Goodness, it has been a LONG while since I’ve posted a new post– practically a whole year!  My life the past year has not been as silent as Globetrotter Diaries has been as I have been in the trenches of law school.  But with almost half of school behind me, I’ve undertaken a new project.  I recently partnered with my sister, Erica Chan Coffman of HonestlyWTF and, along with a friend Todd Wagner, we’ve started a new site HonestlyYUM!  It’s a new destination for all things food, cocktails, and entertaining.  As the food editor, I’ll be creating and curating a selection of worthy edibles– here is a little sampling!

Valerie and I will still keep Globetrotter Diaries up, but for your daily dose of yum, join me over at HonestlyYUM.  Thanks so much for all of your involvement, support and tuning into our culinary adventures!  I read, and will continue to read, all the comments that come in and am always so excited and pleased when I hear your feedback, so thank you for being part of our wanderlusting community!

Who says a pesto has to be green?  This version of pesto celebrates the walnut in all its glory with a simple combination of ricotta, garlic, parmesan, and olive oil.  It’s rich but subtle, and the muted creamy tones are gorgeous.  Trust me, you won’t miss the basil.

- 2 cups of walnut halves, toasted
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups of fresh ricotta, divided
- 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (and extra for passing at the table)
- Kosher or sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lb of fettuccine

In a food processor or large mortar and pestle, grind the walnuts and garlic until the walnuts are a chunky paste.  Place into a large bowl and add 1 cup of ricotta, the grated Parmigiano and olive oil.  Add about 1 teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground black pepper and work into a paste.

Boil the pasta in salted water and when it’s finished, using tongs, transfer the pasta into the bowl along with some of the water and start to work the pasta into the pesto.  Add more pasta water if it is slightly thick.  The pesto should be loose enough to lightly coat the pasta.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

I liked the texture of fresh ricotta added at the end, so use the rest of the remaining 1/2 cup of ricotta to top each plate of pasta.  Garnish with more cheese and enjoy!

Lately, the combination of a busy school schedule and my addiction to Instagram has resulted in serious camera-neglect.  I’ve found little time and reason to take the ol’ DSLR out.  So when I saw this simple lens filter DIY, I jumped at the opportunity to play around and have fun– and just in time for Valentine’s Day!  You don’t need to be a serious photographer to create heart-shaped bokeh.  ”Bokeh” is a photography term that essentially means blur.  In photography– especially food photography– this blur creates an aesthetic quality by keeping the subject of your photo in crisp focus, while the background appears blurry.  At night, lights that are out of focus create circles of color that give photos a magical and ethereal feel that I love.  The circle is created by light coming into the lens and outlines the shape of the aperture.  Manipulating this shape essentially involves creating a new (and slightly smaller) aperture with a custom shape, like a heart or whatever shape you desire.

So what exactly do you need to create this effect?  First, you will need a prime lens with a large aperture, for example 1.8 or 2.0.  A great lens to start with is a 50 mm prime lens.  Unfortunately, I don’t think this will work well on a point-and-shoot camera.  I imagine the size of your heart-shaped hole would have to be teensy.  Also, I have tried this on my zoom lens and it didn’t work.  If you look through the viewfinder, only to see a heart-shaped vignette, something has gone wrong.  I have seen some people say that it worked on their zoom lens, but I’m unsure how they were able to, so if you happen to know please share!  Second, you need thick black paper or cardboard.  I used black paper since it was easier, but if you plan on using this filter a lot, invest in the cardboard.  Third, you will need some mad math skills.  Ok, maybe just a calculator.  Because the size of the heart-shaped hole needs to fit within the aperture of your lens, you will need to figure out how large your aperture is in millimeters at its widest.  (Don’t forget, in creating a bokeh effect always set your aperture to its widest setting)  The f-stop (i.e.: number of your aperture size, like f/1.8 or f/2.0) is just a ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the aperture.  So, in order to figure out the diameter of the apeture you just divide the focal length (e.g.: 50 mm) by the f-stop (e.g.: 2.0), which means the diameter of a 50 mm lens at an f-stop of 2.0 is 25 mm wide.  A 100 mm lens at an f-stop of 2.0 is 50 mm wide.

