Shanks for the Memories

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We decided to have a Crestmont Dinner. Crestmont in Silverlake is a short street that has a long history. We were recently lent a book by Daniel Hurewitz: Bohemian Los Angeles, and it documents that Silverlake has always been an artistic, alternate lifestyle community. Bea was born on Crestmont and has lived in Silverlake her entire life. Darryl and Robert live on the street, as well as Mike and Chris. We had the entire group over for a very lively night.

We started with lots of wine served with Humus and Pita Chips from Joan’s on 3^rd. They are absolutely the best pita chips in LA.

It had been cold and wet again so a winter dinner was perfect given the weather. We started with a delicious spring soup – Farro, Leafy Greens and Potato, as Prepared in the Marches from the Paula Wolfert Cookbook: Mediterranean Grains and Greens. It is a great spring soup with asparagus and fresh shelled peas. I had baked a no-knead bread which we had with the soup.

For the main course we made Braised Veal Shanks from an unpublished recipe by Mark Peel of Campanile. It is a pain to make but delicious. Of course, we purchased the veal from McCall’s Meat and Fish, these were beautiful tender shanks. They were braised with lots of vegetables. We served the meat over Polenta with the braising liquid and vegetables.

A cheese course of Mt Tam Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake was next with the crusty No-Knead Bread.

Finally Chris and Mike provided a delicious home made Salted Carmel Ice Cream on top of homemade Chocolate Sauce that seized up to a thick texture. With the dessert they served a Waffle like cookie called a Gaufrette.

We then served Chateau Clemens Barsac a Premier Cru dessert wine, it was delicious! 

It was a very enjoyable dinner with political discussions, Silverlake stories and a spirited conversation about adulterated milk-products.

Farro, Leafy Greens, and Potato Soup as Prepared in the Marches

From Mediterranean Grains and Greens by Paula Wolfert

Serves 3 or 4

On a spring trip to the Marches (on the Adriatic coast of central Italy) I met a marvelous white-haired forager-chef-restaurateur, Felice Orazi, famous for his spring soup made with a local wild green called bubbolino, farro, and freshly dug potatoes.

Felice's wife, Rosalba, also uses bubbolino in her equally famous risottos and frittatas. Felice's restau­rant, Le Copertelle, is nestied on the side of a mountain. He starts picking bubbolino in March, when this marvelous pealike green is barely an inch out of the ground. It's then, he says, that the plant is at its tender best. On the April day when I visited he looked out the window just before going out to forage. "Hmmm the weather's weird today," he said. "I think I'll find some mushrooms, too." Then he smiled. "It's going to be a good lunch."

He returned with bubbolino and mushrooms, and the lunch, as promised, was good—in fact, out of this world! He told me that as spring progresses into summer he must go out earlier each day in order to climb higher up the mountain, since at lower levels the plants have matured and are too bitter for cooking.

Bladder campion (as bubbolino is called in English) tastes like a cross between asparagus and sweet peas—which is how I've simulated its taste in the following recipe, also adding a little arugula for texture.

When I first started searching for wild greens, I thought bladder campion would be hard to find. In fact, I found it right in the middle of my daylily patch in front of my summer home on Martha's Vineyard. Unfortunately, it was too mature to use.

If you do decide to go for the real thing, be sure to consult a reliable book on wild edible plants in your area. Otherwise you may make a mistake and cook an inedible look-alike.

½         cup farro

3         tablespoons olive oil plus more for garnish

½         cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

½         teaspoon red pepper flakes (without seeds) or more to taste

4         cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

½         pound boiling potatoes, peeled and chopped

½         pound arugula leaves, stemmed and finely shredded

1         cup shelled peas         .   .

3         fresh asparagus spears, sliced very thin crosswise (optional)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3         cups vegetable, meat, or poultry stock, simmering

Freshly grated pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano

1.   Pick over and rinse the farro and soak in tepid water overnight.

2.   Drain the farro, cover with fresh cold water, and cook, covered, until tender, 45 minutes or longer, depending upon the age of the grain.

