I am loving the participation I have been seeing on the Test Kitchen series on Facebook. Okay sure, I do berate you all a little bit throughout the week to put in some suggestions but I think it keeps us both on our toes, don't you? Last week's ingredient was papaya, and I definitely learned a lot of fantastic things about it through your comments. For example, did you know all of the health benefits of papaya for your digestion? Science! Anyhow, after reviewing all of your suggestions, I settled on Michael's for papaya gazpacho, mainly because I've never made gazpacho before. It certainly looks pretty, doesn't it? For those of you who may not be familiar with this particular item, it's a cold soup that is sure to brighten up your spring days. Give this a whirl (literally)!

Since oatmeal was on my mind this week due to its feature as a Test Kitchen ingredient and a suggestion came from Fia on the Facebook fan page about doing cookies, I could not hold back from baking something. It's been a while actually since I last made a dessert. I guess that's a sign that I need more people to dump sweets onto (I hardly eat the creations myself). I got a bit heavy-handed on the apple pieces so my first batch came out a little mushier than hoped BUT I've adjusted the recipe appropriately below. It was adapted from this one here. I went the route of baking oatmeal cookies with apple and cinnamon because I'm just so tired of seeing oatmeal raisin cookies everywhere! Also, I had some Granny Smiths to get rid of so why not? They gave a pleasant tartness alongside the cookie's general sweetness. I dare say that I even think the pictures came out well for someone doing both the shooting and baking. What thinks you of these?

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 20-24 cookies)

• 1 tsp lemon juice 
• 1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled & 1/4" diced
• 1/2 cup butter, unsalted & softened
• 1/2 cup granulated cane sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, loose
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup oatmeal oats, old-fashioned
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Photography by Minerva Thai.

Brace yourselves. The Golden Foodie Awards 2013 are coming! They are kicking it off with a slew of fantastic foodie events such as they did last year (the events are listed at the end of this post and are updated as far as today). Last night I attended the first one for the year - a cooking demonstration by the wonderful Chef Cathy Pavlos of LUCCA Cafe. It actually made me remember that the first time I came across Chef Cathy was at the 2012 cooking demonstration hosted by the Golden Foodie Awards. How funny how things come full circle isn't it? After seeing her in action and talking to Duc about her delicious food, we visited LUCCA Café again and again to get tastes of her culinary genius.


The event took place in the beautiful Sub-Zero and Wolf showroom in Costa Mesa. Present during the event were fresh strawberries by Melissa's Produce, bread by Sadie Rose, and wines by La Crema. Our emcee for the evening was Charlie Plummer, a sommelier from Jackson Family Estates, and just a fantastic all-around host with high energy, fun jokes, and great conversation topics. A great incentive for guests to attend other than the star of the show itself was that all ticket proceeds were to benefit Share Our Strength - No Kid Hungry, a very worthy cause that I myself support monthly. Thank you to the OC Restaurant Association for the invitation to attend last night's event! We were both definitely impressed with the full production set-up of Code Four, a huge change from last year's cooking demonstration events.


So if you're curious about the background on Chef Cathy and LUCCA Café itself, you should get to know them both better and dine at the restaurant some day. You'll find it in Irvine and spot different types of environments depending on the time of the day you go. Homestyle cooking governs all of the inspiration for the dishes but you'll also see a bit of chic and classy cuisine throughout as well. Try a hearty breakfast one day or a lively lunch in the European bistro style. If you'd rather impress a date during dinner, you'll find LUCCA transformed into an exquisite gourmand's choice spot. It features a tastefully curated wine bar, cheese & charcuterie deli, and seasonal menus.


Born in Huntington Beach, Chef Cathy Pavlos from LUCCA Café started cooking through lessons learned from her Italian grandmother; later, Chef Cathy went through a culinary boot camp to hone her skills. Her style is to deal with no hormones, steroids, antibiotics, etc. and focus on sustainable, local food products. LUCCA is quite known for its certified Angus beef, free-range turkey, hormone-free chicken, wild salmon, cage-free eggs, AND locally grown organic produce. Without a question, seasonal is in! During the event, we got to hear about how she comes from an architecture background (and still uses that knowledge to "build" her food and flavors) and was one of the first "grill" women of McDonald's back in the 1970s. Bet you didn't know that she only just changed careers in 2001, just four years before opening LUCCA!


