The Best Thing I Ever Devoured...

One of my favorite shows to veg out to (aka drool to) is The Best Thing I Ever Ate... on the Food Network. You might think at first glance that they are just trying to sell other people's restaurants, but then.... you try the foods suggested and you completely recant any doubts you ever had! I've been lucky enough to have tried a few. I have to sincerely and graciously thank my parents for allowing me to indulge in these extravagances. Now, I know I'm a grown ass woman who works for a living and doesn't need to depend on my parents; however, for birthday gifts and restaurant suggestions I ask them to take me to said places. So, thanks again Mom and Dad!


My first pit stop in my "Best Thing I Ever Devoured" was the garlic noodles from Crustacean. The reason for the visit was the first of my "mid 25's" birthday parties. On a side note: I'm not ready to say that I'm turning 30, so from 29 on to 35 I plan to say mid 25's. Anywhoo, I asked that my parents take me to Crustacean for my family birthday party, rather than getting a birthday present. I had first heard of Crustacean on this episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate". Sometime soon after that I was talking to fabulous Sheryl and she was telling me how she thought the noodles were delicious as well, her brother Will had introduced their family to Crustacean a while back.I want to take this moment to thank Will and Sheryl Smith (now Norris), Duff Goldman, the Food Network, my sister, her boyfriend, my boyfriend, and last but absolutely not least, my parents for introducing and sharing this wonderful experience with me. YUMMM. Now you might ask, do these noodles really taste this good? If you like hand-made Chinese noodles and garlic, then yes. It is totally worth the trek to Beverly Hills. And if you are on a fairly tight budget, which I am without my parents and birthday celebrations, then the noodles as a side dish or lunch are totally affordable. Everybody at that table concurred that those noodles were delicious. We even asked the waiter to bring out another dish of the garlic noodles. Mind you we ordered two to start. The rest of the meal was pretty delicious too. But those noodles....


The second pit stop is again thanks to Duff Goldman. I didn't actually go to the restaurant he suggested, but I did try the food at our family favorite sushi restaurant: Sushi Gen in Los Angeles. The food: Sushi? Nope, had my share of wonderful sushi. It was fried shrimp heads. After 29 years of watching my mom enjoy fish heads, crab "brains", fried shrimp heads, and other odd foods, I finally had my first shrimp head at Sushi Gen. Now I have to say that I do enjoy shrimp, it took my taste buds a little while to enjoy those crustaceans, but I finally came around and oh so glad I did. The same goes to fried shrimp heads. Thank goodness I took the initiative to try them. My mom and I like to order Amaebi when we go to sushi. This translates into raw sweet shrimp, the sushi-ya will then ask miso soup or fried. When they ask this, next time say fried and order the miso soup another day. The shrimp head miso is something to be reckoned with as well, but variety is key. If you like crunch and shrimp flavor, then you have to try this if you haven't already. It does take a little bit of ignoring the shrimp eyes the first time to get through that first bite, but afterwards you'll be glad you did. On the episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate... Fried", Duff orders a plate full of shrimp heads. I don't think my stomach or love handles could handle that many, but more power to ya Duff!


The third stop on this little trip of mine lends us to Bouchon. If we go back to first episode I mentioned of "The Best Thing"  we will come across Tyler Florence's best dish. The salmon rillette at Bouchon. Thank you Thomas Keller! Delicious French food that's available to us Americans. On our last family trip to Las Vegas we made a stop at The Venetian's offering of Bouchon. The original is Yountville, Ca, but somehow Vegas was more accessible. My Mom decided to order the salmon rillettes for dinner even though it's an appetizer. It's definitely decadent enough to cover your caloric intake for the day, so for dinner? Why not. Everything about that dinner was absolutely amazing!!! My chicken was probably the most moist delectable piece of chicken I've ever eaten. I know, boring chicken. But it was far from boring. My Dad ordered the pork and was amazed and delighted. Michelle ordered the bouillabaisse, and as far as I could tell, she was happy too. Everything from the fresh roasted pistachios, to the dessert plate, and definitely the salmon rillettes was absolutely scrumptious.


I have many more pit-stops to make. In fact I have a list. And even a plan to visit Oregon for apparently the best Thai food. If you've been inspired to take a food adventure, you should start ASAP, because life is short and your taste buds are waiting.


Bon Appetit!


P.S.
Next time I'll post pictures.

Yay for book clubs!

I have been involved with a fabulous book club for the past year. We have read some fantastic, and not so fantastic books. While trying to explain to my co-ed softball team why I can't make some Fridays due to book club, I got some funny looks, and some interests in starting another book club. Apparently, in the guy's world book club is something nerdy people do. And according to the ladies, it's something fun to do. In my world? It's a perfect opportunity to drink some wine, eat some good food, and have great conversation.What's not to love? Okay, so it's a bit nerdy. I'm a proud nerd :)

So I've organized another book club to include another set of fabulous ladies and I added an element of food. Well, not just me. My wonderful, marvelous, amazing friend Sheryl thought of this too. For our first official read for this new club I picked out a Spanish novel. It's not written in Spanish, but written by a Spanish author and translated into English. It's called The Wrong Blood by Manual de Lope. It looks intriguing and emotional.

The element of food comes in when we meet for book club and have a potluck style dinner. Since I'm hosting I'll make the main course which I am taking as a perfect opportunity to try to make paella! Part of my problem is that I don't eat beef or pork, and most recipes call for chorizo. Which I'm sure tastes delicious with the saffron and seafood. Another part of the problem, or challenge, is that there is a different kind of rice you are supposed to use. I'm confident that I can at least make a tasty rice dish! Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted....