Guinness (Extra) Stout Cake

Feeling Irish? This is the cake to make.

Ever year around March, I always buy a six-pack of Guinness and see what creative recipes I can find. This year, the I opted for the Extra Stout Guinness and Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake. There's something about the taste of stout in food that makes meals hearty for a cold day, wondering when winter is going to end. Especially Beef Stew with warm buttered homemade bread.

Two more days, then we embrace the First day of Spring.

Two weeks ago I began the clinical part of my dietetic internship. I started with the pediatrics unit in a hospital in Huntington, WV. Last week, I saw a baby who died because of his parents negligence. It was the saddest case I have encountered as a dietetic intern. I guess that's a part of life, especially living in West Virginia. Twelves more weeks of the internship, counting down to the end...

Guinness (Extra) Stout Cake
Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake

Cake:
1 cup Extra Stout Guinness
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3oz cocoa powder
14 oz (2 cups) granulated sugar
1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
2 medium eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
10oz all-purpose flour
2.5 teaspoons baking powder

Frosting:
11oz cream cheese
5oz powdered sugar
4oz (1/2 cup) whipping cream

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 350, and butter and line a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter - in spoons or slices - and heat until the butter's melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.
3. Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.
4. When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the powdered sugar and then beat them both together. 
5. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.
6. Enjoy cake with left over Guinness.
   

Happy Chinese New Year!

I remember as a little girl in Taiwan, I would try my hardest to stay awake until midnight on Chinese New Year Eve to welcome the first day of New Year. On New Year's Eve, my grandmother and aunts would make a feast including a whole chicken, a couple steamed fish (with heads and tails still attached), roast pork, and enough side dishes to feed a crowd of 50. People greeted each other with "kong xi fa cai". I would get red packets filled with money from relatives and family friends. My uncle took my cousins and I to nearby park and we would put on what we thought was the greatest firework show on earth.

Since I moved to the United States eight years ago, I miss the sounds of firecrackers, family gatherings, and of course, the feast. 

I can never have the culinary skills like my grandma, but I always try to cook up something special for the New Year. To celebrate the Year of Snake, I made dumpling (shui jiao or "water dumpling").

Dumplings are eaten year round, like one would have a burrito as meal once in a while. Having dumplings at mealtime brings prosperity and symbolizes family togetherness. The filling vary among regions, in Taiwan, ground pork is the most common ingredient. There are also vegetarian dumplings filled with cabbage, chives, and don fen (cellophane noodles). Dumplings are often boiled in water, these are called shui jiao or water dumpling. The common pot stickers in the U.S. are guo tei, which are pan fried (or sometimes deep fried, which is unheard of in Taiwan) dumplings. Soy sauce is the most common dipping sauce, and I like to add some chopped green onions and dash of sesame oil. 

On Sunday afternoon, I sent over an hour making just 60 dumplings. I was not feeling adventurous to make my own wrapper, and I was surprised to find them in Krogers.

Taiwanese Pork Dumplings
Makes 70 dumplings

Filling:
2 pounds lean ground pork
4 dried Chinese mushrooms
3/2 cup finely diced cabbage
1 tablespoon finely diced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
70 round wonton or dumpling wrappers (can be found in Asian grocery stores, or selected Krogers)
Flour

Sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 green onion, chopped

1. Place dried mushrooms in 2 cups of hot water for 20 minutes, or until soft. Dice mushrooms finely. Reserve water.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix well and add 1/2 cup of reserved mushroom water
3. Follow this video for instructions on how to make dumplings (skip to 2:30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QksJI7OqWkk). Use remaining of the reserved mushroom water to seal dumplings. Dust all surface of dumplings with flou, place dumplings evenly spaced on a lightly flour pan. Dumplings freeze well, reserve some for cooking or place the pan in the freezer and remove from pan when dumplings are frozen.
4. Boil enough water to cover however many dumplings you are making. Add dumplings to boiling, bring water to boil again. Once boiling, add a cup of cold water, bring to boil again; repeat process three times. Remove dumplings with a slot spoon.
5. To make sauce, combine all ingredients.

Happy Year of the Snake!

Cranberry Buckle with Vanilla Crumb

I stated the dietetic internship food service management rotation two weeks ago. Hairnets and the smell of oil in deep fryer, it only gets better. Seriously. I didn't think I would like food service at all, but turns out I look forward to going back to the kitchen. First day at the rotation at a local Huntington Hospital, the food service director asked an intern and I to create a 5-week menu for the cafeteria. This sounds like a dream project for foodies/cooks/chefs out there, planning menu for 500+ people everyday for 5 weeks? Heck, yes! At least that was what I thought it would be like.

