Pimientos de Padron: How to Escape the Heat

28 July, 2008 Nate 20 Comments

A Bag of Happy Quail Farms’ Pimientos de Padron Peppers

These little peppers may look sweet, but eat the wrong one, and you might be grasping for a glass of beer or a chunk of bread, your mouth on fire. Allegedly, one in ten of these peppers a tongue-scorcher. Chez Pim calls eating a mess of Pimientos de Padron “Culinary Russian Roulette”.

I’ve had these before, and my taste memory of them didn’t include searing pain and vigorous fanning of air onto my extended tongue. Of course, I only had a couple of them at the time. So when I read on Foodista and on We Heart Food that Pimientos de Padron were on sale again, I knew I had to get some. I convinced Annie to go to the Palo Alto Farmer’s Market and pick some up

Happy Quail Farms Pimientos de Padron Peppers on Sale

happy quail farms pimiento de padron peppers on sale

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Bay Area

Peppers, Pimientos, and Pervs in Palo Alto

27 July, 2008 Nate 2 Comments

Sweet peppers from Happy Quail Farms, Palo Alto Farmer’s Market

I have a taste memory of savoring Pimientos de Padron peppers at a tasting a couple years back and being amazed at how delicious they were. They’re so addictive, too! It’s like eating really good potato chips or french fries – you can’t stop at just one. (That is, until you hit the hot one…)

We tried to grow them in our garden last year but didn’t have any luck. So when I read that Foodista got some Pimientos de Padron earlier last week, I knew I had to seek them out. After all, the grower, Happy Quail Farms, is in East Palo Alto, just a little bit up the Peninsula from us.

Happy Quail’s web page said that they were going to be at the Palo Alto Farmer’s Market on Saturday, so I convinced Annie that we needed to make the drive up to get some pimientos.

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Egg, Malaysian, Pork

7 Tips for Making Mouth-Watering Char Koay Teow

24 July, 2008 Annie 23 Comments

Even though I’m from Kuala Lumpur and lived there most of my life, I very seldom ate Char Koay Teow there. I’m pretty picky about my CKT. There is a simple reason for that: my dad hails from Penang. ‘Nuff said!

Ok, I’ll elaborate for those not in the know.

I’m sure there will be some who will challenge my opinion, but I really think that, outside of Penang, there are very few good Char Koay Teows to be had. When I was living in KL, it didn’t matter that I went many months without eating CKT because I knew that a trip to visit relatives in Penang was always on the horizon. I would soon be able to get my fix.
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Tomatoes

FREE Northern California Tomato Tasting Event

23 July, 2008 Annie 7 Comments

Tomato Tasting at Wild Boar Farms

“Berkeley Tie Dye”. “Beauty King”. “Pork Chop”. “Furry Red Boar”.

Not many of you would know that these are actual names of tomatoes that Brad (the owner of Wild Boar Farms) has developed and is growing on his farm in Suisun Valley, Solano County. They are the most amazing looking and tasting tomatoes you’ll ever encounter. If you’ve ever eaten at Chez Panisse during the summer and fall months, some of the tomatoes you enjoyed came from Brad’s farm. Wild Boar Farms also supplies many other restaurants around the North SF Bay / Napa area.

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House of Annie