New Orleans: Cochon Butcher

Another good title for this post could be "Jenny in Hog Heaven".  I had read some articles on Cochon Butcher before going to New Orleans and just loved the irreverent nature of the joint.  I mapped out the location and found that it was a little over a mile from where I was staying.  In between all my meetings, I didn't think I'd be able to make it over there.  That was until my contact at the hotel told me he makes it a point to get over there at least 3 times a week.  That's when I made it a point to get over there.

I was glad I did.  They cure their own products there upstairs from the Butcher.  I just so happened to come upon a whole hog being lugged into the building. If you're ok with seeing a dead hog being dragged into the building then click HERE. If you don't then DON'T.

I walked in with the intent to buy a sandwich.  I was instantly distracted by the selection of cured meats.  And bacon praline.  

If you have to ask if I bought any bacon praline, you don't really know me.  At all.

I added kurobuta bacon and salami to my goodies. The salami was so spicy and flavorful, probably one of the best I've had! I wish I bought more. As for the bacon, well, if I could snort the bacon, I would.  It was heavenly.

Upon the recommendation of my hotel contact, I ordered the Cochon Muffaletta, well done.  Warm, cheesy, gooey rich...DELICIOUS sandwich.

Man. I wish I still had a taste of that.  It was fantastic.

I came home from work tonight with the thought that I'd fry up the bacon and sautee some onions in the bacon oil and toss some of my mom's fava beans in.  Unfortunately, I waited too long and the fava beans weren't green any longer. 

So I did something very bad.  VERY bad. I made pasta drenched in bacon grease.  And it was good.  Don't let the arugula fool you.  

Sauce:

2 slices Kurobuta Bacon

1/4 cup diced onions 

1 clove garlic [I really like garlic so I used 2]

1 cup Fava Beans, shelled

1 cup arugula

Salt, pepper to taste

Grated Parmesan

Pasta:

2 inches, whole wheat Spaghetti Pasta

salt

For the pasta: 

Cook per directions on box. Drain and set aside.

For the sauce:

Boil shelled fava beans for approximately 5 minutes.  Take off outer layer.  Set aside.

Fry 2 strips of bacon until crispy.  Remove bacon and drain on paper towel.  

Add onions to the bacon grease, then the garlic, fry until translucent. Salt and pepper to taste.  

Remove from heat.  Add the fava beans, arugula, and pasta, mixing well.  Top with grated parmesan. 

If you're ever in New Orleans, please visit:

Cochon Butcher

930 Tchoupitoulas

New Orleans LA 70130 

504.588.PORK
mon-thu 10–10

fr+sat 10-11

sun 10-5

POSTCARD: New Orleans

In lieu of a regular post, I am sending you a postcard from New Orleans. 

Dear [fill in the blank]:

Wow! It's been 5 years since I was last in New Orleans and it feels like I've never left it.  

This time I brought my entourage with me.  Although, I could have sworn they were supposed to be attending ME and not the other way around.  But it's ok.  I plan on feeding them to the alligators while we're out here.  That'll show THEM.

Ohhhh...and oysters.  I love oysters and I make it a point to have a dozen with some Abita Beer.  I don't even care if I've got appointments and meetings today.  It's New Orleans and I'm letting the good times roll [Not too much, of course, my bosses who might be reading my blog and think that I just goof off on these site inspections].

But wait, there's also muffalettas, po'boys, gumbo, jambalaya, and beignets to be had.  So much to indulge in and so little time, especially since those hoteliers booked me out like crazy with meetings.  While most people come to New Orleans to indulge in the nightlife, I prefer using that time to discover tasty nibbles. 

The only hindrance are the 3 guys above.  You can't really tell by the photo above, but these 3 guys are about 5'10" - 6'2" tall.  Big guys.  I can out eat all 3 of them.  Put together.  They are horrified by my ability to out eat them every single time we go out.  Brian [guy in the middle] gave up on dessert at La Divina Gelateria.  Wuss.

