Chritsmas Crepes!!!!

We always make crepes after opening presents on christmas. We made the batter the night before so they were extra delicious!!!!

I like them rolled up with maple syrup, but my mom put some strawberries on hers. I was thinking about how they would be good with pomegranate, slightly whipped cream and maple syrup.

First time making/eating Brisket

As you can probably tell from the rest of my blog, I don't eat meat!!! I've been testing the waters recently, and after a few pleasant experiences with beef, I wanted to make it for christmas eve dinner! At first, I was planning on making plain old steaks with bearnaise and french fries, but after trying the AMAZING oxtail poutine the other night at Animal in LA, I decided that I wanted something super tender... like brisket. So I brainstormed a lootttt of ideas for what to include in the braising liquid and finally decided on what to do. I cooked the brisket at 275 for about 6 hours today. The sauce was insane, the meat was ok to me (I come from a strictly vegetarian background and the texture is veery foreign to me), but everyone else seemed to like it! I'm hesitant to share my secret ingredients, but here's what I did (I basically tried to amp up the umami flavors of the beef with balsamic vinegar, anchovies, porcinis, sundried tomatoes and smoked chillis):

First I browned the meat in a bit of olive oil, duuhhhhh. Then I chopped up a bunch of carrots, celery, garlic, leeks and shallots and cooked that in the same pot after I took out the meat. I added a little bit of thyme and maybe twice as much rosemary, a few anchovies, two bay leaves, a glass full, maybe more, of red wine and let that cook off a bit. Then I added a of couple tablespoons of tomato paste, and can of san marzano tomatoes. Oh, while the vegetables were cooking, I brought a box of vegetable broth to a simmer with some porcini powder, mushroom stems, two smoked and dried serrano chillis, and a handful of sundried tomatoes (I chose to use vegetable broth cause I don't trust boxed meat broths). Then, I added this brothy mixture to the one with the wine and vegetables (after removing the mushroom stems), stuck the brisket back in and stirred in some balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar. I braised the whole thing in the oven from about 12:30-6:30 basting it every hour or so. I served it on mashed potatoes that I made with raw cream, a couple of tablespoons of butter and about a cup of fresh parsley stirred in at the end. We also made some roasted asparagus!

My sister Kali didn't want to eat the brisket so I made her pan fried halibut with a red wine and butter sauce that was very similar to the one I made with the polenta and brussel sprouts a few weeks ago!

Parsnip and Celery Root Soup with Beet Greens and Beet Salad aaaand Roasted Sunchokes

My dad came home from the farmer's market with a million vegetables so I decided to use 'em up. I made the soup with parsnips, a small celery root, an onion, tons of thyme, a little bit of cream and vegetable broth. Then I pureed it. I made a raw beet salad with a thinly sliced serrano pepper, parsley, meyer lemon, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I let the beets pickle in the vinegar for about an hour, they would have been great overnight. Then I didn't want to waste the beet greens so I sauteed those and put them on top of the soup with a squirt of lemon juice. Oh, and the jerusalem artichokes/sunchokes were roasted in a 350 degree oven for about an hour with olive oil, salt and pepper!

Split Pea Soup and Corn Bread!!

Such a good meal! Soup is a modified Jack Bishop recipe and the cornbread is aaaamped up with sour cream/yogurt!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes we (my mom and I) add chives, but not today.

Fried Rice with a Fried Egg and Cilantro

Finals are over and I'm back home with the fam in Topanga so here come a lot of posts!!!

I wanted to use use the week old white rice that was in the fridge so I decided to make quick fried rice for breakfast! For some reason I've never really liked the egg mixed in with the rice so I fried it separately and put it on top instead! turned out really well - here's what I did... It ended up sort of indian style....

cooked some shallot, ginger and chillies (could have added garlic) in butter and sesame oil, then I put in some turmeric, coriander, cumin aaaand chili powder I think but I can't remember exactly. I added the rice, mixed it up and flattened it out so the bottom could get a little crispy. Did that a few times, then fried a couple of eggs and chopped some fresh cilantro! It was super delish and the cilantro really made the whole dish.





Making split pea soup with cornbread tonight so I'll be posting pics of that soon!

Polenta with roasted brussel sprouts and red wine/butter sauce!

This was pretty easy to make. Cook polenta in half veg stock, half milk. Then mix in parmesan and butter when its done.
For the red wine sauce, fry finely chopped onions, a whole garlic clove, a carrot and celery in a little bit of butter and olive oil. Then add some thyme sprigs, parsley, a bay leaf and pepper. Pour in wine and veg stock. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Take out everything but the onion. Then, whisk in butter and add saaaalt!!
Roast the brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper at 400 degreeees til the top layer of leaves is almost burned.

GO SUSHI MART

My family only eats at Go's Sushi Mart on special occasions. Go is a hole in the wall deeeep in the Valley. The walls are painted the ugliest shade of orange you've ever seen and there's really nothing aesthetically pleasing about the place, but it doesn't even matter because the food is too good. Go is the sushi chef, and apparently his wife gets the first pick of all the fresh fish in Los Angeles every morning.

I don't even know what this was. We wanted one last bite and asked for the best thing they had that day. It was some sort of white fish with preserved lemon rind, and a spicy kelpy stick on top. Salt and truffle oil too if I think... ohhh so good.


This is Toro (fatty tuna belly) with soy and gold leaf ! ah!


My favorite, scallop with sea salt, truffle oil and caviar.


Fried shishito peppers with bonito flakes! YUM!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!

Thanksgiving was sooo fun. I made a lot of food. Here's a lil look!

Apple Pie and Bourbon Pumpkin Pie (pumpkin pie recipe from gourmet RIP) :


My Sister and Crab Dip:


Turkey:



Grilled Salmon with lemon, thyme, maple syrup and olive oil:


Biscuits, Brussel Sprouts, Roasted Vegetables:



Mashed potatoes, and others:


Sister and Mom:


Dad and Mom:




My Plate. No Turkey for me! I did have a bite though...



Our dog Shuggie gets a bite,


and our Goat Sacrifice:
(haha just kidding!)


Very delicious meal.

THANKSGIVING PREVIEW

Thanksgiving is the best food holiday ever! Here's a little sneak peak at what's in store for my upcoming ultra big thanksgiving post!!

Pumpkin pie before I baked it:


Roasted Pumpkin:


Apples cooking in butter, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon annd brown sugar for apple pie filling:


Cranberry Sauce:


And the baby goat we're babysitting for the weekend: