For the past couple of months, Mike and I have been going to O-ku for happy hour because all of their rolls are half off and you know how we Monsters love a good deal.
They also have Hendrick's Gin martinis and their cocktails are $3 off (I think happy hour runs from 5-7). Hendrick's Gin is the only type of Gin that I will actually drink straight. All you need is a cucumber slice on the side of your glass and you are golden (Thank you to Mike for introducing me to this drink...or should I thank the bartender who introduced HIM to the drink in Scotland, let's go with the bartender).
It is a dangerously smooth drink, so be CAREFUL because you will get drunk FAST.
Anyway, sorry for the tangent there, back to sushi. I would say our favorites are the Firecracker roll, Avocado wrapped roll, Tuna Tataki roll, and the Filet Mignon Tataki Roll. They also have this potato wrapped roll which is a shrimp tempura, avocado roll wrapped in shoe-string potatoes and deep fried. It is insanely delicious, but it gets to be a little much with all of the fried potatoes around it, definitely one you want to share with someone else. So in the end, O-ku is what I would call the "City Mouse" of the sushi world...very "swanky".
On the other end of the spectrum is The Oriental Garden in Mt. P. ...this is the "Country Mouse" of sushi. It is this little hole in the wall place off of Coleman Boulevard that, from what I have heard, used to be a Hardees. When we walked in, the place was completely packed out. We seated ourselves in the 1970's booth and reviewed the laminated menu layered under the glass table top. The waitress later came out with the full menu and we ordered two house salads with ginger dressing, 3 orders of Nigiri, 1 spicy tuna roll, and 1 shrimp and avocado roll...we walked out of there spending only 29 bucks!!!
I am sorry O-ku, but your fancy shmancy ways are low priority on our list... I think Mike and I have found our new hot spot to get our sushi fix. The Charleston population was correct, The Oriental Garden is by far the best sushi we have had in town. The rolls were so big, I could hardly pick the pieces up with my chopsticks...or maybe that is just because I suck at using chopsticks.
Anyway, what I am trying to say is if you want the "City Mouse", night on the town, where you get dressed up and look at hot waitresses all night, then go to O-ku. If you want the authentic "Country Mouse" sushi experience where you get more bang for your buck, then go to The Oriental Garden...NOW!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Recipe of the Day: Pillow Cookies
I have been wanting to try this recipe for a while now. It all started when my friend introduced me to the website www.bakerella.com. I was flipping through the site with my mouth gaping open, as I salivated and stared, eyes glazed over, at these decadent objects referred to as pillow cookies. This great invention consists of baking a batch of brownies, mixing up some cookie dough (Bakerella uses chocolate chip), creating monstrous sized balls with the dough, stuffing them with the baked brownie, and THEN baking the cookie. I couldn't resist.
SO, I started thinking, what would be even better than brownie stuffed chocolate chip cookies? WHY YES!!! Brownie stuffed PEANUT BUTTER cookies. It would be like an inside out Reese's Peanut Butter cup times ten.
Last night I decided to take on this endeavor to create my own pillow cookies. Now don’t get too excited, I did not make these from scratch. I bought one box of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chunk brownie mix (yeah, that’s right) and 2 pouches of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter cookie mix.
I mixed up the brownies and popped them in the oven. I made sure to bake them about 5-10 minutes less than the time on the box so they would be a little fudgey. While they were baking I licked the brownie bowl…I mean, I mixed up the 2 bags of peanut butter cookie mix, did a couple taste tests and placed the dough in the refrigerator (the dough is suppose to refrigerate for 45 minutes to an hour.)
Once the brownies were done, I pulled them out to let them cool and then turned the oven down to 325 degrees. Then the fun began. I ate a couple brownies, I had to do a taste test again, I didn’t want to kill anyone. Then I pulled the peanut butter cookie dough out of the refrigerator and formed about 10 extremely UGE (no H) balls.
I pushed my thumb down in each of them to make a hole to place the brownie in.
I cut the brownies into 1 x 1 in. chunks and stuffed them in each ball of dough, then folded the dough over the top to cradle the brownie bites. Oh my god, I wanted to eat them just like that, it was so tempting.
AND THEN…popped them in the oven for about 13 minutes or so. Just be careful because I screwed up the first batch. I don’t know if it was the pan or what, but the bottoms turned black. I was so upset that I cut the tops off so I could still eat them.
WHOOPS!
For the other batches (I could only fit about 4 or 5 cookies on one pan), I cooked them for half of the time on the middle rack and then moved them to the top rack for the rest of the time. But, you have to consider that our oven is freakin’ 100 years old, so I am sure it will be better if you have a newer model.
