My inspiration came from Surly Blog, A blog from the guys at Surly Bikes. They make steel frames and forks that I can personally recommend as some of the best-built frames for the money. (If you are into bikes... If not... suck eggs.)
Speaking of eggs, The Surly boys were in Scotland for the SSWC-07 at the beginning of this month, and blogged about being on the hunt for 'Scottish Eggs'. My interest piqued, I Google'd Scottish (or Scotch eggs as they are properly referred to...) and found a recipe only a drunken bike-riding idiot could love. (Well, we shall see about that.)
Scotch Eggs are a hard-boiled egg, wrapped in sausage meat, breaded and then deep-fried. Sound good? You're on your way to cholesterol heaven.
It starts off easily enough. Hard-boil some eggs, let them cool, then shell them. Mix your ground meat of choice with various spices, etc. I used a mix of 50% pork 50% cow. Mix in some salt, pepper, red chili for pop and a bit of 'Italian seasoning' and you're ready to go. I powdered my eggs with flour before packing them in a meat cocoon. Then stick them in the fridge so they can firm a bit up. After about 15 min, take them out, and cover them well with breadcrumbs. (One recipe says to coat the meat with egg yolk to make them stick better. I did not do this, but can see the advantage of it.)
Heat up a pan with a decent helping of oil and fry them till deep golden brown. Depending on your cocooning you may have to leave them in longer or shorter.
Once finished, you can cut them in half or 3rds and serve hot. A ranch dip is good, or and variation of hot mustard. Make sure your phone has 911 on speed dial.
—Christian
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So the wife had something written on the chalkboard the last few days; "Carrots, Coconut milk, thai soup...?"
I took it upon myself (with her help) to make something out of that little bit of information.
I started with 500ml of carrot juice and a can of coconut milk. Throw that in a pot on low, and get started on some ginger. (Yes, FRESH ginger.) I have one of those mixing wands; good for smoothies but thats about all. I tried to make hummus once, but it's just not up to the job. Dump a bit of carrot juice in with the sliced ginger and puree it till its good and liquid. Dump that in your base.
Next I added bamboo strips (not fresh) and baby carrots(also... not fresh. I can hear Anthony "smokes a lot" Bourdain bitching from here...)
While that simmers on low, I panned up 2 chicken breasts, and then salted and peppered them, and cut them into strips when cooked. Into the soup with them.
While that simmers, go have yourself a smoke or three or in my case; a beer or three. I actually did a beer run while it simmered, but to each his own.
Lastly i added a 'decent' helping of green curry paste. This is one of those things that has to be done little by little. 'To Taste' I think they call it. My portion came to just shy of 2 golf-ball helpings. This has more to do with the quantity of what I made, rather than how spicy I wanted it. It was fine for me, but a bit weak for the missus.
Make yourself a tasty bed of rice to lay underneath and you're done.
This was a perfect dinner, as it started storming right as we sat down. the temp dropped a good 10c and it was nice to eat a bit of healty stuff that warmed us as well.
Fix'ns : 2 chicken breasts, panned and sliced into strips.
2 good sized ginger knobs, sliced and then pureed.
1 500ml bottle of carrot juice (Think pint glass of beer)
whole jar of baby corn
1/2 jar of bamboo strips
1.5 cans of coconut milk (try to get the creamier kind.)
1 carrot sliced into thin strips or discs, your choice.
2 tbsp green curry (to taste. Add slowly to get to your level.)
pinch chili powder
—Christian
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So Steen tagged me, and in keeping with the sharing theme she mentioned, I will be posting my S.O.H. 4 here, and my other persona will do his bit on Rottenmac.
I am breaking the rules (unless Steen overrules me on this...) I am only posting my facts and then 4 links, but won't FORCE them to do the same.
1) I drink. In fact, there has been more than one time that I drank, and due to someone else's actions/deeds/words I took it upon myself to "go upside their head" as Bender would put it. I have a habit of filling my pockets with beers as I leave a party, and in one case, most of them were thrown at someone who made a girl cry at a party. Big no-no in my book. Something similar happened this past weekend, but I don't want to get into details that are fuzzy.
2) Since moving to 'Old Europe' I have become a better and more frequent cook. this is due to the fact that when I left, I was a student, and subsisted solely on beer, Cheez-its and burritos from El Farolitos on Mission and 24th. Now I can make Pesto from scratch and a schnitzel to die for.
3) I look more clean than I am. Yes, I shower regularly, but I tend to have a filthy mouth; curse like a sailor, and have a few habits that would make a Vegas local blush.
4) I once saw a Le Creuset set in Gilroy and honestly thought about grabbing all that would fit in my Timbuk messenger bag and making a break for it. That stuff is EXPENSIVE.
That's all. I don't have any food links to share, but If you dare to visit my site then you will get non-food related links. (Much to Steen's chagrin, I will not be forcing said people to continue this chain-email-linkage. It is an interesting idea, but well... It's just as bad as the 'Save my baby from the evil bears' spam the we all get from time to time. Not going to contribute. (I really am sorry...and I promise to drop a foodie post ASAP. Promises promise.)
—Christian
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I feel like I'm in with the cool kids now. LOL I've been tagged by Sue at Food Network Musings to play this little game. Now, I hope I'm not too awful for doing this, but since I share this site with a bunch of people, and since Quinn is the one who's most active, I thought we'd split the job between us. That means that we'll each post 4 facts and tag 4 people. I'd hate to leave him out of the fun. =)
Rules
1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Steen's facts:
1) It's obvious that I adore food, with few exceptions. I've got some really fond memories of eating mushrooms when I was a child, most often sautéed in some butter and then doused in milk or cream. It's probably still my favorite way to enjoy them.
My ex husband had a long long list of vegetables he despised (shoulda been my first clue...) including zucchini, some other squashes, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, etc., etc. And, yes, my beloved fungus. It took me eight long years to finally get him to like mushrooms, then we promptly split up.
I've upgraded. Newer. Cuter. Better in every way. Likes most veg. But no mushrooms. <sob> Still, I am so counting my blessings.
2) I'm a solid cook. I know my way around a kitchen and usually feel confident winging it or following a recipe. I cooked at my grandmother's side when I was a child, so I've grown up in the kitchen. And yet, baking scares me. Literally. I get butterflies and heartburn and who knows what else at the very thought. But I've been making progress. Baby steps. I'm determined to conquer my fear and get fat(ter) on home-made bread.
3) Here's a non-food related fact. I'm covered in tattoos. If you had to pick me out of a lineup, I'd be the last one you'd guess was a food nerd.
4) I am super easygoing. Really. Very even keel. I don't tend to get depressed, I'm not one for mood swings. I am a generally happy person who really loves her friends, her boyfriend, her dogs, and appreciates how good life can be. That being said, I've found myself just a hair shy of angry at Bob's kitchen behavior. He refuses to use recipes. Literally. Even when he doesn't know how to make something, he'll just try and figure it out. That's all well and good, but come on! Just a wee little peak. Just to nudge you in the right direction.... How is one to learn? To avoid mistakes? To recreate genius? <sigh>
Apparently, years ago, he managed to construct the ultimate meatloaf. There's no record of it. His subsequent attempts to delight my palate have failed. You know... If he'd written it down somewhere... LOL
Quinn's facts: (Waiting on you, Q!)
Steen tags:
1) ChubbyPanda at The Epicurious Wanderer
2) Recipe Tweaker
3) Kayoko at Umami Mart
4) And, just cuz I know how to suck... I tag Christian, aka The Gimp at Rottenmac, who also happens to be one of us Ham-sters. Come on, pal... It's your time to shine!
Quinn tags:
1) ?
2) ?
3) ?
4) ?
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-Quinn
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Forever ago, I scored this great one bedroom apartment in West Hollywood. It was big, airy, and rent-controlled. I loved the place and lived there for several years and when I moved, I passed it down to Ian who still lives there.
One of the things that made it so great was the sweet vintage O'Keefe and Merritt stove, fresh out of the 50s, all shiny white with a built-in griddle and the cool GRILLEVATOR broiler.
Gaggenau has clearly been studying old-timey classics, as evidenced by the introduction of their new Liftmatic oven. It's retro-meets-Jetsons and the power to amaze your friends and confuse whoever is house-sitting for you.
-steen
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“A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster, salad and champagne. The only true feminine and becoming viands.”
