Notes from the Test Kitchen: Ricotta cheesecake

Sometimes it's hard to get sympathy from friends when you tell them you work in a test kitchen. For the last two weeks, we were "forced" to test cheesecakes.....

One of our recipes was for a classic Italian cheesecake from Ciro Marino of Marino Restaurant in Hollywood. Like many chefs, he uses no measuring cups or spoons -- everything's eyeballed -- and the cake bakes in the oven until it's done -- no timers. That, and his method is different. Rather than bake the cheesecake in a water bath, Ciro places the cake on the bottom of a 450-degree oven and props the door open with a pan. And the baking process is twofold: The cake bakes first until it has risen properly, then bakes again for coloring.

Yeah, it is a pretty wonderful job, especially for this cheesecake fanatic.  Amy Scattergood has today's cover story on cheesecakes, so naturally we simply had to test various recipes incorporating classic cream cheese, farmer cheese, mascarpone and even ricotta as a cake base.

But even cheesecake testing can have its stressful moments -- and I'm not just talking about how to burn off all the extra calories you consume with all the testing and tasting.  Each recipe has to be tested (and retested) until we're certain it will work in the average home kitchen.

Amy scrupulously noted every measurement and step when she watched Ciro in his kitchen (check out the video on the Food section website), but could we duplicate the results?  We tested a recipe from Amy's notes in the test kitchen, measuring out ingredients and assembling the cake.  Everything looked fine. We put the cake on the bottom of our 450-degree oven and propped the door open with a small saucepan. Then we stood there and watched it bake. Everything seemed to work fine, but when the cake was sliced after chilling, it just fell apart. The flavor was there, but the texture definitely wasn't.

What to do? We wanted to keep the integrity of Ciro's recipe but still have a cake that worked. We talked it over and retested the cake, keeping everything the same except for the method. We moved the cake to the bottom rack of the oven, and cut the baking process to just one step. Oh, and we closed the oven door. (To be honest, we were a little uncomfortable with a recipe that required that the oven door be propped open.) The result?  The cheesecake was great, faithful to the original, and the slices disappeared in no time.

For you fellow cheesecake fanatics, check out the recipe (and two others) in today's section.

-- Noelle Carter

Photos by Noelle Carter

Sliders, of the black cod variety

Sliders -- tiny burgers on tiny buns -- what's not to adore? There are your Krystals and your White Castles -- but a black cod slider on a mini brioche Breadbar bun dotted with sesame seeds and served with house-made ketchup and cornichons (mini pickles!) -- this one really called to me. (Others might not have been so enamored. Can a slider be indifferent?) It's from Breadbar guest chef Noriyuki Sugie, formerly of Tetsuya in Sydney and Asiate in New York. It has great proportions; it's diminutive, but it has stature -- tall with fried black cod, held together with a long, fringe-topped toothpick. That house-made ketchup is nicely tangy, great with the sweet black cod. Sugie's menu is available until May 15, after which he and his slider (and truffle-salted scallops, and crab guacamole with Meyer lemon puree, and medallions of foie gras and ankimo ... ) are gone.

Breadbar, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City, (310) 277-3770. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo by Ling Hung

Denio's Farmers Market and the Roseville Livestock Auction

I was up in Sacramento recently visiting the in-laws and decided to check out Denio's Farmers Market and Swap Meet in nearby Roseville. The market, open since 1947, sits near Roseville's rail yard, a historically significant transport hub for agriculture from the Central Valley.

Denio's is a massive marketplace -- sprawling almost 70 acres -- with aisles and aisles of fresh produce and local food products. You name it: tons of fresh fruits and vegetables (I sampled my first fresh cherries of the season), local honeys (I loved the blackberry) and cured olives, as well as stands carrying vegetable plants and herbs for the garden. The swap meet component (by far the larger part of the operation) contains everything from clothing and antiques to tools, machinery and parts for almost anything. (Need a part for your John Deere? Odds are you'll find it.)

Across the street from the market, you'll find the Roseville Livestock Auction. The bidding starts at 9:30 every Saturday morning for general livestock, including pigs, goats and sheep. (The cattle auction starts at 12:30.) The facility auctions poultry on the first and third Sundays of the month; horses and tack the second Saturday of the month.

If you're like me and fantasize about the farming life, it's a great place to go. You can score some tomato plants for your garden along with your dinner vegetables, or go crazy and buy a chicken or two. Now I know where to get that pet pig I've always wanted...

-- Noelle Carter

Photos by Noelle Carter

More fun in Culver City

Culver City's restaurant row, which is expanding as fast as a SimCity game, gained yet another hip eatery when the new M Cafe de Chaya lifted its plywood and opened its doors on Sunday.  Look, no long lines like those at its Melrose Avenue sister restaurant (the Chaya operation also includes Chaya Brasseries in both Los Angeles and San Francisco and Chaya Venice.) 

