Recipe: Shanghai Stir-Fried Pork with Cabbage

Napa cabbage and scallions in our fridge.  What to make, what to make to use up these ingredients?

I found this recipe Shanghai Stir-Fried Pork with Cabbage that I had torn out of Food and Wine Magazine back in Jan 2012 (p.69).  I had actually thought about tossing out the recipe a while back (the ingredient list doesn't make it sound like it would be very flavorful), but I'm glad I kept it.

It's a simple recipe from Cecilia Chang -- ingredients include boneless pork loin, dried shitake mushrooms, cornstarch, dry sherry, soy sauce, white pepper, peanut oil, napa cabbage, Chinese chile sauce and rice.  That's it!

It ended up being a simple and easy stir fry with pretty good flavor.
A few things we changed and would do differently next time:

• Actually use dried shitake mushrooms (we used fresh ones, and the shitake flavor didn't come through strong enough for us)
• Use sesame oil instead of peanut oil
• Cook the pork until it's done instead of using the cook times in the recipe
• Add minced ginger, garlic and scallions (we added ginger and scallions)
• Add remaining cabbage at the very very end so that it stays crisp

Quote: Elsa Schiaparelli

I love this -

"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness."
- Elsa Schiaparelli (Italian fashion designer)

benjy's in Houston

We had dinner last night at benjy's in the Rice Village area in Houston.  It was GREAT!!!!  I haven't enjoyed a restaurant meal like that in while ( . . . because something always isn't right -- the food isn't flavorful or is over/undercooked or is too pricey for what it is, or the service isn't up to par)!

Last night was perfect.

The atmosphere was modern, hip and energetic -- not too loud so that we could hear ourselves.  

The service was excellent.  Great recos, and the friendly server even brought us potstickers (on the house!) that we considered for an appetizer but didn't order.  Pace was really good.

Food and drinks were TASTY!  benjy's has a very varied and eclectic menu, and the Asian dishes that I ordered had bold and complementary flavors (I was surprised how good it was).

I will definitely return and would highly recommend the restaurant.

--------

Here are some of the items we ordered that I tasted:

Lemon Basil Gimlet

Enchanted Rock vodka + basil and lemon juice + basil-ginger syrup

2011 Argyle Reserve Pinot Noir

Willamette Valley

BHR Pork Potstickers

lemograss-orange ponzu

Yangnyeom Crispy Chicken

korean red chili + kimchi

Hay Smoked Duck (duck was cooked perfectly!)

soba noodles + soy milk-ramen broth + shiitake mushrooms + bok choy

Dr Pepper Braised Short Rib 

heirloom grits + pipian + taqueria vegetables

Recipe: Pear & Walnut Salad

In an effort to eat more interesting salads than the typical lettuce, tomato, crouton and Parmesan cheese dinner salad, I created the following which was slightly inspired by the Eggplant, Pear and Pecorino Salad recipe I tore out of Food and Wine Magazine (Sept 2012, p.117).

Toss the following and serve:

• Romaine lettuce
• Asian pear slices or cubes
• Toasted walnuts
• Parmesan or thinly sliced Manchego (I use a peeler to shave the Manchego)
• Vinaigrette
• About a 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

The Chefs Feeding the U.S. Ski Team

So interesting!!!!

A U.S. Team Chef Shows His Own Competitive Spirit in Sochi

By Bill Pennington

Feb 8, 2014

The New York Times

Allen Tran, the head chef for the United States ski teams, organizes the effort to keep the teams well-fed at the Olympics.

Recipe: Baked Shells with Cauliflower and Taleggio

Cauliflower with pasta.  You're probably thinking, "Really???" or "Weird!!!"

We made the Baked Shells with Cauliflower and Taleggio recipe from Food and Wine Magazine (April 2013, p. 108), and it was quite good!

The recipe is from Renato Sardo and Dario Barbone of Baia Pasta in Oakland, CA.

Honestly, I don't think the recipe would have been as good without the hot sausage that we added.  Me thinks it would be too one-dimensional and a little bland.

Here is what we changed and tips for making the dish:

• Add 3 hot spicy sausage links (cook them separately and add them to the pasta and cheese sauce)
• There is NO NEED for large shells.  In fact, penne would work nicely.
• The 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs was hardly enough.  I think I quadrupled the amount.
• When serving, sprinkle the top with fresh parsley.

Beaver Creek Food and Wine Weekend 2014: Grand Tasting

One of the primary reasons we went to Beaver Creek last week (besides to ski) was to attend the Beaver Creek Food & Wine Weekend, sponsored by Food & Wine Magazine.  We'd been to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen which was an amazing experience and thought it'd be fun to attend one of their "satellite" events.  

The Beaver Creek event is structured completely differently where you buy a ticket for each event.  We bought tickets to the Grand Tasting on the final day, and to be honest, it was a little bit disappointing.  Perhaps it's because we've been to other Grand Tastings that were phenomenal AND cost less.

Our 2 big issues with this one:  

1. Much of the food was underseasoned, oversalted, overcooked, difficult to eat (no knife to cut a piece of lamb T-bone), or super boring (come on Tim Love - carrot home-fries???).
2. The wine and spirits vendors that participated were lacking -- the nicest wines there were Silver Oak and Twomey but that was about it . . .

To us, the standouts food-wise were:

• Naomi Pomeroy's Brussel Sprouts & Lamb Salad (My favorite!  I loved it so much that I e-mailed her at the restaurant to get the recipe, and she sent it to me!)
• Fabio Viviani's Potato Gnocchi
• David Burton Sanchez's Apple Ginger Smoked & Braised Pork Belly

I'm glad we went to the event, but we likely won't go back -- I mean, we'll go back to ski in Beaver Creek (it's awesome that they hand out chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon!) but not for the Food & Wine Weekend.  

Perhaps I can convince fellow blog contributor the grandcruman to go to the Cayman Cookout hosted by Chef Eric Ripert next January.  Everyone could use a beach vacation in Jan!

Fireworks!

Beano's Cabin

If you're in Beaver Creek and desire a unique mountain dining experience that includes a 15 min open-air sleigh ride (pulled by a snowcat) and a wonderful 5-course meal with almost impeccable service, head to Beano's Cabin. 

The 5-course meal currently runs $115 per person (not including alcohol or tip) and includes the sleigh ride and live entertainment -- the night we went, it was a one-man show, a guy who covered pop music from the 80s to songs popular today, singing and playing his acoustic guitar.

A few tips:

• Reservations are required so call or make a reservation using OpenTable.
• Request a table that's by a window or in the middle of the dining room.  Our table had a sight line to the door, so every time the door opened, we felt a slight cold draft.
• If you're going in the winter, wear your ski jacket & pants over your clothes, otherwise, you will be COLD during the sleigh ride.  There are open cubbies for you to hang/store your clothes once you get to the restaurant.  We even changed shoes so our feet wouldn't freeze in our dress shoes.  Note: The dress code is mountain casual; almost everyone was wearing jeans.
• On the sleigh, sit as close as you can to the front of the snowcat.  We sat at the very back (last row), and all the snow that the snowcat kicked up (as well as the smell of diesel) wafted our way.

The sleigh pulled by the snowcat
(you can't see the snowcat in this photo)

As a reminder to us of what we dined on (aka - our food journal):

Today’s Cabin Made Soup… 

Butternut Squash Soup

Salad

Baby Iceberg Wedge 

tender belly bacon, Maytag blue, cherry tomatoes, scallion vinaigrette 

Appetizers

Oysters 

finger limes, whiskey gelée, lemon 

Pork Belly

[don't have the description]

Entrees

Duo of Colorado Lamb 

lamb leg and loin, braised French beans, fig confit, olive lemon gremolata

Whiskey Glazed Berkshire Pork Porterhouse 

creamy Anson Mills grits, honey glazed carrots, apple preserves 

Desserts

Bourbon Roasted Pear 

crème Fraiche ice cream, chestnut lace cookie 

Caramel Apple Pie

with spruce ice cream

Recipe: Man-Whore Bars

Yes, you read that correctly.  Man-Whore Bars.  Fellow blog contributor the grandcruman (ok, he hasn't contributed in over a year!) posted this recipe on Facebook.  I saw it, and I made them to take with us on our ski trip last week (to avoid paying $4 for a mediocre cookie at the top of the mountain) -- but I tweaked the recipe.  Here's the recipe on Bakers Royale's site.

While these were good, they weren't as amazing as the Brownie-Reese's Peanut Butter Cup-Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars that I made before which were more decadent and satisfying for us chocoholics.

Next time, I may switch out the cookie layer for a brownie layer.

1st layer: chocolate chip cookie dough.
I used the Nestle Tollhouse recipe on the back
of the chocolate chip bag -- but without the nuts.

2nd layer:  16 Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups chopped up

3rd layer:  Oreo Cookies chopped up

4th layer:  chocolate ganache

5th layer:  Rice Krispies treats

The finished product!  Check out the layers!

Macarons Class at Sur la Table

When I have more time, I'll update this post with tips from my Basics of French Macarons class that I took at Sur La Table this past weekend.  The class was so fun; plus, taught good technique.  I was surprised that a silicon macarons mat isn't necessary.  Just need a piping bag!

Did you know that macarons at the very
basic consist of just egg whites, powdered sugar,
almond flour and cream of tartar?

This is how the egg white mixture should look - stiff,
firm, glossy peaks!

Waiting for the slight film to form on the macarons
before baking.

Out of the oven!

My very 1st macaron that I've made myself:
Mint Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

Recipe: Winter Salad with Avocado, Pomegranate and Almonds

We try to be healthy and generally eat a salad at dinner most days.  Our go-to salad is usually pretty boring -- lettuce, tomato, croutons and dressing.  This year, I want to amp it up!  I saw the Winter Salad with Avocado, Pomegranate and Almonds recipe in Food and Wine Magazine (Dec 2013, p.92).  It's great and is one of my new favorite salads we can make this year.

Here were a few modifications I made to the recipe:

• Made 1/2 of the amount of dressing (since the recipe makes 8 servings)
• Used white wine vinegar instead of Champagne vinegar (I need to get some Champagne vinegar at some point since it seems to be used in a lot of salad dressings)
• Added a little lemon zest instead of preserved lemon peel
• Left out the fennel bulb (it was probably key to the salad; will try adding it next time)

In case you've never de-seeded a pomegranate, here's how.
And if you want to know more about pomegranate power, read about the health benefits here at WebMD -- apparently, it's full of antioxidants!

Crepes!

We received a crepe pan from guest blog contributor FoodFiend (thank you!) for Christmas.  We made honey ham & gruyere crepes for dinner and "Blue Lagoon" (Nutella, blueberries, brown sugar, Bailey's Irish Cream) crepes for dessert.

Here's the basic crepe batter recipe we used from allrecipes.com
It's 1 cup of flour, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tbsp of melted butter -- ingredients most people have at home.  (Note: A crepe pan isn't totally necessary; use a large, flat-bottomed non-stick saute pan)

An easy and quick meal!

Sriracha Vodka

I think flavored vodka has gone too far!  UV Vodka has introduced Sriracha vodka (they also have other crazy vodkas like salty watermelon, candy bar and sweet green tea).  On their website, they suggest using it in Bloody Mary's or drinking it on the rocks.  Here's the LA Times article if you want to read more.

Would you try it?  I'd taste it but would much rather use a good regular vodka and real sriracha sauce.

Recipe: Spiced-Ham-and-Cheese Toasts

We made these Spiced-Ham-and-Cheese Toasts from Food and Wine Magazine (Dec 2013, p. 140) along with the Cream of Leek and Potato Soup.  Nice soup and sandwich dinner on a cold winter day.

I tweaked this recipe a bit, and it still turned out delicious.  Here's what I did:

• Sauteed the onions in butter
• Mixed dried sage, cloves, cayenne, cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced scallions, Dijon mustard and apple cider together in a bowl.  = the spread
• Took sliced bread and put the spread on it.  Topped it with the sauteed onions.  And then broiled it until the spread was just bubbling.
• Topped it with smoked ham and served.

Perhaps next time I should try making it per the recipe -- as a pate.  I can see this as being a nice hors d'oeuvres for a party.

Recipe: Cream of Leek and Potato Soup

Cream of Leek and Potato Soup!  We'd been talking about making a leek & potato soup, and then I saw this recipe in Food and Wine Magazine (Dec 2013, p.142).  SO EASY to make especially with our new Vitamix!  And, I'd say that the soup is moderately healthy.  I mean, it's leeks, onions, potatoes, chives, water, salt & pepper -- and just a little butter, vermouth, white wine, creme fraiche or sour cream.

This recipe makes 10 cups (for a party), so you may want to adjust ingredient proportions and make half a batch.

2013 Paris Food Journal

This is a food journal to remind us of the wonderful meals we had in Paris.
I'm missing it a lot as I type this.

Day 0

• Just showing you what you get when you're on American Airlines from Dallas to Paris.

It's pasta

Day 1

• Lovely and sumptuous welcome macarons in our hotel room
• Snack:  crepe noix coco (coconut nutella crepe)
• Dinner at Cafe Vavin
• salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, red onions, mushrooms, diced potatoes, foie gras on toast (so delicious!!!)
• beef stew (it was a bit salty) and cornichons
• drinks:  petit chablis, Heineken

Day 2

• Breakfast at Julien Boulangerie:  2 cafe au laits, pain au chocolate, another chocolate pastry
• Lunch at Galeries Lafayette
• Caeser salad: chicken, green beans, tomato, boiled egg, parsley
• lasagna and salad
• Snack at Galeries Lafayette:  Starbucks latte
• Snack at Le Marquis de Lauderee:  3 macarons (dark chocolate, cassis, raspberry)
• Bought snack at the Champs-Elysees Christmas Market for later: chocolate covered marshmallows (one was blueberry flavored!)
• Dinner at Chez Clement:  
• bacon-wrapped pollock steak w/mashed potatoes
• sausage, steak and chicken w/mashed potatoes
• 2 chocolate profiteroles
• chocolate tart topped with pears
• 1/2 carafe of wine
• 2 cafe au laits