So we were a tad spoiled because the menu for the night was unbelievable. What was on the menu? New Zealand baby lamb chops with smoked herbs & paprika, finished with black lava salt over garlic wilted baby spinach and deconstructed gazpacho on the side. Excuse me while I cook with my pinky up. I guess that's how we foodies eat in Orange County. The lamb dish actually was one of the items on her monthly Sunday Supper menu (every month the theme changes) that got so popular it became a regular item. Why New Zealand lamb by the way? It's milder in taste! Chef Cathy cooked it in the convection oven (gives you more control than on a grill or pan) after it had marinated a bit and then seasoned with black lava sea salt. Fun fact that the audience learned that night: flavored sea salt should be used at the end of cooking/plating so that its flavors are the first taste you get. Also, Chef Cathy emphasized a few times that cooks should not be afraid to use sea salt generously as it only has 60-70% of the salinity you would expect from table salt.


Throughout her whole demo, she gave the audience fantastic tips and advice on cooking and answered questions that came through both the audience and Twitter followers. Some questions that came in asked what was the one thing Chef Cathy always needs in her pantry (Garlic! What other answer would an Italian give you?), how old does a lamb need to be to be considered a lamb (3-6 months and is categorized by the # of ribs in a pound), and can you smoke lamb (yes but it's "hard to roll it up into small pieces of paper" - the running joke for the night but the answer was yes). There was also some further inquiry into her upcoming second restaurant, Provenance. I certainly learned some facts that I didn't know before such as that most of the menu would be cooked via sous vide and that there would be a 1,300 square foot organic garden in the restaurant space (their "Farm"), allowing diners to see where their food came from and eat around it.


All in all, it was a fantastic event with plenty of audience interaction, good food (the lamb chops were just perfect), a fun chef & emcee, and a great venue to host a production in. If you missed the Golden Foodie Awards last year, you can read about it here and then you can mark your calendars for attending this year's! The 2013 red carpet event will take place on September 29th at the Fairmont Newport Beach from 6pm-11pm. Tickets are not yet available for purchase but the tiers are as following:

• May 1st - June 1st $150/person
• June 2nd - August 1st $175/person
• After August 2nd $200/person

If you're interested in the other events lined up for this year, they will be:

• Foodies and Fashionistas (May 18, 2013 from 4pm to 7pm)  – The District at Tustin Legacy
• The Golden Chef Series Demonstration featuring Chef David Suscavage, House of Blues in Anaheim (May 29, 2013 from 6pm to 7:30pm) – Sub-Zero and Wolf Show Room
• The Golden Chef Series Demonstration featuring Chef Christian De La Vara, Brunos Trattoria in Brea (June 26, 2013 from 6pm to 7:30pm) – Sub-Zero and Wolf Show Room
•  The Golden Chef Series Demonstration featuring Chef Louie Jocson, Red Table in Huntington Beach (July 31, 2013 from 6pm to 7:30pm) – Sub-Zero and Wolf Show Room

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos are available on Facebook.

750 St Clair St, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Tapas
https://www.facebook.com/RoosterPM.Restaurant


If you weren't aware, Rooster Cafe turns into a whole different ball-game once the sun sets. Once 6pm rolls around, Rooster PM is in full swing with its tapas & small plates-oriented menu. Since I had heard so much about this place from other Yelpers and bloggers, I decided it was time to check it out. I went after having the miniature "A Place at the Table" film outing with blog readers back in early March. Unfortunately we came towards the end of the night for Rooster PM but they were gracious enough and very friendly despite our late showing. Don't worry - we left a good ol' tip for being such inconveniences. Sorry!



So with the group of five that we were, there were several dishes ordered to give us a fair sense of what could be had. I'm not sure if it was because of the time of the night that we went but I don't think any of us came away very impressed. My friends got the lamb chops, fried chicken & gravy sliders, and the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus. The lamb chops seemed to come out pretty well-cooked; I didn't get to try them or the sliders but they were apparently alright. I did try the asparagus which was crunchy but the prosciutto parts not as a crisp as desired. There was definitely good seasoning though.



