Ly's World: Homemade Thoughts and Reviews

Hey Extras!

Are you excited about a new review?  Well here we go!

My guests for the evening were Trevor, Dan and Jessica.

Wild Mountain Cafe.  Has anyone heard of this place before?  I sure hadn’t and I have probably driven passed this place hundreds of times.  It is not off the beaten path, no.  Actually, it is located on a very busy street near a very busy intersection here in North Seattle, or to be more specific, Crown Hill.  Located at 1408 Northwest 85th Street Seattle, WA 98117-4236, this cafe is located in the middle of a block in a purple house lit up with lights.

Now, when I say house, I really mean it is or was a house that has been transformed into a restaurant.  All the rooms are still there but they have been transformed into dining areas with tables and chairs.  There are also artwork all around the restaurant.  Same art that you would find in most of the restaurants on Greenwood Ave and 85th street. They also have a full bar, which you walk right into when you first walk into the cafe.  Dan found it at first awkward to be in a converted house restaurant but I had always loved that concept and had always wanted to do that myself!  Damn them for stealing my idea!

We were seated in the back room all to ourselves (for a while) in a table for four with two chairs and a bench.  The bench and the table were so close to each other, it was hard to get in… we probably could of moved the table back a little but for some reason we didn’t.  Don’t ask me why we didn’t LOL.  We were handed our menu and given the specials by our waitress, who seemed to have failed to introduced herself to us.  But the service was otherwise enjoyable.  The names for the dishes were fun.  I always love fun names for the dishes.  The food came on plates of all different patterns and colors.  They look like old fashion designs.  I like that they made it feel more homey.

On to the entrees!

Auckland’s Finest – New Zealand Lamb Shank ($17.75)

This was my dish.  I had a craving for lamb and I read the description and was sold.  It was a “slow braised shank for 3 hours to melt off the bone perfection.”  It came with a kalamata olive tapenade, burgundy jus and sauteed kale with roasted garlic mash potatoes. 

When the dish came out, it was truly lovely.  The shank rested on the potatoes with the brightly green kale on the side.  The tapenade rested on top of the shank, which was hidden because the shank and the tapenade had the same color.  So when I first took the fork and knife to it, I cut right through the tapenade and thought, “oh how tender”, then it fell apart and I realized it was the tapenade and had a silent chuckle to myself.  The tapenade was cool and tasty with a light olivey taste to it.  Kalamata olives have such a strong taste to them, I was afraid that it would be too much but this had such a light flavor to it, it was perfect.

There were plenty of mash potatoes which were tasty and garlicy.  They were soft and fluffy with small chunks on potatoes in them.  The kale had a slight salty crunch to them, full of flavor but left an oily film on the lips which I wasn’t so keen about.  The lamb was tender and was a little gamey on the first few bites.  Once paired with the sides, it worked perfectly and the gaminess diminishes as the palate got use to the flavor of the lamb.  I would totally recommend this dish if you like lamb.

Filina’s Favorite Fried Chicken – Yeeehaw! ($16.75)

This is Jessica’s dish and is a “honey-kissed ‘oven-fried’ made from scratch” chicken dish.  It comes with season vegetables and garlic mash potatoes. 

I actually got a chance to taste the chicken and it was really good.  I was intrigued by the honey part of this dish thinking it was going to be in the crust but instead it was  in a sauce that was drizzled on it.  The flavor of the honey worked very well with the chicken.  The chicken was sweet and tender although just a tad bit dry.  The crust, according to Jessica, was light and crispy although to my eye, it did not look crispy at all.  Looks can be deceiving.  Overall, a pretty solid dish.  I would totally recommend this.

House Special Ribeye Steak ($23.75)

This is Dan’s dish.  I didn’t get to try the dish and sorry I don’t have a description of the dish since the waitress requested the menu before I can write it down.  Dan has had this dish before so he said that the House Special of the night was considerably better than the regular Ribeye listed on the menu.  It came with orange glazed brussel sprouts for which I did taste and it was amazing.  I will have to find a recipe for that and will have to try and make it at home.  The orange did not overpower the taste of the brussel sprouts and I was wary of sweet sprouts but they worked beautifully together.  I highly recommend you try brussel sprouts this way if you don’t like brussel sprouts at all, you just might change your mind about them!

Mmm… Heavenly Pesto Pasta with Chicken ($16.75)

This is Trevor’s dish.  The pasta is made with a “lemon, garlic, rosemary marinated chicken on top of bowtie pasta with pesto, roasted garlic, tomato, mushroom and cream.”  It also comes with toasted bread.

Now this dish was ok.  It was surprisingly sweet and had a full pesto flavor.  It was also very creamy.  A highlight of the dish is the roasted garlic which was sweet, soft and creamy and had just a lovely flavor to it.  It came with two thin slices of grilled chicken that to me, was not seasoned at all.  It was flavorless.  Luckily, the pesto sauce was full of flavor but too one note with the pesto.  The chicken to Dan and Trevor was dry and oily but the piece I got felt moist.  I would not recommend this dish.  There are other dishes on the menu that tasted better.

Over all, this place has it’s charm.  I would recommend this place to all my readers.  Oh, they had live music there too!  We didn’t get to see him until we were on our way out since he was in the “living room” area of the restaurant.  There is no parking lot, so all you got is street parking.  Plenty of it there.  The dishes are moderately priced and so if you are looking for a cheap meal, this is not the place to go but go there anyways!

Here is the website: http://www.wildmtncafe.com/

Check them out! 

Hey Extras!

I have been meaning to publish this shout out for a while now. This shout out is for my friend April Somboun. She started a food blog around the same time that I did and I think hers is way better than mine so I want you all to go and check it out and subscribe to her blog! All her recipes look amazing and she has a great story with all her posting.

Here is the site:

http://sophisticatedpalette.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!

Hey Extras!

So tonight, I finally got a chance to cook lobster again!  It was exciting since, the last time I cooked lobster was on a Valentine’s day three years ago.  This night, it was my turn to cook and Trevor wanted lobster, since I have been talking about having lobster for dinner… forever!  LOL So I was really excited he was in the mood for it.

The way I made it was very simple.  I boiled it with a seasoned water (peppercorns, cilantro stems, a lemon split in half, and sea salt).  I also made Cilantro-Lime rice and had a Caesar Salad with Gloria’s Rosemary Bread toasted.

Boiled Lobster

1 – 2 lobster(s)

2 quarts of water

2 tablespoon of sea salt

1 tablespoon of peppercorns

a bundle of cilantro stems

1 lemon, halved

First, place the lobster(s) in the freezer.   (This is considered one of the most humane way of dealing with cooking live lobster.)  After about 30 mins, bring water with all the seasoning to a boil.  Place lobster(s) head first into the water.  Place a lid and cook for 10 mins for the 1lb and add 3 mins for every lbs after that.

I stopped the cooking of the lobster at 10 minutes. (I probably would stop it at 8 next time.)  I cooled it a bit so I can take the tail off and cut it in half.  I then place the halves in a Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce and finished cooking.

Garlic Butter Sauce

8 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon of shallots, chopped

1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest

1/4 cup of lemon juice.

Melt the butter under medium heat.  Once all the butter is melted, place the garlic and the shallots in there.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Pour in lemon juice and cook for another minute or two.  Place lobster halves into the sauce and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1 cup of rice

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of cilantro, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon of lime juice

Cook rice until tender.  I used a rice cooker so … when the light switches to warm. fluff the rice and toss in chopped cilantro and lime juice.

I cheated with the Caesar Salad and got the mix although its pretty easy to assemble yourself.  All that you require is Romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese, Caesar dressing.  I had a recipe for a Caesar dressing that I used a while ago.  I will have to find it and share it with y’all.

Here is the final product!  It turned out pretty good.

(Warning:  This entry encompasses three days, four restaurants and a back story.  It’s going to be long is what I am saying.  Enjoy!)

Hello Extras!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog but it was the holidays and I’ve done a little traveling but I’m back with a blog about my foodie trip to Las Vegas.  (I’ve been waiting to get the pictures up from the trip but I haven’t gotten them yet but I will update this entry with pics when I get them!)

First the story, then the reviews!

Las Vegas.  What can I say about that city?  The lights, the hotels, the shows, the spas, the gambling, the half naked ladies, the people on the street peddling cards with numbers to call or see the half naked ladies get even more nakie!, and of course… the FOOD!  Sin City:  Gluttony, buffets, check; Lust, strippers and brothels, check; Sloth,  spas, check; Greed, gambling, check; Envy, staring daggers at those who are winning or get a bonus round on the slots, check; Pride, leaving a winner, check; Wrath, leaving a loser, check.  All that can happen in one day!  LOL what a fun city!

Trevor and I were invited by our friends Ryan and Jamie to go to hang out in Vegas with them on the last week of December.  At first, I was hesitant to say yes because I already had another Vegas trip planed for the third weekend of January until they told us that we would be getting a discount on our room and all we will have to pay for is our flight down there and whatever else we wanted to do down there.  Um… YEAH!  LOL I was totally down and feeling a little greedy because I get to go down to Vegas TWICE in a month’s time.  Aren’t I a lucky one?

Our first night there, we went to go see Aria (the new hotel and casino at City Centre), had a drink and made dinner reservations at Mon Ami Gabi in Paris Las Vegas.  I am always in the mood for a French meal so I was totally excited that we were going there and that Trevor was the one that wanted us to go there!  (He never really is in the mood for French.)  Luckily we made reservations on Open Table because they weren’t taking any walk-ins at that time and we got seated promptly.  The food was amazing.  They served us bread with butter and this carrot thingy, I’m not sure what it was.  I think we were supposed to eat it on the side because I tried it on my bread and it didn’t taste right. We also got the Escargots de Bourgogne ($10.50) which was delightful.  It came out of the shell in this garlic basil sauce that was very close to pesto (could be pesto) and was delicious and went well with the bread.  For our entrees I got the Roast Chicken & Frites ($19.95).  The frites were to die for!  They were these thin cut flat strips of potatoe that were fried to perfection.  Crispy yet still a little soft in the middle.  Trevor got the Pork Tenderloin that had two thick strips of bacon with it.  Jamie go the Seared Sea Scallops ($21.95) that came with this lovely creamy whipped cauliflower that tasted like smashed potatoes but better for you, and Ryan got the Filet Mignon with the merlot butter, red wine reduction ($31.95) which was perfectly cooked.  We all agreed that merlot should not be drunk but that it should be made into this lovely sauce.  By the end of the dinner, Jamie and I were delighted see a French couple sit right next to us, validating the authenticity of the restaurant.

http://www.monamigabi.com/vegas

The next day we went to Mesa Grill in Caesars Palace for lunch.  I used to be a big fan of Bobby Flay when he had his show Boy Meets Grill but after that, he kind of because this cocky celebrity chef and I was turned off, so I was neither excited or dreading going to Mesa Grill.  Like Mon Ami Gabi, making a reservation at one these restaurants is crucial to getting seated quickly or at the time you want to eat.  One of the things that we found out about making reservations for this restaurant is, if you make it on Open Table, make sure you see that it is the Las Vegas one and not the New York one or else, you will not be seated right away.  We made our reservations in person, lucky us, because most if not all of the people, who made the reservations on Open Table, made it at the wrong location.  At Mesa, we ordered and appetizer along with our lunch. Our waiter was very helpful in recommending what he thought was the best on the menu, so we had two orders of the Tiger Shrimp + Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale ($14), three orders of the Mesa Burger ($16), and one order of the Pressed Cuban Sandwich ($16).  All three dishes were amazing.  The tamales were perfectly cooked.  It was soft and falls apart as you pick at it and the shrimps were large and plump.  The burgers were cooked to medium rare, seared perfectly on the outside, pinkish red through out the middle and oh so juicy.  The Cuban had so a lot flavor to it (according to Jamie).  The fries that were served with the burgers and sandwich were kind of a let down though (after having Mon Ami Gabi’s frites!)

http://www.mesagrill.com/lasvegas/

Then it was off to Qua Spa at Caesars.  After the spa, we all wanted something light so we went to Sushi Roku in Caesars Forum.  The fish was fresh and everything else was good.  I asked for Ankimo (Monk Fish Liver) but the waitress made a face and said they were out and recommended the Uni instead but it was $12 dollars for the Uni while it was only $7 for the Ankimo, so I went for the $7 Albacore instead, which I am glad I did, because that Albacore was like butter! I also had the Rock Shrimp Tempura with Jalapenos ($9) which was good and slightly spicy and the Organic Garden Salad with Japanese Yuzu Citrus Dressing ($9).  Trevor had the Mixed Sashimi Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette ($17) and the Chef’s Sashimi Combination ($26) I think… he got something Sashimi lol.  Jamie had the Yellowtail Scallion ($7) and the Cold Cha Soba ($11).  Ryan had the Sautéed Salmon & Hokkaido Scallops: XO sauce with Asparagus & Potatoes ($26) with Miso Soup and Rice ($6) ($(Me thinks unless they changed their menu).  I was too sleepy from the relaxing spa to start reviewing the food in my head.  I just remember it was good but not really worth that price, but it is Vegas.

http://www.sushiroku.com/sushiroku/menus/lv.asp

The fourth and final restaurant gets a posting on its own.  Look at my next post for the review of my first One Michelin Star restaurant!

To Be Continued…

Hello Extras!

In my last post, I said I was going to write a special addition to the Las Vegas part Une post and here it is!  Jamie and I wanted to go to one of the restaurants featured on Top Chef: Las Vegas so we went back into our memories and tried to figure out which restaurants were featured.  We couldn’t remember the restaurants but we remembered a few of the chefs that showed up in a few of the episodes.  Jamie remembered the Chef of the Century Joel Robuchon and we were set.  He has two restaurants in MGM Grand that we could choose from, Joel Robuchon which had 3 Michelin Star(!!!) or L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon which had 1 Michelin Star(!).  We couldn’t get a reservation at Joel Robuchon but was able to get one in L’Atelier.  So it was set.  We were going to have the tasting menu ($85) when we got there, but we were all apprehensive about the term “tasting menu” because we were unsure of what the size of the plates were going to be or whether if it was worth the price.

On our last night there, Jamie, Ryan, Trevor and I got ready in our nicest outfits that we brought along with us, since we were going to go to see some shows after dinner, got into a taxi and headed off to MGM Grand.  We were all pretty excited about going to this 1 Michelin star restaurant (after seeing signs for Guy Savoy’s 2 Michelin Stars restaurant at the Caesars and Daniel Boulud’s 1 Michelin Star restaurant at the Wynn and then Joel Robuchon 3 Michelin Stars!).  When we got there, there was a Baccarat tournament happening in front of the restaurant with confetti and globs of people, bundles of cash and a car… I’ll explain why this is important later… just starting as we walked in a giant sliding glass door (the whole wall facing the casino was made of glass and one section of the glass wall was a door!).  We got seated pretty quickly and our waiter came to provide us with water which was poured into these lovely red stem less glasses.  The ambience was wonderful, kind of ritzy yet casual and comfortable.  There were tables and a bar facing the kitchen which was opened so you can see what they were doing (which I was in awe off how well the whole kitchen staff worked together and how clean and beautiful the kitchen was, even as they were all working hard back there!  There was even a whole leg of prosciutto!).  BTW, the Executive Chef Steve Benjamin looked young was very easy on the eyes.  We got a look at the menu and noticed a cheaper 3 course meal ($36) with some tempting dishes (only the main course sparked my interested, it had sweetbreads and I really wanted to try it) but we all agreed that we will be having the 6 course ($85) tasting menu since everything on there sounded amazing.

