A Bit of Santa Fe

Wine: Synthesi Aglianico Del Vulture 200

We decided to revisit the Babo Cookbook. There is a recipe for Grilled Pork Loin that we previously had made. We decided to make it again. This time we toned down the Red Pepper. It has a dry rub that is made from the Dried Porcinis, sugar and red pepper. They are placed in the Cuisinart and blended till they become a fine powder. The meat is then coated with the rub and refrigerated over-night.

When the grill is ready you scrape off most of the coating. It has absorbed juices from the meat and is no longer dry. It smells great!

Simply grill the meat.

Our friends who own the Santa Fe Weaving Gallery, Barbara and Jill, sent us a cookbook: Cooking with Café Pasqual. We have eaten lunch at the restaurant many times, when we have visited Santa Fe.

We made two recipes from the book. A Cold Beet and Chipotle Soup and a Fresh Corn Cake. We found the soup too much like borscht from our youth. Although it would never be that spicy in a Jewish home!

The Corn Cake was more interesting. It was moist and light, A cross between corn bread and a corn soufflé. It went well with the Pork.

Fig Pasta and More!

Wine: Puelles Rioja 2002

We ate at Campanile and had a totally unusual Fig Pasta, it was sweet and buttery and tasted of the fig. It was most unlike a traditional pasta. We love figs and they were in season, so we decided to do some research and see if we could find a recipe. I say we,it was really Cathy! Once again, Lynn Rossetto Kasper had a recipe in The Splendid Table Cookbook.

Fig Pasta
The key is to only cook the sauce in the last minute or so that pasta is cooking. It needs the briefest of cooking time or the figs will break down.

4 Ounces unsalted butter
1 lb figs cut in 1/8ths
Shredded zest of 1 lemon
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
1 ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Add the zest to hot butter, cook about 30 seconds.
Add figs and pepper and cook about 1 more minute.
Add cream and drained pasta and cook about 30 seconds more toss in the cheese and serve!

It is very unusual and good. Kasper describes the dish as a Renaissance-inspired dish. Not everything has to be new to be good. We will definitely make it again!

We then grilled Pork Chops using the recipe from Jar.

Char Sui Pork Grilled Pork Chops The recipe was published in Bon Appetit in March 2006 in an article about Jar.

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup black bean garlic sauce
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon red food coloring
6 12- to 14-ounce pork rib chops, each about 1 1/2 inches thick



Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl for marinade. Place chops in extra-large resealable plastic bag. Add marinade to bag. Seal top, releasing excess air. Turn bag to coat chops. Refrigerate 3 to 5 days, turning bag occasionally.

Preheat broiler, adjusting rack 8 inches below heat source. Line rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty foil. Remove chops from marinade. Place chops on prepared pan with some marinade still clinging. Broil until chops are cooked through and thermometer inserted horizontally into center registers 145°F, watching closely to prevent burning (chops may char slightly in spots), about 9 minutes per side. Transfer to plates and serve.

Corn is in season so we bought fresh corn at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and grilled it. Grilled Corn: After shucking we salt, butter, wrap in aluminum foil and throw on the Grill. After about 5 minutes of cooking I remove the foil and roll the corn directly on the grill browning and caramelizing the corn.

We will have great leftovers!

Tomato and More Tomato

Wine: Cuilleron Syrah 2005

We went to Lucques, like we do every Sunday night that we can, and had a wonderful Tomato Gazpacho. When we returned home Cathy checked the Sunday Supper at Lucques cookbook and found the recipe for: Yellow Tomato Gaspacho.

The soup is very easy to make, spicy in a way I like, with chopped a jalapeños, red pepper, red onion relish. When you serve it you top it with the relish, cherry tomatoes and cilantro and olive oil. The inspiration is keeping the relish out of the soup until you serve it. By adding it as a garnish at the end the vegitables remain crispy and intense. A fabulous summer soup.


We then had a large second course (or at least Cliff’s portion was) of both a simple pasta and a wonderful roast chicken. Cathy adapted both of the recipes from Lynne Rossetto Kasper: The Splendid Table.

The Penne Pasta Balsamic was made using Kasper’s Candied Tomatoes recipe. The candied tomatoes were added to the cooked pasta after they had been sautéed briefly with lots of Balsamic. Finally chopped basil was added.

The Roast Chicken with Herbs was a roasted chicken with lots of Garlic and Rosemary under the skin. The herbs are put under the skin the day before so the flavors can flow into the chicken. The chicken is then placed in the refrigerator for 24 hours. When the chicken was cooked it was delicious. The skin (my favorite part) was very crispy.

We never seem to grow tired of fresh tomatoes!

Penne with Balsamic

Wine: Le Clos du Caillou Cotes du Rhone 1998


White Nectarines are fresh and sweet at the Farmer’s Market. We made a Salad with Arugula, Almonds, Prosciutto and dressed it with Saba

Continuing our use of heirloom tomatoes we made one of favorite pastas. The recipe is from Rogers and Grey: Italian Country: Penne with Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar. What makes this such a good recipe is that when the penne is cooked it is thrown back into the pan and slightly cooked with lots of butter. Then lots of balsamic is added to the pasta. Finally the sauce and basil are added to the pasta.

It is served with Pecorino Cheese. Often I find Pecorino to salty. Chris at The Cheese Store of Silverlake sold us a Pecorino that wrapped in Grape leaf. It was very good and not overly salty. It was the best pecorino I have ever tasted. It was the perfect complement to the pasta. We had lots of leftovers and continued to enjoy the pasta for several days.

Rogers and Rogers

Wines: Chateau Gloria St. Julien 2000
Les Argiles Vouvray 2004

The Zuni Café Cookbook


When ever we go to San Francisco we eat at the Zuni Café. It seems we also get their Chicken for two. They have published various renditions of the recipe. This one is from their cookbook: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. We make it at least once every summer.

Zuni Roasted Chicken with Bread Salad

Papa Al Pomodoro from Italian Country Cook Book Rogers / Gray
Serves 10

4 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into thin slices
¾ cup olive oil
9 pounds ripe sweet tomatoes, peeled and seeded, or 4 ½ pounds canned plum tomatoes, drained of most of their juices
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 loaves stale bread
1 large bunch fresh basil
Extra-virgin olive oil

Put the garlic and the olive oil into a heavy saucepan and cook gently for a few minutes. Just before the garlic turns brown, add the tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes become concentrated. Season with salt and pepper, then add 2 ½ cups water and bring to a boail.

Cut most of the crust off the bread and break or cut into large chunks. Put the bread into the tomato mixture and stir until the bread absorbs the liquid, adding more boiling water if it is too thick. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. If the basil leaves are large, tear into pieces. Stir into the soup with ½ to ¾ cup of extra virgin olive oil. Let sit before serving to allow the bread to absorb the flavor of the basil and oil. Float some more extra-virgin oil on top of each bowl of soup.

Pasta Under (Not With) the Stars

Wines:

Concerto Reggiano Lambrusco - 2004
Chateau La Conseillante Pomerol 1982

Our friend John who owns The Wine House in San Francisco, often stays with us. He imports wines and comes to Los Angeles to sell them. We decided to a cook a dinner for him and he brought us a 1982 Pomerol for the dinner.

Los Angeles had been unusually warm and humid. What Global Warming? See the movie: An Inconvenient Truth for the sorry details. At least when the snow caps melt and the water rises, being on top of a hill we will be safe!

The warm weather dictated the menu and the dining location. We decided to eat on the deck overlooking the city and it was a beautiful night.

We started with drinks and a Goat Cheese, Salami Almonds and Olives. We had recently had the Salami from Fra’ Mani at La Terza. It was excellent. We had other sausages from Fra’ Mani but not the Salami. We asked Chris at The Cheese Store of Silverlake if he was getting the Salami and he just happened to have ordered it. It is very good.

We then had Melon and Prosciutto. The melon season is in full swing and every melon we have selected has been excellent.

