Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

When I only purchased Pickles and Ice Cream, the grocery checker asked if an announcement was going to be taking place.  I’m glad she didn’t ask when I was due, hahaha.  Funny, but both were picked up for a purpose during a recent lunch break.  The reason for the Pickles was a debate over the best — And the justification for the Ice Cream is that it’s reported to be outstanding.  A co-worker brought in a baggie of Famous Dave’s Pickle Chips claiming they’re the finest around.  After one bite, I knew it wasn’t true.  They’re too sweet and not what I want in a Pickle.  Sorry for spitting it back into the bag so no one else could eat them.  Ooops, my bad.  In my opinion, the best Pickles are Bubbies, pictured above.

And with respect to Graeter’s Ice Cream — It is pretty darn good.  Mike got this one right.  Over the years he’s paid hundreds of dollars to have it shipped to California from Ohio and now it’s available here.  He recommended the Black Raspberry Chip, which is fabulous and made up for the Pickles.  None of us ate both together.  We’re not pregnant.

At Slater’s 50/50, it’s an option to have a Burger made with 50% Bacon and 50% Beef — And if that’s not enough, add a Fried Egg, Avocado Mash, Pepper Jack Cheese and Chipotle Mayo and you have The 50/50 Burger, one of Slater’s Signatures.  We had to try it.

A partner at the fantastic law firm that employs me had been raving about it for months.

It was worth going there just to see the giant Burgers pictured above.  We’re not sure if the guys were able to finish them, since we left beforehand, but all nearby tables were watching.

While waiting for a table and perhaps inappropriate for a minor, Chef Lexi of Kids in the Kitchen pretended to pick up Kegs — Inconsequential to the report, but entertaining and cute to its publisher.  Back to the food and on to The 50/50 (blurry) photo below… 

The Burger was certainly interesting to try, but we prefer Bacon in its crispy form.  The Burger seems a bit dense and less juicy than an all Beef Burger and was too rich tasting for us. 

Regarding the sides… I wanted the Fried Dill Pickles (a unique option), but we settled on sharing the French Fries and Fried Macaroni N’ Cheese for the Pick 2 Combination Plate.  The French Fries were good, but we think Slater’s 50/50 may get their Fried Macaroni N’ Cheese from the same supplier as Del Taco.  Not saying it’s true, but it sure looks and tastes identical to the ones they sell and we don’t care for either of them — Too greasy.

We hoped to provide a more favorable report, but didn’t fall in love.  Sorry Mike.  HOWEVER, the service was great and we liked the feel of the place, thus may go back to try a different Burger and side, and probably more Beer for the non-driving adults.

Slater’s 50/50 is in a strip mall in Anaheim Hills and smells terrific from the parking lot.

We’ll try something different next time.

I contemplated posting this report, since our handy dandy Guest Blogger, Bonnie focuses more on getting lost than the food, but I don’t blame her — I’m sure I would’ve been frustrated too, thus do post her account below, mostly so not to stymie the amazing food and professional photographs provided by The Capital Grille in Beverly Hills.  Although pissed about the drive, she loved the food.  I’ve yet to dine at The Capital Grille and will most likely opt to do so at the South Coast Plaza location.  A photo of the Bar is posted first, because Bonnie needs a drink after telling her story…

The Capital Grille in Beverly Hills — Having had such a wonderful meal at the Capital Grille in Costa Mesa only a week before, I decided to start my night in Beverly Hills at their brand new, sister restaurant in the Beverly Center. 

It wasn’t their fault that I got totally and completely lost. I should have known better than to make the drive from Newport Beach to Beverly Hills at 5:00 p.m. on a Thursday night without anydirections on me at all. But heck, I’ve been to the Beverly Center before. Indeed, I was born and raised in Los Angeles, so I know it quite well. And geewhiz — I have GPS — so why would I need directions?

Because — truth be told, I haven’t lived in LA for thirty years, so I completely forgot how to get to the Beverly Center. And the directions my girlfriend’s daughter gave me over the cell phone were quite detailed, but…

 WRONG!

Plus, nobody at the restaurant could figure out where I was when I told them what cross streets I was passing.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Adding final insult to injury, my GPS would not “accept” an address on Beverly Boulevard beginning with the number “8”.

!!!@#$%!!!

Once I finally arrived though, we were treated to the same fine service and attention from the Capital Grille’s staff, along with some delicious food and drink. Our server, Charles, graciously apologized (even though he didn’t have to!) for my hour and a half of misfortune, and then served us a beautiful Steak with Béarnaise Sauce and Crab, Macaroni and Cheese with Lobster, and Sautéed Spinach on the side.

We didn’t have time to take a tour of the restaurant that was offered to us by Managing Partner Gina Doyle, but we sure appreciated the fact that they treated us to another Exceptionally Distinctive Guest Experience.

Thank you — Charles and Gina — and next time I come to LA, I promise to bring directions.

Thanks Bonnie — I’m glad I wasn’t with you, though I am ready for their SCP location.

Always contemplating what’s for dinner (on the ground) — Unsophisticated indeed.

Scarily this dog, Maggie eats everything, books, toys, clothes, bugs, etc. — Won’t gross you out with the details on how all was discovered.  Let’s just say that all is now kept out of reach.

Although not technically food related, a tie-in was created for expression.  This Cryin’ Onion wants the story told.  I should be embarrassed, but here it goes… I’ve been using the same mascara since high school, long enough.  It’s Marathon Waterproof Mascara by Cover Girl.  Nothing fancy, but it works.  I never had reason to switch, until now.  It’s been discontinued.  And if that’s not bummer enough, I’ve been buying it for up to 5-times its original price on Amazon and Ebay.  I told myself not to do it, but still thrown off without a replacement to love, I did.  And it’s now getting worse, because it’s no longer available on Amazon and prices are rising on Ebay.  Its latest, someday expiring seller thanked me, yeah I’d thank me too.

Cover Girl suggests a specific replacement, but I wasn’t impressed and now truly forced to find another — And guess what?  It won’t be by Cover Girl.  They may have discontinued it in hopes its users would purchase one of their higher priced mascaras, unsure.  I’m told the decision wasn’t made due to lack of sales.  Was it uncool?  Maybe you are CG, because Onions aren’t supposed to cry.  That’s not how it goes.  Now bring it back.

At some point the real Crab Claw Shell begins hidden under the breaded, pressed fake and real Crab combination.  Be careful when nearing the end of the Claw, as Crab Shells are hard.  Don’t get too happy — And there really isn’t need, since they’re not that remarkable, other than the fact they are different.  Although flawed, I appreciate the creativity of ’em and other unique offerings at Fresh & Easy, newly opened within walking distance.  Bite at your own risk.

Previously posted and sent many places, it’s time for this BBQ to resurface.  It’s getting hotter.

Finally reported about Brasserie Pascal as Orange County Food Examiner, as I said I would.  It’s a worthy restaurant indeed, but still contemplating continued involvement with, and value of, the Examiner gig.  It seems that most find us here or through I Need Text, not E.  And then there’s the pop-up and photo size issues.  No bueno E!  Is it appropriate to be jeering ’em here?  Well, it is my party.  Maybe I’ll get kicked off the big paper. 😉

I burnt the crap out of these Chicken Thighs and didn’t want to show it, but since Nibbles of Tidbits is about the good, bad and funny, I hereby present “The Bad” — Had no propane for the grill, thus opted for a grill pan that got too hot, and the marinade had a lot of sugar.

The combination created a burnt mess.  I thought some pieces might have been salvageable, but no.  It was texturally bad too.  Sorry Chicken — Always learning.  While tossing all in the basura, coincidentally (and luckily) a friend called to ask if I wanted to get a bite to eat.  YES!

Since our meal was so fabulous at Brasserie Pascal, previous visits to Tradition by Pascal and Pascal Epicerie & Wine Shop are linked in appreciation of consistently great meals.  Merci.

Another reason for this post is that I’m still sidestepping an Examiner report — I’m not a fan of pop-ups and would never put them here.  And I don’t appreciate them there, especially as a writer.  It feels like swatting flies.  Back to Pascal, I’ll soon be writing about the Brasserie Pascal Perfect 10 Menu as Orange County Food Examiner.  And after that will re-examine.

Have you tried Houston’s BBQ Pork Ribs aka Knife & Fork Ribs?  They’re some of the best I’ve had and a model for how I want my Baby Back Ribs to be.  And I’m content knowing I’ve previously accomplished it, BUT sometimes there’s not the time, nor grill, then what?

The above Baby Back Ribs were baked in the oven at 400° for 1 hour wrapped in foil (fat/meat side down), then unwrapped, turned over and lathered with BBQ Sauce and cooked 20 – 30 minutes longer unwrapped.  Below is how they looked, prior to turning to sauce.

And separately below we experimented with a Dry Rub on a different slab of Baby Back Ribs.

