Three day Meat Fest!

The last three days had been a complete and utter meat fest.

Day One:
My friends and I finally managed to snag a reservation at the infamous Animal Restaurant up in LA last Friday. Even though we only got to eat at 9:30pm, we were very excited to try after all the hype and rave reviews. We had a group of 8 people (4 couples) so we decided to order a bunch of stuff to try (a total of 21 dishes when we were finally done). A couple of notable dishes if you do try that place: - foie gras loco moco, barbecue pork belly sandwich and grilled quail. We also ordered the poutine, chicken liver toast, bone marrow, pig ear, pork ribs, polenta, veal tongue and hamachi. The only non heavy dish that night was the hamachi tostada which was refreshing and a much needed dish in our almost all meat menu. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience. The company and food was great, although some dishes were slightly salty. We really wanted to see what the hype is all about and this place definitely lives up to its reputation.

 Foie Gras Loco Moco

BBQ Pork Sliders

Photos courtesy of yelp reviewers

Day 2:

HONEY PIG! What a great name for a Korean Barbeque restaurant. The concept is slightly different from other KBBQ places that I have tried. First off, you cook your meat on this cast iron-like wok cover and they place the kimchi and bean sprouts directly on the cast-iron. You don't get as many side dishes as you normally would at other KBBQ places but I am ok with that since I usually only eat the kimchi and rice paper. The quality of the meat is good and the meal is priced reasonably. Also, they cook your meat with chunks of butter, which makes it even tastier! When you're done with the meat, the server will prepare kimchi fried rice directly on the cast iron. The rice is really good when it gets a little crunchy and burned at the bottom. Totally adds another dimension of texture and flavor to an otherwise ordinary kimchi mixed rice.

Honey Pig cast iron wok

Photo courtesy of yelp reviewers

Day 3:
This is probably the healthiest of  all meals we had over the entire weekend. We were at Chino Hills celebrating a friend's birthday and in continuation of our carnivore weekend, we had shabu shabu for lunch. We tried to burn off some calories with bowling later. I am guessing a little bit helps, right? Here's a shoot out to Kittiya Chanporn, the birthday woman girl - Happy birthday and wishing you a year of joy and success! I'll end this post with a couple of pictures I took of two adorable sisters who reminded me of how awesome and pure sisterly love is.

Side note:
I am still recovering from my meat coma and have been doing some online research for a cleanse diet. Is there something out there that is somewhat doable? I don't want to be drinking lemon juice and cayenne pepper the entire time.

Happy Valentine's Day

It was a little chilly on Valentine's day and I thought of making something that would warm our stomachs for dinner. I finally decided on filet of beef bourguignon from my favorite food network star, Ina Garten. I got this recipe from her very first cookbook, simply "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook". This recipe is her interpretation of Julia Child's famous beef bourguignon minus the extra stewing time. I followed Ina's recipe closely and it was very easy to make. The only thing that I omitted from the recipe is butter. I think my husband and I can do without the extra fat and calories. I guess without the butter, it isn't really an Ina Garten dish. Maybe this can be in MY cookbook in the future? :P

The sauce was incredibly smooth and velvety even without the butter. I prepared this dish during the day and re-heated it right before dinner. We enjoyed the beef bourguignon with some crusty french loaf that I toasted and rubbed generously with garlic. That added another depth of flavor when we dipped it into the rich sauce. Although this dish really is a one pot wonder, it is distinctly elegant and absolutely delicious. This is definitely a crowd pleaser that can be prepared well ahead of time.

I made a simple side salad to accompany the beef bourguignon. Since strawberries are in season, I added them to a simple tossed salad. Not only does it add color to the dish, the balsamic vinegar pairs well and adds sweetness to the strawberries. It was almost like a palette cleanser to the richer beef bourguignon.

The night before, I made some red velvet batter that I baked in heart-shaped baking molds (following the Valentine's Day theme). I got the red velvet recipe from my recently purchased Magnolia Bakery cookbook. Magnolia Bakery tops their red velvet cakes with a creamy vanilla frosting. However, I decided to use cream cheese because personally, I love red velvet cakes best with cream cheese frosting.  

I piped a simple rose design on the cake, making sure I topped it generously with cream cheese frosting. I added a simple heart shaped macaron cookie on the side to finish the cake.

Finally, it was time to eat! Overall, it was a relatively simple meal to make and the results are amazing. I hope you will try this if you decide to make something special without a whole lot of fuss.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Recipe for vanilla cream cheese frosting, courtesy of yours truly:

2 8ounce cream cheese packages, room temperature
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese, unsalted butter and vanilla with a paddle attachment for 1 minute. Do not whip. Slowly add powdered sugar to the creamed mixture a cup at a time beating until smooth. If the batter is too thick, add some milk. If the batter is too thin, simply add more powdered sugar.

Papa's 38th birthday!

I heart Valentine's Day! Please don't barf. Not only is this the most romantic day of the year (all right, I'm just kidding) but it is also strawberry season! I am more excited about the latter, obviously...no, seriously! Now, what has this gotta do with my father-in-law's birthday? Read on.

