In late June I found myself in L.A. for the weekend, all alone on the Sunset Strip. The first night I was there I decided I needed to go have a great dinner by myself.  Take my time, relax, really enjoy the meal and enjoy some “me” time.  I didn’t want to go far because it was dark and I had never been to L.A. before and I’d be on foot.  I decided BLT steak, just up the strip from my hotel would be perfect! BLT restaurants are part owned by executive chef Laurent Tourondel, the title of his restaurants “BLT” stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel.  They have BLT Steak, BLT Burger, BLT Fish, BLT Prime, BLT Market, BLT Bar & Grill, Fish Shack, and Nonna.  I have also been to BLT Burger inside the Mirage resort, in Las Vegas,  and it was really really great.  Juicy burgers, sweet potato fries, hand made milkshakes..can’t go wrong there as well.

Even though Open Table didn’t seem to have any reservations left for the evening, I figured there’s always room at the bar for a party of one.  I went pretty early, about 7:30pm and the restaurant was almost entirely empty.  I bellied up to the bar, ordered a dirty martini and my relaxing delicious evening had begun.  The bartenders there were awesome, fun to talk to and totally let me park there for 3 hours while I tried a little bit of everything and watched the restaurant fill up and come to life.

half eaten popover

Of course, first thing’s first.  If you are at BLT Steak, you need to start your meal with a delicious, airy yet rich popover with butter and sea salt.  They are complimentary and simply delicious.  They even include the cutest little recipe card on the plate so you can attempt to make your own at home.  I will include this near the end of the post.  I haven’t made my own yet, but I can’t wait to try.

Next, the chef de cuisine, Brian Moyers sent out an array of small bites for me try.  Marinaded olives, beautiful charcuterie, grilled cheese bites, and chicken livers were all delicious with the chicken livers and charcuterie being my favorite.  Growing up amongst a family of butchers may have swayed my picks, but their pate was so delicious and simple, pretty much just ground livers with a very light seasoning.  It was so delicious smeared on a piece of the warm popover.  The charcuterie was also very elementary, but the meat was superb and the dry salami was my favorite.  It has the  perfect texture and bitterness to it.

yummy chicken livers

a little taste of their charcuterie

 Next came my most favorite dish of the evening, their mussels.  Not sure if this item is on their menu any longer, but, when I was there it was on their dinner menu as well as their Happy Hour menu.  These mussels were steamed perfectly in a delicious savory broth that had bits of the holy trinity (onions, celery, and bell pepper) as well as thin slices of chorizo sausage.  This dish changed me for all other mussel dishes I will ever have.  Since my trip to BLT Steak L.A., I have had mussels twice and they don’t even come close to being as good as these mussels were.  I hope if I stop in at BLT Steak Scottsdale, they may have them as well, one can only dream.

no words to describe how good these were

After all of this delicious food I was getting full, but I couldn’t give up yet, as I really wanted to try their lamb.  Since I wasn’t sure when I’d have the money or the chance to return to BLT…I was going big or going home!! After taking a break and sipping on a cocktail for awhile, Iordered the Rack of Lamb ($40.0) medium rare and under recommendation of my bartender paired it with the red wine sauce.   This lamb was out of control good.  Perfectly cooked, easy to cut, melted in my mouth and served with a whole bulb of roasted garlic! Did they know that garlic is one of my favorite foods? I don’t know, but all I had to do was gently squeeze the garlic out of it’s skin and smear it on the lamb, pour on a little red wine sauce and viola!  It was so perfect.

whoa, what a rack!

Already planning a trip back to BLT Steak, this time at the Scottsdale location for my husbands birthday in January.  BLT Steak L.A. was just fantastic.  Amazing food, kind and friendly service, and a beautiful atmosphere.  They also have a great location on the Sunset Strip, you can’t miss it.  Remember, Monday thru Friday they have a fabulous $5.0 Happy Hour from 5pm-7pm.  I highly suggest you stop in on your next trip to Los Angeles.  Tell them the Food Tramp sent you

BLT Popovers

makes 12

Ingredients

4 Cups Milk, Warmed
8 Eggs
4 cups flour
1 1/2 heaping tbsp salt
2 1/4 cups grated gruyere cheese
Popover Pan

Directions

Makes 12. Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat oven and pan to 350 deg. Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside. Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside. Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add the dry mixture to the eggs and combine until mostly smooth. Once combined remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with non stick vegetable spray. Fill each popover cup 3/4 full and top each with 2 1/2 cups of gruyere cheese. bake at 350 deg for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Arizona Restaurant Week 2010 is undoubtedly one of my favorite time of the year next to Christmastime.  This September 18th to September 26th 2010 you will have the opportunity to eat at some of the finest restaurants in the Valley as well as Tucson for a prix-fixe discounted price for a full three course meal. For the Phoenix area there are $29. pp and $39. pp 3 course meal options, if you see a cute little wine glass next to your pick, your meal will also include a glass of wine!  Tucson eateries have a $19. pp, $29. pp, and $39. pp 3 course options.  Go here for a list of participating Phoenix restaurants and click herefor the list of the Tucson participating restaurants.  This year there are also gluten free options symbolized by a (GF) next to the restaurant.  Reservations for Restaurant Week are highly recommended.  You can always obtain these by calling the restaurant or simply going to Open Table and make your res with a click of the mouse!

