dine LA Restaurant Week 2008

It's that time of year again! Some of the best restaurants in LA are setting up 3 course prix fixe menus at the more than affordable price of $34 per person.

Since I'm in the South Los Angeles area I'm going to have to stick to restaurants in Long Beach. Here is the list:

L'Opera $22 lunches $34 dinners

Long Beach

Italian

$$$

Lunch

Dinner

McKenna's on the Bay $22 lunches $34 dinners

Long Beach

Seafood

$$$

Lunch

Dinner

Mr R's Grille @ The Marriott - Long Beach $34 dinners

Long Beach

Steakhouse

$$$

Dinner

Ristorante daVinci $22 lunches $34 dinners

Long Beach

Italian

$$$

Lunch

Dinner

The Sky Room. $34 dinners

Long Beach

American

$$$

Dinner

More dineLA information available on Open Table.

Dinner Parties

One of the best parts about having great friends who do you favors is putting together little dinner parties to thank them. Other times it's just a good way to get rid of food in my fridge quickly so I can buy new things that entice my palate. Dinner Parites are relatively easy to throw; food and decor is all you need.

My dinner parties usually follow a pretty easy menu.

Appetizers: 3 types of cheese, a whole grain baguette, miscellaneous vegetables and fruit.

Salad: Usually mixed baby greens, crumbled cheese, red onions, tiny plum tomatoes and some crisp bacon dressed with some vinaigrette.

Main Course: A roast of some sort accompanied by a starch like potatoes and an herbed vegetable dish. Occasionally I'll add in a pasta dish to supplement.

Dessert: A cake or pastry of some sort topped with fruit and a sauce. Sometimes I mix it up with a creme brulee or waffles with berries and whipped cream.

Cocktails: Red wine or signature cocktails like Hot Buttered Rums or Mojitos, it all depends on the meal.

Decor: Candles, serving platters and the occasional flowers.

It usually takes me a couple of hours to get everything together, not including shopping time.

101 Cookbooks, a Gem

I'm a pretty avid blog reader. I've been blogging for years on different sites so it's only natural that I enjoy perusing other people's musings as well. Every once and a while I'll find an amazing blog written by real people who don't make me feel like they're pro bloggers or part some some blogging conglomerate. Heidi of 101 Cookbooks is one of those bloggers.

She is a professional cookbook writer though, her books Super Natural Cooking and Cook 1.0 are filled with natural healthy recipes and amazing photography. Her blog is no different.

As I try my hand at regular blogging I look to these impressive writers for things I can incorporate into my own culinary blog.

From Heidi I've learned that there are three elements to a perfect food post.

First, you must include a gorgeous photograph, she suggests taken in natural light, of the ingredients, a finished product or a step in the process of making the recipe. Heidi's photographs are fresh, bright and clean. Somehow, I'm assuming this is where the natural light comes in, because her pictures are soothing to the eye while the colors pop in every single one. It's somewhat similar to the visual style of Giada's Everyday Italian Show on Food Network.

I hope she doesn't mind, I had to give you a sample of her wonderful photographs.

Second, you must include the most charming stories to go along with the recipe. With Heidi she gives you a glimpse into her life that seems filled with love, friendship and food. Every recipe has the background of how she came up with the recipe, or who taught her how to make the dish or what the food reminds her of and makes her feel. Though I have never actually heard Heidi's voice, her narrative writing style makes it easy for every blog to feel like I can actually hear her speaking as I read them.

Third, you must have amazing recipes that use amazing ingredients. You can tell her love of food from the description of different ingredients that most every day cooks may not have tried. Everything from black Japonica rice to clandestinely delivered fingerling potatoes, she takes them and put them into the perfect simply delicious dishes.

More than anything, between everything else I have to juggle in my life, every time Heidi blogs a new recipe her posts give me a light hearted feeling that always reminds me of a few of my favorite things: food, photography and writing.

Beef Tenderloin (Part 4 - Beef Carpaccio)

In the beginning of my young professional years, one of my big splurges was always fine dining. I would find it difficult to spend a few hundred on a dress that I loved but wouldn't give a second thought to dishing out the same cash for an amazing tasting menu.

Aside from my love of prix fixe chef specials, I did manage to rack up quite a few dollars on my cashback rewards card spending money at new restaurants trying out the dishes they considered signature. It was on one of these trips years ago that my old best friend and I tried out Trastevere Ristorante Italiano when it opened at Hollywood and Highland.

At the time, their special Antipasti was a Beef Carpaccio, something neither of us had happened upon before. Truth be told, being raised in a suburb where Olive Garden was considered good Italian food, we just didn't have any affinity for it until being exposed to the intricacies of truly gourmet Italian cuisine. Now, I know better.

Though the dish is no longer on their menu, I can only assume because Hollywood and Highland is such a tourist trap that unrefined palates that wander into the restaurants don't want a dish of raw beef. Unfortunate. When we had it the beef tenderloin came out paper thin, the shavings of parmesan reggiano were just the right mix of salty and creamy with a touch of fruitiness, fresh arugula and basil surprisingly didn't steal the show with it's strong aromas and the drizzle of truffle oil in lieu of olive oil with meyer lemon was divine in it's simplicity.

I've made beef carpaccio at home before, my fiance refused to try it. I don't know if he is squeamish about raw meat or if he just didn't like the look of the whole tenderloin that I brought home. He's the type who likes to leave things to the professionals where I'm a cut it yourself kind of gal. Regardless, here is the recipe I used:

8-10	ounces beef tenderloin, from the tip end of the roast
4	cups arugula
	lemon and olive oil vinaigrette to taste
	kosher salt
	fresh ground black pepper
	shaved parmesan cheese

1. Wrap the tenderloin in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 2 hours.
2. After 2 hours, unwrap the tenderloin and thinly slice the beef into approximately into 1/8 to 1/4-inch pieces.
3. Lay out sheets of plastic wrap and place each slice onto the plastic. Top with another piece of plastic and gently pound the meat with a meat mallet until paper thin.
4. Repeat until all of the meat is sliced and pounded.
5. Divide the meat evenly among 4 chilled plates. Serve with greens tossed with vinaigrette, salt, pepper and/or Parmesan.

Let's just hope when I make it again this time he'll be daring enough to enjoy it.

Beef Tenderloin (Part 3 - Beef Stroganoff)

One of my favorite dishes when I head out to Jerry's Deli in Westwood is the Beef Stroganoff. It's nothing special, just some egg noodles, beef and a delicious sauce flanked by an order of steamed broccoli. I think the broccoli is there so that I can feel better about intaking such a calorie/carb/fat laden dish.

You'll see, over the course of reading this food blog, that I like to take recipes and make them healthier. Sometimes it's a good move and other times, well, let's just say I should have left well enough alone.

Here is a classic Beef Stroganoff recipe from Back Of The Box courtesy of General Mills for those who are purists:

Classic Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin steak, about 1/2 inch thick
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 cups hot cooked egg noodles


Cut beef across grain into about 1 1/2x1/2-inch strips.

Cook mushrooms, onions and garlic in margarine in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender; remove from skillet.

Cook beef in same skillet until brown. Stir in 1 cup of the broth, the salt and Worcestershire sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir remaining 1/2 cup broth into flour; stir into beef mixture. Add onion mixture; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in sour cream; heat until hot (do not boil). Serve over noodles.

Makes 6 servings

Now, depending on what kind of diet you're on there are a number of substitutions to make this a much healthier dish.

First and foremost, regardless of what diet you're on you should make the following edits:

1. Substitute the 1/4 cup of margarine or butter for a just enough to coat the pan amount of olive oil or cooking spray. Reducing the fat and using good fat is always a good choice.

2. Replace the 1.5 cups of sour cream with fat free sour cream. Same great taste, less calories.

3. Use the lowest fat beef broth you can find. Go organic if you'd like.

Onto the options depending on your diet:

1. I know it might seem apparent to go ahead and substitute a lower fat meat than beef, but I'm not going to suggest this. If I were to do that, this recipe would cease to be a beef stroganoff. a. You could opt for grass fed beef. Supposedly it's power in cholesterol and saturated fats and higher in omega-3s. I'm no scientist, I just report what I've read.
b. Generally always use a loin or a round. They are the leanest cuts of meat. I won't tell you to use a grade that doesn't include marbling, marbling makes meat tender. I use tenderloin for my stroganoff.

2. Mushrooms a plenty. I love the stuff so I would even venture to double the mushrooms in this dish, much to my fiance's dismay. They cook down quick and small. I would even add some different varieties, if I was feeling adventurous. Button mushrooms can be boring, but shiitake mushrooms lend too strong a flavor. Stay in the mid range mild mushroom flavors and you'll be just fine.

3. Replace all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. This is arguable because the amount of flour to some people would be considered negligible and you have to use more whole wheat flour to thicken the same amount of sauce and in turn you still would only be getting a little bit more fiber in return for some more calories. But it's an option.

