Bake Cheese Tart

My brother brought me some cheese tarts from Bake Cheese Tart located at the Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles. He was introduced to these wonderful ballerina cheese tarts by our friend Milena, aka Ms. Gourmet. She knows all the latest and good stuff from all over the world. She had them when she was in Japan. The tarts were born in Hokkaido. There are only 2 locations where you can get these in the United States; at the Century City Mall and in Westfield San Francisco Centre. 

Gary suggested heating them at 350 degrees in the oven to experience its freshness. I wanted to eat it cold since I rarely enjoy warm desserts. After about 6 minutes, the tarts got a bit fluffy, reminiscent of a souffle. The crust was crispy, which apparently are baked twice. They were light, not sweet, and just perfect. They were not even close to the Japanese cheesecake you buy at the mall, which is also expensive but, in my opinion, lacks flavor. They have the original flavor, matcha, and chocolate. I would like to try chocolate next time. I also tried the apple, which I loved. 

If and when you are in the area in Century City, do yourself a favor and buy a few of these. It can be frozen, and according to the website, you can eat it cold or even frozen. It's just plain delicious!

Dinner at Gary's

Dinner at Gary's was really dinner from Charcoal Venice Restaurant. It was a fabulous dinner. He did serve some appetizers, which were delicious courtesy of Trader Joe's. 

                                                  

The dinner included a salad, prime ribeye cooked to perfection, charred chicken wings, and a side of cabbage. Everything was delicious. This was real fine dining without the white tablecloth or servers. The best part was we didn't have to leave a tip!

                                            

                                        

                                            

                                          

Dessert was also store-bought from Vienna Pastry in Santa Monica. It was a beautiful Berry Chocolate Mousse Cake. Fresh raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries with a very light cake and mousse combination. I couldn't get over how very moist it was and not at all sweet. If I didn't eat a lot of the hors d' oeuvres and at least two servings of the steak, I could have eaten half the cake!

Rice Krispies Treat With Brown Butter & Bourbon

My niece gave me this recipe, which got me all excited because it sounded good, especially with the bourbon. I experimented and used Light Rum only because I had some. The recipe called for 1/4 cup of it, but I used 1/3 cup. It was not enough, so next time I will increase it to 1/2 cup and maybe use Dark Rum.

It turned out to be extra chewy and interesting with the salt on top. My son didn't like the salt. I loved it because it gave it an extra flavor; just as your taste buds were enjoying the buttery sweetness of the Krispies, the salt woke up another part of your taste buds. You may want to add salt on just half of it if you have people whose taste buds aren't quite as sophisticated.

I attached the recipe for your convenience. Enjoy!

Gusto Bread

This bakery is worth the drive to Long Beach. Their California Bread is a wheat bread that is also a sour bread that is very crusty outside with a slightly burned taste, which I love and chewy inside. The thick slice with an equally thick slice of Irish, French, or Europen butter will make you a bread addict in no time.

The second time I went, I was sure to get a few of the Nixtamal Queen, which is reminiscent of the Kouign- Amann. It is made with leavened dough caramelized with super crispy, buttery layers. It is perfect with a cup of coffee. I wouldn't mind eating one every day along with my vitamins. 

Before you get excited and decide to buy a dozen or so, make sure you have your credit card, or you might not have enough cash on hand. These little Queens come with a royal price of $7.00 each, which I did not realize. The loaf of bread was $9.00, but that was a big loaf!

Gusto Bread is located at 2710 E. 4th St. in Long Beach, California.

MoDo Donuts

These donuts from Honolulu is still one of my favorite donuts. They are MOCHI donuts, chewy like mochi but very light. I used to fall in line to get some when they were new and located inside the old Mitsuwa Market on Western Ave. They moved to a permanent stall inside Mitsuwa in the new location in Torrance by the Del Amo Mall. You can access the store from Carson street (no need to enter the mall).

On their website, you will find the 3 flavors each day they make for the week. I waited till they had my favorite, Lilikoi, which is like passion fruit, only slightly more tart. They open at 10 a.m. every day. For some reason, I thought they opened at 11, so I was there at 11 a.m. this morning. There was no line! I ordered a dozen of the Lilikoi, then later decided to order another 6 because Amy and Sandi wanted a few. 

They make the donuts fresh, so you always have to wait unless you pre-order them. The box was hot when I got them, and I couldn't wait to have one. As soon as I got in my car, I opened the trunk, got a piece of paper towel, and took one out of the box, and proceeded on having a bite. The only thing wrong was I still had my face shield on, so the yellow lilikoi glaze got all over my face shield. If that was not stupid enough, I tried to lick the glaze I got all over my finger, still wearing the face shield! I just couldn't contain my excitement.

When I finally had a bite, I was immediately transported to heaven. Unbelievably delicious. It was still hot, and it tasted like no other donut. I bought a few hoping to get sick of it, so maybe I won't run over to get some more because they are not cheap. A dozen cost $23.00 plus tax. If you get half a dozen, it's $12.00 plus tax.

It's worth exploring the different flavors. I probably have tried most of them and my favorite Lilikoi and anything citrusy since it cuts the donut's sweetness. 

Salted Double Caramel Crunch Doughnut

Krispy Kreme has introduced 2 new doughnuts for a limited time; November 19 until the 22nd of 2020. 

They had a special that if you buy a dozen, you can get another dozen for $8.00, so I naturally took advantage of this special. I ordered half of the Caramel Glazed and half of the Salted Double Caramel Crunch. 

Both were good, but the Salted Double Caramel was outstanding. You have to keep in mind that these glazed doughnuts are only good when consumed hot/warm. I have perfected the time you microwave them to resemble the"just out of the oven" experience. You must experiment with your microwave at home. In mine, I put it in for 15 seconds on the first day and maybe 20 seconds the 2nd day. There is no 3rd day! I also include a cup of water inside the oven, so the doughnut does not get dry. 

I sure hope they have this flavor available more often as it is pure yumminess!

Spanish Rice

 A friend of mine told me she had cooked the Knorr Spanish Rice many times and loves it. We recently had some Paella from a Spanish store, and she swore the Knorr was just as good if not better. I was skeptical, but I try anything, so I experimented. I bought 3 envelopes of rice. I cooked them according to the package, which involved adding some oil and water.

I resurrected some Kielbasa sausages from the freezer, which Lisa had given me some time ago. They looked good, so I sliced them up. I sautéed some onions, cooked the sausage, and added some olives and baby corn. When everything was cooked, I added the rice.

It was unbelievably delicious. My friend was right. It tasted better than the Paella we bought, which was more expensive. 

There will definitely be a "repeat performance" on this one.

Sweet Rice

Read about this place, and the magic words that got my attention were Sticky Rice and Mangos. Three of us went last week and loved everything, including the Sticky Rice and Mangos so much so that we returned yesterday on a cold and windy day to take our orders home. Sweet Rice is situated at a small strip mall in Gardena. It's a small, cute, and spotless place. We loved the sign: Mangos Ripening; Please do not disturb. 

On my first visit, I had no idea what to order. Angela was so nice and patient, explaining the different types of noodles.  I ordered the same thing I did last week, which was Kao Soi; Choice of chicken or beef ( I had the chicken), yellow curry, ba mee noodles, bean sprouts, mustard greens, red onions, cilantro, crispy noodles with a lime wedge. It was so amazing I couldn't get over how I managed to pick this dish. 

Sandi had the Panang with Beef, red curry, kabocha squash, kaffir leaves, and rice on the side. I tried hers, and it was also delicious. Josephine had the Ba Mee Nam; egg noodle, pork, fish ball, fish cake, bean sprouts, cilantro, scallion, roasted garlic oil. If you love fish balls, this is the one to order. We were all happy campers. 

The Sticky Rice with Mangos were the best we ever had. I couldn't get over how sweet the mangos were. I was surprised to find out they were from Thailand and not the Philippines which I am accustomed to and always thought they had the best mangos. The serving is worth the $8.99 because it is perfect for 2 people. We split on order the first time. Interestingly, this time everyone wanted to have their own, including my son. After I filled myself with the soup, I was surprised that I finished all but a tablespoon of sticky rice. I have to warn you that if you get it to go, make sure you take off the saran wrap on the sticky rice before you pour the coconut milk sauce because one of us who shall remain nameless did just that!

I want to thank Angela for her excellent advice and welcoming us like old friends on our second visit. Sweet Rice's address is 1630 W. Redondo Beach Blvd. #4 in Gardena, California.

Bettolino Kitchen

Celebrated another birthday at Bettolino Kitchen yesterday. It was their first day installing the enclosure, getting ready for the Fall and Winter season. Though it looked cozy, they were not ready to seat us inside the enclosure. We ended up next to the cleaners. Again making it easy for anyone who ended up with tomato sauce or wine on their tops to have it spot-cleaned.

