11.27.2009

There was no pumpkin pie at my Thanksgiving, BUT...

Cousin Jonnie and Eve whipped out the recipe for Barbara Treves' Apple Pie, which took best in show at Evan Kleinman's Good Food Pie Contest last week. Beautiful (thanks to Eve), with uncomplicated flavor and a clean vanilla scent.




Recipe:
1-1/2 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached, organic all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla powder
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
3 T sugar
1-1/4 cup sweet butter, unsalted (freshly made if possible)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar, chilled
6 - 8 Tablespoons ice water

Measure out all dry ingredients, combine and place in freezer, keep butter & liquid ingredients in refrigerator for at least one hour prior to preparation.

When ready, add dry ingredients to food processor and pulse to mix thoroughly. Add butter cubes and pulse until mixture resembles pea-sized meal. Add vinegar, pulse to mix then add ice water, 1 T at a time, until dough begins to stick together and when pinched by hand, holds together. Remove from processor and transfer to work surface. Divide the dough into two equal parts and gently form into balls, and wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Filling
4 Tablespoons sweet butter
12 organic apples from local farmers market (mixture of Granny Smith, Fuji or other tart, crisp apples the best) – peeled, cored and sliced.
1 vanilla bean, split seeds scraped

1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup organic sugar

4 Tablespoons organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup dried, sour cherries, soaked in 1/4 cup Calvados for at least 2 hours

Filling Preparation

Mix all dry ingredients, including vanilla bean seeds together. Add 2 tablespoons of this dry mixture to roasting pan, along with peeled and sliced apples. Place under broiler and broil until apples are slightly browned but not cooked through. Once nicely browned, remove and add rest of the ingredients, except butter.

Adding Filling to Pie Dough

Chill pie plate while you roll out 1 of the dough discs on a lightly floured surface until you get a disc that measure slightly larger than your pie plate and about 1/8 “– 1⁄4” thick. Pull out pie plate and gently place rolled out dough in plate.

Add broiled apples mixture, then dot with 4 T butter. Roll out 2nd disc into a circle about 1/8” – 1⁄4” thick and place on top of apples. Pinch top and bottom dough edges together and form a decorative edge.

Final Topping

1 egg
1 Tablespoons Cream
Turbinado Coarse Raw Sugar

Beat the egg and cream together in a small dish then brush top and edges of pie with mixture, sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 45 mins. Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil if starting to brown too quickly. Turn pie in oven and cook an additional 15 mins. or until done.

Cool for at least two hours prior to serving.

11.25.2009

as seen on EaterLA


On the menu at Masan: soju, monkfish, sea urchin, live octopus, and Joe's massive melon. Just stop #2 on our 4-stop stint with the 11 in 11 nocturnal diners.

Read the Eater post here.

11.24.2009

Seeing my grandmother for the first time since her fall. Watching her, passed out on the couch in a posture not unlike that of my papa before we buried him, I can think only of what to eat, or not eat.

11.23.2009

Photographic Lunch at Umami Urban


sweet potato fries. salt. pepper. cinnamon?!


steak sanny on brioche. $5.

Holy shit, it's Thanksgiving!

...and man-alive, am I excited. Mom and I just got off the phone planning the menu. Here's what we decided on:


Sweet and spicy butternut squash soup


Brussels sprouts with prosciutto, figs, garlic, and balsamic. Sprinkled with Parm? I think so.


Maple-roasted yams.


Bing cherry/cranberry relish.


Stuffing (with french white)






Mom's cooking gets exponentially more delicious every year, and I've been feeling more confident in the kitchen myself lately. This is going to be SO good. 

11.17.2009

Recent ink

I've been covering a lot of openings lately.

Now Open: Soda Pop's on La Cienega Is Ready for Lunch

The chicken pesto sandwich is exceptional. All of the flavor of the special at Il Tramezzino, without the post-lunch roof of the mouth bleed.

Now Open: Nate 'N Al Thousand Oaks, With or Without Doris

Now Open: Bricks and Scones (and Coffee and Tea) on Larchmont

All About the Bread Brings the Godfather to the East Side

Fave line: "White walls with painted human silhouettes and limited seating make All About the Bread, the new mid-city sandwich joint, seem at first rather...like a spectre Italian deli."

Last Night in Images: Drink:Eat:Play's Speakeasy at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel

If you're planning to read only one of these, I suggest this one. Note the girl in final photo. We've made her famous.


For Those Still Sitting Shiva for Algabar, We Present T-Salon


Go here for the ice tea fountain.

Hello Kitty Celebrates 35 Years at Royal/T (Where else?)

11.14.2009

Beans


Part of the feast for the senses at Grand Central Market. All I could think of was winter chili.

11.10.2009

"Thor-Eat-Joes": A Doritos commercial that will make you poop yourself with laughter

By our chum Ryan Reichenfeld:

My crew and I have spent the last six laborious weeks painstakingly
creating a Doritos Commercial for the Crash the Super Bowl commercial
contest held by Doritos.

If the commercial makes it to the top six I'll receive $25k, have it air
during the Super Bowl, and a chance to win $1 million if it gets ranked #1
by the USA Today Ad Meter.

It's crucial to our success that as many people as possible visit the link
on the Doritos site to view and comment on the commercial.

Posting comments like "This is a Winner", "Funniest thing I've seen in my
life", "Totally picture this playing during the Super Bowl bro!" or anything
else that comes to mind will help catch the judge's eye.

The more views and positive comments it gets, the better the chances are
for it getting picked in the top six.

Passing this email/link along to all of your friends/family/co-workers/pets
will exponentially elevate our chances for Super-Bowl-dom!


Watch that ish here.

Bread at home

I haven't bought bread for almost two months, yet I haven't eaten better bread since I lived in Europe.







I've been making all of my bread at home Ryan's bread machine. I'm no Parisian boulanger, but I can safely say that with the help of this simple device, I can make bread. This is such a fascinating world of cooking to enter. So much can go wrong (and did, at first). The different flours, the temperament of the yeast, the sweetening, the additions...it's amazing, and the changes that happen can be so subtle but remarkably noticeable. And finally, this bread hasn't yet gone bad on me. Even when it appears "stale," it toasts up to 80% of brand new in minutes.


I've settled on this mixture. It's given me a texture that I'm happy with. 


1.5 cups bread flour
1.5 whole wheat flour
3-5 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp yeast mixed with roughly a tbsp sugar and a few ounces warm water, which should sit out and bubble up over the course of about half-a-day
1 cup water
roughly a tsp or so salt









There's no end to what you can throw in. I started out making raisin bread with some nutmeg and cinnamon, but found that the above mixture was the best for everyday use. If I have it, I'll throw in some ground flax. It has a mild nutty flavor and jacks up the nutritional content of the bread. It's such a treat to cut into it right after it comes out of the machine. 

11.09.2009

Speakeasy at the Renaissance Hotel

The best part: drinks from The Edison and The Varnish.







11.05.2009

Iron Chef White House

A mix of three of my favorite things: politics, fresh produce, and food competition. This is going to be a showdown of massive proportions. I can't wait.

11.04.2009

Pizzette from Mozza2Go, a good day



Cool thing: I went in to Mozza2Go for lunch, Margy's been raving about the pizzette -- topped with red pepper and stuffed with fresh field greens and ricotta salata -- and Joe ate handfuls of cereal and chips for dinner last night. (That reads as a logical progression, right?) I called in my order then rushed over. It's beautiful there, like the candy store where Charlie buys the Scrumdiddlyumptious Bar with the golden ticket inside. The girl helping me is was cute. She smiled widely when she brought out my pizzette, and I added another to my order. As she was ringing me up, Matt Molina popped out from Scuola di Pizza. "Hey Emma," he said. "Hey Matt," I said.

I am entirely sincere when I say that it was definitely the coolest part of day.


I somehow got this for free. The pop tart of my dreams, also very cool.