Lord Byron (1788-1824)
Like Black Sunday, or any other moment of historic gloom, my little devout cohort mourned the loss of our local Red Lobster at Wilshire and La Cienega at the tail end of Beverly Hills' famed Restaurant Row. Now you may ask, why the Lobster? One is that there is a group of us foodies that really love the joint on several levels. Primarily, it is one of the tastier and more dependable chains in existence. There are also the famous Ruben tales that we insist on him telling each time we go. When Ruben was working there as a youth, one afternoon included a butt nekked crack-head passed out in a toilet stall. Did this ever happen at Chasen's? I think not.
So, our options are limited: Monrovia or Lakewood. I choose Lakewood primarily for it's very own take on the Restaurant Row concept. In about a four block span, there are a plethora of chain restaurants back to back, from the sacred (Marie Calendars) to the profane (Hometown Buffet). What sweetened the deal was that our good friend Sherman is also a big fan of the Lobster and graced us with his presence on a trip down south for a Sunday brunch.
Well, Red Lobster doesn't have "brunch" per se. They have seafood for days, and this makes us very very happy indeed.
Olive Garden has those salt licks that they call bread sticks, but the Lobster has cheesy biscuits. At least three unique sources of the "bad" cholesterol eek through their flaky exoskeletons.
Ruben simply dotes on them.
And the requisite fake Caesar salad to go with them. My old roommate and I used to make the most exquisite Caesar salad together, with freshly coddled egg to emulsify the dressing and a liberal amount of coarsely diced anchovies for nerve. It is almost an ongoing surprise to see what passes for one of these things wherever one goes, but Lobster's is just as fine as any. An ultra creamy dressing loaded with Parmesan cheese granules goes quite well with the biscuits.
And there is no tarted up salad that cannot be augmented and improved with black pepper, if you please.
Appetizers! Ruben's delight! As if one's main course was not going to be a jamboree of fried or butter soaked crustaceans, one is often compelled to take it to the next level as the laboratory chefs at the Lobster wish to take us to. Behold, Lobster Pizza...
Barely tastes like lobster, truth be told. But this does not prevent our intrepid Ruben from indulging with the rest of us. I mean, it's REAL lobster, for crissakes!
The sampler platter was almost like a more palatable red-headed stepchild of one of Ruben's favorite RL meals: the Admiral's Feast. It's the all-breaded and deep-fried plate. Think if Gorton's and Mrs. Paul had an illegitimate preemie then this would be it. Praise God for clam strips! No one speaks of HoJo's anymore, and that saddens me.
Sherman ordered one of the more traditional meals that always includes one sorry-ass excuse for a lobster tail. But I usually get one of those combos myself, because they're good. And the paltry lobster bit takes on a new life when submerged in drawn butter - one of the most perfect culinary combinations every devised.
However, Ruben and I opted for mix-and-match shrimp fiestas. You really cannot go wrong with brochettes and scampi. You can go wrong with pasta. Looked good on paper, but not so much in real time. Not as bad as the "sourcini" that my friend Russell has about ten years ago at the Yukon Mining Company, but not that delightful.
Ruben is in hog heaven at all times.
And it is this collective regression back to our most silly, playful selves which is probably the primary reason we go back. Not quite like Ponce de Leon-style, but the Lobster has the most endearing effect on us when we fine dine there. And after three plates of shellfish and butter, I usually find nothing in the world to be wrong.
As we were leaving, the true players were coming. One gentleman, dressed to the nines, as if he just came back from auditioning for a reunion tour of the Time. The Lobster's appeal crosses all socioeconomic and cultural lines, as far as I can see. What I would give for a cheesy biscuit saturated in drawn butter right now.
-Quinn
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I love butter. (Don't we all?) I really and truly do. Perhaps not quite as much as Paula Deen does, and I'm grateful for that, but still... Case in point: I have very fond memories of a terrible trip to Paris. The trip sucked and I spent a lot of time in my shitty hotel room. My so-called friend turned out to be a worthless skank. Meanwhile, back at home, my piece-of-shit brother robbed someone at gunpoint and then got caught by the cops in MY CAR (which he didn't have permission to use), and my trip money went to bailing his sorry ass out of jail. I did mention a fond memory, though, and that was baguettes and the most delicious butter which is what kept me fed and reasonably content for the duration of my stay.
Having said all that, I was truly excited to stumble across a blog post on The Traveler's Lunchbox about making your own cultured butter like they've got over there in France. The description had my mouth watering and I was all over it. I figured that since I've been making bread here and there, my labor deserved to be crowned by magic.
So, I trucked over to Whole Foods to buy the most ridiculously expensive raw cream (the butter would only be as good as what went into it, right?). Because each pint of cream cost $13 (yes, that's THIRTEEN DOLLARS), I decided to halve the original recipe. I just wasn't willing to spend 26 bucks on butter, even if it's the best butter ever.
Well, I got the ingredients home, printed out the recipe and set to work. For some reason, I decided to measure out the cream and I'm glad I did. I purchased a pint bottle labeled as 470 mL. Upon measuring, I found it to contain only 420 mL. I adjusted the rest of the recipe but I was not pleased. In fact, for the first time ever, I contacted a food producer. I emailed them politely and suggested that they might want to check on their packaging operation. The guy that answered was not amused. In fact, he was downright icky to me saying that I was lucky to be able to buy raw cream and did I know what it takes for them to get it into markets, etc.
Please check The Traveler's Lunchbox for the recipe and photos. The butter came together perfectly and I'm pretty happy to be able to say that I made butter. I've got to say, though, that I wasn't blown away. The loving description had me expecting butter beyond compare, like real earth-shattering, life-changing butter. I got butter. It's good, but I don't think any better than any of the higher-end butters I can find around LA. As costly as the cream was, I don't think it's worth the expense either.
Still, I've got butter under my belt (in more ways than one!) and that's pretty cool.
-steen
tags: home-made+butter
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Last night, I was watching an episode of Lidia's Italy on Tivo and was positively inspired by her recipe for Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce. All that beautiful freshly shucked clam meat swimming in a big bowl of its own liquor had me salivating and scheming, planning a trip to the fishmonger. Well, today I got up and drove to two local seafood purveyors, and I was shot down at both. It's Sunday. Not the best day to buy seafood. Neither one had clams. It was time for plan B.I wandered the aisles throwing stuff into my basket determined to dazzle Bob with deliciousness. Seafood pasta was firmly lodged in my mind and I figured I'd wing it and make some shrimp ravioli, though I'd never made ravioli before. I wrapped up shopping with some garlic, a package of wonton wrappers, a pound of lovely head-on shrimp and some ground pork, then headed home to figure it all out.
When I got back, I printed out a couple recipes for tomato sauce and had already pulled out a can of peeled whole tomatoes when I realized that I was completely ignoring the bounty in my backyard. I put everything back in the pantry and headed outside with a basket to collect cherry tomatoes and basil.
Once back in the kitchen, I cleaned everything and made sauce.
---------------------
CHERRY TOMATO SAUCE
1 pound cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a glass baking dish. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place dish in oven and cook, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes.
;)
;)
Set sauce aside.
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SUMMER SHRIMP RAVIOLI
1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined (I had purchased one pound of head-on large shrimp. Once shelled, they weighed a bit more than 1/2 a pound.)
1/4 lb ground pork
1 dozen basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
1 generous tablespoon ricotta cheese
1 package wonton wrappers
1 egg white, beaten
Parmesan cheese (grated) to taste
Place shrimp, pork, basil, and ricotta cheese in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until pieces of shrimp are no longer identifiable, about 15 pulses. Add ricotta and salt and pepper and pulse again several times to combine. Mixture should resemlbe a chunky paste.
Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and lay out wonton wrappers. Place approximately 1 teaspoon of shrimp mixture in the center of each wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with beaten egg white and either fold into a triangle or place another wrapper on top. Be sure to completely seal the raviolis, expelling all air pockets.
;)
;)
;)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add 5-6 raviolis and gently boil for 3-4 minutes. I took one out and cut it open to test for doneness and to guage how long they should cook. I'd recommend you do the same.
Spoon some of the tomato sauce onto the bottom of your plate. Top with ravioli, then with more sauce. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.
Makes approximately 36 ravioli.
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Because I was only cooking for two, I froze half of the uncooked ravioli. Simply lay out the unboiled ravioli on a parchment-lined sheet pan and place in the freezer. Once frozen, stick them into a zip-top bag and store them. To serve, just drop them into boiling water, cook until they are done, then top with sauce.
