With mushrooms and celery, served over rice. $6
Hung To Seafood, South San Francisco
The portion size of their lunch plates are ridiculous! All that food for only six dollars! The dish tasted pretty good too. They use large pieces of chicken breast and I love the whole mushrooms. Noms!
So my office held our 2nd Annual Holiday Potluck and everyone (well almost everyone) brought delicious food to share! I’m posting some of the yummy food so you can get a few ideas for your next holiday get together. If all else fails, make a Costco run apparently. I mean who needs a fancy corporate holiday party when you can have a good ole potluck?! All names have been changed to protect the innocent! 🙂
Pork belly steamed bun – Papa Chang
We all know that most holiday plates are fattening so why not get it in the form of tender pork belly?! Just top the bun with shredded scallions and hoisin sauce for an elegant presentation! You can purchase frozen buns at your local Asian market and steam them prior to serving. Xiexie!
Pigs in a blanket – Rapunzel
Simple but delicious, a perennial party favorite! Just wrap ‘Lil Smokies (these are turkey) with crescent pastry rolls (these use a low fat variety) and voile, you have an all-American treat! According to Rapunzel, each piece has only 45 calories!
Pomegranate kielbasa bites – Dumes
The perfect combination of beefy meat and sticky sweet. Simmer sliced beef kielbasa sausage in a mixture of pomegranate juice, ketchup and Tabasco sauce until the sauce is thick and reduced. Serve on a buttery Ritz cracker to make it classy! Thanks Dumes!
Spam musubi – Sophie
Perfectly portioned and utterly delicious! Spam plus sushi rice and a nori strip equals a happy vicenteSF! Arigato!
Traditional midwestern queso surprise – vicenteSF
OK, I made that name up but my roommate IS from Kansas and he makes this delicious dip once in a while. Just combine Velveeta cheese (SO American!) with browned ground beef and a can of Ro-Tel brand diced tomatoes with chiles (another midwestern staple) in a crock pot. Set it and forget it! It’s customary to eat this with potato chips, not tortilla chips, silly!
Mini quiche lorraine – Mats
Another easy potluck option, the frozen mini quiche! Just throw into the toaster oven for a few minutes and these buttery, salty bites are sure to please everyone!
Shrimp cocktail – Pong
Costco wins again! Seafood always ups the chichi factor!
Roast chicken – Pong
And antoher Costco treasure!
Chewy mixed chip holiday cookie – Rapunzel
These are surprisingly good despite Rapunzel’s baking track record! Just kidding. These nommy cookies have milk chocolate, white chocolate AND butterscotch chips! And lots of butter for all the good lil boys and girls!
Almond jello with fruit – Sophie
Sophie fights back with a more sophisticated dessert approach. The light almond jello pairs wonderfully with fresh fruit!
Walnut brownie – Jefe
And what’s more traditional than some chocolate brownies with NUTS! Walnuts are a safe, delicious and nutritious choice!
Melkesjokolade chocolate – Huff
And Huff brings up the rear with a Norwegian contribution! Tusen takk!
Happy holidays, everyone!!!
“Pollo a la Brasa”. Savory free-range 1/4 chicken (breast and wing) slowly roasted over open flame. Served with two sides and “Aji” sauces. $8.50
Limon Rotisserie, San Francisco
For my sides, I chose the yuca fries and tacu-tacu (Peruvian rice) and both were delicious. The roasted chicken was absolutely delicious and oh so tender and juicy! Omg, and I can’t believe it only cost $8.50 for the chicken and 2 sides. What a steal! That’s what I call dining deliciously on a budget! The restaurant is kind of randomly located in the Mission, but I’m definitely coming back for the yummy food and great service.
