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Leena Eats: Just kidding…NOW I’m back! And with dinner party photos!

Leena Eats: Just kidding...NOW Im back! And with dinner party photos!

DUDE. You guys. I made this. For reals. Lovin the Momofuku Milkbar cookbook right now!

So. I said I was back, and clearly, I lied. What I actually meant is, hi, see you again in four months or so. Leena Eats: Just kidding...NOW Im back! And with dinner party photos!

I spent from mid-June through early October studying my ass off for a little test called the GRE, because I decided hey, wouldn’t it be fun to get a doctorate and research food and culture for a living? It paid off, because I didn’t completely fail the math, and I did ok in the verbal and kick-ass in the essay section. BUT. It also meant no brain energy was left at the end of day to cook, let alone blog about food. Or exercise. Or eat well.

But I did occasionally bust out some winners, the cake above included. That bad-ass monstrosity was a chocolate chip cake layered with passion fruit curd, chocolate crumbles, and coffee buttercream frosting from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook.

More after the jump!

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December 12th, 2012
Posted in Appetizers, Leena Cooks, Leena Eats, Mains, Meat, Parties, Pork, Sorbet, Soup/Salad, The Gastronomical Leena, Vegetables | 4 Comments »

Leena Cooks: Gluten-Free Turkey Gravy

Leena Cooks: Gluten Free Turkey Gravy

She asked and I created! A gluten-free recipe for my sister in law.

A few years back, my sister in law started getting really sick. Everything she ate seemed to go right through her, and she lost a lot of weight for an already skinny person. After a lot of testing, they discovered she was a celiac who was allergic to gluten. Gluten is a protein that is commonly found in wheat and other cereals made into flour. It is what helps give bread it’s structure, and apparently, what makes celiacs sick. And after reading my food blog, she realized that a lot of foods she loves have gluten in them. Boo.

So in honor of her, and the upcoming holiday dinner we are going to make together, I am on a mission to research and find delicious and uncomplicated gluten-free recipes. Today’s recipe: gluten-free turkey gravy made with pureed roasted vegetables.Recipe and photos after the jump.

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December 14th, 2011
Posted in Gluten-free, gravy, Holidays, Leena Cooks, Main, Mains, Poultry, Recipes | 2 Comments »

Leena Cooks and Eats: Scenes from a Chili Cookoff

Leena Cooks and Eats: Scenes from a Chili Cookoff

It's been a while, but Leena's Fifth Annual Feed Me Your Chili Extravaganza has risen again!

I didn’t always love eating chili. As the story goes, I overdosed on my mom’s chili at the tender age of 3 and got sick. The memory of this made me avoid chili for the next 20 years or so (I still can eat red kidney beans without gagging a little), until I went to culinary school and decided to try making a chili recipe I could actually stomach.

That was 2005, the year of my first chili cookoff, and this year is number five. The cookoff has followed me from Chicago to Australia to California, and has yielded some of the most interesting chilis I have ever tasted (like a kangaroo chili with Vegemite and a Thai chicken chili), and this year was no exception. The big surprise? Really delicious vegetarian chilis that were more than just beans and water!

More chili cookoff food porn after the jump.

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November 30th, 2011
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Posted in California, chili, chili, Leena Cooks, Leena Eats, Mains, Meat | 2 Comments »

Leena Cooks: Meatballs and Sauce for a Post-Baby Meal

Leena Cooks: Meatballs and Sauce for a Post Baby Meal
Even while extremely pregnant, my cooking prowess knows no bounds, especially in balls of meat form.

The later I go into my pregnancy, the lazier of a cook I became. It’s not that I don’t crave foods…I just stopped having the ability to say, yeah, let me make that! And then actually follow through. If dinner requires anything more than raw, chopped vegetables for a side, I can’t handle it (and I don’t even make dinner most nights)

But as I near the end, I am managing to push out a few good cooking sessions, mainly to stock up our freezer with a few meals for post-baby. Nevermind that we didn’t have dinner for the night–we’ll have it for three month from then. Makes total sense, right?

