The Food Addicts

I forgot to mention in the Rack of Lamb post that we made dessert after dinner. Bananas Foster is made with bananas that is drizzled with a dark sweet sauce made from butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum and banana liqueur, and is served with vanilla ice cream. This is a very classic dessert most notable in Southern cooking. In fact, the origins of this recipe dates back to 1951 in New Orleans by Chef Paul Blangé at Brennan’s Restaurant.

Daniel has made Bananas Foster once before for me and some friends a few years ago, so it was nice that we got to make this again for dessert after our nice hearty meal. My aunt gave me some Manzano bananas from her backyard (which by the way, we also grow, and just the other day we noticed we are having our very first bunch of bananas growing in the tree! So excited!), so we used these bananas to make our Bananas Foster. Of course, you can use any kind of bananas to make this – like the Chiquita bananas (also known as Cavendish banana).

According to some research, the Manzano banana is short and chubby with a mild strawberry-apple flavor, and the skin is black when it’s ripe. It has a chunkier and heavier appearance than traditional banana. This banana is usually grown in Asia, South America, Mexico, Caribbean, and Africa, which is also known as Apple banana. My parents have a lot of these bananas in their backyard, too. The texture of the Manzano bananas is very firm when you bite into it, which is great for me, because I actually can't stand eating mushy bananas!

To make the dark sauce, we melted a 1/2 stick of butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Add in the halved lengthwise bananas... and then.....

To flambé, add in the alcohol: we poured in 1/4 cup dark rum and 1/4 cup Grand Marnier (in replacement of the banana liqueur). The alcohol creates a burst of flames to the pan. Wha-lah!

When the flames subside, the Bananas Foster is ready to be plated with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The incorporation of the sweet sauce, warm bananas, and cold ice cream really distinguishes this dish. I really like the hot/cold combination of desserts - like Peaches a la mode. Give Bananas Foster a try sometime - it's really easy and doesn't require any baking!

Visit Brennan’s website for the original recipe: Bananas Fosters from Brennan’s New Orleans

Tags: bananas foster, Desserts, Flambé, manzano bananas

Like last year, we didn’t want to go out for a fancy dinner to celebrate Valentine’s Day, so we stayed in and made Chicken Roulade with Risotto.  So in keeping with the tradition of staying home, we thought it would be nice to make something different – something we don’t normally eat – like lamb! We recently bought a 1.5 lb Australian rack of lamb at Costco so that we could make Rich’s winning dish from our Thanksgiving Potluck. Everyone was extremely impressed with the dish, so we had to get the recipe to share with everyone! I actually only got to try a tiny piece during our Thanksgiving party because I was so overwhelmed with all of the great food we had. This time around, I got to sit down, relax, and enjoy each bite of the heavenly rack of lamb.

The day before you plan to cook this, you need to make the marinade to rub on the lamb and refrigerate for a day. To begin, we used the herbs we had in our garden: 3 sprigs of thyme, 1 sprig of rosemary, 3 sage leaves, 1 tsp oregano, and 2 tbsp parsley. Chop that up and throw it in the mortar and pestle. To that, add 2 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp salt. Crush and mix everything together until it forms a paste.

Season the meat first with salt and pepper and rub the entire rack of lamb with the herb paste and refrigerate at least overnight (or a full day for best results).

When it's ready to be cooked, get the pan extremely hot and sear each side of the rack of lamb for 10 minutes. Then pop it into a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes for medium rare. Leave it in longer if you want the meat to be less pink. Make sure you let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes after you take it out before you cut into it. (We were kind of impatient, so as you can see, some of the juices ran out).

To add extra flavor to the meat, we prepared the wine reduction sauce which consists of 1 cup of port wine and 1 cup of veal broth. Keep reducing until it has the right consistency to drizzle over the lamb. And of course, we made risotto to complete the meal.

The meat is absolutely succulent and moist! The wine reduction sauce also gives it a very bold and full flavor, and you get that hint of herb and Dijon from the rub. Two thumbs up for a fabulous Valentine's Day dinner!

To view or print-out this recipe, click here: Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb

Tags: dijon mustard, herbs, port wine reduction, Rack of Lamb, risotto, seared, Valentine's Day meal

As previously mentioned, I am super excited about this month’s freebie giveaway for one lucky reader! Why?? Well, I am a HUGE shopper at Target, so getting a $25 Giftcard was absolutely awesome (which we have already used by the way). The great people at Wanchai Ferry sent us this gift pack and reserved another pack for one of our readers. The Wanchai Ferry “Perfect Night In” prize pack includes one VIP coupon valid for a free package of any of the Wanchai Ferry frozen entrees, in addition to a set of great Asian-inspired rice bowls, chopsticks, bamboo placemats, flavored fortune cookies, and a $25 Target gift card.

