Dine LA Menu Preview: Loteria Grill, Summer 2013

Mark your calendars for this summer's Dine LA Restaurant Week on July 15-26. To help you decide where to go, here's a preview of Loteria Grill's Restaurant Week dinner menu, available at their Studio City, Santa Monica, and Hollywood locations.

The Loteria Grill menu is $35 for 3 courses and there are three choices for appetizers:
Huarache Azul de Medallon de Res (blue corn masa oval disk with black beans, grilled beef medallion, roasted tomatillo and Poblano salsa, queso anejo, cilantro, onion)

Cuarteto de Sopecitos de Camaron (four mini shrimp sopes, two with Morita salsa, two with salsa verde cruda, black beans, avocado, crema Mexicana)

I really liked the sopecitos and we argued which salsa we liked better. The morita is creamier while the salsa verde had a fresher taste.

The vegetarian option is Crema de Elote (cream of white corn soup, roasted corn, Poblano chile strips, quesillo de Oaxaca, crispy corn tortilla)

The slightly sweet corn soup is poured over the cheese, corn, chile, and tortilla so that the cheese melts.
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Tequila Marinated Grilled Chicken + Guacamole Tacos

You know how I said I love avocados and I'm making up for lost time? 

Yeah, that's why almost all of my recent posts have included avocados. You're welcome. 

Well I'm also a sucker for almost anything grilled! Grilled meats. Grilled sides. Grilled desserts. I'm convinced grilling makes all things better.

Same goes for alcohol. Alcohol makes all things better. Desserts, my weekends, and even marinades.

So put it all together and we've got some of my fave things ever. Avocados. Grilled goodness. And alcohol. 

Have I sold you on this yet? If I haven't, it's also Mexican - tacos and guac. All those reasons are why I loved this dish so much.




































Tequila Marinated Grilled Chicken + Guacamole Tacos
adapted from Cuizoo

Marinade:

• 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup tequila
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• juice and zest of two limes
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped   
• freshly ground black pepper 

Guacamole:

• 2 avocados, peeled and pitted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• juice of half a lime
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

 For Tacos:

• soft flour tortillas
• sour cream
• shredded monterey jack cheese      
• diced red onions

In a large bowl or baking dish, whisk together the marinade ingredients except for the chicken thighs. Place the chicken thighs in the marinade and turn to coat. Marinade for at least an hour.

Grill chicken thighs over indirect heat for 15-20 minutes or until done. Remove, let rest, and slice into strips.

In a bowl, mash together the guacamole ingredients. Build your own tacos with grilled chicken, guacamole, sour cream, diced onions, and cheese.

Printable Recipe

Oh and in case you're wondering, the marinated grilled chicken alone is divine. So tender and so flavorful. I could eat that for dinner all on it's own.

I'm joining along in the Spiked! Recipe Challenge. You should too! We bake/cook with a different alcohol every two months. So naturally this is like, the best challenge ever!




Peace, and bacon grease!

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Avocado Salsa

More avocados! See, told ya I was making up for lost time. I've still got a lot of making up to do, I mean, I went like 25 years of my life without it! 

Here's another Cinco de Mayo recipe to get your avocado fix.





































No cooking required at all, definitely my kinda simple. 
































Avocado Salsa
slightly adapted from Right at Home (half the original recipe)

• 2 ripe avocados, diced into large chunks
• 1 lime
• 1 roma tomato, diced into large pieces
• 1/2 a red onion, diced
• 1/2 of a jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1/8 cup cilantro leaves, chopped finely
• salt and pepper to taste

Place avocado in a large bowl. Squeeze lime juice over the avocados. Add diced tomatoes and onion, jalapeno, and cilantro to the bowl. Stir all ingredients well. Cover bowl with plastic wrap to keep avocados from turning brown. Refrigerate until served.

Printable Recipe
 

And yes I served them with Cool Ranch Doritos. I love them way more than plain tortilla chips.

What are your plans for Cinco de Mayo? Any fun parties you're attending? I'll be at home posted up on the couch eating Mexican foods and drinkin margaritas.

That is all.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Bacon and Roasted Garlic Guacamole

Welp, this stuff is pretty amazing.

You know about roasted garlic, right? It's soft, it's a bit sweeter, it makes all things better. 

Except your breath. 

 

































And you already know my thoughts on bacon.

It too makes everything better.

































Except scallops. That is the one thing I don't like wrapped in bacon. I'm weird.


But roasted garlic and bacon make this guac oh-so-special. I dare you to try it and not like it. Double dog dare you.


























Bacon and Roasted Garlic Guacamole
adapted from Fabtastic Eats

• 1 head of garlic
• olive oil
• 2 strips of bacon
• 4 tablespoons red onion, minced
• 3 avocados, seeded
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Slice off the top of the head of garlic to expose some cloves inside. Place the heads on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper and wrap in the foil. Roast until cloves are lightly browned and tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and unwrap to cool.

While garlic is roasting, chop bacon and cook in a skillet until crisp. When bacon is almost done, add in minced red onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and drain off grease on a paper towel and set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss in avocados and squeeze in all of the roasted garlic. Add the lime juice and cayenne pepper. Mash together roughly.  Stir in the bacon and onion mixture, and cilantro. Add salt to taste.


Printable Recipe

Would you believe I didn't like guacamole until I was an adult? 

I said I was weird! And now I'm making up for all that lost time.








































Linking up here.  


Peace, and bacon grease!

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Roasted Jalapeno Margarita

Hola, amigos!

It's time to get Cinco de Mayo up in here. And what better way to prepare than with a margarita? There isn't any, is there?

This here margarita is special, you see. It's the perfect blend of sweet, salty, and spicy!

 
Here's the pretty fruits and veggies you'll need. Can we count this as healthy since there's fruits and veggies involved?

Yep, it's a Roasted Jalapeno Margarita! 

Intrigued? 









Ever since I fell in love with this Cilantro Jalapeno Limeade I made last summer, I've been obsessed with the idea of jalapeno in my drinks to add that perfect little bit of spiciness. This margarita, no exception. 
























Roasted Jalapeno Margarita
from Food Network 

• 1 jalapeno
• ice
• 3 ounces Homemade Sour Mix, recipe follows
• 2 ounces tequila
• 1 lime, cut into wedges and/or slices
• salt for rim, if desired

Over a hot grill or stovetop burner, roast the jalapeno until lightly blistered and fragrant. Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices.

In a cocktail shaker, add 2 (or more) slices roasted jalapeno, ice, Homemade Sour Mix, tequila, and juice of 1 lime wedge. Shake. Rim a glass with the wedge of a lime and dip in salt. Serve with ice. Garnish with lime slice and jalapeno slice.

Homemade Sour Mix

*Yields: 3 and 1/2 cups

• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar 
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup fresh lime juice

Combine the sugar and 1 and 1/2 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and cool. Add the lemon and lime juice. Chill until ready to use.  

*Note: You will not use all of the Homemade Sour Mix for one margarita, as the recipe for Homemade Sour Mix yields 28 ounces and you only need 3 ounces per margarita. You will have some leftover for more margaritas :) 

Printable Recipe
 





























Don't forget the salt for the rim! What's a margarita without the salt?

More Cinco de Mayo recipes to come this week! Stay tuned :)

Linking up here.  

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Sneak Preview: Loteria Grill's DineLA Menu

DineLA Restaurant Week is upon us once again, and Loteria Grill had invited the media to preview their DineLA menu so that we can tell you what's in store and what to order.

Order this one!

I went to their Studio City location. There are still the cards adorning the top of the walls, but thanks to the distinct crowd this location is not as loud as the Hollywood one and seemed brighter.

The chef/owner Jimmy Shaw was there to explain to us his inspirations behind the menu while we sip tequila infused with kiwi and a hint of Chili.

There are three options for each of the three courses. Unfortunately, I can't show you all of the three appetizers since our whole table went with the Tostadita de Salpican do Jaiba.

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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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October's Secret Recipe Club - Black Bean Corn Salsa

It's that time of the month again.

Time for The Secret Recipe Club.

This month I was assigned to Denise's blog, Creative Kitchen. There were some yummies for sure, but I decided on something simple yet sounded so good. Her black bean corn salsa.

I made a few modifications... only one can of black beans, and a little more red onion and lime. I seasoned generously too. 

Do you guys like the orange and black tortillas for Halloween? I couldn't pass them up at Meijer.