Look how big these things are
Voila! Obscenely delicious brownie stuffed peanut butter pillow cookies. I was sick by the end of the night from all of the taste testing.
SO, I started thinking, what would be even better than brownie stuffed chocolate chip cookies? WHY YES!!! Brownie stuffed PEANUT BUTTER cookies. It would be like an inside out Reese's Peanut Butter cup times ten.
Last night I decided to take on this endeavor to create my own pillow cookies. Now don’t get too excited, I did not make these from scratch. I bought one box of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chunk brownie mix (yeah, that’s right) and 2 pouches of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter cookie mix.
I mixed up the brownies and popped them in the oven. I made sure to bake them about 5-10 minutes less than the time on the box so they would be a little fudgey. While they were baking I licked the brownie bowl…I mean, I mixed up the 2 bags of peanut butter cookie mix, did a couple taste tests and placed the dough in the refrigerator (the dough is suppose to refrigerate for 45 minutes to an hour.)
Once the brownies were done, I pulled them out to let them cool and then turned the oven down to 325 degrees. Then the fun began. I ate a couple brownies, I had to do a taste test again, I didn’t want to kill anyone. Then I pulled the peanut butter cookie dough out of the refrigerator and formed about 10 extremely UGE (no H) balls.
I pushed my thumb down in each of them to make a hole to place the brownie in.
I cut the brownies into 1 x 1 in. chunks and stuffed them in each ball of dough, then folded the dough over the top to cradle the brownie bites. Oh my god, I wanted to eat them just like that, it was so tempting.
AND THEN…popped them in the oven for about 13 minutes or so. Just be careful because I screwed up the first batch. I don’t know if it was the pan or what, but the bottoms turned black. I was so upset that I cut the tops off so I could still eat them.
WHOOPS!
For the other batches (I could only fit about 4 or 5 cookies on one pan), I cooked them for half of the time on the middle rack and then moved them to the top rack for the rest of the time. But, you have to consider that our oven is freakin’ 100 years old, so I am sure it will be better if you have a newer model.
Look how big these things are
Voila! Obscenely delicious brownie stuffed peanut butter pillow cookies. I was sick by the end of the night from all of the taste testing.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Recipe Websites
Good Evening Everyone,
The other day when I was eating lunch with my coworkers, they asked me what recipe websites I use and then I started thinking, I only use about 2 or so and I wonder what other people use? Below are the websites I use, so for whoever is reading this blog, if you have any other recommendations, please let me know because I always LOVE finding new recipes.
www.allrecipes.com
www.eatingwell.com
www.epicurious.com
And my new favorite baking site...this woman is amazing by the way...www.bakerella.com
The other day when I was eating lunch with my coworkers, they asked me what recipe websites I use and then I started thinking, I only use about 2 or so and I wonder what other people use? Below are the websites I use, so for whoever is reading this blog, if you have any other recommendations, please let me know because I always LOVE finding new recipes.
www.allrecipes.com
www.eatingwell.com
www.epicurious.com
And my new favorite baking site...this woman is amazing by the way...www.bakerella.com
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Victim no. 354 (I lost count): Pane E Vino
This past Friday night Mike and I had a huge craving for some good Italian food. The strange thing is, we didn't really have an Italian "go-to" place. So, I got online and did some research. I ran across Pane E Vino which oddly enough we have driven past multiple times and I have always wanted to try it. It is the most adorable little restaurant off of Warren Street on Upper King. It has a very nice patio with strands of glowing lights that are very inviting.
We got there around 8:30 and we were greeted by a small Italian gentleman, Alfredo, who is actually the owner. He asked Mike, "Would you like to sit inside or out?" while pointing up at him then he poked him in his chest and said "That's OK, I will take you outside and let you make your decision". He pointed to a little round table in the corner with 2 chairs and said "This is our romantic spot, you guys sit here by the heater". It was perfect, I laughed to myself a little because the owner was rummaging around making sure everyone was happy, he reminded me a lot of my dad...it must be an Italian thing.
Now to the important part of the restaurant, the food.
We started with one of their appetizer specials. I can't remember the name, but based on what I found online, it was something similar to "Carpaccio di Manzo". It is an arugula salad served with thinly sliced filet mignon, seared on both sides, and shavings of Parmesan Cheese. Then there was a Balsamic Vinaigrette drizzled on top and WOW, seriously the filet was like butter and I think the cheese was actually crack; they just tell you it is cheese so you won't worry about getting arrested. The only downside was we didn't ask how much it cost and later found out it was 17 bucks (probably because there was crack in it) which was more than our entree!
