her house: tea time bridal shower

i'm no trained cook and i always try to make lowfat foods so it ends up that my food is solid but not spectacular in taste... however i have a special talent that allows me to cater really well... good estimation skills. for some odd reason, i may not cook all that fantabulously (although i make a grand effort) but i almost spot-on guess at how much people will eat! the amount of leftovers at any of my catering events are pretty minimal! only like two or three more servings left!

so my fledgling usually-non-profit catering company started with a little joke amongst me and my friends that "ji is the executive chef at her house" -- and ta da! her house catering was born. i usually just cater for people i know and i charge $10 a head (i have a limit of 20 people though). to date i've done like 2 bridal showers, 3 baby showers, and 1 dinner party.

so here was the latest bridal shower held up in indy this weekend (loose recipes listed below pictures)...

hastily made menu cards (had forgotten to bring the printed up ones but i guess hand-sharpie-written is kind of a rustic-not-trying-too-hard touch)

the menu was a lot of tea-time themed items... cute little feminine finger-foods like these flower cut egg&dill cucumber sandwiches: white&wheat bread layered with butter, sliced english cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, dill, marscapone, sour cream, salt and pepper to taste

endive spears with honey dijon chicken salad and yuzu marinated apple slices: honey, dijon mustard, apple butter, japanese mayo combined with oregano oil roasted chicken breasts (hand shredded), pecans, and red onions; sliced apples tossed in yuzu vinegar

rosemary roasted pear "tarts" with ricotta, glazed walnuts, and balsamic syrup: top flakey biscuit dough from those pop-open cylinders (see, not really tarts) with a dollap of ricotta, bosc pears pan roasted with rosemary and olive oil, bake in oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, top with glazed walnuts and balsamic syrup (balsamic vinegar reduced with a bit of sugar)

banana bread islands with mango chutney, honeyed ham, and melted havarti: make your favorite banana bread recipe, fill lined muffin tins 1/4 of the way with batter, bake for 5 minutes, add a bit of mango chutney, ham, and havarti on top, return to finish baking in the oven.

baby bella-asparagus skewers with hazelnut pesto (my fave): for the pesto roast one head of garlic, blend with hazelnut oil, parsley, hazelnuts, salt and pepper to taste; to make skewers spread pesto on veggies, broil until cooked

plated desserts of ginger pear cake with ginger creme anglaise (those are powder sugar rolled raspberries and honey soaked orange zest as teeny garnishes): recipe found on southernfood.about.com -- but i must say, the pear cakes were rather dense. the creme anglaise (recipe from epicurious) was fantastic but i would substitute a different cake next time.

a few random images of the spread:


the women throwing the bridal shower provided all these beautiful plates for me to work with...


for some reason, i really do enjoy cooking for larger numbers of people... estimation power!!!

TSIR #2: korean chili powder cupcakes!!! oh-mo-mo...

almost all of korean food is flavored with some combination of 5 ingredients: soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and gochukaru (korean chili flakes)... seriously with these you can make anything taste kind of korean. perhaps even... cupcakes?

gochukaru is made from a the fiery capsicum frutescens which brings warmth to the tongue and heart of true koreans. gochukaru inevitably enters the bloodstream of korean food consumers -- but mostly via SAVORY foods like kimchi, one of the cornerstones of korean cuisine. gochukaru is in everything from soups like maeuntang (monkfish clear soup), marinated meats such as spicy pork bulgogi (beef bbq), and classic banchan/side dishes like seasoned sesame leaves and seasoned dried cuttlefish... yum... but NEVER in desserts... partly since koreans usually just have sliced fruit for dessert. ha. anyway...


the spice is right (TSIR) #2 (hosted by tigers and strawberries) is a game of switcharoo... take a spice usually seen in a savory context and use it in a sweet dish or vice versa. when i first saw this foodblog event, i thought... what about gochukaru? -- impossible!(in a french accent) which made me totally want to do this... so i present to you gochukaru cupcakes with ginger cream frosting! additionally topped with a swirl of gochukaru ganache and candied ginger! and you know what the crazy mofo thing about all this is? it's actually pretty good!?!?! i can't believe it! hahaha... but i must admit, it's partly the novelty of it all that makes it yummy.

big thanks to chockylit's cupcake superiority -- her awesome recipes provided inspiration for me! i used her chocolate cupcake with mint ganache recipe as the cupcake base.

korean chili cupcakes
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1.5 sticks of butter
4 eggs
3/4 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tbsp crushed gochukaru
a few pinches of cayenne (for good measure)

* preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. melt butter and chocolate over a water bath, add sugar and cool
2. when mixture is pretty cool add in eggs
3. add sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and spices
4. put into cupcake tins and bake for 25 min.

ginger frosting
1 package dream whip
1/2 package instant vanilla pudding
ground ginger (to taste -- about 1 tbsp, but i like it very gingery!)
1.5 c. milk

