Gourmet Dinner at Sandi's

Sandi loves to cook. When she's happy, sad, stressed, depressed.....you name it: she cooks.  I am lucky to be her friend because I'm the resident guinea pig.

Last night she decided to cook some pork tenderloin with fresh raspberry sauce.  Before our main entree, she served a nice salad with fresh strawberries and blueberries with parmesan crisp in a jalapeno and lime dressing. She's also been wanting to try a recipe of macaroni and cheese with Gouda cheese and so she did.  For vegetables, she roasted some fresh beans, peppers and squash she got from the Farmer's market. The end result was a beautiful presentation of a wonderful meal. It looked like a $45 entree from a fine dining restaurant except for the fact that I had a second serving with no extra charge.

For dessert, she served a cherry chocolate strudel she had in her freezer which she baked. It was baked perfectly per instructions (crisp and light) especially when served with some whipped cream. I had forgotten how good these strudels are from Mishi's Strudel in San Pedro. I was unable to take pictures as we were all excited to try it but, not to worry as I am already planning a trip to Mishi's to get a few of the strudels this week.

Gramma's Country Kitchen

On the way to Palm Springs is a "not to be missed" country restaurant that's no nonsense home cooking good. My friend Sandi mentioned to me that there was this place called Mothers on the way to Palm Springs that was very good and served hearty meals. Upon intense investigation, Mothers turned out to be Gramma's.

The ambiance is totally "country" and this very busy place seemed like THE stop for everyone traveling through the Moreno Valley Freeway (60) unto the (10) which is the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway.

Their menu was extensive. They have anything and everything you can imagine from Chicken Steak with biscuits and country gravy to pancakes, salads, sandwiches, etc. etc. etc.  It was hard to decide what to get. We finally decided to get the Chorizo Scrambled Eggs with country potatoes and refried beans and Corned Beef Hash with country potatoes and fried eggs. Both of them were very good. It tasted as good as it looked. Sandi ordered their hot chocolate which came with a ton of whipped cream!

This place is not to be missed. This will definitely be a sure stop for us the next time we travel to Palm Springs. Gramma's Country Kitchen is at 2868 W. Ramsey St. in Banning, California.

Il Pastaio Catering

I recently blogged about this restaurant wherein we were very happy with the food but not the service. I was in charge of ordering food for 15 people for my niece's baby christening reception.

I ordered some Caesar Salad, their Cacio e Pepe, Fettucine Bolognese and Chicken Piccata. See previous blog:
http://solittlethyme.blogspot.com/2014/06/il-pastaio.html

Everyone loved the food especially the Cacio e Pepe. We were a bit concerned because reheating it might have dried it up a but we did not have that problem because as soon as the food came, we immediately served them. The Bolognese had a lot of meat which complemented each strand of fettuccine.  The Chicken Piccata was surprisingly delicious. I have had that in numerous Italian restaurants but this is by far the best. The chicken was tender and juicy. The sourness of the sauce was offset by the the salty capers. The chicken came with some nice fresh and perfectly cooked vegetables.

For dessert, I had ordered their Tiramisu. I was a bit nervous as I didn't get a chance to try it before and wasn't sure if it would be worthy of being served to a group of foodies! The verdict was in; everyone enjoyed the light and strong espresso flavor; everyone except the baby who looked like she wanted to try anything!

I ordered everything through Nina Chua,  who was in charge of their catering department. She brought lots of bread, extra piccata sauce and pecorino cheese. Believe it or not, the pasta was really aldente.  Nina arrived in time and I couldn't have been happier with the service and delivery. I am looking forward to going back to Il Pastaio and I hope we get better service than the last time.

Il Pastaio's address is 400 N. Canon Dr. in Beverly Hills.

Nothing Like Nobu

If I were Sandra Bullock or someone who had tons of money I would do my body good by eating healthy twice a week  at Nobu.  The last time we were there was 6 months ago. We usually just let our server know we are game for anything; no diet restrictions with the exception of one vegetarian and one that had a touch of gout plus a stress fracture!

There were 10 adults in our party and one very well behaved Maisie Mireille.

We had Shima aji ( Jack fish) with Jalapeno, Kanpachi  and Yagara with truffle dry miso. Then we had Albacore and some fish topped with caviar. They ALL just melted in our mouths. Alma had a Squid pasta which wasn't really pasta, it was just shaped like pasta. Ross could not eat most of the stuff so he ordered Fish and Chips. This was no ordinary fish and chips; the enticing presentation itself posed a challenge likened to the game of jenga.

We had a variety of Tacos; wagyu, tuna and veggie. They were all delicious. I remember having these on our last visit. I was impressed with the taco shells as they were the light, crispy and tasty.
We had to have the signature dish which was the Black Cod with miso. I have tried to make this several times and could never get it right. For the finale, we had the Japanese Wagyu Flambe which was absolutely wonderful. It was so tender that it almost seemed like you were eating sushi.

We had several desserts to share. Banana Caramel Soy Tobanyaki, Claudis Carrot Cake, Bento Box and the Kamameshi Halo Halo which is unlike the Filipino Halo Halo. This was served warm with the ice cream. Once you've had the "real" halo halo, you wouldn't settle for any imitation. Well, everyone is entitled to make their version.

Like I said before, Nobu is the only place I will eat anything raw as they know how to it right. Nobuyuki (Nobu) Matsuhisa is truly a magician!

Nobu is located at 903 N. La Cienega Blvd. in Beverly Hills.

Il Pastaio

Last weekend, after seeing the delightful movie "Lunchbox", Sandi, Ana and I found ourselves in Beverly Hills walking by Canon Dr. at around 2:00 p.m. and starving to death! We came across Il Pastaio which is one of the restaurants of the Drago empire.  I have been to some of his restaurants but never at Il Pastaio. It was time to experiment with Chef Giacomino Drago; the youngest of 8 children from Sicily.

Since we all are pasta lovers, we had to order 3 kinds to split among ourselves. Sandi picked the Fettucine Bolognese, Ana's choice was the Arrabiatta with Shrimps and I had to order the Cacio E Pepe. For appetizer, we had the Carciofi Salad; baby artichoke hearts tossed in oil and lemon with arugula and shaved parmesan. This salad was healthy in a good way and refreshing. It was terribly simple yet satisfying.

All the pasta entrees were aldente "e perfetto", real Italian indeed.  I especially liked the Cacio e Pepe, lots of fresh pepper sauce and Pecorino Siciliano.

The only complaint we had was the service. Our waiter who shall remain nameless for now, was not attentive at all and not very friendly. I had to ask for my drink 3 times from 3 different people. One busboy that finally brought my drink was most helpful. We had to flag several waiters for our check. Needless to say, tip was minimum though I looked for our busboy and gave him an extra tip.

Il Pastaio is a very good restaurant though service will have to improve. Chef Giacomino Drago will have to train his waiters to be better servers as the restaurant business in not just about the food but the service. Il Pastaio is located at 400 N. Canon Dr. in Beverly Hills.

Sandi's Retirement Party

It was another excuse to get together; this time it was a very good excuse: Sandi's Retirement.

We decided to have hors d 'oeuvres and champagne. No green salad allowed (didn't want to waste calories on leaves).  Sandi insisted on bringing something so she opted for pot stickers which were quite good. Sue overdid it and brought a beautiful tray of roasted vegetables and corn tamales.

Sujata brought the spicy Gouda cheese spread from Whole Foods and John also brought a delicious brie-like cheese with tomatoes he purchased from Bristol Farms. Cindy brought homemade coleslaw and Amy brought meatballs she bought from Costco with 3 different sauces. I had a few of those.

Ana brought her version of "pigs in a blanket" but these were no ordinary pigs or blankets. Her pigs were good German sausage and the blankets were of best quality (1,000 count). They were made with croissant dough. She even made the dipping sauce which was deeelicious. I ordered my favorite short ribs on polenta and some fried artichoke hearts both from Gaetano's.

We did not have a shortage of food. Everything was complemented with a new champagne I wanted to try. It was L'Or Brut a sparkling wine which is a product of France but not made in Champagne therefore cannot really be called "champagne". The gold bottle was very attractive.
Attractive enough for Elliot to try and experiment on his bottle cutting talent. He had given me this contraption and I have not had the time or talent to do it.  He did a great job. Elliot is indeed a man of talent!

We all had fun last night including our friend Sandi.......Cheers to you and here's to more movies, dancing and eating. Life is good!!!!!

Caramelized Banana Danish

All I can say is I should have tried this yesterday when they first made it. I just discovered it today when Sandi and I had it this morning. It was very good! I bought some to take home to have for breakfast tomorrow and a couple to freeze; will have to experiment if they freeze well. Of course I have to mention again and again that the chef at L'Amande Bakery forbids me to freeze any of their products though most of them freeze nicely; the secret is preheating the oven and heating the product for 3-4 minutes depending on your oven.

Caramelized Banana Danish was the special this past weekend. You just never know what Chef Ana is up to next. Her creativity never ceases to amaze me!

L'Amande Bakery is located at the Rolling Hills Plaza in Torrance by the Rite Aid and Trader Joe's.