Food (and Booze) Events to Look Forward to in October!

Saturday, October 1
Taste of Italy
This annual Italian feast benefits the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles and rightly features all things Italian, including restaurant sponsors such as Il Pastaio, Locanda del Lago, Paciugo Gelato while the beverage sponsors include Fernet-Branca (!) and San Antonio Winery.
$45 pre-sale, $50 at the door (includes 6 food tickets and 6 drink tickets)
424 N Main St., Historic Little Italy, Los Angeles 90012

Saturday, October 8
Baja Culinary Fest

Cross the border for the first ever Baja Culinary Fest! The extravaganza actually starts on Wednesday, Oct 5 with cooking competitions, food-related movies, hunting for your own lunch (seriously), winery or cheese tours and various special dinners in Tijuana and Ensenada. Take a week off and go to all of them if you can, but if you can't, the main festival takes place on Saturday Oct 8. Restaurants, street food, and can you say tequila? Also, stay for the lobster festival in Rosarito Beach on Sunday if you have the time ($25pp).
General Admission: $15
Interactive Museum El Trompo and World Trade Center Tijuana

Sunday, October 9
Cooking for Love: Savor the Season 2011
Savor the Season returns to benefit Break the Cycle, an organization to end domestic violence. The restaurant lineup includes Jar, M Cafe de Chaya, Oyster Gourmet, Morton's Steakhouse, and Beachy Cream. Here's a recap of their past event.
$100 for general admission (or $150 for two), $250 for VIP ticket.
Global Cuisine by Gary Arabia at The Lot Studios. 1041 N. Formosa Ave - West Hollywood, CA

Saturday, October 15
LA Beer Float Showdown
The LA Beer Float Showdown returns for its third year. This time 5 chefs are pairing up with 5 breweries to compete for the title, including Chef Ilan Hall (The Gorbals) with Tustin Brewery, Chef Laurent Quenioux (Vertical Wine Bistro) with Beachwood BBQ, chef CJ Jacobson (The Yard) with Firestone Walker, Chef Andre Guerrero (The Oinkster) with Eagle Rock Brewery, and Chef Thi Tran (Starry Kitchen) with Ladyface Ale Company.
$35pp. 25% of the proceeds benefit Share Our Strength
1-4pm. Eagle Rock Brewery. 3056 Roswell St, Eagle Rock, CA.

Friday, October 21
Dionicess IX
Dionicess returns with craft beer cocktails to Steingarten LA. This time, they have recruited bartender Matt Biancaniello to craft some beer cocktails. Each of the 5 cocktails will come with 5 vegetarian dishes served by Randy Clemens (author of The Sriracha Cookbook).
$65pp
Steingarten LA, 10543 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064

Sunday, October 23
Los Angeles Mag's The Food Event

One of my favorite annual food events returns to Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu featuring Farmshop, Eva Restaurant, Stella Rossa, Lukshon, MB Post, The Royce, Rivera, Nancy Silverton and Amy Pressman's new burger joint, Short Order, and so, so much more.
To see posts from previous years, click here and here.
$95pp.
Saddlerock Ranch. 31727 Mulholland Highway Malibu, CA 90265

Sunday, October 23
The 3rd Annual LA Beer Week Festival
It's THE beer event of the year! The Festival will feature over 70 breweries pouring a wide selection of their beers including rare beers and some special beer week-only beers. There will also be a selection of food trucks and local artisans.
$45 pre-sale, includes unlimited 4 oz pours of beers.
Union Station, 800 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

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It's All About the Grill at American Farmhouse Tavern (Manhattan Beach, CA)

We get excited over restaurant openings touting famous chefs or restaurant groups these days, but some little-known, family-owned places are serving up some great food without all the hullabaloo. Such is the American Farmhouse Tavern in Manhattan beach, which recently moved from a 35-seat restaurant to one down the street that seats 135.

I was invited to a recent press dinner. We convened at the bar for some appetizers including toast with creamy guacamole and salad topped with tender, juicy slices of tri tip.

