Gastronomy 101

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 ad...

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 m...

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...

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 ...