The Food Addicts

July Giveaway - SPAM Starter Kit

This recipe does not require a mixer, so it's easy and less fuss. Combine the dry ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tbsp grated orange zest.

Next, combine the wet ingredients and mix together to form a batter: 2/3 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice (or OJ from the carton is fine), 1/2 cup melted butter, 2 eggs, and 3 tbsp orange marmalade.

We used mini muffin cups and made a few regular-sized muffins. Pour the batter 3/4 full.

Then, we sprinkled them with crushed pistachio nuts and placed it in the oven at 350-degrees for 15-20 minutes for the minis and 20-25 minutes for the regular-sized muffins.

If we had more pistachio nuts on hand, we would've put them in the batter so that there's a nice crunch when you bite into the muffin. Unfortunately we didn't have many to begin with. This wasn't a complete fail or disaster, but we'll take another stab at remaking this next time with other ingredients to make them more moist so they'd be a better version of the delicious muffins we had in the Bahamas! Cooking is all about trial and error and eventually coming up with a great recipe that will satisfy you. So our motto: Don't give up!

We got some lemongrass in the back and minced about 2 tbsp for the shrimp marinade. This gives it a subtle lemongrass flavor, so add more if you like this flavor enhanced.

We used the rest of the shrimp we had in the freezer, which was roughly 1 lb. These were also already peeled and deveined.

In a ziploc bag, combine the minced lemongrass with 3 tbsp sugar, 1/3 cup fish sauce, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil, and 3 minced garlic cloves. Let that marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

While the shrimp is marinating, we prepped the other ingredients for the meal. Our Japanese cucumber plant is growing like crazy! Cucumbers are great in this vermicelli dish because of the crunch and freshness it brings. We simply cut it julienne-style so it can easily be picked up with chopsticks.

We grow our mint and houttuynia leaf in pots so that they don't grow out of control. If you put these plants into the ground, they will take over your whole yard! These herbs are chopped along with the lettuce for more freshness to the meal (not the white flowers, of course). Vietnamese cuisines rely heavily on fresh ingredients like these, which I grew up eating in my household.

We've been meaning to harvest this big cluster of shallots, so it was a great excuse to get them out of the dirt and into our meal. I love using shallots in cooking because it's a more mild onion flavor. It gives a nice hint of sweetness!

One of the toppings for this noodle dish is fried shallots, so we used about 1/2 cup of thinly sliced shallots and deep fried them until golden brown.

This is so ridiculously addicting... I can just eat them like chips! I think it's one of my favorite flavors in this meal!

Once the shrimp is ready, place them on the grill and fire it up. My perfectly uniformed army of shrimp only takes a few minutes to cook on each side. Baste the marinade on top to get more flavor.

Get your favorite nước chấm fish sauce and chopsticks and dig in to this bowl of Grilled Lemongrass Shrimp and Vermicelli with fresh herbs and veggies, sprinkled with fried shallots and crushed peanuts. Remember you can always add other popular ingredients, like bean sprouts and shredded carrots. For the meat-lovers, this dish can be accompanied with more grilled meat or eggrolls. They will all taste fabulous together. If you decide this is all too much work, just pop into your local Vietnamese restaurant and order this on the menu "Bun Tom" which means Vermicelli with Shrimp. I suggest going all-out and getting the combination bowl with everything! Eat your heart out. Hope we gave you a good idea on what to whip up for lunch or dinner this summer. When rice gets boring, go for vermicelli! (Eat a lot, or you'll be hungry later, haha).

In a saucepan, combine 4 sliced garlic cloves, 1 tbsp sliced ginger root, 1/4 cup mirin, 1 1/4 cup soy sauce, and 1 cup packed brown sugar.

Next, add 1 sliced orange. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes on low heat. Then, remove the orange slices. If you want to gain more orange flavor, use a wooden spoon to squeeze some juices out before discarding. Another option is to use orange juice or squeeze an orange into the sauce instead of putting in the slices (although it makes for a great photo op!).

Meanwhile, grill the chicken - either in a pan like we did, or on a grill.

In a bowl, mix together 1/2 cup water and 3 tbsp cornstarch to make a slurry. Then slowly pour in the mixture to the saucepan and bring back to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes over low heat until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let cool and the sauce will continue to thicken. Be careful not to cook it too long or it will burn and become bitter.

Brush the chicken with the Orange-Infused Teriyaki Sauce and serve with your favorite vegetables and rice. We prefer brown rice. The consistency was perfect and the flavor had a nice hint of orange and ginger. This is a perfect glaze to go on top of meat that you don't have time to marinate or unsure of how to season. Since teriyaki in general is so popular, you'll be sure to please yourself and those who get to try your cooking. Enjoy the recipe!

We received 10 coupons from Buitoni to redeem at the supermarket for the Frozen Meals for Two. We've never seen a coupon with a glittery seal on it before. Fancy!

We only found 4 varieties at Ralphs so we got a mix of all of them - Chicken and Mushroom Ravioli, Meat Lasagna, Shrimp and Lobster Ravioli, and Grilled Chicken and Spinach Cannelloni.

From our garden, we harvested the butter lettuce that has been growing for the past few weeks. We rotate the garden with different kinds of lettuce so that we always get a nice variety.

We are not entirely sure what kind of lettuce this is, but it was part of a Spring Mix blend we bought at our local nursery.

Our bell peppers were ready for picking, and more than ready to be placed on a hot grill.

For the salad toppings, we included a variety of grilled vegetables, including the green bell pepper above, this eggplant, and some zucchini.

We managed to pick some black cherry tomatoes as well, even though it's still early in the season for tomatoes. Black cherry tomatoes are more rare, and definitely a unique plant.

