Pineapple Cookies

It seems as though I have fallen off of the bandwagon again.  This last month has been a little crazy: from moving and applying and interviewing for new jobs to starting school.  All is well, but I need to catch up.  In the next couple of days I will be working on a few updates to the blog, but to tide you over I have a quick and sweet recipe to share with you.


Pineapple Cookies

Pineapple Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 9 oz. crushed pineapple
• 3-1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

1. Cream together the shortening, sugar and egg.
2. Once combined add the crushed pineapple, flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
3. Spoon onto ungreased baking sheets and bake at 400° F for 8-10 minutes.

When making cookies I like to use parchment paper on the baking pan for easy cookie removal (and clean up).  Also, when making the dough don't add all of the flour in at once.  If you have never made cookies before, just try it...but keep a broom near by.  HAHA!  To avoid the mess though, adding in the dry ingredients slowly and in smaller increments to the wet will help you to avoid flour EVERYWHERE!!!

But that is all I have for everyone tonight.  Keep an eye open for some upcoming recipes and reviews.
Until then...

Happy snacking!

Luke

KoMex Express

It's not often that I get a few days off in a row, but when I do...well, I don't make much use of them.  This week for example:  I finally have three days off in a row and what have I been doing?  Playing League of Legends, going for daily runs and updating this blog.  What I should be doing is finally unpacking and getting situated into my new place so as not to keep my life and belongings so out in the open.  (Humph... A strange thing for a blogger to be worrying about).  

There are so many things that I have been thinking about as of late and sometimes I just don't know where to begin.  That being said, I was excited to hear that my aunt who lives in town wanted to get together for dinner.  It has been over a month since the last time that we were able to spend some time and this outing was long overdue.  Now I am not always one for huge family outings or get-togethers.  My preference is in the cultivation of the connections that I share with a select few family members.  That isn't to say that I don't value the presence and rapport I have of other family members - I do, but I have a few good souls I can call upon in my need or if I just need a friendly ear or mind to bounce ideas off of and my Aunt D is one of them.

D and I are one-in-the-same:  we enjoy being by ourselves and having our own space, crave and appreciate the companionship's that we come to hold dear to our daily lives (an interesting dichotomy) and love to meet each other for dinner to talk about what is going on in our lives and get the aided boost we need from spending time with a loved one.  We are also similar in the fact that when we go out, it takes us an ungodly amount of time to decide where we are going.  This particular meeting was no different.

From the beginning of the night I knew that I wanted to try something new.  The one thing that I had on my mind was KoMex Express here in Las Vegas.  Though, every time I think about a fusion restaurant I get excited, this place has always made me feel uneasy. Fusion restaurants to me means a new twist on something that I already love, but for those of you who don't know what KoMex is...well, it's a Korean-Mexican Fusion restaurant.  Not being a huge Mexican fan this never sounded good to me, but I LOVE Asian food.  Knowing that I couldn't just say let's go here, I threw out some other ideas that would be less appealing and finally (45 minutes later) it was decided.

We looked up the hours and found that the location on 633 N Decatur Blvd Suite H was closed on Sundays, but we were pleasantly excited to find out that there was a second location that was open so we headed down to Buffalo & Flamingo (4155 S Buffalo Dr. #103,104) to try out their second location.

Pulling into the lot it was a typical after thought addition to the mini complex that it was located in.  Walking into the restaurant it is evident that this place was never intended to be the original occupant of the space they were renting, but they tried hard to make it their home.  It was cozy enough as was evident by the mix of people they had sitting at their tables.  With one waitress on staff she promptly greeted us offered for us to choose a table and quickly get our drink orders.  This is the point that I always order a water so as to give me enough time to browse through the menu to decide what I want to eat as well as what I actually want to drink.

I ended up ordering a Full Size Wonton Soup to share with Aunt D, pork belly on a stick, Bolgogi Fusion Nachos (1/2 size) and my Aunt ordered a single Fusion Chicken Lettuce Wrap for herself and chicken and pork belly on a stick to share.  It wasn't long after they brought the complimentary chips and salsa/guacamole basket they we were staring down at the massive amount of food that we had ordered.

Wonton Soup - Wontons stuffed w/ ground Beef & Pork with Mushroom, Egg and Onions in Mild broth

It almost saddens me to have started with the Wonton Soup as it was clearly the favorite dish by the end of the night, but suffice it to say that is where I began.  Not really expecting much from the soup I ordered it really as something to try prior to our food coming out.  Had it not come out at the same time as the rest of the food I would have kindly asked the waitress to cancel the rest of my order and let me have my fill in this soup alone.  Luckily I didn't finish all of my half and I had enough to bring home to savor another day.  (Note to self:  Though this soup is delicious, do not eat prior to a run.  I did and by mile three I was beginning to burping up the garlic that resides in this soup.  Not fun.)

Left to right:  Chicken on a Stick and Pork Belly on a Stick

Next came the (Insert Meat Option) on a stick portion of our meal.  For Aunt D it was chicken and for me pork belly.  Personally, I think I made the better choice, but as she wouldn't try the pork belly I don't have another persons word to compare the two.  So you will just have to take my word on it - the pork belly was by far superior to the chicken.  Though, the chicken was beautifully marinated before it was cooked and never stood a chance at becoming dry.  It's simplicity lead to the possibility to try the many hot sauces they offered.  My favorite was the KoMex hot sauce.  It delivered some nice heat that brought sweat to my brow but not so much as to test my taste buds in a battle that they were never going to win.  See all hot sauce options below.

Clockwise from Top Right:  Korean Sweet and Spicy, KoMex, Salsa Roja and Salsa Verde

That brings us to my last selection of the Fusion Nachos with Bolgogi beef.  What I liked most about this is that the beef was marinated beautifully and was married to the tortilla chips with a mozzarella cheese that pulled to a glorious strand when lifted off of the plate.  The one complaint that I had about this dish is that the Pico de Gallo was a little too sweet or the Korean Hot Sauce is what was explained to be as the Korean Sweet and Spicy sauce.  Either way, I feel that the KoMex would have been a better choice, but other than that loved every bite.

Fusion Nachos with Bolgogi Beef - Meat, Mozzarella Cheese, Pico de Gallo, Jalapeno & Korean Hot Sauce

At the end of the meal you are presented with a fortune cookie and a half of an orange slice up and served with little spears to share.  It brings the meal to the most amazing end as the oranges are so refreshing and cold that there is no way that you could not enjoy your meal here.  The thing that I like about this place so much is that there is a great amount of ability to customize any meal to different meats and non meats alike.  It is virtually friendly for all types of eaters.  Maybe not 100% vegan friendly, but can totally be customized to vegetarians and meat lovers alike.

Hands down I will be back for the Wonton Soup alone and may venture further into their menu, but can now say that a Korean-Mexican Fusion Restaurant is no longer the beginning of my culinary nightmares.  Try it for yourself.  I think you will also be pleasantly surprised.

KoMex
633 N Decatur Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89107
(702) 646-1612

Mon-Sat 11am - 8pm
CLOSED SUNDAYS


KoMex Express
Buffalo & Flamingo 
4155 S Buffalo Dr. #103,104 
(702) 778-5566

Tue-Sat 11am - 9pm
Sun 11am - 8pm
CLOSED MONDAYS


Hope you guys and gals enjoy this as much as I did.  Remember to Comment, Share and Visit some of the sponsoring sites.

And, until next time....
Happy Snacking!

Luke

Kalua Pork with Cabbage

What a week!  It is good to be back into the kitchen, but better now that I am settled (sort of) in my new place.  Along with moving I was working on a commercial for NBA 2K15 - yes, the video game - on top of working my normal job.  With all of that going on this was placed on the back burner (no pun intended) and forgotten about.  But it is a new day and I have a new recipe to share.

If you are anything like me, you enjoy food...I would hope so if you are reading this blog.  If for some chance you got here by mistake and have read this far - good for you!  Maybe cooking isn't your thing.  That's totally fine, but try these recipes out.  If it doesn't turn out...well, just post about it on HERE and let me know so I can enjoy your mishaps while I photoshop the crap out of mine.

Back to the recipe, living in Las Vegas there is a large Hawaiian population.  With that comes amazing Hawaiian food and restaurants.  One of my favorites here is L&L Hawaiian BBQ where they have everything from Spam Musubi to Kalua Pork.  Personally, these are my two favorites but I'm not about to go out to eat all the time so I started making it myself.

Normally this recipe would have you cooking the pig in a hole in the ground.  For those of you that live in Vegas you probably know how impossible it is to dig into the earth here.  Though, it's delicious I am not about to try and dig through this ground, so we make due with what we have.  A SLOW COOKER!  Below is the recipe as I have found it online.  With that being said...let's just get to cooking.


Kalua Pork and Cabbage

Kalua Pork and Cabbage

Ingredients

• 2 TBS Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 (5 lb) bone-in pork shoulder roast
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
• 1/2 large head cabbage, shredded

Instructions

1. Mix kosher salt, black pepper, and ground ginger in a bowl; rub evenly into surface of pork roast; place seasoned roast in a slow cooker.
2. Stir soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke together in a bowl; pour over the pork roast.
3. Cook on Low 10 hours.  Add cabbage to the pork and sauce in the slow cooker; cook another 30 minutes.  Shred pork to serve.

There you have it.  Simple and easy.  I did change the recipe a bit.  Before I do the rub I like to pierce the pork roast with a knife a fair number of times - a la Jodi Arias - so the liquid can get into it a bit.  With the pork in a slow cooker I will rub the liquid mixture into the pork as best as I can.  Doing this helps keep the dry mixture of salt, black pepper and ground ginger on the pork.  Whether this helps or not I don't know.  It's just what I do, and there is nothing wrong with deviating from recipes.  It's hard to mess this recipe up.  Also, as I don't need 5 pounds of pork so I only use two to three pounds and adjust the recipe accordingly.  Now, if you aren't into doing the conversions yourself HERE is the link to the original recipe where you can adjust the number of servings and it will calculate all of the measures for you.  This original recipe makes for 10 servings.  Changing it it to six servings as I did will call for just over 3 lbs of pork.

I love this recipe, but some of the people in my house didn't care for the lingering smell that comes with slow cookers.  Vegetarians...I hope catch a flesh eating virus.  How ironic would that be?!?  (Disclaimer:  Only kidding about that.  My roommates are neither vegetarians nor have a virus.)  On the bright side, if nobody else eats it at least the dog will like it.

That's all that I have for today.  Enjoy, share, reply and until next time....

Happy Snacking!

Luke

Refrigerator Pickles

I have been playing around with pickles lately...  **How do you continue writing after a statement like that?** 

Basically, I have been making pickles because they are delicious.  Last time I bought some pickles they were a lot sweeter than I wanted them to be.  The time before that there was too much garlic.  Getting annoyed that I didn't like the pickles I was getting I decided to make my own.  Looking at a simple recipe I threw something together that I like and hopefully you will too.

Pickled Cucumbers

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar, to taste preference
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 mini cucumbers, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• Dill, green peppers, garlic, etc. to taste

Instructions

1. Place sliced cucumbers, onions, garlic, green peppers (or any combination thereof) in a jar.
2. Combine sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil making sure to fully dissolve the sugar.  Pour over the sliced vegetables.  Add fresh dill to taste, if desired.  Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  Store in the refrigerator.

Before any of you go off on me - yes, I know that this isn't the best way to make pickles.  This is a way that I use when I want to make them quickly.  Last minute sort of deal.  There are probably better ways to pickle, but try this.  You may like it.  If not...no harm, no foul.

As always, until next time....
Happy Snacking!

Luke

Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese

All I can say about this simple sandwich is, "HOLY F***!"  Why did my mother never make this for me when I was growing up?  (I still love you mom, don't you worry about this.  However, you HAVE TO make this for the grandkids.)

The inspiration for this came from work last night.  I work graveyard shift at a resort in Las Vegas and the Employee Dining Room is very underwhelming from 10pm - 5am (here forth shall be called the Dreaded Hours) when they start to serve breakfast.  During the Dreaded hours the food provided is straight from the buffet after they close.  So, we get fed leftover, rejected food from a buffet that isn't known for being good.  It isn't even known that we have a buffet, it is that good....

Anyway, for an hour or so we are lucky enough to have a chef making personal orders just shy of the Dreaded Hours.  It's all free and they can make eggs to order, burgers, chicken breast, quesadillas, sandwiches or wraps and they are not too bad.  Last night I was lucky to catch my favorite chef just before he closed down the grill and left us to suffer fight over the buffet food.  Not being too hungry I just wanted something that wouldn't take long to cook, so I asked for a grilled cheese sandwich.

There was definitely nothing special about this grilled cheese.  It was typical American on wheat and he even threw on a few fries (that went unconsumed), but he takes pride in his work so I smiled, thanked him and sat down for my quick bite.  The first bite happened and I noticed that the cheese wasn't even melted.  He had managed to toast the outside of the bread on the griddle, but the cheese was still as cold as it was when he took it from the prep line.  I took a few more bites and then decided that this was probably for the best as I wasn't all that hungry to begin with.

