Whole 30 - Day 1!

So around new year's I got it into my head to do the Whole 30 diet. The Whole 30 is based on a paleo style diet, but slightly more strict. No dairy, no coffee, no honey, no wine...basically all the best things in life (that you can consume). But I wanted to give myself a reboot, and I convinced some of my besties to do it with me. So we planned and shopped and we're starting today. And I'm going to keep myself accountable on this blog. Sorry for those of you who don't care, but there will be some tasty recipes I'll try to share!

Today's Whole 30 Menu:
Breakfast: kale sautéed in ghee and scrambled eggs
Lunch: Thai-ish pork curry soup
Dinner: Creamy Leftover Veggie soup and Pan-roasted chicken thigh

I need to work on making my pics look more like food porn, but I just want to eat it up! Recipes below. Enjoy!

Creamy Leftover Veggie Soup

Ingredients:
1 leek
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 cauliflower head, chopped
Chicken or vegetable stock
Coconut milk
Cumin
Sea Salt
Pepper
Any leftover veggies! Tonight I used some leftover spring mix salad greens, Trader Joe's broccoli & carrot slaw, and spinach

Directions:
Saute leeks and garlic in a diputch oven or large pot. Add cauliflower and heartier veggies, like broccoli and carrots. Add about half can of coconut milk and enough stock to cover the veggies. Add 1 tsp cumin, salt and pepper. Let come to a boil and then simmer till cauliflower is softened. Add remaining greens. When the greens have cooked down, take pot off stove and blend the mixture with an immersion blender or blender appliance of choice.

Enjoy!

Thai-ish Pork Curry Soup
I use this soup base with whatever protein and veggies I have on hand. That happens a lot. This is how I did it last night.

1 Shallot
3-5 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger (fresh or powdered)
Thai green curry
Pork cutlets
Sweet potato
Red pepper
Carrot
Celery
Chicken stock
Coconut milk
1 tbsp Coconut oil
Red Boat fish sauce (gluten free)
Lime juice
1/2 cup pineapple, cut in chunks

Heat the coconut oil in a dutch oven or good simmering pot. Brown the meat on all sides. Remove and set aside. Saute the shallots, garlic, ginger and curry. Add back the meat. Add veggies. Add coconut milk and enough stock to cover everything. Bring to boil and let simmer till your meat is tender. At the end, add 1 tsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp line juice, and throw in some fresh or frozen ( unsweetened) pineapple.

Pork cutlets were all I had on hand and they weren't the best choice for souping. If you have a tougher meat, add your veggies after the meat and broth have simmered a while.

I would have also added some chili peppers if I had some. And thai basil or lemongrass.the options are limitless!

Househunt Week 2

I had another fun weekend of house hunting. Saturday I found a cute, renovated 3-bedroom in an up-and-coming neighborhood in Mt. Washington, which borders Highland Park. It was 80% perfect, which was good but not quite good enough. The common space had an awkward layout which couldn't really accommodate a living room and dining space well, and the closets were small. But I was really excited by the outdoor space which was completely bare. I could envision my little grill and dining patio, a vegetable patch, some fruit trees and a hammock, and xeriscape drought resistant plants...But I think I can find something better which already has most of that stuff in place. And a place for my tv.

Today I looked at some condos around Culver City, which is on the West side of Los Angeles. One of the units was really nice, but it was in a huge complex which I didn't love. I live in a big complex now, and while it's nice to feel kind of cloistered, it has its inconveniences as well. Plus, I really don't like carpet and all the places I saw on the West side had beige carpet. 

I also like the idea of living in an area which is in transition. The last few places I've lived went through major development while I was there - Red Hook Brooklyn and East Cambridge. It's exciting to see a neighborhood changing before your eyes, and NELA feels like a real community. Yesterday there was a street fair on York Street with local artists and vendors, kids and dogs running around, etc. What's not to love?

