New York Strip Steak and Bell Pepper Relish

I went Paleo diet the other night by searing a bone-in New York Strip steak in my cast-iron skillet with just salt, pepper and canola oil and letting it rest. I also roasted some green bell peppers under the broiler and then peeled and sliced them thinly before finishing them with salt, pepper and red-wine vinegar for some tang. I served it by slicing the steak and laying the pepper relish on top. The acid in the vinegar cut through the richness of the steak, which was cooked and seasoned perfectly I might add. Contrary to popular belief, I think the cavemen ate pretty damn well.

Manhattan

The Manhattan is one of the all-time classic cocktails no matter the season, but it is especially good this time of year because of its richness and complexity.  It is comprised simply of bourbon and sweet vermouth, so using high-quality spirits is a must.  Another key component of this drink is the garnish -- a cocktail cherry -- and I went all out by buying a jar of Luxardo cherries, the Cadillac of cocktail cherries.  They have a rich, sweet and authentic cherry flavor; nothing like the sad, bright-red version you find in the ice cream section of the grocery store.  It usually is served "up" in a cocktail glass, and I tend to be a stickler when it comes to proper presentation, but I like mine on the rocks so I make an exception this time.  Again, not a drink for beginners, but once you acquire the taste you won't look back.

Boulevardier

Like food, cocktails also have a seasonal quality to them. Fall/Winter is a great time to try a richer, more complex drink. Enter the Boulevardier, a classic yet unheralded drink that you won't find at your local TGI Friday's. It is a cousin of the Negroni, which I have featured here previously. Whereas the Negroni is made with equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, the Boulevardier swaps out the gin for bourbon. In contrast to the crisp, floral notes of the Negroni, the Boulevardier brings a warm, sweeter profile. It is not a drink for beginners, but there's nothing like it on a chilly evening.

Instant Ribs With Mango-Jalapeno BBQ Sauce

With some dishes there are no short cuts.  Ribs are one of those ingredients that require lots of time and labor.  First there is the marinade or dry rub phase, then there's the long, slow cooking process, and for the ambitious ones, there's the final glaze before it finally hits the plate.  This process is usually a labor of love for me, but the UCLA game was about to start, so I didn't have time to babysit a rack of ribs all day.  For a quick-cook method I seasoned the ribs with salt and pepper and set them on a baking sheet with a bit of apple cider vinegar and chicken broth, which I covered with foil and placed in a 250-degree oven for two hours.

While those were cooking, I made a quick mango-jalapeno bbq sauce with chopped jalapeños, garlic, mango, tomatoes, brown sugar, chili powder, apple cider vinegar and S&P, which I cooked down in a sauce pot and let cool, after which I pureed and strained it.  When the ribs were ready, I removed the foil, drained the sheet and glazed them with the sauce under the broiler until caramelized.  Considering these ribs took about three hours from start to finish, as opposed to 12, they were pretty darn good!  They were super tender, but I must admit that the longer cooking method does develop a bit more depth of flavor.  The sauce had a nice balance of sweet from the mango and brown sugar and spice from the jalapeño.  But more importantly, the Bruins came through with a big win!  

Basil Ice Cream

Labor Day signifies the end of summer, so I wanted to pay one last tribute to the season by making ice cream.  I bought some basil at the FM with the goal of making a pesto, but I had to improvise when I realized that I was out of pine nuts, so I thought why not make basil ice cream.  Sounds odd, but it's really no different than the idea of mint ice cream, and nothing says summer like fresh basil.  I went with a Philadelphia-style base, which means no eggs or cooking involved, just cream, milk, sugar, vanilla and basil pureed in the blender and strained before churning in my Cuisinart ice cream maker for 15 minutes.  It was sweet and herbaceous, but the basil was not overpowering.  Adios summer!

