Pasta with Corn, Burrata, Pancetta and Chilies

Everything about this pasta screams SPRING! It's in the middle of winter and I'm making a pasta that is vibrant with color and delicate in taste - in other words, perfect. 

In the midst of winter, this pasta was like a bright shining light. I used frozen corn since corn isn't in its peak right now and it still tasted fantastic. The combination of basil, corn and pancetta was so freaking delicious. Sadly, I couldn't find burrata! I normally get it from Trader Joes but I think they stopped carrying it. I love Trader Joes but the most frustrating thing about that place is that once you bond with one of their products, they'll remove it from their stock!

Anyways this pasta is amazing! Light, fresh, and delicious. 

Pasta with Corn, Burrata, Pancetta and Chilies

Yields: about 4 servings

Original recipe here.

1/2 lb. dried or fresh wide noodles, like pappardelle or fettuccine

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, plus more to garnish

1/4 tsp. sea salt, plus more to season

extra virgin olive oil

1/4 lb. pancetta

2 ears of corn, kernels removed

4 dried red chilies, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup Parmigiana Reggiano, shredded

1/4 lb. burrata

Cook the pasta according to the directions, to al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the breadcrumbs and sauce. For the breadcrumbs, place the panko, basil, and salt in a food processor and grind until small. Drizzle the breadcrumbs with 1 tbsn. of olive oil and pulse until well incorporated. Using a non-stick skillet, toast the breadcrumbs until lightly browned and dry, set aside. To make the sauce, heat up a large skillet and add 2 tbsn. of olive oil. Add the pancetta and cook for 2 minutes or until slightly caramelized. Add the corn and chilies to the skillet and cook on medium heat for 5 - 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Deglaze the pan with some of the cooking liquid if necessary. Finally, turn off the heat and add the pasta, cheese and cooking liquid to the skillet. Combine well using tongs. Top with a generous dusting of breadcrumbs and several hunks of the burrata. Garnish with torn basil leaves.

Thai Style Corn Fritters with Sweet Chili Sauce

I had some unbelievable sweet and tender corn on hand, and though it was simply perfect as it was, I wanted to try something fun and new with it, and this certainly was both of those things!

Kevin from Closet Cooking always has the most adventurous and creative recipes I've ever seen for almost every season and every ingredient imaginable. He dabbles in cuisines from all over the world but makes it simple for the home cook to recreate it at home, which I love. Anyways, these Thai style corn fritters were delightful. They didn't have too much filler, so the sweet corn was still highlighted and I especially loved the crispy outer bits. These are super fresh tasting and have quite a bit of kick from the sweet chili sauce as well!

Thai Style Corn Fritters with Sweet Chili Sauce

Yields: 2 - 4 servings

Original recipe here and here.

For the corn fritters:

2 cups corn

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup flour

1 egg

1 tbsn. green curry paste (or red curry paste)

1 green onion, chopped

1 handful cilantro, chopped

1 birds eye chili, thinly sliced

1 tbsn. fish sauce

1 tbsn. lime juice

2 tbsn. oil

For the sweet chili sauce:

2 red chilies

2 birds eye chilies

2 cloves garlic

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup rice wine or white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tbsn. salt

1 tbsn. cornstarch

2 tbsn. water

To make the corn fritters, mix the corn, corn meal, flour, egg, curry paste, green onion, cilantro, chili, fish sauce and lime juice in a bowl. Heat the oil in a pan, when hot, spoon the corn mixture into the pan to form patties and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 - 4 minutes per side. To make the sauce, puree or finely chop the chilies and garlic in a food processor or by hand. Bring the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pureed chilies and garlic to a boil and simmer for about 3 - 5 minutes, or until the chilies and garlic are tender. Mix the cornstarch and 2 tbsn. of water together until smooth. Mix into the garlic-chili mixture and heat until the sauce thickens, about one minute. Let cool slightly and enjoy with the corn fritters!

Graduation Celebration!

AH! I just graduated college, like literally a day ago! I'm happy, ecstatic, freaked out but mostly, I feel weird. It's just a weird feeling when you close one chapter of your life and are faced with the next, yet to be written...

