nov 22 dinner

dinner nov 22
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

our society is always pushing broccoli as the vegetable to eat. sure it's full of the nutrients we need as well as anti-oxidants, but i feel cauliflower which also has vitamin C and the same cancer fighting phytochemicals as broccoli has been vastly underrated. after eating so much broccoli, for years, i was frankly broccoli'd out. my palate preference is for kai-lan, which is chinese broccoli, or brocclini, a cross between broccoli and cabbage. recently, i've been incorporating more cauliflower into my cooking.

i had a craving for olives last night, so adapted a recipe from made in spain, a pbs cooking show specializing in spanish culture and cuisine. the original recipe combines the cauliflower and olives with dates, but i'm not a big fan of dates and don't like things too sweet, so i used these huge grapes i had purchased from whole foods.

Cauliflower with olives and grapes
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
8 ounces (1/2 pound) cauliflower, broken into pieces
4 sprigs fresh thyme
8 giant grapes (or equal amount of smaller grapes)
8 black olives
8 green olives
3 tbs sweet dessert white wine, such as Pedro Ximenez
2 teaspoons pimentón (smoked spanish paprika)

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the cauliflower and thyme and cook until the cauliflower is brown and caramelized, about 8 minutes. Add the grapes and olives and cook for about 1 more minute, until they are heated through. Pour in the wine and deglaze the pan, allowing the alcohol to burn off. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl and sprinkle with pimentón.

the combination of salty olives with cauliflower means you need no added salt. along with this, i made a simple salad with slices of heirloom tomato and some rocket arugula and a lemon vinaigrette using olivier's lemon olive oil and some white wine vinegar, sea salt and cracked black pepper. the dinner was not complete without a little snacking of some cheeses--bucheron (a soft, goat's milk cheese), unie kaas robusto (salty, hard cow's milk cheese and amadeus cheese (nutty and creamy semi-soft cheese) and crusty french bread.

tasca

tasca
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

#25 on my 101 in 1001 list (6/143)
after our mediocre meal at cafe sevilla a few weeks ago, i was still craving spanish tapas, so we ate here. we arrived early on a saturday night without reservations, and were promptly seated, which made me a little nervous about the quality of the food because any good restaurant in LA would not be empty on a saturday night, but it turns out maybe we were just a little early, as people didn't start filling up the restaurant until 7pm.

have you ever ordered a good burger seared so it gets that smoky flavor on the outside but is still juicy on the inside, then the juice flavors the lettuce. well, the ceasar salad--a special--we ordered reminded me of that. it consisted of a heart of lettuce that had been grilled and thus infused with a nice, smoky aroma and drizzled with a tart, lobster flavored dressing and plated with a single grilled shrimp. the only complaint i had was the shrimp was a little overcooked and mushy.

in addition to the salad, we also ordered two similar, but different tapas--bunuelo de bacalao, which were salted cod fritters in salbetxada sauce and arancini, which were wild mustroom risotto fritters. both had a light crispy shell like a japanese croquette. the tender cod had a light texture that reminded me of canned tuna and a subtle flavor. the accompanying tomato relish, however, was very garlicky and slightly tart from a vinaigrette. in contrast, the arancini had a creamy, earthy flavor that was further enhanced by the creamy sauce that came with it. both were tasty.

they offer both tapas and entrees, although the entrees aren't full entree size, and the tapas are a little bigger than typical tapas. we shared the pasta special, which was a tagliolini pasta with chanterelle & shitake mushrooms with shaved black truffle. if you like mushrooms, this is earthy, nutty dish is for you. the mushroom sauce is creamy and rich as well.

we ended our meal with a pot de creme, a sizeble cup of chocolate mousse with cardamom infused whipped cream and copious amounts of shaved chocolate topping. the mousse was a little more sweet than rich like i like it, but it was still good. i loved that they give you lots of bits of chocolate, and the cardamom in the whipped cream enhanced the dessert.

we tried two different wines that were specials that night--a french bordeaux (chateau sorbey) rich in tannins & an earthy chilean syrah (bayo oscuro--and a sweet, oaky meritage from mendocino. the first two were ok. i liked the last the best, as i thought it had a richness that had a strong finish.

our waiter was very attentive, although service slowed towards the end of our meal as more people filled the restaurant. a good meal overall. i would come back to try other things on the menu.