Delicious Pizza Alert! Head Over to Grandma's Former Territory Fairfax Avenue! And A Return To Surf!

I didn't think there was going to be surfing last week because of the recent storms, but that turned out not to be true. More on surfing later. First let's talk pizza. I have mentioned that I love pizza. Several times. I just do. I love eating pizza. I love making pizza at home. So every time I hear of some new pizza that's getting good buzz, I always want to check it out, especially if it's the kind of place that sells thin crust NY style pizza by the slice, which is the pizza of my youth (everybody has a pizza of their youth, right?). Anyway, I'd been hearing about Prime Pizza on Fairfax. It's across the street from Animal and it's from the people behind The Golden State and other restaurants. Oh, side note about Fairfax Avenue: it suddenly hit me that, wow, the changes on this street are just kind of astonishing. When I was a kid and used to come out to California on visits, Fairfax is where my grandmother hung out! Grandma Esther had her bakeries and her other food shops and it was all old Jewish Bubbes like her on the street back in the day. Most of that world seems to be gone, except for Canters of course and maybe one or two other shops. It's all hipster kids. Times change! Here's another fun thing about Grandma Esther -- you didn't want to mess with her. She was a tough old lady. She'd take the bus up to Fairfax, and one day walking home from the bus stop, some dude tried to grab her purse. Well, she held on to it and fought him off. Don't mess with old ladies!

But back to Prime. You walk in to a clean, modern space. White subway tiles on the walls do indeed invoke that NY Vibe. Place your order for slices, or a whole pie if you're really hungry, and get it to go, or you can pull up a stool at the counter, where there's parm, red pepper flakes and oregano waiting in shakers -- this is how it should be. And how was the pizza? Well, here's a look at my order of one cheese, one pepperoni--

It was very excellent pizza. I'm a big fan of Vito's and also the Joe's Pizza locations in Santa Monica and Hollywood and also Garage Pizza in Los Feliz. But Prime may just be the new favorite. Everything was pretty perfect with this pizza, especially the crust, which is all important. It was crisp, but not shatteringly so. You could fold the slice nicely. Also you could see bubbles inside the thicker end of the crust, which had a nice yeasty chew. The sauce was the ideal combination of sweet, with just a hint of spice. Then just the right amount of cheese on top, and let me say something about the pepperoni -- take a closer look, first--

The discs were a little smaller in diameter than ones you'd normally see, but sliced just a little thicker. Definitely a cut above the pepperoni you usually get. (sorry the picture is a little fuzzy. I was hungry and couldn't control myself, I guess).

All in all super delicious pizza at Prime and I can't wait to go back and eat some more. In fact I would have saved this for a post-surf lunch, but like I said, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get in the water last week because of the storms and all the unsettled waves. But Friday things started to mellow out, and I did go out for a session. It was super, super fun, with pretty gentle waves and the mid-tide that I like best. I'll give myself props for one more thing. Occasionally a larger set of waves would roll through, larger than I'm generally comfortable with. But I stuck with it and was kept cool. That's another step in the right direction in this surf odyssey.

So if you find yourself in the Fairfax district around lunch or dinner time -- or any time you need a snack -- get yourself to Prime Pizza. Or maybe you're lucky enough to be in their delivery zone. Anyway, here's the vitals:

Prime Pizza:  www.primepizza.la.com

Another Storm Puts The Kibosh On Weekend Surf. But We Can Still Have A Delicious Lunch!

So another pretty massive storm rolled through Cali, which is excellent news for drought-relief, although of course we need way more rain and snow. And although it had stopped raining by the weekend, the ocean was still pretty unsettled. It seemed like a good idea to hold off on heading out to the beach. But that doesn't mean we couldn't have the kind of lunch that would have been quite tasty after some time in the water.

I'm talking about a Frito Pie. Have you ever had one? It almost sounds kind of dirty, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. From what I understand it's a Tex-Mex kind of thing, and it involves cutting open a bag of Fritos, spooning on a big heaping mess of Chili and topping it with cheese, sour cream and onions, and maybe some tomato, lettuce and onion. I've known about this concoction for a while, but I'd never actually tried it. In fact, in Los Feliz there's a fairly new restaurant called Home State that features a Frito Pie on its menu, so I'm going to get there soon and will report back. Anyway, as that most recent storm was rolling in, I decided to make a pot of chili, because that's a good thing to eat on a cool, rainy night. And we had leftovers, so why not a Frito pie? Below is just about all you need to put one together--

First up was reheating the chili. (Oh, side note here: many Texans, I'm sure, would turn up their noses at this chili not only because it has beans in it, but also because it was made with ground turkey. Oh, and also because I used chili powder and not real chills. This Chili is really good, but it's a very middle-of-the-road, sort of 1950's housewife kind. It's easy to make for a crowd, though, and the recipe is below). But back to the Frito Pie. So while the chili was reheating, I shredded some cheddar cheese, sliced up some onion and tomato and shredded some lettuce. The bags of Fritos were sliced open. Then I laid down some Chili and topped it with the cheese and other fixings, along with a good dollop of Sour Cream. A while back I made up a batch of pickled jalapeños when we had a bunch of them in the garden. They'd have been really good on it too, but I don't have any left! Here's how the final Frito Pies looked:

It's kind of like nachos, really. The cheese comes into contact with the hot chili and melts. The Fritos lose a little of their crunch, but get a bit of everything, and it's a nice bite of deliciousness, a little spicy and salty, but cool from the sour cream. So the next time you have leftover Chili, I recommend Frito Pies.

