Good Pesach - Good Macaroons

Homemade coconut macaroons, regular and chocolate (dipped in Scharffen-Berger chocolate). A most impressive Passover dessert that takes no more than 30 minutes from start to finish (plus drying time for the chocolate).

Adapted from the New Basics Cookbook:

1. Beat two egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form; add a tablespoon of sugar and beat until glossy with stiff peaks.

2. In a separate bowl, combine 5 oz. shredded coconut, 2/3 cup of sugar and one teaspoon vanilla extract (warning for the observant: vanilla extract is not technically kosher for Passover, but I can't bear to use artificial vanilla). Fold into the egg whites.

3. Using a half-sphere tablespoon or a mini ice cream scoop, scoop batter out onto a buttered cookie pan covered with buttered parchment paper.

4. Cook for 12-15 minutes at 325. Cookies are done when browned on the bottom and lightly browned on top. Makes about 20 cookies.

5. For chocolate covered macaroons, melt chocolate (I use equal parts Scharffen-Berger 62% and 70%). Remove chocolate from heat to a bowl. Dip cooled macaroons in melted chocolate and let cool.

Put them out and watch these babies disappear.

Good Passover to all!

Crepes and Nem Nuong Behind the 99 Cent Store - Brodard Garden Grove

Hidden off an alley behind a Garden Grove 99 Cent store, Brodard Restaurant is a Vietnamese restaurant which is home to some wonderful seasoned pork and crispy crepes. While it's hard to find, Brodard is no hole in the wall. It features an almost trendy looking dining room featuring large wall murals, including one of stampeding mustangs, and numerous decorative wall hangings.

Nem nuong, Vietnamese pork sausage patties, are the specialty of the house, and indeed, the awning outside the restaurant says only "Nem Nuong," with the word Brodard listed in small print on the door. Nearly everyone at the restaurant will have a plate of nem nuong cuon, a serving of nem nuong in the traditional Vietnamese rice paper spring rolls. The filling includes a big strip of the tasty pork sausage along with regular accompaniments carrot, daikon, cucumber, lettuce, mint and unidentified crispy bits(fried rice paper perhaps). You can see why this is a popular dish. The pork sausage is juicy and succulent, and the stretchy rice paper and herbs are given perfect texture by the addition of those crunchy bits.

The most perfect dish at Brodard though was the banh khot - luna rice cake (pictured at right), a rice flour crepe filled with shrimp and scallions. The crepe is crispy, slightly chewy and oh, so buttery. Paired with the shrimp, wrapped in lettuce and dipped in fish sauce, it is beyond any other Vietnamese crepe I have had, a taste and textural wonder. I could have easily eaten a whole second order and now long to try their other crepe dishes (banh xeo).

Bun cha Hanoi is bun (vermicelli) accompanied by greasy bowl of nem nuong and thick-cut bacon in the regular sweet lime and chili sauce. It's delicious but can be a bit overwhelming in the grease department.

Not everything at Brodard is spot on. The goi du du bo kho, gan chay, shredded green papaya topped with beef jerky and pork liver is a bit bland, though the beef is good. The egg rolls (cha gio) commit the cardinal sin of being made with flour-based egg roll wrappers instead of rice paper; like a devastating fall in Olympic figure skating, there is simply no recovering from it, no matter how artful the rest of the program. But the truth is, there are a number of venues with excellent cha gio, while the quality of banh khot and nem nuong at Brodard are hard to match.

Brodard Restaurant
9892 Westminster Ave.
Garden Grove, CA 92844
(714) 530-1744

Cheese Break: Gres des Vosges

Today's cheese break is for the lovely Gres des Vosges [gray day vozsh]. This wash rined, soft cow cheese comes from Alsace. It's got a good stink to it. I find the rind unpleasantly grainy, but the soft, creamy cheese inside has that perfect balance of straw, nuts and a bit of the stink, similar to a young Taleggio. It's a bit pricey, $12 at the Cheesestore of Silverlake for a wheel the size and shape of a small anchovy tin. Oh, and that thing on top is a little fern leaf.

Whiskey Wednesday: WhiskyCast - Are you listening?

If you are a whisky lover who likes to keep up with goings on in the whisky world, you should be listening to WhiskyCast, the "cask strength podcast" by Mark Gillespie. Mark Gillespie has been on the web delivering whisky news since 2005! He covers new releases, industry news and does whisky ratings, but the real meat of the show are his extended interviews with people in the news; this often includes interviews with distillers, critics, retailers and others who are making whisky news.

Last week's episode included fascinating interviews on the new 70 year old whisky from Gordon & MacPhail and the new posthumous edition of Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch. And the show isn't limited to Scotch, Mark is an equal opportunity whisky fan. If some guy starts distilling whisky from a cave in Antarctica, you can bet that Mark will be interviewing him.

Mark is running a pledge drive this month, not to raise money - the podcast is free - but to try and recruit new listeners to the show. No word yet on whether there will be free mugs and tote bags.

And while you could always listen to the podcast directly from your computer, WhiskyCast now has an iphone app. I actually get to listen to the show while I'm walking to work (yes, I live in LA and walk to work, get over it), which has improved my commute immeasurably.

So head over to WhiskyCast and get your whisky news.

Louisiana Best Seafood

C. Thi Nguyen, a food loving UCLA grad student (in philosophy no less) has, over the past few years, been showing himself to be one of the finest food writers in LA. He started as a frequent poster on Chowhound but is now an occasional contributor to the LA Times' The Find column, which reviews downscale joints and hidden gems. In the city of Jonathan Gold, it's hard to break out as a food writer, but Nguyen has both a knack for new finds and for describing them in a way that makes you want to drop everything and speed out to whichever restaurant he's reviewing. I open the Times food section every Thursday hoping to find one of his reviews.

One of the places I learned of through a Nguyen review last year was Louisiana Best Seafood in Long Beach. Louisiana Best is the real thing, similar to the take-out shacks that dot the landscape in Southern Louisiana.



Louisiana Best makes some of the best fried shrimp and oysters in town. The shrimp are far better than most southern style shrimp in that they manage to keep their moist, buttery flesh beneath the cornmeal batter. The oysters properly burst open with juice when you take a bite, and benefit for a dip in some Louisiana hot sauce. Those oysters would make for an excellent po-boy, but you'll have to make it yourself because the menu at Louisiana Best is pretty much limited to fried fish.

Along with shrimp and oysters, they have a list of fish of which I have so far tried two: the catfish and red snapper. The catfish was excellent; the firm, perfectly fried pieces had an addictive quality to them. It was tough to stop eating. I also really enjoyed their homemade tartar sauce, which is far less mayo-heavy than most. I did not care for the red snapper which was dry and fishy tasting. Nguyen loved the sand dabs, but I haven't gotten around to them yet.

Louisiana Best is pretty much a take-out only establishment, but be forewarned that transporting the goods can leave an odor that will haunt your car for weeks. After my first drive home with a family bucket of fried fish, I tried sprays, leaving the windows open and other tricks to no avail. Now, before a trip for fish, I just prepare myself for the several weeks of seafood scent I will enjoy each time I open my car door.

There's not much other than fish at Louisiana Best. The hushpuppies are well fried and tasty, but the fries are just average. There are a few pre-made desserts in the case, but why do that when Jongewaard's Bake N' Broil is only a mile or so north; those cream pies make a fine coda to a fish fry.


Louisiana Best Seafood
2400 Atlantic Ave.
Long Beach, CA
(562) 424-0298.

Long Beach Sweets: Jongewaard's Bake 'N Broil

Jongewaard's Bake 'N Broil is a venerable Long Beach diner that has been putting out fine baked goods for many years. They have all sorts of family-restaurant type dishes as well, but the regular food I've had has been pretty mediocre. This is a place for the sweet tooth.

The cream pies and creamy cheesecakes are wonderful. Coconut cream pie is thick and creamy with a strong coconut taste but not too sweet. I also love the lemon cream cheese pie, consisting of lemon curd piled on a light and creamy cheesecake base; all the crusts are perfectly flaky. While I like all the cream pies I've had, I do wish the chocolate cream pie had a stronger chocolate flavor. Jongewaard's other cakes, from red velvet to German chocolate, are also very good, but I go for the creamy ones.


Jongewaard's Bake N' Broil
3697 Atlantic Ave
Long Beach, CA 90807
(562) 595-0396

Whiskey Wednesday: New Whiskey Minute Videos

I've uploaded some new videos on my YouTube channel: whiskyminute. Tune in to see:

• How old is my whiskey?


• Whiskey label terms


• How to store your whiskey


• Does whiskey go bad?


• What color is your whiskey?


• What is straight whiskey?


• Canadian Whisky

We are now up to 19 videos! Hey, I'm no Ralfy, but on the other hand, you can probably watch all of my videos in the time it takes to watch one of his.