Category Archives: Uncategorized

Another Day……….Another Salad

I know- you’re probably wondering, “Is this blog called Tuna Salad or Tuna Toast?!?” It’s just been so hot lately that my stove has become my enemy. Every night I get home from work, stand in front of the fridge and wonder what I can make that requires little or no cooking. Thus, salad has become my new supper of choice.

When I took stock of the fridge yesterday, I came up with pretty good bounty: fresh, crunchy Japanese cucumbers, a bag of mixed baby greens, scallions and a large Tupperware of leftover chicken, courtesy of my best friend Nikki. She of the small appetite went to a work-related dinner at Pane E Vino and ordered the chicken…which ended up being half of a very large roasted bird. Since Nikki no longer lives in Los Angeles and was just out for a visit, she opted to give us the leftovers instead of trying to take it back on the flight to Nashville….although it probably would have beat out anything that Southwest would have given her for sustenance. Oh wait- airlines don’t even give free food anymore! Ack!

Although a nice green salad with some shredded roast chicken sounded good, I needed something a bit more substantial after a long day of work. I sifted through the pantry and found an unopened packet of soba noodles- score! I absolutely love soba and have used it in many different preparations aside from the traditional zaru soba way. I also love that it only takes about four minutes to get perfectly al dente soba as opposed to the 10 or so that it takes for pasta. After a quick boil, the strained and cooled soba went into a large bowl with the shredded chicken, julienned cukes, diced scallions and mixed greens. Tossed with some sesame dressing, it was a cool and refreshing way to end a hot and muggy day.

Maybe I should rename this blog Tuna Salad………?!

Home cooking, Soba, Japanese food

Baby, It’s Hot Outside!

This photo of Cory best describes how we’ve all felt over the last week. With temperatures reaching past the 100 degree mark and no air conditioning, we now affectionately (or NOT so affectionately) refer to our house as The Oven. Sure, it cools off a bit at night but the sun doesn’t even really go down until close to 8:00 PM. So even when we go to bed, it’s still warm. It’s been so hot that when it comes time to figure out what I want for dinner, only two things come to mind: Ben and Jerry. Since eating ice cream for dinner isn’t a realistic option for my waistline, I’ve had to come up with other ideas.

As I stated in a previous post, a salad makes the perfect summer supper. Not only are they nutritionally sound (although beware of some restaurant salads that can clock in at over 1000 calories!!!), but they are cool, crunchy, refreshing and require no use of heat. There are few things as satisfying as a really great salad. When we’re out at a restaurant, I always gravitate towards salads that contain the words ‘southwestern,’ Mexican,’ or ‘bbq’d chicken.’ Yes, I have a weakness for those hearty greens tossed with bbq sauce, corn, tortilla strips, cilantro and plenty of colorful vegetables.

I found the salad of my dreams at the unlikeliest of places: Mi Piace in Pasadena. It’s one of the few restaurants that has survived on the main drag over the years but I’ve never really thought much about their food. It’s fine, basic Italian food dressed up to look nice, but there is nothing that has blown my socks off. That changed a few months ago on my first brunch-time visit – I ordered the half-order of the Insalata Di Taos, chopped. When I saw the heaping pile of chopped lettuces, blackened corn, cubed avocado, black beans, roasted red pepper, crispy onions, tortilla strips, grated cheese and diced tomatoes, I sat up straighter in my chair and grabbed my fork. It’s flavor lived up to it’s good looks and I knew that I’d be having regular rendezvous with Di Taos from that day forward. And what rendezvous we’ve had! Even if I’d find myself at Mi Piace at 10:00 AM, I’d still ask for the lunch menu so that I could have my beloved salad. We’ve been through bad waiters, long waits for tables and even one instance of lipstick on the water glass. My best friend and my husband both met Di Taos and also started a love affair with it! Yes, I love Di Taos THAT much. However, I can’t hop over to Mi Piace every time I have a craving for that salad, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.
On a related note: Let me say that after one email to Mi Piace about all of the obstacles I had to face when dining there, the management really made a noticeable effort to get things right which was clearly obvious on my last visit.

