30th Annual California Strawberry Festival: Berry Blast-Off Recipe Contest Finalist Announced

Chef Chuey Renteria and his culinary team at the Courtyard Marriott Oxnard have selected five contestants from 187 recipe submissions, the most recipes submitted year to date. On Tuesday, May 8, 2013, these five contestants had 1 hour to prepare their dishes for panel of judges ranging from chefs to culinary writers. If you have ever watched any food competition shows like Chopped, Top Chef, or Iron Chef, you know what it means to cook by the clock. When the timer started, burners and ovens were turned on as ingredient prep started. Lots of chopping was going on as the contestants were given the strawberries.

Tyler Deltoro from Sun Valley, ID prepared “Berry Buoy Croquettes, Floating in a Red Tide Sauce”. Interesting historical fact, his mom won the contest 20 years ago with the recipe she submitted. Michael Cohen from Los Angeles, CA prepared “Strawberry Risotto with Basil, Pine Nuts, and Balsamic Reduction”. Larissa Nelson of Fillmore, CA prepared “Oxnard Strawberry Coconut No-Bake Tiramisu”. Marc Slack from Simi Valley, CA prepared “Strawberry Sweet and Spicy Lettuce Wraps”. Winona Krieger from Agoura Hills, CA prepared “Strawberry Brulee (with Rockin Berry Brittle)”. As the minutes ticked down to 15 minutes, contestants were scrambling around trying to make their plate setups and prepare their main table presentation in the judging room. As the timer finally buzzed for the finish, Tyler brought his last plate to the table. Congratulations to all the contestants for their hard work, not only coming up with a recipe, but preparing it in 1 hour!

To read more and see slideshow, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/article/30th-annual-california-strawberry-festival-berry-blast-off-recipe-contest-final

Mahalo and hope to see you at the California Strawberry Festival on Saturday!

OC Food Diva

4th Annual California Wine Festival showcased CA wines and local food artisans

On April 20, 2013 at high noon, the 4th Annual California Wine Festival opened its gates to the early bird crowd who indulged in an extra hour of wine and food tasting. The extra hour was definitely worth the extra bucks to leisurely make your way through the different booths to find your favorite wines and taste all of the different food purveyors from local restaurants to specialty artisan food products.

Let’s take a tour of some of this year’s collection:

Rubio’s served up their Grilled Regal Springs Tilapia Taco topped with creamy chipotle sauce, salsa fresco, and Serrano slaw. The serving of tilapia was quite generous and succulent. Blackened would have been preferable to add a little more flavor to the fish as tilapia is a very bland fish and needs just a little punch of spices to bring out more flavor. But for a wine fest, tacos are a great way to prep the stomach for the alcohol ahead.

To read more and see slideshow, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/review/4th-annual-california-wine-festival-showcased-ca-wines-and-local-food-artisans

Mahalo and hope to see you next year!

OC Food Diva

National Moscato Day is May 9th

May 9^th is officially National Moscato Day, established by Gallo Family Vineyards last year. Gallo has a recipe bank on their website for food and wine pairings. Let’s take a look at some of them to help you celebrate.

Gooey Blondies are decadent and wonderfully paired with Moscato. The base is almost like a caramel from the melted butter and brown sugar. The blondies turned out like a combination between a cake, brownie, and cookie all in one. I changed it up a bit by substituting semi-sweet chocolate chips in place of peanut butter chips. I would probably do a combination of chocolate and peanut butter chips next time.

To read more delicious recipes and see slideshow, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/article/national-moscato-day-is-may-9th

Mahalo and Happy National Moscato Day!

OC Food Diva

Spreading Some California Love, One Strawberry At A Time.

Here's the latest infographic from the California Strawberry Commission:

Let California Rancher spice up your next meal

Mike Keller is the spice mastermind behind California Rancher, a spice and sauce company right here in SoCal. California Rancher was born in April 2012 after months of development of these all-natural products. Mike’s mom was an inspiration to him, by being a good cook herself, and teaching cooking techniques that stuck with him. As he started to get older, he began to travel and noticed that food was a great way to experience new places and then relive his adventure through recipes from his travels.

California Rancher is a celebration of California flavors with our all-natural ingredients. It can be described as “Paso Robles” in a bottle. Its namesake tips its hat to the tradition of hard work, the bounty of harvest, and a well-deserved meal at the end of the day – a day in the life of California agriculture.

California Rancher’s all-natural products are made to enhance good ingredients and not to overpower. These just aren’t for the BBQ but for everyday use. Everyone should have a jar of Santa-Maria-style seasoning in their kitchen to replace their salt and pepper. It’s fantastic on everything from a ribeye steak to fried eggs to roasted vegetables. Monterey Seafood seasoning is delicate and can be used on scallops, shrimp, or on a good piece of halibut. The Oaky & Smoky BBQ sauce has a highly complex flavor and is very different from any BBQ sauce on the market. 

To read more and see slideshow, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/review/let-california-rancher-spice-up-your-next-meal

Mahalo,

OC Food Diva

New Spring Menu at Pinot Provence in Costa Mesa, CA

Pinot Provence opened in 1998 and is located inside the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel. The outer entrance was a little hard to find. The driveway is located between the hotel and Scott’s Seafood. Look for the Pinot Provence Valet Parking sign. The exterior is reminiscent of a French chateau with its staircase leading you to an oak door entrance. The beautiful outdoor patio has lots of ambient lighting, just the right setting for a spring luncheon.

Newly appointed Executive Chef, Alfonso Ramirez, shared some highlights of the new spring menu. There is a delightful emphasis on the light and subtle side of rustic French cuisine for the new season. Let’s take a look:

Crab and Melon Salad is Cavaillon melon, Dungeness crab, coriander yogurt, and port wine. It was light and colorful. The crab and melon flavors paired well together. The artful use of thinly sliced watermelon as a background made a beautiful presentation. Thumbs up!

To read more and see slideshow, please visit: http://www.examiner.com/review/new-spring-menu-at-pinot-provence-costa-mesa-ca

Mahalo,

OC Food Diva

Press Release: City of San Diego Approves First Weekly Food Truck Gatherings in Downtown San Diego

San Diego, CA – April 10th, 2013 – Downtown San Diego is now welcoming gourmet food trucks each week on Wednesdays for lunch and Thursdays for dinner. A rotation of six to seven different food trucks will be serving on Wednesdays from 11am to 2pm on West B St between India St & Columbia St and on Thursdays from 5:30pm to 9pm on J St between 3rd Ave & 4th Ave.  

Both events are approved by the City of San Diego’s Special Events Department and are scheduled to run on a weekly basis through the end of the year. Although there have some complaints from nearby businesses, over 500 residents from the community have showed their support and signed a petition to keep these weekly food truck gatherings going. 

To show your support and keep gourmet trucks in downtown San Diego, you can sign the petition at https://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-san-diego-support-organized-gatherings-of-food-trucks-in-downtown-san-diego.

The events are organized by Curbside Bites, a food truck booking service. Curbside Bites currently manages over 14 other weekly gourmet food truck gatherings in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties. The weekly truck schedule for these two events, and all of Curbside Bites’ other food truck gatherings, can be found at http://www.curbsidebites.com/calendar/. 

   

Contact:

Christian Murcia

E: cmurcia@curbsidebites.com

P: (714) 718-1330