Gingergirl's Profile
Don't have time to bring meat to room temp
Your easiest solution is to just cook the meat an extra half-hour or so. If this were a different cut -- such as a prime rib or other roast that you'd want to cook to a perfect medium rare -- roasting from a "cold start" would make a difference in the tenderness. When a low and slow (covered) roast is prepared however, (especially something like brisket, pork shoulder or pot roast that is generously marbled), it needs to be cooked until the membranes break down and everything turns deliciously ooey-gooey. With a covered pot, enough liquid so that it is not roasting "dry," and an oven temp 325F or lower, even a frozen roast of this kind could be successfully prepared by just roasting a little longer -- until the meat is fork tender.
Where do you get your hamburger buns?
Also, if you want to build a bigger burger ;-D -- Vons/Pavillions also has delicious kaiser rolls which are great for any kind of sandwich. They are plain, or with poppy or sesame seeds. I think there are 6 to a bag for about $3.50. The rolls, as well as their "Farmstyle" bread, are the best-tasting supermarket label white sandwich breads I have found.
Really good bakery in the Valley
Great recommendation - I definitely agree and fourth Delicious. . . however, I believe that the cross-street is Nordhoff. :-D
Key Limes? Where?
Definitely Jon's. They have them year 'round. If the price were any lower, they'd be free. :-)
Where is the Best Rye Bread in town?
Before you drive a long distance, check with some local Ralph's grocery stores in your area -- some of them carry Diamond corn rye. You might also check with Diamond Bakery to se if they have a closer distribution (deli or grocery) near you. Happy St. Patty's and good eating!
Dining Tips On A Restrictive Diet [split from L.A. board]
Since there are none that we know of, we were only trying to help. Be kind now.
Dining Tips On A Restrictive Diet [split from L.A. board]
westsidegal --
You are absolutely right about many deli's and all processed meat. However, some deli's do roast their own fresh turkeys and sometime even have specified salt-free. There are many restaurants that prepare fresh beef roasts and, while not entirely salt-free, are much lower in sodium than any processed meat. I've seen packaged freshly roasted salt-free turkey in places like Whole Foods, Gelsons, and even in some grocery stores.
creamfinger -
I absolutely concur with goodhealthgourmet about calling the restaurant in advance and talking to a manager or chef. In the flurry of a harried mealtime, It's difficult, if not impossible, for a busy server to get the complete focused attention of an engrossed chef. Now, if you are dining at a high-end restaurant, that is probably not the case. Determining whether or not a menu item has a low salt content is much more complex than "I'm a vegetarian," or "Hold the dinner rolls." The fact remains that there is already so much salt in the prepared food additions in a restaurant kitchen that even requesting that "no salt be added" can result in getting a plate full of sodium. Virtually EVERYTHING on a regular menu is full of salt other than items that are prepared fresh to order. Even then, they can certainly leave the salt off of your freshly prepared (unmarinated) fish, but the mashed potatoes and vegetables will have already been pre-seasoned for the masses. Since there are no designated "salt-free restaurants" (with the possible exception of spa menus), we are trying to make suggestions that might help. While you seem to know most or all of the information which has been presented, you have really not-yet accepted the fact that you, yourself must do the research in advance so as not to be embarrassed or disappointed at your meal. I know how frustrating this issue is. My sodium intake is limited to 1,000 mg per day, so your allowance seems almost luxuriant to me. If you can find restaurants that allow you to dine out frequently, while maintaining your diet, please let the rest of us know. In the meantime, you may have to come to terms with cooking more and eating out less frequently.
Dining Tips On A Restrictive Diet [split from L.A. board]
Hi Creamfinger -- welcome to my world. Folks who don't have to monitor their sodium intake have no idea how much salt is automatically added to prepared foods -- in the supermarkets as well as restaurants. As a diabetic with multiple food limitations, salt is definitely one of them. With so much hypertension and heart disease in our nation, I am constantly (and sadly) aware of the lack of attention paid to this element in the food world. Instead of increasing the manufacturing of low-salt options in the marketplace, there has instead been a decrease. The reason is simple: salted food tastes good. Sales go down, and the manufacturer pulls the plug. Triscuit used to have a low sodium cracker buit no more. Trader Joe's had some salt free chips though all but one have been replaced by "low" instead of "no" salt. However, TJ's does sell various no/low sodium products.
