Join Me at BLD Tonight & Giveaway!

I'm breaking my vows. 

2 years ago, I set myself the challenge to not wear pants (weird, I know) and have been going strong up till today.  That's right, even before Kanye West's Rosewood fashion initiative, I've aimed to bring back the art of dressing. 

For today though, I'll be taking a temporary break. To don a pair of pants so I can explore the kitchens of BLD!

It all started out with their weekly Tweet a Dish contest. Everyone is invited to submit dish ideas for their Thursday night dinner via Twitter to Chef Diana (BLDchfD) where she then chooses a dish and recreates it. Best part? The idea-originator gets a free meal for him/her and a guest!

So, I submitted my recipe for a turmeric and ginger fish taco with a jicama slaw  (recipe here—and if you don't mind, vote for me? Pretty please?) and much to much surprise and delight—got chosen as this week's winner!

Best part? Chef Diana will be reinterpreting my dish with her twist and I've been invited to the depths of the famed BLD kitchen to help prep and observe what it takes in the creation and execution of a restaurant worthy dish. 

If you are without dinner plans tonight, I'll love to see you at BLD and cook you a plate of delicious fish tacos! 

And now, onward to the giveaway! If you're a bacon fan, I've 10 bacon greeting cards to give to a lucky winner! I'd wax poetry about it, but I'll let the photos speak for themselves instead :) 

The rules? All you have to do is visit Alaska Fish Taco's contest page and vote for my recipe: Turmeric and Ginger Dusted Alaskan Cod Tacos and leave a comment with your contact email. Simple. 

An extra entry will be given if you follow Gastrophoria on Twitter—please make sure to make note of it in your comment. 

At 11pm Pacific Time next Monday (3/14), I'll draw a name randomly and contact the winner to get mailing info. Spread the word, don't delay and best of luck!

Opening Reception at Starry Kitchen this Friday

This month flew by in a blur! I've been consumed in painting an abstract portrait of a whale shark, my latest and most challenging commission to date. 

Normally, my paintings hardly ever see open air, as they are passed directly to my patron's collection as soon as they're completed. But, this time around, I'm mixing things up and thus, excited to present and to invite you to an unveiling of my painting! 

Courtesy of Starry Kitchen and my friend Matt K., my painting, titled Marokintana (Rhincodon Typus) will be on display this Friday, March 11th, at Starry Kitchen from 6:30-9:30 pm. 

To whet your appetite, here's a little sneak peak of the painting in progress… 

So, if you haven't any dinner plans already, come on by, say hi and feed your stomach and mind! 

And shhh… keep it on the down low, but rumor has it Starry Kitchen will be featuring Taiwanese pork chops, krab cakes and pandan flan (in addition to their famous spicy pork belly and lemongrass chicken) this Friday night. Awesome blossom!

Red Velvet Cookies: A Happy Accident

Who knew how versatile a humble box of cake mix can be? 

It was one of those days. My eyes were shot from staring at the computer all day at work, followed by a frustrating commute home… only to find out after walking in my home that I forgot to grocery shop. 

In this case, it was not for dinner but rather for an art reception the next day! Yet, I'm so exhausted the thought of making a trek to the nearest store is like getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Ok, so I haven't had them pulled yet—the big day is this Saturday—but you get the point.

So instead, I started rummaging through my cupboards, hoping for divine intervention. And it came, in a box of Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix. Problem was, I couldn't make cupcakes because the piece de la resistance at the show is an interactive cupcake piece. Le merde. 

You see, I was brought on board by my old design professor at USC to mentor a few students for their upcoming show, X Marks the Spot, where every participating artist must take a letter and recreate its form in an unexpected medium. 

As luck would have it, I was paired with 3 foodie designers! So, it was joy to brainstorm with them and basically have my minions, ahem, I mean students create my dream vision. Not going to give away the cow, so I can only say one of the pieces involves cupcakes and lots of them. If you're interested in checking it out, the reception is tomorrow night (1/25) at USC's Lindhurst Gallery from 5 to 8pm. Just say Tsz sent you! 

Anyways, back to the cake mix. Competing cupcakes were out of the equation, so what else can I do? Fortunately, it turns out with a slight alternation in the eggs and butter ratio, the mix can be transformed into a cookie dough—and it's so easy! 

Don't believe me? Let me show you in 6 steps. 

1. Open cake mix in a big mixing bowl. 

2. Grate 1 teaspoon of orange peel and mix well. Actually, this is optional, but I rather like the taste of orange and chocolate together. So if you skip this, it's only 5 steps. 

3. Beat in 2 eggs and 6 tablespoons of melted butter. Really trippy how the tan colored cake mix turns blood red in the span of a minute... 

4. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll them in a  mixture of 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch.

5. Baked in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. 

6. Let cool and dust with more powdered sugar. 

Done and done. They're best when fresh out of the oven cause they're soft and chewy. Addicting. 

