Summer Eatin' Part Three!

To my devoted readers whoever you are,

Life has been grand. It's been unbelievably busy, but grand. Becca hosted a beyond perfect engagement party at her beautiful home on Sunday. My coworkers, family, friends, etc. were all there with delicious foods (Nathan's bread pudding was crispy and perfectly soaked, and Heidi's pistachio and lemon macarons were so good! Don't worry, we had real food too but I was immediately enamored with the numerous desserts). It was just a gorgeous Los Angeles afternoon with some of the most wonderful people in the world :) Thank you for coming!!!

I also discovered a new LA favorite restaurant. This one is a BYOB tapas bar called Manchego in Venice, California (or Santa Monica...it's near the border of both). My friends just got a place in Venice that is literally four blocks from the beach (and that's four small Californian blocks!) so we'll be making it to Manchego pretty often I hope. Their star dishes were the "Goat Cheese, honey, dried figs and raspberry on toasted bread" and the "La Mancha Sampler" with four cheeses, four meats, bread, gazpacho, and an amazing sauce. I have always had a natural dislike of tapas because you're paying a lot for little foods that don't ever quite make you full but I left very satisfied that night. I would highly recommend the sampler and their famous figs tapas, but anything else on their menu is sure to please (like the beef and cheese empanadas...yum!). To top it all off, it's BYOB!!! For Melissa's birthday we had enough to make walking home the only safe option. Good thing she lives ten minutes away!!!

Now onto some of the best dishes I've found this year. :D

I was at a point where I was sick of chicken again (we've been having steak and beef stew and prosciutto pizza to avoid eating chicken so it's not a bad thing!) so I decided to go with this lovely recipe for "Grilled Mahi Mahi with Thai Coconut sauce" that caught my eye in the July issue of "Bon Apetit". Talk about simple and full of flavor and super impressive for guests! This grilled mahi mahi boosted my confidence level because I rarely prepare fish but this dish turned out to be incredible. I pan seared the fish instead of grilling but it had a nice, slightly burnt and crispy outside to it as though I *had* grilled it (I panseared for about 4 minutes on the first side and 3 on the second).

Mahi mahi is really nice and flaky and easy to eat as far as fish go. It doesn't have any of that bad fishy stench or flavor to it, and tastes almost like really good, white chicken meat. I bought mine at Trader Joe's for a really good price in their freezer section.

The winning element of this dish is the sauce though. The sauce called for clam juice, which sounded bizarre to me. I was surprised to find it at Ralph's in the asian section though (yay for easy-to-find ingredients). When I got home, I was ready for a whiff of putrid stench to hit my nose when I unscrewed the lid but it actually smelled pretty pleasant and somewhat lemon-y. The recipe called for a reduced sauce of about 3/4 cup but I wish I had more to just pout over a bowl of rice...it was so delicious!

The second recipe is a truly truly truly ideal summer recipe. I've been eating a lot of peaches and nectarines because they're so cheap and abundant, but I did not expect to be eating peach in cookie form. Leave it to Martha Stewart to create something that is  innovative but never loses its essence. This peach drop cookie has an unbelievable texture--very soft and doughy and unique but still reminiscent of a soft sugar cookie.

Instead of using peach preserves, I added raspberry preserves so the official flavor of these cookies was "Peach-Raspberry". Doesn't that just sound so light and refreshing? And as far as cookies go, these definitely are! I highly recommend this recipe. In fact, I made it twice already and plan to make it again soon.:D

To put an end parentheses to this post, I have another exciting review to present. Nick and I are avid coffee drinkers. Not coffee in its pure sense though (real coffee drinkers would never let us join their club) but rather nice, foamy, flavored, gourmet espresso drinks. We found this place that has been right under our noses this entire time! It's in Westwood and is called Profeta. It's absolutely everything we've been looking for. Not so heavily trafficked, amazing and unique drinks, and really charming and talented baristas. We've been to Urth for their Spanish lattes, Intelligentsia which just plain disappointed, and Groundworks which was our favorite until I found out they use pre-made chai mix for their chai lattes...we've searched high and low for our go-to coffee place in LA. Here it is: http://www.yelp.com/biz/espresso-profeta-los-angeles

Nick got a drink that was so serendipitous, I felt like God was laughing with us. It's called "Cafe Nico" for one thing. It is espresso with foamed half and half, orange zest, orange syrup, and candied orange rind. You all know how Nick loves orange juice right? Well, this drink was a little piece of heaven for him AND me. Artfully prepared and delightfully swallowed.

