HipHopMuse.com

My grandmother is a Louisiana girl. Shreveport, to be exact. When she came to California as a teen in the 1940s, she brought her southern recipes with her. I grew up enjoying Gumbo, Shrimp Etoufee, and homemade Jambalaya on a regular basis. Granny took the time to make her dishes from scratch, no Zatarain’s. Although I’ve had my fair share of box Jambalaya. But there’s just something about making a dish from scratch, with fresh ingredients. You can definitely taste the difference.

In the spirit of Fat Tuesday, I decided to create a Cajun dish with my Grandmother’s Louisiana roots in mind. Just because I’m not in New Orleans for Mardi Gras doesn’t mean I can’t celebrate in my own kitchen!

I basically remixed a Jambalaya recipe I found on All Recipes, and adapted it to suit my own tastes. I also had to change it to accommodate the items I had in my fridge, because a chick didn’t go grocery shopping. Lucky for me I always have chicken, shrimp, and smoked sausage on deck. The result is a simple, easy, and delicious stew-like dish. My version is a little bit healthier, since I use smoked turkey sausage in place of the andouille.

Serves 4. You can increase or decrease the proportions accordingly.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb  skinless, boneless chicken breast – cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 lb smoked turkey sausage, sliced
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/3 large onion, chopped
• 1/3 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup chicken broth or water
• 2 tsp Cajun seasoning (salt, pepper, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, Italian seasoning)
• 1/2 lb frozen cooked shrimp without tails

Directions

• Sautee veggies until they start to sweat. Add the chicken and smoked sausage.
• Cook until the chicken is no longer pink, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add the Cajun seasoning, canned tomatoes with juice, and chicken brother or water. Stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and let cook for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, add the shrimp. If using cooked shrimp, let it cook for 5 more minutes. If using raw, let it cook for 10 more minutes.
• Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
• Serve over hot white rice.

Image: Woman’s Day

Comment (0)

I just remembered that its Restaurant Week, or I would have shared this much earlier! LA Restaurant week is going until tomorrow, Feb 5, 2010, giving us the opportunity to dine at the hottest restaurants at the city on a prix fixe deal.

Enjoy a three course lunch or dinner at spots like Dakota, Boa Steakhouse, The Palm, and more! The most you will spend is $16-$44 per person, you can’t beat that with a stick.

Visit DiscoverLos Angeles.com for the full list of participating restaurants.

Image: Discover Los Angeles

Comment (1)

This is some ultimate hustler ish here…making food out the back of the car! The mobile food thing is super popular here in LA, with Korean taco trucks, Peruvian food trucks, breakfast-brunch trucks, and my homegirl running around town selling cupcakes and cookies around town (shouts out to Grufeete! Vandalizing your tastebuds!)

To be fair, mobile food isn’t new. It’s one of those things that’s come full circle and trendy again, like plaid shirts and color skinny jeans. I remember growing up in Compton, the ice cream truck would come around several times a day. We also had a donut truck make his rounds, along with the neighborhood hustle man selling meat out the back of his truck. Porterhouse steak, lobster, crab. Sure, you need a permit to sell food. And it’s probably more trustworthy (maybe, maybe not) if you buy it from the grocer. There was a sense of convenience and community involved in buying from an individual off the street. It’s almost like saying fuck you to the system and relying on your fellow man to help feed you and your fam. They came to you, you didn’t have to go to them. Back in the day we didn’t even have decent grocery stores in the hood, we had to go outside our immediate area to get fresh, quality food. Only in the past decade or so has the quality of grocers in Compton improved.

I went off on a tangent there; the whole point was to share this video where the Kogi truck dudes pimped out a Scion and made it  into a mobile food unit. It’s killer when they hit a button and the grill pops out the back of the trunk. That shit is ingenious, they need to copyright it.

Hustling food on the streets like a rapper selling mixtapes is so hip hop. Follow the homies selling sweets on the streets! @Grufeete

Source: Huffington Post

Comment (0)

This is my take on beef fried rice, inspired by my need to do something with leftover roast beef. I wouldn’t say this is the most authentic version of beef fried rice, it’s just one of those recipes where you take what you have in the fridge and create a masterpiece. Many of the meals we’ve come to enjoy in our respective cultures were born out of the need to clean out the fridge. Tweak this recipe to your liking.

Ingredients (Yields 2 servings):

1 healthy glass of wine for you to drink while cooking

1/2 cup leftover roast beef cut into small cubes

1/4 cup bell pepper (I used red bell peppers here, use whatever kind you have)

1/4 cup diced onion

Couple cloves of garlic

1 cup cooked rice

Few dashes worschestire sauce

Few dashes soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat vegetable or canola oil in non-stick skillet or wok until hot.

2. Add  onion and bell pepper, sautee  until almost translucent. Add garlic, continue cooking until the garlic becomes aromatic

4. Add roast beef to veggies, cooking until it starts to brown on the edges. You may want to start seasoning with a little salt and pepper here, to taste.

5. Add cooked rice to the meat and veggie mix. Turn your fire down a bit, and incorporate rice, meat, and veggies. Add soy sauce and worschestire sauce to taste. Add more salt and pepper to your liking. Serve hot.

