Delicious View

How to make your house smell like a ramen shop

2012-06-04T17:26:00.001-07:00

The story ges something like this: I eat real-life ramen, I am in love with rich, delicious real-life ramen-- I want to eat real-life ramen at home, all the time-- I buy a book to learn all about it. Enter David Chang and Momofuku. I read. I cook for two days. I feast. Mission accomplished.
This is not a 30 minute meal. This is an undertaking for the serious ramen-loving perhaps slightly OCD, exploratory, fearless individual. I.e.: Me. Also worth noting, since it does take some time, it doesn't hurt to be unemployed, or otherwise have plenty of time to sit at home, smelling the amazing, intoxicating, porky aromas, drooling, tapping ones foot, etc. Again: Me. The concepts of traditional Ramen are absolutely nothing resembling the plastic wrapped, eerily artificial, dormitory prerequisite fuel, for which most people ignorantly associate with the term 'ramen.' Real ramen is a beautiful and complex composition of broth, noodles, meat (one or more varieties) picked something, nori, and usually an egg and perhaps some other vegetable, like braised greens, or whatever fresh vegetable is in season. Now, having never made real Ramen at home before, I knew I had some serious studying to do. The variations on Ramen are much like the secretive variations that Italian grammas have for their pomodoro. OR the differences in subtle seasonings that differentiate winning and losing pit BBQ sauces in the south. Its all about technique, quality of product, slight differences in quantity of ingredients, cook time, heat temperature, the timing and order of ingredients...and the list goes oooooooooooon......See what I'm getting at? There are endless permutations for the 'right' recipe for making ramen. Ab-solute-ly endless. Not to mention the importance of not just one component, but all components. The noodles, the broth, the broth seasoning, tare´, the garnishes, the pickled element, the egg...

The pork belly. Wow. Then, rubbed with salt and sugar, and let sit to cure for 24 hours in the fridge

Its all about the meat. And bones...

After the bones roasted in the oven. The malliard effect is crucial. Caramelization = Flavor

The shitakes, after they flavored the broth, they're nice and plump and succulent-- perfect for going into the light soy and vinegar pickling liquid. Shitake pickles are deeeee-licious

The tare´ is absolutely essential. Its the seasoning for your broth. That's were all your salt is. And delicious chicken fat. Look at all the gelatin that develops, naturally!! Amazing!
I turned to what I considered the authority. David Chang. His noodle making empire started with the one and only Momofuku, which is synonymous with hip new york food-coolness. Not only that, but the dude is kind of a gangster, and a helluva nice guy. So I dove, head first, into the Momofuku Cookbook. Yep, start to finish-- I made his Ramen (or my rendition of it anyway). Broth, pork belly, tare´, pickles... all except the noodles [wince] I bought the noodles from a fairly reliable, if not delightfully shady Asian market, in downtown LA. 3 days later, I had done it. Quite delicious I must say. And how intoxicating the smell. Let me tell you, as those pork and chicken bones are roasting along in the oven... or simmering in a pot of shitake and kombu infused stock. Pork goodness absolutely permeates every facet of my home, filling the air with rich, homemade, aromatic heaven. That doesn't really even make sense.. I don't care, you get the point.
So, in retrospect, I'm happy that I made it. I'm happy I leaned the process, and can now work off that, making changes here and there as my own palette dictates. I'm happy I now have backup stores of delicious ramen broth in my freezer for another day. I'm happy to be discovering and learning new techniques and flavor profiles all the time. Life is good
And do yourself a favor-- go out to a real ramen shop. Have yourself a big ass bowl of their tonkotsu ramen, or if you're a true lover, their shinsen gumi tonkotsu ramen. It will change your life. You'll instantly understand my love affair. If you're in LA, these places are pretty legit. Tsujita, yamadaya, or the raved and written about Daikokuya

The broth from start to finish. The color and textural change is amazing. Not to mention the flavor! That's what happens with you cook liquid with bones, and delicious meats for nearly 2 days! And look at that filmy, murky-ness. Now that's when you know its good.

And of course one last massive thanks to David Chang. There's no recipe today peeps. Buy Momofuku, its a pretty bardass read. If nothing else, its rather hilarious, and an honest look into what its really like to follow your food dream, open some restaurant[s] and deal with all the ups, downs, and bullshit that's associated with committing your life to cooking.
Live on, eat on my friends. CLICK on any picture to see it larger, for all you food porn fanatics out there... :)

Ginger Cardamom Ice cream

2012-05-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

I don't know if its the onset of summer [finally] or my recent sugar cravings, but I have been obsessed with ice cream lately. Not that I'm not always up for a great scoop, but lately, I've been making more ice cream at home. Ice cream is by far one of my faaaaaavorite things. Definitely in the top three for my favorite desserts. Ice cream is also infinitely customizable, which only adds to its allure. You basically have a base, then to that, you can adjust sweetness, and play with zillions of different flavors, or flavor combinations. Not to mention, you can then add other stuff to it-- Be that caramel (as I've done here) or top it with brittle, or toffee, or mix in cookie pieces, fudge, ricotta, herbs, just about anything. Anything. You see why I love it so much? And, once you perfect your creme anglaise (base) its super easy to make at home. I use this Cuisinart ice cream maker, with the removable freezer bowl. Its works great for me, and it's very affordable. There are lots of other options out there, and someday I'll upgrade to one of these fancy schmancy more commercial models... but for now mine works quite well. I highly recommend getting one, its a fairly small investment, for a fairly big payoff. I had both cardamom and ginger in my kitchen already, so that's what I did this time. I also served it with some bay salted caramel, that I had leftover from these sweet lovelies.

Ginger Cardamom Ice Cream
Inspired by one of the many amazing ice cream recipes from The Sweet Life, by Kate Zuckerman
2 C milk
2 C cream
1 C sugar
approx 2 T grated fresh ginger
6 cardamom pods, toasted, then coarsely ground
8 egg yolks
1 whole egg
approx 1/2 tsp flake kosher salt

Heat milk, cream, ginger, cardamom, and half the sugar, over medium heat on the stove. Once the sugar is dissolved, and the milk/cream is scalded, turn off the heat, and cover to steep with the flavorings for 20-30 minutes (or as long as you have time, up to an hour would produce a more intensely flavored finished product). Meanwhile, whisk eggs together with the rest of the sugar. Slowly stream the beaten egg mixture back into the warm cream, stirring constantly. Return to medium heat adn stir until thick, and the custard coats the back of a spoon. Pass the custard through a chinois, or mesh sieve, into a glass bowl, sitting in an ice bath. Discard the solids left in the sieve. Stir the mixture, over the ice bath, until very well chilled. Alternatively, if you have time, simply put the custard in the fridge, a couple hours or over night, until its well chilled. I simply don't have the patience for that; therefore, I do the ice bath method. Patience is a virtue... whatever, I want my ice cream nooooooow... Once its chilled, churn it in your ice cream maker 30ish minutes, or until thick and creamy, then scoop it out into a plastic releasable container, and pop it in the freezer to firm up. About 45 minutes to an hour should suffice, for a soft set, amazingly delicious, complex and creeeeeamy dessert.

I scream, you scream...blah blah blah enjoy

Chicken Liver : Its not scary, its delicious

2012-05-09T12:34:00.001-07:00

People hear the word liver, or pate´, or offal-- And one of two things happen. #1 : they grimace, shun in fear, as if liver were a deathly plague that could quickly infect their respiratory system, rendering them defenseless... or #2 : their eyes roll back slightly, their head drops to the side, they grin and exude any variety of ooooooo yummmmmmy noises, obviously understanding the many sexy, and luxurious qualities of the product. I, obviously, belong in the latter group. Liver is something that I had little interaction with as a child. My mom, apparently not much of a fan, except on the rare occasion my dad would coax her into frying him up some liver and onions, undeniably against her will. Now, in my adult life, where I luckily get to choose my own fate for my diet, I am looooooving any variety of livers-- It was actually (And I'm so ashamed to admit this [gulp]...but... I just had foie gras for the first time within the last year. I know!!! I can't believe I'd been missing out all this time! What an idiot! I thought it was too expensive, or too fatty, or blah blah blah... Lame ass excuses. Its chef gold, and frankly delicious in the most gluttonous way. Its depressing that in such a short time, it will be BANNED in California. Thanks Arnold. What a crock. People have no idea, that most (if not ALL of the foie prepared in restaurants comes from sustainable, and duck/goose-friendly farms. People just loooove to throw their hands up in the air about anything that will get them noticed. Who cares if they know what the hell they're talking about, right?! I mean, we're in LA, no one reeeeaaally listens to anyone anyway, So eff it. Sheesh!!! Okay, rant over, sorry folks. If you want more info on all this, I suggest you check out artisan farmers or read this article from EaterLA. Judge for yourself...

Okay, so back to my lovely chicken liver recipes we're discussing today-- I have somewhat recently become infatuated with pate´, and as such have begun playing with different recipes and techniques for preparing it. Now, as a non-classically french trained person (which..ahem...isn't such a bad thing), I only have knowledge based on my readings and trial and error. I wanted to try and create a single chicken liver mousse, and use in in several applications, to play around with how it pairs with various other, perhaps unorthodox (again, according to pierre frenchy frencherson) ingredients. The pate´ itself I prepared with organic chicken livers, shallot, a bit of garlic, thyme, Madeira, white wine, kosher salt, olive oil, butter-- Once finished, I pureed it, and passed it through a chinois to get a smoother texture. Chicken liver pate´ is, undeniably on the rich side, luxurious, unctuous, and alluring. As such, it benefits greatly (in fact begs for) crunch, and a tangy or sour element. I love it simply on toasted buttered bread with pickled anything. Today I also wanted to try it in other applications.

