I met the lovely Leigh Lambert at the last DC Food Blogger Happy Hour , we laughed and talked about anything food and if you can imagine anyone making Brownies sexy, Leigh fits the profile pretty good!

These brownies have a lot of personality my two favorite were the Barista Bar  and Living in Sin.

I don’t drink coffee but I do like it’s flavor on some goodies, and in brownies its probably one of the best! This is how it went:

Me: (opening the box) “Pretty packaging, oh wow these brownies are huge!”

The Boy: (staring at the brownies) “Do I have to share with you?”

Me: (gives him the evil eye) “You know I brought those brownies?!”

The Boy: (takes a deep breathe and finally comes to his senses) “Okey, I’ll bring the milk”

Me: (takes a bite of the Barista Bar) “Ok I can’t tell people anymore I don’t like coffee this is awesome, how the espresso brings out a touch of bitterness in the brownie making me smile”  (Stares at the Boy) “where is the rest of the Espresso brownie?”

If I was going to have either of these brownies I would probably have them with Coffee/whipped cream, almond milk vanilla ice cream, warmed caramel? When trying the Geisha Girl I was craving tasting it with a Spiced Soy Chai Latte!

Visit Naughty Bits brownies on  www.naughtybitsbrownies.com. You can find these goodies also at Society Fair, Zen Tara & Capital City Cheesecake!

“The brownie you can take home to mom, or take home to bed.” Our deliciously bad creations are hand-made in small batches using fresh, natural ingredients. They are individually wrapped in bio-degradable cello and boxed in sets of six. Pick your passion.” 

Leigh Lambert

I could go sentimental explaining how of a great influence he has been in my life but then that would be boring, predictable and corny, and in the kitchen we take blood, sweat, fight, anything but corny! not even when pastry folks do the sweetest prettiest desserts, we eat them like a man!

Now these pics you see here he sent me over a year ago and I am finally organizing some labels & filters on my email and found them, I  only added few colors touchings depending on how each pic made me feel.

I was going to write a story for the all the photos but I think it will be more fun if you the reader write below whatever story you feel like… more fun or am I just lazy?  ha! either way the point is Who says you can’t have fun with your food?

Stalk Chef Andy on Twitter @ChefAndyBennett

DC Food Blogger Happy Hour

February 1st

Location Eatonville!

This is going to be fun! Let’s hang out drink, munch and talk anything about food!

]]> http://www.cocinerita.com/february-dcfbhh/feed/ 0 http://www.cocinerita.com/carla-hall/ http://www.cocinerita.com/carla-hall/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:17:05 +0000 Little Lady Cook "La Cocinerita" http://www.cocinerita.com/?p=1313

My dear friend Jason from DCFüd asked me if I wanted to join him in a tasting at Alchemy  by Carla Hall.  I thought to myself ok Carla Hall the sweet lady from Top Chef who lives close to DC area, that’s pretty much all I knew about her and it’s funny because though I’ve worked in this industry for a short time now, still I’ve met a lot of folks and have noticed how Cooks and Chefs in general are not “sweet” and pastry bakers even less, well except for maybe Rob Valencia ha!

Carla really breaks all those patterns and clichés, she is the kind of person you meet and after 3 minutes you want her to become your best friend, you feel you could just talk to her about anything I mean her PR folks have it easy on that side at least, what is there not to love about Carla!?  And then I was introduced to her cookies, these tiny little pieces, and oh man the Hawaiian Wedding was the loveliest I’ve had of that kind, some sort of alfajor texture that melts in your mouth and weird to say no I didn’t need the Dulce de Leche! or (manjar like we call it in Panama). This cookie was by far my favorite.

Cookies I fell in love with Black Forest Crinkle (chewy, cakey, pecan, shortbread w/ salt, just amazing!) And then the Mexican Chocolate!

Up to this day I can’t believe I forgot to try the savory cookies I was just going crazy over the sweet cookies! And then Moorenko’s Ice Cream, the velvety texture! I can’t get over that chocolate ice cream, lovely Susan gave me a Pumpkin Ice cream and I didn’t need anything else oh wow the texture, I’m still more of a chocolate girl but this ice cream was really tasty, she for sure knows what she is doing and you can get these ice creams at Whole Foods!

