Plum Raspberry Crumble with Vanilla-Buttermilk Ice Cream July 20, 2007

It’s summertime and fruits are abundant at the farmer’s market. I stopped by the Culver City one to pick up some plums to make Barefoot Contessa’s Plum Raspberry Crumble. I’m not a huge plum fan and hadn’t eaten one in years but I decided to give it another go. Plus I love crumbles especially when it’s still warm. Yum.

A simple whipped cream with a tinge of creme fraiche would have been delicious and easy but going a la mode with a warm crumble sounds great too. A bite of warm crumble with a crunchy buttery topping with a spoonful of tangy ice cream made happiness in mah mouth.

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Vanilla Buttermilk Ice Cream
[slightly adapted from Epicurious]

2 cup heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 cup cold buttermilk
1/2 vanilla bean

Bring whipping cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Slice vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out seeds with a knife and add to the pot of cream. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream into egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and stir over medium heat until custard thickens slightly, about 6 minutes (do not boil). Strain into bowl. Stir in cold buttermilk. Cool in an ice bath. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze at least 3 hours.

Halloumi Saganaki with Tomato Sauce & Shrimp July 19, 2007

The Santa Monica farmer’s market has a fish vendor who I’ve gotten very fresh fish from a few times. I was craving shrimp so I bought a bag as I was leaving the market with my heirloom tomatoes and other green goodies. Making a stop by Bay Cities I bought halloumi for the first time, planning to fry them in a pan as I’ve seen others do. Always looked delicious to me but never got around to trying it. This would be the moment.

But then when I came home as I was strolling through the net I came across a recipe for Halloumi Saganaki with Tomato Sauce & Shrimp. Perfect - a dish I can use the shrimp, halloumi and Persian mint in! I served this dish after the Heirloom Tomato & Burrata Salad, also a product of the same farmer’s market trip.

I’m usually not great with spontaneous meals but this lunch worked out great. The salad was a great summery appetizer and the saganaki was a great second course with the very fresh and delicious shrimp.

The only problem I had was with my broiler not giving off screaming hot heat consistently. You see, I have an electric stove. The horrors! That’s why you see the cheese is not the prettiest of crunchy brown. I was afraid the shrimp might get overcooked while I waited for my stupid broiler to do its job right. At any rate, the saganaki was delicious. The best part was the nicely browned corners of the cheese that gave a nice crunch. Oooh I love a cheesy crunch.

saganaki from the broiler… not quite broiled enough

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Halloumi Saganaki With Tomato Sauce and Shrimp
Recipe by Melody Dosch, owner of The Artisan Cheese Gallery
Serves 6

1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 can (14.5 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, diced, with their liquid
½ cup homemade chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon fresh oregano
1 teaspoon salt
½ lb large (21-30 per lb) shrimp, deveined and peeled but with the tail left on
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 sprig fresh mint, leaves removed and torn into pieces
½ lb Cypriot halloumi cheese, cut into 1-inch dice

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, sauté the garlic and shallot in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, oregano, and half the salt, bring to a boil, lower heat to medium-low and simmer briskly until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and bay leaf and keep the sauce hot over low heat.

Preheat broiler on highest setting.

Season shrimp with remaining tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, remaining salt, half of the ground cinnamon, and half of the mint. Toss well. Heat a flame-proof, oven-proof 10-inch pan over medium-high heat until very hot. Turn off heat and put shrimp in pan in a single layer. Cover with one cup of the hot tomato sauce (reserve any remaining sauce for other uses) and top with the halloumi and remaining ground cinnamon. Place under broiler and cook until the cheese caramelizes, about 3 minutes. Garnish with remaining mint and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.

*My notes - I didn’t leave the cinnamon stick in for the whole time the sauce was simmering because I didn’t want the flavor to be too strong. And I didn’t marinate the shrimp with the ground cinnamon either. I cut the halloumi cheese into slices so increase the surface area and so I could cover the top of the saganaki more. I used Persian mint because that’s what I picked up at the farmer’s market and used dried oregano instead of fresh because that’s what I happened to have at home. Remember to save the shrimp shells and freeze it in a ziplock bag so you can make stock later. Serve the saganaki with some really good bread to soak up the sauce. Hmm i think that’s it. Enjoy!

