A Touch of Argentina at Empanada's Place

Here is my beautiful friend MM who smokes me down the Mammoth Mountain slopes, who laughs with me over silly conversations, and who's always willing to try something new.

She introduced me to Dane Cook before he was Hollywood big, danced with me and the original American Idol Top 10 from Season One, and was my photographer when I met Iron Chef Morimoto last year.

And when we came home from our weekend on the Mountain, we passed a little place off of Venice that I've always wanted to try.

BoLA: Have you tried that place over there?

MM: No, but if you want to go after we get dropped off, that would be cool.

BoLA: Yeah, that sounds good. Do you want to go too?
(I say as I turn to my friend who was driving, half laughing that MM left him out.)

MM: (With more laughter, turning to driver) Oh yeah, wanna go?

And with that, we made a U-turn on Venice and turned to park on Sawtelle right in front of the little shop, Empanada's Place.

With just a handful of tables, this small counter that offers "A Touch of Argentina in California" can be easily and unfortunately missed. They sell meat and vegetable empanadas for $2.99 a piece with a few other menu items, and the two I ordered was enough for my dinner.



I ordered the Criolla that's fried with ground beef, raisins, green onions, and eggs - a tasty, savory treat that was hot and full of different spices. My second empanada was vegetable filled with potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro - the Papa Cilantro.

Not for the weak hearted or health conscious, I was glad that my girlfriend was up to the task in eating these fried little babies. They were just what we were looking for on a cold Sunday night after our weekend of snowboarding, and I know we'll definitely be back for more.

Note: CASH ONLY

Empanada's Place
street: 3811 Sawtelle Boulevard | Los Angeles, CA | 90066
tel: 1.310.391.0888
tu - sa / 11a-8p
sun / 11a - 7p

Chocolate Moo-Less Mini Tart

According to the American Gastroenterological Association, approximately 50 million American adults are lactose intolerant. Even more surprising to me is that about 90% of Asian American adults are lactose intolerant.

For all my great luck, I was not lucky enough to be born within that 10% of the Asian American population who can drink a full glass of milk without having to down a whole bottle of tums because of stomach pangs.

All I can think is, "Why me?"

But then again, it could be worse.

I am able to manage about two small scoops of ice cream in spite of my better judgment; my coffee gets a dose of non-dairy creamer; and I can drink the tall and beautiful glass of ice cold Lactaid milk, which tastes just like the original version of my childhood.

And when I heard about an amazingly rich and delicious chocolate silk pie without any eggs or milk, but of TOFU... I knew I had to try it!

This vegan dish is a hit with friends and luckily, I had all the ingredients. Here's my adapted version from Alton Brown's Chocolate Moo-less Silk Pie:

Ingredients:
+ 1 cup dark chocolate chips
+ 1 Tbsp Kahlua coffee liqueur
+ 1/2 block silken tofu
+ 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
+ 1/2 Tbsp honey
+ 1/3 cup coffee soy milk
+ 1 banana, sliced
+ 2-3 Tbsp melted butter
+ 1 chocolate cookie pie crust
+ Foil cupcake liners

1. Melt chocolate with coffee liqueur over double boiler. Stir in vanilla.
2. Liquefy tofu, chocolate mixture, honey, and soy milk in blender until smooth.
3. Crumble crust and mix with melted butter.
4. Scoop 1-1 1/2 Tbsp of chocolate crumbs into foil cupcake liners. Use glass or something to apply pressure to cookie crumb as mini tart crust.
5. Place banana slices on top of crust.
6. Pour filling into crust and chill for at least 2 hours.

(About 12 mini tarts)

These mini tartlets were full of richness with a hint of coffee, and the bits of banana helped round out and complement the flavors. I easily ate two of these cupcake sized tarts in one sitting, and would love to substitute strawberries, raspberries, or other fruit with these little chocolate moo-less desserts.