It was a lovely afternoon, I finally got to meet Carla, Monica Bhide, Susan from Moorenko’s Ice Cream,  Alia Khan and many other lovely foodies!

Here few other pics and the rest as usual on my Facebook Page!

¡a comer!

The things one can do with a Ricer ♥

The main reason I’d suffer if I went on zero carb diet: no yuca

A yuca memory of mine: Dad asks my mom “Yilla when are you cooking yuca?”(she did every few weeks).  

Mom is stirring a pot of Cow’s Hoof soup, in a 98F kitchen, with no fan, no A/C, with my brother and sister playing nintendo, and me reading a book.  She yells back (louder than was necessary) “Anytime, but you have to peel it…I’m not doing that!” -

Mom walks out of the kitchen to look for my dad.   He is already outside, getting inside the car and yelling: “Heat up 2 pots, I’m bringing back about 8 pounds!” 

She walks back in the kitchen, shakes her head, and smiles while starting to stir the soup again.

The story above is a testament to the toughest part of preparing yuca, peeling it.  Yes, you can buy peeled yuca but only frozen (that’s the only way I’ve found it in DMV area, back in Panama you can get it in sealed packages still good).

Here is a good instructional video for peeling Yuca made by a Yuca exporting company out of Costa Rica (click here)

…Just Kidding! I would never expect anyone to use a Rambo machete/knife and slice yucca that way… but that’s pretty badass!

Here is a video demonstrating a more domesticated method: (peeling action starts at 2:40 click here)

The video actually shows a different yuca peeIing method than I use, but the yuca available in this area has some sort of wax coating, so it’s safer just peel it like he does: slice off the skin with a knife.

Once you have peeled the yuca, cut into equal sized pieces. Fill up at pot with cold water  and place  the cut yuca inside. Bring everything to a boil, add salt to taste.

You can stuff the carimañolas with any savory filling. Traditional Panamania carimañolas are stuffed with ground beef, but boohoo I’m vegetarian now so, yes, I will make something different and delicious (of course purists will say, it’s not called carimañola anymore! But, guess what…? I don’t care!!!) **smiles lightly and walks back to the kitchen’s sink to wash her hands, eyes still locked on the camera** (yes i’m pretending I’m filming…OK?)

Enough babbling, here is the recipe:

Vegetarian Carimañolas (yuca empanadas)

Yields: 20 carimañolas

4-5 lbs of yuca (Protip: Always buy more than the recipe calls for. The yuca is not always good underneath the waxy peel).

Tip: You can substitute non-stick spray or just flour instead of oil so the carimañolas don’t stick. 

Filling

(Make sure your filling has cooled off before you even start boiling the yuca, this makes the empanadas easier to fill)

½ cup shredded Quesillo (cheese for pupusas, or any other good melting cheese)

3 tbs of oil set aside

—

1.  Heat up a pan with 1 tbs of oil (until hot, near its smoke point)

2.  Saute all the veggies, add the garlic, seasonings, mushroom, crushed tomatoes and the juice you got out of sautéing the mushrooms.

3.  Lower the heat to simmer, add ketchup and soy sauce, taste. If you want to add some heat, go ahead and go wild with sriracha, chillies, tabasco, etc.

1. Boil the yucca until it almost breaks apart.  Strain and remove the hard root in the middle of each yuca. Some roots will fall but some will still be stuck on the yuca. Put aside the hard yucas and save them to fry later on since you won’t be able to mash them properly.

2. While piping hot, rice the yuca.

3. Have your bowls ready with filling, grated cheese & oil, and a flat oiled plate or cookie sheet to place the carimañolas once you shape them.

4. Oil your hands a bit and grab about 2 tbs of the mashed yuca, place it in your palm and make a rectangular shaped ball. Push the middle in a bit and add 2 tps of the filling with some cheese on top. With your fingers push the filling in and close back the ball.  If it becomes difficult to seal, you can add extra mashed yuca to close them completely.

