The Best Weisswurst

I have been buying Weisswurst (white sausage) from the Alpine Village in Torrance ever since the mid seventies for very good reason. It simply is beyond delicious. It used to be made with veal but nowadays it is made with pork. No complaints on my end as it is still as good. I thought it would be appropriate to serve weisswurst to celebrate Otto's birthday.

The German Potato Salad was also purchased at Alpine Village; so was a bit of Sauerkraut for the few people that enjoy it. I myself don't like it and what's funny is Otto who is German does not like it either. I made some Red Cabbage which I cooked with apples and mushrooms.  Going back to the Weisswurst, the best way to cook it is to put it on the grill. This is not the traditional way. People usually remove the casing. I like to leave it on.  Our family and guests all like it burnt and since I aim to please, we all had burnt sausages. That was served with various mustards and relish but most of us favored the Siracha Sauce (Silver Spring brand), which was creamy, hot and tangy with a hint of sweetness.

Everyone seemed to have a good time despite the weather. It was in the 90's . The air condition was on in the house but  it was terribly hot outside; almost as hot as the Philippines. I was surprised that some of the guests sat outside. Towards the early evening, there seemed to be a bit of a breeze which made it almost pleasant.

We were all entertained by Maisie. She's the daughter of my niece. She's only 2 years old but she was able to command the room, she was belle of the ball. As soon as she arrived, she called out to everyone "Hi" and gave each person a hug. She didn't know anyone, yet she acted like everyone was her long lost friend. She made her rounds throughout the evening showing anyone interested in her "Hello Kitty" lunchbox and it's contents.

Dessert was Coffee Crunch Cake from Red Ribbon. Otto had his own Marzipan Cake which he happily devoured. He did enjoy everyone's company. It was a good birthday!

I intentionally cooked extra weisswurst so we can have it for several meals. They taste good heated in the microwave.

Krispy Kreme

I used to be able to eat 5 maybe 6 Krispy Kreme  Doughnuts one after the other when it was nice and hot. It didn't seem like a lot since they always handed me one while I waited and somehow, that did not seem to count. Gone are those days. The last time I was at a Krispy Kreme was in Gardena, they informed me that they stopped giving freebies. That was the last time I bought a few dozen glazed doughnuts.

While we were in Bakersfield, California, we saw a Krispy Kreme and it brought back memories. Sandi did not object to stopping  for breakfast. We tried a few flavored ones to share: maple, blueberry and sour cream along with the glazed. Sandi thought the maple was too sweet. I had a bite of the blueberry and was not impressed. The sour cream smelled like blueberry and even tasted like blueberry. I did not like it at all.

A server came by which surprised me, to ask how everything was. I was honest and told her the sour cream tasted like blueberry so she offered to replace it. I asked for a glazed doughnut and she came back with not 1 but 3 glazed donuts! They may not have offered a freebie before we purchased anything but I ended up with 2 extra ones. Sandi and I bought a dozen each to take home to enjoy and freeze.

I had forgotten how good they are; they are literally softer and fluffier than marshmallows. I am talking about fresh hot ones. The following day, I popped them in the microwave for 10 seconds and it tasted nice and fresh. I only ate 3 of them this time.

Valentien Restaurant

After attending mass at St. Francis of Assisi in Bakersfield, California, Sandi and I were ready to eat a nice dinner. Where, was the big question; enter.....google search. We ended up picking Valentien Restaurant at 333 Truxton Ave., Suite 16 in Bakersfield. This French restaurant was all decorated as they were celebrating Bastille Day. We got there early so we were lucky to get seated. The cute servers were dressed appropriately for Bastille Day. They even had a corner for you to have your picture taken ala Frenchie. Shortly after we sat, a man started playing the accordion.

We debated on whether we should have several appetizers for dinner since the garlic fries, shrimps, and cheese plate all sounded good. Then we both zoomed on the Steak au Poivre avec Pommes Frites, the peppered filet mignon in a cognac sauce with the French fries served with spinach. I asked Sandi if we should split that and still order several appetizers. Her answer was "no", she wanted her own steak. Who was I to argue. We ended up ordering our very own Steak au Poivre. Before our steak, we enjoyed the French bread that was slightly burnt in the bottom. We ended up fighting for the burnt ones as it was very good with the butter. The steak was cooked to perfection and was just wonderful. I did ask for some extra sauce which made everything even more delicious.

