The Second Really Big Cook-Off

Braised Short Ribs With a Celery Duo

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine With Celery Duo

Rachel at Fresh Approach is hosting the second edition of thie event. The object was to complete her selected recipe and post about your experience.

I found boneless short ribs at Costco for $2.99 lb. They weren't too fatty and looked pretty nice. The 4 pound package cost me about $12.00. I went to my local grocery store for the vegetables (celery, celery root, leeks, turnips and shallots). My garden provided the thyme, parsley and tomato to make tomato paste. For the red wine, I used Yellowtail Shiraz.

Though this recipe has many parts, it is basically easy to make though it takes quite a bit of time when you include vegetable prep, browning the meat, brasing the ribs, sauce reduction and straining and puree of the celery root and potatoes. I was on my feet for a few hours.

I chose not to use the carrots not because I thought they would or would not offer anything to the recipe, but simply because I forgot to buy them. What I found interesting is that the recipe suggested that the turnips and carrots should be discarded. I myself like turnips and in that they didn't get mushy, I chose to serve them with the short ribs. I added whole green onions to this prep also.

The highlight of this recipe was the pan juices reduced until thickened, then strained to make a very tasty, rich dark sauce.

My husband loved it but thought I spent too much time in the prep. I would make it again minus the celery duo. The braised short ribs could be made prior to a dinner party, warmed and served allowing the hostess to spend time with the guests. The celery root puree was nice, but plain mashed potatoes would have been fine. The sauce reduction flavors the puree and may overpower the celery root anyway..

I served my rendition with the short ribs placed on top of the celery root puree, sauce around the sides and including the turnips. This is a heavy meal so autumn and winter are great times to serve.

Johnny Reb's Southern Roadhouse

Every week G and I go out on a "date" together. It's a way to make sure we don't become housebound and gives us the opportunity to enjoy each others company outside of home. Saturday we decided on dinner and a movie. I had a taste for either BBQ or fried chicken. We recently dined at Aunt Kizzy's and didn't want to go back there so soon. We then decided that Johnny Reb's Roadhouse would suit our fancy.

It is located in what I call downtown Bellflower. A quaint street where over the weekends they may block off the street and hold street fairs, exhibits, harvest festivals and on and on. The Roadhouse is decorated with old license plates from southern states, country kitchen items, and a bathroom with the sounds of an outhouse and peanuts you eat and throw the shells on the floor.

The menu includes a number of BBQ items from sausage to chicken, beef or pork ribs, pulled pork and brisket. All smoked. You can also get hamburgers, chicken fried steak covered in gravy, fried catfish, fried chicken and even hamburgers. The fried chicken is cooked when you order it so they warn you the wait will be 20 minutes.

I was quite hungry when we arrived so I opted for the BBQ pork ribs with a side of both North Carolina style BBQ sauce and regular BBQ sauce. G went for the fried catfish. My sides included french fries and collard greens with a large biscuit. I could have had hush puppies or cornbread. G's sides were fried sweet potatoes and coleslaw with hush puppies.

A half rack of the ribs equals 6 ribs. They were very meaty and had a nice smoky flavor. I had to admit they were better than the ribs I had at Aunt Kizzy's but not as good as the ribs at JR's BBQ in Culver City. G's described his catfish as good but not necessarily the best he has had.


The waitress was very attentive and friendly. She received a very nice tip.

After dinner we went to a movie-my choice. I have been wanting to see the "40 Year Old Virgin" for a few weeks. Not G's first choice. It was hilarious. I laughed through the whole movie. I also noticed that G was also laughing pretty hard. This has got to be the funniest movie I have seen a number of years. I really enjoyed it.

WDB #2- Ziggy's Favorite Toy

We are in again for this weekend's dog blogging event. Watch for the roundup at Sweetnicks.

Ziggy and his favorite toy, an "Empty Water Bottle". He can spend hours chasing that bottle all over the house. Cheap thrills.

