I made these chocolate pistachio biscotti for those mornings when all you want to do is linger a little longer and savor the random things that you never thought you would miss. As an intern, I did do a fair share of paperwork and heavy lifting, but it was definitely worth it for things like walking by Egyptian antiquities everyday on my way to the office and taking “art breaks” to see the latest installation of a crazy new contemporary piece or a full eighteenth century gown.

You want to start off with a cup of shelled pistachios. Pistachios are such a pain to shell, so if you just got a manicure, put on some gloves or make these when you are about to go in for some pampering. Such pretty colors; I love the mix of the aubergine and chartreuse!

Flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt: whisk altogether in a bowl.

Add three eggs (preferably at room temperature) and beat gently until a crumbly dough forms. I was admittedly quite skeptical at this step because the eggs don’t incorporate that easily into the cocoa powder, but have faith!

It will kind of look clumpy like this. That is totally okay!

In the meantime, blend together some brown sugar and butter.

Add vanilla and almond extracts. I didn’t have coffee extract (which is what the recipe suggests) but if you do, I can only imagine that it enhances the chocolate flavor in the most heavenly way. Ignore the fact that my gooey, drippy bottle of vanilla has been replaced with a more photogenic, unopened one!

Incorporate the cocoa powder/flour/egg mixture with the brown sugar/butter/extracts mixture. With the KitchenAid on medium, I got this rich, crumbly texture in about 4-5 minutes (maybe a bit more).

My favorite step: Adding the pistachios and the chocolate chips. I know every legitimate chocolatier will disagree, but I think cloudy chocolate is really pretty!

Fold the nuts and chocolate into the biscotti dough until evenly distributed.

Situate the dough on a cookie sheet and form into a log. At this point, I realized my nut/chocolate to dough ratio was a bit out of hand, so I may recommend reducing the nuts or the chocolate by 1/4 cup.

After baking and cooling, slice, flip on its side, and bake again. This ensures the biscotti have a satisfying crunch and developed flavor.

Mine came out more mini than is the norm because I thought I was clever and had enough to make two logs. Nonetheless, this allowed me to eat two on my way to work!

Because the pistachios were freshly shelled and I was liberal with the chocolate chips, this biscotti definitely beats anything you’d get from a coffee chain or even from Costco (Nonni’s, anyone?). My boyfriend loved snacking on these while doing his homework and they were gone quickly. If only shelling pistachios wasn’t such a pain…

I adapted Michelle Myer’s recipe from Food and Wine’s website. You can find the ingredients and my notes reproduced below. The full recipe is here.

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon pure coffee extract
• 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 7 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (I would consider 1 cup of chocolate chips sufficient.)
• 1 cup unsalted shelled pistachios (Maybe consider 3/4 cup of pistachios.)

Pink grapefruit sandwich cookies from one of Martha Stewart’s recipes is a nice girly cookie to counteract the rather blah constants in my life right now, like my androgynous, de facto school outfit of black workout pants and a hoodie. Admittedly, the recipe is not 100% perfect, but baking for me is as much about the process as it is about the product.

Start with a nice juicy pink grapefruit and your zester.

Zest all around, and juice the grapefruit.

Mix the zest around with a tablespoon of sugar.

Whisk the dry ingredients together. That’s your flour, cake flour, salt, and baking powder.

Cream together room temperature butter and sugar until nice and fluffy.

Two egg yolks go into the sugar and butter mixture. My yolk broke.

Incorporate the sugary zest…

Add a portion of the dry ingredients…

Mix, and then alternate with the grapefruit juice.

Beautiful, fluffy, soft (but wet and hard to handle) dough! So we wrap it up and refrigerate it for a little bit. After an hour or two, roll it out and get some round-ish cookie cutters.

I really wish these cookies kept their shape more… I love these fluted biscuit cutters.

At the very least, using cookie cutters (as opposed to just rolling dough balls like you would for drop cookies) keeps the cookies a consistent size and shape so that making them little sandwiches is much easier.

Now make the filling.

I love the slight tinge of pink from the grapefruit juice.

Fill. Enjoy the messiness of frosting.

Consume.

Full recipe can be found on Martha Stewart’s website.