Since I’ve been really trying to curb the calories lately, I knew I’d have to come up with a much lighter version of the salad. I brined some skinless, boneless chicken breasts in a simple solution of 1 cup of brown sugar, 5 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt overnight. I’ve been using this brine for awhile now and it consistently makes any white meat tender and juicy. Once the breasts were almost done on the grill, I slathered them with chipotle bbq sauce and let it caramelize onto the meat. Meanwhile I blackened the skin of one large red bell pepper and some corn. Instead of frying the tortilla, I simply put in it my toasted oven until it got hard and then broke it up into small pieces. After combining all of that with a mix of fresh chopped veggies and a dressing made with 1/2 light ranch and 1/2 chipotle bbq sauce, I had my homemade, lighter version of the Insalata Di Taos.

How did it taste? Well, let’s just say I’ve had it for dinner three times this week and I’m normally a person who insists on variety. Even though this salad does require a bit of “cooking,” the end result is so fine that I really don’t mind. And if you grill up enough chicken, blacken enough corn and roast enough peppers, you’ll have the ingredients to make the salad, well, three times a week if you like;).

Review: Comfort Cafe, Silverlake

I watch the Food Network. I’m just gonna put that out there because I know that there are quite a few food bloggers that absolutely will not partake in anything Food Network related. Although I do agree that the network has increasingly filled it’s slots with no-brainer, lets-make-it-as-easy-as-possible cooking shows, I do have a soft spot in my heart for the place where I first discovered Anthony Bourdain and still see Barefoot Contessa regularly. I really believe that a lot of what I know in the kitchen is learned subliminally while having the Food Network on when talking on the phone, cleaning the house or working out. I have no doubt that my ability to cut basil into chiffonade or poke an egg before boiling to keep the yolk in the center came from watching Giada, Tyler, Bobby and Alton perform those tasks numerous times. Now, a girl does have her standards and my finger will quickly change the channel if I even hear one syllable of Rachel Ray’s annoying squeal or Sandra Lee’s yammering about “tablescapes.” But from the shows I do watch, I can’t deny it- The Food Network has made me a better cook.

One of the Food Network’s newer shows is The Next Food Network Star, a realty competition where the grand prize is your very own show on the network. I didn’t pay much attention to it the first season, but my curiosity got the best of me this year and I eventually got hooked. I have to admit, I was pulling for the eventual winner, Guy Fieri, from the get-go. He was energetic, fun and knew how to cook. I mean, he isn’t exactly a gourmand but they guy can throw down in the kitchen. Since half of the contestants had never filleted a fish before, it was nice to see someone who actually had skills. Speaking of a show where no one can cook, has anyone been watching Hell’s Kitchen? Pullleeze. Hells’ Kitchen, you are NO Top Chef. Anyway, back to topic. Guy won the competition and now has his own show, Guy’s Big Bite, while the runner up, Reggie, went back to his job as a pastry chef for Comfort Cafe, located in Silverlake. Since I live near Silverlake, I made a mental note to give Comfort Cafe a try one day. I’m no star stalker, but I did get to genuinely like Reggie and all of his “sassy” comments. Also, being a food lover, I had high hopes that Comfort Cafe would become a regular breakfast destination.

J and I went a couple of weekends ago, and alas- we didn’t see Reggie who must have had the day off. The space was so cute with little embroidered chairs and etching on the walls. J and I stood at the counter perusing the large menu and finally decided on a southwestern-style omelet made w/ egg whites and a veggie platter. The veggie platter said “brown rice served with your choice of two salads.” The case had several different kinds of brightly colored offerings and J chose the beets and the roasted vegetables. We got our iced coffee and iced tea and chose a table by the door.

Bland omelet with bland salsa. The toast was pretty good though.

My iced coffee was nice and strong but J’s iced tea was infused with so much cinnamon that he took it back. Some people might like spiced tea but J isn’t one of them and the menu made no mention that it was anything other than plain. Luckily the counter guy was very accommodating when J asked to order a juice instead. Shortly thereafter, we got our food. Mine looked fine but once again- J’s plate had the beets, the roasted veggies and some greens. No rice in sight. When we asked the waitress, she seemed extremely confused so we reminded her that the menu said it was brown rice + 2 salads. She said “Oh….right….well a lot of people don’t even want the rice, they only want the salads so that’s why I got confused. I can take the beets off the plate and replace it with the rice if you like.” Um, hello? After further explanation from us she finally “got it” and brought a side of the brown rice.