This is my first time making this particular dish, I think it would also be great with a little egg, maybe some chopped celery, and red pepper flakes. I hope you try and enjoy!

Comment (1)

I eat off the street. Yup, you read right, I eat off the street. Food trucks, street vendors hawking bacon wrapped hot dogs, chile-lime mangoes, tamales…mmm mmm mmm. So good!

My most recent discovery is the peruvian taco truck… and their excellent lomo saltado. I usually get my Peruvian fix at Mario’s Peruvian Restaurant on Melore & Vine, but the Lomo Arigato truck is a near match (and has better Aji sauce, imo).

So let me have it. Do you eat off the street? What are some of your favorite street food items?

Image: Governing

Comment (0)

What better way to catch up with your girlfriends than happy hour at a cute, chic wine bar? You don’t have to be a connoisseur to enjoy, just bring an open mind and good company. Perfect way to start your evening if you’re headed to dinner, a movie, or another bar .

(310) 836-9463

Comment (0)

I have a busy day ahead of me – once I leave work I’m heading to a video shoot, so I will be on the move all day. I have exactly 10 minutes to prepare a meal to eat when I get home later, coz I for sure will not feel like cooking when I get home! And I don’t want to eat out, I want to save money and watch my waistline. No greasy takeout! So…what can I put together in 10 minutes?

INGREDIENTS (yields 2 servings)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon rubbed dried sage leaves
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
3/4 teaspoon vegetable olive oil
2 center cut pork chops

DIRECTIONS
Mix paprika, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper, sage, and garlic salt in a small bowl. Coat each pork chop with the spice mixture.

Heat vegetable oil over high heat. Place pork chops in the skillet, reducing heat to medium. Cook until the pork is no longer pink in the center, 8 to 10 minutes each side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Serve with sauteed veggies or fresh green salad. It’s a meal! And an extra pork chop for later (yum). 

Inspired by Cajun Spiced Pork on Allrecipes.com

Comment (0)

One of my goals is life as a young woman is to completely master my grandmother’s hot water cornbread recipe. Myself and others in my family try our hand at it, but it just doesn’t taste the same as hers. My grandmother has been making hot water cornbread for decades so she has it down to a science, but I think the secret ingredient is music and sound. When she’s cooking, she’s usually humming a tune, or listening to the radio. Being a younger version of my grandma, I listen to my Imeem playlist, and sing and dance while cooking. And I tell you, it never fails to make my food taste better. That’s the soul of food, the music. 

When I found the recipe for Arepas with Cheese and Corn, it reminded me a lot of my grandmother’s hot water cornbread. Arepas are native to Venezuela, and are described as a cornmeal-bread. They’re very similar to the El Salvadorian pupusa, the American pancake, or even the French crepe. It’s always interesting to me the similarity of dishes across different countries and cultures. It says a lot about migration and history, and reminds us of how we’re all the same, but different. I can’t wait to make arepas myself and share it with my grandma. It will be my twist on her classic.

Ok, enough reflection. Here’s the recipe! 

1. Put cornmeal in a large bowl with salt and cheese. Put milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until steam rises, then add butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir into cornmeal mixture until a thick batter is formed. Fold in the corn kernels, scallion, cilantro and chili if using.

2. Let batter rest until it thickens into a soft dough, about 15 minutes. Gently form 3- to 4-inch balls from mixture and flatten with palm of your hand to a 1/2-inch-thick disk. (You can cover and refrigerate disks for a few hours if you like.)

3. Heat oil in a large skillet and cook arepas, working in batches, until golden brown, about 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes on other side. When all arepas are cooked and cool enough to handle, carefully slice them through the middle. If desired, serve with butter or stuff with beans, vegetables or sour cream.

Yield: 8 to 12 arepas.

Source

Comment (1)

image via epicurious.com

Ladies! It’s Monday, beginning of the week, which means you’re probably mad busy between work, family, and other commitments. How about taking 15 minutes after you get home to make yourself a nice meal? Yes, just 15 minutes! I don’t want to hear any excuses – I’m tired, I don’t have time – stop at the store, pick up a few items, and throw this dish together real quick! Your taste buds and your waistline will appreciate the time and effort.

(Serves 4)

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Tilapia Filets
• Fish & Seafood Seasoning (2 tbsp or to taste)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil (I prefer regular cooking oil because it’s light and has a high smoke point)

DIRECTIONS

• Rinse tilapia filets in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle fish & seafood seasoning on both sides of fish. Pat the seasoning onto the fish, making sure it sticks to the filets. 
• Heat oil in non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, place tilapia filets in pan, cooking about 4 minutes on each side. You will be able to tell the fish is cooked once it flakes easily with a fork. 
• Remove from pan and serve immediately with sauteed veggies or green salad and a starch. 
• Enjoy the fact that you made a healthy, delicious, inexpensive meal at home! 

Comment (0)

Technics Turntable Cake (image via charmcitycakes.com)

See that turntable setup? Look closely. It’s a cake! On a recent episode of the Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes”, Charm City Cakes created a groom’s cake based on the groom’s beloved Technics turntables.  Dope, right?

Comment (1)