4. Noodles. Onto the coup de grace, substitutions for the oh so wonderful noodles. A good stroganoff to some is in the sauce, others it's in the meat and still for others it's in the noodles. Here are a few options for those who may be watching their fiber or their vegetable intake.
a. Go high fiber whole wheat egg noodles. You'll sacrifice a bit of the chewiness that makes stroganoff egg noodles so delicious, but the fiber will be worth it. Plus, you'll probably eat less and feel more full.
b. Go low carb and substitute your noodles for cauliflower. You basically trim down the cauliflower so that they form relatively thin rectangles while still keeping their structure, boil it for a few minutes, drain and toss in with your sauce. This is my preferred option because it keep the fiber up, calories down and helps me meet my daily vegetable intake.
c. Go low carb and go shirataki. There are currently shirataki noodles on the market that are high fiber and only 30 calories a package that mimic fettuccine and spaghetti noodle shapes. They are made from a yam and look like rice noodles. They stay chewy, almost too chewy, in any sauce, though some people argue there is an unpleasant smell to the noodles. Some people love them.

Beef Tenderloin (Part 2 - Where and Why)

When I was in college and starting out on my personal culinary journey I failed to understand that you couldn't make any roast out of just any cut of meat. Back then, I didn't even understand the concepts of different cuts of meat, let alone how picking the wrong cut would ruin a dish.

Now that I'm older I understand that you can't use chuck roast to make roast beef and that if you use a rump roast to cut into steaks it'll never be like filet mignon. Live and learn.

Here's a chart that explains the different cuts of meat and where they come from, courtesy of askthemeatman.com:


The tenderloin is the meat that hangs between the shoulder blade and the hip socket. Obviously, this area of the four legged mammal doesn't get much work and results in a very tender piece of meat.

The tenderloin tends to be buttery in flavor and almost melt in your mouth tender, though not as robust as a Rib Eye, my personal cut of choice, it's a favorite among chefs and foodies because it lends itself to many dishes that require the best texture and most presentable color in raw state for dishes like beef carpaccio (made from the tenderloin tip) and beef tartar (ground tenderloin).

Here is a sample reciple for beef tartar from Cooks.com:

Steak Tartar

1 lb. filet Mignon or top sirloin, freshly ground, med. grind
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
3 tbsp. capers, drained
4-5 dashes hot pepper sauce, or to taste
Seasoned salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp. cognac (opt.)

Don't use any other grade of beef.

Mix together all ingredients lightly to avoid packing the meat too much. Mound steak tartar on chilled plates and serve immediately with thinly sliced pumpernickel or toasted French bread.

Serves 3-4.

Image Courtesy of the wonderful blogger at Restaurantwidow.com.

Beef Tenderloin (Part 1 - Filet Mignon)

Anyone who knows me knows that my two favorite chefs on the Food Network are Alton Brown and Giada DeLaurentiis.

In the spirit of my favorite Alton Brown series, I bought a beef tenderloin to butcher myself.

I will be making filet mignons tonight and a chateaubriand this weekend.

I'm trying to decide between the following alton brown and giada recipes:

Steak au Poivre Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005 Show: Good Eats Episode: Tender is the Loin 1

4 tenderloin steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each and no more than 1 1/2 inches thick Kosher salt 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 teaspoon olive oil 1/3 cup Cognac, plus 1 teaspoon 1 cup heavy cream Remove the steaks from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour prior to cooking. Sprinkle all sides with salt. Coarsely crush the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle, the bottom of a cast iron skillet, or using a mallet and pie pan. Spread the peppercorns evenly onto a plate. Press the fillets, on both sides, into the pepper until it coats the surface. Set aside. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golden and smoke, gently place the steaks in the pan. For medium-rare, cook for 4 minutes on each side. Once done, remove the steaks to a plate, tent with foil and set aside. Pour off the excess fat but do not wipe or scrape the pan clean. Off of the heat, add 1/3 cup Cognac to the pan and carefully ignite the alcohol with a long match or firestick. Gently shake pan until the flames die. Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the teaspoon of Cognac and season, to taste, with salt. Add the steaks back to the pan, spoon the sauce over, and serve.

Filet Mignon with Red Wine Sauce Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

6 (4 to 6-ounce) filet mignons Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 cup tomato paste 2 1/2 cups dry red winePreheat grill to medium-high heat. Generously season the steaks with salt and pepper and drizzle with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Grill to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a cutting board. Tent with foil and let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add the garlic and oregano and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in the wine. Simmer until the sauce reduces by half, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Strain the sauce into a small bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids in the strainer and return the sauce to the saucepan and bring back to a slow simmer. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into small 1/2-inch chunks and whisk in the sauce a little at a time. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. Place filets on each of 6 dinner plates. Drizzle the sauce over the filets and serve.

Images courtesy of foodwiser.com, gourmet.about.com, and thewils.net.