Author Archives: Sandi

{Tokyo} Insolite Salon

December 10, 2012 – 12:47 PM

This is a travel post about hair. If you don’t care about hair, I’d suggest drooling over pictures of Jiro’s sushi or cooking up a simple frittata. Back to food soon enough, but I just had to share a little more about my visit to Japan!

This is a picture of me in a crowded Tokyo toy store surrounded by Furbys a day before getting my hair done, standing next to someone who is clearly not Japanese.

As the owner of a head of Asian hair, one of the things I looked most forward to on my trip to Japan was getting my hair done. Tokyo is full of beautiful people with amazing hair and incredible wardrobes, so I’ve spent the first couple of days here forgetting that most Asians have naturally black hair and starting to think I need to add false eyelashes with feathers on them to my daily routine. I also now think it barbaric to have to sit on unheated toilet seats that don’t include noisemakers, air fresheners or adjustable bidet jets.

The last time I got my hair cut with a new stylist at a trendy beachside salon back home, I asked the stylist what she would do if there was anything she could do to my hair. She said, “The Rachel. Your hair is perfect for that.” which, 1) I know to be untrue, 2) the Rachel should not be suggested in 2012 and 3) should have sent me running immediately. But I was feeling adventurous and said, “Not the Rachel, but do what you think would look best.” What I know now is that if you’re Asian and you say that, you will get a local news anchor haircut, not like Connie Chung circa 1985.

I went home, cut some choppy layers into my hair and have been cutting my own hair ever since.

Sandra made me an appointment with Hiroshi Noda, or “Noda-san” at Insolite Salon in Hiroo. I decided to try color, since I had just cut my own hair two days before and figured that since I don’t speak Japanese, it would be easier not to have to try to mime “texturize” and “more volume here.” I’m not sure why I thought acting out color would be easier though.

Sandra, or San-do-ra, on the left, made my reservations for Insolite and Jiro’s sushi place. I am standing like a superhero.

The Salon is beautiful and everyone who works there has amazing hair. I felt an unfamiliar feeling…of hope.

The upfront communication was the hardest. A color swatch book came out, and without a clear outcome in mind, and through the English-speaking shampoo girl, I asked for a recommendation. I basically wanted to do something non-committal, since I knew I’d be poor at maintenance, like highlights that would grow out ok if neglected. After a game of charades we narrowed agreed to mix a couple of colors. Then:

“Cut-o?”

Sandra and I shook our heads. “Color.”

Some Japanese and then, with a mimed snipping motion, “Cut-0?”

Exaggerated head shaking: “Color.”

Noda-san pulled out pieces of my hair. He asked about the last time I had a cut – a year ago? Clearly my hair indicated that I had spent the past year in a cave.

I giggled maniacally and confessed that I had just cut my hair two days ago. I think they were laughing at my hair.

I agreed to a cut.

The appropriately unflattering “before” picture. Noda-san is on the left, laughing at me. Noda-san’s hair is cool in real life but looks shocked in this picture.

I was given an arm rest that goes around your torso and across your lap, which I can only describe as a luxurious version of a Boppy pillow, and which was wonderful. I may start to bring one with me for any situation that requires me to be in a chair…because why should my arms be allowed to fall ever.

Noda-san wore a holster, which held more scissors than a preschool classroom. He fluffed my hair out and pointed to the longer straggly ends and said, “Jellyfish.” I was impressed with the vocabulary he possessed for mockery. He was quick, precise and, I was glad to see, employed a different technique from my own. His scissors were so sharp that I rarely saw him bring the blades together – the hair just fell on contact with a blade.

I wanted to say, “Can you rough it up a little? I want the layers to be a little more edgy” but instead I nodded and said “Domo arigato.” It was fine. People are always giving me conservative, age-appropriate haircuts (I blame my round face), and I’m always trying to get them to rough it up a little more. But I really liked the way he volumized the top of my hair, and his technique was very good. Plus, knowing an addict when he saw one, he gave me tips for the next time I cut my own hair.

Next, a crew put little plastic shower caps on my ears. I laughed because I’m immature. I asked Sandra if she had gotten those too and she said no, since she had highlights and I was getting allover color. Which is when I learned that that’s what we had agreed to. Which was fine; it’s only hair.

