The Oinkster

In deference to Pulitzer Prize-winning Jonathan Gold, I just had to check out his recommendation last week for The Oinkster. It didn't hurt that the new-ish Colorado Blvd restaurant specializes in slow roasted pulled-pork barbeque and Belgian-style fries and is about 10 minutes from my house. Eastern North Carolina is generally considered the home of pork barbeque in the U.S. and I've eaten my fill of it on summer trips to see family back East. (We typically froze several pounds of it to fly it back with us to our home in Texas where the word barbeque is synonymous with beef.) Oinkster's pork sandwich was absolutely delicious, but didn't exactly remind me of those NC pulled-pork sandwiches of my youth. NC-style sauce is typically redolent of vinegar and black pepper, neither of which was particularly in evidence in the squirt bottles at Oinkster. I thought the meat lacked some of the charred, smoky character that you find at Parker's in Wilson or family favorite King's BBQ (pronounced bah-be-que) up I-95 in Petersburg VA. Come to think of it, Oinkster's has more in common with a simple but fantastic sandwich I had at a stand next to the Borough Market in London a few years back, pulled and assembled fresh for me off a whole roasted pig right there off the street. At any rate, Oinkster is showing a lot of love for the food they serve and that's a huge plus in my book. Both the pork and the crispy Belgian fries were delicious and the scene is very Eagle Rock-hipster-goes-out-for-a-cheap-dinner. (My order with a drink was about $11.) Can't wait to go back.

The Oinkster
2005 Colorado Blvd
Eagle Rock
323-255-oink

Supper

Supper is the type of low-key Italian spot that any neighborhood would love to call its own. Since this particular neighborhood happens to be the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the denizens here are of a particular sort--youngish, a foreign accent here, a tattoo there, hooded sweatshirts all around. There isn't a bad table in the place, even the communal dining table where we sat just inside the door, since proximity to the hip crowd is all part of the fun. (A few tables spill out onto the sidewalk or you can sit inside, or in back or even down a tiny flight of stairs in the basement.) A starter of bruschetta with white beans and pancetta was salty and delicious. I had a special of the night, spaghetti in a tomato and prosciutto sauce, while David tried a tagliatelle with fresh porcini mushrooms. For dessert a hazlenut panna cotta with chocolate sauce was just the ticket. (Thanks to New York magazine for the pic; it was too dark for me to take one.)

Supper Restaurant
156 E 2nd St
New York
212 477-0823

Triumphal Palace

I'd worried that without roving steam carts the sense of discovery at a dim sum house just wouldn't be the same. But along with that sense of discovery can come the stress of getting the attention of the servers only to find they're pushing along yet another selection of chicken feet or various cartilagineous balls not meant for Western palates. In the end, you settle on another order of pork shiu-mai just to sate your hunger and dream of a restaurant with menus.

After finally making it out to Triumphal Palace yesterday, I'm that much more in the menu camp as far as dim sum is concerned. After lingering over the English-language menu while sipping our hot tea, my friend David and I made our selections then sat back and waited for the orders to appear. The kitchen started us with the amazing, crispy-skinned and succulent braised pork belly, then followed shortly thereafter with the shrimp dumplings with pea shoots, triangular chiu-chow style dumplings (stuffed with vegetables and seafood), shrimp har gow, bbq pork bao and the simple but satisfying wide shrimp rice noodles doused with soy sauce that I just love. Lightly golden fried crab cakes have no place on a steam cart at all and here they were perfect, served with pieces of sliced fresh papaya and mango. We waited at least a half an hour for a table when we arrived around noon but by 2 when we left the crowd had diminished considerably. Good to remember for next time since Triumphal Palace is open for dim sum daily till 3.

Triumphal Palace
500 W Main St
Alhambra
626 308-3222

Pasta with fresh fava bean sauce

Fresh fava beans can be quite the challenge to prepare but I try to take advantage of their availability in the local farmers' markets at least once each spring. Tonight I spent a few hours shelling them and then found a recipe for a fresh fava bean pasta sauce that seemed like a great way to use them. I don't really know exact measurements on this one so use it as inspiration if you're going to try the same dish. (I adapted this from a recipe I found on napastyle.com so take a look at that too.)

2 cups or more of fresh fava beans, shelled
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 tsp of dried oregano
olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
pasta of your choice
freshly grated pecorino
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 of a preserved lemon (optional), diced

Remove the fresh fava beans from their pods. In the meantime, put a pot of salted water on to boil. Blanch the favas for about a minute and then remove to a bowl of cool water. Drain. Use your finger to remove the outer membrane from each bean and set them aside.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and cook the garlic on low heat until it just starts to brown. Add the oregano, the chicken stock, preserved lemon and all but about a 1/2 cup of the favas. Cook for a few minutes, then remove the mixture to a blender or food processor to puree. Return the fava bean puree to the saute pan.

Boil water for the pasta. Cook pasta until within a few minutes of being al dente. Add cooked pasta back into the saute pan with the fava bean puree. Add enough water from the pot to continue cooking the pasta and stir to completely coat pasta with fresh fava sauce. When done, add the rest of the whole fava beans and generously grate pecorino over the pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and serve.

Fettucine alla Carbonara

1 lb fettucine or spaghetti
6 oz pancetta, diced
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
4 egg yolks
grated fresh parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Boil salted water and begin cooking the pasta.

Whisk the egg yolks together in a small bowl and set aside.

