Yakitori, Dana Point Wine Festival, and A Nest Full Of Baby Birdies

What an eventful weekend!!

Friday:

The homemade Yakitori grill that Matt and his Friends built. Probably the best construction/outcome of all their crazy ideas.

O, and Matt's special sake sauce (Super yummy. I would share with you the components of this sauce but it's a recipe that he's taking with him to the grave! I've tried to trick him into telling me, but sadly, he did not fall for it, AT ALL.)

Lots of skewering! (chicken thighs, beef, beef tongue--my personal favorite yakitori item, and chicken gizzard)

Saturday

Dana Point Wine Festival! Thank goodness the sun came out, it made for a really nice day near the beach with LOTS of wine, beer, and tequila.

Our tasting glasses.

Yum! These were so good! It was (strip?) steak on crackers with this really delicious white sauce on top. Super tender and great complement to all the wine.

Melting pot was there! It totally satisfied my three day long chocolate craving.

Three different kinds of sausages with lots of dijon--couldn't help myself.

A delicious quesadilla--super cheesy!

Sunday

Bun Ba Hue the morning after lots of wine

And look! Baby birdies in the cypress tree outside of Matts house! They're so fluffy, cute, and in the mornings...VERY loud!!--my camera does not do them justice.

What a deliciously successful weekend!

Chicken Maison

I love kebobs! I think what really gets me about kebobs, is not only because I LOVE all things skewer-ed, but kebobs always have the best caramelized grill flavor that makes my mouth water.

They are perhaps one of my favorite foods--moist chicken kebobs served with a side of creamy Lebanese garlic sauce, plus an incredibly friendly owner...you had me at "hello".

Chicken Maison in Santa Ana is exactly that!

I had the Chicken kebob combo with potato salad and coleslaw (Greek style--it's made with this incredible vinaigrette instead of mayo)

Matt had the chicken kebob combo with Chicken Maison Rice and hummus (I kind of scoffed at Matt when he ordered rice as one of is two sides, but it turns out that this wasn't just any rice. It was deliciously interesting--in a good way! It was spiced with what tasted like nutmeg and was cooked with little grapes. Surprisingly good)

Cupcakes and Cookies Galore

I just stumbled upon the most wonderful sweets recipe website: Ming Makes Cupcakes.

To. Die. For!

If you're as big of a cupcake and cookie fanatic as I am, you have to check this site out!

http://mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com/

Vanilla Cupcake with Strawberry Filling and Milk Chocolate

Overnight Butter Shortbread (How cute are these?)

Are you wondering what these beauties are? Get this, they're cornbread cupcakes with a goat cheese frosting and bacon...for sprinkles...DROOL. I'm in love--savory cupcakes--who can beat that?

These are just SOME of the recipes that caught my eye.

I just might have to try my hand at making these real soon!

Cupcakes, cookies, and tea anyone?

Chew Chow

And the noodle soup obsession continues!

Thick rice noodles! Our favorite!

We peeled a pound of shrimp! I definitely need to learn a faster way to peel.

Fried garlic and shallots...makes ALL the difference

Fish balls, beef tendon balls, scallions, cilantro, bean sprouts, and ground pork

The broth...four hours of simmering paid off (unstrained...it looks kind of gross, but it was really good. I'm still trying to figure out what's missing. It wasn't as complex in flavor as the ones in restaurants)

My MUCH smaller bowl of noodle soup

(Matt's GIANT bowl of noodles with TONS of Thai fried chili paste, you'll never catch him eating a bowl of noodle soup in another color)

WE MADE CHEW CHOW from scratch!

Not to toot our own horn or anything...(you can feel that I'm going to do it anyways, huh?) but this turned out pretty darn good for our first time around! We are definitely going to make this again and try to perfect the broth recipe. It's a keeper.

Hand-Pulled Noodles

I, for one, am and always will be a fan of Northern Chinese Cuisine.

Pork Pancake

Beef Noodle Soup (with hand-pulled noodles)

Shanxi Noodles (with hand-pulled noodles)

On weekends, Matt and I like to go out and explore new restaurants (plus, they're our work-out off days which means "Eat WHATEVER you want!"). Seeing as how we hadn't been to L.A. in a while, we figured..."Hey, why not?"

