Food Blogger Mania » Mario

Mario — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 23:56:00 +0000

Mangia has Moved!!!
I have relocated my blog site to WordPress. Please find me at Mangiawithmario.com
I look forward to hearing from you!

Simply Egglicious!

Mario — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 05:59:00 +0000

“It was wrong, but sometimes you have to break a few eggs in order to make an omelette.” Stephen King

“An army marches on its stomach”-Napoleon Bonaparte

You can scramble them. Fry them. Boil them. Poach them. Bake them. Pickle them. Devil them. Salad them. Frittata them. Quiche them. Nog them. Curry them and even soup them. I’ve had them all. But one of my favorite ways to eat the versatile egg is the omelette.

Did you know? Every time you eat an omelette you are enjoying a dish that has traveled to us across time. The first recorded omelette recipe is found in an ancient Roman collection of recipes called the Apicius. Some early ancestor of Julia Child was cracking a few eggs in the kitchen when she discovered that beating eggs, milk, and oil into a fluffy mixture could be folded over. Apply honey and sprinkle pepper and you have the Roman omelet, ovemele.

Of course the French have a thing to two to say about their part in the origin of the omelette. Some claim that the name is derived from amelette which translates as “blade” in French alluding to the shape of the dish. And according to legend, Napoleon Bonaparte was traveling with his army through a village in southern France when they stopped for the night. A local innkeeper served a hungry Napoleon an omelette. His first. The Emperor was so impressed that he had all the eggs in the village gathered the next day to cook a huge omelette for his army. Now that’s supersizing on another level.

To this day on Easter Monday, a several-thousand-egg omelet is made in the same area. It is cooked in a massive pan over a huge fire. In fact, there are multiple locations around the world that host a Giant Omelette celebration. Collect a group of cooks and everyone gets to competing. In Portugal, Guinness World Records were on hand in 2012 to witness the cooking of a giant omelette that took 880 lbs. of oil, 220 lbs. of butter and 145,000 eggs. And yes, they were all free range.

Here’s a basic omelette recipe. Any other recipe you’ll find is simply a variation of one type or another. I’ll note some variations.

You’ll need:

2 large eggs (variations: Egg whites yolks only)

2 tablespoons milk (variations: Cream, water, no liquid)

2 tablespoons butter (variations: oil, Irish butter, etc.)

Salt, pepper to taste (variations: exotic salts and peppers)

Crack your eggs into a bowl and add the cream.
Add salt and pepper.

Whisk until fluffy.

Heat butter in pan and pour in the eggs.

Pan tip as you go so that uncooked egg mix covers base

Use spatula to make small cuts into the egg

When it is nearly cooked place filling ingredients over half of the omelet. Turn of the burner. Fold your omelet over. Voila!

The marvelous thing about the omelet are the limitless possibilities that exist to fill them. This is what makes them so appealing to chef in every home. Each time my wife makes an omelet, it is an artistic creation driven by what she finds in the kitchen. And always appealing to the eye and palate. Remember to have your ingredients ready to go before cooking.

There you are, give it a go and let me know how it goes. With omelets, try anything and everything and try it often. You can’t go wrong. In ancient Rome there was an expression called, felix culpa. It means “happy fault” and was a reference to apparent mistakes that actually ends up having surprisingly great results.

So felix culpa and bon appetite!

Super Bowl 50 and San Francisco Dining

Mario — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 02:36:00 +0000

“Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”-Mark Twain

It’s February.

It’s San Francisco. And in case you missed it, there’s a football game that’s going to be played here.

Super Bowl 50 to be exact.

The area is buzzing with excitement. A hundred million people are expected to watch the big game on TV. And over the days leading to it, 1 million people are expected to rain down on our San Francisco Bay Area for the spectacle known as the Super Bowl. Security is included.

There are many things to enjoy here in our City; the sights, the bridges, the ocean, the multiplicity of cultures. And of course there’s the food. You could probably eat out every night of the week your whole life and not exhaust your opportunities to dine. With so many choices it would be easy to miss some great places to eat. There’s a wonderful restaurant I’d like to share with you so that you don’t miss out. I think you’ll find that whether you are a visitor or a local, a trip here for lunch or dinner will be worth your while.

The Mandalay SF

The Mandalay SF is the first Burmese restaurant to have opened in San Francisco. They did so in 1984 and brought to this City a new cuisine experience. Burmese cuisine itself is a rich blend of influences that include Indian, Thai and Chinese. Add to that the family’s own style and preparation and you have the Mandalay SF. Thanks to a friend and co-worker who had been here before we were able to make the Mandalay part of our repertoire of eating experiences.

Décor

I’ve never been to Myanmar. So I’ll just say that the vibe is great. There are plenty of attention holding knick-knacks. But you’ve got to love a place that keeps Christmas decorations up year round. I asked one of the owners about this and he said it was too much one year to take them all down so they just left them up. Marvelous!

Service

No complaints here. They acted like

they wanted us back. And we have been. Several times. They accommodated us with both gluten free and soy free requests. One of the owners, Sherry Dung has stopped by our table every time we have been there to ensure efficient and personal service. She has a great story about how she joined her family in the restaurant business here in SF. If you both have the time, ask her about it.

