Author Archives: j

post-storm report

the wind and rain over the weekend resulted in drifts all over the bike path that thwarted me and my skinny tires. fat tire bikes had fewer problems powering through but i know better than to risk it as i’ve already fishtailed on sand before. i took speedway for a bit which was a nice change of scenery and didn’t smell too much like pee in an alley. i really enjoyed seeing the backs of the venice houses that face the ocean. i discovered people really like modern house numbers.

outbound: 7.3 miles (forgot to reset odometer then reset before noting aggregated time)

return: 7.59 miles (speedway) / 49.35 minutes / 9 mph

slower all across the board. d**n sand!

i love me some taste tests

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blackboard eats offered us the chance to try a new coffee puveyor called crop to cup. we ordered two different kinds of ugandan coffee, both roasted and unroasted. today, thanks to the beauty of an easy saturday morning, we were finally able to compare the two.

no, silly, we didn’t drink the unroasted beans…i had roasted them in the behmor about a week ago on P2. 48 hrs post-roast would’ve been the optimal consumption window, but our twenty-first century lives got in the way.

ultimately, my roast was smoother but also flatter. it wasn’t overroasted, but lacked some of the notes of the preroasted bean. my roast was definitely darker, although not by much. it lacked the preroasted earthiness and funk. neither coffee was m’s “cup of tea,” but it’s always fun to do a taste test and try out new coffees, especially since i can’t remember the last time i had unroasted ugandan from 1000 cups and i didn’t have preroasted ugandan to directly compare.

aburiya toranoko

once upon a time, blackboard eats offered us 30% off dinner at aburiya toranoko. we missed the opportunity. blackboard eats offered us another chance to redeem both ourselves and a 30% coupon for dinner. omg. so glad we went. and eating at places like that in downtown la makes me want to live in downtown la. even if the restaurant is a stone’s throw from a dicey neighborhood. safety? who needs safety when you can have excellent japanese food?!?

    here’s what we ate:

  • kanpachi:

    kanpachi
    lacked the yuzu salt that other chefs use as accompaniment, but tender and lovely still

  • aburi kanpachi (seared and topped with crispy onion):
    aburi kanpachi
    this rice had been laced with yuzu salt. and those onion crips… yum!

  • kohada (because they were out of bonito – bah!)
    kohada
    tasted like herring; meaty texture; very good

  • uni goma tofu (a must, per jgold)
    uni goma tofu
    this was a very interesting menu choice and an aburiya toranoko special/favorite; the tofu was mixed with sesame which made its texture seem like peanut butter; the gelatin was infused with bonito for a smoky fishy flavor; the uni was distinct and didn’t get lost in the sesame or bonito; the salty soy sauce completed the dish; my only wish was that i had about 6 other people to share it with – that was one rich dish

  • miso beef tongue:
    miso beef tongue
    (lousy photo, sorry, we got so excited we forgot to take a picture before digging in!) beef tongue – ’nuff said; the lemon accompaniment was awesome

  • tuna pizza:
    tuna pizza
    our least favorite dish, not because it wasn’t good: the wafer thin “crust” and presentation was spot on, but there was too much mayo and it lacked either tang or heat or a little bit of both

  • buta kakuni (pork belly):
    buta kakuni
    awesome, and i’ve had a lot of pork belly; unfortunately, our server forgot this dish so the time between the pizza and the pork belly was too long and our food had settled. consequently, we burped up the pork belly for the rest of the night. could be worse, i suppose, it could’ve tasted worse coming up than it did going down (!)

  • sake flight:
    sake flight
    the sake on the end was the best: apple, pear, cotton candy; the one in the middle, the junmai ginjo tasted like pepper and was the least favorite (but not necessarily because of the pepper, it was simply the least favorite; the first one (not shown) was the second favorite; it tasted like pear and wasn’t nearly as complex as the favorite one

maybe next time we’ll sit at the bar:
sushi bar at aburiya toranoko
either way, i’m pretty sure there will be a next time.

aburiya toranoko | 243 s san pedro st los angeles ca 90012 | 213.621.9500

chilaquiles

this is what breakfast is supposed to be! did i mention that i first tried chilaquiles at cheeky’s in palm springs at m’s suggestion (and that i should *always* listen to m when she makes food recommendations?). cheeky’s made theirs with tomatillo sauce but bon appetit’s recipe called for guajillo chiles (which, not surprisingly, we have plenty of in the pantry).

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4 servings

INGREDIENTS

Red Chile Sauce

  • 7 dried guajillo or New Mexico chiles
  • 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained
  • 1 medium white onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
  • 5 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 jalapeño, with seeds, chopped
  • 1/8 teaspoon smoked or Hungarian sweet paprika
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Assembly

  • Vegetable oil (for frying)
  • 9 6-inch corn tortillas, quartered, or 36 large tortilla chips
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled queso fresco or mild feta
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
  • 4 large eggs
  • Finely chopped white onion
  • Thinly sliced radishes
  • Chopped fresh cilantro
  • Lime wedges

PREPARATION

Red Chile Sauce

Place chiles in a medium bowl; cover with 2 cups boiling water. Let chiles soak until softened, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving soaking liquid. Discard stems and seeds; place chiles in a blender. Add tomatoes, next 4 ingredients, and 1 cup reserved soaking liquid; purée until smooth.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add purée (it will splatter) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes (add more reserved soaking liquid if too thick). Stir in honey and season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm before using.

