Thumbs Off

Despite having had a pretty horrific accident this week (big glass water bottle fell & shattered in my hands) I have had to adapt to having only 9 digits available for use for what looks like 3 months. As mentioned in the prior post, I've been busily baking, designing labels and getting packaging together for the Eat My Blog charity bake sale when this all happened. Well, I'm proud to say after 3 days of hell I am figuring out how to do most everything without it and finding clever ways to keep it waterproof. I'm off to bake more of these Rosemary Honey shortbread wafers and call it a night.

Eat My Blog!

Getting very excited to sample sweets and participate in Eat My Blog charity bake sale this coming Saturday here in West Hollywood at Tender Greens. To make this upcoming event even bigger and better than before, the organizers have recruited 70+ bakers/bloggers who will be cranking out over 2,000 baked goods. Expect to see carrot cake cookie sandwiches, bacon chocolate chip cookies, homemade salted caramels, Momofuku’s Crack Pie, and chocolate Guinness cupcakes with bacon cream cheese frosting at the event. I am making Rosemary Shortbread Wafers for my donation to this great event. All proceeds will be donated to the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.

The Eat My Blog tables will also be lined with special donations from local chefs and restaurants including Evan Kleiman, Chicks with Knives, Debbie Lee, Drago Centro,Starry Kitchen, Bakelab, Cube, Fraiche, Hollywood Corner, Choppe Choppe, Valerie Confections, Plaisir, Scoops Ice Cream, Chef Ludo Lefebvre and Tender Greens. Please come and join us for a day filled with tempting sweets, good company and very good intentions!

Hot Doggie

This just made my day, a great packaging design for hot-dogs. Designed by Subconscious Co. Via: Lovely Package

Kitchen Alchemy

Who doesn't need some Umami paste or Inca Dust to charge up one's spice rack? I'm absolutely in love with the whole concept and exotic ingredients of Easy Tasty Magic created by food writer Laura Santtini. The Easy Tasty Magic collection of taste-enhancers stimulates the senses, both with modern and original flavor combos and beautifully clever approaches to packaging. Shown from top: Umami Paste, Alchemical Larder w/16 rubs & spices, a little vial of Inca Stardust (bitter chocolate, burnt orange and chili), White Mischief Rub (smoked China tea, jasmine, orange flowers, Facing Heaven chili & peppercorns). There are also Food Bling Mixed Metals, sprays and salts in the collection as well. All available online at Selfridges.com.

A Pint of Heaven

Quite possibly the best store-bought gelato I have ever tasted! The clean design and reusable screw-on lid are just side benefits to the perfect smoothness and a very intense aroma of Tahitian vanilla bean. Just heavenly! From Talenti, I got mine at Gelsons.

Tom Selleck, Waterfalls and Sandwiches

How I did not know about this addictive and downright amusing site until now? Updated often, selleckwaterfallsandwich is a vast gallery of very well done photo composites of Tom Selleck, waterfalls and sandwiches. A simple equation that never bores!

Food Tells a Story

It’s no secret that I love good food, typography and great graphics. When the two collide and tell a story, it becomes an art event mentally, visually and on your tongue. Chef John Sedlar is making magical and thought-provoking dishes such as these at his restaurant Rivera in downtown LA. From Rivera’s website: “Food tells a story. One sight, one scent, one taste, one bite and it can evoke whole worlds of memory and transmit experiences and truths that words cannot convey. We eat with our eyes and minds as much as with our mouths. Food is powerful. It sustains body and soul alike. It captures the essence of entire cultures and countries. Food unites us. A shared experience, it overcomes differences and distances to form common bonds. It is a dynamic vehicle for human understanding. These are the principles that guide Rivera. Through food and drink, the restaurant relates and celebrates the story and spirit of Latin culture around the world, from the past to the present day and on into the future. It aims to empower both body and spirit, to provide a convivial experience that leaves its guests pleasurably transformed.” Love the whole concept and execution, after having had the pleasure of eating his food at prior restaurants, I really am looking forward to a meal at Rivera.

Going to Need Food Rehab

I'm going to need some serious food rehab, as MyLastBite put it so well today, we are going to go through "Ludo Withdrawal". Tonight marks the end of a food-lovers dream with LudoBites shutting down for the summer after a wonderfully successful 3 month pop-up food event with chef/artist-in-residence Ludo Lefebrve. He & his wife Krissy created an atmosphere that quickly became the only place you wanted to eat dinner at, he would talk about his inspirations for the night's menu on Twitter and made sure he met every one of his customers (between cooking) all with the feeling you are eating at their home. I mean really, who else in the world could teach me how to make charcoal oil or put curry or wasabi in my dessert? Who else can combine cantaloupe, chorizo & smoked paprika in a soup and make my eyes roll back in my head? Ludo has ruined us by cooking food that is so memorable, one finds it hard to even eat the next day for fear of blandness in everyday food. For now I plan really studying & making some of the recipes in his cookbook Crave. We have been assured he will be back by mid-October in a new location and for now I wish he & his wife a most relaxing vacation. Follow him on Twitter @chefludo.

