Farmer's Market & Food Writing

Happy belated Valentine's Day :)

This past week has been filled with excitement as I finally started writing for The District Weekly. I was sent out on my first two assignments, which were interviewing and then sampling (oh yeah!) foods from BigMista's BBQ and Big Nick's Pizza.

BigMista's BBQ is not a restaurant, but rather a traveling husband and wife team that sell their multiple-award-winning spicy, smoky barbecue at three different farmer's markets in Southern California. On Tuesdays and Saturdays you can find them at the Torrance Farmer's Market next to Wilson Park. The owner of BigMista's prepared his "Perfect Pulled Pork" sandwich for us and it was darn near perfect - a huge helping of shredded pork (that was slow cooked for 12 hours!), secret sauce, and pineapple coleslaw in between a soft bun. Mmmm mmm! We (the photographer and I) also got to nibble on brisket and beef ribs. He also raved about his wife's super cheesy mac and cheese, but was sad to inform me they didn't have any that day.

We had some time to kill before our next appointment with Big Nick's, so we strolled through the rest of the market and sampled some of the fresh produce.

Now after living in Torrance nearly all my life and only having been to their farmer's market a couple of times, I found myself wondering: Why don't I come here more often??? The produce is fresh - and not to mention cheap - and the food stands are delish! Also, where else can you get a dozen roses for $6.00?! I may have just found my new Saturday morning ritual.

Torrance Farmer's Market
2400 Jefferson St.
Torrance 90501

BigMista's BBQ
http://bigmista.com/ <-- follow them on Twitter and Facebook too!

Chicken Feet and Pork Balls

No, I'm not watching reruns of Fear Factor on Hulu. I'm referring to a few of the Chinese creations I consumed over dim sum last weekend at Great Seafood Harbor in Artesia. For those who've never experienced a dim sum meal before, let me tell you, it is unique, exciting, and foreign - much like the items that they serve. In a well-run dim sum operation, your party is seated promptly and before the waiter comes to take your drink orders, a server pushing a cart filled with small plates of ready-to-eat foods starts offering what they have. You either select their offerings or refuse and wait for the next cart of goodies. Sort of a buffet-that-comes-to-you ordeal. (How much more could a lazy foodie ask for?!)

The first cart that came to our table seemed like we hit the jackpot. It had shrimp potstickers, pork shumai, and a thick noodle covered in hoisin sauce. One of each please! The server stamped our receipt 3 times, once for each dish. This is how they keep track of what you order. (Some items are more expensive and get stamped further down on the receipt.)

Immediately after the first cart left, another one stopped by, "I have charsiu bao, short rib, chicken feet." Yes. Yes. And Yes.

Stamp, stamp, stamp.

Then we flagged down the Chinese broccoli lady. And then the walnut shrimp lady.

Stamp, stamp.

I felt like it was almost time for me to yell "BINGO!" but the distraction of the chicken feet were staring me in the face. I am a firm believer in trying everything once. So as I gnawed off the chewy skin from one toe and sucked it off the bone, I found it to taste mostly like the sweet and sour sauce it was cooked in, but the thought of what I actually was eating did ruffle my feathers a bit. :)

By the time the dessert carts rolled by with mango pudding and boba drinks, we were too full for anything else. We asked the waiter for our check, which he took off of our table, examined the stamps for a minute, started writing profusely, handed it back to us with the tax and total figured out, and stood waiting for our payment. Well if they serve the food to you immediately, I guess they want their payment immediately too.

Great Seafood Harbor

18329 Pioneer Blvd.

Artesia, 90701

(562) 860-7794

Antipasto Pasta Salad

Antipasto Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 package rainbow spiral pasta

3 eggs, hard boiled

8 slices Italian dry salami

1 large jar artichoke hearts

1 small can sliced black olives

1/2 cup Italian dressing

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. While the pasta is cooking, slice eggs, salami, and artichoke hearts into bite sized pieces.

3. When the pasta is done, drain and rinse under cold water.

4. Toss all other ingredients in the pasta and add dressing to taste.

5. Chill for two hours before serving.

Cookies for A Rainy Day

Butterfinger Candy Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 Butterfinger candy bars, chopped

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugars. Add in egg and blend well. Add peanut butter and vanilla.

