ispeakfood

inspire me.. please..

2011-05-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

its been a long long time since i've been online. frankly been really busy with the corporate world of food in the world of home retail. i've been super busy developing my skills of teaching people about the tools used to create amazing food at home for the everyday person. a completely different path in the food world then i would have imagined for myself. i thought at my age i'd be cooking for very cool people all the time as a private chef..and food blogger.. but somehow found myself on the path of teaching the women of today how to sous vide so to empress their friends, or showing them how to use the dutch oven to wow their husbands who think they cant cook.

i've been teaching in the oddest way, sharing my food knowledge with people who dont read food blogs, who have no clue what they are ordering has the hardest preparation. i've been telling everyday people that they too can make ice cream better then misters ben and jerry. i tell the history of saffron to women with 4 carat diamond rings. i teach 19 year old boys how they use pigs to find the elusive truffle fugus. i mime the way you should truss a chicken for ina's engagement chicken. i tell stories of amazing kitchens with the best cookware. i share secrets of how to keep your pans looking like new. i have become a different warrior for food, i no longer tell people where i've been eating, but how they can become masters of their kitchen.

its very different the role in food i've taken. i sometimes feel like i've cheated the real food person role. but i guess if i'm inspiring people to becoming chefs at home and create, share love with their friends and family then i'm still sharing the love of food with everyone. its a different way of looking at the job i have, some people think i'm just selling things, but i'm selling the idea that at home an everyday person can be a gourmet cook @ home.

so the picture i've included in this post is a pic of my lunch the other day. walked down to wholefoods market, hit up the salad bar (veggies), seafood station (cooked clean shelled shrimp), then perishable foods (fresh udon noodles). went back to the work, heat up the nonstick skillet made a quick lunch and sat in the back eating something like that during my 1 hour lunch break. not your everyday ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. its how i show you that, when i say its that easy... it really is.. took me 10 max and burned the calories walking to get the ingredients. i seriously think it can be everyone's lunch too, just listen to what i have to tell you..

eat extrodinary everyday

Sitting on a lot of sugar moments...

2010-10-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

its been a long time since i've been posting on this blog. i'm sorry to my few random viewers and my 9 followers.

i have been working on getting more work on my resume as a culinary person. i recently made cakepops for my work. and i was able to actually meet a very successful blogger. you may have heard of bakerella.com she's awesome. a sweet person who loves sweet.

i made these pumpkin cake pops and the turned out pretty well. i made them out of sprinkle's pumpkin cupcake mix. i added a bit of muirhead's pumpkin butter to the frosting and then proceeded to coat them in orange candy coating. then using the orange sanding sugar i made some of them sparkle. it was a good day at work when bakerella said they were cute. i like to think so.

pumpkin is awesome. i also made a pumpkin cheesecake. a no bake one using the muirhead's pumpkin pecan butter to mix with the cream cheese, sour cream and condensed milk. super easy and delicious. fall baking is in! do some pumpkin stuff. i'm excited because soon at houston's they will have their harvest cheesecake... i love it.

eat extraordinary everyday.

busy starting it up

2010-06-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

its been a crazy 2010 for me. lots of things keeping me from blogging. its kinda sad that i havent really eaten out like i used to. i started a new activity in my life so cooking and food has taken a back seat. but its coming back. i've been teaching private cooking lessons and its been a blast. i'll share some pictures. making bbq sauce from scratch is one of my favorite things to do and of course anything on the grill is good times.

book project is still in the works.. until then i'll be yelping and trying to blog here more for you. keep eating!

eat extraordinary everyday

Happy 2010...

2010-01-26T17:30:00.000-08:00

my apologies for the lack of blog posts but trust me when i saw i was busy. if you didnt know i work a lot... someone has to pay for this food habit i have.. so i work in retail at an amazing culinary store.. (think the best of the best) thats where i work. dont want to give away my locations to random strangers. but anyhow during Christmas time i was there everyday so sorry for not posting anything for you 8 readers! i love you though.

in December: made prime rib for dinner for the family. kids love good food when its done right no matter how picky the kids are about the food they eat.

jan: went to vegas ate at craftsteak and i'm going to try to write a letter to chef tom to let him know his restaurant is serving bland food.

back to cooking in Manhattan beach for my favorite family and very excited to do so. made french onion soup, roasted veggie pasta with pancetta and red velvet cupcakes for dessert. going to do something new and fun every time i'm there.. lets hope i find my camera...

otherwise the book project is on and i'm still writing for that... its soo much harder to write it down then i thought but i can do it.. especially when the end result will be for everyone to really enjoy sake. check out master sake sommelier yuji mastumono's blog. http://www.learnaboutsake.com/

My November

2009-11-13T10:48:00.000-08:00

Dear my 8 readers.

thank you for being patient with me and still trying to read my blog. i have been extremely busy with different projects thus i have not posted much in the last several weeks. last weekend i was in Malibu catering a wedding party. it was beautiful, and yes i actually cook, i talk a lot about food but on occasion for the right people i'll make some yummy yummy food.

*This is the wedding cake, it was amazing!!!! it was from i think angel maid, in Culver city and it was super great. the whole thing was gone! yes i ate a piece and I'm going to go back for my bday cake.

sadly my focus is usually on the food and i did not get a good chance to take loads of pictures. but i have a few to share with you all, sorry for the quality of the photos as my helper took some pictures with her blackberry.

so the bride and groom happen to have great taste in food.. well duh, i was there! just kidding. i was given a recipe for an amazing ginger molasses cookie that we made to give out to the guest! they were a hit!

so here is the menu since some people like that kind of information.

classic shrimp cocktail

smoked salmon on pumpernickel stars with dill butter

roasted veggie dip with homemade pita chips

dinner

autumn salad with roasted corn topped with pine nuts

coconut veggie curry with basmati rice

roasted beef tenderloin with mushroom port sauce

roasted brussels sprouts touched with balsamic

roasted cauliflower

sauteed carrots and asparagus

potato gratin

so that was what i've been doing, i'm going to the japanese food festival this weekend and some more culinary adventures soon. keep eating well as its eating season!!!!!!

eat extraordinary everyday!

thrown noodles....

2009-09-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

noodles.. if you dont know i love noodles. and from my trip in vietnam the one noodle dish that i took with me the most was the thrown noodles in Vung Tao, Vietnam. its a basic egg noodle but the catch is that the man throws the noodles about two stories. how cool is that?? ? talk about having a nice little thing to bring the people to your spot. some people twitter and some just cook with stunts.

this place also had the cutest little beef balls. but i must admit that in vietnam the chili is so much spicier and better than in the states. but the USA makes really good dipping sauces...

top shot of the damage that my family did at this noodle spot.

Bo Bia... better than your average spring rolls...

2009-08-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Many people eat spring rolls on a regular basis. You find them in CPK, PF Chang's and just about all the whole foods markets, thats how popular they are these days. I even make them for catering parties and when I am hired on as a private chef. People love them.. but what i prefer more is Bo Bia. its a different concoction that has more flavor and texture if you ask me. during the first few days when i arrived in Vietnam, i was in the local village of Long Son which is a bit out of Ho Chi Minh City. I had started to crave for Bo Bia since it somehow slipped into my head while sitting outside watching people pass me by on their motorcycles (hondas as the locals call it) ... I turned to my cousin and said i wanted to eat bo bia and she gave me this look of "what are you talking about" my mother then decides to tell me that its something that is known only to the chinese/vietnamese mix of people. thus it was only in the city would i find this delicious roll.

(my adorable niece demonstrating how to enjoy bo bia properly)

So now that i've been staying up in the city with my relatives i was able to eat any food my stomach desired. And so it was mentioned early in the morning that i was craving bo bia for the longest time and lucky me my family loves me... they found the bo bia street vending lady!!!!!

I know i keep going on and not even telling you what this amazing food is.. well its the cousin of the spring roll (boiled shrimp, boiled pork belly, rice noodles, lettuce, pickled carrots and daikon, mint and sometimes a bit of chinese chives and all wrapped up tightly in rice paper) Bo Bia on the other hand is made with different ingredients that give it a more unique flavor.

Bo Bia - Lap Cheong (chinese cured sausage), tiny dried shrimp, a stir fried mixture of julienned jicama, carrots, egg omelet that is thinly sliced (this vendor didnt have it), thai basil and lettuce all wrapped up in rice paper. dipped in a sauce that is similar to the sauce for the traditional spring rolls consisting of hoisin sauce, chili sauce and some crushed toasted peanuts for crunch.

the bo bia lady came by right outside our home to make these super fresh. the jicama mixture was piping hot, the lap cheong was sliced thinly and as you can see from the pictures the assembly was quick. we ordered about 25 or so rolls eat averaging about 2000 VND which is about maybe 10 cents USD. this snack was very delightful as it was light, crunchy and filled with flavor. I ate about 5 rolls myself with some extra chili in my dipping sauce. sweet and spicy is a such a nice dipping sauce when you have something that crunchy and salty coming into it. I enjoy this snack so much, sadly in the US its very hard to find Bo Bia as fresh as this (*unless you make it yourself of course-my family might do it once a year since most people are not so good with the rolling process and handling of rice paper) anyhow if you do find bo bia in the states you get them usually at Van's bakery or asian bakery/bread places that might sell pre-packed food. happy hunting for it in the states or get yourself an invite to a family party that has this yummy snack.

eat extraordinary everyday!

Still in Vietnam....

2009-08-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

There are so many things to talk about that it is hard for me to put into words which to speak of first. sometimes while i'm eating new things i forget my camera and thus have to hope i'll be remembering what it was called to buy it again. anyhow, for the most part of my trip i have been staying in the island of Long Son which is where my mother is from. and i have had so much seafood i might find it very hard to consume seafood when i get back to the states, unless its sushi, but of course thats another thing. . .

so anyhow in Long Son there's a little area that you take this boat to, its basically a restaurant on the water. they have hammocks and its private and its peaceful.

we ordered just a few things since it was only two people eating. we had some local clams which was super yummy. dipped in the salt/pepper/lime

next we had crab with tamarind, sooo yummy. if you ever have this you will never go back to regular crab and butter sauce. this is my favorite way of eating crab.

then we have some grilled oysters with some butter... it was yummy since it was fairly fresh. i really enjoyed my time eating all the seafood.

so thats that for now.. more food postings while i can. trying not to get sick of the food while i'm here..

eat extraordinary everyday!

do you like rice???

2009-08-10T04:52:00.000-07:00

Broken rice dishes are the best.... in america there are tons of restaurants that serve only these dishes. the key to the best of these dishes are the rice, the meat and the sauces. sometimes the sauces are to fishey as they are consisted of fish sauces. but sometimes when you have things just right it is a happy meal. well vietnamese happy meal that is. i thoroughly enjoyed every rice dish i've had since ive been back in vietnam.

oh yes.. i'm currently in vietnam. my motherland. eating tons of amazing exotic fruits, and dishes i have only heard of. hopefully i'll keep a good record of everything with pictures and stories for my blog.

usually you get a plate of broken rice, some pork chop or strips of beef in it depending on what you order. but when its all seasoned correctly you get a good bite and heaven is in your mouth. seriously. and i like the egg on top too, the fresh veggies on the plate are a nice change in temperature and texture when you're eating.

I'm a big fan of eating quick and delicious. today was just rice for you.. lots of noodles and more yummy good stuff. i've been taking pictures everyday so sit tight for more foodie pix i'm considering a nice blog of just pictures.

Kabuki Sake Tasting

2009-07-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

So last night I attended this sake tasting event at Kabuki restaurant, in the Old Town Pasadena location. I went for research but it turned out to be a private lesson from the Master Sake Sommelier Yuji Mastumono, who is a dear friend of mine.

anyhow here is the low down on this, currently working on a sake project and I've been learning a lot about sake so more details to that to come. but for the most part I'll cover what happened last night. i like sake, its one of the only things that i can drink provided that there is enough food involved. its very clean and refreshing, and i like to taste those types of drinks.

there were three types of sake that were offered to taste all different in body type.