I got a little styling-happy and busted out some patriotic napkins—would make for a festive July Fourth dessert don't you think? 

Thank you Ducan Hines! 

When Life Gives You Lemons… Make Lemon Curd

I am quite spoiled—in the lemon department. 

Shortly after moving to our house 15 some years ago, my family went on a day trip to Home Depot to look for plants for the front and back yard. My mom chose roses in all sorts of colors; my dad got the standard shrubbery; my little brother didn't care as he could barely even walk; and I, a lemon sapling. This could have very been a forecast of what's to come in my future!

In just a few years, the sapling grew from the top of my navel to taller than our house, producing an endless supply of lemons. We used them for lemonade, lemon coke, preserved lemons—nothing beats walking just a few yards for the fresh stuff. 

It wasn't till recently that I ventured out the beverage arena to give lemon curd a try. Armed with a recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, I went and picked out 2 plump specimens and got to work.

In a medium saucepan, I whisked together 1 cup sugar, 1 TB lemon zest and 8 egg yolks. Next I mixed in 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons) and 1/4 tsp salt. 

Once all the ingredients are well incorporated, I set the pan over medium-high heat and added in 10 TB unsalted butter, which equals to 1 1/4 sticks. I whisked constantly as lemon scent scrambled eggs wasn't my goal! 

In a few minutes, it was thick enough to coat a the back of a spoon. Strained and cooled in the fridge for a few hours, I had 2 cups of the lip-puckering compound.

Lacking foresight however, I did not prepare anything to serve the curd with… fail. 

After a mad scrambled, I found a box of Trader Joe's Vanilla Meringues, the hero of the day. With a generous smear of the lemon curd in between the airy cookies, I had myself a deconstructed lemon meringue pie! It works especially well as the cookies by themselves were too sweet for my taste so the lemon curd was instrumental in balancing the saccharine meringues. 

Love the classy ridges on the meringues. Makes me want to ask, "oh you fancy huh?" 

Hope you give it a try!

House of An's Noodle Off: How to Win People's Choice

My heart was beating so fast I was sure the crowd could hear it through the microphone, which was handed to me just a second ago after  the host announced my name. After a never-ending second of terror, I began to speak… 

The day was November 22, 2010. An ordinary Monday that started out as bland as it can be which included a long day at work. 

However, instead of driving home at the end of the day, I braved the traffic instead to Tiato to cook for over 100 people and to be on Fox News. How did I find myself in this situation? 

2 weeks ago, I entered a cooking competition on a nondescript Sunday. The An family had created the Noodle-Off to celebrate the prodigious Crustacean's 30th anniversary and the opening of their newest venture, Tiato and I got the heads up through a friend. 

Using the flavors of my childhood, specifically a beloved dish by my grandma, I overhauled the ubiquitous Italian Bolognese to create my own version. Gone were the tomato base and in its place, sour plum and dried tangerine peel worked their magic. Pancetta was out, replaced by Chinese Yunnan ham. I'll stop now before divulging all my secrets ;)

A couple of days later, I got the fateful phone call from the organizers and here I was, introducing myself and explaining my inspiration for the Asian Bolognese in front of a panel of judges, which included a better part of the famous An family (including the creator of the trademarked garlic noodles!), industry professionals and a full house. Oh yeah, Jane Yamamoto was there with her crew too. 

Although I am deathly afraid of public speaking—definitely lost a lot of sleep over anticipating that portion of the evening and have the under eye circles to prove it, it was an amazing experience that taught me much about competing and how to present oneself. Here's a list of Do's and Don'ts:

1. Do not wear black when appearing on TV. See example.

2. Separate yourself from your competition using your strengths. In my case, I took advantage of my design background to amp up my table.

3. If you have a difficult name, use a prop to help others remember you. In my case, I used a cup of tea, which doubled up as my beverage of the night. Double win.

4. Cook more than you need to for less trips to the kitchen. I was able to win over more attendees by serving still while other competitors were running back and forth because they ran out of food.

5. Leave behind works! I made little flags to hand out to everyone (even and especially the judges) so they will remember my dish. Muahaahah. 

6. Keep your answers short and sweet. Newscasters are under strict time restraints and will not hesitate to cut you off. 

7. Taste, taste and taste your food! Chef Helena told me afterwards that the reason she docked off points was because I overdid it with the sesame oil. DANG. 

7. Stop stressing and just have fun! 

Ultimately, the veteran competitor won. A retired administrator, she now competes full-time and have been cleaning house at various cooking competitions, including the Panini-Off early this year. 

But. I didn't go home empty handed! Yours truly won People's Choice, which was a $200 gift certificate to Crustacean—no too shabby eh? 

Photos courtesy of my friends and boss. Thank you for documenting the event as it went by in a blur for me!