Likewise, an adequately supplied classroom with well-prepared teachers requires basics like paper, working dry erase markers, and of course, books! When our teachers can’t get the supplies they need, the quality of education children receive degrades. A recent campaign through Smart & Final is going to  help ease some of the budget burdens on our teachers today. The California Milk Advisory Board’s “Help Our Teachers, Help Our Kids” promotion gives teachers an opportunity to receive 25 Scholastic books or a $25 gift card for school supplies! To help a teacher of your choice, all you need to do is collect the California Milk Advisory Board seals on First Street products. The great thing is, these seals are on products that are common household necessities: milk, butter, cheese, and if you’re in my household, ice cream. It’s not like you need to buy a random box of cereal, crackers, or miscellaneous junk food that you otherwise wouldn’t buy, instead, this is about buying something that you would ordinarily buy, and helping a great cause along the way.

This is my Smart & Final. Mine. But I can share with you if you really want me to.

This is how easy it is to buy something that qualifies for the program! Do you see that nice, yellow, graphically pleasing seal in the upper-left?

How about now? Bingo. It qualifies!

With the milk, it’s even easier to find the seal. (Don’t forget, for extra savings, look for a $0.30 coupon in your newspaper if you’re from Southern California.)

On your way out, feel free to grab some wonderful ice cream from First Street. A personal favorite of mine is Moose Tracks: Vanilla ice cream with fudge and peanut butter cups. Glorious!

So, do you have a school in mind that is truly deserving? I am thinking that you should go to FirstStreetSupportsSoCalSchools.com and say something. It’s a matter of $200, $300, even $500 for your school, because between now and February, three winners will be chosen each month.

You now have an opportunity to shop smart and help the local community. 25 books can mean a whole lot to a group of kids. And that’s final. (Haha…)

Disclaimer: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias (#Cbias). I received compensation to help promote this great program. But I genuinely love milk, butter, and Moose Tracks ice cream.

This particular craving compelled me to seek out Bouchon’s Beverly Hills location. I went in the middle of the week before my homework started piling up and before my extra-curricular obligations began to have time commitments more substantial than my classes. It was very sunny and and just humid enough to make dining en plein air a bit uncomfortable. But once the food started coming, the troubles disappeared as quickly as my appetizer, my sandwich, and my dessert.

Dining at Bouchon is meant to be a playful experience. These breadsticks definitely contributed to the more casual atmosphere and it was kind of fun munching on them while holding them like old-fashioned cigarettes, Audrey Hepburn-style.

The menu is simple, but there is enough variety to make it difficult to choose! In typical Thomas Keller fashion, a few things are in quotes.

And to make your agony even more apparent, they also have a nice chalkboard with specials. I think if I had come with Stephen or another friend, we would have definitely gotten oysters. I guess I could have ordered them by myself, but I feel like I always eat oysters with another person…

For an appetizer, I went with some hummus and pita. The garlic oil on the pita combined with the chives and paprika on the hummus were great together. I love hummus and this was very satisfying. It is definitely intended for two people, so I ended up bringing the rest back for Stephen.

The came my sandwich! I went with the Sandwich à la Dinde, or turkey sandwich. Each layer of the sandwich is meticulously constructed. The nutty, cranberry flecked bread, the hefty mustard, and moist slices of turkey stacked up to be an epic re-imagination of a lunchtime standby. The pickles, though small, had tons of briny flavor. Potato chips were fine, but not incredible.

Though I felt very full and still had half a sandwich left, I couldn’t leave without ordering dessert! This is Bouchon’s lemon parfait. Isn’t it beautiful?

The menu states that it has some shortbread crumble inside… but I didn’t taste any shortbread flavors or textures. I love shortbread, so that would have been a nice contrast to the heavy, tangy creaminess of the parfait. This dessert is for someone that really likes citrus! (Me!)

Service at Bouchon is of course, perfection. My waiter was very patient, knowledgeable, and competent. He was successful in making me feel at ease right away.

After I finished dessert, I wandered over to the little closet-sized space that housed the bakery itself. Here is where the story sort of ends on a sad note. I bought two macaroons and a TKO (Thomas Keller Oreo) intending to photograph and consume them later that day. The weather was so uncooperative that the center of the TKO basically dissolved into a gooey (but yummy) mess and the macaroons stuck to each other slightly. I put everything back in the refrigerator to regain some stability, but they really are the most delicate confections that do not travel well.

Bouchon is also located near Spago. I can’t wait to go back both places!

Bouchon Bistro & Bakery
235 North Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310 271 9910

Then, beat together unsalted butter and brown sugar. (Look, no mixer needed!)

