Hot Knives

Pickle Play: Part II

2009-06-29T19:00:00Z

When we arrived on the scene of our most recent public endeavor - an open-house reception and arts and crafts orgy at the historic Schindler House, where Hot Knives was given its own geodesic dome tent - we couldn't refrain from collective fascination at the diversity of the kitchens we've occupied over the last couple of years for catering gigs. Carpentry work rooms. Zen monasteries and kosher kitchens. Parking lots covered in astro turf. And now this. The Schindler house actual kitchen was like a museum; we were terrified of staining, breaking or otherwise disfiguring the spotless and serene landscape of the past...Thankfully, we had prepared for a very low impact on-site execution. We prepped our platters of hors d'oevres and dished out pickled treats amidst the happenings of the day. The focus you might remember was playing with fresh pickling as a way to tarten your farmers market goodies without having to wait 8 weeks to taste 'em. Here's a look at our lecture on "Fresh Pickles," widely well received by the artsy and the chic. Of course there were a few exceptions: some bored, drop-jawed design dudes, a few off-put seitan virgins, and one man who really had a hard time with the pickled daikon. (Which is totally fine!) Thanks again to Fritz for the new theater, and to Jacinto Astiazarán for the hi-res documentation.

Up next: recipes for all our little funk-bombs: Pickled Daikon, Cucumbers, and Grapes.

Extra High Life

2009-06-26T14:20:09Z

Until we drank this beer, the words "extra high" had no special meaning really. At least as far as beer and beyond our extended gravity bong phase in college. But "extra high" is, in fact, what the gold foil letters "XH" on the label of this Hitachino Nest beer signifies. Oh yes. That "extra" refers to both the 8 % alcohol packed into this sweet baby bottle and the big, woodsy grain-alcohol polish that has been imparted to it by aging the beer in the same old oak casks used to mature a distilled sake called Shocyu. (Cue illuminating gong crash please...) Having tried a couple of the Kuichi Brewery's other offerings -- those medium-strength Japanese beers decorated with fat red owls and tossed with fusion twists like ginger and red rice -- this brew stands out as a Belgian-style strong ale. We sipped XH on the porch one recent Sunday in the middle of stir-frying our dinner and immediately developed strong feelings for it. Golden like its reflective foil labeling, but with a slight hint of iodine-red, the beer itself is beautiful. Lifting a shorty glass, we caught hints of 5-spice rub...coriander and nutmeg for sure. What else... hops, malt, sake? For all the "high" talk, the booze notes in this beer are fairly subtle -- not like a sake bomb -- save that for your Sapporo bombers. Instead, the sake-oak makes this beer taste almost like a sour Flemish red or a Geuze-esque wild ale. But more like the soft throat pucker that fresh lime gives a rice noodle soup, a background flavor that saves a broth form being tooooo oily. Or, in this case, too high. Dairy Pairy: Rondin Des Brebis, a semi firm super funky sheep's milk cheese. Soundtrack: T-Rex's "Get It On"

Pickle Play: Part I

2009-06-23T15:00:00Z

When local artmaker Fritz Haeg asked Hot Knives to be part of his upcoming book launch, we just figured we'd do our quasi-catering thang (which entails setting the bar low with the whole 'we're bloggers, not caterers' vibe and then bombing guests with insane food). Fritz had other ideas. Known for throwing nutso art salons for years in his L.A. geodesic dome, Fritz has strong feelings about parties feeling spontaneous, not too planned, and more about DIY domesticity than any showy displays. That basically ruled out just doing sneak attack appetizers with witty names. Other ideas came and went -- what about a bahn mi bar, or garden-to-table cooking on site, or maybe even serve-your-own dessert cones with fresh melons instead of ice cream... but nothing felt right. (Not to mention, the art institute hosting the book launch needed a health permit approved and county health inspectors insisted on us bleaching the melons.) We had to wrestle with a new quandary: how can food be art? And more importantly how could our eaters be engaged with the grub without letting health inspectors bleach our fruits. So we seized on doing something experiential and process-based. Instructional, educational and open for discussion, without sucking the fun out of the cooking. We learned to pickle! Pickling was perfect because its domestic, it gives home cooks new crayons to play with, and there's plenty of lactic acid science facts to rattle off. Oh yeah, and we have enviable vinegar hook-ups. Plus it gave us the excuse to dabble more in the dark arts of preservation, which we'd only flirted with before. Indeed, for the last month both our kitchens have been slippery with weird vinegars, funky from fermentation experiments and stocked full of giant daikon radishes. We learned a lot.

But before we give away the secret tips an proportions we found worked best, suffice it to say that the process took time. We chronicled the basics in the above video. In a few days, we'll let you know how the Hot Knives Pickle Lecture Series went over with the art types.

Power Breakfast

2009-06-16T05:19:29Z

Breakfast for vegetarians can often become the perfect pipeline for the over-processed. Faux chorizo, soy turkey sausage, and other forms of soy-plastic sodium bombs. The joy of chewy mixed meat and snappy bacon was the first thing found by many of us non-hogs; to us this habit constantly requires breaking. This week we turned a blind eye to Yves, Morningstar and the rest, and in the interest of a timely and hearty breakfast turned to nature's fake steak: The King Trumpet mushroom. Thanks to the produce buyers at our local Emporium of the East A-Market, there is literally a mountain of these holy horns on hand all the time. If you don't live in L.A. there's prolly a good chance that you can find these if you look thanks to these guys. Served on silver platters for exhorbitant prices, this mushroom is the thing of chop houses and fine dining, but thanks to the growing influence of Golden Gourmet mushroom company, these earthen phalli can be yours for less than dry TVP. Serve up some of these seared mushrooms for brekky with farmers market, cruelty-free eggs and you'll not just get yourself 'down the road,' you'll find yourself well on your way to the next level.

