Saturday, April 24: Something's Fishy

Happy Saturday!

Laura spent the day overpaying for salon treatments (the roots have started to turn a little gray  -- ugh) and Mike is couch potato-ing it, rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which he picked as a Vegas longshot to win the NBA Championship. He zeroed in on them last year when he saw former Georgetown standout Jeff Green coming into his own (he went 5th in the 2007 NBA draft) and former Texas superstar Kevin Durant starting to regularly dominate games. This is blasphemy in LA since this is Lakertown, but we grew up loving the Knicks (and don't even let Laura get started on her Hoyas), so old allegiances die hard. Needless to say, no tears will ever be shed over a Laker loss.

Laura has been craving a nice piece of fish and we have had our eyes set on a Cakebread chardonnay that has been sitting in the wine rack gathering a nice layer of dust. A 2006 Chardonnay Reserve from the Carneros region. The '06 is no longer available, but the '07 is. It's about $55 a bottle. OK, so we're not doing the best job of drinking our cheaper wines, but this Napa chard is an absolute gem....oaky, buttery bliss. Chill it but serve it a little closer to room temperature to get the full benefits of the wine. As the saying goes, drink your reds a little cooler and your whites a little warmer.

Mike set out to Costco for a tire re-torque and a staple replenishing, with the task of picking up the best looking piece of fresh fish they had available. He came home with a pound of wild Alaskan halibut (about $12 per lb.) This gets interesting because Mike likes his halibut breaded in a crushed macadamia and panko breadcrumb mix, in a style he discovered when he lived in Juneau for 2 years. Laura prefers her halibut grilled. So, here you have it, halibut 2 ways....

Macadamia Crusted Halibut
4-6 oz. halibut (cut in a thick rectangular chunk)
1/4 cup of crushed macadamia nuts
1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
flour
egg
salt/pepper

Crush the macadamia nuts.  (If you don't have a mortar and pestle, wrap the nuts in plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to crush them to the desired consistency.)  Salt and pepper the halibut.  Roll in flour and coat with beaten egg.  Combine the nuts and panko and roll the fish in the mixture.  Coat the fish and thoroughly as possible.  Pan-fry in medium hot oil.  If the fish is cut in a thick hunk, it's easy to cook in a shallow layer of oil.  Roll the fish every two minutes, as the face down side becomes golden brown.  Two minutes on all four sides and it's cooked perfectly.
Serve with a mango chutney, which can be bought in the international food aisle in pretty much any grocery store. Our is from Whole Foods.

Grilled Seasoned Halibut
large halibut filet (8-16 oz)
olive oil
lemon juice
paprika
salt/pepper

Salt and pepper the fish.  Brush with olive oil and cover with lemon juice.  Top with paprika and let marinate for an hour.  Grill fish to desired temperature.  Our filet was about 10 oz., so it took about 7 minutes a side on a medium-high setting on our gas grill.  Serve with olive tapenade.

Olive tapenade

20 pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp capers, rinses, dried and chopped

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp lemon juice

2 basil leaves, chopped

salt/pepper

Chop and combine ingredients.  Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for an hour.

Vegetable slaw
1 large broccoli flower
1 zucchini
1 carrot
3 large radishes
1 large garlic clove
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt/pepper

Slice the vegetables into thin strips and mince the garlic.  Steam for one minute to soften.  Combine with the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.  Refrigerate and serve cold.

Our growing herb container garden is in full swing.  The picture shows a trio of basil plants, lavender, rosemary, cilantro and strawberry.  We have about 30 potted plants in our garden now, including two tomato plants, a dwarf lemon tree, strawberries, radishes, green beans, pansies, morning glories, catnip and cat grass, basil, cilantro, lavender, rosemary, mint parsley and sage. 

Friday, April 23 Fresh & Frozen: Farmers' Market Meets Costco

This morning, we strolled to the Venice farmers' market, which is a 3 minute walk from our place.  We go every week if the weather permits (and since this is LA, it usually does). It's our best source for organic, local food.  Today we picked up a bag of Meyer lemons, broccoli, onion, zucchini, maple walnuts, quiche, an apple croissant for Laura, a bouquet of gerbera daisies and two cilantro plants.  We spent about $25. We're huge fans of actually knowing where our food comes from, but more on that in a later post.

For dinner, we want to use the fresh ingredients we bought this morning.  The onion and zucchini are easy to prepare on a grill; the broccoli is easy to steam and top with lemon juice, salt and pepper.  We have a few frozen strip steaks in the freezer (love that Costco), teriyaki/honey/salt/pepper for a marinade.  We've got it all.  Steak and veggies it is. 

We dove into our wine racks (we have 3 of them) in search of tonight's bottle.
Laura suggests we go with a 2002 Trefethen Library Selection Cabernet Sauvignon.  We picked this up on our last trip to Napa. This is a REAL splurge for us...we don't normally drink $80 bottles except on special occasions, but why postpone joy?

As we've crafted our first several posts, we've found ourselves wanting to promote our favorite wineries.  We've already mentioned Cambria and V. Sattui.  Trefethen definitely rounds out our top three.  They deliver chardonnays and cabs on par with Napa's best wineries.  Their estate chardonnay ($30) is easy to find in California grocery stores for well under the retail price.  So is their estate cab ($50); we've seen it priced around $35 at times.  These two wines are outstanding every year and are an absolute steal if you can find them at a nice price.  Tonight's wine should be a very special treat. 

So, the dinner and wine are set.  But, we're starting to get hungry.  We decide to open the dinner at 6:00-ish with a shrimp scampi appetizer.  We'll grill the steak and veggies at 7:00.  Dinner plans are set.  We pull one strip steak and ten large shrimp out of the freezer to defrost.

Two hours later, we're ready to prep for dinner.  First step, open that bottle!  We crack the wine and splash two-ounce pours in big, round cab glasses (Waterford by Robert Mondavi) that we got as wedding presents. (Thanks, Pete Lefkin!)  This juice merits the proper vessel.  A few big swirls in the glass.  This wine looks delicious.  A big whiff.  It smells delicious.  It has that unmistakeable nose that screams big, expensive Napa cab.  We toast.  A long taste.  Wow.  Licorice....berries.....black olive???  We pour full glasses.  Outstanding.

Now we're ready to chop and marinade.

Prep work is easy for these two dishes.  Mike pulls the shells off the defrosted shrimp and sets them aside.  He minces a few cloves of garlic and slices an onion and two zucchini into 4 thick slices each.  Laura splashes the steak with teriyaki, drizzles it with honey and tops it with salt and pepper.

Shrimp Scampi

2 tbsp butter

3 clove garlic, minced

½ lb shrimp, deveined

a few pinches of bread crumbs

½ tsp dried oregano, crushed

½ lemon

Saute garlic in butter for a minute or two.  Spread a pinch of bread crumbs in the bottom of two 14 oz. ramekins.  Add shrimp in a single layer in each.  Squeeze lemon juice on top of shrimp.  Top with oregano then butter/garlic mixture.  Top with another pinch of bread crumbs.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 - 15 minutes, depending on size of shrimp. 

Honey/Teriyaki Marinade

a few splashes of teriyaki sauce

a few drizzles of honey

salt/pepper

Season steak.  Drizzle with teriyaki.  Drizzle with honey.  Let marinate for an hour.

The steak only take about 7 minutes each side on the grill until it's done to our liking. Now, as we've gotten older, we like our steaks closer to medium rare. That would be a little red and very juicy. If you like your steak a little more pink or well done, grill at your own risk a bit longer. While a fresh steak still tastes the best, don't discriminate over foraging in your freezer every now and then. Offset with the vegetables and the wine, the steak is still extremely flavorful.

Now, it's time to clean up and watch Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story.

See you tomorrow!

Sunday, April 18 - Fava Beans & a Nice Chianti

We took in a ball game this afternoon....Perfect weather for an April afternoon in LA. It was hat day, so Mike was thrilled to get a "This is my town" cap since he loves his adopted city soooo much. But did you know Dodger Stadium doesn't allow parking lot tailgating with beer any more? Boo. We managed to sneak in a Jersey Mike's (roast beef, provolone & turkey) sub and a Pacifico without security ejecting us.

They played "Don't Stop Believin'" at the top of the 8th inning...then Manny Ramirez, who was on the injured list for most of the game,  came up to pinch hit and BAM! 2 run homer to win the game. Yay!

While we had to overcome a little inertia to cook dinner, we had bought these gorgeous looking fava beans at our local Venice Farmer's Market on Friday. We bought a bag and Laura started saying in a Hannibal Lecter-esque cadence, "Clarice! Quid pro quo! The lambs the lambs!"

The truth is, fava beans are a bit of a pain in the ass. You need to shell them from their pod, dump them in boiling water for 2 minutes, then put them in ice water in order to get their skin off. It's a lot of effort for little return.

Our wine is, of course, 2005 Chianti that we picked up for $19.99 at Costco yesterday. It's dry and fruity with soft tannins. Pretty big for a $20 wine. Sabrina approves. Make sure there is the pink label around the neck of the bottle, as that certifies that the wine is officially from the Chianti region of Italy, and not an imitation.

LEMON FAVA BEAN PASTA ALFREDO

1 pound fresh, shelled fava beans
1/2 box orechiette (ear shaped) pasta
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice & lemon zest
1/2 lb. fresh spinach (washed)
1 tomato, seeded & minced
1/4 cup half and half
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. pepper
salt to taste



1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. With 30 seconds until done, throw in the spinach to wilt it. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water, and drain the pasta & spinach in a colander.
2. In pasta pot, melt butter and half and half for 1 minute. Stir in lemon juice, zest & pepper.  Add pasta and cheese. Toss until cheese is melted. Add the fava beans & toss. If the sauce is too thick, use some of the reserved pasta water to thin it out.
3. Plate the pasta and add the fresh tomatoes on top. Salt lightly to taste.

Serve immediately, or else sauce will start to thicken.

Saturday, April 17 - Mexican Night!

We made the quarterly journey to Home Depot's gardening department to begin our spring garden. We got some beautiful herbs, a dwarf lemon tree, 2 tomato plants (We are going to have a tomato growing contest), and lots of flowers.

It's time to break out your favorite Latin CD in honor of Laura finally sharing her perfect margarita recipe with the world.

Our cat Blue, who loves to eat as much as we do, is thrilled that it's dinner time!

We start with homemade guacamole and store bought tortilla chips (today's are Mission). Fresh cilantro from our herb garden makes all the difference in this dish. All recipes are perfected for 2 people.

GUAC

1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup minced onion
1 serrano chile, minced
1 roma tomato, seeded & chopped finely
1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp. sea salt
dash of black pepper
dash of crushed red pepper (if you like some extra heat)

Mash the avocado with a fork. Keep it chunky.

Add the onion, chiles, cilantro, lime juice, salt & pepper. Mix. Add tomatoes before serving.









Some thoughts on tequila....

People, stop drinking vile and substandard tequila. It tastes terrible and makes you feel terrible. Quality tequila is a little more expensive, but it's so smooth, it doesn't taste like the battery acid that, say, Jose Cuervo does.

Our favorite is a lesser known tequila called Muchote.

It's not as easily found as some of the better known tequilas, but some larger liquor stores will sell it. In the LA area, the Beverage Warehouse in Marina del Rey sells it for $25.

If you've never been to Beverage Warehouse off Culver Blvd, you're missing out. It's in an industrial complex, but they have a large selection & very competitive prices.

Unfortunately, we're all out of Muchote today, so we're going to break into the Patron gift pack that Mike bought at Costco at Christmastime for about $100. The pack includes 4 various bottles of Patron:

Patron Silver
Patron Anejo
Patron Reposado
Patron Citronage (an orange liquer similar to Triple Sec, but better)

In the spirit of full disclosure, we always start with a chilled shot of the Patron Silver. It's incredibly smooth. We do the traditional salt on the hand and lime wedge chaser. We bought some Mexican hand blown shot glasses off eBay for the full experience.

Now that we have a little buzz going, it's time to mix the margaritas. Laura has experimented with the ingredient combinations, and has achieved the perfect proportions. Using a shot glass, it's 3 shots tequila, to 2 shots lime juice, to 1 shot of simple syrup and 1 shot of orange liqeuer.... Hence, the name 3-2-1 Margaritas, which makes the proportions easy to remember. Simple syrup is just sugar syrup. You can make it on the stovetop with sugar & water, or you can buy it in a bottle at Trader Joe's for $2.49, which is less messy and lasts longer. If you've never been to a Trader Joe's, you must find the one nearest to you and go immediately, as it is a total revelation, and you will begin buying all your staples there.

Regarding the orange liquer, that is really up to your taste buds, but we go with the Patron Citronage (about $15 a bottle), as Laura hates the taste of Grand Marnier or Triple Sec. But any orange liquer will do.

We also drink these in martini glasses instead of margarita glasses.

3-2-1 MARGARITAS

3 shots of your favorite tequila
2 shots of fresh squeezed lime juice (about 6 limes & Laura strains it because she doesn't like pulp)
1 shot of simple syrup
1 shot of orange liquer
sugar & sea salt

Mix with ice in a cocktail shaker. Take a lime wedge and swipe around the edge of 2 martini glasses. Dip the rim of each glass in a mixture of sea salt & sugar. Pour the mixture evenly into each glass.

