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No…. I’m Sorry to say this post won’t have any recipe in the end. But I would stick around if I were you, because I’m going to talk about something very important and fantastic. I’m going to talk about planting a little seed and see it grow into a beauty. And for you to have a beautiful garden full of amazing kind of prettiness, you will need good honest seeds. And that’s what I am going to show you here, some amazing seeds I found online.

Jenn from ‘Defunkt Gourmet’ She is a funny seed that “Mad Man” herself and always makes me laugh. I love her sense of humor. Divina from ‘Sense and Serendipity’ her healthy recipes and information are mind blowing. On top of that she is also a darling, very special seed. Denise Fletchers a very talented seed, book author, and all about making some ‘Quickies on the diner table‘. It is sure a seed you should check.  And there is Lori,’Fake Food Free‘ an expatriated seed that knows more about Brazil then me (sometimes). She is always reminding me about my country goods, and now she is planting a garden that I’m very jealous of. (Jealous… in a good way).

Then there is Gwen ‘Bunkycooks‘ a seed that is begging for a Private room in the Camp blogaway. I would be begging too. Camping is not at the top of my list (AT ALL), she is now doing a course on digital photography, and you can tell… her pictures are very eye popping, specially the Nuttela Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache. Yummmm. Another seed I just can’t leave out is Erica, She is a Colombian seed, ‘ My Colombian Recipes‘ with amazing recipes, and I just wish I were her neighbor, so I could sample all that deliciousness. My list of good seed goes on and on but I’ll leave that to another harvest.

Lets talk about lousy costumer service, shall we?  *Sigh* Sooooo… today I was going all over looking for a place that would print some things I designed for my site, and it was pretty, pretty lame. ‘Kinko’s’, now called ‘FedEx’, almost shooed me out. Actually they did shoo me to their competition across the street. Clearly this company is making loads of money that they can send people to print in another place across the street. It started with a phone call… I called and ask if they could print my stuff for the next day. They said yes but it would depend on the type of paper I needed. So after I explained myself and all… he begrudgingly said okay, then I asked his name and he told me “ My name is…anybody can do it for you when you get here” (Such a pretty name right?) But the truth is his name should be “I’m too lazy to be bothered and I don’t give a crap”. So I got there with my project and Man…he was even worse in person, *double sigh* after a few questions he told me they couldn’t do it. And then he told me to go across the street to a neighborhood print shop. And guess what? They were fantastic, they had paper, they had a sweet heart designer to help me setting up my documents and she was extremely knowledgeable and useful. So there you go, I have to thank mister “ anybody can do it for you when you get here”. Because  big trade names just lost my attention. From now on I will always look for the small personable more useful places. By the way… the name of the place is Printland at Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica. Anyway…. after all that I came home and looked into my fridge, I had tomatoes, cucumbers…. and loads of herbs from my little garden. So instead of just a salad I decided to make Gazpacho. Do you like /do Gazpachos?

Gaspacho

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 Serrano Chili
• 1 cucumber
• 1 red onion
• Kosher salt
• Freshly grounded black pepper
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1pint mixed cherry tomatoes
• ¼ cup fresh flat parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Dice the 2 red tomatoes, cut the bell pepper and the chili, roughly chop ¾ of the cucumber and cut the remaining piece in small dices set a side for garnish. Pell the red onion and cut in small dice set half a side for garnish. In a blender combine the chopped tomatoes, bell pepper, chili, cucumber, onion. Blend on low speed until the vegetables begin to turn into a puree. Turn off and scrape down the sides of the blender, Turn the speed to high and slow pour the olive oil, blend until very smooth. Pour through a mesh strainer into a large bowl. Stir the reserved diced cucumber and onion along with the cherry tomatoes, parsley and the red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate the soup for at least 8 hours or overnight. To serve, drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy.

Yesterday I went to Surfas to see the Girls from “On the Lamb” they were demonstrating how to use strawberries in many different delicious ways. And if you like me are Joy the baker big fan, you probably saw the invite in her website. I had huge expectation to meet her, I was all nervous because I’m extremely shy and meet new people are a very, very difficult task for me. I feel all self conscious and paranoid. But as I guessed she didn’t disappointed, she was lovely “they” were lovely girls. So now I know how Joy get to be so sweet and graceful because I met also her mother and she was an  absolutely lovely lady, it was very beautiful see that her mother and father were there snapping pictures and given then their support. She is a lucky girl.

Joy giiiirl my fingers are crossed for you, I know y’all (ops what’s with the south accent all of a sudden) going to be very successful in all your endeavors. Because who can resist all that sweetness. I met also Christine from “ Tie me a bow” her site is pretty cute, with staylin pictures. Check it out!

Rachel Humphrey she made a delicious Strawberry Black Pepper Biscuits.

Whitney Adams made a refreshing Strawberry & Balsamic Soda.

Joy Wilson making her delicious Strawberry Banana Cream Pie.

]]> http://www.chefwanabe.com/2010/04/11/strawberries-with-on-the-lamb/feed/ 13 http://www.chefwanabe.com/2010/03/01/chicken-provencal/ http://www.chefwanabe.com/2010/03/01/chicken-provencal/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:53:04 +0000 Anna http://www.chefwanabe.com/?p=1536

Do you know how sometimes you remember some food you had when you were a kid and you can’t stop thinking about it. That’s what happened to me, I was with this chicken dish in my head for maybe 2 weeks. It was one of my grandmother’s favorites. She used to cook that and served it with creamy polenta. The only difference here is that she would cook the whole chicken. I had a lot in common with my Bina (that’s how I use to call her) we shared the same name and we were from the same astrological sign (scorpion) and by coincidence or not, we both have a very hot temper. She was a funny Italian lady, who spoke a lot with her hands. Her food was always really colorful and yummy. She used to come really close to my ear and whisper: – ‘…You are my favorite’. But I have a feeling she did that to all my cousins too, just to make us feel special. Do you have a dish that reminds you of your grandma?

Chicken Provencal

• 4 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 4 cups sliced fennel bulb (about 2 bulbs)
• 3 ½ cups thinly sliced onion (about 2 large)
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs
• ½ teaspoon salt, divided
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1-cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
• 6-diced tomatoes
• ½ cup niçoise olives
• Fresh Thyme to sprinkle (optional)

Preparation:

Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add fennel and onion sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Add garlic sauté 2 minutes. Spoon fennel mixture into a large bowl and reserve. Place flour in a shallow bowl or pie plate, sprinkle chicken with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons  oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add half of chicken. Cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides.  Add browned chicken to fennel mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, Add wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in broth, fennel, chicken, herbs de Provence, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Taste for seasonings add olives. Simmer 10 minutes or until sauce is thick. Sprinkle with Thyme.

Monday my husband decided to surprise me and take me for a ride. The day was glorious, sunny; the temperature was in the 80s it felt like summer. He didn’t tell me where we were going no matter how much I asked.  So imagine my reaction when we entered the “Solstice Canyon” I was beyond myself because I wasn’t dressed for a hike.  Then we started to argue about my bag, he wanted me to leave “ Louis” in the car, and of course I wouldn’t. So it was something like that:

Him- please leave Louis in the car.

Me- No way!

Him- it’s a hike, you don’t need Louis.

Me- I’m taking Louis.

Him- Fine, but I’m not carrying Louis for you.

Me- Fine.

Him- Fine.

So on the way to the waterfall there were few obstacles, some creek crossing that required some skill at scrambling and climbing large boulders. Here I’ll let the picture speak for itself. How my husband laughed for 10 minutes until he almost choke with a bug.

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