Gastronomy 101

RECIPE: Corn and Cheddar Muffins

2011-08-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite new things I've discovered lately is the bread baking column on Serious Eats. I love to bake more than any other kind of cooking so it's exciting to have a steady stream of things to make. Above are some corn and cheddar muffins.

I made them with fresh white sweet corn from the farmer's market and some Vermont cheddar. These are great warmed up with some butter.

RESTAURANT: Ludobites

2010-12-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

In order to understand Ludobites, you have to understand the people behind it. Ludovic Lefebvre sometimes looks like this:

But more often he looks like this:

His wife, Kristine, sometimes looks like this:

But more often, looks like this:

Ludovic Lefebvre is one of the top chefs in the world. Kristine Lefebvre was a high-powered entertainment lawyer and one-time contestant on "The Apprentice". In other words, they are both gorgeous and talented and you would think, therefore, extremely worthy of hate. But you would be wrong.

All you have to do is spend one night at Ludobites, the pop-up restaurant they run together to understand that in reality these two are sweet, friendly, down-to-earth, fun and crazy in love with each other. All they want to do is hang out together, have fun, make food and extend their hospitality to anyone who cares to join in.

Half Chicken, Chorizo, Poached Egg, Chanterelles, Saffron Onions Soubise

What is Ludobites? Ludobites is a pop-up restaurant that takes over various locations in Los Angeles for temporary amounts of time. They have served up dinner at Breadbar, Royal/T, Gram n' Papas and Max in Studio City. Ludobites is also practically a cult. People eagerly await for the next location to be announced and when reservations open, the site gets so flooded with requests that it regularly breaks down altogether and reservations usually fill up in a matter of minutes.

In execution it is a bistro-style affair, with Ludo cooking the high-flown, imaginative dishes which made him a wunderkind chef, with all the ambiance of an intimate, informal French family kitchen.

Ludo Torches a Dish at Gram 'n' Papa's

It definitely feels like a family affair. Kristine is there to greet you at the door with a huge smile. Ludo is always around, making his presence felt and running the kitchen, and the servers are often the same from location to location.

You feel, when you attend a Ludobites, like you are getting to know the Lefebvres, so accessible and friendly and casual are they - they treat everyone who comes in like a friend and it's easy to see why they are a winning combination, with Ludo as the wild child whose unrestrained creativity is sort of managed and directed into a successful business practice by his capable wife.

Caramel Souffle, Blanco Grapefruit, Fleur de Sel Ice Cream

And the food? The food is like nothing you've had elsewhere and nothing you will ever have. It's combination of classic French technique, a wild imagination and some molecular gastronomy thrown in there as well. As long as you are ready to let go, be open-minded and give things a try, then you will find food that ranges from classic to homey to elegant to outrageous.

Ludo Takes a Short Breather

Some of my favorite dishes have included: poached egg with potato mousseline and chorizo - though this was a dainty looking dish, all done up in a petite serving dish with flowers and a smooth, gourmet appearance, the flavor was hearty and satisfying and I would have this for breakfast any weekend.

Steamed duck with a crispy skin puree - I am not normally a huge fan of duck. It is difficult to cook just right and therefore it is a bit of a gamble to order it. It was the words "crispy skin puree" that enticed me though and I'm glad I risked it. The duck was cooked perfectly and it was as satisfying as a good fried chicken - tender and juicy with a contrasting crunch. The saddest thing about Ludo dishes is that even as you eat them, you know you will probably never eat them again.

One thing I always look forward to is the fresh bread selection. It could be a fluffy baguette or it could be an exotic naan, but it's always well executed with some kind of exceptionally flavorful butter to make it the most memorable bread experience you might have in a restaurant.

Grilled Octopus, Oregano, Grilled Hazelnut Polenta, Pineapple Aioli, Piment D'Espelette Gelée

The thing that defines Ludobites to me though, is the unexpected moments. That is where they really shine and where you know this restaurant is deserving of the cultlike adoration it gets.

During Ludobites' time at Royal/T - almost exactly one year ago - J. and I went for dinner and were greeted by the chagrined, frazzled looking Kristine, who gave us a menu but informed us that due to an "emergency in the kitchen" the menu was pretty much thrown out and if we stayed, we would be consenting to a fixed meal that they could not predict ahead of time what we would eat.

We just shrugged and said "sure!" We later found out that one of the sous chefs had up and left in the middle of service and the kitchen was small enough that it basically equated half the staff walking out. It turned out to be one of the more fun dinners I have ever had. The entire meal was a surprise, and we never knew what we would eat until it came. I felt it was a success and it really showed how even the most dire situations can work. If the staff is willing to put their nose to the grindstone and work through it, and the diners are willing to set aside their personal entitlement and desires and just relax and be served then it will work out. Since the meal was discounted for the inconvenience, and we still got a multi-course gourmet meal I think we got one of the more fantastic bargains of our life - all we really gave up was the ability to choose for ourselves what we ate.

Steamed duck with crispy skin puree and lemon verbena and a balsamic white peach

The other incident that defines the spirit of this restaurant to me was at this last Ludobites 6.0 at Max restaurant in Studio City. As we were nearing the end of our meal, a large party was coming in and Kristine asked if we would mind scooting over one table and that she would buy our dessert for the favor. Of course, scooting down one place was hardly an effort and we didn't really feel any need to be compensated for it.

But when she found out that we had paid the bill before she could take the dessert off, Kristine insisted on getting us cash out of the till to pay us back for our dessert, and she ended up giving us more than it even cost. It was an extremely generous and friendly gesture and as it happened we chatted and she really revealed their mindset as she talked about wanting to host a big dinner at their house.

"Do you really want all these people knowing where you live?" I asked. And I watched the realization dawn on her. She had been so excited about the thought of hosting everyone at her home that the complications of their celebrity, even as localized as it is, hadn't occurred to her. She really does think of them as just two people hosting dinners for everyone and having fun.

Poached Egg, Potato Mousseline, Chorizo

So now the hard part - how does one actually go to Ludobites? It's always roving and it only happens during specified times. The best way to get updated on when it will be open for business and where is to go to the Ludobites website and sign up for the mailing list. They will update you by e-mail when the next Ludobites will be and when reservations begin.

The next part is just persistence and luck. Getting a reservation can be difficult but I will say that we have always succeeded - and if you do not succeed in getting booked at first, keep trying. Seats open up and they do seem to take a certain amount of walk-ins if you are willing to wait, depending on the location.

Good luck!

Goat Cheese Soup, Bacon, Lardo, Tofu, Green Apple, Frisee Salad

hey i totally made this all by myself

2010-10-21T21:27:00.001-07:00

So I don't have any particular talents. I can do a lot of things, but I'm not really great at any one thing. Because of that I get way too proud of myself whenever I successfully do something and it's not messed up. I cannot believe it every time and it's like a miracle. (The reason for this is the many many messed up projects that will not ever appear on this blog.)

So recently I have done a couple of things ALL BY MYSELF and they turned out good. I am so pleased with myself, I am showcasing it all here on this blog.

Okay first, I am totally a farmer! I've been wanting a yard forever, but it's pretty clear that it's going to be a long time before I ever have one. So this year when a cool nursery opened up down the street, me and J. started a container garden. Besides the decorative plants, I decided to try to grow some vegetables. Guys, it worked! They grew! And for the most part, are still growing. It's amazing. You just put water on them every day, fertilizer once a month and murder any bad bugs that show up. Voila, foods.

This is my cute mini bell pepper plant. You can see a flower, which is waiting for a bee to visit and two baby peppers.

When the peppers are ready, they turn orange. They are like little teeny tiny bell peppers.

They are nice in a salad and I bet they would make really cute appetizers with a stuffing.

This is my big pepper plant. These are Italian roasting peppers. They are ready once they get big enough (about 60 days). If you leave them on the plant long enough they will turn red, but I have only been patient enough for that one time.

Here are the first peppers that I picked. These three peppers are the first vegetables I ever grew myself, so I am very proud of them all even if some of them are handsomer than others.

I roasted the peppers and put them on a chicken sandwich. Delicious but they were pretty spicy, so really a sandwich should have less peppers than this.

This is my poor kale. The kale grew like gangbusters, it was nuts. In this picture it is twice as big as when I got it and it ended up getting twice as tall as that. But I could not keep the aphids away from it - they kept coming back even after I would mass murder them all. I could never actually eat it because of so many bugs, so I ended up having to let it go. :( I will probably replace it with another pepper plant because I am telling you, those are so easy.

I also want to give a plug to my nursery because it is the greatest. It has all kinds of amazing things - not just plants but gifts and stuff for your house too. The people are really nice and know all about plants and you can bring your dog there and they will give it treats.

Rolling Greens Nursery

Okay, the other thing I made is cheese! That is mozzarella cheese that I made all myself. It is really easy, as long as you have the stuff and a recipe. For my birthday, J. got me a deluxe cheesemaking kit from Urban Cheesecraft. These people are really great. Not only did the kit and recipes make it really easy to use, but at first they accidentally forgot to put some of the recipes in my kit and when I e-mailed them, they sent them right a way, plus gave me an adorable heart shaped cheese mold as a gift.

The mozzarella is made with milk, rennet, citric acid and cheese salt. You just cook the milk until it separates into curds and whey, take out the curds and then knead them until turn into cheese, basically. Mine is a little rustic - you have to stretch and knead it for a looooong time to get it so smooth like store cheese. Patience isn't really my strong point. But when you eat it, it is really like mozzarella! I have been enjoying it with apples and figs.

NEWS: DineLA Restaurant Week + MUNCH LA Cancelled

2010-09-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

First off, sad news, everyone. The MUNCH LA food truck event for this weekend has been canceled. I'm unsure why, but at least it seems that it will be rescheduled, so I will be sure to look out for any new dates. Here is the official statement from the event:

Due to unforeseen circumstances, MUNCH LA regretfully has to cancel its event on Saturday, September 18th, 2010. MUNCH LA deeply apologizes to our supporters for any inconveniences and we hope to reschedule our event soon. In the meantime, full refunds on tickets will be available. Please let us know if you have any questions and we will keep you posted.

But now ...

Good news, everyone!

It's almost time for DineLA again! October 3 - 8 and Oct. 10 - 15, local restaurants will offer sweet deals to take advantage of. Lunches will be offered for $16, $22, or $28 depending on the place, and dinners for $26, $34, or $44 depending on the place. It's a great time to try places that ordinarily wouldn't be on your agenda for reasons of price or location, or whatever.

My recommendations for this year:

Angeli Caffe - Lunch and Dinner at the lowest price point. Menu still TBD. Honestly, Angeli Caffe is a good deal at any time of the year, but it can also be one of those staple places that you forget about because it's just always around. It's a good excuse to go back if you haven't been in a while.

BLD - BLD is offering a $26 dinner. The menu offers a choice of appetizer, main course and dessert. BLD is another low key option that offers a chance for an amazing deal. If the weather isn't too cold yet, you can even bring your doggie and eat outside. If you're missing Grace, maybe BLD can comfort you a little.

Comme Ca - If you have not tried Comme Ca yet, this is a great opportunity. Both lunch and dinner are offered at the highest price point, menu is still TBD. This is a great place to bring people that you want to impress with really nice food but you don't want to freak them out with a snooty atmosphere or strange menu choices. I brought my whole family here and it was a complete success. The food is all simple and familiar but prepared impeccably and the wine list and cocktails are top notch.

Eva - Eva is pretty much my favorite restaurant at the moment, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Mark is an awesome guy and he is always offering good deals, but this takes away the effort of looking for them yourself. A three course dinner for $34, and the food here has never let me down. I definitely recommend the chicken and the lemon cake, but any choice is probably the right one.

Jar - If you love Mad Men and you haven't been to Jar then you need to go right away. Put on your Don Draper suit or your Joan Holloway wiggle dress and go there. The atmosphere is somehow both modern and retro, both classy and perfectly comfortable all at the same time. Their DineLA menu offers three courses for $44, with choices for each course. Do not let the traditional food choices fool you, I would never recommend any place that was bleh. As long as you like meat, you are in for a real treat.

Little Next Door - If you are anything like me, it doesn't take too much to get to the point where you feel like you desperately need a vacation. We can't always just pop off on our travels, but a meal at the Little Next Door is a reasonable alternative. It really feels like you've gone to another country when you eat there, and chances are the people next to you will be legit French to provide some immersion. For DineLA, they offer lunch and dinner at the lowest price points. There's no reason not to go here, unless you just absolutely hate French stuff, and then I feel sorry for you.

Lucques - There's pretty much no excuse not to have gone here yet - Lucques' Sunday supper already offers a very good deal every single week. But maybe it's just not convenient for you to go at night or on the weekend. But maybe ... if you work in the area, here is your opportunity. Lucques is doing a lunch for DineLA, menu still TBD, three courses for $28. Treat yourself. :)

Rivera - Rivera is a trek for those of us who live in a more westerly direction, but it's well worth it. It's also a bit of an upscale dining experience, so DineLA offers a good opportunity to try it without having to splurge so much. They are offering lunch and dinner at $28/$44 respectively. They also specifically have a veg option for those herbivores out there. Make sure to have some tortillas and even though it's extra, you should probably try at least one of the quality cocktails they have going on. It will be worth it.

Susan Feniger's STREET - STREET is a really fun place to eat. It's best to be daring and try even the weirdest sounding stuff because that stuff is often the most surprisingly great. For DineLA, they are offering lunch and dinner at the middle price range. The menu represents a sampling of their regular offerings although if you choose the lunch, you get one of chef Susan Feniger's specialties - a braised beef taco.

The Bazaar - I would definitely recommend everyone experience The Bazaar at least once. It's a really fun and surprising experience and a good way to ease into trying some more "avant garde" food because you have plenty of traditional options as well. The upside to this DineLA offer is not only the price ($44), but the sheer number of options. You get to choose from a long list of options rather than just a few so picky eaters have less reason to turn down this format. In particular, the "appetizer" portion offers you a choice of one "crazy" option and one traditional option so that you can try both and compare. Be sure and vist the patisserie for a candy after your meal and check out the very interesting gift shop or whatever that is.

So those are all of my favorite places, but there are a lot more options. You can check out if your favorite restaurant is doing something, and look for menu updates on the DineLA page.

NEWS: MUNCH LA Food Truck Extravaganza, Sept. 18 at Fairfax High

2010-08-24T14:04:00.001-07:00

Ooh breaking news ... on Saturday, September 18, MUNCH LA will hold its first event - a food and fashion extravaganza featuring over 30 of L.A.'s famous food trucks as well as indie fashion vendors. The event will be from 11am - 5pm at Fairfax High.

Sought after food trucks such as LudoTruck (Ludo Lefevbre's fried chicken), Let's Be Frank (gourmet hot dogs), the Dim Sum Truck and Tropical Shaved Ice will be there. The full list of trucks follows:

Ahn Joo, Baby Bad Ass Burgers, Big Swirl, Calbi BBQ, Crepe n Around, Del’s Lemonade, Dim Sum Truck, Don Chow Tacos, Dosa Truck, Dumpling Station, Eat Phamish, Fish Lips, Flying Pig, Frysmith, Greenz on Wheelz, Greasy Weiner, India Jones, Kabob N Roll, Komodo, Lake Street Creamery, Let’s Be Frank, LudoTruck, Nana Queens, Slice, South Philly, Sweet Truck, Tropical Shave Ice, Vizzi and more.

In addition, attendees can do some designer shopping, as Young Fabulous & Broke, Hudson Jeans, Wendy Glez Lingerie, T Bags, Dylan George, Paige Denim, Boheme Jewelry and others will be on hand to offer their wares.

Tickets are available in advance at munchla.com ($7) or at the door on the day of ($10)

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 18th, 11am – 5pm
WHERE: Fairfax High School; 7850 Melrose Ave, LA 90046

THING 80: Harry's Seascape Strawberries

2010-08-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

Strawberry farmers are always on a quest to build a bigger and better strawberry. In strawberry terms, what that means is they want the perfect everbearing strawberry - one that produces a large amount of fruit for a long amount of time.

Seascape berries were birthed at the University of Davis and they are an extremely productive variety of strawberry, and even better than that, have a very good flavor. Seascape berries are particularly suited to California, but will grow especially well in any cool region with a warm micro-climate.

Not only is the berry one of the better berries for commercial growing and selling, but this year, researchers at Purdue have discovered that it may be able to go into space with astronauts. In attempting to discover which produce might be cultivated on a space shuttle, it was determined that Seascape berries require little maintenance or energy, are not sensitive to the amount of daylight available. In fact, what they found with the Seascape was that with half the light, the plant yielded lesser amounts of berries, but each berry was bigger, such that no volume was lost overall. The plants are small, and the berries are easy to grow and consume with little waste. Total space berries.

At the Farmer's Market in Los Angeles, the place to get these berries (and others) is Harry's Berries. Harry's Berries is a family farm in Oxnard that has been growing strawberries since 1967. Harry Iwamoto was from a farming family that went back generations in Japan. He moved to the U.S. in the late 1950s and worked as a gardener until he was able to move to Oxnard and begin the farm, which grew strawberries from the start. They started with a roadside stand and a wholesale business, but various circumstances caused them to scale down their operation and now they focus on specialty varieties of both strawberries and other fruits and vegetables, which they sell at farmer's markets. Harry unfortunately passed away while they were moving to the smaller field, but his daughter and her husband still run the farm today.

Harry's sells berries at Farmer's Markets from Montecito to Torrance, and they are in at least one market and usually more every day of the week.

They sell two varieties of strawberry: Gaviotas and Seascapes from February through August, with maybe a small amount other times of the year, with spring being the peak. Gaviotas are sweeter strawberries, perfect for buying and eating straight away. Seascapes are more acidic but sturdier and are perfect for baking as well as eating.

Harry's also sells beans and tomatoes when they have them and processed foods made with their products: preserves, juice, and salsa.

Be warned that at peak season these specialty berries are much more expensive than what you would find in the store. But for a special treat they are worth it. Juicy and delicious, but not too sweet they are great for eating alone and even better for baking in a tart.

To find out when Harry's Berries will be at a market near you, visit their website at: http://www.harrysberries.com.

THING 44: Strawberry Donut from Donut Man

2010-08-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

Without a doubt, Jonathan Gold's description of these donuts is a prime example of why he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning food writer, so it's impossible to write anything about them without providing an excerpt that shows how incredibly persuasive this man can be when enticing you to be enthusiastic about a food you might otherwise never bother to try:

It is an iceberg of a doughnut, a flattened demisphere big enough to use as a Pilates cushion, split in two and filled to order with what must be an entire basket of fresh strawberries, and only in season. The fruit is moistened with a translucent gel that lubricates even the occasional white-shouldered berry with a mantle of slippery sweetness, oozing from the sides, turning the bottom of the pasteboard box into a sugary miasma in the unlikely event that the doughnuts actually make it home.

This ... this is why he wins. Anyone who can use the word "miasma" in a description of food where the end result is that you desperately want to eat the food is a master.

The Donut Man is something that I may never have tried, but for Mr. Gold. I love donuts a lot, but the Donut Man is located in Glendora, way out in the San Gabriel valley, and although I do sometimes have occasion to go there, I usually go straight to my destination and then home, without the desire to stop at random donut shops along the way.

But it's true that the Donut Man has something no other donut shop around here has, and that is donuts that feature fresh fruit - strawberry in spring, peach in summer. A strawberry donut from Donut Man is not a withered, overfried slab of cake with pink icing strewn over the top. It is instead a fluffy, airy glazed donut-bun surrounding a mound of fresh strawberries drowned in their own sugary glaze.

How accurate is Mr. Gold's description? Entirely accurate. By the time you get the donut home, the bottom has turned into a sticky sweet mass of goo, but the top remains light and fluffy and the strawberries fresh and glowingly red. You can even save it for the next morning, but I recommend to eat it as fresh as possible so that it doesn't lose a bit of softness or warmth and the ooze:solid ratio remains in a manageable balance. The miasma can only encroach so far before the quality starts to suffer.

As Gold himself admits - Glendora is going to be at least 45 minutes away from you, and there's nothing there unless you're lucky enough to have relatives that give you an excuse to head out there every so often. But it's close enough to all of that legendary Chinese food of the San Gabriel Valley, so you could do worse than to make a day of it, abandoning whatever diet you are on and heading east for a day of gluttony.

Donut Man, 915 E. Route 66, Glendora, (626) 335-9111.

IT IS TRUE BECAUSE THE INTERNET SAID SO

2010-07-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

Just so you know ....

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I'm sure this comes as a surprise to no one since these blog postings bear clear similarities to the works of David Foster Wallace. But it's best to make it official, just in case.

Also, I actually am going to post something here soon ... just a busy schedule but I have tons of pictures saved up to write things about.

THING 15: Gnocchi from Angeli Caffe

2010-06-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

You may have ideas about gnocchi - preconceived ideas of what it is and how you feel about it. You have to forget about these preconceived notions when you eat gnocchi at Angeli. Evan Kleiman is famous for her gnocchi and part of the reason is because her gnocchi is perhaps not what you were expecting. For starters, Angeli gnocchi is not the potato gnocchi of Northern Italy that most people envision when they think of gnocchi.

Kleiman's gnocchi is the Florentine version made with ricotta (also known as gnudi). Compared to the other type of gnocchi you might as well be eating clouds of delicious. It is lighter and more delicate. They are perfectly round balls of light and fluffy goodness. The gnocchi is a special and as such, it doesn't have a uniform configuration. You have to wait for the server to tell you what type of gnocchi you can order that night. It very often has a sage and brown butter sauce with or without other accompaniments. It has been known to be made with beets, spinach, lemon, peas, or other things that happen to be good at the moment.

Mine was plain and simple with the gnocchi and the sage-brown butter sauce and that's it. Even in such a simple arrangement it was one of the better pasta experiences I have ever had. Perhaps its biggest triumph was that people at the table who originally poo-pooed the idea of gnocchi based on past experiences had to admit that it was some pretty amazing gnocchi once they tasted it.

It is also a light dish for an Italian restaurant, where most plates are piled with mountains of pasta or pizzas. You can easily put this away after an appetizer or salad and not feel like you are going to burst. I make no claims as to their actual level of healthiness, only that you won't feel like a complete glutton after eating it.

So that was the dish, but even if gnocchi doesn't float your boat, I still recommend a visit to Angeli. I can't believe anyone in L.A. hasn't eaten there, but there's a lot of people here and a lot of restaurants. Angeli has been around since the '80s and it has been the same ever since I first set foot it in it almost a decade ago. I still have many of the same servers and even the same busboy since that first visit and that says something about what type of place this is. My feelings never change about this restaurant and as proof of this, you can go and read my love letter to Angeli from Valentine's Day three years ago.

Angeli Caffe
7274 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 936-9086

THING 25: Whatever Lou Tells You to Drink

2010-06-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thing 25 was a fairly non-specific directive and I interpreted it rather loosely. "Lou" is Lou Amdur, the owner of restaurant/wine bar Lou, a wine connoisseur and repository of knowledge, and husband of New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis.

At any given time you go to Lou, a number of people in there will be people who know he and his wife. I don't know them, so I haven't had the pleasure of a personal wine recommendation, but I figure that everything on the menu is included in things that Lou would tell you to drink, and our waitress also clued us in to a secret wine not on the menu. But I am not going to describe the food and drink in particulars, especially since I'll admit I made a few trips to Lou, because it's kind of addictive. The best way to describe a visit to Lou is to describe in general, since both the wines and food are variable and change often.

First of all, Lou is extremely unobtrusive. Tucked into the corner spot of a mini-mall, scrunched between pollo places and laundromats, from the outside you cannot tell what it is. The large storefront window is draped in curtains from ceiling to floor. You have to boldly make the choice to find your way through them before you can see what this "Lou" place is. Inside the restaurant dark and warm, decorated in rich reds with black and white. The menu is written on a chalkboard and reflects seasonal and farmed ingredients, mostly from the Santa Monica farmer's market. On Mondays they offer a set menu concocted by chef DJ Olson.

The wine list also changes every three to four weeks. The wine list is sort of an avant-garde exercise with the wines categorized into different categories to help you decide what will go well with what you eat, and then each given a succinct description from the mind of Lou that may or may not be helpful. (Descriptions range from the very descriptive (fresh, zingy, tart) to the difficult-to-interpret (slutty? Not Funyons?). If you are lucky you will get a helpful server who can guide you through your choice, or you can read over the descriptions and categories and go with your gut, you probably won't be wrong. For one of my choices, it had been warm weather so I chose one described as apples and hayrides and it did indeed taste like summer in a glass. Success!

The food is always seasonal and fresh and everything I have tried here has been delicious. They have some interesting farmed meats, not just the usual chicken, lamb, and beef but also things like bison and antelope. I tried the antelope, and was relieved to find it was perfectly cooked, as I've never tried it before. It was like eating a nice venison. You can tell that care is taken to find the best ingredients and you can tell when there is something they are quite enthusiastic about. When we were last there, you had several opportunities to eat Tony Hook's 10-year cheddar cheese and I took more than one because it's my favorite cheese.

I highly recommend that everyone seek out Lou at least one time. It's really a hidden treasure (although they have no problem filling the seats) and it feels very much like a getaway in the middle of Hollywood. The variable menu means you will probably want to come back just to see what your choices will be next time.

LOU
724 Vine Street
323 962-6369
Monday – Saturday 6 PM – 12 AM

April

2010-05-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

Spring is my favorite. The weather is nice, but it's not hot yet and this year we had enough rain that everything was growing and blooming like crazy, including delicious produce. The farmers' markets are starting to get a bunch of good stuff. We can't stop planting new stuff around our house and we want to be outside all the time. Meaning, it's hard for me to sit down and write stuff on a blog. But here are many pictures from April.

