Hot Beef Injection at Great Chefs of Los Angeles November 9, 2009

Go Green, Go Organic!
Great Chefs of Los Angeles

CBS Studio Center

4024 Radford Dr.
Studio City, CA 91604
November 9, 2009
12-3:30PM

Last weekend, on a blindingly sunny early November Sunday, CBS studios hosted the 2009 Great Chefs of Los Angeles to benefit the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California.  George and Ann Lopez were honorary chair people lending their humor to the event and their visages to the red carpet. Chefs included Govind Armstrong of 8 Oz. Burger Bar on Melrose and Table 8 in NYC and Miami, Neal Fraser of Grace, Josie Balch of Josie in Santa Monica, Celestino Drago of  Drago Ristorante, Enoteca Drago, and Drago Centro, my personal favorite Adam Horton of Saddle Peak Lodge who recognized me from commentary on KevinEats blog review of SPL *yay*, and many many more. So many more, and so many many chefs serving autumnally appropriate red meat under the hot Indian summer sun.

 

Not a member of the invited media for this event, Mr. FST and I both received one of these generous goody bags stuffed with fun and useful items, including one seductive pomegranate.

 

The POM company had quite a presence at the event, from the cartload of fruit to their own table with juice samples and something even more irresistible. More about that later.

The very first table I hit was Saddle Peak Lodge manned by the aforementioned Adam Horton. I shook his hand but I kinda wanted to lick it.

A simple bite of grilled antelope with cabbage, bacon, apple and black garlic on a crouton round.  Delicious, appropriately sized, easy to eat.

 

We were both charmed by the people and product at the Sushi Poppers table.  A new product that will hopefully be working its way across our radars.  I chose a hamachi (3 pieces sized for the event, I assume they will sell a 6-8 piece roll) which was simple made with no dairy or mayo (a shame to have to qualify this) and very fresh.  They plan to sell these at convenient stores such as Famimas, 7-11s, and the airport. This kicks ass on the greasy Caesar salad served at the sports bar in the Southwest terminal at the Bob Hope airport.

 

The POM Wonderful table.

 

Mr. FST went gaga for these POM/chocolate cupcakes. Chocolate cake with POM infused chocolate ganache icing.

 

I have not yet had the opportunity to hit up Akasha, so it was not high on my list of spots to visit.  However, D was starving, so started off at a frantic pace. He came running back to me demanding that I try Akasha's Niman Ranch Short Rib on a pretzel roll.

 

Akasha FTW at the event, I think.  Short ribs, check. Pretzel bread, check. horseradish slaw, omg, check. Pickles, check.  D and I will be visiting Akasha sometime this season for sure.

 

Frank Family represents with three kinds of red. I was taking it easy on the boozing after a crazy Saturday night. But Frank Family makes some beautiful wines.

 

Loteria! Grill showed up with two quesedillas. Corn truffle.

 

And zucchini flower, which was nice but the zucchini flavor was subtle in the one I tasted.

 

I definitely have a white girl's schema when it comes to a quesedilla, because these look like empanadas. I am certainly no expert, really in any kind of cuisine. They were beautiful and tasted good.

 

Neil Fraser of Grace jumped into the red meat fray with these bites of veal and polenta.

 

I don't ever remember having had veal shortribs, they were certainly satisfyingly fatty and the polenta had the right amount of earthy grit. The food at Grace always makes me happy.

 

Thank you, SmartWater, for soothing my hangover and keeping me hydrated during the relatively warm day.

 

SmartWater stations abounded throughout the food marathon.  Speaking of marathons, Neil of FoodMarathon.com tweeted that he was on his way but I saw neither hide nor hair of him.

 

Brian Moyers cooking for BLT Steak offered the following:

 

Red meat with a squash puree, I thought it was pumpkin but I could be diremembering.

 

This is one of the smarter tasting events I have been to. There was a proper amount of seating for weary eaters, tables scattered throughout our pathways to pause and savor a bite. And several bars, wine stations and alcohol-free beverage offerings. Classy, thoughtful.

 

Ice cold fruity beverages were being concocted above at this bar in the shade, they were really tempting in the heat.

 

Govind Armstrong was the guest chef of the afternoon.  Pace Webb of GreenGirls.com interviews Govind about the event and the challenges of cooking sustainably and organically here.

 

Govind offered us beef.

 

A beautiful panini-esue short bib grilled Bel Paese cheese with truffled heirloom potato chips.