Some of their cocktails actually sounded interesting. I ordered the Buffalo Smoke (Buffalo Trace bourbon, peach nectar, St Germain, maple smoked bacon wrapped sugar cane stick, $10)

A good and potent drink that I should've ordered when I have some food in my tummy.

They also have a good selection of beers on tap, including Allagash White ($8). There are tons of happy hours and daily specials too, including $4 wine/beer/well drinks/appetizers on weekdays (11-2pm, 4-6:30pm) and Fridays and Saturdays from 9pm on, $3 draft beers on Mondays, etc.

American Farmhouse Tavern is run by owner/chef Orlando Novoa who hailed from Santa Maria. Appropriately, the restaurant serves Santa Maria style barbecue like grilled meat and fish alongside Central Coast wines. They proudly grill their meat over Central Coast red oak (the wood comes from fallen trees so it's sustainable).

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Menu Planning - Week of 9/26/11

Happy Happy Monday to you all! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was pretty lazy... spent lounging around the house making space on the dvr for all of the new fall shows, doing a bit (just a bit) of cleaning, and watching the UFC fight on Saturday, and some football on Sunday. No Bengals game though, unfortunately. I'm really hating these blackouts! We lost anyways but it just doesn't feel the same not being able to watch their game, lose or not! Coming from the lips of a true Bengals fan :) And did any of you fellow UFC fans really think that Rampage had a chance at beating Bones Jones? I sure didn't! Jones is a beast.

Jones on the left, Jackson on the right

But enough about sports. Sorry if you have no idea what I'm talking about. We'll move on to food, something you're more familiar with, I'm sure! I've had a date night scheduled for I don't know how long, and no we don't take that many date nights! We haven't taken any of the ones I've scheduled for, and alas, we must go this week because my deal at Quaker Steak expires at the end of this month! Way to procrastinate :) Oh well, at least I have a reasonable excuse why we have to have date night this week! Anyhoo... on to the menu plan!

Monday 9/26/11:  Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas with rotini

Tuesday 9/27/11:  Stuffed Smoked Pork Chops with frozen veggies

Wednesday 9/28/11:  date night at Quaker Steak and Lube... need to use my *groupon!

Thursday 9/29/11:  30th anniversary Mexican-themed party at work... I can't wait for all of those Mexican goodies on the menu that day!

Friday 9/30/11:  Pork Fried Rice

Saturday 10/1/11:  out to eat for my Mama's birthday :)

Sunday 10/2/11:   Skillet Lasagna with ciabatta bread

 

*I get tons of deals from many different sites, like Groupon, Livingsocial, Cincysavers, etc etc. I tend to just refer to all of my restaurant deals as "Groupons" even though some came from different sites. Just a little FYI. If you see "Groupon", just think "coupon". K? K! Glad we cleared that up ;)

Here's to another great week, and to the end of September. My, how time flies! I must find time to put up my fall and Halloween decorations before it's too late! It'll be Christmas before we know it. I dunno whether to smile or cry a little.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Brunch at Farmshop (Brentwood/Santa Monica)

The Farmshop is one place I've been hearing a lot about from the new-ish Brentwood Country Mart (other than the Sweet Rose Creamery, of course). From what I've heard, the Farmshop was expensive but have great food. The former made me a bit reluctant but one day I decided to give it a try.

As with most brunch places in this city, there was a wait for a table (about 15-20 minutes) and we walked around the Country Mart to kill time.

Corn and Avocado Salad with herbed quinoa ($14)

Yes, the prices here are pretty high but the ingredients they use are absolutely amazing. This may be the creamiest avocado I've had lately, perfectly ripe, making a healthy yet satisfying dish. The tomatoes were sweet and bursts in your mouth. We loved this dish and I'm saddened to think the peak avocado season is over.

Next was the Shirred Eggs with fra’mani chorizo, wild greens, chickpeas, yogurt and sourdough toast ($16)

This was another hit and one dish that I kept thinking about for a few days after. I loved eating the runny yolk with the earthy kale and chickpeas. There was just the right amount of yogurt to bring the flavors together. Scoop them all up on the sourdough toast.

