From the category archives:

The RGB

Thumbnail image for Mozzarella Sliders with Aioli and Roasted Red Pepper Spread

Mozzarella Sliders with Aioli and Roasted Red Pepper Spread

I’m beginning to think that all we do is experiment. While reading one of Kelly’s posts at Sass and Veracity a while back, I was inspired to make some garlic confit and aioli. The trouble with that is… what the heck do you do with all the garlic confit (about 3 cloves’ worth)… and the [...]

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Thumbnail image for Tempura Fried Squash Blossoms | Another Weekend Experiment at the RGB

Tempura Fried Squash Blossoms | Another Weekend Experiment at the RGB

We’ve haven’t shared with you our non-edible garden photos in awhile, so here is a recent favorite:   This morning, we hit up the Irvine Farmers’ Market specifically to pick-up some hummus and pita from the guys at the Baba Foods stand for a Greek-themed dinner event tonight.   You mean we’re not making anything fancy [...]

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Thumbnail image for Thomas Keller’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Thomas Keller’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Just a photo or two to share with you Mr. RGBistro’s latest lunch contribution. Happy Friday, everyone! [K] [We'll refresh this post with some real content later... like when Kim's not on deadline at the office.]

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Thumbnail image for Dessert with Jack and Diane | Cold-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dessert with Jack and Diane | Cold-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

We’re all about old guys gettin’ with young chicks. (Sorry, bad family joke.) So when I caught Something’s Gotta Give (with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton) on cable the other day, I DVRed it for Mr. RGBistro and I to watch after dinner later in the week. In one of the opening scenes where Jack’s young [...]

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Thumbnail image for Debra Saves the Day | Blueberry Buckle

Debra Saves the Day | Blueberry Buckle

I turn into a whiny !@#$ when I get sick. Somehow, I’m also more productive. Between sniffling and sneezing on Saturday, I made a pot of chicken stock (and saved the fat for a batch of flaxseed dog biscuits), harvested and roasted about 5 lbs. of garden tomatoes, made a batch of tomato soup, roasted [...]

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Thumbnail image for Multi-Tasking at the RGB | Garden Tomato Sauce

Multi-Tasking at the RGB | Garden Tomato Sauce

August at the RGB means we’re swimming in tomatoes. This month alone we’ve had RGB tomatoes in our pasta, in a pizzetta, under some burrata, over some toast, sliced with salt… and most recently, in homemade tomato sauce. For us, homemade tomato sauce ranks high on the small effort / big return scale. It only [...]

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Thumbnail image for Pearls of Wisdom | Pacific Oysters with Herb Mignonette

Pearls of Wisdom | Pacific Oysters with Herb Mignonette

Mr. RGBistro and I are gettin’ smart. Last Saturday, we planned out an entire morning of errand-running: 1) Irvine Farmers’ Market, 2) Roger’s Gardens, and, 3) lunch at Taco Rosa’s. We wanted to hit the market first (before the rest of the free world arrived), but the dilemma was keeping the goods cold while we [...]

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Thumbnail image for Ode to Peaches | Fresh Summer Peach Crumble

Ode to Peaches | Fresh Summer Peach Crumble

In Southern California, we’re fortunate enough to have regular access to Russ Parsons, The California Cook of the Los Angeles Times. Because that’s not enough, we also keep his “How to Pick a Peach” on our bookshelves. Russ taught me how to pick a peach. We’ve all been there. We “buy a peach at the [...]

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Thumbnail image for First Impressions

First Impressions

I knew I’d marry Mr. RGBistro before we were even dating. A couple of years ago we had arranged to spend a mid-week evening together. We’d been bragging about our home-cook skills and decided it was time to flex them. Mr. RGB volunteered his bachelor kitchen, which I accepted because it seemed a lot better [...]

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Thumbnail image for Gettin’ Hitched – Part I of II

Gettin’ Hitched – Part I of II

You can’t plan fate. You just have to let it happen. When you call Chez Panisse on a Tuesday (7/20) to ask for restaurant reservations, and they tell you they can take you in at 9:15 PM on Friday, you gladly give them a $25 deposit and let them know you’ll be there. Since you [...]

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Thumbnail image for Confession Time

Confession Time

We have a confession to make. When we decided on Monday (7/19) to officially tie the knot on Friday (7/23), we weren’t going to tell anyone. On Tuesday (7/20), we cleared our calendars (sorry, Anne!), booked two flights to San Francisco for the weekend, and reserved a room at the Mark Hopkins. On Wednesday (7/21) [...]

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Thumbnail image for Pardon Us a Bit

Pardon Us a Bit

  Hello, friends! You might notice some wonky things happenin’ on a few of our pages. Please pardon us while we (mostly superman Thomas) iron out the kinks. We’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming soon. Thanks! [K] & |b| Click here to go to our lastest post.

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Thumbnail image for Early Morning Curry

Early Morning Curry

RGB curry in the herb garden. – RGB Wordless Wednesdays are intended to highlight our current RGB edibles. You can view all of our Wordless Wednesday edibles by clicking on the category of the same name.

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Thumbnail image for Lunch-Hour Leftovers

Lunch-Hour Leftovers

We seem to be on a Vietnamese kick lately. After only eating two pieces of our grilled lemongrass ginger chicken from earlier in the week, we tucked the remaining four pieces away in the fridge for a second meal. Enter: a French-Vietnamese Baguette. Usually made with a combination of rice and wheat flour, it’s light, [...]