This was one of those meals. Delicious, comforting over a pot a spaghetti, a cheesy polenta or just some bread, here are the meatballs I like to call comfort food. The recipe and such after the click.

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May 5th, 2011
Posted in Beef, Leena Cooks, Mains, Meat, Pork, Recipes | Comments Off

Leena Cooks: Spicy Pork tacos with salsa verde and pickled onions

Leena Cooks: Spicy Pork tacos with salsa verde and pickled onions
My spicy pork tacos with salsa verde and pickled onions. I love the tanginess the onions give the taco!

Since my gestational diabetes has been preventing me from rocking out all the baked goods my little pregnant heart desires, I’ve been ramping up my savory cooking skills. I am a HUGE fan of dishes that yield a large portion of cooked meat that can be saved for multiple meals, like smoking meats and roasting. This recipe, which originates from New Classic Family Dinners, written by Campanile restaurant in L.A.’s chef Mark Peel, relies on braised, shredded pork for the dish.

See the twist I put on the recipe and more food porn after the jump.

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March 14th, 2011
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Posted in Leena Cooks, Mains, Meat, Pork | Comments Off

Leena Cooks: Food Porn Daily: The Cookbook’s Chorizo Bistro Salad!

Leena Cooks: Food Porn Daily: The Cookbooks Chorizo Bistro Salad!

Chorizo and caramelized mushroom bistro salad with poached egg from Food Porn Daily: The Cookbook

I am not really one to follow a recipe. I always start off with the best intentions to, but soon I realize I am missing an ingredient or have a better ingredient/idea/method in mind than the author of the recipe, and all hell breaks out. Sure, I may end up with a delicious dish, but who knows what mysterious, tasty delights the actual recipe held?

So when my gal Amanda over at Food Porn Daily published her first cookbook, I figured once, JUST ONCE, I could try to follow a recipe. I picked her chorizo bistro salad with caramelized crimini mushrooms, poached eggs and sherry vinaigrette…and I pretty much followed her entire recipe, save for some avocado I threw in at the last moment (old habits die hard…and avocados rock).

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January 10th, 2011
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Posted in Leena Cooks, Main, Mains, Meat, Pork, Soup/Salad, Vegetables | Comments Off

Leena Cooks (repeat) Jackie’s Thai Shrimp Curry with CSA Produce!

Leena Cooks (repeat) Jackies Thai Shrimp Curry with CSA Produce!

The remains of a most delicious Thai shrimp curry.

I know, I know. I am just as bummed about the death of Michael Jackson as all of you are. The media is already commenting on how much money he left, the custody of his children, but I believe there are more pressing matters at hand. Like wtf ever happened to Bubbles the Chimp?!

Who gets custody of that little bundle of diaper-wearing, banana-eating joy? It is almost too much to take. So what better way to drown my celebrity death sorrows than a spicy curry dish? I really wish I would have taken a proper photo of this curry, because hot damn if it isn’t the best new dish I’ve made in my kitchen in a year. A gigantic, cruise-ship sized thank you goes out to my two gastro gal pals, Jackie (who created the recipe) and Cari (who posted about it on her blog so I could steal the recipe!).

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December 27th, 2010
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Posted in Leena Cooks, Mains, Vegetables | 1 Comment »

Leena Cooks: The Best Damn Turkey Recipe EVER

Leena Cooks: The Best Damn Turkey Recipe EVER

Turkey + salt = Goodness.

Please enjoy this week o holiday cooking to get you in the mood for the holidays!

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Year after year, bird after bird, I have attempted to get the perfect Norman Rockwell turkey. You know what I’m talking about–that perfectly brown, perfectly crisp, perfectly juicy turkey that only seems to appear in paintings? Despite my brining, buttering and basting, I could never get more than a few brown spots.

Well, allow me to introduce you to my new favorite method of poultry roasting: salting. To check out the recipe, step by step photo guide and just a little bit of food porn, click on.