Here's a super-easy chili recipe (which is adapted form Craig Claiborne's old New York Times Cookbook that I've had forever).

Chile Con Carne
Serves about 4-6

1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Jalapeño, diced, and seeded if you want it milder (or add more Jalapeños if you like it hotter)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound dark meat ground turkey (or you can use ground beef -- I'd go with chuck)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
1 14 oz. can peeled tomatoes, crushed with your hands, with their juice
3 cups water
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 can red kidney beans, drained.
Shredded cheddar, sour cream and diced onions for topping
*you can easily double or triple this recipe

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pot. When hot, toss in the diced onion, pepper, garlic and jalapeño. Saute until the vegetables soften and begin to turn golden.
2. Add the ground turkey to the pot. Stir and cook until meat is broken up and starting to brown.
3. When meat is brown, add the chili powder, cumin, oregano and bay leaf.  Stir and let the seasonings brown a little.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes, water and salt and pepper to taste. Bring chili to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, about one and one-half hours, until the liquid has reduced and the chili has thickened. Add the kidney beans. Simmer until the chili is as thick as you like, about another thirty minutes or so. Add more salt and pepper if needed. 

So that's it. I usually serve chili over rice or sometimes cornbread. If you have leftover chili and want to make Frito Pie (or chili dogs are good!) you might find it's thickened up too much. If that happens, you can thin it out by adding a little tomato sauce.

Fun Surf Yesterday Before Another Big Storm. Plus Another Chef Choi Inspired Lunch At Home.

Well, last week's storm has come and gone, and guess what? Here comes another. This is such great news. And this time Mother Nature heard my request because snow is expected in the mountains, so here's hoping for ski time up at Mt. Baldy. In fact this winter I may try to cross off that item that's at the top of the bucket list: ski and surf in the same day. Can I do it? Stay tuned.

But in looking at the surf reports, it seemed like yesterday, Monday, would be the only day possible this week for a mellow day aficionado like me to get in the water. At Santa Monica it was 2-3 foot waves so I headed out because starting today waves are in the 4 to 8 foot range and then that big storm comes. But yesterday turned out to be a pretty fun day for me. Actually, to be honest, when I got to the beach, the waves were a little bigger than I expected. But I paddled out and I caught a couple of smaller ones and almost got a good long ride on one! For me that's awesome.

Afterwards, of course, I needed lunch, and while I didn't have the time to get downtown to Roy Choi's Chego for a Kimchi Spam Bowl, which is what I was kind of in the mood for, we had some leftover rice at home. We also had some Dave's Kimchee from the Silver Lake Farmer's market, and we had eggs. We had ginger and garlic, and I have chives and cilantro in the garden. I was missing the Spam, but we do Meatless Monday so it that's okay. It was just a Kimchi rice bowl. But it was still delicious. Look, here it is:

If you want to make it at home, here's my version. I'm sure it's missing some good stuff they put in the bowls at Chego, but it works:

For one Kimchi Rice Bowl.

1 small clove garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce, or more if you like
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
3 tbsp. canola oil
1 cup Kimchi, chopped
2 large eggs, beaten
About 2 cups leftover white or brown rice
Salt and fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp. chopped chives
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
Sriracha sauce

1. Peel and chop the garlic. Set aside, along with the chopped ginger.
2. In a small bowl mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil and set aside.
3. In a wok, or large saute pan, heat 1 tbsp canola oil. When hot, add the Kimchi. Stir-fry until the Kimchi is heated through, then remove to a bowl.
4. Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet. When hot again, add the beaten eggs. Let the egg cook until set, stirring, then remove to the bowl with the kimchi.
5. Wipe out the skillet. Add the last tablespoon of oil. When hot, toss in the garlic and ginger.  Let it sizzle about a minute, then add the rice. Stir, breaking up the rice. After a couple of minutes, when the rice is brown and fragrant, add the soy sauce/vinegar/sesame oil mixture and stir to blend.
6. Add in the egg and kimchi.  Stir everything around, breaking up the egg. Add some salt and fresh ground pepper.
7. Transfer fried rice to bowl. Top with chives, cilantro and as much sriracha as you like.

Here's a couple of snaps of the ingredients gathered and then prepped. This process goes fast once you get started, so no time to photograph each step.

If I had the Spam, I'd definitely dice some up, fry it in the skillet or wok after the egg and then mix it in at the end. But I know not everybody is into Spam so it's easy to leave out.

So next time you have extra rice on hand, do this with it. Or if you want to get the ultimate version, get downtown to Chego!

Chego: www.eatchego.com

Rainy Day No Good For Surf. But A Good Day For Cooking Suzanne Goin's Short Ribs!

While this whale of a storm just rolled in, nobody would call the drought over here in Cali. We need a lot more rain for that, and while we're at it how about some snow in the local mountains so we can ski? Huh, how about it? But while this much-needed rain is good for so many reasons, it's not too great in surf world. For one, depending on the storm, the seas can be choppy and the waves can suck. For another, if you surf in an urban area anywhere close to a storm drain, it's probably a good idea to stay out of the water for a couple of days. However, being stuck inside on a chilly, rain-soaked day isn't a bad thing, food wise. In fact it's a good thing, because it's perfect comfort food weather, and perfect for a long, slow braise. Which got me thinking about Suzanne Goin's recipe for beef short ribs, that mainstay that's been on the menu at Lucques since the start, I think (and for good reason). This was dinner tonight, and it was really really delicious.

Actually I didn't set out today to make short ribs. But I stopped in at McCall's Meat and Fish while out and about, and one of the first things I saw when I walked in the door were these beautiful guys. Don't they look sweet?

And while I didn't have Goin's recipe from "Sunday Suppers At Lucques" in front of me because the book was at home, I've made it before so I decided to wing it. Oh, side note: Suzanne Goin, and her partner in many of her ventures, Caroline Styne, rock. If you've never been to Lucques or A.O.C., you have to go. Definitely don't miss The Hungry Cat, the seafood-oriented spot she opened with husband David Lentz, first in Hollywood and now with outposts in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara. If you haven't gotten to Larder yet, like me I admit, Go! Goin is a quintessential California chef -- her food is sophisticated, but not in an intimidating way, and she's a champion for using seasonal and local ingredients. But back to those short ribs. When I got home with them and looked up the recipe, there were only a couple of things I didn't have on hand: fresh pearl onions (I have some frozen) and fresh thyme (we had some dried). I did, however, have this beautiful chard from the garden to go alongside the ribs, with Goin's potato puree, of course as well! Here's the freshly harvested chard--

I'm not going to give the recipe for the short ribs here. If you want it, just google Suzanne Goin and braised short ribs and there are numerous versions of it out there. But here are some glimpses of the process.

You see the ribs just above. At McCall's they come in one big piece of three ribs, but just run your knife down between the bones and you can separate them. Then I seasoned them well with salt and fresh ground pepper and then refrigerated them for a while. Meanwhile, I diced up some carrot, celery and onion for the braise.

Onto browning the meat. As Goin says in the recipe, take your time with this. It'll take a good ten to fifteen minutes to get the short ribs browned on all the meaty sides, but when you're done, they'll look like this:

Next up, the vegetables get a sauté, and then wine and broth goes in the pot along with the ribs. Like you see here:

Then it's into the oven for two to three hours at a low and slow 325 degrees. By the way, is there a better aroma then short ribs braising in the oven on a cold rainy day? Man, it smells good in this house! And while the meat was in the oven, I made the potatoes and prepped the chard. I don't know if you're aware of this, but you can actually make a potato puree, or even mashed potatoes, ahead of time and reheat them without too much of a problem. I used to be afraid they would turn gluey or something, but they don't. You can reheat in the microwave, or in a slow oven. Anyway here's a batch of whipped potatoes.

On, in a slight departure from Goin's recipe, I used buttermilk because we had some on hand to use up, so no cream, and I also didn't pass them twice through a Tamis! It's just us tonight -- if it was for company I'd put in the extra effort though.

Just before serving, I roughly chopped that chard and then sautéed it in some olive oil, with a little garlic (again a slight departure from Goin, who tosses in the roasted pearl onions).

Once the meat was fully braised, remove the ribs to a baking sheet and let them brown in a 400 degree oven. Then, like Goin instructs, I strained the vegetables out of the sauce and degreased it. In another slight departure (I'm sorry Ms. Goin!) I thickened it with a little cornstarch mixed with water. We just like a sauce that has a bit more heft to it.

And so that was it, which you see on the plate in the first picture. I forgot how great this recipe is, so thank you Suzanne Goin  and my well-worn copy of "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" for reminding me!

For all things Goin, here are some vitals:

Lucques: www.lucques.com

A.O.C.: www.aocwinebar.com

The Hungry Cat: www.thehungrycat.com

Tavern: www.tavernla.com

The Larder at Maple Drive: www.thelarderatmaple.com

The Larder at Burton Way: www.larderatburtonway.com

Books: "Sunday Suppers At Lucques", "The A.O.C. Cookbook"

For excellent beef short ribs: www.mccallsmeatandfish.com

Quick Addendum to the Little Jewel of New Orleans Post!

I mentioned in the previous post that I wanted to try everything on Chef Marcus Christiana-Beniger's menu. So today we can cross another one off the list. After the auto show downtown Saturday morning, I swung by The Little Jewel to pick us up some lunch. Sam wanted to try the Muffuletta so we got a half order of one of those, but I wanted to sample the Roast Beef Po'Boy.  Take a look at this hunk of deliciousness:

I was expecting the kind of roast beef that you'd get in a deli -- you know, rare, and sliced really thin. But this roast beef was more like a long, long braise of chuck or short rib. It was extremely tender, and so, so flavorful. Beef was packed onto this bread, which was dressed with the usual Po'Boy fixings of mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, tomatoes and pickles (see, I am fast becoming a Po'Boy expert). Again, this one sandwich is huge!

Here's that Muffuletta in case you missed it the last time! I had wanted to get it toasted, but because we weren't eating this right away, I'll have to leave that for the next time.

So if you haven't gotten the message, get downtown to the Little Jewel.

www.littlejewel.la.com

NOLA just took on a whole new meaning -- New-Orleans-In-Los-Angeles! And lucky for us. Little Jewel is a gem.