1) Kikusui which is a Junmai Ginjo. (light body)

2) Mizbasho which was a Ginjo. (medium body)

3) Nanbubijin which was a Tokubetsu Junmai (full body)

and my personal favorite was the last one (Nanbubijin) which was a full body sake, at first i did not like the Mizbasho at first but in the end it was a very good sake to go with food.

with the three sake came small samples of the rolls, sushi and the grilled ribs. Yuji had me smell and taste all three sakes prior to the food coming. so based on that first impression i liked the full body and more earthy flavored sake. and did not like the way the Mizbasho cut in with bitterness at the end, but i changed my mind shortly after the food came.

so first sake up with food was the Kikusui, i sipped a little then had the salmon sushi. after sipping some more the salmon flavors came out more and had a nice smokey savory flavor that came out even more. i really enjoyed that. and then yuji suggested that i tried the ribs and see how that went with a light body sake. and boy o boy was it different. the ribs did not go well with the ribs as the sake was able to cut the rich flavors of the beef. so light with light.

second up was the Mizbasho, which was not my favorite at first as it had a sharp finish on my tongue. but with the albacore sushi, it was really really nice. the sweetness of the fish came out and really help the finish on the tongue after food was with it. next food with the sake was the Triple A roll (avocado/asparagus/albacore) wow! the avocado and rich buttery flavors came out with a sip of the sake, i ended up trying the Yellow Tail sushi with this sake as well and it help bring out the buttery notes of the yellow tail. i was thoroughly impressed with how much the sake complimented the food and was surprised that i liked it after giving it a chance with food.

lastly the sake i liked without food, i had this with the ribs and it was a perfect match. yuji was right, i like meat and this sake was perfect with the beef. it help bring out the grilled beef flavors of the meat and the sake was full enough to stand up to such a strong flavor, uber savory and smokey yet a smooth sweet finish.

overall the experience was very good. i also got to try to nigori sake which is unfiltered sake, much sweeter and cloudy. i could only imagine some cool recipes with that to come...

i had a great time with my friend at kabuki and i hope that everyone goes out and tries more sake. and remember its all about if you like it going down your mouth or not. have fun and drink it cold unless directed otherwise... its good for you, promise! i'll have some medical backing soon... till then

eat extraordinary everyday!

June....

2009-06-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone...

Well i'm very sorry for having not posted anything up in a long time. I have been slacking very much I'd admit but for all good reason... 1) i've been doing tons of research and writing for a book. so it is why i haven't been posting anything up. Yes this is a very informal post. sorry again. please keep reading or follow me on twitter.

since i've been a bad blogger i'm just going to throw a list of things ive come across..

@ angels stadium, the hot dogs are a bit salty. i didn't finish mine.

@ machi Fusion, you can get home style and bar style Taiwanese food. it gets pricey but it is very delicious. Think Tapas but Asian. if you haven't heard yet Taiwan is a hot foodie destination. stinky tofu and all, check on it. make travel plans, make it happen.

@ fix coffee in echo park. they make a proper cup of coffee. i adore places that take the time to warm up my cup before filling it with any hot liquid. trust me it makes all the difference in the world.

@ Sunday bistro in Alhambra; why is it that most of the Chinese restaurants have the worst service? i'm just throwing it out there, some days when i get excellent service at an asian spot i am in awe and look around for the manager and say thanks.

@ coffee spots with free wifi. thank you so much and thanks even more when you make good coffee and have good music playing... mom and pop places. xoxo.

@ yogurtland, omg, i'm still in love with this place. despite the fact that i wont try new flavors.

i still love brunch...

2009-05-31T23:53:00.000-07:00

steak vs mushrooms.

my best and i went for brunch this morning. she said that little dom's had this crazy french toast souffle that i had to check out... and that she was craving. so we went. and i must say i was happy. she also said we HAD to have the rice balls... they had cheese in them.. i was sold when she said cheese and fried. so the low down. the place kinda reminds me of new york city, total hipster place but with good food. service was a bit slow today but it happens, i over heard they were short staffed.

we have the rice balls... sooo good.. they were rice balls with mozzarella cheese with some Parmesan on the outside batter. very good. its a must try for everyone. perfectly seasoned which is wonderful.

she gets the french toast souffle and o.m.g. sooo good. i love souffles especially when they are sweet kinds... but of course savory ones are great as well. it wasnt as souffley as i hoped but it was delicious none the less so if you like french toast give this a go! I had a hard time deciding what to have, the hollandaise was the key to my selection. i wanted to check the poached egg selection so it was steak and eggs vs. mushroom and eggs. and i went with steak. 7 oz of steak with two soft poached eggs over grilled bread and topped with hollandaise that had fennel in it. AMAZING. very good and i was happy i made that selection.. also the cappuccino was very good. sadly my friend's mimosa didn't come fast enough we had to ax the order... but overall I'll be coming back.. they have Italian wedding soup on the lunch menu and i have a sick feeling that its going to be good..

enjoying brunch with my best friend is a nice way to really feel at home in california.

hunting down some books..

2009-05-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

i decided that once i am on the westcoast and settled in. i shall begin my search of the five major classical reads that all of the great chefs currently in america regard as the reasons why they cook. i'm hoping to buy one each month and read it before the fall. and hopefully i'll be very well read in my history of food prior to the planning of the french laundry trip.

Stick to what you know..

2009-05-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

okay today's blog is dedicated to FAST FOOD.

**photo by grubgrade

lately in anticipation of my graduation I've been severely stressed out and filled with anxiety, during which I've consumed more fast food in one week than i would in a normal year. and that means more than 2 times in a week! eek! but here's the problem with fast food joints, you get there and you decide you cannot decide what you want, at least that's my personal problem and then to solve it i end up consuming about $10 worth of food, and for fast food you know that's A LOT of food. and just for the record, i have a tendency to go online and find out the caloric count as well as sodium amount in everything in hopes that i will have more of a resistance in ordering 1000+ calories in food. . . but usually i fail. sad i know, but during times of anxiety/stress anything goes as therapy even if it's slowly killing me. Ill swim it off once i move towards warmer weather.

**photo by yummyinthetummyblog

so today i went to both McDonald's and Wendy's. i decided i would try these crispy chicken sandwiches that have been advised. I'm not going to go into detail exactly what else was consumed with this but it was not a good thing in terms of calories/fat/sodium. *i did eat broccoli for dinner. but back to the subject at hand, value menu chicken sandwiches.. well both were of good size, i mean for $1 its not a bad sandwich. if you ordered your meal from the value menu you would get an actual normal caloric meal for under 4 dollars. but most people opt for the bigger 900 calorie lunch instead. but anyhow.. the mc chicken wasn't as good as their other stuff. it was a bit on the 'getting soggy any minute' texture group. and the Wendy's crispy chicken sandwich held up to the name very well, the protein was still crispy and the flavor in

the breading was actually pretty good. i was happy with that much more than of the McChicken. so overall, if you want a nice dollar menu chicken sandwich, go with Wendy's.

**photo by Eating in Translation

and to another fast food joint we go.. well theoretically, as i will not be consuming PR chicken. KFC launched its Grilled Chicken recently. this would NEVER happen if Sanders was still alive, why? because he spent his LIFE perfecting the million secret spice combination recipe for his FRIED Chicken. I'm serious. it bothers me that they decided to branch out to get more sales, and go against the company name.. FRIED. I guess there is a side of me that believes that if you're good at something stick to it. Historically, the development of restaurants were actual stands in the market place where one person would make a mean dish, so good that it was all they made and people would buy it until they were gone. the name escapes me right now, but in ancient Chinese history, one emperor heard of a lady's soup that he summoned her to cook for him and all she sold was one thing, every day for 365 days a year. and it made her famous, its when you get greedy about the money you make other things that start to take your standards and passions down. but then it could be just the marketing issues i have with these fast food joints. here are two examples of fast food using a good strategy to introduce more stuff to make you buy...

Taco Bell: Fresco, yes Taco bell has a healthy fresh menu. a way to introduce the same things but slightly healthier and less calories to get some people in. packaged in a green and clean manner, it makes you think you're eating great at a fast food place. not bad, almost made me want taco bell.

McDonald's: McCafe, to compete with Starbucks, they added Iced Coffee with syrup options. and from what my sister says, it was crappy. i bought it for her and she told me to never do it again. so i guess the coffee done cold isn't as good as Starbucks blended concoctions. but the marketing decided to make it a whole theme of a new element of the McDonald's world, making people think they should get coffee here too, instead of a place that only sells coffee drinks..

so with that i hope I've given some insight into the world of fast food through my perspective. enjoy it in moderation, fast food that is.

eat extraordinary everyday.

** the images were taken from Flickr, these photos were credited as they are not mine. If you find them interesting please search the photostreams listed under the photos.

Building the Recipe collection...

2009-04-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

so today I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to share a recipe because its earth day. if you've been reading my blog I'm sure you've noticed i don't put any recipes up. even though Susy asked that i should share. the reason is because i usually try not to share my recipes because i usually do not write it down. but lately I've been collecting a lot of different recipes and coming up with my own as well, its slowly building up and everyday is a new idea, something new to try and so the list goes on. there are various notes on my computer, my phone, my planner, my magazines; they are just everywhere. I have collected some insane amount of recipes which i rarely share especially those i come up with but sometimes I'm nice enough to share with people.

so what is the recipe today??? well since in Los Angeles its summer, I'm going to give a grilled steak recipe. and the whole recipe is eye balling it so add a bit or take off a little of what you like or dislike.

you'll need:

freezer bag-large

skirt steak -about 1-2 lbs

olive oil 1/2 cup

fresh rosemary 1/3 cup

fresh basil 1/3 cup

fresh flat leaf parsley 1/4 cup

lemon zest/lemon juice

salt

pepper

crushed red pepper

dash of Worcestershire sauce

chop up all the herbs (you can do this in a food processor if you dislike knife work)
In a freezer bag- good tablespoon of salt/pepper , with 1/2 cup of good olive oil, the herbs, zest of one lemon and juice, dash of Worcestershire sauce, add the skirt steak in and let it sit for 30 mins.
fire up the grill to high heat and grill until reached to the medium, let it rest and slice after the meat has rested for 15 mins.

serve with some grilled garlic bread and a side of grilled Caesar salad you have yourself a wonderful meal. i used to prepare this dish for the family i cooked for, everyone loved it and it was simple.

recipes to me are like stories that come to life when they are made into meals. every dish I've made for my friends and family and clients have been ingrained into my mind as moments of living life. sharing a meal with people is the fastest way to creating memories and truly enjoying life and recipes are just an easy reminder to how to do that. i have so many fond memories of wine tasting parties, burgers and steak dinners with my friends and when i think of my friends i always think of how i can create some more memories through new foods that they would enjoy trying. I've been diving into history books of food and the food culture of all types of civilizations and one thing I've learned is that regardless of where people are in the world and their financial or class status, food was the uniting factor to good times. so with that i hope that everyone is enjoying a nice earth day and remember buy organic, buy local, buy fresh and cook fresh for yourself and your loved ones.

eat extraordinary everyday

*shout out to the people in my photo, easter brunch 2004; fear factory band members, evidence, dj salam wreck, Segal mix master, and the rest of the crew.

**using dom perignon and cristal for mimosas was how the brunch originated

edamame

2009-04-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

today i've decided to blog just about one thing. hopefully i'll stay on track, as that usually does not happen, i'm trying to make sure i write often in case i take a sharp turn into writing. so anyhow here i am sipping on my homemade soy milk thinking about the benefits of soy beans. a few stories of my life to be shared about this amazing legume.

1) when i was a little kid, i often loved when my parents bought fresh soy milk home, it was usually warm and i would have to wait forever for it to cool, or i would climb up the freezer to get some ice. (i still owe my parents a fridge when the current breaks down) i love soy milk, i love the way it taste and so when i tried the 'American' version i finally found out why people hate soy milk. it taste weird, i mean not in a bad way, but it has a very soy flavor that is not very appetizing kinda way. which is odd because i always loved the stuff, and never took into account that some people were not having the same stuff we called by the same name. freshly made soy milk is yummy and there are some really good asian breakfast places (i think it is common for Taiwan and parts of china) where its hot/warm soy milk both savory and sweet dipped with a special bread/dough and that's always a fun way to enjoy soy milk for the

dunking loving breakfast peoples. and for those who are interested in making your own soy

milk, there are these machines that look and operate like a coffee machine, it cooks/grinds/filters soybeans into a hot yummy soy milk. we add just a touch of sugar for it, so we enjoy it more so like a sweet beverage but of course it's not as sweet as drinking soda or anything like that. check your local Chinese emporium store and ask around or look for it online, we bought ours for $100 and its been so great making weekly soy milk. i say its a nice way to have something healthy to drink. if you can pour water to soak up the beans and work a coffee machine, you can make your own soy milk. check on it.

