Hey folks, Kung Food Panda here. I’m back, and again have the privilege of guest blogging on GP’s site. Some of you may remember me from such post as the Chocolate Salon a few years back
Four chefs in LA are competing to create the ultimate Hawaiian style pupu, and you can determine the winner and win a trip to Hawaii!
Last month I attended Los Angeles Magazine's "In the Kitchen" event held at the Snyder Diamond showroom with Chef Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD.
As usual the night starts with some appetizers made by a chef from Sub Zero/Wolf, Brian Beaudry, including endive bites, mushroom with truffle oil on toast, and smoked salmon-wrapped asparagus.
Los Angeles Magazine has been holding cooking demonstrations titled In The Kitchen, featuring a different LA chef each time. The next event will be on Wednesday, September 15 with chef Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD.
The event runs from 7-9pm at the Snyder Diamond showroom in Santa Monica and costs $40 (see LA Mag's webpage for more info).
If you've never read the previous reports and are wondering what to expect from this event, here's a recap on the last In the Kitchen with FIG's chef Ray Garcia.
Some hors d'oeuvres from Snyder Diamond's chef.
FIG's bar concocted this amazing Blood Orange and Beet Bellini
Recipe:
1 oz Solerno (Blood Orange liqueur)
2 oz Sanguinello Puree
1 oz Beetroot juice
3 oz Prosecco
Combine ingredients in a tin or beaker and stir over ice. Strain into a champagne flute. Finish with a tiny flower garnish.
While watching Chef Garcia cook and our dish to be ready, we snacked on some stuffed dates.
Recipe:7.5 oz semisweet chocolate (64%). Chef Garcia uses Cordierra colombian chocolates.All attendees left with a goodie bag, which always contains the latest issue of Los Angeles Magazine, and usually some wine and cupcakes!
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 egg
9 egg yolks
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp granulated sugar
contents of 1 vanilla vean
pinch of kosher salt
1. Scald milk and cream with vanilla bean, salt, and half of the sugar. (Do not let the milk boil).
2. Add hot liquid to the chocolate and mix until all chocolate is melted and incorporated.
3. Whisk together the remaining sugar with the whole egg and egg yolks.
4. Slowly whisk warm chocolate liquid into eggs and pass through a fine strainer.
5. Pour mixture into ramekins or pots. Remove any air bubbles by gently "burning" containers with a blow torch.
6. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in water bath at 225' for 25-30 mins.
Thursday, September 2-Sunday, September 5, 2010. Taste of Beverly Hills
This Beverly Hills' weekend extravaganza kicks off with a party on Thursday followed "sessions" starting Friday night. Famous chefs from around the country will be doing demos including Art Smith, Michel Nischan, and of course all the famous local chefs you can think of. Mixology? Brunch? Wine? Choose the right session for you by studying their full schedule.Thursday, September 2, 2010. FREE Turkey Burgers
Tickets for each session is pretty expensive starting at $135 and a day pass starts from $185, but luckily you can get 50% off tickets to The Art of Brunch on Sunday via Goldstar. There is also buy-1-get-1 deal for the BBQ on the Hills on Sunday night.
Jennie-O Turkey is hosting a Turkey Burger pop-up restaurant and is giving away free turkey burgers to remind people of this leaner alternative to beef burgers (turkey burgers have 10 g less fat and 100 fewer calories than typical beef burgers). The eastsiders get the goods this time, as this is happening in El Monte.
11am-3pm. 11655 Valley Blvd, El Monte, CA
The LA County Fair kicks off this weekend also. For this one you should expect things like deep fried Klondike bars and chocolate-covered, bacon-wrapped Oreos, but if those things turn you off you can go for steamed artichoke. Not to leave you dry, you can also sip on the winners of this year's Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Awards. I'm looking forward to Esmeralda's Traveling Circus myself. Trapeze lessons, anyone?
Wed-Sun (hours vary). Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, CA 91768
It's LA Times' first food festival. Not only will there be food from LA's best chefs (including Ludo Lefebvre, Suzanne Goin, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, etc) the festival will also feature live performance by She & Him and Angela McCluskey. There will be a VIP-only area with cheese and sake tasting with the Cheese Impresario and a cooking challenge with Michael Voltaggio, but alas, the VIP tickets are sold out.