My finished products were:
In a salad-- Shaved celery | avocado | chives | olive oil | fried baguette |
A reinterpretation of my favorite-- Butter basted bread crouton | apple & berry mostarda | lemongrass and peppercorn pickled shallots | tendrils
A new kind of stuffed pepper-- Piquillo peppers | pistachio & lemon | mint | jalapeno
Overall, they were all delicious. Very different. The jalapeno and mint with pistachio may have been the biggest surprise, in a great way. I intend on following up with this flavor pairing, more testing to refine the presentation I think. Don't be scared of liver. And don't be scared to make pate´ at home. Truly, its not a difficult procedure-- not to mention its outrageously cheaper than buying questionable prepackaged canned or jarred pate´ for your next party... Make it yourself, you won't be sorry. If you have a skillet, a food pro and a knife, you're good to go. Seriously.
toodles loves!

Chocolate Souffle Sexiness

2012-05-02T21:37:00.000-07:00

Bittersweet Chocolate Souffles | Bay leaf rye whiskey caramel
Sometimes you just need dessert for dinner.
This was my best effort at breaking in my spanking new KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I can see this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

INTRODUCING a new series | LUNCH

2012-02-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

What is LUNCH ? Well, quite frankly, it's a visual exploration of tasty, simple, pure food. That's it. Nothing crazy. Nothing complicated. Nothing lengthy and drawn out. Just a video. Something relaxing, pretty and hopefully inspiring for you to cook for yourself at home. Not to get too hung up on complicated, 'fast' or 'easy' recipes. You know what is easiest, and fastest? No, not a 30-minute-meals cookbook. Not a drive-through. And no, nothing that comes from a deep freeze...
Its a few unadulterated ingredients, some fresh produce, perhaps a little cheese, or a simple piece of chicken, or fish. When all else fails, K.I.S.S. [that's right, keep it simple stupid] and you can't fail, I promise.

So today is the introduction. The premiere. The first of what will be a a series of videos. The series is called LUNCH. All about 2 minutes in length. No directions. No instructions. No difficult procedures, or bizarre ingredients. Just watch, and enjoy.

Today's LUNCH | Spinach salad, with scallion vinaigrette and piave vecchio
Enjoy

LUNCH part I from Becky Reams on Vimeo.

Yo slow cooker, you're kinda cool

2012-02-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

It's no mystery that many a seasoned chefs and food know-it-all's may turn their respectively well seasoned noses up at such a device as the humble slow cooker. Ah yes, the counter-space hogging contraction screams housewife, lame, technique lacking, amateur...Well I say unto them, hogwash!! These little bad-boys give you a serious edge int he cooking department. Its like your ringer in the game, your invisible sous chef, your secret weapon! Yes, its true, I perhaps seem a bit overenthusiastic in my praise for such a simple (and by no means new) kitchen appliance- But dang it, its crazy not to have one. Ashamed as I am, I only within the last year finally purchased one and cannot get over how easy and fun they are. Yes its horrifying, I have been cooking all these years without such a clutch appliance. The horror... the HORROR...!!! (literary reference probably unneeded, but how could I resist..??)
Okay, back on topic. There are 4 main reason so bu a slow cooker. Really only 2, but I'll elaborate just for you.
.1. They are surprisingly inexpensive. Sure, you can get one that will put you back several hundred dollars, and look like a Russian space station sitting next to your toaster-- but who needs their slow cooker to detonate a nuclear missile into space anyway? I mean, mine has like two buttons, and it works just fine.

.2. Its essentially the slowest most perfect braising machine, which requires ZERO action on your part after loading it up, and hitting start.

.3. Its creates the beautiful depth of flavor that you only get from long oven braises, or stove-top braises, or simmers, or roasts... And you can do it while you sleep, with no electric sucking oven!

.4. They. ARE. EASY. Like, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, easy. And you can make huge meals on the cheap (again, Housewives cheap) because inexpensive tough cuts of meat are no match to the 4-8 hour cook time you're about to put them through.

You put some stuff in, add some liquid, start it. Go. Come back, add some fresh herbs and citrus perhaps, of jalapenos, or whatever, and dinner is served. Or breakfast in my case. Because I do it over night, and when I wake up, its all I can do to haul my sleepy butt into the kitchen, and start eating straight from the cooking pot. Yeah, that's how much willpower I have, its just too much of an inconvenience to get a plate. Plates are for suckers. Or people with kids, spouses, relatives...boyfriends... Um, okay moving on.

My latest creation was BBQ pork. Now, I've made BBQ pork before, the real way. And I gotta say, yeah, it was batter. BUT--that also required an 8 hour jaunt in my smoker, a fair amount of mesquite wood, very little sleep, and a lovely hate letter from my upstairs neighbor, declaring her fear for her life due to the 'billowing black smoke.' Excuse me madam, if that was 'billowing' then those cigarette-smoking kids in alley must be slowing putting you in your deathbed... Ahem. Grouch-
SO, in conclusion, the slow cooker is a nifty alternative that will satiate your hankering form some soulful 'que, AND keep your neighbors happily ignorant to your cunning cookery.

Like magic.
For this braised pork loin recipe-- I will say, it is important to sear your meat in a big skillet first, and saute the aromatics in the rendered droppings, all before adding to the pot. Doing some initial cooking this way, ahead of time, gives you the caramelization that the slow cooker can't really,. Plus it provides textural contrast. A little stove-top cooking first, then you're home free.

Doing the onions

So tender and unctuous. Plus after you skim off any excess fat (or not, your gluttonous choice) The pork is quite lean.

Kansas City Style (of course!) BBQ Pork Loin
(typically butt is better, but the loin was cheap, so I just ran with it. I'm a rebel that way. Use whatever cut you want)

3-4 lb pork cut- no bone, with a large fat side. Don't remove all of it, just trimmed of sinew and little membranes
red pepper flakes - 1 T or to taste
beef stock - 2-3 cups
several dashes Worcestershire
several dashes liquid smoke
1/2 cup-ish apple cider vinegar
1/2-1 cup your favorite BBQ sauce. Please lord, actually seek out a good product. This is not the place to cut corners and buy generic. Or if you do, don't tell me. Seriously.
1 jalapeno sliced
1 large, or 2 medium onions, sliced
BBQ seasoning premixed rub, or a combo of cumin, cayenne, black pepper, ground coriander, oregano, smoked paprika, salt & pepper. (I used a blend I love, from back home...)

Rub meat liberally with seasoning. Get aggressive, massage that baby goooood. In a hot pan, add olive oil, and sear meat really well, all around. Remove and set aside. Add more oil to the pan if necessary and add onion. Brown and caramelize, coking for about 5-10 minutes. Add a bit of salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes. Once they are caramelized, slightly, and getting soft, remove from heat. Put half the onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the meat on top of that. Add the rest of the onions and the jalapenos. Mix all the remaining ingredients together (the BBQ sauce, the cider vinegar, the Worcestershire, the liquid smoke-- and pour into the slow cooker. Add a cup or two more chicken stock, if the liquid level is below half full. You want the liquids to come at least half way up the side of the cooking bowl-- to prevent burning. Put on the lid, and set it to low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-5 hours.
Voila!!!!!!
Go party, sleep, shop, whatever you want. Come back, and dish up. I think I ate mine with fork, in a huge bowl and that is all... Actually, probably with some brioche, or any other soft soak-up-all-the-juices bread... But you can get fancy ad serve it with some lovely garlic mashed potatoes, parsnip puree, grilled asparagus (which is just coming into season here in CA)...whatever you want. Also, any leftovers are to DIE for in a spicy pork chili.. as per the way my mom always uses it. Mmmmmm
Enjoy y'all! And long live the 'Que

Restaurant Review time! Post & Beam in Baldwin Hills

2012-01-19T09:33:00.000-08:00

Oh sweet sweet Baldwin Hills, how you've searched and yearned for newness, modernity...dare I say Good Eats. Well, the wait is over. As I will not be the first to say, the freshly opened Post & Beam more than fits the bill. A welcome addition to the otherwise ho hum community. Post & Beam brings a fresh, modern twist to the gastronomic community, a gastropub, oozing with some serious swagger thanks to a couple big hitters on the scene, Govind Armstrong and Brad Johnson. These guys know what's up. They know what people want, and they deliver. Stylish, smart, and utterly delectable, Post and Beam is basically the place you want to call your neighborhood joint. Small-ish [in a good cozy, I wanna-snuggle-some-swanky-sexy-guy kind of way] exposed kitchen, massive flaming wood burning oven, some spunky servers bouncing around, and a pretty awesome unpretentious clientele. When I arrived with my friend, I was beyond frazzled, erratic and in much need of a libation. Despite my eccentricity, the warm host seated us, and jovially (if not slightly sarcastically) offered me a drink to calm my nerves [I like this girl already]. My friend and I started with some beers. Local, of course, thanks to the limited yet well tailored drink menu. Hefe for her, IPA for me.
Our server was delightfully cute in his overambitious, meticulous description of the menu, which truth be told, I appreciate, and give him props for. After all, how could he know that I know my salsa verde's from my gremolatas, or that a supreme tallegio is a far cry from a fontina.