5. Keep prepared carimañolas in the fridge until you are ready to fry them. Good news if they didn’t seal so well on your first try, you can still enjoy them: just sauté them on butter! (Doesn’t that make everything better?) This way they won’t split open in the middle of frying.  Besides, I just like adding fat to this already fatty deliciousness.

Cilantro-Cheesy Yuca Balls

NOTES:

I like to make a double batch of the filling or fry an egg, and serve these carimañolas with a side of fruit and queso fresco for breakfast.

If you have leftover boiled yuca, it keeps fora few days in the fridge. Same deal with the carimañolas, many people freeze them and just fry as needed.

If you have leftover mashed yuca and don’t feel like making any more carimañolas, just add some cheese and chopped cilantro like I did on that pic with the balls, and fry them also…breading them would work well too… carimañolas schnitzel!!!! OK, I have to chill out now… Just cook with yuca! Deal?!

Rest of the pictures on FB click here 

¡a comer!

Pizza

Memories.. so many…

Panama, pizza memories, many places my favorite is a Greek one Athens (a chain, no shame I really enjoy eating there), because Im a sucker for dry oregano, feta and Tzatziki and of course I have great memories from Napoli, Pizzeria Italia, Tambal, Tamburelli, even Sorrento I could say, and many others I will mention in another post on Pizza in Panama!

Now my first pizza I have no idea, I can barely remember what I ate yesterday, yes my memory is that bad but I can be honest I did have Pizza Hut, Dominos and even Costco pizza a few times, and even craved for it, but here we are talking a girl who could easily have two whoppers after 3 hours of volleyball practice so don’t judge my high school food choices!

I asked Executive Chef Liam LaCivita from Liberty Tavern if I could come over shoot few pics and taste the pizzas and he said of course with his huge smile of his, Steelers fan ugh! (Go Seahawks, sorry Chef had to do it).

I went all over the restaurant getting in the middle of everyone’s daily tasks, cooks prepping for Lunch service, and etc, but everyone was kind and I did share pizza with them so we were all happy, around Pizza, because Pizza is great and I will stop saying the word Pizza at some point, just not now because Pizza is brilliant, and Pizza could save the world, well not really but if everyone (excluding Gluten-Free folks, unless it is Gluten-Free pizza), shall be happy with Pizza and Happy people don’t murder right? Summary Pizza could save the world I said it!

Ok I shut up here are the pics, I’m hungry… again!

NOTE: the rest of the pics on my Facebook Page –> http://www.facebook.com/littleladycooks

Vermont Cabot white cheddar, prosciutto, caramelized onions, Granny Smith apples, sage

Italian Fennel Sausage, Arugula, Fresh Mozzarella, Ricotta, Oregano, Burnt Onions

Ingredients for both previous Pizzas

Lovely Rising Dough

So patient David was while I asked “and what’s that? and why, and why not this…”

My favorite “Dessert Pizza”, I so miss Apple-Honey Pizza from the Greek Restaurant back home, so it was nice to be able make my own, simple, fruits, cheese & honey.

I shared it with Managers & David, I think they enjoyed it, or maybe were just polite enough to smile and had a slice ha!  

Green Apples, Mozzarella, Ricotta, Squash, Honey & Cinnamon

–

¡a comer!

I am a Vegetarian Wannabe – There you go I said it!

The last 75 days I’ve been struggling not with the decision of becoming vegetarian and saying goodbye to delicious dead animals but mostly with the whole adaptation, you know going to restaurants, trying not to be that “vegetarian-annoying-friend” etc…  And of course i did eat meat few times during this time, one I can still remember during Anniversary in NYC I had Pork Belly, I’ll never forget that flavor at that Japanese restaurant, then of course Grilled Pork Neck w/ Green Mango Salad at Golden Bangkok w/ my co-workers Sous Chef included, which also made me (forced me!!! pfffft  yeah right) to eat Ramen Noodles at work w/ Pork Tongue and Belly… so yes Pork, Pork, Pig :/

Then in Christmas Family Dinner I had this Smoked Turkey’s relatives of my sister flew in from Texas, and then her Glazed Ham.. and well there you see, that’s the last I had of meat so far on the 25th.