So after sitting in two hours of traffic and rubber necking (what L.A. freeways are best known for) we finally reached our destination.

If you want noodles that bite back, you need to go to Kam Hong Garden in Monterey Park. Just by the smell of beefy anise broth that danced on our noses as we walked in to this small restaurant, we knew that we were in for a great meal.

At Kam Hong Garden, a Northern Chinese Cuisine restaurant, they make delicious hand-pulled noodles, knife-cut noodles, and hand-cut noodles--it was the perfect place for Matt and I to cure our hankering for bold flavor and, what else...NOODLES.

Their chewy, imperfectly shaped noodles are coated in delicious gravies and/or swimming in boldly flavored broths juxtaposed by cool cucumbers or earthy leaves of cilantro and green onion to make for an amazingly fulfilling meal.

To my surprise...

Yes, the noodles were delicious, but it was the pork pancake that stole the show for me. Made with fatty pork paper-thinly sliced with cilantro, green onions, and a healthy serving of refreshing julienned cucumber, smeared with what tasted like hoisin sauce, all rolled in a Chinese tortilla (?)--similar to that of a mushu wrapper--like a burrito and cut into six servings--nothing like I had had before. It was a little messy to eat because the cucumbers tended to slip out (sad), but who knew that just a few simple ingredients could create such a flavorful finger food?

And, I have to say, the food all came out within five minutes of ordering--TAKE THAT AMERICAN FAST FOOD!!

Verdict: Chewy, flavorful, meaty mix of a delicious glimpse into Northern Chinese cuisine + the best cure for a weeks worth of a noodle soup craving.

Ice Cream

"Currently following Coolhaus on Twitter."

That probably sounds completely lame (even to me), since I've pretty much given up on following ghost trucks across Los Angeles. I mean, I HAVE been searching for that mobile they call a Kogi Truck for the past year and have still come up empty handed...well that and I've discovered Hashigo in Costa Mesa that serve kal-bi tacos that are said to be significantly better. (http://www.hashigorestaurants.com/KoreanKitchen/)

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE street food served from a truck or a cart--but if I have to chase you through a city that's 450+ square miles...it's a losing battle (for me that is).

That said, I've just come across this website for an all natural-ice cream sandwich ice cream truck (wow, that was an awkward sentence...) and the pictures have definitely sparked my interest. But is it enough to get me back on the road to hunt for novelty on wheels?

http://www.eatcoolhaus.com/main.html

We'll see if I have any luck with this one. Maybe it'll change my mind about traveling food trucks.

Caramel Connoisseur

I grew up eating TONS of caramel candies--rolos, milk duds, milky ways, Werther's Originals (by far one of my favorite hard candies)--Every Halloween, I would happily flip my jack-o-lantern bucket upside down from high up in the air on to my bed as I rifled through all of my Halloween sweets in search of all the caramel treats. So while others were busy counting how much candy they had gotten that night, all I cared about was how much caramel was in that bucket.

I don't think I've ever lost that sweet tooth for caramel (I still have a sweet tooth for a lot of things, come to think) In fact, in middle school I would make caramels all the time once I discovered how amazing corn syrup was for chewy candy making. And now I've stumbled across this brand new grown up caramel recipe--fleur de sel caramels:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fleur-de-sel-caramels-recipe/index.html

Going to have to try to make these VERY soon!

Who can resist a chewy, mouth watering caramel? Not I!

(I might have to make several batches...I have a feeling these are going to disappear fast!)

Venezuelan Food

Ethereal. Not in the floaty, marshmallow-y, fluff kind of way, but in a hearty, flavorful, stick-to-your-ribs-till-you-cry-because-it's-so god-damn-good kind of way. I cannot begin to describe how wide my eyes opened after taking my first bite of the Asado Arepa--I think a rendition of Usher's O.M.G. started playing in my head. It was meaty--coated in a deep dark sauce that was as deep in flavor as mole. AMAZING. Matt had the Pabellon, which was to say the least, a delicious blend beans, carne, and freshly shaved cheeese...and you wrap all of that in a grilled corn bread and you've got yourselves a winner! (Definitely better than a burger...or a slider!!) We also had the Cachapa Con Carne Mechada--That was the highlight for me! It was delicious shredded beef with a whole chunk of delicious white cheese all wrapped in the most delicious sweet corn pancake you will ever come across! It literally put a smile on my face.

