Carl's Jr. Six Dollar Burgers

I can't believe I have not blogged about my favorite fast food burger joint. I know everyone likes In-N-Out and I have tried to make it my favorite but I think it is overrated.  I just don't get it.

I love the Six Dollar Burger; charbroiled 100% black Angus beef patty with 2 slices of melted American cheese, 2 slices of tomato, lettuce, red onions, pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup on a seeded bun. It really is messy to eat but who cares...as long as you enjoy eating it; that's part of the fun. You have to get your hands dirty. I suggest you wash your hands before you tackle the burger. The last time I was at Carl's, I ordered the sweet potato fries. They were very good.

The next time you have a craving for a big burger that is inexpensive, go pick up a Six Dollar Burger at Carl's Jr. FYI....the Six Dollar Burger is not $6.00. It is less than that even with tax, so it is still a bargain.
So, to all the folks that share my love for Carl....I love you too!

The Best Tasting Cupcakes

The slogan on the brochure of Cuppies reads: "The best tasting cupcakes around - Bar none!"

My comment to that is short: "Not."

To be fair, I gave it another chance since my last blog was not favorable on the Hot Cakes and Bacon cupcake.  This time I wanted to try the Black Tie Affair, Mocha Dream and Key Lime; none of them were available on that particular day I went.  I settled for 3 flavors: S'Mores, Bliss by Chocolate and Orange Dream. My husband and I tried all 3 and came to the same conclusion: Too sweet!

If you still doubt my opinion, I invite you to try them out and let me know what you think.  Cuppies is located at 3525 Pacific Coast Hwy. #F in Torrance, California.

Chicken in Champagne Cream Sauce

I bought some skinless chicken breasts the other day and some mushrooms.  I had no idea how to prepare my dinner.  I felt a bit creative so I just started step one and hoped to end up with something edible.

Step one was to put salt and pepper on the chicken breasts and sprinkled some Wondra flour. Step two: I melted maybe 3T of butter with a little olive oil and cooked the chicken a few minutes on each side till it was brown. I added more butter and some sliced mushrooms. Step three: I poured about 1/4 cup of Mirin (sweet cooking sake) and about 2 cups of Champagne over the chicken, covered it and simmered for 20 minutes. When I took the lid off, I thought the sauce needed to be thicker and creamier so I poured some whipping cream in it....then I kept tasting it and ended up adding more salt.  To thicken the sauce, I got a small bowl and added cold water to 2T of Wondra, mixed till smooth and slowly added it to my pan.

The end result turned out to be quite good. I served this with some left over rice and some ready-made cooked beets from Trader Joe's. This dish was very easy to make and since I had left overs the following day, I made some mashed potatoes which is the best thing to serve with any cream sauce.

Amandine Patisserie

I do not recall ever being at Amandine Patisserie though my brother Gary thinks I have been there ages ago. The other day, he had me try their Kouign Amann.  I asked him if it was good and he didn't want to comment till I have tried it.

The look of it was not too promising. It looked dense and dry. I pulled it apart and behold.....it had a filling of apple cinnamon with a consistency of a Tarte Tatin.  I was pleasantly surprised as I really did enjoy it. I could not realistically compare it with the true Kouign Amann which do not have any filling at all.  They really should call it something else; but for the lack of a better name and at $2.65 a piece,  I surrender.

Amandine Patisserie is at 12225 Wilshre Blvd., Los Angeles.  They serve breakfast, lunch plus desserts.

For the real Kouign Amann, Bouchon in Beverly Hills is still King!

Grilled Tuna With Honey Mustard

I found this recipe on the Internet. It was the first one I came across. The only reason I did not look further was the fact that I had all the ingredients and it looked simple and fast to make. It called for 2T Dijon honey mustard, 1T olive oil, 1T rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar), 2tsp. soy sauce.  I marinated the tuna for 2 hours.

