It came in the mail yesterday. It’s the Fall 2016 issue, technically #20. Literally, the third installment of the Lucky Peach spotlight on Cooks & Chefs, also dubbed the Fine Dining issue. I still do not have my own kitchen, but stay tuned…there is real potential for p.139, Fried Chicken: Hawaiian Chicken with Spam Fried Rice!
It’s Lucky Peach, Winter, 2015. Which registers here finally, because it’s 65 degrees in Los Angeles. That’s our winter, folks. Don’t be jealous. Please don’t move here either, we’re maxed out.
This is Lucky Peach No.17 and it’s The Breakfast Issue. I also got new glasses for writing, my first prescription ever. But I can still read street signs a mile away, so take that, old age!
I’m already all over p.80’s “Pimp My Rice,” by EIC, Chris Ying. He goes way into shi fan which is essentially rice porridge with an assortment of crazy toppings – pickles, greens, pork floss, etc. The Albany Cafeteria Breakfast on p.18 looks hilarious and full of cancer since the WHO announcement about processed red meat, but people still smoke, right? It’s a fried bologna mashed potato egg cup. Yep, America, what’s for breakfast!
I know I’m a broken record, but see you soon with a recipe here. I’ve been dying to make the conpoy fried rice from the Fantasy issue but found large dried Japanese scallops run like $60 for 0.5lb so it will probably be something else…perhaps breakfast.
It’s been a long hot endless summer on the road of life. Partly due to a heatwave, but also because I’ve had no real place to call my own since July. I had to leave my cool vintage apartment in Silver Lake before it fell down, literally and emotionally. The building is known for a famous murder in the 1930’s and sweethearts Kurt & Courtney lived there once, so you can just imagine the pain in the walls of that laundry room (plus the electrical pre-dated grunge by decades). I fortunately left somewhat unscathed and found places to dream at night while day-writing: Mom’s spare room, back of my Subaru, hotel rooms, friend’s couches, etc etc…but a home is on the horizon! Which means, you guessed it, a kitchen to call my own. A tiled cook’s dream. A place to cry over onions. A room to cut myself slicing habaneros with no gloves on and then rub my eyes. A space to fulfill one of my destinies (you can have more than one): TO COOK EVERY RECIPE IN LUCKY PEACH!
Thank you for waiting.
photo credit: “Hitchhiker I” by Sleep Weasel
Shame on me. It’s been a spell since my last post and I can explain! I worked on two book projects (rent don’t pay for itself!) and I had to move over the summer, which was an ordeal and has created a geographic between me and my neighbors Sharon, Stu, and Ollie who are obviously my token Lucky Peach recipe tasters. Don’t fret, I’ll arrange cameo appearances at the new pad and we’ll all get through this together. Also, I know there is a media issue going on and some photos are not appearing, I’m getting that fixed proper asap!
But here we are, on THE FANTASY ISSUE, Issue #16. It’s a gorgeous magazine, as usual, and highlights include the short story “Will Whore for Food,” in which writer Scott Hocker shares how he prostituted to pay for his culinary education, the Lucky Peach Atlas, a quick discussion on recommended Italian fantasy meals in Mlian and Chicago, and of course, rad recipes for dishes like Aloo Bhaji Hash Browns and three variations on fish stew by Nick Balla & Cortney Burn, Eric Ripert, and David Chang. I promise I will post a recipe demo blog very soon. I fucking PROMISE! Happy Labor Day!
Page 33 – Lucky Peach #7 – The Travel Issue
I’m back! First off, let me point out I took the blog off tumblr and we have a new URL – straight up, eataluckypeach.com now, so tell your friends. Secondly, I apologize for taking some time off, there was some traveling to be done. Fittingly, the latest Lucky Peach issue is The Travel Issue and though it’s shorter on recipes than usual, it’s plentiful in adventure stories on food culture from places like Hawaii, Crete, Syria, and Sweden. Plus, there’s some Cocktology, a word I plan to throw around when I’m not talking about drinks.
Peter Meehan scored this Butter Mochi recipe from Hawaiian Kamaʻaina Cathy Juhn (a friend of Roy Choi’s they hung with in Oahu when partaking in the food happenings for this issue). It’s very Hawaiian, though she points out many cultures have their own take on it. Your first thought probably is, this doesn’t look like mochi – isn’t that a Japanese ice cream treat you can’t eat just one of? Well, this is a little different, though it has the same consistency but is more like an Americanized cake version. It will all make sense when you make it and taste it. Promise.
It’s quick to prepare, which is rad, but takes an hour to bake. Set your oven to 350, find a 13 x 9 baking pan, and then gather your ingredients. I got the Mochiko flour from my local Korean grocery market in Echo Park.
The only thing that takes any time is melting the stick of butter and then cooling it. Just melt it on low, and pull it off the flame immediately and it will cool down pretty quickly.
Be patient (as usual).
Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet stuff in another. Then slowly add the wet to the dry and mix. “There needs to be no fear of overmixing,” advises Cathy. So just mix away. I used the Kitchenaide, because, why not? 
Pour it all into the baking dish, put it in the oven, and kick back. My friend Sofi and I watched “Cronos” while we waited. When the timer went off, we paused the film and lurked over the pan, waiting for it to cool enough for us to dig in and have a nice, warm piece.
The first bite reactions to the Butter Mochi were great.
Everyone who tried it immediately tripped out on the taste, then the texture, all the while experiencing ecstasy because it’s really really good!
Sharon described it as a cross of cornbread and gummy bears. I think it’s probably one of the great stoner foods, not that the rest of the general population won’t love it too. It has the sweet, thick, kinda super creamy consistency mochi does, but it’s like a brownie. A buttery, yummy, island style brownie.
Yep, I’m a true fan of Kauai, as Sofi is pointing out and when I was a wee pup I ran off to live in Waikiki Beach with kids I met on Dead tour. Good times.
Let the butter mochi cool and wrap what you don’t eat right away in plastic and keep it in the fridge. When you want to scarf it again, either leave it out at room temp or microwave it.
Pg.72 – Lucky Peach Issue #2 – The Sweet Spot
If I didn’t say it enough in the last post, I really love those corn cookies. Like, REALLY. This next recipe for the corn cookie ham and cheese fell on the pages right after the corn cookie and I just couldn’t believe what was happening to me when I first encountered this. I was absolutely floored at the possibility of making a ham and cheese, one of the greats of the grilled cheese world, with a pair of cookies! But, I’ll pretty much try anything (ask every drug addict that knows me) so I ran to the store, bought some sharp cheddar cheese and black forest ham and went at it. You gotta make the cookies first, so please see my previous post on the corn cookie to get the recipe. Here’s the other specifics:
Look at those yummy cookies, I want to eat some right now just from this photo!! Okay, relax, pull yourself together!
It’s pretty simple, bust out a non-stick cooking pan (I tried a stainless steel the other day actually, and it ripped the top off the cookie, so I don’t know if that was my lameness or the pan really makes a difference…so that’s the source of my suggestion on that) and turn the heat on med-high. Step away, let it get hot, then put a cookie top-down with the small slices of cheese on it in the pan.
Then add the ham.
Put the top of the cookie on and walk away. I’m serious, you need to be patient and let the cookie caramelize.
Let it cook for a few minutes, be patient! Then flip it over – it will look like this, and that’s cool. Plus, the cheese will melt, and let it get gooey!
Another couple minutes and then get it out the pan and eat it!!
Thanks for the photos, Sharon. Part of my last supper (the meal I would have before I die, if I knew it was coming, aka my death row meal) would have to include this. It’s an out of sight taste combination of sweet, creamy, and savory. You MUST make and eat these before you die.
Pg.70 – Lucky Peach Issue #2 – The Sweet Spot
This post ain’t no joke. I solemnly swear that this is the recipe I’ve repeated the most from Lucky Peach. I love these cookies. These are Christina Tosi’s famous corn cookies and you can actually get the OG originals at Milk Bar in NYC (along with several other great treats that will make you gain 5 pounds just looking at them). This famous cookie has made me famous in many circles here in Los Angeles, and I hope none of those people read this post so they can go on thinking I’m the only amazing, wonderful and talented person that makes them. They are really that damn good.