Here are some of the "criteria" and "must haves" for creating menus targeting a West Virginia population: deep fried liver, something deep-fried everyday, something cheesey or covered with cheese, a healthy entree would be nice but also offer a not-so-healthy one as well, leafy greens are cooked to preferably the color of green olives, and ranch dressing. Oh and friend chicken every Sunday because church goers stop at the hospital cafeteria after church for lunch (who would think a hospital is known for friend chicken after church?)

Hmmm....my wonderful dietetic intern partner and I came up with menu for the first week fairly quickly, then we ran out of ideas. I suggested we have a themed week, like Italian, Latin America, and Asia for rest of the weeks.  Thanks to big recipe websites out there, we managed to come up with a 5-week menu within deadline. First week of dietetic-intern-made-up-menu trial went well since we chose "standard" American comfort food. This week's theme is Italian, the executive chef already made several changes to our proposed menu...I will keep you posted on how this week's menu goes.

On to a different subject. This delicious Cranberry Buckle with Vanilla Crumb is made in yours truly's tiny apartment kitchen. No deep frying involved.

With the ease of accessing all sorts of recipes on-line with a click, I hardly buy cookbooks now. This book Rustic Fruit Dessert by Cory Scriber and Julie Richardson has great recipes on my favorite type of dessert. I love fruity desserts, and this book described the difference between buckle, cobblers, crumbles, etc...perfectly. The recipes are grouped by season, which is great for all the fresh cranberry I stocked up after Thanksgiving.

Cranberry Buckle with Vanilla Crumb
Recipe from Rustic Fruit Dessert by Cory Scriber and Julie Richardson

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, for pan
1 cup Vanilla Crumb
1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
Zest of 1 orange
2 eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (5 ounces) sour cream
2 cups (8 ounces) cranberries, fresh or frozen

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.

2. Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer withthe paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and orange zest together on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, then stir in the vanilla. 3. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the sour cream in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

4. Fold in 1 cup of the cranberries. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan.

Distribute the remaining 1 cup cranberries over the cake and sprinkle the crumb topping over the cranberries. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until lightly golden and firm on top.

KYFB Monthly Cooking Challenge: Lemon Cranberry Scones

The Kentucky Food Bloggers are starting a monthly cooking challenge, and for January we are starting off with citrus. I have always hated when recipes call for one tablespoon of lemon juice, what am I supposed to do with the rest of the lemon? Keep in the fridge until the next time another recipe calls for lemon juice/peel then discover that months-old lemon is already moldy? I went for the cheap way, those 99 cents yellow and green squeeze bottles sure come in handy. But this means artificial flavored lemon juice = weird and fake taste.

"A splash of lemon juice can enhance the natural flavor of any ingredients, just as a dash of salt does."
- Joy of Cooking

My favorite citrus to use is Meyer lemons, a lemon-tangerine cross, are less tart and pungent and often used in dessert, salads, and fruit salads. I love the pungent citrus scent of the Meyer lemons.  Sometimes I wish I live in California, so I can plant lemon trees and have lemons whenever I please. Perhaps I can convince Jake to buy me a dwarf Meyer lemon plan. These scones are perfect with a cup of hot tea, and for those who stocked up fresh cranberries after Thanksgiving (I might have 3 or 4 bags somewhere in the freezer...).

Lemon Cranberry Scones
Recipe from Gourmet

2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (from about 3 lemons; preferably Meyer)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons additional if using fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries, chopped coarse, or 1 1/4 cups dried cranberries or dried cherries
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. With a vegetable peeler or a zester remove the zest from lemons and chop fine, reserving lemons for another use.

3. In a food processor pulse flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and zest until mixture resembles coarse meal and transfer to a large bowl.

4. In a small bowl toss together fresh cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar and stir into flour mixture. If using dried fruit, add to flour mixture.

5. In another small bowl lightly beat egg and yolk and stir in cream. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

6. On a well-floured surface with floured hands pat dough into a 1-inch-thick round (about 8 inches in diameter) and with a 2-inch round cutter or rim of a glass dipped in flour cut out as many rounds as possible, rerolling scraps as necessary. Arrange rounds about 1 inch apart on baking sheet and bake in middle of oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden.*The dough was too sticky for my to work with, I used a large cookie scope to measure out dough directly onto baking sheet.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

It's not secret that I love breakfast food. Lately, I have been posting more breakfast recipes (here and here), especially pancakes. Am I overdoing it? I think not, because if pancakes (and oatmeal!) were to provide all the vitamins and minerals, I would have them for every meal. There are millions of pancake recipes out there, each one claims to be the fluffiest. I tried many of those recipes, and I found the Joy of Cooking pancake recipe to be the best one out there.