One recent Saturday after a surf session up at Zuma, we had Po'Boys for lunch. In fact over the past few months, it seemed, Po'Boys had been all over the radar screen. I had been reading about them and seeing recipes here and there, and I had been wanting to make one at home. I could get oysters from McCalls and fry them was the idea. Then we had some late fall tomatoes from the garden that were green and were most likely not going to ripen, so I figured, hey, why not a fried green tomato Po'Boy? That sounds good, right? I researched a bunch of recipes and came up something like this: I sliced the green tomatoes and dredged them in flour. I dragged them through beaten egg and then rolled them in panko. After that they got shallow fried until crisp. I sliced open one of Karen McCall's baguettes, slathered on mayonnaise, and lay down the fried tomatoes. These were topped with shredded lettuce, sliced red tomato and pickles, and that was it. The results were pretty good, but they were nothing like the Fried Catfish Po'Boy I had at the Little Jewel of New Orleans not too long ago that you see here:

Doesn't that look awesome? The fish was mild and fried to perfection. There was just the right amount of lettuce, tomato and pickle, and lots of mayonnaise, which is a very good thing in my book. A few dashes of Crystal Hot Sauce and it's sandwich heaven. Also, it was huge! You could have easily fed two, but I ate the whole thing, along with the bag of chips, and no I don't regret it. Below is the one I made us, for comparison. It's okay, but kind of amateur hour, I'd say. Something to work on, though.

I think my bread was a little too crusty, and I'm not sure if my dredge was traditional. I think with the panko, definitely not. But I plan to keep at making these guys at home, maybe with those Oysters from McCalls next time.  Or I'll just pick one up at the Little Jewel.

I don't exactly know when I first read about the Little Jewel of New Orleans, which was opened by Chef Marcus Christiana-Beniger and partner Eunah Kang, but once I did, I knew I had to get down there. Here's a confession: I've never been to New Orleans. It's on the list, but we just haven't gotten to it yet. I want to go just for a few days of eating delicious things, and drinking Sazeracs. But I can easily get to the Little Jewel, and the first time I went, for that Po'boy, I even found a parking space right in front that still had time on the meter! It's such a cool little place, with bluesy music playing in the background and a colorful downtown clientele. It's both a deli, and a market that sells things you don't normally find in L.A. I definitely want to try a bunch of these things, but most especially, since I'm a mayo freak, the Blue Plate Mayonnaise. Here's a little glimpse inside. Note the sign that says "desire" right over the door where the Chef comes out to bring you your food. That's appropriate, I'd say.

I started following the Chef, and the Little Jewel, on Instagram and Twitter and soon I learned Muffulettas were coming. I've talked about our love for the Italian Sandwich, for both the definitive version, the Godmother, from Bay Cities in Santa Monica, and for a version I've made at home. Well, the Muffuletta is a close cousin, lots of delicious meats and cheese piled on a roll, but here with an olive salad on top and then the whole thing is weighted down for several hours or even overnight, so all the flavors meld. Take a look at Little Jewel's version (which, again, is huge by the way -- this is the half order!)

This sandwich was insane! I mean just look at all that meat and cheese, and the olive salad, salty and a little spicy, provides the perfect counterpunch to the sandwich's richness. Wow, just so, so good.

But wait, there's more. I found out this was a special on Mondays:

Yep, red beans and rice, one of those meals that's really so simple and elemental. I like those kinds of meals. Well, this past Monday I got the red beans and rice, and like everything I've had so far at Little Jewel, it rocked. The beans were tender but a little firm, there were nice sized pieces of smoky sausage in the mix, and the broth was rich, with a little bit of spice. So good with the rice, and that little piece of toasted garlicky bread. I could have ordered a sausage link on the side. But I restrained myself. Maybe next time. I still have to go back for gumbo, for a muffuletta that's toasted (I didn't know you could get it toasted…gotta try that), for the hush puppies and for just about everything on the Chef's menu because it all sounds so enticing.

This place is indeed a jewel in downtown Los Angeles.  GO!

Here are some vitals:

Little Jewel of New Orleans:  www.littlejewel.la.com
On Instagram: @chefmarkvsaugustvs
On Twitter: @LittleJewelofNO
McCalls for baguettes and oysters: www.mccallsmeatandfish.com

Here's to another Rebel Chef. Plus escargots! Petit Trois? Go!

There are some who say that surfers are rebels. Why? Well, for one, it seems that many don't hold down what one would call regular nine-to-five office type jobs. They work, for sure, but they work to earn enough money so they can take time to surf where they want and when they want. That's sort of rebellious, isn't it? When we lived in Malibu, for example, our plumber surfed. If the surf was really pumping and we had a plumbing problem, we were out of luck!

Plenty of surfers, of course, hold down regular jobs. So do plenty of chefs. But then there are chefs who seem to be rebels too, because what they're trying to do is break down the normal way of doing things, shatter the status quo, and instigate change. I've posted about Roy Choi, and he definitely falls into the rebel category, but another chef who seems like a rebel is Ludo Lefebvre, who to my knowledge was the first to popularize the idea of a pop-up, a restaurant within a restaurant, where food you would find in a fine dining establishment was available in a far more casual and more accessible setting. Although we tried, we never made it to a Ludobites, which the Chef had started after heading kitchens at super-high-end, fancier places like L'Orangerie and Bastide. Ludo also started a truck, which sold Fried Chicken in various forms. I loved this truck. Sadly, the truck is no more, but the chicken can still be found downtown, LudoBird at Staples Center, so that's a good thing if you're going to a Kings game.

