El Campeon

Pros: Big portions, tasty food, authentic Mexican
Cons: Can be busy, limited indoor seating


El Campeon (31921 Camino Capistrano San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675) is right around the corner from our house here in San Juan Capistrano, but I've avoided heading in there for lunch until recently just based on the sheer number of people inside. I know that usually means it equals great food, but each time it also seemed like it would cause a big wait and I was hungry.


Scott, thinking ahead and still wanting to try it, decided to take me for an early lunch there this week. We got in right before the lunch rush happened and our food came out in a very timely manner, but honestly, watching the line that came after, it seemed like they know how to move people through quickly.

Carniceria El Campeon is in an older strip mall on the corner of Camino Capistrano and Del Obispo, and it has a sort of run down charm I tend to associate with good food for whatever reason. The menu is pretty much entirely in Spanish, so for those of us a little rusty since college, it's also helpful that the food is all out in a lunch counter type display; the staff is friendly and helpful as well. Scott and I couldn't get over the bright red color of the pork carnitas, so we both ordered the combination plate for $6.95.



The portions were enough for me to have plenty left over for two whole meals, though Scott did manage to kill his while we were there. It came with a big ol' heaping stack of pork, spanish rice, refried beans, corn tortillas, shredded lettuce, sour cream and some tomato. Pretty standard Mexican fare, but really tasty also.

I'd really like to go back and try some of the other items on the menu. We've been looking for a decent, authentic, local Mexican place to frequent and I think we may have found it.

Review: Thai Juan On

Thai Juan On is a new Thai place next to the Marshall's in San Juan Capistrano. My husband and I love Thai food, and try to eat as many local restaurants as possible, so we were excited to try it.
The first time we went was during the evening, about 8 pm, and it was slammed. I was happy to see that because I always like local places to do well. Unfortunately that resulted in very long wait times for both food and service. I assume that this is because the place is new, and they have some things to work out. The food was good, however, so we decided to give it another go during a weekday when it would likely be less busy. Last week we went back around noon on Monday. It was almost empty save three other patrons, so we hoped things would go better, and they did.
You can tell right when you enter that the owners spent a lot of money designing the restaurant. It's beautiful, with reds and earth tones, and a nice, muted light, which gives a cool ambiance. There's a bar area that's divided off the main dining room, and separate enough so the TV there doesn't distract those in the main eating area.


The menu has a lot of options, is well priced, and is chock full of ridiculous puns, carried over from the name of the restaurant itself. The alcohol list is labeled "Alchoholiday," the starters are "Appethaizers" for example. Some may find it a bit much, but personally I thought it was kitschy and hilarious. Again, somebody spent a long time on this, silly or not.
The food itself is good. Not the best Thai I've ever had, but very satisfying and tasty. We started with the Angel Wing/Pek Kai which they describe on the menu as "Boneless chicken wing stuffed with minced chicken, glass noodles and mild spices, cooked to golden brown. Served with nutty sweet & sour sauce, EXCELLENT!" And it was, golden and crispy and yummy, and a big enough wing for the husband and I to share. We were also served a soup of broth and some veggies which was nice as well. (Food pics aren't the best, sorry; the light was too dim and my flash makes it look a bit funky.)


We ordered from the special lunch menu, each entree being priced at about $8. My husband got a yellow curry chicken dish, and I ordered filet sweet and sour style with bell peppers and pineapple.


Each came with a scoop of white rice. He enjoyed his; said it had just the right amount of spice. My beef was cooked nicely, pink in the middle and tender. I liked it a lot, but it was more reminiscent of a Hawaiian dish to me than Thai. Maybe it was the ice cream scoop of rice that threw me off, I don't know.
All in all, TJO is a good option, for lunch at least. We'll definitely go back, though maybe not for dinner until they work their kinks out.

Baking, at least someone here can do it

It should be known I completely fail at baking. I mess up boxed brownies, and I'm not even joking. Recently, we have my father-in-law staying with us (that's a whole different post on the other blog though!), and he can-can likes to!-bake. That's at least been a plus of having someone invade our home for the last six months.
He had some sour dough starter going for a few weeks and finally was able to make a loaf of bread out of it a few days ago. It was really good, and the best part was how awesome the house smelled all day.

I'm a weirdo, so I took a some food porn shots of it.

Ratatouille, or Confit Byaldi if you're fancy

I absolutely love Disney's film Ratatouille. Not just because I love all things Disney, but because they did such a great job of showing a real working kitchen. And seriously, how gorgeous was the art?
For a long while now, I've toyed with the idea of cooking the recipe that Thomas Keller created for the movie. I knew it would be quite an undertaking if I did, so I waited until I had an open afternoon available and went for it.
I've made ratatouille in the past, and it's a pretty simple recipe on it's own. This one however, requires quite a bit more prep work than the average recipe. It was so worth it in the end! It was just gorgeous and tasted freaking fantastic.

The ingredients:



Layered veggie glamour shots:





And out of the oven!