Bland veggie platter, sans rice.

The verdict? Bland bland bland. I know that an egg white omelet is annoyingly healthy but does it mean that it can’t be properly seasoned? Even the accompanying salsa was tasteless. The same can be said for every single thing on J’s plate except for the roasted vegetables which were good. We had to liberally salt and pepper everything to get some flavor. It’s one of those times where you kick yourself for not just staying at home and making your own darned omelet- at least you would have added salt! I know this sounds simplistic but I hate paying money for mediocre food that you could have made yourself. Of course I have no one to blame but myself for being too lazy to do so on a Sunday morning! By the end of our meal, we were too defeated to even try one of Reggie’s gigantic cookies which, I must admit, looked scrumptious.

The missing rice. Looks tasty, no? It didn’t taste, actually.

Overall, it wasn’t an awful experience. The staff is so friendly, the place is adorable and the food LOOKS great in the glass case but that makes the lack of flavor even more disappointing. I may go back for another try after a month or so, but with so many breakfast and brunch options in Los Angeles, I don’t know if I want to bother.

Comfort Cafe
2520 Hyperion Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
323-666-5616

Los Angeles Restaurants

Tofu Tuna Salad

When I go through periods where I don’t cook much, I start to feel guilty and anxious. No one makes me feel this way- it’s just something that I put on myself. I guess when I have a span of time where I’m cooking like crazy, I really feel like I’m making progress on my culinary journey. So when I don’t spend much time in the kitchen, I guess I worry that the skills I’d worked on will go down the drain. “If ya don’t use it, you’ll lose it!” I tell myself.

Of course that is not true- cooking is sort of like riding a bike. Once you learn, you won’t forget. Sure, you might be rusty after long periods of inactivity but the basics stick with you. After noticing that other bloggers have pared down their cooking during these hot summer months, my guilt has subsided. When I read about Molly’s salad days, I had to agree- sometimes less is more. In fact, a lot of the time, less tastes pretty damn great. I’d be crazy to even attempt standing in front of the stove when we have no air conditioning and the temps outside are nearing 97 degrees! And with so much beautiful produce available at the Farmer’s Markets, there is no need to really even cook. Just take a few things, assemble and enjoy the flavors of summer. After all, restraint is probably one of the most admired qualities of any respected chef, so it’s probably time I focused on THAT instead of mulling over the meals I didn’t make.

With J’s band back in full rehearsal mode and a four month tour coming up, I’ll be having many suppers for one which is a great chance to practice that restraint. The other night I just whipped together this salad out of whatever I had in the fridge, and it was the perfect, cool dish for a hot summer night.

Tofu tuna salad

1 half-pack of silken tofu
1 can albacore tuna in water
1/4 cup corn (freshly cut from the cob is best but canned if you don’t have)
As many thinly sliced onions as you like (white or red)
1/3 cup diced green onions
Thinly shredded green cabbage
Mixed baby greens
Sesame salad dressing
Toasted sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients and enjoy! I used the sesame dressing featured here but you can use any Asian-flavored dressing you like. High in protein, low in fat and best of all- totally satisfying.

I know the combo of shredded cabbage, corn and tuna may sound strange, but in Japan this is very common. It tastes really great and you get extra texture from cabbage that you don’t get from lettuce.

Happy summer!

Tofu recipes

WEST

I have a confession to make. I rarely dine on the Westside. I realize that I am missing out on such places as Melisse in Santa Monica, Spago in Beverly Hills and countless other tasty destinations that are west of Hollywood. I’m not saying I’ll NEVER go to these places but truthfully, I don’t feel comfortable driving home from such a distance after having several glasses of wine. I also don’t feel comfortable dining at those types of places and NOT having some wine;). That, combined with my general disdain for LA traffic, keep my dining destinations to the Eastside.