I was brought to a rinsing station and experienced the longest and most wonderful hair washing experience of my life. My face was tented with an aromatherapeutic gauze of my choice, followed by an amazing shampoo experience and a loooooong scalp massage. I was then brought back to my chair and given a second head and shoulder massage. Which is when I decided that I really needed to move to Japan.

Noda-san came back and dried and styled my hair. The color is great – it’s subtle enough to grow out without too much trauma, but visible enough that it warmed up my complexion a bit.

“After” – me and Noda-san. I know, you can’t tell from the picture that much happened but I got two massages and aromatherapy out of it!

In writing this post I discovered that Noda-san has a blog! Which features a bunch of models and shows and conspicuously (and wisely) excludes me and my shower-cap-covered ears from it.

So if you’re in Tokyo and looking for a pampering hair experience, I’d recommend Insolite. If you’re looking for the exact haircut you want, I’d recommend going to Insolite and speaking Japanese.

Insolite Salon

Green Core 1F 5-16-13 Hiroo Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 
TEL 03-3280-1062 FAX 03-3280-6040


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{Tokyo} Sukiyabashi Jiro

November 26, 2012 – 4:57 PM

My trip to Tokyo would be best described as Sandi Dreams of Jiro Dreaming of Sushi. As the 2nd most difficult restaurant in the world to get into, going to Sukiyabashi Jiro may be the biggest accomplishment of my life. And I had to have a lot of help to get there.

We started thinking about a trip to Tokyo in July. My husband used to live there and my friend Sandra is living there now as an expat (whenever anyone tells me that they’re an expat all I hear is “living like a Kardashian”).  For someone who loves food, fashion and bathrooms as much as I do, Tokyo is pretty much Mecca.

THE RESERVATION

Getting a reservation at Jiro’s, especially as a foreigner, was no small feat. From eater.com:

With three Michelin stars, an acclaimed documentary on the chef, and limited space, it’s no mystery that it’s tough to get in. What makes it nearly impossible to pull off, though, is that no one on staff speaks English, and that they tend to not welcome foreigners without a Japanese host. “If they detect an accent, it’s likely that they’ll tell you nothing is available,” says A Life Worth Eating’s Adam Goldberg, who had trouble getting in for quite some time but has since managed to dine there on multiple occasions.

For this we elicited help from Sandra’s friend Meg, whom I’ve never met but who, as far as I’m concerned, must be a mythical creature with superhuman powers to have gotten us a reservation. Attempt #1 was in September, where Meg was told that she could not make a November reservation until October 1.

On October 1, Sandra ventured over to Meg’s to commence the reservation-making. She dialed. And dialed. And dialed….and on the 100th try, got through:

 

Meg, a native Japanese speaker, made the reservation for us, under San-do-ra. San-do-ra was to bring a deposit of 20,000 yen at least a week before our reservation.

On November 14th, San-do-ra (not a native Japanese speaker) styled her hair like mine and did a reconnaissance trip, appearing at Jiro’s to bring the deposit. San-do-ra’s Japanese had clearly degraded between the time she made the reservation and the time she brought the deposit, but she had cash so it was okay. Even though she had her son with her as well as Flat Stanley.

On the morning of Monday, November 19th, we practiced asking if it was okay to take pictures, and then did photo drills (since the sushi should be eaten immediately after it’s made) where we pretended that a bunch of cheese was the sushi and I had to take photos and eat in rapid succession. I was also instructed to say, “Konichiwa, San-do-ra des” (“Hello, I am Sandra”) after which, as a non-Japanese speaker, I would be able to say nothing else and it would be clear to the staff that San-do-ra had a serious language-debilitating condition.

THE EXPERIENCE

We arrived early to the Ginza district and we did a practice run to the restaurant, followed by some brief shopping and a return about 10 minutes in advance of our reservation. We approached the door tentatively and were waved in by one of the apprentices, and after announcing my “San-do-ra des”, we were the first ones seated of the 10 seats in the restaurant.

Behind the counter were Jiro, his son Yoshikazu and an apprentice. I’d heard that Chef Ono is stern and the atmosphere is intimidating, but I didn’t get that feeling at all. It felt respectful, and focused. I didn’t mind the quiet so much.