Fogo de Chao in Beverly Hills

Just imagine being able to go to an upscale restaurant and eat all you can eat of succulent, savory, perfectly seasoned rare, medium rare or done cuts of meat. Not just some rib roast, I'm talking filet mignon, top sirloin, lamb chops, roasted lamb, linguica, chicken wrapped in bacon, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, beef ribs, pork ribs, noble sirloin, bottom sirloin, pork loin and chicken drummettes. All seasoned with sea salt, some with garlic and roasted on a state of the art rotisserie.

Well let me tell you about Fogo de Chao in Beverly Hills, California. Located on Restaurant Roll, that is La Cienega Blvd. Since their opening in March 2005, there has been nothing but great reviews. In the US there are locations in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Chicago with one slated to open in Washington DC soon. Brazil is home to four other locations. Did I give something away?

Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian Churrascaria which translates to "All You Can Eat BBQ". This truly unique dining experience is touted to bring back the steakhouse experience of Southern Brazil.

I had read a number of positive reviews about this restaurant. In addition, some friends also told us about the adventure. So Saturday, G and I decided to make reservations. We were able to get one for 6:30pm. Fine with me. If I'm going to eat that much meat, I'd better allow time before going to bed. We drive up to Fogo de Chao which is next door to The Stinking Rose and across the street from Lawry's Prime Rib. What competition!

The building was renovated at a price of nearly 8 million dollars with 2 million of that invested in the kitchen alone. We valet park and walk in to be greeted by a very friendly young lady who verified our reservation. We are escorted to our table and the show begins.

The waiter comes to explain the dinning adventure we are about to embark. He describes the very well and diversely stocked salad bar, the prixe fixe price of the meal, the fact that gaucho dressed servers will be coming to our table to slice piece after piece of meat onto our plates until we tell them to stop by turning over a coaster sized disk to indicate stop/pause or go. Our dinner is served with mashed potatoes topped with cheese, whole fried bananas and fried polenta rectangles. We order a bottle wine which I found it to be quite expensive but that's ok. We opted for glasses of water versus bottled. Vegetarians do not be dismayed. You can select the vegetarian menu which is the sald bar and sides, no meat at a reduced prixe fixe price.

We headed for the salad bar. It was very hard to resist filling our plates with the many choices available. Smoked Salmon, proscuito, soft and hard cheese, dried tomatoes, large asparagus spears, hearts of palm, potato salad, mozzarella balls, spinach, romaine, croutons, select premium EVO, beets, fruits and on and on. All presented very well and never allowed to run out. I exerted will power and limited my choices so I could pig out on the meat- carnivore that I am.

G and I headed back to the table. Our wine was poured and we were ready. The mashed potatoes, polenta and fried bananas were delivered to the table. A basket of bread was also placed for our enjoyment. Airy, buttery with a strange consistency which I can't describe but tasty. After finishing our salads, we turn our coasters to "go".

Immediately a gaucho dressed server arrives with a skewer of meat. It's filet mignon and I select medium rare. G also goes for it. Next we are served top sirloin where the server slices the meat and we use tongs to assist placement on our plates. The servers were very attentive. If they didn't have the doneness you preferred, they immediately found a server who did. We pause and then go again. After tasting only half the selections, I slow down but I do not stop. This is pure gluttony but I'm loving it. I did taste nearly all the selections. G comments that it's amazing, we are turning down perfectly cooked slices of prime meat- filet mignon. G sees a platter displayed by a server at another table. He places his coaster on "go" and is presented with the most tender and tasty piece of beef ribs. He finds room to take on one more slice. I nibble a small piece of G's. We are both finished.

We did eat a limited amount of the fried bananas and polenta which was great. The mashed potatoes were ok. There was nothing that I didn't like. Will we go back again? Yes in deed. It can't be a weekly thing for at $48.50 per person it can get pretty steep when you also consider the wine. We were out of there including tip at $210.00 for two.

Weekend Dog Blogging Event (WDB)

Sweetnick is hosting the first "Weekend Dog Blogging" (WDB) event. This is a spin-off of the "Weekend Cat Blogging" (WCB)event sponsored by Clare at Eat Stuff.

