The other night was steak night with my buddy. It was simple to prepare, easy on the wallet, and yumm.

What I used:
-1lb. ribeye steak
-1 medium onion
-1 handful of mushrooms

-1 tablespoon butter
-1/4 cup red wine
-kosher salt
-vegetable oil

-A heavy pan to sear the steak. I thought of using a cast iron skillet for this, but I didn't want to deglaze in that, possibly picking up extra flavors... so I used my All-Clad Saute Pan
-An Oven Thermometer

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

Take your steak out 1 hour before you're going to cook it. Preheat your oven to 300F.

Heat the pan on high heat *first*, then add about 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Oh yes, it's nice to be cooking on a gas stove once again.

Liberally season one side of the steak with salt, then place it salt side down on the pan. Carefully! Then season the other side.

Flip once there's a nice sear, maybe after 1-2 minutes.

Sear on the flip side, then set the thermometer to 140F for medium doneness and insert the probe with the tip in the middle of the steak. Then put it in the oven and wait for the timer to go off then remove and rest the steak.

Meanwhile, prep the onions and mushrooms.

Turn the stove to about 70% heat. Add the wine and scrape the pan to deglaze the fond. Add about 1 tablespoon butter and all the mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms lose some moisture.

Next, add a little vegetable oil to saute the onions. I like mine still slightly crunchy, so I don't cook it too long.

Plate and serve!

I had this with some crispy canned corn too. And rice--how Asian, eh?

Wahoo's Fish Taco made a quiet opening yesterday at UCI's food court at the student center. For those who aren't familiar with Wahoo's, its a casual restaurant with a "Mexican/Brazilian/Asian" inspired menu. Expect tacos, enchiladas, burritos, bowls, and excellent fries and onion rings.

Here's my favorite combo, a taco with rice and beans topped with fresh salsa.

Their locations are usually vibrant--splattered with surf/skate/apparel/boarding decals and actual sporting goods on the walls. Since this new restaurant is in a food court, this vibe is limited to their booth.

Another piss-poor mexican food restaurant was in this location last year. I couldn't understand how such a restaurant serving low-turnover, low-quality, flavor-lacking food lasted so long. No one was ever in line, so my guess is that some legal documents were keeping it alive.

Someone in their marketing department thought it would be cool to have the workers wear shirts with clever blurbs on them such as, "We're not trying to be fresh, but our salsa is" and "How to beat the recession" by purchasing Wahoo's food.

This isn't Chipotle! Get it together!

I came during lunch hour and Wahoo's had all the restaurants beat in terms of customers at least threefold. There were an insane amount of workers in the back and on the floor promoting the opening.

I bet they're just kicking themselves for not being able to open at the start of the school year like Panda Express was able to do. But now I live within walking distance of Wahoo's--my favorite healthy fast-food alternative.

Alton Brown, my favorite nerd and Food Network star was a guest Jimmy Fallon's show this week! He shows us how he makes smoothies, and how big a spaz he really is.

Santouka Ramen does not want to be found. It's buried inside the food court in the back of Mitsuwa market. Mitsuwa itself is hidden just off Bristol, but hidden behind a 7-Eleven and the plaza with Angotei (which I still need to try!). Neighboring plazas and buildings look pretty dated and are currently getting new pavement poured.

Santouka doesn't have English signage either, you kind of just have to smell your way (or use the photo provided (: ).

People are constantly walking by, checking out dining options, while order numbers are being called out for all the restaurants over the intercom. Dining in a food court makes me feel more relaxed. It's a lot more casual. You can be loud and obnoxious, run some laps, and take as many pictures as you like (:.

I've had the miso flavor once because they were out of the Shio (salt) ramen, but it was much too salty for my taste. I visit regularly now and Shio remains my favorite!

So here's the regular sized Shio, topped with slices of tender, fatty pork, a slice of naruto fish cake, bamboo, mushrooms, with chopped green onion in the center. A boiled egg is $0.99 extra. The egg looks similar to the one from my Vietnamese Braised Pork w/egg recipe, but this one's a bit harder and rubbery. Strange, but good.

(Trust me, there's ramen under there.)

This soup is served nice and HOT. The noodles have a nice bite to them, and are accompanied by a rich and salty broth sure to leave you dehydrated.

Santouka's Shio ramen would be fine if it came with just ramen and broth, but all the tasty toppings add unique flavor and texture to each bite. I love the crunch of the bamboo and mushrooms. And the pork is tender, fatty, delivering more of that broth flavor.

It's important to note that this place does not accept credit cards. I hate carrying cash, but I'll make that sacrifice for Santouka. Bowls range from about $6-9, and combos are a bit more. Mitsuwa has a BofA ATM at the front now too.

I'm coming to realize I'm eating more and more pork belly, and doing less and less cardio exercises. Stay tuned for a fried pork belly post.

Santouka Ramen
665 Paularino Ave
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 434-1101

Specialty's Cafe and Bakery is on the 1st floor of an office building located in a business park--clearly meant for the surrounding business towers. They even have little Point of Sales screens inside where you can punch in your massive order for takeout. These guys seem to be big on catering.

This place is ridiculously Irvine-clean, and full of business people on their lunch. If you want to come to a place that makes you feel underdressed look no further.

Make sure you park on the side lot and not directly in front of the store (I found out the hard way--that's emergency parking only=O ). They'll validate your parking for about an hour.

I have tried and loved the Chairman, Hot Italian and the BLT sandwiches. Fresh bread baked on-site makes ALL the difference. Specialty's Cafe and Bakery understands that quality sandwich ingredients is just as important as the bread.

I've had one off-day at this place (the bread wasn't toasted right, or was slightly old), but otherwise it has been excellent. These sandwiches are sometimes dripping with water. I'm not sure if it's from washed lettuce, the pickle or what, but I could see this buggin some folks. Also, the mustard can be a bit strong, or heavily slathered. Just ask for it on the side if you are timid.

Despite my nitpicking I can't think of a place that combats the quality here on these types of sandwiches. If you know of some, let me know.

The Chairman:
Sprouts, Herb, Mayonnaise, Stone Ground Mustard, Roasted Turkey Breast, Swiss, Green Leaf Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Cucumber, Dill Pickle, Avocado, Italian Vinaigrette, Ranch Dressing, Black Pepper.

Hot Italian:
Toasted Thyme Focaccia, Mayonnaise, Stone Ground Mustard, Salami, Bologna, Mortadella, Swiss, Provolone, Green Leaf Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Dill Pickle, Mixed Bell Peppers, Pepperoncini, Italian Vinaigrette, Black Pepper.

Hoooly smokes. The Hot Italian hit the spot! It had a tad too much salt on top of the bread, so I just scraped it off. Still, the bread remains incredible. Pairing with quality ingredients sets this one off.

This puts my bread baking to shame. To the kitchen!

Specialty's Cafe and Bakery
20 Pacifica
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 453-0137