Cathedral of Pizza

The Sacrament

We went to dinner and afterwards decided to drive over and check out Una Pizza Napoletana. Everyone thought since we had just eaten dinner, we would just look at the place, I figured we would also get a pizza, I was correct. This is the most famous pizza in San Francisco. Its proprietor: A. W. Mangieri has a believe that all one needs to do in life is to “Do one thing good”. His one thing is: making the ultimate pizza.


His restaurant was originally in New York but the tattooed Pizza guy moved to San Francisco and reopened in the Mission.


His restaurant is like a church. You walk in and like an alter there is a steel railing, behind which is a marble topped table facing the door. Mangieri stands at the alter paying no attention to the people watching him as he prepares the pizza. He only makes about 80 pizzas a day, and when he runs out of pizza dough he closes up for the night. He will not modify the pizza, you can only select a pizza and he will make it as he desires. There are no appetizers or desserts, no salads or bread. There is only pizza and some liquid refreshments to go with them. Did I say no take out either?


The pizzas are wonderful, but I am sure a large element of the experience is just being in this cathedral to pizza and being among the few to enjoy them.


The following short movie was made at his New York restaurant before he moved to San Francisco.


Watch this 4 minute film to understand his passion.


NATURALLY RISEN from michael evans on Vimeo.

Lamb and a Greek Salad

What is better than Spring Lamb and a Greek Salad? We purchased some beautiful chops at McCall’s Meat and Fish. We then tried a new recipe: Harissa-Rubbed Rack Of Lamb With Mint Yogurt from the cookbook, Two Dudes One Pan by Shook and Dotolo. We like their restaurants: Son of a Gun and Animal and have recently purchased their cookbook.

The recipe is excellent with a strong Harissa sauce whose heat is cut by the Mint Yogurt. A Greek Salad is a natural with lamb, so we started with one, Sliced cucumbers, red onion, pitted black olives and feta cheese. Red Wine Vinegar and olive oil, salt, pepper lots of oregano. We added some pieces of San Panzanella Croccantini for texture.

Perfect spring meal!

Harissa-Rubbed Rack Of Lamb With Mint Yogurt

Two Dudes One Pan

Shook and Dotolo

For the harissa

1            cup canned tomato puree (no added spices or tomato paste)

6            garlic cloves, very finely chopped

2            tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2            teaspoons cayenne pepper

1            teaspoon ground cumin

1            teaspoon ground coriander

3            teaspoons kosher salt

2            1 -pound racks of lamb (about 8 ribs each)

For The Mint Yogurt

2            cups plain yogurt

2            tablespoons finely chopped

fresh mint Pinch of kosher salt

Jon: This is our most-requested lamb dish, and it's perfect for people who are on the fence when it comes to lamb.

Vinny: When we have the option, we'll go for Colorado lamb over New Zealand lamb. Colorado chops are bigger and less intensely gamey, but they're pricier, too. Keep in mind that a small New Zealand rack will cook more quickly than an American one.

Jon: Heads up—the lamb needs to sit with the spice paste overnight before cooking, so plan accordingly.

WHISK the tomato puree, garlic, oil, cayenne, cumin, corian­der, and 1 teaspoon of the salt together in a small bowl. Rub the paste all over the lamb and then tightly seal the racks in plastic wrap. Place on a plate or in a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

While the meat marinates, stir the yogurt, mint, and salt together in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrig­erate until serving.

Preheat your oven to 450°F.

Unwrap the lamb, wipe off the excess marinade, and place the racks on their sides in a roasting pan. Sprinkle the racks with the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 °F and roast the lamb until it is browned, turning it over midway through cooking, for a total of 9 to 10 minutes for medium-rare.

Transfer the rack to a cutting board, loosely cover with alu­minum foil, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing into two-rib chops. Serve with the chilled mint yogurt on the side.

SERVES 4

Delicious Salad

We had eaten dinner at Animal and at their sister restaurant Son of a Gun, both are very good and very casual. We purchased their cookbook: Two Dudes One Pan. The recipes are tasty looking and easy to make. When we ate at Animal we had a delicious salad. So the first recipe from the book we make was this salad: Creamy Tarragon-Dressed Butter Lettuce, Smashed Croutons, and Grana. It is excellent!

Creamy Tarragon-Dressed Butter Lettuce, Smashed Croutons, and Grana

Two Dudes One Pan

Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo

Jon: I feel like I'm always hunting down the croutons in a salad. In this one, we smash them up so you get a little bit of crouton in every bite. It's a bit rustic in a texturally cool kind of way.