2) edamame- there are so many ways to preparing these little pods and eating them is so much fun. my little nephew eats them slowly by pushing the beans out on one end. i usually pull them out with my teeth, everyone has a different way of getting the beans out. overall a great thing to eat, both fun and good for you. while i was attending college in los angeles, i went to a

restaurant in the marina and they had the edamame appetizer dressed in some sauce and it was soo addictive. i came back to the place a few more times to try to get a better understanding of the recipe, i ended up solving it and went home to make it just like the restaurant did. my friends were so happy that i figured it out and they were able to eat it for free at my home when they came over for movie night. the odd part about the story is the chef or the person who came up with the spicy edamame is my current boyfriend. i told him this story and he laughed, i guess i do have good taste. i also recently went to a robata restaurant where everyone in my party was raving about the unique taste of the edamame, even my Japanese friends loved it, no one could figure it out. since it was my first time eating here, i was excited to find out what they loved about the place. as i tasted the edamame, there was something very distinct about them, very different yet very subtle which is why everyone

couldnt figure it out. thankfully (at least this time) my sensitive palate was able to pick up on the secret ingredient. the water they boiled the soy beans in had corn cobs. i check the menu and they had corn, so what the chefs were doing were cutting the corn off the cobs and tossing the cobs into the water and the soybeans would boil in the slightly corn flavored water. mystery solved, and that will be the next party snack food at my home movie nights.

3) natto lovers. i've come to adore this preparation of soybeans, fermented soy beans. yes it sounds gross, it smells gross to the untrained nose, its sticky and slimy. if you're a kid or have a kid this might be the messy healthy food that you will fall in love with. i found the natto in the frozen section of the asian food market and at all japanese markets i've been to. it varies in the brand in how nutty the natto will be and if they give you a mixture of broth and mustard, or the seasoning packs are separated. either way, topped with some thinly sliced green onions over hot rice, makes for great breakfast. very filling and I'm not as hungry as i would be if i had an egg sandwich for breakfast, very good for you and fun to eat.

historically, soybeans have been grown and eaten in asia for over 5000 years. so with that amount of time, of course this stuff is good for you! so go out and eat it, regardless of the form, soy milk, tofu, edamame appetizers, natto, miso, black/yellow/green, whichever you choose i hope you incorporate them into your daily routine and you wont be disappointed.

eat extraordinary everyday.

*just a note, these pictures were collected from flickr and google images. i did not have any photos on hand so i used online sources.

WHAT! that is not it!

2009-04-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

You don’t go around calling what is actually a TACO a Burrito. You also do not call something that is distinctly Chow Mien, Pho. Yes they are similar in the regional cuisine that they come from but they are completely different in every which way it is made but are only the same in the happiness they give you as you put them in your mouth. Then what is my problem? My problem is calling it the wrong thing; you know exactly what I am talking about, you chefs and foodies out there. You know what you’re ordering based on what is called and or described. That being said there are some restaurants out there that are giving popular dish names to some random creation they’ve put on the menu is one way of mis-educating the public. I for one do not appreciate to order something to receive something that is completely different. If it’s a hamburger I expect and imagine and anticipate a burger not a wrap that has the same ingredients of a hamburger, if it’s a hamburger wrap, call it that then. Make it clear as to what you are making and what I will be eating and if its something made up, then please give it a great name.

I once was watching a television show where they were making what were clearly empanadas, but she kept calling it a taco. She was clearly from a normal region of Mexico, so I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do about regional names, it was the fact that she did not know what she was talking about. It was seriously so annoying that I was yelling at my television set, and it happened again today when someone decided to call some noodle soup concoction Pho. Pho is Pho if it has certain components of spices, ingredients and rice noodles. If it doesn’t have the correct spices or the correct preparation of the dish please do not call it something it is clearly not. If you’re creative enough to come up with something completely original and new in our modern culinary culture, then by all means give it a new name of type of food.

I am all for new fusion cuisine provided that they are actually doing a good job doing the fusion part. Nothing worse then bad naming of an idea executed wrongly, it sits on your plate and you end up just hating fusion food. The problem with a lot of fusion food places is that these chefs do not really understand the flavors and techniques of the types of food they are merging. For me True fusion food marries the completely different cuisines together that make you happy and want to travel to taste the real deal. That is my definition of great fusion food. Sadly a lot of places are not doing that, they just put together something that could go well and due to a lot of people saying ‘ooo that is amazing’ they come out with something that is actually failed the test of true identity. Like artists, I only respect those who know the history of art and chefs are no different. The best chefs in world know the history of the food they are cooking and love learning and discovery new food flavors. So for all those newbie chefs and food lovers out there, grab a region, learn the flavors and move on to the next. Only after some years of eating and learning the true origins and flavors of foods can you say you know what you’re eating. This actually goes for me as well, but I am currently reading history books on food so I’m doing exactly what I am telling you!

with that

eat extraordinary everyday.

table for one..

2009-03-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

like most people who blog about food, i have a passion about food. the culinary world has so many different aspects that you can enjoy. there's cooking, writing, eating and looking. it uses all your senses and that's what i love most about food. i often eat alone as most of my friends and family are usually working when i get a spare minute to eat. so i've learned how to dine alone and when i do, i am able to truly enjoy my meal. but today this entry is about a bad experience....

sometimes servers look at a one top as a pain. a single person eating probably wont eat as much or even tip as much. sadly some servers judge their single diners a bit too fast. i usually tip well all the time. today i went to a restaurant that many people told me was 'amazing' 'one of the best' and i decided to try it out.

i was promptly seated and greeted with a smile. (so far so good) i get a cute table in the middle of the place. my server comes and ask how i'm doing i say fine, i want water to drink. he goes and gets it. i have to ask for the specials after staring at the menu for 5 minutes. but i now start to notice that he greeted everyone else and told them the specials... odd.
i ask if the ravioli is homemade and he says yes, i get it. simple as that. my salad that comes with the pasta arrives shortly.. its wet. dripping with dressing. not tossed but just lots of dressing. the greens were wet. i don't complain because I'm going to take what this 'amazing' restaurant is giving me. sadly the salad dressing ruined the whole salad dish for me but i politely eat it all and drink lots of water.
*good point: they put sunflower seeds in the salad. i love sunflower seeds.
my ravioli comes. the thing is okay, nothing super special about it, and for some reason it reminded me of the stuff you can get at Costco. which of course makes me think it might not be homemade. but I'm going to give it to the restaurant this time.
i'm excited to get dessert because i saw my server ask another one top if he was having dessert.
after i finish my meal a nice girl comes by and takes my plate away. i wait patiently for my server to come back and ask me if i want dessert. sadly that DIDN'T HAPPEN. i was given the check.
therefore, i paid and left.
i did ask the nice girl if they only served dessert at dinner, she said no we have dessert for lunch as well... with that i say thank you and leave.
if you're not going to offer me dessert i wont know if you have it since its on a separate menu.

so with that i experience diner discrimination in service. if you serve you know the routine very well. the more the person eats the more the total will be and usually people take the percentage of the total to tip you. if you follow the correct processes you would have provided decent service. if you go above and beyond then you get more added to your tip. in Pennsylvania servers get half the amount of minimum wage and tips as their pay. so tips is usually what they are trying to get most of their rent money from. maybe my server didn't need the money or maybe he didn't like me because i was a girl, or i was sitting alone. nonetheless i receive crap service. as a former server i always give my best service to everyone who comes in and eat, the dining experience is both great service and great food. today i had half ass service and okay food. nothing 'amazing' as everyone said. everyone else that ate at the restaurant seemed to be known by name and the servers were friendly. sadly i didn't feel the welcoming vibe from my server and that was the only interaction that i was given from anyone. and believe me i sat with a smile hoping i would get a bit better service. i did not.

now i can only wonder if the dessert could have save the day. i went on yelp and gave them 3 stars. i wont be going back but i'm sad to have receive that type of service as a food lover.

i hope your culinary adventures bring you to better service and food than i had today.

eat extraordinary everyday.

fresh fresh fresh...

2009-03-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

live scallops: they bite unless you eat them

what makes food great? mind blowing? memorable? its all about how great it taste. and to do that you have to respect the product, treat it and cook it and serve it with the utmost respect. and that's how you get great food. people for centuries have taken that into account. how our society has turned food into something fast and mediocre is just sad. people used to stand in lines just to walk past the kings and queens eating lunch, a glimpse into what these royals ate was what drove them to make recipes that somewhat resemble what they saw. i love that! i love how people used to love food more than war. well i love food more than war, hey given the choice between perfectly made eclair or a hand grenade I'll pick chocolate with sweet cream filling any day of the week. maybe all the war lords just need a good cook meal and maybe a hug. who knows.. but that's just going on to way too serious of a topic of my liking.

orange clam: it is really both man and woman in appearance

back to food. good food starts with great products and then of course the chef, the guy/girl should do their best to bring out the best flavors and not mess it up. yes, some so called chefs mess things up and make people hate something that actually started out really really good. point being sushi. its fish, yes just fish. an actual creature that was swimming a few hours/days ago is now sitting on your place. he/she has not been cooked by the chef and there isnt some

generic sauce on it (thats goes to all those places who have taught people that ponzu or spicy mayo is a substitute for soy sauce and dunking your fish in: yes, people do ask for ponzu or spicy mayo, that doesn't say you know how to eat sushi, it only says that you pay for overpriced, over sauced fish and probably don't know what salmon or tuna actually taste like. stop telling people you eat sushi, you eat sauce). real sushi, you place that piece of fish in your mouth and it melts your tongue into a burst of life and stars... i'm not sure about you but that's the type of experience i have on a regular basis when i'm eating sushi. if you're not getting that same feeling, you should reconsider your sushi place. give me a ring and i'll bring you where the food transcends earth. people have often why i'm so passionate about food and my reasoning is that it makes me feel better about life. it not only provides sustenance for me but it makes me feel happy, builds relationships with those who i dine with and those who serve/prepare my food. its how relationships are built between people. hell there was a trade based solely on spices, spices that made food better. if something as small as saffron was more valuable than gold then i think those priorities of that world is one of the reasons why i love history and history that involves the foods that people ate. foods that made a difference in everyday life.

golden eye snapper: he was delicious

i was able to be at my favorite sushi spot recently during the slow times and i was able to take some cool pictures of the fish/seafood that had just came in. yes they let me go back and see what they are cutting and this is why i love this place. i know the food is fresh. so fresh sometimes the things are still moving or alive. live scallops , live abalone, live sweet shrimp, live giant clam, and fresh whole salmon and golden eye snapper. these are not only delicious but are soo beautiful when they are whole, its amazing how fresh these things are. the owner was playing with one of the scallops and almost got bit! scallops shutting on a sushi chef's finger might have been a funny and ironic story. but thankful it didnt happen.

salmon

so there you go. why i love sushi and why i love food in a nutshell. i dont take life seriously but i do take my food seriously. eat what is good and eat with people who love food as much as you do and life will be a bit more pleasant regardless of other issues. if i wasn't in love i would be content with being in love with food. i'll have more post coming up from my week in los angeles.

eat extraordinary everyday!

cupcakes in For The Win!

2009-02-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

so yesterday was a day of failure. i was actually failing at life. things just did not go my way.

1. my flash drive with all my digital files of my photography decided to die.

2. cvs 'never received' my images for print= no prints for photography class.

3. late to both classes... reasons 1 and 2 are to blame.

so why is this on my food blog? well my photography class had an assignment of 'left over still life' i didn't eat anything worth taking pictures of, or in my artistic and food porn obsessed self decided i didn't not find anything i was eating the weekend visually good for a still life set up. so on Monday night i decided to set something up. i decided to bake some mini red velvet cupcakes. i figured if i was going to take some images of a 'left over' it should be real. so i baked. i took some nice pictures of my kitchen aid stand mixer with egg shells, butter wrappers, William Sonoma red melamine mixing bowl and a recipe card. figured that would be good for the still life. then i iced the mini cupcakes with different color frosting since it would be cheerful and they're small so super cute. as a result of baking the cupcakes for the photography project i had tons of cupcakes. so here's how they save my life...

1. show up to drawing-late. have cupcakes, professor says they are cute and somehow is not bothered that I'm late. we even have a wonderful conversation about the new alkaline diet that she is on to help with her arthritis. we discuss my passion of food and my exploration of different cooking styles and recipes for special diets and needs of my clients. * i used to cook for a family.

2. show up to photography-late. out of breath from power walking through downtown Pittsburgh to pick up some prints for class. (thankfully i had two different locations print my photos so i did show up to class with 3 prints) i tell my professor that i am failing at life due to the A) dead flash drive where i cannot turn in digital files of the assignment B) for being late and C) for not having the additional prints he wanted in our visual presentation due that day. but it goes like this

Professor: "Monique, what is that you're holding?" (he's curious as i'm holding a long pyrex covered container)

Me: "mini red velvet cupcakes, results of my photo shoot."

P: "now class, this is how you make me feel better when I'm grading you. Cupcakes makes everything better especially while i think about the grades i'll be giving you."

Me: "yes they do make life better, look" (opens lid)

P: "wow they are colored so brightly, so happy."

and so that is how mini red velvet cupcakes saved my life yesterday at school. instead of being the late student without any work, i was the late student with cupcakes to share for the whole class. its amazing how baked goods can cheer people up and make things just a bit sweeter. i actually bring baked goods to all types of functions. i find it that it helps people let go of themselves and be nicer. our world is filled with so many negative things and i think by baking something small and fresh and from scratch that people will remember that life isn't so hard and mean. food can have that type of magic on our lives.

eat extraordinary everyday.

sales at the grocery store

2009-02-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

sometimes i think people are not really paying attention to the things in their world. I've been telling my sister for weeks now, to buy whatever is on sale and I'll make it delicious. for valentines day we did not do anything special. but the next day she had gone to the flea market where they sell veggies and bought four bunches of asparagus for 5 dollars. then at the local giant eagle grocery store, they had rib eye steaks packs on sale (4 pieces) for $13. i came home from work and she told me her findings. i was very proud of her.

i proceeded to season the steaks and the asparagus and grilled them on our indoor grill. had a great dinner for three people for less than $2o. I think these days when the economy is bad we should all try to find more creative ways in preparing foods and shopping for groceries. that's been the topic of all my food magazines that I've been reading. people are in tight budget mode, thus not eating out a lot. i feel that we still need to eat out to help support the food industry. so by saving on a low cost dinner weekly, one can ideally go out one day a week to have a nice dinner where you sit and have someone serve you food and do the dishes too.

i really love going out to eat. the whole process of eating out really amazes me. the way in which people have to interact and behave is something that is so fascinating. everyone is trying to pleased or be pleased and the restaurant is the place to get this exchange of pleasure. i have nothing against that. i love cooking and feeding people and see them enjoy my food. but at the same time i love the feeling of enjoying someone's hard work of food preparation.

with that, i hope everyone finds some imagination when it comes to stretching their budgets during these times.. eat some good food and savory every moment of it.

eat extraordinary everyday.

funny looking dumplings and tarts..

2009-02-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

most of the time i can make anything i want and usually it comes out pretty good- sometimes amazing. other times its fail. failing in terms of the way it looks, it usually tastes like what its supposed to. so i'm not in fear of how the food is going to taste these days, its the appearance of these things i keep picking to try. of course they have been some extremely difficult things. for example: **

1) Dim Sum- Sweet Egg Tartlets: Dan Tat as you call them in chinese.

there is a lot of work that goes into the little things you enjoy the most. i always get these when i go to Dim Sum, my grandfather would get them and sometimes during the week after school he would have some and give one to me if i was a good girl. and so they are associated with good memories for me. trying to make these delicious little tarts was sort of paying homage to my grandfather's sweet tooth. it was harder than i thought it would be. the dough itself didn't taste bad, needed more butter for the flaky layer it should have. and the egg custard was just sweet enough but needed to be silkier. but then again my oven is not as great as i would like it. they turned out okay a tad bit burnt on top, but lucky for me my sister loves it like that. the next time i attempt these little treats, i'll have more knowledge from this first try.

2) Dumplings: Pork and Chive dumplings.

As seen on tv... after watching a throw down with bobby flay on pork and chive dumplings, my sister and i decided we were skilled enough to try to make dumplings from scratch. i mean of course after our almost success of dan tats- why not? o boy, the dough was just a nightmare to make thin. i decided to roll the dough out as a thin sheet and proceeded to cut them round with a cookie cutter. why i did not think to use my kitchen aid pasta roller i have no clue. but the filling tasted a bit bland the first few, so we upped the flavors and it came out okay. the dough cooked was fluffy and chewy instead of thin and smooth. and did i mention they were ugly? non looked a like, but despite the way they looked they tasted good. my sister and i were laughing the whole time, so i think overall good recipe for sister bonding.

so the lesson to be learned from this blog entry is that no matter how well you cook there will be things that you will not make right the first time. but you will remember the things you did wrong and the many laughs you had while eating the disfigured dumplings. its all about the pleasures of how the food makes you feel. either comforting, filling or just fun moments, food will add something to your life that all the money in the world cannot and that is happiness. during these tough times all around the world i think its best to try to enjoy every morsel you have and every meal you have with family and friends. meals together builds bonds that will never be lost as the flavors and smells will stay with you no matter where your life leads you.

eat extraordinary everyday!

**sorry for the picture quality, camera phone.

update

2009-02-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

just to let everyone know what's cooking... apparently i live about 10 minutes away from the original 'Quaker steak and lube' voted best wings USA... and my friend from buffalo says no one is better than anchor bar *where the stuff was invented..

road trip? you betcha! check in for that soon.. I'm going to try that atomic hot one * there's a release form to be signed, this should be interesting..

meanwhile,

eat extraordinary everyday!

Go Steelers!!!

2009-01-24T17:51:00.001-08:00

I've lived in Pittsburgh for about two years. its been very hard on me, as i am usually at least 40 degrees out of my natural habitat. but i've gotten over it and learned a little about what it is to live it Pittsburgh and how Pittsburgh's eats.

the food here is real, its matches the people's taste. they like what they know and they don't need anything frou frou in the mix. nothing fancy, just give it to me, mentality. to really appreciate that, it took me a few years to get. at first i didn't know what to think of the food of Pittsburgh. after a few steeler games, pirate games and pens games, you start to understand. the food here goes amazing with beer. never had i ever thought i would say i like beer, but here you learn to like it and slowly love it (*if you're not from the Burgh.) but the history of the city comes through in the foods that the people love. funny story about my move to Pittsburgh. a dear friend of mine said something odd when i told him i was moving to Pittsburgh for school. he said "omg they have this outrageous sandwich that is unique to them, its just amazing and huge" with that i learned my first unique Pittsburgh thing. Primanti's

when you think of Pittsburgh, that should come to your head. Primanti's. it came from the people who were working in the mills, the truckers and the late night crowds. open all day and in various places throughout the city, they are Pittsburgh. the spirit of the city in a sandwich. the combination is unique. there is some tomatoes, yummy fries and of course the slaw. no need for plates, just some paper and you're good. but you should have it with beer, it helps it go down; its massive. but man is it filling. i was a bit scared of it, but i was living in Pittsburgh now; so with that thought, i consumed my roast beef sandwich with an iron city beer after. and although i dont go there everyday or that often, i have much respect for it.

there are other great places in Pittsburgh...but i'm too scared of the cold to venture out as often as i should. so with that, if you come to Pittsburgh; come to primanti's. once you eat that, you'll get a good feeling of how the people of Pittsburgh are, real and great with beer and of course always down for a good time at the bar watching their teams play.

GO STEELERS !!!! Win that Super Bowl.

eat extraordinary everyday!

tune in....

2009-01-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

tune in tonight!!!!!

premiere of Throw Down with Bobby Flay: Sushi

time: eastern 9pm and midnight

western 6pm, 9pm and midnight

where: foodtv/food network

i'm pretty excited as my former boss/friend is now going to be challenged by bobby flay to make sushi... this should be very interesting.. and i'm not telling you the outcome. tune in tonight!!!

really?? salmon?

2009-01-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

today i heard something almost a bit shocking.

since the new year, my sister and i are trying to make an effort towards a healthier lifestyle. with that i started to prepare most of my own lunches so that i do not eat food i have no control over at school. i also make a portion for my sister as well. she's on track to lose a lot of weight and eating much healthier, which makes me happy. for the past few lunches, i've tried to finish the pack of frozen salmon that we had. our lunches usually consist of a salad (romaine lettuce, thinly sliced bell peppers, carrots and celery *everything usually chopped and sliced) and i make a wasabi dressing to go with it. for the protein side of the lunch, i make salmon. simply seasoned with salt and pepper, a few slices of lemon and a squeeze and i wrap it up and bake it. that's about it. it comes out just right, keeping its texture and flavor.

well my sister took her lunch into work. and a coworker asked her what she was eating. my sister gave her a tiny piece of salmon and salad to try. and she was amazed at how it was actually good. this coworker of my sister has never had salmon before. she never tried it because she is actually a very very picky eater. although her picky-ness results in frozen dinners and fast food joints. it was very surprising to me that someone over the age of 25 has never tried salmon. i mean. they have it at panera bread. they have some form of fish at the golden arches, but really? never tried it? wow. after all the endless amounts of published research on the omega fats that salmon has and all the publicity. nothing? till today. i ended up texting the coworker the recipe to prepare the salmon just as i made it. and i hope she tries it. and perhaps move one step closer to cooking her own food at home and trying more things.

i admit. i live in a small town in western Pennsylvania. and i dont expect everyone here to have the palate that i have. i mean there is a mexican restaurant here and a few chinese food buffet. okay.. those places are not that great, but they have options to eating there instead of a chain diner place or through a window. one day i'll take a picture of the line at the drive through during dinner time. people just pick up their foods. i know its expensive to go and make your food, but i promise it pays off in the end. bon appetit just had an issue where they help make recipes for the whole family on a very good budget and its gourmet food at that on top of being healthy. if i could i would just help everyone eat a home cooked meal everything. those are the activities that build the foundations of a healthy lifestyle and good memories. people never forget a good meal or a great dish. they develop a taste in experimentation and start to explore the world through their culinary curiosities. i think its a shame that our society is forgetting the wonders of what a dinner with the family can do for everyone in the family unit. people talk about how our society is bad, well everything starts at home. and the best way to bring people together is with food. think about it.

with that. i'm going to leave this blog with just a hope that everyone will try to have a sit down meal with family, friends or coworkers/anyone will do. because sharing your food can help spread some wonderful flavors into someone else's world.

eat extraordinary everyday.

BRUNCH

2009-01-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I wish everyone a great 2009 filled with new culinary adventures as well as discoveries of old classics.

I was thinking back to times when I was most happiest with my friends. I recall Brunch moments. i have three memories that I'm going to share with you all.

1. classic cafe Laurent. as in previous blogs, this is one of my favorite places to eat. regardless of what others think, this is one of my favorite places to eat brunch alone. on Sundays they have a live jazz band or musician playing very cute music to eat along with. my favorite thing to get at cafe Laurent (any time that I'm not there for lunch) is definitely the eggs Benedict. there is something about good hollandaise on perfect poached eggs that make me smile. and its served with scalloped potatoes. and of course you have to get the outside seating. going to brunch after a night out with your friends is so nice to treat a hang over.. then a nice walk on the beach is the perfect Sunday.

2. this is for those who love to keep drinking.. in calabasas, ca. there is a Mexican brunch place called la paz. they include margaritas or mimosas with your brunch and its buffet style. outside seating of course, but the topper is the Mariachi band. there is a wide wide selection of food for you. i went with a group of my friends about 15 of us, everyone drinking eating and laughing. we had a blast seeing who could drink the most and eat the most, lots of gluttony *no judging. we all moved the party back to my friend's house for a poolside BBQ party, keep Sunday a day of relaxation and good times with friends.

3. my friend segal loves to cook, we often make lots of great BBQ meals together for all our friends and his business associates. one year we did brunch to help him get rid of the Dom p and the Cristal bottles of champagne he had laying around. so we had a massive brunch for 15 people, pretty much impromptu *like most great parties are. we made some pork chop steaks, waffles, omelets, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, mimosas, coffee and i think there might have been some fruit smoothies.. there was a lot of food and of course everyone came hungry and we put away all that food. it was a great time.

i was inspired by a show "how i met your mother" when they talked about brunch. i love brunch just like the characters in the show. and i decided to think about all the great brunches i've had. of course there are many places out there that serve amazing brunch, but the point of the meal is that it makes people happy. either helping out the previous' night consumption of alcohol or starting a nice lazy Sunday afternoon, the brunch meal is always a good time for all who participate. so i hope this year everyone goes out with their friends and family for some good brunch.

SHABU SHABU

2008-12-29T23:47:00.000-08:00

one of my favorite ways to eat food is to cook it as i eat it... doesn't get any fresher than that. my sister and i usually save it for the coldest winter nights here in Pennsylvania which is often.. shabu shabu is what i'm talking about. if you havent tried it.. then you should after you read the blog. shabu shabu is the Japanese name for the dish. but there are many different asian versions of how you eat it and what you call it depending on where you go. the basis is always a hot pot of broth in the center and thinly sliced beef, seafood and veggies that are raw to be cooked in the broth as you consume it. plus an array of dipping sauces that can be customized to your liking. I'll look into where it originated but nonetheless its a fun way to eat with family and friends.

I've gathered some pictures from flickr since i have yet to take any pictures of my home shabu shabu experience. but there is something about cooking and eating food with your close family together and watching the food cook that makes it a nice experience. hot it goes into your mouth and sometimes too hot, but that's the fun of it. in monterey park, ca there is a place that has outside seating where you can eat it in a large table with your family in a circle. they have Chinese herbs in the broth and that make it taste great perhaps even good for you. the broth as you would imagine gets tastier as you cook more and more different veggies and meats. so in the end drinking the broth with some rice noodles is just a nice treat. some places have split pots with spicy broth and regular, we make that type at home since not everyone can eat as spicy as my sister and i can. but its nice to have options. this is perfect for the picky eater as they can just cook what they want to eat without any worry. we usually have thinly sliced beef, shrimp, squid balls, meat balls, fish balls, napa cabbage, tofu, taro, egg, scallions, mushrooms... and rice noodles.. but sometimes we add more things, it just dependent on how many options you want to give yourself. i love options... there is just something about sitting in a circle with your friends and family making food together that i think is special. i always end up full and happy. perhaps it takes us back to our ancestral roots of the hunter and gatherer stage of human civilization, were food was a ceremony and part of a community building ritual.

i hope that everyone tries shabu shabu one point this upcoming year and see how fun it is.. i think it beats out fondue cheese any day. but i like having noodles as an option, which makes me biased on that opinion. don't be scared, if you think the beef isn't cooked all the way through you can just leave it in a bit longer, no pressure, and if you like it a bit medium that works too, there is not right or wrong when it comes to shabu shabu and what you eat.

eat extraordinary everyday

Food Snob...

2008-12-04T23:14:00.000-08:00

I've come to the realization that I may have a little problem sometimes when I become a food snob. It comes out only when someone who clearly doesnt know anything about food says they have great taste. for me, to earn my respect in food talk, you must eat everything, try, and second chances. you learn by eating. and you are open to eating... a true foodie is the best ambassador of all cultures, in my opinion. yes i like art but i feel that since everyone must eat, food and taste is a cultural connection that humans have with each other from all around the world.

I wont be in los angeles for a while, but the memories of my spots are coming up. when i get home sick i think about a perfect day. and today Cafe Laurent came into mind. this is a little place that i kept passing by, but one day a friend took me there... and i made it my place by the end of the year. its a little cute daytime cafe in culver city, ca. it is so cute! there is something about a place that doesn't bullshit and is right around the corner that i love. it took me just about one meal to fall in love with this place, its the perfect place to go alone or with a good friend. the food is good once you know your own taste. its nice because there is a variety of things to choice from. you cannot really go wrong with anything. i have my favorites... the bistro club.. that's one of the permanents on the menu. but heres the secret, go for the specials, for the most part every special i've had has blown my mind away. the crab cake burger! the dressing on that salads! and dessert.... *i'll get back to.

At Cafe Laurent, most of the time there is a beautiful french manager who knows her food. I have become friends with her, i adore her because she actually knows a thing or two about living life and eating food. from her recommendations i've come to do a full three dishes when i'm there sometimes. the mushroom soup is good, its thick and creamy-comes with toasted baguette slices of course. Move onto the sandwich of the day. pick anyone but my favorite so far is the curried turkey salad on the special bread. the sandwich itself might be the most colorful and yummy looking thing you will ever see on a plate. and it tastes even better than it looks. most sandwich plates are served with the scalloped potatoes and salad with house dressing.. very delicious. and dessert is just great. this is the only place where i will have bread pudding, well they have a chocolate one... thats the kicker. although the top top dessert you will have to get here is the chocolate pecan torte. and dont forget the espresso or cappuccino.

a perfect day is nice lunch with the newspaper/gourmet magazine at cafe laurent then a nice stroll along venice beach...

giving Thanks.. .

2008-11-25T11:42:00.000-08:00

I started work at a place where we sell everything you need to cook with. so of course an ideal place for a foodie/chef like myself. I am able to help so many people with their thanksgiving meal planning. thanksgiving is a very interesting day. historically it has been associated with an American tradition in which we give thanks to the Native Americans who helped the first settlers survive their winters in the new land. as a history major, I know the background and think its all nice. but the day has warped into a monster. families overeat and watch sports and shop. children cringe at the idea of what their parents do on this week, for some lucky kids they actually get to enjoy the day with their family and good food. I think that we should somehow turn this day more into a family day more than about the food or the sports or the shopping that we can done on black friday. the family unit has changed so much over the years that its been diminishing in the values that people hold. i think food traditions are a great way in which families can build memories as well as spend quality time together. people need to get the whole family involved with cooking and the food the consume and pay attention to give thanks to the little luxuries that everyone has in their lives.

This week, women and some brave men take on the challenge of preparing a turkey for the feast. there are so many things that need to be thought out when taking on the task of preparing the historic and tradition filled meal. there are so many things that could also go wrong. I love making thanksgiving meal. i think the fact that there are SO many required traditional tastes involve i get to make a ton of different dishes for a lot of people. sadly this year i will not be preparing a turkey. but i am okay with that.. working I've been smelling and selling the flavor of thanksgiving that i'm a bit burnt out on turkey day.

my first real thanksgiving... well the one were i made food... i had asked my father if we could do an American style thanksgiving and he said yes. i went on ordering food ( i was in high school at this time, i only knew to order food so that i wouldn't mess up.) but my father took the American thanksgiving to anther level and perhaps sparked my cooking passion. he came home with a freshly killed *the bird was still warm* 13 lbs. turkey. it was the scariest thing my father has ever made me touch/cook. i panicked. the next day i went to school and gathered as much turkey advice as i possibly could. i ended up recruiting my best friend to help me with the meal. we went on to making everything, garlic mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, steamed green beans, crescent rolls, steak, salad and probably some more stuff that i cannot remember. we made so much food. i couldn't taste anything either... the stress of cooking got me sick so she had to taste everything we made. but it came out perfect. without the ability to taste, i was still able to pull off a tender turkey. i was amazed at myself. i guess that was when i realized i had some type of skill or talent in cooking.

since that thanksgiving in high school, i've been able to make about three more turkeys for friends and family. it has been great. i've tried many ways and of course had many other thanksgiving turkeys that was so dried that all the sauce in the world would not save it's flavor. since i wont be making turkey this year. i wanted to at least go ahead and give my thanks.

i am thankful: for the fact that i am able to eat the foods that i do, that i have a full stomach, that i have a family that is healthy, that i have friends that are funny and kind, for a boyfriend who loves food as much as i do, for life and to be alive despite the hard times, organic foods, farms/farmers, traditional ways of prep for food, cook books.. so much to be thankful for.

eat extraordinary everyday!

trust me. .

2008-11-08T13:54:00.000-08:00

'trust me'
that's what omakase means in Japanese. its when the chef is trusted by the diner to be fed nothing but the best. or perhaps you've heard 'its up to you' all in the same... trusting someone to feed you without you ever knowing what comes next.

well i've always thought highly of my palate and my judgement of a great dining establishment. i've always recommended people to places to eat and tell them truthful about the experience. if i love a place you'll know. if i hate a place, you'll know for sure. so for the summer i worked at a place that i loved eating at. that was a complete fluke. i didnt think they were hiring or even needed anyone, but after dinner i was asked if i was interested and ended up joining the team within 24 hours. it felt right. and when i was able to eat more and see more of the food being done and served out i really wanted all my friends to come and experience the food as i had. sushi that isn't pretentious but is actually mind blowing. but no one ever came. maybe a few friends. i had a couple come in and said it was on the top with the best sushi places in Hollywood. i said it was better. but recently i guess I've been given satisfaction.

Phillip *papa san boss man. was challenged to a throw down with bobby flay. wow.

i was SO excited when it was confirmed that it was a throw down, Phillip said he wanted a chance in kitchen stadium to prove himself against the iron chef on a bigger arena. wow. if the food network showcasing your favorite place on a episode of throw down isn't proof that you have good taste i don't know what is. I'm just waiting until the magazines start up on it.

hell I'm starting to think i should write an article for them and submit. who knows. they might like it. speaking of which i'm trying to up my writing portfolio of food things. so we'll see what happens. i know that my blog isnt the biggest or the most popular, but for now i'm writing for my friends to read. and just to get my thoughts out there. where this passion of food will take me, time can only tell.

i cant wait for the show to air. i'll let everyone know. until then..

eat extraordinary everyday!

**the photos are of the fish TAI, American name SEA BREAM.

udon...

2008-10-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

well like most people when i don't have time or company to go out to grab some food, i tend to attack the kitchen on a mission to make something to eat. when you're bit of a foodie/cook, you tend to make things a bit more extreme then the normal person.. not just a simple grilled cheese sandwich. for one thing i always have stocked in the house is udon noodles.

udon noodles are one of my favorite types of noodles. its big and white, soft and filling and just happy. they remind you of just the simplicity of good slurping times. when i'm sad, there is nothing as delightful then a big bowl of noodles just waiting for you to slowly or quickly enjoy. on a cold day a bowl of udon noodle soup is just great. although i am not of japanese background, i adore these noodles. they are happy. having them in stock is amazing, stir fry or just in soup base, its just delicious treat.

when i started this blog i did not think of putting my recipes, and i'm still having to deal with giving recipes out or sharing them. so with the indecision, i will not yet or for now put my recipes up. but i made some great noodles last night. simple, fresh ingredients are the key. hot wok, onions, mushrooms, garlic, beef slices, black bean sauce, sesame oil and of course udon. and you get something amazing. this is one of my favorite after school snack when i was younger, when i didnt have anything to make anything else. but now i realize that what i eat at home is never on the menu of some places so its a special treat. of course i'm one of those odd people who have home made kimchi stocked at all times and i love my sister for that. and serve a little spicy kimchi with your beef stir fry udon noodles and you have a delicious treat.

i think everyone has a favorite type of noodle. i mean the Italians have pasta and the Chinese with noodles.. so many forms but all the same comforting feeling.

eat extraordinary everyday.

we're cookin!

2008-10-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

when you're a foodie., you become very particular in how your food is prepared. and in my case both myself and my significant other of a dining partner are very big on food. so when it comes time to decide what to eat and where, we both need plenty of time to pick a place. but the other day i decided to go to a new place. the idea is Japanese BBQ. kinda very similar to Korean BBQ..

its a little place off of Sawtelle- now if you know this street you know that all the good Asian foods are here. well specifically Japanese food. and great karaoke there too! its a great hang out if you don't want to drive down to the San Gabriel valley.. or Korean town or Japanese town...

so this is a great place to go if you live on the west side and hate traffic...

so we order a little of everything.. beef tongue, prime steak, squid, veggies and two bowls of rice for the entree. then we have a nice seaweed salad and ox tail soup to start.. and of course a side of mixed kimchi veggies to go along with the food. and yes.. i always eat this much, perhaps its training for the food critic in me. anyhow.. like I've sad many times, you must try a bit of everything to get the full experience of the food.

one of the great things about cooking your own food is that its quick! The waiter turns on the fire as soon as the order is taken and the food comes out in minutes from the kitchen. so the hole in the middle is hot and you get excited. so the soup is great and the salad is so simple i have to adore it even more with every bite. there isn't a lot of prep work done in the kitchen except for making sure its sliced thinly for quick cooking. so the excitement comes out faster as you finish the appetizer. its so great.. i love seeing raw food ready to be cooked. and when it comes to beef you get to control how well cooked the food is... total control freak i know.. but its the sure shot way to love the food that is placed into your mouth.

the food itself is not mind blowing, it is what it is, a good meal. the wait staff is amazing and the head chef/owner is walking around making sure everyone is happy. that always gives you a good feeling about the place. no crazy or shady things happening if the boss is there checking up on the guests and the food. its actually reassuring. its a very cute and quaint place to have a quick meal with a little fun. you do leave smelling like food but if anything that's a really good smell to have, who doesnt love food smell? but overall i think this is a great place to eat. and that everyone should go and try it out. and one of the best things is the gum they give you for dessert. and yes its telling you exactly what to do with that piece of gum!

eat extraordinary everyday!

a romantic dinner for two..

2008-09-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite places to go dine at in Los Angeles is a little place not known to many. its called the little door. its gained much popularity due to the opening of 'the little next door', right next door that sells lunch things during the day, since the little door is closed during the day. its really great. the little door that is. the service is amazing. very helpful and the food of course is just darling. the food itself is something worth investing some time into learning and experiencing more. I've been to this place countless times and tried many of the different staples of the menu. the dessert there is also just spectacular. everything that you put in your mouth has color and visions when you close your eyes, as the flavors sing you a song and paint you a painting. Needless to say that this place is not just for a dinner for any occasion. its best experienced with a loved one, a good friend and or anyone who appreciates fresh flavor and great atmosphere. this place has the perfect combination to make a dinner into an adventure into a new world.

as you walk in, you see a green background of plants and flickers of soft candle light, i recommend a dinner near the time of sunset. you notice the lush foliage in the whole space. you see that there are candles starting to be lit and the white table cloths give you a sense of fine dining. you are greeting with a smiling face. sitting outside is a different experience than that of the inside. but for the romantic dinner outside on a summer night, i really do suggest the outside. during the colder nights i would say the blue room where they have a beautiful fire place and a whole new decor that makes you just feel comfy. back to the outdoors, you'll start to notice that everything is a bit slower in pace, the feel of everyone is very relax and enjoyable, setting a nice tone for how you should take the little door in. order some wine, they have a great selection to choose from and if you like beer they have a smaller choice of beer but

nonetheless have a cocktail, even if you do not drink, it does add a bit of an element to the whole meal. trust me.

i always do a three course meal. always. i like to think that having a bit of everything is really getting the true experience and taste of what each restaurant has to offer and as a foodie, i like to taste as much as possible. appetizers are a great way to see how concisely creative the chef can be. its like the opening pages of a book, can the chef take the simplest and freshest ingredients from the season and show you how well the farmers have grown the food?

can you taste the earth? can you really taste whatever that ingredient is? i find myself often

disappointed when all my senses are not evoked in the appetizer. you'll get there, the first flavors should make you excited for what you really ordered. at the little door they keep it simple. they use the best produce and amazing cheese. so fear not.

during my romantic dinner we ordered two very different things, my boyfriend ordered the duck duo. and it was simply amazing. my boyfriend, i must admit is not one to suggest any cuisine outside of the Asian continent, but he trusts me. and thus finds himself amazed as he smells the different sections of the plate blending harmoniously together. he was doubtful when there was prunes and star anise in the description of the duck, but i assured that this place was really good. and indeed it was perfection.

as for myself, i ordered the scallops. i enjoy my seafood raw on the regular basis but when I'm out at place where I've eating all the protein, i try to venture into the seafood world to make sure the whole menu is great. there is a fine line between which seafood like scallops may be cooked before they are ruined, i am always in awe when a place can actually deliver a solidly cooked seafood entree to the public time and time again. our entrees were just spectacular, every thing just enhanced each ingredient's individual flavors. it was wonderful, so good that there was not much conversation at the table but just sounds of utter enjoyment of food, as all dinners should be like. we shared a few forkfuls of the entrees and with trying the other's plate you just realize how much fun you're having just simply eating. not being gluttonous but truly appreciating life. of course there is always the problem after you finish your entree. it comes in the form of dessert.

thankfully i did not have to make that horrible decision of what to pick for dessert, as our server who happen to be a favorite customer of the sushi restaurant, he had selected a dessert trio for us to enjoy. and boy oh boy was it just magical. chocolate, creme brulee and cheesecake. life could not get any better than the sight that was in front of us in the form of confectionery

delights. i love chocolate and as with all true chocolate lovers, we like dark and bitter sweet and at the little door, the chocolate is always just right. not so sweet that you cannot taste the true cocoa flavor and just rich enough to make your tongue twirl around a bit. and next the classic. the creme brulee. nothing in this world is so simple and so special at the same time as this dessert. there are only what? five ingredients that go into making this, and of course the sugar crackle on top just makes it so simply amazing to bite into. the contrast of the soft custard and the hard sugar top is just so much fun to eat. i have never met anyone who didn't like it, its so comforting. and the cheesecake. . . it was coconut with a passion fruit sauce. o my.. it was just brilliant in the tropical flavors. i happen to be a fan of passion fruit and the combination of the coconut and the cheese i was just a happy girl. the flavors reminded me of sunsets and beaches. i never thought that i was able to finish the desserts but with hard work and careful breathing, we were able to finish most of the trio placed in front of us.

i must recommend that everyone at one point should visit the little door and do the whole dinner experience that i have described. i have gone to a lot of restaurants but there are only a few that i continue to go to. i make it a point to go once a year, if i am lucky more but i find it that its special enough to look forward to once a year. it is definitely a place that is worth every penny and worth the special place in my list of places to dine. going with friends, family and loved ones just keeps the little door a special place in my heart of sure shot great dinner experience.

eat extraordinary everyday

Ribfest...

2008-09-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

So i went to a football game the other night, without any knowledge of the Rib festival that was there.!

Anyhow..since we're doing the low carb or no carb * thats the one she's doing. I'm doing the as limited amount of carbs for an Asian noodle head.. carb cautious eating.. life is interesting. I haven't had noodles in a while maybe since I've left Los Angeles. I try to eat only salads that is loaded with everything. although i enjoy a simple salad with few ingredients, i LOVE salads that are filled with a bit of everything-because the right variety of flavors in the salad makes it -sans dressing healthy. so now everything goes on it-sunflower seeds, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, edamame, olives, avocados, almond slices, hard boiled egg, chicken, ham... just about everything goes on it and good amount of salt and pepper. then eat away... its great and no dressing with old is needed and all the salad is raw so every vitamin goes into your body...

so now that i have demonstrated my appreciation for things green and healthy i will go into my deep admiration for ribs and b.b.q. A few days ago, i was invited for a kick off game for the steelers. as we approach the field from our far parking spot, i started to see smoke... good smoke- the smoke that has flavor in it. I saw the sign "Rib Festival 2008" and my eyes were filled with a gaze that could not be unlocked from the smoke. but my healthy minded roommate said "no" and that it would ruin our healthy day of working out and eating light. I was heart broken. just sad. but after the game i convinced myself that ribs were good since they were not carbs and if i didnt lick the sauce i should be okay. but of course its a Rib festival who am i kidding, there were award winning teams with their stands there waiting for me to love my life even more. so i get in line and get the teaser. so g

ood. so good. life was great. i love festivals and vendors who can actually deliver the flavors and food they claim.

no carb, low carb.. wtf

2008-08-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

upon coming back to Pittsburgh.... I had planned to try to trim down and lit a bit more lean for a wedding that I am attending in September back in Los Angeles. So it wasn't a big deal to know that I would have to cut down on my junk food (everything) consumption and focus my sustenance on healthy things... I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, since I had spent my whole summer eating everything I desired. And now I have to be very careful of everything that I am putting into my mouth. It is Very Very Hard. but I think I can get through it.

My roommate does this NO Carb thing and she eats like one meal a day... which to me both are crazy... first of all.. I LOVE NOODLES. ask anyone.. my family, my friends, my boyfriend... its one of the only things I could eat everyday. And of course its not allowed in the house.. so now I have to think of more clever ways to fulfill my stomach and my mental well being for food while keeping a good caloric count. Of course I'm going to try to work out way more (which is a first) since my school schedule is so lax this semester.. I'll be trying to work out most of the days.. like 5 and my roommate is ready to do the same with me.. so now on top of working out i have to think of new ways to eat and get my taste buds happy with the new diet.

So now the snacks are Edamame. I like them salted and cold. its a great snack to have while playing video games or watching television. hopefully i keep them stocked so that I don't go for bad things. healthy eating is tricky if its not on the books already in your mind. but i think i can do this.. I'm sure I'll find really cool things I can eat without become a bear getting ready for hibernation...

lets hope for the best healthy eating for this year.. but of course I'll be doing carb..after all i am Asian.. i need my rice and noodles... I'll keep it light of course..

eat extraordinary everyday.

its a chirashi ... and the tartare..and so much more.

2008-08-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

my newest crush... the chirashi bowls... its just regular rice with sashimi on it.. and my goodness can they just make it beautiful...sometimes too good to eat..

another thing that i've been into is the many ways one can plate and prepare a simple tar tare. its on countless menus all over the globe but most aren't as great as they look. which is a big problem. the presentation needs to be equal to the taste. we are creatures who eat even better when the visual senses are heighten.

so a word to the sushi eating crowd out there make sure it tastes as great as it looks...

eat extraordinary everyday.

the good stuff

2008-07-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

there are some things that cannot be found anywhere else but the special places that i go to. and for sushi.... its rare to find a place with quality and fish of this rate. it took me a million times to my spot to finally get the special aji bones.... aji is Spanish mackerel. and the fish itself in sushi form is great, but if you're lucky and knowing.. you can get the bones fried up for you with a sauce and eating the whole fish makes you really appreciate the flavor and the moment.

so aji is close to the top of the best foods that you can have for sushi...

next... i need to express the wonders of the salmon belly... actually the belly of any fish is crazy good. you thought the salmon sushi was good... if they have salmon belly its the whole fish in your mouth that you cannot get enough of. the color of the belly is a delight orange of yumminess. its melts in your mouth... i insist on everyone trying it out. and yellow tail belly is yummy as well.

tools... standing behind the sushi counter not as a customer has given me more insight on the preparation of sushi and of course a greater appreciation for when i do get to eat it. i've fallen in love with the usage of the blow torch.... especially on the ika (squid) they do its special like that at the place i work at... but in general the torch gives whatever its used on a great smoked flavor... i got some action shot of scallops being torched with spicy mayo on it.

i hope everyone enjoys the pictures i've taken at sushi central. where i am currently hanging out at for the summer. "crack fish" pictures are on its way...

eat extraordinary everyday!

.... summer time..

2008-06-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

i just wanted to warn everyone that in the next few days... a new blog post will include some amazing food/sushi porn with great insights into the world of food. so watch out... its been cooking in my head for a while now..

culinary boners for all... hehe i love top chef.

sushi ... part deux

2008-06-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

so I'm back in Cali... the wondrous ways of the sunshine really makes my day a bit better even if i am not doing anything special. yesterday i had a few hours to kill and lone behold i was at sushi central in the west side. amazing.. i was fed some amazing stuff.. Ono...scallops... Spanish mack.. and some other good stuff i have no clue at this current moment to their names.. but it was just amazing. i spent roughly 3 hours there and just had a blast sitting. its one of those places that you can just eat great food and be happy. and surely it makes me smile every time i have something new placed in front of me. i like going to places where i can just sit in confidence that the food that is coming out is going to be great every time.

finding a place that you love is key to being a happy eater. not only does the food need to be great, but the space itself needs to be welcoming. and nothing makes me happier than seeing the faces of people who love to make and eat food just as i do. when you go into a place where instantly feel much better, you know good times will come of it. since being back in Los Angeles I'm just glad to be able to have the options of going to my favorite places to dine. its great to be able to just eat well. once you live in a place where there is nothing but fast food you start to appreciate the small family owned joints that you see all over Los Angeles.

so everyone go out and have some sushi... and btw.. don't eat bluefin tuna/toro*... its getting on the endangered list actually extinction list.. so as consumers you stop ordering it, the chefs will stop buying it and the fish will get a chance to reproduce and not be over fished. we humans have a responsibility to replenish what we eat and be aware of the way/things that we consume for our pleasure. ..speaking of pleasure.. i need to get some oysters up in my tummy ... nothing like fresh raw oysters to brighten up my day...

eat extraordinary everyday.

