Pizza Amore

I have tried numerous times to make pizza dough from scratch--those times ended with results that no one would want to see much less eat. While reading Pinch My Salt one night, I came across a post about making pizza dough with The Daring Bakers (by the way, as soon as I have my own kitchen, I am joining Daring Bakers!). Her post inspired me to give pizza making one more try. The recipe and direction for making the dough can be found here.

The biggest difference between this attempt and previous attempts was letting the dough rest in the fridge overnight. Also, I pulled out our heavy pizza stone...or at least I think it's a pizza stone--I was too young to care about culinary instruments when my parents purchased this device. Anyways, heating the stone before putting the raw dough on it helped to make the bottom of the crust nice and crispy. So with these minor adjustments, I was able to produce delicious pizza combinations with a wonderfully chewy yet crunchy thing crust. Voila! Success!

Pizza Margherita sitting on a pizza stone about to get warm and crusty in the oven

pretty soon that mozzarella cheese will be bubbly and the crust a golden brown

Homemade Roasted Tomato Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Fresh Basil

simple yet incredibly delicious with fresh, bright flavors

Red Sauce, Grated Mozzarella Cheese, Pepperoni, Fresh Cremini Mushrooms

nothing innovative but comfortingly familiar

Roasted Garlic White Sauce, Fontina Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, Red and Yellow Fingerling Potatoes, Fresh Thyme

my only little foray into a less common combination of pizza topping, however, it ended up being my favorite--the colors were beautiful and the flavor was amazing

I see many more pizzas in my future :)

Pumpkin Patch, Pumpkin Spice

What is the best thing to carve on a pumpkin?

A pumpkin of course!

Visiting the pumpkin patch, picking out the "perfect pumpkin" and carving it in the backyard while breathing in the crisp fall air inspired me to bake some fall goodies. I have dreamed of sitting in weather cool enough for a light jacket while sipping hot apple cider and enjoying a moist spiced muffin for weeks now. I searched the internet for pumpkin recipes and in the end, I decided upon pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I tweaked the recipes I found and ended up with the following recipe for delicious pumpkin muffins...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

makes about 18 regular-sized muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons plain yogurt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

* 1 cup walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt

3. In a separate bowl--the bowl of the stand mixer if using--mix together the eggs, pumpkin, applesauce, vegetable oil, and plain yogurt

4. Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients--with the mixer on low--until just incorporated

5. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts (*if using)

6. Fill muffin tins with batter and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

These muffins not only tasted like fall, but also filled the entire house with a lovely, warm, spiced aroma as they baked. I was very pleased with the results. They came out incredibly moist--probably as a result of the substitution of applesauce AND yogurt for oil--and they only got better the next day! I had to restrain myself from grabbing one muffin after another. They're so tasty and perfect for fall!

UCLA Dining Hall Creation #1

So I've spent a decent amount of time the past few days reading food blogs and I've come to one conclusion--there's an INSANE amount of food blogs out there. The ever growing list of "blogs I read" on the side bar of my blog is testament to that.

A lot of the blogs made me drool and want to head over to a certain restaurant right then and there. A lot of them made me jealous of their gorgeous pictures. A lot of them made me want to just jump in a kitchen and start cooking or baking. All in all, they inspired and reinforced the foodie in me. However, even through the myriad of food photos, recipes and restaurant reviews, I realized there was one thing that I could offer that not many other food bloggers can--an insight into the culinary world of UCLA dining services.

University dining halls are often known to have disgusting if not inedible food. I'm not going to lie. UCLA has GOOD food. For someone like me, with such a sometimes-inconvenient discerning taste when it comes to food, it's quite a statement to say I enjoy the food in our dining halls.

Our dining hall offers an incredibly fresh salad bar. There are no soggy pieces of wilted lettuce, only crisp dry (sometimes even organic) mounds of green goodness. There are toppings galore to allow for thousands of different salad combinations. In addition, the dining hall offers grilled chicken breast that are usually juicy and flavorful. Even "high-end" restaurants can sometimes be guilty of topping salads with dry boring chicken breast. Below is a picture of a salad that I created for lunch from the dining hall salad bar and grill. I have yet to sneak a camera into the dining hall and this picture was taken on my iPhone.

Balsamic Chicken Salad

Grilled Chicken Breast, Roasted Red and Yellow Peppers, Grilled Mushrooms, Cherry Tomatoes, and Cucumbers over a bed of Romaine Lettuce and a Balsamic Vinaigrette

It looks delicious for an iPhone picture of college dining hall food, doesn't it?

XIV Sunset

XIV by Michael Mina

8117 Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90024

After waiting a good 30 minutes AFTER our reservation time of 9:15, my friends D, A, and I were getting impatient and ready to sit down and begin our meal. We were given a table that had a very clear view of the kitchen--it was perfect--and we all forgot about the 30 min wait. We had such a great time watching the chefs in the kitchen carefully prepare dishes as the suspender-clad waiters rushed them to tables in the busy restaurant.

Given the dark, mood-setting lighting, these pictures were the best I can do. They really don't do the food justice. Every dish was delicious and pristine--not like these blurry pictures.

Tataki of American Wagyu Skirt

Moroccan Spiced Vegetables

The skirt steak was tender and at a perfect doneness. It wasn't anything spectacularly different but it just tasted like a good piece of meat! Luckily, the vegetables on the side were nicely acidic to balance the red meat.

Sweet Corn Soup

Pork Belly, Apple Cider, Cilantro, Sea Salt

The sweet corn soup was a creamy bowl of happiness that I wish I had to my own! This was A's appetizer and they poured the soup into the bowl, on top of the pork belly and corn, after bringing it to your table--nice presentation.

Alaskan Halibut

Cantaloupe Melon, Mustard, Cherry Tomato

This was what I had for my entree. I don't usually go for white fish dishes but the melon component seemed very interesting. Overall a nicely done piece of halibut--not overcook thank goodness! I loved the light broth at the bottom and the little spheres of cantaloupe.

Jidori Chicken "Tajine"

Vadouvan, Red Kuri Squash, Baby Carrots, Cilantro, Side of Jasmine Rice

This was definitely, in my opinion, the best dish of the night. The tender jidori chicken came under a tajine lid with a lovely spiced broth and side of flavorful jasmine rice. This, again, was A's entree and I had to actively restrain myself from taking too many bites from his dish!

Asparagus Risotto

Squash Blossom, Chervil, Castelmagno Cheese

This risotto dish was amazingly light for being risotto. The asparagus pieces were perfectly cooked and tender and the whole dish just smelled of that wonderful cheese.

Dark Chocolate Cake

Coffee Cream, Coconut Sorbet, Crunchy Peanut, Basil Syrup

The plating of this dessert was spectacular--so creative and beautiful. This was also A's dessert! I swear he picked the best combination tonight. The coconut sorbet was delicious, as was the mysterious peanut crunch. The texture is hard to describe--almost like a butterfinger but chewier. I LOVED it.

Michael's Classic Rootbeer Float

Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nutella Custard

Popcorn Ice Cream, Toast Streusel, Passion Fruit

This was my dessert--nothing to look at, but the flavor and texture combination was amazing. The foam at the top was interesting and mixed with the cold passion fruit ice cream, creamy nutella custard, spongy toast, and crispy streusel topping, I couldn't stop digging my spoon into the cup. It was so good.

Great dinner at XIV with my lovely D and A!