Kogi; Southern Food; Beer, Cheese and Rock 'n Roll

Guest Interview

Market Report ()

It's time to plant tomatoes and Windrose Organic Farms from Paso Robles grows over 200 different tomato varieties. They can help you find varieties that will grow in coastal climates as well as hotter parts of LA. Find them at the Wednesday Santa Monica Market or online at WindroseFarm.org.

Corina Weibel, chef/owner of Canele restaurant in Atwater Village shops each week at the Santa Monica farmers’ market. She loves the fresh peas available right now. Canele is located at 3219 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA? - (323) 666-7133.

Halibut with Pea Tendrils and Snap Peas
Serves 2

• Two 8-oz portions of local halibut or sea bass
• 1 large handful of English peas, shucked
• 15-20 sugar snap peas, strings removed and sliced on a bias
• 1 small handful of pea tendrils
• 1 shallot sliced
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

You'll need 2 pans for this. Get one pan medium-hot.

1. Season the fish with salt and smear it with a drizzle of olive oil.
2. When the pan is hot place the fish in the pan and let it cook for a couple of minutes on the stove top. Then place the pan in a hot oven, (about 425°) for about 5 minutes (until desired doneness).
3. In the meantime heat another pan to medium. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the shallots. Let the shallots sweat, then add the peas and sliced sugar snap peas. Add a pinch of salt, sauté the vegetables for a little bit, and then add 3 oz liquid. (You could use chicken broth, fish stock or even water.) Let the liquid cook out a bit.
4. Taste for balance, and take the pan off the heat.
5. Toss in the handful of pea tendrils, toss them in the pan and slide onto a plate.
6. Remove the fish from the oven. Check for doneness and, when satisfactory, place over the vegetables and drizzle with the saffron butter.

For the saffron buerre blanc

• 1/4 c. white wine vinegar
• 1 sliced shallot
• 1 sprig tarragon
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 pinch of toasted saffron
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter - cut into squares
• salt

Combine first 4 ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Allow to cook until almost completely reduced, then strain into a metal bowl. Add the toasted saffron off the heat, but in a warm place. Slowly whisk in the butter slowly to create a beautifully emulsified sauce. Add salt to taste and drizzle over cooked fish.

Music break: Rock by the Ray Anthony Orchestra

Guest Interview

Eating Animals ()

Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the novels Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Everything is Illuminated.  His most recent book is a work of non-fiction called Eating Animals.  With the birth of his child, he decided to give up eating meat for good.

Guest Interview

Beer, Cheese and Rock 'n Roll ()

Evan George and Alex Brown are the Hot Knives.  Their new book, Greatest Sips, pairs beer with cheese and music. Buy it here.

Pliny the Elder (Russian River Brewing)
Dairy Pairy: Sunlight, washed rind goat's milk cheese from Colorado
Soundtrack: Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man"

Black Flag Imperial Stout (Beer Valley)
Dairy Pairy: Ditcheat Hill Cheddar, bandaged British cheese
Soundtrack: Danzig's "Dirty Black Summer"

Douchess de Bourgogne (Brewery Verhaega)
Dairy Pairy: Torta la Serena, raw Spanish sheep's milk cheese
Soundtrack: Psychic TV's "Godstar"

Siamese Twin Ale (Uncommon Brewers)
Dairy Pairy: Caruchon, brine-washed French ewe's milk
Soundtrack: Fela Kuti's "Gentlemen"

Cantillon Bio Geuze (Cantillon)
Dairy Pairy: Gorwydd Cerphilly, rare Welsh cow's milk cheese
Soundtrack: Blonde Redhead's "Melody of Certain Three"

More in Evan's conversation with Evan and Alex on the Good Food Blog.

Guest Interview

Portland Street Food ()

Former Good Food Producer and Portland, OR resident Teri Gelber loves to eat at local food carts. Full meals costs about $7 at these carts, which are located throughout the city.

Ziba's Pita's serves Bosnian cuisine. The pita's are like a savory pie made with a strudel dough.

Flavour Spot serves waffles. Teri likes the Sausage and Maple waffle for $4.

Tabor makes Eastern European food including schnitzel and goulash.

Give Pizza a Chance is located at SW Stark and 5th St. Teri swears by their whole wheat crust.

Music break: Rock House by the Ernie Freeman Combo

Guest Interview

LA Street Food Scene ()

Javier Cabral writes the blog Teenage Glutster.  He hails from East LA where he has been eating from taco trucks for years.  Javier likes Frysmith, Marked 5, Kogi and Nom Nom.

Find the locations of various LA food trucks with these websites:

Cluster Truck

Find LA Food Trucks

Roaming Hunger

Guest Interview

The Man Behind Kogi ()

Roy Choi is the chef and co-owner of Kogi BBQ, selling Korean meat wrapped in a corn tortilla.  There are now four Kogi trucks and they can be found all over Los Angeles.

Music break: Samba de Orfeu by Ray Anthony

Guest Interview

Tricking out the Trucks ()

RoadStoves owns many of the gourmet food trucks in Los Angeles.  They are an off-shoot of the company A La Carte, which has operated catering trucks for about 40 years.  Roadstoves helps aspiring food truck operators by helping them come up with a concept, designing the truck, and providing a commissary for them to purchase their food.  RoadStove trucks include Kogi, Marked 5, South Philly Experience, Dogtown and more.  Josh Hiller and Morris Appel run RoadStoves.  Herman Appel, Morris' father runs A La Carte.  RoadStove's first venture was Kogi.

Music break: slide show by El Michel's Affair

Guest Interview

The Olympics of Food ()

Joey Chestnut

Richard Shea runs the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE).  They are the governing body of Nathan's July 4 hot dog eating contest among many others.  American Joey Chestnut is currently ranked number one in IFOCE.  Two years ago he at 8.8 pounds of deep fried asparagus spears in 10 minutes.  More records are here.

Music break: So Nice (Summer Samba) by Billy May

Guest Interview

Southern Cooking ()

Matt and Ted Lee are the authors of The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern.  Listen to their comments about the new ambrosia salad they've developed.

A New Ambrosia
Serves 4

For the Salad
1 large grapefruit, supremed
1 large navel orange, supremed
3/4 chopped celery (about 2 stalks)
1 1/4 cups finely dices Haas avocado (about 1 avocado)
1 1/2 cups seeded and chopped cucumber (about 1 large cucumber)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced. 

For the Dressing
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, mashed to a puree
1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut (or 1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp sweetened shredded coconut)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl, combine all the salad ingredients.   

In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, lime juice, and olive oil until blended.  Whisk in the garlic puree, tarragon, coconut, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.

If you wish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 hour to cool the salad and allow the flavors to meld.  Toss again before serving, and serve with a slotted spoon.