 

Starting to get full, I could not resist the generosity of Andrea Cavaliere from Cecconi's in West Hollywood..

 

A simple truffled risotto, with plentiful truffle shavings on top.

 

I considered nicking the truffle jar, but it wouldn't fit in my purse.

Dakota Chop House and Jason Johnston.

 

Offered a short rib slider with kale and caramelized onion.

 

This was a really large bite.  More than I could chew, at this point in the day. It looked lovely, I hope what they are offering these days in their restaurant is of equal or superior quality.

 

Josie Balch of Josie in Santa Monica shared with us a quiche.

 

If I was puzzled by the uniformly red meat approach of the day, I was even moreso by the quiche. When I think of Josie, I think game & local produce. I like quiche, Quiche reminds me of mom and baby showers.

 

Fuego in Long Beach offered the only lamb I spied.

 

I got the opportunity to chat with Jesse Perez, but apparently his lamb en mole (28 ingredients) was so delicious, I didn't take the opportunity to shoot it. It was really wonderful.

 

Although I found the idea of beer kind of off putting, Fireman's Brew was there along brewery row to share three concoctions.

 

Sterling Vineyards squeezed in among the beer to share their organic wines with us, I sipped at a Sauvignon Blanc and it was lovely. I would defnitely buy this for keeping at home and drinking while cooking.

 

A little glass of cold white wine started to set my head on straight.

 

Stella Artois and Hoegaarden.

 

Melissa's, one organic option you see as a strong presence at Gelson's and Mayfair. I buy their products sometimes, but marvel at the amount of packaging used. Paradoxical somewhat, I suppose. But who am I to complain about paradoxes when grocery shopping at Gelson's nearly defeats the purpose of buying items to prepare food at home. The purpose of saving money at any rate.

 

Trefethen Family Vineyards.

 

The above strawberry cupcakes come from the cutest table in the entire event, Leyna's Kitchen. These cupcakes were strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream frosting and strawberry puree filling. I know, D took the bullet and ate one for me. They won Public Choice for Most Original at the Los Angeles 2008 Cupcake Challenge.

 

I should have snapped some shots of the beautiful girls in their matching hair ribbons...

 

Minx is located in Glendale, and despite the fact that their table was all the way at the back of the event, they threw down three different options for hungry people.

 

Pork Belly Sliders with Bacon.

 

Vegetarian Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Tarts with Kabocha Squash,

 

Spicy Ahi Tuna Tacos in Wanton shells.

Izze was pushing fruit drink shots and lip balm. My lips thanked you.

Paco & Lola were also on hand with their Albarino, one of my favorite varietals. It was refreshingly delicious, and I love the packaging.

 

I dared to ask the chef at Moonshadows if they were serving a Virgin Octopus Bloody Mary. He was not amused.

 

D said this was wonderful. Octopus, tomato, pickled onion and I thought there was olive on the skewer as well.

Jorge Gomez was front and center at La Grande Orange.  We chatted about my love of his green chili burger.

Jorge fed us the simple, the classic, the devilled egg.

 

And a wonderful Brussel sprout sald with manchego, almonds and a vinaigrette. LOVED.

 

Kevin Alan Lee (Lutece, Vegas) from the new East on Hollywood Blvd was around, somewhere. I kinda wanted to chat, but the guy working the station was torn between being helpful and something else.

 

We stopped into East for a late night cocktail the first weekend they were open, and the interior is indeed beautiful in that restaurant-come-nightclub kind of way.  The cocktail list was tempting, the manager was very friendly and helpful, but the food served by East at Great Chefs definitely made me hanker for a visit.

 

Hawaaian Waia with a Miso Mustard Cream. Fantastic, and kept pleasingly chilled.

This might have been the best bite of the entire day. Raw scallops on the half shell with Sambal and Wasabi Creme Fraiche.  The accompaniments to the scallop were kept minimal allowing the freshness of the shellfish to burst forward in your mouth, this was divine. I hope it's replicated at the restaurant.

Michael Mina's XIV.  The qualifier that now pops up under XIV during a Google is, "a lively lounge with casual dining". What a difference a year makes. When I dined there for my anniversary, a few months after they first opened in 2008, it was dressy opulent luxe with fur throws and couches cozied up to fireplaces.

 

Clearly, someone planned for a warm afternoon.

 

The Vichysoisse was nice, but nothing to write home about.