 

Al Pastor Tacos

I've been obsessed with al pastor tacos of late, and whenever I go out of town I return home with a serious craving for Mexican food, so I thought I would finally try to make my own.  I did some research and came up with my own recipe for the marinade consisting of rehydrated Guajillo and Arbol chilis, cumin seed, Mexican oregano, pineapple chunks and whole garlic cloves, which I pureed into a loose paste.  Next I took a pork shoulder and sliced it into 1-inch steaks, which I combined with the marinade for a few hours before searing them in a cast-iron pan and setting them aside to rest.  I finished it by chopping the rested pork and putting it back in the pan with salt and more pineapple chunks to give it a nice crust, and then I served it in warm tortillas with some fresh chopped onion for some extra bite.  These turned out amazing!  The pork was smoky and savory from the chills and cumin, yet sweet from the pineapple.  I would put these up against any Mexican grandma's age-old recipe.  Bring it on, Guadalupe!

Ahi Sashimi

A 1:00 flight back to the mainland meant one last morning food excursion.  After picking up coffee, a breakfast burrito and Spam musubi for the road, I had to have a final serving of fresh fish.  This time I went for the Ahi tuna, sliced sashimi style with the serrated bread knife that turned out to be a worthy kitchen workhorse this week.  In the spirit of letting fresh, local ingredients shine on their own, I served it with just some Aloha brand soy sauce.  It was so simple, yet melt-in-your-mouth satisfying.  A perfect way to end a great vacation.

Pan-Seared Opah with Pineapple Salsa

I've been trying to cook with only local ingredients while on vacation, so that means no tortillas or other comforts of home.  The opah belly (aka moonfish) looked particularly good, so I seasoned it with s&p and pan seared them in butter.  I also made a salsa with locally-grown pineapple, tomatoes, onion and lime juice.  I finished off the dish with leftover brown rice from another unfinished plate lunch.  The fish was buttery with a firm texture, and the salsa gave it a perfect tropical accent.  I am sure Roy's would charge at least $35 for this entree, and it cost me under $15 to put out two of them...f Roy's!

Seared Albacore - Part 2

After a few minutes in the marinade, I seared the steaks rare in a non-stick pan (the only one available) and served them with some leftover rice from my plate lunch and a quick avocado salad made with a locally-grown avocado seasoned with salt and pepper (brought my own salt and a disposable plastic pepper grinder).  As expected the tuna was super fresh, and the avocado -- a classic compliment to tuna -- gave it a nice creaminess to round it out.

Seared Albacore - Part 1

The family is on vacation in Maui this week, and our condo has a full kitchen, which I have been putting to good use.  The local market has a really good selection of fresh fish, and since the kitchen is not as well equipped as I would like (I've been using a bread knife, if that tells you anything), I've been keeping the preparations simple.  This was an amazing piece of albacore tuna -- glistening and smelled like the ocean -- so all I did with it was cut it into steaks, which I marinated in soy sauce.  Stay tuned for the finale...

Salmon and Collard Greens

I was walking around the Virginia Park farmer's market, and the collard greens caught my eye.   Collards are commonly known as a Southern ingredient, and they are usually stewed down for a long time until tender.  For my version I stewed them in a Dutch oven with water, chopped onion, garlic, bacon (already cooked), red chili flakes, salt and pepper.  To top them off I roasted some salmon with salt and pepper.  The collards were surprisingly good.  The trick was the bacon, which gave it a smoky, savory flavor.  The salmon was a bit of an afterthought, but it was nevertheless tasty.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Nijiya was running a special on organic wheat flour, and I had some leftover ricotta cheese in the fridge, so I made lemon ricotta pancakes for breakfast.  The pancake batter was a combination of dry and wet ingredients.  The dry ingredients consisted of the wheat flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, and the wet ingredients included the ricotta, eggs, milk, lemon juice and lemon zest.  After a few minutes on each side in a hot buttered pan, I plated them with some maple syrup and they were ready to go.  They came out really good...they had a light, airy texture, and the zing of the lemon took it over the top.

