Strawberry Basil Crostini

Do you ever have friends or family over or have to take something
to someones house and you JUST.DON"T. have the time?

Here is a little something that could look a little  'fant-cee'
AND it's in season AND it's easy to prepare, travel with, assemble etc...

Strawberry basil crostinis.   All you need is love... nope, that's a song not
the ingredients to this recipe.  You will need a pint of strawberries,
a few basil leaves, balsamic vinegar, bread of your choice and either
goat cheese or even cream cheese if that's what floats your boat.

Slice your bread, line them up on a baking sheet to make them warm 

and toasty  (you don't have to) 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes if that.  

While your bread slices are toasting... you can wash and cut 

your strawberries into slices or dices  (whichever you want to do)  

Add a TBSP of balsamic vinegar and 

1 teaspoon of sugar or honey (optional)  Chiffonade  (cut thin long strips) 

your fresh basil leaves and add to your strawberries.

Take your toasted bread out of the oven and slather some 

goat cheese onto your bread. Lastly use an ice cream scoop and 

scoop a spoonful of your strawberry basil onto each piece of bread 

that now has melted  goat cheese.

(when I say melted- it's because the goat cheese was smeared 

on when the bread was JUST taken out of the oven and still is warm)

Ta-Da!   super easy right!?!

Even though it's super easy - your friends and family will be impressed!

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food.........  day 13 of 31 days

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Although it's summer and we want to enjoy chilled foods...
sometimes a hearty hot soup is good for our insides.

Have you ever made cheddar broccoli soup at home?
Here's a super easy way to make some.

You will need broccoli, an onion, celery, red bell peppers
and some cheddar cheese. (I like to just use already shredded)

Dice an onion (this recipe is good for 2-3 people as a side soup) 

and throw that into the pot so that it gets cooking first. 

Add a coffee mugs worth of water with that onion. 

When the onion starts to get translucent- 

add our celery (diced up) and broccoli (bite size) 

(red bell pepper diced up is optional)

Once the veggies have cooked down and are soft, 

add a cup of shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 a cup of milk 

along with another full cup of water.

Let them have a good time in the  'hot tub' as they 

socialize and  get acquainted with each other. 

Once everything is smooth and mixed together....

Your super easy cheddar broccoli soup is done.  

You can add salt at the table to right into the soup

(1-2 teaspoons of salt or soy sauce)

Having some crusty bread to dip into your soup will be good also!



Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food.........  day 12 of 31 days

Celebrate each day!

Celebrate each day... like it's ...... your birthday!

Why?   Because you deserve it.
Almost all of the time, we bring upon ourselves
the drama in our lives and the headaches and such.

If you have a positive outlook and try your best in
being productive and taking care of the people
around you even if it's simply by words... THEN
your day, each day will significantly become better!

Today I celebrate the fact that it's a Monday!
I have officially been blogging away for 40 months...
aka 3 years and 4 months.

I currently have over 50,000 world-wide followers and visitors of my blog.
This is also my 401st blog post.  WHAT!?!!

It certainly has been a fun venture so far. I can't complain.
As I have lost count with how many cooking classes (over 150 at this point)
and creating menus and menus and menus and .... wait for it....
MENUS. for Personal Chef lunches and dinners --
I am grateful. I am grateful that I have brought a smile to people
(often strangers- people I have met for the first time) with food.



Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food.........  day 11 of 31 days

Why do Koreans slurp seaweed soup on birthdays?

Seaweed soup in Korean is called Mi-yeok Guk - 

'Mi-yeok'  meaning seaweed and 'Guk'  meaning soup.  

Seaweed soup is made from a sea vegetable known as 'wakame'  

or sometimes called sea mustard.  Seaweed contains a super

high concentration of iodine and calcium which are super important

especially to nursing mothers. Many Korean women consume

seaweed soup during pregnancy so that their newborn receives

the nutrition through breastfeeding.... 

AND that's why Koreans prepare and eat seaweed soup

on birthdays. It's a reminder of the first food they consumed

through their mothers, thus bringing good fortune for the rest

of the year.  

It's not too difficult to make either. (As long as you can get to 

an Asian supermarket) Seaweed is sold dried so you will have to 

soak it in water first so it bloats up. 

Make sure you rinse it several times because it does 

come from the sea and even though it's dried- often times 

it's actually dried by the sand area.

You can use anchovies for the broth or I actually prefer beef. 

Any cut of beef is ok to use in making the broth. 

I often dice up or give the beef a rough chop

so it's a little tender and in smaller pieces.

I take a TBSP of sesame oil and 3 TBSP of soy sauce and saute the beef first. 

Then I add one whole onion (medium size) sliced up to give it more flavor. 

