Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Chanukah Brunch















We had our annual Chanukah brunch at our house. We had a great group, Sister Mina, her partner Sharon, a neighbor Bea Gold and new friend Mary Jane Shubow who went to school with Cathy’s brother Michael.

Bea Landon stopped by and had a latke. There are always other deli foods from Cantors (lox, herring, bagels, cream cheese, macaroons), but in reality it is all about the Latkes. Cliff makes them, gets the kitchen really dirty from all of the frying, but in the end it is worth it. There were some very nice gifts: a dredial and directions, a beautiful calandar a collection of Jewish Short Stories on CD. They are all appreciated.

We thought the conversation, food and mix of people made it a special brunch!

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Veal Pasta Dinner



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Wines: All provided by Bea Landon

Mc Price Myers 2003 Santa Ynez Valley Sirah Larner Vinevard
JC Cellars Syrah 2003 Fess Parker's Vineyard
Lingerfelder Satyr Brut NV


We wanted to make a pasta that based upon a winter braise. We decided to make a ragu from veal shanks. We chased the shanks down, but finally decided to buy them from Guss Meats, one of the last of the real butchers in Los Angeles. They provide meat for many of our favorite restaurants such as Campanile and JAR.

The recipe we followed was from one of our favorite French Cookbooks by Patricia Wells, Bistro Cooking: Tendrons de Veau Le Cameleon. We started the braise of the shanks early in the day. Bea Landon joined us for dinner and helped assemble the pasta and salad.

Before dinner we had Wine with Cheese (Nevat and Xamorano) and Sausage from the Cheese Store of Silverlake.

For the salad course we had a salad from Suzanne Goin’s new cookbook: Sunday Suppers at Lucques. The first courses at her restaurant are always fabulous. We made a salad with Dates, Almonds, Parmesan Cheese, arugula, Almond Oil and blood oranges,

For desert we had German Chocolate Cake from Perfectly Sweet.

Great Dinner, Fabulous Wines and lots of leftovers (except the great wines)!

Monday, December 12, 2005

Fall into Winter



Wine: Anglim 2003 Grenache Vista Creek Vineyard

We had a transitional dinner. Our last Persimmon and Pomegranate salad of the season. We used goat cheese in it that we purchased at the Cheese Store of Silverlake. Combined with arugula and Saba it was a delicious salad. Next year we make it again for the month or so that Persimmons and Pomegranates are in season.

For the main course we made a great warm cold night dish. It was Chicken Roasted with lots of Garlic and Onions and potatoes. Under the skin was stuffed breadcrumbs, preserved lemons we had previously prepared and lots of butter.
The recipe was from the New York Times and can be found here.

THE CHEF: LAURENT TOURONDEL; A Bird With a Secret Under Its Skin

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By DANA BOWEN (NYT) 1463 words
Published: February 23, 2005

IT was as good and lazy a day off as Laurent Tourondel could have wished for.
His cellphone was dead. The land line in his Harlem apartment went unanswered. And in his living room, his cousins, just in from his hometown of Montluçon, France, were zoning out to a cheesy show on French cable.


Mr. Tourondel, the chef of BLT Steak and BLT Fish, unpacked groceries in his kitchen, a sun-flooded workspace dominated not by an industrial stove or Sub-Zero refrigerator but a candy-apple-red 1950's-era Lambretta motor scooter and abstract food art.

''When I'm tired of eating in restaurants, I make this,'' he said, shuffling around in casual clothes and black leather loafers. ''Something normal.''

Normal, to this chef publicly celebrated for steak and fish, is roasted chicken, with bread pudding for dessert.

The chicken, stuffed with a piney mix of preserved lemons and rosemary, has been on the menu at BLT Steak since Day 1. It is seldom ordered. ''People come to eat meat,'' he reasoned, and so the chicken that does not sell is reborn as ''family meal,'' the preshift dinner communally devoured by line cooks, servers, hosts, bartenders, coat checkers and the chef.

He scoffs at the notion that chicken is boring and frees a plump Perdue oven roaster from its plastic wrap. At the restaurant he uses organic Amish birds, but at home, come on, he shrugs: ''It's what you get in the neighborhood. It's fine.''

Besides, preserved lemons improve just about anything, he said, reaching in the back of his refrigerator for a Mason jar of citrus swimming in spice-strewn, saffron-colored brine. These were homemade, but at the restaurant he uses Kalustyan's black-sesame-speckled version.

Fishing out a shriveled lemon, stained red and smelling of star anise and cumin, he declared its affinity for vinaigrettes. ''With fish it's really amazing,'' he added.

He washed the chicken, patted it dry and snipped off the wings -- '' the best part to eat, actually,'' he said -- setting them aside. His fingers stretched under the skin, separating it from the breast meat.

He grabbed some butter, which he had placed on the stove to warm over the pilot light. He wanted it ''soft but solid, so that the stuffing can stay under the skin.''