When we first came to Los Angeles, John came down to visit us and we went to an Italian Restaurant: Locanda Veneta. We had a fabulous Pasta made with Tomatoes, Spinach and Lentils. It is exceptionally rich and you would think it has Meat in the sauce, but it doesn’t. We obtained the recipe and make it every summer using fresh heirloom tomatoes. We first made Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes using a recipe by Lynne Rossetto Kasper from The Italian Country Table.

Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes

Cut up tomatoes into wedges combine with salt and 1 cup extra-virgin oil. Place pulp up on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 30 more minutes more, reduce heat to 250 and bake to edges of tomatoes start to darken. Remove from oven cool 20 minutes. Transfer to a glass dish pour oil from pan over the tomatoes and let set uncovered for 4 – 6 hours. Refrigerate till use.

Here is the Pasta Recipe using the tomatoes.

Massimo's Spaghetti with Spinach and Lentils

Yield: 6

Ingredients:

3/4 cup lentils
Water as needed
1 bn spinach
6 x Roma tomatoes halved
Salt to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
1 sm bunch Italian parsley chopped
2 x garlic cloves minced
Dried oregano to taste
Olive oil as needed
1 sm carrot minced
1 x red onion minced
1 x celery stalk minced
1 lb spaghetti
1 tbl butter - (to 2 tbspns)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method:
Rinse lentils, then cover with water and soak 2 hours. Drain.

Rinse spinach and remove stems, keeping some water on leaves. Saute spinach in skillet over medium heat until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.

Place tomatoes in 9-inch square baking pan, cut-side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, parsley, garlic, dash oregano and 1 tablespoon oil. Roast at 450 degrees until very tender and lightly browned, 20 to 30 minutes. Set aside.

Heat 1/3 cup oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrot, onion and celery and saute until vegetables are golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add lentils and enough water to come 2 to 3 inches above lentils. Cook over low heat until lentils are al dente, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water. Return reserved water to lentils and set aside.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in large saucepan over high heat. Add spinach and tomatoes, breaking them up with wooden spoon. Saute 1 minute. Add lentil mixture and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer.

Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Strain and pour spaghetti into saucepan with lentil sauce. Cook together 1 minute over high heat, adding butter and Parmesan cheese while tossing.

This recipe yields 6 servings.

We finished with Brownies from Clementine and Dulce De Leche Ice Cream from Hagen-Daaz.

We then just sat out on the deck and enjoyed the warm weather.

Perfect summer night!

Chicken and Figs

Wines:

Baglio di Pianetto Ficiligno 2003 White Sicilia
Bugey Cerdon
Le Clos du Caillou Les Roches Rondes 1998 Cotes du Rhone


Heirloom tomatoes are now in the market! We are glad to see them return plentifully to the Hollywood Market. Expect to see lots of recipes with them in the next several postings. Cliff usually eats yoghurt for lunch (would you believe?). But during tomato season instead he eats lots of tomatoes at lunch time.

In addition we are growing our own and will soon start harvesting from our stock. Our friends Bill and Kevin down the street have a huge garden with lots of tomatoes so we will probably be raiding them too! One of the most difficult parts of growing tomatoes (actually quite simple if I just thought about it ahead of time) is that I plant them all at the same time and they ripen at the same time. Memo to my self – next year plant them about every 2 – 3 weeks. That way there will always be ripe ones.

We started with a Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Salad. We get our Burrata at the Cheese Store of Silverlake. Basil, Salt, pepper, good olive oil. Yum!

I am combining two dinners for this post. We had leftover Chicken and Fig (by plan – we like leftovers).

For the 2nd meal we made a Salad of Nectarines, Spanish Marcona Almonds, Arugula, Prosciutto, Saba and Walnut oil it was fresh and delicious.

Figs are fresh at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. We made a recipe from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: Chicken Braised with Figs, Honey and Vinegar. We purchased very sweet green figs. The dish is easy to make. It is first braised on top of the stove then finished in the oven. I hope we make it again this summer.


We have lots of fruit trees in out back yard. Plums are ripe so we made a Plum Crisp for dessert. We used the crisp recipe from Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton Cook at Separate Homes.