By the way, don’t forget to try the Mandalay Special Ginger Lemonade

The Food

Rainbow salad

This salad is prepared with twenty ingredients and served with their special house dressing. Don’t ask me to name them all. Instead look at the photo and see what you can identify. We ordered it as an appetizer. They brought it to our table and asked if they could toss it for us. I think its called rainbow because of the array of colors that present in the dish. But it is also a rainbow array of textures and flavors. We commented that we could go there just to enjoy that dish only and would be satisfied. Again, it’s great shared.

Mandalay Mango Chicken

Yum. Pan fried chicken sautéed with fresh mango, onions and green chilies.

Combination Fried Rice

Rich and ample ingredients. If fried rice were a classic song the Mandalay would be said to do a cover that is all their own. Their coconut rice is also killer.

Salt and Pepper Prawns

Deee-licious! Deep fried prawns seasoned with salt, pepper, spices, chilies and green onions.

For us, the Mandalay brings brilliant layers of textures, colors and flavors. Our word for it: Exspicomfo.

That’s pronounced Ex-spee-comfo.

Exotic, spicy and comforting.

San Francisco makes another touchdown at the Mandalay SF.

Mandalay is located in the Micro-hood known as the Inner Sunset at:

4348 California Street

San Francisco.

A Delightful Weekend

Mario — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 05:18:00 +0000

“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”

-Orson Welles

Dio mio!

I hope you’re sitting down. Because guess what? After a long hiatus I am back.

I trust that all has been well with your lives and that you have enjoyed many days of exciting adventures. I know that we have. During my time gone, we have had weddings, birthdays, SF Giant’s ball games, beach camping and general all around living. All punctuated of course with fine foods and delicious dining. So thank you for your patience and readership.

I’m going to share with you a delightful weekend my wife and I spent that included a pleasant outing out and about our City by the Bay, breakfasting some seasonal fare and a unique breakfast cookie.

The Pleasant Outing Out and About.

Did you know that San Francisco has an official flower?

Say hello to my little friend, the Dahlia.

The Dahlia Society of California hosts an annual Dahlia Flower Show in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Park’s Hall of Flowers. This was our first outing to a Dahlia show and much like a butterfly bouncing about in a garden on a spring day we moved from flower to flower in enjoyment. For any visitor, it would be hard not to be amazed at the rich showcase of color combinations and petal arrangements.

In October of 1926 then Mayor Rolph and the SF Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution that designated the Dahlia as the official flower of San Francisco.

And they couldn’t have picked a better flower to represent the cosmopolitan character of the City of San Francisco. The Dahlia’s history began in Mexico and in the early years of its discovery the Dahlia’s seeds traveled by explorers to Spain, France, Italy, Germany and England. These founding seeds gave rise to a diversity of beautiful hybrids.

Truly a cosmopolitan flower.

Okay, so here’s the food tie in with the Dahlia. This is after all a food blog. Originally the Dahlia was harvested by the Aztecs for medicine andfood. The Aztecs used the tubers in their diets by eating the bulbous roots. Sounds like a lot of fiber to me. Growers today say that the bulb can be substituted for potatoes. Scalloped dahlia tubers? French fried Dahlias? Tubers au gratin? Efforts were made in those early days to introduce the tubers as a new food choice in Europe, however these attempts were unsuccessful.

Some things you just have to acquire a taste for.

A Seasonal Fare

There’s nothing quite like a California peach. It is one of our summer treasures here. But did you know? Peaches originated in China and have been cultivated as far back as 1000 B.C. From there peaches made their way west to Persia and there were discovered by Alexander the Great. Remember that guy? Alex the original G introduced the peach to the Greeks where it was a big hit. By about 50 B.C the peach had made it’s way to the Roman Empire where it was grown and sold at market. The Romans called the peach a Persian apple, and the name for peach in numerous languages to this day is the name for Persia.

There are so many great peach recipes but one simple dish that my wife makes that I love is her sliced peaches. She takes nice ripe yellow peaches and slices them into a bowl, sprinkles them with sugar and then shreds cheddar cheese over them. Simply scrumptious. We have a favorite room in the house that gets the morning sun where we will sit with coffee and sometimes eat breakfast. A perfect ambiance for enjoying this seasonal fare.

Variations are only limited by imagination but for us have included yogurt, cottage cheese, granola or Mitchell’s ice cream.

I’ve eaten this refreshing dish for breakfast. Lunch. Dinner.

Oh and of course, dessert.

A Unique Breakfast Cookie

I have had chocolate cake in the morning. Popcorn for dinner. And waffles for lunch. So I have no problem squeezing in the right cookie for breakfast. Especially this cookie. Our daughter shared the recipe with my wife who made a batch of these almond butter cookies. My wife likes referring to these cookies as flourless as opposed to gluten free because gluten free implies that something is missing to her. However, there is nothing missing in flavor or texture with these flourless almond butter cookies. We did not have all the ingredients called for so as with all good quarterbacks, she made an audible at the line and substituted a few things in the recipe. She added chocolate nibs to the chocolate chips we had and used coconut sugar since she was out of the brown. The evening she made them I ate three and more fresh out of the oven. The next morning we discovered they made a marvelous addition to the sliced peaches

Simply marvelous.

Almond Butter Flourless Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup Kirkland Smooth and Creamy Almond Butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (and chocolate nibs)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Mix the almond butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth. Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.

3. Stir in the baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.

4. Shape dough into balls, about 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie. The dough may be a bit crumbly, but just squeeze it together. Place dough balls on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with sea salt.

5. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, (until cookies start to brown at the edges). Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

All right my friends.

It’s been great hanging with you. Now go out and discover your own delightful weekend.

Ciao!