Show 507, January 14, 2023: Brianne Grajkowski, food & lifestyle blogger with Cooking with Kids

Momprenuer Brianne Grajkowski

Brianne Grajkowski’s Cooking with Kids – Fun, Easy, Approachable Recipes to help Teach Kids How to Cook is, perhaps, the ultimate kids’ cookbook for parents to get their children involved in the kitchen. This must-have book features 101 fun, approachable, carefully chosen and easy recipes that will teach kids how to cook simple dishes and drinks for every meal of the day. From smoothies and savory Hawaiian waffles to a salami grilled cheese, chicken quesadillas, pumpkin cheesecake bites, sweet potato fries, and so much more, each kid-friendly recipe includes easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, helpful visuals, and engaging photography that will help them grow in the kitchen as they learn to use different kitchen utensils and tools.”

“Have a blast as you supervise and bond with your child while they grow their basic cooking skills and make delicious meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and beyond with Cooking with Kids!”

Bri graciously shares with us the two recipes from Cooking with Kids that she demonstrated in her virtual presentation for the Melissa’s World Variety Produce food writers. These are the easy-to-prepare Jicama Mango Salad and Bruschetta.

Brianne Grajkowski is our guest with kid-safe knife in hand.

Brianne Grajkowski is a food and lifestyle blogger behind the site BriGeeski.com. A mom of two who is known for creating fun and easy recipes she makes with her kids, Brianne is also an artist, creative entrepreneur, graphic designer, and adventure seeker who shares everyday recipes, travel ideas, things to do in San Diego, and life as a mompreneur.”

To learn more about Brianne, visit her website or follow her on social media.

Jicama Mango Salad

Jicama Mango Salad by Brianne Grajkowski

Recipe excerpt from:
Cooking with Kids – Fun, Easy, Approachable Recipes to help Teach Kids How to Cook
by Brianne Grajkowski

Serves 4 / 15 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Mangos
  • 1 Small Jicama
  • 1 Bunch of Mint
  • 1 Lime

Instructions

Cut mango into thin slices. Cut off skin of jicama and cut into thin slices Chop mint. Place mango and jicama slices onto a plate. Squeeze a lime onto the fruit Sprinkle with mint. SLICE THIN! Cut the fruit into long thin slices for optimal taste!

Bruschetta

Bruschetta by Brianne Grajkowski

Recipe excerpt from:
Cooking with Kids – Fun, Easy, Approachable Recipes to help Teach Kids How to Cook
by Brianne Grajkowski

Serves 6 / 15 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Baguette, sliced 1 inch thick
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil for bread, 2 Tablespoons for tomatoes
  • 1 Cup Of Cherry Tomatoes
  • 1 Tablespoon of Garlic
  • 2 Tablespoons of Chopped Basil
  • 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

Instructions

Toast baguette slices with a drizzle of olive oil in toaster oven for 5 minutes. Dice cherry tomatoes into 1/4 inch pieces. Sauté tomatoes in olive oil and garlic for 3 minutes in a medium skillet on medium heat. Remove from heat. Add salt and basil and stir. Spoon onto each slice of baguette then serve. SPOON! Use a large spoon to scoop up the tomatoes and pour onto each slice of baguette.

January 14: Extraordinary Banana Pudding, Brianne Grajkowski, Ricardo Zarate, Sweet Carolina’s Macarons

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris
Segment Two: Toran Grays, Proprietor, Extraordinary Banana Pudding, Participant, Long Beach Black Restaurant Week
Segment Three: Brianne Grajkowski, food & lifestyle blogger with Cooking with Kids
Segment Four: Executive Chef Ricardo Zarate, Colibri Peruvian Cantina, Hollywood Part One
Segment Five: Executive Chef Ricardo Zarate, Colibri Peruvian Cantina, Hollywood Part Two
Segment Six: Sweet Carolina Macarons with Baker / Proprietress Carolina Larrea Part One
Segment Seven: Sweet Carolina Macarons with Baker / Proprietress Carolina Larrea Part Two
Segment Eight: Chef Andrew Gruel, Co-Host, with “Ask the Chef”

“The city-wide 2nd annual Long Beach Black Restaurant Week will take place January 22-29, 2023. Long Beach Black Restaurant Week will be an avenue to bring everyone to the table, from all walks of life, to showcase the city’s diverse Black food scene. Organized by Long Beach Food & Beverage, a California registered 501(c)3 non-profit, Long Black Restaurant Week is an eight day, city-wide event devoted to celebrating African, African American, and Caribbean fare in and around Long Beach. The event also seeks to highlight Black-owned food businesses as well as Black chefs and bartenders.” One of the participating gourmet specialty food products firms in Long Beach Black Restaurant Week is Extraordinary Banana Pudding founded by Toran Grays in La Mesa in 2020. In October of 2021 Toran opened his 2nd Extraordinary Banana Pudding shop on Long Beach Blvd. We’ll meet him.

