Halloween, Ziggy and Jervon

Well, if you are wondering why Ziggy looks a little different. I took him to be groomed yesterday. On a whim, I wondered what he would look like with his hair cut short. Well maybe that was a mistake as he took on a totally different look. I now wish for his hair to grow back. I still dressed him up in his Spiderman costume and all the Trick or Treaters loved him. Jervon was a pirate. How cute. He and Ziggy passed out candy all night. All Jervon could say was, poor Ziggy, Auntie Sylvie, please don't ever cut his hair so short. I learned my lesson though Ziggy doesn't seem to care. Happy Halloween.

WDB #7- Spiderman and Hating It

Ziggy has a Spiderman costume for Halloween. He absolutely hates it as you can see fron the look on his face. However, I know that as soon as the kids come by and shout "Trick or Treat" he will perk up and get happy.

Sweetnicks is hosting. Can't wait for the round-up.

L.A. Food Blogs

Rachael at Fresh Approach has compiled a listing of L.A. Food Blogs. Stop by and see what's hot in the L.A. food blog scene.

Philly Cheesesteak- Pat's King of Steaks

I spent the past weekend in Philadelphia visiting my daughter T. She just happens to be a vegetarian who found fault with everything I wanted to eat as I am a very proud meateater. Regardless, I did slip out one day to get what I call the original Philly Cheesesteak. Now there is a lot of controversy over who has the best cheesesteak, but by far, I tend to always migrate to Pat's.
I simply order the cheesesteak "wit" whiz to indicate only onions, steak and cheesewhiz. No veggies for me which would include bell peppers or for an additional charge lettuce and tomatoes.
One of the things Philadelphia is known for is brotherly love. However, you won't find any love at Pat's. Order wrong and they will make you feel like 2 cents. I knew this previously or else I would have just walked away after the comment "Big Boy" behind the cash register made when I didn't know how to word what I wanted to order.
Yes, artery clogging goodness.
Right across the street from Pat's is Geno's Cheesesteak. Equally renowned and loved. I previously ate here but not this visit. I remember their cheesesteaks to be a bit more fatty (like whose counting calories when you order these things anyway) I thought maybe I would order one to eat later on the airlines but cold, soggy cheesesteak just didn't stimulate my appetite.
So I just drove by Geno's and headed to the airport to return my rental car and head back to L.A.

Decorated Sugar Cookies For Halloween 2005

Decorating sugar cookies is one of my passions. The only problem I have is in not having a reason to bake them. This year I started early. I also tried something a little different in addition to using royal icing in that I tried using rolled fondant as a base for the ghost, moon and autumn leaf. Cutting the fondant with the same cookie cutter as the baked cookie resulted in an even and smooth cookie. I then used royal icing to finish the decorations. Recipes for these cookies and the royal icing can be found at Food Got To Love It.
Happy Face
Pumpkins
Crescent Moon
Spider Webs
Autumn Leaves
More Spider Webs

WDB #5 Ziggy Planning His Escape

Sweetnicks is hosting another Weekend Dog Blogging event and we are at #5.

Ziggy knows when I am getting ready to leave him to go to work. I can't leave him to roam all over the house when I'm gone because he has this destructive side. It's as if he is trying to let me know how hurt he is for not taking him with me. Hugs, kisses and lots of attention don't help. So, I put up a gate to limit his access. Before I get the gates up, he typically perches himself on the stairs trying to plan his escape from lockup. Always after some pretty funny chase scenes, I win. Once I return home from work, he is there to greet me and lavish me with doggy love and attention.

Seafood Dinner for Two, Three or Four

Now I know many of you have gone to Costco and decided that the seafood kiosk can't be resisted. Well, G and I don't do this very often, but we just didn't have a taste for anything else. Of course for two people we bought too much food but that's better for next days leftovers.

Our purchases included a 4 pounds salmon minus head and tail, one pound jumbo shrimp, one pound large (giant) scallops and gobs of mussels (I didn't count, but the package had to have at least 6 dozen or more). To go with this we included fresh asparagus, romaine heart caesar salad with homemade croutons and freshly grated parmesan cheese, and to pull it all together, a paella type rice dish with stewed tomatoes and crusty La Brea bakery sourdough bread.

It was very easy to put this dinner together. The most demanding prep was the rice. I didn't want to overcook the shrimp and scallops so I just poached them in the cooking liquid for the rice and then removed them until serving time. The cooking liquid was chicken broth seasoned with salt, pepper, minced garlic, diced onion, paprika and one cayenne pepper. They were perfect. Midway through we realized we needed to invite some friends over to help us eat it. Luckily we had help eating this one.

