What I Ate in LA :: Summer 2014

Some of the food I consumed while we were in LA ... just the stuff I photo-documented!

[Double-Double @ In-N-Out (near LAX)]

[Kotteri Ramen @ Asa Ramen (Torrance)]

[my sister's strawberry pie]

[tons of Korean food @ Mountain (Gardena)]

[Japanese grilled mackerel (鯖の塩焼き)]

[Mottainai Ramen with thin noodles and an egg @ Mottainai (Gardena)]

[Buttermilk Honey Fried Chicken and Biscuits @ The Kettle (Manhattan Beach)]

[Camarones Borrachos and Shrimp & Octopus Ceviche Tostaditos @ Coni'Seafood (Inglewood)]

[Kai-Shio (seafood salt) ramen @ Jidaiya (Torrance)]

[Prime Rib @ Lawry's (Beverly Hills)]

[Huevos Divorciados @ North End Caffe (Manhattan Beach)]

[Tsukemen @ Tsujita LA (West LA)]

[Omakase (and sushi for Maya) @ Maruhide Uni Club (Gardena)]

Bucato (Culver City) where they don't let you take pictures ...

Fried Cauliflower Sicilian Style ($10)

Stringozzi cacio e pepe ($13)

Maccheroni di Busa (duck ragu, pecorino sardo) ($15)

Panzanella ($14)

Octopus with chickpeas, escarole, roasted tomato, and nduja ($18)

[Bourbon Pecan Pie Ice Cream Sandwich @ Coolhaus (Culver City)]

[Carnitas Tostada and (complimentary) flan @ Zacatecas (Hawthorne)]

[Uni Club Donburi @ Maruhide Uni Club (Gardena)]

[Tokyo Aosa (seaweed) Ramen @ Jidaiya (Torrance)]

[Jidori Chicken and Waffles @ Workshop Kitchen + Bar (Palm Springs)]

[pork shank from the summer menu @ Cork Tree California Cuisine (Palm Desert)]

[Omakase @ Okumura (Encino)]

What I Made for Dinner :: Paella

One of my dearest friends in Los Angeles, S, and I often end up talking about food and restaurants, usually via text or Instagram. When I told her I was visiting LA for half of the summer, she really wanted to cook together. Since we were tag-teaming on the cooking, we decided on something a bit ambitious and chose paella. We based our version on this recipe from Chow.  It's really not that difficult of a dish to prepare. Expensive, yes. Complicated, not so much. Ours came out quite well, I think, and we were able to feed five adults and three kids.

The one thing I screwed up on was the sausage: I bought Portuguese Linguiça because I couldn't find Spanish chorizo, and it was much too spicy. For the kids, we rounded out the flavor by dolloping a lot of sour cream on theirs!