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Holiday Cheer

2015 is almost over. Yes we are barely in October, but I'm already listening to Christmas songs on Pandora. The weather in Los Angeles hasn't been the greatest, and it really feels as if the fall spirit is gone. I need the holiday weather to happen now so all the fun stuff can fall into place. But of course, since I am already listening to Christmas songs, you can guess I'm already jumping ahead.

I made a pear tart the other day because there was finally rain... at least for 10 minutes or so. But I went on a cozy-comfort food-holiday cooking splurge.

Velveeta Mac n Cheese-Jalapeno-Bacon-Mapled

Recipe:

  • 1 Box of Velveeta shell cheddar Mac n Cheese
  • 1/2 a Jalapeno (depends on how spicy your Jalapeno is and how spicy you want it to be)
  • 5 strips of bacon. Because bacon is always good.

Preheat the oven at 400 degrees layering your bacon on a sheet pan (I line it with parchment). At 10-12 minutes, take a peek to see how your bacon is doing because all ovens are different. Once your bacon start crisping up, I take maple syrup and drizzle it on 2 strips of bacon. As it sizzles, remove the 3 bacon without the syrup and let it soak on some paper towels. The other 2 in the oven with the syrup, make sure to keep an eye on because it can burn quick. I sprinkled just a little kosher salt because I used low sodium bacon. Flipped the bacon and added a little more syrup with just a hint more salt.

I chopped up the 3 strips of bacon and mixed it into the Mac n Cheese with the Jalapenos. (The Mac is made standard according to the box). I got some panko bread crumbs, tossed it with the bacon fat and let the heat toast the crumbs before putting them on top of the dish. Layer your mapled bacon and there you go! comfort Mac Bacon Cheese Jalapeno something!

** So yummy. I don't recommend you sticking this into the fridge to preheat it in the oven because the cheese does dry out.

Chile/spiced rubbed chicken

Find the recipe HERE.

Basically, follow the recipe in the link, minus the honey and lemon.

I oiled a baking dish with 5 cloves of smashed garlic. A little salt was sprinkled as well. After patting dry and layering the chicken (about 2-3 pounds) I sprinkled the rub on top followed by some olive oil. Massage the rub and oil onto the skin.

The chicken was baked at 375 for 40-45 minutes and I will gradually increase the temperature to 400 at around 30-35 minutes (depends on your oven and chicken size). Don't be intimidated by the crust, it is just blackened and it is delicious.

A simple store bought coleslaw mix was served with this meal. I had hearts glowing all over my face.

Are you ready for the holidays? We wait the whole year for this! why not start early?

Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy COoking!

Daiisies

 

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Henry's Cuisine

Henry's Cuisine - 301 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801

If you are familiar with 626 restaurants, you can understand there is a lot going on in this area. With that being said, there are a lot of restaurants that stands out, and some that are just trying their best to survive. The more common restaurants like Tasty Garden has emerged over the past several years and has opened a few other locations. Phoenix Inn has been around for 50 YEARS (can you imagine that?) also evolved overtime and some even revamped the interior of their locations. Then, you have the typical Chinese cafes like Garden, Baccalis, JJ, JR, KT cafe, Ledo, and so much more. This is also followed by the many restaurants that serves dim sum in the morning, all the Vietnamese joints, HOT POTS, but we are definitely not going to to go into any of that today. (I'm mind blown just going through all other cuisines in my head)

I picked up my mom today to have dinner. We were trying to figure out how to set up her Bluetooth to connect to her car. I don't know if you remembered from a past post, my mom got a new car.

It took a while before I figured out that... I couldn't really figure it out. We decided to take a break from that and head to dinner. She already had her mind set on Henry's Cuisine because a few of her friends raved about the fried salted pig knuckle. I've heard about it, seen it, and always wanted to try it myself. I am a huge fan of roast pork. Being Chinese, it was really something we grew up eating in the household. We would order a few ribs, chopped it up, made some garlic sauteed veggie, a big pot of white Jasmine rice, and that was our meal. It was tough, but our parents made it easy for us to enjoy tasty meals with a low budget.

The spread

See? Literally. Meat. Veggie. Rice. With the addition of the porridge because my mom was not feeling well. First thing first.

Deep Fried Salted Pig Knuckle:

Seriously, it was decadent. My mom went straight for the skin, took one bite, and told me "MMMMMM, it's good" in Cantonese or "MMMMM. Ho sik". I tried it for myself and almost cried. The meat was lean, but tender. The brininess of the pork was perfect. This dish was pretty extraordinary. The saltiness of the pork really makes it distinct as well as the hue of the meat. My mom called dibs on the bone, but before she did I peeled a few bits of skin off for myself. She was one happy mom.

Dried Fish with Chinese Broccoli

Dried Fish with Chinese Broccoli

The vegetable was simple. Something we always order because we need to have some green with our meal. It's just the way every Chinese meal goes.

Preserved Egg with Salted Pork congee

This is another typical staple in the Chinese cuisine. Whether you are sick, or having breakfast, this is always a go to comfort food. Preserved eggs are not for everyone. I didn't start enjoying the eggs till I was in my 20's. I would normally eat around it because I do like the flavors it brings to the congee.

All in all, thumbs up. This place was not packed whatsoever and that makes me really sad. There were these 2 mainland Chinese ladies that arrived at the same times as we did. They ordered food at the same time, but left in the middle of our meal. My mom overheard them saying the food sucks. I'm like it sucks? "MMMMM HO SIK AH!" that's what I said. The ahh puts emphasis on your statement.

How rude were these ladies? They actually went up to the waitress who was closing out their bill, and spoke in mandarin that the food was poor quality. The phrase in our language is actually a lot worse than the English "It sucks/not good/taste bad". It's a lot meaner to say it in our language. The restaurant was not full, so them saying it a few times stung me a bit. It made me slightly mad. The meal I just shared with my mom was delicious. The service we had was one of the best that we had in the area. The food was comforting and there is no reason to be hostile.

I want this place to do good. So I hope that you all can give it a try (especially the pork knuckle). I would totally save the bone, and make congee with that. Just imagine all the delicious roasty pork flavors you can extract from it?

Or you can chuck it at those 2 ladies I saw.

Chow!

Daiisies

 

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Patio Burgers & Beer

The name says it all. Restaurant search: Patio? check. Burgers? Check. BeER? Double down checking that. I don't know if you ever check my Instagram (@daiisies_eat) but I've been on this mass burger diet. And diet means more consumption. It's insane, gnarly, and it makes me feel fantastic.

I was picking up my best friend Jocelynn in Eagle Rock the other day, and we've decided to stay local (which is normally the case). She asked me where I wanted to go and I suggest Oinksters, because hey, it's Eagle Rock. She asked if that's what I felt like and "sure that's fine" which is totally NOT fine. Like-sorry I don't live here anymore. It's like someone visiting California wanting to eat at In & Out. I asked her what she recommended. After little thinking, she recommended the Patio Burgers and Beer.

Address: 4541 N Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041

It's a really small joint, pay attention or you will miss it. This place used to be "The Bucket" but has closed after many years of service. I was super excited even though I had a sandwich for lunch and a burger for dinner the night before. I really don't care so get off my back. Oh and yes, I do exercise.

Their menu is really simple. Maybe time to time, they will serve a special burger of the day, but there was none when we went. So let's get it ON.

I ordered their regular burger with added avocados, and Jocelynn ordered a cheeseburger. We also ordered their loaded fries which consisted of cheddar cheese, bacon, grilled onions and their house sauce. Two beers were ordered. She ordered a blonde, and a double IPA for me by 805 local brewery. Both beers were fantastic.

Cheeseburger

The burger is pretty much self explanatory. But don't worry let me explain it to you. The meat had a very nice crust on it. I haven't had a burger like this in a long time where the grill would char a crust on the meat itself. I love it. With thin slices of red onions, pickles, shredded lettuce and their house sauce sandwiched with a thick brioche bun. I mean it when I say thick. The brioche was one of densest I've had. With a good char on the buns as well, it really held up to it's shape. The burger was cooked medium. For the add ons, they only offer avocados, bacon, fried egg and 3 cheese to choose from (cheddar, swiss, bleu). I wished they offered fresh Jalapenos.

Loaded fries

I squished this into my burger. The fries could've had a little more salt in my opinion and a tad more cooking time. I did enjoy the grilled onions with some crispy edges, the shredded cheese that melts ever so gently on top of the fries.

I see a lot of potential for this place. Let me know your thoughts after giving it a try.

Happy burger biting!

Daiisies

 

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Pear Tart

It's finally raining and cooling down out here in Los Angeles. Well I wouldn't really call it rain since it stopped for a few hours, but I am anticipating a lot heavy pours this year *fingers cross*. I've been almost indoors all day with the exception of getting some groceries. Cooking and baking becomes so enjoyable in this weather. I am loaded up with a lot of coffee to not get sucked into this hibernating weather. It's so tempting to grab my cat, Ford, and snuggle with him under the sheets. Yeah he will try to fight his way out, but sooner or later he gets tired and just lays there, and tells me he hates me and how much I smell like bacon.

