I Pinky Swear

Yeah yeah yeah I am always apologizing for not posting new content. I just work so much I do not always have the time. I have TONS of pictures and reviews to write so I will be putting some up VERY soon....PROMISE :-)

Definitely Not Ur Mama's Fried Fish

60% of what I cook has some seafood involved. If I do not watch out I may just become a sea creature. I bought some catfish one day and fried it and it really had this decidedly muddy taste. I bought a big package so I was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of it besides throwing it out. I decided to fry it but then simmer it in a rich savory sauce that would mask a lot of the muddiness. Yes it still had that essence of murk to it...but it turned out pretty good.

I rate this meal a big fat:

C+

The Roasted Pork Fiasco

I am a good cook and obviously not a modest one...lol...but sometimes I make something that puzzles me. Now I marinated this pork for like 2 days in a special blend of seasoning. I put it in the oven and slow roasted it for like 4-5 hours. When it was done I was so excited and it tasted........drumroll.....just ok. It tasted like the pork I season regularly and throw in the oven for an hour or two. It was definitely nothing special. It was alright...but definitely not one of my best dishes. I promised to show the good and the bad so here it is...lol

I rate this meal a big fate:

C-

Are Brussel Sprouts Really From Belgium...lol?

Apparently I bought an entire container of fresh brussel sprouts so I had to utilize them twice. Fine with me. I am not a child anymore so I do not have an aversion to them at all. I browned them in a super hot pan with butter and chopped fresh jalapenos and put them on top of some crispy fried whiting. Yeah so what...fish and brussel sprouts seems to make for a pretty funk-tastic meal...lol..I liked it.

I rate this meal a big fat:

B

Soup...Glorious Soup

I love soup. No...not that salt laden grossness in the can. I love real soup. Pho, hot and sour, chicken noodle, shabu, the list definitely goes on. I am always making meat based soups so I decided to make an Asian inspired seafood soup. Light but complex in flavor. I used some sate sauce, sesame oil, and some secret stuff to make the soup. I cooked the broth for like an hour and a half then I added shrimp, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, noodles, scallions, and a few other things. It will not replace pho as my fav soup in the world but it is definitely up there.

I rate this meal a big fat:

A+

Who Needs A Sub Shop When You Got Me?

I order out a lot. It is not always laziness either. Sometimes I just feel it is cheaper to buy something pre-made than to buy all the ingredients you need to cook it at home. Sometimes it is because I do not have what I need on hand to make what I am craving at home. Anywho...this day I decided I was gonna make an Italian sub at home. I didn't even care if it is cheaper to just order one. I wanted to make one. This way I don't have to say "light onion" and be treated to humongous cubes of onion that leave me with dragon breath. It was just how I wanted. YAY ME!

I rate this meal a big fat:

A

Surf and Turf for Dummies

Most of the times carbs are not necessarily my friend. I have been known to just put meat in my plate and chow down. I guess that is how I keep my girlish figure...lol...;-). I am all for surf and turf. I learned to appreciate steak fully on Christmas Eve in 2008 and there was no turning back. Combine a beautiful steak with some shrimp and we are in business my friend. I buy this low sodium sesame ginger marinade and sauce and that is all the glossy goodness you see here. I added some mushrooms because I figured I should have a vegetable somewhere. Now excuse me while I salivate.

I rate this meal a big fat:

B-

She's A Very Spicy Girl.....

Okay a while back once I figured out how the hell to make rice and beans without wanting to throw myself from the roof I knew I had to do it again. I crossed my fingers and prayed the first time was not just a fluke. It wasn't. It came out just as good as the first one if not better. What can I say...miracles do happen. I topped it with some super spicy twice cooked fish. Have to make it again soon because that was the shizznit...whoo hoo...lol

I rate this meal a big fat:

A+

Not Adam's Rib.....Lol

Now anyone who knows me will tell you I have a habit of not making a square meal. Think about it....who has time to struggle and jump through hoops when you are the only one eating it. I am fat and mighty greedy but I am just not into cooking full meals every day. Well apparently sometimes I do. Honey BBQ ribs with my fav bottled sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's), steamed spinach, and garlic parmesan penne. All that work just for me.......whew.

I rate this meal a big fat:

B

Family Dinner 1.0

Okay so this is a homecooked meal...but Johnresa did not cook this. This was a joint effort between my mom and my sister. Well I made the stuffing but it came out of a box....lol. Now trust me this is not my plate because my plate would not have had any black eyed peas on it (yecccchhhh). So nix those monstrous things and this was a pretty damn good meal. Not the best I have ever had but you can't blame them for not being me.....lmao.

I give this meal a big fat:

B-

So I Told A Fib......

Okay people I lied...lol. I thought I was gonna be back on a roll several months ago but apparently that did not happen. Sorry. Well I am in the process of posting and reviewing food from quite a bit of time ago. I will do better. PROMISE :-D

Sorry Everyone!

