My Weekend Adventure - Grand Central Market

Downtown is not someplace we go very often, Chinatown sure! San Gabriel Valley definitely! Out to the South Bay of course! Downtown though not highest on my list of places to go. My weekend adventure at the Grand Central Market is a place I plan to go back to.

At first you might think, "What's another market in a city like Los Angeles?"
In my one visit I can say that it isn't just another market. While the layout of the place is something you can find on the internet it doesn't really do it justice, the open air stalls and the smell of food add something to the atmosphere that reminds me of similar markets I visited in Mexico City. I think that similarity was cemented in the first couple of minutes into our visit.

Las Morelianas

As you enter the market on Broadway you are greeted by the Las Morelianas. Roughly translated it's The Ladies From Morelia, Morelia is the capital of Michoacan. This is meaningless unless you realize some of the best carnitas come from Michoacan! But I digress! As we stood looking up at the menu the fellow behind the counter offered us a sample.

In this one bite I relived all of the meals in my Uncle's restaurant in Mexico City. It was the simplest of samples, the shredded carnitas, just enough to have a bit in every bite of a warm tortilla. Carnitas is one of my favorite foods, it is a bit of my heritage that I am most appreciative of. Every time I see carnitas on a menu I look to it for some comfort. I had come to the market to eat, so I only ordered one taco. Elena loves chewy textures so when the cook asked if we wanted skin (cueritos I knew she would enjoy it. 
Tasty doesn't cover this. The meat I can't say enough about, the fire of the onions mellowed in some vinegar, with the great floral bite of Mexican oregano, and to top it all off, literally, the cilantro and chopped onions. And then just like home I added some salsa made of red chilies. Most of the time I say "That was the best I ever had!" I try not to exaggerate, this was some of the best carnitas I have had in years.

DTLA Cheese

At first if you walk up to this counter it looks like a 8 foot section of a cheese counter. Some of the cheeses in there looked really good, I probably would have bought something if the couple in front of us didn't want to talk about all of the different cheeses in the case.


But I digress... I'm going to do that a lot in this post. What got me to stop was the menu, when the menu starts with "Cheesey Potatoes" as the first item, I'm hooked. There are two choices, Manchego or Cheddar...  I chose the Cheddar mostly because of the bacon... and the creme fraiche... and the chives. It is such a classic combination that you can't go wrong, but the roasted baby potatoes were cooked perfectly and that elevated the whole thing. Each bite of the potatoes may not have had every element that was slathered on top of the wonderfully roasted potatoes but each potato was done just right and that is not an easy task... I know this because I ate the potatoes by themselves, then I would savor the starchy sweetness, then take a bite of the salty, tangy, cheesey, bacon, creme fraiche goodness. Can you tell I liked this? Can you tell I'm going to get it again?

A&B Coffee

Like the Grand Central Market website says "Don't let the name fool you!" What this place is, is a one stop shop for just about an Latino seasoning.

What I really enjoyed here was the selection of mole. Typically what mole that we find here in the store is muddy flavored and sometimes rancid because the oils from the nuts don't keep for very long. What A & B Coffee has is fresh mole trucked in from Oaxaca on a regular basis. 

As you can see the mole when it is fresh stands up on its own. 

As we stood at the counter and talked to the young lady about the moles it was clear she knew what she was talking about. Each mole has it's own characteristics, each one has an individual flair that separates it from the other moles. From the earthy chocolatey flavors of the mole negro, to the nutty sweetness of the mole verde. There were seven different moles in the case, and we were able to sample several of them. In the end we took home the mole verde and the roja. 

Look for this sign to find the mole!

Sun's Produce

Our second to last stop was Sun Produce, really this is what people expect, fresh produce fairly inexpensive prices and really some lines. The cramped space was filled with fresh produce, some of it on the edge of freshness, our avocados for instance were on the back end of fresh. I mean what did I expect when they were 2 for $1? But I digress, again. It seemed like an anomaly out here in the middle of the kebabs, Mexican, and Chinese foods. But there on the other side of the aisle stood another small market with the same long lines and fresh produce. 

Walking Around the Market

We actually made more than one circuit around the market. The first time around the line at the Ana Maria taco stand was down the aisle, the second time it was nonexistent!  Then on the far side of the market was Belcampo Meat Co. I'll just show you what caught my eye there.

Granted there were beautiful cuts of meat, smoked meats, sausage, and like DTLA cheese there was a kitchen. The Twice Cooked Duck sandwich and the Belcampo burger were enough to keep me there.

As we walked back to towards Broadway, we saw the Better Booch, fresh kombucha was sounding pretty good as I got more and more full. And La Huerta, basically a dried fruit and nut stand, there was fresh seafood at Lupita's Seafood. But what we both wanted was more carnitas, at this point I was too full to eat another taco, really what had I eaten, a monster taco, and some awesome Cheesey Potatoes. I figured we spent a little more than $25, but it was worth it. Elena didn't eat any potatoes so she had room for more tacos. And she did enjoy them.

On down the road the mole became a couple of meals, while the avocados didn't pan out the mushrooms were a topping for a steak. And the carnitas, will be something I keep going back for. The lardo butter... Definitely in my future, just like the Twice Cooked Duck sandwich from Belcampo.

This was my weekend adventure, downtown traffic, the memories of my visits to Mexico City, and Cheesey Potatoes. All rolled into a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. Something I plan to do again? For sure and for certain!

Classic Cars

This last Sunday a bunch of weekend cruisers brought their cars out and gathered at the parking lot near the Ralph's on Lincoln and Mindanao.

All of them were pristine, many were restored to factory condition. 

I think this was a '49 Chevy Sedan. It was a beautiful thing.

Corvettes are always beautiful cars. 427 is all I can say!

'47 Chevy Fleetline. 

This "Car Cooler" was on the Fleetline, cool piece of equipment!

This Dodge Coronet (red) and Chrysler Imperial look like they are parked side by side...

... until you see how long the Imperial is!

This one was just sweet! It was like one of those models you built as a kid...

This picture doesn't do the detail in here justice.

These old cars had BADGES!

My Weekend Adventure!

Starting this week, and then every other week, I'm going to write about some of the places that I have really enjoyed on my weekends. Every other Friday I'll share a local food adventure. Hence the name, "My Weekend Adventure"! 

This weekend adventure was Pork Belly out on Abbot Kinney Blvd, needless to say pork is on the menu. Smoked and barbecued pork in its various and wonderful incarnations makes up the bulk of the menu. Normally I write about a place after a couple of visits. Pork Belly is probably going to be the exception.

I'll start out by saying don't expect to find parking right out front! Abbot Kinney on a Sunday morning was not the best time to go, but the Groupon in my pocket was going to expire, soon!  When everything was said and done we managed to find some parking relatively close, four blocks away. Another thing you shouldn't expect is someplace to sit, there isn't anyplace to sit, there is room for a line to walk in and up to the register, then down the counter and then to walk to the Coca Cola Freestyle machine.

I'd like to talk about this machine for a minute. I LOVE THESE MACHINES! You have to understand this will spit out 100+ different Coca Cola products... I mean who knew they made Peach, Cherry or Lime Fanta? What about Grape Mello Yello? Who knew they still made Mello Yello? I am not a big commercial soda drinker, but if I had one of these machines nearby I might have a serious problem.

Now while you wait for the Freestyle machine or you're just waiting for your food you can watch as the food is put together on the griddles right out in front. The hairy guy with the glasses that prepped our food was nice, I'm sure he was tired of seeing people drooling each time he put together a sandwich, I'm sure he was used to the looks of anticipation as he bagged each order, and then the sure disappointment as folks realized it wasn't their order just yet.

There was an advantage to going at 11:30 on a Sunday morning, there are two small tables just outside the doors, where you can hunker down and tear into your food, this is only if you don't have a problem standing while you eat. (Just a little of my own personal commentary here, I personally hate it when people stand to eat. But "When in Rome...", right!) Now the couple next to us had ordered what looked to be a rack of ribs, plenty of sides and a couple of sandwiches. In some places it's polite not to stare, the cooks will look from the safety of the kitchen, the rare  maître d', will look while pretending not to look. Not us, we ooh'd and awed, as the meat fell off the ribs, as the man unwrapped the sandwich we could see the darkly colored char on the brisket and we silently drooled as we waited for our order to come up.

When it did come, it was worth the brief wait, and the napkins that we used to clean up the mess from drooling as we watched our neighbor at the other table eat. Our lunch was simple, two combos for the three of us, we had a friends daughter Sophia with us, a Belly Up sandwich with fried pickles and The Chop sandwich with a side of mac n' cheese. And two sodas!

The Belly Up I ordered was a thing of beauty! I had seen it previously thanks to Venice 311 and heard about the place from a coworker so I really had been looking forward to this for some time! Rarely does something like this live up to the anticipation. On this day it did! Each bite of the brioche bun along with the perfectly cooked, but not too fatty pork belly was complemented by the creamy tang of the coleslaw, and the subtle crunch that homemade coleslaw should have. The fried pickles were also so worth it!

Each pickle slice held on to the breading, the spicy aioli dipping sauce that came along with the pickles also tasted good when I dipped the edge of the brioche bun in and then took a bite. Sophia and Elena my wife enjoyed The Chop and while I got just "a bite" of the mac n' cheese I would order it again. Ooh, I almost forgot the cookie, each sandwich is wrapped in brown wax paper, and in that final fold, just before the "Pork Belly" sticker with the logo on it is put on, they place a small but tasty and sometimes very warm chocolate chip cookie in there!

So that was it, "My Pork Belly Adventure" you might ask where was the adventure, those that know me know I love pork, so getting me to eat this wasn't much of an adventure! But the adventure lay in getting out to Abbot Kinney, a place I can say I never frequent, I only go for the occasional First Friday, or an early morning trip to GTA, a future "My Weekend  Adventure" subject. The adventure came at the idea of feeling like this is a place I might go back to, before I even took that first bite of my Belly Up sandwich! The adventure was finding parking and eating standing up, the whole of the meal is seared into my memory. That is what made Pork Belly my adventure!

What Makes a Hero a Hero?

Before I start this is not a movie review or a set of reviews, this is about perception.

What is your perception of a hero? What makes someone a hero? How and why can there be a fine line between hero and villain?

Last year there were a crop of what I'll call "Hero Movies", ranging from soldiers fighting international terrorists to pilots in machines fighting monsters to superheroes and anti-heroes. Not too long ago I saw Man of Steel, now that the DVD is available I don't feel bad about spoilers. And while I know that this has been written about so much already, this is my view of the subject. Man of Steel made me think, "Are you still a hero if you cross the line between good and bad? And where is that line?"

In the climactic fight between Superman and General Zod, Superman is "forced" to kill the General by snapping his neck...

To put it simply Superman became a killer! I understand that to make movies nowadays you need to be "edgy" but in my mind and heart that wasn't edgy, that was crossing a line you can never go back on. Michael Shannon in the role of General Zod was fantastic, his over the top, at times, portrayal of the villain brought an inspiring edge to Zod, his one line I will remember sums up that inspiration, "I was bred to be a warrior, Kal. Trained my entire life to master my senses. Where did you train? ON A FARM?" That line sent a chill up my spine and cemented Michael Shannon as a great villain in my eyes!
On the other side already great actors brought an edge to this film I really enjoyed, Kevin Costner's selfless farewell as Superman's adoptive father Jonathan Kent was edgy stuff. Russell Crowe as Jor-Ell did an awesome job as Superman's estranged father (so much better than Marlon Brando and his ambivalent portrayal) . Even Laurence Fishburne and his single-minded efforts to save Jenny the secretary engendered a desperation that was clearly different than anything in a Richard Donner or Christopher Reeve Superman movie.

While Zack Snyder is touted as one of "The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood" smart isn't as good as heart. In my heart and many others Superman is the hero that despite his strengths doesn't unleash them to the full on his enemies. That was what made him "Super" he knew that strength wasn't everything, and that using that strength wasn't always the only way to win. Superman has always been that hero that finds the human way out of a situation. Unfortunately in killing his nemesis it seems that he became a bit too human.

On the other hand The Wolverine despite his bestial nature showed a despair and regret that belied his "nature " while critics panned the slow pace of the movie it was calculated and precise in showing that side of Logan. While Logan struggled with what seemed to be his humanity slipping away he was reminded that it was an inherent part of his nature. The desire to do the right thing despite the personal cost is what separated the "animal" Logan from Superman.

Case in point, how many people died in the chaos stemming from the use of the world engine in Man Of Steel, or how many were killed as Zod and Superman raged accross the city in the battle that culminated in the killing of General Zod. Was it the personal cost of seeing those people dying in front of his eyes that made Kal decide in that moment to kill Zod? Was it the "humane"thing to do? Or was it the "human" thing to do?

On the other hand even as yakuza were trying to kill him, Logan struggled with the ease of dispatching his opponents by simply killing them, more than once he gave his clearly overmatched opponents a way out, sometimes only for them to try and take advantage of his mercy. Logan's fights during the film showed not a weakness but rather strength of his character, despite the fierceness of his rage, it seemed to be tempered by his desire, his long desire for inner peace. As Logan fought his way throughout the film he did his best to preserve life. 

I supposed I am jaded by the fact that in the Superman movies of my youth, Superman did his best to personify the best of us, and Logan as The Wolverine in the comics was practical, brutal, unforgiving, the epitome of human! Now it seems those lines are forever blurred. The original "anti-hero" has been softened, while the Man of Steel has found a hardness that I still cannot reconcile in my heart!

Food Memories - Grandpa's Picadillo

Picadillo

I haven't posted anything for a while mostly because I have been so busy, but over the weekend my wife asked me to cook for some friends and I decided that this was the perfect time to write another post about my food memories. While I looked forward to cooking for our friends I wasn't invited. Well I was invited but movie night with "the girls" isn't my thing...

For movie night my wife planned tostadas. While it can be a classic Mexican dish I gave it the spin my Grandfather (Papi) taught me, that spin is to "make each dish your own."

Classically picadillo is ground meat with a sauce with bits of bell peppers, olives and what are generally considered warm spices like cloves, cumin, and coriander. My version is a little different I am not a big fan of bell peppers and my wife is not a big fan of olives. That is the biggest part of making a recipe your own, finding a way to add in the things you like or replace the things you might not like.

My version of picadillo uses potatoes to add a little filler to the dish, another change was the use of oregano and red pepper flakes for the seasoning. The technique of cooking the tomato paste in preparing the sauce for the picadillo is relatively simple but is also the key to developing flavor in the dish.

That being said, this is not the healthiest dish and it's not something that we eat on a daily basis. While this post is not about the tostada dish as a whole the picadillo is the star of the dish. Everything else, the guacamole, salsa, cheese, sour cream, Mexican crema casera, all of that is something you can pick and choose. But the picadillo can be unique to each cook. Part of this post comes from the fact that some people think that if it's not the way their grandmother or mother made it, its not right. There are some things where this is so true. Home-cooked dishes are the times you can give things a little twist. After all when you make something your own you are more likely to cook it again. At the same time, when you make it your own you can inspire others to cook and make each dish their own!

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs ground beef
6-8 medium white or red potatoes medium dice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium white onion finely chopped
4 - 6 cloves of garlic crushed
6 oz tomato paste
1 small jar of capers, drained
1 qt beef stock
2 -4 cups of water
2 tbsp oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
3-4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Salt to taste

Directions

Sauté the onions and garlic in 1 1/2 tbsps the olive oil, lightly salt the onions and garlic, this will add a layer and depth of flavor. Once complete set aside, and brown ground beef. Drain the fat from the beef and set aside. Add remainder of olive oil and return onions and garlic to the pan and add red pepper flakes just barely toasting the red pepper. Add tomato paste to cook the raw flavor out of the tomatoes. Now you can add the beef stock, oregano and Worcestershire sauce and bring the sauce to a simmer. Return the ground beef to the pot and add the potatoes to the mixture.

Let the picadillo simmer and add about 1 cup of the water, bring to a simmer, keeping an eye that the water is cooked into the sauce and absorbed by the potatoes as they cook. Keep stirring every few minutes. Continue adding water and checking if the potatoes are done. Depending on how large you cut your potatoes you will need to cook them a bit longer adding more water.

Once the potatoes are finished cooking, add drained capers to the picadillo and taste for salt.

The Dish

Once you have finished the picadillo you can use this for more than just tostada's, when we were kids this was my Papi's go to dish, this became a filling for tortas, enchiladas, or just something to put on the plate next to the beans and rice eaten with tortillas.

Anytime Papi stepped into the kitchen I remember my Grandma would call his food "pig slop," but to us kids the pigs wished they ate as good as we did. Through his dishes Papi opened a world of cooking to me that I will always enjoy. He made me try dishes as a kid that I probably would never have tried he reminded me all of the time that just because someone cooks differently doesn't make it wrong, and he awakened in me a desire to share with others the gift he shared with me. It all started in his kitchen standing on a milk crate learning how to make a simple breakfast for the family.

Local Eats Part I

Local eats are one of those things...

Either you know where to go or you don't. Personally I like the local joints near my place. Within walking distance from my house I can find cocktails and plenty of good grub, not just ethnic food but a variety of ethnic foods, tonkotsu ramen, vegetarian Indian curry, pho, teriyaki, Japanese curry, Hawaiian plate lunch, Korean fusion, did I leave anything out? Oh yeah Mexican, Cuban, Pastrami, Salvadoran, oh sushi, and several others that I can't even recall as I type this. 

Really my thing is your local eats are YOURS! Just like anything that is yours take care of it. I really do love going to Chinatown or Monterey Park for Chinese food or dim sum, or I love going across town for something that I think is funky or sounds tasty. The Oinkster in Eagle Rock has some great pastrami. But I have Johnnies right around the corner from me. I'm not saying it's the best but it is Westside and that makes it mine.

What really toasts my cookies is when neighborhood people tell me, "Oh that place is okay but this other place halfway across town (in a place YOU never go).... is better!" There is nothing wrong with that per se, I love to hear about new places, what is wrong to me is telling me without even trying the local place that your taste is better than mine!

Listen up its not!!!

All of that being said thanks for listening, now on to the restaurants!

My favorite local spot is near the corner of Washington and Sepulveda. Yamadaya Ramen is some great food. Tonkotsu Ramen is the be all and end all of ramen in my world. I grew up eating that ramen in freeze dried form with the packets, that was probably where I decided that I could be creative with food, I mean what 12 year old thinks, "Lemme boil these noodles then stir fry them." Yamadaya Ramen brings this to a whole other level for me. The 'tonkotsu' broth is made by taking pork bones and boiling them for hours and hours and hours before draining off the broth and using that as the base for your ramen noodles. The KICKER for me is the 'kakuni' braised pork belly cut into 4 oz slices. I won't even go into detail about the different versions of broth that you can get, needless to say its not your simple cup o' noodles.
Here is the link to my Yelp review so I don't get too verbose in here:
Yamadaya Yelp REVIEW

Samosa House
Let me begin this review by saying I am not a vegetarian! I have been in the past but I love meat too much. That having been said, this vegetarian food rocks. Every once in a while I go on a vegetarian kick, when I do this is where I go. Granted it can be expensive, but that's cause when you walk in you see all the stuff that looks good, Chile Pakora, Naan, Samosas, then you look at the steam table and end up ordering the combo plate on top of everything else I just mentioned that's when the bill adds up. The samosa here are the signature item. And the Naan is especially awesome when they take it right out of the oven.

Super Pho & Teriyaki

Yes pho and teriyaki in the same place. They also have some killer kim chee and Korean grilled pork, but I digress. For a good bowl of soup this is my second choice. The only reason it's second is that I don't like the "green medicine dispensary" next door. The pho broth is light and tasty here, it is the very opposite of the tonkostu broth at Yamadaya. The flavor of the herbs and spices permeate this dish. The star anise and pepper aren't overpowering but you know they are there. The teriyaki is done pretty well here too. The service did go down hill a little but the last time I went through there it was pretty good.

Mitsuwa

This place isn't a restaurant in and of itself but the food court is a good spot to get some grub. The vendors provide some decent variations on Japanese fast food. Santouka, Misasa, and Sanuki each do something a little differently, ramen, curry, tempura are the staples of the menus. Plenty of food but it's only for cold hard cash.

Rutt's

This is just a good place for what we imagine as Hawaiian food. The roast pork with gravy gets an honorable mention as one my favorite dishes. Not the best but right up there in the running. Royales (stir-fried rice dishes) are the breakfast of choice and the fench toast made with Kings Hawaiin bread is great. But the spam musubi is the best here.

Tito's Tacos
For me I often wonder what I did before I discovered Tito's! This is NOT Mexican food. This place is LA food! The greasy tacos, the blenderized salsa, the white paper bags filled with chips. As a little kid my Grandfather would take me to Jack in the Box for the tacos along the way to the Marina in San Francisco. Back then they were 4 of $1. It was a great memory that resurfaced the first time I ate at Tito's. The fried taco shell with the melted (or not so melted) American cheese slices. The chili with the chunks of beef, and then the burritos filled with that same chili and cheese. 

I'll continue this down the cause as you go down the road there is always a better place to eat!

Grandma's Posole - Memories

"When daddy's quit staying

And the mommas quit praying

Even the children quit tryin'

God must be crying

Cause even the skies are blue"

Instantly classic lyrics but that's not my point in putting them here, I put them there cause when I heard that song I was reminded of memories. What the heck do memories have to do with Grandma's Posole? Grandma's Posole is one of the few recipes I can recite by heart. Posole is a Mexican stew with chunks of pork (or chicken) in a broth seasoned with red chilies, and made hearty with hominy. If I haven't lost you by now, please keep reading. 

Grandma has a few recipes that I just love to cook. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to find out from her how she makes them and make some of those recipes my own. Rice soup, sopa de fideo (Pasta soup), sopa de albondigas (meatball soup) and her posole are the few that I am proud of. The recipes for soup are the most forgiving (in other words I couldn't mess them up), and the posole is closest to my heart. The chunks of pork, the hearty broth, finely chopped onions, shredded lettuce and tostadas or even tortillas make this something I will never tire of, just like a classic country lyric.

The version below (with the exception of the hominy) is from scratch. In place of the scratch made chili paste you can use a 10 oz can of Las Palmas chili sauce, it works in a pinch, everybody knows my Grandma did it!

Grandma's Posole

Ingredients

Pork and broth

1 1/2 - 2 lbs pork country style ribs cut into chunks

2 tbsp oil

3 quarts water

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

salt to taste

2 large cans of hominy

Chili paste

4 cups water

2 oz dried Pasilla chilies

2 oz dried New Mexico chilies

2 oz dried Ancho chilies

Remove the seeds from these chilies for a less spicy sauce

1 chipotle pepper w/ 1 tsp of adobo sauce

1 onion sliced

Accompaniments

Red pepper flakes

Chopped white onion

Mexican oregano

Sliced lettuce

Limes

Tostada shells

Broth

Begin by heating a large soup pot and add the oil, sear off the chunks of pork meat after searing all of the pork add salt, onion and garlic to the pan and sweat until translucent. Return the pork to the pot and all 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to about medium low to achieve a slow boil. Boil for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Chili paste/sauce

In a large sauce pan bring the water to a boil and add the dried chilies without the stems and the onion. Boil until the chilies are soft. Remove the chilies and onion, these ingredients to a blender and add about 1 1/2 cups of liquid from boiling process and chipotle chili and sauce blend until smooth. Taste for salt, if you like the smokiness of the adobo sauce you can add more. Put this sauce in the refrigerator overnight so the flavors can marry.

After the pork has boiled for one hour turn off the heat and place the pot in the refrigerator overnight. This will coagulate the fat on the top of the broth making it easier to remove. The next day bring broth to a boil and add the hominy and chili paste, boil for about 30 - 45 minutes stirring occasionally. 

Accompaniments

At this point the stew is ready, however there are some cold ingredients that accompany this that bring all of the flavors to another level. All of these accompaniments can be added as you like. The spice of the red chili flakes and onion go right along with the broth making those spices blossom with each spoonful. The shredded lettuce work great to mellow those flavors, and the oregano, the floral oregano makes the pork taste even better. As for the lime, what Mexican soup whether it is chicken soup, posole or menudo doesn't taste better with lime. The tostadas bring along another element of crunch that brings the whole stew together.

This is it, you might find the task of making your own scratch made chili sauce daunting, but it really does make a difference, if you add another 1/2 cup of water and tweak the variety of chilies and you would have your own homemade "enchilada sauce".

Memories are like the cool evening breeze in L.A., you can count on them to be there just when you need them!