mixed greens salad with avocado, radishes, red crimson onions, fennel, goat cheese and pecans with a valencia orange vinaigrette

Last Friday I had coffee with my pastor and left thinking, “I love my life.”  Coffee was great and was out of my usual Friday routine of Happy Hour with my best friends but mostly I was feeling an overwhelming sense of contentment.  For the last few months, much of my free time has been spent thinking about what I want to do with my life.  Although this has been a freeing process, I left coffee thinking that there are arenas that I’m needed.  Yes, I with my flaws, hick ups, and highly introverted nature have giftings that only I can present to the world.

After coffee I visited for the first time Farm Lot 59 located in Long Beach near Signal Hill, picked up some produce and walked around the farm.  Farm Lot 59 is a non-profit urban farm that grows food and flowers without pesticides, raises hens for pest management, and has bee hives for pollination.  I was delighted to see in rows and raised beds greens, herbs, squash, tomatoes, corn, artichokes and some fruit trees.  With a chicken coup and tales of rabbits getting into the farm, you would never believe that you’re in the city.

Farm Lot 59 participated in the Farm to Table dinner that I attended a month ago.  We had a similar salad at the dinner that was really tasty.   The green onions were delicious and the valencia oranges were so juicy.  I look forward to stopping in again before doing my weekly grocery shopping.

I decided to make an orange viniagrette dressing with honey and rice vinegar.  I really like the texture that the dressing takes on when the honey and vinegar are mixed.  I added some whole grain dijon mustard to give it a kick and used the juice of one whole orange.

Valencia Orange Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup rice-wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil or expeller pressed canola oil
• 3 tsp honey
• 1 tsp whole grain dijon mustard
• juice of 1 small valencia orange

Directions

• In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the vinegar and oil.  Add the honey and mix well with a beater.  Add the mustard and orange juice until well combined.

Mixed Greens Salad with Avocado, Radishes, Red Crimson Onions, Fennel, Goat Cheese, and Pecans

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 2 handfuls of mixed greens such as kale, collard greens, arugula, broccoli rabe, and dandelion greens
• 2 radishes, sliced
• 2 red crimson onions (or green), bulb portions only, sliced
• 1 small fennel root, sliced, plus 2 Tbs fennel leaves
• 1-2 ounces goat cheese
• 1/2 avocado, diced
• 1/4 cup pecans

Directions

• Wash and dry the greens.  Cut up or tear into small pieces.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the greens with 3 Tbs of the prepared dressing and a dash of kosher salt.  Massage the greens for 2 to 3 minutes until they start to soften.
• Add the radishes, onions, fennel root slices, and goat cheese in small chunks.  Add the pecans and avocado.  Mix well to combine and add extra dressing as needed.
• Serve with torn pieces of fennel leaves on top.

Red Velvet Cake Pops and Cake Pop Process

Oh my!  Two weeks have gone by and I am still craving these AMAZING red velvet cake pops.  My roommate who made them with me for a bridal shower will testify.  They were so good and yet the flavor is so subtle.

I used this delicious Montclair Martha’s Red Velvet Cake from Martha Stewart.  It looked so beautiful and was so much fun to bake.

This was the first time that we’ve been asked to make cake pops for a party.  It’s like that moment as a kid when you set up a lemonade stand and think, “We could make money with this” but in the end just remember the joy you had.

We intended to make the cake pops red to match the wedding colors but we didn’t have enough food die.  You can use gel food colors to add color without affecting the consistency, but it takes a lot.  If you want the color spot on, purchase the pre-died candy melts.  Our cake pops turned out pink, still a great color for a bridal shower in spring.