It only helps you to fan Arizona Restaurant Week on facebook  and follow them on twitter, as you can get the latest details on participating restaurants as well chances to win gift certificates to attend the restaurant of your choice!!  Foodies Like Us will be the “official” blog of Arizona Restaurant Week, and watch for a guest post by the Food Tramp with them later this month. 

Also, stay tuned to the Food Tramp Diaries as I will be posting my personal reviews of the places I choose to check out for restaurant week.  My hardest decision is always, “where to go” as all of the menus already look excellent.  Being a stay at home mom, living on one income with a growing family, this is always an excellent chance to experience champagne tastes on a beer budget so to speak.

To my amazing luck, I ended up on a 3 day business trip (per se) for my blog in June.  I was staying in West Hollywood at the most amazing hotel known to man (Thanks Dole).  I got to eat TONS of delicious food and drink lots of yummy alcoholic drinks.  It really was a weekend to splurge and by the time Sunday rolled around I was SUPER hungover and looking for something relaxing to do before my plane left for Arizona Sunday evening.  My ever faithful friend “Foodie Bear” told me I really needed to hit up the Hollywood Farmer’s Market.  It was only 2 miles from my hotel and he told me I would love it.  His recommendations have never failed me so I typed the address into my handy Garmin and off I went!

Living in Arizona, I’m always singing praises about our all year round farmer’s markets here, but Hollywood Farmer’s market was the coolest market I have ever been to. I toured the whole market which was about four different aisle ways of  fresh produce, flowers, food, and gourmet goodies.

On my way back to the car port I saw the cutest little orange bicycle with a freezer cooler hooked to the front.  Two people were passing out mysteriously wrapped packages out of this cart and there was a line…I was curious.

I get closer and I see that it’s a popsicle bike/cart!!! “OMG, how freaking cool;” is what I’m thinking in my head.  Also cursing myself because I had just had a mint chocolate cacao chip ice cream sandwich from the Carmela Ice Cream stand.  I really couldn’t eat anything else, my stomach was in a bad place already, being hungover, but I still wanted to get the scoop on this awesome popsicle making duo!

Chef Michelle Sallah has been in the food arena her whole life having parents who owned a diner. She’s worked in the restaurant world since she was 12 years old,  so culinary school and fine dining was the next logical step.  After awhile she decided to become a freelance chef to have more freedom to work on her own projects and this is how Popcycle Treats came about!

The “legs” of this project is John.  He rides the bike around everywhere toting these delicious handmade gourmet pops. He even designed and constructed the whole bike himself which I believe is quite an amazing feat!

Michelle makes the pops and she offers many different flavors, depending on what fruits and veggies are in season in their area.  When I spotted them they were carrying salty cucumber lime, peach ginger, and lemon mint blueberry organic popsicles.  I really wish I would have found them before I found Carmela, but now I have something to look forward to next time I am in L.A.  Even as I was  speaking to them they quickly sold out, as they do on every trip out.  I know they frequent the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, Silverlake Farmer’s Market and the  Cinespia screenings in L.A.   Just like a food truck, if you want to know where you can find them simply follow them on twitter or fan them on facebook. 

salty cucumber lime, orange blackberry

coconut milk chocolate, raspberry Arnold Palmer

I really wanted to show you guys this unique foodie find, I just thought it was the coolest thing EVER…wish we had one at the Scottsdale Farmer’s Market…hmmmmm???

This June I was invited by Dole Foods to be a part of a cookoff  in Los Angeles. An all expenses paid trip to L.A. in one of the coolest hotels around, a rental car, and spending money…how could I say no??  Five recipe finalists battled it out to get their recipes on the back of Dole products and win $1000.o0! Five food bloggers were invited to cook alongside and help the recipe finalists.  I was beyond excited to be invited by Dole to participate in this event.

this is legit!

After the official greeting from Dole employees as well as celebrity chef, Ben Ford, we were paired off and got to cooking.  Of course I was ecstatic when I got paired with Laura who had the bacon wrapped scallops…gotta love cookin up some bacon!  The five dishes to battle for the big win were: pineapple glazed bacon wrapped scallops with pineapple macadamia nut quinoa, ginger mandarin orange rice with cashew tofu, orange and avocado crowed black Thai grilled chicken thighs, turkey and pineapple infused stuffed peppers, and mandarin chicken burger. 

