A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures #3

In an effort to eat healthier I have a serving of vegetables topped with low fat cheese and a sunny side up egg for breakfast.  Usually it's accompanied by a cup of espresso from our new cappuccino maker.

My husband's mom stopped in at Los Olivos to buy these ginormous strawberries from the local farm.  They were huge, delicious and juicy.  I am ruined for all other strawberries.  Half a flat eaten in less than a week.

Dolphin Bay in Artesia is a Taiwanese cafe that serves food and boba type drinks.  This is the spicy popcorn chicken over pork topped rice.  The veggies were delicious and the other side is a steamed egg that is so popular in Chinese cuisine.

This is my other favorite breakfast that is a cinch to whip up.  It's a portabella mushroom seared on both sides, low fat swiss and an egg over easy with a bunch of grapes.  Yum.

Original Thai BBQ is one of the best values in Thai food in the neighborhood.  Above is the Beef Panang which is all high quality beef and sauce unlike the typical Thai place that uses more potato in the dish.

My favorite aspect of Thai food are these fat rice noodles.  Heck, they're my favorite in Chinese food too.  these are the Drunken Noodles which I assume is drunk because of the Rice Wine.

Tom Yum Soup is yummy as always!

A local Asian Seafood Buffet, aptly named... wait for it... Asian Buffet serves sea snails, fresh oysters, shrimp cocktail, fresh alaskan crab legs.  Really and amazing seafood value!

A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures #2

99 Ranch makes these lunches to go for about $5.  This was roasted duck with rice and baby bok choy.  Actually, is was all the vegetables in the dish, a third of the rice and a fourth of the duck.  My brother ate the rest.

This was my dinner the other night when I was fending for myself.  Mixed greens, sauteed shrimp, softened tomatoes and blue cheese sprinkled on top.  Delicious and so flavorful no dressing was necessary.  Plus it literally took me 10 minutes to prepare. WIN!
Sorry for the awful background.  We're renovating our house right now so I have little light and no furniture in the dining room.

Previously mentioned Love Letter is definitely DH's comfort food.  Here is the Spicy Garlic Chicken which is deep fried and then coated in a sugary hot sauce.  So bad for your body but so good on the palate. That is pickled radish in the background, you know the stuff you find at Korean restaurants that's delicious with salt and pepper?  Word.

For my friend's birthday we took her to Larchmont Grill in Los Angeles.  It was delicious.  This was the apple tart that had a thin crust and very fresh baked apples. This is not the kind of apple dessert you want for people who love pie crusts though.  Beware.

Larchmont Grill is a Hancock Park bungalow renovated into a 2 story restaurant.  The decor, location and architecture results in an ambiance that is usually only found in someone's well appointed home.  We were seated next to the fire place and I loved the hearth.  I will probably steal this very nice idea.

My friend had the petite filet which she said was amazingly delicious.  I think it came with roasted mashed potatoes and crimini mushrooms or something like that. That little dish of oil and green on the side.  That's the topping for the artisan bread they bring out.  It's herbal crack. Supposedly it has 30 different ingredients.  Maybe crack is one of them.

DH had the Lobster Pot Pie.  Why?  Because he loves pot pie and hates the hard work that goes into eating a lobster fresh out the steamer despite the fact that it's his favorite crustacean.  It was really beautifully presented but the potatoes were underdone and the sauce was too soup and not enough stew-like texture for him.

I had the braised short ribs over roasted mashed potatoes.  It was delicious even though this dimly lit picture is awful.  I'd say this was better than the Club 33 braised short ribs except  there was no Disney magic.

We started with the Mac and Cheese, something I had heard great things about.  Among the many cheeses found in the small cast iron pan, there's Velveeta cheese in it which tells me this place is not about putting on airs and snubbing anything because of its stigmas.  If it's good and works well in a dish, forget the critics who get hung up on names.  This is some great Mac and Cheese!

DH and I went to Sushi Gallery after shopping for the aforementioned birthday girl's present.  It's a tiny little shop with great prices and fresh fish.  Pictured is the Wahoo White (FREAKING AMAZING), Salmon and Masago.  All very well done.  DH said his piece of salmon was frozen though.  Mine was just pleasantly cold.

Sushi Gallery's salad.  It's topped with the typical sushi restaurant salad dressing but the best part was the added masago and pickled something.  I forget.  Bad Blogger Leah!

A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures

At the Ostrich Farm in Solvang I picked up this Emu egg to bring home to my egg loving family.   Here it's pictured. It's equivalent to 8-10 regular eggs.

On St. Patrick's day, to celebrate my married Irish roots, we met up with friends at the Crab Pot in Alamitos Bay where the Corned Beef and Cabbage was $1 a plate, green beer $2 a cup and Guiness for $3 a bottle.

My family went to China without me 2 years ago.  They came back with tales of Xiao Long Bao, the Shanghai Steamed Dumplings that come with a signature broth held in the thin packaging of dumpling skin.  Canaan Restaurant in Cerritos, a Taiwanese place, is one of 2 restaurants in my city that offer it.  My brother and sister said it was comparable to the Chinese version, just less greasy.

My brother insisted on getting what they thought was a crispy chicken dish: Black Pepper chicken.  It was neither crispy nor spicy.  And quite honestly, it was overshadowed by the Typhoon Soft-shell Crab below.

This was delicious.  Deep fried with an airy batter, crispy with onion, chili deliciousness.  A whole plate for only $12.95.  A steal I tell you!  The only problem was that the tender nature of the crab and the large amount of batter made it hard to distinguish what was flour and what was crab.  Plus, no roe :(

A Weekend Trip To Solvang: Stolpman Winery

My first experience with Stolpman was over at the Main Street Wine Cellar in Seal Beach for a Meetup.com Wine get together.  The father-son duo presented their wines in a most charismatic way that made me ache for a trip up to checkout the Central Coast again.  That was a year ago and aside from what I remember about the Family that owns this winery, I remember this mind blowing Sangiovese that showed me of what Italian wines should taste like.  Yes, I am talking to you Chianti.

We drank both bottles that we purchased at that Seal Beach tasting and foolishly missed each subsequent opportunity to buy more as they became available at MAWL and Winestyles. But no more, we made sure that we stopped into the Stolpman Tasting Room during this trip to pick up a bottle.

Our tasting was run by this local photographer whose work focuses on the Central Coast.  He also teaches photography and really opened my eyes to some of the new techniques available to DSLR photographers.

But again, I'm here to talk about the wine.

2008 Sauvignon Blanc.  This was really crisp and clean and smelled of citrus peel.  It was light on the palate with hints of cherry.  Nice for a white but not really my thing.  Retails for $22.

La Coppa Blanc.  Forgive me for not getting the year.  It was honeyed and apricot on the nose.  Creamy and delicate with a subtle finish.  A surprising and much welcome sharp, brief acidic peak. I also didn't get the retail price.  It was not listed on the tasting menu either :(

2009 Sangiovese.  This is what I'm takling about!  Can I just call this the fan favorite?  It's plum on the nose, tannic balanced with a citrusy pomegranate flavor with a clean finish. So easy to drink I can't imagine anyone turning their nose up to this.  Retails for $36.

You're going to sense a theme here.  Stolpman focuses on the 2 California varietals that I like the most, Sangiovese and Syrah.  The interesting thing about this tasting was that we were given 2 tastes of each bottle.  One opened that day, the other left over from the night before.  It gave us a sense of how the wine will age but also how dramatically different the Syrahs develop from one day to the next.



2007 Estate Syrah - 91 Point - Robert Parker. This was surprisingly fruit forward folowed with a smokey spicy middle and a long mild finish.  Stolpman does a great job of creating the complex flavors that makes every sip feel like a journey.  Retails for $34. This could be my new favorite.

2006 Hilltops Syrah - 92 Point - Robert Parker for the Wine Advocate.  Ok, so this is a bit of an exclusive Syrah.  The grapes are harvested only from the top 2 blocks of vines on the vineyard.  This results in grapes that get the best of the sun and the coldest of the nights which any farmer knows makes for sweet delicious grapes that ferment well into complexity that Stolpman is so good at creating.  It's hot and smokey with dark berries, honey and flowers on the nose.  Then it's tart and citrusy on the back end and finishes with a long lingering feel. Retails for $45.

2005 La Coppa Syrah.  Lots of wineries make something like a value brand.  It's usually highly drinkable for the range of palates from the least experienced to the most discerning.  I think this is Stolpman's version.  It's got all the great aspects of an easy drinking Syrah.  The chocolate, cherry and vanilla nose.  Light peppery flavor slightly overshadowed by being extremely brightly fruit forward ending with a clean finish.  Solid, predictable and a good example of the varietal.  Retails for $19.

2007 La Croce.  This is a Sangiovese Syrah hybrid.  Say what?!  I know right, it's like they called me and asked me "Hey Leah, I heard you're coming to town and we wanted to make something you have to blog about!"  And blog I am. Hot and spicy nose, chocolately and smokey mouth feel and unmistakably musty like the outdoors.  Full bodied with a long delicious finish. Retails for $66.

Alright oenophiles, that's all for this trip.  I don't know how some of you champs get all wined up going from tasting room to tasting room in Los Olivos but you're my hero!  I was tired after the 2 tastings, headed to the Ostrich Farm then Anderson's for Split Pea Soup and headed back to Home Sweet Home.

A Weekend Trip To Solvang: Fess Parker Winery

I'm no stranger to the Central Coast.  In fact, in my past life working finance in school construction at least a couple time a month I would hop on a Cessna to Santa Maria to meet with clients. I got to try the wonders of Santa Maria Tri-Tip and the fantastic Mexican food that rivals the best places in Los Angeles County.  Stops into San Luis Obispo were my great, as were the blips of time in Santa Barbara wineries.  My favorite was always the little Dutch town of Solvang.

Lucky for me my husband's family feels the same love for this out-of-the-way, blast-from-the-past city and they bought a gorgeous vacation home right on the historic block down by Hans Christian Andersen Park.  We took out first trip to the new digs this past weekend and came back happier and more relaxed than we've been in months.

Pictures of the jaunt can be found here.  What I really want to talk about is the wine.

We drove out to Los Olivos to pick up some sandwiches and head over to Fess Parker Winery for a picnic. 

The roads in this town are amazing.  You drive along and all of a sudden you're hit with a view of the entire valley of green surrounded with the bluest of clear skies.

Then you get to where you're going and find that along with the rockin' scenery the wine is top notch.

In the course of my Fess Parker experience I learned that savvy businessman Fess had it written in the contract that he got a portion of the sales from coonskin caps, rifles and other paraphernalia related to the Davy Crockett  franchise.  Walt Disney and Co. assuming the show wouldn't run for too long agreed.  Now the Parker empire includes a Doubletree formerly known as the Red Lion and this amazing winery (pictured with what I think is a grape mill) .

Over at Fess Parker's I had the pleasure of tasting the following:


2007 Chardonnay "Ashley" - 93 Point - Wine Enthusiast.  I found this to have a peachy peary creamy buttery nose but tasting of mildly tart green apple citrus hybrids. It's not too oakey and has a nice clean finish.  Probably great with seafood but fantastic with sharp cheeses. Retails for $30.

2008 Viognier "Santa Barbara County."  This was a really honeyed and vanilla nose with a sweet acidic front, full bodied mouth feel with a touch of stone fruit. This was favorite for one of us in the group who also loves brut champagne.  Retails for $24.

2007 Pinot Noir Pommard Clone - 92 Point - Wine Enthusiast.   Reds are my favorite but I find Pinot Noirs so finicky of a grape that it's hard to find a good one. This was a chocolately, cherry nose with a tart front but clean and balanced tannins.  Minerals and mildly herbaceous flavors in the backdrop.  Too young right now but will probably benefit from aging. Retails for $58.

2006 Pinot Noir "Bien Nacido Vineyard." Again, you'll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm.  This had a mocha and woody nose with a berry front and a long finish. Retails for $55. 

2006 Syrah "American Tradition Reserve" - 90 Point - Robert Parker.  Did you know that Syrahs are my favorite?  It's such an easy grape to work with that it's rare to fine one that is just out and out bad.  Plus, it's an easy grape to grow resulting in some of the best red wine values on the market.  This bottle was my favorite with a cherry, vanilla berry nose followed with a deep fruit and tannin balance finishing long and dry.  Yum.  Retails for $35.

2006 Syrah "Rodney's Vineyard" - 93 Point - The Wine Advocate.  I was a little over-tasted by this time.  It's my fault, I don't spit.  I know you're supposed to but geez, why?!  This had a mildly musty nose with a savory almost meaty plum and apricot front.  Very full bodied and complex with a pleasant mid length finish.  Retails for $45.

Next stop on this Central Coast booze trip, one of my favorites, Stolpman Wineries.

Saturday Morning Rain Is Falling

Last Saturday DH and I were supposed to walk to the Farmer's Market until nature intervened and we went to Jack's for breakfast instead.

Biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and eggs.

No, I am not a farmer. Yes, I did give DH the bacon like a dutiful wife. No, I still couldn't finish even half of all this food.

3 Foods You Should Try Despite What You've Heard

I was reading this insane article by Dave Lieberman on OC Weekly that literally made me tear up a little over the sad state of foodie affairs in Southern California.  Did you know there are still people who refuse to try Toro?  But what did I expect from Orange County, where one of the famed Housewives actually spit out Foie Gras.  Say what?!  Don't waste that gold!

So without further ado, I suggest that everyone in Southern California try the following foods regardless of negative stigma, texture or "icky factor."

1. Sea Urchin Roe (a.k.a. Uni). (Image Courtesy of http://bradyoshiro.com)  The easiest way to try this delicacy is to head to an upscale sushi restaurant.  Yes, this will give you Mad sushi credibility with the chefs so don't disappoint them by spitting it out.

The most hardcore way is to head to somewhere like Quality Seafood in Redondo Beach and have it right out of the carcass. The fish monger will gut the sea urchin and leave the roe in the spine moving body for you eat out of the nature provided bowl.  It is awesomely weird and people will gawk. Don't worry, it's already dead and it can't feel anything no matter how it moves.

Good Sea Urchin tastes fresh, like sea water, but buttery sweet like foie gras.  It is an experience in out-there textures and subtle flavors.

And please, for the love of all that is good in this world, don't dip it in soy sauce or wasabi in a restaurant.  Yes, I'm talking to you Guy-Who-Mixes-His-Wasabi-In-His-Soy-Sauce.  You are ruining it!

2. Foie Gras.  (Image Courtesy of http://forkyou.files.wordpress.com)Were you a little lost when I mentioned foie gras of the sea when talking about Sea Urchin? Imagine something that has the mineral taste of liver muted with the most fantastically rich fatty flavor that rivals truffles.  Oh, does that disgust you?

Well then you're one of those people that won't miss it when California outlaws the production and sale of foie gras in the state.  Unlike me who will be a little cry baby and make all her future Las Vegas trips about fatty goose liver missions.

Foie gras is made by force feeding a duck or goose until it's liver becomes engorged and delicious.  Typically it's most commonly available as a pate.

I don't think that pate de foie is a good example of what amazing flavor high quality foie gras is about.  For the best experience, head to a french restaurant that does a seared foie accompanied with the right accouterments like rhubarbs whose tartness perfect juxtaposes against the fattiness of the liver.

3. Tomalley of female crustacean.  (Image Courtesy of http://lizziee.files.wordpress.com) Ok, so I have to make a disclaimer to not actually eat the yellow green liver stuff inside the heads of crustaceans because in some areas the level of toxins are too high to be consumed.  But I have a pretty good fish monger who knows where the crab comes from and whether or not that particular animal is safe.

What I am getting and do absolutely love is the roe found in the head of most crustaceans.  It's milky, salty goodness with a slight crunch factor only found in the little eggs of tasty sea creatures.

The easiest way?  Head over to your local Asian market with fish steaming and frying services, like 99 Ranch, have them pick out a female and steam it for you.  Take home and enjoy.

The tastiest way?  Find an Asian seafood market and restaurant.  My local favorite is Tan Cang on Bolsa in Garden Grove, CA.  Order it salt, pepper and jalapeno wok fried style with extra roe.  Yes, they will actually add in more roe sacks so that the ratio of roe to meat is even more delectable!

Oh man, these are so delicious everyone in the world should have some not just Southern California!  What are some of your favorite not-so-popular foods?