Once the onion has cooked a little (5-7 minutes) I add water and fill the pot. 

I then add the bloated and already wet seaweed into the pot.

Let it come to a boil and then turn it to a medium low and let it simmer

for a bit. (minimum 30 minutes) The broth will turn into a yellowy-greenish

hue from the seaweed. That's when you know it's ready and it will 

taste good. You can add a little more salt & pepper at the table. 

Seaweed soup is more often than not eaten with a small bowl of rice.

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food.........  day 10 of 31 days

Sesame Spinach Tofu

Having vegetables can be super simple or super hard.

It's really how to go about it.  Yesterday for lunch I had some 

sesame spinach with tofu as a side dish.  

It's a no brain-er.   First, wash your spinach because there

is often soil around the stems. Boil some water and once the

water boils- turn the stove off and toss your spinach in the pot.

The spinach will wilt right before your eyes. It takes about 1 minute.

Strain it and add 1-2 teaspoons of sesame oil.  

Take firm tofu (about 2 X 2" cube) and squeeze it over the sink

with a disposable glove or a cheese cloth. Once the excess water 

is out of the tofu, simply add the tofu to the spinach.

For the seasonings- add a drizzle of soy sauce or a sprinkle of salt.

One or the other not both. I like to add a minimal about of red pepper

flakes (cayenne or spicy paprika is ok too)

That's it. Spinach is a common side dish in Korean cuisine plain

by itself but adding the tofu makes it a little bit heartier.

If you REALLY wanted to cultivate it and put a twist on it...

you could add some grated parmesan cheese on it also!

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food.........  day 9 of 31 days

Have you ever wondered where the name came from?

As you are driving to work or commuting on the train
have you ever pasted a restaurant and wondered...

I wonder how the food is there... or
have you ever wondered where that name came from...

Is it simply the owner's name or something else!?

Here are a few I wanted to share with you today before
the weekend!

Jimmy Johns - Is it 2 peoples names?
One named James and the other John?
Did they discuss if it should be Jimmy & Johns or Johnny Jim's
or some other combination of their name?
Jimmy Johns simply came from the founder's first and
middle name.  ----- Jimmy John Liautaud


P.F. Changs - What does the P.F. stand for?  Ping and Foo?
Pan-seared and Fried or just Pan Fried? hmmm
The P & F stand for Paul Fleming who partnered with a
Chinese chef with the last name Chiang but they dropped
the letter "I" thinking it would be difficult to pronounce
so P.F. Changs stands for Paul Fleming Changs.


Denny's - Was it someone named Denny..?... nope!
but good obvious guess. Denny's was originally Danny's donuts.
Owner Harold Butler and his wife moved closer to Harold's wife's
uncle Danny (who owned Danny's coffee shops) and at the time
Harold didn't have any money to create the now Denny's so
his wife's uncle helped him with running a Danny's Coffee shop
that they later  just changed the name from Danny's to Denny's
for corporate franchising reasons. I wonder why they just didn't
call it Harold's?  Interesting huh?!

One last one for you today is:

Red Robin - Red Robin was first called Sam's Tavern.  hmmm.
The owner- Sam sang in a barbershop quartet and their go-to
song was "When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin along"
He enjoyed that song SO much that he later changed the place
to Sam's Red Robin.  Two decades later, Gerry Kingen bought
the restaurant and as he expanded it- he decided to drop the Sam's
and the rest is history as simply: Red Robin.


The history of how things started is always fascinating to me.



Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food.........  day 8 of 31 days

Buffalo Fried Rice

When you are making fried rice- it's  best to use day old rice
especially if you have left over take out rice.
Most fried rices are made with day old rice simply because it is
not as sticky and once rice becomes cold, all the moisture is gone and
for a fried rice stir-fry texture... you want it to be not as moist or
too sticky.  For- who wants fried rice that is porridge like?

I love fried rice and I also delight all things Buffalo especially when made
with Frank's Hot sauce. For this super easy way of making Buffalo fried rice-

I diced up one small onion and  rough chopped already shredded carrots.
I also sliced 2 hot dogs as well. I scrambled 2 eggs in the pan first and then
took the eggs and put them in a bowl (to be added at the end)

I sauteed the onions first and then added the carrots then the hotdogs
with 1 TBSP of soy sauce for the salt, a teaspoon of garlic powder,
a teaspoon of mustard powder and a teaspoon of sugar along with
about 5 TBSP of Frank's Hot sauce.
I then added the rice and stirred everything together.
Lastly, add your already scrambled eggs and stir-in.
I added some parsley flakes at the end as well. (optional)

Zestfully,  Let's Cultivate Food.........  day 7 of 31 days