It’s certainly a habit I will have to work on changing if I’m truly going to experience all that Los Angeles has to offer. I’ve started keeping a list of places beyond my usual city circle that I am determined to visit and will make it a point go outside the box, so to speak. I got my start last weekend when J and I had dinner at West, a new restaurant inside Hotel Angeleno, a new luxury hotel which sits where Sunset meets the 405 Freeway. Yes, you’re right- it IS where that circular Holiday Inn used to be but now that building has been renovated into a hotel that begs to be the next Standard. The lobby is all muted colors and clean lines while the yet-unfinished pool area was strewn with dark and elegant patio furniture. Although the Angeleno looks a bit more mature than The Standard, I have a feeling that they are going for the same demographic.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I was invited to have a complimentary meal at West and that yes, that fact did encourage me to drive, er, west. J and I arrived a bit early, handed the keys to the valet and went straight up to the restaurant in one of two elevators. The very kind host and hostess greeted us warmly and sat us at a two-top right by the window and the beautiful view. Even thought it was only 7:30 PM, the bar area was buzzing and about 70% of the tables were full.

J immediately started reading the wine list and was excited to see one of our favorites- the Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand- on it since we rarely have the chance to have it at a restaurant. Unfortunately, they were out of that wine so we went back to work out a new game plan. I have to admit I was surprised that such a new place was already out of something. Although the waiter suggested a South African sauvi that he thought was comparable, we declined the offer and decided to start with a couple of glasses of prosecco instead.

The menu includes a large selection of small plates- all of which sounded extremely appealing. However, I was there to try the steak since West dubs itself as an “Italian steakhouse.” I decided on the Tuna Tonnato to start and the 20 ounce, bone-in rib eye with a chili rub for the main course. J chose the oysters as an appetizer and the Tuscan chicken to follow. The waiter asked if we wanted a side dish of vegetables for our mains, so I asked for the grilled asparagus with pecorino while J opted for the brocollini. We toasted our glasses and dug into the bread which came accompanied by chunks of nutty parmesan, fragrantly bitter olives and some chili-infused olive oil.

The waiter approached a short time later and set a rack (the sort you see at pizzerias that suspends the pizza off the table) down and placed the silver plate of oysters on top of the rack. Although I’ve seen this before with oysters (I’m guessing it keeps the condensation off of the table cloth) I’d never seen a rack so high that it put the oysters above eye level. After I got my tuna, J and I sat there for a moment feeling a bit silly that we couldn’t even see each other since the oyster plate was almost completely blocking his head! He quickly took the plate off the rack and one of the busboys took the rack away. MUCH better. I don’t understand how they expect you to eat anything that you have to reach above your head for. Anyway, on to the food. The tuna was seared, possibly smoked, sliced and topped with a creamy aioli and some greens. It was fine, but nothing spectacular. I guess I’m more partial to having my rare or raw seafood sauced with something more on the vinegary or gingery side- not a creamy sauce. J enjoyed his oysters which came with two types of mignonette.

Before the steak arrived, I ordered a glass of pino noir since, much to my disappointment, there were no zinfandels available by glass. To me, red meat and zin are a match made in heaven. My mood quickly changed, however, when the waiter sat the large plate of hunking meat down in front of me. I must say- it was gorgeous. J looked at his chicken and then looked at my steak and knew he should have ordered one too. Of course 20 ounces is much too much for a girl to eat all by herself (in public) so we ended up sharing it. It came complete with a blue cheese butter, a red wine reduction, béarnaise and a stack of meltingly tender caramelized onions, but who needs sauce on a piece of meat this delicious? To be fair, I did try all three sauces and particularly enjoyed the red wine reduction but the real star was the steak. It didn’t really have even a hint of chili flavor or heat, but the beef was magnificent and perfect in it’s medium rare state. J’s chicken was fine, albeit a bit on the dry side, but we both agreed that steak was the way to go.

Then……well, I don’t want to say horror since I was thoroughly enjoying my meal at this point. But I must be honest with you, dear readers. In my bovine bliss I had completely forgotten to eat my asparagus so I stabbed a couple of spears with my fork to give it a try. Unfortunately my fork stabbed more than just green…..it also seemed to have caught a long, dark hair that was partially wrapped around the veggie. Once again, in the interest of FULL disclosure, I have long, dark hair…..which was nowhere near the plate of asparagus but I thought “hmmm, maybe it’s mine…” and pulled it off the plate. When my next forkful contained a short dark hair which had been ensconced in the middle of the pile of asparagus, I knew it didn’t come off of this head and I also knew that I had to speak. To his credit, the manager looked very upset and swiftly took the offending plate off the table. Within a few minutes I was served up a fresh, piping hot plate of asparagus that was grilled very nicely.

