Great Article by LA Times-Chef Nancy Silverton on salads

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-master-class-nancy-silverton-20111006,0,2766363.htmlstory

Sunday's Dish of the week- Pork Roast

Need this recipe? Email me at jasmineskitchen@gmail.com
These are my BEFORE and AFTER pictures and YEP... it is true Sunday GRUB and can feed a family of 4 for many days.


Cost of the entire meal $9.00

Lucini Salad dressing-Bold Parmesan and Garlic

You can find it in Wholefoods. Its my favorite and you can eat it with any type salad. It will cost you $6.99 and you get about 3 uses out of it but its worth every penny. Yes... its expensive but once you try it, you will LURVE it.

dinnertool.com

You can now find jasmine's kitchen on dinnertool.com
The link has been added to our page on the left side.
We are always delighted when someone approaches us. It makes me smile and inspires me to keep doing what I am doing. Its not always done in vain.

http://www.dinnertool.com/page/friends

Nic's Martini Lounge- Beverly Hills

Ahh! Today was a special day to meet up with a special friend that I have not seen in a while and have cocktails and appetizers. It was a delight that I didn't have to pick a place to eat because we've always had similar taste and TASTE my friends is very important to me. Special Note: A friend will get cut from picking out places to eat if they make too many wrong decisions with me. I am very particular where I spend my money.
A few days before we were set to meet I decided to check them out online and I have to mention how I love and appreciate that they put the dress code on their website, "Upscale, yet Casual". I figured I'd put on something kind of, umm, shabby chic. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of my friend and I because I was so excited to see her. All of the pictures I took of the food were half eaten and that is a tell tell sign that the food was delicious.
What we ordered with my honest opinion:
Famous Oysters with sauteed spinach- A must order...A had a perfect twist of twang and savory.
Gnocchi- With morel mushrooms. For years I have been begging my brother in law to ship me morels when they he goes morel hunting in Minnesota but to no avail my request have been ignored :-)... oh yes, I was ranting....The gnocchi was shaped like tiny scallops. It was the first time I have seen gnocchi shaped this way but there's nothing wrong with changing it up. They were perfectly tender, not too doughy and not to potato-ey and the cream sauce was delicious. The only thing as my friend suggested that would be a nice touch, asparagus tips. Not a lot but just enough to make it complete.
Grilled Octopus- the grilled octopus was made with feta cheese, tomato, garlic, lemon and basil. The hostess recommended that we try their Octopus as it is the most tender in Beverly Hills. Indeed she was right! It melted in your mouth and it was not chewy at all. The dish was pretty so so. I think the feta cheese throws it off a tad bit. However, the way it was prepped I have to give the chef praises for it.
Tuna tartare on brushetta- I think this was my favorite appetizer on the menu. I didn't really need the crustini. I could eat an entire bowl of the tartare.
Spinach salad with bacon- what tied the dish together was the grapefruit and goat cheese. Never thought about pairing it with grapefruit which in my mind said... hey! We are eating something healthy despite the bacon. LOL
Cocktail of the evening (I forgot to photograph) FALL HOOK UP- it was made with homemade apple cider and Stoli Applik. I really enjoyed my martini. It wasn't too sweet but had a perfect balance of a martini and a warm fuzzy feeling of fall. The apples that were used were nice. This drink isn't served in a regular martini glass but served on the rocks....I say... it gets a thumbs up from me.

There's so much to add about this place I could go on and on but check out their website. I give it 4stars. I want to try out the VODBOX so I can put on the faux fur jackets. okay... my blog ends here. xoxoxoox
http://www.nicsbeverlyhills.com/nics_2006/martini.html