The Culver City macrobiotic cafe and deli is twice the size of the Melrose cafe too, which is why, according to the server who handed me my soy milk cappuccino and vegan raspberry-chocolate chip muffin this morning, they've moved the pastry ops for both restaurants to the new spot -- which also sports plenty of tables and some sunny indoor seating (outdoor coming soon).  If you go outside and squint, you can expand your people-watching to the patio at Fraiche just down Culver Boulevard.  Or bring your binoculars and see what the folks outdoors at (in east-west geographic order) Tender Greens, Ford's Filling Station and Akasha are eating: Look, all the pretty new restaurants lined up in a row.  And, to judge by the spreading plywood (you can almost hear the city engineers clicking on their keyboards) across the street -- signs for Rush Street, Gyenari -- there's no end in sight.  Well, at least until you run into Sony.  Virtual restaurant, anyone?

M Cafe de Chaya, 9343 Culver Blvd., Culver City.  (310) 838-4300.  Daily, 8 am to 9 pm. 

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo by Amy Scattergood

Big Sunday pozole

Big Sunday, the country's largest volunteer event, is my annual reminder of why I love to cook. And with 20 to 30 folks showing up for the Big Sunday project I run at a shelter for runaway teens, it's the perfect opportunity to make pozole, a dish that can handle both a swarm of eager sous chefs and a crowd at the dining table.

The kids we serve come from Central America and Mexico, most came here looking for parents they believe are working in the U.S. It can break your heart. But, frankly, on Big Sunday, there's no time to dwell on the tragedy. I organize volunteers (pictured here, Utku Cakirozer and Steve Goldinger) into teams to clean, paint, overhaul gardens and other projects. But there must be something particularly satisfying about chopping because most people want to help make dinner.

The kitchen has a none-too-reliable stove and only the basics in cooking gear, so I've learned not to over-reach on the equipment needs. A few years back, I realized pozole was THE dish for this event. Preparing the condiments -- chopped avocados, radishes, onions, cabbage, oregano -- can keep a team of volunteers busy for hours. And the base stew of pork and hominy is foolproof. I've searched out authentic recipes that aren't crazy difficult. This year I modified a pozole verde recipe by Anya von Bremzen. We made queso fresco quesadillas accompanied by salsa with fresh serranos, tomatoes, red onion and cilantro (another project for my team of choppers). Dessert was fresh strawberries, gooey brownies just from the oven and ice cream. The crowning glory: Fresh tangerine juice. We did most of our shopping at the Hollywood Farmers Market and one of the vendors overheard my husband and I talking about the project. She pulled a bushel of tangerines from the back of her truck and gave them to us gratis.

My spin on Anya's take on this traditional dish from the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Guerrero is to use pork broth made from pigs feet and garlic that I made the night before Big Sunday. But it is Anya's method of making a puree with fresh tomatillas, onions, poblanos, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro and oregano in the blender that elevates this dish without making it an ordeal.  Throw in the shredded chicken and cubes of pork loin, let it stew and wait for the applause.

By the time we leave, the sweet smell of peppers and tomatillos is wafting down the halls. Too shy to poke their noses into the kitchen while we are working, the kids are lined up ready to chow down when we leave. And rather than exhausted by the day of chopping and shredding, the kitchen crew talks eagerly about next year's Big Sunday supper at the shelter.

-- Corie Brown

Photo by Corie Brown

The season's first cherries

There are certain seasonal signals -- the first pitch of opening day, the smell of outside grilling after the rainy season -- that have a particular resonance, a mnemonic depth that carries beyond games, food, weather.  Add the year's first cherries to that happy list.  At this morning's Santa Monica Farmer's Market, the crowd at the cherry stand was so thick you'd think Barack Obama himself was handing out the Brooks cherries, in stunning shades of vermillion, loaded in plastic tubs like marbles.   

Now that you think about it, maybe a good old-fashioned cherry pie would be the perfect way to get those Super Delegates in line. 

Brooks cherries, $4 to $6 for a small or large container, from Erickson Farms. 

-- Amy Scattergood

Photos by Amy Scattergood

Cheeseburger love

If your immediate reaction to seeing lron Man (or maybe, given Robert Downey, Jr., they should have called it Ironic Man) was anything like mine was this past weekend, you've been desperately craving cheeseburgers -- along with those misplaced Black Sabbath CD's and your own personal ICBM -- ever since walking out the theatre doors. 

The marketing plug of the movie has Downey's character, newly escaped from months of desert-cave imprisonment, celebrating his liberation by gobbling good old American fast food cheeseburgers.  I don't know about you, but if I'd just forged (literally) my own super hero suit, blasted myself out of the terrorist-occupied desert and finally made it back to my gazillions, I'd go for something a little more upscale. 

