Meme, Myself, and I

Julie over at One-Wall Kitchen tagged me for this meme. I've always wanted to do one of these, but I've never been tagged before.  Now I feel like one of the cool kids at school.  As such, I will use this opportunity to talk about myself whilst scoffing at my lackeys and underlings.

On to the meme...

What were you cooking/baking 10 years ago?
10 years ago I was in college at THE University of California at Santa Barbara. So I know for a fact that I wasn't cooking much of anything. I was eating lunch at the DLG. Literally.

What were you cooking/baking one year ago?
A year ago, I was cooking things like chili, osso buco, coq au vin, fried chicken, risotto, grilled steak, chicken stock, gumbo, pot roast, and beef and broccoli. I still cook many of these things when I get the chance. Believe it or not, I've never cooked a single Filipino dish until I started this blog (OK, maybe that is believable. I am such a rookie).

Five snacks you enjoy:
I'm not much of a snacker. Oh, wait, I know:

1. Anderson Valley Brewing Company (Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, Hop Ottin India Pale Ale, Boont Amber Ale)
2. Deschutes Brewery (Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale)
3. Anchor Brewery (Anchor Porter, Anchor Liberty)
4. Sierra Nevada Brewery (Pale Ale, Porter)
5. PBR

Five recipes you know by heart:

1. A proper Old-Fashioned (I prefer Maker's Mark, no soda)
2. A proper Martini (3 parts gin, not vodka. 1 part vermouth. Stir with ice, no shaking. 1 olive)
3. Pinakbet
4. Chicken Adobo
5. Chicken Stock

Five culinary luxuries you would indulge in if you were a millionaire:

1. Many trips to the Philippines to try the cuisine of each region.
2. Trips to Spain and Japan (I've never been).
3. I'd raise my own organic, all-natural pigs (I'm serious).
4. A meal at The French Laundry every couple of months (more frequent visits would bankrupt me).
5. *And I'd open up a restaurant named "Steers, Beers, and Rears".  It will be like Hooters, but classier. It will be a steak and brewhouse in which thong-clad beauties would bring patrons large cuts of rare beef and foamy steins of ale. There will be balloon animals and magic.  There will be a jovial bartender named Rodolfo and he will refuse to wear an eye-patch over his one milky eye.  The men's restroom will be wallpapered with images of smiling monkeys and there will be ice in the urinals.  There will be a 3 foot by 7 foot oil painting of me with a lumpia hiding my identity at the front entrance.  My grandpa will be the doorman and he will have a toothpick betwixt his lips.

*I'm only joking. That is, unless someone actually opens up a similar restaurant to much fanfare and acclaim. In that case, I will sue you!  Beef, beers, and exposed buttocks are my idea!  Hmmph.

Five foods you love to cook/bake:

1. Pinakbet
2. Longanisa (I've only made it twice, but it's an awesome experience)
3. My secret chili recipe (it's not that great, but I like making it)
4. A fatty rib-eye steak seasoned with only salt and pepper, seared on a scorching hot cast iron pan.
5. Turkey gravy (I can't explain why. It's like some strange alchemy to come up with perfect gravy).

Five foods you cannot/will not eat:
I'm not gonna say there is anything I won't eat.  Sure, there are things like balut that I have never tried and would probably be scared to get near, but I'm sure under the right circumstances I would try anything once.

Five favorite culinary toys:

1. 8-inch Shun Ken Onion Chef's knife (it is my baby and I keep it scary sharp)
2. All-Clad saute pan (we make everything in that pan, from homemade tomato sauce to chicken adobo).
3. Krups ice cream maker (I eat a lot of ice cream and I drink a lot of beer. I weigh 300 pounds).
4. My grill (not my iced out mouth, my gas grill).
5. Thermapen instant read thermometer.

Five dishes on your "last meal" menu:

1. Raw oysters on the half-shell
2. Sushi
3. My mom's pinakbet
4. A medium-rare rib-eye steak
5. My wife's homemade apple pie with homemade vanilla ice cream

Five happy food memories:

1. I don't know if this is necessarily happy, but one time, after taking me and my brothers to see Willow (don't ask), my dad tried to make pancit palabok (a type of Filipino noodle dish) for us. The noodles were way overcooked and became rubbery, but I forced myself to eat it because I didn't want to catch an elbow between the shoulder blades from my dad.  The pancit palabok wasn't great, but I have that memory etched in my brain for some reason.  Good times.
2. A cheap Hawaiian plate lunch I had with my wife on our honeymoon.
3. When I was a little kid, I remember my grandmother making the cake for my aunt's wedding. I don't remember what kind of cake it was, but there were all these layers and scraps of layers and flowers made out of icing. My grandma let me eat the scraps and the extra icing flowers. I only weighed 200 pounds then. I was 11 years old.
4. Sushi at Morimoto.
5. Lunch at Aux Lyonnaise.

I am passing this meme off to Krizia, Manggy, Oggi, Pat, Joey, and Christine, but none of them should feel obligated to participate.  And if anyone else wants in on this, have at it.

Oh, and one more thing.  If you haven't noticed already, I've consolidated my About page, links, and a recipe archive all in one place under the "Lumpia Filling" heading at the top left of this blog. Have a gander.

Comments

[Ruy]

Hmmm, I see you're hoarding a "secret" chili recipe yourself.
Mine never leaves my side.

[Manggy]

Marvin! It's ok! (as I stated in my response to your comment at my site.) I'm flattered you're interested in my answers, haha :) Thanks for the flattering words too :)

I forgot to say I love my cheapo knives. $2 and sharp as a razor. Then you donate it to charity when you're done, haha :) Sue me! It's all I can afford!

[oggi]

LOL, Steers, Beers, and Rears!

I'm picturing you eating all those icing flowers and cake scraps.;D

I'll try to remember those meme things, it make take some time, though.:)

[elmomonster]

Dude, ass-men everywhere are on board if you should open "Steers, Beers and Rears." Can I run a bar tab now? It'll be a good time as any to start drinking.

[elarael]

In this day and age, to equate meat with the rears of women - the origins of your very life, dude - is so tacky and rude that it's not funny, even if you were only trying to make a joke. Seriously. Take it back.

[Burnt Lumpia]

Spoken like a true chili head, Ruy;)

Manggy, there's nothing wrong with $2 knives as long as you get good use out of them:)

No pressure, oggi. Just thought you'd like to participate.

Hey elmo. I knew I could find some way for you to start drinking! You could be a regular customer and have your own special seat at the bar.

Elarael, I'm sorry if you were offended by my joke. But that's all it was, a joke.

[Matt Hurst]

Your chili recipe is awesome and should always be followed up by a good game of Beer Pong, crowning us champions as we later indulge in a celebratory PBR. Ahh, Super Bowl. I cannot wait for it again. Only this time, we'll have a far larger television. I'm serious. We're getting a new monster one.

[Dhanggit]

i hope you will try balut one day..as my dad often say the technique is; you need to eat it at the dark with lights off and with eyes closed..hehehe...love reading meme get to know the person behind the blog :-)

[Ed]

When you do start raising them pigs, make sure they're of the Berkshire kind - the coveted "kurobuta". These have unbelievable marbling.

(You can actually get this at many Korean markets - look for 흑 돼지 "heuk dwaeji" pork in the meat section.)

[Burnt Lumpia]

Hurst, you're such a baller.

Dhanggit, even with the lights off and my eyes closed, I'd still be scared of balut. But I will give it a try some day.

Wow, thanks for the tip Ed! I will see if I can find some heuk dwaeji pork!