I got a Caramel Latte. Simple enough but somehow so many people manage to botch it up. The smooth caramel taste is consistent throughout each sip, and is not so sweet that it overpowers the smooth espresso flavor.

I love artistic foaming!!! Jealous of that skill!

We will be there every weekend now. : ) It's a good place to take a break from wedding planning and just enjoy the sun and each other's company. We hope you let us take you there for an idyllic SoCal moment...

Why blog? About food??

Partly because I am engaged to the most selfless, handsome, and fun person I know and partly because I just finished off another delectable meal with one of my amazing bridesmaids, I am currently in a very happy mood. Since my inner joy is threatening to make me burst, I am using my blog to be unbearably effusive yet again. You can't blame me can you?

The most important things in my life are 1. God 2. Nick, my family, and friends. 3. FOOD. In that order. I definitely plan out every single meal. I definitely treasure good ingredients and wholesome meals when I cook at home. I delight in going out to eat innovative things, usually things I can't make at home. I LOVE dessert. I always eat dessert after lunch AND dinner. Thank the Lord I have an Asian metabolism (because I also love french fries. Muffins and french fries are probably in my top five favorite foods). Let's just hope I don't die from diabetes.

But I've been thinking, why do I like food so much? I didn't grow up in a particularly food-centric household. We actually went to eat at the most suburban restaurant chains possible (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Sweet Tomatoes). My mom was a great cook but she didn't enjoy it. I never got the sense that cooking is meant to be a hobby...it's always been a long labor of love (for her children).

I, however, love food for many reasons. First of all, I am a designer. I look at fashion blogs, online shopping sites, and go shopping so I can assemble outfits that are very expressive of who I am and what I value. I love looking at architectural blogs and staring at real architecture in cities because I can get ideas that I file into my mental library for future homes for clients, myself and my family. I LOVE designing a menu for dinner every night. It's usually dictated by what I'm craving because I almost always have a craving for something in particular, but it's also affected by the season, what's fresh, the temperature, and a theme (summer? Thai? red? baby shower?).

Secondly, when I'm in the kitchen, I love the sounds of mixing, grilling, cleaning, etc.  If you think about it, few activities in life involve all your senses (probably why men love hunting...at least if you're a real man;). When I'm cooking I feel quite alive because I'm smelling the ingredients, touching them, seeing everything, hearing utensils cling and clang, and of course tasting as much as possible even before the food hits the plate hits the dinner table!

It also puts to use some of my best skills i.e. I'm really good at cooking. I've always been fast at everything I do but not necessarily very thorough (that's where Nick balances out the team ;). However, in the kitchen, I don't always need to be so thorough. I can skip some spices, skip some steps, etc. and create something new! Sometimes I'm penalized for that, but more often than not, my lack of thoroughness makes room for creativity. I am also great at multitasking. Again, it compromises how well I get something done, but it also allows me to prepare three course meals every night. I can bake, make a salad, prepare a main dish and a side dish, and clean the kitchen at the same time. Pretty impressive, right?

But even though I find my zeal for all things culinary pretty unique, I find it even more impressive that every single person has something or two things (or more) that they feel equally passionate about. Born a snob, raised a snob, and currently trying to become more humble, I just happen to think that food is the best passion/hobby to have because it's so relevant.

Seriously though! Food is pervasive! It unites and excites. Tomorrow, my awesome bridesmaid is hosting a potluck brunch for Nick and my engagement party. I can't wait to eat what other people bring because I actually love NOT eating my own food to learn new palettes, techniques, etc. I also just think it's such a treat not to have to worry about preparing food (not that I worry, but you know what I mean--it's refreshing to take a brake)  and to simply anticipate being served in that way. I think we are called to serve others and for me, serving food is the quintessential way to show love. So, tomorrow, there will be lots of love because of everyone bringing food. <3 And of course the radiant, youthful love between Nick and me (lol).

To answer the title of this blog, I blog because it saves me (you save me, dear reader). I cannot talk about, eat enough, and think about food enough. I have to share that creative energy with others. You are the lucky ones that stumbled upon my blog or more likely, were forced to read it because I told you to ;) In all seriousness though, this blog saves Nick from listening to me talk about food every single second (therefore saving our relationship), it saves me from embarrassing myself at work (the other day my coworker mentioned she makes pizzas at home and I slapped my hands on the table and said: What kind of recipe do you use for the dough?! Do you grill or use an oven? What's your favorite topping combination?! She was really freaked out because she was just mentioning it in passing...), and it saves me from gorging on food every minute because sometimes, just SOMETIMES, writing and talking about it creates a really nice break from actually eating it. If I could eat continuously, I would, but then my budget for life would be unsustainable.

So I'm engaged and I write about food. Funny how my mind works. :)

Well, I just had a fantastic turkey meatloaf on ciabatta roll from Joan's, topped off with Paulette's pistachio and lemon macarons (best ones on this side of the Atlantic). I'm going to grill some mahi mahi with coconut sauce and eat a Joan's donut filled with strawberry jam for dinner with Nick. YES. I do...to food. And Nick of course. :-D

Summer Eatin' Part Two

Hi again everyone!


Can you believe it? Two posts in two days? I must be swimming in free time :) Actually, I've been busy this weekend with many AWESOME things to do. Nick and I opened one of our wedding registries at CB2 (I love that store! I can just outfit my entire future home with their retro and old-school modern (what I call Frank Lloyd Wright modernism) design). CB2 carries high-quality household items for very affordable prices (though we did add a $900 dining table to our registry just because we absolutely fell in love with it and who knows, maybe some fairy guest will buy it for us?? It's made from recycled train tracks--how awesome is that?!). Besides that, we went to Surfas, this restaurant supply store that basically sells everything you need to cook and bake with. Whenever I go there, I feel like a kid in a candy store (or myself in a candy store because I still get really excited about candy). I would say it's a must-see for any of my guests in Los Angeles. At Surfas, we lusted after hardcore, professional all-clad pots and pans (yes, Surfas gift cards are on our registry, hint hint), and I bought lavender sanding sugar for whatever wedding desserts might be served at the wedding! SO FUN.

We also ate at their cafe (you gotta check out their cheese shop too. We got wasabi cheese for sandwiches this week! It tasted so crazy and delish!) where Nick got a delectable fried egg breakfast sandwich:

Like I said, we really made an afternoon out of our trip. We originally went to go see a cooking demo for Asian-Cuban food but we got distracted by the merchandise, then we got hungry...le sigh. Disneyland for foodies.

But, I know why you're really here. To see some more summer recipes! You know how I mentioned that making your own salsa is addicting? I made it for Gwyneth Paltrow's baja style tacos and I made an "asian" salsa again for this salmon dish. It was so refreshing and unique--and it made the dish an instant classic in our book! Check out the recipe here :D

Soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, mango, and sriracha? I never would have thought to put these ingredients into a salsa mixture but together they compose a pretty melodious set of flavors! 

Mrs. Lerum (soon-to-be my MOM) made these amazing fruit salads a couple weekends ago to go with burgers for dinner. My favorite was the berry salad. It had ground black pepper and basil in it! Like the mango and the soy sauce in the salsa, this fruit salad surprised me! I never would have thought to put basil and ground black pepper into a fruit salad, but the flavors hit it off so well I don't think I can separate basil from berries in my mind again! I just made it again for brunch today and it was an easy but impressive salad to make for yourself or your guests. 

The picture is grainy because I took it (I don't where my master photographer was at this moment) but you can still tell that this was a delicious fruit salad, I hope. The recipe, from Mrs. Lerum, is quite simple! 

peach/stawberry/blackberry

4 tsp sugar

2 tbsp minced basil

.5 tsp ground black pepper

3 med peaches sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups of blackberries

1 pint of strawberries quartered

1-2 T lime juice

Mix sugar, basil, and pepper until sides of bowl are moist. Add fruit and set for 30 minutes at room temperature. Add lime juice to taste.

The mango-ginger salad is for the bravehearted foodie, but I think you'll really like it too. I would probably halve the amount of ginger, but it's still a fantastic and unique fruit salad. 

Honeydew/mango/raspberry

4 tsp sugar

2 tsp lime zest

1-2 tsp grated ginger

1/2 medium honeydew

1 mango

1/2 pint raspberries

Mix sugar and lime zest until bowl is moist. Add all but raspberries. Then after 30 min add raspberries and lime juice. 

Thank you for letting me share these, Mrs. Lerum! 

So I definitely can't end a post without sharing a dessert it seems so I'll leave you on this bright and zesty note: Lemon Cupcakes with lemon creamcheese frosting! 

I made these along with Magnolia's vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream one day for the office. It was nice to have the two side-by-side for more accurate comparison. I would say I liked the cupcake part of this recipe more but I wasn't quite sure if it was just because it had the apparent but not too in-your-face lemon taste. The frosting was dyed pink while the Magnolia's cupcakes had blue buttercream for a baby shower party we had :) (PS Los Angelino's, Magnolias and Babycakes have both opened downtown! How exciting :) Not that we need anymore cupcake shops but hey, variety never hurt!). 

I really like lemon flavored things so I preferred these cupcakes to Magnolia's. And I always prefer creamcheese frosting over buttercream so perhaps I was biased. Most of my coworkers preferred the Magnolia's cupcakes with good reason (They're not too sweet, dense, and simple).

Nick and I are heading to Nathan's for another one of his fabulously hosted and supernaturally delicious meals. I think flautas, taquitos, and guacamole are on the menu so I'm thinking of making those margarita cupcakes for dessert. Makes sense, right?

Hope you're enjoying the weekend--it always passes by tooooooo quickly for us :)

Summer Eatin'

It's actually dishonest to say that I've had a summer. It's been 75 degrees and cloudy everyday for the past two months. The months keep rolling by and I still haven't had a chance to spend endless weekend afternoons on the beach (although we've made valiant efforts despite the cold weather) tanning for the wedding. But that hasn't kept me from making some really delicious summer dishes. What makes something summer-y? I guess the main criterion is it's not a hot or spicy dish.

Using that criterion, I've already failed a little bit. The following is a slightly spicy (but totally cool, temperature wise) recipe I got from Gwyneth Paltrow's newsletter "GOOP." It's actually an excellent newsletter that covers a variety of topics that fall under the general categories of "SEE," MAKE," etc. I admire the breadth of talents and interests she maintains even though she's a working actress and mom. And I love how she's such a foodie!

Gwyneth's newsletter on these baja style tacos recipe caught my eye because it highlights the quality of the ingredients and doesn't rely too much on sauces and flavorings. Don't get me wrong, I love a chunky, saucy dish (most Asian ones are), but this one sounded so cool and refreshing with its lime flavoring. It was exciting because it was also the first time I made my own salsa (it's addicting...I made another recipe soon after). I was surprised that the recipe uses cherry tomatoes but I had nothing to complain about because I LOVE cherry tomatoes.

Instead of using shrimp (Nick has an aversion to it after he made and ate 30 shrimp burritos...this was before he was with me and didn't eat an entirely new meal each night and just cooked in bulk), I made the tacos with shredded chicken. It was so delicious. And I loved using feta instead of Mexican shredded cheese for a change!

All in all, an excellent recipe I will be making again very soon.

I'll let you in on a little secret. You probably haven't picked up on it because I don't necessarily post what I make in chronological order but I never waste ingredients. Ever. I plan every meal so that I use up all the fresh produce...there are often connecting ingredients between meals. In this case, there are three of them from the baja style tacos: purple onions, cherry tomatoes, and feta! Now, dear foodie reader, what would *you* make out of those???

GREEK SALAD.

I made this greek salad as part of a homecoming dinner for Andrew (he was in Nebraska for over a month filming a movie and we missed him dearly). The lemon garlic dressing is not an entirely typical greek dressing (I don't even know if it's a greek dressing at all) but I love it (lemon and garlic go so well together). This recipe is also from one of my favorite food blog so I had hunch it would be fantastic. 

I love chunky filling salads and this one fits the bill. It just needed some carb of some sort like wheatberry or couscous.

Speaking of loving lemon, I made a lemon yogurt pound cake with blueberries for my coworker the other week and went home and made another one because I wanted one for myself.

I knew this one would be a winner because it's an Ina Garten recipe. I adore her recipes because it always uses very "wholesome" measurements like 1 cup of this instead of 1 1/3 cup or that kind of thing. It makes me think she's a genius because her recipes are so simple yet divine.

Nick and I really dislike cake (we're more lenient on cupcakes but still have problems with the sweetness and texture) but we adore pound cakes. They just feel so hearty and good in your tummy. In fact, this pound cake was so good in our tummies that I made ANOTHER one with a grapefruit twist. It's listed on the same blog and it tasted really good. If you like that grapefruit. If it makes you pucker your face, then I'd avoid it.

I have plenty more incredible recipes that I'm so excited to share but right about now, my eyes are drooping from exhaustion. And it's only 8:41 p.m. I'll try to revamp over the weekend in between the free cooking demo and tasting at Surfas (Asian Cuban fusion!), Korean BBQ Cookoff, and seeing Rent at the Hollywood Bowl. :D Yes, I'm showing off again about how amazing weekends in Los Angeles are, but don't mind me.

