Newport Seafood

Just a few miles East of Los Angeles there is a whole world of amazing Asian food in the San Gabriel Valley. You just have to go looking. We are talking incredible Dim Sum, all sorts of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants that specialize in just one thing - tofu, etc, and the most delicious seafood ever at Newport Seafood. This is the kind of place to go to with a big group of people. Their specialty is whole lobster or crab cooked in spices and it's so delicious. We went here this week with my in-laws and had a blast. It's a great place to bring a loud toddler because it's so noisy. Meltdowns won't bother anyone. They have a beef dish that is also a specialty that seems to be more Vietnamese in it's origin - Beef Luc Lac which is also delicious but the shining star is the giant platters of shelfish. If you live in LA or even if you are just visiting this place is so worth the trip.

Mixology.....An Old Cuban

Did anyone see Andy Samberg's hilarious role as a mixologist on Portlandia this season? Check it out here if you haven't seen it. It made me laugh out loud. There are definitely quite a few places in Los Angeles these days where you can get a serious drink a la Andy Samberg - Big Bar in Los Feliz, The Edison and The Varnish downtown, but my favorite watering hole of late was the Tar Pit on La Brea which sadly just closed. 

I am not sure why this place never quite caught it. The room had a really cool art deco vibe and their cocktail program was designed by a woman from Pegu Club in New York. The first time I went with my husband we had a delicious cocktail called an Old Cuban. This drink would be perfect for a summer cocktail party, it has fresh mint and champagne. I am not the best mixologist (frankly it's an awful lot of effort when you are at home) but I aspire to be one. Here is the recipe for a delicious Old Cuban: 

Found via here via here

The Best Steak Recipe Ever

Osteria Mozza is hands down our favorite recipe in Los Angeles. It just never EVER disappoints. We love lots of other places, but time and time again when we have a special occasion or are just desperate for a lovely meal sans toddler we head here. I love the pastas, especially the orrechiette with fennel sausage and chard (so good!!!). Mike's favorite dish is the steak, or the porcini rubbed bistecca to be exact. Recently he completed a very stressful job so I wanted to recreate his beloved dish at home. I actually have the Mozza cookbook at home but their version sounded a bit different then the recipe the waiters described to us on a recent visit.

Here is a simple version I found on-line from the executive chef Matt Molina. It was beyond easy to make and so freaking good. I didn't even use a rib-eye cut, because Whole Foods didn't have it available and it turned out great. I just modified the portions. I think this would work great with any old steak cut:

Tagliata of Porcini-Rubbed Rib Eye

INGREDIENTS

1.     3/4 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, finely ground in a spice grinder (I used the Vitamix and it worked great)

2.     2 tablespoons sugar

3.     1 tablespoon kosher salt

4.     1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

5.     1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

6.     5 garlic cloves, minced

7.     1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

8.     One 3 1/2-pound bone-in rib eye steak (3 inches thick)

9.     Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

1.     In a bowl, mix the porcini powder, sugar, salt, black pepper, red pepper, garlic and olive oil. Rub the paste all over the steak. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours or overnight. Scrape off the excess paste; let the steak stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

2.     Light a grill, or heat a grill pan and preheat the oven to 450°. Grill the steak over medium heat for about 25 minutes per side, until crusty and brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 125° for medium-rare. Alternatively, brown the steak in a grill pan over moderately high heat, about 12 minutes per side, then roast in the oven for about 40 minutes. Let the steak stand for 15 minutes.

3.     Slice the meat across the grain, drizzle lightly with balsamic vinegar and serve with an arugula salad.

Cleanses and Gwyneth and Me

I know most people are probably still thinking about their New Year's party and the idea of a cleanse perhaps hasn't yet crossed their mind. I am already thinking about it since I am guessing my New Years will likely be pretty tame. I must confess that I love a good cleanse. I have tried a few in my day and have always really enjoyed the challenge. Although I haven't always made it to the end.

There was the time I purchased a crazy amount of lemons and cayenne pepper only to realize on day two that the Master Cleanse is way too much for me and that my stomach was upset by all the acidity. But the rest of them have been mostly successes

I have tried some simpler cooking type cleanses - no wheat, no dairy, no sugar, etc. They are often inspired by my guru of many things - Gwyneth Paltrow. Now I realize she is a polarizing figure for some but I love so much of what this woman suggests. I have her cookbook and everything that I've made from it has been easy and so delicious. I have tried the DVD's from the woman responsible for making her body so booming for the last five years - Tracy Anderson.

I actually really enjoyed those until one day our landlady called me husband while at work and asked if I was doing construction work upstairs. No I am obviously just doing a Tracey Anderson Dance Cardio workout! I soon quit that.

But I digress. This year I plan on revisiting an old cleansing friend - BluePrint Cleanse.

This juice cleanse is totally feasible for three days. The number six is super-delicious. After a full day of just juice the almond milk tastes like a vanilla milkshake. This time I am doing the cleanse with a group of coworkers, which should mean that we can encourage each other and we got a discount! Now I know not everyone believes in cleanses. Perhaps they really slow our metabolism down, etc, but for me it's nice every once in a while to just really simplify what you put in your body. I am excited.
p.s. I am a bit ashamed to admit that we do own a nice juicer and a vita mixer. There is really no good reason why I couldn't just make these at home but it's nice to have someone do everything for you. And speaking of juice if you live in Los Angeles you should really check out Naturewell. They make amazing juice and their Coconut Kale Smoothie is to die for. Just saying.

from here

Best Shake Ever

My New Dinner Jam

I may be late in figuring this out but I finally jumped on the slow-cooker bandwagon. This device is a working mom's best friend! Seriously this guy has the best advice. Actually I have been wanting one for some time and my husband and I still have a drawer full of gift cards leftover from our wedding to stores like sur la table and crate and barrel that are just collecting dust. I hope there are not expiration dates on these cards. Anyway I finally caved in a couple weeks ago and bought this guy:

You toss a bunch of stuff inside in the morning before you leave work and when you get home you are bombarded with delicious smells and braised meats or veggies. I have experimented with a few recipes and I must confess I am a bit disappointed there aren't more resources out there for a hip, urban gal who wants to slow-cook something. Most of the websites I found don't seem quite my speed. The best seems to be from my old pal Martha. She has a roundup of a bunch of slow cooked things and so far each one I've tried has been delicious. I think I am going to make this one again tomorrow.

It's chicken with pinto beans and veggies. It was great with some tortillas. I am hopeful that I will find some other great crock-pot or slow-cooker recipes soon. Still not sure exactly what the difference in terms is but oh well.
And I just thought I would add this photo because once again Hank insisted on walking this morning. Our morning strolls now seems to consist of one block (we go back and forth and back and forth) but my God is he proud to be walking.

Our Old Stomping Grounds

Warning if you live in LA this post may be old news to you. During my maternity leave it was difficult to imagine walking more then a few short blocks from our apartment. I was nervous that Hank might start crying and then what (I eventually got over this thank goodness). Luckily our apartment was just above the cutest walking street in Silver Lake. While I love our new home and neighborhood Atwater Village I miss that stretch of Silver Lake BLVD between the reservoir and our old street that houses some of the best shops and food options on the East Side. Being able to roll out the door and throw Hank in the Ergo or the stroller and explore this area was the best.

Lake Boutique

Each journey would always include a stop into Lake where I was proud to be on a first name basis with a few of the people who work here (my husband might say this is NOT a good thing). This is truly the best store ever! They have amazing home goods, beautiful jewelry and the coolest clothes around - think Isabel Marant and Rag and Bone and everything else that I love and mostly aspire to own these days. I dare you to not love it. There is also always a cool espadrille direct from Spain in the summer or some cool rachel comey boot to dream about. If you are on Silver Lake BLVD you must stop here if only for the eye candy.

