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In a Pickle at The Sycamore Kitchen

The Sycamore Kitchen sold out of one Monday lunch special, a Vietnamese beef salad, but they still had a grilled short rib sandwich with onion-stout jam, sauteed mushrooms, Swiss cheese and horseradish mayo, which sounded better than a salad on an icy, windy day. Especially because it came on hot grilled bread.

There it is at the top, rather greasy, including the bread. The green salad on the side helped to cut that. 

The sandwiches on the regular menu come on "fresh baked country bread with a pickle."  Why a pickle? It wasn't the best accompaniment to a roasted chicken breast sandwich (above), unless you think Meyer lemon confit and pickle go together. The score was confit 10--it was  brilliant to put such a thing in a chicken sandwich--pickle 0.

Also inside the sandwich were green olive tapenade, sliced tomato, frisee lettuce and mayo, moist things that required rapid eating to stave off sogginess. Sturdier bread, or at least toast, would have been more resistant.

Perhaps it was hard to appreciate the sandwiches after viewing the baked goods in the counter (above). Monday's offerings included a roasted pear and tart cherry crostata, an oatmeal brown butter scone, flourless lemon custard cake, a blackberry oat bar, an oatmeal toffee cookie and a roasted peanut coconut butterscotch bar. 

A plateful of those could best a pickle any day.  

The Sycamore Kitchen, 143 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036. Tel: (323) 939-0151.

Catching Up With Santa Barbara Wines

Three courses and eight wines--that was quite a lunch. It wasn't an invitation to overimbibe, though, but an opportunity to check out what is happening with Santa Barbara wines.

The lunch--salad with nut-crusted goat cheese, beef tenderloin or chicken and a cheese and cracker plate--was paired with four whites and four reds brought by four Santa Barbara County winery figures, who then talked about their products and industry trends.

It was a prelude to LearnAboutWine's 10th annual STARS of Santa Barbara tasting at The Peninsula Beverly Hills.

The first of the whites was Buttonwood Farm Winery's Zingy, a Sauvignon Blanc brought by winemaker Karen Steinwachs. Designed to be highly aromatic, it's "not everyone's Sauvignon Blanc," she says. And Buttonwood makes two more for other tastes.

The 2012 Zingy was bottled just two days before the lunch. It's $20, and only 246 cases were made. So if you want something fresh, light and affordable, grab Zingy while it's still around.

Buttonwood was the 17th winery to start up in Santa Barbara County. The 40 wineries that took part in the tasting are only part of what is there now. The area is vying to be "the very best wine region in the New World," says LearnAboutWine founder Ian Blackburn.

Winemaking styles there are changing. Tim Snider, president of Fess Parker Winery, says Parker wines used to be bigger, bolder and heavier. Now, like other Santa Barbara wines, they're lightening up and relying less on oak.

Freshness, purity and balance are the standards for Parker's Epiphany Cellars line, which focuses on Rhone varietals and wines for "people interested in trying something differen," says Snider.

He brought Epiphany's 2011 Grenache Blanc, a bright, brisk wine, most of which spent time in stainless steel. Only 20% was placed in older French oak barrels. It's $25.

Kenneth Volk, owner of Kenneth Volk Vineyards, is espcially interested in Iberian grapes, and his 2011 Albariño was the first produced in the Santa Maria Valley. Volk can't figure why there haven't been more plantings in the area, because the colder climate is congenial to the grape.

This first bottling came from 2 1/2 tons of grapes. Heavy rains before harvest resulted in "rockin' acidity," he says. The Albariño is $24 at the winery.

Clarissa Nagy, winermaker of Riverbench Vineyard & Winery, which is across from Volk's headquarters in the Santa Maria Valley, contributed the 2010 Estate Chardonnay.

Riverbench is known for its Chardonnays, and this one was barrel-fermented and aged in oak for 11 months, making it more oaky than the other whites at the lunch. It's $26, a bargain if you like well made, oak-accented Chardonnays.

The vines at Riverbench were planted in 1973. Nagy is new. She joined the winery a year ago.

Riverbench focuses on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Moving into the reds, Nagy offered the 2010 Pinot Noir. Fermented with native yeast, it's a luscious wine compared to other, leaner Pinot Noirs and well worth the $48 price tag. (All of the reds poured at the lunch are in the photo above.)

Volk brought his 2009 Santa Maria Pinot Noir, based on grapes from three vineyards. There are less than 3,000 cases, and the wine sells for $30. At the tasting later, Volk poured three Pinot Noirs and brought out a Mourvedre that wasn't on the list. It's one of his Iberian varietals--the grape started out in Spain and then went to France, he explains. 

Buttonwood contributed the 2009 Santa Ynez Cabernet Franc. "It's the fussiest, most finicky thing to grow," Steinwachs says of the grape. "It's the Pinot Noir of the Bordeaux family."  She babied the wine along, putting 20 % of it into new French oak.

Steinwachs admits that it's not for everyone. "You either like it or you don't," she says. If you want to find out, the wine is $26.

Snider (above) ended up with the 2009 red Rhone blend Revelation from Epiphany. "It's the most popular wine we have," he says. "It's a showy wine, a big wine." This striking, fruity red is composed of two grapes that were at their best in 2009--Grenache, which is the lead grape at 51%, and Syrah. They spent 22 months in French oak before blending. The price is $40.