With a spoon he mashed the butter with minced preserved lemon and rosemary and some store-bought bread crumbs. When everything clumped together into a solid paste, he shoved handfuls of it under the skin.

Mr. Tourondel said he does not think of stuffing the way most Americans do. ''It's better than stuffing the inside,'' he argued, patting down the paste. ''It's actually in contact with the meat.'' The butter melts into the breast, bringing the flavor with it.

He opened a bag of organic fingerling potatoes and washed them.

''In America it's organic this, organic that, because it actually tastes better than the regular product,'' he said, slicing them in half into a huge cast iron roasting pan. ''In France we just use good products.''

A head of garlic got a rough chop, onions were sliced, and all of it was tossed with olive oil and more rosemary between his fingers. For looks, he tied up the chicken, weaving six feet of twine around a tucked-in neck and clenched legs. He placed the chicken in the pan on top of the wings with the vegetables nestled around it and slid it all into a hot oven. He was onto the bread pudding in a beat.

''So easy,'' he said. ''So fattening,'' he added. But the first time he made it, with standard custard, it was also ''so boring.''

Living in Harlem has its culinary advantages. ''I actually went to the supermarket and saw all the Goya products,'' he said. ''Very cool actually.'' The coconut milk reminded him of a coconut custard he had tried at a cuchifrito spot around the corner on 116th Street. He bought a can, added it to the cream and relished its subtle tropical notes, which he underscored with a jigger of rum.

Earlier that day he layered thin challah slices, which reminded him of brioche, in his grandmother's old terrine and another odd little earthenware crock. ''You can use anything,'' he said of the pans, and poured the boozy mix of eggs, sugar, cream and coconut milk over the top. He baked it in a bain-marie, and now was torching the sugar-sprinkled top.

When you're standing downwind of a roasting chicken -- particularly one slathered with citrusy saffron butter -- it can seem an eternity before it is done. The chef paced, opened the oven every so often, basted the bird and sprinkled on more salt. The skin bubbled into a crackly burnished sheath; the potatoes were tinged yellow with preserved lemon juice.

''Even if it looks like your potatoes are not cooked, take out the chicken,'' he said, stabbing a knife between the thigh and breast. ''So long as it doesn't run pink, it's done.''

He moved the bird to a platter, and the vegetables went under the broiler to caramelize. ''See this,'' he said, pointing to an onion curled crisp and brown, ''that's what you want, just before it burns.'' He scooped the potatoes onto the platter with the chicken and started carving.

''My grandmother used to make it on Sunday, in a charcoal oven,'' Mr. Tourondel recalled as he worked. ''You could smell it from outside.''

His grandmother, Louisette Tourondel, is never too far from his kitchen discourses. But a few weeks after this meal Mr. Tourondel abruptly returned to France to share her last days. She is survived by a lifetime of recipes, and so many people's enjoyment of them, in New York and in France.

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.

Coconut Bread Pudding
Adapted from Laurent Tourondel
Time: 45 minutes plus one hour's resting

6 large eggs
1 1/8 cups sugar, more for topping dish
2 cups heavy cream
1 13 1/2-ounce can coconut milk
2 tablespoons dark rum
10 slices challah or sliced brioche, 1/3.-inch thick.

1. In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine eggs and 1 1/8 cups sugar. Mix until smooth. In a small pan, bring cream to a boil. With mixer running at medium-low speed, slowly add hot cream. Add coconut milk and rum, and mix again just until smooth. Allow mixture to rest at room temperature for one hour.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a kettle with water and place over high heat to bring to a boil. In an 8 1/2-by-12-inch baking dish, arrange challah slices so they overlap in two columns. Pour custard evenly over top, and press down lightly with a spatula. Place dish in a large, deep pan, like a roasting pan. Carefully pour in boiling water so that it comes about halfway up the sides of baking dish. Bake until custard is set but not too firm, 30 to 35 minutes.
3. Sprinkle liberally with sugar, and caramelize it with a kitchen torch or by placing it under a broiler for 2 to 3 minutes. Serve, scooping out individual portions.
Yield: 8 servings.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Frisee Salad and Winter Risotto




Wine: Tablas Creek 2002 Cote de Tablas from Silverlake Wine(a throw back to the wines of provence we love so much!)

We had noticed at the Hollywood Farmers Market that they had frisee lettuce. This would allow us to make a Frisee Lardon Salad, one of our favorites. Cathy decided to use the "Sort-of Frisee Lardon" recipe from Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book. This is an interesting take and a makes a great salad. A not quite hardboiled egg is torn up into the salad and radicchio used. The dressing is a great mustard vinegrette. We get the mustard at the Cheese Store of Silverlake. They sell it in bulk and it is very strong and good!

For the main course we had a recipe from Suzanne Goin's new cookbook: Sunday Suppers at Lucques. It is the second recipe from the book. We decided to make "Winter Squash Risotto with Radicchio and Parmesan". This was we got to use up all of the radicchio left over from the salad! We found the recipe detailed and fairly complex but it is delicious and worth the work! We are going to definately make it again.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Indigo Pasta










First Dinner from Sunday Suppers at Lucques

Wines:
Domaine du Caillou Chateauneuf-du-Pape Recolte 1998
Heidi Schrock Weinbauerin in Rust elfriede Old Vines 2002

Cliff & Cathy with Polenta and Parsifal

We started the dinner drinking the elfriede, it was absolutely delicious, very deep in flavor.

First course: Salad with pears, Walnuts that Campanile had given as favors at their Thanksgiving dinner, St. Agur blue cheese from Cheese Store of Silverlake and saba.

For the second course we made our first recipe from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. Suzanne Goin’s new cookbook from our Sunday night restaurant: Lucques.

We chose torchio with cauliflower, cavolo nero, currants, and pine nuts. When we went to the Hollywood Farmers Market we purchased cauliflower that was purple. Our recent trip to Japan had been characterized as the “Indigo Tour” because of the indigo dyers that we visited. This pasta would be in keeping with the tour. There actually was a lot of complex layering of flavors and it was excellent. In addition the house took on a great fragrance from the garlic and anchovies.

Look forward to the leftovers.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Bea Gets Porked






Taihei-Zan “Kimoto Junmai” Sake
Mas Carlot 2004 Clairette de Bellegarde
McPrice Myers 2003 Santa Ynez Valley Syrah (Larner Vineyards)
JC Cellars 2003 Syrah Fess Parker Vineyard

Our neighbor Roger Pietschmann stopped over to pick up an article in the New York Times travel section about Oaxaca Mexico. Roger and his wife Andrea were leaving the next day for a vacation there and we suggested the article and a few places he should visit. Bea arrived and we drank wine and sake while looking at our Japan pictures.

This was our first dinner since we returned from Japan. We decided to keep it simple and made one of our favorite pork recipes: Pork with Milk. Matt Molina, who used to cook at Campanile had served it once but kicked up the recipe with Sage and Onion. We followed his example and did the same. We served it with polenta that we also added sage and polenta browned in butter.

For a first course we had persimmon and pomegranate and arugula salad. We usually have prosciutto in it, but had recently been to JAR where they served it with crumbled goat cheese. We decided to follow that model and been to Cheese Store of Silverlake where we purchased almonds and the goat cheese. In addition, we tried their gigantic cup cakes. They were very tasty! We then walked Bea home to her house and staggered back to ours!

Saturday, November 19, 2005

New York Times Mentions Us!

When we got back from Japan, Jay at Campanile mentioned that Cathy and Cliff were mentioned in an article in the New York Times. We didn't know anything about it. We found the article and were surprised to read about ourselves.

Here is the link to the full New York Times Article (Sunday Magazine Nov. 13, 2005)
The Way We Eat: Scene Stealer

It was very nice for Lucques to mention us.

Here part of the article.

The New York Times
November 13, 2005
Food
The Way We Eat: Scene Stealer
By CHRISTINE MUHLKE

L.A. power scenes are not created equal. Sunday nights at Lucques on Melrose belong to Suzanne Goin's slowed-down suppers. Here, along the curled-up banquettes set in Harold Lloyd's former carriage house, you'll find the likes of Tom Ford, Reese Witherspoon, the Gyllenhaal family and Cliff Meyer and Cathy Root (noncelebs who have come every Sunday since the restaurant opened in 1998) recharging with homey-elegant dishes like grilled pork confit with rice soubise and figs, and olive-oil cake with candied tangerines. This set three-course menu is Goin's way of stretching after a long week. "It's more lighthearted and off the cuff," she explained.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Off to Japan

Cliff and Cathy are going on a trip to Japan.
You can follow our adventure at Japan Textile Trip

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Fall Dinner


Wine: Box Car Syrah 2004

We went to Schreiner's Sausage in Montrose and purchased some Smoked Ham Hocks. They were to be the basis for a classic Bistro dish, Petite Sale. It is made from lentils and smoked ham hocks. The lentils are cooked first with carrots, onion, and herbs. When cooked they are drained and placed back in the pot with the pork.

We had a first course of a great salad from the Zuni Cookbook: radicchio with croutons, hardboiled eggs and anchovy vinaigrette.

A new bakery had opened in Los Angeles: Bread Bar. We purchased several loaves and with this meal we had the cheese bread. It was exceptional! Very light and great taste.

From Bread Bar we had also purchased desert. By the time we got to the end of the meal we decided to put off the desert. We were just to full!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

John Visits for Dinner



Wines: 1989 Ermitage Recolte Le Pavillon M. Chapoutier
2004 Cuilleron Viognier

We went to Campanile for Dinner on Saturday and they offered on the menu veal shank for two. We hadn't had it for a long time (it hadn't been on the menu). We ordered it we found out they were out! We decided to cook it at home.

