Happy St Patty's Day!

We made our traditional corned beef and cabbage St Patrick's Day meal a little early over the weekend this year as K is traveling for work today. It was tasty as usual; picked up about 5 lbs of flat cut corned beef brisket from Pavilions this year along with a few pounds of organic carrots, cabbage and potatoes and of course Guinness! Followed pretty much the same recipe as previous times, although I cooked the veggies a little longer since we had toddlers dining with us. Little k loved everything (except potatoes which she never likes). A true 1/4 irish baby! It was a little bit saltier than previous times, should have soaked it in cold water like we did the first time.

Merry Christmas!

We do have a Christmas tree, but too many presents to fit underneath

Apologies for the blogging hiatus; it's been really busy the last few weeks prepping for the holidays, plus I broke two computers. We had our first Los Angeles Christmas together as we weren't ready to brave holiday travel yet with little k. It was a lovely Christmas, with family, a baptism, delicious meals at home (including a monster prime rib roast) and piles of awesome presents. So thankful for all our wonderful family and friends.

I wish they made adult sized Santa pjs

In addition to holiday shopping for others, I've done significant shopping damage for myself, as it was the first period of time that I've been able to get out of the house for shopping with more people around to look after little K. Lots of great sale finds all at 50% off +, including several Isabel Marant pieces, lots of Maison Martin Margiela x H&M at ridiculous prices (like $20-$30), a VPL dress and some Lululemon. Looking forward to sharing pics soon!

Red, White and Bleu Isabel Marant

Etoile Isabel Marant Hana Romper, Prada sunglasses, Toms red striped wedges

A patriotic red white and blue outfit in honor of the 4th today. I picked up the Etoile Isabel Marant Hana romper / playsuit (what an awkward term, sounds like something small fry wears) from Barneys' second markdown a few weeks ago. The Beverly Hills salesperson was kind enough to track it down for me at the San Francisco store and have it shipped to me. I really love this piece; I tried it on when it was still full price at Heist in Venice and really liked it back then, but I like it even more now at such a good price. I think this print is one of the most identifiable patterns from Isabel Marant's S/S 2012 Etoile collection and the whole style and look is signature Isabel Marant. I really loved both her mainline and Etoile collection this season, and this is my first piece of the season from either her mainline or Etoile collection, and it also happens to be one of my favorites. The fit is billowy and loose and I love the airy cotton voile and bright and happy blue and white print. I love rompers, but they can sometimes be too juvenile looking, but I think this one is carefree and easygoing, but not too childish. A perfect addition to any summer wardrobe, fitting for fourth of July BBQs in Venice (thanks for a lovely afternoon S&J!).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish Soda Bread

We had a few friends over Saturday night for a St. Patrick's Day meal. Last year was the first time I made corned beef, so I decided to step it up a notch and also make Irish soda bread, a Guinness, broccoli, cheddar dip, and double chocolate mint cookies. I basically doubled the recipe from last time. Even with S's borrowed 6.75 quart Le Creuset, I still needed a bigger pot, so I undercooked a bit of the carrots, potatoes and cabbage. I'll have to remember to either cook it longer next time or use a bigger pot. I also used point cut as opposed to flat cut corned beef brisket from Vons. It was still very good, but definitely fattier, so we had to trim off a lot of fat before serving. It was my first time ever making bread and I followed Ina Garten's easy recipe for Irish Soda bread, using bread flour since I was almost out of AP flour. I baked it for about 50 minutes, but I think it could have used another few minutes; it's really hard to tell when bread is done from the outside. It also tastes better warm, it was really good toasted in the toaster oven this morning for breakfast, topped with just a little bit of butter. The fragrant orange zest and currants really make this bread stand out. For the Guinness, broccoli, cheddar dip, I used my usual dip recipe, just subbing in shallots instead of onions adding half a pint of Guinness and reducing for a few minutes in the beginning, using only cheddar (about 3/4 lbs) and subbing in steamed then chopped (using a food processor) broccoli for the greens, and adding a little bit of mustard, thyme and parsley towards the end. The Guinness definitely adds a nice depth to the cheesy creamy dip. I made Giada's double chocolate and mint cookies again but used really good organic mint chocolate bar from Whole Foods, as opposed to Andes mints which I used the first time, which I think definitely made the cookie better. I served the cookie warm out of the oven with a cup of vanilla ice cream, a nice ending to a big St. Patrick's Day meal. A different way of celebrating from the pub crawl days of old, but a nice alternative as well.

What remains of the corned beef

Double chocolate mint cookies

Christmas Lobster Roll

Merry Christmas everyone! After a morning of opening up presents and a breakfast ham, egg, and cheese casserole, we had a late afternoon lobster roll snack. We had our traditional Christmas eve dinner with steamed live Maine lobsters, crab cakes and clam chowder last night. We ended up with 9 1.5 lb lobsters, which was way too much for five people. We took the meat from three lobsters and the tail from a fourth lobster for lobster rolls today. I made the lobster salad filling following a Pearl Oyster Bar recipe via Chowhound last night and chilled it overnight last night to let the flavors combine, and assembled the rolls with buttered toasted new England style hot dog buns today. They were delicious; generous heaps of fresh sweet lobster, with a little tanginess from the lemon juice and mayo and some freshness and texture from the celery, lettuce and chives, nestled in a buttery warm toasted bun. I have to imagine its hard to go wrong when you start with live Maine lobsters; most places make lobster rolls with reject leftover lobsters.

Pearl Oyster Bar Lobster Rolls Recipe (makes 6 small lobster rolls)

• Steam four 1.5 - 1.75 lb live lobsters for 15 minutes, let cool and remove the meat from the lobsters (thanks Scott!). Dice the meat into 1/2 inch chunks. Mine were a little bigger, which I recommend, to get more chunky lobster flavor
• Combine in a metal bowl: 1/4-1/3 cup of light mayo, 1 stem of celery fine diced, 1.25 TB of lemon juice (juice from 1/2 a lemon), 1/4 tsp of salt, freshly ground pepper, and a pinch of dry mustard powder and onion powder (these were my additions). Mix together thoroughly and stir in the lobster meat and chill for at least an hour (overnight for us)
• Melt some butter in a large pan and toast until golden brown inside and out 6 hot dog rolls (new england style is the best, with toasty surface area on both sides)
• Tear a few leaves of lettuce and chop up a bunch of chives. Mix half of the chives with the lobster salad filling. Assemble with 1-2 two lettuce leaves in a toasted bun, a heaping mound of lobster salad filling and sprinkle the top with more chives and eat immediately

Merry Christmas from Rock Center

Happy Memorial Day!

A's pretty cupcakes

We had an awesome Memorial Day long weekend with A. & J. who were in town from New York and staying with us. We ate (since we all know life at the W. house revolves around food) a ton and did a lot over the 6 days: In-N-Out burgers (animal style), sushi handrolls at home, visit to the Getty Center with an architectural tour and picnic with Bay Cities sandwiches, the Tasting Kitchen in Venice, bike rides (and flat tires) down to the beach and Urth Caffe, lots of walks and visits to Caffe Luxxe, pool and hot tub time, Musha, rock band, lots of grilling including a BBQ pool party with lots of friends on Sunday, Yogurtland and Sweet Rose Creamery, and shaved ice and Din Tai Fung for soup dumplings in Arcadia. All my favorite things, hopefully they had a good time at well. We rocked out all weekend to K-Earth's Top 500 countdown, including the top 20 last night with the #1 song of all time being...The Temptation's "My Girl" in 1965. A controversial pick in our opinions, but hey, it's hard to please everyone. Full list here.

For the BBQ on Sunday, A. made delicious and patriotic vanilla cupcakes and ricotta lemon cookies. We kept it traditional and grilled up burgers, portobello burgers, Nathans hot dogs, chicken sausages, yuzu chicken served with antipasto pasta salad, caramelized onions with turkey bacon, homemade guacamole and chips and salsa, S.'s fruit salad, D.'s strawberry trifle, and lots of beer and Jen's famous sangria. S. & J. also brought a couple of hilarious pinatas; I wish I had a "before" picture of Hello Kitty and her pink dress before she was decapitated.

Post pinata smashing; a little macabre

Following images are all W's artistic shots

"Before" picture, courtesy of A. Doesn't she look lovely?

Getty Center, courtesy of A.

An Easter Sunday Dinner

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Leg of Lamb with Potatoes

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

Smokey Tomato Orzo with Sugar Snap Peas and Asparagus and Fresh Basil and Chives

Lemon Thyme Bars

I made my first ever Easter dinner on Sunday and had to start with new recipes for inspiration since it was my first attempt (Thanks A for the guidance). I turned to Ina Garten for my appetizer and main course: smoked salmon deviled eggs and herb-roasted lamb, and Giada De Laurentiis for my side dish (although I altered the recipe significantly) and dessert: orzo with smokey tomato vinaigrette and spring vegetables and lemon thyme bars. Overall a very spring-y menu and I think that it was fairly successful. The smoked salmon deviled eggs were an interesting and tasty take on traditional deviled eggs, although they were a touch too salty, as smoked salmon and salmon roe are inherently so salty. In the future I would halve the amount of salt. The orzo and vegetable dish was really good and probably my favorite; I used fresh organic farmer's market snap peas and asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces and blanched them (3 mins for asparagus, 1 min for snap peas in boiling water that I then used for the orzo) and shocked them in ice water, so that they still retained a crisp texture and all their green flavor, and it was a nice match with the smoky tomato sauce, fresh herbs and orzo. The recipe as written would have been too bland without my addition of spring vegetables and a sprinkling of chives at the end. I will definitely be making this dish again all spring and summer long; it's fresh, light and flavorful. The lamb was just a little bit overcooked (as were the potatoes); I should have taken it out at 135 degrees, and the garlic and rosemary seasoning was really fragrant and savory where it was rubbed on, but I didn't put it on the bottom of the roast, so it was a little underseasoned on the bottom and middle. I should have salt and peppered it all over, even if I only put the rub on the top. The lemon thyme bars were pretty good; we like the contrast of sour and sweet with discernible notes of thyme and wasn't too buttery or heavy tasting with all the freshness from the lemon and herbs. I had difficulty getting it out of the pan once it was cooked, but it tasted good anyway. With only 4 people, we had plenty of leftovers, at least half of the lamb (which was 4lbs to begin with) and orzo and some lemon bars. We paired dinner with a 2005 Carlisle Russian River Valley Zinfandel from Pietro's Ranch. Unfortunately the Carlisle was a little dull; it didn't have the rich juicy and bold chewy flavors of the usual Carlisle Zins, even of the appellations, which I love.

Corned Beef and the Fixings - Belated St. Patrick's Day Feast

I love food-centric holidays: Thanksgiving, Lunar New Year, the Superbowl, etc. so it was surprising that I totally forgot about St. Patrick's Day until the day of, and by then it was too late to scramble and buy corned beef and all the accompaniments. I've actually never cooked a traditional Irish meal before, so I was determined to make it up to K. in order to honor his heritage and spent last week trying to track down some corned beef and come up with the perfect recipe. After visits to Ralphs, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Vons, I finally found some flat cut corned beef (vs. point cut which is usually cheaper but fattier) at the 2nd Vons I went to for a very reasonable $2.99 per lb so I bought a 3 1/3 lb piece for just under $10. Now, I've not only never made corned beef and cabbage before, but I've also never even eaten corned beef outside of sandwiches, so I had to scour the internet for recipes and combined several of them for my own version using corned beef, Guinness, and organic potatoes, carrots, onions and cabbage from Wednesday's farmer's market. And it was a success! I don't know how real corned beef and cabbage is supposed to taste, but everyone loved it. The meat was well-seasoned; I rinsed the corned beef so it wasn't too salty, the beer made for a delicious broth, and the vegetables were perfectly tender. We washed it down with more Guinness and everyone left happy and sated. This is going to be a new annual tradition in my household.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe (serves 4, we finished almost everything)

• Rinse the corned beef well under cold water. I also let it soak in cold water for an additional half hour to wash away more of the brine
• Put the corned beef in my Le Creuset 5 quart oval french oven, rub with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, pour 1 pint of Guinness and about 2-3 quarts of water, until the corned beef is fully submerged. Add the spice package, a few sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, and 1 tsp of dijon mustard
• Bring to a boil over high heat and then cover and simmer for a few minutes while pre-heating the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the frothy stuff with a spoon.
• Put the covered pot in the oven for about 2 hours
• Meanwhile, chop 1 onion (could have used 2), 1 lb of carrots, wash and cut 1 lb of fingerling potatoes, and cut 1 head of cabbage into eighths
• After the meat has been in the oven for about 2 hours, add the onion (I like my onion to basically dissolve into the broth)
• Then after 15 minutes, add the potatoes, and the carrots after another 15 minutes (I'm sure it's fine to add at the same time, but I don't like my carrots too mushy). Put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes
• Then remove the corned beef and cover tightly with foil and add the cabbage to the pot (you may have to remove some carrots and potatoes to make room). Simmer on the stove for another 15-20 minutes
• Move the meat onto a cutting board and trim off the excess fat and slice the meat against the grain, arrange the meat with all the vegetables on a platter and pour the broth over everything and serve with some mustard

Happy Lunar New Year

We celebrated new years eve last night with a big feast with lots of food to bring us luck and prosperity in the coming year and beyond.  Must haves on new years eve include: whole fish, noodles, snap peas, turnip cakes, daikon, nian gao, ba gao, special greens.  We also had roast duck, chicken, bbq pork and hot pot with shrimp, beef, pork, mushrooms and veggies.  Thanks to S&J for bringing a delicious berry tart from Almandine for dessert.  Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Some of the "lucky" food from upper left, clockwise: turnip cake, ba gao, whole fish, nian gao

Special lucky greens and snap peas

Appetizers

Hot Pot

We also went through four bottles of wine in our celebration, starting wih the De Chanceny Cremant de Loire, 2005 Macon-Villages White Burgundy, 2008 Belle Pente Willamette Valley Pinor Noir, 2007 Casa Lapostolle "Clos Apalta" (Bordeaux blend)

I was not a fan of the Cremant de Loire; it had a rather heavy, clumsy finish that I did not enjoy.  I like my bubblies to be effervescent and fun.  The Macon-Villages was really good, very complex.  I like white burgundies a lot; they are so different from our usual whites which are generally more fruit forward and crisp, like Sauvignon Blancs and Rieslings.  This had very little sweetness and very little fruit; it was quite interesting.  I really enjoyed the 2008 Belle Pente.  This wine has gotten a lot of attention thanks to Eric Asimov's article a few weeks ago.  It had a rather subtle and light nose, but the taste and finish were delicious.  It was on the nimble and lighter side, really tasty, with some cherry fruit, but not too fruity or jammy or acidic.  Overall, a very balanced and drinkable wine.  The Clos Apalta was a little too heavy and dark after the Belle Pente, as well as after a huge meal and lots of wine.  It was definitely very bordeaux / Cabernet Sauvignon-tasting.  We decanted both the Belle Pente and Clos Apalta, but I think the Clos Apalta could use a few more years of aging to develop a little more depth and complexity.

Happy 2011!

