Thanksgiving Dish #2 - Honey-Herb Buttermilk Biscuits

No meal can't be complete without some type of bread. I figured biscuits was the only way to go. I took my usual buttermilk recipe (here) and jazzed it up a little by adding some herbs and a dash of honey. I love making these biscuits as you can get your hands in there to mix up the dough. The taste of it actually reminds me a little of those from Red Lobster.

This was actually the first thing I made on Thanksgiving. It was a good way to start the day with the smell of fresh baked biscuits cooking up in the oven. You can actually smell the herbs as they bake up. A good way to start the day.

Makes 9 biscuits.

Honey-Herb Buttermilk Biscuits

1 1/2 c All Purpose Flour (cake flour works too if you don't have anything else)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

2/3 c buttermilk

1/2 c unsalted butter (best if cold, cut into cubes)

1 Tbsp dry thyme

1 Tbsp dry basil

1-2 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 425° 

Sift flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a bowl. Add dry basil and thyme. Crumble in butter and mix well until almost like a powder-thick consistency. Add honey and buttermilk again mix thoroughly well until it is of a dough consistency. You can add more milk, if needed. 

Then place the dough on a well-floured flat surface and knead a few times. Cut dough into desired size and place on baking sheet. Baked in oven 10-13 min.

Thanksgiving Dish #1 - Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and weekend that followed full of family, friends and, of course, full of good eats.  I'm thankful for so many things in my life in all aspects if it...you, the reader, included. :) The weekend was well spent. With belly fulls of yum yums. 

As always I like to do things simple. I don't like to fuss around too much in the kitchen especially during the holidays. But this was a good excuse for me to spent some time in the kitchen. I've been pretty busy with work related things that I haven't been able to cook as much as I would like. I did enjoy the several hours I spent making this meal and I'm happy with how it all turned out. With a little smoke alarm going off. No worries. Nothing major. I just think my smoke alarm is jealous for not being able to eat the delicious food on the table. So, it's a dinner for two. I always have the trouble of sometimes cooking too much or too little. No matter how much you calculate it. It's never exact.  But I think I did pretty well fine this year. 

First up, sweet potato. No thanksgiving should go without sweet potato in some form. I chose to mash them up instead of serving the traditional mashed potatoes and serve it along with the chicken gravy, which I will post that recipe with the roast chicken. I first steamed rather than boiling them and I used evaporated milk instead of heavy cream to make it smooth along with a couple pats on butter and shredded mozzarella cheese. Delicious! Smooth and creamy.


Serves 2-3

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

3 medium to large sweet potatoes 

1/3 c evaporated milk

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

pepper

1/3 c shredded mozzarella

Steam the sweet potatoes until fork tender.   Once cooked, cool the sweet potatoes before handling and remove the skin. Then place them in a small pot and mash the sweet potatoes thorough. Turn the heat to a medium flame Add the butter, evaporated milk. Stir until combined and the butter has melted. Then add the mozzarella and stir once again until cheese has melted. Season with a a little pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Oh the holiday that puts a smile on food lovers across the United States. Many will be in the kitchen preparing for the holiday feast.

Here's my menu:

Herbed butter Roast Chicken 

Chicken Gravy

Honey Buttermilk Biscuits

Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole

Walnut and Pistachio Strudel in Phyllo dough

Recipes to follow in the coming days. :)

For now, I hope you all have a great holiday and weekend. 

Enjoy it with family and friends. Eat up and be merry!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Zono Sushi

I'm still craving soup. There's no deny the fact that rainy and cold weather stirs up the soup cravings. On this dreary cold day, my mom and I ventured into our Sunday lunch thinking soup once again. No, the lobster bisque from the previous day wasn't enough. We head to Zono Sushi. I had written about this place before a while back (here). It was quiet with few customers. I guess it would also be the fact it's kind of hidden away at the courtyard of the Glendale Exchange.

I remember coming here every Sunday after mass when I was younger and ordering their bento lunch. The place looked really different then what it looks like in the picture above. We seat ourselves in an open booth. Out waitress hands us out menus, which also has a new design. She brings out a small bowl of fresh edemame and miso soup. Yum!

We finally make out order.

I order the Sushi Combo 1, which is 5 sushi pieces (tuna nigiri, shrimp nigiri, salmon nigiri, and 2 mackrel nigiri, topped with fried onion shavings.  I ate them all up along with the pickled ginger the usually accompanies any sushi. Have I mentioned that I love sushi?

The combo also included a piping hot bowl of udon noodle soup. Served in a cast-iron bowl with a square piece of wood under to keep the pot from burning the table.  Look at those noodle deliciousness. There were a few slices of egg, bamboo and heads of shiitake mushroom in the broth as well. I love the way it's served. I need to find me some cast-iron bowl/pots like those. I ate this all up as well.

Aren't soup days great?


Zono Sushi (Glendale)

139 N Maryland Ave
Glendale, CA 91206

(818) 507-4819

Harry Potter, Car Trouble, and Lobster Bisque-- Just another Saturday

Saturday was an interesting day. First, I had myself a little car trouble. Nothing to do with the engine, bu more to do with my window. And it just so happens that on that day it was raining. Not fun. Then a matinee trip to the Cineramadome at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood to watch Harry Potter. Yes, I'm an HP geek. I've read all the books and I love the movies. I wouldn't miss seeing it on opening weekend. I've been wait for the movie for the past year, soooo worth it! Cant wait for part 2.