VINNY: Butter lettuces, such as Boston and Bibb, stand up really nicely to a creamy dressing, but if you can't find them in your market, iceberg is our second runner-up.

Place the croutons in a resealable plastic bag (make sure that there isn't any trapped air in the bag) and, using the bottom of your mixing bowl, press down on the croutons to smash them into uneven bits. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, tarragon, chives, salt, and pepper. Add 1 to 2 table­spoons water, just enough to thin the dressing to a medium-bodied consistency, like that of a creamy ranch dressing

Place the greens in the bowl and toss gently with your hands to coat with the dressing. Transfer to a serving bowl or indi­vidual plates, top with the cheese and smashed croutons, and serve.

SERVES 4

homemade croutons

Heat your oven to 300°F. Place 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt in a large bowl. Add 6 cups of 1/2-inch bread cubes (about 1 French baguette) and toss to combine. Transfer the cubes to a rimmed sheet pan and toast until the cubes are just starting to color and get crispy, about 25 minutes, stirring the croutons midway through baking. Set aside to cool, and use imme­diately or store in a plastic bag for up to 1 week.

FOR THE TARRAGON YINAIGRETTE

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

3 tablespoons sour cream

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon, a few leaves reserved for garnish

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives, a pinch reserved for garnish

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground

black pepper

FOR THE SALAD

2 heads of Bibb or Boston lettuce, quartered 1 4-ounce chunk Grana Padana or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler

Creamed Morels on Brioche

Morels have finally arrived at the Hollywood Farmer’’s Market. We purchased some morels and used a recipe from Sunday Supper at Lucques. We toasted brioche from Proof Bakery and poured the mushroom ragout over the crisp toast. This dish is as good as it gets.

ragout of morels with creme fraiche, soft herbs, and toasted brioche – Sunday Supper at Lucques

Suzanne Goin

1         tablespoon tarragon leaves

1         tablespoon chervil sprigs

2         tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves

2         tablespoons 1/2-inch-snipped chives

^¾            pound fresh morels, stems trimmed and cleaned

5          tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1         teaspoon thyme leaves

½         cup sliced shallots

1         cup mushroom, vegetable, or chicken broth

Three 3/4-inch-thick slices brioche

½         cup heavy cream

6         tablespoons cremp fraiche

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Morels are to spring what tomatoes are to summer: they epitomize the season. Their spongy texture and funny pine-cone shape give these wild mushrooms unmistakable personality. In order not to mask their delicious earthy flavor, morels are best when prepared simply. In a French kitchen, morels are often cooked with cream. And as with so many traditional pairings, when you taste the combination you understand why it's a classic. Here the morel ragout is bound with a little cream, spooned over toasted slices of brioche, and topped with dollops of creme fraiche. The soft herbs are left whole; when you bite into them you get a big burst of flavor.

Toss the tarragon, chervil, parsley leaves, and chives together in a small bowl and set aside, covered with a damp paper towel in the refrigerator. If the morels are large, cut them in half lengthwise.

Heat a large saute pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons but­ter, and when it foams, scatter the morels into the pan, being careful not to over­crowd them. Saute 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often. Turn down the heat to medium, and add the thyme, % teaspoon kosher salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Let the mushrooms cook another 6 to 8 minutes, until they're crispy on the outside yet still tender. (The amount of cooking time really depends on the mushrooms; some give off more water than others, which will require a longer cooking time in order for the water to evaporate and the morels to crisp.)

Add 1 tablespoon butter, and stir in the shallots. Cook about 2 minutes, until the shallots are translucent and tender. Turn the heat up to high, add the broth, and reduce by half. Immediately remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, lightly butter the brioche on both sides. Heat a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat, and toast the slices on both sides until golden brown.

Cut the brioche slices in half on the diagonal, and place them on a platter.

When the brioche is ready, return the mushrooms to medium heat for a minute or two. Swirl in the cream, and taste for seasoning. Spoon the morels over and around the toasts—not completely covering the bread, and spilling onto the platter.

Dollop each toast with creme fraiche and scatter the herbs over the top.

Jar-B-Que

We hadn’t made Jar-B-Que (our name for Jar Restaurant's fabulous Char Shu Pork Chops). We have always grilled it outside in the Egg or on the Weber. This time we grilled it in the oven, as the recipe calls. Surprisingly (to us) it worked out just fine. I think we will make it like this in the future.  This is a great recipe and I highly recommend it.  You can find it in our blog of: August 22, 2006. Click the date to get the recipe.

