Where food and travel collide.

Latest

Getting Quenched at the Eagle Rock Brewery Tour

At 4 p.m. on Sunday, I found myself giggling down the street in front of the Eagle Rock Brewery, mostly because I’m a lightweight, but also because I had started drinking at an unnatural hour. My boyfriend held me by the waist as support, but could not control his laughter at my incoherent babble. “How did this happen?” you may ask. Well, I had taken a free tour of the brewery and of course, had been cajoled into purchasing two pints, one for me and one for the boyfriend, both of which I finished mostly by myself.

The building that houses the Eagle Rock Brewery is situated in the not-so-safe-appearing side of Atwater Village, a couple of blocks away from Ribet High School. On our way to the building, we passed by a yard sale with clothes hanging on a fence and quite a bit of graffiti. When I turned onto the street, I was expecting an obvious building with the words “Eagle Rock Brewery” plastered on the front. All I saw were a couple of run-down buildings. A little confused, I rechecked the address for the brewery on the Boyfriend’s phone. The third time around the block, I saw the building number on a brick wall behind a small fenced-in parking lot. Parked in the the lot was the Lobos Food Truck.

“We came all this way for a food truck?” my boyfriend asked. I made a gesture for him to not judge and just follow me. “But wait, there’s more?” he asked. I nodded and got out of the car. “Oh, I got to see this,” he said, sarcastically. Sometimes, my “great” ideas don’t have the best endings. We walked through the parking lot, passing the truck, and entered through a bright orange door. Inside we were greeted with a romantically lit room, a long bar with a number of beers on tap, a bench lining one wall with tables and chairs, and a big glass wall which showcased the brewing facilities. The place was poppin’ and had reached nearly full capacity.

We approached the bartender and asked about the brewery tour and she said that it would start in a couple of minutes.

“Would you like a couple beers while you wait? You can take them to the back with you for the tour. It’s highly encouraged,” the bartender said with a smile. I was hesitant because it was barely 2:30 p.m. and the only time I had started drinking that early had been poolside margaritas in Vegas. And that weekend I went to a food and drink festival. And a few Sundays when I had partaken in mimosas at brunch. But, that’s all. I swear!

Since this seemed like a special occasion, I said, “Sure, why not?” and ordered their Manifesto Witbier. The Boyfriend has the same tastes in beer as I do, but didn’t want to order the same drink as I did so we could try a couple different beers. The bartender suggested the Solidarity black mild beer, which turned out to be my favorite. The beer smelled like coffee and was the perfect balance of sweet and bitter. Once I had almost finished my beer, I made him switch with me so I could drink more of his.

As we received our beers, the tour began. I don’t really remember anything that the tour guide talked about. The tour sounded like this to me: “Hops… toasted barley… cuts sweetness… flow chart…” Along the way, I saw a bunch of metal vats for storing beer at different steps of the beer-making process. And he continued: “Heats beer… yeast…cools beer so yeast survives… doesn’t let air in… tube… keg… wine barrels… sour beer.” That’s about all, folks. Lots of technical terms were thrown around that couldn’t memorize because I was too busy drinking, taking pictures like a crazed tourist, and talking to the boyfriend. I figured I could always read about how to make beer on the Internet.

After the tour, we were only halfway done with our beers so we sat at one of the tables. I noticed the posters on the walls, one of which was for “Kick a Ginger Day.” On top of being buzzed, we were also hungry so I ventured outside to the Lobos Truck and ordered the “Wachos.” It’s waffle fries in nacho form. These wachos were topped with all of the beautiful things in life such as bleu and cheddar cheeses, bacon, guacamole, caramelized onions, and buffalo sauce.

Once I had single-handedly finished off the beers and the wachos were all gone (sob), we bid farewell to this unassuming bar/brewery with a giggle in our step and spring on our lips (and slight dyslexia).

May 17, 2013 | Categories: Foodie Adventures, Reviews | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Homemade Quinoa Chips

283764_10200410501479725_1915491669_nEver since I started eating healthier last year, I’ve been on a mission to find really healthy snacks. Sure, I can eat all the carrot sticks and almonds in the world, but there’s nothing that’s quite as satisfying as a salty chip. With every trip to the grocery store, I would pick up a new version of a chip I had never tried before. I’ve tried lentil chips, popcorn chips and veggie chips, but none of them were as healthy as I wanted or they did not taste very good. So I set out to create a chip that was healthy, delicious, and crunchy. These quinoa chips are high in protein and fiber and low in sodium, calories and fat. In this entire batch of chips, there are only 220 calories, 4 g of fat, 8 g of protein and 5 g of fiber. They’re pretty filling, especially with a side of protein-packed hummus. Now you can snack without all the guilt. Your tummy and your conscience thank you.

