Bobby On The Brain

Sure, he made an ass of himself on Iron Chef but the man has a killer mussel recipe. I just made them on the stove and will serve with some sourdough toast.

Steamed Mussels with White Wine, Tarragon, Shallots, Butter, and Grilled French Bread

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Level: Easy

Serves:4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bread
• 2 shallots, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups white wine
• 2 pounds cultivated mussels, scrubbed
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 baguette, halved lengthwise

Directions

Heat grill to high. Sprinkle garlic with a pinch of salt and, with the flat side of a large knife, mash and smear the garlic to a coarse paste. Heat the oil in a stockpot on the grates of the grill, add the shallots and garlic and cook until shallots soften. Add the wine, bring to a boil and stir in the mussels. Cover the pot and cook the mussels until all of them have opened, about 6 to 8 minutes, discard any that do not open.

Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and stir in the tarragon. Pour the mixture over the mussels and serve immediately with grilled bread.

Brush cut side of baguette with oil, season with salt and pepper and grill, cut side down until lightly golden brown.

Cornflake Chicken

In middle school and high school I would go to A's house to study. There are 2 delicious dinners I'd look forward to while I was there: Parmesan and olive oil pasta and cornflake chicken. I use corn flakes from Whole Foods that don't have high fructose corn syrup in it.

Cornflake Chicken
Preheat oven 350 degrees. A's mom would use chicken tenders but this time, I used skinless boneless chicken thighs. Remove fat and cut into uniform pieces in terms of size and thickness. In a plastic bag crush cornflakes and add kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Shake chicken in bag to coat. Butter glass/ metal pan and place chicken. Drizzle with melted butter and pop into oven for 20 minutes or until done.

Take That Food Network BBQ Special

M likes to watch TV on mute when she's working at night so I put on the Food Network. It is not something one should watch after dinner. First we wanted ice cream, then cookies and then "Best Thing I Ever Ate: BBQ." I was drooling and decided I will definitely hit Hill Country when I'm back in NY.

To satisfy my craving today (now!), I took out 2 of our thin cut rib eyes and marinated them in Montreal Steak seasoning and Worcestershire sauce (ignore the high fructose corn syrup, it's not really there). Made O's lemon dressing (lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, salt). Made potato salad (4 baked potatoes, mayo, shallots, rice vinegar, celery salt, fresh cracked pepper). Cooked the steaks on a super hot cast iron grill (awesome if don't have or are too lazy to do that whole charcoal grill thing). Let the steaks rest and then plated steak, salad (arugula, dressing, parm cheese) and potato salad. Apartment BBQ.

V.H., MPP

Congratulations, V! It was an inspiring ceremony and Arianna Huffington was funny, brilliant and an amazing speaker. I also really loved the live organ playing.

LA Landscape

Gorgeous windy drive through Topanga (I always think of Boy Meets World). I did the same drive last year when I went to C&C's wedding. And of course, LA traffic. Gotta love it! Oh, and no one told me about June Gloom. Brrr and sticky.

LA In My Belly

V and I are all about food. Before we visit each other we send each other the food schedule. From the airport, she took us to gr/eats (delicious fried oyster plate) and Volcano Tea (shaved ice with red bean, condensed milk, almond jello and taro pudding) on Sawtelle. Then we headed to Abbot Kinney Blvd for tea at Jin Patisserie. We met up with M & H at Sagebrush Cantina for an awesome taco tray and live music that we sang along to (oh oh oh OH Sweet Child O' Mine....). And last but not least, the awesome sushi chef who made me a special uni sushi with a dollop of wasabi, lemon, salt and no nori. Delicious!

Banh Hoi

These fresh rice rolls are M's favorite meal in the whole world (she once ate 15 at 1 sitting). Her mom made it last night and we are attempting to recreate it (it'll be my first Cambodian recipe).

Banh Hoi
- Beef: slice eye of round thinly, chop half an onion and 1 garlic clove. Heat canola oil in wok, add garlic, then beef, oyster sauce, and onions. Add half cup of water. Stirring frequently, cook until beef is brown.
- Rice vermicelli: soak in warm water, nuke, toss with olive oil and sprinkle with scallions or fried garlic
- Rice summer roll wraps (aka Vietnamese Rice Paper): soak in warm water and lay on these plastic circle things with holes
- Special fish sauce: boil 7 cups of water with 2 cups of sugar and then take off heat. Soak chillies in 2 cups palm vinegar. Combine with 1 head of garlic chopped, 1 cup fish sauce (3 crab brand). Fill 2 liter soda bottle and keep in fridge.
- Various fresh herbs and mints (I think 2 are spearmint and thai basil - wish I knew what the others were)
- Green leaf lettuce
- Cucumber

Pour out some special fish sauce into individual bowls and add 3 spoonfuls of sauce from the cooked beef. Take rice wrap and add beef, vermicelli, herbs, lettuce and cucumber. Make into roll and dip into sauce.

*Teasim, Dukem & DC Tourist Day 2

After cooking and eating another breakfast smorgasbord (eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, pancakes, hash browns, fresh fruit), we headed out for my DC Tourist Day 2 and Dr. Do and A's Day 4. I was a bit disappointed with the Freer and Sackler - my favorite piece was basically a big fun house mirror. We could've played with that exhibit all day. We had a huge lunch at Teasim, who knew that healthy food could be so filling? Found our countries at the Navy Memorial and headed to the Museum of American History where I promptly passed out from a food coma. After Dr. Do and A took in their muppets and ruby red slippers, I took them to Dukem, my favorite Ethiopian restaurant. Special Tibs never let me down.

*Dancing Crab

We took the fam to our favorite crab restaurant in DC - The Dancing Crab. M's mom kicked our butts by devouring 6. I beat M 3 to 2.5. I also had my first hush puppy - it reminded me of shrimp toast topping. Oh delicious fried carb, where have you been all my life?

Cambodian Yumminess

M's mom cooked dinner for us... I love bok choy and shitake mushrooms and her ginger chicken stew.