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Restaurant Review : Benihana Squared

I'm probably the last person in the world to have eaten at Benihana for the first time some months back. Like literally, the last person in the world probably... there are locations throughout the U.S. as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. That's alot of Benihanas! But that's not a bad thing at all.

My first time, I went to the downtown location on E. 6th Street with some coworkers for lunch. They had raved about the place so I was excited to try it. I ordered one of the lunch specialties: Spicy Hibachi Chicken, served with a salad, and veggies like green onions and mushrooms in a spicy sauce, and fried rice. First came the salad, and though I like my salads with the fatty goods like bacon and cheese and dressing and eggs, this salad was pretty good, mainly because of the dressing. The salad itself had only veggies, but that ginger dressing is what really made the salad. Without it, it would be nothing, though I've read some reviews that disagree with me and didn't like the dressing. I've seen some copycat recipes on the web... I'll need to try to make my own homemade version of that dressing cuz I dug it!

Here's my Spicy Hibachi Chicken, the lunch portion... 

As you guys know, I'm definitely a sauce kinda gurl. And Benihana's two dipping sauces don't disappoint. There is a brown sauce (not sure exactly what it is), and a pale sauce which is a shrimp sauce. I like them both, but I absolutely LOVE the shrimp sauce. I could drench a plate of anything with that sauce and be set. It seriously makes the dish for me.

My coworkers were a bit disappointed because they remembered getting some complimentary shrimp appetizers along with the meal. So we all assumed they stopped doing that. Come to find out later on my next trip, that they DO still offer the shrimp apps but it is with the dinner entrees, not the lunch selections, which makes sense because you are paying a heck of alot more for the dinner portions and should therefore receive more food. But my coworkers do believe they used to serve them with the lunch selections too, so that's a bit of a disappointment, as the prices are already high and if they are cutting back on food too that's no good!


I'll admit my first experience wasn't as great as the next, because it was in a work setting and not as comfortable and lively, and we didn't get our little shrimp. And our chef wasn't animated and didn't do any cool tricks. The second time I went with family for my brother's birthday to the Springdale/Tri-County location, so it was during their dinner time rather than lunch. We had to wait for a bit as it was a weekend night, but we were content in going to the bar/waiting area which actually had tables to sit and wait at, as well as a bar to order drinks - both alcoholic and non. Though it's never fun to wait for a table, I love that they have an actual seated area, and not just a couple of seats in the lobby, or no seats at all! The quoted us a wait time of 45 minutes or so (Yikes!) but we only had to wait like half that time which was great. I have to admit that the decor looked alot better at the Springdale location also. It just felt more like a restaurant than the crowded downtown location, which is expected. 

I ordered the Hibachi Lemon Chicken entree from the dinner menu, but I don't think he ever added the lemon. Oh well, I just drenched it in shrimp sauce anyhoo. I really wanted to try the scallop or filet mignon entree but I had to pay for half of my brother's meal so I had to keep it reasonable. Next time if PJ and I go for a date night, we may each try one, but it'll be a pricy meal! Like I said earlier, we did each have some shrimp appetizers, which were delicious, in that shrimp sauce of course. My entree also came with a bowl of soup, which wasn't anything special to me. It lacked flavor and just tasted like a bland broth with thinly sliced mushrooms. A little too simple for me. But no worries, because the shrimp apps, my entree, and the experience made up for it. Oh, and they do serve a hot green tea along with the dinner entree, which I didn't care for but then again I'm not a tea kinda person.

The Teppanyaki Chef played around with me and acted like he was going to chop my head off with his knife, fed me some shrimp and sauce, made smoke volcanoes out of the onion rings, and just made it fun for everyone. We even got a pic together with my brother wearing the birthday boy hat. Fun times, fun times. You can even download your pic from their website and keep it for yourself to cherish the memories.

I'll admit, the prices are a bit high. The food is probably overpriced, but it is still a fun experience, a change from the usual, and the food is pretty good. Definitely not a place we will go to often, but maybe once in a while or for a birthday. For the price, we would probably go someplace fancier though for a romantic or intimate occasion and spend just as much. But overrall, we had a nice time!


