Fun and Fearless Friday Five

This week seemed to absolutely fly by for me and I can't believe that it is already the month of December.  Per usual, I intend to close the year out with a bang and I'm already over-booking myself with parties, celebrations and festivities all month.  Before the craziness starts, I want to take a moment to share five things that have me smiling this Friday:

1.  Last night, after plans for a blogger dinner fell through, I found myself happily at home ordering takeout, doing laundry and packing for the upcoming weekend.  We ordered from Jae's Cafe and I of course had to order the bibimbap, which I absolutely love.

Sometimes the unexpected nights in can be just what you need.

2.  As I mentioned above, I did some packing last night because Bret and I are heading down to Washington D.C. to visit my friend Alex this weekend.  She came to visit in October and as soon as she left, we were planning our next reunion.  The older I get, the more I realize how important some of my best friends are to me.  There is the family that you are born into and there is the family that you create and choose.  I realize that since college, it is the latter that has really shaped me into who I am.  Although I go down to D.C. at least once a year, Bret hasn't been down there in over ten years!  I think the three of us will have a blast this weekend and I'm especially excited to introduce Bret to my godson, Griffin!

Yes, Griffin is Alex's dog and my godson.  I adore this dog more than anything and I've packed lots of treats for him in my luggage!

3.  This past week, I had a nice chat with Shakti at Smorgie.com.  Shakti has created a site where you can find, organize and review your restaurant experiences in one place.  You can share these experiences in "bite books" with others or just use it for your own personal organization.  Shakti and I have been meaning to chat for quite some time and she published a really wonderful interview of me on the Smorgie blog.  I would love it if you would check it out and show her some love!

4.  As we enter into the final weeks of voting, I wanted to remind you all to check out the poll for Boston A-List's Best Local Blogger.  I'm currently in third place!  If you've already voted, thank you so much...and if you haven't, please click here to vote for me.  Every vote counts until the voting closes on December 22nd and I'd really appreciate your support!

5.  Finally, I wanted to announce the winner of my Lea & Perrins giveaway.  Chosen by Random.org, the winner is Shannon of Tri to Cook, who likes to use Worcestershire sauce in her go-to burger recipe!  Thanks to everyone for entering and thanks to Foodbuzz and Lea & Perrins for sponsoring this great giveaway!

 
Tell me, what has you smiling today?

Lea & Perrins Giveaway

Sometimes it is the little things in life that can put a smile on your face.  Last night, I was lucky enough to come home from the gym to the smell of dinner cooking in the kitchen.  I typically do most of the cooking in our household so I am always appreciative when Bret takes it upon himself to cook dinner for us. 

Bret made a really hearty dinner of steak and potatoes.  The potatoes were twice-baked and seasoned with butter, caramelized shallots and paprika.  Because Bret had some extra caramelized shallots, he made a simple compound butter and I put a generous slice of the butter on my steak.

Bret and I also used a little bit of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce with our steak.  I recently received a complimentary bottle via Foodbuzz and we hadn't yet used it.  I have faithfully used Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce for years and I was definitely excited to receive a free bottle of it.

Even better, Foodbuzz and Lea & Perrins is providing a complimentary bottle of any Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce (10 oz or smaller) to one of my readers.  There are two ways to enter:

1.  Leave me a comment telling me how you typically use Worcestershire sauce.  Do you use it as a marinade? As an ingredient in a dish? As a sauce?
2.  In a shameless act of bribery, vote for me as Boston's Best Local Blogger here and leave me a comment telling me that you voted.

Voting ends on Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 11 PM EST.  A winner will be drawn via Random.org.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm spending the day with my family and my fiance.  My mom is a phenomenal cook and she puts on quite the spread for Thanksgiving.  By the time you're reading this, I'll probably be in the kitchen doing whatever task I'm assigned.  My mom enjoys doing all of the cooking for Thanksgiving but I usually manage to sneak in at least one dessert.  This year, I decided to make King Arthur Flour's Pumpkin Bread Pudding from the Whole Grain Baking cookbook.

While the recipe calls for the use of whole wheat bread, I decided to substitute it with Nature's Pride's OvenClassics Oatmeal Bread.  I received a complimentary loaf of bread courtesy of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program and it has been sitting in my freezer for about a month.  On Monday night, I took half of the loaf out of the freezer and let it thaw and stale in the fridge for twenty-four hours.

On Tuesday night, I found that the bread wasn't quite as stale as I'd like it to be so I cubed it up and spread the pieces on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  The recipe called for six cups of stale bread but I had more like seven and a half cups.  I put the baking tray in the oven for eight minutes at 250 degrees and let it sit for an additional five minutes in the oven with the oven off.

While the bread was in the oven, I got the liquid ingredients of the pudding together:

• 1 cup raisins (I omitted this because I'm not a big fan of raisins)
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar (you can also use packed dark brown sugar)
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger (optional) (I omitted this since I didn't have it on hand)

In a medium bowl, I whisked together the pumpkin puree, eggs and light brown sugar.

I then whisked in the half-and-half, rum, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves to the pumpkin mixture.  You could definitely smell the rum and I liked that it would be a boozy bread pudding!

I took the stale bread out of the oven and put it in a large bowl.  Since the bread was warm, I put it in the fridge to cool down. 

When the bread felt like it was more at room temperature, I poured the pumpkin mixture onto the cubed bread.  I used a slotted spoon to make sure that all of the bread was coated.

I covered the bowl and let the mixture sit overnight in the fridge.  On Wednesday I took the pumpkin mixture out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature.  I then got to work on the bread pudding topping by dicing up a generous 1/4 cup of pecans.  I then combined 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup light sugar, and two tablespoons of unsalted butter in a bowl with my hands until it made a crumbly mixture.  I then stirred in the diced pecans.

I then pre-heated the oven at 350 degrees and greased a 9-inch round baking dish.  I gave the bread pudding a final stir and then poured it into the baking dish. 

I sprinkled the pecan topping evenly on top of the bread pudding and put it in the oven.

I let the bread pudding bake for forty minutes.  I wanted the bread pudding to bake through almost completely so that I could warm it up (and get the wonderful brown sugar color on top) on Thanksgiving at my parents' house.  I let it cool completely before I put the cover on and refrigerated it overnight.

The pumpkin bread pudding looked amazing and I hope that it tastes as good today as it looked last night!

Happy Thanksgiving!  What was the best part of your Thanksgiving?  And don't forget to enter my Dancing Deer giveaway, which ends at 11 PM EST tomorrow!

James Beard's Favorite Hamburger

Before getting into this blog, I wanted to remind you all to vote for me for my first entry for Project Food Blog.  Voting for this first challenge is open from September 20th (9 AM EST) to September 23rd (9 AM EST).  Winners from this challenge will be announced from 3 PM EST on Friday September 24th.  There are 652 entries and only 400 will move forward so your vote is much appreciated!

Now, back to our regular scheduled programming...

I absolutely love burgers.  I mean, what's not to like? A burger is one of the most versatile things that you can make in your kitchen by playing around with its ingredients.  You can use beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, tofu, beans or vegetables.  You can add different seasonings, toppings and even stuffing.  You can sandwich a burger in a bun, pita, bread or even go bunless.  You can make sliders, flat patties, or thick and juicy burgers!  The possibilities are endless!

Wow, I just sounded like a weird burger infomercial.

The point is that I love a good burger and on Thursday, I was definitely craving a good juicy beef burger.  Although I have a standard burger recipe that I could make in my sleep, I definitely like to experiment and play around with different burger recipes.  I did some research and found a fantastic recipe for James Beard's Favorite Hamburger.  I think the title says it all.  I mean, if it is good enough for James Beard, then it is definitely good enough for me!

