Emma Courtland is on the pulse of L.A. dining

If you're looking for sardonic restaurant news, or stories about chocolate shaped like poo poo, or screening announcements for food films that "bite back," check in next week. Restaurant Musical Chairs, Mexican Edition: Frida's Tacos in, Santito's Tortas out is almost real reporting.

Sara's roasted bell pepper bruschetta

We had bell pepper and people coming over so...yeah, this is what happens when my roommate Sara wings it. Everything's made to taste so we don't have real recipe for this. It's just roasted pepper, peeled dry (that is, NOT under the water), chopped with basil, then salted (heavily), peppered, with some olive oil, and maybe some acid (she can't remember; we started drinking on the early-side) on little toasts topped with sliced, melted mozzarella. Freaking delish.

Photographic Lunch at Thuan Phat

These pan-fried root cakes were the most edible thing on the menu at this market-adjacent Vietnamese cafe in San Diego.

They Draw & Cook, and hand-written recipes

There are few things in the world that are more wonderful to me than the hand-written recipe.

While visiting my grandmother's house last week, I spent hours perusing the cookbooks in her kitchen. They're filled with her favorite recipes, transcribed from ancient issues of Gourmet and Bon Apetit, always credited, or from her friends who (I like to imagine) traded them like gossip or quasi-folk remedies at parties. The latter have titles like "Sybil Bracker's Famous Meatloaf" and "Marcy Shapiro's Delicious Fruit Cake." Adapted in her slanted finishing school handwriting on now browning paper, they seem to me like integral but forgotten history, as if they might contain an answer to life's most pressing questions, or, at the very least, a cure for cancer.

They don't, but there is still something wise about them. The romance of sharing knowledge among women coupled with the distinct beauty of my grandmother's script, maybe. I used to receive a letter from her every month when I was little and to me, her handwriting is her signature, her seal of approval. Her pithy commentary too; even the typed recipes have little hand-written notes and food stains, a reminder of their continued evolution. I'm sure it's all three--the sharing, the script, the evolution--they're all so personal, like a living history.

Which brings me to this, the hand-drawn recipe.

I don't often check in with They Draw & Cook, a blog of recipe renderings by different artists and illustrators, but every time I do, I'm amazed with the beauty and coolness of its offerings. The recipes, which are often basic, scrambled eggs, spaghetti and meatballs type-things, become incredibly personal and meaningful when drawn by hand. I am so thoroughly gladdened that this project exists.

IN PRINT again

The post I wrote about Chew, along with my plug for Nuclear Comics. 2x cool!

photographic lunch at samosa house east

garlic naan

my first bread pudding

20 minutes before people arrived for our last minute Labor Day BBQ, I still didn't know I was going to make this. But we didn't know how many people were going to show up/ if we were going to have enough food and we'd had these two loaves of stale sourdough in the fridge for about a month so, you know, transitive property.

I adapted this recipe from one I found on grouprecipes.com. I used a higher baking temperature to begin with, so that the top formed a nice crust. I also subbed dried cherries for raisins and eliminated the meringue topping altogether. For my next round, I'm going to try adding fresh stone fruit and maybe brulee the top.

SOURDOUGH BREAD PUDDING WITH CHERRIES

INGREDIENTS

1 large round loaf of stale sourdough bread, torn into rough chunks
1 cup dried cherries
4 Tbs. butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 eggs - yolks
1 cup sugar
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
6 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425°. Combine bread, cherries, and butter in a baking dish, mine was a large round tin. Sprinkle on cinnamon. In a large bowl mix well the egg yolks, 1 cup of sugar, salt, 1 tsp vanilla, and milk. Pour over bread, make sure to get the pieces at the top too. Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350° and continue baking for 20 minutes, or until the custard appears to be absorbed. Remove and let cool.

F You Fest

Last Saturday, we all schlepped downtown to L.A. State Historic Park for the 7th annual F Yeah Fest. Despite the negative food situation I wrote about in F Yeah Fest: An Effing Food Nightmare, the day was actually very positive. Blue sky, lots of dancing, and, if you were willing to wait for them, super delicious french fries. Just a lot of love about.