Hmm, so who is going to be the lucky person? Here’s what you have to do -

1) Subscribe to The Food Addicts or if you’re already a subscriber, get a friend to subscribe to our food blog.

2) Leave a comment letting us know you subscribed or who you introduced our food blog to AND describe your idea of a “perfect night in.“

This contest ends exactly on midnight February 28th. Contest is over! Congratulations to Sherill for winning this Wanchai Ferry Prize Pack!

February Giveaway Contest: Wanchai Ferry "Perfect Night In" prize pack that includes one VIP coupon valid for a free package of any of the Wanchai Ferry frozen entrees, in addition to a set of great Asian-inspired rice bowls, chopsticks, bamboo placemats, flavored fortune cookies, and a $25 Target gift card. Contest ends February 28th!

Tags: food blog giveaway, target, wanchai ferry

The inspiration for this stunning flatbread pizza came from a foodie we met at a Foodbuzz event at Beso Restaurant last September. We recently had the opportunity to meet with her again a few weeks ago for dinner at Street Restaurant in LA. Nancy is a Food Stylist To the Stars – which means if a show needs someone to design a set that includes food or eating, she’s the one they’ll call. She’s worked on a ton of TV shows & film, including the more recent Melrose Place and Prison Break. Her job is definitely interesting and she absolutely loves it.

Anyway, before we headed to dinner at Street, Nancy asked us to come over to her house for cocktails. We were surprised she also went out of her way to make us a flatbread pizza with prosciutto and gouda cheese. It was simply amazing! I honestly wanted to eat the entire pizza, but I had to resist. The flavors she used paired so well together – prosciutto, cheese, caramelized onions, spring mix lettuce, and balsamic glaze. So of course, I had to call Nancy a week later to ask her for all the ingredients she used so that we can make our own at home! Without a formal recipe, we did our best with what we had and still managed to replicate a delicious flatbread pizza! Thanks, Nancy!

We made our own pizza dough, but it is much easier to use store-bought pizza dough! It also takes more time to make your own because you have to let it rest for about an hour.

Slice 2 red onions thinly and saute in a pan until they get soft and caramelized. Set aside.

Once the dough is ready, roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick. Dock dough with a fork and bake at 500 degrees for about 7 minutes. Docking (which is when you poke the dough with your fork) keeps the dough from puffing up. You want this to be a flatbread pizza.

Meanwhile, grate your gouda cheese. We used this Smoked Gouda Cheese, but any will do.

And now the fun part - putting on all the toppings! Add the grated gouda cheese, caramelized onions, and prosciutto. Pop this into the oven for another 5 minutes directly on the oven rack so the bottom gets crisp.

Once the cheese has melted and the edges of the pizza brown up, take it out of the oven and sprinkle with fresh arugula (or spring lettuce mix) and balsamic glaze. The glaze is a lot more concentrated than balsamic vinaigrette, so make sure you use a glaze. Take a knife and cut it up into squares and enjoy! You will love the crunch of the pizza, the sweetness of the onions, the saltiness of the prosciutto, and creaminess of the cheese.

To view or print-out this recipe, click here: Flatbread Pizza with Prosciutto and Gouda Cheese

Tags: balsamic glaze, flat bread pizza, flatbread pizza, gouda cheese, prosciutto

We have been very lucky to receive a ton of free products and samples from various companies since we started our food blog last year. We also love sharing these freebies with our readers, and that is why we always have a monthly giveaway! We never thought that starting this website would equate to getting so many goodies, because afterall, we do it for the love of cooking and food. So we definitely feel like the freebies are the icing on our massive cake! Not only that, we have established a lot of contacts and friends through the foodie community, and that is something we really enjoy. We look up to a lot of successful blogs and admire their work and dedication to their hobby.

Anyway, we got a free fondue set from cookware.com which is absolutely perfect because we can finally host a fun fondue party soon! We already have one fondue pot, but we actually need 2 more, that way we can have one for stock, one for cheese, and one for chocolate! We are so stoked about this stainless steel fondue set, so stay tuned for a post on our fondue party! In addition, they also have a great website that features stools for kitchen islands and bars. We’ll have to upgrade our kitchen stools eventually for our 9-foot island!

As for February’s monthly giveaway contest, we will be posting up an amazing product on Monday for everyone to participate in. It’s probably one of my favorite giveaways so far, so remember to check back on Monday!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Our gift from Cookware.com. Thanks, guys!

Tags: cookware.com

As a fellow food blogger, we are very excited to be a part of Stir it 28, which is a blogger-based fundraising effort to bring money into Haiti. We wanted to help spread the word about this amazing event happening on Sunday, February 21st from 4-7pm at a private residence in the Hollywood Hills, home of our fellow blogger friend Greg from Sippity Sup. The wonderful Chrystal from The Duo Dishes will be hosting this event that will include a multitude of appetizers and drinks from a ton of food bloggers – including The Food Addicts! Consider this a fun party, mixer, or whatever you want – but the point is, we are coming together to help raise money for Haiti.

Four major cities will be participating in this fundraiser, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and of course, LA. All of the funds raised from Stir It 28 will go to Share Our Strength and Yéle Haiti.

Here are the details for the Los Angeles event:

Where: Private residence 6602 Cahuenga Terrace, Los Angeles, CA, 90068
When: Sunday, February 21st from 4 -7 pm
$30 in advance
$35 at the door (very limited door tickets will be available)

*Complimentary Valet will be available for first 50 attendees!
*A multitude of appetizers and desserts from 20 cooks
*Greygoose vodka specialty drinks from Los Angeles brand attaché, Christophe Namer, and Natalie Bovis-Nelsen of The Liquid Muse, including the “Hearts for Haiti” cocktail.
*Wine bar also hosted by Natalie Bovis-Nelsen with sangrias featuring Fre Alcohol-Removed Wine and Sutter Home Wine and the Sparkling Pomegranate Snowflake “mocktail” from her book, Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-To-Be
*Dollar raffle tickets for purchase at the door with a variety of GREAT prizes!

RSVP by purchasing your ticket at Flamboyant Eats or Coco Cooks. Click the link that says “Purchase Tickets For STIR IT 28 Culinary Event-Feb. 21st”. Be sure to indicate you are buying a ticket for the LOS ANGELES event. Hope to see you there!

Tags: haiti charity, share our strength, stir it 28, yele haiti

A couple of months ago, I asked my friends at Ravenous Couple to teach me how to make Asparagus Crab Soup, and they graciously invited us over to their house for a personal cooking lesson! It was lot of fun and I can’t believe how easy and simple it is to make! All this time I thought it took hours to prepare, but really, it’s much faster and easier than you’d think (that is, if you use already prepared crab meat and broth. Good luck extracting fresh crab meat from several crabs!).

Asparagus Crab Soup is most well known at Chinese-Vietnamese restaurants and mainly served at wedding banquets. It’s a wonderful soup consisting of chicken or pork broth, crab meat, white asparagus, eggs, and whole quail eggs. The consistency of this soup is usually thick, which is why we use a lot of corn starch.

Kim & Hong from Ravenous Couple whips up amazing Vietnamese dishes from family recipes. My goal is to try to cook more traditional Vietnamese meals to broaden my versatility in the kitchen – especially since it’s food I grew up eating! Thanks for teaching me how to make this – I have already made it twice!

Here is the link to their blog post and recipe that I used: Sup Mang Cua Vietnamese Asparagus Crab Soup

The essential canned items I used to make this a pain-free experience are: whole peeled white asparagus, king crab meat, and cooked quail eggs. (This picture is so crooked, haha)

In a large pot, bring 12 cups of chicken stock or pork broth to a boil. Then combine the white asparagus (cut into 2-inch pieces), crab meat, and quail eggs to the soup.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat 2 eggs and slowly add it to the soup while on low heat. Swirl it around until you see the egg solidify - it will be just like egg drop soup.

To get the thick consistency, dissolve 3 tbsp of cornstarch in 1 cup of warm water in a bowl and slowly add it a little bit at a time and continue swirling. This will eventually thicken the soup. Depending on how thick you like it, keep adding more corn starch. Finally, season with 2 tbsp of fish sauce, 1 tsp salt, and a pinch of sugar. Taste and add more until desired.

To complete this bowl of soup, sprinkle some ground white pepper, green onion, and cilantro. Then, simply enjoy.

Tags: crab asparagus soup, sup mang cua, the ravenous couple, vietnamese soup