Thanks to Goldstar, you can now get 50% off non-VIP tickets to this event.
12-8PM. Paramount Studios, Hollywood.
This is the kickoff reception for the 19th annual Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture.
The event will feature The Manila Machine, SoCal’s first Filipino food truck and more food from Chef Guerrero, owner of The Oinkster. You can read Pleasure Palate's post for the full menu. Tickets are $50 and includes all food. Beer will be available for purchase. Proceeds benefit The Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture, also known as FilAm ARTS. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Nerissa Silao at nerissa@filamarts.org.
6-10 PM. Oinkster. 2005 Colorado Boulevard, Eagle Rock, CA 90041
Los Angeles Magazine is hosting another culinary demonstration at Snyder Diamond, this time featuring chef Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD. The night will start with some appetizers from the Snyder Diamond's chef. Chef Fraser will show you how to cook two dishes:
Entrée: Sautéed Day Boat Scallop aged goat cheese risotto and peas
Dessert: Vanilla Panna Cotta, market berries, salted caramel
Everything will be paired with wine by LearnAboutWine.
Tickets are $40. Please call Estrellita Dacanay at (323) 801-0034 to purchase.
7-9PM. Snyder Diamond Showroom, 1399 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica.
It's time school fundraising graduates from the door-to-door donut sales. Fairfax Highschool is holding a one day festival featuring 30 food trucks, culinary demos, even designer shopping (shopping for Paige Denim or T Bags dresses while munching on kimchi fries?). Tickets are $7 pre-sale and $10 at the door.
11am-5pm. Fairfax High School, 7850 Melrose Ave, LA 90046
Los Angeles Magazine held another In The Kitchen event on June 16th at the Snyder Diamond showroom in Santa Monica, this time featuring cooking demonstration by Chef Ray Garcia of FIG restaurant.
I'll have a full report out soon, but in the meantime, you can enjoy the recipe for this delicious Red Beet Risotto from Chef Garcia!
It's made with vegetable stock too so it's healthier, lighter, and vegetarian friendly.
Red Beet Risotto
by
Chef Ray Garcia
FIG Restaurant
Santa Monica, CA
Beetroot Purée
2 red beets
1/2 medium onion
16 oz vegetable stock
Risotto
5 cups Carnaroli Rice
1 onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
7 oz red wine
2 cups vegetable stock
4 oz beetroot puree
3 oz unsalted butter
3 oz parmesan cheese
2 oz crème fraiche
2 tbsp chopped dill
2 tbsp chives
Garnish
5 each: yellow & red baby carrots, white & green asparagus
10 pieces golden beetroot
1. Boil red beets and onion until soft. Transfer to blender or food processor and purée. Set aside for later.
2. In a new pot, heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté onion until fragrant.
3. Add rice and bay leaf, cook for 2 minutes.
4. Pour wine into pot and allow to reduce by 3/4.
5. Add stock, one ladle at a time (wait until previous stock boils off before adding more), and stir frequently until risotto achieves desired texture.
6. Add beet purée and stir to incorporate. Finish with butter, parmesan cheese, crème fraiche, herbs, salt and pepper.
7. Blanch vegetables for garnish in salted water. Sauté with butter and season with salt and pepper.
8. Serve risotto in a medium-sized bowl, topped with sautéed vegetables.
Los Angeles Magazine hosts a series of culinary events featuring cooking demonstrations with some of LA's best chefs.
The next "In The Kitchen" event will take place on June 16th with Chef Ray Garcia from FIG Restaurant in Santa Monica. The event costs $40 per person.
Here's what you can expect:
The last In The Kitchen with Chef John Sedlar from Rivera started out with a Casino Cocktail prepared by one of Rivera's bartenders. There is also wine served during the "cocktail hour" as well wine paired with your main meal prepared by Ian Blackburn of Learn About Wine.
Passed hors d'oeuvres were prepared by Eddie Sell, The Firehouse Chef (that's right, he's a chef and he's a fireman. He's a whole other interesting story on his own).
The shrimp ceviche with the tiny bits of blue tortilla chips was wonderful - the flavors smooth and not too acidic, the chips really added a nice textural contrast. Bruschetta was latin-ized by spicy salsa.
The events take place at Synder Diamond showroom in Santa Monica, but just because it's a showroom don't expect to be standing while eating with your plate on top of a displayed washing machine. The showroom is decked out with round tables, black tablecloth, complete with fresh roses as centerpieces.
Taking the "stage" in front will be your guest chef of the night. Last time, chef John Sedlar brought along his executive chef at Rivera, Kevin to help him demonstrate how to prepare two delicious dishes.
Chef Sedlar will show you how to go from these raw scallops:
to this:
Scallop Arabesque (here's the recipe)
The menu for the night will typically be one savory dish followed by one dessert.
Chef Sedlar prepared Chocolate Torte with Caramel Lime Sauce (recipe)
That's not all. You won't be leaving empty handed. Each attendee received a goodie bag filled with various items. My loot: a bottle of wine, Los Angeles Magazine's newest movie, and other treats including this chocolate cupcake from Vanilla Bakeshop:
Don't forget, the next In The Kitchen event with Chef Ray Garcia from FIG will take place on W ednesday, June 16, 7 – 9 pm at Snyder Diamond (1399 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica).
Tickets: $40. Call Estrellita Dacanay at (323) 801-0034 to purchase.
Here's another recipe from chef John Sedlar (Rivera Restaurant)! This was the dessert he made for the LA Mag's latest culinary event at Snyder Diamond. Rich and smooth, this was so good. Definitely worth a try. Enjoy.
Chocolate Torte with Caramel Lime Sauce
by Chef John Sedlar, Rivera Restaurant
Chocolate Torte
3/4 cup heavy cream
10 oz dark, semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-inch pieces (Rivera uses 61% Valrhona w/ cream added)
1 1/2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Line an 8-inch circular cake pan with a large circular coffee filter or a circle of waxed paper large enough to come halfway up to the pan's side.
In the top of a double boiler, place the cream and chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate has melted completely and is fully blended with the cream.
Pour the mixture into the lined cake pan and chill it in the refrigerator until solid, at least 2 hours. To unmold the torte, place a circle of cardboard or a flat plate over the pan. Dunk the bottom of the pan in warm water, then invert it turning it out onto the cardboard or plate. Lift off the pan and peel off the paper.
Place a decorative stencil on top of the torte. Hold a small, fine sieve over the torte's surface and spoon the cocoa poder into the sieve. Gently tap the sieve as you move it around above the torte to dust its surface evenly. Carefully lift off the stencil. Store the torte in the refrigerator until serving time.
Caramel Lime Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
Put the sugar and water in a heavy medium-sized skillet. Heat the mixture over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar melts and turns a medium caramel color, 10 to 15 minutes.
Immediately add the cream and stir until it is fully incorporated. Remove the pan from the heat. Then, stir in the lime juice and let the sauce cool to room temperature.
To serve the torte, spoon some of the sauce into the middle of each chilled dessert plate. Cut a wedge of the torte and place it on top of the sauce.
A few weeks ago, Los Angeles Magazine held a culinary demonstration at the Santa Monica Snyder Diamond showroom with Chef John Sedlar of Rivera Restaurant. We tasted the Casino cocktail by one of Rivera's bartender, watched and learned as chef Sedlar and his executive chef Kevin made two dishes for us: Scallops Arabesque and Torta Xocolata.
Since I haven't had time to write a full post on it yet, in the meantime I will give you the recipe for Chef Sedlar's Scallops Arabesque! Enjoy!
Scallops Arabesque
by Chef John Sedlar (Rivera)
Eggplant Puree
2 Italian eggplant
2 whole roasted garlic
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
Cut eggplant in half, score, season with salt and pepper and pour olive oil over the flesh. Roast in 300 degree oven until soft, about an hour. Once eggplant is fully cooked remove skin and put cooked eggplant in a food processor, add the garlic and puree together. Add additional salt and pepper to taste if desire.
Ras El Hanout Sauce
2 cups chicken stock
5 tbsp Vadouvan*
1 1/2 oz cold butter, cubed
salt to taste
Place chicken stock and vadouvan in sauce pan. Over low heat reduce to sauce consistency. Add salt and cold butter cubes stirring constantly.
