to REFRIGERATE or not to refrigerate...

Often, people will ask me...
is it better to refrigerate this or........................... leave it out?

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

Chips with plenty of salsas

Taco night is always a favored night but to put a little more fun and make it even more flavorful -- you can make it a chips and salsa night with plenty of salsas.

Who doesn't like to dip chips into something.... especially if you make
little bowls with the "scoops" corn chips.

With having several salsas --- you can have so many different combinations
that every single bite can be different from the last as well!

FUN and EASY salsas with chips!

Trays that are divided like this orange one are great to have on hand for many different things!

This super easy guacamole was made from taking a ripe avocado and dicing it up

into very small pieces while adding some chopped basil and 2 thin slices of diced tomato.

The mango salsa is great because it has that sweet flavor and if you chill it in a separate

bowl in the refrigerator until you are eat/serve it... it's even better! The mango salsa has 

one whole ripe mango diced into small pieces with a little bit of cilantro (more for garnish), 

and red bell peppers chopped very, very fine. 

I usually like to have a mild simple tomato salsa as well.  This again, super easy salsa was 

just one medium sized ripe tomato diced up with the other half of a red onion 

and a handful of diced cilantro. I also squeezed half a lime into the tomato salsa. 

(while saving and using the other half of the lime for the chips)

This ground beef was made with half a pound of 85/15 cut of ground beef. 

I used the other half of the red onion from the tomato salsa. 

I also grated in one large garlic clove, a teaspoon of A-1 sauce,

a teaspoon of hoisin sauce, salt, pepper to taste, a sprinkle of cumin, 

a teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

Lastly, the 'scoop' chips were used to make SOOOO many combinations of chips and salsa.  

I always like to squeeze a fresh lime on the chips to give that tart and limey flavor!

Oh, and of course a huge dollop of sour cream is always needed as well!

It was a yummy night!


Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

In Home Cooking Class Philadelphia        Birthday gift present activity cooking class

Most popular In-Home Cooking Class menu....

After doing cooking classes with over 300  different people just in the
past 5 months... the most popular menu choice has been the Thai menu.

It's officially called the 'Bangkok to Seoul' menu because it ties in the favored
Pad Thai noodles,  chicken satays with pineapple salsa and with the fusion
of kimchi in the tofu kimchi dumplings along with the delicious home-made Thai tea.

All cooking classes - classroom setting ones through Main Line School night and
through Mt. Airy Learning Tree have been wonderful. Korean BBQ,
Hand-made Noodles, Dumplings and more dumplings, Apps and Starters,
Best of Asian Fusion 1 , 2 and 3 - all have been so much fun!
I remember the first classroom cooking class years and years ago...
as if it was just yesterday.

The In-Home cooking classes have been a blast as well.
From walking down the sidewalks of south Philly in the freezing cold with my sous chef and
forgetting where we parked the car once or twice to driving to Jersey for some classes
along with people who live in shared apartments to people who are moving- to people who
have just moved to participating in silent auctions to online auctions to charity dinners to
personal chef dinners to bridal showers to wedding gift certificates to kids birthday parties.....
it has all been such a blast! Meeting different people is always cool but to meet them in
their homes for the fist time and then to cook with them is clearly something different
that most people will never get to experience.

I truly love cooking and showing someone how to do something more efficiently
so teaching how to cook food is something I truly enjoy.

The most popular menu choices have been these top 5.... out of the 20+ menus
that we have that you can choose from along with a custom option as well!

Bangkok to Seoul (Thai) menu,  Sushi menu, Wrap It Up menu,
Dumplings and more dumplings menu, Korean BBQ and Vietnamese menu (Pho).

Other menus we have can be seen by clicking this link ---->  menus

Here are just some of the people I have met recently....

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

No wasabi...

Many nutritionists will say to read, read, read the label in your food.

Reading the labels is not just for nutritionists but for all of us especially because 

there are so many chemicals and things in foods that are surprising these days.

The 2 worst things I have ever seen in pre-packaged food have been....

shredded and soaked newspaper inside frozen dumplings.

YES! I said shredded PAPER!   It should be cabbage.