PALETA TEST KITCHEN, PART 5

First, I'm sorry about the crappy photo. You can't tell here but these paletas were lovely, ivory speckled with black. Someday I'll have bigger windows.

This recipe for VANILLA RICE PUDDING POPS was adapted from a recipe for COCONUT MANGO RICE PUDDING POPS on Apartment Therapy, which was adapted from one in Saveur.

These were definitely one of the best pops I made. They were delicately sweet, soft and creamy. Some people told me they were a bit filling, but I'm biased as this was the first time I'd ever cooked with a whole vanilla bean. Scraping out the little seeds from the pod was something of a moonwalk for me, exciting and a bit scary, and it made my hands smell wonderful. Also, the bean I used was gifted to my roommate Sara by Top Chef Michael Votaggio. So yeah, I'm biased.


VANILLA RICE PUDDING POPS

INGREDIENTS
1 15-ounce can coconut milk, shaken
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1 cup arborio rice
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

DIRECTIONS
Whisk the coconut milk and whole milk together in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean and stir in. Stir in the rice, and bring the whole mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat down to low and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender.

Whisk in the sweetened condensed milk, water, vanilla extract, and salt. Let it cool and then divide the mixture between cups and freeze. After about 1.5 hours, insert popsicle stick and let freeze over night.

PALETA TEST KITCHEN, PART 4

STRAWBERRY MINT ICE POP

INGREDIENTS
1 basket ripe strawberries
1 can strawberry juice
1 cup lemonade
1/2 cup mint
1 lemon

DIRECTIONS
Slice ripe strawberries lengthwise (so that they look like thin hearts). Chop mint extra finely. Put both in a jar. Add the lemonade and refridgerate overnight to let the flavors infuse.

Pour the contents of the jar into a food processor. Add the juice from half a lemon and pulse so that the strawberries remain pulpy. Mix in 1/4 can of strawberry juice. Taste the mix. If it's not very sweet, add sugar until it seems like it's just a bit too sweet. Divide the mixture between cups and freeze. After about 40 minutes, insert popsicle stick and let freeze over night.

PALETA TEST KITCHEN, PART 3

Another strange thing about ice pops: popsicle sticks are impossible to find. This kind of blew my mind because they seem so common. I mean, are they not the basic build blocks of any and all structure? Ultimately, I fashioned my own sticks from coffee stirrers and chopsticks, halfed and sanded. If you're using the stirrers, I recommend doubling up. Single sticks hold up okay, but the doubles feel much much sturdier. (Of course, it wasn't until after I'd completed my pops that a friend suggested I try looking for popsicle sticks at the 99 cent store. I haven't checked, but I'm 75% sure that they definitely have them.)


The recipe below for BANANA COCONUT ICE POPS is from a series originally printed in the LA Times. The bananas I used were not as ripe as the recipe calls for so I had to add more honey. I also found them to be a bit icy. Should I choose to make them again, I'll definitely use riper bananas (for sweetness, and more of those adorable speckles) and try adding a bit of sugar too.

BANANA COCONUT POPS

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups full-fat Greek yogurt
2 bananas, very ripe
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

DIRECTIONS
Place the yogurt, bananas, milk, coconut milk and honey in a blender. Blend until smooth. Stir in coconut flakes, then re-cover the blender and pulse briefly to combine.

Divide the puréed mixture evenly among your pop molds, leaving about one-half inch of headroom at the top of each one. Once they are filled, tap the molds gently against the counter, allowing the purée to settle evenly into the molds and dislodging any air bubbles that may have formed. Cover the molds and fit with popsicle sticks, if necessary. Freeze the molds until completely firm, at least 5 hours.

for geeks and gastronomes...

Full disclosure: I picked up this book with the intention of writing about it. It was food-related in a round about way, and categorically seemed to fit that certain type of weirdo niched that I look for in subjects. Plus, I'd get to plug Joe's old comic book shop, Nuclear Comics & Skate Shop in Laguna Niguel ;). Anyway, I loved it. I think everyone should read it.

Here's
Chew: A Comic Book Series for Geeks and Gastronomes