It looks a little gross in this picture...sorry about that
For our main entrees, Mike ordered the Lasagna and I ordered the PAPPARDELLE ALL' ANTICA (yes I just copied that straight from the website). They were both amazing! The lasagna had mushrooms in it and I don't even like mushrooms, but it was still delicious. The only thing about the Pappardelle dish is that it is served with ground pork and I was hoping for shredded pork because that is how my grandmother use to make it. Oh well, it was still good and the velvety pasta noodles made up for the ground pork (also, on the menu it specifically says this dish will not be served with cheese and that is because the chef refuses to serve the dish with cheese...NO CHEESE FOR YOU!)
And the end of the meal, the part I ALWAYS have room for...dessert. We had to order the home made Tiramisu, even if this meal was going to cause us to go broke (by the way, I think this blog is going to make us go broke).
It was so worth it...it was like eating rainbows and unicorns surrounded by light creamy deliciousness. I was in heaven.
Again, these pictures aren't doing the meal justice...for some reason the Tiramisu looks like muscle and bone from a cow surrounded by chalk dust.
This place is awesome, we will definitely be going back and will be taking my parents here and will hopefully get better pictures of the food.
We got there around 8:30 and we were greeted by a small Italian gentleman, Alfredo, who is actually the owner. He asked Mike, "Would you like to sit inside or out?" while pointing up at him then he poked him in his chest and said "That's OK, I will take you outside and let you make your decision". He pointed to a little round table in the corner with 2 chairs and said "This is our romantic spot, you guys sit here by the heater". It was perfect, I laughed to myself a little because the owner was rummaging around making sure everyone was happy, he reminded me a lot of my dad...it must be an Italian thing.
Now to the important part of the restaurant, the food.
We started with one of their appetizer specials. I can't remember the name, but based on what I found online, it was something similar to "Carpaccio di Manzo". It is an arugula salad served with thinly sliced filet mignon, seared on both sides, and shavings of Parmesan Cheese. Then there was a Balsamic Vinaigrette drizzled on top and WOW, seriously the filet was like butter and I think the cheese was actually crack; they just tell you it is cheese so you won't worry about getting arrested. The only downside was we didn't ask how much it cost and later found out it was 17 bucks (probably because there was crack in it) which was more than our entree!
It looks a little gross in this picture...sorry about that
For our main entrees, Mike ordered the Lasagna and I ordered the PAPPARDELLE ALL' ANTICA (yes I just copied that straight from the website). They were both amazing! The lasagna had mushrooms in it and I don't even like mushrooms, but it was still delicious. The only thing about the Pappardelle dish is that it is served with ground pork and I was hoping for shredded pork because that is how my grandmother use to make it. Oh well, it was still good and the velvety pasta noodles made up for the ground pork (also, on the menu it specifically says this dish will not be served with cheese and that is because the chef refuses to serve the dish with cheese...NO CHEESE FOR YOU!)
It was so worth it...it was like eating rainbows and unicorns surrounded by light creamy deliciousness. I was in heaven.
Again, these pictures aren't doing the meal justice...for some reason the Tiramisu looks like muscle and bone from a cow surrounded by chalk dust.
This place is awesome, we will definitely be going back and will be taking my parents here and will hopefully get better pictures of the food.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Recipe of the day: Island Pork Tenderloin
This recipe is our go-to recipe for when we have guests over. If we can't come up with anything else to cook, we always resort to this meal because we have had a 100% success rate. It is great served with brown rice and asparagus or broccoli. The other bonus is that it is a healthy meal (we got this recipe out of our P90X book when we attempted the workout program about 2 and half years ago--we only made it through a month of the program, but at least we have this great recipe!)
Also, depending on who you are having over, it is a good idea to double the recipe. In the book the recipe says it makes enough for 4 servings, but I know if there is a total of 4 people eating at our house, we will make 2 lbs. of pork tenderloin and we usually don't have any leftovers (yes we are fatties).
Ingredients
16 ounces pork tenderloin, lean
2 teaspoons olive oil
Mix for Dry Rub
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix for Wet Rub
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
1/2 table spoon Tabasco sauce
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Stir the Dry Rub ingredients together and then coat the pork with the mixture.
3. Heat oil in a 12 in. skillet over medium high heat and brown the pork, turning, about 4 minutes for each side.
4. Stir together the Wet Rub mixture and pat it on top of the tenderloin. Place pork in roasting pan and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
Slice, place on plate, devour and enjoy the sweet spiciness of this dish (sorry I don't have any pictures, but trust me, it is delightful).