Making sense so far?

Therefore, your heart-shaped hole must be slightly smaller than this diameter so that the camera captures the shape of the heart instead of the circle.  So in my 50 mm lens, the shape of the heart measured slightly smaller than 25 mm.

The measurements do not need to be exactly precise, but get it as close as you can.  I created these images with a 50 mm and 100 mm prime lens and both created amazing effects.  Feel free to play around with whatever lens you have on hand, but a 50 mm lens is best.  It is great not just for this project but is an all-around useful lens.

I know, my brain hurts from all this math too so let’s get this thing going!

Materials:

- Thick black construction paper, or cardboard
- Scissors, or utility knife if using cardboard
- Prime lens with a wide aperture (A 50 mm f/1.8 lens is great here)
- Ruler

Using the inner rim of your sky light lens or protective lens, trace a circle on the black paper.  Cut the circle out.  This circle should sit flush and snuggly against your lens.  Find the middle of the circle by lightly folding the circle in half.  Open the paper and then fold it again so the fold lines meet at the middle of the circle.  Measure out a square of how large your hole will be based on the above calculation.  So for a 50 mm lens, my square was 25 mm by 25 mm in the center of the circle.

Draw a heart-shape and using a small pair of scissors cut out this hole.  Place the paper up against your lens and cover with the sky light.  And that’s it!

Tips for shooting at night:

- Set your aperture to its widest setting 1.8, 2.0, 2.8…
- Increase your ISO depending on how much light is available.
- Use a tripod to help stabilize your images
- Turn off the auto-focus and manipulate the focus ring.  Looking through the view finder, you’ll see hearts appear before your very eyes!
- Get out!  I wandered the streets of Los Angeles with my camera and discovered so many new and interesting details of the city by playing with this filter.

Good luck and have fun!  I leave you with a little LA love…

Drunk off love yet?

(All images by Globetrotter Diaries)

As a food blogger, I’m constantly bombarded by food recipes and photos at an attention-deficit inducing rate.  This has resulted in probably the largest, most disorderly bookmark folder known to man, and most of which I’ll probably never get to given the limitations of the human stomach.  So, when I make it a priority to cook something I’ve seen floating around on the world wide web, it is special. I first saw this cake on fellow globetrotter Sasha’s blog, Global Table Adventure.

This gorgeous German cake consists of many separately baked layers, when cut resembles the rings of an old tree.  Traditionally, the cake is made on a spit with each new layer added (or batter painted on) when the previous layer is cooked by the heat surrounding the spit.  A typical baumkuchen will have up to 15 to 20 layers so it takes quite some time and patience to construct this cake (this is not for the amateur or impatient baker– there, that’s my disclaimer).  Because most households don’t come equipped with a baumkuchen spit, a home version of the German tree cake has been developed called the, schichttorte. This uses a typical oven broiler to cook each layer in the typical cake form.  Although you loose the appearance of tree rings, you’ll still have the beautiful cross section layers in each slice.

I will again warn you this requires an incredible amount of patience because each 2 millimeter layer needs to be browned before the next layer of batter is spread on.  However, I found it to be the perfect winter weekend project– there was something meditative about the repeated action of brushing the batter and jam.  My suggestion is to just turn off the heater, crank up the broiler and put on your favorite album.  Okay maybe more like 2 albums.

Despite all the work, this cake is very much worth the effort.  It’s beautiful, delicate, and most importantly tastes incredible.  Here’s Sasha’s family recipe and I hope these photos inspire you to make your own!

I’m home for the holidays and was trying to think of something festive to make over the weekend.  There were the usual suspects like turkey or ribroast, but I wanted to go for something a little less traditional but equally as memorable.  Pork generally is not one of those dishes but for me the all-mighty pork is up there on the list of celebratory foods, so when I came across this recipe I knew I had to make it.  This dish is simple and straightforward but complex and comforting, in essence– home.  It takes a couple hours to make but once it’s in the oven you can forget about it and let it fill your house with incredible smells.

