NY Steak

NY Steak with rice and carrots

Coconut-Braised Beef

Coconut-Braised Beef with stir fried yu choy and Japanese white rice
As done before.
I made it Monday night then reheated it tonight to eat.

I washed and cut up some yu choy and stir fried with 2 cloves of garlic. The rice was made in the rice cooker. Sea salt and fresh rosemary added on top.

Pork and Japanese Yam Fries

Pork with Japanese Yam Fries, Yu Choy, Salad, and Strawberry smoothie.
Strawberries are 99 cents a lb at Vons, yum yum.

Pork was seasoned with salt & pepper and cooked in oil with diced up ginger and garlic. The pork is rested and tented when done, and the yu choy gets stir fried right after.

The Yam fries coated with olive oil, sea salt, pepper then baked @ 425F for 30mins. Flipped over at the 15min mark.

Side salad with Ginger salad dressing.

Lunch @ Bottega Louie

On Saturday, we met up with Wendy to have lunch over at Bottega Louie. She treated us to lunch, such a rad cousin. The food was good, service was eh. The place is huge, quite nice but very noisey. The bakery is awesome. Having to pay for parking next by, not much choice.

Pizza Makers


Salmon Salad


Pizza


Pizza undistorted


Chocolate Eclair


Bakery Pix

Garlic Noodles with Meatballs

Garlic Noodles with Meatballs

Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti, enough for 2
8 garlic cloves minced
3Tb butter
salt
pepper
oil
1/2lb 93% fat-free lean beef
basil
rosemary
chinese broccoli

Wash and cut broccoli into smaller pieces.
Mince 8 cloves of garlic, set aside with butter.
Boil water, add salt once boiling and add in pasta. Cook for ~8 minutes. Once done, drrain and set aside. Add salt & pepper to meat and mix in. Make little meatballs, around 16. Pre heat pan, add oil, once oil is ready, add meatballs. Turn and cook until near done. Remove to plate and tent.

Sauté broccoli in another pan.

Add a litte oil then butter and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, careful not to burn butter. Add in pasta, lower heat, mix well. Mix in meatballs and broccoli. Add salt to taste. Add to warm plate. Garnish with fresh basil and rosemary.

Desserts at Bottega Louie

Bottega Louie is in downtown Los Angeles at the corner of grand and 7th. There are parking lots next to it or metered spots on the side streets. After eating, we bought some treats at their bakery to eat later. A Berry Tart and some Macarons (raspberry, chocolate with salted caramel, cassis(black current), and coffee). Their bakery feels French, as are some items on their menu. The macarons are $1.75ea. I will post lunch pictures later. More on their maracons here.

Their website is here.



Purple = cassis

Beef Curry

Curry with Beef and Stir Fried Baby Bak Choy with Rice.
As before , tonight's curry is the House brand, medium-hot. Comes in a packet to boil 3-5 mins. Some veggies are in the packet as well. Serves 2.

2 garlic cloves diced
2 heads of baby bok choy
3/4lb stir fry beef
oil
rice
1 pkg of curry
salt
pepper

Cook rice in rice cooker.
Season beef with salt & pepper.
Wash and dry bok choy, cut into smaller pieces.
Pre heat pan, add oil when warm. Add beef when oil is ready.
Cook for a few minutes each side, put on plate and tent. Add in garlic and bok choy. Add a little water to deglaze the pan. Increase heat to reduce the water til it's gone.
Boil water, add curry pkg, boil for 3-5 minutes.

Pork Pad See Ew

Pork Pad See Ew using Taiwan Bok Choy rather then Chinese Broccoli. I used a low sodium soy sauce.

1/2lb pork slices
1lb rice noodles
2 large stalks of Taiwan Bok Choy
2Tb grapeseed oil
1 egg
3Tb soy sauce
salt
pepper
5 garlic cloves

Wash bok choy and cut up into smaller pieces. Cut garlic into slices. Cut noodles into smaller pieces. Add salt & pepper to pork.

Pre heat pan, add oil, add pork/garlic after oil is shimmering. Toss and mix for 1-2mins. Add noodles, mix well. Create space in center, add egg. Before egg cooks through mix up and mix well with everything. Add bok choy. Mix well. Add soy sauce. Keep mixing to lessen the noodles from sticking too much. After a minute, serve onto warm plates.

Espresso Crusted Filet Mignon

To celebrate Eva's birthday :)

Espresso Crusted Filet Mignon wuth red wine sauce, pasta, and Chinese broccoli.

1lb filet mignon cut into 4 pieces
4oz Ancient Harvest Quinoa Spriral Rotelle Pasta (1/2 box)
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 maui onion
1/2c red wine
1c low sodium chicken broth
olive oil
1Tb butter
salt
pepper
coffee grounds
4 stalks of Chinese broccoli

Pat dry the filet mignon with paper towels. Add a little olive oil to steaks, cover all over. Add salt & pepper. Add coffee grounds (I used decaf espresso) to coat both sides.

Pre heat pan, add olive oil when pan is ready. Add steaks when oil simmers. Flip over after each minute until desired cookness (I did medium). Remove from pan to a plate and tent.

Have water boiling for pasta before steak is removed from pan. Add salt to taste and add in pasta. Taste pasta after 6 minutes. Drain and add a little butter.

Add onions/garlic/butter to pan, increase heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in wine. Reduce until wine is almost gone. Add in broth, reduce to desired thickness.

Wash then steam broccoli in rice cooker to desireness softness. Too soft and it loses color and is mushy.

Ojiya Tokyo Ramen

Ojiya Tokyo Ramen

I enjoy Ojiya Yakitora so we tried out their new ramen place. Ehhhhh, what a let down.
Their ramen was either too bland or too salty. The gyozas were overpowered by whatever veggies were inside.

#1. Soy Sauce flavor - bland/tasteless


#10. Pork broth with pork - they did give me a lot of pork but the broth was way too salty.


Out of all the different ramen places around industry, this one fails hard. It's right next to Curry House which would be a better choice.

AnQi

For lunch, we tried out AnQi at South Coast Plaza. It's very well decorated, the lighting is still pretty dark even during lunch hour as you see by the food pictures. AnQi is run by the owners of Crustacean in Beverly Hills and somewhere in norcal.

We had the Wagyu sliders and their famous garlic noodles with beef.





The sliders were a little too salty, still good though. Service is excellent.

Eating in the South Bay

I grew in the South Bay (Torrance area) before transplanting myself in the 626. I ventured down to visit my folks. Gardena is home to a large variety of Japanese restaurants. First we stopped by Pâtisserie Chantilly.

What's inside?


Macarons (choc/vanilla/strawberry)


While I have my favorite spot, we went somewhere new for lunch, Sanuki No Sato. I found them in that Japan Up magazine. Their website is here. They serve everyone a tall glass of cold tea. I shared their Yakiudon with Noah. It's like yakisoda except they fry the udon (at some HK restaurants, I love fried udon with XO sauce). It was kinda pricey but very flavorful. The only thing lacking was some meat. It had like 3 pieces of meat. The interesting ingredient was little bits of fried tempura. Sorry np pix.

So by chance, we were in the same plaza as Bonjour Bakery. I read about them on chowhound, so I picked up a choux(cream puff) for $2.50. They are cash only. Their website is here.

Choux


Close up


Before going home, I picked up dinner. My favorite Japanese pasta place is Spoon House.
I normally get #12, spinach and bacon spaghetti with butter. I decided to try the marinated pork. Yummy. Their french bread is the best as well :)

Marinated Pork Spaghetti


Right next door is a little home in the wall sushi place. They are take out only as well as cash only. I ordered Eva a 7 pieced mixed box plus 2 rolls of Calif roll. When they run out of sushi, they close for the day.





Go Kings Go!

Shaved Snow @ 302

Here it is..I think it's even MOAR then getting it togo!

Chicken Fried Rice

Chicken Fried Rice with Chinese broccoli, garlic, and some soy sauce.

Panko Pork

Panko Pork with Bok Choy and Rice.

1c panko mix
.44lb pork (already cut up)
1 large egg
salt
pepper
sesame seeds (optional)
3pc's bok choy
4 cloves of garlic
rice

Cook rice in rice cooker. Wash bok choy and dry (I use a salad spinner). Cut 1" pieces. Unpeel garlic cloves and mince. Add egg to bowl, beat til mixed. Add 1c panko to another bowl. Add salt/pepper/sesame seeds to panko, mix together. Dip pork pieces in egg wash then in panko. Place on plate.

Pre heat 12" pan. After warm, add more oil then usual. After warm, add pork. As pork browns on one side, flip over. Cook until done (taste test). Add paper towels to a plate. Place panko pork on to soak up oil, tent or cover.

Add a little more oil to pan. Add in bok choy and garlic. Cook until desired softness of bok choy. Add dab of miso paste to the side of the plate to dip the panko pork into.

Go Kings Go!!!

The Wall St. Journal has an article on the LA Kings. Any press is good press :)

Read it here. Game 1 is tomorrow night @ Vancouver!

Steak with Chinese Broccoli

Steak with Chinese Broccoli

We dropped by Marukai after the gym, picked up some meats, etc. As you might notice, I love garlic :)

1/2lb thick cut steak
7 garlic cloves
1 small ginger piece
cooking oil
light olive oil
salt
pepper
2 stalks chinese broccoli

Pour a little olive oil on the steak, rub into it. Add salt/pepper, rub it on each side.
Wash the broccoli then cut into 1in pieces. Unpeel the garlic. Smash 4 cloves with hand. Slice up the other 3 or mince. Dice up the ginger or mince.

Pre heat stainless pan. After warmed up, add oil. After oil is warmed up, add steak and smashed garlic cloves. Cook until desired doneness (I did medium). Place steak and garlic onto a plate and tent to rest. Add in garlic, ginger, and broccoli, keep tossing/stirring until broccoli is at desired softness. Steak should rest at least 5mins.

Light Pad See Ew

Pad See Ew with a light twist. I went with just 1Tb of soy sauce. That fails to make it dark enough to look like real pad see ew. Just trying different things. We ended up adding a little Maggie on top. I'll stick to 2-3Tb of soy sauce next time.

1/2lb stir fry beef
1lb rice noodles
1 cup Chinese broccoli
2Tb grapeseed oil
1 egg
1tsp sugar
1Tb soy sauce
salt
pepper
3 garlic cloves

Wash broccoli and cut up into smaller pieces. Cut garlic into slices. Cut noodles into smaller pieces. Add salt & pepper to beef.

Pre heat pan, add oil, add beef/garlic after oil is shimmering. Toss and mix for 1-2mins. Add noodles, mix well. Create space in center, add egg. Before egg cooks through mix up and mix well with everything. Add broccoli. Mix well. Add sugar and soy sauce. Keep mixing to lessen the noodles from sticking too much. After a minute, serve onto warm plates.

Shaved Snow

Shaved Show

If you happen to visit Taipei, Taiwan, head to the Shilin Night Market. Depending on the time of year you go, you'll find a long line to get in. There are two shaved ice shops, across from one another. One has shaved ice and shaved snow, that is Xin Fa Ting. $70NT(~$2.20USD).

Pudding Shaved Snow


Red Bean and Pearl Shaved Snow


If you're in Los Angeles, you're in luck. In Rowland Heights off of Gale & Nogales, is Class 302. They sell shaved snow as well. Sad part is it starts from $5.95 and up plus tax.

Caramel Pudding Shaved Snow (minus the caramel)



I'll take more pictures the next time we order and eat in. We usually get it to go and devour on the way home.

I'm not a fan of shaved ice but love the shaved snow :)

Chicken with sautéed onions

Chicken with sautéed onions, baked red potatoes and butter lettuce.

1 chicken breast
2 red potatoes
1/2c diced onions
3 garlic cloves crushed
oil
salt
pepper
milk
nutmeg
butter
butter lettuce

Pre heat oven to 425F
Cut red potatoes into small slices. Add in bowl, add milk, then nutmeg. Mix nutmeg in. Bake until brown on top.

A pic of it after 20mins baking, not long enough


Pound chicken breast to flatten some.
Add salt/pepper to chicken.
Pre heat pan, then add oil. Wait until oil is warm, add chicken. When done, remove to plate and tent. Let rest for 5mins. Add a little more oil to pan. Increase heat. Add onions and garlic. Before done, add a small amount of butter. Keep shaking pan to mix up. Pour over chicken.

Chicken, onions, garlic, potatoes, and a side of lettuce

Turkey Meatball Pasta

Turkey Meatball Pasta

I do enjoy having a rosemary and also a basil plant. The aroma they produce when adding to dishes is great!

1/2lb ground turkey
Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti, enough for 2
3 garlic cloves diced
1/2cup onions diced
salt
pepper
olive oil
basil
rosemary
bok choy

Pre heat oven to 375F
Salt & pepper the turkey. Mix in onions and garlic and form balls. Place in a pan with foil. I sprayed pam on the foil as well. Bake for ~25mins.

Boil water, add salt when boiling. Add in spaghetti, cook for 8-9mins.

Clean and then steam the bok choy in rice cooker until slightly soft. Eat as a side dish.

Add olive oil to serving dish. Put in spaghetti, add a little butter. Mix well until butter is melted. Add meatballs. Sprinkle on basil, rosemary, salt, pepper.

Out of the oven:


Sans the bok choy:

Violet's Cupcake

Violet's Cakes

A little store off Holly in Pasadena. Their website is here.

Chocolate Cupcake:


Noah will be enjoying this.

Chicken with Stir Fried Veggies

Chicken with Stir Fried Veggies

1 chicken breast
3 bok choys
1 carrot
1 inch of ginger
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 shallot diced
soy sauce
salt
pepper

Salt & pepper chicken, cut into small pieces. Wash bok choy and cut into smaller pieces.

Cook chicken first, remove after 3 minutes. Add garlic, shallots, carrot slices, ginger. After a minute add the bok choy. Add chicken back, add a little soy sauce, mix up. Enjoy!

Steak with Butter Lettuce Salad

Steak with Onions, Chinese Broccoli, and a Butter Lettuce salad.

Chaya Brasserie

Happy hour @ Chaya Brasserie in the 90210.

It felt like a fusion of Japanese and French. They do serve sushi as well as steak frites. Their bread is good, we had to wait as they baked it fresh. Service was excellent.

Sorry I only had the iphone with me to take snaps....

The happy hour menu:


Kobe Beef Bolognaise with White Truffle Oil - yum except mushrooms


Outside patio area - don't eat there unless you mind smokers


Eva enjoying a Mojito Martini