Butternut Squash and Pesto Lasagna

Is there anything more comforting than warm pasta? Didn't think so. Last week I had bought a butternut squash and I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. I'd had a piece of leftover butternut squash and pesto lasagna at a friends house and it was so yummy but needed a little acidity to break it up, so I added the sliced tomato to the top. I found the most beautiful dark red heirloom! Pesto and butternut squash both have such rich flavors, so don't worry about this not being enough as a meal- it is. Even though this post is kind of long and the actual recipe seems a little intimidating, I promise it's not. It's a lot of steps but it's not hard and it's so worth. it. Ok, I sound like Ina Garten now...

Layers and layers of flavor.

When I talk about sliced mozzarella, I just mean the mozzarella that's in a round block. Cut the 8 slices before you grate the cheese, it's easier to grip when there's more. Also, I didn't put a slice on each tomato because that just occurred to me as I wrote this, but it would be pretty! If your slices don't come out nice, just casually throw them on there like I did. It still looks good! The sight of bubbling cheese is always easy on the eyes.

While the noodles are still dry, lay them out in your pan to see how many you'll actually need. Chances are you wont need the whole package, but cook 2 or 3 extra just in case one of them breaks or rips in the water. It's fine to put some horizontally and some vertically because in the end they're all going to get covered and you wont even see them anyway. If you have a vegetarian coming over for dinner in the future, try this out, it's so easy, it just requires a bit of assembly. Serve it with some warmed Italian bread and a salad. Enjoy!

Mozzarella!

Ingredients

1 box lasagna noodles

2lb butternut squash (relatively small, makes a lot)

1 egg

¼ cup + 2/3 cup olive oil

1 bunch basil leaves (about 2 cups lightly packed)

¼ cup roasted unsalted cashews

¼ cup parmesan shredded parmesan cheese

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

1 large or 2 medium tomatoes (beefsteak or heirloom would be best)

¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

8 slices mozzarella cheese

Steps

Preheat Oven to 375.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil

To Make Butternut Squash

1.      1. Carefully skin the squash and scoop out the seeds. Cut into 1 inch chunks. Place cubes in 13 x 9 inch baking pan and toss with ¼ cup olive oil and salt and pepper. You could add some minced garlic as well if you want. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

2.      2. Allow to cool slightly. Transfer squash to a medium sized bowl and mash with a fork. Add egg and stir until well combined. Mixture should be slightly chunky…you don’t want it to be like baby food.

To Make Pesto

1.      1. Wash and dry basil leaves and tear them up a bit to help blender. Place torn basil leaves, cheese, lemon juice, cashews, and garlic in a blender. Pulse to break up mixture. Remove the inner circle from the blender top and slowly pour in the 2/3 cup olive oil while the blender is on. Blend until smooth. If the pesto looks too thin add more basil.

Assembly + Cooking

1.      1. When water comes to a rolling boil, carefully submerge noodles into water. Don’t break them! They should take about 10 minutes to cook. The easiest way is to pull one out and poke it with a fork. You want them to be al dente because they will cook more in the oven.

2.      2. Carefully pull each noodle out of the water and hang over the side of a bowl or colander.

3.       While the noodles are cooking, wash, dry, and slice the tomato. You want 8 horizontal slices, all about the same size. They don’t need to be thick.

4.      3. Use the same pan you roasted the squash in, it is already oiled from the squash.

5.      4. Place a single layer of noodles on bottom of pan, its fine if they overlap a little. Cover noodles with squash mixture and smooth with a spoon. Sprinkle half of the shredded mozzarella over squash.

6.      5.  Place another layer of noodles over squash. Cover noodles with a good amount of pesto, but probably not all of it.  Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese over pesto.

7.     6.  Arrange tomato slices over shredded cheese, then place a slice of mozzarella over each tomato slice.

8.      7. Cover pan with foil and bake in 375 degree oven for 20 Minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese on top is beginning to brown and bubble. (30-35 minutes total).

The Bazaar by Jose Andres

"Sip liquor slowly" were the words imprinted on the cocktail napkins at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles. Despite the hustle and bustle of a trendy hotel bar/restaurant, everything about The Bazaar is a leisurely stroll through culinary heaven. Jose Andres has skillfully created an entire menu of tapas (small plates), from your modern olives with a liquid center, right down to your cotton candy covered foie gras, and jicama wrapped guacamole. Andres, one of today's most inspired chefs, uses molecular gastronomy to entice and excite his eaters. Andres' swag can partially be accredited to his foundational education under Ferran Adria in Spain.

