Paleo Nachos

Something really eff'd up happens when you begin to restrict certain elements from your diet: you start craving crap that you never even cared for before.  Does this happen to anyone else?  Is it just me?

You tell yourself "no sugar, no dairy, no grains, no fake carbs? NO PROB."  Then out of nowhere your mind flips its shit, turns on this evil food switch, and you automatically crave those items that are completely off-limits.  For me, it was nachos.  Nachos!?  No idea why.  Perhaps it's the fact that it is currently baseball season. I had this mental image of me sitting at Dodger Stadium holding a giant basket of stale nacho chips smothered with that creepy artificially colored cheese-wannabe stuff.  My brain convinced me that it tasted delicious.  I needed that experience.  Had to stuff my face with junk food.

Now that you think I'm a glutton, I'll go ahead and share how I solved this problem.  Allow me to redeem myself?

Step 1: Pork Carnitas

Throw the following into your slow cooker:

- 1.5 to 2 lbs pork shoulder, seasoned generously (we use a Latin dry rub)

- 2 sliced onions

- 2 sliced tomatoes

- a couple crushed garlic cloves

- handful of chopped cilantro

Set it & forget it.  

We usually leave our slow cooker running overnight for a good 7 hours.  You can't really go wrong with slow cooker pork.  The fat just melts off and cooks everything in the pot with it.  Sometimes we'll throw in any old veggies we find inside of our fridge with the pork.  Anything goes.

Step 2: Plantain Chips

Make sure to use plantains that are not super ripe.  The greener, the move savory they will be.  The brown, ripe plantains will be sweet.  We used a mandoline to get nice, thin slices.

Fill the bottom of your pot with about an inch of olive oil.  Once the olive oil gets hot, start throwing in the plantain slices.  Try to not let the chips overlap much inside of the oil.  Fry them for about 3 minutes per side, or until they are toasted to your liking.  

Work in batches.  Keeping an eye on the chips to make sure they don't burn is probably the most labor-intensive part of this dish.  When they are finished frying, throw them into a colander to dry out.

The chips can be made ahead by 1 or 2 days.  We made a ton of these and were eating them for two days straight.  Just keep them in the fridge.

Step 3: Assemble!

Gather your plantain chips.  Toss them with a pinch of salt.  

Place the chips on your plate.  Smother them with the carnitas.  If you get a lot of carnitas juice over the chips, they may become a bit soggy.  But they will still be goooood.

We made this guacamole to use as the creamy element.  Trust me, we didn't miss the cheese one bit.

Animal: Foie Gras Dinner

A couple weekends ago, the culinary geniuses over at Animal Restaurant held a special event to take a stand against California's imminent ban on foie gras.  Their "fight for your right to foie" dinner consisted of eight courses of, you guessed it, foie gras.  Head chefs Vinny Shook & Jon Dotolo even invited a special guest, Ludo Lefebvre, to help design the eight course meal.  Chef Ludo has been gaining popularity by promoting the concept of the "pop up" restaurant in Los Angeles.  I've been dying to see what he's all about, so I jumped at the chance of a dinner prepared by not only him but the head Animal chefs.

Animal.  Literally a hole-in-the-wall on Fairfax Ave.  No sign in front, simple, clean decor.

We arrived on time for our reservation, but still had to wait a few minutes outside while the next table cleared up.  By the time we were seated, we were more than ready to feast.

Feeeed me.

Me so hongray

Course 1: Marble foie gras terrine, prosciutto, fennel, yogurt, honey, bruleed fig

 Chef Ludo started this meal off right.  The layers of prosciutto and fig combined perfectly with the foie.  It was also fun combining the different elements on the plate with the terrine: salty (sea salt), tart (yogurt), bitter (fennel), and sweet (bruleed fig). 

Course 2: Foie gras crudo, dates, lemon confit, black ash brioche, mushrooms

Not gonna lie, I had a little trouble with course 2.  This was another one of Chef Ludo's creations.  When he said crudo, he meant it.  Nothing on this plate was cooked except for the brioche ashes.  I was all for it until I picked up a piece of foie and saw blood.  The blackened brioche did a good job of disguising the blood, but it was just a liiiitle too raw for me.  The husband was all about this dish, though, so I was probably just the weird one here.

