Southern California Food Adventures
On July 1st the Graham family took up the daunting task of driving from Vancouver, BC to San Diego for a 9 day tour of Southern California. There were tears, laughter, adventure, fun and most importantly to me, food. We decided to bring a cooler and eat from that until we got to some real eats in San Francisco and down to San Diego. I must say that it will be a long time before I eat a ham sandwich again. Beef Jerky is also off my food list. When we arrived in San Francisco, I was very excited to get to the wharf and eat some fresh fish and of course Clam Chowder Soup. The picture above is a Squid (Calamari) Salad that was so tender and yummy that I can taste it while I am typing. I put together a recipe for what I think is very similar. I have not tried it yet so I can’t stand by it 100%, but I think it is worth a try. Here are some pics of the food and eating. My kids LOVED the Clam Chowder which made me so glad.
Calamari Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. cleaned Squid
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup of parboiled carrots diced
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp. each of oregano leaves and salt
- Dash of freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Clean squid and cut to bite size pieces. Add lemon half and water to Squid and cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and cook until squid are tender about 20 minutes. Drain, cover and refrigerate until chilled. Combine all ingredients. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over salad.
We went to Little Italy searching for some great pizza by the slice and boy did we find it. We asked around and were directed to ‘Golden Boy’, for it’s amazing Sicilian style pizza. It was so good that to try to explain would demean it….so I will leave it.
Our next food adventure was in San Diego. Oooooh, the Mexican food. I love Mexican food, I am sure I have said that already somewhere. We went to Old Town, touristy yes, but then we are tourists! We ate at the Wild Coyote and I ordered the fish tacos and Sean got a combo plate. My kids were boring and got cheese quesadillas but they did try ours and loved it. I have had many tortillas soups and the jury is still out on whether or not this was as good as it should be. I need to continue to eat it to get a feel for what it is really supposed to taste like. Hmmm, darn, I will just need to keep eating tortilla soup every time I get the chance.
I am a die hard fan of Chilli Rellenos. You can get great ones, or really bad ones. These were excellent, but not as good as we the ones we had in New Mexico. The other photo is of a tamale with a green enchilada sauce. I have made tamales many times and realized I do a pretty good job of it. I thought my own tasted better.
Fish tacos done well can bring me to tears. I have an excellent recipe for them on this site, just use the search engine here. I BBQ the fish as opposed to deep frying it because it is healthier and easier. A fish taco does not seem as daunting to make when you don’t have to batter and fry the fish. The tortilla soup, tasty.
Our next part of the food journey was Disneyland and Santa Monica. 6 years ago we took the kids to Disneyland and I saw a stand for Turkey Legs in California Adventure. I really wanted one but had decided I didn’t NEED one. It turns out that I did need one because I thought about it for years afterward…”Dammit, why didn’t I get that Turkey Leg???” This year, I didn’t pass on it. It was as good as I imagined it would be after all those long years of pining. It was moist and tasty. I was in line for a ride with it and felt like a bit like a cave woman. I would see people staring at me or the turkey leg and would give a knowing nod while mouthing the words..”its a turkey leg”, like it needed an explanation.
For July 4th, we went to Santa Monica for the fireworks. We decided to just wander until we found a place we thought looked like a great place to eat. Spaghetti is a comfort food for me. I crave it at home and will make it just for myself if no one else is interested. This summer some of my friends are joining together to make a bunch of sauce from fresh tomatoes. Mmmmm. Anyway, I ordered this delightful dish and was so pleased. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the sauce was light and flavorful. Oh happy day. Sean ordered the mushroom stuffed ravioli. He was equally pleased.
I would be remiss if I did not mention a pizza place we ate at in Downtown Disney. It was my kids favorite meal and it was a hand made crust with fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese cut into slices. We also got a prosciutto pizza which my daughter consumed by herself.
Ahh, travel equals food. I am continually amazed by all the different cultures and cooking styles out there. Cooking is art and reveals as much about a community as language does.
3 Responses to “Southern California Food Adventures”
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OK cavewoman, my stomach is rumbling as I read this, so I have to go off and get some spagetti!!
I have an awesome tortilla soup recipe if you want it. Better still it works quite well with turkey stock.
handy after thanksgiving.
Sounds great, I would love to have it!