Thursday, March 25, 2010

Get your Peruvian on

Chef Dante at Bonano's Fine Peruvian Cuisine is offering cooking classes on the art of cooking the Peruvian way.

His next class is coming up on Saturday, APRIL 17th from 9:00 am - 12:00. In this hands-on class, the group will make three dishes:
  • CEVICHE DE PESCADO
  • SUDADO CHALACO (Fish stew in a tomato wine sauce and seafood)
  • CHUPE DE CAMARONES (Shrimp Chowder)
As Dante says "All my classes are small groups because I want to share and feed you with as much information as possible in 3 hours." I like the sound of that.

Bonanos is located at 100 N. Ashwood Avenue, Ventura. Phone: 339-9860.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

The best thing I ate this week...

I love me some pizza, pretty much every Friday night. And a girl can only do pepperoni or pesto so many times before her eyes and tastebuds begin to glaze over. So, this week I dreamed up this lovely pizza, and called it Pizza al Pastor. And it was the best thing I ate all week.

If you're starting to salivate, here's the recipe:

One package TJ's pizza dough
A bag of shredded cheese (I like a cheddar or Mexican blend)
One can of diced tomatoes with green chilies or TJ's roasted diced tomatoes
One package of TJ's pork al pastor (found in the freezer section)
Finely chopped onion and cilantro

Drain can of tomatoes in colander or sieve. Leave pizza dough out at room temp for at least 20 minutes before rolling it out. Cook pork according to package directions (I think it tastes best when you do it on the stove, not the microwave) and let it sit while you get everything else ready. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out your dough, poke it a few times with a fork (so it doesn't puff up in the oven), and spread with a little olive oil. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven, layer with tomatoes (which are your sauce), lots of shredded cheese, then the pork, and then a little sprinkling of the onion. Return to the oven to bake until brown (14-18 minutes). Let it sit at room temp for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with remaining onion and all of your cilantro.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

South American Wine Dinner at the Cave

This just in from the Cave (courtesy of their weekly newsletter)...

INTERNATIONAL WINE DINNER
Sunday March 28, 2010 5:30 pm
$70 per person (tax & gratuity included) Reservations Required

Learn about the wines and regional cuisine of Chile, Spain and Argentina as The Cave goes international!! They are featuring four courses and three wine flights. Guests will be greeted with Spain's Sparkling Cava upon arrival then seated for dinner and fun. The tables will be set with Fried Yucca and Salsa a la Huanciana The Following three courses with feature three wines that will be tasted side-by-side with one dish each course to pair with all three wines.

Course One - Whites San Telmo Torrentes, Argentina Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc, Chile Vionta Albarino, Spain with Tres Formas de Mariscos: Cebiche Chilled Mussels, Clams and Scallop Fried Shrimp and Calamari with Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Course Two - Medium Bodied Reds Terrazas Malbec Reserva, Argentina Casa Lapostolle Carmenere, Chile Marquis de Grinon Summa, Spain with Salchicha a la Parrilla Marinados Grilled, Marinated Argentinian and Banger Sausages Yellow Corn with Jalapeno Butter and Peruvian Potatoes

Course Three - THE BIG BOYS of the Regions Cheval des Andes, Argentina Numanthia Toro, Spian Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta, Chile with Pata de Covdero y Coure con Mani Lamb Shank, Argentina Style with wild Greens, White Beans and Peanuts

Dessert: Plantanos Fritos Sweet Battered Plantains, Macerated Cherries and Fresh Cream

Friday, March 12, 2010

The best thing I ate this week...

Simply put: I eat a lot. I spend a lot of time making food, thinking about food, eating food, and of course writing about it. So today I found myself pondering, "what's the best thing I ate this week?" And I've decided to include this bit of foodie reflection on my blog each week.

Sometimes it will be something I have cooked (like the sweet and creamy corn quiche I made yesterday), and other times it will be something someone else made for me. This week, the best thing I ate was the Birria Empanadas at Main Course California. I recently started working part-time at Main Course, and this week I got to spend some time filming the chefs in the kitchen. They were making these delicious little empanadas filled with braised goat meat, olives, raisins, and fresh parsley and mint. I'm a total sucker for a) anything that mixes sweet and savory b) anything inside dough and c) anything fried. Well, these totally fit the bill. Crisp and brown on the outside, sweet and warm on the inside, with a lively kick of mint - they come three to an order and are accompanied by a hearty salad. De-lish!