I was planning on making these burgers for dinner that night until I banged my big toe up pretty badly at work.  Even though I work in an office with a pretty strict dress code, I tend to actually work at my desk without my shoes on.  It is my secret way of rebelling against corporate America.  Anyway, I got up from my desk to throw something away and klutzy me hit my big toe against a bookshelf.  It hurt pretty badly but I stubbornly went to the gym after work even though my big toe was throbbing.  Big mistake.  I ended up hobbling home after the gym and after Bret took one look at my toe, he told me to sit back, elevate my foot and threw a bag of frozen veggies on it.

Even though I didn't cook this dinner, I did take photos to work on my photo skills while Bret got to work. 

This is such a simple recipe using just a handful of ingredients.  Since Bret was only cooking dinner for two people, he halved the recipe.  The ingredients for this burger included:

• One pound ground beef
• Half an onion
• Half a tablespoon of heavy cream
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• Unsalted butter, as needed
• Vegetable oil, as needed (he didn't use any)
• Kosher salt, to taste

First, Bret spread the meat out on a board and grated half of an onion in it.  This was grated very finely so that just onion juice and finely grated raw onion was on the beef.

Next, Bret poured about half a tablespoon of heavy cream on the meat.  We rarely have heavy cream on hand but I had just purchased some for my cherry tomato goat cheese tart.

Finally Bret added some fresh cracked peppercorns.

Without mixing the ingredients, Bret shaped the meat into four patties.

Even though we have a cast iron skillet, Bret decided to use the grill pan to get nice grill marks on the burger.  He warmed the pan on the stove with a few pats of butter.  The burgers took about four minutes on each side.

While the burgers were cooking, Bret also boiled up a few ears of corn.

And he also made some delicious spicy sriracha butter.  We are both seriously addicted to this stuff.

Because of my obsession with mustard, we had quite a few brands and flavors to choose from but we went with two Stonewall Kitchen mustards - roasted garlic and horseradish.

And we also had to have two pickles - pickle chips for the burger and Grillo's spicy pickle spears for the side.

When the burgers were done, Bret sprinkled the patties with a bit of the salt.  We then put our burgers together.  Bret opted for a brioche bun but I decided to be good and opted for a whole grain sandwich thin.  I topped my burger with ketchup, mustard and goat cheese crumbles (also leftover from the cherry tomato and goat cheese tart).

Bret and I unanimously agreed that this was going to be our new standard burger.  Because we didn't mix the ingredients in, the meat wasn't overworked and the burger was so tender.  It was truly delicious.

Thanks to Bret for letting me play injured patient while he whipped up this yummy dinner!

What's your favorite kind of burger?

Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog: Ready, Set, Blog!

As I previously mentioned, I am participating in Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog.  For my first entry, I need to explain what defines me as a food blogger and why I should be the next food blog star.  

People always ask me why my blog is titled Fun and Fearless in Beantown.  When I was in college, I was a fervent reader of Cosmopolitan magazine (don't judge).  Every year, the magazine would highlight both celebrities and everyday individuals who were both fun and fearless in their lives.  There was something about this annual feature that really struck a chord with me and since then, I have tried to find a way to have a fun and fearless attitude in all areas of my life.

Although I write about different topics on my blog, a majority of my blog posts relate to food - whether it is trying out new restaurants, dreaming up new recipes, participating in cooking classes or just playing around in the kitchen.  I try to embody a “fun and fearless” attitude with food in different ways, like:

• Getting creative in the kitchen to combine both of my Korean and American backgrounds with dishes like kimchi spaghetti;

Cold Kimchi Spaghetti

• Taking classes to learn more about different cuisines, like making dumplings at Myers + Chang;



My Cooking Class Dumplings

• Entering fun recipe contests like Olivia's Organics Summer Harvest Recipe Contest, which I recently won with my Baked Green Tomato Herb Salad;

Contest Winning Baked Green Tomato Herb Salad

• Finding new ways to utilize every ingredient to the fullest with “clean out the fridge” and “kitchen sink” recipes like my beet green hummus;

Beet Green Hummus



• Experiencing tasting menus (like the one I experienced most recently at Arrows Restaurant) where I have no idea what to expect and always try something new; and 



Deep-Fried Dodge Cove Oysters - first of ten courses at Arrows Restaurant

• Challenging myself to use local ingredients in ways that I’ve never dreamed of such as beet latkes.

