Longboarding

Joel Tudor interview on longboarding and why it's not shortboarding

Watched the surfers on a major swell today at Topanga. Shortboarders bore me. The sexy ones were the three longboarders who were killing it with five toes over and powerful turns.

Surfed today

That is all.

Oatmeal phobia

I had this impression that plain oatmeal tastes like ass with a hint of cardboard. I don't know where I got this impression. I don't actually remember ever eating oatmeal, but maybe I was just suppressing a memory which lingers as just an impression.

So, being an adventurous sort of foodie, I decided to try oatmeal this morning. I am happy to report that I was wrong, it actually tastes more like cardboard with a hint of ass. I decided it would help to dress it up... salt (lots of it), butter, and a fried egg on top. I broke the yolk with my spoon and had myself some egg-flavored oatmeal. No cardboard or ass.

Now I feel healthy because I ate oatmeal.

I surf / I don't surf

I think this is a lull.

My weekend commitment to "paddle no matter what" went by the wayside after about two weekends. One weekend had no surf, and I paddled. One weekend had some small fun surf and I had some small fun waves, and I paddled. This weekend was a swell and the yahoos were out. Close-outs did not look fun to paddle over or out of at home break and hunting down non-crowded points on the first Los Angeles weekend swell in two months did not sound like a fun way to spend the morning.

So I don't surf.

Creativity

Lately, understanding comes just before I fall asleep. This is frustrating.

Last night, I thought I understood Molly Daniels old teachings about stories not being fiction until you have that extra 30%. Just had to get that down before I forgot.

Garlic roasted crab and seafood risotto

Dungeness crab. My first time killing things with eyes. What guilt I had was washed away with dinner.

Risotto -- much better texture than my first attempt the other day, not mushy at all. Killed clams for this dish, but they don't have eyes, do they?

Mushy, but tasty risotto

In my first attempt, I totally overcooked the risotto last night. It was fine... then it wasn't. I learned that the arborio likes to keep cooking even when you take it off the heat. Tasty, though.

Caramelized onions

I made some caramelized onions for the first time yesterday. I was folding dumplings and shu-mai, and I parked myself at the kitchen counter so I could periodically stir the onions.

As the onions seemed to melt into a delicious reddish-brown goo, I wondered aloud to my husband whether it was done. He was pan-frying some sweet potato ravioli I learned from watching Ming Tsai.

"Smells good. I think it's done. What's next?"

"This is it. I caramelized onions. That was the point."

"I thought you were working off a recipe!"

"Yeaaaahh. A recipe for caramelizing onions. That's the point. I wanted to caramelized onions."

He shook his head. He obviously doesn't get how my obsessive nature applies to food. Sure, I have ideas about putting the onions on steak maybe doing something with potatoes in the pantry. But obviously, an ingredient that takes 4 hours of periodic attention is something you prep ahead of time to keep in your fridge for a week of experimentation to come.

Already, I love me some caramelized onions with some scrambled eggs.

Dongpo Pork

Sunday's experiment was a dongpo ro (braised pork belly). Here's the recipe I kind of used.

The boy (who has some strange aversion to fat and skin) even liked it.

100,001 wontons

Last Friday I took an Asian shellfish class mainly because I saw salt and pepper shrimp (one of my favorite Chinese restaurant dishes ever) was on the menu and partly because I wanted to check out this cooking school. We paired up and drew from a bowl to see which dish we'd be preparing that evening. I was crossing my fingers for salt and pepper shrimp, but I would have been more than happy to do garlic roasted crab, too.

Just my luck?

My partner and I drew Scallop and chive dumplings. It's not like I haven't made hundreds or thousands or HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dumplings before. We tried to trade, but everybody was happy with their draws. So, my goal became: fold these little fuckers as fast as I can and then watch every other station cook their dish.

More luck?

I also happened to partner up with the one Taiwanese-American mother of two in the world who has never folded dumplings in her life, so no help there. My BROTHERS can fold dumplings.

