Sautéing 101: Chicken Sauté with Onions, Garlic & Basil

Class is back in session this week and before I do a recap, I'll be sharing the recipes I got to make in class. We're starting a new section in our books that's much more in depth and allows us to learn more techniques. To further our understanding, we're making three poultry dishes. The first dish we made is this one for Chicken Sauté with Onions, Garlic & Basil. This specific recipe introduces the technique of sautéing and preparing a sauce in the sauté pan...

Spicy Beef Nachos

It's football season and a popular snack in our house is nachos. I'm not going to lie. We usually open up a bag of tortilla chips, pop open a can of nacho cheese that we warm up, have a bowl of jalapeno slices nearby and dig in. But I had enough. I wanted to serve up nachos just like they do at the restaurants - obnoxiously piled high on top of layer upon layer of southwestern goodness. Well, that's exactly how these Spicy Beef Nachos were served up and yes, it was obnoxious... obnoxiously good!...

Korean Style Chicken Wings

Great Sea's Chicken Wings. If you're a Chicago foodie, you know what I'm talking about. There's this Chinese restaurant in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago called Great Sea. They offer the standard Chinese American fare but the draw of this place is their Korean style chicken wings, interestingly enough. Their super crispy and crunchy chicken wings are perfectly glazed with this amazing sweet, garlicky, yet subtly spicy sauce. I've wanted to crack the secret to their wings for years, searching for a recipe that could even come close. Well, I'm done searching. I've found the recipe for Korean Style Chicken Wings I've been looking for and learned the secret to the unmistakable crunch these wings are known for...

Shrimp Jambalaya

We are most definitely a rice loving family so any dish made with rice is always welcomed to the table. When my husband suggested a dish using shrimp for dinner, I happily decided to make this Shrimp Jambalaya. It's chock full of sausage, shrimp and vegetables and it's a wonderful one pot meal, especially for the fall. The trick to this dish is the rice though. It has to be cooked just right otherwise you'll end up with a gummy mess...

Crunchy Potato Wedges

What's a burger dinner without french fries?! I'm always in search of french fry recipes and there are so many ways to prepare them. This time around, I made these Crunchy Potato Wedges to serve alongside the All in One Burgers I made. I enjoyed this dish even though I prefer thin, skinny fries instead. I will say that these are hearty fries so a few is more than enough for a serving. What piqued my interest about this recipe is the use of a simple batter and spice blend to season the fries...

All in One Burgers

There's nothing like a great burger. In fact, all throughout my pregnancy, burgers were what I craved, at all hours of the day and night. For me, I like my burgers simply made with simple seasonings and topped with fresh lettuce, tomato and slices of sweet onion. I could do without the condiments since the main draw is the patty itself. When I came across this recipe for 'All in One Burgers' I knew I had to give it a try. With these burgers, flavor is busting out the seams since the patty is packed with all sorts of goodness. It was a nice change of pace from my usual burger recipe and definitely worth a try...

Pumpkin Praline Dessert Tamales

Who says tamales have to be savory all the time? When I hosted a culinary tour of the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago a while back, I had the opportunity to try a sweet dessert tamale made with pineapple and pecans. Much to my surprise it was really good and worked so well with the masa. I started thinking that masa is really a great neutral base to build flavors upon so it made sense that sweet tamales work just as well as savory ones. Although we made quite a few tamales at our tamale party, I didn't have a chance to share a sweet recipe. So when I got home, I made these Pumpkin Praline Dessert Tamales to highlight some flavors of fall...

Tamale Party

Is there a food that your family treats as a big ordeal that generally takes a day to make? In my family, one food would be lumpia, or Filipino eggrolls. It takes some time to make the filling and allowing it to cool, prepping the wrappers, rolling each by hand, carefully packing them for the freezer and of course, frying some up to enjoy. Despite being an all day affair, it's worth all the time and effort to make lumpia, even if it's just an excuse to get together with family. Well Latin Americans can certainly relate to how my family makes lumpia. They go through a similar lengthy process when making tamales. Since I love hanging out in the kitchen with friends, I hosted a Tamale Party today where we sat around and wrapped up tamales around the table...

Red Velvet Cupcakes

After hosting a Cupcake Bootcamp, I came home with cupcakes on the brain (naturally). Even after being surrounded by cupcakes all day, I figured I could play in the kitchen for a little while and make a nice batch with my nephew. He and I had fun making these Red Velvet Cupcakes from scratch... and I got a kick making him be Mr. Popular for a day...

Cupcake Bootcamp!

