For those of you interested, there is another set of Pro Chef Finals Dinners in February (18, 19, or 20) at Laguna Culinary Arts!

Enjoy a 4-course menu with wine pairings…$55 + tax per person for dinner, or $75 + tax with wine pairings.

For reservations, call Carla Ray at 949-494-4006. For more info, visit Laguna Culinary Arts.

I’m back from an unplanned hiatus and it feels great! I also just returned from Japan the other day. Of course, now I’m super jet-lagged (for the first time ever coming back from Japan; the Philippines is another story).A highlight of the trip Chris and me celebrating our 8 monthiverary by getting Kobe beef at the source. We took a trip to Kyoto on the shinkansen and wanted to stop in Hiroshima as well…and lo and behold, Kobe was in between the two cities. Our hotel in Kobe had a map that was totally up our alley– here is the train station, and here are all the restaurants around it. We looked through a few brochures and decided upon Mouriya, a few blocks away from our hotel.After a few minutes waiting (for which the host apologized in perfect English), we were seated upstairs, not at the “bar,” but at a table right next to it.

We don’t know why it’s in Cryllic. Some kind of salad…tasted like smoked salmon without the smoke. Our thoroughly marbled sirloin came in the below fashion and we spent a good minute starting at it and smelling. Our table had a little heating pad so it kept the cast iron plate warm. We took our first piece, dabbed a little salt on it, and took the first bite. WOW. The bit of steak was everything we expected, and then some. It was so well marbled and juicy that all I tasted was its fatty flavor the entire time. The second bite was seasoned with freshly ground black pepper, lemon soy sauce, and the house miso sauce. Yum! Even better than the first bite. 150 grams of the super premium sirloin was 8,900 yen (roughly $80) Now, you’d think it gets better, but unfortunately, it really doesn’t. The first two bites of beef were the best, but I can safely say that Kobe beef is not my favorite type. Yes, it was about as marbled as beef can get, and yes, it was bursting with flavor– which were exactly the problems. Too much of a good thing can and will turn into a bad thing, and sadly, that is what happened here. By the time we got halfway through, I was feeling a bit queasy from the nearly 1:1 meat-to-fat ratio. Don’t get me wrong, I’m privileged to have eaten it at the source, and it met every expectation I had…until later. It was like the second bite was the peak of the experience; everything from there went downhill. So, in a nutshell, Kobe beef is not my favorite type, but it was definitely an experience. I just find it funny that a 1100-yen Australian beef pepper steak in Yokosuka (where my parents live) beats the 8900-yen Kobe beef. We ended dinner satiated, but not 100% satisfied. It was a little uncomfortable walking around with super fatty meat swimming around in your stomach (love the image, dontcha?). The next time we go to Kobe, we’ll try it medium well, as opposed to the medium rare we had it cooked. Even this place’s mints were good! Mouriya SannomiyaDaiichi Kishi Building, 3rd floor1-9-9 Kitanagasa-doriChuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo 650-0012Tel: 011-81-78-321-1990

I’ve been throwing the idea of culinary school around lately, and my dear friend Jeremy suggested I check out a place called Laguna Culinary Arts in Laguna Beach. Since he’s as much a foodie as I am, I started poking around their website, and I found an announcement for Pro Chef Finals Dinners. I had heard that various culinary schools in the area typically do this– prepare a menu for the public.

I called to sign up; unfortunately, I was placed on the waiting list. I totally forgot about it until someone called me a few days before! Since Chris had work, I dragged Jeremy along (not much dragging though).

We were the first ones there and were seated at one of the tables inside the wine and cheese shop. We declined the wine pairings; I still need to acquire the taste for it, and Jeremy was driving.

The menu was created by the eight chefs of the Professional Chef Program: they each made a four-course menu, and the executive chef (who I believe is their instructor) took parts of the menus to create a master menu. Everything looked SO appealing! It took us a good 10 minutes to decide what we wanted; most of the time was spent deciding what we would have for the third course.

Amuse bouche
They didn’t tell us specifically what it was, but it was salmon with capers and a hint of lemon.

First course:
Queso Fundido with Spanish Chorizo and Shiitake Mushrooms, Arbol Chili Sauce
The chorizo and mushrooms were sauteed with onions and green peppers, topped with mozarella and chili sauce. This one packed a lot of heat, maybe a little more than I wanted for a first course. My tongue started getting numb about halfway through, but man, was it delicious! It was a little difficult cutting through the cheese with the chips, since it was thick as well as gooey, but a fork was readily available so no worries.

