Truffle Scrambled Eggs & Pepper Jelly

This combination might sound a bit strange to some but take my word for it, they do go together.
I scrambled eggs by swishing them directly in the pan (no beating) with butter and a bit of olive oil. While cooking, I added freshly ground pepper. While still a bit runny, I sprinkled some truffle salt and put them on top of toasted English muffin with butter and pepper jelly.

It was delicious. You had the crunchy buttery, well toasted muffin with the sweet and spicy pepper jelly and the fluffy scrambled eggs on top.  I had it with a cup of strong dark coffee. I also could have had it with champagne which I thought I would reserve for the evening.

Swedish Crepes at IHOP

The plan was to go to Pancake House right after my colonoscopy. Sandi picked me up from the facility and deposited me to Amy's house since she couldn't join us for breakfast. I was too hungry to go all the way to Pancake House so we just went to IHOP which was just a mile away from Amy's house.  My plan was to have the Cheese Blitz. I was devastated when our server informed me that they no longer serve them.

Not to worry....I also like their Swedish Crepe with Lingonberries. Amy felt adventurous so she ordered something new; Strawberry Vanilla Spice Crepe. It came with eggs, hash brown and bacon. She thought it was too much but I talked her into ordering it with my intention of eating it as I had a voracious appetite since I have not eaten anything solid since the day before!

Amy liked her strawberry vanilla spice crepe. My Swedish crepes were great with the lingonberries and the creamy lingonberry butter. The lingonberries was a bit tart and yet sweet. I was able to have half of the eggs, hash brown, and bacon. Amy had a little bit but could not finish her portion so she ended up having to take it home.

IHOP was busy and for once, the service was good. My friends usually don't want to dine there because the service is always slow and that's early in the morning when they are not too busy. I guess there's hope for IHOP.

Taco Bell's Nacho Fries

I've been seeing advertisements for the Nacho Fries which is supposed to be available for a limited time. We finally tried it with the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco Supreme. The fries are so good and my first thought is why don't they have this all the time. The cool ranch Doritos locos are my favorite tacos. You just have to try it because I know you will get hooked on it.

We liked it so much that our friend Aaron came along with us a few days later. It is cheaper to get the box which includes the Doritos taco, the nacho fries, a burrito and a drink all for $5.00. You can't beat that! Only I could finish the contents of the box. Aaron and Sandi could not do it. What a bunch of wusses!

Piero's Last Lunch as a Single Man

Sandi made Piero's favorite dish for lunch in honor of his last few days as a single man. This also happens to be my favorite thing she makes. I always said she should open a restaurant and serve nothing but Koobideh and Lentils with Rice. We, of course, had to start with a toast! Peach Bellini was the perfect drink on this hot day.

Instead of beef or chicken, Sandi opted for turkey. It was just as delicious, especially after some labneh on the side. In my case, I slather it all over the meat. The lentils with rice are unexplainable. It's just out of this world! She, of course, had to make a salad with her garlic-lemon dressing with lots of feta cheese. That too is overly delicious as far as salads go.

Dessert was something unusual. I talked her into experimenting on making a nectarine pie. It turned out to be very good with some caramel vanilla ice cream.

It was an unforgettable lunch with an unforgettable friend, Piero. Congratulations to you and the lovely Inez. 

Peach Jam & Jasmine Ganache Cronut

Peach Jam & Jasmine Ganache is the flavor for August's cronut at the famous Dominique Ansel Bakery at the Grove in Los Angeles. As usual, it has not disappointed me yet. Some flavors are definitely better than others but they are still very good. The beautiful cronuts are light and crispy with the many layers like that of a croissant and the wonderful filling oozes out as you take your bite.

If you haven't yet experienced eating a cronut, this is the place to go since Dominique Ansel invented the cronut.

They do have other pastries that look delicious but in our experience, they look better than they taste. You can never go wrong with the cronuts.

Szechwan Chinese Restaurant

After seeing the movie The Farewell the other day, five of us got really hungry for Chinese food. We wanted to go to our favorite A-1 in Lomita but they didn't open until 5 p.m. and it was only shortly after 4 p.m. Amy suggested Szechwan since she has been going there with her family. That restaurant has been at that location for a long time and I have been there long ago and could not remember anything special about it.

We all ordered several entrées. Doris ordered Singapore Style Rice Noodles and Sujata ordered the Shrimp Fried Rice. Sandi decided on the Lemon Chicken. The noodles were good and so was the fried rice though we all thought it lacked salt so we just added some soy sauce and it was great. The lemon chicken was especially good as we found the lemon slices with the peel very appealing! The tart/bitter flavor went well with the chicken.

I thought I would try the Flat Noodle in Black Bean Sauce with BBQ pork. We enjoyed that. Amy opted for the Minced Chicken Lettuce Cup which supposedly feeds four. It came with 4 pieces of lettuce. They could have given us more lettuce because there was enough chicken to wrap at least 3 more helpings. The hoisin sauce squirted on top of the chicken elevated it to another level.

Our server, Leo was not only great but he was entertaining. The only thing he didn't do is dance for us, maybe next time.  Szechwan Chinese Restaurant is located at 2107 Pacific Coast Hwy. in Lomita, California.

Zohreh's Spaghetti

I make good spaghetti so when I really love someone else's spaghetti, you can be sure it is really good. My friend Zohreh brought me a container to share with Sandi for dinner. I didn't see Sandi that evening and wasn't going to see her in another 2 days so I decided to have some.

