empfam's Profile
Maybe I should just eat buckwheat and tofu- New Food Allergies
When I found out that my daughter had allergies, I went back to basics - roast chicken, pot roasts, etc., and then worked from there. I seem to use Mark Bittman's cookbook quite a bit mostly because he'll start with a basic recipe, and then offer other good alternatives.
Quinoa is an excellent starch alternative that is gluten-free.
We've changed over to soy milk, though these days you can also try almond milk, hemp milk and see what works best for you. Instead of butter, we use Earth Balance spread, though there is a Fleischman's vegan margarine (look at the labels carefully because there's a non-vegan version too) that can be used in recipes.
Try tamari instead of soy sauce. There are also asian noodles made from other starches (not rice and not wheat-based). I've used the chinese ones from mung beans, but I think there are similar kinds of noodles made from other foods that are japanese and korean. They work well in soups and like a stir-fried chow main style dish.
Need delicious green smoothie recipe
We do this all the time at home:
1 banana
1 cup yogurt
2 cups frozen mango chunks
1 cup spinach
1 cup apple juice (or pineapple juice)
My extremely picky kids drink this all the time, so I think this fits your 1st requirement.
Chinese for Mom's Birthday in SGV?
It needs to be seriously authentic and my parents are not cantonese. I seem to remember the last place they made a big deal about taking us to was a restaurant specializing in a border cuisine between two provinces of China I'd never heard of.
Chinese for Mom's Birthday in SGV?
Gotta plan a small dinner (like 10-15 people) for mom's birthday. She's very discriminating about her chinese food, and lives in Arcadia, so anywhere in SGV is fine. Any suggestions?
Laguna Beach Help Please - Restaurants & Mexican
There's a second La Sirena Grill in the Albertson's shopping center across the street from the Montage if you don't want to deal with the traffic/parking in the 'downtown' area where the Mermaid St location is. La Sirena is really good, but many of their dishes are SPICY; ask before ordering anything for the kids.
For basic & cheap mexican take out, there's Laguna Feast on Glenneyre; nothing fancy, but the prices are good. I think a 2 item combo with rice and beans runs about $6 or maybe $6.50. My contractor went there just about every day when he and his guys worked on my house.
Olamendi's just seemed a little worn and dated to me; I felt the food on par with going to Acapulco's.
I think the quality of food at Las Brisas is really uneven; I've had a couple of very good meals there, but on my last visit, the drinks were okay, the food was not.
The food & margaritas at Javier's are excellent. Javier's at Crystal Cove is totally a scene, pretty loud, snooty hostesses. The bigger problem is the wait; on most nights, the wait is well over an hour, and on some nights as bad as three hours & they don't take reservations for parties less than 6. Try what you'd think is a slow night & show up no later than 6 pm. Good for people watching and telling your friends from Chicago what the scenesters from the 'OC' look like. Not a place I'd take kids to. Alternatively, there is a Javier's at Irvine Spectrum, but I haven't tried that one out.
Good non-Mexican places are...
Sun Dried Tomato on Forest Ave. took kids at lunch; not a problem.
Zinc Cafe for breakfast; nice patio seating. kid-friendly. Madison Square is also good for breakfast/lunch, and kid-friendly. nice garden atmosphere, lots of things for the kids to look at.
Mozambique has great food, but the atmosphere in the upstairs bar is more fun than the downstairs 'formal' seating area with exactly the same menu. not really for kids.
Bluefin is the best (& priciest) place for sushi. Lots of my friends like San Shi Go as well, but Bluefin is better. San Shi Go has a larger non-sushi menu, and is slightly more kid-friendly. I took my 4 month son with me to a lunch at Bluefin (at that point, he was pretty quiet as he slept through the entire meal); and while the staff was reasonably nice about it, I received frosty stares from the other diners.