I made this cake for a dear friend's birthday a couple years ago and it was a big hit. So, I wanted to make this again for my father-in-law's 38th birthday (he always turns 38 on his birthday). I named this the J-Wang cake, after my good friend just because she was the first guinea pig in this recipe. So, I decided to name it in her honor. :)

This is a flourless chocolate cake with a strawberry mousse filling. Because the cake itself is so light, I didn't frost the cake with a heavy-type frosting. Instead, I opted for chantilly whipped cream. This cake calls for sugar, eggs, butter, chocolate (I used Valrhona chocolate), strawberries and whipping cream.

The whipped egg whites is what makes this cake super light and fluffy, almost soufflé-like. There is no flour in this recipe, so it's also gluten free.

I got these fresh and beautiful strawberries from an organic farm stand across the street. They are juicy and sweet, just perfect for this recipe. I love using in season ingredients because you are enjoying them at their very best.

I covered the filling of the cake generously with bite size pieces of strawberries and strawberry mousse (made from pureed strawberries and whipped cream). I personally like to cut and arrange the strawberries in a single layer because that way, you get a piece of strawberry with every single bite.

A simple piping around the cake. I hope to get better as I continue to practice piping.

Now, one with the birthday boy man. This is him with his 'Steve Jobs' impression. His name is really Sam (close) but if he can be 38 every year, he can be called Steve for one day out of the year. Happy birthday to the best FIL!

Seasons Greetings from Simplici.Tea

Back by popular demand, Simplici.Tea is proud to announce our line of baked goodies this holiday season. 


All orders are baked fresh and will be ready for pick up after 4pm on the dates below at our commercial kitchen facility in Huntington Beach. If you would prefer to have these delivered, feel free to contact us. Delivery charges do apply.  


We are baking goodies these days:
November 23, 2011
December 1, 2011
December  8, 2011
December 15, 2011
December 22, 2011

Macarons

A box of 10 pieces of macarons for $16/box. Each box includes 2 pieces of the following flavors: pistachio, orange, hazelnut, rose and chocolate banana.


Scones

10 pieces of mixed berry scones for $15/box.

Buy more and save! For all orders above $120, receive 10% off your entire purchase. Orders above $180, receive 15% off your entire purchase.

Questions? Ready to order? Contact us at: simpliciteacreations@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you this holiday season!

Cooking Food in Season.

Summer is one of the best times of the year because of the great weather and fresh produce are in abundance. I love going to the farmer's market or a produce stand by the roadside to pick up organic and fresh ingredients when I prepare dinner. Not only are the produce super tasty, I feel like I contributed to the community by supporting our local farmers.

On the menu tonight was Pernod and lemon baked chicken over a bed of sauteed summer vegetables and basil potato puree. I marinated the chicken with lemon juice, thyme, olive oil and a splash of Pernod. The licorice flavor from the Pernod cuts out the acidity of the lemon juice and gives the chicken a nice fennel-like taste. A little Pernod goes a looooong way, so use it sparingly.

Accompanying the chicken is sauteed vegetables - zucchini, yellow squash and red bell peppers are sauteed in olive oil and garlic, and grated parmesan cheese is added towards the end to give the vegetables a nutty and more rounded flavor. I absolutely love the color these vegetables add to the dish. For the starch element, I opted for a basil potato puree - russet potatoes cooked with cream, garlic and fresh chopped basil. This was inspired by my favorite TV personality - Ina Garten. The basil adds a fresh fragrance to an otherwise boring set of mashed potatoes. 

I wished I had taken a better picture (with a real camera) before my husband devoured the dish. Here's one that I had quickly snapped with my iPhone camera.

Simplici.Tea's First Showcase

It was our pleasure to be invited to showcase Simplici.Tea's macarons at the Reasons to Celebrate Event on January 13, 2011 at S Fine Dining in Westminster. Needless to say, the event was a great success! A big thank you to Ngoc Nguyen and her team from Skybox Event Productions and Stephanie Dinh from S Fine Dining for hosting this fun event. It has been a great pleasure working with them.

Check out pictures of our table and of the event, courtesy of D Park Photography. Thank you David and Drexelle! The pictures look amazing.

 Lemon Macarons

 Earl Grey Macarons

 Raspberry Rose Macarons

Simplici.Tea's display at the event.

Thank you again to D Park Photography for those amazing pictures!

Macaron Flavors

Greetings!!! If you're still reading this, thank you for your continued support! I realized that I haven't properly listed out the flavors of my macarons on this site! So here they are:-

• Vanilla, vanilla buttercream and white chocolate ganache 
• Chocolate, dark chocolate ganache 
• Hazelnut, Nutella buttercream 
• Strawberry, strawberry buttercream 
• Lemon, citrus white chocolate 
• Berry Rose, raspberry chocolate 
• Earl Grey, earl grey cream
• Lavender, lavender cream

For more information, please contact us at simpliciteacreations@gmail.com