We were presented with the day’s menu, which was listed in Japanese as well as English, and asked if everything looked okay:

  • Sole fish (Karei)
  • Squid (Sumi-ika)
  • Yellowtail (Inada
  • Tuna (Akami)
  • Semi-Fatty tuna (Chu-toro)
  • Fatty Tuny (Oo-toro)
  • Gizzard Shad (Kohada)
  • Abalone (Mushi-awabi)
  • Jack Mackerel (Aji)
  • Clam Shell (Hamaguri)
  • Needle fish (Sayori)
  • Prawn (Kurumaebi)
  • Ark Shell (Akagai)
  • Bonito (Katsuo)
  • Squilla (Shako)
  • Sea Urchin (Uni)
  • Baby Scallops (Kobashira)
  • Salmon Roe (Ikura)
  • Sea Eel (Anago)
  • Egg (Tamago)

I hid my camera (actually, San-do-ra’s camera) under the counter until my husband asked in Japanese if it was okay to take photos. They said that it was fine — sushi photos only — and actually provided a little orange mat for my camera to live on. I noticed as the meal progressed that others were taking photos too so I felt slightly less weenie-ish about it.

Yoshikazu cut the fish and Chef Ono assembled and shaped the sushi, brushing it lightly with soy sauce just before serving. First up was the sole. It was presented, as were all the other pieces, with a side of ginger, which I never used. The first thing I noticed was the delicious vinegared rice, which had a firm and decisively lively texture where you could feel each of the individual grains. The wasabi was, as was the case in each of the pieces, assembled into the sushi itself. Delicious.

I wasn’t a very experienced squid sushi eater, so have limited basis on which to compare this one. What surprised me about the squid was that the initial contact was crunchy – followed on by a chewy, cushiony texture.

Next up was a tender yellowtail:

And then the tuna. The lean tuna was the most beautiful piece of sushi I had ever seen. It had a breathtaking hue and it glistened as it awaited consumption. It didn’t disappoint – it was unexpectedly tender and a smooth, warm flavor, and it’s amazing that anything with low fat content could taste like that. The semi-fatty tuna was soft and smooth as well. The fatty tuna was like butter. That’s a very good thing.

The gizzard shad had quite a fishy flavor, reminiscent of sardines:

Abalone:

A tender jack mackerel:

After this one Jiro gave us lean tuna again — at which point his son and the rest of the staff starting yelling, “ah ah ah ah!!!” — he had given us another guest’s tuna! He laughed and apologized and gave the tuna to the rightful eaters, we all had a little laugh amongst ourselves. The mood was a bit more relaxed after that.

And this gorgeous clam:

In the film, Jiro says that he makes smaller portions for women, since sushi is meant to be eaten in a single bite. I didn’t observe this to be the case with me, but perhaps they perceived me to be large-mouthed. In any case, when I saw this one, I was little worried about how I was going to consume it in a single bite.

I was right. As soon as I put it in my mouth, I realized that there was no room for the manipulation involved in chewing. So I started to breathe deeply in the completely silent restaurant, telling myself do not gag, do not gag, whatever you do do not gag…and eventually my saliva must have broken it down a bit because I was able to chew. All this to say that I have little memory of how this particular one tasted since I was mostly focused on not being horribly offensive. I do recall that it was firm and that the sauce complemented it nicely.

Needlefish, which reminded me of squid in flavor:

Yoshikazu prepared the prawn and placed it in front of me. I gawked at it, six inches in length, and was trying to think of a way to eat it in a single bite without asphyxiation, until Yoshikazu started pointing at my camera and saying, “Photo! Photo!”

“Oh!” I said (very articulate) and laughed and snapped a picture. To my relief he took the prawn back after the photo and cut it into manageable halves. It was lovely, soft and lobster-like.

Ark shell had a snappy texture and flavor of a clam (since it is a clam):

The bonito to me was the star of the show. It had an unbelievably delicate texture, with smoky and scallion notes, balanced by a sauce that just made it all incredible. More bonito! I wanted to shout. More more more! But I just ate it and nodded as much like a Japanese person as I could.

The squilla, or mantis shrimp, surprised me. It was gritty and dry in texture — not at all what I expected. Hard for me to judge the quality of this one since it was my first time consuming squilla, but it was not my favorite.

The uni, or sea urchin, however, was divine. It completely melted in my mouth…like ice cream.

The baby scallops looked delicious. And they were. Again, this one was quite big: as you can see it’s taller than the other pieces, wrapped in some seaweed and topped with the scallops. I decided this was going to be a two-biter.

After bite #1, it totally fell apart. I tried to eat the fallen parts surreptitiously when Yoshikazu said, “One bite! One bite!” (Mental note: get mouth enlargement procedure before next visit.)

The salmon roe was divine: smooth, delicate and perfect:

By the time the sea eel came around I was pretty much drunk on food and started taking blurry pictures. It had a nice light sweetness to it from the sauce.

Last piece was the egg (tamago), which was perfectly evenly cooked all the way through, with a touch of sweetness like a very light, airy cake:

After the tomago we moved to a table away from the counter to have dessert, which was a sweet, incredibly juicy musk melon:

This is what someone looks like after eating all of that:

 Here’s me with Jiro:

Photo credit: @KatyPerry

Just kidding. That’s Jiro with Katy Perry. I don’t think he’d ever let me get that close.

We went to pay and chatted with Yoshikazu about the release of the movie (they had posters and flyers by the door). Apparently Japan is the last place the film is being released. He was friendly and we had enough Japanese and English between all of us to have a pleasant exchange.

Then we exited and disappeared into the Ginza night.

 

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Thank you to San-do-ra and Meg without whom this would never have happened!

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Garlic Tortilla Flatbread

October 31, 2012 – 5:15 PM

November is upon us and that means bad food photo lighting for those of us who do our cooking in the evening and don’t have much in the way of lighting equipment (Exhibit 1, above). It’s also the month of Thanksgiving, and this past year I’ve tried to focus more on giving thanks as much as possible — it’s healthy, which in my book means it’s just like exercising and thus gives you free license to eat more. So in the spirit of the month of gratitude, and of mitigating the depressive impact of poorly lit food photos, let me give thanks:

…for my Sunday spent by ocean, and the Instagram app that enabled me to capture it:

…for mussels, which I can see only smothered in meuniere sauce:

…for starfish big

…and small

…and for hermit-crab gatherers who poke sea anemones in the tidepools.

I’m also really thankful for tortillas, because I can just buy them, and because we often make thin-crust pizzas using them as a base. I’m thankful for the tortillas that Trader Joe’s makes. They’re so good.

I’m thankful for our friend Simon, who was the best man at our wedding and who’s visiting from England, who had the idea to make garlic bread with tortillas.

I’m thankful that this recipe is so easy, but outrageously delicious. And low-fat, if you factor in all the thanksgiving I’ve been practicing.

Spread about 1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the tortilla, pizza-style. Add two cloves of minced garlic and some dried herbs, like oregano or herbes de provence.

Then, because we’ve been so grateful, add a dollop of butter for good measure:

Bake on a heated pizza stone for 5-6 minutes, til the crust is crispy and brown and the cheese begins to bubble. Cut into slices, eat immediately, give thanks (in my case, to my husband who made these), and repeat!

GARLIC TORTILLA FLATBREAD

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp oregano or herbes de provence
  • 1 pat of butter
  • 1 tortilla
Preparation
Heat oven with pizza stone in it to 450 degrees. Spread garlic and mozzarella evenly over tortilla, leaving a 1/2 inch crust on the outer rim. Sprinkle oregano or herbs on top, and add a dollop of butter.
Bake for 5-6 minutes until crust begins to brown and cheese has melted.
Makes 1 tortilla flatbread (if you’re like us, you’ll want six!).

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Beet Hash with Eggs

October 13, 2012 – 11:06 AM

It’s Saturday! My favorite day of the week. What I like to do on Saturdays is to stay in my pajamas as long as possible, not brush my hair, and basically aspire to be the definition of “unkempt” in the dictionary (remember those?).

But first, three things happened to me on Facebook this week:

  • I have relatives in Asia who post occasionally in Chinese. When I hit “Translate” on a post this week, this is what I got: “Baby Flash today to the waist, my home is caring said Filipino: his wife, I help you with your horse at night to kill the chickens! I think that is OK under the NIE just two, so was delighted to accept. Didn’t think she really be practiced! In my bed at night to enjoy professional massage essential oil. Joy you are my angel! muaaah!” Can this be right? Is my cousin okay, and where is this professional massage essential oil coming from? How did they know how to translate muaaaaah?
  • My sweet friend Danielle at Cozycakes Cottage posted about me to her zillions of followers not once but twice! Very kind of her.
  • A high school friend posted on my wall that she just read about me in this month’s issue of Redbook. I was hoping it was a surprise article wherein they unveiled a special subsidy for me to focus on nothing but eating delicious foods for the rest of my life, but when I went out a lunch to get a copy, it was just an article about jobs. I’m the second from the left. I guess my part of the planet is about 45 degrees offset from everyone else.

