Brunch at Norma's

French Toast and Salmon Benedict from Norma's at the Parker Palm Springs.

New Year's Eve Dinner

Short ribs, brussels sprouts, lobster mac n' cheese and potatoes lyonnaise courtesy of Josh Grant.

Viv's Pumpkin Cheesecake

This year I opted to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake in lieu of the traditional, ubiquitous, and (some would say) boring pumpkin pie. Inspired by several fantastic recipes, including Smitten Kitchen’s sour cream topped bourbon masterpiece, Pioneer Woman’s caramel-covered extravaganza, and Paula Deen’s tried and true approach, I created my own version of pumpkin cheesecake and oh boy was it delicious.

Cheesecake can’t be rushed. I had the bright (and possibly wine-fueled) idea of starting mine at about 10 pm, so my sleep that night was interrupted by cheesecake alarms – the “turn off the oven alarm”, the “take the cheesecake out of the oven alarm” and the “put the cheesecake in the fridge alarm”. Of course, if I had stopped at turning off the oven, and let the cheesecake cool in the partially open oven overnight, I would have gotten more sleep and my cheesecake (very likely) would not have cracked. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture when I took it out of the oven in all of its smooth-topped glory, but the post-cooling cracked version still looked pretty delectable. The crack gave it “character”.

I had myself all in a tizzy about this cheesecake – I was worried that the layer of caramel I added to the crust would make it too hard to cut, that the crack made it ugly, and a whole host of other things that I completely forgot about as soon as I tasted it. The cheesecake was light, fluffy and not too sweet, the crust tasted like caramelly pecan pie, and the gingersnaps added a hint of heat that lingered after each bite. Stuffed as we were from an absolutely gorgeous Thanksgiving dinner, four of us nonetheless demolished half of the cheesecake in minutes. Even the self-professed cheesecake and/or pumpkin haters ate two slices. I'm pretty sure I won't be invited back to my family's Thanksgiving dinner next year unless I promise to bring this.

I also made this pear tarte tatin with red wine caramel from Food & Wine.

It looked and tasted wonderful, but was completely overshadowed by the cheesecake. I ate a slice for breakfast this morning to ensure it got equal love.

Viv’s Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

Crust
10 – 12 oz of store bought gingersnaps
½ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (optional, depending on the sweetness of your gingersnaps)
6 to 8 tablespoons melted salted butter
Caramel (homemade or store bought)

Filling
3 8oz packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 15 oz can packed pumpkin puree (pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
¼ cup sour cream
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prep
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 or 10 inch springform pan. If you want to remove the bottom of your springform pan before serving, place a round of parchment paper slightly larger than the pan on the bottom of the pan before locking on the sides.

Make the crust
Pulse gingersnaps in a food processor (in batches, if needed) until crushed to fine crumbs. Place 1 ½ cups gingersnap crumbs in a medium bowl. Combine crumbs with pecans, brown sugar, granulated sugar (if using), and 6 tablespoons of the melted butter. Add additional butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed to moisten crust. Press crust onto bottom and sides of prepared springform pan. Spread a layer of caramel over the crust. Chill crust in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Make the filling
Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the pumpkin, sour cream, eggs, sugar, spices and salt and beat on low speed until well-combined. Add the flour and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. Pour filling into prepared crust.

Bake and Cool
Place the cheesecake on a foil-lined baking sheet on a rack in the upper half of the preheated oven. To prevent cracking, place a water bath (a large pan filled with boiling water) directly below the rack the cheesecake is on. Bake for 90 minutes or until filling is set but still jiggly in the center. Turn off the oven and open door halfway. Let cheesecake cool in oven for about an hour. Transfer cheesecake to a rack and cool in pan until room temperature. Then cover cheesecake and cool in the refrigerator at least four hours. Carefully remove sides of springform pan before cutting and serving.

Make ahead
The cheesecake can be made up to two days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Freeze cheesecake if storing longer than two or three days.

A Seriously Sweet Saturday in Venice

A couple of Saturdays ago (yeah yeah I'm behind on this post) Babs, Jordan and I hit Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice for a late brunch/lunch at Gjelina, so we could take advantage of the patio and the sunny, 72 degree November weather. Our plans changed, however, when we passed the impossible-to-resist duo of the Kogi BBQ and Flying Pig food trucks during our search for parking. All thoughts of a civilized, seated meal went out the window, and after a quick trip to the ATM and a run in with one of the best (albiet confusing) t-shirts ever seen, we got in line for some grub.

If you don't know about the Kogi BBQ truck by now, then you've been living in a convent or under a rock. The Kogi truck started roaming Los Angeles about a year ago, and its following is now so huge it can't be called cult anymore. Serving Korean-Mexican fare, such as tacos and burritos made with spicy pork, short ribs, or BBQ chicken and kimchee quesadillas, lines at the Kogi truck can run 45 minutes to an hour. Luckily for us, there wasn't too much of a crowd at 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon, and we had our food in about 15 minutes.

