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Friday, April 13, 2012

OK! Magazine Feature: Julie Benz Cooking Bridal Shower at Le Cordon Bleu – Hollywood, CA

Posted in Wedding

My photos of actress, Julie Benz’s cooking class bridal shower at Le Cordon Bleu are currently featured in OK! Magazine. This is such a fun idea for a bridal shower! Julie and all her guests learned how to make Chicken Vindaloo, Samosas, and rich Chocolate Molten Cakes. The whole kitchen smelled amazing from all of the fragrant spices. Below are few of my favorite photos from the shower.

There were plenty of Le Cordon Bleu students and teachers to help the ladies through the cooking process.

Chef Andy demonstrating how to properly fold a samosa.

Posted in Wedding

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Arroz Con Pollo Dinner with Strangers

Posted in Food, Personal

Last week, I hosted a Peruvian dinner for Marissa from SupperSurfing and her lovely family. If you love to throw dinner parties and want to meet some of the folks in your neighborhood, then Supper Surfing might be perfect for you. You can either host a dinner or attend one close by to you. If you decide to host a dinner, you can put up a post on the SupperSurfing website letting people in your area know when, where, what you will be making and how much. Usually costs just cover the cost of ingredients and maybe a little extra for time.

It was fun and felt surprising normal having strangers over for dinner. I guess there are usually people you don’t know at most dinners, so this wasn’t too different from a regular dinner party. Billy, Melissa and Keith also joined us along with Francine and Nita from the LA Times who photographed and observed the evening. You can read the article Nita wrote for the LA Times here.

For dinner I made simple Peruvian dishes, Arroz con Pollo, Papa a la Huancaina, and Banofee Pie. Banofee Pie might not exactly be Peruvian but it’s toffee filling is the same stuff that goes into Alfajores, so close enough!

When I was a kid my mom use to make Arroz con Pollo just about every week and I hated it. I called it martian rice and would get super embarrassed when my friends would stay for dinner on Arroz Con Pollo night. Of course now I’m the one cooking it for my friends and am grateful my mom took the time to cook us a meal every night. I also understand now why my mom made it so often; it’s pretty simple and can be made in one pot. Strangely, when I make it now it’s not nearly as martian green as when my mom use to make it. I think she changed her recipe throughout the years; this is her current one.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of cilantro (roughly 1 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup of chicken broth or water
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
6 Chicken thighs
2 cups of basmati rice
1 can of light beer
1 bouillon chicken-flavored cube
1/2 cup of frozen peas
1 red pepper, cut into strips

Pack cilantro into a blender with chicken broth or water and blend until smooth. Heat 3 TB of oil in either a large pan with tall sides or a pot and saute onion until brown, about 15 min. Add garlic and saute for 2 min. Add cilantro mixture and bouillon cube. Cook for additional minute. Add the can of beer and 2 cups of water. Add chicken and cook for 16 min or until chicken is cooked through. Take out chicken and keep warm on a separate covered plate for later. Now add 2 cups of rice. This is where it can get tricky you need to eyeball the how much liquid is in the pan and make sure it is roughly double of the amount of rice you put in. You can always add more water if there’s not enough liquid. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for about 16 min. Meanwhile cook peas in a small bowl full of water in the microwave for 2 min. Cooking them this way as opposed to with the rice keeps the peas pretty and plump. Fluff rice and mix in peas when its ready when it’s ready. Add the chicken. Garnish with red pepper strips for color.

Posted in Food, Personal

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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Peruvian Purple Potato Papa a la Huancaina Appetizer

Posted in Food

I love the cheesy, spicy goodness of papa a la huancaina. Though it’s appearance always has always fallen flat for me: yellow sauce on yellowish beige potatoes. So to give the dish a much-needed pop of color, I used some Peruvian purple potatoes in place of the traditional yellow potato. My bag also had a few pretty magenta and lighter blue potatoes mixed in. Make it a party ready dish by cutting potatoes into bite size bites and supplying toothpicks.

My mom says some people add a little yellow food coloring to make the sauce brighter. I can dump 2 whole bottles of red dye into red velvet batter, no problem. But for some reason the thought of adding a few drops of dye into savory food gives me the creeps. The orange aji amarrillo gives the sauce it’s color. Add another half chile if you want a brighter yellow and like the extra heat.

Recipe:

1 dozen small to medium purple potatoes (can be found at Whole Foods or A Grocery Warehouse, 1487 W Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park)

1 – 8oz package of queso fresco (found in most So. California supermarkets and your local Hispanic market)

6 oz. of evaporated milk

1 1/2 aji amarillo chiles from a jar, seeded and ribbed (can be found at Catalina Market, 1070 N Western Ave Los Angeles, CA 90029)

4 soda crackers

1 small garlic clove, crushed

Add potatoes to a pot of cold, salted water and bring to boil. My potatoes were fairly small and only took 12 minutes. After they have cooled down peel and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Combine the cheese, aji amarillo, crackers, milk and garlic in blender and blend until smooth. The sauce should be thick. Add a little extra milk to thin it out, if needed.

This dish can also be served as a first course. Just use medium potatoes, slice them a 1/2 thick, arrange them on small individual plates, and pour the huancaina sauce on top.