Coachella jam #3, Little Dragon: fatbeats

excuse my vacation....tons of updates to come.

Stuffed Poblanos, Mexican Rice & Roasted Red Pepper Sauce: goodeats

This meal deserves the "I wanna eat this every day of my life" goodeats award.  It's REALLY good and easy to make, although it does take some time (we started cooking at 7:30 and didn't eat till about half past 9).  Just like the stuffed portobellos,  the poblanos can be stuffed with just about anything you like.  Here is the version we made for dinner the other night.

Stuffed Poblanos

Ingredients:
-4 well sized  poblano peppers
-cooked chicken, chopped
(we seasoned ours with s&p, cumin and chili powder)
-1 can of black beans, rinsed
-1/2 an onion, diced
-few cloves of garlic, minced
-cilantro, chopped
-Mexican blend cheese (cojita if you've got some)
-S&P
-EVOO
-fresh lime juice

Directions:

1) heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine EVOO, beans and garlic in a pot and begin to cook down on low heat.  The beans should start to cook down a bit getting soft, feel free to mash it up a bit with a fork.  Add in chicken, onions and cilantro and heat through for a few more minutes.  Set aside

2) To prepare the peppers for stuffing, cut a cross down the belly of the pepper.  Empty out seeds with your hands and give the peppers a rinse.  Keep the stems on for presentation :)

3) Stuff the peppers with a small spoon with the bean/chicken mixture.  Place in a casserole dish or on a cookie sheet lined with foil and bake for about 40 minutes.  During the last 5-10 minutes of baking, top peppers with cheese.

Mexican Rice

adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

-2 cups of long grain white rice

-3 cups of chicken stock

-1 cup of chopped tomatoes (about 2 roma tomatoes)

-half an onion chopped

-1-2 jalapeno peppers, chopped

-garlic, minced

-juice of 1 lime

-s&p

-about 2 tsp of cumin

-EVOO

-cilantro 

Directions:

1) in a large sauce pan, saute the rice in some EVOO until the ends are golden brown (about 4 minutes).  Mix in the garlic, jalepenos and onions.  Cook for another 2 minutes.  Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil.

2) as soon as the stock boils, reduce heat and simmer until rice is cooked

3) fluff rice with a fork and add in lime juice, cumin, s&p (don't be shy with the s&p, you will need a hefty amount to bring out the flavors).  Before serving, stir in cilantro.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

So the peppers and rice were delicious, but what brought this meal to award worthy status was the Roasted Red Pepper sauce Tom whipped up in his new cuisinart food processor!  This sauce is extremely addicting, so be careful.  You could use it on a steak or even as a dip with tortilla chips, it's that good.  For the recipe, you're gonna have to ask mistertom. 

 

 Hope you make this one...it's a keeper

Sunday afternoon at the Grand Central Market: goodeats

Good food & fresh produce... you can find it all at the Grand Central Market, LA's oldest and largest open air market and one of the city's many hidden gems.  You would drive right by the historical Homer Laughlin Building and fail to realize that a cultural Mecca resided on its ground floor.

Food vendors line the floor selling everything from Salvadorean Pupusas to Mediterranean kabobs to even Korean kimchi burritos.  The food options are limitless so make sure to arrive with an empty stomach.

The best part about the GCM is all of the fresh produce.  Walk the aisles and take your pick of the freshest, ripest and cheapest produce you will ever find.

After a few hours, our TJ's bag was full of the week's produce as well as 4 hefty slabs of skirt steak...and it only dented us about $40,  such a steal!

 

So next time you're in need of some goodeats and fresh produce... skip your local TJ's, hop on the metro with your reusable bag in hand and visit the Grand Central Market.

Say hello to your new weekend ritual!

Grand Central Market
317 South Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 624-2378

Coachella Jam #2, Feels Like the First Time- fatbeats

Jason Bentley has been showing Corinne Bailey Rae a lot of love on Morning Becomes Eclectic lately and I just can't get enough of her new album.  Catch her at the Vibiana or at Coachella next month if you're a fan :)

 click ME for more info on Corinne's show

Baked Sea Bass & Mushroom Risotto: goodeats

This was one of my most favorite meals that Tom and I have tag teamed on.  Tom is a master at grilling/baking/frying meat & fish so we sided with a simple sea bass for dinner, my favorite!

