How often does one get to talk to a real-life Indiana Jones who is now a coffee master? I'd say that the frequency of such an opportunity is next to non-existent. However, the perks of being a devout Yelper is that sometimes, the gem of a moment is dug out from the impacted layers of life and I find myself at a "Meet the Owner" event at Kean Coffee. Overall, what a fun and insightful event because if there's one thing about owner Martin Diedrich, it's that he's got a lot of good things to say and he'll say them!


You knew from the moment you walked into the coffee shop that it would be a fabulous event because of the friendly staff and general ambiance of the location. If you haven't ever been to Kean Coffee, there are two locations in which you could shop - the Newport Beach and the Tustin coffeehouses. We were getting educated about everything at the Tustin location as Martin told us stories about how each of the coffees presented had been hand-selected by him after several tastings. Though his family had been in the coffee growing business for generations, his brothers and he decided they had to do something different. After sharing with us the varying professions of his siblings (one is a high-class coffee roaster builder who did Martin's own machine!), Martin delved a little deeper into his own stories as an archaeologist and spoke on how he was almost killed one of the days. The adventures that life takes you on indeed! He also spoke greatly about what each of the ground coffees would taste like from the samples available.


We were spoiled by the bites of treats being passed around by the courteous Darcy. Kean Coffee stocks Blackmarket Bakery baked goods for their storefronts, a great way to promote the brand that is also promoting them with in-store coffee dispensing. From Kean itself, miniature drinks were given out of which one was Mayan hot chocolate. I did enjoy it greatly, especially on such a cold day.


When we had first walked in, we saw the set-up of the brewing method demonstration area. From there, all the Yelpers could watch as coffees were brewed properly and as each bean should be according to its type. Sample cups let us all taste what rich flavors the two types contained within themselves (one from Indonesia and one from Guatemala which had a great story behind it - Martin told us!) The two pouring definitely showed their own knowledge when it comes to coffee.


After Martin had finished telling us about the history of Kean Coffee, our guest moderator, Anne Marie of OC Weekly's "Stick a Fork in It," took questions from the crowd. She was also the one who prompted the stories of Indiana Jonesing from Martin! We had some great questions about home brewing of coffee and when it is best to drink coffee (did you know that cold coffee better shows the traits of a great coffee than steaming hot?). It was a very informative night and just fun overall. Thank you Ryan for putting this on, Martin for sharing your expertise, and Anne Marie for moderating!

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook.

So for the longest time now, Duc's been asking me to make him my own rendition of bread pudding. I'm not sure what started that itch but at some point, he stopped asking because he realized I wasn't going to. THEN, we were talking about making wings with the Jamaican jerk seasoning I had for a Superbowl get-together with some friends, and I brought up that I also wanted to bring dessert. I thought of Jamaica and figured rum should be a part of my dessert. After more brainstorming, rum raisin bread pudding sounded like a fun idea to try so here we go! Note: this is a sauce-less bread pudding - the gooeyness will be inside instead of outside this dessert.

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 1 8"x8" pan)

• 3 cups milk
• 3 tbsps butter, unsalted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsps rum (not spiced)
• 1 cup light brown sugar, loose
• 1/3 cup raisins + some for topping
• 1 (16 oz) loaf Hawaiian sweet bread
• 4 medium eggs

Step 2: Prepping ingredients
In a large saucepan, combine milk, butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, rum, sugar, and raisins. I started with the sugar and butter first to make sure it was well melted before adding in something cold like milk which will slow down the heating process. Cook on low and stir frequently to prevent burning. Simmer until sugar has all dissolved. While waiting for that to happen, tear apart bread into a large mixing bowl; you'll want the pieces to be small - think of how much you'd get off by roughly pinching.

Step 3: Mixing the ingredients
Take the liquid off the heat and pour over bread, folding in to cover all pieces. Let sit for approximately 30 minutes so everything soaks up. At this time, in a separate bowl, beat together the eggs until thoroughly mixed. Pre-heat oven to 325°F and grease an 8"x8" pan (or other baking dish that can hold 2 quarts).

Step 4: Finishing
Once bread has soaked up all the liquid, mix in beaten eggs. Then pour into baking dish and place in oven for 45-50 minutes. Check doneness by inserting toothpick down center and seeing if it comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool slight before serving (but remember that it tastes best a little warm). I suggest finding some rum raisin ice cream to pair with it!


Photography by Duc Duong.

What an honor it was to have been invited by the Yelp OC Community Manager, Ryan, to be the guest moderator for his super awesome "Meet the Owner" series this month. I was happy to give back in some way for all of the fantastic events he has been putting on since he took up the position. I was also excited because the owner for my particular event was Chef Rachel Klemek of Blackmarket Bakery, whoohoo! In an evening of demos, tastings, discounted shopping, and Q&A, all the Yelpers who made it into the full house event definitely had a good time.


It was all so super Yelp-tastic, as it always is. People checked in at the door at the tableclothed area with Ryan and also got an extra raffle ticket for checking in through the Yelp app. Mints and buttons were placed all over the bakery, and I think a few people even picked up the Much Ado About Fooding cards of mine (gasp!). I love the pictures snapped of Ryan at the registration table because they're so lively!


All around us people milling about and chitchatting with other Yelpers were awesome Blackmarket bakers like Brandon, Janet, and Tyler passing out samples of just about everything they had to offer. I saw the Pucker Up cookies (a crowd favorite), peanut butter blondies, brittle, and loads of sandwich bites being served. I didn't get a chance to snatch up everything but I'm pretty sure I've already given them tastes myself, haha. Chef Rachel herself was mingling with the crowd and showing Yelpers around, answering their questions prior to the official Q&A. I loved just how friendly everyone was, staff and guests alike! Also, there was no shortage of samples being brought out and we all know that happy tummies make happy Yelpers.


After stuffing our faces, it was time for the Q&A. Unfortunately Chef Rachel was just getting over being sick so her voice was still a little shot BUT fortunately, Ryan's always prepared and we had a nice mic & speaker system set up so all 40+ Yelpers could hear. We started off with the fairly basic (but of course long-answered) question of, "How did Blackmarket Bakery begin?" Breaking our hearts, Rachel told us of her non-foodie childhood growing up eating Swanson frozen dinners and whatever was around the house. However, upon marrying into her husband's family, the curiosity was sparked and exposure to food expanded. With young children all around (a family of 4 kids), she sought to find herself in doing something and at the time, that something was bread. Fast forward through culinary school came all of the hard work that came to make Blackmarket Bakery what it was meant to be - the way baked goods should be made with real sugar, butter, and flour. The new expansion to The Camp involved a lot of "sweat equity" as most of the design & construction was put together by her own family. Talk about being really family run! The audience then asked several questions too about gluten-free baking, the most popular items, history of the name, goods' effects on people with peanut allergies, and especially the creative process. I love how involved and interested everyone was, and boy was Chef Rachel just so animated and full of awesome facts!


After such a detailed Q&A that slaked the Yelpers' thirst for information for the moment, we proceeded with the grand raffle of boxes chock-full of baked goods. I'm talking about all the tarts and cookies and sweet goodness you can think of fitting into those heavy boxes. Congrats for the win!


But the fun wasn't over with the raffle! There was a fantastic cake decorating demo going on behind the glass with Courtney, expertly trained in Florence, Italy in her craft. Three cakes were deftly decorated in a short amount of time - I wish it was as easy as she made it look! Each one received a buttercream treatment but in different designs and accessorized distinctly. The coconut cake got some coconut flake loving all over while the citrus tang was scored along the sides before receiving frosting pearls. There was even a lemon berry cake that I just wanted to stuff into my mouth! While she was putting the scrumptious touches on her cakes, Courtney would explain to the crowd what the cakes were and what all was being added to them. What a great demo - it definitely looked like lots of people were excited. Those who weren't staring were busy taking advantage of their 25% special event discount by buying up the store!


If all of this has made you hungry for some Blackmarket Bakery yourself, you should drop by their Grand Opening this upcoming Monday from 5:30-7:30pm! You'll get samples and the opportunity to make your money count - 15% of purchases will be donated to Share Our Selves. My thanks go out to the Blackmarket Bakery team for being such fantastic hosts for the crowd of curious Yelpers, to Chef Rachel for answering all of our questions about her delectable bakeries, and to Ryan for organizing everything & asking me on!

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook.

I feel like I cheated just a teensy bit with Test Kitchen for last week. I showed you guys jerk seasoning but I already had a vague idea of how to use it. I'll admit that it's not so out of the box as it should be because Jamaican jerk chicken is a common idea but c'mon, the Superbowl was over the weekend! How does one resist making wings? So yeah, that's what the Test Kitchen ingredient was used for. Please don't get upset with me - I promise their deliciousness will be worth it. My apologies for those of you who did submit suggestions; I would have used them had I not used up all my jerk seasoning on this recipe below (barely adjusted from here).

