Like a Virgin: Sous Vide for the Very First Time

A few years ago R and I took a free class at Williams-Sonoma on Sous Vide. We were fascinated and knew that we'd get a sous vide at some point. We're still waiting for that someday to come along. Sous Vide cooking basically is cooking food in a warm water bath set at the temperature in which the food should be done cooking at for several hours. We received a Food Saver from my parents for the holidays and were finally able to put it to good use. After reading about using a slow cooker as a make shift sous vide, we knew we had to check it out. While I was at work, Rich seasoned some chicken thighs and sealed them in the Food Saver and got it started in the "sous vide." Some more information for cooking chicken with this method can be found here and here.  It took a few hours to cook and then we seared it in a pan for just a little crust (which didn't actually give any crust, we'll have to work on that!) and it came out great! The chicken was very tender and juicy. We will definitely have to experiment with this some more to get it down perfectly, but we were pleased with our first attempt. We also through an egg in to test it out and that wasn't half bad either!

It all starts with the Food Saver

It's cooking!

Fresh out of the bath

And into the pan with a little oil

Finished product

Cooked all the way through

Time for the egg

60 degree egg

Get your yoke on!

 Do you cook sous vide? I'd love to hear about your experiences!

Ink.

You know all about my obsession with Top Chef and visiting restaurants of Top Chef alumni (recently- Mike Isabella's Graffiato and Michael Voltaggio's casual lunch spot, Ink. Sack)
so going to Michael Voltaggio's Ink. obviously had a spot on my "restaurant to do list." I was finally able to get to Ink. with my husband and some friends the Thursday night before Christmas and to say we were not disappointed is an under statement.

We received pretty good service and one of the little things Ink. does that sets them apart from other LA restaurants is that they have a coat check. I know, I know- it's LA..but it does get cold here and we do wear coats, so this was a really nice touch and not too many other restaurants offer this. The wine list is on point with appropriately priced and well selected wines and the cocktail list looks excellent, though I stuck to wine. The menu consists of about 20 small plate dishes and 4 desserts, all changing frequently.  We were really impressed with the majority of the dishes, but there were a few stand outs (no disappointments!!)- the brussel sprouts with lardo and pig's ear, the jidori chicken and waffles with maple and hot sauce (my personal favorite, lamb neck with chickpea poutine, and the charred avocado stuffed with crab.

Tough angle, but that's Mr. Volt making magic in the kitchen

Bigeye tuna with grapefruit, soy gel, and parsnip sesame creame

Charred avocado stuffed with crab with whipped fish sauce, mushroom chicharon and mushrooms

Kale with burrata, asian pear, yuzu, and pumpkin seeds

Brussel sprouts with crispy pig ear, lardo, and apple

Lamb neck, chickpea poutine with yogurt curds

Jidori chicken and waffles with smoked maple and hot sauce

Sea Bass with Kelp pasta, shishito peppers, fennel

Pork cheeks, charcoal oil, leeks, macaroni and cheese

Skirt steak with potato cigar and parsnip

Apple dessert with creme caramel, burnt wood sabayon, and walnut. Note the smoking ice cream!!

We had such a special and memorable pre-holiday dinner at Ink. So many incredible flavors and beautiful presentations. I love the bowls the dishes are served in that look straight out of Heath Ceramics.

Happy Eating everyone! Did you have any special dinner over the holidays?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I like movies, but by no means am I some kind of movie critic or movie snob and I can't even begin to pretend to be. On that note, I need to say- this movie was all kinds of awesome! Trent Reznor, who is one of the nicest and coolest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, did such an amazing job with the score and especially the song in the opening credits, Karen O's cover of "Immigrant Song"- for lack of better words- just killed it, in the same way that "sick" and "bad" mean good things. Check out this great interview with Trent and Jason Bentley from KCRW about the score can be heard here complete with clips from the score).