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Thumbnail image for World Cup Brunch

World Cup Brunch

When it’s 11 AM on a Sunday and your loved one is 1) wearing yesterday’s shorts, 2) hasn’t budged from the couch and 3) declares today is “World Cup Day,” you make nice and fix him breakfast. There was one minor issue: I was craving my runny morning egg, and Mr. RGBistro doesn’t do runny [...]

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Thumbnail image for Happy Accident

Happy Accident

I’m calling this a happy accident. I screwed up breaking down my whole chicken so my drumstick kind of fell away from the bone. I still have no clue what happened… but I thought it might be a good idea to slide the meat down, clump it into a ball at the end, and marinate [...]

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Thumbnail image for Misty Morning Cob

Misty Morning Cob

RGB yellow corn near the main vegetable garden. – RGB Wordless Wednesdays are intended to highlight our current RGB edibles. You can view all of our Wordless Wednesday edibles by clicking on the category of the same name.

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Thumbnail image for Church & State Bistro: Moules Marinière

Church & State Bistro: Moules Marinière

Romance in Los Angeles? To paint the picture: It’s early Wednesday evening. We’re in downtown Los Angeles, and we need to eventually get home. Instead of sitting in two hours + of stop-and-go rush-hour traffic on the I-5 freeway, we opt to wait it out by having a nice dinner in the Industrial District of [...]

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Thumbnail image for Lavender Blossoms

Lavender Blossoms

RGB chive blossoms in the herb garden. – RGB Wordless Wednesdays are intended to highlight our current RGB edibles. You can view all of our Wordless Wednesday edibles by clicking on the category of the same name.

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Thumbnail image for Barefoot Contessa: Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Barefoot Contessa: Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Blueberry Streusel Muffins   Dear Migraine, you’re on your fourth day. Would you please go away and leave me alone? Ugh. So last night, while Mr. RGBistro caught Mystic River on Netflix, (good flick), I caught up on a few books I had checked out from the Tustin Public Library. When we called it a [...]

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Thumbnail image for Summertime Sage

Summertime Sage

RGB purple sage, amongst the RGB thyme blossoms. – RGB Wordless Wednesdays are intended to highlight our current RGB edibles. You can view all of our Wordless Wednesday edibles by clicking on the category of the same name.

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Thumbnail image for Happy Summer, Y’all!

Happy Summer, Y’all!

RGB Caprese Salad   Can you believe it’s already summer?!?! Yikes!!!! While most of you may be looking forward to the warm days and sunny skies, we’ve been dreading this moment. Absolutely dreading it… Because, my dear friends, we live in Southern California. Without. Air conditioning. To reiterate, we live… in Southern California… without… air [...]

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Thumbnail image for Perhaps the World’s Best Unorthodox Game-Day Dinner

Perhaps the World’s Best Unorthodox Game-Day Dinner

Some days, I rock. Today is one of those days. It is one of those days because I successfully fueled a raging sports fan with a Game-Day Dinner revolving around spring onions. You heard me; spring onions. Not exactly what comes to mind when your intention is to serve “bar food” for a basketball game. [...]

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Thumbnail image for Late Spring Thyme Blossoms

Late Spring Thyme Blossoms

Somewhere out back, we’ve got puffs and pillows of lavender thyme blossoms. And they smell wonderful. – RGB Wordless Wednesdays are intended to highlight our current RGB edibles. You can view all of our Wordless Wednesday edibles by clicking on the category of the same name.

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The Mighty Blue 9.5g Fiber Salad

 Sometimes, a girl just needs a weekend Holiday. Not because the house is a disaster, the spouse has gone missing, or the dog has gone batty. Just because. So this past weekend, a girlfriend and I holed up at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, CA. It was everything we wanted it to be: wine, [...]

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Saturday Morning Dutch Babies

 RGB strawberry growing out of the garden oregano. What cereal was introduced in 1963? (Answer below in Mr. RGBistro’s crossword puzzle.) I really hope your Saturday morning routine is a little like ours; sleeping in, snuggling with the dog and steaming lattes… Breakfast also comes with a garden view, a crossword puzzle and morning fetch [...]

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Foraging in the Backyard – Arugula and Strawberry Style

In France, people hunt for truffles. Up north, they’re lookin’ for morels. At the RGB, we’re scoutin’ for arugula. Arugula? Arugula.   Wild arugula at the RGB. Pay no attention to the spider webs.    Last spring, while weeding in the backyard, Mr. RGBistro sniffed the air and declared that he had smelled arugula. Turns [...]

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mybakingaddiction: Meyer Lemon Strawberry Muffins

Meyer lemon strawberry muffins. Strawberries are most beautiful when they’re plucked straight out of the ground… but since they have a shelf life of about six and a half minutes, what would you do with them once they became a little “old” or “bruised?” Someday, we’re gonna to get around to opening The Bistro, and [...]

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Second Chance Burrata

 Chive blossoms and thyme from the garden.   The RGBistro has a dilemma. What would you do if one of your recipes was so simple, it’d be silly to write it up?    Heirloom tomatoes with white balsamic vinaigrette, basil and burrata cheese.   We’re big fans of burrata cheese. If you’ve never had burrata… [...]

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smithbites: Strawberry Lemonade

Garden strawberries.     Way-past-season Meyer lemons… but they’re still good!    For the record, we’re uber flattered by the #FF mentions on Twitter, but we’re not always at good at reciprocating the love. That’s because I leave for the office at 6:45 AM on Friday mornings and don’t come home ‘till date nite’s over. (Yes, [...]

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