Chocolate Salon Anniversary

Two years ago today, Andy and I got married!! At our wedding, we had the one thing I would say I was kind-of "bridezilla" about: I wanted, no, I needed, to have the Chocolate and Coffee Divas (from San Luis Obispo) do a full-on, giant spread of chocolately goodness, with every imaginable item that you could dip into the dark or white chocolate fountains that we had there. It was fabulous and I LOVED it! I hope our guests enjoyed it as much as we did!

So, it is only right that we celebrated today by going to the 4th Annual Los Angeles Luxury Chocolate Salon this afternoon. We "forced" our friends Michael and April to go with us and the feasting began! When we walked into the convention center, the smell of delicious chocolate came over us and we started in! There were around 20 vendors, all of them offering samples of their goodies, ranging anywhere from truffles, to chocolate bars, to gourmet ding dongs... oh yeah... gourmet ding dongs. I'll get to that in a minute. In the meantime, enjoy a little chocolate porn.




Wait a minute.. did you say "gourmet ding dong"? Yes, my friend, I did say those delightful words. So, I can't take credit for finding these gems. I wish I could. But, no, Andy overheard the vendor saying "red velvet gourmet ding dong" and he had his wallet out right away. The woman was kind enough to cut the ding dong into four pieces and then we all went to town on the thing. Imagine the moistest red velvet cake, with about an inch of the most amazing vanilla buttercream I have ever had in my life, wedged right in the middle. This buttercream was so damn good, it had the consistency of cheesecake. In fact, we thought it was cheesecake until the executive chef asked us how we liked his buttercream! Whaaa??? Yeah, man, your buttercream is CRAZY good!! Oh! I almost forgot: this whole cake was dipped in dark chocolate!! COME ON!! At one point, I looked over at Michael and he was staring off into space, as if he was having some kind of religious experience or something. Yeah, it was pretty much like that.


Oh, and after we were finished with this chocolate salon, we managed to partake in a dinner of Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. What a fabulous day!!!

The Dan Dan Truck!!

I think I may have a problem. I'm a little obsessed with food trucks. There's just something about them. The old school idea of the "Roach Coach", how they really don't look that safe or good, and are sometimes located in some shady-like places... that's a little exciting to me. Especially when I find some good ones, just because they aren't the high-class, frou frou restaurants that you would think would produce that kind of food.
Today I went to the Dan Dan Truck, where they were serving lunch right here in Irvine, CA. There were about 8 trucks located in this spot today and the Dan Dan Truck and the Dos Chinos Truck had the longest lines of glassy eyed foodies. I promptly threw myself in the Dan Dan line, which serves a small variety of Korean fusion fare. They do tacos, burritos, kimchi quesadillas (which I wanted, but was too stuffed to order after I ate), a bulgogi burger, and their "Dan Dan" sliders, which is what ordered: short ribs, spicy asian slaw, and spicy sauce, all stuffed in between soft Hawaiian rolls. Some of you may be wondering: But, Mary, you actually ate animal flesh?? Okay, yes, I did. And momentarily I was sad for the cow that gave it's life to produce my lunch. Then, after I bit into the sandwich, I promptly thanked that little cow for it's tasty parts. My Crohns will be pissed at me later, I'm sure of it. Call it Karma. But, I digress...

DELICIOUS!!! I mean, if that photo doesn't excite you, even just slightly, then we need to talk. I'm gonna try and hunt them down again for lunch or dinner in the near future and try that kimchi quesadillla... maybe I'll make it through the giant line at the Foodie Fest this Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

Crepes Bonaparte Food Truck!!

I'm a bit of a crepe snob. I'll admit it. I can't help it, though. I had a high school French teacher that actually made us learn how to make them (in class, I might add) and then she graded us on how they tasted and if they were thin enough! No kidding! So, when my food truck obsession became slightly heightened this afternoon, and I found out that the Crepes Bonaparte Truck was just a mere 10-minute drive to Santa Ana, CA today, I hopped in the car and cussed out every idiot on the I-5, just so I could taste the goodies on this truck.
If you live under a rock (or just don't watch the Food Network), Crepes Bonaparte has made quite a name for itself lately. It is one of the trucks on The Great Food Truck Race and haven't done too badly for themselves in the competition so far. Their menu consists of both Breakfast Crepes, Savory Crepes, Dessert Crepes, and Traditional Crepes (both savory and sweet). I have to admit that when I walked up to the truck, for whatever reason, I became a little overwhelmed by what to order. Seriously, everything sounded good. Well, and I was hungry.

