COCHON 555

Yesterday I had the great privilege of going to Cochon 555, which took over the space in the beautifully renovated St. Vibiana's church in downtown Los Angeles.  Five heritage pig farmers and five vintners were paired with five local chefs:


Octavio Becerra of Palate Food + Wine  /  Berkshire Pig from ReRide Ranch


Chad Colby of Mozza  /  Hampshire Pig from Hopkins Hog Farm


Tim Goodell of Public Kitchen + Bar  /  Spotted Poland China Pig from Hopkins Hog Farm


Ben Ford of Ford's Filling Station  /  Hereford Pig from Hopkins Hog Farm


Joshua Whigham of Bazaar  /  Red Wattle Pig from Walnut Keep Farm


Utilizing all parts of the pig, these rockstar chefs were challenged to create a feast for 400 attendees, who would then cast their vote alongside a selected panel.  The winning chef of the Los Angeles event would be competing for one of ten spots at the The Grand Cochon throw down at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen in June.  


Before we were allowed inside the event, vendors set up outside and we were treated to wine and cheese, oysters on the half shell, a butchering demo by butchers Erika Nakamura and Amelia Posada of Lindy + Grundy, and some simple appetizers before the big feast. 

View of St. Vibiana's

Erica Nakamura on the left, Amelia Posada on the right giving a butchering demo.

Outside atmosphere...what a gorgeous day...

This event was for the true pork lover.  I very much appreciate when chefs use every last part of the animal to create meals, and that's what this event was all about.  I think people are becoming more open to what was once thought of as bizarre food, such as dishes containing offal.  Now you see top chefs coming up with inventive ways of preparing innards or glands and people pay top dollar for the fine dining experience.  Think of how amazing eating out would be if everyone in the country was this adventurous with food!  Baby steps.


Each chef/restaurant set up shop inside the church and lines for the tastings were long.  But well worth it.  

We started with Joshua Whigham who heads the kitchen at Bazaar in the SLS Hotel.  

Here, among other dishes, he was serving pork sausage with a cream sauce along with a cream croquette.  

Delicious, but we soon found that other chefs were doing more elaborate tastings... like next door at Public Bar + Kitchen with chef Tim Goodell.  His line was long.

Look at this gorgeous plate!!!

I thought I'd taken a picture of the menu here at Public (for whom I voted) so I could later dish about the food, but I didn't...I apologize!  And it happened to be the favorite tasting plate of 4 of 5 people in our group.  You idiot, Maya!

The master, above, hard at work.  Along with help from his team.

What I found to be a little disturbing was a pig that was on display on the altar, behind the butchering competition.  Yeah, I get that we're sacrificing pigs for the event, but was that really necessary?

These butchers, staged with the altar behind them, were given 40 minutes to cut up half of a pig, and another 20 minutes to freestyle the head (of the pig).  They were then judged on their cuts.

Brady Lowe (in black), who started Cochon 555 in 2008, in front of the swine shrine, kicking off the butchering competition.

This young lad, Tim Havidic, from Lindy + Grundy, can't be older than 21.  He actually helped me 3 weeks ago when I bought some lamb at their new store that's awesome and then some.  Go Tim!

As the butchers were doing their thing, we wandered to the next station, where Chef Octavio Becerra of Palate Food + Wine was dishing up his creations.

Clockwise from top: Bahn Mi - crispy shoulder, spicy head, kumquat-lardon-pistachio relish, Offal Soup Dumpling with quail egg, ginger, pickled brussel sprouts,  Belly with Bossam Kimchi, Kushi oyster, krill sauce, Petite Hot Dog on a Stick with sauerkraut, purple mustard.

A closer look because it's so fun to look at!

Then over at Mozza, Chef Chad Colby did an impressive Porchetta, along with shank and trotter stewed gigante beans, 10 hour roasted shoulder with cracklings,  mortadella dogs and a simple salad.  Great, but I don't think he should've won the competition.  Oh, yeah, Chad Colby is going to Aspen in June.  We all thought (well, our group anyway) Tim Goodell of Public Kitchen + Bar should've won...

Our last stop was at Ford's Filling Station headed by Chef Ben Ford.  I was stuffed and didn't think I could eat anymore, so I was kind of glad Ben was starting to run out of food. But we did manage to  eat a few dishes here...

Chef Ben Ford is at the end of the table with the goatee.

Scrapple with Broken Yolk and Candied Bacon

Holy pork balls was the scrapple delicious.

At the end of the tasting competition, as if we weren't all gluttonous enough, Chef Neal Fraser, who will open his Grace restaurant at St. Vibiana's later this year, treated everyone with a whole pig roast. I asked him exactly how he roasted these pigs in case I wanted to do it myself (my boyfriend just bought a smoker, yay!) and he told me he'd smoked these pigs at 240 degrees fahrenheit for 7.5 hours using Oak wood.  Good to know.

Chef Neal Fraser on the very left

 I can't believe people were still hungry and in line for more!  Ok, I tasted a small portion because how could I not?  It was deliciously tender and moist, but I could hardly taste the smokey flavor.  I'm not complaining, just taking note that maybe Oak isn't the wood for me.  Maybe I'll get my boyfriend to try Apple wood.  Mmm.

Thank you, Brady Lowe, for creating this pork phenomenon.  I will definitely go again next year, with my foodie friends in tow, but maybe you could lower the price of tickets.  Chef Chad Colby, we wish you all the best at the Grand Cochon competition in June!  And Tim Goodell, I've never been to your restaurant, Public Kitchen + Bar, so expect me in about a week, which will be how long it'll take to work up an appetite after yesterday's pig out.

M

FRESH TOMATILLO SALSA

With Cinco de Mayo just around the corner, I can’t help but get into the spirit a little early. I made some fresh tomatillo salsa this week and pretty much used it as a topping on almost everything I ate. One night, I paired it with some grilled skirt steaks and it was fantastic!

If you haven’t cooked with tomatillos before, they look like little green unripe tomatoes enclosed in a husk. They have a wonderful tartness that works great in salsas and sauces. You can roast them for a sweeter flavor, but I like them fresh the best.


Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

1 lb tomatillos, roughly chopped, (husks removed and well rinsed)
4 tablespoons cilantro, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
½ jalapeno, chopped (include seeds if you like it spicy)
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Serve with chips, and use as a topping on your favorite Mexican dish!

 

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! It’s supposed to be in the 80’s in L.A. this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited about it!!


R
 

VIETNAMESE PHO

My intimate relationship with pho began in the winter of 2009.  Shortly thereafter, all of my friends got hooked.  


I began having pho at least 3 times a week.  At least.  That number eventually rose.  It became so pathetic.  I'd order pho from different restaurants all over town so that the people working at the one closest to my house didn't think I was a maniac [for pho], which I was.  


What is pho?


Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup usually served with beef or chicken.  The noodles are made from rice and condiments one can add to the broth include thinly sliced onions, lime leaves, basil, bean sprouts, lime and jalapeno.  One can also add hoisin sauce (plum sauce) and/or hot sauce (such as Sri Racha).  I like adding it all.  The broth becomes so flavorful and spicy.  Great on a cold, rainy day...which is actually when I fell in love with this dish.  It was a cold winter's day in LA.  I think the temperature outside was 53 degrees.  Brr.  I kid.


Nothing like some chicken pho...

I pretty much have tried all of the pho restaurants between Beverly Hills to Koreatown.  And boy, do they have some interesting store names.  And I say interesting because "pho" is pronounced by natives in Vietnam as "fuh."  Yet these store names set their customers up for failure because look at the following restaurants! 


9021Pho (you would definitely NOT say 9021-fuh) - The most well decorated of the pho restaurants. The pho here is good...not great like it is at Pho 36.  And it's pricier than most places.  But it keeps me happy!


Pho Citi - They're open 24 hours and the pho here is just ok.  It's hard to mess up pho, though.


UnPhoGettable - On my list of places to go. 


Absolutely Phobulous - Not that great.  And they had a prominently displayed B rating in the window.  When I saw it, I almost choked.  Ambience is crap.


What The Pho (for real, there's a restaurant with this name!) - Closed.


Simply Pho You - I really like this place, although there's no ambience.  If fluorescent lighting overhead doesn't bother you while you dine, this is your spot!


Pho 36 - My favorite pho place.  The noodles are the perfect thickness and the chicken is delicious.  Everything is amazing (except for the ambience) including the price.  Even though it's really far from my house, anytime I'm in that area, I obviously stop in.


With these restaurants clearly rhyming "pho" with the english sound of "OH," it's no wonder everyone thinks they're supposed to pronounce pho as "pho!"  So when I order my Chicken Pho, I can sometimes feel the disgust of the employees as they frown and read the order back to me; "One chicken FUH."  Now I just say PHO very loudly and confidently and hope they don't spit in my broth.


I haven't tried the following places, but I find it funny that these restauranteurs spent absolutely NO time thinking up a name for their restaurants.  


Pho 2000
Pho 21
Pho 4000

Pho 79

Pho 88

New Pho 999

I'm still not sick of pho, so if you have a favorite pho place, please let me know!  I would love to try a new place. 


If I had a pho restaurant, I might be silly and name it Mo Pho.  As in "more" pho.  But people would take it the wrong way.

M

GAZPACHO

I know soup doesn’t exactly scream summer. But Gazpacho does!

Gazpacho is a cold tomato based soup that perfectly compliments any summertime lunch, snack, or dinner. Topped with fresh croutons, diced bell peppers, and cucumbers, the cold combination of textures and flavors is insanely summery and refreshing.

Keep a nice tall pitcher of it in your fridge, and you have an instant and delicious soup ready to go anytime!

I really like this recipe by Jose Andres. It sticks to the basics without adding too many extra seasonings and ingredients. You end up with a wonderful soup that really showcases the flavor and freshness of the vegetables.

Gazpacho
By Jose Andres
Serves 6-8

For the soup:
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup sherry vinegar (mostly sold in specialty grocery stores and gourmet markets)
½ cup Oloroso sherry (if you can’t find Oloroso, a sweet sherry will work fine)
¾ cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

For the garnish:
2 1 inch-thick slices rustic bread
¼ cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
½ cucumber, diced
½ green bell pepper, seeded and diced
½ red bell pepper, seeded and diced
Sea salt to taste

To make the soup, combine the cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, sherry, olive oil and 2 cups of water in a food processor or blender. Puree the ingredients until everything is well blended into a thick pink liquid. Pour the gazpacho through a medium-hole strainer into a pitcher. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

For the garnish: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and toss in a mixing bowl with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Spread the bread on a baking sheet and bake on the middle rack until golden brown, about 10 minutes, turning halfway through. Set the croutons aside to cool.

To serve, pour the chilled soup into cups or bowls. Top with croutons, cucumbers and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

R

A TASTE OF ITALY

At the top of my list of countries to visit is...Italy.  Can you tell from my book collection?

Rachel's family is from Italy, so we plan to travel there together sometime in the near future.  In the meantime, I'll be thumbing through these books and reading blogs about Italy!  I think my next purchase might be Rosetta Stone: Italian.


Anyway, when the May issue of Bon Appétit arrived in my mailbox, I knew exactly what I was making for dinner that night.  The cover picture was of spaghetti in a tomato sauce, and I'm all about tomato sauce.  I LOVE IT ON EVERYTHING.


The teaser on the cover said, "The simplest, silkiest sauce you'll ever make." p. 142.  I got so excited. But this recipe didn't call for any protein, so I decided to throw in some garlic sauteed shrimp along with some mozzarella cubes.  The result was a very happy belly.


Pasta Al Pomodoro
Serves 4


1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1  28oz. can peeled tomatoes, puréed in a food processor
3 large basil sprigs, plus more for garnish
12 oz. spaghetti or penne
2 Tbsp. cubed unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, Pecorino, or cubed Mozzarella


Heat olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium-low heat.  Add minced onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 12 minutes.  Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-4 minutes.  Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute more.  Increase heat to medium, add puréed tomatoes and season lightly with salt;  cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly and the flavors meld, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in basil sprigs and set aside.


Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5-qt. pot.  Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender.  Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. 


Discard basil and heat skillet over high heat.  Stir in reserved pasta water to loosen sauce; bring to a boil.  Add pasta and cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat; add cubed butter and cheese (and cooked shrimp if you desire!).  Sprinkle with remaining basil and serve.  Enjoy!

20 minutes later 

M

CRUNCHY ROASTED CHICKPEAS

After seeing Maya's delicious chickpea curry last week and the baby octopus dish with chickpeas she tried at Culina...I thought I'd share one of my favorite chickpea recipes and keep this chickpea party going!!


It wasn't until recently that I learned that when roasted in the oven, chickpeas take on a deliciously crunchy texture comparable to nuts. Since chickpeas are naturally low in fat, high in protein and rich in fiber, this makes an excellent good-for-you-healthy-snack!

1 15oz can chickpeas or garbanzo beans (same thing), drained and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place all dry spices in a bowl and mix to combine. Use a paper towel to remove excess moisture from chickpeas. Add chickpeas and olive oil to bowl with spices and toss until chickpeas are evenly coated.

Spread evenly on baking sheet and place in oven. Roast for a total of 35-40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Chickpeas should look lightly browned and shrunken when ready to take out of oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before crunching away!

R