Chilled Potato Soup with Smoked Trout

Fresh trout is one of my favorite fish to cook! It's a clean, healthy, inexpensive and positively delicious. I've blogged about it before (click here), but there's a new way to incorporate it into a dish.

In honor of my almost-vegan summer, here's a recipe for a Chilled Potato Soup topped with a tiny piece of smoked trout. It's a great way to use leftover trout if you made it for dinner the night before, or you could buy smoked trout and use it on this soup (the smoke flavor would taste great). If you want to make it vegan, simply, leave off the trout and sprinkle with dill and drizzle with olive oil!

Note: This soup is also delicious served hot!

Domestic Diva's Chilled Potato Soup with Rainbow Trout

1 smoked trout fillet
8 potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil plus more for drizzling
pinch of red chili flakes (optional)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp fresh dill
salt & pepper

Directions:

In a large pot, heat 2 tbsp of olive olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for about 6-8 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Add the garlic & chili flakes and saute for 1 more minute. Add the potatoes and the bay leaf, cover with the stock, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

Allow to cool, remove the bay leaf, and then puree in a blender until smooth & creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Then, place the soup in the fridge and chill for 3-4 hours. Note: Because this soup is served chilled, you may need extra salt to bring out the flavor.

To plate, ladle soup into bowls. Top with a piece of rainbow trout, drizzle with olive oil, squeeze a little lemon and sprinkle with dill. Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients:

rainbow trout, organic yukon gold potatoes and Le Soste di Ulisse extra virgin olive oil from Whole Foods

Music on Tap:

Pearl Jam - No Code
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

The Diva Visits The Hollywood Farmer's Market! Domestic Diva's Clams with Purple Spring Onions & Baby Heirloom Tomatoes

For the food lover, the farmer's market is mecca! Filled with booth after booth of farmer's hocking their bounty, it's the best place to score the freshest, best tasting, healthiest foods available. It's also a great way to support your local farmers. Chefs from top restaurants regularly scour these markets, searching for ingredients for their daily specials. And if you think it's only fruits and vegetables, think again! Often, you'll find fish and poultry vendors, cheese makers, honey producers, and much more. Oh, and did I mention the prices? This is also a great way to get a deal on the best product available.

In Los Angeles, we're fortunate to have many farmer's markets, but if you ask me, there is none better than The Hollywood Farmer's market. This blessed event occurs on Sunday mornings between 8am and 1pm.

The Hollywood Farmers' Market is a "certified" open-air street market with approximately 90 farmers, 30 local artisans, and 30 baked goods and prepared food vendors who sell their own products every Sunday. It is a direct-to-consumer marketplace with all produce and products from local, California vendors and growers.

Besides offering a fantastic variety of the freshest California-grown fruits and vegetables, the Hollywood Farmers' Market has increasingly become a destination shopping venue. Other products include honey, fish, free-range poultry and eggs, bison meat, gouda cheese, olives, mushrooms, sprouts, jams, jellies, fruit juices, specialty sauces and dips, dried fruit and nuts, an espresso cart, Mexican, Caribbean, Middle-Eastern and many other ethnic foods prepared at the market, hot crepes, breads, cookies, clothing, jewelry, gifts and so much more.

Are you hungry yet? I certainly was when I ventured to the market on Sunday morning, armed with a canvas tote bag and my wallet, ready to procure the best product for my next meals. I parked at Arclight ($2 parking with validation) and walked up Ivar, joining the throng of shoppers crowded around booths full of fruits & vegetables. Ahh, the bounty of summer! I first made a lap all the way down, surveying the items that looked most appealing to me, before I committed to buy anything. I was searching for unusual items that aren't always available at the grocery store, things that would inspire me to cook great food! No small task. Also, luckily, there are many organic vendors at the Hollywood Farmer's Market, and I'm very committed to eating mostly organic product.

My first acquisition was not a fruit or vegetable. It was cheese. Incredible, fresh, melt in your Bufala mozzarella to be exact from a specialty vendor ($8). I also picked up some free range eggs ($4). Then, I approached what I'll call the oyster booth - a vendor specializing in oysters, clams and mussels - offering to shuck them right there for you to guzzle on the spot! Next time, I'll bring Kuzak with me, an avowed oyster lover, and we'll chow down. But it wasn't the oysters that caught my eye - it was the lovely clams, fresh as could be, sectioned off into 2 pound mesh bags. I requested a bag, which they kindly packed in in ice ($10 for 2 pounds).

Alright, it was time to get down to the nitty gritty of choosing my produce. My house was already stocked with peaches and heirloom tomatoes, by far the most popular items at the market, so I bypassed those vendors, looking for more unusual items. After some thought, I settled on a few great vegetables from a vendor mostly selling organic, heirloom varietals. Into my canvas bag went purple spring onions, a glorious deep purple shade of these baby onions, yellow haricots verts, slim, fashionable French green beans, a bunch of baby carrots with the tops still attached, and purple and white spotted shell beans, the main ingredient in traditional pasta e fagioli, an Italian pasta & bean soup that I adore. These four vegetables cost me a total of $6. Finally, I stopped at the Kenter Canyon Farms booth for some organic rosemary and thyme ($2 per bunch).

Positively giddy from my acquisitions, I hurried home, my menu for the night's dinner already taking shape in my mind. I wanted to cook the clams in a sauce that felt like the essence of summer itself, chocked full of spring onions and baby tomatoes, and finished off with basil. Now, I know many of you might be intimidated by the prospect of cooking bivalves like mussels and clams, but I assure you it is hands down one of the simplest things to add to your culinary arsenal. I served the clams family style as a starter course, but they easily could have been a main dish, especially when tossed with pasta (maybe next time)! The clams were so sweet, delicate, luxurious, so good in fact, that after the last clam had been polished off, Kuzak and I ate the sauce with our spoons as if it was soup.

For our main course, we feasted on pan roasted yellowtail served over the yellow haricots verts which I'd delicately blanched, and topped off with a citrus reduction studded with the last of the purple spring onions. As a side dish, I added my slow-cooked white beans, which had been simmering in my crock pot all day with garlic and the herbs I'd picked up that morning. Wow, what a great meal! I'll be back at the market this Sunday without fail.

In the coming weeks, I promise to share all of these recipes, but in the meantime, here's my recipe for the clams. This dish was a true winner! Looking to make it into a complete meal? Toss it with pasta or serve it with bread (to sop up the sauce) and a salad!


Domestic Diva's Clams with Purple Spring Onions & Baby Heirloom Tomatoes

2 lbs clams
1 bunch purple spring onions, roots removed and bulbs thinly sliced (regular spring onions can be used)
1 cup baby heirloom or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup basil, chopped
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

Directions:

In a heavy bottomed stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and tomatoes, sauteing for a few minutes until beginning to soften. Add the wine and half the basil and bring to a simmer, reducing the sauce in half. Sprinkle in a little salt and pepper and add the clams.

Cover and steam the clams for about 5-10 minutes, until all the clams have opened. Remove from the heat. Squeeze lemon juice on top and sprinkle with the remaining basil. Serve family style in a big bowl. Enjoy!

Businesses Mentioned:

Hollywood Farmer's Market
Sunday 8am - 1pm
Ivar & Selma Ave. between Hollywood & Sunset Blvd.
Parking at Arclight $2 with market validation

Kenter Canyon Farms
11069 Penrose St.
Sun Valley, CA 91352

Local producer that grows & sells great lettuces & herbs, including organic rocket arugula. Their products can be found at Whole Foods and farmer's markets.