I decided to bake today. Just to remind you guys, I am a terrible baker. To follow recipes step by step is such a task for me. I don't think I've ever made a sweet baked dish that came out exactly what I wanted, because I would miss a step.... or 6...

Tornado Pear Tart Recipe:

Crème pâtissière (sounds sexier than Pastry Cream):

  • 2 Cups of whole milk
  • 1/4 cup + 1/3 cups of sugar
  • 1 Egg + 2 Egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Tablespoons of butter
  • 1/4 cup of flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon of Baking Powder

Heat the 2 cups of milk with the 1/4 cup of sugar on medium high heat and stir occasionally. In a separate mixing bowl, I mixed the eggs, 1/3 cup of sugar, a pinch of salt, and the 1/4 cups of flour (make sure to whisk until smooth).

When your milk starts to simmer, I removed it from the heat and ladle very slowly into the egg mixture while whisking at the same time. Because I'm paranoid, I slowly added about half the milk and whisking it like crazy before putting it back into the pot. I then put the pot back on the stove, but on medium low. The creme is whisked until it gets to a thick-gloopy consistency. Like this:

Crème pâtissière

When it gets to a thick yogurt consistency, I then add the 2 tablespoons of butter and the 1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract. Whisk again and pour it into a bowl with saran wrap on the cream so it does not form a layer. After the temperature drops a little, stick it into the fridge to cool before using.

Crust:

  • 1 Cup of flour
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • pinch of salt

With a food processor, I put all the dry ingredients and pulsed a few times to mix them evenly. Next I would drop the egg and pulse (you will notice the dough turns into little pebbles). I got the butter, chopped a few chunks, and pulsed it into the flour until it formed a dough. The dough is very soft and a little hard to work with, so I would kneed a little more flour (about 1/4 cup) before forming it into my tart pan.

My tart pan was buttered slightly. I layered the pastry cream on top followed by canned pears I drained and sliced.

SO. Since I suck at following the rules of baking, I totally forgot to pre-bake my stupid tart. Don't forget to do this. Freeze your crust for about 30 minutes so the dough can come back together (Basically fast chilling it). Take a fork and poke your crust a few times allowing steam to escape. After you bake your crust for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees, take it out to let it rest a bit before layering the cream.

About 1/2 the pastry cream goes into the tart. Layer the pears and let it bake for 40 minutes on 350.

Tornado Pear Tart

Ok I think I'm calling it a tornado because my kitchen was a mess afterwards. Since I didn't bake my crust first, I was kind of surprise that it was still passable. I actually roasted the tart in the oven for about 15 minutes, before switching it over to baking. Because when you roast, the heat generates more so from the bottom of the oven, which is what I needed since I'm anticipating the bottom of the crust will be the most difficult to cook.

I added a little sprinkle of sugar around the crust 5 minutes before removing it from the oven. Let it cool for about 15-20 minutes before removing it from the tin (HOT). Slice it and serve with some coffee or tea.

Please don't go nuts on me with the steps that I took to make this. I've already forgiven myself for the crust...

Happy baking!

Daiisies

 

 

 

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Europane

I call this place You're-a-pain. It just feels easier that way. I stopped by here quickly to grab breakfast for my boss and I. I have to feed him or else I would get thrown out the nearest window. 

950 E Colorado Blvd Ste 107

Pasadena, CA 91106

This place gets really packed in the morning. I swear, everyone that was in line were half awake when being asked what they wanted to order. If they asked you "would you like that toasted?", it's a yes please or no it's okay answer.. I wanted to slap every single person that responded with "Huh?".

I knew exactly what I wanted and it's also the only thing I would get from here for breakfast. They have these savory muffins that are pretty awesome.

Savory Muffin

This is a cheddar muffin with Jalapenos and bacon. But wait. Cut this 50 pound thing open to find:

A Soft boiled egg. This muffin is a little tricky to make. Baked in the oven for too long and you can over cook the eggs. Baked under and you will be asking for a soft muffin.
It needed a little more time in the oven, and the eggs needed to be cooked a little less before baking. Sounds like a lot of work, but that's why this thing costs like $6 bucks each (thanks a lot boss).

Don't worry y'all. A recipe is in the making and I will share it in no time. This will be a great breakfast treat with family and friends during the holidays, or a late night episode with your favorite TV series or movie.

Thank me later!

Daiisies

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