1. only one step! blend everything! chill! frost!

green zebra: salty but fun...

i like people who think in series... shawn mcclain's trio of seafood, vegetarian, and meat specialized restaurants seems to fit in well into my food world view so i rounded-up a mishmosh of random friends to go to the green zebra with me and celebrate vegetables. all the smashing reviews of the restaurants on top of mcclain's recent jame's beard nomination) along with their zen decor (which apparently marks all three restaurants, spring, green zebra, and custom house) and accomodating hostess gave me so much hope. but i've got to say, that out of the 10-12 dishes we ordered, about half were kind of disappointing... but i must say, the other half were pretty memorable and creative!

the coconut inside-out rolls were delicately flavored (although the promise of yuzu didn't really come through) and the fennel flan with glazed beets was GENIUS. wow, i didn't know fennel could be that good. the sweetness of the beets was a fantastic combination with the creamy flan.

(left) coconut rolls; (right) fennel flan

i really loved my wonderfully flavored (and very rich) fennel gratin. i thought the parmesan gnocchi was well executed, nice notes of peas and mint -- the latest combo i guess.

(upper) gnocchi; (lower) asparagus tart

but the aparagus tart was kind of boring... basically grilled asparagus on tart shells. the trumpet mushrooms with polenta cakes and black rice cake were crazy salty. all you could taste was salt and texture. i thought the roasted skate dish, warm blue cheesecake, and sweet potato dumplings were creative ideas (but not sure about how it was in execution... couldn't get a clear read on what my table-mates thought). but i've got to say that the radish/pear slaw that came with the blue cheesecake was pretty awesome (and provided nice balance).

(upper left) black rice cake; (upper right) blue cheesecake
(lower left) sweet potato wontons; (lower right) coconut risotto pudding

even though not all the dishes were spectacular, my only real regret is having no more room to try desserts. i would have loved to try their peanut butter beignets or their clementine cream pie... mmm... i told my friend to go with the coconut risotto pudding just because it came with marinated avocado... i'm a sucker for a creative menu.

i heart chicago

i'm not really a girl of "regulars" -- my schedule changes on a daily basis, i'm kind of a free spirit in terms of how i fashion my life, i don't go to the same restaurant day after day, i don't like to order the same thing twice, and i'm a sucker for whatever *special* is written on the chalkboard. surprisingly, i've developed a yearly tradition.

whenever may rolls around, along with finals and frantic undergrads comes a small conference held every year in chicago. i've always presented there and i've always procrastinated on the presentation. first week of may, you'll always find me at the urban tea lounge in a quiet neighborhood on the north side of lakeshore drive, sipping new teas, and tasting their latest treats (written on their chalkboard of course) while frantically analyzing data and punching out a persuasive (ha!) powerpoint.

this year, a rooibos-green tea blend with a tasty apple bread pudding. i love chicago in the springtiiiime...

revenge-against-the-chicken souffles puffs

i have the chicken pox. oh yes. not in grade school -- but in grad school. please shoot me now.

and because of that i'm confined to my house and the ingredients within (well my roommate offered to go get stuff for me but she doesn't really know her way around a market that well -- sometimes she calls me with questions like -- "where are the tortillas?")... and since i'm mad at chickens anyhow and happen to have tons of eggs, i tried my disgusting pock-marked hand at souffle.

i've never had souffle but they always look so pretty and puffed up. and i've always rumblings of don't let your souffle collapse but never really knew what people were talking about. i did a bit of background research just checking out a few souffle recipes and taking a look at the statistical regularities amongst them and set out to make my very first souffle.

it collapsed. and had a texture akin to marshmallow. like a wonderful garlic-chivey soft egg marshmallow. hm. i'm not sure if that's what collapsed souffle is like but... it was still yummy. i'll blame it on the chicken pox.

revenge-against-the-chicken souffle puff "recipe"/"here's what i did..."

perhaps someone can let me know what went wrong...

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp chives
1 clove garlic - pressed
1 tbsp cream cheese
pinch celery salt

2 egg whites
pinch cream of tartar (i never really know what this is for but i associate it with egg whites & meringues)

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees. grease ramekins and put wax paper collars on them (just to help direct the rising souffles).
2. beat first batch of ingredients together (from yolk to celery salt) until combined.
3. beat egg whites and cream of tartar until you get shiny peaks (a few minutes with an electric mixer).
4. incorporate 1/4 of egg whites into yolk mixture. then add all egg whites and fold gently.
5. fill ramekins and bake for 10 minutes. reduce heat to 375 and bake for another 10 minutes. (i may have to reduce this time to prevent collapses in the future).
6. serve these marshmallows, i mean "souffles", immediately.