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't get the fascination about cupcakes. Here in Chicago, there are several cupcake bakeries, all with their special niche. It's also interesting to know that most gastro-trucks (food trucks) in Chicago are cupcake based. What is it about these things?! Is this food fad here to stay or will it eventually die down? Regardless, even I can't resist a cupcake. I may not understand why they're so popular but they certainly hit the spot. Since cupcakes are increasingly popular, it struck me to host a Cupcake Bootcamp to share a few tips and tricks, as well as indulge in this perfect, portable treat...

Chicken & Potato Chowder

Chowda. Some days I wish I lived in Boston, Mass. because they really know how to make a good chowda. The thick and creamy consistency is nothing less than comforting, especially on a cool, fall night. When I think of chowder, the first thing that comes to mind is a clam chowder. However, for class the other night, one of my classmates prepared a Chicken & Potato Chowder with Thyme- a different spin on the chowder I'm familiar with. She chose this recipe because it highlighted thyme, the herb she did  a presentation on in class. After sampling the soup she made, I made a note to make it at home so I can share it with my family. With a few changes, my adapted recipe for Chicken & Potato Chowder will now be in my fall recipe collection...

Culinary School: Week 5 Recap

The weeks are flying by and I'm just about a third through this semester. This week, I'm sharing a whole lot of pictures of my culinary principles course. There was no lecture this week for that class so he had fun applying what we've learned in the previous week.  Read on to see what how we applied our learning from my  culinary principles course...

Cheddar & Bacon Biscuits

This time of year makes me happy for the simple fact that it's baking season. Now that it's officially fall, I've been carefully planning out my baking agenda to include some homemade yeast breads, quick breads,, breakfast breads and of course, the usual treats such as cookies, cakes, and brownies in the coming weeks. To kick things off, I made these Cheddar & Bacon Biscuits because they were so easy to whip up and packed with enough flavor to enjoy on its own...

Crab Fried Rice

It seems like I need to incorporate more seafood meals in my rotation. The last time I made a seafood dish seemed like so many weeks ago and I used to do a better job incorporating a seafood meal every week. So in an effort to get back on my seafood track, I made this Crab Fried Rice to use up random ingredients I had on hand... and because I was feeling lazy...

Project Food Blog: Vote, Vote, Vote!

It's time! Please cast your vote for the next Project Food Blog Star starting today up up through the next 3 days. The first challenge was to write and blog about ourselves answering the question...

"What defines you as a food blogger and why should you be the next food blog star?"

Check out my blog post and how I answered here, as well as to vote. If you think I have what it takes to move onto the next round in the competition, please vote! Voting is easy if you already have a Facebook or Twitter account. You will need to sign in through Facebook or Twitter or register with FoodBuzz (which is super simple and won't lead to any spam... I promise) to cast your vote. Click on 'Vote for this entry' at the top of my blog post page in the link provided to fill in the red heart to cast your vote. Thank you in advance!

Some details about voting:
Voting for Challenge 1 will be open from 9AM EST Monday September 20 until 9PM EST Thursday September 23. Winners from this challenge will be announced around 3PM EST on Friday September 24.

General public voting: You are allowed to vote for the number of people who will be advancing to the next round. So for this challenge, each reader can vote for 400 entries. You can only vote once for each entry.

The entry with the most reader votes will advance to the next round.

*Project Food Blog is the first-ever interactive competition where thousands of Foodbuzz Featured Publishers are competing in a series of culinary blogging challenges for the chance to advance and a shot at the ultimate prize: $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz.com for one year. Voting for entries on the first challenge will kick off September 20th, and contestants will be whittled down over the next 12 weeks via exciting challenges related to food blogging. Entries are voted on by Foodbuzz Featured Publisher peers and rated by our panel of judges including Dana Cowin (Editor-in-Chief of FOOD & WINE Magazine), Nancy Silverton (Founder La Brea Bakery, Co-owner Mozza) and Pim Techamuanvivit (Author of ChezPim.com and The Foodie Handbook). Winners advance to the next challenge, including one lucky Reader's Choice winner who earns auto advancement to the next challenge (solely based on Reader votes; not applicable in the final round).

Chicago Adobofest 2010!

Adobo. It's the national dish of the Philippines and a favorite comfort food of mine. When I heard that there would be a Chicago festival completely dedicated to this awesome dish, I wasn't going to pass it up. Soon enough, I threw my hat into the ring and decided to compete in this year's Chicago Adobofest 2010. It was a blast, even made more fun when a few What's Cookin, Chicago friends joined me to help serve and promote What's Cookin, Chicago's Tropical Adobo...