King Trumpet Steak n' Eggs

(Serves 2 )

1 King Trumpet mushroom 1 shallot 2 cloves garlic 2 fresh eggs 1 tsp. smoked salt 3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. soy sauce 1. Slice off the bottom 1/2 inch off the King Trumpet. It's equivalent would be the woody stem at the base of an oyster mushroom (the King's close cousin). Now slice the mushroom into long fillets, about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Rub with a little smoked salt and set aside. 2. Slice your garlic and shallots 1/4 centimeter thin. 3. Heat a medium-sized skillet (cast iron or non stick) on high heat for 3 minutes. Place the mushroom slices face down in the dry pan. After 2 minutes, flip the shrooms; they should have a nice tan by now and have begun to expel some of their water. 4. When you've colored both sides of each slice, drizzle in another teaspoon of olive oil to coat the "steaks." Add the shallots and garlic in the empty space around the mushroom and continue to cook; flipping the mushrooms every minute or two to make sure they cook evenly and do not burn. When the mushrooms have crisped around the edges and are quite firm to the touch, they are done. Add the soy sauce evenly and toss to coat, remove from heat. 5. Serve with a fried egg of your choice, toast, and Sriracha hot sauce. Beverage: Cafecito Organico's BRazilian Peaberry Soundtrack: "Air Talk" with Larry Mantle

Nuts For Beer Fest

2009-06-12T07:15:37Z

The air was stale and hot, lines were long, and at one point we thought it might actually never end. Yes, there was a certain undeniable Hieronymus Bosch-like quality to the recent Craft Beer Fest L.A. that Hot Knives helped organize. But at least the beer was cold, right? And it flowed like wine. Actually, the event was more than manageable -- it was a downright success. A baker's dozen of rad California breweries donated handcrafted ales, sours, porters, stouts and barleywines. Nearly one thousand people packed the floor to old timey bands. And all the grub was vegetarian, tasty and free...while it lasted. But if there was a surplus of any one single commodity at last month's inaugural beer festival, it was hands-down the hot nuts at the Hot Knives' booth. Yep, just simple tree nuts roasted in fancy oils and spiked with punchy spices. We brought 90 pounds of 'em so we never ran out. Rosemary, olive oil and sea salt made the pecans a big hit. Vanilla-honey and fresh nutmeg turned the cashews into crack cocaine. But the real powerhouse of the event, was an improvised recipe for spicy smoked peanuts we stumbled on up while ransacking Alex's spice shelves. A touch of brown sugar, coarse salt, a kiss of cayenne, whollops of bright red Aleppo pepper and, crucially, smoked black pepper. We like to think it made plenty of people brave the line for that fifteenth beer. See for yourself! Thanks to our cammy friends Helena, Amanda and Michelle who caught the fest on tape,

Smoked Beer Nuts

(Makes 2 cups)
2 cups raw, shelled peanuts 1/4 cup peanut oil (canola is ok) 2 Tbs. Aleppo pepper 1 Tbs. smoked black pepper 1 Tbs. granulated brown sugar 1 tsp. cayenne pepper 1 Tbs. kosher salt 1. Put a deep wok or cast iron skillet on high heat for several minutes before adding your raw peanuts and peanut oil. (You could also use a wok on an outdoor grill for extra smokey-summer-funtime.) 2. Lower flame to medium heat and stir nuts vigorously every 30 seconds to keep from uneven blackening. Cook this way for about 5 minutes, or until peanuts show visible signs of browning. 3. While stirring add in the Aleppo and smoked black pepper. Hold off on the other spices and continue roasting for 3-4 more minutes. Try a peanut -- it should be slightly cooked but still chewy (they will get crunchier once cooled). 4. Remove nuts from heat and slide into a ceramic mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar, cayenne and salt. Real spice heads may want to add 1-2 teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce (any more will make your nuts damp and weird). 5. Serve with cold beer. Beverage: Lagunita's Ruben and the Jets Soundtrack: Triple Chicken Foot's "Old Plank Road"

White Sage Whip

2009-06-09T15:22:00Z

This is undoubtedly the only recipe we have ever developed with a church potluck in mind. Our favorite local brewer, Mark Jilg, the mad man (in a good way) behind Craftsman Brewing in Pasadena was hosting the annual fundraiser for his mom's Unitarian Church congregation at his brewery. He said he needed something for the old people to bite on so they didn't get shit-faced. Flattered and giddy that whatever we dreamed up would be taken between glugs of Heavenly Hefe, Poppyfields -- maybe Triple White Sage if we were lucky -- and the just completed O'Stout, which Mark brews with oyster shells. In the end we settled on still-warm loaves of crusty ciabatta, citrus zest and coriander seed hummus, French feta marinated in olive oil and radishes dipped in truffle sea salt and butter. But perhaps the shining moment was thinking of the church ladies scooping up this thick vegan cream of white beans pureed with a base of sage-almond stuffing. Next time we plan on whipping it up with wild white sage from the San Gabriel foothills, the way Mark does for his seasonal white sage release. Besides cleaning a room of evil spirits and reducing swelling, turns out the native plant tastes bad-ass. For the meantime, green'll work just fine.