Course 3: Smoked foie gras, veal tongue, pumpernickel, crab apple

 Ah yes, finally something cooked and cooked well!  This was the first of Chefs Vinny and Jon's dishes. As good as the smoked foie was, it was secondary in this plate.  The veal tongue totally stole the show.  And then paired with the glazed apple...heaven!

Course 4: Foie gras ssam, herbs, peanuts, green curry, bibb lettuce, plum char siu

Husband and I gave a thumbs up all around for this course right here.  This was a build-your-own-wrap of sorts: Thai seasoned foie goes inside the lettuce+herbs, sprinkle it with the fried and green onions, and douse some sriracha over that bad boy.  Boom!  No utensils necessary.

Course 5: Steamed foie gras, cabagge, mustard ice cream duck fat potato, juniper berries

You know what this reminded me of?  A pupusa.  Except in this case, the cabbage replaced the masa and the stuffing was a smooth, creamy layer of steamed foie.  And yes, you read that right: mustard ice cream.  It provided a nice hint of mustard flavor to the foie pupusa.  Oh, and the duck fat potatoes - excellent.  Props to Chef Ludo for this course.

Course 6: Roasted foie gras, cheeseburger flavors, benton's bacon

Another fun dish!  Think deconstructed cheeseburger, but replace the beef with the roasted foie.  A traditional selection of toppings were included: dressing, pickles, onions, frisee, and bacon.

Course 7: Liquid foie gras agnolotti, corn, black truffle

Ohh my....this dish could have very well qualified as dessert.  The agnolotti literally melted in your mouth, and then you got this flavor explosion from the warm liquid foie combining with the shaved black truffle.  This was probably our most favorite course of the entire meal.

Course 8: Brownie sundae, foie gras chantilly, caramel, vanilla ice cream, peanuts

I hate to say it, but dessert was a little anti-climatic.  After an exciting 7 courses, I was expecting something more out-of-this-world.  "What kind of dessert can you possibly make out of foie gras," we asked ourselves.  Apparently so did the chefs because they really played it safe with the final course.  It was a brownie with vanilla ice cream topped with a dollop of cream that barely tasted like foie.  I mean, it was as good as a brownie can be.  Plus, the portion was huge.  I was not eager to stuff my face with a giant brownie after 7 courses of foie gras. 

At the end of our meal, I managed to get a peek into the kitchen.  The chefs were super nice and more than welcoming while I snapped away as they did their thang.  I didn't want to be too much of an intruder, so I took a few pics and scooted on out.

Chef Vinny keeping things running smoothly

Chef Ludo hiding in the back

Even though this was a one-time menu event, I can see why Animal has already gained so much recognition in the LA dining scene.  These guys are serious about bringing good food to the masses.  We can't wait to visit again and try their normal menu next time.

Denver: Friends, Food, Great Times

As promised, I've got some more fotos to share from our trip to Colorado over Labor Day weekend.  We made this trip to attend our close friends' wedding, but since it was over a holiday weekend we decided to extend our stay for a couple extra days.  We arrived Friday evening and made our way to the JW Marriott in Cherry Creek (where the reception would be held the following day).  Saturday was dedicated to celebrating the wedding.  It was a ton of fun!  Steve (the groom) has been a good friend since Freshman year at USC.  We all stuck (and at times suffered) through the engineering program together.  A handful of our other engineering friends made it out to the wedding too, so it was like a mini-reunion.  Good times!

Cocktail hour.  I tried buffalo meat for the first time here.  It was so yummy!

No detail was overlooked.  And we were happy to see a drink dedicated to our alma mater: the USC Breeze.                      Hellz to the yeah. 

The USC table.  woot woot

Photobooth and scrap-book making fun!