The other thing I have experienced is small pieces of plastic inside frozen

chicken tenders.  I never really liked frozen food to begin with--

but with so much mystery behind it... I simply prefer fresh over canned or frozen foods.

I talk about soy sauce and info about what's inside soy sauce often in my cooking classes

but in this post- I just wanted to share some sad news about wasabi.

I am often in the supermarket taking pictures of labels and it doesn't even phase me anymore

that people are staring and wondering what in the world am I taking a picture of.

Almost ALL wasabi/ wasabi sauces made in America are NOT wasabi.

It's powered horseradish with green food dye/coloring.

Real wasabi looks like this----

It grows in wet, swampy areas.... in Japan.  The root part is where the wasabi paste 

comes from- the part we use in eating sushi.  The leafy part on top (that has been cut)

has that spicy kick to it as well, just not as much as the paste of the root.

It root part is grated to make a pasty like texture.

There is nothing wrong with horseradish but I do feel if it's advertised as wasabi--

it should have at least SOME wasabi in it.  The main reason that horseradish is used

is simply because to import it in from Japan- it spoils very quickly.

Here are a few pictures from my wasbi search at the supermarket. 

I probably read over a dozen types of wasabi, powder, paste, mixed, refrigerated, dry,
etc... and NOT one had any wasabi in it.... just horseradish powder and green food coloring.

Last little tip about wasabi in restaurants.  Only true Japanese sushi restaurants use real
wasabi and the spicier it is... the fresher it is. Wasabi looses it's spicy, nasal clearing
component as hours and days go by. If you find yourself adding more and more
wasabi to your soy sauce for your sushi- it's simply because it's not real wasabi or
because it was grated/made fresh earlier in the week for the weekend..?...

Oh, and by the way... horseradish root looks like this.

I could go on on about random products but I'll just share the wasbi / horseradish today.

It's always an intersting reaction during the cooking classes when we let people

know what's inside certain foods that they never thought would be in it.

So, bottom line.... read the labels to see what your eating.!....

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

In Home Cooking Class Philadelphia        Birthday gift present activity cooking class
In Home Cooking Class Philadelphia        Birthday gift present activity cooking class
In Home Cooking Class Philadelphia        Birthday gift present activity cooking class

Watermelon on a stick !

Summer always equals watermelon.
Whether you are taking watermelon to a park or picnic or any function for that matter...
a fun way to eat your watermelon is to simply stick a popsicle stick in it.

Wash your watermelon, slice it, jab it with a stick and throw them into a large container-
or an aluminum pan like the one in the picture.

Enjoy watermelon sticks with your friends and family this summer!

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

Scallions

Scallions are in the onion family and are often called ---

green onions, spring onions, salad onions, table onions, green shallots, 

onion sticks, long onions, yard onions and baby onions.

The name is often referred to what region or area you live in.

Scallions have their fair share of giving us vitamin A & vitamin C.

Scallions are used in so many cultures, styles of foods, in soups,

in stir-fries, as a garnish, as a marinating ingredient and so much more.

When eating Korean side dishes and especially in eating Korean BBQ

we shred scallions and give a quick toss in sauce to use as a garnish like

condiment to accompany the lettuce wraps or with just a chopstick full with 

the deliciously-sizzling bbq meats.

A scallion shredder looks like this....

and you simply run the blades through and it shreds the scallions. Once you shred the scallions

you definitely want to rinse them because there is often the sticky middle of some scallions.

It will liven the scallions as well and give that even fresher- curling on the ends.

You know the blue rubber bands that the scallions always come in? I usually keep the rubber band

on them and cut about an inch off the bottom and place them in a small cup or glass and they will

re-grow and sprout. DIY scallions! 

You can use the whole scallion, including the white-- and even the root part actually but I like to 

"cultivate" them and grow my own as well.  If you don't want to cultivate scallions--

you can also rinse the root part well and store them in a zip-lock bag and throw them into your 

soup broth to give your broth an easy, two-thumbs up type of  better flavor without much effort!

When cultivating scallions-- a little jar will work as well. It can sit right on your kitchen counter. 

