food – Page 9 – branching out… on a limb

Buried Treasure, Restaurant Style- The Grill’s “Forest Mushroom Ravioli with Homemade Almond Pesto”

Ever notice how some of the most scrumptious little food spots are tucked away in some obscure spot? The best food always is.

We have been hitting this spot known simply as “The Grill” for years. Brothers Henry and Edwin Bautista and their crew do a fabulous job at packing the parking lot of a tiny strip mall behind the Sorrento Valley Coaster station. Good luck trying to get to it and our favorite coffee shop, Zumbar. And you know what? It pleases me to no end that the difficulty of successfully navigating your arrival to this place is directly proportional to the deliciousness of these two joints. That’s how The Universe of Great Food works. I figure that only really interested people will try to find their way here… consider it equivalent to buried truffle that only the most persistent dogs and pigs can locate.

On Wednesdays, The Grill serves a home made Albondigas Soup- Mexican Meatball Soup. They make a mean bowl of Albondigas and if I’m eating lunch with The Husband on a Wednesday, this is our spot. I love soup.

FullSizeRender — Mushroom Ravioli with Almond Pesto

But I’m also the knucklehead who, back in January, announced that I would be doing something new every day in 2015. So, instead of my favorite soup I tried a different dish off the specials board- “Forest Mushroom Ravioli with Homemade Pesto.” The pasta was great, not blown out with over cooking. The ravioli’s stuffing is just right for the amount of pasta and full of a really lovely minced portobello mushroom. Homemade pesto took the stage, however, and I’ve enjoyed enough good pesto over the years that I could tell that they weren’t using pine nuts, but for the life of me, couldn’t tell what they used instead. Henry is nice- he didn’t torture me by withholding the info- he shared the almond secret. It would have driven me nuts trying to figure it out (ha- nuts… see what I did? LOL!)

Really, I can’t say how glad I am that I’m sticking to trying new things. I can’t tell if it has been more rewarding or more delicious… maybe both? There is still a lot more to 2015. Here’s to rut-busting!

What's on the menu, Henry and Edwin? — What’s on the menu, Henry and Edwin?

Hey, Vinnie! What’s Today’s Special?

Cruised through Tumblr today and came across SpecialBored, the home of Vinnie’s Pizza on Tumblr.

For a good laugh, go visit!

specialbored.tumblr.com. “special boards from vinnie’s pizza in brooklyn by sean berthiaume”

As seen on Jimmy Kimmel, so you know it’s good!

“ERMAHGERD, PERZZA! (I know it’s old but I just wanted to)”

New Tricks with Old Friends- Aqua Hiking and Kung Pao Calamari (Bonus! Make a Friend Try Ahi Poke)

Friends visiting us from out of town? A visit to Torrey Pines is mandatory.

Torrey Pines State Preserve this Friday… so lovely:

Stunning blue sky, green pines, and red cliffs, two days ago... — Stunning blue sky, green pines, and red cliffs, two days ago…

Southern California is experiencing a severe drought right now. So, when the friends from Indiana are visiting, what do we get for the weather? Two days of steady rain thanks to Hurricane Dolores. I didn’t snap any pictures of the ominous grey and black clouds as they rushed up on us, but did find this lovely photo online. Imagine the fog like this… just coming down in buckets:

This is the closest photo I could come up with- Torrey Pines in the fog... (photo credit to andrewharper.com) — This is the closest photo I could come up with- Torrey Pines in the fog… (photo credit to andrewharper.com)

Our hike today started with clear skies, but by mid-morning, the hurricane bands started coming up from the south. And fast. By the time we started the return hike, the skies opened up and we enjoyed (!?!) the rest of the walk along the water’s edge and the base of the cliffs in the pouring rain. At least we had the warm rain and beach to walk along!

Very VERY wet hikers make it to the car... — Very VERY wet hikers make it to the car…

By the time we made it back to the car we were soaked to the skin. I amazed that we managed to keep the cameras and phones dry. The hair dryers and styling products were a waste of time this morning. We looked (and felt) like we had jumped in a pool.

We finished the evening at a favorite fish restaurant, Bay Park Fish Company, where we talked two of the most unlikely of diners to try ahi poke- they didn’t die nor did they hate it! I had to try something new to eat since hiking in a total downpour wasn’t good enough for my New Thing o’ the Day. Kung Pao Calamari- yum. It is on the appetizer list, but with a side of rice, voilà- dinner.