Homemade Quinoa Chips

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked quinoa, preferably organic

3/4 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Place quinoa in a colander and rinse under cold water for a couple of minutes. If you skip this step, your chips will have an unsavory bitter flavor to them.

3. Dry them as much as possible. Put them in a pan over medium heat. Lightly toast until you can smell the quinoa, about 2 minutes.

4. Put in a blender with a little water and start blending. Gradually add the rest of the water until a soft dough forms.

5. Spray a baking sheet with oil. Pour batter onto the sheet. Spread out to 1/2 cm thick with a rubber spatula. If you want a flat top, put a sheet of wax paper over the top and smooth the dough out.

6. Remove the wax paper, lightly season the dough with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the edges of the  dough are browned.

7. Take the dough out of the oven and wait a couple minutes for it to cool enough to handle. Cut the dough into little squares. Put back on the baking sheet and return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes until the chips are browned. Crunch away!

These chips cook incredibly fast so you shouldn’t walk too far away or try to do some chores. While you wait for the chips to cook, you can whip up a little hummus. Store the chips in a bag so they don’t touch the air, as they become stale fairly quickly. I hope you guys are as excited about these as I am because they’re pretty phenomenal. Enjoy!

 

 

 

May 16, 2013 | Categories: Kitchen Creations | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

The Best Hummus Recipe Ever

Noura_Restaurant_(3385997679) (1)One could say that I was raised with a hummus-filled spoon in my mouth because hummus is a Mediterranean staple. As long as I can remember, my family has had hummus at every gathering, party and holiday. It wasn’t until I went away to college that I realized that a lot of people don’t make their own hummus. And quite honestly, it’s a shame. The ingredients are incredibly easy to find, relatively inexpensive, and the quality of the final product is a thousand times better than store-bought hummus because it’s not laden with all that sodium and preservatives. Funny story: the first holiday I spent with my boyfriend’s family, they had a tub of store-bought hummus with a variety of dippers as an appetizer. I thought it was blasphemy so I volunteered to make hummus for the next gathering. They loved it so much that they all asked for the recipe and now I’m the “hummus lady” in charge of supplying the hummus for every occasion. I don’t even think they know I can make other food. If your family and friends like hummus as much as all the people I know, you should take this recipe to the next potluck, because in the words of my friend, “hummus is yummus!”

The Best Hummus Recipe Ever

1 15 oz can of organic and/or no salt added garbanzo beans

1 tablespoon Tahini (sesame seed paste). If you can’t find Tahini, opt for roasted sesame seeds, or even roast some yourself. Keep the measurements the same.

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons really good extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon water

Juice of 1 small lemon, half a large lemon

Salt, cumin, paprika, and Aleppo pepper to taste (a light sprinkling of each). Not only is Aleppo pepper a crucial ingredient in this dish, it should be in your pantry regardless of what kind of cuisine you’re cooking. As Serious Eats says, “When I discovered Aleppo chile, I realized I’d never need those generic red pepper flakes again. Aleppo is a solid candidate for a go-to chile. It brings a not insignificant amount of heat to a dish, but it also brings a complex flavor and bright acidity that makes it stand up on its own with minimal support.” The long and short of it is, that you should get some right now because it’s super versatile and really delicious. If you can’t find it at any stores near you, you can get it relatively cheap, like all things, on the Internet.

 

Directions

1. Drain and rinse garbanzo beans. Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until smooth and creamy.

2. Garnish with a drizzle of EVOO and a dusting of cumin and paprika.

3. Eat with your favorite chips or veggies. Why not make your own quinoa chips as well?

As you may have discerned, hummus is not an exact science. It’s more an experiment of taste than anything else. When I make it at home, I taste a few times along the way before adding too many spices, because once you go overboard, there’s no going back. Also, I like to take advantage of any opportunity to eat as much hummus as possible.

Photo credit: Serge Melki

May 16, 2013 | Categories: Kitchen Creations | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Wild Carvery: It’s Naturally Delicious!

pulled porkIf variety is the spice of life, my restaurant repertoire looks like a well-stocked spice rack. At least once a week, I try to support LA’s local businesses by taking my yearning taste buds and empty belly through their doors in search of satisfaction. Sure, I have my favorites that I frequent every other week and I have some that I wish were my favorites, but the price, distance or parking situation prevents us from being BFFs. And then there’s my ever-growing and ominously looming list of restaurants that I want to try.