Just before I fried them, I sprinkled some course salt then added a bit of olive oil on a non-stick grill pan. The outcome was a success.  It couldn't have been better. This was truly easy to make and looked impressive. I served it with some left over red cabbage with apples and one of those boxed rice with broccoli I got at the supermarket.

There are a zillion recipes on the Internet but you just never know how they will turn out; this one has my seal of approval.

Dominique's Kitchen

The newly opened restaurant at 522 S. Pacific Coast Hwy. in Redondo Beach, California took the place of the recent Oh La La Bistro and Wine Bar.  I predicted that the restaurant would not last when I tasted their Beef Bourguignon. If their specialty was not good then I could only see them going downhill and down they went.

Dominique's Kitchen seems promising. They have good food and you will love their prices. A friend and I decided to have an early dinner; as early as 4:30 p.m. By the way, for people that like to eat dinner early, you can't get earlier than 4:00 p.m.!

They served us warm rolls with rosemary and salted butter. That was addicting. We tried not to eat all the rolls. They also served us each a white bean salad with a piece of Brie cheese on top. That was a nice touch. For dinner we decided to split a the Organic Mesclun Salad with olive oil and cider vinegar. This was a no-nonsense back to basics green salad. We both liked it.

For our entree; we ordered the Grilled N.Y. Steak with Lemon Butter and French Fries. We ordered that medium well but it came more on the rare side. It was hot (temperature wise) so somehow we were able to eat it.  We both thought it was o.k. though we would definitely not order it again.  The Lamb Chop with Creamy Polenta, Roasted Garlic and Thyme Au Jus with Vegetables were very good. We got 3 pieces of lamb chops, 4 pieces of large asparagus and a generous portion of the thyme au jus that was perfect with the polenta. This, I would recommend to lamb lovers. The price for this entree is $19.99.  I don't know where you can find lamb this delicious for that price....maybe you could get is somewhere with just 1 lamb chop with a scoop of mashed potatoes.  I must warn you that if you do order this, you better not be on a first date unless of course your date orders the same thing in which case the garlic breath may be undetectable......? For married couples...go for it then just brush your teeth when you get home.

Our server asked if we wanted dessert.  We both answered at the same time. My friend said no and I said yes. I already had my heart set on the Floating Island.  I convinced my friend that the Floating Island would be very light.  Indeed it was....light and a very nice finale to a nice dinner.

I am going to go back soon to try the Lobster Bisque, the Mussels with Fries,  Scallops, and the Risotto which sounded wonderful. I also have to try the Caramelized Lemon Tart next time.

Luxury Swiss Chocolate

As we strolled down Montana Avenue in Santa Monica the other night, we stumbled on this store called Luxury Swiss Chocolate. We wanted to know what was luxurious about these different flavored chocolates.

The owner of the store, Alexandre, was eager to explain the history of these chocolates from Geneva, Switzerland.  To be honest, I was not that interested in the history.  All I cared about was the quality and taste. The problem was, the numerous flavors made it hard for me to decide what to buy.  I know what you're thinking......why not buy a bunch! Well, I would have but the price made me think twice. The big bars were $15.00 each. At that price you better love what you buy.

He had us sample the white chocolate with pistachio and the dark chocolate with raspberries. Both were super delicious. The white chocolate was not too sweet like most white chocolates. I bought the Noir-Citron; that's the dark chocolate with lemon.  It was very good dark chocolate with bursts of tangy, crunchy lemon. Very refreshing especially after a meal. I can also imagine having it with a glass of champagne! I distributed little rectangles from my one bar to my friends, they all loved it (though I'm still waiting for Gonz's opinion).

For the historians, the chocolates are made by the famous Rohr family in Geneva. Luxury Swiss Chocolate is located at 1624 Montana Ave. Santa Monica, California. Visit their website and see the wonderful chocolates they have; WWW.LUXURYSWISSCHOCOLATE.COM

Since our friend Sue lives in Santa Monica, perhaps she will be kind enough to take our order and deliver it to us the next time she's in the South Bay.......