So good that even our other kitty Sabrina wants in on the action! If this isn't the best margarita you have ever had in your life, Laura will buy you a tequila shot next time she sees you. Laura can't even drink margaritas is bars or Mexican restaurants anymore, unless it's made with fresh lime juice, as the mixes most places use are revolting.

A note of caution...you will want to make a second batch, as the first batch goes down quickly and smoothly. Do not, unless you have a high alcohol tolerance, or are willing to nurse a hangover tomorrow morning!

Now we're ready for the main course!  We love a good fajita.  And, as we'll say repeatedly, we love spicy!  Some of the keys to our steak fajita recipe are to use a good cut of meat (NY Stip or ribeye work nicely) and to make your own fajita seasoning. 

STEAK FAJITAS

Step one: Spicy Fajita Seasoning
Mix one teaspoon of each of these together and ... voila ... the perfect fajita seasoning.
Cornstarch
Chili powder
Salt
Paprika
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper (adjust as needed - 1 full tsp makes this HOT!)
Crushed red pepper
Cumin

Step two: Fajita filling
One steak (about 12 oz.)
One red bell pepper
One medium onion
Olive oil
 
Freeze steak for about an hour.  Remove from freezer, slice thinly, drizzle with olive oil and toss with half of the seasoning.  Thinly slice the bell pepper and onions into strips, drizzle with olive oil and toss with other half of the seasoning.  
 
Pan-fry the onions and pepper in a large skillet on high heat until vegetables are tender.  Try to get a little char on them.  Remove from the pan and plate.  Pan-fry the steak on high heat until cooked.  This will take only a couple of minutes.  Pour the steak over the plated vegetables.  Serve immediately accompanied by warm flour tortillas.

Sunday, April 11 - A Master-ful Lobster Tail

Way to go Phil Mickelson. We were also rooting for LA kid Anthony Kim who almost had the best day of his life. As we were watching the final rounds of the Masters, Mike broiled a huge lobster tail he picked up at Costco this morning. Look at the size of that thing...only $12.99 for 3/4 pound tail! Yes, Costco actually has delicious meats and fishes. Laura has been obsessed with lobster tails for as long as she can remember.

We had never attempted to grill or broil a lobster tail at home but it's astoundingly simple.  After we set the oven to broil (525 degrees), we added 1 tablespoon of butter, a sprinkling of pepper, and a sprinkling of paprika. No salt. It should have taken about 12 minutes but our oven didn't quite feel hot enough. We took it out and it was still a little raw inside, so we put it back in for another 10 minutes. You don't want to overcook the tail because it can get rubbery.

So, slightly after 20 minutes, the tail was cooked to perfection....

All the tail needed was a squeeze of lemon. It was sweet and succulent, and not too tough!

Mike pulled out a 2007 Puligny Montrachet we had in the fridge. While we normally favor the California chardonnays, Mike snagged this bottle for under $30 at Costco (the largest wine seller in the US), which was a real steal. While the California chards can be oaky and buttery (which we like!), this French wine region makes their chards smooth and elegant but not too dry or fruity, which can be the case with a lot of the French whites.

No, we didn't drink the whole bottle. We had opened this a few nights ago :)


For tonight's dinner we marinated and grilled lamb chops.  We consistently find exquisite Australian lamb chops at Costco.  They are thick, tender and are one of the few things you can buy at Costco that is portioned perfectly for two people.

Here is the recipe for the marinade.  Simple, but effective and delicious.

Lamb chop marinade
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
½ cup white wine
Salt/pepper to taste
6 lamb chops

Mix ingredients and pour over lamb chops.  Marinate for two hours.

I grilled the chops on a gas grill with high heat for approximately 5 minutes per side.  This was long enough to give them a little char and some nice grill marks.  These chops ended up at a medium rare temperature, perhaps medium rare plus.  Sweet!  The meat was tender and flavorful and melted away in your mouth.  Laura prepared some asparagus by steaming it for a minute or two, then pan frying it with some lemon, butter and salt/pepper to taste.  (The lemon we had picked last weekend while house-hunting in Calabasas.)

We decided to pair this meal with a zinfandel from V Sattui.  The lamb deserves a hearty red wine, and this particular zinfandel (2007 Eaglepoint Ranch, Mendocino County) is pretty big.  It has dark fruit flavors and a nice black pepper spice to it; this helped to tie all the dishes together.  Perfecto!
 