It was an excellent summer meal!

Grilled Lamb

Wine:

Bugey Cerdon Methode Ancestrale Rose Sparkling Wine
Chateau Maris 2003 Minervois


We have just returned from Santa Fe and entertaining out of town guests, so we were ready to cook!

The weather in Los Angeles was very warm and we knew we would grill outdoors at night and eat on our deck. We decided to make Grilled Lamb Loin in Yogurt Marinade. Although we don’t go out for Indian Food a lot, the preparation and flavors definitely are Indian! We really liked it! With that we made a rice dish from The Moro Cookbook. We have eaten at Moro’s in London and like their Spanish / Moroccan dishes. We made the Augergine and Tomato Pilav. It is very much a Spanish Rice and very good.

When the sun finally set we drank bubbly rose while preparing the wine.
With the Rice and Lamb we had a bottle of Chateau Maris.

Once again we had German Chocolate Cake from Perfectly Sweet.

Grilled Lamb Loin in Yogurt Marinade
2/3 cups Yogurt
4 garlic cloves crushed
1 ½ inch piece of fresh ginger peeled, grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 boneless lamb loin about 2 pounds (we used loin lamb chops)

Mix yogurt and seasonings together and pour over lamb to coat completely. A large zip-lock bag works well for this. Marinate the loin in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Every once in a while turn bag to make sure meat is totally covered. Remove meat 1 hr before grilling. Drain and wipe off excess marinade. Grill to completion.

You can make a sauce by heating the leftover marinade with ½ cup of yogurt.

Porcini Pasta

Wine: Bugey Cerdon methode ancestrale Sparkling Rose (This has become our sparkling rose of choice on hot summer nights).

We had eaten at Campanile on the Saturday night before our trip to Santa Fe and we had a wonderful appetizer: Porcini Tarjarin with Garlic, Fleur de Sal, and Farmehouse Egg Yolk. It is basically like Spaghetti Carbonara with the egg pasta and yolk cooked by the heat of the pasta. Tom an.d Susie had recommended it highly to us when we arrived at the restaurant.

Since we were leaving town on the morning of the 5th for Santa Fe, we decided to have an easy dinner by ourselves, make Porcini Tarjarin (a new name to us) and eat it on our deck and watch the 4th of July Fireworks. The only critical issue was: would they Hollywood Farmer’s Market be able to provide us with Porcini mushrooms. David had them and we were set to make the pasta.

It was excellent. A great new pasta for us! The night was quite warm and we totally enjoyed the fireworks, thinking they were just for us.

We had our pasta, drank lots of wine, watched the fireworks and went to bed awaiting our trip to the land of Green Chili, Cold Margaritas and friends.

Jar-B-Que II

Wines:
Bugey Cerdon methode ancestrale Sparkling Rose (Cliff & Cathy)
Saracina Sauvignon Blanc 2003 (Bea)
Ramian, Mt.Veeder-Napa Valley and there was something on the label About the year 2003 (Bea) an exceptionally good wine!


We had Bea over on this very warm night. Perfect night for eating on the deck.

Since corn was in season we made Corn Soup from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. Basically it is a LOT of Corn and chicken broth. We made medallians of butter and chopped herbs to which we added edible flowers that we chopped up. The butter was then placed back into the refrigerator to harden and sliced over the soup at serving time. It was very good.

While I was out in front of the house preparing the fire for the pork chops, Ester another neighbor, originally from Denmark, was on her nightly walk. I stopped her, invited her to the patio for some wine. She enjoyed her self, but didn’t stay for dinner. Memo to myself – Never invite someone from Denmark to have corn soup, apparently in Denmark corn is only fed to pigs. Who knew?

Once again we followed the recipe for Char Sui Pork Chops Jar Restaurant uses. We had purchased the pork chops on Saturday at whole food, had them custom cut to be 1 ½ inches thick and had been marinating them for 3 days turning them in the marinade every 12 hours. It is a great recipe. I bar-b-que them on the grill about 5 minutes each side, then put the lid on and let them smoke for another 5 minutes or so.