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 20-24 pieces)

• 10-12 chicken wings (approximately 2 pounds)
• 1/3 cup Jamiacan jerk seasoning
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup orange juice with pulp
• 2 tbsps lime juice
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 2 tbsps soy sauce

Step 2: Prepping the ingredients
In a large plastic bag set inside a bowl, add together all ingredients except wings. Shake to mix thoroughly! For the wings, remove wing tips & cut wing at joint between drummette and wing. Take heed of any small pieces of bone that may be around during this process - remove if you find them! Add chicken to bag of marinade and refrigerate for at minimum 4 hours, turning occasionally.

Step 3: Finishing
When you're ready, you can either stick the chicken wings on a grill or broil it. My available option was broiling so I laid out the chicken wings onto a broiler pan and tossed the marinade. Each side was broiled between 5-6 minutes to give a nice crispy skin and cook the chicken to doneness while remaining juicy. Dig in!


This week's Test Kitchen ingredient: Chinese five spice
"Five-spice powder is a mixture of five spices used primarily in Chinese cuisine but also used in other Asian cookery. While there are many variants, a common mix is:

• Star anise (bajiao, 八角)
• Cloves (dingxiang, 丁香)
• Chinese Cinnamon (rougui, 肉桂)
• Sichuan pepper (huajiao, 花椒)
• Fennel seeds (xiaohuixiang , 小茴香) 

Other recipes may contain anise seed or ginger root, nutmeg, turmeric, Amomum villosum pods (砂仁), Amomum cardamomum pods (白豆蔻), licorice, black pepper, Mandarin orange peel, or galangal. In the South China, Cinnamomum loureiroi and Mandarin orange peel is commonly used as a substitute for Cinnamomum cassia and cloves, respectively, producing a different flavour for southern versions five-spice powders." [Wikipedia]

Let me know what you think I should do with it by commenting on Facebook!



Photography by Duc Duong.

They're officially opening in less than a week! Put February 9th on your calendar for Valiant Brewing's Grand Opening from noon to 9pm (2294 N. Batavia, Unit C, Orange, CA 92865). I was fortunate to get an invitation to their Preview Day yesterday and check out their brand-spankin'-new facility. If you know me, you know that I'm a fan of craft beers. In fact, this is from even when I first started drinking - none of that macro stuff for me! It's been such an exciting time with all these microbreweries popping up in Southern California so you can only imagine how awesome it was to hear about Valiant Brewing Company and how they got started.


A husband-wife team, the creators of Valiant Brewing are seeking to serve Southern California with a line of spectacular beers. Brian and Kelly Schroepfer shifted their interests from race car racing to brewing in late 2007 when a wildfire destroyed everything in their garage including the cars. This hobby of brewing started with a Mr. Beer Kit that was gifted to Brian (also an avid cook - the couple use organic and sustainable when possible!) who soon realized that the batch made was terrible beer. A mechanical engineer, he examined and dissected the science of brewing to perfect ideas in his mind of what good beer should be. When one thinks of a homebrewer, they think of 5-10 gallon tanks but how serious Brian was showed in the 90 gallons in tanks he kept and engineered himself. Then he went to school and graduated in 2010 from the Master Brewers program; since then, the couple has been working to get Valiant Brewing off the ground. Want to know where some of that engineering came into play at the new brewery itself? Brian designed almost everything inside from the pipes to the distribution and brewing systems. Talk about building something from the ground up. It's so efficient that Brian told us a single person could brew by themselves in here. Maybe I'll have to see that in action one day!


Aside from the surprising background of how Valiant came to be and the impressive skills by which the brew method and brewery itself were built, this company shows another gem of a character trait: being family-run. Just about every person I met there yesterday was related to Brian or Kelly in some way or was a very close friend. Kelly's brother, Jack, is the Assistant Brewer. We were served at the taps by Kelly's sister, Emily. Brian's mom was walking around taking care of the guests. Kelly's dad was doing the set-up. Their main photographer, Rick, from day one is a close friend of Brian's. I could list the relations on and on. That keg that I signed at the start was probably full of family names! I love that aspect of it all - the strong support (and skillsets!) of family and friends.


So you might be wondering about their logo and name and perhaps how that all affects what they brew. As you can see from the above pictures, there are definitely bourbon whiskey barrels for aging beers down the line (Kelly gave us an inside scoop that their 1st Anniversary beer will probably be aged in those - we're excited!). Since you know that there are bourbon whiskey barrels for aging, you can probably take a guess that the beers will be valiant! I didn't get to ask Brian or Kelly about the story of the name and logo but I did gain some insight from Jack who, as he said, was just going to tell me what he personally thought about the name choice and logo. I might have to ask the others sometime to see what their side of the story is! The fleur de lis was what had caught my attention; I had wondered if they were from New Orleans or had a strong French tie. Emily explained that it was mainly a homage to their strong Catholic heritage. According to Jack, it is also a symbol of the strength (and valiance) of the French and a good tie-in to their planned staple beer which will be a French ale. All of the beers will be and are quite strong and bold in flavor too as their name suggests.


We had to put the beers to the test, our tongues' test. We wanted to try everything so ordered a sample of each that was currently on tap which gave us the bonus sampler of their English barley wine. Awesome - bring on the good stuff! Our treats for the day were the Maverick's Mighty Ale (3.6% Premium Bitter), 31 Kings (6.5% IPA), and Veranda (8.5% French ale); see? Valiant names. As for the English barley wine, it was a sweet and tasty drink, perfect for sipping gently and just enjoying. All of the beers were fantastic, and we were happily surprised to know we were going through just first batch brews. Brian really has nailed down his recipes, even with needing to scale it up into commercial brewing tanks. Their marketing manager, Elisabeth, who had invited us, had explained to me that Brian really focuses on the bouquet of his beers and making sure that it was an experience in itself. I couldn't agree more as I was able to get a sense of what I was about to drink before it even touched my lips. The aroma was a playful tease in each cup as I caught scents of hops, malt, and passion. Duc and I both agreed that the Veranda was our favorite but we're eager to see more of their line-up. The tasting room is slated to have a full run of 24 taps but with only 10 recipes completed so far, it's going to be a fun challenge for Valiant to compile 14 new and perfect brews. What a rush that is going to be!


Overall, the Preview Day was full of a fun crowd of people. Aside from family and friends, there are media people and beer aficionados aplenty. After all, why would you miss out on checking out the latest Southern California microbrewery? We had gotten there right at the beginning but the party went on from noon to 9pm. Too bad we missed the start of the food from the sushi truck outside! If you're interested, I know there is more up their sleeve for the Grand Opening happening February 9th from noon to 9pm as well.


Duc and I want to thank Brian, Kelly, Elisabeth, and the rest of the Valiant Brewing Company team for having us, and we want to congratulate everyone on the opening. It takes a lot of hard work to turn a passion into a career but hey, that's the dream so cheers on making it!


For you dear readers, I've got something special courtesy of the good people at Valiant. You all have the opportunity to win a Valiant Brewing Company snifter and 1/2 growler (pictured above)! Isn't that nifty? I'll be picking the winner at random Thursday afternoon (3pm) and announcing it on here and Facebook. Just follow the instructions below on how to win:

• "Like" Much Ado About Fooding & Valiant Brewing Company on Facebook if you haven't already
• Leave a comment on this post with your full name, your favorite style of beer, and why it is your favorite
• Get the glassware from me on Grand Opening day if you're the winner! (come anyway even if you don't win!)

Good luck! I hope to have a beer with you all on the 9th!

*UPDATE* Congratulations to Katie Sanborn for being the winner of the giveaway. The Grand Opening was a huge success for Valiant, and we both hope that you enjoy your sexy new snifter and 1/2 growler!

L-R: Minerva Thai of Much Ado About Fooding, Brian Schroepfer of Valiant Brewing, & winner Katie Sanborn

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook.

When I have homework to do, I'm hit all of the sudden by inspiration for something else. Go figure. Well this time it was because I had homework from the online courses I'm taking to get back into the learning mode - they're not for a degree or anything but just for fun through Coursera. Good stuff. Anyhow, I had a lot of videos to get through so instead, I decided to make muffins. There were untouched mangoes in the fruit bowl so...mango muffins? Check out this recipe as edited from here. By the way, I originally added a pinch of nutmeg to my batch but apparently even that was too noticeable and overpowered the mango! So, it's not listed now in my ingredients' list.

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 12 small muffins)

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup mango puree (approximately 2 mangoes)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup pure honey + some for drizzling
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely diced mango

Step 2: Prepping the ingredients
Sift together flours, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Peel and slice two ripe mangoes - add to a food processor or blender to puree well. Separately, finely dice another mango (think cubes the size of pencil eraser heads). Add puree to a large mixing bowl; pour in olive oil, honey, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix together well.

Step 3: Mixing the ingredients
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a muffin tin with baking cups to pour the batter into. In the large mixing bowl, remove mixing utensil and just fold in the flour mixture and diced mango. Lumps are okay.

Step 4: Finishing
Pour batter between the 12 baking cups. Place inside oven to bake for 25-30 minutes. Doneness can be determined by golden brown color & by sticking a toothpick in the middle of one to see if it comes out clean. When done, remove from the oven and place individual muffins on a cooling rack. Drizzle on honey while warm. Then, enjoy!


Photography by Duc Duong.