Source for Ingredients:

organic purple spring onions & manila clams from Hollywood Farmer's Market

organic baby heirloom tomatoes, organic basil & organic lemons from Whole Foods

Music on Tap:

Buffalo Springfield Box Set - Disc 3
U2 - Achtung Baby
Ben Harper - Live From Mars Disc 2
Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
The Ethan Iverson Trio - The Minor Passions

My Almost-Vegan Summer! Domestic Diva's Chilled Peach & Cucumber Soup with Redwood Hill Farm's Goat Milk Yogurt

With the advent of summer, I'm reminded of my love of seasonal eating. In the winter, when the temperatures plunge, I have a hunkering for hearty comfort foods and big, heady red wines. My oven becomes my best friend as I roast, braise and bake my way through the winter. I whip up hearty cassoulet, braise meaty stews, roast chickens and stew all manner of soups. Always happy to provide the wine, Kuzak dispenses hearty cabernets, big California syrahs and Rhone blends. Our cups runneth over.

By the time spring dissolves into summer, my appetite also changes into something different altogether. I begin to crave lighter meals, chocked full of the fresh fruits and vegetables that make summer the best time to eat. I toss together salads, blends of barely blanched organic vegetables and fruit, puree up chilled soups, and mix up ceviches spiked, with spicy peppers and chilled fish. For dessert, I eat fruit, fruit and more fruit. To wet our appetites, Kuzak serves up crisp, Burgundian whites and lots and lots of pinot noir (with the occasional syrah still thrown in for good measure).

This summer, I've decided to commit to an almost-vegan approach to dining. While it sounds radical, it's quite simple and fulfilling. The centerpieces to my meals will be the vegetables and fruits, foods usually relegated to side dishes in this country. Any dairy will consist mainly of fresh cheeses thrown in here and there for good measure. Proteins will consist mainly of fish and seafood served in tiny portions and pushed to the side to make room for the bounty of summer. The meals will be light, succulent, delicate, a little bit like summer itself.

Last night, the A-Girl came over for a hike and a light, healthy summer dinner. Having just visited Fish King in Glendale (more to come on this trip in later posts), I was fortunate enough to have a kitchen full of fresh seafood. So for our dinner, I threw together a jumbo scallop ceviche, chocked full of spicy serrano peppers and red onion, served over creamy avocado slices. We also dined on a red rice "risotto" studded with black olives and ribbons of parmesan reggiano and jumbo shrimp loaded up with garlic and lemon. The grand finale? A simple salad of butter lettuce and heirloom tomatoes.

Sounds like a lot of food, right? For protein portions, we dined on one scallop and two shrimp per person. That's it, but I promise no one left hungry, and even my offering of fresh peaches and blackberry cabernet sorbet for dessert was declined. So begins my almost-vegan summer.

I make a few solemn oaths in the pursuit of my almost-vegan summer:

1) Flavor will not be sacrificed! After all, I am the Domestic Diva. My creed is that life is too short to eat bad food or drink bad wine. My dishes will all be chocked full of flavor.

2) You won't even notice what you're missing! For proteins, I'll be mainly relying on small portions of fish & seafood (4 oz per person or less), nuts and beans. Occasionally, chicken or pork may be thrown in for diversity. I promise you won't even notice what's not on the plate!

3) Variety, variety, variety! I will be capitalizing on all the bounty that summer provides. Expect vibrant colors to be lighting up my plates.

4) Chill out! I'll also be whipping up a lot of chilled dishes to stave off the often sweltering summer heat.

To get you started, here's a chilled soup recipe! It takes advantage of the amazing peaches in season right now, combining them with cucumbers, for a nice twist on the traditional cucumber soup. Even Kuzak, who views cucumbers as his arch nemesis, enjoyed eating it!

