Trying the ALL IN ONE BURGER at The Lake House - LA

Trying the ALL IN ONE BURGER at The Lake House - LA

There comes a time in your life when you have to upgrade your lunch game and order the most epic beauty that you’ve come across.

For that, of course, you bring the talent of the leading food blogger in Los Angeles and Paul Tavakoli Co-Owner/Executive Chef at The Lake House - LA and Executive Chef at Polished Fork,
to create a burger of epic proportions, aptly called the ALL IN ONE BURGER.

For $27, you can share the ALL IN ONE BURGER, which is a six-inch tower of culinary proportions made with:

-Two quarter pound patties
-Onion rings
-Grilled jalapenos
-American cheese
-Bacon
-Smoked tri tip
-Pulled pork grilled cheese sandwiches as buns

For the more sensible burger lovers, Chef Tavakoli has also created a beautiful pair of pulled-pork sliders served on mini pretzel buns and a nice selection of summer favorites. Of course, all can be accompanied by a side of BBQ-style potato salad and hand sliced french fries.

Whatever burger you choose, you can enjoy them at The Lake House - LA casual vibe and indoor / outdoor seating, that is just perfect for the dreadful San Fernando Valley summer.

The Lake House LA also offers a complete bar and diverse seasonal menu made with ingredients from its own garden.

The ALL IN ONE BURGER is currently being served exclusively at The Lake House LA, located at:
6331 Woodley Ave
Van Nuys, CA
Phone: (818) 778-6530

Hours: 6:00 a.m. - 7:30 Daily

Lot parking, with no reservations required for this family-favorite hideaway.

Enjoy!

Ana Lydia

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Tomato Macaroni and Cheese

Tomato Macaroni and Cheese

Disclosure: I’m working with Ovation TV to promote Southern Uncovered. All thoughts and opinions my own. 

Macaroni and Cheese is a classic Southern side dish that most of us consider comfort food and the perfect side dish for most holiday meals.

But as we all know, Southern Mac & Cheese is delicious because of the butter and cheese, which makes it more of a guilty pleasure than something to make, or eat, often.

The Mac & Cheese I grew-up with was actually quite different....

The macaroni and cheese of my childhood is made with a tomato base; which makes it healthy, flavorful and quite easy to make...

Ingredients to prepare Tomato Macaroni and Cheese include:

• 1 16 oz Elbow Macaroni Package - Cooked al dente with salt water
• 4 Medium-sized Tomatoes cut in half
• 1 Medium-sized Chopped Tomato
• 1/4 cup Chopped White Onion
• 1 Garlic Clove
• 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• 6 oz Tomato Paste
• 16 oz Sour Cream
• 1/2 cup Shredded Swiss and Gruyere Cheese Mix
• Ground Pepper and Salt to taste
• 
  

Preparation:

1. Blend (in a blender) four tomatoes, tomato paste and garlic clove until a smooth "sauce" consistency. Set aside.
2. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a stockpot with low heat.
3. Add the onion to the stockpot and cook until the onion is transparent.
4. Add the tomato sauce to the onion and cook with medium heat until the sauce boils. (Make sure to mix while cooking to prevent the sauce from sticking to the pan)
5. Reduce the temperature once the sauce boils, then add the chopped tomato and sour cream. 
6. Mix slowly until the sauce begins to bubble. 
7. Add pepper and salt to taste.
8. Remove the sauce from the stove and add the cooked macaroni. Mix the pasta with the sauce until all the pasta is covered.
9. Fold-in the cheese mixture and serve immediately. 
10. Refrigerate any leftover Mac & Cheese and reheat with just a bit of lowfat milk in a pan.

Please let me know if you try my family Tomato Macaroni and Cheese recipe. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I do! 

I also invite you to watch Southern Uncovered on Ovation TV starring The Lee Bros to get a few other ideas on how to add a Southern touch to your favorite dishes.

Ana Lydia

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Southern Uncovered

Southern Uncovered

My views of the South were limited at best (no pun intended) when I was younger.

But when a cousin married a woman from Alabama, right around the time that I began to work with a proud Southern man, my views about the South were quickly replaced with my lunches and family gatherings boasting with Southern mainstays.

Gritts, thick smoked bacon, greens, and well, things that you only saw on TV but weren't readily available in my suburban community, were different. flavorful. delectable.

Even today, southern or "soul food" restaurants are few and far in Los Angeles; and none, from what I have been told, compare to the home-cooking and nouveau-fusion upscale Southern cuisine that is emerging in the most misunderstood parts of the U.S.

The Lee Brothers, the James Beard Award-winning food and travel writers, have embarked on a Southern road trip starting with their hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, to do just that: document the food, culture and history of the South.

Their new show "Southern Uncovered with the Lee Bros," is premiering on Ovation TV this Sunday, June 14; and Matt Lee, one half of the Lee Bros, shared his excitement at the recent kick-off reception at the award-winning restaurant Border Grill.

Proudly Southern, Matt told me that "Southern Uncovered with the Lee Bros" would not only honor the long-standing Southern food traditions, but respect the people of these communities, at least; at most, entice me and other viewers of the show to visit the South.

Because, truly, "the South is beautiful," he told me.

I can't wait to find that out.

Ana Lydia

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Recipe: Flavorful Turkey Spaghetti

Recipe: Flavorful Turkey Spaghetti

While my husband is Italian-Hungarian, but very Italian-American when it comes to his eating habits; I am Mexican-American and less enamored with pasta, albeit a bit more adventuresome with my menu choices

To change things up a bit and still please my carb-loving husband, I've created my own creative turkey pasta dish that also indulges my sense of adventure.

It's a light and easy to prepare dish, with a "kick" to it.

I don't chop the ingredients super fine as they tend to shrink when cooking.
Plus, I like to see the "color" of the veggies pop in my dish.

Ingredients*:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 14.5 ounce can of diced and no salt added tomatoes (you may also use "fire roasted" tomatoes for an earthier flavor)
• 1 tsp dry Thyme
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 1 small chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1 small chopped orange bell pepper
• 1 small chopped red bell pepper
• 1 chopped jalapeno pepper
• 2 large chopped cloves of garlic
• Pinch of sugar

*I prefer to use all organic ingredients

Preparation:

Heat oil in pan, and slightly cook both onion and garlic until onion is almost transparent, then add the turkey, peppers, and spices.

Notice that the turkey is cooked but definitely not brown, which makes it too dry.

Slowly cook all ingredients over a medium-low heat* until the turkey is cooked, but not brown; then add stewed tomatoes.

*I only use All-Clad pots and pans, which needs a lower heat than other conventional cookware.

This particular time I used the diced/no salt added tomatoes
instead of the fire roasted can.

Add the pinch of sugar (to take-away the acidic flavor of the tomatoes) and lower the heat.  Cook for approximately 30 minutes.  

The sauce will be done when the diced tomatoes are "broken" down, yet perfectly melded with the other ingredients.  Peppers will be soft, but not overcooked.

Notice how the tomatoes are starting to break down?

Add the sauce over cooked spaghetti pasta, and mix slowly in a large pasta dish.

Garnish with freshly shaved romano cheese.

Tomato Turkey Sauce over Spaghetti Pasta
Notice the different colors popping up - Delish!

Buon appetito!

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