Revelation's companion at the tasting was the 2009 Gypsy, composed of Grenache, Mourvedre, Counoise and Cinsault. It's an everyday wine, lively as a gypsy and good with spicy foods, Snider says. It's $25.

Something Different--a Purple Latte

Remember that old ditty, "I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one"?

That cow may still be hard to find, but any day you can have a purple latte at Paris Baguette, the Korean-French bakery chain.

Actually, it's a purple sweet potato latte, nothing but purple sweet potato blended with milk, which is as close as it gets to a cow. No coffee included.

This delicate lavendar drink comes hot or iced. It may look beige in the photo, but that's due to the lighting and lack of Photoshop. Trust me, it's truly purple, although very pale. You won't find a latte like it at Starbucks or Peet's. But that's why you go to Koreatown, to taste something other than the same old thing.

Paris Baguette, 3470 W. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90020 (in Koreatown). Tel: (213) 384-0404. And other locations.

Dish of the Week: Cambodia's Amok

The fish curry amok is regarded as Cambodia's national dish, and so the best place to try it would be Little Cambodia in Long Beach.

At the top is amok as served at Siem Reap, a pan-Asian restaurant that is proud of its "world famous Cambodian food" (but serves mostly Chinese dishes). 

Amok is a fragrant passport to the tropics. It's served in a young coconut shell so that you can scrape the tender flesh into the mixture of fish and light fresh seasonings that include galangal, lemon grass, garlic and turmeric. The leafy green mixed with the fish is Chinese broccoli.

Unlike Thai food, amok is neither spicy nor sweet, at least not at Siem Reap.  But a trayful of condiments includes red chile sauce and sliced green chiles to pump it up to taste, and fish sauce for saltiness.

Deep in the coconut shell, under the fish, is light, clear, coconut-inflected broth. Spoon all of this over rice, and you have one heavenly dish.

First, you'll be given a plate of sweet and sour cabbage mixed with bits of cucumber, carrot and daikon (above) and accompanied by roasted peanuts.

Afterward, head to the dessert table (above) for Cambodian sweets. They include a purple taro dessert and eggy sweets similar to what Thais make. For a perfect combination, choose three--a barely sweet sticky rice cake sprinkled with sesame seeds, a deep gold pumpkin mixture and a coconut sweet with a browned crust.

Eat them together for a blend of textures and flavors that is as heavenly as amok.

Siem Reap, 1810 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach,CA 90813. Tel: (562) 591-7414. 

Make Your Own Kimchi Fried Rice

All you can eat barbecues in Koreatown are fantastic, if you want to eat as much meat as possible. But at some restaurants, one of the best tastes comes after the meat is gone and the grill is empty.  Then the server brings the makings for kimchi fried rice.

In the photo at the top, you can see how it's put together at Hae Jang Chon on West 6th Street. 

 

But you don't have to eat out to get kimchi fried rice. It's easy to make at home. All you need is  kimchi and rice that has been cooked previously so that it's not too soft.

If you don't eat a lot of kimchi, you may not want to purchase the large jars stocked in Korean markets. However, those same markets have delis where you can buy any amount you need. 

The version in the photo above gets added flavor from bacon, but you could saute with butter or oil instead and leave the rice meatless. Or you could put in a small amount of meat for richer flavor.

The rice in the photo is topped with a seasoned dry seaweed snack from a Korean market. Crisp, lightly sweetened and sprinkled with sesame seeds, it's great for garnishing and also for snacking, either by itself or as an accompaniment to beer--Korean beer, of course. 

KIMCHI FRIED RICE

1/3 cup chopped bacon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 green onions, including some of the tops, chopped
1 heaping cup cabbage kimchi, chopped
2 1/2 cups previously cooked rice
Salt if needed
Korean seasoned dry seaweed, optional 

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until browned and the fat has melted. Add the garlic and green onions and cook until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the kimchi and cook until heated through.

Add the rice and toss until heated through and evenly mixed with the kimchi so that no white grains remain.  Taste and add salt if needed. Serve sprinkled with the seaweed, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.  

Little Arabia--See the Gorgeous Food in Saveur

The food is so interesting in Anaheim's Little Arabia. Here's what I wrote about it in the latest issue of Saveur, but I could have said so much more. Saveur photographed dishes at the Olive Tree. Another of my favorite places is Nara Bistro (at the top).

http://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/Saveur-100-Anaheim-Little-Arabia

The Little Arabia markets are fantastic.  I bought Egyptian rice there, which I'm using tonight to make bibimbap--Egyptian-Korean fusion cooking, something new!

And on cold nights, I like hot milk flavored with jallab syrup from Lebanon. There it is (above) at the Altayebat market on Brookhurst Street.  The heady sweetness, from date molasses, sugar and rosewater, makes an exotic nightcap. I'd like to try it on rice pudding too, and over rose-flavored ice cream. 

It's Still Holiday Time!

Here's a fabulous holiday bread, flavored with cardamom and candied fruits. I made enough to last through 12th Night, when the Christmas season officially ends.

Look at the left to see who really likes it.