Where Are You Going for Fashions Night Out?

Tonight's Fashion's Night Out is a good excuse to hang out with girlfriends, shop, meet designers & celebrities, and listen to bands and drink free booze. I'm definitely envious of my fellow New Yorkers as NYC shops are really going all out, not surprising as Vogue / Fashion Night Out originated in NYC and plus they are in the midst of Fashion Week over there. At least we have the beautiful weather over here; it's going to be nice and mild around 70 degrees. My friends are I are going to hit up Abbott Kinney as it is the most convenient, walking distance from my friend's house, which means more drinking! A lot of the more exciting events are happening further east, such as on Robertson (Phillip Lim), Melrose (Fred Segal), Beverly Center and Rodeo Drive, but its just too much with Thursday night traffic, usually the worst of the week. Now, what to wear...

Another Tomato Centric Dish

I went to the Santa Monica farmer's market today before Bar Method and picked up even more tomatoes; I think I've bought over 20 lbs of tomatoes over the last few weeks, just because they've been so good. All varieties; heirlooms, early girl, vine ripened. I also bought some bicolor corn, more basil and summer squash that was pretty cheap at 75 cents per pound. Grapes looked really good at the farmer's market, with more organic selections and cheaper too. I was tempted by the melons, but as I was on my bike, I didn't feel like lugging the melons home. It's definitely my favorite time of year at the market. We've gone entirely vegetarian this week so far and we haven't missed meat at all. The weather has been so warm, it just feels like we should be eating lighter (and drinking lots of cold beer and white wine).

I made the tomato grilled corn quinoa salad a few days ago, using the cherry tomatoes from my parents' backyard which has been very prolific this year. With some freshly grilled corn, cilantro, lime, cumin and green onions, it's a very summery and healthy dish. It also keeps well in the fridge for lunch the next day. I got the recipe from an excellent article on grain salads from the LA Times a few weeks back; we've made all three of the grain salads, including the pearl barley, mushroom, and roasted peppers salad, and they are all very good and a nice change as we are trying to move away from all the rice we usually eat with every meal. The salad went well with the vegan Mexican pizza that I made again, as well as a very refreshing glass of Avery's DuganA IPA, one of my favorite beers from the grilled cheese and beer tasting at Andrew's Cheese Shop.

Quinoa, Grilled Corn, Tomato and Cilantro Salad, adapted from the LA Times

• Cook 1 cup of quinoa: rinse, then toast in a pan until dry, about 5 minutes, add 1 3/4 cups of water and 1/2 tsp of salt, bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, let it cool for 10 minutes, and then fluff with a fork
• While the quinoa is cooking, grill 2 ears of corn and shave it off the cobb and put in a bowl. Thinly slice 5 green onions, half 2 cups of cherry tomatoes, and put in the same bowl. Combine with the quinoa. Mince a large bunch of cilantro and set aside
• For the dressing, whisk together 1 clove of minced garlic, juice from 1 lime, 2 tsp of cumin, 2 TB of olive oil
• Toss the quinoa and dressing together, then add the cilantro. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper

Really nice IPA. A touch of creaminess that keeps it from being overly bitter

PBJ Cookies

K. loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so I made these PBJ icebox cookies from thekitchn the other day. Mine look a little funny because they froze a bit awkwardly and the jelly spreads out a bit after baking, but they taste quite good. The dough once assembled can be kept in the freezer, so you just bake however many you want to eat at a time, keeping them fresh. I followed the recipe exactly, just using 1/2 cup of white sugar instead of 3/4 cups, and it was just the right amount of sweetness.

Mix together 1/2 cup of white sugar, 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 1 room temperature stick of butter and 3/4 cup of peanut butter until smooth. Then add 2 eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp of salt and mix together. Slowly add 2 1/4 cups of flour and mix until no more dry flour. Shape into a rectangle on parchment paper, put another sheet of parchment paper on top and roll out until about 1/4 inch thick and slice into 4 equal pieces with a cookie cutter. Freeze for half hour  (I put it in the fridge because the sheet pan doesn't fit in my freezer)

Layer 1/3 cup of jelly between each layer of dough. Wrap in parchment, then saran wrap and freeze, preferably overnight. Slice against the grain and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then on cooling rack

Random but excellent pinot that we had on Friday night: 2007 Siduri Pinot from Willamette Valley. Been a big fan of Oregon pinots ever since traveling a lot to Portland for a deal in 2002 / 2003

The Perfect Tomato Sauce

Beautiful vine ripened tomatoes from the farmer's markets

 Tomatoes are currently at their peak season right now and I've been finding ways to eat tomatoes for every meal; fresh heirloom tomatoes on toast with mayo for breakfast and lunch, cherry tomatoes from the garden in salads, sliced tomatoes on pizza. No better time to try Scarpetta's famous spaghetti with tomato and basil sauce recipe that I found on Serious Eats. I've heard about Scarpetta's spaghetti for so many years now from so many sources, I think first from an episode of Anthony Bourdain's show. Just a few simple ingredients: fresh tomatoes and basil from the farmer's market, garlic, olive oil, butter, parmigiano reggiano, red chili flakes and salt. The sauce was perfect, so fresh and simple but also with richness, with each deep flavor standing on its own. The sauce is very "round" tasting and smooth without any acidity; almost sweet with the natural freshness of the tomatoes. I think the key is the olive oil infused with garlic and basil as well as the finishing pat of butter at the end. I've never actually been to Scarpetta, so I'll have to go check it out to see how it compares. Takes a little time to cook, with the blanching of the tomatoes in order to peel them, and the cooking of the sauce for at least 45 minutes, but it is totally worth it. Plus it fills the whole house with the intoxicating aroma of garlic, basil, and olive oil. I've already made another batch of sauce, it was so good. I used perciatelli from DeCecco, a hollow spaghetti, like bucatini, which was perfect with the delicious sauce. Recipe served two, without any side dishes / appetizers. Could serve 4-6 as a pasta course.

Core 2 lbs of tomatoes and score the bottoms with an "x". Blanche in boiling water for about 30 seconds until they start to split, like on the right, and put them in ice water. Peel the tomatoes, cut in half and remove the seeds and juice and set aside the seeds and juice

Heat up a couple of TB of olive oil over medium heat and put the tomatoes in, seasoning with salt and some chili flakes, stirring occasionally

After about 5 minutes, smash the tomatoes with a potato masher. Continue stirring and mashing the tomatoes, simmering for about 45 minutes

While the tomatoes are cooking, heat up over medium low heat 1/4 cup of olive oil, with 6 cloves of garlic and 2 stems of basil, and some red chili flakes. Continue stirring, turning the heat to low when the oil starts bubbling. Let the garlic and basil cook for about 30 mins. When the garlic starts lightly browning, remove from heat for a few minutes and strain into the tomato sauce

Cook about 3/4 lbs of pasta short of al dente. Transfer the pasta to the saucepan with sauce with a little pasta water and toss until the pasta is al dente. Remove from heat and add about 10 leaves of fresh chiffonade basil, freshly grated parmesan and 1 TB of butter, toss, and serve

You can see the hollow perciatelli in this pic

Perfect with a bottle of 2009 Curran Grenache Blanc

Manhattan Beach Wine Club

Last Saturday was the perfect night for wine club at R's place just a block from the beach in Manhattan Beach. I really like Manhattan Beach; it has more of a quaint beach town vibe vs. Santa Monica / Venice, generally cleaner, nicer and less touristy.

Photobooth Fun

Our friends had a photobooth at their wedding a few weeks ago and it rocked! Every wedding should have one; great way to get fun pictures of all the guests, particularly in combination with an open bar. The photobooth company Frame It, was founded and run by a couple of the bride and groom's friends who custom build each photobooth for each event. Definitely check them out for events in the LA area:

Frame It

Andrew Hernandez / Jackie Munoz
213.255.5673
frameit@a-ind.com

Fresh Pasta Making Class Review at Sur La Table

Bad blogger two day in a row and forgot my camera, apologies for another i-phone picture post. S. and I took a fun pasta making class at the Sur La Table at the Farmer's Market next to the Grove last night. Pasta, especially fresh pasta is one of my favorite foods; so many of my best meals of all time have been centered around the amazing pasta courses at Babbo in NYC.  I feel like fresh pasta absorbs the flavors pasta sauces better and has that incomparable texture when cooked right (barely cooked). I've only made fresh pasta once, some orecchiette a few years ago, and it was so much work that I haven't done it again since. It's actually pretty easy with a pasta roller, now I want one too! The one that fits my Kitchenaid stand mixer is a little too pricey at $149 for something that I won't use that often. I will be sticking with a hand cranked one; I rather like the old-fashioned feel of putting a little muscle to work. The Atlas Marcato 150mm was really easy to use in class. We made fresh pasta and three pretty basic different sauces: a sausage ragu, a pancetta, sundried tomato cream sauce and a sage walnut pesto sauce. I'll post all the recipes as I recreate the dishes at home. My favorite was the pancetta sundried tomato sauce, I'll definitely be making it at home. The class made everything very easy; everything was premeasured, they did our dishes for us, and even cooked our pasta for us and assembled final dishes. If only cooking were this easy! Cooking is always more fun with company. I definitely picked up a couple of tips, got some good new recipes, and stuffed myself with pasta with a little wine that we bought at the nearby Monsieur Marcel. Great way to spend a Wednesday night!

Fresh Pasta Recipe (4 servings):

• Using "00" flour if possible, measure out 2 1/2 cups of flour (12 oz) combined with 1 TB of kosher salt, and 4 large eggs (2 oz each, total 8 oz). The ratio is 3 parts flour to 2 parts egg, but I don't have a scale in my kitchen
• Dump the flour on a cutting board, use a fork and make a well in the center, like a volcano, large enough to hold the 4 eggs
• Crack the 4 eggs in the center (optional: 1 TB of olive oil) and using a fork in circular motions, start incorporating the flour at the edges of the well into the egg until fully combined
• After the egg and flour is fully combined (will be a bit of a crumbly loose mess), start kneading the dough (push with the heel of the hand, then fold the top over towards you, rotate a 1/4 turn and repeat). Knead until the dough is smooth, no longer sticky, and the dough will spring back up if you press a finger into it. Should take at least 5 minutes
• Let the dough rest in a bowl covered with plastic (so it doesn't dry out) for at least 10 minutes and up to an hour at room temperature before rolling
• Well flour the dough and roll it out with a pasta machine (2x through the widest setting at 1, 1x each at each setting through 5). Roll it through the cutter, flour and place on a well floured cutting board
• Cook in boiling salted water. Fresh pasta only needs to cook for 2-3 minutes. I prefer to undercook it even more and finish cooking it in the sauce that I'm making

After a lot of hard work, dinnertime family style

Yes, I had seconds after this plate. S. & I. took a Bar Method class in West Hollywood before Sur La Table so seconds were well-deserved