Last year at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in San Francisco, I was given a Brown Sugar Pork Rub developed by Tyler Florence.  I finally tried it on this second slab of Ribs.  And to compound the test, we cooked them as described above, but at 225° for 3 hours.

The consensus, the slower cooked Dry Rub Baby Back Ribs fell apart while cutting, not attractive for serving, and unnecessary since the top Ribs cooked in half the time and were perfectly tender.  That recipe is from Delicious House.  It’s a keeper happily collected, posted and linked here for future use.

And I’m sorry to report that I wasn’t excited by Tyler’s Brown Sugar Pork Rub, and it sounded so good too, but Salt and Pepper worked better on the first slab of Baby Backs, a winner.

Happy April Fools’ Day!  You better stay away from me today.  How about some Chocolate Covered Insects?  Perhaps you may want to add them to a bowl of Chocolates and step back and watch the unsuspecting.  Just kidding — Don’t do that.  I wouldn’t, anymore. 😉

I still feel bad about the Dog Beef Jerky joke I played on someone years ago.  Moving on to the suspecting… Our friend Ray volunteered to try the pictured Chocolate Covered Worms and Crickets, as I just couldn’t.  He described them as follows… 

They had no actual taste for the most part.  They were not slimy.  Kind of had the texture and taste of Chocolate Covered Pretzels!

Thanks for the report Ray!  You’re a trooper and certainly no fool.

I made Flour Tortillas for the first time, but chose the wrong recipe, which seems to have a bad Flour to Vegetable Shortening/Lard ratio.  Not enough Flour (2 1/2 Cups) for the (10 Tbsps) of Shortening noted.  After comparison to other Flour Tortilla recipes, it’s obvious they would turn out too greasy.  I’m not sure how/why the recipe worked so well for the esteemed blogger, because it didn’t work for me, aside from how it may look posted here. 

It was recommended that I use Lard instead of Vegetable Shortening, but after visiting three stores that didn’t carry it, I opted for Crisco.  I don’t think the use of Lard would have improved this recipe, but next time I’ll give it a fair try using less tablespoons.  Although the noted measurements didn’t work well, the ingredients and steps to create future Flour Tortillas are generally the same as posted.

Start with Flour.

Add Baking Powder and Salt.

Add Vegetable Shortening or Lard.

Cut Shortening/Lard into Flour, Baking Powder and Salt combination.

Cut mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Gettin’ there.

Add Hot Water to mixture.

Stir mixture together, then knead Dough until it becomes a cohesive ball that’s less sticky.

Let Dough rest for about an hour, then divide into ping pong size balls and let rest again.

Roll out each between two sheets of plastic to form Flour Tortillas.

Cook each in a dry skillet for about 50 seconds per side.  The recipe notes to cook the Tortillas for 20 – 30 seconds each side, but it wasn’t long enough to obtain the desired brown specks.

Doesn’t the above Tortilla look like a fish?

They look good, but didn’t taste that great.

Our homemade Corn Tortillas turned out better, but we’ll try to make the Flour Tortillas again.

Looks good, right?  They do now.  And they tasted good too.  Often times there’s a transitional period when things look a mess, before coming together.  This occurrence is true for many types of creations.  In this instance, it was the Cheese and Sauce that straightened out the look of these imperfect Chicken Enchiladas.  All happened brilliantly in the end.

How to make them — Cut or shred breast meat from a Rotisserie Chicken.

Add Green Onions.

Add Cheese — For ease, I cheated by using pre-grated Jack and Cheddar.

Mix ingredients together and set aside until Tortillas are ready to be filled.

Dip Tortillas in warm Sauce before filling them.  It makes them a little more pliable to roll.  The Sauce used for these Chicken Enchiladas was from El Matador Restaurant.  Got some to go — It’s almost the same price as a canned Sauce, but better tasting.  We recommend buying Enchilada Sauce from a good Mexican restaurant in lieu of canned, if you don’t make your own.

My Mom says I need to fry the Tortillas in Oil for a minute or so to make them even more malleable, but I always try to avoid that step and too often get the same bad result… cracking Tortillas.  She’s right, again.  And since the Tortillas were homemade and thicker than most, the breakage was worse, as shown below.

Cheese and Sauce to the rescue — Hide the Enchilada imperfections.

Now you can’t tell the Tortillas cracked and went off the deep end.

Aside from how they appear underneath, everyone liked how they looked coming to the table.  Their flavor and facade was dialed in with Cheese and Sauce.  Whew, they saved this meal.

Have you ever tried Spaetzle?  It’s a German Noodle.  I hadn’t tried, nor made it, but was curious about it, since it’s so easy and quick to make.  And compared to homemade Italian Pasta, Spaetzle seemed a cinch.  So I made it here and I’m not in love.  And I hope I’m not pregnant — Spaetzle’s shapes scare me, and its taste is just okay.  Who makes it the best?

The recipe I used is linked here — Since I’m breaking up with Spaetzle, this post is fleeting.

Add Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg to Flour, then form a well for a Milk and Egg mixture.

Stir Milk and Eggs into the Flour to form a smooth, thick Dough.

The printed (halved) recipe is shown below and linked on the Food Network’s site.

Once the Dough is prepared, it’s pressed through a colander into boiling Water.

And then you end up with whatever happens naturally — Ghosts, sperm, baby octopus, etc.

What do you think they look like?

Cook for about 3 – 4 minutes or until they float to the surface.

Strain the Spaetzle, then fry in Butter until browned and serve with Chives.

The final photos turned out blurry, which is just as well.  There was no romance.  It’s too heavy.  Auf Wiedersehen Spaetzle  — Maybe we’ll meet again in Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Hungary.

It’s funny how adding eyes to something brings it to life.  Before putting eyes on this timer, I was annoyed by it.  Not because I burned anything, although it happens, but because of these things… It ticks way too loud as it counts down and rings too low (and short) at zero.  It goes TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK, ring.  It’s kind of comical, so I attached eyes and like it a little better.  I’ve been through too many timers lately.  With eyes it can stay a bit longer, since I’ll feel guilty tossing it — We made a temporary truce over Bloody Mary’s.

Don’t you find that practically everything takes longer to cook than the package states?  I do.  Why do most manufacturers get it wrong on the label?  Is it to entice us to buy?  Oh, it only takes 10 minutes to cook — Let’s get it!  The small print should read… But if you want this product to taste good, it’ll really take 20 minutes.  I was reminded of this once again after wrongly conceding the 20 – 30 minute cooking time on a package of dried Split Peas.  Of course I opted for 30 minutes, but at that point I was still crunching on Peas.  And when all was said and done, an hour later they were finally right.  What’s up with that?  Is it just one big, bad psychological marketing ploy?

Will this post title be tomorrow’s headline?  We didn’t make it to the casino, but won the lottery instead — All is A-okay now.  True?  I don’t know yet.  Uninformed that our bus to PALA Casino was leaving 45 minutes earlier than originally scheduled this morning, when we arrived at the departure point, it was a ghost town of parked cars.  No people.  It felt like the twilight zone.  We were 30 minutes early, checked and re-checked our watches, and re-read the printed calendar again.  What happened?  Where was everyone?

After returning home, we subsequently learned that the organizers called and left a message for us at an old telephone number.  All travelers received the vital information but us.  Terrific.  Could it be a hint?  Probably not, since we’re usually the life of the party. 🙂 Later back at the office instead, I was asked to join a lottery pool — Could it be why we missed our bus?  It’s fun to ponder.  Photos are from a previous trip to PALA’s Buffet, one of the best we’ve found.

Since learning about the Create Your Own Cheesecake link at Fine Cooking.com, we’ve had fun making and tasting a variety of combinations.  This time it was a Blueberry Cheesecake, made with fresh puréed Blueberries and finely grated Lemon Zest.  What would you create?

The preparation of the Lemon Curd was inspired by the ravine in this Cheesecake — It’s okay, because toppings come in handy when your Cheesecake isn’t pristine, and for this one I found and will keep this easy Microwave Lemon Curd recipe that turned out beautifully.  Good taste and consistency.

Trying to hide the crack down the middle. 🙂 Admittedly the chosen topping didn’t do much to disguise it, but aside from that, it was cheerful and fantastic tasting.  Other Cheesecakes can be seen here and here.  Check back to see the next round or build your own here.

Since it’s across the street, I’d like to walk here someday when it FINALLY opens.  It’s been about 8 months since we first reported seeing Fresh & Easy signage in Costa Mesa.  I don’t know why it has taken so long — I’ve seen several potential customers park, and then walk purposefully towards the store to learn it’s still not open.  Bummer.  It’s been a bit of a tease.

At last, Fresh & Easy will be opening in Costa Mesa (Newport and Harbor) on February 9th.

It’s fun to try a variety of new food items in one sitting — A bite (or more) of each, from savory to sweet, to see what you go back to the most and finish first.  In this instance, the favorite of the basket was the Sofiato Cream Filled Crepe Bites aka Cafe Mocha Pillows.  I’m still missing them.  And the California Pantry Rosemary & Olive Oil Baked Crackers were excellent too, super crispy and flavorful.