3.   Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed bean or soup pot, heat the oil; add the parsley, red pepper, garlic, and potatoes; and saute until soft and golden brown, about 15-30 minutes, mashing the potatoes in the pot, so that they begin to stick to the bottom of the pan and create caramelized areas here and there—but avoid burning.

4.   Add the arugula, peas, and asparagus, if using, and stir-fry for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the fully cooked farro and 3 cups sim­mering stock and bring back to a boil. Cook at the simmer for 30 minutes to cook the vegetables and blend flavors.

5.   Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve with a drizzle of fresh olive oil and a small spoonful of cheese.

Braised Veal Shanks With Salsa Verde

Mark Peel Campanile Restaurant

Serves 6

This is a variation of Osso Bucco, but on a more impressive scale. The veal shank is left whole for the slow gentle braising, and then long strips of succulent meat are sliced off for serving. This dish can be elevated to a show piece by presenting the shank standing on end with the sliced meat fanned out around it on a bed of braised vegetables. The trick to slicing is allowing the shanks cool in their liquid for a good half hour, allowing the meat to firm up a little, and to use a very sharp knife.

These veal shanks are best for a big wintry Sunday evening meal. Served with polenta, soft, or fried, and Salsa Verde, this dish is complete, as the unctuousness of the veal and polenta combination is cut by the sharp flavor of the Salsa Verde. Don't let the long preparation and cooking time put you off, because the braise doesn't require much attention, only enough to ensure that the liquid does not evaporate to the point the shanks are less than half covered.

The shanks can marinate for up to 2 days. The dish can be prepared, and cooked hours in advance, if desired. If you can find marrow spoons anywhere, and you have a taste for it, eat the marrow. The shank bones will yield a few more delicious mouthfuls of rich veal flavor.

Osso bucco is traditionally served with the bone cut into small pieces, but most butchers can order whole shanks if you ask. Have the round bottom of the shank bone trimmed flat if you want it to stand upright.

2 whole veal shanks, each about 3-1/2 pounds

Marinade

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon whole juniper berries, crushed

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, crushed

2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

Braising Liquid

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 (6 ounces) green cabbage, washed, trimmed, and cored, and cut into 2" pieces

1 medium (1/2 pound) onion, cut into eighths

2 large (1/2 pound) carrots, peeled, cut in half, lengthwise and

then cut into 2" pieces

3 large (1/2 pound) celery stalks, cut into 2" pieces

2 large (1/2 pound) leeks, whites only, trimmed and cut into

2” pieces

1 medium (1/2 pound) fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into 1/8" thick pieces

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

5 cups Brown Veal Stock

5 cups water

2 heads (1/4 pound) garlic, cut in half, horizontally

4 sprigs each thyme, sage, and parsley

Salsa Verde

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

In a large mixing bowl, marinate the shanks in 1/3 cup olive oil, the juniper berries, whole peppercorns, the thyme and rosemary. The shanks can marinate, refrigerated/up to 2 days^)

Have ready:

The Brown Veal Stock, warm in a medium saucepan, over low heat.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the shanks from the marinade. Dry the shanks with a few shakes to remove any surface liquid. Season lightly with kosher salt and black pepper. Brown the shanks until brown on all sides, about 10 to 15 minutes. (If a grill is unavailable, or inconvenient, brown the veal shanks in a large cast iron skillet, over medium-high heat, with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, about 10 to 15 minutes) After browning, let the shanks rest on a large platter.

In a large oven proof casserole, or deep roasting pan, over medium heat, preheat the 3 tablespoons vegetable oil. Saute the cabbage, onion, carrots, celery, leeks, and fennel until lightly browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and the vinegar and reduce by about 1/4, about 5 minutes. Add the stock, water, garlic, and the thyme, sage, and parsley, and bring to a simmer. Transfer the browned shanks and any juice on the platter to the casserole and put the casserole in the oven. The braising liquid should come a little more than half way up the side of the shanks. Braise, uncovered, until the shanks are very tender, about 2-1/2 to 3 hours turning carefully every 45 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven, and allow to rest about 20 minutes.

Remove the shanks to a platter, skim away and discard the fat.   Return the braising liquid and the shanks to the pan, and allow to rest in the broth for a half hour before slicing.

Prepare the Saisa Verde

Using a long, very sharp knife, slice the shanks taking care to avoid shredding the meat. Slice 1/4" to 1/2" thick pieces parallel to the bone, working around the bone until all the meat is removed.

To serve, stand the shank bones on the broad end, on a large platter and fan the sliced meat around in a circular pattern. Put a portion of polenta, if desired, in each of 6 large, warm soup plates, add a portion of braised vegetables and about 1 cup of the braising liquid. Drizzle a tablespoon of Salsa Verde over each portion of polenta, and several tablespoons over the sliced veal, and serve immediately.

SALSA VERDE

Yields 3/4 cup

This salsa verde is of Italian, not Mexican origin. The flavor is a balance of garlic, anchovy, tart lemon, capers, and fresh herbs. Salsa verde is perfect for serving with roasted meats. It fills the same taste niche as steak sauce, but because it's freshly made, the flavors are more vibrant. The lemon juice and the vinegar from the capers give it a cutting quality, and the anchovy adds a bite to the richness of roasted meats. It's a small flavor twist that works especially well on a roast beef sandwich. Salsa Verde is perfect with the Braised Veal or Lamb Shank. It is important that Salsa Verde be prepared fresh no more than an hour before serving to catch all the flavors at their peak.

3 anchovy filets, coarsely chopped

3 large garlic cloves, peeled

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon capers, drained well

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped Italian parsley leaves

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh marjoram

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

In a mortar and pestle, grind to a paste the anchovy fillets, capers, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Continue to grind, adding the herbs, and 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. When the herbs have been ground to a coarse paste, slowly add the remaining olive oil, stirring to incorporate it into the paste.

When ready to serve, stir in up to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, to taste. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper, and serve immediately.

Lunchtime Eggplant

During our pork dinner, Shu mentioned one of his absolute favorite Bangladeshi Dishes: Bengali Style Eggplants with Tamarind Sauce. He offered to come to our house and cook it for lunch. The dish is his Mom’s recipe and is excellent. He also talked to us about the difference types of Ghee and highly recommends the use of Gawa Ghee. We will look for it.

We are anxious to make the dish now that we have the recipe. It is wonderful. He served it with Roti, that he grilled on our stove.

Bengali Style Eggplants with Tamarind Sauce ( Tetul diye Begoon)

Shuman’s Mom’s Recipe

1 and Half Lbs of Desi Eggplants (Begoon/Baingan)

Half large Onion chopped

1 Table spoon Garlic paste

1 Table spoon Ginger paste

1 Table spoon Gawa Ghee

2 Table spoon Tamarind Sauce (Tetul) mix this with 1 table spoon sugar or honey

1 Table spoon plain Yoghurt

1 Table spoon Panch Phoron or Poram (Bengali Phoron, Hindi Poram)

Fresh Cilantro

Salt to taste

Chili powder upto you.

Cut Eggplants in halves or quarters.

Heat Ghee and put in the onions, garlic and ginger for a few minutes

Put in Eggplants and stir in high heat

Add tamarind sauce and yoghurt And IF you want Chili powder

reduce heat

when almost done (Eggplants are tender) put in Panch Phoron (which has been heated)

put in Cilantro and cover to retain smell. Just place the Cilantro on top, dont mix with Eggplants.

Serve with Chapatti or plain white rice......Enjoy!

Jews and Muslim Share a Pork Dinner

Mark Bittman column in the New York Times as been a staple source for recipes that we love to make. He recently retired from his column (we will miss it). He listed his top 25 recipes from his years at the paper. The Pork Pernil was one of his favorites and we decided to make it. What better thing for Jews to serve to a Muslim!

We started with a favorite (and easy salad) that we call The Hungry Cat Salad, after the restaurant in Hollywood where we had the salad. It is delicious. You can get the recipe from our blog of: Nov. 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

With the pork we made a wonderful potato dish: Baked Yams with Lime and Honey from Mesa Mexicana by Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken. This recipe for potatoes is a winner. Try it! The lime and honey makes the potatoes both sweet and bright! I really like it.

The dinner gave us lots of leftovers! Our type of cooking!

THE MINIMALIST

Let the Oven Do All the Work

By MARK BITTMAN

IF you buy a big pork shoulder and take your time, as you should, the classic Puerto Rican pork roast called pernil can take you nearly all day. The last time I roasted a large one it was in the oven for seven hours.

Yet there are times I feel almost guilty about this dish because the process is beyond easy and incredibly impressive, it feeds as many people as a medium-size ham, and the flavor is unbelievable.

When I first learned how to make a classic pernil, about 30 years ago, the only seasonings I used were oregano, garlic and vinegar.

But I’ve taken some liberties by adding a little cumin and some chilies; the onion is my addition, too. After all, pork is less flavorful than it used to be.

I believe that a slightly wetter coating and some water in the bottom of the pan keeps the meat moist during the long, slow roasting period.

The idea is this: Make a purée of the onion, garlic — you can use much more than the four cloves I recommend here — oregano, cumin and mild chili powder, like ancho. You can add a little cayenne or chipotle powder, but not too much.

Rub the paste all over the pork shoulder, and then roast it in a slow oven at about 300 degrees until it’s super-tender and brown.

When it’s done, the pork should be just about falling off the bone and a thing of beauty, crisp and dark. If the outside needs a little more browning, just jack the heat up a bit for 10 or 15 minutes.

Let it rest a bit, serve and try not to feel too guilty.

Recipe: Pernil

Time: At least 3 hours

1 pork shoulder, 4 to 7 pounds (or use fresh ham)

4 or more cloves garlic, peeled

1 large onion, quartered

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ancho or other mild chili powder

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil as needed

1 tablespoon wine or cider vinegar

Lime wedges for serving.

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Score meat’s skin with a sharp knife, making a cross-hatch pattern. Pulse garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, chili, salt and pepper together in a food processor, adding oil in a drizzle and scraping down sides as necessary, until mixture is pasty. (Alternatively, mash ingredients in a mortar and pestle.) Blend in the vinegar.

2. Rub this mixture well into pork, getting it into every nook and cranny. Put pork in a roasting pan and film bottom with water. Roast pork for several hours (a 4-pound shoulder may be done in 3 hours), turning every hour or so and adding more water as necessary, until meat is very tender. Finish roasting with the skin side up until crisp, raising heat at end of cooking if necessary.

3. Let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting it up; meat should be so tender that cutting it into uniform slices is almost impossible; rather, whack it up into chunks. Serve with lime.

Yield: At least 6 servings.

Baked Yams with Lime and Honey

Mesa Mexicana

Mary Sue Milliken

Susan Feniger

Serves 6 to 8

3       large yams (about 4 pounds)

½       cup water

6       tablespoons honey

4       tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature juice of 4 limes

1-1/2       teaspoons salt

½       teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Creme frache or sour cream, for garnish

Baking yams slowly in their skins retains all their flavor. We consider them richer and sweeter than sweet potatoes. this dish can be completed as much as three days in advance and reheated we love these rich yams with grilled turkey breast with vinegar and Cracked Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Wash the yams and place in a baking dish with the water. Bake until the potatoes are soft and the skins puffy, about 1\h hours. Set aside to cool slightly (leave the oven on).

Peel the yams and place in a medium baking dish. Add the honey, butter, lime juice, salt and pepper Stir and mash well with a potato masher Cover with aluminum foil and return to the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until heated through. Sprinkle the top with crema, creme fraTche or sour cream and serve hot.

Italian Feast

Robert and Darryl had surprised us with a pound of Benton’s Hickory Smoked Bacon. It is very difficult to obtain and extremely Smokey. Sort of like a single-malt Bacon.

We decided to make Pasta All 'Amatriciana, from a recipe in The Zuni Café Cookbook. It is our favorite version of the pasta. We planned to invite Robert and Darryl over in thanks for them bringing us the bacon which we used to make the pasta sauce. You can find the recipe in our blog of Nov. 21, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe. This is not a difficult recipe and it is FABULOUS!

When we called them they said they were making fish soup. The Fish Soup was in the style of an Italian Cippiono, served with Garlic Aoli Croutons. We jointly decided to combine the dinner and have courses with the pasta first followed by the soup. Robert has been on a fish soup bender and this was a delicious version. Of course the fish was from McCall’s Meat and Fish. We love it when guests bring a course!

I baked a Bread, varying the recipe a tad, adding a little more yeast and a little less salt. It improved the bread, rising a little higher. It was raining very heavily and I wondered if the humidity would affect the bread, but it didn’t. We once again had Mt Tam Cheese, I really like its sour taste.

Robert and Darryl also surprised us bringing home made very dark, very rich Chocolate Ice Cream. They said they bought the chocolate from The Spice Station of Silverlake. I didn’t know they sold chocolate. With the ice cream we served Almond Cookies from Mozza2Go.

Delicious dinner as good or better than any Italian Restaurant in LA!

Michael and Tamara Dinner

Michael and Tamara were in town and we invited Robert and Darryl to join us for dinner. We had invited some other friends but they couldn’t make it.

We had to start with Crab with Dynamite Sauce. Michael and Tamara love Matsuhisa, when we go there we always order his Crab in Creamy Spicy Sauce, and this version is possibly even better. I have posted the recipe many times, it can be found on our blog of: Sep. 5, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

With the Crab we served Japanese Rice and Seaweed Salad. For the first time we bought the Seaweed Salad at the Saturday Silverlake Farmer’s Market. It was quite good.

For the main course we made Honey-Cured, Smoked Salmon, smoked in the egg. This is a great recipe, and easy to make (if you have fabulous salmon and an Egg).  We purchased the Salmon and Crab at McCall''s Meat and Fish. The recipe is from Cooking with Fire and Smoke by Phillip Stephen Schulz and can be found in our blog of: January 15, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

We followed with a course of Mt. Tam Cheese which we purchased at The Cheese Store of Silverlake. With the cheese we served a Bread that I had baked.

With the Salmon we served fresh Asparagus in a Mustard Sauce with Hazelnuts. The recipe for the Mustard Sauce is from The Food of Campanile Cookbook, to which we added Hazelnuts. The sauce is delicious.

Robert and Darryl brought an extremely rich Chocolate Cake that they made.

Mustard Vinaigrette

The Food of Campanile

Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton

Yields   1 1/2   cups

This is more forceful than a basic red wine vinaigrette. The mustard and the garlic give it extra vibrancy, 

and the lemon adds a clean, fruity element that contrasts with the zest of the mustard.

At Campanile we use both extra-virgin olive oil and simple vegetable oil, such as almond or safflower oil, 

to produce a lighter fla­vor than if we were to use olive oil exclusively. For some reason that has never

been fully clear to us, plain vegetable oil emulsifies better than extra-virgin olive oil. Incorporating the

veg­etable oil before the olive oil will reduce the likelihood that this, and all emulsified vinaigrettes,

will separate. Vinaigrettes such as this are better suited to salads made of greens with a hearty structure,

such as romaine, or a sharp fla­vor, such as arugula. Delicate greens, like mache or mesclun, would be

overwhelmed by this dressing. The vinaigrette will keep, refrig­erated, for up to 2 days.

1 extra-large egg yolk at room temperature

1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced (1 teaspoon)

¼`cup whole grain mustard Juice from 1 lemon (4 tablespoons)

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, garlic, mustard, lemon juice, and red wine

vinegar. Add the vegetable oil in a slow trickle, whisking continuously until all the oil is incorporated.

Repeat the procedure with the olive oil. Correct the seasoning to taste. To taste for the correct seasoning,

spoon a little of the dressing over a few greens. Taste the greens and adjust the seasoning as necessary,

with kosher salt and black pepper. Refrigerate, covered, and use as needed.

My Favorite Roast Chicken

We started with a Salad made from Arugula, Parmesan Cheese and Dates, dressed with a little olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar.

This is absolutely my favorite roast chicken. The combination of crispy skin with the preserved lemon and breadcrumbs tucked underneath are perfect. The combination of the onions, and roasted potatoes baking under the chicken and getting marinated by the chicken juices is a real winner. The recipe is: Roast Chicken with Preserved Lemons Adapted from Laurent Tourondel. It is a wonderful one-dish recipe. You can get the recipe from our blog of: Jan. 23, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

After we ate the chicken on a 2nd night we did as we always do, and threw the carcass in a pot with carrots and onions and made a Chicken Stock which we froze for future use. It is better than any store bought stock!

Winter Beef Stew

The cold weather in LA called for one of the ultimate winter dishes: Provencal Beef Stew. It is from the Patricia Wells cookbook: Bistro Cooking. The stew is all thrown in a pot, marinates overnight and cooks in the oven or on the stove top. One pot stew. It is delicious.

With it you make an easy Macaroni and Cheese from the same cookbook, using some of the juices from the stew. Our kind of dinner! This is also one of those dishes that gets better and better as you re-heat the leftovers! The recipe can be found in our blog of: March 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Cote de Boeuf

We have been exploring Cote de Boeuf. Robert has been our guide to the cut of meat, insistent and correct as to how to cook it. It basically is a large bone in Rib Steak. The first thing we had to do was disabuse ourselves of the notion of grilling it outdoors.

The meat should be roasted in the oven after browning all sides on top of the stove in a cast iron pan. Further we wanted to use dry-aged steak and Nate at McCall’s Meat and Fish insisted that we could not grill this meat, the smoke from the charcoal would disrupt and overwhelm the taste of the dry aging. He cut us a fantastic steak that was exceptional. He also suggested browning the meat in clarified butter which we did.

With the Cote de Boeuf and vegetables we served a Baked Potato topped with White Truffle Butter. Outrageously good.

We browned the meat on all sides in a cast iron skillet that had a little clarified butter in it. We then put the meat on a rack placed on top of the pan and placed it in an oven preheated to 300 degrees. We cooked until the interior was about 130. I then removed the meat to let it rest before slicing, taking the pan with steak drippings and butter and Sauted Arugula with balsamic vinegar to place on the plate beneath the steak slices. With the steak we served mixed vegetables that we had purchased at Forage.

For dessert we had Carrot Cake, also from Forage.

Lentil Pasta

I think one of the easiest tastiest salads to make is the one that we call: The Hungry Cat Salad. We first saw it made at The Hungry Cat Restaurant in Hollywood and asked them for the recipe, which they were nice enough to give us. We don’t use a lot of avocados and that might be the reason I like the salad. You can get the recipe, such as is on from our blog of: Nov. 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.


When we reheated the pasta (it reheats easily in the microwave) we made a different salad.  We had had dinner at Palate and had brought home a small piece of Short Rib. So, we made a delicious Salad with Arugula topped with the shredded leftover Short Ribs.

In the summer when tomatoes were at their best we made several batches of Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes from: The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. We then froze the tomatoes for use in the winter when delicious tomatoes are hard to come by.

We used the frozen tomatles for our main course: Lentil Pasta. The Italian Lentil Pasta from the restaurant Locanda Veneta in Los Angeles is one of the best. It is so rich, you would swear it was made with meat. You can get the recipe from our blog of: July 22, 2008. Click the date to get the recipes for both the pasta and the tomatoes.

