11/6/10 - Jalapeno Margaritas: Spicy & Sweet Goodness

OK, these are not for the faint of heart. Laura got the idea for these when she had a similar cocktail at the Santa Monica restaurant Fraiche recently.

You have to start a few days ahead of time by infusing a bottle of good (but not too expensive) silver tequila with jalapeno peppers. We used a half-finished bottle of 1800. It will give you a nice spicy tequila base, probably not great for doing shots, but perfect for this cocktail. Infusing the tequila is very easy to do. Cut up 4 jalapeno peppers, sliced into fours. Take all the seeds out. Let sit at least 3 days. When you use the tequila, the peppers stay in the bottle.

From there, we follow the basics of our 3-2-1 margarita recipe:

JALAPENO MARGARITAS

3 shots of the jalapeno tequila
2 shots of lime juice
2 shots of fresh orange juice
1 shot of simple sugar syrup
1 shot of orange liquer

We salt the glass rim with a mixture of celery salt, sea salt, ground cayenne pepper & sugar. And add a slice of jalapeno for good measure.

Coming up next...Laura attempts her mom's split pea soup with a ham bone we found in the freezer....

SPLIT PEA SOUP

1 bag of green split peas
1 ham bone
2 large carrots, chopped finely
2 large celery stalks, chopped finely
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp. sea salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
10 cups of water

This soup is so easy and perfect for a fall afternoon. Just bring the 10 cups of water to a boil. Add the bag of split peas. Inspect them before throwing them in just to make sure there is no debris in them. You do not need to soak them first. Add the ham bone (it can still be frozen, it will defrost in the water), the diced carrots, celery, onion, garlic & the herbs and spices. Reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 90 minutes, partially covered. Keep stirring the soup so the peas don't stick to the bottom. The peas will melt into the soup and any ham left on the bone will fall off in small pieces. We like to eat it chunky, but you can also take the soup and blend it or put it in a food processor before serving. I've tasted split pea soup ruined from too much salt before so don't overdo it. The ham bone already adds a salty, savory flavor.

Thanks, mom....the soup came out just like I remember you making!!

10/30/10 - Opah Opah

 Sauteed Opah with Lemon-Miso-Honey Sauce

Serves 2

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Opah fillets (4-6 oz)
a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp white miso paste
Juice of 1 medium lemon
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp cream (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chopped parsley

-------------

Heat a medium saute pan over medium-high heat and add oil. Lightly salt and pepper fillets and cook over medium heat until done and fish flakes easily. (About 4 minutes per side depending on thickness). Meanwhile melt butter in a small sauce pan or skillet over medium-low heat. Add miso, lemon juice and honey and stir until blended, reduce heat to low and cook sauce for 5 minutes. Add pepper, cream if desired and chopped cilantro. Serve over fish, garnish with additional cilantro leaves and lemon wedges.

10/16/10 - Japanese Night!

fried shrimp roll,

California roll,

tuna and salmon sushi,

mushroom/broccoli/asparagus tempura,

tempura dipping sauce (tentsuyu)

Miso Soup

Servings:

2 cups

Ingredients:

2 cups dashi soup stock (or 1 c. water, 1 c. veg. broth)

2 tbsp miso paste

1 mushroom, thinly sliced

¼ cup cabbage or radish, thinly sliced

2 tbsp chopped green onion

Salt/pepper

Preparation:

Put stock in a pan and bring to a boil.

Scoop out some stock from the pan and dissolve miso in it. Gradually return the miso mixture in the soup.

Add vegetables. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for a few minutes on low heat.

A word about Sake:  We don't know as much about sake as we do other wines... only that we like it, especially with sushi.  Mitsuwa market in Los Angeles has a great selection of sake at reasonable prices.  We've tried several in the past and are just beginning to find a few favorites. We prefer to drink our sake heated.

10/10/10 - Chicken Piccata!

One issue we have with LA that we believe we have mentioned is the lack of good Italian food at a reasonable price. So, we have taught ourselves to make some of our basic favorites. Tonight we take on the chicken piccata. Our version is very close to a chicken francese

The Wine Kitty recommends the Zaca Mesa '07 Z Blanc to go with the chicken dish. While Zaca Mesa is mostly known for their delicious Syrahs, this is a buttery, oaky, golden white drinks like a high-end Napa chardonnay but is a blend of 74% Roussane, 22% Grenache & 4% Viognier. You can only get this wine at their winery or through their online store. It retails for about $32 ($29 if you are a member of ZM's wine club).

Chicken Piccata


2 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves
2 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup chicken stock
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp drained capers
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt/pepper

Place chicken between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap. Lightly pound chicken to 1/2-inch thickness. Salt and pepper chicken pieces. Coat each chicken piece in flour.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook until golden and cooked completely, about 3 minutes per side.