Okay, the food: Now, before you judge me, I know I only tried four dishes #fail. Trust me, I originally intended on four guests, therefore increasing my total Govind inventions significantly, so yeah, my bad, but what I did eat was phenomenal.
We had the charred broccolini, the meatball pizza, grilled octopus, and buttermilk panna cotta.

And I already have my list of items I'm ordering next week, when I inevitably go back. The pizza was perfectly charred on the bottom, kissed with a sweet tomato sauce (arguably the best Ive ever had #suckitmozza) and topped with a myriad of cheeses and chunks of soft sweet turkey meatballs, and dusted with fennel pollen. To my surprise, the fennel flavor was bold and noticeable. Not in a bad smack-you-over-the-head-way, but in a bright, wow-that's-unexpectedly-delicious way. The broccolini was charred within an inch of its life (again, not at all a bad thing), yet still retained a slight crunch, and flavored with a hint of garlic, and alleged chili. Delicious in its own right, however I feel could still use a bit more spicy ass chili kick. The octopus is what really excited me. This octopus was super tender, a delicious charred caramelized exterior, and soft succulent center. Accented by bright preserved lemon shards, fresh parsley leaves, and chickpeas, prepared two ways. A little olive oil perhaps, and I'm sure a dozen other delicious ingredients. It was the perfect dish. The menu is super smart. The ambiance is soft, yet modern, and cozy, but contemporary. At the end of our meal, the front of house manager treated us to the buttermilk panna cotta, which was both unexpected and incredibly kind. Let me tell you friends, it was unbelievable. I was totally trying to be 'good' and skip the dessert, in favor of a particularly snug pair of J Brands, that are sitting in my closet, staring me down... I digress... However, this little plate of sweet, slightly tart, orange-y, vanilla-y lusciousness was worth the extra couple miles on the treadmill tomorrow. A perfect panna cotta, topped with candied orange peel. Jay Rayner once said that "...a properly set panna cotta should move like a woman’s breasts..." Well, not that I'm an expert, but I think this buttermilk, orange version pretty much perfected it.

On my 'to-try' list next time? mussels, sticky ribs, mushroom and nettles pizza, cauliflower with salsa verde, and short-ribs.... Dare I ask... Will there ever be a reincarnation of the undisputed short rib grilled cheese? Hey, a girl's gotta ask.

Go. Eat. Enjoy.

Oh sweet sweet, sweets!

2012-01-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

Recently, I was lucky enough to shoot at two delightfully sweet specialty chocolate shops. Chocolatine, in Thousand Oaks, CA, and Trufflehound, in Ventura. If you are ever anywhere near the area (as in within 50 miles) I strongly suggest you stop in. Absolutely delicious.
Additionally, both these fabulous shops were featured in this months issue of Westlake Magazine. So please check out the articles for more information.
Special thanks to Claudia and Fred, and Hugo and Sabrina. Lovely lovely people.

Chocolatine pastry case

amazing cream stuffed rum pastry

Hugo and Sabrina

Sabrina- She's so perfectly French

Trufflehound's pristine truffles

Claudia filling the molds

The most amazingly perfect orange scented couverture

Claudia with her masterpieces

My Friendsgiving Soiree

2011-12-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

My FRIENDSgiving celebration was one to go down in history. I could sit here and gab all day about the details, the inside jokes, the small catastrophes ,the raving successes, the missteps, the everythings... but I won't. All that is truly important here was that I had a lovely small group of people who were kind enough to grace me with their presence on what could otherwise be a rather anticlimactic holiday. Yes, I'm talking to you, all you 'lost children' as I like to call you. Those (like myself) who live in cities where the rest of their family does not, therefore, you typically conclude the much hyped social/family surrounded holidays, with the bottom of a bottle of wine, or two...or three... Well, not this year. I like getting all these people together and celebrating with copious about of said wine, but also delicious food, extra helpings of raunchy, perhaps a tad inappropriate humor, and using the time together to forge new relationships with people, and cast new memories to be reveled and savored for the the next years undoubted soiree...

I was delightfully surprised at the great lengths my guests went to, in contributing to the gastronomical celebration. A homemade apple pie (all the way from San Diego, sausage and cheese bites, a richly addictive french silk pie (somewhat reminiscent of this lil beauty made form Thanksgivings past), homemade hot toddy, the undoubtedly most famous of the evenings eatings, the citrus bundt cake, which will go down in history... And you all know how much I love bundt cake, ahem... and of course, the notorious green bean casserole.
In addition to zillions of reasons I'm thankful to the fabulous friends I have, I was especially happy that my little brother came to visit and celebrate this Thanksgiving with me. All the way from wee lil Stilwell, Kansas... Now I would be remiss if not to say I was more that concerned that Los Angeles may prove to be a bit much for him. The crowds, the traffic, the cloths, the fast-talking-social-media-loving people, the hipsters... I can see his wide eyed confusion now, the look of 'What have I gotten myself into..." You can imagine my relief when on Thanksgiving he laughed, joked, socialized, and above all undoubtedly had a genuinely fun time. He embraced my home, my friends, my driving habits... I was so pleased, and it filled my heart with joy to know that he liked my friends. Not liked, loved. He had a blast. And all the while sporting his reptilian clad boots, Chuck Norrisesque wranglers, and big honest Midwestern smile on his face. Its a miracle he didn't get eaten alive in Los Feliz... Actually come to think of it, he was probably idolized. Well, perhaps not idolized, that's why we steered clear of West Hollywood... He really would have been in trouble there...
Special special SPECIAL thank you, from the bottom of my big ol' perpetually hungry heart, to Anais, Dax, Adriane, JP, Benny, and Brian.
You all fill my life with happiness, laughter, calories and JOY! Couldn't do it without you
Love.

Way overdue... Strawberry Pineapple Cream Pie

2011-11-23T15:41:00.000-08:00

Well, in a perfect world, this post would have happened late August.... And ow its November...the day before Thanksgiving in fact. Wow. I dropped the ball on that one. Life happened, and work happens, and lets skip ahead.... Here I am now, finally posting on the amazing pie that I made what seems like ages ago. This pie is one that apparently has been in my family for years. I say apparently, because I have no memory of ever eating it as a child, but then again, I have scattered food memories as a child. I digress... My mom tells me this is the pie she notoriously would spend 2 hours making and once finished it would disappear in less than two minutes. It was a crowd pleaser, to say the least.
Its not a particularly inventive or unusual pie. No unexpected flavorings, or fancy emulsions, just a simple custard based pie, with a delicious glaze, and as long as you have some juicy, ripe strawberries, you're good to go.
Now, I know its now November, so the prime strawberries season is passed. Boo me :( I apologize. However, if you live in California, you can almost definitely get some berries right this second at the grocery store. And if you can't find any strawberries for less tan 10 bucks a pint (I'm talking to you Midwest), then bookmark this recipe and look forward to next season :) Plus, this has to be a welcome change form the zillions of eye-poppingly fall inspired dishes. If I read one more pumpkin or brussels sprouts recipe, I'll jab my eye balls out with a veggie peeler...
Thanks to my momma for sharing this lil' gem with me. It was quite fun making it from scratch, especially trying to decipher my chicken scratch directions that I wrote down, as my mom rattled off all the directions over the phone, from memory. I kinda hope that by the time I have children, I'll have recipes engraved in my brain that I can recite from memory. Seems like a cooks right of passage. Hmmm Food for thought. Pun intended.

My Mom's Strawberry Cream Pie
As for the pic crust, I always use the classic Betty Crocker recipe. Its tried and true, but if you have a different crust recipe you trust, by all means do it! As you'll see in the picture below, I wasn't quite so successful with my crimping this time around... Its a toss up, sometimes I'm an expert pie-crust crimper, other times, I go down in flames... This was not my greatest showing. However, lesson learned for next time, don't try to get too much height on your crimps, otherwise they'll just flop over, all droopy and sad.

Pie Crust (thanks to Betty Crocker )

1 cup Gold all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

In medium bowl, mix flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
Gather pastry into a ball. On lightly floured surface, shape dough into flattened round. Wrap pastry in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable.
Heat oven to 425°F. On lightly floured surface, roll pastry with floured rolling pin into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate. Fold and roll pastry under, even with plate; flute as desired.
Bake 15 or so minutes, until golden brown, and remove from oven to cool

The Method
In a saucepan, combine 3/4 C sugar, 3 T cornstarch, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Whisk in 2 C milk, and heat over medium until it slightly boils, and whisk continuously, until it thickens. Whisk and cook at a full boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk a small amount of hot mixture into a separate bowl, with 3 egg yolks, to temper the eggs. Then add the tempered eggs back to the hot mixture in the saucepan, and whisk vigorously, over medium heat for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla.
Cool slightly.
Fold in 3/4 C crushed pineapple VERY well drained. I actually wrapped the crushed pineapple in a tea towel and wrung it super tight, to extract all liquid.
Then fold in approximately 1 C whipped cream. I probably added a bit more than that, its not an exact science at this point...
Spread mixture into cooled pie shell and refrigerate.
Slice a pint of strawberries, very prettily, and arrange on top of pie.
Glaze
Crush 1/2 C strawberries and combine in a pan over high heat, with 1/2 C water and cook 2 minutes at a full rolling boil. It will begin to thicken slightly, remove from heat, and strain through a sieve-- press berries slightly, to get any excess liquid. Discard crushed berries, reserving strained liquid. Return liquid to pan, and add 1/4 C sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, and heat until boiling. Boil for couple minutes until it thickens and clears.
Remove form heat, and set aside to cool (or refrigerate).
When you're ready to serve, brush glaze over berries, and voila!!! All done.
Enjoy
Good luck keeping it around for more than 24 hours...

