Thursday, October 12, 2006

HighFived: "Urth Salad"


Urth Caffe
8565 Melrose Ave (off Westmount Dr)
West Hollywood 90069


Every time I go to Urth Caffe I vow never to go back. It’s congested, a pain to park, the crowd is annoying, the servers are not that nice and it’s way way over priced. But I love one of their salads so much I go anyway.. and when I'm not in the mood to deal I make it myself!


The Urth Salad
organic mixed greens, feta chese, roma tomatoes, hearts of palm, garbanzo beans, kalamata olives, and pine nuts in urth vinaigrette dressing. add chicken, turkey, tuna or grilled veggies $3.00 extra . half 8.50 full 11.50

How I order it:
Romaine instead of Mixed greens. No olives. Add grilled chicken.

Cost at Urth: Full Salad 11.50 +Chicken 3.50 +Romaine 3 (yes they have the nerve to charge 3 extra dollars for romaine) Total Cost: $17.50

How I make it:
you can throw it together however you like.. but here are some approximate measurements just to get a sense

Ingredients – In order of importance
Romaine Lettuce- MVP of this salad. Make sure you get fresh (not prepackaged) very cold, crisp lettuce
Pine Nuts – 2 pinches (1 tblspoon)
Feta Cheese – 1/2 inch sliced then crumbled – the fresher the better.
Garbanzo Beans - handful (make sure you drain and rinse before using. They package it in some sort of liquid) 1/4 cup
Hearts of palm – 2 cut up from a can
Cherry tomatoes- handful cut in half (slicing cherry tomatoes in half is the best way to make a regular home-made salad look and taste really fancy)
Grilled chicken– I make my own on the grill.. but you can totally just pick up a piece at WholeFoods.. or make this salad without chicken if you want.

Dressing
You can put on whatever dressing you like. The Urth comes with a vinegarette which is good.. but it’s what makes or breaks this salad. Use whatever dressing you like.. something lemony or with herbs would probably go best.

Calorie Content - HighFive Urth Salad
Garbanzo Beans 1/4 cup, 70 calories
Pine Nuts – 1/8 cup, 115 calories
Grilled chicken - 3 oz, 110 calories
Feta – 1/4 cup, 100 calories
Total: 395 calories before dressing
**Urth dumps almost double the amounts for these ingredients, which almost doubles the calorie count. I'm estimating theirs at about 600-700 calories before dressing**


In Season: Apples


Apples
Member of the Rose Family

Apples have a season? We’re only kind of kidding. Fond memories of Fall apple picking aside, here in America - where you can get anything, anytime - we tend to forget. When was that last time you walked into a supermarket and there were no apples? Never.

That’s because even though they are only harvested Mid August until October, they are stored in sophisticated storage tanks so that they can be sold all year. It’s a delicate process, and anyone who has ever taken a bite into a mealy soft apple knows that it doesn’t always work out. If the apples are stored too long, their starches turn to sugar producing that gross mushy texture, and if they are sold too soon they don’t taste all that sweet.

We’ve never met some one who didn’t like a good crunchy apple, so we’ll spare you the hard sell. Just know that even though you see them waxed-up and shiny at the market all year round the are at their best in right now.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Real Simple: Food - Special Edition



Real Simple: FOOD
Special Cooking Edition
Fall 2006
On stands until 11-7-06


HighFive Definitions:

co~ok [kook] –verb
  1. the act of buying ingredients one doesn’t already have (i.e. shallots, miso paste, anything "fresh")
  2. the act of following a recipe
  3. requires actions such as preheating and marinating
  4. requires annoying to clean tools (i.e. food processor)

pre~pare din~ner [pri-pair din-er] -verb

  1. the act of throwing together foods you already have in your house (i.e canned or frozen)
  2. pertains to meals you already know how to make
  3. includes store bought pre-made foods (i.e. Whole Foods)
  4. includes sauces found in a bottle
  5. sometimes requires going to a restaurant or ordering in

It's not that we don't like cooking.. on the contrary, we think it can be really fun sometimes. (Note words: "can be" and "sometimes") It's just that when we are tired or hungry after work, cooking isn't gonna happen.

Our issue with most cookbooks and cooking magazines is that they show us is how to cook, when what we really need is information, tips and ideas on how to prepare dinner. This is why we love Real Simple: Food. They totally get that.

Sure it’s a “Mom” magazine, but you see we share a common objective with Moms when it comes to food: minimal effort, time and money - maximum health and taste.

We love their layout & design, their simplicity, and their ability to nail our definition of preparing dinner. We hate that their regular issues are enormous novels, and we are not exactly about to take their fashion advice, but we do pick up a couple tips on cooking and cleaning from them each month.

Come to think of it, reading Real Simple is kinda like hanging out with our own Moms. They talk way too much and give you advice on stuff they shouldn’t, but you must admit they do know a thing or two. Especially when it comes to food.

Real Simple: Food is a special edition that features all the things we love about the magazine, and none of the other stuff. It’s much thinner, no odd relationship advice, just simple tips on preparing dinner and cleaning up. We found almost every article useful and interesting, and enough of a resource to earn itself a place in our kitchen next to 3 dusty cookbooks.


Article Highlights & What We Learned:

"So What's for Dinner?"
Simple way to create full meals out of some basic staples you really might actually have.

What we got out of it:
We bought frozen shrimp and have made it for dinner twice already. We are planning to add pesto to the items we have around the house. Plus these simple ideas to experiment with:

white wine vinaigrette - white wine, lemon, mustard, oil, salt pepper
caramelized onions – sautéed in butter and oil. We’ll skip butter, but we though it was a great idea to use onions to spice up a meal.
green eggs - add teaspoon of pesto when making scrambled eggs (sounds yummy)
quick marinade - lemon or lime, olive oil and parsley
shrimp fajitas - onion, frozen shrimp, chili powder, cumin, parsley or cilantro, salt and pepper served with tortillas
meat sauce - ground meat, onion, garlic, red wine, canned tomatoes
garbanzo bean salad - olive oil, lemon, parsley, salt
chicken soup - canned chicken stock, chicken breasts, onion, carrots, salt and pepper
chili - ground beef, onion, garlic, beef broth, canned tomatoes, can beans, chili powder, salt
balsamic glaze - simmer good balsamic vinegar until reduced by half. Serve with chicken or steak

"Skip that Step"
An informative and clever article about following recipes. Explains what you need to do and what you don’t.

What we got out of it:
you don’t really have to preheat the oven when roasting vegetables
you can really just marinate lean meat for an hour or 2, doesn’t have to be overnight

"When Good Apple (and Carrots and Herbs) Go Bad"
All about how to store fruits, vegetables and herbs so they last longer

What we got out of it:
Features a great Periodic Table of Produce, which is a full chart of what to refrigerate, what to put in a plastic bag, what to leave out etc.. Plus how long they keep before going bad

We also learned that unwashed produce lasts longer and that we should store fresh herbs either in water with a pinch of sugar, or dry in plastic bags with paper towels to absorb moisture

"5 Minute Magic"
Stuff you can do ahead of time to save time when it's time to prepare dinner

What we got out of it:
Whenever we make vinaigrette, make lots of it

"See Spots Go"
A guide on how to handle 18 common cleaning problems

What we got out of it:
Spray a cheese grater with Pam before using it and it won’t be a mess to clean.
Brush off the grill while it's still really hot everything will burn off and you don't have to clean it!
Denture tablets will clean stains off a porcelain sink

"Timing is Everything"
guide to the best times to do everything

What we got out of it:
Gives lists of when various fruits, vegetables and fish are in season (fish have a season!?)

More Great Articles
"Living in the Fast Food Lane" - tips on how to make take-out healthier
"Squeaky Clean" - tips on quick clean-ups
"The Sink Kit" - discusses the best cleaning products on the market
"No Fuss Dinner Party" – includes a menu, shopping list, a timeline of when to do everything, wine and music suggestions, and decorating tips
"The Little Oven That Could" – Dinner ideas you can make in your toaster oven! (i.e. Roasted Chicken with Olive Relish, Pesto Meatballs)

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

HIKE: Paseo Miramar


Pasedo Miramar,
Pacific Palisades, CA

Ever think about the fact that hiking is really just walking? This is especially true when you are talking about the paved part of Runyan. Our quest for a more challenging walk brought us to Pasedo Miramar in Pacific Palisades.

The journey begins even before getting out of the car when you make the turn off Sunset, and drive about a mile up a narrow mansion-lined road. You will eventually hit a dead end next to a big modern, kinda ugly, blue house (see picture below), which aside from a small sign, will be the only real indication that you are in the right place.

The view is instantly spectacular, and only gets better. Also considered a bike path, it is wide and open and has a steady incline with no real sharp climbs. We found it challenging, but not killer. We were shocked to see someone actually biking up it, but he looked like he had just returned from the Tour de France which would explain it.

As you can see from the picture we took (above) it was a foggy day, but that's ok it was still really pretty. This is LA, chances are it will foggy when you go too.

All in all we found this to be a wonderful hike and will definitely go back.. that is despite 2 instances when we thought we were going to die. Allow us to explain.


Incident # 1 - Killer Birds
It must have been about half way through the hike when the incident struck. We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves, appreciatingthe light sweat from our hard work mixed with the spectacular view of the canyons surrounding us on either side. The path isn't completely desolate, but other hikers were few and far between. When we first spotted a black bird flying overhead, we thought nothing of it. It wasn't until we noticed that the bird was circling above us, then around us .. and then down and around until it finally stopped right in front of us. And hovered.

Panic and shear terror do not begin to describe how we felt in that moment. Our hearts were not beating fast, they had just all out stopped. We were both scared and confused. Were we just being crazy? Our instinctual fear in the midst of this uncertainty just made us feel more scared and vulnerable.

A pending bird attack (a la Hitchcock) that would leave us dead or at the very least maimed, caused our attitude towards this hike to quickly shift. What the hell were we doing here? We're New Yorkers. Faced with a weird guy on the subway - bring it, but put us out there in the middle of nowhere - canons on either side, nowhere to run or hide, no body else around and we were completely defenseless. We looked down at our bottle of “Smart Water” .. somehow that just wasn't gonna cut it.

The bird flew up and continued to circle above us, and so we made an executive decision abort this hike immediately and get the hell out of there. Slowly, so not to entice the now two birds eyeing us, we turned around and began walking back.

Luckily, moments later we saw a man walking towards us. Still near tears, we stopped the man and asked him if those birds were going to kill us.

"The Ravens?" He replied in a cute British accent. "Oh God no. They're completely harmless. They're just hunting"

Letting out a sigh of relief, out hearts began beating again. Well it had occured to us that perhaps we were over reacting - just a tad.

"Ah glad to hear they aren't hunting for us!" We shouted, as we turned back and continued our hike.

"It's just the rattle snakes you have to worry about," he added.


Incident # 2 - The Rattle Snake


Not a whole lot to say about this one, except that now three quarters of the way into the hike we looked up to find a large, hissing, slithering rattle snake right smack in the middle of our path. In order to continue would mean literally climbing over it. For those of you who don't trust our instincts anymore, let us assure you that it was indeed a rattle snake. Not a garden snake. Not a stick. A rattle snake. 100%

This time there was no moment of "what should we do" because clearly our hike was done, and it was time to head back. We passed a couple of hikers soon after and warned them about the rattle snake they were approaching. They continued on enthusiastically, taking out their cameras. As New Yorkers, we might not always know what to do when faced with nature, but we're no dummies.


** Through further research, it turns out that ravens are not known to hurt humans but do tend to pester them. They also tend to travel in large packs called a "murder" and enjoy feasting on dead flesh, including human. So while they might not have hurt us, they are definitely killers. **


Trail Information:
Level: moderate/ intermediate
Dogs: Not Allowed
Length: 5miles round trip to Mesa Overlook.
Time: Approx. 1 1/2 – 2 hours

Directions:
Paseo Miramar is located off Sunset. Going West on Sunset it will the next RIGHT after Palisades Drive. Once you make the turn onto Paseo Miramar you will take that road all the way up to the top until it dead ends.

The address to the house at the top is 865 Paseo Miramar, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 if you want to use your GPS.

Parking
There is street parking along Paseo Miramar.
Just be sure to check signs and do not park where the curb is red.
We suggest driving all the way up and turning around at the dead end so you know how far you are.. parking will be on the right side as you come back down the mountain anyway.


**Pasedo Miramar isn’t technically the name of the trail, but it’s what most people call it since it’s the street you turn up to get there. It’s part of the East Topanga Fire Road Trailhead, in case you care.










