The last few months have been incredibly hectic. Between work, travel, and odd projects around the house, there isn’t enough time in the day (and night) to accomplish everything on my list. Unfortunately after all the tasks are done for the day, the last thing I desire to do is sit even longer on the computer and wade through photo upon photo to try to finish some long overdue posts. So that basically explains the horrid infrequency of new entries on the blog, and for that I’m sorry. And yet another weekend away from home, this time it’s a last minute trip to NYC to celebrate a very special birthday. And on that note, here are some snapshots from last year’s visit that I never got around to posting.

And oh, by the way, happy birthday, sweetheart!

If you pictured Istanbul to be a crowded and bustling mecca, a myriad of narrow alleyways and meandering hilly streets, where around every corner persuasive but charming men hawked carpets and spices between sips of Turkish coffee and bites of baklava, far away travelers entranced as much by the vast array of goods as by the hypnotic adhan or Islamic call to prayer echoing from the towering minarets above, you wouldn’t be too far from the truth. There’s another side however, that belies most people’s perception of this city of old world charm. Istanbul is surprisingly modern, stylish, and chic.

A perfect example is the W Istanbul. Off the beaten tourist path just steps away from the modest Beşiktaş market lies the first European outpost of the designer hotel chain, nestled between exclusive über-posh boutiques from Marc Jacobs, Jimmy Choo, Bottega Veneta, Fred Perry, and Paul Smith. Pulling up the cobblestone driveway, I felt as if we were being dropped off on Rodeo Drive. The grandly lit facades and meticulously maintained streets had an uncanny resemblance to our own Beverly Hills. On most nights, the overwhelming presence of well-dressed pleasure seekers in their Ferraris, Aston Martins, and Mercedes did little to refute the fact that this (and the nearby Nişantaşı district) was the playground for Istanbul’s privileged.

The property is smallish by typical W standards, but the rooms are nicely appointed, though bordering on belly-dancing-ish kitsch. They do have some crazy options for those with unlimited budgets (alas not me), like rooms with private courtyard cabanas. I can’t really complain though, as thanks to some gifted Starwood points we were still able to indulge in a little bit of luxury.

I have to admit I felt a little guilty staying in an American mega-chain hotel when I should have been sampling something a bit more Turkish, but nothing was more comforting than having a place to come back to every night where you know you’d be taken care of.

Ah yes, kick off those shoes and rest those weary feet.

What about the Turkish food you ask? I know I know, that’s coming up next..

A week before I left on my trip to Istanbul, Turkey, I got a surprise email from the lovely Kristina Gill of design*sponge’s in the kitchen with series, asking if I would be interested in submitting a recipe. Of course my answer was a resounding “heck yeah!”. I thought about what I could make, and bounced a few ideas back and forth with Kristina. I fell back on an old standby and told her I would shoot and submit the recipe when I returned from my trip.

After an incredible week in exotic Istanbul, I was completely enamored with everything Turkish; the city, the people, and especially the food. On one of our last days in this wonderful city, we sampled some amazing baklava from the famous Baklavacı Güllüoğlu. They had seemingly dozens of different varieties, but the one I was drawn to the most (and a customer favorite from what I hear), was their chocolate baklava. Thin sheets of chocolate phyllo, layered with nuts and chocolate. Crisp, chewy, sticky, decadent. I was smitten. It dawned on me what I should really make for my post: a twist on that baklava, a chocolate hazelnut version drizzled with cardamom honey!

Check out the full post with more photos and recipe on design*sponge… thanks Kristina and Grace!

special delivery

warmed up, with a scoop of vanilla, oh so good!

It’s been a month already and Istanbul is still on my mind. I can’t remember the last place I had the opportunity of visiting that completely and utterly captured my heart, soul, and stomach. I recall clearly the puzzled expressions and concerned tones I received when I told my family and friends that I would be visiting Turkey on my next trip. “Why Turkey? What’s in Istanbul? Isn’t it dangerous? Why don’t you go to Spain or Italy instead?” I wanted to say, “Why it’s the 2010 European Capital of Culture!” or “It has an incredible array of historic sites and monuments.” or “It’s really cosmopolitan and modern!” While all of those statements are completely valid, the real reason and overwhelming deciding factor that Istanbul made the cut was that it was the only viable destination on the short list that wouldn’t conflict with our travel during the week preceding Easter Sunday. Most of the desirable cities in South America and Europe (places we wanted to go to) I was told, shut down during that week. “Everything will be closed, even the restaurants.” Gasp. That’s the whole purpose of traveling, right? Is to eat?

Well I have to say, Istanbul really sealed the deal because it’s been touted as one of the most exciting food cities as of late, and trust me, it didn’t disappoint. While the food coverage will have to wait for the next post, I leave you with a few images from the trip that will hopefully illustrate the beauty, mystery, and charm of this exotic city. Lots more to come…

If you love to eat, one of the hardest questions to answer is “what is your favorite restaurant?” I often stumble when asked this, but it only takes a quick jogging of the brain to conclude that the place you return to time and time again, will most likely score very high on that list. One such restaurant is Ikko in Costa Mesa, CA. Of the countless times that we have dined at Ikko, very seldom did we leave any less than fully sated, with happy stomachs and content smiles on our faces. Amidst the various orders of sushi, appetizers and small plates, one dish we ask for almost every visit is their radish salad. It’s a very unassuming dish, comprised of batons of crisp, crunchy daikon, herbaceous rounds of red radishes, and bright, grassy radish sprouts. The vegetables are dressed in a lighter-than-air vinaigrette, with a delightful bouquet of floral yuzu juice. The dressing is neither cloying or over seasoned, but serves to perfectly accentuate the mild, cucumber-flavor of the radishes. And to top off, a mound of fried sweet potato ‘noodles’ adds nice color and texture.

