ROSCOE'S!

The LBC! Home to the Queen Mary, Port of Long Beach, Snoop Dogg, and Roscoe's! One of the 5 locations in Southern California, this monument to the infamous chicken and waffle combination requires a hajj by foodies everywhere. Not only am I a huge Snoop Dogg enthusiast, I had never had the pleasure of experiencing this seemingly wonderful combo. What better opportunity than the present?!?! In true Doggfather style we rolled up 6 deep and hit the bar while we waited for our table. Even at 9:30 PM on a Sunday this place was packed!

Believe me when I say the ambiance of the place is cheap. Neon lights, wood siding, and old-fashioned trappings that looked like they haven't seen an update in about 30 years. Nonetheless, under the neon flickers and decades-faded paint job the place was bustling and the food looked solid. Our server D. was one of the best servers I've had. No kidding. I'm not talking about fancy schmancy schmoozing, I'm talking about get down to business pleasantries and fast, accurate service. Truly a pleasure to have him serving us. I even asked him what if the grits were any good, and since I'm from South of the Mason-Dixon line he couldn't fool me. He didn't know what that meant, but offered me a free plate of grits for me to make up my own mind! They were fine, by the way.

In our inebriated state everything looked like the best option, so finally I decided on a #9 Country Boy- 3 wings with a waffle. The service was fast, despite the crowds, and the waffle was great. Not anything standing head and shoulders above regular batter, but I have an inkling that the atmosphere lent itself well to the experience. The wings, unfortunately, were pretty tough and nearly meatless- nothing a little ranch dressing couldn't fix! Actually, the ranch was great. Nice and thick, not the cheapest variety to be had.

All in all, the experience outweighed the food, but the next time I find myself in Long Beach with the munchies, it will be the first place I go!







Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles
730 E Broadway
Long Beach, CA
90802-5134

OMG SO DELICIOUS

I am EXTREMELY proud of this dish! My uncle and aunt came down for dinner last night to see our place, and I wanted to wow them with our cooking skills. I had gotten this recipe from a friend and it just seemed a little boring, so I jazzed it up with a few items of our own creation and made it our own!

ENJOY!!!



Thai Curry Chicken with mushrooms and peppers
3 lbs. chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
6 large shiitake mushrooms cut into large pieces
1 large red bell pepper
Curry to taste (probably 2-3 large tablespoons depending on desired flavor)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups chopped onions (1/4” dice)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 small can or 1 cup coconut milk
Jasmine rice

Rinse chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. In a bowl or pan, combine chicken, lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper, and cayenne to marinate for 1 hour (or longer). In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and sauté onions and garlic for 3-5 minutes. Add chicken and mushrooms, generously sprinkle curry over everything, brown and cook until nearly done (about 12 minutes). Add tomatoes, ginger, and sliced red peppers, stir well, cook for 3 minutes more.

At this point I transferred everything into a large pot and then added the coconut milk. You can leave it in the skillet if you have enough room, whichever you prefer. Simmer until chicken is completely cooked. Reduce sauce to desired consistency, serve over jasmine rice.

STUFF YO' FACE AND YOU GOOD!!!

butt-burnin' chicken

Let's just say I'm paying for this dish today, but in no way do I regret the actions of last night. Ashton and I hadn't made a meal in a while, so we gathered up some of our ideas and worked off of our initial craving of spicy chicken. A coworker had Creole for lunch yesterday, and I've been enjoying some chorizo burritos this week, so I had spicy on the mind. For this particularly succulent dish, we used the following:

5 chicken breasts
about 15 asparagus stalks cut into quarters
4 cloves of garlic, minced
a generous layer of cayenne pepper over the chicken
1 diced green chile pepper
1/2 can of chipotle peppers in adobo
1/4 block of monterey jack cheese (I'm sure shredded would have sufficed)

I layered the bottom of the dish with half of the asparagus and then placed the chicken on top and sprinkled the cayenne over them. Then I placed 1 blob of chipotle on each breast and spread the rest of the asparagus over the breasts. I sprinkled the entire thing with the chile pepper and garlic and then coated it all with the cheese.

We baked it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, but much to my chagrin the thicker pieces were definitely not cooked all the way through. We nuked 'em, but next time I think I'll plan to use maybe smaller breasts or make it more like a casserole to make them a bit thinner and easier to cook through. Also, I would like to marinate the chicken or spread the spice a bit more in a sauce somehow, because the top of the chicken tasted great, but there wasn't any flavor in the cracks. Nevertheless, we mixed 2 packets of Mexican and Taco rice and placed the chicken on top of a pile of rice for each person and enjoyed! There were definitely some watery eyes and a bit of coughing, but all in all it was a good meal. About a solid B with definite potential.

Wasabi Soy Chicken

Ashton and I love asian food and cooking. What better way to unite these than to cook asian food?!?!? Being the innovators that we are, we got some powdered wasabi, chicken, and soy sauce with some jasmine rice and prepared a feast. I made a more liquid wasabi to pour over the chicken and then drizzled some soy sauce to marinate overnight. A pinch of garlic salt, and voila! I would have added toasted sesame seeds if there had been any at the grocery store, so alas we did without. I cooked the 5 large chicken breasts on 350 degrees for 55 minutes and served with jasmine rice. I took the soy sauce that had baked with the chicken to pour over the rice, and that added a really nice kick.

If I did it over again, I would have used some ginger as well and smoothed the wasabi more, so that the heat would be evenly distributed in the bites. On some pieces you couldn't taste it at all, and some brought tears to my eyes. Still, it was a great experiment that is worth trying. Right now I'm enjoying the nice leftovers at work; the wasabi has coagulated more regularly and maintained the bite without being offensive to the tastebuds. All in all, a success! I'd rate it a B, with A potential.