Carne adovada originated from Mexican and found popularity in New Mexico where it’s a staple and is truly some of the best pork I’ve ever had.  The red sweet chiles and mix of spices like cinnamon creates a rich flavorful sauce, perfect to soak up with some corn tortillas or hominy.  The pork is cooked until fork-tender and shredded directly in the sauce.  Topped with some creamy avocados and it’s absolutely amazing.

Serves 4-6

- 3 pounds of boneless pork shoulder (I used 2 1.5 pound pieces)
- 6 New Mexico dried chiles or any combination of chiles you prefer
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 5-7 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon of whole cumin
- 1 teaspoon of whole coriander
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Sea salt or kosher salt
- Vegetable oil

In a cast iron skillet, toast the chiles for a few minutes on medium heat until fragrant and pliable.  Remove the stems and seeds.  Place in a small pot with some about two large cups of water and bring to a boil.  Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Then toast the cumin and corinader in the pan for a few minutes until fragrant, but be careful not to burn them.  Transfer them into a spice grinder and grind to a powder.

Add the chiles and about a cup full of the liquid into a blender and blend until smooth.

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil over medium heat in the pan and sautee the onions and garlic until translucent but not caramelized.  Add a hefty pinch of salt and some pepper over the onions and after about 5 minutes cooking add the chile puree, spices and cinnamon stick.  Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Place the pork shoulders into a Dutch oven or a roasting pan.  Liberally salt and pepper the shoulders and then pour the chile marinade over the shoulders.  Cover tightly with foil and place the lid on top.  Place in a 350 degree oven for about 1.5 to 2 hours until tender and falling apart.

Pull the pork apart and ladle into bowls with spoonfuls of the sauce.  Pair with some cooked hominy, corn tortillas, rice…. or just eat it straight out of the pot like I did.

Happy Holidays everyone!

(Adapted from Heart of the Artichoke)

This classic is one of my favorite dishes to have when the weather turns cold.  But it’s often a disappointment– overly salty broth and undercooked onions and rubbery cheese.  Like most rustic French dishes, the dish celebrates humble ingredients but makes them truly sing with a lot of care and a lot of time.

It is very unlike me to ever take any shortcuts, especially when it comes to something that involves stocks and broths.  But this recipe is something you can make in a little over an hour which really beats making this soup from homemade beef stock– practically a day long undertaking.  And the results were delicious but more importantly you can enjoy them immediately, which nowadays is key for me.

The recipe still requires some patience in caramelizing the onions but doesn’t need much babysitting, just a stir of the pot here and there.  All those brown caramelized bits that develop on the bottom of the pan are a good thing, so don’t worry about needing to pay close attention to your onions.

Soup:

- 2 tbsps of unsalted butter
- 5 medium red onions, sliced thin
- 5 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups of low-sodium beef broth
- 1/4 cup of dry red wine
- 2 springs of parsley
- 2 springs of fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
- kosher or sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper

Bread crust:

- 1 baguette, sliced 1/3 inch thick
- Swiss cheese, sliced
-  Aged gruyere, grated
* Use whatever cheeses you prefer, Asiago instead of Gruyere.  The combination of Swiss and aged Gruyere is a perfect mixture of stringy cheese and nutty and sweet Gruyere.

Heat the butter over medium-high heat in a dutch oven or thick bottom pot and add the onions.  Add a pinch of salt and stir to incorporate.  Place a lid over the onions so they start to sweat.  After about 5-10 minutes remove the lid and continue to cook the onions, stirring occasionally.

Cook for another 30 minutes until the onions become deep brown and caramelized.  Let the brown bits develop on the bottom of the pan.

Add the chicken and beef stock, bay leaf, thyme, parsley and wine and deglaze the bottom of the pot.  Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer and cook for another 20 minutes.  Throw away the herbs and stir in the balsamic vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Turn the broiler on and ladle the soup into bowls.  Place two slices of bread on top and a slice of Swiss cheese on top.  Add the grated Gruyere cheese on top.  This creates a nutty surface and the Swiss underneath gives the soup its melty gooey goodness.