Brianne Grajkowski’s Cooking with Kids – Fun, Easy, Approachable Recipes to help Teach Kids How to Cook is, perhaps, the ultimate kids’ cookbook for parents to get their children involved in the kitchen. This must-have book features 101 fun, approachable, carefully chosen and easy recipes that will teach kids how to cook simple dishes and drinks for every meal of the day. From smoothies and savory Hawaiian waffles to a salami grilled cheese, chicken quesadillas, pumpkin cheesecake bites, sweet potato fries, and so much more, each kid-friendly recipe includes easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, helpful visuals, and engaging photography that will help them grow in the kitchen as they learn to use different kitchen utensils and tools.” Brianne Grajkowski is our guest with kid-safe knife in hand.

L.A.’s favorite Peruvian chef, Chef Ricardo Zarate (Causita) is now in Hollywood (in the former Los Balcones space on Vine Street) with the Colibri Peruvian Cantina Pop-Up. “It’s his sophisticated take on rustic Peruvian cuisine highlighting how it balances the opposites of hot and cold, acid and starch, and bright, colorful spices and flavors with mellower ones. Peru’s culinary heritage is incredibly diverse, melding together ingredients and techniques from Africa, Europe and East Asia, and Chef Ricardo celebrates this mélange of global flavors at Colibri Pop-Up.” There is also a menu of intriguing hand-crafted cocktails including the Chica Sour with pisco, Peruvian purple corn, lime, egg white, simple syrup and Angostura Bitters. It’s Dinner only. Chef Ricardo Zarate takes a break from his busy Colibri Kitchen to join us.

Our always on-the-go Social Media and Website Guru, Adam Bell, gets around town and is on the hunt for good food. He was fortunate enough to be invited to the premier party in Hollywood for HBO MAX’s Season Two of the acclaimed series, “The White Lotus.” Adam enjoyed the festivities (almost as good as a stay in Sicily) but as a foodie in good-standing what made the biggest impression with him was the gift box of French macarons from Sweet Carolina Macarons. Further research was then absolutely in order. The creator of Sweet Carolina Macarons is Carolina Larrea a graphic artist turned artisan baker. After the recovery from COVID she wanted to try something new and had been a serious home baker. Her flavors are Strawberries and Cream, Lemon Granache, Chocolate Granache and Chocolate Ganache with a Dulce de Leche heart. Baker Carolina Larrea continues as our guest.

Our own Chef Andrew Gruel the Founder of Big Parm (New Jersey-style pizza), Two Birds and the soon to launch, full-service Calico Fish House (in Huntington Beach) provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where Chef Andrew responds to listeners thoughtful inquiries. In the headlines this week is that Chef Rene Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, will close at the end of 2024 because the business model is unsustainable. In California Chef David Kinch’s Manresa, a 3-Star Michelin restaurant in Los Gatos, shuttered at the end of 2022. Is high-end fine-dining perhaps endangered? We’ll “Ask the Chef.”

All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness for the new year on this week’s not-to-miss show!

Toran Grays of Extraordinary Banana Pudding

“The city-wide 2nd annual Long Beach Black Restaurant Week will take place January 22-29, 2023. Long Beach Black Restaurant Week will be an avenue to bring everyone to the table, from all walks of life, to showcase the city’s diverse Black food scene. Organized by Long Beach Food & Beverage, a California registered 501(c)3 non-profit, Long Black Restaurant Week is an eight day, city-wide event devoted to celebrating African, African American, and Caribbean fare in and around Long Beach. The event also seeks to highlight Black-owned food businesses as well as Black chefs and bartenders.”

One of the participating gourmet specialty food entities in Long Beach Black Restaurant Week is Extraordinary Banana Pudding founded by Toran Grays in La Mesa In 2020. The original recipe was created by Toran’s great-grandmother and passed down by the women in his Family. In October of 2021 Toran opened his 2nd Extraordinary Banana Pudding retail store on Long Beach Blvd. We’ll meet him. Extraordinary Banana Pudding serves some 30 varieties of Banana Pudding along with Pudding Tacos, Pudding-Filled Cupcakes and even a Pudding Sandwich.

Momprenuer Brianne Grajkowski

Brianne Grajkowski’s Cooking with Kids – Fun, Easy, Approachable Recipes to help Teach Kids How to Cook is, perhaps, the ultimate kids’ cookbook for parents to get their children involved in the kitchen. This must-have book features 101 fun, approachable, carefully chosen and easy recipes that will teach kids how to cook simple dishes and drinks for every meal of the day. From smoothies and savory Hawaiian waffles to a salami grilled cheese, chicken quesadillas, pumpkin cheesecake bites, sweet potato fries, and so much more, each kid-friendly recipe includes easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, helpful visuals, and engaging photography that will help them grow in the kitchen as they learn to use different kitchen utensils and tools.”

