ITHACA: Tuesday DeWitt Farmer's Market

Finger Lakes Flatbread (Queen of Tarts Bakery)

143 Maple Ave., Ithaca NY

Santa Barbara: THE HUNGRY CAT

The only good thing about goodbyes is goodbye 

dinners...

Sister restaurant of The Hungry Cat Hollywood

and then there was a st. germain, gin, blood orange cocktail

pisco sour with concord grape juice

greyhound proper

And then there was fresh caught santa barbara sea urchin

...droool...

And then there was sturgeon caviar

And then there were fruits de mer.  The end.

Wednesday: SUPPERTIME

A goodbye dinner commemorating my working in a kitchen this summer and my going back to NY for new culinary (and other) adventures!  With recipes from the Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook and produce from the glorious Santa Monica Farmer's Market.  A dining success, if I may say so myself.

Heirloom Tomato Salad with burrata, torn croutons, and opal basil

Pan seared sea bass with fresh corn, cornbread pudding, squash salad, and salsa verde-brown butter

Olive oil cake with homemade creme fraîche and candied tangerines

The remnants of a blissful evening

*A special thanks to Maddy for being my shopping buddy

**And to Ethan for being my sous-chef

Wednesday Supper: Prep Day #2

Rubbed sea bass filets with lemon zest and chopped parsley

Corn pudding...artery clogging and wonderful

Wednesday Supper: Prep Day #1

I am hosting a Wednesday night dinner for seven of my nearest and dearest pals, inspired by the recipes I learned this summer while working in a kitchen.  With my newly acquired knife skills and "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" cookbook as my aid, I will create for my friends a meal I hope that they will always remember.

Cornbread to go into the sinfully rich corn pudding

Candied tangerine

Candied tangerine peels make your cocktails more delish!

Bruschetta & my tomato obsession

Hi, my name is Erin Mosbaugh and I'm addicted to tomatoes.  On another note, I recently saw the movie Julie & Julia and was disappointed in the bruschetta scene.  In order to bring my world back into culinary order, I made a more elegant version:

Got these golden heirloom beauties at the Sunday Hollywood Farmer's Market on Ivar Ave. 

Grilled bread in a pan with olive oil until golden, rubbed the grilled bread with garlic, sliced the tomatoes, julienned fresh basil leaves, and made a balsamic/red wine vinaigrette to drizzle on top.

[picture credit: Madelyn Somers]

SANTA MONICA: Behind the scenes @ the Wednesday Farmer's Market

This past Wednesday I met the sous chef from my work at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market on Arizona and 2nd, where he was buying the weeks produce, including summer's finest tomatoes, arugula, stone fruit, berries, figs, eggplant, etc.  Whereas most would just walk down the center of the street, in between the farmer's stands, admiring the imppecably displayed produce in cases on tables, we went straight to the sidewalks, behind the scenes.  This is where cases full of the farmer's finest fruits and veggies are put aside into crates and labeled, to be delivered to L.A.'s sustainable and seasonal produce-driven restaurants.  Behind the farmers stands, chefs from restaurants all over L.A. high five eachother whilst talking to the farmers themselves about what special variety of eggplant they will have available the following Wednesday.  Like the dugout at a baseball game or the dressing rooms of a theater, the sidewalks of a farmer's market are where the fruit and vegetable magic happens.

Nectarines..mmm

Black, red, and golden raspberries from Pudwill Farms

Heirloom Tomatoes from Coastal Farms

Orange cherry tomatoes are going to Fraiche...I see great things in their future

Lobster mushrooms

Stick ME in that box and send me to Animal!

LOS ANGELES: The Park ($5 Burger Night)

In these stellar economic times, you must look to your hip, knowledgeable, 20-something friends (who pay their own rent) to give you the in on happening, delicious, and affordable LA restaurants.  I did exactly this, and was thus led to $5 Burger Night at The Park.  Located in Echo Park, this classy joint reflects the neighborhood's vibe: young, hip, smart, and innovative.  This place combines SERIOUS food (think roast 1/2 jidori chicken, hanger steak with marrow gremolata & crispy onions, and ratatouille with grilled polenta & roast squash) with an intriguing atmosphere that screams "I could be located in Williamsburg or The Mission instead of Sunset Blvd. and you would never know".

The Wednesday night 5$ burger turned out to be $8 after all the fixins, but the fixins included thick cut applewood bacon, cheddar, caramelized onions, tomato, thick hunk of red onion and arugala on a killer homemade brioche bun.  Get this: I ask for it medium-rare, and they bring it BLOODY, pink, and RARE.  A.k.a...I'm coming back.

