2937 Bristol St. Ste A102, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (The Camp)
Pricing - $$ up to $$$$$ | Dining - Dressy Casual | Cuisine - American, Italian
www.oldvinecafe.com

Coming to Old Vine Cafe was a result of other places that we meant to go being unavailable. I won't point fingers but a restaurant I had made a reservation at proved to be closed once we drove up. You'd think they'd let us know when we make a reservation right? So after much driving around searching on my Yelp bookmarks, we finally decided to come here because Duc had his camera for the night so we wanted to eat somewhere with photography potential.


What a place to pick! Despite there being a sizeable party of several tables inside this rustic, cozy restaurant, we were still able to be seated outdoors amidst some twisted wood and wrought metal. Our table had one simple fresh flower as decor, lending an elegant feel to our dinner. Duc took a look at their wine list (bound in worn and embossed leather) and really liked what he saw - we even paid compliments to the staff for their unique choices and excellent arrangement of the list itself.


Our menus came out attached to canvas paintings (how quirky!) and featured in the first few pages their tasting menu options. These would be several courses in a meal paired with the appropriate wines. Since we were out for just a casual dinner that night, we weren't too willing to shell out $65-$80 each for a tasting menu but what lovely selections they had there too! Instead we opted for individual dishes. He went for the Beef Tenderloin Stroganoff (vintage premium natural beef tenderloin medallions & Shiitake mushrooms served over handmade fettuccini drizzled with creamed demi-glace) and I the Char-Grilled Lamb Chops (two all-natural Australian chargrilled chops with dried blueberry Syrah demi-glace, garnished with crispy fried yucca). Their tender beef medallions and light handmade pasta were all too lovely basting in the savory, creamy sauce and highlighted with soft mushrooms. My lamb chops were grilled perfectly with a juicy, succulent center each; the char on the meat was well-complemented by the tanginess of a blueberry demi-glace and mimicked by the fried yucca.


Our wallets were telling us no more and to leave the delicious night alone but our eyes upon seeing the dessert menu exclaimed, yes yes let's have some. My hats off to the sweet tooth that won out for our pistachio crusted Bleu cheese cheesecake drizzled in organic wildflower honey was the perfect end to the meal. It was definitely an irregular type of dessert, and every bite brought forth an "Interesting..." reaction. However, it was still delicious. The pistachio dust, as I'll call it, on top lent a slightly salty taste to help offset the strength of Bleu cheese. We both enjoyed it and overall, found Old Vine to be perfectly lovely.

Photography by Duc Duong.

Not only has Test Kitchen made me try cooking with new ingredients, it has also pushed me out of my comfort zone with cooking methods. When cauliflower popped up as a test ingredient, I was so grateful to see many of you chiming in with suggestions! My thanks to Suki, Austin, Lori, and Shivanand for commenting with fantastic recipe ideas. I decided to take a little bit of each concept to put together this dish of cauliflower dirty rice (meaty idea from Suki, simplicity from Austin, rice substitute from Lori, and spiciness from Shivanand). Traditional dirty rice is created by cooking with chicken livers/gizzards but Duc and I wanted to stay lean so used chicken sausage. Check out this spicy dish!

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 3-4 servings)

• olive oil
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 lb. spicy chicken sausage
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 ribs celery, sliced
• 1 head cauliflower, riced
• 1 tbsp chili powder

Step 2: Prepping ingredients
As you can see, there is plenty of prep work for this dish. Chop onions and set aside. Into another bowl, add sliced green bell pepper, diced red bell pepper, and sliced celery. Start a large skillet with olive oil on medium-high heat. Slice garlic and set aside. For cauliflower, remove all leaves. To rice, either use whole head against a grater or pulse in a food processor until the consistency/texture of rice.


Step 3: Cooking ingredients
To skillet, add chopped onions until just before translucency. Add in garlic. Using your hands, squeeze out sausage from encasing and break up meat into little pieces with your spatula. Stir until chicken nearly cooked through. Add in peppers and celery.


Step 4: Finishing
Once peppers and celery have softened, add in cauliflower rice and stir thoroughly to get sausage oils and juices to coat the rice, making it "dirty." Add chili powder and mix well. Take off heat and enjoy!


This week's test kitchen ingredient: Greek yoghurt
"Strained yoghurt, yoghurt cheese, labneh, or Greek yoghurt is yoghurt which has been strained in a cloth or paper bag or filter to remove the whey, giving a consistency between that of yoghurt and cheese, while preserving yoghurt's distinctive sour taste. Like many yoghurts, strained yoghurt is often made from milk which has been enriched by boiling off some of the water content, or by adding extra butterfat and powdered milk. However most strained Greek yogurts have no added fats and are made of real milk.

Yoghurt strained through muslin is a traditional food in the Levant, Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and South Asia, where it is often used in cooking, as it is high enough in fat not to curdle at higher temperatures. It is used in both cooked and raw, savory and sweet dishes. Due to the straining process to remove excess whey, even non-fat varieties are rich and creamy. In Western Europe and the U.S., strained yoghurt has become increasingly popular because it is richer in texture than unstrained yoghurt, but low in fat. Since the straining process removes some of the lactose, strained yoghurt is lower in sugar and carbohydrates than unstrained yoghurt." [Wikipedia]

What do you think I should do with Greek yoghurt this week? Comment on Facebook!



Photography by Minerva Thai and Duc Duong.

136 E Commonwealth Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American, Bar
www.hopscotchtavern.com

I was pretty excited for Hopscotch to open after I had finished up an interview with them back in November. They were still in the planning/building phases then but opened a short few weeks thereafter. I loved the decor that was there already when I came inside for a quick preview of the space; the general plans for the atmosphere sounded like my kind of place to visit but it wasn't until late December that I was able to make it back out to the downtown Fullerton area.



First and foremost, they are called a tavern and are focused on providing the widest selection of whiskeys in Orange County (and other alcoholic libations - hence their name of Hop & Scotch). Therefore, the group of us ordered several drinks to put the mixology claims to the test. We sat impressed. I had their Merryweather, Duc had a shot of their High West Silver whiskey (a purveyor-only batch that Hopscotch got ahold of!), and Austin a White Manhattan and (later) a Bartender's Choice which ended up being an egg white sour. Robin stuck to Hefs for the afternoon and enjoyed from their extensive beer menu. My Merryweather (oatmeal honey scotch liqueur, port, damson plum gin, grapefruit, cinnamon syrup) was definitely sweet and strong on the cinnamon & grapefruit but still enjoyable. The High West Silver whiskey was definitely the smoothest whiskey I've had and others agreed! The White Manhattan (High West Silver whiskey, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, Noilly Prat dry vermouth, cherry bitters, Luxardo cherry) was pleasantly soft and smooth as well. The egg white sour? Not my thing but others enjoyed it.



Once we started looking at their menu, we got a little confused. While the styling was nice, it ended up creating a convoluted design that made figuring out the categories confusing. The listings were all over. We finally got our bearings straight and placed orders for four appetizers: their meatballs, sweet potato fritters, cracklin' rosemary bread, and mac 'n cheese. The meatballs were quite tender and we all enjoyed the juices that they were cooked in. The sweet potato fritters were very much deep-fried but the potential saltiness was offset by the spicy maple syrup drizzled on top. The cracklin' rosemary bread was deliciously crunchy and herbed (though arguably a bit on the greasy side). As for the mac n' cheese, saucy on the bottom and crisp on the top - unfortunately, someone was heavy-handed back in the kitchen with the rosemary.



Stuffed burgers! Their patties come stuffed with cheese so are definitely not for the faint of heart. Duc went ahead and ordered The Duke (American cheese-stuffed patty with slow-cooked, pulled pork, tomatoes, and housemade pickles between homemade buns), and Austin got the Blue Roan (bleu cheese-stuffed patty with horseradish sauce, red onion, tomatoes, and lettuce between homemade buns). For both, the meat was a letdown as it wasn't very juicy despite the cheese and needed more salt. Interesting concept but they definitely need more work. Their size also led to a fairly tall burger that was slightly difficult to bite into.



