THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...SPECIAL DINNER FEATURING THE ILLUSTRIOUS COOKS OF AFRO HOUSE!

First, some of the cooks...

The Legendary Bubbles
I never miss his dinners.

T(asty)Chan

UK, from the UK
So much respect for UK, he spent the whole day making those cream puffs,
probably a hundred of them.

The Spicy "Neighborhood Girl"
She's vegan, but that didn't stop her from cooking us a feast she couldn't even eat!!!

Lucky Lu Salvatorre
His name says it all.

Lobster death interlude...

Afros, pre-feast...

Everything we DEVOURED!!...

Potato and Sharp Cheddar Flat Taquitos

Avocado Salsa with Serrano and Jalapeno Peppers

Grilled Eggplant Bow-tie Pasta with Feta and Fresh Basil

Variety of Winter Vegetable and Bacon Quiches

Rich Mushroom Risotto

Simple Black Pepper Asparagus

3G Tofu (Ginger, Garlic, Green Onion)

Mashed Garlic Cauliflower Clouds on Roasted Portabellos

Roasted Eggplant and Bell Pepper Pintxos with Goat Cheese and Fresh Basil

Panfried Crabcakes on Freshly Baked Biscuits topped with Garlic and Parsley Aioli

Cantonese-style Fried Lobster with Green Onion and Ginger

Dry Rubbed Tri-tip Steak

"The Perfect Flan"

Cream Puffs with Orange Tinted Cream and Dark Mocha Glaze

Thank you for eye feasting.

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The little post that will be dwarfed by special dinner and go unnoticed...

Sesame and green onion beet salad

I love beets! Simple - boiled beets, sesame oil, brown rice vinegar, green onions, pinch of salt.

Poor man's bouillabaisse

This is my adaptation of traditional bouillabaisse, given that I didn't have any of the ingredients. The vegetables are potato, red bell pepper, tomato, onion, and garlic. You basically get those going, add anise seed (instead of fennel), turmeric (instead of saffron), bay leaves, broth, and then these are my additions: cumin, small amount of curry powder, dried pasilla peppers, chilli powder, this random Chinese cooking wine I found, fish sauce, pinch of cayenne. Oh, and the tilapia fillets at the end. The result is a hearty, slightly curried bouillabaisse with a kick!

Just some good ol' banana bread

Andrew my cooking partner is master of desserts. Steaming hot out of the oven.

Action shot

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Dinner a couple weeks ago..

My version of Chinese-

Char siew pork loin

Top and middle pictures are only 1/4 of the pork loin! I decided to make this because my mom told me my grandma's old restaurant was famous for its char siew. I didn't actually get the recipe from her because I decided to make it at the last minute, and defrosted the meat in 2 hours - plus side from this was the middle of the loin was not fully defrosted, so when it roasted in the oven, the middle stayed extremely tender and juicy. I loosely followed a recipe for homemade hoisin sauce (peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sriracha, garlic, honey, black pepper) and combined this with the char siew sauce recipe - which basically meant adding a lot more honey. I lathered the loin in the sauce and roasted it for about 1 1/2 hours at 350-375. The result was a less sweet, more salty version of char siew (which I'm okay with).

Bok choi and leek stir fry

I used the leftover leek in this stir fry. Sauce was soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, and some sweet chili/garlic sauce. I let the bok choi stay a bit crispy, so it tasted fresher.

Green onion and leek pancakes

Don't buy frozen ones anymore - these are so much fresher, easy to make, and probably healthier! Just ask me if you want the recipe - I have it written down somewhere. The batter was flour, warm water, sesame oil, baking powder, salt, green onions, and leeks. I don't really want to remember how many I ate that night..

This takes the prize for best last-minute salad, ever (in my humble opinion)

It didn't matter what was in it (romaine, spring mix, bell peppers, grated carrots), but rather, the dressing. I think this best proves my point that amazing dressings are extremely easy to make. I used the leftover sauce I stir fried the bok choi in (soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, brown sugar, sweet chili/garlic sauce) and blended it with the pulp of a grapefruit, red wine vinegar, and agave syrup (to cut the bitterness of the grapefruit). Everyone commented on this dressing. Chinese sesame chicken salad or whatever it is that's the "exotic" salad on most restaurant menus can SUCK IT. Don't order that anymore - make this $2, better tasting salad at home.

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Some catching up to do:

Dinner three weeks ago...

Roast chicken with Cajun seasoning on bed of chili

I usually don't cook or like chicken that much, but it was the only meat in the freezer. I pretty much googled "crispy roast chicken" and found out that the key to delicious crispy chicken is lots of SALT. All you do is rub it down with lots of salt and pepper underneath and on top of the skin. I remembered I had this shaker of Cajun seasoning that my friend brought me from her summer in New Orleans, so I basically emptied it on the whole tray of chicken. This made it EXTRA crispy. We had some extra vegetarian chili in the fridge, so I spooned it under each piece to bake. It tasted as good as it looks. Oh, almost forgot, the last step in crispy chicken is broiling it (highest temp on the oven) for the last 15 or so minutes of baking (I had it at 350 beforehand).

Five(?!) layer lentil casserole

(I ate this for a good week)

Season your lentils when you boil them! I boiled a ton of lentils with bay leaves, thyme, and vegetable broth base. You don't need to add any salt to this casserole if you boil the lentils with enough broth base. Then the layers..

1. Mashed lentils with minced olives
2. That leftover vegetarian chili (anything you want here), corn tortillas (enchilada style)
3. Sliced eggplant4. Whole lentils and salsa5. Corn tortillas again, then eggs (like a fritatta on top) with chopped sundried tomato, corn, spinach, green onion, parmesan cheese...

This was super hearty and tasty and there was no oil or added salt (other than in the egg). The point is, casseroles are EASY and make great leftovers. Improvise.

Sage and honey cornbread with roasted bell pepper garnish

THIS WAS REALLY GOOD, everyone should make it. The recipe can be found here at Epicurious. I didn't cook it in a skillet and I added a lot of corn kernels. I also drizzled bell peppers with sesame oil and roasted them a topping. When they came out of the oven, I lightly salted them and spread them on top - the salt with the sweetness of the roasted pepper and steaming sage cornbread underneath...just make it.

Some good ol' babaganoush

Andrew my cooking partner made this and it was great, very creamy. He found a recipe to go off of online and just added more of everything flavorful (like everyone should do with every recipe they have).

Last minute fruity salad

Any salad can be great; you just need a good dressing. Don't ever buy dressing - what a waste of money, and half of it is probably preservatives anyway. This is generally how I go about making my salad dressing:

- 1 part oil, you can go less, or even none (olive, sesame, etc, depends on what taste you're going for)
- 3 parts vinegar (try different kinds - apple cider, brown rice, balsamic, red wine - they all yield a different taste)
- something extra for body (my go-to here is dijon mustard, and lots of it, but if I am feeling something different, I'll squeeze a grapefruit in, or blend all ingredients with a fruit - kiwi, mango, etc - or vegetable - try blending everything with raw mushrooms, it'll become creamy)
- depending on the mixture you have, try adding spices/herbs like garlic, basil, cilantro, or HONEY (honey is not just for honey mustard dressing!)
- salt and pepper to taste

Happy eats!

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