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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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Leena Cooks: Three Meat Chipotle Chili

Leena Cooks: Three Meat Chipotle Chili

My three meat chipotle chili, inspired by a chili cook-off recipe and a recipe from the book Chili Nation!

Man, I am so glad I had my latest chili cook-off. As a cook, it is easy to get stuck in your own ways and your regular recipes, so it is always a blessing to have as many cooking inspirations as I did from my cook-off. I mean, I actually WANT to make a vegetarian chili! Hell hath frozen over, folks.

One of the cook-off prizes was a book written by Jane and Michael Stern called Chili Nation, featuring regional chili recipes from all 50 states. My friend Matt made a killer beef chili with chipotle and chunks of beef stew meat, and it inspired me to try something similar. I found the “Serious Capital Punishment Chili” from the District of Columbia (also the International Chili Society’s top winner in it’s 1980 cook off), which not only had cubes of beef round and chipotle in it, but also hints of dark chocolate and two kinds of ground meat in it. I made a few adjustments to the recipe, and hot damn. I got probably my favorite new chili of the year. Possibly even the decade. It has a few different textures of meat, which makes it really hearty, and a delicious, almost addictive heat and smoky flavor to it from the chipotle.

I did a search on my blog and for a bitch that talks a lot about chili, I sure as hell don’t have that many chili recipes on here. Time to make up for that. The recipe and photos for Leena’s three meat chipotle chili after the jump.

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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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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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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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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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