111 posts tagged “food”
Unless we're playing flip cup or Scrabble or fantasy football, competitive isn't exactly the word I would use to describe myself. I'm way too laid back for that kind of intensity, but if the occasion should arise, you'll see a whole different side of me. So when Jamie's dad challenged me to a potsticker and fried rice throwdown (a la Bobby Flay), I immediately laughed it off, but once the smack talking got started, so did I. "How does an A.B.C. know how to make potstickers? A.B.C.s don't know how to make potstickers." That's Jamie's dad talking smack on me for being an American Born Chinese. Well, just because I'm not an F.O.B. doesn't mean I didn't spend a good many hours of my childhood folding potstickers. Coincidentally, fried rice was the second dish I ever learned how to make behind my dad's ghetto grilled cheese (Kraft singles with Wonderbread warmed in the toaster oven). I felt like I had the basics down, but there's nothing like a little healthy competition to feed creativity, especially when the prize is a bottle of Blue Label!
Jamie came up with rules and regulations to dissuade any cheating, even though there may or may not have been a few rules bent. We were each allowed one sous chef and our dishes would be judged equally on three categories: originality, taste and presentation. It would not only have to taste good and look good, but we would also have to put our own twist on originals. How would I put my signature on dishes that have been made a hundred times over?
For the potstickers, I knew I had to make my own wrappers. I love making fresh pasta and it really makes all the difference in the world in a simple dish. My filling was pork based, because pork gives you the juiciest dumplings, which just might have something to do with the fattiness. I mixed ground pork with the traditional napa cabbage, shiitakes, ginger, chives and scallions. For bonus flavor points I added dried shrimp, tiger shrimp and kim chee. My trusty sous chef, Misa, helped me assemble the potstickers. Thanks, Mees!
For the fried rice, I wanted to present two dishes: one classic and one contemporary. My classic dish was a replica of my mother's fried rice. Chinese sausage, peas, eggs, shrimp and rice, of course. I drizzled in some homemade chili oil spiked with orange zest right at the end. My second dish was an arancini (fried risotto ball) studded with corn, zucchini, carrots, ginger and garlic. I borrowed a bit of inspiration from Italy. Here are the little nuggets rolled in Panko and ready to be fried.
Since my competitor had home court advantage, I did all my prep work at home. Here's everything ready for transport.
Even though it was a "blind" taste test, the open kitchen pretty much gave away any secrecy. I'm sure many of you will recognize my plating style too. Without further ado... I give you the side by side comparisons.
The garnish on this is dried oregano by the way. Maybe too original? The filling is shrimp, crab and pork.
That's a little chayote slaw on the side. Always nice to have a fresh counterpart to fried foods.
Where's Chiquita Banana? One rice is bacon and ketchup and the other rice is mustard greens, ham and eggs. Team B used Basmati rice, whereas Team a used traditional Jasmine rice.
Thanks to the Changs for hosting and letting us destroy the kitchen. Thanks to all our judges!
On a recent catering event, Dylan and I totally fell in love with Susan's charmoula marinade. We were downright enthusiastic, threatening to eat it by the spoonful (okay, that was mostly Dylan). Herby, punchy and especially delicious on seafood, it came to mind immediately when I found out one of my dinner guests was anti-red meat. Apparently, lamb is red meat according to B. Surprise, surprise.
I did a bit of research and ended up using Suzanne Goin's recipe for charmoula (also spelled chermoula). As kitchen mishaps go, I overdid the paprika and my marinade tasted straight bitter. The kind of bitter that makes you want to wipe your tongue off. Oh no. How did I ruin it??? I was about to scrap the whole thing when the marinade Gods answered my distress. Susan just happened to called at that very moment to save me from charmoula melt down. Is that fate or what? She suggested some ground coriander and ginger which the recipe had omitted. I also added a tad bit of almond blossom honey to balance it out. Hmm... no more bitterness to be tasted. Nice save, Susan!
Since there was lemon juice in the charmoula and I didn't want the acid to cook the shrimp, I marinated my shrimp just before skewering. All it took was a few minutes on each side under the broiler. I served it alongside Israeli couscous with peas and mint.
I love the way a steaming bowl of stew warms you up from the inside out. Our recent bout of rainy weather was the perfect time to make something super spicy, steamy and flavorful. I drew inspiration from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook - which I am totally LOVING by the way. Judy Rogers has a recipe for a red wine squid stew which sounded yummy. All the recipes in her book sound yummy and I'm having fun cooking and eating my way through it. I followed her technique of simmering the squid for about 45 minutes after a quick flash in the pan. I added a few fresh thai chilis, roasted Korean chilis, diced broccoli stem, carrots, kale, parsley and basil. I served it with toasted ciabatta and finished it with a drizzle of O jalapeno lime olive oil and some more fresh herbs.
Whether curled up on the couch catching up with your tivo (like me), or cooking for a fancy V-day dinner, this stew hits the spot. The squid comes out super tender and the liquid is spicy and perfect for being soaked up by some crusty bread.
While studying abroad in Lyon, I discovered the wonders of bistro and bouchon dining, opening my eyes to the many nuances of French food. I tasted beyond the stereotypes of cream and butter and discovered a gastronomic world deeply influenced by the Algerian culture. To a girl raised on oyster sauce, these new spices piqued my interest and my appetite. Just the mere thought of a sandwich filled with crunchy French fries and fiery lamb sausage makes my mouth water.
When I got my Kitchenaid meat grinder attachment this past Christmas, my second thought was to replicate the spicy Algerian merguez sausage I had loved so long ago. My first thought was to make a pork fennel sausage (like the one at Mozza Pizzeria), but I opted for the lamb since it's much harder to find a good merguez. Like any good student of charcuterie, I did lots of homework in order to find the right fat-to-meat ratio, spice mixture and technique. I always wondered why sausage was so delicious and I discovered that it could possibly, maybe, most likely be due to the amazing amounts of fat. So lots of fat equals deliciousness just as I had suspected. Don't worry. Most of the fat renders out during cooking so sausage is practically a health food. :)
I found many different recipes for merguez, but preferred the ones using harissa, a spicy chile paste. It just seemed more authentic to me. The harissa itself contains ground caraway, coriander and garlic in addition to the reconstituted New Mexico and Guajillo chiles. So it's plenty complex on its own. I diced up my meat and fat and seasoned it with harissa, toasted fennel seeds and salt. Overnight all the flavors melded together. The next day, I ground up the meat and discovered the scarcity of lamb casings in Los Angeles. Everyone seemed to have hog, but when it came to lamb, I had no luck. Caseless sausage was the easy way out, but I have pledged to order them online for round two.
I made tiny patties figuring that each pita half would fit two, or three for ambitious eaters. Other pita fillings included hummus, roasted red peppers, red leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomato & feta salad and harissa yogurt dip. The harissa dip was simply the harissa paste thinned out with Greek yogurt. Easy to make and way too easy to eat.
Sides included roasted vegetable couscous and potato & chickpea stew.
My first foray into the charcuterie world proved to be both addictive and delicious. Now I'm completely hooked!
Thanksgiving just happened to coincide with my birthday this year. How happy was I to be able to cook on my birthday??? While most people might label themselves exempt from chores on their birthday, nothing pleases me more than to cook for my loved ones. I especially love dreaming up crazy, extravagant menus where most of the dishes never even have a glimmer of hope of coming to fruition. Oh, If only I had all the time in the world... and a sous chef or two wouldn't hurt either. :)
I was going for a traditional/non-traditional Thanksgiving meal, meaning familiar fall flavors reinvented. I found this Wolfgang Puck recipe for blinis with mashed taro. Interesting right? Mashed sweet potatoes, a Thanksgiving favorite, could easily stand in for the taro. Perfect. My first appetizer was a sweet potato blini with goat feta mousse and onion sprouts.
My second appetizer needed to be a bit heartier, so I went with broiled shrimp marinated with olive oil, thyme and paprika.
Sides included dijon mustard roasted Brussels sprouts (these were my favorite), buttermilk mashed potatoes (also a favorite) and mushroom gravy (vegetarians present).
Since I decided to forgo the Turkey, I roasted a whole Red Thai Snapper with tarragon, parsley and red onions and also made duck confit!
Sorry... No pictures of the duck confit, but I served it with this salad of mixed greens, feta and dried cranberries (another ode to Thanksgiving). I meant to also add orange supremes, but in the chaos that is my kitchen, it slipped my mind. Oops. That's where a sous chef would have come in handy.
