Gone traveling? YES!

Off to enjoy the sun and discover new things! Have a wonderful spring break!

Food Trucks GALORE!

Highlights from the Food Fest - Truck Style event I attended a month ago.

More importantly, I FINALLY GOT TO TRY A BANH MI FROM THE NOM NOM TRUCK!

That was my main reason for going to the Food Fest, held here in my area of Southern California. For those who don't know, the Nom Nom truck was on the Food Network show 'The Great Food Truck Race', basically 'The Amazing Race' + Food Trucks within the US. The Nom Nom truck kicked booty in EVERY race they had that season, except sadly, they went down the last episode, the finale. :( Come on, they should have just gave it to them! Anyway, ever since then, I, as well as many others, have been DYING to see what they are all about.

They mentioned that you can follow them on their twitter: Nomnomtruck. That's where you'll be able to track them down for a darn good meal. Now me, I don't have a twitter nor I really don't have the need for one, so that's where my sister comes in. She follows them for me! :)

Here is what I had to do to get what I wanted and the result:


The start of something good..

FOUND THE NOM NOM TRUCK! The picture doesn't do the line justice. The line was much longer than it looks below. I think I waited between 30-50 mins in that line. I lost track of time.

Patience is a virtue.

I nom you too!

The moment you and I have been waiting for...I grabbed the Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi.



You really want to know what I thought? Here goes...

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!

Yes, it WAS that good. The baguette was just perfectly crisp, not soggy at all. Couldn't have asked for a better sandwich. Lemongrass Chicken. The chicken was so tender and full of that WONDERFUL lemongrass flavor that you know I love. Cilantro. Marinated carrots and daikon radish. Cucumbers. Jalapenos (Which I actually took out. Docs orders.) And mayo.

Seriously, I really enjoyed it and was 100% pleased with it. My sister also tried her luck later that day and was extremely lucky because the food truck sold out 3 people after her! And she agreed with me. Waaay better than she thought it would be. Please follow them and try them out. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Now, I didn't just leave with just a Banh mi! There were quite a few food trucks with pretty much every cuisine around I wanted to visit but I was short on cash and time due to a cake I had to make that evening for a surprise bday party, so I decided to just settle with two more food trucks and hope that something like this would happen again very soon!!

The next food truck I visited was Sugar Babies. They are a cupcake place located somewhere in LA. I've been hearing about them a lot lately so I wanted to check them out.

I ended up getting two cupcakes because they were small and well because I just did! I scored a Strawberries N Cream cupcake and Red Rose aka a red velvet cupcake.


Yeah, pretty miniature cupcakes. My thoughts: Both cupcakes were dry. Probably should have taken them out of the oven sooner because they were smaller than the normal size cupcakes. I did enjoy the chocolate flavor from the red velvet though. Will give props for that.

And lastly, I couldn't resist checking out this truck:

The Shrimp Pimp Truck! Yeah, I had to. Besides that I was just craving shrimp. The usual. The favorite. You know. I ended up getting a Shrimp Po Boy.

The Shrimp Po Boy consisted of an awesomely perfectly toasted French Roll, oh so good Shrimp - tempura style-, Greens, Tomatoes, and a spicy kick from the Remoulade Sauce. It came together wonderfully, deliciously, and beautifully.

***I craved the Banh mi and the Po Boy for quite awhile after that weekend.***

It was a wonderful and filling day at the park with all these food trucks. Go chase after all the food trucks on the streets now! YUM!

Pista Kulfi

Today I'm posting a recipe from one of my favorite Food Network Chefs, Aarti Sequeira. Her first episode, which was over a year ago, featured one of her favorite treats, Earl Grey Kulfi Pops. I like the fact that it's a shortened recipe because I don't know who has the time to spend reducing milk on the stove these days, so this recipe definitely appeals to us busy folks always on the go. One day soon you will see me in the kitchen making this from scratch!

Anyway, I made this awhile back and now getting around to posting it! It really is a sweet treat but I didn't think it was as sweet as some people have mentioned after trying this. Just watch your serving. A little bit will go a long way to curing your craving and a lot will leave you with a stomach ache! In the end, I absolutely loved this ice cream and plan on making it again very soon. Give it a go!

Pista Kulfi

by Aarti Sequeira

1 12oz can Evaporated Milk
4 Earl Grey Tea Bags
1/2 t Ground Caradmom
14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup Heavy Cream
Finely Chopped Pistachios

First, I chopped the pistachios and set them aside.


Only had whole cardamom on hand so I had to grind them.


Now...

Heat the evaporated milk over medium heat until small bubbles form around the pot.


Snip the tops of the tea bags. Once the milk is hot, whisk to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. Turn the heat off and add the tea. Cover. Let it steep for 30 minutes.


Strain the evaporated milk into a bowl. Whisk in the cardamom, condensed milk, heavy cream, and pistachios.





