Thai Curry

For the longest time, I've been trying to make a mean Thai curry. Who knew there was a great recipe on the back of the Thai Kitchen Curry Paste jar? Here are the ingredients:

Thai Kitchen Fish Sauce

Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste

Coconut Milk

Sugar

You choose ingredients: Bell pepper, Spaghetti Squash, Chicken, Bok Choy, Tomatoes, Sweet potatoes

Here's a link to their recipes:

http://www.thaikitchen.com/recipes.html

Los Angeles Favorites

Giant Unagi from Sakura

I love "best of" lists, especially when they're food related. Here are some of my favorite dishes and eateries around L.A.. It's a partial list, and a work in progress. For fans of Top Chef, I included some notes for you!

Burger from a restaurant chain: The California Burger at Houston's, Santa Monica (get it with grilled onions)

Burger over $10: Father's Office, Culver City

Mussels: Jitlada, Thai Town

Pot Roast: Jar, Hollywood (Suzanne Tracht from Top Chef Masters' restaurant)

Raw Food: Cru in Silver Lake

Gelato: Bulgarini Gelato in Altadena (Scoops is a close second)

Beef Stew: Ondal 2

Mole Negro: Guelaguetza, in Palms or Hollywood

BBQ: Bludso's BBQ, Compton (Texas style BBQ)

Sugar free Cupcake: M Cafe de Chaya, Culver City or Hollywood

Salad Bar: Mrs. Winston's, Santa Monica

Caprese salad: Not Your Everyday Caprese Salad at The Bazaar, Beverly Hills (Marcel Vigneron from Top Chef is sous chef here)

Omakase Sushi: Sushi Zo, Culver City

Bacon: "Crack" Bacon at Grub ("Bada Bing" Betty from Top Chef's restaurant), Bacon Candy at Lou

Pizza: Pizzeria Mozza, Hollywood (Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton's restaurant)

Grilled Baby Squid: Terried Sake House, West L.A.

Giant Unagi Sushi: Sakura, West L.A.

Giant Whole Foods: Pasadena, Venice or El Segundo Whole Foods

My Current Restaurant Crush: Jar in Hollywood

Restaurants I Need To Try Before The New Year: Providence (Michael Cimarusti from Top Chef Masters), Bouchon (Thomas Keller.. I already got two reservations for brunch and dinner!)

California Burger with grilled onions at Houston's

Not Your Everyday Caprese Salad, The Bazaar

Cham Korean Bistro

California Bibimbop

This past week my meals ranged from a $10 chicken mole negro to an elegant meal at Jar in Hollywood (Susan Tracht's restaurant--she was on Top Chef Masters!). I really wanted to take pictures in Jar, but it was so dim that using flash would distract everyone in the room. I ordered the signature pot roast, and it was the best pot roast I've ever had! It definitely put my version to shame.

I did take one picture of a meal, and it was at Cham Korean Bistro in Pasadena. This is one of my favorite restaurants right now--too bad it's so far away. It reminds me of M Cafe de Chaya, but cheaper and even tastier. I got the $10 California Bibimbop, which consisted of a bunch of crunchy veggies and your choice of protein (I chose the seared ahi tuna) and grain (I chose brown rice). I am positively in love with this place and its modern decor.

Cham Korean Bistro

A Spaghetti Squash Obsession

I am infatuated with spaghetti squash. Here I mixed it with some broccoli slaw (get it in the bag at Trader Joes), tomatoes, ground beef, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, onion, salt, pepper, thyme and oregano. This hearty and healthy meal only took 5 minutes to make (not counting the baking time for the spaghetti squash).

Brad's Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is Brad's best cookie to date! Unfortunately, he spaced the cookies too close to each other, so they fused into one giant one. Haha.

He followed this recipe, but used regular chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips. We finished the batch off in no time--it was absolutely delicious. He left the pistachios whole, which contrasted nicely with the chocolate chips. The saltiness of the pistachios also added a wonderful dimension. I love salty sweet desserts!

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pistachio_white_chocolate_chip_cookies/

Huckleberry, Santa Monica

Huckleberry is a cute bakery/cafe on Wilshire in Santa Monica. It is sister to the Rustic Canyon restaurant across the street. The vibe is very similar to Joan's on Third, and the food is around $14 a person for brunch (you are paying for atmosphere and quality ingredients). You order at the counter, and they bring out your food to your table.

We ordered:

Pumpkin spice bread: There was an extra dose of pumpkin on top of the bread in the form of pumpkin seeds! This was so moist, and it came with a side of cream cheese.

Maple Bacon Biscuit: The winner of the meal! This had just a hint of maple sweetness and bacon-y saltiness. It was flaky and packed with bacon--perfect!

Quinoa Vegetable Salad: This healthy dish came topped with two sunny side up eggs. The quinoa was very mild, but was perked up with some smokey roasted broccoli, onion and squash.

Also, refillable coffee!

Close up of bacon maple biscuit

An Early Easy Thanksgiving Dinner

I was craving turkey the other night, so Brad and I made an early turkey dinner. Instead of cooking up the whole bird, however, we just bought the thighs. The whole meal only took about an hour start to finish. On the menu:

Turkey thighs baked with thyme, sage and garlic

Gravy made with turkey drippings

Pearl Onions with mustard, apple cider vinegar dressing

Apple Cranberry Sauce: just a bag of cranberries, an apple, 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar boiled until the cranberries pop

Sweet potato rounds with sage

I didn't go with actual recipes for this meal, so feel free to experiment!

An Everyday Meal

Here's what I had the other day for lunch: radishes, half an avocado with soy sauce, and an egg scramble with onion, bell pepper and ground beef. I can make it in an instant, and it's tasty too! See my previous "Everyday Meal" post for more details.

Raincoast Crisps

Photo from http://www.yumsugar.com/5772122

Introducing my latest addiction: cranberry raincoast crisps from Whole Foods. It's a perfect fall snack--it's crunchy, not too sweet, and is chock full of hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds and cranberries. If you're not careful, you can eat a whole box yourself! They're a little pricey at around $7 per box, so if you don't want to buy them, you can make your own with this recipe:

http://dinnerwithjulie.com/2009/01/27/rosemary-raisin-pecan-crisps/

Here are recipes that use raincoast crisps in them:

http://lesleystowe.com/category/recipes/crispcreations/