They serve their dishes with two different sauces, one was creamer and less spicy, and one was pretty spicy but came out of the squeeze bottle looking more like a blended salsa. I couldn't decide which one I like better...so I mixed them together, making them one whole new sauce! YUmmm (mixing was per suggestion out o so friendly waiter).

Cachapa Con Carne Mechada

The Asado

The Pabellon

And since it's name is Mil Jugos, we had to get a juice to wash it all down with--strawberry was my drink of choice--and as you can probably guess, it was incredibly refreshing after all that meat!!

Side note: Their service is amazing! They were incredibly friendly and that's what made the entire experience that much more enjoyable. Our waiter took the time to explain to us what's in each of the dishes we were thinking about ordering. He and one of the cooks also made sure we were doing O.K. every so often...it was probably because we looked like first-timers!

Verdict: cozy, robust, friendly meal! Muy bueno!

Quote

I came across this quote today:

Life is too short to waste obsessing over fat grams or carb grams or never, ever exceeding 1,200 calories a day--Bethany Frankel

I love this quote! I think that people should never feel guilty about having ice cream, or a slice of cake! There's no reason why you should feel bad, as long as you're not eating unhealthy foods in excessive amounts. So indulge--everyone deserves a Nations burger, or carne asada fries, or chocolate lava cake once in a while!

Taiwanese Porridge

What can I say about Taiwanese porridge, other than it's absolutely delicious? (And that I'm lucky enough to live just 2 mins away from it!)

I think I like it so much because it's like comfort food; the the mac and cheese of the Far East.

Taiwanese porridge is different from the porridge you would get at a Chinese restaurant in that instead of giving you porridge with all the goodies in it already, you get plain porridge with large chunks of yam in it (probably my favorite thing about it) and then you get to choose two very flavorful cold side dishes, from at least 20 different choices, to eat with your plain porridge. They have everything from spicy honeycomb tripe, to cold marinate beef, to cold jellyfish, to bitter melon--you name it, they've got it.

Matt and I had ours with pickled cucumber, bean curd, soy beans and pickled turnips, and salted duck. (And of course we asked for a side of chili sauce)

Did I mention that you get endless refills of porridge? How amazing is that?

(Let me tell you though, it's VERY filling. Matt and I rarely ask for seconds!)

ALL this food was only $15! So it works out to a little more than $7 per person. Worth it? You bet your bottom dollar!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Two events are coming up that I'm really excited to attend:

1) Dana Point Wine Festival:

April 24, 2010

And...brace yourselves for this one...

2) ANTHONY BOURDAIN IS SPEAKING AT UCLA on June 16 to talk about No Reservations and his new book Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook

I bought my ticket! Have you?

New York Withdrawls

So, I woke up this morning seriously missing all the New York adventures Matt and I had last month. New York offered some of the best food I've had...well...ever!...(ok, well maybe not EVER, but in a very long time). I must admit, it was a great way to start off the big 2-2. More food splurging and binging? Why, yes! I would love some!...But where to next?...

Recap photos from the days I've been missing O so much:

Ratatouille...Well, Almost

After a long day of grocery shopping at the farmer's market at 8a.m., going to the gym, hanging out at the sauna (that was a first for me!), and doing tons of work for my classes--the last thing I wanted to do was cook a complicated meal for dinner.

Voila!

My own spin on ratatouille--after watching the movie of course--with the ingredients I already had in my fridge and pantry.

It was incredibly easy (it took about 30 mins to prep AND cook. O, and did I mention that this is a one pot meal? LOVE.)

I had a nice big bowl with a big chunk of crusty vegan bread for dinner (Actually, I lied, I had two big bowls with two large chunks of crusty bread...but that's because I'm madly in love crusty bread slathered with Irish butter!)

I like to add crushed red chili flakes and an hint of lemon juice to mine, just to jazz it up a bit!

