The Dark Knight and I celebrated our second anniversary earlier this month at Cafe des Artistes, a quaint Hollywood eatery tucked away on a side street just off Sunset Blvd. Located in a restored bungalow, the cafe boasts a covered front patio serving a limited menu from the kitchen and a full menu from the bar for casual nibblers and those who just want to hang out and chat.
The inside of this homey cafe is decorated with paintings and other artwork inspired by some of Europe's most famous artists. Wood tables and votive candles create a comfortable, elegantly casual atmosphere. But the real star is the food. The Dark Knight and I started with the escargot, served bubbling hot in the traditional mixture of butter, parsley, and garlic. My cabernet (Louis Martini '03, France) had just enough body and spice to cut through the oily creaminess of the perfectly soft and tender snails.
The Dark Knight enjoyed his filet mignon, reveling in the sharp bite of the peppercorn sauce. Served with frites, the filet was succulent, cooked to the ideal medium rare. I enjoyed my entree more, though. The table-prepared steak tartare is a show in itself, with the waiter spicing this mixture of finely chopped top-quality steak and accompaniments to my specifications. The cabernet held up well to this dish as well, lending a subtle sweetness to this very savory course.
For dessert, the Dark Knight and I shared the warm thin apple tart, topped with a rich vanilla bean ice cream. The apples were beautifully caramelized, though the crust was a bit too soggy for my taste. The crust is, of course, the truest test for any pastry chef, and I think we may simply have caught this one on an off night.
Overall, Cafe des Artistes lives up to its reputation as one of LA's best hidden jewels for French comfort food.
Cafe des Artistes
1534 N. McCadden Place
Hollywood, CA 90028
www.cafedesartistes.info
20 April 2007
10 April 2007
Restaurant O
I spent this past weekend in the Bay Area, visiting with family and friends. One night, we went to a restaurant that occupies a space I knew years ago as my favorite osso buco spot. Now, it's a tidy little space with upholstered walls, wood paneling, and twisted track lighting. Restaurant O boasts a comprehensive wine list, market fresh food, and a knowledgeable waitstaff that emphasizes wine pairings and witty banter.
We started with mussels roasted in a wood-burning oven, bathed in a lightly seasoned lemon butter sauce. Roasting the mussels gave them a slightly smoky flavor, but it also intensified the natural sweetness and softened the texture. They quite literally melted on the tongue. Also on the table was a Caesar salad with fried anchovies--lovely but not as memorable as what the menu calls a "strawberry napoleon." This dish consisted of layers of phyllo atop single leaves of buttery lime stone lettuce. The lettuce encased a small mound of tender pea shoots and bleu cheese drizzled with a wonderfully acidic strawberry balsamic vinaigrette. Scattered around the plate were thin slices of perfectly ripe strawberries, lending a subtle sweetness to each bite. My sauvignon blanc from Husch Vineyards ('05) played nicely with this appetizer, lightening the thick balsamic.
For our entrees, we had a raviolo filled with lentils and Dungess crab, sitting in a creamy Madeira obster sauce. There was a hint of anise in the sauce, enhancing the succulent crab meat. While I'm not a fan of lentils, they worked well with this dish, adding a nice texture to the filling. The huge veal chop was juicy and tender, the rosemary balsamic reduction serving as a piquant backdrop against the buttery meat. My favorite, however, was the seared scallops topped with pan-crisped foie gras. The grapefruit reduction bore no traces of the bitterness most people associate with grapefruit. Instead, there was simply a subtle citrus essence, which worked as a delectable foil against the apple relish that topped the dish. The scallops, sweet and moist, were accentuated by the creaminess of the foie gras. Again, the sauvignon blanc was a wonderful suggestion from our waiter; cutting through the heavy foie and bringing out the natural fresh flavor of the scallops, this wine was the best choice to accompany my dish.
Our dessert was a layer of cake soaked in coffee, the topped with chocolate and coffee mousse. The cake itself was perfect: rich and velvety, with a tender crumb and spongy texture. The mousse was light and airy, making for a dessert that was a perfect, if sinful, end to our meal.
While it is a bit of a drive from anywhere in the Bay Area, this Campbell restaurant is definitely worth a return visit. I left inspired by the creative flavor combinations, ready to try my hand at re-creating this excllent meal.
Restaurant O
2081 S. Winchester Blvd.
Campbell, CA 95008
www.restaurant-o.com
We started with mussels roasted in a wood-burning oven, bathed in a lightly seasoned lemon butter sauce. Roasting the mussels gave them a slightly smoky flavor, but it also intensified the natural sweetness and softened the texture. They quite literally melted on the tongue. Also on the table was a Caesar salad with fried anchovies--lovely but not as memorable as what the menu calls a "strawberry napoleon." This dish consisted of layers of phyllo atop single leaves of buttery lime stone lettuce. The lettuce encased a small mound of tender pea shoots and bleu cheese drizzled with a wonderfully acidic strawberry balsamic vinaigrette. Scattered around the plate were thin slices of perfectly ripe strawberries, lending a subtle sweetness to each bite. My sauvignon blanc from Husch Vineyards ('05) played nicely with this appetizer, lightening the thick balsamic.
For our entrees, we had a raviolo filled with lentils and Dungess crab, sitting in a creamy Madeira obster sauce. There was a hint of anise in the sauce, enhancing the succulent crab meat. While I'm not a fan of lentils, they worked well with this dish, adding a nice texture to the filling. The huge veal chop was juicy and tender, the rosemary balsamic reduction serving as a piquant backdrop against the buttery meat. My favorite, however, was the seared scallops topped with pan-crisped foie gras. The grapefruit reduction bore no traces of the bitterness most people associate with grapefruit. Instead, there was simply a subtle citrus essence, which worked as a delectable foil against the apple relish that topped the dish. The scallops, sweet and moist, were accentuated by the creaminess of the foie gras. Again, the sauvignon blanc was a wonderful suggestion from our waiter; cutting through the heavy foie and bringing out the natural fresh flavor of the scallops, this wine was the best choice to accompany my dish.