It doesn't need to be near a window. It's pretty cool seeing them re-sprout and

being able to use something that you grew... well, sort of grew. 

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

Grilling Pizza On Your Grill

Make your own home made pizza on the grill.
Simply purchase already made pizza dough.
Roll it out a little to get a flat shape.
I purposely don't make the shape of the dough round...
to get that true homemade feel and look to it.
This would be a good time to use the tip titled "lemons on the grill"
Place the dough right on your grates. (assuming they are clean)
and let the dough cook for a few minutes.... maybe 5-7 minutes.

Once you've flipped the dough over- you can add your tomato sauce
and toppings or if you enjoy a margherita pizza- you can simply top
your dough with slices of fresh mozzarella, tomato slices and fresh
basil leaves whole or chopped up. Once the cheese has started to melt-
you can sprinkle a little salt and pepper.

Did you know pizza on the grill could be so easy?!


In Home Cooking Classes Philadelphia        Birthday gift present activity cooking class

Double Duty Melon Ballers and Veggie Peelers

Vegetable peelers and melon ballers are good for
all vegetables and fruits.
Rather than using a paring knife to peel an apple...
it can be easier to use a vegetable peeler for peeling the
skins of an apple or pear for instance. Taking the seeds
and core out of an apple or pear can also be easier
with a melon baller rather than a paring knife.

Bird's Nest

The bird's nest.

It's made from potatoes and it was the base of salads back during the restaurant days.

Wow, the restaurant days seem like so long ago. Almost another life time ago. Literally.

What's great about the bird's nest is that it's fun, crunchy, visually interesting and best of all-

it's SO yummy!  It's great to put a salad or even rice into. You can simply use it as an edible bowl.

                        

All you need is one large potato, corn starch, a small metal strainer with a handle that

will fit into a sauce pan or deep fryer of oil and one egg.

Take your potato, peel it, wash it and shred it. (you can use a mandoline or box shredder)

After you shred it- you have to wash it to get all the starch out. 

(You should rinse it at least 3-5 times) You'll see a little bit of light brown water come out.

Once you wash it, shake your strainer a little to get the excess water out.

Next, lightly coat your potatoes with cornstarch- enough that they coated.

Lastly, take your egg and either brush it onto the potatoes or mix the potato in the egg.

(The egg will basically help keep the potato together in your little metal strainer to fry in)

Take the potatoes and shape them into the little strainer like a bird's nest.

Once your oil it hot... you can deep fry them. 

When they are a golden brown they are ready.  Place your salad or any side dish in there!

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

Cilantro Lime Rice

It's been a while since I have had a new post...
cooking classes have been quite busy but I always enjoy sharing food.

Today it's cilantro lime rice.... so easy, so delicious,
so easy to eat and enjoy!

It's always great to season your food with fresh
or dry herbs or seasonings.

One of many ways to flavor your fluffy rice or pasta
is to add the juice of half a lime, a handful of cilantro
chopped up and I also
like to add a TBSP of butter.

The aroma of the lime and cilantro is delightful and makes
your rice even healthier and more flavorful.
You can have cilantro lime rice as a side dish, on your tacos, burritos,
on a salad, with a burger or simply by itself.

This simple rice is simply rice---lime---cilantro---butter (optional)

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

Thai Tea --- DIY

Thai Tea..... Yuh-Uhm.

Thai tea is traditionally made from brewing red tea leaves. 

Unfortunately red tea leaves are not the easiest to come across.... 

so the next best thing is to use black tea.

You will notice most Thai or Vietnamese restaurants' Thai tea has a reddish hue--

for they import red tea in from Asia.

You can very easily brew some Thai tea at home though!

recipe and procedure:  

Boil a pot of water (kettle) and about 8-10 black tea bags.

I know you are in a hurry to boil some BUT... make sure you take the paper off the tea bags.

You can use any brand of black tea as well.

Add a handful of star anise. (maybe about 8-10 stars).

Star anise looks like this if you've never seen it before.

Once the black tea bags and star anise have an awesome par-tay boiling and bubbling away--

let it sit and chill for a little while.

The only other thing to add is the 5 or so heaping TBSP of sweet condensed milk

and my secret (not so much a secret anymore)  is to add a splash of hazelnut coffee creamer.

(a splash is about 3 TBSP in this case of making a whole kettle/pot full)

This Thai tea is really rich and awesome in taste!  The star anise gives it that licorice like taste.

(It's similar to a Chai tea but different at the same time)   Chai tea has more goodies in it.

As the warmer weather is upon us--- chilling this tea is best.

A tip for icing this tea without making it too diluted is to make some black tea ice cubes.

(prior to adding the sweet condensed milk and creamer... add some black tea/star anise blend

in ice cube trays.  

If your ice isn't ready... use plain ice and you will have tea ice cubes for your next batch!

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

Mixed Mushroom Salad

Although growing up I didn't favor mushrooms too much, I do enjoy all sorts now.

I made a mixed sauteed mushroom salad the other night and it was Balsamic, full-flavored

and herbaceous.

                            

I diced 1 medium sized onion and grated in 2 garlic cloves and sauteed them in some butter.

While they were heating up in the pan on medium high--

I washed and sliced up some shiitake mushrooms, baby portabellas, 

one pack of enoki mushrooms and some oyster mushrooms.

There is a myth that you shouldn't wash mushrooms. Again, there is a myth.

If I'm using them right away-- I usually give a quick rinse and squeeze them

in a clean kitchen towel or a paper towel.  If you are going to not use them

right away-- I do not recommend washing them. It is better to store them in

the refrigerator unwashed. They will last longer and not be water logged. 

I simply added the marvelous mushrooms into the pan once the onions had caramelized.

I added about a TBSP of Balsamic Vinegar along with chopped up herbaceous thyme.

I had some fresh figs on hand that were rich in their ripeness so I simply cut them in half 

and added them to the mixed mushroom salad. The mixed sauteed mushrooms

were put on top of a bed of sliced romaine lettuce. The salad was not heavy even though

I used a spoonful of butter to saute the mushrooms. The blend of garlic, butter, balsamic 

vinegar and thyme gave the mushrooms a seasoned and flavorful taste that you don't

even need salad dressing to put on the lettuce.

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

Gifts for GRADUATES!

Graduation time is right around the corner!  

Remember those days away from home sweet home, those late nights, 

gulping caffeine-infused energy drinks, sleeping all day-staying up all night, 

random drives to 24 hr open stores for no reason, late night junk food galore,

cold pizza and fries the next day and oh yeah the classes!  haha.

As those hard-working graduates graduate... it's also time for many of us

to start thinking (if we haven't already) of what to get those graduates!

You want to get something extra special for them that they will 

ALWAYS remember even years down the road, don't you? 

Why not make it simple and purchase an activity you can enjoy together!

An In-Home Cooking activity!   

Maybe that graduate has a favorite food entree or cuisine that you as a group can

have fun making together and of course eating as well!!!  Good times. Good times.

My sous chef can take pictures from start to finish while you, the graduate and your

friends/family get your "fun-on" and "laughter-on" making and cooking delicious food.

We can also take your pictures and make it into a poster collage for the 

graduating person as well.  

This special "Graduate Price" will be offered from April 26th - May 25th, 2013.

Please keep in mind that this is a type of gift where you pre-purchase through Paypal.

(blue "P" on top right of page is the Paypal button link)

We'll mail you a card (greeting card style) so that you 

can write a message and present it to your graduate.... simply when they graduate or earlier.

Then you can choose a date/menu and get your "cook-on"!

The April 26th - May 25th time is just the promotional time when the graduate deal

will be offered... the class activity itself will take place most likely after May 25th.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The discounted Graduate Price is $50 for the class 

plus $15 per person for the ingredients. The food basically. 

So whether there are 3, 4, 7, 10 in your group- It will be $50. times $15 per person.

Just in case you didn't get that... 

for a group of 4 it would be $50 + $15X4 = grand total of $110.

the breakdown of that is $27.50 per person. Not too shabby!?!

