Experience it…

 

This Vietnamese dish is usually made with catfish, marinated with Vietnamese spices, then fried with dill. You may serve it with rice vermicelli, mint leaves, julienne cucumber, and lettuce. Sauce is made with shrimp paste, pineapple, garlic, sugar, vinegar, and chili sauce.

IMG_1057

IMG_0969 Hi, I had tons of lemons from one of my best friends and decided to make these honey lemon jars to give away for Chinese New Year. All you have to do is wash your lemons well, slice your lemons, drop them in a clean jar, pour the honey on top of the lemon slices until it is filled to the top. Refrigerate, and you can keep this a long time in the fridge. I use this medley of honey lemons for my morning tea. It soothe your throat and body to wake you up to a calming state. But I have to say, this recipe was given to me by my other best friend in San Jose. Thanks Olivia, you are the best.

So if you have a neighbor who has a lemon tree, go for it….this is a great way to preserve your lemons.

Wake up to the soothing aroma of honey lemon!

IMG_0970

Feb
12

design_image_666227

Go to http://www.champagnebakery.com/ to get some of their Valentine’s Day sweet treats!

 

Holiday_001

Tuxedos strawberries. Available in dark or milk chocolate!

37

Filled heart cookies filled with raspberry jam, dipped in sugar powder! Yum!

 

Try AnQi, in Costa Mesa, in the South Coast Plaza Shopping Center. This Vietnamese fusion bistro is the new hot spot in town. It serves delicate dishes, tapas style servings. I will go and try it soon myself. In the meantime, go on ahead and let me know what you think. I will be glad to post some of your pictures on my blog. Email them to me.

Since it is the heart of a hot shopping spot, you might even meet some of the Vietnamese singers from Paris By Night!

 
 

A few weekends ago, I decided to make some fried butter frog legs. My boys went to the restaurant one day, and ordered them as appetizers. We had about 6 pieces in our dish….Needless to say, I did not get my frog leg. So I decided to make them, and have some at home. Easy like pie. And delish like the restaurant. The only thing I wish was a stronger stove top to have a crunchier texture. It is an A on my list!

I also made periwinkles sauteed with coconut and basil leaves. It was the frozen kind, I couldn’t find the fresh version. Of course, it is nothing to compare to the fresh ones, but you gotta do with what you have! Periwinkles were drenched a tasty coconut sauce….yum. I am drooling as I am writing you this post, aren’t you?

Check out my pictures!

 

IMG_0580

 

IMG_0581

 

IMG_0592

IMG_0588

 

Banh Cuon is a Vietnamese thin rice crepe, filled with ground pork and black mushrooms. It is usually served with pork sausage (Cha Lua), steamed bean sprouts, fresh mint, cilantro, and julienne cucumbers. Sweet fish sauce accompany the dish. Sprinkle some dried fried shallots as well! Add some shrimp fried yams, and there you have it. I made mine simple without the shrimps yams. It was super good since I have no leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

IMG_0564

 

 

IMG_0567

 

IMG_0566

I love Brazilian food. This restaurant is located in Irvine, by the John Wayne Airport. It is open table dinner style. This means you pay one price, you have a two sided card, green and red, green means it is a go, and servers dressed in gauchos can come and serve some juicy meats at your table. Turn the card to red to take a break and enjoy a sip of your favorite wine. On top of the open table dinner dishes, you also have a buffet spread that includes top hors d’oeuvres. Buffet includes smoked salmon, mozzarella cheese with tomato slice and basil leaf, salami and prosciutto, clams, mussels, Brazilian black bean soup, garlic mash potatoes, artichoke hearts, baby palms, and the list goes on and on. Needless to say, the buffet items will fill your stomach on its own! Adults for dinner is $41 each. Visit their website for more details http://www.agoranow.com/

 

See my mouthwatering pictures!

IMG_0339Salami and smoked salmon! 

 

IMG_0334

Our bottle of Hartford Zinfandel to start our dinner

IMG_0348

The famous Agora card, one side is green and the other is red!

