KCET FOOD

Closed on Mondays’ Saucy Meatballs on Garlic Toast

When a beloved neighborhood restaurant is full and humming at top volume by 5:30 p.m., chances are it’s on a weekend, or maybe a Thursday. On the occasional Monday, however, not only is Canelé in Atwater Village doing business on the day when the restaurant is usually shuttered, but it’s jam-packed with customers. And everyone — including many young families at that hour — is there because of Closed on Mondays, a dinner series organized by three women who resourcefully harness goodwill, strong appetites and available resources to help aid local grassroots food organizations.

Chef Aliza Miner has provided the following recipe for all-beef meatballs, which was among the entrée options at the last Closed on Mondays dinner. “I like the all beef flavor,” Miner explains. “Stock makes the sauce a little rounder, not so sharp.” It’s enough for a crowd of your own and ideally suited for relaxed weekend cooking. And you can enjoy the leftovers any day of the week, including Monday.

Closed on Mondays’ Saucy Meatballs on Garlic Toast
Serves: 10-12

For the meatballs:
4 pounds beef chuck or ground beef
3 cups fresh bread crumbs (see instructions below)
1/2 cup cream 
4 egg yolks
4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan

Chef’s note: Meatballs are best made by grinding fresh meat and the cream-soaked crumbs together. Otherwise it can be hard to evenly distribute the crumbs without over-mixing the meat. If you use ground meat, be careful not to overwork the mixture.

See the rest here!

Weekend Recipe: Fennel, Arugula and Radicchio Salad for a Picnic

This salad, the creation of KCET chef Joanne Weir, has a lot of flavor and a light dressing, making it great for picnics, especially if you store the dressing separately en route — and you may just want to have a picnic this weekend, in honor of the solar eclipse on Sunday. In Los Angeles, the moon will start to obscure the sun at 5:24 pm, reach maximum coverage at 6:38 pm, and exit the sun’s path at 7:42 pm. Make it dinner and a show! Add even more flavor to the salad by adding some grapefruit sections, if you like, and serve it with another picnic-friendly dish, Greek-Style Shrimp With Tomatoes and Feta.

Fennel, Arugula, and Radicchio Salad with Shaved Pecorino
Serves 6
2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed
1 small head radicchio, leaves separated and torn into 2-inch pieces
12 small radishes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsps white wine vinegar
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper
3-ounce piece of pecorino cheese, shaved into thin slices
1 bunch baby radishes with leaves, for garnish

See the rest here!

Weekend Recipe: Greek-Style Shrimp for a Picnic

A rare solar eclipse will cross over California on Sunday. In Los Angeles, the moon will start to obscure the sun at 5:24 pm, reach maximum coverage at 6:38 pm, and exit the sun’s path at 7:42 pm. Though the southern section of the state won’t get as show-stopping an eclipse as in the north, it’s still quite an event, and many are heading to the hills to view it.

We suggest packing a picnic, with this Greek-Style Shrimp With Tomatoes and Feta fromAmerica’s Test Kitchen as the main course. It’s great at home too, of course; if you’ll be transporting the dish a ways just increase the lemon a bit, and pack it in ice or a cooler. Remember, don’t look right at the sun — and remember to gaze upon dinner.

Greek-Style Shrimp With Tomatoes and Feta
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails off 
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
3 tablespoons ouzo (optional) 
5 medium garlic cloves, minced 
1 teaspoon grated zest of1 lemon 
salt and ground black pepper, to taste 
1 small onion, diced medium 
1 medium green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced 
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained, 1/3 cup juices reserved 
1/4 cup dry white wine 
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh parsley 
6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill leaves

See the rest here!

Weekend Recipe: Chili Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa

While any salmon will do for this recipe, KCET chef Nick Stellino recommends using sockeye, or red, salmon. It has a firm texture that lends itself nicely to grilling, and this month marks the start of the fish’s summer season. Pair this with our Savory Mini-Biscuits for any easy Mother’s Day lunch.

Serves 4
4 8-ounce fresh wild Alaskan sockeye fillets, skin on

For the salmon rub:
2 tablespoons Asian hot chili oil (Available at many upscale grocers and Asian specialty markets.)
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons mint, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste

For the summer mango salsa:
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 mango, peeled and diced
¼ cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon mint, chopped
1 tablespoon Thai basil, chopped
1 tablespoon reserved salmon rub mixture (See recipe.)
Salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste

See the rest here!

Weekend Recipe: Savory or Sweet Biscuits

Biscuits are a wonderful food for so many reasons. They’re quite simple to make. They taste outlandishly good for such a simple preparation. And, little floury snacks are extremely adaptable and take well to improvisation: unlike other baked goods, biscuits are more art than science.

This particular biscuit recipe, from KCET chef Laura Theodore, is vegan, making use of soy or almond milk and vegan mayo in place of dairy products. If you’re not vegan, try swapping in whole milk and plain yogurt for the very fluffiest biscuits ever. (Plain yogurt has become my secret baking weapon. Try it in scones and thank me later.)

To make a plain version of these blueberry biscuits, omit the vanilla extract and blueberries. If you’d like to make them even more savory, add 4 to 5 leaves of fresh sage, minced, and 8 to 9 leaves of fresh basil, minced. Or whatever herbs you’d like — have fun with it.

See the recipe here!

The Brown Derby’s Cobb Salad Recipe

The Brown Derby was one of early Hollywood’s legendary hotspots, but unlike the other restaurants to which the bold and the beautiful flocked, this one actually served excellent food. We got our hands on the original Cobb salad recipe (one of the owners, a one-time husband of Gloria Swanson, was named Cobb, so they have a legitimate claim to this recipe), and we really enjoyed the dressing choice here. Ranch was eschewed in favor of the lighter, more flavorful French dressing.

Cobb Salad
1/2 head of your favorite salad green
1/2 bunch watercress
1 small bunch chicory
1/2 head Romaine
2 peeled, if possible, tomatoes, medium
2 breasts poached chicken
6 strips of bacon, very crispy
1 avocado
3 hard boiled eggs
2 cups chopped chives
1 cup dressing (see recipe below)
1/2 cup grated or crumbled Roquefort or other blue cheese

See the rest here!

The Brown Derby’s Grapefruit Cake Recipe

Fresh or canned (and well drained) fruit both work here, so it’s an anytime recipe even for a locavore. We’re making this cake for Mother’s Day, along with the Brown Derby Cobb salad.

Grapefruit Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, separated
3 tbsps grapefruit juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Grapefruit Cream Cheese Frosting
2 - 6oz packages cream cheese
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon rind
3/4 cup powdered sugar
6 to 8 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
1 -1 lb can grapefruit sections, or fresh grapefruit in segments

See the rest here.