This is a cream of dandelion soup made with dandelion leaves. They are very bitter, but the cream mellows them a bit. They are also very good for you, being very high in potassium and Vitamin A. Dandelion leaves are also diuretic, so this soup is called creme de pissenlits in France, which basically means "have fun wetting the bed after you eat this." But honestly you don't need to worry about that unless you've also drank way too many glasses of wine. I adapted the recipe from A Kitchen of Her Own to make it.

Strawberry-ginger jam. I got these strawberries right when they were first coming out for the season and they weren't yet as ripe and sweet and juicy as they are now that they are in full effect. But they still made a nice small batch of refrigerator jam that is delicious on a buttery piece of toast.

A squash blossom quesadilla.

Fresh chamomile tea. The fresh flowers make for a very bright apple-flavored tea. You could also dry them to save for later if you're not going to use them all right away.

This is rapini, otherwise known as broccoli raab. It's another bitter green like the dandelion leaves that is really good for you with lots of potassium and Vitamin A. In spring it also has pretty yellow flowers but I sauteed them with garlic so no pretty flowery dishes for me.

This is the end of the season for chanterelles so I made sure to get some before they are gone. They are delicious sauteed in butter and then made into scrambled eggs.

There are tons of onions right now in all stages of growth from baby to kid to adolescent to adult. I used these to make a small tart based off of this recipe at Kitchen Confit. I made a miniature one and I used yogurt instead of sour cream. It was really good but not as healthy as all the greens. :( You can't eat these all the time.

Here is a dog who wonders if I will give him some of my delicious food.

Green onions, the baby version of onions. I made another quesadilla with these because ... well, I just love quesadillas.

This is the Petrovic Blasting Company - a brass band that plays at the Farmer's Market. They are really good and this is their biggest fan watching them. He refused to leave his spot right in front for anything. It's the cutest thing ever.

THING 6: Tito's Old School Tacos

2010-04-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

It's true that there are taco stands galore in Los Angeles. It is almost mystifying to think how any one of them could distinguish themselves. Taco stands are basically made to be a place you go because it's close, it's cheap, and the food is of the type that, even if it's not the best example of its kind, it's also really hard to go badly wrong with a basic taco or burrito.

Tito's basically resembles most taco stands. It has the same basic dishes (taco, burrito, enchilada, tostada) and it's cheap. But there's something about these tacos that makes you want them even if you're not nearby. I have driven from Koreatown to West Los Angeles at lunchtime for these tacos and it is a miracle if you can get me to go somewhere that's out of walking distance.

A modern foodie would probably be mystified. There's nothing immediately special about the food at Tito's. It's far from authentic, it's not healthy, nor is it fused with any other international cuisine. It's just Americanized Mexican at cheap prices eaten in an ugly dining room (or preferably outside if it's nice weather) after waiting in a long line to have your order taken by a weather-beaten old woman or a bored teenager. So what is the magic?

My guess is that it is in the super crunchy tacos. The tacos are so crunchy and crisp and greasy that they kind of hurt your teeth when you bite into them. Your teeth recoil from the combination of crunch and fat that they know are not good for them and yet it's a deadly combination. The hard shell combined with the beef slow-cooked until it's soft and tender makes a satisfying texture combination, while the fat provides the flavor since these tacos are anything but spicy. And for me of course, it's also the cheese. Shredded cheddar cheese is mounded on the top to slowly melt from the heat that radiates through the protective layer of lettuce.

There is just something unique about this place that is definitive of the best part of Los Angeles - these places littered about here and there that seem like no other place in the world in some quirky or old-fashioned or just plain bizarre way. Tito's opened in 1959 and I doubt it's changed much since then. Certainly its design aesthetic is a relic of that Mad Men-era and even the mot high tech thing in the room - the video game machines are hilariously obsolete. A round of X-Men vs. Street Fighter, anyone? I'm pretty sure I could take Wolverine with Chun Li's Lightning Kick.

I should probably mention that tacos are only $1.70 without cheese and $2.20 with cheese. Depending on where you're coming from, you might pay more in gas than for your food.

So, Tito's might not be a place I'd show off to a visitor from afar but even so, I would say that a great deal of its charm is that it feels so definitive of Los Angeles, and having places like this - that you know are always going to be there, and will always be the same - that's one of the things that make a place feel like home, and I think that might be the magic, right there.

I can't really end this post without mentioning their amazing theme song. It's possible that THIS is the real magic, and that we're all being brainwashed in some fashion by the theme song, which commands everyone to love Tito's. In fact, I suspect this might be their terrible secret, as I can find no discernible method for turning off the theme song at the Tito's Tacos website.

THING 47: Eva Solo-Brewed Coffee from LA Mill

2010-04-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Without these "things" I may never have tried this coffee. Or not for a while anyway. I like my coffee in the morning, but not enough to drive all the way out to Silverlake to get it. Not to mention to get a morning coffee that costs about 4x as much as my regular coffee. But this is some pretty special coffee, and a special occasion (like going to see the Clientele at Spaceland) deserves a special cup (or two) of coffee.

So we decided to head into LA Mill for dinner. This will be one of the fanciest coffee places you go - they appear as a nice restaurant and they do serve food, and their menu matches their decor. Slightly upscale dinner fare, but nothing too fancy. Jason had sliders and I had a Spanish-inspired panini or pork, manchego cheese and piquillo peppers. The food was good - nothing drop-dead amazing but just solidly delicious. What we were really waiting for, however, was this coffee that was so special.

As soon as we began to peruse the coffee menu, we could tell it was pretty serious business. The list of coffees is extensive and they come with stories, some of them as elaborate as the most detailed fantasy. Things like "These beans were plucked from the cold, dead hand of a giant by the agile young beanstalk climbers of Ouagadougoo. The giants once traded these precious beans for cows, but as time went by, their stock began to dwindle and now the fearsome giants and the nimble beanstalk climbers war ceaselessly over these beans, which are grown and fed to the giants' special hens. The hens then lay golden eggs, which, when smashed reveal these precious and flavorful beans. When brewed they release a bright, floral aroma whose flavor contains hints of the honeysuckle flowers that grow so near their beanstalks as well as citrus overtones and a tiny trace of sunshine and cloud as is to be expected from Giantland, so high in elevation."

It's basically stuff like that. And it costs about $8.00 to get it brewed using the Eva Solo device, as specified by Mr. Gold in his strict instructions as to what exactly it is you must try before passing away. I think it made about four cups though, so although it was more expensive than my local corner coffeeshop, it wasn't forbiddingly so. We tried a kind that was a special addition to the menu at the time and was described by the waitress as being very unusual. It was. It just had a somewhat different flavor to it. It was described as candy-like, but I didn't find it so. I probably wouldn't choose to drink it every day, but if you are going to try something special, you might as well go all out and get the weird thing, so I'm glad I got it, because it was good, in its own unique way. The waitress was really helpful as well. I highly recommend asking for advice here and you will end up with something that makes you happy.

Picture Break

2010-04-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

I really have a real post, that I will hopefully put up tomorrow, but I want to take a break to put up some cool pictures I have accumulating.

First, we had some people over to our house to watch the Oscars last month and our lovely guests brought the most amazing cupcakes from Big Sugar Bakeshop.

Each cupcake had an image representing a Best Picture nominee or an Oscar on it. They came in vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet flavors and all were delicious. I really cannot talk up this bakery enough. It is in Studio City, very near my former workplace and it is one of my favorite bakeries I've been to in L.A. They are extremely creative, but the stuff they make is not overly complicated or unbalanced. For example, their cupcakes are my top cupcakes in Los Angeles. Most of the trendy cupcakes seem to load on frosting completely out of proportion to the amount of cake and it's gross. I end up lopping off most of the frosting and leave it on the plate. These cupcakes have a correct proportion of frosting to cake, with not too much of either one. Thumbs up. Plus look at the kind of artistry they create with their special themed products. That's pretty talented.

Secondly, my mom sent me photographic evidence that I have always been a pretty expert baker. I may not have been so great on the sanitary practices long ago, but that was a wilder, more free time, you know - the '70s. I was also WAY ahead of the cupcake trend.

Um ... I have to taste it to make sure it's okay! Yeah, that's it.

Frosting is serious business.

Gotta taste the frosting too. I really hope I didn't keep using that knife, gross.

Ta-da, cupcake for you!

THING 52: Mozza Pizza

2010-03-31T12:42:00.000-07:00

Many cities have their own "signature" version of pizza, and proponents of each type of pizza are willing to argue all night that theirs is the best - whether it be from the source in Naples; or a large, thin New York slice; or perhaps a hearty deep dish from Chicago.

Here in Los Angeles, we don't really have a "signature" pizza, except perhaps the use of untraditional toppings, made famous by Wolfgang Puck. But even so, you can get a "California-style" pizza at five different places and have five completely different pizzas even in the most definitive aspects, like crust thickness and cheese-to-sauce ratio.

It would be a fine thing if we decided to make Nancy Silverton's style of pizza the definitive Los Angeles pizza. In my book, it can compete with any pizza anywhere. It's not just the variety of really good, really fresh ingredients in both unusual and familiar combinations. It is mostly the crust. A crust that was carefully created through many tests to be chewy enough to give it some substance, but airy enough that one can eat the pizza without feeling heavy and full afterward.

I can think of nothing better than to go sit at the bar at Mozza, eat pizza, drink wine and watch pizza being made, or the bartender do his thing. Every pizza is made to order in a real wood oven. When the restaurant first opened, Nancy Silverton stood over each pizza, approving it before it was served. Now the cooks have it down to a science. Each pizza comes out of the oven light, airy, crispy and with toppings perfectly cooked.

The options will satisfy anyone, from the pickiest kid to the most adventurous gourmet. If you like variety, there are always some seasonal toppings on the menu, like flash fried sage in the winter, or artichoke and lemon in the spring. One of my favorites has a spicy salame with Fresno chiles. It's hot, but satisfying - a step up from the pepperoni pizza of my childhood. Other favorites include the squash blossom and burrata, fennel sausage, and the aforementioned pizza bianca with sage.

It's hard to write about one particular pizza-eating experience, as Mozza is a place we go to for a special treat fairly regularly. But one thing about this night was that we vastly miscalculated what the wait would be. It was cold and a bit rainy, and we thought we could just show up and not have to wait too long for a spot at the bar.

We were wrong. I think we waited about 90 minutes to finally sit down, as the tiny square where people can wait just continued to fill with people at a steady stream, but only empty out at an extremely slow trickle. By the time we sat down, the pizza had gone from "damn good pizza" to "we've been waiting so long, this is now the best pizza ever created." It was worth the wait, though, which is a high honor coming from me, since I hate waiting. It was also worth it to get to sit at the pizza bar for the first time. 99% of the time we end up sitting at the wine bar, to the point where we started wondering if the people at the other bar were paid extras who sat there all night. But this time we learned that no, it's possible to sit there and it's fun to watch your pizza get made, and try to guess what they are making now.

The wine selection is small but carefully chosen. You can't really go wrong, but the bartender will help you if Italian wines and their many alien grapes get you confused. In addition to pizza, the chopped salad is always a good option, and for dessert the butterscotch budino would probably be in my personal "things to try before you die" list.

But the real reason to come is always the pizza. From now on, this will always be "Los Angeles-style pizza" to me.

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
1.323.297.0101

Hours of Operation:
Daily: Noon - Midnight

THING 87: Plain Doughnut from Bob's Coffee and Doughnuts

2010-03-13T00:33:00.000-08:00

The first thing I chose out of the 99 things I must eat before I die was a no-brainer. Bob's Doughnuts is pretty much a regular destination, since my husband has a love for doughnuts like no other except perhaps Homer Simpson. But even though I've had many of Bob's delicious doughnuts, I have never yet had a plain one.

While this first choice of "thing" was in many ways the easiest, it still contained an element of challenge, which was to face up to all of those frosted, glazed and sprinkled donuts and absolutely turn my back on them in favor of a doughnut that is utterly and completely nude. I hope you won't be too harsh on me when I admit that I purchased two donuts - one plain and one one sprinkle. I hope Jonathan Gold can forgive for diluting the purity of his 87th thing.

But this blog post is not about a sprinkle doughnut, so what transpired between the sprinkle doughnut and I will forever be a mystery as far as you are concerned. I am here to talk about it's fancy-free brother, the plain doughnut.

Although I will probably stick to frosting in the future, I have to say I'm glad I took this opportunity to try a perfectly plain doughnut. Michael Pollan would advocate that everyone take to the farm or the forest to connect with exactly where their meal came from, so as not to become to disconnected from exactly what it is we're eating. Perhaps in a similar vein, we should also go for a plain doughnut every once in a while to remind ourselves that what we are eating is not cake or a mere pastry, but that what we are eating is in fact a fried product. It a pastry multiplied by more fat and it's probably best that we don't forget that.

And that is basically what eating a plain doughnut is like. It is a big reminder of what a doughnut actually is and where it comes from (the fryer). That's not to say it's gross - of course it's not! It's a fried thing, which by law must be delicious. It just allows you to reflect more clearly on the fact that a doughnut is delicious not just because of the rich flavor that the fat introduces, but also the texture - the slight crunch on the outside contrasted with the moist soft cake inside is something you will not get from any cupcake, now matter how big it is baked nor how much frosting is piled atop it.

99 THINGS

2010-03-03T21:29:00.000-08:00

So last week, Jonathan Gold published his list of 99 Things to Eat in L.A. Before You Die. When I saw this, a flash of inspiration struck me, because to be perfectly honest, I've had a hard time keeping this blog going. *checks date of last post--yep*

I still enjoy it, and I love eating and cooking and drinking and taking pictures of food, but somehow something happened that I never actually thought would be--I now get paid, as my job, to write things and I spend a whole lot of my time writing things for money. That doesn't make me enjoy writing any less, especially since writing for fun is a lot more enjoyable than the stuff I normally have to write. However, when you've just spent 6-8 hours in a row writing stuff, what you want to do is plop in front of the TV or game or do some reading instead of writing. I just get kind of ... tired of it.

So I've been thinking what I've been wanting is a project-something I would want to do anyway but that would give me enough incentive to continue and see it through and would give me lots of material to write about. And folks, I think this is it. Seeing as how I'm not getting any farther away from death, I should probably start eating these things now - just in case. So I'm going to make my way through this list and try to experience what Mr. Gold wishes we all could experience.

Now for some rules. First off, not all of these things will be easy, desirable, or even possible for me to eat, and certainly not in order. So I am choosing my own order, and I'm starting with the things that are easiest for me to get (and that I most want to eat). I will work my way up to the challenging ones and will do by best to bravely snarf down even the wriggliest creatures. I reserve the right, however, to decide that there is a substitution that I believe is even more worthy of being eaten before death, because I do have my own opinions. And, for example, if I'm going to get pizza I've wanted to try for years, I'm not going to have eggplant on it, since I don't like eggplant. So there. Anyway, I am setting out the entire list below, which I will update with links as I have them. I'll put it on the side so you can come pore over it whenever you like.

THE LIST:

1. Fugu (Urasawa, 218 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills)
2. Goat’s milk gelato (Bulgarini Gelato, 749 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena. (626) 791-6174)
3. Romanesco cauliflower (Weiser family farms)
4. San nak ji (Masan, 2851 W. Olympic Blvd., Koreatown. (213) 388-3314)
5. Sherry Yard’s Kaiserschmarren (Spago, 176 N. Cañon Drive, Beverly Hills. (310) 385-0880)
6. Tito’s old school tacos (Tito's Tacos, 11222 Washington Place, Culver City. (310) 391-5780)
7. Luna oysters
8. Sesame cream puffs (Pâtisserie Chantilly, 2383 Lomita Blvd., No. 104, Lomita. (310) 257-9454)
9. Vietnamese spring rolls (Golden Deli, 815 W. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel. (626) 308-0803)
10. Hot pastrami (Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant, 704 S. Alvarado St., L.A. (213) 483-8050)
11. Bone marrow flan (Cut, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 276-8500)
12. Little flower sea salt caramels
13. Spicy lobster (Newport Seafood, 518 W. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel. (626) 289-5998)
14. New style sashimi (Matsuhisa, 129 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills. ( 310) 659-9639)
15. Gnocchi (Angeli Caffe, 7274 Melrose Ave., L.A. (323) 936-9086)
16. Lechon (Eva’s Lechon, 4252 W. Third St., L.A. (213) 383-3179)
17. Tortillas (Rivera, 1050 S. Flower St., dwntwn. (213) 749-1460)
18. Apple pie and eel (Wa Sushi, 1106 N. La Cienega Blvd., No. 201, W. Hlywd. (310) 854-7285)
19. Sausage and eggplant pizza (Casa Bianca, 1650 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock. (323) 256-9617)
20. Huarache de cabeza (El Huarache Azteca #1, 5225 York Blvd., Highland Park. (323) 478-9572)
21. Kalbi taco (Kogi)
22. Lamb tongue sandwich (Canary, 1942 Westwood Blvd., Wstwd. (310) 470-1312)
23. L.A. Street dog (Fab Dogs, 6747 Tampa Ave., Reseda. (818) 344-4336)
24. Hollenbeck burrito (El Tepeyac Café, 812 N. Evergreen Ave., City Terrace. (323) 268-1960)
25. Whatever Lou tells you to drink (Lou, 724 Vine St., Hlywd. (323) 962-6369)
26. Pain au chocolat (Anisette Brasserie, 225 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 395-3200)
27. Paleron with kumquats and cream of wheat (Lazy Ox Canteen, 241 S. San Pedro St., dwntwn. (213) 626-5299)
28. Welsh rarebit (Musso & Frank Grill, 6667 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd. (323) 467-7788)
29. Flautas (Ciro's, 705 N. Evergreen St., E.L.A. (323) 269-5104)
30. Dill fries (The Gorbals, in the Alexandria Hotel, 501 S. Spring St., dwntwn. (213) 488-3408)
31. Fish kidneys (Jitlada, 5233 Sunset Blvd., Hlywd. (323) 667-9809)
32. Chicharrones de queso (Lotería Grill, 6627 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd. (323) 465-2500)
33. Corn chowder (Ivy, 113 N. Robertson Blvd., L.A. (310) 274-8303)
34. French dip (Philippe's, 1001 N. Alameda St., L.A. (213) 628-3781)
35. French dip (Cole's, 118 E. Sixth St., L.A. (213) 622-4090)
36. Birria (El Parian, 1528 W. Pico Blvd., L.A. (213) 386-7361)
37. Country white bread (La Brea Bakery, 624 S. La Brea Ave., L.A. (323) 939-6813)
38. Hot dog on a stick
39. Sizzling catfish (Chinois, 2709 Main St., Santa Monica. (310) 392-9025)
40. Hickoryburger (Apple Pan, 10801 W. Pico Blvd., L.A. (310) 475-3585)
41. Hearth-baked bagel (Brooklyn Bagel Bakery, 2217 Beverly Blvd., L.A. (213) 413-4114)
42. Vegetables en papillote (Palate, 933 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. (818) 662-9463)
43. Quinoa with edamame (Akasha, 9543 Culver Blvd., Culver City. (310) 845-1700)
44. Strawberry donut (Donut Man, 915 E. Route 66, Glendora. (626) 335-9111)
45. Chili (Chili John's, 2018 W. Burbank Blvd., Burbank. (818) 846-3611)
46. Beef roll (101 Noodle Express, 1025 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. (626) 446-8855. Also at 1408 Valley Blvd., Alhambra. (626) 300-8654)
47. Eva Solo-brewed Coffee (La Mill, 1636 Silver Lake Blvd., Silver Lake. (323) 663-4441)
48. Oki dog (Oki Dog, 5056 W. Pico Blvd., L.A. (323) 938-4369)
49. Cheeseburger (Comme Ça, 8479 Melrose Ave., W. Hlywd. (323) 782-1178)
50. Saffron silk ice cream (Saffron Spot, 18744 Pioneer Blvd., Artesia. (562) 809-4554)
51. Yellow fish fried with hair seaweed (Giang Nan, 306 N. Garfield Ave., No. A-12, Monterey Park. (626) 573-3421)
52. Mozza pizza (Pizzeria Mozza, 641 N. Highland Ave., L.A. (323) 297-0101)
53. Pork pump (Shanghai Xiao Chi, 828 W. Valley Blvd., Alhambra. (626) 588-2284)
54. Knife cut noodles (JTYH Restaurant, 9425 Valley Blvd., Rosemead. (626) 442-8999)
55. Soon Tofu (Beverly Soon Tofu Restaurant, 2717 W. Olympic Blvd., L.A. (213) 380-1113)
56. Pho bac (Pho Minh, 9646 E. Garvey Ave., No. 108, South El Monte. (626) 448-8807)
57. Pig candy (Bigmista, Sun. at Atwater farmers market; Tues. & Sat. at Torrance farmers market; Thurs. at El Segundo farmers market. Menus, hours and preordering info at bigmista.com)
58. Egg salad sandwich (Euro Pane, 950 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. (818) 577-1828)
59. Cha chiang mein (Mandarin House, 3074 W. Eighth St., Koreatown. (213) 386-8976)
60. Oyster po’ boy (Little Dom's, 2128 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz. (323) 661-0055)
61. Cheese enchiladas from lady who hangs out near @BreedStScene (twitter)
62. Al Bap (A-Won, 913½ S. Vermont Ave., Koreatown. (213) 389-6764)
63. Brandt beef (HOWS Supermarket)
64. Krakatoa-blend coffee (Beans sold at Surfas, and through monkeyandson.com.)
65. Potato tacos (El Atacor #11, 2622 N. Figueroa St., L.A. (323) 441-8477)
66. Thali (Rajdhani, 18525 Pioneer Blvd., Artesia. (562) 402-9102)
67. Ludo’s fried chicken (ludolefebvre.com.)
68. Prime rib (Lawry's, 100 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 652-2827.)
69. Grilled prime rib (Campanile, 624 S. La Brea Ave., L.A. (323) 938-1447)
70. Seviche (Mo-Chica, in Mercado La Paloma, 3655 S. Grand Ave., L.A. (213) 747-2141)I
71. Banh mi (Mr. Baguette, several locations, including 400 S. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park (626-282-9966) and 8702 E. Valley Blvd., Rosemead (626-288-9166)
72. Foie gras and biscuits and gravy (Animal, 435 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. (323) 782-9225)
73. Panuchos (Chichen Itza, in Mercado La Paloma, 3655 S. Grand Ave., L.A. (213) 741-1075)
74. Pad thai (Krua Thai, 13130 Sherman Way, N. Hlywd. (818) 759-7998)
75. Ancient ginger soup (Noodle Island, 800 W. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel. (626) 293-8839)
76. Mcgrath’s rainbow chard (mcgrathfamilyfarm.com)
77. Green corn tamales (Border Grill, 1445 4th St., Santa Monica. (310) 451-1655)
78. Burrito (Lupe's #2, 4642 E. Third St., L.A. 323-266-6881)
79. Chicken Pot Pie (Good Girl Dinette, 110 N. Avenue 56, Highland Park. (323) 257-8980)
80. Harry’s seascape strawberries
81. Squid with piquillo peppers and pig’s ear (Providence, 5955 Melrose Ave., L.A. (323) 460-4170)
82. Corned beef hash (The Grill on the Alley, 9560 Dayton Way, Beverly Hills. (310) 276-0615)
83. Salmon sashimi (Kiriko, 11301 W. Olympic Blvd., No. 102, W.L.A. (310) 478-7769)
84. Maple bacon donut (Nickel Diner, 524 S. Main St., dwntwn. (213) 623-8301)
85. Godmother (Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery, 1517 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 395-8279)
86. Soup dumplings (Din Tai Fung, 1108 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. (626) 574-7068)
87. Plain doughnut (Bob's Coffee & Doughnuts, Farmers Market, Third & Fairfax, L.A. (323) 933-8929)
88. Hot dog (Let's Be Frank, Helms Ave., between Venice and Washington boulevards, Culver City)
89. Doro wot (Meals by Genet, 1053 S. Fairfax Ave., L.A. (323) 938-9304)
90. Boat noodles (Sapp Coffee Shop, 5183 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd. (323) 665-1035)
91. Brisket (Bludso's B-B-Q, 811 S. Long Beach Blvd., Compton. (310) 637-1342)
92. L.A. Galbi (Park's BBQ, 955 S. Vermont Ave., Koreatown. (213) 380-1717)
93. Hot almond milk in pastry (Capital Seafood Restaurant, 755 W. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park. (626) 282-3318)
94. Sashimi (Kiyokawa, 265 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 358-1900)
95. Chongqing fried chicken (Chung King, 1000 S. San Gabriel Blvd., San Gabriel. (626) 286-0298)
96. Peruvian roast chicken (Pollo a la Brasa, 764 S. Western Ave., Koreatown. (213) 382-4090)
97. Sprats (Natraliart, 3426 W. Washington Blvd., L.A. (323) 732-8865)
98. Lobster roll (Hungry Cat, 1535 N. Vine St., Hlywd. (323) 462-2155)
99. Maple bacon biscuits (Huckleberry, 1014 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 451-2311)

RECIPE: Preserved Lemons

2010-01-27T12:19:00.001-08:00

Winter can be so gray, sometimes it's nice to have something a little bright in the kitchen. Preserved lemons not only add a cheerful yellow, but they add brightness to the flavor of things like chicken, fish, and rice dishes. Preserved lemons are a trademark of North African, particularly Moroccan cuisine. They are salty and tangy and you can use them anywhere you might normally use lemons for a little extra zing. To do them properly, you will need a month or so to spare, so make sure you decide to make them before you get all impatient to eat them. Once they are ready, it is suggested that they be rinsed off prior to using as they are quite salty.

Making preserved lemons is quite easy, and there are recipes all over the internet for them. At it's most basic, all you need is lemons and salt. Let the lemons hang out in the salt and lemon juice for about a month and they are ready to go. My lemon recipe is from the book Well-Preserved. If you want to be more complex, you can add spices. The spice mix can be of your own devising, but there are also many suggestions and recipes on the internet. Since mine came from a book, I've taken the liberty of searching out some nice looking recipes that readers can try if they don't have a recipe of their own:

FoodGal's Meyer lemon recipe (Meyer lemons were the type of lemon suggested for use in the recipe I used. Meyer lemons are a bit more thin-skinned and also juicier. You can use regular lemons as well but you may need to use more to get the right amount of juice)

David Lebovitz's Moroccan lemons (This recipe gives some nice suggestions for spice combinations)

NEWS: Restaurant Week Jan. 2010

2010-01-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

It's almost restaurant week! Being a non-wealthy resident of Los Angeles, restaurant week is one of my more favorite weeks. Restaurant week takes place over two weeks during the weeknights. This year it will be January 24-29 and Jan. 31 - Feb. 5. The purpose of restaurant week is to promote local restaurants and get people out and supporting their neighborhood businesses. The benefit to you is that you get to try the restaurants at a very favorable price. You will get a three-course lunch or dinner at a set price ranging from $16-$28 for lunch and from $26-44 for dinner. This is a great way to try restaurants that may be otherwise out of your price range or to try a new place that you haven't ventured to yet.

You can find the list of restaurants with their menus and pricing on the DineLA site. Let me make some personal recommendations of places that I think will provide a great value and an enjoyable experience:

Angeli Caffe: Angeli has been a favorite of mine since I first moved back to LA eight years ago. It's been a neighborhood favorite since the 1980s when it opened and I believe the simple, welcoming, family-like atmosphere will keep it in business for as long as Evan Kleinman cares to keep it open. The food is rustic, classic Italian. Nothing new or fancy, but just plain good food. The fact that employees stay there for years and years is testament to happy atmosphere of the place. It's a place where you always know what to expect foodwise and service-wise and it's like that old comfy sweater that you keep forever because you always feel good in it. Angeli will be serving both lunch and dinner for restaurant week. (L:$16/D:$26). The dinner menu hasn't been set yet, but the lunch menu appears below:

LUNCH:

Choice of Appetizers:

• Soup of the Day  (All soups are vegan)
• Eggplant Croquettes ( A delicious fried tidbit of roast eggplant puree, parmesan, garlic, herbs)
• Insalata Forte  (Salad of baby greens, fennel, Belgian endive with garlicky parmesan vinaigrette)

Choice of Entrees:

• Beet Ricotta Gnocchi with Melted Butter, Sage and Parmesan
• Butternut Squash Lasagne
• Rosemary Garlic Lemon Roast Chicken

Choice of Desserts:

• Tiramisu
• Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding
• Seasonal Fruit Crumble

Cube Cafe & Marketplace: Cube is kind of a hidden gem, I think. Although it opened in 2006, I believe, it wasn't until last year's Restaurant Week that I finally tried this place. The food is Italian and they focus on different regions as they change the menu. The pasta is homemade and the ingredients are very fresh. The wine selection is very interesting, and I recall having a wine that was so wonderful, which was a rather obscure and hard to find bottle and I probably would never known it existed except for the person who chose it out for their menu. It is a small, cozy place and in contrast with other restaurants, I remember it being nice and quiet, which makes for a good date location (provided you want to talk to your date!). Cube is serving both lunch and dinner (lunch $22/dinner $34). Below you will find the dinner menu. Lunch is the same except the latter two entrees are exchanged for a truffle burger and roasted leg of lamb panino.

Dinner:

Choice of Appetizers:

- Spicy Tuscan Bean & Sausage Soup; Winter Greens, Tomatoes, Tuscan Olive Oil
- Maple Braised Bacon; Celery Root Puree, Cipollini Onions
- Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad; Satsumas, Toasted Hazelnuts, Pomegranates, Pecorino, Hazelnut Vinaigrette

Choice of Entrees:

- Cube Garden Greens & House Ricotta Ravioli; Braised Oxtail Ragu -or- San Marzano Tomato Sauce
- Balsamic Glazed Piedmontese Skirt Steak; Cauliflower & Sierra Gold Potato Gratin, Baby Broccoli
- Meyer Lemon & Herb-Roasted Half Chicken; Braised Brussels Sprouts, Farro

Choice of Desserts:

- Seasonal Fruit Cobbler Duo; Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
- Valrhona Chocolate and Butterscotch Pot de Creme Duo; Shortbread Cookie
- Torched Meyer Lemon Meringue Cake; Fresh Seasonal Berries

Eva: Eva is quite simply my new favorite restaurant in Los Angeles. The concept is one we're all quite familiar with right now. Dishes made with fresh, local, seasonal ingredients inspired by many different cultures, but with a distinctly California feel. These types of restaurants have sprung up all over the place in the last few years. But imagine such a place run by a Jewish mother trapped in the body of a charismatic and friendly male chef. You can never quite be sure that your meal is over at Eva until you walk out the door. Our first dinner there, the chef came running out as we were putting on our coats to leave and spoon fed us ravioli filling he was experimenting with. When a young girl in the restaurant got a bit cranky, he tracked down her favorite song from "Hey Gabba Gabba" and played it over the sound system. On our second meal, we had just finished dessert and were paying the bill when Chef Gold came around with a heaping plate of fried chicken for us to try, and then after that an egg cream (both of which will be on the Restaurant Week menu). He has that same special magic of a Jewish mom too, where you may be stuffed and full but then she presents you with just one more thing, and you somehow find room to eat it, because it is good. When I left Eva for the first time, I felt as if I had made a new friend and it's very rare that a restaurant can inspire that feeling. I highly recommend taking this opportunity to try it if you haven't yet. Eva is serving both lunch and dinner (L: $22/D: $34). The dinner menu is below:

Dinner:

Choice of Appetizers:

- Chestnut Agnolotti (Handmade agnolotti with italian chestnuts)
- Hamachi, Winter Fruit (Japanese yellowtail with winter fruit and seasonal components)
- Soup and Salad (For those who want simplicity, a potato soup and a romaine salad with caesar dressing)

Choice of Entrees:

- Beef Tenderloin, Salsa Verde, Roasted Cauliflower (Sous vide beef tenderloin. the cauliflower is roasted, bordelaise and salsa verde)
- Swordfish, Potato, Red Pepper, Caper Relish (Swordfish cooked over low heat, a caper relish, confit potato and pepper)
- Fried Chicken, Creamed Spinach, Crushed Potato (Eva's famous "fried chicken," creamed spinach and crushed potato)

Choice of Desserts

- Chocolate Decadence (A flour-less chocolate cake, creme fraiche, walnuts)
- Steamed Lemon Pudding (A steamed lemon pudding cake, with whipped honey and thyme)
- Egg Cream and Ruggalah (Mark's favorite childhood drink with some ruggalah to wash it down!!!)

Grace: Grace is a fine dining experience. It's a place that's on the more expensive end of the dining spectrum (although worth it) and a place I might not normally be able to try unless I saved up my dollars for a special occasion. Restaurant week has afforded me the opportunity to try it and to confirm that the place would be worth every penny for a return visit at regular prices. When I had dinner at Grace for restaurant week in 2008, the salmon I was served was without a doubt the best piece of salmon I have ever tasted. They did a good job of showcasing exactly what the restaurant is all about at a reasonable price. Grace is serving dinner only and it is $44 per person. There will also be some supplements you can add to the menu for a few extra dollars. The set menu is below:

Dinner:

Choice of Appetizers

- Kabocha Squash and Roasted Chestnut Soup
- Roasted Beet Salad (goat’s milk feta, greens, pistachios, goat cheese fondue)
- Grilled Monterey Bay Calamari (warm chickpeas, olives, charred tomatoes)

Choice of Entrees

- Sautéed Wild King Salmon (forbidden black rice, pecans, cranberry, watercress emulsion)
- Grilled Jidori Chicken (ricotta dumplings, chanterelle mushrooms, broccolini)
- Grilled Filet of Beef (farro, haricot verts, morcilla, ossau-iraty cheese, red wine sauce)

Choice of Desserts:

- Sticky Toffee Pudding (brûléed bananas, toffee sauce, hazelnut gelato)
- Bitter Caramel Panna Cotta (blood orange soup, cinnamon croutons, smoked sea salt)
- Milk Chocolate Mousse (tangerine sherbet, earl grey crème anglaise)

Jar: Jar is another one of my favorites. I must confess I've only eaten in the dining room once. Most of the time we just go and sit at the bar, where you can order off the regular menu and there's just a nice sense of cameraderie and the feeling you can be a bit more casual. The restaurant feels as if you've just stepped into an episode of "Mad Men." It has that retro design aesthetic of a 1960s swanky steakhouse. The vibe isn't stuffy, snobby or old-fashioned at all, however. The room is comfortable and cozy and the food is simple, mom-style classics executed masterfully. Suzanne Tracht just really knows how to cook meat, but as a person who eats meat only sparingly, I have to say that the fresh seasonal vegetables and salads are also very nicely done. Jar is serving dinner only at $44 per person. The menu is as follows, with wine recommendations:

Dinner:

Choice of Appetizers:

- Roasted Beet Salad (Roasted beets, arugula, roquefort, and balsamic vinaigrette)
* Cremant de Bourgogne, Simmonet Febcre, Brut Rose, NV, France $12

- Winter Apple Celery Salad (Watercress, arugula, apples, celery, Marcona almonds, shaved parmesan, lemon and olive oil)
* Sauvignon Blanc, Six Sigma, 2008 Lake County $12

- Soup of the Day

Choice of Entrees:

- Jar's Signature Pot Roast, carrots, caramelized onions served with a choice of mashed potatoes, French fries, or purple yam, and creamed spinach, pea tendrils, or braised beet greens
* Zinfandel, Dashe, 2007 Dry Creek $13

- Lemongrass Chicken, kaffir lime leaf served with a choice of mashed potatoes, French fries, or purple yam, and creamed spinach, pea tendrils, or braised beet greens
* Bordeaux Blanc, Chateau Ducasse, 2008 France $10

- Roasted Wild Alaskan Salmon, shallot lemon vinaigrette served with a choice of mashed potatoes, French fries, or purple yam, and creamed spinach, pea tendrils, or braised beet greens
* Pinot Noir, Carmel Road, 2007 Monterey $12

Choice of Desserts

- Jar's Signature Chocolate Pudding with creme fraiche
- Banana Cream Pie
- Selection of sorbets

RESTAURANT: What to Look Forward To in 2010

2010-01-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

There are several new restaurants already in the works for next year. A couple of them I found to be of special interest:

Covell: Billy Heinzman and Katy Noochla-or are the masterminds behind several great Asian restaurants (Tuk Tuk Thai, Rambutan Thai). They had wanted to open a noodle house in Loz Feliz, but that didn't work out for logistical reasons, but that didn't work out so the reins have been handed over to a friend who will open a beer and wine bar featuring local beers and a wide selection of wines. Apparently food will be limited to cheese and charcuterie, but food trucks are welcome to hang out outside. (via Food GPS)

Greenspan's Grilled Cheese: Eric Greenspan of the Foundry will be opening a new, more casual place right next door that will be all grilled cheese, all the time. I guess his win in the Grilled Cheese Invitational got him thinking. His winning sandwich (short rib, Taleggio and apricot-caper purée) will be on the menu as "The Champ" along with other variations on the classic sandwich. The menu will also feature old-school soda fountain drinks, and comfort food like latkes, tater tots, and soups. (via L.A. Times)

Kogi the Restaurant: The famous Kogi Korean taco truck is now settling at a permanent location (although the trucks will still be rolling of course). The restaurant will in West L.A. on Overland and is planned to be a mom and pop diner focusing on rice bowls. The place is beign designed to feel like the small cheap place you pop into for a hearty meal with counter service and mix and match tableware. It's hopefully to open at the end of February. (via Food + Wine)

Little Spain: The farmer's market seems like it has just about everything already, but not so fast! It is missing something important - Spanish food! Little Spain is setting up to complement Mr. Marcel. It is described by the owner as a Spanish restaurant and market. They will specialize in traditional tapas, montaditos, and paella. They plan to open by March. It will be in the old Kokomo's space and there's a notice about an application for a beer and wine license, so it sounds pretty promising. (via Google and Blackburn & Sweetzer)

Loteria! Grill: Loteria Grill is opening a new location in Studio City. For all you Valley dwellers not in the know, Loteria Grill is a Mexican restaurant that features fresh, traditional Mexican food. It's a step above your basic taco stand, featuring fillings such as cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork) and chicken mole poblano for its tacos and other options. The new Loteria location is opening at Laurel Canyon and Ventura. It was supposed to open in the fall, but now the forecast seems to be for spring, so the remodel and liquor license must be still in the works.

Melgard Public House: Also on Melrose (Melrose and Gardner if you couldn't tell by the name) is a new gastropub by the minds behind 3rd Stop on Third Street. The place is already ready to go, set to soft open this weekend. It will feature a selection of over 20 draft beers and casual pub food such as fish and chips, mac and cheese, burgers and pizza. Happy hour is promised to feature free pizza in addition to discounted beers. (via Haute Living)

Rustic Canyon/Huckleberry Ice Cream Parlor: Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb of Rustic Canyon and Huckleberry will also be moving into a slot at the Brentwood Country Mart. The shop should be opening by the spring. Seems they may still be settling on the concept as the original article for the L.A. Times promises small batches of ice cream in simple flavors using the best ingredients (strawberry, chocolate) and a more recent article says they have hired Shiho Yashikawa of the Slanted Door to create exotic flavors for them. Either way is fine with me when it comes to ice cream. (via L.A. Times)

NEWS: Happenings Around Los Angeles

2010-01-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

There are a bunch of events happening around Los Angeles soon:

Pinot Days: The First Annual Pinot Days Southern California engages all the senses with its offering of gourmet food and 400 incredible pinot noirs. More than 75 pinot producers will pour their wines at Pinot Days, including the newly-released 2007 vintage, which critics are calling pinot's best vintage in decades, and maybe ever. The three-day Los Angeles food and wine event includes two intimate winemaker dinners and the Grand Festival, a wine tasting event which gives wine lovers the opportunity to experience and enjoy some of the world's best pinot noir and interact directly with the gifted and passionate winemakers who produce them. Pinot Days Southern California begins January 15 and culminates on January 17 with the Grand Festival at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA. Event tickets can be purchased at www.pinotdays.com.

Pinot Days producer Lisa Rigisich said, "Los Angeles is a real food town and the innovative culinary scene in this city is the perfect complement to the depth, complexity and versatility of pinot noir. Like chefs, pinot producers are modern day artists with an intense passion for their craft. This dynamic lends itself well to Pinot Days because it allows food and wine lovers to learn about pinot by connecting to it with both their palate and through its producer."

San Antonio Wine Tasting:

San Antonio Winery, Southern California’s most awarded Winery, invites all wine lovers to join them at the “Wine 101: Introduction to Wine” Tasting and Food Pairing on January 24, 2010.

Among the wines to be sampled are:

· Louis Perdrier Rose Champagne
· Windbreak Chardonnay 2006, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey
· Maddalena Vineyard Reisling 2008, Monterey
· San Felice “Il Grigio” Chianti Classico Riserva 2005, Tuscany
· San Antonio “Heritage” Rhone Blend 2006, Paso Robles
· San Simeon Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Paso Robles
· Maddalena Vineyard Muscat Canelli 2008, Paso Robles

These fine wines will be served a puma goat cheese, orange and roasted eggplant salad with French vanilla glaze, basil oil and microgreens; broiled Miso Alaskan black cod on a potato and chive pancake with Miso glaze; roasted Ancho pepper crusted rack of lamb on roasted wild mushroom risotto with pinot noir coriander sauce; and for dessert, Island mango mousse with candied macadamia nuts and toasted coconut shavings.

For more information or reservations, please call (323) 330- 8771. The cost of the event is $55.00 per person.

WHEN: Sunday, January 24, 2010, 1-4p

WHERE: San Antonio Winery
737 Lamar Street in downtown Los Angeles

I've also got some shameless self-promotion (of a sort) to do. I recently got a new job (yay!) working at Goldstar Events. Goldstar offers discounted tickets to all kinds of local events (and in other major cities as well). There are several food and wine related events and you can get great deals on them. I get nothing extra for sending people to the site, I just have really come to appreciate in the time I have worked here because I have seen from behind the scenes what a nicely run business it is and the great customer service. Right now we have the following events that readers of this blog may be interested in:

Wine, Cheese, Chocolate and Live Music at the Evo South Rooftop Lounge Wine Pairing Event ($33 - normally $55)

Little Tokyo Food Tours from Six Taste ($33 - normally $55)

Take a Tasting Trip Around the World With Drink:Eat:Play's International Wine Tasting ($40 - normally $60)

Hands-on Baking at Kiss My Bundt Bakery ($30 - $32; normally $50 - $55)

Wine Tasting Classes at SB Lofts ($39.60 - normally $66)

You can see more food and drink related events here: Food and Social in Los Angeles

In addition to this news I have more "real" posts coming up, thanks for being patient with my sporadic attention to the blog.

Menu for Hope 6 - Donate Now and Win Fabulous Prizes!

2009-12-15T19:45:00.001-08:00

It is once again time for Menu of Hope, the annual charity program by food enthusiasts and food bloggers to support the World Hunger Programme. It's incredibly simple. Just follow the link I will provide below to Pim's blog. There you will find a list of all of the prizes on offer as well as detailed instructions on how to donate and enter.

Click here to go to Pim's Menu for Hope Page

As an enticement, let me rundown a sample of the fabulous prizes you might find:

Special meals, including dinner for two at Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc or The Grand Tasting Menu+wine pairings for two at Michelin 2-star Manresa, AND a tour of the restaurant's biodynamic garden at Love Apple Farm.
Signed copies of cookbooks, including Ad Hoc and Momofuku
Fancy chocolates
Food products, such as a Fra Mani salumi package or a whole leg of La Quercia Prosciutto
Kitchen products from All Clad and other fancy kitchen stuffs
Weekend getaways in Italy, Paris, London and New York
Wine packages
Photography tools
Gift items

BOOK: Well-Preserved by Eugenia Bone

2009-11-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

One thing I love to do is make preserves. I don't really need to. I don't have anywhere to grow anything at my apartment and the gardeners do not take kindly to outside plants anyway. SO it's not like I have extra fruits and vegetables laying around that I need to do stuff with. I live in a large metropolitan area and can easily purchase whatever I need for myself, so it's not like I need to put up a whole bunch of food for the winter. Nor do I have a large pantry where I can store it.

Nonetheless, I like the process of making preserves and I like having a little jar of something in the fridge to use as accents for my meals. Also, one of my good memories is from one summer in my teenage/college years where my family friend Karen invited me to help her make jam from the berries that grew on her property. It was a fun day and there was a nice sense of accomplishment from picking all of the berries ourselves and then making them into many jars of jam. I was pretty proud of getting through this process that quite frankly would have freaked me out had I tried it on my own.

So every once in a while, I'll make a jar or a few of something, just to enjoy the process again and to make something delicious. Knowing this, my husband bought me this book, Well-Preserved.

Well-Preserved is a really nice and easy book to use. The author provides very simple and clear instructions for both making and processing the preserves. Her voice is engaging and sometimes little tidbits are thrown in that make me giggle (for example in the pie recipe below she suggests eating the pie with ice cream if you like and then throws in "and who the hell wouldn't?!"). The format is to give a recipe for making a type of preserve, and then follow up with several recipes for using that preserve. This is invaluable since often something sounds good, but then you don't really know what to do with it.

I've already made a couple of things with the book and both turned out as a success:

The above is a grape conserve with walnuts. It is basically the same as a jelly, but the conerve has nuts in it. I made it with some really nice Concord grapes when they were in season at the market, so it had that really traditional grape jelly flavor. The nuts were toasted and added a nice crunch to the texture and savory flavor to contrast with the sweet of the jelly.

And this here is a spiced apple pie. After making some canned spiced apples, someone in the house kept mentioning how much they would like pie, and the spiced apples conveniently came with a pie recipe, so here it is, the spiced apple pie. Please do not give me crap about the lack of uniformity of my lattices, I get enough of that from certain left-brained people that I live with, My pie is rustic! It is supposed to not be perfect!

LINKS: Osmosis Online

2009-11-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since I've posted and for that I apologize. These days most of my income comes from writing various things and I generally have some type of writing to work on each day, which makes it hard sometimes for me to come and then also write a blog. But I'm not ready to give it up yet, I still have many lovely food pictures to put up when I have the right stories to go with them.

I have one post incoming directly after this one, but I wanted to give an abundance of content to make up for the lack. One of the places I have been writing for is a new online magazine: Osmosis Online. Osmosis features entertaining articles about different aspects of culture including arts and entertainment, politics, and food/drink. So I'm gonna go ahead and link to two of my food/drink related articles here:

The Movable Feast: Food Cart Cuisine: In this article I take a look at the many different types of food available from mobile food stands across the country. This type of food is a rising trend, but in some places it's been an institution for a while now.

Awash in Alcohol: A Cocktail Primer: I'm kind of a cocktail freak these days, especially being married to a master mixologist, but it wasn't always the case. In my first forays into bars in my early 20s, I was pretty paralyzed about what to order, so I stuck with what I knew: rum and cokes, gin and tonics. I was never sure what drinks were "okay" to order at a bar and which would make the bartender hate you. So here is my primer that gives examples of seven drinks, each one with a different base spirit, that you can adopt as default drinks to be ordered in a bar. This is the beginning of a series, so I'll be posting links later to the next articles that delve deeper into the fascinating world of cocktails.

So that's a little part of what I've been up to lately, and now I will work on getting you a for-real blog post!

TRIP REPORT: San Francisco 2009

2009-10-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again ... the time where we go to San Francisco! We're old so most of our frolicking there involves food or drink, but we always manage to have a great time. This year it was the occasion of the Cal-USC football game which meant the town was pretty much invaded by Southern Californians but only in the touristy parts. I never noticed this when I lived there, but when you're spending most of your time near Union Square it becomes very apparent, especially when you try to get a cab on Saturday night after the football game.

So ... on to the important stuff. Where did we go and what did we do there?

We arrived on Friday afternoon just in time to think about lunch. We stayed in the Hyatt Regency which is conveniently across the the way from the Ferry Building. Since we knew that Saturday would probably be out for the Ferry Building, we opted to just go there right away, for lunch.

We went to Il Cane Rosso for lunch. Il Cane Rosso specializes in simple, farm-fresh, seasonal meals. I had the Star Route Farm Red Oak Lettuce salad with grapes, watermelon radishes, spicy green beans, hazelnuts and sherry vinaigrette. It was a nice light lunch and I was happy that the salad was big enough to be filling but not ridiculously huge like some places make salads. J had a brisket sandwich that was special for that day. The menu is based around several basic items that change according to what's in season. Looking back I can see that my red oak lettuce salad was a Bibb lettuce salad back in August, with figs instead of grapes and almonds instead of hazelnuts, but the idea is basically the same. The food was delicious and we ended up going back again on Sunday for a late lunch. This is the kind of place that I would go to regularly if I lived near it, bcause of the the simple but delicious food and the changing menu.

The next part of the day was devoted to ... well, a nap. We had to get up really early to catch our plane, and I had stayed up really late working the night before so basically if I was going to be alive for the evening portion, I would have to rest, which I did. Then we began our evening.

We started at the Rickhouse, which my former co-workers will remember as Ginger's Trois, one of the more dive-y and frightening gay bars around. The Rickhouse is pretty much unrecognizable. The dark, forbidding entrance with its sad, limp, faded rainbow flag is gone and now there's a sleek wooden facade and bold sign proclaiming that you are now at the Rickhouse. It's rather labyrinthine inside, but it's very nice, managing to feel old and new at the same time. The Rickhouse is a spin-off of Bourbon and Branch and shows the same attentiveness and love of mixology, but with a focus on whiskey. The specialty here is whiskey, although they serve all kinds of drinks. I was feeling like something potent, so I got a Trilby #2: Scotch, sweet vermouth, parfait amour, absinthe and orange bitters. Now that's a drink. We somehow managed to snag a spot at one of the bars but the place was packed and we had things to do, so it was one drink and then out.

We moved on to the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts (GAFFTA). GAFFTA is a non-profit art group that deals mainly with social consciousness and digital culture and also as part of an effort towards economic development in the Tenderloin. They were having their public grand opening that night so we decided to check it out. It's a nice space - a small brick building with wheat grass growing from the walls. Most of the pieces were abstract and either in a digital video medium or digitally created. My favorite was a special exhibit by a design group where they mapped out San Francisco based on various things such as crime rate, trees, cab pick-ups/drop-offs, etc. It was interesting to see the city in terms of different things like that and to be able to pick out areas without any other identifiers.

After that, it was time for a late dinner. By this point I had walked from the Financial District to deep in the Tenderloin in my high heels and my feet were telling me in no uncertain terms it was time to sit down. We opted for Bar Jules, a small neighborhood cafe in Hayes Valley. It's the type of place where the menu is written on a blackboard each day based on whatever's good and where no matter how popular it gets, it always feels like a casual neighborhood hangout inside. We were incredibly lucky, because as we got there, we were told that it would be an hour wait. My feet had immediately screamed "WHAT?!" But noting the tables outside with chairs and the availability of wine ordering while you wait, I ignored them and accepted the wait. As it turns out, most of the people ahead of us on the list had left and didn't come back in time to be called so we only had to wait a few minutes. The food is simple, but ours was delicious. The restaurant did a great job of creating the illusion of being in a small neighborhood bistro in France, although most people couldn't afford to pop in here every day for a bite. Still, for a romantic dinner this is a great idea as long as a possibly long wait for a table won't kill the romance for you.