We had purchased a Japanese rice maker with our neighbor Kazue's assistance. She showed us how to repeatedly wash Japanese rice until the water ran clear.
She had taken us to a Japanese market and showed us packets of vegetables with seasoning that you can add to the rice while it is cooking. Rice with Vegetables cooked this was is exceptional.

Once again our favorite German Chocolate Cake from Perfectly Sweet that we buy at Whole Foods.

It was a great warm night that was highlighted by a Rocket being shot off from Vandenburg Air Force Base, It streaked through the sky and left a beautiful con-trail. I read in The Los Angeles Times the next day that the rocket was a new Spy Satellite. Hopefully it isn’t looking at us!

The wines were all Great!

We walked Bea home on the night night.

Farmer's Market Brunch

In summer when the weather cooperates we love to have Sunday Brunch on our deck. We first go to the farmer’s market and then usually go to the Cheese Store of Silverlake to purchase accompaniments for the fruit.

We saw the first black mission figs of the season so we knew we have Figs and Prosciutto. We also saw the first Heirloom Tomatoes. So we had to have a salad with Tomatoes, Buffalo Motzorella Cheese, Olives, Pesto and onions macerated in vinegar.

A perfect Summer brunch!

Corn Pasta

Wines:
Canalgrande Barbera & Bonarda Vendemmia 2004
Vin Du Bugey-Cerdon “La Cueille” Sparking Wine Methode Ancestrale
Maison Joseph De Bucy Meursalult Narvaux 1999



When we went to Campanile on Saturday night, Jay the General Manager had a taste a sparkling red wine. It is very low in alcohol and excellent on a warm summer evenings. We purchased a bottle at Silverlake Wine. It was a perfect aperitif!

When we ate at Campanile we had some extra Green Beans that we brought home. We had made a Salad with Sun Gold Tomatoes, Buratta Cheese from the Cheese Store of Silverlake, Lettuce, Pesto, and the green beans. We eat salads like this all summer, based on what is freshest at the market.

We had purchased corn (tasting it raw first this time, to get the sweetest corn at the market. We then made Corn Pasta with Pancetta from Cheese Store of Silverlake. The recipe is from the Zuni Café Cookbook.

We had fresh Cherries once again for dessert. They claim they are almost at the end of the season. An article in The Los Angeles Times food section said the cherry harvest this year was very poor. We didn’t notice it. There were always lots of cherries at the farmer’s market.

Pork Corn-Corn

Wine: Canalegrande Vendemmia 2004 Jay at Campanile had served us this wine. We really liked it. He told us we get it at Silverlake Wine. We did. Expect to read about a lot of dinners where we serve this wine.

I guess we are on a Mario Batali run. We made his Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Porchini Mushroom Rub. Very interesting and good preparation, Cathy cut down the red pepper flakes. A rub is made out of Red Pepper Flakes, Ground Dried Porcini mushrooms and brown sugar. The dry rub is allowed to marinate in the refrigerator with the pork over night then scrapped off before grilling. We grilled outdoors. The flavor of the meat is great. I really liked the way brown sugar caused the meat to get very crispy on the outside while pink inside.

We made Corn Sticks from a recipe from Bradley Ogden's Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. We have old (or at least they look old) cast iron molds. Each mold creates 7 fat bread sticks in the shape of an ear of corn, including the outline of the individual cornels. We had a dozen ears of corn for a side dish (we plan on leftovers) and Cathy added a cup of un-cooked corn to the bread stick batter. The recipe is great, crispy sticks of corn bread. Unfortunately we learned a lesson. The corn was not as “corny” tasting as we wanted, we won’t buy corn again at the market with out actually tasting the uncooked corn. You can’t tell by sight. These were good looking ears that even Murakami would like. (That is a joke, if you have read anything by Haruki Murakami.)

Cathy sauted the rest of the Corn with Bacon and shallots and served it a side dish with the pork.

For desert once again Cherries from the Hollywood Farmer's Market.