Savory Maple and Rosemary Custards

2011-11-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

Lets say I was feeling especially inventive and spontaneous one evening, and as such, decided to make savory custards... in the actual egg shell.
I've seen it before, at restaurants, or on TV, so I knew it was most definitely within my realm of understanding, and capability. My kitchen looked like a war zone after it was all said and done, but the end result was stunning, and outrageous delicious. Well worth the effort. I also made the bacon chips, and glazed them with even more maple syrup, so that sweet-salty bite was perfect for dipping into the custards.

This would be perfect appetizer to a fall menu... dare I say Thanksgiving? Or on a less stressful day, a lovely intimate dinner party.
The original recipe was one I found through Tasting Table, via Chef Erik Anderson and Josh Habinger of The Catbird Seat in Nashville
Here is the original recipe
I made a couple minor changes. First, I used rosemary instead of thyme, and I omitted the Truffle oil (yuck!...no offense) and the pine oil, because I felt the rosemary was woodsy enough. Additionally, I added more maple syrup to the bacon strips, during their bake time, I just brushed them with a thin layer of syrup, before sandwiching them between the sheet pans and baking.
Check this one out folks, and have fun.

Tres Leches Cake : Back to Baking!!

2011-09-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying, this cake batter calls for ZERO butter, and ZERO oil. Yeah, I was skeptical too... Alas, this was the best tasting cake batter I've ever tasted, and it baked up like a dream. A bit of a strange path to a delicious end. I've DIED and gone to heaven. Bar none, this is my favorite cake I've baked to date...Wow, I love tres leches cake.

The batter is one of those beat the egg whites first, then beat in sugar, then eggs, then dry ingredients. So it kind of came together looking like Marshmallow Cream. And oooo... so tasty, and creamy.

Bake it 25-35 minutes, pull it out and pierce it allover with a toothpick

Pour over this rich, sweet deliriously yummy milk sauce, and let it soak into the cake. Then you repeat, and repeat, and... well, you get the picture. Then just refrigerate until ready to serve.

Its a bit of a process, but by no means an advanced recipe. The final product is this soft, ridiculously moist, and sweet, sugary soaked delight. The best part is the bottom, where the cake browned from baking, and all the rich milk mixture soaked through and sat there. Oh my sugar-heaven dream.
I used Emeril Lagasse Recipe, for which you can find HERE !! Thanks Emeril. The only changes I made are as follows:
I used nonfat sweetened condensed milk, nonfat evaporated milk, 1% regular milk, instead of whole milk, and half+half instead of heavy cream. Also, I didn't even bother topping it with whipped cream. Its already so sweet and perfect, I just think whipped cream would be overkill, for real. I just serve it with more of the blender milk sauce on the side, and pour a touch more over the cake once its plated to be served.
Then I smuggle any leftover milk sauce and sneakily hoard it all for myself for later.... when no one is looking. Yeah, its that good. Hiding-food good.

The ugly duckling

2011-09-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

Granted, this thing may look a bit unappealing, or thrown together haphazardly, the product of many failed Julia Child omelet attempts... but its not. This little omelet, as non-photograph-able as it is, is absolutely delicious. All because of eggs. I love eggs!! They're the culinary equivalent of ductt tape. A-n-y-thing can be turned into a meal with the simple use of eggs. Leftover veggies, random leftover meats, grilled chicken, taco meat, sausage, tofu, whatever. You can just mix it all together, then stuff it into an omelet. OR if you really want to get in and out of the kitchen in a hurry, just make a 'scramble.' Or as I like to call it, mega-meal. Eggs are NOT just for breakfast, as I would like to assume all of you lovely foodie people know. Frittatas, omelets, scrambles, souffles, aiolis, hollandaise, poached on top of salad... Okay, I am getting a bit fancy near the end of the list, but don't even bother with the souffles and emulsions nonsense. Just make an omelet. They are so darn satisfying, incredibly healthy (if you play your cards right) and a cinch to make. Plus, the creativity factor is endless. I've made Italian omelets, Greek omelets, soulful hearty omelets, thin ladylike eggwhite omelets, and many many Mexican omelets (my favorite). For this little ~~beauty~~ er.. ugly duckling... I had some soyrizo in the fridge I needed to cook, before it went bad, so that was the inspiration for dinner. Yup, I was inspired by not wanting to go grocery shopping [again] and some near expired imitation meat product. Classy, that's how I roll. Then, I just figured, I have eggs, I have some spinach and bell pepper (stuffed away in the freezer somewhere), and I always have onions and garlic. Boom. Omelet! I will also mention, this is a great eating alone, one person meal, for two primary reasons (1) Ypu only have to cook what you're going to eat, and there is no crazy oven business involved, and no shoveling through the abyss of tupperware containers to find a matching bottom and lid to stash the leftovers (2) You can make as much as you want, and not have to worry about [A] being judged for eating too much/too little, too much hotsauce, bah blah blah, or [B] making it look pretty, to impress your roommate, even though they probably wouldn't care anyway. Which brings me to my final point. The ugly part. I DON'T CARE. I'm about to cover the thing in salsa or sriracha and begin rapid dis-assembly with my fork anyway, so as long as I can get it from the pan to my plate, I'm happy. Phew, it fels good to get that out. Enjoy folks. Easy, and delicious, and surprisingly healthy. Way better than cup o noodles, or a sandwich, any day... And you know how much I love sandwiches.

The Ugly Duckling Omelet
Put whatever seasonings you want into the beaten eggs. And stuff the omelet with whatever leftover oddities you have in your fridge. Frozen veggies work well too, just slightly defrost in the microwave first.
1 whole egg
2 whites
pinch of
   dried basil
   dried oregano
   salt
* Whip, or mix with a fork, all these ingredients in a bowl and set aside

1/4 c smallish diced onion
2 cloves garlic (because I love garlic, and no one is around to smell your awesome breath)
a few cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
handful of spinach
a few tablespoons already cooked meat (in this case soyrizo, but use whatever you want, or not at all) 1-3 tablespoons shredded cheddar

In a large skillet, saute onion with nonstick spray, or olive oil, for a few minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes, give it 5 more minutes, or until soft and aromatic. Remove from heat, and transfer sauteed mixture to a plate. Wipe out skillet with a paper towel, and spray with nonstick again, heat at medium-med high heat. Pour beaten egg mixture into the skillet and allow to set up for a few minutes.
Now that the eggs are about 75% cooked, spread the sauteed mixture, as well as precooked meat, and spinach over top of the eggs. Let sit and cook for a few more minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, and attempt to fold over, into a half moon shape.
I always over stuff mine, because I like lots of stuff inside, so I nearly always break mine in parts, or just have some spillage (overflow). Not really a bad thing. Again, this is just for you, and its going to taste fantastic regardless, so if its a bit Picasso style, take pride. You're an artist
Transfer to plate. Turn off stove (so you dont burn your house down, I care about you, I'm just looking out for you). Get fork. Get salsa, or ketchup, or marinara, or whatever your condiment of choice. Now enjoy some quality YOU time. Perhaps add a magazine, an ipad, a radio... if you're like me, and can never being doing only one thing at a time.

Oh, and you may notice all the weird pictures all over the table in the images... That's because this was a bit of a 'working' solo dinner, I'm in the middle of my www.beckyreams.com redesign, so that's me organizing all my photography for various galleries and such. Stay tuned on that matter... Woo!

Non Edible Delicacies

2011-08-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

I can certainly drool over these fall fashion lovelies!
If only chic duds were as affordable as doughnuts....sigh....

These shoes would make me feel like a grown up, with a grown up income.Tory Burch arelia Tassel Pump

I would never leave home without my ipad, and no one would ever know! Assuming I will be getting an ipad to fill this magnificent red portfolio clutch ASOS leather portfolio clutch

Have you heard??? Zara will start selling online in SEPTEMBER!! Haaaaaalleluiah!!!! In any case, this will be my winter coat. I. Love. It. Even if it never gets cold enough in LA to warrant it. I can easily pull off the "Oh, you're not cold?? I'm freeeezing, I had better keep my super luxe looking, kinda-making-me-sweat-but-who-cares, coat." Round neck frock coat

This seems like kind of the perfect silk blouse I've been looking for. I'm obsessing over silk blouses right now. I want them in zillions of colors! J. Crew Blythe Blouse

The Entire H+M Fall Lookbook is weep-worthy deliciously gorgeous. E-ver-ything is stunning. The rich hues, and high contrast are stunning-- and a refreshing change from all the muted hues, and 'old-timey' looks of the last two seasons of lookbooks... Plus, a lot of these looks are right up my alley in terms of styling. Layers, dark colors, neutrals, with pops of color... And long straight hair. eeeeeee!!!! Im in love.

Be happy!!

2011-08-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie list of current obsessions, loves, flights of fancy...
[1] Adorable cups, sturdy enough for my clumsy self, yet cute enough to spruce up your boring cupboards. Modernist Mugs from West Elm
[2] The enviable, extraordinary travel writer, Melissa Kronenthal, photographer, foodie extraordinaire... whips up this light, gorgeous looking cake. I heart cake, bt even more so ADORE pudding. This is a clear winner for me, not to mention it looks easy enough to whip together, bake, and ravenously consume... all before anyone has to know... From The Traveler's Lunchbox make this Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake
[3] Yet another fabulous all around super woman, Heidi Swanson marries two of my favorite things, frozen desserts and booze! AND, with a clever schmancy twist. Lillet!! I've been dying to wrap my head around this french spirit for months now... Heidi is plucking my heart strings with this baby... Checkout these Lillet Buttermilk Shakes, from over at 101cookbooks
[4] There really aren't words. Con Poulos is an idol of mine. I love everything he does. His photos are gorgeous, and it never seizes to amaze me, that somehow every one of his images always seems fresh, current, and timeless. Not to mention anything Food & Wine touches, turns to gold. Can you tell I'm a fan?? Love. Here and here
[5] Just a dream... I wish I were there right now, eating those big, succulent grilled shrimp, and sipping sangria, or Argentinian beer, or lemonade, or whatever-it-doesn't-really-matter-I'm-in-Buenos Aires.... Ah.... Wanderlust had been hitting me hard these last couple weeks. No thanks to my love affair with AFAR Magazine

Just thought you'd like a little pick me up !!
Now excuse me, I have to come back from my daydream, and plant my feet firmly back down on LA ground... shucks...

Help me help you!

2011-08-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

That's right folks. I want to cook with you. Why not right?! Why just look at pretty pictures of food, when you can make the food yourself! Hooray!
I'll show your all the details, the tricks, the secrets, all the sneaky tasty recipes, and techniques.
Check it out, and CLICK below and hopefully we'll be whipping up chorizo stuffed cannelloni in no time...
Playa Del Rey Cooking Teacher

I play with my food.

2011-08-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is indeed a fancyish ham and cheese mini sandwich, in the style a la Big Mac. Sandwiches are fun food. Hand's down, perhaps most fun food ever. What's that you say? No?? You scoff? Sandwiches aren't the most fun ever...? Well then, you disbeliever, lets look at my reasoning
1. You get two big slabs or wheaty, carby, delicious bread
2. You can put literally ANYthing inside, add a sauce, and smoosh together, voila, sandwich-- EASY
3. No silverware needed (**most of the time)
4. They can be uptight and fancy or downright sleazy (Ahem, croque madame vs. sloppy joe --both delicious, both completely opposite
5. Men love them. Double win. You make him a sandwich, he thinks you're a genius amongst women. And you know you're a genius because cook-time and dirty dishes are both significantly reduced
6. You can eat it anytime. At school, on the sidewalk, at you desk, at your bar method class....Okay, well maybe not the last one. Those bar method gals would rip you to shreds at the mere thought of you subjecting yourself to carbs in their presence. eek, scary.

Still disagree? Fine, if so, you are a crazy silly person, whom I cannot relate to. My apologies. However, please continue reading, I'll still most certainly share the recipe with you.
So tonight, I was looking for a slightly more inventive way of eating my leftover baguette, prosciutto, and brie. Yes, you see, already sounds fancy, because I have prosciutto... this has to be good. You have cheese, bread and meat...What s a more obvious answer? SANDWICH! AND its a fancyish sandwich because it ain't yo momma's ham and cheese sando.
You can't really even call this a recipe, so we'll say its my methodology for fun sandwich creation

Sourdough baguette, sliced into thin ovals
Some Brie, sliced into approximately equally sized thin ovals or chunks, don't get too precise or freak out if there are overlaying pieces
Prosciutto, a couple slices, torn into smaller pieces.

Oil or butter the bread
Place said bread into med-high heat skillet
place cheese quickly onto hot skillet surface to speed melt time, then transfer to bread slice
Use same quick heat method with prosciutto, then place onto of cheese
Place top piece of bread on top, sprinkle with cracked pepper, and place another pan (or I used a tea kettle) on top to weigh them down.
Allow to sit for 2-3 minutes, then flip and replace weight.
Cook 2 more minutes, or until crisp and slightly brown on outside.
Remove from pan, and slice in half.
Serve with honey mustard
Now you have these figgin cute little two-bite brie n' prosciutto sandwiches. And they're so little, you can hold one in each hand, and dance at the same time.
Super fun. And three ingredients. Hello?! Awesome.

Restaurant Reviews for Dummies- Strikes again! The Tripel

2011-05-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

A lovely, run-of-the-mill, Tuesday evening seemed like the perfect opportunity to test the waters at a new local restaurant/bar. I've been wanting to try The Tripel for what seems like forever now. Translation: a month. The word around the neighborhood is that its kinda cool, kinda trendy, very LA of the moment. Owned by the same people as Hudson House, in Redondo Beach, (also a fave restaurant of mine). The Tripel offers a definitive cornucopia of craft beers from places you've probably never heard of, and a well written menu of upscale jazzy bar food. Sounds right up my alley. The vibe is dark and a little moody. One wall is entirely comprised of (what appears to be reclaimed) wood, with carved out words scrolling across if from wall to wall.

Little exposed light-bulbs, that look like they belong in an auto-body shop, hang from the ceiling, and high top tables are adorned with mini tealights. The place is small. Like really small. But in a completely great way. The bar is close enough that from just about anywhere in the restaurant, you can read the chalkboard listing the current brews on tap [at least 15 beers mind you]. Impressive bottled and canned beer [yes, canned] in addition to their tap selections. They have libations for any palate. A lengthy wine list and inventive cocktail list also pads their drink menu.
My top choices: New Belgium's La Folie. A big bottle sour, split it with someone. SO so good
Hop Rod Rye IPA, a really nice amber--this guy is fairly malty, thanks to the rye.
Also, if you want something lighter, they have some great Hefeweizen's.. I can't remember the name of the one we tried.... fail me. Sorry.

The food is pretty sweet too. We took out a pretzel burger, the red curry biscuits with honey butter and beer battered onion rings. All tasty. The burger was meaty, juicy, topped with a slaw of sorts, and aged cheddar, on a pretzel bun. If you still haven't had pretzel bread, i.e. you're living in some underground bunker, or abiding by Atkins--both travesties, then you need to. Pretzel bread is frigging awesome. Furthermore, I eat good cheese so infrequently, that when I do, its a thing of beauty, and this aged cheddar was. I Highly recommend.
The onion rings were also a fav. Crispy, but just a bit greasy. Like greasy in a really good way. Classic beer battered-style. The biscuits were delicious, flaky and unusual with their red curry infusion. However, when you serve anything with clover honey and clotted cream in a bowl bigger than the biscuit itself, its kind of like insurance. Its gonna be good.

I recommend checking this place out. The people are cool, and the vibe is chill. It's Playa Del Rey, so you aren't going to run into any pretension. Just get a beer and talk to the people at the table with you. We sat at a communal style table and struck up quite the interesting convo with some nice fellows from across the pond. Its always nice to get tipsy, well fed, and well entertained, not matter where you are. In this case, I was extra happy, just I was a hop, skip, and a stumble away from home...
CLICK on a picture to see it b-b-b-bigger

Restaurant Reviews, for dummies

2011-04-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've recently started writing articles for examiner, and as such wanted to give y'all a heads up. I've always really liked food, and really really liked trying new restaurants, bars, food fairs... anything LA food related. I guess it seems like a natural progression that I would start writing about it. Double bonus: As food photography is kind of the center of my creative inspiration and adoration, this serves as another great way for me to get out there and keep putting my camera lens to good use. And might I say, on some fantastic looking models...I.e. the gorgeous edibles all over the city... nom nom nom...
So yeah, check out my reviews about once a week or so. I try to go places that are either are new to me, (or LA in general, as in new openings). Anything from a place with a killer beer list, or cheap delicious tacos, finer dining, the [so called] best LA burger. Anything.

Have a place I should try?? I'm ALL EARS!
I recently dined at Manhattan Beach Post on Monday night's opening. You can see it here ...as well as some other little write-ups on MoMed and Zengo...
A note on writing: I am by no means a pro journalist, nor do I attempt to be. There are some absolutely amazing writers out there--you know who you are, and if you are in fact, I would hope you aren't turning your nose up, just attempting to decipher my fragmented ramblings....
In any case, I simply like food and love photographing it. I attempt to fuse the two into a slightly cohesive mass of words, in hopes someone will find it useful, or at the very least, entertaining.
Okay, public service announcement concluded.

Banh Mi --If they can do it, I can do it!

2011-04-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Banh Mi is all the rage these days, right? Have you noticed, every new restaurant, or even new menu for that matter, is featuring its own rendition of the Vietnamese baguette sandwich. And why not, I mean, they're delicious, and different. Not your typical ham sandwich, and devoid of white sliced bread and American singles... This little sandwich is spiked with an intriguing combination of pickled vegetables, sweet and savory components, and the perhaps nontraditional, addition of a horseradish based spread. The banh Mi is a sandwich based on a richly flavored pork, that is quickly seared and caramelized, then layered on a chewy, french baguette, lightly spread with a creamy sauce/condiment, then topped with crisp vegetables. All together, the result is a deeply satisfying light and refreshing sandwich. As with all my new recipe research, I ran through countless recipes, and read many menus, looking at how one sandwich differed from another, looking for inspiration for my version. I ultimately decided [almost] entirely on one recipe. Fro the immensely entertaining and gifts ladies at Food52. I love getting their emails once or twice a week, highlighting their recipe challenges and new tricks, and anecdotes on what they're cooking. Always inspiring to try something new. The recipe for their Banh Mi featured on their site looked not only tasty, but slightly nontraditional, and totally approachable : translation: I could do it on a week night. That's the winner. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, and made some changes, and additions/substitutions, however the original recipe for which I was inspired can be found HERE. Thanks again to Merrill and Amanda and to the original recipe contributor Monkeymom, well done my friend

Pork Banh Mi Sandwiches

Recipe notes:
I've said it once, I'll say it a gazillion times. When it comes to flavorings, spiciness, and additional condiments... do as you please! You can easily omit the shaved onion, or substitute scallions, or nix the horseradish and use mayonnaise, or cut back on the jalapeno if you please (however I strongly urge you not too... haha, I'm a heat addict) Also, something I figured out after the fact: there tends to be a pretty hefty bread to meat/veggie ratio, so if you want to, you could hollow out the baguette just a little bit, before assembling the sandwiches. This may make them a little easier to eat, and overall help the balance of the sandwich, I'll probably try this next time. However, the chewy baguette is delicious, so if it doesn't bother you,forget I even said anything
1 pound pork tenderloin
3 tablespoons Fish sauce
1 tablespoon Agave nectar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 green onion, minced
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 French bread, sliced lengthwise, and then into quarters (or smaller for smaller sliders)
red leaf lettuce
sliced jalapeno
peeled and sliced cucumber
thinly sliced or shaved white onion
chopped cilantro
chopped (or torn) fresh mint

pickled carrot and radishes (Recipe below)
Horseradish Sauce (Recipe below)

Cut tenderloin across the grain of the meat into ½ inch pieces. Flatten each piece to an even ¼ inch between two pieces of saran wrap, on a large cutting board. I use my polling pic, but if you have a meat mallet, more power to ya. Literally.
Mix marinade ingredients from fish sauce to crushed pepper. Add marinade to the meat, in a large shallow dish. Make sure all pieces of meat are coated in marinade. Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Preheat a skillet, very hot. Med-high to high. You want to cook the meat very quickly. The result will be a rich dark color on the outside, and caramelizing it will enhance the flavor. Add vegetable oil to meat and stir to coat. Work in batches, a few slices of meat at a time. Not too many, or you drop the temperature of the pan, and then they cook slower. If this happens it will be more difficult for you to get that great sear we're looking for. The pan may smoke a lot, you you should turn on your hood fan. Also, each side should cook a few minutes, then flip and finish cooking on that side for a couple minutes. Continues this way to cook the whole batch. If the pan starts to smoke too much, that means residual marinade is sticking and burning, which will probably burn onto the meat, which is not a good thing. To prevent this, just take a wet cloth, and brush the pan off after each batch, then add a tad more oil before searing more meat.
To assemble sandwiches, spread a little horseradish sauce on the top side of your sliced baguette then on the bottom half, layer a couple slices of meat (allowing those juices to soak into the bread--YUM). On top of the meat, assemble a little piece of lettuce, some pickled carrots/radishes, a few thin slices of shaved white onion, a few thin slices of cucumber, and a sprinkling of both chopped cilantro and fresh mint. Take some of the thinly sliced jalapeno and stick them onto the horseradish coated top slice of bead. (This just helps to hold them in place.) Also, as a warning, this sandwich is not necessarily an easy one to eat, but I trust you'll figure it out.

Pickled Veggies Recipe, courtesy of MonkeyMom

Pickled Carrots and Radishes

* 1/4 pound baby carrots, peeled (**I used regular carrots, sliced into oblong coins)
* 1 bunch red radishes, preferably breakfast radishes (daikon are more traditional. I just think red radishes are beautiful.)
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 cup apple cider vinegar
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 2 tablespoons sugar

Slice carrots and radishes into quarters (or sixths for thicker guys) lengthwise. Mix all ingredients together. Taste for seasoning. Let stand as little as an hour or up to overnight. They keep for several days.

Horseradish Sauce

Okay I know this is pretty involved, so try and keep up.
4 T Sour Cream
+
1.5 T Fresh grated horseradish
Mix.
Enjoy.

Okay friends, hope you have a fun time making these little guys. I did, and trust me, you'll enjoy eating them... Don't forget, lots of jalapeno.

A break from the kitchen

2011-02-04T13:57:00.001-08:00

Its true, its true, despite your possible notions of my superior cooking-ish faux cheflike kitchen prowess, I am indeed NOT a full time cook. Nope, not at all, its in fact a hobby, just like all of you. I do it before, after , and in between working for moolah. If the Benjamins were floating down from the heavens on a regular basis, then I would cook full time, but until that happens, I will stick with the real job.
Aside from my kitchen and restauranting escapades, I fill my life with pictures. Taking them, looking at them, editing them. And I Love it. I adore photography, and am lucky enough to be making a life around it. Today I just wanted to share with you a small sample of something I was working on last weekend. A full day filled with high spirits, interesting, creative, talented people.
I do believe I'll start doing this on a semi regular (well...as regular as my posts are...) basis. Sharing my various photography projects, images which I feel you may find pretty, fun, intriguing, rad, peculiar, and of course delicious.
Thanks friends.
Cheers
special thanks to the wonderful people who made this day possible.

Niki Chopra Richardson, independent consultant, and writer. My partner in crime on this venture, super talented, and great at what she does. A little more about her here
Syliva, over at A Packaged Parties, was not only incredibly kind and accommodating, but resourceful beyond belief! Her showrooms, and rental inventory was nothing short of miraculous.
Al and Ruth from Affectionate Digitals provided these gorgeous handcrafted invitations and paper cards, with stunning calligraphy and detailing.
All the amazing pastry chefs and happy incredibly helpful people at Sweet Arleens
Janet and Lissette Di Pietro, the creative minds behind A La Mode Party Favors Dolling up the set with their fantastic little boxes and cute party favors
Jan provided the breathtaking flower arrangements. Let me tell you, this woman knows what's up. She created some unbelievable (and heavy!) arrangements for us. Very chic, tasteful, and honestly, perfect. Couldn't have done it without her, definitely look to her for many a fabulous flower, Jan's Flowers
And lastly, Mike for providing the stunning wedding gowns from his quaint, but gorgeously well stocked boutique, Bridal Collection And thanks to Christina for modeling these beautiful pieces.

Cuban flair

2010-12-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well, now that it is all said and done, the holidays are 112% behind us, I feel like I can finally catch up, and get back to, real life. As soon as December 1 hits, its a whirlwind of anxiety, rushing, financial insecurity, deadlines, parties, late work hours, heavy traffic...oh, and some holiday cheer thrown in there somewhere...Phew, I'm exhausted all over again, just thinking about it. Don't get me wrong, I love the holiday season, and love everything about this time of year, however, its just one of those things, we love it, but we kinda love when its over. Case in point? I am finally writing this long over due post. Earlier in December, I was invited to a holiday party, wherein I was excited to bring a side dish (as I always am). So the question becomes, obviously, what to bring? More specifically what run through my brain...'What to bring that will be both impressive, and delicious that everyone swoon over, that is both healthy-ish, but not so healthy that no one will want to eat it, and will undoubtedly win me the unspoken prize of best side-dish/appetizer, allowing me to reign victorious. Yes, true story folks, I'm somewhat of a competitive person, even though in person, I'll deny it, in response, "Oh, I just wanted to make something simple, and yummy." Okay, truth be told, 'simple' is a very subjective term, ahem, but nonetheless, I love cooking (obviously, otherwise why would you be reading this) and will cook something for any party, regardless as to whether or not it was initiated that I needed to bring anything. That's just me.
SO, for this party, I knew I wanted to make some sort of smallish food, single servings, that was both inventive, tasty, not to unfamiliar to people, and not a typical pigeonholed holiday party food. I.e. no pigs in a blanket, no fondue, no ham and cheese weirdness, ect ect. I decided on sliders. Sliders are totally approachable, impressive to look at all arranged on a platter, and the fillings/garnish options are endless. I decided on a pulled chicken slider, with a distinctly Latin flair. Totally unlike any usual holiday dish, this fresh finger-food was fabulous, and given the zero sandwiches left at the end of the night, it seemed to be a pretty popular food table addition.
There are a lot of components to this dish, no questions about it, however, the skill involved in each part isn't difficult, and the only somewhat challenging part simply come at the end, when you're trying to jam pack all the goodness onto one bun, which I will mention, its okay if some of the 'stuff' falls off, that just means there's more little tasty nuggets to pluck up and taste test along the way...
You can make pretty much any step of this dish in advance and just bring it all together for assembly. If you make the chicken in advance, I recommend shredding it within 30 minutes of taking out of the oven, because its much easier to shred when its warm. Then simply refrigerate it until you're reading to assemble the sandwiches. You can reheat the shredded chicken in the oven, with a little added chicken broth for like 20 minutes at 300, until its warmed through, and juicy.
Okay, so the list of components for the Cuban Pulled Chicken Sliders
Cilantro Crema
Pineapple Salsa
Fire Roasted Poblano Peppers
Pickled Red Onion
Cumin Spiced Pulled Chicken
Hawaiian Rolls

Aaaaand the Recipes

Cilantro Crema
1/2 C Mexican Crema (available at any Latin market, or at most major grocery stores, in the refrigerated section in the dairy dept)
scant 1/2 C chopped cilantro
1-2 clove(s) minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper (or to you taste, if you like more heat, by all means spice it up!)
Mix all ingredients together. Tricky, I know. Season with a little salt and pepper, and taste to make sure its flavorful.

