ChoChoSan is so Funny (Rana)

ChoChoSan is a Sushi restaurant I frequent when I'm back home. Their prices are reasonable, and their quality amazing. Yet, yesterday while I was there, I noticed a new roll had been advertised on the revolving belt. The Vegan Delight.



Don't see it? Here, let me elaborate:



Can someone explain to me when fish eggs became vegan?
Or cream cheese?

I think it's just hilarious, and a little insulting.

Unless they meant VEGAN caviar, which is essentially seaweed, salt, and olive oil. It would be good to elaborate. For more information on Vegan caviar, go here:

Vegan Caviar

Speaking of Vegans, I made my first recipe from the Veganomicon!
A delicious Corn and Edamame Asian salad!
I have no pictures, but let me tell you, it was really delicious and crisp. I just wish I'd had time to roast the corn.

See you soon!
Rana

Food, food, FOOD! (Rana)

Glad to see you're back, Vivi! I'll be sure to make that amazing looking Cheesecake during the holidays.

Now as Thanksgiving has passed, I think a post showing what I ate for that glorious night is in order!

I'm just going to barrage you with photos, but let me list what you will see.
The 21 lb. Turkey
The veggie casserole (made with tons of cheese and a cream sauce)
Butternut Squash soup (The recipe of which you Spree-ers know. :])
Tabouli (Arab Parsley salad)
A separate salad that I made out of spring greens, balsamic vinaigrette, and topped with cranberries, homemade candied walnuts, and gorganzola cheese!
Roasted Lamb legs
Buttery carrots (right above the casserole)








Some things that I am much too lazy to post up:
Rosemary Roasted potatoes
Hummus and Babaganoush
The bread display
Meat pies (We call them Kubbeh)
Ceviche
and Shrimp Stew

NOW ON TO THE DESSERTS!



Pies upon PIES! We had banana cream, pumpkin, MORE PUMPKIN, and peach to name a few.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST:




Happy birthday, Grandma! Her birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, we celebrate both on the same day! <3

See you soon!
Rana

Vivi's Back! Pumpkin Cheesecake

So finally I make a post after, what, a year? It feels like forever, anyway. But here I go. My computer is finally fixed, my camera finally works, and I finally have a reason to share these recipes. Truth: I have no life, I might as well spend my time cooking and baking ^^;

So here it is. For anyone who wants a cheesecake and pumpkin pie for Christmas, plus the goodness of marshmallows.

Ingredients:

3/4 cups of sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar (I had none at the time so I used pilloncillo/rapadura. If you're Hispanic, you know what I'm talking about. If not... don't worry about it. It's just unrefined brown sugar.)

1 1/2 blocks of cream cheese softened

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tbs sour cream

1 tbs flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp cloves

2 eggs at room temperature

Marshmallows (whatever size you want. I used normal size since minis are too troublesome to arrange and jumbos would overpower the cheesecake)

Directions: Very simple, easy instructions. ^^ If you don't want to go through the "trouble" of baking it, just follow instruction 2 and 3, and just put the marshmallows on, pop it in the oven on "toast" until they have a nice brownness and then chill for 8 hours or over night.

1.Preheat the oven at 325○

2.Combine sugar and cream cheese until smooth

3.Add pumpkin and the rest of the ingredients except the marshmallows(add only half the amount of canned pumpkin and omit sour cream, flour and eggs if not baking)

4.Pour in pan (I used pre-made graham crusts) and bake at 325○ for 35 minutes or until cake is set. turn oven off and cool for one hour with the door slightly open. (Slightly, not halfway open)

5. Arrange as many marshmallows as you want on top of the cake, and set it on toast for about five minutes, turning the cake around frequently so that the marshmallows don't burn. (that means you don't have to close the oven door!) Cool with door open.

6. When you can pick up cake with your bare hands, cover it and stick it in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.

So there you have it. Easier than pie pumpkin cheesecake that takes at the most, two hours to make (not including the hour cool off when you can be doing something else.) Mind you, this is the first cheesecake I've actually Baked, (for Thanksgiving. It was the first one to be finished!) so it really is easy!

Catching up- Restaurant Reviews and my Birthday gift!

So while at school you have to eat a lot of fast food. I'm not saying you have a choice, you really don't. It's somewhat mandatory. Or, and yes, big OR, you can find places with AMAZING lunch specials and cheap delicious food! The two places I'm reviewing are:

Hong Kong Restaurant and
Sushi Cuisine

So, honestly, one of the greatest things you can get at HKR is their Won Ton soup! The lady that works there knows my order by heart once I say 'Won Ton Soup with extra-.' She'll automatically giggle and continue to say 'Bok Choy and chicken. See you in 10!'

Several weeks ago I went with my boyfriend to this amazing find of a restaurant, and we ordered some Mu Shu Chicken, the Won Ton soup, annnndddd CRAB RANGOON!These little buggers are 6 for... something under 3 dollars. I'm not sure anymore. But they are DELICIOUS!



Hot and crisp on the outside, with a slightly chewy texture, and then this flavorful cream cheese and crab mixture on the inside that is ABSOLUTELY to die for.



Okay, so now that I'm over the crab rangoon, let's continue on to a more recent dining event. At Sushi Cuisine you can find cheap, huge chunks of Salmon and Tuna that are good quality (but I've got high standards, coming from L.A. and having been to Japan). Their nigiri is priced lower than most sushi places in the area, and their lunch specials are just unbeatable!