Anyway, on to the food. As some of you know, I generally try to make tasty foods that are also reasonably healthy — though I won’t compromise on flavor. One of my favorite magazines (uh, aside from Redbook of course) is Whole Living, which is filled with beautiful photography and prose that reduces your cortisol levels upon reading. I like to read about food before I go to bed, so it’s a standby on my nightstand.

I also really love beets. Check out my header.

So when I saw this Beet Hash with Eggs, I knew that it was a message from God. I shalt make thine Beet Hash, and I shalt make it on the day before the Sabbath.

So I did.

It was easy.

Boil peeled and diced beets and potatoes for 7 minutes, and then fry them up in a pan with some onions.

 Make four little wells in the hash, and fry up some eggs. That’s it! Well, mostly, read the recipe for details.

BEET HASH WITH EGGS (from Whole Living magazine, October 2012)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound beets, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and diced
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 4 large eggs
Preparation
  1. In a high-sided skillet, cover beets and potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Season with salt and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain and wipe out skillet.
  2. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add boiled beets and potatoes and cook until potatoes begin to turn golden, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add onion, and cook, stirring, until tender, about 4 minutes. Adjust seasoning and stir in parsley.
  3. Make four wide wells in the hash. Crack one egg into each and season egg with salt. Cook until whites set but yolks are still runny, 5 to 6 minutes.

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Amora Mustard

October 11, 2012 – 5:00 AM

I’ve mentioned a few times before that one of the best pieces in my arsenal is Amora dijon mustard from France — there is simply no other mustard available on the American market that compares (the one that comes closest is Maille — but still it has too much sweetness and not enough kick. Maille seems to sell a different recipe to the American market than the European market. Maille, please stop that!).

This mustard forms the basis of a lot of deliciousness, from creating the perfect vinaigrette to the sauce for chicken dishes. People who don’t even like mustard love this mustard. It has Ryan Gosling-like powers.

My primary sources to date have been:

  • Asking my in-laws to smuggle me some from France (involves physical and  psychological burden)
  • Buying them from questionable vendors at the farmer’s market ($12, with uncertainty on whether or not the jars are fewer than 5 years old)
  • Getting them from Amazon ($9 base price; $14.50 including shipping)

But today I discovered a more cost effective source: Simply Gourmand, a New York-based importer of French goods. Here you can get a family-sized jar of Amora for $4.90. The ground shipping is about $8.50 to where I live, so I spread out the cost by ordering five jars at a time (yes,  I use it that frequently). I placed an order today and my total for 5 jars was $33, or $6.60 per jar including shipping. Je l’aime bien!

Let’s start a mustard revolution. Let’s move forward and say no to the pukey yellow squeeze-bottled ball game mustard with extra refined sugars! Equal mustard rights for Americans, I say!

But first, try the mustard. We’ll take it from there.

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Rosemary Balsamic Chicken

October 6, 2012 – 6:47 PM

It’s been a busier week than usual and I’m not up for doing anything complicated in the kitchen. Twice this week I relied on the magic of the Bumble and Bumble Dry Shampoo since I couldn’t find the time to do the necessary hair washing (TMI?). In my zeal to de-grease my hair though I got a little too aggressive and ended up looking like a member of the Whig party.

I’m taking it easy tonight, and I’m not even taking pictures — the picture above was taken when I was in England this summer, and made this dish for a large dinner party. The one below was taken later this summer when we had some friends over for an impromptu dinner. So the point is, I make this dish a lot, because it’s easy, tastes amazing, and looks pretty if you don’t take a picture in bad lighting with a purple lighter in the backdrop like I did. This tastes a thousand times better than my picture makes it look.

I first had it at my friend Patricia’s house. We all greedily mopped up the drippings with bread, and I kept trying to think of ways to get everyone else out of the room (“Fire!!!”) so that I could drink the sauce. I begged her for the recipe and couldn’t believe how easy it was — the ROI on this is very high indeed.