Saute the pancetta until crisp and then remove to a small plate. Add olive oil to the pan and saute the garlic and shallots. Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Reduce the liquid by half, then return the cooked pancetta back to the pan.

With a few minutes to go before the pasta is al dente, remove it to the pan with the pancetta, garlic and onion. Add enough boiling water from the pot to continue cooking the pasta. Once the pasta is cooked, remove it from the heat into a large bowl. Toss in the egg yolks and parmesan until the pasta is well coated. The eggs will cook quickly from the heat of the pasta and create a thick sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Los Balcones del Peru

I realize I'm not breaking any new ground here as Los Balcones del Peru has been written about by just about everyone by now, but even still, it's walking distance from my office so I tend to end up eating there fairly often and it does deserve a mention here.

Even before I order I find I've eaten practically a whole basket of the warm, crusty bread our waiter brings to the table topped with the tangy, hot aji (Peruvian chili pepper) sauce that's served in a bowl on the side. The menu leads with about half a dozen ceviches and though many find the camarones a la piedra (a warm dish of shrimp in a vibrant yellow aji sauce) to be the most interesting, maybe I need to ask the kitchen to crank up the picante next time as I always find this dish to be colorful and beautifully presented but a bit bland. I absolutely love their basic ceviche de pescado, however. In this ceviche, chunks of firm white fish are marinated in lime and hot pepper and are served with wedges of boiled white and sweet potato and garnished with shredded red onion and ears of the freakishly large Peruvian corn. It's refreshing and delicious, just the way I like my ceviche, and begs to be washed down with a cold cerveza. Maybe next time I'm on my way to a movie at the ArcLight, I'll stop in for dinner and do just that.

Los Balcones Del Peru
1360 Vine St (south of Sunset)
Hollywood
(323) 871-9600

Bruschetta with Peas and Pancetta

I bought some fresh English peas at the Farmer's Market and made a quick appetizer by sauteing them with a little butter, olive oil and some onion and pancetta. I served them on some crusty bread that I toasted in olive oil.

Grilled Halibut with Preserved Lemon

I grilled some fresh halibut and sliced up some of the preserved Meyer lemons I made in January to top off the fish. I drizzled with a bit of extra virgin olive oil to top it off. Simple.

I'll post the recipe for preserved lemons soon too. It's easy and a good way to use up lemons if you're lucky enough to have your own lemon tree.

Crostata di Visciola

This is a pretty simple dessert but looks really impressive when it's done and tastes great.

Pastry

2 1/2 cups flour
5 tbsps butter
5 tbsps shortening
2/3 cups sugar
3 egg yolks
grated zest from 1 lemon
pinch of salt

1 1/3 cups of black cherry jam (or the jam of your choice)
1 egg, beaten
confectioner's sugar (if desired)

Pastry crust: Sift flour into a bowl, rub or cut the butter and shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the remaining ingredients and knead quickly to a dough. Add more butter or shortening if needed. Work it as little as possible and form into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Break off three quarters of the dough, roll it out thinly on a floured surface and then gently lift it into a 9-inch tart pan. It doesn't matter if the dough fall apart as you can just reform it in the pan. Roll out the remaining dough into 1/2 inch wide strips enough to create a lattice on the tart.

Fill the dough with jam and cover with the strips, arranged in a lattice pattern. Brush the strips with the beaten egg. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden.

Chichen Itza

When starting a new relationship, it can be tempting to want to change a few things about a new boyfriend (or boyfriends, as the case may be) at first. Is he calling too often or not often enough? Maybe you don't quite approve of his choice in underwear? Such is the case with Chichen Itza, a restaurant we like a lot, but one that could do a few things differently if it really wanted to please us. A full liquor license so I could order a margarita would be a good place to start, though no doubt Chichen Itza would love to have that license too. Beer (Dos X, Modelo Especial, Corona, etc.) will have to do for now and worked just fine with the sampler antojito plate and multiple baskets of chips with black bean sauce and pico de gallo we consumed. Our waiter was extremely helpful in helping us pick from among the wide selection of Yucatan-style entrees. The table favorite was the Cochinita Pibil, the traditional Yucatan dish of slow-roasted pork marinated in achiote and bitter orange juice, wrapped in banana leaves. Pollo pibil (pictured) was also tender and delicious, as was the Tikin-Xic, sauteed sole prepared with the same achiote and orange juice marinade. Perhaps you need to be from Wisconsin to appreciate the Queso Relleno, a hollowed-out ball of fried cheese filled with ground pork, raisins and spices that itself is sliced and served over more pork. Pork anyone? This was the only dish left partially uneaten (and unshared) on the table. All the dishes were well prepared and the ingredients impecably fresh. I guess we'd just like it if Chichen Itza, could, well, lighten up a bit, maybe not take itself so seriously, you know? While I realize they're not trying to appeal to the same local MacArthur Park crowd that may eat at the many pupusa joints in the area for a fraction of the price, the formal aspiriations of Chichen Itza mean that it's not a place I'm likely to go on a regular basis, even though there are other dishes I'd love to try on the menu (in particular the appetizer of Chile Xcatic Relleno de Atun, chiles stuffed with fresh albacore tuna). All in all Chichen Itza is one of those that looks great on paper, but we're just not sure is going to end up as more than a friend. But we're open to hanging out again, and we'll just see how it goes from there.

Chichen Itza
2501 W 6th St
Los Angeles CA
213 380-0051