Thursday, January 20, 2011

wish you were here....





hola from the bahamas!! ;) i have been blessed to have a job that allows me to travel. being here is a little busier than i had expected; so i haven't had time to do any blog post but i promise i will!!!! but attached are some sneak peaks of my trip.




im not gonna lie. im coming back to LA with a tan!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

out of office reply: 'leaving for work...in the bahamas' :)




hello!! even though my ravens lost, i had a crazy fun filled weekend in vegas with a few of my intelligent and beautiful ladies friends. drove back to LA and had to pack for  my business trip in  bahamas!!! yes, this trip is strictly for work...there will be no fun in the sun. okay, i lied. i'll be working for 5 hours a day and the rest i SHOULD be laying on the beach catching a golden bahama tan.


i'm writing this post on a jetblue plane at the logan airport in boston. our flight is delay because the captain is coming from the baltimore flight which is also running behind schedule. the weather on the east coast is awful...snow, snow, and more snow. it was hard leaving the 80 degree los angeles weather. i boarded my flight from lax to bos in shorts, tank top, sandals and a light weight sweater. the bostonians must think i am crazy walking around their airport with barely anything on. oh well ;) also, i just bought a new canon SLR and i'm pretty excited to get back into photography again. so you'll be seeing a lot of pictures. hopefully this week i can get caught up on some posts im behind on. ie church and state restaurant and blue ribbon sushi and grill at the cosmopolitan hotel.  ;) adios for now....



Friday, January 7, 2011

gumbo por favor

with the weather being gloomy and cold, nothing warms you up like southern style gumbo served over broken rice. the broken rice idea i got was from my mom. it's a house favorite, she usually serves the broken rice with charbroiled pork chops, fried egg, pickled carrots and sauteed green onions--but thats another post.
broken rice:
1 tbl unsalted butter
1/4 diced onions
1 minced garlic
1 1/2 cup of regular american rice 
2-3 cups of water
1/2 chicken bouillon cube
chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste 


-preheat oven to 350 degrees. in a sauce pan, melt the butter. throw in onions and allow for it to sweat. then add the garlic and rice, stirring frequently so it does not burn. season with salt and pepper. GO EASY ON THE SALT because of the bouillon cube 
-add the water. depending on where you live, humidity, elevation...etc depends on how much water you need to put. a little vietnamese trick my mom always thought me is stick your index finger into the pot barely touching the top of the rice. the water level should be right above the first line on your index finger. throw in the bouillon cube, stir, and allow for it to come to a boil. throw the lid on and put it in the oven for 20-30 mins. take the rice out, fluff it with a fork, testing to make sure the rice is cooked. once cooked adjust seasoning and throw in parsley. set aside 

gumbo:

6 pieces of chicken thighs
4-5 louisiana sausage
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup flour
5 tbl unsalted butter
1 large onion
8 cloves garlic minced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/4 bunch flat leaf parsley
4 cups chicken broth
2 chicken bouillon cubes

14 oz can stewed tomatoes with juice
2 cups frozen sliced okra
1/2 pound small shrimp, peeled, deveined







season the chicken with salt and pepper. heat the oil in a heavy bottomed dutch over/non stick pot over medium-high heat. cook the chicken until browned on both sides and remove. add the sausage and cook until browned. then remove, sprinkle the flour over the oil, add 2 tablespoons of butter and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until brown, about 10 minutes. let the roux cool

return the pot to low heat and melt the remaining butter. add the onion, garlic, green pepper and celery and cook for 10 minutes. add worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, to taste and the 1/4 bunch parsley. cook, while stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. add the chicken stockand bouillon cubes. whisking constantly. take the chicken thighs and separate the skin and bone and dice. add the chicken and sausage to the pot. bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. add tomatoes and okra. cover and simmer for 1 hour, just before serving add the shrimp and parsley.
beginning of roux
roux beginning to brown







Thursday, January 6, 2011

best....

....beef dipped sandwiches?
Philippe's in chinatown/downtown LA. freshly carved roast beef that is juicy and moist; then piled on top of a freshly baked french roll. i also pay an extra $.40 to get the american cheese; which melts perfectly into the beef. the carver takes the top of the bun and lightly dips it into the au jus and then wrapping it. There is just enough au jus that you don't need anymore  on the side to dip. People are concern that dipping the top causes the sandwich to be soggy but that is not the case. The french roll is durable and still soft. Everything is a la carte: chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, pickled eggs, soups, chili, soda, ice tea, and several selections of beer. prices are reasonable but it is CASH ONLY. they have an ATM on site. if you never had Philippe's, it's a must try.


Monday, January 3, 2011

koi restaurant, ending our new years celebration with a dinner

as i sit here munching on red vines and watching my guilty pleasure, "real housewives of atlanta" (don't judge me, it makes me feel normal) i'm recapping last nights dinner at the trendy koi restaurant - west hollywood. koi is a japanese, sushi fusion style restaurant. they serve everything from sushi, salads, cold asian dishes, and hearty entrees. 
this dinner was for us to catch up on NYE festivities and for me it was to meet new lifelong friends. there was a lot going on for all of us this past weekend and we all couldn't spend it together. so last night we got to sip over cocktails, have a bite to eat, and chat. great conversation, great new friends buuuuuuuuuuut the food and service was another story. i felt we definitely paid for the ambience, location and nothing else. between the 10 of us the bill was roughly $750 including tax and tip. my biggest pet peeve about going to an upscale restaurant is that they don't do seat positions. having the food runner call out your dishes and interrupting your conversation especially for a group of ten is annoying. another peeve is bringing out the main courses at different times. restaurants, such as koi, like to use the excuse, "since there are so many kitchens here. food will be coming out at different times. so please don't get upset if you don't see your food. it's coming, we promise!" so sure of enough i rolled my eyes, because obviously koi and their staff has a huge communication problem.  i truly think it's complete bullshit that cooks and chefs can't give each other a time frame of when food is ready. especially when most of the food they serve are sushi, appetizers and salads. needless to say all of my biggest pet peeves happened at koi. 
now, i know i should have ordered a fish dish or even sushi at koi but instead i order the peppered filet mignion with shishito mashed potatoes. it was sunday and i don't order fish on a sunday. (why? that's another post) anyway, i ordered it medium and it came out med well. the filet, which looked more like at flat iron rather than a filet minion, was sliced 1/4" thick. it was laid on top of a well reduced peppered sauce and surprisingly delicious. the dish came with shishito flavored mashed potatoes and frankly the dish would have been fine without it. the mashed potatoes were over whipped and flat. shishito is a pepper from japan. they roast, blend, and strain then fold into the mash. very similar to horseradish mashed potatoes or wasbi mashed potatoes. side note - this was when the food runner started bringing out dishes a few at a time and started calling them out. one of the girls ordered the famous koi dragon roll and literally waited 20 mins after we all got our hot dishes. i would understand if the restaurant was busy and the sushi chef had a lot of orders, but another girl ordered a different type of roll and she got hers before all of ours. not only that, but the sushi station was next to our table and both chefs we're standing around chit chatting. no sushi was being made! another no-no, we had to ask the food runner for drink refills and to find our server many times. that to me was unacceptable because the restaurant was coming to a bare. 
so between bad service and overcooked averaged food, i didn't have much of an appetite. i wish i would have taken pictures of the dishes but i simply forgot and was not planning on writing a review. but sitting here today, i just figure my readers would want to know my opinion on any restaurants i have dined. again, i had a fantastic night with friends, my year has already started off amazingly but i just wish the amount of money we spent for dinner was worth it. 
here is to an already amazing year :) xoxo