Edamame Hummus

Today, I have here my Edamame Hummus recipe that I have been working on in my free time. A unique spin on hummus by not using the garbanzo bean or even the white bean. The main thing I noticed with the edamame was that it was a little more work than usual trying to figure out the right way to get the consistency needed but what's more fun than experimenting in the kitchen?!

I wanted to try it with the same ingredients that I usually use when making this dish, except my goal was to try something else and give it its own unique spin. First, one thing different is that I made the decision to add tahini this time in my hummus. I normally don't in my usual hummus but I felt that by adding it, it would help to thicken the mixture and keep it together.

I also really wanted to add wasabi (horseradish) to the hummus because I love the combination of the two and that certain spice it adds to it but unfortunately I didn't have any around. I saw ginger but didn't think it would taste the way I wanted it to and decided with a different approach -- red pepper flakes. They add that kick to the dish and its hot 'n spicy flavor definitely works with this flavor combo. Next time, wasabi will be given the chance to shine. I'm really happy with the end product attained and I hope you all try it out and see for yourself!

Edamame Hummus



2 cups Edamame
3 Garlic Cloves (or your preference of course!)
Juice from 1 Lemon
Salt, to taste
Pinch of Onion Powder
1/4 t Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 cup Nonfat Plain Yogurt
1 T Tahini Paste

If edamame is frozen, cook the edamame according to directions but add another minute or two to make sure the edamame is tender before blending.

In the meantime, peel the garlic, roughly chop, and pour the salt over the garlic. Use a fork or a mortar and pestle and grind the garlic until it resembles a paste. Juice the lemon and add to the garlic paste. Combine and set aside.

When edamame is ready, strain and reserve the water. Put the edamame into a food processor and add the garlic, onion powder, red pepper flakes, yogurt, and tahini. It depends how much water you add to the mixture because edamame is a little more work than regular hummus with garbanzo beans. I believe I poured around 3/4 - 1 cup of water. It just depends on how the hummus comes together as you are processing.

When it is smooth to your liking, pour onto a plate and serve with olive oil and anything from vegetables, pita chips, or bread. Enjoy one of my favorite renditions of hummus!

Taking a Moment....To Study

So today was going to be all about the VERY tasty eats on the gorgeous Caribbean Island of Curaçao but I have a busy week full of studying and need to get cracking on it. I'm excited to be taking the Servsafe exam on Wednesday! One step forward toward my goals. That and because the laws are changing, I'd like to be a step ahead and be prepared. And so I'm taking it seriously because one, I don't want to take it again, of course, and two, the fact that you have to pay for it and since I'm heading to Bolivia and other surrounding countries in three weeks, I really don't want to be spending money on tests and unnecessary stuff when I can be spending it on good food, Yungas Road, and buses, you know.

So next time, I'll be writing about the good eats and posting some recipes of mine. Will be making my Pistachio Marshmallows, Edamame hummus, Turon, and anything else that comes to mind and what I can fit in before I leave. CAN'T WAIT!

So I leave you on this beautiful and VERY HOT Southern California Sunday morning with some pictures of very sweet, delicious delights, and something interesting too.


Mardi Gras style cupcakes

Birthday cupcakes for my friends son for his 1st birthday. I'm his favorite aunt! :)

Bacon Wrapped Dates with a Balsamic Reduction Sauce. Perfect Combination.

Lemon, Fresh Rosemary, and Garlic making an appearance...

...In this wonderful Garlic Sauce which also included olive oil, salt, and three more garlic bulbs. Easy to make and adds tremendously good flavor to any dish you decide to indulge in. In this case, I used it in a mixed seafood dish. This sauce goes with anything or well, almost anything!

Raw Oyster Rockefeller with a Shallot Vinaigrette Shooter. Tried it at a meeting I went to. Pretty tasty to me. Just have to work on my gagging reflex!

My homemade Black Forest Cake. Everything by scratch. Now this cake will always be my guilty pleasure. I've got somewhat non-dessert eaters craving this. I've been having multiple dreams about making this cake soon just for me to eat it all by myself. It's that bad. Trust me when I tell you this is the best cake ever. I'm up for a challenge if you don't believe. You will be a believer when I'm done with you!

Made this birthday cake for my travel bud Vanessa for her party I attended last night. Dyed the whipped cream to a turquoise color cause it's her favorite. Made her cake all shiny with sugar and shaped her V with black sugar. Semi-sweet chocolate cake with cinnamon and cayenne and had strawberries and cream between the layers.

