Cobaya Guinea Pigs Miami (Updated)

Chef Jeremiah's shiny Gastropod roams Miami.
It took a year to build out. Often you'll see him
at Wynwood's Art Walk, 2nd Saturdays of the month.
Wonderful to pick up a yummy snack after trekking
into all the art galleries.

I'm certainly no gourmand or foodie but enjoyed seeing how this Cobaya was produced and meeting other foodies. I'm just the opposite spectrum of gourmet cooking, I focus on teaching easy, one-dish dinners using a cast iron wok. Food for Thought organizes these Cobaya Gourmet Guinea Pig dinners and did a great job! He named this one, Podzilla, mix of Gastropod and Chadzilla, and it's upscale 'streetfood'. Cobaya is an underground supper club in a secret location that's only revealed after you pay. You don't know what you're getting fed till you get there, hence "guinea pig". Subscribing is the only way to get into these Cobaya events!

Here's a bit about my own pursuit of good, reasonably priced Asian eats and cultural events in South Florida, I came up with Hoh Wok Club. I held a few gatherings but then good Asian restaurants dried up so I took a hiatus. I'm excited to work on a series of events with a few modern Asian eateries that have sprung up, so if you're interested, subscribe to my blog or visit my site for latest updates.

Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog explains Podzilla! It was fun to hop
from one station to another to pick up your next dish.

Chefs: Mike, Kurtis Jantz and Chad Galiano
(Chefs at Neomi, Trump International Beach
Resort, Sunny Isles, Florida.) Trio worked
under dim lights, sweltering heat and did a
great job! It's terrific they get a chance to
showcase their 'offbeat' side at this Podzilla
and we are eager Guinea Pigs!

Chowfather help set up!

DJ Kiko kept the energy UP! Enjoyed his music.

Lovely under the tent. It was quite humid. I slathered on Revlon's Skin So Soft to put off mosquitoes and humans (oops.) I sat with this wonderful enthusiastic foodie couple (in photo above.) Wow, they really get into it. Nice seeing blogger Paula of mangoandlime, I always enjoy reading her blog, she's written about other Cobaya dinners. Met another food blogger, tinkeringwithdinner. Take a look for his point of view!

I also sat next to a Korean/American attorney I met years ago at an APABA event. The real buzz is she's going to help prep for the next Top Chef. Can't reveal location. There was also a plastic surgeon, so you see, you just never know who you'll meet!

The problem I have with western style rectangular tables is that you only 'meet' and have conversations with your immediate neighbors. In Asia, you mostly see square tables or big rounds so you have eye contact with everyone at your table and the conversation and food can also be shared easily, all about 'community'.

It was really a lovely setting with the water and boats back
of the American Legions Park at 64th/Biscayne where
Harvey took over running the bar and restaurant. Thanks
to Harvey for hosting us. Never knew they had a view in the back.

Octo Salpicon was very tender and tasty, served with
Summer Spritzer of salted watermelon, tomato, tequilla.

Brine Fried Chicken, Big Mike's potato salad,
buttermilk-chicharrone biscuits.

French Quarter Chicken Livers with hot pepper fluid gel,
evoo-sea salt crackers.

"Baha" Fish Taco Salad: Swordfish, cabbage, chipotle,
tortillas, pico de gallo.

Bahn Mi Tacos: pulled pork in trotter jus, nuoc cham,
pickled radishes & cilantro salad
Mississippi Delta Tamales:
cornmeal tamale, tomatillo, tomato ketchup

Eddie Bragin did some incredibly intricate designs on these
stainless steel bottles used to dispense cream/foam?
Do visit Eddie's website to see his beautiful art and design.

Chefs assembling tamales.

Nice arrangement with floating candles and flower.

Steve, Blind Tastes chatting to Carla (Jeremiah's wife)
and baby Sydney. It was nice getting to know J & his
family and hear about their Pod trips.
If you live in Asheville, Weaverville, the
GastroPod is visiting July 3 & 4. Check his site
for latest schedule and his creative events.

I missed out on the Crispy White Corn Cake
(everyone raved about this dish and kept
rubbing it in just cause I missed it.) and Double
Decker Slider Burgers because everyone was
eating way too fast! Well, I couldn't fit in the
burger, I was stuffed. It got too dark to shoot
the two desserts: Root Beer & Bourbon Floats

and White Chocolate Cupcakes.

I would love to hear your personal take on an "underground" dinner in your town but keep it light.

Here are 2 reviews of 'underground' dinners. One from a reporter:
Steve Dolinsky, Adventures in Urban Eating. 12-time national James Beard Award-winner, occasional judge on Iron Chef America, currently Food/Lifestyle reporter for ABC7

And one from a food blogger and empty-nester:
She's Cookin

Here's a great listing of 'underground supper clubs" in other cities. Cobaya is listed.
http://www.saltshaker.net/underground-dining-scene

Wok Curry Beef

Wok Curry Beef - combining my 2 heritages

My mom is from S'pore and 

dad is Hakka but born in Malacca

Join me to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage month and cook up a simple Wok Curry Beef!

Thanks to New Asian Cuisine, a beautiful site that promotes the best in Asian culture and cuisine, who invited me to do a guest post. Do subscribe to their weekly newsletter, their site has good resources as well as delightful dishes from all over Asia.  For my full "recipe", visit New Asian Cuisine - Wok Curry Beef

My step-by-step photos and TIPS to make a quick, weeknight dish taste Asian after the jump:

Crispy Salt Shrimp

Finger Lickin' Crispy Salt Shrimp

Crispy Salt Shrimp is a finger lickin' dish that's so delicious even grown men like my husband doesn't mind peeling the shells! Making this dish always reminds us of several funny stories with the tea finger dip (story below.) To me, food is all about shared memories, experiences and associations and this dish definitely represents all three!

Fairchild's Food and Garden Festival

What a lovely way to spend a weekend!  I was invited to give a cooking demonstration and blog about Fairchild Garden's 2nd Annual Food and Garden Festival.

Schedule included a wide variety of cooking demos.

Banana nut cake for Ralph from Native Conch.

By the time I got there, nothing was left in the way of savory food!

I hope you'll make it to this event next year, it was a lot of fun meeting people who also enjoy fresh local produce and getting to know the farmers.  In the meantime, I encourage you to shop at your organic and farmer's market or visit Redlands if you live in Miami before it gets too hot!  My post on Seasonal Foods has lots of meal ideas and tips.

Nothing excites me more than seeing and smelling beautiful, fresh produce. 

I was a bit upset I didn't end up buying any produce because I'd just given a cooking class and always have  leftovers.  My parents went through a war so we were always taught never to waste food.  It drove me crazy to see all the food and not get any.

Selection of colorful and interesting combination of teas!

There was a lovely variety of farm produce.  I will be posting a series since there is so much to share. This first one will give you a little peak.

I had one of Gaby's Tropical Ice, cold, yummy and creamy mango.

She grows her own fruit to make these desserts!

What I love about giving live presentations is that it gives me a chance to interact with people. It's a great way to find out the problems people have with stir frying in a wok!

I prepped in Fairchild's lovely kitchen and practiced what I preach, see the chopping board with grocery bag for the trimmings?

Here's swiss chard, red bell peppers, mustard greens, zucchini and carrots.

My produce were generously sponsored by Whole Foods Market in Coral Gables.

Shrimp were rinsed and dried with paper towels. A very important step, so you don't dilute your marinade and also prevents your shrimp from getting tough and chewy.

 I didn't realize my friend, Irene took this picture behind me. 

My demo was very well attended with over 60 signed up for my free newsletter, thank you for your interest!  There were a lot of questions posed mostly by guys! Thanks to Fairchild staff and volunteers.

 

See Peter Kastan's Miami River Wall video who was a speaker at this event.  Miami River Wall's new living, hydroponic herb, chili, edible flower wall will be hosting a series of my Wok Star cooking class so I hope to see many of you there!

Hani Khouri cooking up a fresh batch of falafel.

He was featured in Edible South Florida's Spring Issue with his cute kid goats and online. Do subscribe or pick up your copy from your nearest Whole Foods Market. It's full of stories, resources and has a calendar of all things edible and organic. Thanks for listing my cooking classes.

Katie, Edible South Florida publisher/editor and Annie, Special Events, Fairchild Tropical.

 My lunch: Falafel with pickled radish and 

hummus wrap from Hani's Organics.

In an upcoming series, I'll share a video of Food Network Celebrity Chef, Simply Delicioso Ingrid Hoffman making a fabulous mango and papaya dish as well as many more wonderful food stalls.

One-Dish Wok Meals

Wontons and toufu with lettuce, straw mushrooms in soup.

In this post, I want to focus on weeknight dinners. Hence the One-Dish Wok Meals.

There are so many beautiful food blogs to get recipes from (see sidebar), so what I want to do is share a different approach to cooking. It's stress free because you don't have to run out for special ingredients, follow a recipe and there's very little cleanup. Cook the gourmet dishes when you have more time.

Yes, I cook my wontons in my wok.

Single guys tell me they enjoy showing off their wok cooking to their dates! This made me laugh especially when they said it makes them look like they know what they're doing.

My posts: Keep Cooking Simple and Tasty, Wok Up Your Own Creations and Stir Frying Without Recipes will give you the complete scoop on how to achieve this.

Why a wok? Because it heats up fast, cooks fast and washes up fast and best of all, you can use this one pan for cooking EVERYTHING, not just Asian stir frys. Less clutter, less oil, less washing up.

Toufu, green beans, cherry tomatoes, straw mushrooms cooked in CurrySimple's Green Curry Sauce.

(I won't repeat what I've already said in other posts about my preseasoned, lightweight cast iron wok. On my website, I explain in great depth and discuss different types of woks as well as technique to be successful.)

Simple stir fried bok choy and red bell peppers with dash of tamari and sherry.

Buy Char Siu (Chinese roast pork), mix with bok choy dish, dinner!

One-Dish Wok Meals is how my husband and I eat most weeknights and we never get tired of them. It's really a no-brainer, it gives you the right balance of protein and carbs.

That's how I was brought up, lots of veggies, less meat. I cut out eating starch a while back because I'm on the cusp of Type II Diabetes, I discuss this in Healthy and Delicious Snack Ideas. When my doctor first told me to cut back eating so much rice, I thought she didn't realize I was Asian! Asians eat rice at every meal. I cut back a little at a time and finally didn't miss not having it at all. When I understood starch drives up sugar levels, it was easy to give it up and see my energy soar. As mentioned, we'll have quinoa more often than rice or noodles. I get into more depth about Diets on my website.

I hear amusing stories from many husbands who are relegated to washing dishes, so you'll be pleased to know it takes less than two minutes to wash up for a One-Dish Wok Meal.

A typical washup takes less than 2 minutes.

As you can see, I use my cast iron wok for cooking many different things! I'd love to hear what you cook up in your wok?

Yummy Asian meatloaf steamed (ground turkey and omboshi plums)

Tilapia with veggies in soup.