*correction to the blog. i was corrected by the trusty sushi chef i work with on the daily basis... so eat all the other types of fish you like.

PHO?? what?

2008-06-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

wow..

never in my life did i ever think that the wonders of my childhood foods would come full circle.. these days all types of people are asking me about the foods of my family. they ask because they know i am part Vietnamese. its so odd to hear that, considering while i was growing up i wanted to try something different, anything that wasn't what was for dinner in my home. Italian, fusion, french, Mexican, Japanese were all so unique and different. and i just thought home food was just ordinary, because everyone else was having something else for dinner instead of me. i always had something odd in regards to everyone pasta/pizza/burger night. i remember at one point in school my Asian teacher asked me to share what i eat for dinner and i cringed at the idea of revealing what i was eating... beef/tripe carrot stew with rice noodles.. or mustard greens with shrimp..

how do i explain that i like tripe? it dawned upon me that Asian foods isn't that bad in regards wit all the other foods out there, its actually pretty damn good. historically its up there with them frenchies... (i love the customs of french gastronomy) As i started to eat more foods from other cultures and read about the foods i have yet to eat, I've learned that all cultural foods use the whole animal and so tripe isn't that bad after all.. and thank god morrow is making a big come back into good light, cause I'm pretty sure my parents have a picture of me eating bones and sucking out morrow at the fun age of five.. but I'm glad that the public is starting to be curious about the foods of Vietnam. for me curiosity opens doors for people to try something new.. perhaps fall in love.. I'm excited.

anyhow... now that the world is somewhat ready for Asian and i mean REAL Asian food i guess its time for me to review my childhood flavors. this summer i will be jotting down all the family recipes and perhaps share them with the world. for some odd reason the flavors of my childhood are so dear to me that I'm a bit afraid to share them with people, but i guess is kind of like art, made to share to the world to reflect upon a time/culture/people/lives. maybe i could ask the food network to have me teach some Asian foods.. well i better get to getting those recipes down... real vietnamese food.. the broths the simple flavors the lightness.. its gonna be amazing.. get some pho if you don't already know what it is..

eat extraordinary everyday!

omg.. i made it..

2008-05-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

actually that title is perfect for this blog. you just wouldn't believe. it all started with developing a summer grilled corn salad... side dish ideas.. anyhow.. i started to make a dressing.. mind just wandering about and just adding stuff.. then i started to finally think it was coming together and then i taste. and o my o my... i made the dressing just like my favorite dressing at Houston's. i think it goes on their grilled chicken salad.. but the dressing is just amazing.. makes you just want to drink it up.. and when i used to frequent that spot i would..

anyhow i made the dressing and was jumping for joy. sadly no one in the nearest 100 miles would know what i was jumping about. but that was really excited..

then part deux .. pastry.. i decide to make beignets... i remember having them when i was little with my grampa.. which for a Vietnam resident for much of his Chinese heritage, the french colonialism gave us some great treats. and aside from my favorite banh mi sandwiches i love the beignets with french drip coffee... here would be a great time to say i might be a bit favoring towards the french due to my childhood favorites have direct influence from them via Vietnamese family.

sadly no pictures of this great moment of mine. but the fact that i can just whip those out at the parties now is just a great thing as well... yay.

food is suffereing and we did it.

2008-05-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

my summer reading so far has consisted of only art history books and food books. As well as all the current issues on food around the world. Keeping up to date with the many new food trends is really hard but what is even harder to deal with is the war on food that is occurring right now in our world. prices of food has sky rocketed in the last year and the food isn't even real!!

organic foods. i encourage all people to buy when they can the best quality of food. you don't want to be putting junk into your body. it is so easy to drive up to some place order something that taste okay for the moment and then the long haul comes and you're sick. it happens to me every time i go to the golden arches. i actually get a bit sick. cramping in the tummy. i guess it could be mental. but i like to think i eat pretty good. i like to make most of my food and of course dine out as often as my purse allows but i take my food seriously. i see how people shop at the store. i see the prices take over their ability to let their own common sense decide whether the food they are about to buy good for their bodies... but i guess the pocket book does have a large affect on how people consume. is it just that though? or can it be lack of knowledge/time/skill? I really don't know, but I'm going to find a way to help.

my sister told me the other day that out mother had instructed her to go out and store up on rice. and then i spoke to my mother asking her about it and she told me that people were trying to Asians how to use more potatoes in their diet instead of rice... and after hearing that i was a bit upset. the rice shortage is because of horrible weather in the growing regions that are probably a result of the global warming and weird weather.

so we're to blame for everything. We drive the cars/planes/ships for our own materialistic morals, we mess up the ozone/environment/air/pollute/seas and then that carries onto the food/farms/animals and when we consume we get cancer/allergies.... karma is a bitch! wow. if we had stuck to the old traditions of taking only what was needed and giving back to earth what we have taken we all would be eating great food and enjoying life. lack of morals/tradition/education/love the people of our time are going to pay for it. mother earth is pissing and we're to blame. i hope people are able to see this cycle soon and try to change/respect/act. Cause if not we're all going to hell all them levels in the inferno... seriouso.
we should 'check ourselves before we wreck ourselves'. so let go plant some more food and take care of them instead of letting chemicals do it, the care we give in nurturing the earth will return to our bodies keeping them strong.

eat extraordinary everyday!

BLT.

2008-05-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

I love to watch television like every other person these days. I was watching Sex in the City and in the show they always are eating something while discussion their conquest/issues with sex in the city. So therefore one day I forget which episode I noticed the sandwich that Carrie was eating, club sandwich. Then I was thinking about sandwiches that I've loved or haven't had in a long time. And there it came into my head that all this time I've been eating all these complex sandwiches that I had forgotten the wondrous simple flavors of the BLT.

BLT. Bacon/Lettuce/Tomato on slightly toasted country white bread with a touch of mayo. the simplicity of such flavors always gets to me and I was pleasantly surprised to find it on a menu the other day as I was taking a lunch break from the museum where I intern. It was nice to see the BLT on the menu because I haven't seen it in such a long time. I don't think its even on menus of chain sandwich places. which is why I have forgotten it. But it is so nice to have had it the other day for lunch. It was a pleasant surprise. I enjoy the salty and crispy taste of real good bacon is just enough seasoning for the sandwich. The clean, crisp taste of the lettuce build the sandwich higher as well as give it a great clean bite. The sweetness of the tomatoes help bring the sandwich to a close. Although I know most people do not like mayo just a light spread over the toasted bread help keep the sandwich together.

I find that the perfect BLT is hard to come by. Its funny that the simplest things are always really hard to come by these days because we have come to place where food isn't prepared the way they used to. People are afraid of bacon, but bacon is one of the oldest foodstuffs that has been eaten by people. So bacon is good when its natural and not fake. Good old fashion REAL bacon gives flavors that cannot be found elsewhere. Tomatoes fresh organic room temperature tomatoes are my favorite. The type of lettuce that I think most people use is romaine which is okay but I really like butter leaf lettuce. It has enough richness and bite to it that makes the sandwich really great. Although I know most people do not even know what is in mayo, homemade mayo is so awesome. When I was smaller my father's friend who owned a Vietnamese sandwich shop, would make their own mayo. It was fascinating.. another thing that I also think is lost is homemade butter... but that's another blog.

anyhow I encourage everyone to go out and try to find a place with the BLT or better yet make your own BLT. Making the perfect sandwich is an activity that I find is most enjoyable and fulfilling, cut it at an angle and enjoy and maybe share with a friend. maybe some tomato bisque soup with a little garlic creme fraiche over it. how delightful does that sound? reminds me of a nice day with the daily paper and eating a perfect sandwich. enjoying life one bite at a time.

eat extraordinary everyday!

sushi part. 1

2008-04-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

i was in sixth grade. thats when the love affair started. my sister in law has been a big influence on introducing me to a variety of new foods and Japanese was one she knew i was going to really like. we went to a place in monterey park, a small joint that was ran by some Chinese *mandarin speaking family. but they had a few authentic sushi chefs (aka Japanese).. well we had the usual. cali rolls, eel, salmon, tuna, shrimp, miso soup. i tried it all and i loved it all. it was fun. the whole putting wasabi and soy sauce together and finding that special balance was harder than i thought. i was told to be careful but with my young chopstick skills i put a bit more green than i had anticipated so i had that wonderful thrilling and painful sinus cleanse. now when i do put a little too much wasabi it reminds me of when i was young and new to sushi. now i feel a bit of a pro. ..

back in cali, i have a few spots that i absolutely adore. one place i have only taken a few people to. i've been going there for over ten years now and i think its only about within the last two years that i actually started to take people who were not blood relatives there. its in little Tokyo and thats all i'm going to say about it. the food is a bit insane. so good and so simple that you might have a food induced high afterward that cannot be explained. i dont even try anymore. my friend once told me that the way you feel after biting into a spicy tuna hand roll is like being on some special shrooms from Amsterdam. and he would know. so i think the sushi is a bit insane. great. but now adays there are so many people going there the wait is about 2 hours. and it makes me sad. but no matter what the wait is... you wait and you enjoy even more. another solution to the 2 hour wait is to go to another sushi spot and have some appetizers, sushi hopping as my friends and i like to call it. two to three sushi spots in one night a foodie's adventure. a bit surreal when you actually sit and realize what you're doing but its amazing none the less.

my second spot is in the west side. sushi central. OMG. phil is the chef and the man knows what he's doing. i started going there when they first opening walking in and ordering to go to check out the flavors... they had amazing chicken terriyaki, to be honest i only ate the cooked food. because i was doubtful at first to any hole in the wall new places. and so one day i was in for lunch and phil and tally being the nice peoples they were made me feel like i was at home. and i was family and so we talked about food. and phil made me some amazing sushi. and from then i was sold. the food made me feel much better about life after i left the place. so it became my place to run to when i was sad and need some pick me up foods.

Now i live in Pittsburgh and it is much harder to find a open hearted eater to join me for dinner at the few places i might have found to be good sushi. but i have yet to enter them. I miss having sushi places and places where the food will make me happy again. Last week I went to a random sushi place in the waterfront and ordered over fifty dollars worth of sushi for myself, hoping just the act of mixing wasabi and soy together would bring back soothing times. it didn't really work long after i left the sushi spot. i love leaving being stuff and smelling like miso but i didn't here so i hope that sooner I'll be with my beloved favorite meal once again in Los Angeles. but i do encourage people out there to get past the preconceived fears of the food and try it out and you might be surprised at what you find. and if it isn't a great experience go find someone that is in love with sushi and they will explain to you why its great and go back... try and try again.

eat extraordinary everyday!

some good times

2008-03-16T23:52:00.000-07:00

for the record... i am a history major... and i actually wrote a paper on spices and recipes of the medieval ages for my medieval Europe class and got an A- on it. hahah.. true passion for food comes through in all ways..

and this is not my spice collection.. just to note it. my dearest friend in Pittsburgh has decided that the spice trade would have to put her kitchen on their route. and she has become a crazy monster... lol. but i do enjoy cooking with all the spices.. although we are running out of space for them. remember to keep small quantities of spices to keep them fresh, by as you need. i feel that spices are something that shouldn't be bought in bulk. but that's just me.

when i grow older I'll have some good times to think about. and most of them will be about food and when my friends and i gathered around a table of food and drinks having a grand time.

raspberry mojitos. and it was as good as it looks perhaps a bit better... but that's just drinks... we had a pizza party. its one of the best ways to have everyone included in the action of the kitchen. i used to make home made pizza for the family i cooked for. i had everything prepped for them, stone hot in oven and toppings ready to go. and it is just so fun for everyone. and so we did a mini pita pizza party..

so you'll need some good sauce, cheeses, toppings and imagination!
pop them in the oven (before)

and before you know it, dinner!
and so you have good times. play some good music in the background and have some fun.

Pizza: i love it. i love it in all forms. i love the whole concept of it. i guess i like my pizza either very simple or sometimes i like a little crazy.. but my favorite toppings are fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. i know boring but i love those flavors. but veggie pizzas are great with a little siracha on them. I'm very fond of that hot sauce on my pizza... but any hot sauce will do. just to spice it up a bit..i like thin crust as well... a slightly sweet dough is what i like. none of that bulky or filled cheese kinda crust. traditional will do just for me. but i guess deep dish is okay when and in Chicago.. and Brooklyn pizza is pretty damn good from what i remember... its been a minute since i last had some.. time to go back for it..

eat extraordinary everyday!

college cooking show

2008-02-29T13:17:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-02-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

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!

throwdown/cookoff

2008-01-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

recently, one of the funniest things happened to me. i was challenged to a food cook off. why is this funny? well the person who challenged me doesn't have a clue what type of food i cook, the range, the skill, the experience that i have with food and cooking. He thinks his skills out do mine, i find it very funny that someone would challenge, Me, to a cook off, without knowing anything about my cooking background.

this person is a class mate, a young man a little too confident and too cocky for his own good. lets not say confident. rather he is a bit crazy thinking to challenge me. more than a few people have asked me if he was crazy to challenge me to such a cook off. he has many restrictions on the way and what we should cook. he doesn't do dessert. he says he will blow me out of the water. he blogs about food as well, he takes some food porn and post up a few recipes up for the world to see, wanting to show his readers to cook their own food. I've read this blog of his. i' have seen what he considers good, he hasn't even seen what i can make and he is already talking up a storm. he says he's passionate about it but i don't think he knows what my extent of passion goes for food and cooking.

well i am not going to reveal what my plans are for the menu. but surely it will be great. no doubt. i have many many hours put away in studying food and the art of it. i've even written papers on food. o yes. a lucky professor had to deal with my horrible writing all about medieval cookery. but i had a blast going through hundred years old recipes. my bookshelves are out of room for cooking books/magazine. my recipe collection is growing. and with my culinary adventures in los angeles/new york/ las vegas and more to come will surely help with my challenge to come.

AND i'm pretty sure that my challenger has not even a clue who this man is. he happens to be one of my chef heroes.

this should be interesting. i shall post more up soon.

eat extraordinary everyday!

spam.

2008-01-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

this word is just a bad sounding thing. and of course why not, it is used to describe the shit we get in our emails.. but spam is actually something a bit more strange. it comes in a strange square can. along with the odd shape of the sardine cans... i think the square rectangular form that the spam can takes is just odd. the way in which you pop the lid open with no need for a can opener, I'm sure they thought that a can opener would hate its existence if it had to open a square-ish tin can.

i find myself when in I'm the weird way i am with food, so i have to say that i do occasionally eat this odd stuff. there was a big 0o0o0 and ahhhh when a contestant on top chef made something great with spam. but spam if the ingredients are ignored, i think the taste of it is very interesting. its salty and sweet and its tangy. the texture is like a morphing type, it can be fried and made hard and crispy or it can be diced or stripped up into soup. I've had it many ways. not that i sit around thinking of ways to make food with spam. but rather i have gone to places where it was on the menu. a Hong Kong cafe in Los Angeles, has it in their daily soup of macaroni and peas/carrots with a light chicken broth with of course tiny cubes of spam in it. they also serve it along side with eggs as you would any breakfast dish. and of course in Hawaii they have the musubi, the spam is joined with rice and wrapped in seaweed. i find myself when in Hawaii getting one of these spam musubi and munching on it as i walk around the beach.

i guess i don't really have a problem with this spam product. but it is not on my normal list of foods that i crave and keep stocked in my pantry. although if you give me a can a spam. I'm sure i could make something quite interesting for a newbie to spam.

try it. it could change your boring life of Bologna or not. its fun regardless..

eat extraordinary everyday.

new year food...

2008-01-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

one of my favorite things to do is cooking on new year's eve. last night my sister and i sat together and made 60 egg rolls. just as my mom makes it. if you ever go and have Chinese food with me you will notice that i rarely eat egg rolls and that's because of my taste. i like and adore the way my mom makes egg rolls. there is so much preparation in it that it is actually special to eat it. the way she makes it is not like anyone else I've seen. I've watched and listened to the many ways in which other people who claim to have the best egg rolls make theirs and i know for a fact that my mom was right, she does make the best. i wont be giving away her recipe any time soon or show people how to make theirs better. there are a few things that i will keep to myself and to our family. but that doesn't mean i wont invite my friends over for great food!

many new year's eves ago. my grandparents *dad side, my dad and my mom all sat together and they taught me how to wrap a traditional Asian recipe of goodies in banana leaves. it is called banh tet, traditionally given out for Chinese New Year to friends and family. It has many things in it to symbolize a prosperous year to come. it had a special short grain rice in it, beans, meat and a hard boiled quail egg. and you steam this little goodness packet and after wards you have something yummy to eat. most of the time you find these in the stores around Chinese New Year, and they are huge rolls or squares all very big and not very appetizing. the thing about the way i was taught to wrap them was as individual packets. we would then steam them and tie about 8 together to give to our family. we made a hundred or two hundred. i got really good at wrapping them towards the end. i guess its the Asian tamale. i really like that tradition. the whole making something for giving out to the family. it really keeps the tradition of family and good food alive.

i think that food is great, because everyone has to eat. you taste my vary from your upbringing but if you have an open mind and a brave stomach there are endless possibilities of learning other cultures through their foods. even regional foods are fun to learn and taste. the cuisine of north and south Vietnamese is very different, the variation of BBQ ribs from Memphis to Texas to Kansas city, even pizza from Brooklyn taste differently from the thick crust in Chicago. i love the adventure that food alone can take a person. so i urge everyone this new year to go out and try something new from a different region you wouldn't normally eat from. perhaps you might hate it, but better you might like it.

eat extraordinary everyday!

Banh Mi....

2007-12-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

it started in 1857. the french came and colonized Vietnam. my birthplace. there will be many more blogs to come regarding this dynamic relationship, so hold on till then.

this blog is just about banh mi. its the Vietnamese word for bread. but I'm not talking about just a regular piece of bread. I'm referring to this term as a sandwich. one of my favorite ways of eating bread, meat and spread. with the french influence this sandwich starts on a fresh roll baguette. cut and toasted, spread of pate on one side and freshly made butter (egg and oil) on the other. and that's pretty much all the french gets credit for. next comes the meats, made from pork a form a meatloaf or cold cuts what ever way you say it. its our Bologna or salami. its placed on top of the pate spread. then cilantro, slices of fresh chili to give it heat. pickled white radish &carrots to give it a tang and bite and if you're lucky some places put paper thin slices of onions that have also been soaked in vinegar. then a dash of nice soy sauce. and there you have a banh mi bale (bale being Paris since there is the whole pate and bread credits) but that is what you can order, its known now as the dac biet which is the special that has all the goods as described on it. its simply good.

i grew up on these sandwiches, i remember going to chinese school every weekend and my father would stop off to pick me up something to eat before my 4 hours of schooling in a language *Mandarin that would never stick to my tongue. nonetheless i loved getting these sandwiches for 4 years i knew what i was getting for lunch and i had no problem with it. although each weekend i tried new sandwich fixings. there was tit nuoung *grilled pork or garoti *rotisserie chicken all with the same preparation of pickled goods and the soft toasted baguette.

this blog was inspired because i was brought some "fast food" Vietnamese banh mi from Texas today. on a flight direct from Dallas to Pittsburgh in a box was a few Lee's Sandwiches.. this is the Vietnamese version of subway with great coffee instead of soda *pop. the fixings on the side of course to keep the meat dry and for better preservation of the bread. and after i toasted up the bread and meat adding the cold pickled carrots, onions, white radishes it was just yummy all around. reminded me of Los Angeles and the ease of driving up to a Lee's and getting one of these sandwiches for 3.50 and be filled for a few hours. I've tried many sandwiches of different sorts from various cultures and i must say for certain that this type is my favorite.. i think the runner up is still funny as it has a french background as well.. Le croque madam. i may be a little leaning towards the french Asian culinary side in this blog but I'm pretty sure there will be more about the love affair i have with Italian food and the best friend of Mexican food...

eat extraordinary everyday.

prime rib...

2007-12-25T23:37:00.000-08:00

i remember the first time i really enjoyed prime rib. not the many times in the Vegas buffets that i learned what it was, but rather my best friends birthday.. i don't remember what age she was turning but that just shows the countless birthday dinners we've had for each other. this was the first of many that would come from our friendship.

we went to Lawry's prime rib house. i was the designated chauffeur of all the ladies in attendance. we all got dressed up.. we were in the whole just turning 20 years so it was pretty cool to be Beverly hills having dinner. i had the traditional everything that the place was known for. the spinning salad *which i think everyone should see and experience once in their life...then of course the slice of prime rib medium rare, with horseradish sauce, and mashed potatoes, a side of mushrooms and Yorkshire pudding. we didn't do dessert there.. but it didn't matter the prime rib was amazing.. just tasty and filled with just enough bite that after seconds it would just melted down your throat. it was simply amazing. and of course the beauty of going to Lawry's is that its a blast from the past. back when times were good and people came to these places to have someone in a tuxedo carve your meat right in front of you. and from this golden domed hot food station on wheels. it was simply a dream to see all the decant food service in front of you. and back to that spinning salad.. i knew it was going to be amazing as soon as she came and set up the spinning salad station... a large bowl filled with crushed ice. another bowl filled with our chilled salad... the dressing on the side waiting to be joined with the greens and a pair of salad forks. and in an instant she started the show..spinning the bowl of greens in the bowl of ice while from a high hand did the dressing drizzled down in a long stream as the other hand tossed the salad.. jeez all that for a salad.. i was sure the food was going to be amazing.. it was.

that was the last time i pretty much remembered moments with prime rib, that was until i was asked to cook two 14-16 lbs bone in prime rib for a private dinner i was catering on New Years Eve. After lots of research and prayer.. it came out perfect.. a bit terrifying actually. that a young self taught foodie/chef took on such a task. i guess i had to prove to myself that i was able to cook and people would like it. from that one event, i learned that i was naturally in love with food and cooking. simply that. tonight i made prime rib for the Christmas dinner. we didn't do trees or presents in the actual tradition but rather the dinner was the focus of the day. it was good. just right, perfectly pink and warm with Au Jus soaked into the meat. it was delightful. perhaps prime rib will always be a magical roast for me. it makes me think of happy times. times of truth and times of simplicity. i think for someone who loves meat.. having a perfectly done piece of beef is caveman gourmet. food at its simplest and at its best.

My Food Blog.

2007-12-24T19:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome all!!!!!!

Thanks for coming and checking it out. This will be my blog only and or mostly about food. I figured since the new year is just around the corner and I have all this time and passion for food, why not talk about it here? I hope to get some pictures in making it somewhat of a photo blog as well as a regular rant on food and the people who eat it.

I'm going to start out by just introducing my food background so that there is a clear understanding of what types of food i lean towards and my opinion on the other foods I frown upon.
Grew up in a Chinese/Vietnamese household. Living next to Mexicans growing up. Always experimenting with different foods. Everything in my world that i eat would be considered "ethnic" to many but for me its a daily thing. I love cooking. I love watching people cook. I love eating. I love watching people eating. anything that pretty much involves that process is what tickles me. I think part of being a true foodie, is the willingness to try everything at least one. My palate is maturing into more simplistic taste but of course the skill of preparation is never a bore. I believe dining with friends and family and significant others show the building of good relationship. to have dinner with someone is to truly be part of their lives. I love eating alone but i also adore eating with friends and sharing great flavors and making memories. my favorite thing to do is to go to a new restaurant with people i care about. its always an adventure.