*Vadouvan is a blend of spices and the recipe may vary for each person/chef. To get an idea, here's one recipe from Epicurious. Or you can buy it (from Amazon or wherever): Vadouvan, Ground
Preserved Lemons
4 lemon
3 cups sugar
1 cup salt
Juice lemons and remove pith. Bring salt water to a boil and cook lemons for 5 minutes. Repeat process 3-4 times using new salt water each time. Dry lemons and place in pan. Cover with sugar and salt mixture, wrap container and store in refrigerator for 5-7 days. After 5-7 days remove lemon from container and rinse off. Cut lemon into small cubes and store in olive oil.
Sea Scallops
18 large sea scallops
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
Serve
Heat all components and keep warm on the stovetop. Season the scallops with sea salt. Over high heat fill a large saute pan with the grapeseed oil.
Once the oil is almost smoking, gently place the scallops in the pan. Once the scallops have a dark golden sear, turn the scallops and finish cooking on the other side until preferred doneness. If you enjoy your scallops cooked over medium-medium well, place the pan in the oven for about 6 minutes. Spoon a line of eggplant puree onto the center of your dish, creating a bed for the scallops. Place three scallops per plate and top with the ras el hanout (vadouvan) sauce. Finally top the scallops with about 1/2 tsp of the preserved lemons. Sprinkle with Ras el Hanout.
Last year's The Food Event, hosted by Los Angeles magazine, was at the top of my favorite food events in 2008. This year, The Food Event was a huge success yet again.
I was excited to see the Petrossian booth as soon as I came in and enjoyed their offerings, including this tartar topped with caviar.
There were plenty of notable bites that day, including a slider from Dakota, pear and burrata salad from a new tapas place in Pasadena called Noir, desserts from Essential Chocolate, and various offerings from Gordon Ramsay, Gaylord's, Dominick's, and more.
Lemonade LA offers something different with their mint lemonade and cold deli items such as the couscous and the poke.
Naturally there were tons of wines to sip and sample. The ones I got to try some Syrah Rose from Eagle Castle, a blend called RED from Vina Robles, and of course some Semler wines from Malibu's very own vines.
And then there were the cooking demonstrations! Famous Los Angeles chefs standing 5 feet away from you showing you how to cook?
First up was Chef Andrew Kirschner from the Wilshire restaurant demonstrating his Steamed Mussels in Curry Broth (here's the recipe).
Chef David Myers from Sona and Comme Ca showed us how to make Pumpkin Creme Brulee, just in time for the holidays.
In case you missed the video I posted on Monday, Chef Ludo Lefebvre of Ludobites showed us how to make his Spicy Chocolate Mousse with Orange Olive Oil puree all the while making jokes and bantering with the audience.
For those of you who missed it, here's the video, sans subtitle.
Chef Suzanne Tracht couldn't make it but the chefs from Jar came and whipped up a simple but amazing salad.
Last but not least, Chef John Sedlar of Rivera and his chef de cuisine talks about tortilla and the history of guacamole and his tortillas florales.
Chef Sedlar also talks about his recent trip to Tijuana with some of us foodbloggers and hitting 22 restaurants/taco stands in 48 hours (oh yeah, that's how we roll) and some of the implications of the surge of foodbloggers.
Read estarla's coverage here
Culinary College was back for its second run with chef Andrew Kirschner from the Wilshire Restaurant. Hosted by Los Angeles magazine and Snyder Diamond, the event is again hosted in the Snyder Diamond showroom in Santa Monica.
I was early, so I sat there sipping a glass of 2008 Viognier from the Santa Ynez Valley, picked by Ian Blackburn from Learn About Wine, waiting for the rest of the girls to show up. I was joined later on by Wandering Chopsticks, Caroline on Crack, Estarla, Shop Eat Sleep, and Faux LA Hipster.
We start out with some appetizers prepared by Chef Bridget Bueche from Sub-Zero/Wolf.
First up: Wood plank salmon with miso base, mizuna, japanese long onions.
Before the food was served, a large piece of salmon was displayed sitting on the wood plank, teasing us with the glaze and the smell.
Each dish is paired with a wine, selected by Ian from Learn About Wine. Ian did not only pick wines that will go well with the dishes, he also made sure to choose affordable wines that you or I may actually go out and buy. The salmon was paired with a Pinot Noir from Sweeney Canyon.
