Monday, September 27, 2010

The Cat's Meow

NEWS FLASH!

Yesterday's winner for a copy of Diana Orgain's latest book, Motherhood is Murder, is Babs!

Babs, send me an email at avery (at) averyaames (dot) com with your snail mail, and Diana will pop your prize in the mail.

Congratulations!!!


And now, for our Monday post:

I dared to go to Hollywood the other day. Famous for its sign, movie stars, Mann's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Bowl.

I was afraid that the traffic would be bad. Afraid!!! You know, an hour to drive ten miles kind of thing.

We moved back to the Los Angeles area a year ago. We love Los Angeles and the opportunity to do so
many creative things. There are museums, theater, musical events. We love it. But, yes, the traffic is bad...at the oddest hours...and easy/swift at other times. Go figure!

Still, I braved it because I wanted to see a friend, and she works a half hour from Hollywood and lives a half hour north. It is convenient for her to meet halfway.

Well, surprise, surprise, the traffic was minimal. It took me 20 minutes. Parking was simple. And we went to a fun cocktail and raw bar restaurant called The Hungry Cat.

Charlotte's rescue Ragdoll cat, Rags, approves!

What a delight this restaurant was. Good lighting, good seating, a fabulous looking bar and raw bar. And the menu had such unique choices on it. My girlfriend and I each had a raw bar selection. I went with the Pacific Blue Shrimp, lightly marinated in a lemon spice oil. Yum! She did oysters on the half-shell. And then we split a salad.

The salad was so good that I tried to recreate it for this post. I didn't ask for the recipe, so this is "my" version. It was simple and simply delicious! Their recipe called for Pecorino cheese. What I had at home was a yummy Collier's Cheddar. I've used this wonderful cheese before in an MLK recipe. I believe the Hungry Cat recipe had some kind of nut in the dressing, perhaps crushed pine nuts. Or it could have been that the Pecorino had a decidedly nutty flavor. Whatever the reason...I decided to add sunflower seeds.

In a word...fabulous!


Lemon Avocado Salad

Ingredients:
(enough for two to split)
Red lettuce
Butter lettuce
1/4 cup Collier's Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup egg whites (boiled eggs, yolks removed) diced
1/4 cup Avocado, (peel removed) diced


Dressing:
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
Optional: 2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds (or pine nuts, minced)

Stir the dressing ingredients together.

Lay the lettuce (untorn) on the plate.
Top with the chopped items and the dressing. It's best if you cut it and mix yourself, once served.

Simple, delicious, elegant. Serve with a baguette of bread and a glass of Pinot Grigio.


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If you'd like to know more about The Long Quiche Goodbye and want to download a few other recipes from me (on recipe cards), click on this link to my website: Avery Aames. I've posted recipes in the "morsels" section. There's lots of other fun stuff, as well. And sign up for the fan club to get in on the next contest...coming soon.


11 comments:

  1. That looks really good. Only I'd probably keep the yolks. :-)

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  2. Congrats to Babs on winning Diana's book! And, Avery, you always have the greatest salads. I'm looking forward to trying this one, especially your dressing and the Collier's Cheddar. Your lunch sounded terrific -- one worth any wait in traffic, even though you didn't have to, lol.(BTW - Rags is adorable!)

    Cheers,
    ~ Coffeehouse Mystery.com
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    Cleo

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  3. Wow! Are you gals up late! Good morning. Yawn! From California.
    ~Avery

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  4. Congratulations to Babs!

    It sounds like braving the trip to Hollywood really ended up working out well for you! The Hungry Cat sounds like a great place to go, and I'm looking forward to trying this great salad!

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  5. Wow two good things this morning winning a great book and this recipe. It is cool today for a change and this would be great to have for lunch.

    Thanks for sharing :)

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  6. congrats, Babs. Glad you like the salad. It's a nice one for the fall! Filled with protein.
    ~Avery

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  7. Sounds delightful... simple make a great lunch

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  8. How curious that they omitted the egg yolks. Is that a California thing? Sounds delicious either way!

    ~ Krista

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  9. I was also wondering about the omission of the egg yolks...I'll keep them in :-) Lovely sounding salad and fabulous cat! Thanks!
    Nanc

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  10. I agree, I would keep the egg yolks in. I know a lot of people feel the cholesterol in the egg yolks is BAD but if you follow a responsible cholesterol intake in your daily diet, then the egg yolks with the salad won't affect your cholesterol level and, on top of that, they're yummy!!! Enough preaching from the cardiac nurse. I think I'll make me a salad, with egg yolks! Nurse JudyMac

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