the petite pig

tribute to beth

for those of you who tuned into episode 3 of "the next food network star," you saw the beautiful beth raynor get eliminated. i've asked evette rodriguez, food network star finalist and future latin queen of sofrito, to pay tribute to this wonderful woman.

beth, a woman of intelligence, wit and great beauty said her goodbyes in a delicate and graceful fashion yesterday. her departure brought those closely associated with her to tears. something you cannot possibly know about her is that she is very engaging, bordering on ridiculously funny. what the judges did not see on camera, we saw everyday in the green room and during our many shared evenings together. beth knows what she wants out of life and she won't conform or change who she is to get it.  she is a professional and in my opinion, tackled every task as such.

ditto to that.

visit evette's website at www.evyskitchen.com.

asian bolognese, cooked and plated this time around

click below to see how asian bolognese is really made.

so, tonight i did something i thought i wouldn't be able to do for a long, long time again - get back in front of a camera and do a demo. in a small way, this is my attempt to redeem myself as a cook not in other people's eyes, but in my own eyes. in the past week since the show has aired, there has been a lot of "noise." for me, most of it has been good noise - i have received many wonderful emails with words of support, encouragement and praise. however, when you put yourself in the public spotlight, people feel that they have free reign to have an opinion on you and of course, not all of it is good. no matter how thick your skin is (and having been raised by a very chinese mother, i have pretty thick skin), you can't help but feel that initial sting. sadly, some of that bad "noise" has made me doubt myself and question whether i belong in a kitchen at all. when i dig deep down inside, i know the answer is, "shake it off, move on and get back in there" and that is just what i'm going to do.

i also thought i owed it to this dish - asian bolognese - to show you all a completed version of it. this is something you will never find in a restaurant. in fact, i have never found it anywhere besides my parent's kitchen. many delectable creations have come out of the dang kitchen, but i think this is one of the best. it's a little bit italian, a little bit chinese which is fitting of my culinary background. bolognese, because it is esentially a meat sauce. chinese, because it is served over silky tofu and uses soy sauce and rice vinegar as its foundation of flavor. the heartiness of the meat is complimented by the incredibly light taste of the fresh tomatoes and of course the delicate feel of the tofu. it is quick-and-easy, at least it is when there isn't a stage manager breathing down your neck and a selection committe scrutinizing you in the corner. i hope it makes it to your kitchen sometime soon.

a huge thanks goes to my camera man, director, editor, all around great friend james lin for staying up with me till 2 am to film and edit this demo. you rock.

i hope this is the first of many demoes i put up on the petite pig, and i hope each one gets better and better. send me your comments and feedback. and of course, if you do end up cooking this dish, let me know how it goes.

the following recipe for asian bolognese varies slightly different to the one submitted to the food network. use this one instead.

******************************************asian bolognese
serves 4
cooking time: 20 minutes1 lb ground meat
1 tsp salt & 1 tsp pepper
four tomatoes
2 tbs olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, diced
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp rice or rice wine vinegar
2 tbs cold water
1 tbs corn starch
1/2 lb tofu
cooked jasmine rice (recipe below)
2 tbs parsley, mincedthere are three ways to prepare the tomotoes for recipe. one requires blanching and shocking the tomatoes to remove the skin. if you are short on time, i recommend that you just dice or cut the tomatoes into eighths and skip step two.season ground meat with salt and pepper in medium sized bowl. set aside.bring 2 quarts of water to boil. while waiting for water to boil, prepare an ice bath. carve the tops out of each tomato (the part that connects the tomato to its stem). when water boils, place tomatoes into boiling water for 45 seconds. remove and place immediately into ice bath. let sit in ice bath for two minutes. remove skin and cut into eighths.heat 1 tbs of olive oil over medium-high heat in wok. add half of minced garlic. when you start to smell the garlic, add ground meat. break up meat with wooden spoon. cook until meat begins to brown but is not fully cooked through. remove meat from wok and set aside in medium-sized bowl.return wok back to medium-high heat. put second tbs of olive oil into wok. add remaining garlic. when olive oil and garlic are ready, add diced onion. cook onion until it becomes translucent. add tomatoes. let tomatoes simmer and juice up, stirring occasionally. while tomatoes are cooking, prepare tofu. cut tofu into 1/4 to 1/2 inch cubes. place in microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes on high. mix together soy sauce, vinegar, cold water and corn starch. when the tomatoes have softened and are juiced up, add ground meat back into tomato sauce and turn heat to high. clear an area in your wok for your flavoring base. when wok has reached high heat, pour in flavoring base. let it sit for ten seconds. sauce should begin boiling and thickening. lower heat to medium and stir. let cook for another thirty seconds.serve over tofu and rice. garnish with minced parsley.*******************************************************cooked jasmine rice
serves 4
cooking time 10 minutes 3 and 3/4 cups water
2 cups jasmine rice
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 tablespoon saltbring water and jasmine rice to boil. add peanut oil and salt. stir and turn heat down to low. cover and let simmer until rice has absorbed all the liquid, about 10 minutes.

