Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

Have you been to Orange Hill Restaurant?  You’ve had about 40 years to get there.  It’s on the top of a steep hill in Orange, California.  It’s a bit scary driving up there, but the views are spectacular.  And it’s been a great place for wedding receptions, prom dates, special events, romantic dinners and many good times.

Right now, from 4:30 – 6:30 nightly, they’re serving a Sunset Menu for $19.95 — It’s a prix fixe menu that includes a choice of the Orange Hill Salad or Maine Lobster Bisque, and an entree of Prime Rib of Beef (above), Fresh Atlantic Salmon, Chicken Dijonnaise (below) or Portobello Mushroom Ravioli.  And all is served with a slice of House Made Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis.

It’s an excellent deal for really good food and amazing views — A perfect date place.  I was wishing I wasn’t with my friend, HA.

Orange Hill has seamlessly been remodeling room-by-room over the past few months and has just one left.  It’s more up to date than it once was, but has no major changes — They do have a showcase kitchen you get to pass through on the way to one wing of the restaurant.  That’s fun to see.

And you’ll see tons of Koi Fish in the pond as you walk across the bridge towards the restaurant.  It’s pretty cool.  We were there to see the daylight view and watched the sun go down as we dined.

I’d love to go back for the Sunset Menu – It’s a meal deal on a hill.  Others hang out sipping cocktails near the outdoor fire pits.  Orange Hill Restaurant has much to enjoy, once you get past the drive up.

FYI:  Orange Hill Restaurant is not related to the Orange County Mining Co. Restaurant, which is on a different nearby hill.  Some have confused the two.

Have you heard about Rubio’s New All American Taco?  It’s a Burger in a Taco.  I fell in love with the idea and Rubios’ photo of it.  My Taco wasn’t as pretty as the model, but it tasted good.  I especially like the Soft Flour Tortilla and Smokey Garlic Chipotle Mayo, but the Burger Meat on the Taco I had was pretty darn tough — That’s not good.  Overall, with a better Burger the All American Taco could be a home run.  And it’s worth trying again to see if the next one is less chewy.  I hope so.

The Next Food Network Star Season 5 officially started.  Vote for who you would have eliminated — I did.  Voting will also enter you in a sweepstakes to win a Grilling Oasis Package.  It appears my first vote is with the majority for Debbie, who remains on the show.  So far the public differs with the Food Network Judges.

Above from left to right, Jen who was the first to be eliminated, Debbie who most people voted should be eliminated, and Jeffrey my favorite so far.  We’ll see what happens next week.

Related Links:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-next-food-network-star-fan-vote-thanks/package/index.html?fvEmail=soup4you@hotmail.com

http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/2009/05/19/vote-for-the-next-food-network-star-season-5/

Cafe Nordstrom or Nordstrom’s Cafe  should be sought out at many malls.  Where there is a mall, there may be a Nordstrom, and where there is a Nordstrom, there MAY be a Cafe — Some have them and some don’t.  These photos are from our lunch at The Brea Mall.  Cafe Nordstrom is one of our favorite eating spots there.  We like the comfortable environment and food.  This visit we had the Artichoke & Chicken Salad (above), which includes Organic Baby Greens, Romaine, Chicken, Goat Cheese, Artichoke Hearts, Tomato, Red Onion, Basil, Kalamata Olives and a Red Wine Vinaigrette.

And we got the Margherita Pizza again – My Mom loves it.  Below is the Cafe’s Side Salad, which comes consistently colorful.  We always seem to get at least one of them.

This visit we had our ‘Kids in the Kitchen’ kids with us, thus opted for the Grilled Cheese Sandwich & Tomato Soup (swapped for the Soup Du Jour).  All kids’ meals include Fresh Fruit and Milk, Soda or Juice.  The Grilled Cheese combination is only $4.95, and my Sister says it’s the best Grilled Cheese Sandwich around.

You’ll order your food at the counter where the Desserts are displayed — Then choose a comfortable booth or table and all that you’ll need will be delivered to you.  It’s a tasty escape from a busy mall.

The Irvine Spectrum Nordstrom Cafe Bistro:
http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/2008/10/03/nordstrom-cafe-bistro-at-the-irvine-spectrum/

Kids in the Kitchen INFO:
http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/category/kids-in-the-kitchen/

It’s a Cake Break and this one is from French’s Pastry in Irvine.  They’ve got 4 locations throughout Orange County and many people LOVE them.

I like the novelty of Del Taco’s Jalapeno Rings, but you can only eat so many.  A few of us ‘spicy food lovers’ recently tried this new menu item at Del Taco.  The consensus of 3 was that — They’re too hot and greasy.  As you may or may not know, some Jalapenos aren’t hot enough and others are way too hot, and you never know what you’re going to get.  Our taste included most of the hot ones, HA.  And we thought we were so tough.

As for the “Secret Sauce” they serve with the Jalapeno Rings, it’s best that it be kept a secret, since it’s basically just Mayonnaise – Yikes.  That’s what they told me.  Now we know why it’s called Secret Sauce.  And $1.99 is too high for this item – For $0.99, in conjunction with a Sauce change, we might include them in a future meal.

Dare I say, I think Twitter is way over-rated, but nonetheless we’re on there as FoodBlog.  We appreciate our fair amount of followers, but you’ll get more information here than over there.  Ciao.

Twitter Link: http://twitter.com/FoodBlog

I always thought Lingcod Fish was a kind of Cod, but it’s not Cod at all.  The related links will tell the rest of the story.  I was also amazed to see that frozen the Fish is green (above), uncooked it’s blue (below), and cooked it’s white.  It was fun seeing the colors change.

Although Lingcod can be blue, green or white, it always cooks up white.  I received a few pieces from a couple local fishermen friends.  I poached ‘em in a wine-herb combination that’s really not worth mentioning.  And ultimately Lingcod won’t be one of my favorites — It’s okay, but I’d rather they catch something else next time.

Related Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ling_cod

http://www.trawl.org/Species.html

http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/pr/wharf/critters/critters3.html#lingcod

Shown above is a third of my often referenced Cookbooks.  This block of photos was posted in an unnecessary page, but now finds its final place in this quick post.  For some background on the post title, I once won a contest that landed my recipe and face in Bon Appétit and Gourmet Magazines, blah, blah, blah.  It’s been reported on here previously.  The point of retelling it now leads to the ‘phony photos’ above.  A few friends found it funny to add my milk moustache face to a Chef’s body.  They made a poster board using another photo from the same magazine, HA.  I look like Man Hands on Seinfeld — Good thing it’s my favorite show.

Man Hands Episode Excerpt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSL4cmFW_GU