Peace, and bacon grease!

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Kelly's Brewpub (Albuquerque, NM)

On my last night in Albuquerque, I had dinner with a group of friends and decided to let the local decide where to go. There were quite a few constraints. She had her kid with her so it'll have to be a place where she can bring him. My other friend wanted to check out the Nob Hill area. There has to be alcohol, and it can't be very expensive. We ended up at Kelly's Brewpub, a popular local hangout - probably partly because it's a sports bar and partly because they have 20 of their own brews at a pretty cheap price (you can also apparently make your own beer here).

The food is your typical bar food, and from the little I tried they're pretty mediocre. We did like the green chile cheese fries, because it's hard to go wrong with that.

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Stella Rossa Pizza (Santa Monica)

The latest buzz on pizza in LA has been coming from Stella Rossa Pizza in Santa Monica. Stella Rossa is a sister restaurant of and shares an entrance with M Street Kitchen on Main St. The chef, Jeff Mahin, comes from a fine dining background, including The Fat Duck and L2O. He says he's now doing what he's always wanted to do, making pizza. (Is it just me or is there a movement of fine dining chefs turning into making sandwiches and burgers and pizzas).

Upon placing our order, the server suggested we order a different appetizer since we're getting a white pizza, but my friend has never had burrata before so I insisted that we order some.

Fresh local burrata ($10.95) with organic extra virgin olive oil, sea salt
The burrata is made locally (in Baldwin Park) by Di Stefano and was one of the creamiest you can find in this city. I would've been very happy with the burrata and olive oil alone, but the sweet grapes made for an amazing accompaniment. Every piece of grape I had that night was sweet and ripe. Remember the scene in Ratatouille where Remy makes Emile try eating a chunk of cheese and a piece of grape at the same time?

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Easy Peasy: Truffle Making at Luxe Hotel Rodeo

So, I've posted a truffle recipe from Valerie's Confections before and it does look easy enough, but I still have never gone ahead and tried it. Maybe it was still harder than it sounds. But after watching a truffle making demo at Luxe Hotel, I have to say it's looking easier.

First, here is the recipe (from their hotel blog):
8 ounces of chocolate, milk or dark to taste
½ cup of heavy cream
1 tablespoon of coconut rum
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Using a double boiler, slowly melt the chocolate in the cream over boiling water - you don't want to heat it directly with the fire. Like this:

The boiling water is covered with a moist rag, and the bowl with the chocolate and cream is placed over that.
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Menu Planning - Week of 9/19/11

Hi guys! Guess who didn't follow her menu plan last week?! That would be me. The only thing we made was Martha's Chicken Fried Rice, which I had to make by today for a deadline. Everything else was pretty much thrown out the door. Don't really know what happened, I've got no excuses for ya.

But it's another week, so let's try this again....

Monday 9/19/11:  Chipotle

Tuesday 9/20/11:  Biscuits over Creamed Chicken

Wednesday 9/21/11:  date night

Thursday 9/22/11:  Pork Ribs my Daddy gave me

Friday 9/23/11:  Alfredo Lasagna Roll-ups with ciabatta bread

Saturday 9/24/11:  Beer, Bacon, Chocolate Chili with Cornmeal Biscuits

Sunday 9/25/11:   Stuffed Portobellos with Mashed Potatoes with California Caprese Salad

This menu plan came late today.... we've already eaten Chipotle :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

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September's Secret Recipe Club Reveal - Molten Lava Cakes

I'm back with another round of The Secret Recipe Club! For the month of September, I was assigned the blog, Cook with Sara. There were some enticing recipes to choose from, such as her Caramel Chocolate Bars, Caramel Macchiato Cheesecake (OMG!), and Lemon Poppyseed Muffins. There were an endless number of possibilities. I want to make them all, and one day I will! But for now, the perfect recipe that was calling me was her Molten Chocolate Cakes. How ironic, because PJ and I were just talking a little while back how we loved the Molten Cakes from Domino's Pizza, and wanted to find out how to make them at home. So as soon as I saw that recipe, I knew it was the one. 

