Beef Bourguignon

It has been freezing in Los Angeles lately. Hard to believe that we got hit with so much rain, a hail storm, and snow! Fortunately, the sun has started to show this week but the air is still quite cold. It has been hard to get out of my apartment and out of my sweat pants. I got my fireplace on and I just want to curl up on my couch underneath a big blanket. This is the time for comfort food and Beef Bourguignon is on my menu. It gives me all the cozy feels. I got leftovers. No need to leave my apartment for the next few days.

Ingredients:

·      1 lb beef stew meat

·      3 slices of bacon, diced

·      2 carrots

·      1 sweet yellow onion, diced

·      12 oz mushrooms, cremini + shiitake (or all cremini or white button mushrooms), halved or thick slices

·      10 pearl onions, trimmed and peeled

·      4 cloves of garlic, 2 minced and 2 crushed

·      1½ Tbsp flour

·      2 tsp tomato paste

·      4 sprigs of fresh thyme

·      1 bay leaf

·      2 Cups of wine

·      1 Cup of beef broth

·      salt + pepper

·      1 Tbsp butter

·      vegetable oil

·      parsley, chopped

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2.    Pat beef stew meat dry. Season generously with salt and pepper.

3.    Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat on the stovetop. Add diced bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside.

4.    Pan sear the sides of the beef stew meat in the bacon fat. Remove beef and set aside.

5.    In the same Dutch oven, add onions and brown. Add carrots and garlic. Cook for a minute. If the pan gets dry, add a couple tablespoons of water.

6.    Add tomato paste and flour and mix thoroughly. Toss in bay leaf and thyme.

7.    Pour in wine and let reduce for a couple minutes, turning heat down as liquid starts to bubble.

8.    Add beef broth and stir.

9.    Carefully place the beef and bacon back into the pan, making sure that the meat is fully submerged in the liquid. Cover and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours.

10. Meanwhile, heat a medium frying pan with vegetable oil. Add pearl onions and brown.

11. Toss in the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt. When the mushrooms begin to shrink, add a tbsp of butter. Stir and allow the mushrooms to slightly brown.

12. When the beef bourguignon has finished cooking, add the pearl onions and mushrooms to the Dutch oven. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

Air-Fried Wings with Spicy Sweet & Sour Herb Sauce

When I dip, you dip, we dip. I love dips, condiments, sauces. Just give me more so I can smother my food in it. I created this sauce originally to eat with my air-fried wings and then I ended up eating it with everything and anything I could dip into it. I love the combination of spicy, sweet, and sour with herbs. My love of herbs comes from Cambodian food. The more, the better! Sharing with you the recipe and I hope you like it!

Spicy Sweet & Sour Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1½ Tbsp Sambal sauce (Chili Garlic Sauce)

• 6 Tbsp water

• 2¼ Tbsp vinegar

• 1½ Tsp sugar

• ¼ Tsp fish sauce

• ¼ cup scallions, finely chopped

• ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped

• 1 clove of garlic, minced

Directions: Mix everything together and let sit for 30 minutes. Serve with air-fried chicken wings, grilled shrimp, rice, or noodles. So good on crispy fried eggs with rice. You can also dip cucumbers into it or serve with fried eggs as well.

Boston Trip, Food, and Random Thoughts

So August came and went and somehow we’re in October already! I spent most of August trying to pick myself back up again post-Covid isolation. Being social helped bit by bit. I even did some retail therapy and ya know what? It worked! Lol. I hadn’t really shopped all year but treating myself to some new outfits, expensive French perfume, and a fancy facial made me feel brand new again.

I went back to Boston to visit Mom for a bit in early September. While in Boston, I had the best food! As I always do. Had so many oysters! Mom always liked oysters but even more so now because after her injury, they go down her throat more easily than other foods. She still struggles with her appetite as a result of her brain injury and hospitalization. So I’ve been taking Mom and my stepdad out for oysters and cocktails and now I enjoy it even more myself because it makes her happy and that makes me happy. My parents aren’t really motivated to go out to nice places and explore on their own so it’s sort of up to me to help bring them joy because they don’t know how to do it on their own (not that I want that responsbility, I struggle a lot with it myself). They’ve worked so hard their entire lives and have survived so much hardship. They don’t know how to indulge, enjoy life, and have fun or seek joy. How could they? It’s something I have had to learn myself. Not that I’m an expert but my generation is more open to self-care, community, open dialogue, and reaching out for support for mental health than my parents’ generation. I also cooked for my parents while I was home. I made them some dishes they have never had before like my Steak with Colombian Aji Sauce, Coconut Turmeric Chicken Soup and my Mushroom Marsala. And I couldn’t leave Boston without making Mom my version of Cambodian Kuyteav Noodle Soup.

