The blog of a vegetarian who happens to LOVE food

So S and I were getting our ritual cup of Sunday cappuccino today at Caffe Luxxe when we had a food celebrity sighting. We ran into Anthony Bourdain of No Reservations fame. Well, maybe it was him. S swears it was, and I am not too certain. He seemed a little too short to be the guy that eats the still beating heart of a cobra . If it was him, it's good to know his stellar food tastes (well maybe not the cobra heart, or warthog, or...) also extrapolates to coffee. Luxxe has one of the best cups of espresso you can get in Los Angeles. For being such a big city, this place has surprisingly few really good cafes that serve a very good espresso drink. And I mean an espresso with a solid head of crema and a distinctive taste to boot. And a cappuccino not drowning in milk (a short one with a double shot pull). A place that serves their customers in ceramic or porcelain cups if they're planning on staying for a few minutes to enjoy their drink, not paper cups. I have really scoured...

This one is mostly courtesy of Food Network Test Kitchens . However, I do have an addition to the original recipe: 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cream for a moist loaf. Banana Walnut Bread 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1/4 cup cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan 1 cup sugar 3 very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup) 1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout, set aside. Lightly brush a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric hand-held mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated. Add th...

I thought I would post my cooking and eating escapades on here when I long ago started this blog, but the thing with my cooking is I rarely stick to any recipe, and if you ask me how many teaspoons of a spice I put in something, chances are you'll get a grossly erroneous number. But I've been trying many different things lately, and I do want to document them. So when I use a recipe I like, I will link it and copy it here and when I actually remember to pull out my camera, I will also photograph it. And when I don't use a recipe (as with one of my many dals) I will try to be mindful of measurements so I can share it.

I had to post this here so that I didn't lose this recipe. This is courtesy of Sallu I tried the tikki last week and they were quite a hit. The tamarind chutney is a good one too. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures to post them, but trust me, they looked delicious. The picture I posted is borrowed from Sallu's site as well. Aloo Tikki Ingredients: 1/4 kg potatoes boiled and grated 1/4 cup of boiled and mashed green peas 2 slices white bread toasted a bit and made into a coarse pwd 2-3 green chillies finely chopped 1" ginger grated 3 tbsps of chopped fresh coriander leaves finely chopped salt to taste 1/4 tsp garam masala 1/4 tsp chaat masala 1 tsp roasted cumin pwd 1/2 tbsp lemon juice ghee/oil for shallow frying Tamarind Date Chutney Ingredients: 1 cup tamarind pulp ½ cup fresh dates pureed 3/4 cup grated jaggery or brown Sugar 1/2 tsp red chilli pwd 1 tsp cumin pwd 1 tsp saunf pwd (aniseed) 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp jeera powder 2 cups water