Pour into popsicle molds, small bowls, or one large bowl. Cover bowls with a piece of plastic wrap to avoid freezer burn and formation of a skin. Pop into the freezer overnight. I poured the mixture in a jar and covered it with plastic wrap. Oh and I made this in the morning and decided I didn't want to wait all day for it! In a few hours, it was soft serve status and delightful.


When ready to serve, run the popsicle mold under hot water to loosen it or serve it like regular ice cream if made in a bowl. Sprinkle with more pistachios if you'd like.

I think I've got a new appreciation for tahini now. I previously mentioned in my Hummus post that I was not a fan of tahini at all. And to be honest, I'm still not really a fan of it but I've decided to just continue to try it in different ways in hopes that I will someday like it or at least give it a chance no matter what. You'll never know if you like something if you don't give it a try.

I'm glad I gave it another chance because I really think I found a winner. No, I know I did because I daydreamed at work for a week just thinking about that sauce. I say only at work because I didn't have to dream about it after work!

My sister's fiance and family came over a couple weeks ago and brought the sauce with them to accompany the BBQ we had that day. And that's how it started. I was told I was supposed to try it and that it pairs extremely well with meat. I wanted to just avoid it, but ended up giving it a go just to be nice. Ummmm yeah, it was too good to be true. Seriously. I can't even begin to explain it. And when it concerns food, sometimes you don't have to.

I straight just asked them for the ingredients. I don't have the measurements so you're gonna have to eyeball what you need. When I figure it out, I'll update later. I pretty much have the idea but will wait until I actually try it out myself so there are no inaccurate measurements.

Tahini
Plain Yogurt
Vinegar
Lemon
Salt
Water, small amount just to achieve liquid consistency
Chopped Parsley

***Vanilla Cupcakes with a Vanilla Buttercream Frosting***



Despite how I feel about Valentine's Day (Don't agree with it; things like this shouldn't be planned. Do whatever you want whenever you want.), these were for kids and you just have to go with it. They'll figure it out later! :-p

I kept this batter that I made from scratch simple since kids were going to be the ones to enjoy this batch of cupcakes. No need to add in my usual spices and such! I made a regular vanilla cake batter with a vanilla buttercream frosting that I dyed using my rose pink and red gel colors. The red helped to enhance the color and attain the deep-to-hot pink color that I wanted. And topped it off with sprinkles. Nothing too fancy. Just wanted to make sure the class left with smiles on their faces. And they did.

Zzzzaaaaapp... Gotcha!

Finally got to check out that one restaurant a couple friends and I had been interested in for quite some time now. We tried to check it out in November but it was closed for the day and ended up going to Karma instead. We took the chance again to see if Zapp would be open. It WAS!

Zapp is known to be serving Thai dishes but I believe it's more than that. It also serves the cuisines from Malaysia, China, Japan, Laos, Vietnam, and even Italian. So it's an interesting mix they got going over there. And I couldn't wait to dive in.

We got a combined order of...

Young Coconut Water. Well that one wasn't shared! All mine. :) I know, I probably should have passed because it would have been cheaper to just buy it at a supermarket, but I love it!



Thai Bruschetta. Fantastic appetizer. The flavors together were wonderful and balanced.



Mussel de Coco. A superb combination of Green Mussels, lemongrass (!!!), kaffir lime leaves, cilantro, green curry paste, and coconut cream. Couldn't get enough of this. Even the heat. I wanted to bottle it up.



****
Pho and Eggrolls (not pictured). Pho was wonderful, warm, and full of goodness. And fish balls too. Chicken Eggrolls were lovely and absolutely loved the kick of the curry dip. We grabbed more on the side.

****

Yaowarach. A salad combination of duck, lychees (!!!), scallion, ginger, deep fried garlic (!!!), onion, peanuts, cilantro, tomatoes, sesame seeds, and a tangy plum dressing over a bed of spinach.

Yeah, I really really love lychees.

Anyway, the salad fit completely well. Interesting flavor. Everything soaked up that plum dressing goodness. Combination worked and was flawless. The duck---unbelievably moist and tender. I have finally found a place that serves perfect duck. I've had it at a few other Asian restaurants but are usually somewhat dry. This was delicious.



And dessert too...

Penang Panna Cotta. Made with strong Malaysian coffee. Just perfect. Period.



They also have an almond pudding that we will probably try the next time.

I give Zapp 5 hearts: ♥♥♥♥♥. Flavor was flawless. Dishes were presented beautifully. Service was absolutely wonderful. Price was a little expensive but we combined and it was affordable. Unfortunately the location is poor. Hopefully they will pick up and find a better location because it would be a shame if their location = their downfall. I would definitely like to return and dive into more dishes. I'm going to take a small hiatus right now from spicy foods, eating out, and changing my diet around a little so I'll probably check out this place again a little later but this is a definite must if you are in the area.