Fettuccine with Escarole and Brie

Food & Wine's Grace Parisi's recipe for this dish sounded good to me. How can it not, with pancetta, garlic, shallot, escarole and Brie cheese. It was easy enough and total time preparing and cooking was really 30 minutes; with the use of my pasta boat.

I didn't know what escarole looked like since I have never cooked with it. It looks like Romaine Lettuce for those of you who are in the dark.  It looked really promising as I sauteed the pancetta with the garlic and shallots.  Click on the recipe:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/fettuccine-with-escarole-and-brie
Note: You will need a big pan to accommodate the pound of Escarole.  After adding the Escarole and gets all wilted, you then add the pasta and the pieces of Brie cheese.

There is great potential to this dish. The let down was that the Brie did nothing to enhance the pasta. I love Brie cheese but I think it is best with fresh French bread.
I had to add a TON of Parmesan cheese to make it enjoyable. I would definitely make this dish again but will eliminate the Brie and replace it with Gruyere or Vermont Cheddar.

Black Forest Ham Sandwich

Contrary to belief, my friends all think I have had everything on the menu at L'Amande Bakery in Torrance.  I have not yet tried everything but am slowly trying.

The other day was very busy for me. I was running around like a chicken without it's head trying to do everything in the least possible time. So, by 2:00 p.m.  I was just starving and before I knew it, I was parked right in front of the bakery.

I was temped to have a Grilled Cheese or the Croque Monsieur (love them both) but decided to be a bit healthier since I haven't been exercising as much.  I settled for the Black Forest Ham which I have never had and their famous Orange Iced Tea (shaken of course).  The massive sandwich was served on their baguettine. I had to cut in it half for easier consumption. This came with a nice salad. That sandwich was so good. It didn't have all that (you know what) ...it was just plain good Black Forest Ham with  dijon mayonnaise.  It was perfect, served on the fresh crunchy, chewy baguettine.

Here's another shocker: I could only eat half. Took the other half home which my husband had for his dinner. Lucky me, I didn't have to cook!

Special Thai

Last week, our performance dance class and our enthusiastic & energetic dance instructor went out for lunch at The Special Thai Restaurant at 1841 Pacific Coast Hwy. in Lomita.  Several of the girls have been there before and liked it.

The best thing about the restaurant was the price. On weekdays, the lunch is $6.99 and dinner $7.99. On weekends it is slightly higher; $9.99 for lunch and $10.99 for dinner.
This is "all you can eat" buffet.  The girls just finished a 45 minute lesson of Jive. They deserved all the food they could eat. I did not have that luxury since I haven't started dancing yet since my accident.

They had all sorts of noodles that were delicious. They had soup, fried shrimps, egg rolls, orange chicken, fried chicken, chicken satay,onion rings (for the less adventurous) and fresh fruit and some Thai desserts.

 

So, if  you're hungry and crave Thai or Chinese food and want to make your tummy happy.....go to Special Thai.

Father's Office Once More

Cindy and I had to take our friend to this place to experience the famous Father's Office Burger in Los Angeles at 3229 Helms Avenue (Culver City).  We got there just before they opened at noon and stood in line. 

I have blogged about their wonderful burgers before: see previous blog

http://solittlethyme.blogspot.com/2012/03/fathers-office.html

This time, we ordered the sweet potato fries that were absolutely delicious with the garlic parsley aioli. This is the same sauce they serve with their regular fries.
This time both Cindy and I thought the meal was too much; too filling. We had no difficulty finishing it the last time we were there.  Don't get me wrong, we still finished them but it was a struggle. I really wanted to eat just half but Cindy talked me into finishing the other half because she was sure it would spoil if we left it in the car while we did a little shopping. So like a good friend, I listened. Sandi left a bite of the burger and part of her bun.

The consensus was:  Next time, we would split the burger so we can try their desserts.
But, before that, we have to refresh our memories soon and head on over to Umami Burger.

Update on Food Trucks

I heard that the Grilled Cheese Food Truck was going to be at Narbonne High School in Lomita last night so I twisted Sandi's arm to accompany me. I have not had the Grilled Cheese and I've been wanting to try it for a long time.

We got there at 5:30 p.m. Some trucks were already serving and some just getting ready to open.  The first truck we came across with was the Sugar Babies Cupcakery. We looked at the flavors but they were all standard; till we saw the Bacon Cupcakes.
These were mini ones for $2.00 (2 bites). For $10.00 you get six.  Sandi had the brilliant idea of just buying one; we had a bite each to see if it was worth buying more.
As soon as we had our bite, we decided that it WAS worth buying six.  It had a piece of bacon on top with some maple syrup. I still prefer My Delight Cupcakery's bacon cupcakes since the bacon are cut in smaller pieces and evenly distributed.  With Sugar Babies, you have to be careful not to eat the whole piece of bacon or your second bite will be baconless. Of course you could shove the whole thing in your mouth but its a bit too big for that.