After hosting 50+ people at our house for a New Years Eve bash, not only did I clean up, but I also prepared my trustworthy ham, cheese and egg casserole so that we could have a rejuvenating New Years Day brunch at home today.  It was well worth the 5am effort and much appreciated by all in the house this morning.  It's pretty easy to make and good for a large group of people.

Ham, Egg and Cheese Recipe (thanks to Mom W)

• Cube 15 slices of white bread (I used the Hawaiian bread from Costco and removed the crusts of about half of the slices)
• Cube 1 lb of thick cut ham (also from Costco)
• Grate about 3/4 lb of cheddar and 1/4 lb of comte (recipe called for 1.5 lbs total, but I just used the leftover cheese from the cheese plate from the party and I thought it was plenty)
• Whisk together 6 large eggs, 3 cups of non-fat milk, 1/2 tsp of dijon mustard and 1/2 tsp of salt (recipe calls for 1/2 tsp of onion salt and 1/2 tsp of dry mustard, which I didn't have)
• In a large casserole, layer half of the bread, top with the ham and cheese, layer the rest of the bread and pour over the egg mixture.  Let it sit overnight for the liquid to soak into the bread
• Top with slivered almonds and grated parmigiano reggiano.  The original recipe calls for a topping of corn flakes and butter, but the almonds were a decent substitute for some crunch without the butter.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.  I baked it covered with aluminum foil for the first 15 minutes and uncovered for the remaining.  Bake until bubbly and the top starts to brown.

Merry Christmas 2010

Christmas time is always so special at the W house here in upstate New York.  We had our delicious traditional Christmas Eve dinner with live Maine lobsters, crab cakes, bacon wrapped scallops and New England clam chowder.  We had plenty of wine that paired well with our seafood feast thanks to the T family: Riondo prosecco, Coopers Creek and Provenance Sauvignon Blanc and the trustyworthy Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier.  It is so wonderful to be able to cook, eat and hangout with family over the holidays.  I got lots of great gifts, including a Lululemon gift card, my favorite supersoft Nike drifit running pullover, a really interesting Magic Johnson / Larry Bird book that I finished already, a Bed Bath and Beyond gift card, plenty of Lanvin x H&M (gift to myself), a laptop cushion from Brookstone, ski equipment and a gift card to Mammoth.

Happy Thanksgiving All!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!  I made my very first turkey this year; turned out pretty well.  K. made his first ever pie, a pumpkin pie, Mom made stuffing and gravy, and I made mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a salad.  We stuffed ourselves early and went on a long walk from the beach back to our place with the dogs before dessert.  Recipes to follow (mostly so I remember what to do next year)

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Arugula salad with roasted butternut squash, toasted walnuts, cranberry and a warm cider vinaigrette

Sourdough stuffing with sausage, granny smith apples, cranberries and herbs

Orange cranberry sauce with toasted walnuts, Grand Marnier and golden raisins

Garlic mashed potatoes in the way back and gravy in the middle

Thanskgiving Turkey Recipe:

• Remove neck and gizzards and wash turkey thoroughly.  Brine for 24 hours in a solution of 6 quarts of water, 3/4 cup of salt,  1/3 cup of sugar, 6 bay leaves, bunches of rosemary, thyme, sage, 1 head of garlic cut horizontally, 1 onion, a few slices of ginger
• Night before roasting the turkey, combine two sticks of room temperature butter (must be really soft to be easily spreadable), with 1/4-1/3 cup of chopped rosemary, sage and thyme leaves, salt and pepper.  Remove turkey from brine, dry the turkey, and push 1/2-2/3 of the butter mixture under the skin, a bit in the cavity and the remainder on top of the skin.  Salt and pepper the turkey generously.  Truss the turkey according to Tyler Florence.  Let sit in the refrigerator overnight uncovered
• Thanksgiving Day: Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.  On the bottom of a roasting rack, place 1 chopped onion, smashed head of garlic, carrots, celery, and a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary, cover with turkey stock, 1 cup of white wine, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar.  Stuff the turkey cavity with quartered lemons and oranges.  Melt 1 stick of butter in a pot on a stove.  Let cool a little, and soak cheescloth to put on top of the bird (folded in quarters, to fully cover the turkey lengthwise, and widthwise to cover the tips of the wings and drumsticks).  Cook at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees, setting the timer for half hour increments.  Baste the turkey every half hour.  Remove the cheesecloth when there is about an hour to go.  If anything gets too brown, particularly the wings and tip of the drumsticks, cover with foil.  Turkey is done when the thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh reads 160 degrees.  For our 11.25 lb turkey, it took about 3.5 hours total.  Tent and let rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.  I saved the pan juices and made more gravy for leftovers the next day by refrigerating it, spooning off all the fat except for a TB or two which I whisked with 3 TB of flour over low heat for 5 minutes to make roux, then added the pan juices and 4 cups of chicken stock and boiling for 5 minutes, seasoning to taste.  You can never have too much gravy!

