Well its the first weekend in awhile since I have cooked and I decided I wanted to make some Bolognese.

Zov’s Neighborhood Cafés in Newport Coast and Irvine will feature a week of “Family and Values” from Monday, May 11 through Sunday, May 17.

Learn how to make pasta with Food Network’s Adam Roberts from FNDish and Marc Forgione from Forge.

Formerly Saigon Grill, it is now the Pho Ha Noi. I went in with some expectations, but sadly walked away disappointed. I think the first clue should have been that the place was empty…

I recently gave some advice to a co-worker about how I like to cook a filet mignon. When he came back to me the next morning he told me that his filet was a bit tough and that his meat really stuck to the pan…

So remember that huge bowl of soup that I couldn’t finish at Mentatsu? Well, the next day I had it for lunch, but I changed things up a bit. Not happy with my soup from the night before, I needed to fix it my way…

So, to transform this Filipino dish to my way I changed a few things up in this Beef Mechado. My mom made this dish often. She usually did it in under an hour and the meat was always too tough that we had to chew - alot…

The dish is called Bistek (derived from “beef steak”). Basically, it is strips of beef cooked in soy sauce, onions and something called calimansi juice. My version is just a bit different…

Well I had a few different ingredients in the fridge and decided to try a quick stirfry. In my wok I had beef, onions, ginger, scallions, baby bok choy, broth, soy sauce, sesame oil and shiitake mushrooms. I don’t have any exact measurements for you as it was all “on-the-fly” or shall I say “fry” cooking…

I have no idea what this dish is called. It’s a dish my mom made often and is something I yearn for once in a while. The ingredients are fairly simple. It’s not a fancy dish by any means and it doesn’t photograph well - most Filipino dishes don’t for some reason…

It only made it to about 68 degrees here in SoCal. All day I have been in the mood for soup. I have been craving Thai Coconut Crab Soup for some reason. The smell of Thai basil and cilantro mixed with the sweetness of the coconut milk and that hit of spice from the sambal….get out of my way, it’s time for soup!

This was a wonderful dish. The “bread pudding” part of it was very tasty and adding some of the flesh from the pumpkin just added a nice touch. I scooped out the bread pudding and then scraped the pumpkin from the outer skin…

So remember a couple of days ago I made some chicken stock? I used the chicken and shredded the chicken, discarding the bones and skin. I later took the stock and put some in the freezer for future use and the rest will be used for the pot pies. The following recipe is an adaptation of Tyler Florence’s Chicken Pot Pie recipe…

Many of you probably ask, why go thru all the trouble of making stock when you can go and buy fairly good stock at the market? My answer, when you have time to make stock, take advantage of it. Making your own stock will always taste better than anything you buy in a store…

Well after the fiasco with me forgetting to put the compact flash card in my camera, I made sure it was in this time. So having leftover mushrooms from the last risotto, I decided to do the risotto again. To serve with the risotto I pan seared a salmon fillet and finished it off in the oven…

I was snapping pictures of my dinner, had a new lighting setup. The camera was cooperating, the pics in the viewfinder and the LCD screen were gorgeous…

So remember that Roasted Pork belly I roasted last night? I finally had my “first” taste tonight. Absolutely delicious! Now, it would have been much better fresh out of the oven on Thursday, but a warning to those wanting to make it - wait for the weekend!

When growing up my parents and their friends often got together. On special occasions they would have Lechón (in Tagalog it’s called Litson) which is a roasted suckling pig. All I can remember is that the skin was golden and crimson. I also remember the crackling sound it made as the first cleaver came down…

I love Dim Sum - there is no doubt about it. Tonight I decided I was going to attempt to make Shiu Mai, Pork Dumplings…

I was catching up with my cooking shows on TiVo and came across a repeat of Jamie Oliver’s show, Jamie at Home. Today’s episode was centered on mushrooms. Jamie was out in the woods picking wild mushrooms with his friend they sit log-side and make a Wild Mushroom Bruschetta - yes, in the middle of the woods.

Fried you say? Yes! I was at one of my favorite sushi places, Wasa Sushi, in Lake Forest. It was there that I had this dish for the very first time. I saw it on the menu and had to try it. It is usually served with butter infused with truffle oil to dip in…

This is a dish I often cooked up for some co-workers at Mattel. It was done in secret in the back IT room - secret, of course, until the aromas started to fill the office spaces near the back IT room. It was a hit! I made it fresh with woks in hand. Friends lined up for seconds…

I haven’t made this dish in quite sometime. But reading it again makes me want to make it. Last time I made this dish was probably in 2002. Time to make it again and soon…

This is one of my favorite quickest dishes to make. I’ve made it several times when needing something quick for dinner. I always keep a few cans of minced clams in my pantry…

This recipe comes from my original blog, World of Scott Mindeaux, and tranferring it to this blog. I don’t remember where I got this recipe, but I have made it and can’t wait to make them again. They make great appetizers. Sorry there is no picture to go with this recipe, but next time I make them, I’ll be snapping a few pics I’m sure…

I was reading a recent blog entry on Dorie Greenspan’s website for a wonderul Baked Stuffed Pumpkin. I’m heading to the Farmers’ Market on Saturday and just might find the perfect sized pumpkin to try this recipe out…