homemade vietnamese nem nuoung ...

i love nem nuoung, and for those of you who don't know what it is, it's essentially a vietnamese sausage/meatloaf patty that's sliced and rolled up like a summer roll. contents include cucumber, cilantro, lettuce, sometimes a shrimp spring roll for crunch, chives and then the roll is dipped into a spicy peanut sauce (light on the peanut flavor though).

my mother usually makes me a large batch, it's put into the freezer and i slowly enjoy the fruits of her labor. well, a short while ago, i decided to make them myself, and during my two weeks off i re-stocked the fridge. i of course bastardized my version, my mother already shakes her head at my variation. in addition to the pork, garlic and spices, i add in chopped cilantro, chopped and sliced garlic, both granulated sugar and honey, and green onion directly into the mixture, definitely a big no-no in terms of authenticity. i enjoy it, i think it's a good addition.

the pork patty is put under a hot broiler, the outside becomes sticky, sweet and crisp, and when cut, snaps like the casing of a good hotdog. if you want the recipe, you'll have to ask, but i may not give it to you ... it does involve: pork, garlic, cilantro, garlic, fish sauce, garlic powder, sugar, honey, did i mention more garlic ...

here's the final product before being rolled up:

kitchen doorknobs: fudge

visit kitchen doorknobs for this month's fudge challenge ... white chocolate peanut butter oreo fudge. sticks to the top of your mouth goodness:

a spot of pho ...

a quick review: pho so 1, dorchester, ma ... at the corner of dorchester ave and adams street on the south side of boston. a couple of weeks ago, i took a quick road trip down to the dc area and when i'm in the area, i usually always hit up eden center in falls church va. it's the mecca in the dc area for all things vietnamese. thousands upon thousands of square feet of edible vietnamese goodness, it's like an amusement park of food. i usually always have a good time there, and leave with a very fully belly, but for some reason this time, something was quite lacking. i cam back to boston still hankering for vietnamese, and when that's the case, pho usually hits the spot. i went searching, and ended up on yelp. there are a number of pho/vietnamese places in boston - specifically in allston or chinatown, but there's also a large concentration in dorchester. i took a ride down to dorchester one monday during the week and found pho so 1, from a picking of about 5 different places on yelp. it was a cold bitter day, pho hit the spot, pho so 1 definitely hit the spot. the restaurant itself is pretty clean, tables are set, and my feet don't stick to the floor, nor the chairs, a good sign. the menu itself isn't as expansive as other vietnamese places i've been, worrisome? i think not, it may just mean they do the few things they serve well, at least i hope. the pho came out, and i had no complaints, broth was clear, aromatic, thinly sliced top round mixed with the right amount of beef balls. the obligatory plate of bean sprouts, asian basil were crisp not wilted ... i of course consumed this xlarge bowl of pho with reckless abandonment ... and subsequently came back a few more times for more. i've tried a few other things on the menu, worth trying but stick to the pho.

if you want another place for pho not in chinatown, head for pho so 1.

hdr tidbits in washington dc ...

took a quick trip down to dc late last week/this past weekend and did the tourist thing with the little munch. took a bunch of pictures and two random shots in hdr ... here are the results ... 2/3 +/-ev on both images ... seemed to work out well enough.

sunset at the baltimore inner harbor:


inside the air & space museum from the top floor:

hdr versus non-hdr with d700

while leisurely talking to george today at work, i noticed the sun quickly fading and the lights of the genzyme building lighting up, quick chance to grab camera and grab an experimental shot with d700. to hdr or not to hdr - that's what i was wondering and how the camera would process colors.

stock image straight out of the camera (iso200, f/7.1 1/6sec shutter, 0ev)



same image run through photoshop, +40% saturation, +2.5% contrast, +2.5% brightness, +10% gamma



now here's the same image, same settings, bracketed +2/3ev and -2/3ev into hdr:



i actually happen to like the non-hdr version better (processed, not sooc) ... might need to go a little lower iso, testing will continue, this was a 5-min test.

time lapse on longfellow bridge boston ...

catching the sun, always catching the last rays of sun. setup camera on westbound side of the longfellow pointed at the zakim bridge just as the sun was setting ...

before, during, and after ...

headlight with last glimpses of light ...

this was one of my most favorite photos of the weekend, it's a headlight off of a harley parked on the corner of arlington and newbury streets, sun was setting and caught bits of the chrome.

shot with d700 with f/2.8 70-200mm @ iso200, magical how well that sensor works with the fleeting light ...

two musicians playing at sunset ...

playing within about 50 feet of each other, two musicians in the common as the sun was starting to set ...

mini protest in boston commons ...

while trekking around boston yesterday with the gear, amidst the komen walk, abortion rally and other random happenings around boston, quietly near the part street t-station was the weekly gathering of chinese americans protesting the communist regime and humanity issues ... this woman just stood there quietly for quite a while, had to snap a photo ...

got some more ...

decided late last week to get an additional body, ordered a d700 and thanks to adorama camera it literally was delivered the next day without overnight shipping. not much to say, hundreds of reviews out there ... i just need to say the shutter sound is just awesome and matted to my nikkor f/2.8 70-200, it's just perfect (aside from a bit heavy)



(shot with my d300)