Papillote at L'Amande

Couldn't help going back to this bakery inspite of the rain. Had to try the Papillote. It's a french word which means paper or foil folded into a pouch or parcel. Indeed this pouch is filled with delightful custard, cinnamon and I'm sure butter. The custard is ever so light; not overbearing, in other words....perfect!

I also tried the Pan D'Amande which is an flat and thin almond cookie that was crisp and snapped with every bite. If you like nougat, do not leave without trying it. Better yet, take some home. It reminded me of the turrones from Spain only this was better as it was soft and a bit gooey and very fresh which went well with my cup of strong coffee.

I now fear my going to the gym might be counterproductive as this bakery is too close for comfort!

L'Amande French Bakery

Finally, an authetic French bakery in the South Bay area. The bad news is if you expect pastries like mousses, cakes, cream puffs, you are out of luck but it's o.k. because we already have a couple of those in the area. The great news is if you like french bread, croissants, omelette, salads with a french flair, this is the place to go.

Yesterday,I sampled some of their wonderful breads; my favorite was the raisin walnut and the big french rolls. The taste and consistency was that what you would find in a Parisian Bakery. I had it at home with butter and jam.

I found out they open at 7:00 a.m., Hallelujah! I hate bakeries that open late like a bank. So today, after my workout at the gym at 7:15 a.m. I decided to jog to the the bakery (burn a few more calories) which is located in the same parking lot of the 24 Hour Fitness at the Rolling Hills Plaza in Torrance. I ordered a cup of coffee which was strong without being bitter like the ones in France and the raspberry cream cheese croissant. I also ordered the raisin croissant to take home to my husband.

The server brought my raspberry croissant and the raisin croissant on 2 plates. I asked for a bag since the raisin was for my husband. I consumed the raspberry in less than 2 minutes. It was the BEST ever. They apparently make their own jams and that made it really special. The raisin croissant looking lonely on the plate whispered: "Please take me...Now!" So I did. It was very good as well, really flaky and it had a ton of raisins.

I had a long conversation with Ana, the owner. She went to school in Switzerland and later opened a chain of 25 Le Coeur de France bakeries in the Philippines. She and her husband later sold all of them and moved to Palos Verdes in California. Before I left, she introduced me to her very sweet French husband, Goncalo. Make sure you say "Bonjour" the next time you see him.

I will have to go back numerous times and be sure to blog about the other items. There are a few coffee houses in the vicinity. I felt like jogging to each one of them and announcing to the customers to try L'Amande for they not only have great coffee but wonderful breakfast selections unlike the dried up pastries they sell at these coffee houses.

Till then......

Dark Chocolate Spread

If you like fruit dipped in chocolate and you don't have one of those chocolate fountains that could be too much work to set up and clean; you have another option.

World Market, better known as Cost Plus sells a Dark Chocolate Spread that is very good. It is a product of Holland. I discovered this 2 years ago. I spread it on dried apricots, bananas or whatever else goes with chocolate (the list is endless). The consistency is perfect for spreading and always looks impressive as hors d'oeuvres and goes very well with champagne.

So the next time your are are at Cost Plus, pick up a jar of the Dark Chocolate Spread. You'll be glad you did.

Easter Dinner 2012

Easter dinner was relaxing; well, almost. I only had family over so that in itself makes it less stressful since I don't have to impress anyone. If the dinner turns out wonderful, everyone is pleased. However if it is disastrous they don't have to eat it or they can complain...but who cares?

Luckily, this turned out pretty good. I served Sati Babi which is derived from the Indonesian satay. I used pork tenderloin which was marinated in soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic. I then stuck them on skewers and grilled them. The secret to this dish is the sauce. Most of the recipes have cumin and coriander and brown sugar. Mine is an old recipe that calls for lots of peanut butter. My husband and I are not fond of peanut butter but the sauce transforms to a totally different species.

Sati Babi is best served with Java Rice which is rice cooked with onions, pork, red pepper, peas and tomato paste.

I served our meal with a Jolie 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. I asked everyone to taste it first before I divulged the origin of this wine. They all thought it was very smooth. This was from Eden Canyon Vineyard, a winery in Paso Robles owned by Filipinos. I know what you are thinking....what do Filipinos know about wine? They usually don't even drink wine in the Philippines. When you have a chance, google Eden Canyon Vineyards and see how they have won many awards for a lot of their wines. Their wines are served at the Bel Air Hotel, Campanile, Spago, Raymond, Pacific Dining Car and a few more fine dining restaurants.

For dessert, we enjoyed a milk and white chocolate mousse with lemon caramel from Patisserie Chantilly and a raspberry tiramisu from Cafe Dulce. Both were excellent and a nice finale to our Easter celebration.

Canter's Deli

Canter's Delicatessen has been a Los Angeles landmark since 1931. It is family owned ans is now on its third generation. Since I normally do not get excited over sandwiches, I never had the urge to drive up to Canter's in Fairfax. On my last blog, I wrote about our experience at the restaurant Animal also in Fairfax.

You can call it a blessing in disguise. We were still hungry after that meal that we went 2 doors to Canter's Deli. This concluded our meal. We decided to try their corned beef sandwich on rye. I don't even like rye bread but I can tell you that I enjoyed that sandwich, so did my friend. We had it with a side of cole slaw.

The deli had its charm. The decor was nothing special until my friend pointed out the ceiling. Known as the "Autumn Leaves Ceiling". It was almost hypnotic; when you looked up, it was like you were looking at the sky through a sky light with autumn leaves all over.

My friend bought us cheese bagels for breakfast the following day. I have had a lot of bagels before but there is something to be said about bagels or sandwiches from a Jewish Delicatessen. There is nothing like it!

Animal Restaurant

It should have been our first clue; naming a restaurant ANIMAL. I thought they just specialized in beef, chicken, pork, lamb. My friend looked at the menu on the internet and informed me that maybe we should split 1 thing and have several desserts, one being the specialty of the house which is bacon chocolate crunch bar with salt and pepper ice cream. After all, that's what made us make a reservation ...it was all about the dessert!

I have been trying to get a reservation on a weekend and they could only give me a 10:45 pm or 11:00 pm time. If I wanted a 6:00 pm reservation, I had to do it on a weeknight and so I did. It's a small place and by 7:00 pm on a Thursday night, it was packed and noisy. This is not a romantic place at all, no romance will take place at this venue.

We got the menu and indeed, it did not look appetizing. Pig tails, pig ear, slice pig head, veal brains. We decided to order the POLENTA, six-hour bolognese sauce with parmesan and the HALIBUT CRUDO with pickled crosnes, chickweed and paige mandarin. Our waiter informed us that they were small servings so maybe we could order 1 more entree. So we decided to try Bugs Bunny, the RABBIT LOIN SPRING ROLL, with eggplant,sprouts, green curry.

The polenta came in a small bowl, it was delicious at 4 bites each, it enticed our palates and we were ready for the next item which was the halibut. The small plate looked beautiful. There were 3 slices of the paige mandarin..but wait...where's the halibut? Underneath the mandarins were thin slices of what looked like raw halibut. Then there were pieces of what looked like larvae. I figured, with a name like Animal, I'm sure, insects are part of this zoo. I will try almost anything once, so I had a bite of the halibut, orange and the larva. It crunched as I chewed on it. My friend looked at my face and I just ordered her to try it. She did and that was it. When our waiter came to check on us, I asked him if indeed they were larvae. We were shocked to find out they were the cosnes (pronounced crone) which is a vegetable root. I looked it up and was described as looking like spiral pearls. No way would anyone think they look like any pearls! At $15, this was overpriced. We paid $10 for the presentation and $5 for the food. It was edible. The rabbit was much better, in fact it was very good. There were 4 small pieces (about an inch or so) of this spring rolls. They were crispy; the presentation was great but you could hardly enjoy whatever surrounded it, we just ate them.

Dessert time... we ordered 1 bacon chocolate crunch bar, with the S&P ice cream and the dark knight carrot cake, parsnip cream cheese, rootbeer w/walnut.
The carrot cake was covered with the cream cheese, and we immediately could smell the rootbeer. The carrot cake was dry and tasteless. We both could not understand how anything this bad could be in the menu. We had 1 bite each and that was it.
The bacon chocolate was good but not great; we both love bacon chocolate so we thought this would be outstanding. A small sliver was presented....the texture was more like a raw chocolate batter with bacon. The ice cream complemented the batter well. On a good note, they didn't charge us for the carrot cake.

Two doors down from Animal was Canters, an old delicatessen which we knew of but have never tried. We went in there and split a good old fashioned corned beef on rye and that concluded our dinner.

Steamed Salmon

I made this dinner for 2 of my friends last night. They seemed to love the salmon. It is easy to make and is quite healthy; healthy is usually not in my vocabulary, but this is really good. I have a fish steamer which I use to make this dish.

I start out with salmon fillets. I squeeze some lemon to start, season with salt an pepper then pour a bit of sesame oil on the fish. Then, I top each piece with grated fresh ginger, chopped cilantro and green onions. The salmon should be covered with the toppings.

Poach the salmon (covered) in a fish steamer for about 15-20 minutes. Heat up a 1/4 cup of peanut oil with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.

When the fish is cooked, pour a bit of soy sauce. Transfer the fish on a serving dish. Pour the heated oil on the salmon fillets; it should sizzle.

Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or some creamy pasta.

There you have it.. healthy salmon. I served mine w/ mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts cooked with bacon.

For dessert, I served a chocolate cherry streudel which can be purchased frozen then baked at your home. Got this from Michi's in San Pedro. This will have to be another blog....