HELLO! It's been a while, life has been hectic. Hopefully, I'll be able to blog more liked I used too! But, I wanted to share a contest that I entered with Blue Apron and would love for you to vote for me! It is through Facebook and you can only vote once with your Facebook account. It'll mean so much to me! Voting ends April 11th. Blue Apron's #DIYtakeout contest Vote Pholeeshia! =)
Until Next Time!
CheFelicia!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
MMM Shroba!
Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season and ate like a glutton! (I sure did!) I had a fabulous time back in Los Angeles for the holidays and then went up to San Francisco to spend the New Year!
Here are some (eating) highlights from my LA and SF adventures!
LA:
SF:
I wanted to make something warm for the cold...er nights we've had in Santa Barbara and I always think a noodle soup is the best way to go. I'd love to hear what you like to make for your cold nights!
In my freezer I had froze shrimp with everything attached and decided to make a broth with the shrimp shells. I'm not one to waste and I love sucking the shrimp shells, especially the head! There's SO much great flavor in there!! I also froze some lobster shells from the past and put some in the broth as well to UMPH the flavor a little more. I also added a little chicken bouillon (for salt), sliced ginger, shrimp, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and sliced white mushrooms to the broth.
Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of the wonton making process. Sorry! My hands were dirty and I was home alone. But I used ground turkey (healthier) and I know it can get dry so I added some sesame oil to give it a bit more fat and flavor. Added diced up shrimp, garlic, onion, ground black pepper and garlic powder. I wrapped them with wonton sheets found at the market.
I quickly blanched the soba noodles because the hot broth would cook it in the bowl.
And there you have it! Wontons with soba noodles in a seafood broth. The aroma was unbelievable (who doesn't love the smell of seafood?!).
Here are some (eating) highlights from my LA and SF adventures!
LA:
A birthday/surprise Christmas meal I treated my friends to at Connie and Ted's with a surprise appearance from Ben Savage aka Cory Matthews who sat behind me. Possibly on a first date.
Hot lobster roll, clam cakes, fried clams&bellies, and Portuguese fish stew. For all the hype Connie and Ted's has, it was a letdown for me. Food was mediocre...just fried. But the company was great!
My friend treated me to a great meal at EMC Raw Bar in Koreatown. We both love raw oysters ($1 during happy hour ain't too shabby either) soo...we both had 2 dozen each. We also ordered the truffle fries with an amazing truffle aioli (and I don't normally eat aioli), and garlic noodles (garlicky, and not oily). I can't wait to go back to eat more oysters!
Obligatory hot pot at home. I don't see my family that much, but the week that I was home we ate at this dining table twice, which is way more than when I lived at home. Ever.
Christmas breakfast that I salvaged from my mom. She..cannot cook and that's why she mainly only eats cereal, salad, nuts&seeds, or goes out to eat. I will give her credit for putting the fruit plate together. I covered her pancakes with mine on top.
Until next time meal at Lawry's for my brother and I. My brother says there's no good prime rib places in NY, so he always wants prime rib when he comes to LA. Lawry's spinning salad, Lawry's cut with mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, petite cut with creamed corn, and miso glazed salmon with green beans. My brother gnawing on his bone.
SF:
NYE's meal with my other half and one of my closest and dearest friend at the House of Prime Rib. Spinning salad, corn bread, HOPR cut with mashed potatoes and creamed corn. After having both well known prime rib restaurants, I prefer Lawry's. The meat is much more tender (used a butter knife to cut into the rib), the creamed corn is sweeter, and I like the balsamic dressing on their salad.
Beef and kurobuta pork sukiyaki with egg raw dip in Japantown. A great soulsifying meal.
The best dry chicken wings in SF is at San Tung. FINGER LICKING GOOD. Sweet, garlicky, hint of spice..I can go for some now.
A must whenever I'm in SF. Cal Italia pizza (fig, proscuitto, balsamic) at Tony's Napoletana in North Beach. THIS PIZZA IS ME.
