Lemonade and Sushi

Two weeks of holiday vacation is simply amazing. Yes, I miss my co-workers but having this extra time has been so great. Granted I’ve spent the majority of the time in my own home doing a whole lot of nothing, but that’s honestly a vacation in itself. Besides keeping myself warm underneath my blankets, I’ve managed to get out and eat at a couple great restaurants.

Last night I ate at Miru 8691. Located in Beverly Hills, this kitchy sushi restaurant offers fresh fish in very unique combinations. Not only are the names of some of the rolls named after designers (Prada, Gucci, Tiffany’s), but the booths are embossed in Louis Vuitton pattern. I’m not kidding. Like I always do, I ordered the Seaweed Salad, which was so beautifully presented. The next thing I ordered may sound peculiar, but it was nothing but DELICIOUS. Get ready for it…Calvin Fries. For those of you that don’t know what these are, these fries come with spicy tuna, melted cheese, tomato salsa, and garlic aioli. Finally, I ended my meal with the Crab and Shrimp Cut Roll (avocado, asparagus, crab & shrimp). This restaurant is moderately priced and has a great happy hour.

Today, I finally got the chance to eat at Lemonade. Ever since my sisters told me about this place a couple months back, I’ve been dying to eat here. Did this place live up to my high expectations? Yes, and then some! This restaurant offers a large eclectic mix of salads, sandwiches, soups, desserts and of course, lemonade. Today, I decided to go with some salads. You can order the salads individually, or in 2 or 3 sized portions. But, if you’re like me and want to try everything they offer ½ portions as well--thus, you can get (2) ½ portions, (4) ½ portions or (6) ½ portions. I highly suggest going with other people so you can try everything. One of my sisters got the Red Miso Beef Short Rib Sandwich and my other sister got the Moroccan Chicken, Dates and Ginger Stew. Everything was flavorful, fresh and delightful. No meal is a meal without a drink, so we ordered the Asian Pear Basil Lemonade. This beverage was sweetened to perfection and served with crushed ice. Definitely coming back to this place very soon.

MIRU 8691

Seaweed Salad

Calvin Fries

Crab & Shrimp cut roll

The End

LEMONADE

Chicken, Morroccan & Date Stew

Watermelon, radish, ahi tuna, snap peas and sesame salad

Chicken, jicama, tarragon green goddess salad

Israeli couscous, wild mushroons, parmesan, lemon truffle salad

Asian pear basil lemonade

6 different salads!

Red miso beef short rib, picked red onion and mizuna sandwich

Cupcakes!

Lemonade for the road?

A few of my favorite foods

Ok, let's be honest.. it's way too difficult to name one food item as my favorite - there are simply way too many choices to pick just one. Thus, I decided to take a look back on the past couple months and show you some of my top choices. This rainy weather, along with Florence + the Machine tunes in the background, calls for the perfect setting to blog. 

#1 - Perfect Grilled Cheese - Grafton farms aged cheddar on pain de mie, pan-grilled in butter and served with soup made from seasonal market tomatoes (The Edison)

Photo taken by Natalie Shabtai

By far, this is the best combo for any occasion (especially a cold one). I'm not a huge tomato soup fan, but this soup is amazingly rich and full of flavor. And the grilled cheese was just perfect...grilled cheese is kind of hard to mess up, but when you find a great one, make sure to hold onto it forever. 

#2 - French Fries - Crispy fried and thick (Jack n' Jill's)

Photo taken by Natalie Shabtai

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Let's be serious, I don't discriminate when it comes to french fries. I love them in all different shapes, colors and sizes. Luckily for me, there's a Jack n' Jill’s right downstairs from where I work so I treat myself to these from time to time. They are simply delicious! Fried just right and seasoned with the precise amount of salt and pepper.

#3 - A.) Beef Burger Sliders - Char-grilled burgers with caramelized red onion & remoulade rouge. Served on house-made potato dill buns. B.) Garlic Chips (Finn McCool's Irish Pub)

Photo taken by Natalie Shabtai

Photo taken by Natalie Shabtai

These beef sliders come in 3 and have a robust flavor in every bite. The biscuit-like bun is delicious and toasted just right. The sliders go great with Finn's garlic chips. Because almost every chip is drenched in garlic and spice, make sure not to go overboard (or you will be burping up garlic for quite some time). YUMEEE.

Lastly, I want to leave you with some beautifully prepped and deliciously tasting holiday dishes I came across just last week...

Holiday Treats - CEG party

Hope you're staying warm and dry out there!
 

Photo taken by Natalie Shabtai

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Photo taken by Natalie Shabtai

Try and say snickerdoodle blondies five times really, really fast. Okay, you don’t really have to. Instead, you should make this super-fantastic-delicious recipe! I was inspired to make these little treats for one of my favorite co-workers, in honor of her birthday. Since she can’t eat chocolate I wanted to bake her something she would thoroughly enjoy…and then it hit me. She’s a blonde, so why not make her some blondies! As I was searching for the perfect recipe, I came across something even better than your ordinary blondie: Snickerdoodle Blondies. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. I sure hope she likes these…I can certainly say my nose did.

Recipe
Adapted from my baking addiction
Ingredients

2 & 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

For those wanting to add a little more explosion to this recipe, you can add one or a combination of:

• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
• 1/2 cup mashed bananas

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy - for about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla. Beat, scraping the bowl, until thoroughly combined.

4.  On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Give the dough a final stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to make sure the flour is incorporated.

5. Spread the dough evenly into the pan (the batter will be a bit thick, but that’s perfectly fine). Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

The process...

Photo taken by Natalie Shabtai

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crumby can sometimes be a good thing

This past weekend was great! Yes it may be the middle of December, but someone must have placed me in a time machine because it definitely felt like summer. This is why I will always love LA. Besides my typical excitement for flips flops, dresses and sunshine, I was thrilled to try a few new things: a new restaurant, a new recipe and a new bite.

Oysters. I wish it were as easy to say as it was for me to try. I have to admit it took me a while to finally eat this little sea creature- but once I did I realized it wasn’t all that bad. Will I eat it again? Maybe – depending on the situation I guess. And no I didn’t go fishing; I got the chance to eat at one of West Hollywood’s newest restaurants, Eveleigh. Eveleigh features seasonal, local-farm and market fresh food with influences of old-world European and American country cooking. This place has the best ambiance and sitting outside is highly recommended.  Because their menu features so many unique items, it’s a good idea to order 4 different plates and share them all! This is a great night spot to go to with a group of friends or on a date.

As my weekend came to an end, I couldn’t let it pass me by without trying out a new recipe. Lucky for me, I was invited to a friends brunch. I decided to make blueberry crumb bars because just reading the recipe made my mouth salivate. This brunch was a success and the french toast that Jori made practically melted in my mouth. Great job everyone!

                                                       Blueberry Crumb Bars
                                                       Adapted from Allrecipes.com

These are easiest to cut once chilled, and store even better in the fridge than they do at room temperature.

Makes about 20-24 small squares.

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. (Because I was in a rush, I let the bars sit outside for a few to cool a little faster)

Eat and Enjoy!

The ingredients

Lemon Zest!

The crumb process...

Pat down crumb dough into tray

Blueberries, cornstarch and sugar mixture.

Pat down remaining crumb mixture

Alternative: Cool outside on the balcony

Cut into squares once completely cooled. 

JORI'S FRENCH TOAST.