 

Jose Andres' The Bazaar.

 

Mixing the delicious and potent nitro-caipirinha.

 

Instead of the caviar cones served in the restaurant from the carts menu, they were handing out guacamole cones.  Perfect for the beautiful afternoon. All the elements of guacamole, with Andres' special way of using only the heart of the tomato, a little avocado and other minced veg in the bottom of the cone.  Charming.

 

Sweets from the Patisserie.

 

We didn't indulge, but gosh it was a pretty display. It remained unmolested, so I am assuming that people were either full or didn't want to spoil the visual.

 

A bounty of beautiful 'shrooms...

 

and a zuppa di funghi.

 

From Giacomino Drago at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills.

 

Celestino Drago offered a nice little duck sandwich that was lovely, with a fall squash soup.

 

It looks bigger than it was, it was perfectly bite sized and yummy.

 

I skipped the madness at the Border Grill truck on the way in, and on the way out it was my last thin mint.

 

Mary's baby tacos were too interesting looking to pass up.

 

Mustard seed encrusted avocado tacos on corn tortillas.  Still rich, but a luscious break from all the meat. Reminding me why we as a city love Milliken and Feniger's food.

 

On the way out I felt like taking attendance based on whose jacket was left on the rack. It's the teacher in me.

Omakase at Toshi in Little Tokyo

Toshi Sushi

357 E 1st St

Los Angeles, CA 90012-3901
(213) 680-4166

When we first moved to Echo Park, years ago, and started exploring Little Tokyo in earnest from the tips of its izakayas to the toes of its grottier village sushi bars, we fell in love with the sushi chef at Sharin, located at 357 E 1st Street which now houses Toshi. D swears the chef from Sharin is his late Grandpa Nat's Japanese doppelganger. We used to go eat his inexpensive  simple well prepared sushi, chat about Grandpa Nat and his love for Skipper, and drink cold sake under the watchful smile of the older gentleman chef.  Long gone, but the neon fish remains, the restaurant looks much the same and there is still good food to be had here now under the moniker Toshi Sushi.

 

The second to the last time I ate at Toshi was just a few weeks ago on a break from a day in court with our attorney.  The three of us sat at the bar and all ordered the sushi/sashimi lunch special plate.  I was a little astounded our ex-football star tall blonde and hunky all-American (read blonde hair, blue eyes) attorney would be so adventuresome. The plate was generous and delicious. We gobbled down the chunks of tuna, albacore sushi, squid sashimi and other interesting bits and pieces until we were full as ticks before heading back to work. Thrilled with my lunch, I was excited when Tony C, that deliciously entertaining and outspoken rat over at Sinosoul, suggested a group omakase at Toshi. Also in attendance were Mr. FST, Hahn from Hungry Hungry Hahn, and Nancy of The Wander Kind.  Some of the table started with beer. I started with cold sake, above.

 

The first dish, an amuse bouche I think the server said, was fermented mountain yam with wakame. Mountain yam from Japan is served raw, and takes on a mucilaginous texture when grated. Here, it is served slightly fermented in a sweet tasting vinegar with wakame, the slightly thick soft type of seaweed typically found in miso soup.

 

Next out, a beautiful trio to titillate our taste buds.  Barely a bite of marinated tuna. Yummy, this makes an appearance again a little later.

 

Baby squid in a dark sauce, slightly sweet. Ponzu, maybe, with grated ginger.

 

And the ubiquitous but wonderful oyster with ponzu, ginger, chives and tobiko.

 

In ascending order: mackerel, tuna and hirame sushi. The hirame served with a strip of shiso for flavor. I used to detest shiso. Loving the flavor of raw fish in all its incarnations I thought shiso took over the flavors completely. However, after my culinary tour through Little Saigon with Chef Danhi, I developed an interest in shiso and its botanical relatives due to their importance in cooking throughout Asia.  Here, I make Nobu's tempura uni wrapped in shiso and it was delicious. Uni and shiso work together beautifully.

 

Requisite miso glazed broiled fish. I don't know what kind of oily fish this is. It looks too dark to be sea bass or black cod. Tony?

 

Other things I do not know: the name for a large plate with a smorgasboard of different delicacies served in a Japanese restaurant, the molar mass of nitroglycerin, the name of my future puppy. The salmon was fresh, fatty and melted in my mouth.

