Oven Fried Cauliflower, an Ode to Spice Table

Recently for my birthday my friend LT took me to The Spice Table, a new restaurant that opened up in Los Angeles.  I was excited to try it since it was a fusion of Vietnamese and Singaporean cuisine.  The restaurant space is fabulous, with an intimate small bar at the entrance that allows you to watch the cooks as they cook up satays and other dishes in their wood burning oven.  The main dining room is enclosed by brick walls with fabulous lighting features that are enclosed in old fashioned bird cages. 

One of the dishes we had that is now my latest obsession is their fried cauliflower (pictured below).   Lightly fried in a crisp delicate batter and served with a fish sauce based dipping sauce, this dish is perfection.  I wanted to try to make this dish at home but healthier!  So I decided to try an oven fried version with a more Italian twist.

Here are a couple of my other favorite dishes I’ve had there in the times that I’ve gone back.  Their beef rendang and their kon loh mee.  Sooo delish!  If you are in LA, I definitely recommend checking this place out.  Did I also mention that they have 4oz beer tastings as well? 

Oven Fried Cauliflower

inspired by Spice Table

1 Bag of Cauliflower flowerets
1/3 cup egg whites
1 cup panko
1/3 cup parmesan
salt
pepper

1.  Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.  Pour eggs whites into a bowl and season the mixture with salt and pepper.  In a second bowl mix the parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs together. 

2.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.  Take each cauliflower floweret and dip in egg whites and then roll into panko mixture.  Repeat and evenly line the baking sheet. 

3.  Lightly spray the cauliflower with the cooking spray before putting into the oven.  Bake for 25-30 minutes. 

This would go great with marinara sauce for dipping or even some yogurt mixed with fresh herbs.  I wanted to keep things simple and just squeezed lemon over them to brighten things up.  These were yummy and had a great crunch, I want to keep playing with this recipe to get a thicker coating on the cauliflower.  Did you also see the Cauliflower recipe on theKitchn the other day?  Crazy delicious, you can see it here!!

Flavors of New York!

Last weekend I had the chance to go to New York and visit my friend A and her fiance!  It was a weekend full of laughs, walking (lots of walking for this LA girl), shopping for wedding dresses and of course some eating and drinking!  I put on my Reebok Easy Tones and was ready to explore the city!  

Source

This wasn't my first trip to NY, so we didn't feel the need to do all the touristy stuff.  Being a bit of a foodie we did have a list of places to check out though.  Here are a few of my favs!  (Excuse the pics, I'm still getting used to the iphone!)

Norma's @Le Parker Meridian
Known for their $1000 omelet (caviar makes it so lush), A and I headed over there for brunch.  I always tend to go for savory and A tends to drift towards the sweet.  On the menu for us that morning was the Arepa for me and the waffle for A.  Totally yum and to make it even sweeter A had a Groupon for us to use!  Also a bit of trivia, this is where Nate and Juliet meet for breakfast in Gossip Girl!

Arepa:  Sweet masa with chorizo sausage, topped with an egg and some salsa.

Yummy Belgian style waffle with berries and fresh cream and orange liquor

Next on the list was Shake Shack, our friend K met up with us for this one.  As we were standing in line in the probably 40 degree weather, K turned to me and said, "I might even like Shake Shack better than In and Out..."  WHAT?!  That statement definitely piqued my interest and anticipation. 

Perfect crinkle cut fries and a cheese burger that pops into your head every couple days..


K might be right...  Shake Shack has definitely made an impression on me, so much so that I am taking my mom there when we go in May!  Unfortunately I didn't get to try their frozen custard, since A and K gave up deserts for Lent.  And even though we walked 5 miles that day, I didn't want indulge TOOO much.  Hopefully my mom will split one with me in May!

The next day we did some wedding dress shopping for A and as luck would have it we ended up in the part of town near the Protein Bakery!  I had been seeing these baked goods appear on blogs recently and it was recently featured in O magazine.  The guys there are so nice and helpful, I wish I had taken a picture with them!  I bought a bunch to bring back for the Brazilian and the trainer, since both of them love their sweets but like to have healthy treats.  All three of us LOVED the cookies and bars!  My favorite was the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Cherry cookie.  These would make an awesome gift for your health conscious friends with a sweet tooth! 

 

Healthier snack alternative made with Whey Protein!

Just down the street was the Limelight Marketplace, a cute collection of little shops and eateries!  Tucked inside was Grimaldi's Pizza, one NY's famous pizza places!  Also an excellent place for A and I to grab a quick lunch to share.  I wish we had more time, there was a cute wine bar upstairs at Limelight that we had wanted to check out as well. 

We did get a chance to get some drinks in at Reunion, a fun surf bar that is known for their house infused rums.  We let our bartender do the selecting and shared a fun tasting.  The winner of the night- the cinnamon raisin rum!  Also delish- the Seggae Punch and the Dark and Stormy!

 One of the places I had wanted to try was the gastropub Spotted Pig, I had heard it mentioned a lot, especially for their Gnudi!  We actually decided to check it out for brunch since that menu looked delish as well!

The wait was over an hour so we walked around the area to work up our appetite.  FYI- Magnolia Bakery is just down the street, though we didn't visit it that morning.  When we were finally called it was a savory sweet combo again. 

Dutch Baby with Bacon for A

Poached eggs and suckling pig hash for me



We of course also went to Momofuku, but I'll have more about that in another post... Sadly the "meat cone" alluded me this trip, but here are some other great places we checked out were:

• Lani Kai - Awesome tropical drinks, nice atmosphere and the menu looked good too.  Try the Ginger Basil drink or Shiso leaf martini!
• Lily O'Briens- Try their hot chocolate!  They even have a "Skinny Lily" which uses non fat milk and sugar free chocolate!
• Elsewhere- You MUST try their fingerling potatoes with BACON butter! Their whole menu is actually yummy and they have a good wine selection.  We were able to get a Torrontes, one of my favorites from Argentina!

Salt Baked Potatoes with Bacon Butter and Anchovy Aioli

• Jacques Torres- He is known for his chocolates and Chocolate Chip Cookies!  I bought a box of the cookie mix to see what the hype is about...
• Garret's Popcorn- Yes, this is a Chicago thing- but did you know they were in NY too? 

Super fun weekend, great catching up with A and K!  Wish I could go out there more often to explore the city, but my jeans are probably thanking me that I don't.  After I got back from NY I was craving some big fresh salads to get myself back on track after a weekend of indulgence!