Just Peachy

For those of you who do not know me, I have to tell you something about myself: I am an award winning pie baker. It wasn’t a large scale contest by any means, but I won first place nonetheless! The bake-off was part of the Brentwood Country Mart Rodeo Days celebration back in August 2007, and it was the height of peach season. As I carefully hand-selected each juicy, fragrant peach from the stand at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market I knew that each one was going to help me bake my winning creation… and that they did. Grand prize bragging rights and a $250 gift certificate to the Country Mart!

In an attempt to relive my glory days, this weekend I decided to bake my award winning recipe. No sharing with the judges this time!

“Just Peachy” Caramel Delight

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts, rolled to cover a 9-inch diameter glass pie dish (either make your own, or, I find that Pilsbury brand pie crusts taste great and save time)

Filling

1 c. Sugar, divided

½ tsp Cinnamon

¼ tsp Salt

3 lbs Peaches, ripe, peeled and cut into 8 wedges each (about 6 large peaches)

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

¼ c. Water

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

2 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream

3 Tbsp Flour

1 ½ Tbsp Cinnamon-Sugar (1 Tbsp sugar mixed with ½ Tbsp ground cinnamon)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place one pie crust in 9-inch diameter glass pie dish. Trim edge to overhang 1”. Fold edges out and under and pinch decoratively. Stick fork in bottom of crust in several places so crust will bake flat. Line the crust with foil and place dried beans for weight on top. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until crust is set and just barely golden.

For filling, mix ½ cup sugar, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Add peaches and lemon juice, stirring to coat. Set aside for 20-30 minutes.

Stir ½ cup sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved completely. Increase heat to medium-high and boil mixture, without stirring, but occasionally swirling pan, for approximately 10 minutes or until caramel is a deep golden color. Remove from heat and add butter and cream. Use caution, as mixture will bubble vigorously. Strain juices from peach mixture into caramel and stir.

Add flour and caramel sauce to peaches and stir to coat. Transfer all filling to the pre-baked pie crust, mounding it in the center.

Cut remaining pie crust into ten ¾ inch wide strips. Place five strips in one direction across the top of the pie, spacing evenly. Beginning in the center, using one strip at a time, weave remaining strips in the opposite direction, forming the lattice top. Press ends of strips onto edge of baked crust to keep in place. Sprinkle entire pie with cinnamon-sugar.

Cover pie loosely with tin foil and bake, covered, for 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake, approximately 25 minutes longer, until filling is bubbling and lattice is golden brown.

The pie I baked this weekend may not have won any contests this time around, but it won top honors from me and the select few who got to try it!

-Katrina

Relais de Venice 'Entrecote' Restaurant, Paris, France

After booking our holidays to Paris, I looked to my BFF Louise for restaurant recommendations as she lived there for 5 years during her teen years. She immediately started to ooze about this amazing little gem of a bistro she and her family used to frequent. I added it to my list of ‘things to do’ while visiting the most renowned culinary mecca of the world.

After a few days in London, we arrived in Paris peckish for something local and delish, so we decided to try out Lou’s fave family spot. Taking a metro to the location was the easy part of the experience. The rain had decided to pour out of the heavens by the time we reached ground level but soon enough we spotted the crowded restaurant. It was late, so we were famished by the time we came upon the large group of locals and tourists alike, hovering outside the front doors. No queue was formed, just a mass of people, all trying to cuddle under the canopy to stay somewhat dry from the torrential downpour.

After speaking to a few of the locals in line, we determined that there was no line and that all tables were on a first come, first served basis. Suddenly the hostess arrived and yelled ‘table pour deux’ (table for two). People started flailing their arms in the air trying to manhandle their way to her and take this table for two. It was a total cluster, an unorganized ridiculous mess!

Once we wiggled our way in, ahead of the people who arrived after us, no thanks to them trying to wrangle their way in ahead of us, things changed drastically. Inside was the most authentic french bistro one could find anywhere in France. We were welcomed immediately by the waitress and offered wine or water. No menu provided, just offered the choice of the temperature of our meat, well done, medium or rare.

Taken aback we decided to play along and asked for a bottle of their ‘vin de la maison’ (house wine) seeing as we weren’t offered a list.

Out of nowhere, a plate of greens topped with chopped walnuts and a spicy wasabi mustard vinaigrette landed in front of us, accompanied by a basket of sliced French baguette. It was surprisingly delicious, even though it was 10:45pm and by then, rabbit food would’ve worked. I asked our server for some butter for the baguette but she chuckled and stated that there was enough butter on the entree course that I wouldn’t need it for my bread. I guess my request was denied whether I liked it or not.

Next came a platter with a mound of sliced beef tenderloin, drowned in the most devine garlic butter sauce, served with a pile of skinny French Frittes. We lapped it up like we hadn’t eaten in days. We had never eaten such amazing Steak Frittes and believe me, we have certainly tried many. Our server also wasn’t kidding about the butter, the beautifully cooked tender beef was absolutely smothered in the butter, garlic and herb sauce. The entire meal was polished off with the full bodied bottle of red which paired superbly with the meat. There was absolutely no room left for dessert by the end of the meal but we just couldn’t help ourselves and both went back for seconds of the steak and fries. We rolled out of the place at 1:00am stuffed to the brim and blissfully happy to be spending the next week together in Paris.

Moral of the story? Getting a local’s scoop on where to dine is key to securing a scrumptious meal in a new city.

~Jean.

Say Cheese!

If you are a foodie in Los Angeles, there is a good chance that you have heard of Andrew’s Cheese Shop. Andrew Steiner opened this Montana Ave. fromage mecca in August 2008, and with a slogan like, ‘This place stinks!’ how could you resist? Luckily for me, I happen to live less than two blocks away from Andrew’s and love cheese. It’s like a match made in heaven. Taking a stroll on a recent Saturday, I decided that I would like to stop in and purchase some cheesy goodness for consumption later in the evening. I had a bottle of 2006 Rosenthal Merlot I wanted to drink and was looking for something that would pair well with it. After blissfully sampling several cheeses, I was handed a thin slice of Leonora. Immediately after it hit my tongue, I knew this was the one. When you make a purchase at the shop, they conveniently include a cute little fact card, complete with the country of origin’s flag and a picture of the animal the milk came from. These are great to show your guests what a cheesehead you have become. The fact card for Leonora read as follows:

Named after the region of Leon, Span, this rustic goat’s milk cheese has a beautiful natural, rustic rind and a pure white interior. The Spanish goat cheeses like this one tend to be much grassier and earthy than most others. The aroma is of mushrooms and truffle and the taste is of grass and tart lemons.

Moral of the story, check out Andrew’s Cheese shop. It won’t stink.

http://andrewscheese.com/

-Katrina

Creamy Pasta Goodness (Without the Guilt!)

Seafood Fettuccine (makes 8 servings)

* This is a lightened version of this traditionally heavy dish.

Ingredients:

1 ½ tbsp Butter

1 cup Green Onions, chopped

4 cloves Garlic, minced

1 lb Medium Shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 lb Sea Scallops

2 cups Half-and-Half

½ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Black Pepper

½ lb lump crabmeat

¾ cup Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

8 cups Cooked Fettuccine, hot (approximately 1 lb uncooked – homemade is preferable)

¼ cup Fresh Parsley, chopped

Method:

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, sauté 1 minute. Pat the shrimp and scallops dry so as not to dilute the sauce and add them to the mixture, sauté 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add half-and-half, salt, pepper and crabmeat. Cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir constantly, ensuring the mixture does not come to a boil.

Gradually sprinkle ½ cup of the cheese over seafood mixture, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute and remove from heat. Combine seafood mixture and pasta in a large oversized bowl. Note: The sauce may look thin but it is the perfect consistency to coat the pasta. Top each serving with parsley and remaining cheese as desired.

I also served a Caesar salad with homemade croutons

 -Jean

Korean in Florida

While visiting my old home base of Florida for my lovely friend Jenn’s wedding, I was determined to meet up with as many of my old Floridian friends as possible. Being the wonderful friend that Sean is, he kindly offered to make the long haul all the way from Orlando to Tampa (where my trip was based) to meet the rest of us for lunch. It was a fun reunion of the Florida gang who used to drink and be merry in years since past. However, we are apparently now older and wiser, and meet up for lunch rather than for binge drinking while watching Monday Night football at the local ale house. Wow, how times have changed. 

After deciding on Korean food as our cuisine of choice (which of course we were all up for), Sean selected a Korean Restaurant he had heard good things about. Sa Ri One …a tiny little hole-in-the-wall kind of place in Tampa, freeway adjacent. Why not have Korean for Sunday Brunch?! The place looked kind of sketchy from outside, but we were pleasantly surprised by the interior décor and privately screened, oversized booths. Once inside, it’s actually quite a quaint little place. It was very clean with decent ambient lighting and seemed to be family run. The service was fast and attentive, which was important, given that we were in a time crunch to make our early afternoon flight.

After receiving our food, it was perfect! We nearly ordered one of everything from their menu, since none of us at the lunch are exactly food shy. The crispy egg rolls were cooked to perfection and accompanied with a sweet chili dipping sauce that was to die for. We even asked for seconds on the sauce. The Ba Bim Bop shrimp dish with fried egg on top was gloriously toasty. The Korean short ribs were sweet and succulent. The only lackluster dish was the bland cold plate of soba noodles. Of course we ordered far too much food as there were definitely plenty of leftovers for the local Floridians to take home.

Sa Ri One is certainly is not the place to bring a business client to impress but it definitely works for a family style friendly get together! As always, we chatted like we see each other all the time, like great ‘old’ friends do- just like no time has passed since our last reunion. After departing the restaurant with full to the brim tummies, I definitely enjoyed a sleepy happy plane ride home to LA.

