Lori Lynn, Author at Taste With The Eyes

Lobster Tortilla Soup

Lobster Tortilla Soup

With the world’s largest lobster festival right around the corner and in our own backyard (The Port of Los Angeles), it was time to develop a new lobster recipe. Now while lobster is usually decadent, expensive, and reserved for special occasions, I sought to create a more humble lobster dish for everyday enjoyment. These 3.5 ounce lobster tails cost $6.50 each, while the rest of the ingredients are quite inexpensive – this hearty meal in a bowl can be served to company as well as enjoyed for a weeknight dinner.

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Sushi School

Andy Matsuda became a master sushi chef just when sushi’s popularity began to take off around the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Up until that time, the palates of most Americans had not reached the point where they could fathom eating raw fish, no matter how fresh it was.

With the advent of fusion sushi cuisine, i.e. the California Roll, Western tastes became acclimated to sushi. Thirty years later, the traditional Japanese cuisine grew into an industry that grossed $2 billion in annual sales with sushi restaurants spreading to nearly every major city in the United States.

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A Cooking Lesson: Guilotas (Quail) en Salsa de Molcajete

Guilotas en Salsa de Molcajete
Quail with Roasted Tomato Chile Salsa (made in a molcajete)

Many of you have met Marlene, we have worked together over the years at various catering events and dinner parties. It would be difficult to pull off those events without her. Her extraordinary organization skills, strength, speed, and attention to detail, her eye for perfection all make her, in a word, indispensable. And boy oh boy, can she cook! No matter what the event – after a few minutes she knows her way around the kitchen – any kitchen, any where.

A while back, she had told me about one of her favorite dishes called guilotas en salsa de molcajete. I told her that I would love to try it someday… Well just the other day, to my delight, she had a surprise for me. I returned home from work and she had brought over 4 quail, seasonings, tomatoes, chiles, garlic, and cilantro, and proceeded to give me a cooking lesson. I couldn’t have been more thrilled. And as a bonus – there was dinner less than 40 minutes later.

Guilotas en Salsa de Molcajete Recipe

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“End of Summer Rolls” Caprese-Style

“End of Summer Rolls” Caprese-Style

Heirloom Tomato, Burrata, Basil, Rice Noodle
Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar

Perhaps you’ve heard me bemoan the ubiquitous Caprese Salad and all its incarnations?

Caprese grilled cheese, caprese kabobs, caprese bruschetta, caprese pasta salad, caprese pizza, caprese schmaese. But when I was challenged to come up with a tomato dish by our friendly Creative Cooking Crew, forgive me but I turned to those very Caprese ingredients. After all, there truly is something magical about the classic pairing of tomato and mozzarella and basil. Especially in summer. And what better way to bid farewell to the fabulous Summer of 2014, than with Caprese Summer Rolls – light, fresh, refreshing. These hand-held bites capture summer’s waning days in a tidy rice paper wrapper.

Caprese Summer Rolls Recipe

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Korean Soju Kimbap Bloody Mary

Korean Soju Kimbap Bloody Mary

A Unique Bloody Mary Blend of Soju and Vegetable Juice
Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Gochugaru
Garnished with
Kimbap, Pickled Yellow Radish, Tomato
Celery Stalk with Roasted Seaweed

It’s late in the evening on a hot steamy summer night. Come, join us on the patio. We’re having a cocktail that is sure to perk you up, and it’s served complete with its own anju (snacks enjoyed while drinking alcohol).

Soju is a Korean alcoholic beverage distilled from rice that has slightly floral and barely sweet flavors. Pleasantly light with a round mouth-feel and an alcoholic content of 20%, it is usually enjoyed neat, sipped from a shot glass. With about half the alcohol content as vodka, soju is also a perfect spirit to pair with our unique Korean Bloody Mary mix, it is tasty as well as refreshing…

Our Korean Bloody Mary mix is a blend of soy sauce for salty-umami flavors, fish sauce for sour-umami flavors and depth, rice vinegar for a bright acidic note, and gochugaru, a Korean red chili powder that is definitely spicy but also has a balanced fruitiness, slight smokiness and depth of flavor from the sun-dried red peppers.

The rim of the glass is coated with a smoky mix of gochugaru, smoked paprika, Kosher salt, and celery salt. Enjoy smoky, spicy, salty flavors even before taking the first sip.

Now for the anju: We have danmuji, a Korean yellow pickled radish that is sweet, sour and crispy. And while our Bloody Mary is garnished with that ubiquitous celery stalk, it is served with a twist! The “tree” is decorated with strips of gim, a seaweed that is roasted with sesame oil and seasoned with sea salt. Munch on crispy strips of gim while sipping the spicy cocktail. And finally, kimbap is a seaweed rice roll filled with yellow radish, spinach, carrot, egg, and fish cake. With so many flavors packed in a tidy little package, kimbap makes a snappy colorful addition to our Korean Bloody Mary.

Korean Soju Kimbap Bloody Mary Recipe

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