Cremeux de foie gras                      Les Moules                       La Langoustine

First was the L’Amuse-Bouche: Cremeux de foie gras au porto et son emulsion au parmesan (Foie gras parfait with port wine and parmesan foam).  It came on a flat rock in a shot glass.  At first I couldn’t see the foie because it was hidden inside the sauce and foam, but I had a lovely medallion in there and it was to die for.  It was rich and light at the same time.  It was sweet and lovely.  Just … lovely … I could eat like 50 of those… it was so good, I scraped off all the goodies and was tempted to steal the others’ shot glasses and scrape them clean too.  I kept staring into the kitchen and whenever I saw them make it, I’d say to myself… really I did, I really wanted more of it… it was sooooo GOOD!… Ok I’m salivating just thinking of it… With that perfect start, we all got excited to see what else laid in store for us.

Second we had Les Moules en velute a la mimolette et croutons dores (Mussels and mimolette veloute with croutons).  It was mussels in a creamy sweet soup.  The croutons that were in the dish were still crunchy and added a lovely crunch to the soup.  The mussels were plump and perfectly cooked.  I hate over cooked mussels, it’s like chewing rubber but these just fell apart in your mouth as you chew them.  The cream soup was delicious and I also scraped every last bit of soup with my bread before I let it go.  (As you can see by this second dish, that there is a theme developing here, I ate… EVERYTHING!)

Third we had La Langoustine dans une papillote croustillante au basilica (Crispy langoustine fritter with basil pesto).  It was a deep fried langoustine (similar to a lobster but smaller) wrapped in something like a wonton wrapper with a large leaf of basil inside served with a delicious basil pesto sauce.  Again, the seafood was perfectly cooked and sweet and the crunch wrapper with the freshness of the basil worked beautifully together.

Le Saumon                   Whipped Potatoes                           Le Boeuf

Fourth we had either Le Saumon cuit sur la peau, aux aromates et croustilles de pommes de terre (Scottish salmon with aromates and crispy potatoes) or Le Boeuf la joue fondate a la bourguignonne (Beef cheek Burgundian style).  Both items came with a ramekin of velvety, buttery whipped potatoes.  The four of us decided that we should try both, with each pair trying one of each.  Ryan and I got the Beef cheeks and Jamie and Trevor got the Salmon.  We each made the right decision because both Ryan and I loved our dishes better than the Salmon dish and both Jamie and Trevor preferred theirs.  The beef dish was amazing, the sauce was rich and deep with flavor, the beef was so tender, you can flake pieces of it with your fork!  It came with little strips of bacon and broiled (?) pearl onions.  I tried the beef with the onions and found the flavors to not work in unison very well, but first having the beef with that rich sauce and then taking a bite of the onion, the onion cleans the palette and allows you to take another bite of the beef or a taste of the sauce and have a totally new experience.  The salmon was well cooked, firm and flakey.  It came with crispy potatoes placed like lattices on top of the salmon and Trevor wasn’t too fond of it (probably the only thing that was ok, while everything else was excellent).

Fifth was Les fromages de France selectionnes par nos soins (Selection of imported cheeses).  Oh, ok, this dish, I can’t remember the names of the cheeses.  There were three types, one goat and two cow’s milk.  By this time, I was so full… my brain stopped focusing on the things around me.  I just kept eating and eating!  Oh and by this time, the Baccarat Competition was over, more confetti but all four of us were just savoring the moment and didn’t even notice the hubbub happening outside (Only Ryan got a glimpse of what was happening because he was facing that way, the rest of us were so in the moment).

Last but not least there was dessert with the options of Les Tartes de tradition (Traditional Tarts) or Glaces et Sorbet (Ice cream and sorbet).  Jamie and Trevor got the tarts and Ryan and I got the ice cream.  Ice cream and sorbet list:  White Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon, Espresso, Chocolate.  Tart list:  Cinnamon, Chocolate Hazelnut, Pear, Cheesecake, and something else I can’t remember.  By dessert time, we were all pretty full but looking at the desserts, we had to keep trucking.  They were so good.  The ice cream and sorbets were delicious and refreshing.  Mixing the flavors was part of the fun of having 5 different choices in front of you.  The tarts were also full of flavor and just plain pretty to look at.  The favorite from the tart was definitely the cinnamon one.

Les Fromages                      Glaces et Sorbert                    Les Tartes

The experience I had at L’Atelier was amazing. This meal was definitely worth the price, maybe even more! If you happen to be in Vegas and for one night, want to go all out on a delicious meal that cost under $100 per person but feel like you are spending more, go to L’Atelier (and if you want to spend more, they have a $175 tasting menu!).  I will definitely be back, and hopefully next time, I will win some money at the slots and go for the $175 tasting menu, until then, I’ll just dream about tasting that Amuse again.

Even though I left Vegas as a loser in gambling (I lost like $50), I went home a winner with the amazing meals I had there.  With the help of Trevor and my friends, I think I will be able to become the foodie that I aspire to be.  Here’s to future foodie vacations and may they be even better than the experience I just had.

Yummo! I want more Michelin Star Restaurants!

Hey Extras!

Are you guys ready for another review?  I hope so!

Our next stop is Chutney Bistro for some Indian Cuisine.  Chutney Bistro is located in the Wallingford Center in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle.  Its location is 1815 N 45th St.  It has a very big and open front patio area with a fountain in the middle.  Very inviting if it was summer but since it is fall, not so inviting. The inside is open with booths and tables in the dining area.  They have the usual buffet placed conveniently near the entrance of the restaurant and near the kitchen (it kind of turned me off to the place seeing the buffet line right when I walked in).   The decor of the place is very pleasing.  It had dark table cloth, the chairs were comfy and have booth options plentiful.  The glasses are one of their most unique traits here.  There is a full bar available and they play lovely Indian music at a very low level which is very pleasing and not to overt.  Since they moved into the Wallingford Center, they share the bathroom with the building so you have to go out of the restaurant and punch in code which you have to wrangle in a waiter to get. 

I went there with Lisa and Trevor after hanging out at Kevin’s place for a bit the day after Thanksgiving (I know. I know!  I am really slow at writing these posts).  We were deciding between Chinese and Indian and Kevin suggested we go here, since it’s one of his favorite Indian restaurants to go to.  (I’ll have to get more suggestions from Kevin since most of his suggestions for places to go and eat have not failed me so far… see Green Leaf!)

The menu is pretty extensive and now they have an Organic Menu available along with organic wine and beer to choose from.  As intrigued as I was about the Organic Menu, I had a hankering for lamb which I rarely get unless it’s in an Indian restaurant.  I have no idea why, LOL, I just do.

When we sat down, they gave us a basket of papadum  and two different kinds of chutney (red and green.  I didn’t what they were but if you know! Please tell me .  I didn’t really cared much for the papadum.  It had an interesting and unique flavor that didn’t pair well with me.

       

Papadum and Chutney      Raita and Basket of Naan

On to our food delights.  First we ordered a Basket of Naan ($7.95) that came with regular naan, garlic and basil naan, your choice of stuffed naan (we chose paneer).  I ordered the Lamb Vindaloo ($13.95) 3 stars, Trevor ordered the Lamb Rogan Josh (16.95) 4 stars, and Lisa ordered the Chicken Tandoori ($10.95).

The naan came pretty quickly.  It was all delicious.  It came in a basket… all jumbled up together.  We could not tell left from right, top from bottom.  It was so hard to tell what’s what since it all looked like it was thrown in together so the garlic, basil and parsley was everywhere. 

The Lamb Rogan Josh (cool name huh!) came in a small bronze colored bowl with a big bowl of rice… I mean… BIG!  Way more rice than Rogan Josh.  It came with no veggies and it wasn’t that spicy.  Side note:  I have a problem with Asian restaurants who ask how spicy you want it and then send a dish that has no spice at all OR when people around the table order different spiciness and it all taste the same.  BLAH.  So it was with both Trevor’s and my dishes.  It didn’t taste spicy and his was definitely not spicier than mine.  Besides not being spicy, the dish overall was tasty.  It smelled tangy but slightly sweet and taste as it smelled.  There was also an herby back note in the sauce.  The lamb was tender, over all a good dish.

The Chicken Tandoori came in on a sizzling plate like an Indian fajita!  It looked like one too and Lisa said “It tastes like a fajita, very confusing.”  The chicken cuts were breast and thigh I believe, and sits on top of some saffron veggies (mainly onions).  If you ate the onions and chicken together, it totally taste like a fajita.

My Lamb Vindaloo came with rice and a salad.  The vindaloo wasn’t spicy at all, subtle and tangy.  The lamb was very tender and there were a lot of lamb, two maybe three times as many as the Rogan Josh.  The rice was saffron rice with many threads of saffron in them.  You can literally see each stand in the rice.  I tried some Raita ($1.95), a cucumber yogurt that was fresh and citrusy, with the dish and it really added to the flavor of the dish. It gave it an extra fresh and yet slightly creamy layer of flavors.

The best part of the meal though was the salad that came with the dish.  It at first looks like cooked veggies, but they weren’t cooked. Another surprise, there was young sweet but crunchy mango in the mix along with onions, bell pepper, celery, cilantro, sesame seeds and what I thought was carrots, then decided it was crunchy papaya, then no, it was carrots that tasted really sweet and lovely.  Then I found some apple pieces! It was all enwrapped in a lovely dressing that pulled it all together.  Fruit and onions and all those other veggies… working together… FRUIT and VEGGIES!!!  GAH … *bliss*.  I could just eat that all night.  It was like finding an old trunk in the attic and each time you dig in, another little treasure pops up.  LOVELY!  I want that recipe!

Overall, our experience was good.  The service was quick, the food was tasty and the company was great.  I would defiantly recommend this place to others.  I will be back in the spring and summer to eat out on their patio.

My rating: Ambiance was very nice.  Love the subtle music in the background.  Price was reasonable. Tastes was delicious.  Parking is decent.  Street parking, so head for the side streets.  Recommendation, you should definitely try it.

Check out the website here!  http://www.chutneysbistro.com/index.html

Hello my Extras!

Today, I will be telling you all about my lovely contribution to my work’s Thanksgiving Day potluck!  As I gave you a hint a while back, I did a Thanksgiving Day staple and which staple was that?  The turkey of course!  On with the show!

So a little story of how it came to be (would it be one of my reviews if it didn’t have a story?).  At work, during the Holidays, we have a ton of potlucks and usually on Thanksgiving, everyone that volunteered to work that day would bring something in for a Thanksgiving Day potluck since either we will miss the festivities altogether or we will be arriving late.  This year, I was the organizer of the potluck and decided that I will make the turkey since it takes a lot of time to prep and cook and I had the day off before Thanksgiving.  Also, I wanted to try something new and really treat my co-workers.

I decided, this year, I will try and brine my turkey.  (My co-workers are usually my guinea pigs when it comes to new recipes along with Trevor.)  I’ve never brined before in my life.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  So I was super excited and started my research into the world of brining a week before the big day.  Did you know there are a ton of recipes out there for all different kinds of brine?  Ones that use cranberries, juices, stocks… sweet brines, savory brines… all whatsit and whosits brines!  LOL its was crazy and wonderful.  I decided on just doing a simple holiday brine provided by the lovely (and super cute) Tyler Florence.  (see below for recipe)                                               Holiday Brine 

I brined mine for about 16 – 18 hours in the refrigerator in one of those oven bags you can put a turkey in to roast them in.  It took me 3 bags to make it work because it was leaking with 2.  I also put it in a small flexible cooler to keep the brine all around the turkey.  (I have to say, I kinda failed at it because I didn’t have the right container but in the end, the brine did make it through the turkey so it wasn’t a total fail.)

The next day, at 4 am, I woke up to roast the turkey and to make the glaze. First, I took the turkey out of the brine and give it a good rinse.  We want to get ride of all that excess brine.  Once it is well rinsed, we (wait what happened here… we?  Who’s we?  LOL … um go with it) want to dry the bird inside and out.  I mean real dry if you want the skin to crisp.  Next, I (oh I caught myself!  Good grief! LOL) part the skin from the breast making sure not to break the skin.  I then placed about four 1/2 tablespoons of butter on each side of the breast, making sure to get as far up towards the neck as I can (8 total).  I then brushed the skin with olive oil and liberally seasoned the turkey with salt and pepper.  Placed the bird on a bed of carrots, celery and onions, stuffed the inside of the bird with some rosemary, sage, thyme, carrots, celery and onion. Then I tent the bird with foil and roast in the oven at 325 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours.

This is the perfect time to make the glaze which I paired with the brine.  The glaze was a Cranberry Balsamic Glaze (see below for recipe).  The glaze is a little tart and the balsamic really comes through and pairs well with the holiday flavor of the bird.  I also sliced up some Habaneras and placed them in the glaze for a little heat.

Take of the tent and allow to roast untented for another 30 mins at 425 degree.  Start glazing the turkey.  Roast for another 30 mins all the while glazing every 10 – 15 mins.  Check with a thermometer in the thickest area of the turkey (breast or thigh) and make sure temp reaches about 165 degrees (make sure the thermometer doesn’t touch the bone).

Here’s the final product! 

Overall, my co-workers seemed very happy with how it turned out and some even said “I don’t like to eat the skin of the turkey, but I went back and looked for more!”  Which I took as a complement.  I will defiantly make this again.  Anyways, try it for yourself and see how it goes!  Oh!  Happy Belated Thanksgiving and here’s to a festive Holiday!

Recipes:

Tyler Florence’s Holiday Brine:

1 Gallon of cold water

2 cups of Kosher Salt

1 cup of Sugar

2 tablespoons each of Juniper Berries, Allspice and Black Pepper Corns

4 sprigs each of Thyme and Rosemary

Pour the salt and sugar in with the water first.  Make sure it is all incorporated before adding the rest of the herbs and spices.  Give it a little stir and place the turkey in the pot/bag/container (fits at least 10 gallons).  Make sure all of the turkey is covered.  Put in refrigerator for at least 12 hours to over night.

Cranberry Balsamic Glaze:

2 tablespoons of Butter

1 cup of diced Shallots

1/2 cup of Cranberry Nectar

1/2 cup of Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 cup of Cranberry Sauce

2 Habaneras Peppers sliced

pinch of Salt and Pepper

Sauté diced shallots in the butter until brown.  Add in cranberry nectar, balsamic vinegar and cranberry sauce.  Make sure all of the cranberry sauce is melted into the mixture.  Reduce down to half, add in habaneras.  If you want it really spicy, leave the habaneras in the glaze, if you want it milder, place habaneras in cheese clothe or tea bags and allow to steep until sauce is reduced to 1/3.  Then you can start glazing!  (A quick and easy test to tell when its ready for use is dipping in a spoon and see if it coats the spoon rather than slide right off.)

Hey Extras,

Just a little sneak peak at what the next review will be. It will be a Homemade Recipe Review. It will involve a Thanksgiving day staple and it will be the first time I’ve ever made it this way! Cross your fingers for me! LOL lets hope its not a Thanksgiving disaster!

Hello Extras!

So here is another review… Is it too soon?  I know you all aren’t use to me blogging one review after another!  What is the world coming too?!  Well, enough of the nonsense… On to the review!

Today I will be reviewing Green Leaf Restaurant in Seattle’s International District.  Located on 8th near Jackson, this little Vietnamese restaurant is a gem.  I’ve been here once before a long time ago with my friend Woo but last Sunday, I ended up at the restaurant with my boyfriend Trevor and our friend Kevin (who was super excited to go there… I think it’s his form of crack… really… look at this picture… he’s really super excited!).

The restaurant is really small.  It has two floors of dining but the width of the restaurant is like 15ft – 20ft across… enough just for three rows of tables consisting of a table for four and two for … well two.  Sitting at that table, I have to say though, it was hard to eat with another person sitting beside you and you not wanting to be in the way of the waiter/waitresses dashing by next to you. 

They have these beautiful sconces made too look like Asian lanterns with dangling Hello Kitty tassels on them (huh?).  They also have a large Buddha statue near the cash register with cartoon cow heads above it and near the stairs to the top floor (again… huh?).  The room was a lovely inviting green color with these bamboo wall runners.  The tables looked like black granite with really comfy dark colored wooden chairs.  Overall, I liked the ambiance except for the Hello Kitty and the cartoon cows.

The menu came out along with some tea (I love it when tea is on the house!) but we did have to ask for water.  The waitresses all were in their uniform (a Vietnamese style black and red top with Green Leaf on it) but unfortunately our waiter wasn’t in uniform (although he did have very hip style).  One of the reason’s why Kevin love this place is the menu.  There was Cashfish on the menu tonight lol and other miss types through out the menu.  Cute if there is a few… odd when there are many.

We ordered our dishes by number (since they were all numbered… of course) and our waiter knew them all… number 6 … “Escargot Stuffed & Pork… number 28 … Pho Combo… number 49 … Udon Noodles with Shrimp & Crab… number 63… Combo Rice Dish!  OMG!  I was very impressed.  I love it when waiters do that.  It shows that they really know what they are doing. 

(Sorry for the quality of the photos… I turned off the flash not wanting to bother people so they are kind of dark.  I hope you get the feel of it though… next time… screw the other people!  I have a review to do!)

The Escargot Stuffed & Pork (Ginger Sauce) ($6.95) was so good.  It was flavorful, moist and had little chunks of escargot studded through out the whole kebab.  The patty was formed around a piece of lemongrass that adds a slight lemony flavor to it (brilliant and so inventive!).  The taste of the escargot really comes through in this dish and the ginger sauce really enhance the flavor of the dish.  The little gem in this dish is the fried onion on top.  That thing was packed with flavor and the pickles that came with it (pickled carrots and jicama, no daikon) was sweet with just a touch of sourness.  The jicama was like eating slices of Asian pear.  It was light and crisp… I could eat a whole bowl of that thing!  It also came with a salad that had no dressing but Kevin indicated that you were suppose to drizzle the ginger sauce over it.

On to the main entrees.  Kevin had the Udon Noodles with Shrimp & Crab ($8.25).  Again, me being the bad critic I am… I relied on my company to help me taste and review the dishes offered in these fine establishments.  Ah friends… they are more useful than you think … LOL OK… Here is what he said.  He liked the Udon.  He’s a fan of thick noodles… (the gay in me just want to make a joke but the critic in me is restraining)  There was a good amount of salt.  The broth was well season.  We think its a vegetable base broth.  Shrimp and crab not over cooked.  He liked the stringy bits of crab meat. 

Trevor had the Combo Pho ($8.25).  It had brisket, tendon, tripe, flank.  It’s more expensive than the pho I am use to getting so I was hoping it would taste that way.  Unfortunately, I was unable to taste it before he put things in it so I couldn’t get the original flavor of the dish.  What I did taste was great.  Even with all the things he added in, I could tell that the soup was light.  Trevor described it as “so light, it’s almost chicken brothy instead of beef broth.”  The pho also came with the usual sides of bean sprouts, Thai basil, lime slices and jalapenos.

My dish was the Rice Combo ($9.50).  This was a crazy dish.  It had grilled pork chops, chicken, shrimp, a fried egg, white rice, picked carrots and jicama and salad that consisted on lettuce, tomato and a slice of cucumber.

Look at the sucker!  It also came with a spoon, fork and knife which added to my chop sticks that I already had.  CRAZY!  It looked really intimidating and I didn’t think I could finish it.  Look at it.  There was a huge mound of food topped with a fried egg.  Both the chicken and the pork were grilled to perfection.  They were tender, flavorful, sweet and smoky.  The shrimp were flavorful too although they didn’t take out the vein in the back and that is something that really bothers me.  I didn’t think the salad was necessary… the tomato, cucumber and lettuce added nothing to the dish although I could of used more of the pickles… so tasty!

Overall, my experience at Green leaf was really good.  It can use a little more space but that can’t be helped can it, unless they bought out their neighbors and tear down the wall dividing the two space… (hint, hint Green Leaf!)  It seems like going in twos or a big group works better than going in 3s or 4s.  The price here is way reasonable and a perfect place to eat a great meal if you are on a budget.  Most of the dishes are all under $15.

My rating: Ambiance was good.  Price was reasonable.  Tastes was delicious.  Well the things that we got. Parking is tough.  It is the International District.  Recommendation… Yes! 

What do you think guys

Check out their website!

website: http://greenleaftaste.com/default.aspx

Hey Extras!

A two for one deal!  Only for a limited time!  Buy one get on FREE!  OK I am done now… on to the Review!

Shabu-Shabu… Hot pot… delicious by any name and super fun to eat!

My trip to Seven Star Pepper Szechuan Restaurant (Wow a mouth full huh?  Shouldn’t restaurant names be simple? If they’re not, they should!) started when Jamie asked me if I wanted to hang out when our men are away.  Both Trevor and Ryan were in Chicago that week and Jamie and I decided we should do something and that something was Shabu-Shabu!  So Jamie and I along with two of our other friends Kevin and Kathryn decided to meet up at Seven Star Pepper.  We gots a talking and they recommended I blog about our experience there… so I drew up my note book and started taking notes.  (I think they said it as a joke and thought I wasn’t going to do it but I did… WHAT?! I took the challenge and I think they had fun with it too.  That’s us in the picture above!)

Seven Star Pepper Restaurant is a Chinese restaurant situated on 12th and Jackson street (1207 South Jackson St.) on the edge of Chinatown and Little Saigon in what we Seattleites call, the International District.  It is in a business complex with the restaurant on the second floor.  The decor is Chinese inspired with glass tables and not too comfy chairs… Me thinks me chair was slightly broken.  The best thing about our table was that it had a Lazy Susan built in the middle!  Note:  We didn’t use it because the hot pot was on it and we didn’t want to spin that sucka around.

On the menu was Szechuan Style Cold Noodles and Family Style Hot Pot with two different broth, spicy and not spicy.  Don’t ask me what the flavor of the broth was, because for the life of me, I was not able to distinguish what the base flavor was.  I think either chicken or vegetable stock.

The food came out rather quick after we ordered it.  The wait staff was nice and kept asking us if things were OK and brought things for us when we asked for it promptly (extra napkins, a ladle for the soup).

When eating Asian Cuisine, the thing you expect to taste is … well, a variety of tastes.  Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami all in one lovely bite.  A taste experience for the taste buds.  And if you are tasting cuisine from any of the pepper loving countries, you expect lots of spiciness!  So it was with the lovely Szechuan Style Cold Noodles.

Szechuan Style Cold Noodles, have I repeated that name over and over enough yet?  Kathryn recommended that we get that as an appetizer.  I’ve never had it before and was pretty excited to try it.  Cold noodles… I didn’t know what to expect!  When it came out though, boy did it look tasty.  The noodles were light and perfectly cook with a little give to their texture.  They were sitting in this crazy sweet, salty and spicy sauce with scallions sprinkled on top.  Now, I don’t think I’ve experience true Szechuan peppers before.  I didn’t know if it will creep up on you or hit you right in the face.  Now I know.  It is an experience.  At first, there is this subtle heat all around.  Then, slowly, it creeps up at the back of your mouth and moved slowly towards your lips and then they begin to tingle… Delightful!  And it made my nose run, but I didn’t think it was that hot… It was weird and fun.   I swear to you, I couldn’t get enough of those noodles.  It sat by me during the whole meal and I was so tempted to put my whole face in there and lick it all up but I had Hot Pot to attend too.

Ah Hot Pot.  What a lovely dish.  So interactive and perfect for the family to just enjoy a dinner with each other.  Add a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Allow to boil and cook, take out and eat.  Our family style hot pot came with a wide assortment of things you can drop into the broths: Seafood that include shrimp, fish (don’t ask me what kind of fish… It looked pink and um… recently defrosted), squid and fish balls.  Meat that include thin strips of beef and lamb (or what we thought was lamb… me thinks it might of been veal instead).  Two different kinds of noodles, udon and glass.  Tofu, bamboo shoots, black fungus, potato (one sliced up) and napa cabbage.  Oh and it also came with this weird looking peanut sauce that is umami heaven.  It added so much depth to the dish.  I can’t explain the flavor.  It was kinda … um… peanuty (I know that isn’t a word)… and um… goodness… you’ll have to go and taste it.  Really, its something that has to be experienced.

Back to the hot pot.  The two broths were interesting.  The not spicy one had such a subtle flavor to it.  When I just stated the broth, I was expecting something, but really I got nothing but its not bad… its magic!  Once you put things in there, those things had flavor.  No, I know those ingredients already taste like … um … themselves… but, when place in the nonchalant not spicy broth, there was extra flavor!  Especially with the napa cabbages.  I don’t know how to explain it.

The hot soup was, in the words of Kevin, “looks crazy red and hot.”  There were a ton of red pepper flakes in there but it wasn’t overwhelming hot.  The soup here had more flavor and I think, the better of the two.  (btw, the soup wasn’t hot enough for Kathryn, so she asked for chili sauce!)

Over all, the meal was good.  There were a ton of things to eat and we ate… almost of all it.  They came by and added more soup because they noticed it was running low.  The thing that fell short for me was the bamboo shoots and the fish balls.  Both didn’t take any of the flavors of the soups so they were just one note, even in the spicy one.  I didn’t get the potato but that didn’t get a good review from anyone. It was “odd” they said.

Oh, there was a restaurant next door that also sells hot pot and they were offering a free lobster for 2 or more people but we didn’t go to that one…. … regrets?  Not so much.  The meal was good.  The price was good and of course, the company was great.

My rating:  Ambiance could use some work.  Decorations could use some work.  Price reasonable (it was about $18 per person including tip).  Parking is plentiful (they have a garage underneath).  Would I come back… Yes.