I've had a lot of recommendations from my neighbors for Tabu Grill, but I just haven't had a chance to try it out yet. not for kids.
and finally, alternative opinions on some of the other recommendations...
I thought Sapphire was good, they an intriguing menu, but the result was not memorable enough to justify their prices.
I also have to disagree about Beachcomber Cafe. The location is unbeatable (it's right on the beach!) once you figure out that you have to park across the street and take the shuttle to the state park. However, I had the worst breakfast there ever; their beignets are awful little hockey pucks, and I had some sort of deconstructed omelette where all the vegetables were coated in grease. We had a party of twelve people for breakfast last fall, and there was a lot of food left behind on that table at the end of the meal because it just wasn't good.
Unfortunately, the places that are the best place to take kids in town are mostly chains or have food that's not necessarily CH-worthy: z pizza (which is frankly not the best pizza in the world, but it'll do & we've had them deliver our pizza right on the beach-they don't deliver for lunch but we've had pizza parties on the beach for dinner well before sunset), Ruby's (for breakfast or burgers), and Wahoo's.
What's the deal with China Garden in OC?
I agree. Not a fan of China Garden. Everything felt greasy and the food was really not good. There was nothing in the dim sum offerings that was worth a second visit.
Crystal Jade is much better; as far as I can tell, they cook the dim sum to order so it's totally fresh. It has a much more south orange county feel, without completely pandering to Americanized chinese menus (no egg foo young as far as I can tell)...
NIU ROU SHAO BING
I don't think I've ever had a shao bing that wasn't dry. It's just how the bread is. I think Yi Mei makes it with the chopped up pickled mustard/preserved vegetable in it as well, and it's really good. I know I've bought it other places without the pickled mustard, and it makes a big difference.
FUN Family Bday in OC
I know this is a chain, but not only is the food really good, I was really surprised by how friendly the staff at Roy's at Fashion Island was to my son. When I made the reservation, I told them I was bringing a 2 year old. They pretty much bring a special appetizer for the kids very quickly after you sit down, I think it's like apples, carrots and a quesadilla. There is a special kids menu with that features real food, not the usual chicken nugget/hot dog fare, and I think they bring out a special dessert at the end just for the kids. My son had the boneless short ribs and loved it. Unfortunately, the dinner service IS a bit long, so my son was ready to bug out before dessert arrived. The other nice thing (if you get there before the stores close) is that there is a carousel and koi pond in Fashion Island that kids love. There is also a Barnes & Noble with a good size kids section across the parking lot from Roy's, if someone has to take the 2 year old out of the restaurant.
Impressive Dinner Near LAX?
If atmosphere is important, then please don't go to 3 Flames! If I recall correctly, the neighborhood is really shabby, the restaurant itself is kind of a dive, and I think there is a live chicken place nearby. I also wouldn't call it great food; it's a local place where you can get your fix for mongolian bbq and that's about it.
Where can I find piri piri sauce?
This may be a little out of your way, but there's a restaurant in Laguna Beach called Mozambique that specializes in food with peri peri sauce. They also sell their product on the web.
http://www.mozambiqueoc.com/
Private party for 100 in Dana Point
Up the road (pretty sure within 10 miles) in Laguna Beach are two places that I've been to recently for 100+ people events: Mozambique and the rooftop at the Casa del Camino. Both were very good.
To be honest with you, we had passed hors d'oeuvres at both events, but I'm pretty sure they have sit down or buffet available.
Irvine/NB "fake" Chinese food -- where?
don't know about Lucky Chinese, but what about Pei Wei over at Bison & MacArthur? I think that's pretty fake chinese, but more like a lower end PF Chang's.
Somewhere between Santa Monica & Redondo
It IS Southern California, so even though they're 'close', expect that going to Cafe del Rey or Manhattan Beach Blvd will take you about 20 minutes once you get out of the airport proper. Rush hour traffic can feel kind of dicey, but it's not awful because it's a pretty short distance.
Still, if you're feeling the time crunch, try Chef Hannes in El Segundo. However, you will not see a beach, it has the feel of a small midwestern town (it has a Main Street and everything). It's a 5 minute drive from the airport.
Somewhere between Santa Monica & Redondo
I used to live in the South Bay, before moving to Laguna, so I think I have a fairly good perspective.
Manhattan Beach pier is pretty good; in general, the area is not as touristy as Laguna Beach can be. Many of the restaurants are quality-wise similar to Sun Dried Tomato Cafe or Tabu Grill. I'm sure the other posters' recommendations are good. Good walking around the MB pier, and the Strand (just make sure you don't get run over by bicycles). Avoid beach route that passes by the Hyperion sewage treatment plant and Chevron refinery going south from LAX, though. It's not pretty & on a bad day, the smell will kill whatever appetite you may have. Take Sepulveda to Manhattan Beach Blvd instead.
Houston's in Manhattan Beach is nowhere near the beach. Not that it's a big deal, but you'd have to drive to the beach afterwards instead of taking a nice leisurely walk at the beach/pier. And, it's wait is very similar to Houston's Irvine. Get there at the wrong time and you will wait an hour.
Cafe del Rey has excellent food, and a good view of the marina. When I worked up there, we went there for business lunches & dinners a lot. Nice if you like looking at boats in the marina. Other restaurants in the Marina del Rey area by the water are not very good.
Non-prepackaged bulk bin spices in OC?
Farm to Market in San Juan Capistrano does as well.
good ethnic food from LAX to Orange County
head south down the 405 (about 15 minutes when there's no traffic) and you will find a large number of excellent japanese noodle places in the south bay. i really like sanuki no sato for their udon & soba, but i think the local expert on ramen is really into santouku (check out his posts & website under 'rameniac'), which i think is located at the mitsuwa market. shin sen gumi is a lot of fun and tasty too.
if you like peruvian food, there's a local chain in the south bay called El Pollo Inka. several locations, the pollo saltado is really good. depending on location, atmosphere is anywhere from nonexistent to weirdly tacky (think incan temple murals done in blacklight paint),
check out other posts for what's good in westminster (vietnamese food, pho and banh mi are usually discussed quite often).
chinese food between LAX and Orange County is not as good as what's in SGV, so if you're looking for something as memorable as din tai fung, you're probably not going to find it.
for mexican, i tend to go to dive-y mexican takeout places, so i'm probably not much help there.
Opinions on Sam Woo's
to be honest, I was just wondering how it is that they exist, considering the quality of chinese restaurants around here (even in Orange County!). also, i wanted to see if anyone would actually rave about it, and if so, why.
Opinions on Sam Woo's
I was just reading the 61 rating thread on Sam Woo's (not a big surprise, Chinese restaurants don't rate very well in general). But, they've been around forever, and yet we never go there. I've never heard any chinese person recommend them, either. Considering the breadth & depth of chinese restaurants in Southern California, how does Sam Woo's rate & what's good about them?
Nice lunch in Laguna Beach
Sadly, Sundried Tomato is about 2 blocks away from the beach with no ocean view to speak of at all. It's in the middle of the 'downtown' area where there are clothing boutiques, art galleries & surf shops. Good sandwiches & salads though. I had lunch there with two friends last week.
Jessica Seinfeld & Deceptively Delicious
Okay, just for grins, I'm going to take the devil's advocate position. Is it entirely possible that both authors have benefitted from Jessica Seinfeld's celebrity status? I just looked up both books on amazon. Deceptively Delicious is published by HarperCollins. The Sneaky Chef by Running Press, and it probably doesn't have the reach of HarperCollins and Missy may never had had this kind of publicity if Jessica didn't publish her version. So, instead of just blindly buying DD, now folks are aware of Sneaky Chef and can decide which of the two they prefer on their own merits. n fact, if you search for DD on amazon, the other one pops right up as well under the search results. There are a lot of narrowly focused books written by non-celebrities that get rejected by publishers all the time, and lots of books published by big & small publishing houses that never get enough PR to ever see the light of day.