Lamb on Fire

Wine: Chateau Maris Minervois 2003

We had the leftover Zucchini Pasta as an appetizer.

For the main course we made Mark’s Peels Rosemary Lamb from Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton Cook at Home. We harvested a lot of rosemary from our back yard. The lamb is studded with garlic. Then it is left in the refrigerator tightly covered with plastic wrap. When it is ready to cook, the lamb is completely surrounded by rosemary (lots of it!). The lamb is roasted in the oven, uncovered, untill it is done. The roasting pan with the lamb and rosemary are taken outside. With a match you ignite the very hot and crispy rosemary in the pan, and poof, the entire pan explodes in flame as the rosemary ignites. When it is flaming and smoking (in about 10 seconds) you put the cover on. That extinguishes the flame, and keeps the smoke in the pan to flavor the meat. It is quite a show, and an easy excellent preparation.

We made Pea Puree with Mint and Parmesan from The Babo Cookbook by Mario Batali. I must have spent an hour shelling fresh peas from the Farmer’s Market, but it was worth it! The peas are par boiled, then blended with Mint and Parmesan Cheese. Another dish that is easy to prepare (if you have an hour to shell peas!) and features fresh market ingredients.

Once again we had Cherries from the market. The cherry season is only about a month, so we eat a lot of the in Late May / Early June.

Pasta with Zucchini and Mint

Wine: Chateau Maris 2003 Minervois

We had some Indian Candy (made from Salmon) and Smoked Mussels that we had bought from Santa Monica Seafood. We had them as appetizers. They are both great. The Salmon is sweet and thick. You really can’t eat a lot. It keeps well in the refrigerator. The mussels are very smoky.

We had Vignole they we had previously made from the River Café cookbook. We decided to serve it as a side dish.

For the main course we made a very simple pasta that is a great favorite of ours:
Pasta with Zucchini and Mint and Parmesan Cheese. It is from Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist Cooks at Home. Thin zucchini slices are sautéed until they are dark and almost crisp. They are then combined with the pasta, mint and Parmesan cheese. The combination is great. We love pasta that is made from fresh vegetables!

For desert we had Fresh Cherries from the Hollywood Farmer's Market. Cherry season is in full flight!

Summer Rose and Green Dinner

Wine: Jolivet Attitude 2004 Pinot Noir Rose

This dinner turned out to be the perfect early summer Rose and Green Dinner.

On Monday we had dinner at our favorite restaurant, Campanile, with Walt and Debbie. Mark had a summer bar-b-que: Chicken, Sausage, Ribs, Corn on the Cob etc. It was great. On the Saturday night before Mother’s Day, we had given Mark Sausage we had shipped from Fra’ Mani in Oakland. He really liked it and decided to order 40 pounds for this dinner! At the end of the dinner there were some left overs that we took home.

We first had Vignoli at the River Café in London. It is a late spring, early summer appetizer. It is very green. It is made with: Fresh Shelled Peas, Fava beans, mint onions etc. In their Cookbook: Italian Country Cook Book, Judy Rogers and Rose Gray call for Artichokes but we decided to leave those out. As it was it took a lot of shelling for just the Peas and Fava Beans. It was a beautiful day and we shelled them outside at sunset while drinking the Rose. We served the dish as a side dish rather than an appetizer. It is the essence of fresh vegetables.

We reheated the Roasted Potatoes we made for the steak dinner and they were great!

We served the left over Bar-b-que from Campanile at room temperature.

We finished off the Nectarine Crisp.

Peter Luger in LA

Wines:



Wispering dove 2002 Oakville Reserve Cabernet sauvignon (bea)
Kosta-Browne 2005 Pinot Noir Rose Russian River Valley
Les Argiles Vouvray 2004 Francois Chidaine
Prinz Hallgartener Jungfer 1997


We decided to cook steak once more, but this time we purchased the Steak from Peter Luger in New York. We have had them before and we feel they are absolutely the best! We always get the Porterhouse. They ship it fresh with ice packs and include their Peter Luger Steak Sauce (I like it Cathy doesn’t) and Chocolate in the shape of Silver Dollars.