Black Bean Corn Salsa
adapted from Creative Kitchen

• 1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can mexican rotel
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• Juice of 1 lime
• Dash or two or three of sea salt 

Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Make the day before to allow flavors to mix together. Serve with tortilla chips.

Printable Recipe



















We really loved this quick and easy salsa! PJ was sure that it wouldn't be anything special because we were using canned ingredients, but he and I both were surprised at how much we enjoyed it! So much flavor, and a spicy kick from the rotel.

I will definitely be taking the rest of this for lunch this week.


Peace, and bacon grease!

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Ranch Taco Salad

Why yes, it has been 13 days since I last posted.

Gotsta get back on my game, people! I've got a month vacation from school until I start back up late August, so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can. And that means a lot of sleeping. But I promise to make more time for blogging.

The inspiration for this taco salad came from Taco Casa's taco salad with ranch. Then I saw Tina's recipe for Ranch Doritos Taco Salad and morphed the two ideas together. No thousand island dressing for me. Ranch dressing, though? This girl loves her some ranch.

Not gonna lie, I do prefer Taco Casa's ranch dressing to the bottled Hidden Valley ranch that we used. What the heck does Taco Casa use?!? I prefer our seasoned ground beef though to Taco Casa's low grade beef mush. Plus Taco Casa doesn't have all the extra goodies on there like onions and avocados and corn. And this uses realllll lettuce, not iceberg lettuce. And ranch doritos instead of regular tortilla chips. 

So there, take that Taco Casa!

Pile on the goods. Lettuce, tomatoes, corn, avocado, red onions, seasoned beef, ranch dressing, cheddar cheese. Whatever your little heart desires.

Eat and enjoy.

Ranch Taco Salad

adapted from Taco Casa's version + Mom's Crazy Cooking

• 1 head of green leaf lettuce
• 1 lb ground beef cooked with Homemade Taco Mix
• 1/2 cup corn
• 5 oz (about 16) cherry tomatoes, halved and seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced or diced 
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Cool Ranch Doritos

Layer ingredients beginning with lettuce, then beef, then corn, tomatoes, avocado, and onion. Top with ranch dressing and then cheese. Adjust measurements according to your liking, or add or exclude any ingredients you don't like. Serve with Cool Ranch Doritos.

Printable Recipe

How do you like your taco salad? 

Aka how should I be eating mine?  :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

Linking up here.

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Happy Hour at Casa Vega, a Restaurant with a History (Sherman Oaks)

How old on average are the restaurants you know of in Los Angeles? Chances are, not that old. Even what we consider to be old have probably been around for about ten years. Well, Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks has been in business for more than 50 years. There's something to be said about that!

I was invited there recently to check out their happy hour. There's no separate happy hour menu, just $4.95 house margaritas, 20% off other drinks, and 50% off appetizers. The happy hour also runs from 2:30-7pm daily (in case you want to get your drinking on early in the day).

Other than the house margarita, they have other variations such as the blood orange (with blood orange soda though) and some frozen blended ones like the coconut margarita - think pina colada with tequila (regular price $7.95).

The food menu is extensive since long time customers complain when the restaurant tries to take their "favorites" off the menu, so it just kept growing. Most of them are the "typical" Mexican food you encounter, but they have quite a few interesting items as well. We tried a few appetizers. For me, the highlights were these two:
Queso Fundido (regular price $8.75)

A bowl of hot melted Jack and Cotija cheese, what a perfect food for drinking.


Lobster Quesadilla (lemon garlic lobster, jack and cheddar cheese, guacamole, sour cream - regular price $14.95)

They actually use chunks of lobster in the quesadilla. The quesadilla itself was pretty inexpensive for lobster, plus half off? Quite a deal.
 For desserts they have flan and churros, but you can get an after dinner boozy drinks like the Senior's Famous Mexican Coffee. What's in it? It's apparently a "secret recipe" but it's sweet and strong.

Checking out Casa Vega was fun for its history. The decor and the food is more of the mainstream/typical Mexican restaurants as opposed to some of the more regional specialists that are starting to emerge these days, but remember this place was opened more than 50 years ago! For the Sherman Oaks or Studio City locals, happy hour is a pretty good deal, especially when it goes on at 2:30!


Casa Vega
13301 Ventura Blvd
 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(818) 788-4868
 

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