Taste With The Eyes

When to “Doggie Bag?” Your Thoughts?

Leftovers of Peking Duck with Steamed Buns
Accompaniments: Scallion, Pickled Daikon, Cucumber, Sugar, Hoisin

The concept of a “doggie bag” or taking home leftovers from a restaurant meal is not an American invention. It’s been around since the sixth century B.C. when Romans would wrap up goodies from a banquet meal and take home the leftovers in a cloth. It showed respect and honored the host, implying the food was good and was worthy of taking home. Food preparation way back then could not have been easy, so, seriously, whose ancestors wouldn’t take the bountiful offerings from the big buffet back to their humble abode?

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Muy Sabroso! Tortilla-Crusted Dorado

Muy Sabroso! Tortilla-Crusted Dorado
Cilantro Salad with Heirloom Cherry Tomato & Serrano Pepper
Sweet Lime Vinaigrette

Fresh wild-caught dorado from the Pacific waters off the Baja California coast is marinated with just-picked fresh-squeezed lime juice & olive oil, then crusted with crushed tortilla chips. Dorado (aka mahi mahi) has an alluring mellow flavor and a firm texture with large moist flakes.

To let the essence of the fish shine through, it is simply paired with traditional Mexican flavors resulting in a crunchy, spicy, refreshing dish. Each rich bite of fish is paired with a bite of the herb, dressed in a sweet lime vinaigrette, with a little slice of bright cherry tomato and a sliver of spicy serrano. It’s delightful.

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Brunch. Manhattan. Beach.

Manhattan Beach Post
POST BANGIN’ BRUNCH

She called it one of the most surprising openings of the year. As one of the Best Meals of 2011, Los Angeles Times Restaurant Critic S. Irene Virbila lists her experience at M.B. Post as one of 2011’s most memorable. The upscale Water Grill in Downtown LA with Chef David LeFevre at the helm for years has been our favorite seafood restaurant, and that hasn’t changed. But now this Michelin-starred chef is in the South Bay, our neck of the woods, down at the beach, and we’re thrilled.

M.B Post serves imaginative, artisan global-style dishes in a casually sophisticated atmosphere that purposefully lends itself to a “social house” setting. It’s a fresh brilliant concept where sliding doors open onto the street, with beach-town ambiance, but in a non-stereotypical fashion.

The Chef began offering his Post Bangin’ Brunch in January. Hooray.

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Le BEET goes on…

Wilted Beet Greens
Tossed with Garlic, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar
Diced Thyme-Scented Roasted Red Beets, Whole-Grain Flaxseed Croutons, Roquefort
Beetroot Tails and Roasted Thyme Garnish

For a few days, my kitchen was overrun with beets – large and small organic red beets and all their greens, beet juice, beet syrup, baby candy stripe, and baby golden. Most went into the Golden Beet Salad and Candy Stripe Fettuccine, some were pickled. A few of the greens went into the charming beet & chervil centerpiece, and the remainder made this delightful wilted beet greens side dish. Not wanting to waste any part of the beet, I roasted the beetroot tails along with the beets and used them for a naturalistic garnish along with thyme sticks from the pan. These tails are edible too, they taste like beet jerky!

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Baby Candy Stripe Beet Fettuccine, Beet Syrup

Fresh Egg Fettuccine with Braised Red Cabbage, Red Onion, Roasted Red Beet
Red Wine Butter Sauce & Beet Syrup
Thyme-Scented Baby Candy Stripe Beet with Fresh Chervil

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t toss those adorable blushing baby candy stripe beets into the pasta. Their charm would have been sadly lost. So the thyme-scented little chioggias were simply sliced in half and arranged around the pasta, with the most incredible concentrated beet syrup, and dainty little sprigs of fresh chervil.

We’re celebrating betacyanin, the pigment that gives beets their fantastic color, which also happens to be a powerful antioxidant. Candy Beet Fettuccine is the second course in a striking beet-centric vegetarian meal prepared for the 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group’s monthly challenge featuring the BEET. It joins first course, Baby Golden Beet Salad, in a color competition, posted yesterday here. Red, pink, or gold?

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