We made Rice and Sautéed Baby Bok Choy with Mushrooms to go with the chops. We cut up the left over chops and added it to the rice and bok choy mixture to make Fried Rice. We love leftovers!

Italian-Bangladeshi Dinner

Shuman had returned from his extended travels and we had him over for dinner. We made Asparagus with Browned Butter, Hazelnuts and Burrata Cheese.

For the main course we served Lentil Pasta. This is one of our favorite pasta. It is vegetarian but tastes and feels like it is made with meat. It is delicious.

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.


The next night we had the pasta with a salad of Burrata Salad, with Tomatoes, Greek Olives, and Toasted Brioche Bread from Proof Bakery in Atwater Village.

The Mother of All Steaks

Nate in all his glory!

Wow! Crispy Oven Potatoes

We went to McCalls Meat and Fish and asked Nate for a BIG Porterhouse Steak! Boy did he cut one for us. 4 ½ pounds! OMG! It was great and we cooked it in the Egg.

Cathy found a fabulous recipe for Oven-Roasted Potatoes. They turned out extremely crispy. They are delicious. I had forgotten about them. They are from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. This is a fabulous recipe. They are easy to make and we HIGHLY recommend them! You can find the recipe in our blog of: April 10, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

This was a meat eaters heavenly dinner!  

Fava Bean Pasta

We made one of our favorite pastas: Fava Bean Pasta. We really like the taste of fresh spring favas, bacon (my favorite seasoning), the sage and onion. We have published pictures and the recipe for the pasta many times. You can find it at our blog of: April 30, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

Fava beans have to be peeled twice. With your fingers open the pod and then remove the beans. When all of the pods are empty, boil water and put the beans in for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove the beans from the water, drain, cool with cold water then with your fingers peel the beans slipping the skin off. They are then ready for the sauce.

Interestingly we met two of our friends, Scott and Tom at Silverlake Wine on Monday night and Tom brought a bag of fresh beans from his garden. We simply peeled the favas and ate them like candy they were so sweet. They are also good in salads.

We made a simple Lettuce / Tomato Salad to go with the Fava Bean Pasta.

Robert and Darryl and Sardines

Robert and Darryl came by for dinner. We started with a favorite: Asparagus with Brown Butter, Burrata Cheese and Hazelnuts purchased from Mozza2Go. These are absolutely the best Hazelnuts in the city!

At Palate we had Sardines that were spectacular. They were imported from Spain: Matiz Gallego. They are harvested in Galacia. They are amazing. We asked Palate to sell us some and they sold us 13 cans.

We mentioned this to Robert and Darryl and they said they like Sardines. Cathy found a recipe for Sardine Pasta Sauce and we decided to make it and invite them. We mentioned we were making this sauce to our Tai Chi teacher, Michael, and he went wild discussing this sauce. It is a favorite of his. He said we should add fennel tops, raisins, pine nuts and wine to the sauce. We made it, it was strong and not surprisingly very sardine tasting. I doubt if we will make it again.

We did give the remainder of the sauce to Michael, who wound up loving it, and extending it to 3 more dinners. I am glad it found a home.

For dessert we bought a Lemon Meringue Cake from Proof, a new bakery near it us. We really like the bakery.

Pea Pasta

Fresh snap peas are in the market. They are very sweet and they peas don’t have to be extracted from the pods! It is a very easy pasta to make.

We started with a simple salad with some of the first tomatoes of the season.

A wonderful recipe is Orecchiette Carbonara with English Peas and Pea Shoots from the book Sunday Suppers at Lucques. We decided to make it with Sugar Snap Peas from the Hollywood Farmer’s Market instead of English Peas. One advantage is the peas don’t have to be shelled. The tips of the peas are cut off and then the pods with the peas inside are sliced in ½ diagonal slices. It is very easy. The pasta recipe is delicious and can be found in our blog of: April 28, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Cat and Jason

We decided to invite two of favorite chefs, Cat and Jason from Palate over for dinner. It is challenging inviting professional chefs over, but they appreciated it and didn’t put pressure on us.

They said they would make the salad and we watched them to learn techniques. One thing that I learned  is they gradually whisk the oil into the vinegar emulsifying it into a creamy texture. By making it thicker when added to the lettuce the dressing clings much better to the leaves than simply pouring oil and vinegar separately on the lettuce. We have an old salad spinner that apparently you can’t buy anymore. They really appreciated using the classic tool.

We of course had to start with Crab in Creamy Spicy Sauce. We love it as a starter. The recipe can be found in our blog of: September 5, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

We had purchased a White Salmon at McCalls Meat and Fish. This is a rarer type of salmon and is lighter in color do to being raised in areas that don’t have shrimp. Jason had a clever idea that we would never have come up with. We planned to cook the Salmon in the Egg on a rack. He placed small potatoes in a pan, put the rack on the pan, then covered the rack with asparagus and finally placed the salmon on the asparagus to go into the Egg. The juices from the salmon marinated the asparagus and potatoes as they cooked, it was a very good idea. We will do it again that way.

The dinner was a hit and they left us to go to a concert downtown: full, happy and floating.

Yakisoba

We had some leftover pork and decided to make Yokisoba With Pork and Cabbage. This is another recipe from the New York Times. You can find it in our blog of: March 7, 2010. Simple click the date to get the recipe.

Pasta

We made Zuni’s Café’s version of the much-loved dish from Abruzzo, PASTA ALL 'AMATRICIANA. The exceptional cookbook by Judy Rodgers is called: The Zuni Café Cookbook.

You can find this recipe in our blog of: Nov. 21, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe. One of the joys of the pasta is that it is made from canned tomatoes making it a year around treat!  We prefer the Pecorino cheese, which we always buy at The Cheese Store of Silverlake. The choice of pasta is critical with this dish. Even though the recipe says you can use alternative pastas we would only recommend using: bucatini. It really soaks up the pasta sauce.

We made this with a very unusual bacon. Nathan at McCall's Meat and Fish recommended it, even though he doesn't carry it. You need to order it from Bishop Smoked Bacon. It isn't as smokey as some bacon but it has a texture that is very much like Pork Belly. We order it again.

Salads

We are loving the spring vegetables in the market. Asparagus from the Delta this year is especially good: they are very thick and tasty.

The simplest preparation of all is simply asparagus topped with prosciutto.

Cathy found a recipe for a topping for asparagus that we have never tried before: Fried Eggs in Bread Crumbs. It was in the Zuni Cookbook by Judy Rodgers. I really liked this topping for the asparagus. We can apply this on several other salads in the future.

We have been eating a lot of Smoked Salmon. We had left over Potato Gratin and it was a perfect topping for the re-heated potatoes.

We also made one of our favorite salads 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.

Fried Eggs in Bread Crumbs

Zuni Café Cookbook – Judy Rodgers

I like these crunchy eggs for dinner with a salad of bitter greens. At Zuni, they appear on the Sunday lunch menu accompanied by house-made sausage or bacon and grilled vegetables or roasted mushrooms. This is a very easy dish and fun to eat when you are alone, so I provide proportions for one person. For more people, make it in a larger pan, in batches of four to six eggs.

FOR 1 serving:

3 tablespoons packed, fresh, soft bread crumbs made from slightly stale, crustless, chewy, white peasant-style bread

Salt

About 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

A few fresh thyme or marjoram leaves or coarsely chopped fresh rosemary {optional}

2 eggs

About 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or sherry vinegar

Sprinkle the crumbs with salt, then drizzle with enough of the oil to just over saturate them.

Place the crumbs in a 6- to 8-inch French steel omelette pan or nonstick skillet and set pver medium heat. {If you like your fried eggs over easy, reserve some of the oiled raw crumbs, to sprinkle on the top of the eggs just before you flip them over.} Let the crumbs warm through, then swirl the pan as they begin drying out-which will make a quiet staticky sound. Stir once or twice.

The moment you see the crumbs begin to color, quickly add the remaining oil, and the herbs if using, then crack the eggs directly onto the crumbs. Cook the eggs as you like.

Slide onto a warm plate, then add the vinegar to the hot pan. Swirl the pan once, then pour the drops of sizzling vinegar over the eggs.

Note: If you are preparing the eggs for more than a few people, it is a little easier to toast the seasoned, oiled crumbs in advance in a 4250 oven instead of in the skillet. In that case, toast them to the color of weak tea. Then scatter them in the skillet, add the remaining olive oil, and proceed as described above.

Lentils and Pork

We had some leftover pork, and decided to make the very classic French Dish: Petit-Sale aux Lentilles –(salt pork with lentils) from Paris Bistro Cooking by Linda Dannenberg.

This very hearty dish is the perfect cold rainy weather dish. We use the leftover pork rather than salt pork. It was delicious.

Petit-Sale aux Lentilles

[salt pork with lentils]

Paris Bistro Cooking – Linda Dannenberg

In France, salt pork, or petit-sale, is made from pork belly or hock cured in brine; in the United States salt pork is usually made from pork back fat, a less meaty, fattier cut. Ask your butcher to select for you a particularly meaty piece of salt pork, or substitute a piece of cured pork belly, shoulder, or loin, if available.

salt pork

2  Pounds Meaty Salt Pork, Rind Removed

1  Large Onion, Stuck with 2 Whole Cloves

2  Large Carrots

1  Bouquet Garni   (1 Sprig of Parsley, greens  of 1   Leek, Thyme Sprig, and 1Bay Leaf, Tied in a Square of cheese cloth )

lentil garnish

1  Pound Lentils, Cleaned

4  medium Carrots,   Quartered

2  Medium onions,   quartered

1  bouquet Garni   (same as above)

Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

2 Tablespoons  Chopped  Fresh Parsley

To prepare the salt pork:

Place the salt pork, onion, carrots, and bouquet garni in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 hours, until salt pork is tender.

To make the lentil Garnish:

Place the lentils, carrots, onions, and bouquet garni in a pot and add enough water to cover the lentils by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for about 1 hour.

When the salt pork is ready, drain and discard accompanying vegetables and bouquet garni. Place the salt pork in the lentils pot and simmer for 30 minutes. (Add water if necessary to prevent the lentils from drying out.) Adjust seasoning. Before serving, remove bouquet garni from lentils.

To serve, slice the salt pork, place it on top of the lentils, and sprinkle with the parsley

SERVES     4

A Green Dinner

We LOVE pasta. Unfortunately, the doctor told me this week I have to loose 10 pounds. Oye! Well, we will continue to serve pasta, I will just have to have smaller portions. That should be a good compromise.

A wonderful recipe is Orecchiette Carbonara with English Peas and Pea Shoots from the book Sunday Suppers at Lucques. We decided to make it with Sugar Snap Peas from the Hollywood Farmer’s Market instead of English Peas. One advantage is the peas don’t have to be shelled. The tips of the peas are cut off and then the pods with the peas inside are sliced in ½ diagonal slices. It is very easy. The pasta recipe is delicious and can be found in our blog of: April 28, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with a simple salad of fresh blanched Asparagus, covered with Brown Butter, Burrata Cheese and Hazelnuts. This is another spring salad that is delicious an easy to make.

The Pork Roast That Thought It Was Prime Rib

We saw a recipe for a Potato Leek Gratin in the New York Times. It has been cold and rainy here in LA so we decided to make it. What goes better with a Potato Gratin than Pork?

We wanted to make the pork roast on the Egg, but we didn’t know if the weather would cooperate for outdoor grilling. We decided to try and hope the weather would clear. It did! For that one day, the clouds disappeared and I was able to smoke the pork in the Egg. It was the first time we had used it in several months.

The recipe we made was: Herb-Crusted Pork Loin Roast from License to Grill by Chris Schlesinger. We purchased the pork loin at McCall's Meat and Fish. This is a very easy and good recipe. I used maple wood for the smoke flavoring. It only takes about an hour and a half in the egg to have a great smoky taste. You can get the recipe in our blog of: July 2, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

We haven’t returned to McCall’s Meat and Fish since we made this pork, and I want to find out more about the pork that he cut for us. This pork was unbelievably good. It was richly marbled and had the consistency of prime rib, not pork. It was an amazing piece of meat. When we picked up the meat we knew we were getting something special, we had pre-ordered the meat, and Karen grabbed a pork roast for us, Nate told her he had a different cut for us, so she put the one she was going to give us back and gave us the one that Nate suggested. Amazing!

New York Times

March 11, 2011

Potato Leek Gratin

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, more for greasing the pan

2 large leeks, trimmed and halved lengthwise

1 1/2 pounds peeled Yukon Gold potatoes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 thyme sprigs

1 cup heavy cream

1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

3/4 cup Gruyère, grated.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 2-quart gratin dish. Wash the leeks to remove any grit and slice thinly crosswise.

2. Using a mandoline or sharp knife, slice the potatoes into rounds, 1/8-inch thick. Toss with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Layer the rounds in the gratin dish.

3. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks, remaining salt and pepper, and thyme. Cook, stirring, until leeks are tender and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Discard thyme and scatter the leeks over the potatoes.

4. Add cream, garlic and bay leaf to the skillet, scraping up browned bits of leeks from the bottom of the pan. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Stir in nutmeg.

5. Pour the cream over the leeks and potatoes and top with the Gruyère. Cover with aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 40 minutes, uncover and bake until the cheese is bubbling and golden, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Let cool slightly before serving.

Yield: 6 servings.