When the instructor called the rest of the class over to demo the folding process, I was already out the gate and on auto-pilot while she carefully pleated her dumpling on the cutting board. Sure her dumpling was beautiful, but I'd already finished three by the time she was done. I don't think I made a friend.

To add to my annoyance, the two assistant instructors actually came over to me and asked me to show them how I was folding the dumplings. (Someone give me my class fee back!)

The dumplings tasted good (although, I question the recipe's instruction to use a food processor on scallops - puree anyone?) and I got to observe and eat all the food including giant portions of crab, so yay.

Gordon Ramsay at the London Hotel

Went to a DineLA.com Restaurant Week special prix fixe last night.

GORDON RAMSAY AT THE LONDON WEST HOLLYWOOD
1020 N. San Vicente Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310.854.1111
thelondonwesthollywood.com

DINNER

Appetizers
Choice 1 - Confit Beet Salad - with ricotta cheese, beetroot dressing and crispy endive
Choice 2 - Wild Mushroom Veloute - with sauteed mushrooms and chive cream
Choice 3 - Rabbit and Smoked Bacon Ballottine - with vegetable piccalilli and toasted brioche

Entrees
Choice 1 - Jerusalem Artichoke Risotto - with artichoke chips, black truffle and sherry caramel reduction
Choice 2 - Crispy Pave of Sea Trout - with white cabbage and pickled ginger, kohlrabi and celeriac cream sauce
Choice 3 - Braised Ox Cheek - with port wine, horseradish creamed potatoes, glazed turnips and braising jus

Desserts
Choice 1 - Chocolate Savarin - with malted milk emulsion, salted caramel ice cream and caramel powder
Choice 2 - Creme Fraiche and Quince Panna Cotta - with gingerbread ice cream
Choice 3 - Kabocha Pumpkin Chiboust - with chestnut cream and green tea gelato

Note
Dinner also includes: Steamed Bamboo and Shiitake Mushroom Chawanmushi amuse and "Pre-Dessert".

Hope

I am not usually an emotional person (although, I do cry at the sappiest movies). I was more overcome by paranoid worry than joy on Election Day. The insane McCain supporters who made the headlines (and who won't go away... Joe) had me worried about a loud, boorish portion of our country. The pomp of Inauguration Day went by in silence as I watched C-Span. Listening to CNN talk of 10-disk CD changers in the bullet-proof limos or to Fox News lionizing Bush one last time drove me to the preferable silence of the C-Span feed.

I have never been one of the Hope-filled Change-meisters marching to the beat of a charismatic leader, though I did campaign for the guy.

Instead, I was waiting for something besides inspirational words (and inspiring they are). I was waiting for an action.

As I read that President Obama signed an order to shut down Guantanamo and quit torture practices, I was overcome with emotion. I cried. That our country no longer stands for torture and illegal detention, that our country respects human life, that our country is moving to be better than its enemies... I was overcome. Finally, I felt relief, pride, and yes, even hope.

The start of beef broth

Roasted beef bones, veal bones, and pork bones.

Miso Catfish Sous Vide

I have to learn how to get the fish out of its sous vide package in a prettier fashion. In any case, here is a picture of the sous vide process:

Little Dumpling Squash

To mangle The Beatles:

Little dumpling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little dumpling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

So cute:



Halved the little dumpling squash lengthwise and scooped out the seeds. A little olive oil, salt, peppper, crushed red pepper, cinnamon and into the oven for about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, my sous chef browned some ground beef with salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Drained and reduced the juices and sauteed shallots and maitake mushrooms (also called "hen of the woods"... my "that looks weird, I want to eat it!" purchase at Ranch 99). It was pretty good... mild, a little nutty. Reintroduced the beef to the mixture with cooked rice and cilantro. This was the stuffing for the halved squash.

I finely chopped some cilantro leaves and stems and roughly chopped some mint. The cilantro went into the dressing my sous chef was putting together (olive oil, lime juice, red chili and garlic sauce). The dressing and mint dressed the stuffed squash. Sweet and spicy.

Pictures for Surfsister, but I think I need Soul Brother #1 to take the food photos. The little dumpling looked better than this photo and tasted way better, too:

Braised oxtail stew

I find Alton Brown entertaining and useful. He used short ribs for his stew episode, but I'm partial to oxtail... especially as I horde the small bits of vertebrae in preparation for another round of beef stock.

Seared oxtail and beef stew meat before coating it in a mixture of tomato paste, paprika, oregano, thyme, rosemary and braising it in the oven at low heat for 4 hours.

Two days later (because I didn't have time to finish on Sunday), I sauteed onion, carrots, potato, leeks, peas in beef fat before dumping the braised meat and liquid into a stock pot to soften the vegetables and serve.

Parsnips

Tried out the recipe in Gourmet magazine. Pureed Parsnips with sauteed brussel sprout leaves. The combination of textures was fun. The snap of the brussel sprout leaves and the mellow flavor was good with the aromatic puree.

I think, though, I like roasted parsnips better than boiled. I like how the parsnip caramelizes when it's roasted.

It's best not to reply

The best and worst thing about Facebook is that people from your past somehow come into your present. It's been a while since I checked in on Facebook, but this morning, while standing in line at the polls, I surfed the web on my phone and logged into Facebook to read some "status updates" - most people writing their support for Obama. One of my Facebook "friends" - a woman I knew in grade school and was in marching band with in high school, a girl who was my best friend for a couple years in junior high - was supporting McCain. Luckily, she lives in New Jersey, so her vote doesn't count (I say that jokingly as someone who has spent too many months playing with electoral maps).

Anyway, Pandora's box was open. After Obama's speech tonight, I couldn't resist getting online to check in on the status updates of my Facebook "friends." And there was her status update: "[Facebook friend] says the downfall will begin."

Seriously? I wanted to reply. Seriously? Do you think we're all going to become Communists? Or wear burkas? Or worst of all, become Communists wearing burkas?

It's best not to reply. It's late. I'm looking to pick a fight because I'm wired in such a way that I stand off from emotions and look ahead and worry. The McCain campaign revealed too many insane people who call themselves American. The crazy Halloween scrooge lady who wouldn't give candy to kids unless they supported McCain. Joe the Plumber who is voting against his interest and whose only reply to being questioned is, "Look it up yourself. Look it up and see why I believe what I do." "Terrorist"-shouting men calling to "kill him!" And not the least of all... Sarah Palin.

I live in the same country as these people. These radically religious, incurious, anti-science people share the same American citizenship as I do.

Tonight, it's best not to reply.

Roast duck and kabocha squash

I've been trying to overcome my fear of autumn/winter squashes. I've always loved how they looked, but feared that they tasted too much like a pumpkin which I've never really been fond.

So, inspired by a recent Jamie Oliver show, last night I did a riff on his warm Asian salad of roast duck and pumpkin with kabocha squash. I basically wandered the Santa Monica farmers' market after not surfing (because of fear of rainwater contamination from the first storm of the winter). I looked for interesting squash to try out. Besides the cool name, I liked how it looked like a pumpkin but wasn't.

Really lovely and sweet with a sweet potato texture after roasting in salt, pepper, and crushed red chili. The edges were nice and caramelized and it was a good counterpart to the duck. Threw it together with a spicy soy sauce lime vinaigrette, cilantro, and mint.

Sous vide

Last night, I was feeing a little like autumn, so I rigged up my own sous vide apparatus for a catfish with brussel sprout leaves. I dressed it with olive oil, shallots, thyme sprigs, and a couple cloves of crushed garlic (removed when served).

Instead of using a crazy expensive silicone wrap, I realized that I had bought Reynolds oven bags when I had a coupon and was curious as to what it was. It's been forgotten in the back of my bottom drawer until I learned about sous vide preparation. Worked beautifully.

Accompanying the fish were roasted parsnips and sauteed chanterelle and brown mushrooms.