In fact, I’m thinking I may save the sauce next time to start my own master sauce. Anthony Myint, one of my food heros and a fellow high school alum, in his book Mission Street Food: Recipes and Ideas from an Improbable Restaurant (you HAVE to read this book — it’s hilarious, inspiring and will change your life) writes that a master sauce is “…a fortified stock achieved by reusing the same sauce over and over. Some Western cooks find this gross, but to me, wasting perfectly good meaty broth is gross. The concentrated braising liquid results in a richer flavor, so if you’ve got it, flaunt it.” Well said, Anthony.

So this is how easy the recipe is: make a vinaigrette, essentially — olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and garlic; add in some rosemary and brown sugar, salt and pepper, and mix it all up. Place the chicken in the vinaigrette and let it marinate over night.

Stick it in the oven to bake, and be sure to serve with big crunchy slabs of bread to dip in the sauce.

ROSEMARY BALSAMIC CHICKEN (Patricia Lee)

Ingredients

  • 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs or half-breast, fat trimmed off

Marinade:

  • 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 olive oil
  • 1/4 C brown sugar
  • 3-4 T dijon mustard
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 3-4 sprigs of rosemary— remove leaves and finely chop
  • 1-2 tsp each kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, or to taste

Preparation

Combine marinade ingredients and mix together in a 9×13 baking dish. Place chicken pieces in marinade for 4-24 hours (with 24 hours preferred). Ensure chicken is coated well w/ marinade.  Place dish in oven at 400 degrees, 35-45 minutes, depending on your oven (watch the skin as it burn easily from the brown sugar).  The marinade should create a nice, yummy sauce for bread dipping.

**Note if there’s too little marinade in dish, it will evaporate during baking.  If there’s too much, the chicken will “steam” rather than “roast.”

Serves 4-8.

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{Del Mar, CA} PrepKitchen

September 29, 2012 – 9:57 PM

 Source: PrepKitchen.com

Photo credit: PrepKitchen.com

It was a dark and stormy night. Naw, actually it was a kind of hot and humid late afternoon after a soccer game when we decided to go out for dinner. This is our first soccer season and my oldest is playing for the very first time. In this action shot, I’m pretty sure she’s thinking, “Wha…?” because she says that a lot during games. One of these days I’ll have to tell her how it’s played. Once I figure it out myself.

It’s been unseasonably warm here which makes it a perfect time to head down to the beach. In my food snobbery I’ve often bemoaned the quality of San Diego restaurants, but I’ve been to two of the three PrepKitchen locations and both have been quite good. I’ll review them separately though since the menus are slightly different, and the venues are quite disparate from each other in feel.

The one in Del Mar (which just reopened recently after a years’ worth of post-fire renovation) is just a couple of blocks from the ocean with ample outdoor seating and, if you peek a bit, a view of the ocean. There’s a glass enclosure around the outdoor seating, which makes it preferable in my view to the one in La Jolla, which was quite windy last time I was there. The tables and seating at the Del Mar location are also nicer — sturdier, and more permanent-feeling.

I can only explain this photo by the fact that there’s a full moon tonight.

Every day, between 3 and 6 PM PrepKitchen Del Mar offers a happy hour menu featuring $3.75 tapas and $5 sangrias. There seems to be some daily variation in what’s offered, but here’s a link to a sample happy hour menu. It’s also super-easy to make a reservation, via OpenTable — because of my sheer laziness and the fact that technology has rendered me nearly incapable of speech, I only really go to restaurants that allow me to book online.

We started off with the Salami and Tapenade (left), Salmon Tartare (right) and White Bean Bruschetta (front).

I was excited about ordering the tapas since I’d had it at their sister restaurant Whisknladle, where it was excellent. Sadly, this tapas didn’t hit the mark. First off, bread seemed to be part of these dishes in overweighted proportion — it seemed odd that three of the five tapas items I ordered were dominated by bread. Although none of these were bad, they weren’t outstanding either. Bread aside, the portions seemed unusually small, even for the size of the mini-dish. Bread quality was excellent, however. The sangria was just ok.

Next came the Patatas Bravas, of which I had fond memories from my happy hour at Whisknladle. It hit the mark on crunchiness — nicely done — and texture, balancing the crunch with the smoothness of the sauce, which had just a touch of slow-simmered chile to it. It was certainly a notch above the first three dishes that came out, but still a notch below the one I had at Whisknladle.

The last tapas dish I ordered was the Caramelized Brussels with Bacon. This one was a real disappointment — the brussels were beyond caramelized and quite charred. Caramelized onions were a nice touch, but the sauce was far too sweet for what could have been a lovely savory dish.