I'm just glad I get a choice this time.
Michael Pollan - In Defense of Food
It's interesting that Costco even carried Pollan's book, considering how he wrote about food gets to your table in TOD & how it's (paraphrased badly by me here) totally over-industrialized & scary from a public health standpoint (the whole process, not just Costco though Costco probably had to pull bagged spinach off the shelves in the last e.coli scare like everyone else) & environmental standpoint (how many miles did that package of grapes travel to get to your local store in January?). It certainly doesn't put stores like Costco in a good light when it comes to buying food. I found it to be a fascinating read. I'm looking forward to reading IDOF.
Lastly, I found that Pollan does an excellent job with looking at the overall picture & that the interviews & news stories covering his books tend to magnify certain points that he makes along the way while ignoring quite a few others. For example with TOD, some mainstream media really got into the whole high fructose corn syrup thing, but didn't necessarily talk about how much oil is used the in the process of producing & transporting food which he also touched upon. So, yeah, it's totally worthwhile to read the book. There's no way to get the subtleties of Pollan's arguments by reading the condensed version, though they are a good hook to get you to go buy or borrow his book in the first place. Just consider the irony when someone puts the book in their shopping cart along with that mega-sized bottle of multivitamins from Costco.
Ocean/water front with deck/patio between Malibu & Laguna
Yes, the rooftop deck at Casa del Camino is very cool, but someone just told me that they saw them demolishing the rooftop (maybe for a remodel?). I totally got this secondhand, I haven't had a chance to drive by since I heard about it Wednesday night, so you may want to call first to see if it's open. If it is, it's definitely got that cool, relaxed vibe.
LAUSD Coffee Cake [split from LA]
I remember the LA Times printing a sour cream coffee cake that they attributed to LAUSD, but they also printed a long long time ago something called Los Angeles City Schools Old-Fashioned Crumb Cake. It's different from the OPs recipe.
I did a search on LA Times & it didn't come up (my clipping is pretty old), so I'm going to assume that we won't run into recipe copyright issues here:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 C oil
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
Combine flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, nutmeg and oil. Remove 1/2 cup of mixture from bowl, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and set aside for topping.
Combine remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, baking soda, egg and buttermilk and blend well. Add to flour mixture. Do not over-mix.
Spoon batter into greased 13x9 baking pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup reserved topping. Bake at 375 degrees 30 to 40 minutes.
I've made this recipe countless number of times over the years, and have always gotten rave reviews. I tend to double the topping to 1 cup & 2 tsp of cinnamon & it doesn't seem to affect the cake part of it. I would also say that in a 13x9 pan, it seems a little thinner than the coffee cake I used to buy from my high school, so I'd do this in a 9x9 pan instead. It's a tad easier than the other recipes here (no nuts, no dry milk, no sour cream, no cake flour, etc). The most 'exotic' ingredient is buttermilk, which sometimes I replace with 1 cup of milk + 1 tbl. vinegar without a big change in taste.
Is the Keurig supposed to be THIS loud?
Wow. I have to say there are a lot of interesting responses, some of which aren't exactly what I was looking for but everyone is totally entitled to their own opinion.
As a follow up, I solved the rattling cup problem. I moved it to a different counter and it stopped. My counters are made of this cool looking, but totally uneven italian tile. The Keurig customer service rep suggested putting something underneath to dampen the noise, and it did help. So, apparently, I did not have a bum unit, just bad acoustics & apparently funky countertops.
