Cannellini Bean Puree (beta 0.5)

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Luis De Avila

I’m cooking a fundraising dinner in late August for a local non-profit here in Los Angeles, and one of the side dishes I’ve placed on the menu is White Bean Mash. After doing some research I’ve decided to use cannellini beans as the white bean of choice and to prepare them in a puree instead of mashing them. All the white bean mash/puree recipes I’ve researched in books and online seem straight forward and easy. This one is too.

Now, before I begin I have to say that beans and pork belong together like breasts.  One on its own is fine and beautiful. When you have both together its as god intended it to be.  So my recipe includes porn in the form of bacon.  The ingredients list and measurements is a work in progress since I added things as I went along. Enjoy.

Ingredients

  • 1 can of cannellini bean
  • 2 strips of bacon
  • 2 tablespoons of bacon fat
  • 4 tablespoons of heavy cream
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Slowly cook the bacon strips until the pork is cooked and most of the fat has rendered but not until it is crispy. You want the bacon to be cooked but soft.
  2. Once the bacon has cooked, save 2 tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat from the pan.
  3. Next, chop the cooked bacon into 1/4 inch pieces and set them aside.
  4. Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and puree them in a food processor along with the bacon fat, and salt and pepper. Let the food processor run for a few minutes until the bean puree is smooth.
  5. Fold in heavy cream and chopped bacon into the bean puree.

The consistency of the puree was like the consistency of mashed potatoes. Ideally I’d like the puree to be a bit lighter. so I may drop the cream and use chicken broth instead. Also,  I’m not using canned beans  next time. I think I can add some complexity to the puree by cooking the beans with some bay leaf and thyme.

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What’s Your Sexiest Kitchen Toy?

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Luis De Avila
Shy, Playful Shot

Shy, Playful Shot

I love my wok. I cook almost everything in it. I saute veggies in it. I cook meats in it. I cook eggs in it too. I had some extra pics and was trying to figure out what to do with them. I decided to honor my favorite kitchen tool by promoting it to Sexiest Kitchen Toy. Here are some pics. What’s your sexiest kitchen toy? Remember: Pics or it didn’t happen.

More Pics

Here are some more pics of my Sexiest Kitchen Toy!

Naughty Shot

Naughty Shot

Hot and Deep

Hot and Deep

My Wide BodyCan Handle Big Meat

I Can Handle Big Meat
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Pan-Fried Salmon With Citrus Soy Sauce Reduction

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Luis De Avila
Fan Fried Salmon with Sauted Bok Choy And Steamed Rice

Fan Fried Salmon with Sauted Bok Choy And Steamed Rice

I find cooking exceptional fishes, like tuna and salmon, with anything more than a few simple ingredients takes away from the eating experience instead of enhancing it. Because of this my salmon recipes tend to be simple. The fish is usually baked en papillote, broiled, or fried in a little oil and not much more is added.  For this recipe I was feeling a little Japanese… I really think so. (Quick. Guess the band!)  so I decided to play around with some of the asian ingredients in the house; sesame oil, soy sauce, jasmine rice . Add some bok choy as a side and I think we have something.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 lb salmon fillets
  • 1 Tbs lemon juice
  • 1 Tbs lime juice
  • 2 Tbls soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Directions

  1. In a small pan mix together the lemon and lime juices, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Allow the mixture to reduce to about 1/3 of its volume. This should take about 5 – 8 minutes. (Be careful not to overheat and burn the mixture.) Once reduced, set the soy sauce reduction aside.
  2. In a large frying pan pour some sesame oil and heat the pan over medium-high heat until the oil starts to smoke a little bit. Place the salmon fillets in the pan.
  3. Cook the fillets for 2 -3 minutes on each side only turning over the fillets once. (This helps get a nice brown crust on the fillets.)
  4. Remove the fillets form the heat. Let them rest for about 5 minutes. Then serve and drizzle a little bit of the citrus soy sauce reduction on top.
  5. Serve with steamed rice and bok choi.

More Pics

Boy Choy

Boy Choy
Reducing The Soy Sauce

Reducing The Soy Sauce
Salmon Fillets

Salmon Fillets
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Chicken Carnitas Tacos

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Luis De Avila

Chicken Carnitas Tacos

Chicken Carnitas Tacos

I think I got the idea for chicken carnitas tacos from a local restaurant. One lazy Saturday the Little Lady and I had breakfast at a local resto named Alegria on Sunset. They had a scrambled eggs and carnitas special on their menu that day. Before then, I had never imagined eating carnitas as part of anything other than a burrito, taco, or carnitas plate, so the idea of using carnitas in other things was like a slap to the back like the slap of the water on your back from an over torqued and under tucked cannon ball dive.  Having carnitas with egss got me wondering about having carnitas with other things. It got me thinking about different kinds of carnitas. About beef, fish, and chicken carnitas! I wanted to experiment with everything carnitas!!! And so were born chicken carnitas….. Or maybe it was El Pollo Loco? Hmm. The world may never know.

Ingredients

  • 1 boneless and skinless chicken breast
  • Small pack of corn tortillas
  • Your favorite taco fixings (I love Pace salsa and guacamole. Try them with my Better Than My Own Mother’s Guacamole)
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • Butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place the chicken breast in the boiling water and cook the breast until it is done all the way through. This takes about ten minutes.
  2. Crush or finely chop the garlic and set it aside.
  3. Once fully cooked shred the chicken breast into bite sized pieces. You can use a pair of forks to shred the chicken.
  4. In a saute pan over medium heat melt a tablespoon of butter and pour in a tablespoon of olive oil. Yes. butter and oil. No it’s not too much. Why? because the butter will give the chicken greater flavor and the oil stands up better to heat and helps brown the chicken.
  5. Brown the chicken in the oil and melted butter. To get the best results don’t move the chicken around. Just let it sit there for 2 -3 minutes. You want the shredded chicken to brown on at least one side so it’s crunchy.
  6. Once most of the shredded chicken is browned on one side turn down the heat to medium low and toss in the garlic. Cook the garlic until it releases its aroma and browns a bit. Remove the pan from the heat.
  7. Warm a couple of tortillas and fill them with the chicken carnitas and your favorite taco toppings.

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Guacamole fixings

Guacamole fixings

Shredded chicken

Shredded chicken

Browned shredded chicken

Browned shredded chicken
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Carnitas Fromagedilla (beta version 0.9)

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Luis De Avila
Carnitas Fromagedilla

Carnitas Fromagedilla

One of my favorite things about the neighborhood we live in is that it is diverse. When you walk down the street you see people of all races and classes, a large variety of shops, and many different kinds of restaurants. LA can be a very segregated place that’s for sure so the mix of the East Hollywood/Silver Lake/Los Feliz/Echo Park area is somewhat unique to LA.

A few months ago I read an article in The Atlantic magazine that discussed the changing demographics of the inner city and suburbs and how cities would increasingly become engines of innovation and creativity because of the proximity of diverse cultures and ideas to one another. Maybe it was the diversity of where I live that inspired me to experiment with this. Or maybe it was that I’m a dabbler. Or maybe it’s because I like meat and cheese. Who knows? And at this point who cares? Enough philosophical ramblings. Let’s get to it.

What follows is the recipe I tried the other night. It’s not perfect. In fact, I would drop the use of the sage. It was too pungent and overwhelmed the other flavors in the fromagedilla. Also. I think using a compote would probably be better than the dried blue berries. I think my goal was to go for the salty sweet you get when you get syrup on your bacon. The sweetness of a compote should enhance the port salute and the salty pork. I was close with this recipe but not there. So here is the beta version of my Carnitas Fromagedillas.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 lb of carnitas from your local burrito shop.  (I had to tell the guy to sell me the carnitas only  and that I would still pay for the whole burrito.)
  • Dried blue berries
  • Port Salute cheese
  • Flour tortillas
  • Fresh sage

Directions

  1. Finely chop the sage and set it aside.
  2. Heat up the carnitas and season them with some salt so they are a bit salty. Not salty as in “OMG my mouth just landed on a salt lick” but more like “yum I just kissed my girlfriend after working out” salty.
  3. Remove the carnitas from the heat and use a couple of forks to shred the carnitas.
  4. Spread a liberal amount of the port salute on a tortilla.
  5. Sprinkle some sage, blue berries, and a good amount of carnitas on top of the torilla. (It’s like making a pizza.)
  6. Place a second tortilla on top.
  7. On a large skillet place a little bit of oil and set the heat to medium low. Put the fromagedilla on the skillet and let the sides brown and get crispy. That should take about 3-4 minutes on each side.
  8. Cut the fromagedilla into quarters and serve. (I served it with a fruity sauvignon blanc. I think a mineraly white wine might work a little better for balance and cleansing the pallet.)

More Pics

The ingredients

The ingredients

Carnitas

Carnitas

Preping the fromagedilla

Preping the fromagedilla
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