Chalk art

Yarn bombed bike rack

Househunter Los Angeles

Spring is in the air in Los Angeles. While it is pretty much 70 and sunny all the time, December-January had a somewhat "wintery" feel at night. Cooler temperatures, more rain and overcast skies...I know this is nothing compared to what my hometown of Boston is experiencing right now so I'll just be quiet. But this week I definitely felt a slight seasonal shift. Cherry blossom trees suddenly exploded with pink and white flowers, and I almost hit a hummingbird on my way to work! I didn't even know hummingbirds lived here!

With spring, comes real estate season. After spending a week at home in the cold, snowy climes of Boston, I realized I was ready to a.) never live another winter and b.) find a real home to settle down in. Originally I was planning to wait another year. I wanted to try renting somewhere on the West Side to try out a new neighborhood and test the commute. And who knew? Maybe I would start to hate LA like many people do. But after seeing all that snow back home, I decided I'm ready to take the plunge. Plus interest rates are at an all-time low, so if I buy now, I can afford more home than if I wait another year. 

So this weekend I checked out my first round of open houses. The housing market in LA is crazy right now. A house will go on the market one day and be gone the next. Prices are pretty outrageous depending on neighborhood, but at least you can get more for your money here. For instance $500K could get me a nice 2BR condo or house with decent amenities, whereas I don't think I could even find that in Brooklyn now.

Of the 8 places I saw this weekend, only 2 caught my fancy. And both demonstrate the decisions I need to start making:

1. Condo or house? Do I want to deal with maintenance? Or do I want to pay an HOA fee (which range from $300-400)
2. Urban or Suburban? Do I want to feel like I'm in the middle of the action? or do I want a private oasis away from the traffic, noise, and griminess of LA?
3. Beach or Mountains? This is the best part about LA. You can live close to beautiful beaches or have spectacular mountain views. The closer you get to the beach, the pricier it is.

The first place that I saw and liked was a brand new development in Eagle Rock - an up-and-coming neighborhood between other more up-and-arrived neighborhoods in Northeast LA. The interiors were gorgeous, spacious, and modern. And there is the option to design some of your own fixtures (at extra cost). And the price was right. BUT it was on a really busy 3-lane boulevard and next to a small freeway. So while it was perfect on the inside, once you step outside or even open a window, you feel like your on a highway. Puppy and I did not move to LA to stay inside.

The second place I saw was a charming cottage which needed some updating, but it was a private oasis with amazing mountain views and outdoor space. I actually liked the vintage kitchen since it suited the character of the space. And I could really picture myself kicking back and relaxing in front of my picture window with a glass of wine and Puppy on my lap. But it was a little on the high end of my price range considering it needed work, and it was on top of a mountain with very narrow streets. This doesn't affect me too much, but I think it would be tough for car-less visitors or roommates. It was also a bit further off the beaten path in Mt. Washington, which is next to the hip neighborhood of Highland Park.

Not bad for my first weekend though. Here's hoping I can find something inbetween these two to call home!

Return of the blog! West Coast Edition!

Do people still blog? It's been a long time since I lasted posted to this blog - almost 3 years. What happened?! A lot. Since my last post, I became a workaholic at a new job, went totally crazy, had the last straw with winter, and finally quit the job and winter and moved to Los Angeles. But don't worry, I won't become, like, totally LA. I mean, you'll probably see more posts about smoothies and bootcamp, but I still eat lots of yummy bad food. I'll probably start a new home search sometime in the next year, which means new DIY projects. My new LA life allows me the time to be interesting again, in a crafty/cooking/old lady kind of way. Just the way I like it. So welcome to the new and not-quite-improved blog - West Coast Edition!

In the meantime, I've kept up my crafting obsession, especially as my friends and family have kept up their procreation activities. Most recently I finished some baby quilts. Quilting is great because it is so much faster than knitting. But it requires way more precision and careful measuring than I am capable of. Plus, I hate ironing and you have to iron every little piece, and then again and again. But these turned out beautiful and the recipients were happy with them.

Korean alphabet quilt - pattern from Monomo at Etsy

Amurican alphabet & numbers quilt - these were for twins so they both got their own

Baby Athena's quilt inspired by Cluck Cluck Sew

Most of the materials were fat quarters I bought at my favorite craft store in Cambridge, MA - Gather Here. For Athena's quilt I created one of the fabrics on Spoonflower.com using the logo from my college a capella group (which her mother was in). Surprisingly I also found some cute material at Target. Who knew Target carried fat quarters?

And in case you're wondering, Puppy is enjoying his new life in the California sun! Here he is modeling a cute dinosaur hat (Dino Cap by Kris Hanson on Ravelry)

Oscar! Oscar!

I love throwing my annual Oscar party. Over the years it has evolved from just eating chips and making snarky red carpet commentary, to a fairly elaborate affair. Since I love to be “pun-ny”, my Oscar menu is inspired by the top 10 nominated Best Picture films. Alas, this year we had to cancel the party, but here’s what the menu would have been:

* * * * * 

THeArtist Salad

Hearts of palm, artichokes, and romaine in a red wine vinaigrette

HuGoat Cheese & Lentil Salad

Chevre and French lentils de Puy

The Brie of Life

Baked brie en croute with fried sage leaves

War Hors d’ouevres

Seared beef tenderloin with horseradish cream on crostini

Eggs-tremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Brooklyn: Smoked salmon and cream cheese deviled eggs

Queens: Kimchi deviled eggs

The Crescendants

Crescent-wrapped mini dogs with Hawaiian pineapple sriracha dipping sauce

Moneyballs

Turkey meatballs with marinara sauce

The (Hamburger) Help(er)

Homemade macaroni and beef “hamburger helper”

Midnight in Pear-is Tarte

French pear and almond tart

* * * * * 

This year I also designed a cocktail menu for each of the Best Actor and Actress nominations. Some of them were stretching it a little, but they do sound tasty to drink!

Best Actor

A Bitter Life

Demian Bichir - A Better Life

Blanco tequila, dry vermouth, Angostura bitters

Cloon Hawaiian
George Clooney - The Descendants

Rum, pineapple juice, blue curacao, crème de coconut

L’Eau du Jardin

Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Gin, St. Germaine, Chartreuse, lime juice

Gary Old-fashionedman
Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Rye, Peychaud bitters

Brad Pitted Olive Martini

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Vodka or gin martini with blue cheese-stuffed martinis

Best Actress

Albert Knob Creek

Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs

Knob Creek neat or on the rocks

Violet Davis

Viola Davis - The Help

Vodka, cranberry juice, blue curacao, lime

Rooney Mara-tini

Rooney Mara - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Vodka, lime juice, triple sec, cranberry, Swedish fish

The Iron Lady

Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady

Gin, lime juice, soda water

The Marilyn
Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn

Apple brandy, grenadine, prosecco

* * * * * 

I did end up making a few of the dishes and watching at home. The kimchi deviled eggs were tasty, tart, and creamy. I wonder how many more dishes I can think of to add kimchi too? Of course, I did not take pictures. But here's a summary of my somewhat improvised recipe:

Kimchi Bacon Deviled Eggs

6 hard boiled eggs, separate

about 4 tbsp of kimchi, minced

2 slice bacon, chopped

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp dill, minced

salt and pepper

Mash up the cooked egg yolks, sour cream, mayo, kimchi and bacon. Salt and pepper to taste. Put the mixture in a Ziploc storage bag. Snip off the bottom corner and squeeze the yolk mixture into the egg white halves.Garnish with a little bacon and a snippet of kimchi on top.

* * * * *

And the real winner of the Academy Awards last night?  

My Midnight in Pear-is tarte!

Recipe courtesy of Dorie Greenspan

This was not an easy recipe. Especially since I am a baking loser. But I'm so glad I took the time and effort to make this. I didn't read the recipe very carefully beforehand, so I didn't realize that most of the key steps required freezing or cooling the different items. Luckily, I had nothing else to do that day so I took my time. 