Add eggs and vanilla.

Get your whole hazelnuts ready. These are from Whole Foods, and were quite affordable. They come in a plastic box that holds enough hazelnuts for a few recipes. Place the hazelnuts in a single layer and toast them for about 15 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 375 degrees.

This will cause the skins to blacken and blister. Place the toasted nuts in a kitchen towel and cover for a few minutes (this allows the nuts to steam a little). Rolling covered nuts within the towel will cause the skins to flake off. For a more thorough job, rub each one individually, but don’t worry too much if not all the skin comes off.

Combine the dry ingredients with the wet.

Prepare your Nutella. For me, a pristine jar of Nutella holds as much optimism, love, and good will as a teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers.

Get a good dollop of Nutella into the bowl. Though the recipe prescribes a heaping tablespoon, I think triple that amount is appropriate.

Chop, chop!

Combine until all the nuts are evenly integrated.

Bake!

Dense, chewy, and nutty, with an underlying chocolate flavor that coats the tongue. The richness of Nutella is much more prominent in these blondies than when it’s spread on a piece of toast.

You’ll probably want an extra jar or two of Nutella lying around.

Because if you think you consume these just straight up…

… you would be wrong. This is the official, Martha-endoresed way to eat these blondies. We wouldn’t want to disappoint her now, would we?

Hazelnut Blondies (Nutella Blondies) from Martha Stewart

• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skins rubbed off with a kitchen towel, and chopped
• 1 heaping tablespoon chocolate-hazelnut spread, such as Nutella, plus more for serving

Seeing that I ate here over a month ago and did not have the foresight to write down everything our wonderful waiter said about each course, there will be less detail about each flavor profile. However, I hope you get a sense of how wonderful, fun, and enjoyable our anniversary dinner was.

We had requested a “well-lit table” for photography purposes. Consequently, we sat outdoors and had a beautiful view of the intimate courtyard in the restaurant. I really liked how quirky the chairs were, in case you can’t really tell, they have fish and a swirly motif that is supposed to represent a fire. Together, according to our waiter, these represent the joy of cooking for the chefs.

Though our waiter was slightly confused about the tasting menu, he promptly resolved the miscommunication with the kitchen and our menus were whisked away. I think we did not realize that perhaps Spago does not offer a tasting menu on Fridays and Saturdays due to high traffic. Either way, we were thrilled when he came back and allowed us to do a five-course tasting.

The amuses began. I don’t remember what this is other than some kind of tartare in a crispy, nutty tasting croquette (sesame, I am sure).

I am not really sure what this is… but I think it was another kind of tartare. And it was wonderful.

This was the smoked salmon on lemon-scented blini. Stephen and I loved it. The creaminess and the tang really enhanced the buttery smoked salmon and the extra bite from onions and chives was delicious. We wished we each had like, five more.

Some kind of heirloom tomato tart. Stephen and I aren’t huge fans of tomatoes, but it was still good. I loved how crunchy the shell was.

Oh my, this amuse was ridiculous. Bacon confit in a little pastry housing. It came out to us freshly baked, and the bacon inside was rich, salty, and creamy. Again, we wished we could eat about three more.

The assortment of bread was wonderful. We both especially liked their sourdough and country breads.

Beautiful tomato sorbet to cleanse the palate. Stephen was a bit surprised at all the tomato things, but we enjoyed it all the same.

This was an heirloom tomato salad, with avocado, lavender, some cheese, onions, etc. It was really fun to taste different tomatoes with different flavors and see it all play together well. The avocado one was our favorite (no surprise there).

Our second course was this fish course atop a pea purée with chili flakes and some clams. Perfectly cooked fish, and the pee purée was lovely.

This dish was nothing short of incredible. The thin slices of truffles melted in my mouth along with the cheese-filled, eggy pasta. Rich, but portioned perfectly, Stephen and I really loved this.

Next was this pretty, assymetrical plate of lamb. Interestingly, each piece was a different cut of lamb and had a different texture. All pieces were unbelievably tender.

Dessert was this strawberry mille-feuille with a raspberry sorbet. A thoughtful ending to a well-balanced meal. I was relieved that it was not a heavy, chocolatey confection.

Despite the brevity of my commentary, I hope that the spirit and the substance of the meal was conveyed. I wanted to especially note that the service at Spago was top-notch. Stephen did not realize that the bill had already included a gratuity and had tipped accordingly. We had already left the restaurant and walked about half a block when our waiter, Rafael, while running, flagged us down informing us that the extra gratuity was not necessary. His integrity was impressive and a testament to the emphasis on quality at Spago. In fact, Rafael and Robert (another member of the waitstaff while we dined there) were both wonderful.

I hope to return to Spago soon and hopefully next time, we don’t confuse their waiters on a busy Friday night!

Spago
176 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310 385 0880

As their burger sales continue to surge, there are plans to expand to more locations, and even open a sandwich shop, Umamicatessen. (No comment on how well that rolls off the tongue…) With burgers as juicy and unique as the ones found at their five locations around Los Angeles, I think it’s only a matter of time until people start lining up outside their usually energetic and packed locations around the country.

Pretty much everything on the menu is amazing, though some are more amazing than others. A good way to start the meal though, is definitely with a Mexican Coke. Seriously, restaurants just need to start serving Mexican Coke standard.

Though the tempura onion rings may be tempting, I’d recommend going with the sweet potato fries instead. The onion rings are pretty good, but the sweet potato fries are out of this world.

Or the smushed potatoes. Double-fried nuggets of deliciousness dipped in garlic aioli.

Stephen went with the Hatch Burger. It has four types of green chiles. According to their menu, it will “spice up your life.”

I went with the Umami Burger, which has shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted tomato, parmesan crisp, and umami ketchup (no Heinz here!).

I have also tried the truffle burger, but I the Umami Burger is so good it instills late night cravings.

Perfect summer dining and (at the Santa Monica location) free parking!

http://umamiburger.com/

It helps that the recipe is comprised of pedestrian, back-to-school type ingredients. Though I’m not due to start the fall quarter for another 3 weeks or so, I have to say it’s quite satisfying eating a schoolyard favorite without the schoolyard.

Start off with your dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder… Whisk.

Get your peanut butter ready in the wings. The recipe called for creamy, but I only had chunky. No big.

Beat the peanut butter, brown and white sugars, and butter in a mixer.

Add an egg to the mix. Make sure it’s not rotten before you put it in… (I have a revolting anecdote about a friend that was making cheesecake and had expired eggs!)

(My eggs were fine, I promise.)

Incorporate the dry ingredients in batches.

Add some oatmeal.

And chocolate chips. I used about 1/4 cup more than the recipe calls for. Feel free to do the same. I won’t tell.

I used a rubber spatula to get them distributed evenly throughout the cookie dough.

While the oven is preheating, get the dough onto some cookie sheets.

Ta-da!

Yes.

Hello ooey gooey chocolate from a fresh-baked cookie!

An instant classic!

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Brown Eyed Baker)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup creamy crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

Food is a wonderful way to travel. From delectable lemongrass chicken bánh mí out of a food truck to homey braised short rib ravioli from a TV chef’s restaurant, just a quick sampling of Los Angeles’ diverse food scene makes apparent the range of food experiences to be had. Earlier in the summer, Stephen and I drove to a posh hotel called the London on a balmy evening to try Gordon Ramsay’s tasting menu in the name of 1,000 dining points on OpenTable.

My last meal from Gordon Ramsay’s repertoire was when I was in London. Though food at the London was perhaps not quite as flawless as the food I had in London, we both an enjoyable time and would definitely return to enjoy some of the more extraordinary plates we tried.

As I write this, there is a tab open in my browser for my ongoing search for truffle oil. Though Anthony Bourdain has wailed about the gratuitous abuse of truffle oil, I have found myself dreaming of ways to recreate this simply addicting, super luxe version of cheese and crackers. According to our waiter, it is crostini with mascarpone cheese, garlic, and truffle oil.

OpenTable says that the restuarant serves French/Contemporary French food. Though perhaps many of the ingredients and cooking techniques are classically French, I am inclined to suggest that the tasting menu at the London exhibits international influences, with clear borrowings from Spain and Italy.

While we waited for our appetizer, we nibbled on some wonderfully crusty and loose bread and butter. Because we were eating an early dinner, the dining room was still relatively empty. It definitely filled up quickly halfway through our meal.

Stephen had a grilled kingfish crudo with pomegrante, chilled cucumber, and breakfast radish. The dish was beautiful, fresh, and tasty.