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December 13th, 2010
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Posted in Leena Cooks, Mains, Meat, Poultry | 1 Comment »

Leena Cooks: Spicy Chicken Tikka Masala

Leena Cooks: Spicy Chicken Tikka Masala

Cook's Illustrated's spicy chicken tikka masala recipe with my fake garlic naan (pita bread brushed with garlic butter and lighly toasted in the oven). So good.

If you’ve ever eaten Indian food in a country outside of India, odds are you’ve tried chicken tikka masala. It’s a slightly spicy, slightly sweet and creamy tomato curry with chunks of yogurt-marinated chicken, and if legend is correct, it is about as authentically Indian as 7-11.

Britain has claimed it as it’s true national dish, Glasglow thinks it comes from a tried and true Scottish recipe, and a few believe it originated in Punjab in the 1950s.  Authenticity aside, CTM is a delicious dish I couldn’t wait to tackle.

The recipe and food porn a-plenty after the jump.

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December 6th, 2010
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Posted in Leena Cooks, Main, Mains, Meat, Poultry | Comments Off

Leena Cooks: Beef and Pork Bulgogi

Leena Cooks: Beef and Pork Bulgogi

My homemade bulgogi--crispy, meaty, and so good, you'll eat two pounds in one sitting. At least.

When I find a dish I love, I tend to get a bit obsessive. By that, I mean I will probably eat the dish as many times as humanly possible in the weeks following it’s discovery, often to the point where I’ll burn out on it for a while, not make/buy it for a year, and then “rediscover” it all over again, only to eat it for every single meal for weeks…it’s a vicious cycle, really.

But the one fact that remains the same, time and again, dish after dish? The dish typically KICKS ASS. So duh. Who wouldn’t want to drown themselves in a vat of the stuff?

Case in point: bulgogi, Korean barbecued beef or pork. It’s salty. It’s meaty. And if you play your cards right, the fat will get so crispy, you could swear it was a potato chip. A meat chip of awesomeness that comes paired with a homemade, spicy pickle. MMMmmmmmmm.

The recipe and more food porn after the jump.

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October 4th, 2010
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Posted in Leena Cooks, Mains, Meat | Comments Off

Leena Cooks: The Perfect BBQ Main: Charcoal Smoked Pork Chops with homemade bbq sauce

Leena Cooks: The Perfect BBQ Main: Charcoal Smoked Pork Chops with homemade bbq sauce

Check out these bad boys: Niman ranch charcoal smoked pork chops (a pound each!) with homemade bbq sauce.

When I was young, a pork chop equaled a very thin patty of tough pork coated in shake and bake. I hated it.

This pork chop? I do not hate. I LURVE this pork chop.

I would like to institute a national day in honor of this beautiful piece of pork, but I can’t, so please, instead, enjoy the food porn and recipe.

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August 23rd, 2010
Posted in BBQ, Leena Cooks, Main, Mains, Meat, Pork | Comments Off

Leena (Teaches Someone Else to) Cook: Nick’s First Lesson

Leena (Teaches Someone Else to) Cook: Nicks First Lesson

This is Nick and I, circa 1999-ish. I know what you're thinking. I was just as hot in 12th grade as I am today. Who knew?

Meet Nick. I’ve known Nick since my freshman year of high school, when I tripped while jogging and fell on my face in front of the entire gym class. Nick teased me endlessly, and a friendship was formed.

In our 15 years of friendship, we have bonded over many things–marching band, roller blading, and most recently, food. Nick loves it but wants to learn more, and I love it, know a lot, and love to talk. A perfect combo if you ask me.

Recently, Nick asked if I could help him form a weekly dinner plan that he could execute in between attending nursing school and his  day job. His goal? To stop eating frozen pizzas and tv dinners when he is short on time, and to use his few free days to cook more.

Check out the plan I created for him and how well it worked for him (plus food porn) after the jump.

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July 26th, 2010
Posted in Leena Cooks, Mains | 3 Comments »
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