Back inside, we prepped other ingredients for the salad bar, like home made croutons. We bought ciabatta bread and cut them into cubes. Then we brushed a mixture of butter, pressed garlic, and dried parsley on top and popped them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 2 hrs until it's nice and crunchy.

Our 9-foot island turned into the salad bar, which had a ton of options to choose from. We provided grilled eggplant, grilled bell peppers, grilled zucchini, sautéed mushrooms in butter, soft tofu, grilled corn, boiled egg, beets, black cherry tomatoes, caramelized onion, black olives, fresh mozarella cheese, cucumbers, red onion, and avocados. You can easily create a Greek salad or Asian salad with these options - so it was our guests' desire to be creative.

Of course, we also had 4 different dressings made from scratch: Carrot-Ginger dressing, Ponzu dressing, Roasted Red Pepper dressing, and Caesar dressing.

Prepping the Buitoni Frozen Meals for Two was simple! This is the Cannelloni which comes with the Alfredo Sauce and baked all together in the oven for 50 minutes.

This Grilled Chicken and Spinach Cannelloni was Daniel's favorite!

The Chicken & Mushroom Ravioli with Marsala Wine Sauce is prepared by boiling the pasta and warming the sauce. Quick, easy, and tasty!

It was hard to cut a perfect piece of this Southern Italian Style Meat Lasagna, so excuse the puddle of meat and cheese in this photo.

And lastly, the Shrimp & Lobster Ravioli with Garlic Butter Sauce was practically everyone's favorite! Who can blame them?? It was delicious!

Stephanie and Aki are making their first trip around the island to pair their pasta with the salad. So many choices! (Of course, we have to represent the LOS ANGELES LAKERS, right?)

Sandy and Ben enjoyed their tasty selections, along with their champagne and Bloody Mary.

With all of the different lettuce blends, toppings, and dressings at our salad bar, we had a wonderful time creating zesty salads with the Buitoni pasta meals.

Although the flank steak already comes flat, we wanted to make it even flatter to about 1/3" so we get more surface area to roll. If you like the thickness of your flank, then no need to pound it out.

For the filling, we combined a few of our favorite ingredients: parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, and fresh basil and oregano from the garden. Just chop and dice them to smaller pieces.

We started off layering the steak with roasted red peppers and then a layer of fresh spinach. To that, we added our cheese mixture. Remember to salt & pepper the steak first. Also for added flavor, we sprinkled some Italian breadcrumbs into the filling before rolling it up.

Roll the steak tightly and neatly, then secure it with butchers twine to hold it together. Salt and pepper the outside of the steak.

Heat a skillet with olive oil and sear the steak on high for 2-3 minutes, and turn it so every side of the steak has a nice brown color. Then place the skillet with the meat into a 350-degree oven for about 20-25 minutes until medium doneness. If you like it cooked more, keep it in longer.

When you take out the steak, make sure you let it rest for about 5 minutes before slicing, so that the juices don't run out.

We paired the Flank Steak Roulade with a side of roasted potatoes with similar toppings and a glass of Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. The sweet notes from the wine paired perfectly with the sweetness of the roasted red peppers and acidity from the artichokes. It's surely a pretty presentation of colors and flavors that will tickle your fancy. Keep in mind that you can always choose different ingredients to fill the meat! We enjoyed our creation of this Flank Steak Roulade, but next time we're going to step it up a notch and make a demi glace sauce to go on top. Yum!

This year's logo of an eaten apple - but look closely and you'll see the silhouette of an adult and a child. All the volunteers got a T-Shirt with this design.

We came early to set up the auction table, which is a silent auction for various things like vacations, gym memberships, kitchen gadgets, gift certificates, etc.

Kim & Hong are setting up the auction table in the VIP tent. These items are a bit pricier, like $5,000 towards a wine cellar or a 7-night stay in the Caribbean.

The gates opened at 1pm for the general public who bought tickets to the event, which goes for $100 regular admission to $150 VIP admission. And yes, it was a beautiful day in Southern California!

After our volunteer shift was over, we took off our T-shirts and walked around the park to sample the many many offerings.

Presentation was also an important factor for these restaurants, as they showcased their dishes in very unique ways. Patina Restaurant provided this spoonful of marinated hamachi, cucumber vinegar, avocado, and Granny Smith apple.

Preparing simple dishes for this event was not on any of these restaurants' agenda. They really went all out on pairing different flavors together and blending them quite nicely. We tried this 'horseradish dusted braised short rib on smoked potatoes' from Hatfield's.

Sprinkles did not disappoint with their selection of beautifully crafted cupcakes. I took this photo as they were still setting up, and by the time I went to their booth to get a cupcake, they were completely out! What a bummer.

One of my favorite tastings was from Nobu Restaurant. Their 'miso marinated black cod with butter lettuce' was right up my alley in terms of flavor and texture. We've prepared their miso cod before at home, but never thought about wrapping up a cubed piece of fish in butter lettuce. I think I went back for 2nds and 3rds.

Don't worry about leaving the park hungry! You will be so stuffed and sad that you didn't get to try everything. These are the 'lamb burger with wild arugula, spicy tomato chutney and melted Wisconsin hook’s baby blue' from Ford's Filling Station Restaurant.

Here we have the 'Cumin spiced skirt steak on roasted tomato and arugula' from Simon LA.

We captured this photo of Roberto Maggioni, the Executive Chef at Lago. He and his staff prepared Parmesan Gelato (this was an interesting flavor) and Lingua in Salsa Verde (Braised Beef Tongue with Fresh Parsley Pesto). I actually liked the braised beef tongue!

Desserts were abundant at almost every other booth! Of course, your stomach can only handle so much variety in such a short amount of time. So eat wisely and save room for these chocolate bites sprinkled with gold!