Here’s some of the biggest things we’ve learned:

1. “Make ‘n Mold” Candy Wafers from Alin Pary Supply in Long Beach (and I suppose other large party stores) and the high quality candy melts from specialty cake shops work the best.  Wilton’s candy melts do not come out nearly as smooth.  Use Almond Bark as your last resort.
2. Purchase small disposable plastic containers that are deep enough to get the entire cake pop in but not too wide.  I bought 16 oz containers with a lid.  Super handy for storing left over candy melts.
3. When hardening the pops in the freezer, let them almost come back to room temperature before using.  If you dip the pops too early, the condensation and expansion (can you tell that I’m an engineer?) of the pops will cause the coating to crack.  Murphy’s law (or something) will act against you.  This time around we were successful to have no pops crack.

And here’s our cake pop process.  All of our techniques we learned from Bakerella and by trial and error.  I took a few photos of the process and will include more in the future for visual learners.

• Make the cake as a large sheet cake and let it cool completely.
• Make half the amount of frosting from your chosen recipe (purchase enough ingredients for a full just in case).  You will rarely use all the frosting.
• Transfer half the cake to a large pyrex bowl and completely crumble the cake with your fingers.  This is the funnest part!

• Add the frosting sparingly until the “cake” is moist but not soggy.  It is better to error on the side of less frosting to just hold the cake together.  The candy melts will do their job!

• Form the cake into quarter size balls and transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper: Gather enough cake loosely for the “quarter” and then squeeze with your fist.

• Form the cake into a ball by rolling in your fingers.

• Transfer the cake balls to the freezer for about 10 minutes.  You can make the cake balls all at once or as you make the cake pops.  Remove the cake balls from the freezer and let them come almost back to room temperature, until just chilled.
• Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Gather your Popsicle sticks (the long skinny ones are the best), candy melts, and plastic container.  Melt a small amount of candy melts (you can add the dye if desired), just enough to dip the sticks.
• Melt the candy melts in 30 second increments (at 70-80% heat) and stir until smooth but not overheated.
• Dip the stick in the melted candy about 1/2 inch and tap off the excess.  Insert the stick in the prepared cake ball about halfway.  Transfer to the cookie sheet, laying down.  This step is crucial to keep the cake pops on the stick.
• When your cookie sheet is full, transfer to the freezer for another 10 minutes to harden.
• Gather your candy melts, stand, dye, sprinkles, edible pens, decorating supplies, plastic goody bags, and plastic containers.
• Remove the a cookie sheet of cake balls with sticks from the freezer.  Let them come almost to room temperature, until just chilled.
• Prepare a Styrofoam block, cake pop stand (these are awesome), or short glasses (at the very least) to dry the pops.  You can hold them until they dry and then lay down, but it will take much longer.
• Melt enough candy melts to dip the cake pops.  It works best if you can dip them upside down.  Add the dye if desired.
• Dip a cake pop into the plastic container of melted candy and twist to coat if needed.  Remove from the candy and gently tap away the excess.  This post from Bakerella is pretty helpful.
• Before the candy melts, add your sprinkles.  If you are having trouble with the sticks or are low on time, you can make cake balls instead.
• Allow the cake pops to dry completely and then you can decorate them.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew and have fun!

Thanks Roomie for being my hand model.  Hehe.  We’ve come so far!  Remember our first set of cake pops?  The snow men, raindeer, chicken, and old man?

An Earth Day celebration FARM TO TABLE DINNER and Asian Style Black Cod with Roasted Vegetables

A few weeks ago, I attended an Earth Day celebration highlighting urban farmers, sustainable food practices, and a Farm to Table dinner in which we had the opportunity to meet Long Beach local farmers and learn about small farm economics firsthand.  Urban farmers and advocates set up booths in an empty city lot on Pine Ave, just blocks away from the Long Beach Grand Prix, to showcase their spring bounty and provide information about the local food movement.

In the same empty city lot as the sun was setting, preparations were at hand for a Farm to Table Dinner put on by Long Beach Primal Alchemy Catering.  A long community table was set with glistening wine glasses and beautiful flowers, local Old-Time band Moonsville Collective warmed up on a stage set against a graffiti art painted brick wall, and the chefs prepared the food in an open kitchen.

