It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything, and I don’t have much of a good reason—except that I’ve been incredibly busy cooking and, of course, eating!
A few weeks ago, I catered a lovely little graduation party in Orange County. On the menu were the usual charcuterie, fromage, and veggie platters, along with some tasty tidbits from my painfully tiny kitchen:
∞ Edamame and white corn salad with a wasabi vinaigrette in wonton skin cups
∞ Pork lumpia shanghai with spicy-sweet dipping sauce
∞ Thai chicken satay skewers with curry-peanut dipping sauce
∞ Maple-ginger glazed bacon-wrapped shrimp
∞ Vegan stuffed mushroom caps with Asian mushrooms and cilantro
∞ My favorite Mexican hot chocolate mini-cupcake soufflés
∞ Anise-and ginger-scented chocolate ganache with fresh fruit for dipping
Also made possible by this big ball of insanity that is my brain:
∞ Lychee white sangria
∞ Mango-vodka cocktails
∞ Lemongrass cooler (that’s gin, baby!)
More recently, the Dark Knight and I enjoyed a wonderfully romantic dinner at our current favorite neighborhood spot, Opus. We had the six-course tasting menu, crafted by Executive Chef Josef Centeno to pair with the off-menu prosecco we drank throughout the evening:
∞ Chilled soup shot of honeydew, Asian pear with chopped marinated shrimp accented by light citrus notes and a hint of cilantro
∞ Hand-cut hamachi in a white soy dressing on a bed of celery ice and topped with land caviar (Tonburi, or summer cypress seed)
∞ Coddled egg with bacon, chive, and fleur de sel topped with sherry whipped cream and a drizzle of acacia honey
∞ Poblano soup, served hot, with crisped pork belly chunks, grape halves, and garnished with crème fraiche
∞ Kebab-inspired minced shrimp “balls” on a caraway-pepper sauce with micro-arugula
∞ Scallop “pancake” (pancake batter mixed with minced scallops) topped with a large seared scallop and drizzled with a sour cherry gastrique
∞ Goat cheese and almond-stuffed pan-roasted quail with asparagus and squash and a red wine reduction
As we waited (and waited and waited) for our dessert, our server brought over a tasting of chilled Aria(?) white port. With its caramelized apricot nose and smooth, toasted hazelnut finish, this was the perfect drink to ready us for our last (and technically sixth actual) course:
∞ Tapioca pudding in a lemongrass soup with fresh lychee and pomegranate
This meal was well-paced (except for dessert, which our server apologized for), leaving us sated but not sickeningly full. I simply cannot find the words (without sounding redundant) to fully explain how utterly entranced we were with our dishes. The Dark Knight and I really appreciated the kitchen creating a menu that went so well with the lightly acidic, yet bright and sweet flavors of our prosecco. I wish I could remember the name…
One thing I do remember the name of is Baby Blues Bar-B-Q, located in a less-than-savory neighborhood on Lincoln in Venice. A tiny parking lot, but plenty of street parking, mark this spot as a locals-joint (though two of my dinner companions on Sunday had driven all the way up from Huntington Beach).
This is a home-spun place, but better and cooler than anyone else’s kitchen/dining room. A long counter and the open grill dominate the front room, but the real charm is in the back dining room. Art by renowned painter/graffiti artist JoeJoe adorns nearly every square inch of the walls, all of it for sale, all of it guaranteed to smell as good as it looks. The scent of low-and-slow smoke permeates the building, you see, enticing anyone walking within 100 feet of this LA favorite.
Because there were four of us (JP, his friend, the Dark Knight, and yours truly), we decided to order as many different dishes as possible:
∞ Memphis-style pork long ribs—juicy, tender, smoky, just sweet enough, a tiny bit spicy (Porno Hot BBQ sauce rocks my world!)
∞ Baby back ribs—really smoky, not overly seasoned, definitely best with a drizzle of the Porno Hot
∞ Beef brisket—moist, lightly sauced shredded brisket…different, but good
∞ Carolina pulled pork—melt-in-your-mouth pork doused in that yummy vinegar-based sauce
∞ Beer-braised smoked link sausage—savory and well-spiced (but not exactly spicy), the flavor of the braising liquid (mostly beer, yes) was strong but not detractingly so
∞ Mac ‘n’ cheese—not exactly my favorite, this version was a little too strong on the bleu cheese and the cheese sauce was thick enough to be more of a coating than a sauce
∞ Sauteed okra—salty and savory, no slimy okra here
∞ Creamed spinach—more like sautéed spinach, no creaminess at all
∞ Chicken smoked rice—I usually don’t like restaurant rice (too dry, too wet, too salty, too gross), but this changed my mind with its spicy, smoky notes and tasty little bits of chicken
∞ Blues on the cob—I really enjoyed this sweet, grilled corn on the cob topped with cojita cheese and a squeeze of lime juice
This is not the end, dear readers. Last night, the Dark Knight took me to our favorite neo-Japanese restaurant, Hirozen. I feel like I’ve blogged and commented ad nauseam about this exemplar of Japanese tradition and high-end Western ingredients, but I can’t help myself. I’ll do it again (all sushi is nigiri-style—no rolls! Ugh.):
∞ Spanish mackerel—three orders of our favorite!
∞ Tasmanian sea trout—a pleasant surprise, with its beautiful bright orange color and mildly briny but mellow flavor
∞ Saury—firm textured, delicious
∞ Ama ebi (raw sweet shrimp)—good, but the texture was not the Dark Knight’s favorite; we adored the fried shrimp heads, though
∞ Suzuki (sea bass)—firm, fresh, and tasty
Since we were at a place known as much for its fresh sushi as its creative cooked foods, the Dark Knight and I ordered our favorite specials:
∞ Blue crab egg rolls—hot, crisp, succulent, and meaty with a light curry dipping sauce
∞ Shrimp-stuffed zucchini blossom tempura—sweet and savory, light and fluffy
∞ Purple yam yokan (dessert)—dense, subtly flavored, with their signature coconut tapioca on the side
∞ Tempura figs (dessert)—perfectly sweet fresh figs in a lacy tempura batter served with green tea ice cream to temper the honey tones of the fruit
All in all, a terrific dinner. While I’m not exactly the biggest fan of the cramped quarters at Hirozen, I am a huge fan of their exquisitely prepared, simply luscious food.
And there you have it, darlings. A culinary tour of some of my best-loved foods and places. I’m hungry again. Time to eat!
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