When the weather is cool, I ride my bike to work to get that fresh air, wonderful exercise, and get to listen to all my super cool music too. The last time I took the ride, I caught a glimpse of this lizard while riding up the first of two hills going home and I had to stop. The tail is such an incredibly beautiful color. Tried to get close to it and this was the best picture I could get. I discovered later it is a blue tailed skink. A very interesting spotting, indeed.

■■■

Visited my best friend aka sista from other mista and motha aka Alexis in beautiful Venice, California awhile back to enjoy the beautiful cloudy day on the beach, grab some good grub, and eat some good grub! We walked all over Abbot Kinney in search of our cravings (mine was some sort of protein and hers was anything because we were just hungry!) and finally decided to stay at one of her favorite places, 3 Squares Cafe. 3 Squares Cafe is wonderful, creative, and simple but not simple. For the area, the food was reasonably priced, surprisingly and had many options on the menu to choose from. Finally sucked it up and just ordered because deep down, I knew what I wanted!

Alexis ended up ordering a coffee and the Chicken Hazelnut Salad which looked wonderful and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

I ordered a Mint Lemonade, which was just so wonderful, mouth puckering, and oh so refreshing.



I was told I must try the Pretzel Burger with Swiss and Caramelized Onions. And my opinion, this is my favorite combination on a burger besides my Blue Cheese Bacon Burgers. Even better, the hamburger is on a pretzel bun, which is what 3 Squares is known for, or in general, more for their pretzel creations. The hamburger was so much better with a pretzel bun instead of the usual hamburger bun. I absolutely loved it. Juicy. Filling. Satisfying. The fries that came with it were a perfect size and crispy. The meal was definitely a hit to me.




And lastly, before we left, we decided to get an Apple Pie to go so we could enjoy while watching the movie she created in completion of her Masters Degree! The pie was wonderful but at the same time, just okay. I wished the apples were firm and not too soft and mushy. It just depends on how you like your pie and there is nothing wrong with that.

So in the end, I do recommend everyone go and check out 3 Squares in Venice. And even more, I recommend you try one of the pretzel burgers. You will surely be pleased. The one thing I regret was not trying the Avocado Fries. Yes. Avocado Fries. I'm really interested in this concept. OH WAIT! I just remembered I do have avocados sitting in my fridge! Hmm, I'm going to have to try this now.

And since I'm writing this post on Fathers Day, HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the wonderful dads out there! We all appreciate you and everything you do!

Food Trucks GALORE! Part II

Here are my thoughts on the following Southern California food trucks I visited at a Food Truck event I attended (For the record, I did not eat all of this by myself!):

Shrimp Pimp Truck



I visited this truck again after my first visit to this truck was a success the last time I was at a food truck event. Normally, I would try something new BUT I ended up craving the Shrimp Po Boy (below) for awhile after I had it, so I just decided that I could do whatever I want and I enjoyed the sandwich again!



This consisted of lovely greens, tomatoes, shrimp tempura, and a spicy kick from the remoulade sauce on top of a soft and toasty French roll. Craving satisfying.

I give the Shrimp Pimp Truck a thumbs up!

Sweets Truck



We now have a truck full of good ol sweets! There actually wasn't much of a variety here but did see a delightful looking red velvet cupcake (below) and it was calling my name! I apologize for the half eaten cupcake! I was riding my bike that day and the cupcake bounced around a little and wasn't picture perfect anyway. :)



Very moist, enjoyed the chocolatey taste, and I absolutely LOVED the frosting and that says something because I'm not much of a frosting kind of girl. I also would like to add I liked this cupcake way more than the cupcake I got to try at Sprinkles, the first known cupcake shop. Hands down.

I give the Sweets Truck a thumbs up!

Bool Truck



Bool is a Korean BBQ food truck offering anything from tacos to Korean BBQ with a Spanish and Brazilian mix. I chose the Bool Gogi Beef Taco (below).


Thoroughly enjoyed everything that was piled onto the soft and warm corn tortillas. The beef was tender, flavorful, and accompanied by kimchi. A little spicy at first but I was able to handle it.

I give the Bool Food Truck a thumbs up!

Vizzy's Coastal Cuisine Truck



Vizzy is a food truck that offers upscale cuisine for cheap. I was eyeing the venison burger with a maple-dijon sriracha aioli, charred sweet onion, queso panela, and bacon for $11 bucks, but then spotted something else that caught my eye just a little bit more and decided to go for it instead.



I ended up choosing the Truffle Popcorn with White Truffle, Sea Salt, Toasted Pepper, and found Sweet Dried Figs added into the mix. I will always jump for a chance to have anything with truffle in it! I quite enjoyed it but felt that the popcorn was a little too toasted aka some of it was burned. It wasn't too much of an issue but it was noticable. Putting that aside, the popcorn was tasty and I'd go for it again.

I give the Vizzy's Coastal Cuisine Food Truck a shaky thumb!

Nom Nom Truck



In the last food truck post, I mentioned that you should follow the Nom Nom Truck. Now I'm telling you to take me seriously and really listen to me... FOLLOW THEM! I can see why they went far on the Food Network. The banh mi's they serve are just bomb. The Lemongrass chicken is so tender and full of flavor. The toasty French roll is perfectly toasted and not soggy. Sometimes I feel like there will always be another place that does a certain dish better (mainly this concerns sushi!), but really, if this sandwich is almost perfect, is there really a need to dig even more? I say no.




I, of course, give the Nom Nom Truck a thumbs up!

Fish Lips Truck



Now I love sushi, but even I am skeptical of sushi food trucks. Just find it a little odd. So I decided to just suck it up and check it out. I ordered the Salmon Hand Roll (below). It was just okay to me. Nothing super spectacular but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I just prefer to eat my sushi in a sit down restaurant. It's your choice as to where you choose to eat your sushi.



I give the Fish Lips Truck an in the middle of the road thumb, but leaning towards down!

Del's Lemonade Truck



Always brings back memories. I will always love frozen lemonade with the bits and pieces of the sweet lemon peel mixed into this wonderful delight.

I give the Del's Lemonade Truck a thumbs up!

Tapa Boy LA Truck



The one thing that stood out to me the most when I was looking at their menu was the dessert. The turon. I don't know if you've had this, but everytime I've ever been offered this growing up, I NEVER turned it down. So simple but yet so satisfying. The Tapa Boy LA truck offers it in four ways, all at the price of only $2.50:

Turon Old School - Banana egg rolls with jack fruit, rolled, and fried
Turon New School - Same as above, but without the jack fruit, and with a hazelnut filling
Turon Flan B - Flan egg rolls, fried
Turon Tri-Star - If you can't make up your mind, get one of each!


I regret the decision I made. I ended up choosing the Turon Tri-Star because I wanted both Turon Old School and Turon Flan B. Not really a fan of fillings, so I ended up getting two Old Schools and one Flan B. Straight old school is the way to go! I don't need to change it up. Except when it concerns flan! You know it. My weakness. Yeah, I didn't share this one with anyone! :) And it was way too deliciously good.

Now, why did I regret my decision? Well because it was ridiculously cheap! I should have got TWO orders! One order of Turon Old School and one order of Turon Flan B! The Tri-star just wasn't craving satisfying. It was making my craving worse! I wanted to go back but a friend of mine had told me they sold out fast and she wasn't able to enjoy it at all. My heart sank. And I told her I didn't even know why I was sad; I can make it on my own whenever I want! So eventually I got over it and now have lumpia wrappers sitting in my freezer, waiting to be used. :)

I give the Tapa Boy LA Truck a thumbs up!

If there is one tip I could give to anyone concerning food trucks, events or just seen on the street, I would say: As soon as you know there will be a food truck around, jump on it because there is no guarantee you'll get what you want. Food trucks don't have an endless supply of food. They sell out eventually.

FRUIT For Thought

I discovered two new fruits this year that I have NEVER had. Oh the joys of tasting new things! Can't imagine a life without discovery on a daily basis.

The first one was a White Sapote. In my opinion, its taste is a mixture of the tropics and a pear. You can find it here in California, although, I find it a little hard to find, which is why I haven't had it sooner. Just gotta dig a little deeper.

The second fruit, which I have yet to find here in California and not even sure you can get it here, is called the Ciruela. It has many names, depending on the regions in this world, but I also heard it as Makka Pruim in Curacao.



This is my description/taste of the Ciruela: The fruit are the babies of the no longer 'secret lovers', the mango and the grape. The skin has the taste of mango but the thinness of the grape and the inside, after you bite into it, is the color orange and tastes exactly like a mango. I looked online and saw that plum is correlated with this fruit, description/taste wise, but to me, it doesn't even come close to the plum. Not at all. I was quite fond of this fruit. Small, easy to carry around and snack on at the beach, and just fun to eat.

I sweet talked my way to some good deals with the Venezuelan workers who boat back and forth between Venezuela and Curacao to sell their fruits and vegetables to the people of Curacao at the 'Floating Market' daily. I also enjoyed the bananas, guavas, papayas, and passionfruit, as well. I was there everyday. :) Curacao is an arid island and they can't plant and produce pretty much anything other than coconuts and aloe vera. That's why they rely on the exports from Venezuela and other countries.





