Fresh Homemade Pasta

What a long fun-filled day! Circle K of UCLA went to Santa Monica to flier for the LA Marathon. The LA marathon is going to start in a few hours, and I will be at the finish line volunteering by handing out more fliers about the marathon.

On a side note ... I went to Chinatown today because my friend, Luke, wanted to get some Chinatown food ><. He was nice to get me, Nguyet, and Nhat some skewers. Though that was nice, the meat was not fresh and tasted rancid. I guess that is Chinatown food for ya ... cheap at the expense of quality. Now onto the main topic: pasta... All of winter quarter, I have been dying to make fresh pasta. Noodles that are fresh have a nice springy texture when you eat them, and their dried, boxed counterpart is always bland and falls apart easily.

Homemade Pasta (adapted from Essential of Italian: Michele Scicolone)


Ingredients
2 1/2 cups Flour (380 g)
4 Large eggs
1 Tbs Olive oil

Directions (Several notes to follow)
1. Measure the flour carefully
2. Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl
3. Make a well in the flour and pour in the mix

4. Now is the hard part ... Incorporating the wet and dry together. In order to do this consistently, you must slowly use chopsticks, a fork, or a spoon to slowly stir slowly along the edges of the well and slowly make the flour come into the egg mixture.
5. Once you start getting gooey consistency, start moving more flour in until you form dough that is similar to bread dough. At this point, start kneading the dough and add more flour and folding it in half and pressing your palm forward and rotate. Do this until the dough feels firm and can stretch without breaking.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough sit for an hour.
7. Take the dough out and flatten with a rolling pin and split into two parts
8. Run the dough through the pasta machine to flatten it out some more.
9. Run it through the pasta cutting mechanism
10. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until done.
11. Enjoy with your favorite sauce!

Simple olive oil pasta!

Beer Batter Peanut Fish

To mark the start of Spring Break 2010, I decided to clean out my fridge to make room for a few exciting projects that I have planned. The fridge had two fillets of mahi mahi, beer, asparagus, and kale. As a college student, the following would wander around in my head: a) Beer? Chug the beer with a bunch of friends b) Mahi mahi? Bake it, easy food. c) Asparagus? Nasty ... my friend says it makes your urine smell worse ... I need more meat.

According to my stomach, the most logical choice would be none of the above. The fact is my tummy has a conscience of its own. "Why not make beer batter fish? While your at it, add some peanuts to it and spiciness."

I guess my stomach will do more of the thinking than my brain during spring break because the brain is undergoing hibernation due to academic stress.

Beer Batter Peanut Fish



Ingredients (batter section)
2 Fish fillets (I used mahi mahi. Tilapia works too or similar white fish)
1/2 cup All-purpose flour
1/2 bottle Beer (I used Blue-Moon)
1/4 cup Peanuts
1 tbs Salt
1 tsp Cayenne pepper (or more if you want spicy)
Black pepper
Extra flour for coating the fish

Prep work
1. Chop peanuts into shreds and set aside in a flat plate.
2. Mix the flour, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper and well incorporate
3. Pour in beer until it resembles pancake batter

Now time to prep the fish
1. Wash the fish (make sure it doesn't smell like a rotting sea wharf)
2. Pat the fish dry with a paper towel or clean towel
3. Coat the fish in flour so the batter will stick
4. Coat the fish in the peanuts

Cooking
1. Heat up deep fryer (if you have one) or heat up a pan with vegetable or peanut oil
2. Throw in fish for 3-4 minutes
3. Put fish on paper towels to absorb grease (Yum grease)

Enjoy! I was quite surprised the peanuts and the fish turned out well. The texture was nice and crunchy and gave the fish a nutty flavour.

As for the poor asparagus, I boiled it and ate it. Vegetables do taste good seasoned with salt and pepper.

Notes: Ideas during my sleep

I have my last final in 40 minutes and then I'll be done with finals for this quarter! While I was sleeping, I had the idea of making wasabi macarons with a sweet ginger cream.

Anyways I'll try making that during spring break and tell you how it turns out.

Farfalle with Peanut Almond Sauce and Mahi Mahi (Brain Food!)

With my last final being on Thursday, I proceeded to make some brain food. As mentioned in the previous post, I heard that fish can stimulate parts of the brain for creativity and concentration. In addition, nuts, such as peanuts and almonds. Here is a guide to good studying food.

In my pantry, I found that I had some pasta. I decided to do a little experimenting.

Farfalle with Peanut Almond Sauce and Mahi Mahi (Brain Food!)

Sorry readers, no picture today!

Ingredients
1 cup Farfalle pasta or any type of pasta
1 Mahi mahi fillet
1/4 cup Peanuts
1/4 cup Almonds
1/4 cup White wine
1/4 Onion
1 Garlic clove
2 tbsp Maple syrup
1 tsp Fennel seeds
Salt and Pepper
Corn starch for coating fish

Prep work
1. Slice the onion
2. Chop the garlic
3. Chop peanuts and almonds
4. Chop fennel seeds
5. Cut mahi mahi into squares
6. Toss the mahi mahi into the corn starch to coat
7. Salt and pepper the fish
8. Boil water and toss pasta in the pot

Cooking (About 5-7 minutes)
1. Heat pan with olive oil
2. Throw in onions, fennel seeds, and garlic until translucent
3. Toss in mahi mahi and cook for 1 minute
4. Throw in white wine, syrup, nuts, and stir
5. Cover for 3-5 minutes or until the fish is flaky
6. Pasta should be ready (make sure by tasting)
7. Strain pasta into a boil and toss 1 tbsp of olive oil in it
8. Pour sauce in and mix

Good luck on finals for those who are students reading this post!

Mahi Mahi Marinated in Lemon and Dill

The worst of my finals are over now. I have only one final left and that is my structures final; a subject that I am good at doing. Since my final is on Thursday, I decided to cook some mahi mahi in order to stiulate brain activity because I hear that fish is good for the brain.

Mahi Mahi Marinated in Lemon and Dill



Ingredients
1 Mahi mahi fillet
1/2 Lemon (the juice)
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
2 Garlic cloves (chopped)
1 tbs Dill
Salt and pepper

Prepwork
1. Throw and mix all the ingredients together
2. Marinate for more than one hour

Cooking

Option 1 (The Grill)
Grill the Mahi Mahi for five minutes on each side

Option 2 (The Oven)
1. Preheat the oven at 350F
2. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until fish is flaky

Sauce (optional)
The fish is pretty good alone, but I think a sauce is good too

Ingredients
1/4 cup white wine
1 tbs Butter
1 Clove Garlic
Salt ande Pepper

Cooking Direction
1. Heat up oil in a pan and add garlic until browned
2. Add in white wine and reduce 2/3 of the liquid
3. Turn heat to low and add butter
4. Mix quickly and reduce until sauce-like consistency
5. Salt and pepper to taste
6. Add with the fish and enjoy

I ate the fish with kale. I think I am one of the rare people in the world that eat kale because I never see people buying it at Ralphs.

Anyways, I'm off to study my other final now. To my readers, I'll be back soon!

Tomodachi Sushi: Adventurous and Creative Sushi

Restaurant Review:
Tomodachi Sushi
10975 Weyburn Ave
(Westwood) Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 824-8805

Tomodachi, meaning friends in Japanese, well deserves its name, for the restaurant is an excellent place to go with friends, new and old. The restaurant is small, but can accommodate a small group of buddies for chatter.

Out of the various restaurants that offer sushi in Westwood, Tomodachi has the best selection of items with over 50 types of rolls. Not only do the sushi chefs know the basic California and spicy tuna rolls, but they also are innovative and create unheard of items, such as the colorful mango and tuna roll. Of the several rolls sampled, from the classic salmon roll to the intriguing spicy tuna and salmon volcano roll, each had a great texture and flavor.

For the non-sushi lovers, Tomodachi also offers Japanese dishes, such as teriyaki salmon, various rice bowls, and salad. Even though those dishes are available, the restaurant name says it all. It is a sushi restaurant and should stick to what it does ... make sushi.

With great tastes and menu selections, Tomodachi will create curiosity that will drain your wallet. The specialty rolls range from $10-$15. If you want to sample a variety of rolls, bring friends and share the wealth.

Review Rating: 3.9/5.0
Menu Price: Moderate

Lunch at Gypsy Cafe on Broxton Ave.

Restaurant Review:
Gypsy Cafe
940 Broxton Ave
(Westwood Village) Los Angeles, CA 90024

Tucked next to the Bruin Mann Theater, near UCLA's campus, Gypsy Cafe has a prime location for food and hookah, attracting many hungry college students.

Businessmen, students, medical workers slide into the restaurant filled with the sweet aroma of fruits and spices from the hookah. On a nice, Californian, sunny day, you see a few customers enjoying the Westwood scenery on the sidewalk, while smoking hookah and enjoying their kabobs. Step into the restaurant, you would be sent into a rustic world. The clay tile floor, large wood framed windows, and wooden chairs provide a Mediterranean feel with the addition of Spanish guitar music quietly droning in the background. Though, on the downside, the LCD televisions, were out of place by playing hip-hop music videos without the music.

For lunch and dinner, Gypsy cafe offers a specials menu with a variety of sandwiches, kabobs plates with rice and salad, and pastas. The open kitchen serves excellent kabobs with a side of hummus, rice, and salad. The meat is juicy and well-seasoned without an overpowering flavor of herbs and spices. The hummus is a bit watered down, but the pita bread is thin, delicious, and well-baked. Both items produce a good combination with the rice and kabob.

With the addition to the tasteful food, the wait staff is friendly, quick, and efficient. The meal was quickly made and sent to my table in less than 10 minutes, which is quite fast for a busy restaurant.

Review Rating: 3.0/5.0
Menu prices ranges from $7 to $20