That brings me to today...  With the heat being in the low 100's I often don't have an appetite, but I know I must consume something.  I wanted to make something quick while I was working on another recipe and decided a grilled cheese would be great because I have everything for it and need to use the ingredients.  Also, I have a basil plant that is struggling to survive in this desert heat so I knew I wanted to use that.  Heading over to Google I typed in "grilled cheese basil" into the search bar and after a few web pages ironically enough ended up at ohsweetbasil.com.  What caught my attention was a recipe for Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese.  Now I'm not one to typically follow what Oprah likes, but it was so simple that I had to try it - and you should too.


The Recipe

Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese

Five simple ingredients to Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese (honey not pictured)

Ingredients

• 2 slices of good quality wheat bread
• 2 slices of Havarti cheese
• 2-4 slices vine ripe tomato
• honey
• fresh basil, 2-3 leaves chiffonade

One side of the sandwich prepped and ready to cook

Instructions

1. Spread a thin layer of honey on each slide of bread.  Top with cheese, tomato, basil and another slice of cheese.
2. You can butter the bread or use a little olive oil in the pan.
3. Grill on a skillet or pan over low-medium heat, or very low flame for gas stove users, until golden brown on both sides.  
4. Remove from heat and enjoy.  You can thank me later.

Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese (and soon to be yours too)

For this recipe I made sure to buy some decent Havarti and slice it myself at home.  Also, I prefer to cook the sandwich open faced where both buttered sides of the sandwich cook at the same time.  Each one has cheese on it, a slice of tomato and fresh basil.  I chose to add the honey just before I put the two cook sides together, but this doesn't affect the taste.  For me it is just to make less mess in my pans during cooking.  

Either way, this is an amazing and simple grilled cheese that must be tried by all.  If you can get ingredients from your local farmers market you will enjoy this even more!  Oprah made a good choice with this and I hope you do yourself a favor and take full advantage of this combination.  You will forget all about your nasty American "Cheese" sandwich you grew up with and hopefully never turn back. 

Until next time,

Happy Snacking!

Luke

Crockpot Fig Apple Butter

The other day I polled my Facebook friends about what kind of things they would like to see from a food blog like mine.  As it has been two years since my last post I figured revamping it would be necessary.  The responses I got were that some just wanted straight up recipes, some wanted restaurant and food reviews and one very excited friend just screamed, "CROCKPOT RECIPES!"

I love crockpots.  They are time savers, easy to use and easier to clean.  It's the best way to make food when you are having a lazy day.  Also, it will fill your home with the scent of awesomeness.  And the best part is that there is no end to the number of recipes you can find for the crock pot.  For me, the first one that came to mind was a Fig Apple Butter that I made a month ago.  

That day I wanted a pizza, but didn't want a typical pizza and was feeling adventurous with toppings.  Looking into my fridge to see what I had to work with I started to cry when I realized that I had nothing.  It was my day off from work and I was exhausted. Going to the store isn't something that I wanted to do.  Then I noticed that I had some goat cheese near the back of my top shelf (don't worry, it wasn't THAT old).  Having some apples for an apple butter that I wanted to make I began to look up other recipes that might go with the goat cheese when I came across PaleOMG.com and their Crockpot Fig Apple Butter.  Having all of the items I threw it into the crockpot and went about my day (which then turned into running to the store for pizza dough and prosciutto) and then taking a nap because I had actually RAN to the store.   The rest was up to the crockpot.  So, as to fulfill my friend's wish (and to stop my mother from directing people to other blogs) here is my first recipe for the crockpot.  ENJOY!!

Fig Apple Butter Pizza with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto

Crockpot Fig Apple Butter - Recipe found at PaleOMG.com

Ingredients

• 20 dried black figs, stems removed, cut in half
• 6 apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1/2 cup honey (or other sweetener such as maple syrup)
• 3 TBS cinnamon (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in the slow cooker.  Mix well.
2. Put the slow cooker at low and cook for 6-8 hours until apples are completely soft and almost mushy.
3. Place ingredients in food processor and puree until smooth.  You may have to do this in a few batches.
4. Store in refrigerator in a glass jar.

This stuff is seriously amazing on almost everything and has a hearty cinnamon flavor to it.  Keep in mind that this recipe can be tailored to your palate especially where the cinnamon comes it.  Some people will love it as it is and some of you will probably want a little less cinnamon in it.  That is okay.  Recipes are meant to be like maps - they only offer suggestions, nothing is definite and the possibilities are endless.  So, eat your heart out Julia Child.

Until next time...

Happy Snacking!!