Even though we were pretty full at this point, we had to try their desserts. J ordered the peach tartlet and I went with the molten chocolate cake. Both came looking as pretty as can be- my dark cake sitting on an oblong plate dotted with tufts of whipped cream and sprinkled with tiny balls of chocolate and J’s tart perched on a drizzle of beautiful green sauce. I quickly cut into the cake to reveal the warm and gooey center which tasted like dark chocolate heaven. I also truly enjoyed the tiny chocolate balls which had some heat to them- I can’t be sure but I think they were pink peppercorns coated in chocolate. Brilliant. J’s tart was everything you’d want in such a comforting dessert- warm peaches in flaky pastry with hints of maple, brown sugar and……mint. So THAT was the green sauce. Although it wasn’t bad, I just think that some classic desserts shouldn’t be messed with. Mint in a peach fruit salad? Great. Mint in a chocolate dessert? Fabulous. But adding that flavor element to what essentially is a peach pie just doesn’t make sense. I think the tart would work much better without it.

Overall, the service was very good and we noticed that there were no less than three managers on the floor at any given time. The food could use a bit of tweaking (except the steaks which are perfect!) but for a place that has been open for only a couple of months, I have high hopes that those kinks will be worked out in no time. About the hair- it actually proves a point that I have regarding service vs. food at restaurants. For me, the service is KEY. If I have bad food at a place with stellar service, somehow that food is a bit easier to swallow and the effort by the staff may be enough to bring me back for another try. However, bad service can absolutely RUIN a good meal- no matter how good the food is. I recently had an experience where a waiter was so unbelievably rude that it wouldn’t have made any difference had I been eating lobster and foie gras- I was livid and would never return. So the fact that the “issue” was handled in a polite, apologetic and timely manner made what would normally have been an extremely offensive bump-in-the-road something that was fairly easy to overlook. That said, it should certainly never happen again because, as they say, three hairs, I mean strikes, and you’re OUT.

West is the perfect place for a date- the view is beautiful, the chairs are extremely comfortable and the variety of small plates makes it easy to try a bunch of different things on the menu. Of course the fact that you could book a room after dinner doesn’t hurt either….but I digress. Go for the view, stay for the steak and whatever happens after that is up to you.

WEST
170 N. Church Lane
Los Angeles , California 90049
310.481.7878

Los Angeles Restaurants,

Chile Rellenos

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but something about summer just makes me NOT want to spend much time in the kitchen. Heat and summer laziness are the main reasons. So you know what we bloggers do when we find ourselves in a I-have-nothing-to-blog-about pickle? We turn to our photo archives! While I was sifting through mine, I found these pics of a mouthwatering meal that my parents made for us at our house a couple months back. Perfect!

My mom has been making us chile rellenos since we were about eight years old. When I was that age, we had just moved from Arkansas to Los Angeles. What were we doing in Arkansas, you ask? Well, we emigrated from Japan and my father’s parents lived there, so it seemed like a natural place to go. And natural it was. Forests, stick bugs, miles between houses and snow days; one high school and no alcohol in the county. After living her entire life in Osaka and Tokyo, my mom probably had the worst culture shock of her life. Luckily, my sister and I that were only five years old at the time and enjoyed seeing deer in the backyard and picking berries from bushes on the side of the road so we didn’t mind at all. My parents didn’t HATE it and Arkansas certainly has it’s charms, but it wasn’t the place that they wanted to settle. After three years of not being able to get sushi and having to drive across state lines for wine, my parents packed up the furniture, us, Kitty and Puppy (seriously- how creative are those pet names??) and hit the road to California. Once we arrived in Temple City, we rented a house with a huge backyard full of fruit trees and a renter named Joe in the guesthouse. It was the beginning of our new life….and our introduction to the chile relleno.

Not a relleno but the rice you can eat with one!