Photos: Omar Kalifornia

Feast of 5 Senses at Ludo Bites

I knew we were in for a memorable meal when first arriving at Ludo Bites after witnessing diners rolling their eyes back in a state of tasting ecstasy. Chef Ludo Lefebvre has opened up a guerilla style pop-up restaurant for a short time this summer at the Breadbar here in West Hollywood and we were very excited to experience his food after pouring over the daily menus online and watching him in action on Top Chef Masters a few weeks ago. Nothing prepared me for the explosion of flavors that each dish brought. It was truly the best meal I've ever had here in Los Angeles. His stunning cookbook Crave: A Feast of the Five Senses was my next purchase and I'm now reading it from cover to cover, learning how to combine some of the unusual flavors he achieves in the kitchen. Personable, handsome and very much a presence in the restaurant talking to customers, serving food and sharing cooking tips, we felt like family there. If you live in the Los Angeles area, I suggest making a reservation soon. He will open up shop at another yet-to-be announced location, so get on his email list. A special thank you to Omar Kalifornia for the beautiful photos.

From the top: Cantaloupe, Chorizo and Iced Cornichon soup, Grilled Hanger Steak w/beer emulsion, black sesame miso, potato chips and charcoal oil (YUM!), Heirloom tomato salad w/red onions & feta mousse, Fried chicken in duck fat w/mashed potato & fried herbs, Caramelized cod w/black pepper butter, eggplant chutney & grilled melon w/orange, Lighting with our iPhones: the Fois Gras chocolate cupcake w/candied bacon, almonds & maple syrup. Last two photos of my cousins Alicia, Eliza, Omar & myself with Chef Ludo.

Oral Fixation

I am so tempted to try these maple/bacon lollipops from Lollyphile. A favorite taste sensation of mine is sweet and savory salty. Lollyphile is a San Francisco-based candy company started back in 2007 when they found themselves with a lot of absinthe and no candy. One thing led to another and they launched with their Absinthe Lollipops (no you can't get wasted on the candy, no alcohol is in final product). Modern sweets for the urbanite!

TCHO Me

TCHO, a newly launched fair-trade bean-to-chocolate bar company is located on historic Pier 17 in San Francisco.  The company was founded by former space shuttle technologist, Timothy Childs, who launched it with Louis Rossetto, co-founder of Wired magazine. TCHO (the name is a combo of “technology” and a nickname for chocolate), has launched "beta" versions of their product and then invites the community to provide feedback to help them perfect it. Three different bars with different notes, (not actual nuts or fruit) Nutty, Fruity & Chocolately are available online here. Love the whole idea behind this and the simple packaging . 

Carnophobia

This is just so wrong, so frightening and so hilarious. (Via ffffound!)

Cookie Porn

After holding on to this now infamous Chocolate Chip cookie recipe that originated in the NY Times for over a month, I finally gave in and made them this weekend for a family gathering. This is an investment in time & precise ingredients but well worth it, the combination of flours, bittersweet chocolate chips and sea salt (I used sea salt instead of Kosher salt) is almost too much pleasure to handle. The adaptation by Molly at Orangette is easy to follow. Attempting to not eat too many is futile. I recommend waiting 36 hours (I know-it’s a long wait) before baking dough as stated in recipe, the result is well worth it. The flavors & texture are sublime. My waistline disagrees.

Viva la Macaron!

Hands down, Paulette Macarons here in Beverly Hills are the best I’ve ever had outside of the mouth-watering ones from Laudree in Paris. Their packaging & shop design are chic & modern and worth the splurge in calories. Celebrate Bastille Day with their special edition red, white & blue macarons filled with Madagascar vanilla ganache. Available online as well.

A Matter of Taste

If you live in Los Angeles, you must, must try the Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade at the new take-away cafe Lemonade. I’ve had watermelon lemonade before, but not infused with rosemary—which takes it to a whole other level of blending sweet & savory flavors. Most refreshing and a most delicious color. I'll be trying this at home as well, maybe crushing some rosemary, putting it in cheesecloth and infusing it into some fresh lemonade for an hour or so to get the flavors to bind, then adding a little watermelon juice to taste. 

Happiness in a Bowl

This past weekend in Southern California has been blessed with 80 degree weather, making me crave cool, refreshing meals. I usually make this salad in summer, but since spring & summer pretty much blend together in my neck of the woods—it seemed like the perfect day for it. Imagine the intense cool sweetness of watermelon tossed in a ginger, garlic & lime dressing with some lavender sea salt as a final touch. This dressing dances on the tongue and is such a surprising mouthful of tropical cool.

Ginger-Lime Watermelon Salad

1 mini seedless watermelon- cut up

Dressing:

2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger

1 tablespoon zest of lime

3 tablespoons olive oil

1.5 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 smashed clove of garlic

small bunch of chives, finely chopped

Ground pepper to taste

Lavender sea salt to taste

(Got mine at Monsieur Marcel shop at Farmers" Market/Grove, you can also find it online at Posh Gourmet)

Make the dressing ahead and let sit for an hour or so with garlic soaking in mixture. Toss garlic after an hour (if you leave it in, it becomes overpowering) and toss the chopped watermelon in dressing. Chill, will keep for a few days covered in refrigerator. Option: Add chopped cucumber and/or cilantro.