Luke

Lilly's Thai and Vietnamese Restaurant Review

Lilly's Thai and Vietnamese Restaurant

Last night a few friends and I went to Super Summer Theatre's production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.  It's an outdoor theatre set within Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.  Tickets are a reasonable price and all you have to do is bring yourself, a blanket to sit on and maybe some food and beverage to enhance your experience that much more.

Being the classy people that my we are, my friends and I grabbed a 12 pack of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, picked up a pizza from CostCo and headed out to the ranch for an evening of fun.  Though I don't drink much at all, I began to have the biggest craving for Thai food as the night drew on.  It was sudden and out of place, but then again my partner and I have been getting our fair share of Thai food as of late.  My latest addiction: Pad See Ew.

Being that I live on the west side of Las Vegas I decided that I need to start trying new places in my area.  Just across from my favorite falafel house in Las Vegas I have noticed a few restaurants come and go, but nothing really stays.  Could it be bad location or just bad food?  I don't know, but what I did notice on my way past the area this morning is that there was a Thai restaurant that I have never been to.  And where there is a Thai café, there is Pad See Ew.

I decided to stop in at Lilly's Thai and Vietnamese Restaurant on West Sahara to give it a go.  My first impressions where mostly faded by the fact that I just wanted this noodle dish...NOW!  I placed my order for beef Pad See Ew (there is a $1 up charge for beef) and sat down to wait for my dish.  As I had a few things to get done this morning, I ordered it to go but the wait staff still poured me a glass of water as I waited which was quite unexpected but very welcomed.

Sitting down I began to take in my surroundings, and to be quite frank, there wasn't much to take in.  The tables were very plain and each one had a large sticker on it's edge to indicate the table number.  The front desk was made up of what looked like an ill fitted computer desk set to the side of another desk that could have easily been left behind by the previous tenants of this rental space.  The decorations were few, but I just kept reminding myself that I am here for the food and not the atmosphere.  Besides, I was taking my food to go.  What did I care?

My order only took about 5 minutes to make and when it was ready the host bagged it up, walked it over to me and politely thanked me and invited me back.  For me, the drive home is usually the worst part about take out as the smell of the food taunts me until I have reached my destination.  However, in this instance I got nothing.  It wasn't until I opened the bag fully and opened the To-Go box that I got a whiff of what was to come, and what I got was a short scent of the dish and then...nothing.  I enjoy food that lingers in the air and taunts everyone around that's eating something else to the point of jealousy and begging for a bite.

Upon further inspection of the opened box I noticed the beef.  It had been cooked to an eerie gray to it that made it seem like low quality factory meat that was cut into a uniform thickness.  Looking past that I was excited to see a spring roll that came with this lunch special as it meant that I would enjoy at least one thing.  How can you mess up a spring roll, am I right?

I began to plate my lunch, but was quickly losing my appetite (it's hot here and I don't have a big appetite during the hot Vegas summer's to begin with).  I took my first apprehensive bite and was underwhelmed.  There was so much anticipation that was leading up to this moment that perhaps I was the reason that it wasn't appealing to me.  I took another bite and again wasn't excited, but the food was forgettable.  After my fifth bite I decided to just take the spring roll and enjoy the little bit that I could.

After my meal I looked up Lilly's on Yelp to see if it was just me, but they have gotten some mixed reviews.  The photos make the food look amazing, but good photos don't make up for a lack of flavor which seems to be a common complaint.  Though I didn't get a Thai tea or dessert like I would have wanted to give this place an overall review, I can't say that I will never be back.  

Overall, this dish was not good.  It had little to no flavor, the protein was gray, but the egg roll and dipping sauce were not half bad.  The desserts look delicious and the wait staff is very attentive, but as far as this dish goes there are far too many other Thai restaurants around Las Vegas that make a better Pad See Ew to go to.  I will probably come back to get the curry, Thai tea and coconut ice cream as recommended by others on Yelp.

Thanks for checking out my first review and be sure to come back as I make this dish at home later this week.

Until next time....

Happy Snacking!

Luke

Update

It's been two years, I have moved to a new city and have had a lot of changes, but am happy to say that I'm rekindling this blog. Expect some new and awesome recipes to come.

If you were following my blog originally you will know that it focused on vegetarian/vegan food at affordable prices.  With the relaunch of the blog I will now be focusing on all foods as well as offer restaurant reviews from local eateries in and around Las Vegas. 

If you would like to see anything specifically on this blog let me know by contacting me and I will do my best to accommodate all requests. 

Glad to see you all again! 

                             

Until next post....

Luke