Showing posts with label mussels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mussels. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Recipe: Steamed Mussels in Curry Broth (CulinaryCollege/Andrew Kirschner/Wilshire)

Los Angeles Magazine teams up with Snyder Diamond to hold Culinary College, a cooking class series featuring established Los Angeles chefs. The second class in the series featured chef Andrew Kirschner from the Wilshire Restaurant in Santa Monica (event review to come).

In the Snyder Diamond showroom, chef Kirschner shows us how to whip up his well-loved steamed mussels dish.

Steamed Black Mussels in Red Curry Coconut Broth
- Chef Andrew Kirschner. Wilshire Restaurant, Santa Monica, CA.

















Serves 4

3lbs -- Black Mussels- Cleaned
1.5 cup - Coconut Milk
2 T -- Thai Red Curry Paste
1 T -- Paprika
2 T -- Lime Juice
2 T -- Lemon Juice
2 T -- Soy Sauce
2 T -- Mirin
1 cup - Dry Sherry Wine
2 T -- Honey
1 T -- Lemongrass, minced
1 T -- Ginger, minced
1 T -- Garlic, minced
1 T -- Kaffir Lime Leaf, minced
1 T -- Coriander, whole
1 t -- Cumin, ground
6 sprigs - Thai basil, chopped
2 T -- Fish sauce

Place all ingredients except mussels into a heavy sauce pot and simmer over low heat for 1/2 hour. Remove from heat, strain, cool and reserve.

Preparing mussels: place mussels in sauce pot with above mixture, cover pot and cook on high flame until mussels are steamed and just opened.
Serve with grilled sourdough bread.



The next Culinary College class will be held on August 19 and feature chef Jason Travi (of Fraiche and Riva). Cost is $50 pp. Please call Estrellita Dacanay at Los Angeles magazine 323-801-0034 to purchase.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Neighborhood Nook

Nook was quite hard to find. Not only is it in an ordinary looking strip mall, it is also in the back corner of said mall. And while the website boasts a red arrow, the actual place is marked by a big blue arrow (that does not say Nook). After walking round and round I finally found the place.

The restaurant was not too crowded or loud - it is a good place to have a nice dinner and actually have conversation! Plus free parking.

Instead of bread or amuse bouche, Nook does something different: boiled peanuts. Not very friendly to the peanut-allergy folks out there, but this reminds me of my childhood when I used to buy boiled peanuts at the zoo (you're supposed to buy them and feed the elephants but I thought I deserved them more than the elephants!).

I ordered some "New Orleans style gumbo" and a portion of the proceed goes to the hurricane relief fund - good cause!
As far as the gumbo goes, though, I thought it was just okay. Good but I've had much better gumbo. Well, let me put it this way: It was a good soup - but if you ask me, it ain't gumbo! Can't compare to the one I had at Luke in NOLA.

Crispy Fried Calamari ($10)
Tossed with citrus-soy vinaigrette and wasabi dipping sauce.
This was a good calamari - not too greasy as it sometimes tends to be. The wasabi dipping sauce is interesting and is a delicious twist - it helps cut the grease of the fried calamari.

Shiitake and Gruyere Bread Pudding ($7)
Quite a flavorful and aromatic bread pudding! Liked this dish a lot (although it could use more shiitake for better texture) - it was better the next day when the bread has soaked up all the flavors :P

New Zealand green lip mussel pan roast ($12)
with linguisa sausage, oven-dried tomato, garlic, herbs and white wine saffron brot
Really loved the broth for this dish. The mussels are also big, plump and juicy. Probably my favorite dish of the night, and not bad for $12 (there were more mussels, this was half eaten)

Sauteed Brown Rice Bowl ($12)
With tofu, carrots, broccoli, and egg white this is a very healthy dish. And tastes kinda healthy too :P It is much better the day after as a leftover, just like fried rice is much better when made with day-old rice. Pretty basic dish, nothing special.

For dessert we got the chocolate pot de creme, as it was recommended to us ($7)
It's a pretty small pot but definitely a delicious dessert. The current menu online lists chocolate pot de creme with fresh strawberries, but I believe the one we had were blueberries.

The prices are Nook Bistro were pretty reasonable and the food is delicious (even if they can't do gumbo, IMHO) with good quality ingredients. An excellent neighborhood bistro and a pretty casual dining place. Nothing mindblowing but definitely good comfort food. I'll definitely be back.

Nook Bistro
11628 Santa Monica Blvd #9
Los Angeles, CA 90025
T 310.207.5160
http://www.nookbistro.com

Nook Bistro on Urbanspoon

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