I MEAN ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! SO CUTE and DELICIOUS. Green tea crepe with green tea ice cream, adzuki (red) beans, and rice cakes.
Went wine tasting in Napa and had to make a visit to Bouchon Bakery. Salted caramel, pistachio, and passionfruit macaron. Passionfruit was a huge let down..there was no passionfruit taste at all. It was just sweet. The pistachio was spot on though..full on pistachio flavor. I didn't try the salted caramel..I don't like caramel.
My brother had gotten me a tin of Williams Sonoma sugar cookie mix with sprinkles because he wanted me to make cookies for him. Too bad my friend made them in SF. Spruced up sugar thumb print cookies with Hershey's kiss macadamia nut from Hawaii on top! Most expensive cookies I've had.. $40! But made with organic ingredients!
If you want to know where the good eats are located in SF (and some other destinations) follow my friend on Instagram @eatsf . You can also follow me @pholeeshia !
NOW the dish I present you in my first 2014 post are homemade shrimp and turkey wontons with soba noodles in a seafood broth!
I wanted to make something warm for the cold...er nights we've had in Santa Barbara and I always think a noodle soup is the best way to go. I'd love to hear what you like to make for your cold nights!
In my freezer I had froze shrimp with everything attached and decided to make a broth with the shrimp shells. I'm not one to waste and I love sucking the shrimp shells, especially the head! There's SO much great flavor in there!! I also froze some lobster shells from the past and put some in the broth as well to UMPH the flavor a little more. I also added a little chicken bouillon (for salt), sliced ginger, shrimp, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and sliced white mushrooms to the broth.
Shrimp and lobster stock with ginger and a little chicken bouillon!
Shrimp for the wontons!
The finished product!
I quickly blanched the soba noodles because the hot broth would cook it in the bowl.
I realized I should've taken a better noodle photo but this works too!
And there you have it! Wontons with soba noodles in a seafood broth. The aroma was unbelievable (who doesn't love the smell of seafood?!).
Look at how deep the color of the broth is! It was rich and packed with great flavor and it didn't take long, either! Yeah..some of the wontons bursted. I'm human!
I hope you enjoyed this long, but filled with photos post! Cheers to a new year!
Until Next Time!
CheFelicia
Monday, December 9, 2013
Dat Ass
One of the things I miss about living in in Los Angeles is buying roasted meat like pork and duck at local Cantonese restaurants. I had my mind set on making my own cha siu (marinated roast pork) but when I went home, my uncle already had cha siu marinating and gave me a big hunk to bring back to SB!!! I had been craving cha siu with rice, a fried egg and vegetables..which is EXACTLY what I made!
The pork butt was marinating in a mixture of honey, hoisin, garlic, five spice powder, sesame oil, soy sauce, and rose wine. Just before I put it in the oven, I chopped up garlic and stuffed it inside.
Pork that was marinated for 4 days!
I knew we weren't going to finish such a big hunk of meat, so I cooked the entire piece at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, and then broiled it for 5 minutes. I would say 70% of the butt was cooked, which is good because I froze the leftovers to encapsulate the flavor and I can defrost and cook it fully the next time we eat it!
After 45 minutes of baking and 5 minutes of broiling. Love the charred parts!
I made some white rice, fried up a couple free range, organic chicken eggs I received from my other half's parents! (They have chickens at their house and these were fresh from the butt!), and steamed some cauliflower for the dish.
Air bubble covered the other yolk, but free range, organic eggs! The yolk was WAY more orange. Yum!
This dish brings me back to New York where I would eat it as a kid every time I visited Chinatown and to Hong Kong where I would order it at every restaurant. I mean, who doesn't love fluffy, sweet white rice paired with a sticky, perfectly charred piece of pork with a lush runny egg yolk?! So simple, yet complex at the same time. I'm tempted to make the other piece of pork as I write this!
Cha siu with rice, egg, cauliflower, sunburst cherry tomatoes and garnished with cilantro!
Perfectly moist pork
I can eat this everyday.
Until Next Time!
CheFelicia
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
To-may-to To-ma-to
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday! It feels like forever since I last blogged, but I have been cooking and I'm excited to share them with you!
I went to Los Angeles a few weekends ago and stocked up on some amazing cherry tomatoes and tomatoes on the vine..at the .99 Store!! The produce there is surprisingly very fresh because the produce at the SB store is always...rotten. I still had a few packages of tomatoes left to eat, but we were leaving for Thanksgiving, so I decided to make a fresh tomato sauce with them! I love making my own sauce because it's healthier, easy, and tastes great!
First I roasted onions, garlic, shallots, chili peppers and mushrooms in the oven to blend with the tomatoes.
Then I decided to blister the tomatoes open in a pan before blending them. After they were blistered, I didn't take too many photos because I was in the zone of getting it done and..forgot about photos.
Once the aromatics were roasted and the tomatoes were blistered, I blended them together and added ground black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, red chili flakes, cilantro, and parsley. In the pan, I sauteed more garlic, onion, and shallots and let the sauce simmer and I added mushrooms and balsamic vinegar. Because I didn't add salt, I decided to add a little bit of nuoc mum (Vietnamese fish sauce) to give it a salty/umami flavor. The tomatoes were acidic, so I balanced the sauce out by adding some hoisin sauce.
We ate the sauce the next day over medium sized shells and it was SO good. The hoisin gave it a nice sweetness, but you were still able to taste the acidity and freshness of the tomatoes. The cilantro I blended in also really stood out.
I had leftover sauce and I froze it until the next time I make pasta or pizza! I really want to grow my own tomato garden, but sadly, I have no space nor that much sunlight near me. Hoping to get more tomatoes to make sauce! If you haven't tried making your own sauce, I highly recommend it. Way better than the bright red sauce that comes in jars..although, I do use that too.
Until Next Time!
CheFelicia
I went to Los Angeles a few weekends ago and stocked up on some amazing cherry tomatoes and tomatoes on the vine..at the .99 Store!! The produce there is surprisingly very fresh because the produce at the SB store is always...rotten. I still had a few packages of tomatoes left to eat, but we were leaving for Thanksgiving, so I decided to make a fresh tomato sauce with them! I love making my own sauce because it's healthier, easy, and tastes great!
First I roasted onions, garlic, shallots, chili peppers and mushrooms in the oven to blend with the tomatoes.
Ingredients for tomato sauce!
Then I decided to blister the tomatoes open in a pan before blending them. After they were blistered, I didn't take too many photos because I was in the zone of getting it done and..forgot about photos.
Tomatoes in the process of blistering. The glare is from the condensation on the tomatoes.
Once the aromatics were roasted and the tomatoes were blistered, I blended them together and added ground black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne, red chili flakes, cilantro, and parsley. In the pan, I sauteed more garlic, onion, and shallots and let the sauce simmer and I added mushrooms and balsamic vinegar. Because I didn't add salt, I decided to add a little bit of nuoc mum (Vietnamese fish sauce) to give it a salty/umami flavor. The tomatoes were acidic, so I balanced the sauce out by adding some hoisin sauce.
Simmering sauce!
We ate the sauce the next day over medium sized shells and it was SO good. The hoisin gave it a nice sweetness, but you were still able to taste the acidity and freshness of the tomatoes. The cilantro I blended in also really stood out.
The mushrooms added a meatiness to the dish.
I love the deep red color!
Until Next Time!
CheFelicia
Thursday, November 7, 2013
A Few of my Favorite Things!
It feels like forever since the last time I blogged, so I thought I'd dedicate this post to the things that I've made, but never blogged about! And also some of my favorite eats around Santa Barbara!
I had gotten a bunch of great cherry tomatoes and wanted to make a tomato sauce, but didn't get that much to make it, so I divided them up into different meals. This stir fry I made with onions, shallots, garlic, crimini mushrooms, cubed pork loin, bursted tomatoes, and coconut water. My aunt had given me a ton of large Zico coconut water and besides drinking them (I'm more into drinking coconut water from a real coconut), I decided to cook with it! With this stir fry, I paired it with a garlic quinoa&brown rice. This meal is really good on a cold nigh because it's warm and filling. The acidity from the tomatoes rounded out the spices and balsamic vinegar that I added.
The next thing I made was a turkey bolognese in a tomato sauce with almost bursted tomatoes. Super simple and a quick dish to make! As usual, I put sauteed garlic, onions, and shallots, sliced button mushrooms, lean turkey, semi bursted tomatoes with cellentani pasta. I LOVE the shape of this pasta..I can't get over it. It's just so....cute!! These cherry tomatoes bursted in your mouth and were sweeter than the ones before. But good thing I added a little fish sauce for umami and saltiness since I didn't add any salt.
One thing I hate is to buy Vietnamese spring rolls because I know I can make them at home, although I can't roll it that well/it always comes out larger than what the rice paper can hold. And this time was no exception, however, it's still delicious and light! In my roll, I put romaine lettuce, green onion, slow roasted pork loin at 275degrees and seasoned with ground black pepper, garlic, and Japanese seasoned dried chilies, rice noodles, and lastly shrimp. I wanted to fat to drip and meld into the pork, but then I turned the broiler on to give it a crispy texture.
I had some hot house tomatoes that were getting pretty ripe, so to give the roll an extra freshness, I made a salsa with red onion, green onions, lime juice, garlic powder and ground black pepper. And I also made a spicy peanut sauce with crunchy peanut butter, water, hoisin sauce, sambal, fish sauce, and balsamic vinegar.
One night I felt like eating something reallly bad, so I made cheesy, beefy filled cresent rolls. I never had Pillsbury anything and DAMN. They are SO good. It makes me want to try ALL Pillsbury baked good products BUT I am going to refrain myself. I used leftover taco beef and added some more onions, garlic, and shallots and stuffed it into the crescent and put salsa con queso..(the one in a jar, I know), on top of the beef and rolled them up! I would say that crescent shaped rolls may have not been the best vehicle to roll them up in because they're not that large, but they still turned out REALLY good. If you ever want to eat something bad, that is it.
I have more things I've made but never posted, but I don't wanna bore anyone! Moving onto some good eats in Santa Barbara!
Sushi Teri is one of my go-to sushi restaurants in Santa Barbara and we ALWAYS get a volcano cake. It's salmon wrapped around sticky rice and topped off with scallops and baked. They finish it off with teriyaki sauce and squeeze of lemon juice. DELICIOUS.
We also get a variation of a couple rolls, a chirashi bowl, and a spicy tuna bowl. The fish is always fresh, but the service is not always on point.
A great brunch place for the weekend is Paradise Cafe. When I went, we wanted to get breakfast, but unfortunately they ran out of what I wanted, so we ordered lunch. The prices are pretty reasonable from $12-$18. I ordered the Oak Grilled Salmon filet and got half salad and half fries and my other half ordered the Ortega Burger with jack cheese and pasilla peppers. I ordered my salmon to be cooked medium without any butter or salt, but with slices of lemon. The salmon came out PERFECT. The oak gave the fish a great smoky flavor and the lemon enhanced its flavor even more and it was cooked perfectly.
The burger is very simple as you can see, but the patty packed great flavor. I was surprised at how good the burger was for being so simple. Thinking about it makes me want their burger...the patty was just that good.