These past four years have been filled with much goodness, fun, friends, family, adventures, failures, triumphs and more, and I couldn't have asked for anything else. I am so proud to say that I have finished my undergraduate career and am now on my way to new and exciting endeavors. Of course, I'll miss the time I had at UCI a lot, more than words can say, but for now, YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

My wonderful parents have supported me since the day I came into creation and I am so proud to say that I am their daughter. Even more wonderfully, they threw me a beautiful graduation celebration filled with family and friends! But of course, I had to bake a few things. Correction, by a few, I mean a whole lotta!

My sister & I enjoying our goodies (my dog Baba-ganoush with us on the right):

First on the list: Blue Velvet Cupcakes with Yellow Cream Cheese Frosting. Why blue and yellow you ask? Well UCI's colors are blue and yellow so I thought the choice was obvious :P

I have my tried and true red velvet recipe, but I decided to try a new one for this extravaganza. Although these were yummy, I still prefer my favorite one :)

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yields: 24 cupcakes

Original recipe here. Frosting recipe here.

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tbsn. cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbsn. (1 oz.) red food coloring

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. white distilled vinegar

For the frosting:

16 oz. cream cheese (2 sticks), room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

pinch of salt

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake tin with liners, set aside. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa and salt into a medium bowl. Beat the eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tin. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in tin for 5 minutes before cooling completely on a rack.

To make the frosting, with an electric mixture, blend together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Turn mixer to low speed and blend in the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla. Turn mixer on high until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, before use bring back to room temperature.

Blue & Yellow Rice Krispies because well, we had rice krispies and marshmallows on hand and they are incredibly cute, if I do say so myself. Plus, who doesn't love rice krispies?

Smores Cookies. I will never, ever find a replacement for you. You are by far my favorite cookies on this planet earth and I had to, just HAD to make you! Mmmm graham based cookie dough filled with chocolate and topped with chewy, toasty marshmallows!

Baba & I with our wondrous spread:

My absolute favorite, or let me correct myself, EVERYONE's favorite were the mini fruit tarts. These are so incredibly easy: just bake some puff pastry dough, whisk up some easy-peasy custard and top with some fresh fruit. And though it takes you a second, it looks like a million bucks!

Mini Fruit Tarts

Yields: 18 mini tarts

Original recipe here.

1 package puff pastry, thawed

1 egg + 1 tbsn. water, beaten

1 bow of strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

1 box of blueberries, washed

1 box of blackberries, washed

1 bow of raspberries, washed

2 kiwis, peeled and sliced

1 pomegranate, seeded

For the custard:

1 large box of vanilla pudding

1 1/4 cups WHOLE milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla or 1 vanilla bean, scraped

To make the custard, beat everything together until it starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. Refrigerate until cool and thickens some more, about 1 hour. Remove the puff pastry from the package and place onto a lightly floured surface. Use a knife to cut each piece of puff pastry into 9 squares, yielding 18 in total. Use a fork to prick the surface all over each piece. Place the squares onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush each square with the egg wash and bake according to directions on the package, let cool completely. To assemble, spread about 2 - 3 tbsn. of custard onto each pastry and top with the fruit in however manner you wish. Enjoy!

For all of my family, and me especially, I asked my mom to make Che Thai which is a Vietnamese dessert that is filled with all kinds of Vietnamese canned fruits, jellies and such and served as a cold soup in a coconut milk-syrup mixture. It's my absolute favorite of Vietnamese desserts!

Che Thai/ Vietnamese Fruit in Coconut Milk

Yields: 10 - 15 servings

1 can grass jelly, cut into 1/2 inch dices

1 can mint jelly, cut into 1/2 inch dices

2 cans jackfruit, sliced and water reserved

1 can longan, roughly chopped and water reserved

1 can lychee, roughly chopped and water reserved

1 pomegranate, seeds removed and washed

1 jar toddy palm seed

1 jar coconut gel

1/2 can coconut milk, more or less

In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients, including their liquids from the cans. Add about half of the coconut milk and mix everything together. Add more according to your taste. Chill in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled, about 3 hours. Serve cold and with ice if too sweet.

Sangria's always a good choice for parties. Not too overbearingly alcoholic and perfect for the summer, especially with all of that great fruit coming into season. This one is Bobby Flay's recipe and boy did it hit the spot. Sweet with a nice punch.

Bobby Flay's White Peach Sangria

Yields: 4 - 6 servings

Original recipe here.