John was coming to LA for a wine selling trip, so we informed him we would cook. John brought the wines! We purchased the meat from Harvey Gusman's meat store.

We started with the same Persimmon salad we had last week. We made polenta and added real corn to it that we had purchased at the Hollywood Farmer's market.

The meat was enormous! 2 Shanks weighing a total of 9.5 lbs. They were great and fun to present and carve!

For desert we had ice cream and cookies we had purchased at the Cheese Store of Silverlake.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Last Tomatoes of the Season


















It was the last dinner of the heirloom tomatoes and the first one for perssimmons and pomegranates.
We started with a salad of persimmons, pomegranates, arugula, prosciutto, and saba. As you can see in the picture Polenta stole some proscutto and liked it!

We had caramelized the tomatoes and then used them in the sauce. It was one of our favorite pastas: Lentil Pasta from the restaurant Loconda Veneta.
For desert we had German Chocolate Cake from Whole Foods.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

San Francisco Day 3 (Sunday)


We awakened on Sunday morning and packed. We had Coffee and Juice at John ‘s the all 6 of us tried to decided where to go for lunch! We went back and forth but finally settled on our Favorite: Zuni Café. Cliff, Cathy, Brenda and Joy went first to see if we could score a table. John and Wade followed later. We were able to get an outside seat on Market Street and John and Wade arrived.

Bloody Mary’s were ordered as a starter for four of us. We also ordered a bottle of Prieler Pinot Blanc. We shared two Caesar Salad’s (although Joy’s arrived late). Also French Fries that they do so excellently. We then had Scrambled Eggs, Pork Sandwich, Pizza and Polenta with Marscarpone. For desert we had cake, Granita that is always great and Biscotti and coffee.

We then split up, Joy and Brenda driving home to Napa, Cliff and Cathy being driven by John and Wade to the Oakland Airport for our 4pm flight home. It arrived just in time for us to get home, clean and go out to dinner at Lucques. What a weekend!

Saturday, October 01, 2005

San Francisco Day 2 (Saturday)




We awakened and John had already made coffee. We had the pastries that we bought and especially liked the cinnamon toast. Cliff got his laptop to work and print on John’s Apple Network.

We finally got out of the house and headed for the Ferry Building. The Ferry Building is loaded with gourmet shops and surrounded by a farmers market. It is quite wonderful.

We did many laps inside the building. Highlights included cheeses from Cow Girl Creamery, more bread from Acme Bakery, some cooking clay pots that Cliff and Cathy bought and had shipped home. In addition, we purchased jams, chocolates, Cathy bought a straw hat.

We had decided to eat lunch at Taylor’s Refresher. It is in the Ferry Building and is a branch of the restaurant in Saint Helena. Cliff had a Burger, Cathy a Toasted Cheese Joy and Brenda split a BLT. We also had French Fries and Onion Rings. A taste of the 50’s. We ate outside overlooking the ferries and Bay Bridge.

From the Ferry Building we drove by our old house on Pine St. then parked and went walking on Fillmore. Cathy bought a shawl at Mios. On with our tour of food spots we went to Tartine in the Mission. After finding a parking space (not an easy thing to do) we went in and checked the place out. It really looked and smelled good. Great grilled cheese sandwiches that were piping hot and a bread pudding that also looked great. We bought some pastries, checked out a restaurant Delphine up the street and proceeded on. Next stop was non-food oriented. We wanted to see what the new De Young San Francisco Art Museum in Golden Gate Park looked like. It is scheduled to open in a few weeks and is almost ready for prime time. Cliff thought it will be way cool, the others weren’t so sure.

Finally back to John’s. Andy his son called and said he wanted to come by and see us. It was nice to see how he has grown up and matured. He talked at length about Burning Man where he had been. Don’t think it is for us….

John came home from work, Wade appeared and we drank the bottle of wine we had purchased at Kermit Lynch. It was then off to Oliveto in Oakland for the 4 of us. John stayed home with Wade.

Cliff navigated, like only he can and we eventually reached the restaurant after touring northern Oakland. Cathy, Brenda and Joy were almost in open revolt but we got there. It made no difference that we were a little late, cause our table wasn’t ready anyway. We waited for 10 minutes or so. We had a glass of wine in the bar area and were taken upstairs to the restaurant. It was very pretty. The food was excellent. Cliff didn’t like the waiter at first, but he turned out to be very good and steered us towards some great dishes.
We started with a fabulous Panzanella Salad (Tomatoes & Croutons, Etc.). When we returned home we called the restaurant and got a detailed recipe for it have subsequently made it.
Penne with Peppers, Currants and Smoked Treccione
Spit-Roasted Leg of Lamb
Spit-Roasted Top Sirloin
Charcoal Grilled Rabbit
Spinach and Rappini
For desert we had Ice Cream and Bread Pudding
Wines:

Fiano Pietramara
Zenato Ripassa
Glass of Vin Santo

We once again staggard back to the car and drove back into the city.

