college cooking show

I've had this idea for doing a college cooking show for a while now. starting from my old university in la, i was going to try to pitch it to them to let me do a show. and now at my new university i have kinda given that idea out to someone.


my aims for this college TV cooking show is to teach college students the basics to eating and cooking well for themselves, building a good foundations for culinary experience and adventure. i want to introduce to college students living in pa, that food isn't just fattening or gross, that it is actually the key to really discovering the world and cultures. everyone has to eat and why not a better way of learning about other people's worlds than through their foods? if the school will let me, i think I'll come up with simple and fun recipes and some great tricks to help students in a college setting cook for themselves and feel a little more independent then the good old cafeteria. i hope that students will find themselves adventuring into new ethnic and traditional foods and that will help people get more open towards the global world we live into today.
i guess I'll have to wait and see if this show does come up and if i will be given the chance to show people in Pittsburgh how to make some amazing simple and healthy foods. as well as give them the tools to go out and venture into other cultural foods.

BOUCHON

Chef Thomas Keller's Bouchon

that was the destination for the vegas trip. my best friend/dearest foodie partner in crime have promised each other that in about 3 to 4 years we will be making that famed pilgrimage to the famed French Laundry. I probably have a few other on my personal list. but French Laundry is the holy grail for me. the story begins with a book by anthony bourdain. a man i hope to meet one day... but if i don't its okay, because he was the one that introduced me to the great thomas keller. bourdain a chef/author that i have come to respect idolizes keller. so i went on the journey to find everything about thomas keller. and that led to a signing at the william sonoma in pittsburgh, where at 7 am i got ready for the 1.4 hour drive into the city. i bought the special edition of the cook books for both the french laundry and bouchon.... and he signed them both. and on that day.. i was actually speechless...

so my best friend and i are in vegas.. its been like 5 years since we were there together,, this time around we no longer care about nsync but rather we're able to drink and go anywhere we please and perhaps play some cards... endless possiblities... so we make it to bouchon in the venetian. very excited.. we even put make up and heels on... yes.. that excited. **note to the wise.. dont go to a spa prior to going to an expensive dinner if you plan on eating everything....

so.. we both get cocktails...

then the bread and butter...

appetizers of course.. .

entree
braised short ribs over braised red cabbage along side with polenta...
i forgot to mention we ordered pomme frites as well... soo over did it..


mine... was
brisket cooked for 3 days over napa cabbage and trumpet mushrooms and fingerling potatoes.

i thought we were full then.. he came back with this...
this is what they call the dessert menu...
so we ordered this...
then my esspresso came with cookies... too...

and this is what happend to my coffee..


i finished it.. and thats pretty much what happened with the trip to bouchon.. a job well done.. next stop.. french laundry.. shout out to waiter with that crumber thingy

home.

there will be two blogs from my trip back to los angeles. the reason i went home was for chinese new year. i love the tradition that comes from this holiday or the festivies that come with it. family and food. now that's what i call life. going home and eating the traditional chinese new year eve, dinner with everyone in my family (all 30 of us) it was great. then in the morning snacking on chinese snacks while waiting for all the relatives to come to my house to send well wishes for the new year to my grandma and my parents was fun. talking and taking lots of pictures was all that was done for a whole day.

i should discuss more of the traditions of chinese new year but i'll do that later.. i am still a bit tired from the trip...

along with the trip i was able to go to a few of my favorite places to dine in los angeles. cafe laurent in culver city is one of my favorite places to have lunch. it is just a little cute place with a nice outdoor dining area. the french manager is adorable. and the cappuccino there is to die for.. actually i dream about the capps when i'm in pa. second spot in which i have to hit up is houstons. get my ribs and grilled artichokes. sometimes i look back fondly on the times i worked there other times i am amazed i worked there for so long.. 9 months.. .but mostly i remember the food... always consistent.
next topic is my sushi spot. i have two of them. and of course they are secretive. i might tell you one day where and what they are called but until i am ready to let the world know. and i'm sure when and if my sushi chef reads this blog he will laugh.. or be annoyed i'm not plugging his place. but the thing is.. both places are kinda unexpected places, holes in walls as some may put it. but they both have the most amazing sushi in all of los angeles. and i say this with the most confidence. i've only taken a handful of people to these places. one is in little tokyo. and the other. somewhere in the westside. i'm very serious about the secrecy placed on these spots... its bad enough that the little tokyo has a 2 hour wait now...and i've been going to this place for about 11 years now.. my westside spot is fairly new.. but by god is it special.

phil is his name the sushi chef. and you walk in welcomed like it is his home. but with the time he spends there and the family hanging out and his daughters munching on sushi during lunch time... you are coming into his home. this is a place where you just smile and say.. give me what what you want. i let phil take the reigns of what to order... and sit back and enjoy. this time going back home i took three of my friends. janell, jeff and luke. janell is turning vegan sooo i wont discuss her much yet. jeff is the only person in the group to have gone to my other spot and now that he's gone to this one he loves this one just as well. luke is a friend who has happened to have spend some time in japan, and he liked the sushi here too.. so i'm pretty confident that i pick the best sushi places as my favs... anyhow having dinner at the westside secret sushi spot made my trip back to los angeles finalized as a good trip as far as foodie life goes.

so with that everyone. read the next blog regarding.. bouchon....

eat extrordinary everyday!