Verbal Vomit!

I probably shouldn't include the word "vomit" in any food blog title. Oops. But you'll see what I mean by verbal vomit.

EEEEEEEEE! Life has been so exhilarating lately.

First of all, I’m engaged! I don’t want to bore you with details unless you want them (email me if you do!) but Nick was a total Prince Charming and somehow managed to SURPRISE me with a romantic proposal even though I was expecting one any day. I was shocked that he pulled it off because I am literally impossible to surprise. The date is set for the end of this year so I’m thinking posts may be far and few between if I’m planning a wedding in five months. I’m not going to make any promises but I will try my best to maintain this blog since it is one of the joys in my life. :D I have TONS of fantastic summer recipes to share with you lovely readers, but let me first share some great new restaurants with you.

Crème de La Crepe (Manhattan Beach)

As you know, Manhattan Beach is one of my favorite beaches to go. It’s relatively un-crowded and just really beautiful in terms of the beach town, the beach itself and the manicured walk paths next to the beach homes. We met with Nick’s brother Tom and his girlfriend Rianna (who I love!!!!!) for dinner. The French waiter was actually quite fast (I was surprised since that’s not very French) and the food was really fairly priced for a beach town. The portions were large (I couldn’t finish my SALAD, which is particularly shameful for me) and the crepes were good (nowhere near as good as what you can get in Paris but there was a large variety of dessert and savory types and they were also gimongous). I would recommend sticking with dessert crepes if you go.

26 Beach (Venice)

This is a really feminine and unique brunch place. Although I can’t say it beats out my usual haunts for brunch (Aroma, Alcove, and Urth), I do appreciate its effort to have a stand-out menu. The place itself is absolutely adorable (every chair is different, and the general color tones are pink and turquoise) and I could imagine spending hours there (we spent three!) just sipping tea with my girlfriends. They are most famous for their French toast (there are over 20 types) so I would recommend ordering one of those. Tiramisu (espresso drenched, mascarpone, and chocolate shavings), L’Orange (ricotta and orange zest and orange glaze) , Croissant French toast, and the Elvis (peanut butter, chocolate, and banana!) are some of their most popular ones, with good reason. 

Umami Burger (Los Feliz)

I’ve wanted to eat here since I first moved to Los Angeles. There are so many famous gourmet burger places (Father’s Office, The Counter…) in Los Angeles but this one probably takes first place with the critics (and the general population). I got to eat here with one of my foodie friends from Yale (food is always good when Devin’s around) and Nick. The boys had the umami burger and I tried the hatch, which has 4 types of chilies and this amazing house-made cheese. I was really impressed with the buns, the meat (rare!), the sauce, the cheese, and how all of it came together to create a really unique and flavorful burger. The price is a bit steep for a burger that is probably just the right size (mine was $9) but for something so delicious, I’d go back. Their fries were pretty awesome, too!!!

Scoops (Wilshire center, very near Umami so you can make it a night)

I actually just heard about this the day Devin recommended we go. After Diddy Reese in westwood which has the most reviews for any ice cream place in LA, Scoops took the cake (or the cone?). I think it’s much better than Diddy Reese which is mainly just a huge BANG for your buck ($2 for a homemade ice cream sandwich that is bigger than your face!). Scoops, however, is less showy and more focused on its ice cream; they make new and crazy flavors everyday. Devin told me they’re most well-known for their strawberry balsamic vinegar and brown bread flavors, and he said something else that was a completely savory flavor that I must have blocked from my mind because I thought it sounded too strange. We actually didn’t get to try those flavors so I’ll have to come back but I admire their business model, their totally fair prices, and what seems to be (from my peanut butter and banana and hazelnut Irish cream tastings) a very high-quality product.

Ok, so a lot of restaurant reviews but I hope that’s okay with you. I’ll be back very soon with food photography by my very own fiancé and restaurants by your very favorite chef, moi. Is it bad that I’m way too excited for the weekend even though it’s only Monday? On Friday, we’re going to a wedding event at Macy’s, on Saturday we’re going to a Korean BBQ Cook Off (with celebrity judges Jonathan Gold (amazing food critic introduced to me by Nathan Carter) and Sandra Oh!! (Grey’s Anatomy!)) and to see Rent, which stars Vanessa Hudgens, my style idol! OMGEEEEEEE!!!

See, I told you there’d be a lot of emotional blather!!! EEEEEEEEE!!!!