Saturday was the day of the game, so there was not much activity to speak of for most of the day. Jason was off to the game and I spent that time getting some work done. But we did, at least, have breakfast and lunch. For brunch we headed out to the Mission to Bar Tartine. Bar Tartine is not new to me, but I think I haven't written about it here before. Anyway, if you've been reading this up until this point, you won't be surprised to find that Bar Tartine has a French cafe feel while serving fresh, local California cuisine. You are shocked, I know. But what they also have is a really satisfying brunch menu that will fill you up just as well as any greasy spoon. Jason had a poached egg and prosciutto with some grilled country bread and I had a nettle omelet with bitter greens and a rye-herb toast. And it was vacation so mimosas all around! I was happily surprised that we had such an easy time getting a spot for brunch there, although it was busy by the time we left, it didn't seem like it would be a long wait.

One long interlude for sports and working, and then it was dinner time! Our biggest problem turned out to be getting a cab. The city was packed with tourists and all the cabs were busy, busy, busy. We finally managed to grab a good corner and were able to get our ride just on time. We were about 15 minutes late for our reservation but the restaurant kindly held it for us and it was ready and waiting when we came in. Which restaurant? Well, NOPA. NOPA has made an appearance in this blog before, and it was actually good enough to merit a return. It's really hard when there are so many great places to go, to pick a place you've been over a brand shiny new place, but NOPA had all the qualities we wanted, most important being "open late enough." NOPA makes classic favorites using the requisite fresh, seasonal, etc. ingredients. You can't go wrong with a hamburger, and I indulged myself with a roast chicken and fries, since all of the "Bar ____" places were making me nostalgic for Paris. The chicken was giant. I did my best to devour it, but I couldn't quite make it. The meat was bright white and juicy. The skin was maybe not as crisp as I would have liked it, but that's easily overlooked.

Okay, just one more! Because this is getting looooong. Our last dinner was at Flour and Water. It's kind of a strange name, I have to say. The restaurant itself is Italian and once you know that it makes sense. But the name does not invoke Italy ... it's more like ... I don't know, it reminds me of The Good Earth restaurant where the name always for some reason invoked this very matronly, healthy sort of feeling that was off-putting to me. Something about "Flour and Water" is the same. I guess because flour and water on their own are not exactly tasty. You have to mess with them to make them into something delicious.

Anyway, the restaurant itself was fantastic. It was my favorite meal of the trip. J and I split a pizza and then had pastas for our main meals. I have been reading Heat, by Bill Buford and I had just been reading the section where he is in Italy with a woman who is famous for her pumpkin tortelli, which is a classic Italian recipe which appears in one of the oldest sources of written recipes. So I was thrilled when they had a pumpkin tortelli on the menu with fresh homemade pasta. I cannot think of anything that exemplifies autumn so much as a dish that uses pumpkin, sage, and butter. It was the perfect moment to eat it and it totally lived up to my rather high expectations. Everything in the restaurant is pretty lovingly homemade, and the service is fantastic, with everyone pitching in to wait tables so that you are never neglected. The server was also really helpful, answering all her questions in a way that showed she really knew the menu inside and out. Also, the price was not too bad for really good quality food and a nice atmosphere. We had a pizza, two pastas, a dessert, and two glasses of wine each and it came out to about $100 for both of us.

So that was mostly our trip! I left out the boring parts like shopping and stuff like that, and between the football and the work, and two exhausted people who needed to catch up on a lot of missed sleep, we didn't necessarily DO all that much, but we did have a lot of good food and that's pretty much enough for me. I can't wait until next year's trip now!

MISC: Evolution of a Meal

2009-09-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

Most of the time when I make something for dinner it's in one of either two circumstances: (1) I have a recipe I want to make; or (2) I am throwing something together out of whatever we have hand. But sometimes something different happens. Sometimes I see something somewhere or think of something and then I get an idea in my head of something I want to have and then I have to figure out how to make it.

For example, I recently ended up with a simple couscous, but in order to get to that point, the dish itself went through quite an evolution. It started when I saw these beauties:

Photo: Woof! Woof!

These are stuffed jalapeños wrapped with bacon. They really looked good and they stuck in my mind. Then, when I was at the farmer's market I saw this nice basket of jalapeños and I was reminded of the stuffed peppers, so I decided to get them and make some kind of stuffed peppers.

I thought I didn't want so much cream cheese, so I decided to think of alternate things to stuff them with. I decided I wanted a Spanish theme so I headed out to find some ingredients. Well, this was my first mistake. There's a reason there's so much cream cheese and that's because jalapeños are really freaking hot, and they stay that way when you don't shove a bunch of creamy stuff in there.

I did buy some goat cheese but apparently not enough. Anyway, at the store I decided on a stuffing of goat cheese, idiazábal cheese (a sheep's cheese from Spain), chorizo, couscous, and saffron. I cooked the couscous with butter, and then mixed in all the other stuff, filled the peppers with it, and baked them until the outside was wrinkly and cooked looking.

And then I took a bite and my mouth burned of a thousand fires. All the goat cheese had mixed and absorbed into the couscous and there was no creaminess left to counter the heat. But I discovered that despite the hot pepper, the filling was actually really good on its own.

I decided to save the rest of the peppers for pickling, and use the rest of the chorizo as a meal portion. Which is how we end up at the ultimate meal, which was the couscous with grapes and olives and it was really good in the end, if it took a while to reach its ultimate form.

And now you see why I usually just find a recipe. If I had to do that every time, well, I suppose cooking would be more of an adventure but also more of a pain.

HISTORY: Reindeer Breeding in the United States

2009-08-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

I'm always fascinated with food culture and history. It's a type of history you don't often get to study and oftentimes just have to happen upon it. I was originally going to make this post about how to fry chicken, but when I was paging through one of my cookbooks looking up what it said about chicken, I got distracted by a page that explained how to prepare reindeer.

Wait ... what? Reindeer? This is a cookbook from the 1940s, I might add, so I am often finding interesting surprises in here when I go to look something up. Once I'd seen reindeer, I was compelled to stop and read about it. The first sentence was really interesting: "Government breeding of reindeer has brought the meat back on the market in modern form." Again .. wait ... what? Government breeding ... of reindeer?

I've never heard of this, and I immediately envisioned a secret government Santa project or some such, but I also had to go digging to figure this out. As it turns out, it was a sort of economic stimulus program for Alaska and the natives that lived there.

It all began in the 1800s, when American whalers discovered that the waters around Alaska were good hunting grounds. Eventually they thinned out the whale population and began hunting walrus in the area to boost their profit margin. The walruses were slaughtered in massive amounts, with estimates being about 300,000 walruses killed by the whalers. This was devastating to the native population of Alaska, as the walrus was their main source of food and other resources.

One whaling captain who was shipwrecked and taken in by natives wrote:

Should I ever come to the Arctic Ocean again, I will never catch another walrus, for these poor people along the coast have nothing else to live upon....I felt like a guilty culprit while eating their food with them, that I have been taking food out of their mouths. Although they knew the whaleships are doing this, they still were ready to share all they had with us.

Over the next years, the situation of the Alaskan natives became worse and worse, exacerbated by the introduction of alcohol, lack of educational resources, new diseases, and a reduction of inland mammals in addition to the walrus due to the introduction of rifles.

The U.S. Bureau of Education was given responsibility for the Alaskan natives and among other things, they decided to implement the reindeer herding proposal of Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian missionary who did extensive work in Alaska. Herds of reindeer were purchased from Siberia and brought over to Alaska along with herders from Lappland, who would train the Alaskan natives. Once they had completed their apprenticeship, they were loaned out their own small herd.

The herds were initially successful, as they filled in the ecological space left by the reduced population of caribou. Initially, the reindeer population grew, but by the 1940s it was rapidly falling again. There were ownership disputes, which led to incorporation of the reindeer program and rather than owning a certain number of deer, the natives were given shares of the corporation and the deer were managed as one large herd.

By the 1930s, the reindeer were practically wild and weren't very well-managed anymore. The wolf population increased. The reindeer mingled and interbred with the caribou and hunters began to be less and less discriminate about what they were shooting at. By the 1940s the deer population had dwindled and the government tried once more to revitalize the program.

But ultimately, cultural differences between the government workers running the program and the natives proved too difficult to overcome. The natives could not successfully adapt to a businessman's mindset, learning to mind and manage and expand their herds on their own and create self-sustaining and profitable businesses out of them. They maintained their subsistence hunting ways and saw the deer as a gift from the government that would be replenished as needed. And once new industries began to appear, such as construction and petroleum, the natives found it more profitable to get jobs working in these industries than to try to make it as reindeer herdsmen.

By 1952, the deer were all but gone, and the caribou population had made a comeback, which meant natives had their hunting needs satisfied.

So that's the story of the United States reindeer breeding. It's an interesting look at historical efforts toward economic stimulus and an interesting look at colonialism, since we rarely think of ourselves that way anymore. It's also a history lesson in the pitfalls of government subsidy programs and trying to improve the lives of people of other cultures without totally understanding those cultures.

INFO: Peaches 101

2009-08-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

History: Peaches are native to China, and came to Europe via Persia around 300 BCE. For this reason, peaches were once called Persian apples. The Ancient Romans ate peaches, mostly as a dessert. Apicius contained a recipe for pickled peaches:

To Keep Hard-skinned Peaches
Duracina persica ut diu durent

Select the best and put them in brine. The next day remove them and rinsing them carefully set them in place in a vessel, sprinkle with salt and satury and immerse in vinegar.

Varieties: Peaches have hundreds of varieties, varying in color (white with a pink blush to yellow with a red blush) and flavor. In general, a peach will either be freestone (pit frees easily from the flesh), or clingstone (pit clings to the flesh and is hard to remove). Freestones are generally found in markets, while clingstones are more often used commercially.

Season: Peaches are available from May to October in most regions. May through August is peak season in California.

Choosing: Look for a fragrant fruit that gives slightly to palm pressure. Peaches bruise easily so be careful when handling - you don't want to ruin it for another customer - and look over it thoroughly for soft spots. Avoid peaches with greening. Look for an orange cast instead. The best way to tell is the smell. Give it a sniff - if it smells delicious, then it is!

For Locavores: If you're trying to eat local, you have a better than 50/50 chance. 29 states harvest significant amounts of peaches. The largest producer is California, which grows more than half of the peaches in the U.S., followed by Georgia and South Carolina.

Ripening and Storage: To ripen an underripe peach, place it in a paper bag that's been pierced and let it sit at room temperature. Adding an apple to the bag will make it ripen even faster. To store, refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to five days. Bring to room temperature before eating. Be careful not to store below 45ºF. Storing a peach at such low temperatures impairs pectin breakdown in the fruit and can cause mealy flesh, which is unpleasant.

Preparation: If you like your peaches peeled, blanch it for 30 seconds and then plunge into ice cold water. To remove pits, cut in half lengthwise, following the cleft. Rotate the halves in opposite directions like opening a jar, until the pit comes free. If cutting peaches in advance of using, be aware that they can brown when exposed to air. Put some sugar on them to delay this reaction.

Nutrition: Peaches contain vitamin A and C.

Popular Dishes:

Peach Melba: Peach Melba is the classic peach dessert, created in the 1800s by the famous French chef Escoffier, for the Australian opera diva, Dame Nellie Melba. To make it, poach two peach halves in syrup and let them cool. Then place each half hollow side down on a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and top with a raspberry sauce and sometimes whipped cream and almonds.

Peaches are best served simply when they are in season. They are good enough eaten by themselves, or as a compliment to a shortbread or poundcake. Or, you can marinate sliced peaches in a bit of wine, or dribble a small amount of aged balsamic vinegar on them.

Since peaches also come in season in the summer, they make a wonderful gelato, sorbet, or ice cream ingredient.

SOURCES: The Food Lover's Companion, On Food and Cooking (Harold McGee), How to Pick a Peach (Russ Parsons)

NEWS: Angeleno Magazine's Chef's Night Out

2009-07-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Brad A. Johnson of Angeleno magazine, and The Tasting Panel's Anthony Dias Blue are co-hosting the annual Chef's Night Out and Restaurant Awards to honor local chefs and resterauteurs and to celebrate the release of Angeleno's food issue.

The dinner benefits the Children's Institute, an organization that works with children and families affected by violence, abuse, and trauma. Tickets are $150 for the event (food from the featured chefs with wine and spirits pairings), and $250 for VIP tickets which includes access to a special reception and the awards ceremony.

The event will be held at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows this Sunday, July 26. The chefs at the event include:

David Myers from Sona, Comme Ça and Pizza Ortica
Lee Hefter and Thomas Boyce from Spago
Lee Hefter and Ari Rosenson from Cut
Susan Feniger from Street
Anthony Zappola from Craft
Brian Moyers from BLT Steak
Ray Garcia from FIG Restaurant Santa Monica
Warren Schwartz from Westside Tavern
Evan Funke from Rustic Canyon
Monique King from Nine Thirty
Vernon Cardenas from Katana

The chefs and restaurants that will be receiving awards that evening include:

Restaurant of the Year: Melisse
Chef of the Year: (Tie) Suzanne Tracht, Jar and John Riviera Sedlar, Riviera
Best New Restaurant: Church and State
Best New Chef: Steven Fretz, XIV
Pastry Chef of the Year: Adrian Vasquez, Providence
Best Restaurant Design: Cecconi’s
Best Wine Service: Osteria Mozza
Vanguard Award: Capo

The awards reflect the upcoming issue of Angeleno, in which Johnson lists his top 50 restaurants of Los Angeles. “This annual event celebrates the 50 best restaurants in Los Angeles. I dined at more than 200 restaurants again this year to narrow L.A.’s food scene to the elite Top 50. It was a daunting marathon of eating that included everything from pig’s ear to white truffles. We might be in a recession, but L.A.’s restaurant scene is as exciting as ever. If you haven’t been to Mélisse or Jar in a while, you’ll be amazed at what they’re up to. And if you haven’t yet discovered downtown’s Church & State, or if you still haven’t heard of a rising star chef named Stephen Fretz in West Hollywood, it’s high time you booked a table. These are the 50 restaurants every Angeleno needs to know, right now,” Johnson said.

For ticket information, visit www.childrensinstitute.org or call 213.807.1959.

RESTAURANT: Ludobites at Breadbar

2009-07-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

We've been meaning to try Ludobites basically forever. I've never been able to try any of Chef Ludovic Lefebvre's cooking before, and I have to admit I've also had an unshakable albeit tiny crush on him, ever since I laid eyes on this picture:

Normally, this is not my type of thing at all - the sort of Fabio-romance-cover-cheesecake genre of handsome, but apparently the idea of a man bringing a fish to me straight out of the ocean that he caught with his bare hands is appealing on some sort of primal level I didn't even know I had. (It helps if you know said man would also be able to prepare it brilliantly after wrestling it from the sea just for you.) Hopefully J is paying attention and perfecting his fish-wrestling skills even as we speak.

I had a lot of fun at the restaurant. I like the size of the dishes, which is small so that you may order several things and share, but big enough that you don't have to spend a fortune just to fill yourself up. The dishes were also a lot more fun than I was expecting. There were a lot of playful elements and unique concepts, and I didn't know to expect that.

The first thing I ordered was listed as "Chorizo, Cantaloupe, Cornichon." It sounded like a kind of light starter of little things on a plate, but turned out to be a cold soup! What it was: liquified chorizo with cubes of cantaloupe and a cornichon slush (really - it was pickle in a frozen slushy texture). Oddly enough, it worked. The soup had a nice flavor that I think would have been a tad too much without the melon for contrast and the pickle slush was odd but it actually blended in nicely and enhanced the overall flavor. And it was so pretty!

The above was my finisher: lobster medallions with honey-sherry vinaigrette and rosemary. It was a chilled lobster piece with a gelled dollop of vinaigrette on top and herbs sprinkled over. Really nice and refreshing, although I probably could have done with a tad less of the dressing, but the herbs were great.

I also had scallops with red port creme fraiche, bacon and potatoes. The bacon mashed potatoes were probably my favorite thing I had during the night. The potatoes were really smooth with little chunks of thick bacon. The scallops were good, but mine was a bit gritty even though it was a diver scallop. Still, that's a possibility with any scallop and it was cooked well.

Other items we had included: Poached Egg 65 degrees, Morels, Smoked Mornay Sauce, and Toast (I didn't have any of this dish, but it looked ridiculously good); and Fried Chicken in Duck fat, and saffron cornbread). The chicken was very good, juicy and flavorful and J claims it is the best fried chicken he has ever had. I personally loved the cornbread. Saffron is one of my favorite flavors and it went well with the cornbread, which was really moist, more like a soft corn cake than a piece of cornbread.

It's BYOB so make sure to bring a bottle of wine you like. Dishes range between $11-$24 (with the exception of the giant cheese plate, which is $35) with our dishes ranging from $11-$19 apiece. So it's not a cheap or casual meal, but it's a great place for a date night where you still want it to be a bit relaxed and fun.

Ludobites is going on through August 22 at Breadbar on 3rd street. See Ludo's website for details and reservations.

RECIPE: Parmesan Pull-Apart Rolls

2009-07-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

A recent issue of Gourmet had a bunch of different dinner roll recipes. You don't have to persuade very hard to get me to make bread products. Baking is one of my favorite things to do, and now I have a whole bunch of rolls to try.

The first ones I tried were these Parmesan dinner rolls and they came out great. Before I made them, I looked over the comments on Epicurious and I was a little bit hesitant because a bunch of people said that these didn't taste good. To try to counter that, I added some herb salt I have to the top before baking, just to add some extra flavor.

However, the flavor on my rolls came out nice, even apart from the addition of the salt. I wonder what kind of cheese the people who complained used. I got a hunk of parmigiano reggiano and grated it myself using my Microplane, which is what the recipe called for. If you didn't use real parm reggiano, or you used the pregrated kind that comes in a powdery-like form, then perhaps that made a difference. I would definitely go for the real stuff and grate it out yourself just to be sure. It's a good workout for your arms. ;)

The one thing I didn't have for this recipe was the round cake pan it called for. However, I just used a rectangle one of similar dimensions and it worked fine. As long as you have something where the rolls can fit in similar proportion I'm sure it will be okay.

RECIPE: Parmesan Pull-Aparts

RECIPE: Lemon-Ginger Marmalade

2009-06-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of spring and summer is getting to preserve your favorite flavors for later use. Jellies, jams, pickles, etc. are all fun to make and let you save the fruits and vegetables that are in season so that you can enjoy them even in the winter.

I've tried to make marmalade once before and it didn't quite work. I used a recipe that didn't involve pectin, relying on the pectin in the fruit to thicken it and I ended up with a lemon syrup rather than a marmalade. Luckily it could still be used for something (ice cream!) but it wasn't what I was really trying to make.

This time I chose a recipe that was virtually foolproof and as a bonus it had an added ginger flavor that was really appealing to me. The only difficulty I had was in reducing the recipe, since I had a different size of pectin packet than the recipe anticipated so figuring out the amount to use was kind of tricky. I probably could have used a bit less than I did, but the marmalade still turned out great, if a bit stiff.

It's sweet, not tart and the ginger adds some kick. I find it really good on any sort of toasted bread item with butter, as the hot toast and the butter melt it down a little and it turns into a hot mass of flavors that is really delicious.

Serving suggestions: On buttered toast or english muffin; as a topping for yogurt, ice cream, or frozen yogurt.

Recipe: Lemon-Ginger Marmalade

EVENT: LA Wine Competition Preview and Tasting

2009-06-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

The other day, I was invited to a preview tasting and showcase for the winners of the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition. The competition for wine takes place over three days, during which time a panel of 75 judges from all over the world tasted 3400 different wines. They were judged in three different categories this year based on price: $14.99 and under; $15-$29.99; and $30 and up.

In each price category there were "best in class" winners for each type of wine and from each group of "best in class" wines was chosen a "best in show" winner in each price category in red and white wines.

For the first time, electronic voting was implemented so that each judge placed their vote completely unaware of what others were voting. In previous years it was a hand-raising system, which could have influenced the votes, by others being allowed to see what the most prestigious judges were voting for. Not so anymore!

When I arrived, I had the opportunity to first take part in a fun little game. We were all sat at a table and each given tastes of the five "best in show" red wines. Two of them were in the low price category, one in the mid-price category, and two in the high category. (There were two ties).

I didn't do so well with the guessing. I was able to get the low price categories due to guesswork based on the grapes involved (I've only seen a very few Malbecs over $15; likewise, I figured a blend would be less expensive), but wasn't able to tell with the mid- and high categories.

When the answers were revealed, we noticed something very interesting. One of the best in show wines was a box wine. Not just a box wine, the "Target Wine Cube." Yup. It's a box of wine you can purchase at Target. And enough of the 75 judges voted it for it to be best in show. As for how I liked it, well, it was definitely a drinkable wine. It was very light for a cabernet blend and had a delicate spicy smell, although some people said it had almost no smell to them.

My personal favorite was the mid-range wine, a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. To me it had the nicest flavor - I'm terrible at describing wine the way some people do, but my notes say "cinnamon."

After the tasting I wandered around to each table, where the best in show whites and the other best in class winners were located. Most of the winners that I had heard of were the sort of popular favorites you can often find in the supermarket - Kendall-Jackson, Ravenswood, etc. Another box wine won the Cabernet Sauvignon award - Black Box, which markets itself as providing vintage dated wines in a box.

The only wine I really recognized and eagerly darted for was the Meritage winner, as it's a beloved wine from my homeland - Justin Vineyards Isosceles. Frankly, this one was the winner as far as I'm concerned and I think the best wine I tasted that day, but I am highly, highly biased. Also, it's like six times more expensive than the wine box, but could hold its own much better against a nice steak, I think.

Some other interesting things I tried were an "apricot wine" which won in the fruit wine category. It definitely tasted like apricot and was definitely something you'd have for dessert. I also had a riesling from New York and an Albarino from Virginia that were both decent and firsts for me with drinking wines from these states.

After the tastings, Michael Jordan, one of the judges, and a longtime resterauteur, gave us a little talk, and that was that. My take on these wines was that the large amount of judges and large amount of wines resulted in winners that were sort of "populist" wines. In other words, someone with a very refined palate and tastes is probably not going to make much of these, but for the average buyer who's looking for a good bargain on a wine they can have with an everyday dinner or pizza and burgers and whatnot, then the wines here represent some good values with tastes that have a wide appeal.

One of the things I would recommend taking a look at the list of winners for some ideas of different grapes to try if you stick to certain kinds usually, such as merlot, pinot noir, cabernet or chardonnay. There's a whole world of other stuff out there and you could do worse than to give some of these a try as a starting point to expand your palate.

If you are interested in trying the winners for yourselves, they will be on display at the LA County Fair in September, or at a special event at the Pomona Fairplex tomorrow night called Wine and Cars Under the Stars. They will have the wines available there and also the award-winning olive oils from their related competition will be available to try with grilled cheese sandwiches.

INFO: HR 2795 - Roadmap to End Global Hunger and Promote Food Security Act of 2009

2009-06-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

In my attempt to do more than just show you pretty pictures of food and talk superficially about something to do with that food, I'd like to try to diversify my topics. Having a passion for something isn't just about enjoying it as a hobby, it's also about trying to support and maintain conditions that are ideal for pursuing your hobby.

For example, ideally hunters should be concerned with conservation and environmental preservation, since without thriving wilderness and healthy animal populations, they would not be able to hunt. Wine lovers should be concerned about global warming, since changes to the climate mess with a region's ability to produce wine. Sports fans should be concerned about integrity within the professional sporting world, as corruption tends to inhibit the spirit of competition that makes sports so enjoyable.

And food lovers? Food lovers should be concerned with food politics as well. Not only should we be concerned with sustainable, responsible food production and food safety, we should also be concerned with world hunger, because wouldn't we all enjoy our luxurious meals a little better knowing that people elsewhere are fed?

So in an attempt to keep myself and anyone who reads this informed, let me give a brief explanation of some current pending food legislation: HR 2795, or the "Roadmap to End Global Hunger and Promote Food Security Act of 2009." For convenience I will call it the Roadmap Act.

What the Act is based on: The Roadmap Act is based on several findings by the proponents of the bill, including:

1. The percentage of the world's population that is hungry has decreased from 37% to 17% in the last 40 years, and the U.S. has played a critical role in that.

2. While the percentage of hungry individuals has dropped, the actual number of hungry people has grown, with most hungry individuals in developing countries live in rural areas.

3. Many of the world's hungry individuals are children, and uneducated, and many of these children are dying of hunger. The children who survive are less productive, earn less, and are more likely to have malnourished children of their own.

4. The U.S. has decreased its support for agricultural development in recent years, as has the international community.

5. Food prices have been steadily increasing with a sharp rise between 2007 and 2008 due to decreasing supplies of staple grains and cereals; increased prices due to drought, flood, and global climate change; increased food and fuel consumption by middle-income countries; and greater cultivation for biofuels. Rice in particular rose sharply in price due to trade restrictions, panic buying, a weak dollar, and high oil prices. (Source: Dept. of Agriculture)

The Policy (What the Bill is intended to promote): The government's stated policy behind this bill is to reduce global hunger, advance nutrition, and increase food security. It aims to set up programs and policies to provide emergency response in times of disaster; increase the preparedness of populations so that less intervention is needed in the event of a disaster; aid people and governments in the goal of sustainably feeding themselves; help mothers and children meet their nutritional needs; support small-scale farmers; and encourage sustainable and environmentally sound agricultural practices.

What the Bill Does: The bill does two things. It (1) established a White House Office on Global Hunger and Food Security; and (2) establishes a Permanent Joint Select Committee on Hunger. So what will these two entities do?

White House Office on Global Hunger and Food Security: The functions of this office are to:
(1) Provide the President with advice on hunger and food security issues;
(2) Make sure that reducing hunger and increasing food security remain priorities of the federal government, including working with the various departments to make sure it is a priority within these departments;
(3) Develop a comprehensive strategy for the government to address hunger and food security issues;
(4) Assess the government's current programs for dealing with hunger and food security issues;
(5) Prepare and annual report on expenditures in this area, as well as a suggested budget, and then make sure the programs receive adequate funding;
(6) Establish indicators that can be used to measure the success of programs in this area and provide quarterly reports on the progress of each program;
(7) Coordinate efforts with other governments and international groups;
(8) Consult with experts on the development, implementation, and assessment of the programs established to address these issues;
(9) Promote public awareness of these issues; and
(10) Submit an annual report to congress and the President on the overall progress made toward the goal of cutting world hunger in half by 2015.