Thanskgiving Gravy Recipe from Tyler Florence

• A really good recipe that had a very pronounced turkey flavor since you were basically making turkey stock.  Good to make the day before.
  

Orange Cranberry Sauce with Walnuts and Raisins

• Put 1 lb of frozen cranberries in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Zest and juice 1 orange and add 1 cinnamon stick, sprinkle of nutmeg and 1/4 cup of sugar (to taste, my frozen cranberries were already sweetened).  Let the dish simmer for 10 minutes, then add 1/4 cup of Grand Marnier, handful of dried cranberries, golden raisins and toasted walnuts and cook for another 5-10 minutes stirring constantly.  Let cool to room temperature.  Can be made the day before. Makes for really good "jam" for leftover turkey sandwiches.

Sourdough Bread Stuffing with Sausage, Apples, and Cranberries from Ina Garten

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• Peel and dice 5 russet potatoes and mince 5 cloves of garlic.  Place in stock pot, cover with 3 cups of chicken stock (I had leftovers), 4 cups of water, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 of the garlic and 1 tsp of salt.
• Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for ~20 minutes, until the potatoes are really fork tender, drain and put back in the pot
• Heat up 1 cup of half and half, 2 TB of butter and the remainder of the garlic
• Mash the potatoes in a pot with my new potato masher, and gradually stir in the sauce mixture, a little at a time.  I didn't use all of the mixture.  Add a couple spoons of room temperature light cream cheese, salt, white pepper, and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Arugula salad with roasted butternut squash, toasted walnuts, cranberries in a cider vinaigrette adapted from Ina Garten's recipe:

• Only changes: I used more arugula, a lot less olive oil, and only about 1/2 of the dressing.  Also, I had to roast the squash for longer since it was cooking in the same oven as the turkey at 350 degrees

Wine review: we started with a bottle of the 2006 Copain Pinot Noir from the Kiser En Bas vineyard and another bottle from the same vintage, a 2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir from the Koplen vineyard.  Both went well with a food, matching it without overpowering it.  The Copain was a little more tart and acidic than the Kosta Browne.  While acidic, it was rather subtle on the nose and the finish.  The Kosta Browne had a much bigger nose and generally bigger and sweeter taste, a lovely Pinot soft but enveloping mouthfeel, and slightly sweet finish.  Everyone preferred the Kosta Browne to the Copain; it can always be counted on as a crowd pleaser.  For dessert, we heated up some pear cinnamon cider from Trader Joes and mixed it with some bourbon and served it warm.  It was delicious, I could drink a lot of this, which could be dangerous.  For me, a bourbon / brown liquor novice, the sweetness of the cider was a nice way to balance the strong bourbon.

2006 Copain Kiser En Bas Pinot Noir and 2006 Kosta Browne Koplen Vineyard Pinot Noir

K's delicious pumpkin pie (served with vanilla frozen yogurt)

Sun starting to set over Santa Monica

Empty Montana Avenue at dusk