PJ and I were both wondering, how the heck is it gonna be a cake-like substance on the outside, while being liquidy on the inside? I knew it had the flour and eggs to make it a cake-like consistency. But we both were just concerned if the inside would still be all "molten". And wondering what the heck would make it distinguish the two... how would it be able to be both cake-like on the outside while liquidy on the inside?! And as promised, it was :)

We didn't have any ramekins to bake the cakes in, so I had to run out to Kroger to buy some. They had some large-sized ones, but they looked too big for individual cakes, yet the 4 oz. ramekins seemed ultra tiny. I opted for the 4 oz. minis though and figured it's better to have a smaller cake and call it a mini molten chocolate cake rather than have a giant cake that one can't finish off! So this recipe ended up filling three 4 oz. ramekins, but that was with me filling them up almost to the top. I think next time I would fill them less so they wouldn't rise as much and poof up so high, which made them look more like a rounded souffle rather than flat-topped molten cake. I'll definitely be experimenting with different recipes to see which tastes the best as well as yields the best texture and shape. But these were great for a start, and I was pretty impressed since it was my first time. It really is a lot simpler than it seems. Don't let them scare you! You just whisk everything together basically in one large pot, then bake them in ramekins. Nothing hard about it at all. It seems so much more difficult and fancier than it really is. Which I'm all about!!!


We also used semisweet chocolate chips specifically, but you could use semisweet chocolate squares if you have those. We also topped them with some more powdered sugar at the end, for prettiness.


I'm having issues with the names of these thingies, though. So are they called Molten Chocolate Cakes? Or Chocolate Lava Cakes? Or Molten Lava Cakes? I like the word "lava"... so I would love to change the name of these to Molten Lava Cakes. Can I do that? I think I'm gonna....    :)


So here's some delicious Molten Lava Cakes, courtesy of Sara, and I hope you likey.

Molten Lava Cakes

from Cook with Sara

• 4 oz. semisweet chocolates
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 6 tbsp flour

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Once butter is melted, add in the chocolate, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Whisk in the powdered sugar, mix together. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks, mixing together. Whisk in the flour and mix well until incorporated.

Pour into three greased 4 0z ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet, for easy handling. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 1 minute, then carefully run a knife around the cake edges and invert the ramekins onto individual plates. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

Printable Recipe


 

I'm also linking up to:
On the Menu Monday

Joy of Desserts
2 Maids a Baking
Just Another Meatless Monday
My Meatless Mondays
MMMM
Tasty Tuesdays @ 33 Shades of Green
Hearth and Soul Hop

Tuesdays at the Table
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday @ Beauty and Bedlam
What's on Your Plate?
Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits

Tuesday's Tantalising Taste

Simply Delish

Made From Scratch Tuesday

Show Me What Ya Got

Tasty Tuesday Party

Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Tuesday Talent Show

We really liked these molten cakes. I don't think they were as good as the ones from Domino's (I never thought I'd say that!!!), which cook up to more of a dark brown and crispier texture. Maybe next time we'd cook them for a bit longer. But we still devoured them all!

Check out everyone's contributions to this month's Secret Recipe Club in the blog hop below. And don't forget to check out the Secret Recipe Club and join, if interested. I strongly recommend that you do!







Peace, and bacon grease!

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Martha Mondays - Chicken Fried Rice

Wassssssup?!?

As always, I hope you all shared a great weekend with your friends and families doing the things you love! I sure was fortunate enough to... spending Saturday evening celebrating my boss and future-aunt-in-law's birthday at my future-mom-in-law's house with delicious Taco Casa and the final episode of The Wire.