I began my Christmas break earlier this week. What a relief after 17 weeks of community rotation in Huntington, West Virginia. Although I longed for the break, the dietetic internship is not half way done yet. Food service rotation is next when I return in January, not the scope of dietetics I want to get into but I am curious to see what it will bring.

This recipe was adapted from Minimal Baker's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Oatmeal Pancakes. My version of these pancakes is not vegan, but they did taste like moist and chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Cookie for breakfast? Yes, unlike certain name brand's breakfast cookies, these pancakes have substance. When made with love and care, topped with real maple syrup, now that's a real breakfast.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes
Makes 10 pancakes

1/2 cup apple sauce
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons almond butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted and at room temperature
1 cup milk or soy milk
1 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned oats are fine, see special instructions below)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat a skillet to medium heat.
2. Combine apple sauce with baking powder, add eggs, butter, salt, vanilla, almond butter, milk. Stir to combine well.
3. Stir in oats. If using old-fashioned oats, let mixture stand for 10 minutes and add more milk as needed.
4. Stir in flour and chocolate chips until just combined.
5. Scoop scant 1/4 cup measurements onto lightly greased skillet.
6. Cook for 2-4 minutes on each side. May take longer than regular pancakes.
7. Serve warm with real maple syrup.

Guinness Beef Stew

First of all, my heart and thoughts go out to those who lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 
When it happened, I was teaching a group of kindergardener. 
Throughout the semester, I have spent a lot of time teaching children in school. 
It breaks my heart. 
While I was sick lying on the couch on Friday and watching the news, I cried and cried.

The other day I made Guinness beef stew. Comfort, hearty, and hot stew with a slice of homemade bread, cues the sickness. A great soup always starts with the holy trinity also known as mirepoix as the base flavor along with the browned meat bits on the bottom of soup pot.

The secrets to beautiful browned meat? Room temperature meat and hot pan. Otherwise you will end up with puddle of meat liquid and zero browning, I learned the lesson the hard way. Browning also gives this flavor essence, the brown bits, that will later build a nice meaty flavor for the stew.

Stews are perfect for a rainy and winter day like today. I started off the weekend with the flu, I drove two hours with a fever. It was not fun. I did not have the appetite for anything. Jake heated up a small bowl of this stew and made me eat it, surprisingly I finished it and asked for more. Let's call it, Guinness Beef Stew for the soul sick. Move over chicken noodle soup.

Ta Da!
(My apology! I will post a more "formal" picture of the finish product update tomorrow)

*Note: I added some leftover sauteed swiss chard into the stew pictured above. That's why there's rhubarb-looking vegetable in my bowl.


Guinness Beef Stew

1.5 pound chuck or round beef, 1/2-inch cubes and room temperature
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 cup onions, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 medium potato, diced
1 28-oz canned diced tomato, drained
1 bottle Guinness
6 cups beef broth
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil Dutch Oven over medium high, brown meat on all sides. Don't crowd the pot, work in batches if needed. Set beef aside when done.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same Dutch Oven, cook onion, carrots, and potato until translucent. About 10 minutes. Add Guinness, broth, and tomato. Return beef to pot. Add bay leaf.
3. Simmer stew for 1 hour or until beef is very tender. Season as needed
4. Slurp the stew on a cold winter day.

Getting Ready for the Holiday

Last Saturday Jake and I went to see the second annual Christmas tree lighting on Ashland lawn. It was beautiful. The event has now become our annual holiday tradition. Even with the rain, the Christmas caroling, jolly spirits of the gathering crowd, being with my love ones, brought little tears to my eyes.

I have been busy wrapping up the first semester of the dietetic internship. I just finished a two-weeks rotation at a surgical weight loss medical facility, and now I am teaching middle school students and kindergarteners. A break is much needed after months of hard work. Between working and finishing up papers, I managed to wrapped presents and begin a holiday tradition: making cookies.

In the previous years, I have not made much Christmas cookies because I always ended up being the only one decorating, baking, and cleaning up. (Holler if you know what I mean). I finally had the cookie party that I have always wanted. Even better if I can host a cookie swap party someday.

Although the cold weather and Christmas are coming up way too fast, I enjoy making new recipes of hearty hot soups. (Guinness Beef Stew for next post)

Oh and I stocked up on bags of fresh cranberries, got to love post-Thanksgiving food sale.

Off to the next case study...till then. Stay warm.

Whole Wheat Lemon Soy Pancakes

This is the sight that always makes me happy on a Sunday morning:

Sky high stack of pancakes and warm real maple syrup.




I have been on a breakfast recipe kick lately, mostly because it's the best meal of the day. Call me boring, but 5 days of the week I have oatmeal for every breakfast. I love it, and I look forward it when I go to bed. Especially tomorrow's oatmeal has pumpkin puree, flaxseed, and crasins!

Sunday mornings are "special breakfast Sundays", which means I make something delicious to get the week started. Pancakes are the usually favorite around the house. A couple months ago, 8th continent Soymilk has kindly send me some soymilk to use in my recipes.

Growing up, we always made our own soy milk using raw soybeans. We boil and simmer the soybeans with water in a large stock pot, strain the liquid through a cheese cloth, then mix it well in a blender. The homemade soy milk was thinner because we didn't fortify it with other vitamins/minerals like the ones sold in United States. (Remember to shake up the soy milk before pouring because the added vitamins and minerals, mainly calcium, tend to stay on the bottom!) Nowadays there's vanilla, chocolate, lowfat, and more kinds of flavor than I knew. This 8th Continent Soymilk tastes delicious  and reminds me of what I used to have at home, like real soy milk.

This dairy-free recipe is adapted from my favorite pancake recipe from Joy of Cooking. With a splash of lemon juice and some lemon zest added to the batter, the soy milk flavor stands out. In Jake's words "These are the best pancakes I've ever had. This recipe is a keeper!"

Whole Wheat Lemon Soy Pancakes

Makes about 10 pancakes

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 3/4 tablespoons baking powder

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, room temperature

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/2 cup 8th Continent Soymilk, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, oil, soy milk, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest; mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix with a few strokes, until just combined with some lumps. Don't over mix.

2. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter at a time on a heated skillet. Wait until bubbles in batter, about 2 minutes, flip over for another 1 minute. 

3. Serve warm with real maple syrup.

Turkey and Sage Biscuits Casserole

Anyone tired of Thanksgiving leftover yet?

Today marks the 4th consecutive day of me eating a Thanksgiving meal for dinner.
I think I could eat a whole Thanksgiving meal again tomorrow, because that's how much I love Thanksgiving. I practically ate the whole pot of cranberry sauce right after I made it.

I guess the only thing I hate about the big meal is dealing with the carcass. I absolutely hate shredding/pulling meat, like shredding chicken for tacos and getting all the meat off the turkey. I hate doing that. Thank goodness Jake was kind enough to do this one abhorring and mundane task. The carcass sat in my fridge until Sunday when I finally took the time to make at least 5 quarts of stock out of it.

Numerous food bloggers and recipe websites have posted on what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers, me included came up with a recipe.

This biscuits over turkey leftover is an idea from Jake's family. I bought a package of fresh sage for the turkey, and used the remaining for these savory biscuits. The flaky texture of the biscuits contrast well with the soft texture of the leftover turkey mix.

Turkey and Sage Biscuits Casserole
See this post for biscuits recipe. Add a tablespoon (or more for taste) of finely chopped fresh sage to when mixing dry and wet ingredients.
(or use pre-made biscuit dough)

1/2 cup gravy
3/4 cup turkey stock
1-2 cups shredded turkey
1 cup stuffing
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped onions

1. In a sauce pan, combine gravy and turkey stock. Bring to boil and simmer until liquid thickens. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pan, heat oil and add in celery, carrots, and onions. Cook for 10 minutes or until slightly softened. Add turkey and stuffing. Cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Add sauce to the turkey mixture in the large pan, mix until well combined. Transfer into a 13 x 9 baking pan. 
4. Arrange biscuits evenly over the turkey mixture, about 15 biscuits. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or until the bottom of biscuits are not doughy.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancake

I have a new addiction this fall season.

It's pumpkin.

I can't seem to get enough of it.

Since fall season started, I have made numerous pumpkin pudding, pumpkin pies, pumpkin oatmeal, and now pumpkin pancake. Something about this vibrant orange color vegetable and its subtle sweetness that capture my taste buds this year. I wish I have the time and effort to make homemade pumpkin puree all the time. Canned pumpkin always tastes....tasteless. The canned pumpkin mix tastes even worse, trust me, I accidentally bought a can once.




This recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin puree, which works well since I had half of a large can of pumpkin puree in the refrigerator.

I love the cinnamon, ginger, and other spices that goes in this pancake batter. The pancakes taste like pumpkin pie, and they are even better with warm (real!) maple syrup and a mug of hot black coffee. Hmmm...this is why I love breakfast food. Brinner, anyone?

 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancake
Makes 8-10 pancakes
(Recipe adapted from New South Food Company)

1.5 cups Whole wheat flour
1.5 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
4 teaspoon Pumpkin Spice (Or 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Milk
1 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 Egg
2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice and salt. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake and spread out with a spoon. Wait till large bubbles start to appear in the middle and flip. Brown on both sides and serve hot.
3. Serve warm with real maple syrup.

Turkey Day 2012

My favorite holiday is finally approaching. This would be my third year hosting a Thanksgiving meal, needless to say, I already got the menu planned.

When it comes to complicated and multiple courses dinners, I like to keep the dishes simple. This year I decided I did not want additives in my turkey, I want a real turkey. The Fresh Market offers naturally-raised fresh turkey, and even though the price is 4 times more than those in grocery store's deep freezers, I believe in paying a higher price for that a-ha gourmet moment.

Here's the countdown for Turkey Day:

Monday:
Pick up turkey and buy rest of the ingredients. This includes the essential CCO (celery, carrots, and onion, that is).

Tuesday:
Make brine with apple cider and herbs
Make pie crust
Make turkey broth
Mise en place CCO like no other

Wednesday:
To stuff or not to stuff, it's always a dilemma. Here's a article on this, and I decided not to stuff by making Wild Rice Dressing ahead of time.
Make Pear-Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Streusel
Make Basic Cranberry Sauce
Brine turkey for at least 12 hours (How to Brine a Turkey)

Thursday:
Turkey Trot 5K!
Remove turkey from brine 1 hour before roasting
Season turkey and prepare for roasting (Roast Turkey with Sage Pan Gravy)
Patiently wait for turkey to roast until 165 degrees (food safety!)
Make sage gravy while turkey rests


Be thankful (if) everything went well and my oven didn't break down
Be thankful my guests are bringing side dishes

Carve, eat, take pictures, eat, and eat again

Kentucky Food Blogger Dinner Party

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You know when you are at a food blogger event when they...
A) Talk about their favorite foods and best restaurants in town.
B) Must take several pictures before, during, and after a dish is served (with one or more form of digital equipment)
C) Talk about their recently discovery on the best recipe of___________
D) All of the above.


I attended my first Kentucky Food Bloggers get-together this past Saturday. The dinner party was hosted by Kate Horning of Simply Nutritious by Kate and Chef Bryan at Kitchen Concept. Throughout the night, Kate and Bryan made dishes inspired by their worldly travels and love for ethnic cuisine. Wildside Winery from Versailles, Kentucky was also at the event to do wine pairing.

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The evening started off with Seared Tofu with Kale. All fresh ingredients were locally grown and/or made. At one point in the evening, Kate asked us what is our favorite vegetable. A question in which I have not thought of, but somehow I knew I dislike raw celery.

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The second dish was Shrimp and Grits, a dish that is hardly heard of up north in Wisconsin. The only grits experience I had before moving to Kentucky was the "grits" served in college dorm cafeteria. After first bite of cheesy and garlic-ful grits at Billy's BBQ, I am in love. Although I was a bit embarrassed to admitted that I never made grits before when the discussion on how to make grits was going on. Using traditional Southern style of making shrimp and grits, and combining with Japanese seasoning, this dish was my favorite of all.

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Then using a fall classic ingredient, butternut squash, along with some Jamaican curry, came this Curry Squash Soup Shooters. The soup was thick and spicy with a hint of sweetness from the butternut squash, while the sour cream "cools" off the heat.

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The night finished off with Creole Veggie Burger made from red kidney beans, rosemary, chipotle perppers, and Creole spice. The patties were served over whole wheat baguette and drizzled with honey-based sauce to balance the flavorful spice. Then Hot Banana over Vanilla Ice Cream, a simple banana foster-like dessert with ginger and red pepper flakes.

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I had an awesome time at the dinner party. Besides the delicious food, it was great finally meeting some Kentucky food bloggers in person, and learning what made them become interested in food and blogging. I got to share my passion for food and restaurant anecdotes. It was the one place I did not felt awkward having my camera and taking pictures before every bite because that was expected.

This is how food bloggers roll.

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