Cotton Candy Foie Gras

First off, I want to give a huge thank you to the Rasulo Family for letting me come to celebrate a birthday. I had a fantastic time and I'll probably never forget this meal. I'm sure Amir will never forget his Magic Mojito, either... or at least all the teasing that came along with it.

Everything was a small plate, and they brought out each item one by one, allowing us to enjoy the flavor of everything separately. We started with the sweet potato chips served with greek yogurt and tamarind dip. Gone in sixty seconds flat. I have no idea how they got the yogurt so fluffy, I doubt it was just by whipping it. Needless to say, we ordered another one as soon as our waiter, Josue (because there can't be more than one Jose at the Bazaar!) came back with our second item.

Sweet Potato Chips and Greek Yogurt Dip with a Tamarind Swirl

My favorites were the jicama wrapped guacamole, the tuna ceviche wrapped in avocado, and the cauliflower couscous- which we think was actually shaved cauliflower made to look like couscous, not actual couscous.

Jicama Wrapped Guacamole

Tuna Ceviche with a Coconut Lime Sauce (I think).

Cauliflower Couscous with pomegranate,
pine nuts, and raisins.

The most exciting to eat was the dismantled Caprese salad. Apparently, Jose Andres has a think with tomato hearts, I don't think he'll ever serve a tomato slice. This was a tomato heart ball and a mozzarella ball that had a liquid center (exploding cheese!), sitting on top of pesto, sprinkled with crackers and drops of a balsamic vinegar reduction. We put a piece of each thing on a spoon, clinked spoons, and popped it all into our mouths. Cheers!

Caprese

We did order meats and boneless chicken wings, but I didn't eat them since I only eat fish so no pictures of those. The shrimp we had was great, perhaps bordering the overcooked side but the oil it was sauteed in... wow. We wanted to ask for "air bread"- the only bread we saw on the menu- to dip in this, but we never did. We did drink little spoonfuls of it though :)

Shrimp sauteed in garlic oil.

The other three things I got pictures of were tempura asparagus with a romesco sauce and a baby beet and goat cheese salad with pistachio crumbs. Oh yeah, and a "California Cone" which was guacamole inside of a crunchy corn shell topped with a tomato heart.

Tempura Asparagus with Romesco Sauce.

Baby Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Pistachio

California Cone

To top it all off, we got three desserts. After all, it was a birthday dinner. So we got a molten chocolate cake flavored with coffee, served with whipped cream or ice cream I can't tell; a flan that was delicious and I don't usually like flan; and a coconut floating island. Molecular gastronomy at its finest. Josue told us that they use liquid nitrogen to puff up the coconut stuff, it was kind of like a soft, liquidy meringue. Whatever I was eating, it was great and the passion fruit sauce around it was soo flavorful- yum!

Molten Chocolate Cake

Flan

Coconut Floating Island with Passion Fruit Sauce
and Caramelized Bananas

On the SLS website there is a tab labeled "Experience The Bazaar" which is so fitting. That's exactly what this was- an experience. Now, how do I get a recipe for that yogurt dip??

Black Bottom Cupcakes with Raspberry Jam

You can't really go wrong with chocolate, cream cheese, and raspberry jam. If you're in the mood for something sweet on a cozy winter night in, try making these black bottom cupcakes with raspberry jam. I originally saw these on foodgawker minus the jam. I'd heard of and tried this type of cupcake before but I'd never made them. I added the jam because I thought it might add a little brightness to deep flavor of the chocolate and the heaviness of the cream cheese.

Yummy, creamy goodness.

I changed a few other things from the recipe as well. Originally, the recipe called for 1/4 cup of cocoa powder, 1 cup of water, and cider vinegar. When I read the recipe reviews, one woman said she did half milk half water for a richer batter, and a heaping 1/3 cup of cocoa powder. I took her advice, but I don't drink cow's milk at home so I did 1/2 cup soy milk and 1/2 cup water. I also didn't have cider vinegar and didn't want to buy a whole bottle for one use, so I used rice vinegar which you'd think would be weird but it was actually fine. I think the purpose of the vinegar was just to loosen up the batter a little bit. The flavor of chocolate was all I tasted in the end.

Unbaked

Baked.

These were super delicious and pretty easy to make. They were surprisingly light as well, even after our Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas from the same night. The cake part isn't overly sweet at all, because cocoa powder isn't sweet, but the cream cheese and jam mixture was perfect in the middle. The tang of the cream cheese with the tang of the raspberry- mmmm perfection.

Reading over the recipe just now, I realized you could easily adapt these into a vegan cupcake, you'd just need to substitue a dairy-free chocolate chip, and swap out the cream cheese for tofutti cream cheese. I think the cream cheese mixture would do fine without the egg. Voila!