A few notes on this recipe: I used a goat milk yogurt because I love the flavor, but plain cow milk yogurt will suffice. Also, when it comes to peaches, this is an ingredient I recommend buying organic if possible. Peaches carry one of the highest pesticide loads of any fruit or vegetable. Because they're in season right now, organic peaches can be found for very reasonable prices at farmer's markets and yes, even Whole Foods (they were selling them for $1.99 a pound last week). And finally, while this soup can be served in bowls, it's also great poured it into shot glasses and handed out, kind of like the perfect "amuse-bouche" to kick off a summer BBQ dinner!

Domestic Diva's Chilled Peach & Cucumber Soup with Redwood Hill Farm's Goat Milk Yogurt

2 cucumbers, peeled & seeded
2 large peaches, peeled & pit removed
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper
1/2 cup fresh dill
1 cup plain goat milk yogurt (cow milk yogurt may be substituted)
1 garlic clove, peeled
3 tbsp good olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 cup filtered water or vegetable stock
salt & pepper

Directions:

In a blender, add all the ingredients except the water/stock. Puree the soup, adding only as much water/stock as necessary to thin the soup to the desired texture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill the soup in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours (can be made a day in advance and chilled overnight).

To serve, dish out the soup and then garnish with a little fresh dill. Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients:

organic cucumbers, Redwood Hill Farm goat milk yogurt & organic dill from Whole Foods

organic peaches from LOVE Delivery

Music on Tap:
Peter Gabriel - Miss from Hit/Miss
Eric Clapton - Just One Night (live)
Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground
Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way?

The Diva & The A-Girl Check Out Osteria Mozza!

Osteria Mozza's Cannolis

As many of you divas may recall, the last time I dined at Osteria Mozza, I was taken by the food, but not so much by the front of the house. I was forced to wait almost an hour for a reservation I'd made a month in advance. So while I thought the food and wine service were impeccable, my experience with the reservation process left a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn't help but recall one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes where Jerry goes up to the car rental desk only to be told they don't have the car he reserved.

Pan Seared Sea Bass with Tarragon Pesto & Chickpea Puree

The heat wave continues! Another nearly ninety degree day. Why did I choose to live in a house without central A/C again? This morning I spirited The Adorable Monster off to the dog park before it got too hot, where we decamped in the shade. Of all the dogs in the giant dog park, who do you think he decided to hump? A giant, black Newfoundland - pretty much the hugest dog in the whole park. Thankfully, the Newfie was also the sweetest dog, and he playfully pushed the Monster off, at which point, he rolled on his back in total surrender while the Newfie licked his face. Total cuteness!

So today I'm sharing another recipe - this one is a light, summery fish dish. I pan seared Sea Bass and served it over a delicate chickpea puree, topping it off with a tarragon pesto. I love to pair tarragon with seafood and this is a nice twist on the traditional basil pesto. This dish is a snap to make, impressive enough to serve to company and absolutely delicious!

Domestic Diva's Pan Seared Sea Bass with Tarragon Pesto & Chickpea Puree

2 pieces of sea bass (mine were 4-5 oz each)
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt & pepper

tarragon pesto:
1/2 cup fresh tarragon
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 olive oil
2 garlic cloves
salt & pepper

chickpea puree:
1 cup chickpeas, cooked
1/4 good olive oil
salt & pepper

Directions:

To make the pesto, combine the ingredients into a small food processor or blender, grinding it up until it forms a nice paste. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

To make the chickpeas, add the olive oil and chickpeas into the food processor or a blender and puree until smooth and creamy. A little water or chicken broth may be added as needed to thin it out. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To make the sea bass, season the fillets on either side with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, in a saute pan, heat the grapeseed oil over medium high heat until almost smoking. Add the fish, cooking for a few minutes on each side, until cooked through. Remove from the pan.

To plate, spread some of the chickpea puree on the bottom of a plate. Top with the fish. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over it. Spoon some of the tarragon pesto on top of the fish. Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients:

sustainably-fished sea bass, organic tarragon & organic chickpeas from Whole Foods

Music on Tap:

The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
Old Crow Medicine Show - Tennessee Pusher (still enjoying this one!)