Then came the best news: Lefebvre was teaming up with Animal Dudes, Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook  (no slouches in the rebel department themselves) to open first Trois Mec, and then more recently Petit Trois next door, which is where I had the lunch you see here:

More on this amazingly delicious lunch later. But first let's talk Trois Mec, where Sam and I had an anniversary dinner. We have eaten at Dotolo and Shook's other most excellent restaurants, Animal and Sun of a Gun, so the idea that they were teaming up with Ludo could only be considered a very good thing. Trois Mec promised to be something different and, in some ways, radical for the restaurant business. The biggest difference, of course, was you'd make a reservation -- online, no phones -- and pay for your meal before you ate it! This was, I think, largely a way for the restaurateurs to avoid the dreaded no-shows, and it's fair as far as I'm concerned. Dining out has become something like theater, and you pay for theater tickets beforehand, right? Because we wanted reservations on a certain date, I was sure to try and be the first to put in a request online the second the seats became available,about three or four weeks in advance. We got our spots and on the appointed night headed over. Now here's another thing about both Trois Mec and Petit Trois -- if you're looking for them, look for the signs for the pizza place and the donut shop that used to be where they are because that's what you will see!

I love that they've kept up the old signs. It's cheeky, and it shows they don't take themselves too seriously and have a sense of humor. Dinner at Trois Mec is a set menu, you have to be prepared to eat what they put in front of you, so be adventurous! (I think they do make accommodations for vegetarians, but otherwise I think substitutions and special requests are frowned upon). I eat pretty much everything, but Sam is not a huge fan of duck or raw things, but he ate it all too and loved the raw beef and duck courses. Here's a look at the menu from that night. By the way, everything you may have heard about the Potato Pulp is true. It's amazing.

If you like to watch cooks in action like I do, make sure to sit at the counter. Here's a short video of the kitchen crew in action:

So cool.  Like a ballet, no? So that was dinner at Trois Mec. I wanted to eat at Petit Trois from the moment I heard about it, and I wanted to even more after I heard Escargots was on the menu. I love Escargots. I read somewhere that some folks didn't know what to do with the funny little device you eat them with, and I thought, 'how can that be? They have never had Escargots in the shell?' This dish is again one of those sort of Proustian things -- it brings me back to when I was a kid, and our parents took us out to French restaurants in the New York suburbs back in the day. Those places always had Escargots on the menu, and I always ordered it. So one day last week I showed up at Petit Trois for lunch, getting in line shortly before the noon opening. Chef Ludo happened to be walking in too (not my first sighting -- he once took my order when he had the truck, he was there the night we were at Trois Mec and here he was again). In fact I tried holding the door open for him as a gesture of respect, but he politely insisted I head inside first. Unfortunately the people in front of me in line got the prime counter seats, but I took one of the ones opposite the small open kitchen. I knew what I was having, but here's the menu:

I ordered the Escargots and, because I was feeling somewhat decadent, Frites! First came a basket with a small perfect baguette and the most excellent French butter you will ever eat. Look:

I would have devoured it all almost instantly, but if you like Escargots, you also love all the garlicky melted butter that comes with it, and you need bread to sop up all those juices (although Frites were good for that too. Just saying!). Here's the Escargots before I started in:

I know some people are squeamish about snails, but come on…this is so good.

The small space filled up fast. Everybody on the crew was super-friendly. And if all the conversation was in French you might have been in a little bistro in Paris. What a fantastic, truly stellar lunch, and I can't wait to get back because I pretty much want to eat just about everything on the menu. Sort of like the couple perched on stools next to me -- they ordered the Steak Frites, the Omelet, and the Croque Monsieur, and were happily sharing, digging into all of it. One final cool quirk about Petit Trois -- don't bring cash because they don't take it! Credit cards only.

So if you're in the mood to be transported from LA to another place for lunch, hit up Petit Trois. You might even feel a little rebellious!

Here's some important info:

Trois Mec: www.troismec.com
Petit Trois: www.petittrois.com
Ludobird and all things Ludo: www.ludolefebvre.com
Don't forget the cookbooks: Crave and Ludobites

Pizza? Again? Yes, A Grandma Pie this time! (Plus can you ever really get too much of pizza?)

Saturday was a fun surf day. The waves were pretty mellow, and I did pretty good paddling into them. I am starting to time my paddling better, and slowly but surely I am making progress. I had been accused of selecting waves I know I can't catch, but I'm trying to change that, and that's slowly working too. Also, I am starting to think about adding a new surf spot into my rotation since I've been doing mostly Santa Monica and Zuma. What about Venice? Or El Porto, birthplace of Osoporto? (side note: Osoporto's Jon Berry also puts out a cool little paper called the OsoDaily. Here's a link so check it out: http://paper.li/itsOsoPorto/1396689451). Anyway, it may be time to change things up a bit -- just like it was nice to mix things up and have a patty melt instead of a cheeseburger. And while we're at it, what about mixing things up a bit when it comes to pizza?

That same issue of Bon Appetit that had the Patty Melt recipe? Well, it also had the recipe for this pizza you see below, which we had the other night.

It's called a Grandma Pie. I'm usually partial to thin crust NY style pizza slices. But when I was growing up back east all pizza joints also had Sicilian pies on hand, and this Grandma Pie is closer to that. Sicilian Pizza has a thicker, almost focaccia-like crust. If done right, it should be a little crisp on the bottom and at the edges, but softer in the middle. It was, and it was really, really good. The master recipe calls for just mozzarella, and tomato sauce, but I had some fennel-garlic sausage in the freezer from McCalls Meat and Fish (www.mccallsmeatandfish.com) and so ours had sausage on top too. Plus some of the anchovies leftover from mixing up the sauce were added. If you like thick crust, Sicilian style pizza, try this recipe (just keep in mind this is another dough that requires an overnight rise, so plan ahead!).

