Grilled Cheese Month: Harissa Dreamin’ April 23, 2008

Although there’s been waaay too much grilled cheese in my life I made a new one today to dedicate it to the Grilled Cheese Month. Let’s just call it Harissa Dreamin’. On La Brea Bakery’s crazily priced $9.75 walnut bread I layered harissa flavored cheddar, smoked gouda, pimenton-stuffed olives and a pinch of za’atar. Then grilled it in goat butter and speared it with a whole pimenton-stuffed olive. Let me tell you, this was delicious! I love the earthy spices the harissa brought to the cheddar and the slight sharpness of the goat butter. I wish now I went with my first instinct and also included goat cheese inside the sandwich. The olives also added a nice salty briny touch. Oh and the bread? Really really good. However $9.75 still seems quite steep for a loaf of bread. I need to start baking more bread.

1st 6th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational! April 21, 2008

Hi folks! So I entered the Grilled Cheese Invitational for the first time along with two of my friends. I decided to give it a go for each of their four category and I made it into the top ten rankings for two of em. Complete list of results are here.

Missionary
St. Yoon’s Missionary

The rules for the Missionary category was strictly white bread, yellow cheese (American or cheddar), and regular butter. I used Cake House’s “buttered bread” which browned nicely, a mix of Kraft American singles and sharp cheddar, and a delicious fleur de sel French butter. This was my favorite of all my sandwiches. I have a soft spot for classics. Any other grilled cheeses are just an homage to the og sammy.

Spoons 8th place!
Spoony Yoons

Now the Spoons category expands the boundaries a bit by allowing any kind of bread, any kind of cheese, and any kind of butter. However no extra ingredients whatsoever are allowed. I ended up making my spoons sandwich with Trader Joe’s garlic-cheddar sourdough, sharp cheddar, comte, truffled Italian cheese, and black truffle butter. The sourdough crisped up so nicely and looks appetizing speckled with truffles for the truffle lover. That would be me! I got 8th place in this category. I wonder what the other winning sandwiches were like. My friend Allison got 9th place with her Ultimate Queso sandwich.

Kama Sutra 6th place!
Queso Nirvana

Kama Sutra was a freestyle category. The only thing a contender had to abide by was to keep the ratio of cheese to other ingredients 6:4. I ended up baking a bacon-gruyere loaf for the Spoons category but accidentally ended up using it for this category. By the time I had smeared romesco on the slices it was too late to salvage them. But it ended up working out because the garlic-cheddar worked well for the truffle flavored sandwich and the bacon-gruyere bread turned out to be perfect for my romesco inspired sandwich. After the smear of romesco on one side the sandwiches were layered with pepperjack, smoked gouda, chopped Nueske’s bacon, and roasted jalapenos. Since Nueske bacon is super smoky the toasting bread gave off such a nice aroma. When I was serving them at the competition I topped each mini sandwich with a round sliver of fresh jalapeno for an extra kick and final little juicy crunch. I got 6th place in this category. Number one spot was gloriously snatched up by Chef Eric Greenspan of Foundry.

Honey Pot
Cinna Toast Redux

I didn’t get placed for the Honey Pot category which is a dessert version of the freestyle similarly just requiring 60% cheese. My sandwich which started off as a cinnamon toast somehow turned into a strawberries and cream sorta ‘wich. Whipped cream cheese flavored with lemon and orange zest, brown sugar and honey was sandwiched between two slices of brioche along with macerated strawberries and toasted hazelnuts. It was then dusted with cinnamon powdered sugar and speared on top with a little section of a strawberry. Unfortunately I forgot the strawberry and sugar on about half of my samples so that might have cost me. My friend Ellen got an honorable 7th place with her Moons Over My Sammie sandwich though!

All in all it was a fun silly time. Sooo much bread, cheese and butter. Allegedly there were many contestants cheating but I was too busy grilling my sandwiches to really notice. No matter how arbitrary an event seems cheating at something like grilled cheese seems a little ridiculous. Kind of takes all the fun out of it, no? I hope all the cheating didn’t affect my rankings at all because that would really suck big time. For the pounds of cheese and loaves of bread I went through, and minutes spent grilling it up (and perhaps inches gained on my waist) I think I at least deserve a fair chance! Now time to go work off the cheese…

Dae Bok April 17, 2008

I had been craving agu chim so imagine my glee when my parents said we would be going out to Dae Bok with our visiting relatives. Agu chim is a spicy dish of steamed monkfish and a mountain of bean sprouts. The monkfish is mild and meaty and the saucy beansprouts still have a pleasant crunch to them. I absolutely love it. The proportion of bean sprouts to monkfish is very high but that’s the way it’s supposed to be so don’t think you’re getting jipped. Some say the bean sprouts are the best part.