All else was fine, except for the Cheese Straws — Yuck, none could finish one.  The taste and texture was bad.  And surprisingly the Godiva Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzel wasn’t good either, as the Pretzel was too fat, thick and dry for the Chocolate that crumbled off it after the first bite.  Overall, I appreciate the gift and the basket is a keeper for attractive organization.

A few months back, I entered the Tonnino Tuna Chef Challenge for which I created a recipe using Tonnino Tuna and a video preparing same.  I didn’t expect to win (and didn’t), since my first recipe video was fraught with technical errors, but I did learn a lot, like not to take longer to combine the recipe ingredients than the video is allowed to be.  That’s pretty important!  

Aside from the video, the recipe turned out damn good — And now that the competition is officially over, I’ve decided to publish my Calypso Tuna Cakes recipe below.  To find out more about the challenge, recipe and video see here.

Regarding competitions, challenges and contests… It’s not cool, right, nor appreciated if/when entry deadlines are extended — It’s a little unfair, inequitable, unprofessional, misleading and disrespectful to those who entered on-time or by the competition’s posted deadline.  The Tonnino Tuna Chef Challenge deadline was extended twice.  I didn’t like that and hope not to encounter it again.  However, I am pleased to discover Tonnino’s high quality Tuna.  It’s impressive, but not inexpensive.

Calypso Tuna Cakes

1 (6.7 oz.) Jar of Tonnino Tuna Fillets with Jalapeno in Olive Oil (loosely chopped)

1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs (1/4 Cup for Tuna Cake mixture + ¼ Cup for Tuna Cake coating)

1 Egg

1 Tbsp. chopped Cilantro

1 Tbsp. chopped Green Onions

1 Tbsp. Lime Zest

1/3 Cup Corn (roasted and cut off cob)

1/3 Cup Red Bell Pepper (diced)

1 Tsp. of Mayonnaise

1/4 Tsp. Cumin

Olive Oil for baking sheet

* A little reserved Jalapeno Olive Oil, if necessary to moisten Tuna Cake mixture (optional).

Preheat oven (and a baking sheet) at 400°.

Combine all ingredients reserving 1/4 Cup of Bread Crumbs on a plate.  Mix other ingredients together and form into (4 – 6) Tuna Cakes depending on preferred size.  Coat each Tuna Cake with the reserved Bread Crumbs.  Add Olive Oil to the heated baking sheet, and then add the Tuna Cakes.  Bake for 15 minutes turning once halfway through.  Remove from the oven, cool slightly and dig into the Calypso — YUM!

The Calypso Tuna Cake above was served with a blend of Chipotle Peppers and Sour Cream, Pico De Gallo and Hava Chips.  And they’re named ‘Calypso’ for their regional ingredients, vibrant colors and tasty flavors, likened to the enlivening feeling of Calypso music.  Finally, it just so happens that I’ve met John of Food Wishes, the guy who actually won the Tonnino Tuna Chef Challenge and he’s a cool guy.  Congratulations John!

* Unfortunately the final Calypso Tuna Cake photos aren’t as fabulous as the recipe, but had to show something — To be replaced when made again.

Top Chef All-Stars started last week and airs again soon (Wednesdays on Bravo TV).  I like Top Chef, but haven’t been riveted by its happenings the past few seasons, though I’ve caught most shows, since they rerun them over and over.  And right now I’m happy to be excited about the show again, because of the All-Stars.  Already knowing the personalities makes it more interesting.  The formula was getting a little boring, although it’s better than most TV programming.  I admit to liking Millionaire Matchmaker and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills too — That Camille, I can’t stand her, but we talk food here.  Let’s get back to Top Chef All-Stars…

I like Carla.

I like Fabio too — Our Guest Blogger Bonnie recently reviewed his restaurant, Café Firenze posted here.  Last week during Top Chef All-Stars, Fabio was reamed by Judge Anthony Bourdain, who repeatedly said he “hated” his dish.  Trying to be funny, AB was pretty much a dick.  It’s unnecessary to be so dramatically negative, which applies to all judges, and cheers to Fabio for speaking up about it.  He handled himself well.  I probably would’ve cried after putting so much effort into it.

The All-Star Chefs were delivered the ingredients they used and had to pack their knives for and go, during his/her respective season.  Each had to make the dish better or at least passing this time — How fitting.  A perfect first challenge.

Wanted to quickly commentate on the photos and generally about the show, not provide a complete recap — Who has time?  Watch the show.  If further compelled, we’ll weigh in.