Susan Feniger – STREET

Susan Feniger is one of my favorite chefs in Los Angeles. She is an award-winning American chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and radio and TV personality considered to be a leading authority on Latin cuisine in the United States.

After working together in Chicago and Paris, Feniger and her longtime collaborator, Mary Sue Milliken, settled in Los Angeles where they founded the critically acclaimed City Cafe in 1981. They eventually expanded to a larger space on La Brea Blvd., renaming the establishment CITY Restaurant. I used to go there often

In 1985, they opened the Mexican restaurant Border Grill in the original City Cafe space, before moving it to Santa Monica in 1990. The restaurant later expanded to Pasadena (closed) and the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Broadening their culinary horizons Feniger and her partner opened the Latin flavor Ciudad in Los Angeles in 1998. The success of the three restaurants has often led Feniger and Milliken to be recognized for single-handedly changing LA’s culinary landscape.

In April 2009, Feniger opened her first solo project Street, a multi-ethnic eatery of “street food” in Hollywood. Sample dishes include: millet puffs, paani puri, Massamum chicken curry, dumplings, Egyptian-style baked fish and peanut butter cookies for dessert.

I have been to Street on several occasions and am never disappointed. The food is exciting, new and you will experience things that you can not get any where else prepared to her level of perfection. Every bite is an explosion of flavor in your mouth. I was thrilled to meet her very briefly at an event last year. I was hoping that by breathing the same air, it might foster a grain of her ingenuity and talent in my brain.

When you sit down at the restaurant, you get a little bowl of millet puffs that baffled me as to how she made them. The recipe was published on Tasting Table Los Angeles and I just had to share. If you are ever in Los Angeles, you must go to Street and sample an array of truly interesting food. http://eatatstreet.com/

Millet Puffs

Yield: 70 balls

2 Tbs unsalted butter
5 oz marshmallows
1 Tbs cumin seed
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp black mustard seed
¾ tsp chile powder
¼ tsp ground turmeric
2 oz dried currants
½ tsp salt
1 tsp chopped curry leaf
3 cups puffed millet, preferably Arrowhead Mills brand

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the marshmallows and lower the heat, stirring occasionally to keep them from burning.

When the marshmallows are halfway melted, add all the remaining ingredients except the puffed millet. Stir until the marshmallows finish melting and the mix becomes fragrant.

Remove from the heat, add the millet, and stir until the puffed grains are evenly coated with the spiced marshmallow mixture.

Transfer the millet to a large bowl and immediately begin forming very small balls, each approximently the size of a piece of popcorn. If the mixture is too sticky, dampening your hands with water will make it easier to work with. Let the balls sit, uncovered, for about 1 hour before serving.

For my toddlers

When my kids were toddlers (though they still act like toddlers!), I used to make them fried rice for dinner.  I thought it was a great way to get them to eat eggs.  I haven’t made it in a long time and my daughter, Grace, requested it for her birthday dinner.

Shrimp Fried Rice

Serves 4

8 oz small raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
½ tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp cornstarch
2 Tbs cooking oil, divided
3 eggs, beaten
2 stalks green onion, minced
4 cups leftover rice, grains separated well
¾ cup frozen peas and carrots, defrosted
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper and cornstarch. Let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature. Heat a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. When the pan is hot enough for a bead of water to instantly sizzle and evaporate, add just 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.

Add the shrimp, quickly spreading out around the cooking surface area so that they are not overlapping. Let fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until about 80% cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

Turn the heat to medium, let the pan heat up again. Add the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to break up and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the pan into the same plate as the cooked shrimp.

Use paper towels to wipe the same wok or sauté pan clean and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the green onions and fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok.

Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the peas and carrots, the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients. Let everything heat back up again, until the rice grains are so hot they practically dance! Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.

Burns Night

In Scotland, January 25th is a national holiday that celebrates the birthday of the great romantic, Robert Burns, in 1759. On Burns Night, family and friends gather for an evening of good food and company—much like our Thanksgiving. A traditional Burns’ Supper is served.

Put on your best tartan, get out the bagpipe and plan your own Burns Night by gathering your tartan clad friends for a night of Scottish food and drink.

Read some of Burns’ most popular poems: A Red, Red Rose; To a Louse; To a Mouse; Tam O’Shanter, Ae Fond Kiss and perhaps most appropriate to the occasion, Address to a Haggis.  My personal favorite – Bonnie Lesley

O SAW ye bonnie Lesley
As she gaed o’er the Border?
She’s gane, like Alexander,
To spread her conquests farther.

And, on and on…..

It’s not easy to make haggis (see attractive photo on left), a delicacy that’s a tasty mixture of sheep’s offal, boiled, minced and mixed with beef suet and toasted oatmeal that’s boiled inside the sheep’s stomach, so you can order a Haggis online! Most of your guests have to be well into the scotch before tasting…

For starters, serve Scottish salmon and/or smoked haddock (called Arbroath smokie, after the east coast fishing town of Arbroath).

As a main, make Scotch pies—individual pot pies traditionally filled with mutton, but now generally made with beef (beef pies are available from Twin Hens). Beef, lamb and almost any seafood—crab, lobster, mussels, scallops or shrimp, for example—will also do nicely. Or, send one of your guests out to shoot a grouse or pheasant.

For veggies, make colcannon, a dish of boiled cabbage, carrots, turnip and potatoes; drain and stew for about 20 minutes in a pan with butter, salt and pepper.