White Bean Sage Puree

(Serves 15-20)

8 cloves garlic 2 cups extra virgin olive oil 1 cup almonds 1 white onion, chopped 1/2 cup fresh sage leaves 4 cans (15 oz) cannellini beans 1 Tbs. white balsamic 1 tsp. sumac Fresh black pepper and salt to taste 6-8 sage leaves for garnish 1 cup Grapeseed oil for frying 1. Start by making garlic confit: Peel all the garlic and place the cloves in a small saucepot with 1 cup of the olive oil (submerging them). Place on medium heat. Let the oil heat to a rolling sizzle and then remove and rest it. Set aside and it will finish cooking as it cools. 2. Next prepare the "stuffing." Roughly crush the almonds with a chef's knife or a mallet. Place a large sauté pan on high heat and add a touch of olive oil. Then add the almonds and chopped onion. Turn down to medium. 3. Toss or stir the mixture every minute and toast for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, roughly chop the sage leaves and toss in. Continue toasting for another 3 minutes, or until almonds are mostly toasted. Set aside. 4. Empty your beans into a strainer and thoroughly rinse them. 5. Most likely you'll need to blend the mixture in two batches, divvy up half the beans and add to a food processor. Toss in half the stuffing mixture, season with half the sumac and half the balsamic, as well as salt and pepper to taste. 6. Puree vigorously adding a slow drizzle of the garlic confit and olive oil. Only use half. Now keep blending and add 1/4 cup water. The mixture should be thick and creamy but loose enough to thoroughly move about the blender. If it appears too gunky, add more water until its spreadable. 7. Use a spatula to empty puree into a large mixing bowl. Repeat the blending steps with second half of the ingredients. And combine both batches. 8. Finally, prepare a quick garnish of flash fried sage leaves by bringing a small saucepan of Grapeseed oil up to high heat for at least 5 minutes. Wash and thoroughly pat dry the sage leaves. Prepare a plate with a paper towel and a slotted spoon. Drop leaves into hot oil and wait just 10 seconds before fishing them out. Rest to dry. 9. Add leaves in pretty arrangement with another splash of olive oil. Serve bean puree as a dip with torn chunks of fresh baked ciabatta. Or serve as composed bruschetta plate or even as a dip with crackers. Beverage: Craftsman's Triple White Sage Soundtrack: Animal Collective's "For Reverend Green"

Bean on Bean Noodle Salad

2009-05-31T17:17:18Z

Call it overcompensation, but we have a fondness for heavy doses of protein in all its veggie forms. Nuts. Beans. Soy. Crunch. Chew. Slurp. Sometimes all in one dish! Sunday afternoon, we found ourselves sipping a sake-aged beer on the porch and started jonesin'. So we cooked up this bean noodle salad that is essentially bean on bean on bean with nuts. Rather than wheat or rice noodles, we used those delicate, transparent bean threads that look almost like razor thin fiber optics in little bunches. In went seared tofu strips (bean!) and freshly boiled emerald-green fava beans (more bean!). But we still needed a crunch, so we stir-fired up some Vietnamesey peanuts with lemongrass and garlic, and served them alongside the noodle bowls. A chiller Sabbath we cannot recall. Viet Peanuts 2 cups raw, shelled peanuts 1/4 cup peanut oil (or canola) 6 cloves garlic 2 Tbs. dried lemongrass powder 1 tsp. ground coriander 1 tsp. ground clove 1 Tbs. kosher salt 1 lime 1. Bring a large sauté pan or wok to high heat and dump peanuts in. Toast for 1-2 minutes and then add peanut oil. Stir thoroughly and often (every 30 seconds) with a slotted spoon to keep nuts from burning. 2. Meanwhile, peel the garlic. After peanuts have been roasting for about 5 minutes, add the garlic, using a garlic press to squish the cloves right above the wok. Stir. Add the lemongrass powder and clove and keep stirring. 3. After about 10 minutes the peanuts will be mostly cooked but not yet crunchy, this requires resting and cooling them, so remove from heat. While the pan is still hot, squeeze lime juice on the nuts and toss in the lime peel. Stir again. Add salt to taste. Let cool. 4. Crush if desired, using a mallet or chef's knife. Bean on Bean Noodle Salad (Serves 4) 1 Tbs. peanut oil (or canola) 8 oz. firm tofu 2 Tbs. Sriracha hot sauce 1 lbs. fresh fava beans 4 carrots 4 scallions 1 cup fresh cilantro 1 lime 3 bundles bean thread noodles 2 Tbs. sesame oil 3 Tbs. Soy sauce 3 Tbs. black vinegar 3 cloves garlic 1. Start with your tofu: We always recommend pressing it of its soy water for 10-15 minutes using a phone book and several paper towels. Once pressed, slice it into long rectangle pieces about 1 centimeter thick. Heat a large non-stick or cast iron pan on high heat with peanut oil. Once hot and oil evenly distributed, place tofu down gently. 2. Let the curd sizzle, but shake the pan gently to keep it from sticking too much. Let cook about 3-4 minutes. Lift a corner of each slice with a spatula to determine how cooked it is: You want a strongly browned skin. Sear on both sides. 3. While the second side sears, meaning you've got a brown side up, squeeze a Sriracha landscape; crosses, circles, a cat face. When the second sear is complete, flip the sriracha side down and repeat on the un-chilied side. Keep in mind the Sriracha will burn slightly and make you cough; don't let it cook more than 2 minutes on each side. 4. Now prepare your favas. Set a pot on high heat with about 4 cups water. Add a touch of salt. While you wait for it to boil, peel the fava beans from the pods. Once boiling, add beans and cook for 4-5 minutes. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Pick a fava out and test it, you want a slightly giving texture. When done, strain (save the hot water, you'll use it in a minute) and rest the beans in the ice water to cool for at least 5 minutes. Peel 'em by popping eat of its shell: using your thumbnail, nip off the bottom part of the skin and squeeze the fava opposite end, the bean will come right out. 5. Now prepare the rest of the veggies. Using a vegetable peeler, make carrot ribbons by running it along the length of each carrot and collecting the long, increasingly wide threads. Save the carrot core for another dish. Slice scallions into half-inch sized sections. Pick cilantro leaves and combine all in a bowl. Toss with juice of one lime and let sit. 6. To make the dressing, slice and mince the three cloves of garlic and combine in a small bowl with the sesame oil, soy sauce and black vinegar. 7. Return the fava water to a boil to cook the noodles. Add a teaspoon of sesame oil. Once boiling, add your bean threads and lower to medium heat. Prepare another ice bath. Be vigilant about watching the bean noodles. Let cook about 3 minutes and test one; they should be slurpable and not too soft. Remove and strain and dump in ice water to cool for 5 minutes. 8. Slice your cooled tofu into thin 1-inch-longstrips. 9. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Toss with dressing and serve. Soundtrack: Spacemen 3's "Walkin' with Jesus" Beverage: Kiuchi's XH Hitachino Nest Beer

The Black Angel

2009-05-27T16:40:00Z

Pouring 'one out for your homey' may have become a white boy cliché years ago, but the honest sentiment behind it -- to share your spirits with the spirits -- dates back centuries. The distiller's version of this superstitious notion is called "angel's share," and was first stumbled upon by booze-men on both sides of the pond, both in Scotland and Kentucky. Naturally. Whiskey makers there would transfer their goods over to wood barrels for aging, in the hopes of instilling their grain juice with some of that sweet oak sap. But then when they'd go to bottle the stuff they realized that some of it had plum disappeared. The angels were sipping their share... Or, if you're sober enough for science's explanation, evaporation was claiming a small percentage of the liquid into the ether. Offering up samples to ghosts has been less a part of beer brewing here in the States for the simple reason that few brewers have the patience to store their booze for the time it requires to submit it to the elements. The good folks behind the Lost Abbey beers decided to change that by squirreling away their Angel's Share brew for more than six months in brandy barrels. And boy, did the surfer angels of Carlsbad, California find the stash or what! They skimmed the suds clean off the top: A bottle of Angel's Share is bone-flat, like a peaceful lake or a stout poured once for a party and left out for a week. The color is black but not 'Black Album"-black. It's somehow blue-black velour with a tinge of amber-waves. Wafts from the glass boast several sweet pantry spices -- but especially vanilla-cognac-cream. Impossibly strong and pungent, there are gluts of glucose here. Cane sugar lip gloss over beer breath. The first time we enjoyed this beer, our friend was pouring. He's plugged into the beer bar scene and yet he'd driven all the way to North County San Diego to wait in line with the other fans. The wait was two hours and the bottles cost $25 a pop. Everyone was limited to two per person. We didn't quite get it. Then we sipped this sweet black grease, took it in deep, and smiled back at him curling our outstretched hand into a incredulous fist. It was all we could do to keep from pouring a small share onto the clean wood floor. Soundtrack: Black Angel's "Black Grease" Dairy Pairy: Blu Di Bufala, Italian raw buffalo milk blue

Curious Orange

2009-05-22T14:48:25Z

Though the term "escabeche" formally refers to pickly-preserved fried fish in Spanish cooking, to us it's the stuff of plastic bags. Here in L.A., a taco truck is generally considered remiss if they don't hand out free sides of escabeche -- big glowing orbs of spicy carrot, pickled jalapeños, and sweetly spiced white onion mingling in their combined brine, precariously pressing the creased baggie to its limits. Well, while cooking up a roasted mushroom taco the other day, we wondered about making a sauce based on escabeche to save us the trouble of running down to the store or are nearest wheeled taqueria. By roasting off the carrots, peppers and onions, blending them with vinegar and spiking it with a little clove, we got something similar to the pickles but in a squeezable form. We used it on the tacos, fried potato taquitos, even a lemon yogurt coleslaw. But one week later, we still had half a squirt bottle of this briney brew (it gets tarter over time). So, we boiled up a cup of wild rice and a cup of quinoa and made a sweet corn-rice salad! Guess what the dressing was... Escabeche Puree Makes about 3 cups 2 lbs. carrots 6 jalapeños 1 white onion 1 Tbs. olive oil 1 Tbs. kosher salt 1 Tbs. ground clove 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup grapeseed oil 1/8 cup water 1 Tbs. lime juice Fresh black pepper to taste 1. Pre-heat an oven to 375 degrees. 2. Chop off the carrot tops, if any, the pepper tops and slice the white onion into half-moon slivers. Additionally, slice the jalapeños in half. Throw all of the above into a shallow roasting pan and toss with olive oil. Season lightly with kosher salt and half the clove (half for later). Cover pan with aluminum foil to prevent scorching. 3. Stick the pan of veggies in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Once carrots are fully cooked but still orange, remove pan and let sit to cool. Toss out half the jalapeño slices to keep mixture from losing orange color and from being too hot. 4. In a food processor, pulse the roasted goods while slowly adding the grapeseed oil, and then the apple cider vinegar, and finally the water. Consistency should be that of a thicker puree. But if it remains too thick to properly blend, add an additional teaspoon of each liquid (oil, vinegar, water). Add the rest of the ground clove and another pinch of salt to taste. Beverage: Lost Abbey's Angel's Share Soundtrack: The Fall's "I Am Curious Orange Overture"

Raw Spears, Fresh Blood

2009-05-17T10:00:00Z

Ages ago, the Romans celebrated the first sight of Asparagus spears with a chariot race. The finest legionnaires loaded their carts with the first crop of wee phalli and raced hell bent to the Alps. While the reward for the victor of said produce-run evades our foggy brains, the end result never will: This was perhaps the fist example of frozen vegetables. Here and now, the first crops of asparagus happened months ago; but the race for asparagus is eternally rewarding. Here's a slightly more challenging recipe for our favorite farmer's market triumphs. Take some time and pay tribute to your own little empire. Raw Asparagus Salad (Makes one) 8 Asparagus spears 1 Lemon 1 Tbs. XVO 1 tsp. sherry vinegar 1 tsp. sea salt 1 tsp. ground pepper 1/2 cup walnuts 6 oz. fresh chèvre 10 chives 1 blood orange 1. Cleaning the asparagus: Take a spear and hold it between two fingers about 1 inch above its end. Using your other hand, bend the lower extremity until it breaks; discard the broken piece and trim the end. 2. Zest half the lemon and the blood orange into a mixing bowl. Juice the lemon into your bowl and add a splash of water. 3. If you do not have a mandolin, slice the asparagus in half lengthwise. Place each half cut side down on your cutting surface and slice lengthwise as thin as you possibly can and toss them with the lemon water: this will keep the slices from oxidizing and turning brown. NOTE: If you DO have a mandolin now is a great time to improve your skills. DON'T BE A HERO: this is also an excellent chance to shave off your fingertip (if you do it will grow back, just ask Alex). It is preferable to use a Japanese mando with a ceramic blade for this recipe. 3.5. Hold the asparagus tipped end towards the blade of your mando. Apply pressure from the top with your fingers, and gently press the spear against the outer lip of the mandolin (this will keep you cutting straight and safe). Slide the spear down the blade and you'll get nice ribbons of asparagus. Place your ribbons in the mixing bowl with the lemon juice, and toss to combine. 4. Toast the nuts: Heat a cast iron skillet, or heavy bottomed sauté pan, on high and toss in your walnuts. Let cook unmitigated for about 3 minutes and then give 'em a stir. Repeat. When the nuts are fragrant and lightly browned add a pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle on 1/2 tsp. of olive oil, stir to combine and remove. 5. Place a hefty pinch of minced chives on the cutting board. Place about 1 tsp. of chevre onto the pile of chives and press it into a little pancake. Lift the pancake off the board and fold it in half in the palm of your hand. Squish it flat and fold again. The heat form your hands will warm the cheese, allowing it to form better balls. Using your fingertips, roll your lump of cheese into a sphere. Repeat with the rest of the cheese and chives. (If you manage to not eat all the goat cheese: place in a shallow bowl or Tupperware and cover with olive oil. These will keep in the fridge and get rad-er every day for more than a week) 6. Using your sharpest knife, slice off the top and bottom of the blood orange, cutting just deep enough to get past the pith. With the cut bottom adjacent to the cutting board, slice downward to remove the peel making sure to cut along the curve of the fruit to avoid loss. Hold the now nude fruit in your hand and make careful incisions on the inside of each line of pith to free the segments of the orange. Do this over a bowl to catch all the juice. 7. Remove the asparagus from its marinade and add the blood orange juice to the mixture. Add the mustard and then whisk in olive oil slowly to emulsify. 8. Plating: Make a sheet of shaved asparagus by layering the slices on your palm, they will adhere to each other just enough to make a little blanket. Place a pile of the toasted walnuts at the center of each plate, drape the pile with yer asparagus blanket, top with orange segments and accompany with rolled chèvre. Beverage: Hitochino Red Rice Ale Soundtrack: Al Green "I've Never Found a Girl"

Breakfast Tomato Stew

2009-05-13T03:54:49Z

We rarely puke anymore. Borrrrring. Yeah, perhaps. We blame it on the slow, silent exit of whiskey from our diet and it's jolly replacement: fancy beer. It makes for earlier bed times, a regular body clock and generally happy guts. But we are not without our moments of reverting: usually loud records and a late night's start are involved. Oh, and maybe a last breath breakfast that sits in your belly until a mid-morning tumble to the water closet floor, yeah? For those mornings, we advise heavily against eggs and potatoes. There's only one option and it involves the sweet, hot hug of mildly spiced tomato in a spoon. Somewhere between hangover soup and the Brit-o-phile treat of a blackened-grilled tomato -- bloody breakfast stew. "Fir whan thay whole wooorld lock lake shite."

Breakfast Stew (Makes 4 servings)

2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil 1/2 white onion 2 white potatoes 4 cloves garlic 2 Tbs. parsley 1/2 cup crusty bread cubed 1/2 tsp fresh thyme 1/2 cup peeled and blanched fava beans 1/2 cup white beans 1/4 cup tomato sauce 2 cups water 1 Tbs. sumac 1 tsp. ground cinnamon fresh black pepper and coarse salt to taste 1 whole tomato 1 Tbs. olive oil lemon peel for garnish 1. Lube your sauce pot with olive oil and set on high heat. Toss in chopped onion, pressed garlic, chopped potato and minced parsley. Saute the stuff like its hash browns in the making. Once hash is browned, add bread cubes and continue stirring. Add thyme. 2. Next, stir in your beans, fava and white, and then tomato sauce. Stir well and add 2 cups water. Finally throw in the sumac for a lemony bite and the ground cinnamon to round it all out (and aid in the settling of your poisoned bowels). 3. Let your pot reach a rolling boil and reduce to a low simmer for 20-25 minutes. 4. Heat a saute pan and add more olive oil. Bifurcate your beautiful tomato, and slice off the round bottom of each slice so you have a flat surface on both ends of the fruit. Place the tomato face down in the pan and grill for about 5 minutes or until blackened around the edges. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Salt the top liberally. 5. Ladle stew into a small cup and place the warm grilled tomato in the middle. Garnish with flat parsley leaf and thin slices of lemon peel. Soundtrack: The Sex Pistol's "No Feeling" Beverage: Guiness Stout (in a bottle)