The other two guys, Jim and Shannon, only gave in to my peer pressure because they didn't want to be called a wuss by a girl.  I urged them to go outside their comfort zone but chose to have some boring run of the mill flavors instead [YAWN].  I had  the Azteca that had chocolate and cayenne; blueberry and basil; and strawberry balsamico.  My favorite was the blueberry basil.  Awesome. 

On our way back to the hotel, I found a potential band.  Granted they were street performers [not always the most reliable, historically speaking] but they were awesome.  Very impassioned:

Only 5 hours here and I find myself in love with New Orleans as much as ever.  I can't wait for tomorrow morning! 


See you all soon!


With Love [not real, true love but rather the kind you said back in high school. It'd be creepy otherwise],


Jen

Lilikoi Chiffon Cake

Nothing conjures up the taste, smell, and images of Hawaii than the taste of Lilikoi [passion fruit].  Well, nothing except for the smell of salty sea air, warm balmy breezes, tuberose, shave ice, and plate lunches, of course.  Combine the tart sweetness of Lilikoi curd, airy clouds of whipped cream, with a chiffon cake and you've got yourself a recipe for a little taste of fluffy heaven.

Chiffon cakes are deceptively easy to make [especially if you've tried your hand at macaronage].  One way to help ensure that the cake achieves its airy and fluffy consistency is the use of cream of tartar, which will help stabilize and give more volume to the egg whites.  Of course, the first time I made it, I was so focused on  whipping the egg whites  to perfection that I completely forgot to add the baking powder and salt.  My victims co-workers actually liked it though so no harm was brought to my victims co-workers. I've made it twice for them and they cleared it up both times.

Lilikoi Curd
6 eggs
6 egg yolks
1 1/3 cup sugar [I used a little more than 3/4 of a cup, i don't like it too sweet]
1 1/4 cup lilikoi puree [not sweetened]

Whisk together the eggs with the egg yolks in a heatproof glass bowl.  Add the sugar and lilikoi puree.

Set a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water [the bottom should not touch the water].  Stir mixture constantly until it thickens.  Mixture should coat the back of a spoon.  Pour through strainer to get rid of lumps.

Chiffon Cake

9 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup + 1/2 cups sugar 
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract [or you can use 1 teaspoon of lemon zest]

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until it reaches the soft peak stage.  "Shower" in 1/2 cup of sugar while beating until stiff and glossy.  You should be able to turn the bowl upside down without the egg whites falling out.  Set aside.

Sift together remaining cup of sugar, cake flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add egg yolks, water, oil, and extract [or lemon zest].  Beat until smooth.  

Add the egg whites to the yolk mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold the mixture  gently in a circular motion until combined. 

Pour into three 8 inch round pans [I set parchment paper on the bottom of each of the pans], baking 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Use skewer or toothpick to test for readiness.

Flip the cake over to cool upside down [still in the pan].  When its ready I like to squish the cake down so it tears away from the sides of the pan.  It's a chiffon so can withstand the "squish" techniques. [If it seems to be sticking too much to the sides, simply run a knife along the edge to separate.]

Whipped Cream Frosting
taken from Joy of Baking
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream*
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar

I'm not sure if there's a difference but they said to chill the whisk, bowl, and ALL the ingredients to achieve maximum volume.  So I did it.  I whisked the above ingredients together.  This reminds me of the whipped cream frosting that they use at Angel Maid Bakery [my very first real job!].


*I used the organic heavy whipping cream from Trader Joe's since it's not ultra pasteurized. It tastes MUCH better than the Ultra Pasteurized variety.

Assembly:
I cut the 8" rounds in half so that each cake pan gave me 2 rounds [there was something oddly too dense about this chiffon cake that i made above so I decided to re-do it again.  Turns out I forgot to add in baking powder.  Thus, the actual number of rounds should be 3].  I started with the lilikoi curd on the first layer, stacked on the next cake, then layered the whipped cream, stack on the next cake, so on and so forth until it's fully assembled.  Frost cake around using the whipped cream frosting.  Try not to eat the majority of it like I did. 