A sea of side swept bangs, skinny jeans, and interesting facial hair.  LOVE the decor (and window peeking into the kitchen)

They've got their culinary inspiration right-on: Zuni Cafe Cookbook, Tartine Cookbook, Lucques Sunday Suppers Cookbook, Bouchon Cookbook, and a general cookbook about Vietnamese cooking.

The Park (1400 Sunset Blvd., Echo Park)

***Check out The Park's Speakeasy Tuesday: $15 for a 3 course prix-fix menu.  I don't know if they're doing something illegal...and I don't even care how they afford to offer this kind of deal, 3 courses for 15$ is that awesome.

Dessert Night! (Barefoot Contessa Crumble)

Because I love Ina Garten.  And because I love any excuse to make a fruit crumble.  And because I've been painfully watching the pastry chefs at my work all week making their perfect little nectarine blackberry crumble from the season's most luscious fruit.  Well CHECK THIS OUT pastry chefs...

Ina Garten's Plum & Raspberry Crumble:

Get yo'self some Haagen Daaz Vanilla Ice Cream, or make yo'self some Creme Fraîche.  Do I have to tell you that the cold, sweet ice cream perfectly mellows and compliments the tangy fruit and buttery, crunchy almond/oat topping?  Didn't think so.

LOS ANGELES: La Isla Bonita

You can find marisco paradise on Rose & 4th St. in Venice at a little taco truck called La Isla Bonita.  This seaside taco truck serves up some mean Ceviche, citrusy and cilantro-y and fresh from the ocean, and a serious mixed seafood cocktail of octopus, shrimp, and crab. >)))i>

Camaron = shrimp, Pulpo = octopus, Ostion = oyster, Concha = conch

Tostada Mixta: fried tortilla topped with ceviche, a refreshing and acidic blend of lime juice, red onion, cilantro, chile, tomatoes, and shrimp, topped with octopus, plump whole shrimp, and avocado.  Please, top with Tapatio.

Marine life adorning the La Isla Bonita truck ;)

I LUV SUMMER

Heirloom tomatoes from Coastal Farms can be found @ the Wed. and Sat. Santa Monica Farmer's Market.

***An heirloom tomato is an heirloom plant, an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) cultivar of tomato.  One school of thought places an age or date point on the cultivars of the year 1945, which marks the end of World War II and the beginning of  "industrial agriculture", or widespread hybrid use by growers and seed companies.

US Highway 99: Bakersfield

This weekend I found myself driving through California's Central Valley along hwy 99, and I was getting hungry for lunch.  Closest town? Bakersfield.  Driving past the town's varied restaurant offerings like Taco Bell, Subway, In n' Out (difficult to pass up), and McDonalds, I spotted El Adobe, a large red-clay building with an attractive sign out front.  Lots of cars in the parking lot..a good sign.  The one non chain restaurant on the block..another good sign.  The promise of "homemade mexican" displayed in one of the windows..I'm sold.

Can a picture get more "California"?

I ordered Enchiladas Plancha, recommended by our server.  Corn tortillas filled with carne asada and cheese, grilled until the cheese crisped and burnt slightly, clinging to the outside of the tortillas.  Served with rice, gooey beans, guacamole, and pico de gallo.  Make sure you have a long car ride ahead of you after eating at El Adobe, because this cheesy, meat-filled goodness will put you in a coma.

My road trip companion ordered a Veggie Burrito, filled with yellow squash, zucchini, onion, bell pepper, tomato, pinto beans, and rice served mojado with ranchero sauce and melted jack and cheddar cheese. Yum.

2620 Ming Ave. Bakersfield, CA

LOS ANGELES: The Apple Pan (They got an apple pie there that'll kill ya!)

How did us Westsiders get so lucky? Right across from the oh-so handsome Westside Pavilion shopping mall sits a little hamburger counter open since my grandma was a youngster.  Some say the Hickory burger, slathered with smoky hickory ketchup and Tillamook cheddar cheese, is the best in the city (but then again, they haven't tried my dad's).  The fries are not to be missed, as well as the Apple Pie and sinfully decadent Banana Cream.  From trips with my parents when I was a child, to after school lunches with my high school friends, to "home from college!" Apple Pan fixes... this Westsider is happy to be raised on the greasy spoon burger counter that is The Apple Pan. 

10801 Pico Blvd. (Open since 1942)

I swear these same three guys have been flipping The Apple Pan's signature hickory burgers since I was just a wee bebe

Tuna piled high, with sweet pickles, black olives, and a mountain of lettuce atop rye bread

Well done fries, crispy, golden, and piping hot straight from the fryer

They ran out of their signature apple, so we got pecan a la mode.  Turned out to be a close second