FENNEL, BLOOD ORANGE AND PINK LADY APPLE SALAD WITH MINT AND BUTTER LETTUCE

Texture is a thing you don't find important until that first bite.  You expect your teeth to dig into something, you expect that snap or crunch or smooth melt, but instead you bite into...mush.  Gooey, viscous, disintegrating mush.  In that moment, texture becomes a very important thing.

Like flavors or colors, we crave a balance of textures as well.  And in the midst of summer, nothing pleases my palate more than crunch and bright acidity.  This salad cures my texture woes and and my taste ones too.  The fennel and mint have herbaceous depth, the apples are tart and delicious, and the blood oranges are luxurious and really really pretty.  It's the perfect summer salad and a great way to start a meal. Enjoy!





For 4

3 Blood Oranges

3 Pink Lady Apples

1 Fennel bulb

12 large mint leaves, julienned

8 oz Butter lettuce leaves (or Mache)

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

Salt

Freshly ground Black Pepper

Directions:

over a small bowl, slice the blood oranges into supremes.  This is easiest done by slicing off the bottom and top of the orange, slicing off the skin and pulp, and then slice between the fine white lines of pith between each wedge.  This way you get wedges of orange without any pulp or pith, making them incredibly easy to eat.  Once you finish slicing one orange, squeeze the remaining pulp and juice over the bowl.  Do this for each orange and reserve the juice.  Strain the juice (you'll probably have about a 1/4 cup), add a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a few tablespoons of olive oil.  Taste and adjust.  It should be well seasoned and with just a little acidic tartness.  Don't go crazy on the olive oil or you'll lose all of the blood orange flavor.

To finely slice the fennel and apples.  I used a mandoline.  I also cut myself in the process, which made slicing those oranges a wincing ordeal, so be careful if you use one.  If you don't have a mandoline, just slice them as thinly as you can.  Slice the apples slightly thinner than the fennel, and slice them horizontally to get that beautiful star pattern in the center.  Slice the fennel in half, to keep the pieces manageable. If you're making the salad ahead of time, cover the apples with lemon juice to keep them from browning.  Compose the salad with orange wedges on top, and there you go!

KITCHY TV

On today's episode of Kitchy TV, Ian from Caffe Luxxe gives me some pointers on how to make the best espresso and cappuccinos off of my home machine. Enjoy!

At Home with my Favorite Barista from Claire Thomas on Vimeo.

ZAGAT

More of my photos have been used for Zagat's website. Click below to check them out!

Tavern, located down the street from my home (lucky me!), is the newest restaurant from masterminds Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne, the architects behind the criterion setting AOC and Lucques.  The menu is homey in tone, but delicious and fresh.  Grilled asparagus served on polenta with a breaded and fried egg hits every mark: delicate, luxurious, and, obviously, a fried egg is on top so you know it's amazing.  The space is airy and open, with light emanating from the skylights covering the ceiling.  The bar is darker and cozier, with venetian blinds and high backed chairs setting an almost noir mood.  The larder offers lunch, pastries, coffee, and all kinds of goods in a simple cafe setting.  Needless to say, it caters to any mindset a hungry passerby may be in.  Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Also, if you want a fantastic cookbook to learn by, get a copy of Sunday Suppers at Lucques, by Suzanne Goin.  She focusses on seasonal cuisine and timeless combinations.  My aunt recently cooked her brisket and damn, was it delicious. Melt in your mouth and all the other appropriate adjectives.  I'm a huge fan of what she does and always turn to her recipes when  I need a little inspiration.  Enjoy!

HOMEMADE BEEF JERKY

This is my 100th post, so I guess I should've planned ahead and made something emblematic of it. Like, a 100 hour short rib, or my favorite 100 beers, or 100 beat pancakes (my brother makes these, where he beats the pancake batter 100 times), but no, I humbly bring you...beef jerky.

Beef jerky is innately humble, mainly for it's efficiency. How can something meant to be salted overnight then dried in the frontier heat be anything but? I know of no food that is both efficient and ostentatious. And yet, it fills an unknown void. I've never heard anyone say they're in the mood for beef-jerky, but there it is in everyone's pantry. I find myself digging my fingers into that plastic bag at least once a week, when I'm in the mood for something and nothing at the same time. It's the "I've got nothing to wear" equivalent of the food world.

