21 Courses of Fantastic: SAAM

My apologies for taking a blog break. I hope at least a few of you have missed lil ole LCG. Here's one I've been meaning to post for a while now...

For my birthday Big N surprised me with a trip to SAAM, the exclusive chef's tasting room at newly opened SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. The tasting room is in the back of the bustling Bazaar Restaurant, seats only 40 guests, though when we dined there were barely 15 people there, and resembles a library reading room. I was delighted to discover that I would be feasting on 21, yes 21, courses that evening. Luckily Big N warned me that I should be very hungry for my surprise dinner. Since there's 21 courses to talk about, I'll only hit the highlights, but be prepared to be wowed. We started with a few "snacks" as they like to call them. Memorable ones included the olive oil bonbon, which were liquefied olives in a crystal candy shell, and the cotton candy fois gras, a morsel of goose liver wrapped in cotton candy. Strange I realize, but you really must try them to appreciate these salty/sweet bite size delicacies. For the "soup" the waiter made fresh gazpacho, but brought a canister of liquid nitrogen tableside and actually froze the gazpacho until it was sorbet-like. Fun.
The main courses were mostly items from the sea: sea urchin, bluefin toro, smoked salmon, and a delicious prawn served on a squeezy tube for a skewer. You bite the prawn and simultaneously squeeze the sauce into your mouth. We also had wonderful kobe beef and a lovely Norwegian Lobster, among several others. The courses are so creative and unique, that the waiters have to give you instructions on how to eat them. Another fun use of the nitrogen was the "dragon's breath popcorn," which are caramel corn bits frozen in nitrogen, so that when you bite into them, it's so cold that smoke comes out of your nose. Entertaining to say the least, but a bit gimmicky. With 21 courses you get 2 desserts, but my favorite was the coconut in a "half shell," which was frozen coconut milk that actually resembled a half-shelled coconut, with passion fruit vanilla bean sauce.

SAAM definitely impressed, though it's not for the picky eater.
Chef Jose Andres used to be the soux chef for Ferran Adria at el Bulli in Spain, one of the most famous restaurants and certainly the most renowned chef in the world. If you can't get to el Bulli, you can come close to tasting greatness at SAAM for $120, plus $40 for wine pairings. I'll be going back just as soon as the menu changes for the season, with friends. If you want to visit a hip tapas-style restaurant to start the evening off, you can't go wrong with Bazaar, which shares some of the menu items with SAAM. But if you want romantic foodie heaven, book a table at SAAM and leave yourself at least 3 hours to indulge.

18,000 BTU's of Joy: Filet Mignon Restaurant Style

Big N bought LCG a new toy for my birthday: a spectacular Thermador gas cooktop with an 18,000 BTU power burner and extra low simmer burners. The gas cooktop replaced the electric cooktop our house came with that was the bane of my chefly existence (the prior owners obviously didn't cook a lick). I can't understand why a person living outside of Florida would ever want to install electric cooking appliances; it's all about the FIRE people. But I rant.

So last night we took the new Thermador out for a spin with some bacon wrapped filet mignon. Ordinarily Big N demands to barbecue any kind of meat but last night I got my way and cooked up the steaks restaurant style (read: sizzling in a vat of butter). For the filets I pierced with a fork, seasoned with salt and pepper, and wrapped them with bacon tied with a bamboo toothpick. I fired up some grape seed oil using all 18,000 BTUs and added butter (clarified is best) when my oil started smoking. I seared the heck out of my filets on both sides, basting them with the juices while searing. After turning to sear the second side I popped them into a 550 degree oven to finish them off. For sides I made some Israeli cous cous with sun dried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms, and spicy sauteed okra.
We served the steaks with a 2005 Consilience Estelle Vineyard Syrah from Santa Barbara County. The syrah tasted of rich dark fruits, blackberies and plums, slightly jammy and bit of leather. The wine unfortunately was too hot (15.5% on the label but tasted like it was higher in alcohol) and overpowered the filets. Though we love Consilience, it was a bit disappointing. We suspect that Consilience, which only buys its grapes, has been losing some of its prime contracts with growers who have turned to making their own wine instead of selling their grapes(like Star Lane and Dierburg). But we'll still give them a chance because the folks there are incredibly warm and generous (they refilled a 9 liter bottle we bought for our wedding, no questions asked, when we popped the cork by leaving it out in the sun too long). Hopefully next year's wine club shipments will be better.

The steak was a success, tender, juicy, oh so rich and a joy to cook thanks to my new gas cooktop. No more electric crap. LCG is happy in her kitchen once more.

Impressing Your Man: Miso Chilean Sea Bass with Coconut Rice and Veggies

I dedicate this post to my new protege "Torrance," who recently discovered the divine truth to the adage "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." She's on her way to becoming a wonderful cook. This dish is sure to wow the pants off her beau. The fish is easy peezy to prepare but requires a couple of days lead time to plan. Unfortunately I can't take credit for the recipe, as it's one of chef Nobu's famous creations, but I sure can steal it and pass it on. Here goes:

For the marinade, heat 1/2 cup of decent Sake (save the rest for the meal), 1/3 cup Mirin (Japanese cooking wine, find it on the asian food aisle), 1/3 cup of light miso paste (same aisle), and 1/8 cup of sugar. Whisk to dissolve miso paste and sugar, bring to just boiling, and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Let cool completely. Throw cooled sauce in ziploc bag and add your Chilean sea bass (2-4 filets). Black cod works great for this recipe as well. Suck the air out of the bag and place in a bowl in the refrigerator. Let the fish marinate for 2-3 days, turning the bag over in the fridge each morning or evening to make sure the fish is being evenly coated.

After 2 days the fish is perfect, or you can wait as long as 3 days. Place fish in a baking dish in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness), discard marinade. Do not overcook fish, it should be cooked until it's opaque on the edges and still slightly translucent in the center.

Side dishes are easy too. For the coconut rice, add 2/3 can of coconut milk (the light kind works well, less calories) to 1 cup of well-rinsed jasmine rice. Add 1/2 cup of water, a handful of frozen peas, and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer on low for 15 minutes.

For the veggies you can do baby bok choy (blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes, then saute with garlic, olive oil, and ginger), or steamed asparagus or Chinese broccoli. Brussel sprouts are my favorite. Boil sprouts for 5 minutes then rinse in cold water. Slice in half length-wise. Dice two slices of thick cut bacon and cook until nearly crispy, add diced shallots, a little olive oil if your bacon isn't fatty enough, the sliced sprouts, and salt and pepper. Saute until sprouts start to caramelize.

Plate artfully and serve with leftover sake or a good Riesling. Enjoy! I guarantee your man will be pleased as punch.

Modern Art: A Mixed Bag

Our designer Luis invited Big N and me to a silent auction at MOCA's Geffen Center downtown. The museum is in dire straights due to a shrinking endowment. Over a hundred artists donated works to be auctioned off as part of MOCA's annual fundraiser. The auction closes Saturday.

We're in the market for a couple of pieces to complement our modern house so we decided to peruse the collection. To me modern art is a mixed bag; some works are truly beautiful, while others I simply don't get. Take for example this work donated by renowned LA artist Christopher Williams. The 'art' was half a picture of somebody in a shower, presumably, stuck to a green 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of regular paper with scotch tape, and valued at $7,500. Or this work by Rodney McMillian valued at $2000. Yes, the artist wrote "free beans" using a sharpie, that's it. So call me crazy but, while these types of pieces may qualify as 'art' in the loose sense of the word, they're not what I want to look at on a daily basis.

On the other hand there were several works that I loved, including this abstract Kandinsky-esque painting by Shell Cardon. Or this mixed media piece by Brian Wills which was made by wrapping what seems like millions of pieces of rayon thread around basswood posts.

Or finally the piece below at left by Annie Wharton, a beautiful swirl of pinks and greens on mylar. This is the type of art that I find beautiful because I know I'll see something unique in it every time I look at it. I might try to snag at least one of these.

Of course, art is subjective, and while the pieces above did draw a reaction from me, and maybe that's the point, I don't want to spend my money on something that will draw that reaction just once. I want to know that in the years to come I'll still be able to look at the piece and find it interesting or beautiful. And call me crazy, but to entice me to spend thousands of dollars the piece needs to be something I can't just go out and make myself. Even I can manage wielding a sharpie to write "free beans" or taping an ordinary picture to a piece of green paper. I wonder if somebody would pay me $7500 for such a masterpiece.

Fun with Ring Molds: Spicy Tuna Poke Salad

I'm really not a salad person. Don't get me wrong, a good salad is healthy, refreshing, and colorful, but I don't find salads satisfying enough to stand alone as a meal. But for health reasons I acknowledge that a meal salad is sometimes necessary. That said, when I do hop on the salad bandwagon I make darn sure my plate is packed to the brim with yummy stuff to satisfy me so I don't feel cheated once the meal ends.

Tonight I wanted to keep it light, as I'm determined to look good for my brother's wedding this weekend. So I grudgingly succumbed to the salad meal thing but decided to jazz it up a bit with some spicy tuna poke.

For the tuna poke I bought a chunk of sushi quality tuna and diced it up, added diced green onions, celtic sea salt, diced avocado, and chili sesame oil for spice (aka "la jiao" for my mandarin speaking peeps). I usually add chopped dried seaweed but didn't have any tonight. I pressed the poke into my favorite ring mold and sprinkled nigella (black seeds) and toasted sesame seeds on top. For garnish I balanced a slice of tangy star fruit on the edge of my poke ring. Pretty!

I kept the salad pretty simple, starting with butter lettuce tossed in a simple miso ginger vinaigrette and added sliced mango, avocado, orange tomatoes and cucumber.

Thanks to the spicy tuna poke the salad did, in fact, satisfy me. However, I'm only posting this 30 minutes after consumption. There's no telling if the urge to snack will hit me before bed time. Will power, ugh.

Guest Chef: Big N's Stoplight Halibut

My husband has a knack for surprising me. Last night he wowed me with an original creation he dubbed "Stoplight Halibut" (see the red, yellow, and green on the plate). He started with two pieces of belly cut halibut, then created a steam packet out of aluminum foil so he could poach the salmon on the grill. To the packet he added the seasoned and olive oiled fish, lemon juice, and fresh chopped flat leaf parsley. He also grilled up some plain Roma tomatoes, a simple favorite of ours. I provided a small assist with some sauteed baby bok choy with fresh grated garlic and ginger. I loved his presentation, with an artful garnish of lemon and parley.

His fish creation was perfect-- fresh, juicy, flaky, and light. It paired nicely with the wine Big N picked out-- the Fiddlehead Cellars 2007 "Goosebury" Sauvignon Blanc from the Santa Ynez Valley. The wine was bright and cheerful, with notes of meyer lemon, melon, and a little grass, and on the palate more lemon, lychee juice, and of course, goosebury.

We joked about our day, listened to some Pandora radio, sipped our wine, and then retired. Simple pleasures. I'm a lucky girl.