Daisy Mint Thai Restaurant, Pasadena, CA

Daisy Mint in Pasadena has some interesting decor!

Restaurant Week continues (next week is all San Francisco food from my recent trip!)...

We had a work thang at Pasadena City College so after a day of talking and talking, my co-workers and I went to Daisy Mint. I've been here at least four times, and seriously love this Thai restaurant. Knowing that we were going to Daisy Mint after the work event made the day go quickly! :)

Waterfall Pork Salad

grilled marinated pork with shallots, scallions, rice powder and greens with spicy lime dressing ($10.95)

OMG. This is the best. The Best. I could eat this spicy salad, um, every. day. Just go. Just go order it! And you'll see what I mean.

Pumpkin [Kabocha]

with egg and basil in garlic sauce (with Chicken, $8.95)

I love kabocha (Japanese squash pumpkin). It is a sweet, dense squash. This preparation is delicious...the meat isn't even necessary.

Mushroom & Ginger

Fresh ginger sauteed with onions, mushrooms and scallions (with Tofu, $8.95)

Daisy Noodles

rice noodles with red curry, egg, crispy onions, bean sprouts and crushed peanuts (no meat, $8.95)

This was great because we wanted a curry and a noodle dish but there were only four of us...and this dish combined the two flavors!

Close-ups of the Daisy Noodles and the absolutely delicious Waterfall Pork salad. I can't wait to go back and have some more!

Pumpkin Custard Dessert

Kabocha with a custard. Soooo good and interesting! $4.50

Oh yeah, that's a kabocha or pumpkin! And since it was a vegetable to begin with...we put it in the veggie category. Hee hee.

If you are in Pasadena, stop by Daisy Mint for some yummy Thai food!

Restaurant:
Daisy Mint Thai Restaurant
1218 East Colorado Boulevard (walking distance to Pasadena City College, near Zankou Chicken)
Pasadena, CA 91106-1842
(626) 792-2999

85 C Bakery, Irvine, CA

"Restaurant Week...or a bit longer" continues on the blog. I'm cleaning up unfinished restaurant posts, and sharing all the eating out I've been doing lately. After eating at the Guppy House, JustJenn and I headed over to the much loved 85 ° C Bakery in Irvine, CA.

A few weeks ago, the LA Times Food Section profiled the Taiwanese 85 ° C Bakery in Irvine, California (Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2010). Irvine is in Orange County and I don't pass through it very frequently. However, since the Cupcake Camp OC was held in Irvine, JustJenn and I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

The line is long and they limit the number of people in the bakery. But the line goes pretty fast and you can spend your time thinking about what carbs you are going to pick up! :)

The LA Times article describes customers waiting around for staff to bring out a tray of hot bread. When I was in the shop, a man came out and yelled "Taro Bread" - and I grabbed two purple ovals of goodness!

85 ° C Bakery has a large display of refrigerated desserts and cakes, but I was all about the breads! See JustJenn's earlier visit for more photos, including the famous Sea Salt Coffee.

This place is totally worth the wait. I love, love the Taro Bread. I could eat it everyday...and would probably end up looking like a taro. This bread had a swirl of taro paste in it.

JustJenn said these cakes were yummy so I picked up a strawberry and blueberry jam cake. It wasn't until I was home did I discover that coconut surrounded the cake, trapping in the wholesome goodness. A paring knife sliced off the offending coconut! Hey, a girl has to salvage her carbs. The sponge cake was light...and I could eat a bunch of these.

I wanted to fill my tray with so many other goodies, but I did just eat cupcakes all day so I had some self-control. So, if you head into the O.C., I would definitely stop by 85 ° C Bakery

Bakery:
85 ° C Bakery
2700 Alton Parkway, No. 123 (Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center)
Irvine, CA
(949) 553-8585

Guppy House - Kimchi Udon and Popcorn Chicken, Irvine, CA

"Restaurant Week...or a bit longer" continues on the blog. I'm cleaning up unfinished restaurant posts, and sharing all the eating out I've been doing lately. Today it is two posts about Orange County eatin'.

After the sugar coma we got from the Cupcake Camp OC at the beginning of August, JustJenn and I went to Guppy House on Jamboree in Irvine, CA.

JustJenn got the Popcorn Chicken Plate with potato salad. The chicken was mildly spicy but the potato salad was the "sweet" variety. Not her favorite kind of salad. ($7.99)

I ordered the Kimchi Udon Noodles with Pork ($7.99). Holy smokes. When this Harry Potter size cauldron of boiling soup arrived, my eyes grew big. It was quite enormous and suitable for a family of four.

I ordered it mild and it was pretty spicy. Remember, I'm Japanese American and can't handle the heat the some Koreans and Chinese can take! ;) The soup had udon noodles and pork slices. I wish there were a few more noodles and a few less gallons of soup.

Guppy House also has these MASSIVE shave ice with fruit monster dishes. You often see a table full of college students munching on it. And they do serve smaller sizes.

This dinner gave us our strength to stand in line... at 85 C, the most popular bakery in the area. More on that in the next post!

Restaurant:
Guppy House
(949) 851-9788
2730 Alton Parkway STE 101
Irvine, CA 92614
They have other locations in Southern California

The Counter: Custom Built Burgers, Los Angeles

"Restaurant Week...or a bit longer" continues on the blog. I'm cleaning up unfinished restaurant posts, and sharing all the eating out I've been doing lately.

My friends and I went to The Counter recently. I always like to be in control of my ingredients, and The Counter offers that. Although on this trip, it was more like they were in control.

We started with the delicious sweet potato fries. I could eat these everyday (although that doesn't sound like a good idea)! It comes with a Russian dressing-type dipping sauce.

First, just to you know. Our group was famished by the time we got around to getting lunch. We were sooooo hungry. I filled out my order sheet and turned in an order for chicken on a bed of lettuce. However, it wasn't until I ate 95% of the salad did I realize that I didn't get the salad I ordered! I added avocado to my order and selected a different dressing and toppings. But this one was pretty good...and, again, I was so hungry I didn't notice! :)

Beef burger with cheese, bacon and grilled onions. Yes, you can add additional meat to your meat.

Turkey Burger on multigrain bun

I really like The Counter. Some people think it is a little pricey for a burger joint (burgers start at $8.50 and go to $13.50), but I will go anywhere for those fries. Hee hee.

Restaurant:
The Counter: Custom Built Burgers, Los Angeles
Menu
Various locations

Tender Greens, Culver City, CA

The pot and pan haven't been on my dance card lately. I have been eating out a lot. A lot.

So, this is "Restaurant Week...that might get extended for a while" on the blog. Catchy title, no? I have so many random, unfinished restaurant posts that I'm cleaning house! And I went up to San Francisco last week so I'll have some Southern and Northern adventures this week...and maybe next week.

First up, Tender Greens in Los Angeles

Tender Greens is a "fast-service restaurant" (you order at the front, wait for your food, pay and sit indoors or outdoors...what is the proper name for this type of ordering/serving?) The food is very fresh and delicious. They have salads, soups and sandwiches. I've been here twice; they have several other locations as well.

You may think with the name Tender Greens that it is vegetarian or vegan...but no. As evidenced by my marinated flat iron steak salad.

The meat was perfectly cooked and just the right amount. I like a little steak with my salad, not for it to be the focus of the meal. We had a little mis-communication when I ordered it and they made the food to go.

Oh, the mashed potatoes are to die for. I love them. So whipped and melt-in-your-mouth yummy!

My friend got the Tuna Nicoise salad with quail eggs and field greens.

When you need a rest from eating heavy food...head over to Tender Greens!

Restaurant:
Tender Greens
Various locations in California
Culver City Location: 9523 Culver Boulevard Culver City, CA 90232

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread Muffins - Tuesdays with Dorie

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Natalie of Oven Love selected Oatmeal Breakfast Bread on page 44 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. Have you visited Natalie's blog? She's fantastic!

I made mine into muffins because they are easier to give out at the library. I made 12 big muffins and they baked for 21 minutes. Next time, I'm going to double the topping so each muffin gets a little more lovin'.

These muffins are semi-healthy...made with applesauce, oats and dried fruit (along with oil and buttermilk), and have a nice topping of brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts (I used walnuts). I used Turkish dried apricots, but you can use dried anything!

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Recipe:
On Natalie's Oven Love blog, or
Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, page 44

Nectarine Buckle - Everyday Food

Why does summer rock?
Two words: Stone. Fruit.

During the "winter" ("winter" is in quotes because, um, I live in Southern California and the three days of rain and week of cold temps (like 50 degrees!!! Freeeeeeezing!!!) is our "winter"), I eat citrus fruit and imagine they are apricots or plums.

So when the stone fruits start popping up in the farmer's market, I know summer is officially here!

This is a super easy, versatile and delicious stone fruit buckle. Everyday Food's original recipe uses peaches and I've made it before with peaches and blueberries.

I hope you are eating your fair share of stone fruit this summer! I'm sad that school is starting soon...a sign that my stone fruit season will be ending soon. :(

Recipe:
Adapted from Peach Buckle from Everyday Food (November 2003)

Nectarine Buckle
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds nectarines, pitted, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (4 cups)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9" square baking pan with parchment and butter/flour or spray with Pam with Flour. Original recipe uses a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar until fluffy. I used a Kitchen Aid with paddle Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla; beat to combine.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat until incorporated. Fold in nectarines.
4. Spread batter in prepared pan. In a small bowl, mix together remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and almonds. Sprinkle mixture over top; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and topping is golden, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes before serving.
5. I cut mine into squares and placed them in cupcake liners for easy serving.

Winner! 39 8/12 Birthday Giveaway!

Congrats to Laurie of Slush, winner of the $39 8/12 Sur La Table Gift Card for my 39 8/12 birthday...as I head to my 40th birthday. (Picked via Random.org: Entry #22)

I'll be having MONTHLY giveaways until my December 7, 2010 birthday so be sure to come on back and get me to 40. :)

P.S. Sorry I didn't post this last week. I took a trip up to the Bay Area! More on that soon! :)

Cream Puffs or Countdown to 40 Giveaway - I'm 39 8/12 years old!