I’ve been to Pupatella, 2 Amys, Golden Bangkok and a Vietnamese restaurant at Eden Center it was really easy to choose something delicious, tasty, non boring and vegetarian, it made my life easier eating outside.  Then I went to Hong Kong Palace and they serve Szechuan (long story), yes Golden was closed so I tried them and I remember I’ve had great meals in the past, once I was sitting then it came to my mind, this delicious fried…. oh chicken… oh battered stir fry with.. shrimps…  I had fried rice and a couldn’t try wontons or dumplings, all had meat ha! I don’t blame the restaurant because I realized I never asked the waitress like ok i’m vegetarian what do you recommend?  it would have made my life easier, I am not yet used to telling people I’m vegetarian, yes I’m a Line Cook at this restaurant but I am Vegetarian, yes I’m a food Blogger but I am Vegetarian, yes I do Marketing for a Food related business Company and will have to find a way to keep doing what I am doing without having to apologize myself all the time and say “Oh I’m sorry I’m Vegetarian”.

I do know from now on if someone invites me for dinner or lunch I’ll say I got no allergies but I don’t eat animals. I will have to say it like that because I HAVE heard people saying, oh it’s just fish sauce, or shrimp paste, nahh it’s just dried Shrimp.. some fish won’t kill you.  Ha! Hey I’m 30 I know it, they are tasty, those dead animals, but I won’t eat them again that’s it. I’m mentally getting prepared to meet my grandma in Panama who is going to freak out once she tries feeding me her delicious tamales and I’ll nod smile and hide them in the kitchen feed the Boy or friends with them.  I will ask her as a matter of curiosity “GrandMa how do you make tamales without lard, chicken or pork no animal at all?” she will faint for few minutes and will come up with some creative tasty suggestions I’m sure.

I am loving the challenge, and I could keep going on sharing funny situations of my journey, but let’s face it I’m not saving the planet or gaining world peace through this, just another folk who doesn’t eat meat, bah, big deal, getting over it, now next oh yes here is a recipe for a Sandwich Lyon Hall makes now Mushroom Schnitzel, I was sad that night because I saw all the things we make at work and how I’ll miss the Onion Soup with Shortribs, the Dorade, the Salmon, the Skirt Steak, the Pig’s Feet, and etc, B A C O N…. anyways I went to the fridge and saw these hug Portabella Mushrooms and asked Chef Andy. and it went like this:

me: “Chef what are we using these mushrooms for?”

Chef: “Lunch.  Mushroom Schnitzel, description of the sandwich, bla bla” (at this point I had the smile of an idiot almost to the point of crying”

Chef stares at me smiling: “Ya frigging good” Chef walks away

me- still staring at the air now with a big smile thinking to myself- “I gotta try this” – then I asked more of a yelling- “Chef can I do a picture and write about it on my blog”

Chef confused and smiled like a polite English man he is (ha!): “Sure”

A man of few words he is, and that’s why we get along, I talk.. he nods. 

a comer!

—–

Mushroom Schnitzel Sandwich

by Chef Andy Bennet from Lyon Hall

Breaded Portobello mushrooms

Sweet and sour sauce

Pickled Shallots

Pretzel bread loaf

Aioli

Sottocenere al tartufo cheese (italian truffle cheese,

Arugula

—-

Instructions:

Portobello mushrooms, clean the top, remove the stem, grill them and pickle! for few hours at least!

Bread the Mushrooms w/ bread crumbs you know the usual, flour, egg, bread crumbs.  Fry on a pan with oil.

Toast your bread on a skillet with some butter.

Slice the Mushrooms, place cheese on top and bake in oven for few mins (high temp over 400F), just melt the cheese to your taste.

mix arugula & pickled shallots w/ sweet and sour sauce, drizzle a bit of Aioli on your bread, place the salad inside, then mushrooms w/ cheese, slice in half, E A T

The restaurant serves this dish with a side of fries, Market salad or German Potato salad.

Sliders

Cornmeal Crusted Shrimp

I went along with other Food Blogger friends to try part of the Menu at Harry’s Smokehouse few weeks ago, at first I was a bit hesitant since the idea of a decent restaurant inside of a mall sounds like an oxymoron yet Harry’s made its point clear that it is indeed a place to go to eat whether it is located inside a mall or away from the city.  Harry’s Smokehouse is inside the Pentagon City Mall. right across the Johnny Rockets so please skip the Rocket and install yourself inside the Smokehouse!

I still beat myself for not trying the desserts! It made me really happy to find out their milk for their IceCreams come from Trickling Springs, I just really love their milk, I bought some of it and Eggnog from this creamery at Northside Social so yesahh I’ll get even fatter this weekend :/ happy at least ha!

This is my first taste of a menu where I become the *special guest* “does that have meat in it?, is it vegetarian? etc”  It is just not easy for me yet, though during that time I was still pescetarian so I had the pleasure to taste Shrimps & Grilled Smoked Salmon, and when I heard everyone raving over the collard greens i had to try it (no it wasn’t vegetarian and I’m sure that explains part of its exquisite flavor, same with the baked beans).

The fries were just properly cooked, i had the sweet potatoes my big favorite and their BBQ sauces the 3 of them were just tasty so use as you please, and of course cast iron cooked .

Rest assure you will find the proper beer, me I’m a spirits lady so I really loved the Pineapple Mojito but still I found 2 beers I could go back and order them again.

Folks around the table were pleased with the sliders, burgers, pulled pork sandwiches and Buttermilk fried Chicken, and I can say it did smelled delicious so it was difficult being and not even trying a piece.

When visiting Pentagon city mall or the area over there I usually find it difficult to eat anything delicious so would just buy some fruit or soup at Au Bo Pain, maybe some soup at one of those asian spots around the Food Court but after visiting Harry’s I can be confident enough to say I look forward having a bite there.

Here are the pics of that evening!

Beers!

Easy task, trying these dishes, cornbread, butter, chili, cocktails

Da Kitchen

Harry’s Sous Chef, Thrifty DC Cook, French Twist DC, Johnna Knows Good Food & new friends

Once the food was over good company & drinks great way to end the evening

Pineapple Mojito

Side Dishes – Collard Greens, Mac’n Cheese & Steamed Broccoli

Jason fron DCFüd

If you haven’t read my Spanish Feast Part 1 please do so now! –>  Spanish Feast#1

Now you all know I received Extra Virgin Oil, Bonito Tuna in olive oil, Wine vinegar, Chorizo, Tetilla cheese and Chocolate Fig Bombons.

I had to share some of these goodies with someone so I decided to bring one of my bottles from Boxwood Winery and all these Spanish Feast deliciousness to my sister’s house.

I am going through a strange pescetarian phase and it might be temporary or permanent who knows, but at some point you should decide what you want to eat and just do it right?

This weekend I made an exception to give a try to this chorizo and I still don’t regret it, the food was there we had to eat it so voila I made Corn Empanadas stuff w/ chorizo and Tetilla cheese!

The Vinegar I used as well for seasoning my chorizo and veggies that would later fill the empanada.  I also served it on a side dropping a tablespoon on top of 5 tablespoons of the Olive Oil as you can see on this picture below.

I’m surprised more people don’t try their vinegars at home with this… in a night Extra virgin oil (good quality of course), a wine vinegar like the Crismona Pedro Ximenex, piece of baguette or sourdough any of your favorite breads!

I remember the first time I tried this was one day when my boy took me to Napoli back in Panama, and they just put in on the table, sometimes we had to ask for it, and also ordered an inflated Pita bread, so warm, it was phenomenal, or i would pour some of this on top of my Eggplant in Vinaigrette, another favorite I have from my memories eating at Napoli.

