Lawyer Loves Lunch

A Cookie Giveaway and a Fancy Food Show 2012 Recap

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

I love trying new food items and want that to be my full time job. I thought I made that clear when I put out my call for work as a full-time food show attendee after attending last year's NASFT Fancy Food Show. Looks like the food show gods weren't listening. So until I get my full-time food show attendee job, I guess I will have to settle for going once a year and eating a year's worth of food in one day. As always, the show had a spectacular array of delicious and strange treats for the eating. Here is my list of stand-out treats (and you know they are awesome if I am writing about the five of them amongst the 1500 other things I ate).

1) Remember those cheese balls you ate as a kid? The ones that left a delicious "cheese" dusting on your fingers? Well Snikiddy Cheese Puffs are like those cheese balls but WAY better. All-natural with even more delicious cheesy flavor, you owe it to your third grade self to try these.

2) I love me some fancy packaged candy. Don't get me wrong, I will totally eat a Kit Kat but I'd much rather eat chocolate in a fancy black bag with gold lettering. Especially when the chocolate in question is mint chocolate malt balls from Marich Premium Chocolate. And if the delicious chocolate wasn't enough, check out their super sweet company history.

3) A cracker made out of cheese? Just cheese? Oh heck yes. Enter Kitchen Table Baker's All Parmesan Crisp, a crispy cracker made from a blend of aged cheese and herbs. Perfect as a chip with your favorite dip or well, eaten straight from the box while contemplating making a dip.

4) Watch out popchips, there is a new and delicious player in town. Popped Crisps White Cheddar potato crisps are so darn good, I have no qualms admitting I could (and would!) eat a crate of them!

5) When the kind lady from Brandini Toffee told me their toffee was sold at Nordstrom, I confess I smirked a little. This was clearly the Louis Vuitton of toffee if it was sold at a fancy department store. After eating an entire bag of their toffee, heck I'm convinced they need to be selling their toffee at Saks.

Whenever I read a food event recap on someone else's blog, I always wish I could have been there too! So if you're wishing you were at the NASFT Fancy Food Show, here's a small way you can share in the food joy. The great folks at Byrd's Famous Cookies, a Savannah company famous for their, well, cookies, want to share the cookie love! They are giving one lucky winner a 1lb. bag of their assorted cookies (including their amazing Benne Wafers)! Leave a comment and tell me why you need some cookies in your life and maybe the random number generator will smile kindly on you.

Full disclosure: I tasted all of the products mentioned above (and many, many more judging from how tightly my pants are fitting) at the NASFT 2012 Winter Fancy Food Show. Some vendors were kind enough to send samples so I could continue to engage in the eating fest after the show was over. The opinions are my own of course, because well, it's my blog!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie and a New Laptop

2011-12-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

The same week that the hooptie died, so did my laptop. One second, I was reading about the latest poll on the Republican candidates (okay, I was reading about Kim Kardashian's divorce) and the next second, I was staring at blank screen. The machine I'd relied on to keep me up to date with the latest in celebrity drama, the one with the glued on J key and the cookie crumbs in the keyboard, had left the building.

This caused the techie hubster great joy. My dinosaur of a laptop had been a constant source of embarrassment for him and he could barely wait to start researching replacements. So, I spent the next few weeks hearing all about RAM, and WLED, and SSD, and HDMI, and I zoned out each and every time. All I asked was that the new machine be ready to use soon and have a decent screen so I could watch the latest Republican debate online (okay, I wanted to watch Desperate Housewives).

And when this shiny black laptop arrived at our door, I confess that even non-techie me swooned a little. It was nice to have a laptop where the battery lasted more than 4 minutes and 22 seconds and the keyboard wasn't sticky with remnants of jam. I could barely wait to start downloading 80's tunes and pinning up a storm on Pinterest. And then, the hubster informed me that the laptop wasn't actually ready to use. Although the laptop was brand new, purchased from a reputable vendor, and worked perfectly well, the hubster deemed it "not good enough." Apparently, the hubster felt it needed an upgrade and he was going to "pop it open" to "make it better."

Yup, I nearly died. I finally had a laptop that actually turned on every time I wanted to use it and didn't emit a funny burning smell and he wanted to "pop it open" to "make it better." There was no way I was going to sit around and watch the massacre. Instead, I went to the kitchen to make dessert (that I planned on eating as dinner). And because the situation was too dire for pie and too desperate for cheesecake, I deemed it perfect for cheesecake pie.

Enter the pumpkin cheesecake pie. It is the perfect cross between a pumpkin cheesecake and a pumpkin pie. Underbake it just slightly for the perfect creamy consistency. Be generous with adding the pumpkin pie spice and you can relive Thanksgiving all year round. And yes, it was the perfect source of sustenance while I spent the rest of the evening trying to bring my old laptop back to life while the hubster butchered my new laptop. I mean, made it "better." Thankfully, even he agreed you just can't make this pumpkin cheesecake pie any better.

PS: Tis the season folks! The Fairy Hobmother at Appliances Online is visiting blogs and giving presents to hard working bloggers like yourself. Leave a comment and perhaps he will visit your blog and offer you a gift that you may or may not put toward a new laptop that you are actually allowed to use.

Disclosure: I received a visit from the Fairy Hobmother at Appliances Online and received an Amazon gift card. Oh, and I am still not allowed to use my new laptop.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 tablespoon milk

1 ready made pie graham cracker crust (or crust of your choice)

Heat oven to 375°F.

In large bowl, beat sugar, 3 tablespoons flour and both packages of cream cheese with electric mixer on low speed until smooth; reserve 1/2 cup. Add all remaining filling ingredients except milk to cream cheese mixture. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl constantly, until smooth. Pour into crust.

In small bowl, mix reserved 1/2 cup cream cheese mixture and the milk. Spoon over pumpkin mixture. Cut through cream cheese and pumpkin mixtures with knife in S-shaped curves in one continuous motion. Turn pie plate one-fourth turn and repeat. Cover edge of crust with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Cool 30 minutes. Cover loosely and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker.

A Tribute to Hooptie with Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Remember our hooptie? It was a bit of an (okay, a huge) eyesore but it did what we needed it to do. That is, get us from point A to point B. Albeit slowly. And while making strange noises along the way. Oh, and winning us strange looks from onlookers. But bottom line, the hooptie served its purpose.

We deluded ourselves into thinking this would always be the case. And of course, we were wrong. The hooptie flipped us the bird at the most inopportune time possible. But then again, that's almost poetic given the hooptie's history.

Last week, I loaded up the car to go to Target. This sounds much easier said than done. See these days, it takes us an hour and forty five minutes to get ready to go anywhere. You think I'm kidding? Try feeding a baby, burping a baby, changing a baby, packing said baby's diaper bag, finding out the baby is still hungry, repeating one, two, and three, and finally, putting the baby in his car seat. Oh, and somewhere in that lineup, I checked myself out while passing a mirror and decided that not-so-attractive track pants with a small hole on the knee and a bleach spot on the ankle and big poufy hair tied with a pink sparkly scrunchy was perfectly fine for going out. By the time I loaded everyone and everything in the car, I'd almost convinced myself I didn't really need to go out.

But I adjusted the rear view mirror and plastered a smile on my face because gosh darn it, having a baby wasn't going to prevent me from going to Target (my happy place). And so, I turned the key, and at that precise moment, the hooptie made a gurgling, dying noise, and I realized I wasn't going to Target after all.

At that point, there was nothing left to do but admit defeat. Well, that and make cookies. These uber chocolatey cookies with mint chips won't change your baby's diaper. They won't unpack your carefully packed car. They won't run your errands for you. And they certainly won't get your hooptie working again. But they will make you laugh about the diaper blowouts, the spitups, and that ever-present pink scrunchy. And that's almost as good as going to Target.

Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups mint chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from All Recipes.

FoodBuzz Festival 2011

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Another year, another fabulous FoodBuzz Festival. I learned some important lessons during FoodBuzz Festival 2010 and this year was no different. Without further ado, here's Lawyer Loves Lunch's Top Ten list:

10) Did you know that in addition to making chocolate, Godiva also makes coffee? And not just coffee but a fabulous Chocolate Truffle Coffee? If they start making shoes, they will have cornered the market on the three loves of my life.

9) Mission Minis has somehow figured out how to condense the flavor of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup into a cupcake they appropriately call the Peanut Butter Kiss.

8) Three Twins Ice Cream has a great story, organic ingredients, and a green business model. More importantly, they have über tasty ice cream (especially the mint confetti, which uses chocolate flakes and not chocolate chips, which always become hardened pellets in ice cream).

7) Hanging out with lawyer foodies (and honorary lawyer foodies) is still awesome.

6) The good folks at J. Lee Roy's BBQ Sauce were serving up meatballs drenched in their mighty tasty BBQ sauce. The sauce was so good, I could have eaten it like a soup. Luckily, they gave me a bottle of their spicy sauce to take home so there may be some delicious, delicious BBQ sauce soup in my future.

5) TCHO is a San Francisco chocolate company that makes a drinking chocolate that tastes like the perfect melted chocolate bar.

4) Nuts covered in spices as varied as rosemary and ajwain. Sounds simple enough. And yet, the nuts from Oren's Kitchen are anything but simple. I should know. I sampled more than my fair share of these tasty little buggers.

3) Foodzie is like an edible Etsy. You want, no NEED, to sign up for their tasting box for the apple juice alone.

2) Sweet offered samples of their crème brûlée on wooden spoons. The crème brûlée was so good, I didn't even mind the splinters in my mouth.

1) Swag? Um, yes please.

Baby 'Boo is Here!

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

We interrupt the not so regularly scheduled blog posts to thank you for your kind emails and texts. Yes, Baby 'Boo arrived. Yes, we are both doing well. Yes, I am operating on three hours of sleep.