COST: $10,000,000 each year for the next four fiscal years is authorized to be appropriated for this office.

Permanent Joint Select Committee on Hunger: This committee is to be made up of eight House members and eight senate members. Its duties are:

(1) Hold hearings, investigate, issue reports and analyses, and make recommendations to Congress on issues related to hunger, nutrition, food security, agricultural development, emergency response, and other global hunger and food security issues.
(2) Examine issues relevant to the creation of a government plan to address global hunger and food security issues.

Funding will come from the House and Senate accounts.

TOTAL COST: The bill asks for funds of $50,360,000,000 for 2010-2014.

If you want to learn more, or want to ask your Congressperson to co-sponsor this bill, you can go to Friends of the World Food Program. They have additional information and materials on this bill, as well as tools to help you approach your representative.

RECIPE: Soy Jalapeno and Apple-Cucumber Pickles

2009-05-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

Previously, I've written about the type of simple meals I enjoy, in particular, bread and cheese, cured meats, pickles and fruit. Well, my love of simple meals not only encompasses the west, but the east as well. Some nights, instead of themore European bread and cheese based meals, I prefer a more Japanese-inspired meal of rice, vegetable and soup, or something similar.

So when I saw these recipes for pickles, inspired by Korean bahn chan--which are the little dishes of pickles that come out with your rice when you are eating Korean food--I immediately thought of how good they would be with a bowl of rice as a small and simple dinner.

The two pickles I chose, soy jalapenos, and apple-cucumber, were a good complement to each other. One was spicy and salty and tangy while the other was light and sweet and vinegary. I would definitely make the apple cucumber ones repeatedly, as they make a nice warm weather snack, and the flavor is delicate, but the ginger adds a bit of a kick.

I was afraid the soy jalapenos might be too hot to eat more than a few at a time, but the soy sauce really mellowed the heat so thatit was easy to just keep crunching away at these and it went really well with the sticky rice.

Balancing out the jalapenos, were the cool, vinegary cucumbers and apples with ginger. These were a good contrast to the spicy, and you could do worse than keep a jar of these around during the hot months.

Apple Cucumber Pickles
Soy-Pickled Jalapeños

NEWS: Riva Wine Class Dinner Series - RESCHEDULED

2009-05-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

NOTE: I have received word that this first wine dinner has to be rescheduled. I will post an update once I have the proper date. For now, it will not be starting this Sunday.

If you love wine, and have some dollars to spare (lucky you!) and are looking for something fun to do this weekend, I offer for your consideration Riva's wine class dinner this weekend featuring "Tre Bicchiere" wines.

Chef Jason Travi will create a five course meal, each thoughtfully paired with a Tre Bicchiere wine to match. As you eat, you will get a tutorial for each wine presented, so you'll get a little learnin' along with your fine meal.

Riva is an Italian-inspired restaurant cheffed by a husband and wife team with impressive credentials. Jason and Miho Travi are most recently known for the restaurant Fraiche in Culver City. Riva is a slightly more casual counterpart to Fraiche with more of a focus on dishes inspired by the food of rustic Italian coastal villages.

I have no problem shilling this event for them, because Riva has my seal of approval. I've only had the opportunity to eat there once, but it got a big thumbs up from me. Everything I had was fresh, seasonal, and beautifully presented without being too stuffy or snooty. The service was nice, friendly and helpful and we had a great time.

The first wine class dinner will take place on Sunday, May 31 at 6:30 pm. Riva is located at 312 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica. Call (310) 451-RIVA for information and reservations.

Click on the photo below for the menu:

INFO: Skeptical Eating

2009-05-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had a comment on one of my past posts that made me think it was time to step away from the pretty pictures and the recipes for a minute and get on my soapbox. The comment was from a "J-Bone" and was appended to my post about a local root beer. The comment read as follows, in response to my opinion on liking Virgil's Root Beer, another local root beer besides the one I was reviewing:

"Wow how can you choose Virgil's crap with all those chemicals in it???? Dr. Tima is all natural and as NO CORN SYRUP!! It's the best hands down in natural soda!! All the other stuff tastes like mouthwash"

Reading this made me think that maybe now is a good time to do a post on skeptical eating. The classical definition of a skeptic is: "One who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions." In other words, don't believe everything you read or see, investigate for yourself to find the truth. And most especially, do not make assumptions about what you believe to be the truth, without bothering to actually find out.

Virgil's Root Beer does not contain "chemicals," nor does it contain corn syrup. Virgil's is made of natural ingredients, just as the root beer it is being compared to is. The person who made this comment obviously chose to think Virgil's contains "chemicals" and corn syrup because it is a more well-known brand, but never stopped to read the actual ingredient label. (Or perhaps they are a root beer company rep slagging off another brand anonymously, based on the e-mail I received from the company at suspiciously the same time, but ... it could just be a coincidence.)

If you want to know what is in something, look at the ingredients, don't make assumptions or listen to what other people say about "chemicals." If you want to know if something is good or bad for you, study the information out there to find out the truth as best you can.

Also, don't distrust something solely based on meaningless labels. The comment above falls under the logical fallacy known as the "appeal to nature" or the "naturalistic fallacy." The naturalistic fallacy is the premise that natural = good, while man-made or non-natural = bad. This is simply not so. There are plenty of poisons and toxic substances found in nature, and plenty of man-made substances that are beneficial and even save people from dying.

Make no mistake, ANY drink that is composed of a sweetener, flavors, and water, whether it be cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey, or any other caloric sweetener is not in any sense healthy for you. It is empty calories, no matter how natural or unnatural the sweetener used is. The key is not whether you drink a natural root beer, or a coke, or a Mountain Dew, but that if you drink any one of those, you drink them in moderation, as a treat and not a regular beverage.

In the case of foods, natural is often healthier, but that doesn't mean you can take that as a rule. Ingredients that you don't understand or recognize aren't always bad for you. They may be natural, and if they are not, they may not be harmful. For example, xanthan gum is an additive that people often fear. It would be easy to look at this and think it is some kind of "chemical" or potentially harmful additive, when in fact it is perfectly natural--a fermented corn sugar. Xanthan gum is often used in vegan and gluten-free products, to improve texture or to substitute for gluten. Similarly, baking soda is something no one seems to have a problem putting into their baked goods and eating happily. Perhaps if we called it by its other name of "sodium bicarbonate," people would fear this common food additive, which is in fact, a chemical compound.

The best way for you to make sense of it is to take charge by learning what everything is, and whether it could be harmful or unhealthy to you by reading up in reliable, unbiased sources. Don't listen to random e-mails, websites that are trying to sell you something, or your friend who's been going to yoga class. Read authoritative sources and weigh the evidence and don't fall prey to fearmongering, which is most often perpetrated by people who are trying to sell you something. Most of the time it won't be harmful to anything but your pocketbook, but it has the potential to be harmful to your health, and living in fear isn't good for anyone.

RECIPE: Irish Soda Bread

2009-05-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

I love to eat like a peasant. Or perhaps not like a peasant, but like a fake pastoral fairy tale peasant. Culinary education nowadays tells that me that peasants ate beer, beans, peas and "pottage" which was basically a soup made of everything you have. While I have been known to eat these things, particularly that last thing, from time to time, that's NOT what I mean.

What I mean is when you read a story about a young farmboy or girl heading off into the forest to make their fortune or meet the witch or save the princess or whatever, at some point they seem to stop and eat a simple meal of bread and cheese and fruit or meat. That's what I'm talking about. That mythical fairy tale traveling food or what the lady in the cottage where you stop to rest gives you.

I love to eat like that. One of my favorite meals is just bread, cheese, cured meats, fruit and/or perhaps: nuts, crackers, wine, pickles, or other small bites. And the best way to start is by making a rustic peasanty homemade bread.

I'm not sure how much more rustic you can get than Irish. I saw this recipe for Irish soda bread and I knew I had to make it. My original plan was to be tradtional and have it with some corned beef and some sort of cabbage slaw or something, but when I got to the market, I don't really know what happened, but next thing I knew the guy was handing me salami and cheese and then there was this wine in my basket!

It totally wasn't my fault, it was those evil French people who hate the Irish and want me to eat their meats and cheeses instead.

This bread is made in a baguette shape so you can eat it in small pieces. It's a slightly sweet bread, that could go equally well at breakfast or dinner, and is really good with butter or a creamy cheese.

But I recommend it with some cured meats, cheese, pickles, and a nice glass of rosé. Preferably while on your way to slay the dragon, or perhaps you can make it to serve to wayward princes or youngest daughters on a mission to find their fate.

RECIPE: Downey's Soda Bread adapted from Downey's in Santa Barbara, CA

RECIPE: Dark and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2009-05-13T17:02:00.001-07:00

May is the month of many birthdays, and that means .... cookies! These cookies are like brownies in cookie form with a bit of ginger flavor and chunks of white chocolate. That's really all there is to say about them, so let me tell you a bit about the people they were meant for instead, because they are special people, who I'll call by their code names, TFS and Carrot.

Almost two years ago now, I met a dude on the internet. Up until really recently, I wasn't in the habit of meeting people that way, but when you work from home, suddenly you discover that you mostly don't talk to other people in the course of a normal day, like you do in an office. So you find yourself reaching out for social interaction in whatever way you can.

The first thing I remember about TFS is discovering we were the same age (always a relief on the internet) and exchanging mutual and virtual high fives over being age buddies. But that was about the extent of our interaction, until he dragged his wife to the place where we hung out on the internets and I suddenly started to notice that she was super cool. She liked cool things, and she said funny things and other people I talked to would tell me stories of how fun and great she was to talk to.

So I admit at this point I started to kiss her butt a little. But hey it worked! Gradually, we started responding to each other in this public forum more, and then we started adding each other to things like Facebook and Last.fm and all those obligatory connection points, and suddenly almost without even realizing how, we had gone from complete strangers to talking almost every day. The completely unexpected had happened, which is that I made a real life friend from the internet. It's hard to imagine working at my computer now without my little chatting partner to help the tediousness go by more quickly.

So when J and I decided to take a trip to our nation's capital this spring, they made the extremely generous gesture of offering their home as a place for us to stay. We were a little nervous about staying with people we hadn't yet met in person, since we're both shy and slightly anti-social, but we gratefully took the offer and I'm so glad we did.

TFS and Carrot were generous and fun and they not only let us stay with them, but cooked us fabulous meals and played games with us and took us out to eat and were just excellent hosts. And we found that our friendship was just a great in real life as it is over a chat box and coming home I realized how lucky I am. Great friends are hard to come by, but with each new activity I involve myself in, whether it be school, a hobby, or just an internet website, I've managed to come away with some great friends and I now have a group of people I really love and admire.

Perhaps the only way I can show my affection is with cookies, but I hope all of the people in my life realize how much I really really appreciate you. My friends are worth more than a zillion dollars or a Nobel prize or even my dream job, and if you stick around, I will shower you with cookies forever!

If you have a special person out there that you haven't appreciated enough lately, perhaps some cookies are a good way to start. The recipe is from the March issue of Bon Appetit and can be found here: Dark and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

TRAVEL: Minibar

2009-05-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Knowing that we were going to be in Washington DC for our vacation this year, J and I definitely want to try to get a reservation at Minibar. Minibar is a restaurant within a restaurant, the creation of world-famous chef Jose Andres.

Minibar is tucked away in the back of Andres's Cafe Atlantico. It's just a small bar with only six seats. Each night, they do two seatings only, which means only 12 people can dine there per night. The lucky diners are served 25-30 courses of inventive dishes that are about the size of an amuse bouche. I was really nervous about that number ... I have a fairly small appetite, but I found that the portions and pacing were well done and I didn't get too full. In fact, I have had three course meals where I felt more stuffed than that, so I was relieved that I could easily eat everything.

In order to get a reservation, we had to call the restaurant exactly one month in advance on the dot of when they opened for calls in the morning. It was like a little lottery, and luckily we got lucky on our second day of trying.

As we walked in, we were seated at the regular bar first and assigned a personal waitress. We had to wait a few minutes for the first seating to be concluded and cleaned up, and we learned that our other four diners were a group of women who were just about to graduate from law school. Good luck, ladies! You definitely deserved a nice meal with what you are about to go through.

Below is a slide show containing the pictures of each course and some of the area behind the bar. They are arranged in order of courses or you can click here to see them as a Flicker set. It was an immensely long meal, so I'm going to just do a quick description/blurb about each dish.

Munchies

Olive Oil "Bon Bon": This was olive oil that had been made into a candy-like form and then rested on top of a powdered balsamic vinegar. It was really visually stunning and it was a neat little thing to taste, basically just olive oil and vinegar with different textures than you are used to.
Beet "Tumbleweed": This was beet that had been cut into thin strips and then dried and formed into a ball and dried and made crunchy. It tasted similar to a potato chip and was really beautiful to look at.
"Mojito": The "mojito" was a sort of jelly that had the flavors of a mojito - mint, lime and sugar, and was kind of effervescent and liquidy in the center. It was tasty and really fun to eat. People make fun of molecular gastronomy, but this is the kind of thing they're really miss out on. Experiencing unexpected textures and aspects of food is really fun as a special experience.
"Bagels and Lox": This was a play on bagels and lox using a suggestion of the ingredients. The "bagel" was represented by a crunchy cone, the "lox" by the big juicy salmon roe on top, and the cream cheese by the cream inside the cone.
"Dragon's Breath" Popcorn: This won the prize for the most fun dish of the evening. We were given a small popcorn cake that looked kind of like a mini rice cake and told to eat it right away while looking at each other. (That's why my picture was so bad, I was trying to take it quickly). The cake was frozen with nitrogen and when you ate it, the "smoke" from it would come out of your nose when you breathed out, making you look like a dragon. I really wish I could try this one again, just because it was so fun and cool to breathe smoke like a dragon.
Boneless Chicken Wing: This was a pretty straightfoward dish. It was exactly what it says, a boneless chicken wing, with thai flavors. Despite the fact that it was one of the most mundane dishes, quite a few people remembered it as a favorite at the end of the night.
Steamed Brioche Bun with Caviar: This was one of my all-around favorites for the night, because in both execution, presentation, and taste it was really successful. First of all, I love the presentation, the dumpling came out perfectly round and smooth and putting it in the tiny steamer was so cute! It also was a really luxurious dish - brioche and caviar, and it tasted great - rich, but not too much so.
Blue Cheese and Almond: This was sort of like a little tart, with the blue cheese part within a shell that was made of almond somehow. The shell was rather soft and the flavor of the cheese was fairly mild. I found this dish okay, but not very memorable.
Cotton Candy Eel: I really can't believe I'm saying this, but this was my very favorite dish of the evening. This was probably the most difficult concept, because it looked just absolutely gross. The cotton candy looked like some massive growth of mold, and it was dusted with some spice so it looked like something that they found under the bed when they moved out of their apartment. But flavorwise, it was amazing. The flavor profile was Japanese, and the eel was juicy and delicious and wrapped in shiso leaf. I absolutely loved this and would definitely eat it again and again.

Flavors & Textures

"Sun Dried" Tomato Salad: The "sun dried" tomatoes were a kind of gelee of sun-dried tomato. It tasted exactly right but there wasn't much to this dish. It was kind of like the suggestion of a caprese or something. Even with a meal of this type, I like a little something more - this was too much of a "hint" of the real thing.
Zucchini in Textures: This was an amazing dish, and unfortunately it was designed to be not my thing. I have a slight aversion to zucchini, although I still eat them, but mostly for me it was the texture here. This dish is a work of art, and very painstakingly done and I do appreciate it on that level. The seeds are picked one by one from the zucchini, and then they are surrounded by a zucchini gel which is all layered on top of a zucchini puree.
Green Almonds and "Raisins": The "raisins" here were actually spherified (and wrinklified) portions of a 1979 port. The green almonds were coated in a marcona almond paste, so that they were almond to the max. I loved the fake raisins, but found the almonds a little bland. This was one of those molecular gastronomy moments where the "fake" thing made you want the real thing more than what you were eating. I would have rather just had the "raisins" with some actual marcona almonds, I think.
Parmesan "Egg" with Migas: This dish was up at the top of my list for favorites of the meal. It was clever, tasty, and satisfying and I liked it a lot. It appeared to be an egg with a pile of crunchy panko-like bread crumbs, but the egg white was actually made of parmesan and contained a real yolk, that bust out when you put your fork in it like a real egg does. I would definitely have this for breakfast any day.
Smoked Oysters with Apples and Juniper: I'm an oyster lover, but I think even those who shy away from oysters could deal with this dish. The smoked flavor makes the oyster meat really appealing in a non-fishy way. The apples and juniper were hints of flavor within the foam, really subtle and nice.
"Guacamole": This was a fun contrast with the rustic guacamole being made by hand at the tables behind us. This "guacamole" was a frozen tomato wrapped around with thin slices of avocado like a sushi roll. It was sprinkled with cilantro and crumbs of tortilla chips. It was pretty delicious and I loved the contrast of textures with the icy tomato, the soft avocado and the crunchy chips.
Sea Urchin Ceviche with Hibiscus: This was a fresh sea urchin flown in directly from Catalina, with a hibiscus foam. The dish was visually stunning, but I couldn't take the texture. I have unfortunately, a problem with certain textures and this was one of them. I ate about half of this and then had to give the rest to J. He loved it though.
Salmon-Pineapple "Ravioli" with Crispy Quinoa: This was J's least favorite dish of the night (and when I say that, I mean, least awesome). It was a nice dish, but compared to some of the others it just wasn't a standout at all.
New England Clam Chowder: This was yet another highlight. Kind of like a chowder deconstructed, with whole clam pieces nestled in a bed of bacon foam and crispy potato bits. Bacon. Foam. You guys. Bacon foam! It was really good. I'm a big fan of bacon foam. Maybe not as crispy-chewy-satisfying as real bacon but yummy nonetheless and I loved how none of the parts was what you would expect.
Breaded Cigala with Sea Salad: A cigala is kind of like a langoustine. The chefs suggested that it was some miracle shellfish that was richer than a lobster but I can find no information to back that up. My research suggests that it's basically the Portuguese version of a langoustine and is served by non-rich people at holidays. So basically a poor man's lobster. It was delicious anyway, as all such shellfish are if they are not deadly to you, and I liked the crispy chip thing it came with.
"Philly Cheesesteak": Right before this was served, we were talking to our chef about The Bazaar in Beverly Hills and touting this dish as one of our favorite. Shortly thereafter we came to suspect he was preparing it even as we talked about it. He was. This take on a cheesesteak was actually created by the chefs of Minibar and exported out to The Bazaar. Our chef claimed theirs was better and I have to say he was right. The Bazaar one was very good, but it reminded me very strongly in flavor of one of those "chicken and biscuits" flavored crackers they had in the '70s. This cheesesteak had much more beef on the top which transformed it a lot into something of a much richer flavor.

Pre-Dessert

Kumquats and Pumpkin Seed Oil: This was probably the most eye-popping of the dishes. The fuschia and yellow swirl with the bright orange kumquat really popped, it looked very cool. It was also a nice palate cleanser, as the kumquat was cold and the citrus helped make the way for dessert.

Dessert

Thai Dessert: The thai dessert was called so because it used thai flavors. It was a coconut ice cream with basil and peanut flavors as well, and some kind of curry or spice flavor as well. It was very good, but quickly got upstaged by the next dessert.
Frozen Yogurt and Honey: This was so much better than Pinkberry. It was a Greek yogurt flash-frozen with nitrogen so it became a cold powder, and then it was piled on a thick honey. It was incredibly delicious and kind of fun to eat in the powdery form.

Sweet Endings

Chocolate Covered Corn Nuts, Mango Box, Saffron Gumdrop with Edible Wrapper: This was a finale--a slab of little treats to finish everything off. The corn nuts were homemade and then coated with good chocolate. A little box of mango cream and saffron candies. Everything was edible (except the slab). The candies with edible wrapper were a play on the Japanese candies wrapped in edible rice paper.

JAPANESE COOKING: Fish in Clear Dashi Broth

2009-05-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Since it's spring, I've been picking out the springtime-looking soups in the soup section of my Japanese cookbook. This fish soup in a clear broth with watercress and lemon looked very springlike and reminded me of some soups I had when I was in Japan in the springtime.

The original recipe is made with a fish head, but the one in the books uses a more attractive fish filet with skin on. The fish used in Japan is porgy, or sea bream. That's not available at my fishmonger, which mostly sells local fish and only a few special fish shipped from overseas. The recipe gave sole as an acceptable substitute and sole is locally available.

I chose a rex sole because it still had the skin on, as opposed to the petrale sole. The only problem I ran into with it is that it is cooked with the bone on, and then taken off the bone. That added some extra steps to this preparation and because the bones are delicate, I ended up with one or two bones in my soup. Next time I would probably just choose the other and forget the skin.

The end result was not as pretty as the picture in the book, but I still think it looked nice and springy. The broth was good and the watercress and lemon zest added a bit of zing to the flavor.

I felt that it was a good choice for spring for sure, as the soup was very light and the clear broth and bright colors just looked right for the season.

JAPANESE COOKING: Shredded Chicken in Dashi Broth

2009-04-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

So I've been having almost constant cravings for Japanese food, and unfortunately, really good Japanese food is a bit of a drive in either direction. So I thought, why not learn how to make it? So I got a couple of books and I am going through them and teaching myself some Japanese dishes. The books are Japanese Light, by Kimiko Barber and Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen by Elizabeth Andoh.

The first thing I've been making is soup. The first soup I made was a very basic and simple chicken soup.

There's not much to this soup, just the broth and the chicken, but you could easily add some noodles or vegetables to the final product for something heartier. If you just want a simple meal, then this is very nice with some rice and a vegetable.

I'm not going to include the recipe, since this is part of the book and so you really should purchase the book for the recipes. Instead, I'll just describe and show you some pictures. I will include a recipe for a basic dashi that you can use as the base of any soup.

Above is the broth I made first as it cooked. It is similar to a normal chicken broth, except that there are some Japanese ingredients as well: kombu and a shiitake mushroom. Kombu is a kind of seaweed and it helps add a rich, oceany, umami flavor to the broth.

Here is the finished product, which I ate with some rice and cucumber salad and sake. It made a nice simple meal, which what I usually like to eat at home.

Dashi is the basic broth for Japanese soups. Dashi is used in many things that show up in Japanese cuisine besides soup as well, which is why dashi is the first place I start when beginning to learn Japanese cooking.

There are different types of dashi broth, including vegetarian and even a non-cook "cheater's version." The version I am including here is the most popular dashi that can be used for almost everything. It is incredibly easy to make provided you have the time to let things sit and come back to them every once in a while.

Number One Dashi Broth (by Kimiko Barber)

INGREDIENTS:

1 postcard-sized piece of konbu (kelp seaweed)
4 1/2 cups water
3/4 oz. dried bonito flakes (about a handful)

In a saucepan, soak the konbu in 4 cups of water for 1 hour (or at least 30 min.) before placing over a moderate heat. If the konbu has soaked for less than 1 hour, cook at a low heat instead.

Take out the konbu when it begins to float to the surface and a few small bubbles appear at the edge of the saucepan. Pour in 1/2 cup of cold water followed by the bonito flakes. Turn up the heat slightly and cook until the liquid returns to a gentle boil, but do not let it come to full boil. Turn off the heat. Let the bonito flakes settle to the bottom and then strain the broth through a fine sieve lined with a piece of paper towel.

LOCAL: Dr. Tima Root Beer and Chili Mangos

2009-04-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

So you may have heard recently the growing exhortation to buy local. It's all the rage these days, but for good reason. Buying local products when you can is beneficial in a lot of ways:

Fresh food is fresher
Local products use less transportation resources, which is good for the environment, helps conserve resources, and puts less strain on the infrastructure.
Very often, you can buy direct from the supplier, cutting out the middleman. This means you pay less and the person who made the product gets all the profit.
It supports your community and the benefits of that will spread to the people around you, your local friends and relatives, and yourself.

Is it practical or even possible to buy local foods all the time? No, unfortunately, it's rather difficult, but the growing demand is good for us consumers, as stores increasingly stock local products and label local foods.

When I can, I'll try to highlight some local products I've found, and especially those I enjoy often. Here is one I've recently tried, and another product that's practically an addiction for me.

Dr. Tima's Honey Root Beer: Dr. Tima Honey Root Beer is double good for people who like to feel responsible with their purchases. Not only is this a local product, but it also helps bees. According to the box, some of the profits go to honeybee research. This is apparently made from an old European recipe and I did like that it used real herbal flavors along with the honey, unlike some root beers that just are a combo of sugar and artificial flavors.

So how was it? Well, it was good, but it didn't compare to Virgil's Root Beer which is what I usually buy. I like the balance of flavors better in Virgil's. In this one the wintergreen seemed a bit strong to me. It was still a nice refreshing drink, but I would probably choose the Virgil's, which is also a local product and therefore I don't have to feel bad about that!

Chili Mangos: Okay, I just love these. These chili covered dried mango strips are one of my favorite snacks and I have to try really hard not to burn my tongue off from eating too many at once. These particular ones shown above are the ones I like. They come from the Farm Fresh Produce stand at the Farmer's Market. I don't even know how I got the idea to try these in the first place, but I'm really glad I did. These are a dried mango strip covered in chili powder and sugar. I'm guessing that if you're a person that will like them, they are already sounding good to you; and if you're not, you are probably thinking I'm insane. But if you like spicy and sweet, and especially if you like them together, then try them! I can't pass the stand without getting them now. Just beware that they are REALLY spicy. Have a glass of milk sitting nearby.

