Son of a Gun

Posted on September 25, 2012 by juleprints

So I love food and I love eating out. Unfortunately my British husband is more of a “food is fuel” type of man. He would happily eat a batch of what he calls his “10 Day Curry” … for literally 10 days in a row. In desperation to save my gastronomical senses, I enlisted the girlfriends who appreciate food as much as I do to hit the city’s best restaurants.

It wasn’t too hard to convince my sister Kim and my friend Jenny once I told them the basic outline of a monthly splurge on amazing food and amazing wines at fabulous eateries. We haven’t come up with an official name yet for our unofficial dining out club, but on our first, and slightly booze-soaked, venture we tossed around “Marmalade and Moonshine,” which I love but don’t really think it has anything to do with our club. “Circle of Trust,” only because we used the meal as a bit of a therapy session. And “Twirly Birds Special,” a play on the fact that we will probably always end up dining around 6:30 pm since it is right after I get off work and we should be able to get a table, even at the most popular places since no one in LA dines that early. We thought “Early Birds Special” made us sound old, hence the “twirly.” Anyway, it is obviously a work in progress, but regardless, our first meal was a smashing success.

Jenny started with the Buggy Whip Punch and I went with a Moscow Mule

I picked the first restaurant and so we went to Son of a Gun on Third Street in Los Angeles. I have been wanting to go there for awhile and was not disappointed. The place is small and welcoming. The staff was incredibly friendly, especially our waitress who offered great suggestions, let us try out wines to see if we liked them, and didn’t rush us off, even as the restaurant started to fill up. And how was the food? Divine. It is a fairly small menu of small plates with a variety of culinary origins.

We started off with the Smoked Mahi Fish Dip with Celery, Radish and Crackers. It was amazing, especially since smoked fish rillettes and dips are my favorite right now.

Smoked Mahi

After that, the plates just kept rolling out: Gem Lettuce with Pickled Beets, Creme Fraiche & Bread Crumbs (the crunch of the tiny breadcrumbs made the dish); Dungeness Crab with Daikon, Melon & Yuzu.

Dungeness Crab

Blackened Rock Fish with Tomatillo Salsa and Crema:

Blackened Rock Fish

Fried Chicken sandwich with Spicy B&B Pickle Slaw & Rooster Aioli (the chicken was so tender and the sandwich was so tall, we almost didn’t know how to eat it); Uni with Burrata, Button Mushrooms & Yuzu. Yes – I tried Uni which I now know is sea urchin. It was interesting, especially with the Burrata since it has the same texture. Not sure if I will have it again, but I am glad I tried it once and the flavors were very good.

Normally I am not a dessert orderer, but since these nights are going to be about trying something new and fully experiencing the menu, we figured that we would have to indulge in dessert. Especially since they had something on the menu called an Italian Hamburger, which is a scoop of hazelnut ice cream covered in caramel on a sweet brioche with a dusting of Maldon sea salt and powdered sugar.

Italian Hamburger

Needless to say, we practically licked the plate clean. (and I am sure this dish would have even lured my husband out of the house).

It was a fantastic night, the start of many wonderful meals. Thanks to my dining companions for helping me indulge in my foodie side.

Originally posted on serveitforth.blogspot.com

Plum and Mascarpone Pie

Posted on September 12, 2012 by juleprints

I have been craving pie and recently I cut out a beautiful looking plum pie recipe from Bon Appetit. When my sister and I were growing up, one of our favorite fruits was plums, and since they are in season right now, plum pie seemed like the perfect Sunday afternoon activity.

Full disclosure: I didn’t make my crust. Have I made crusts before? Yes. Did I want to make a crust when it was 95 degrees out and I only had time to make the entire pie during my son’s nap? No. So I used store bought. However, my goal this fall now that I have conquered canning (or at least figured out the basics) is to perfect the crust. Another Fay family talent that I will not let pass me by

Sugar Plum Fairies

I followed the directions exactly, which I don’t always tend to do, and I would suggest cutting back on the sugar. It made the plums very sweet, and I think the best part of a plum is the tartness. It would have been nice to have that come through a bit more. The mascarpone & crème fraîche filling was excellent, and I plan on using that as a base for many other fruit pies!

Ready to roast

Satisfied customer

PLUM & MASCARPONE PIE

Click the above link for the recipe from Bon Appetit, August 2012

Originally posted on serveitforth.blogspot.com

Canned Crushed Tomatoes

Posted on August 7, 2012 by juleprints

It has been a crazy few weeks. Work is super busy, lot’s of events on the calendar, trying to keep up with my three year old and then trying to keep up with the bounty from our garden. That alone could be a full time job! Since I didn’t want any of those beautiful tomatoes to go to waste, I decided it was time to claim my birthright and learn to can.

My grammy, aunts and cousins are all amazing cooks, bakers, canners, etc. so I knew it was in me. But having never done it before and I was very lucky that my sister offered to walk me through my first time. I arrived at her place Wednesday night after work, and she had already peeled the tomatoes so we were ready to go.

Peeled & ready to crush & boil

Since I wanted to be productive, I did not buy a bottle of wine when I stopped at Bristol Farms to pick up lemons. The second I looked at the pile of tomatoes, the enormous canning pot and all the jars I immediately wished I had a glass. Tammy to the rescue! My sister texted her neighbor and asked if she had two spare glasses of wine. Tammy came over with a chilled bottle of white and donated it to our endeavor.

Tammy to the rescue!

With a Crushed Tomato recipe from Every Day with Rachael Ray I set to work. It was so satisfying mashing and boiling the tomatoes and filling the jars.

Carrying on the family tradition

Then watching them boil in the pot. Of course, the best part was pulling them from the boiling water, setting them on the counter and waiting for the “pop” so we knew the jars were sealed.

I am hooked! I took Kim’s canning equipment home and made a tomato jam recipe from the same magazine. It is delicious – however, since it wasn’t a canning recipe, it didn’t seem to thicken enough. I did make sure to add lemon juice to the recipe to ensure the tomatoes reach the proper acid level. Kim is going to experiment with the recipe to get it to thicken – so stay tuned!

Canning Crushed Tomatoes

from Every Day with Rachel Ray

Ingredients:

6 pounds tomatoes
Ice water
5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2-1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

Using paring knife, core stem ends of tomatoes. Cut and “X” across non-stem ends.

In large pot of boiling water, cook until skins begin to pull away from flesh, about 30 seconds; transfer to ice water bath. Discard skins, then quarter tomatoes.

In fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl, press on flesh to extract seeds. In large nonreactive pot, bring tomatoes, lemon juice and salt to boil over high heat.

Ladle hot mixture into 5 hot, sterilized 1-pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal the jars. In water-bath canner, process jars for 35 minutes.

Originally posted on serveitforth.blogspot.com

Sundays at Lark

Author Archives: juleprints

Son of a Gun

Plum and Mascarpone Pie

Canned Crushed Tomatoes