Joe was probably in his late 20′s (although you know how it is to a kid- all adults are just, well, adults) and of Mexican descent. He quickly became our friend and one day invited us to eat dinner with him. He made his mom’s chile rellenos and my parents were instantly hooked. We’ve since learned that not all chile rellenos are created equal. While we loved the Joe Chile Relleno, we discovered that the average restaurant relleno was filled with cheese….and cheese. You see, Joe’s mom’s version contained a savory mixture of ground meat, cheese and seasonings so you don’t just bite into a thick mass of cheese. Luckily my mom asked for the recipe and she’s been making them ever since. I just got the recipe from her so I thought I would share it with all of you. Hopefully Joe’s mom won’t mind!

Also not a relleno but goes well with one!

Again, no rellenos in this photo but a beautiful, creamy flan, courtesy of my dad!

It’s been about 22 years (eek!) since we moved out of that house and we’ve long since lost touch with Joe but if he’s out there, I’d like to give a shout out to him and his mom (although not to his little dog who BIT me when I was nine!) and say thanks for introducing my family to a real chile relleno. It’s still the best chile relleno we’ve ever had!

Joe’s Mom’s Chili Rellenos (with Tokyoastrogirl’s mom’s notes)
(recipe from 1981)

1/2 lb ground meat (we use lean beef sirloin, ground)
1/4~1/2 bunch minced cilantro
1 chopped onion
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp cayanne (more or less)
1/4 lb each Monterey Jack & Colby Longhorn cheeese, diced

Anaheim or Pacilla chili (roasted black, then peeled, seeded)
Peanut Oil
Eggs, beaten
Flour for coating

{ I usually double the recipe, makes about 20~24 chili Rellenos}

1. Brown meat, drain, add spices and 1/4 cup water, simmer 10 ~15 minutes, completely cool.
2. Dice cheeses, mince cilantro and mix them with meat – put this filling in a bowl, cover with saran wrap, and refrigerate.
3. Roast chilis, skin and seed
4. Stuff chilis – then return to refrigerator until ready to fry – this makes the rest of the work so much easier since the stuffed
chili is firmer .
5. Roll in flour, egg, then flour again, and pan fry in peanut oil until outside becomes crisp, brown.

My parents’ dogs, Molly and Monk, hoping to get in on the relleno action.

Home cooking,
Mexican food

Opah!

My love affair with the grill continues since the weather has been unusually muggy (I know- ya’ll over in the south have it worse but I’m a wimpy Cali girl!). Why stand in a hot kitchen when you can just stand outside with an ice cold glass of sauvignon blanc and have dinner on the table in a few minutes? I especially like the added bonus of delicious-smelling smoke wafting through the neighborhood. Something about barbeque smoke signals summer and the smoke that was coming out of my BBQ last weekend smelled oh-so good…thanks to OPAH.

I had Opah for the first time only two years ago. I had no idea what it was, but saw the gorgeous pink filets at Bristol Farms and just had to try them. It was love at first bite, although the Bristol prices have kept me from indulging too often. You can imagine my reaction when I saw the same, thick and glistening filets at How’s Market the other day for about half the price of the Bristol Farm’s fish. Reunited and it feels so good……reunited and it’s understood………Oops, ok I am getting off the point but I was ecstatic to find my Opah once again.

I tossed together a simple marinade of soy sauce, ginger, garlic, green onions, sesame oil, sake, mirin and sugar and let the opah soak up those flavors for an hour. The fish only took about 6 minutes to grill and we had a lovely dinner of opah, corn succotash and a fresh green salad. The next night we made fish tacos with the leftovers and today I am eating the remaining opah for lunch….which reminds me, it’s time to eat!

Not to sound like the President of the Opah Promotions Board (if one existed), but if you haven’t tried it and you get a chance, try Opah! It stands up well to marinades and, while it isn’t as dense as swordfish, it doesn’t fall apart one bit while grilling and is oh-so-tender!

Home cooking

Saturday Supper at The House: Father’s Day

I purchased the much-lauded Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook a few months back and had waited for the right opportunity to put it to use. Since my dad has had such an influence on my love of food and my ability to cook in general, I knew that Father’s Day would be a great chance to serve up my attempt at Suzanne Goin’s dishes.

After learning that the weather would be hot that Saturday (ok, so it was Father’s Eve…), I nixed my original plan to make the Wild Salmon A La Lutece w/ Sweet Corn, Green Cabbage and Brown Butter Vinaigrette since it would require me standing over the stove. Instead, I chose things that could either be made in advance or on the grill, and made sure I stuck to the Summer Menus highlighted in the book. The cookbook is divided by seasons, not courses, so it teaches you how to eat what is good NOW instead of spending tons of time trying to make out-of-season food taste decent.

Since corn is particularly plentiful and fresh during the summer, I started with the Sweet Corn Soup w/ Avocado Cream & Cilantro. This was probably the most time consuming but TOTALLY worth it. I made the soup in the morning while it was still cool out, then reheated it right before serving. I love that this recipe doesn’t use any stock. Initially I was afraid that it may turn out bland but I now realize that stock would mask the fresh flavor of the corn, which is the main star here. After sautéing corn cut fresh off the cob along with sweet butter, one cup of diced potato, yellow onions, jalapeno and 1 whole arbol chile, I just simmered the mixture in water and then blended it in batches. Although the recipe doesn’t tell you to strain the soup, I think it’s a necessary step to get the heavy cream-like consistency that the book does state it should be. I just used a fine-meshed colander and the soup did indeed come out velvety smooth and delicious. The dollop of avocado cream added a nice contrast to the slightly spicy soup.

Sweet Corn Soup w/ Avocado Cream & Cilantro

I had noticed a few heirloom tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market and made a simple side dish of sliced tomatoes topped with torn basil and a balsamic vinaigrette. The next Lucques recipe turned out to be our favorite- Summer Squash Gratin was succulent, sweet and just plain delicious….and easy! The preparation involves slicing several kinds of whatever summer squash is available and tossing it with a salsa verde (made from parsley, mint, garlic, oregano and olive oil), browned butter breadcrumbs, gruyere cheese and topping the whole thing with more of the same bread crumbs. I assembled this in the morning as well and just popped it into my toasted oven (no need to use the big one!) about an hour before we sat down. After 45 minutes the squash is tender and the topping is absolutely irresistible. This would make a nice main dish for your favorite vegetarian!

Heirloom tomatoes with basil and balsamic

Summer Squash Gratin

The main dish also involved the salsa verde used in the gratin- Grilled Veal Chops w/ Salsa Verde. The veal is simply rubbed with a combination of herbs, olive oil and garlic and left to sit overnight in the refrigerator. After a few minutes on a hot grill, it’s topped with a spoonful of salsa verde. The meat goes SO well with the light touch of mint in the sauce and again- what could be easier than this?

Grilled Veal Chops w/ Salsa Verde

For dessert, I knew that I just had to try the Plum Sorbet Sandwiches w/ Molasses Cookies. Can you guess what’s in the sorbet? Plums (skin on), sugar, honey and a squeeze of lemon. Period. No water, no corn syrup. The result? Pure, plum goodness which was made to be eaten with the spicy cookies. I baked the cookies two days earlier and simply put them in an air tight container. The sorbet came together in just a few minutes- macerate the plum halves in sugar and honey for 30 minutes, add a squeeze of lemon and blend into a smooth puree. Chill liquid and pour into ice cream maker. Done. No cooking, no standing over a stove for this one. I spread the sorbet into a square cake dish lined with waxed paper so I could use biscuit cutters to cut out rounds of sorbet to put on the cookies. I can’t wait to try these again and experiment with different flavored sorbets- lemon would be fantastic with these cookies. And oh- the cookies. You know when you read in a cookbook that the dough “is a dream to handle?” This dough certainly fits into that category. Trust me- no one hates a fussier dough more than I do, especially when you’re making cut-out cookies. There are few things worse than cracking, sticky dough. This one held together so well through rolling, cutting, baking and cooling that it’s going in my “favorites” box.

Plum Sorbet Sandwiches w/ Molasses Cookies

Another peek……..

The food was a hit and personally, a pleasure to make. There is something so appealing about cooking with the seasons, and Goin’s carefully thought out recipes and menus are a joy to follow. Now I just have to make it out to her restaurant!

Oh- and Happy Father’s Day Papa! Even though you always try to deny it, you really did put the love of cooking into our hearts. I don’t know anyone else whose dad made them Welsh Rarebit for dinner or perfect lemon tarts for dessert.

