And the winner is...

Congratulations Shahana Johnson! You are the winner of a $25 Lowes Home Improvement Gift Card. Please contact us at TastingQueens@aol.com with your shipping information. We appreciate your support and look forward to bringing you more restaurant reviews, recipes and cultural information. Congratulations once again.


*Must contact us within 7 days of this post to claim prize. If no contact is made another winner will be chosen.

End of Summer Gift Card Giveaway

It's that exciting time again! Another Sponsor has come aboard and we can now offer our fans and friends a great opportunity to win a $25 GIFT CARD FROM LOWES HOME IMPROVEMENT STORE. All you need to do is become a fan of any or all of our social media outlets and your name will be added to the drawing. Here are the ways to participate:

a) Follow us here on Blogspot

b) LIKE us on Facebook at Facebook.com/TastingQueens

c) Follow us on Twitter @TastingQueens

Becoming a fan of all three allows you three entries. so go on and click on all the applicable links. The winner will be announced on August 31st, 2012 and will be asked to provide the necessary shipping information. Thank you all for your continued support and thanks again to our Sponsor.
Good luck!

Of Boats and Feasting-An Eat-Out in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park ~ By Shannice Noel

It is a cool Sunday in St.Albans, and Shauna and I decided that we should head down to the 22nd annual Hong Kong Dragonboat Festival held in Corona Park, Queens. The festival celebrates the culture of Hong Kong and that of many others through means of food, live performances, food, decor, music, food, racing in boats shaped like dragons and best of all, food. As we left the house in the early afternoon to embark on our journey there, my stomach growled with anticipation of the stuffing that was to come.  ¬¬

The trip there was rather adventurous in itself. After coming off the 7 Line train at Wilets Point-Mets Stadium, we were happy to see that there was a shuttle service to the festival, instead of having to embark on a "14-minute walk"(said walk actually being around the stadium and across the entire park). Even after we got off the bus we had to embark on quite a walk to get there. 14 minutes, yeah ok.

Upon arrival, there was the mass presence of kites, dragonboats, water, music....and food. Shauna and I first started our festivity tour with a quick viewing of a Mexican dance performance that was going on, on a production stage in front of the vendors. Then we went over to have our first food samples, a beef empanada for Shauna and a chicken empanada for me.(I must say, I thought the beef was more delicious, of course.) Then we went on to dine on beef shish kebabs, lychee-flavored bubble tea, delicious fresh fruit smoothies and vegetable spring rolls.

My sister also decided to try something she saw wrapped up in banana leaf, which the woman at the counter of the tent said was "very delicious and very healthy". The wonderful surprise inside was boiled white, sticky rice and peanuts with pork in the very middle of it. As I sat laughing, Shauna nearly spat out her bite. "Want some?" she offered me some pork, which she thought was the only thing there that I would actually eat. I refused.

After getting some more smoothies we sat and watched a couple of boat races on the very nearby Corona lake(it's nice to get a lake-row seat) while our stomachs began to digest. After a while we heard some more commotion on the stage, and alas there was a steel-drum band playing. After gooving along until they were done we officially thought that we had a great time, and since there wasn't much more to do anyway I moved to bring our festivites to an end. Shauna seconded the notion and we hopped on the shuttle to get back to the train station, and were soon headed down to Manhattan and then home. Our Queens food excursion was done for now!

Important lesson learned: If someone offers you something who's ingredients can't be explained, wrapped in a banana leaf, DO NOT BUY IT WHATEVER YOU DO.

Here are some photos of more food and fun at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Dragon Boat Festival:

We're talking Truffles...

It's always exciting to see which review will be chosen as your favorite and what we will be challenged to recreate. This time we decided to do things just a tad different. We wanted to use the entree from "If eating Italian is wrong, I don't want to be right..." as an inspiration for our dish, rather than making the dish the same way. Instead of the Fried Pork, Truffle Mash and Arugula Salad, we chose to do a Seared Breast of Duck, Braised Chard, Truffle Mash with Crispy Fried Fennel.

Making this dish was super easy and it was quite delicious. Be sure to give it a try as it would make a wonderful date dish or Sunday dinner. Enjoy.


Truffle Mash Potatoes:
1 1/2 - 2lbs Small Red Potatoes
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Butter
1tbsp Black Truffle Oil
1tsp Course Salt
1/2tsp Course Black Pepper

Place potatoes in a medium pot and cover with water. Place pot over medium/high flame and boil until potatoes are fork tender. Strain, then return to pot and add all ingredients. Use a potato smasher to combine ingredients. For Fluffy potatoes use a hand help mixer and whip on medium for 2 minutes.


For the Duck:                                                                       
1lb Duck Breast
2tsp Sea Salt
1tsp Course Black Pepper
2tbsp Vegetable Oil

Wash meat with warm water, pat dry then season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in medium skillet and add duck skin side down and sear on high for 3 minutes or until browned. Turn the meat and brown the other side. Now turn be sure to sear the sides of the meat as well. Reduce heat to low and simmer (covered) for an additional 8 minutes (for medium meat) or until meat is slightly firm to the touch. Remove from heat and let it rest (loosely wrapped in foil skin side up) for at least 5 minutes. Slice duck into 1/4 inch pieces.

 Chard:
1 Cup Swiss Chard
1/2 Cup Rainbow Chard Chopped
2 Shallot Onions
1/4 Cup Grape Tomatoes Quartered
1/4 tsp Salt
Pinch Black Pepper

Heat oil in medium skillet and saute shallots on low until slightly brown. Add tomatoes and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the (washed and dried) chard, salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Fennel:
Half bulb Fennel thinly sliced
2tbsp flour
4tbsp Vegetable Oil

Dip fennel in flour and saturate thoroughly. Heat oil in a skillet and fry fennel until golden brown (about 2 minutes). Remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Lightly dust with course salt.

Let your creative spirit be your guide and plate as desired. Bon Appitit!

We have a winner!

We have a July winner! Congratulations to Sunset Driver! We are delighted to announce that you are now the proud owner of a $15 itunes Gift Card. Please contact us at TastingQueens@aol.com with your shipping information.
A special thank you to all who participated in July's itunes Gift Card Giveaway. Stay tuned for more opportunities to win great prizes. Until then, remember that food is love and love is food!