As far as restaurants are concerned, any food that is NOT freshly prepared to order is usually on the "no" list. For instance, in Italian food, it's obvious that lasagna is out; however, any pasta dish made with a pre-cooked sauce is also a definite no-no as well as casseroles from any cuisine. Most Mexican food -- don't even ask. There are huge amounts of sodium hidden in cheese - including (would you believe), cottage cheese, soups (as you mentioned), chips, crackers, pickles, chilis, bread, salted butter, popcorn, condiments and sauces of almost every kind. Prepared tuna salad is usually loaded. Although low-sodium soy sauces are available in Asian restaurants, even those pack a whalloping amount of sodium. Gelson's sells a prepared no-salt chicken.
With few exceptions, I don't really know of any "designated" places that cater to us. It's all about checking with the restaurant beforehand to find out so that you're not disappointed at the table. Can they prepare your steak, poultry or fish without salt? Is there salt in your hamburger meat? Is there salt in your scrambled eggs? Can the soy sauce be omited from the stir-fry? Servorg's suggestion of Follow-Your-Heart is a good one because the wait staff is very knowledgeable about the menu ingredients, and they aim to please. There is a good Chinese restaurant at Ventura and Topanga called Super Wok that prides itself on preparing healthy foods. I'm pretty sure that a request for no salt or soy sauce would be honored. Deli's are good if their roast beef or turkey is unsalted.
The condiment thing is so difficult. Especially if you're a foodie. Sure, we can have the baked potato with sour cream and chives -- but is there salt in the butter? Have you ever had a potato without salt? Yuk. Morton makes a product called "Lite Salt" which is 1/2 salt and 1/2 salt substitute. You may want to carry some with you. Heinz makes a salt free ketchup. Ordering a salad is great if you don't mind eating it nekid -- unless you bring along your own dressing.
I don't mean to be a "bummer" about this -- I know you only asked for restaurant suggestions -- but until you've been doing this kind of diet for awhile, it's hard to realize how much salt is hidden in restaurant food. Start with places and foods that you already like and try to find out about the sodium content in their foods. Check the sodium content on every food product you buy -- including spices. Your limit of 2,000 mg can be achieved -- but not without search and discovery. Sadly, there is no easy answer or "place" to go. I rarely eat out anymore. It would be great if another chowhound can suggest restaurants for us. Take care of you. Good luck!
Best Chef Salad
Hands down, Brent's Deli -- Northridge and Westlake Village. Extremely generous portions - high quality meats and fresh vegetables. Dressings are homemade - get the blue cheese.
www.brentsdeli.com
HELP HOUNDS!!!! CHINESE IN THE VALLEY????
There is a small Chinese place at Ventura and Reseda that shares the same parking lot with Long's Drugs and Von's Market. Super Wok is family-style -- nothing fancy, but very clean and the food is better than good in most instances. They kind of bill themselves as a "healthy-style" restaurant (i.e. low fat, no MSG, brown rice upon request). The portions are large and the prices are incredibly low -- especially for lunch. It's mostly frequented by locals, and they're always busy. Two tables in a back room accomodate larger parties . . maybe 10-12 or so to each "lazy susan" table. Once, they merged several long tables in the dining room for a large family party of mine. Very nice people. If they are exceptionally busy, (they do take-out as well), it can get a little noisy, so suffice it to say that it's not exactly a recommendation for date night. Hope I won't regret this, but here's the site:
http://www.superwok.com/online/store.asp
Needed old school steakhouse in LA
The Dresden Room Restaurant
1760 N. Vermont Avenue
Hollywood
http://www.thedresden.com/index.html
Best seared ahi tuna in los angeles?
If you don't mind driving to Calabasas, Fin's Restaurant has terrific grilled ahi which is served at both lunch and dinner. It is listed as "Hawaiian style -- (encrusted with black peppercorns and sesame)" -- however, can be ordered grilled, plain. I would describe it exactly per your search for "perfectly seared ahi." Though usually generally served with rice, french fries are on the menu and the restaurant is extremely accomodating.
http://www.finsinc.com/
Brent's Deli/Northridge on Sundays
It's really hard to tell as the seating capacity at Brent's changes from minute to minute. I've never been there when it WASN'T busy, and the wait is usually 15-20 minutes. If there are huge numbers of hungry-looking humans :o{ standing outside when you drive into the paring lot, that might be a good indication to postpone your visit if time is of the essence.
99 cent stores with good produce/food in la?
Dunno about "over the hill," but there are two 99 cent stores in the SFV that often have more than a few nice produce items:
Chatsworth Street in Granada Hills
Ventura Boulevard - just West of Corbin Avenue
Places that feel like home...