Split open.

Raspberry Black Bottom Cupcakes
Makes 12 large cupcakes

Ingredients

8oz cream cheese- softened

1 egg

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips

½ cup raspberry preserves

1 ½ cups AP flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder- heaping

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup milk (or soymilk, rice milk, almond milk, etc)

½ cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1.      1.  Lightly spray muffin pan with pam so overflowing batter doesn’t stick to pan. Line tin with paper or foil muffin cups.

2.       2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 tsp salt with whisk attachment until mixture is light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, heat raspberry preserves in a bowl in the microwave for 45 seconds. Stir chocolate chips into cream cheese mixture. Push cream cheese mixture over to one side of the bowl and pour jam in other side. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the two halves together creating a ribbon of jam throughout the cream cheese. If that doesn’t work, don’t stress, it will still taste just as good.

3.      3.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until little to no lumps remain. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk, water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir until well moistened. Fill muffin cups ½ full with cupcake batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese jam mixture in the center of the batter. If you wish, you can do two pans of smaller cupcakes.

4.      4. Bake for 25-30 minutes until edges of cupcakes look set and are slightly firm to the touch. The cream cheese in the center should start to brown a little bit, but not much. Let cupcakes cool in pan for about 20 minutes. They are delicate, so be careful!

Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas

The last enchiladas I had were from Prado Restaurant on Larchmont back in LA and I've kind of been on a high since then. They were shrimp and goat cheese with a red sauce which I don't typically like but these were delicious and served with tostones which was pretty much amazing. Our waiter even brought us more tostones when we ran out! Love that place. Anyway I wanted to make dinner for my housemates and some friends and I figured enchiladas would be great since they're made in big portions. While I was in high school my dad would buy an entire chicken at the Hollywood farmer's market on Ivar (by far the best one in LA, even if I am a little biased) and do it beer can style on the grill. Only having three mouths to feed we always had left overs and a lot of times he and my step mom would make enchiladas with the remaining chicken the next day. They always put spinach in there to add a little green which is never a bad idea. Spinach is essentially flavorless so you can't go wrong. Seeing as I stopped eating chicken last March I decided on swapping out black beans for the chicken, and what a lovely meal it turned out to be.

There were nine of us total. I made two pans of enchiladas, my roommate Jenny used her family's recipe to make perfectly flavored Spanish rice, and some of our friends that came over made a huge bowl of tasty guacamole. They also made margaritas...it was a Saturday night fiesta! To top off the night we had Black Bottom Cupcakes with Raspberry Jam which I will post the recipe for in a day or two. The recipe for the enchiladas is as follows. Super easy, relatively healthy, and you'll have leftovers for lunch the next day!

Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas

Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas

(Makes 1 -13x9 casserole pan)

Ingredients

1 cup chopped yellow onion

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 bag fresh baby spinach

3 cups black beans drained and rinsed

1 tsp

10 oz Monterey Jack Cheese- grated (or a mixture of Jack and Cheddar)

10-15 corn tortillas

1 can green enchilada sauce

2 green onions sliced (optional)

Garlic salt and pepper to taste.

Steps

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1.       1. Place chopped onion, minced garlic, and olive oil in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes until onions are transparent and fragrant.

2.       2. Add entire bag of spinach and place top on pot to trap heat. Let the spinach wilt for about 3 minutes, and stir occasionally so that all leaves are moistened.  Add black beans to spinach mixture and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper to taste.

3.       3. Spread a little bit of enchilada sauce (about ¼ cup) in bottom of 13x9 inch baking dish.

4.       4. In a dry sauté pan, heat up 4-5 stacked tortillas at a time over a medium heat. When bottom tortilla is warm and flexible, fill with 2-3 tablespoons of spinach mixture and a sprinkling of cheese. Roll up and place seam side down in casserole dish. Repeat and continue until pan is full.

5.       5. Spread rolled up tortillas with an even covering of enchilada sauce. Sprinkle remaining cheese (or more if you like a really cheesy crust) over sauce. Then sprinkle sliced green onions over cheese.

6.       6. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to brown. Feel free to broil for a crunchy top. Allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and/or salsa.

E

A Post- New Year's Guilt Detox Lunch

From my few previous posts you might notice I was more than a little gluttonous over the past few weeks at home. This week I found myself having to get back into the routine of grocery shopping, endlessly hilighting course readers, and cooking for myself. Of course, cooking for myself (and others) isn't an issue, in fact it's my favorite thing to do. I've just gotten out of the habit of it lately but I'm happily slipping right back into cook mode. Yesterday afternoon after 4 hours of feminist studies and history lectures, I surprisingly found myself craving something light, not something heavy or warm like I usually do.

Om nom nom.

I remembered watching an episode of Nigella Feasts recently that made me smile as Nigella just threw together a breakfast that was a little carb heavy, but that's the thing about Nigella- she doesn't care. Her theory is if you're going to do it- go for it. If you want bread, don't get a  low carb or gluten free version (unless of course you suffer from celiac disease) because those aren't really bread. If you want bread, go to your local bakery and pick up a loaf of crusty italian, or fluffy french; but if you're gonna do it, do it right. Everything in moderation, she says. And that's exactly how I feel. Sometimes I get grief about my eating habits. "You're making French toast? That's so fattening." Yeah, it's not the healthiest, but for the rest of the week chances are I'll have oatmeal, yogurt and granola, or eggs for breakfast. We all deserve to treat ourselves and we should treat ourselves because if we don't, we're going to overindulge regularly to compensate for being forbidden. Banning ourselves from something and then overindulging is a lose-lose. Let yourself eat what you want, just be smart. If you have that baguette with breakfast, have a salad with garbanzo beans and avocado for lunch and a grain at dinner. It's simple as that. Moderation and variety is key.

Wow, so off topic. Anyhoo, I was feeling a little bit guilty this week because I'd been eating a lot of "bad" foods and not a lot of greens-- very very bad for a vegetarian. The last thing I want is to become a "bread and cheese vegetarian" or become anemic. But I thought of Nigella's episode and put together a light little lunch with protein, fiber, good fats, vitamins and minerals, and carbs. Peeeerfection.

Cracked Wheat Sourdough, garbanzos, avocado, salad.

I rinsed and drained a half a can of Trader Joe's organic garbanzo beans and mashed them up. Then I added about a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a little garlic salt and pepper. I lightly mashed up half an avocado with a little lemon juice (for flavor, and to keep the avo from browing) and salt and pepper. I toasted a piece and a half of cracked wheat sourdough bread (buy this next time you need bread, it's delicious and so flavorful so it keeps you fuller longer I think) and I made a little salad of mixed greens and cucumber with some honey dijon balsamic vinaigrette. Word to the wise: always make your own salad dressing if you've got the stuff. Bottled dressings taste funky, are filled with bad fats, and they just aren't good. Take equal parts balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard and mix with 2 parts olive oil, a dash of honey and some salt and pepper. Or switch out the balsamic for lemon juice and skip the honey. It's so easy and so flavorful and sooo much better than store bought.

I meant for this post to be short, just about my light and refreshing lunch, but I got a little carried away. I hope you try and enjoy this lunch, it's effortless and fool proof.

Umami: The Fifth Taste

Sweet, savory, sour, and bitter. These are typically our four main tastes. So what the hell is umami you ask? Literally translated from it's Japanese meaning, it is "deliciousness." The obnoxiously arrogant Alton Brown described it as the taste we get when we eat glutamate. It's supposed to be an intense experience that your taste buds will thank you for.When trying to explain this to friend recently, I made the mistake of saying "it's the taste of MSG..." Whoops. Anyway, explaining what umami is is not an easy task. However, if you find yourself craving a burger in Los Angeles, head over to Umami Burger and I'm sure any of the friendly wait staff would gladly explain it to you. The trendy spot where you can sit and muddle in the delicious simplicity of America's most historically famous food arrived on the scene about a year ago if my memory serves me correctly. They quickly expanded and now have 4 locations (Los Feliz, Hollywood, La Brea, and Santa Monica) with a Studio City location in the making. The quick expansion of a place with a culty following reminds me of a certain froyo chain that over-expanded and now has several failing locations closing. Well, thank god for sophisticated palates because Umami Burger will continue to thrive -  I guarantee it.

The interesting thing about Umami Burger is that the menu is so minimal. There are 7 or 8 burgers to choose from, all with a theme. Some are made with beef, some with turkey, one with pork, and then there's my little angel- the Earth Burger. But don't be fooled, it's no whimpy run of the mill veggie burger. It's a patty made of mushroom, edamamde, and beets topped with a white soy aioli, cipollini onions, roasted tomatoes, butter lettuce, and a truffled ricotta all piled on a hearty brioche-type bun. Good god in heaven, this thing is amazing. Get yourself this and a side of sweet potato fries innocently dashed with cinnamon sugar and you're all set. Oh, don't forget to order an Umami ketchup (a housemade variety with truffle oil) and a side of dijon mustard (which if you didn't know is very potent and will clear your sinuses! My lunch dates Sara and Michael and I know this from first hand experience) to dabble your burger in, you wont regret it. I promise you.

