Monthly Archive for February, 2010

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: 8-Course Dessert Tasting at Providence in Los Angeles

Published by Gastronomer on February 28, 2010 in Dessert, Food Event, Los Angeles and Mid-Wilshire. 27 Comments

By nature and nurture, I’m not a very excessive person. My television is cable-less, I drive a Camry, and my idea of a good time involves dinner and conversation, rather than booze and booty. Okay, maybe a little booty. [Wink, wink.] However, I have my weaknesses. When it comes to sweets, I throw restraint out the window and go buck wild. I’m not just talking about an extra slice of pie or an additional scoop of gelato; when I need a serious sugar fix, the town gets painted red. Thus, it’s no surprise that I’ve long had my eye on the dessert tasting menu at Providence.

Orchestrated by Chef Adrian Vasquez, the eight-course dessert extravaganza ($50) is a feast for the senses. The two-hour symphony of delights features daring flavors, gorgeous plating, and unparalleled creativity. While an octet of sweets might seem like too much of a good thing, diners leave perfectly satisfied under the pastry chef’s brilliant care.

Thanks to the Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 program, I was able to treat The Astronomer, my mama, and my lovely friend Esme to Providence’s dessert tasting this past Saturday evening. While everyone around us was digging into salt-roasted prawns and sea urchin in fresh eggs, we took a stroll through the entire dessert menu. From beginning to end, we were oohing and ahhing with contentment.

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Course I: “Cocktails”

The parade of desserts began with a trio of “cocktails”—mojito, gin and tonic, and greyhound. The mojito and greyhound were held together by the thinnest of membranes. One slip of the tongue and the orbs burst in our mouths. The gin and tonic was taken with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. It was cold, jellied, and potent.

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Course II: Kalamansi Gelee

Next, Chef Vasquez sent out a kalamansi gelee floating in a soup of white chocolate and coconut milk with tiny tapioca balls. The fruity gelee was topped with a quenelle of litchi-shiso sorbet and coconut crumbles. Every refreshing spoonful captured the tropical flavors of Southeast Asia.

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Course III: Mandarin-Rose Sorbet

The mandarin-rose sorbet was accented with a miniature pistachio macaron, airy fluffs of yogurt cake, cardamom, and a disc of orange gelee. The yogurt cake’s sour notes were so pronounced that I swore I was eating a carton of plain yogurt.

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Course IV: Apples in Butterscotch

After three courses featuring citrus fruits, a plate of apples in butterscotch arrived next. The tender slices of fruit were beautifully caramelized and rested atop a cashew cake along with poached north star cherries. A quenelle of miso ice cream provided a delicious contrast to the sweet and warm fruits. This course highlighted the chef’s ability to juxtapose unlikely ingredients deftly.

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Course V: Caramel Pudding

The sticky sweet layer of caramel married luxuriously with the smooth pudding. I loved how the flavors teetered between sweet and slightly burnt. The caramel popcorn provided a crunchy contrast, while the dried apricots cut some of the pudding’s richness. Both accouterments were well chosen, but a part of me yearned for a sprinkling of sea salt, just like Pizzeria Mozza’s butterscotch budino.

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Course VI: Milk Chocolate Ganache

While the centerpiece of this creation was meant to be the chocolate ganache, it was the banana-passion fruit ice cream, cayenne marshmallow, and peanut butter that captured my attention. It seemed to me that this dessert was inspired by classic childhood sandwiches—peanut butter and banana, as well as the Fluffernutter. A little whimsy always makes for a fun sweet.

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Course VII: Dark Chocolate Mousse

Candied kumquats and ginger, along with a scoop of goma (sesame seed) ice cream were just the thing to brighten up this traditional chocolate mousse.

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Course VIII: Affogato

The final course was an affogato. A shot of hot espresso was poured over the canelé-flavored ice cream tableside.

The espresso’s bitterness was tempered by the ice cream’s double punch of richness and sweetness. The layer of hazelnut streusel beneath the ice cream was an awesome surprise.

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Finally, we were treated to a plate of mignardises—banana caramels, white chocolate snowballs with coconut flakes, and barley gelees.

Thank you to Foodbuzz for making this avalanche of desserts possible!