 

Pulled Pork with Zucchini Slaw

I saw a really nice pork shoulder at Sprouts that inspired me to make bbq pulled pork.  I started with a dry rub made with brown sugar, paprika, pasilla chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper, which I rubbed liberally onto the pork before slow roasting it in a roasting pan with mango juice, apple cider vinegar and water.  Next I made a bbq sauce with crushed tomatoes, the left over dry rub, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, brown mustard, brown sugar and a can of Coke, which I simmered in a pot and then pureed and strained into a squeeze bottle.  Finally, you can't have pulled pork without slaw, but I'm not a big fan of cabbage, so I made mine with grated zucchini and carrots dressed with a mixture of mayo, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar (a common flavor profile throughout the dish) and the secret to any good cole slaw: celery salt.  The traditional way to serve it is to mix the pork and sauce together and put it in a hamburger bun with the slaw on the side, but I wanted to plate it with a modern twist, so I broke out a makeshift ring mold and layered the pork and slaw, and then I finished it by drizzling the sauce over the top.  This dish was a big hit.  The pork was tender and succulent, the slaw added a cold, creamy contrast and the sauce had that perfect sweet/tangy balance that brought it all together.

 

Mama's Meatballs

This is a classic meatball recipe made with ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs soaked in milk, chopped parsley, Worcestershire sauce, dried oregano, ricotta cheese, salt and pepper.  I've said this before, and I will say it again: the art of making meatballs is in creating a tender, light texture.  This is where the milk-soaked bread crumbs and ricotta come in.  I rolled the mixture into balls using an ice cream scoop and broiled them in the oven in a cast-iron pan.  I served them tapas style with a drizzle of olive oil, cracked black pepper and some minced red onion for crunch and some heat.

Spicy Tuna Ramen

Dry style ramen, known as Mazemen, has been all the rage in Japan in recent years, and I saw a guy on tv doing it in Brooklyn, which made me want to try it at home.  There are three main components.  First is the spicy tuna, which isn't the spicy tuna that you find at a sushi joint.  This version is made with canned tuna, mayo, fish sauce, sesame oil, togarashi (a Japanese dry spice blend), sriracha and sliced scallions.  Next are the pickled cucumbers, which I made with sliced Japanese cucumbers in a pickling liquid of rice wine vinegar, water, sugar and red chili flake.  Finally are the fresh ramen noodles (freshly made by someone else), which I boiled briefly and dressed lightly with soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.  For some garnish I added a few sheets of torn Korean dried seaweed.  What a crazy dish.  The components were nothing special individually, but they were interesting once mixed together.  The saltiness of the tuna, the tanginess and crunch of the pickles and the chewiness of the ramen made it work.

Seared Pork Loin with Sauteed Spinach

I find Rachel Ray to be quite loathsome, but I do have respect for her 30-minute meals concept.  I wanted something quick, fresh and low carb, so I went with a boneless pork loin chop, which I butterflied and seared in a skillet with canola oil, salt and pepper.  I made a pan sauce with lemon juice, dijon mustard and a bit of water right in the same skillet I used for the pork.  For my side, I sauteed some fresh baby spinach with olive oil and garlic.  The pork was cooked and seasoned perfectly, and the pan sauce added a sharp tang to wake up the palette.  The entire dish took about 20 minutes from prep to plate, so I had 10 minutes to spare for a cocktail.

Shrimp Risotto

I had some shrimp and home made fish stock in the freezer that inspired me to make a risotto.  First step is to toast the arborio rice in olive oil.  Then add some minced garlic and deglaze with white wine.  After that, just keep adding hot stock until the rice is just cooked through and creamy.  I think the idea that you need to stir risotto constantly is a bit of a myth, but at the same time, it's not like you can leave it on the stove and go watch the game.  Once the rice was cooked through, I tossed in some frozen peas and a little butter to bring it all together.  I cooked the shrimp separately in a grill pan with salt, pepper and olive oil and added it on top.  A risotto is only as good as the cooking liquid that goes into it, and my fish stock gave it an amazing depth of flavor, with the peas and shrimp adding a sweet compliment.