Pineapple Salsa
1 Whole fresh pineapple, trimmed, peeled, cored, and finely cubed (you'll end up needing only about half the pineapple cubed up, fyi
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
2 T tequila
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1-2 tsp Sriracha
good seasoning of sea salt
Mix all the ingredients together, and toss well to combine. This salsa is best after it sits for a little while, stirring every so often, so the seasoning and the tequila all kinda absorbs into the fruit and peppers.

Poblano Peppers
This isn't so much a recipe as it is a technique. One of my favorite techniques by the way. Fire roasting peppers is a great way to lessen their fiery flavor (if applicable) and to give them a deeper richer flavor. AND, you don't have to have a fireplace, or bonfire to do this, just a gas range, or if you don't have that, you could even do it in your oven, set to broil.
Take 2 poblano peppers, and place them directly over the flame of your gas top range, set to med-high. If you're using the oven, set the broil to high, and place the peppers on a heavy duty sheet pan, on the top rack, so the peppers are very close to the heat. Rotate the peppers every 4-5 minutes, or until they are charred on all sides. Yes, I mean charred, as in pretty black. The skin should be completely burnt all over. Its okay to have some areas that are less dark, or still showing some green, as long as they are 90% blistered and charred. Remove from the heat, and immediately place into a ziploc bag, and let sit for 10 minutes. After that time, the peppers should be cool enough to handle. Remove from the bags, and lightly rub the skin of the peppers, the skin should pretty much just slip right off, in pieces. Be gentle not to tear the flesh of the peppers, but you can also hold them under lightly running water to help wash away the tiny bits of burnt skin that are a little tricky to get off the peppers. After removing all the skin, you'll have a nicely roasted darker green/brownish colored pepper. Now, just remove most of the seeds from inside, and thinly slice the peppers into strips, and reserve for arranging on each sandwich later on.

Pickled Red Onion
see recipe here at David lebovitz's awesome blog

Cumin Spice Chicken
Coat a sheet pan with foil, then with olive oil. Take 8-10 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on. Sprinkle liberally with
2 T cumin
3 T salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 T oregano (dried)
1 T chili powder
1 T garlic powder

rub all over chicken, and slightly under skin if possible. Place on sheet pan, and roast in a 375 degree oven for approximately 25-30 minutes. Until juices are running clear and the skin is gorgeously crispy and sizzling and a rich brown color. Allow to cool out of the oven for 20-30 minutes, then pull off the bones and shred. Discard the skin, or save it, and later re-crisp in the oven for a deliciously indulgent unctuous little snacky snack.

Okay peeps that's it. Assemble all together and try not to make too much of a mess. Although ultimately impossible. All these components on this little sandwich work perfectly together. Hawaiian bread sweet rolls are perfect vehicles (slightly toasted) to hold all this goodness together.
Serve em at your next party, they'll be a big hit, I promise. I may not be Cuban, but these are my new cubo-american staples. Just don't go around telling any Cuban grandmothers, or I'll be in big trouble.

Amazing meals

2010-12-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

Once again, I was lucky enough to be invited to The Hyatt Huntington Beach Resort and Spa for another amazing experience. The talented and lovely public relations ladies at Purry Communications Group have once again shown me much love, for which I am always grateful. I can't really say enough good things about the Hyatt Resort and Spa, in Huntington Beach. The people are awesome, the location is beautiful, and the overall experience seems to get better every time I visit. I was invited to share in a special multi-course tasting dinner highlighting their fall/winter menu, along with wine pairings. Now for those of you who know me (and if you don't, lets be friends), you know I don't mess around when it comes to food. I like good food, and I'm not in the business of boosting people's egos, or filling lowly hearts with false hopes and heartless compliments... With that said, The Californian is a damn good restaurant. Pardon my french.
The Californian is the fine dining restaurant at the resort, manned by a more than capable team of creative, inventive chefs. At the helm, is the newest addition to their team, Executive Sous Chef Chris Toth. A native Canadian, he brings a fresh and contemporary flair to their menu. Armed with local farm-fresh produce, a diverse range of fresh seafood, a variable slew of meats and proteins, and an open mind, this chef is 'kickin it up a notch!' Okay, I deeply apologize for the lame celebrity chef reference, I couldn't help my cheesy self...
Okay okay, but in all honesty, the food was good. Really good. As in it's no surprise The Californian is a AAA Four Diamond Restaurant.
Now, I could wax philosophic all night, about how the ambiance was perfectly accentuated by the classic, yet refined styling, and the aromas wafting from the kitchen sparked your senses, as the graceful and attentive servers poured bubbly... however, that's not my style. You'll just have to go check it out yourself. Plus, why read all about it. You can't lick the screen. Well, you can, but I mean, its not quite as fulfilling as actually going to the restaurant, take my word for it, I may or may not have tried before... Okay! Tangents! Sorry!
So, I will tell you what the menu was like...

First course
Pan seared scallops, with a corn hash, lamb lollipop with yogurt sauce, and a fresh little salad with goat cheese and pickled onions. ALL amazing. The seared scallop was perfectly caramelized, tiny flecks of porcini and potato really rounded out the hash, and the lamb chop had a nice earthiness, accented by the tart yogurt sauce. Oh, and a fresh and unexpected hit came from the pickled onions in the salad. I love pickled anything, especially when paired with a richer counterpoint, such as the goat cheese. All very cleverly thought out. Great textures, great flavors.
So, I did mention that there were wine pairing, right? Oh yes folks, wine pairing per course. That/s after the amazing sparkling proseco we started with. I mean, honestly, a meal like this went from being amazing to over the top perfect, when paired with wine. Look, I'll be the first to admit, as much as I enjoy wine, I typically just want to eat eat eat... so why bother with wine, I mean, I really just want to experience the food, right? WRONG! With a meal like this, the wine, when paired correctly (which it most certainly was) absolutely complements the food. In fact, not only complements, but actually enhances the flavors! The little nuances of flavor actually come out, once you take a sip of wine. The sharp citrus and faint grapefruit in the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from Brander, brighten the sweet yet rich hash, and play off the flavor of the scallop. The berry in the ZD WInes 2008 Pinot Noir, match to the lamb, and enhance the flavor, making it more robust, more luscious! Yes, I said luscious, this was luscious worthy.
Point being, the wines not only taste great, and make you feel great (um, nudge nudge) but they change the way you taste the food, in a marvelous way. I highly recommend having dinner here with the recommended wine pairings, as per their gifted and astoundingly informative Beverage Manager Gabe Regalado.
Main course
Filet of beef, with a whole roasted baby tomato. Slow roasted baby portabello mushroom served atop a potato and Gouda gratin stack, and grilled swordfish with Avocado Risotto, and grilled Broccolini-- accented with a Blood Orange Reduction. Okay, really? Yes really, and that mushroom nearly brought me to tears. Not. Kidding.
Dang I love a good mushroom, and it was succulent and sweet, but with a little sharpness from an acid, and paired with the rich potato and Gouda baked gratin, it was a real treat. The filet was the perfect temperature, and quite flavorful (this coming from a native Kansas girl, where steaks are easily served three times a week, and always always Kansas born and bred... needless to say I can be a bit if a beef snob.) The avocado risotto was a creative approach to a risotto and very successful, paired with the bright and surprising tender swordfish. I must confess, swordfish is never my go-to when dining out, but I must say, I was pleasantly surprised, for being a fish that is so commonly overcooked it makes me weep, this was well prepared. It could have been because of the blood orange reduction, which, you could probably put on anything, and I would scarf it, licking the plate with no remorse. That reduction was dynamite, one for which I would consider breaking and entering for... As for the wines. This was favorite pairing of the evening. We were poured a the Faust 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley... AHHH!! SO good, so delicious, so amazing. I don't even consider myself by any means a wine geek, but this is one of those wines you can tell, is really really stunning. Perfect with beef. Perfect. We were also poured the Jordan, 2007 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, which was excellent as well. Amazing nose, great rounded flavor, perfect with the meaty swordfish, and slightly Latin flavors in the risotto.
Final course/ Dessert
I always love sweets, really I do, and this was no exception.
Pumpkin Creme Brulee, assorted Biscotti and surprising take a on Cheesecake, a Goat Cheesecake with cranberry Compote. We were also poured the Dolce, Chardonnay, Napa 2002. A lovely little dessert wine, which having never appreciated ports or dessert wines, I was impressed with its complex qualities, and not overly sweet flavor. The goat cheesecake was original, light and totally delicious. The creme brulee had the perfect and 100% necessary crystallized sugar crust on top. It was appropriately fallish in its spiced pumpkin flavor, without beating you over the head with a cloying pumpkin pie redux persona. Very well done.
I was pretty inspired, I already have a recipe in the works. Definitely something with a blood orange reduction, or the like, might try a roasted chicken variation, with roasted mushroom risotto perhaps? OR something with that corn hash... OR, maybe I'll just make a huge pan of pumpkin pudding and call it a day. Hey, that's inspired, right?

So is your screen smeared and saliva covered by now? Ew, too much? Sorry. :) I do honestly hope you get a chance to checkout The Californian at the Hyatt in Huntington beach, if you're in the area, man its a great place for dinner or drinks, or both. Preferably both. Oh, and by the way, I don't work for these guys or anything, I just like to share the love and try to keep all my SoCal peeps in the know!
Until next time. Eat on my friends, eat on!

Bloody Mary making Contest + unbelievable brunch = Heaven

2010-11-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I was invited to compete in a Bloody Mary making contest, courtesy of the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa, in Huntington Beach, on behalf of Purry Communications Group. Let me say this... 'Seriously?!' Why in the world would I turn down an amazing breakfast, free booze and a healthy dose of friendly competition on a Sunday morning? That's pretty much my ideal way to start the day. The brunch and contest were held in the beautiful Californian Restaurant, at the Hyatt Regency. Now folks, when I tell you this brunch was amazing, it was A-MAZ-ING! Fresh fruit as far as the eye could see, bacon, sausage, ham, freshly scrambled eggs, lox, cream cheese, ALL the trimmings, a zillions different kinds of breads and pastries, cereal bar, steel cut oats bar, they even had CANDY! OH, and lets not forget the Chef, preparing custom omelets to order. Any other day, I would walk in there, and simply due to my often times crippling indecision, get one of everything... Yeah, its that bad. As in a mushroom and bacon omelet with a side of m&m's, a little lox and croissant, perhaps dome yogurt, with cherries, and a piece of ham...
I know, I know, but everything looked soooo goooood! In the light of my photos, i exercised restraint, and resisted piling all said foods onto my plate... I went with lox and scrambled eggs, with capers, tomato, and onion, and fresh fruit. It was delicious.
Special thanks to Executive Sous Chef, Curtis Toth, restaurant manager Ben Gravelle, and Jeremy Lambert for helping to put everything together, and being remarkable hosts. Additionally, none of this culinary and Bloody Mary deliciousness would have been possible without the talented ladies of Purry Communications PR Group, so thanks to them, they're pretty rad.
So, about this competition business...
My very worth opponent was Marcie, from over at SurfCityFamily. We both concocted what we thought to be our winning cocktails, and passed them off for judgment. In the end, I pulled out the win! I would be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit nervous, um, remember my friendly competition statement at the beginning? Yeah.

Okay, so for the recipe... Which, by the way will be featured as a recommended recipe at the Bar

Becky's Bloody Mary aka, the Hot Ginger Mary

Fill glass with Ice, fill halfway with Vodka (yes halfway, who are we kidding here, lets get serious)
Fill the glass with tomato juice, to fill approximately 3/4 of the glass
Ingredients
**As with just about all recipes I post, these measurements are approximate to my taste, if you prefer more spice, by all means, get crazy with that sriracha, this is simply a guideline, for which you can experiment, if you so choose...

1 T raw horseradish
6-6 dashes Worcestershire
1 T crushed fresh ginger
1 T fresh torn parsley
1/2 tsp sriracha (my favorite)
1 tsp Louisiana hot sauce (my 2nd favorite)
1/3 freshly ground black pepper
squeeze of lemon

Add all spices, sauces, ect into your glass of tomato juice/vodka. Chop stir with a swizzle stick or stirrer for a minute of so, just so everything is well amalgamated.
Garnish with a little sprig of parsley, a baby carrot and a pick with a baby hot pepper and blue cheese stuffed olive.
Now, drink!! Stir every so often, because the ginger and horseradish tend to sink to the bottom, and you wanna get all that spicy goodness in every sip

The bloody mary bar is available to guests, as an all you can drink type of deal, just like the buffet. For 35 bucks you get the full buffet, all you want, and the full bloody mary bar, for making you own handcrafted creations. If you just want the buffet, its $22 and $11 for kids. Not a bad deal at all, especially considering the quality and quantity of what's being served.
This was one Sunday morning spent exceptionally well. I highly recommend trying the Californian for Sunday brunch and breakfast. Oh, and P.s. the resort is amazingly beautiful, and sits virtually right on the beach, with tons beautiful natural light and gorgeous views. Just sayin...
Click on any image to see it larger
All images © Becky Reams Photography,

Chili and other anecdotes

2010-11-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

It's no secret there's more chili recipes out there, than weathered wood spoons. So do you really want to read about another chili recipe? Well, yes, and I'll tell you why. Chili is perhaps one of the most subjective foods out there. Endless possibilities, spicy, not so spicy, vegetarian, Texas style, Cincinnati style, with pork, with turkey, with pork and turkey, runny, chunky, white and creamy, tomatoes-y and zesty... The list literally goes on and on and on. And, I've probably made a good 97% of every conceivable variation. All with tremendous success. Well, maybe not all...Ahem...hey, nobody's perfect.
Today's recipe is for a vegetarian variation. I assure you, its crazy how much depth of flavor you get in this chili, without any added meat. Its rich, and hearty and satisfying, and oh yeah, LOW FAT! Like probably zero fat, if I knew how to do all those calculations. Its just beans and spices, and tomatoes and veggies.
Confession: I don't even have a recipe. I know!! Seems sacrilegious to write a food blog, and post about what to cook, minus a recipe!? However, all I mean is you don't need super specific measurements to make things like chili, and soups and stews. Just wing it. I must confess (again) I do that quite a lot. A lot a lot.

Switching gears. In other news. I co hosted my first ever big time dinner party this month. I've thrown smallish dinner parties in the past, 5, 6, 7 people. No big deal. Well, this bad boy topped off at 30 people!!! Yes people, that's 3-0, THIRTY!
It. Was. Awesome.
My amazing bestie' s birthday was this month, and she desperately wanted to throw a cocktail party. Ofcourse, I was in. When the two of us get together and start planning, and brainstorming... things can get a little crazy. Our combined forces create this ultra, super power of entertaining and hosting. We're like the Martha Stewart alter ego dream team boring-party-be-gone action fighters! Needless to say one thing led to the next, and before you know it, we had a creative and totally personal theme, decoration arrangements planned, menu cards designed, a guest list, and oh yeah, one small little 7 course tasting menu planned... Oh, that's right. 7 courses. AMAZING. Not only that, but they were small plates, so they were super cute and small, and delicious, and super inventive.
Oh, you want to know what we came up with? Okay!

Farm fresh California salad
Red and green leaf lettuces | local heirloom tomatoes | blue cheese | roasted slivered almonds

Maryland lump crab cakes
Blue crab | mirepoix | remoulade

Kansas City style BBQ Pulled pork sliders
Mesquite smoked | KC BBQ sauce

Panamanian Tamales with Fried plantains
Cheese and chili corn tamale | fried plantain | al ajillo tomatillo sauce

Toni's Classic Chili
shredded cheddar | sweet cornbread mini muffins

Fried Chicken and waffles
Chicken drumette | malted waffle | maple syrup

Red Velvet Cupcakes

So, that's it. Everything was pretty tasty, and J and I had a blast putting everything together. We're certainly thinking about continuing the trend. Perhaps a little supper club, once a month??
In any case, I hope you all choose to entertain at some point. Its surprisingly not terribly difficult, its all about planning planning planning. If you have a menu in mind (even a couple things, not necessarily 7 multi-part dishes...ha) And, you do some prep the days before, you'll be fine. Just pour plenty of wine, people won't complain, I promise.
As for pictures from the party, I regret to inform you, I was too busy running around in platform heels and frying plantains, and plating 180 individual plates of food, and chatting it up, and fending off the police... (true story)... that I didn't fire a single picture. [A tear rolls down my cheek.] Sad, I know. However, the silver lining is that the recipes were wildly successful, and as such, I'll be making them again, taking proper pictures and sharing the recipes with all you lovely people. In the meantime, checkout Cereal&Wine for other tidbits and recaps from the evening, as well as the always welcome positive outlooks on life in the fast lane...

Okay, so now for that Deceivingly Rich and Delicious Three Bean Chili recipe
Another DeliciousView original!
Oh, and remember, I winging it here, these portions are mostly approximate
1/2 Medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
2-3 garlic cloves (depeding on size) finely minced
1 jalapeno, finely diced
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beads
1 can red kidney beans
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can regular crushed tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
2 T chicken bouillon
1 C water
2 T dried oregano
1 T crushed red pepper flakes
1.5 T cumin
2 tsp Spanish paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
2-3 T chili powder
hefty pinch of salt, probably a couple pinches, and a few grinds of black pepper

For serving: Corn tortillas, diced avocado, diced onion, and shredded cheddar.

In a medium - medium high heat deep saucepan, saute the diced yellow onion, and bell pepper with a touch of olive oil, until lightly colored and soft, add jalapeno, and garlic, saute another 3-4 minutes. Add spices, and oregano, continue to cook for a minute or so. Add tomatoes, beans (rinsed and strained first), tomato paste, bouillon and water. Stir really well, to make sure everything is combined, and tomato paste and bouillon are completely dissolved.
Allow to simmer partially covered for at least one hour. A couple hours would be perfectly fine, assuming you have the time.
When you're redy to serve, allow to cool slightly, and taste for seasoning. If it seems a little flat in flavor, add more salt until the flavor really pops.
I like to serve my chili with a little diced avocado, to cut the spiciness factor--, some diced white onion, for crunch and flavor contrast--, and some melty sharp cheddar cheese for the creamy savory factor. Oh, delicious.
Enjoy friends!!