The actual dishes I ordered with Duc were the mac and cheese and the mahi mahi. The mac and cheese was cooked well with the pasta being the perfect texture for a good, al dente dish. However, the combination of cheese did not jive well with me that night (at least four different kinds), and I think it was just the choice of cheeses used. The Cheddar overpowered some of the more subtle flavored ones. I think it should be less fussy next time or just a more complementary choice when it comes to the many different cheeses used. The mahi mahi texture was good and seasoned with plenty of lime. The pieces certainly flaked away nicely. Unfortunately I don't think I would order this again though because though the execution was fantastic, the overall flavoring was underwhelming. I did like the greens and potatoes that came with it.



We finished with their churros con chocolate. Beautifully presented with a strawberry "rose," this plate was a welcome treat. We all enjoyed the churros which were crunchy and had just the right amount of cinnamon sugar. I personally could have done without the chocolate; they were good already themselves! All in all, I think I'll give them another chance based on the other rave reviews but next time, towards the beginning of all of their shifts.

Photography by Duc Duong.

While thinking about oatmeal for the Test Kitchen ingredient, I remembered a recipe I had saved a long time ago from a fun blog I occasionally check in on. You can see the recipe here, which I adapted a tad bit to make some oatmeal fried chicken. Funnily enough, this was also a suggestion by Elgin that popped up on the Facebook fan page. Looks like I knocked out two thoughts in one go. Check out the tasty recipe for this alternative to deep-frying (I used the oven) and too much batter (oatmeal was the breading).

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 2-3 servings)

• 2 lbs chicken drumsticks (approximately 8-10)
• 2 tsps garlic salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 cup whole milk (necessary in this recipe for its high fat content - can use whole cream too)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups dry oatmeal, old-fashioned
• 1/4 cup butter, unsalted & melted

Step 2: Prepping ingredients
You'll need several separate containers throughout this recipe. First things first though - mix together your garlic salt, onion powder, pepper, and paprika. This will be your rub for the chicken. You can either mix it all together in a freezer bag for less of a mess or in a mixing bowl. The minimum time to let it marinate in the refrigerator is 20 minutes but if you have more time, leave it for a few hours. If you are doing the 20 minute time frame, you can then also pour milk and vinegar into another bowl and let sit for 20 minutes so you remove both at the same time. Either way, you'll need the milk to sit with the vinegar a while. In a shallow pan, pour oatmeal.


Step 3: Coating the chicken
Preheat oven to 375°F. Stir milk mixture and then dip drumsticks into it to fully cover. Then transfer drumstick to oatmeal and coat completely. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat for all drumsticks. In a separate bowl, melt butter.


Step 4: Finishing
Drizzle melted butter over each piece of chicken to "lock in" oats to the skin. Bake in oven for 40-50 minutes until browned. Remove and enjoy! The original recipe suggested maple gravy with it. I thought it was perfectly fine on its own considering how crunchy the oatmeal made the outside.


This week's Test Kitchen ingredient: papaya
"Papayas can be used as a food, a cooking aid and in traditional medicine. The stem and bark may be used in rope production...Papaya fruit is a rich source of nutrients such as provitamin A carotenoids, vitamin C, B vitamins, lycopene, dietary minerals and dietary fibre. Papaya skin, pulp and seeds also contain a variety of phytochemicals, including natural phenols...The ripe fruit of the papaya is usually eaten raw, without skin or seeds. The unripe green fruit can be eaten cooked, usually in curries, salads, and stews. Green papaya is used in Southeast Asian cooking, both raw and cooked." [Wikipedia]

Challenge accepted! Let's see how I can cook with ripe papaya instead of the green kind typically used. I bought this tropical papaya from the supermarket across the street from Duc's place because they always have amazing sales. This time, two pounds of papaya goodness for under a dollar. How awesome is that? Anyhow, comment later today on the picture on Facebook!


Photography by Duc Duong.