While watching the chefs prep in the open air kitchen, we socialized and enjoyed appetizers such as Spring Vegetable Ragu on Crostini, topped with Mustard Lemon Aioli.  Passing a multi-course family style dinner down the table, we sat amongst strangers but quickly made friends.  My favorite was the Asian Style Black Cod and the Roasted & Seasoned Vegetables.  The black cod melted in your mouth like butter; I didn’t know something so healthy could taste so good!  Before the dinner I observed the chef preparing the vegetables and asked the head chef about the marinade for the black cod.

If you are a Long Beach native and are interested in experiencing a Farm to Table dinner, the next is a brunch at Farm Lot 59 on June 23, 2013.  The information is not on their website yet, but I will try to post it when it is available.

Needless to say, this experience inspired me to make an Asian Style Black Cod with Shitake Mushrooms atop of Quinoa with Roasted Farmer’s Market Vegetables.  I have learned how to cook Asian food (though with my own twist) over the last three years from a wonderful Taiwanese roommate.  Even though LA offers amazing Taiwanese Pho, Chinese Dim Sum, Korean Barbeque, and Japanese Sushi it is only by opening myself to new cultures and making Asian friends that I’ve created my own style of Asian cooking.

Asian Style Black Cod and Shitake Mushrooms and Quinoa

Dry Shitake mushrooms are available at Asian markets such as 99 Ranch Market and Zion (in LA) and come whole or sliced.  Though you can simply soak the mushrooms before cooking with them, if you boil in water with green onions and ginger they will retain moisture and therefore more readily soak up the flavor of your soup or stir fry.  Boiled mushrooms can be stored in your fridge for up to one week.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

• 1 large black cod (3/4-1 lb) frozen or fresh
• 2 ounces dry Shitake mushrooms (about 20)
• 1 cup quinoa
• 5 Green Onions, chopped
• 2 tsp ginger, minced
• 2 Tbs Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbs Sesame Oil
• 1/4 tsp fish sauce
• 1 lemon grass stalk, chopped

Directions

• If the fish is frozen, remove from the fridge the night before to thaw.
• Boil 2 quarts of water in a large pot.  Add 3 green onions and 1 tsp ginger along with the dry Shitake mushrooms.  Reduce the heat to low and cover.  Simmer for at least 30 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  Retain at least 1/2 cup of the broth.
• Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, remaining green onions, remaining ginger, and lemon grass for the marinade.
• Lay the black cod in a large baking dish and cover with the marinade.  Cover and place in the fridge for 3o minutes.
• In the meantime, prepare the quinoa according to the package instructions.
• Remove the fish from the fridge and bring it to room temperature.  Slice 4 of the shitake mushrooms and add to the fish.  Broil on high for 8-10 minutes per inch of flesh measured at the thickest park of the fish or until fish is cooked through.  Add 1/2 cup of the mushroom broth and swirl around the pan until all the soy sauce is absorbed my the broth.
• Note: if preparing with the Roasted Vegetables, broil the black cod after the vegetables are ready to serve.

Roasted Farmer’s Market Vegetables with Grape Seed Oil and Lemon

Pick an assortment of vegetables from your local organic market or Farmer’s Market.  I like to browse the Farmer’s Market and see what inspires me.

Ingredients

• 2 Golden Beets, tops removed and quartered
• 1 large green onion bulb, sliced (like an orange)
• 2 cups small Brussels Sprouts, whole
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-3 Tbs Grape Seed Oil
• 1/4 lemon juiced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Arrange the brussels sprouts and golden beets in a baking dish.  Scatter the sliced onions on top.   Top with the garlic and drizzle with 1 Tbs Grape Seed Oil (or extra virgin olive oil).
• Cover and bake for 30-45 minutes until tender, removing from the oven every 15 minutes and adding more oil.  At 30 minutes squeeze the lemon juice on top.  Remove the lid for the last 5 minutes of baking.  Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, place a slice of black cod on top of the quinoa, add a few mushroom slices and drizzle with a tablespoons of the mushroom stock/soy sauce mixture.  Serve alongside the roasted vegetables.