I had gotten a bunch of great cherry tomatoes and wanted to make a tomato sauce, but didn't get that much to make it, so I divided them up into different meals. This stir fry I made with onions, shallots, garlic, crimini mushrooms, cubed pork loin, bursted tomatoes, and coconut water. My aunt had given me a ton of large Zico coconut water and besides drinking them (I'm more into drinking coconut water from a real coconut), I decided to cook with it! With this stir fry, I paired it with a garlic quinoa&brown rice. This meal is really good on a cold nigh because it's warm and filling. The acidity from the tomatoes rounded out the spices and balsamic vinegar that I added.
Tomato pork with garlic brown rice and quinoa
The next thing I made was a turkey bolognese in a tomato sauce with almost bursted tomatoes. Super simple and a quick dish to make! As usual, I put sauteed garlic, onions, and shallots, sliced button mushrooms, lean turkey, semi bursted tomatoes with cellentani pasta. I LOVE the shape of this pasta..I can't get over it. It's just so....cute!! These cherry tomatoes bursted in your mouth and were sweeter than the ones before. But good thing I added a little fish sauce for umami and saltiness since I didn't add any salt.
Turkey Bolognese. Love how the tomatoes burst in my mouth!
One thing I hate is to buy Vietnamese spring rolls because I know I can make them at home, although I can't roll it that well/it always comes out larger than what the rice paper can hold. And this time was no exception, however, it's still delicious and light! In my roll, I put romaine lettuce, green onion, slow roasted pork loin at 275degrees and seasoned with ground black pepper, garlic, and Japanese seasoned dried chilies, rice noodles, and lastly shrimp. I wanted to fat to drip and meld into the pork, but then I turned the broiler on to give it a crispy texture.
Baked and Broiled Pork for the Spring Rolls!
I had some hot house tomatoes that were getting pretty ripe, so to give the roll an extra freshness, I made a salsa with red onion, green onions, lime juice, garlic powder and ground black pepper. And I also made a spicy peanut sauce with crunchy peanut butter, water, hoisin sauce, sambal, fish sauce, and balsamic vinegar.
Shrimp and Pork spring roll with salsa and peanut sauxe
One night I felt like eating something reallly bad, so I made cheesy, beefy filled cresent rolls. I never had Pillsbury anything and DAMN. They are SO good. It makes me want to try ALL Pillsbury baked good products BUT I am going to refrain myself. I used leftover taco beef and added some more onions, garlic, and shallots and stuffed it into the crescent and put salsa con queso..(the one in a jar, I know), on top of the beef and rolled them up! I would say that crescent shaped rolls may have not been the best vehicle to roll them up in because they're not that large, but they still turned out REALLY good. If you ever want to eat something bad, that is it.
Golden, flaky, fluffy deliciousness
Blurry, but oozy gooey cheese and seasoned ground beef. YUM.
I have more things I've made but never posted, but I don't wanna bore anyone! Moving onto some good eats in Santa Barbara!
Beautiful Santa Barbara!
Sushi Teri is one of my go-to sushi restaurants in Santa Barbara and we ALWAYS get a volcano cake. It's salmon wrapped around sticky rice and topped off with scallops and baked. They finish it off with teriyaki sauce and squeeze of lemon juice. DELICIOUS.
Volcano Cake
We also get a variation of a couple rolls, a chirashi bowl, and a spicy tuna bowl. The fish is always fresh, but the service is not always on point.
Chirashi bowl
Couple of rolls
Spicy Tuna Bowl
Another great place I recently discovered for lunch is Sunnyside Deli and Market. There are a lot of sandwich places in Santa Barbara, and there's not many that I like because I don't think the price is worth it. I don't know if it's normal for sandwiches to cost around $9.50-$12.00, but if I'm paying that, I want it to be a damn good sandwich. However, I've finally found Sunnyside! Most sandwiches here are $9.50 and you can also make your own. I went and made my own with pastrami, roast beef, jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pepperonchinis and jalapenos on ciabetta bread for $9.50. There's also a ton of aiolis, condiments you can add, but I like my sandwiches without. It's one of the first sandwiches that just taste SUPER good. The meat isn't fatty, produce is fresh, and the bread is fresh. You can taste every single item in the sandwich and it's super flavorful without all the condiments. Can't wait to go back!
Build Your Own Sandwich - Ciabatta, Pastrami, Capicola, Pepper Jack Cheese and Garlic Jalapeno aioli
Salmon lunch. Simple and fresh!
The burger is very simple as you can see, but the patty packed great flavor. I was surprised at how good the burger was for being so simple. Thinking about it makes me want their burger...the patty was just that good.
The best burgers are simple and flavorful. This was one of them!
I have been cooking so expect some upcoming posts soon!
Until Next Time!
CheFelicia
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Curried Away!
Sorry for the lack of posts, but I have been cooking and I'm excited to share them with everyone!
I recently made seafood yellow curry with enoki mushrooms, but there's not many photos because once I got in the zone of cooking, I forgot to take photos. My bad!
Making curry is super simple and you don't need a lot of ingredients to make it good. For the curry base, I used Mae Ploy Thai Yellow Curry paste which you can find in any Chinese supermarket.
I first sliced and diced up my staple ingredients: garlic, shallots, onions, and I added ginger (not a staple ingredient). I sauteed them in the pan until they became tender to release their oils and added the curry paste and melded them all together. Then I added half a can of full fat coconut milk, let that simmer for 15 minutes, and added ground black pepper, garlic powder, and a tablespoon of sambal (chili paste). Since seafood and enoki mushrooms can overcook easily, I dropped them in at the last minute when I turned off the stove.
My aunt had given me a few packages of quinoa and brown rice mix and I decided to pair the curry with that.
I like using all different types of Mae Ploy's curry pastes because it's super aromatic and spicy! It makes making curry way easier at home and better than most restaurants.
I love leftovers because I can turn them into another meal by pairing it with another carb or vegetables, and it's like a whole new meal! Which is exactly what I did with the curry!
I had leftover curry but no more quinoa mix, so I decided to make curry udon and added some yellow corn kernals. All I did was boil 2 packages of udon, heated up the curry with the udon and added corn. It was sooo good. The curry had much more flavor and heat. The udon was a great vehicle for it.
I recently made seafood yellow curry with enoki mushrooms, but there's not many photos because once I got in the zone of cooking, I forgot to take photos. My bad!
Making curry is super simple and you don't need a lot of ingredients to make it good. For the curry base, I used Mae Ploy Thai Yellow Curry paste which you can find in any Chinese supermarket.
I first sliced and diced up my staple ingredients: garlic, shallots, onions, and I added ginger (not a staple ingredient). I sauteed them in the pan until they became tender to release their oils and added the curry paste and melded them all together. Then I added half a can of full fat coconut milk, let that simmer for 15 minutes, and added ground black pepper, garlic powder, and a tablespoon of sambal (chili paste). Since seafood and enoki mushrooms can overcook easily, I dropped them in at the last minute when I turned off the stove.
I love this mix. I can eat it raw!
Scallop, shrimp, and calamari seafood! The calamari was whole and I had to clean them, that was pretty fun. I did have an accident when one of the eyes popped and ink? splattered all over.
Yellow seafood curry with enoki mushrooms on a bed of quinoa and brown rice garnished with green onions.
I like using all different types of Mae Ploy's curry pastes because it's super aromatic and spicy! It makes making curry way easier at home and better than most restaurants.
I forgot to slice the calamari, but they were super tender whole. Yum!
Curry udon!
I had leftover curry but no more quinoa mix, so I decided to make curry udon and added some yellow corn kernals. All I did was boil 2 packages of udon, heated up the curry with the udon and added corn. It was sooo good. The curry had much more flavor and heat. The udon was a great vehicle for it.
I added black sesame seeds with some spicy Japanese seasoning my friend got me!
Until Next Time!
CheFelicia
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