Here you go, Scott, proof of your wife trying the ahi poke:

Kung Pao Calamari with a side of rice- delish.

World’s Best Pie Crust (and Bonus Peach Cobbler Recipe, woo hoo!)

What is this? How can someone make such brazen culinary claims? The audacity!

No, really. This recipe solves a few problems that stand between you and pastry goodness, such as:

Water + flour = gluten (tough crust)
six ingredients, real foods
really fast, easy, little work, less mess!

Food Chemistry Lesson!
When you mix flour with water, you create gluten strands. You want bread to develop a lot of gluten, bread gets a lot of kneading. Gluten makes great bread, but tough biscuits and pie crusts. Pastry dough should be moved around as little as possible.

Trader Joe's, cheap and good! — Trader Joe’s, cheap and good!

This recipe hinges on using your food processor, really cold butter, and one secret ingredient: vodka.

World’s Best Pie Crust Recipe (adapted from Alton Brown)
(for single crust)

Ingredients ready... — Ingredients ready…

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick very cold butter (8 tablespoons)
1/4 cup vodka and ice water mix
(A couple of green olives, optional)

-Into your food processor bowl add the flour, sugar and salt and give them a couple hits of the mix button.
-In a graduated measuring cup, pour in 1/4 cup of water, add another 1/4 cup of vodka (now you have 1/2 cup of liquid), then add ice cubes to top it off up to the 3/4 cup line; none for the baker, yet… you have to wait a couple more minute.

-Cut butter into small cubes and add to dry mixture, pulse in the processor until the chunks of butter are rice or pea sized.

-Now you are ready to add only 1/4 cup worth of your water/vodka/ice… be honest, your cocktail. Pulse the processor blade only enough times to bring together the flour mix and liquid mix, this is where you really want to avoid overmixing. I think my dough came together in less than 10 pulses.

-Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour or more. Roll out as you need!

Now you can drink the remaining1/2 cup vodka/water/ice mix cocktail! This is where the optional olives come in. Be ready for a lot of great/obnoxious comments from your family

Peach Cobbler

6-8 peaches, sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon tapioca (the small, dry, dessert pudding size of tapioca)
1 recipe of the above pie crust rolled out to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
optional cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top of crust (about 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, mixed)

-In a bowl, mix peaches, sugar, cinnamon, and tapioca together.

-Butter a 9″ by 9″ glass pan (my favorite) and add peach mixture.

Extra dough on tray makes crusty cookies!

-Roll out dough, handling it as little as possible so it will not be tough, and slice or tear the dough into palm sized pieces to lay atop the peaches. No need to be fancy trying for a perfect 9″x 9″ crust, handle the dough as little as possible and your cobbler’s crust will be tender and flaky! Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mix on top of the crust for a nice finish, if you like. That is what I do.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then lover temperature to 350 for another 30 minutes. Let the cobbler cool for ten minutes, top with ice cream if that’s what floats your boat, and enjoy!

Half gone before we got a photo. Delicious!

Cheesy Crackers… because I’m Sick of Soup and Tea

Thought I’d try a recipe that I’ve had for a while, one for home made cheesy crackers… kind of like Cheez-its. My kids love those crackers and whenever they eat a lot of something, I like to see how a home made version might turn out. ChewOutLoud.com had a super simple recipe- four ingredients: cheddar, flour, butter, and salt. That’s it. I didn’t want to mess with a lot of ingredients or kitchenware with this crummy cold I have, but I’ve been bored with just TV and reading, I needed to create something. And of course, I had to make a few changes, so my recipe follows-

Cheesy Crackers

1 1/2 shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup flour
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut up
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Put all the ingredients into food processor bowl, and blend until the dough starts to come together- 30 to 60 seconds. Don’t overwork the dough, think of it as a cousin of pie crust and if it mixes too long the crackers will be tough.

Flatten dough into three disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough disks one at a time to about 1/8th of an inch thick and cut into squares of approximately one inch.

Place on baking tray, and poke the pre-crackers a couple of times with the flat end of a skewer (optional), and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until they start to brown lightly.

These were really tasty, but I think I still overworked the dough- 30 seconds was probably all the mixing it needed. Also, they are unbelievably greasy, until you think about how much cheese and butter there is to so little flour. Probably why they are so tasty, too!

If you have young kids, you really ought to try this recipe or a similar one. I bet they would really enjoy making their own cheesy crackers! Mine came out less crispy as store bought crackers, so I put them back in the oven for a bit longer- if you do this, watch out, they brown very fast.

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