pulled pork fairy-godfather

iron chef hawaii is officially my fairy-godfather. in reality, he's more of a marlon brando godfather than the fairy kind but here's the backstory. i.c.hawaii has THE best palate i've ever known. so when i became all crazy about trying different creme brulee recipes, i knew that he could provide constructive feedback. so i left him my dominican chocolate creme brulee experiment in his lab fridge as a little treat for a research filled day.

so in return, a few days later i found a little email informing me of the bbq recipes he has been fiddling with. everything from mangos to tequila -- no recipes of course because the way he cooks is about foraging in his kitchen and tasting as he goes. and in my lab fridge was a SERIOUSLY delectable pulled pork sandwich with all the fixins', deconstructed for maximum freshness. i have no idea what is in that sucker but in i.c.hawaii i trust. he has never failed us yet (notable example include the azuki bean white chocolate ramen kugel, the curry velveeta soup, and his spam wellington).

thank you i.c.h. for making all my pulled pork dreams come true...

(and i've got to say out of all the creme brulees i've done so far, i like thai tea creme brulee, pictured above, the best... recipe follows)

thai tea creme brulee
1.5 c. cream
1 c. whole milk
1 tbsp loose thai tea
4 egg yolks
1/3 c. sugar
----
brown sugar to broil or torch
condensed milk to drizzle for garnish (i forgot i had some)

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. combine cream, milk, & tea in a saucepan and simmer until properly infused.
3. whisk eggs and sugar in a bowl until combined. add cream mixture to eggs while whisking.
4. pour into ramekins (i use 8 really shallow ones because i know my girlie friends will not eat a whole creme brulee but most normal people probably use 4).
5. place ramekins in a roasting pan in the oven. put water into the roasting pan. then i actually like to place a cookie sheet over the whole thing because that prevents the tops from taking color. bake for 25-30 minutes until center sets.
6. refrigerate over night (or a few hours).
7. sprinkle brown sugar over the creme brulees and broil for 3-4 minutes. cool.
8. garnish with a bit of condensed milk for that old skool thai tea flavor.

shf liquor! chocolate sake cakes and raspberry spumante spoons

thank God for theme-based events in the life of my belly... because of this month's shf, the grad women's bible study at the little yellow house got two little *spirit-filled* desserts: a taster of sake cocoa cake with a sake dark chocolate ganache (topped with a blackberry and a white chocolate green tea leaf) and a little chinese spoonful of raspberry spumante custard.

i found this recipe and thought -- EH? SAKE & CHOCOLATE? whatdaa... so i took the recipe, tweaked it, tried it, and dude, it works! makes me remember fragrant korean sool-dduks (literally alcohol rice cakes) back LA's k-town plaza... only chocolatey! next time i'll use milk chocolate in the ganache to blend better with the natural sweetness of sake.

for the raspberry spumante spoons, i made a vanilla custard substituting a bit of spumante (i didn't know they sold those cute individualized bottles at regular markets! fantastic!) for some of the milk. i found it to be a bit on the sweet side (although my girls liked it) -- i think next time i might put in a bit more fat (i.e. use whipping cream instead of milk) or take out some sugar...

a foodblog is born

mike check... one, two...

so how does anyone get started in foodblogging? how does one suddenly decide that internet strangers should have access to... your belly? i dunno about all these fantabulous foodbloggers out there that i've come to adore and admire (see links on right) but i'll tell you how i got started. well... once upon a time, the U.S. military brought a rounded rectangular can of mysterious meat to south korea... yep that's right. my passion for foodBLOGGING (not just food but writing & posting pictures about food in particular) all started with a crazy conversation about the origins of spam in korean/hawaiian food that took place in an irish bar in all-american college town, u.s.a. thus iron chef: inedibles was born. the idea was that we would take a food deemed inedible by the food-respecting population (i.e. spam) and turn it into something fantabulous.

i started posting these iron chef battle commentaries on my regular blog every once in a while and discovered that some of my friends were foodies in hiding! so welcome to the belly in the wild, a spin off series from my regular blog. dedicated to my dear little belly who has been with me through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, and barring any weird stomach stapling surgeries, will be with me til death do us part. love ya belly-girl!

here are some of those old-skool iron chef posts:

1. the original: battle spam (competitors: california, hawaii)
   
   
   mochiko chicken stuffed with spam, shittakes, and red pepper
   
2. battle ramen (competitors: cali, hawaii, d.c.)
   
   
   wasabi-crunch ramen salad
   
3. battle jell-o (competitors: georgia, indiana, s.korea)
   
   
   horseradish salmon mousse made with lemon and lime jello
   
4. battle velveeta (competitors: cali, hawaii, illinois)
   
   
   velveeta pecan scones
   
5. battle tater tot (competitors: alaska, cali, washington, d.c.)
   
   
   tater-goat cheese cakes topped with tarragon beurre blanc