I used Jasmine rice (12 ounces) which was added to the cooking liquid used to poach the shrimp and scallops. Just remember to not open the lid on the rice for at least 25 minutes to assure perfectly cooked rice. Rule of thumb (or finger), the cooking liquid should measure about an inch above the rice. I leaned this from a coworker (Deanna) years ago and I still use this meaure. I did not rinse the rice and from the photo you can see it was still fluffy.

The crusty bread came in handy to dip in the mussel juice, yum what a buttery, garlicky delight! I also used the sourdough bread for the croutons. Melted butter and olive oil with minced garlic, parsley and salt to saute the cubes of bread until golden brown and crisp.

Asparagus simply steamed with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice.

We got to do this again sometime soon.
Shrimp and Scallops
Steamed Mussels in chicken broth with garlic and butter
Paella style rice with stewed tomatoes and paprika
Asparagus
Salmon stuffed with freh herbs (rosemary, oregano and thyme)
Romaine Heart Salad with Croutons and freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.

Drying Cayenne Peppers From My Garden

Cayenne Peppers One of my most productive pepper plants this summer is the cayenne. In order to enjoy these all year round, I am drying them out. Simple proces to just lay them out so there is ample airflow and leave them alone. During the process, the green fresh chiles turn a vibrant wholesome red. Hot? yes they are, but compared to my habaneros, they are quite mild.

Weekend Dog Blogging #4

Another weekend highlighting our best friends. Sweetnicks is hosting another Weekend Dog Blogging Event.

Ziggy's favorite pastime is taking a little nap while I'm blogging.

While I'm on the net and not paying any attention to him, he quietly lays on the chair and sleeps away the boredom.

Ribs, Beans and Greens- Yum!

While cleaning out my freezer, I came across two slabs of baby back ribs left from one of our backyard BBQs. I decided that was dinner. I smoked them in my gas grill using indirect heat with hickory wood. After grilling over a low heat for a couple of hours, I used a hoisin sauce to glaze, overed them in aluminum foil with some chicken broth (1/4 cup) and allowed them to steam a bit in the grill.

The greens are my standard except this time I used a ham bone I also found in the back of the freezer.

For the red beans I used a quick soak method. That is I soaked 1 cup dry red beans in warm water for about 3 hours. I tossed the soaking water and added about 2 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup diced onion and a diced red serrano pepper with the beans to a sauce pot. This I slow cooked for about 3 hours until the beans were soft.

Dinner was served.

WDB #3 Roundup Posted

Check out all the cute doggies at Sweetnicks. Thanks also for hosting this event. Ziggy can't wait for the next weekend posts.

Weekend Dog blogging (WDB) "Peak-A -Boo"

Weekend Dog Blogging is hosted by Sweetnicks. Ziggy loves going outdoors as long as it is the front yard. Not sure why in that the backyard has less restrictions for him. Romping through the flower beds is his game of choice. Yes Ziggy, I see you.

The Second Really Big Cook-Off

Braised Short Ribs With a Celery Duo

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine With Celery Duo

Rachel at Fresh Approach is hosting the second edition of thie event. The object was to complete her selected recipe and post about your experience.

I found boneless short ribs at Costco for $2.99 lb. They weren't too fatty and looked pretty nice. The 4 pound package cost me about $12.00. I went to my local grocery store for the vegetables (celery, celery root, leeks, turnips and shallots). My garden provided the thyme, parsley and tomato to make tomato paste. For the red wine, I used Yellowtail Shiraz.

Though this recipe has many parts, it is basically easy to make though it takes quite a bit of time when you include vegetable prep, browning the meat, brasing the ribs, sauce reduction and straining and puree of the celery root and potatoes. I was on my feet for a few hours.

I chose not to use the carrots not because I thought they would or would not offer anything to the recipe, but simply because I forgot to buy them. What I found interesting is that the recipe suggested that the turnips and carrots should be discarded. I myself like turnips and in that they didn't get mushy, I chose to serve them with the short ribs. I added whole green onions to this prep also.

The highlight of this recipe was the pan juices reduced until thickened, then strained to make a very tasty, rich dark sauce.