The sun is setting earlier and it’s getting dark sooner. This time of year always starts to make me feel sad, as endings usually do. I must have inherited this from my mother. She feels this way around this time of year in the east coast, when the cooler breeze floats through her windows and she can hear the sound of crickets from her garden. And my year is almost over as my birthday is in November. As with every birthday in the last few years, I have to plan some type of trip to give myself something to look forward to. So guess where I’m going this year? To Panama! I’m going to be attending a wellness yoga retreat at an eco-friendly holistic luxury beachfront resort situated away from the main civiliation on Panama’s coast. I’m VERY excited to get away and participate in this wellness journey. This year has been tough and I could use all the healing I can get!

Upwards and onwards.

Chinese Egg & Tomato Stir-fry

Chinese Egg + Tomato Stir-fry. Easiest thing to make when you’ve run out of most of your groceries and don’t know what to make. So yummy! This is my recipe but there are so many versions out there with subtle differences. Some use garlic. Some use ginger. You can make it saltier or you can make it sweeter. You really can’t mess up eggs and tomatoes! I keep it simple with three main ingredients. Try it! It’s delicious and comforting. Also, check out the reel I made for this recipe on my Instagram.

CHINESE EGG + TOMATO STIR-FRY (serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

·       4 eggs, whisked

·       8 plump Campari or pearl tomatoes, quartered

·       2 tbsp olive oil

·       ½ tsp salt

·       ¾ tsp sugar

·       ½ tbsp vinegar or rice vinegar 

·       ½ tsp sesame oil

·       3 tbsp water 

·       ⅓ cup scallions, diced

· 1 tsp minced ginger (optional)

Directions: 

Whisk eggs with ¼ tsp salt.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium frying pan. Pour in eggs and softly scramble. Plate and set aside.

In the same pan, add another 1 tbsp olive oil. Lightly sauté the ginger. Throw in tomatoes. Add ¼ tsp salt and ¾ tsp sugar. Let the tomatoes cook for a couple minutes. Pour in ½ tbsp vinegar, ½ tsp sesame oil, and 3 tbsp water. Let tomatoes soften for maybe another minute without letting the tomatoes get too mushy.

Sprinkle some of the scallions. Turn the pan off. Add scrambled eggs back into the pan and lightly fold into the tomato mix. Garnish with additional fresh scallions before serving. Eat with rice.

Hot & Sour Soup

Whenever I return from a trip, all I want is a hot bowl of soup. As you may know from following my Instagram account, I love all types of soup. One that I started making more regularly recently is the Chinese Hot and Sour Soup. It’s so flavorful. There’s something about the sourness, saltiness, and the spice that just hits the spot. I love the crunchy textures of the bamboo and water chestnuts as well as the softness of the tofu and egg ribbons. So yummy. It tastes so much better when you make it at home yourself. Restaurants sometimes overdo it on the cornstarch, soy sauce, or spice. I don’t use cornstarch in my recipe at all because I generally prefer thin, brothier soups. You may add cornstarch if you like a thicker texture. If you’re a soup lover, try my recipe!

Hot and Sour Soup (serves 4-5)

Ingredients:

·       32 oz low sodium chicken broth

·      1 quart & 1 cup of water

·       15 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrate in bowl of hot water for 30 minutes, thinly sliced

·       1 small 8 oz can of bamboo shoots

·       6 oz tofu, cubed

·       3 eggs, lightly whisked

·       1 small can of water chestnuts, sliced (optional)

·       1 clove of garlic, mashed

·       1 nubbin of ginger

·       4½ tbsp soy sauce

·       6 tbsp vinegar

·       ½ - 1 tsp chili flakes

·       2 tsp sesame oil 

·       ½ tsp black pepper

·       ½-¾ tsp salt

·      ¾ cup of scallions diced

Directions: Bring the broth with water to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes with ginger and garlic. Add tofu, bamboo, rehydrated sliced shiitake mushrooms, and water chestnuts. If there is not enough broth, add more water. Cook for 15 minutes. Season the soup with soy sauce, vinegar, chili flakes, sesame oil, black pepper, and salt. Cook for another 15 minutes. Create egg ribbons by slowly pouring in the whisked eggs into the pot. Stir the eggs in the pot of soup with a fork or chopstick. Toss in half of the scallions and then continue to cook for a couple more minutes. Top with additional fresh scallions when serving.

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Who loves garlic butter shrimp? I do! It’s also a super easy dish to make with few ingredients. I always have frozen shrimp in my freezer so this was an easy go-to meal to make, especially after not having been to the grocery store in almost a week!