1 bottle white wine (Spanish table wine)

3 oz. brandy

2 oz. triple sec

1 cup orange juice

1 cup pineapple juice

2 oz. simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar heated until dissolved, then cooled)

3 oz. white peach puree

fresh peaches, oranges and apples, sliced (I used peaches and blackberries)

Place all of the ingredients into a pitcher to mix. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 48 hours. Serve over ice.

For the kiddies we had Orange Rainbow Punch. Basically just orange juice, ginger ale and all of the fruit you can imagine dumped in! I used sliced oranges, blueberries, kiwi, strawberries and blackberries. It was like a fruit fiesta and so uberly refreshing.

And of course, had to have some of PW's Corn & Avocado salsa! It's perfect for summer and absolutely perfect for parties, so freaking delicious!

Of course, we had a bunch more food than that! My mom is the master at parties and provided a whole spread of delights which included crab stuffed mushrooms, Korean BBQ, rice pilaf with almonds, penne with feta and garlic shrimp and more. Mmmmm my stomach is grumbling from just thinking about it!

Fresh Corn and Avocado Salsa

Again, with The Pioneer Woman. I think I should just set the goal of cooking my way through her entire recipe list, I've made a pretty nice dent so far. If I had the time and money, that is something I would love, love, love to do. Every recipe I've tried from her has been irresistible, this one is no exception. It's the epitome of summer and what better way to send this gorgeous season off?

This recipe makes a big tub but no problem, you'll finish it in no time!

PW's Fresh Corn and Avocado Salsa

Yields: enough for a crowd (10+ servings)

Original recipe from The Pioneer Woman, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

4 ears of sweet corn, cooked

1/2 red onion, diced

2 large, firm avocados, diced

2 jalapenos, seeded and finely diced (I like it spicy)

Juice of 1 lime

Plenty of chopped cilantro

Salt, to taste

1 tbsn. vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

Slice the kernals off the corn and combine with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Enjoy!

Top an omelet with it, it's delicious:

A Day at the Swap Meet

On a lazy Saturday like this past one, B and I decided to go to the OCC Swap Meet. It's not so much that we want to find something but rather, we hope that something will find us. Swap Meets are either hits or misses, and when you're not looking for anything, that's when the best things find you, and boy did it find us!  I don't particularly like this whole summer during the winter kind of weather, especially when it cuts into my boot-wearing, scarf-tossing, cold weather days. But that's Southern California, and I'll have to get used to it. So you can understand how finding a treasure like hot pink strawberry juice made my day all better. Honestly the hot pink kind of turned me off at first sight, making me think to myself, what the hell is in this stuff? But I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. It was simply sweet with pure strawberry flavor and was the perfect accompaniment to spicy, creamy Mexican corn. I like mine best with everything on it: hot sauce, butter, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

The variety of juices offered on a hot day:

All smothered and such:

B cleaned it, and he cleaned it well:

Tales of Summer Over-Indulgence

Ever heard of the Orange County fair? Well if you're a native, not only have you heard of it, you've probably made numerous pilgrimages during the summer. It's a staple to American culture and the culinary offerings never fail to delight, shock, or put into cardiac arrest. Name anything deep fried and I betcha, you'll find it here, along with deep fried poptarts, cupcakes, and frog legs. I'm surprised people still live to talk about it!

Highlights of my visit to the fair this year were the kettle cooked chips and the Mexican funnel cake. Chips... ehh you say? Well that's what I thought I would be saying, who the heck buys chips at a world-renowned deep fried food fair? ME, from now on, every year! There's something about these chips that are absolutely magical and completely addicting. 

The fresh grilled corn is also a part my yearly ritual menu. A vegetable to balance out all of that trans fat goodness. But I guess smothering it in mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, and hot sauce doesn't really help does it? 

Then an epiphany came to me in the form of a Mexican funnel cake. OH MY GOSHHH! Let me say again, many, many times over: oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. It was like a ginormous churro in the form of a funnel cake served with freshly whipped cream that should have basically been called ice cream, it was SO thick and creamy. But take my advice, share this beast with 3+ people (especially if you plan on trying other fair delights). We were so bloated I almost wanted to vomit. But my heart told me otherwise and its love for this funnel cake was undying and enduring... and that ladies and gentleman, was the day I almost died from a food coma.

In the same booth they sold "apple fries," and all I can say is that I shouldn't have wasted my precious stomach space on this. Next year, I'll definitely pass.