Transfer chicken to plate and keep warm.

Mix 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbps flour in small bowl until smooth. Bring wine, stock and lemon juice to boil in skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in butter-flour mixture and stir for a minute until sauce thickens. Stir in capers and parsley. Season to taste. Pour sauce over chicken and serve or toss chicken in pan with sauce and serve.

We paired the piccata with our grilled romaine leaves. If you are carving some carbs, you can also whip up a side of spaghetti or penne and use the extra lemon butter sauce on the pasta.

Saturday, September 4 - Cocktail Time!

Here is a refreshing cocktail to get you through a hot summer day. Mike bought a variety pack of Absolut as Costco today for $30, so we had to figure out a fun drink to make while we were watching the US Open on television (all day).

RASPBERRY SUMMER PUNCH

2 shots ABSOLUT Vodka
1 shot Black Currant Liqueur
1 shot Fresh Raspberry Puree
1/2 shot Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 shot Simple Syrup
Champagne
1 Whole Fresh Blackberry

Add vodka, black currant liqueur, raspberry puree, lemon juice, simple syrup and crushed ice. Stir. Fill with crushed ice. Top with champagne. Garnish with a blackberry.

We served with a small snack: pecans, topped with a mixture of maple syrup, salt and cayenne pepper, which we roasted in our toaster over for 8 minutes.

For dinner, we made our orange teriyaki salmon with grilled romaine.

GRILLED ROMAINE

1 head of romaine hearts
2 tbsp. EVOO
2 strawberries
5 cherry tomatoes

Dressing:
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
celery salt

fresh oregano
fresh parsley

Halve romaine hearts. Brush with olive oil. Put on grill for 5 minutes.  Add cherry tomatoes, sliced strawberries, drizzle with dressing.

Saturday, August 21 - Ode to Syrah

Tonight, we'd like to ramble a little about Syrah. 

For dinner, we went with a favorite that you'll find in one of our previous posts, a big fat steak with our basic teriyaki/honey marinade.  We grilled a 16 oz. ribeye, split the steak between us and plated it with grilled onion, zucchini and mushrooms.  A simple and perfect meal on its own; an over-the-top meal when paired with an incredible small-lot syrah.

Tonight, we went with a 2006 Calcareous Syrah.  Calcareous Vineyard is located in Paso Robles, CA and they make several wines -- mostly cabs, pinots, syrahs and chards -- of under 1,000 cases. 

This wine is dark in color with big cherry flavors and a soft vanilla finish.  It's extremely fruity for a syrah, but it remains big and bold and worked really well with our steak and veggies.

Laura and I both love big red wines; syrahs and syrah blends definitely fall into that category.  Most of our experience comes from our ventures to California wineries, especially those in the Santa Ynez area, Paso Robles and Napa/Sonoma.  We'd like to talk about a few of our favorites.

Pipestone Vineyards is a small family winery in Paso Robles, CA. They make delicious, hand-crafted, small-lot Rhone-style wines.  Their 2006 Syrah and 2005 Reserve Syrah go for $32 and $45 respectively; they both rock! 

When in Paso Robles, we always make sure to stop at Pipestone; it's our go-to winery.  They have quaint grounds and cozy tasting room, and every time we have visited, the owners have both been in the tasting room pouring wine.   We love their friendly style and we love their wines.

This past trip to Paso Robles, we stumble on Calcereous.  We now have another must-visit winery on our list when we return.

Sunday, September 5 - Just for the Halibut

HALIBUT GRIBICHE

Ideally, this should be served on a bed of wilted spinach, but we didn't have any in the house.

We served with a 2007 Trefethen Harmony Chardonnay.



INGREDIENTS

For the gribiche:
1/2 cup diced tomato
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 tablespoons minced cornichons
2 tablespoons capers
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt/pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1 scallion

For the fish:
2 - (6- to- 7-ounce) pieces of halibut fillet
Salt/pepper
Olive oil



To finish:
1/2 cup minced onion
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 pound baby spinach
Coarse salt
4 large eggs, poached

PREPARATION

For the gribiche:

1.Stir the tomato, shallots, cornichons, capers, olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Leave it at room temperature.

For the fish:

Season the halibut on both sides with salt and pepper.

Cook fish in a frying pan with a few tablespoons of oil and a touch of lemon juice.

Just before serving, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft. Add the spinach and saute, stirring constantly, until the spinach wilts. Season it with salt and scrape it into a strainer to drain.

Stir the tarragon, parsley, and scallion into the gribiche.

Make a bed of spinach on each plate. Remove the fish from the oil with a fish spatula and blot it dry with paper towels. Set it on the spinach and place a poached egg on top of each piece. Spoon some gribiche onto each egg and around the plates. Serve immediately.