a glimpse into a christmas family gathering redux

another year, another christmas. if i was freezing in chicago last year, this year, i was in relatively warmer irvine to celebrate the holiday.

like my other side of the family, there were lots of food. for the gathering, i attempted to make nancy reagan's persimmon pudding cake, which turned out ok, not great. making it was an adventure in and of itself, which involved, on christmas eve, going to a regular supermarket and 2 asian markets before finally finding persimmons. then "puree-ing" the persimmons without a blender... yeah, that was definitely an adventure. but, the cake turned out fine and the brandy whipping cream (not pictured) to top the cake was great.


i also made these sugar cookies and had fun "decorating" trees.


my cousin made this pastry bread with brie and toasted walnuts (bottom right) and it was good i ate at least half of the loaf.


amanda made this seafood pajun, a korean dish that's basically a seafood pancake (but not breakfast pancake sweet). you dip it in a sauce made of soy sauce and white vinegar.


more dessert.


the ham, the quiche and chicken.


my cousin also made this crab meat (real crab, thank you very much) dish with cheese and eggs.


let's just say i was really full even before lunch started. but that did not stop me from eating all the way through dinner.

like my other side of the family, this gathering also involved a talent show, albeit on a smaller scale -- but that is more a function of size than quality. see, my granparents on my mother's side did not really have as many children as my grandparents on my father's side. as a consequence, there are fewer kids to show off their talents.

to start off, joey danced the tango with his mom.



then monica and loren showed off their musical abilities.



mark showed off his ice-skating chops (via video).

unlike my other side of the family, this side's gathering includes non-blood relatives, which makes for a more expansive story sharing. as always, there were lots of hooting and hollering, lots of teasing, lots of laughter and lots of bubbly and red wine.

it was definitely a fun celebration, as always.

hatfield's: good food but don't believe the hype

i took a girlfriend out for a birthday dinner the other night and she chose hatfield's because she heard a lot of hype about the place. this being her birthday dinner and all, i acquiesced.

we started off with the following amuse: (left) a shot of cauliflower soup - served hot with an understated sweetness and (right) deviled quail egg with smoked trout - possibly my favorite of the night. the trout did not overpower the quail egg.


for my appetizer, i ordered the croque madame with prosciutto, quail egg and hamachi on brioche. i love quail eggs. i love prosciutto. i love hamachi. and i love brioche. unfortunately, the hamachi did not work. it had a weird taste. but then again, i kinda like my ham and cheese with egg just that, i.e., ham, cheese and egg on bread.


the birthday girl had the scallops on a bed of something that i do not remember right now. clearly, it was not memorable.


i had the roasted duck on a bed of quinoa and mushrooms, and butternut squash. i actually enjoyed the duck.


the birthday girl had the pork loin with chinese broccoli and yam puree. i thought it was ok.


i believe this dessert was a chocolate cake with peanut butter. again, it was just ok.


below were mini cupcakes with peanut butter. they were not too sweet.


the verdict? it was good but nothing to fawn over. the space was small and intimate and the service amiable. the price for two without drinks was about $120.

the bazaar: jose andres goes to la

prior to my summer trip to spain, i started getting addicted to jose andres' tv show on pbs called "made in spain." never heard of him till then but once i did, i immensely enjoyed his show.

fast forward to the late fall and jose andres has opened a new restaurant in la. so, i just had to try it. the whole experience was fun. while there may have been a few misses, there were more hits. so this place is definitely a place i will want to go back to.

first off, we had the jamon iberico de bellota. these yummy slices of swine come from meat that has been fed acorn. it was good.... but for the fact that i had some really good ones in spain. i wish the slices had more fatty goodness. but this plate was better than i had anywhere in the us.



this canned sea urchin was quite a pleasant surprise. i have gotten over my uni phobia but to have this canned delicacy was a revelation. that is, not all canned foods are bad.



this simple plate of bread with tomato and olive oil was great. unlike your typical bruschetta, the tomato was pretty much mushed. but that's ok.



aaah cheese. ever since i visited andrew's cheese shop in santa monica, i have been a fan of idiazabal (left), made out of sheep's milk. and the sample below left did not disappoint. similarly, the murcia (goat cheese) (center) was a great departure from the goat cheese i have had in the past. this version did not suddenly make me a fan of goat cheese but i definitely won't be shunning this version. finally, good ol manchego (right). need i say more?



this simple salad of thinly sliced apples with leeks topped with grated manchego cheese was crisp and refreshing.



this wild mushroom risotto topped with melted idiazabal cheese would have been really really good but for the fact that it was a tad bit too salty.



the seared trout with jamon serrano was very good. the fish was far from dry and very juicy and the jamon on top gave the dish a great texture.



the pork sausage on a bed of white beans was also good. a friend said the sausage was too salty but i thought it was perfectly flavored.



this lamb loin with truffles was delicious. thin cuts of meat and the truffle was very rich and yet light at the same time.



the galician lobster with potatoes was good but nothing spectacular.



the sauteed shrimp with garlic was good. full of flavor. but i don't get the foam. but that's just me.


finally, this paella style pasta with monkfish and shrimp was really good. the angel hair had a nice crispness to it that was not overdone but still soft enough that did not make you miss the rice that usually goes with paella.



we enjoyed two bottles of wine. i preferred the crianza from rioja. it was not too full bodied like the other bottle and i thought it went better with the dishes we ordered.





finally, the flan. it was good but not spectacular. not too sweet.



the damage was about $112 per person with the tax and tip. not too bad considering the dishes were filling and very very good. the dishes we tried were primarily the traditional spanish tapas. the bazaar also had a selection of modern tapas, which we did not try.

i will definitely come back. after all, a lot more dishes await tasting.

the last game of the season: ucla v.u$c

all i can say is that thank god it's over.

let the rebuilding begin and a new season unfold.

meantime, as far as i'm concerned, the score was: