Posts tagged food

I flipping love super pho. & teriyaki. I don’t remember how I discovered it, but I am so glad that I did. it is by far my favorite pho in los angeles. it’s super tiny, so it’s hit or miss on whether it’s going to be busy or not. I’ve been at all hours of the day and there seems to be no rhyme or reason on when the best time to go is. people just want pho when they want pho, it seems. be patient with the waitress -it’s almost always the same girl and she is always by herself taking orders, running food and clearing tables. once you get your order in, your food will come out super fast. I always order the pho tai, which is amazing, but I’ve seen friends order plenty of other things and everyone always comes away satisfied. my personal favorite part is the veggie bar - they let you pick your own veggies and how many you want! mint, sprouts, jalapeños, onions, basil, you name it, it’s yours for the taking. and apparently they have healing power as well - I was on the way to succombing to a nasty cold the other day and decided to stop here on my way home from work. one bowl of pho (and plenty of mess and fluids) later, I was miraculously healed the next day!

you guys. can we talk about kimchi fries for a minute? because they are incredible. i have dreams about these kimchi fries. y’all know i’m a sucker for a food truck - especially a food truck with a great gimmick. frysmith definitely has their gimmick down. they don’t have a huge menu so you’re not overwhelmed by too many options, but the options they do have are all pretty great. the first time i had the truck, i opted for the safer carne asada fries, but the second time i went all in for the kimchi. now there will be no turning back. everything about them is perfection: the spicy, the salty, the pork, the cheese, and of course the kimchi. 

sunday morning i was catching up on my google reader posts and came across this recipe and was immediately starving. it was all i could think about all day so i went for it and let me tell you…amazeballs. so. effing good. i also threw in some guac for good measure.

the mar vista farmers market has quickly become one of my favorite things about sundays. 

lately we’ve been riding our bikes down since bikerowave is there with their free bike valet. the folks there are as nice as can be and will give your bike a once over and fill your tires if necessary - or if you’re like me and need help with the smallest task - they’ll figure out how to get your basket attached without interfering with your brake lines. 

the venice grid also set up shop there for your morning coffee needs, which is great. we usually skip the coffee though because our preferred breakfast ritual has become a couple empanadas and a fresh squeezed lime-aide. today we threw in a sun dried tomato-spinach-goat cheese crepe for good measure as well. 

there are plenty of samples to sneak too from the majority of the vendors. oranges, strawberries and cheese are always available and delicious. the kimchi lady is also super sweet and her spicy cucumbers are amazing. 

go next week. i’ll be the creepy girl snapping your photo. 

another sunday, another crock pot meal. hooray! this time we used this recipe for beer chicken tacos. i seriously get so much pleasure from making something for others and having them eat their faces off because its so delicious. 

i wont get into a full play by play, but here are the highlights: 

homemade taco seasoning. 

mix in beer of choice. 

pour over chicken breasts and after 8 hours you have this pile of amazingness. 

now, not to toot my own horn, but personally i think the guac was the show-stopper. theres not an exact recipe, its just whatever you like, but here’s how i like it: 

for this batch i used 5 good sized avocados.

scoring because scooping makes it easier! 

mash it all up with a fork (and keep the pits in with it so it doesnt turn brown!)

lime juice! i think i ended up squeezing 4 limes into it by the end, cause i like it super limey. 

i also used a whole onion chopped up cause i like a fuck-ton of onion. 

5 minced garlic cloves. 

a handful of cilantro. 

i also grated a serano pepper (minus the seeds) and sprinkled in some lowrys seasoning salt. top with more cilantro. 

serve with whatever goodies your heart desires. 

make a taco the size of your head and enjoy! 

holy cow pig, y’all. this weekend was the second go-round with the crock pot and boy was it a hit. we followed this recipe pretty much to a tee (or to a t? - i was just trying to figure out which it is and failed. anyone know?) so i wont rehash all the nitty gritty for you. but i will say this: make more than the recipe calls for. you will want it. double it at least. triple for good measure. 

pork shoulder and onion smothered in homemade bbq goodness. 

it literally falls apart. 

dive right in. 

top with apple slaw and serve on a fresh roll. repeat. 

i love me a good sausage and beer. wurstkuche is perfect for that. they boast all kinds of “exotic” sausages like rattlesnake & rabbit, duck & bacon, and alligator & pork which (from what i’ve had so far) are all pretty delicious, they really just taste like sausage. worth the extra dollar more than the mango-jalepeno sausage? sure, if its your first time. but i’m sure the plain ol’ bratwurst is just as good. especially with their caramelized onions, spicy peppers and array of gourmet mustards. 

the beer menu can be a little daunting, but if you pick out what you want to eat first, the servers are great at helping you choose a beer. we were a party of four, all with different beer, and after all trying each others everyone decided “i like mine the best!”

also, if you get fries, which you should definitely do - you MUST get the bleu cheese walnut bacon dipping sauce. i’m obsessed. i could eat buckets of it just by itself. 

the only downside is that it plays into the la hype that everyone loves. the main lobby where you order is teeny-tiny so there is ALWAYS a line out the door. don’t be fooled, there will most likely be plenty of room inside. 