Then spent a couple hours after trying to fix my window again. I need to take it to an auto body shop. Ugh! :( By then my stomach was grumbling, I was stressing out and it was getting late. I'm kind of picky sometimes at what times I eat. So I took an early dinner with my mom to Granville Cafe at the Americana. I've written about the place before in this post. Our trip this time around was basically just to relieve some of the stresses of the day. 


As we made our way there, we passed by another restaurant and conversed about a lobster bisque they had on their menu. We spend a few good minutes on that. Ha. 


We arrive at Granville and take our seats. First thing we ask was the soup of the day. I had been craving soup for a while and rainy days are perfect for those. Our waitress kindly tells us, which was...lobster bisque. Well...wouldn't you know? So we each order a cup. We also order the rest of our meal from the Shareables section. 

Loberster Bisque seasoned with apple brandy. Two toasty slices of french bread with herbs. Not to mention the two large chunks of lobster in the soup. I enjoyed this one. It's got a nice creamy texture to it. I love how the toasted baguette slices didn't soak up the soup too much, so you got that nice soft/crunch when you bite down onto it. and they were generous with the pieces of lobster. It wasn't those pea-sized pieces.

Sweet Potato fries with ranch dressing, ketchup and blue cheese dressing. I'm a sucker for this. Any restaurant. I'll be tempted to order it no matter what. This was when I realized that I had a small deep fryer at home. I had a mini lightbulb moment. 

Lettuce Cups.  Butter lettuce with a mix of mango, avocado, grape tomato and asian slaw. Served with a side of asian dipping sauce. My mom had ordered this before but with some slices of beef. This time around we left it purely vegetarian style. Still tasty.

Granville's Artisan Cheese Quesdilla

Fontina, Gruyere and Mozzarella Cheeses in a flour tortilla, with Basil Pesto, Grilled Vegetables, Caramelized Onions and Crumbled Goat Cheese

I like quesadilla. Period. Need I say more. Hehe...okay. I love the chunks of veggies that were in it. Zucchini, bell pepper...

It was a good way to end a semi-stressful day. A good meal and an awesome movie. 

Grandville Cafe (Glendale) 

The Americana at Brand

807 Americana Way

Glendale, California 91210

(818) 550-0472

Early holiday surprise?

The other day, I notice this large package right beside my door. It had some good weight to it. I don't remember ordering anything that had a lot of weight to it. I take it in and open it.

Low and behold it's a package from Hickory Farms. What?! Then I remembered I opted in on an opportunity to try some samples via the Tastemaker program from Foodbuzz. (Thanks, Foodbuzz and Hickory Farms!!) Who are they? Oh...you know...you've probably received one of their lovely gift packages for Christmas as a gift from someone. I know I do every year. At least one or two tops of the small boxes that have a sausage, cheese, crackers and a small jar of hot mustard, which I simply love to spread on sandwiches. Not to mention the cute little spread knife and strawberry candies that come in the package. I knew to always expect one every Christmas.

Sometimes you get one and wonder...what the heck are going to do with it? Have a cheese and cracker party? You know that's not a bad idea. You can. Or you can make a delicious meal out of it. Can you tell the hamster wheel in my head already turning?

Look at it!! 

In the box:
1 Sweet Hot Mustard -- I love this one!!
1 Honey and Pineapple Mustard
1 Three Cheese and Onion Wedge
1 Smooth and Sharp Wedge
1 block Cheddar & Havarti blend
1 block Big Barn Cheddar
2 small boxes of Sesame, Caraway, and Sea Salt Crackers
3 Beef Summer Sausage (2 Premium Beef -- Semi-Dry and 1 White Pepper Slow Cured)
3 strawberry candies

Now I don't want to serve this up like cheese and crackers appetizer snacks. I've got some plans for those babies especially them sausages. Like mac and cheese or pizza or fried rice. Just to name a few. If you have any suggestions I'd be most happy to hear them. I'm definitely open to making something out of them.  You'll just have to wait and see.

Production Eats No.33

Short PE post today. Once again I worked the show No Ordinary Family. This wasn't a super long day. The usual 6am call time. But for some reason my energy was just lagging. I did have a nice omelette for breakfast and coffee, so that game me a good boost of energy. It was a pretty chill day in Santa Anita, CA, which is about 30 minutes from LA. They have the famed race track where portions of the film Seabiscuit was filmed. There's also a nice mall there.

Top clockwise: grille salmon, a slice of tri-tip with mushroom gravy sauce, a slice of french bread, roasted potatoes, broccoli, and a scoop of fried rice.

I didn't really eat the tri-tip as much. It was good and tender. I did take a small bite, but I was more in it for the mushroom gravy that I scooped up with the bread and potatoes. Mmm...mushroom gravy.

Some spinach greens with a couple grape tomatoes, croutons and a little blue cheese dressing. and a little crab salad. Yum yum!!

I like crab. I've been craving crab lately and this helped with that craving. For the spinach salad, I thought it was ranch dressing. Sometimes they never label them, so I'm left to guess which is which. And certain dressing do look alike.  Have I mentioned that I'm not really a fan of blue cheese. Granted, I will still eat it, but it's just not my favorite cheese.

An oatmeal raisin cookie and some fruit cocktail. :) 

There was cake, but I was content with a cookie and some fruit.