Small Update and VOTE for me in a BLUE APRON contest!

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!

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:

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!

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.

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