fresh and seasonal

March Events (Updated)

March 17, 2012 By Eleanor Hoh 4 Comments

Wok Star interview on ChatChow.tv

Jumping for joy, my interview on Chat Chow TV is UP! Chat Chow TV already garnered 5 awards since they launched April 2011. So excited because I absolutely adore what they are doing. As they say, “a mouth-watering video podcast where we go behind the scenes with the chefs, owners and mixologists of the celebrated food industry.
Wait, PLUS you get a chance to win two (2) FREE tickets valued at $130 to this coming Tuesday, March 20 Wok Star cooking class! This class is already SOLD OUT.
Visit their site, watch my interview and say “Why YOU want to master the wok!” We pick the winner tomorrow, Sunday evening, so don’t delay.

Common Threads and Legal Art Fundraiser
Thursday, March 29
Hot off the presses – Common Threads and LegalArt are teaming up for a first of its kind pairing event on Thursday, March 29. There will be delicious food, amazing art, great cocktails, and lots of music. Is there anything else one could ask for? Didn’t think so. (right out of the mouth of Olee Fowler, a Common Threads board member).
I love this organization and what they do, find out more details here and to get your advanced tix $25, at door $40.
Visit Common Threads if you’re interested to get involved, to donate or to buy your ticket.
Or visit Legal Art to find out what they’re about!
I was very honored to be invited to teach a class at a participating Common Threads school, so enjoyed it and think the kids did too!
Some chefs and I also gave cooking demos at a Kids Eat Miami fundraiser on Jungle Island.

The Grind, Miami Burger Battle
Saturday, March 31
$10 discount with code, check out Digest Miami site. Digest Miami will also be filming this battle.
A 30 burger showdown from 954 and 305 restaurants will battle for the coveted Golden Grinder award and title!
With live music, artists painting live, and YOU and judges get to vote for the best burger. All washed down with free drinks from sponsors.
Also, 2 ‘Best Backyard Burger” winners from an online home grillers competition will battle LIVE that evening.
Local celebrity judges include of course, Burger Beast, the king of all burgers, Ch.7 news anchor, Belkys Nerey and Chef Norman Van Aiken of Tuyo located at Miami Culinary Institute.
Here’s a great video which tells you EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW! See you there.

Chow Down Surfside closing and pop up restaurant by Gastropod, Chef Jeremiah opening!
Read all about it here. I do think turning Chow Down Grill into Josh’s Deli is a perfect fit for Surfside. I know the demographic and I think it will be a HUGE success. It’s funny how we take things for granted. When we know we can’t have something, we want it and want it NOW! I always say, when one door closes, another opens.

I look forward to Chef Jeremiah of Gastropod doing a pop restaurant for a couple of weeks before they turn into a Deli. I first met him at a Cobaya (an underground supper club).
From the mouth of Chef Jason, residing chef at Chow Down Grill Surfside, the last day will be March 28, so run and get your last fix of some of my many favs there: housemade creamy tofu, smoked duck, chopped salad, chicken dumplings, Coca Cola Pork Ribs, oh, Angus Beef. Any bread pudding is yummy. I think I’ve tried everything on their menu from the look of this!
Just remember, you can still get same menu at their South Beach location.

Asian Festival

March 3 & 4, 2012 from 10am to 6pm
Location: Fruit & Spice Park
Admission: $10
For more details, visit WAT or Asian Culture Festival
Extract from their site.
Celebrating its 22nd exotic year, South Florida’s Annual Asian Culture Festival will feature a tantalizing selection of foods from many Asian countries including Thailand, China, Japan, the Philippines, Laos, Bangladesh, Korea, Iran and Vietnam. A variety of handicrafts, exotic plants and Asian produce will also be offered to the public, as well as educational displays featuring the countries, people and cultures of Asia.
At 12:00 pm each day, a reenactment of a Traditional Thai Wedding will take place – with a colorful wedding parade, dowry counting ceremony, engagement ceremony, paying respect ceremony and water pouring ceremony.
On the performing stage, a variety of ethnic Asian shows will be featured, from dances to the exciting Taiko drums, and martial arts…..

Bayfront Popup Park

Feb. 28 – March 4
10am-6:30pm
FREE
Schedule here
Across from Bayfront Park in downtown Miami
Parking lot between Flagler and NE 1st street converted to grass covered park with moveable seating, music, art, comedy & activities.
Food trucks throughout entire event

Taste of Pinecrest

Sat. March 3 – 10-5pm
FREE admission
Pinecrest Gardens
11000 SW 57th Ave
Details here
Featuring food from local restaurants, entertainment, kids activities, healthy cooking demonstrations, juried art show, free bicycle parking.

Farmer’s Markets all over!

Visit my Resource page for list of Farmer’s Markets, tips.
There’s nothing more exciting than seeing, smelling fresh produce!
Don’t forget to check in at Freakin’ Flamingo for Renee’s homecrafted jams in South Miami Market! I love them.

Here are some yummy produce TeenasPrideCSA gave me when I was giving a cooking presentation at the Coconut Grove Art Festival recently. I made some delicious dishes which I’ll post up soon, so check back. You can go on a farm tour, I’ve yet to do it.

Essensia Seasonal Supper

February 12, 2012 By Eleanor Hoh 5 Comments

This delightful ‘seasonal supper’ and wine pairing was the first in a series put on by Chef Julie Frans, Essensia Restaurant at the Palms Hotel and Spa in Miami Beach. It’s become very popular to ‘educate’ us as to where our food comes from and a ‘seasonal supper’ with like minded folks was a nice way to do it!
Torrential rain did not keep us away! We started the evening with cocktails on the porch, my virgin lychee lemongrass was exotic and yummy. Each table was given an herb name, ours was Rosemary and we had a lovely fresh bunch on our table. We sat with Katy, the publisher of Edible South Florida magazine, married to Andy, a Brit and chef at Charlotte in Coral Gables. The other couple were Slow Food Miami, ‘food to table’ director, Michele Baker Benesch and her husband Scot. Michele is in her family business of designing restaurant menus and Scot is an investment manager. Scot has been to Hong Kong so had plenty to chat about. I also got to meet Gabriel, the mastermind who created Paradise Farms. I’m so excited to visit her and see if we can organize a Wok Star cooking class there.
You can see my photos getting worse because the lights got dimmed after we sat down. You can ‘feel’ Julie’s passion about using eco friendly products and produce when she gave us a run down of where our ingredients came from. I hope they’ll post photos online because none of Julie came out well.
Do subscribe (right sidebar) to my blog feed for an upcoming South Florida food review of Chef Julie in Viva Magazine. Viva is a hip lifestyle British magazine, their online magazine launched! They’re still working on adding more food shots and my full review under Food, so go back and check it out! We already had a sneak peek and looks beautiful.

Sign up for the next ‘seasonal supper’ wine series at Essensia.

Here’s our delicious menu for that evening!

Wine pairings were from Casa Lapostolle.

Seasonal Supper Menu

Pickles look colorful and reminded me of Asian pickles, delicious.

Cape Canaveral Prawns

stuffed squash blossoms, blood orange fennel pollen vinaigrette and red pepper pesto.

Carrot Ginger Lemongrass Soup

with fresh cilantro & spicy cashews.

Local Burrata Salad

roasted beets, heirloom tomatoes, baby beet greens, green & purple basil.

Jackman Ranch New York Strip

with sauteed oyster mushrooms and Truffle vinaigrette, fingerling potatoes smashed with Florida sunshine blue cheese, arugula & pecans, sauteed greens.

Oyster mushroom lasagna with sauteed greens.

Chocolate Ancho-chili mousse

with cayenne strawberry frozen yoghurt and chocolate tulle.

Gorgeous bamboo cutting board gift!

How Do I Come Up With A Dish?

March 28, 2011 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

It’s like anything in life, the more you do it, the better and easier it gets! Folks are always asking me how I come up with a dish?

Well, I started a series on my main blog: Be a Wok Star, on my ‘thought process’ and how I come up with a dish. Yesterday’s post, Buy What’s Seasonal & Fresh really says it all. I don’t know till I’m shopping and prepping & then even change mid stream.

There are may factors: what am I craving? Balancing textures, flavors, spiciness, saltiness. Can my leftovers be eaten hot or cold? How do I want to present my dishes? The last and most important is listen to what your body wants! And I’m not talking about chocolate bons bons, ha. Talk about your body is your temple and mindful eating, it’s what I try to practice daily. I’ve recently lost 6 pounds and can fit into clothes I’ve not worn in years and I feel GREAT!

I know you’re saying, “how does that help me?” Well, with baby steps and just trial and error and doing it daily or often!!! Another way? I’m not saying don’t use recipes, I’m saying recipes don’t make you an intuitive cook, you’re just following a set of someone else’s directions. Use recipes as a guide for quantities, technique and inspiration. It’s so much more FUN to add ingredients on a whim and be surprised with your results, voila!

I’ve always said, once I understand the Why of something, it all falls into place. We’ve all watched Top Chef and how experienced chefs get voted off cause their dish failed the taste test! We don’t need to be professional chefs, we just want to make a nice dinner for busy weeknights! My recent Asian Moussaka couldn’t be eaten! I had to make it into a curry, no biggie.

So, today’s lunch was leftover chicken wing, some pork stew and quinoa. Bit brown looking and one taste level, so I added pineapple cubes to give color & sweetness. Still needed something, so I added Yuzupao, a citrusy chili sauce to spice it up, what a difference!

Salad – I wanted crunch and got iceberg instead of usual field greens just to change it up. My friend Michele gave me fresh basil from her garden, that made it pop. I always add some sort of nuts for texture & extra health benefits. Dr. Oz got me into walnuts.

So, that’s how I come up with a dish! Hope this helped. Leave me a comment if you have questions or want to share how you come up with a dish?!

More tips here Cook Like a Wok Star 1.0!

and here Curry Yoki Salmon with Salad (Wok Series 2.0)

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www.wokstar.us