Quick Eats: ITALIAN Truffle Cheese - from Trader Joe's

This is my new favorite cheese and it's surprisingly not too expensive. It's about $6 from Trader Joe's and it has amazing truffle flavor with truffle bits in it.  I love to put it on my pizza and in pasta's.  It reminds me of a very amazing pizza from Vegas, in the Wynn hotel.

Definitely, worth the price if your into the flavor of truffles.
That it reminds me...I need to buy more. :)

 

The Wine Connoisseur: Moscato D'asti 2010 Lodali

Here is the beginning of a series of called "The Wine Connoisseur."  It will mainly consist of my attempts to interpret wines. I am not at all an expert but, hopefully this can I can increase my knowledge!! :D

Back to the important stuff:

Moscato D'asti 2010
Ladali

So far one of my favorite wines.  It's a white wine, and sparkling.
With a lower percentage than some other traditional wines; it's defiantly an easy drinking wine.
There is a fruity aspect to it, kinda like juice.

 

Ike's Place - San Francisco!!!

On our journey through San Francisco we made a stop at the acclaimed Ike's Place.  Without doing any previous foodie 'research' I went up the counter and asked, as any normal person would ask, what the most popular sandwich was.  So my sister and I split the Dutch Crunch with 'dirty sauce' and the Menage a Trois also with 'dirty sauce'. And I could see why this place is so amazing.  I have never tasted a sandwich quite like this, especially from a restaurant place. The details in the sandwich are soo apparent, every single thing in the sandwich definitely complimented each other.

        Dutch Crunch

The dutch crunch has a sweet savory flavor to it, and the dirty sauce brings it over the edge.  It was really amazing, it was almost like bbq sauce and buttery.  The sandwich was definitely super rich.  

  Menage a Trois

Definitely the healthier of the two but also amazing.  They put a lot of avocado, and roast beef.  Overall, the size of the sandwiches are huge and the bread is perfectly toasted. This place is such a staple, its a shame they don't have it in Southern Cali :( . But all is worth it in the end. :D

   

Watermelon Beer at 21st Amendment Brewery - San Francisco!!

If your a huge beer fan, 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco is definitely worth a try.  My sister and I went mid afternoon to try out 'Hell or High Watermelon' wheat beer.  It has to be, hands down, one of the best beer's I've tasted so far.  It smells so much of watermelon, it's crazy!
I'm not an expert with beer, but it was a lite beer and it wasn't too strong, however it smelled more of watermelon then it taste.  But, I was just obsessed with the fact that it was watermelon infused.
I believe it is a seasonal beer and they have several other types of beers with fun/interesting names that I really want to try out!                

http://21st-amendment.com/beer/hell-or-high-watermelon

Marnee Thai Restaurant!! - San Francisco!

In my recent trip to San Francisco, my sister and I made the rounds to as many 'foodie' places we get to.  For lunch we stopped by at Marnee Thai Restaurant!! They're famous for a award winning Pad Thai dish and I was so excited to try it!!  The location was relativity easy to find, and the cost wasn't too bad for lunch.

I got the tofu Pad Thai and my sister got the chicken Pad Thai.  They give you a generous portion, probably enough to feed two people with a moderate appetite.  But, when I took the first bite I could really see why this was a award winning dish.  I've tried A LOT of pad thai dishes all across Southern California, and it's probably one of my go-to dishes at any Thai restaurant.  But when I had this dish, it had a very distinct bump of flavor than the rest.  Other pad thai's are usually mono-tone; just between sweet and sour.  This however, jumped out at you.  The flavor was in every part of the dish, in every bite and EVEN in the noodles!

This place is def worth a try if your a thai food connoisseur!      

WoOo..noddle close up!

http://www.marneethaisf.com

2225 Irving Street

San Francisco, CA 94122

(415) 665-9500

SORTED - Pasta Carbonara dish!!

SORTED has become a weirdly addictive/obsession of mine lately and I've finally come around to making my first SORTED dish!!

I  converted the recipe into american measurements and also doubled the recipe so it would serve four.

1 Package of Dried Spaghetti
1 Package of Italian Pancetta (3 oz.)
1/2 Package of Smoked Bacon
4 Eggs
4 Egg Yolks
200ml of Cream (I used heavy whipping cream)
1 cup of Parmesan Cheese\
Black pepper (to taste!)
Texas Toast (lol definitely cheated! My oven doesn't work!)

PAN of choice:  Large pot, and small pan.

1.  Boil your pasta, 7-10 mins. Cook till al dente! Drain the pasta, then put it back in the same pot, and set aside for later.

2.  Dice the pancetta and bacon, and fry it up in the small pan until golden brown.  Adding bacon seems like a very american thing to do...but my family tends to like hearty proteins in their dinner.  Plus, YOU WILL NOT REGRET the addition on bacon (well, if you like bacon)!! But, buying pancetta in large amounts, can be a bit pricey and scarce.

 3.  Mix the eggs, egg yolk, cream, chesse, and alittle bit of black pepper!

 4.  Add the Pancetta/Bacon and the sauce to the awaiting Spaghetti and mix!

5. Toast up some Texas toast, and crumble the yummy crumbs all over!!

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!!
(Leftovers are also the best!)

mmm..

I found it absolutely amazing!! I think I made it cheesy-er than it needs to be; but it totally reminds me of that famous dish from Yard House (Mac&Cheese'squared') without the truffle oil!! The bacon definitely gives it an intense hearty bacon flavor, whereas the Pancetta is much more complex and subtle.
 This is now a must have staple!!! 

{OPTIONAL: Give your dog Bacon!}

South Park Cake Pops!!

Our latest edition to our line of cake pops!!

Seen here:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/75242825/south-park-cake-pops-cake-balls-1-dozen