So if you ever run across this fruit in your local supermarket or in the midst of your travels, try it for yourself and see what it's all about. If you want a mango and don't have the time to peel it or our out and about with no knife, the Ciruela is the answer to your problem! Just pop it in your mouth, enjoy on the go, and mind the seed!

Pizza of the Sea

There have been many instances that I have had a chance to try any type of seafood on a pizza and I always passed it up. Seafood on pizza? Naw, I'm more of a cook it quick kinda girl so I can eat it right away! SHRIMP. LOBSTER. CLAMS. SCALLOPS. SQUID. SUSHI. ETC. My weakness. :) I also don't like sharing! I'm working on that...

Again saw it in the Galapagos but passed because of my fear of cheese at the time. DON'T get me wrong. I absolutely love all cheeses! Well except for the processed. GROSS. Velveeta and Kraft Singles are not cheese. Sorry. It's because, at that time, it was my 2nd trip after Argentina and Brazil and I came home from that trip pretty much lactose intolerant. And didn't want to do anything that could cause pain to the stomach. Finally, gave into it in Montezuma, Costa Rica. Lactose pills have been a good friend to me! Anyway, the Shrimp and Mushroom Pizza with Mozzarella and Goat Cheese was waaay too good to be true. Possibly the best pizza I've ever had in my life? No doubt! Of course, Lou Malnati's in Chicago is on top as well. Do it.

After this experience, I decided to make my own Seafood Pizza. I chose my seafood mix. I chose my toppings and cheese. I took a basic pizza sauce and amplified it. And found a good pizza dough from scratch and just kept it smart and simple. Added LOTS of garlic powder! Oh yeaaah. Here it goes:

Seafood Pizza



Seafood:

Shrimp
Scallops
Squid

Cheese:

Mozzarella
Provolone
Asiago
Parmesan
Goat

Other Toppings That Were Included:

Mushrooms
Scallions
Fresh Basil

Pizza Sauce:

1 6oz tomato paste
6oz warm water
3 T minced garlic, more or less of course
1 t sugar (or honey, your preference)
2 t Anchovy paste
1 T fresh rosemary
1 T fresh basil
1 T fresh oregano
3 T olive oil
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t dried red pepper flakes
3/4 t onion powder
Salt, to taste

Combine and let set ~ 30 minutes

Pizza Dough:

I actually got the recipe here: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html. I changed it up by adding my personal touch: lots of garlic powder! No need to measure it out. Do to your liking.

Directions:

Day Before-
Follow the pizza recipe. I made the dough a day earlier.

Day of-
1. Preheat oven to its highest temp. Oven needs to be really hot. At the time, I didn't have a pizza stone so I moved the rack to the bottom of the oven. I received a pizza stone on my birthday and can't wait to use it!
2.Combine the pizza sauce ingredients and set aside.
3. Sauté two garlic cloves in 2 T of olive oil over medium low heat until soft. Lower heat and first add the mushrooms and scallions. Remove to a plate to cool when soft.
4. Repeat the same steps and add in the seafood. I estimate the seafood to be about a cup or so of each: shrimp, scallops, and squid. Count wise, I don't know. I usually always eyeball everything. Except, cook the seafood for a couple minutes. They will thoroughly cook in the oven. If cooked well done on the stove, they will come out rubbery and dry. Remove to a plate to cool as well.
5. Since I didn't use a pizza stone, I lined a pizza pan with foil and covered it with cornmeal. The pizza did not stick to the foil so you should be fine. Use your hands and play with the dough until it is stretched out to your size liking. Place on the pizza pan. Follow the recipe.
6. Pour on the sauce, but not too much. A little goes a long way and the dough won't be soggy. The pizza sauce recipe can be used up to two-to-three separate pizzas.
7. Sprinkled on all the cheese. Any amount to your liking again. I believe it adds up to a total of 2 cups or so.
8. Add the mushrooms, scallions, and freshly chopped basil.
9. Place on the shrimp, scallops, and squid.
10. (Optional) Brush the crust with a garlic olive oil blend.
11. Place in the oven and bake for about 7-9 minutes. Once out, allow to cool for a minute until slicing with a pizza cutter. And enjoy! The crust ended up being both doughy and crispy at the same time. Just fine the way it was.



Now that you have excess pizza sauce and dough, what other pizza creations will you come up with? Make it interesting..