Spanakopita Bites

Buttery, flaky phyllo appetizers are especially popular in my family. I guess I can't blame them since who can resist buttery, flaky phyllo dough anyway?! My mother in law requested these Spanakopita Bites as an appetizer for the birthday party she was throwing for her husband. They were a hit with no leftovers, which is no surprise. I firmly believe that anything paired with butter and phyllo dough would be hard to resist...right?

Project Food Blog Challenge #1: Ready, Set, Blog!

It all started in our little studio apartment in the heart of Chicago over three years ago. I was a newlywed who loved to cook and bake for my husband, family and friends. One day, my husband suggested I write down my recipes since I often got requests for them. The problem with this was that I cooked by taste, feel and well, improvised using whatever I had on hand. In fact, I had measuring tools in my kitchen but never really used them. Writing down recipes seemed so old school. That is, until I stumbled on Blogger. The concept of blogging quickly became my new hobby and I started to blog about the food I made, restaurants I visited and recipes I tried. Through these early blog posts I shared my 'Culinary Adventures'...

Culinary School: Week 4 Recap

It's crazy how I've gone through 4 weeks of school and have learned so much already! It continues to get better each week and what I've learned are so easily applied to my daily life. My views on nutrition, culinary principles and food sanitation have definitely developed more over this past week. Read on to see what I learned this week in my nutrition and culinary principles courses...

Thai Basil Chicken

While my husband and I are in the process of moving back to the city of Chicago, I've been enjoying the opportunity of cooking in 2 different kitchens. I have my suburban kitchen which is nice, big and roomy... while my (temporary) city kitchen is much more efficient, compact and is a bit more modern. Regardless, I can pretty much cook in any kitchen and I'm a firm believer that a nice, fancy kitchen doesn't improve a cook. In fact, I believe it's a cook that improves a kitchen! I prepared this Thai Basil Chicken for my family in the city and they loved how quickly it came together. They even complimented me by saying it was better than the Thai Basil Chicken they ordered at a local Thai restaurant!...

Jackfruit Cupcakes

Jackfruit... have you heard of it? It happens to be the largest fruit that comes off a tree. It wouldn't surprise me if not many folks even knew this fruit existed, as it's mainly common in Southeast Asia. Growing up, my grandpa had a few large jackfruit trees. It was such a great treat for him to have one to cut up and eat fresh! Sadly, it's been several years since I've enjoyed fresh jackfruit. Nowadays I can get my fix through canned or jarred jackfruit. When my parents recently visited from the Philippines, they brought home some jackfruit pulp which found it's way into my kitchen. There are so many things I could make with it but the first that came to mind were these Jackfruit Cupcakes...

Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Recipe Challenge!

I recently posted a recipe for Pesto Palmiers and mentioned how I usually have a package of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry in my freezer. As coincidence would have it, Pepperidge Farm contacted me and asked if I could create a sophisticated and simple original recipe using Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry with an ingredient or in a dish that's indigenous to Chicago. I happily accepted this Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry recipe challenge and I'm open to suggestions!...

Chicago's Ultimate Foodie Picnic

I've lived in Chicago for 5+ years now (and have recently moved back from the suburbs after a short stay) and Chicago will forever be home. There's so many reasons why I love this city. One example is a specific foodie community I'm active in, LTH Forum. I've been a part of this foodie community since 2005 and over the years, I've made some great friends who expanded my horizons when it came to food. For the past five years, the group has hosted an annual picnic and this year it was nothing short of deliciously amazing. Seriously, if you're a true, die hard foodie in Chicago, perhaps you attended this year's ultimate foodie picnic...

Raspberries & Cream Stuffed French Toast

I've been awful this week with my blog... because I've been so swamped with things. After living in the suburbs for a few months, my husband couldn't take it anymore (and deep down, neither could I). This week, we've been balancing our time between city and suburb, so life has been a little hectic to say the least. Being in culinary school three days out of the week with my share of homework along with private catering and hosting culinary events on the weekend, while spending quality time with my little 4 month old can be quite a challenge... let alone finding time to blog! Needless to say, I haven't been able to post as often as I'd like lately. While we're settling back into the city (yay!!), I'm anxious to get accustomed to my temporary kitchen this coming week. Thankfully, I was able to enjoy making breakfast and made some Raspberries & Cream Stuffed French Toast. Mmmm... a delicious start to the day and weekend!

Culinary School: Week 3 Recap

It's been three weeks of school already and it's flying by! After looking at my recap last week, I feel like I barely scratched the surface of all the things I've learned despite my lengthy blog post. This week, I'll try to do a better job just highlighting the main topics without getting into too much detail... or I'll create another blog post to cover topics that I found really interesting. Read on to see what I learned this week in my nutrition and culinary principles courses...