Also, depending on who you are having over, it is a good idea to double the recipe. In the book the recipe says it makes enough for 4 servings, but I know if there is a total of 4 people eating at our house, we will make 2 lbs. of pork tenderloin and we usually don't have any leftovers (yes we are fatties).
Ingredients
16 ounces pork tenderloin, lean
2 teaspoons olive oil
Mix for Dry Rub
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix for Wet Rub
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
1/2 table spoon Tabasco sauce
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Stir the Dry Rub ingredients together and then coat the pork with the mixture.
3. Heat oil in a 12 in. skillet over medium high heat and brown the pork, turning, about 4 minutes for each side.
4. Stir together the Wet Rub mixture and pat it on top of the tenderloin. Place pork in roasting pan and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
Slice, place on plate, devour and enjoy the sweet spiciness of this dish (sorry I don't have any pictures, but trust me, it is delightful).
Monday, March 7, 2011
How do you know you have had a successful vacation?
By the food you ate of course. Let's go through the rundown of LA (I will only provide the highlighted meals from each day).
Day 1
Breakfast: Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (which I already commented on in a previous post)
Lunch/late snack: Because I was completely stuffed from breakfast, I ended up not eating until 3 that afternoon. My friend and I ended up at this little Argentinean restaurant called LaLa's on Melrose and had some delicious bread with an olive oil dip that had parsley, garlic, and red peppers. We sipped on some yummy mojito's while munching on grilled veggies. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon.
Dinner: My brother and his wife went all out and grilled up some jumbo shrimp and Korean BBQ (courtesy of Costco). For our sides we had some wild rice and a cucumber carrot salad. I will let the pictures speak for the tasty factor of the meal. I am so glad my brother loves food as much as I do (he may even love it more, but I don't think that is possible)
Day 2:
I am going to skip the conversation about breakfast and go right to...
Lunch: El Fuego....the perfect Mexican fix. I got a massive fajita burrito with chicken and ate the entire thing. I even got up at one time to get some more water and the owner asked if I needed a box; I proudly replied "Actually I ate the whole thing" and walked away while he stared at me in awe.
My fat-ass burrito...it didn't even fit on my plate
Day 3:
Breakfast: I think this was my favorite breakfast of the whole trip...we went to this place in Woodland Hills called The Baker. I took a chance with their Challah French Toast hoping it would be fluffier than and not as dense as other types of french toast. Boy was I right! It was the most amazing french toast I have ever had. They served it sprinkled with powdered sugar and fresh fruit with a side of turkey bacon. The toast itself was so perfect, I didn't even use my syrup. I wanted to eat the whole thing, but I had to save one piece for Mike since he was asleep back at the house. The owner of The Baker is my hero.
Wine Tasting: Instead of going to the beach, we decided to stop and do some wine tasting. We ended up at the Sip Cielo Wine Bar. If you ever get to go to "Sip Cielo", try the “Purple Haze” from their Woodstock Collection. It was very smooth and not too sharp (sorry, I am not a wine connoisseur, so I don’t know all of the fancy technical terms for wine). The best part about the place was that they had a flight named after us, the “Monster Flight”
Day 4: This day consisted of eating the unhealthiest food possible:
Eggs with chicken/cheese for breakfast, Wendy’s for lunch, a giant pretzel with cheese dip at 6 flags for a snack, a giant funnel cake covered in powdered sugar for another snack and finally a healthy Thai dinner at Exotic Thai Café (I kept thinking it said “Erotic” Thai café when we passed it and thought, hmmm, erotic Thai food, I will have to try that).
I had their Pa-Nang Curry and wished I didn’t have to get on a plane the next day so I could have leftovers for lunch. The curry sauce was perfectly spicy and not too sweet. They garnished it with lemon grass which gave it a nice little punch and of course made it preeeeetttttyyyyy. My brother, another qualified food monster and walking garbage disposal kept stealing from my bowl of curry and constantly sniffed the air commenting how delicious it smelled. If you like Thai food, you will like Exotic Thai Café.
And that’s all. Sorry this was so long, but as you can see, it was a very successful vacation. Have a good night and I will add a new recipe for you guys later this week.
Day 1
Breakfast: Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (which I already commented on in a previous post)
Lunch/late snack: Because I was completely stuffed from breakfast, I ended up not eating until 3 that afternoon. My friend and I ended up at this little Argentinean restaurant called LaLa's on Melrose and had some delicious bread with an olive oil dip that had parsley, garlic, and red peppers. We sipped on some yummy mojito's while munching on grilled veggies. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon.