And some good cookin' and cornhole at my Mama and Daddy's house on Sunday. I was so glad Pj was able to come, as well as my brother. We laughed, we played, we goofed, we capped, we argued, we loved. I sincerely love being around my family, and having PJ be a part of it. He fits in so well... My brother and dad both like him. I love that he's a part of the family. And of course we indulged on some delish ribs, mac and cheese, greens, green beans, corn, beer chicken, bbq chicken, and rolls. Gotta love that good Southern cookin :)

Anyhoo, I'm here sharing a basic yet delicious Chinese recipe with you, for Martha Mondays! A special thanks to Brette for hosting :O)  PJ and I both had kinda ruled this recipe out, thinking it would be nothing special at all. But boy were we wrong.

Like last time I tried to look for scallions, we couldn't find them at our local grocer. Still no luck this time around either. But we did find green onions, which are pretty much the same thing. 

We decided to cook the frozen snow peas first (since they weren't fresh) and cooked them in the microwave according to the directions on the package.

Let me tell you, we both were super surprised at how much we each liked it!!! Like, for reals. If you like Chinese food, and if you like chicken fried rice, I don't see how you couldn't like this! 

Chicken Fried Rice

adapted from Martha Stewart

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (12 oz total)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 green onions, rinsed and thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 tsp grated and peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup diced red pepper (I had a large pepper and used 3/4 of it)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup frozen snow peas, cooked according to package directions

Cook rice according to package instructions. Set aside. Pound breasts with a mallet until 1/4 inch thick. Cut into strips, each 3 inches long and 1/2 inch wide). Season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Cook chicken until just cooked through. Transfer to a plate.

Reduce heat to low and add remaining tablespoon oil. Add the eggs; Just as whites begin to set, stir to scramble. Add scallions and ginger; cook 1 minute. Add reserved rice and bell pepper; cook 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, stir together the soy sauce, sugar, and stock; add it to the skillet. Add the cooked snow peas and reserved, cooked chicken; cook until heated through.

Printable Recipe

Linked up to:
Mouthwatering Mondays
Hunk of Meat Mondays 
Delicious Dishes
Homemaker Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
MAFF Monday
Mangia Monday
Sharing Monday
Made By You Monday
Recipe Sharing Monday
Makin' You Crave Monday
On the Menu Monday

This Chicken Fried Rice packed so much flavor, and just because I love the saltiness of soy sauce, I added a couple of squirts of soy sauce to my rice and chicken at the end. It really was surprisingly flavorful and delicious! I was very glad that I chose this recipe, in fact. 

I'm not sure if homemade Chinese food tastes better than the original.... that would probably be a sin!! But man is it so delicious and less expensive and not very difficult to make. So please make this traditional Chicken Fried Rice recipe soon, and very soon.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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My 3 Fave Dishes

My blogger friend, Lizzy, over at That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!! was kind enough to tag me in this fun game. I love playing these things, so of course I accepted :)

The rules are:

1. If nominated, pick your 3 favorite dishes from your blog

2. Link to those recipes on your blog

3. Nominate 5 bloggers to play along

Easy enough, right? I think so!

My 3 favorite dishes from my blog would have to be..... {drum roll please....}

The very recent Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese. It really is one of the best mac and cheeses I've ever had. I love the spiciness from the buffalo sauce, as well as the blue cheese and panko crunchy topping. If you like things spicy, add more hot sauce. And if you're more of a wuss, cut back. I won't love you any less.

I also instantly fell in love with this creamy soup. It has so many delicious ingredients and therefore an array of flavors. It is a perfect autumn recipe. You know you wanna make this Chicken Corn Chowder. 

Cassie strikes again! Her modernized and spruced-up shepherd's pie is one of my go-to meals whenever I don't know what to make. It's packed full of flavor. Everything about this BBQ Beef Shepherd's Pie is amazing. I'm sure it will become one of your favorites too :)

So there you have it. My faves {so far} from my blog. 


Another rule was that I had to nominate 5 bloggers to play along. And the nominations go to.... {another drum roll please...}

Sarah at Fantastical Sharing of Recipes

Mary at Barefeet in the Kitchen

Gerry at Foodness Gracious

Laxsupermom at Sugar & Spice in the Land of Balls & Sticks

Kyleen at Sixteenbeans

Hope you'll play along :) Looking forward to seeing all of your top recipes. Thanks for tagging me, Lizzy!!

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Blue Boar Pub (Hollywood): Stay for the Cocktails

The same man who brought you SmithHouse in Century City, Curtis Nysmith, has also brought you Blue Boar Pub (both spaces also designed by Spacecraft), a traditional British pub in the middle of Hollywood.

As this is a British pub after all, there are some (eight?) beers on tap including Dry Blackthorn cider, London Pride, etc, plus some "standards" (uh, Budlight). As the name suggests, the Dry Blackthorn cider is less sweet than the usual cider, and I recommend it. It turns out, though, that it's the cocktails that were the highlights of my visit AND, the cocktails are only $10!

I immediately fell in love with the William Wallace, made with Famous Grouse, ginger syrup, honey, candied ginger, angostura bitters. If you like ginger drinks, this one is a must!

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Amanda's Hot Fiesta Dip

Are you guys as happy about the football season as I am?! I mean, yes, I have the Bengals to root for. But at least football is happening! That lockout had me worried I wouldn't get to see any football at all. So thank God they settled that mess.

Of course you need some snacks to munch on while watching the game! And this Hot Fiesta Dip is a perfect snack or appetizer. Perfect for a party, or even for two like we did. And it's so easy to throw together.... everything happens in the microwave. Finger foods are great because you don't need a fancy plate and fork and knife, and you can just dip some tortilla chips or crackers into this easy appetizer, all while on the couch and watching your fave team.

Hey, even if your team is losing, like mine often is... you'll be *WINNING with this dip.

Hot Fiesta Dip

from Amanda's Cookin'

• 1 (10 oz) package frozen whole kernel corn
• 1 and 1/2 cup salsa
• 3/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese
• 1/2 can (about 7 oz) refried beans
• 2 tbsp chopped green onions

Microwave frozen corn according to package directions. Drain. 

On a plate, combine salsa and refried beans, stirring until well combined. Stir in the corn. Cover with plastic wrap and vent, then microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap and immediately sprinkle with shredded cheese; let stand for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Top with green onions and serve with tortilla chips and/or crackers.

Printable Recipe

I'm linking up to Tailgating Time! over at Seaside Simplicity.

Dig in!  But no double dipping!  :)

*Speaking of winning, anyone gonna watch the Roast of Charlie Sheen this coming Monday? I hate that guy, but I think I may watch :) 

Peace, and bacon grease!

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AnQi's Red Hour, Garlic Noodles

The An family has probably created the first high-end Vietnamese restaurant empire starting with Crustacean and now AnQi in Costa Mesa and Tiato Cafe in Santa Monica.

Where Crustacean focuses on more traditional Vietnamese, AnQi and its chef Ryan Carson leans more towards Asian fusion. AnQi is divided into three sections: there's the main dining room, there's the bar with a separate bar menu, and then there's the noodle bar (also serving dumplings). On Mondays, you can say there's four. There's the private dining room where you can partake in the molecular gastronomy menu (which I still need to review, soon).

During the Red Hour (M-F, 4-7 pm) all the cocktails are 50% off and some of the small bites from the bar menu are discounted. They recently invited some bloggers for a hosted Red Hour. We shared some fusion bar bites from an Australian crudo served with yuzu kosho granita, yuzu nuoc nam, and kaffir lime ponzu (three separate sauces) to Ahi Tuna Poke and spicy beef tongue crispy tacos.

In keeping with the molecular side of the restaurant, there's a cocktail with cotton candy similar to that of Bazaar's. The Lotus is made with pink grapefruit and orange with vodka and tequila over pink cotton candy.

I personally liked the Viet-No-Jito which is vodka with hand-muddled fresh lime and Kinh Gioi leaves, green tea infused with agave nectar and molecular lemon foam. The Kinh Gioi are often called Vietnamese Balm or Vietnamese Mint and added a really nice aroma to the drink (it would be better if it was rum-based, though - and same goes with most of their cocktails).