One cream puff for every year...

As I mentioned exactly a month ago, I'm turning 40 this year. And it kinda knocked me over a bit. So, I started my celebration last month and will continue to celebrate the end of my 30's until December 7, 2010. Today I'm 39 8/12. (And yes, math nerds, I know I can reduce that to 2/3, but just work with me here... ;)

Last week, Chef-in-Training Johnson & Wales student Rosie came over and taught me and my friends how to make Challah (see post here), Cream Puffs and Pastry Cream. I've always been afraid of pastry cream, but Rosie's excellent teaching technique brought us two perfect batches: vanilla and chocolate.

Aren't these cute? Just wait til you see what's inside...

Oh yes! Glorious chocolate and vanilla pastry cream. I could (and did) eat a boatload of these little gems of goodness.

Here is the 8/12th cream puff! :) Heading toward 40...

We used Vanilla Paste - an inexpensive alternative to real vanilla beans. It gives you all the flecks of vanilla beans for much less green.

Making some cream puffs. Rosie brought over her family's sheet tray...um, it has some "patina" on it.

All lined up. Ready to be eaten! :)

To celebrate my birthday, I'm having a MONTHLY giveaway until I turn 40. For the "4 month" countdown, I'm giving away a $39 8/12 Sur la Table gift card to one lucky winner! ($39.67 US Dollar gift certificate to Sur la Table). FCC Disclosure: My birthday giveaways are paid for by me.

To enter, just leave a comment (if you aren't connected to a blog, leave your email address...and if you have a blogger account but it's private so I can't see it...leave your email address). Deadline is Saturday, August 14, 2010 at midnight PDT. (*Updated 8/8: I had Wed 8/14, but that is wrong so it is now corrected to Saturday, 8/14! Thanks Edana for the correction!)

**Updated: Contest is closed. Congrats to Laurie #22 who won!**

Thanks to Rosie for the great pastry class, and thanks to all my readers for the warm pre-birthday messages last month. Yes, 40 is the new 30! Whooo hooo! - mary

Coffee Jello & Coffee-Break Muffins (Wake Up Care Package)

Question: How can you help friends turn from night people into early morning people?
Answer: Caffeine.

I have some friends who switched their work schedule and now start really early in the morning. By the second day of the new schedule, it looked like everyone just got off a transatlantic flight and had some major jetlag.

So, I made a Wake Up Care Package. Everything with sugar. Everything with caffeine. That's how I roll. Well, that's how I gift.

I made Coffee Jello. Since I first created and posted this recipe, it has been much clicked on and made. And I must say, It. Is. Fantastic. If you are a coffee drinker, you'll like it.

I also made Dorie Greenspan's Coffee-Break Muffins.

The only problem with this care package is that as I was preparing it for delivery, I kept eating the end pieces of the Coffee Jello and had to try one of the muffins (quality control people, quality control). But I don't drink caffeine so I got so. freaking. wired. My heart was racing and I was talking a mile a minute. I already talk fast, so I was like that "vintage" FedEx commercial guy.

Then I got a big headache and remembered why I don't have caffeine. Anyway, make these treats for a friend (who is accustomed to caffeine) as an edible wake up call.

P.S. Come back on Saturday as I lurch toward my 40th birthday. I'll be 39 8/12 and I'll be having another giveaway!

Recipes:
Coffee Jello (blog entry and printable recipe)

Coffee-Break Muffins
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup strong coffee, cooled
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 stick)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I added)

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Prep 12 muffin cups.
2. In a big bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Stir in the brown sugar, making sure there are no lumps.
4. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk the coffee, melted butter, egg, and vanilla until combined. (I used Starbucks VIA (one packet). Since the coffee needs to be cool, I used about 1/3 cup boiling water, mixed til dissolved, and filled it with 2/3 cup cold water.)
5. Add mini chocolate chips. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and, with a whisk, gently but quickly stir to blend; don't overmix.
6. Scoop into muffins. I use an ice cream scoop.
7. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean. Transfer pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Capital Seafood Dim Sum, Monterey Park

Happy Graduation Alison!

Celebrating high school graduation of Alison (left) with her cousins, Jessica and Dominic!

My friend Jessica treated her cousin to a dim sum brunch recently. Dim Sum and Los Angeles County can only mean a drive to the San Gabriel Valley. We went to Capital Seafood in Monterey Park. It shares a parking lot of several other Chinese stores and a big Ranch 99 supermarket. There may be a billion people in China, but I think half of them were fighting for parking in that lot. Hint: Look for street parking around the block.

As with most Chinese restaurants serving dim sum, they ain't messing around. Service is fast and it's crowded. We waited about 30 minutes for our party of five to get seated.

Capital Seafood was recommended for dim sum served on carts by Jonathan Gold (yes, he answered my tweet! How freakin' awesome is that?). I really like Elite for non-cart dim sum.

There were only five of us and we were super hungry so I didn't get photos of everything! But it was yummy...although I never found the Chinese broccoli cart. Oh well, we finished off the meal at Yogurtland!

Capital Seafood
755 W Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 282-3318