Assembly

Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour oil into a large skillet to a depth of 1 1/2 inches. Prop deep-fry thermometer in skillet with bulb submerged. Heat over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 350°. Working in batches, fry tortillas, occasionally turning with tongs, until crisp, 2–3 minutes. Transfer chips to prepared sheet and season with salt.

Preheat broiler. Toss chips and 1 cup sauce in a large bowl. Transfer half of chips to a large ovenproof platter or skillet. Scatter half of cheeses over chips. Top with remaining chips and cheeses, along with 1/2 cup more sauce. Broil until cheese is golden and melted, 4–5 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour oil into a nonstick skillet to lightly coat. Heat over medium heat. Add eggs and fry until whites are set but yolks are still runny, about 4 minutes.

Top chilaquiles with chopped onion, radishes, cilantro, and lime wedges. Top with fried eggs and serve with remaining sauce alongside.

wabi-sabi

we should’ve eaten at sonoma wine garden at santa monica place because we paid for a coupon that expired on this night, but so many coupons expired this wee, that we had difficulty keeping them all straight and why go to a wine bar when you can go out for japanese food? um, yeah, you don’t. or at least *we* don’t.

tiger roll and mackerel 2 ways

tiger roll and mackerel 2 ways

mussels and udon

mussels and udon in bonito broth with a touch of chili (money!) m says she could just order 2 of these and be happy as a "mussel"

wabi-sabi wabi sabi | 1635 Abbot Kinney Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90291 | 310.314.2229

retail therapy

remember that retail therapy i mentioned before? this is what it looks like on our wall:

malia's garden (l) and departures (r)

malia's garden (l) and departures (r); thinking of renaming "malia's garden" to "anna's garden"

thank you, nicholas vicknair, for creating art i felt like i couldn’t live without and delivering it to my front door

talk myself out of it (or “so screw it”)

i was so sleepy this morning, i fell asleep reading flipboard while waiting for m to get ready for work. i swore i’d go back to bed. as i was driving home, i saw a biker and thought to myself: i want to go biking today, but i’m soooo tired. i usually talk myself out of doing lots of things by tackling my to-do list and telling myself these things HAD to be done or ELSE.

in typical fashion, i did not go back to bed and i did indeed start tackling my to do list. i watered plants, upgraded the blog, wrote a check for ani difranco tickets, and then mustered up the courage to go into battle with my new printer. there was no battle to be had as we quickly called a truce and we both came out winners. i am now an all-in-one studio: photographer, developer, printer.

and then it was time to go biking and i prepped myself without a further thought. i had had a very successful morning and was not about to talk myself out of a sunny, 75 degree bike ride. my a** complained a bit and my knee complained a lot but that was mostly because a refrigerator slammed into it this morning. i won’t blame it for being grumpy. or discolored.

outbound: 7.33 miles / 41.55 minutes / 10.4 avg mph
return: 7.30 miles / 43.24 minutes / 10.1 avg mph

about 100 yards from my destination, i realized i had my bike lock, but no key. arrrrrgggghhhh!!!!! think! think quickly! i scoped out the bike rack area and the back of the building but decided against all of those. i asked a fellow biker who was checking his phone if he was going to loiter in the parking lot for a bit longer. alas, he was not, but he suggested parking my bike just inside the door. he had done it before. ok, here goes, because i’m not about to turn around and bike home and come back (thus talking myself out of my original plan). i can improvise – really, i can. i wait patiently for a break in the foot traffic and park my bike and fess up to the front desk that i’ve done this thing that i’m not supposed to do (because that’s who i am and sometimes asking nicely will get you what you want). she was nice about it; i promised not to do it again; i kept checking on it like a crazy paranoid person; and in less than 5 minutes, i was on my way again, with my favorite bike in my possession. score!

however, in my haste to get my business done as inconspicuously as possible, i quickly put my bag on the floor, more specifically, i put it down on my camelbak mouthpiece. on the floor. are you comprehending the gravity of this situation??? dirt! and other even more malignant unseemly germs! i can’t think about it anymore…

i could abstain from drinking any water on the way home, but it’s warm outside. and i like water. so, i remove the mouthpiece, push water through the tube onto the mouthpiece, rub the mouthpiece on the inside of my shirt and repeat the same steps. but only once more because i’m not THAT much of a crazy person. and to make sure i didn’t talk myself out of hydrating on the way home, i looked long and hard at the newly rinsed mouthpiece and took a big gulp.