Second course:
Baby Spinach Salad Stack, with Wonton Goat Cheese Ravioli and a Balsamic Vinaigrette
I love spinach (provided that it’s washed properly)! I was a little sad, however, to find that the deep-fried wonton skin and goat cheese totally overpowered the taste of spinach. I ate it separately, but it wasn’t much better in terms of bringing out the flavor of the spinach.

Third course:
Bourbon Salmon, Baked with a Maple-Ginger Glaze and Toasted Pecan, Roasted Shallot “Macaire” Potatoes and Asparagus Spears
This is quite possibly the BEST salmon I have ever had, in terms of how it was cooked: to perfection. I am almost always hesitant to order salmon because it’s so easy to mess up, but this was so moist and juicy! The glaze was a little too sweet for my taste, but even with minimal dipping, the salmon and potatoes tastes absolutely amazing.

Fourth course:
Summer Berries in Zingy Red Tea Gelee with Mascarpone Cream
This was the perfect ending to a summer night’s dinner. I would’ve chosen the vanilla green tea creme brulee, but I wanted something lighter to complement the first three courses. I wasn’t a big fan of the cream on top, but the gelee…yum!

 

Overall, that was one of the most unique dining experiences I’ve ever had. If you ever get a chance to do something like that, I HIGHLY recommend it! I’ll be waiting anxiously for the next Pro Chefs Finals Dinner.

 

Laguna Culinary Arts
845 Laguna Canyon Road
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
949-494-4006

There’s also a location in Orange, Le Gourmet Kitchen:
541 W. Chapman Ave.
Orange, CA 92868
949-494-0745

I’ve been obsessed with BravoTV’s Top Chef lately. The funny thing is, one of this season’s contestants, Hung, works with my cousin’s brother-in-law at Guy Savoy in Las Vegas! Before I found this out, Hung was already my favorite contestant, arrogant as he may be. He’s a crazy guy, ALWAYS running around the kitchen, but he’s awesome!

Last week’s episode was the Latin lunch, where they had to cook for a bunch of Telemundo folks. While Hung’s Arroz con Pollo was one of the bottom three, I decided to make my own. I scoured the net for recipes and ideas, combined a bunch together, and voila! Mexican night!

Chicken–
3 tablespoons olive oil
chicken thighs (I used 5 medium-sized thighs), skin on, bone in, rinsed and patted dry
flour for dredging (eyeball it for how much chicken you’re using)
salt
black pepper
paprika
chili powder (optional)

Rice–
3 tablespoons olive oil
medium yellow onion, chopped
minced garlic (use however much you want; I used garlic powder to taste)
2 cups long-grain rice
4 cups chicken stock (check rice package for liquid to rice ratio; a 2:1 ratio equals 4 cups chicken stock for 2 cups of rice)
1 can diced tomatoes, strained
oregano to taste
salt and pepper

First, combine flour, pepper, paprika, and chili powder in a bowl large enough for chicken pieces to fit into. Dredge each piece of chicken and tap off excess flour. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken in the pan; brown both sides. Set aside.

Add the rice in the pan, and stir to coat with olive oil. Add more oil if necessary. Let the rice brown a little, and then add the onions and garlic and sautee until onions are soft.

Place the chicken, skin side up, on top of the rice. In a separate bowl, combine 4 cups of chicken stock, a little bit of salt (check how salty your stock is first), oregano, and diced tomatoes. Season with a little bit of pepper if desired. Pour the mixture over the chicken and rice (it’ll probably look like soup at first). Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cover. Cook until rice and chicken are ready. I think mine took about an hour.I was pretty amazed how well the flavors blended together. I didn’t add the chili powder, so I was a little worried it would be bland. But no, it turned out just fine! Even better, there was chicken left over for lunch today, and enough rice to last us to tonight’s dinner.Speaking of which…I had bought a large pack of chicken thighs (Albertson’s was out of the small packs), so I just made the other half for tonight’s dinner: my version of Chicken Cacciatore (or what we will later call Arroz con Chicken Cacciatore).

Chicken thighs (again, I used 5), skin on, bone in, rinsed and patted dry
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
flour for dredging (again, eyeball it)
paprika
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper
garlic powder (or 2 cloves garlic, chopped)
1/3 cup white wine
1 can diced tomatoes, strained

In a bowl, combine flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Dredge each piece of chicken and tap off excess flour (sound familiar?). Heat olive oil in a skillet, and add onions. Sautee until soft. Sprinkle with garlic powder and continue sauteeing, or add garlic and continue sauteeing. Add chicken to pan and brown both sides.

Season with salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder to your liking (on each side). Add wine and simmer until liquid is reduced to half. Add the tomatoes. Lower heat and simmer; cover but leave a small opening.

Cook the chicken for about an hour, or until the thighs are super tender.Now comes the fun part! I ended up making a Mexican-Italian dish that was surprisingly good, even after the Arroz con Pollo. Reheated the arroz from last night, mixed each portion with a little bit of the cacciatore sauce, and served with the chicken. The flavors complemented each other very well, and the cayenne pepper in the cacciatore added a very nice, steady heat to the dish (meaning it didn’t get increasingly spicy with each bite). Yay for experimenting and having extra arroz!

I know it’s called the “San Diego County Fair” again, but for the 15 years I lived in San Diego, I’ve never called it anything other than the Del Mar Fair!

Anyway, we went down to the fair yesterday. In between snacks, we visited the exhibits and rode some rides. We went in the exhibit for fluorescent rocks (the ones shown under a black light), and instead of checking out the rocks, we stuck our credit cards and driver’s licenses under the light to see the hidden designs. Chris and I rode the Slingshot since he promised me a year ago that he’d muster up the courage to join me.

But I digress…now on to the food!

Kelly’s Fried Zucchini

This was pretty good, but I’ve had better. Normally I like my veggies grilled, but these seemed like they were just fried in batter, sans flavoring on the actual zucchini itself.

BBQ Sundae

I think this was one of the best things I ate at the entire fair! The name sounded a little strange, but got excited when we found out what it actually was: bbq brisket on top of mashed potatoes. It even had a cherry on top– cherry tomato, that is.

Fire Roasted Artichoke

Trust me when I say I had absolutely no clue how to eat this thing. For some reason, I was expecting a bunch of grilled artichoke hearts, but……..well, as you can see, I got the entire artichoke.

It was such a funny sight, the five of us sitting there staring at this thing. Finally I gave up trying to figure it out and just Googled it on my Blackberry. The first link to come up was on Simply Recipes. Thank God for the internet, Google, and Simply Recipes!

Roasted Corn on the Cob

I had three of these yesterday, one walking around, and two while sitting at some tables watching people bungee jump. Sweet corn is one of my favorite things for any bbq, so I couldn’t resist when I saw a roasted corn stand. Good thing Kelly carries floss with her, or else I’d have been walking around with corn stuck in my teeth!

Chris’ Polka Kielbasa

I didn’t actually try this, but Chris said it was good. He was deceived by the small size, but apparently it was dense so that got him full!

Two things we found hilarious at the fair (and people were actually eating this!): Deep Fried Cola and Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwiches. I was curious, but not so curious that I wanted to have a heart attack at the fair!

Del Mar Fair/San Diego County Fair
Del Mar Fairgrounds
usually held from early June to July 4th every year

The other day, Chris and I headed to Bristol Farms, in search for Belgian endives to pair with crab dip. I tried a recipe I found, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the best, so I’ll tweak it and post it later.

I found the endives (walked right up to them, coincidentally), grabbed a couple bunches (is that what they’re called?), and proceeded to walk back to where Chris was gawking: the meat counter. He was practically drooling over the sign that read: “Kobe/Wagyu Tri Tip.” Well heyyyy! At $20 a pound, it was obvious it wasn’t real Kobe beef, but this was probably the closest we can get to the real thing, at least for now. We did a quick cost-benefit analysis– a friend of ours, Kelly, is in town for the week, and she wanted to get Korean bbq that night. It was actually cheaper to get two pounds of the beef, so we figured she wouldn’t mind (she didn’t).

Look at that beauty!

I didn’t follow a specific recipe; I just asked the guy at the meat counter what the best way to prepare it was. He recommended roasting it for an hour at 350 degrees. First, I rubbed in olive oil and garlic powder (I’m a vampire, so no fresh garlic for me!). For flavor, I just threw spices on that slab of meat: salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and parsley. I used dried spices, so I’m guessing it would taste much better with fresh thyme, rosemary, and parsley.

It wasn’t done after an hour, so if you’re planning on making this, just eyeball it. We attempted to use a meat thermometer, but unfortunately, it came out well done instead of the medium rare we would have liked. HOWEVER…thanks to the wonderful marbling of the tri tip, even well done came out nice and juicy.