Oh my . . . Anna's . . . I have not been there for 20 something years, so I can't comment on any recent visits. However, the best thing on the menu used to be a mixture of different seafood items, including shellfish, that was roasted at high heat for exactly the right amount of time in an oven-proof baking bag. Highly seasoned with fresh garlic, wine and herbs, it was brought to the table, (still in the bag), and ceremoniously punctured so the whole room was treated with an aroma so deliciously tantalizing that other diners would stop eating just to inhale the goodness and crane their heads around to see it's source. Served over pasta, it was the only thing I ever ordered and returned for time after time.
Slip Me Some Tongue (sandwich) Recc's
Actually Canter's has great tongue sandwiches as well.
Rye Bread
Many Ralph's markets now carry Diamond Bakery's challah and corn rye. Sorry, dunno if the Pasadena area is included in the distribution. Outerspace, thank you for one of the best laughs I've had today -- and the joke is on me! Last time I made some toast with a slice of TJ's corn rye, I remember thinking that it was BETTER than Diamond's. So much for my erstwhile semi-educated palate?
JONS market deli
I LOVE Jon's! Their eggs are the freshest I have found. Buy the jumbo's. The ethnic delicacies are fun to explore. It's a great place to get imported condiments and/or unusual spices. As far as the produce is concerned, it is generally underrated. For every "so-so" fruit or vegetable, there is a beautiful, fresh, unblemished one to be found in the next bin. It just takes an extra bit of time to shop. They have fresh herbs -- some way under a dollar! Tomatoes, peppers of all colors, shapes and sizes, 4-5 varieties of eggplant, ditto on the cukes, and, IMHO, have the widest and freshest variety of fruits and vegetables that can be had at such outrageously low prices (barring the occasional perfectly beautiful bag of fresh oranges sometimes found in 99 cent stores :o)). I just sliced two yellow bells for a salad today that were still sweet and crisp (with a firm green stem to boot) after three weeks in my refrigerator. I think that when some people see the prices, they think that the produce may be inferior (or of dubious origin). I don't know of another place in my neighborhood where you can buy 5 bunches of Italian parsley for $1 . . . or red, orange, and yellow peppers for 79 cents a pound . . . or celery for 70 cents . . . or 3 lbs, of tomatoes for $1. . .or the same price for 5 bunches of scallions . . . or lettuce and cabbage at 2 heads for $1. Twenty bucks will get you three or four hefty grocery bags full of mostly farm-fresh produce. I rest my case.
Jewish Corn Bread
I've also seen it at Jon's market at Winnetka and Roscoe. Generally, Jon's carries most of the same inventory in their other locations.
Jewish Corn Bread
Yo Sklarman - Having never heard of this bread, and I grew up in the Fairfax district, it piqued my interest enoough to do a bit of research. I found a few different recipes online; however, they all seemed to be the same recipe and, other than the use of a sourdough starter, as well as black caraway seeds ("chernushka"). the recipes are unremarkable. Then, I came across the below site which really does describe your comestible of choice. The bread recipe is a simple one, but the starter takes FOUR DAYS to prepare. Good things happen to those who wait? (Including Jewish Corn Bread?) If you feel adventurous, or if you can convince someone else to make it for you, check it out. As it turns out, the "secret" to getting the correct texture that you have described is the addition of already prepared rye bread to the dough. Enjoy.
http://breadnet.net/nyrye.html
tabachnik anyone?
Das Ubergeek - You have probably forgotten more about food and restaurants than I will ever learn, and I enjoy your posts. But I was curious enough to check the Tabachnick website and was surprised that they make over 30 soups -- and only three of them -- two chicken soups and one wild rice soup, all are vegetarian. The reason for my comment was that, years ago, I remember having their "seafood chowder" and noticed that the ingredients were veggie only.
tabachnik anyone?
Although packaged in "boiling bags" for 1 or 2 servings only, these soups are pretty good. If I remember correctly, I think that they are vegetarian. I have seen them in every major grocery store in L.A. Many people do not notice them, however, because they are usually found in the same section with other Jewish/Kosher-style items such as frozen Challah dough, Empire products, etc.
Holiday dinner for Hollywood production company--boss rejected initial suggestions, please help!
While I wouldn't consider it "trendy," these guys might really enjoy kicking back, having a "Moroccan Feast," and watching the belly dancers at Dar Maghreb. It's on Sunset Blvd., a few blocks east of Fairfax. I think that, if you can guarantee a minimum of 35 people, you can arrange for a private or semi-private room and also be eligible for a discount on the meal. It's a fun and unique place. Good luck.
http://www.darmaghrebrestaurant.com/client/darmaghreb/aboutus.htm
Affordable Yummy Birthday Cake?
