Tkb (The Kebab Shop)

     Get ready for this one.  I can honestly say one of the most pleasantly surprising meals I've had in a while.  I've frequented this place many times as there is one so close to my work in Poway, but never seemed to have ordered this until one day I just decided to try it out.  Now I've heard in the past from the workers "would you like that California style" and never really thought anything of it.  Thankfully I decided to give it a try and behold this awesomeness!

 

Lamb and Beef Doner Kebab "California Style"

 

      The down side to this meal is the add on is about 3 dollars bringing price to about 10 dollars for the Doner itself but this is more than enough to satisfy you and I have a pretty monster appetite so that is saying a lot.  What makes it California Style is the addition of French Fries and very good creamy Feta, reminiscent to what is added in a California Burrito.  I've always thought a basic lamb beef Doner was a great meal in itself because the Kebab Shop always has very fresh crispy vegetables and the amount of food is perfect but the additions certainly make it a different beast of a meal.  You get more texture and the rich salt creaminess of the chunks of feta are out of this world. Make sure you get extra garlic yogurt sauce with the your Doner and the addition of the sumac pictured above adds a mild smokey acidity to every bite.  At the end of your meal do not forget the "After Doner Mints".... Great Pun TKS!  Enjoy Peeps.

Bon"quiche"sha

Bonjour

     Posting up a completely scratch quiche I did for the fams about a couple weeks ago.  I know anything like hand made pie shells always make people double think that maybe this is to hard.  All you have to do is get your hands a bit dirty and it will be well worth the effort,  just like many things in life right?  Look how great this looks!

Arugula and Maple Sausage Quiche

For Pie Shell

AP Flour 2cups

Salt 1Tbsp

Melted Butter 1/2 Cup

Water 2Tbsp

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate.  Cover and let rest for 30 minutes for ingredients to absorb into the flour before rolling out.  Flour a work surface and with a rolling pin roll out a thin even circle of dough that will cover your whole pie tin.  Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and par back shell by using beans and parchment in the bottom of the shell to prevent rising for about 12 minutes.

For Filling

Eggs 4 Each

Arugala 2 Cups

Sliced Sausage 1 Cup

Sharp Cheddar 1 Cup

Julliene Yellow Onion 1/2 Onion about 1 Cup

Kosher Salt TT

Black Pepper TT

First scramble eggs then combine the rest of the ingredients and fold into the egg.  Pour mixture into the par baked pie shell then bake for another 10 to 12 minutes until eggs are fluffy and bouncy, be careful not to over cook the eggs.

Surprised even my 2 year old Jacob loved it.  Finished it with some fresh fruit and boom!  Easy but fancy!  Enjoy

The Laotian Spot!

    Much apologies for the long absence but I am back and with some pretty good content (not biased at all)!  This one will be a review of a restaurant in Murrieta called Noodle Land that I found on accident because of Mel's cousin Ryan and his wife Boonmee.  Shoutout Chicagoans!  She definitely schooled me in the magical wonders of Laotion food so without delay please feast your eyes on this lunch that I rave to anyone and everyone about.

Green Papaya Salad and Fresh Beef Jerky

     Now we had this with traditional Lao style sticky rice not the dessert kind with coconut and mango.  The sticky rice is made over a stove top in a cone shaped bamboo steamer allowing the natural rice starches to stay in the rice and produce a sticky translucent accent to the two dishes above.  The green papaya salad is a traditional Som Tam but Lao style which has a bit more acidity than the Thai style.  The Jerkey are thin strips of beef marinated in Lemon Grass, Garlic, and some secret ingredients I am not sure of then fried to order. You almost get a chewy cure type of flavor enveloped in a bunch of aromatics.  

     These three components together gave me a feeling I haven't felt in a long time which I can only describe in this sentence, "WTF ALL OF THIS WORKS TOGETHER AND TASTES SO GOOD."  I put the all caps because that's how it felt like I said it in my mind the first time I had this.  Boonmee and Ryan proceeded to eat with their hands using the sticky rice and making a perfect vessel to make the perfect bite with the rest of the food.  I would like to thank the Gube family especially Ryan for marrying Boonmee and letting me experience this type of cuisine which I have to fight the urge of spending all my money on for my meals everyday. 

