Kitchen 4140: I thought the only thing up this way was Costco

Today was a perfect little lunch day with the family. We took a trip up to Morena Blvd. to check out the off the beaten path , but well known Kitchen 4140.

Nestled off the 5 freeway just before the Costco and in between some interior decor places , is Kitchen 4140 helmed by Chef Kurt Metzger. Calling his food style " ingredient-inspired and ingredient-driven", his focus is on using locally sourced ingredients and then letting them shine in all their glory.

waiting patiently for food

Fish and Chips
ale-battered cod, caper aioli, and malt vinegar served with hand-cut frites. This was the G-ma's choice and she really enjoyed it.

Contained the Malt vinegar for fish and chips

Smoked Salmon sandwich
house-smoked salmon, heirloom tomatoes, mixed, greens, red onion, capers, avocado creme friache, herbed aioli, served on a french roll. This was the Wife's choice and she enjoyed it. I took a bite and the Jew in me jumped for joy. The salmon was tender and flaky and had just the right amount of smoke. The aioli paired well with the fish, but we agreed it was a little heavy handed. The gorgeous end of summer yellow heirloom on it gave it a nice finish. It had the feel of a deli bagel and lox sandwich with all the fixings, but in a lighter classier way.

Short Rib sandwich
beer-braised beef short ribs, pickled onions, mango chutney, asian slaw, on roasted pepper bread. This was my choice of course, being the resident meat lover,( no jokes please). This was almost a bahn mi kind of thing right here. The tender, unctuous meat was falling apart and the acidity of the pickled onions and the asian slaw, made it so that it was rich ,but not so much so that you hated yourself after. The only thing that bugged me was the spinach on it; it was raw, and there was too much. It took away from the overall feel of the sandwich and was kinda the odd man out in an otherwise cohesive sandwich. The hand cut frites were also very good and worked well with the house made ketchup. There was a little too much sugar for our taste and the Wife picked up a hint of truffle in there as well.

Catsup, Ketchup, Ol' 57, tomatoey device for pairing with starch receptacle after it has bathed in a boiling oil bath.

While I enjoyed this restaurant and it's well thought out and tasty menu, I had one gripe. Flavored Water. Its been a fad now for quite awhile and started innocently enough with a lemon or lime here and a cucumber there, but in my opinion it has gotten a little out of hand. While flavored or infused waters can be quite refreshing on their own, I feel little goes into how they will pair with the food once you start eating. Kitchen 4140's water wasn't overly dramatic in taste, but it did serve to muddle some of the flavors of my sandwich and took me out of my meat reverie too soon.

Water with Flavors

Enjoying the Smoked Salmon, that's my girl!

Links and so forth:


Kitchen 4140

Movie Night Never Tasted So Good

When semi romantic movie night with the Wife and Kid rolls around, you gotta make the dinner special. I chose to go with Beef Short Rib Stroganoff and an Heirloom Tomato Caesar with Bacon Parmesan Crisps.

The Kid loves cow

These gorgeous Beef Short Ribs are the bounty I picked up at Iowa Meat Farms. Beautiful deep red, marbled perfection. Iowa is my go to place when looking for some quality meat and they never fail. The staff is always very friendly and also eager to help with finding the right cut of meat and recipe suggestions and tips for whatever meat you end up choosing.

Herby Garlic paste for the short ribs

Post massage short ribs ready for the oven! While the ribs were in the oven becoming super delicious, I started preparing the salad and the stroganoff sauce

The salad was going to be topped with a Parmesan Bacon crisp, so first thing i had to do was cook off the bacon. Thick cut bacon, beautifully fatty and salty, is such a gorgeous sight as you watch it render down into crunchy strips of pork bliss.

This is what glitter should actually look like! These tempting morsels were then mixed with flour and parmesan cheese and divided up on a baking sheet.

Before oven : modest cheese mixture

After oven: simple, delectable, cookies of the pork gods. After preparing the crisps I turned my attention to the simple Caesar like dressing for the salad

First up was to mince the little briny anchovies down to almost a paste. I then added lemon juice, grated garlic, parmesan cheese, and a little olive oil. There is no egg yolk like a traditional Caesar dressing, but the cheese helps make the dressing creamy in texture so you don't miss it too much.

Completed dressing, tangy, salty, and luscious.

Beautiful offering of heirlooms from Specialty Produce

Gorgeous firework display from the inside of the tomatoes. After all the prep was done for the salad it was time to assemble. I could almost here the Voltron theme song.