I really like my Keurig. I only drink one cup of coffee a day (and I'm the only one in the house that drinks coffee), so the convenience of the Keurig is fantastic. I have tried out several different K-cups and find that some are definitely better than others, generally the dark roasts are the best, though a few taste a little burnt. I do have that special filter that lets me use me use beans that I grind myself, but in the morning when I'm chasing my toddler around, I really don't want to bother. In my pre-baby life, I probably would have been more apt to search out the absolute best of the best, but now I am willing to pick out the best out of choices that also happen to be convenient for that first & only cup of coffee in the morning. That means not hassling with cleaning up my french press, not driving to Peet's every day, not driving up to LA to go to the coffeehouse with the Clover machine, and not flying to Japan for coffee out of a halogen-powered siphon bar....but maybe one day....
Help with our "Chinese" feast
Instead of soba noodles, how about cold sesame peanut noodles? (If you do a search on 'peanut noodles' here, you'll get some pretty good posts. I think my mom's version is a mixture of sesame paste, peanut butter & red chili flakes in the sauce.
alternatively, our family does sort of a stir fried rice noodle dish for big parties. It's got shredded pork, chinese mushrooms & celery. It can be cooked ahead and reheated in the oven. the rice noodles are a lighter texture than chow mein.
for dessert, i could see why thematically you'd go with citrus...how many chinese dinners end up with sliced oranges?! In general, chinese dishes tend to be greasy or have pretty strong sauces, so ending the meal with something in the citrus family helps round out the meal & cleanse the palate a bit. on the other hand, if you're into pastry, what about some sort of mini custard tarts (kind of a take off on the egg custard tarts you can get for dim sum?) or, if it's just too much to deal with, there's always red bean ice cream or green tea ice cream.
Is the Keurig supposed to be THIS loud?
I just got a Keurig as a delayed Christmas present, and was pretty psyched about it until I plugged it in. My two year old son covered his ears and said "Loud, Mommy!" It's like having an air compressor for a nail gun inside my kitchen. I also have to hold the coffee cup in place or it literally rattles off the base. Did I just get a bum unit?
Kafir Lime Leaves
Try the Ranch 99 over on Artesia Blvd just west of where the 91 fwy ends. They usually sell them in the fresh produce section next to all of the hot chile peppers in little foam trays wrapped with plastic wrap.
Peanut Butter Cookies with a kick
I've been making a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie for years that everyone seems to love. I have used Valrhona 72% dark which comes out great, but in a pinch I use the Ghiradellis chocolate chips from Trader Joe's.
The recipe is from the martha stewart website:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/best-peanut-butter-chocolate-chunk-cookies?autonomy_kw=peanut%20butter%20chocolate%20chip&rsc=header_6
Beachcomber Cafe in Crystal Cove, Laguna
Wow! I had the same experience for breakfast a couple of months ago. The beignets were dry, hard & tasted weird, corned beef hash was unmemorable, and the egg white frittata was a mess, essentially fried egg whites on top of greasy cooked vegetables under a blanket of cheese.
Any good food AT LAX?
The airport is separated into 7 or 8 separate terminals that serve different airlines, most of which serve passable food, but mostly stuff that's not worth writing about. Eating there would not be my first choice, and a lot would depend on what terminal she's going to be in. At the center of the entire LAX complex is the Encounter restaurant that the other posters have already mentioned.
If she's not going to rent a car for her 14 hour layover, then I'd suggest taking a cab to some local areas, but that may depend on how much luggage she has to carry around with her. She can be at the beach within 20 minutes by cab - South to Manhattan Beach near the Manhattan Beach pier, or North to Venice Beach or even Santa Monica though it's a little further north than Venice. In Santa Monica, 3rd Street is probably your best bet & their Saturday morning Farmer's Market is one of the biggest & coolest in the area. All have great places to eat & people watch. Of all three places, Venice Beach has the funkiest vibe. Getting a cab at the airport is not hard - getting a cab back to the airport may require a little more work. Best thing to do is to call a local cab company about 30 minutes before she plans to go back to the airport & arrange a pickup - any of the local restaurants should be able to provide a phone number to call.