 

Above, see thin slices of Wagyu beef on foil, and underneath is a layer of ice cubes.  Not a fan of the beef over ice cubes.  They made the beef super über très cold, and a little hard. The fat was too cold to melt in my mouth the way it should, and it made something that was most likely intended to be a highlight on the plate seem just meh.

 

A beautiful raw Spanish mackerel resided in the middle of the plate, cut into bite sized sashimi pieces running along the spine, with the tail curled decorously toward the head and entwined in radish curls.  Tony asked the server to take back the carcass of said fish and fry it up, she initially said no, and apparently the chef redirected her to retrieve the remains and he did indeed fry it up for Sinosoul.

Not really interested in eating this myself, I do appreciate the whole animal approach to eating.

 

Basket of tempura'd octopus, lovely. Glad they sat this right by my hot little hands.

 

And as I started to get full of food, sake and great companionship out comes a large plate of sushi. One.for.each.of.us.

 

Wonderfully fresh uni, succulent mackerel, fatty salmon and tamago there at the back, cooked egg beribboned with shiso. Top right, hirame reappears with its thin strip of shiso.

 

The above doesn't look marbled enough to be toro, and I cannot remember what it tasted like. I might have been full and pawned it off on Mr. FST.

I missed snapping a pic of a winning clam miso that was our last savory course prior to tea and an intense green tea ice cream that would make angels sing.  Sometimes at the end of a long meal I end up a little overserved alcohol-wise or overserved food-wise and my commitment to documentation wavers. Let me assure you that this was a wonderful meal that ended even more elegantly than it started.  It was well worth the $44 per head price tag, even if there wasn't room at the sushi bar to chat with and interrogate Toshiko Seki-san.

LA Times reports that Toshiko Seki is a trained in Japan 30 year sushi chef veteran who previously cut, diced and rolled in New York at Azuma and still runs his own sushi catering business, Sushi Catering Toshi.  Almost exactly a year ago, LA Times Daily Dish reported on Toshi's opening and Seki's simple classic approach to sushi.  Other reports in the year since the grand opening have been overwhelmingly positive. Here, and here, and here (although is most of this gushing Sinosoul?).

I will definitely be back to Toshi with the same frequency I have been pursuing, about once every three months or so.  I might not cave again on the omakase, but I am keen to try the chirashi (my ultimate favorite sushi offering) and look forward to another opportunity to drop in for a lunch special.

Ludobites at Royal/T in December

Ludobites
Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 559-6300

Coming this December 02-04, 09-10,13-17, 20-22 at Royal/T, Ludobites pops up again in Culver City for a very limited engagement.  We all know Royal/T as Los Angeles's first Japanese cosplay cafe, recently host to the Three Apples Hello Kitty 35th Birthday event.  Ludobites will be presented at Royal/T in conjunction with Jane Glassman's exhibit "In Bed Together".

While there is no news yet about Jane Glassman's exhibit on the Royal/T website, I have definite plans to dine with Ludo and Krissy during their 13 day pop-up appearance.  Click the link to email Ludo to make your own reservation before all the spaces are filled.

Reviews of my previous visits here, here and here.

Some actual dining experiences coming up soon to read about...I promise.  I am on the verge of a landscape of fun dining.

Eat My Blog Los Angeles Bloggers Charity Bake Sale to Benefit Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

Zeke's Smokehouse
7100 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90046
323.850.9353
December 5 10AM-4PM

Angelenos with a penchant for gourmet sweets are invited to attend the first ever Eat My Blog bake sale on Saturday December 5th from 10AM to 4PM.  Zeke's will host the event on their sidewalk patio where Eat My Blog will donate 600+ baked goods including whoopie pies, pumpkin swirl brownies, handmade macarons, sesame cupcakes with matcha frosting and more.  All proceeds will be donated to the Los Angles Regional Food Bank to help raise a greater awareness for those looking to give back to the Los Angeles community.

Cathy Danh, author of Gastonomy and founder of Eat My Blog, says, "Eat My Blog is an opportunity for the blogging community to give back to those in need. If this goes well, we plan to make it a biannual occurrence."

"It's a great way to connect with people in an intimate and real way," said Diana Hossfield of Diana Takes a Bite and organizing member of Eat My Blog.  "It's Tastespotting come to life - for a cause that's near and dear to our hearts."

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is a non-profit charitable organization that has been mobilizing resources to help fight hunger in the community since 1973.

I personally am planning to make three flavors of macarons, furthering the Macaron Diaries and to enjoy being assisted by my internet bffs.  

Come, buy, eat, give.

Heritage Square Museum Fund Raiser Luncheon

Heritage Square Museum 40th Anniversary Fundraiser
Saturday, November 7, 2009 from 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
San Antonio Winery
737 Lamar Street
Los Angeles, CA 90031
Tickets are $125.00

photo courtesy of LATimes


From the Heritage Square Museum website:

A living history museum reflecting the settlement and development of Southern California from the Civil War to the early 20th Century, Heritage Square Museum offers visitors a look into the everyday lives of Southern Californians at the close of the 19th Century.

About the luncheon:

Honorary Event Chair, Councilman Ed Reyes, District One, will be in attendance and making a special presentation, along with many celebrity guests, including our Master of Ceremonies, Al Downing, former pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, actor Troy Evans, from NBC's ER, and Academy Award Show co-host Jane Monreal. The Museum will recognize Justin Gershuny, one of the museum's founders, and volunteers Natalie Meyer and Nancy Rhinehart for their amazing contributions and service to the museum.

Special behind-the-scenes tours of the winery, old cars, costumed docents and a lovely Italian luncheon will make this an afternoon one won’t soon forget. And the prize for attending our fancy soiree? A chance to win several limited edition bottles of wine with a one-of-a-kind Heritage Square wine label, available only at this event.  There will also be several unique, silent auction and opportunity drawing items, including a special tour of a historic home off-limits to members of the general public! The only way to win this and many other exclusive auction prizes - buy a ticket to the fundraiser!

Tours of the San Antonio Winery and wine tasting reception are from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., with an Italian luncheon buffet beginning at 2:30 p.m. The 40th Anniversary Fundraiser is also sponsored by: 
Pankow Builders, Ltd., Southern California Gas Company - A Sempra Utility,
Justin Gershuny, and Davis Blue Print Co.

Making Lumpia for a Non-Event

Invited by Tony from Sinosoul and Eating Valley Blvd, one of my favorite food bloggers, to a potluck with the LA Food Bloggers Group, I decided to make lumpia for my pot. The LA Food Bloggers Group seeks to build bridges within the local food blogging community and the LA food community at large, today's potluck was to be their second gathering. I shopped and schemed to make lumpia and in the end decided I couldn't spare the time to actually go to said potluck due to my busy upcoming work week. Le sigh.

 

I walked down the hill to A Grocery Warehouse on Sunset, my favorite grocery store on planet Earth.  Grabbed some Maggi sauce because some blogger was going on and on and on about Maggi sauce, and I remembered when I lived in London I used to sprinkle it on my salad instead of dressing like my then roommate.  British people are weird and that's OK. I also picked up Sriracha,  which in my poor college days I used to eat mixed with brown rice and consider that a meal. Grabbed a couple of cans of lychee for making martinis later in the week, lumpia wrappers and a bottle of dipping sauce for spring rolls because I am too lazy to make my own. My friend Mylene will laugh at this. I spent $20. Srsly.

 

My favorite lumpia wrappers.  I always buy this brand.  Next time, I may use Burnt Lumpia's recipe for homemade wrappers. As a child I learned to make an excellent crepe, and this cannot be that different.

 

I got my recipe for lumpia filling from Burnt Lumpia's guest blog on Rasa Malaysia. It's a very basic recipe, I substituted ground turkey for the ground pork.  Also, I may have been a little more generous with the ginger and garlic. I ended up with a crazy delicious gingery ground turkey filling. So good.  Last time I didn't even use a recipe, and added minced carrots, green onions and celery as well. That was good too.  Marvin at Burnt Lumpia suggests using the filling raw, roll in wrapper and cook. I par-cooked my filling though, almost but not quite all the way cooked, then filled.

 

Lumpia wrappers are paper thin. You might think they would tear as you separate them one by one from the stack, but no. Surprisingly, they retain structural integrity as you lift them from one another.

 

Problems start to arise in the process of the rolling.  Above, see an example of too much filling.  Fill them too much and the relatively hard texture of the meat tears the wrapper. Roll them too tightly and the same occurs.  The amount of filling needs to be just right, and you need to roll with a firm but gentle hand.

 

 One row of perfectly (as perfect from my hand as we get at this point) rolled lumpia.

 

 I chose soybean oil to fry in this morning.  The Soya website informs us about soy bean oil,

"Soybean oil is widely used oil and is commonly called ‘vegetable oil’. Soybean oil is a very healthy food ingredient despite the bad publicity regarding fats and oils in general. Soybean oil is very popular because it is cheap, healthful and has a high smoke point. Soybean oil does not contain much saturated fat. Like all other oils from vegetable origin, soybean oil contains no cholesterol. Saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart diseases and mainly found in products from animal origin such as milk, cheese and meat products. Soybean oil contains natural antioxidants which remain in the oil even after extraction. These antioxidants help to prevent the oxidative rancidity."

Apparently lots of vegetable oils are made from soya or have soy bean oil in them. This one, the Asian Taste Vegetable Oil, is 100% soy.

 

Happily frying away. My lumpia look nothing like Marvin's, or Flo's. Flo is the mother of my bff. Their family lived in the Phillippines when B was a child and Flo can throw down some seriously delicious lumpia. I will be eating more than my fair share of her perfect, tightly rolled and evenly fried lumpia December 24th at around 5PM.

 

Mine look more like chimichangas. I burnt a few in homage to the Burnt Lumpia blog.

 

They were damned good, for lunch. And they will be damned good again for dinner tonight.

Domino's Pizza Blog Entry that Should Have Been a Tweet

Aggressively mediocre, but yet so fast it can barely be called pizza. Should fall into the fast food category.  The end.

Blue Bottle Coffee Cafe at Equator Books Grand Opening Par-tay

Equator Books
1103 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291-3313
(310) 399-5544

On Saturday November 7, 2009 come to Venice, experience Blue Bottle Coffee, and meet Blue Bottle's James Freeman.

7PM-11PM. 

Seems like a great way to kick off the holidays.

While you're here, check out some art.

Chill out, read a book.

Eat some Cake Monkey.

Cake Monkey & Blue Bottle Coffee, good.

Dinner at Mom's October 2009

First fall dinner party, at Mom's house in Sacramento with Mom's bff, D and myself enjoying the surprisingly balmy evening, lots of good food and just a hair too much wine.

We start with our favorite fizz, Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose, Mom says this is the last bottle until after the recession is over. It feels like a decadent treat these days and we relish every bubble and sip with lots of toasts to chronicle what's good in our lives.

 

When my bff was visiting from London, she brought over a couple special bottles of fizz as a gift to me, so I might surprise Mom with some bubbling decadence at Christmas despite all our resolutions to tighten the belt buckles and make do with California sparkling wine.

 

Proscuitto, basil and gruyere palmiers.  Buttery, cheesy, flaky goodness and as usual Sue eats so many of the savory hors d'ouevres she barely has an appetite for dinner. Mom has no room to complain, because this is less a repeat than an outright habit.  You two kill me. Mom, if you want Sue to eat a bigger dinner, make less hors d'ouevres. Or, just don't care. She's eating, for crying out loud.

 

Mom has always set a beautiful table, even when making us scrambled eggs and toast before sending us to catch the school bus.

 

One of her small collection of salt cellars.

 

A trusim. She loves her wine. Apples fall from trees and only roll so far.

 

Sunday Suppers at Lucques is Mom's favorite cookbook, she cooks from it often.

 

I love how she has it coded and dog-eared for herself using dozens of post-its.  These are recipes she has already made or is planning on making in the foreseeable future.  A deep and enduring love for the post-it note is an inherited trait, apparently.  I love how Mom's passion for cooking has evolved over the years. Always a great cook, I remember her gourmet dinner parties in the 1970's, cress salad with Green Goddess dressing, making mac & cheese pre-trend from scratch with hand grated sharp cheddar and crispy thick bacon bits, Yorkshire pudding for Christmas dinner for as long as I can recall. Now that she works her behind off and does most of her major cooking for events and dinner parties, there is always something fancy afoot. A new recipe, a special ingredient, an ethnic perspective she hasn't played with yet. Reflecting Saturday night on her hobby, she said cooking is completely the opposite of practicing the law. And as a corporate bankruptcy attorney in this economic climate, I imagine anything that feels different from her 9-5 is a relief and a joy.

 

Last Saturday she cooked up Goins' Spicy Pork Stew with Polenta, Root Vegetables, Gremolata.

 

For some insane reason, she decided it was a little too spicy.  In complete disagreement, I argued that if you get rid of the heat you simply are left with pork stew, not that this would be a bad thing. But it certainly wasn't overly spicy, and if anything when cooking this at home I might even bump the heat up a notch or so.

 

Green salad with frisee, cress, arugula, pear, bleu cheese crumbles and pomegranates picked from Sue's tree Saturday morning. Sue shelled those seeds with her own little hands a few hours after plucking the ripe fruit from her garden.

 

Mom also collects vintage and antique cookery and cutlery. The above silverware is mongrammed with an E, for Elizabeth supposedly. Elizabeth who? I have no clue.

 

Tossing the salad.

 

About this time we pulled out the Petite Syrah, 2004 Marilyn Remark from Monterey. Silky smooth and wonderful with against the spicy flavors of the pork and the richness of the polenta.

 

Midway through the meal, Mom took a break from eating to construct financiers, a little French almond cookie. Not like a macarons, because financiers also have flour and butter. A tiny bit like a madeleine, but denser and stickier.

 

She has had these little tin pans around for eons.

 

And also wanted to use the opportunity to try her hand at baking in silicon. Silicon is great for baking, easy in, easy out, easy cleaning.

 

Flour, almond meal and sugar.

 

This vintage measuring cup holds the egg whites.  This belonged to Aunty Marge or Aunty Olive.  And the Pyrex bowl in the back has been around since I was a child. I have used it myself for hundreds of concoctions.

 

Adding the egg whites to dry ingredients.

 

Folding.

 

Stirring in the melted butter.

 

And filling both the tin cookie shells...

 

and the silicon baking forms.

 

Naturally, I think the cookies from the tin turned out more charming. Also, more batter went in each tin shape, so the cookies didn't cook quite as thoroughly and were thus less dry, stickier.

But they all made a pretty plate.

And the late October sun set, mirrored in the little lake populated by ducks, geese and other water fowl here and there all busy heading south. I think they travel like most Californians and just follow the 5.

Gastrodeliciousness at Village Idiot

Village Idiot
7383 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046-7526
(323) 655-3331

Ridiculously behind in my posts, this is what a great deal of travel does to the lowly food blogger. A few weeks back, D and I stopped into Village Idiot during errand running after trying to find Ricky the fish taco guy near the Silver Lake Farmer's Market. Fail, on that front anyway.  Gonna hafta give that another whirl because not only does Eat, Drink & Be Merry report in on Ricky's deliciousness, so does Diana Takes a Bite, Eating LA, Will from Food Digger, and the Twitterati (on the weekend, his name pops up consistently from noon through 4, both Saturdays and Sundays). I am nothing if not a trend hound.  At any rate, our errands took us farther west and we landed at Village Idiot, B & M's local haunt.

 

The large chalkboard on the east wall tells visitors about their specials, a Sunday Roast, guest beers on tap, luncheons and brunches, their Twitter feed, and so on.

Beers and wines.  I have stopped in a couple times, most memorably after a special benefit event at The Foundry in which they fed us almost nothing. S & I came over to the Idiot for delicious mussels.  Telling is the fact that I haven't visited more. When passing by and spontaneously hungry, Village Idiot is usually bursting at the seams with drinkers and diners. This is why. The why of the burstingness.

Heirloom tomato and ricotta salad with large flat leaf parsley.  The variegated stripes in these tomatoes made us think they were peeled, they were not and they were delicious. I like the surprise of ricotta instead of burrata here, but the salad was missing its red onion.

Squid salad with frisee, cherry tomatoes, arugula, preserved lemons. The flavor in this was immense from the preserved lemons. The greens being slightly overdressed can be forgiven because the squid were grilled to delicate, soft and easily chewable perfection.

Brussels sprouts with smoked bacon. YUM! The bacon chunks were huge, and the sprouts had a very present acidic note. Maybe balsamic? So good.

Echoing some of the flavor sensations of the Brussels sprouts was a grilled pork belly on collard greens with cooked apple slices. The salty pork, the slightly sour collards, the sweet apple. I have never had better pork belly anywhere. An incredibly Southern dish, this screams Americana.  Gosh, I want it for lunch today and am sorry to be spending my time far east of the Village Idiot.

D ate fish tacos in the end, despite having missed Ricky. Suggestion has powerful influence on a hungry man's appetite.  Snapper, grilled with cherry tomatoes, herbs, and onions. A giant cabbage salad, which we ate with a fork, not a tortilla. And a nice mound of little corn tortillas, fresh and warm if not housemade.

I wish we ate here more often, I wish we lived down the block.