Recipe: T’s Chipotle ‘n Bacon Ranch Style Beans

I worked at a Mexican restaurant for a couple of days once. I hated the experience, and I didn’t shed any tears when they closed down. The one good thing I learned there was how they made what they called ranch style pinto beans.  I play with the recipe every time I make it, and tonight I substituted the usual jalapeno with chipotle. I loved how the smokiness played off the bacon; so I decided to document it for posterity.  This makes a great side for carne asada or grilled chicken.

Ingredients

2 cans pinto beans*

1 tsp olive oil

1 slice bacon, small dice

1/4 cup yellow onion, small dice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp chipotle with adobe sauce, chopped (adjust according to how spicy you want the beans)

1/2 tsp caldo de pollo powder**

1/4 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure

1. In a small pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add diced bacon and stir for a minute or two. Then add the onion and cook until slightly translucent. Add the garlic and chipotle and cook for about a minute more.

2. Discard the liquid from one of the cans of beans and add both cans to the pot. Stir in the bullion powder and cumin. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Garnish with chopped cilantro if you have any on hand.

Serves 4.

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*Yes, I use canned pinto beans. It’s a great convenience product and it allows you to make a pretty killer dish in 10-15 minutes instead of a few hours. Feel free to substitute homemade beans for even better results.

**You can find Knorr Caldo de Pollo in many markets in the ethnic food aisle, or with other brands of chicken bullion. This is a family staple for seasoning lots of dishes. If you want to class up the dish a little, replace the liquid from the beans with chicken stock.

Recipe: Tri-Tip Roast with Rosemary, Fennel Seed & Peppercorn Crust

So the other day a tri-tip roast was thrust upon me to cook for dinner. Now, normally I would use one of my favorite marinades and grill that bad boy, but I did not have necessary 4-8 hours of warning. So what to do?  Well I remembered a recipe I stumbled across years ago that consisted of a wet rub that only needed about half an hour of sitting time.  I gave it another look, and what do you know? It held up pretty well!

Equipment

grill or broiler

coffee/spice grinder or mortar and pestle

Ingredients

1 tsp espresso ground coffee

1/4 cup fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted

2 tsp peppercorns

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 2 – 2 1/2 lb tri tip roast, trimmed

Procedure

1. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. If the fatty side has a lot of excess fat, trim the fat to your preference. The meat should sit at room temp for about 30 minutes to an hour so it’s not cold inside. This allows it to cook more evenly.

2. Prepare the rub ingredients. To toast the fennel seeds, put a skillet or pan on a medium burner and toast the seeds until they turn golden brown. Gently swirl the skillet while toasting to prevent scorching.  As for the coffee grounds, if you have regular coffee grounds and not the fine espresso, pulverize the grounds in the grinder or mortar until it is a finer powder.

3. Place the chopped rosemary, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper corns into the grinder or mortar and grind until course. Pour the contents into a small bowl and add the coffee (if you didn’t leave it in the grinder) and olive oil. Stir until the whole rub is moistened.

4. Smear the rub on both sides of the roast, and sit on a plate fat side down for 30 minutes. During the last 10 minutes or so, preheat the grill to medium heat.

5. Place the meat on the prepared grill, fat side up. Cook about 10-12 minutes on each side for medium doneness. I prefer tri-tip closer to medium rare, but lots of people like it cooked more, so take as much time as you need.  While grilling, keep your eye on the flames especially when the fat side is down. The fat will cause flare ups and you don’t want to scorch the rub!

6. After both sides are done, remove from the grill and let the roast sit about 10-15 minutes. You can loosely cover the meat with foil if you wish.  This resting period is important because the meat will continue to cook for a few minutes, and the resting allows the juices to redistribute evenly.  If you get impatient and slice too soon, you’ll lose a lot of juices.  After resting, slice against the grain and serve.

Enjoy!