Dae Bok is a blowfish specialty restaurant though and so we ordered up some bok mae un tang, blowfish spicy seafood stew. A casserole pot got set up on the table burner and we let it boil away with the cover on. Only to be uncovered less than a minute later when the minari (Korean parsley) was barely wilted. You have be very careful to not overcook the minari or all the fresh flavor and grassy aroma will disappear. Then the cover was placed back to let the stew boil away for a few more minutes.

This fish stew is spicy, nourishing and comforting. Perfect for a chilly night and when you want to eat something that’s healthy even. The red peppery broth was filled with monkfish, bean sprouts, daikon and a few sea squirts. Make sure you pop the sea squirt in your closed mouth unless you want to potentially spray your dining companion. Also make sure you wait until you’re sure the sea squirt juices aren’t too hot or else you’re tongue is in trouble.

Of course when we are done with the stew and there is a bit of broth left in the bottom of the pan the server will bring out rice, nori and chopped minari to make a final course of delicious rice. The rice gets dumped in to absorb the broth and nori and minari gets thrown in to flavor it. Koreans love to do this at the end of the meal and it’s always a treat, especially when it’s at bbq because the rice picks up all the meat drippings. Yum.

But back to the using-the-last-bit-of-fish-stew-broth-rice. A perfect end to a seafood meal to satisfy my spicy and fish cravings. One thing I wasn’t too hot about was that Dae Bok’s kimchi was overripe and also their dongchimi (white pickled daikon) wasn’t fresh and tart. I’m kind of a stickler for good kimchi. It is after all at the heart of Korean cuisine.

on the left is the banchans and on the right is the soy sauce-based sauce with chinese mustard to dip the blowfish in.

Jitlada April 14, 2008

Boy and I started eating Jitlada’s delicious southern Thai food a while back when we were feeling too lazy to brave the LA outdoors and wanted a delivery of a warm meal. We didn’t even know this place was starting to blow up while we were too busy perusing the delivery menu for some good eats. Then of course Jonathan Gold’s review came out. I finally got myself there in physical form to properly eat some spicy southern Thai dishes that would not be done justice to be sloshed around in a delivery car.

One such dish I was uber excited to try was their steamed green mussels. The mussels were presented so beautifully in a spicy lemongrass broth. We slurped up the juices well mashing it up with a little rice when the plump mussels ran out. I had high expectations for these mussels and they did not disappoint at all.

We also ordered the coco mango salad which is a delicious salad of poached shrimp, mango, red onion and cashews. It had such a nice spicy kick to it. I totally fell in love with this salad – its combination of sweet, fruity, nutty, spicy, and citrusy went so well together.

Another crowing glory of a dish was the deep fried whole sea bass. The goodness of a deep fried whole fish seems pretty self-explanatory. Now the mountain of fried garlic on top with it? Awesome. We picked deep to the last bit of crusty crunchy meat that hung onto the bones.

One of the spiciest foods I’ve ever had is Jitlada’s southern Thai curry. It’s no joke. I almost choked when I took my first spoonful. The deep fried soft-shell crab with ginger-garlic sauce is delicious. As is the deep fried scallops with mint and chile. I’m very much looking forward to going back and trying more dishes. The memories of freshly made dishes lures me away from ordering delivery.

Turmeric Shrimp Noodles April 11, 2008

I’m still waiting for my brand new spankin camera to arrive in the mail so I’m hailing back to some old dishes I never posted about. A while back my friends and I headed to Viet Noodle Bar in Atwater for a leisurely weekend lunch. I had a delicious bowl of dill & turmeric fish noodle. The fish is marinated in soymilk with turmeric. Hence the beautiful golden hue. I rather enjoyed this light and clean Hanoi-style noodle dish so I decided to make a quickie version at home with shrimp. I marinated peeled and deveined shrimp with turmeric, soymilk, garlic, and fish sauce. I boiled some rice stick noodles which never softened up enough for my taste but did its job anyhow.