National Food Blogger Bake Sale, Los Angeles

For those of you who have not met Gaby Dalkin of What's Gaby Cooking, you could not possibly understand what a machine this girl is.  I've had the pleasure of working with her previously on our macaron class with Sweet Tartelette and her energy just amazes me. I have yet to have an email or phone conversation with her where she was just relaxing away the day, doing absolutely nothing. If I had 1/4 of her energy, I'm sure I could rule the world.  But I don't so I just need to put that dream to rest.

The same energy went into her desire to set up the National Food Blogger Bake Sale to support Share Our Strength, an organization that fights childhood hunger.  She reached out to food bloggers from across the nation to participate.  In Los Angeles alone, she had about 50 people signed up to bake for the event.  I had about 1200 stickers to price out the goodies and we were far short of the number of stickers we actually needed!  The tables were barfing baked goods - we were better stocked than most bakeries I've seen.  It was awesome.

Sherry Yard supporting the Bake Sale

One highlight of my day there was seeing Sherry Yard.  Wow.  SHERRY YARD of the "Desserts by the Yard" and Spago's fame.  I snatched up a lot of her baked goodies [new stuff that wasn't in her cookbook] as I watched her compile a stash of her own box of food blogger goodies. How awesome to have her support??

Esi doing her sales thing

The cause, as important and worthy as I think it is, was overshadowed by the fact that I felt blessed to spend time with such a great group of people.  We've got ourselves such a great community and I feel let down at the end of each event because of the uncertainty of the next time I'll get to see them! Esi, Dishing Up Delights, suggested a potluck for our next event.  I think I'm going to have to put on my Event Planner hat on and round something up, along with the help of unsuspecting Rachael of La FujiMama. [Lucky her to be my constant victim]

wonderful models: Jenny from Picky Palate and Rachael from La Fuji Mama

Gaby, many, many thanks to you. Congratulations on a job well done and I can't wait for next year's bake sale!!

For those of you who were not able to make it to the Los Angeles Bake Sale [and yes, i know who you are], it's not too late to support Share our Strength. Please click HERE to make a donation.  I thank God that the only hunger I've ever known only lasted a few hours at most [on account of the fact that I never miss a meal, as my ever expanding @$$ would attest to] and I'm sure that many of you are in my same boat [which really, weight-wise, us in the same boat is a very bad thing].  So please, please, please...any little bit helps.  Please donate NOW.

Food Blog Forum Los Angeles

Hi, my name is Jenny and I'm not a food blogger. Sometimes I am a food blogger stalker or an event planner or a traveler. To say that I am a food blogger is a gross exaggeration of reality [on account of the fact that I can't really cook].  But I desperately want to be one. 

Here is my shortlist reasons why I want to be a food blogger:

1.) The People:  First and foremost, these people are just so awesome and amazing.  I have met so many wonderful people. There is no online community who is more supportive than this one.

2.) Good Food: I don't exaggerate when I say that any time you go to a food blogger event, the food is going to be awesome.  

3.) Learning: My goal is to learn new things constantly.  I've learned so much from others as well as on my own through this blog. 

4.) Opportunity: Not to get into detail, but I've never had so many various opportunities as when first I started this blog.  New challenges, new possibilities. 

5.) Community: I know this points back to the People section but really, this needs to be addressed again. People like Jaden & Scott and Diane & Todd who are some of the busiest people I know, develop the Food Blog Forum to help share, GIVE AWAY FOR FREE, their knowledge and insight in developing a successful blog. I spoke with Diane just before this seminar and her words really stuck with me, "We just want to give back and help those who are just starting out." WHO DOES THAT??  These guys do.  

Food Blog Forum, Los Angeles

I almost started to cry when I first found out the date. I had 2 other commitments for that day but attending this was very important to me. 

There were so many favorite topics but to highlight just a few key points [because there are far more eloquent writers out there than I]:

"Find your passion...what is it that you want??" - Scott Hair, former Tony Robbins trainer,  paraphrased. He gave step by step instructions on finding your passion and how to achieve them.  What a dynamic speaker and with a gift to motivate. Jaden doesn't realize this but I plan to be camp out at her home some day.  Poor lady.