So, after staring at the menu forever, I just asked the guy taking the orders what his favorites were. They were having a special (one savory crepe and one sweet crepe) for $8. He suggested the Caprese Crepe (chicken, mozzarella, tomato, and pesto) and the Fruity Dee-Lite Crepe (strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream). Right on, my friend! Bust those out!
Here's one of the thins I love about food trucks: gourmet food served to you in just around 5 minutes after ordering. Brilliant! They gave me my crepes and I actually took them back to my car, thinking I was going to take them home and enjoy them in them in the comfort of my air conditioned apartment. I opened the first container and thought I was crazy if I was going to wait another ten minutes to bust into that thing. I actually got out of my car, walked back to the food truck, and ate them both (well, half of each one) right there at the side of the truck. I think that made them happy. I know it made me happy!
This Caprese Crepe was the bomb! (I know it's not 1999 anymore, so I shouldn't be allowed to say that, but you know what I mean). I was surprised to see that it was shredded chicken, which was perfect in that crepe. I asked if the pesto was homemade (because it tasted like it was) and of course, it was. Very, very good!


Next: that fruit crepe. Umm.... I could have eaten about 5 of those damn things. SOOO good!!! The whipped cream on it was super rich and perfect with the tartness of the strawberries. As good as that crepe was, I was a little upset when I saw that I missed the Spicy Apple Bottoms Crepe, which is cooked cinnamon apples, caramel, and whipped cream. Next time, my friends. Next time.


So, here's the million dollar question for the self-proclaimed Crepe Snob: how was the actual crepe? The bread-y part? It was very good - not traditional in terms of the thin-ness of a French crepe - but very tasty. The savory crepe tasted like a regular crepe, but the sweet crepe tasted like it had cinnamon in the batter. All in all, I wasn't complaining. And, here's another thing I love about food trucks: they usually don't wuss out on the amount of food they give you. you asked for it, you get it! The portions were huge for the price of the crepe. And, let's not forget the taste!!
So if you happen to be near the Crepes Bonaparte Truck, check it out!! Oh, and if you love Nutella, you're in luck, they have giant jars lining the inside of the truck. Just in case they run out. Which I hope never happens while I'm in line. Bon appetite!!
http://crepesbonaparte.com/

Gourmet Greek Food Truck? Yes, please!

Yesterday evening...
Me: "Wanna go to California Adventure tomorrow night"?
Andy: "Uhh.. not really. Why"?
Me: "A Greek Food Truck will be there"
Andy: "We'll be there after work"

Tonight we hit up Louks: A Greek Gourmet Truck. It was pleasantly located right inside California Adventure, in Anaheim, CA this evening. Andy is a huge Greek food fan. I think he still has dreams of his year, studied abroad, in Australia, where he swears to me he had some of the best Greek and Lebanese food known to man. So, it wasn't too difficult to get him inside California Adventure, on a incredibly busy Thursday night, to partake in some tasty Greek goodness.
Louk's has just a few things on their menu, which makes me happy. Usually, this is a sign of a few things cooked really, really well. This was certainly the case at Louk's. Andy had the falafel (homemade falafel, I might add) that had cucumber, red onion, lettuce, tomato, tzatziki sauce, and french fries. Yes, my friends, I said fries. I had the beef gyro (yes, I ate meat and it was good) with red onion, tomato, tzatziki sauce and those incredibly happy french fries. Let me just take a moment to express the happiness that we experienced this evening. It was awesome! The guy who made everything had asked Andy to honestly tell him what he thought of the falafel (since Andy had asked first if it was homemade). He was super happy when we told him that it was some of the best Greek food we had enjoyed in a really long time. It was superb, really. I'm not even a really big fan of tzatziki sauce, but I took that gyro down like it was nobody's business. I'll have this picture in my dreams later... (sorry for the crappy quality of picture.. it was taken with my camera phone in dim light). Do notice those french fries.


So, after a delicious meal, we contemplated some dessert, but we just couldn't do it. Such wusses! We walked around California Adventure, stood in line forever to play Toy Story Mania, and then as we walked out past the truck, we looked at each other, with a knowing look in each others' eyes. Yep. We're going back for dessert.

They make a mini Greek doughnut ball called a loukomade. Little fried doughy sugary nom noms, if you will. Then they take it a step further and top it with any of the following: nutella, nutella & bananas, powdered sugar, strawberry sauce, or honey. We opted for the nutella/banana combo. A little sad when he told us they were out of bananas, but not for long.. he told us he does a nutella/honey combo that he doesn't have on the regular menu. "Would we like that instead?" Are you serious? We would love to have something on the secret, only-in-the-know menu! He proceeded to drown our fried goodies in nutella and some delicious honey. Holy. Crap. My picture doesn't do it justice. Let me just say, at that moment, the happiest place on earth was not across the park. It was at a little table, where myself and and my husband were devouring our amazing dessert. Check these out:


If you are anywhere near this food truck, you gotta go. It's fantastic. Will we stalk it again? Absolutely. Here's the website to make it that much easier for us to get our fix:
http://www.loukstogo.com/index.html

Oh yeah, and they're gonna be at the OC Foodie Fest. What a coincidence.. so will we :)

Seven Deadly Sins

I realize I just posted something just last night, but I had to share this! This package just arrived in my mail and I actually giggled out loud when I opened it up. :) Check these out: spice grinders with The Seven Deadly Sins as their theme! So, most of you know that I'm obsessed with both food and world religions (it was a Catholic Pope - Gregory the Great - who named seven offensives and wicked passions, way back in the 6th century), so this was like a no-brainer for me to own! Plus, the spice combinations that are in these individual grinders are just divine! And, of course, after smelling them all, "Gluttony" would be my favorite mix: Butterscotch and Vanilla! Again, it smells heavenly. Making it quite ironic that it's a deadly sin... ;)
Oh, the fun I am going to have using these...

Cooking with Williams & Sonoma

Many of you know how much I l.o.v.e. LOVE Williams and Sonoma. I'm like a kid in a candy store whenever I'm in that place. I will literally spend well over an hour going through the store, figuring out what I could possibly create with all of the delightful appliances and goodies they have in there. Hell, we even registered for our wedding there and I probably own about a million of the little pineapple molds that they attach to gift packages - I LOVE it! :)
Williams and Sonoma just started this series of Cookbook Classes, where you spend a couple of hours at one of their stores, and learn a few different cooking techniques, all while the chef creates a few dishes from the new cookbook you just received that evening. Somehow, the email announcing these new classes got lost in my inbox, but luckily my friend Tiffany was keen enough to find it and send it my way. :) We have both been meaning to take their Sunday technique classes, but just haven't had the time to attend one. Now we really wanted to attend this cookbook class! And, they were offering a really awesome cookbook: Coooking with Food from Farmer's Markets.
That night the chef was making an aruluga salad with chopped nuts, goat cheese, and homemade dressing. For the main dish there was pork tenderloin with a rhubarb chutney, and roasted potatoes with rosemary, garlic, and bay leaf. For dessert he made a strawberry ice cream with creme fraiche. Everything was absolutely delicious! I didn't eat the pork, but the chutney was amazing! And, that salad was so damn good, that Tiffany and I are on a mission to find homemade goat cheese that tastes as awesome as that cheese did that night. All in all, we learned some cool techniques, ate some great food, and proceeded to shop our little hearts out with the 10% discount they offered us for the night. We had a fantastic evening and we are really looking forward to the next class we can take - it's gonna be Rick Bayless' new cookbook - oh yeah, baby!
Here was the set up we arrived to, at our place setting:

Here is Chef Jonathan cooking away and showing us cool techniques:

This was the result of all the preparation and cooking. We had already eaten the salad, and it looked so damn good (and it was) that we forgot to take a picture of it :)

Our awesomely delicious dessert. It wasn't completely frozen since he didn't start it early enough, but it was like soft-serve and still yummy as ever!

Thanks for sharing the fun evening with me, Tiffany! And for taking all the pictures, too! Looking forward to the next one!

Summer Homemade Desserts

I love the end of Spring/beginning of Summer fruit! Of course, I love to just snack on them, but I also enjoy making tasty desserts with them, as well. And who doesn't love a great homemade dessert?? Today I purchased a huge amount of cherries (because they came from Costco) and there is no way Andy and I were going to be able to eat them all, without them spoiling fast, so I decided to make a dessert with them - why not?! :) I found this Sour Cherry Crumb Cake recipe (from Martha Stewart, of course) and that sounded perfect for my new purchase! Oh, and they are kick ass good!


Last Thursday, I received the most beautiful strawberries in my CSA delivery and I knew exactly what I wanted to make with them: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies. Also from Martha Stewart, I think these were even better than the Crumb Cake above, but they are both really good. Imagine a strawberry cookie married a strawberry biscuit and they had babies. Delicious, delectable babies. That is what these taste like. I would have taken a picture for you, but they mysteriously disappeared before that could happen...

Here are the two recipes for you! Enjoy!! We know we did! :D

Sour Cherry Crumb Cake
for the topping
4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for dish
3/4 cup flour, plus more for dish
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

for the cake
1 1/2 flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
About one cup of fresh sour cherries, pitted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish, and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
2. Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Make the cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. With a mixer, cream butter and sugar in another bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add buttermilk and flour mixture. Beat until combined. Pour into prepared dish. Dot top with cherries and sprinkle with crumb topping.
4. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes.


Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about two cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
sanding sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in the strawberry mixture.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool.