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Okra Winds up in the Produce Top 10

Okra is a perfect 10. Really.

That's where it wound up in a survey of the top 10 fruits and vegetables conducted by the specialty produce industry.

It's "a surprise in my perspective," said Robert Schueller, of the largest specialty distributor, Melissa's Produce.

Basic to Indian cuisine and southern gumbo, okra is actually not a vegetable. "Botanically, it's a flower," Schueller said. "Seeds put it in the fruit category."

So learn to cook with it, because okra is now available year round, grown domestically and internationally. That in the container above is from Honduras.

The chief challenge is to counteract its notorious sliminess. Indian cooking teacher and author Julie Sahni does this by frying the okra pods whole (slicing makes sliminess more likely).

In a recipe for braised okra with tomatoes, onions and spices (in the photo at the top), she places the pods in a single layer in hot oil, fries them without stirring for a minute, then continues to fry them, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

Next, she cooks them in a mixture of well-fried onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and spices until tender. This is a northern Indian dish, common in Indian restaurants. The recipe is in her book, "Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking" (William Morrow, 1985).

In the photo, Sahni's okra is paired with rice colored by the No. 3 winner in the produce survey, fresh turmeric root (above). Turmeric becoming this popular is even more surprising than okra's win. "The smoothie culture has gotten onto this," Schueller explained.

Primarily used in Asian cuisines, fresh turmeric can also be added to soups and stews as well as smoothies and herbal teas.

Only a couple of slices will provide a lot of color. The advantage of fresh over dried is that fresh turmeric does not give off the powdery, dusty aroma and flavor that can result from an overdose of ground dried turmeric. Tasted raw, it's a little like ginger root but not so pungent. 

The rice in the photo was cooked with three thin slices of turmeric root, then seasoned according to a technique used at Agra Cafe in Silver Lake. There, cumin seeds are fried until browned, then stirred gently into the cooked rice.  If you do this, use ghee or oil. Butter will burn. 

Fresh turmeric is perishable and will mold quickly. It's best to freeze it, then use as needed.

The other winners in the produce survey were chestnuts (9); Hatch chiles (8); dragon fruit (7); tree-ripened mangoes (6); Brussels sprouts (5); passion fruit (4), and Persian cucumbers (2).

The first place went to young coconuts (above). This reflects how popular coconut water has become. Canned or packaged coconut water ranges in flavor from nasty to fairly good. None can compare, however, to the water from a fresh sweet young coconut. Another advantage makes it a worthy winner. After sipping the water, you can scoop out and eat the tender flesh.  

A Wine From Malibu: Dolin Chardonnay

Eating local is great, but why not drink local too? If Chardonnay is your wine of choice and you live in the area, you can get a fine one from Malibu, just off Pacific Coast Highway.

It's the 2013 estate-grown Chardonnay from Dolin Malibu Estate Vineyards, where, standing on the grounds just above the vines, you can see Catalina Island and the tip of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Dolin is a gorgeous property, with a villa, pool, and a spacious lounge near the pool where Elliott Dolin poured his wines recently for the LA Wine Writers. 

The wines are available in Malibu wine and liquor shops, some Malibu restaurants, a few locations elsewhere and online. And they show up at events like the initial tasting held last October by the Malibu Coast Vintners & Grape Growers Alliance.  

Elliott Dolin (above), who is in real estate, is so passionate about wine that he got into the business whether profitable or not. "It's still not a money making situation," he said resignedly.

But the payoff has been big in other respects. In 2006, his Chardonnay vineyard was planted--900 vines on a south facing slope. (Here you see the leaves in their autumn colors.)

The first wine was produced in 2009. "We were very pleased with the result," Dolin said. That's a modest statement, considering the wine won a silver medal in the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

The next year, the 2010 Dolin Malibu Estate Vineyards Chardonnay won a double gold in the same competition. By then, the winemaker was Kirby Anderson, formerly head winemaker for Gainey Vineyard.


Located at 400 feet altitude, with ocean breezes, cool nights and sunny days, Dolin's vines are subject, like all vineyards, to weather issues. In 2014, there was no harvest, because there weren't enough chill hours. "The vines didn't know if they were awake or asleep," he said.

This meant he had to buy grapes elsewhere. When there is a harvest, Dolin calls in a maintenance crew to pick, then load the bins into refrigerated trucks that take them to a Central Coast winemaking facility. Harvesting 2 1/2 tons of grapes, which has been established as the ideal output for the vineyard, takes only three hours. 

"Everything is so much more expensive when you are doing it on a smaller scale," Dolin remarked. "These are the most expensive grapes in the world for us."

His vineyard is one of 52 within the Malibu Coast AVA (American Viticultural Area), which was established in 2014. 

In 2013, Dolin produced two Chardonnays, an estate wine (100% barrel-fermented, 13 months in 25% new French oak, 100 % malolactic fermentation) and one from Malibu-Newton Canyon (15 months in oak, 33% of it new and made from a different Chardonnay clone).

The estate wine is refined, elegant, delicate and subtly flavored with oak. No wonder Dolin is cuddling it like a baby (above). The Newton Canyon wine is a deeper gold and more acidic. 

Case production is small, 135 of the estate wine and 138 of the Newton Canyon Chardonnay. Yet the price is low for wines of such caliber, $39.

A collector, Dolin has a 1,600-bottle wine cellar. When he first started buying, he bought only French wines, but this has changed. "It's  more interesting for me to focus on California wine, because I have a different perspective from before," he said.

Now that he has developed a taste for California Pinot Noir, he is making that too, sourcing grapes from such top vineyards as Sta. Rita Hills, Talley Rincon Vineyard, Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills Vineyard. Above, he's pouring a sample. 

The four Pinots out now are from the 2012 vintage. The Sta Rita Hills Pinot is "a pretty big wine," Dolin said. It's deeper in color and flavor than the Talley Pinot. The Bien Nacido is full and fruity, beautiful to drink. The Solomon Hills wine is rounder and heavier in the mouth. "Normally, this is my wine of choice," Elliot said. "This is the one that got the big scores."

Except for the Santa Rita Hils wine, which is $32, the Pinots are $45.


Dolin also poured his 2014 rosé, made from Pinot Noir grapes from four vineyards. His wife Lynn designed the label.

If there is anything Dolin enjoys as much as wine, it is the household's three Maltese terriers, Enzo, Alfie and Ruby (above), who joined him as he poured a final round. Official tasting over, he brought out a Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 1996, a second growth Bordeaux that made those of us who got to taste it as happy as his canine friends.  

Take a Look at Updated Greek Food

Is this your idea of a Greek salad? Probably not. It's a deconstructed version that was served at a Greek dinner held at Culina in the Four Seasons Los Angeles hotel in Beverly Hills.

The dinner was a showcase for Dimitris Christoforidis, owner of the Nice n Easy restaurants in Greece, and his chef/partner, Christos Athanasiadis. It also launched Culina's new private dining room, Il Posto. 

While in Los Angeles, Christoforidis is scouting locations for a restaurant he plans to open next year. No stranger to the city, he once had Sanctuary, an upscale, celebrity-haunted restaurant and lounge on Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills. 

The Nice n Easy restaurants, named for a Frank Sinatra song and not the Clairol hair color, are in Athens, Mykonos and Kifisia. They specialize in fresh, organic, local food, the same sort of food in demand here now.

To show how aware Christoforidis is of eating trends in Los Angeles, each dish on the menu at Culina had a vegan alternative. The vegan Greek salad left out a quail egg and crumbled feta. The other ingredients, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, baby zucchini and kalamata olives, weren't a problem.

The plate that started the dinner presented tuna tartare (beetroot tartare for vegans) with quinoa tabouli, avocado, turnip slices folded into cones, micro greens, chives, olive oil and drops of yogurt (above).

Instead of grilled octopus in the next course, vegans got marinated fennel. The octopus came with fava bean spread, bottarga, tomato, pickled onion and micro greens (above). 

Christoforidis was so taken with the small, round Indian eggplants that he found in a local market that he had them stuffed as the vegan alternative to lamb loin. The other components, except for gravy with the lamb (above), were the same, a smooth eggplant puree, red pepper coulis and red wine. On top of the lamb are an eggplant slice and a green onion.

All of the dishes were prepared with a Greek extra virgin olive oil, Gaea. Greek wines were scheduled to go with the dinner but didn't arrive in time, so a California red and white were quickly substituted.

It was almost impossible to decide what to have for dessert. Who could resist a vanilla chocolate brownie with salted caramel ice cream and berries? That was the vegan option. The main choice was Greek yogurt mousse with honey jelly, candied pecans, raspberry coulis, berries and currants (above).

This is the sort of food you would get at Nice n Easy restaurants in Greece, but over there, the taste would be better, Christoforidis said. That's because his own farms supply the restaurants. They're on the island of Mykonos, a small area with good soil, he said.

Christoforidis will no doubt find sources he likes here, but perhaps not one for water buffalo. That means you won't be able to taste rice pudding made with buffalo milk, a Nice n Easy dessert that employs milk from his own farm animals.

California Olive Oil--A Record Crop

If you love good olive oil, it's time to celebrate. The 2015 California crop is a record-breaking 4 million gallons, a big increase over last year's 2.4 million gallons.

And it's coming from a rapidly growing number of olive oil producers. In 1997, there were just 17 in California. Now there are 400, said Patricia Darragh, executive director of the California Olive Oil Council. 

Speaking at a 2015 new oil release lunch at A.O.C. Restaurant, Darragh said olive oil production stretches from the Inland Empire to the upper Sacramento Valley, with the largest number of producers in San Luis Obispo County.

Eight producers provided their brand new extra virgin olive oils for tasting at the lunch and for chef/owner Suzanne Goin (above) to use in preparing the lunch.

"I am olive oil's No. 1 fan, an olive oil junky," said Goin as she ran through how she matched the oils with food.

Enzo Olive Oil's "Delicate" oil is "really buttery and reminded me of avocado," she said, perfect for a market lettuce salad with basil green goddess dressing, avocado and cherry tomatoes (above). Enzo is a fifth-generation farm in the Central Valley. Its Delicate oil is organic.  

The oil Goin chose for a plate of autumn vegetables with muhammara and chickpea puree, burrata and pomegranate (above) was Séka Hills Premium Arbequina Olio Nuovo. This oil is "super delicious, complex and developed," Goin said. These qualities and the "brightness of being new" lifted up the veggies and brought the plate together, she said.

Séka Hills is an estate-grown oil produced by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation in the Capay Valley in northern California.

Rio Bravo Ranch's Coratina tasted of green olives to Goin, and she used it to season grilled swordfish with greens from Windrose Farm, curried cauliflower and a tomato, green olive and lemon salsa (above). Located in Bakersfield, Rio Bravo Ranch is in its second year of production.

Another boutique producer, Grumpy Goats Farm, provided spicy, peppery Picual oil that inspired Goin to think of Spanish flavors for grilled hanger steak with arugula, romesco and fried potatoes (above).

Grumpy Goats is a 20-acre farm just east of Napa. Eight acres are planted to olives. One-third is Picual, the rest Cortina. The Picual oil is organic.

A kabocha squash gratin flavored with Kiler Ridge Olive Farm's blend of Tuscan varietals came with the steak (above). This oil has a "lot of bitterness on the finish," Goin said, adding "I always say bitterness in a good way." She employed the sweetness of kabocha squash to contrast with the bitterness. A small family-owned and operated farm, Kiler Ridge is in Paso Robles. 

Olive oil cake sounds heavy and greasy. Goin's was anything but. This lovely light cake (above) came with candied tangerines, Santa Barbara pistachios and whipped cream. The oil Goin used was California Olive Ranch's Arbequina, which is the A.O.C. house olive oil.

A large producer, California Olive Ranch gets oils from growers throughout the Sacramento Valley. The oil poured for the tasting before the lunch was the Limited Reserve blend of Arbequina and Koroneiki oils.

Two additional oils were set out for tasting. December's New Oil from Katz Farm blends Tuscan varietals and is organic. This artisan producer is in the Suisun Valley in Solano County, east of Napa.

The other was Green Valley Olive's single estate oil from the Sacramento Valley, made from a field blend of four olive varieties--Frantoio, Leccino, Maurino and Pedolino cultivars (above). 

You'll find oils such as these in specialty stores.They may seem expensive compared to  cheaper versions in supermarkets. However, the cheaper brands may blend oils that are not necessarily extra virgin, using the name because it has high selling power. They can do this because the United States has not set standards for extra virgin olive oil. 

High quality oils usually have a harvest or milling date as well as a best use date.  Check to see if the harvest date is within 12 months, and use the oil within 18 months. 

To guarantee quality, the California Olive Oil Council has established a strict rating program for extra virgin olive oil. Member producers who qualify are entitled to use the logo above. Look for that, and you'll know you're getting the real thing.  

Agra's Cheese Naan, as Tasty as Pizza

Love pizza? Then you'll like the cheese naan at Agra Cafe in Silver Lake.

The naan at the left in the photo is filled with Jack and Cheddar. Another day it might contain mozzarella.  Prefer Parmesan? There's a Parmesan naan too. And 11 other naans, because this hot, tandoor-baked Indian bread is so popular with Americans.

Also in the photo are a basil garlic naan and a garlic naan. Others on the menu are stuffed with potatoes, onions, minced lamb or chicken, even with nuts, raisins and coconut. 

In the midst of the bread is the most popular dish at the restaurant, chicken tikka masala, which is probably just as popular at other Indian restaurants, because it's on almost every menu. Behind it is rice with cumin seeds. 

Not as well known but worth trying is chicken bhuna, prepared with onions, tomatoes and green peppers, and spicier than that sounds.

Not so common is lamb pasanda, lamb in a creamy sauce seasoned lightly with mint.

But the dish not to miss is saag paneer--spinach with Indian cheese. The spinach mixture is so rich and creamy you won't want to stop eating it.

The menu is amazingly long, and the menu itself is worth studying, because it's a new one, printed in India. Of course it shows off Agra's famous monument, the Taj Mahal.

Agra Cafe does a huge take-out business, and to satisfy its  neighborhood stays open until 1 a.m. Remember that, when you need a late night Indian nosh. 

Agra Cafe, 4325 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90029. (323) 665-7890.

Dominick's Sunday Suppers End Dec. 20

This is sad news, really sad, for anyone who loves good food--and a bargain.

Dominick's will close December 20. Open for almost 70 years, this landmark restaurant has provided one of the town's nicest food bargains--three-course Sunday suppers for $15. And $15 bottles of wine to go with them (yes, bottles, not glasses). 

The curve of Beverly Boulevard near the Beverly Center where Dominick's is located already seems dark and ghostly, with Jerry's Famous Deli next door shuttered for a couple of years. 

We hear that a new restaurant will take over the space, and Dominick's will reopen in Ojai. This is small consolation for a teary staff, and for the loss of cozy dinners beside the fireplace in the patio. 

Informality is the word. Tables are covered with brown paper (above) but you do get cloth napkins. Wine is poured into small tumblers rather than stemmed glasses. 

The food is wonderful, not modest, cost-conscious fare, and it's not trimmed to the minimum. Suppers include hot bread in a paper bag and a crock of butter along with three substantial dishes. No wonder the restaurant is so crowded Sunday evenings that you don't dare come in without a reservation. 

Thanksgiving weekend, the supper recapped the holiday. The basics were there--mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry and turkey--but presented cleverly, so that you were not eating one more traditional turkey dinner.

The mashed potatoes came first, formed into croquettes with sausage (above). These were so seamlessly blended that neither ingredient stood out.

The main dish was turkey and roasted sweet potato fricassee with dried cranberries and pine nuts (above). A sort of stew, it contained lots of dark meat and small bits of potato, something to try at home when you want a dish that doesn't shout "leftovers."  

Supper ended with pumpkin cheesecake with a ginger graham crust, set on whipped cream--no scrimping there. 

Dominick's house wine is Dago Red (or white), which, says the back label, is made each year from grapes selected by the owners. The red was bright and young, fresh and uncomplicated, a blend produced for the restaurant by Palmina in Lompoc.

A couple of Sundays remain before the final Sunday when the restaurant closes.  Regulars are sure to be there in droves, so grab any reservation available, no matter the time.

Dominick's, 8715 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90048. Tel: (310) 652-2338.