Place the bowls on a tray and place them under a broiler for about 10 minutes or until the top becomes nice and lightly browned.

Enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from The New Best Recipe)

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I’m not sure why, and when I actually thought about it I realized I had no idea why we celebrate this holiday or why everyone loves it so much.  Maybe it’s because this is the one holiday we have where we can dress in costume?  Or perhaps it’s because Halloween got us hooked at an early age with the yearly prospect of endless pillowcases of candy.  I’ll admit it– I still get excited at the prospect of fun-sized candies this time of year.

So when I was thinking of what to make for Halloween this week I thought what better way to celebrate the occasion than to elevate a childhood sweet treat: caramel popcorn!  Cracker Jacks are fun and all, but let’s be honest we got them for the prizes.  Homemade carmel popcorn is a revelation: super crispy, nutty, not painfully sweet, a slight salty and extremely addictive.

It is really easy to make at home with just a few ingredients and yields more than you can possibly handle.  The extra step of placing the popcorn in the oven is key to getting every nook and cranny coated so don’t skip it.

Happy Halloween folks!

- 1 3.3 oz of microwavable popcorn, natural-flavored and “cook” according to directions
-  1 cup of light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup of light corn syrup
- 6 tbsps of unsalted butter
- pinch of kosher or sea salt
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda
- 2 tsps of vanilla extract
- 1 handful of salted roasted peanuts

Pour the popcorn into a large mixing bowl.  Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter over low heat and add the sugar, corn syrup, salt and add 2 tbsps of water. Turn the heat to medium high and stir with a whisk until a candy thermometer reads 250 degrees (about 3-5 minutes).

Turn off the heat and add the baking soda and vanilla and whisk together.  It will bubble up and turn a light color.  Quickly pour the mixture over the popcorn and lightly fold the caramel in the best you can without breaking the kernels too much.  Add the peanuts.  Don’t worry if it isn’t entirely coated and the caramel hardens– that’s what the next step is for.

Pour the mixture over a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and place in the oven.

After 20 minutes or so check on it and the caramel should be melty.  Using a spatula mix the popcorn so that the caramel evenly coats the nuts and popcorn.  You can repeat this a couple of times waiting about 10-15 minutes in between.

When the mixture is sufficiently coated, take the popcorn out and let it cool– it won’t take very long for the caramel to harden.  Store in air tight containers and enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from here)

One month into my first year in law school and as I had anticipated time is not on my side.  So when I had a window of opportunity this weekend to do something beside studying or sleeping, I gave my knives a little food lovin’ and made some panzanella.  Panzanella is one of those incredibly easy “salads” that’s perfect for using up old stale bread.  It’s a popular Italian dish that mixes fresh vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, onions or any colorful ingredient that tastes like summer with a simple vinaigrette of olive oil and vinegar.  Because the ingredients are to be enjoyed unadulterated, fresh and seasonal vegetables are important here.  So seize those  plump tomatoes on the vine and celebrate the last of summer with a small plate of happiness.

Panzanella often calls for basil but when I saw this recipe from the Kitchn using mint, I knew I wanted to try it!  The wonderful thing about panzanella is that it lends itself very well to interpretation so use whatever ingredients you prefer.

- 1 lb of rustic bread
- 1 lb of tomatoes (on the vine, heirloom…)
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 spoonfuls of capers drained
- 1 English cucumber
- 2 anchovies
- handful of mint
- handful of flat leaf parsley
- 1 small clove of garlic
- kosher or sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- good extra virgin olive oil
- sherry vinegar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Tear the bread up into bit size pieces.  Place on a baking sheet and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Toss to lightly coat and place in the oven.  Bake for about 10 minutes until slightly golden.

Place the sliced onions in a bowl and sprinkle a heavy pinch of salt over them and toss.  I do this to take that bite out of raw onions, which I find sometimes overwhelming.  Let them sit for at least 15 minutes and then rinse in water.