     Everyone go out and try this place and order these three things,  I highly recommend it! 

     Disclaimer: I got a 5 out of 10 on the spicy scale on the papaya salad and Mel said her mouth was on fire so order accordingly.  Enjoy you won't regret it!

Playing w/ Food!

Good Day!

     So who doesn't love some French Toast?  That's what I thought!  So for good measure lets stuff this French Toast with some sweet salty creamy tart goodness.  This is the Cream Cheese and Lingon Berry French Toast.  You know those berries that Ikea puts on all their plates in their restaurant, well they go great in this dish adding some nice tart acidity to cut through the sweet batter of the French toast.  

Lingon Berry and Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast 

(1 Serving)

2 Slices Texas Toast

1Tbs Lingon Berry Preserves

3/4 Cup Soft Cream Cheese

French Toast Batter

     2 Whole Eggs

     1 Cup Whole Eggs

     1 Tps Ground Cinnamon

     1 Pinch Ground Clove

     1 Pinch Ground Ginger

     1/2 Cup Confectioner Sugar (Save Some for Garnish)

     1 Vanilla Bean or 1Tps Imitation Vanilla

     Mix together French Toast Batter ingredients until well incorporated.  Dip a slice of Texas Toast until well soaked but not saturated (I know its an art!).  If you don't soak enough batter the middle will be dry because the bread is thick,  If you saturate the bread completely its can becom every dense so find the right amount to make a fluffy French Toast.

Dipping the Texas Toast

     Next you want to use a griddle if possible that way you get even heat distribution.  The hard part of doing it in a normal pan is the bread will most likely burn because it is hard to control the heat.  I would suggest and electric griddle with a thermostat to get a nice even color on the French Toast if you have trouble control heat on a conventional burner.  To start you want to cook one side of the soaked Texas Toast flip over then put in your fillings.

Stuffed French Toast on the Griddle

     You'll know you are done when the cheese gets melty (You can finish this in the oven if you want really bubbly cheese,  just place in a oven safe pan and bake at 300 Degress F for 10 or so minutes.  Assemble the 2 slices together like a sandwich and cut on the diagonal.  I suggest real 100%  maple syrup if possible.  Very easy dish brought to another level.  Enjoy!  My spoiled counterpart sure did!

Assembling the French Toast

Lingon Berry and Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast!

Sweet Potato Shrimp Fries

Konichiwa!

     Well I cant take all the credit for this dish because it was actually my attempt to recreate a great idea.  I have to give props to Saw Leaf Vietnamese Food in the Anaheim Packing District,  They had this dish on special and of course I had to try it myself.  It was about 4 dollars for a small sized french fry cardboard tray equivalent to an In and Out order of fries.  In my mind it seemed like all the flavors made sense and boy did they.  You get a sweet, salty, herby, spicy kick all in one as well as a crispy texture, whats not to love!

     Of course me being the constant chef minded guy I had to know how to recreate it myself even make it better dare I say.  Who am I kidding I automatically knew what to do to make it better!  Humble brag.  Anyways here is my recipe for my recreation and check out the platting below.  I served these family style and before I knew it they were all gone thanks to my staff.  The best part is this dish is so easy!

Sweet Potato Shrimp Fries (Serves 2)

Premade Sweet Potato Fries (Matchstick is the best to keep the crispy texture)

