Dinner Diary: 7/05/10: Not Quite Meat-Free Monday-

• Steamed McGrath Farm Green Beans
• Grilled Zucchini
• Cappellini with Lemon-Basil Pesto
• Grilled Tri-Tip -- The Next Day

Dinner Diary: 7/04/10 -- Fourth of July Tri-Tip

• Soy-Marinated, Grilled Prime Tri-Tip
• Grilled Zucchini & Tiny Baby Red Onions
• Peewee Potatoes
• Salsa Verde on the Side

Our dear friends, Rita and Joseph, turned us on to Alexander's Prime Meats in San Gabriel after Dim Sum on Saturday. Alexander's has been an institution in San Gabriel for over forty years. You'll find them in the back of Howie's Market on San Gabriel Blvd.

How did I miss them? The L.A. Weekly voted them best butcher in 2003 -- very clear why.

Their beef is gorgeous, dry-aged prime.

Just look at the marbling on that tri-tip!

Well worth the drive and Fe's cries of protest.

The ultra-high-quality meat combined with a simple marinade -- 1/4 cup soy, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons water, 4 cloves chopped garlic -- set the stage for a fabulous piece of meat.

A. sealed the deal.

Turns out that he is a grill-master!

That tri-tip could not have been cooked more perfectly -- exceptional char and cooked à point (right in between medium-rare and rare).

I was swooning.

Overall a lovely, albeit low-key, Fourth.

The cops weren't even pissed when they drove by our house and saw A. standing there with a sparkler flashing in his hand.

They just laughed and drove on.

Alexander's Prime Meats & Catering

6580 N. San Gabriel Blvd.

San Gabriel, CA 91775

Salsa Verde

Salsa verde is a vibrant green sauce that takes full advantage of your herb garden.

There are a whole slew of variations on green sauce -- with cornichons and perhaps shallots or with lemon zest and minced garlic -- and endless possible combinations of tender, green herbs that will help your salsa enhance whatever you happen to be cooking.

Last night, I used Nigel Slater's recipe in Appetite.

I have also used Suzanne Goin's version in Sunday Suppers at Lucques and Judy Rodgers' recipe in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook with great satisfaction. Yesterday, while thumbing through Canal House Cooking, Volume 1, I stumbled across a terrific looking Salsa Verde that goes the Moroccan route, using preserved lemon peel.

When you are in the salsa verde groove however, you don't really need a recipe at all. It becomes second nature, tossing the fistfuls of herbs into the food processor or mortar.

Currently, I am not really in that groove, hence the cookbooks.

Most salsa verdes with their herby piquancy bring fish, lamb, potatoes, and beef to life. But truthfully, they taste good with just about anything.

Slater suggests parsley, mint, anchovy, capers, dijon, lemon and olive oil. I threw in a handful of cilantro as well. The flavor was good, but I would have preferred a little less emulsification. I think in this case, the mortar and pestle would have been more useful tools. The mustard and the oil in the food processor made a salsa that was a little too thick for last nights application -- oven-roasted salmon.

A slightly runnier, and less mustardy sauce would have been more appropriate for this particular fish.

I feel confident that the remaining salsa verde will be better suited to tonight's grilled tri-tip.

Salsa Verde

1 large bunch of Italian parsley, just the leaves

1 small bunch mint, leaves only

3 to 6 anchovy fillets

2 to 3 tablespoons capers

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

6 or so tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 a lemon, just the juice

Add the parsley, mint, anchovies, capers, and mustard to the bowl of a food processor. Turn it on and slowly add the olive oil, reducing the ingredients to a slush. Don't over-process, so as to leave a sauce with some texture. Taste the sauce and add lemon juice as you go. Add salt, only if necessary.

Dinner Diary: 7/03/10

• Oven-Roasted Salmon with Salsa Verde
• Boiled Pee-wee Potatoes with Irish Butter
• Sautéed Baby Zucchini
• Sautéed Shishito Peppers from Jacqueline and Fe's Garden

Dinner Diary: 7/01/10

• Spaghettini with Meat Sauce
• Romaine and Rocket Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Dinner Diary: 6/29/10 -- Rack of Lamb

• Rack of Lamb with Thyme, Rosemary and Garlic
• Provençal Lentil Salad
• Steamed Brussels Sprouts with Butter
• Romaine with Lemon Parmigiano Vinaigrette

About a year ago I discovered that cooking a rack of lamb for dinner was actually a very quick and easy weeknight solution for dinner. Very impressive and delicious, this recipe takes no time at all.

Rack of Lamb

1 frenched rack of lamb

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

12 cloves garlic, smashed

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Generously season rack of lamb all over with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron). Cook the rack on all sides until nicely browned all over, about 15 minutes. Turn the rack so the fat side is facing up. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs. Toss the smashed garlic cloves into the skillet.

Transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast for approximately 10 minutes, until internal temperature is 130 degrees for medium rare. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Cacao Mexicatessen

I ran off for lunch by myself today. I needed a little pick-me-up.

The coffee at Swork in Eagle Rock helped.

The wine I purchased at the Colorado Wine Company should be of assistance this evening.

But lunch, just a little further down the street at Cacao Mexicatessen really made all the difference.

I'd read and heard many good things about, "L.A.'s First Gourmet Mexican Deli." Jonathan Gold raves about the duck tacos. Now, I know why.