Squash Blossom, Burrata & Tomato Pizza July 17, 2007

I conclude making homemade pizza is great! Even though this was only my third time… There was a huge gap of time between the first pizza making (last year sometime) and second pizza making (a few weeks ago), during which I proclaimed dough is my enemy! and moved onto other stuff. But I gave myself another chance at homemade pizza and I think I’m hooked now.

I absolutely love watching the yeasty dough rise, the way it smells, and my favorite part, gently punching down the risen dough with my fingers. At that point the dough has become a spongy airy mass and sticking my fingers into the cool dough feels so pleasant. Haha, I know it sounds a little weird. I feel an addiction coming on.

Making the pizza dough is a cinch too, especially if you have standing mixer. But I just used a bowl and hand-kneaded mine though using Marcella Hazan’s recipe. Kneading can get tiring but the whole dough making process is quite enjoyable. Who woulda thunk I would ever say that?

This pizza came about because I had burrata leftover from making the heirloom tomato salad in the last post. While perusing the web I came across a few reviews of Mozza that mentioned its Squash Blossom, Burrata and Tomato Pizza. I’ve never tried that one but thought I would assemble my own version for my dinner.

I stretched out the pizza dough then brushed it with olive oil, topped with homemade tomato sauce (canned roma tomatoes processed and cooked with garlic, olive oil and dried oregano), then sprinkled with pregrated mozzarella cheese, topped with squash blossoms that had been trimmed on the bottom to remove the stamen and any pointy leaves cut off. Lightly drizzled olive oil just over the blossoms and seasoned the whole thing with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Popped it into a 500 degree oven onto a preheating pizza stone for about 7 minutes. Then topped with spoonfuls of cool burrata with a light drizzle of olive oil, salt & and pepper, shredded basil, and voila… a delicious pizza straight from my own oven.

On the side of course I needed some vegetable. Red Butter Lettuce Salad with Sweet Pimenton & Buttermilk Dressing. I ended up picking each leaf up with my fingers and eating them as if the lettuce cups were edible spoons. The buttermilk dressing was simply some buttermilk, mayo, scallion, white vinegar, salt, pepper. I didn’t really have time to jazz it up nor did I measure anything because Boy and I were running late to watch Ratatouille.

Ratatouille was great by the way. The animation and the food was amazing! Good thing we had a good dinner before we watched or we would be starving by the end.

Heirloom Tomato & Burrata Salad July 16, 2007

An heirloom tomato & burrata salad is simplicity at its best.

Simplicity however requires quality and this was not hard at all strolling through Santa Monica’s Saturday farmer’s market. The tomato stand was in full effect, each variety of tomatoes labeled and boxed separately. I went straight for the Pineapple variety, one of my favorites. It’s meaty, juicy and sweet. It never lets me down when I want to be in tomato heaven.

I also picked up some purple and Italian basil at the market. My intention was never to make a tomato and burrata salad but since I was in the area I felt compelled to stop by Bay Cities for an early morning, non-hectic shopping trip. Gioia burrata, freshly baked bread & Rustichella d’Abruzzo balsamic vinegar were the first items to land in my arms.

I am at a bit of a loss when choosing balsamic vinegars but I recognized the Rustichella label from their pasta stocked at Surfas. I got the 6 year bottle for $16. [If anyone can recommend something from Surfas or Bay Cities I would appreciate it!]

Here is how the salad went down…

Perfectly ripe tomato wedges, big ol spoonful of creamy cool burrata in the middle, sprinkled with a confetti of basil, drizzled with a wild Spanish olive oil, very light sprinkling of the Rustichella 6 balsamic just over the tomatoes, and fleur de sel.

It was amazing. Seriously, get yourself a bag of good quality ingredients and you can make *amazing* happen in like a minute.

Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs July 13, 2007

The Food & Wine magazine website has video demonstrations from their 2007 Best New Chefs!

click here for videos

Newfound Love - Pork Jerky at Ruen Pair July 12, 2007

It was a hot Saturday afternoon. There was nothing left to do in the heat except lie on the couch, legs propped up with the fan gently breezing and the tv buzzing. But then dinner time came around. What to eat?