I filled my plate as you can see and there was still plenty to share. It was mouthwatering and very tasty. I made myself some salad to go since I didn't have any French bread around to go with it. With my glass of wine, it was a perfect dinner at home. I later shared the rest of it with Sandi only because I had to.

Thank you Zohreh. You don't have to give me the recipe, you just have to remind me how good it is occasionally.

Benihana

I've only been to Benihana for dinner where the chef entertains as he cooks your meal in front of you. My friend Cora treated me to their express lunch which I was not aware of. They do not take reservations for the express lunch but it is not a problem if you arrive when they open or shortly after.

Cora suggested I try the Lunch Boat as I would have 3 choices; salmon, chicken or steak. She chose the salmon and I had the steak.  The boat consisted of a cup of edamame, sashimi, California roll, shrimp and vegetable tempura, rice and fruit. The soup was good and the salad had a refreshing ginger dressing.

When the boat arrived, we were ready to sail along the sea of a variety of seafood. My steak was the stowaway! Everything was delicious and it was a lot of food which we managed to finish. The service was a bit slow because there was only 1 lady serving the entire section. Someone later came to her rescue; someone (another server) that was not even supposed to be there. This man was just being nice since he saw she was overworked.

I thank Cora for introducing me to something new, fun and delicious. Benihana is located 21327 Hawthorne Blvd. in Torrance, California.

Hannosuke Tendon Tempura

I've never eaten at Hanosuke located in Mitsuwa Market. After we sat (brought our own chairs) in line for the pop-up Modo Mochi Donuts last Sunday, we were ready to have lunch in the market. The tempura looked good and there was a line which usually indicates it must be good.

There were so many choices. We only wanted shrimp tempura which they sold by the piece for $1.50. They also had cold Zaru Soba which came with a lot of the meals. I thought it would be good to try it. Zaru means strainer since the noodles are served on a bamboo strainer. The noodles are made out of buckwheat flour. It had a sauce which included wasabi. I dumped the wasabi into the sauce and poured it all over the cold noodles.

The tempura was very light and delicious. Sandi thought it was the best we ever had. The soba was nice and refreshing. It was a bit too spicy since I used up all the wasabi. It was still tolerable though. I liked the partnership between these 2 dishes. They went well together.

We now know where to go for a good tempura. Although, we are not too sure if they will be moving along with the market to the Del Amo Mall soon. I personally think it is not a good idea for this market to move to a mall where you have to park along with the mass of people going to the mall. At their current location, there is plenty of parking and you can go in and out with no difficulty.

Aaron's Fried Okra & Fried Green Tomato

My friend Aaron decided to cook some fried green tomatoes and his special "secret recipe" fried okra.

There's not much to say about his cooking other than it is truly addicting. The okra was a bit bitter which I loved and fried in oil with cornmeal and the other secret ingredients.

Sandi decided to make BLT sandwiches with fresh avocado to go with Aaron's okra and tomatoes. Though the bacon, lettuce, and tomato with avocado were delicious, the real star of the show was Chef Aaron's cooking.

The big question is: Aaron, when will you be cooking again????

Farewell to Modo Donuts

Parting is such sweet sorrow, till we meet again! Tomorrow is the last day for this pop-up Modo Mochi Donuts from Hawaii at Mitsuwa Market in Torrance to be open. Some people foolishly stand in line for store openings or movie premiers or Black Friday. Sandi and I will line up for food, glorious food. Since we were in line for 2  hours the last time, I was prepared and brought 2 chairs so we could comfortably read our books while in line. We were 1st in line as opposed to 10th (the last time).  We got there at 9:20 a.m. today, Sunday and was served promptly at 11:00 a.m. At 10:45 a.m., the line grew to almost out the door.

I was hoping for new flavors but it turned out to be ones we already had. The flavors were Strawberry with white chocolate, Cookies and Cream, and Taro. We have had all except for the strawberry. We have had raspberry which we love since it was a bit tart. The strawberry lacks that tartness but it is still very good.

If you haven't had these donuts, try to go to Mitsuwa tomorrow or keep an eye for these mochi donuts. I asked them if they would be at another Mitsuwa location but they didn' know. I also asked what the lard was soaking in, which looked like oil in the plastic containers. The 2 ladies looked at each other and one finally spoke up and said: "it's a secret". I was just curious. Whatever it was, it is enough to clog my arteries.

We ended up having lunch there as all that waiting made us hungry for Tempura. By the time we left, the line was out the door and around the corner!

Chocolate Pasta

I first tried chocolate pasta at Piero Selvaggio's restaurant, Valentino which is unfortunately now closed. That was one of my favorite Italian restaurants. My friend Mertz once gave us all a package of Chocolate Pasta which has been sitting in my pantry for some time now. I finally decided last week that it was time to cook the darn thing.

I got some already chopped pancetta at the market. All I did was cook them in a bit of olive oil till it got crispy. I then poured out the excess oil and added whipping cream. It didn't need much salt since the pancetta was already salty so I just added some freshly ground pepper and garlic powder. When it started to thicken, I added the already cooked chocolate pasta. I made a salad to go with it and served sourdough bread. It was delicious.

Sandy brought a Fresh Peach Pie she baked. That was wonderful, just as wonderful as her Apple Pie. What can I say, she is the Pie Queen!