what were you thinking putting all that meat in that wok?

so, after receiving over a hundred emails today, here are the answers to some of your most burning questions regarding last night's show:

what did morimoto say to you?:
"i would not serve your food to human beings."  no joke. but believe me, when someone like morimoto talks to you even if it's completely negative, you just smile. he's morimoto after all. what a culinary god. did you see what he did to that cucumber?

what were you thinking putting all that meat in that wok?:
i've definitely been thinking the same thing. believe me, this same question has haunted me for the past four months. i have spent many a sleepless nights going over those five minutes thinking about what i could have done better. for that challenge, each one of us was given a breakdown of our quick-and-easy recipe telling us what we needed to prep for our mise en place, what swapouts needed to be made and what we were to do on camera. in my breakdown, i was told to make a swapout for my tomato sauce but not my ground meat. in my initial read through it, i thought, "this can't be right. that meat is not going to cook in 2-3 minutes to allow me to do everything else." i should have listened to my gut and made that extra swapout for my ground meat rather than follow those directions, which i thought we had to do. still i could have remedied it by just putting just a little bit of meat in that wok. but when that camera turns on, it literally saps 50% of your intelligence. whatever game plan i had in my head would evaporate from my head. i've learned my lesson and what' done is done - no use in dwelling.

can i get the recipe for that asian bolognese?:
why, of course. not only will i put the recipe up later this week but i'll also put a video of me demo-ing the dish again (if i can figure out how). this time i will teach you how to cook meat rather than not cook meat - hopefully, i'll redeem myself somewhat as a cook. stay tuned . . .

also visit the food network site to read the journals we kept during the show. new videos are also up in the video gallery that give a great behind the scenes look.

who will be the next food network star?

who's your pick?

my marathon oscar speech

"the next food network star" series

entry number four: my marathon oscar speech

so, for all those who tuned it tonight, you know that i won’t be the next food network star. i know a lot of you are sad/angry/disgruntled for me, but don’t be, because worse things have happened, and i walk away from this experience with nothing but happiness, inspiration and appreciation. happiness that i got to take a huge risk to pursue something i love and not make a total fool of myself while doing so; inspiration to continue on my culinary journey after meeting seven talented and amazing chefs and personalities; and pure appreciation for having had the opportunity to experience something so unique and different. it was a tough decision to hear, but it was a fair decision. i was the only one who did not finish my dish in that last demo. seriously people, i demoed how to not cook meat for five minutes. i deserved the boot. however, if you still feel cheated, email the food network and let your voice be heard. 

i watched tonight’s 2 hour premiere surrounded by love, a huge smorgasbord of down home southern food and family (or the closest people i have to family out here in the bay area). the evening ended in a lot of satisfied bellies and a lot of hugs – i could not ask for a better way to watch my big tv debut. to me, the funniest thing was how stressed out everyone was during those two hours. if they were stressed out, you could only imagine what it was like going through those challenges . . . it was definitely not a piece of cake and i learned so much about both my strengths and weaknesses during that time.

 

i have faced a good number of challenges in my life, but i don’t think anything has really compared to the challenges i faced in that studio - never had i experienced such nausea for days on end. i did not sleep, could barely eat, had butterflies to the point where i felt like i just wanted to vomit all day long, was just one big sweaty mess- seriously, i would have been the perfect candidate for a “sure” deodorant commercial. everyday, the eight of us went to war together full of camaraderie and support for one another. i can sit here for days on end and try to convey this unique experience in words, but no one can really understand the challenges and stress we went through together but the eight of us. because of that, i will always feel a connection to these seven people that started out as strangers only 4 months ago and are now good friends. i wish all of them only the best. keep on watching because i guarantee you there will be much more great entertainment as well as a great showcase of talent.