But there was no way Boy and I were gonna cook something at home. We had already been melting into the couch for a couple hours, halfway napping and halfway tv perusing. I was in the mood for either Korean or Thai but since Boy lives so close to Thai Town that’s where we headed.

Then I remembered reading Jeni’s Ruen Pair post about her & Dylan’s dinner there. I texted Dylan right away asking for some recommendations. Pork jerky and sticky rice. I had tried Thai jerky many years ago at Palms Thai but it didn’t really make an impression on me. But thank you Dylan for your recommendation because the pork jerky at Ruen Pair was amazing! Even mind-blowing. A positive wow and one of my favorite pork dishes now.

The pork pieces were crusty on the outside juicy on the inside. Boy even picked out a few treasured pieces for me to eat - the ones with extra crackling fat cuz he know how much I love my pork. I think Ruen Pair’s pork jerky was marinated and then deep fried instead of just dried. Whatever they did it came out just perfect.

I also tried Papaya Salad for the first time. Ruen Pair’s was so delicious. Freshly slice papaya all tossed with fish sauce lime dressing, a pinch of peanuts, and dried shrimp. I would like to dry the raw crab based one next time now that I got my papaya salad feet yet. We got ours with medium heat and it was just perfect. Refreshing and a bit spicy at the same time. I didn’t have to go running for a pitcher of water and I didn’t feel like I needed to stuff my face with pickled chilies either. I think I could do without the tomatoes though.

The other dishes Boy and I tried there were unremarkable. Boy ordered Cashew Chicken which really reminded me of Chinese takeout. The weird thing was when I was searching Ruen Pair on the web someone of Chowhound said that Ruen Pair was basically a Chinese restaurant! While Boy and I were eating there a large Chinese family came in and started ordering these family style soups and such. Hmm a Chinese connection?

I also ordered the Deep-Fried Catfish. Ok, this was completely different than what I was expecting first of all. I was expecting whole pieces of catfish deepfried with some sort of dressing over it. But the catfish was hacked up bones and all and deep deep fried. Not just deep fried, but deep fried to the bones. It was fine but I got sick of it after a few pieces and I probably won’t order it again.

I can’t wait to go back and have the pork jerky again! I have a feeling perhaps this weekend the pork and I shall meet again

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Ruen Pair
5257 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323.466.0153

Gwa-il Bingsu (Korean Shaved Ice with Fruit) July 7, 2007

What to eat on a hot day: gwa-il bingsu from Cake House.

What’s in there: shaved iced, condensed milk, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cocktail fruit mix, and sweet red beans. Then repeat. And top with delicious candied jelly pieces.

How to eat it: gobble it up and try not to spill onto lap while driving.

Cost: $5

Pleasure: immense.

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Cake House
11301 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310.914.0404

Nectarine Turnovers with Dried Blueberries July 5, 2007

I panicked the day spring became summer. I realized no asparagus had passed through my kitchen, not enough cherries had graced the table, no fava beans had been depodded, blanched & peeled. What a bad cook I’ve been.

I promptly added asparagus and bing cherries onto my grocery list only to be thwarted by my own laziness. What I really wanted to make were cherry turnovers. But what I really didn’t want to do was pit cherries. The cherries were a pinch to pit for that tart I made back in early June but still my own mind crushed my cherry idea.

Instead I picked up nectarines which would require only a quick chopping. I was only motivated to make turnovers because of the fact that I had 1/2 of Thomas Keller’s buttery pastry dough in my freezer. I’m thinking maybe it would be a good idea to make a bunch of dough at once and keep it in storage.