The recipe is in 3 parts: the Sweet Tart Dough for the crust, an amazing almond cream, and poached pears on top. You can substitute the crust for store-bought and use canned pears, but what's the fun in that?

Here's the crust just out of the oven. I didn't think it was going to come out right, because it was all crumbly and dry. I don't have a food processor, so after some extensive web research, I improvised with a pastry cutter and froze the butter beforehand. Apparently, if the butter is too warm, the flour will absorb too much of the fat and come out tough. I ended up with small and large chunks of frozen butter, and a lot of dry flour. So I also added a few tablespoons of water to hold it all together. I have no idea if this is an approved method of making crust, but it was delicious, so there.

Here's the tart fully assembled, but not baked. The pears were pretty easy to poach. Then I slid them onto a spatula and then onto the cream. You have to be very careful though, because once those slices touch the cream, it's hard to move them around! I actually lost one half of a pear that way :(  but look how PRETTY!

I threw some whole blanched almonds in the middle because visually, it needed a little something extra.


The almond cream was by far the best part of the dish in the end product. It looked a little weird going in, but once it was baked, it puffed up around the pears beautifully. HINT: You can buy pre-ground almond meal from Trader Joe's in the nuts and dried fruit section.

Et voila! Ma premiere tarte aux poires! Isn't it beautiful? I almost didn't want to eat it, it's so pretty. But I am so glad I did because c'est delicieux. Formidable!

Kimchi Bacon Mac & Cheese - WHA??!?!?!?

Sunday was a great day, despite the Patriots losing the Super Bowl :(  I started off at 8am waiting in line at Target, for the opening of the Jason Wu collection. It sounds insane, but I'm glad we got there early because everything was grabbed from the racks within 10 minutes! We ended up skipping the line for the dressing room and just trying on clothes in the middle of the store. It was ridiculous! but I got some cute stuff. And I really need new clothes these days because I'm rocking the gym and my new health nutrition plan (more on that later).

The highlight of the day, however, was the making of the Epic Kimchi Bacon Mac & Cheese!!! This was definitely NOT on my nutrition plan. I had read this blogger's recipe, based on the Martha Stewart Best Ever Mac & Cheese recipe that I had made for my cast party. How could I resist trying this fusion delight?

I get mixed reactions when I tell people I made kimchi mac & cheese. Some recoil in horror, others think they have misheard me, and others start writhing on the floor drooling. The real proof that you should try making this at home? There wasn't a single bite left by halftime. The kimchi adds a little sourness and texture that cuts through the heaviness of the cheese. And who doesn't like bacon? And did I mention there were 3 blocks of cheese in there?

But don't try this at home if you don't have a crowd to serve it to. I'm sure the surgeon general - and my trainer - would not recommend eating large quantities of it in one sitting. Or one month. But it was my cheat day.

 

What's so special about this mac & cheese?

Kimchi!!!!!

 Kimchi Bacon Mac and Cheese 
Adapted from Madeablog.com and Martha Stewart

Serves 6 (I cut Martha's recipe in half because last time it made an epic amount of food)

1 1/2 cups kimchi
10 slices bacon (that's a little overkill. You can use 6. But I had 10).
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 cups panko crumbs (I like a crusty top)
2 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon 고추 가루 Korean hot pepper flakes)
2 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese
1 cup (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyère
1/2 pound elbow macaroni (I used orecchiette, but any shell or small pasta will do)


Note: I think I ended up having way more than 2.5 cups of cheddar and 1 cup of Gruyere. It really fluffed up after grating, but they were 8 oz. packages when I bought them and I ended up using all of it.


1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Squeeze kimchi to remove excess juice. Dice into small, 1/2 inch pieces.

Tip: I hate cleaning off kimchi juice from my bamboo cutting boards, so I cover it with saran wrap first.