Grandma Pizza (or Sicilian-Style)
(recipe courtesy Bon Appetit - for 1 pie, serving about 6)

Dough

1 envelope active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/2 cups warm water (105-110 degrees)
2 tbsp. plus 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
2 tsp. kosher salt
4 cups all purpose flour

1. Combine yeast and warm water in a large bowl.  Let stand until yeast starts to foam, about ten minutes.
2. Mix in 2 tbsp. olive oil, (reserve the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil until later, see below) then 2 cups all purpose flour and 2 tsp. salt.  Add another 2 cups flour, a cup at a time, mixing until incorporated and a shaggy dough forms.
3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft, smooth and elastic, 10-12 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Chill 24 hours.

Sauce

1 28 oz. can peeled tomatoes

2 anchovies

2 garlic cloves

6 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup basil leaves

Salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Drain tomatoes and in blender or food processor pulse with anchovies, garlic, olive oil and basil. Process until mostly smooth. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Toppings

12 oz. grated Mozzarella (or do like me…mix Mozzarella with fontina)

1-2 sweet or spicy Italian sausage, removed from casings and browned in skillet

Anchovies, if you like

Putting it all together

1. Preheat oven to 525, or as high as it will go. Place rack in lower third of oven.
2. Once dough has risen 24 hours, coat a 18x13" baking rimmed baking sheet with the reserved 1/2 cup olive oil. Place dough on baking sheet and gently press and stretch dough until it reaches edges. If dough springs back or is stiff to work with, let it rest ten minutes before continuing.  You may have to do this a couple of times (although I didn't find that).
3. Cover dough on baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until it is puffed and full of bubbles, 30-40 minutes.
4. Once dough has risen on baking sheet, top with the mozzarella. Dot pie with 1 1/2 cups sauce.  Scatter over cooked sausage and lay on anchovies if using.
5. Bake pie until golden brown and crisp on bottom and sides, about 20-30 minutes.

So here are some pictures of the process, starting with the dough, after its overnight rise.

Here's the sauce coming together. It doesn't need to be cooked, so super easy, right? I even used my stick blender, which means no clean up of the food processor or blender.

Now the sausage browning in the skillet. McCalls makes their sausage in house. There are many different varieties. Get some!

Now here's the dough in the pan, all stretched to the edge and after having risen:

And here's the pizza just out of the oven before it was cut into slices.

Like any pizza, you can pretty much customize this any way you want. You could do Pepperoni.  You could do a veggie pizza with chard or kale. Whatever you like. So if you like to make pizza at home, change it up: make a Grandma Pie. And of course leftovers make great eats at the beach. Who doesn't like cold pizza, huh?

Yes, a cheeseburger hits the spot. But what about its cousin, the Patty Melt? (And Now Joined By His Cousin, The Tuna Melt!

New development on the melt front! Last week, to go along with Friday Night Martinis, we had Tuna Melts. We did this because we had eaten meat a couple of times, and we were looking for something different. I was thinking Clam Chowder, but I ran out of time to make it and went with Tuna Melts. Here's what they looked like:

Since this post is about the Patty Melt, new information has been added on how the tuna version came together. So scroll down past the Patty Melt for the info.

#

We have discussed cheeseburgers. We've written a love letter to In-n-Out. But what about the cheeseburger's cousin, the often overlooked, patty melt?  These are delicious too. Have you ever made a patty melt at home? I haven't. Until now.

But first some surf stuff. Saturday was predicted to be pretty mellow in Santa Monica. So I headed out early. Sure enough it was nice conditions -- for tiny-wave aficionados like me. It was mid-tide, and maybe occasionally there was a bit of a bigger set (and by bigger I mean maybe 3 feet?) but mostly the waves were small and on the gentle side. So I had fun. Then came something that would have earned me a featured spot in the Instagram, @Kook_of_the_day, which any surfer should check out because it's pretty freaking hilarious. What happened was this: I'm on the hunt for a new wetsuit because the old one is coming apart at the seams. ZJ Boarding House in Santa Monica (www.zjboardinghouse.com) had wet suits on sale, so I figured I'd swing by after my session. ZJ has parking behind the building, which is nice because it's free. There was one tight little space left so I started to pull into it…and I totally shredded the side of my car on this big nasty concrete pillar! F'd up my right side mirror too. Kook! I should have taken a picture with the surfboard on the car and the damage and sent it to Kook of the Day. I bet I would have won. Luckily, nobody saw me so I wasn't too embarrassed. Anyway, the suits at ZJ, even on sale, were on the pricey side so I'm still looking.

Now back to that patty melt. I'm talking this guy here:

I've mentioned that if we're home on Friday nights, it's usually cheeseburgers and Martinis. But every once in a while you gotta mix things up, right? Recently Sam pointed out a recipe for a patty melt in Bon Appetit, and while I'm more partial to the tuna melt, I decided to give it a go. As usual, get the best quality meat that you can. I actually used the same burger blend from McCalls Meat and Fish in Los Feliz (www.mccallsmeatandfish.com) that I'd use for burgers. But the second most important part, I think, is caramelizing the onions properly. This takes a bit of time, and there's no way around that, but the results are worth it. So be patient.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of the Oct. 2014 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine. For 4 Patty Melts:

2 thinly sliced onions
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1/4 small onion, finely diced
1 pound ground chuck (20% fat)
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt
8 slices seeded rye bread
4 oz. thinly sliced swiss cheese
4 oz. thinly sliced aged cheddar cheese
4 teaspoons mayonnaise

1. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add sliced onions. Cook, stirring often, adding a little water as needed to prevent burning, until onions are deep golden brown and very soft, about 20-25 minutes.
2. Mix together diced onion, beef, ketchup, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Divide into four portions and press each between wax or parchment paper until about 1/4 inch thick. You'll want the patties to be about the same size as your bread. (Ahead of time note: patties can be formed several hours ahead and kept, covered with plastic, in the refrigerator).
3. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Cook patties, in batches if necessary, until browned but a little pink inside, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.
4. Assemble and cook the melts: place cast iron skillet over medium heat. Top 4 bread slices with cheddar cheese. Place patties on top, then spoon on the onions. Top onions with swiss cheese and then the second slice of bread. Spread 1 tsp. mayonnaise on each piece of bread.
5. Place sandwiches, mayonnaise side down, in skillet. Top with piece of foil, then weigh down with second skillet to gently press sandwiches. Cook until undersides are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Spread 1 tsp mayonnaise on top sides. Flip sandwiches, press with skillet again, and cook until second side is golden brown. Slice in half and serve, with pickles and cole slaw if you like.

Here are some shots of the process, first the onions after slicing. As you can see I used red and white because I had red onions on hand.

Here the onions are just starting to cook.

Onions caramelized!  See how much they reduce?

They get really sweet too.  Now here's the burger mixture:

And then the formed patties:

Oh, that little one?  That's for the beagles!  Okay, now on to cooking. Into the skillet they go:

Then we flip:

Now here are the formed sandwiches cooking in the pan.

And the finished product is up top. So thank you Bon Appetit! Patty Melts are delicious, and highly recommended.  

If you're after a Tuna Melt, here you go:

Tuna Melts

(makes 4)

2 cans white or dark meat tuna, preferably Dolphin-safe, packed in oil

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped

1 small dill pickle, finely chopped

salt and fresh ground pepper

1/4 cup mayonnaise (or more if you like), plus more for grilling

8 slices rye bread

About 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

1 tbsp. canola oil

1. Drain tuna, and then, in a small bowl, flake it with a fork. Toss in chopped celery, chopped pickle and chopped onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then mix in mayonnaise.
2. Lay four slices of rye bread down on a work surface. Top each slice with enough grated Cheddar to cover. Top the grated cheese with tuna salad. Lay more grated cheese down over tuna, and top with second slice of bread to make sandwiches. Spread 1 teaspoon mayonnaise on top of each. 
3. Heat the canola oil in a skillet (preferably cast iron) until medium hot, then wipe out most of the oil, leaving just a very thin layer. Transfer the sandwiches to the skillet, mayonnaise side down (you may need to do this in two batches). Cover with a sheet of foil, and weigh the sandwiches down with another skillet or pot. Cook until golden, about three minutes. Remove the weight and foil. Spread another teaspoon mayonnaise on uncooked side. Then flip the sandwiches and cook the second side, another 3 minutes or so, until golden and cheese is melted. Serve with Lays Potato Chips!

An homage to a master of Stoner/Surf Dude Food -- Here's to Roy Choi (and, hey, while we're at it, somebody give this guy a Beard Award already)

This post does, and doesn't, have something to do with surfing. It is, however, about food. In fact, it's about the somewhat twisty road that led to this most delicious sandwich you see here, the Spam Banh Mi from the new lunch menu at Roy Choi's restaurant Pot in the Line Hotel--

But more on the sandwich in a bit. This is also about how it's always cool to help make a person's day, even if it's just a small thing that may not seem like a big deal.

So a while back, I stumbled on a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for Osoporto, a company run by Jon Berry that makes really sweet surf-related prints, stickers and shirts that pay tribute to El Porto, a super nice beach in the South Bay. Apparently El Porto was once its own little town, but now it's part of Manhattan Beach. I never knew that. But if you like unique and interesting surfy and beachy stuff, here's the website: www.beachbear.squarespace.com. You should check it out if, like me, you're into this kind of stuff.  So I kicked in a little bit of dough and I got a bunch of Osoporto stickers.  Look here they are!

One I immediately slapped on the back bumper of my car, and I was trying to figure out what to do with some of the others when it hit me that Kogi trucks are just covered in really cool stickers. What a perfect place for one, no? But I didn't know what was the protocol for getting a sticker on one. So I tweeted both Kogi and Chef Roy Choi with that very question, and I got a response that I thought was so perfect -- they said as long as the sticker "came from the soul and didn't offend" that nobody would stop me from doing it. Well, it does come from the soul, and it doesn't offend. So off I set out on this mission, and the mission was a success! See, look, here's Osoporto on the back of Verde:

I sent the pic to Osoporto and they were stoked! I got a tweet back saying they'd always wanted to be on a Kogi truck, and now they were, so that was nice. Of course, while I was at the truck, I had to have lunch, which you see below, my go-to Kogi order of the three taco combo, with two tofu, and one short rib.

