Beef On The Brain

A friend once described his brain as a "silent, dumb muscle" and when I think about this I picture a slab of beef, a tumored cancerous slab of red raw meat. I don't know why. That is what my brain feels like during the week. For the summer I've been working in Orange County 3-4 days of the week, and it isn't that the work is especially hard or even unstimulating, but by the time I get to go back to my own space in Los Angeles my head feels as bit masticated and like this dull throbbing knob of a thing.
So when I get to spend my weekends in Los Angeles, I can't even say how much I enjoy letting myself reach equilibrium. I peruse farmers markets with headphones and my iPod on shuffle. I cook unnecessarily elaborate meals for one. I attempt to forget the sound of my own voice. I wake up at 7:30 in the morning and eat fruit and tea and bread with butter.

on a side note: do you ever feel that your iPod shuffle is psychically tied to you? I swear my iPod is either magical or psychic or more likely a combination of both.

Melonopolis

As has become my habit, I went to the Hollywood Farmer's Market this Sunday. I've said this before, the farmer's market is like my Disneyland.

I bought a Galia melon from Weiser Family Farms (a consistently good vendor that I recommend). I also bought some other fruits but really the prize of the day was that Galia melon.

Sometimes complications are unnecessary. A simple fruit salad is perfect and wonderful. Of course, if you add some grand marnier...well, nothing is wrong with that. For my perfect midday snack, I boiled down some Grand Marnier with sugar and craisins and tossed it with fresh fruit and chopped mint. The craisins plump up in the Grand Marnier adorably. Also, I used very little Grand Marnier in proportion to the fruit because I didn't want the fruit bathing in there. If making this, make sure that the Grand Marnier syrup isn't hot when you toss the fruit or you'll scald your snack. No good.

Mo-Chica

salad of the day : beets and arugula 

arroz con mariscos

seco de cordero

ceviche del dia

First of all, let me apologize for the quality of these images.  I forgot to bring the "good" camera.  

I've had Peruvian food a number of times, each time was mediocre.  I always got that "I'm more full than satisfied" feeling.  This was, I am fairly sure, the best Peruvian food I have ever had.  And the best part was that it was enormously affordable for what it was.  Ceviche for $5? A braised lamb shank with white beans, rice, and cilantro beer stew for $13?  Arroz con Mariscos that was generous with the seafood for $13?  Excellent, very excellent.   I assume that they can keep their prices reasonable because the location is a bit odd.  It's in something like a food court in downtown.  It feels like a big warehouse space that several restaurants made a collective out of and are sharing a communal space.  But that's okay, affordability is more important than ambiance. 

I also liked that they seemed to have a rotating menu of specials.  It seems their ceviche changes pretty regularly.  When we went they had sea bass, which was served with Peruvian corn.  The salad of the day was beets and arugula and if you know me, you know that beets are a dear dear love of mine.  

I ordered the seco de cordero, which is not something I would typically order but the idea of cilantro beer  stew was very exciting.  My meat was maybe slightly overcooked but delicious nevertheless and the stew was wonderful.  I don't think there was a drop left on my plate. 

Saeyoung ordered the arroz con mariscos, which I guess is more or less like paella.  And really, you can't go wrong there.  

And to top things off, everything was beautifully plated.  Things like plating are important to me.   It's true, things taste better when they're pretty.  

I'm not really someone who gets hung up on service.  As long as my food is good, a lot of things are permissible but I do appreciate good service.  The server was wonderful and at one point the chef came out to ask us how are food was.  And I asked for more pickles thinking I'd get a few slices but was met with a bowl full of them.  

I recommend. I recommend highly.  In fact, I'll go with you. 

Mo-Chica

3655 S. Grand Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90007

213.747.2141

http://www.mo-chica.com/

Ensenada's Best Fish Tacos

I'm curious about places that claim to be "the best".  What does this mean?  I'm am naturally suspicious and generally avoid "bests".  Saeyoung and I had been craving fish tacos and for whatever reason we decided to take up Ensenada's Best Fish Tacos claim to bestness.  

The menu is very straightforward.  Fish Taco: $1.  Shrimp Taco $2.  Drinks: $1.  We had one of each. I liked that the fish wasn't coated in some oil soaked inch thick batter.  Very lightly fried actually.  I can appreciate that.  Their salsa bar is also impressive.  

Best?  I don't know.  But delicious?  Quite.  

Ensenada's Best Fish Tacos

1650 Hillhurst Ave

Los Feliz, Ca 90027

323.887.1980

Park Dae Gam

soon dubu (silken tofu stew)

ggo joo jang ji geh (red pepper stew)

pa jun (green onion pancake)

Sam and I went out for Korean food today.  Well, wait, first let me tell you a story.  The first time I introduced friends to Korean food it was in first grade and I brought some roasted seaweed to school.  For whatever reason we were treating the whole experience like we were sneaking contraband and decided to eat in the girl's bathroom, which is gross in retrospect, but that's besides the point.  We were in the large stall and my two friends took a piece each.  One of my friends made an awful face, like she had just tasted death or something.  The other friend threw up.  It was not pleasant and I felt simultaneously annoyed, insulted, and guilty.  

So here is the point, I am grateful for friends who do not throw up when trying new things.  Because, truly, that piece of roasted seaweed was really tasty and that throwing up was more psychological than anything, I'm sure.  Or maybe this is a big assumption but still, she only took a bite and the throwing up was a bit dramatic.  And I'm not even sure why, but I feel really great when my friends like Korean food.  This does not make any sense to me and I don't know why I should take any sort of ownership of Korean cuisine in general and maybe I'm even a little embarrassed that I'm pleased when people are pleased with Korean food.  

Once I went to BCD Tofu with Nancy and she was really amused by the raw egg that she got to crack into her soup.  I hadn't really considered the egg as anything special before then but it made me really happy that Nancy found it so great.  

Okay, so back to the beginning.  Sam and I went to Park Dae Gam.  She ordered the soon dubu.   I don't think I've ever tried their soon dubu but it looked pretty good.  The egg came pre-cracked and I think Sam was a little startled to discover a "liquid inside of a liquid", which I thought was a great way of wording it.  I ordered the ggoh joo jang ji geh, which is probably one of the easiest Korean dishes to make.  Park Dae Gam puts rice cake in theirs, which is exciting.  

We also ordered a pa jun, sans the shrimp.  It was $17, which is confusing because the ingredients are green onions, flour, and eggs.  It was good though, and it was a very large portion.  I suppose I could be upset about the $17 but really, all my money goes to food anyhow and I'm more likely to be upset about paying $5 for parking than any amount of money for good food.  As far as I'm concerned, money for food is money well spent.  

All in all, a very lovely evening.  

Park Dae Gam

955 S Vermont Ave

Los Angeles, 90006

213.380.1717

Home

As my dad grows older, he enjoys being outdoors more and more.  When we see each other he wants to do things like hike or go to the beach, or go on wandering walks.  And more recently he's been very insistent on dining outdoors whenever possible.  He wanted to take me out for a birthday dinner and choosing the restaurant became something of a ridiculous stressor.  I really wanted things to be perfect though and I wanted my dad to have a good time and I wanted everything to be just so.   

I've often passed by Home on Hillhurst and thought the patio looked adorable and, as Saeyoung pointed out, like a treehouse.  So I picked Home, almost entirely for the reason of dining outdoors on their very sweet looking patio.  

I have to say, the food was not so impressive.  I had a chicken sandwich and Saeyoung had a veggie burger and my dad had meatloaf (of course!).  Everything was barely scraping mediocre.  But this is the thing, my dad loved it.  I don't think it really mattered what we were eating because he liked the patio so much and that made me enormously happy.  I like seeing my dad enjoy himself.  

Home

1760 Hillhurst Ave

Los Angeles, Ca 90027

323.669.0211

Silverlake Farmer(')s Market And A Near Perfect Saturday

the bounty

they are like my babies

farmers market breakfast

scambled eggs with asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, swiss cheese, onion, and yellow squash

vegetable pupusas

carmela's ice cream

Last Saturday had all the components of my favorite things, making for a really extraordinary day.  I started out the day going to the Silverlake farmer's market with two of my loveliest friends, Lan and Thomas.  I don't even understand it, the farmers market makes me enormously happy.  We stocked up on the weeks produce.  I bought beets (my obsession continues), swiss chard, yellow squash, onions, yellow and red tomatoes, and Guinness ice cream from Carmela's Ice Cream.  We also whet our appetites with a vegetable pupusa, communally shared.  I have to say though, the UCI farmers market is much more impressive in variety.  

Afterwards we cooked breakfast together at my place, using the ingredients we had bought that morning.  Toasted French and sourdough loaves.  A vegetable scramble with parsley.  Sliced tomatoes.  Lemon-lavender goat cheese.  And animal crackers to top it all off.  While I was clearing the table, Lan and Thomas were watching youtube videos on my bed (see above) and something about that image struck me as hilarious.  They all of a sudden seemed like they were my children, watching Saturday morning cartoons or something.  It made me feel pretty warm and fuzzy.  

Because we all ate the equivalent of like 4 eggs each we continued the day by meeting Nancy, another phenomenal and equally lovely friend,  to bike along the beach.  Biking on the beach is another thing that makes me happy. 

