Fondue. Take your meat or bread, dip and eat. Repeat.
If I were reviewing any regular ol’ fondue experience, the sentence above would just about wrap this piece right on up.
But, on a recent trip to Simply Fondue, I learned that this restaurant is changing the script with fresh crepes and a tabletop cooking method that I’d never seen used in a fondue restaurant before. Read the rest of this entry »
Maybe the headline should be “Blogger pic o’ the day,” but whatevs.
The last time it rained, I decided to make some pot roast. I’ve become a fan of the simple recipes that Tyler Florence creates, so I thought I’d give his roast a go.
It took some time to braise, but the outcome was fantastic. I also whipped together a couple of easy biscuits to eat with the pot roast.
After that came dessert. On the menu: banana bread. Continue on for recipes … Read the rest of this entry »
OC Deals blogger Marla Jo Fisher recently headed to the beach - to Seal Beach, actually - for a local’s favorite that’s actually on the sand.
“River’s End Café belongs to an endangered species that’s rapidly being driven extinct by the Ruby’s Diners of this world. I’m talking about funky little beach shacks on the sand, where you can get a hamburger and real fries that didn’t come out of a deep freeze, where locals hang out and dogs are tied to the railing with the peeling paint,” she writes. ” … Cafes like this used to litter the sand, but high lease prices and rapid development have trampled most of them in Southern California. But in Seal Beach, which still retains remnants of its small-town charm despite the mansionization of its beachfront, River’s End keeps the tradition alive.”
In her review, she checks out fish tacos, tostadas and burgers. Check out her review of River’s End Cafe here.
Note: This is the first of a few South County posts I have stockpiled, plus one from Tustin, too, but I really want to get out to North County this weekend. Anybody have a suggestion?
A couple of weeks back, when those pesky storms just wouldn’t let up, Wifey Nadia and I decided to get out of the house for some rainy day comfort food.
We were thinking soup, and through forgotten logic that in hindsight couldn’t have made sense, we ended up at Inka Mama’s, a family-run Peruvian joint with locations in Foothill Ranch (where we went) and Aliso Viejo.
While there was no rhyme or reason, it was one of those lucky nights where we picked the right spot to visit. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the summer we had a thread about great sandwich shops, and a commenter named Leeca had the following recommendation: “The best deli in Orange County has to be Paul’s Deli. … Ask any Westminster policeman and I (think) they will agree.”
Cops eating authentic sandwiches seems to me to be one of those archetypal images, right up there with cops eating donuts. (Note: Cops do more than eat. They also save lives. Thank you, cops.)
And so I had to scope this spot out sooner or later. I walk in last night, place my order, take a seat and boom, who walks in? Two motorcycle cops.
So Leeca was right about the police loving Paul’s. But will I? Read the rest of this entry »
Tim Mangan, the Register’s classical music critic, wanted to let everyone know how to make the perfect martini. Let us know how these turn out if you decide to make them, and if you’ve got your own drink tips, leave them in the comments below. Take it away Tim …
The first step in making a good martini is to throw away your vodka. Sorry, but there it is. No self-respecting martini drinker would be caught alive with a so-called “vodka martini” in his hand, a misnomer if there ever was one, since there is no such thing. Martinis are made with gin. Deal with it.
Making a martini is really rather simple (unless, perhaps, you’ve had a couple), but it’s also pretty easy to mess up. But to my mind, when properly made, there’s no more satisfying after-work, pre-dinner drink to be had — clean, medicinal and, best of all, powerful — so follow my instructions closely.
First (OK, second, since you’ve already thrown away the vodka), slap a Dean Martin CD on the stereo. Listen for a while, then turn it off, so you can concentrate. I’ll trust that you have martini glasses and a metal cocktail shaker. If not, stop reading and go to the store now (try Crate and Barrel).
Back? All right, now you need a good gin. Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire are reliably good — but don’t buy any of their flavored varieties. Ever. The best gin I’ve ever had is Hendrick’s, a small batch Scottish gin, widely available these days, pricey but worth every shot. If that’s over your monthly budget, Trader Joe’s offers an exceptional gin under its own label for less than $10. It’s called Rear Admiral Joseph’s.
The vermouth doesn’t matter a lot; you’re not going to use that much of it anyway. Martini and Rossi is fine. But it must be dry vermouth or just forget the whole blasted thing.
Really, people.
Last week, me and my homeboy my homeboy and I had a snack attack.
We had just spent a couple of hours playing Bocce ball in a national forest (seriously) and needed something to counteract all of that exercise.
We decided on milkshakes. Said homeboy, Peter, knew of just the place too - Burger Stop, which obviously also has soft-serve cones. This San Clemente spot, which is pretty much a drive-thru/walk-up shack that’s been around since the mid-1950s, has 24 flavors in their milkshake repertoire, and while I didn’t try them all, the one I did have was pretty darn delicious.
Some people, like my blogging cohort Niyaz, are second comings of Casanova who brilliantly surprise loved ones with heart-shaped steaks. So romantic!
But most of us need help with Valentine’s Day dining, and so I’ve scoped out the local offerings for some of the finest in Hallmark holiday menus.
The first place I looked at was Morton’s, and I have to say, I wouldn’t be in the mood for anything but Tums after this $54.50-per-person V-Day gorge-a-rama. Check out the menu:
I was going to put up the last week’s roundup over the weekend when I realized the next post we would publish would be our 1,000th!
Because I’m a sucker for strolls down memory lane, and having photo shoots because we can, I thought we should commemorate the occasion.
Food Frenzy first appeared when Register staff blogs were few. On Oct. 5, 2005, the first post was put up expressing that this space be used to share experiences searching for great food.
I’d like to think that five years later, Jeff and I are working hard to preserve that vision for this blog.
I want to thank every writer who has contributed: Tenny Tatusian, Cynthia Furey, Ann Haley, Ellyn Pak, Iris Yokoi, Jit Fong Chin, Roxanne Hack, Jennifer Muir, Gwen Driscoll, Chantal Lamers, Peter Larsen, Elysse James, Lindsey Baguio, Nancy Luna and Kat Nguyen.
Most importantly, thanks to all of you, our readers, for your continued support and conversation. Jeff and I have a great time writing this blog, and without you guys we wouldn’t have any good excuse to eat balut or meat logs of death.
Cheers,
Niyaz Pirani and Jeff Overley
I’m tired of you guys having all the fun with our reader pics feature, so I’m gonna join in with a shot of my own. This is pan-seared salmon with BBQ sauce - a preparation that I really think is underused when it comes to salmon.
Got a pic of either home-cooking or your latest restaurant meal that you’d like to share? Send it my way, along with your name and city, to joverley@ocregister.com. For best results, get into strong light, turn off your flash, use the macro setting (little flower) and get very close.
(And for those of you who’ve already sent in pics, don’t fret, they will get up very soon.)
(Update: If you think this looks more like chicken than salmon, please see the comments below.)
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