Camp Monkey Muffin for the Mini Chef(and artist)

If you have a child and are in West LA this summer, I will be teaching cooking classes at Camp Monkey Muffin. Edy Pickens, art teacher at Brentwood Elementary, leads this day camp, which is a "camp for creative children...who are stimulated by the fundamental elements of the visual and/or performing arts."

Activities will include learning creative media programs such as iMovie, Photoshop, Garage Band, and ProTools, graffiti art, landscaping, and MY class, The Art of Cooking.

There will be two one-week sessions this summer: July 14-July 18 and July 21-July 25.

Goodbye Yogurt, Hello Cream Puff!

My friend Alvin has been telling me to visit Beard Papa's for months now. I remember seeing one on Sawtelle when I was at the grocery store and thought, why are all these people in line for a cream puff?

So, I didn't take my dear friend's advice until a couple of weeks ago.  I'm so tired of seeing lines for frozen yogurt, cupcakes, and hot dogs. Especially when, after tasting these treats, I've been left disappointed. Hello! Don't believe the hype, Angelenos. Do you really think you like green tea yogurt THAT much?!?! Please.

Anyway, Marc and I were getting lunch at Mitsuwa in Little Tokyo and saw a Beard Papa's there. There was not a single person in line so I tho

ught what the heck, let's get some dessert.

Wow! What I have been missing! So yogurt is supposed to be healthy. Who cares when a cream puff is sure to hit the spot MUCH more 

than some frozen bacteria(that apparently doesn't do any good...if it's in a Pinkberry cup, anyway)?!?

Beard Papa's has the cream puff down. A crispy shell of a puff, while the inside remains light and eggy almost like a souffle. The vanilla custard was fantastic and made with real vanilla beans. 

Marc had a chocolate frosted one which I didn't care for as much. Stick with the original and you will taste something that I think is the only food I MIGHT consider standing in line for.

Maybe.

Shumai Heaven

One of my favorite weekend treats is making shumai. The following recipe says to substitute chicken for pork, but last night I used pork and still think it is the best choice!

Enjoy!

SF Food Moods

Oops! Never posted this, but definitely wanted to give a shout out to R and G and The Slanted Door. Marc is up there this weekend for his cousin's graduation. Last night they had a great dinner at Sudachi, which I'm sad I missed!

Anyway, here's the post:

Last weekend, the old ball and chain and I went up to San Francisco to visit his family. Lots of good eats up there and just wanted to share a couple of must tries when you're up there.

 

R and G Lounge- Famous for its salt and pepper crab, this place is pretty consistent. We had the Crab with Black Bean sauce. I have to admit, I do prefer the salt and pepper better, but this is good, too. Overall, I remember loving it more, but as we had lunch about 3 hours before, I think I just wanted ready to eat. 

I also thought the Peking Duck looked very impressive when it arrived, but wish it had a little bit more flavor.

The Slanted Door- We were able to walk in and have lunch here, which is remarkable considering that is at the Embarcadero, a haven for tourists. The weather was great that day and I enjoyed my meal. When I passed by the kitchen, I was surprised to not see the usual suspects of Latino cooks who man most of California's kitchens. I was thrilled to see that many of the cooks were old Vietnamese women! The food didn't have that weird fusion for fusion's sake flavor to it. Definitely tasted as if it were made with love.

RATING: Lick your plate clean!

Too Hot to Cook!

It was a scorcher today in LA. Luckily, I am suffering from a cold and stayed inside to avoid the 90+ degree temperatures outside. It's hard to want to cook when it's hot(a cold's never stopped me before!), and tonight I wanted something that didn't involve turning on the stove and heating the apartment up even more.

I've been obsessed with Korean culture since moving to LA; we have our favorite BBQ restaurant, Cham Sut Gol, our favorite Korean grocery store, Galleria Market, 

and I have my favorite Korean spas to get the full-on scrub down by a woman in black bra and panties(more on that in another blog, perhaps). So, tonight I wanted to make a sashimi salad dish.

I have the cookbook, Discovering Korean Cusine: Recipes from the Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles, and decided to try the Hoehdeopbap recipe. This dish is the most famous dish at A-won in Koreatown. Never

 tried it there, but had great success at home. 

 

Here's

A-won's version.

    

Here's my version.

Here's the recipe if you want to try it at home:

Serving Size 1-2

3 oz each sashimi-grade tuna, halibut, and salmon, diced

1 oz smelt roe(I didn't have on hand, but bet it would have been awesome!)

1/2 lb green leaf lettuce, finely chopped

1 leaf red cabbage, finely chopped

1 leaf savoy cabbage, finely chopped

1/4 carrot, peeled and shredded

1 oz Korean radishes, julienned

1/2 seedless cucumber, julienned

1 TB Asian sesame oil

1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

1 dried seaweed sheet, cut into t

hin strips

one bowl of cooked rice

DRESSING

2 TB Korean hot pepper paste

3 TB rice vinegar

1/2 tsp mince garlic

1/8 tsp minced ginger

3 TB sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Mix all dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Put lettuce, cabbages, carrot, radishes, and cucumber in a bowl and toss to mix. Put the fish and roe on top of vegetables and drizzle with sesame oil. Garnish with sesame seeds, seaweed, and radish sprouts. Just before eating, add rice and dressing to taste and toss gently.

My rating:

Good enough to finish!

Red Mango Beats Pinkberry!

It has taken me a long time to follow the crowds and try the new frozen yogurt craze. I just had Pinkberry for the first time a couple of months ago. I really felt like the Emperor's new clothese; I didn't get what all the lines were for. 

So I was a little wary of trying Red Mango. I mean, if Pinkberry was the IT place, Red Mango was probably going to taste worse. What I didn't know is that Red Mango was the shop that started the whole craze back in Korea. Pinkberry was the American version. '

I went into the store, not even the least bit excited. Maybe because of my lack of enthusiasm, but as soon as I had the first bite, I realized which one was the Hagen Daaz of frozen yogurt and which was the generic Safeway 1/2 gallon!

Red Mango is much creamier and not as sour and it is the only frozen yogurt around that can actually say it contains live cultures. For most of us, that just sounds like something good and healthy, but I doubt anyone cares. The fact is, Red Mango tastes better. 

Birthday Food

Had some great food for my birthday this year. After a hike in the morning, Marc and I had a picnic in the mountains and made an amazing duck salad. So easy and so yummy. Duck from Bristol Farms is sooo great.

Later, we went out for Sushi at Katsu-ya, which is a great restaurant for oshii na maki!