I think the secret to their deliciousness lies in a few different areas – the use of freeze-dried corn powder, the Plugra butter, and the whole 10-minute creaming process that Christina says is “the secret to any great Milk Bar cookie.” But what do I know, really? I’m learning as I go, and I intend to learn it all from Lucky Peach.
Let’s get started. Here’s what you need:
So, Plugra anyone?
I never used this before. Even in all the times I made pot butter, I never used this (I should’ve). It’s 82% butterfat, which is fattier than the average butter. It’s a cultured butter which means it’s made from a fermented cream. During fermentation, the cream naturally sours as bacteria convert milk sugars into lactic acid. The fermentation process produces additional aroma compounds, which makes for a fuller-flavored and more “buttery” tasting product, a more deeper flavor than regular butter (or so says Wikipedia, fuck, that means it’s probably wrong). Anyway, you can buy this at upscale fancypants grocery stores. I think I picked it up at Whole Foods, a place I try to avoid, but that’s another story. One block of it (8 oz) is good for this recipe.
Break out your KitchenAid (I called it a mixer and got made fun of by a biker, so get the name right). You’re gonna mix the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on med-high for 2-3 minutes. Use a timer for this recipe, it helps so you don’t fuck anything up with your ADD.
Yum.
It turns a nice fluffy pale yellow color. Then add the egg at a low speed, then pump it to med-high and set the timer for 8 minutes. This is some science shit happening (the 10-minute creaming process). “We’re forcing a whole bunch of sugar and fat together. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become a pale white color, and the creamed mixture will nearly double in volume.”
And, so it did. Looks good, right? I got this shit down.
Okay, now for the freeze-dried corn powder talk. You gotta either order this online or hopefully find it at your health food store, or maybe in a good grocery store (try the kids food section if they have one). Again, I got mine – called Just Corn – at Whole Foods. The recipe says don’t bother with the organic stuff, it’s not as flavorful for some reason. Sharon and I had a good laugh once at Whole Foods asking if they could see if they had it non-organic. So grind it down in a food processor and there you have your freeze-dried corn powder.
I actually stock up now so I have my own jar of it handy.
So, after the creaming, take the speed down to low and add all of the dry ingredients (that’s right, there is corn flour and all-purpose flour). Only mix for like a minute, the dough will come together nicely for you that quick.
Then, the next part sucks. You get to spoon it all out on cookie sheets (and use parchment paper on the sheets) but then you have to let the dough chill for at least an hour (no longer than a week) in the fridge!
You can’t bake these at room-temperature because when you make a cookie with this much butter (I know!) you want it to be cold so the butter will not melt out too quickly. So, wrap the sheets with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge and take a ride on your motorcycle for an hour, that’s what I did.
After that hour, bust them out of the fridge life and bake them in the oven at 350 for 18 minutes. Use that timer!
They will get a nice soft brown around the edges and that’s it – they’re done!
Bake as many as possible. Everyone will want them as soon as they know you’re making them – I Instagrammed a pic of the dough and I got this text dialogue reenactment later in the day from my neighbor Sharon:
Me: Trina’s making cookies
Stu: Holy Shit
I actually mailed most of these to a friend right after I baked them. He should be getting them in the mail tomorrow. He’s a lucky guy.
Disclaimer: This is not a cooking adventure from Lucky Peach! It’s a selfish entry about last night. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a ticket to the discussion “Guts and Glory, and evening with Anthony Bourdain and Roy Choi” over at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Just wanted to share a few cool things they talked about – I think it’s safe to say these guys are part of the Lucky Peach extended family, so this isn’t too out of sorts to do here.
I know you know who Tony is (I think that’s what the cool kids call him), but in case you’re not familiar with Roy, he is a So Cal native who created the Kogi truck and the fucking DELICIOUS Korean-Mexican food you can find out there on the road or in his restaurant Chego. He’s also on the team over at A-Frame and Sunny Spot and they serve Kogi BBQ over at the Alibi Room. He has a new book coming out soon called L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food.