2. In a seperate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture.

3. Chop Butterfinger candy bars and add to the dough.

4. Bake at 350*F on parchment paper for 12-14 minutes.

New Writing Gig...

My recent neglect to the blog has been due to the fact that I started writing for examiner.com and my alias is: Torrance Restaurant Examiner. A pretty cool title, if you ask me! Anywho, the site claims they are the "insider source for everything local." This means they hire locals to write relevant articles about anything from food & drinks to style, news, religion, and dating. Pretty much anything interesting to read about, you can be an "examiner" for.

The pay rate is interesting too. Sort of like commission for writing; meaning you get paid based upon the number of articles you write, how much traffic your page gets, how many subscriptions you obtain, and how many user comments are left. Then they clearly state in nice bold print: THERE IS NO MINIMUM PAY.

...right...

So, despite all odds, I decided to give it a try (for the experience I suppose?) and am now your local Torrance Restaurant Examiner! And as you can see, I would really appreciate some page traffic and even a subscription or two so I can earn enough to get me a Big Mac meal at McDonald's next week :)

THANKS!!!

KellyCakes

Nathan Lew Rocks :)

'Nuff said.

School's Back in Session

After many months of anticipation, I finally had brunch at Blackboard Bistro in Seal Beach. This quaint cafe is designed around a school theme in every aspect but the food. Thankfully, the food is nothing like the casseroles and frozen entrees scooped up and served to you on cardboard trays in elementary school. Rather, the menu here offers a wide selection of choices for Homeroom (breakfast), Recess (lunch), and After School Specials (dinner).

Although it is early January, we are fortunate enough to have wonderful sunny weather practically year round and opted to sit outside on the patio. I ordered one of the breakfast combinations cleverly called "The Playground" because it came with your choice of a little bit of everything. I went for the blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage. The large pancakes were fluffy and filled and topped with an abundance of wild blueberries. They were served with warm syrup and a blueberry puree. The sausages were seared crispy on the outside and were perfectly juicy on the inside.

Great for small groups and dates, Blackboard Bistro is a great place to satisfy any appetite for good old Californian-American fare.

Blackboard Bistro

1198 Pacific Coast Highway

Seal Beach, 90740

http://www.blackboardbistro.com/?page=1

Ten Tips for 2010

Happy New Year everyone! It seems like many people had a rough 2009...so here's to a fun, fresh, and fabulous 2010! To kick off the new decade right, here are 10 helpful tips to use next time you're in the kitchen:

1. When baking, a sifter should be your new best friend! Sifting flour can make all the difference between a dense, heavy cake or a light and fluffy cake with the perfect crumb.
2. Baking something that requires softened or room-temperature butter and you forgot to let it sit out ahead of time? Toss a stick of butter in the microwave for 10 seconds and it'll be good to go.
3. Recipe calls for chopped nuts? Instead of running your knife through whole nuts, put them in a gallon sized zip top bag and roll over them with a rolling pin. This breaks up the nuts so you don't dull out your knife.
4. To extend the life of green onions, gently wrap them in a paper towel after washing and then into a zip top bag. They'll keep 3-4 days longer in the fridge.
5. Frying something and don't know if the oil is hot enough? Simply sprinkle in a few breadcrumbs or panko into the oil - if they sink to the bottom, the oil's still too cold. If they fry up and float to the top, the oil is ready for frying!
6. Need to thinly slice beef (or any other protein)? Toss the meat in your freezer for about 30 minutes to firm it up and slicing should be a breeze.
7. When cutting anything sticky (brownies, rice krispie treats, etc.) use a plastic knife instead of a metal one...the food won't stick!
8. Unless a recipe says otherwise, ALWAYS preheat your oven! Cooking foods at temperatures lower than required causes uneven cooking and longer cooking times.
9. To see if an egg is hard boiled or raw without cracking it, spin it on a flat surface. If it spins quickly, it is hard boiled. If it wobbles, it's still raw!
10. Lastly, never cook with a wine that you wouldn't drink - it will make all the difference in your end product!

Happy cooking :)