Pasta With Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I ran out of long pasta, so I apologize for the visual not matching up with the recipe

Good Friday folks! How has your week been treating you?

Mine has been fairly busy, what with 2 old college friends returning to LA for visits. We've been hanging out, catching up and sharing laughs.

But in the meantime, I thought I would share with you my favorite roasted cherry tomato recipe. Now I know it's weird that I am posting a recipe that involves turning on the oven this late in the summer. But what can I say, I had a huge tub of cherry tomatoes sitting in my fridge and I love this recipe!

Ingredients:
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
Splash of Olive Oil
Dash of white Balsamic vinegar
A couple cloves of unpeeled garlic
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Pinch of red Chile flakes
Any long pasta like spaghetti or angel hair or tagliatelle
Torn fresh basil leaves
Grating of Parmigiano cheese

Directions:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees

2. Place your cherry tomatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves in a small tray. Splash with a good drizzle of olive oil and a dash of white balsamic vinegar. Then, season with salt, pepper and a pinch of red chile flakes.

3. Pop the tray in the oven and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, allowing the tomatoes to pop and break down lightly.

4. Remove from oven and squeeze the garlic from the skins and mix lightly into the tomato mixture. Toss lightly over cooked pasta and mix in basil leaves. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and garnish with the grated cheese. If you have some Italian parsley on hand, it won't hurt to throw some in for good measure! Enjoy!

Happy Weekending! I'm off to the OC to hang with Mama T and her grand babies! 

Waterloo & City

One of the reasons I am so excited to have Mama T in town this summer is because her birthday coincides with her visit here! Its been a mighty long time since I've gotten to celebrate a birthday with either of my parents. "Perks" of living in a foreign country I guess.

Last Tuesday, my awesome beyond awesome mom turned 21(wink wink) and to celebrate, I took her to Waterloo & City for some birthday grub.

I've been meaning to check out Waterloo for ages and ages, not because it's the latest foodie hot spot, but more because the it came highly recommended by both of  my bosses. Needless to say, Waterloo & City has been on my radar for a while now.

Named after the shortest underground railway line in London, Waterloo & City was designed by Thoreen&Ritter. The restaurant is their modern interpretation of an English gastropub, and offers a variety of seating options-- from a 30-foot cooper-top bar, to church pews upcycled as banquettes (painted in colors of pink, brown and orange), to bar height communal tables, to dramatic high-back wooden chairs. Personally, I love the whimsy in the space, reflected in the Toile wallpaper, burlap window treatments and antique mirrors peppering the walls.

For starters, we ordered their blackboard special of Manchester quail with chopped chicken liver on top of toast. Perfectly seasoned, cooked and portioned, the quail was a delectable start to the meal. What really elevated this dish was the sauce. Flavorful and creamy, the sauce had just the right amount of acidity to it, highlighting the rich chicken liver. The quail egg which topped the dish was also a lovely addition.

Next, we split a half order of their hand rolled tubes of pasta, with lobster, fried pork belly and asparagus. When I suggested ordering this dish, mama T was very doubtful of the dubious pairing of lobster and pork belly (and to be honest, so was I) but boy, oh, boy were we proven wrong!

The fried pork belly, while beautifully unctuous and crisp, was not in the least overpowering and worked harmoniously to showcase the fresh seafood-ness of the lobster. Once again, my favorite thing about this dish was the sauce. Deliciously rich, it had such a good depth of flavor and sang beautifully of the sea.

My complaints about this dish would be that the lobster was not that fresh, and that the pasta, like the Santa Barbara Prawns with house made pasta that I had at Grace, was just a little too al dente for me.

We also split an order of the Confit of Piedmontese Beef shin, served atop potato gratin with bacon and a fennel salad on the side. Seasoned liberally, the beef shin was tender to touch and taste. The potato gratin provided a nice textural contrast to the tender meat, but everything, and I mean everything was way way wa-ay too salty. Such a pity because it would have been a successful dish otherwise.

For dessert, mama T and I decided to splurge and each get a dessert-- we are nothing, if not women with sweet teeth.

For myself, I ordered the sticky toffee pudding, with milk ice cream and salted caramel. Mmmmmm. Thick and creamy, sweet and salty, hot and cold; the toffee pudding was simply melt in your mouth good. I've had toffee pudding at other restaurants and Waterloo's surpasses them all because it manages to walk the fine line between being thick but not too dense and brick-like. The one thing that upset me was that my milk ice cream melted all too soon, and found myself with a bowl full of pudding and no ice cream.

While I was craving something rich and heavy for dessert, mama T went the complete opposite route with a light and refreshing limey pie with ginger sorbet and key lime confit. Lemony and tart, I definitely appreciated the heat from the ginger sorbet, as it complimented the sweetness of the pie beautifully.

All in all, Mama T and I both agreed that Waterloo & City was simply scrumptious, and was the perfect place for a birthday meal.

Happy Birthday Ma! I love you!

Details:
Waterloo & City
12517 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90066
310-391-4222

Food Porn for a Thursday

With Mama T in town visiting, my blogging has unfortunately taken a back seat.

But I don't want to leave my dear readers (all 5 of you, LOL!) completely in the dark. So here is some food porn from the Birthday Potluck dinner I attended last Friday...

A home-made fruit basket courtesy of one of my fellow potluck-ers. Wow huh? His creation could give Edible Arrangements a run for their money.


The Birthday Cake, in all its glory. Happy Birthday Yifan!

and from last Saturday's Saban Free Clinic Extravaganza for the Senses.

Held at Gower Studios on Sunset Blvd, tickets for the event went for about $100 a pop. Proceeds from ticket sales benefited the Saban Free Clinic which has been providing free health care to the Los Angeles community.

The extravaganza featured unlimited small plates and samples from more than 35 of LA’s hottest restaurants, along with pours from over 80 wineries.

Needless to say, I came away from the event stuffed! And yes, that is the Hollywood sign in the background.


Close up of the Hollywood sign, just cos.


Despite the delicious Duck Shawarma from Momed and Thai Tea Ice Cream Macaroons from Milk, the best dish of the night was the Burmese Melon Salad from Susan Feniger’s STREET. The refreshing salad featured watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, toasted coconut, peanuts, green lentils, fried onions and a sesame ginger dressing. Delicious!

Happy Thursday folks! The weekend is almost here.

Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Orange Glaze

I love cakes. There is just something special about having a slice of cake rather than a slab of brownie or a boring ole muffin. Don't get me wrong, ain't nothing wrong with brownies or muffins, but there is just something about cakes that scream special occasion!

This past Friday, I attended a birthday potluck where my contribution was a blueberry buttermilk Bundt cake with orange glaze, aka a giant deliciously moist Blueberry Muffin disguised as a Bundt cake.

I know, I know, this isn't really a cake cake, but hey, it still has the word 'cake' in it's name!

P.s Please excuse the recent silence on the blog front. What can I say, me Ma is in town and I'm trying to get in as much "Mommy and me" time.

Ingredients:
2 2/3 Cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for pan
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk (Or do what I did and make fresh buttermilk by adding the juice of 1/2 lemon to 1/2 cup of milk)
2 pints blueberries (about 1 lb), rinsed and dried

Orange Glaze
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease a 2 quart nonstick Bundt pan with butter, then spray lightly with nonstick cooking oil. You don't want to deal with a cake that won't un-stick!

3. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, salt and baking soda.

4. In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, until well incorporated, about 30 seconds each. Beat in the vanilla extract.

5. Reduce the speed to low and mix in half of the flour mixture. Mix in the buttermilk, then the remaining half of the flour mixture.

6. Gently fold in the blueberries with a wooden spoon.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter.

8. Meanwhile, make the orange glaze while the cake is cooling. In a small saucepan, whisk the orange juice with the sugar and simmer over low heat until the sugar dissolves.

9. Using a skewer or long, thin knife, prick deep holes all over the surface of the cake. Slowly spoon half of the glaze over the cake, letting it seep into the holes. Let the cake cool for another 20 minutes. Spoon the remaining glaze over the cake and let it set for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Recipe adapted from The Perfect Finish: Special Desserts for Every Occasion by Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark.

Coming Soon...

This weekend has been a busy one. I had hoped to be able to tell you about this divine Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt with Orange glaze that I made for a birthday potluck. But it looks like it will have to wait until later this week... Stay tuned folks!

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Finally Friday

Seaport Flowers

Hello Friday! Thank you for coming so soon!

I've got big plans for the weekend, you know. Mama T is arriving state side tomorrow and in the evening I am going to attend the Saban Free Clinic Extravaganza for the Senses. What more can a girl ask for?

Woo to the hoo. So once again, thank you.
xoxo- Me

Happy Weekending everyone!

At the Beach for Under $100

Back in my swimming days, my skin used to be a constant shade of sun-kissed olive. I was tan and toned. Now that I no longer spent 2-4 hours a day working out under the hot sun, I'm a pale yellow.