Green means “keep bringing me the food”, red means “stop, I need a break!”

IMG_0350

Bryan waiting patiently as his server dressed in gauchos is trimming

a slice of leg of lamb! You can also see a banana

drenched in sweet sugar and sprinkled with a dash of cinnamon!

IMG_0351

Up close and personal leg of lamb!

IMG_0352

Some of the items here were from the buffet!, tabouleh, salami,

smoked salmon, hearts of palm, mozzarella cheese, capers

IMG_0358 

Beef Ribs!

 

IMG_0362

We are cheering for our first lamb chops!

IMG_0378

We finished my birthday celebration with Blood Orange sorbet.

It was so refreshing, and the true flavor of the blood orange.

IMG_0371

Blowing my candle with a Brazilian Flan. Yum!

IMG_0157

Abalones have been rather affordable for us to approach. back in the days, abalones used to be $30 to $50 a piece! Now, it was a major splurge if you ever had a chance to put your mouth in one of those!

In today’s market, abalones have been found at $2.99 a piece. We found this beautiful jewels at our local Asian market. With the help of Jackie, a food fanatic like me, is showing us how to clean them. Abalones are in the snail family. The flesh of the abalone  is tough, therefore it takes 2 hours to poach them in low heat. Once poached, the flesh is tender. But why don’t you watch our recipe tutorial and see for yourself.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Ingredients: (depending on guest numbers)

  • 6 Abalones
  • Fish roe
  • chopped scallion
  • 1 cup of water

Preparation:

  • scoop your abalones
  • clean the gut
  • clean with a heavy brush all the black part of the abalone
  • make sure to keep your abalone shells for presentation
  • in a pot, with 1 cup of water drop your abalone for poaching
  • poach abalones for 2 hours at low heat
  • remove them, let them cool a little bit
  • slice the abalones
  • display in the shells, in the video, we displayed our shells on crushed ice
  • add a teaspoon of fish roe on top
  • add your chopped scallion
  • ready to be served!
  • Yummy!

IMG_0155 What is endive? Endive is in the lettuce family. Endives are best when they receive less light, unlike other vegetables and fruits. By getting less light onto their leaves, this will control their bitterness. The greener the leaves, the bitter it is. No wonder, you only see yellow leaves endives in the market, sometimes you see red leaves endives. With all this extra care, the endive does cost more than any other vegetable in your grocery store. Endives have lots of fiber. Eating endives can help you regulate your bowel movements. I usually prepare my endives as part of an appetizer dish. In fact, being raised in France, we actually eat a lot of endives in Europe as a lettuce. We mix it in the salad, use the leafy spoon like leaf to dip it in a mustard dressing.

Here’s a recipe you can make , and serve along with your endives.

Watch us on Youtube for recipe tutorial. Remember to subscribe with us through youtube for additional recipe tutorial. Let us know your comments.

 

 

Spoonful shrimps endives:

Ingredients:

  • 2 endives
  • 1 pound of shrimps
  • 1/4 cup of fresh chopped cilantro
  • 1 small yellow bell pepper
  • 1/2 tsp of black pepper
  • 1 tsp of sugar
  • 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp of Dijon mustard

Preparation:

  • wash your endives, they should be rather clean, since the leaves are very tight. Drain them
  • Separate the leaves delicately.
  • Boil your shrimp with 1 cup of water. A few minutes is enough. Don’t overcook your shrimp.
  • Peel and devein the shrimp, rough chop your shrimps
  • Chop your yellow bell pepper, as if you were doing a salsa
  • In a separate bowl, add the mustard, balsamic, pepper, sugar, mix well, to dissolve your sugar
  • Mix all ingredients in a salad bowl. Shrimps, yellow bell pepper, cilantro, sauce mix
  • Display the endives in platter, scoop the shrimp cocktail into the end of the endives, the yellow part. Your guest will hold the endives from the white part.

Enjoy a healthy Delight Dining appetizer.