I’m thrilled to be giving away 3 books this year to celebrate The Miami Book Fair! To find out more about the Fair and my personal recommendations for where to eat in downtown Miami, visit my blog here. I’ll be giving away the other two books in the next couple of weeks, so come back and check it out! Here’s the first one just in time for fall, I love soups and stews anytime of the year and I live in Florida.
I’m so honored to give away Nancie McDermott’s new cookbook, she connected with me a few years’ back and is such an inspiration. I’m in awe with all she’s accomplished, just thinking about producing a cookbook sends me into a shock wave. I can hardly believe she has published a total of 9 Asian cookbooks so far! I hope I get to catch a spot of lunch with her. What a neat lady, she’s such a go getter, full of great ideas and advice. I got a chance to meet Nancie, Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart when I introduced and moderated Southern Specialties at the Miami Book Fair this weekend. What an honor to meet these prestigious authors, so in awe of their accomplishments. I feel such a slacker.
Nancie will be on the panel, Southern Specialties, Sunday, Nov.22, 12-1pm, building 6100.
About Southern Soups & Stews…
Home cooks throughout the American South treasure time-honored recipes for hearty soups and satisfying stews savored year after year. Often passed down through the generations, the dishes detailed in this book are cherished and shared at family gatherings, holiday feasts, and community suppers throughout the seasons. These recipes serve up soups and stews seasoned with history—from Nathalie Dupree’s Lowcountry Okra and Shrimp Gumbo to Summer Squash Soup with Black Pepper and Thyme, to Collard Greens with Pot Likker and Dumplings—offering us a glimpse of how people farmed, cooked, and continue to celebrate life over time.
About Nancie…
Nancie McDermott is a food writer and cooking teacher, and the author of 12 cookbooks. Her passion is researching and celebrating traditional food in its cultural context, and her beloved subjects are two seemingly different places with much in common: the cuisines of Asia and of the American South. Nancie gained her Southern kitchen wisdom as a Piedmont North Carolina native, and her Asian culinary research commenced soon after college, when she was sent to northeastern Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer. For more about Nancie’s interesting life, click here.
Ready for Book Giveaway? Keeping it simple, here you go:
1. Subscribe to my free newsletter in right sidebar, you’ll get news on all things food related and beyond. If you’re already a subscriber, go to no.2
2. Leave a comment below why you deserve to win Nancie’s cookbook? Then email me wokstar at eleanorhoh dot com so I have your email if you win.
3. Eligibility: Only for United States residents. Closing date: Friday, November 27 at 12 midnight, ET. Check back here for winner announcements Sat. Nov.28.
4. A random winner will be picked and contacted via email. Respond ASAP, otherwise I will pick the next winner.
Your book will be sent directly to you through the publisher, good luck everyone!
October Events
We’re going pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Subscribe to RSS feed for latest updates…
Mandarin Oriental
Hotel
New Happy Hour at La Mar Gaston Acurio
Every Thursday, starting Oct.15: 4-7pm
$8 cocktails, $8 Peruvian bites by Chef Diego Oka
Unwind after work with creative cocktails and bites with stunning views of Biscayne Bay with lively DJ music. Contact momia-restaurants@mohg.com or (305) 913 8358.
Redland GrowFest
Saturday, Oct. 17 – Oct. 18, 9:30-4:30pm, $8 pp
I’m honored to be invited to judge a Chef’s Challenge with 2 super writers, Galena Moscovich and Sara Liss. So, come out Oct.18, Redland Grow Fest is a celebration of all local things, edible, green and growing! There’ll be music, workshops like fermenting and lots to see and do for the whole family. See you there…Schedule + tix here
Moon Cake with Afrobeta
North Beach Bandshell
Sat. Oct.17, 6-9pm, FREE, RSVP required
Celebrate the end of summer and the release of Afrobeta’s new album Dream About You! Enjoy ice-cold beers & cocktails, food trucks, live art and more! There are a many stories surrounding the history of moon cakes and their relation to the Chinese Lunar Festival. During September, when the moon is in its apex and shining its brightest, people around the world gather to celebrate the Autumn harvest and eat delicious mooncakes…so let’s do it Miami style. Details here.
Hakkasan, Fontainebleau celebrates Golden Week
Now till Sunday, October 18
$138 pp + + (minimum of two diners must order the menu)
Golden Week will be an upscale traditional Chinese feast. To start, enjoy a supreme dim sum platter of abalone shumai with caviar; Crispy Eggplants with dried fish floss and more. Entrees include braised Boston lobster in superior stock; wok-fried rib-eye beef with lotus root and black pepper and fried rice with diced abalone. For an indulgent dessert each guest will receive a bag of golden macaroons. All sounds YUMMY! Details here.
Coconut Grove Seafood Festival
Sunday, October 18: 11am-7pm
$20 admission
Celebrating waterfront living and fill of the freshest, tastiest delicacies of the sea with bushels of shrimp, oysters, crawfish, lobster, clams and fresh fish. Head over to “Grove Wharf” – a farmer’s market meets seafood – where experts can help select for you. There’ll be a constant stream of live music including calypso, steel drum, reggae and Island Escapism and nautically-themed art, jewelry and decor. Details here.
Iphoneography 101
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Thursday, Oct.22, 6-7:30pm
$35 pp with electic Peruvian bites from La Mar and a signature cocktail
Perfect your snapshot and editing skills for an enviable Instagram page with Miami-based iPhoneographers @brianladder & @oasisjae
Contact momia-restaurants@mohg.com or (305) 913 8358.
Hess Wines presents South Beach Seafood Festival
Wed.Oct.21-Sat.Oct.24
$35/$120
Features live music, culinary and mixology demonstrations: An Evening at Joe’s; Cooking & Cocktails; Chef Showdown; kids zone, health village, and VIP areas as well as a sports bar showing the day’s college football matchups right on the sand. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Community Initiatives Foundation’s EAT SMART, a program with youth nutrition and childhood development by providing healthy weekend meals and frequent outdoor activity in Miami Beach. Details here.
Embrace the Esquire Brunch with a Purpose
Friday, Oct.23, $25 pp
Please join Embrace the Esquire at eména spa in the Design District for a delicious brunch and mimosas. They will donate all proceeds to a local not-for-profit organization that is working to fight breast cancer and raise awareness for breast cancer, a disease which affects so many women in our community. I love this group of women attorneys who organize these events. It’s a great way to network with them. Details here.
Tantalize: Special Menu and Pink Cocktails for a good cause!
Now till end of October
$45pp ++ incl. lounge show from 8pm onwards, it’s a deal
Special menu and pink cocktails, all for a good cause. Choose the yummy lamb foie gras meatballs! I really enjoyed the chef’s innovative cuisine. A percentage will benefit Sandy Miller Breast Cancer Foundation. Details here.
Easy, Healthy Lunches to Bring To Work!
Don’t sweat over lunch ideas for work, here’s one easy and healthy way to stretch ground organic beef that will last you a few days!
You can ‘stretch’ it by adding a few chopped veggies which will bulk it up and at the same time add flavor, color and texture to the ground beef. Change it up with different veggies or what you find in your fridge and have a nice surprise!
You’ll notice I didn’t add garlic or ginger in this dish! You can if you want, I didn’t because I didn’t want hubby to be breathing it down his students!
A wok is a perfect shape to cook batches of food! However, please don’t overload it because it will lower the heat and your food will become soupy instead of crispy crunchy.
Here’s the game plan…
1. Chop all your veggies and leave on chopping board. For this dish, I had onions, zucchini and tomatoes.
2. Heat the wok till hot, add 3 swirls of oil, add your veggies and near the end of stir fry, sprinkle San-J tamari and a little medium drinking Sherry. Transfer to glass container.
3. If there’s caramelization from tamari, use a wet paper towel and wipe clean before you start cooking the meat.
4. Heat the wok till hot again, add oil, add ground beef. Spread out the beef like a big burger! When golden brown on one side, flip over and use your spatula to break up as much as you can! Sprinkle tamari, Sherry, white pepper, cornstarch and a few teaspoons of chili sauce to give it some oomph!
This is my lazy way of cooking meat, you’ll get much better results if you marinade the meat using the same seasonings prior to stir frying! This is how I usually show it in my cooking class. However, since we are Wok Stars, we don’t follow rules!
I made this stir fry after dinner and it took about 15 minutes! So worth it because you won’t have to worry about what to bring to work for a few days!
Share what lunch ideas work for you or let me know what would help you with more lunch ideas?