2. Cook bacon in a skillet until crispy. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and pat and drain with paper towels. Cook kimchi in remaining bacon fat over medium heat until slightly tender, about 4-5 minutes.

3. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

4. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.
Note: this will take a long time and is the most annoying part of the process. But persevere! and you will have a delicious bechamel sauce.

5. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, and 3/4 cup Gruyère. Add the bacon and set the cheese sauce aside.
 
6. Cover a large pot of water, and bring to a boil. Cook the macaroni until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone. Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir the macaroni and kimchi into the reserved cheese sauce. If desired, salt to taste.
 
7. Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in a skillet and toast breadcrumbs until golden.
 
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cups cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Gruyère, and the breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.

You can prepare the dish ahead and then pop it in the oven right before your guests come. You will not be disappointed!!!

Merry Duckin' Christmas et une Bouche de Noel

Happy new year! One of my new year's resolutions will be to blog more consistently. But with the holidays, things were so busy and I haven't had a chance to blog about my ambitious Christmas Eve "Shuck & Duck" dinner.

My family has an informal tradition of going out for Chinese and eating Peking duck on Christmas Eve, partly inspired by the classic movie, "A Christmas Story", and partly so my mom wouldn't have to cook. This year, for some crazy reason, I decided I would cook. It was also my first time spending Christmas with my boyfriend, and since our favorite food is oysters, I planned a "Shuck & Duck" Christmas Eve dinner. He did the shuckin', and I did the duckin'.

After doing much research on the web, I went with this great step-by-step tutorial on roasting a perfectly crispy duck, by the Hungrymouse. It is fairly simple, but lengthy, as it requires you to flip your duck over and prick the fat out every 4 hours. But that seemed a lot easier than hanging a duck out to dry in your garage for days, or inflating the skin with a bicycle tire pump, which were some of the other traditional methods. Basically, to get the skin crispy, you have to dry it out and separate it from the fat. Don't worry - I saved all that duck fat! The recipe also used a very tasty glaze of honey, molasses, sriracha, soy sauce, and orange juice - sweet, tangy, and a little bit of heat. Yummy. I also served the duck up with Chinese mooshoo pancakes (store-bought), scallions, cucumbers, and hoisin sauce.

Fresh 6-pound duck purchased at Mayflower Poultry in Cambridge, aka "Live Poultry Fresh Killed"

Trussed up and ready to go in the oven

 

Crispy, glazed Christmas Eve duck!!!!

For the "shuckin'" portion of our meal, I pre-ordered 2 dozen Island Creek oysters from my local fish market - the New Deal Fish Market in Cambridge. Island Creek oysters hail from Duxbury, MA, and they are also featured at our favorite restaurant in Boston - Island Creek Oyster Bar! If you ever plan on having seafood from New Deal on a major holiday, pre-order! There were about 20 people when I walked in at 10am.

Home shucked Island Creeks - shucked by the Man

The other menu items were slightly less impressive than the shucks and the duck, but they included:

• Stir fried baby bok choy
• "Happy Family" - my dad's favorite Chinese dish (because of the name). it's a combination of beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, scallops, and veggies - all stir fried together like one big happy family.
• Momofuku-inspired "Asian caprese" salad, with tomatoes, tofu, and shiso leaves

For dessert, we went up to my brother's house for a Christmas Eve nightcap and dessert. As you may know, I am not known for my baking prowess. But that was going to stop me from making a bouche de noel! I used a recipe from Martha Stewart - again not very difficult but a little time-consuming. I baked it two nights before because I had a Holiday Pops concert to sing, and decorated it Christmas Eve morning while my duck was bubbling away in the oven.

Et voila! La premiere bouche de Noel de Mimi!

Phew! that's all for now. See why I had no time for blogging? I'm going on a bit of a nutritional hiatus (aka New Year's diet) so I'll be less food-oriented for a few weeks. But I resolve to post more in 2012! unless the world ends as the Mayans have predicted.