Most, if not all, ratatouille recipes make huge pot fulls--so invite a bunch of friends over for a casual rustic French dinner.

There's BUTTER In My Ramen...

Shio Butter. That's what caught my eye last night when Matt and I went our for Ramen at Mentatsu in Costa Mesa. I was going to get the my usual Shoyu ramen but really?...Butter ramen? I had to try it. I had never heard of it before, let alone eaten it, and since this ramen place had a good reputation, what could go wrong?

So without even reading the description I ordered it.

Yes, folks that would be a chunk of BUTTER in my soup. If I had to guess, it started out as a two tablespoon pat of butter when it got to my table, but by the time my initial surprise dissipated and I finally pulled out my camera--this was all that was left floating in my bowl before I scooped it up in my spoon to get a better look.

There was a pat of butter...melting...in my hot soup. I felt guilty just watching as that chunk of butter quickly turned into buttery slicks skimming the top edges of the bowl.

I was apprehensive upon first dive to say the least.

But it smelled incredibly good, like buttered toast, or buttered popcorn.

So I grabbed my spoon and sipped the soup.

WOW! It was rich and buttery, but not too rich and the grease didn't coat my lips like I thought it would.

As I pulled each bite of ramen out of the soup and through the butter top, each strand of noodle glistened.

It was by far the strangest, most addicting, and incredibly delicious find this week.

So to my earlier question, "What could go wrong?"

Hmm...well for starters, I woke up this morning wanting another bowl!

Dinuguan

Dinu-who? Dinu-what? Din-oo-gu-an, it's a Filipino pork blood stew and it's simply irresistible...

though my mother would beg to differ.

I know, I know, pork BLOOD stew? YES! Ok, so it's brown and chunky and smells of vinegar. That's only because in addition to being a blood stew, it has pork belly and liver in it too. I know it sounds gross, but it's incredibly deep in flavor and incredibly satisfying over rice. I just can't say no! One more to add to the comfort food list.

Chateau Montelena

I'm not a huge fan of white wine. I think it's because it doesn't taste as full-bodied or complex to me as red wine does. But the Chardonnay at Chateau Montelena lives up to its name. It tastes way more complex and more full bodied in the mouth than most Chardonnays that I've had. Not to mention the property is beautiful!

Pomelo

Thinking of things to make with pomelo...ideas?

Dried Okra? Yes, Please!

Yes, ladies and gents I found dried okra!

Its salty and crispy and well...strangely delicious and addictive. (And still a little slimy once you get snacking on it)

I discovered this amazing dried veggie at this little (well, actually it's not so little) place out in Auburn, CA where they sell delicious sauces, pies, dried fruits and berries, enchiladas, chicken pot pies and a dozen other organic foods! Definitely a keeper!

it's blurry...but you get the gist

Macarons

New obsession:

Macarons...more specifically pistachio macarons.

Still trying to figure out the best recipe, it would really help if I could get my hands on a stand mixer! Time to save up!

Carry On

We were so pleased with our Saturday morning picnic that we let it carry on to Sunday.

After a very lazy morning, we decided to go pick up some charcuterie and cheese from WholeFoods for another one of our another one of our indulgently "fat days".

We also picked up a bottle of ice wine (couldn't help ourselves...it's our new guilty pleasure).

Crystal Cove Picnic

Hello sunshine! Boy, have I missed you!

Seeing that the weather has been much more agreeable lately, Matt and I decided to take full advantage of it and go on a beautiful picnic by the beach! How relaxing was that?!

We started the morning off by making our caprese salad and packing up our sangria, olives, muscat grapes, radishes, butter and kosher sea salt and kettle corn.

Then we headed off the to the Italian market for some spicy salamis (spicy sopressata and spicy calabresse), and then we stopped by Pascals for our favorite French macarons. And then it was off to the perfect picnic spot we went.