My dad, however, is the one person who might utter "I'm in the mood for some jerky." I think the reason why I've never heard him say it is that he's already too busy chewing it to bother explaining himself. Teriyaki or Peppered are his favorites, and are usually the souvenirs he brings home from a trip to the South West, or whatever place you'd imagine would specialize in jerky. So this is dedicated to him, and everyone else looking in their pantry shelves apathetically. Take this humble thing, and make it grand with your favorite group of spices. I have to say, the Thai blend is my favorite, and brings out the musky sweetness of the meat with its herbaceous spiciness. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pound sirlion (leanest you can find)

Pick one of the spice mixes to go with your pound of meat.

Thai Style:

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cardamon

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard seeds

1 1/2 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 thai chiles, finely chopped

6 kaffir lime leaves, julienned (or lemongrass if you can't find kaffir lime leaves)

Mole:

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

1 teaspoon ancho chile powder

1 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

Soy Sauce:

1/4 cup regular soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh zested ginger

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Stick the meat in the freezer for about an hour.  The colder it is, the easier it is to slice. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 90 degrees.  Seriously, 90.  You want "desert weather" coming out of your oven.  Mine only goes to 170, so I just left the oven door ajar while the meat dried. When the meat is ready, cut off any extra fat (fat doesn't dry completely and can go rancid) then cut the meat into 1/8 inch thick slices.  In a seperate bowl, mix the spices of whichever flavoring you choose.  Then, coat the meat in it.  Take the slices and lay them over a rack. Place the rack over a pan to catch the juices.  Dry in the oven for 8-12 hours.  It honestly depends on the environment, oven, and meat, but you basically want the meat to be completely cooked, but not over-dried.  Store at room temperature in an air-tight container.

KITCHY ENDORSEMENTS

Lily's Eggs

There's eggs for cooking and then there's eggs for eating. That's not to say that you shouldn't be using high quality eggs whenever you bake, but when you need the egg to stand alone, it's time to bring out the A-team. This is where Lily's Eggs come in.

Many of my favorite restaurants (such as Lou) highlight Lily's eggs on their menu; poaching them to go over a salad, or frying them for the perfect fried egg sandwich. There's a clear reason why these eggs are chosen above any other organic, free range chicken eggs.  The sprout fed chickens produce a creamier, tastier egg, with a gorgeous saffron colored yolk.  If you want to enjoy an egg for simply what it is, Lily's is the perfect choice.   Lily's Eggs range from about $4-7 dollars per dozen, and can be found at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.

My two favorite styles of simple eggs are "googy" eggs and herbed fried eggs.  "Googy" is a term my dad coined, I think in that onomatopoeic effort parents sometimes put forth for their children.  When I was little, he'd serve them to me with bacon and toast soldiers, cut into perfect strips.  I'd promptly dip them in the yolk then decapitate them, and always with a heaping of crushed black pepper.  An herbed fried egg is the perfect fried egg in its eponymous sandwich.  Using just a pinch, the herbs add an earthy note to the sweet creaminess of the whites and the richness of the yolks.  Enjoy! 

"Googy" Eggs (aka 4 minute eggs)

Boil a pot of water until bubbling.  Turn the temperature to simmer, so that the water bubbles just at the edges.  Add the eggs carefully.  Cook for 4 minutes exactly (an extra 2 minutes if the eggs are straight from the fridge).  Place directly into an egg cup and cut of the top with a knife.  Cover with black pepper and a sprinkling of salt.  Serve with thin slices of baguette.

For a sunny-side up egg, heat a pan over medium heat, adding 1 teaspoon of oil or butter and coating the entire pan.  Finely chop thyme, rosemary, and sage. Add the egg, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and the herbs. Cook until the white is set on top.  If you'd like to speed the process along, cover the egg.  However, a thin white film will coat the yolk, taking away from it's sunny hue.  Enjoy!