That may result in many tarts, pies & turnovers though. That could be a good or a bad thing.
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Nectarine Turnovers with Dried Blueberries
makes 4 good-sized turnovers

1/2 chilled Thomas Keller’s buttery pastry dough
2 nectarines
2-3 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
4 tsp turbinado sugar

1. Preheat oven 375 degrees.
2. Chop nectarines about 1/3 inch cubes. No need to be exact, just not too big as to poke holes in the dough and not too small as to become mush.
3. Toss with 2 tbsp of sugar and taste. Is it sweet enough? If not add more.
4. Toss with blueberries, salt and cornstarch.
5. Divide dough into 4 balls and roll out on a floured board. While you work on one keep the others in the fridge. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick and into a circular shape. Again, no need to be exact. I think mine came out to be around 6 to 7 inches or so.
6. Divide the fruit mixture evenly among the four rolled out dough without getting too much juice onto the dough. Eggwash the edges and crimp, eggwash the top and sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake for about 20-25 minutes.
7. Serve warm with chilled cream or creme fraiche. Or if you wanna cut down on the fat consume with a cold glass of reduced fat milk. I don’t go lower than reduced fat. That’s a rule.

Abbot’s Pizza & New Belgium Mothership Wit July 4, 2007

bbq chicken

After venturing out to Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Boy and I headed over to Venice for Abbot’s Pizza. We got there at 11, their opening time, but they didn’t unlock the door although I could see all the employees inside. So I stood right in front of their window and stared at them not moving at all. It took a few minutes for someone opened the door. Probably got creeped out by me. Hehe. We put our orders in - bianca and bbq chicken. My mouth is watering just thinking about these two.

bianca

I always get Pizza Bianca when I am there. It’s a white pizza that uses a base of garlic pesto, then it is topped with tomato, red onion, basil and dollops of ricotta. It is truly heaven. Super garlicky, creamy from the ricotta, juicy from the fresh tomato slices, and freshness from the red onion slices and basil.

This is was exactly what I was waiting for. And when you are lucky enough to get a slice of a pizza that has just come out of the oven you are in for a real treat. Crispy crispy crust. This crispiness won’t quite return even if the heatlamp slices are toasted in the oven. It’s hard not to daydream about the first of a fresh pizza.

But 15 minutes was the wait we were given. We were parked across the street and luckily right next to a liquor store. Hey, why not?

It was a hot day so I wanted to step down from the heavier beers they had there including some Belgians. Then the Mothership Wit from New Belgium caught my eye. New Belgium also makes the popular and widely available Fat Tire and more importantly their delicious and successfully sour Flanders red, La Folie.

The Mothership Wit sounded perfect for a hot day. We picked up a six-pack and I asked the cashier if he had any cups. He had styrofoam, a big no-no for beers or any drinks for that matter but drinking out of beer bottle in public is also in the same category of no. But having a cold beer while waiting for our hot and delicious pizzas screamed yes-yes.

Mothership Wit is a Belgian style ale known as witbier (also called white or wheat beer) which have aromas of coriander, spice and citrus. The most popular of this category is Hoegaarden. Motherwhip Wit is more similar to Wittekerke though in its light straw color, carbonation and lightness in flavor but MS is also New Belgium’s certified organic beer.It poured a creamier head though with miniscule bubbles which felt quite delicious on the lips. Not a destination beer but it was quite a pleasure to guzzle in the warm weather.

When the fifteen minutes was up and Boy was I were super hungry we walked over to Abbot’s and enjoyed a cup of the cold wit with our fresh hot pizzas. It was a good day.

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New Belgium Brewing Company

beer advocate rating

Abbot’s Pizza

Dad’s Saturday Morning Sandwich July 2, 2007

My dad used to make this breakfast sandwich on Saturday mornings for our family when I was way younger, around middle school or so. Toasted white bread topped with ham, tomato, iceburg lettuce, American cheese and the best part, a fried egg. The tomatoes were juicy, the lettuce fresh and the bread toasted to a golden brown in butter resulting in a the best sort of crunch.

Even before our lives included heirloom tomatoes, wild arugula and fancy hams like prosciutto food was still delicious. So in honor of those delicious Saturday mornings I decided make my dad this breakfast sandwich for Father’s Day.

My version included whole wheat bread toasted sans butter, black forest ham, applewood smoked bacon, American cheese, the ripest Japanese tomato and perilla lettuce (also known as limestone or roussette) from the farmer’s market, and of course a fried egg. I fried it just until the white were cooked but the yolk was still a bit runny. When I cut the sandwich in half I could not help but ogle it, especially with that tempting egg!