At this point, I decided: no more tapas.

Best decision ever.

Out came the Local Mussels and Frites ($16.50), in a white wine, garlic and aioli sauce.

The mussels were plump and juicy with a healthy texture, and the sauce was out of this world. The frites were perfectly crisp on the outside, soft inside and seasoned with salt and parsley. I dipped many a frite in the delicious sauce, and when the frites were no more, my husband asked for a spoon. The sauce alone was worth the trip and the demoralizing tapas experience. I am telling you to get the mussels! You will weep.

Next came the Cutting Board. A half board, at $16, is perfect for two people.

It came with a lovely assortment of rilettes, olives, house mustards and tapenade, salami, cheeses and walnuts, accompanied by their signature ciabatta. The small olives were particularly tasty, and the cheeses were smooth and tasty.

The kids had the WnL Burger, which featured gruyere, cured bacon, caramelized onions and a farm egg ($16.50). I didn’t have a bite but they seemed to enjoy it.

We finished off with the Bread Pudding a la Mode ($7.50) with nutella, banana and caramel sauce. It was nicely done, flavorful without being overly sweet.

After dinner, we took a leisurely stroll along the beach.

I think that old people are on to something…if you eat early enough you can work off 1/100th of what you just ate and enjoy a nice sunset.

Or maybe you just want to go to bed.

So would I recommend PrepKitchen Del Mar? Definitely. I wouldn’t make a special trip for the tapas — in fact, I won’t get it next time — but I’ve never gone wrong with the full-priced menu items. Judging only based on the latter, PrepKitchen makes it onto my list of favorite San Diego eateries.

PrepKitchen Del Mar

1201 Camino Del Mar
(between 13th St & 12th St)
Del Mar, CA 92014

(858) 792-7737

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Cake Retrospective

September 20, 2012 – 4:00 AM

As some of you recall, before this year I was cursed with the inability to bake (anything that wasn’t hideous, anyway). And as one of my New Year’s resolutions, I set out to address this fatal flaw. For some context, here is an example of the type of cake I used to bake. Don’t look  if you just ate.

Note the special type of two-layer cake where you can actually see from the outside that it’s two layers. And what is up with those strawberries?!? On a side note, my penmanship has gotten far worse over the years.

This next one is a little blurry, but just ask yourself when you look at it: does this look like an authorized Sanrio Hello Kitty product to you? (The cake, not the giant Hello Kitty in the chair.)

I had not yet discovered the round cake pan at this point in time. Nor did the internet have enough rich content on how to make an inoffensive cake. Cake pops weren’t even invented. And I thought it seemed wasteful to cut off bits of cake so that the layers could lie flat against each other. I call this the “Sloped Cake Style”. Other people call it “gross”.

As you may recall, I started off with cookies, which used to be a source of annual embarrassment for my neighborhood cookie exchange. I feel pretty good about my cookie progress. So it’s time to share some of what I’ve done with cakes.

Here is the very first cake that I’ve ever made that didn’t require me to serve people lots of alcohol ahead of time before unveiling:

I used marshmallow fondant to make the stars, letters and dolphin and piped the decoration on the edges. The cake was frosted in buttercream.

I also made some mini-cupcakes. They’re shown here on a cute little platter from Nora Fleming. It was for my husband’s birthday celebration so I put the margarita mini in.

I also found cute ways to dress up cupcakes, like sticking some plastic rock star rings on top of some of them:

And finally, I ventured way outside my comfort zone and baked a guitar-shaped confection:

So overall, I think I’ve made good progress! How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? (I can’t remember my other ones.)

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Grilled Baby Eggplant

September 15, 2012 – 9:31 AM

Today’s post is about babies. My baby brother just had a baby. She’s named after a food!

When I was five and my new baby brother came home from the hospital, I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about all the things that I had to teach him about life and then fretting about the appropriate sequence. I got up and went to his room, and looking down at him, sighed and thought, “You have so much to learn.” Now that he’s had his own baby over 35 years later, I’m thinking the same thing. Wait, why do you think I’m neurotic again?

Luckily, I don’t feel I need to teach baby eggplant much of anything. Babies are so cute, and these are no exception. Awww, look at these sweet little aubergines.

