Island Fries from Island Hut

You won't have to go to an island to enjoy these fries. This little restaurant in the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Lomita Blvd. in Lomita  has been there a long time. They have an extensive menu. I have had their Beef and Chicken Teriyaki which are very good.  They have salmon, Katsu curry plates, burgers, Chinese chicken salad (delicious), spam and eggs.

I recently just discovered their Island Fries. These are not your ordinary French fries. The fries are mixed in with stir-fried Angus beef with onions, tomatoes, parsley, shredded cheese and topped with this Green Sauce. Upon further investigation, I found out the proper name for this green sauce. It is a Peruvian Aji sauce which has cilantro, green onions, mayonnaise, jalapeno, garlic and salt. The sauce is topped with slices of ripe avocados. The result of the beef, cheese, fries and the sauce is amazing. It has a kick to it but just enough; not too spicy. When you order these fries, make sure you specify because they also have regular French fries for the less adventurous.

Island Hut is located at 2387 Lomita Blvd. in Lomita, California.

Best Scrambled Eggs

I once saw a video on how to make good scrambled eggs. It was not the way I usually do mine which is to whisk the eggs and add a bit of water. This makes the eggs fluffy. The technique I watched involved cracking the eggs in the pan and just swishing the eggs quickly. I did this but instead of regular salt, I used Black Truffle Salt that Mertz gave me. Forgot to mention before the swishing of the eggs, I melted lots of butter to welcome the eggs.

The result was a beautiful soft (not rubbery and dry) scrambled eggs with the nice truffle taste. It really was delicious.  I cooked 1 piece of bacon and toasted a thick slice of the French Brioche Bread (the very expensive loaf) and added butter and raspberry jam.  A cup of nice freshly ground strong coffee with whipping cream accompanied my masterpiece! The only thing lacking was a server to take my dish away and stick it in the dishwasher.

Authentic French Brioche

I went to Bristol Farms to get a French baguette but they were out of it. It was a cold evening and I had a big lunch so I felt like having soup and French bread. I didn't want to get the heavier Sourdough bread so I ended up with this Authentic French Brioche which is a product of France, imported by Euro Classic in New Jersey.

The soup I bought was also from Bristol Farms; Tomato Basil Bisque which I have had before and enjoyed. As I browsed in the cheese department, I came across something new: La Clare Goat Cheese Curds which looked good.

As I got home, I toasted a thick slice of the brioche and added some butter. I threw in small chunks (I chopped the larger pieces) of the goat cheese into the soup prior to heating it and added more after heating. The soup was so good with the chunks of chewy goat cheese. The texture was a nice addition to the soup which had lots of flavor from all sorts of vegetables and cream. The bread was unbelievably buttery and light. It is no wonder because when I looked at the ingredients, aside from the wheat flour, eggs, and sugar, it had concentrated butter, crѐme fraîche, and brandy. Then I noticed the price of this loaf of bread. It was a whopping $7.75!

My dinner was gratifying and pleasurable to say the least. It was a Bristol Farms dinner with the exception of my glass of red wine.

La Montina Franciacorta Rose

My excuse for making this dinner was to serve one  of my favorite wines: La Montina Franciacorta. It's an extra dry sparkling Rose that I discovered on an event held at Obica in Santa Monica. My friends love it as well. You have to try it to believe how nice and refreshing it is.

I recently bought a few jars of condiments from Home Goods. They occasionally have some interesting items that are less expensive than a specialty store or your local market. I didn't know when I would actually have it and with what? I decided to open Olivier's Truffle Mustard from Napa Valley.

For hors d 'oeuvres, I sliced some horseradish cheese with cilantro and placed it on top of the mini crackers. I tried it and though it was good, it needed something creamy or fatty. I thought of the truffle mustard so I dabbed some on it and then topped it with the cheese. Bingo! It's what it needed. The flavor of the mustard and the cheese was perfect.

The dinner was very simple. No salad was served. Just chicken cooked with mushrooms, olives, artichoke pieces in a mushroom and olive tomato sauce (Bertolli) and I added some Mirin sauce. That with Mashed Potatoes with feta cheese made the dish quite edible. Since I didn't serve a salad, I had to make some vegetables to make my 2 friends happy. I cooked some Brussels Sprouts with shallots in bacon fat, chicken stock and topped them with the crumbled bacon. Vegetables can be very exciting with a little (or a lot) fat.

