Daily Dish

The inside scoop on food in Los Angeles

Category: Noelle Carter

There's no honey in this honey walnut shrimp

November 9, 2009 |  6:02 am
Honey
Pat from Santa Monica had a plaintive plea:

Dear SOS: Could you please get us the recipe for the delicious, mouth-watering Honey Shrimp with Walnuts at Typhoon restaurant at Santa Monica Airport? It's to die for.

Luckily, Typhoon was happy to share the recipe with Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter, who adapted it for the home cook -- and found out that there isn't actually any honey in this dish.

Do you have a Culinary SOS request? You can write to Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com and she'll do her best to get the recipe.

In the meantime, here's a look at several recent requests we've been able to answer.

-- Rene Lynch

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Photo credit:  Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times

 

 


VIDEO: Oatmeal crispies and a reader question for the test kitchen

October 31, 2009 | 10:29 am

 

A reader, Dot Goldish, wrote to the L.A. Times test kitchen about this recipe for Oatmeal crispies, which comes from the new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, by blogger Ree Drummond, and had the following question:

You say to remove the cookies from the baking sheet immediately. Does that really work?... In any event, they're wonderful cookies. I make them often and keep a bag of baked cookies in the freezer.

Dot, the cookies will be a bit fragile just out of the oven, but we do remove them immediately using a spatula, where they cool (and continue to crisp) on a rack. Hope this helps.

-- Noelle Carter

RELATED:

O Pioneer! A profile of 'The Pioneer Woman' blogger Ree Drummond

More recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

Join us on Twitter @latimesfood and Facebook @latimesfood


The L.A. Times test kitchen: You snooze, you lose

October 22, 2009 | 10:40 am

Keylime
Times test kitchen manager Noelle Carter is testing key lime recipes this week. And you know what that means, right?

Key lime pie!

I was out of the office when Noelle made the first pie. She decided to test it again, and I decided to make it my business to be there for the next one. At one point, I sidled up to the fridge to take a look at the pie in all its golden meringue glory. Noelle said she'd put it out just as soon as it finished setting up. So, I waited. And waited. And waited.

And then I made the mistake of getting on the phone for an interview.

And this is what I found when I walked back into the test kitchen.

-- Rene Lynch


Sausage-making at home

October 1, 2009 |  2:01 pm

Casingsausage.jpgh

Love great sausage? Then this week's story, "The case for homemade sausage," might just leave you rolling up your sleeves, ready to try your hand at making your own.

Of course, for the first-timer, the act of sausage making can seem a bit confusing -- if not downright daunting. So we've included a step-by-step photo gallery illustrating the process from start to finish. 

It may take a little time to get the feel for the whole process, but sausage-making can be a fun -- and tasty -- activity. Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly in their book "Bruce Aidells' Complete Sausage Book" recommend inviting friends over to help out: "Sausage-making has always been a communal activity, and making sausages together, frying up samples, and tasting, can double the fun and halve the work."

Have fun, and happy sausage-making!

 -- Noelle Carter

Photo by Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times


The bacon potato salad at Cole's in downtown L.A.

September 30, 2009 | 11:34 am

Do we really need to say anything else? If you tried it, you no doubt loved it, so let's cut to the chase: Here's the recipe. And here are more reader recipe requests we've answered in recent months.

Join us on Twitter @latimesfood and Facebook @latimesfood


Currant scones from La Provence in Beverly Hills

September 16, 2009 | 12:59 pm

Scones400 Are you a fan of currants? Then look no further: Each of these scones is packed with those tiny little raisins, so you can be sure every bite has an extra dose of tangy sweetness. They’re great served with a little softened butter, honey or marmalade, and make the perfect quick breakfast. Click here for the recipe.

Photo: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

 


This week's L.A. Times test kitchen recipes

September 9, 2009 | 12:39 pm

Swordfish All recipes that appear in the L.A. Times' weekly Food section are tested and perfected in our test kitchen before they're deemed fit to print. (That means you don't have to worry about a trial run before serving one of our recipes to company.) Rest assured, it should work the first time out of the gate.

Here's a look at this week's recipes:

Swordfish with tomatoes and fennel

Lentil salad with tomatoes, zucchini and arugula

The cucumber, pineapple juice and ginger aqua fresca served at Akasha in Culver City

-- Rene Lynch

Photo: Ricardo DeAratanha  / Los Angeles Times

RELATED:

More recipes from the L.A. Times test kitchen


VIDEO: Sending out an S.O.S. for the brownies at Boudin Bakery at South Coast Plaza

September 2, 2009 |  6:09 pm

 

There is a possibility that the L.A. Times will not publish tomorrow. That's because everyone in the building has been talking about these brownies, instead of working at putting out the paper. Well, maybe I am exaggerating just a bit. But I can't remember the last time a recipe caused such a stir. And it's not just inside the building -- the recipe has been topping the most e-mailed list all day, too. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with the show-stopping photo taken by Times Staff Photographer Kirk McKoy -- you can see it below in all its fudge-y, chocolate-y glory. 

The recipe came to our attention when Mindy Morse of Los Angeles wrote to Times Test Kitchen test manager Noelle Carter, and submitted a request for our Culinary S.O.S. column: "Could you possibly get the recipe for the brownies at Boudin Bakery at South Coast Plaza?" Morse wrote, adding: "They are the most delicious brownies I have ever tasted!" 

Noelle got the recipe, and adapted it for the home chef. You can also watch video, above, of Noelle making the brownies in the Test Kitchen during a segment for our sister TV station, KTLA. Here's the recipe, Mindy! Enjoy! 

And check out other recipe requests we've been able to answer, here.

Brownies500

Photo credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times


Kiss My Bundt Bakery's Red velvet cake recipe

August 31, 2009 |  6:02 am

Our selfless quest for the best red velvet cake led to the acquisition of Kiss My Bundt Bakery's recipe, which has become a favorite with many of our staff. Owner Chrysta Wilson says it's based on a recipe she learned years ago from her aunt, when, as an 8-year-old, she was baking cakes in her Easy Bake Oven.

Her bakery is celebrating its 1-year anniversary, and the recipe (which follows below) will be included in her upcoming cookbook "Kiss My Bundt Cookbook," due out November 2009.

Yup! It's amazing! Almost as amazing as her maple bacon bundt cake. Only wish I'd asked for both recipes....

Continue reading »

Bacon makes everything better. Even bundt cake.

August 28, 2009 |  2:34 pm

Bundt

You know we love our bacon around here. Just today, The Times' test kitchen staff was selflessly researching a maple bacon bundt cake -- yes, you read that right, a maple bacon bundt cake -- from Kiss My Bundt* in West Hollwood.

Of course, we are not alone in our bacon obsession. Check out this Time magazine story on this food trend that just won’t go away. (Thank goodness.)

* And check back next week at the Daily Dish for more on this little gem of a bakery.

-- Rene Lynch

Photo credit: Noelle Carter



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Daily Dish is written by Times staff writers.

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