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Providence
5955 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Phone: 323-460-4170

Orange Angel Food Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

Published by Gastronomer on February 26, 2010 in Cake + Cupcake, Dessert and Recipe. 26 Comments

The Astronomer recently made a lovely batch of lemon bars that resulted in seven egg whites chilling in the fridge. In the past, I’ve whipped up Pavlovas, coconut macaroons, and meringue cookies to avoid wasting perfectly good whites. This time around, I wanted something different—something substantial and with a bit more oomph.

“Does anyone have an amazing dessert recipe that calls for 7 egg whites? Don’t wanna make meringues or macaroons,” I tweeted early this morning. The ideas came back fast and furious. “A sour cherry financier,” suggested @nandita. “Chocolate mousse or lemon souffle,” offered up @EatingLA. “Lemon meringue pie,” said @Savour. “Make angel food cupcakes!” enthused @TheRunawaySpoon.

The vote for angel food cupcakes excited me the most because I initially wanted to make an angel food cake but couldn’t due to my lack of a proper tube pan. Making cupcakes meant that I could have my cake and eat it too!

I paired whipped cream with these light and airy citrus cupcakes because a traditional butter cream would’ve weighed down the delicate package. And just in case you’ve got a lot of whites lying around, this recipe easily doubles.

For cupcakes

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
5 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest from two oranges

For frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

Make cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350F. Very lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan (skip this step if your pan is nonstick).

In a small bowl, sift together cake flour and 1/4 cup of sugar.

In a large bowl, beat room-temperature egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of superfine sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to soft peaks. Blend in vanilla extract.

Fold in flour mixture, adding it in two or three additions, and fold in orange zest when all other ingredients have been incorporated.

Divide evenly into prepared muffin tins, filling them just about to the top.

Bake for 16-18 minutes, until tops are golden brown and the cakes spring back when lightly touched.

Cool completely before using a butter knife to release the cupcakes from the muffin pan.

Make frosting

In a large mixing bowl, place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and wire whisk in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. Garnish with additional orange zest if desired.

Makes 12 cupcakes and 2 cups of whipped cream frosting.

[For Printable Recipe Click Here]

Mariscos Chente – Los Angeles (Mar Vista)

Published by Gastronomer on February 24, 2010 in Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Mexican, Restaurant Review and Seafood. 21 Comments

Whether it’s kept in a well-worn Moleskine notebook, a meticulous Excel spreadsheet, or simply in one’s mind, every serious eater has a “To Eat” list. Mine is currently 47 items long and resides in the drafts folder of my email inbox. Every time I come across a noodle house or a bakery that piques my interest, it gets added to the document. Since my capacity for reading about food far exceeds my ability to eat it, I’ve come to realize that I’ll never get around to sampling everything. Nevertheless, it will be very fun to try.

Mariscos Chente has been on my list for almost a year. It was added right after I wiped up the drool that resulted from reading Dylan’s write up on his blog Eat Drink & Be Merry. Any place that’s dubbed a “shrimp morgue” definitely deserves a visit.

The Astronomer and I, along with our friends Bill (Street Gourmet LA) and Fiona (Gourmet Pigs), met up for lunch at Mariscos Chente a few weekends back. The informal room was filled mostly with locals when we arrived. There was also a trickle of folks from outside the neighborhood who may have learned about the place from C. Thi Nguyen‘s glowing review in the Los Angeles Times or from Jonathan Gold‘s praise in the LA Weekly. Or perhaps, like me, they’ve been scrounging the food blogs.

Mariscos Chente was started over 20 years ago out of a home in Hawthorne. The Mar Vista location opened early last year. Similar to the earlier incarnations, its menu is devoted to seafood from the Mexican states of Nayarit and Sinaloa. Sergio Penuelas, a native of Sinaloa, runs the kitchen while his wife Angie, a native of Nayarit, takes care of customers in the dining room. All of the restaurant’s recipes are from Angie’s father Vicente, or “Chente” as his friends were fond of calling him.

Magdalena Garcia, the restaurant’s owner, takes a bus down to the Mexican coast several times a month to bring back fish and shrimp for the restaurant. While that initially struck me as a lot of unnecessary work, one taste of the camarones aguachiles ($11) and it was clear that the extra effort was worth it. Flash marinated with lime, salt, and jalapeno, the raw shrimp were supple and crazy delicious.

The pescado zarandeado ($20 per kilogram) was equally amazing. The dish was comprised of a whole snook (robalo) butterflied, grilled, and served flat as a pancake with warm corn tortillas and caramelized purple onions. While it’s unknown what goes into Sergio’s marinade, according to Bill, pescado zarandeado is traditionally dressed with a fatty agent like olive oil, mayonaise, or butter, lime, spices, and garlic before meeting the sizzling grill. Whatever the formula is, pescado zarandeado is nothing short of dreamy.

Next, we sampled a plethora of shrimp preparations. The camarones borrachos or “drunken shrimp” ($12) rested in a tequila-based sauce that was intriguingly red and all sorts of buttery. The sweet slices of garlic really made this dish special, as did the abundance of cilantro.

The camarones a la diabla or “deviled shrimp” ($12) were pleasingly spicy with their blend of chile de arbol and California dried chilies. Eaten with the sopping sauteed onions, the shrimp’s burn wasn’t as hellish as one would imagine. Hell, it was downright tasty.

The camarones a la pimienta or “peppered shrimp” ($11) reminded me of a deeply savory Vietnamese dish called tom kho. In place of fish sauce was a combination of garlic powder, salt, chili oil, and enough black pepper to properly dust each shrimp. The side of rice was necessary to balance out the dish’s punch. This was my favorite among the trio of cooked shrimp dishes.

Lastly, a plate of chicharron de pescado ($15), fried chunks of tilapia coated in chipotle powder and floating in a pool of Worcestershire and lime. The fish’s texture was a cross between beef jerky and a tough steak, while the flavors were surprisingly tangy. I liked this dish alright at the restaurant, but didn’t fully grasp its awesomeness until I dug into the leftovers a few days later. Without an array of shrimps competing for my attention, I appreciated the chicharrones’ uniqueness.

Mariscos Chente has been officially crossed off of my “To Eat” list. One down, dozens more to go!

NOTE: Mariscos Chente recently introduced a new seasonal menu featuring a variety of seafood soups (shrimp, fish, and mixto) and tacos (gobernador, shrimp, marlin, and fish).

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Mariscos Chente
4532 South Centinela Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Phone: 310-390-9241‎

Dim Sum Truck – Los Angeles

Published by Gastronomer on February 22, 2010 in Chinese, Dim Sum, Los Angeles, Meals on Wheels, Media Event (this meal was free) and Restaurant Review. 25 Comments

Fellow street food lovers: Meet the Dim Sum Truck. It’s the newest (and steamiest) meals-on-wheels venture to grace our fair city. The truck’s official debut is still a few days away, but The Astronomer I were fortunate enough to attend a sneak peek at the T-Lofts in West Los Angeles this weekend. I have a feeling that this truck is going to be mobbed once it hits the street, so it was quite a treat to scope it out before the hoards queued up.

The guy behind the wheel is Alex Chu, a USC grad (’09) with an entrepreneurial spirit, chill demeanor, and megawatt smile (his dad’s a dentist). Prior to joining the pack of Twittering trucks, Mr. Chu interned at BLT Steak and worked as a server at Sino Restaurant in San Jose.

The Dim Sum Truck was the vision of one man, but it took a village to launch it successfully. To assist with recipe development and vendor contacts, Mr. Chu enlisted the help of family friends working in the restaurant business. To create the truck’s distinctive logo and modern style, he recruited his tech and design-savvy high school mates. The team effort resulted in a truck that’s not only pleasing to the eye, but pleasing to the palate as well.

We started the tasting with a trio of parcels—shu mai, har gow, and a chive and shrimp dumpling. Served straight from the steamers, each one was hot, fresh, and packed with the good stuff. What made this dim sum experience different from others was Mr. Chu’s secret sauce. Salty, garlicky, and even a little spicy, this condiment made the dumplings shine and the flavors pop. I didn’t miss the lack of soy sauce or chili oil one bit.

Next, we dug into some sticky rice with sausage and mushrooms. The fist-sized package was wrapped in fragrant lotus leaves. Similar to the dumplings, the flavors and textures were totally spot on.

The final savory sample was a traditional turnip cake. The sides were seared and golden, while the innards were slightly creamy. The Astronomer thought that this was one of the better versions of the dish that he has eaten.

For dessert, Mr. Chu busted out the blow torch! Who doesn’t love dinner and a show?

The bad ass blowtorch-action resulted in an egg tart/crème brulée hybrid that was out of sight. The crust was properly flaky, while the filling was sweet and rich. The sesame ball had a lovely glutinous texture and was filled with smooth lotus paste.

All of the offerings that we tasted this afternoon wouldn’t be out of place served in the dim sum halls of the San Gabriel Valley. I really appreciated that there wasn’t any skimping on ingredients or watering down of flavors on board the truck. Nothing beats an authentic dim sum experience with squeaky carts and the bossy ladies driving them, but when a craving hits and you’re west of downtown, the Dim Sum Truck will surely do.

Follow the Dim Sum Truck on Twitter @DimSumTruck.

POWER RANKINGS

India Jones Chow Truck > Dim Sum Truck > World Fare Bustaurant < Border Grill Truck > Cool Haus > Lomo Arigato > Don Chow > Kogi > Marked 5 > Dosa Truck > Phamish

Pa-Ord Noodle – Los Angeles (Hollywood)

Published by Gastronomer on February 20, 2010 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Restaurant Review and Thai. 18 Comments

There are plenty of boat noodles to be had in Thaitown, but the return of Lawan Bhanduram, the original owner of Ord Noodle on Hollywood Boulevard, has created quite a stir. After selling her acclaimed restaurant in 2008, Ms. Bhanduram left East Hollywood for Panorama City, leaving Sapp Coffee Shop to rule the boat noodle roost. Now that Ord (Ms. Bhanduram’s Thai nickname) is back in her old stomping grounds, the title of L.A.’s best boat noodles is once again up for grabs.

The cozy noodle shack was packed with local Thais slurping with gusto when The Astronomer and I, along with our friend Shay, arrived. We grabbed three open seats beneath the gold framed, three foot tall glamour shot of the proprietress. A plaque beneath the portrait read, “I’m not bossy, I just have better ideas.” The tastefully appointed room indicated that this place was gonna be good. Wink wink.

Shay and I immediately ordered two tall glasses of Thai iced tea. The drink was creamy, sweet enough, and the perfect complement to Ord’s fiery foods.

The Astronomer requested that we begin with a green papaya salad, one of his favorite foods from our Bangkok travels. Dotted with toasted peanuts and salty dried shrimps, the salad was incredibly fresh and well-balanced between the herbs and acid. The medium spice level was hot enough to impart beads of sweat on our upper lips.

Ord’s famous boat noodles arrived next. The beef variety included thin slices of meat, squeaky meatballs, and my personal favorite, tender tripe. According to Austin Bush, an American expat residing in Thailand, kwaytiao reua or “boat noodles” are so called because they used to be sold from small boats along canals and rivers. These days, the dish is served from landlocked boats since most of Bangkok’s canals have been converted into streets.

The bowl of Ord’s boat noodles was everything I hoped it would be—intensely flavorful, slightly funky, and deeply satisfying. The dark brown broth, which contained a hefty splash of pig’s blood, was brimming with a melange of spices like cinnamon and clove. This noodle soup is the complete package.

The boat noodles were followed by pork sparerib noodles. Served with thin rice noodles, ground pork, and pork rinds, this clear-brothed soup packed a surprisingly powerful punch. Though not as in-your-face as its cousin the boat noodles, the sparerib noodles were definitely mighty fine.

At the suggestion of the lovely Ms. Barbara Hansen, we also ordered khao kanah mu grob, rice with Chinese broccoli, crispy pork, and a fried egg. The sweetly marinaded pork was just what we needed after two chili-laced soups and one very spicy salad. The abundance of garlic and the meat’s unique texture really made this dish fantastic.

Next stop, Sapp Coffee Shop.

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Pa-Ord Noodle
5301 Sunset Boulevard, #8
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: 323-461-3945