Walking into the movie, I knew little nothing about the movie itself. I knew the name of the main character, I knew who was in it, I knew it involved some kind of investigative work, I knew my awesome neighbor worked on post production (shout out if you're reading this I.N!!), and that TR and Atticus Ross did the score. I didn't read the book and haven't read any of the other book's from Stieg Larsson's series, but they are now on my short list of must reads. Sometimes this is the best way to go into a movie since you can't really be disappointed by your expectations. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the movie, so I'll steer clear from talking about the actual plot, but whoa...I really can't stop thinking about this movie. Parts of the movie left me sick to my stomach and in tears, parts of the movie made want to cheer aloud (I may have accidentally and embarrassingly clapped at one part), and I was on the edge of my seat for almost the whole movie. I have a hard time with "scary" movies, but I do love a good suspense movie or psychological thriller and this left me entirely satisfied. I've since watched the Swedish version and The Girl Who Played with Fire and I'm totally hooked. No over hyping here, but if you want to see the movie, just go. I think you'll be pretty into it.

Have you seen it? I am dying to hear what you thought and if you read the book, how did it compare?? Have you seen the original? Tell me everything!

800 Degrees Pizza

Because there are only actually a few good lunch options in Westwood (Fundamental LA and Casa Azul to name a few, VERY few), it's really exciting when we get a new spot that comes with credentials. 800 Degrees just opened by Adam Fleischman and the Umami Burger team and I was chomping at the bit to try one of their pizzas made fresh and baked in a wood fired oven on the spot. I was there on the second day it opened and I'm happy to welcome 800 degrees to the neighborhood!  The concept is similar (but a zillion times better) to Subway- you walk in, order whatever you want on your pizza, order sides, burrata, salad, etc. Your food is ready almost by the time you are done paying. I don't drink soda almost ever, but I had to try their soda machine. It's a digital Coca-Cola machine that makes almost any soda you could want and if price were not an issue, it would be the best gift you could give to a soda lover. Everyone at 800 degrees was friendly and things seemed to be going smoothly on day 2- not an easy feat.

Assembling my margherita pizza

Dough prep

Selection of times- prosciutto and carmelized onions for me

Burrata with tomatoes and pesto

Finished pie

side of meatballs

The food is TASTY! The pizzas are thin, about the size of a CPK pizza, and are best eaten with a fork and knife. One thing I really liked is that the prosciutto doesn't go on the pizza until it comes out of the oven- the only way to do it as far as I'm concerned. The burrata is creamy and well seasoned with the tomatoes, pesto, salt and olive oil. Meatballs are BIG and finished with a parmesan crust and float in a tomato sauce. Go with a friend and split a few things. Will I be back? Absolutely- and sooner than later.

Salted Toffee and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

New Years Eve. Such a big night, so much pressure, so many hopes and dreams. This year's New Years Even I really felt the pressure and my hopes and dreams were high! We were headed to one of my best friend's NYE party and in addition to the usual bevies and excellent company, guests were tasked with making cookies for a friendly cookie competition and swap. I knew I needed a stand out cookie that strayed slightly from the beaten path, but would impress. I went with a salted toffee and dark chocolate chunk oatmeal cookie (adapted from this recipe) based off some other cookies I have had,  the coveted Castle Press cookie. This is one of the best cookies I've had and nailing down the recipe is almost impossible. There's something about the texture that I can't quite put my finger on. If you've had these cookies, you know how incredible they are and I thought this would be an excellent style cookie for this party, but I added a bit of a twist with my liberal salting. This is a pretty basic cookie recipe, but adding salt really takes it to the next level. If you're looking for something new, I think you'll be happy with this!

I was feeling good about this cookie, but had no idea what I was up against. I consider myself a decent enough baker, so I felt somewhat confident. The cookie received a positive reception. But, the question is, did I win the cookie contest?  No, I did not! I'm happy to say one of my girls brought home the best all around at one of her first baking attempts and she knocked it out of the park. Killer cookie bar, E! My husband and I made a chocolate chip Rugelach as well which brought home the "best looking" prize. Thank you Ina Garten, for this Rugelach gem, which is pretty easy and has been a reliable crowd pleaser.

How did you ring in the new year? Have you tried any new recipes yet?