New Years Delayed

We had our New Year’s Eve dinner on the night of the 1^st. It turned out that the fish dinner that we had planned for New Year's Eve wouldn’t work, because Jerry was allergic to fish.

So we decided to serve the entire New Years Dinner a night delayed. We knew that Robert and Darryl were returning from a week in the Midwest and decided to invite Billy / Kevin to join us.

Bad News / Good News. Billy / Kevin having partied a little too much on New Years Eve, sent their regrets (that is the bad news). There was more Caviar and Smoked Salmon for the 4 of us that did eat the delayed dinner (that is definitely the good news).

We made Toast Points from the Bread that I baked and served Smoked Salmon Tartar from a recipe we had found in the Los Angeles Times. This is a great appetizer and easy to make.

We then served the Caviar with Chopped Egg, Onion and Cream Fresh. I read in a book once that the thing that goes best with Caviar is: More Caviar. We had plenty!

At The Cheese Store of Silverlake we had purchase a large black truffle. We made a Pasta then coated the pasta with Truffle Butter and finally topped the pasta with Sliced Truffles. The flavor was intense!

For dessert, we finally cut our Fruit Cake we make every year. I know that fruit cake gets a bad rap, but this one has no dried fruit in it and it is delicious. It is from a from a recipe by Craig Claiborne in the New York Times. We look forward to it every year. For some reason to make it special, we only make it once a year, although you can make it anytime and would love it!

Robert and Darryl regaled us with stories of their family adventure in Milwaukee. They did much cooking, liked the Pizza (isn’t that strange) and hated the hamburgers. I will take heed if we ever venture to Milwaukee.

It was just like New Year's Eve, without the funny hats and noise makers and having to stay up till midnight!

A Truly Terrific Tartar Made of Salmon

CHEF'S SECRETS

June 06, 1991|ROSE DOSTI | TIMES STAFF WRITER

Smoked salmon is the secret of this extraordinary salmon tartar. L'Ermitage executive chef Michel Blanchet purchases fresh Norwegian salmon whole, cures fillets with kosher salt and sugar, then soaks them in oil for 24 hours. Finally he smokes the fillets in a smoker fueled with herbs.

If you don't want to go to the trouble of smoking your own salmon, use a good commercial brand or transform leftover bits and pieces of smoked salmon into a tartar for a spectacular--and easy--party or picnic appetizer.

L'ERMITAGE SALMON TARTAR

9 ounces smoked salmon

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1 tablespoon chopped capers

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons sour cream

Toast points

Chop smoked salmon with sharp knife. In large bowl combine salmon, onion, capers, parsley, lemon juice and sour cream. Mix well. Serve with toast points. Makes 1 1/4 cups, about 6 appetizer servings.

Mary Ann’s Fruitcake

From: Craig Claiborne’s

The New York Times Cookbook

1            pound golden seedless raisins

1            pound pecan meats, broken

3            cups sifted flour

1            teaspoon salt

1            pound butter at room temperature

2            cups sugar

6            eggs, separated

1            teaspoon baking soda

1            tablespoon warm water

1/4            cup Grand Marnier

1. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric beater. Start beating and gradually add the sugar. Cream the mixture well and add the egg yolks one at a time, beating constantly. Blend the soda and water and add it, beating. Beat in the Grand Marnier. Pour this mixture into the nut mixture and blend together with the hands.

2. Beat the whites until stiff and fold them in with the hands. Continue folding until the whites are not apparent.

3. Spoon and scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake for 2 to 2x/4 hours, or until the cake is puffed above the pan and nicely browned on top. If the cake starts to brown too soon, cover with aluminum foil. Remove the cake from the pan shortly after it is baked. Tapping the bottom of the cake pan with a heavy knife will help loosen it. Store the cake for at least 10 days. If desired, add an occasional touch of Cognac or rum to the cake as it stands. Keep it closely covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

Yield: 1 10-inch cake.