Life has taken on a strangely Groundhog Day quality. Feed, burp, change. Rinse and repeat. Every two hours. Including in the middle of the night. This repetition has allowed me to come to some realizations:

1) Projectile poop sounds funny in theory. It is not that funny in actuality. Especially if you are the one being pooped on.

2) It is now completely appropriate to walk around with dried spit-up on my shoulder. And on my sleeve. And many times, on the back of my shirt. And in my hair. And sometimes, in my mouth. Don't ask.

3) I would like to send some flowers and chocolates to the inventor of the White Noise iPhone app. If it continues to help Baby 'Boo sleep, I may consider writing a sonnet in his honor.

4) I have become particularly good at typing with one hand. Well, except for the times I've texted jello instead of hello and seating instead of eating. My apologies if you have been the recipient of one of these seemingly random messages.

5) This sleep deprived, looking-like-a-bus-ran-me-over state is still totally worth it every time my little man grins at me. He either recognizes me or it's gas. I'll take it either way.

How To Make Macarons

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Nothing stirs fear into the hearts of bakers everywhere like the French Macaron. Perfectly smooth with that ideal crackle, that decadent ganache, and oh those ever elusive "feet." A slight miscalculation in the beating of your egg whites and the entire batch'll come out flat as a pancake. Problems regulating oven temperature? Say goodbye to those darn "feet." Oh, and if you mix hot sugar with egg whites too quickly, say hello to sweetened scrambled eggs. Just thinking about the process gives me a bit of a panic attack. And yet, I'm fascinated by them.

A few months ago, my family hosted a party to celebrate Baby 'Boo's upcoming arrival. It was a low-key affair that we just kinda threw together. Ok, I'm lying. It was a highly color-coordinated and themed event because that's how my neurotic, type-A self rolls. And because I firmly believe that the most important thing I can pass on to Baby 'Boo is a love of food, I knew I wanted macarons at the party. No not wanted, NEEDED.

But I knew nothing about macarons. Well, except for eating 'em. And then, my darling friend Gina kindly offered to host a macaron baking class at her home. And so, some lovely blogger friends and I crashed Gina's gorgeous kitchen to watch her work her macaron magic. I braced myself for a frustrating and challenging afternoon. We'd concentrate. And measure. And wait quietly with knots in our stomach while the darn macarons baked. And somehow, the afternoon was nothing like that.

We giggled and chatted. We snacked. We dribbled macaron batter all over Gina's counters. It was then that I realized the true skill of a great cook is not always in producing great food but inspiring others to try to as well. Gina made making macarons look effortless as she encouraged each of us to pipe cookies. I piped some horribly wonky looking cookies that vaguely resembled circles. Other blogger friends with less spazzy hands were able to pipe circles. But regardless, all of us piped and all of us had a total blast doing it.

And when those cookies baked up and those elusive "feet" appeared, I think I shed a tear or two. I could barely wait for them to cool so I could smear them with the decadent ganache and eat enough for two (because if I'm going to grow a human, I should at least get to eat some extra macarons, darn it). For a second, I stepped back and took it all in. Bloggers chatting away, a KitchenAid whirring with egg whites, the smell of freshly baked cookies in the air. And through it all, Gina mixed, and supervised, and guided, like it was no big thang.

I went home and made macarons for Baby Boo's party. Some of them were perfectly round. Many of them were not. But you know what? The wonky looking ones were just as tasty as the (few) perfect looking ones. So thank you Gina for opening your home to us and teaching us how to make macarons, but more importantly, for reminding me to appreciate good food and good friends.

Macaron recipe from Squirrel Bakes.

I'm Back... Bigger and Better than Ever!

2011-07-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

I owe you an apology for the disappearing act.* But that's the thing about growing a human. It kinda takes up all your free time. Even when you're not actually doing anything, you're too busy staring at your stomach and marveling at the random movements that for once, are not caused by eating too much Taco Bell. And what solid movements they are. I'm convinced I'm growing a mini Pele, what with all the kicking.

Rest assured, this will not become a mommy blog. There will be no long philosophical posts about how potty training prepares ones for the trials and tribulations of the real world and no proud missives about how the little one is clearly Harvard bound ever since he learned to stop eating his own toes. There will, on occasion, be posts about how growing a mini-me has made me even more neurotic than I thought possible.

Take Baby 'Boo's first party. Our unwitting family members kindly offered to throw a party to celebrate Baby 'Boo's upcoming arrival. I saw this as an opportunity for a color-coordinated, themed party worthy of the pages of my favorite party blogs. No cutesy baby animals, no pastel baby shower signs, and certainly no games involving mashed up candy bars in diapers mimicking you-know-what. Lord knows I'd have enough of that in the next few months. I definitely didn't need to start that early. And really, if I had a candy bar, I'd eat it, not mash it up in a diaper.

No, this party would be an afternoon of hanging out with friends and family and enjoying the summer sun. It'd be our last hurrah before we changed a million diapers and washed a million and one baby bottles. And really, what better way to celebrate than with a lime green, navy blue, and polka dotted party out on the deck?

And because I firmly believe that the most important thing I can pass on to Baby 'Boo is a love of food, we spent a ridiculous amount of time planning the perfect menu of Afghan food- bolani (potato pancakes), chapli kebabs (beef patties), chicken kebabs, qabli pulao (rice pilaf with carrots, raisins, and almonds), borani banjan (eggplant layered with yogurt), and samosas. And then two days before the party, the caterer "lost" our order. I'm not sure how a caterer can "lose" an order but the hubster kept me far away when he broke the news to me. Probably because he was afraid I'd "lose" it on the caterer. Thankfully, we found a replacement caterer. And suddenly, the party was back on track

Come party day, I became a bit of a drill sergeant. I may or may not have yelled at some people when my polka-dotted Baby Boy banner wasn't hanging perfectly straight. I may or may not have waved my fists in the air when the dessert table wasn't set up according to my perfect, easy-to-follow directions. And um, I may or may not have stomped off in anger only to stomp back a few seconds later when the party chairs weren't set up on time. And in the middle of barking orders as we set up for the party, I was really glad that these people were related to me. Because they would've lost my number a long time ago if they weren't.

Even from beneath my tyranny, my darling family members agreed that the dessert table was worthy of my favorite party blogs. Our favorite cake (Lady Baltimore), lemon curd cupcakes, brownie bites, color-coded chocolates, and the piece de resistance, Gina's perfect macarons in a darling shade of blue, layered with the most decadent ganache. These babies were so perfect, they deserve a post of their own (and I promise one is coming). But suffice it to say, they were so good that some party guests admitted to eating six of them. Which would explain why they were the first dessert to be finished. And that too, before lunch was served.

And when it was all over, I came away with the understanding that the little human I'm growing is already the most loved little man. Oh, and a set of pictures of my perfectly color-themed party pictures. Because really, what's the point of growing a human if you can't throw (him) themed parties, right?

*I have truly appreciated your comments and emails asking about my well being. They have made me smile as I continue to get bigger. Because let's be real, most days I just feel bigger and not necessarily, bigger and better.

Pebble Beach Food and Wine Grand Tasting

2011-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

There is nothing I'd rather do than spend an afternoon wandering around, eating, spotting celebrity chefs, and people watching. The only thing that'd make it more perfect would be if I were being fanned by palm fronds while sitting on some type of throne. But since I don't forsee that happening anytime soon, I'll have to settle for eating and ogling celebrity chefs.

Enter, the 4th Annual Pebble Beach Food and Wine Grand Tasting event, held at the glorious Pebble Beach golf course in Monterey, California. I was able to attend the event courtesy of FoodBuzz and my darling friend Lemons and Anchovies (who also did a fabulous write up of the event). L&A was kind enough to give me her extra ticket so I could bring the hubster to carry my big camera, leaving my hands free for stuffing my face.

There are so many blogger friends who have done a lovely, detailed account of the event. Me, I'll keep it more Letterman's top 10 style. So here we go:

10) While normally, I'd have some qualms eating something bumpy and tentacly, I gobbled two (okay, three) of Chef Morimoto's Angry Octopus with Pickled Radish and Meyer Lemon Mousse on Crispy Rice.

9) True skill is making something as fancy as Shank Terrine with Dungeness Crab and Umbria Lentils for the masses.

8) Don't ever turn down a brownie brown sugar parfait.

7) This is no ordinary scallop. Not when it's served with a Mango Dungeness Crab Ceviche and Blue Corn Crisp.

6) How awesome is it when celebrity chefs that you've watched on TV are fun people in real life?

5) When Chef Chris Cosentino serves beef heart and oyster tartare, you know the fabulous plating is just the start of the magic.

4) Why do berries taste so much better when served in fancy little cups?

3) Crab Beignet. Delicious. Want one now. That is all.

2) Never say no to seconds (or thirds!) of chocolate ice cream sprinkled with fancy sea salt. Calories don't count when eaten from such cute spoons!

1) When a fabulous chef creates something strange-sounding, eat it anyway. It may be the best thing you've ever had. And on that note, I'd like to introduce you to the Buttered Popcorn Bisque.

And perhaps, even after the mind boggling top ten list above, the best part was hanging out with great blogger friends Caffeiiina, SP Cookie Queen, and of course, Lemons and Anchovies. And while I'm bummed I missed seeing Authentic Suburban Gourmet and Kitchen Confidante at this event, I'm hopeful I'll get to hang out with them at the next fabulous foodie event.

Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake

2011-04-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was hanging out with a friend this weekend and she commented, "Well, you wouldn't understand because you always make these perfect looking meals and you serve them in those perfect looking plates." And at that exact moment, I realized I was wearing two different socks. Not different like two black socks and one had a subtle striped pattern embedded into the fabric and the other was plain black. Oh, no. Different like one was gray with blue stripes and the other was pink argyle. The only explanation I have is that both of these socks lost their mates in laundry land and well, as I run out of clean socks as we approach laundry day, I sometimes resort to wearing sock widows. Yes, even out to brunch.