Served with butter and herb mashed potatoes (made by Chris):
Herb-Crusted Kobe-style Tri Tip

Bristol Farms
810 Avocado Avenue
Newport Beach, CA 92660
949-760-6514

The lowdown, taken from SqueezeOC.com–

When: Thursday, June 28 (this is TONIGHT!)
Where: The Grove of Anaheim, 2200 E. Katella Ave.
Hours: 5:30-10:30 p.m.
Cost: $30 pre-paid; $35 at the door. Includes all food samples and live entertainment.
More info: 714-712-2700 or tasteofanaheim.com

And in the fall, Taste of Newport!

No worries, everyone, I’m still here! I’ve just been quite the busy bee…Chris and I started taking Japanese about 6 weeks ago. The class is right after work, so we’ve had to run around and somehow fit dinner in beforehand.

I really need to get back into cooking…my pots & pans are being neglected!

Chris and I had an adventure on Wednesday evening, after work and before our Japanese class at IVC. In other words, dinnertime. We went to the plaza on Barranca (the one with Thai Kitchen), in hopes to go to Philly’s Best, a sandwich place. We strolled in, looked at the menu, and got all excited because everything looked amazing!

There was one thing wrong though…there were no credit card logos. We thought, hmm…maybe they just don’t have the stickers. Or is it cash only?! We looked around a few more times, until I finally spotted a piece of paper taped down to the counter perpendicular to the one we were standing at: “For phone-in orders, please tell customer CASH ONLY!” Well crap, who the heck carries cash noawdays?! I just use my debit card for food, and usually I only have like $5 in my purse.

We had to leave, so we walked a few feet down to Lamppost Pizza. The musty smell that met us wasn’t the greatest indicator of good food. We weren’t really in the mood for pizza, plus the cashier was taking waaaay too long with the people in front of us, so we left. By this time, we had an hour to find a place to eat, order/get our food, actually eat, and make our way to IVC.

Chris spotted Las Fajitas.

We hopped in and were immediately in awe of the decor, as well as the extensive menu (before we realized that half of it was breakfast, only served on weekends before 1pm). In any case, it took a few minutes for either of us to settle on what we wanted: carne asade quesadilla for him, carne asade enchiladas for me.

It took about 15 minutes for our food to actually come out, reminding us of Lolita’s (down in San Diego) motto: “Patience is the essence of fine Mexican food.” And it was SO worth the wait– our food came out hot, and each dish was stuffed with juicy carne asada. Yummy! I love me some good carne asada. My enchiladas were smothered with cheese; it was kind of like pulling a slice of pizza from the rest of the pie and having those cheese strings s t r e t c h. I didn’t try Chris’ quesadilla because I was too engrossed in my own cheese-and-meat fest, but I’m sure it was just as good.What started off as a frustrating quest for food turned into a delicious meal, complete with the final game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Ottawa Senators (yay Ducks). That review on Philly’s Best will have to wait!

Las Fajitas Grill
4250 Barranca Parkway
Irvine, CA 92604
949-653-0707

One of my favorite types of food is Mediterranean. The two times I’ve been up North, Chris has taken me to La Mediterranee, which is one of his favorite restaurants. There’s a location in Berkeley, which we went to in March, and two locations in San Francisco. The Berkeley one is petty big, but the one on Fillmore in San Francisco was about a third of its size. Tiny, but there was still enough room for two rows of tables and ample room for the waitresses to move about.

Anyway, I digress. The food here is a party for your tastebuds, especially the avgolemono soup, which will definitely wake them up. It’s a lemon soup base with pureed chicken and rice. The one at Daphne’s Greek Cafe is pretty good also, but definitely a LOT more lemon-y than La Med’s, with actual pieces of chicken. I prefer La Med’s, but since there is no location in Irvine, or So Cal for that matter, I’ll have to settle with Daphne’s.

Since it was lunchtime, Chris and I each ordered the Fillo Combination lunch special, which gives you three choices from the following: cheese karni, chicken Cicilia, Grecian spinach & feta, and Levantine meat tart. It also comes with a side of hummus, which I used as dip. The meat tart’s flavor wasn’t as subtle as the cheese karni and the spinach & feta, maybe because of the tomato sauce over it. Compared to the other two, the meat tart was a burst of flavor.

l-r: cheese karni, spinach & feta, meat tartLa Mediterranee
2210 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
415-921-2956