Field excursion with the FARM toTemecula Olive Oil Company - Part 1

A couple of Mondays ago myself and the kitchen crew from work all went to Old Town to visit the Temecula Olive Oil Company.



It was pretty cool. We learned a lot. I must admit, there was some hesitance on my part about going to taste olive oils as if we were going to taste wine. But that quickly changed when we got there.

We were shocked when the host said that we would not be tasting with bread as it could mask the true flavors of this fruit. Sounds a bit weird right? Actually once we started tasting, we didn't miss the bread at all, plus you can really tell the difference between great olive oil and crappy mass marketed olive oil. We were first given a sample (pictured below) of one of their oils, then one from the supermarket. I was completely shocked at insane difference.



Did you know that just because an olive oil that's on the grocery shelves are greener, doesn't necessarily make them better? In fact, it is a sure indication that they've crushed the leaves as well as the olives to give it a greener color, which means that it is of lower quality.



Here's a bunch of their different olive oils.







If you would like to learn more about olive oils and their company, visit their site The Temecula Olive Oil Company. Go check 'em out. They've got a great product.

Crawdads!

I can't sleep, so I'm going to blog.

A few weeks ago mister lover and I went to the Gator by the Bay festival which was centered mainly around good food, fun, and music. The event itself had many food vendors and booths full of random type things to buy which are representative of the Lousiana culture. I have to admit it pained me to see people buying hotdogs and hamburgers at a cajun food festival! Argh. I guess you'll always have those people in the world who plays it safe. Sure glad that isn't me. Whatevs.



This was our third time going so we had the logistics all planned out. We had a plan of attack. We were pros.

You see, the first year we parked at the airport, crossed through dangerously heavy traffic, both paid for admission, spent $40 on 20lbs of crawdads, and took 10lbs of crawdads home (the large size), still we were left hungering for more. The cost of admission for two $40, and a grand total of $40 for 20lbs.

The second year we parked near the Sheraton by one of those benches overlooking the the harbor, you could see the naval base from across the way as well as Coronado. We walked to the gates, I went in, bought 30lbs of crawdads, walked out, we sat on one of the benches and ate 10lbs, then took the rest back home. The only downfall to year two was that I forgot to bring aluminum foil because they don't provide you with any, in case you want to take yours to go. The cost of admission for one $20, and a grand total of $60 for 30lbs.

This year, we were lucky enough to find parking by those same benches, proceeded to the festival, both went in, purchased 10lbs each to enjoy there, bought an additional 30lbs to take home, and this time I brought aluminum foil and a bag to carry it all in! Genius. Plus it was a perfect Saturday afternoon on Mother's day weekend, slightly overcast with sprinkles of sunshine, warm and breezy. Sigh. The cost of admission for two $40, and a grand total of $100 for 50lbs.


First bite.


5lbs eaten in 5 minutes, syke. It was more like 30 minutes.


An hour later.

So how does one reheat 30lbs of crawdads at home without destroying the integrity of the product you ask? A bamboo steamer. It works wonders. I was able to continuously reheat crawdads later that day and the following day without destroying the texture or compromising the flavor. MMmM. It pays to be a cook sometimes. Especially if you're Asian, and have a bamboo steamer like I do. =)



The sheer pleasure we both got from eating these little critters all weekend long, priceless.

I will try my best next year however to go the the LSU alumni event because food cost wise it is more cost effective.

Random food eaten this past month

These are not in order


Khao Piak, a Laotian rice noodle dish with a lovely chicken broth, from scratch of course, even the noodles. (This was my first time making the noodles from scratch and they were all right but didn't have the right texture).



Breakfast at Ihop, in Clairemont, a few weeks ago.



Sticky rice and Larb beef (seen) from United Oriental Food Market before they mysteriously closed down without a warning! I guess it wasn't really this month but whatevs. =(



Spicy garlic fish from Dao Son. Not really this month either, ha.



Chow fun from Dao Son, you guessed it, not from this month. =/