Red Quinoa Strata with Roasted Mushrooms, Swiss Chard and Aged Cheddar Cheese

I planted bok choi, swiss chard, strawberries and fennel in my garden about a month ago despite telling myself that I would keep up only a small garden this summer.  When I purchased the starter plants, they looked easy enough to maintain but have proven otherwise.  I find that with my busy schedule I don’t have time to water, a few of the pots aren’t large enough, and bugs are eating my bok choi.  Last summer gardening was much more of a hobby than it is now!

And so I am experiencing the same with blogging.  I am cooking more now but my busy schedule has made blogging difficult.  Summer is quickly approaching but my style of cooking is stuck in winter.  My time seems filled with bridal showers, weddings, and special dinners (some of which I will share soon).

I cooked this Strata about a month ago, but it feels like ages now.  I have so much that I want to share about what is going on, but it feels that I must catch up first.  I must catch up on what I’ve blogged and try to catch up with fellow bloggers.

I am now beginning to see just a glimpse of what other bloggers experience when they have cookbooks to write, traveling for photography, or cooking for parties; though my time has mostly been filled with cooking for people I love and blessing them with good food.  Isn’t it exciting when much of your free time is filled with the things you love to do?

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1/2-1 cup cooked red quinoa (depending on how deep you want the “crust”)
• 4 thin thin slices of polenta
• 8 ounces large crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 stalks of rainbow swiss chard, chopped with stalks separate
• 2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 stalks of thyme
• 7 eggs
• 1/4 cup half and half or coconut milk
• 1 cup aged cheddar cheese, shredded such as Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Butter a 9″x9″ glass pan.
2. Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions.
3. Preheat oven to 400 deg. F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread the mushrooms in a single layer over the parchment paper and sprinkle with 1-2 Tbs olive oil.  Cover with leaves of 1 stalk of thyme.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes until soft and lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and set aside.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 35o deg. F.
6. Heat 1 Tbs of olive oil over medium high heat in a large pan until the oil begins to shine.  Add the chopped swiss chard stalks and cook for 1 minute.  Mix in the remaining swiss chard until all the oil is absorbed.  Cover for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Steam will form when covered, helping the swiss chard to cook.  During the last minutes, add the remaining thyme leaves and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. In a medium size bowl, mix the eggs and half and half.
8. In another medium size bowl, mix half the mushrooms, half the swiss chard and the cooked quinoa.
9. Now layer the strata in the glass pan, first with the cooked quinoa mixture, then the polenta slices, then the egg mixture, then the remaining mushrooms and swiss chard, and finally the cheese.
10. Bake at 350 deg. F. for 25-35 minutes, until the egg is cooked, cheese is melted and the edges are browned.  The egg will look juicy and continue to cook when removed from the oven.

Garlic Serrano dipping sauce

Life has been so busy the last few weeks that I’ve found it difficult to make the time for blogging.  The last two weekends were consumed with a birthday and then a bridal shower.  I’m here just checking in to share this dipping sauce that I created a month ago.

I love discovering new foods and experimenting with well known foods.  I got the idea for this sauce at a farmer’s market stand serving a Serrano pepper sauce with lettuce.  It was unique, but got me thinking.  What if I use a green like kale or dandelion greens instead of the lettuce and punch up the flavor with garlic and green onions?

I would like to have a dipping sauce or dressing that I could whip up with every meal, but since that doesn’t fit my nature of experimentation well I will settle for discovering them as I go.