Home cooking, Sunday Suppers at Lucques

Summer Grillin’

I’m finally getting a chance to blog as work has been crazy busy lately. Although I wanted to blog about my Father’s Day dinner (which was made up almost entirely of Sunday Suppers at Lucques recipes), I don’t have the energy to give it the attention it deserves so I will bank it for later in the week.

Due to the busy schedule and the increasingly warm temperatures, I’ve been spending more and more time with a new friend. To some extent, this friend has been around my whole life but I’d never really spent enough time with that friend to develop any really close feelings. Not that this friend was lonely- after all, half of the entire population (my dad included) have a deep and meaningful bond with said friend.

Well, lately I’ve been making up for lost time and enjoying every moment of it.

Everyone, meet my new friend, The Grill. Yes, I hate to admit that I’ve neglected this relationship most of my life and only occasionally invited her to the party (yes, my grill is female). Now that I’ve seen the light and realized how much time and effort she saves me on my weeknight meals, I’ve started hanging out with her almost daily….sometimes even twice in the same day! I love how it only takes about 8 minutes to grill up big, meaty whole chicken breasts while that old friend, Mr. Stove would insist that I spend at least 15 minutes for him to get the same results. Even thick filets of fish turn out slightly charred and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside in just a few minutes. Just check out this swordfish we had for dinner last night. Paired with mixed greens and a BBQ’d corn succotash, it was one quick and healthy weeknight meal that we’d have again and again.

Grill, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Home cooking, Swordfish

Back to the Kitchen

Now that I’m finished with my Japan Series, I need to get back to taking photos of my kitchen adventures. I have been cooking a lot lately but have not been documenting much since most of our meals have been low-effort, summer suppers. It’s just getting too hot to spend much time over a stove, and with the abundance of fresh produce at the local Farmer’s Markets, there isn’t much need to put fire into the equation.

The other day I decided to give my local Pavilions a shot since I was in the mood for some fresh fish but didn’t want to pay Whole Foods (AKA Whole Paycheck in some circles) prices. It’s hard to part with $40 or more for a weeknight meal, no matter how strong the fish cravings are! The fish at my Von’s is a joke- brown, smelly and forever marked with bright orange “Additional $1.00 Off!” stickers which don’t exactly signal freshness. Although I am aware that Vons and Pavilion’s is the same company, the latter generally has larger variety of fish and meat. Much to my surprise, I found some lovely, thick ahi steaks that did not have that fishy smell- fresh fish should NOT smell fishy.

Even though I daydream about seared ahi steaks often while I sit at work (so THAT’s what they pay me for!) I’ve never ventured into the preparation of one. Strange, no? I’ve often bought tuna sashimi at Mitsuwa and have even made an enormous bowl of salmon tartar but shied away from seared tuna steaks for fear of over searing, and thus drying out, the tuna. Another worry was the potential for fishy tuna- no one wants to eat fishy fish but it’s even worse when the fish is raw, as seared tuna is supposed to be.

I am happy to report that last Monday night, I not only overcame my fear but conquered my tuna demons. Ok, that sounds overly dramatic but I was extremely happy with both the Pavilion’s tuna steaks and the recipe which I found here. I let the steaks sit out for about 10 minutes to take the chill off and seared them for only a minute and a half (the recipe says 3 minutes per side but that is way too long) in a couple of teaspoons of hot sesame oil. After placing the steaks on a plate tented with foil, I deglazed the pan with soy sauce and dry sherry to create a sauce. I had picked up some ripe avocados at the Farmer’s Market and fanned those along with some Japanese cucumber on the plate before topping with the sliced tuna and sauce. It was absolutely delicious and had all of the freshness and light that you could ask for in a summer dish. Although fresh ahi steaks certainly aren’t cheap, the $14.00 total we spent on our portion would barely cover one order in most restaurants.

One of two portions of seared ahi

With the ahi we had a simple side dish of lightly steamed broccoli tossed with a bit of my favorite dressing- it’s a “diet” sesame dressing from Japan (found at most Japanese grocery stores). It’s just the right combination of sweet, nutty sesame and just-tart-enough rice vinegar. The fact that it is “diet” is just icing on the cake- I’d eat it even if it wasn’t! I included it in the photo since I had a few inquiries the last time I blogged about it. I hope you get a chance to try it. It is particularly good on steamed and cooled asparagus, green beans or broccoli.

Home cooking, Ahi