Monday, October 02, 2006

The Beverly Hills Farmers' Market


The Beverly Hills Farmers' Market
Sundays 9am - 1pm
9300 Block of Civic Center Drive
Just South of Santa Monica Blvd, off Foothill Road
(see map below)


Cash Only (no ATM)
Metered Parking – Free on Sundays
No Dogs Allowed

We get the fact that Bristol Farms isn't exactly cheap, but after spending 10 bucks on lettuce and broccoli we decided enough is enough. That Sunday we chose to do our produce shopping at the Beverly Hills Farmers Market, and have gone back every weekend since.

Here’s why..
The products are seasonal, local and fresh. It's is small enough not to be overwhelming, and big enough for there to be a good selection. Parking is easy and free. It’s inexpensive, and you can have a taste of just about anything before you buy it. Plus we love supporting the "Mamas & Papas" out there.

Much more then just fruits and vegetables, The Beverly Hills Farmers’ Market features dozens of specialty shops where you will find anything from specialty vinegar to fresh baked breads.

Make sure to pass by the second Greek stand (towards the back) and try some of there popular homemade artichoke hummus.. it’s amazing. While it's best to go right at 9am when it opens, we go just before noon and there's still plenty to choose from.

The Farmers’ Market a great place to either mill around and taste different fruits and cheeses or just pop in and out to get some shopping done. A good thing considering we will probably have to hit 3 other stores around LA just to buy vitamins, paper towels and turkey burgers.

Even if you don't live near Beverly Hills, hopefully we have inspired you to find a farmer's market in your neighborhood!


What you can buy there: (see complete vendor map below)
Seasonal fruits & vegetables, including fresh herbs, mushrooms, beans
Flowers and plants
Specialty items such as infused balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey
Gourmet meats including sausage and jerky
Fresh fish
A variety of different cheeses
Fresh breads and pastries
Organic soaps and lotions
Local organic eggs,
International foods, such as French Crepes, Mexican Tacos and Greek delicacies

What we bought for $30:
(see picture above)
6 small Cucumbers, 6 small Eggplant, 3 Zucchini, 6 Red and Green Peppers, big bunch of String Beans, 3 White peaches, 3 Lemons, 3 Limes, 3 Grapefruit, Broccoli, Cherry Tomatoes, Rosemary, Mint



Sunday, October 01, 2006

White Peaches



White Peaches
Member of the Stone Fruit Family

We picked up a couple of White Peaches at the market the other day for no other reason then that they looked good, and now we can’t get enough of them!

Unlike traditional yellow peaches, White Peaches are less acidic, and have a more subtle sweet taste. Eaten “firm-ripe,” meaning still hard, they have a crisp, clean, crunchy texture; almost like an apple. Left out in room-temperature they will ripen quickly and become softer and sweeter.

Some could argue that all fruit is pretty, but there is something a little extra special about White Peaches. They’re just so beautiful and elegant with their marbled blush and cream-colored skin, pale white flesh and bright pink pit.

Where have they been all our lives? Turns out they have been around for centuries, but have been popping up more and more on farm stands due to a steady rise in popularity.

White Peaches are relatively expensive at almost $2 each, but so fancy and delicious we feel they are worth every penny. If you can’t find any good-looking white peaches, try nectarines, which have a similar taste and crispness to them.

Note that they will disappear by the end of the month, so pick some up while you still can. As if we needed one more reason to be sad that summer is almost over….

How we eat them.

all by themselves.
with vanilla frozen yogurt, cinnamon and fresh mint.
with mixed berries.
grilled.
mixed into salads.
added to white sangria.

Nutritional Information:
1 large Peach (170grams)
66 calories
16g carbohydrates
14g sugar
3g Fiber
Vitamin C 11%
Vitamin A 19%

Average Cost: $2 -$3.49/lb

Availability: May - October
(
Peak Season: July & August)

How to Pick them:
Color: Look for skin with a creamy white background and are not green, shriveled, or bruised. The amount of red or pink will differ with each variety, but has no bearing on the ripeness.
Texture: We suggest you buy them firm because they ripen quickly when left at room-temperature, and overnight if placed in a paper bag. You can slow down the process by keeping them refrigerated. They taste just as sweet right after harvested as when they have softened, so enjoy them either way.

Note on Cooking:
When baking be gentle with them since they have a tendency to soften and fall apart when heated. To poach, just moistening in warm liquid, rather than saute or stew, as they only require a gentle toss in the pan over low to medium.
To prevent raw peaches from turning brown when cut and exposed to air just sprinkle them with lemon juice