Pat's not-too-sweet, not-too-expensive kinda healthy best granola

Homemade cherry/cranberry/walnut granola

(inspired by David Leibovitz and Nigella Lawson)
A few months ago I suddenly started craving really good granola, the kind that's usually $8 for a small bag and a zillion calories. I hadn't made my own granola since the Campanile recipe was popular for years, but I remembered it was usually expensive to assemble all the ingredients and so rich it was tempting to eat the whole recipe as a snack, leaving nothing for breakfast.
I started with David Leibovitz's recipe, which is in turn inspired by Nigella Lawson, and simplified it a bit. The key is applesauce or pear sauce, which provides sweetness and adds crunch. Unlike Mark Bittman's recipe, there's a bit of fat, which I feel is necessary to make it crunchy and carry the flavor, though less than Campanile's version.
From there I decided that 3 cups of almonds would probably add more calories than I need, plus they're expensive. So I use a half cup of walnuts, but really you can use whatever you want. I don't use the sesame seeds at all, I don't think it suffers without them. I also cut out the rice syrup, because there's already enough honey and brown sugar, and I'm sure it's costly as well. I add a quarter cup of ground flax seeds to make it a bit healthier, and some dried fruit. I use a half cup of dried cranberries and a half cup of dried cherries, but chopped dried apricots are also great, and Nigella prefers raisins.
David uses two tablespoons of vegetable oil. This time I used three tablespoons of coconut oil, which in one of those confusing nutritional switcheroos, is now considered more healthful than canola oil instead of less. I think it strikes a good balance of not too costly, a little addictive but not too, and relatively healthy. It's great mixed with plain Greek yogurt or Go Lean cereal and soy milk. You could also whip some up quickly for Christmas presents.

Here's my tweaks to David's recipe:

Pat's Not-too expensive, Not-too-sweet Kinda Healthy Best Granola

5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (get it in bulk at Whole Foods or in the bag at Trader Joe's)
1/2 to 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds (Whole Foods bulk bins)
1/4 cup ground flax seeds (available at TJ's)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (use more or less depending on your sweet tolerance)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce or pear sauce (available in single serve cups at Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup honey
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil (coconut oil, now available inexpensively at TJ's, makes it even better.)
1 cup chopped dried cranberries, cherries, apricots and/or raisins)
Preheat the oven to 300F.
1. In a  large bowl, mix together oats, nuts, sunflower seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
2. In a small saucepan, warm the fruit puree with the honey and oil.
3. Mix the fruit mixture into the dry ingredients until thoroughly dispersed, then divide and spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets. (If you have ones with sides, often called jelly-roll pans, use them.)
4. Bake the granola for about 45 minutes, stirring every ten minutes, until the granola is deep golden brown.
5. Remove from oven, add chopped dried fruits, then cool completely. Try not to eat it all the first day.

Pa-Ord Noodle: Fiery and friendly Thai tastes

Chinese broccoli and crispy pork

Pa-Ord Noodle at lunchtime has to be one of the friendliest restaurants I've eaten at in a long time. After I awkwardly attempted to order my boat noodles "pet ma," which I thought meant "sort of" spicy, a table of four young women giggled at my pitiful attempt and insisted I stick with what the server described as "medium." They taught me the word for medium, which I've now forgotten, but it turned out to be the right call as Pa-Ord's medium was just about right -- almost as spicy as I wanted, though a bit more than Kathy preferred. Then an older Thai couple started talking to us about Bangkok, since a large photo on the wall pictures the floating market with Pa-Ord's owner Lawan Bhanduram working on one of the boats.
Bhanduram previously ran Ord Noodle on Hollywood Blvd., which like nearby Sapp was known for its boat noodles.

Boat noodles

I ate Thai food for several decades before attempting boat noodles, scared off by ingredients like beef blood, tripe, liver, and mysterious rubbery beef balls. When I finally tried the murkily delicious broth a few years ago, I was quickly won over by the combination of flavors like star anise, five spice powder and kaffir lime melding with strips of beef, chiles and noodles. (For a great recipe and description of the soup, see this post from Eat Drink + Be Merry). It turns out there's nothing scary about boat noodles, though I didn't actually eat the bits of liver that helped give a nice funk to the broth. At Pa-Ord, there's a choice of four types of noodles for the soups: egg noodles, wide rice noodles, thin rice noodles and even thinner rice noodles. There's also Tom-Yum soup with noodles, duck noodle soup and several other types like seafood soup and pork offal soup. The stir-fried noodle dishes like drunken noodles are fairly standard -- Pa-Ord's strength is mostly in the soups, though the papaya salad comes recommended.
But don't forget your vegetables. Fortunately, at Pa-Ord, the Chinese broccoli comes topped with hefty hunks of impossibly crispy pork skin. Hopefully you will not have just come from a cholesterol test at Kaiser down the street, and you will be able to carefully savor how well each cube's fatty crunch plays off the slightly bitter, somewhat spicy greens.

Pa-Ord Noodle
5301 Sunset Blvd #8
Hollywood
(323) 461-3945

Artisan House: Downtown's new multi-purpose room

produce, snacks and jam are available in the marketplace

With the massive popularity of Bottega Louie, it was inevitable that someone else would try a multi-purpose spot for Downtown residents and visitors to shop, drink, snack, dine and of course snarf macarons. So next door to Cole's, Artisan House has risen at the corner of Sixth and Main with a similar mission but look and menu all its own. Artisan House co-founder Raphael Javaheri is in the textile business and has never owned a restaurant, though he's a big foodie happy to share his favorite sushi haunts. The Pacific Electric lofts building has a historically appropriate antique-y vibe that echoes the Bradbury building with tall banks of windows, lots of brick and ironwork and recycled wood floors and bar. On one side is a deli-market with a full menu of sandwiches and salads, and a few baked goods like Paulette Macarons. Like L'Epicerie in Culver City, the gourmet market has a small produce area, a good selection of beers, artisanal sodas, wines and liquors, and a selected smattering of cheeses, snacks and staples. Javaheri says the market will soon carry Artisan House-branded olive oils and other handmade products, and he wants to work with local and sustainable purveyors as much as possible.
 
On the other side is a full bar and restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner (the bar is conveniently open from 11:30 am to 2 am every day). The opening party aps of Sicilian tuna tartare, smoked salmon and spicy fried shrimp with aoili were mighty tasty, but a verdict on the full menu will have to wait for a full meal. Chef Jason Ryczek plans California-Mediterranean farmer's market-inspired dishes like flatbreads, beet salad, grilled romaine, albacore confit sandwiches and house-made duck prosciutto.
 
It's a super-competitive block for mixology -- La Perla, the Varnish, Cole's and the Association are just steps away. So former Bazaar bartender Elden McFeron III promises molecular-style cocktails, while beer taps at the opening included Maudite, Anchor Steam, Stella, Racer 5, Chimay and a couple others. With its all-day offerings, Artisan House is sure to attract a wide mix of Downtowners.
Artisan House
600 S. Main St.
Los Angeles

213-622-6333

Short Order: A first taste

Everyone's heading to Farmer's Market to see what Mozza's Nancy Silverton, Bill Chait and the late Amy Pressman have done to wow the city's burger enthusiasts  So for now, an early lunch at Short Order is the best way to avoid the fledgling burger destination's inevitable early service glitches.

Arriving at noon on Friday, we had our choice of tables and found a cozy corner upstairs opposite the bar. Short Order's decor is as adorable as can be, with Eames barstools, Danish modern chairs, vintage kitchen utensils, tiny tabletop thyme pails and filament lights hitting just about every possible design note at once. Servers in perky striped Ts complete the picture.
I had a hard time choosing between the Frisee lardon raft -- a burger topped with frisee, egg and lardons; or the pork burger with rapini or turkey burger with sage cheddar. Since I had recently eaten at Gott's Roadside in Napa, I tried Ida's Original Burger ($11) for purposes of comparison. While Gott's serves a fine, non-grass fed Apple Pan-type burger for $8, Short Order's grass-fed model, with cheddar, pickles and tomato, was far more indulgent with a pillowy bun and deep beefy taste. Creamy secret sauce on both pieces of the bun makes it a little too messy, but the flavor is inarguably terrific.

Our table's other orders weren't quite as successful: One friend's lamb burger (above) could have used more seasonings to mellow the overly-assertive Sonoma ground lamb -- neither of us enjoyed the one-note flavor despite its feta topping. Another friend's grilled cheese looked extremely greasy; like other "gourmet" grilled cheese sandwiches it was nearly deep-fried, ruining the subtle balance between bread, cheese and frying that the sandwich requires.
So far at least, it seems the beef models are the way to go, but we barely grazed the menu which also features pies, malts, signature "Short Order Spuds." Coming in January is a brunch menu featuring a Benedict Burger and Breakfast Cobb Salad.

Despite the early hour, it was my day off and I couldn't pass up one of Julian Cox's superb cocktails, made with Buffalo Trace bourbon, lemon and pomegranate agrodulce. It was small but delicious and we immediately decided that cocktails and fries would have to become a regular thing. Downstairs, the seating is more exposed to the sun and only the more basic burgers are available, so upstairs is the way to go if you want cocktails or lamb or pork burgers.
The Verdict: I rarely eat burgers, so the chance to have a good grass-fed one is worth $11 to me, and all Short Order's ingredients are top flight. But order a $17 tuna burger, Spuds ($4) with truffle salt ($2 extra) and a $12 cocktail, and Short Order turns out to be one pricey lunch for a casual spot. With the bar open until 1 a.m. on weekends, it's a shot in the arm for Farmer's Market, which generally closes down much earlier.
Short Order
Farmer's Market (6333 W. 3rd St., Stall #110
(323) 761-7970