I jump at any excuse to post pictures of my Ziggy. He is a 1.5 year old fiesty and very friendly male Yorkie. He loves taking morning walks with me, hates getting groomed, chews up anything left unattended (i.e. remote controls, shoes), loves cuddling with me in a chair, loves road trips and hates being alone. His next favorite spot to my lap is to lay on the pillows in the bedroom window seat where he can watch everthing going on outside. While acting as a guard dog, he barks to alert me that someone is walking down the street and he goes nuts when there is also another dog out there.

Needless to say, I love my Ziggy.

Paper Chef #10 Roundup Is In- "At Last"

Owen of Tomatilla has been very busy doing good things for Hurricane Katrina victims. However, he did find time to get the roundup for the New Orleans Edition of Paper Chef.

Kevin at Seriously Good announces the winners of this paper chef.

Food 911 Dandy Doughnuts, Tyler and Me

If you happen to be free Thursday, September 15th at 3PM (ET/PT), check out the rerun of a Food 911 show I did with Tyler Florence, Dandy Doughnuts. I posted a lengthy blog on the experience at my other site, Food Got to love It.

It was taped in 2001, but seems timeless to me.

Return To Bayou Grill- Inglewood, CA

Fried Oysters and Shrimp with Hush Puppies and French Fries


New Orleans, the food, the people, the culture.

I had the opportunity to visit New Orleans a number of times with the most recent visit about 2 years ago. A number of these visits were to attend a major pharmacy association convention. I spent my days in the infamous convention center soaking in the latest information- continuing education, while my evenings and nights were spent somewhere in or near the French Quarter. I remember one night sitting at the oyster bar at Acme Oyster House. They had a video cam which I unknowingly sat in front of. One of the shuckers pointed to the camera and then to me as he expalined that I was being seen on the internet. I called G in L.A. and told him to sign on. As I spoke with him a less than perfect view of me eating raw oysters appeared. What a city.

Breakfast at Mother's, beignets at Cafe Du Monde, pralines, po'boys, bananas foster, gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, crawfish, etc.

A visit to Bayou Grill will have to satisfy my desire for authentic New Orleans cuisine.

Carnivore's Delight- Labor Day Party in Long Beach

Korean BBQ Short Ribs, Armenian Beef Kabobs and Chicken Kabobs and Carne Asada
No further detail is necessary than to say we all ate and ate and ate!

Carnivore's Delight


Carnivore's Delight

Paper Chef # 10- The New Orleans Edition

Owen at Tomatilla announced the New Orleans edition of Paper Chef as a tribute to its food. "A special culture and community and feeling. Unique food. Unique music. Unique experiences. But it is also celebrated for celebrating! Right now there isn't much time for that but you bet there will be as the water goes back down and rebuilding gets under way. And it is important not to forget what New Orleans was, so that in the serious rebuilding ahead those special things also get rebuilt. So in the spirit of a unique place with unique food and its own unique style, it is time for Paper Chef to give a little back …"

Required ingredients:Beer, Sausage, Shrimp and Tomatoes

My contribution to this Paper chef is a simple New Orleans style soup. I followed no recipe but instead relied on my instincts.


Paper Chef #10 New Orleans Edition

Tomatoes are still abundant in my garden along with green bell peppers and serrano chiles. To make the trinity, I cut up three stalks celery, one yellow onion and one large bell pepper. In addition I diced four green onions and the serrano chiles ( I used three but I like it hot) were added to the trinity. This was added to a stock pot with about a ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil and cooked until the vegetables were slightly limp.

For the sausage, I used 4 brats which I added to the vegetables in the stock pot whole to brown. I removed the brats and cut them into one inch pieces. This was added back to the stock pot. Previously I removed the skin from three very large tomatoes. These were cut into large chunks and added to the stock pot. For seasoning, I added salt and pepper to taste, a teaspoon of liquid crab boil, 2 garlic cloves finely minced and 2 bay leaves.

To continue to the Paper Chef theme, I added one bottle of beer (Corona) and one cup of chicken broth.

This was left to simmer about 15 minutes. I then added one pound of uncooked jumbo shrimp and continued to cook until the shrimp was opaque. I then added parsley and chives (both also from my garden) to the finished soup.

The resulting soup was light and the taste was extraordinary. It is a must make again.

