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.

Iberico Chorizo

Iberico Jamon is considered the most expensive ham in the world since it comes from the Iberian Pig, which is dark gray in color, commonly known as "pata negra" which means dark hoof. The reason it is expensive is the diet of these pigs. Most of them eat acorns, olives, and nuts. The chorizo is a lot cheaper since it is a sausage. It has a high-fat content, but it's the good fat, unsaturated, the same as olive oil.

While I was browsing at Pavillions Market a few days ago, I came across packages of Fermín Iberico Chorizo from Spain. I grabbed one to try. It recommended placing the plastic enclosure under warm running water for 10 seconds, which I did. It was greasy, but nothing good old Bounty paper towel couldn't handle. I served it with crackers. It is quite salty, so be sure and pair it with something bland. The taste was heavenly. It's nothing like any sausage or salami I've ever had. I checked to see if Amazon sells them, and yes, they do, but it's a bit more expensive there. Pavillions is still a better buy.