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What I Ate: June 16, 2010

Posted 17 June, 2010 at 10:21pm by Michael Chu
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Lunch: I had some Aidell's meatballs on a wilted spinach salad.
Aidell's meatballs on a wilted spinach salad

Dinner: Tina cooked tomatoes with egg and cauliflower and chicken with mushrooms and served it with white rice.
Mushroom Chicken, Tomato Cauliflower and Egg, White Rice

What I Ate: June 15, 2010

Posted 16 June, 2010 at 9:31pm by Michael Chu
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Lunch: We ate the leftover prime rib, Brussels sprouts, corn, and potatoes.
Prime Rib, Brussels sprouts, corn, and potatoes

Dinner: Tina cooked rigatoni pasta with rendered prosciutto, garlic, and spinach.
Rigatoni with Prosciutto, Garlic, and Spinach

What I Ate: June 14, 2010 (Subway, Serrano's)

Posted 15 June, 2010 at 10:41pm by Michael Chu
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Lunch: Tina and I shared a foot long Oven Roasted Chicken Breast sandwich from Subway
Subway - Oven Roasted Chicken Breast

Dinner: Before going to see The Karate Kid, we ate a quick dinner at Serrano's. I had the migas with steak fajita.
Serrano's - Migas and Steak Fajitas

What I Ate: June 13, 2010 (IKEA, Uchi)

Posted 14 June, 2010 at 11:58pm by Michael Chu
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Dinner: We went back to Uchi to try the Iron Chef America inspired Ginger themed omakase meal. We ordered one person's worth of the ginger omakase and supplemented with additional dishes. As usual, the food was excellent. An amuse bouche of canary melon slices marinated in lime juice with micro-basil came out while we surveyed the menu.
Uchi - amuse bouche of canary melon slices marinated in lime juice with micro-basil

madai carpaccio Japanese sea bream from tsukiji market with ginger oil, myoga, and ginger "caviar". We found the ginger flavor extremely subtle in this dish. Fried fish scales provided a nice crunchy texture that I appreciated.
Uchi - madai carpaccio

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What I Ate: June 13, 2010 (IKEA, Uchi)

What I Ate: June 12, 2010 (Prime Rib Dinner)

Posted 13 June, 2010 at 11:39pm by Michael Chu
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We had the members of the Austin Fearless Critic council who were available over for dinner. It had been over two years since we last entertained, so we were a little bit rusty. In the end, it worked out well and everyone seemed happy with the meal. I started the day by trimming a USDA Prime rib-eye roast that I had been dry aging for the last few days (didn't have time for more since we were traveling) down to about eight pounds. I then seared it on the grill before slow-roasting it in the oven for a few hours.
Searing Prime Rib on the grill

My oven runs hot. (About 50 degrees hotter than expected according to the digital air temperature thermometer and data logger I hooked up to collect accurate temperature readings - because baking during the last six months has been hit or miss, I suspected the temperature was off even though Whirlpool claims their appliances are perfectly calibrated and perhaps my old ovens were off and I was used to that, ugh.) I started with the oven set to 185°F (but, in actuality, it cycled between 235°F and 200°F). At 1:10pm, I dropped the temp to 175°F (170 is the lowest setting my oven goes to) and continued to track the temperature increase inside my prime rib. The temperature drop resulted in a temperature swing from 230&176;F to 193°F which was a little better but not even a full ten degree drop as I would have expected from lowering the target temperature by ten degrees. At around 3pm, I shut the oven off entirely and turned it on two more times briefly to help keep the oven at around 130°F so I could hold the roast at an internal temperature of 130°F until we got closer to serving time. I then turned the oven on to 170°F to finish off the roast (stopping at an internal temperature of 133°F). The oven cycles between 222°F and 186°F when set to 175°F. The air temperature probe was positioned in the center of the oven rack about one inch below the sheet pan holding the rib roast.

Oven Temperature
Oven Temperature While Roasting Prime Rib

Internal Roast Temperature
Prime Rib Internal Temperature

Prime Rib
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What I Ate: June 12, 2010 (Prime Rib Dinner)

What I Ate: June 11, 2010 (Costco, Joe's Crab Shack)

Posted 12 June, 2010 at 8:29pm by Michael Chu
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Lunch: I ate a Costco Polish Sausage.
Costco - Polish Sausage

Dinner: In what is becoming a tradition, Tina and I went to Joe's Crab Shack after seeing a musical performance (this time it was Pink Martini performing with the Austin Symphony). I had the Crawfish Half & Half (Our famous crawfish etouffee and crispy crawfish tails.) with dirty rice instead of white rice. I thought it was tasty, but not anything special. Tina thought it reminded her of Gulf shrimp and didn't want anything to do with the dish.
Joe's Crab Shack - Crawfish Half & Half

What I Ate: June 10, 2010

Posted 11 June, 2010 at 11:24pm by Michael Chu
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Lunch: Tina made a chicken salad out of the leftover rotisserie chicken and placed it with fresh avocado slices on bread to make a sandwich. I ended up splitting it in half and spreading the salad over each of the bread halves to make two open faced sandwiches.
Chicken Salad Sandwich

Dinner: Tina sauteed fresh spinach with prosciutto and garlic.
Sauteed Spinach with Garlic and Prosciutto

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What I Ate: June 10, 2010

What I Ate: June 9, 2010 (Red Robin)

Posted 10 June, 2010 at 9:30pm by Michael Chu
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Lunch: I ate the rest of the dumplings for lunch.
Pan-fried Dumplings

Dinner: We had a late dinner at Red Robin where I ordered the Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Salad.
Red Robin - Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Salad

What I Ate: June 8, 2010 (Costco, Central Market Cafe)

Posted 9 June, 2010 at 9:15pm by Michael Chu
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Lunch: I brought home a Costco rotisserie chicken which we ate with a bowl of cherry tomatoes.
Costco - Rotisserie Chicken
Cherry Tomatoes

Dinner: I had a Cobb Salad from Central Market Cafe at closing time (we always seem to show up just before 9pm) before grocery shopping to restock our fridge.
Central Market Cafe - Cobb Salad

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