Philadelphia Residents Attending New Orleans Colleges

Many college students who were to attend New Orleans colleges and universities are now in the position that they will be seeking alternative schools to attend with little time to organize. The University of Pennsylvania (PENN in Philadelphia) is offering up to 100 academically qualified Philadelphia residents enrolled in colleges and universities in the Hurricaine Katrina stricken areas a generous opportunity. I have taken the liberty to publish the email distributed by the university. I would hope that other colleges and universities throughout the country would offer similar opportunities to their state's residents who also were enrolled in hurricaine stricken areas schools.

From: Combined Faculty Staff Student Emails on behalf of University Notification
Sent: Thu 9/1/2005 5:31 PM

Subject: Penn Response to Hurricane Katrina
TO: The Penn Community
FROM: President, Dr. Amy Gutmann

The University of Pennsylvania stands with the nation in mourning thevictims of terrible tragedy in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.We are committed to finding solutions to help the survivors rediscoverhope and rebuild shattered lives. To that end, we will offeracademically-qualified Philadelphia-area undergraduates enrolled atcolleges and universities in hurricane stricken areas the opportunity totake fall semester classes at Penn on a space-available basis.

In addition, Penn faculty and staff interested in serving as volunteerswith the organizations involved in hurricane relief efforts may be givenup to three weeks of paid time off.We are driven by our belief that it is important to offer students fromthe Philadelphia area as much continuity as we can until they can resumestudies at their home institution. In addition, many of our faculty andstaff have expressed interest in volunteering their services in NewOrleans and other areas needing assistance.

We expect to be able to accommodate as many as 100 undergraduate students.In addition, graduate and professional students will be considered on anindividual basis, depending on available space.Penn will not be charging tuition to the displaced students, insteadallowing tuition dollars to continue to be directed towards the studentshome school. If students have already paid their fall semester tuitionto another college or university, Penn will provide available space inclasses at no additional cost and will work with students to assure theyremain eligible for federal financial aid.

Students seeking to enroll in the emergency program should contact theCollege of General Studies at 215-573-4338.Campus housing is already full and will not be available to the additionalstudents. The expectation is that the emergency program would serve students within commuting distance. At the end of the fall semester, Pennwill give students in the program transcripts for the courses theycomplete.As they become available, additional details will be posted at:http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/hurricane.php

Sincerely,
Dr. Amy Gutmann

Please Give for Hurricane Relief

American Red Cross

Vote For Their Favorite Grilled Cheese

Slashfood sponsored "Grilledcheese Day" on Monday August 29th. A number of us bloggers posted Flickr photos of our grilled cheese ideas. Slashfood then posted their choice for the best grilled cheese. Criteria? My entry didn't make it. Ho hum. I also found it difficult to vote when there was no readily available link back to the choices so that I could make a decision. Maybe they will correct this with future events.

Grilled Cheese

Indian Flat Bread, Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Smoked Fontina, Tomato, Basil and Bacon



Melted Goodness!

Repast

Dictionary definition: Repast is a meal or the food eaten or provided at a meal. Today, a repast is more known as the meal that is served post funeral to the grieving family. In the Afro-American community, the repast is usually provided by the church, or friends and neighbors bring a special dish to the grieving family's home for consumption after the funeral. This provision of support is an acknowledgment that the family needs nourishment during their time of grief and a sign of emotional support.

Why would I bring up what might be percieved by many as a depressing event? Mainly because nourishment is necessary and feeding/eating is a means to healing.

For those of you who also follow my blog "Food Got to Love It", you may remember my "Ode To Johnnye Burrell". A climax to her celebration of life was a repast held in the church hall. The menu consisited of typical "soul food" entrees often associated with "Afro-American" celebrations and holidays. Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, cabbage, green beans, black eyed peas, rice, ground beef and spaghetti, corn bread, green salad and red punch.
Life celebrations always lead to food.

All Grilled Cheese All Day August 29th

Slashfood, the new kid on the block has announced a new food event- "All Grilled Cheese All Day" August 29th.

Really Big Cook Off Event Roundup Is In

Rachael of Fresh Approach has posted the roundup to the "First Really Big Cook Off". Ravioli with watercess, two cheeses and potato. Check out the various interpretations of the same recipe.