"Light, freshness of food, visual delectability, and sense of place are all components of what makes a successful food photo." Matt A & Adam P, totally paraphrased.  They spoke about building your plate for the camera, not necessarily to eat - use foods that are undercooked or overcooked depending on what the item is.  Build and layer to give your food depth.

"Assess your environment; decide the mood, feel, story of your photos; choose your gear, equipment and props." Diane C & Todd P, copied off their slide.  They gave the ever important tips on equipment, scouting out the best lighting for your shot, directional lighting, and the composition of light.  Todd even sat down in a squat to show us how to be a human tripod! 

Todd, Human Tripod

"Write for humans. Pick 2 - 5 keywords before you start to write. Don't use keywords more than twice." Gary N, almost verbatim because I didn't understand a word he was saying.  Ok, that's not totally true but I don't know much about SEO beyond what I read on wikipedia.  I learned things that I had no idea about - permalinks, Social Media Connect, Meta descriptions.

"Content + Authenticity + Passion + Diversity = Magic Formula" Jaden H, i think i wrote this right.  One thing I know about Jaden is she's an ideas person.  She can pop off more ideas in a 30 second period than anyone I know.  I dare you to go head to head with her.  You'll lose.  She gave us insight on what a "Platform" was [how many touch points to end customers]; how to have achieve income diversity [recipe development, photography, cooking classes, ghost writing]; monetize your website [giving tips on ad income]; and how to participate in community [Foodblogforum, twitter, Foodbuzz, blogHer, etc]. Just a few other gems from Jaden:

• "Nothing exists without community."
• "Find a rockstar in an unrelated industry and apply it to food."
• "Give your knowledge away - that's how people will remember you."
• "I'm a little strange and I like it." 

I was supposed to leave early but once I arrived, I was so transfixed that I just couldn't. Thanks to all the people I had the blessings to meet and see again:

@lafujimama - Rachael

@whatsgabycookin - Gaby

@ihcuppycakes - Clara

@foodwoolf - Brooke

@delorganic - Carrie

@dishingdelights - Esi

@privatekitchen - Sara

@whiteonrice - Diane

@riceonwhite - Todd

@steamykitchen - Jaden

@mattbites - Matt

@adampearson - Adam

Thanks for not running away when I threw my arms around you in my bear hug. You'll just have to be quicker next time.

Cornflake Chicken: Mommy & Me Series

Growing up as a Japanese American in a large Japanese community, there were a lot of opportunities for various potlucks - church, community centers, sport teams, Japanese school, dance group, and on and on. The unspoken rule was that each family should bring enough food to feed their own family.  Each potluck brought a vast array of home made foods causing the tables to groan with the weight.  Imagine plate after plate of sushi, teriyaki, beef/asparagus rolls, salads, somen salad, and desserts galore and there you have the quintessential Japanese Potluck.  My mom used to complain that my eyes were bigger than my stomach - I wanted to try everything.  I used to embarrass her with my 6" high plates that I couldn't possibly finish [and it was SO un-Japanese to indulge in such gluttony]. 

My mom had several dishes she used to rotate to these various events.  One of my favorite things that she used to make was something she called "cornflake chicken".  Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside.  She was a full time working mom with 3 kids, so she had to make what was quick and easy.

This is a 2 part dish: the sauce and the chicken.  The sauce is really easy to make and it's the basic recipe for teriyaki - shoyu, mirin, sake, and sugar. Bring this to a boil until the sauce is reduced and thickened.  I try not to drink this up because that's kinda gross - even if it does taste really, really good. Make this first so that you're ready to dip the chicken after it is deep fried!  

Cut the the wings into 3 sections using kitchen shears [throwing away the tip of the wing - my mom actually yelled at me when I told her this because she said I should have made chicken stock with it.  Oops]. The chicken wings/drummettes are coated in flour,  shaking off any excess; then dipped in the beaten eggs; and finally, coated with the crushed up cornflakes.  The easiest thing to do is the put the cornflakes in a ziplock bag and crush the heck out of it so it's in smaller pieces.  Once you coat the wings/drummettes in flour and dunk it into the eggs throw 3 or 4 wings/drummettes into the ziploc bag and shake it around [you guys remember "shake & bake"??? exactly like that!!]