For more info of the class itself... you can click the class link.

www.letscultivatefood.com/p/cooking-classes.html

Lastly, to purchase/order the Graduate Gift you can simply click "FORM"

to see what menus are available (custom ones available as well)

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

HOT POT at home!

One of the first times I had a hot pot meal served in a restaurant was in Chinatown, Chicago.

It was more of a soup where you picked and chose items off of a list and then cooked the 

items in the broth yourself. 

Another take on a hot pot dish is to make a healthy stir-fry. 

You simply take any veggies you and your friends or family would enjoy smelling and 

hearing the sizzle of.  This specific hot pot stir-fry was all veggies and bulgogi in the center.

In this particular hot pot made at home- we added:
~button mushrooms (sliced about 1/2 a pack)
~wooden ear mushrooms
~scallions (sliced long and diagonal)
~enoki mushrooms (1-2 packs)
~napa cabbage (1/4 head of medium size or 1 small)
~2 carrots cut in jumbo match-stick
~1 red bell pepper
~ vermicelli noodles

You simply add the veggies all around an electric skillet type of equipment and place the
bulgogi (click to see marinade for bulgogi) in the center (already marinaded)
You can pour about a cup of beef or veggie broth or simply water to get it started!

Simply turn your skillet on 350 degrees/medium high/ #4... depending on your device
the temperature setting will be different and that's it!
If you are just using water rather than a broth... I would add a sprinkle of salt over the veggies
or you can add 1-2 TBSP of soy sauce mixed in with the water.

Serving with rice is optional but definitely recommended!  YUM!

Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food

Black Bean Sauce with Noodles "Jajangmyun"

Ja-jang-myun is a Korean noodle dish.
Traditionally, it consists of wheat noodles that are topped with a delicious,
thick, condensed, salty and gratifying sauce.

"Myun" is noodle in Korean and the "jajang" translates to "fried sauce"
This noodle dish originated from the Shandong region in China years beyond years ago.
The dish immigrated to Korea and is an extremely popular dish in Korea-
so popular that it also immigrated to the United States.
You can order Jajangmyun in many Korea-town areas throughout many different cities.

The Chinese and Korean Jajangmyun are very similar but the Korean version uses
a lot more onions and has caramel in the sauce.
These days, the black bean sauce is already made and in jars where you can simply
scoop out the black bean paste rather than pressing and fermenting the beans yourself.

Jajangmyun is always accompanied with pickled radish (yellow-it is dyed) and often with
a little bowl of largely diced raw onions and a scoop of raw black bean paste.

I made a really quick version of Jajangmyun the other night.
The sauce is always made from pork which gives the sauce that heavy but flavorful taste.
The other veggies in the sauce are :

ingredients:
~1 potato (I substituted 2 small sweet potatoes)
~1 large diced onion
~pork chunk  (I substituted beef)
~2 carrots diced
~1 zucchini diced
~2-3 fresh cloves of garlic minced or 1 teas of garlic powder
~potato or corn starch (1 teas) - to thicken the sauce (mix equal parts of luke warm water)
~3 heaping TBSP of black bean paste
~pack of dried or fresh wheat or flour noodles (can use whole grain to make super healthy)
~ cucumber- julienne or matchstick cuts for garnish

I decided to cut some carrots like a flower for a garnish.

I started with sauteing the onions first --
(cooking them for a while starts to caramelize them making them sweeter)
I then added the beef cubes and once the beef was cooked-
I added the potatoes, carrots and lastly the zucchini.
(You don't need to add any oil because the fat from the meat is more than enough oil)

When everyone in the hot tub(saute or frying pan) has cooked down...
you can spoon in your black bean paste.
Lastly, you can add in your 1:1 ratio of warm water and corn starch.
You want to make the thickener in a separate little bowl rather than just tossing it in the pan
simply because otherwise- it will clump in your sauce and not do its job.

It's a shame the plated image came out blurry. By using beef instead of pork made the sauce
a lot lighter in taste which was nice because often after eating Jajangmyun- you feel very heavy
from the pork fat.  It was a good, tasty and yummy bowl of Jajangmyun!


Zestfully, Let's Cultivate Food