Slice the cucumber down the middle and then into sliced half-moons.

Cut the tomatoes in half or in wedges, depending on how large your tomatoes are.

In a mortar and pestle, pound the anchovies, garlic and a pinch of salt together into a paste.  Then add a few glugs of extra virgin olive oil (about 1/3 cup) and a couple splashes of vinegar, and mix well.

Place all the vegetables in a large bowl.  Add the capers. Thinly slice the mint and flat leaf parsley and add to the bowl.

When the bread is done, add them to the bowl of vegetables and herbs.  Pour the dressing over the bread and toss all together.  Let the mixture sit for about at least an hour so the flavors meld together and the bread soaks up all that loveliness.

Enjoy!

(Adapted from the Kitchn)

This week, Karen and I got to make one of my favorite foods of all time: sushi. I’ve often posed the question to friends and family of what their last meal on earth would be if they could choose it and although I personally waver between tacos, pizza and chocolate chip cookies for my second and third courses (cheating?), one course always remains the same. Sushi is one of the closest foods to my heart as it reminds me of Japanese New Years and the different types of maki-zushi I got to feast on that time of year.

It’s a given that the quality of seafood used needs to be top-notch when it comes to sushi, but the sushi rice is an equally important component in the equation for good sushi.  Each grain of rice should be shiny and toothsome with a slight taste of vinegar and aroma of umami.  Sounds like a lot of work, but once you have the basic technique down– it’s a cinch since the recipe doesn’t involve many ingredients.

And the fine folks at Zojirushi are making it even easier by giving one of our lucky followers a top-of-the-line Zojirushi Umami Micon rice cooker (value $250)– an essential for sushi rice and as we’ve said before an essential for any globetrotter kitchen!  Karen and I are huge fans of their rice cookers, which produces perfect rice everytime.

To enter to win all you have to do is tell us what your favorite type of sushi is.  Here are two ways to land your name into the metaphorical giveaway hat:

1) Follow us on Facebook and write your response on our wall

2) Follow us on Twitter and tweet us @globetrottings with your response AND #WhoLovesSushi

DON’T FORGET, we can’t get the winner the prize unless we know who you are so be sure that you write on our wall or tweet from an account that we can respond to!

Contest ends midnight September 13, 2011.  We will compile all your wall posts and tweets in the order we receive them and use a random number generator and stalk the winning number down to get you your rice cooker.  Good luck and thanks for participating!

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Okay, now for the sushi rice…

- 4 cups uncooked white sushi-grade rice
- 4 1/2 cups water
- 2 tbsp sake
- 1 3-inch square piece dashi konbu (You can find this in most Asian markets, it looks like a large thick piece of dried kelp)
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp sea salt

Making good rice always begins with a thorough washing– this seems tedious but is absolutely key. Put your rice in your rice cooker pot and run it under cold water, stirring gently with your hands to wash it. The water will become cloudy and milky fast. Drain the milky water and keep washing over and over until the water is practically clear. Once the rice is washed, add the water to the pot for cooking. Let it sit and soak for about thirty minutes.

While you’re letting your rice soak, prepare your vinegar dressing. Combine the vinegar, sugar and salt, mix well and reserve. Once your rice is ready to cook, add the sake to the rice and then place the dashi konbu on top. Start your rice cooker and wait for the magic.

Meanwhile, prepare a large bowl for mixing the sushi rice. If you have a hangiri, a large shallow wooden bowl (as shown above), even better.  If you intend to make sushi more than once it may be a worthwhile investment.  They’re cheap and are necessary to perfect sushi rice by controlling the moisture in your rice.  To keep your rice from sticking to it when the rice is hot, fill the bowl with water and let it soak. Throw a dish towel in there to soak as you’ll need it later to wipe out excess water and keep the rice covered. If you have a wooden rice paddle, place it in the water to let it soak as well.

