Variation on a theme (not duck fat)

I bought plums. Perfectly ripe delicious red red plums. And left them in my hot hot car all day. When I got home I had a bag of juice and split open fruits. I decided to boil them in a simple syrup (just threw the whole plums in some water with some sugar. When it had boiled for a while, I steeped some mint leaves in the liquid for a few minutes. Then I strained it into a pie plate and froze it (doesn't freeze all the way because of the sugar). A few hours later I scraped it up with a fork and made this parfait like thing with cream between layers of granita (a copy of the coffee granita recipe I posted from the Zuni cafe cookbook earlier.) I'm very happy with the intensity of the plum flavor (and color) considering I strained all the plum out of the liquid. I bet this would work with just about anything. Broccoli granita, anyone?







(KIDDING...sheesh.)

Comfort Food

French Class

When you make your French teacher laugh so hard he snorts, I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean your doing terribly well. Sigh.

Arg

But I still can't make it like this.

Brave

Alright, this is not only my first attempt at putting up an audio file, but also my first encounter with garage band. Don't laugh.

Snow upon root.aif

Grilled Cheese

I rarely have pre-sliced bread on hand. When I try to slice my baguette or rustic loaf thin enough to get a sandwich I can fit my mouth around without scratching up the gums and roof, the bread falls apart. This, I believe, was why the panini press was invented. And furthermore, the reason it was invented in a country that generally doesn't eat pre-sliced bread. Anyway, you can cut the slices as thick as you like, and still end up with the most deliciously mouth-sized, crunchy, buttery-all-the-way-through sandwich.

All it takes is some butter, bread, cheese (I like gruyere) and a panini press (or something):

I've always heard horror stories about men and toilet seats, but I thought they were mostly myth. Until now.

"Roei, come here for a minute."
"Okay, just a second. What?"
"See that?" I point to a large dry yellow splotch on the little porcelain piece between the toilet seat and the tank.
"What?"
"And that?" I lift the lid. Yellow stripes that end in puckered yellow dots adorn the bottom of the toilet lid.
"I know I know, this is because the mens have to...how do you say" (he shakes his hand up and down to demonstrate) "after they piss. What, you want me to do this in the bathtub?"
Well, no actually, I don't prefer pee stains in the bathtub to pee stains on the toilet.

I'm not sure what other men do to shake dry without decorating the bathroom, but he better figure it out. Quick.

Bastille Day

Well, not much to write about here, but I did make it to a little Bastille Day celebration in West Hollywood Park. I forgot to take pictures of the people (good company with Cherry and John and Roei's sister's family--Sarah, Tomer and baby Nathaniel, who has hair like Elvis.) Darn, I wish I could show you. Anyway, I remembered to take pictures of the food. A quiche to be in the French spirit, a fresh black-eyed pea and tomato salad, and apricot cobbler (originally going to be apricot tart, but I thought with the quiche crust it might be a bit much...it was still a bit much.) Cherry and John got wild and performed a little covert operation sneaking out a cup each of wine and pastisse through the yellow "Do not enter" tape. The weather was perfect, and once the super-soaker war going on around us ended, it was quite peaceful too. It was the perfect way to spend a Sunday...short of being in Paris.

Only in Korea town...

do you get carded when you buy maple syrup.

Yakitoriya

Last night Cherry introduced me to a yakitori restaurant on Sawtelle called Yakioriya. We decided to be adventurous and order things we'd never tried before. The minimum requirement was 5 skewers each, so it was really more a matter of deciding which four we weren't going to order. We couldn't resist asking about the special on the wall listed as "soft bone." We were no better off after the waitress explained the dish to us, but in our adventurous state, we decided to try it anyway. After we ate it, we still didn't know what it was. Chicken, definitely, but which part(s)? Anyway, the meat around the "soft bone" was delicious. The "soft bone" not quite soft enough for our western palates.

Cherry did a little internet research and sent me this quote from a New York yakitoriya:

"Try as we might, we never got to sample “soft knee bone” (only two per chicken, after all) or the enigmatic “soft bone,” which, the waitress explained, requires three chickens per serving. Where was this bone? The waitress turned and pointed at her bottom. "

Our other adventurous skewers were liver (I prefer it blended into paté, but it was tasty with the really really spicy mustard they served on the side) and gizzards (good flavor, crunchy texture...like cartilage. Wouldn't try it twice).

We also had a side of skin served on green onions shredded super fine and soaked in ponzu sauce. My favorite dish was a side of rice which I've forgotten the name of. It was served with pickled ginger and seaweed and was so cute with a little quail egg cracked over the top.

We did not feel adventurous enough to try the "premature egg," nor did we ask about the "toriwasa" which Cherry just informed me is raw chicken.

To finish off we had their homemade ice cream: black sesame and blood orange. Delicious.