This was my favorite, thought she would win for sure!

The winning dish!

these were yummy!!

the cilantro mayo was awesome on this burger

After careful contemplation by Iron Chef competitor and famed chef,  Ben Ford, a winner was chosen; Janice Elder and her chicken thighs took the prize!!  Next on the agenda was cosuming the copious amounts of food we had prepared.  However, eating the meal came about two hours after the food was completed so everything was cold

Dole in the house!

Besides the five competing dishes, each team also made a side dish if you will, to add to our dinner.  Laura and I made an “angel lush” cake and boy was it delicious! I’ll be posting the recipe later on in this post.  Since I’ve been home from this trip I have already made it twice for my family because they love it so much. 

This was the first annual cook-off for Dole.  I found it super fun, entertaining, interesting, educational and I couldn’t have been happier to be a part of it.  If there is any constructive criticism I could give it would be one simple suggestion; have the event next year in a larger space so the dining area can be already set up.  That way food can be eaten when it is still hot or even somewhat warm.  I was super excited to try all of the dishes, which were all hot entrees, but having them cold, two hours later was a little disappointing to the taste buds.  However, even despite the cold food, this event was a major hit and I know we all had a great day together with Dole and Ben Ford!

Angel Lush Cake

1 angel food cake (I recommend the sour cream angel food cake found at Kroger/Fry’s/Ralph stores)

1- 3.4 oz package of instant vanilla pudding

1- can Dole crushed pineapple

1 cup cool whip

Mix dry pudding mix and can of pineapple (undrained) together.  Do not add milk to the pudding, simply use the dry powder.  Carefully fold in the cool whip.  Cut your angel food cake into three layers and add pineapple mixture between each layer.  Refrigerate.

25 Degrees is a super cool burger bar that opened up at City North.  It is one of only two locations in the United States, there is a third location in Beijing, China.  If you live in the Phoenix area you are seriously in for a treat as the burger I had here is definitely on my top 5 list of best burgers I’ve ever had!Also, for you thirsty folks there is a full bar and an amazing wine list and large selection of draft beer on tap. 

I recently came here for a “tweet up” and had a great time with foodie friends, enjoying 25 Degrees Happy Hour specials and eating some of their delicious food.  While sipping on my dirty martini I decided to order some bacon wrapped dates ($8.0).  In my bacon loving life I have wrapped a lot of things with bacon, but haven’t had the pleasure of dates.  They were delicious, soft and sweet in the middle with the smoky salty crunch of the crisp bacon on the outside.  Another item I recommend that I tried of a friends was the tempura green and yellow beans ($9.0).  The beans were fresh and not over fried with the tempura, they still had a great crunch and came with a yummy dipping sauce.

bacon wrapped dates

yum, tempura green beans!

After a couple martinis my hunger was substantial as I saw lots of burgers and dogs coming out of the kitchen.  I decided it was time to order up a burger to see for myself.  Granted, this is not your $5. burger, so if  you’re coming here, be ready to spend about  $10-$15 on a burger alone.  Everything is a la carte, so it can certainly add up, but it’s worth it in the end.  I decided to build my own burger when I learned that you cannot make any substitutions to their 4 specialty burgers on the menu.  So, here is what I ordered,  that I so lovingly dubbed, “The Food Tramp” : ground sirloin, smoked mozzarella, jalapeno bacon, caramelized onions, fried egg over easy, and thousand island dressing ($14.5). 

The Food Tramp in all her glory!

alternate view, check out that egg yolk situation!

I don’t quite know what to say about this burger, as it was just so damn good!  The burger itself was cooked medium with tender juiciness in every bite.  The additions I had on the burger added the perfect blend of spicy, salty, cheesy goodness.  Definitely up there on my list of top burgers along with Umami Burger , BLT Burger, and The Raft Burger.  The only thing I would change next time, is that I would get the garlic aioli instead of thousand island.  I am  a lover of garlic and didn’t notice it on the list when I ordered the other dressing.  I also had a bite of my friends bacon wrapped Sonoran Dog ($10.5) which was also super delicious and I am eager to order one of those as well the next time I am there.  Oh, and did I mention that they even have adult milkshakes??!! I didn’t get one, but I tried a sip of the “bourbon bacon” milkshake and it was just cool, creamy and yum-E!!! 

I throughly enjoyed everything about 25 Degrees.  From the atmosphere, to the beautfiul wallpaper of half naked sexy ladies in the bathroom, to the food.  It’s really a great place to go for a drink, for a burger or both! Check it out SOON.