So, let's clear up some misconceptions. I rarely make perfect looking meals on perfect looking plates. Most of the time, I aim for mostly-edible meals eaten out of giant mugs because we forgot to run the dishwasher.

Last Wednesday, I nuked some Uncle Ben's rice in a bag and ate it for lunch. No, inhaled it for lunch. And I'm not gonna lie. With a generous squirt of sriracha, it was pretty darn tasty.

Last Friday, I wore my running shoes to work (with slacks, mind you) and proceeded to wear 'em for the rest of the day. My little toe with the throbbing, angry blister from my heels sent me a thank you card.

Yesterday for dinner, I piled a whole bunch of leftovers including meatloaf, roasted veggies, and pasta into two bowls (ok, giant mugs), nuked it, poured on some plum sauce and served it to the hubster and I for dinner. We ate it on the couch while watching Big Bang Theory on his laptop. If that ain't a hot Sunday night, I don't know what is.

Oh, and this morning I pulled my hair into what I convinced myself was a stylish chignon (but was really more like a third grade ponytail) because I didn't have time to blow dry or flat iron it.

Sometimes, our lives aren't as perfect as they seem to someone just casually glancing in. Sometimes, the only thing we're hoping for is to make it to Friday so we can do laundry and catch up on missed tv shows from the week. And even after all that, sometimes we find ourselves wearing mismatched socks. Horribly mismatched socks.

And so, I introduce you to the Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake. A not-so-perfect looking cake for all us not-so-perfect people. There's no shiny ganache topping, no magically smooth frosting, no towering layers. Instead, it's got a crumbly crust of crackling Demerara sugar, the bright citrus notes of meyer lemons, and the distinct flavor of olive oil. It's not really a cake you'd make for someone's birthday. It's more a cake you'd make for yourself to eat on a Sunday morning while drinking your third cup of coffee. And wearing your mismatched socks, of course.

I received the olive oil used in this recipe from the good folks at Crisco as part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker program.

Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake

3/4 cup pure (or extra-virgin) olive oil, plus additional for greasing pan
2 large meyer lemons
3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbs. cornstarch (or 1 cup cake flour- not self rising)
5 large eggs, separated, reserving 1 white for another use
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Demerara or raw sugar

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch springform pan with some oil, then line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Oil parchment.

Finely grate 2 1/2 teaspoons of lemon zest and whisk together with flour. Halve lemon, then squeeze and reserve 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

Beat together yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add olive oil (3/4 cup) and reserved lemon juice, beating until just combined (mixture may appear separated). Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture (do not beat) until just combined (resisting the urge to mix completely).

Beat egg whites (from 4 eggs) with 1/2 teaspoon salt in another large bowl with cleaned beaters at medium-high speed until foamy, then add 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating, and continue to beat until egg whites just hold soft peaks, about 3 minutes.

Gently fold one third of whites into yolk mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.

Transfer batter to springform pan and gently rap against work surface once or twice to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle top evenly with 1 1/2 tablespoons Demerara sugar. Bake until puffed and golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a thin knife around edge of pan and remove side of pan. Cool cake to room temperature, about 1 1/4 hours. Remove bottom of pan and peel off parchment, then transfer cake to a serving plate. Drizzle with lemon glaze (recipe below).

Lemon Glaze

2 tbs. meyer lemon juice
1 cup sifted, powdered sugar

Mix lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small pan over low heat. Whisk until smooth (adding more lemon juice or powdered sugar as necessary, depending on how thick you like your glaze).

Cake recipe adapted from Epicurious.

Wasabi Fried Shrimp with Avocado-Wasabi Sauce

2011-03-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

It was time for Round 4 of the Marx Food Ridiculously Delicious Challenge. The remaining ten contestants were going to be shipped a highly secret and highly perishable ingredient that we were supposed to use in a highly awesome recipe. Needless to say, it was all highly nerve wracking. My Twitter friends Joanne, Brian, and I spent many tweets (unsuccessfully) guessing at the secret ingredient.

And then, I opened the box to find myself staring at what looked like armed ginger. Green armed ginger. I shook the box frantically, hoping against all hope that this was the just-kidding secret ingredient and the real secret ingredient was still inside. But all that fluttered out was a piece of paper with an introduction. Turns out the green armed ginger was actually a Daruma Wasabi Rhizome. Oh good, glad that cleared things up.

I thought about those darn rhizomes all last week. When I was researching grounds of inadmissibility for a case, I was actually thinking of rhizome recipes. While I was walking to court, I was ruminating on rhizomes. And when I met with clients, I was contemplating my upcoming rumble with the rhizomes.

And after a particularly busy week at work where my only break every day was a glamorous lunch of ramen out of a styrofoam cup, all I wanted was some comfort food. It would be fried. There would be sauce involved. Oh, and I'd eat it watching missed episodes of the Jersey Shore. Luckily, I had some Marx Food Alaskan Spot Prawns, the spoils of the last recipe throwdown. But when I went to fry 'em up, I felt those darn rhizomes calling me. Granted, it could've just been the delirium from the work week setting in but I've never been one to turn down the call of food. So I grabbed the wasabi, grated it up, mixed in some salt and pepper, and massaged it onto the shrimp. I dusted the shrimp with some flour, gave 'em a quick egg-wash bath, panko'ed 'em up, and fried 'em until they were golden brown.

They were good. Really good. But they needed a sauce. I quickly concocted an avocado-wasabi dipping sauce, dunked a shrimp and then another, and another. I would've eaten the entire batch of shrimp standing by the stove but I had waited all week to find out the latest happenings on the Jersey Shore so I dumped my shrimp on to a plate, grabbed some sauce, and the remote control and ate on the living room couch like a civilized person.

And you know what? The Wasabi Fried Shrimp with Avocado-Wasabi Sauce were definitely fist pump worthy.

PS: I figure it's only fair that I spread the wasabi love so I'm sharing my remaining rhizomes with some local blogger and foodie friends, including the fabulous Food by Z. Can't wait to see what they come up with!

Wasabi-Fried Shrimp

1 dozen shrimp
2 tsp. grated wasabi
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper
1 cup panko
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
Oil, for frying

Peel and devein the shrimp, but leave the tails on. Mix grated wasabi, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl and massage on to the shrimp. Dust the coated shrimp with flour to ensure the wasabi crust adheres. Dip each shrimp in egg wash and coat with panko. Fry until shrimp are golden brown.

Avocado-Wasabi Sauce

1/2 avocado, mashed
3/4 tsp. grated wasabi
1 tb. mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly until you have a thick sauce. Thin out the sauce with some water, until it's a good dipping consistency. Thin out with more water if you want it to be a more pourable consistency (delicious when poured on fried rice. Not that I would know from experience or anything).

Cheddar and Dill Scones

2011-03-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for Stage 3 of MarxFood's Ridiculously Delicious Challenge.

There are some people who are morning people. I am not one of them. Normally, this makes me rather proud but lately, I've been trying to throw caution to the wind and be an early riser. It's not working all that well. Especially because the hubster is a particularly chirpy early bird. Most mornings, I will do or say just about anything to continue sleeping. And this Saturday was no exception. Apparently, in an effort to win myself an extra ten minutes of sleep, I promised the hubster I'd make scones for breakfast.

Of course, I had zero recollection of it when I finally dragged myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 8 a.m. But the hubster's not a man who forgets. Luckily, I'd seen Brian's chocolate cherry scones recently and knew I wanted to give 'em a makeover for Round 3 of the Marx Foods Ridiculously Delicious Challenge.

Scones it was! The problem was that I needed to use three of my remaining six ingredients in the made over recipe. The remaining ingredients were dried cherries, coconut sugar, saffron, Szechuan peppercorns, dill pollen, and of course, the dreaded juniper berries. It was early (for me) and well, I couldn't see three ingredients I could use in a sweet scone without well, copying Brian's recipe verbatim. That is, unless I figured out how to use those darn juniper berries. And given that I'd only had two cups of coffee until that point, that just wasn't happening. So, savory scones it was.

Enter, the cheddar and dill scone. The cheddar was sharp, the dill pollen was fragrant, and the seasoning was spot on with the combination of Szechuan peppercorn, saffron, and a bit of garlic and onion powder. And Brian's not lying when he says his recipe is totally versatile. The scone base is the perfect canvas for any mix-in. Maybe even the dreaded juniper berry.

All in all, the cheddar and dill scones were the perfect accompaniment to creamy scrambled eggs. And you know how I know they was good? The scones won me an extra fifteen minutes of sleep the day after.

PS: I was also asked to pick my second choice recipe. I pick Joanne's chicken and waffles. Is it breakfast? Is it dinner? I don't know but I'd sure like to find out.

Cheddar and Dill Scones

Makes 8-10 scones

2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground Szechuan peppercorn
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dill pollen
1/4 tsp of saffron
1/2 cup medium or sharp cheddar, grated
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
3/4& cup half & half
Place rack in middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the first eight ingredients. Crumble the saffron threads in your hand and add them to the dry mixture. Add the butter to the bowl and, using two knives or a pastry blender, cut into the dry ingredients until the butter has mixed in. Add the cheddar cheese.

Slowly add the half and half to the dry ingredients, whisking to make sure it is fully incorporated. If the dough looks like it is moist enough, you can leave out a little of the liquid.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead a couple of times. Flatten the dough out until it is about 1 1/2 inches thick (should be about 8 or so inches wide). Cut into 8 to 10 triangles and transfer the wedges to a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.

Brush the top of each scone with a little bit of half and half. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

Let cool on wire rack and enjoy!

Adapted from A Thought for Food's Chocolate Cherry Scones with Saffron.

Bakerella's Flower Cake Pops

2011-03-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

It always starts out simple enough. I offer to make a dessert for a friend's party. I imagine something quick and delicious. Something that looks flawless and tastes perfectly decadent. Something I whip up in no time. Next thing I know, it's 3 a.m. and I'm molding tiny Minnie Mouse hair bows out of sugar paste.. This time, I promised myself it wasn't going to go down like that. I was going to make a sweet lil' something to bring to a darling friend's baby shower. It was going to be quick and delicious. And it wasn't going to leave me with pink, alien hands.

So the weeks before the baby shower, I did some research for the spring themed baby shower. And I came upon these flower pops. Once again, Bakerella had saved the day. Everything was on track. Except I didn't have those darn pastel colored candy corn.

Now, I could have used any candy for the petals. M&Ms, Skittles, even jelly beans. But part of the problem is that I'm somewhat neurotic and a bit of a perfectionist. Actually no, that's the entire problem (one amongst many problems, but we'll save that for another post). I have high expectations of my homemade treats. I don't want to be one of those people that gives friends hideous one-armed sweaters as gifts after becoming enamored with knitting or bakes people lopsided, undercooked cakes with wonky frosting roses after a tragic encounter with a cake decorating clas at Michaels. I want my treats to be worthy of the pages of Martha Stewart or Amy Atlas. They rarely (ok, never) are but I figure so longer as my friends aren't forced to grit their teeth and force maniacal smiles as I hand them my homemade treats, I have, at least partially, succeeded.

And so began the quest for finding the spring colored candy corn that Bakerella uses. I went to every drug store possible, ever specialty candy store around, and even went to my local health food store (because well, the search for the perfect candy was making me lose my grip on reality). And what did I get? Bupkus. Finally, I happened upon some Tropical Mike & Ike candy. Think regular Mike & Ike but in pastel colors. Granted, the lack of a flat base would make 'em a bit more precarious perched on a cake but they were the right colors. And that was all that mattered.

All that mattered until I found myself feverishly gripping the basket filled with cake pops on the drive to the baby shower. Every bump in the road brought those darn Mike & Ike petals closer to each other. And every time they banged into each other, one petal lost its life in a terrible version of "he loves me, he loves me not." You know how hard it is to hold a darn basket filled with cake on sticks? It is hard. You know how hard it is to keep them crazy scraps masquerading as grass in the basket as the hubster weaves through traffic like he's driving in the Malibu Grand Prix? It is super hard. And you know how hard it is to be in a freezing car with no heater because you're worried heat will melt the pops? It is supercalafragalisticexpialladocious hard.

Needless to say, I didn't eat any cake pops at the party. After all that work, including the nail marks permanently embedded on my palms from gripping that darn basket, I almost didn't let any of the guests eat the pops. But then I realized, this was only the latest in a series of cake pop debacles. Lord only knows what round three holds!

Ma-Ma-Ma-My Chermoula

2011-02-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is my entry for Stage 2 of MarxFood's Ridiculously Delicious Challenge. Please vote for my entry here, the top 15 entries will advance.

I wish I were a 60-year-old lady with crazy blue hair and a cane that I could wave menacingly at people who annoyed me. I mean, I already love me some stretchy pants and a good buffet. I'm half way to old-ladyhood already. And if I were an old lady, I could just pick up and go to a warmer city when the cold season hit. And I know exactly where I'd go. Morocco. Yahoo tells me Morocco is also quite cold this time of the year but I'm certain Yahoo is wrong about this too. I mean, there is no way Justin Bieber is "trending now" every day.

So last week, after another walk home in the blistering cold, I was surprised to find the Ridiculously Delicious Challenge, Stage 2, box at my doorstep. And I immediately tore into the box, thinking it wise to examine the ingredients while standing outside in the cold. And since it didn't look like the cold was going to ease up and I certainly wasn't going to Morocco anytime soon (sorry, comfy old lady stirrup pants), I decided to use the ingredients to create a bit of Morocco at home. I immediately divided the ingredients into savory and sweet piles. Dried tart cherries, coconut sugar on one side, saffron, tepin chiles, grains of paradise, dill pollen, Szechuan peppercorns on the other. I left the juniper berries in the middle because I had (and let's face it, have) no idea whether they're intended to be in a dessert or part of an entree.

Now I know the trendy, "foodie" thing would have been to go with the sweet savory combo. But I have only recently accepted the idea of salt in my caramels. Baby steps people, baby steps. I took my savory ingredients and turned to Yahoo. And of course, that darn Justin Bieber was trending yet again. So, I had to read the article(s) on his haircut before I came upon a treasure trove of articles about chermoula, a Middle Eastern spice paste used on everything from meats to veggies. Turns out the blend of spices and herbs varies from recipe to recipe so the stash of unfamiliar spices staring up at me was perfect. I never met a chile I didn't like, so the tepin chiles were a given. The dill pollen was too pungent, the Szechuan peppercorns too potent, and the saffron too valuable to pulverize. That left the grains of paradise. I bit into a few grains and was pleasantly surprised by the aromatic, citrusy pepper flavor. We had a winner.

I toasted the spices until they were nice and fragrant, and tried to pulverize them in my lovely old school mortar and pestle. My pathetically puny forearms were of no help so I threw the spices in the blender with the rest of the ingredients and called it a day. And soon, I had a fragrant, vibrantly green paste. I grabbed some pita chips and went in for a taste test. And continued eating until I remembered that I was supposed to be making a meal (though for the record, I think chips and dip is a perfectly legitimate meal).

Fish, especially a mild fish like cod, seemed to be the most obvious choice to let the spice paste shine. But something was missing. And then it hit me. I like fish. But I love fish tacos. So I decided to create some Moroccan inspired fish tacos. I marinated the fish in the chermoula for a few hours (all the while wishing I could just eat the delicous chermoula with some pita chips) and then pan fried it. While it was pan frying, I concocted my Moroccan slaw. Shredded green and purple cabbage and carrots, quick pickled in lemon juice, cumin, and ground grains of paradise. I layered it all on some corn tortillas and used the precious last drops of chermoula as a dipping sauce.

And then, I put on my comfy old lady stirrup pants and proceeded to have a Moroccan fish taco feast in my living room.

Chermoula Fish Tacos with Moroccan Slaw

1 pound white fish fillets (like cod or tilapia)
3-4 cups of cilantro leaves
1 big lemon
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 tbs. olive oil
12 tepin chiles (or less if heat isn't your thing)
1/2 tsp. paprika
3/4 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
1/4 tsp. grains of paradise
Salt

Toast all whole spices in a dry, hot skillet until spices are fragrant. Add the cilantro leaves, minced garlic, spices (including the paprika) and olive oil to a food processor. Zest one lemon into another bowl. Juice the bald lemon and add the lemon juice to the food processor. Puree the mixture until you have a thick paste. You may have to add a bit more oil to get your desired consistency (I prefer the consistency of hummus but have seen chermoula with the consistency of a creamy soup so it's really your preference). Pour the chermoula into a bowl. Add reserved lemon zest. Taste test and adjust spices if necessary.

Place fish in large, flat dish (preferably with a cover, unless you don't mind everything in your refrigerator smelling like fish). Pour about half the chermoula on top. Flip the fish over and pour about a quarter of the remaining chermoula on top. Refrigerate for a few hours.

Pour some oil in a skillet and heat. Pan fry the fish. Don't worry about scraping the chermoula off the fish before pan frying. In fact, the more chermoula remaining on the fish, the more delicious chermoula crust you get. Taste test. That is some tasty fish. Stop yourself from eating all of the fish.

Remove fish from skillet and let cool. Carefully carve fish into slices (or break the fish into rustic chunks, if that's more your thing). Heat corn tortillas, layer with Moroccan slaw (recipe below), top with delicious fish slices/chunks.

Take the precious remaining chermoula and use it as a dipping sauce for your fish tacos. Or better yet, mix the chermoula with some Greek yogurt, make a creamy sauce, and pour that all over your tacos. Put your stretchy, stirrup pants on. Proceed to eat four to five tacos in your warm living room.

Moroccan Slaw

1 cup green cabbage, julienned
1 cup purple cabbage, julienned
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 big lemon
1 tb. ground cumin
1/2 tb. ground grains of paradise
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine vegetables in a bowl. Squeeze the juice of one lemon on top. Add spices. Mix well and taste test. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate for one to two hours.

Wedding Feast: Chinese Banquet Style

2011-02-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Every time I go to a wedding, I try to think about the love. I try to focus on the whole notion of "two people, from vastly different walks of life, committing to spending the rest of their lives with each other" business. I tell my mind to stay on the wise words of the [insert-name-of-religious-leader-or-non-religious-ordained-by-the-internet-friend-here]. I try to join in the oohing and aahing over the cute flower girl and ring bearer. But inevitably, my mind drifts to the post-service reception, and more importantly, the feast that is to follow. Don't get me wrong. I like love. I just like steak more.

The hubster and I have been blessed with a super diverse set of friends. It's been great for all the warm, feel good reasons like learning about different cultures and being a part of other traditions. But most importantly, it's meant we've been a part of some epic wedding feasts. Everything from Indian to Afghan to Japanese. I thought I'd seen (and eaten!) it all. Until I met... the Chinese wedding banquet.

Let me put this into perspective. The average wedding feast can be divided into two general categories. The sit-down meal vs. the buffet. Each option comes with its own set of pros and cons. With the sit-down meal, course after course is brought to you (which is great because it can be uber embarassing to slip in high heels, on a shiny hardwood floor, carrying a plate of rice. Not that I know this from experience or anything. I'm just saying that sounds like it'd be rather traumatizing). The only downside is, you generally pick your entree ahead of time and you're pretty much outta luck if your neighbor's entree looks better. With the buffet, you can pick your favorites (and go back for seconds! Again, not saying I would ever do anything quite so crass but one could go back for seconds, if they were so inclined). The downside is, it kinda feels like you're standing in the never-ending line at Sweet Tomatoes.

Enter, the Chinese buffet. Ten courses. Brought to your table. Served family style. Dear Lord, I now know what heaven must be like. When the hubster first described the concept, I thought he was mocking me. I mean, it all sounded too good to be true. I didn't have to brave the food line. I didn't have to pick my entree ahead of time. And the seconds were right. in. front. of. me. Like I said, too good to be true. And then last weekend, I found out such a concept actually exists.

