Sympathy Dinner

When God closes the door; He always opens a window.  I am sure you heard that saying before. I remember it from one of my favorite movies; The Sound of Music.

In my case, the door that closed was an accident I had last week. I slipped while rehearsing for our 'burlesque routine" in my dance class. The funny part (not so funny) is I was not even dancing when it happened. It was the walking part of the routine. To make the long story short, I fell and landed on my behind and back. I could not move and ended up in the hospital via the ambulance;  I spent the night there heavily medicated.

I am home now doing fine but still on pain pills but at least I can walk.

Now you ask, where is the open window? Well, you get a lot of sympathy from friends who offer to do all sorts of things for you. Last week, my friend Amy and Nako brought a giant pizza, a big tray of chicken salad, a whole chicken from Costco. That pretty much fed my husband (who is also recovering from the biking accident last month) and me for a week. I have never had the much talked about chicken from Costco; now I know what the fuss is all about. It was tender and very juicy.

Last night, Sandi brought a full dinner for two. She came with a big tray with chicken marsala with mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes, blackened Brussels sprouts, asparagus,  carrot & parsnips. She cooked all that plus she brought along some chopped garden vegetables which came with its own dressing she bought at Sam's. She also made some chicken noodle soup which I kept for the following day.

This dinner for two fed 3 people.  Everything was so delicious. I felt so privileged; as if someone sent the dinner from a fine dining restaurant. She didn't dare make dinner without dessert....so she brought us 2 apple crisp which she baked. I mentioned before that I don't like warm desserts unless it is a souffle.  After refrigeration, my husband and I had the crisp with the white creamy icing.  Whatever weight I lost for the week, I managed to gain in this one meal. That was the best apple crisp I have ever had. It was really crispy on top with the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans and of course lots of butter. Oh, and she didn't forget the apples which came from Vermont.
The creamy icing was made with more butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and bourbon.

It has been a week since I've been home and today I managed to drive to my favorite bakery so I could get a nice fresh french baguette to go with last night's chicken soup.

Another perfect dinner.

Beautiful Fruit Tarts

These tarts from L'Amande Bakery in Torrance are sold on weekends.  I have had the mini ones before but it is best to buy the maxi.  You know the saying that goes "Size matters".....in this case, it really does; the bigger the better.

The crust in just like the ones you would get in the best patisseries in Paris. If you do not live in the South Bay area of Los Angeles,  the drive will be worth it, even with the rise in gas prices.  To make your money's worth when you get there, do stock up on their breads and excellent croissants, or do what I do.  When I go get bacon donuts at Cafe Dulce in Los Angeles, I take orders from people in area. Your friends will love you more.  Pictured are the pear and plum tart.

Aren't they just beautiful?  A friendly reminder: It is best to cut the tart with a pizza cutter and eat it like a pizza; not a fork to get the full benefit of the flakiness.

Sunday Brunch at Livello

Know a good deal and when you see one..... snatch it.  Gild City had 2 great deals on the restaurant Livello at the L'Ermitage in Beverly Hills.

They had a Sunday brunch for 4 with bottomless mimosas or bellinis. The cost for the brunch was $125.00.  They also had a four course tasting dinner for 2 for $105.00. This is a great deal especially, when I know the chef would not disappoint since I have been there several times before.  In fact, this is how I got introduced to Livello.  There was an offer for $100; a four course dinner for 2 with a glass of wine for  each person.

Last Sunday when everybody was to stay home because of the closure of the San Diego Fwy.,we went for our brunch. They seated us by the bar which looked like someone's cozy living room. We were the only ones in that section. So we had our own little party.

Two of us ordered  the skirt steak and fries which was delicious with the herb butter melting on top. The fries that came with it was very good. Cindy decided to order the seared salmon with  fingerling potatoes in a bernaise sauce.  I had a bite of that and hmmm...loved it.  Ana decided on the eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce, served with hash browns. Had a piece of her eggs benedict  and that was also very good, especially the sauce. She wanted to sip the sauce with a straw. That's how good it was.

For dessert, we had a choice of 2 to share among the 4 of us. We ordered the tiramisu which was served in a small glass. It was good but I have had better ones before. The chocolate cake was a hit especially with the marshmallow on top.

The food matched the ambiance which couldn't have been better. This place spells "Class" all the way. For your information, the bellinis were great!

Whoo-ah ! Bread Pudding

This is no ordinary bread pudding.  In fact, it is the perfect bread pudding which is served with  a burnt salted caramel sauce.

I had it literally out of the oven and I thought I was going to pass out. It was just wonderful.  I took some home and I experimented to see how it would taste at room temperature.  It was still very good.

The following day, after being refrigerated overnight, I had a bite of it cold...though I like cold desserts,  I did not like it as the pudding became more of a "pudding" and was almost heavy.  So, in the microwave it went for several seconds.  It was like Lazarus coming back from the dead!  It was just as delicious as the first time but maybe a tad better as everything seemed to be more harmonious.  The texture was back to it's original form which was more like a souffle. 