When I’m craving a little Japanese at home, I like to make this salad to pair up with bites of sushi. It’s a great accompaniment and contrast to rich and decadent negi toro maki (tuna belly roll) and uni nigiri (sea urchin sushi), both which are also absolutely sublime at Ikko. It’s a fairly simple salad to make, if you can find the ingredients at your local Japanese market. The only semi time-consuming part is making the basil oil (and the fried sweet potato noodles, which I omit), but I do find that it’s just as good without it. So if you’re in a rush, feel free to totally skip this step.

slow drip basil oil... isn't that green just amazing?

I really thought I could make it. The dish seemed so simple; a plate of creamy polenta,  layered with soft, savory taleggio and parmesan, the rich yolk oozed like a golden lava flow as I punctured the egg with my fork. It was sublime, and of course I kept thinking to myself, I could totally do this at home, nothing to it. Piece of cake.

Um yeah. In capable hands, maybe. My attempt at recreating the dish I had at the wonderful Tasting Kitchen in Venice weeks earlier was a total flop. To be honest, I’m not really sure where I went wrong. All I can remember was sitting down with a bowl of this stuff after wasted hours in the kitchen cooking and shooting and not even being able to finish even half of it. It was just blah. So bad, that the previous fond memories of the original were muddled and tainted by the failed copy. I had basically written off the idea until a few days later, while shopping for another dish, I had a light bulb moment. What if I replaced the polenta with risotto? And while I’m at it, add some bacon, because who doesn’t love bacon and eggs. And ditch the taleggio because the wet sock thing wasn’t doing it for me.

Ok, so I ended up with a completely different dish. Every bit as good as the inspiration, if not better. The poached egg goes so well with the cheesy risotto, and the texture of the rice is more comforting than polenta. It is a little more breakfast-themed, which is totally doable on a weekend morning, but if we can have breakfast 24 hours a day at Denny’s, why not this risotto for dinner? Just skip the coffee if you plan on sleeping after.

Mmm… farmers’ market eggs. Get the best ones you can, because it’s all about the eggs!

For cheese, I went with a Comté, or French Gruyere. Melts nicely and partners up well with Parmesan.

There’s that lava flow I was talking about.

I have to tell you about my new favorite pasta. I’m absolutely in love with orecchiette (oh-rayk-kee-EHT-teh), a dimple of a pasta with a funny name. Orecchiette, which actually means “little ears” in Italian, is typically made by pressing the thumb into a small round of pasta dough against a wooden board. The resulting rough irregular shape does resemble a little ear, though the commercially available versions are more uniformly dome-shaped. A good quality orecchiette will have a textured or ridged outer surface, which beautifully clings onto sauce while the saucer-like concave side is perfect for grabbing onto little nuggets of goodness. With its toothsome bite, this pasta eats surprisingly heartily, which also makes it well suited for pairing with vegetables and lighter ingredients.

My favorite preparation of orecchiette is simply with Italian sausage and rapini (also known as broccoli rabe). The combination came to me while perusing my local market as I was trying to let the freshest ingredients inspire the dish. Here I was thinking I was being creative and resourceful, to later find out that orecchiette with sausage and rapini is quite a classic pairing. So much for originality, but hell, it sure is tasty.

The key to cooking with orecchiette, in my opinion, is to make all the ingredients similarly sized. In this dish, the ground sausage meat, diced onion, and chopped rapini are all easily picked up by the dimples of the pasta, cradling flavor with every fork or spoonful. On the topic of flavor, the semi-one pot nature of this dish helps to build layers upon layers of it. The sausage browns first, then the onions get sauteed in the pork fat. The rapini and garlic gets cooked in the same pot as well, the steam from the leaves helps pull off the fond or brown crusty bits. A generous handful of cheese at the end lends richness and an extra hint of salt, while the lemon-scented breadcrumbs adds a nice textural contrast and a bright citrusy note. If you’re pressed for time, skip the breadcrumbs but do add the lemon zest to the dish.

I do have to admit that I haven’t tried making orecchiette any other way, though many ideas come to mind (with gorgonzola and crumbled bacon, cold with pesto and ripe cherry tomatoes, or a with rich hearty bolognese). I’m just content for now to have it this way, because it’s so good.

In Southern California, we’re blessed with a relatively mild and short winter season. Incredibly, while the rest of the country may still be under a blanket of snow, here it’s already warming up to the low 70s during the day. That doesn’t mean a nice, piping mug of hot chocolate isn’t welcomed in the early morning hours, or late at night (in my case, since I’m not much of a morning person).

Inspiration for this drink came from an amazing hot chocolate I had at a bar after a day of snowboarding at our local mountains. It was so incredibly rich, creamy, and comforting I found myself enjoying it more than the pale ale I had ordered for myself. After returning from my trip, I had to try recreating it at home.

For richness, I used whole chocolate instead of cocoa powder. I’m sure cocoa powder would have been fine, but the combination of bitter dark chocolate and creamy milk chocolate just seemed more indulgent and sinful. The addition of lavender was inspired by the lovely latte and waffles drizzled with chocolate lavender sauce from Café Medina. At this point you’re probably thinking, gross, I don’t want my hot chocolate smelling like soap. Trust me, with just the right amount, it’s wonderfully soothing and relaxing.

Give it a shot, and let me know what you think!