Santol, the Fruit

If you're not from the Philippines or any part of Southeast Asia, chances are you've never heard of the fruit Santol. It's a fruit that when fully ripe is very sweet though not too easy to eat. You mainly suck on the big seeds inside the fruit. Sometimes it is peeled and people eat the rind which is a bit tart with rock salt. Here's a link that shows what the fruit looks like.
https://www.google.com/search?q=santol+the+fruit&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS597US597&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXyfr3xcHOAhUBxCYKHV53BgMQsAQIGw&dpr=1

While I was in the Philippines, I bought several bottles of prepared Santol from the famous Blue Kitchen. My first dinner with my family was at a restaurant called Abe. There I had shrimps cooked in Santol; something I have never heard of before. So naturally, when I saw these bottles of santol, I knew I had to buy some.  The ingredients were not listed on the bottle unlike here in the U.S. when you have to list ingredients. I know they used the rind of the santol and probably added shrimp paste and some chillies which made it spicy.

I sauteed some shrimps in butter and emptied my last 2 jars of santol. This of course had to be served with steamed rice. Sandi, Otto and I enjoyed it. Sandi of course had it when she was in the Philippines. Amy and Nako thought it was "different". That could be a polite way of saying "it's not that good".

I served a salad of spinach and mixed greens with a dressing made with Chipotle olive oil and Peach Balsamic Vinegar. Everyone loved that. Amy brought some fresh tomatoes from their garden along with a mayonnaise dip. There's nothing like fresh grown tomatoes! The other entree I served was Chicken cooked in Coconut Milk. This was my moms recipe. It's very easy to make. You just lay chicken pieces in pan; put salt and pepper on them and lots of crushed garlic and whole peppercorns. Then you pour vinegar to cover the chicken. When the chicken is almost cooked, you pour 2 cans of coconut milk and simmer till it thickens (it could take awhile). Adjust according to your taste. If too sour, add more salt. This taste even better the day after. This too has to be served with steamed white rice.

 Amy and Nako survived the dinner. One thing about making dinner for friends (real friends), they are always gracious and we always enjoy each others company even if the food is sometimes strange.

Simple Spaghetti

I thought I should make use of my blooming basil before it all dies. I could only think of one thing; Spaghetti. I didn't feel like doing the one where I simmer the sauce for a couple of hours, especially since it's been hot outside. So, out I went and snipped a bunch of basil, crushed almost a whole head of garlic and chopped half an onion. I bought 3 giant tomatoes a few days ago that said "grown from a vine", don't they normally grow from vines? Anyway, I chopped them up and proceeded in heating some olive oil. I then added the onions and the garlic. When it started to brown, I dumped in the chopped fresh tomatoes. I sauteed it for 10 minutes then added the basil (lots of basil). I was not happy with the tomatoes. They didn't have the slightest acidity. After I doctored the sauce with salt, pepper and some Mirin sauce, it started to come alive. I then added the aldente spaghetti I cooked in my wonderful pasta boat and added a bit of the water from the boat.

I made a no-nonsense salad; just greens with spinach and some pecans and dried cranberries. Sandi has given me a small bottle of Apple White Balsamic Vinegar which I used along with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Just as we started to eat the pasta, I remembered that Sandi had brought one of my favorite dishes: corn cooked with tomatoes. She suggested adding it to the pasta. What a great idea. Starch on starch; carbs on carbs....yessss! It made the pasta happy and so were we!

Guilt set in so for dessert we just had 1 Alfajores (Peruvian cookie) each.

Coffee Kisses

It's almost unkind and unfair to even blog about these wonderful Coffee Kisses because you can only get them at Sugarhouse, a bakery with multiple locations in Metro Manila in the Philippines. But....you never know when you would be visiting Manila or when a friend of yours asks you what you want from there. Instead of a stupid t-shirt, key chain, or dried mango which you can buy here in the U.S., ask them to stop by a Sugarhouse bakery and get you a jar (plastic) or two or three of these wonderful meringue.

It's like eating cotton balls. No need to chew. Just plop one in your mouth and magically, it just melts and vanishes. The only problem is you will end up eating half the jar before you realize what you have done. They really are wonderful.

Petros with Piero

This Greek restaurant has been around for many years. Our last adventure at this location in Manhattan Beach, California was memorable. Sandi and I have talked about going there with Piero who has never been there. The three of us decided to have dinner there yesterday.

I brought a bottle of champagne. Their corkage is $15.00. For that you get the chilled champagne glasses but no bucket to keep your champagne cold...oh well.  We got there before 6:00 pm so the place was fairly empty. We started with a nice bread with a Greek dipping sauce. It had lots of garlic and I didn't want to scare of the vampires so I opted for good old cholesterol, butter.

They had a special salad for the evening. It was Agugula with Peaches. We shared this big salad and found it to be quite refreshing and delicious. It was perfect on this summer evening with our Rose champagne.

Sandi and I  decided to split a Moussaka, a classic Greek dish which is layers of eggplant, ground beef, tomatoes and their very own bechamel sauce. The other dish we were to split was the Lamb Pizza which is slow cooked lamb with roasted peppers, broccolini, olives, Kefalotiri and Feta cheese. Both these dishes we have had previously and loved them.

Piero ordered the Kokkinisto; boneless beef short ribs with tomato, allspice broth served over mashed potatoes and topped with Kefalotiri cheese. I was happy he ordered something different so I could try it. He was very happy with his choice and so was I. He too enjoyed the Lamb Pizza and the Moussaka.

We were all full. In fact Sandi could not finish her portion on account of eating bread. Next time, we will just have to make sure the basket of bread is beyond her reach. We still ordered the dessert we loved and that was Bougatsa; vanilla bean semolina custard wrapped in phyllo with vanilla ice cream. Though it was good, we seemed to not enjoy is as much as we did for no particular reason. We will have to venture on different desserts the next time. There will be a next time because their food is really good. I also noticed that they have another Petro's in El Segundo so we will have to see how the ambiance is there.

Cynthia's Black & White Tea Party

It started promptly at 2:30 pm. In the invitation, the attire read: Black/White. Not a problem; who does not have a black and white outfit. We were all impressed with her table setting and presentation of everything. We do not expect anything less when it comes to Cindy giving any party at her house. Everything matches; why shouldn't they. She's the "Martha Stewart" of the group. This was a late celebration of her birthday last month.

For hors d'oeuvres, she made cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese mixed with herbs de Provence. She also had strawberries with Devonshire cream, a Bobby Flay recipe. Both were delicious. I had 4 of the sandwiches and at least 4 of the strawberries. The drink she made was quite impressive. A recipe of Giada De Laurentiis, Lemon-Thyme Prosecco. Cindy made her own lemonade and froze it in an muffin tray, so they were slightly larger that regular ice cubes. She plopped a frozen lemonade into a glass, poured some prosecco and dropped in a sprig of thyme. It was delicious but I hardly could taste the thyme so I got some more thyme and crushed some of the leaves. The aroma and the taste was unbelievably yummy. I would definitely make this and serve it to my guests next time.

We sat down for our meal as she served us Cucumber Soup, Shrimp Rolls and a Tomato Salad. The cold cucumber soup was made with whipping cream, rice vinegar and sour cream. The shrimps were first steamed then sauteed in butter then she added a sauce made from mayonnaise, celery, lemon zest and lemon juice. The tomatoes were cooked with panko crumbs which she heated in olive oil, butter and thyme. She then made a dressing with lemon juice, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. If you think you've read about butter or whipping cream a few times, you are right. Cindy loves to cook with lots of butter and whipping cream. We all loved everything; what's there not to love?

