By Justin Chao

Cherries are in season--and curiously, I have never seen a fresh cherry tart before.  After making my first one, I'm not sure why I've never thought of it before.  Fresh cherries are so good on tarts!  This tart has a lemon crust with almond cream baked inside of it.  On top of the almond cream, I put a layer of creme-fraiche bavarian cream that I laced with amaretto. 

Making this tart, I learned a little trick to pitting cherries.  Since I wanted the cherries to stay intact, I didn't want to use a pitter.  Plus, I don't really have room in my kitchen for anything else.  I just used a paperclip that I had unfolded into an "s" shape.  You can then use that to scoop out the pits.  It was quick and the cherries didn't bleed all over the bavarian cream.

Thanks to Chefs Center of California for organizing The Friday Food Festival. 

Every Friday through October from 6pm - 9pm, Chefs Center of California invites food trucks as well as artisanal food producers to come sell their products on their premises.  Through organizing the Friday Food Festival, Chefs Center provides even more support to the start-up food producer.  It can be very difficult when first starting a food business to find a place to sell since most farmer’s markets have a waiting list to get in.  It’s also great place to meet fellow food entrepreneurs!

Chefs Center of California

Friday Food Festival

45 N San Gabriel Boulevard

Pasadena, CA   91107

 Thanks to Gus Summers for having me on the "IN" Show this afternoon.  I had a great time talking to Gus who made me feel comfortable right away. 

Gus will post the interview soon on his website, but until then check out his website:

www.theinshow.com

I was a busy man on Saturday. 

Not only was I at the Bakesale for Japan in the morning, but I also donated caramels as party favors to the USC Marshall Business School Challenge for Charity benefit gala.   Challenge for Charity is a nonprofit organization that organizes MBA candidates from nine graduate business schools to help support charity organizations such as Special Olympics, Junior Achievement, and A Better LA.  Challenge for Charity is organized as a competition in which the nine different business schools compete to see who can not only raise the most money but also volunteer the most hours for these charities.  The competition culminates in C4C weekend where the schools compete against each other to win additional points by playing competitive sports.

I was honored to be able to make a small contribution to Challenge for Charity by providing the party favors for the gala.  Unfortunately, none of my classmates were there, but I was happy to be able to get to know some people from the class of 2007.   Everyone I met was very kind and had gone on to do interesting things.  One of them had even gone on to start up a magazine called Halftime Magazine! 

Another highlight of the night was the speakers.  One of the speakers was a Special Olympics athlete.  She told us about some of the positive changes that Special Olympics had made in her life. 

Hopefully, I will be able to contribute to the C4C gala next year as well!

I was so happy to participate in Bakesale for Japan on April 2.  According to Samin Nosrat, the organizer of the bakesale, we raised about $120,000 nationwide.  It was lovely to see how everyone banded together for a good cause.  Special thanks to Larry Bressler from Chefs Center of California who went out of his way to provide another venue for the bakesale.  In addition, Larry rallied to get as many people possible either to volunteer or donate baked goods. 

I was very impressed by all of the products at the Pasadena bakesale!  One company that especially stood out was Sabrina’s Sweetery.  Each cookie was so cute.  I could tell that a lot of skill and thought went into each cookie. 

Thank you Breanne Varela for organizing the Bakesale for Japan in Los Angeles!  

I will be at the Chefs Center of Pasadena bakesale to help support the Bakesale for Japan.  All proceeds from the bakesale will go to Peace Winds Japan.  Peace Winds Japan will use the money to provide disaster relief for victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The following locations have generously donated shelf space in order to support the Bakesale for Japan:

Black Cat Bakery (519 S. Fairfax Ave.; email LosAngelesBakesale@gmail.com)

Forage (3823 West Sunset Blvd.; email LosAngelesBakesale@gmail.com)

Chef’s Center of California (45 N. San Gabriel Blvd.; email LosAngelesBakesale@gmail.com)

Angeli Caffe (7274 Melrose Ave.; email LosAngelesBakesale@gmail.com)

BLD (7450 Beverly Blvd.; email LosAngelesBakesale@gmail.com)

Akasha (9543 Culver Blvd.; email LosAngelesBakesale@gmail.com)

Brentwood Country Mart (225 26th Street; email LosAngelesBakesale@gmail.com)

Please email Breanne at losangelesbakesale@gmail.com if you are interested in donating baked goods.

More information can also be found at bakesaleforjapan.com or at Breanne Varela’s website bitesofsugar.blogspot.com

By Justin Chao

It was my turn to host wine tasting this week.  Brian and I haven’t had  a lot of chances to entertain lately, so we were both excited about it.  We were tasting wine from Santa Barbara County, so I decided to make American food to go with our American wines.  I made a salt-crusted pork roast, macaroni and cheese, and a Meyer lemon upside-down cake.  The pork roast was marinated with soy sauce, shallots, garlic and lemongrass.  I also added some tarragon on top of the roast right before I put it in the salt crust.  Joanne brought a quinoa and beet salad from M Cafe, and Rachel made a salad with goat cheese and hearts of palm.  It was a great meal!  Then there was dessert…

I got the recipe for the lemon upside-down cake from the Los Angeles Times.  I found the recipe in a list of LA Times best recipes of 2010.  I’m glad I did.  It’s pretty easy to make, and it looks impressive when you take it out of the oven and flip it onto a plate in front of the table.  The bitterness of the lemon pith melds well with the butter and brown sugar glaze on top of the cake.  It was heavenly served with a little bit of Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream. 

Follow the link for the recipe, you won't be disappointed:

http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-desserts-lemoncake,0,3290880.story