I can't tell you how well this recipe went over. It was pretty simple, the ravioli were light and fresh tasting, and the sauce was perfect. If you make this, please let me know how it turns out.
The clams only have a momentary reprieve. I'll be hunting them down soon enough!
-steen
tags: shrimp+ravioli, recipes, pasta
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A lot of my day-to-day business involves hours of left-brain monkey work. What I mean is that I sit at the computer editing photos which frees up the other half of my brain for listening to talk radio or audio books. I've listened to every single archived This American Life episode, tons and tons of Fresh Air, a lot of Science Fridays, more Splendid Tables than I could possibly count, and now I'm on to the Good Food library.
I am totally having a "the internet rules!" moment. The fact that we can listen to an entire program's history online is one of the best things ever. I rarely catch any of these programs live on the air, and the fact that I can hear them at 3am if I want to is just frickin super. I'm seriously enjoying Good Food these days with the Market Report (they visit local LA area Farmers Markets each week and talk about what's fresh, interview the farmers and chefs...), the interviews and features, and Jonathan Gold's restaurant reviews. I'm a bit of a J. Gold groupie, so this is really perfect for me.
For those of you that hadn't heard, Mr. Gold who writes the Counter Intelligence column for the LA Weekly recently won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for criticism which only makes him that much more rad. I don't always pick up the Weekly, and when I do I feel kind of guilty because Gold's articles are really the only part of the rag that I actually read, so hearing him on Good Food clears my conscience and helps me save trees.
His appearance on the June 30th show was really exciting for me because his restaurant pick was not only the second Korean place in a row, but focused on a Korean "sushi" place. I've been regularly dining at one such establishment down the street from my house (Bu San on Western) for several years and I have been eager to branch out to others.
The subject of his review was A-Won, located just a mile or two southeast on Vermont. The restaurant specializes in hwe dup bap which is the same dish I always order at Bu San. What you're ordering is a large bowl of salad topped with raw fish. Served alongside is a red picnic-style ketchup squeeze bottle filled with a sweet/spicy sauce, and a small bowl of rice. You dump in the rice, squeeze on the heat, and mix the whole thing up. In a word, delicious.
On the A-Won menu, it's called something like "raw fish and vegetables", at Bu San it's the "Sashimi Donburi", but they're both similar. Quinn and I drove over to A-Won for lunch a couple days ago and he ordered the hwe dup bap. I had the other specialty suggested by J. Gold, the al bop. "Al" means egg which is obvious once you get a load of the dish, a decent sized bowl of steamed rice covered with tamago (omelette), uni (sea urchin), krab (with a k), and a rainbow of fish eggs.
As Quinn will tell you, he enjoyed his lunch but was a bit put off by the fact that it was largely "rabbit food". I'd have to agree, actually. Though I like salads much more than he does, A-Won's version was ENORMOUS but made up almost entirely of filler. I promised Quinn a visit to Bu San soon for what I feel is superior hwe dup bap. Bu San's version isn't quite as huge, but it's nicely balanced with a good amount of fish, sliced apples, Japanese pickled veg, green onions, smelt eggs, in addition to the lettuce. For my money (and less of it than A-Won charges), Bu San is the place to go.
My lunch, on the other hand, was really tasty. I adore fish eggs and having them all served up together allows one to contrast their subtle flavors. I would probably go here again for this dish.
;)
;)
;)
;)
I'll back up for a moment to say that the restaurant was nice and clean, the wait staff were friendly enough, and the meals were preceeded by miso soup. We were a bit sad to see the palty selection of panchan and we weren't able to deduce if that was because we are white or because it was lunch time. Our check was delivered with a tiny bottle of sweet yogurt drink which was a refreshing finish.
Sometime when I've got money to burn, I'd like to head back to A-Won for one of their sashimi plates. I love Korean sashimi which is served atop a mountain of angel-hair-like strands of daikon radish. We were spying on the chef preparing the biggest plate of (what I think was) halibut sashimi you've ever laid eyes on. The appetizer portion on the menu ran $30, so it's not something I'm going to order willy-nilly.
In conclusion... I owe Quinn Bu San. We'll report back.
-steen
A-Won
913½ S. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles
(213) 389-6764
tags: Korean+food, sushi, fish, restaurants
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