At the Sunday Farmer’s Market we asked David West (King of Mushrooms) to save us some morels and porcini mushrooms that we would pick up at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmer’s market. We usually don’t go to that market, but Cathy had the day off so we decided to pop over and check it out. David had some great Mushrooms that he saved for us.

Afterwards we stopped at Santa Monica Seafood. They have great fish and in addition have two appetizers that we love so we pick them up.
Smoked Mussels are incredibly smoky and make a great appetizer.
Indian Salmon is cured and slightly sweet. It is very dense in texture and is just great. We wound up eating them on the deck. It was very warm, and along with Bea’s wine, it was a nice way to watch the sunset.

We then made a Salad with the Porcini Mushrooms, macerated onions, and parmesan cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

We grilled the Steaks from Peter Luger. They are huge, very thick! They cooked perfectly on the Webber. I first grilled them about 4 minutes on each side, to get the burn mark cross hatching I like, then I put the lid on and let them bake for another 10 minutes or so. They turned out rare but warm all the way through. Just the way we like it. We had two steaks, and the three of us (Bea joined bringing some great wine) we could only eat one steak! Plus Bea got some take home! We are looking for our leftovers later this week.

Cathy made her great Potato Recipe. It is baked baby Yukon Gold Potatoes, with balsamic vinegar, shallots, salt and pepper. It is always a winner.

Cathy also found a new recipe that turned out fabulously. It is a Gratin of Spinach, Morels and Cream. Spinach and mushrooms always go with steak but this was incredible.

Nectarines and Peaches had just come into the market and we decided to make our first stone-fruit desert of the year (if you don’t count cherries). We decided on using Nectarines. The Nectarines Crisp is made with Candied Ginger. We served it with Dolce De Leche Ice Cream by Haagen-Dazs. I love pies and crisps and this is a great one.

Finally we served the Prinz dessert wine. The weather was great and we walked Bea home.


===================================================

New York Times: May 17, 2006
Mushroom and Spinach Gratin


Total time: 40 minutes

Servings: 6

Note: From chef Guy Savoy at Restaurant Guy Savoy in Las Vegas

1/4cup ( 1/2 stick) butter, divided

2 bunches spinach (about 2 pounds)

1 pound button mushrooms

Sea salt

Pepper

1 cup whipping cream

1. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over low heat until it turns a nut brown color. Skim off any foam and set aside.

2. Wash the spinach and remove stems. Pat dry on paper towels. Clean the mushrooms with a damp towel. Peel and trim the mushrooms, reserving trimmings for the sauce. Slice the mushrooms as thin as possible.

3. Lightly sauté the mushrooms in the reserved brown butter. Season with one-half teaspoon salt and one-eighth teaspoon pepper. Allow to cool enough to handle.

4. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet, add the spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes. Season with one-half teaspoon salt and one-eighth teaspoon pepper and keep warm. Drain off excess liquid from the spinach.

5. Put the heavy cream and mushroom trimmings in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Let reduce by one-third, and purée in a blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.

6. To assemble the gratin, place the wilted spinach in the bottom of a 9-inch gratin dish. Arrange the mushroom slices in a spiral pattern, the slices overlapping each other, on top of the spinach. Spoon over the mushroom cream. Put the gratin under the broiler 4 to 5 minutes until golden brown on top.

First Cherries

May 23
Wine: Celius Toscana 1999

One of our favorite salads is Cesar Salad. The best one that we have ever had is at Zuni in San Francisco. In her great cookbook, The Zuni Cookbook by Judy Rodgers gives the definitive recipe. The recipe is a real testimony to necessity of using quality ingredients. Salt packed anchovies and parmesan cheese from the Cheese Store of Silverlake were key ingrediants along with virgin olive oil. Another Zuni touch is serving the romaine leaves whole, not breaking them up. You can then eat them with your fingers.

We made Lamb Pasta using the wine that Roger had brought us. We used both ground lamb and small cubes of lamb in the sauce.