Stovied tatties are a potato-based dish, designed to use leftover meat and vegetables. Diced onions are cooked in beef fat along with leftover beef and vegetables (typically carrots and peas). Water is added to the pan, and then diced potatoes are added and simmered until soft.

What’s for dessert? Black bun is a dark, rich fruitcake, chock-full of currants, raisins, finely-chopped orange peel and chopped almonds, spiced with cinnamon and ginger. You can always use the leftovers as a doorstop.  Or, serve shortbread and tea—always a crowd pleaser.

An easier celebration might be to invite everyone for a Scotch tasting.

I found a pot sticker thingy in a drawer and look what happened!

I found this pot sticker maker in a drawer. Of course, I had to make pot stickers.

They are easy and delicious. 

You do not have to have this pot sticker maker, you can do it by hand, but they won’t look as fabulous as these!

Pork Pot Stickers

Makes 30 pot stickers

1/4 small head Napa cabbage, finely chopped (about 2 cups; 7 oz)
3/4 tsp kosher salt, plus 1/8 tsp for seasoning
1/3 lb ground pork (not too lean)
1 Tbs fresh ginger, minced (from 1/2-inch knob)
1 small carrot, coarsely shredded (about 2 Tbs)
2 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp)
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 tsp Asian (toasted) sesame oil
1/2 egg, lightly beaten
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
30 gyoza (pot sticker) wrappers, from 1 (14 oz) package*
1/4 cup canola oil

In large bowl, toss together cabbage and 3/4 teaspoon salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Transfer to clean dish towel or cheesecloth, gather ends together, and twist to squeeze out as much water as possible. Wipe bowl clean, then return cabbage to it. Add pork, ginger, carrots, scallions, and garlic and stir to combine.

In small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, and egg, then stir into cabbage-pork mixture. Stir in pepper and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt.

On dry surface, lay out 1 gyoza wrapper, keeping remaining wrappers covered with dampened cloth or paper towel. Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons filling into center, then moisten halfway around edge with wet finger. Fold moisture-free half of wrapper over moistened half to form open half-moon shape. To seal, using thumb and forefinger of one hand, form 6 tiny pleats along unmoistened edge of wrapper, pressing pleats against moistened border to enclose filling. Moistened border will stay smooth and will automatically curve in semicircle. Stand dumpling, seam-side up, on baking sheet and gently press to flatten bottom. Cover loosely with dampened cloth or paper towel. Form remaining dumplings in same manner.

In 10-inch, lidded, non-stick skillet over moderately high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking, then remove from heat and arrange pot stickers in tight circular pattern standing up in oil (they should touch one another). Cook, uncovered, until bottoms are pale golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, tilting skillet to distribute, then cover tightly with lid and cook until liquid has evaporated and bottoms of dumplings are crisp and golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons more water if skillet looks dry before bottoms are browned. Remove lid and cook, shaking skillet to loosen pot stickers, until steam dissipates, 1 to 2 minutes. Invert large plate with rim over skillet. Using pot holders, hold plate and skillet together and invert skillet. Remove skillet and serve pot stickers warm.

Happy Birthday Zoe & Grace!!

Happy Birthday to my two lovely girls!  Zoe turned 18 yesterday and Grace is 14 today!  I know, it’s nuts…  All my life, I heard adults say “they grow up in the blink of an eye”.  Well, it’s true, though I still don’t feel like an adult.

I made this angel food cake with caramel whipped cream.  It’s a Martha Stewart recipe.  She actually called for white cotton candy to surround the cake.  Now I go to a lot of markets and stores searching for ingredients, but I HAVE NEVER seen white cotton candy on sale anywhere!  I have deleted it from the recipe….

Anyway, the caramel whipped cream is to die for.

Angel Food Cake with Caramel Whipped Cream

Serves 10 – 12

1 cup plus 1 Tbs cake flour
1½ cups granulated sugar
12 egg whites
1 Tbs warm water
½ tsp coarse salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Caramel Whipped Cream, optional

Preheat oven to 325 degress, with rack in lower third of the oven. Sift together flour and ¾ cup sugar. Repeat sifting four times.

Beat egg whites and the warm water with a mixer on low speed until foamy. Add salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. With mixer running, gradually add remaining ¾ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Raise speed to high, and beat until peaks are stiff and glossy (but not dry), about 2 minutes more.

Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Sift flour mixture over egg-white mixture in six parts, gently folding in each addition with a rubber spatula.

Gently pour batter into a 10-inch tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to release any air bubbles, and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake until cake is golden brown and springs back when touched, 40 to 45 minutes.

Invert pan on a wire rack, and let cake cool about 1 hour. Carefully run a paring knife around side of cake to loosen, then unmold onto the wire rack.

Caramel Whipped Cream

Makes about 3 cups

½ cup sugar
2 Tbs water
Pinch of coarse salt
2 cups heavy cream

Prepare an ice bath; set aside. Cook sugar, water, and salt in saucepan over medium heat, stirring once, until sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking, without stirring, until sugar turns golden amber. Remove pan from heat; slowly pour cream down sides of pan in a slow, steady stream (it will spatter). Return pan to medium heat, and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

Transfer caramel cream to a mixing bowl set in ice bath; let sit until very cold, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Mixture can be refrigerated overnight. Before serving, whip the caramel cream until stiff peaks form. Use immediately.

Crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside

My daughter, Zoe, has been making batches of these cookies that are really amazing.  They are crispy and gooey on the inside and very easy to make.