Pre-dessert: Chouquett which is a puff pastry with grain sugar on top. This was so good, we all absolutely enjoyed it. It is like a cream puff without the cream; very light and airy. She got this at Desserts by Patrick in Redondo Beach. We also had alfajores which I brought. The main dessert was a Black and White Gelato Cake she also got at Desserts by Patrick. It looked impressive and it was good though I think the chocolate raspberry ice cream at Handel's is better. I did end up putting some of the very rich chocolate gelato inside the chouquett and that was very good. We had a dessert drink to go with the various desserts. It was an Earl Grey Tea Prosecco. She made simple syrup with earl grey tea and added prosecco to it. It was good. The verdict was half and half. Cindy and Sandi preferred this one while Sujata and I preferred the Lemon-Thyme Prosecco.

Before she opened her presents, we had to take pictures of the birthday girl with the birthday balloon which has been passed on once again from Sandi to Cindy. Sandi didn't bother to refill it with helium because Cindy's cat, China Blue is scared of the balloon so Cindy will have to let the air out and keep it for the next birthday celebrant. For party favors, Cindy gave us each a white and black (of course) bag with multiple surprises inside. It was a nice party but we did miss Amy, Mertz and Ana.

BK Bakery Gourmet Cookies

.....and more. This bakery  which opened not too long ago is located where the old Baby Cakes used to be at 24205 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite A in Torrance, California. I went in there 2 weeks ago to find out what the bakery was all about. It is not your typical bakery with bread or pastries. It is not replacing my favorite L'Amande Bakery.

This bakery is all about cookies. I cannot vouch for any other cookies except for the queen of all cookies: the ALFAJORES FINO ( Very fine alfajores) which is a gourmet Peruvian cookie. I fell in love with this Alfajores many years ago when I had the very best made by Mama Ocllo. That was the brand which they used to sell at Whole Foods but have since discontinued selling them. While I was waiting for someone to help me, I glanced around and I saw the name "Mama Ocllo". I spoke to the salesperson, Danaa who is the daughter in law of Rosa, the owner.  I couldn't contain my excitement when I learned that these alfajores are by "Mama Ocllo". The name BK stands for Rosa's grandsons, Ben and Kyle.

The cookies are superb. They are light and very buttery with a little caramel that is not overpowering in the middle. I served some on my last party and people did notice and asked me where I got the cookies. They are not cheap but they are worth every dollar; believe me!

The good news is these alfajores do freeze beautifully so you wouldn't have to go every other day because that's what you'll want to do.

Golfer's Lounge at Trump National Golf Club

Sandi had planned to cook after we got back from a movie in L.A. but as we sat on the 405 Freeway at 3:00 pm we knew we were not getting back until 4:00 pm and that's almost dinner (senior) time.

I remember my friend Jody mentioning going to "Happy Hour" at the Trump National Golf Club. I asked Sandi to call to find out the hours on weekdays. The answer was 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm so I drove directly to Trump's. We were chaperoned by the receptionist to the Golfer's Lounge where there was bar and tables and chairs along the window that had the beautiful view of the ocean and Catalina Island.

We were given the Happy Hour Menu.  First things first; in order to be truly happy, we had to order drinks. I had a very dirty martini with 3 olives and Sandi opted for the Chardonnay. One thing that could only be found on the regular menu was their famous Calamari which is so light and crispy. We had to order that with the spicy aioli sauce. We then decided to split a Hamburger on a brioche bread since our server Matt assured us it was big enough to split.

The bill came to $50.14 which was not bad at all. Two alcoholic drinks, 2 entrees and a spectacular ocean view. Service was excellent. As we left the lounge, we noticed a buffet table with food. I asked the receptionist about it and she invited us to take a look. They have "Seafood Buffet Mondays" from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. It looked delicious. I got excited because I recognized some of the dishes which they serve on their incredible Sunday Brunch. I will have to come back and try this at a bargain price of $39.95 per person.

Golfer's Lounge is at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.