Most of these restaurants are in the Hollywood/Beverly Hills/Santa Monica area. They’re the ones that make it onto all the top 10 lists by LA Weekly or LA Magazine. They’re the ones whose food I sample at food and wine festivals and am left wanting more and more. They’re the ones I can’t just hit up on any Saturday night because I need reservations or a will to drive. On this particular night, I had been planning on trekking out to that neck of the woods for an evening. Instead, I ended up eating a huge breakfast at a local cafe and shopping for the next 5 hours. By the time I was back home and ready to decide which new restaurant I wanted to try, I was already starved and tired. Finally we decided to go to Story Tavern in downtown Burbank, a relatively new bar that opened in July 2011.

As we approached the tavern, I had visions of myself in a How I Met Your Mother episode, sitting at our usual booth in this new bar, beer in hand, snacks on the table, feeling at home. My expectations were high. I wanted this to be my new go-to hang out spot.

And that’s when my dreams were shattered. I guess I could have gone in if I really wanted to. That night, they were having some kind of party with traditional Irish music and a cover charge. The cover charge included two drinks, but I didn’t want alcohol! All I wanted was food. Sad, confused and grumpy, I looked across the street and spotted the Wild Carvery. Underneath the sign, it read, “Organic, Fresh, Natural.” Music to my eyeballs (what?).

We made our way to this little shop. I had always driven by it and meant to go in one day, but hadn’t had the chance until that night. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich (obviously) with a watermelon cream Oogave soda. The soda was amazing because it’s sweetened with healthy agave nectar and it has half the sugar as regular or natural sodas.  It tasted like a watermelon Jolly Rancher, my fave.

The Boyfriend ordered a short rib plate with saffron rice. Both dishes were gigantic. We could have easily shared one of them. And they were really affordable. Each one came with a big organic side salad with a bunch of veggies. If you go, make sure you ask for dressing on the side. The salad was drenched in acidic balsamic vinaigrette. Other than that, both meats were incredibly tender and flavorful. The pulled pork doesn’t come with barbecue sauce, contrary to popular preconceptions about the meat. When I was almost done, I spotted a bottle of organic ketchup at another table that I could have used instead. Oh well, next time.

The lesson I learned this evening was that sometimes things don’t work out so that other stuff can work out, if that makes sense. I could have totally had a festive night of foot stomping Irish music (is foot stomping the right adjective? I don’t listen to Irish music), but then I would not have found my new favorite sandwich shop right in my backyard.

May 15, 2013 | Categories: Reviews | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Vegan Mango Lassi

lassiA couple of days ago, I went to Trader Joe’s for some chocolate because their organic dark chocolate is the best. Trader Joe’s is like the Target of food. You go in with only one thing you need to buy and leave with a whole basket. That’s exactly what happened to me. The weird thing is that chocolate and chicken aren’t even near each other in the store. But somehow I found myself in the refrigerated meats section and my eye caught a package of free-range organic chicken already chopped up into pieces for me, like 2 breasts, thighs and drumsticks. This chicken spoke to me and I knew I had to take it home even though I had no idea what I wanted to make with it. After throwing a few other things into my basket, I checked out and began walking to my car. And then it dawned on me. Chicken curry! So I ran back into the store and grabbed the only thing I know is in chicken curry for sure. With my coconut milk in tow, I went home.

The chicken and the coconut milk sat in my fridge for a couple of days, untouched. Last night after dinner, I was craving something sweet. I looked in the fridge and saw a mango, and I kept looking and saw my coconut milk. I put one and one together, and I made delicious, healthy, organic, and vegan mango lassi! It only took 4 ingredients and less than 5 minutes. Much cheaper and quicker than an actual trip to India.

Vegan Mango Lassi

Ingredients

2 cups organic ripe mango, diced

1 cup organic coconut milk

1 cup crushed ice

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

1. Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Pour into tall glasses and garnish with dried mango or mint.

3. Feel as though you were transported to the tropics.

This recipe can be easily adapted for those who prefer soy over coconut milk. If this recipe is not sweet enough for you, you can add 1/4 teaspoon of honey before blending. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, perhaps after a long day at work or even during a sunny afternoon.

May 9, 2013 | Categories: Kitchen Creations | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

« Older Entries