Aunt Kizzy's Back Porch- Marina Del Rey

It has been described as yuppie soul food, possible star sightings based on the many celebrity pictures on the wall, a very familiar name to L.A. diners. How did we wind up there?

G and I go out to dinner most Friday evenings. This is a carry over of what the kids use to call family night. I suggested we go to an Indian restaurant in Marina Del Rey as I was also looking to celebrate the resignation and "finally gone" saga of a problem employee (that's another story I wish to forget). As we drove through the parking lot, G commented that Aunt Kizzy's didn't look too busy. Heck, we haven't eaten there in probably over 5 years. Remembrances of the long waits to be seated due to the crowds and the rush to serve and get you out of there had previously driven us away.

We walked in around 7pm to find it wasn't very busy. A man I believe may have been the manager gestered that someone would seat us soon. We were directed almost immediately to our seats.

There is a one page menu which is located under the glass table top. G wanted catfish and I was open to whatever fit my fancy. After what seemed like 5 minutes, the manager offered us lemonade or tea and informed us that our waiter would be there soon. The waiter almost immediately appeared (I'm sure this was due to the prompting of the manager).

Entrees come with a choice of two vegetables plus rice or cornbread dressing with gravy. Cornbread and butter is delivered to the table prior to the meal.


G chose the fried catfish, black eye peas, collard greens and dressing.

The catfish was also served with a side of hush puppies. G was happy. The portion was quite small but he didn't need more anyway. The black eye peas must not have rated honorable mention as I don't remember him making a comment about them. G did love the collard greens after a sprinkling of hot pepper vinegar to cut the sweet taste.


I chose the BBQ pork ribs, macaroni and cheese, collard greens and dressing. I was anxious to eat and almost forgot to take the mandatory blog picture. The collard greens were very good though I could tell they added sugar. I could easily fix this by sprinkling some hot pepper vinegar on them just as G had. This cut the sweet just right. The greens I would now call excellent. After cutting the BBQ ribs, the first thing I noted was that they were baked or steamed and not smoked. The meat literally fell off the bone and to me that's not necessarily a good thing. Tender yes, fall apart- no. It was lathered in a very sweet BBQ sauce. Sorry, I'm partial to a more vinegar based sauce. Don't get me wrong, they were tasty but not great. The macaroni and cheese was excellent. Lots of cheese cooked down home style and I finished them before anything else. The dressing was ok. G and I barely touched it. Whether the rice alternative would have offered more, I can't say.

Eating those ribs made my hands pretty sticky. Our waiter wasn't very attentive and didn't use a little foresight to think anyone eating ribs is going to need more than one napkin nor did he make it back to our table to refill our iced tea glasses. The manager noticed and he asked if we needed refills on the iced tea. We completed the meal. Contrary to 5 years ago when there was a rush to turn a table, it took forever for the waiter to bring us our check. All this for $34.34 tax included. G did tip well as his philosophy is to help a brother out. He was trying. They did look short of staff.

Overall, another lovely evening with G.

Really Big Cookoff - The First

Rachael from Fresh Approach initiated the food blogging world's first ever "Really Big Cookoff" featuring a recipe adapted from Jaime Oliver. I was very happy with the finished product. I'm not sure the purple potato added anything to the recipe other than color. The mashed garlic did positively intensify the flavor.

Ravioli with Watercress, Two Cheeses and Potato



I have never made pasta dough from scratch and I felt this was not the time to start. I therefore used the suggested wonton wrappers. Cutting large wrappers with a cookie cutter to the size and shape I desired. After cutting a few of these, I questioned the impact on presentation. I probably should have used the small square wonton wrappers.



My selected cheeses included parmesan and an apple smoked gruyere cheese. Both cheeses were finely grated and added to the potato and watercress mixture. I could envision the smoky flavor of the cheese as a welcome addition. This was a great choice. a smoky cheddar, gouda or gorgongola would also have worked.



With my ravioli prepared, I was ready to cook. I used the reserved water from the potatoes plus some addional water. Why waste the garlic flavor in the water.