The Earth Burger in all it's glory.

Sweet Potato Fries, Michael's Finger, Skinny Fries, Umami Ketchup. 

I also admire Umami's modern, but retro feel. They serve old-time sodas from the time when they were called "pop." You know, the good ones like bubble up and crush in glass bottles. The desserts are another notable thing about Umami. Their support for local businesses is really admirable as they serve ice cream sandwiches from Milk, and other sweet treats from Cake Monkey which serves recreated and gourmet versions of classic junk food like ding dongs and hohos.

So from the bottom of my heart and the pit of my empty tummy, I strongly encourage you to go to and highly recommend that you put Umami at the top of your mental "must try this place" list that you know you have.

BLD

Brilliantly and Largely Delicious? Boss Latte Drinks? Yes, and yes. BLD - Breakfast Lunch and Dinner - is my new brunch locale in LA. Usually when out to breakfast or brunch, I frequent the pancakes, the french toasts, or the simple egg plates but I went on a whim and ordered Huevos Rancheros not even knowing if the beans were vegetarian. I never asked because they were too delicious to find out the answer...

In a wide but shallow bowl lay my perfect over medium eggs, my salsa fresca, my hunk of avocado, and my two crispy corn tortilla shells. Underneath it all sat a pool of whole beans, speckled with cotija. See below. Beware of subsequent enraging jealousy.

BLD's Huevos Rancheros

Another notable bad boy was the Blueberry Ricotta Pancake that has been featured on Food Network's The Best Thing I ever Ate. I'm not a huge fan of pancakes that are any thicker than 1/4 inch, other than my own chunky banana pancakes (recipe to come). These are the other exception. Despite their look, they are not doughy because of the ricotta, they're just thick... and insanely fluffy....and insanely good. Any griddle item you order at BLD comes with a personal-sized bottle of maple syrup shaped like a log cabin. We wanted to take ours home but we figured they probably get refilled. I question whether or not my latte was non-fat as I requested because it was so creamy. The foam was sweet and the drink was not bitter at all. A latte at it's finest.

Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

Everyone at the table thoroughly enjoyed our little New Years Day Brunch just as much as I did. We were stuffed, over-indulged, and all agreed it was a great start to 2011. The sun was even out, which was a rare sight this past winter in Los Angeles.

Satisfaction.

New Year's Resolution: Try lunch and diner at BLD.

Adventures in LA over Winter Break

It's always a struggle adjusting back into school mode when you're coming off your winter break high. Today was my second first day of school this year since winter quarter started today. Major buzz kill. I'm proud to admit that this break revolved around eating. Lots of money and five pounds later...

On December 30th I went to the Food Trucks that line up outside of LACMA to have lunch with my Aunt and cousins. My Aunt and the girls are always up for a foodie adventure, must run in the family. There was a gaggle of about 15 trucks lined up on Wilshire. It was slightly overwhelming. The most outlandish were probably The Lobsta Truck, which had a line outside of it before it opened, The Lardon Truck, and The Tasty Meat Truck which dawned the tagline "Eat my tasty meat!" None of us are really big meat eaters so we glided right passed these and wound up ordering from The Boba Truck, The Greenz on Wheelz Truck, and La Rue de Paris Truck, and one that I can't remember the name of... oops.

Wilshire Blvd. at Noon

The Greenz on Wheelz Truck

La Rue de Paris Truck

The Lobsta Truck- with lots of patrons.

Here's what we ordered

Greenz on Wheelz Mixed Veggie Sandwich

-A mixed veggie sandwich with Ortega Chiles, Jack Cheese, served with Balsamic Vinaigrette and Potato Wedges
-A grilled cheese with bacon

-A crepe with spinach, mozzarella, avocado and maybe pesto (?)

-A chicken Breast Panini

-A nutella Banana Crepe

-A crepe with Rasperry jam and whipped cream

-A cherry blossom boba (some of the most deliciously sticky tapioca pearls I've had)

-Pastrami french fries for my Uncle

And lunch wasn't over yet...
We went to Sweet E's Bake Shop on Robertson to get cake pops! We're quickly obsessing over cake pops because there as tasty as they are fun to eat. If you don't know, cake pops are cake that's chopped up and mixed with a little frosting so it's moist, then it's formed into a ball, put on a stick, chilled, and dipped in chocolate. What's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah, YUM. We got a red velvet dipped in white chocolate, a dark chocolate dipped in white chocolate, a vanilla dipped in white chocolate, and a chocolate peppermint.