Ly's World: Homemade Thoughts and Reviews

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!