After spending 3 hours in traffic, I finally made it to my Ikea demo in Costa Mesa last week. I arrived to a nice crowd of Ikea shoppers who were probably already salivating from the onions carmelizing in the pan (thanks to the fantastic prep crew) Chef Jamie Gwen (of syndicated radio and QVC fame) and Chef Greg Grohowsky (exec chef, OC Hyatt) were also on hand for the evening.
Since I've become a mom, the demo was a perfect way to share some simple recipes like roasted red pepper hummus, curry aioli (a fancy way to say garlicky mayo), pesto sauce and fresh tomato sauce. I covered some basics too like the difference between a spice (the root or bark of a plant) and an herb (the leafy part). Totally herbaceous, baby! We also talked about the varieties of tomatoes. Like Heirloom -- which are passed from generation to generation. There's actually an Heirloom Tomato called Charlie's Radiator Mortgage because this guy started selling tomatoes out of the back of his truck in the 1930s and was able to pay 6 years of his mortgage from it. What more juicy details? Go to www.heirloomtomatoes.net.
After the basics, I showed them how to put the "ease" in Chinese with a couple of my favorite Asian recipes. First I made a simple stir-fry of Chicken with Snow Peas and Shitake Mushrooms. Yum. The key to creating really tender chicken in a stir-fry is to marinate the chicken in a bit of cornstarch. I showed that it really is easy to make Chinese food, but you have to be organized and have everything ready to go. Also, don't worry if you don't have a wok -- a non-stick frying pan is just fine. Then onto the memorable entertaining segment where I made Firecracker Shrimp. This is an appetizer my friends go crazy for. We love to make it during Chinese New Year because firecrackers light up the sky during this holiday. We finished the demo with a fantastic Blue Marguerita cocktail. Just take a little tequila and mix it with blue curacao...simply sublime.