My husband loved it but thought I spent too much time in the prep. I would make it again minus the celery duo. The braised short ribs could be made prior to a dinner party, warmed and served allowing the hostess to spend time with the guests. The celery root puree was nice, but plain mashed potatoes would have been fine. The sauce reduction flavors the puree and may overpower the celery root anyway..

I served my rendition with the short ribs placed on top of the celery root puree, sauce around the sides and including the turnips. This is a heavy meal so autumn and winter are great times to serve.

Johnny Reb's Southern Roadhouse

Every week G and I go out on a "date" together. It's a way to make sure we don't become housebound and gives us the opportunity to enjoy each others company outside of home. Saturday we decided on dinner and a movie. I had a taste for either BBQ or fried chicken. We recently dined at Aunt Kizzy's and didn't want to go back there so soon. We then decided that Johnny Reb's Roadhouse would suit our fancy.

It is located in what I call downtown Bellflower. A quaint street where over the weekends they may block off the street and hold street fairs, exhibits, harvest festivals and on and on. The Roadhouse is decorated with old license plates from southern states, country kitchen items, and a bathroom with the sounds of an outhouse and peanuts you eat and throw the shells on the floor.

The menu includes a number of BBQ items from sausage to chicken, beef or pork ribs, pulled pork and brisket. All smoked. You can also get hamburgers, chicken fried steak covered in gravy, fried catfish, fried chicken and even hamburgers. The fried chicken is cooked when you order it so they warn you the wait will be 20 minutes.

I was quite hungry when we arrived so I opted for the BBQ pork ribs with a side of both North Carolina style BBQ sauce and regular BBQ sauce. G went for the fried catfish. My sides included french fries and collard greens with a large biscuit. I could have had hush puppies or cornbread. G's sides were fried sweet potatoes and coleslaw with hush puppies.

A half rack of the ribs equals 6 ribs. They were very meaty and had a nice smoky flavor. I had to admit they were better than the ribs I had at Aunt Kizzy's but not as good as the ribs at JR's BBQ in Culver City. G's described his catfish as good but not necessarily the best he has had.


The waitress was very attentive and friendly. She received a very nice tip.

After dinner we went to a movie-my choice. I have been wanting to see the "40 Year Old Virgin" for a few weeks. Not G's first choice. It was hilarious. I laughed through the whole movie. I also noticed that G was also laughing pretty hard. This has got to be the funniest movie I have seen a number of years. I really enjoyed it.

WDB #2- Ziggy's Favorite Toy

We are in again for this weekend's dog blogging event. Watch for the roundup at Sweetnicks.

Ziggy and his favorite toy, an "Empty Water Bottle". He can spend hours chasing that bottle all over the house. Cheap thrills.

Fogo de Chao in Beverly Hills

Just imagine being able to go to an upscale restaurant and eat all you can eat of succulent, savory, perfectly seasoned rare, medium rare or done cuts of meat. Not just some rib roast, I'm talking filet mignon, top sirloin, lamb chops, roasted lamb, linguica, chicken wrapped in bacon, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, beef ribs, pork ribs, noble sirloin, bottom sirloin, pork loin and chicken drummettes. All seasoned with sea salt, some with garlic and roasted on a state of the art rotisserie.

Well let me tell you about Fogo de Chao in Beverly Hills, California. Located on Restaurant Roll, that is La Cienega Blvd. Since their opening in March 2005, there has been nothing but great reviews. In the US there are locations in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Chicago with one slated to open in Washington DC soon. Brazil is home to four other locations. Did I give something away?

Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian Churrascaria which translates to "All You Can Eat BBQ". This truly unique dining experience is touted to bring back the steakhouse experience of Southern Brazil.

I had read a number of positive reviews about this restaurant. In addition, some friends also told us about the adventure. So Saturday, G and I decided to make reservations. We were able to get one for 6:30pm. Fine with me. If I'm going to eat that much meat, I'd better allow time before going to bed. We drive up to Fogo de Chao which is next door to The Stinking Rose and across the street from Lawry's Prime Rib. What competition!

The building was renovated at a price of nearly 8 million dollars with 2 million of that invested in the kitchen alone. We valet park and walk in to be greeted by a very friendly young lady who verified our reservation. We are escorted to our table and the show begins.