Dessert was a choice of Lemon Cheesecake or Apple Crisp Pie from Polly's Pie. The lemon pie was good but could have been better had it been more tart. The apple crisp was perfect as the apples were firm and not mushy. I did forget to take a picture of that pie from my excitement.

In case you are interested in trying the wonderful wine which is not yet available in stores, feel free to email Elisabetta at: ecressi@vino-direct.com as they are in the process of creating a website. I drove to Long Beach to pick up my case.

Chim! Thai Street Food

A tiny restaurant across from the Fred Astaire Ballroom is where we ended up eating lunch last Saturday. We got there at noon and we were lucky to get a table.

We ordered 2 entrees to split. The Chim!Gai Zaap; crispy chicken, scallions, onion, cilantro, roasted rice in chili lime juice and Panang Beef; panang curry paste with coconut milk, bell peppers and peanut sauce.

Both entrees were delicious and quite spicy. We kept drinking our diet coke in between bites to cool of our mouths. We were glad we took Piero's suggestion to try the restaurant. Chim! Thai Street Food is located at 910 E. Union St. in Pasadena.

Another Simple Lunch

Sandi and I only had 2 hours to spare for this luncheon. Fairoz insisted on making something small since we didn't have enough time to spare due to a prior engagement. As soon as we got there, she apologized for not preparing appetizers since we had little time. She did serve some chips and dip. She did invite another friend so there were 5 of us.

When Meryl arrived, we sat down on their balcony of their condominium which is right by the beach.  It was a crisp and sunny day in Long Beach; a nice break from all the rains we have had. Fairoz's husband, Medhat barbecued some beef and made some short ribs. A bowl of salad arrived followed by the big platter of beef.  Then came a chicken dish with vegetables, As Fairoz disappeared into the kitchen, she picked up another platter of vegetable lasagna and garlic bread. It was overwhelming.

My plate was full. I told them they need to get bigger plates! Everything was as good as it looked.

When we could not eat anymore, she brought out mini cheesecakes and fresh fruit. When it was time to bid farewell, we all got a big container for dinner. Sandi and I were meeting Cynthia for dinner so we ended up having the left overs the following day.

dineLA at Lawry's

We celebrated Piero's birthday at one of his favorite restaurants. The dineLA menu was a bargain as we got not only a nice thick slice of Prime Rib but it included a Lobster Tail. We all showed up earlier than our reservation to take advantage of the Meatballs and their homemade Potato Chips by the bar.

Shortly after we sat at our assigned booth, our server brought out a basket of their warm sour dough bread. If we were smart, we would not have touched it since we already had a few meatballs and some potato chips.....but we are not always smart. We indulged in the nice warm bread with butter.

We ordered a Shrimp Cocktail to share just to tease our appetite. The shrimps were big and plump. Our server came to serve us their famous Spinning Salad. I was able to limit my consumption of the greens in anticipation of a lot of food to come.

Our carver, Anthony came with his big cart. We all ordered our prime rib the way we liked them. We were offered a side vegetable and we unanimously had the creamed corn; the best in the world! As soon as we all had our plates, our server cut portions of the Yorkshire Pudding and gave us all a slice. I lucked out as Sandi gave me her portion. Just looking at the food almost made us full. As we were getting ready to attack our meat, the Lobster Tails arrived with lemon and lots of melted butter. It was overwhelming. I didn't know where to start! The lobster was tender and juicy and even got juicier after it got dunked in the butter. The prime rib was delicious as ever.

When we all thought we couldn't eat anymore, our server asked what we wanted for dessert which was included in the menu. The birthday boy asked for the Flourless (not calorieless) chocolate cake and the rest of us had the Creme Brulee. I asked that they burn the top since that's how we all like it. They did a good job in burning the top. There were no complaints!

Lawry's  is always a good venue to celebrate anything or nothing. Who says you have to have an excuse to eat good food? Lawry's The Prime Rib is located at 100 N. La Cienega in Beverly Hills, California.