Three Words:
NICOLOSI PASTRY SHOP!!!
17540 Ventura Blvd, Encino
(818) 789 0922
Open 9am to 6pm, Tuesday – Saturday, Sundays 10-4pm, Closed Mondays
"To die for mini cream-puff-topped birthday cakes." Also scrumptious canoli's. If you go, don't leave without getting one.
Sierra's Mexican in Canoga Park or Los Toros in Chatsworth or Casa De Carlos in Woodland Hills???
It's nice to see the seldom-if-ever mentioned Casa De Carlos discussed here. Would be my choice of the three -- though I prefer the one in Chatsworth near the N/W corner of Mason and Devonshire (behind Carrow's). Have never been disappointed for lunch or dinner. Staff is extremely courteous and accomodating. The fresh chips, salsa and bean dip are almost as intoxicating as the well-made margaritas. Servings are ample, well-prepared, and nicely-presented. According to host/owner Larry Ruiz, about half of the current listed menu items are still the same authentic Sonora-style recipes brought here by his father, (the original owner), from his native home in Pueblo, Mexico. They used to have a Friday all-you-can-eat brunch for $6.95, but I don't know if that's still the case. Take-out, catering, and private parties are also available.
Casa De Carlos Restaurant - Opened in 1961
22901 Ventura Blvd. (west of Fallbrook)
Woodland Hills CA 91364
(818) 225-8182
Casa de Carlos Restaurant - Opened in 1993
20549 Devonshire Street
Chatsworth, CA 91311
(818) 993-1534
LAST MEAL?
Second - ribeye from Mastros with a side of anything.
I lived right near Oki thru most of my 20's and 30's. First time I ever saw an Oki Dog being prepared, I almost got sick. BUT TO TASTE ONE - OMG! The sum total of all its off-the-wall ingredients somehow evolves into an incredible explosion of deliciousness at first bite. Of course, if you're not a goopy, greasy, "chili-dog aficionado," don't even think about it. Could I actually digest one today? Dunno - but I had to wipe some drool off the computer screen just thinking about it.
ns1 - Had many a great bkfast at Ship's -- but don't remember the scrambled eggs; however, from your description, sounds similar to a heavenly breakfast I had years ago in Oregon. The scrambled eggs were the best. After begging the chef, the "trick" I was told, is to use extremely fresh eggs and to add a small amount of dry pancake mix to whatever recipe is used. Who knew.
What is the best dip you ever had and the recipe?
Ridiculously Easy and Delicious Onion Dip:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced onions
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
In a saute pan over medium heat, add oil, onions and salt. Cook the onions until they are caramelized, at least 20 minutes or more (but important they do not burn). Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Mix the rest of the ingredients, and then add the cooled onions. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours. After chilling, stir, taste, and adjust seasonings prior to serving. Enjoy!
Brent's Deli Northridge - Best Ever
Yes, Diana, please do try again. I have arranged for many catered corporate lunches (sometimes, 3 times per week), from Brent's. I have never, ever heard a single complaint about any of their food. Langer's is in a unique and special category all by itself, where pastrami is concerned, so I wouldn't compare the two. Sadly, I do agree with brandygirl's opinion of the chicken soup. But I've never had a problem with anything else. My friends and family would never even think about catering a party from any other Deli. IMHO, they are efficient, the food is fresh and delicious, and they arrive on time -- meeting the exact specifications of the order. Personally, I have eaten at the restaurant more times than I can count and have never had anything even close to a "bad" meal or bad service. The restaurant is owned and managed by a close-knit family, (yes, there really is a "Brent"), and high quality of food and service is of utmost importance to them. I am not doubting your experience -- just puzzled by it. Maybe go there for breakfast or lunch (on a weekday if possible). If you do, please share your experience -- this inquiring mind would like to know.
Quiet West SFV Weekday Dinner
Gorikee it was! What a find. Delightfully delicious and innovative. I had the ribeye, two had the crispy chicken, and one (who knew she is a vegetarian), ordered the vegetable plate. We were able to have good conversation as well as an enjoyable dinner. Incidentally, the vegetable plate was unbelievably beautiful in its presentation and declared as "certified delectable" by its consumer. I did find some information on Menupix - albeit they have Gorikee classified as "Italian," and the menu is a bit outdated - though it gives someone who has not eaten there before somewhat of a feel of the place. Thanks again to all -- I now have so many more places to visit! Here's the Menupix link:
http://www.menupix.com/losangeles/restaurants.php?id=200934&c_id=38&method=%25&carea=&cname=&area=%25&neighborhood=236