This is the salad without the crisps because this was going into the fridge and didn't want them to become soggy. I also added watercress to the combo. So salad is done, must continue on to make stroganoff. The sauce begins with the sautéing of Cremini and Button mushrooms in some olive oil. The smell that emanates from this combo is like delicious wet earth after a summer shower. After the mushrooms brown, it's time for minced garlic and shallots.

Once the mixture has melded together and those garlic and shallots become very fragrant, it's time to deglaze the pan with some cognac. I used champagne cognac, but it doesn't really make a difference which type or brand you use.Be careful in this step and take the pan away from the heat or else there will be flames. Once the cognac is in, it's time for the main event: the heavy cream!

Ah, so beautiful isn't it. Buttery milk fat blending with the tender umami of the mushroom to create a sauce that elevates it's counter parts , yet at the same time is in a league all it's own. After the sauce reduces down, remove from heat and add dijon, sour cream, salt,and pepper (go heavy on the pepper, this creamy sauce can take it and it really gives a nice depth to it with out being spicy)

These short ribs were so pretty that they had their own photo shoot before even getting to join the rest of the meal.

The completed meal was awesome. The rich, creamy mushroom sauce flowing delicately over buttered egg noodles then topped with crunchy, tender roasted short rib was almost too much to bear until you shoveled a perfect bite of tangy, tart, salty, tomatoey, cheesy bacon goodness into your mouth. The salad was the best choice to combat the richness of the stroganoff and even with the bacon and cheese crisps , was actually very light and refreshing.

The perfect bite.

Photos were courtesy of my lovely Wife this time.




Links and whatnot:

Iowa Meat Farms

Food Network Magazine

Food Network

Von's

Specialty Produce

The Habit Burger Grill

The Wife's grilled veggie burger with sprouts, cucumber, lettuce, tomato.

Crispy, fluffy, golden French fries

My double Char Burger with cheese and bacon.

The Habit Burger Grill

Maine Lobster Salad Sanguiches: Sea Cockroaches Make Good Eating!

Long has the mystique and deliciousness of lobsters held sway over the two legged land dwellers. We love these bugs that crawl in droves across the cold Atlantic Ocean floor devouring detritus and carcasses of mightier and more noble sea creatures. While I love eating the local Californian Spiny Lobster, you can't beat the claw meat that comes from Maine.

These lovelies are called the American lobster, Homarus Americanus, northern lobster, and of course, more commonly, the Maine lobster. These tasty treats are found all along the Atlantic coast from Labrador(that's near Newfoundland) all the way down to New Jersey, where those claws come in good use to fist bump. I procured this dynamic duo at the apparently newly remodeled Point Loma Seafoods.

Fresh vibrant seafood beckons from shiny new glass cases. The floor has been re-tiled and and an overall cleanliness and newness emanates from all around, blanketing you in the comforting arms of delectable deep sea delights. I was helped by a friendly gent named Terry and he quickly fished out the clawed bounty from the cold water tank.

Super hot morning, it was only a little after 9 am and the tanks were sweating. I took the days catch back to the abattoir (hehe) and quickly tossed the lobsters in the freezer to calm them down a bit so they wouldn't be so snappy, and prepared the boiling water that would envelope and caress these beauties with flavor and warmth.

The boil consists of a gallon of water, red pepper flakes, paprika ( I used sweet Spanish paprika), lemons, parsley, thyme, salt( salty like the ocean), bay leaves, and some whole Tellicherry peppercorns. The aroma coming off this was intense and mouthwatering. After bringing to a boil then back down to simmering, it was time to humanely kill the lobsters. The easy way to do this is to take a very sharp knife and put the point at the base of the carapace (main part of shell) and drive it in fast then slice straight down through the head cleaving it in twain( cut in half). This severs all the important thinking/feeling bits, but leaves the dying/twitching parts in complete working order. Don't fret my pets, it shouldn't hurt and all the electro impulses making it move are pain free and normal and should stop( sometimes not) when you plunge them into the briny boiling deep.

This is what rises from the pot about 10 minutes later( tails first in the water for 3 minutes then drop in claws and go for another 7). Beautiful deep red shells filled with tender jiggly lobster meat!

There are many ways to get the delicate flesh from the dauntingly pointy and sharp shell, but the easiest for me is making some cracks and cuts with a knife then just breaking them open Hulk status.

Bite sizes pieces of lobster and chopped Tarragon and Chives.

The beginnings of aioli are humble and quiet, until you add the mighty catalyst of Canola oil and transform them into the suave and sophisticated cousin of mayo. This is Dijon, hot sauce, egg yolks, salt, and lemon champagne vinegar.

The luscious, creamy, tangy substance after the addition of some Canola oil and about 3 minutes of food processor action.

A couple of dollops of aioli and now this rich flavorful meat is a fresh healthy salad. Yeah right. Lobster is about decadence people. It's there to make you feel powerful and rich. It's the sports car you buy in your mid life crisis, but with better mileage and cooler hood ornaments. How else can you feel like you battled a sea beast like Perseus did with the Kracken plus get the satisfaction of dining on it after! Yeah suck it Perseus you can't eat stone Kracken.

These are by far some of the best buns I have ever had and they are the perfect conveyance for lobster to get to your mouth hole. If you have never been to Con Pane I suggest you stop reading this and head straight there. Not only do they bring the smack down when making salads and sanguiches , they make their own bread, on premises, and it's the best. They also have a variety of sweets that are superb. I have had the pleasure of sampling the cinnamon roll and today was honored with the chance to get a Strawberry Scone( thank goodness you need ove $5 to use a credit cad or I might have missed out). This was the best scone I have ever had and I have made scones. I couldnt get close to this. It was almost a conundrum how so may things could be going on in one simple scone. Sweet, savory, soft, crusty,moist yet slighty dry in the best possible way. There was large granules of sugar baked on to the top that gave this burst of sweetness and crunch, and the strawberries oh the strawberries. Even after baking they were juicy, I kid you not. Peeking out from various spots were these soft almost mushy (again in a very good way), pockets of pale red berries that were perfectly sweet yet tart at the very end. Phew that was like reliving an erotic experience of the mouth, but I digress and need to get back to the actual blog entry of the lobster, so here's a pic of that sultry temptress, Strawberry Scone.

The Kid also got a baby scone courtesy of the nice cashier. Now back to the assembly of the sanguich. I wanted to put a nice crust on the buns, so I turned to a new product I picked up.....

Yep. You read the jar correctly, it's Coconut oil! This is supposed to be super healthy and after seeing it at Costco, I figured I find a smaller jar and try it out. According to the company website, "Spectrum Naturals Organic Coconut Oil is grown without the use of pesticides and is closer to nature than other coconut oils found on the market, which tend to be over-processed or hydrogenated. Organic Coconut Oil has subtle coconut flavor and is unrefined. Packaged in a wide mouth glass jar, it is typically found in the culinary oils section of the store. Coconut oil is extracted from the meat of the tropical coconut. It is 100% vegetable oil and vegan. Coconut oil's fatty acid profile consists of about 92% saturated fat, making it very stable and safe to store at room temperature. Because of its natural stability, Spectrum's Organic Coconut Oil is a good alternative to butter and shortening for medium heat baking and sautéing. Organic Coconut Oil is not suitable for use at high heat levels. In addition to its long and successful history as a tropical culinary oil, coconut oil has been used for centuries as a body care product that nourishes, moisturizes and protects skin and hair."
Sounds like it is the best thing to happen to the coconut since Harry Nilsson sang that lime in the coconut song. I spread a little on the buns and threw them in the sauté pan and let them brown and get crusty . The oil works great as a butter substitute and even has almost the same mouth feel.

Starting to toast

Post toast. The crust it developed was very nice and kept its crunch all the way to the last bite. The final step in preparing this aquatic sanguich action, was to add the Butter lettuce.

Fresh, vibrant lettuce. Crisp and full of that earthy almost grassy flavor. This is the perfect foil to parry against the lush, tangy lobster and the crusty, slightly sweet bread. For me it also brings out the lemon flavor in the aioli.

Booooom! There it is! The completed sanguich. After battling crustaceans, cooking in unbearable heat, and taking the life of a sweet, innocent head of lettuce, it was time to reap the reward. The first bite was glorious. The warm bun released a puff of steam that opened my sinuses and plumped my taste buds so that my main eating senses were primed for the awesome-ness that ensued. The lobster was tender, divine, and cooked perfectly and the aioli was just right so as not to cover the ocean fresh taste of the lobster meat, but elevate it to luscious decadence. Just when you thought the richness would overpower your tongue and blow out your taste buds, the butter lettuce steps up with its clean, crisp green-ness and mellows out the whole thing.

About to be blissing out

Baby bliss

These sanguiches were well worth the effort and I highly recommend them. We thoroughly enjoyed eating these delightful sanguiches and hope you enjoy reading about them and possibly trying to make them for you and yours. Fare thee well Devout Devourers, and may you always find food that fills you, stomach and soul.

Links for info and such:


Food Network Magazine

Point Loma Seafoods

Con Pane Rustic Breads &Cafe

Also a special thanks to Geoffery Zakarian for being a great chef and overall badass (it's his recipe)