Dinner: My brother and his wife went all out and grilled up some jumbo shrimp and Korean BBQ (courtesy of Costco). For our sides we had some wild rice and a cucumber carrot salad. I will let the pictures speak for the tasty factor of the meal. I am so glad my brother loves food as much as I do (he may even love it more, but I don't think that is possible)
Day 2:
I am going to skip the conversation about breakfast and go right to...
Lunch: El Fuego....the perfect Mexican fix. I got a massive fajita burrito with chicken and ate the entire thing. I even got up at one time to get some more water and the owner asked if I needed a box; I proudly replied "Actually I ate the whole thing" and walked away while he stared at me in awe.
My fat-ass burrito...it didn't even fit on my plate
Day 3:
Breakfast: I think this was my favorite breakfast of the whole trip...we went to this place in Woodland Hills called The Baker. I took a chance with their Challah French Toast hoping it would be fluffier than and not as dense as other types of french toast. Boy was I right! It was the most amazing french toast I have ever had. They served it sprinkled with powdered sugar and fresh fruit with a side of turkey bacon. The toast itself was so perfect, I didn't even use my syrup. I wanted to eat the whole thing, but I had to save one piece for Mike since he was asleep back at the house. The owner of The Baker is my hero.
Wine Tasting: Instead of going to the beach, we decided to stop and do some wine tasting. We ended up at the Sip Cielo Wine Bar. If you ever get to go to "Sip Cielo", try the “Purple Haze” from their Woodstock Collection. It was very smooth and not too sharp (sorry, I am not a wine connoisseur, so I don’t know all of the fancy technical terms for wine). The best part about the place was that they had a flight named after us, the “Monster Flight”
Day 4: This day consisted of eating the unhealthiest food possible:
Eggs with chicken/cheese for breakfast, Wendy’s for lunch, a giant pretzel with cheese dip at 6 flags for a snack, a giant funnel cake covered in powdered sugar for another snack and finally a healthy Thai dinner at Exotic Thai Café (I kept thinking it said “Erotic” Thai café when we passed it and thought, hmmm, erotic Thai food, I will have to try that).
I had their Pa-Nang Curry and wished I didn’t have to get on a plane the next day so I could have leftovers for lunch. The curry sauce was perfectly spicy and not too sweet. They garnished it with lemon grass which gave it a nice little punch and of course made it preeeeetttttyyyyy. My brother, another qualified food monster and walking garbage disposal kept stealing from my bowl of curry and constantly sniffed the air commenting how delicious it smelled. If you like Thai food, you will like Exotic Thai Café.
And that’s all. Sorry this was so long, but as you can see, it was a very successful vacation. Have a good night and I will add a new recipe for you guys later this week.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Oh how I have missed you La La land
The smog, the concrete, the traffic, and the chicken and waffles. What!?!? Chicken and Waffles? Yes, LA of all places has the best chicken and waffles. There is this crazy little place called Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles that originally started in Harlem and was brought over to LA during the mid 70's.
We went to the location off of Gower (there are 5 locations througout LA) yesterday for brunch. The outside looks somewhat like a boarded up strip club. When you walk in you are greeted by the smell of vanilla and grease with gangsta' rap from the early 90's playing in the background.
Mike was brave enough to take on the "Herb's Special" with half of a fried chicken and 2 waffles, you really don't need to eat anything until the next day. I chose to go with lucky number 13, the "Carol C. Special". Perfectly portioned with one fried chicken breast and one waffle with a 1/4 lb. of butter and delicious cup of home made syrup. I wasn't even hungry until 7 o'clock that night for dinner, and anyone who knows me well, knows for me to be full that long is a very rare occurrence. Thank you Roscoe's for saving us money and the scrumptious meal!
Mike's food before
Mike's food after
We went to the location off of Gower (there are 5 locations througout LA) yesterday for brunch. The outside looks somewhat like a boarded up strip club. When you walk in you are greeted by the smell of vanilla and grease with gangsta' rap from the early 90's playing in the background.
Mike was brave enough to take on the "Herb's Special" with half of a fried chicken and 2 waffles, you really don't need to eat anything until the next day. I chose to go with lucky number 13, the "Carol C. Special". Perfectly portioned with one fried chicken breast and one waffle with a 1/4 lb. of butter and delicious cup of home made syrup. I wasn't even hungry until 7 o'clock that night for dinner, and anyone who knows me well, knows for me to be full that long is a very rare occurrence. Thank you Roscoe's for saving us money and the scrumptious meal!
Mike's food before
Mike's food after
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