Sunnin Lebanese Cafe

I always go to Westwood Boulevard thinking that I’ll try something new, but I always inevitably end up at Sunnin Lebanese Cafe. The food is absolutely fabulous, even if served on paper plates with the drinks in those red solo cups that cheap beer is served in at frat parties in undergrad. But the fact is, it doesn’t matter what it’s served on. I’ll eat it.

Sunnin is very vegetarian friendly. I usually stick to their appetizer menu, even though I’ve tried the falafel sandwich and the entrees. Likely because I am desperately in love with their tangy spicy potatoes. Their rekakat (parsley and cheese in a filo dough pastry shell), fatayer (empanada-esque dough stuffed with spinach, pine nuts, and onions) and dolmeh are also delicious (although their dolmeh is a bit on the tart and cold side, if you’re expecting something warm). I also really like the baba ghanouj, being an eggplant fan (the texture is just lovely and smooth, instead of stringy and chunky like some places I’ve been to), and their hummus is really nice and comes topped with olive oil and a dash of red chili pepper. The falafel, the vegetarian’s usual resort in Mediterranean/Middle Eastern places, is seasoned and cooked just right (compared to some of the places I’ve been where it just tastes like deep-fried chickpea/lentil mush). I’ve also really enjoyed their cucumber/yogurt salad. And everything comes with a side of warm, fresh pita.

For non-veggies, my friends claim the chicken shawarma is really fantastic. And the garlic sauce is out of this world. I dream happy dreams of that sauce when I go to sleep at night.

Intelligentsia Coffee

Intelligentsia Coffee in Silverlake has been my frequent spot as of late. The outdoor seating is nice and sunny in the day and opens onto the sidewalk, which makes for a constantly changing crowd that pops in and out as the hours pass and keeps things constantly interesting. Perfect place to have a chat with a friend or read a book over a cup. I prefer it on Fridays and Saturdays when it’s open ’til 11 p.m. A huge drawback is that it closes at 8 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday, for those who want to squeeze in a few hours at the end of the workday. Also, the lighting in the seating area is a bit dim in the evenings, if you get out from the seating area under the awning. Makes the reading, writing aspect of things a bit difficult when you’re off in the periphery.

Their coffee and tea is genuinely amazing. I’m a bit of a chai elitist. I prefer old school, the way my grandmother makes it with all the spices coarsely ground in a mortar and pestle, simmered with milk, tea and sugar on the stove. That said, after being severely disappointed in cinnamon tea posing as chai in coffee shops all over, this has been thus far the best chai I’ve had in Los Angeles. Their Moroccan Mint Iced Tea is also one of my favorites. Crisp and doesn’t taste like watered down Starbucks brew. Instant happiness. I’ve also had a sip of their Mocha and Iced Mocha from friends’ drinks, which were also delicious and strong.

That said, their service is a little wanting. They can claim a barista champion, and all, you know. I remember I had a friend with me (recently moved here from abroad), who made the mistake of asking for a bit of cream on her mocha. She got a bit of a scowl and was ultimately ignored. I think a “We don’t do that here,” or a simple “No,” would have been a better response. Other times, they have not been impolite, but certainly not welcoming. Sometimes, they say nothing and just stand there. Just completely awkward silence, until you’re forced to say something equally awkward like, “So um, er, uh can I have a [insert name of drink here].” And even then, they don’t quite respond. They step off to make your drink, and you walk to the left, hand them your form of payment, usually met with similar silence after one of the baristas calls the name of a drink (unless there is some kind of confusion, in which case, more scowls and perhaps a slightly condescending form of seeking clarification like, “Ok, look, what I’m saying is, do you want it separate or together?”). Oh yes, forgot to mention, they don’t take your name during any part of the process. So if ten people order Moroccan Mint Iced Teas, you just walk up like one of them is yours. Either it’s some incredible honor system based on a serious and profound hipster code of trust, or they just don’t care who you are. You pick. For kinder service and a warmer atmosphere, Casbah up the street far surpasses.

