Sorry I haven't written in a while. It's been hard with the move to CHICAGO!!! I've definitely been trying to get my bearings straight and enjoy the city, even if it's 0 degrees out.
On Tuesday, I had a great lunch with my foodie friend Addie who was in town for a conference. It was a last minute get together for lunch, but she already had the reservations. I definitely couldn't turn down trying the Rick Bayless restaurant, Topolobampo. This place definitely kicked butt. The ceviche was yummy and so was the ginormous "grand seafood platter." The Marisquera de Lujo included a dozen oysters (3 different types) and 2 types of ceviche (Ceviche Fronterizo and Ceviche Playero). For entrees, we shared the Pato en Salsita de Cacahuate and the Cuatro Cositas Oaxaqueas. The Duck was good but the suckling pig was better. To be exact, it was to die for. The corn tamales were sweet, light, and fluffy. The pork was also the same texture in being light and fluffy. I never thought I could love pork that was shaped like a big square, but it was delish!
You'll definitely have to try this joint if you're in town.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
RIP Gourmet Magazine (1941 - 2009)
The NYT reported yesterday that after 68 years of publication, Conde Nast has decided to close Gourmet magazine. I am truly saddened by this news. As a foodie, Gourmet set the standard for food magazines. It was the acme for the appreciation of food perfection. The magazine was a symbol of the love of good food and good living. But most of all, it symbolized what I loved about food journalism: beautiful photos and wonderful writing.
I remember reading my first Gourmet magazine. I was 10 and waiting for my piano lesson. I saw a pile of Gourmet magazines next to the chair and decided to take a look. When I started fumbling through the pages, the food photos jumped out at me. Even at that age, I knew when something looked good to eat :). I read an article and absolutely loved it. It was difficult for the piano teacher to get me to go in for my lesson; but once the lesson was over, I asked if I could borrow the stack of magazines to read. From then on, I was an avid reader of the magazine.
RIP Gourmet. I will always adore you.
I remember reading my first Gourmet magazine. I was 10 and waiting for my piano lesson. I saw a pile of Gourmet magazines next to the chair and decided to take a look. When I started fumbling through the pages, the food photos jumped out at me. Even at that age, I knew when something looked good to eat :). I read an article and absolutely loved it. It was difficult for the piano teacher to get me to go in for my lesson; but once the lesson was over, I asked if I could borrow the stack of magazines to read. From then on, I was an avid reader of the magazine.
RIP Gourmet. I will always adore you.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Italian sausage skewers -- small bites
So I threw a surprise birthday party for my husband over the weekend and made a bunch of hors d'oeuvres. Plenty of munchy snacks besides libations and cake helped ring in the big surprise. Trust me; he was super surprised. :) In any case, I made a few things from cold sesame noodles with cucumber shavings to parmasan chicken skewers with marinara sauce. One particular small bite caught the fancy of many party goers. They were Italian sausage skewers with a definite antipasto twist. These small bites took no time to make. Make them for your next party.
Ingredients
Cooking spray
12 ounces fully cooked Italian-style sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces if large
1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 package of small wooden skewers
Directions
Heat skillet or medium pan over medium heat; spray with cooking spray. Add sausage; cook, turning a few times, until warmed through and browned. Thread 1 small or 1/2 large basil leaf onto a small wooden skewer. Add a piece of roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato, artichoke and sausage, arranging them on the skewer so that it can stand up on the sausage end. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make about two-dozen skewers. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Cooking spray
12 ounces fully cooked Italian-style sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces if large
1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 package of small wooden skewers
Directions
Heat skillet or medium pan over medium heat; spray with cooking spray. Add sausage; cook, turning a few times, until warmed through and browned. Thread 1 small or 1/2 large basil leaf onto a small wooden skewer. Add a piece of roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato, artichoke and sausage, arranging them on the skewer so that it can stand up on the sausage end. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make about two-dozen skewers. Enjoy!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Tofu delight
I was craving something simple and easy the other day and thought about making this easy dish. My parents used to make this dish for my brother and I as a snack after school, but they also included 1000 year old egg in it. The version below is all vegetarian/vegan style. It's simple and literally will take you about 5 to 10 minutes to make since nothing needs to be heated or cooked. It's what I call Asian tofu delight. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Ingredients
1 package firm tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp water
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 jalepeno pepper -- sliced small and thin
1 tbsp sesame oil
small bunch of cilantro -- roughly chopped
Dash ground black pepper
Directions
In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, water, garlic, jalepeno pepper, sesame oil, cilantro, and black pepper. Open and rinse firm tofu and place onto plate whole. Pour soy sauce mixture on top. Serve with spoon.
** You can opt to seed the pepper if you would like to take the spice factor down a notch.
Ingredients
1 package firm tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp water
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 jalepeno pepper -- sliced small and thin
1 tbsp sesame oil
small bunch of cilantro -- roughly chopped
Dash ground black pepper
Directions
In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, water, garlic, jalepeno pepper, sesame oil, cilantro, and black pepper. Open and rinse firm tofu and place onto plate whole. Pour soy sauce mixture on top. Serve with spoon.
** You can opt to seed the pepper if you would like to take the spice factor down a notch.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
new checklist
My birthday was last weekend. I celebrated it by eating tons of Asian cuisine and tons of seafood in Houston. It was a nice change and the food was yummy to my tummy. We went to Reef, a restaurant in downtown Houston. From the name, it's obviously a seafood restaurant. I do have to say that the fried mac and cheese was pretty damn good. It was shaped like a large cube and was breaded and fried. Once you broke through the hard but crispy outer fried shell, the mac and cheese was gooey and cheesy on the inside. A definite heart attack waiting to happen, but a must try. The mussels were cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth. The sauce was a tomato base and was great for bread sopping. Overall, the meal was excellent, but the company was better. Nothing beats having good friends celebrate your last year in your twenties.
Speaking of the last year in my twenties, I've been coerced to make a checklist of things to do before I turn 30. On this list, I'm going to train for a half marathon possibly in February in Austin. Besides that big milestone, I've also decided to look into foods that will enhance my training experience. I'll be posting some recipes that will help in the training process. Healthy doesn't always equate to foods not tasting well. I'll be posting food recipes/critiques that are not only good for you, but taste good too. Here's to a healthy start. See you at the finish line. :)
Speaking of the last year in my twenties, I've been coerced to make a checklist of things to do before I turn 30. On this list, I'm going to train for a half marathon possibly in February in Austin. Besides that big milestone, I've also decided to look into foods that will enhance my training experience. I'll be posting some recipes that will help in the training process. Healthy doesn't always equate to foods not tasting well. I'll be posting food recipes/critiques that are not only good for you, but taste good too. Here's to a healthy start. See you at the finish line. :)
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Organic Chocolate Chip Cookies
For an organic variation on the usual chocolate chip cookie, use all organic ingredients. These cookies are hard to resist. Yum!!!Ingredients (Makes about 2 dozen) -- Use all Organic ingredients below.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup cane sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup unbleached white flour, sifted
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream together butter and sugar, beating until light. Add vanilla and eggs. Continue to beat well. Sift together both flours, salt and baking soda, and add to butter mixture, beating again. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
Round tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper and sprayed with canola or olive oil spray. Bake cookies 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Eat up!!!
been a while...
Wow, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry for the break. I've just been studying and traveling. In any case, I have a great recipe for cookie lovers that I'll be posting shortly. Cheers!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Chicken Corn Tex-Mex Casserole
I was trying to decide what to make for dinner the other night when I decided to make some tex-mex. My husband loves tex-mex. I was going to make fajitas, but to my dismay, we were out of tortillas at home. Instead, I decided to improvise! I had some corn, chicken, bell peppers, jalapenos, onion, cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips -- all great things that can be just thrown in together for a casserole dish.
Below is the recipe. You can alter the chicken and shred it to make a great dip, or replace it with turkey or even pork. You can even add beans to the recipe.
Hope you like it as much as we did.
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
5 decobbed corn or 2 cans of corn
1/2 a yellow onion - chopped
1/2 green bell pepper - chopped
1/2 red bell pepper - chopped
1 jalapeno pepper - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1 packet ranch powder
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1/3 cup of chicken broth
olive oil
tortilla chips
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a pan, drizzle enough olive oil to brown chicken. Make sure to salt and pepper chicken before browning. After chicken is cooked, put to side to cool. In another pan, heat on medium high about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add garlic and onions. Cook onions until carmelized or translucent. Add corn and ranch powder. Mix. Then add jalapenos, both bell peppers, a pinch of salt and pepper and chicken broth. Mix together and let cook for about 5 minutes.
In a casserole dish, take half of cooked veggies and put in dish. Add cooked chicken on top of veggies and take the rest of cooked veggies and all of the soupy sauce and top over chicken in dish. Sprinkle shredded cheese over everything and then crumble tortilla chips on top of cheese. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden brown.
Serve with side of sour cream, salsa, and saffron rice.
Below is the recipe. You can alter the chicken and shred it to make a great dip, or replace it with turkey or even pork. You can even add beans to the recipe.
Hope you like it as much as we did.
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
5 decobbed corn or 2 cans of corn
1/2 a yellow onion - chopped
1/2 green bell pepper - chopped
1/2 red bell pepper - chopped
1 jalapeno pepper - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1 packet ranch powder
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1/3 cup of chicken broth
olive oil
tortilla chips
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a pan, drizzle enough olive oil to brown chicken. Make sure to salt and pepper chicken before browning. After chicken is cooked, put to side to cool. In another pan, heat on medium high about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add garlic and onions. Cook onions until carmelized or translucent. Add corn and ranch powder. Mix. Then add jalapenos, both bell peppers, a pinch of salt and pepper and chicken broth. Mix together and let cook for about 5 minutes.
In a casserole dish, take half of cooked veggies and put in dish. Add cooked chicken on top of veggies and take the rest of cooked veggies and all of the soupy sauce and top over chicken in dish. Sprinkle shredded cheese over everything and then crumble tortilla chips on top of cheese. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden brown.
Serve with side of sour cream, salsa, and saffron rice.
little drops of heaven -- wrapped in bacon!
On a recent trip to Boston during Memorial weekend, I went for drinks with my friends Amy and Kathleen at this place called Drink in the Waterfront/Seaport neighborhood. This place was fantastic. They made specialty drinks from herbs. Who wouldn't want a cocktail made with rosemary? So refreshing.
While quenching our thirst, Kathleen recommended that we have the bacon-wrapped dates as munchie snacks. Boy oh boy were these phenomenal! These were bacon-wrapped dates with a toasted almond in the center as a pit and on top of a gorgonzola cheese sauce. With one bite, you got the saltiness and crispiness of the bacon, the chewiness and sweetness of the warm gooey date, and the extra crunch of that almond -- all rounded out with the gorgonzola cheese sauce. It's an explosion of flavor that's meant to be savored. I could definitely eat plates of this stuff. This is a must have the next time I'm up there.
While quenching our thirst, Kathleen recommended that we have the bacon-wrapped dates as munchie snacks. Boy oh boy were these phenomenal! These were bacon-wrapped dates with a toasted almond in the center as a pit and on top of a gorgonzola cheese sauce. With one bite, you got the saltiness and crispiness of the bacon, the chewiness and sweetness of the warm gooey date, and the extra crunch of that almond -- all rounded out with the gorgonzola cheese sauce. It's an explosion of flavor that's meant to be savored. I could definitely eat plates of this stuff. This is a must have the next time I'm up there.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
crab heaven!
I've been looking back at photos of food of past trips I've taken in the last few months, and I came across... dungeness crabs! Anyone who knows me knows that I love crabs. I love the flavor and that lovely lump crabmeat that you get to once you've done that hard work of peeling/cracking the shell.
On a recent trip to San Francisco in March, a group of friends and I satisfied my crab craving. Yes, I have crab cravings. It must come from growing up on the gulf coast. Anyway, we satisfied this crab craving... asian style. We went to PPQ Dungeness Island in the Richmond neighborhood of SF. Long wait, service was bleh, but the crabs were excellent.
There's something about peppercorn garlic dungeness crab and something even better about the chilli pepper garlic dungeness crab. The dash of spicy umph makes it. The crab is breaded and fried, then stirfried with garlic and the chilli pepper. It was absoloutley delish! The crabmeat was tender and juicy and retained the crab flavor. I wanted to gnaw off the fried breading on the shell b/c of the flavor. Needless to say, there were no survivors. All crab was consumed. If you can make room, the garlic noodles were great. They were buttery and super garlicky. A good side with the tender crabmeat. I'm craving crabs now....
On a recent trip to San Francisco in March, a group of friends and I satisfied my crab craving. Yes, I have crab cravings. It must come from growing up on the gulf coast. Anyway, we satisfied this crab craving... asian style. We went to PPQ Dungeness Island in the Richmond neighborhood of SF. Long wait, service was bleh, but the crabs were excellent.
There's something about peppercorn garlic dungeness crab and something even better about the chilli pepper garlic dungeness crab. The dash of spicy umph makes it. The crab is breaded and fried, then stirfried with garlic and the chilli pepper. It was absoloutley delish! The crabmeat was tender and juicy and retained the crab flavor. I wanted to gnaw off the fried breading on the shell b/c of the flavor. Needless to say, there were no survivors. All crab was consumed. If you can make room, the garlic noodles were great. They were buttery and super garlicky. A good side with the tender crabmeat. I'm craving crabs now....
Friday, June 19, 2009
Finally
After many years and much thought, here it is. The food blog. I'll be posting food recipes and photos of things I cook and also photos of the lovely food I get to eat. :)