Lawson Fenning

If Lake is the place I dreamed I would purchase all my clothes from thank god there is a store right next to it where I can purchase all of my new home's furniture and accessories. Lawson Fenning is a really great mix of interesting furniture, beautiful strange accessories like wire industrial lamps and agate book ends. They have some beautiful art books in the back and giant canvas bags that seem like you should fill with an easel, canvas and a baguette and head to Giverny to paint some landscapes with a beret on.This store also has a good dose of masculine goods to you can grab something for your man while you are in the midst of all this shopping. This store is just great eye candy. I have yet to purchase anything from here but they don't seem to mind my endless wanderings. Apparently there is one in West Hollywood as well but I have never been to this location. 

Yolk

Since I have already purchased my fall wardrobe and furnished my home (in my head) I now must purchase a few things for Hank. Now yolk has cute gifts and furniture and clothes for adults too but I feel like where they really excel is with cute, amazing children's things. They have just about everything if you need a gift for a little one or a mama to be. They have so many amazing books and adorable clothing and toys and furniture, etc. And they have great ideas if you walk in a bit clueless late for a friend's child's birthday party. If you ask them what should I get a three-year-old little girl they have brilliant suggestions and they wrap everything up so pretty. Now a word of caution like everything else on Silver Lake Boulevard things can add up here quickly.

LAMILL

If all of that shopping or ogling in my case has made you fatigued luckily there is a high end coffee shop with six different choices in just how to brew your coffee alone right down the street. Seriously LAMILL has the most delicious iced coffee I've ever had. Somehow they manage to make a simple iced black coffee taste like it was dipped in chocolate. There food is really good as well. For you foodies out there the menu was designed by the chef at Providence  one of the most delicious and perhaps most aspirational restaurant of all in Los Angeles (there is a theme emerging). You can get a cold pea soup and a panini in the summer and delicious butternut squash soup in the winter and so much more but I usually go for soup for some reason here. After all that shopping and eating luckily there is the gorgeous reservoir just done the street to walk or jog around with your baby in hand. You can dream about all of the beautiful homes that line this little lake and park yourself in the meadow and just soak up the serene setting and wonder to yourself when did Silver Lake become so full of young, hip families? 

This pic is from my husband's bday party we had here last year. It doesn't do it justice. 

gobble gobble

It is that time of year again when I scour epicurious, martha stewart, bon appetit, old gourmets, and recipe blogs for days on end to try and concoct the perfect turkey day plan. This kind of thorough planning definitely borders on insanity since I have never hosted more then a few people and this year will be no different. We are literally having my step-father, my brother and the three of us (and Hank doesn't really count yet as one full person when it comes to eating although he is close).

 Here he is on his birthday digging into a cupcake. 

I spotted this great plan to cook things in advance on the New York Times website yesterday. Hopefully we will be organized this year and get a lot of our cooking done ahead of time. Here is an image from one of our past Thanksgiving day feasts. 

This year our table should look lovely because first of all it will be the first Thanksgiving we host in our new house! And because our table will be covered in our wedding china. 

I think it is beautiful and elegant and well they don't even make it any more so who knows some day it might be really valuable??? If you were to ask my husband I am not sure he would agree. I know we were not the only couple who were divided on the merits of registering for wedding china. In the end he went along with my love for these gorgeous plates. Hopefully when he sees how incredible our table looks with Empress Elizabeth china filled with Brussels sprouts and corn bread stuffing he will finally see what a great idea it was. We shall see. 

My New Lunch Jam

Atwater Crossing is on the outskirts of Atwater Village. The area reminds me a bit of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There are industrial buildings, artists spaces and even a little theater. There is also a big, shmancy million-dollar plus building complex going up. In the middle of all this growth and happening is Atwater Crossing Kitchen.

I guess this place has been around for a bit but I just discovered it and its great. The seating area is mostly outdoor and you can watch trains whiz by while you are eating a delicious flatbread. The best part for me is we took Hank here over the weekend and there was so much room for him to run around and no one was really bothered by his non-stop running all over the place .