RECIPE: Olive Oil Cookies

2009-04-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I'm not much of a sweet tooth. I will take a salty snack over a sugary dessert any day, and the only thing I usually look forward to after dinner is ice cream or gelato. That said, I love to bake and cookies are one of my favorite things to make. I'm always on the lookout for cookies that are not too much of a sweet overload, balancing the sugary with some savory.

These cookies are pretty much perfect in that regard and are going in my permanent file. They use olive oil instead of butter, which also provides the flavor, along with orange zest and hazelnuts. They come out really moist and soft and not too sweet and they go really well with a cup of hot coffee or tea. I wasn't sure how these would turn out, as baking without butter makes me nervous, but they were great and I wouldn't hesitate to make them again.

They would be nice for an afternoon party or just to keep around the house for tea time or dessert.

RECIPE (yield - about 6 dozen)
From Fine Cooking December 2008/January 2009

Ingredients:

2 cups toasted and skinned hazelnuts
10 oz. (2-1/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. table salt
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs
Finely grated zest of 2 medium oranges (about 1-1/2 packed Tbs.)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Procedure:

Finely grind the hazelnuts in a food processor. In a medium bowl, whisk the hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, and salt to blend. With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar, oil, eggs, zest, and vanilla on low speed until the sugar is moistened, about 15 seconds. Increase the speed to high and mix until well combined, about 15 seconds more (the sugar will not be dissolved at this point). Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until the dough has just pulled together, 30 to 60 seconds.

Divide the dough in half. Pile one half of the dough onto a piece of parchment. Using the parchment to help shape the dough, form it into a log 11 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the parchment around the log and twist the ends to secure. Repeat with the remaining dough. Chill in the freezer until firm, about 1 hour.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Line four cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liners.

Unwrap one log of dough at a time and cut the dough into 1/4-inch slices; set them 1 inch apart on the prepared sheets. Bake two sheets at a time until light golden on the bottoms and around the edges, about 10 minutes, rotating and swapping the sheets halfway through for even baking. Let cool completely on racks. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

NOTE: Dough can be frozen for up to 1 month.

RECIPE: Fancy Super Bowl Snacks

2009-02-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, the Super Bowl is long over. Its been a long month full of obstacles so I'll need to be cut some slack. But the Super Bowl part really isn't important. The key here is snacks to bring to an event that look sort of fancy but involve almost no cooking or hardship. It's like the American dream with a little extra glitter as well.

It's almost March Madness, I'm sure you've all got important basketball parties to attend. These snacks go just as well with basketball as they do with football. They also take very little time to make and the olives and nuts also make good snacks to just have around the house as well, even if you're a hermit like I've been for the past several weeks.

Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella and Basil

Take a thick slice of prosciutto and lay it out flat. Take a small piece of mozzarella cheese and a half cherry tomato and put the cut sides together so they make a ball. Wrap each ball in half of a large basil leaf. Roll the balls up in the prosciutto slice and secure with a toothpick. Repeat for as many rolls as you want to make. For vegetarians leave off the prosciutto. When they are finished, set them on a platter, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper and serve.

Spiced Roasted Nuts

Preheat oven to 400º F. Spread 1 lb mixed nuts on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast until they start to brown, about 10 min.

Combine 1 1/2 Tbs. light brown sugar, 2 tsp. chopped thyme, 1/2 tsp. chipotle powder, and 1 tsp. salt in a small bowl. Once roasted, transfer the nuts to a large bowl and add 2 Tbs. melted butter and toss well. Add the sugar and spice mixture and toss again. Season with a little more salt to taste and then serve warm or keep in an airtight container for up to three days.

You can play around with the spices you use on these to suit your own personal taste.

Spicy Olives

Combine 2 cups mixed olives, 6 thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes, 1 large clove of garlic, minced, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, and 1/4 tsp smoked paprika in a medium bowl. Mix well and let sit for 15 min at room temperature or up to 3 days in refrigerator before serving.

NEWS: Dine LA Restaurant Week

2009-01-27T12:11:00.000-08:00

Hey you guys! It's Restaurant Week in Los Angeles! If you have never heard of this, I encourage you to check it out. During restaurant week, local restaurants show off their goods by offering fixed price menus at reduced prices. There are three tiers of prices:

Deluxe Dining: Lunch is $16 and dinner is $28 for three courses.
Premier Dining: Lunch is $22 and dinner is $34 for three courses.
Fine Dining: Lunch is $28 and dinner is $44 for three courses.

In all cases, it is a bargain. It is a chance to revisit that old standby that you just kind of keep overlooking these days or to try a place that is normally out of your league. There are options for everyone and the menus are available online so you can see if they appeal to you. There are many vegetarian and even some vegan options for those with restrictions.

The list of participating restaurants, their price level, and menus is here: Participating Restaurants.

I always take full advantage of Restaurant Week, and it usually works out to both my and the restaurant's favor. Last year I went to Grace, and had a great experience. Grace is an investment for me so now I know that it is worth the money and am inclined to go back for a special occasion.

The other night, we tried Luna Park. I've been to Luna Park many times, but I have a tendency to forget about it, tucked away in its kind of odd location and because it's just a fun place, good for some relatively inexpensive food, cozy and dark, and just generally a good value. Eating here reminded me that it's here and an option for casual dining. I also got to see that they've added a fun thing to their cocktail menu: a "flight" of cocktails where you get three mini-versions of their cocktails to sample. The menu offered for Restaurant Week was a really good example of some of their regular menu selections and as such it's a good representation of the experience you would get if you came back on a regular night.

Next up for us is Cube. It's right down the way, but we haven't been yet. Now we can try it for a lower price to see if we want to make it one of our regular "go out" places. Also on Thursday, I'm getting an unexpected visit from my world-traveling parents who are off on their travels again so we'll be going out then as well to a location as yet unknown. I will try to report back on what I discover!

RECIPE: Porcini Mushroom Soup

2009-01-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

I am about to put a recipe up here for porcini mushroom soup. I am also about to put a picture up of the soup I made. The two soups are similar in idea, but they are not the same soup. So why I am I putting a recipe for one soup up when I made a different soup? Well, because ... the recipe I'm putting is the recipe I meant to make, and it looks like a really good recipe .. but some things happened along the way, as they do, and I ended up with a different soup.

First, I couldn't find porcini mushrooms at the store. The only dried mushrooms were in the Asian section, so I ended up with shiitake mushrooms instead. I would have liked the correct mushrooms, but we can't always get what we want, eh?

Then I came to the part in the recipe where it said "tomatoes." I'm able to eat tomatoes when they're in a soup, usually, but I really don't like tomatoes. If I have control over whether tomatoes can be in something or not, sorry, but they're outta there.

After that, I made the soup as directed until ... well, I got to the part where it says to puree a portion of the soup and throw it back in with the rest of the soup. So I pureed the portion ... and ... it just smelled so good. And the rest of the soup looked so chunky ... the mushrooms were pretty big for a bite. So before I knew what I was doing I had my immersion blender in that pot and the rest of it was all pureed. Okay, I admit it ... I also just really love to use my immersion blender. Still, I think the soup was really nice pureed, although the picture from the magazine with the big chunky mushrooms looks very nice and rustic. But pureed, the soup was nice with some parmesan cheese on top.

Hey, a recipe is only a guideline right? It's an idea and you can follow it or you can try something else. Comments on Epicurious are mixed as to whether it needs more salt or not. I found it to be find but I agree it could have been improved with more salt. It was fine with the cheese though and the garlic and onion add enough that it's not bland.

Eat with a piece of crusty bread on a cold day. It's a nice hearty soup, and great for winter.

PORCINI MUSHROOM SOUP
Gourmet, December 2008
Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 ounces dried porcini mushrooms (1 cup)
6 cups tepid water plus 2 cups hot water, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds white mushrooms, sliced or quartered
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill

PREPARATION:

Soak porcini in 2 cups hot water 15 minutes.

Cook onion in butter with 1 teaspoon salt in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add celery, carrot, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.

Transfer porcini with a slotted spoon to pot and strain soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a large glass measure. Add white mushrooms to pot with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, remaining 6 cups water, and porcini-soaking liquid. Simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes.

Purée 1 cup vegetables and 1 cup liquid in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids), then return to pot. Stir in parsley, dill, and salt to taste.

Cooks' note: Soup, without dill and parsley, can be made 3 days ahead and chilled. Add herbs after reheating.

RECIPE: Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

2008-12-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

I hate to do this, but I think it's time to talk about a sad truth. These days we SEE so much cooking, but most of it isn't real. That is, we see it on television, or in magazines, or on people's blogs, and mostly what we see is the result, or the idealized version of the process, but we don't really see how it works to develop a dish or make a recipe that first time.

I think it's easy to fall into believing that cooking is a talent, which you are either good at, or you aren't. That's totally false. While truly genius and inspired cooking is often a matter of talent, especially the creative part of it, the actual mechanics of cooking can be learned by anyone and any dish can be made with practice.

The truth is, that most people don't just pick up a brand new recipe and know immediately how to make it perfectly. The first time you make something new is always a practice and if it comes out well, it's usually luck as much as skill. With any new recipe you have to test it out, have some trial and error runs, and see how it works with your cooking style, your equipment, and your personal taste.

Witness the cookies above. These are Christmas cookies I made for this year, and as you can see, they are pretty cute. The fact is that those cookies are the end product of a chain of failures. The ugly truth is that my first batch of cookies were burnt and had to go right into the trash, but that batch taught me how long they needed to cook in my crotchety oven. The second batch came out cooked correctly, but then I had to figure out how to use the frosting I got. That batch came out ... a little ... well ... beauty-challenged, you might say:

But after that unfortunate looking batch, I was ready ... I had mastered the mechanics of the dough and of the oven and of the frosting (kind of) and I got down to business with all of the remaining dough and managed to put out some decent cookies. But by no means was this a process that came naturally or automatically. It took some tries and it took some errors.

That's what it comes down to. Cooking is not about natural talent, it's about determination, a willingness to learn, observation, and a willingness to practice. It's about trying something, and instead of throwing your hands up when it fails, trying to understand why it failed and how you can fix it. Once you get the basic maneuvers of a recipe down, you will remember how to do it for the next time, and as you practice and learn, you will get more right on the first try, because you will have learned from your mistakes in the past. Don't let cooking shows and magazines and the internet fool you into thinking that you must do everything perfectly right away to be a good cook. Good cooks mostly get that way by repetition, not by inspiration, so you'll be fine as long as you have the interest and the time and the patience.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
Gourmet, December 2008 by Shelly Wiseman

INGREDIENTS

1 cup hazelnuts (5 ounces)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon dark rum

Equipment: decorative cookie cutters (about 3 inches)

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Toast nuts in a small baking pan in oven until centers are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Wrap in a kitchen towel and cool to warm, then rub off any loose skins. Chop nuts. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in egg and rum. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches just until a dough forms. Stir in nuts. Divide dough in half and form each half into a 5-inch square. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out 1 piece of dough between 2 sheets of parchment into an 11-to 12-inch square. Freeze on a tray until firm, about 20 minutes. Remove top sheet of parchment and cut out shapes with cookie cutters, arranging them 1/2 inch apart on baking sheets. Bake cookies, switching position and rotating sheets halfway through, until firm and tops are slightly cracked, 8 to 12 minutes total. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough (cool baking sheets and line with fresh parchment). Reroll scraps once for extra cookies if desired.

Cooks’ note:

Dough can be chilled up to 1 week.
Cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.

NEWS: Go Eat Los Angeles!

2008-12-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars, foodies! On February 26, Aid for AIDS, in conjunction with local restaurants is having a fundraiser. For the entire day, breakfast through dinner, participating restaurants will give 20% of their earnings or more to help prevent homelessness and hunger for individuals and families impoverished by HIV/AIDS.

To see the list of participating restaurants, check the website: www.GoEatLA.org. The list is updating so make sure to check back close to the event if you don't find your favorite places on there.

About the organizations: Aid For AIDS, a non-profit organization founded in 1983, is one of the oldest, continuously running AIDS assistance organizations in California. The agency mission is to prevent homelessness and hunger and to encourage independent living for impoverished women, men and children with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County. Aid For AIDS helped more than 1,000 last year.

COCKTAIL: Liquor 44

2008-12-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

I am a skeptic. Slowly but surely throughout life, I've learned that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is; and if something seems like magic, there's probably a trick to it. As hard as I tried to go to Narnia, Narnia would not come to me. You can't cure cancer with a grass, and you can't move pencils with your mind. No one knows the future and the past wasn't any better than today, really.

But there's a different kind of magic that comes when you give up the magic that isn't real, and it's the magic of what's real. The stars are even better when you understand what they are doing, and life is still sparkly when you learn how to enjoy the things that are real as much as the things that are imaginary.

One of the closest things to a magic potion I have ever made is liquor 44. It has strict rules for its making. You have to take an orange and puncture it 44 times, then insert a coffee bean into each hole. Then you drop in white rum, and take 44 sugar cubes worth of sugar and dump it in there too. Then you let it sit for 44 days exactly, turning every so often to help the ingredients meld.

I had to remind myself every now and again that there were no further special rules, such as "Leave out in the light of the full moon with claw of a crow and dragon's blood," or "rotate counterclockwise 44 times at 4:44 am and 4:44 pm each day."

I have to admit I lost count of the 44 days, but I had a general idea of when it was, based on my general idea of when I started. Did this inattention to detail negatively affect my liquor? Did my vague timing ruin the cordial? No it did not!

Luckily the 44 isn't a real magic formula and so is not necessary for success! My liqueur is deeelicious. The combination of flavors ends up tasting of chocolate and works as an aperitif, after-dinner drink, or mixed with sparkling wine as a cocktail.

RECIPE: Homemade Butter

2008-11-18T17:30:00.000-08:00

For some reason, butter seems like it would be incredibly hard to make. I think perhaps it has something to do with having grown up on Little House on the Prairie books and perhaps getting the idea that homemade butter is something that necessarily requires intense physical labor and equipment that one doesn't just have laying around the modern kitchen.

As a matter of fact, when I told people around my age I was going to try to make butter I invariably got asked whether I had a churn.

Well, guys ... it's modern times! And I am a modern girl. The recipe that gave me the inspiration to make butter was all by hand, although it requires nothing more than a bowl and whisk, since you're not making a whole cow's worth of butter. However, I haven't the peasant arms to pull that off, and even if I were inclined it wouldn't be the pleasant and relaxing task I envision when I set out to make something.

But I am a modern girl, and I've got modern equipment and a healthy dose of modern laziness. I've almost missed out on that contagious mistrust of all things manmade and technological in favor of the "natural" that seems to be spreading. If there's a machine that will make my job easier, let me at it.

So I abandoned my romantically rustic butter-in-a-wooden bowl recipe and turned to science to help me. I used this method from Cooking for Engineers, which is an awesome site for recipes for the science-minded, or just for good techniques and pictures.

It turned out to be so simple. I located some raw cream at the market and used that. I let the cream sour for the better part of the day before mixing it just to get some of that flavor. Basically after that, all you do is mix it. I was kind of afraid it wasn't going to mix right, but once it got to soft peak stage, it came together quickly and like magic.

Getting all the buttermilk out was the hard part. I put the butter in a cheesecloth first (as above) and let it drain for a while, then I wrapped it in the cloth and squeezed more out. THEN I put it in a bowl and kneaded it with a wooden spatula. Then I washed it. At the kneading stage I also added some salt.

Finally I formed it into a brick and wrapped it for the fridge. If I was more forward thinking, I would have divided it and frozen some. I didn't come nearly close to using it all in the three weeks it was good for. As for the taste ... it was almost exactly like the Kerrygold Irish butter if you have had that. Very rich and full flavored. I find that a little much to just put on toast, but it's good for baking and cooking.

The point is though ... making butter is super easy. It practically makes itself. So if you're curious, go ahead and try. If you have a stand mixer it's basically just a matter of babysitting.

NEWS: Michelin Stars 2009 Announced

2008-10-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

In a press luncheon at Gordon Ramsay at the London today, Jean-Luc Naret and Michelin revealed the 2009 Los Angeles and Las Vegas guides hot off the presses. The guides go on sale tomorrow with this year's restaurant and hotel listings and the coveted star awards. So what about all the stuff you really want to know?

1. Still no three star restaurants in Los Angeles: Los Angeles still doesn't make it to the world stage with any three star restaurants. I am not surprised at this, really, nor am I that sad. Los Angeles is a town that caters to celebrities, and that means that in some of the more high-end restaurants, the focus is a little different than it is in luxury eating destinations in other cities. Any restaurant that was good enough to be a three star restaurant here would probably be inaccessible to most people, even if you wanted to save up for a special trip.

2. Providence moves up to two stars: I was really happy to hear this announced. I love this restaurant very much and Michael Cimarusti seems like quite a nice person. Cimarusti was the most excited chef to get his call, according to Mr. Naret. He was in the car and had to be told to calm down before he got into an accident. I'm really happy for him, since he's given me some fo the best meals I have ever had. I really think he deserves it.

3. New stars: Bastide, Gordon Ramsay at the London, Hatfield's, Osteria Mozza, and Sushi Zo: Bastide earns a star this year, despite the constant reshuffling. Gordon Ramsay gets a star despite being relatively new on the scene. Osteria Mozza gets a star and are you really surprised? I didn't think so. Hatfield's also earns a star, which is another one I think is well-deserved. Hatfield's is more of a cozy experience than high gourmet but what they do, they do very well and these are two very fine chefs who deserve the recognition.

Sushi Zo is the relative unknown. It's an unassuming strip-mall sushi place in Palms, which is of course, the sushi dilemma in Los Angeles. These places dot the landscape and you can never tell if they are hidden geniuses or just another sushi place.

4. Lost Stars: Joe's, Matsuhisa, Saddle Peak Lodge: Not much was said about those places that dropped off the list, as one might expect. In general the attitude of Mr. Naret is that restaurants that lose stars generally either change chefs, have a too-absent chef, or lose focus while the chef concentrates on other projects. But those who lose stars can always get them back, so hopefully those who dropped out of the running this year will show us something dazzling in the next year, which can only benefit us, so let's hope they all try to earn their stars back.

5. Still no love for Suzanne Goin, what's up Michelin?: I'm sorry, I know it's up to the inspectors, but really ... Suzanne Goin is my favorite, so I just have to say I'm going to be perpetually disappointed when she doesn't get a star.

6. Michelin's guest explorer for Los Angeles: I also got to meet and be introduced to a new concept, the Michelin "guest explorer" Mika Takeuchi, who also has her own blog, Food Fashionista. Her task for Michelin is to explore the restaurants in the guide and write about them on her blog and on Michelin.com. On her blog, you can read about her adventures at the events the rest of us only see on Getty Images the next day, as well as her explorations for Michelin.

NEWS: Restaurant Openings, Special Events, and More

2008-09-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, lots of stuff in my inbox lately, check it out:

RESTAURANTS:

Granville Cafe has a location in the Americana at Brand now, in addition to its original Burbank location. It looks as if they're planning to conquer the world, or at least SoCal and cover it with casual gourmet cafes.
Local is new breakfast and lunch place in Silverlake from Jason Michaud, formerly of Cobras and Matadors. It's fresh, seasonal, farmer's market menu take on the local diner. They're looking to expand to dinner soon. Local is located at 2943 W. Sunset Blvd. You can see pictures and a review at Hobson's Choice.
Take a Bao is new in the Westfield mall in Century City. It serves eight flavors of the steamed Asian dumplings for a good to-go lunch. They also serve rice bowls, noodles, and salads.

EVENTS:

K&L Hollywood Champagne Tent Event: Saturday, October 18 from 25 p.m K&L is will set up a tent wherein they will pour champagnes from the most sought after (vintage Cristal and Dom Perignon) to the up-and-comers (French artisanal producers). There will be some special guest Champagne producers there to talk to about their products and food from Michel Richard's Citrus at the Social. Tickets are $90 in advance, $125 at the door.
Phillipe the Original turns 100: On October 6th, Phillippe the Original will celebrate it's 100th birthday with live music, speeches, and 10 cent sandwiches and five cent coffee. Guests include Huell Howser and um ... Harpo the clown.

And ... that's it. Sorry I'm not more amusing, I'm trying to head off a cold and I'm a little woozy. Hopefully back soon with more interesting blogs to blog!

NEWS: Andrew's Cheese Shop Opens in Santa Monica

2008-09-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

Andrew Steiner has just opened Andrew's Cheese Shop on Montana Ave. Mr. Steiner was the former Maitre Fromager (Master Cheeser!) at Patina and he has not only a longtime love of cheese but has developed relationships with some of the top cheesemakers of the world through his professional experience. These relationships will allow him to provide difficult to acquire cheeses for his clientele.

The shop is intended to be a place not only where people can go to buy cheese, but where people can go to relax, browse gourmet products, talk with the friendly staff and knowledgable owner and learn, or sit with their friennds and enjoy grilled cheese or fondue.

Steiner will have over 200 varieties of cheese, helpfully grouped in categories that will allow the customer to choose what it best suited to his or her tastes, with the opportunity to try things that fall outside of their normal cheese world to perhaps find new favorites.

The shop is set up to each type of customer personality. The staff and owner are willing to talk and answer questions in depth, but for those shyer types, each cheese comes with a description card filled with helpful information to aid the self-sufficient shopper. The cheese cards are also given to customers to take home with their cheese for use at parties or to remember their favorites for next time.

The shop will also offer classes in basic cheese knowledge and more advanced focus classes. They will be $25 apiece and could be a good way to introduce yourself to both a deeper knowledge of cheese, and the shop itself.

I haven't been to this cheese shop yet, so I can's say whether it lives up to the description, but I do encourage each and every area to have its own cheese shop. The more cheese readily accessible to the people, the better! If it's anything like the local cheese shops in Studio City, Beverly Hills, and Silverlake then the neighborhood will benefit from it.

ANDREW'S CHEESE SHOP
728 Montana Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310.393.3308

NEWS: Los Angeles Food News for September

2008-09-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I'm having the hardest time finding time to post here as you can tell, but I do still get e-mails about local happenings from time to time and I thought I might as well at least start updating the blog with those until I can work up some interesting posts I have in mind to do.

Auntie Em's Begins Farmer's Market Delivery Service: If you want to support local farmers but can't seem to get yourself to the market, Auntie Em's will do it for you. They'll pick out a selection of the week's quality produce and deliver it to your door, as well as allow you to choose from a variety of pre-made items made with fresh, seasonal ingredients. If you're interested, take a look here: Auntie Em's Delivery.

All'Angelo Introduces New Spriz Bar: All'Angelo Restaurant has revived the Venetian tradition of meeting for a spriz (Italian aperitif of Prosecco, soda, and bitters) and appetizers. They have introduced a special Spriz bar menu for the small bar area. We went to check it out and were lucky to have the entire bar to ourselves for the evening. It felt like our own private VIP room as we were served and helped by both the bartender and the owner himself. The spriz cocktails (Prosecco and Sanbitter soda with a twist of lemon) were addictive and the food (an octopus salad, timbale of cauliflower, homemade spaghetti, and a massive cold cut plate sliced to order) was all delicious. In addition the bartender took care of us so well ... offering us anything we wanted and topping off our glasses when we showed inclination to stay and talk over our sprizzes after finishing our meal. I really felt welcome there, and it was great for a romantic evening since the quietness of that back area was in sharp contrast to so many noisy restaurants these days.

Jam Session and Bread Tasting at BreadBar: BreadBar on Third Street is having a jam making seminar, followed by a tasting and afternoon tea.

Where: Breadbar, 8718 West Third Street, Los Angeles
When: Saturday, September 13, 2008 from 4:00pm until 6:00pm
Cost and reservations: Reserve your place today by emailing events@breadbar.net

BreadBar in Century City will host a talk by Dr. Steven L. Kaplan, a bread historian and Professor at Cornell University. After his talk there will be a bread tasting.

Where: Breadbar in the Century City Mall, 10250 Santa Monica
Boulevard, Los Angeles
When: Saturday, September 20, 2008, beginning at 4:00pm
Cost and reservations: Reserve your place online via OpenTable, at:
http://www.opentable.com/single.aspx?rid=22567&restref=22567

Tomato Festival at Hollywood Farmer's Market this Sunday: This weekend's market will feature, in addition to the usual fantastic produce, the annual tomato festival, featuring free samples of many varieties of heirloom tomatoes, tips and information on preserving tomatoes, freshly prepared tomato juice, and cooking demos and recipes.

Blog Love: The Haphazard Gourmet Girls: While you are waiting in between haphazard posts on this blog you'll probably need something else to read. I got an e-mail from The Haphazard Gourmet Girls a little bit ago and I've checked out their blog and it is very fun. It's a humourous but informative look at food culture with an eye to the issues that food lovers are interested in, including those political.

Okay, that's it, there's some good info in these e-mails I'm getting, I realized so I'll try to post these more often while I'm working up my own material and if you're a PR person who whoever, feel free to e-mail me info to check out.

RECIPE: Fancy Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2008-07-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Grilled Cheese with Fig Jam, Kale and Fontina

This sandwich was on the cover of Gourmet magazine several months ago and it looked so pretty I had to make it. Click the sandwich name above for the recipe. As you can see, I changed the ingredients a bit, based on what I could get my hands on, but it still turned out yummy.

The combination of the fontina and the fig turned out to be so good, that I've used it a couple of times since then. And the leafy greens make me feel more healthy so that I don't feel quite so bad about eating a grilled cheese sandwich.

RESTAURANT: Breadbar

2008-07-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from Breadbar on Third Street, a combination restaurant/bakery serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner and selling fresh bread and baked goods.

This is kind of a bad picture, but the food was good. This was from a lunch where I ordered their chilled beet gazpacho, and my friend and I shared some sweet potato fries. The service was outstanding that day - our meal was maybe five minutes delayed and they brought us a whole bread basket and a foccacia to make up for it. We hadn't even noticed anything was wrong! So we ended up with a lot of leftovers, which this is a picture of.

This is from 4th of July weekend, when they had "build your own burger" weekend. We took the bus over to be good citizens for the holiday. For that weekend only, they had a deal where they offered a checklist of buns, meats, toppings, etc. and you could create your own burger from the ground up. Above is a skirt steak burger with chimichurri sauce.

Mine was a chicken sandwich with mozzarella and pesto. J. got the fries, I got the fruit salad. We also went home with a boatload of bread products.

The "build-your-own-burger" weekend was a special for that weekend only, but Breadbar is always having special events in addition to their regular menu. Check the website for info.

Breadbar
8718 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
310 205 0124

OR

10250 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90067
310 277 3770

RECIPE: Fettucine with Sausage, Sage, and Crispy Garlic

2008-06-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

Pasta is my go-to dish ... the active working time is generally minimal, you can usually make it with whatever you have around the house, and it's always satisfying. But I sometimes take pasta for granted, because it's such a great back-up dish. It's the trusty old standby that I never appreciate while I am sitting and waiting for sexier dishes to call and take me out.

So every once in a while pasta and I, we renew our vows. We get all fancy and do it up right. Instead of just throwing whatever into the pot, I actually a get a recipe and some ingredients that are actually chosen specifically for this pasta, as opposed to whatever's in the fridge. I go slow, and take my time so that me and my special lady can rekindle our old flame.

This fettucine was part of a special three course meal I made for Sunday dinner and was accompanied by a salad and some bread sticks and a peach pie for dessert. Yum! Unfortunately you can't really see the beautiful sausage as it's buried under all that cheese. But it had to be done.

You can find the recipe here. The dish turned out well, although I think I would add more of everything to the pasta for more flavor. But it made for good leftovers as well, which is an important quality of any dish that wants a relationship with me: it's got to be just as good the next day.

RECIPE: Maple-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

2008-05-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I know I know I know. It seems like I have abandoned this thing. I have been trying to do this post for almost a month now. But I spend my entire day writing about food, and then when I am done .... well, once a week I have to write about food some more.

When I sit down to write on this blog, well, it doesn't feel like fun anymore, it feels like work. And in the past few weeks, I've had a lot of stuff going on ... birthdays galore, and friends in need, and between that and the work I've been exhausted a lot, with not a lot of energy left over.

But I don't want to abandon this blog, so I'm changing the plot a little bit. While I do have to write about food all day, one thing I don't have to do is photograph it. I have been thinking and I think I may take this opportunity to practice my photography skills and try to improve. My pictures are not exactly masterpieces, but maybe with some work, they can get better.

So for a while, I think I am going to not stress out about the writing and instead just relax and take pictures of food and put them up with captions instead. Starting with this bread I made. You can find the recipe here: Maple-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

The bread when first sliced. It maybe could have been a little fluffier, but it was a good consistency for a sandwich or toast.

I didn't mean to make the big hole in the top, but when I was testing it I accidently stuck the stick into a bubble and the whole thing popped. Whoopsie.

This bread was so good toasted with butter. J. didn't want any at first ... until he saw this.

The more butter the better!

The bread ... close up ... you know you want to eat it.

WINE: Keeping Your Wine Happy In an Apartment

2008-05-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Guys, I know I have not been posting to this blog much recently. At the moment I am not only doing work that involves writing about food and the foodservice industry all day, but I am also taking a food writing class. Between the two of these things, the thought of also writing about food on my blog on a daily basis is just exhausting.

I still plan to keep it up however, as I've been gathering up posts. It just won't be as frequent. The best way to be updated when I write something is join my RSS feed on the side there. Then you can just check for updates there and not have to keep looking here disappointedly as I know y'all are doing. (Refresh! Refresh! ... damn, still no new post!)

But an exciting thing that's happening is that I'm getting very close to the end of my wine book. I am in the final section now. How exciting! Now we are learning about how to collect and keep wines. If you decide you want to become a collector, then you will probably be keeping your wines for a while. They never last long in our house, but I am generous, so I'll still tell you to store them for maximum enjoyment if you live in a small apartment.

If you do not have a place that naturally works to store your wine, nor can afford to pay to store your wine, and most importantly, would like it easily accessible, consider a wine cave. Wine caves are self-contained, refrigerated units that you plug into an electrical outlet.

There are various designs and surely you can find one to fit in your living space. They come in small sizes, or as large as 2,800 bottles (for those of you in penthouses). They range in price from budget to luxury as well.

Where to find a wine cellar? Consider the following:

Haier: Haier makes perfect wine storage options for apartment dwellers. They have units as small as 8 bottle capacity that can fit on a countertop. They also have larger units going up to 102 bottle capacity. They have some that are ultra-silent and some that have varying degrees of control over temperature. Prices range from $80 - $700.

Vinotemp: Vinotemp has a bunch of options - They have fancy to functional, and designs that can be modern or vintage in style. They also worth a check for any alcohol connoisseur as they have various beverage related gadgets, like beer dispensers and shot chillers.

Cuisinart: If you 've already got a Cuisinart kitchen, why not get your wine cellar to match? Cuisinart has a couple of small countertop wine cellars between $100-$200. These are not for the big collector, but for those who just want to keep a few quality bottles of wine at an optimum temperature, ready for a special occasion.

Kitchenaid: If you have a little more money to spend, how about Kitchenaid? They have a fancy "Architect Series" of handsome undercounter cellars in wood or chrome. They can be freestanding or installed if you're able to alter your kitchen. They cost between $1000-$2000.

MEME: Six Word Memoir

2008-04-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

So my dear friend, Ms. Vaguely Urban, sprung on me this meme, the purpose of which is to write your own memoir in only six words.

She herself set the bar very high, so it's taken me quite a while to deliberate on this subject. As it turns out, my life is best described in phrases of five or seven words, and not really in phrases of six words.

But I came up with something. Not the greatest, so I have added illustrations to make it seem better. So here it is, my memoir:

KT's MEMOIR (in six words)

Appears harmless, but ...

It's a TRAP!

LA.FOODBLOGGING: Providence

2008-04-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

J. and I had a giant feast at Providence for our sixth anniversary. Read about it on la.foodblogging!

WINE: Port

2008-04-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

It's easy to remember where Port comes from - it comes from Portugal, of course. But Port is not a time honored traditional wine of the Portugues - it was invented by the British. Since Britain was always at war with France, they ended up purchasing wine from Portugal. To make sure the wine was stable enough to make it from Portugal to England, they fortified the wine with brandy and voila - Port was invented. The first Port house was opened by the British in 1670.

While Port comes from the city of Oporto, which is on the sea, the grapes are actually grown inland in the Douro Valley. The wine is also fermented and fortified there, and then sent to Oporto where it is finished and matured. There is no particular grape for Port, and it may be made from any of 80 different varieties. There are may imposter Ports from other parts of the world--the way to tell whether a Port is authentically from Portugal is to look for the word "porto" on the label.

There are several styles of Port, but unless you get seriously into Port you will probably only come into contact with a few. The most common styles of Port are:

Ruby Port: Ruby Port is the best-selling type of Port. It is only aged for three years and is low cost, maybe around $12 per bottle. Some ruby port, labeled "Reserve" or "Special Reserve" is aged for six years and costs a small amount more.
Tawny Port: Tawny Port is aged between 10 and 40 years. It gets its name from the fact that the wine fades in color during the aging to a pale or brownish red. Ten and twenty year old tawnies are only $30-$50 and are a good value for someone looking for a quality Port. A tawny port is best enjoyed before dinner as an aperitif or after dinner as a dessert wine.
Colheita Port: Colheita is vintage dated, but is not Vintage Port. Colheita is actually tawny Port that comes from a single vintage. Niepoort (pictured above) specializes in colheita. If you can find it for a decent price it's a nice buy, but you probably wouldn't want to pay more if you can get a good tawny.
Vintage Port: Vintage Port is the premium Port. It is the wine of a single year blended from the house's best vineyards. The wine is bottled at two years and then aged in the bottle for at least 20 years. Vintage Port contains a lot of sediment and absolutely mst be decanted first, so bear that in mind before opening one. It can be aged in the bottle for up to 70 years. The best way to get a Vintage Port is to purchase it when first released, and then let it age for many years before drinking. The price only gets higher the more mature a bottle gets. So if you buy a whole bunch now, you should have some great Port to drink when you are all old and retired! Sweet!

What to do with Port once you get it: Store a Port the same as you would any other red wine - on its side in a cool place. A non-vintage Port can be stored upright. Most Ports keep for about a week after opening and an age-stated tawny can keep for several weeks. Serve Port at room temperature, by itself or with nuts and cheeses. On a warm day, a tawny port can be served chilled.

When shopping for Port, you can't go wrong with the following: Taylor-Fladgate, Fonseca, Niepoort, and Sandeman. Alternatively, just look for that "porto" label. If it's a true Port from Portugal, then it's probably worth buying.

INFO: How I Really Cook

2008-03-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

It's probably pretty clear to anyone who reads this blog that I am not a professional chef, nor even a particularly good one. I don't make up fantastic, creative and beautiful recipes from my own head, nor do I even exercise more than the most basic cooking skills usually. Sometimes I take on a project and when I do I need a recipe.

So how DO I plan and make my meals on a daily basis? Well, I'm pretty embarrassed to let you peek behind the scenes on this process, but I feel I owe it to anyone who bothers to read this to be completely honest, and also to let you get to know me a little so that you can decide whether or not the time is right to never read this blog, since I clearly do not know what I am talking about.

So how do I cook, when I have to fend for myself? Well, my number one trick is to make it LOOK nice, so that even if it's not good, I can pretend to the world at large that what I am eating is incredibly AWESOME. It's not always possible, but it's what I go for. So this pizza pictured here is a typical dish that I might make when forced to prepare a meal for myself without a recipe.

To make this particular pizza, the first thing I did was decide what to make. To decide what to make, I just walked into the kitchen and looked around. There, on the counter, were some fresh pita breads that J. had purchased from the Farmer's Market. Surely he won't mind if I have one. (TIP: Always ask before taking the food of someone you live with. People don't like it when you just take their food - especially if it's the last one.)

Now I have to decide what to do with it. The easiest thing to do with any type of bread, after making a sandwich or toast is to make a pizza out of it. All you have to do is put stuff on top and then bake it. The stuff should involve cheese. So there we go, a pizza is what I would make.

In order to make a pizza, I need ingredients and the best place to look for those is the refrigerator. The most important thing you need for a pizza is cheese, and luckily I had the exact right kind of cheese in the cheese drawer - mozzarella. This was incredibly lucky. Most of the time I have NONE of the appropriate ingredients. To have an important one almost guarantees success.

Next I needed a sauce. Here is where things got tricky. I do not eat tomato sauce, except on pizzas, so I did not have any. Normally I count on my husband for this sort of thing, but he seemed to be in between tomato sauces. I looked for any sort of Italian sauce and came up blank, so I was forced to use the closest thing I could discover, which was salsa.

Finally, I needed toppings. Toppings are not strictly necessary, but they are good for adding variety and health to your diet, which I view as a plus. In the vegetable drawer, there was a cauliflower from the Farmer's Market, so I chopped that up into small florets and sprinkled it over the salsa for vitamins. Then I added the cheese. When I was looking for a sauce I had found a jar of kalamata olives and I decided to add some for looks and flavor.

Then I cooked my pizza in the toaster oven until the cheese was brown and bubbling, and ate it. That's it! That is all there is to cooking, believe it or not. Was it delicious? Well ... yes. Although I did NOT discover that salsa makes a fantastic new pizza sauce, and it will never be my first, or even fifth choice of pizza sauce, but really it's hard to go wrong with fresh pita bread, lots of cheese, and kalamata olives.

See how easy it is to cook? Anyone can do it, even me. If you have been reading this blog and thinking that cooking looks very difficult, well now you know the truth. It is not. It CAN be, if you want to get fancy. But it can also be so simple that you would not believe it.

So next time you run out of Trader Joe's Indian meals and frozen taquitos, consider checking in your refrigerator to see what else is there. First determine whether it is still safe to eat (TIP: This step is VERY important.) Then look at all of the things that pass that test (throw out the things that don't, unless they are part of an experiment) and think about things you could make with them. Then try making it! Perhaps you will surprise yourself!

WINE: Open That Bottle Night

2008-03-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

February 23 was "Open That Bottle" night - a night on which you are supposed to open that bottle of wine you have been saving for ... something, but you don't know what. To stop people from the danger of saving a bottle for too long, this night was invented to give you an excuse.

Because there are certain dangers that arise from saving a bottle of wine for too long. It will acquire a mythical status in your mind and you will put it off and put it off and perhaps you will put it off so long that the person you wish to drink it with is no longer around, as in the incredibly sad story I heard on NPR one time, or the wine has turned to vinegar (also in that same incredibly sad story - I told you it was SAD) , or perhaps you end up drinking it alone and pathetic out of a styrofoam cup in a fast food restaurant. You never know!

If you missed this year's occasion - do not fret! It happens every year on the last Saturday in February. Probably whatever wine you would have opened this year will still be great (and perhaps even better) if you save it for next year.

J. and I decided to participate but had a dilemma in deciding which wine to open. We're not really collectors, as we lack the space. We tend to just buy wine that's ready to drink and drink it at a fairly steady pace. But we have a few bottles that have remained unopened for a while and so after looking at what we had, we had three bottles to choose from:

1. The Graduation Merlot: A Nathanson Creek merlot, which is not so much a special wine (it retails for less than $10), but is a special bottle, as it was engraved just for me on the occasion of my graduation from law school. It has a little graduation hat on it and everything. The fact that it's from my law school graduation also means it has sat in our wine holder for almost three years, making it probably our longest surviving wine. The rules of this night dictate that the wine can be of any type, quality, or price, as long as its sentimental value makes it one that you have lingered in opening.

2. The Wedding Syrah: This is a bottle of syrah that was made for my brother's wedding by a friend of the family. This was initially my choice, because I thought, "When else are we going to drink a bottle like this?" Which my husband handily answered with "On their anniversary." ................. Oh yeah. Sometimes my incredibly complex brain is hard at work on such intricate puzzles that it fails to notice the obvious solution to a question. It's not my fault I am so diabolically intelligent that I can't be bothered to process basic information.

3. The Fancy Bottle: Finally, although we tried hard to choose a bottle for sentimental reasons, we finally ended up at the choice we'd each secretly been wanting from the beginning. It probably reveals a bit too much about our economic status to say that this bottle of 2000 Chateau-la-Nerthe Chateneuf-du-Pape is our very fanciest and priciest bottle of wine that we own. It's a good wine, but not legendary or lavishly expensive. And shamefully I must admit, that we didn't even purchase this wine for ourselves. We are sneaky little thieves and we stole it from my parents. But that is what happens when you put a whole wine cooler in your daughter's old room and stuff it full of really good wines. You simply can't be surprised if a bottle or two is gone when she leaves from visiting you.

So after a lengthy five minutes of deliberation we opened the Chateneuf-du-Pape and we drank it. We drank it all. Verdict? YUM. It was definitely a good bottle of wine. Could we have continued to save it? Yeah, we probably could have saved it for several more years, but what would be the point? We don't have an excellent wine storage system and no particular reason to save this wine except that it is a bit fancier than we normally have.

So take a look at your wines and start thinking about what you might want to open next year. If you don't have anything particularly sentimental, then you have 11 months to get something. Start creating occasions on which people might give you wine. Or get yourself invited to someone's house who has a wine cooler in their guest room--whichever way works best for you. By the time next February rolls around, you may have one or more special bottles to open.

RECIPE: BLD's French Toast

2008-03-21T22:04:00.001-07:00

One of the bonuses of having weekends is the ability to have long leisurely breakfasts, at a restaurant, if possible. The ability to wake up slowly and then sit in the sunlight drinking coffee as you come to life and talking with someone you really like before digging into a hearty and substantial breakfast that will carry you through the rest of the day is a small luxury that almost makes it worth it to work through the week to make the money to pay for your breakfast.

One place I love to have breakfast in my neighborhood is BLD. BLD is sunny and bright, with really good coffee, and you can sit outside or tuck yourself into a corner for an intimate conversation. You can even bring your dog.

The problem is that it's hard to breakfast in L.A. From about 10:00 am to 3:00 pm on the weekends, everyone and their moms and their kids and their dogs and their boyfriends and their one-night stands are brunching it up everywhere. Sometimes you just don't want to go wait an hour standing on the sidewalk like a street urchin before you can have your breakfast. Especially if you don't get any of that good coffee until you sit down.

Sometimes you want to stay home and enjoy your breakfast whenever you are ready for it, and when you do, it's good to have the recipe of your favorite dish from the breakfast place you like so you can recreate your brunch at home. Just have your husband/roommate/lover/slave/dog (select appropriate choice) prepare some really good coffee for you while you make BLD's brioche french toast with warm berry compote and sit down at your own primo table in your own sunny room for a leisurely weekend breakfast that can last as long as you want and there's no bill at the end.

BRIOCHE FRENCH TOAST w/ FRESH BERRY COMPOTE (Recipe by Mariah Swan, BLD)
Makes 6 Servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. fresh berries, sliced
1/4 cup + 3 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. water
6 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
unsalted butter for griddle
12 slices (3/4" thick) of brioche
creme fraiche

1. Preheat the oven to 225ºF. In a medium saucepan, combine berries with 1/4 cup of the sugar and the water and bring to a simmer. Cook over moderate heat until the berries are softened and the sugar is dissolved, about 8 min.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the heavy cream, the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, and the ground spices. Transfer to a 9x13" baking dish.

3. Heat a large cast-iron griddle and lightly butter it. Working in batches, dip 1/2 brioche in egg mixture, turning once, until moistened but not soggy. Transfer bread to griddle and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until golden and cooked through, about 4 min. Transfer French toast to baking sheet, cover loosely with foil and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest. Serve the French toast with the berry compote and creme fraiche.

RESTAURANT: Food

2008-03-20T00:40:00.000-07:00

So I haven’t actually had a full meal at this place yet, but based on my first short experience with it, I think it looks very promising, and I want to spread the word to help these people out.

I was going to Kay n’ Dave’s with a couple of friends tonight, and we parked in front of this bright red, neatly-fonted, bright little building that pronounced itself “Food” and indeed looked to be full of the same. The place was closed, but the staff was inside cleaning up, and when they saw us peeping in, a woman came to the door and waved us in.

“Oh, we’re just looking,” we said shyly, “we’re actually going to dinner down the street.” Nonetheless, she continued to wave us in, saying that they were closed, but were new in the neighborhood so she’d love to have us come look.

The woman’s name is Judy Ornstein, and she’s a longtime resident of the neighborhood, a 30-year veteran of the restaurant industry, and co-owner of Food. She said that previously there was a cramped, dingy and dusty convenience store in the location and she had always wished that they could have a place kind of like Joan’s on Third in her neighborhood. So when her oldest child left for college, and the space became available, she and some friends decided to go for it.

The space is indeed reminiscent of Joan’s, although on a smaller scale. Near the entrance are spices and packaged candies and nuts. Across from that is a refrigerated case with soups and prepared foods. Then spanning the length of the place is a deli counter with prepared foods that looked really good. There was a beef tenderloin that was soooo pink that it made me want to grab it and go NOM right there in the store. There were artichoke halves sprinkled with nasturtium, and some pretty vegetable salads: grilled seasonal vegetables and a julienned beet and apple salad.

Near the back is a small wine section, and refrigerated drink cases. The menu also contains breakfast and lunch items like granola, eggs, tofu scramble, and soups, sandwiches and salads. A neatly handwritten paper lists daily specials on the deli. I could easily see myself coming here when I need a bottle of wine, or some milk, or perhaps some soup to refrigerate for weekday meals, and then grabbing a lunch along with my necessaries.

And Ms. Ornstein was incredibly friendly. She talked to us about the place, but didn’t keep us trapped there for too long, and she sent us on our way with some free homemade chocolate chip cookies that were really delicious and packed full of chocolate.

My husband and I agreed that if we lived in the neighborhood, we would definitely be popping in often, and my friends were 100% certain that they would be back in the near future for a breakfast or lunch.

So if you’re on the Westside, check it out and report back. If this place is as good as it looks, I would love to see it do well. It’s not exactly in a prime location, but it is on many people’s way to and from work.

FOOD
10571 Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
http://www.food-la.com

LA.FOODBLOGGING: The Waffle

2008-03-16T18:06:00.001-07:00

If you enjoy breakfast, you may enjoy my mini-review of The Waffle on la.foodblogging.

MISC: You Know You're A Pathetic Food Obsessive When ...

2008-03-11T20:49:00.000-07:00

... you go to the most insane and hilarious biker mama blaxploitation film you have ever seen in your life ...

... and you're sitting there thinking things like: "Hey, that soul food restaurant is where Akasha is now!"

"I wonder what's where that Chop Suey restaurant is?" (A parking lot)

"What about this rib stand?" (A mini-mall)

"I think that warehouse where the pot-sicle man lives is where Surfas used to be!"

I am such a DORK.

Thankfully the absurd power of the Darktown Strutters eventually monopolized all of my attention.

FOOD SECTION: March 5, 2008 - Jamon and Tonic

2008-03-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

This week's food section tackles some subjects that are near and dear to my heart - jamón ibérico, newly available in the US; Fever Tree mixers; and some restaurant news.

Jamón ibérico: The reason I could never be a vegetarian is all contained in this word: charcuterie. I could give up every other meat, but I could not pass by a plate of thinly sliced, salty and spicy cured meats. It just would never happen. Jamón ibérico is cured ham produced in Spain and is made from the cerdo negro (black pig), which subsists on acorns, grass and herbs, with their diet tending more and more towards acorns only as they reach their slaughter date.

The very best jamón ibérico is called jamón ibérico de bellota and must be made from free roaming forest pigs that eat only acorns during the last stage of their life. The meat is cured for 36 months.

Until 2005, there were, alas no producers of this wondrous ham that were approved by the USDA, so the ham could not make its way here. But in 2005, Embutidos y Jamones Fermin got the seal of approval and as of December, the first hams were made available. The first bellota hams will be available in July (right around my birthday - just throwing that out there).

These are, I must warn you, the priciest hams in the world. The online supplier, Tienda.com, will ship ham to you in amounts that range from $34.95 for a small amount of hand-sliced bellota to $1400 for a whole bellota ham (approx. - at a cost of $199/pound). Add on a ham-holder and carving knife and suddenly it is cheaper to just go to Spain and eat it.

You can also get the jamon locally at the following:

West L.A: Bar Pintxo (310) 458-2012, Wally's Wine and Spirits

Culver City: Cafe Surfas

Beverly Hills: Cheese Store of Beverly Hills

Fairfax: Froma on Melrose

Silverlake: Say Cheese (323) 665-0545

South Bay: La Espanola Meats

OC: Sapphire Laguna Pantry

Fever Tree Mixers: If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I drink like I'm living in a black and white film. I drink early and often, but only in an incredibly classy way. One of the keys to drinking classy is to make sure you are using classy ingredients. I'm sure that Schweppes is nice, but wouldn't you feel much sassier pouring elegantly out of these slender little bottles?

Just check out the ingredient list. They are made with all-natural ingredients, including spring water, cane sugar, and the actual components of the flavor, rather than a chemical approximation. Ginger ale with real ginger? Lemon drinks with real lemon? Unheard of. These are so good, that the last pack of soda waters I bought, I drank about half of them on their own and didn't even bother to put them in a drink. Now THAT is a good soda.

You can get Fever Tree mixers from BevMo or Whole Foods. They've got them in the bar at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

New Restaurants: Finally, a couple of new restaurant notes if you are looking for something to try:

Goat, by Steven Arroyo (of Cobras and Matadors and 750 mL) gave up on his old Asian concept resto in the Rita Flora space and has transformed it into a place called Goat. The menu is more modern American, although goat does appear, mostly in goat cheese form, throughout the menu. Intriguingly the house special is called "GOAT CONFIT." I am not sure what's up with the caps and quotes or even what a goat confit would be like, if indeed that's truly what it is and not some mockup. As far as I know, goats are not known for their succulence. However a quick search shows me that it is indeed actual goat confit. Hmm.
Two places to go for long tubes of meat: Brats Bros. Gourmet Grill serves fancy sausages in the Valley, and The Stand is serving up hot dogs in Westwood.
Finally, in the MacArthur Park area, La Fonda Mexican Restaurant re-opens and carries on its tradition of live mariachi with your enchiladas.

RECIPE: Dark Chocolate Crackles

2008-03-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

I don't think I need to convince you that these are good. They are chocolate and they are cookies. Enough said.

I'm not actually a chocolate obsessive, but I really loved these cookies. Make sure you use good chocolate, and make sure you've got the right amount of sweetness - not too much. Cookies are one of my favorite baked goods to make because they are so simple - put everything in a bowl, drop it on a sheet, and bake. These are slightly more labor intensive than normal because you have to melt the chocolate, but other than that, since they are drop cookies and require no rolling or shaping, they are really easy.

They also make a great gift, since they are small but thick so they are easily packed away without fear of being demolished by the time they are opened. Everyone I gave them to gave a big thumbs up.

DARK CHOCOLATE CRACKLES (5 dozen)

11 1/4 oz. (2 1/2 cups) unbleached flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. table salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp.
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp. finely grated orange zest
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted, then cooled to warm
3/4 cup chopped chocolate
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350° F. Line three large cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, cocoa, orange zest, and vanilla on medium speed until well-combined, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating briefly between additions. Add the cooled chocolate and mix until blended, about 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until almost completely blended, about 1 minute. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until blended, about 15 seconds.