Recipe: Salmon Burgers with Ginger and Spinach

Today I felt like having a burger of some kind, but I didn’t want anything heavy. After rummaging through the freezer, I found a bag of frozen salmon fillets, and I knew what to do. I remembered a tasty recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook that I tried several years ago, and used what I had in the kitchen. The original recipe calls for scallions, which I didn’t have on hand. Instead I used about 5 very large chives that I picked from my garden. The taste is very similar, so you can use either one depending on what you have in your fridge, or if you prefer the smaller doses of oniony goodness that chives provide.

Serves: 2 – 4

Salmon Burger with Ginger and Spinach

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon fillets

2 cups baby spinach

3 green onions (or an equivalent handful of chives)

1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 egg white

1 tbsp soy sauce

Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste (or 1/4 tsp if you don’t trust yourself)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Cut the salmon fillets into small dice, approximately 1/4″ cubes. This is the most time consuming part of this recipe, but your patience will be rewarded with a nice texture for the patties. If you try to mince it quickly or run it through a food processor, you’ll get something resembling a paste, instead of the lightly bound patties that will result. If you are unsure of how to do this, all you need to do is cut the fillets in half lengthwise, then cut into thin strips (like the size of french fries). From there, cut the strips into small cubes.

2. Next, cut the veggies. The spinach will be mixed in the patties, so a rough chop will do. If you’re not sure how small to go, I suggest treating it like cilantro (about nickel sized). Dice the onions (both white and green parts) into pieces around the same size as the salmon.

3. The final prep work will be grating the ginger (easy enough) and to beat the egg white with the soy sauce. You’ll probably want to heat your favorite 12″ non-stick skillet over medium heat about now. On to the show!

4. In a bowl, combine the salmon, spinach, onion, ginger, salt and pepper. Then mix in the egg white until it’s nice and sticky.

5. Once the oil is sufficiently hot in the pan (it should spread quickly on the bottom but not yet smoke), form a patty in your hand about a half inch thick and gently place (or plop) it into the pan. You’ll notice that it’s pretty loose, but that’s okay! This isn’t ground meat, so you just treat it delicately and pat it together with the spatula if some pieces fall away. I suggest cooking only 2 patties at a time because you want room to move around in the pan, plus you don’t want the oil to cool too much. Flip the patty over once, and cook a total of 6-7 minutes.

6. Place the cooked patties on a paper towel cook the next batch. These burgers are pretty flavorful on their own. I opted for a whole wheat bun and sliced roma tomatoes for garnish. You can also use pickled ginger as a condiment. Or maybe wasabi mayo would be good too?? Hmm I think I’ll try that next time!

Enjoy!

Magnolia Bakery

While I was in New York city, the land of the cupcake shop, I stopped by Magnolia Bakery. Ever since the “Lazy Sunday” digital short aired on SNL a few years ago, I was desperately curious. What was so good about these cupcakes that they inspired song lyrics? I had to know. So while I didn’t see the Statue of Liberty, I did eat a Magnolia Bakery cupcake.

I hiked over to the Magnolia Bakery shop on Bleecker Street with a childhood friend after a day of examining odd exhibits at the Guggenheim (apparently, there’s a couple). There was already a line when we got there. It was pretty cold that day. My fingers froze a bit. But the line moved pretty quickly. The nice thing about Magnolia is they keep the cupcakes on the side near the window on baker’s sheets lined in cute little doilies, and let you fill the boxes yourself. Before you know it, you’re inside. The funny part is that while you’re waiting, Magnolia feels a bit like a private sweet-tooth club, with a cupcake bouncer at the door – a really sweet, cheerful lady that keeps watch over the window and controls the flow of people with access to cupcakes.