When the rice has finished cooking, let it rest for ten to fifteen minutes before lifting the lid. Remove the dashi konbu from the rice. Then empty the water from your wooden bowl and use the damp towel to wipe the inside and the paddle, leaving both slightly moist– they shouldn’t be wet. Transfer the rice into the bowl (careful of steam burns) and spread the rice to cover the surface of the bowl.

Next, pour your vinegar dressing slowly over your rice paddle onto the rice and mix gently (slicing and folding rather than stirring so as not to smash the rice grains) while simultaneously fanning the rice to cool it as you mix. If you have a fan just direct it towards the rice so it cools the rice down while you’re folding. If not, get a kitchen helper, use a magazine and feel that burn in your biceps and forearms. People talk a lot of smack about carbs but they forget about the workout beforehand– more sushi for you! Once you’ve sufficiently mixed the dressing into the rice and it has cooled somewhat from the tossing and fanning, place a damp towel over to cover it and let it come down to room temperature. The rice should be gorgeously shiny.  Wait until the rice is at room temperature before tasting and passing judgement.  The cooling down process makes the rice even more delicious.

Now it’s up to you what you do with this sushi rice. The possibilities are endless.  Maki, inari, crazy-dyno-whatever-you-wish-roll… We chose to make some simple nigiri-zushi with some fresh tuna and hamachi.

Slice thinly, place on top of a small sushi rice ball formed by holding the rice in your palm and pressing two fingers into it, turning and repeating. You can leave the fish as is, paint with a dab of wasabi, add a bit of grated ginger and green onions or anything you fancy. Dip into a bit of soy sauce for a small slice of heaven.

The art of sushi is founded in the perfect sushi rice and we encourage you to give sushi making a try!

Folks, it’s time for another edition of Odd Eats and this time, I’m taking it personally. That is, this time we’re trying a Japanese dish and I’m half-Japanese so I better like it. Nattō is a popular Japanese food consisting of fermented soy beans. Its origins date back hundreds if not thousands of years and it is extremely popular in Japan as it is revered not only for its taste and but also for its health benefits.

It’s one of those dishes that many people both in and outside of its place of origin find revolting due to its sharp smell and slimy texture. I personally expected to like it because I like just about everything that’s soy based. When we cracked open the package, we found a small packet of karashi mustard and soy sauce.

The most overwhelming quality about the food upon first opening it was its smell. It’s pungent and rather sharp, not unlike cheese, but I didn’t feel it had a dairy quality to it like many people do. Instead, I felt this most definitely was a plant product and in fact in reminded me most of soy sauce, which would make sense as they’re both soy products and they’re both fermented.

We first poked and prodded at the nattō, exploring its gooey consistency, and then dumped the whole mess into a bowl and stirred it up with the condiments. It somehow managed to become thicker and more slimy as we mixed it.

We topped a bowl of steamed rice with our mixture and had a taste. At first I liked it. It was much milder than I imagined it to be, although the consistency was a little less than pleasant. The sliminess made me feel like this wasn’t something I was supposed to be putting in my mouth, let alone ingesting. Still, I thought it was decent – not something I’d want to eat all the time, but something I could appreciate as it would certainly be filling and of course healthy.

But then the aftertaste hit. It’s the smell that ultimately got to me. And as it did, the consistency gradually became more and more of a problem. I found myself wanting less and less to have any part of the stuff as it got stringier. I wonder if I’m just closed-minded when it comes to textures as I know I’m less adventurous than some of my friends. This one was a lot like stirring the melted marshmallows that become Rice Krispie treats, only with a cheesy, ferment-y smell and a mild enough flavor that there was nothing to taste but how it smelled.

I’m not ready to give up on nattō though. I believe that with the right seasoning, it could be delicious. It’s common, for example, to add it into miso soup, stir fry or omelets (I always put soy sauce in my scrambled eggs) and those are dishes I think I could really appreciate. On its own on top of steamed rice, though, I found nattō to be underwhelming if not slightly unpleasant. Until I try it again, I’m going to assume it will be a flavor enhancer to me, not a dish on its own.