DIY Sriracha Salt

DIY is great but when it's so obvious and EASY it just.makes.sense.
Some things we make  it ourselves whether it's to save money or to add
a personal touch to or in this case because it's just too darn easy to do.

I'm taking about Sriracha Salt.  Sriracha sauce is a type of hot sauce made
from a paste of hot chili peppers + vinegar + garlic + sugar + salt.
The name comes from a city in Thailand called "Si Racha"  did you know that?

In Thailand , sriracha sauce is used as a dipping sauce mostly for seafood-
sort of like cocktail sauce.  Once the sauce immigrated to the US and other parts
of the world - it has blown up being used in soups, eggs, burgers, jams, lollipops,
candy canes, potato chips and more! In the US we most commonly see the brand
Huy Fong Foods aka: rooster sauce.  Many restaurants like Applebees, P.F. Chang's,
and Subway have jumped on the band wagon for incorporating Sriracha sauce
into dishes on their menu.

Another way to use the sauce is to make your own DIY Sriracha Salt.

Sriracha salt is great for seasoning. You can use it on popcorn, to season your 

steaks with, add a sprinkle to salads, on eggs, the uses are endless.
To make it- just mix a tablespoon of the hot sauce with a cup or so of coarse salt.
Once you mix it in a bowl - spread it out on a pan or plate so it will dry a little.
Do NOT bake it or anything else.  Simply let it sit for maybe 30 minutes to dry out.
Once the sauce has dried out you can put it into a jar or spice container
of your choosing. That's it!  I told you it was easy.
I mean- you don't even have to boil water or anything!

Add a kick,  Let's Cultivate Food

V8 V-Fusion ENERGY drinks

Did you know that V8 drinks have been around for over 75 years?
Their product line has more than 44 varieties, from the original red tomato juice
looking V8 to the Spicy Hot, to the low sodium to the fruit smoothie like drinks
to the fruit and veggie mixed flavors to the fusion and now to the V-fusion Energy drink.

Do you know how many vegetables a person should have each day?
Can you guess? I'll just tell you. It's 5, five servings of vegetables daily.

V8 makes it a little easier to reach that goal simply because they pack so
many vegetables and fruits into their drinks.
The energy drinks just like their other drinks are 100% juice.
Some of the energy drink flavors are Peach Mango, Strawberry Banana,
Pomegranate Blueberry and Acai Mixed Berry.

The V8 V-fusion + energy drinks have 50 calories, is a great source
of vitamin B and they taste great!

What's also nice is that they have no added sugar or artificial flavorings
or preservatives.  The energy portion of the drink comes from green tea.

When you compare it to a can of soda and a 8oz brewed cup of coffee---
the soda has 46 mg of caffeine and
V8 energy has 80mg and
the coffee has 90 mg.

I've been having these energy drinks from time to time and they taste great
and I really get more energy with no crashing or no sugar highs etc...

They are super cheap as well. Often a 6 pack is a few cents under $4.00
making them 60 some cents. You can't beat that price and flavor.

Total win. win.


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Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Korean BBQ Class at Main Line School Night

Over the weekend, we had our Korean BBQ class held at the Creutzburg Center
in Radnor through Main Line School Night.

As always, it was a great time. The students learned how to dice onions
properly along with shredding scallions, marinating kalbi which are short ribs,
bulgogi which is sliced ribeye and pork belly which is basically bacon uncured.

It's always great to do hands-on demos with the students.
I always feel that it's so much better when you- not only see something
but when you actually do it yourself so that you can experience it.

Below are a few pictures that were taken by my sous chef.

One of the best parts of cooking classes is that you get to eat!
Once all the condiments were ready and the meats were marinaded-
the students had the opportunity to cook the bbq at the table, wrapping
everything up in a lettuce wrap.

The whole room was sizzling with flavor.
to see some of the recipes click the link ----> Korean BBQ

Cooking Lesson for a Duo

This great duo worked well together steaming tofu kimchi dumplings,
chicken satays with peanut sauce, Pad Thai Noodles and a Thai tea.

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Pad Thai Pizza

Do you know what the difference between Asian Fusion food
and Pan Asian food is?  Many people  mistake the 2 or simply
assume it's the same thing.

Asian Fusion, or 'fusion' for that matter is bonding or fusing
something together and in this case it's either an Asian method of cooking
or an ingredient that is associated with Asian foods.
An example would be a Chicken Teriyaki burrito.
Teriyaki sauce is Japanese and a burrito is an Mexican-American food.
This dish would be Asian Fusion or Mexican Fusion.

I was craving Pad Thai and pizza but after debating in my head
of which one I wanted more... I decided to make both but together.
Literally.  Pad Thai pizza!   (for recipe ----->  Pad Thai recipe)

I was able to enjoy the crust part of the pizza that I wanted
along with the peanut, cilantro-spicy- curry kick of the Pad Thai all in one bite!
Totally an Asian Fusion Pizza!

Oh, and by the way- Pan Asian is when a restaurant has food (often favorites)
from many different countries. The best example of a Pan Asian chain
restaurant is P.F. Changs & their diner Pei Wei. Their menu consists of
dishes from China, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and more all in 1 menu.

Making home-made pizza dough is very easy.
1. take 1 cup of flour and add 1 pack of yeast.
2. microwave half a cup of water in your coffee mug so it's hot but not boiling.
3. add water slowly and take a spoon and mix together.
4. wet a paper towel and throw over the dough for at least 20 minutes
     so the yeast and flour can get to know each other and get settled in
5. roll your dough with a rolling pin and  bake the dough first on a cookie rack
    for about 20 minutes (best if you want a crispy flat crust)

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Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Long distance couples cook together.

A while back, we had a cooking class with a duo
who were friends at the start of the class...
I saw a little flirting and  "eyes" and looks taking place. haha.
Both people were super cool to meet and so much fun to cook with!

They learned how to make Buffalo chicken dumplings
with ranch as a dipping sauce along with some hand-rolled
pizzas and strawberry shooters for dessert.

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food

Couples In Home Cooking Class

I might be weird but I always feel better when the kitchen gets a
a cleaning.... like a good scrub cleaning with vinegar,
baking soda and lemons... Nah, I AM weird. It's ok though because
I admit it..?...
Anyways,  just like the way a good cleaning puts me in a happy place-
so do Cooking Classes, especially the 'In-Home' ones.

We recently did another couples cooking class cooking an Indian menu
that was meat and vegetarian friendly.
This couple was a blast to cook with and so much in... love!
They were smiling and looking at each other almost the whole time!

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food