Aji sauces. I’m not sure what all the sauces were, but they were SO good! Normally aji sauce is bright green and is put through a blender, but none of these fit that description. No worries, I used them for the chicken and the yuca fries. Noms!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2014
Crispy chicken sauteed with onions, bell peppers, jalapenos and sweet basil leaves in Krua’s special hot chili sauce. $12
Krua Thai, San Francisco
This was a delicious plate of food! I love the hot chili sauce that they use in this dish. It wasn’t very hot, but it had a nice sweetness to it that tasted great with the fried, breaded chicken. You get a great amount of food and the prices are decent! Krua Thai hasn’t been open that long and I’m glad we tried it. It’s great tasting comfort Thai food!
Golden fried bags filled with chicken, shrimp, chestnut, corn and vermicelli noodles. Thai-style vegetable egg rolls served with sweet and sour sauce. Krua appetizer sampler, $11
Krua Thai, San Francisco
The gold bags were so cute! Alan told me that they tie them closed with vermicelli noodles and they shrivel up once they’re deep fried. Ingenious! This is pretty much the same appetizer served two different ways – in bags and in rolls. They were both very tasty!
Filled with minced chicken, corn, onions, potatoes, and yellow curry powder coated with wheat flour. Served with sweet and sour sauce. Krua appetizer sampler, $11
Krua Thai, San Francisco
These didn’t have a very strong curry flavor which was a little disappointing, but I loved the texture of them. I wish the appetizer sampler came with more than just two samosas! I know, I’m a pig. Hehe!
Singha beer. $5
Crispy spring rolls with chicken and vegetables, served with crispy wonton chips and sweet & sour sauce. Garnished with lettuce and orange slice. $6.50
Go Bistro, San Francisco (SFO)
I guess you really can’t mess up spring rolls unless they’re super greasy, so these were just fine. Nothing special about them, but sometimes you just need something hot and fried to tie you over before boarding an airplane.
Sierra Nevada pale ale. $6.79
I also think that it’s also a safe bet to have a beer (or cocktail) before a flight. It loosens you up in case you’re seated by annoying passengers. 🙂
Served with pickled paper-thin cucumbers, spicy carrots, and chopped parsley. $3.25
Chairman Bao Truck, San Francisco
So I’m a big fan of The Chairman Bao truck and I’ve been slowly trying all the buns whenever I see the truck on my way home from the gym (great way to lose weight, right?). Although the pork belly bun is still my favorite, this chicken bun was also very good. It had great flavor and I love the thin cucumber slices. The chicken was tender and they certainly put plenty of toppings on the bun. Go Bao!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2014
This wasn’t on their happy hour menu, but I think it was their nightly special. You really can’t go wrong with fried chicken and fluffy waffles. Noms!
Farmerbrown, San Francisco
Sauteed eggplant with chicken, shrimp, red bell pepper, and basil in a special spicy sauce. $9.75
Eric’s Restaurant, San Francisco
I’m an eggplant fanatic so, naturally, this is one of my favorite dishes at Eric’s. You also get a great combination of different proteins with the beautifully sauteed eggplants. The sauce is so flavorful and made even better with the basil. My only complaint is that I always order this extra spicy, but I always receive it with barely any spice. C’mon people, gimme some heat!!! 🙂
Breaded and deep fried chicken pieces topped with a special sauce. $8.75
Eric’s Restaurant, San Francisco
“General Tso’s chicken” can mean anything on a Chinese restaurant menu. If you haven’t been to that particular restaurant before, you can expect to get just about anything. The General Tso’s chicken at Eric’s Restaurant is one of my favorites. The nuggets are pretty meaty (meaning they’re not overly breaded) and the sauce is absolutely delicious. It was a great dark, garlicky flavor and it’s nice and sticky. Noms!
Wow! I could eat this every day. It’s so warm, rich, and comforting. It had a little bit of everything in it: chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, and squid! The sauce was absolutely amazing and the vermicelli noodles soaked up all of the delicious flavors. Thank you, XLB Kitchen! 2 person lunch combo $14.95
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco
Vittle Monster 