 We decided to make a mushroom risotto as the side dish. Risotto is often intimidating because it requires a ton of TLC and a lot of wrist action.  The first time I made risotto was in college and I almost set my kitchen on fire. The trick to risotto is never add more liquid until all the liquid in the pan has been soaked up completely, and of course don't stop stirring that wooden spoon.  Patience can go a long way with risottos, and the result is well worth the wait. Here is an adapted recipe for a creamy mushroom risotto with layers of flavor. Feel free to sub out the mushrooms for any other vegetables such as asparagus or spinach.

Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients:
-1/2 pound of baby portobellos, sliced or chopped into bite size pieces
-1/2 pound of crimini or white button mushrooms, sliced or chopped into bite size pieces
-1/2 cup of dry white wine, I recommend a nice sauvignon blanc that you would drink a glass of
-6 cups of chicken stock (low sodium, the cheese will add enough salt)
-3-4 tbsp of butter
-minced shallots
-chopped garlic
-1 1/2 cups of arborio rice
-chopped chives
-S&P
-EVOO
-freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1) Heat chicken stock on low until it barely begins to simmer.  Meanwhile, in a wide sauce pan, saute the 2 tbsps of butter with the mushrooms, garlic and shallots for a few minutes until the mushrooms have fully sweated out and reduced in size.  Set aside in a bowl with all juices.  Return the pan to the heat
2) Saute the arborio rice with the remaining 2 tbsp of butter until the edges of the rice turn into a nutty brown, about 4-5 minutes.  Slowly add in the 1/2 of rice, deglazing the pan.  Allow the wine to completely evaporate and soak up.
3)  Begin to ladle in the heated chicken stock 1/2  a cup (or ladle full) at a time, constantly stirring.  Again, do not ladle more liquid until the rice has fully absorbed all of the stock.  Continue to stir and add in the stock 1/2 cup at a time until the 6 cups has been added or the risotto is at a texture of your liking.
4)  Remove from heat and stir in the sauteed mushrooms, cheese and chopped chives.  Season with S&P to taste.

For those of you wondering about the fish, you'll have to go to Tom's blog and see if he ever divulges the secret recipe to delicious sea bass :)

Coachella Jam #1, Deadmau5: fatbeats

I can't wait to catch Deadmau5 at Coachella this year. Doesn't this song sound like it belongs on the Requiem For a Dream soundtrack?

Chloe invades Spring 2010: goodlooks

buttermyjammy has been on vacation for a bit...not because I haven't been stuffing my face with great food (I'm about 7 pounds heavier then I was 2 weeks ago thus making me 7 pounds more lovable), but mostly because I've been out of town on a few mini vacations.  Also,  I seem to have misplaced my camera cord resulting in a visual-less buttermyjammy. boo.  So in the meantime, let me indulge you in other forms of eyecandy :)

By no means do I consider myself a fashionista.  I save that title for those who wake up at 4AM to get to the Black Friday sale at Saks or those who always look impeccable head to toe, donning anything from louboutin's to forever 21... BUT, I do know how to appreciate good leather.  On my way back from Coronado this weekend, we made a pit stop at South Coast Plaza.  I shouldn't have done it, but I did.....I took a gander at Chloe's spring collection.  I was in love and broken hearted in the same moment.

How necessary are these two pieces?? The large Elsie Buffalo Bowling bag is really made out of butter....$1550 worth of butter.  It is so soft and the color makes you want to melt into a pool of caramel.  It's the perfect casual purse to pair with a crisp white t-shirt and fitted jeans and some fierce booties.  The Elsie Lurex shoulder bag is on the other side of the spectrum.  Structured and sleek, this is the purse to sling over that black mini when you're going out for the evening.  Only allowing room for a tube of rouge and perhaps some moola, this is a great alternative to the traditional clutch.  I love the twisted rope strap, adds a little bit of edge to such a classic.  This one runs for a cool $1250. 

I left SouthCoast empty handed and a little depressed about my finances.  But then I thought...."How much could I buy at Sur La Table for $1500??? Le Creuset's cast iron set so Betty could have some friends to play with, or perhaps the Wustoff classic knife set? Maybe a year's worth of cooking classes at Sur La Table!"

I guess the need to fill my belly and the bellys of my loved ones, far outweighs my need to wear $1500 worth of leather butter....oh well!

xx