Day 3

• Breakfast in our room:  Starbucks lattes and bananas from the "bio" (organic) grocery store
• Lunch at the Pompidou museum cafe:  ham & cheese baguette, sweet & spicy crisps
• Snack:  $9 (each!) caramel eclairs at L'Eclair de Genie
• Dinner at Le Royal:  
• cassoulet
• steak au poivre with frites
• 1/2 carafe of Sancerre

Day 4 (Thanksgiving Day)

• Breakfast at cafe around the corner:  2 cafe au laits, long Nutella pastry, large apricot & cream pastry
• Snack:  2 macarons from Dalloyau (grapefruit w/sesame seeds; Cognac);  cheese crepes
• Coffee break at Fauchon
• Pre-dinner:  wine at Verjus a Vin
• Thanksgiving Dinner at Kunitoraya on 1 Rue Villedo 75001
• udon with duck
• udon with beef

Day 5

• Breakfast at Julien Boulangerie:  spinach & salmon quiche, 2 coffees
• Snack in the St. Michel district:  crepe with Nutella, banana and Grand Marnier
• Snack in Montmatre at Starbucks: espresso
• Lunch in Montmatre:  crepe with cheese, mushrooms and egg
• Dinner in our room:  baguette, organic ham, petit Brie, Italian grapes, red wine, macarons (chocolat, citron, framboise)

Day 6

• Breakfast at cafe around the corner:  grilled apple pastry, cafe au lait, espresso
• Lunch:  picked up a sandwich around the corner to take on the train to Poissy
• Snack/Dinner at Angelina:  Champagne, dark hot chocolate, white hot chocolate, a millefuille pastry, a pastry that they recommended since they ran out of the one I wanted

Day 7

• Breakfast at Starbucks (everything else was closed on Sunday):  espresso, latte, chocolate chip muffin, pancakes
• Lunch in St. Michel district:  ham & cheese crepe; egg, cheese and doner kebab chicken crepe
• Snack at Starbucks:  latte, orange juice
• Dinner at Chez Clement near our hotel:  beet root salad, steak & frites, duck breast & frites, profiteroles

Day 8

• Breakfast at cafe around the corner:  amazing pear almond tart; disappointing raisin roll; espresso

Airplane

• Airplane food
• My last macarons that I bought from the Fauchon boutique in the airport

Recipe: Three-Mushroom-and-Quinoa Salad

I've made farro before, but this was my first time making quinoa.  We made the Three-Mushroom-and-Quinoa Salad from Food and Wine Magazine (Dec 2013, p. 240).  I'm not a fan of this recipe.  It was just blah. . . not flavorful.  Perhaps, it was because we didn't include the pine nuts, but I highly doubt that.

One thing I did learn from making this recipe is that 3 cups of quinoa (which is what the recipe calls for) can feed an army.  For 2 people, we should have made 1/2 a cup, and I think we'd still have leftovers.

If anyone has a great quinoa recipe I should try, please comment below!

A 22-Course Meal in 22 Settings

Watch this 4-minute video on YouTube from The New York Times.  So wish I could experience this -- at Ultraviolet Restaurant in Shanghai.  Chef Paul Pairet has transformed the dining experience into an amazing theatrical production.

Recipe: Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta

Need a fun chocolate dessert to make for the holidays?  Try this Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta recipe that I found on Martha Stewart's website.  There's something about the texture of panna cotta that I LOVE.  The gelatin gives it a different consistency than mousse, but note that this recipe is still as rich and decadent as mousse.

I topped the panna cotta with homemade Kahlua whipped cream (beat up some heavy whipping cream with a little powdered sugar and Kahlua), chocolate shavings (used a vegetable peeler to create curls off of a regular chocolate bar) and raspberries.

Delish.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Sparkling: Maschio Prosecco Brut DOC Treviso

Note:  I'm not a supertaster nor a sommelier or wine connoisseur.  These are just simple tasting notes for myself and to remind me whether I liked the bottle.

• Grape:  100% Glera grape
• Official Tasting Notes:  Sparkling wine that is a light straw yellow in color with a lively froth; a bouquet of white peach 
• My Tasting Notes:  Light, citrusy, ever so slightly sweet, not very complex, would buy to use in cocktail recipes
• Price:  $10-13