Maple Sour Cream Muffins With Walnut Topping

Sour cream in muffins does something amazing.  

Ingredients

For batter:

1 cup sour cream

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup maple syrup

3 tablespoons of honey

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

for topping:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

preheat oven to 350

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter 

2. add maple syrup and honey and beat until well combined

3. add eggs one at a time

4. add sour cream and vanilla extract

5. mix dry ingredients together

6. incorporate dry ingredients into wet ingredients in portions

7. put into cupcake/muffin tins (makes about 20 cupcakes sized muffins and about 12 muffins)

8. make the dry topping by mixing all the ingredients together until crumbly

9. top the batter with the dry topping until you can't see the batter underneath it, that is, top them generously.  there will probably be some more dry topping leftover but set aside because when the muffins start to rise and expand you may need to add more.

10. bake in the over for 20 minutes

Roasted Beet Soup

Over the weekend I bought some beets at the farmers market.  I've been told that beets are an acquired taste but I just don't understand.  What is there to not like about beets??  They're amazing!  I roasted some beets in olive oil and thyme and made it into a soup.  The color of roasted beets is phenomenal.  They let off this bright pink juice that is very sweet.  It stained my fingers and I kind of liked the way it looked.  I also had some of the beets with just a bit of lemon-lavender goat cheese and that made me very happy.  

Ingredients

2 beets

5-8 sprigs of thyme

mushrooms of your choice

1/2 a onion

4 cloves of garlic

5 baby carrots

1 cup spinach

1 cup red wine

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup of sausage or any other ground meat

1/4 cup broccoli and cauliflower 

olive oil

salt and pepper

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. scrub and trim the beets and put them in a large square of foil along with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and 4 sprigs of thyme

3. make a little pouch with the foil by drawing the corners together so that the foil is airtight

4. roast in the oven for 1 hour

5. in the meantime cook down onions and meat in olive oil

6. when the onions are slightly browned, add crushed garlic cloves, thyme, mushrooms and carrots

7. let everything brown and then add the cup of spinach until it has wilted

8. add broccoli and cauliflower

9. de-glaze with the red wine, making sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot

10. add chicken stock and bring the soup to a boil and then take it off the heat

11.  take the beets out of the oven and peel and then dice into cubes

12. add to soup and bring the soup back to a boil until the broth is a deep red color

13. salt and pepper to taste and serve with a spoonful of sour cream

Kyochon Chicken

chicken salad

chicken sandwich

gracie, as chicken model

kyochon chicken (half spicy/half garlic)

I think the whole Korean fried chicken thing started happening maybe 10 years ago.  I was in Seoul for the Summer and all of a sudden there were these fried chicken places everywhere, all made in the same style: fried and then coated in a spicy red pepper sauce (because red pepper sauce is in everything in korea) and served with pickled radishes.  I think kyochon was the first in an endless parade of korean chicken franchises.  In any case, now kyochon is in Los Angeles, and other parts of southern California.  

Despite having gorged ourselves on pasta at 2 am the night before, grace and I completed the weekend of fattiness with fried chicken.  I attempted to be healthy with the chicken salad but quickly realized that to get anything besides the fried chicken at kyochon is kind of pointless.  Okay, lesson learned.

Kyochon Chicken

3833 W 6th st

Los Angeles, CA

(213) 739-9292

Lanny Pants

lan et marvin

a telling of the future

garlic toast/salad

tomato sauce for pasta

I'm glad Lan Pham moved to Los Angeles, very glad indeed.

A Sort Of Pavlova

I'm feeling restless today and this often means I will spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  I really wanted to make a pavlova because I have these wonderful raspberries that would taste great with something light and airy, but pavlovas require cornstarch and I didn't feel like making a trip to the market.  I tried to make the pavlova sans cornstarch and it still worked out, only it didn't have that cracked, crispy shell that make pavlovas so wonderful.  Still, the exterior was nice and firm while the interior reminded me slightly of a very light marshmellow.  Topped with the tart raspberries, it made for a very satisfying dessert.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

1 cup extra fine sugar

3 tablespoons ice cold water

1 teaspoon vinegar

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon of cornstarch (for the crispy shell, if you want it)

1. preheat over to 300 degrees

2. beat egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form

3. add water and mix for a minute longer

4. combine sugar and cornstarch and add in small increments 

5. add vinegar and mix for another minute

6. form in a circle on a greased cooking sheet and create a cavity in the center for the fruit

7. place in oven until the peaks are dark brown and the pavlova begins to crack

8. top with fruit

*note to self--next time add lemon zest