San Francisco Day 1 (Friday)



A San Francisco Weekend

We decided to go to San Francisco to eat and be with friends. Our friends from Napa Joy and Brenda drove down and picked us up at the Oakland Airport. We planned to all stay with our friend John Carpenter at his Victorian house in San Francisco’s Haight Ashberrry area.

After they picked us up at the airport we went directly to eat lunch at Chez Panisse Café in Berkeley. We had a great lunch: Avocado and beet Salad, Pork Terrine, Tomato Carpaccio, Pizza with Rappini and Pancetta for desert we shared Meyer Lemon Cream Puffs with Carmel Sauce.
Wine: 2004 Grechante. The Acme bread was wonderful. We really enjoyed the beautiful restaurant and the great food.

From there we drove to Kermit Lynch Wine in Berkeley. Kermit was one of the first importers of wines from Provence in France and he has written several excellent books on wines. We bought a wine to take to John’s. Next door to the wine store is the original Acme Bakery. We purchased apple tarts, bread and cinnamon bread for breakfast.

We then drove across the Bay Bridge and headed to John’s house. On arriving we brought our things in and decided to take a walk in the Haight. It is still coming back. Don’t know if will ever be gentrified.

We met John’s friend Wade. He didn’t join us on our dinner expedition to Quince. The restaurant was highly recommended by Matt Molina and Nancy Silverton to us. It was very near to where we used to live in Lower Pacific Heights. We found the restaurant to precious for us. We had been told it has excellent pasta and made sure that we ordered several different ones. Most of the items on the menu were written in Italian without translation and were not descriptive of the item. We purchased one wine: Dirler Pinot Blanc and John provided to exceptional wines: both were 1990s. Leoville Las Cases, Gevrey Chambertin Les Cazetiers Christian Serffin. They were both fabulous to drink. The restaurant did charge us $50.00 corkage which was a lousy policy on there part, especially after we bought a bottle of wine.

We shared all of the dishes:
Sformato of corn and Chanterelle Mushrooms (sort of like pudding)

Pear Salad Pig’s foot, which was delicious and deboned very unusual.
Faro and Crab Salad
Agnolotti
Stradette
Spinach Cannelloni with Chantrelle
Garganelli with beef Ragu
Polpettone (meat balls)
Pork Loin, sausage, pork belly with red cabbage
Gianduja & Dark Chocolate mouse with armagnac cream cannoncini & Florentine

Quite a dinner! However a little to prissy for us. We like a more country feel.

We made it safely back to Johns and staggered to bed, wondering how we be able to face the rest of the weekend!

Friday, September 30, 2005

Cathy Birthday

Cathy’s Birthday week.

Cathy’s birthday had a arrived and we decided to combine a trip to San Francisco with the general celebration of her birthday.

Tuesday we planned to cook a pork roast for dinner and then have leftovers on Thursday. When Cliff went out to get the paper we discovered a large Fed-Ex box. Michael and Tamara had sent Cathy steaks from Lobel’s in New York as a surprise birthday gift.

The pork went into the freezer for another night. There were four steaks, 2 porterhouses and 2 New York Strips. We decided to bar-b-que 1 of each and then cook the other two on Thursday night.

Tomato season was coming to a close so we decided to make a last papa-al-pomd or (Tomato Bread soup) as a first course. It was excellent.

We grilled corn on the grill. In addition we cut up potatoes added butter, and wrapped them in aluminum foil. We tossed them on the grill also. They really turned out good, crispy and buttery with some of the taste of the grill.
Wine: Cimicky 2004 Shirza Trumps, Maurer Weinviertel 2003 Gruner Veltliner.

From Whole Foods we bought German Chocolate cake.

Cathy’s birthday was on Wednesday and we decided to eat at Campanile.

On Wednesday Mark Peel cooks a special tasting meal. It looked excellent but was huge. We decided to compose our own meal there.

1st course: Lobster cooked in butter with first shaved white truffles of the season
2nd course: Risotto with duck confit
3rd course: Whole grilled lobster with cherry tomato and garlic
Desert: Nectrine 3-point Tart

It was an exceptional meal, and made a great birthday.

Thursday we grilled the remaining steaks.
We sautéed the corn grilled corn with shallots.
Wines: Mantra Rose Bliss 2004.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Cross Over Dinner




Wed. Night September 22, 2005
Wine: 2002 Syrah Ampelos Santa Barbara County from Silverlake Wine
Guests: Cathy & Cliff

It was the end of summer the beginning of fall. So we had a dinner based around the last heirloom tomatoes of the season and the first fall pears. We do hope to squeeze out one last tomato dish: Papa al Pomadore next week. We will see.

On Tuesday night we wentwith Bea Landen to a fund raising dinner for Huricannne Katrina. It was held at a restaurant that we always like but go to very rarely:AOC. Owned by the gang from Lucques it centers around small plates and Spanish – Moroccan dishes. The dinner and wine was great.

Wednesday Cliff went with Cathy to the American Film Institute, where she works. Looking for volunteer work he assembled File Dividers for them while Cathy viewed a movie.

Afterwards we decided to go out to lunch. We wound up at Gingergrass, and had a wonderful Spicy Pork Sandwich. It was huge and we split it. They had a chocolate coconut desert on the menu and we planned to have it for desert. By the time we were ready for desert we thought we would be better served if we took it to go and had it for desert with dinner.

We planned to take our regular walk around the neighborhood and then cook dinner. About 5:00pm we saw on the internet that a Jet Blue airplane was having difficulty and would be making an emergency landing at LAX. We started watching TV news, and until it made its safe landing we watched its plight. Interestingly enough, we could watch it live on TV or lookout our window and actually see the plane as it flew over for its landing.

We had bought heirloom tomatoes from the Hollywood Farmers market on Sunday. On Tuesday we prepared them for the pasta we were going to make. A great recipe for tomatoes from: Lynne Rossetto Kasper: Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes. Simply slice into wedges coat with olive oil, salt, pepper and place in a 400 degree oven. Every 30 minutes reduce heat by 50 degrees until the tomatoes are brown around the edges. They are wonderful, in a great oily sauce.

We had purchased a chicken from Gelson’s after the eating the Pork Sandwich for lunch. We cooked the whole chicken according to a recipe from:

While the chicken was cooking we watched the premier of “My Name is Earl” which we had recorded the previous night. Jason Lee, the star of the show, had just moved into a house around the corner from us, that he rented from Beck. He appears to be an ok neighbor, playing on the front lawn with his wife and new baby.

For the first course we had a delicious pear salad. It was made with sliced Pears, candied walnuts and Basque Blue Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. We drizzled Saba over the salad. It was excellent. Can’t wait to have it again tonight!

The chicken recipe was Roast Chicken with Ginger, Macaroni with Roasting Juices from the cookbook: LuLu’s Provencal Table by Richard Olney. Cathy augmented the recipe by baking the tomatoes according to a recipe from The Italian Country Table by . Once the chicken was baked, we made pasta, combined the tomatoes with fresh Garlic and Basil, pored all of the chicken juices over the pasta, sliced the chicken and added to the pasta and served. It was a fabulous recipe.

We had the coconut chocolate dessert from Gingergrass. It came with a chocolate sauce and coconut cream.

Exceptional dinner!

After the dinner late a night we took a walk through the neighborhood, it was very quiet and very pleasant.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

John is Missing!



Tuesday Night, September 13, 2005

Wines: from Silverlake Wine
Duca Della Corgna Divina Vill Transimeno Gamay 2000
Salomon Hochterrassen Gruner Veltliner Kremstal 2004

John Carpenter, a friend from San Francisco was coming to Los Angeles to sell wine. He owns a The Wine House, a wine store and importing company in San Francisco. He often stays with us.

We decided to cook at home at John said he would bring some wine. We were looking forward to having a nice dinner with John.

John called us from the LA airport at approximately 7pm to tell us although he had arrived in Los Angeles; he had lost his California Drivers License on route and could not rent a car. John after several calls determined his best course of action was to fly back to SF and get a replacement license. So John left and Cliff and Cathy dined alone. Cathy showing great restraint, returned the cookies planned for desert to the freezer for another time.

We decided to start with a great green bean salad from the cookbook: The Food of Campanile. Campanile is our favorite restaurant in Los Angeles. The salad is made with fresh green beans that have been steamed, mustard, walnuts and shallots. It is a great salad.

We only have about 2 weeks of fig season left, so we decided to make a chicken and fig dish from The Zuni Café Cookbook. The dish was served with cous-cous and had a great sauce. When we lived in San Francisco, Zuni was our favorite restaurant. We enjoyed the dish, and look forward to leftovers!

Day on the Green




Wines:Noir

Bea:2004 Robert Sinskey, Vin Gris, a rose Pinot from Silverlake Wine
Cliff / Cathy:

Guests: Bea Landen (hostess), Cliff, Cathy, Greg Stone, John Conaty, John’s mother: Kay Conaty.

Bea Landen had invited us to join her on Saturday to join her to go to hear a performance of Leonard Bernstein and related Broadway show music at Festival on the Green. It is an outdoor venue in Arcadia at the Los Angeles Arboretum. Her friend Tony has a season subscription with great parking and a table for 6.

Bea had never been to Clementine so she spent part of Saturday with us as we picked up food for the big night. Cliff and Cathy had preordered food from Clementine and Cheese Store of Silverlake.

Cliff and Cathy picked up Bea and first we drove to Gallery of Functional Art one of our favorite places owned by our friend Lois Lambert. We have furnished our house with many items from GFA. From there we drove to Clementine to pick up our food. We had lunch there, and had several varieties of salads. It is always good. From there we went to Boule on La Cienega where we picked up some pastries for Sunday morning. Very fancy very pricey store. We like their Sticky Buns but for the rest of the pastries, for our tastes Clementine is better.

From there we went to the Cheese Store of Silverlake where they had created a , cheese platter with 6 different cheeses (Goat, Camembert, Grapes, olives, etc.). There was a huge basket of Breads and crackers to go with it.

Bea picked us up and we drove to the Arboretum. Tony not only had a great table for us, but VIP parking that made it very easy. He also provided a well stocked picnic basket.

After being led to our table, Cliff / Cathy / Bea proceeded to set the table and start on the Champagne. Greg, John and Kay arrived shortly after. Kay had baked John’s favorite desert Lemon Meringue Pie.

We started on the Cheese Course. From there we had a great salad from Clementine of Tomatoes, buffalo Mozzarella and basil.

For the main course we had Grilled Chicken breast slices and a faro salad. The chicken was a little dry, but good. The faro was excellent, Greg especially liked it!

For desert we pigged out! Clementine had provided us with an assortment of cookies, brownies etc. We also devoured Kay’s wonderful Lemon Meringue Pie.
The performance by the California Philharmonic was fun. Most of the music were war horses from Broadway that we knew. In addition they had two singers: Teri Bibb, soprano and Kevin Earley, baritone. Kevin has a huge big voice and overpowered Teri. West Side Story songs of course were wonderful as was Les Miserables.
As the night progressed under the stars it started to cool off. John and Greg had brought a magic pillow that converts to wine holder or a blanket. They had two of them and gave them to Cliff / Cathy. We appreciate it. A very nice night under the stars.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Labor Day 2005




Wine from Silverlake Wine
Prosecco Sparking Wine (3 bottles)
2003: Santa Lucia Vigna del Melograno (2) (red)
2004: Bisson Ciliegiolo Rose
Calvados

Guests: Barbara Follick, Bea Landen, Greg Stone, John Conaty, Ty Woodward, James Anderson

We had been given a subscription to the Rosengarten Report by our San Francisco neighbor Jill Dilley. He had an issue where he talked about Texas Barbecue. In addition Slate Magazine had a survey of barbecue. They both agreed that Texas had the best barbecue. Specifically they liked the barbecue from Lockhart Texas that is served dry style with a rub. We decided to order in a variety of barbecue and make our own decision. Apparently we ordered too much. So we have lots of leftovers.

We started on the deck with drinks and guacamole and our favorite chips from the Cheese Store of Silverlake. We also had a great Artichoke and Garlic spread that we heated in the oven. Bea brought great crab cakes that she had made. The weather was perfect and it was a great sunset.

After appetizers we went in to the dining room.

For dinner we had:

Grilled Corn on the Cob
One of our favorite dishes an Asian Pasta we made from Barbara Tropp’s: The Art of Asian Cooking. For the Noodles we had to go to Thai Town to find fresh Chow Mein Noodles.
We made a cole slaw from Slanted Door in San Francisco. It is a Vietnamese recipe and very good with a tangy sauce, Thai Chilies, Jicama, Carrots, candied pecans, red cabbage, and we substituted Pixie Oranges for Grapefruit due to the curse of Lipitor.

We also toasted Hot dog buns from Gelson’s.

Now to the barbcue!
From Kruez Market we them ship: Ribs and Pork Sausages. We got so many sausages we gave several links to Chris at Cheese Store of Silverlake.

From Willy Ray’s we had a Roast Pork. All of the articles said that Willy Ray’s was the ultimate pork.

For Greg, who is a vegetarian we had chicken sausages from Gelson’s.

Everyone, except Greg, who didn’t get a vote, agreed that the pork was exceptional. The ribs and sausage were good, but we wouldn’t get them again.
The Pork is a keeper!

Cathy had made a fabulous white nectarine crisp. It is her recipe and excellent. We served with docle de leche ice cream and calvados.

We had an enormous amount left over. We gave lots of doggy bags.

After all of the sadness of the New Orleans flood it was nice to indulge with neighbors and friends and enjoy our selves with good food and drink! It is the way the do it in the Big Easy. We will keep up the tradition until the city comes back!

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Brunch with Barbara


Brunch with Barbara Follick and Polenta

Barbara had come down to Los Angeles to stay with us for Labor Day 2005. On Sunday, we picked up Bea Landen and went to the Hollywood Farmers Market. With the end of summer, fruits were at there best, especially tomatoes. After we shopped we went to the Cheese Store of Silverlake and bought burrata cheese and salami.

We made a great salad of heirloom tomatoes, burrata, Greek olives, basil, chives, balsamic vinegar.

Served it with sausage and bread from LA Bakery.



Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Dining Together



Date: Tuesday Night August 23, 2005
Dinners: Cliff / Cathy / Parsifal / Polenta

Wine: Provided by Cliff / Cathy
2003 Sur Lie: Muscadet Sevre & Maine


We dined alone with our cats: Polenta and Parsifal. We planned our dinner around a Paella dish from the Moro Cookbook. We have dinned at Moro in London several times. It is a Moroccan / Spanish restaurant started by some ex-employees of The River Café.

For the first course we had a Sugar Queen melon from the Hollywood Farmers Market. We had covered the melon with Prosciutto from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. It was a great starter course.


Cathy had re-invented the Monkfish with Saffron Paella, leaving out the monkfish, and adding in, Scallops, White Shrimp, Pink Shrimp, Clams and Mussels from Whole Foods in Glendale. The dish was excellent. We look forward to leftovers.

The Muscadet wine, from the Silverlake Wine Store, went perfectly with the seafood paella.

For dessert we had coconut ice cream with fresh wild strawberries. Cliff enhanced his desert with a topping of Grand Marnier. Cathy had her dessert without the liquor topping! They don’t look like regular ones, far smaller and very tasty. They are called: 'Fraise des bois' which means strawberries of the woods.

It was a great summer dinner!

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Bea Dines Again!


Date: Tuesday Night August 16, 2005
Dinners: Cliff / Cathy / Bea Landen

Wine: Provided by Cliff / Cathy
1999 Tarantella Sine Quanon
Wine: Provided by Bea
2003 Eric Kent Pinot Noir


Bea joined us again for dinner. She brought a Pinot Noir she had puchased at our favorite wine store in Silverlake, silverlake wine. The previous week we had seen small fresh chanterelle mushrooms at the farmers market in Hollywood. We were committed to last weeks dinner, so we decided to build a future dinner around them. We went Sunday to the market hopping that there would be small young chanterelles available. They were so we purchased them.

We also wanted to make a summer dish that we like, that we got from the Slow Club in San Francisco. Fresh tomatoes, cored, some from our garden, sliced leeks, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and balsamic, baked. We made toast and served the tomato leek mixture on them as an appetizer. It was excellent.

We made a chanterelle pasta from Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook. Cliff and Cathy found it disappointing. Oh well..

For dessert we had an Apricot Crisp we had bought at Clementine. We served it with Dolce do Leche ice cream. Great treat.

So we had great wine, excellent appetizer and dessert and a pasta.

One of the nicest parts of the night is walking Bea home. It is like walking in the country as we headed up and down her street.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Bea Comes to Dinner


Date: Tuesday Night August 9, 2005
Dinners: Cliff / Cathy / Bea Landen

Wines: Provided by Bea.
2003 Santa Chiara Vino Blanco “Bea”
2000 Bianco Divino Cabernet Sauvignon / Sangiovese / Petite Sirah blend

We had grown Heirloom Tomatoes last year but they didn’t work out well, because of my irregular watering. This year, I put in an automatic drip system, and the Tomatoes thrived.

We had been waiting for additional Heirlooms to be ready at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on which we visit almost every Sunday. Bea had never been to the market so we offered to take her. They finally had a great selection.

We invited Bea to join us for dinner.

Before the dinner Cliff & Cathy discovered they didn’t have a needed ingredient: fresh ginger. They decided Cliff would run to market at the of the walk. After they started the walk, Cliff joked we would find someone we knew on the walk who had some extra ginger. When we got to Bill and Kevin’s house on Marino Bill was standing in front. Cliff asked him if he had any extra ginger and he sad “Yes”. He invited all of us (Cliff / Cathy / Bea / Tony) through his house to his great backyard / garden / outdoor patio.

Cathy and Cliff went for one of their end of day walks in Silverlake and ran into Bea walking with her friend, Tony. Bea was drinking her customary Tequila while walking, Tony had a Scotch. Exercising with style!

We finished our walk and Bea then joined us for dinner.

We had wine on the deck at Sunset with Fresh Current Grapes from the Farmers Market, Almonds from the Cheese Store of Silverlake and Sausage slices from the Cheese Store.

Cliff had become more proficient in the use of the Weber Grill and we had bought
3 racks of lamb from Whole Food in Glendale. We cooked them using according to a recipe from Wolfgang Puck’s Cookbook. Rack of Lamb Chinoise. The lamb marinated for 24 hours in a great sauce. There is a separate salad dressing in the recipe for the accompanying salad.

Well what about all of the Tomatoes? We made one of the best Tomato Soups ever: Papa al Pomodoro from a recipe in the Italian Country Cookbook by Rogers & Gray. We had bought La Brea Bread on Sunday which we de-crusted and cubed. The soup is extremely thick and wonderful.

For desert, Cliff went to Town and Country a new restaurant / takeout in Silverlake. He bought Banana Pudding and cream puffs. They were very tasty.