The waiter comes to explain the dinning adventure we are about to embark. He describes the very well and diversely stocked salad bar, the prixe fixe price of the meal, the fact that gaucho dressed servers will be coming to our table to slice piece after piece of meat onto our plates until we tell them to stop by turning over a coaster sized disk to indicate stop/pause or go. Our dinner is served with mashed potatoes topped with cheese, whole fried bananas and fried polenta rectangles. We order a bottle wine which I found it to be quite expensive but that's ok. We opted for glasses of water versus bottled. Vegetarians do not be dismayed. You can select the vegetarian menu which is the sald bar and sides, no meat at a reduced prixe fixe price.

We headed for the salad bar. It was very hard to resist filling our plates with the many choices available. Smoked Salmon, proscuito, soft and hard cheese, dried tomatoes, large asparagus spears, hearts of palm, potato salad, mozzarella balls, spinach, romaine, croutons, select premium EVO, beets, fruits and on and on. All presented very well and never allowed to run out. I exerted will power and limited my choices so I could pig out on the meat- carnivore that I am.

G and I headed back to the table. Our wine was poured and we were ready. The mashed potatoes, polenta and fried bananas were delivered to the table. A basket of bread was also placed for our enjoyment. Airy, buttery with a strange consistency which I can't describe but tasty. After finishing our salads, we turn our coasters to "go".

Immediately a gaucho dressed server arrives with a skewer of meat. It's filet mignon and I select medium rare. G also goes for it. Next we are served top sirloin where the server slices the meat and we use tongs to assist placement on our plates. The servers were very attentive. If they didn't have the doneness you preferred, they immediately found a server who did. We pause and then go again. After tasting only half the selections, I slow down but I do not stop. This is pure gluttony but I'm loving it. I did taste nearly all the selections. G comments that it's amazing, we are turning down perfectly cooked slices of prime meat- filet mignon. G sees a platter displayed by a server at another table. He places his coaster on "go" and is presented with the most tender and tasty piece of beef ribs. He finds room to take on one more slice. I nibble a small piece of G's. We are both finished.

We did eat a limited amount of the fried bananas and polenta which was great. The mashed potatoes were ok. There was nothing that I didn't like. Will we go back again? Yes in deed. It can't be a weekly thing for at $48.50 per person it can get pretty steep when you also consider the wine. We were out of there including tip at $210.00 for two.

Weekend Dog Blogging Event (WDB)

Sweetnick is hosting the first "Weekend Dog Blogging" (WDB) event. This is a spin-off of the "Weekend Cat Blogging" (WCB)event sponsored by Clare at Eat Stuff.

I jump at any excuse to post pictures of my Ziggy. He is a 1.5 year old fiesty and very friendly male Yorkie. He loves taking morning walks with me, hates getting groomed, chews up anything left unattended (i.e. remote controls, shoes), loves cuddling with me in a chair, loves road trips and hates being alone. His next favorite spot to my lap is to lay on the pillows in the bedroom window seat where he can watch everthing going on outside. While acting as a guard dog, he barks to alert me that someone is walking down the street and he goes nuts when there is also another dog out there.

Needless to say, I love my Ziggy.

Paper Chef #10 Roundup Is In- "At Last"

Owen of Tomatilla has been very busy doing good things for Hurricane Katrina victims. However, he did find time to get the roundup for the New Orleans Edition of Paper Chef.

Kevin at Seriously Good announces the winners of this paper chef.

Food 911 Dandy Doughnuts, Tyler and Me

If you happen to be free Thursday, September 15th at 3PM (ET/PT), check out the rerun of a Food 911 show I did with Tyler Florence, Dandy Doughnuts. I posted a lengthy blog on the experience at my other site, Food Got to love It.

It was taped in 2001, but seems timeless to me.

Return To Bayou Grill- Inglewood, CA

Fried Oysters and Shrimp with Hush Puppies and French Fries


New Orleans, the food, the people, the culture.

I had the opportunity to visit New Orleans a number of times with the most recent visit about 2 years ago. A number of these visits were to attend a major pharmacy association convention. I spent my days in the infamous convention center soaking in the latest information- continuing education, while my evenings and nights were spent somewhere in or near the French Quarter. I remember one night sitting at the oyster bar at Acme Oyster House. They had a video cam which I unknowingly sat in front of. One of the shuckers pointed to the camera and then to me as he expalined that I was being seen on the internet. I called G in L.A. and told him to sign on. As I spoke with him a less than perfect view of me eating raw oysters appeared. What a city.

Breakfast at Mother's, beignets at Cafe Du Monde, pralines, po'boys, bananas foster, gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, crawfish, etc.

A visit to Bayou Grill will have to satisfy my desire for authentic New Orleans cuisine.