Daaance partaay! The groom and his brother doing the "Lucero Shuffle"

Chocolate fondue dipping station?! YUM

USC Represent!

After the reception, the party continued with the newlyweds at a nearby dive bar.  Mini bowling & dranks: perfect end to a wedding.

Danielle gettin her bowl on.

The next morning..err...afternoon we went to pajama brunch at the hotel restaurant.

Steve and Danielle stuck around a couple days after the wedding to hang out with friends and family.  They arranged for a baseball game on Monday afternoon.  But first, husband and I started our day with a yummy breakfast at Snooze.

We did have to wait 45 mins to be seated, but it was worth it (and we should have woken up earlier).  We enjoyed the Peaches n Creame French Toast, a Blue Corn Buttermilk Pancake, and Chorizo Breakfast Tacos.

Snooze: an A.M. Eatery.  Coming soon to San Diego!  Will def need to hit this up when it opens in Southern Cal.

 The group made our way to Coors field later on in the afternoon for a Rockies vs. Diamondbacks game.

The boys at the ball game.

Finally, we made sure to do a little bit of research to find some good eats in Denver.  We only had a couple of nights to find good dinner spots, but I think we made some wise choices.  Both nights we ended up at Larimer Square.

 

First: Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen.  They had an impressive beer list.  I'm not a beer drinker at all, but the hubby was allllll over it (their cocktails did not disappoint, though!)  They make their sausages in house, so we couldn't resist trying all of em.  Also, crispy pig ears?  Yeah.  Had to try those too.

Never ending beer list.

Sausages+Mustard. Beef Short Rib Kielbasa, Bavarian Veal, Uncensored Hoppwurst, and Boudin Noir.

Crispy Pork Ears+Dipping Sauce.

Second: Tag.  Their concept is "Continental Social Food."  To tell you the truth, I'm really not sure what that means.  It was enough to get us interested in the place (plus their great reviews).  And dinner was amazing.  That's all that really matters.

The kitchen table was available, so we got to sit where all the action happens.  Also, interacting with the chefs and watching them do their thang was super cool.

Their amuse for the night: Lobster with crispy nori rice and a balsamic reduction.  I have this love/hate relationship with amuses cuz they are always so delicious, but they are the size of my thumb so I always want more!

Appetizer: Australian Kangaroo meat (I know!) with watermelon, sriracha, lime, and goat cheese.  Can I just say that I could have had like 3 servings of this stuff as my main course and would have proclaimed it the best meal ever.

Appetizer: Duck fat fries.  These were great.  They were sweet yet salty; almost like dessert but not quite.  Honestly, we only ordered them cuz they had the words "duck fat" in the title.  Duck fat can do no wrong.

Entree: Colorado Bison.  Perfectly juicy and flavorful.

Entree: Scallops, potato puree, and haricots verts.  Scallops are one of my favorite things in life.  These were perfectly seared and made me so happy.

With dinner being so delicious, we had to try desert.  We went for the Banana Cream Pie, and it was delicious.

On our last day in Colorado, we decided to take a mini day trip.  Our friends had left town and one of them let us keep their rental car.  We were mobile - yay!  Off to Boulder we went.  We were determined to do something outdoorsy, so we looked up local parks.  We decided to spend our morning at Boulder Springs park.  We walked one of the trails and caught some really pretty scenery.  It was a great way to spend our last morning in Colorado.

We worked up quite an appetite, so we headed back down to the Pearl Street Mall for lunch.

We grabbed lunch at The Kitchen Cafe.  This place was awesome.  So glad we found it!  It's a community and sustainably-minded restaurant that focuses on good, fresh foods.

We tried their hummus: simple and fresh.  The flax seed sourdough bread wasn't too shabby either! 

I ordered the house made Quiche with greens.  Delicious.

Husband ordered the Farmer's Veggies and Cous Cous.  Also very fresh and tasty.

Boulder was so picturesque!  I wish we could have spent more time here, but we had a plane to catch that evening.  

We definitely had a very memorable trip.  Friends and good foods really did make for one great Labor Day weekend.