Inside, Magnolia is just a really warm, feel-good establishment, where everything feels and tastes very home-made. It’s a little shop with friendly bakers. The cupcakes are a normal, manageable size, and mostly vanilla and chocolate with swirly pastel vanilla buttercream frosting with colorful sprinkles, that really took me back to my elementary school days. There are some with chocolate buttercream frosting, which I wholeheartedly recommend. I’m not usually a big fan of frosting, but this was absolutely delicious. Not too sweet, not too bitter. One minor complaint that I have about Magnolia Bakery’s cupcakes, is the same one that I had with Sprinkles cupcakes. Their frosting is disproportionately sweeter than their cupcakes. Again, not a place for someone like me, who eventually sheds frosting in favor of just the cake portion. But the frosting is, in and of itself, just yummy, even by the standards of a self-proclaimed frosting-hater. So if you’re a frosting fan, this really is the place to be. The old school sprinkles provide just that touch of texture that makes for frosting heaven.

Another plus point about the Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street is that there’s a little park nearby with chess tables. So even though the bakery is small with no place to sit down and triumphantly eat the cupcakes you stood in line for for so long, you can skip on over right across the street, pop open your box over one of the granite chess boards, and indulge in fresh-baked happiness. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll even improve your game. Or at least soothe the pain when you lose miserably to one of the octogenarian park regulars.

Recipe:Pepper Jack and Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese

This is no ordinary mac ‘n cheese, which usually isn’t very cheesy. Most recipes will have you make a cheese sauce, which is basically a bechamel sauce (a thickened milk sauce) with cheese added to it. Not the most exciting stuff in the world, even with toasted breadcrumbs on top. This version has a 2:1 ratio of cheese to macaroni, and is very rich (eggs bind it, for crying out loud). It might not be the most healthy dish, but it’s guaranteed to make your cheese lovin’ friends happy!

I found a version of this recipe years ago on the web. The original calls for all sharp cheddar cheese, which is very good. I’ve tried many variations of cheese blends, but the most popular by far is this one with pepper jack and cheddar.

Serves: 4 – 6

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. elbow macaroni or large shell macaroni

1/2 stick butter

1 can evaporated milk (or 1 cup cream mixed with 1/2 cup milk. You can adjust the cream/milk amounts according to how ‘healthy’ you want to dish to be.)

1 tsp. dry mustard, dissolved in a little water

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 lb. pepper jack cheese, grated

kosher salt and white pepper, to taste

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook the macaroni in salted water until it is not quite done, around 7 minutes. The pasta should be a little undercooked, but don’t worry, it will finish cooking later in the oven. Drain the pasta and transfer into a large, oven-proof bowl.

3. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix into the macaroni.

4. Add the milk, keeping about 1/3 reserved.

5. Add the mustard, eggs, and 3/4 of the cheeses. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

6. Place the bowl in the oven for 5 minutes, then remove and stir well. Add a handful of cheese and some milk while doing this. Bake another 5 minutes and repeat this process until the sauce is smooth and creamy, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Recipe: Roast Rack of Lamb with Dijon Herb Crust

I had the extended family over for Easter today, and what better way to celebrate than with some delicious lamb? This is my favorite preparation for lamb. Its pretty simple, and I can guarantee you that after you try this, most other recipes will pale in comparison. I’ve been making this for a few years now, and don’t bother with a recipe. So the measurements are estimated. Once you get this down, it’s easy to play with the amounts or even the types of herbs (you can try chives or thyme, for example) to make it your own.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 lamb racks, frenched (about 2 lb ea.)

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

2 tbsp dijon mustard

Salt and pepper – to taste

Olive oil – as needed

Method.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Pat the lamb racks dry, and trim off any excess fat.

Normally markets sell the racks frenched, which means the last inch or two of the bones have been scraped clean of meat and fat. But often there’s still a fair amount of excess fat on the front of the rack, which is great for basting, but if there’s too much, you can’t really eat it. So I just try to leave a thin layer of fat for flavor.

Season both sides with salt and pepper.

3. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and the chopped herbs. Set aside.

Panko crumbs are my favorite type of crumbs to use for cooking. They’re light and crispy and give a great texture to dishes. If you don’t have access to an Asian market, you can often find bags in the Asian/Ethnic food aisle in larger supermarkets.