1lb 20/25 White Mexican Shrimp

1 Cup Diced Spring Onion

1 Cup Sriracha Mayonnaise

     1 Tbs Sriracha

     1 Cup Mayonnaise

     1/2 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar Unseasoned

     2 Tbs Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Lemon or Lime Whole

Kosher Salt TT

Black Pepper TT

Season defrosted shrimp with oil salt and pepper and char broil on highest setting being careful not to over cook the shrimp but getting great grill marks, about 3 minutes a side.  You want to look for a great char to add a smokey note to the dish.  Let cool to room temperature about 10 minutes and coarsely ground the shrimp with a knife or I used a robot coop or food processor.  Don't cut the shrimp when it is too hot or you will release the juices from the shrimp causing a dry product as well as steaming while you cut which makes the shrimp soggy and lose its texture.  In a food processor or blender (I prefer the food processor you get better emulsification I feel because it has a whipping motion more than a blend creating an airy sauce) combine the ingredients for the Sriracha Mayo and incorporate well.  Fry your sweet potatoes to your desired doneness I like it at 350 degrees for 6 minutes so they are pretty crispy but not burned.  Layer the fries first, then the Sriracha mayo, then the ground shrimp, finish with spring onions and salt and pepper.  Before eating squeeze the fresh acid over the fries and please be prepared with tissue to wipe away your tears of happiness. Buon Apetito!

Sriracha Mayonnaise

Grilled White Mexican Shrimp

Sweet Potato Shrimp Fries w/ Lemon Halves

Sweet Potato Shrimp Fries!

Hot Summer Soup

Yo!

     As always, I hope your day has been peachy and much appreciation for reading!  Today I'll be reviewing a place in Irvine called Boiling Point.  Mel has been raving about this place so of course, I had to come and give it a try.

     Boiling Point is a mid to high price range Taiwanese style hot soup restaurant.  The ambiance is a bit hipster with black walls and very dim lighting.  There was an abundance of staff which was great. They did serve water out of styrofoam cups which I found a bit weird but I guess as long as you get iced water and they did do a great job of making sure it was filled to the brim (for me, this is always a deciding factor as to how much I tip them).  The menu is very simple, 10 preset hot soup items made it easy to order.  It was a simple as ordering, "Number 9," which was the Japanese Hot Miso Style Soup.  After you order you get a choice of a side of rice or vermicelli (thin rice noodles), I ordered the vermicelli.  Everything is pretty standard, but something that wasn't standard was the metal stands that they bring the soups out on.  These metal stands hold the soup you order and had chipping gel that they place on fire in the bottom of the stand that held a steel wok-style soup pot on top.  Then they place it table-side keeping your soup boiling hot for a good 25 to 30 minutes.  As you eat the soup you're left with more vegetables and meat then broth so the servers will come around and refill your broth anytime you ask.  Service was prompt and we were well attended to so from that aspect this restaurant is great.

     Now on to the food!  I'll start with my soup...I ordered the Japanese Miso Style Soup with mild spiciness (you can choose how spicy you want).  The broth wasn't the best I've ever had but it was still pretty good.  In the soup they had maitake & enoki mushrooms and that alone sold me on the dish.  The mushrooms added a great light umami flavor to the broth.  Under the hot soup there were tofu cubes, fried tofu skin slices as well as thinly sliced pieces of pork.  They did add way too much cabbage for my liking as I ended up with about a quarter of a cabbage left over at the end of my meal. There was even half of a shell crab and a single Little Neck clam added to the soup which were great but so small in portion to actually enjoy so I'll call those a garnish.  All in all, I would rate the dish a 6 1/2 out of 10, maybe a flat 6 because of the price.  This dish was considered a premium item costing me $16.99 for the whole meal.  For a fair price (food cost wise), I would charge $12.99, which just happens to be their lunch price.  The biggest flaws I saw were the lack of the seafood additions and a lack of the fermented miso flavor that I love in my broths.  

     Now on to Mel's dish who ordered their House Special Soup.  Although the dish had great flavor, there was a prominent smell from the tripe and intestine that they used to make the broth.  Now Mel has no sense of smell so I can't fault her for not catching this aroma, but my son's meal was the rice with a little bit of her broth.  This boy, who is now two and a half, proceeded to review the dish himself calling it "Stinky!" haha!  Mel still said she would eat this everyday if she could, especially since you're able to add more broth to whatever you can't finish of your hot pot and take it to-go, which in itself is a full meal to eat later (she says it's like a two-for-one deal).  In addition to the soups there were an array of different sauces on the table.  There were two types of chili pastes and one sweet sesame concoction that actually complimented the soups very well.  What you would do is scoop the soup out of the hot pot into a smaller bowl where you can add your rice noodles or in Mel's case ramen noodles (which is an additional price), then if you wanted you could finish your bowl with the side sauces.  When you go to try this place do not try the soup straight out of the hot pot as you will severely burn yourself like a certain idiot I know who shall remain nameless...I would personally only go there for lunch as I feel the value is rather fair compared to dinner.  I've mentioned in earlier posts that when I review a dish or a restaurant I take food costs into account as well as service and quality.  It's really hard for me not to take the food costs into account being in the industry and knowing how much all of this costs.  Would I come here again?  Sure!  But next time I'll go for lunch.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  Happy eating!

Boiling Point in Irvine

Japanese Miso Style Soup (closer hot pot) and the House Special Soup

Side Dish of Vermicelli (to add to your soup when it arrives)

Simple Is the Best

Good day everyone!

     Hope everyone is doing well! The purpose of this post is to review a restaurant I recently ate at.  The premise starts with a random gathering of friends that haven't seen each other for quite a while, I wonder why it's so hard to keep in touch no matter how close your friends are?  I guess it's the demands of life in general and especially a person around my age where everyone's getting married and starting to have families of their own.  Reminds me that we have a lot of weddings to attend to next year, are we all grown up now?  I start to think so but when I'm around my boys, they give me reason to second doubt myself haha.  I guess I just want to reiterate that your friends are precious and always take the time to spend time with them whenever you have the opportunity.  

     So we decided to eat at a place where a majority of my group used to work, Upper Crust Pizza in Vista.  I consider the whole group a bunch of foodies so to choose this place to eat is I guess uncommon for us.  But we were looking for something quick and simple but not too quick and simple, know what I mean?  The picture below is a dish I had a lot in high school while my friends were working there.  I decided to order my usual from many years back which was a Roast Beef Sandwich and a Garlic Cheese Pizza Bread.  Even though I noticed the staff are all a bunch of people I didn't know, I found the food to be just as good as I remember.  This place is very family friendly and all the ingredients are very high quality without that very high quality wallet breaking price.  This hot sandwich, which they make with pizza dough and your choice of meat and cheese then finish off in their pizza oven, is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had which I can say with the utmost confidence.  First of all, it comes to you warm which is very important and you can tell it was made to order.  The dome gives it a great texture having a very crispy outside and it's very soft inside which does well to soak up all the flavors from the juices of the meat.  I know not a lot of people tend to hold this in high regard but the quality of their cheese and even their vegetables are great.  Not to mention the sandwiches are a lot bigger than I remember as I was only able to finish half of the sandwich and half the pizza bread.  Better yet the cost of this meal was a whopping $11 for which I was able to split into two meals.  Now on to the pizza bread (I like to call it garlic bread on crack). They actually throw this dough to order and instead of being just bread with cheese on it like most other places, they use their high quality cheese with some delicious house made garlic butter.  Paired with their house made ranch, you got yourself a winner not only on the garlic bread but with the hot sandwiches as well.  

     The general consensus in my opinion is that this is a great place to eat as I have been coming here for years.  The only reason I don't come here more often, which is probably a good thing, is because I live about an hour away.  I know it seems like I am just reviewing a mom-and-pop pizza restaurant,  but I really feel like it's more than that.  Being in the food industry, you know how bad food costs have risen and for them to be able to stick to using the same quality ingredients is really a testament to their dedication to bringing their customers great flavor all while not breaking the bank.  If you haven't been here, and I doubt that you haven't if you've been a resident of Oceanside and Vista, let this be motivation for you to go and try the place.  When I eat, I tend to really break down what I'm tasting, like the cost and quality of the ingredients and I'll always give my two cents on my opinion of the food.  Mel really hates it because she says I ruin every meal for her haha.  But I am one of those people that if you want to charge me $12 for a burger it better be a dang good burger and if I can tell that the quality meets the price, I'd be more than willing to pay.  Do you know of any other good mom-and-pop places in the North County/San Diego/Temecula areas that I haven't heard of? I'd be more than willing to go try and compare opinions.  Also sorry for that first bite in the picture I couldn't control myself!  

Roast Beef Hot Sandwich and Garlic Cheese Pizza Bread