mango sorbet

This sorbet has an amazing mango flavor - I can't get enough!

noodles

There are few things in life more soothing than a bowl of grandma's chicken noodle soup.  Last week, during the torrential downpour in Los Angeles, I decided that noodle soup would be just the ticket for a Sunday afternoon project.

While the sound of making homemade noodles may seem daunting, it is actually relatively simple and requires only a few ingredients:  3 cups flower, three eggs and 2-3 tablespoons milk.  (NOTE:  If the consistency is a little dry, add another egg and another tablespoon of milk).

1. On a clean surface, place flour and use the measuring cup to make a well shape;
2.  In the center of the well, place three cracked eggs and 2 tablespoons of milk;
3-5  Using a fork scramble the egg mixture in the flour;

6. With your hands, roll the flour mixture into a ball;

7.  Use a rolling pin to spread the dough out;
8.  Roll the dough until it is about 1/4 of an inch thick;
9.  Roll the dough up;
10.  Use a knife and slice the rolled dough into pinwheels and then roll the pinwheels out.

Next its time to make the chicken stock.  Take a whole chicken and 4-5 cups of water and put in a large pot.  Cook the chicken covered until the meat falls off the bones - about 1 hour.  During that time add more water as needed.

After the chicken is done, remove from the pan, and drain the stock through a strainer. Then after the stock has settled skim the fat off the top with a ladle.

Next, take the whole chicken and pull the meat off the bones.

Add the chicken, 1 cup of carrots, 1 diced medium onion, 2 stocks of celery, half of the noodles, and salt and pepper to the stock.  Boil the mixture for about a half an hour, or until the noodles and vegetables are soft (add water as needed).

Serve the noodles with bread and peanut butter, yummy!

Leave the remaining noodles on the counter, and cover with a dry dish towel for about 8 hours.  After the noodles become brittle, place them in a gallon size plastic bag, and place in the freezer to use at a later time.

these shoes are so cute

I am having a difficult time controlling myself . . . . this website has the cutest shoes ruche.  Here are just a few examples:

more healthy waffles

I say more healthy, not because these waffles are actually healthy, but because they are more healthy than the usual butter - syrup method.  And by better I mean - more healthy, better tasting, and you feel much better when you are done eating them. 

So here is what I did.  I took a normal waffle recipe from Betty Crocker which called for eggs, vegetable oil, flour, tablespoon brown sugar, baking powder, and milk, and added a secret ingredient.

You guessed it - oatmeal, a 1/4 of a cup to be exact.

The oatmeal made my waffles super yummy - crispy, a little bit more chewy, and added some more nutrients.







To make the perfect waffle - pour the mixture in the iron and wait about 30 seconds before closing the lid - this will ensure that your batter does not ooze everywhere.

You know the waffle is done when the steaming dissipates (about 5 minutes after closing the lid).




For my toppings - instead of syrup and butter - I used a mango and strawberry puree.  This was inspired by a breakfast I had while in San Diego a few weeks ago.

To make mango-strawberry puree: peel and slice one mango (tip: when you get down to the pit squeeze the pit with your hand to get the rest of the juices), and then and about 4 frozen strawberries (no sugar added).  Blend in a blender until the consistency is smooth. 



I also topped the waffles with fresh blueberries and a half of a banana. 

And last, but not least a healthy dollop of home-made whipped cream. (What would a waffle be without whipped cream?)

fusion cooking and the four hour weekend . . . .

And so it was . . . As much as last weekend was wonderful, it looks like I am making up for it this weekend.  My weekend has been reduced to 4 hours on a Friday night.  Aw well . . . . I guess there is always next weekend.


This week has been particularly busy. I've been getting home from work at about 8:30 p.m. every night.  M has been a real trooper:  Tuesday night - pizza delivery, Wednesday - Chinese delivery, Thursday - eggs and toast.  Well you get the picture . . . not the best week for food.

So for my four hour weekend, I thought the enjoyable thing I would do for myself is make a good dinner for the two of us to share.  But, obviously, it had to be quick.

I have had an idea all week to make a fusion dish.  A friend at work told me about a great trendy fusion place she went to in NYC a few weeks ago for her birthday, and I have wanted to make a fusion dish ever since.  Enter shrimp tacos with sweet Thai chili sauce (my own invention - although I am sure someone else has thought of this before me). 

I love this recipe because you take a bite, and all of the flavors don't hit you all at once - they subtly explode in your mouth. I also love this recipe because it uses a lot of fresh ingredients.


Ingredients

1/2 lb Raw Shrimp; 1/4 Cup flour; 4 T Veggie oil; 1/4 Cup Cilantro; 1/4 Red Onion; 1 Small Tomato; 1 Avocado; Sour Cream; Sweet Thai Chili Sauce; 1 Package Corn Tortillas; Pepper and Salt

Shrimp:

Rinse shrimp, dry and then drudge in flour (only want a dusting of flour)

In a small skillet heat two tablespoons of the Veggie oil over medium heat and saute the shrimp in batches. 

Drain shrimp on paper towel.

Crack pepper and sea salt over shrimp.

Tortillas:

In another small skillet heat veggie oil over medium heat, and quickly sear the corn tortillas until a little crispy (about 15 seconds per side in hot oil - you want them to be bendable without cracking)

Drain on paper towel

Plate it up:

4 Shrimp per tortilla

Cilantro

Sour Cream

Tomato

Avocado

Onion

Drizzle Sweet Thai Chili Sauce over taco

 

weekend getaway to . . .

Saturday morning . . .

Saturday morning started just like most other Saturday mornings, M&I got out of bed around 8:00 a.m., and drank our coffee.

As we sat on the couch we discussed what each of us planned to do with our Saturday, and then a weekend getaway plan was hatched - M said "what if we went to San Diego . . . I really want that seared tuna I had at that one restaurant we went to 5 years ago."  And so, without further discussion, I said, "Yes, lets do it, lets get of the city for awhile."

So what do you pack when you are going to San Diego with no particular plans?  Well - a dress that doesn't wrinkle, boots (so you are warm at night if you go out), light sweater, jeans, a top that is versatile, (cute enough to go out in at night, but comfortable enough to wear all day), flip flops, cute flats and a scarf.

Next, on the way down, I used M's iPhone to book a hotel room.  We decided to stay at a Double Tree Hotel downtown.  This was the view of downtown from the hotel.

Along the way we stopped to snap this picture along the 5 freeway.

Saturday afternoon . . .

On Saturday afternoon (after we checked into our hotel) we trotted off to Coronado Island which is right across the bay from San Diego.  I really don't like heights so the bridge is always difficult for me.

On the Island - the main attraction is the historic, Hotel Del Coronado.  The Hotel Del Coronado is a 120-year-old hotel, and it may look familiar to you if you have seen the screwball comedy, "Some Like It Hot", with the very lovely Marilyn Monroe, and the talented Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon.  I totally recommend this movie if you haven't seen it.

The Hotel Del, is quite expensive to actually stay for the night, but it is a place you can enjoy without being a guest of the hotel.

I love the layout of this quaint hotel.  The main building is several levels, and is surrounded by little private bungalows which guests can rent for a pretty penny.  On the back side of the hotel there is a green lawn, a sun deck with an outdoor bar and lawn chairs and a pool, all facing the ocean.  These are some of the pictures I took on Saturday.

M&I had a great view of the beach (a) from the lawn chairs we snagged on the sun deck (c).  For an afternoon of people watching, we enjoyed some chili cheese fries (my weakness) (b), a Coronado Margarita (my drink) and a pina colada (M's drink).  Both drinks were great, but the Coronado Margarita was particularly good and unusual.  It had tequila, sweet and sour, cranberry juice, triple sec, Grand Marnier liquor, and, of course, a salted rim.

At Magic Hour (sunset), M&I headed for the ocean and watched as a man proposed to his sweetie.  So romantic.  We also spotted some wonderful sand castles, and I snapped some pictures to share with all of you.

And then of course I had to snap a picture of the sunset.

Later that night, we went to a great little Thai restaurant, "Taste of Thai."  I chose the yellow curry with sea scallops, and M chose the duck with peanut satay -- both were super yummy

the hotel . . .

Our hotel room was nice enough, but it was unfortunate that our TV didn't work right and the maintenance man had to come twice so that we could order a movie.

Saturday night we watched, "How Do You Know",  with Jack Nicholson, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson (the ultimate cast in my opinion).  Although the reviews were quite bad, I have really wanted to watch it.  Both M&I would recommend it.  It is not a masterpiece, but definitely a fun romantic comedy to watch.  The movie ended at 1:00 a.m., and both M&I drifted off to sleep.

At about 3:30 a.m. that morning, I abruptly awoke to a screaming match that was taking place in the hallway.  A man was yelling obscenities ("obscenity man") at a woman who was balling and screaming ("screaming woman") at the top of her lungs.  It took me about 5 seconds to fling myself out of bed and run to the door, I was about halfway out the door in my t-shirt and underwear, when I realized maybe me going out there would not be the best thing to do.  And then I thought well, what would my mom do?

That is when I said "M!" (who was then fast asleep-once he is asleep he is dead to the world)  "M!!!" "Get up - there is something going on in the hall - could be a domestic violence situation!!"  He was of course dazed and confused, I am not sure he was fully awake, but he sat up in bed ready to pounce.  At that moment I regretted waking him up, because I didn't want him going out in the hall either.  So . . .  I grabbed the phone and got the front desk - who said they would send security. I then ran back to the door and slammed it very hard so that if he was hitting the woman or the woman was hitting the man -they would know they were caught.

Needless to say, I could not sleep then.  I laid in bed, my mind contemplating the worst.

I was convinced that if this fight was as bad as I thought it was, it would start again, if the woman wasn't already knocked unconscious or something (or at this point maybe the man was being beaten?).  I laid in bed, listening for any sound that would indicate that obscenity man and screaming woman were still around.  Then at 4:30 a.m. the yelling began again -  obscenities and crying.  I promptly, turned on the light and called the front desk again.  They said, "Ma'am we went up there last time and it was quiet."  To which, I replied, "I don't care!! there is something seriously wrong here."

Security came up again, and this time they caught the man in our hall (I don't know what happened to the woman).  I peered out of the peep whole and saw the security guards take obscenity man away, and one security guard asked, "Sir, are you staying here?"  Here is the kicker,  obscenity man wasn't even a guest at the hotel.  I could hear obscenity man say as they ushered him away - - "baby, baby, I love you . . ."  Yay - I'm sure he loves you screaming lady.

At 4:45 a.m., I fell asleep, happy that no one had been killed.

Sunday . . . 

The next morning, after the yelling match, we woke up and ordered room service.  I had a delightful waffle, with honey granola, strawberries, and mango puree on top (if I were to make this myself I would add some whip cream with a little bit of lemon zest).

After breakfast, we packed up and headed to Del Mar, which is about 20 miles North of San Diego.  There we walked along the beach, visited, and watched the whales, dolphins, and surfers.  Also, a few passenger trains came by (next time we are definitely take the train down from L.A. - the tracks follow the coast most of the way down I hear).

Our last stop in Del Mar was at the Fish Market for lunch.

M of course ordered the seared Ahi Tuna and a shrimp/crab cocktail.  The Ahi Tuna was AMAZING.  Slightly seared, when you put it in your mouth it melted like butter.  M paired his selection with a Fat Tire.

I had the clam chowder (which was great) and the East Coast clam bake (which was stellar) - it had lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, corn and potatoes.  Very yummy.  I paired my selection with a Corona.

After we were thoroughly stuffed, we started our two hour trip back to L.A. With good traffic - we were home by 3:00 p.m.

All in all - a great weekend.