Sweeney Canyon is a family-owned vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills of Santa Barbara County, near the Santa Ynez River, which gives their grapes a unique complex flavor.
While eating and sipping, we watched chef Bueche whip up our next dish using a Japanese claypot.
Just watching the chef season the beef and open up the claypot of the cooked beef was enough to get my appetite going.
Here it is: Claypot-baked, slow-cooked beef with craked pepper, coriander, mushrooms.
This was amazing! The beef was so tender, and the mushrooms were great. I just wish the dish was bigger :P The mushrooms are Hokto mushrooms grown in San Marcos, CA. The dish was paired with a 2004 Semler Cabernet Sauvignon, grown in the Malibu canyons.
After licking our dish clean, we were ushered into the back room, the 'main stage' where tables are beautifully set.
Because of the number of attendees, the class is not hands-on, but you can watch chef Kirschner prepare the dishes and take notes. Note the slanted mirror on top of the stove - so you can watch what's going on there too!
Chef Kirschner showed us how to prepare two dishes.
The first is a Shrimp Summer Roll with Chili Garlic Dipping Sauce.
Paired with a Curran Gewurtztraminer from Santa Ynez Valley.
Second course is the Steamed Black Mussels in Red Curry Coconut Broth (find the recipe here)
These mussels are certainly delicious and I can see why they are so popular at the restaurant. The curry broth is bold in flavor yet not too spicy. I'll definitely order this at Wilshire Restaurant. Here the dish was paired with a Sweeney Canyon Chardonnay.
We all came home with a swag bag filled among others with a bottle of 2004 Semler Cabernet Sauvignon and the newest Los Angeles magazine.
Read about the first class here.
Los Angeles Magazine has partnered up with Snyder Diamond to host a series of cooking classes called Culinary College. I was invited to attend their first class featuring Chef Patrick Healy from the Buffalo Club in Santa Monica.
The event is held at the Snyder Diamond store in Santa Monica.
The night starts off with a selection of wines from LearnAboutWine. Ian Blackburn was there pouring the wines himself. 
We started with a nice chilled 2008 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc, Marlorough, New Zealand and a 2004 Semler Cabernet Sauvignon, Malibu Mountain Estate.
The rest of the wine during the cocktail hour was paired with three hors d'oeuvres that Chef Bridget Bueche of Sub-Zero/Wolf was cooking in the showroom kitchen.
Two of the three hors d'oeuvres focused on mushrooms:
King Trumpet Mushroom
Paired with a 2007 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon "Rose" Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Shrimp paired with a 2007 Gerhard Riesling, Kabinett, Rheingau, Germany.
The Riesling was very sweet, perfect for a dessert wine. I noted to myself to find a bottle of this since I love sweet, dessert wines.
Brown Beech Mushrooms
Paired with 2007 Domaine La Garrigue "Cuvee Romaine", Cotes du Rhone, France.
The cooking class itself was set up in a back room at Snyder Diamond, where the tables for attendants have been beautifully set.
This isn't a hands-on class but the recipes are provided as you follow chef Healy cooking at the mock kitchen.
Here's what chef Patrick Healy has to say about picking the right corn:
The first dish chef Healy made that night was this Summer Corn Pudding with Rock Shrimp Salsa w/ tomatillo sauce, paired with a 2006 Leasingham Dry Riesling "Magnus", Clare Valley.
The corn pudding was dense and creamy, and it was great with the nicely spiced (but not spicy) rock shrimp in tomatillo sauce. I do love corn, so although I was late for my dinner, I waited to taste this dish and it was worth the wait.
Vanilla pudding with caramel was coming up next, but I had to leave in order to make it to dinner.
All attendants also received a nice swag bag containing 1 bottle of 2004 Semler Cabernet Sauvignon (wine in a goody bag! That's a first for me!), Paulette macaroons (arguably one of the best in LA), the newest issue of the L.A. Mag, lip balms, etc.
The Culinary College series will resume on July 15 featuring chef Andrew Kirschner of the Wilshire Restaurant, and on August 19th featuring chef Jason Travi from Fraiche and Riva. Each class costs $50 and if the first class is any indication, is well worth the education, food, wine, and swag.
Please call Estrellita Dacanay at Los Angeles magazine 323-801-0034 to purchase.
Gourmet Pigs © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital
