Eat, Drink + Be Merry. Travel + Food Photography. Los Angeles and Beyond.

Living in Silver Lake for nearly five years, I still haven’t really immersed myself into the community as much as I wanted to or taken advantage of everything it has to offer. For a somewhat small neighborhood on the Eastside of Los Angeles, one can actually find quite a lot of things to do on the weekends. Drive down Sunset Blvd. on a Saturday morning and you’ll be rubbernecking at all the hip people eating brunch. Take a quick trip to Ensenada with one bite of Ricky’s delicious fish tacos. If you’re in to seeing live music, you’ve got the Satellite, formerly known as Spaceland, which is usually the first stop for any new band coming through Los Angeles. If you’re into coffee and don’t mind waiting in a DMV-like line for a good thirty minutes, there’s Intelligentsia. If you’re in to dogs or are in to pretending you’re into dogs so that you can meet other singles with dogs, there’s the dog park. If you’re in to doing healthy stuff, you’ve got a nice 2.5 mile dogshit-laden run around the famous Silver Lake reservoir which should totally be used for aquatic’ish activities like remote-controlled toy boats. I don’t know about you, but every time I run around the reservoir, the inner-Discovery Channel dork in me secretly prays for a giant Loch Ness-like monster to emerge and eat a hipster alive! There’s a strange activity going on in within a fenced area next to the dog park. Two, four, sometimes ten people can be seen running up and down concrete with an orange object and it seems like they are trying to throw the orange object into a ring that’s screwed on to a piece of wood. They get very happy when the orange object goes through the ring – and celebrate by slapping each other in the buttocks. I don’t get it at all – seems like a real bizarre waste of time.  Anyway.  In urban Los Angeles, there’s a real absence of greenery, especially if you live in Downtown, Koreatown, South Los Angeles and unless you’re loaded enough to live on the tree-lined streets of Hancock Park, finding a park is quite the exploration process.  But finally, Silver Lake has a new addition to fill the void.  Welcome to the Silver Lake Meadows, a nice 3-acre plot of d0g-free grassy land for people of all ages and sizes to frolic around in. And a perfect place to have a weekend picnic. Might as well frolic in that $1,000,o00 of your tax contributions.

The Silver Lake Meadows is located on the northeast end of the reservoir, just north of the dog park and about two blocks before you hit Glendale Blvd. Parking can be tricky since you’re on a curved street with pretty fast traffic, so just make sure letting people know you’re looking for a spot. Luckily, they’ve installed a crosswalk so you can get to your grassy destination safely.

And here we are… Silver Lake’s playground for all walks of life. When we first started coming here, people were pretty scattered out. Few people chucking frisbees, kids running around, a random guy with guitar pretending he’s Bon Iver, people reading, people sleeping and people drawing other people. Now it’s become more crowded and seems to be the ideal spot for a hipster kid’s birthday, but so far no sign of any obtrusive jumper tents. All in all, it’s still very easy to claim your own patch of land and relax.

There aren’t really any signs that prohibit drinking but it’s pretty expected that people will bring a little boozy booze. Does the city really expect people to bring bottles of Squeeze-it and Capri Sun and play patty cake?  Not in this neighborhood.  But still, it’s recommended to conceal your goods just in case you get that one tattle-taling adult. My friend BL decided his shoes would hide the evidence, not to mention, tamper the taste of the evidence as well.

A bird’s eye view of our picnic. As you can see we’ve gone through a lot of trouble to pack up our kitchen and move it to a public area for a mere three hours, only to repack and put everything back in our kitchen.  But it’s well worth it!  Going outside and getting some Vitamin Sun is very good for you.

Right between the reservoir and the Meadows, there’s a trail that runs through for people to do healthy stuff like ride bikes and stare at us while we gain weight. I know they are talking crap. But at the same time I can’t help but feel bad for them because they are working so hard on such a beautiful sunny day. Next time, I’m going to offer them something good like chicken liver mousse and a Pimm’s Cup.
I’ve put together a quick list of things you may or may not need for your next picnic. Print it out and stick it on your fridge for future reference!

