The Ultimate Roast Pork Sandwich at Paseo (Seattle, WA)

Before we went to Seattle, we did quite a bit of research on where to go eat, but of course there are still a few places that the locals love and we don't know about. Lucky for us, the chef at Mistral Kitchen was a Seattle native (who worked in Long Beach prior to Mistral Kitchen) told us about the place he takes every visitor to: Paseo Caribbean. So, the next afternoon, we searched for the tiny shack that is Paseo (well, they actually have a couple of locations, we went for the closest to us on Fremont).

There was no big sign, but we could just tell that the little red shack with the line outside the door was the place.

We were told to get the #2 sandwich here, which was also starred on the menu with the note "Most Popular" next to it. It's this succulent, slow roasted pork shoulder in their special "Paseo" marinade on toasted baguette with cilantro, caramelized onions, pickled jalapenos, romaine lettuce. It's this amazing, amazing sandwich.

The $8.50 sandwich was huge, but at the end we all regretted sharing, just a little ... even if we have another lunch stop coming at Shuckers. (As an aside, the plastic Chinese plates and bowls are pretty funny..)

We're so glad to have found out about Paseo right before we had to go back to LA. I'm definitely coming back here next time I go to Seattle! This one's a must visit.

Paseo 
4225 Fremont Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 545-7440
 

Hands On Tamale Making Class at Ortega 120 (Redondo Beach)

I LOVE tamales but I have a hard time to find ones that are just right for me. I want them filled with things I like, for example I'm always looking for a blue corn tamale but the ones here are usually only filled with cheese. So, when Ortega 120 offered me to attend one of their tamale making class, I thought it sounded fun. The tamale class is only held in December since tamales are apparently a holiday tradition. The chef said that his family would always say that way you will always have something to unwrap for Christmas!

The hands-on tamale class was completely full (and they were all women, which was kind of expected)

The $40 class also includes a glass of their house margarita and food 

Ortega has their own masa, made with Canola oil so it's healthier but still moist. You can buy their masa to go at the restaurant, or you can also buy traditional masa at Mexican bakeries. They had prepared the masa for us and the filling which included chicken and beef tinga, chili and cheese. They provided the recipes for these fillings, but during the class all we had to do was assemble them.

Spreading the masa on the corn husk was harder than I expected at first, since you don't want it to be too thick, though eventually I got used to it.

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Gourmet Three Course Meals, In Your Freezer

What's for dinner at home? Caramelized pork belly with steamed kale. Think I made it from scratch? Nope. This was frozen and delivered, by Pop Up Pantry.

There are many meal delivery services in Los Angeles, but for the most part they are too health focused (and healthy tasting ..) and expensive! Pop Up Pantry is neither. These are gourmet three-course meals, pre-prepared and shipped to you frozen for as little as $17.50 per person.

You order your meals and the date you want them delivered, and it will be shipped in a box via FedEx (they note that you have to freeze them by 8pm that day). Oh, and the good thing about using FedEx? You don't have to live in LA to order these, unlike the other meal delivery services! You can live in the middle of nowhere and still get them.

Inside the insulated box will be these frozen pouches of the prepared food.

Preparing them for the most part is easy. Most of them you just boil in water, or stick them in the oven for 30 minutes (your meals will come with detailed instructions, don't worry).

I tried out the Master Chef dinner, which was the two dinners created during the last Master Chef's finals between Christine Ha and Josh Marks.

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