For $6.50 my boyfriend got a bowl of Oyaku-don! What is Oyaku-don? It's like a chicken omelette with seaweed atop rice. If you know my boyfriend, you know that he'd be in heaven eating something of that sort. :]



Me, having been a little more adventurous than my usual Sake Nigiri, Cherry Blossom Roll, or Beef Teriyaki, I got the Beef Sukiyaki.



Let me just say that this is not on the lunch menu, and is not necessarily cheap, but for about $12 you get enough food to fill you, and then enough to fill you for dinner, and then enough to fill you for breakfast. There is a TON of food. I regret not sharing with my boyfriend, he seemed to love the tender tofu, glass noodles, and the extremely savory/sweet sauce that just tasted so satisfying. All in all, a wonderful meal!

Okay so today is my birthday!

Woo!

And you know what my boyfriend got me?

You guessed it!

Incentive to COOK MORE, and POST MORE on this website!



So my boyfriend put two and two together: I love reading, and I love cooking.

And he got me something amazing that I could use to entertain, and to enjoy myself with! This book has so many recipes that I just adore, and everything can be changed up to accommodate the carnivore in me and my friends!

So here's a thank you to my baby boo! <3

-Rana

Susie's Birthday, and an amazing Canoli! (Restaurant Review)

I have high standards for Canoli's. Ever since I went to Florence and had ordered one at one of my travel groups lunches, I can never simply eat a canoli. Actually, I can never simply eat anything, but canolis are a distinct acception.

Before I tell you more about this creamy, crunchy, amazing canoli... I'd like to say Happy Birthday to SUSIE! I hope we made it good, now keep studying for your midterms(I know I should be).

Now I'd suggested the restaurant that Susie had decided on, a wonderful little place called Strings Italian Cafe. It's a chain Italian restaurant located near my University, and some call it a step above Olive Garden. Whenever I come back to school, I make a point to go here. Just because their salad is always crisp, sweet, and the dressing is home made. Their minestrone soup is very delicious, and their bread? It's just plain heavenly. This time I'd decided to get something different than my usual choice of pan-fried ravioli, which is what Susie got.



I got the Strings' Combo Plate, which included a lasagna slice wrapped in a garlicky, crispy pastry shell, and beside it a helping of tortellini alla panna.



Now as for desserts, which we had plenty of, I think the ones worth mentioning are the canoli and the tiramisu!



So that's the amazing canoli, I ordered it without chocolate sauce because, as you'll see in the next picture, they use waaaay too much chocolate sauce.



See? But hey, it was still delicious!

All in all, a very enjoyable birthday late lunch! Happy birthday again, Susie! :]

Restaurante Review: The Odyssey (Granada Hills) [Rana]

This restaurant is high end. Not really, it attracts a great crowd and the atmosphere is amazing. The view is perhaps the best part of the experience, at least that's what people say. My favorite part of the experience is the Creme Brulee. Yup. We'll get to that later though.

The link: The Odyssey Restaurant



My brother ordered the seafood medley. There's a lobster tail, a scallop, white fish(I don't know which), and a slice of salmon. That all on a bed of pasta. My brother couldn't even finish the lobster tail, I ate some.



This is what I ordered. Filet mignon, cooked medium rare, over mashed potatoes(which were amazing), topped with fried onions, and a side of veggies. I finished the meat, and had two bites of potatoes. Honestly, it's waaaaay too big a portion.



This was my dessert. When I saw Creme Brulee on the menu, I just had to have it. And when I saw that it was topped with seasonal berries? I nearly fainted. I did what I always do. Slowly pick the berries off and eat them one by one, then dig into the sweet, creamy custard and crunchy chewy sugar coating. It's amazing. This is the dessert to order when you get here, no questions asked. My brothe had the red velvet cake, and hated it, so he stole a bite from me. Look, let me just tell you, when I'm eating Creme Brulee, you do NOT steal a bite from me. :]

-Rana

Steak, couscous, and grilled bread (Rana)

It's official. This is my favorite food. Depending on the time, I can almost guarantee you that I will always be up for eating steak. It's so simple to make, I really only used olive oil and Montreal steak seasoning, as you can see in the picture. I cooked the steak to a medium rare, and it was melt in your mouth delicious. Especially with a huge dollop of A1 steak sauce(the condiment I use on EVERYTHING).

The couscous was storebought, on sale for a dollar in the managers special aisle. It was really sweet and delicious, a wonderful texture and a great light side for an otherwise heavy meal.



That's the steak, raw, and drizzled with olive oil. I was outside, about to grill it, and I couldn't wait.



Mmm, look at those beautiful grillmarks. Sometimes I don't cook it thoroughly enough to produce grillmarks, but that's only when I get fresh meat that I know wont kill me if I consume some type of bacteria or something. You can even see a little of the grilled bread, which was warm, olive oily, and very chewy and delicious.



That's my steak, medium rare, a little of A1 on the side, and some amazing couscous salad to accompany the smoky, grilled flavor. I have no shots of the grilled bread, but trust me, it was delicious. Yum yum yummmm!!!! I have no ingredients or anything, it's a simple recipe. I just eyeballed everything.

-Rana