Prime Steak Salad

Let me start off by saying, carnivores rule!  Anyway, over 90% of the "Prime" grade beef in the U.S. goes straight to restaurants and butchers.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find some Prime boneless ribeye steaks at my local Ralphs Fresh Fare the other day and decided to bring some home.  I wanted to let this beef shine on its own, so I seared it in a cast iron pan with just salt and pepper and let it rest before slicing it on a bias.  For my side dish I made a simple spinach salad with garbanzo beans and sliced roasted bell peppers and a lemon vinaigrette with lemon juice, dijon mustard and olive oil.  One bite of the steak and you could tell it why it earned a Prime grade.  It was tender and had a rich, beefy flavor.  The salad, which could have been an afterthought, actually brought a fresh, light counterpoint to the dish.

Roasted Chicken With Peach BBQ Sauce

With summer almost here peaches are in season, so I was trying to come up with an interesting peach-inspired dish.  I am a big believer that home made condiments can elevate an otherwise ordinary dish, so I decided to make a peach BBQ sauce to pair with some roasted chicken.  I made the BBQ sauce by sweating some chopped onions, minced garlic and chopped peaches in a pot and adding crushed tomatoes, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, paprika and cumin.  After letting it simmer, I broke out my trusty immersion blender and blended the sauce until smooth.  I then roasted the chicken in the oven with some carrots and yams.  The BBQ sauce was nicely balanced - sweet, tangy, savory, and you could definitely get a hint of the peach without it overpowering everything else.

Pork Cutlet With Corn and Bean Salsa

The Spring/Summer season means green beans and corn are abundant.  When you're dealing with fresh, in-season produce, the idea is to mess with it as little as possible.  With this in mind, I blanched and shelled some fava beans and took some fresh corn off the cob and dressed them both lightly with lemon juice and olive oil.  I paired this with a fried pork cutlet that I made by pounding some boneless pork loin chops thinly and breading them with a seasoned egg wash and panko bread crumbs (the key to a crispy crust is to double dip and bread the cutlet).  The light, citrusy salsa was a perfect compliment to the pork, which was super crispy but not greasy at all.

  

Shrimp Po Boy

I've never been to New Orleans, but I know I would order a po boy sandwich as soon as I got off the plane.  I was craving one this weekend, so after a quick trip to the market I was ready to roll.  First I cleaned some shrimp (I believe the most classic version is made with fried oysters) and dusted them with AP flour, cayenne pepper and smoked paprika before deep frying them and setting them aside to drain.  I then assembled the sandwich with the shrimp and some sliced Roma tomatoes, shredded iceberg lettuce and a spicy Sriracha mayo on a fresh-baked French roll.  I tried to stick to the textbook on this one, and after one bite I felt like I was in the Big Easy, minus the public intoxication.

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Roasted Steelhead Trout

Along with the Fanny Bay Oysters that I got from Santa Monica Seafood, I also picked up some super fresh Steelhead trout at $14.99 a pound.  I wanted the fish to stand on its own, so I roasted it in the oven with just a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.  For my veg, I also wanted to keep it very simple, so I roasted a mix of baby potatoes with olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, dried oregano, salt and pepper.  The trout turned out awesome...similar to salmon, but slightly leaner, and the lemon zest gave the potatoes a nice zing.

Fanny Bay Oysters

Unlike normal people, I think that a trip to the grocery store is a recreational activity.  Santa Monica Seafood is one of the coolest seafood markets out there, and I was there the other day searching for some inspiration.  They have an outstanding selection of fresh oysters, including my all-time favorite, Fanny Bays.  I picked up a half dozen and shucked them as soon as I got home, and I served them simply with a squeeze of lemon juice.  They were plump, creamy, just the right amount of brine and super fresh.  I could have easily eaten two dozen, but there was more to come...

Seared Scallops with Fava Beans, Maitake Mushrooms and Lime-Ginger Vinaigrette

I usually get my cooking inspiration one of two ways.  I either go with a specific dish I have been craving, or I just go to the market and see what's good.  There were some awesome looking fava beans at the farmer's market this weekend, so I wanted to build a dish around them.  Later that day I picked up maitake mushrooms from the Japanese market.  The next day I got some amazing wild-caught U-10 scallops (that means under 10 per pound) at the supermarket, and Sunday dinner was a done deal.  I first blanched the fava beans in salted water, shelled them, and sauteed the mushrooms in a pan.  Then I seared the scallops in a grill pan.  I finished the dish with a vinaigrette made with lime juice and grated ginger to cut through the richness of the scallops and mushrooms.  This dish is what cooking is all about...showing off really good ingredients with straightforward techniques (and charging exorbitant prices for it).

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Dover Sole with Shaved Asparagus Salad

I've been searching for inspiration lately, and sometimes you just have to walk around the grocery store and wait for something to jump out at you.  I saw some Dover Sole and decided to pair it with some fresh Spring asparagus.  I dusted the sole in seasoned AP flour and pan fried it in olive oil until lightly browned on both sides.  I removed the fish from the pan and then made a pan sauce by adding butter and fresh lemon juice.  For the side, I shaved some fresh asparagus and dressed it simply in olive oil and some more lemon juice.  The sole was delicate, and the asparagus added a fresh, crisp contrast.

Salmon Primavera

Now that Spring is here, it's time for lighter dishes.  I was at the farmer's market and came away with some fresh thyme (among other goodies that didn't make it home).  After a trip to Ralph's Fresh Faire and some rummaging through the produce drawer of the fridge, I settled on roasting some salmon along with some summer squash and asparagus.  The thing that tied it all together was a zesty lemon vinaigrette that I made from scratch with Dijon mustard, lemon juice and olive oil.  Simple but spectacular (not to mention seasonal, too).

Old Fashioned

I am a firm believer that there is no reason to ever mess with the classics, and that philosophy carries over to my adult beverages of choice.  In a tribute to the upcoming 6th season of Mad Men, I made one of Don Draper's favorites, the Old Fashioned.  Start with a splash of water, a few dashes of Angostura bitters and some white sugar in an old fashioned glass (one day I will post my manifesto on proper bar glassware), mix, then add ice and 2 oz. of whiskey (I prefer rye, but I was out so I used bourbon).  Finish it off with a garnish of orange peel, and it's ready to go (I was out of oranges, so I used lemon instead).

           

Miso Broiled Eggplant

Anyone who is familiar with my style of cooking knows I am a hard core carnivore.  I am not a big fan of veggies, but I eat them for my health, and I figure I might as well make them tasty when I do.  I saw some Japanese eggplant at Nijiya Market this weekend, so I rolled with the Japanese theme by broiling them sliced in half with a miso glaze made from miso paste loosened up with a few splashes of mirin.  Salty, earthy and meaty, but still not as tasty as an animal.

 

Shrimp Tacos

It's NCAA tourney time, and nothing goes better with watching basketball than...tacos?  Not really, but I had some shrimp on hand and wanted something fairly low maintenance.  A good taco really comes down to the accompaniments, and the key is contrasting components...something spicy, something cooling, something crunchy, etc.  For my spicy component I made a poblano pepper salsa with roasted chopped poblano peppers and some fresh chopped white onion.  For my cooling component I made an avocado crema by pureeing an avocado with sour cream and lime juice.  The crunch came from radishes that I sliced razor thin with my trusty Japanese mandoline (my all time fav kitchen gadget).  For the shrimp, which was by no means an afterthought, I first marinated it in a dry rub of paprika, cumin, garlic powder and salt and then seared it in a grill pan.  This was not a complex dish, but the layers of flavors playing off each other made it a winner.

Pork Chop with Balsamic Glaze and Lentils

Pork is commonly paired with sweet and tangy flavors like apple.  I was fishing around my fridge and saw a neglected bottle of balsamic vinegar, so I went for it and made a glaze by reducing it in a pot with some brown sugar.  I also had a double-cut pork chop, which I seared in a cast-iron pan and finished in the oven.  I wanted a hearty side dish that could stand up to the big flavors of the pork and balsamic, so I stewed some green lentils in water with whole garlic cloves, bay leaf and a hit of apple cider vinegar.  The pork was cooked perfectly, and the lentils were well seasoned, but the true star of the dish was the balsamic glaze, which had a nice balance between sweet and acid to tie everything together.

NY Stip Steak with Chimichurri

The Argentines love their beef, and their condiment of choice is chimichurri, which is a pesto-like blend of parsley, garlic and vinegar.  For my Argentina-inspired dish I seared a NY strip steak in a cast iron pan and let it rest before slicing.  I also made my own chimichurri, sticking with a pretty straightforward recipe of parsley, garlic and red wine vinegar, which I blended together with my immersion blender.  Though not pictured, I also made a side of roasted fingerling potatoes.  The grassiness of the parsley and the tanginess of the red wine vinegar were like magic paired with the beef -- would it be sacrilege to say that it beats a bottle of A-1?

Pulpo a la Gallega

Pulpo a la Gallega is a Spanish dish from the seaside region of Galicia.  The English translation, Galician octopus, doesn't sound quite as sexy, so I am sticking with the Spanish name.  This is one of those dishes that is both rustic and refined.  I first boiled a 2-lb octopus in water with a whole lemon, garlic cloves, onion and flat leaf parsley.  Once tender (after about 45 minutes), I took out the octopus and sliced the tentacles into rounds.  While the octopus was boiling, I roasted some baby fingerling potatoes in the oven with olive oil, salt and lemon juice.  Finally, I dressed the octopus and potatoes with red wine vinegar, oilve oil, sea salt, smoked paprika and parsley for garnish.  This was a really good dish that represented all the flavors of Spain.  The octopus was tender but still had that characteristic chewiness, and the smokiness of the paprika really kicked up the potatoes.

Tamarind Ginger Agua Fresca

After my last foray into Thai cuisine, I had some leftover tamarind pods.  And with the weather warming up, I wanted a refreshing cold drink.  This was the inspiration for a Mexican-style agua fresca.  I first shelled and cleaned the tamarind pods and simmered the tamarind in a pot with fresh sliced ginger, water and sugar.  After simmering for a few minutes I strained everything into a pitcher and added some more water to dilute it.  This was a perfect drink for a hot summer day.  The sweetness and tang of the tamarind and the spicy notes of the ginger were a perfect compliment

Tuna Oyakodon

Oyakodon is a Japanese comfort-food dish that is basically a rice bowl with a chicken and scrambled egg mixture on top.  It translates to "parents and children," which is a reference to the chicken and eggs.  I didn't have any chicken on hand, so I used some good canned tuna instead.  First I sauteed some thinly sliced onions, then I added the sauce consisting of soy sauce, sugar, mirin and water.  Once the liquid came up to a boil, I added 2 beaten eggs and let them set up in the pan.  Once the egg was cooked through, I spooned it over a bowl of Korean-style black rice and garnished it with some toasted nori and sesame seeds.  What I like about this dish is the balance between the salty and sweet flavors.

Almost Pad Thai

I've always wanted to make pad thai, and a trip to 99 Ranch Market this weekend inspired me to finally try it.  I read a few different recipes to get some ideas, but I wasn't necessarily looking to go totally authentic.  The beauty of cooking is that you can take a traditional dish and make it exactly how you like it -- recipe be damned.  For my personalized version, I first made the sauce with equal parts tamarind paste, fish sauce, brown sugar and sambal for that classic Thai flavor profile of sour, salty, sweet and spicy.  I then scrambled some eggs and set those aside while I sauteed some sliced chicken thighs (the classic version uses shrimp) with scallions and chopped garlic.  I finally added the rice noodles to the pan with the sauce and returned the scrambled eggs to the mix until it all came together.  The finishing touch was a garnish of chopped peanuts, sliced scallion and fresh lime.  The flavors were spot on, but the noodles were too al dente; I don't think the recommended soaking time on the package was very accurate, but then again I can't read Thai.  

Bucatini with Oxtail Ragu

I usually think of oxtail as an Asian ingredient, but it is also the perfect foundation for an Italian ragu because it can stand up to a slow and low cooking technique.  A traditional ragu is braised for hours, but I wanted some instant gratification so I broke out my pressure cooker and threw in the oxtails with crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, diced onions and garlic.  After about 45 minutes, I pulled out the oxtail and cleaned the meat off the bone, and then I put it back into the pressure cooker with the tomatoes before adding the bucatini (think of a hollow spaghetti).  The flavors in this dish packed a serious punch, and the heft of the bucatini stood up to the heartiness of the the ragu.

Tempura Cod and Chips

I bought a whole black cod today and decided to make a Japanese version of the English pub classic, fish and chips.  I skinned and filleted the fish (and made a fish stock for a rainy day from the bones and head) and dipped it in a tempura-style batter made with AP flour, club soda and an egg before deep frying it in canola oil.  I did the same thing for the fries, which were hand-cut Russet potatoes, and I also made my own tartar sauce with mayo, chopped pickles, lemon juice and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.  I drained everything on a wire rack and seasoned with sea salt while hot before serving with some lemon wedges on the side along with the tartar sauce.  Both fish and chips turned out super crispy on the outside (not greasy at all) and moist on the inside.  Sure, the house smelled like a H. Salt afterwards, but it was totally worth it!

Soba Noodles in Dashi

Saw some organic soba noodles in the pantry so I decided to make my own dashi, a Japanese broth made with dried seaweed and bonito flakes, to go with them.  My take was made with a Korean version of the seaweed, which I boiled in water for about 15 minutes.  I added the bonito flakes at the very end, then I strained the broth and added the soba noodles, which I boiled separately.  I finished it off with some vietnamese fish sauce (Three Crabs brand, if you must know), soy sauce and sliced green onions.  The broth had really nice, clean flavors, but the noodles might have been a tad overcooked.

Roast Chicken with Golden Beets

I was craving roast chicken for Sunday dinner and made a trip to the Mar Vista Farmer's Market to see what I could pair it with.  After a couple of laps around the stalls, I settled on some golden beets with the greens intact.  The keys to a good roast chicken are to truss and dry it thoroughly before seasoning and putting it in the oven, for even cooking and crispy skin.  I also made an herb butter with fresh chopped rosemary and thyme that I slathered under the skin of the breasts (to keep them moist and also to add flavor), and I stuffed the cavity with more of the fresh herbs.  I separately roasted the golden beets wrapped in tin foil with olive oil and S&P, and I sautéed the beet greens with garlic, olive oil and a hit of red wine vinegar for a kick.  The chicken came out super juicy, the beets were sweet and earthy and the greens had a bite that balanced out the sweetness of the beets.  

Olive Oil Cake

I picked up the Babbo Cookbook at the library recently, and I was inspired by a recipe for olive oil cake with rosemary.  It is a very simple recipe consisting of eggs, sugar, chopped rosemary, flour, baking powder and salt.  Because the main flavor component of the cake is olive oil, it is important to use a high-quality, extra-virgin olive oil.  And of course I put my own twist on it by substituting lemon zest for the rosemary.  I also made a blueberry compote/sauce to go on the side by reducing some frozen blueberries with honey and water and then blending it with my immersion blender.  For those of you who don't like overly sweet desserts, this is a good one.