Allrecipes FB Live: Ocean Spray #GrapefruitGourmet

It's always a pleasure when I get to be on-camera talent for work, and last month I hosted the Allrecipes Facebook Live presented by Ocean Spray. I was joined by the lovely Ashley Rodriguez from the blog Not Without Salt, and together we cooked up a bunch of tasty things for spring parties!  The star of the show was the winning Ocean Spray #GrapefruitGourmet recipe -- Cranberry Grapefruit Cheese Tarts with Zesty Thyme and Peppercorn Sprinkles. Bomb! We also made some delicious party mix, sangria and spicy margaritas!

Allrecipes FB Live 360: Chef Shiro Kashiba

Chef Shiro Kashiba and his son, Ed Kashiba 

A few weeks ago Allrecipes had the honor of dining with world-renowned Sushi Chef, Shiro Kashiba, for our very first Facebook Live 360 Video! The icing on the cake? Enjoying the traditional (and insanely delicious) Omakase-style meal with his son, Ed Kashiba (Director of Operations).

For those who are unfamiliar with the term "omakase", it roughly translates to "I'll leave it up to you" and is a form of dining where you allow the chef to guide your experience. Whether you're new to the world of sushi, or a seasoned pro, it was a beautiful experience giving up control and allowing veteran Chef Shiro to show off his top picks of the day.

Let me also say that this was the best sushi I've ever had in my entire life. Ever. Every single pick Chef Shiro placed in front of us was delicious, but the highlight for me was the spot prawn! He started by showing off the fresh, LIVE prawns to us... then worked his magic to take them to a crispy, crunchy level of mind-blowing culinary perfection. I'd never eaten an entire prawn, and Chef Shiro showed me all I'd been missing out on. This is a MUST try if they have them on the menu.

Chef Shiro and fresh spot prawns

Moments Later: The best prawns I've ever had

Spot Prawn Perfection

Note: We were dining during their regular business hours, so we didn't set up any lights or additional mics. This is a pretty authentic experience and gives you an accurate idea of what the Omakase experience is like with Chef Shiro. Facebook's 360 technology actually feels like you're part of the dining experience since you can rotate the video around and see everything that's going on. Use your mouse to scroll around, or move your phone, for a totally immersive experience!

If you're in Seattle, run (don't walk) to Sushi Kashiba located in Pike Place Market. They open daily at 5p and have been known to have a line start as early as 4p, since bar seating with Chef Shiro and other chefs are first come, first serve.






Check out the video below!

My 1st Allrecipes FB Live: "Friends with Benedicts"

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and I absolutely LIVE for a weekend brunch, so I was thrilled I had the opportunity to represent my company, Allrecipes, and host our brunch-themed Facebook Live! I was joined in the Seattle AR Kitchen by the lovely food blogger Holly Haines, creator of "From My Impossibly Tiny Kitchen" and we slayed the perfect DIY Benedict Brunch Bar.

Between the poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, a lot of people have felt overwhelmed and shied away from making benedicts at home. As someone who has worked in the Allrecipes office for 3+ years, I've grown to enjoy cooking and trying recipes outside of my comfort zone -- and the idea of poaching eggs definitely fell under the "feels too intimidating to try on my own" category. Using Holly's recipes totally demystified the process and made the poached eggs and sauce attainable to recreate at home, on my own. I swear these were all SUPER easy! Don't believe me? Just watch the video!

On a personal note, it felt amazing to be given the opportunity to be the "face" of the AR brand for that video -- just standing there as a Black woman, with my big ass natural hair... in the kitchen with another dope Black woman... sharing my love of brunch, on-camera hosting and connecting with an audience. It was peak #BlackGirlMagic.

On top of that, black women are still underrepresented in media, so I applaud AR for seeing the beauty in diversifying our on-camera talent. Representation matters, so I'm hoping this is the beginning of something new for Allrecipes.

All of the recipes we made are now available on the site. Be sure to tag @Allrecipes and use the hashtags #Brunchworthy and #FriendswithBenedicts so we can see all of your lovely brunch creations.

RN74 Seattle Executive Sous Chef John Sheffey preps Lobster for Lobster Pot Pie

Back in October of 2016, I had the pleasure of attending a Seattle Yelp Elite event hosted at RN74 in downtown Seattle. One of the perks of being Yelp Elite was being able to have access to the restaurant outside of their regular business hours, and getting to meet the staff who make it all happen.

During a tour of the kitchen, Natalie and I hit it off with Executive Sous Chef, Chef John Sheffey. Not only was he personable and a good sport about all of the Seattle Yelp Elites invading his kitchen, he also took the time to explain what goes into getting that delicious food from the kitchen to our tables.

The day we were there, Chef Sheffey was prepping lobster for the lobster pot pie that'd be on the menu that night. As you'll see in the video, he showed us the most humane way to kill.

As a lover of seafood, I think it's important to understand the way your food gets to the table... however, based on my commentary you can tell I was struggling with the entire process. I think everyone should be required to see how their food gets from "farm to table" and truly have a high regard for the life you're taking, just to consume.

On a sidenote, I appreciated the diversity in the kitchen at RN74. Seeing so many people of color, especially a black executive sous chef, made me smile. Food is something everyone has in common and has the power to unite us!

For more information on Chef Sheffey and RN74 Seattle, check out their Instagram.

Baked Kale Chips #627Eats

Despite how many times I've made this recipe, it never fails that I forget the oven temp and bake time. It's actually comedic at this point, but maybe I can blame aging. Nevertheless, I always refer back to my Allrecipes account, which makes my life in the kitchen a million times easier when I'm using a recipe. Yes, I work for the brand. Yes, these opinions are authentically mine... and keeping it 100, it's the largest digital food brand in the world, so there's no need to fake the funk or draw in folks with inauthentic reviews.

My go-to Baked Kale Chips recipe has been made over 3k times, with over 1700 reviews! As the saying goes, there's no need to re-invent the wheel, so sometimes it's nice to hop on the site and find a recipe that's already been proven successful.

I've never tasted store bought kale chips, so I can't speak to how these would compare to what you can buy already made... but for me these are super easy to make and satisfy my craving for something crunchy (like a bag of chips).

Click Here for Recipe 

Recipe Tips:

1. I never have parchment paper in my house, but googled an alternative using foil rubbed down with butter. This is the way I do it each time and tend to go light on the butter... just enough to coat the foil.

2. If you don't have a salad spinner to dry your kale, do your best to make sure it's dry before throwing it in the oven. Having your kale as dry as possible to start is the key to getting crispy, not soggy kale chips.

3. If I use butter with salt, I go lighter on the sea salt and black pepper I top my kale with.

4. Don't drown your kale in olive oil -- this is another way you can end up with soggy kale chips. I think a light drizzle is just enough.



If you're on Allrecipes, feel free to add me as a friend! We've made the site more social and I'd love to stalk your recipes, reviews and food pics. Accounts are free to create.


Images via Allrecipes.com