The LA Times Talks about CookWithJames!

Hi everyone, here’s a link to the article that the LA Times published on Nov 8th about underground restaurants and rogue chefs. We received a very nice mention as well as a quote from our friend Craig. If you haven’t already, check it out here:

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-underground8nov08,1,3426618.story

Cheers…James

Add comment November 28th, 2006

Roasted Beets Salad with Wood Barrel Feta & Thief Greens

This is a simple and beautiful salad which uses the seasonal ingredients of Autumn. It almost helps us forget that we’re about to enter the dead of Winter. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
-approximately 1.5 pounds of fresh organic beets (any color is fine, I like to mix red with yellow)
-best quality sea salt (fleur de sel)
-best quality extra virgen olive oil
-best quality wood barrel Greek feta cheese
-your favorite mix of greens (my thief mix includes 13 different greens mixed together)
-2 tablespoons of fresh mint, chopped finely
Pick your beets carefully. Be sure that the beet green tops (which are great when cooked in the same way as spinach or chard) are fresh and healthy. That is a sign of freshly picked beets. Take your beets and cut off the greens. Run them under cold water and rub them clean. Place them into a ceramic or oven proof baking dish still wet. Be sure they are not too crowded and then cover the dish tightly with foil. Place into a 425 degree oven and bake for 40 minutes or until done. You should be able to pass a sharp knife through the center of each beet without too much resistance.

Remove the beets and allow to cool. Use a paper towel to remove the skin from each of the beets. Slice the beets into 1/4 inch slices and set aside until ready to plate. At this point you can cover and refrigerate until your guests arrive.

To serve take a small amount of your mixed greens and arrange onto each plate. Add 4 slices of beets to each dish and then sprinkle a scant amount of fleur de sel over the top. Now sprinkle the chopped mint. Take the feta cheese (which should be room temperature) and crumble small pieces over and around each dish. Finally drizzle the extra virgen olive oil at the very end and serve immediately. Buon appetito!

Add comment November 26th, 2006

Death Trumpet Pasta

On a recent trip to the market I came upon some delectable Black Trumpet (known to the French as Death Trumpets) mushrooms. They are very black, delicate and earthy…a very sensuous and sexy mushroom to say the least. Here’s how I used them to prepare a delicious pasta.

See the video of James making this pasta by clicking here!

Ingredients (serves 4):

-1 pound pristine Black Trumpet mushrooms

-3 tablespoons unsalted butter

-Salt & pepper

-2 tablespoons chopped parsley

-1/2 cup heavy cream

-1/2 pound of Penne or Rigatoni dry pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and drop in your pasta. Cook the pasta just short of the package instructions to ensure it’s al dente. Most Penne or Rigatoni pasta takes about 10 minutes to cook which is ample time to handle the preparation of your mushrooms. However, feel free to cook the mushrooms first so that you are not worried about constantly checking on your pasta.

Now take the mushrooms and pick through them and remove any twigs, worms or other nasty bits. There’s no need to wash them as they will only absorb the water and become difficult to cook. In a large sautee pan add the 3 tablespoons of butter over medium high heat. Once melted and slightly bubbling (not browning) add the mushrooms and distribute evenly around the surface of the pan. Let them cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes so that they begin to carmelize.

Toss them gently in the pan and add a handful of salt so that they begin to release their juices. Sautee another 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms are glistening and perfectly cooked. (At this point you can turn off the heat if you haven’t already dropped in your pasta and then pick up the rest right before your pasta is ready). Next add the 1/2 cup of cream and turn up the heat and bring everything to a boil. Immediately drain your pasta and add it to the mushrooms. Toss over high heat for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and add the chopped parsley.

Take your pasta to the plate and garnish with additional parsley. Serve immediately. Buon appetito!

To see a video of me making this dish from start to finish visit this link!

See the video of James making this pasta by clicking here!

Add comment November 5th, 2006