Honey Walnut & Brie Tartlettes

Even though I life in Illinois, I'm most certainly a cheesehead. I love cheese and couldn't imagine living life without it! Sweet or savory, I'll find a way to incorporate cheese into my daily diet... even if it's just a little taste. Brie cheese is a soft mild cheese that can be used in both sweet and savory applications. I recently enjoyed these Honey Walnut & Brie Tartlettes I made as a snack, which were also featured on my Mediterranean Grill party menu a month ago. Sweet honey, crunchy walnuts and creamy brie couldn't be packaged in a more delicious way...

Salsa Verde Pork Carnitas

There's something about Mexican cuisine we really love. Perhaps its how Mexican cuisine is somewhat similar to Filipino cuisine with the heavy use of meats and rice. In fact, we love the seasonings of Mexican meats and prefer eating them with steamed white or brown rice over tortillas. (I guess it's the Asian thing in us where everything seems to taste better with rice- lol.) With that said, pork carnitas is one of our favorite Mexican dishes. Instead of the traditional preparation, I made this Salsa Verde Pork Carnitas recipe and it was a hit! My husband loves salsa verde so it was a nice way to incorporate it as a flavoring instead of a condiment...

Pesto Palmiers

 

If there's one thing I like stocking my freezer with, it's puff pastry. Pepperidge Farm is one brand I usually keep on hand. The other one I like is Dufour Pastry Kitchens brand, however it can be hard to find. Nonetheless, with puff pastry, I'm never too far away from whipping up some great appetizers to serve guests or just to snack on. My parents are visiting from overseas and I made these Pesto Palmiers as a snack the other day. My mom especially is a fan of the buttery, flaky layers that puff pastry is known for so it was no surprise she loved these!

Jamaican Jerk Shrimp with Fresh Pineapple Salsa

One summer cuisine we really enjoy is Jamaican.  Since summer is coming to an end in the next few weeks, we wanted to get a taste of Jamaica and it's flavorful dishes. Our favorite Jamaican dish? Hands down, it's Jamaican Jerk. This time, I made these Jamaican Jerk Shrimp Skewers and served them up with a Fresh Pineapple Salsa. It's not only delicious and colorful, it also gave us a taste of the islands here in the Midwest...

Culinary School: Week 2 Recap

With each week that goes by, I'm loving my courses more and more. I certainly started my courses with a decent amount of culinary knowledge but I love the fact that there is so much more for me to learn. My classes are in the afternoon and evenings so when most people are winding down from their long day, I'm soaking up tons of culinary info in the lecture portion of my course. When I'm in my kitchen lab, it's so much fun to apply the things I've learned in the classroom. Seriously, this is the most fun I've had going to school ever! This week in my virtual kitchen classroom, I was completely engrossed in the topics covered. What many people may think as dry topics, I was happily absorbing all the information I could . Read on to see what I learned this week in my nutrition and culinary principles courses...

Culinary Tour of Chicago's Little Village

Chicago is always full of so many surprises and treasures. Just when you think you know all about the city and have a good grasp of where to go for various types of eats, you find out about another place to check out. Well, over the past weekend, I hosted a culinary tour and taco crawl for friends and shared with them a few hidden gems in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. If you are looking for seriously authentic, affordable and amazing Mexican eats, here's a neighborhood you'll need to visit...

Korean Bulgogi Beef

Asian cuisine will always be comfort food to me. It doesn't matter if it's Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese or even Korean food. I like to get a dose of any of these cuisines at least once a week. One of my favorite Asian cuisines is Korean for its combination of sweet with spicy flavors, various textures and all the delicious banchan (side dishes) Korean cuisine is known for. A dish my husband and I are especially fond of is Korean Bulgogi Beef. The secret to this dish is all in the marinade....

Bacon Pancakes

Breakfast... is the hardest meal for me to eat. I was doing really well with eating breakfast for several months, but somehow I fell off the wagon recently. I think it's due to caring for my lil guy the minute I get up in the morning. By the time he's all taken care of, I get caught up with things I have to do for the day and before I know it, it's almost time for lunch and my lil guy's next feeding. But lately, I've had a hankering for breakfast food. Not the mundane oatmeal, cereal, muffin type of breakfast. I'm talking about those diner style breakfast that consist of sweet and savory flavors all on your plate. So in an effort to combine those breakfast cravings I've been having, I made these Bacon Pancakes. Yes... it's true. Everything is certainly better with bacon!...