Here's his fanstastic recipe courtesy of the NY Times:

Confit Byaldi
1/2 red pepper, seeds and ribs removed

1/2 yellow pepper, seeds and ribs removed

1/2 orange pepper, seeds and ribs removed

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion

3 tomatoes (about 12 ounces total weight), peeled, seeded, and finely diced, juices reserved

1 sprig thyme

1 sprig flat-leaf parsley

1/2 a bay leaf

Kosher salt

FOR VEGETABLES
1 zucchini (4 to 5 ounces) sliced in 1/16-inch rounds 1 Japanese eggplant, (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 1 yellow squash (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 2 teaspoons olive oil 1/8teaspoon thyme leaves Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR VINAIGRETTE

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oi

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Assorted fresh herbs (thyme flowers, chervil, thyme)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

1. For piperade, heat oven to 450 degrees. Place pepper halves on a foil-lined sheet, cut side down. Roast until skin loosens, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop finely.

2. Combine oil, garlic, and onion in medium skillet over low heat until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes, do not brown; add peppers and simmer to soften them. Season to taste with salt, and discard herbs. Reserve tablespoon of mixture and spread remainder in bottom of an 8-inch skillet.

3. For vegetables, heat oven to 275 degrees. Down center of pan, arrange a strip of 8 alternating slices of vegetables over piperade, overlapping so that 1/4 inch of each slice is exposed. Around the center strip, overlap vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward center. Repeat until pan is filled; all vegetables may not be needed.

4. Mix garlic, oil, and thyme leaves in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle over vegetables. Cover pan with foil and crimp edges to seal well. Bake until vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. (Lightly cover with foil if it starts to brown.) If there is excess liquid in pan, place over medium heat on stove until reduced. (At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350-degree oven until warm.)

5. For vinaigrette, combine reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

6. To serve, heat broiler and place byaldi underneath until lightly browned. Slice in quarters and very carefully lift onto plate with offset spatula. Turn spatula 90 degrees, guiding byaldi into fan shape. Drizzle vinaigrette around plate. Serve hot.

Yield: 4 servings

Farmer Scott's garden adventure

Scott always likes to try his hand at gardening, and I have to admit over the years he's been getting better at it. This year, he tore up what little space we've got in the back yard and has quite the garden going.
We have three kinds of tomatoes, artichokes, beets, lots of lettuce, greens, carrots, peas, bell/jalapeno peppers, and some other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

At the beginning; I'm going to continue taking pictures of it's progress as it grows:



We ate this one for dinner, it was so good!



And two more took it's place:



Our mixed greens:





I absolutely cannot wait for the tomatoes to start producing. That's always my favorite part of having a garden! I'm anticipating that we'll have a pretty good crop (ha ha, crop, in our tiny yard) of them, so I'm going to try my hand this summer at canning some tomato sauce. Should be interesting to say the least!

Japan food blog: Kuidaore!

I have to admit, one of the main reasons we went to Osaka was to experience the food culture there. Osakans have something called "kuidaore" which roughly translates to "to ruin one's self with food and drink."



We stayed in the Shinsekai neighborhood. Now, the main area for people to walk around, shop and eat is Dotonbori. We actually preferred our seedy little neighborhood, so we spent the night hopping from restaurant to restaurant, eating a ton of great food and drinking rounds.



I did insist we go to Dotonbori to hit up Kani Doraku, a crab restaurant famous for it's giant mechanical crab out front. They grill legs right on the street, and they were so damn good!





We also tried takoyaki while we were there, which was also fabulous. Again, street vendors! If you're in a foreign place, just try them. The takoyaki were awesome, full of gooey octopus deliciousness on the inside.







I loved Osaka; it has a way more chill, fun vibe than Tokyo, and awesome food to boot, which never hurts.

Japan food blog: the great, round two

I had to break up my favorite food experiences into two posts, because otherwise it would just have been too long.



On the first morning, we headed out of the hotel early in search of breakfast, and found a tiny, slightly grubby looking restaurant near the Minami-Senju station in Tokyo. This became one of our home bases for breakfast (they were only open in the mornings) while we were there. As a matter of fact, Scott still often will wake up and say, "I wish I could go to that place in Tokyo right now."



There were a few long tables set up, a small kitchen in the back, and a few shelves with plates full of the samples of what they had available that morning. It was typically things like salmon, steamed veggies, fried potato pancakes, and served with sides of miso and rice. Not the typical American breakfast, but superior in so many ways. Sure, I still had to go to McDonald's for a (as much as possible) proper cup of coffee after, but this little place will always epitomize mornings in Tokyo for me.

If I had to give a tip to someone traveling to Japan for the first time regarding food, it would be to hit up the street food stalls. I'll go into it more once I get to the Osaka post, but let me tell you now, some of the best munchies I had were from street vendors. Don't know what it is? Try it anyway, especially if there's a line.

Outside a temple, Tokyo:



The only thing I didn't manage to get my hands on from a stall is a baked yam. I kick myself to this day for it! This lady was selling them outside the big Buddha in Nara; she caught me taking her picture and was none to pleased. If she only knew my displeasure at missing out on her yams...