I opted for a sandwich but was told my initial choice was unavailable. Why weren't we told this ahead of time? While my first choice had roasted pork and pulled pork, my options afterward were just a pulled pork sandwich or pork belly sandwich. Of course I couldn't deny pork belly but I believe that the waitress should have told me ahead of time that it would cost more than my original choice! The pork belly itself was quite succulent and delicious but everything else on that plate was lackluster including the very dry Texas toast it came with.



Though we were all feeling stuffed, the waitress convinced us to give the desserts a try. Unfortunately, she also didn't tell us what was unavailable until we asked so we kept asking about different ones; ultimately, we ended with their supposed signature dessert of butterscotch cake. Sorry but it was unpleasantly chewy and much too sweet. It wasn't a good thing to end with but in the end, I have to give the stars to them for their excellent libations (that was what they created the restaurant for anyway!), appetizers, atmosphere, and service. I'd probably drop by for drinks in the future but not really the entrees.

Photography by Duc Duong.

I have been meaning to try and cook Thai curry for a while now, mainly because it's such a comfort food for me that I figured I should at least learn how to make it. When browsing online for recipes, I noticed that many people tended to use the green curry paste instead of making their own. Ever the curious one, I decided I would make (just about) everything from scratch instead of resorting to a tin can that was packaged whoever knows how long ago. It turned out deliciously well - I'll need to make it again! Authentic recipes call for kaffir lime leaves but since I couldn't find any in my area, I replaced with lime juice, lime zest, and bay leaves.

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 6-8 servings)

Paste

• 4 green Thai chiles, minced
• 2 stalks lemongrass, finely minced
• 3 tsps brown sugar
• 5 tbsps fish sauce
• 4 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsps ground cumin
• 2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, halved
• 2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, sliced
• 1 lime, zest only
• 1/2 lime, juice only
• 2 cups cilantro, loosely packed & roughly chopped
• 1 cup Thai basil, finely chopped
• 2 tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tbsp coconut milk

Curry

• 2 cans coconut milk
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 32 oz. extra firm tofu, cubed
• 1/2 lime, juice only
• 1 lime, zest only
• 2 cups bamboo, strips
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• basil

Step 2: Making the paste
The one mistake I made while making the paste was not pulsing it into a smooth enough paste. That's not to say it wasn't delicious; it's just to say that the texture wasn't as smooth as desired. To fix this, make sure you use a great food processor/blender! The lemongrass is the toughest to grind down. The paste requires a lot of prepwork - mince lemongrass, mince chiles (be careful of the heat!), chop onions, peel & halve garlic, slice ginger, zest a lime, chop cilantro, and chop basil. Add all paste ingredients in a food processor/blender and pulse until a smooth paste. The coconut milk is to help everything blend better. Fun fact: did you know that though recipes may call for you to use coriander leaves, that's actually the correct name for cilantro? So, use cilantro and don't fret about running to find some obscure plant! Place paste into large skillet or pot, add a little oil on medium heat, and stir for about 2 minutes as paste becomes more fragrant.


Step 3: Prepping curry ingredients
This recipe is nearly vegetarian save for the fish sauce. I decided to make it with tofu instead of chicken since we're trying to eat healthier at home. Chop tofu blocks into 1-inch or smaller cubes and pan-fry on a large skillet briefly until sides are slightly golden. This will prevent tofu from being too squishy when added to the curry. Zest another lime. For bamboo, slice into strips. Red bell pepper and zucchini can be thinly sliced. Add bay leaves and coconut milk into skillet/pot of paste.


Step 4: Finishing
Stir frequently for a few minutes before adding in tofu. Stir in vegetables, zest, and lime juice. Stir frequently. Bring to a simmer before taking off heat and serving. We had ours with rice! Enjoy!


Photography by Duc Duong.

It's a beautiful morning to grab some delicious scones, Kéan coffee, and a pressed sandwich to-go, isn't it? Luckily for you, Blackmarket Bakery opened its second location just yesterday. This one is nestled in the warm foodie embrace of The Camp in Costa Mesa, and what a space they have! The floor to ceiling windows on the facade of the building allow curious passerbys to peer at the baking process and see the wonderful desserts moving from flour and butter to tasty delights. Duc and I dropped by this past Sunday during their private pre-opening to see how the space had changed since the last time we were there for a preview. What a difference a few days make!