However the shrimps were so plump and tasty. I topped the shrimp and noodles with crispy fried shallots, refreshing cilantro, and toasted peanuts. I also made a little sauce with minced Thai chili peppers, fish sauce, garlic, and lime juice. I need my spice you know. Delicious.

Chickpea Curry & Rajasthani Potato Curry April 9, 2008

I was craving Indian food one day. I wasn’t sure what I’d make though since there are so many possibilities and exactly 1,000 recipes at least in my excellent Neelam Batra cookbook. One of my favorite dishes to get when I stop by Indian markets-slash-food posts is chickpea curry. In general I have an affinity for chickpeas. It’s not only good for you but quite tasty too. Since I am quite a beginner in Indian cookery I’ve been starting off with basic recipes if possible to build a foundation. So I made Chickpeas in Traditional Curry Sauce (Rassaedar Channae).

By “traditional curry sauce” Batra means onion, green chile peppers, garlic, ginger, tomato, cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, paprika, lime juice, yogurt, and cilantro. I love all the spices in Indian food and the savoriness of it all. It’s very comforting. To make things easier for myself I used canned chickpeas. I should have peeled at least some of the chickpeas. Chickpea peels are quickly becoming a personal pet peeve. But the thought of peeling four cans of chickpea didn’t flash brilliantly through my mind though, probably for very good reasons having to do with convenience.

I wasn’t going to be satisfied with just one curry though. I perused through the thick book and came upon the Potato Curries section. Now I loooove potatoes and I loooove potato curry. I settled on the first curry of the lot, Rajasthani Potato Curry (Rajasthani Rassadar Aalu). As you can see the color was cheerfully golden from the turmeric and nicely spiced with green cardamom, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and asafoetida. Asafoetida is an odd thing. It’s an herbaceous plant whose dried sap is used for culinary and medicinal purposes. It’s quite stinky but when cooked it mellows out and gives off leek and onion flavors. This curry was so delicious. I was actually craving it today. Must make soon again.

Now I got the curries, what else do I need? Chutney of course! My favorite is a really spicy green chutney. I can’t get enough of it when I get a freshly fried samosa from a local Indian market. This time I made Mint Chutney with Pomegranate Seeds (Pudina-Anardana Chutni). The dried pomegranate seeds, another addition to my spice pantry, added a nice tang to the chutney. The chutney was made in a blender from red onion, a few green chile peppers, lemon juice, water, cilantro, ground dried pomegranate seeds, and black pepper.

To cool off any crazy spice spike I might be hit with I made a simple raita with whole milk yogurt, ginger, garlic, paprika, cilantro, and cucumber. And I unsuccessfully made my first batch of chapati, also known as roti and phulka. I didn’t use durum whole-wheat flour like I was supposed to do since I had a nearly full bag of regular whole-wheat flour at home. That and my lack of experience making flatbreads resulted in the very thick chapatis. They were fine flatbreads but bad chapatis. Still, once I had them nicely reheated from the toaster oven at work the edges became nicely crisped and the inside warm and steaming. It made a perfect utensil for my vegetarian Indian spread.

Chimichurri-Marinated Pepper & Chickpea Couscous April 7, 2008

I wanted to make something quick and simple with my left over chimichurri. Chimichurri goes well with practically all types of meats and fish, working as both marinade and condiment. But I decided to go a vegetarian route. I charred and peeled red, yellow and green peppers and marinated it with chimichurri along with a can of chickpeas and cubed feta. And then poured it over fluffy whole wheat couscous and let it soak up some of the marinade.

Roast Beef Tenderloin with Chimichurri April 1, 2008

When I cooked up dinner for my folks a weeks ago I had purchased a whole beef tenderloin. Getting it whole meant wholesale prices ($16/lb) and getting filet mignon meant very expensive prices ($24). The tenderloin was over five pounds which meant I would have a big hunk of meat leftover. So when the time was right I broke it out of the freezer and made something super simple. I salted and peppered the meat and rubbed olive oil over it and roasted it in the oven at 425 degrees. I skipped the pan browning process and instead later gave it a quick broil to get a little color. But the real color was in the slices because these slices were super pink just the way I like it. I spooned over some chimichurri over the slices and ate it with a green bean potato salad. Quick, simple and satisfying.