lastly, lastly (i know, this is like the oscar speech that wouldn’t end and they've cued the music and i'm still shamelessly exploiting my few minutes of fame. what makes it worse is that i didn’t even win - ha!), i want to thank everyone for their support and vote of confidence over the past few months. in the past two hours, since the show has ended in the east coast, i have been inundated with phone calls, text messages and emails. i cannot explain how amazed i am by the community this little experience of mine has created. i have gotten emails from people i haven’t talked to in years to complete strangers just reaching out – it has been pretty darn cool. most importantly, i am so glad that “the petite pig” was born out of this experience. when i really try to understand what drove me to send in that audition tape – it wasn’t the desire to be on tv, cause believe me, i hated the camera – it was more the desire to share something i love – food – with people. perhaps the tv gig didn’t work out for me, but i hope to continue sharing my recipes, my culinary ruminations and love for food right here, and i hope you continue to visit even if i won’t be the next big tv star chef.

i know a lot of you on the west coast missed the broadcast due to your cable's scheduling. food network will be reairing all episodes. click here for the schedule.

now, some shout outs (this is going to be long, i warn you – i’ve got a lot of wonderful people in my life to thank. and if this has already gotten to “emo” for you, i do not suggest reading on cause it only gets worse.):

my dad, for calling me after the show to tell me how proud he was – regardless.

my mom, for calling me after the show to tell me to not be discouraged and asking, “what were you thinking putting all that meat in the wok?” (she is a very chinese mother)

my little bro, just for being there and always supporting everything his big sis does

tim, for encouraging me to pursue something i love, holding my hand every step of the way, eating my food everyday and telling me how good it is even when i know it sucks

carla, ilana, jill and rachel, for letting me flood your inboxes when this all was unfolding and being so excited for me

the pon, for taking me to a knife skills class as my birthday present (it came in handy until i had to filet that damn fish for morimoto) and one of the best foodie friends i could ask for

brent and jere, for promoting me on their blogs – you guys rock!

joyce, grace and michelle, for being my fellow chinese sisters and inspiring me to hold true to those asian roots in the kitchen

my company, for being so supportive, understanding and flexible with all of this craziness

everyone that worked on the show, for just being such wonderful people to be around

the producers of the show, for pushing me to find myself on camera and for not making me look like a complete fool on the show (thank you!)

andy, beth, carissa, evette, guid, nathan and reggie, for being the only people in the world i could imagine sharing this experience with

em, for making me smile even when i really just wanted to vomit

and to so many wonderful, wonderful friends – thanks for your love and support and undeserved confidence in me.

signing off for now . . . but don't worry, this won't be the last word from this pig. who knows? you just might see the petite pig the book . you just never know where life will take you.

latest press

san jose mercury news: food star search (3/15/06, print edition)

stanford daily: dicing the competition (3/15/06, print edition)

montgomery gazette: wj grad competes for cooking show (3/15/06, print edition)

plus, check out this week's tv guide for a spread on all 8 finalists (week of 3/13) and for all you bay area residents, catch me on live 105 (FM 105.3) this friday morning (3/17). beth raynor and me will be cooking and doing an interview!

the end of the beginning

"the next food network star" series
entry number three: the end of the beginning

i ended entry number two by saying, “the next few weeks following that email were going to be like nothing i had ever experienced.”

and i’d have to say, nothing could have prepared me for what would happen over the weeks that followed that email. it wasn't long before the pressure began as i had to turn around 24 original recipes and answers to a lengthy, lengthy questionnaire about myself and cooking in a very short amount of time. so for four days, i sacrificed my sleep and sanity in order to complete my work while trying to meet this deadline for all my food network materials. i would come home from work with a hodgepodge of ingredients, throw them together and pray they turned into something good. all cooks have original recipes – dishes we can make in our sleep but ask us for recipes, and we can probably offer you only estimates. to come up with real recipes that had exact measurements was a huge challenge. dishes i made on pure intuition suddenly needed to be quantified. was it a quarter cup of red wine versus a half cup? my answer would have to be, “i don’t now – just keep adding more until it tastes good.” however, “salt until it tastes right” or “sugar till it tastes good” were not acceptable forms of measurement by food network standards. between the saturday when i first received that email and the wednesday deadline, i came up with 24 original recipes (2 breakfast; 5 appetizers; 3 drinks; 1 dessert; 4 quick and easy; 4 signature; and 2 date night menus to include appetizers, entrée and dessert) and answered 65 questions about myself and my thoughts on food. even if i wasn’t selected as a finalist, i had a great time just getting to think about food and what it seriously meant to me.

shortly after turning my materials in, i was called by the producer who would be producing my backstory – sort of a “week in the life of jess dang” segment – for the show. it still wasn’t definite if it’d be one of the eight finalists, but they were going to start filming anyway because of their short timeline. so just days after turning in my materials, neil regan a freelance producer came out to film me for two days cooking in my teeny kitchen, working, biking around my neighborhood, volunteering with habitat for humanity, grocery shopping, cookbook perusing in my favorite local bookstore, planning my weekly menu, throwing a small dinner party for friends. we went through hours of interviews related to the answers on my questionnaire. i spent most of the time squirming in front of the camera, a habit i never really grew out of . . . you’ll see when you watch the show.

but even my backstory was filmed, i still did not know for sure if i was going to be on the show. finally, on november 21st just 9 days before filming was to begin, i got the final ok from sue. i was “in” and on my way to new york. work had been closely informed during this whole process and when i received the final ok, they were incredibly supportive in allowing me to take a three week leave of absence. i got calls from food network to arrange my travel to new york and from wardrobe to tell me what i could and could not wear on the show. it was all starting to become real, but i still had no idea what to expect. in the days after neil left and before i had to be in new york for the taping of the show, i tried to prepare myself for something, as i said earlier, that could not really be prepared for. i practiced what it might be like to be a cooking show host by borrowing a video camera from a friend and videotaped myself cooking while trying to entertain. they definitely make it look a lot easier on tv than it actually is in real life. definitely no hand-held cam would compare to what i would soon encounter on my first day of filming and my first challenge on the show.

remember to visit next monday, march 20th for my personal recap of episodes 1 and 2. and of course, tune in on sunday, march 19th at 9:00 pm for the two-hour premiere!

weekend rituals

every weekend, i sit down with my cookbooks and we have a lengthy conversation. we talk about what’s in season. we talk about exotic new ingredients. we talk about what new recipes i should attempt. ok, so we don’t actually “talk” but every weekend, i look forward to this time, where i get to be surrounded by the thoughts of chefs – professional and amateur, the seasoned and the rookies, the unconventional and the traditional – and it is almost like i can hear their creative thought processes; it is like i can hear them talking to me, like we’re sitting in the kitchens of their homes and they’re sharing with me the secrets of their craft. when i read a cookbook, i feel that i’m not only reading a biography but also learning about the tangible creations that have come out of a chef’s culinary journey. to me, flipping through the pages of a cookbook, is like going to an exhibit of an art museum. with both, you come to understand an artist, just through different mediums.

with a pretty hectic work schedule, this is not only my time to indulge in this passion of mine but without this time to think and plan, i would never be able to pull off cooking as much as i do during the week. each weekend, during this time, i select what recipes i’d like to try during the week. some are new, some are old standbys and some are new versions of old standbys. most are tailored in some way so they are practical for post-long-day-at-work kitchen ventures with the more time and labor intensive recipes reserved the for the weekend. after making my menus for the week, i will usually proceed straight to the grocery store (or in my case grocery stores) with my list in hand, and each night when i come home from work, everything i need for that night’s menu is waiting for me in my kitchen.

this last week, i chose two new recipes: cook’s illustrated the best recipe’s macaroni and cheese and michael chiarello’s baby back ribs with espresso barbeque sauce from food network favorites. combined with a couple of old standbys and some usual improving, i had 4 (relatively) quick-and-easy meals for the week.

saturday menu
roasted rack of lamb with a red wine reduction sauce
parsnip risotto
sautéed leeks and red peppers

this was a good weekend meal due to the risotto which takes a great deal of attention to prepare properly. i have made risotto dozens of times, but this was my first time using parsnips, which was inspired by march’s bon appetit.

monday menu
pork chops with a balsamic-fig apple sauce (recipe found below)
macaroni and cheese
slices of granny smith apples

these pork chops are my new spin on the old american classic, pork chops and apple sauce. the sauce can be made with white wine and a sweet vinegar. on that particular monday night, i used the subtle sweetness of a riesling to cut the tartness of the vinegar and the granny smith which i make into an apple sauce using my lemon zester. a friend recently gave me a bottle of balsamic-fig vinegar which was perfect for this sauce. if you can’t find that, try cider or champagne vinegar. and to the s the mac ‘n cheese recipe can be served straight out of a pot, an alternative to your typical baked mac ‘n cheese, which is ideal for a quick weeknight meal with the added bonus of saving you from washing a baking dish. i used both monterey jack and wisconsin sharp cheddar, as well as a couple shreds of gruyere.

tuesday menu
omelette with pesto sausage and cheddar
mixed greens salad with strawberries, blueberries, pecans, in a balsamig-fig dressing

for those of you who read my entry on february 22, 2006, you know that i love turning breakfast fare into simple dinners. if you’ve got some eggs and cheese lying around, you’ve got yourself something easy to make and eat. getting home at 8 that night, it was definitely the fastest thing i could whip up.

wednesday menu
baby back ribs with an espresso bbq sauce
roasted baby potatoes with white truffle oil
buttered corn

i think i’d have to vote this meal *meal of the week.* perhaps its my love for southern food, but there is something about licking bbq sauce off your fingers that makes ribs so delicious and so fun to eat. and truffle oil? – perfect for adding a bit of sophistication to even the most “down-home” of dishes.

**********************************************************

pork chops with balsamic-fig apple sauce
serves 4
cooking time: 15 minutes

4 pork chops, about 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup riesling (substitute with white wine or other dessert wine)
1/2 cup balsamic-fig vinegar (substitute with other sweet vinegar such as cider)
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 large granny smith apples, 1 peeled and sliced, 1 unpeeled

sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of pork chops. heat large skillet over medium-high heat. coat pan in olive oil. place pork chops in hot pan and sear for three minutes on each side. lower heat to medium. continue cooking on each side until meat reaches 160 degrees. remove from skillet and cover. remove skillet from heat and deglaze pan with riesling. lower heat to medium-low and add vinegar and chicken stock. let liquids simmer and reduce. when sauce begins to thicken, use a microplane/lemon zester or cheese grater and grate in unpeeled granny smith. cook for an additional minute. serve over pork chops. garnish with granny smith slices.

website up!

"the next food network star: season 2" website is up - check it out by clicking on the image below!

why i choose to run

inspired by dean karnazes’ ultramarathon man

last night i finished dean karnazes’ memoir ultramarathon man a true testament to what the human body is physically capable of. it was absolutely inspiring to read about this man who pushes himself to run distances unfathomable to even most long-distance runners. it was so inspiring in fact that i decided to sign up for the san francisco marathon today. so, if all goes well over the next few months, on july 30, 2006, i will have finished my second marathon. i know, a lot of you out there are wondering, why would any sane person want to push themselves to run such distances and put their bodies through such pain? karnazes’ final conclusion is, “i run because it always takes me where i want to go.” i wish i had something as profound to say, to explain why i choose to run, but i don’t. the explanation i have to offer is simple: i choose to run because it allows me to eat more. and that is not a joke.

karnazes starts off his memoir in the middle of an all-night run (which really becomes a night-then-day-then-night . . . you get the idea . . . run) where while running, he is balancing a whole cheesecake on a large pizza in one hand and using the other to eat these caloric monstrosities. if you were to see a guy out running in the middle of the night while carrying and eating a large pizza and a whole cheesecake, you’d first do a double take, but then you’d probably think, “i want to be that man.” reading karnazes’ food log for his solo-man relay race – 27,000 calories consumed over the course of two days – reminded me of the days of carbo-loading for my first marathon. ok, so i didn’t exactly consume 13,500 calories a day like karnazes, but i still had to eat a lot more than i was used to in order to meet the needs of training.

it was my junior year in college and i had decided to run the san diego rock ‘n roll marathon. thankfully, i was on an all-you-can-eat dining plan because i would have gone broke otherwise. i would go into the dining hall, pick up a tray, fill it up, bring it out to a table, and then go back into the cafeteria to fill up another tray to finally sit down and eat literally everything in front of me and still be hungry. it was pretty amazing. so, it looks like that’s what i’ll be doing over the next few months as i build back up to those 26.2 miles, except this time there will be no all-you-can-eat dining plan, which means a lot of new pasta dishes to experiment with until july. if you’ve got a good carb-heavy recipe*, please do share. and of course, i will make sure to do the same.

*this excludes all burrito recipes. for my first marathon, i decided that a chipotle burrito (god bless chipotle burritos otherwise) would be a good pre-race meal (hey, there’s rice in those burritos and rice=carbs?). i convinced all my fellow marathon-running friends of this too. needless to say, by mile 5 i definitely needed to veer off the course to take a much needed port-a-potty break. so, for anyone planning to run a marathon: burrito for pre-race dinner=bad idea. stick to pasta.