Our dessert was a layer of cake soaked in coffee, the topped with chocolate and coffee mousse. The cake itself was perfect: rich and velvety, with a tender crumb and spongy texture. The mousse was light and airy, making for a dessert that was a perfect, if sinful, end to our meal.
While it is a bit of a drive from anywhere in the Bay Area, this Campbell restaurant is definitely worth a return visit. I left inspired by the creative flavor combinations, ready to try my hand at re-creating this excllent meal.
Restaurant O
2081 S. Winchester Blvd.
Campbell, CA 95008
www.restaurant-o.com
05 April 2007
testing...1...2...3
Okay, so this isn't about food. It's about blogging. But it's all part of the experiment that is my blog.
I'm using ScribeFire, a Firefox add-on, to compose this. I'm interested to see how well it works...
I'm using ScribeFire, a Firefox add-on, to compose this. I'm interested to see how well it works...
Powered by ScribeFire.
Cookies and chocolate and brownies...oh my!
Well, here we go. This is the first of many posts about finding, eating, and cooking some of my favorite things.
Yesterday was a slightly messy, mostly delicious day. After searching allrecipes.com for a butter cookie recipe that would yield slightly crisp, not-too-sweet cookies, I finally found a recipe that almost suits my needs (search "Classic Butter Cookies II"). I'm a bit snooty when it comes to cookies, and I wanted a crisper product with more interesting flavoring. So what's a girl to do? Why, tweak the recipe, of course.
Crisp Butter Cookies
I cut these with mini cookie cutters to make butterflies and daisies, then decorated them with writing chocolate. The cookies are just sweet enough, with a nice bite to them. They'll keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 weeks.
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white, beaten until frothy
1/2 tsp. vanilla, almond, or lemon extract (I prefer lemon for a fresh zing on the palate)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1. Cream together butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add in egg, egg white, and extract.
2. Gradually add flour, one third at a time, on low speed. Mix until just incorporated.
3. Form into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon non-stick mats (e.g. Silpats).
5. Roll out dough on well-floured surface to 1/8'' thickness. Be sure to turn dough gently between rolls to ensure even thickness and prevent sticking. Cut out shapes with cookies cutters and move carefully with a spatula onto cookie sheets.
6. Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through time. Immediately move to wire rack for cooling.
Writing Chocolate
This recipe uses leftover chocolate chips or chunks from other projects. Placing the chocolate-decorated cookies in the freezer or refrigerator allows the chocolate to harden and set, but the chocolate will begin to melt again if left out for over an hour. Makes enough to sparingly decorate the above recipe.
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks (bittersweet or unsweetened works best)
1 tbs. vegetable oil
1. Combine both ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until chocolate is almost melted.
2. Remove from microwave carefully, then stir the mixture until chocolate melts completely.
3. Spoon chocolate into piping bag fitted with your smallest tip, or into a sandwich-sized zip-top bag for decorating. If using the zip-top bag, snip off just the very corner (enough to make an opening the diameter of a pen tip). Decorate cookies carefully, then let set for 30 minutes before putting in freezer to harden chocolate.
Melted chocolate is a little messy, even with my zip-top bag perched in a water glass, open and ready to be filled. I've found it's best to use this method, along with a small silicon spatula, for scraping chocolate or royal icing into improvised piping bags. But it's no big loss if there's any spillage, as long as you keep it on your fingers. Tasty mishaps :)
Another of my favorite derivative recipes is the one for what I like to call "Spiced Chocolate Cupcake Brownies." It goes perfectly with the "Spiced Chocolate Frosting," another adjusted recipe. I found both original recipes on allrecipes.com, the first one"Cupcake Brownies," and the second "Chocolate Fudge Frosting."
Spiced Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes
These brownies are cooked in mini-cupcake liners, and taste like Mexican hot chocolate. Not too sweet, not too fudgy, but perfectly spicy! Makes about 5 dozen mini-cupcake sized brownies.
1 cup butter
1/8 tsp. ancho chili powder
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate squares or chips
4 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. coffee (or coffee-flavored liqueur)
1 cup flour
1. In a small saucepan, melt together over low heat butter, ancho and regular chili powder, cinnamon, salt, and chocolate. Stir constantly. Let cool for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place mini-cupcake liners in mini-cupcake pan.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs and sugar until light in color.
4. Add in vanilla and coffee, then beat in chocolate mixture. Stir in flour, combining thoroughly.
5. Fill mini-cupcake liners 2/3 full using a melon baller or mini-ice cream scoop. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out crumby and slightly fudgy looking. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool on wire rack. Frost with Spicy Chocolate Frosting if desired.
Spicy Chocolate Frosting
Light and fluffy, this frosting sets up nicely in the refrigerator. Keeps for 1 week in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Whip leftovers before using again. Makes enough to frost the entire above recipe.
1/2 cup butter, cut into small cubes
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares or chips
1/4 tsp. ancho chili powder
1 lb. confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1. In a microwaveable bowl, combine butter, chocolate, and ancho. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring each time, until chocolate is just melted.
2. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, vanilla, and milk. Add chocolate mixture, combining thoroughly.
3. Let stand until spreadable. Mixture will thicken as it cools. If it is too stiff after cooling, re-whip, adding 1 tbs. milk at a time until desired consistency is reached. Put into piping bag with a large star tip to frost above recipe, or use an offset spatula to frost an 8'' round cake.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)