GARLIC BUTTER SHRIMP (serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

·       20 shrimps, deveined with tail on

·       4 tbsp butter, melted

·       ¼ cup olive oil

·       8 cloves of garlic, minced

·       ½ tsp salt

·       ½ tsp black pepper

·       1 tsp red pepper flakes

·       ½ lime or lemon, juiced + additional slices for serving

·       1 tomato diced (optional)

·       ¼ cup chopped cilantro (for garnishing)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Make a shallow cut on the back of the shrimp. Line an 8 or 10-inch cast iron skillet with shrimp. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients together (except for the tomatoes and cilantro). Pour marinade over the shrimp. Add diced tomatoes on top.

Bake for roughly 15 minutes. Oven times vary so make sure you check the shrimp around 10-12 minutes in.

Serve over rice or pasta. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and garnish with slices of lime or lemon.

The Perfect Pumpkin Tart

Typically, pie is not my favorite dessert with the exception of pumpkin pie. A pumpkin tart is even better because it has the perfect ratio of filling and crust. Most pumpkin pies or tarts tend to be a little too sweet for me. Because it’s the holiday season, I thought I’d try making it myself. And it was so easy and so good! I was actually impressed with myself. Lol. It’s probably one of the best pumpkin tarts I’ve had in my humble opinion :) Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

THE PERFECT PUMPKIN TART

INGREDIENTS:

CRUST

·       1 cracker sleeve of graham crackers (9 cracker sheets)

·       6 tbsp butter

·       1 tbsp sugar

·       Pinch of salt

FILLING

·       1 can of pumpkin puree (I prefer Libby’s)

·       ½ cup + 1 tbsp brown sugar

·       3 eggs

·       ½ cup heavy cream

·       1 tsp vanilla extract

·       Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter on stove.

Crush graham crackers in a food processor until it looks like sand. Pour into a bowl. Mix with melted butter, sugar, and salt. It will then look a little like wet sand. Add crust mixture into a nonstick removable bottom 9-inch tart pan placed on a baking sheet. Spread mixture evenly along the pan. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, flatten the crust. Set aside.

Mix the ingredients for the filling. Stir evenly. Pour over the crust in the tart pan. With the tart pan on top of the baking sheet, place in oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Allow to cool completely before serving. Serve with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Portabella Mushroom "Al Pastor" Tacos

I love tacos and living in Los Angeles has allowed me to taste a variety of amazing tacos—from taco trucks, to obscure taco stands, to night markets. My favorite would have to be Al Pastor tacos, mainly because it usually comes with fresh pineapple slices and I just love pineapple on everything (including pizza!). But I don’t always want to eat meat. As I’m writing this post, I’m realizing I actually haven’t had tacos OUT in a long time!!! I need to get my booty to a taco truck ASAP! I created a vegetarian Al Pastor recipe so that I would have a healthier option when making tacos at home. Plus, I love learning different ways of making traditional recipes to cater to different diets.

To make Al Pastor tacos, you need Achiote powder. This required me to run all over town for hours searching for the spice! You really have to go to a Mexican grocery store or Food-4-Less. Sometimes it’s available at western markets but that can be hit or miss. And for me it was all miss after miss. I think I went to three western markets on my side of town before I gave up and went further out to Food-4-Less. Even though it was a journey trying to find this ONE spice, the outcome of my recipe made the trek totally worth it! I impressed myself with this dish! LOL. Don’t worry—all the other ingredients are easy to find. Give my vegetarian taco recipe a shot! It’s really good, I promise!

PORTABELLA MUSHROOM Al PASTOR TACOS WITH PINEAPPLE (makes about 12 small street tacos)

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 1 lb Portabella Mushrooms

• 2 tsp achiote powder

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 tsp garlic powder`

• ½ tsp chili powder

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp sugar

• ¼ cup orange juice

• ¼ cup pineapple juice

• 1 lime, juiced   

• 1 tbsp olive oil

Additional Ingredients:

• small street style white corn tortillas

• 1 cup of fresh pineapple slices

• 1 mixed cup of chopped cilantro and diced sweet yellow onion

• 2 limes, sliced for serving

• salsa

Creamy Avocado & Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (optional):

• 4 tomatillos

• 1 jalapeno

• 1 ripe avocado

• ¼ sweet yellow onion

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp chili powder (for medium spice)

• ½ lime, juiced

• 1 cup of cilantro

Directions:

Clean portabella mushrooms and pat dry. Slice them with medium thickness. In a large bowl, mix the mushrooms with the marinade  ingredients. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil and  saute mushrooms until cooked through. Set aside. Char pineapple slices in another skillet or keep raw. Warm  tortilla in a separate skillet. Assemble taco with tortilla, add cooked mushrooms, sprinkle cilantro & onions, top with pineapple and serve with fresh lime wedges and salsa. I served mine with homemade Creamy Avocado & Roasted Tomatillo Salsa.

For the Creamy Avocado & Roasted Tomatillo Salsa, roast the whole tomatillos and jalapeno for about 25 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees. Let cool. Then blend in a food processor with the other ingredients.