April 30, 2009

Wurstkuche

Filed under: Uncategorized — saehee @ 1:10 am

vegetarian chipotle sausage and belgian fries

jalapeno and mango sausage with caramelized onions and spicy peppers
Nancy told me about this place a few days ago and generally when Nancy recommends something, I tend to agree.  I really liked this place.  The ambiance.  The cucumber soda they had, though I did not order it.  The selection of dipping sauces that came with the belgian fries.  And as always when I try something new, the first thing I thought about was that I couldn’t wait to take Saeyoung.  
Wurstkuche serves exclusively sausages and belgian fries.  Nancy and I hypothesized that they make their sausages in-house, though we were inconclusive.  If they did, that would be great.  The sausages range anywhere between the common bratwurst to alligator sausages.  Janice ordered the chicken apple and spices.  Jeff ordered the smoked alligator and pork, which was described as dense (in a positive sense).  I ordered the mango and jalapeno, which went great with the perfectly caramelized onions and spicy peppers.  Nancy ordered the vegetarian chipotle.  Actually, I was pretty impressed with their vegetarian options.    Everything was delicious.  We also ordered the twice fried belgian fries with curry ketchup, chipotle aioli, and buttermilk ranch.  They also had a white truffle oil glaze option, which I plan on getting next time I go there, which I hope is very soon.  
Next time I will have some beer.  Next time I will order two sausages.  Next time I will get the white truffle oil.  Next time I will take Saeyoung.  
Afterwards we walked around the Little Tokyo shopping center and I bought a single mango.  I like my friends, I really do.  
Wurstkuche
800 E 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213.687.4444
http://www.wurstkucherestaurant.com/

April 29, 2009

Maple Sour Cream Muffins With Walnut Topping

Filed under: baked goods, home cooking, los angeles — saehee @ 12:57 pm




Sour cream in muffins does something amazing.  
Ingredients
For batter:
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons of honey
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
for topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
preheat oven to 350
1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter 
2. add maple syrup and honey and beat until well combined
3. add eggs one at a time
4. add sour cream and vanilla extract
5. mix dry ingredients together
6. incorporate dry ingredients into wet ingredients in portions
7. put into cupcake/muffin tins (makes about 20 cupcakes sized muffins and about 12 muffins)
8. make the dry topping by mixing all the ingredients together until crumbly
9. top the batter with the dry topping until you can’t see the batter underneath it, that is, top them generously.  there will probably be some more dry topping leftover but set aside because when the muffins start to rise and expand you may need to add more.
10. bake in the over for 20 minutes

April 27, 2009

Roasted Beet Soup

Filed under: home cooking, los angeles — saehee @ 1:43 pm






Over the weekend I bought some beets at the farmers market.  I’ve been told that beets are an acquired taste but I just don’t understand.  What is there to not like about beets??  They’re amazing!  I roasted some beets in olive oil and thyme and made it into a soup.  The color of roasted beets is phenomenal.  They let off this bright pink juice that is very sweet.  It stained my fingers and I kind of liked the way it looked.  I also had some of the beets with just a bit of lemon-lavender goat cheese and that made me very happy.  
Ingredients
2 beets
5-8 sprigs of thyme
mushrooms of your choice
1/2 a onion
4 cloves of garlic
5 baby carrots
1 cup spinach
1 cup red wine
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup of sausage or any other ground meat
1/4 cup broccoli and cauliflower 
olive oil
salt and pepper
1. preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. scrub and trim the beets and put them in a large square of foil along with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and 4 sprigs of thyme
3. make a little pouch with the foil by drawing the corners together so that the foil is airtight
4. roast in the oven for 1 hour
5. in the meantime cook down onions and meat in olive oil
6. when the onions are slightly browned, add crushed garlic cloves, thyme, mushrooms and carrots
7. let everything brown and then add the cup of spinach until it has wilted
8. add broccoli and cauliflower
9. de-glaze with the red wine, making sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot
10. add chicken stock and bring the soup to a boil and then take it off the heat
11.  take the beets out of the oven and peel and then dice into cubes
12. add to soup and bring the soup back to a boil until the broth is a deep red color
13. salt and pepper to taste and serve with a spoonful of sour cream

Kyochon Chicken

Filed under: los angeles — saehee @ 1:33 pm


chicken salad

chicken sandwich

gracie, as chicken model

kyochon chicken (half spicy/half garlic)
I think the whole Korean fried chicken thing started happening maybe 10 years ago.  I was in Seoul for the Summer and all of a sudden there were these fried chicken places everywhere, all made in the same style: fried and then coated in a spicy red pepper sauce (because red pepper sauce is in everything in korea) and served with pickled radishes.  I think kyochon was the first in an endless parade of korean chicken franchises.  In any case, now kyochon is in Los Angeles, and other parts of southern California.  
Despite having gorged ourselves on pasta at 2 am the night before, grace and I completed the weekend of fattiness with fried chicken.  I attempted to be healthy with the chicken salad but quickly realized that to get anything besides the fried chicken at kyochon is kind of pointless.  Okay, lesson learned.
Kyochon Chicken
3833 W 6th st
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 739-9292

April 25, 2009

UCI Farmers Market

Filed under: farmers market, orange county — saehee @ 6:58 pm

I have a question: Is it farmer’s market (possessive) or farmers market (plural)?  
Strawberries are everywhere.  Asparagus is everywhere.  Beets are everywhere.
I bought:
strawberries, beets, lemon-lavender goat cheese, purple potatoes, asparagus, fill, mint, and blood oranges
I plan on making:
a beet tart with goat cheese and caramelized onions
mint with strawberries and blood oranges
asparagus with dill mustard
roasted dill purple potatoes

Break Of Dawn

Filed under: Uncategorized — saehee @ 6:40 pm

gracie pooh

nancy

eggs benedict with pesto

french toast

egg white omelette with mushrooms, ham, and tomatoes

butternut squash soup
There’s something immensely comforting about seeing nancy and grace, and in particular, nancy and grace at the same time.  We’ve been friends since 2nd grade (approx.) and it’s kind of strange and wonderful to see  all this change between the three of us in a way that we can’t even sum up and probably aren’t even interested in summing up.  We don’t even bother with nostalgia because nostalgia implies that something was lost.  And nothing was lost. 
This morning I happened to be in Laguna Hills and we all met for breakfast at Break Of Dawn, a Vietnamese-American breakfast place.  They have traditional breakfast foods (the things we ordered) but they also had things like oxtail and shrimp rolls, all of which seemed very appetizing, just perhaps not at 8:30 in the morning.  I want to take Saeyoung here.
Also, Break of Dawn is an unfortunate name.  I don’t like it.  Too….too much.
Break Of Dawn
24351 Avenida De La Carlota 
Laguna Hills, Ca 92653
(949) 587-9418

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Filed under: Uncategorized — saehee @ 6:33 pm

maybe not the most appetizing photo but, in fact, very tasty




This cake is very rich and silken in texture, almost custardy, dense and moist.  It may not be for everyone because it’s a tad jiggly but it’s quite good with some vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients:
10 oz semisweet chocolate chopped
7 oz of butter
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
1. preheat oven to 350
2. beat the eggs and the sugar and set aside
3. melt chocolate and butter in a double broiler 
4. whisk in chocolate mixture into the sugar/egg mixture
5. grease a nine inch spring-form cake pan and then coat with cocoa powder
6. pour batter into cake pan
7. place the cake pan in a roasting pan and fill the roasting pan about half way with water
8. cover tightly with foil and bake in oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes
9. it will be very jiggly out of the oven but will harden up once you let it cool

Lanny Pants

Filed under: cooking with friends, los angeles — saehee @ 6:30 pm

lan et marvin

a telling of the future

garlic toast/salad

tomato sauce for pasta

I’m glad Lan Pham moved to Los Angeles, very glad indeed.

April 23, 2009

Teuscher "Toy-sher"

Filed under: Uncategorized — Saeyoung @ 1:32 pm




My friend and I got into a heated debate about the pronunciation of Teuscher Chocolates while passing by the little store on Newbury Street. We stopped in for an Easter Chocolate sale! 

Here’s what we found: 
I especially love those little animal-shaped chocolates. I tried a nougat egg which was quite tasty. It left sticky gunk all over my teeth, just the way nougat should be! 
The speciality is their champagne truffles. I plan on bringing home a box for my sister! 
Mmmm…. Chocolate! 
http://www.teuscher.com/

April 22, 2009

Mutated Junk Food

Filed under: Uncategorized — Saeyoung @ 7:49 pm


First of all, I’ll never be able to keep up with my sister’s post because I simply don’t have a kitchen. 
At first I let this defeat me and stopped trying to contribute to this joint blog. Then it struck me: I just have to think outside the box! 
So — I’ve been providing the college insider look. I know that grocery shopping blog was dismal. But look at these mutated junk foods I’ve been collecting! 
The threesome gummy bears! The cheezit discovery was especially exciting because I feel like it gives you an inside look into how they make them! I always wondered why the edges were perforated. Yeah seriously, I did wonder. No, that’s not that lame. 
Just thought I’d share!
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