Your wings should look like this above. I used my wok to deep fry the chicken until cooked through.  Drain on a paper towel, then dip into the sauce.   

Sauce: 

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup sake

1/4 cup mirin

Bring all ingredients to a boil until thickened and reduced.

Chicken:

Chicken wings, cut up into 3 pieces, do not use wing tips

Flour

Eggs, beaten

Cornflakes, crushed in a ziploc bag

Oil for deep frying

Coat chicken pieces in flour. Shake off excess.

Dip into beaten eggs.

Toss pieces in the cornflake bag and shake, shake, shake!!

Deep fry in oil until chicken is cooked through.  

Drain on paper towel.

Dip into sauce.

Place on a bed of lettuce for decorative effect.  Use remaining sauce to cover the chicken.

Mac Attack in Los Angeles : Sweet Tartelette's Southern Invasion...

Macarons, the most amazing delicate cookie I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. It's been a source of great joy...and the greatest frustration.  I even took a group class, thinking, "ok, i got this..."  I got home and thought, "oh fuuuuuudge...i don't got this..."

What did I do wrong?? Over and over and over and over and over again [that WAS 5 times, right??], I tried my hand at the macaron.  Surely it couldn't be THAT difficult right? Who's ever been totally beaten by a baked good? Well, it turns out that *I* have been beaten by a baked good. Darn it! I refused to be beaten by a baked good.

So alongside Rachael [La Fuji Mama] and Gaby [What's Gaby Cooking] we hatched the scheme to bring the Tartelette out to Los Angeles to learn us some Macaron making.  The first few days of Helen's stay was marred with her having a totally insane hostess [I think she may have crapped her pants a few times while I was driving. What? I couldn't pile my poor driving skills on to my poor hostessing skills - I've got some very, very small amount of pride, you know]. 

Something akin to a bag of moths fluttered around in my stomach [or too much alcohol if I'd been drinking] as we prepped for class - a combination of excitement and absolute dread.  I mentally slapped myself, told myself to suck it up and pull myself together.  I was ready to face the world...well, at least these stupid hellish macarons.

Each step of the way, I looked to Helen like I was a first grader, looking for approval at every dotted "i" and crossed "t".  She eyeballs my batter and instructs with absolute confidence, "Five more turns".  I do what I think is 5 turns but could've been 15 since I couldn't remember where the starting point was.  By this point, the voices in my head starts singing, "yeah...uh huh...I'm bad. I know it..." all accompanied with a little head bobbing.

After piping out something that I hoped would suddenly round out from its oblong shape, I let my macs rest.  After 30 minutes rest time, during which Helene instructed us on various methods, ganaches, etc, she asked for some "test" trays to put into the oven.  II nonchalantly handed her mine.  It didn't dawn on me that anything could possibly go wrong until she looked over at me and said, "Brave."

That's when the pants crapping started.  Rachael and I were the "test" Macs.  I looked at her and she said, "One of ours is not going to come out, you do realize that, don't you?" I looked at her without batting an eye said, "Don't worry. It's going to be mine."

Rachael's photo from "A Weekend with Tartelette"

You know by now that my Macs were the ONLY one in the WHOLE class that didn't come out.  [See the photo above? The pretty ones were Rachael's...you can see mine in the background.] I would've cried but for the fact that I don't believe in crying in the kitchen and  quite frankly, I wasn't really surprised. Karma seems to be torturing me in the form of the MACARON.  

So I determined that I would practice, practice, practice everything that I learned in Helen's class [over 2 day period]. I used it as my mantra.  My big test came in the form of my high school get together on Saturday.  They insisted that I bring the Macarons.

So with sweaty hands, pounding heart I began the process.  Encouragement from my twitterfriends came and gave me confidence.  And you know what??? I succeeded. YES!!!

A little skirting but this is such progress that I'm excited to try it again soon! Thanks, Helene!