yesterday, i cracked open a bunch of walnuts that KL brought for us. apparently, he tried to open them by smashing them with a hammer. he ended up with walnut all over his apartment. i don’t have a nutcracker and neither does anyone else i know so my mom suggested using a vise. brilliant! worked better than a nutcracker. he even gentle pressure yielded big chunks – i even extricated some halves.
chocolate persimmon
maru cinnamon persimmon
chocolate (l) and cinnamon (r)
gosho persimmon
chocolate (l) cinnamon(m) gosho (r)
thai chicken soup per cook’s illustrated
3 lemongrasss stalks (could add a bit more if using 1.5 lbs of chicken)
3 lg shallots (emphasis on the large)
8 24 sprigs Cilantro
Serranos/jalapenos
kaffir lime leaves
3 TBSP fish sauce
2 tsp red curry paste (if aroy-d brand, more like 4 TBSP)
4 cups chx broth
1 2 TBSP sugar (thai date palm sugar)
2 cans coconut milk
1/2 lb white
1 can peeled straw mushrooms
1 lb chx
3 TBSP lime juice
Garnish
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 serrano chiles , sliced thin
2 scallions , sliced thin on bias
1 lime , cut into wedges
1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat until just shimmering. Add lemon grass, shallots, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon fish sauce; cook, stirring frequently, until just softened, 2 to 5 minutes (vegetables should not brown). Stir in chicken broth and 1 can coconut milk; bring to simmer over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until flavors have blended, 10 minutes. Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer and discard solids in strainer. Rinse saucepan and return broth mixture to pan.
2. Return pan to medium-high heat. Stir remaining can coconut milk and sugar into broth mixture and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms, and cook until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken and cook, stirring constantly, until no longer pink, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove soup from heat.
3. Combine lime juice, curry paste, and remaining 2 tablespoons fish sauce in small bowl; stir into soup. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro, chiles, and scallions. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
on a late evening when we were in nocal, we had a hankering for caffeine-free moroccan mint tea. we found numi’s moroccan mint which is mint tea leaves only. it quenches the moroccan mint green tea hankering and allows both of us to sleep at night. and thank you, whole foods, for comping us 2 paper cups so we could have tea in our hotel room.
i ate hrj and m under the table today at din tai fung. hrj is so impressed with my gustatory fortitude. i’m glad to oblige.
i am helping her sketch
cake house, dear cake house. where have you gone? i hope i can still find you in k-town…
i couldn’t decide if i should save this photo and recipe to my new bookmarking site or put it here, but i simply couldn’t resist, so here it is. this is something we would do. i hope this link never disappears. if you can’t see the photo below, then the page has disappeared…
also titled: why i like americanized and/or chi-chi mexican food
dear lares: i wanted to like you. i wanted to find a place that taught me a little something about traditional (mexico city?) mexican food since i do, after all, live in a place where excellent mexican food shouldn’t be hard to find. i liked your sweet tortilla chips. i liked your slightly spicy (you yelpers are wimps – that ain’t spicy) salsa. i liked your spicy camarones (which also weren’t *that* spicy). but your flavors were superficial and one-dimensional. your carnitas wasn’t greasy (that was a bonus), but it also wasn’t advertising the chile verde to me. so i continue to look forward to loteria grill opening up in santa monica and i’m okay with that being my favorite mexican food. besides, loteria ain’t taco bell, either. and i’ve never seen huitlacoche on any other mexican restaurant menu.
wandering around venice at night brought us to primitivo. i love tapas. i love sampling lots of different things. i love sitting outside on the patio under a heat lamp. and i was totally in the mood for this, even though i didn’t know it. primitivo offers california style tapas featuring lots of fresh farmers’ market veggies and a wide variety of salads, seafood, and entrees which all caught my eye. the highlight of the evening was the “Strawberry Salad with Arugula, Blue Cheese, Toasted Hazelnuts, Prosciutto and Vanilla Bean
Vinaigrette.” i daresay the salad was even a bit underdressed. we also ordered their kanpachi crudo which came with fennel, celery hearts, and a yuzu vinaigrette. they do vinaigrette quite nicely. the pea medley was a bit overdressed in butter, but i ate every single green morsel as peas are my second favorite vegetable. the serving size is significant and our server cautioned us against ordering too much. so next time, we will bring a small army and order the ricotta-chive gnocchi, the harissa lamb chops, the mussels, the scallops, and a few more salads.
bottom line: it ain’t a.o.c. and that’s a good thing.
primitivo | 1025 abbott kinney blvd 90291 | 310.396.5353