If you are unable or unwilling to use Panko, just get a few slices of fresh white bread (sourdough, french bread, or even english muffins also work well) and cut into large chunks. Put the bread in a food processor and pulse several times until you have course bread crumbs.

4. Place a heavy skillet on a medium-high burner and pour enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Working in batches, sear the lamb until well browned on each side, about 5-6 minutes total.

I prefer to use a stainless steel skillet for searing. Non-stick aren’t as good to use because 1) you’re not supposed to heat them beyond medium heat or you’ll damage the coating, and 2) you get better coloring using stainless steel. The meat may stick to the pan at first, but once cooked long enough, the meat will release.

The bonus of using stainless steel is that you will get those tasty brown bits stuck to the pan at the end, and you can use the same pan later for sauteeing some asparagus to go alongside the lamb.

5. Place the lamb racks on a sheet pan and smear the mustard on the meat and fat. You want to cover all the parts of the rack that you’re going to eat. Put enough mustard that will ensure the bread crumbs will stick, but not so much that the dijon overpowers everything.

6. Coat the racks with the bread crumb mixture, lightly pressing into the meat. Along with the lamb itself, this is the tastiest part of the dish, so I like to put a generous amount of crumbs on. Don’t forget to add some to the bottom of the lamb, because that’s where the thickest part of the meat is.

7. Roast for 15-20 minutes for medium rare. Yes, medium rare! This is the best way to serve lamb. Medium tastes good too (cook another 5 minutes or so), but anything more than that and the lamb is likely to dry out. Hey, you’re paying extra money for one of the best cuts of the lamb, so don’t wimp out and overcook the tender meat!

After removing from the oven, loosely tent the lamb with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. The lamb will continue to cook for a few minutes after you take it out of the oven, and resting it will allow the juices to settle before you carve.

To carve, simply run your chef’s knife between the bones while standing the racks up. You may hit a piece of the backbone near the bottom – just add a little more pressure to cut through.

Garnish with small sprigs of mint and/or rosemary.

Bombay Frankie – Roti Roll/The Ayurveda Cafe

I’m in New York City right now – hands down, one of the most amazing food cities in America. And it’s time-tested and true (scientifically, of course) that you can spend entire days just strolling around and eating at various places. And then, get this! You can totally walk off all those calories all over town, get hungry from walking around, and then eat again! There is NOTHING better than this.

Today, my friend Preeti and I first moseyed on over to 994 Amsterdam Avenue to Bombay Frankie – Roti Roll, a yummy little East meets West find. The fundamental idea is something like a hot dog, minus a sausage or hot dog wiener.So I suppose not really like a hot dog. But there’s this concept of bread, or something bread-like, wrapped around something ridiculously delicious. Here’s what they do. They take a tortilla-type Indian flatbread (roti), fill it with some curried vegetable, meat or paneer (a type of Indian milk-cheese that is absolutely out of this world, especially when seasoned), or a combination thereof, and roll it up. Hence, roti roll. Preeti and I each had an Unda Aloo Masala Roti Roll – a roti filled with spiced potatoes (aloo) and peas, eggs (unda), sliced tomatoes and onions. Being the representative sample of the South Asian region that we are, we asked that our order be spicy. And boy did they deliver. Our rolls came with some kickin’ cilantro-mint chutney that made me fork over a $1 for a bottle of water. That was a drawback. They don’t just let you have a cup of water to quell your flaming tongue! But I suppose a $1 is reasonable. And the bill was cheap. Each roll cost us $3.75! My tastebuds walked out doing a little dance, partially from the fire that had been set under them (completely our fault), but mostly because that roll was just amazing. The aloo was soft and well-spiced with what I sensed was garam masala and some cumin, the chutney was hot and tangy and a nice complement to the aloo, and the roti and eggs helped soothe away the heat. This place is something I’ll definitely dream about when I go back home to Los Angeles.