While I was chowing down, I started thing about the guy who started it all, Chef Roy Choi, who has to be the most successful stoner in the freaking universe. I mean, just look at the past year. Not only did Choi release a successful biography/cookbook, L.A. SON, (one that doesn't even cover the Kogi and after part of his life -- so something to look forward to, eh?) but he also opened Pot, Pot Cafe and Commissary in Koreatown's Line Hotel, helped launch Three Worlds Cafe in south LA, announced he's taking on the fast food world with Loco'l, which aims to be a healthy fast food joint, and shot a series of shows for CNN. Oh, and also he consulted on Jon Favreau's CHEF. Just one of these accomplishments would be huge. Taken together it's just amazing, and the total opposite of slackerdom (and by the way, we're not even including in this post Choi's other restaurants, A-Frame and Sunny Spot, although Chego yes…see below).

Man, this guy's busy, right? So how is Kogi these days? Well, quite simply, it rocks. Those tacos up above, for example, were as delicious as the first time I tried them way back in about 2009, when many of us joined this new thing called Twitter so we could figure out where to find the truck. There's something addictive about these flavors and quite frequently I get a craving. Clearly I am not alone. While there were four or five other trucks at the spot where I slapped the sticker on Verde, only Kogi had a line. Take a look:

But it's not just Kogi. I also have a thing for the salty, spicy Kimchi Spam bowl at Chego, Choi's place down in Chinatown. So, of course, when I heard Choi was opening up a bunch of restaurants in the Line Hotel, I was excited. After a surf session one day not long after Pot Cafe got up and running, I stopped in because I saw on the website they had French Bread Pizzas. Okay, here's a confession -- we used to get stoned in high school, and just guess what was the munchie of choice? It was Stouffer's French Bread Pizza. I can't tell you how many times I burned my tongue because we were so freaking hungry we couldn't wait to let the pizzas cool down after they came out of the oven.  So I had to try Pot Cafe's version. Have a look:

These were the veggie version because sometimes I like to go vegetarian. Again, more deliciousness, and not just that -- like Proust, these pizzas brought me back -- okay, not to some Parisian patisserie and its Madeleines, but to the smoky paneled basements in the suburbs of my youth. But wait, there's more!  I recently read a tweet from Choi that coming to the Line Hotel was lunch at the restaurant, Comissary, and it included not just a Banh Mi (and we know I love Banh Mis) but a Spam Banh Mi.

Whaaaaat?

Now this I had to try. Side note: Spam is also one of those foods that transports me to another place. When I was a kid, I was sent to summer camp. I generally disliked camp. But I did like when we used to go on these hikes up mountains in the Adirondacks. We carried food in to camp sites in backpacks, and somehow I always ended up on kitchen patrol. Always included were cans of Spam. How was it used? As I recall, it was usually at breakfast, popped from the can, sliced, then fried in a skillet over an open fire and served next to a mess of scrambled eggs. Maybe it was the cooking and eating it outdoors, but I loved those crisp, salty, porky slices. So onto Pot's Spam Banh Mi. After a so-so session in somewhat choppy water Wednesday, I stopped in for lunch. You just walk right into the lobby at the Line, and you can eat there, or even outside on the patio. And it was awesome.  I loved this Banh Mi. It was salty, a little sweet, spicy, and the fries that came with it were perfectly crisp. What a fun lunch. (And by the way, I wish more people would check out Koreatown because it's such a cool area, and it's just filled with really good places to eat).

Choi isn't just a really good businessman, though. His food is an inspiration. I think ever since I started eating Kogi I started to experiment more with flavors and combinations I wouldn't have thought of. I'm not sure I'd even had Sriracha before Kogi and now I'm an addict, dousing it on just about everything. I mentioned the book, L.A. Son. Well, here it is in my kitchen library, right now chilling out between Suzanne Goin's awesome Sunday Suppers at Lucques and classic Julia Child. See?

Sometimes for lunch I'll make Kimchi Fried Rice, and sometimes I'll make a Kimchi quesadilla, with lots of melted cheese, topped with sour cream and Sriracha and cilantro. I mentioned in a previous post my thing about Ramen -- not the fancy kind either, but the Sapparo Ichiban's packaged version. When I make it and top it with a fried egg, or two, and more cilantro and sriracha I somehow think Chef Choi, who has a Ramen recipe in the book, would approve. Here's mine--

I'm not sure I would have made lunches like this at home in the pre-Kogi era, so I credit Choi with helping me to think outside of the box. Recently I cooked from the book the Kalbi plate. We dug everything about it except I made one mistake. My usual go-to source for meat and fish, McCalls in Los Feliz, was closed for a week of vacation. I had been at our local Farmer's Market, where I saw a guy selling grass-fed beef, and he had the thin cross-cut ribs I'd need to make the Kalbi so I picked some up. Well, we're not big fans of grass-fed beef because it can be gamey, and, frankly, tough. And though Choi's marinade was delicious, we'll try it again with short ribs that aren't grass fed.

So, amazing chef, amazing businessman, but also really an inspiration, a teacher. If all that's not enough for the Beard Foundation, how about also pretty much creating the food truck craze in the first place? Huh? So how about it? I think somebody should start a campaign. Anyway, here are links to all things Choi. Now go eat something good.

Kogi: www.kogibbq.com
Chego: www.eatchego.com
The Line Hotel (for Pot Cafe, Commissary and Pot):  www.thelinehotel.com
Three Worlds Cafe:www.3WorldsCafe.com
L.A. Son: www.harpercollins.com/roychoi
Chef: www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/chef