The guys engaged in a Q & A with each other and then opened it up to the audience, who did not completely embarrass themselves (omg, go to one film Q&A in this town and you’ll know what I mean). Tony shared Vietnam is his #1 place to visit and eat in the world, Roy shared if he was on a desert island the three chefs he’d want there would be Eric Ripert (I think he said his name, but I could be wrong, I feel like he said Chef Eric and I’m guessing it’s this one – if I’m dead wrong, correct me internet!), Dave Chang, and Mario Batali. In fact, since my last post was a Mario recipe from Lucky Peach, I just want to add that they both LOVE Mario. Tony said the best restaurant in L.A. hands down is Mozza. So there, men loving men, which is hot.
Roy also asked Tony if he would feed the homeless if they came in with cash dolla bills to pay for their meal – and Tony straight up said he wouldn’t serve them. I was surprised by his answer, and then not surprised, because Tony is a New Yorker and no matter what people say, they are way more fucking stuck up than Angelenos. One thing I loved was that Roy brought up how much extra food there is leftover from the rich foodie festival events that happen during the year and how it just goes in the trash, pointing out that all that food could be given to the homeless in the area. He suggested they show up after the event or have a separate area where this scrap food be collected and then handed out to the people who really need it. I fucking love that he even went there and in front of all the people at the Pantages (that was an $80 ticket I bought back when I had a paying job). Another thing that came up was the use of the phrase ‘ethnic food’ and how it can be pretty fucking derogatory.
Tony went through a therapy session of sorts when asked about both the foie gras ban in California and Paula Dean – both very sensitive subjects for him. Let me just say, he feels the foie gras ban is total bullshit because the whole point of the way foie gras is harvested (or collected if you prefer that phrase) is done in such a way that the animal is not being sacrificed to the Aztec Gods (brutally tortured) to actually get the fantastic taste of foie gras, so the ban is a total PETA scam. As for Paula Dean, I totally get it, that poor woman really needed to out her diabetes sooner and in fact, quit teaching Americans how to cook to get it themselves. By the way, Tony in fact does like Rachel Ray and it sounds like they’re actually friends.
Wow, lots of fucking food gossip today. I’m hungry. I swear I’m gonna track down the Kogi truck for lunch!
Pg. 51 – Lucky Peach Issue #3 – Chefs
First off, let me apologize for taking a month for my next post. What a loser! I got crazy busy in a writing frenzy for another project, and I had a visitor from the east coast, so things been good – but hectic!
We like to have Sunday (or sometimes Saturday) dinners over here at our apartment compound and that usually consists of my neighbor Alex cooking something incredible (that takes awhile) in Sharon & Stu’s kitchen. Chris from down the street comes over, and I often contribute fresh ingredients from my garden, or even make a salad. This night, Alex was teaching Chris how to make eggplant parmesan and our friends Beto & Vic were in town (they recently wed for fun in Las Vegas, so stayed in the So Cal awhile after). I decided I should make some good sauce for Alex’s dish – plus, Sharon and I were trying to mastermind some spinach spaghetti (whole other story). I’m part Siciian, so usually making sauce consists of several hours of dedication. I was curious how Mr. Mario Batali’s basic sauce might turn out – it only cooks for like 30 minutes! Unheard of! Here’s what you need:
This recipe was crazy to me because it called for a CARROT! That’s just insane. But, I complied. Also, Beto is a fantastic photographer and he shot many vertical pieces of documentary art for this blog entry!
And they’re big photos, but I’m too lazy to resize, so enjoy us just a little bit larger (Sharon will kill me for this prolly). I started the prep by getting some fresh thyme ready and then I added the good extra-virgin oliver oil I hoard into a large pan over medium heat.
I added the garlic, as thinly sliced as I felt like.
Then added these onions – look how dangerous I am about it!
The onion and garlic cook about 8 – 10 minutes. Let them turn a nice light brown color. Then add the carrot & thyme for a few minutes more, just let the carrot get soft.
So, the peeled whole tomatoes have to be crushed by hand – yuck! Sharon volunteered – she admitted to having experience doing this. I never put my hands in the sauce, so I let her demonstrate.
She added the tomatoes and juice and we brought it to a boil, lowered it, and let it simmer for 30 minutes – stirring often. Can I say that Beto’s color temperature operation has my kitchen coming in all spectrums, trippy…
Meanwhile we attempted homemade pasta (not a part of this Lucky Peach recipe). Here’s how cool it was:
I had just got that blue manicure and man, I totally wasted it in less than 24 hours. Our sauce and spaghetti was pretty epic.
Seriously, the sauce was delicious. Very easy and quick to make, and yummy.
The eggplant parmesan came out pretty good too.
We can thank Mr. Chris Butler for delighting us in a do-rag that I think came from the stork stash for the Jenkins’ baby (OLIVER! he was born! Look for him to guest star in the next post).
The gang scarfed (that’s a technical foodie term).
Pg. 102 – Lucky Peach Issue #1
Are you ready? Get ready. This one’s a doozy. Recently, I looked up how to spell doozy, and there you have it.
This recipe comes from Mario Carbone, a great NYC chef who owns a spot in Little Italy in NYC called Parm. I checked it out last November, a few days after Sandy hit, literally on the night of that damn Nor’Easter. It was dumping snow, and first I had an awesome dinner at Torrisi next door and then went to Parm for some late night Hot Toddy’s. Torrisi and Parm are like brother restaurants that Mario and chef Rich Torrisi run together. I guess you could say Torrisi is a the more upscale dining experience (but still very cozy-neighborhoody) and Parm is like the cool sandwich/booze shop. Both spots have great service and the food is tha shit (that’s a good term, something I’ve even heard my Mom use lately, which makes me wonder why I let her in on it).
Okay, let’s get to it. You got some time on your hands? Because if you want to make this right, you need a few hours. There’s a lot of prep and we’re talking 2-3 hours to make the ragu, plus we’re making homemade pasta! And there’s a Jamaican spice mix scavenger hunt involved.
If I’m not growing it in my garden (seriously, and that’s why it’s cooler to live in L.A. than NYC, suckers!) then I go to my neighborhood herb/spice store. Not the medicinal marijuana joint, but the Silver Lake Spice Station. As you can see from the photo above, it’s a lovely small store with a ton of jars of aromatic taste heaven. I even threw in some hippies in this photo just to pay homage to the peeps that taught me to grow herbs. A woman named Kristy works there and she helped me get everything I needed, plus she ground it fresh right there, and combined it for me. (Although, I did my own black peppercorns, I’m obsessed and have a large stash at home already.)
Please ground the spices fresh the day you make this, it makes a huge difference – if you do it yourself, you can use a coffee bean grinder, and a handy kitchen scale. There is nothing like the smell of fresh coriander seeds getting ground up…so damn good.
Make the Jamaican spice mix first, you need it for everything. Make the Goatish Cheese mix later – we’ll get back to that. After you got the spice mix ready, start the prep for the ragu and then just get those onions on, they do take about 40 min solid to get nice and golden brown.
If anyone ever wants to come over and teach me how to cut things, I welcome the challenge. I am constantly google imaging julienne and even minced for some things because I’m such a dork. Julienne the onions – meaning cut them in longer, thick slices. Mince the jalapeno, garlic and ginger, which means finely chop it, but not that fine…I think. Dice up the tomatoes, which means, cut it chunky!
Keep it on med low for like awhile and get those onions golden brown, don’t walk off on them either, pay attention so you don’t burn them and know when they’re ready. Then add the garlic, ginger, and jalapeno. The habaneros are for a garnish we’ll do in a bit.
Okay, don’t talk shit about my onions. They’re good. Get everything in there, cook on med-low another 15 and the contents should be drying out. Essentially, we’re making like a crazy paste that we’ll add the meat too eventually.
Once it’s almost dry, add the tomatoes – use fresh tomatoes or you’re dumb. I used “organic tomatoes on the vine.” What variety is that really? Vons is dumb.
This cooks awhile. Again, we want it dry and like a big dense pasty substance. Then add the Jamaican spice mix and cook for another 5 minutes. At some point in all this, you need to get the ground beef going in another pan – it only takes like 10 minutes really.
I love that photo. It’s disgusting and awesome.
Get the pan hot, add the beef and some salt and cook it, but don’t brown it all crazy. Then add it to the tomato paste concoction (below, on the left – notice how dry and pasty it is now), add the chicken stock, and put a lid slightly ajar on it and leave it alone for 2 hrs (well, maybe just stir every 30 min or so, and taste it and add some salt if you think it needs it). Also, I was sneaky and started the habenero garnish too. I put the sliced peppers in a small saucepan, covered it with some olive oil and put it on low for 20 minutes. My stove got real crazy quick.
Okay, let’s make the pasta! I’m half Sicilian. Every December, I’m voluntarily forced to make homemade ravioli with my Mom, Aunt Bernice and sister Lisa. Sometimes Kris, a good family friend, is there too. It looks like this, but there’s a lot of arguing over things like what a pinch of salt really is. That’s how Sicilians work, if you’re not familiar.
So, my Aunt Bernice, the one on the far left, also likes to make what we’ve been calling gnocchi for years. So, I know what gnocchi looks like everywhere else but for some damn reason, my Aunt has been making cavatelli forever and calling it gnocchi. When I saw this recipe, I was like ‘where the hell am I getting a cavatelli maker’ – then I looked closer and was like ‘shit, that’s gnocchi, I got that.’ When really, it’s not, my Aunt just happens to have a cavatelli maker. I have no idea where to get one. Google it, ask your crazy Sicilian friends if their Aunt Bernice has one.
I can’t explain why, but I swear she’s been calling it gnocchi forever. I think everyone eats it so fast that no one cares to discuss the difference. By the way, she’s 70 plus and runs the athletic dept at St. Finbar Catholic school in Burbank. Arguing (any discussion really) with her is like asking for a migraine.
Cavatelli is clearly not gnocchi. Cavatelli is like a small hot dog bun shape that this little machine cranks out quite nicely. This recipe makes a lot, but you can freeze any you don’t use for later.
Making the dough was stressful. It should have been easy, since I borrowed my Mom’s stand-up mixer (how old am I? seriously). First, I put all the ingredients in at once.
It’s only supposed to stir for like 2 minutes and come together, but it totally did not. I ended up adding like almost 1/2 cup more hot water. My neighbor Sharon was helping – taking photos and counseling me because she has restaurant experience that is always a bonus. This time, as I was panicking, she called her friend Eric who is the sous chef at No. 7 but used to make fresh pasta everyday when he was the head chef at Le Gamin. This is their conversation:
She meant 1 cup hot water – but regardless, shit was super dry. Maybe Lucky Peach meant 3 cups? I added at least 1/2 cup – probably a little more actually. That helped and the dough formed. I knead it a bit more out of the bowl and set it aside for like 30 minutes, then it was a lot happier when it came to actually dealing with it to make the cavatelli. Beautiful dough, by the way – the Jamaican spice mix goes in it and gives it a pretty color and you can see all the spices. Mouth-watering stuff.
Knead it out into a flat disk, little less than a 1/2 inch and then make long strips. I actually took these and then rolled them a little to make them even longer.
Feed the machine!
If your ragu is still cooking, put this pasta in the fridge. When you’re ready to go, get a huge pan of boiling water going and drop the gnocchi – I mean cavatelli in and let it cook!
While it cooks, whip up that Goatish cheese mix. I went to the Silver Cheese Store again to get my dairy. They don’t usually carry a goat-milk ricotta so I did the 50-50 mix of cow-milk ricotta to a nice chevre. Mix it together and set it aside.
The pasta will rise to the top when it’s ready. Add it to the ragu and let it mix together.
At this point, our mouths are watering – let’s face it, we’re drooling.
Plate it up and add a dollup (what is that word, really?) of the goatish cheese mix to the top and some of the habanero garnish.
Sharon and Stu are expecting any day now. I secretly hoped the dish would bring on labor immediately, but alas we’re still waiting…
This was SO FUCKING GOOD. Start thinking about leftovers and the potential of adding an egg on top…
So, make the time, make Cavatelli P.S. 46 (dropped the mic).
Eat a Lucky Peach 