Once the table of friends realized I was a banquet newbie, they started educating me in the art of the Chinese wedding banquet. They said most wedding banquets follow a pretty predictable pattern. Appetizers. A soup. A couple of entrees. Oh, and a rice course which is pretty much a formality because if banquet is prepared properly, the guests are far to stuffed to eat rice at the end of the meal. And dessert, of course. They also said most Chinese wedding banquets are heavy on the seafood. Which was a-okay by me. And once the platters started coming and they saw my amazement, they were all too happy to let me take pictures before attacking the food.

Course 1. The massive appetizer platter with preserved beef, braised chicken, roasted pork, seaweed salad, baby octopus, and a giant pile of jellyfish in the middle. All served cold. All interesting, with the jellyfish being surprisingly tasty.

Course 2. Jumbo prawns and glazed walnuts in a honey sauce. Next time, I'm asking for a platter of these for myself.

Course 3. Braised sea scallops and clams on Chinese greens. This dish was somewhat mild after the delicious prawns but the scallops were cooked perfectly. And I even tried some greens.

Course 4. Shark fin soup. The table raved about how this was good shark fin soup because you could see lots of chunks of fin but this course was totally lost on me. It mostly tasted like a gelatinous, fishy pudding and I was sad some shark gave up its fin for a philistine like me.

Course 5. Lobster. Not one but two lobsters, broken up into pieces. And just in case you're looking for the lobster cracker, don't bother. You need to use your fingers, your fork, your chopsticks, your Swiss Army knife, or any other suitable tool to get at that lobster meat. And this is perfectly acceptable dinnertime behavior.

Course 6. Duck skin. Yup, you read correctly. The duck skin is so widely appreciated, it's a course all on its own. Crispy, crackly, fatty duck skin, served with buns, scallions, and hoisin sauce. You pull the bun in half, spread a thin layer of hoisin sauce, layer on a piece of crispy skin, top with some scallions, and devour. The platter of duck skin is followed by the actual duck. Clearly, I was still trying to come out the delicious duck skin haze since I didn't even get a picture of the actual duck. I was also beginning to suffer a bit of a food coma but I was trying to be strong for the sake of my journalistic integrity.

Course 7. Braised chicken. Do not shrug. This was no ordinary chicken. It was, by far, the most flavorful chicken I have ever had. I contemplated sticking a few pieces in my sparkly evening clutch for a snack for the ride home. But alas, the table polished off the chicken before I could snag my to-go pieces.

Course 8. Smoked fillet of black cod. The biggest, most buttery piece of fish I have ever encountered. I don't know what kind of smoking technique the kitchen used but this monstrous piece of fish was cooked perfectly.

Course 9. Crab fried rice. I don't care if this was supposed to be a filler. It was delicious and I ate two bowls (even though I felt like I was about to burst).

Course 10. Mango mousse. Molded in the shape of a lobster. With maraschino cherry eyes. Weird? Yes. Delicious? Double yes. Oh, and instead of wedding cake, there were delicious, giant, cream puffs. And yes, I ate a second cream puff when I realized the table behind us had chocolate covered cream puffs.

By the end of the night, the hubster had to roll me to the car. With a big, content, grin on my face. So, if you need a date to a Chinese wedding banquet, I'm your gal. Oh, but I might have to bring the hubster along because he'd never forgive me if I went to a feast like the one above without him.

Giveaway: Pinkberry Yogurt and Swirly Grams for Valentine's Day

2011-02-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

There are three days left for you to come up with something to show that special someone in your life how much they mean to you you. That's right, V-Day approaches and a $4.99 box of Russell Stover and a limp bunch of grocery store roses just ain't gonna cut it this year. Not unless you want to be sleeping on the couch for a while.

Me? I'd rather get a food present than waxy chocolate or flowers any day. Heck last week, the hubster brought me a leftover chocolate chip cookie from a work meeting and I thought I was the luckiest girl alive.

And so, I have just the thing to save you from that lumpy cold couch. Pinkberry introduces the Swirly Gram! A delicious container of yogurt + toppings delivered to your loved one. The Swirly Grams come in three flavors:

Original with toasted almonds, strawberries, and dark chocolate crisps
Blood orange with blood orange pieces and waffle cookies
Chocolate with brownie bites, raspberries and shaved milk chocolate

Now doesn't that beat an embarrassing singing telegram or yet another delivered flower arrangement? And just in case you don't want your yogurt delivered, you can order a gift-wrapped Pinkberry gift card delivered in any amount. Pinkberry now has the following locations in the Bay Area:

Santa Clara- 2362 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95050.
Sunnyvale- 122 East El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 94087.
Santana Row- 368 Santana Row, San Jose, CA 95128.
West Valley- 1645 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129.
Stanford Shopping Center- 180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94304.

And now, for the good part! The fabulous folks at Pinkberry are giving you a gift certificate so you can send your sweetie some yogurt and not be banished to sleeping on the couch. All you have to do is leave a comment letting me know what you're doing for V-Day and I'll let the random number generator do the rest. Oh, and I'll give you an extra entry if you like Lawyer Loves Lunch on Facebook or already like LLL on FB (because I now measure my self worth by Facebook likes and lemme tell you, the lack of FB likes means my self worth has taken a serious beating). And rumor has it, I have more than one gift card to give away so comment away people, comment away!

*Legalese: I was given a gift card to review Pinkberry and the Pinkberry Swirly Gram. The views expressed in this review are mine alone (not the hubster's who tried to shamelessly eat all of the yogurt). Winner(s) will be drawn by random number generator Saturday morning at 10 a.m. PST. You must reside in the U.S. to win. You can't sell your gift card on Ebay because that's just bad karma.

Comforting Chicken Cacciatore

2011-02-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

"What's with the bags of pee in the freezer?" asked the hubster yesterday morning. Normally, I ignore all questions and comments short of "I ate the last of your Honey Nut Cheerios" or "Oops, I knocked your hair straightener into to the toilet" during Sunday morning internet time. See, Sunday morning is the only time I have to drink my three cups of coffee and spend uninterrupted time catching up on reading Perez Hilton.

I debated ignoring his question. I mean, pee in the freezer trumps eating the last of my Honey Nut Cheerios but doesn't quite rise to the level of knocking my straightener into the toilet. But curiosity got the better of me. I mean really, what man casually inquires about pee in the freezer? You'd think that'd be a cause of concern. Like perhaps, the hubster would have called me when he saw the alleged pee in the freezer. But nope, the man casually toasted his two blueberry Eggos, got his glass of milk, grabbed the Sunday paper, and in the midst of relaxedly eating his second Eggo, finally thought it important enough to inquire about the pee.

"So, where in the freezer is this pee?" I asked, knowing I'd never quite recapture the Sunday morning coffee-Perez Hilton reverie. "In Ziplocs on the shelf in the freezer door," he said offhandedly. "Want a waffle? I'm toasting another for myself," he said, easily moving on. I stared at him for a good three minutes, trying to figure out the male mind. I imagine it went something like this: Hungry. Must have Waffle. Open Freezer. Notice "Pee." Ignore "Pee" upon discovering waffles. Eat Waffle. Remember "Pee." Mention to Wife. I shook my head in disbelief, followed him in the kitchen and peered into the freezer. "This?" I asked, holding up a frozen bag. "Yup, that," he said. "That's chicken stock," I said. "Oh, well it looks like pee," he said.

I give up. The only positive thing that came out of this exchange was a reminder that I had these lovely bags of homemade chicken stock sitting in my freezer. See, a few weeks ago, I thought it wise to make a giant pot of stock instead of making actual food for the week. Needless to say, I ate a lot of ramen that week. But somehow, the thought of all that perfect stock in my freezer made the sodium-laced kick to my innards almost tolerable.

And so, it was decided. I was going to cook with stock. My initial reaction was to make soup but I've been eating a lot of soup lately. Note aforementioned ramen comment. No, this meal had to be more substantial. It had to involve rice. And maybe some veggies because the whole eat more veggies plan wasn't going all that well. Oh, and hopefully it'd be a meal that involved delicious leftovers because the last couple of days of lackluster lunches had made me feel like a lawyer who loathed lunch.

Enter chicken cacciatore, a one pot wonder of chicken and veggies, cooked up in a delicious sauce that would make any rice (or pasta) proud. And my homemade stock? Well clearly that would just make my cacciatore even better. And so, I diced and stirred and marveled at the wonder of frozen bags of tricolor peppers (thanks, Safeway!). And while my delicious meal simmered, I reorganized the freezer and put the remaining bags of stock in the back because come next Sunday, I refuse to let the perfectness of coffee and Perez Hilton be ruined by "pee."

PS: The crazy kids at Marx Food are at it again, inviting winners of last year's challenges to a grand Ridiculously Delicious Challenge. My winning pho with chile sauce has earned me a spot! Each contestant picks three items from their goodie list and answers the question, "What ridiculously delicious thing would you do with them if you won?" I pick the kobe beef burgers, salmon, and Bourbon vanilla beans. Because rumor has it, my parents are coming to visit. And since they still like telling the story about how I couldn't even boil rice when I was younger, I'm going to have to bring out the culinary muscle. I'm thinking an appetizer of kobe burgers served kebab style on a bed of fresh herbs and served with a spicy, yogurt raita, salmon biryani, and a cardamom laced vanilla kheer (rice pudding) for dessert might encourage them to give up on the burnt rice story. At least for a day or so.

Chicken Cacciatore

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into even strips
1 onion, diced finely
2 cups tricolor pepper strips (or 1 pepper, cut into strips)
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 oz. each)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp. cayenne (less if you're not a fan of heat)
1 tsp. salt

Oil
Flour
Salt and Pepper

Add approximately 1/2 cup of flour to shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bread chicken strips. Heat 2-4 tbs. oil in a pot pot and brown the floured chicken on all sides. Remove from heat. Heat more oil in the same pot saute diced onions until translucent. Once onions are translucent, add garlic, peppers and mushrooms* and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add chicken to the vegetable mixture. Add tomatoes and stock. Turn heat to medium-low and cook for 20-30 minutes. Add spices, including salt and pepper to taste, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve hot over rice or pasta.

*This method results in vegetables which are cooked very thoroughly. If you like your vegetables to remain a bit crunchy, add them in the final 15 minutes of the cooking process.

Sweaty Man Seekh Kebabs

2011-02-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Confession time: I have a weird addiction to street food. Given the choice between a fancy shmancy restaurant where scented foam will inevitably be involved, and a greasy, delicious meal from a street cart, I'll be the one standing in line with the drunk club-goers, taxi drivers, and nighttime security guards waiting for hot dogs, tacos, and street noodles. A few years ago when the hubster and I were in New York while I was taking the bar exam, or "the time that shall not be mentioned," I ate the lamb and rice plate from the 53rd and 6th food cart every day.

I blame my inability to appreciate fancy food on Pakistan. Yes, I'm now blaming entire countries for my idiosyncrasies. See, when you grow up in a developing country where great street food is sold on every block, it's hard to get swept up in the white linen tablecloth craze. My favorite Pakistani street food? Sweaty man kebabs. Allow me to explain. Growing up, my favorite food came from a bald man with a Charlie Chaplin mustache who used to run a tiny, roadside stand where he stood behind a giant griddle over a propane stove cooking up all kinds of delicious kebabs. The aforementioned man wore a dingy grey, sleeveless undershirt that I'm certain was white eons ago. And he'd go about cooking his kebabs, shouting orders at his minions and serving the ever growing line of customers with ruthless efficiency. And as time passed, he'd grow sweatier and sweatier. Sweat would drop off his bald head, off his forehead, off his nose, and God knows where else, on to the pan. And he'd continue on cooking his kebabs. Delicious kebabs, I might add.

Now before you freak out, keep in mind that the dough for naan is traditionally kneaded by a sweaty, hairy man, marching barefoot in a giant vat of dough. And I'm guessing the people dancing around in giant vats of grapes to make wine didn't wash their feet all that thoroughly either. So really, sweaty man kebabs weren't that big a deal.

It's been a few years since I've been to Pakistan and I'm told the Sweaty Man has upgraded his roadside stand to an actual restaurant. He now wears an undershirt that is actually white. And frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about this. So, I have to try and replicate the kebabs at home. Truth be told, these taste nothing like sweaty man kebabs. They aren't dripping with grease or served with a side of sweat. But they are delicious and dare I say, almost healthy. Ground turkey, generally milder than ground beef, really lets the flavor of the spices and herbs shine through. Traditionally made and grilled on skewers or seekhs, the kebabs taste just the same molded in kebab shapes minus the skewers. And if you make a bunch and freeze 'em raw, they grill up perfectly well in a pan for a quick and tasty dinner.

All in all, they're kebabs that'd make even the sweatiest man proud.

Turkey Seekh Kebabs

1 1/4 pounds of ground turkey
1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 jalapeno, finely diced

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons lemon juice
A good handful of cilantro, chopped roughly

Possibly:
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Oil for pan frying

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.

In a bowl, combine aromatics and spices and mix thoroughly into the ground turkey. Take a teaspoon of the mixture and fry it in a pan as a taste test. Adjust spices if necessary.

Take 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture and mold it in kebab shapes. If you find the mixture is too moist, add some breadcrumbs to dry it out. Alternatively, if you find the mixture is too dry, add a beaten egg. I've generally found ground turkey has the perfect amount of natural fat and doesn't need breadcrumbs or an egg.

Complete rolling the rest of your kebabs and line them on the greased cookie sheet. Pan fry if eating right away or freeze for later use. Once the kebabs are frozen, you can take them off the cookie sheets and freeze them in a Ziploc bag. They keep for months (not that they'll last that long).

Yields approximately 18-20 kebabs.

My Car Will Forever Be a Hooptie Lemon Bars

2011-01-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is a tale of hoopties and lemon bars. Oh, and irony. We can't forget the irony.

See, two years ago, I backed our car into a wall near the garage. This may have been because:

   a) I was bobbing around spastically while listening to Lady Gaga
   b) I have zero depth perception
   c) I was bobbing around spastically while listening to Lady Gaga

Whatever the reason, the tiny bump left a giant white scrape on the bumper of our black car. Not just a scrape. A paint peeling, eye sore of a scrape. As soon as I saw it, I immediately thought of the hubster. A man who loves his cars so much, he refused to let me eat Flamin' Hot Cheetos in his last one. He also made us park aaaaaaallllll the way at the end of the parking lot because he didn't want less fastidious drivers to harm his baby. Oh, and my personal favorite? He once drove around the Walmart parking for twenty minutes, evaluating cars with empty spots next to 'em. His theory? If the car was dinged, it was clear the owner didn't care about their own car and consequently, wouldn't care about his. I failed to point out that we were at Walmart not Saks. Dinged cars came with the territory of $5 Bumpits and $8 stone washed denim jackets. Oh, and $2 Cheetos (the obvious reason for our visit).

But we'd been married for a couple of years. The hubster had had some time to get used to my clumsiness. I was hopeful this wouldn't be terrible. So, I mentioned the scrape offhandedly at dinner that night. The hubster jumped up from the table, dashed outside, and for a moment, an expression I can only describe as pure grief passed over his face. Then, he just shook his head knowingly and laughed. Marriage 1, car psychosis 0.

And so, that scrape remained on the car for the next couple of years. We came to terms with it much like I've come to terms with the crazy, rampant baby hair on my head (No I haven't, I still hate it and wish I could glue the 8 million tiny strands down). And then, news came we were moving back to San Francisco. A city where 80% of the people we knew had flashy luxury cars, with cushy leather seats that they massaged with hundreds of dollars worth of product to keep them, well, cushy. For the record, I don't even spend hundreds of dollars on massages for myself! Needless to say, this wasn't about keeping up with the Joneses. This was about making sure the Joneses didn't mock us mercilessly. So, the car went to the auto body doctor and the scrape got fixed.

And two days later, I came down to the parking garage and the scrape had magically reappeared. In the exact same spot. In all its paint peeling, eye sore glory. See, apparently scrapes are a rather common hazard of living in a city where everyone has poor depth perception and is rocking out to Lady Gaga while attempting to park. The hubster blames the tiny parking spaces but I know it's the Lady Gaga. I had half a mind to walk around inspecting every car in the parking garage for remnants of black paint from our car but the hubster convinced me that would be futile. The culprit was long gone. Likely, to Walmart.

There was nothing left to do but accept that the scrape was destined to be a constant fixture on our car. Nothing left to do but make dessert. I call these "My Car Will Forever Be a Hooptie Lemon Bars" but you can feel free to simply call 'em delicious. Tart, creamy, and über-addictive, they are the perfect cure for what ails you. Even if what ails you is a lethal combination of poor depth perception and Lady Gaga.

Lemon Bars

Filling:
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (add slightly more for more tartness)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/3 cup sugar

Crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 (1 stick) cold margarine or butter (or room temp)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9-sized glass pan with cooking spray.

2. For Crust: In large bowl with mixer at medium speed beat flour, butter, sugar and salt until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press firmly into bottom and 1/4 inch up sides of prepared pan. (I personally like a thin crust, so I just used half of the crust recipe)

3. Bake crust for 15 minutes.

4. For Filling: Whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, and lemon juice until frothy. Pour mixture onto hot crust; spread evenly.

5. Bake 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Recipe from our friend C.C.

Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc Brownies

2011-01-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago, I read this article on getting up early. Having gotten up 10 a.m. and enjoying my third cup of Saturday coffee, it made perfect sense. If I raced someone, I wanted to win. I'd get up early and would have time to exercise and eat breakfast and contemplate the world. All the things I didn't have time to do during the day. I loved the article so much, I forwarded it to the hubster and in a sickening gung-ho manner, proposed that we get up early from hereon.

Except well, I hate getting up early, I don't like exercising, and as hard as it is to believe, I'm not really hungry first thing in the morning. Oh, and my contemplating the world is pretty much centered on how I hate getting up early. But once I proposed the idea, there was no going back. The next morning, sacred Sunday morning reserved for sleeping in and leisurely brunches, the hubster jumped out of bed and started chattering about how getting up early was such a great idea. The normally quiet hubster was talking incessantly... at 6 a.m. I would have appreciated the irony of the situation... if it wasn't 6 a.m.

After I finally dragged myself out of bed, the hubster had the audacity to propose we go to the gym. I resisted the urge to pummel him. Recognizing his life was in danger, he suggested we stretch in the comfort of our living room. This sounded reasonable. Maybe I could catch a short nap while stretching. Until I realized his defintion of stretching and mine clearly didn't coincide. See, stretching my world is me standing there, trying to touch my toes relaxedly and then, well, stopping. The hubster's stretches involved, well work. Finally, I just gave in, and went to my happy place as followed along quietly because it was taking too much energy to complain.

The hubster, unaccustomed to a lack of complaining, suspiciously asked, "What are you thinking about?" "Brownies," I replied contentedly. "You are thinking about brownies during our morning stretches?" he asked, shaking his head. "Yup, and not just any brownies. Ad Hoc brownies," I replied. See, my love for Thomas Keller is fairly well documented but I had no idea he was also a brownie genius until I tried an Ad Hoc brownie at Eat the Love's Holiday Dessert Extravaganza. Dense, fudgy, and of course perfectly chocolaty. These are not your grandmother's cake-like brownies. Since that fateful party, I have been plotting as to how I can get those brownies in my stomach again.