i got marshall a crock pot for christmas, and for its maiden voyage, we decided beef stew would be the mission. here’s how it works: 

cut 4 (ish) lbs of top round steak into bite size pieces.

heat olive oil on medium high and brown the meat. you’ll have to do it in shifts - put the browned meat into the crock pot as it is done and add more to the skillet as room opens up. 

when all the meat is cooked, in the same skillet, cook 2 large dices onions until translucent and then add one 6oz can tomato paste and cover the onions completely and add to the crock pot.

pour 1 cup red wine into skillet to get all the brown bits up and pour that into the crock pot as well. 

in the meantime, cut up your veggies. we used potatoes (not pictured, obvi) and carrots, celery and bell pepper. 

mix all of this in the crock pot with 2 cans of beef broth, 1 tbs salt, 1 tsp thyme and 1 bay leaf. 

cover and cook on high for 4 1/2 hours. don’t open it to check on it! this is the hardest part! 

when its just about ready (maybe a half hour or so before it’s done) add 1 bag of (thawed) frozen peas and mix it all up. 

now you could stop here and just enjoy the stew with a glass of wine. but…

to go with the stew, i also made roasted garlic toast. for this, cut the top off a couple heads of garlic and peel off as much as the paper as you can from the outside. 

put the garlic on aluminum foil or in a covered dish and drizzle with olive oil. cover it and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 

when it’s done it should be all nice and brown and toasty looking. 

when its cool to the touch, scoop or squish out all of the garlic goodness and spread on some toasted bread. 

serve with your beef stew and enjoy! 

this was probably the most sober, but funnest new years eve’s in recent history. usually it’s all hype and big letdown. but this year it was easy and a blast. of course, any day that starts off with chick fil a on a warm, sunny los angeles afternoon is bound to be great. 

(gratuitous hollywood shot)

after lunch, we dove down to melrose so i could get the JOHNNY CUPCAKES HEY ARNOLD TEE SHIRT - but stopped on the way to snap pics of the mr. brainwash and klasky-csupo murals.

jump forward a couple hours…

and i got a little more dressed up than necessary. but hey, its new years. 

we braved the crowds at universal city walk to go to the jon lovitz theater to watch kevin smith and ralph garman’s hollywood babble-on new years babble-eve. 

it was a freakin riot. i’ve loved kevin smith for quite some time now. awhile back we went to see a screening of red state where he did a q&a afterwards which was awesome, but kinda serious. last night he was so adorable i could hardly contain myself, and i don’t remember the last time i laughed so hard. 

marshall could also hardly contain himself - he got to go on stage for their game show portion and stumped them with a big lebowski question, thereby winning a magic set that ralph was re-gifting and shaking hands with both gentlemen. 

at midnight we had our own bottle of champagne and i got to kiss his handsome face. 

from the show, we went to the comedy store on sunset where i developed a major girl-crush on the bassist for a makeshift air guitar band and i saw jesus in la! (but like an idiot accidentally deleted the photo in my girl-crush haze.)

we got home around 4am and now i’m the only one awake and STARVING! who wants brunch? 

my favorite recent pins: the ideal living room; the most adorable romper; parmesean potato balls; obsession-worthy jars; a totally doable cork stamp diy. 

nontra and i love noodle soup. ramen or pho, you name it. when the craving hits, its time to go. i noticed ramen yamadaya setting up in the neighborhood before it opened and since it has been up and running it is PACKED every time i drive by. good sign, right? so we finally made it over there and even though it was pretty late for dinner, we sill had to wait for a table. not long though, and the hostess was super friendly. 

steve and i got the basic ramen, and nontra got hers spicy. it came out and looked delicious. steve claims to not like noodle soup, but his was gone almost immediately. nontra was sick and it was exactly what she was looking for. but for me, unfortunately, it fell way short. i had about three bites before i had to stop. it was really heavy and greasy and made me feel instantly gross. i don’t know what it was, but this is not the ramen for me. 

this comic on the wall was cracking me up though, so theres that. 

around this time of year, i always crave clam chowder. seeing as i have yet to find a place in la with a chowder worth coming back for, we decided to make our own. along with it - oyster crackers! my mom always makes them around christmas and they are like crack. 

for the crackers: combine 1 package hidden valley ranch dressing mix, 1/2 tsp dill, 3/4 c vegetable oil. 

drizzle over 1 package oyster crackers. stir to coat the crackers. 

spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through. 

for the chowder: chop 7-8 pieces of bacon and cook on medium low until crispy. add 1 onion, chopped, and sauté until transparent. add juice from 1 10 oz can baby clams (save clams for later) and 6-7 cubed potatoes. cover and cook about 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. 

(at this point we had to move into soup pot. not sure why we didn’t start here) add clams, 2 cans cream of celery soup (we used condensed, so we also added 2 cans water), 1 c heavy cream, 1 c milk and 1 tsp dill. (the recipe didn’t call for it, but we also added 1 can of corn kernels) stir together and add 1 tbs butter and let melt into the chowder. cook for 30-45 minutes, or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

sprinkle with cheese and oyster crackers and enjoy!