The Flying Pig truck is a relatively new addition to the ever-growing gourmet food truck scene in LA, and features what I call "Asian Fusion Street Food" -- Asian and Pacific Rim flavors and classic French techniques used to create a menu of creative street food. Choices include tamarind duck tacos with almonds and beet salad, smoked chicken tacos with green curry and napa slaw, grilled beef short rib tacos with oyster mushrooms and spicy "death sauce", and pork belly sliders with red onion escabeche and sesame cucumber.

Both trucks delivered some seriously delicious vittles. Using the indiscriminate sampling approach, we ordered short rib tacos, a spicy pork "blackjack" quesadilla with caramelized onions and jack and cheddar cheese, and the "Kogi dog" (a Kobe beef hot dog with kimchee) from the Kogi truck,

and duck, short rib and spicy pork tacos and pork belly sliders from the Flying Pig truck.

The two standouts were Kogi's short rib tacos and the Flying Pig's duck tacos, followed closely by the quesadilla and the sliders. The Kogi dog was excellent, but felt a tad mundane in comparison to the adventurous tacos. All of our food was flavorful, delicious, and pleasingly portable. For less than $10 per person, we ate like royalty (at least as close to royalty as you can get on a concrete bench in parking lot) and got to check a food truck meal off our LA to-do list.

We finished the afternoon off with a few cocktails (Makers & Ginger Ale) at the Brig, a once-divey bar whose metrosexual makeover is surprisingly pleasing.

That night, I went to a beer and cheese party in Silverlake. And that is about as much good food, drink and exposure to seriously hip people as any gal should have in one day.

I love LA.

Blue Plate Oysterette

Blue Plate Oysterette is a casual “east coast seafood shack” situated on a prime stretch of Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica – a welcome addition to a seaside neighborhood filled with tourist traps and chain restaurants, but sorely lacking in good seafood joints.

Due in part to a great social media campaign (Daily Candy, twitter, etc.) and favorable advance reviews from area food bloggers, BP Oysterette has been packed since the day it opened. We went there on a Thursday about a week and a half after the launch (yes, this post is long overdue) and were told it would be an hour wait. Determined to eat a blogworthy meal, we gave our cell number to the hostess and set off in search of libations. Luckily for our rumbling tummies and tenuous sobriety, we received our golden ticket phone call from the hostess only a half hour into our wait.

The service was friendly and attentive – the manager stopped by a few times to chat and check in – and the server helped steer our indecisive group towards a well-priced white wine that drank easily and complemented, rather than overpowered, our food.

The menu is divided into four sections “raw bar” (oysters, crudo, ceviche), “soups and salads” (clam chowder, fisherman’s stew, and um, salads), “small plates” (grilled oysters, mussels, fried calamari) and “large plates” (fish tacos, catch of the day, grilled hangar steak). We went for the sharing approach to ensure maximum sampling ability: oysters on the half shell (ceviche style), a grilled artichoke, steamers, the butter lettuce salad, mac n’ cheese, and a lobster roll. Unfortunately we didn’t have room for everything, resulting in a serious case of food envy when a plate of fish and chips arrived at the table next to us.

Babs and I love slurping raw oysters (although we once encountered an uncomfortably gargantuan specimen at the Wilshire that gave us pause), and the “ceviche style” topping of red onion, lime and cilantro on these bivalves made em’ slide down even easier than usual. The artichoke was served cold, which threw us for a loop. I’d skip it next time I go. The steamers, however, were fantastic. It is rare to get authentic steamers this far south, but BP Oysterette’s were true to form: large succulent clams in buttery broth served with chewy grilled bread.

If presentation is your thing, then order the butter lettuce salad. A mound of bright green lettuce topped with gorgonzola and crispy shallot vinaigrette, it tasted as good as it looked. I thought the mac n’ cheese was delicious – the love child of traditional baked mac and velveeta shells and cheese served fresh out of the oven in a ramekin. I almost singlehandedly demolished it, so I can’t really speak to whether anyone else liked it. Last but not least was the lobster roll. Chock-full of tender chunks of lobster, this was a fairly faithful rendition of the classic New England roadside favorite, updated for Santa Monica with a brioche bun and a side of homemade sweet potato chips. We didn’t have room for dessert, but the menu had some great options like blackberry cobbler and ice cream sundaes.

The verdict: Go eat here already. If I lived closer (and didn’t spend so much time in Detroit) I would be a regular!

BP Oysterette
1355 Ocean Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-576-3474

Broads On Vacation! Grand Wailea Resort, Maui.

Window Shopping on La Cienega