For color, I selected purple potatoes. I boiled the potatoes with not 4 cloves of garlic but with 6. After boiling, I took two of the softened cloves and mashed them with the potatoes. I then took the suggestion to leave the mixture chunky. The boiling water was also saved and set aside.



The starting recipe:

Ravioli with Potato, Watercress and Cheese
Serves 4-6

Make a point of using 2 delicious, contrasting cheeses, for example a strong cheese like Gorgonzola or a creamy taleggio and a hard cheese such as pecorino or Parmesan.

6 sheets fresh pasta (cut out into 36 circles or squares, or use 36 wonton wrappers)
2 pounds all-purpose potatoes
4 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
4 or 5 good handfuls watercress, large stalks removed, plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup butter
10 - 12 oz. cheese, extra for garnish
Grated nutmeg, to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash and peel the potatoes, put them into well-salted, boiling water with the garlic and cook until the potatoes are just tender (it is very important not to under- or overcook them). Drain them and let them sit for about 5 minutes to enable the excess water to evaporate (if you overcook them or don't drain them correctly they'll be too moist and your filling will be too wet).

When the potatoes have cooled slightly add your butter and your chosen cheeses. Stir and mash with a fork to mix and break the potatoes up (I like to leave the mixture slightly chunky). Add the nutmeg and seasoning to taste. Stir in the watercress, half finely chopped and the rest coarsely chopped.

Place a good heaped teaspoon of this mixture onto the lower half of each of the pasta squares (or circles). To seal, wet the inside edge with a little water or egg wash, fold over and presssing down to seal completely. Cook in boiling salted water, stirring constantly, for about 3-4 minutes, until tender. The ravioli will float when done.

Serve with some extra olive oil or butter, some more of your chosen cheese grated over the top and some torn watercress.Season to taste and serve.

Tomatoes and Basil

For those of you following my blog, you know I didn't get around to planting my garden until the second week of June this year. I knew the weather in L.A. would cooperate with me through October. I was surprised to find that the rate of development of this garden was phenomenal. I was cooking large grilled green tomatoes by the end of July. I have at least 150+ tomatoes currently on my 5 different varietal vines. The first fully ripe tomato was about a week ago, Sunday I picked the second. Today I picked three. They are off and running to ripen probably peaking at the same time in a week or two.

Anyway, I pick up todays L.A. food section note an article by Regina Schrambling on "Tomato Ennui? Peach Fatigue?" where she references a food blog that ..."contended that it might be possible to eat too many raw tomatoes with fresh basil in summertime". Mid August being the time when most tomatoes ripen. My garden then wasn't really behind. While enjoying all those grilled green tomatoes, I wasn't by myself. I just commented to my husband G that my basil plant was doing better this year than any other plant I have had before. As a matter of fact, I had a tomato (ripe), basil and mozzarella on grilled toast for dinner tonight.

This article also suggested that we step out of the box when considering what to do with fresh harvest be it from your garden or the farmer's market. Imagine sauteed cucumbers with fried pancetta. I never would of thought. I have two cucumbers from my garden in the refigerator now and about 5 nearly ready to pull. I know what I'm cooking this weekend. Vegetables usually served after heating- serve them cold. Vegetables usually served cold- serve them heated.

The article ends by stating "This time of year, my little motto would be: Take the tomatoes somewhere hot and the corn somewhere cold. It doesn't even have to take long to be transported."

Sautéed cucumbers with pancetta

Total time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

2 slender cucumbers

1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons butter

4 very thin slices pancetta (about 1 ounce total)

Coarse sea salt and white pepper

1 tablespoon chopped chives for garnish

1. Peel and trim the cucumbers. Cut in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Cut each half lengthwise into thirds or fourths so each strip is no more than one-half inch wide. Cut crosswise on the diagonal, alternating directions, to make small triangles.

2. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp, about 7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

3. Wipe the pan completely clean with a paper towel. Add the remaining butter, then the cucumbers. Cook quickly, stirring, until the cucumbers are just wilted but still crunchy, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Toss with the chives. Crumble the pancetta over and serve at once.

Each serving: 81 calories; 1 gram protein; 2 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 8 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 20 mg. cholesterol; 57 mg. sodium.