This bread pudding from L'Amande Bakery in Torrance is not always available.  It will be made to order and order I will!

Impromptu Dinner for Surprise Guests

When I have a couple of hours of notice for surprise guests; I have to think fast and improvise.
Yesterday was one of those days.  Fortunately, the guests were not real guests....they were relatives.

I ran over to L'Amande Bakery in Torrance and got 2 orders of their "Charcuterie Plate".  It had black forest ham, prosciutto from Genoa which is aged 13 months, dry salami from Lyon, olives, mustard and Cornish pickles.  As luck would have it, L'Amande had their new apple tart which I had previously ordered.  It looked too small as I could very well have eaten 1/4 with no problem, so I decided to get an extra one to feed 5. Then I went to Trader Joe's next door to get a variety of cheeses. I also had some left over chips and salsa which was still good. That....and a nice bottle of Bollinger champagne brought the hors d' oeuvres to the next level.

At around 4:45 p.m. I had to either turn into Julia Child or drive to a nearby restaurant.  I excused myself and drove to Gaetano's Restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway in Torrance.  Vince, was happy to suggest what I could feed my foodie relatives.  I only knew for sure I had to order their famous and very addicting fried artichoke hearts. He suggested the Penne Asparagi, with grilled chicken, fresh asparagus, Roma tomatoes, mushrooms, parmesan & garlic. He also suggested Eggplant Parmigiana which was cooked with their homemade marinara sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, served with linguini.
Two orders of everything should have been enough but as I glanced at their menu, something caught my eye.....the Tagliatelle & Chianti Short Ribs (which I have had before and just loved) Homemade tagliatelle paste, pancetta, beef short ribs, herbs, light cream and pureed tomatoes. 

Everything was delicious. I had no complaints and believe me, one relative in particular (who shall remain nameless) would have complained if something was not very good.

I almost forgot to take pictures of the dishes. By the time I remembered, the fried artichoke hearts had vanished into thin air!

Dessert was the apple tart. I have talked about how to eat this tart (like a pizza) . I purposely did not give anyone forks but Elliot managed to grab a spoon and tried to cut the tart when he was startled by me yelling at him to stop.  I got everyone's attention, so I explained how the tart should be eaten properly; picking it up like a pizza and just biting into the flaky crust. FYI, it was also easier to cut the tart with a pizza cutter.

So the moral of the story is:  Don't panic.....think inside the box....what's close to you...think of places you enjoy in your neighborbood.  By the way, the tart served 5 with a couple of left over slices.

Preview of Tarts to Come

I happened to be at the right place at the right time.  When I went to L'Amande Bakery this afternoon, three more tarts were born.  Baby pear, baby plum and baby fig.

I had to try all of them but didn't want to look like a pig and eat it right there, though I could have very well done that with no problem.  I told them I was going to take it home so my husband and I could have it for dessert.

We had it for dessert. We split them and I served them with whipped cream. It was sheer delight! I could not even pick which I liked best.  It is like asking a mother to pick her favorite child.  I suppose it will depend on what fruit you favor....but you must take my word for it...they were so good and flaky, just like the apple tart I had yesterday.

My husband did not get to taste the apple tart as I consumed that baby at the bakery. So when I gave him 1/2 of each of the tarts tonight, I instructed him on how to properly eat them to get the full benefit.  Even with the whipped cream on top, I asked him to pick it up like a pizza because if you eat it with a fork, you compress the light buttery layers of flaky dough therefore making it a tiny bit doughy. When you take a bite, you get to taste the individual layers that are just yummmmy!

Can't wait till the end of October when these babies will hopefully be in full swing.

Chicken Goulash

If you don't have time to eat out, or you think it is too hot or cold to get dressed and sit in a restaurant, consider getting something "to go" from a restaurant.

This afternoon was just that time to get something for dinner.  I went to Cafe Cegos at 777 Deep Valley Dr. in Rolling Hills Estates.  Aside from their signature lamb chops and filet mignon with green peppercorn sauce, they have some lighter dishes.

I decided to get their chicken goulash with homemade spatzle (German noodles). Their spatzle is the best! It is perfect not only with the goulash but with the veal which they serve and is called Jaeger schnitzel (my favorite).

When you order the goulash, make sure you tell them your preference as to mild or spicy. It sometimes depends which cook is on duty. I have had it mild and spicy at well.

Their fish is always fresh. Not to be missed is their poached salmon with cucumber salad.  I must say that when I ordered the poached salmon at the famous Fouquet's in Paris a few years ago, I was disappointed because it was not better that Cafe Cegos.
Just goes to show you, you don't have to travel to Paris to get good salmon; but by all means, travel to Paris because .......it's Paris!!!!