Cherries had arrived at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. We tasted many and found some great ones! These would be the first cherries of the season. For dessert we served Dolce De Leche Ice Cream from Haagen-Dazs with the fresh Cherries smothered with Grand Manier

First Grill of the Season

Joes New Office
Armenian Food
Wines:
Bea: BV Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 1990
Cliff & Cathy:
Domaine d’Orfeuilles www.orfeuilles.com Sparkling Vouvray Demi-Sec
Roger: Santa Ema Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

We decided to have our first grilling of the year, and I ordered from Harvey's Gus Meat three 1 ½ inch porterhouse steaks. His are always the best in LA. Bea had recently been transferred to a job closer to Silver Lake so she said she would bring a special wine. She did!

Roger, a neighbor had called us and said he was at Clementine did we want him to bring home anything. Earlier in the week we had finished our supply of Clementine Chicken Pot Pies (they are the best). We try to keep some in the freezer. I asked Roger to pick up some pot pies for us.

One of our neighbors, Joe, is an architect. He just moved his office into an old garage in Echo Park. He redid the space and it was very cool. On my morning walk he invited us to come to opening telling us there would be lots of great Armenian food. So we decided to go to opening, just have some wine and a couple of appetizers and then come home and grill. He had an unbelievable spread of food. It covered several large tables. We had some wine, met some neighbors and then came home to cook.

When we got home there was a message from Roger that he had the pies. I walked over to his house picked up the pies and invited him to join us for dinner.
Roger came over bringing some wine.

I lit the fire just had it started to drizzle. Not sure how to handle grilling in the rain (which was predicted) I decided to have another wine and see what would happen. I invisioned opening the garage door and possibly moving the grill under it. I was open to other suggestions. Amazingly the gods were with us and the drizzle stopped.

Chris from Cheese Store of Silverlake had given us some frozen mushroom raviolis to try out. It is also morel mushroom season, and Cathy had purchased some at the Hollywood Farmers Market. Cathy invented a dish that turned out fabulously. Browned butter with shallots, sautéed morels poured over the mushroom raviolis toped with grated parmesan from Cheese Store of Silverlake. A huge hit.

We grilled the steak. We had fresh corn on the cob that we buttered, salted, wrapped in aluminum foil then grilled. At the very end, I dumped them out of the aluminum foil and grilled additionally to pick up the smoky taste.

We drank the great aged Cabernet that Bea brought with the steak. Very soft and luscious.

For dessert we had picked up Apple Tarts from Campanile which we topped with Haagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche Ice Cream.

Chicken and Preserved Lemons

Wine: Chateau Maris 2003 Minervois

Spring is fava bean season. We again made Fava Bean Puree. Of course, the biggest effort is the double peeling. Once it has been peeled the actual making of the puree is fairly straightforward. We love it over toasted bread!

Cathy had copied a recipe for Chicken with Preserved Lemon from the New York Times. Preserved lemons are practically our favorite fruit. We love to cook with them.

Roast Chicken with Preserved Lemons
Adapted from Laurent Tourondel
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

1 6 1/2- to 7-pound chicken
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) soft butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons finely diced onions, plus 2 large onions, sliced
1/4 cup finely diced preserved lemons (available at Middle Eastern markets and specialty food stores)
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
3 pounds unpeeled fingerling potatoes, cut in two lengthwise
8 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1/4 cup olive oil.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Using a cleaver, chop wings from chicken at joint closest to breast; reserve.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine butter, one tablespoon rosemary, diced onions, lemons and bread crumbs to form a thick paste. Using your fingers, separate skin from breast of chicken, and slather mixture under skin about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle skin liberally with salt.
3. Place wings in a roasting pan, and place chicken on top. In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining rosemary, the potatoes, garlic, sliced onions, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to mix well and add to pan around chicken. Roast, occasionally basting chicken and tossing potatoes, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife at joint of leg, about 1 1/2 hours. Carve and serve each portion with some seasoned skin and potatoes and onions.
Yield: 6 servings.


Once again, from Simply Sweet: German Chocolate Cake