So, while it's awesome that skin cancer is not in my immediate future, boy oh boy do I need some color.

Inspired by this desperate need of outdoor sun time, here are some things that I'd love to take with me for a day at the beach. And guess what, it's all under $100!

Image above, Clockwise from top left: Olive Swim Top & Bottom $16.50 each (such a sophisticated color), Beaded coral reef necklace $18.00, Seahorse Charm Necklace $29.00, Panama Hat $58.00, Chiffon Oversized Button-up $58.00, Monday Round Sunglasses $38.00 (A little geek-chic is sometimes needed), Natural Burlap Women Classic's $54.00

Image above, Clockwise from left: Printed Beach Club Caftan $49.99, Green Woven Shopper $59.00,Peacock Beach Towel $22.00, Phytoplague Protective Beach Hair Spray $22.00, Aveeno Continuous Protection Sunblock Face Lotion $9.00, Yellow Tangled Twist Slingbacks $80.00

Mid Week Pics & A Lament

1. Caramel Cracker Bars 2. I'm here :) 3. Pasta Boiling 4. Great Yeast-spectations

Is it really and truly Wednesday already? Is this week really being kind and flying by? Is Mama T really going to be by my side in 3 days?! *fist pump*

As I wait with breath that is baited, I've been attempting to get some summer reading in and have therefore been re-reading all the Austen classics. Yesterday I finally finished Mansfield Park. Inspired by the novel, I proceeded to head over to my local library to borrow the 1999 movie version of the book.

Alas, I was sorely disappointed. Despite having Johnny Lee Miller as Edward Bertram, the movie version differed so greatly from the book that I felt cheated.

Fanny Price so did NOT agree to marry Henry Crawford, albeit she later repudiated! Nor was she sent back to Portsmouth as punishment from a vengeful Sir Thomas. And come on! Would Mary Crawford really just proclaim her silly little ideas in front of the entire family? What about decorum? Or the more conservative social norms of that time and age? *Lament lament lament*

Huckleberry Cafe & Bakery

I love when my friends come to visit. Only problem is, I end up eating out a lot more than usual. This not only screws with my monthly budget, but my diet too--I tend to overeat when I eat out. The clean plate clubber (or chubber ;D) in me cannot see anything go to waste!

Anyway, with friends in town last week, the fat kid in me was definitely overindulged. Oh well... It was worth it.

One of the places I took my friends to was Huckleberry Cafe & Bakery. Headed by Chef Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb, the same husband and wife team behind Rustic Canyon and the newly opened Sweet Rose Creamery, Huckleberry features handcrafted breads and pastries, along with locally sourced farm-driven breakfast and lunch items.

Located in an airy, glass fronted space, Huckleberry's interior comes complete with red chairs, chalkboard menus and wooden tables. In my opinion, the menu and decor of Huckleberry aptly embodies the yoga-loving, upper middle class clientele that is Santa Monica.

Since this is one of my favorite brunch places in West LA, I've tried a lot of their breakfast menu. My favorite dish by far is their Quinoa with spinach and sprouting broccoli topped with two fried eggs. Dee-lightful. What can I say, this dish is simple and healthy, but does not lack in the taste department. The gooey runny egg yolks are the perfect compliment to the grainy texture of the quinoa, while the veggies just make you feel good about yourself. The term "simply scrumptious" does little justice to the dish.

Details:
Huckleberry Cafe & Bakery
1014 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-451-2311

Anxious Monday

Some food porn from a recent dinner party I attended. Yums huh?

It's only Monday and I am already anxious for the weekend. My anxiousness is not of the usual brand of weekenditist, Mama T is flying into town this Saturday for a long overdue visit! Wooo hoooo!

I am beyond excited to have my mama come visit, and I already have a long list of adventures laid out for us.

Besides my mom's pending visit, I am also looking forward to attending the Saban Free Clinic Extravaganza for the Senses food and wine event on Saturday night. Yet another night of overindulging awaits me :)

Hopefully the week is kind and does not crawl by as I wait in anticipation. Happy Monday everyone!

A New Watch

I'm upset. I recently lost my beloved watch. While it was not the most expensive watch in the world, it had great sentimental value to me.

The lovely Aunties of my mother's care team gave me the watch prior to my departure from Singapore. That was 8 years ago.

It was a Time Engine watch, with a simple silver rectangular face and black leather straps. Simple, elegant and classic-- me. Or at least the me that I would like to be.