I’m embarrassed to even call this a recipe, it’s so easy. But it’s really yummy. Just slice the babies in half:

Brush both sides generously with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Put them on a hot grill for 3-4 minutes per side, until the flesh is soft and turns a light caramel hue.

Adjust seasoning to taste, sprinkle with pepper and garnish with some cilantro. Yum! You can use the same simple technique with full-sized eggplant too — just slice and grill until the flesh is soft.

GRILLED BABY EGGPLANT

Ingredients

  • 5-6 baby eggplant
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
  • fresh ground pepper to taste
  • cilantro, for garnish

Preparation

Heat a grill. Slice eggplant into halves and brush both sides generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Reserve the leftover olive oil.

When the grill is hot, place the halves flat side down and grill covered for 3-4 minutes. You should see clear, grill marks on the surface when you turn them over. Grill on the other side for another 3-4 minutes. Eggplant is cooked when the flesh is soft.

Put on a plate, add pepper and adjust salt to taste. Optionally, drizzle with leftover extra virgin olive oil. Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 4 (as a side).

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Spicy Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti

September 3, 2012 – 4:16 PM

 

Summer is drawing to a close and I still have a backlog of fruit crisps, black russian kales and catfish delights to post about. Even though I’ve been out of school for a very long time, I can always feel this time of year a certain note of melancholy in the air, the sun making its rays more solemn, the crispness in the rustling of leaves, a purposeful, bittersweet sign that one era is dying down as the next one emerges.

All that as a fancy way of saying that I’m really glad figs are in season. O how I love thee, fig!

This is my favorite way to have figs — straight up and whole. No recipe required.

But this post isn’t really about figs.

It’s about spaghetti and meatballs.

Which somehow seems appropriately school-year staple, because of that On Top of Spaghetti song.

I’m reminding myself of that meme that says “If I had a dollar every time I got distracted I wish I had some ice cream.”

When the girls and I were up north, my brother and my sister-in-law welcomed us with this tasty Barefoot Contessa rendition of the spaghetti and meatball classic.

Here are my brother, sister-in-law and the girls wishing I would stop taking pictures so that they can eat.

My sister-in-law is about to go into labor any day now, and today is Labor Day so it seems like it should happen today. I haven’t heard anything yet though.

These meatballs are special. They’re made with turkey, sausage, prosciutto and Asagio cheese, and Ina Garten says that they’re the best meatballs she’s ever had!  I think Ina knows a thing or two about meatballs.

I didn’t cook them, so I’m just going to share the recipe at the end. It was a great week for me where I consumed an extraordinary quantity of delicious food without having to prepare it. During the day, the kids and I went on excursions like taking a cruise out to Alcatraz Island:

Visiting the iconic Ferry Building:

and buying owl hats:

Because you never know when might need an owl hat.

Evenings were spent in the newly redone back yard:

Swinging in hammocks (my brother made the green chair — nice, right?):

Enjoying the fireplace:

and dining al fresco amidst the juniper trees:

‘Twas an idyllic late summer getaway…thanks for hosting us, M&A!

Now, for the recipe:

SPICY TURKEY MEATBALLS & SPAGHETTI

From Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?  by Ina Garten

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (1-inch diced) bread cubes from a round rustic bread, crusts removed
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 2 pounds ground turkey (85%-92% lean)
  • 1/2 pound sweet Italian pork sausage, casings removed
  • 4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped
  • 1 cup freshly grated aged Asagio cheese
  • 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 TBSP good olive oil, plus extra for brushing the meatballs
  • 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3 24-oz jars good marinara sauce, such as Rao’s
  • 2 pounds dried spaghetti, such as De Cecco
  • Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for serving

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

Place the bread in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until the bread is in medium crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a small bowl and add the milk. Set aside for 5 minutes.

in a large mixing bowl, combine the turkey, sausage, prosciutto, bread mixture, Asiago, parsley, oregano, red pepper blakes, 1 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp pepper. Lightly combine the ingredients with your hands. Add the 3 TBSP olive oil and the eggs and stir lightly with a fork to continue.

With your hands, lightly roll the mixture into 2-inch round meatballs and place them on the prepared sheet pans. Brush the meatballs with olive oil. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the tops are browned and the centers are completely cooked.

Pour the marinara sauce in a large, low pot, add the meatballs and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the directions on the package. Drain and place the spaghetti in individual bowls, and top with 3 meatballs and lots of sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese on the side.

Serves 8.

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