a bit more. I liked the flavor of the bulgogi, not overly sweet and the meat was tender. That pretty much rounds out the meals for this week.

I finally got the Waring Pro portable dual burner on Friday. The only thing I’ve cooked on it is an egg. One single egg. Over easy and I broke the yolk, boo.  But it cooked up just like a regular stovetop. Likes: heats up fast, powerful enough to boil water (to be tested), solid and nonslip. Dislikes: takes a long time to cool down but I knew this going in since the burners are cast iron, the stainless steal body gets very hot when in use but I knew this going in too. Hopefully I’ll be making more meals on this in the next few weeks to come.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Sab-E-Lee 2

I’ve been anticipating the opening of Sab-E-Lee 2 and eager to see what sort of wonderful dishes they will be offering. And we can always count on Kirk (mmm-yoso) to provide a first look. We headed over this past weekend for dinner, armed with recommended dishes, appetites ready! I knew that I wanted to order dishes that weren’t offered at the other location.

As we walked in, Kobe smiled and waved at us and pointed us to a seat by the window. The inside is certainly a lot more roomier than Sab-E-Lee. The Mister remarked “I didn’t realize this was fine dining,” hehe. He had thought it would just be like the other location. Just another example of him not listening to me when I chatter on sometimes.

We looked through the menu checking out all the new stuff. But we knew, for the most part, what dishes we wanted to order. We started off with the Kra Throng Tong.

Kra Throng Tong

These little bite-sized pastry cups were fantastic! Like Kirk mentioned, a wonderful balance  of shrimp, chicken, spices with cucumber relish on the side. The Mister said he could have eaten the whole plate himself but showed a lot of restraint by evenly divvying up between the two of us.

We also selected the Papaya Salad. When Kobe brought the dish to our table, he mentioned he selected the Laos version for us instead of Thai styled.

Papaya Salad - Laos style

We’re not familiar with the various styles of Papaya Salad but trusted Kobe enough to select something that he felt we would like. It certainly looked a bit different from other papaya salads. It actually reminded me a bit of a shredded potato dish that I make. We ordered medium heat on this and it had a good kick to it. By my second serving, my mouth was burning a bit. The flavor on this salad was really refreshing.

The third dish was a green beans dish the Mister picked out. Sorry I can’t remember the exact name.

Green Beans

We love green beans and always order them when available. This was an excellent version. The sauce was savory, maybe a bit of fish sauce? The green beans were tender but still had just a bit of bite to it, which we like. The sautéed onions added a nice overall flavor to the dish.

And the showcase dish of the evening, Pine Cone Halibut.

Pine Cone Halibut

This dish is offered with either Halibut or Catfish. We debated as to which fish to have and Kobe stated that most folks prefer halibut. I have not eaten halibut for many years now because of some stupid story I heard (which I will refrain from sharing for fear of ruining your love of halibut). The Mister was leery of ordering the halibut since he knows of my “issue” (I never shared the story with him because he wants to continue enjoying halibut). But I decided to get the halibut because I know how much the Mister enjoys it. Needless to say, the dish did not disappoint.

The fish was skillfully fried to perfection, tender, flaky, not a bit oily. The sauce was a nice complement to the fish and vegetables and I think a bit less salty than the version Kirk had with his meal. We really enjoyed the dipping sauce that came with it, too. So I think I’m finally over my aversion to halibut, well, at least in this dish, ha!

We really enjoyed our meal and I stated to the Mister again that I am glad Sab-E-Lee 2 was a different set-up as the first location. Certainly makes dining in with a larger crowd much easier.

Sab-E-Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071
619-328-1568
Opening Nov. 2, 2009

Sab-E-Lee
2405 Ulric Street
San Diego, CA 92111
858-650-6868
Tuesday – Sunday 10:30 am – 9:30 pm
Closed Mondays

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Crack Seed

On his last business trip to Honolulu, the Mister mentioned to his colleagues he needed to pick up some crack seed for me. The reactions he got was as if he called me a crack [seed] addict, hehe. When asked what the hell are crack seeds, he wasn’t exactly sure what it was or how to explain it (he does know what it is and just forgot). He did, however, offer to bring some in at their next planning meeting. I said, yeah, that’s if there are some left by then. Wait, did I just admit I am an addict??

For those who don’t know what crack seed is, it’s a term referring to preserved dried fruit. Asian cultures have been making preserved fruit (especially the well-known preserved plums) for a long long time. I grew up eating these.

Typically when we visit Honolulu, I usually get crack seeds from Lin’s Market when we swing by Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. This time, I sent the Mister to Ala Moana to the Crack Seed Center. What I didn’t realize until I started to write this post was that Lin’s now has a store at Ala Moana too. If I had known that, I would have preferred Lin’s over Crack Seed Center. Lin’s run a bit cheaper and I prefer their dried seafood. Of course I’d take CSC’s products anytime, too!

First thing the Mister pulled out of his luggage was my crack seed bag!

 If there was only one crack seed that I could get, it would always be Rock Salt Plum. Those juicy salty-sweet plums makes my mouth water just thinking about it. It was at the top of my list. Other items I got on this trip: rolled ika (cuttlefish), red cuttlefish legs and Tourist Plum (white). Tourist Plum is a bit saltier than Rock Salt Plum and is the dry version of crack seed. I wish now that I would have gotten some Li Hing Mui plums. Sigh, next time.

Crack Seeds!

I love dried cuttlefish, shredded, hot shredded, rolled, cuttlefish legs, yum! I tried to keep the shopping list simple. Here’s a shot of the red cuttlefish legs. These were good in flavor, salty with a hint of sweetness, chewy and at times, a bit hard. One has to be very careful biting into these because sometimes they can be almost rock hard. Wouldn’t want to chip a tooth! Oh yeah, the red dye will also stain your fingers. 

Many of these items are available at Asian food markets although I haven’t seen cuttlefish legs. If you haven’t tried crack seeds before, depending on the kind you try (footballs, plums, cherries, mango, ginger etc.), some of them are an acquired taste.  I recommend trying the wet version of preserved plums or mango. Li Hing Mui mangos are another favorite of mine.

Hope everyone is having a good week so far. It’s hump day and Veteran’s Day. Thank you to all those who have and current serve this great country of ours!