A. Parasol   I recommend going to the SLM from 2 pm – 5 pm. If you go anytime earlier than 2 pm, it’ll be pretty bright so you’ll need this or at least some sunglasses. It starts to get cold around 4:30 pm, so bring a jacket.
B. Pillows  Critical. The grass may be soft but you’ll need some neck support. There’s nothing better than taking a nap after eating. $50 fine for pillows with bird prints.
C. Blanket  Sometimes the grass is still wet from the dew so I suggest bringing one thick blanket, or two thin blackets or even bringing a rain tarp to put under one of the blankets. Nothing worse than having wet ass while you picnic.
D. Basket  Plastic Bags. Coolers. Boxes of Popeye’s fried chicken. All welcome!
E. Fun juice  Whatever your vise may be, just remember to keep it concealed. There are also no restrooms, so these may come in handy a la Dumb & Dumber style.
F. Fun juice flask  For those that want to make Old Fashioned or Negroni’s at their picnics.
G. Corkscrew  Get one that opens both wine and beer.
H. Wireless/Bluetooth speakers  I can’t go anywhere without these. You can turn any boring moment into a dance party. I like the Bluetooth ones because you can let anyone play DJ off their iPhones.
I. Hand drums  I have yet to witness a real drum circle in effect but I can imagine it must be insane. Grown-ups with nappy hair gathered in a circle channeling their inner weirdness into each beat of the drum. I’m sure this will happen sooner or later. Come on, it is Silver Lake!
J. Ghetto Blaster  If that drum circle gets too crazy, it’s time to lay out some cardboard and “jam on it”. Anyone remember Aziz Ansari walking through NYC with shitty music playing on his boombox? It needs to happen here.
K. Bocci Balls  Or Giant Skittles, which sounds more fun to me. This is the kind of game you play on lush green grass. This game is a combination of Shot-put and Tiddly Winks and it can be played in any state of drunkenness.
L. Frisbee Football  I heard that there could be a ban on tossing the frisbee on a beach. But they can’t be talking about this sport. No, this isn’t just frisbee, this is the National Frisbee League – a true profession. This is an intense match-up of helmet-less guys chasing after a plastic disc, sometimes injuring themselves for 7 pts. Super Frisbee Bowl Silver Lake coming soon!
M. Boomerang  This is a crazy thing to rock at the SLM, but it’s not as crazy as showing up with a parrot and boa constrictor around your neck.
N. Slingshot  All that delicious food you’re eating has the potential to attract the critters of the meadows. Beware of opossums, raccoons, skunks, squirrels and the occasional PBR-leeching hipster. Use the slingshot only when threatened.

(more…)

Driving in the Santa Barbara area, you’ve probably passed through Buellton, which most of the movie Sideways was shot in. Aside from that, Buellton has its purported claim to fame with their split pea soup. Though I’ve never eaten at Andersen’s Pea Soup, it’s one billboard I always remember. Split pea soup, by its look, is probably one of the ugliest soups ever created, but it certainly has a lot of personality. Dried split peas are boiled for under an hour, fortified with the smoky flavor from a ham hock and served in baby-food form – I love it. On our recent trip to Chicago, Jeni and I were having breakfast at a little cafe and I was surprised to see the swampy green mush on the menu. Versus ordering the usual eggs and pork-product, I decided to go for the split pea soup and it was pretty good. Had I not encountered this on the menu, I wouldn’t be writing about this soup. I’m glad I did because this was super easy to make and it turned out wonderful. Jeni likes to dip bread in her soup so I decided to get a little creative and instead of using just bread, I added shrimp toast and Korean roasted seaweed, also known as laver. You’ve seen laver before – those multi-pack seaweed packages for like $2 at Asian markets. Tasty and MSG-y!  The shrimp toast is the same exact recipe I used for my take on Jon & Vinny’s version served at Son of A Gun.

Ingredients for split pea soup
2 packages of dried split peas (about 16 oz. total)
1 smoked ham hock
2 cans of chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 onion diced
2-3 cloves of garlic
4-6 dried Thai chiles (or chili de Arbol)
3-4 sprigs of thyme
2-3 bay leaves
2-3 teaspoons hondashi (Japanese bonito powder – optional)
Olive oil
water (in case peas dry out)
S&P

Ingredients for shrimp toast
1 lb. of large shrimp (16-20 per pound size; peeled and de-veined)
Loaf of white bread (softer the better)
1 tablespoon of bottled fish sauce (to taste)
One egg (whites only)
1 tablespoon of lemongrass stalks (grated)
2 pieces of sliced ginger (grated)
1 clove garlic (grated)
1/2 tablespoon of corn starch (or as needed)
Salt & white pepper to taste (not black pepper, looks ugly)
Sugar
Vegetable/Canola oil
Butter

Making the Split Pea Soup
(1) If you have the time, pre-soak the beans for at least 2 hours, but it isn’t necessary. In a medium sized pot or dutch oven, sauté the garlic and onions for a few minutes. A slight burn to the garlic won’t hurt it. Add the dried chiles, bay leaves and fresh thyme – stir for 2-3 minutes.

(2) Add the dried split peas in, mixing everything around so all the peas get some of that garlic-herb love. Add both cans of chicken broth in and make sure there’s at least 1″ of liquid above the split pea line. On high heat, bring the peas to a boil and then keep it on low-medium for the next 45 minutes. Do not cover with the lid or you’re soup with disappear into air. Check back periodically to see that the peas have not absorbed all the liquid. The second time I made it, I cooked the peas on too high of heat and lost all the liquid. Simply add water in or another can of chicken broth. Salt and pepper to taste and add 2-3 teaspoons of the hondashi Japanese bonito powder. This is something I like to add to my soups to give it a boost of umami. Once the peas are soft enough, you’re done.

(3) Remove all the chiles and herbs from the soup and pour everything into a blender (I use my trusty Vita-prep blender). A food processor won’t work for this because you want this to look like pureéd baby food. Pureé everything for a few minutes until you’ve got a smooth, velvety consistency, adding water as needed to dilute the soup. It’s best to blend this immediately off the stove because if you need to re-season or add more water, the heat will incorporate everything much faster. Done.

Making the Shrimp Paste
(1) After you peel and de-vein your shrimp, toss a generous amount of kosher salt on the shrimp and wash it off in water to remove the shrimp cologne and also refresh the shrimp. Roughly chop the shrimp to make it easier for your food processor. Before you make the paste, have a small fry pan on low heat so you can test the shrimp paste out.

(2) Toss the shrimp in the food processor with the egg white, corn starch, fish sauce, a few pinches of lemongrass, 1/2 teaspoon of grated garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger, a few pinches of sugar, 2 teaspoons of oil and S&P. The corn starch is used to make the shrimp stick together and the oil gives the shrimp a nice sheen. PULSE the shrimp, do not turn the food processor fully on. About 7-8 pulses should be good.

(3) Now take a small spoonful and fry it up. Does it need more fish sauce? More S&P? The final taste should have a nice balance of fish sauce, sweetness from the sugar and hints of garlic/ginger/lemongrass. And the paste should stick together from the corn starch – if not, add a little more and mix it in by hand. Just make sure the paste isn’t salty!

Preparing the Shrimp Toast
Son of A Gun finishes off their shrimp toast with a little butter and pan fries it to give it a nice buttery, crispiness. Last time, I toasted bread in the broiler and then fried only the side with the shrimp paste. It was good, but adding butter to the pan tastes way better. In a skillet, add a thin slice of butter with a tiny bit of olive oil. Fry shrimp paste side first until golden brown, flip over and fry the other side until golden brown as well. Slice into wedges and plate as shown. Garnish with some chopped up Korean seaweed and serve.

Hope you enjoy this and thanks for reading.

I was in San Francisco this weekend when I got a call from J who was at the Hollywood farmer’s market. In the previous 48 hours, I had gotten a taste of a delicious pork chop from NOPA, slurped oysters and various savory seafood soups from Hog Island Oyster Company in the Ferry Building and endured a multi-coursed San Francisco-meets-Morocco meal at Aziza. All of this amidst the mixture of cocktails and spirits entering the body. I had a fantastic weekend but there was nothing more I craved than a simple, homey meal with my wife. For us, there is nothing more comforting than a simple pan-roasted fish over farmer’s market veggies and some sort of broth. I was inspired by a fantastic meal I had at Pujol in Mexico City and since then have done numerous variations of fish-in-broth dishes. Jeni picked up some tutti frutti heirloom tomatoes (so sweet), pea sprouts and some fresh wild-striped bass from McCall’s and I hit the kitchen stove – with a glass of wine of course. Never cook without a glass of wine in hand, it’s a naked feeling!

If you haven’t had striped bass before, the texture is chunky yet moist. When you break the flesh with your fork, it will come off in sections which makes it a perfect bite every time. This dish on paper is as simple as it sounds but the magic happens when you add a special ingredient: yuzu kosho. My current love has been Shin Sen Gumi’s imported yuzu kosho that they sell for $7 from some company in Japan. And it is the best yuzu kosho I have tasted, of all the seven plus kinds I’ve tried. Ask Jonathan Gold, he’ll give you the golden nod. Yuzu kosho is a Japanese condiment made of chili peppers, yuzu peels and salt. The addition of yuzu kosho brings about a spicy citrus state that will surely open your eyeballs, but it should only be used in moderation as it can and will overpower your food. Maybe even a third world country.

Ingredients for 2 servings
2 square pieces of wild-striped bass (about 4-5 oz. is a good serving)
small heirloom tomatoes
pea sprouts
chives
olive oil + vegetable oil
S&P

Ingredients for broth
tsuyu (Japanese soup broth sauce or noodle dipping sauce; any kind)
kombu
hon-dashi (Japanese bonito fish stock powder)
yuzu kosho
water

(1) Making the dashi stock. Add about 2.5 cups of water, or more if you want to drink more broth, into a pot and set on high heat. Immediately add a 2″ x 2″ piece of kombu (dried seaweed) and tsuyu dipping sauce to taste. Once you have the right amount of salinity, add 2 tablespoons of hon-dashi fish stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and add about 1-2 teaspoons of yuzu kosho into the broth. Does it taste good? Did your eyeballs widen? If not, add more. The result should be a nice balance of tsuyu, bonito flavor and subtle yuzu kosho. The longer you simmer, the more the water will evaporate resulting in a salty dashi stock – not good. Before you’re ready to serve, check the salinity and add water if necessary.

(2) Getting the vegetables ready. Heat up a skillet for a good 5 mins until the pan is smoking When you’re ready, add the pea sprouts in season with salt & pepper. The reason you cook on such high heat is to get what the Chinese call “wok hei” (breath of a wok). When food is cooked at extremely high temperatures, there is a different taste in the food as the flavors are more so sealed rather than let out. Before you finish the pea sprouts, add 2 tablespoons of your dashi broth in there to add some extra flavoring, and quickly put on a plate. Sauté the heirloom tomatoes the same way with 2 shots of dashi broth at the end. Set both vegetables aside for service.

(3) Put a cast-iron skillet on the stove over medium heat and turn your oven on at 450 degrees. I normally keep my skillets on high heat for a good 8-10 mins before I sear meat but in the case of fish, you don’t want to obliterate the precious skin of bass. So medium for 3-5 mins is good. Add half vegetable oil and half olive oil into the pan. The second it starts to smoke, carefully lay the pieces of fish away from you to avoid the splashing of oil. Make sure you’ve added salt & pepper on both sides of the bass. Sear for 4-5 mins on medium heat and keep checking to see that your skin isn’t burnt – it should be a dark golden brown, but not black. Once the skin is crispy, carefully flip them over (I use tongs) and throw the whole skillet into the center of the oven. In about 3 mins, your fish should be done.

(4) Add a heap of the pea sprouts in the center of a bowl. Sprinkle in some heirloom tomatoes. Add as much broth as you’d like but don’t drown the veggies! You want to form an “island” for the fish to rest on as you want to maintain the crispiness in the bass skin. Add the bass on top, garnish with chopped chives and throw the whole plate back into the oven for about 3 mins for service. Your dish must come out hot to be fully enjoyed.

Enjoy and thanks for reading.