Craft Beer Fest Contest

2009-05-06T20:11:56Z

Pairing food with booze is an age-old tradition birthed from the hallowed halls of kings and queens; but nowadays it's standard -- shallow even -- and a resounding noise reverberates like old Wendy's ads (no really, 'where is the beef?'). In hopes of modernizing the shit, and elevating our beverage of choice (BEER) above the tradish (fucking grape juice), we have made a point of pairing our food with beer for the four years since someone was dumb enough to give us an online password. Now we're putting our money where our mouth is! This weekend ye old Hot Knives will be presenting from the bully pulpit our 'Do's and Don'ts' of cheese and beer pairing at the Los Angeles Craft and Artisan Beer Appreciation League's (...whoooh, deep breath...) First Annual Craft Beer Fest. So. Many. Caps. Here's the deal: 15 California breweries will be pouring 2 handcrafted beers each while we, and several other beer-friendly restaurants and caterers sling free gourmet grub. On top of our cheese power point, some of the region's coolest beer peeps will be scattin'. Craftsman Brewing Co. Telegraph Brewing Co. The Bruery Hangar 24 Brewery Blind Lady Alehouse Port Brewing Co. Firestone Walker Brewing Co. TAPS Brewery Green Flash Brewing Co Ballast Point Brewing Company Stone Brewing Sierra Nevada Brewing Lagunitas Brewing Co. Coronado Brewing So what cheeses will we be cutting? Glad you asked grasshopper, because we have a little game for you. We'll name the dairy and the beer and you try to pair them. Watch our brain-logged brains try to come up with tasting adjectives describing the characteristics of each. The first person who comes up with the pairings we feel are most appropriate will get a free ticket to the Craft Beer Fest L.A., which we've sold out pre-sale anyway.

The Beers

Stone's Sublimely Self Righteous Ale Lagunitas Gnarley Wine Ballast Point's Big Eye IPA Green Flash Trippel

The Dairy

Cana de Oveja: Soft Ripened Ewe's Milk from Spain. Tastes: bright, lemony, slightly sour, and because of its age its super milky. Promising Pairs: wheat beers, Belgian triples, lambics and sours. Chaubier: Washed Rind Semi Firm Cow/Goat blend from France. Tastes: slightly acidic, slightly swiss, meaty but smooth. Promising Pairs: pale ales, IPAs. Beemster X.O: 3 Year Aged Cow's milk from Holland Tastes: deep; butterscotch with umami pop rocks. Promising Pairs: stouts, porters, anything aged in oak. Fourme D'ambert: Wine and Mold Injected French Blue. Cow's Milk Tastes: sweet, salty, funky and smooth. Promising Pairs: scotch style, porters, strong ales. So, people, what's the pairy?

The Perfect Grilled Cheese

2009-04-28T14:30:00Z

The Rules 1. Cut the cheese strategically! (shred semi-hard, slice soft, and grate hard cheeses) 2. Lube it up! (Butter the pan AND both slices of bread) 3. Push it real good! (Use a pot or pan to press your sandwich) 4. No Peeking! (Don't flip too soon, and don't peak before its ready, use your other senses) 5. Take a break! (Always let the sandwich rest before cutting) 6. Repeat often! April showers bring butter burns and freaky trophies. At least, that's been the case ever since 2006 when we made the Grilled Cheese Invitational one of our seasonal "musts." You'll remember, dear reader, that Hot Knives competed in this nut-so event three years in a row, winning five trophies for nearly a dozen sammies, and became the most decorated competitors in the contests' history (more developments on that front later). Well, as promised, we retired this year and abstained from competing. But that didn't mean we hung up our spatulas exactly... Last weekend, for the 7th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational, Hot Knives led a 30-minute, balls-out cooking demonstration on how to make the perfect grilled cheese in front of hundreds of hungry cheese heads who'd waited in line for hours. Talk about a rowdy audience! It was caged heat. It was harder, dirtier, and more rewarding, than competing ever was. Rather than making 4 sandwiches, we grilled something north of 40 full sammies. We had sad hecklers (over herrrrre, on thissssss side!) To top it all off, we were bestowed the awesome, fascist power of giving out a judge's awards this year. Our message to the audience was simple: Use the equipment we say. Follow our 5 simple rules. And you too can be a fucking grilled cheese champion. Equipment Cast iron skillet Clean dish towel Metal spatula Serrated knife Microplane grater Grill brush Probably our favorite moment of the whole sweltering stageshow was when we said, "Try to find French-style butter that's at least 83 percent fat," and a middle-aged lady started pounding her heart and screaming "Amen!" Thankfully, our favorite cheese chronicler Drew was there snapping pics for the local rag. After our show we fed the Los Angeles City Council president a grilled cheese, hit the Lagunitas beer garden, and called it a day. The Perfect Grilled Cheese 2 slices Sourdough Ciabatta style bread 2 oz. Taleggio 1 Tbs. French-style butter 1 oz. Mimolette 1. Bake a loaf of bread (optional, but highly suggested). 2. Take butter out of fridge and store near the stove to get it soft and spreadable. 3. Slice your Taleggio with a thin knife. Grate the Mimolette with the microplane. Store the cheeses on a cutting board or in bowls while you prepare the rest of the fixings. Cheese should be room temp before hitting the pan. 4 Slice your bread into 2-centimeter thick pieces, just a tad fatter than store bought bread. Butter the outer side of each piece, from tip to tip. 5. Place your pan on high heat for a couple minutes. Reduce heat to medium and start lubing with butter. Gauge how hot the pan is by whether the butter burns (too hot) or just quickly sizzles (perfect). Heavily butter the center of the pan and immediately hit with a large pinch of Mimolette, distributing the cheese roughly in the shape of a piece of bread. Quickly follow it up by placing the bread slice on top, butter side down obviously. Top with Tallegio slices (just enough to cover bread completely) and the second bread slice butter side up. 6. Press sandwich by balancing a medium-sized pot on top. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, or until Taleggio shows the earliest signs of melting. Confidently slide spatula under sammy and flip once sure that Mimolette is fully removed from the pan's surface. It should be golden-orange and crisped without being burnt. 7. Repeat on second side. Remove once Taleggio is oozing onto pan. Let sit for 30-45 seconds before cutting with a serrated knife. DO NOT ruin your perfect sandwich by applying too much pressure: gently saw through the crunchy crisped cheese crust and let that knife do all the work. And now a bit of news: Some lady named Heidi put on a bull's eye on her head by beating our record of five trophies and being crowned the most decorated competitor in GCI history. Heidi, Heidi, Heidi... if you're out there: you better come back next year cuz we can't guarantee that your record will survive another round, if you catch our drift...

Beer Cave: Spring Cleanin'

2009-04-19T20:25:00Z

Saturday morning is when Hot Knives gets down and dirty with our version of 'Spring Cleaning.' It mostly involves dusting, spritzing and sprucing our dank Beer Cave collection. Believe us when we say we have some treats in store (a 2007 St. Bernardus Abt. 12, Stone's Vertical Epic 7.7.7., a couple rounds of Doggie Claws and Old Engine Oil, two years of Port's Older Viscosity makes that list). But recently we also came face to face with a handful of beers that are itching to be drank, some that may in fact be, how do you say, past their prime. After all, it's been almost two years since we first started squirreling away beers for aging and some of these bottles were never meant to last long. Taking inventory also reminded us how much of our taxable income was spent on suds in 2008, damn you taxman! So, without further ado, the Hot Knives Beer Cave quarterly report, along with all appropriate SEC filings and investor's forecast for upcoming drunken afternoons... Evan's Beer Cave April 2009 Multiples: 2x Firestone Robust Porter (Oct. 2008) 2x Port Santa's Little Helper (March 2008) 2x Paradox Glen Grant (Aug. 2008) 2x Stone imperial Russian stout (Nov. 2008) 2x Traquair House Ale, (Feb. 2008) 2x Harvieston, Old Engine Oil (Feb. 2008) 2x Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (March 2008) 2x Bourbon County Brand Stout (Dec. 2008) De Proef's Signature Ale (Feb. 2007) Drakes Imperial Ale (Feb. 2008) Coniston Brewing Old Man Ale (Feb. 2008) Russian River Supplication (April 2008) Barbar Ale (2008) Westvletteren 12 (June 2008) Westvleterren 8 (June 2008) Harvieston Ola Dubh 12 (March 2008) Malheur Ale (2008) Abbaye d'aulne (March 2008) Alba Scots Pine Ale (Feb. 2008) Kemelbier (June 2008) Allagash Curieux, (Feb. 2008) Trappistes Rochefort 10 (Feb. 2008) Echigo Stout (March 2008) Port Older Viscosity (Feb. 2008) Konings Hoeven Quadruple Ale (Feb. 2008) Ebulum Elderberry Black (Feb. 2008) Hardy's Ale (Feb. 2008) St. Bernardus ABT 12 (Nov. 2007) Firestone Walker XII (Dec. 2008) Lagunitas Gnarleywine (Aug. 2008) Duchess de Bourgogne (March 2008) De dolle Oerbier (Oct 2008) Hitachino nest (Oct. 2008) Harvieston Ola Dubh 16 (Dec. 2008) Avery Fifteen (Aug. 2008) Oude Kriek Boon (Oct. 2008) Black Albert (Oct. 2008) Unibrou Quelque Chose (March 2008) Avery Kaiser (Oct. 2008) Allagash Four Ale (Oct. 2008) Stone Vertical Epic (July 2007) Port's Santas Little Helper (Oct. 2008) Unibrou Chambly Noire (Feb. 2008) Central Coast Brewing Scotch Ale (2008) De Proeff Saison Impreiale Saison (March 2008) Lost Abbey Gift of Magi (Oct. 2008) Alesmith Old Numbskull (2007) Bison Brewing Winter Warmer (208) Flemish Prim Wild Ale (Feb. 2008) Unibrou 17 (March 2008) Grand Cru of Emperor (April 2008) Alex's Beer Cave April 2009 Multiples: 2x Stone Vertical epic 2008 (Aug. 2008) 2x Alpine Beer Co. Boris Imperial Stout (Jun. 2008) 4x Hair of the Dog Fred From The Woods (Dec. 2008) 2x Rochefort 10 (Jun. 2007) 2x Ola Dubh 12 '07 (May. 2008) Stone 11th Anniversary (Sep 2007) Stone 12th Anniversary (Sep. 2008) Stone Imperial Stout (Mar. 2008) Gouden Carolus Noel 2007 (Dec 2007) Alesmith Decadence 2006: Imperial Evil Dead Red (Nov 2006) Telegraph Stock Porter (Nov. 2008) Firestone 11 (Feb. 2007) Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keiser (Apr. 2007) Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keiser (Apr. 2008) Bourbon Barrel Aged Levud's Batch #1 The Bruery (Jun. 2008) Panil Barriquee (Jun. 2007) Abbeye de St. Bon-Chien '06 (Dec. 2008) Alpine Beer Co. Chez Monieux (Aug. 2008) Glazen Toren Tripel (Apr. 2008) Lost Abbey Judgement Day (Jul. 2008) A. Le Coq Imperial Stout '03 (Dec. 2008) Rogue Old Crusteceon '96 (Jul. 2008) Avery Samael Ale '06 (Jun. 2007) Avery Mephistopheles Stout (Jun. 2007) Hair of the Dog Adam (Jun. 2007) Hair of the Dog Fred (Jun. 2007) Rodenbach '04 (Dec. 2007) Rodenbach 06 (Aug. 2007) Rodenbach Grand Cru 06 (Aug. 2007) Samiclaus Helles (Aug. 2007) Dogfish Heah Immort Ale (Jun. 2008) Westfleteren 8 (Jun. 2008) Westfleteren 12 (Jun. 2008) Oerbier Reserva '07 (Dec. 2008) Sierra Nevada Bigfoot '08 (Jun. 2008) Hitochino Espresso Stout (Jan. 2009) Anchor Old Foghorn (Jun 2007) Orval '07 (Jun 2008) Duchess De Borgogne (Jun. 2007) J.W. Lees Harvest Ale Aged in Lagavulin Casks '06 (Jun 2007) Brew Dog Paradox Aged in 30yr. Glen Grant Casks (Aug. 2008) The Haand Bryyeriet Dark Force Imperial Wheat (Jun. 2007) Mikkeller Big Bad Worse (May 2007) Kulmbacher Eisbock (Jun. 2007) Monk's Cafe (Oct. 2008) Malheur 12 (Oct. 2008) Stone Imperial Stout (2) (April 2008) Barbar Winter Bock (May 2007) Goose Island Burbon Barrel Aged Stout (Dec. 2008)

Spring Fling with Jesus

2009-04-16T00:37:03Z

After the longest hibernation ever (count 'em, three pointless weeks of no Hot Knives posts) we are back in full swing. And somehow, while we were gone, it became full-blown springtime. So this week we celebrated the season with a panoply of parties. First there was a friend's "Super Seder," complete with horseradish relish, her Jewish mom, and a traditional drinking game involving Charlton Heston (sub 'Hest' for "Moses" during the seder reading, or else chug your Manoshevitz). Then there was the springtime festival of lights hosted by a buddy of ours that morphed into a drunken Easter rave. And finally on Sunday, our favorite: an old-fashioned open-house dinner and mystical egg hunt. We invited over a gaggle of friends trained in the art of vegetarian cookery and put 'em to work. We pranced around, grilled stuff, praised the risen lord, and poured white wine sangria, aged beers and sparkling glasses of the French liqueur Pastis. The resulting feast was perfect, part dandy, part simple pauper, totally godlike. Easter Menu Wheat Pita Crostini with Green Garlic Hummus Cowboy Gaspacho Kale-Tahini Salad Grilled Garden Veg with Handmade Aioli Savory Turmeric Biscuits Curry Quinoa Salad Coriander Falafel Brown Rice Chile Mole Strawberry-Cardamom Shortcake Saffron pudding To pick one recipe for y'all we thought long and hard about 'what would Jesus do'... nothing flashy, something hearty...curry quinoa salad. Props to our gal friend Jesse for calling this one: dried cranberries and snap peas do go together.... mmmm, Kabalah Toubeleh. Curried 'Kabouleh' with Spring Veg (Makes 8-10 servings) 2 cups quinoa 1/2 cup raw cashews 1 Tbs. honey or agave nectar 1 tsp curry powder 1 red bell pepper 1 cup snap peas 1 shallot 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley 2 Tbs. whole grain mustard 2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar 1 Tbs. curry powder 1 tsp. turmeric 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1. Pour quinoa into a medium saucepan, cover with slightly more than equal parts water (2.5 cups) and place on medium heat. Once water hits a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and keep lid on. Cook for about 8 minutes, al dente, just before quinoa grain is fully burst open. 2. While quinoa cooks, toast your cashews in a sauté pan on medium heat. As nuts start to brown add honey to the pan and toss well. Add first 1 tsp. curry powder and make sure spice is evenly distributed. Remove and let cool. 3. Remove quinoa and let cool. 4. Cut your spring vegetables and combine in a large mixing bowl: Chop the red bells pepper and snap peas into cubes. Finely chop the parsley and mince the shallot. Add the cranberry and warm cashews as well. 5. Prepare a curry dressing: mix a base out of mustard, apple cider vinegar. Whisk and add rest of curry powder, turmeric and lastly olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste (your mustard is salty.) 6. Finely, toss in the quinoa, stirring well, and drench in dressing. This works best if quinoa is slightly warm but not hot. Then leave it to cool and turn yellow from the turmeric before serving. Beverage: De Proef's Saison Imperiale Soundtrack: Sweater's "Sky Mall"