Filed under: food, main, recipe, vegetarian | Tags: cookbooks, dishes, food, greens, japanese, pizza, recipe, toasted almonds
I saw this recipe on 101 Cookbooks and IMMEDIATELY had to try it. This came out delicious. It was somehow hearty even though it was made of mostly greens. The toasted almonds are definitely a must- the nutty flavor really added to the dishes delight!
It’s a shame how my versions never look as appealing though… (!)
Source/Recipe: 101 Cookbooks
Filed under: restaurant, review | Tags: bakery, bottega louie, dining, downtown, italian, la, los angeles, macarons, pizza
oh what you do to me. i had heard only good things about this establishment before trying it. i had heard most about the infamous bakery and it’s macarons. when i discovered there was a restaurant to go along with it, my waiting time was up.
downtown los angeles is really starting to shape up, sort of. at night, you’ll pass your fair share of vagrants, most of them nice, but the occasional angry one to get to the entrance of BL from your car. you give your name to the host/hostess and they hand write it in an oversized, leather bound, writing book. no electronic mechanism to hold your place in line, and no obnoxious buzzer to send you away with while you wait. unfortunately, the bakery is closed at night, but i got a sneak peek at what it has to offer.
part of the kitchen is exposed to the guests which gives a nice, homestyle feel. the brick pizza oven is also exposed (on one side) to the dining room.
the table settings were clean, plain and simple. which is all you need when the food is good, no fancy distractions.
i first tried to the modena. a butter leaf lettuce salad with candied walnuts, crumbled goat cheese, shallots, fresh herbs and creamy balsamic vinaigrette.
many of us have had this salad somewhere or some sort of variation on a theme. for what it is, this one was excellent. the best i’ve ever had from a restaurant. then came the fennel sausage pizza. too much sauce can kill a pizza. this one had just the right amount to allow you to taste the flavors of all items, especially the fennel sausage. and the fact that it was just made in a brick oven probably was an enabler to it’s goodness.
then it was time for dessert. of course the macaroons deserved a chance but when the waitress recommended the butterscotch budino, it too, deserved a chance.
it’s layers of DISTINCT flavor were amazing. capital worthy means very distinct! then came the “selection of 4″ (can’t only try one!) macarons: earl grey, raspberry, coffee, and vanilla.
reasonably priced for it’s quality. great atmosphere. delicious everything.
Filed under: freezable, main, recipe | Tags: bay leaf, chili, dinner, healthy, hearty, kidney bean, merlot, recipe, stew, tomato, turkey, turkey chili, wine, winter
this post accounts for the first time i attempted to make chili. i did good. i ate the leftovers for almost a week and they were perfect to the very last bite. this flavorful recipe came from Jenna Webber, whose blog i read daily.
serves: many, or one for a whole week! (7-10 servings)
ingredients:
1 large onion
1 red bell pepper
8 garlic cloves
1 jalepeno pepper (!!!)
1 lb. ground turkey
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon oregano
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/4 cup red wine (cook with a wine you would drink, always)
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
2 regular sized cans of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
2 bay leaves
directions: chop the onion, bell pepper, and jalepeno into small pieces, and chop the garlic cloves finely.
saute them all in large soup pot with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
after 5 minutes or so, add the turkey and break it up into little bits with a wooden spoon. brown the meat for about 8 minutes then stir in the chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, oregano and tomato paste and cook for one minute, while stirring the mixture. add the red wine, tomatoes, kidney beans, and 2 bay leaves, and stir.
bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
enjoy alone indefinitely or feed your family.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: apple, beet, breville, carrot, celery, fresh, homemade, juice, juicer
i finally caved and bought a juicer. breville had the best reviews so i got one of their cheaper versions (by cheaper i don’t mean cheap, just less than the ultimate super $400 dollar ranged ones).
it’s so fun to use and makes pretty pretty pretty things…
Filed under: appetizer, recipe, side | Tags: bacon, fall, goat cheese, herbs, pear, recipe, summer, thanksgiving
i’ve got some catching up to do! i made these goat cheese stuffed pears back in november (!) for thanksgiving. that time of year is really perfect for these but certain pears are in season in late summer which would also be an appropriate time. i mean anything wrapped in bacon is best for any occasion, isn’t it? this recipe was adapted from tyler florence!
serves: 24 (appetizers)
ingredients:
16 oz. goat cheese (the honey goat cheese is best if you can find it, or you can just add extra honey to plain goat cheese)
1/4 cup chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, thyme, and chives
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 pears (must be ripe enough to cut and de-seed but not too ripe or they will get mushy)
12 slices bacon, about 1/2 pound, cut in 1/2 (i recommend nueske’s or gelson’s brand if available to you)
3 tablespoons honey
directions:
heat oven to 375. wash all of the pears, cut off the tips (where the stems are), slice them down the middle, and scoop out the seeds and cores.
in a bowl, mix the goat cheese, herbs and 2 tablespoons of oil well. season the mixture with s&p. stuff each pear with about 2 tablespoons of the mixture.
wrap a slice of bacon around each pear and secure with a toothpick (or two).
drizzle some oil over the pears and season them with s&p. bake for 30 minutes (or until the bacon is crisp and fully cooked).
drizzle with honey and enjoy!
Filed under: restaurant | Tags: delphine, drais, hollywood, restaurant, w hotel
i loved the atmosphere at delphine. the decor, lighting, color scheme, even the placemat menus…
unfortunately since restaurants are for eating in, the atmosphere can’t get you all that far. but the drinks were stiff, so i would do those again. i guess it was presumptuous for me to assume a restaurant in cahoots with a W hotel would HAVE to be good.
i only tasted two items here but neither were rant-worthy. in fact one was, just in a bad rant sort of way. first- the mushroom ravioli, described to be accompanied by butternut squash, hazelnuts, and sage leaves sounds like a mouthwatering combination, but didn’t quite do the trick. it was a bit too oily and the ravioli itself wasn’t that flavorful. it was overall OK at most. at least it looked pretty…
now the second item i tried- to be honest, i don’t even remember exactly what it was called. some type of pizza that i believe had topping but i can’t even recall what because i was too distracted by the dry, flatbread, lean cuisine taste of the “crust.” it tasted exactly like that, a lean cuisine pizza zapped in your microwave. or maybe cheese bread you threw together at home. again, looked pretty, but too bad it was supposed to be edible…
even one manhattan (up, with maker’s mark) deep, i didn’t really enjoy this meal much. poor delphine. 
Filed under: dessert, recipe, vegetarian | Tags: dessert, eat, food, jon shook, lavender, lemon bar, recipe, two dudes one pan, vinny dotolo
lavender and lemon together? in a dessert? yes please. i really could not contain myself after happening upon this recipe in two dudes, one pan. that combination sounds amazing. and it was. these were easy to make and so incredibly good. plus i finally got to use my dried lavender vial out of my beloved dean & deluca spice rack. my kitchen prides itself on that rack…
recipe source: two dudes, one pan
servings: makes 12 bars
ingredients:
for the crust-
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) + 1 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for serving
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp dried lavender
for the filling-
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
fineley grated zest of 3 lemons
1 cup + 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from 5-6 lemons)
preheat yer oven to 325! grease a 9×13 inch baking dish w/ 1 tbsp of butter and set aside! (sorry, i am just really excited to be reliving this experience.) to make the crust, stir together the confectioners’ sugar, flour, salt, and dried lavender in a large bowl. add the remaining butter (3/4 cup) pieces and work into the mixture with your fingers until it becomes similar to a coarse meal (no butter pieces should be larger than a pea). this can also be done in a food processor but if you’re kinda poor and have a tiny kitchen, like myself, you don’t own one. transfer the mixture into the baking dish and press firmly into an even layer. be sure to make it as even as possible or the thinner areas will burn while the rest cooks. i know because this happened to me unfortunately.
bake 20-25 minutes, the crust should be starting to color. remove from the oven and set aside. whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, and flour. then mix in the lemon zest and juice and pour over the crust in the baking dish. cook for another 25-30 minutes until the custard barely jiggles when you shake the dish. be sure to check the consistency of the center- if it’s too mushy, cook it longer. my stove temperature is screwy so i had to cook mine longer but if yours is accurate this time should work.
BEFORE BAKE:
AFTER:
after cooking, let the bars cool completely then refrigerate- before cutting. to serve, cut into 4 rows across by 3 rows lengthwise. then sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and enjoy! (mine didn’t look that pretty, but they sure did taste pretty.)
Filed under: diet, main, recipe | Tags: chicken, grilled, healthy, herbs, pan sauce, recipe, white wine
this was the first recipe i tried out of The Best Light Recipe Cook’s Illustrated book i bought. it’s loaded with classic favorites all lightened up but still tasty. this is simple, extremely flavorful, and easy to remember. now that i have made this once i feel like i can easily throw together my own variation of a grilled chicken breast with a pan sauce. this recipe calls for wine… you can use any brand of wine but i follow the rule: cook with a wine you would drink. i am not one for using cheaper wines that wouldn’t drink on their own. the recipe always turns out better when this is followed.
recipe source: the best light recipe
servings: 4
ingredients:
chicken-
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp vegetable oil
salt & ground black pepper
sauce-
1 medium shallot, minced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp whole milk
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp minced fresh parsley leaves
2 tsp minced fresh tarragon leaves
ground black pepper
season the rinsed and patted dry chicken breasts with the amount of black pepper of your preference. then dredge the beasts in flour- doing this in a shallow dish is easiest, and shake off excess flour. heat the oil in a skillet (i used 12 inch all-clad, i would not recommend using a nonstick for this recipe) until it starts to smoke. lay the chicken breasts in the skillet and cook until golden brown, about 7 minutes each side.
transfer the cooked chicken to a dish and cover with foil. add the shallot and 1/2 tsp salt to the oil left in the skillet and cook over medium-low heat for about two minutes. stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. stir in the wine, scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. add the brother, bring the mixture to a simmer and let it reduce to about 3/4 of a cup (approx. 5 minutes). whisk the milk and cornstarch together in a small bowl then add to the simmering sauce and stir. cook for about another minute. at this point, turn off the heat and stir in the fresh herbs. season with salt & pepper to taste.
spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve.
i served the chicken with sauteed vegetables and brown rice which went really well with the dish.