Steamed Whole Fish

WARNING: The pictures you are about to see may be disturbing. This is the journey of one whole tilapia from raw to a beautifully steamed fish, and yes, with the head on. (Yes, WITH the head on)

I'm in love with steamed fish, I think I've mentioned this before, but I didn't used to. I've discovered that's it's one very healthy way to make fish. Not only that, but it's one of my childhood nostalgias. (It also preserves the natural sweetness of the fish, so if you can, try to buy a fresh fish and just have your fish guy clean, and gut it for you). You can steam virtually any fish! I just love tilapia because it's extremely low in cost (about $5 for a pound and a half at most Asian markets).

Here's how to do it.

Take your fish and place it on a plate that's safe for steaming (if the fish is too long, you may cut it in half, but it's best if you can keep it whole)

Thinly julienne scallions and ginger (I like cilantro on mine as well, roughly chopped)

I would say about two table spoons of each, but it's really up to you how much of each you want.

Here's where the order varies a bit (I've tried it both ways and both are great)

Option 1: Put about a table spoon of Canola oil on top of your fish and then top it with the aromatics, place in the steamer for about 7-10 mins, or until the eyes become opaque. Add soy sauce (I use about a table spoon and a half of low sodium soy sauce) Take out carefully and enjoy!

Option 2: Put the fish in the steamer as is. Steam for about 7-12 mins, or until the eyes become opaque. While the fish is steaming, in a separate pan, heat up a tablespoon and a half of Canola oil when warm, sauté ginger for about a minute or two and remove from heat.

By this time your fish should be done. Take the fish out and top it with the green onion and cilantro and pour you hot oil and ginger on top of the greens, this will cause them to wilt a bit (you should hear it sizzle as you pour the oil over...makes for impressive presentation!)

I served my steamed fish that night with XO sauce sauté-d haricot verts (green beans), and soy sauce soaked chicken wings. A delicious Chinese home cooked meal.

Of course you could do this with any fish filet as well! That usually takes about half the time 5-7 minutes. Healthy, delicious, and super easy!

MEAT

So, tonight was the first time that I have ever tried Brazilian BBQ, and I can say with the utmost confidence...that I was completely defeated! (even our waiter said so when he questioned why my boyfriend and I were done so quickly).

Ok, so I realize that enjoying thick slices of slowly roasted meat the gaucho way, over a course of three hours, is not uncommon. But for me, it's unrealistic to eat more than a 10oz. cut of beef in one sitting. Sure, it was delicious (Did I say delicious? What I meant to say was "MIND BLOWINGLY succulent cuts of juicy sirloin, filet mignon, bottom cut sirloin, and many other cuts of meat slowly roasted over a hot fire creating an amazing salty/savory crust, that I could not stop eating until my stomach screamed 'NO MORE MEAT!'"), but that was so much food.

The restaurant we went to was called Fogo De Chao in Beverly Hills. They give you little coaster like signs (kind of like at Bubba Gump) which has one red side and one green side. If you want more meat, you turn your sign to green and the "gauchos" come by with large slabs of meat on a stake and shave off a crusty, juicy, salty piece of meat for you. All the meat is seasoned with is salt, and really, what more do you need? The cooking process alone give the meat that really hearty, caramelized, meaty flavor, and the salt just helps bring it out even more.
I constantly had to make sure I turned my coaster back to red to tell them that I'm still working on my plate, because if it's green, they just keep coming like a flock of seagulls!

Not only is there unlimited meat, but they give you endless side dishes. Plantains (LOVED), mashed potatoes (standard), polenta (crispy!). There's also a salad bar buffet, which thank goodness for me was there, because all that beef was kicking my hiney.

O, and did I forget to mention their amazing cheese bread? They were less like bread, and more like...Yorkshire pudding? Nonetheless, incredibly crispy on the outside (shaped like a mini muffin), soft and moist...and a bit chewy on the the inside, and has the most subtle flavor of cheese that just adds a little nutty finish. If you've ever had eggettes, that's what it reminds me of, except these were savory.

Word of advice: if you're going to have Brazilian BBQ, remember that these are very generous people who want to see you full of meat! So bring your appetite! Don't eat for the whole day if you must! Because it will be some of the best tasting meat you will ever try!

It smells good, it tastes good, had a food baby (meaning my belly was protruding like I was three months pregnant), then a food coma, and needed a nap
--verdict: happily...STUFFED.