new job at Jelly Belly

Since October, I've been working at Jelly Belly in Fairfield in the International Marketing Department. Right now, a big part of my workload is planning for the tradeshows we will be attending in the coming year. The biggest one is the ISM in Cologne, Germany and the Gulfood show in Dubai in February 2012.

Homemade empanadas for my friend's birthday party

Today I made homemade empanadas for my friend's birthday party. Empanadas are a Spanish meat turnover. They're a popular snack food or side dish in Latin America and the Philippines.

As I've never had too much luck making my own pastries, I decided to buy the ready made empanada wrappers at the local Mexican bodega. They didn't have my favorite brand La Saltena empanada wrappers, which all my Latino friends and acquaintances recommend. I used the Goya brand, which is a workable substitute, but yields a lot less flaky pastry.

I started by cooking 1 lb. of ground beef and a chopped yellow onion:

I let that cook for a while and then added cumin, paprika, and a little bit of black pepper.

I let the meat simmer in that wonderfully smelling season mix and then added a can of pitted, chopped olives. Right before turning off the heat, I added a little bit of sugar and canned tomatos. The canned tomatos keep the meat moist when the empanada is being baked.

I then turned off the heat and added some raisins. I let the stuffing mixture sit covered for 5-10 minutes to let the raisins soak up some of the liquids.

Now for the time consuming part, building the empanadas. I added a couple of spoonfuls of filling with two slices of hard boiled egg on one wrapper. The trick is to lay the just enough filling at one end of the wrapper, so that when you fold it over, it will seal nicely and not spill out.

I sealed the empanada with a fork.

 Finally I had a cookie sheet worth of these empanadas made. I then brushed some egg on top of each empanada to give it a nice golden baked color. I then baked the empanadas for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees. I was quite pleased with the end results:

I made Chef Chu's Ma Po Tofu at Home

Chef Chu's is a white tablecloth Chinese restaurant located in Los Altos, CA. One year, I received the Chef Larry Chu's cookbook for Christmas:

One of my favorite Chinese dishes is Ma Po Tofu. I found the recipe for Ma Po Tofu in the cookbook. First you start out by cooking some ground pork:

After the pork is slightly brown, I added some chili paste and garlic:

I let that cook for a couple of minutes, then I added the sauce. It consists of chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar, Chinese rice wine, and a little bit of salt.

I then added a block of tofu chopped into cubes. I let everything braise for 5 minutes. Afterwards, I turned off the heat and added some cornstarch to thicken the liquid into a nice tasty sauce:

 and sesame oil and chili oil for a little extra flavor:



the end resulted in a tasty and spicy Schezuanese China favorite: Ma Po Tofu!



Delicious Peruvian food in the East Bay

I ate lunch at my favorite Peruvian restaurant this afternoon. It's called El Chalan. It's located in the East Bay Area in a town called El Sobrante. El Sobrante is a couple of highway exits north of Richmond, CA on the Highway 80.

I got there in time for the lunch menu, so I was able to enjoy more things as lunch menu was reduced price.

I started out with a delicious Peruvian chicken soup. It hit the spot as it was pouring rain outside.

The restaurant also serves toasted bread with aji de rocoto salsa. Basically it's served as a side just like Mexican restaurants always serve chips and salsa. The aji salsa had a spicy (boy was it spicy), savory and mustardy with a hint of peanut flavor.



To drink, I had a Peruvian soda called "Inca Kola." It's a golden colored, cream flavored soda. It used to be a Peruvian owned brand until Coca Cola bought them out.

My appetizer was my favorite dish at the restaurant. It's called "Papa Rellena" which translates to "stuffed potato." Basically it's a Peruvian version of Shephards Pie with the mash potato wrapped around the ground beef filling and then pan fried until it's golden brown.





My entree was "Tallarin Saltado."  Tallarines are spaghetti noodles and "saltado" means it was cooked in a "sartén" which is a frying pan. So the dish basically means spaghetti noodles cooked in the frying pan. Basically meaning it was delicious!

Great place to eat! Location is pretty close by to Vallejo. It saves me from having to go into the City to get good Peruvian food.

I saw the movie "Colombiana"

I saw the movie "Colombiana" this afternoon. The main character/protagonist Cataleya is played by Zoe Saldana. She is an assassin whose ultimate goal is to kill the the Colombian drug lord who had her mother and father murdered in front of her when she was a child.

The movie started off great with Cataleya as a little girl being chased through the slums of Bogota, Colombia. Great location shots in Chicago too. However, the movie lost steam the further into the story it got. The end was pretty predictable with a big showdown at the end. However, Cataleya puts a cold twist on the revenge served to Don Luis at the end and that sort of redeemed the film for me.

ONE LOVE / 上を向いて歩こう [SING OUT from JAPAN] 3.11.2011

a friend of mine sent me this Youtube link. Different people from the areas of Japan that were hit by the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami.

Some of you may recognize the song. For those who don't, it's called Ue o muite arukō better known as "Sukiyaki." Kyu Sakamoto sang it in the 60's.

The choice of the song is all the more powerful since the Japanese lyrics translate to "I will walk looking up so my tears won't fall."

 

How I'm going to beat a CA speeding ticket!

What the power of the Internet and a little spare time on your hands can give you! I recently received a speeding ticket (VC 22349a). I found this really helpful blog about a man who received the same type of ticket I did: http://saritsblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-i-beat-my-california-speeding.html. It gave me some really helpful advice and tactics on how to beat my ticket.

I was cited for doing 80 mph in a 65 mph zone, so that's a violation of VC 22349a which states:

22349. (a) Except as provided in Section 22356, no person may drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than 65 miles per hour.

This violation is a lot harder to beat in court (TBD or otherwise) than violation 22350:

22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property. 

I followed what Sarit did. I used my right under Due Process to request evidence from the citing agency.

CA Penal Code 1054.1 states:

1054.1. The prosecuting attorney shall disclose to the defendant or his or her attorney all of the following materials and information, if it is in the possession of the prosecuting attorney or if the prosecuting attorney knows it to be in the possession of the investigating agencies: (a) The names and addresses of persons the prosecutor intends to call as witnesses at trial. (b) Statements of all defendants. (c) All relevant real evidence seized or obtained as a part of the investigation of the offenses charged. (d) The existence of a felony conviction of any material witness whose credibility is likely to be critical to the outcome of the trial. (e) Any exculpatory evidence. (f) Relevant written or recorded statements of witnesses or reports of the statements of witnesses whom the prosecutor intends to call at the trial, including any reports or statements of experts made in conjunction with the case, including the results of physical or mental examinations, scientific tests, experiments, or comparisons which the prosecutor intends to offer in evidence at the trial. 

After a little question and answer session at the Alameda County Court located in the lovely city of Pleasanton, CA, I found I needed to send my request for evidence disclosure to the citing agency, which in this case would be the CHP Dublin, CA office. I sent in this request for evidence disclosure back on August 29th and I never received the requested evidence from the CHP aka CA State Revenue Collectors.

I waited until a few days before the due date to send in my Statement of Facts for the Trial by Declaration which I had requested from the Alameda County Court. It was due 9/20/11, so I'm just waiting for the slow wheels of Justice to turn. Wish me luck