Next, we hopped on down to The Ayurveda Cafe on 704 Amsterdam Avenue. After our post-chutney crisis, Preeti suggested that we get some mango lassi, an Indian mango yogurt shake, to cool it down. Indian cuisine, you see, is a bit of a science. If you notice, most traditional Indian meals always ends with some kind of dairy or yogurt. The purpose, I think, and certainly, the effect, is to cool off your stomach from the whirlwind combination of spices and chili that you’ve just consumed. The biggest mistake people make when they go to an Indian restaurant, because they think it’s “weird”or something comparable to “weird,” is to skip the dairy/yogurt portion, and instead find themselves inhaling bottles of Pepto Bismol and Tums when they get home and cry themselves to sleep from vigorously spreading heartburn. So please, don’t be proud. Eat the yogurt. And if you can’t handle plain yogurt or plain yogurt with rice, have some mango lassi! Order it at the beginning and nurse it over the course of your dinner. It’s usually what I suggest to my friends, unless I hate them, and it’s positively delicious.

The Ayurveda Cafe’s mango lassi is particularly delightful (sorry, I can’t give you a “yay” or “nay” about the food, because I haven’t tried it!). It’s kind of expensive mango lassi, amounting to about $4.85 before tip (usually, in my experience, they’re about $2.50 or $2.75), but completely worth the money. Unlike the usual radioactive looking mango lassis you tend to get at Indian restaurants, which is a combination of store-bought yogurt and some kind of painfully sweet canned mango puree, The Ayurveda Cafe uses fresh yogurt and real mangoes. Instead of tasting high fructose corn syrup or bags of sugar, you taste real yogurt with its honest-to-goodness homemade tang, and feel like your tongue is closing in on a slew of ripe summer mangoes. It successfully combated the effects the chutney had wreaked on our tongues, and we trekked onwards like triumphant soldiers towards downtown.

Recipe: Lemon Chicken Piccata

This dish is great dinner to make during a busy week or whenever you want to make something that requires little prep work.

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs*

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp capers

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup chopped parsley

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Prepare the chicken thighs. First, pat the pieces dry. You want to make the thighs approximately 1/4″ thick. To flatten them, use a mallet, a small skillet, a large can, or even the side of a chef’s knife. To avoid a making a mess, use a sheet of plastic wrap on the cutting board, and a second sheet on top of the piece of chicken. This will prevent splattering and help the flesh spread evenly as you take out the day’s frustration on your dinner.

After flattening each piece to the same thickness, season both sides of each thigh with salt and pepper.

Optional: If you want better coloring for the chicken (and a better sauce), dredge the thighs in all-purpose flour and shake loose.

2. Place a skillet on medium high heat. Avoid using a nonstick pan, because you want bits of the chicken to stick to pan as it cooks. Add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. When the oil is sizzling, add the chicken and cook about 4 minutes or until golden brown, then flip and cook another 4 minutes. Remove the chicken onto a plate and tent loosely with foil.

If your pan is on the smallish side, saute the chicken in batches. If you try to do it all at once, the chicken may not cook as evenly, and it might be more difficult to get a good fond (the tasty brown bits that stick to the pan which become the basis of the sauce).

3. Reduce heat to medium low. Add the chopped shallots and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Then add the wine and lemon juice to deglaze the pan. Use your whisk or spoon to scrape up all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. (You really want to get it all loose to make the sauce good!) Simmer the liquids until reduced by half.

4. Add the capers and the chicken, including the juices that accumulated. Simmer for a couple of minutes and add half the parsley at the very end.

5. Remove the chicken from the pan again, and serve over a small bed of thin pasta noodles (optional). Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the remaining butter. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon the sauce over chicken and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Serves 4.

* If you want a healthier version of this dish, you can substitute boneless, skinless breasts for thighs. The breasts lack the stronger chicken flavor, but do have less fat. To flatten, follow the instructions above, though you should probably butterfly the breasts (cut them in half lengthwise, but not all the way through so the breast unfolds into a heart shape), or if you have really large breasts (chicken!!) you’re better off cutting them in half completely before pounding them. Reduce the initial cooking time by about a minute, since the meat isn’t as dense as the thighs.