I got this a couple of days ago and wanted to share with you.  The inaugural Sunday Night Chef Fight in Huntington Beach is coming Sunday Sept. 19th!  I’ll let them explain it for me…

Sunday Night Chef Fight

“PUNK VS. PATINA” BATTLE SET FOR INAUGURAL
ORANGE COUNTY SUNDAY NIGHT CHEF FIGHT

Renowned Local Chefs Knoke, Schoenburg to Cook for Culinary Supremacy at Live Head-to-Head Cooking Competition Sunday, September 19th at Standards of Excellence in Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach, CA—Two esteemed local chefs will sharpen their knives and step into the culinary ring to determine just who is Orange County’s “Top Chef,” as ForgottenGrapes.com presents the inaugural Orange County Sunday Night Chef Fight cooking competition live Sunday September 19th at 6:00 p.m. at the Standards of Excellence Kitchen Showroom in Huntington Beach.

Chef Phil Knoke, former drummer in numerous O.C. punk bands and current chef/owner of SteerCrazy International Grill & BBQ in Capistrano Beach, will face the heat and face off against his opponent, former Patina Group executive chef and current chef/owner of The Lido Deck in Newport Beach Chef Don Schoenburg, in this high-stakes live cooking competition where the live audience gets to serve as judge, jury, and taste-cutioner.

Each Sunday Night Chef Fight is a fast-paced, no-holds-barred culinary showdown similar to popular cooking competitions on TV, but with a few extra twists thrown in to entertain and switch things up. Before each event, the chefs are given three base ingredients – a protein, vegetable, and starch/grain – that must be included in their creations, a shopping allowance, and a week to plan and prep their dishes for the sixty members of the audience jury. Then, during the Sunday Night Chef Fight itself, each chef and his or her sous-chef will have only 30 minutes to cook and finish their dishes as well as incorporate a “mystery ingredient” into the mix, while host Chris Kern peppers each chef with questions and comments keeps the audience apprised and entertained as to what’s going on behind the stove. The audience rates each chef’s creations in three categories, the totals are tallied, and at the end of the night one chef will be crowned the winner, receive the coveted Sunday Night Chef Fight trophy, the title of “Champion Chef of Orange County,” and the opportunity to defend his or her title against a new local chef challenger at the next Orange County Sunday Night Chef Fight, to be held in early December.

“A Sunday Night Chef Fight is the ultimate challenge for any outstanding chef,” notes Chris Kern, founder of ForgottenGrapes.com, creator of Sunday Night Chef Fights, and host of the event. “Not only are the chefs testing their culinary creativity and ability to work against the clock and against each other, but they’ve now got sixty local gourmets, foodies, and self-appointed food critics judging their creations.”

Each Sunday Night Chef Fight will also include as an “undercard” bout Vino Vidi Vici, a blind wine tasting competition in which all audience members taste three themed but unlabeled wines, select a favorite, and then have the opportunity to purchase either the winner or the wines they liked best. Limited information about each bottle will be revealed over the course of the Chef Fight and the winning (and losing) wines will be unveiled before the Champion Chef is crowned.

Tickets are currently on sale online at SundayNightChefFights.com for the inaugural Orange County Sunday Night Chef Fight starting at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 19th at the Standards of Excellence Kitchen Showroom in Huntington Beach, 16001 Gothard Street on the corner of Gothard and Edinger. General Seating tickets are $50 per person, which includes the 2-hour competition, samples of both chef’s culinary creations, and one pour of each Vino Vidi Vici wine. For more information on Sunday Night Chef Fights, visit SundayNightChefFights.com or e-mail info@sundaynightcheffights.com.

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2010 Orange International Street Fair Poster

It’s that time once again, to eat tons of international food, and drink liters of international beer during the 2010 Orange International Street Fair!  For my wife and I, it has become tradition for us to invite friends over and trek down to Old Towne Orange (Orange Plaza) and enjoy ourselves until we can’t stand walking out in the heat any longer.  This will be our 5th year, you will most likely find us on Irish Street!

Here is all the important information!

This years Fair will be held September 3rd -5th

Hours of operation:

Friday September 3rd 5pm-10pm

Saturday September 4th 10am-10pm

Sunday September 5th 10am-10pm

Alcohol sales end promptly at 9pm each night.

Location:

Chapman Ave and Glassell St  (Orange Plaza) Click for map

Parking:

Various City and private lots managed by local non-profits for a fee.

Free Street parking also available.

Transportation  Links

OCTA (Bus and Train)

The Orange Metrolink Station and OCTA drop point is one block West of the event.

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Yes, I didn’t go, but I’ve read and watched everyone’s awesome reviews of the OC Foodie Fest, the reviews are so good I wanted to share as many as I can with you.

My long time internet friend Amanda and her husband Andy who blog at Two Boos Who Eat, write about the OC Foodie Fest and the food at; India Jones Chow Truck, Ludobites, Coolhaus, and Longboards, and Louks ToGo.

Dave at Stick a Fork in It talked about the VIP Ticket and visited; Ludobites, Brazilian Ta Bom, Nom Nom Truck, The White Rabbit Truck, Frysmith, Buttermilk Truck, Get Shaved, CoolHaus, Nana Queen’s, the Lime Truck, and Deb Schneider of SOL Cocina’s Cart For a Cause.

Holly at the Michelin Project wrote about Surviving a Food Tuck Festival, hopefully she will chime in on what she tried and liked.

She’s Cooking had a great time checking out a number of trucks, and pointed to this great video by Johnathan Nafarette (@Johnathon360)

And lastly Niyaz and Jeff at Food Frenzy, gave us great pictures and a recap of the event that over 8,500 food lovers attended.  I can’t find a list of what they had, hopefully one of them will chime in on the comments section.

And another video from the OC Register’s Jonathan Khamis.

It sounds like just about everyone had a great time.  Did you attend the OC Foodie Fest?  What were your favorites, what trucks disappointed you?

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Look at this beautiful order of 3 Tacos Dorados that I got last night from Fresh Grill Tacos in Santa Ana.

Fresh Grill Taco, Taco Dorados

How much do you think these tacos cost?  They came with your choice of meat (mine were Chicken, Carnitas, and Carne Asada).

Fresh Grill Taco is located at 2501 Grand Ave. in Santa Ana, CA.

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I just wanted to bring to my reader’s attention this awesome blog my uncle pointed out to me, The Hamblogger!  Two photojournalists scour Los Angeles and San Francisco reviewing hamburgers.  It’s well written, with great photos, and some great looking burgers.  I’ve followed them for the past couple weeks now, and I’ve already saved away some of the burger joints to visit in the future.

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I’m going to make my review of Country Harvest Restaurant in Newbury Park short.  The location is awesome, tucked in a residential neighborhood, away from the hustle and bustle of Ventura County.  With the great location one would expect to find good quality home cooked meals at Country Harvest Restaurant.  While the latter is true, the make home cooked type meals, the former doesn’t seem to be.  Now, I’m only basing my rating from a one time meal experience, but if the rest of the food at Country Harvest is made with the same type of ingredients I received, don’t expect that great of a meal.  But if you are the type of person that thinks places like Denny’s and Norm’s make great meals, this is the place for you, just expect to pay more than you would there.

Country Harvest Restaurant

I ordered the Country Harvest Breakfast something or other.  It was described as biscuits topped with sausage and scrambles eggs with gravy.  And while the ingredients were what the menu described, the description was much more appealing than what ended up on my plate.  The hash browns tasted like those that come from a bag, they were sort of greasy, and were only cooked on one side.  The sausage hidden beneath the “scrambled” eggs was spongy.  The biscuits used were the pre-made ones from a bag that Oroweat makes, they weren’t toasted or really even warm.  And then there was the “scrambled” eggs.  What I got was more of an omelet, since it was folded over itself on top of everything.  At least the milk I ordered was cold.

Country Harvest Restaurant

Service was quick, I got in and out in 30 minutes, thankfully.  So I wasn’t late to the office I was visiting for the day.

Visit on 08/11/10 for breakfast

Rating: ★½☆☆☆ 

Country Harvest Restaurant
3345 Kimber Dr. Ste B
Newbury Park, CA 91320

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OC Foodie Fest 2010

Just in case you haven’t heard, Orange County will be having their own food truck get together in just two weeks.  The OC Foodie Fest will be coming to the Honda Center on Saturday August 28th from 11:30 AM to 7:00 PM. The one-day event will be the ultimate foodie destination, featuring the best in popular mobile eats combined with a unique forum to showcase local entertainment & shopping to help support local charities.

What charities you ask?

A portion of the event’s proceeds will be donated back to worthy local charities Child S.HA.R.E. & Pretend City Childrens Museum.

Food Trucks will have special menus for the event, with prices ranging from $1-5, and Cart for a Cause will offer a special meal featuring  Deborah Schneider, Executive Chef of SOL Cocina in Newport Beach, with 100% of the proceeds benefitting St. Vincent’s Meals on Wheels.

Click here for a list of Participating food trucks!

Tickets Prices:
General Admission (Pre-Sale)
Adult – $12.00
Child Under 12 – $6.00
Child 3 & Under – Free

Family 4 Pack (Pre-Sale)
2 Adult + 2 Child (Under 12)
General Admission Tickets
Price: $30.00

VIP Admission (Pre-Sale)
Adult – $50.00
Child Under 12 – $8.00
Child 3 & Under – Free

At The Door (Available if the event has not sold out)
General Admission – $15
VIP Admission – $60

Event Location:
The Honda Center
2695 East Katella Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92806

Directions:
From the 5 FRWY
Exit East on Katella Ave

From the 57 FRWY
Exit East on Katella Ave

Event Parking:
On-site & surrounding area parking are available for a nominal fee. Parking fees are CASH ONLY.

Please Note:
Cash Only Event

No Dogs and/or Pets will be allowed to enter the event (Due To Health Department Regulations).

No outside food/drink allowed.

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Brooklyn Pizza Works Menu

We visited Brooklyn Pizza Works in Placentia earlier this week after I discovered an unused $10 gift certificate from Restaurant.com that I had got about 6 months ago.  As previously mentioned here on Eat in OC, I love pizza, it’s one of my favorite foods.  Mrs. DanGarion loves pizza too, but she tends to be very picky when it comes to liking her pizza, especially when it comes to the pizza crust itself.  We are always hesitant to try a new pizza place because if the crust is too doughy, she doesn’t like it.  I on the other hand rate pizza more on the toppings than the crust.  Being the wonderful wife that she is though, she gave me the ultimate foodie trump card for the month as an anniversary gift.  For the entire month of August I get to choose what we eat, so when I was determined that we check out Brooklyn Pizza works, she said let’s go!

Brooklyn Pizza Works Pepperoni and Fresh Garlic!

Brooklyn Pizza Works has been serving pies for over 30 years at their strip mall center location in Placentia on the NorthEast corner of Rose and Imperial Highway.  Along with Pizza they also have a large assortment of Italian dishes for those that don’t want pizza.  We started off with a caesar salad ($6.99).  Nothing was special about the salad, just your basic lettuce topped with croutons, along with cherry tomatoes.  The caesar dressing didn’t really stand out, but we must have liked it enough, since we both had most of the salad we shared.  But on to the star of our meal a medium pizza with pepperoni and fresh garlic ($11.95 for Pizza, $1.50 per topping).  First bite into the pizza and the crust had a slight crunch to it and wasn’t too think, key indicators that Mrs. DanGarion will like the pizza.  She nodded in agreement that the pizza was pretty good.  The pepperoni had just the right flavor to me, it wasn’t strong and overpowering and went well with the fresh garlic sprinkled over the pizza.  We both enjoyed our pizza.  I also liked the slight bite that the sauce and the small amount of edge crust, which is the perfect amount of topping coverage for me.

Brooklyn Pizza Works Pizza

Service was good, I’m assuming the man who helped us was the owner, and I think his son also works there in the kitchen, both of them checked on us and asked how our meal was.  It’s nice when you can visit a family owned pizza place, this is something that I’ve discovered we lack in the City of Orange.  After our meal I mentioned to my wife how we don’t have a place like this near us, and she said we can always come back here.

So to summarize, Brooklyn Pizza Works serves up was a good solid representation of what we feel is important when it comes to pizza, a family owned and operated, independent pizza parlor, with a family friendly ambiance that makes a good pizza.

Visit on Monday 08/9/10 for dinner

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Brooklyn Pizza Works
1235 Imperial Highway
Placentia, CA 92870
714-524-1260

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I saw this great sounding carnitas recipe from Kenji on Serious Eats awhile ago.  Carnitas are one of my favorite types of meats to order when I’m having Mexican, and I have wanted to take a stab at making it myself.  One of my main issues with cooking carnitas in the past was that I really wanted a more healthy version while still having all the flavor of deliciously cooked pork, and that is exactly what they did!

If this isn't carnitas, I don't know what is!

The recipe calls for a 3 pound pork shoulder (Butt) and I can easily see this recipe being used to cook even more.  I almost screwed it all up in the end when I forgot to set the timer on the oven for the final cooking under the broiler, but fortunately even though it was in for about 12 minutes it turned out perfect (probably because I had the meat in the refrigerator before I finished it)!

I topped off the carnitas with making my first ever salsa verde as included in the recipe.  In place of jalapeno I tossed in a couple of home-grown anaheim chiles.  Along with the chiles, I also used home-grown onions and tomatoes.  Looking forward to the day I can say I’m using my own avocados as well!

I also made some chicken for tacos to make Mrs. DanGarion happy, she isn’t the biggest fan of carnitas, oh well more for me!

No-Waste Tacos de Carnitas with Salsa Verde from Serious Eats, read more about how Kenji created this recipe.

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Check out this cool video that Average Betty put together about all the wonderfully fried food at this years Orange County Fair!

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