The menu is much more extensive than I would have imagined. It took me some time to get my bearings, and I'll need a few more perusals of the take-out menu and a couple more visits, before I truly have a handle on all that Cacao Mexicatessen has to offer.

I went a little overboard because there were so many dishes that I wanted to try. I selected four tacos -- two meat and two vegetarian -- carnitas (roasted pork), the famous carnitas de pato (duck confit), flor de calabaza (squash blossom), and huitlacoche.

All of the tortillas are made by hand at the Mexicatessen. A great start to an excellent taco!

The chips are supposedly made in house as well, but they did not impress the way the tortillas did.

I'll say this. Vegetarians, come running!

What an outstanding offering of meatless dishes. You can chose to fill your tacos, sopes and burritos with anything from calabacitas (zucchini and corn) to flor de jamaica (hibiscus flowers) to portobellos. There may be mushrooms or corn tucked into your chile rellenos along with the melted cheese. You'll also find potato tacos and nopalitos (cactus paddle salad) on offer.

I finally got to taste huitlacoche, which is a delicious fungus that grows on corn.

Yes, it's the black smut in the picture above.

Corn truffle is their friendly euphemism. The huitlacoche taco comes with roasted corn, hominy, cotija cheese, onions, cilantro and a tasty red salsa. The huitlacoche itself has an earthy and slightly smoky flavor. I loved it.

The flor de calabaza taco possessed a mild vegetal flavor, thanks to the blossoms and the poblano strips. Delicious, but I think I prefer my squash blossoms deep-fried -- and stuffed with cheese.

My carnitas taco was very simple -- roasted pork, onions, cilantro, and red salsa. Really, exactly as it should be. And if it is possible for greasy roasted pork to taste clean and pure, they have managed this at Cacao Mexicatessen. Maybe not the best carnitas of my life, but very very solid.

I know to take Jonathan Gold seriously. So when he titles his entire review of Cacao Mexicatessen, "Duck Duck Taco," it is clearly with good reason.

The duck taco is undoubtedly the superstar for me today. It is gorgeous. The acidic crunch of the pickled onions is striking against the moist, perfectly oily duck confit and creamy avocado. I would happily eat more than one.

I am delighted to have this Mexicatessen just ten short minutes away. It will be very easy to share with A. and Fe.

Cacao Mexicatessen

1576 Colorado Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90041

Chicken and Endives

Apparently there is a bit of debate at my parents house regarding this dish. My mother has been cooking the chicken untrussed and at a starting temperature of 350 degrees, forever. My father has just informed her -- after almost fifty years together -- that the chicken is superior when it is trussed and cooked at a starting temperature of 325 degrees.

So glad I missed that conversation.

This is my grandmaman's (my father's mother) recipe. I have been enjoying her chicken and endives just about all my life, as my mother has prepared it.

Not knowing differently, I have always followed my mother's version of this recipe.

I had hoped to try my grandmaman's original method, so that I could present the absolute best formula, but I ran out of time and energy. I just couldn't reacquaint myself with trussing or add an additional forty or so minutes to the cooking time.

I'll get back to you on that.

Plus, it would be unfair of me to keep this terrific family recipe to myself any longer. Trussed or un-trussed this chicken is a home-run.

The whole chicken cooks on a rack in a dutch oven surrounded by endives and daubed in butter. Salt, and pepper are the only other ingredients needed.

Happily, the outcome is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Preparation takes about ten minutes and then you'll need about an hour and a half to cook the bird.

In the last twenty minutes, I highly recommend cooking up a little pot of rice. You'll want something to soak up the delicious pan juices.

This is one of the simplest recipes that I know, but you would never guess it, if you walked into my house midway through the cooking process. The house smells like you are in the midst of baking the most heavenly dessert.

Even A. with his intense aversion to poultry has been fooled by the aroma of this dish.

It must be the endives braising in the butter and chicken drippings. Their lusciousness imparts just a hint of bitterness along with their sweetness, keeping the dish nicely balanced.

My mother usually only adds four endives. Not enough at all! I cram in as many as I can fit in the dutch oven. The chicken is terrific, but the endives are the stars here.

Even with the last fifteen minutes of cooking at a high heat of 450 degrees, the chicken will not get as crispy and brown as a perfect roast chicken.

You probably won't be able to impress guests with the outward beauty of this dish. Rather, save it for dear friends that deserve to be treated to a comforting meal.

Chicken with Endives

1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds

8 or more endives

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Trim just the very ends and any bruised leaves from the endives. Rinse under cold water and dry.

Generously season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breast-side up on a rack in a dutch oven. Place the endives all around the chicken. Add butter shavings over the top of the chicken and the endives. Don't be shy with the butter! Cover and place in the oven.

Baste the chicken with the pan juices every 20 minutes or so. Cook the chicken until it is nearly done, about an hour, and the drumsticks are beginning to pull away from the body.

Raise the temperature to 450 degrees.

Continue to cook, uncovered, for approximately 15 minutes until the chicken is golden brown.

Carve the chicken and serve with endives, on rice, with pan juices dribbled over.

Dinner Diary: 6/28/10 -- Meat-Free Monday

• Provençal Lentil Salad with Shallots
• Roasted McGrath Farm Carrots
• Sautéed Zucchini & Pear Tomatoes from Jacqueline & Fe's Garden
• Greens and Rocket with Shaved Parmigiano