And to think, Sunday morning stretching hour was just the time I needed to plan my brownie blitz. Needless to say, as soon as the hubster announced stretching time over, I pushed his stretchy self aside, rushed into the kitchen and got my brownie making on. And I am proud to report that I spent the remainder of Sunday eating brownies. It was almost perfect enough to make up for having to get up at 6 a.m. Almost.

So the moral here is, I may have to accept that the next time I race someone, they will likely leave me in the dust. And not just because I didn't get up early to train but because I got up early and ate an entire pan of brownies.

Ad Hoc Brownies
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
1 tsp kosher salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp cubes
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
1 1/2 cups chopped 61-64% chocolate (can substitute semi-sweet chocolate chips)
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a bowl.

Place half of the cubed butter into a bowl. Melt the remaining half of the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Pour the melted butter over the saved butter in the bowl, stirring to combine. The butter should look creamy, with bits of unmelted butter still present.

Beat the eggs and sugar on medium until light and doubled in volume. Add the vanilla. On low speed, alternate adding the flour and the butter in small portions. Finally, stir in the chopped chocolate.

Butter and flour a 9x9 square pan. Pour batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out nearly batter free. Brownies will continue to cook after you pull them out of the oven so you don't want to overcook them in the oven.

After cooling, dust with powdered sugar, cut, and serve.

Recipe from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home.

Feasting My Way Through the Fancy Food Show 2011

2011-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have decided on my new career. I want to be a person who visits food shows, eating the samples, taking pictures of cool food, eating the samples, meeting fun food personalities, and you guessed it, eating the samples. Wait, what do you mean such a job doesn't exist?

Such a job totally exists! I'm convinced the vendors who exhibited their food products at the Fancy Food Show at the Moscone Center in San Francisco have my dream job. The show was divided into two giant areas with the North side of the Center featuring more organic, natural products and the South side focusing on more traditionally packaged products. Overall, the show featured everything from unique, new food products to old favorites.

Cookies shaped like mushrooms covered in chocolate? What's not to love about that? A giant assortment of veggie and fruit purees designed to make sauce and smoothie making easier. Ingenious. And Tabasco-flavored chocolate. Interesting.

Everything I read about the show beforehand said to pace myself. What did I do as soon as I entered the exhibit hall? Kicked that advice to the curb. Within the first hour, I sampled everything from pizza and pasta to cheese and crackers to chocolate galore. Needless to say, I felt pretty sick for the second and third hour.

I used that time to chat with the millions of vendors who showcased their products, spoke knowledgeably and passionately about them, and um, provided samples. On display were large spreads of antipasta, a giant amount of black truffles, and a huge spread of flavored salt.

I also met not one, but two celebrities. I'm still trying to figure out whether it was cooler meeting Ina Garten (who was gracious and lovely in person) or the giant Jelly Belly Bean (who was cuddly and gave jelly bean samples). Oh, and I ate lots of pasta. See that glazed look in my eyes? That's because I'm holding bowls four and five on my pasta eating spree. Not because I'm physically incapable of turning down pasta but because my journalistic integrity means I have to be thorough in my pasta research.

And when I got tired of sampling (gasp!), there was so much to see and do until I got hungry again (ten minutes later). And yes, that is Van Gogh's Starry Night and Picasso's Mona Lisa made entirely out of jelly beans.

The best part about it all is coming home and sampling treats in the comfort of your home because let's face it, all of the chocolate started tasting the same after the fifteenth chocolate sample. Here are some of the most unique (and delicious!) products I tried (and loved!):

1) Turbano Plantain Chips - Crunchy and tasty without that oily feel of potato chips. I was partial (super partial) to the Chile Lime flavor. Ingredients: fresh plaintain, vegetable oil, salt, and chile lime flavor. Four ingredients?!? How can you not love that?

2) Gold Rush Kettle Corn - I have no idea how they make packaged kettle corn taste like it just came out of well, a kettle, but these people have perfected that art.

3) Krave Beef Jerky - I thought I didn't like beef jerky because I associated it with those tough sticks sold in gas stations but this beef jerky was so tender and flavorful. I was a fan!

4) Materne GoGo Squeez - Applesauce in a squeezable pouch. No sugar added, 100% fruit, no spoon needed. This stuff is so convenient and delicious, I don't even feel bad that I'm an adult eating applesauce out of a squeezie pouch.

Vegetarian Lentil Soup for the Staunchest Carnivores

2011-01-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Almost twenty years ago, I ate a meal consisting wholly of lentils and vegetables at my friend Cheryl's house. I use the term ate rather loosely since I mostly pushed the food around on my plate, swallowed a few of the veggies without chewing, and fed many to a curmudgeonly Schnauzer ironically named Happy. I didn't know much at ten years old but I knew that I wasn't a fan of Cheryl's mom's vegetarian meals. Oh, and I also knew I was on the cutting edge of fashion, rocking tie-dyed tights and a denim jacket that I'd bedazzled the living daylights out of.

Not much has changed. Give me a plate of lentils and veggies and I'm sure my hunger will just magically disappear. I don't have a problem with veggies as a side but as a main course? Like I said, not hungry. I blame my parents for this mindset. See, I grew up in a primarily carnivorous house. I wasn't even aware of the notion of vegetable side dishes until I saw the trays of steamed, limp broccoli and cauliflower in the dorm cafeteria. Shocking, but that didn't trigger a sudden desire to eat more vegetables.

And then a couple of days ago, I took one of those online magazine quizzes that asks random questions about your eating habits. How many times a week do you eat sweets? Um, a lot. How many servings of vegetables do you eat a day? Um, not a lot. What is your favorite vegetable? Favorite or one I despise the least? Needless to say, it wasn't pretty. The magazine said I would keel over and die from lack of greens in my system. Oh, and I likely had scurvy.

Something had to change. I needed to make a meal with vegetables. And then, I decided to go for broke and make it a meal with vegetables and lentils. Trouble was, I had no idea what to make. So I typed recipe + vegetables + lentils into Google. Because when in doubt, one must turn to Google. Or their mom. But I was still holding mine accountable for raising me without vegetables (but man, such deliciously awesome meat dishes) so Google it was. And Google said... lentil soup.

That sounded harmless enough. I like soup. Clam chowder. Cream of mushroom. Lobster bisque. And suddenly, I found myself Googling recipes for even more cream-based soups. Like I said, I have trouble with focusing sometimes. I forced myself to focus on lentil soup again. A quick Google search yielded no less than thirty varieties of lentils. I looked in my pantry and saw a nondescript bag of lentils. A Cook's Thesaurus told me they were either brown lentils or masoor. In any case, I had no idea where they were from or how long they'd been sitting there. In other words, they were perfect.

The veggies weren't too disconcerting. Plus, they'd be cooked into oblivion and then pureed so I could handle that. I had the rest of the ingredients so I was good to go. Except well, I used turkey stock instead of the veggie stock. Because I couldn't give up the whole meat thing cold turkey. Heh.

And once it was ready, I basked in the smell of the warm spices and perfectly comforting texture. My first mostly-vegetarian meal in a long, long time. And so, I ladled out a giant bowl of soup, made some little garlic toasts, and had me a mostly-vegetarian lunch. Now if I only had my bedazzled jean jacket...

Lentil Soup

1 1/4 cup lentils, soaked in water
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 cup tomato puree
4 cups chicken, turkey, or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Oil
Salt & Pepper

Rinse lentils and soak in water, preferably overnight.

Heat oil in a stock pot. When oil is hot, saute onions, celery, and carrots. When vegetables are almost soft, add garlic and saute until garlic is fragrant. Drain lentils and add them to the vegetables. Add tomato puree and stock and let the entire mixture come to a boil. Lower heat, add cumin and coriander, and mix well. Cook covered for 45 minutes to 1 hour until lentils are soft. Taste the soup and adjust seasonings.

At this point, you'll have a delicious, chunky lentil soup. I prefer mine to have a smoother consistency so I pureed half the mixture and added it back to the pot and cooked it for another fifteen minutes.

Drizzle with Greek yogurt, or top with fresh chives, or even sharp cheddar. Definitely serve with garlic toast.

Adapted from Food Network.

Pad See Ew: Noodles for the New Year

2011-01-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2011! I must admit that my excitement has nothing to do with the new year. See, after two and a half months, I'm finally wearing my SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas and blue striped toe socks again. In fact, I'm wiggling my individually-socked toes in sheer happiness as I sit here. Remember this?

Well, it ended up lasting longer than we expected. Much longer. Which meant that for months, my favorite pajamas and socks remained packed away. But we finally moved into our own place in the city. A real live city. With bustling traffic, an apartment the size of a small walk-in closet, and our very own ugly naked guy. And out came the pajamas and socks.

The first order of business, after finding my toe socks, of course, was unpacking our kitchen supplies but unpacking took longer than expected because of things like this:

And this:

See, the hubster and I have diametrically opposite moving styles. The first picture reflects his "I'm an engineer and I like order" style of packing. I mean really, who bubble wraps each magnet? The second picture reflects my "I just want to be done with this as soon as possible so I'll unwrap everything and hope it puts itself away" style of unpacking. Needless to say, I have an equally haphazard "throw everything in a box, slap on a vague sort of label, tape the box, and deal with the contents come opening time" style of packing.

So basically, unpacking was a bit of a comedy of errors. Every time I opened a hubster-packed box, all crazily bubble wrapped and perfectly sealed, I threatened to quit unpacking and every time the hubster opened one of my "creatively packed" boxes, he launched into yet another one of his "let me extol the virtues of packing well" lectures. There were many moments where we were on the brink of a ferocious arm wrestling match to settle the packing debate once and for all... except well, there was no room to arm wrestle.

Bottom line, unpacking the kitchen took longer than we expected. Especially once we realized the kitchen only has three drawers. Three small drawers. Needless to say, we no longer have a linen closet but rather, a kitchen overflow closet. If you're planning on coming for an overnight visit, bring your own sheets and towels because that space is currently being used by my dutch oven and cast iron skillet. Sorry.