I have to give it to them - they know what they're doing. Their signature little mobile sits at the entrance for customers to look at and grab a menu from. Nifty new business cards also sit inside one of their baskets. In the corner is a dining areas with just a few tables (four in all I believe), allowing for some cozy get-togethers. The walls are adorably adorned with hand-painted still lifes of the bakery's goods itself (lovingly crafted by the owner's mother).


Before you even get to the counter, you find yourself staring at tables laden with local artisan goodies (let's be honest - mostly chocolates, coffees, and spreads) as well as Blackmarket Bakery exclusives and packaged baked goods. Check out the retro metal lunchboxes! Pick some of these up if you're looking to get going soon or stick around for some fresh food.


Plates of freshly baked cookies, muffins, scones, bars, and the like cover the front counter in tantalizing displays. When you know that Chef Rachel Klemek has created these goodies with whole, quality ingredients, you are easily tempted to have some. We got to sample their peanut butter blondies and oh my. I think I lost Duc for a moment there (he has a crazy obsession with peanut butter). This 1800 square foot space is not kidding around when it comes to sating your sweet tooth. I love how their philosophy surrounds what they call a "retro-tisanl" outlook of paying homage to feel-good sweets for the soul and emotions but also focusing on what I'll call the "good stuff" for ingredients. The space also gives a sense of that with a modern design incorporation to a local bakery look. Fun fact: the majority of the decor was done by Chef Rachel and her husband themselves including the counter, embellishments to the wall, and the metal dividers!

But what else makes this a fun bakery to come to? The people. They do truly love what they're doing and if you can't see that through the looking glass of the front windows, take a step inside to meet them. They'll all say hi! If you've been a fan of the Irvine location, the Costa Mesa spot will give you something you haven't seen yet - fresh retro breads, rolls, and pressed sandwiches. If you haven't heard of them, you need to drop by because their focus on quality ingredients (butter, eggs, flour, and sugar: blackmarket goods during WWII) as the base of their goods shines through in every finished product. Find them at 2937 Bristol Street, Suite D-100A, Costa Mesa 92626.

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook.

Happy new year fellow foodies! It's been pretty cold this winter so far even for southern California (yes, we're wimps), so when my Test Kitchen ingredient for last week was seaweed, I decided to go a warmer route than attempting sushi. Don't worry - I'll tackle that one day! Anyhow, miso soup is a definite favorite among the people I'm close to so it made sense to give that a shot. Luckily for us, Costa Mesa has quite a few places that cater to any Japanese needs so I could find some fresh miso paste to use. I bought the kind that came with dashi stock infused already but if you're looking to make your own stock, I encourage you to try.

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 6-8 servings)

• 8 cups water
• 14 oz. soft tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 oz. dried wakame seaweed
• 6 tbsps miso paste
• green onions, sliced for topping

Step 2: Prepping the ingredients
Start a large pot on high heat with your water. While waiting for it to boil, prepare remaining ingredients. For tofu, make sure to press out excess water before cutting into blocks. This will allow it to absorb more of the soup. On a separate plate, slice up green onions for topping. For dried wakame, pour into a shallow bowl and add cold water until all pieces are covered. Let soak for 5 minutes - they will open up quickly.


Step 3: Finishing
Once water in the pot is boiling, add in wakame and tofu. Cook for 3 minutes before removing from heat. Add in miso paste and stir until dissolved. Put back on heat and cook until just before boiling - you typically would not boil miso soup as it destroys the cultures in the paste. Take off heat and serve. Top with green onion and enjoy!


This week's Test Kitchen ingredient: cauliflower
"Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head (the white curd) is eaten. The cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem. Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having flower buds. Its name is from Latin caulis (cabbage) and flower. Brassica oleracea also includes cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, and collard greens, though they are of different cultivar groups." [Wikipedia]

Can you believe I haven't really cooked with cauliflower before? I'm not counting the times when I've just steamed it to have with rice. I just mean in general! Anyhow, comment on Facebook on what I should do with it!


Photography by Duc Duong.