I am sorry that I have not been updating this in the past year. I have been going through so many things personally that I have not had the time. Well it is time to get the ball rolling and start posting again. In the next few days I will be posting a few reviews and pics from various times this year. After that I will do my best to post on a regular basis. Sorry...and thank you for reading.

Comfort Food: Johnresa Style

I have not had a comfort food meal in a while. I have been having many take out meals and I have been cooking some fast meals. I have not made any real stick the ribs meals in a while. The other night I decided to make something nice and homey. I made sirloin steak and shrimp stir fry with garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli. Everything was pretty good. The stir fry and broccoli were very delicious. I did make the mashed potatoes a little too salty. Other than that it was a pretty alright meal. Maybe I will make something better tonight.

I give this meal a big fat:

C+

Sushi Lunch...YAY!!!

I love sushi. It is one of my favorite foods. I have yet to find a sushi I did not like. I was craving sushi the other afternoon so I ordered some from Beansprout in Malden. Beansprout is a Chinese restaurant but I think they have some pretty good sushi. I ordered the maki-mono platter. It came with a tuna roll, spicy salmon maki , and california maki. There was a little seaweed salad in the corner of the plate and it came with miso soup. It was quite good and very filling for only $8.99. Maybe next week I will order that again.

I give this meal a big fat:

B

Cafe Belo Rodizio in Everett

I have been to a few different locations of Cafe Belo restaurants. They just opened one in the space that housed the short lived Pantanal. I was going by on the bus the other day and I saw a sign offering all you can eat rodizio for $8.99. I am a fan of Brazilian food so I could not wait to try it. I went the other day with a friend for lunch. There were around 10 cold dishes, 10 hot dishes, roasted vegetables, fried plantain and yucca, and about 8 different meats to choose from including garlic beef, roast pork, sirloin, and chicken hearts. I had chicken salad, baked cod with eggs, olives and other veggies, fried yucca, chicken hearts, and roasted pork. I tried a few other things but these were the highlights. Everything I had was great. I washed it all down with a cold glass of cashew fruit juice. Some of the hot dishes were a little cold but other than that I was more than satisfied.

I rate this meal a big fat:

B-

Finally Edible Rice and Beans

Anyone who knows me knows that despite being a good cook I have always had issues making rice and beans. It seems like no matter what I do it came out tasteless and bland. Not this time. I used some chicken broth I had reserved from when I made gumbo. I used that and the juice from the canned beans as liquid. I added some assorted spices and it came out so good I could have cried. I topped it with some "Shrimp in Garlic Sauce" that I made. I cannot wait to make this dish again.

I rate this meal a big fat:

A

Are Peppers Supposed To Taste That Way????

I ordered a bacon cheeseburger sub from Neapoli in Malden. I asked for cooked mushrooms and green peppers on it and extra mayo. These was by far the strangest tasting peppers I have ever tasted. They were oddly tart. Not acidic but tart. It made my whole sub have a strange tart flavor. Even the smokiness of teh bacon could not mask it. Shame on you Neapoli for serving me strange tasting peppers. I will of course still order from there because their other stuff is good. I will just remember not to order anything with those godawful peppers.

I rate this meal a big fat:

D-

My First Time with Gumbo

I ordered this cookbook last week and reasoned it would only make sense if I actually cooked something out of the book. I decided to take a stab at making chicken gumbo. I had all the ingredients on hand besides the sausage but I figured it would taste just as good without that...it did. It took around 2 and half hours to cook and it was worth every minute. It was spicy, savory, and just flat out tasty. There was so much I ended up having it for two days. Now those are some leftovers I do not mind eating.

I rate this meal a big fat:

B

Steak and Cheese Please!

Okay so as always I was feeling a little lazy...lol. I wanted to make something tasty but quick. I stir fried some shaved steak, onions, peppers, and mushrooms and I topped it with some sharp American cheese. Stirred together and served with some biscuits it was a beautiful thing. Trust me it tastes better than it looks in the picture.

I rate this meal a big fat:

B

Bao Bao Reloaded

After all the food at Xinh Xinh we still managed to find room for dessert. We headed to Bao Bao Bakery over on Harrison Ave. I loved the desserts we had there before so we ordered those two (white chocolate cake and blueberry cheesecake) as well as two others (strawberry cake and kiwi cake). The kiwi cake was just alright. I am not sure if I feel kiwi should be used on cake. I think of kiwi as more of a fruit used for tarts. The strawberry cake was fluffy and delicious. The blueberry cheesecake was as delicious as before. My only complaint was that the white chocolate cake tasted stale. The cake was sort of crusty on the edges and not nearly as fluffy as the time we had it previously. All in all we had quite a sweet time there.

I rate this meal a big fat:

B