By the way, we love V Sattui wines!
 

Saturday, April 10 - The Spicy Inaugural Blog

Our first post. Very exciting. After a week of unseasonably warm and sunny weather (oh wait, this is LA), we're back to slightly cool and overcast. Mike started our herb garden early this year so we're rooting for some warmer days ahead.

On this lazy Saturday afternoon, we decided to warm up with a cocktail. This gives us the opportunity to tackle one of our favorite drink recipes we've picked up in recent travels. Mike travels often to Austin, TX for work. Laura joins him for the occasional long weekend. We discovered a local bar named Peche that makes amazing old school cocktails. We take a few liberties, such as substituting Maker's Mark for rye (who has rye in their home bar?)...and Laura is very excited to have a use for the Absinthe she picked up in Paris a few years ago (but now is legal again). So, this our our spin on Peche's recipe for a Sazerac, which happens to be one of the first cocktails invented in America, pre-Civil War! I know, we'd never heard of this drink either. It's delicious, but strong!

BROBES' SAZERAC (for 2)

4 oz. bourbon
2 tbsp. simple syrup (cheap at Trader Joe's!)
4 dashes of Angostura bitters
1 splash Absinthe
2 small pieces of orange rind

Chill 2 highball glasses. (We put ice & a little water in them for 2 minutes.) Empty & line each glass with a splash of Absinthe.

Pour bourbon, simple syrup & bitters into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake.

Pour mixture into absinthe-lined glasses. Cut a small section of orange peel. Light it with a lighter, squeeze (be careful--it will give off a flame!), and drop into glass.

For fun, we like to throw in a brandied cherry. (All we did was buy a few dried cherries at Whole Foods and throw them into a bottle of old brandy for 2 weeks, until the cherries soaked up the brandy.)

YUM!

NOW ONTO THE MAIN COURSE...

OK, here's a confession. We like spicy food. So if spicy food does not agree with you, alter the recipe accordingly to suit your tastes. (That would mean never coming into contact with a habenero pepper.)

This is the first dish Laura ever cooked for Mike when we were still dating, and it's still one of our faves to this day.

However, since we started making this dish, Mike started making our own pasta. It's remarkably simple, and once you start, you never want to eat pasta out of a box again.

MIKE'S PASTA DOUGH FOR 2:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 pinch salt

2 large eggs

a little water, as needed

Add flour and salt and form into a pile with a well in the center. Add eggs into well, beat with a fork and slowly blend together with the flour. Mix as completely as possible without actually working or kneading the dough. Add a splash of water and knead for 15 minutes. Cover and let rest for an hour. Roll and cut into linguine strips.

PASTA & SHRIMP EN FUEGO

1/2 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tbsp sea salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 medium bell pepper, cut into short slivers

2 bay leaves

pinch dried oregano

1 tbsp crushed red pepper

1 small habanero pepper, minced (optional ... this is for real heat!)

2 tbsp capers

1 28 0z can whole tomatoes

fresh linguine

fresh parsley & basil

Marinate the shrimp in lime juice with a dash of sea salt (our new favorite is Pink Himalayan salt) for 10 minutes.

Heat a large pasta pot with water & bring to boil.

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet, add garlic & sautee. Add red bell pepper until it softens. Add the bay leaves, oregano, thyme, (habenero pepper if you are so inclined), crushed red pepper & capers. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Mash the canned tomatoes in a bowl with a potato masher. Add the crushed tomatoes to the skillet & cook for an additional 5 minutes. Make sure all the tomatoes are broken up.

Once the sauce begins to reduce, the pasta water should be boiling.

Add the pasta to the water & the shrimp to the sauce. Cook for about 4 minutes until done.

Add the parsley & basil to the sauce about a minute before serving.

Drain the pasta from its water. Put in a large bowl & toss with the sauce.

A NOTE ABOUT OUR WINE SELECTION FOR THE EVENING...

Since our pasta sauce is both tomato-based and spicy, we chose a red wine, but one that's fruity and light, almost sweet. This should complement the pasta in red sauce and balance the heat. We pulled a 2007 Cambria Clone 2A Pinot Noir out of our rack. It's a top-notch reserve Pinot from Laura's favorite central coast winery. We've visited Cambria many times for tastings and events and believe their reserve Pinot Noirs are some of the best in the state and are well worth the $40 or $50 price tags. This particular wine goes for about $48 a bottle.