Our server asked us if we would be interested in ordering the Chocolate Souffle for dessert. It would take 30 minutes to cook so we went ahead and ordered one to share. It was served with ice cream and the size was perfect for the two of us. As we consumed all of the souffle, Jeramy Brown, co-owner of the restaurant came by to ask us if everything was satisfactory. Showing him our clean plates was the best answer he could hope for.

While dining, we ended up striking a conversation with a couple next to us. Bernard and Beatrice Barmann are long time residents of Bakersfield and we were happy to be informed that Valentien is the best restaurant in Bakersfield. They not only knew the owner and the accordionist but they seemed to know most of the customers.

The evening was most enjoyable as we shared stories with the Barmanns and getting to meet Marie Antoinette was a nice bonus!

Priceless Table with Chef Susan Feniger

Sandi and I attended this event last Friday at Chef Susan Feniger's restaurant Mud Hen Tavern. I have never been there before. The event was to benefit "Stand Up To Cancer", a very worthy cause. As we walked in the restaurant, we were greeted by a friendly person by the name of Pam, she and her friend Deborah Howell from 94.7 The Wave radio station were part of the event. The small restaurant opened up to an outdoor patio decorated with lights and 3 rows of tables set with beautiful bouquet of flowers.

We first sat inside and sampled some of the hors d'oeuvres. Deviled Eggs with green salsa, Red Bean and Rice Fritters, Garlic chip stuffed with ceviche, and our favorite Cauliflower Popcorn. These were addicting as it was a bit salty from the sea salt and more of the vinegar flavor which almost made our mouths pucker, in a good way. As Chef Feniger made her rounds, she stopped to chat and we mentioned  how we were enjoying the hors d' oeuvres especially the cauliflower. Being the gracious hostess that she is, she brought us a second dish of cauliflower which we devoured. I have never met Susan before and I must say I have not met a Chef who is so outgoing and genuinely friendly. Even if she has cooked for the current president, and the Clinton's and a multitude of the"rich and famous", she is just a lovely person and is very approachable. I mentioned to her that I have a blog and she immediately asked me if I wanted to take a picture of the kitchen in which of course I said yes. I got to meet her executive chef, Kajsa Alger (pronounced Sasha). Everyone in the kitchen was so nice and welcoming.

The printed menu was attached to a wooden plaque and signed by Chef Feniger. The food was delicious. I was a bit shocked to discover that some people did not know how to properly eat an artichoke. Susan noticed that as she made her rounds and some struggled trying to eat it with a fork. By the time the main course was served, the Malaysian Peppered Short Ribs, we could hardly have the 3rd bite as we were so stuffed. I know the culprit of this "fullness" was the popcorn cauliflower.

Sandi and I loved the Salted Thai Tea Pudding; it didn't sound exciting but it was very good. The Lemon Basbousa Cake was also good but our stomachs could not handle any more food so it ended up in a "to go" box along with our short ribs.

The evening was so much fun. At the conclusion of the dinner, we were all handed a bag with her signed cookbook and she was willing to further personalize each book and take more pictures. I have to mention that the entertainment took the cake. Susan entertained us with story after story about her experiences, etc., and in between her stories,she would explain in detail what we were about to eat. I have never met such a dynamic, vivacious and fascinating person in my life. To Chef Susan Feniger, I thank you for a Priceless Evening.

P.S. Sandi later asked Susan about the name of the restaurant. Mud Hen is the name of the baseball team from Toledo, Ohio where Susan is from; I am sure most normal people know this. We know nothing about sports, let alone baseball but we do know how to eat artichoke!

4th of July Barbecue

I didn't have a barbecue at home this year since everyone already had plans to do something. At the last minute, Sandi announced she was going to make some Ribs. The only problem was she didn't have much space as she was having wood floors installed in her house. We would have to eat at her kitchen table. Not a problem for me. Since most things were out of place or moved and stored in the garage, I told her I would bring paper plates and plastic champagne/wine glasses and napkins.

When I went in my pantry to look for the items, I could not find any red or blue plates but I did find red reindeer Christmas plates; good enough. Then I found some wine glasses in one bag and got some bottom parts for the wine glasses in another bag.

When I got to Sandi's house, I tried to assemble the wine glasses, I discovered that I must have grabbed the wrong bottoms for the glasses. When I  picked up the glass, the bottom stayed on the table! Luckily we were able to find 3 wine glasses which we used for our champagne. By the time I poured the champagne, Sandi got out a big tray of barbecue ribs from the oven she cooked for several hours; a recipe of her son. The meat of the ribs came off with one bite. The sauce she used was from Lucille's Barbecue Restaurant. It was truly finger or fork licking good! She served this with potato salad I brought, oranges marinated in ginger and honey and a corn/tomato side dish that Aaron cooked. Everything came together perfectly. I was impressed with Aaron's corn dish that today, I ordered a corn cob cutter so I can try and replicate his masterpiece.

It just goes to show you  that sometimes the unplanned dinners with Christmas paper plates on the Fourth of July can be one of the best dinners ever.

Silog

I read about this Filipino Restaurant on an email I got from la.Eater.com. I was very interested to check it out since it was nearby. It's a small restaurant on a strip mall in Torrance. The name Silog is from the prefix of the word sinangag, SI  (garlic fried rice) and the suffix of itlog (egg) LOG. Each table has a simple and cute succulent plant and a salt & pepper shaker in shape of an egg.

We ordered the Lumpia for appetizer. Fried pork egg rolls with a sweet and sour sauce. I was impressed with the skin as it was thinner than normal and very crispy. Though delicious, I would have preferred it with shrimps in it. Sandi has not gotten over her mango cravings since we got back from the Philippines, so she ordered the mango juice. She was a bit disappointed as it didn't taste like the fresh ones she had in Manila. I ordered the Calamansi juice and also was not impressed though the size was humongous. It was too sweet and needed more calamansi. I have to mention that our server tried hard to please me by adding more calamansi to the drink. Drinks are not their specialty; but we were there for the food so first things first.

For our entree, Sandi had the Tapa (thin cut ribeye steak marinated in garlic and lime) with the Sinangag (garlic fried rice) and this was served with perfectly cooked soft boiled egg which oozed onto the garlic fried rice. I had the Sisig (braised pork belly and shoulder topped with chicharon and garlic creme aioli). We split both entrees. The tapa was very good but my Sisig was super delicious.

As we came to the conclusion of our dinner, our eager to please and charming server came to ask if we wanted dessert. I was overly excited to order the Turon a La Mode (fried banana) served with Jackfruit or Mango Ice cream. I read about it and my taste buds were ready, willing and able. She came back shortly after we ordered it and gave us the bad news. The bananas were not ready; they were too soft. We were both so busog (full) that we could hardly move so maybe this was God's way of telling us to "cool it". There's always a next time. She could tell we were not too happy so soon after the delivery of the not so good news, Chef Lemuel came out to personally apologize. We were the only ones at the time since we were there when it opened. We chatted a bit as he shared his history of his former job and love for cooking. We eventually absolved him of his sins.

We will definitely be back to try the other specialties and more important, to try the Turon. Silog has been open since February 2016, let's hope he continues the good cooking. Silog is located at 1555 Sepulveda Blvd. in Torrance, California.

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken was named one of the best fried chicken around Los Angeles. When I saw a Groupon deal of $20 for $30 value, I immediately bought a voucher. I have had this for several months and was about to expire soon.

While my friend Gigi was in town, I thought it would be a good time to use the voucher. My brother had just called and was going to be available for an early dinner; something he frowns upon as he calls this "senior dining". He has not seen Gigi in a long time so he agreed to meet us at the restaurant.

It's a very small restaurant on Culver Blvd. in Culver City. I noticed that a lot of people were picking up their orders to take home. We ordered the fried chicken with French fries. I was happy to see they had a big jug of honey, not so much for the biscuits but for my chicken. The chicken was very good. Crisp and juicy. Get ready to get your fingers sticky from the honey. We all absolutely loved it except for the fries. Next time, I might just have the mashed potatoes.

I later looked at the menu which was quite extensive. I noticed they even had hotcakes and fried chicken. In the meantime, I was able to get a couple more vouchers so I will be returning soon. Their address is 9537 Culver Blvd. in Culver City, California.

http://honeyskettle.com/menu.pdf