I wish I had a picture of the Chocolate Bombon, but while I was prepping the Corn empanadas I just opened these figs beauties and slice it to share with the family, some felt new to the flavor but me and one of the sisters thought it really grows on you fast you can get a hint of the liquor, the soft fig and the sweet chocolate, by the time is over you feel you were just starting! so the key is eat more!

The Bonito Tuna in olive oil didn’t taste like one of those you usually buy at the market, it was very moist and it had nice seasoning I took it with me to work so it could be my snack for dinner during service… toasted bread w/ butter veggies on a side and tuna just to give me energy enough to get through a Friday night crowd at work.

——

Overall my favorite was the cheese, we were all drinking wine and eating cheese that we also mixed with MarionBerry Marmalade I brought from Oregon, it was a lovely evening.

Here are the pictures of my Empanadas and this is what I recommend you do.. go ahead with your Cassava, corn, flour, or etc kind of empanada dough, have it ready.

Chorizo Cantmipalo by Revilla w/ Queso Tetilla D.O. from Galicia Filing recipe:

1.This chorizo is already cooked so I added at the last minute, before that I sauteed peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic and herbs with the Herdade do Esporao Extra Virgin Olive Oil, once they get a nice golden color you add the chorizo already chopped and taste to see if you want to add more herbs, salt or pepper.

2.  Let it cook off and once it is use as filling topping it off with extra chorizo if you prefer and pieces of the Tetilla cheese.

The empanadas if you decide to fry or bake is your decision… if you prefer to make this filling and serve on a side use some tomato paste and some vegetable (or chicken) stock, fresh herbs and fantastic results!

I had dough left over so I made thick Panamanian classic corn tortillas and served the Filling on a side, its a great breakfast!

With the holidays coming I would really say get out of the usual brands you try locally and go to Spanish Feast for something different, it’s very practical, they delivered my package safe and the quality is superb, please let me knows if you have tried any of their products, I would love to hear how it went!

Now the rest of my Empanadas pictures and feel free to visit SpanishFeast.com and try yourself how it goes for you!

¡a comer!

My dear friend Bridie who’s not just sweet, beautiful and funny happens to also be an amazing baker.. she asked me to help her with few photographs to create some postcards for Northside Social and I couldn’t refuse this since I love hanging out with her and also Chef Rob’s (Pastry Chef) creations!

Few things I learned on this Photoshoot… before going there I was planning bringing different kinds of plates, plus maybe few other things.. I totally forgot about them and just brought my camera, good thing the sun was amazing and we had a window upstairs that worked perfect when I placed a little table next to it.

When doing Photoshoot of Pastries:

1. Eat First

2. Use Raw ingredients the pastries use as background, I think I could have done a better job with the plates filling them with espresso beans at least for the espresso chocolate tart, but i liked the one with pecans and also blueberry muffins crumbs!

3. If you get a chance use a lamp.. if you notice some of my pics have too much shadow coming from the Sun position but if you use a lamp you can fix that easily.. sometimes it does work to leave the shadow.. like on the tarts I liked it.

4. Try to do the best shot you can and if you use digital don’t be afraid of doing extra pics, its not like when using film because roll is money $$ 

I took around 175 pictures, which of them less than 20 were ok and just maybe 3 or 4 were really good, I’m very critical of food photography, it has to look as if you wish you could eat the paper or screen where you are looking at.. i guess that would be my definition of Food Porn if i ever had to use it *shivers* (not so fan of the word ha!!)

I regret not having a capuccino but then I like sugar in my coffee and want to cut off on calories (which is a big joke considering that I had 2 tiny tarts after the session ha!).

We had lunch, shared a mushroom sandwich so warm, it had mayo I LOVE MAYO! and also veggies, salad, etc… tasty and discussed the details for the pics among other girly things (yes I can chit chat… sometimes…).

I’m posting my favorite pics here and the rest will be on my Facebook Page!

Please if you stop by Northside Social say hi to Bridie for me and never leave without one of her sweet pastries!

¡a comer!