By the time mealtime rolled around, we were ready for something comforting. And nothing says comfort like noodles. Especially noodles charred in a hot pan, edges crispy with soy and spice. Enter Pad See Ew. Now, I've eaten my fair share of Pad See Ew everywhere from sit-down Thai restaurants to standing in front of noodle carts in Thailand and every single cook has said the same thing. The secret lies in the searing hot pan. The super high flame gives you those delicious charred bits of flavors. Well here's the thing, you won't get a searing hot pan in a tiny apartment kitchen with a wonky electric stove. But you'll get a decently hot pan and if you don't move the noodles around too much, you'll get some decent flavor masquerading as charred bits.

This dish is truly a one-plate wonder. First, find some fresh rice noodles at your local Asian market. Mine sells a pound for about two bucks and I don't want to know how or why they are so ridiculously cheap. If you know why, please don't tell me. I'm perfectly happy with my ignorance. Second, grab some veggies. If you're feeling fancy, use gai lan, or Chinese broccoli. If you're feeling too tired to get fancy, use regular broccoli, sugar snap peas, carrots, mushrooms, or any other vegetable you have on hand. Third, find a couple of eggs. Fourth, buy a bottle of kecap manis or sweet soy sauce. I'm guessing you could use soy sauce and sugar as a substitute but I'm unwilling to mess with what I know works. Fifth, mix all your ingredients together (in stages) and revel in the deliciousness that is stir fried noodles.

Eaten in the comfort of our new place (newly free of packing boxes), the hubster and I agreed Pad See Ew is a dish fit for organized and disorganized packers alike. No arm wrestling needed.

Pad See Ew Noodles

1 16 oz. package of fresh rice noodles
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
Approximately three cups mixed vegetables of your choice

1 chicken breast, cut in strips
1 tb. soy sauce
1 tb. Sriracha or chili garlic sauce

4 tbs. kecap manis
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. Sriracha
Salt and Pepper

Cut chicken in strips and marinate in one tablespoon soy and one tablespoon Sriracha or chili garlic sauce while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Cook chicken and remove from the pan.*

Separate rice noodles. They should be fairly pliable if fresh but if they do not separate easily, soak them in hot water for a minute. In a small bowl, mix four tablespoons kecap manis, four tablespoons soy sauce, and two tablespoons Sriracha and set aside.

Heat oil in pan. Add garlic and fry until light golden. Add vegetables, season with salt and pepper, and stir fry until tender-crisp. Move to the side of the pan. Add more oil and when hot, add the noodles. Stir fry for one minute. Pour the prepared sauce on top of the noodles and mix thoroughly. Let the noodles sit in the hot pan for a few minutes until you can smell a slight charred smell. Do not continue mixing the noodles during this stage because you want them to develop the charred flavor bits.

Once the noodles are charred around the edges, move the entire mixture to the side of the pan and scramble the eggs. Add the cooked chicken, mix thoroughly, and stir fry for one minute. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

*Many recipes will have you cook the chicken first and move it to the side of the pan and then add the remaining ingredients. I have found the chicken gets a bit overcooked if it's already in the pan when I'm cooking my vegetables so I cook it separately and add it at the end. You can, of course, start with cooking the chicken and leave it in the pan as you add the remaining ingredients.

Mini Cheesecakes: The Cure For What Ails Ya

2010-12-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have decided to reward myself with dessert. When I refrain from shaking my fist at my parking neighbor, who thinks he can use one and a half parking spots because in his mind, I must drive a motorcycle and only need a half a parking spot, I give myself a cookie. When I stop myself from screaming at some kid who drives his grocery cart over my toes, I get a candy bar. And when my neighbor plays the same Enrique Iglesias on repeat (and insists on singing along in his not so great Espanol), I get a piece of fudge. Two if Enrique-wannabe is singing ballads.

I know parents generally advise against the dessert for good behavior strategy. They say this prompts kids to throw tantrums when desserts are not offered. But since I'm both the kid and the adult in my house, I'm gonna go with what works. And gosh darn it, I'm going to throw a tantrum when I'm not rewarded for putting up with my Enrique-minus-the-charm-and-the-looks neighbor's singing.

Last Saturday was a day that definitely deserved a reward. Nothing particularly disaster-worthy happened and yet, it seemed the universe was just demanding a full-on dessert tantrum. The grocery store ran out of half & half. I went to the dairy clerk and asked if they had any half & half in the back and a Who's on First exchange followed. He thought it hilarious to keep asking, "You want half of what?" I tried everything. I tried describing the container, pointing to where they normally sit, even calling it coffee cream. And you know what the clerk replied, "You want half of coffee cream?" GAH! When he suggested that I use a flavored half & half substitute or worse yet, a powdered creamer instead, I felt the tremors of a tantrum and knew it was best to walk away. But not before I added a Kit Kat bar to my grocery cart.

So I did what any kid/adult would do to recover. I made mini cheesecakes. Yes, they are like a big cheesecake except they are better. Allow me to explain:

  1) You don't have to worry about a water bath or covering an unwieldy springform pan with foil;
  2) It's easier to tell when they're done;
  3) You won't feel bad eating six of them because they're mini!

The recipe is a combination of Wolfgang Puck and the Philadelphia classic cheesecake gracing the boxes of bagel spread for eons. Top with strawberries or a fruit of your choice to help meet your daily fruit requirements on the pesky food pyramid. I used ramekins to bake them because well, I find comfort in small dishes. But keep in mind, ramekins yield a small'esque cheesecake and not a truly mini cheesecake. Which I'm okay with because well, more cheesecake is better than less cheesecake. If you're truly searching for a mini cheesecake, I've also used a muffin pan and a darling mini cheesecake pan that I borrowed from a friend.

And yes, I ate my Kit Kat while baking these which led the hubster to innocently suggest, "What if we made Kit Kat cheesecakes?" And that's when I knew, Kit Kat cheesecake would likely hold the most giant tantrum at bay.

Mini Cheesecakes

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray ramekins or mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with fork. Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of crust mixture in each well. Press crumbs down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Place the cream cheese, sugar, and salt in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle or beaters, on medium speed, beat until smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides and under the beaters with a rubber spatula. Turn the speed to high and continue to beat until nice and creamy. Stop the machine, add the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla, then, on medium speed, continue beating until well blended. Add eggs and beat just until combined. Divide mixture amongst the wells with the crumb bases. Bake 15-20 minutes until set. Remove from oven and cool completely. Refrigerate for two hours.

Once cheesecakes have cooled completely, run sharp knife around each cheesecake and remove from pan or ramekin.

Strawberry Coulis

1 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cool completely and spoon on to prepared cheesecakes.

Filling adapted from Wolfgang Puck, crust from Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and strawberry coulis from Epicurious.

Rainy Day Mac n' Cheese

2010-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today, it started raining midway through my commute to work. Midway through my string of public-transport-none-of-which-is-ever-on-time commute. And what do I think when I feel that first raindrop hit my scalp? Not "Oh bollocks, I should have brought an umbrella" but rather "Awww darn, I straightened my hair today." I mean, I gave up ten valuable minutes of sleep in hopes that the millions of baby hair on my head would not create that fuzzy halo I so hate and what do I get in return? Rain which would most definitely result in halo head.

I know, I know. I should have looked up the weather online before leaving. Instead, I used that time to scroll through craftgawker and wish that I was crafty enough to weave a quilt with dryer lint. Then, I could have stayed at home crafting and making billions selling my dryer lint quilts instead of standing here in the soaking rain, with the bottoms of slacks soaking wet and my hair growing poofier by the second. And at my wettest (and crankiest), the street car buzzed right by because it was too full to stop. Except I saw a lady on the streetcar who had at least ten feet of space in front of her and the next closest person but refused to move so I and the other drenched commuters could get on the street car. I see you lady in the green jacket, I see you.

I finally forced my way on to a street car and got to work. Only to step in a giant puddle getting off the street car. You know those charming pictures of chubby little kids splashing in puddles, wearing their yellow rain slickers and cartoon character rain boots? Well let me just tell you there is no equivalent for cranky adults inadvertently stepping into puddles while wearing high heels.

When I finally got to my office, I was utterly devastated, not by the fact that I was late but rather, that I felt and most certainly looked like a wet, shivering chipmunk. And at that point I vowed to make something warm when I got home.

And throughout the day, every time there was a fleeting reminder of the mucky wetness, the image of warmth became clearer. Like when I felt the bottoms of pants damply stick to my legs, I knew warm wasn't going to cut it. Dinner was going to have to be warm and cheesy. And when I felt my toes squishing around my damp high heels, I knew it would have to warm, and cheesy, AND slightly crunchy. And when someone asked if I had naturally curly hair? Well that was the kicker. I knew it had to be mac n' cheese night.

So I made mac n' cheese. And ate it out of a ramekin. Ok, a couple of ramekins. And while eating, I looked at craftgawker. Because well, I just can't give up on my dreams of having a dryer lint quilt business. Especially because I know it's going to rain tomorrow as well.

Alton Brown's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quartcasserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Recipe from the Food Network.

Just Another Random Friday

2010-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Two things. First, please please please vote for my "Pho with Chile Sauce" in the Marx Food Chile contest. You don't have to register or sign up for anything. Oh, and I'd like to win the 10 lbs. of prawns so I can stop looking forward to endless shrimp time at Red Lobster. Second, can I wear socks with heels after a particularly long week or is the answer absolutely not (like Jon Gosselin sporting Ed Hardy)? Some mitigating factors to consider:

1) It's gotten really cold;
2) Carrying an extra pair of heels to change into means I have less room to take snacks to work;
3) Socks are just so comfortable; and
4) I get very cranky if I don't have a large supply of snacks at work. See number 2.

Discuss. Oh, and vote. I mean, I confessed I like Red Lobster and want to wear socks with heels all in one post. That kinda charming honesty (read TMI) has gotta be worth your vote, right?