Beet Latkes

So why should I be the next food blog star? 

I think we all need a “fun and fearless” attitude in life and my blog makes it easy to find one when it comes to food.  I try to tell a story with each of my food adventures.  There are often successes and sometimes there are failures (or as I like to call them, learning mistakes).  Either way, my readers can relate to the experience and hopefully be inspired to try something new out on their own. 

How do you maintain a fun and fearless attitude in your life?

Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog

A lot of times, I consider my endeavors in the kitchen to be like a project.  As I’m testing out a new recipe or experimenting with new ingredients, I’m constantly thinking about how to demonstrate this project on my blog for my readers.  I am currently involved with a new project sponsored by Foodbuzz.  Foodbuzz is a wonderful food blog community and I’m proud to be a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher.  This project is called Project Food Blog and it is a competition where Foodbuzz Featured Publishers will participate in a series of culinary blogging challenges.  I will be posting my entries for each round here on my blog.  There is a grand prize for just one contestant: $10,000.00 and a special feature on Foodbuzz for a year. 

I’ve always welcomed reader participation on my blog and Project Food Blog is no exception.  Eventually, I will have an icon on my blog for you to use to vote for me.  There are judges for the competition but there will be one readers’ choice winner per round.  The blogger with the most votes from the public will be the readers’ choice for that round and will automatically advance to the next round.

I’m already hard at work getting my blog ready for the first round, but in the meantime, you can check out my Project Food Blog contestant profile here.  

I’m not sure how far I’ll advance in Project Food Blog but I’m excited to participate and compete against some great food bloggers and I hope you’ll want to join me for the ride.

Wild Mushroom Agnolotti with Garlic Scape Pesto

A few weeks ago, I received a free coupon from FoodBuzz and Buitoni to try out Buitoni Riserva refrigerated pasta.  Since I haven't had much of a chance to cook dinner this past week with lots of after-work and blogger activities, I was really looking forward to using my coupon last night to cook a hearty pasta dinner.

On my way home, I stopped by DeLuca's Market and discovered that they only had one kind of the Buitoni Riserva pasta - Wild Mushroom Agnolotti.  But since I love mushrooms, I was pretty happy with this selection.

When I got home, I immediately put a pot of water to boil with a few pinches of salt.  While the water was boiling, I got to work on the rest of the pasta dish.  Last week, I received a delivery of garlic scapes from my farmers market delivery service.  After reading this recipe on Local in Season, I knew that I wanted to make a garlic scape pesto.

First, I washed a half bunch of garlic scapes.

I chopped them up (discarding any of the yellow parts) and placed them into the food processor.

I pulsed the garlic scapes so that they were broken down and then I added about a half cup of raw shelled walnuts.

I pulsed some more and then added some Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and olive oil to taste.  It is hard to quantify how much I put in because I would pulse, taste and add some more of any of the four ingredients based on flavor and consistency.

The garlic scape pesto had a beautiful color and as a garlic lover, I was definitely enthralled by the sharp garlic flavor.

When the water had started boiling, I gently placed the half-moon shaped pasta into the pot with a small drizzle of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking.  This pasta cooks very quickly and was done after just five minutes.  While the pasta was cooking, I prepared my final ingredient for the pasta and chopped up some leftover sundried tomatoes.

I topped the agnolotti with the garlic scape pesto, sundried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

The pasta was divine.  The agnolotti was filled with a rich blend of Portobello and Crimini mushrooms.  Although this pasta would be great with a cream-based or brown butter sage sauce in the winter, as a summer dish, I loved how perfectly it went with the garlic scape pesto.  The sharpness of the pesto and the sundried tomatoes cut into the richness of the pasta in the most wonderful way.

What summer pasta dishes have you been enjoying lately?