“Have a blast as you supervise and bond with your child while they grow their basic cooking skills and make delicious meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and beyond with Cooking with Kids!”

Brianne Grajkowski is our guest with kid-safe knife in hand.

Brianne Grajkowski is a food and lifestyle blogger behind the site BriGeeski.com. A mom of two who is known for creating fun and easy recipes she makes with her kids, Brianne is also an artist, creative entrepreneur, graphic designer, and adventure seeker who shares everyday recipes, travel ideas, things to do in San Diego, and life as a mompreneur.”

To learn more about Brianne, visit her website or follow her on social media.

Chef Ricardo Zarate

L.A.’s favorite Peruvian chef, Chef Ricardo Zarate (Causita) is now in Hollywood (in the former Los Balcones space on Vine Street) with the Colibri Peruvian Cantina Pop-Up. “It’s his sophisticated take on rustic Peruvian cuisine highlighting how it balances the opposites of hot and cold, acid and starch, and bright, colorful spices and flavors with mellower ones. Peru’s culinary heritage is incredibly diverse, melding together ingredients and techniques from Africa, Europe and East Asia, and Chef Ricardo celebrates this mélange of global flavors at Colibri Pop-Up.” There is also a menu of intriguing hand-crafted cocktails including the Chica Sour with pisco, Peruvian purple corn, lime, egg white, simple syrup and Angostura Bitters. It’s Dinner only.

Standout dishes include Ceviche Mixto with crispy calamari, sea bass, shrimp, leche de tigre, sweet potato, choclo and fried corn, and Tallarines Verdes with house made tagliatelle pasta, Peruvian pesto, sauteed king mushrooms and parmesan. For dessert there is Fried Churro Balls with caramel and Berry Sauce. It’s Dinner only.

Chef Ricardo Zarate takes a break from his busy Colibri Kitchen to join us.

Carolina Larrea of Sweet Carolina Macarons

Our always on-the-go Social Media and Website Guru, Adam Bell, gets around town and has his eyes out seeking good food. He was fortunate enough to be invited to the premier party in Hollywood for HBO MAX’s Season Two of the acclaimed series, The White Lotus.” Adam enjoyed the festivities (almost as good as a stay in Sicily) but as a foodie in good-standing what made the biggest impression with him was the gift box of standout French macarons from Sweet Carolina Macarons. Further research was then absolutely in order.

Macarons are a French pastry popularized in the United States by Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery. It’s a decadent meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and food coloring. The belief is that it first arrived in France from the Italian-born chef of Catherine de Medici.

The creator of Sweet Carolina Macarons is Carolina Larrea a graphic artist turned artisan baker. After COVID she wanted to try something new and had been a serious home baker all along. Her flavors are Strawberries and Cream, Lemon Granache, Chocolate Granache and Chocolate Ganache with a Dulce de Leche heart.

We’ll meet Carolina Larrea with rolling pin firmly in hand.

Chef Andrew Gruel of Big Parm and the Calico Fish House

Our own Chef Andrew Gruel the Founder of Big Parm (New Jersey-style pizza), Two Birds and the soon to launch, full-service Calico Fish House (in Huntington Beach) provides another timely and informative Ask the Chef segment where Chef Andrew responds to listeners thoughtful inquiries.

In the headlines this week is the sad news that Chef Rene Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, will close at the end of 2024 because the business model is unsustainable. In California Chef David Kinch’s Manresa, a 3-Star Michelin restaurant in Los Gatos shuttered after 20-years at the end of 2022. Is high-end, fine-dining perhaps endangered? We’ll “Ask the Chef.”

Podcasts

Segment One: Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris
Segment Two: Toran Grays, Proprietor, Extraordinary Banana Pudding, Participant, Long Beach Black Restaurant Week
Segment Three: Brianne Grajkowski, food & lifestyle blogger with Cooking with Kids
Segment Four: Executive Chef Ricardo Zarate, Colibri Peruvian Cantina, Hollywood Part One
Segment Five: Executive Chef Ricardo Zarate, Colibri Peruvian Cantina, Hollywood Part Two
Segment Six: Sweet Carolina Macarons with Baker / Proprietress Carolina Larrea Part One
Segment Seven: Sweet Carolina Macarons with Baker / Proprietress Carolina Larrea Part Two
Segment Eight: Chef Andrew Gruel, Co-Host, with “Ask the Chef”