People who love food love people who love food, so it should come as no surprise that all my girls love to eat just as much as me. What started out as a dinner of lobster fried rice (made with leftovers from Newport Seafood), turned into a tour of Asia/seafood feast mixed with a little Animal Planet in my sink. Our eyes are always bigger than our stomachs, but that never stops us. Thinking that we didn't have enough food, Jamie brought over four giant, and very feisty, dungeness crabs. So on top of Misa's Tom Yum Soup, my Lion's Head Meatballs and Jamie's lobster fried rice, now we had crab and lots of it. This wouldn't be a lot of food for an army, but for three girls and one scrawny boy (sorry B), we ended our gluttonous night with two whole crabs leftover. Trust me, that's a lot of meat. Now what does one do with that much crab meat leftover? Hmm. And though I immediately thought of crab cakes, I wanted something a little more inspired.
Wow. Eating is my favorite hobby!
If I were to be granted three wishes, right after world peace, I would without a doubt ask for some sushi chef/samurai knife skills - both precision and swiftness. Hi-ya! You just never know when you might happen upon a magical genie, right? These butterflied trout, compliments of Whole Foods, got me thinking about how I really want to and need to work on my knife skills. Sounds like it's time for a new year's resolution.
The upside to lacking knife skills is how fast this dish came together. Practically zero fuss. I soaked the farro overnight. Cooked it up with some sauteed ribbons of kale and minced garlic. And since this "risotto" doesn't have the starch of arborio rice, I finished it off with a swirl of cream and a dusting of Parmesan. The already-ready-already trout was simply pan fried in the cast iron for a few minutes on each side. An Italian salsa verde (parsley, capers, anchovies, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic) brightened it all up. I felt like I was Rachel Ray on 30-Minute Meals, minus the annoying Rachelisms of course. :)
Poor B had two weeks in a row of dental work. That meant tons of mashed potatoes and smoothies going on in Julie's Kitchen. Only soft foods on tender, puffy gums. :( So sad... though chipmunk cheeks are undeniably adorable. In my efforts to find new and interesting smoothie ingredients, I discovered Stonyfield's Banilla flavored yogurt. That's right. Exactly as it sounds... vanilla and bananas. A little bit of genius, huh? Though I'm not usually a fan of artificial banana flavors, this convinced me otherwise. It made great smoothies and even better panna cotta. Here I used Mario Batali's recipe as a base and substituted banilla yogurt for plain and added a shot of dark rum for a twist. It definitely had a tropical feel to it, so I added sliced bananas and a dollop of citrusy kumquat compote before serving. This is a must try even if you can eat solid food.
It's long been ingrained in my head that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. My morning cubicle routine involves a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and black coffee served in my cheesy mug that reads, "30 and still losing my grip". Ha. Terrible, isn't it?
I was craving eggs this morning but the extra snooze cost me the time. That cold weather is making it harder and harder to get out of bed. Not to fret though... when food is involved I can be quite determined. So I packed up two eggs and a ramekin to go. We have a little toaster oven in our ghetto makeshift kitchen at work. Conveniently enough, I sit right next to it and joke that I'm the kitchen manager. I've caught many pieces of toast on the cusp of burning and take extra care to keep an eye on mysterious Styrofoam containers of "food". Oh and if you take the last cup of coffee and leave the burner on, prepare to feel the wrath. I digress. Back to my delicous, start your day right breakfast. I cracked my eggs into my buttered ramekin, added salt and baked it for about 15 minutes at 325 degrees. I like my yolks to still be runny. I toasted up a slice of chile sourdough bread for dipping. Such a satisfying meal to start the day. I might have the ditch that bowl of oatmeal more often.
I love surprising moments of food happiness! Happy Hump day.
Inspired by Marvin from Burnt Lumpia's recent ode to dried shrimp and my love for Thai food, I present you with "shells" steamed in a broth of dried shrimp, coconut milk and lemongrass. Like Marvin, I also had my own little stash of dried shrimp forgotten and abandoned. I keep them on hand for the few occassions when I'm making a Cantonese-styled soup. It's been a while though.
Since shrimp paste is such a common element of Thai cooking, a pungent dried shrimp broth would echo the flavors yet offer a subtleness. This way, the flavors of the fresh lemongrass and the creamy coconut milk wouldn't be overpowered.
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