Shape the dough into 1 1/4" balls with a small ice cream scoop or 2 Tbsp. Pour the granulated sugar into a shallow dish. Dip the top of each ball in the sugar and set the balls sugar side up about 1 1/2" apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are puffed and cracked on top, 11-12 min. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 min. before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

NEWS: Farm Bill Must Feed Hungry Children

2008-03-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

I received the following from the World Food Program and thought I would repost for those who are concerned:

Your help is urgently needed.

The Senate and House of Representatives have been working hard to draft their final version of the Farm Bill, before it expires on March 15.

Unfortunately, funding for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program has been cut dramatically as part of ongoing negotiations. We are asking Congress to reinstate mandatory funding levels for the McGovern-Dole Program, as originally included in the House of Representatives' Farm Bill

Please call your Senators and Member of Congress at (800) 569-FOOD, before March 15 and urge them to support the mandatory funding levels for McGovern-Dole passed in the House of Representatives' original version of the Farm Bill.

Who: Anyone who is concerned about child hunger.

What: Call your Senators and Member of Congress to ask for mandatory funding for the McGovern-Dole Program, as included in the House of Representatives' original version of the Farm Bill.

When: Before March 15.

How: Dial (800) 569-FOOD and ask to be connected to the office of your Senators and Member of Congress.

FOOD SECTION: Feb. 27, 2008: Soup, Coinless Restaurants, Cocktails, and Pastel Vegetables

2008-02-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

In this week's Food Section:

Russ Parsons details some fresh spring soups to make with all the new vegetables coming into season. Soup is what I get excited about in winter, but Russ Parsons can get me enthusiastic about anything, and he's getting me with the spring soups. He gives you some basic templates for creating your own soups, in the category of broths, chowders, and bisques.

If you want to get started on making some soup, perhaps you could take inspiration from the market vegetables coming into season, although it's kind of a shame to disguise these particular choices, as they are visually stunning vegetables that deserve their own showcase. Cauliflower is peaking right now, so you should be able to find many colorful and pictureque varieties. Also peaking are watermelon radishes. Watermelon radishes are a dramatic choice since they are a radish in negative - white on the outside and bright pink in the middle. You could make such a hot looking appetizer plate with these.

The Restaurant Journal reports that patrons of Charcoal in the Arclight complex are noticing that the restaurant is operating on a coinless system, meaning they round your bill up or down before giving change. The problem with this is that whether the bill is rounded in your favor or not is up to the server, and it appears that at least one or two servers are using this to express their opinions of how you are as a customer. Seems like a bad strategy, since the customer still has time to make up for any shortchange in the tip.

The restaurant journal also reports on various restaurant openings around town: Citrus at the Social, The Waffle, and STK in Hollywood and West Hollywood; Akasha (vegan-friendly) and Luckyfish (conveyer belt sushi) in Culver City and Beverly Hills respectively.

I've eaten at The Waffle and will report on it soon. I've taken a stroll past Akasha and Luckyfish and from a design perspective - thumbs up. They both look very inviting.

Finally, Betty Hallock profiles Vincenzo Marianella, once bartender of Providence, now creating the menu for the super-secret, ultra-rich people's, democrats-only fancy club, the Doheny. You know, the place you so wish you could go to, just for a night, just to SEE, but you also know it would be SO BORING once you were there--because the only interesting thing about it is that you buy your membership with a combination of money, power, and liberal politics that most of us only dare to dream of.

But there's the slight possibility that you could walk in, and it could look like "Eyes Wide Shut." So you still kind of want to see, just to know if it's really just middle-aged white dudes with trophy dates drinking expensive liquor as you suspect, or if it's awesomely filled with people in capes and masks and naked supermodels. And perhaps a trapeze. And peacocks and tigers (but not where they can eat you - and being treated well and not abused). And a big champagne fountain. And do you see how with this imagination I am constantly disappointed by real life?

Oh yeah ... and the article was actually about this bartender and how he makes a jillion kinds of cocktails and is all hot and Italian and tall. Wait - what? How did I not know about this guy when he was at Providence? He needs to go back!

NEWS: Special Hours This Weekend At Hollywood Farmer's Market for L.A. Marathon

2008-02-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

This Sunday only, because of the L.A. Marathon, the Hollywood Farmer's Market will operate from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. This will allow everyone easier access to the market after the race passes through. Normal hours (8 AM - 1 PM) will resume next weekend.

You can find the route of the Marathon HERE so you can check where it's going to be before going out in the vicinity that morning.

LINK: Michael Laiskonis

2008-02-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in blogs by actual chefs and restaurateurs, one of the most recent is a blog by Michael Laiskonis, pastry chef for Le Bernardin. Le Bernardin is one of the most esteemed restaurants in the United States, and its chef, Eric Ripert, one of the most respected chefs in the country.

Chef Laiskonis initially trained for a career in visual arts, but sidetracked by bread and pastry. He worked his way up through several pastry chef positions until finally coming to New York, and Le Bernardin, where he has had honors galore heaped upon him.

His blog is meant to discuss his craft and his recipe ideas and techniques. His latest post is about going to the Grand Cayman Island's to help open Ripert's latest venture, Blue. During his trip there he had to create six to eight new desserts for the restaurant in three days. In his post he discusses the process of creating one of these desserts, using "seasoning" peppers local to the area to make a spicy hot and sweet dish.

COCKTAILS: For the Discerning Mixologist

2008-02-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

Making cocktails is kind of like alchemy. You may start out with practical miracles. For an alchemist, this involves making inks, paints, and extracts and working metal and glass. For a mixologist this means perfecting the basics, like the Martini, the Manhattan, the Sidecar and the Gimlet. But after working your craft for a time, you begin to get restless, and that is where the goals begin to run together. The alchemist seeks to leave behind his mundane tasks and reach for the sublime - to turn the ordinary into precious metal, or to mix together the elixir of life itself. And the mixologist -- the same -- she is ready to branch out beyond the steadfast classics and discover alcholic gold, or even better, the elixir of life.

In order to create miracles, however, one needs the proper ingredients. Adding the following potions to your cabinet of wonders, aka, the liquor cabinet, will allow you create drinks that may not cure all ills and extend life indefinitely, but will certainly cure SOME ills, and make life more enjoyable. A worthy goal!

Luxardo Maraschino: Maraschino is a liqueur made from real Maraschino cherries, not the freakish neon Frankenstein monsters that get popped into your drink on occasion, but sour Marasca cherries from Croatia or Northern Italy. Both the cherries and the pits are part of the brew, giving the liquor a distinctive taste of fruit, nut and wood. Drinks made with Maraschino are always elegant. I can only vouch for Luxardo, which has been making Maraschino since 1821, and Luxardo's Maraschino was developed by a woman - Maria Canevari, who became famous for her home brews, so her husband went ahead and opened her a distillery.

The classic recipe for Maraschino is the Aviation. It's my favorite cocktail. Drink it when you are feeling really classy.

Ingredients:

50% Gin

30% Lemon Juice

10% Luxardo Maraschino

10% Simple Syrup

Method:

Shake over Ice & Strain, Lemon Twist garnish

If you are feeling old-school, go for a Martinez, the forerunner of the martini, it was invented by a Bay Area ferry passenger with limited drink resources (i.e., rotgut gin).

Ingredients:

4 parts gin
1 teaspoon sugar syrup (optional)

2 parts sweet vermouth
1-3 dashes Angostura bitter

1 part Maraschino Luxardo liqueur

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with cracked ice and stir well. Strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass.

Chartreuse: Chartreuse is one of those love-it or hate-it liqueurs. Made from 130 different herbs and glaring a lurid green (or yellow), one can find Chartreuse in the most apropos places - literary lovers of Chartreuse include Gatsby, the ambiguously gay duo of Brideshead Revisited, Quentin Tarantino characters, and Poppy Z. Brite's lost New Orleans vampire souls. If you like those things (I do!), you may also like Chartreuse.

In keeping with my post's theme, Chartreuse has its origins as a purported alchemical recipe for the "elixir of life," presented by the King of France to some monks in 1605, who have made their living brewing the top secret potion ever since. The monks have perservered through trials, tribulations, exile, and rewelcoming and Chartreuse is still produced by three guardians of the ancient secrets. Only three monks ever know the recipe. It's color, despite its unnaturally vivid appearance is au naturelle, a product of chlorophyll.

Chartreuse has an undescribable flavor. It is not anise, as so many herbal liquors are. It is sweet, spicy, and pungent all at once, and tastes sweeter when served at room temperature than when served over ice. Generally, I just drink Chartreuse over ice or with soda, but if you are a Chartreuse enthusiast, this is a good cocktail I have had using Chartreuse, at Absinthe Brasserie in San Francisco:

Mujer Verde

1 1/2 oz. Hendrick's gin
1/2 oz. Green Chartreuse
1/4 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

Pour ingredients into shaker with ice, shake, and strain. Pour into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lime.

St. Germain: St. Germain is a liqueur I highly recommend as a gift. It is stunning to look at and equally stunning to taste. St. Germain is an elderflower liqueur with a story as romantic as its bottle and its flavor. For a few days in spring, when elderflowers are in full blossom, the bohemians gather in the foothills of Alps and gather flowers by hand just for you and your cocktail. They then hand off their sacks of flowers to a little old man on a bicycle, who cycles it off to the market to be purchased for this liqueur. I kid you not - this actually happens. As the website says, Vraiment. Each bottle comes with a number, to assure you that your Bohemian picked some flowers just for you, and your little sideburned man cycled the flowers to market just for you, and St. Germain made them into a drink and put them in a pretty bottle just for you, and your bottle is number 51,044 of the 2007 vintage.

The best way to drink St. Germain that I know of is with champagne. I did not know this until now, but when you drink this, apparently you are to drink a toast to the elegance of simplicity. Will do, mes amis. Or, add 1/4 shot freshly squeezed lemon juice to make a French 77, whereupon you are instructed to contemplate the name as you drink - why 77? Some things shall never be explained.

Lillet Blanc: Lillet Blanc is an aperitif wine created in 1886 by two brothers. It is generally served over ice with or without soda and a twist of orange. Lillet is made of wines and fruits and there is no set recipe.

The most famous recipe calling for Lillet is the "Vesper" martini, created by Ian Fleming in the novel "Casino Royale" in which James Bond creates the drink and names it for his love of the moment, Vesper Lynd. The Vesper was to be made with Kina Lillet, which is no longer produced, so Lillet Blanc is the modern-day substitution.

"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."
"Oui, monsieur."

"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"

"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.

Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."
Campari/Aperol: Campari and Aperol are fraternal twins - closely related, yet not the same.

Campari is a bitters, created by the infusion of a multitude of ingredients combined and macerated in a blend of distilled water and alcohol for several weeks. Campari, like many good alcohols, was invented a long time ago - in 1860. The recipe, also like many good alcohols, is a closely guarded secret. It is known that among the ingredients are bark, quinine, bitter herbs, rhubarb, pomegranate, spices, ginseng, bergamot oil, and orange peel. The taste of Campari most closely resembles grapefruit to me. If you like bitter flavors (I do!) then give Campari a shot. Campari can be drunk with soda, or with grapefruit juice and soda. The classic Campari cocktail is a Negroni, a pre-dinner cocktail. (see below).

Aperol is produced by the same company as Campari, but is less bitter. Aperol was only recently imported to the United States, which is strange, since it seems to have more potential with American palates than its bitter sister. It is flavored with bitter orange, gentian root, rhubarb, and other roots and herbs, and has a low alcohol content of 11%. Where Campari evokes grapefruit, Aperol evokes oranges, a friendlier and more manageable fruit. Aperol generally drunk on its own, with soda, or with prosecco (Italian sparkling wine).

Next time you are out to dinner, especially at a carbo-loading Italian restaurant, consider an aperitif, rather than wine, beer, or cocktails, which can add a lot more to your carb count - if you worry about such things.

NEGRONI Pre dinner ( old fashioned glass )
3.0 cl Gin
3.0 cl Campari
3.0 cl Sweet Red Vermouth
Pour all ingredients directly into old fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir gently. Garnish with half orange slice and stirer.
Optional : Splash of Soda Water.

Whatever your poison , surely there is something above that will work with it. If you have no poison, then what have you been reading this for? Maybe you are curious? Give something a try - perhaps you will discover your very own philosopher's stone or elixir of life.

FOOD SECTION: Feb. 20, 2008 - Screw Fancy Vodka

2008-02-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

This week's food section has an article on "premium" Russian vodkas. The article discusses premium Russian vodkas ranging from the $25-$35 range up to $1,200.

I say, leave them all. I am sure there are vodka enthusiasts out there that will naysay me, but vodka is boring. Vodka is a drink that is engineered to be as "smooth" as possible. In other words, the very best vodkas are made to be all but undetectable. What's the fun in that? Why spend lots of money on an invisible drink.

Allow me to present my choice for vodka (if I must): Vodka Monopolowa. You can get it from Trader Joe's for about $10 and it does everything a vodka is supposed to do. Originally a Polish state-created vodka, it is now produced in Austria. It's the best bargain out there. It is award-winning and its austere label conjures up images of everything vodka has ever been. A people's drink, that gets you through the day and night when life is hard.

This is all the vodka you will ever need. No need to spend money on premium vodkas with extra distilling. Once you put it in a cocktail, you won't even notice the difference between Monopolowa and the fancier brands. It is no swill.

If you must spend $30 on vodka, then why not buy local? Hangar One is from San Francisco and is hand-distilled from American wheat using artisanal methods. In other words, it's everythign that gets us food snobs all hot and bothered. But that also means it's good.

Plus, Hangar One comes in intriguing infusions like Buddha's Hand, Kaffir Lime, and Mandarin Blossom. They also have a collector's "Alchemist" series, which consists of limited edition batches of infusions only for the dedicated. Batch 1 was Wasabi, and Batch 2 was Chipotle. See what I mean?

So, seriously, forget expensive Russian vodkas. Unnecessary. Buy cheap (but quality) or buy local. You'll feel ever so much better.

INFO: What's In Season - Winter

2008-02-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Seasonal eating is all the rage these days, but it's a good trend. Eating what is seasonal is not just cool, it's also responsible. Eating food that's in season means you can also eat local, so you are not encouraging the pollution and use of resources that transporting out of season produce from far away entails. In addition, if you buy your seasonal produce from the farmers or their agents at the farmer's market, then you are supporting those local farmers, and also the local economy by putting money in their pockets.

It's easy enough to buy seasonal produce - just go to the farmers' market and see what the local farmers are selling. However, sometimes it's easier if you know in advance what you are looking for so you can plan a meal ahead. Below is a guide to some fruits and vegetables that are in season now.

LEEKS: The leek is a Mediterranean vegetable, and as such, it is perfectly suited to our Southern California climate. A leek looks like a giant scallion and is related to both garlic and onions, although the leek itself has a mild flavor and fragrance. Leeks are available year round, but now is really their time.

How to Buy: When shopping for leeks, you want to look for ones with crisp, bright leaves, long straight stalks, and an unblemished white portion. Avoid those with withered or yellowed leaves. Smaller leeks will be more tender.

How to Store: Refrigerate leeks in a plastic bag up to five days. Before using, trim rootlets and leaf ends. Slit from top to bottom and wash thoroughly - dirt can get trapped between the layers.

How to Use: You can cook leeks whole, or chop them up and use in salads or soups. I prefer leeks chopped - whole cooked leeks can be slimy, so if you are averse to gelatinous substances in your vegetables, beware.

MEYER LEMONS: Meyer lemons are a relatively new type of lemon to America. They were first imported here in 1908 from China, where they have been grown for centuries. They are rounder and smoother than common lemons and can be yellow or orange. Meyer lemons are distinguished from common lemons by their sweeter and less acidic juice. Meyer lemons are available from November through May.

How to Buy: Choose firm fruit that is heavy for its size, and has a rich yellow-orange color with smooth, thin skin.

How to Store: Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to two weeks, or keep in a bowl for fragrance and color.

How to Use: The sweetness of Meyer lemons makes them perfect for desserts and cocktails.

BLOOD ORANGES: Blood oranges are sweet-tart oranges with a dark red flesh. Blood oranges are sweetest in late winter.

How to Buy: Look for heavy fruit.

How to Store: Refrigerate for up to two weeks; serve at room temperature.

How to Use: Most blood oranges are best eaten fresh, but more acidic varieties like Maltese also work well in cooked sauces. The juice is good to drink alone or as part of a cocktail. Blood orange and fennel go well together and make a yummy winter salad.

PARSNIPS: The parsnip is a European vegetable and has remained more popular in Europe than America. Perhaps because of it's appearance, which is like an oversize white carrot. Parsnips are at their peak in the fall and winter after the first frost of the year converts their starch to sugar, giving them a pleasantly sweet flavor.

How to Buy: Look for small-to-medium, gently tapered roots. Avoid limp, shriveled, or spotted parsnips. If the tops are still attached, that is a sign of freshness.

How to Store: Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to two weeks. To make them last longer, cut off the tops and wrap in paper towels before putting in the plastic bag.

How to Use: Parsnips can be cooked in almost any way, including baked, boiled, sauted, or steamed. They can be boiled and mashed like potatoes, or pureed for a potato subsitute. They make an excellent soup, or can be part of a nice roast winter vegetable dish. Parsnips have iron and vitamin C, so they are good for you!

CAULIFLOWER: Cauliflower is basically a fancy cabbage. It comes in white, purple, orange, and green, and consists of tiny florets on clusters of stalk, like broccoli.

How to Buy: Choose a firm cauliflower with compact florets; crisp, green leaves; and no sign of yellowing. Size doesn't matter (I know, that's what they all say - but it's true!).

How to Store: Refrigerate, tightly wrapped, for 3-5 days. Separate head into florets and wash before using.

How to Use: You can eat it raw, or cooked in a variety of ways. Baking or roasting with curry powder or parmesan cheese is a favorite of mine. Cauliflower is also a good source of vitamin C and iron.

KALE: Kale is another member of the cabbage family, and humans have been cultivating it for more than 2,000 years. It's happiest in colder climates like Northern Europe, but also grows in warmer climates. Its high vitamin content and heartiness make it a perfect choice for winter. Kale is at its best in the winter months although you can usually get it year round.

How to Buy: Choose richly colored, small bunches. Avoid those with limp or yellowing leaves.

How to Store: Store in the coldest part of the refrigerator for 2-3 days. After that the flavor will become strong and the leaves limp. Remove stalk before using kale.

How to Use: In can prepared in any way that you would use spinach, and is good in small amounts in salad. I like to add kale to hearty winter soups. One of my favorites is a kale, sausage, and white bean soup. Kale is high in vitamins A and C, folic acid, calcium, and iron.

FENNEL: Fennel is another Mediterranean vegetable. It has a broad, bulbous base, and soft, feathery leaves. All parts of the fennel can be used in cooking. Many people associate fennel with anise and avoid it if they don't like licorice, but fennel is sweeter and more delicate than anise, especially when cooked. Fennel is available fall through spring.

How to Buy: Choose clean, crisp bulbs with no browning. The greenery should be fresh and green.

How to Store: Refrigerate, tightly wrapped, in a plastic bag, up to five days.

How to Use: Fennel makes a good salad addition, or can be braised, sauteed, or added to soups. Fennel is rich in vitamin A and also has calcium, phosphorous, and potassium.

GRAPEFRUIT: Grapefruit is a tropical fruit that grows well in California. Grapefruit actually grows in grapelike clusters, which is where it gets the name. There are many types of grapefruit and you can find several varieties at the local farmer's markets. Fresh grapefruit is available year-round, but California's season is January - August.

How to Buy: Choose fruit with thin, fine-textured, bright skin. They should be firm, but springy when you squeeze them gently. The heavier they are for their size, the juicier they are.

How to Store: Do not store at room temperature more than a day or two. They keep up to two weeks wrapped in a plastic bag and placed in a crisper drawer of a refrigerator. Serve at room temperature.

How to Use: Grapefruits are probably best just eaten fresh. You can also use them in salad, or sprinkle with brown sugar and broil for a treat. Grapefruit is a good source of vitamin C. Eat them to keep away the dreaded scurvy!

BRUSSELS SPROUTS: Brussels sprouts originally come from Belgium, of course. Like many other winter vegetables, they are a member of the cabbage family, and in fact, they even look like tiny little cabbages. They grow on a long stalk that has many sprouts in a row. They can be 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, with the smaller being more tender. They are available until March.

How to Buy: Buy small bright green sprouts with compact heads.

How to Store: Store unwashed sprouts in an airtight plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. After that, the flavor will suffer.

How to Use: Brussels sprouts are a tough one, but there are good ways to prepare them. Roasted or braised brussels sprouts are nice, and you can cover them with bread crumbs sauteed in butter. Brussels sprouts are high in vitamins A and C and are a fair source of iron.

PRODUCTS: Enviro-Products on a Budget

2008-02-12T21:13:00.000-08:00

This post is inspired by Jessica, whose blog, No Accounting for Taste, is a treasure trove of home design ideas for those of us who are forced to live a thrifty lifestyle. If it is cool, and on eBay, she will find it for you.

In the recent issue of Bon Appetit--the aforementioned "green issue"--they have some examples of environmentally friendly products to purchase for your home or kitchen. The problem? They may be friendly to the earth, but they are not friendly to your wallet. I took it upon myself to see if I couldn't find some equally earth-friendly products for the common man.

1. Recycled Purse: This first one was a doozy. The recommended product was a purse made of recycled burlap coffee bags. It is very cute, but it comes with a $444 price tag. Way out of my budget for a purse. If you want a recycled purse, I've got two other options for you. One, you could always make one yourself - old coffee bags are $3-4 on eBay. If you're not crafty, UnCommon Goods has a clutch made out of recycled candy wrappers that is supercute and comes in at the much lower price tag of $28.

2. Coffee Mug: The magazine suggests a ceramic mug handcrafted in a Swiss factory that runs on renewable energy. It is very admirable to support businesses that use sustainable practices, and those who have $28 for a coffee mug are encouraged to do so. One of the biggest environmental hazards of coffee, however, is the disposable coffee cup. Another way to be a responsible coffee drinker is to purchase a travel mug, and have your friendly barista fill it for you when you stop for your morning cuppa. This one is stainless steel (not plastic). It is recyclable, if you ever cease using it, and made using fair labor practices. Price: $12.95.

3. Necklace: I can't do better than the recycled glass necklace by artist Kathleen Smart featured in the article. However, the triple ring lariat necklace they feature comes with a price tag of $112. But on the artist's website, you can find simpler versions for $60-$72.

4. Kichen Clock: This modern-style clock, inspired by citrus slices, is made from recycled detergent bottles. The price is $45, which is not too expensive, but I can do them one better, with this clock made from recycled 45s. It's a little more funky than the other one, but will only cost you $28.

5. Dish Towels: The magazine recommends dish towels made of hemp, a plant that is easily cultivated without pesticides or fertilizers. They offer up some classic-looking towels from French General, which are $24 apiece. A little sleuthing tells me that eBay seller, Marta's Hemp Treasures, can get you vintage Hungarian hemp dish towels for $10-$15 per towel. The towels were made with hemp grown without pesticides in Transylvania, and were completely hand-processed and sewn.

6. Soy Candles: Finally, the article recommends soy candles by Soybeam, in reusable glasses, made with organic essential oils. These candles are simple and elegant, but will cost you $44 each. I located Candles By Phebes, another source of soy candles in recycled glass containers. These candles are only $11.50 each. The candles also come in a huge variety of fragrances, including unusual ones like tomato-basil and "Taj Mahal." And appropriate to the moment, they also have political blends, each one specially formulated for Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Libertarian.

NEWS: Blue Velvet Makes Bon Appetit List of Eco-Friendly Restaurants

2008-02-10T18:12:00.001-08:00

In its February "green" issue, Bon Appetit dedicates its "Hot 10" restaurant list to ten eco-friendly restaurants where according to them, you can eat with a clean conscience. Making the list for Los Angeles is Blue Velvet, a lounge/bar on the outskirts of downtown.

The magazine says:

When Kris Morningstar wants top-quality ingredients, all he does is head up to the rooftop garden for fruits and vegetables. As part of The Flat, a 'green' apartment complex downtown, Blue Velvet's 4000-square-foot garden utilizes planter's boxes, galvanized metal, and lightweight soil.

You will pay for the privilege of all this eco-friendliness. If you opt for drinks and snacks at the bar, one cocktail and one appetizer will set you back at least $20, and possibly as much as $30. If you want to eat a real meal, entrees are $24-$32, or you can get a tasting menu for $85.

The atmosphere is very urban-cool. Sitting at the poolside tables with flames gently flickering around you, you feel like you are sitting in the future of downtown L.A. This is what all of those downtown boosters want you to imagine when they try to sell you their loft apartments -- you too can live in an eco-friendly box, and walk your dog through the last vestiges of Hispanic Los Angeles and then come home and get a $12 whiskey and coke and a $10 bowl of popcorn shrimp before going upstairs to bed.

Do I sounds cynical, well, that's because as with so many things in Los Angeles, it feels much cooler than it is. Sitting out in the pool area on a warm summer night with some friends, you feel like you are in a cool spot. But the drinks and the food are just good--not great, and come at premium prices.

And yes, The Flat is designed with the very latest of modern minimalist chic, and it is built with sustainable materials and the aforementioned rooftop garden. But while a prospective tenant coming to view the building might agree, that like the firelit patio, the building feels cool, they seem to discover upon moving in that they can't quite maximize their cramped studio in the same way the professional designer who did the showcase space did, and that there's not enough parking to go around, and having a bar right outside your apartment is not as cool as you might have imagined when you have to get up for work the next day, and there are loud drunken people in your front yard until 2:00 a.m., and that they have no access to this wonderful rooftop paradise they have heard so much about.

It's a shame, because Blue Velvet really does FEEL cool, and I might still stop for a drink here with friends if I was on my way downtown, and the weather was nice. But if it was downscaled a little bit to be cheaper and mellower, then this is a place I would want to stop often.

Blue Velvet
750 S. Garland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213-239-0061

Who Else Has Been to Blue Velvet?