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Save the Date: Beer and Booze Pairings at Dionicess IX

On October 21, Dionicess returns with craft beer cocktails to Steingarten LA. Public health professor Gev Kazanchyan is teaming up with Dave Watrous from Beachwood BBQ Steingarten LA for a one night fundraising event. This time, they have recruited bartender Matt Biancaniello to craft some beer cocktails.

Each of the 5 cocktails will come with 5 vegetarian dishes served by Randy Clemens (author of The Sriracha Cookbook).

The event costs $65 per person (all inclusive) and all proceeds benefit Real Medicine Foundation. There are only 30 seats available so grab yours now here!

Dionicess IX
Friday October 21, 2011. 7:00 PM
Steingarten LA, 10543 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 USA

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Shaved Snow at Salju Dessert

There aren't too many Indonesian establishments around LA, so I can't help be excited when I hear about one. Wandering Chopsticks told me there was a new Indonesian dessert store in Alhambra. How did she know it was Indonesian? She saw the name was "Salju Desserts" and googled the word. Yep, salju means snow in Indonesian, so as you can probably guess, it's a shaved snow (and ice) store!

The difference between a shaved snow and ice is that shaved snow is made with a block of ice that contains condensed milk in it. At Salju, the snow is also flavored. One order is $5.50 for shaved snow (choose from taro, green tea, mango, and other flavors) and three toppings (choices include jackfruit, red beans, grass jelly, mochi bits, nuts, and other fruits). It's automatically topped with more condensed milk.

The "snow" itself already has green tea flavor

The shaved snow I think is still not as good as Class 302 as the one here is still shaved with a normal ice shaver (Class 302 uses a special one that shaves them into wide ribbons and gives it an even better texture). Still, Rowland Heights is quite far for many of us and Salju Dessert is a pretty good alternative that also offers more flavors and topping options than Class 302. Plus, I have to support my fellow Indonesians!


Salju Dessert
35 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-3578

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Seven Links Game

I saw this fun game over at Jenn's blog, and some others, and usually it is an invite kinda challenge, but Jenn left it open to anyone to participate, so I jumped on it! I've been wanting to play this game! I love games... I'm a kid at heart.

1. The most beautiful post - While I don't find any of my posts particularly beautiful, or as beautiful as I would like I guess, it would definitely have to be one of my more recent posts, when my photography improved. I'd probably have to say this Chocolate Chip Blondies post because I like my photos. I took the photos in natural light, which makes a big difference of course, and though they're not as in focus as I'd like and not taken with a dslr, I'd say I like these pics the best. A close second would be these colorful Cereal Treat Easter Eggs, they are adorable, and oh-so-tasty too!

2. The most popular post -  Blogger "Stats" says it's this delicious Loaded Baked Potato Dip, which I had no idea was so popular. Thanks for letting me know, and making it easy for me, Blogger :)

3. The most controversial post  - I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to write here? I don't really talk about controversial topics on my blog.... um... um... I'm stalling... Look, over there! {points far off in the distance}

Hopefully you've lost your focus and forgotten about that question...

4. The most helpful post - Hmm... I'll say this post for Baked Creamy Chicken Flautas because I taught you guys a little Mexican terminology lesson, with the help of my good friend Wikipedia.

5. Post that's surprisingly successful - Garlic and Lemon Roasted Asparagus, because it's a super simple recipe that I'm surprised has been so successful with pageviews. But sometimes the basics are the best recipes :)  I'm not really sure if that's what the question was asking, but that's how I interpreted it.

6. Post that did not get attention it deserved - Creamy Lime Cilantro Ranch Dressing... since it didn't get any comments at all  :(  I loved loved loved this recipe the first time I made it. The second time, I'll admit, it tasted a little too mayo-y. Not really sure why. So please make this recipe but keep my comment in mind and maybe cut back on the mayo.

 
7. Post you are most proud of - My First Award because I was so proud to win an award. I used to wonder if I'd ever earn a blog award, so when I did I cherished that like it was my baby. I've got the badge proudly displayed on my sidebar :)



Hope you've had fun getting to know me! You didn't really have a choice, now did you? 

:)

Peace, and bacon grease!

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