We then decided to try the Pork Belly Sliders (2) with the Garlic and Thyme French Fries from the truck called Belly Bombz.  That was very good. We also split the Connecticut Lobster Roll from Cousins Maine Lobster Truck.  That was the best. It had just a bit of butter and lemon and served  warm on a nice toasted bread. It was perfect as the evening got a bit chilly. We saw some friends; Joe and his daughter Jessica who joined our table and since I got distracted as I haven't seen them in a long time, I completely forgot to take a picture of the lobster.  The roll had big, juicy chunks of beautiful lobster. I can't wait to have it again but next time I will not share....I have to have my very own!

I will have to try their Lobster Bisque and Lobster tacos next time. We did have to try one of the desserts, which was Lobster Ice Cream. We both like lobster and we both like ice cream so we were intrigued. This union was not ala "Brangelina" It was more like "Felix and Oscar" of The Odd Couple. The lobster was tasteless when combined with the (sweet) vanilla ice cream. Bacon and maple syrup would have gone better. Sorry to say, lobster does not make a good dessert, at least not with ice cream. Well, its the thought that counts.

The Cousins Maine Lobster has a restaurant at 115 East Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. If you can't follow the food truck, stop by their restaurant where they pride themselves in serving fresh lobsters flown daily from Maine.

I managed to take a picture of a picture of the Lobster Roll...thought you should see the generous portion of lobster. By the way, the Grilled Cheese Truck was not there which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

 

 

Eva Restaurant

I got another one of those deals from Bloomspot. This time it was Sunday Brunch for 2 which included 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 1 dessert to be shared plus bottomless Mimosas.  All that for $38.  Two vouchers could be used in one table so I bought two.
The restaurant was called Eva on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles.

We were lucky to find parking in the street instead of valet parking. We got there 10 minutes before our reservation time. It is not a big restaurant; no reception room per se so we stood by the bar. While we waited, a server started us with our Mimosas.  We were seated in 10 minutes. The menu looked good. Three of us had the Barbara's Babies, which was a salad with carrots, wild flowers, thyme and an herb cream dressing. It was pretty good with just the right amount of cream which was light.
Our vegetarian friend ordered the Fresh Fruit; Sunday farmers market, Hollywood. So it was from the Farmers Market...well, fruit is fruit and although it may be organic and freshly picked, it does not look enticing just cut up in a bowl.  I am not a "fruit" person unless you add the word "pie" to it.  I think they could have served this on a bed of flavored yogurt and sprinkled some granola on top to make less boring.

It was then time to order our entrees.  Sandi ordered the Grass Fed Burger served on a buttered brioche, tomato compote and buttered onion. Presentation was nice but according to her it was just o.k. plus it was not cooked the way she would have wanted it.  Sujata ordered the French Omelette without the lobster. The omelette was so thin it looked more like a crepe. She seemed to like it. It looked very colorful with Maryann's heirloom tomatoes (who is Maryanne?)

Cindy had the Fried Chicken (organic), French Toast, with Maple Syrup. She had the best dish. It was just good old crispy fried chicken and french toast at the bottom.
I had the Prime Steak, Organic Eggs with Roasted Potatoes, Bordelaise.  I told the server I wanted my steak medium well and he assured me that it may look rare but it was fully cooked as it was cooked in a slow cooker.  The steak came and it was tender though it looked very rare.  I must say that the eggs were delicious; the yolk a bright orange like the ones you get in Europe and even in the Philippines.

It was not hard to decide on what to order for dessert as there were only two kinds.
The Bob's Famous Cinnamon Roll, and the Chocolate Caramel Pudding.  We ordered one of each for all 4 of us to share. The cinnamon roll was .....really just a plain cinnamon roll; one you would get at a donut place.  It was nice and soft but it was a cinnamon roll. To me, this is not dessert, it's more like breakfast to go. The chocolate caramel pudding tasted like regular chocolate pudding. It may have been a tad better than the Hershey pudding you get at the supermarket.

For $19 per person excluding tip, the brunch was worth it especially with the bottomless Mimosas.  I have to mention that in the corner of the street was another restaurant BLD. They were packed and there was definitely a vibe going on. I later mentioned it to my brother and he reminded me that I have been there before and had the French Toast and even commented on the little individual syrup in a can which came with it.  Mental note to myself:  Go back to BLD to refresh my memory.

Here we were happily awaiting our food.....

Soups at L'Amande French Bakery

Fall has arrived although we are still getting some hot days; that's Los Angeles.

Keep in mind in the coming cool days and nights, when you don't feel like cooking or you've had a big lunch or you're feeling guilty you've been eating too much.....stop by L'Amande Bakery in Torrance and check out their soups. I have had their Carrot soup which was delicious.  The other night I got the Butternut Squash and a baguettine which was perfect for dinner. 

Today, I stopped by the bakery and got the Asparagus Soup. They were out of the baguettine so I had to get a whole baguette.  Their soups come with cream to pour over the soup and wonderful croutons which are made from their famous bread.  All their soups have the perfect consistency. They are not heavy that you feel like it might be made out of pureed potatoes and cream.  You get a lot of whatever the soup is made out of; in other words not a lot of fillers just the good old carrots, butternut squash, carrots, zucchini or whatever vegetable soup they make.

I was informed that the other day, they made a vegetable soup with just plain vegetables. No butter, no chicken stock .....just vegetables. This would be for the vegetarians.  I am sure it was good but it would be better for me not to know that there is no fat in it because I think butter is the essence of life!