Chateau Brodard

It's rare that I have a great culinary experience without my sister, and it truly wasn't complete without her. Nevertheless, my parents and I went to Chateau Brodard, a french-vietnamese restaurant) in Fullerton last weekend. The glitzy club ambience was a bit over the top, but the food really was worth it! 

  appetizers: Why is it that so often, the appetizers are the best part of the meal! These may look like ordinary guilt-free spring rolls, but far from it. Deep fried wonton wrappers were folded inside. It was the ultimate cross between egg rolls and spring rolls. I'm not usually a big fan of peanut sauce, but I'll make an exception just this once! 

Next, we had a green papaya & mango salad. It was rather sweet, but still delicious. I really enjoyed the accompanying rice cakes. 

The entrees were less impressive. We ordered a filet mignon to taste the so-called "French" aspect. Let's just say, the french would be pretty upset. The dish pictured above was the best entree we ordered. It was kind of like Korean BBQ bulgogi. The meat was incredibly tender and soft, I almost found it suspicious! We ordered another entree that was just like Tina's Rice, a family staple recipe that I'm sure has been blogged before. 

 To bookend the so-so entrees, the desserts ended the evening on a high note. We had jackfruit fritters and a banana crepe. Both desserts absolute required vanilla bean ice cream to help it go down. The crepe wasn't quite the right texture. It was crispy instead of like a flapjack. 

We're considering going to Chateau Brodard for Saehee's birthday. I'm not sure if it will good enough for her, but then again, nothing is ever good enough for MY sister. 

Nancy Cake

To celebrate the completion of Nancy's first marathon I created a cake for her, which I've appropriately named: Nancy Cake.  Ta Da!

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar...plus additional 2 tablespoons for sprinkling

1 cup halved and pitted cherries

1/2 stick of butter

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. preheat oven for 400 and grease a 9 inch cake pan

2. in a bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt

3. in a large bowl cream the butter with 2/3 cup sugar 

4. to the butter and sugar mixture add the vanilla and the egg and beat well

5.  add the flour and buttermilk into the butter sugar mixture and mix until just combined

6. pour batter into the cake pan and arrange the halved cherries in circled pattern over the batter

7. sprinkle the top with the 2 tablespoons of sugar

8. bake for 20 minutes

Fred's 62

california omelet

santa fe frittata

a lox plate?

Today Nancy biked a marathon and with the best of intentions I tried to make it out to see her come through the finish line, but as it turns out Nancy is a much faster biker than predicted and she finished before I got there.  Disappointing for me.  Wonderful for Nancy.  

Despite having missed that grand finale, we went to Fred's 62 for brunch.  I've decided that brunch is the most social meal--it's casual and easy and somehow gives me permission to eat like I've been starved for a week.  It was a really great morning.  Much to celebrate--Nancy's marathon and also Janice announced that she'll be teaching at Calarts next year.  Despite having had very little sleep, I was really happy and feeling very comfortable.  

This feeling of comfort could also be a symptom of over eating, perhaps, because I did indeed overeat.  

Fred's 62

1850 N Vermont Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90027

(323) 667-0062

Nutella Peanut Butter Brownies

To be honest, I'm not really a brownie person.  There's something clumsy about this sort of dessert.  But put nutella on anything and I'm there.  

I've adapted the recipe from here, but with a few modifications.  I increased the amount of nutella and peanut butter to about 1/3 cups each and increased the cocoa powder by nearly double.  Also, I decreased the sugar by about half a cup.

Despite my general reluctance about brownies, I have to say these turned out well.  I love when brownies get that papery cracked top shell.  Oh, and i love nutella.

Corn Muffins

I love corn bread! I especially love it with honey and whole corn kernels.  And I even love that gritty texture (if you don't i suggest soaking the cornmeal in buttermilk overnight)

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

1 cup corn kernals (frozen, canned, or fresh off the cob)

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/3 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. preheat oven to 400

2. combine dry ingredients in a large bowl

3. combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl

4. pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined

5. fold in the corn kernels gently

6. scoop ice cream scoop amounts of the batter into lined cupcake tins

7. bake for about 15 minutes

makes about 15

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Muffins

So I'm that stage, again, where I'm baking low fat muffins nearly every other day.  Today I had a reason though.  Saeyoung's friend Torri was going back to Boston today and because she loves pumpkin and fall-ish flavors, I thought I'd give her a send off present of muffins.  I forget how excellent pumpkin can be.  This was definitely an experiment.  I replaced the oil and butter with yogurt and the combination of the pumpkin and yogurt really kept the muffin quite moist.  I'm am pleased overall.  I think a little more cinnamon next time.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup flour

1 cup oats

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup non-fat yogurt

1/2 cup milk

2 egg whites, lightly whipped

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

about a cup of chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. mix dry ingredients in a large bowl

3. combine sugar, egg whites, milk, yogurt, and pumpkin puree in a separate bowl

4. make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients and combine until just moist

5. fold in chocolate chips

6. put ice cream scoop amounts of batter into lined muffins tins

7. bake for about 15 minutes

makes about 15 

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (that happen to be low fat)

Yes, this may be my most successful low fat muffin.  I have a great love of whole grains, oatmeal, starches that tend to be a little heartier.  And of course, I love muffins.  I like that they're portable, small, and really very adorable.  I honestly couldn't tell that they were low fat, due to the non-fat yogurt and applesauce that worked to replace the butter.  I recommend using steel cut or old-fashioned oats for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup non-fat yogurt

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend (or 1/2 cup regular brown sugar, packed)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (optional)

1. preheat over to 375

2. sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together

3. stir in oats into flour mixture

4. in a separate mix the egg, brown sugar, applesauce, yogurt, and the oil (if you'd like)

5. add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just moist

6. add the blueberries and mix gently so as not to break any of the blueberries

7. line and fill the muffin tins with about a ice cream scoop amount of batter

8. bake for 20 minutes