Ingredients

• 2 Serrano peppers, seeds removed
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 green onions
• 1 handful dandelion greens (optional)
• 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbs agave nectar
• juice of 1/4 lime
• Milk to make the sauce creamy (as needed)

Directions

• Pulse the Serrano peppers, garlic cloves, green onions and dandelion greens in a food processor.
• Transfer the greens to a blender and add the sour cream, agave nectar, and lime juice
• Fully mix all the ingredients in the blender.  Add a tablespoon of milk if the sauce is too thick.

gluten free Carrot-Cake Cake Balls (and Easter chickies)

Happy Easter.  Whether you celebrate Easter as a religious holiday or a celebration of family, Easter is about new life and transformation. Look outside and you’ll see that change is in the air.  Surprisingly, spring comes on very gradually here in Los Angeles but you can see the changes.  The days are longer, spring vegetables are ready to plant, and we are enjoying the warm air.

My first memory of Easter is from when I was maybe 4 years old.  The small town I lived in sponsored an Easter egg hunt in which there was a sand pile full of money.  From my age group, I pulled out the most money that day.  Maybe 50 dollars??  I don’t even know if this is a real memory or a memory that I’ve created from stories, but it came to me this morning.

It reminded me that I am out for the treasure.  I’ve called myself a perfectionist, but really I don’t have the attention to detail.  What I love is seeing a transformation; realizing a final product that you will only get if you follow a process.  Now, that process may be pre-defined or you might create it along the way, but regardless a transformation requires a vision of the end product.  Thank goodness for Youtube videos and photographs!

These carrot cake cake pops are about creating a beautiful finished product to put on display; maybe for a birthday party, bridal shower, or wedding.  And given the cake mixed with frosting, covered with candy coating; they are bound to taste good!

The queen of cake pops is Bakerella and it has been so much fun to get ideas and gain tools.  Look at her website for complete instructions and tools.  I’ll just share some basic steps.

1. Bake the cake.  I used this Martha Stewart recipe and substituted all purpose gluten free flour.  It looked so beautiful that I couldn’t resist, even though I knew I would tear it up.  I am far from understanding how to use gluten free flour so that it tastes like white flour.  I am open to learning easy tips!
2. Make the frosting (purchase the products for an entire cake, but only make half the frosting).  I made this Honey Cream Cheese Frosting from a fellow blogger, Honey & Jam.
3. This is the fun part!  Remember all the times that your cake didn’t turn out right and you covered it up with frosting?  This time all the cake goes into a large bowl.  Yep, just dump it in!  Crumble the cake completely and add part of the frosting.  Mix the cake and frosting, gradually adding more frosting until the crumbs start to resemble cookie dough and it binds when you squeeze it with your fist.
4. Roll the dough into balls.  Follow these steps from Bakerella for basic cake pops and these steps for cake balls.  I purchased vanilla candy melts and sprinkled on pecans pieces.  You can use a candy food dye to add fun colors or candy sprinkle for some flair.  Purchase candy melts at a party stores or local cake shop.
5. Prepare a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Once you melt the candy coating, you will need to move fast.  Be sure and use the correct bowl.  I used a very round bowl so that I could dip and then scoop out the cake ball.  Tap off extra coating.
6. After laying the cake ball on the parchment paper, quickly draw a line around the ball with a tooth pick.  Then add sprinkles or pecans.  Remember, they dry super quick!

I put these together as a fun birthday cake, though you could explore better ways to present them.  I made an E with the colored cake balls to add some pop and celebrate my friend’s birthday party.

And here is a preview of the chickies in case you are in suspense.  Since spring is in the air, they would make a fun gift or party treat.  My roommate made these since she has the gift of attention to detail.  But, I made the cake!

white balance

This week I finally got around to using the Custom White Balance setting on my new camera, so I thought I would test out the different white balance settings.  It is amazing how different each shot turns out depending on the White Balance setting.  Some of the differences are subtle, but I think I’ve gained an important tool.

1. Auto White Balance

f/5.0, ISO 400, 18mm

2. Daylight White Balance

f/5.0, ISO 400, 18mm

3. Shade White Balance

f/5.0, ISO 400, 18mm

4. Cloudy White Balance

f/5.0, ISO 400, 18mm

5. Tungsten White Balance

f/5.0, ISO 400, 18mm

6. Custom White Balance

f/5.0, ISO 400, 20.mm