My trusty Time Engine journeyed with me through 2 1/2 years of high school, 4 years of college and 1 year or so of post college life. It saw me through a heart break or two, countless nervous breakdowns, too many late night study cram sessions, 2 Olympic outings and many many other adventures. It has great sentimental value to me.

Since there is no use crying over spilled milk, I have been shopping around for a replacement watch.

If money were no object, this is the watch that I would like.

Cartier Ballon Bleu Collection

But since I live in reality, these are what I realistically can afford.

Michael Kors Ladies' Chronograph Resin Band Watch


Michael Kors Jet Set Watch

Toy Watch- Heavy Metal Watch Collection, Gold



Nixon- The Kensington in Gunmetal/Gold


Nixon- The Kensington Leather in Gold/White/ Navy


TAG Heuer Carrera Diamond Dial Watch

Well I can't quite afford the TAG. It would have to be a save up and splurge purchase, but boy is it purty.

What do you think? Which are your favorites?

Another Mid week Pic and Mix

Home Sweet Home

It's been 4 full days since I've moved into my new digs and my life is still in boxes. Sigh.

I "blame" my out of towner friends for keeping me out of the home and hindering the unpacking process. However, slowly but surely, the new apartment is starting to take shape.

Because the cable TV in my new place has yet to be set up, I've been playing some tunes to keep me company.

Here's a sample of what was on yesterday's mellow, almost folksy play list.

Parachute-- "She is love"
The Birds and the Bee-- "My Love"
Feist-- "1 2 3 4"
Adele-- "Chasing Pavements"
Anna Nalick-- "Breathe (2 AM)"
Ingrid Michaelson -- "Can't Help Falling In Love"
Regina Spektor-- "The Calculation"
Mazzy Star-- "Fade Into You"

Happy Hump Day!

A Cure for the Monday Blues

Painfully Cute

Are you suffering from the Monday Blues? Maybe still recuperating from the weekend/4th of July celebration extravaganza? Perhaps you are dreading the beginning of another long work week?

Forget that extra shot in your morning latte.

Does not that picture of my precious little niece put the biggest smile on your face and chase all your blues away?

If you need more pick me ups, Sarah over at Little Wild is embarking on a 100 Days of Summer project, where she is attempting to catalog the summer of 2010 in photos...each and every single day.

You can thank me later.

Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday

99 Balloons

Today, my dearest, dearest, oldest, bestest-ever friend, Nikki is celebrating her birthday. Alone. In Japan (she's there for work. Arrggh Meeks! We're real people, with real jobs!).

Happy Birthday Meeks! I love you always, my one and only!

Don't talk to strangers!!

Happy 4th Weekend!

Hey Baby, it's the Fourth of July

I'm not an American. I didn't grow up in America. I have no American blood in me, whatsoever. My sole link to America is that it has been the country where I have resided for the past 8 years.

Despite all those facts, the 4th of July still holds special meaning for me because it's my dearest Papa T's birthday! So Happy Birthday in advance Pa!! Love you lots!

Birthdays aside, the non-American in me does look forward to the Fourth. I mean who am I to turn up my nose at a day that celebrates Independence. And celebrates it with food, friends, fun and fireworks!

I don't know what exactly I will be doing this fourth of July weekend, but it will go something along the lines of completing the big move, unpacking, beach time, friends, fireworks and hopefully some BBQ! Oh yes, and sun! With the June gloom that has recently descended on LA, one can only hope that the weather on Sunday will be friendlier .

What are your 4th of July plans? Or, if you have absolutely no reason to celebrate the Fourth of July, what are the grand weekend plans?

Happy 4th Weekend!

Wallpaper

Lately, I've been cheating on Food. My part time lover? Home decor.

Brought about by my big move into my "grown up" apartment, I've been scouring home decor blogs allowing my imagination to grow wild with possibilities.

In my new grown up apartment, there is this short and narrow hallway that leads into to the main living area. I've been dreaming about wallpapering that entire space with a bold, bright and beautiful pattern. Dreaming being the keyword, since it's an apartment and wallpapering the walls is not really an option.

But a girl can keep dreaming right? No harm, no foul.

Here are some of my favorite botanical wallpapers that I've come across in my adulterous blog surfing.

To be honest, I would really love a black and white zig-zagged wallpaper. Think Missoni but in black and white. Alas! I haven't found it anywhere. Double alas! Even if I found it, it's not like I can use it!

So, out of the patterns above, which wallpaper is your favorite?

Oh and Happy July folks!

(images: Graham & Brown, House to Home, de Gournay, GP & J Baker, Alvhem some via Decor 8)