-Jean

Lonely Scallops

It was a Friday night, my roommate was out of town, and two of my friends were oddly in the same situation. What better way to bring the three loners together than to throw a ‘lone roommate’ dinner party?! The decision on what to make was fairly simple for once. Someone mentioned scallops earlier in the day and I was obsessed- I had to have scallops for dinner. Leafing through old issues of Gourmet, I came across a scallop recipe that seemed very simple to prepare, but also very elegant. Just what I wanted for this evening of wine and friends! Since I am never one to follow a recipe to a T, here is my twist on these heavenly, just-rich-enough seared scallops with tarragon and butter.

Scallops with Garlic Tarragon Butter Sauce (makes 3-4 servings)

Ingredients:

12 Sea Scallops, large (approximately 1 lb)

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 tbsp butter

¼ cup Dry White Wine such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc

¼ cup White Wine Vinegar

1 clove Garlic, minced

1 ½ tbsp Fresh Tarragon, finely chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Method:

Using a paper towel, pat scallops completely dry. (This is an important step so the scallops sear in the pan and not steam) Season scallops with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is just smoking, add scallops, spacing evenly, making sure not to crowd the pan. Sear scallops, without moving them, until golden brown on the bottom- approximately 3 minutes. Flip scallops and add 1 tbsp of butter to the pan. While second side is searing, spoon butter over the tops of the scallops. When scallops are just cooked through and golden brown on both sides (about 6 minutes total), remove from the pan and set aside on a platter.

Return pan to heat. Add wine, vinegar and garlic and bring to a boil, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the pan is clean, reduce heat to low and add half of the remaining butter. When butter is nearly melted, add the remaining butter and stir until incorporated. Add tarragon, then salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over the scallops and serve.

I had plenty of ideas as to what to serve the scallops with, but I ultimately decided on a creamy polenta and a medley of green beans and oyster mushrooms. Served with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, I think it’s fair to say that dinner was a hit and that should the occasion arise, there will be a lot more ‘lone roommate’ dinners in the future.

-Katrina

Church on Wednesday?

Feeling adventurous last Wednesday, a couple of friends and I decided to take a field trip to the depths of downtown Los Angeles. I’m not talking Staples Center adjacent here- I’m talking about warehouses and factories on East Industrial Street. Our destination was Church and State, a fairly new French bistro that has been getting a lot of buzz. Picture a crowded, bustling dining room with brick walls, high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows, low lighting and minimalist furnishings, with specials listed on chalkboards around the room. It was a simple yet elegant backdrop for our killer meal to come.

The gougeres that were brought out in place of a typical bread basket were the perfect way to jump start our appetites and were quite nice with our bottle of French red wine. In fact, I probably would have been completely content sipping on wine and eating the little cheesy morsels the rest of the evening. This, obviously, did not happen. The menu had so many interesting and intriguing dishes that we had difficulty narrowing down our choices. I use the term ‘narrowing down’ loosely, as we ended up ordering way too much food anyway. Some of our selections were fairly safe: Goat cheese and lavender honey served in a charming mason jar. Some sort of salad with apples. (I would tell you what else was on the salad, but in the words of Simon Cowell, “It was rather forgettable!") A caramelized onion, gruyere and bacon ‘tarte’ (sort of like a pizza/flatbread hybrid). And fall-apart-tender braised short ribs served with sour cherries and Brussels sprouts.

I don’t want to detract from how much we enjoyed the above dishes. I would happily order any of them again (except maybe the salad). However, I want to spend the next few minutes talking about the other two hors d’oeuvres we ordered. Remember how I said we were feeling adventurous? Well, we took the plunge and ordered both escargots de bourgone and moelle de boeuf, a roasted marrow bone!  Each escargot came soaked in garlic parsley butter in a little ceramic cup with a puff pastry lid. It was a very cute presentation and I must say, rather delicious. This could be because it tasted mostly like butter, but hey- whatever will get me to eat snails and say I like it! The texture of the escargot was very mushroom like, so nothing scary there. As for the bone marrow, I’m not sure there is anything scarier than a plate with nothing but a colossal bone, split down the middle, arriving at the dinner table. Now, I have tried bone marrow from an osso bucco bone before, and was pretty proud of myself- what was sitting in front of me now was a whole different animal (no pun intended). In addition to the initial shock of the presentation, the actual texture of the marrow was also a bit harrowing. The marrow was cooked with a lovely caramelization where exposed, but was rather gelatinous when scooped out. Getting past all of this, once spread onto a slice of grilled baguette, making sure to include some of the caramelized goodness, the marrow became sort of a whimsical ‘pâté’ and actually tasted pretty good. I’m not sure exactly how to describe the taste, but it was rich and savory with maybe just a hint of sweetness.

Our experience at Church and State was absolutely worth the drive downtown. The atmosphere was inviting, the service was pleasant and the overall affair, especially the extreme food, was definitely one to remember! 

www.churchandstatebistro.com  

- Katrina