I had the chilled shrimp and melon gazpacho with green beans and avocado. Often I find myself overwhelmed by the sweetness and juiciness of heirloom tomatoes, but I enjoyed this dish because there was enough acidity from the dressing, saltiness from the shrimp, and creaminess from the avocado that it all worked well. I also really liked how they curled all the elements in these delicate tendrils on the plate.

Next, Stephen had a crabcake with lemon (the precise description escapes me) and it was phenomenal. Hands down, one of the tastiest crab cakes I’ve ever had. It was flaky, not overly oily, well-seasoned, and not fishy tasting at all. It was also well-composed enough to not fall apart completely when eating, but retained the wonderful texture of individual fibers of the crab meat.

I got the foie gras and toasted chcolate cherry brioche with smoked vanilla bean ice cream. This dish was probably the most unexpected in terms of its flavor profile, and I’m not completely convinced that I liked it. The foie gras had a nice sear, but it was quite salty and needed something to pair it that wasn’t sweet and rich like the strong cherry and the chocolate flavors. I thought the vanilla bean ice cream, though it looked dramatic on the plate, was probably not necessary as it didn’t add much to the plate. Maybe something refreshing like lime with cucumber would have been nice.

For the main course, I went with veal loin and shrimp, crispy sweetbreads, and Thai curry sauce.  The presentation was, as you can see, warm, welcoming, and elegant. The food was very tasty as I can recall, but not hugely memorable. Though moist and tender, the meat didn’t really gain anything from being paired with the curry sauce… perhaps the curry flavor could have been a bit stronger?

Stephen went with duck breast with blueberries and pine nut cassoulet. Though the cassoulet was delicious, the pine nuts almost had a bean-like texture with lots of yummy spices, the skin was not nearly crispy enough and the meat was much tougher than anticipated. The blueberries were unexpected, but again, not necessarily in a great way. Similarly, the odd orangey marmalade atop the duck tasted misplaced and much too sweet. I can’t remember what was in the little bowl, but it was a bit like a brûléed, buttery cream of some sort. (Nothing like a yummy, mysterious, white condiment to keep the meal going!)

Next, we had a cheese plate. Stephen and I were both relieved that the cheese was something quite mild and enjoyable: a manchego cheese from Spain. I thought it went really well with the oaty raisin crostini, but Stephen was lukewarm about it.

Though we were both very full at this point, we just couldn’t abandon dessert. Stephen went with a selection of different sorbets. I believe the flavors were: Pomengrante, white peach, raspberry, citrus, and blueberry. The clear favorites were white peach and raspberry. The blueberry and pomegrante were decent. The citrus one was much, much too citrusy. It was bordering on Lysol-tasting. Eek!

I went with a mango souffle with caramel ice cream. The mango souffle could have had more mango flavor for me, but the ice cream was divine. Paired with the jar of whipped cream (I think), I was definitely enjoying myself.

After two hours, we left the London with full stomachs and good spirits. With great service, unexpected and mostly good food, the London is a good introduction to Gordon Ramsay’s fare.

Gordon Ramsay at the London, West Hollywood
1020 N. San Vicente Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310 358 7788

Though the cupcakes lack the signature strawberry frosting, I think chocolate ganache is a more refined, bold topping. Since I was transporting my creations via public transportation, I also did not want to risk any frosting mishaps.

Start off with some summer strawberries. Wash, hull, and run through the food processor.

Mix together strawberry mash with milk and vanilla. In another bowl, sift or whisk all the dry ingredients together.

Cream room temperature butter and sugar together in a mixer. (Eeek, terrible lighting!)

After adding eggs/egg whites, incorporate the dry ingredients.

And finally, the divine, but sort of gross-looking mixture of strawberry, vanilla, and milk. See, it’s looking better already!

I love when you get bits of strawberries in every bite, like in real strawberry ice cream.

The recipe makes 12 perfect cupcakes. Though some reviews online insisted that they came out grey, mine did not turn out that way. I kind of liked the subtle pink tones.

A dark chocolate ganache shell on the outside, sweet and soft strawberry cake on the inside.

This was my first time making chocolate ganache. Admittedly, I burned it on the first attempt (an unfortunate waste of awesome chocolate) the second attempt was luxurious and thick.

Enjoy.

Sprinkles’ Strawberry Cupcakes (via Oprah)

• 2/3 cup freshstrawberries
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour , sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup whole milk , room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg , room temperature
• 2 large egg whites , room temperature

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 22-25 minutes.