It is tough for me not to order the Tortelloni al Limone, but since we were just there recently and had that, I thought it was time for us to venture into new things. It is hard not to overeat the delicious warm bread with olive oil and spices with parmesan cheese dip. Everyone agreed on Calamari for an appetizer. This was interesting because it had lemon slices that looked like they were fried along with the calamari. They were delicious with the lemon aioli. 

The birthday girl ordered the Oxtail with Spaghetti instead of Gemelli. We were happy about the substitution since we have a superstition that one should have some sort of noodles for "long life" on one's birthday. I tried some of her spaghetti, and it was delicious. There were lots of crimini mushrooms, and the braised oxtail had the best flavor, which went well with the arugula.

Sandi ordered the Carbonara di Gamberi, Spaghetti pasta, garlic sauteed shrimp, pancetta, egg yolk, parmesan, and a cream sauce. I had the Squid Ink Tagliolini with sauteed shrimp, pan-roasted cherry tomatoes, basil in a pesto sauce, and I am not fond of pesto sauce, but this was an exception. I enjoyed my pasta so much that I didn't dare leave any on my plate, unlike the others.

Laura didn't feel like pasta, so she went for the Brasato, very tender short ribs, mascarpone mashed potatoes with sauteed broccolini. She had no complaints. 

We asked for the dessert menu, but our server brought a nice Almond Ricotta Cheesecake for the birthday girl and a Salted Caramel Semifreddo, which is salted caramel mousse layered with graham cracker and chocolate sauce (my favorite). The desserts were complements of Andreanna. They were both delectable!

Bettolino Kitchen is located at 211 Palos Verdes Blvd. in Redondo Beach, California.

Ashoka The Great

First, I would like to thank Mr. Mahesh Mahajan for recommending this restaurant, Ashoka. Sandi and I drove to the city of Artesia a week ago to have a late lunch early dinner. When I asked Mr. Mahajan what I should order, he informed me that everything there was good. 

We ordered our favorite dish, Chicken Tikka Masala. That dish is a given, especially when ordering any Naan to wipe your plate clean.  We could order several Naans, and we settled for the Disco Naan, not just because we liked the name, but it sounded intriguing. Traditional Indian leavened bread stuffed with ginger, garlic, onions, and chiles topped with cilantro and the magic word, butter.

We also ordered the Chicken Seekh Kabab, ground chicken mixed with minced garlic, ginger, bell peppers, onions, and spices. We had Basmati rice to mop up more of any sauce that the naan hadn't absorbed.

Everything was so good, and I remember Sandi commenting on how the chicken kebab didn't look like chicken. I ignored it since it was delicious. While eating, the manager Jacob came by to see how everything was, and he informed us that he remembered we ordered chicken. He informed us what we were eating was the Lamb Seekh Kabab, which is cooked the same way. He apologized and said he would have them cook us the chicken and that both Kababs would be on the house. 

Our tummies were almost maxed out, but we had to have the chicken as it was nice and hot. Naturally, we ended up with leftovers. We did our very best to eat most of it. 

The outside seating of Ashoka was quite pleasant. This is a definite "must go back" restaurant. Next time, we will have to bring our friend Sujata and order other items to expand our culinary palate.

Ashoka The Great is located in 18614 Pioneer Blvd. in Artesia, California.

Mr. Fries Man

If you love French Fries, you should take a trip to one of Mr. Fries Man's location in the South Bay. We happen to be closer to the one in Gardena, so we headed there the other day. They do not accept phone orders, which was not a problem since we didn't have to wait long. This would be a problem for people that do not like to go inside to place their order during this pandemic.

They have 6 different fries you could order, or you can also build your own. There were 4 of us, two ordered the Chicken Bacon Parmesan; one had it with fried chicken, and the other with grilled chicken. I tried both, and they were delicious.

One ordered the Honey Garlic Shrimp & Steak, and we were pleasantly surprised at how tender the steak was. I expected it to be low-quality tough meat. I had the Lemon Garlic & Snow Crab fries with cheddar cheese. I loved my choice, as well. The fries were delicious and again surprised with the generous portion of crab. No one finished their dinner, and that included me, which shocked everyone.

Most of the reviews found the fries to be too salty. I don't know if they have altered the recipe, but we thought they were perfect!

Mr. Fries Man's 2 locations are 14800 S. Western Ave. #108 in Gardena, the other is at 1120 W. Florence Ave, Suite C in Inglewood, California.