Sang Yoon's blissful burger (pictured above) at Father's Office, say, with its caramelized onions, gooey mix of Gruyere and Maytag Blue and thatch of arugula (which is what I got for my post-movie fix, the new FO being right up my street).  Or the Hungry Cat's Pug Burger, loaded with bacon and bleu and so massive that it should have nascent action heroes as its target audience. Downey's character should have sent out for the burger from 25 Degrees, or Chris Kidder's burger at Literati II.  Or, better yet, considering Tony Stark's tax bracket, Michael Mina's truffled-cheese-Kobe-burger from the Stonehill Tavern at Dana Point. Come on, he's a billionaire arms dealer with his own quadrant of Malibu, wouldn't he skip the drive-thru -- Thomas Keller's obsession with In-N-Out notwithstanding -- and get LA's best?  Did I miss some burgers? Comment below.  A girl can't live on popcorn alone.

Father's Office, 3229 Helms Avenue, Culver City.  (310) 736-2224. 

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo by  Michael Segal/Los Angeles Times

Naples goes gourmet

Naples, the tony waterfront neighborhood in Long Beach, has never been known as a gourmet hangout. Folks who live there seem to be less interested in salumi than sailboats (the ones at their backyard docks). But that may be changing. There are a couple of good restaurants on the island now and a pretty good kitchenware store. Most recently, and surprisingly, there’s Naples Gourmet Grocer. Tucked in the corner of a strip mall, it is stuffed full of unexpected treasures.

Start with Fra’ Mani salumi, including the salametto and sopressata, and even Paul Bertolli’s fresh Italian sausages, which are much harder to find. There are three hams: silky La Quercia prosciutto from Iowa as well as prosciutto from Parma and 20-month-aged jamon serrano from Spain. There’s also chorizo bilbao from La Espanola, guanciale from Niman Ranch and ventreche and andouille from D’Artagnan. Cheeses include a nice run of Cowgirl Creamery and a couple of very good choices from Cypress Grove, including the new Truffle Tremor, a creamy goat with a subtle undertone of white truffles. Breads and pastries are from Bread Bar. Ice creams are from Ciao Bella and Dr. Bob. Packaged goods include oils from La Tourangelle, caramels and marshmallows from Little Flower Candy Co., jams from June Taylor and pickles from Rick’s Picks.

All that wonderful food and great picnic spots not five minutes away -- it looks like Naples may be changing.

Naples Gourmet Grocer, 5650 E. 2nd St., Long Beach. (562) 439-6518.

-- Russ Parsons

Photo by Russ Parsons

Gordon Ramsay L.A. reservation line is open!

Ladies and gentlemen, find your cellphones: The reservation line for Gordon Ramsay's new L.A. restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood, is open -- even if the doors aren't.  Ramsay's first West Coast restaurant, which is in the former Bel Age location, officially opens for dinner on May 27 (lunch to start the following day).  This follows the opening, in 2006, of the Gordon Ramsay at the London New York, Ramsay's American debut.

A menu just faxed over lists dishes such as California spiny lobster with white port sauce, rack of Sonoma lamb with olive-crusted fingerling potatoes and West Coast halibut with Kumamoto oysters and Champagne velouté.  (Notice all the nice regional tags.)  What we can also expect is some stunt staffing, as the winner of this year's "Hell's Kitchen" (Ramsay's American reality show, the finale of which is set to air July 8) will be installed as "senior sous chef," according to Ramsay's publicist. Ramsay may like publicity, but he's unlikely to want a surprise "Kitchen Nightmares" (Ramsay's other American reality show) episode either. Therefore, said senior sous chef will be under the watchful eyes of executive chef Josh Emmett (who will oversee from Ramsay's New York restaurant) and chef de cuisine Andy Cook.  And, one hopes, Ramsay himself, in all his high-volume, obscenity-laced glory.  Maybe, if we're lucky, he'll cook too. 

Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood, 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd, West Hollywood.  Reservation line: (310) 358-7788.

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo courtesy of Susan Magrino Agency

More chef goings-on from Rustic Canyon

This morning at the Santa Monica farmers market, I bumped into newly appointed Rustic Canyon chef Evan Funke (pictured) at Windrose Farm's stall -- along with the restaurant's entire crew (owner Josh Loeb, pastry chef Zoe Nathan, departing chef Samir Mohajer), who seemed to be having an ad hoc meeting next to the tomato plants and baskets of lettuces.  Funke, a local boy from Pacific Palisades, rolls out his new menu tomorrow night.  He says he'll be emphasizing pasta (zucchini agnolotti with basil sauce, black olive pappardelle with rabbit ragu) since he just got back from Italy, where he spent three months cooking pasta with pasta maker Alessandra Spisni in Bologna.  Prior to that, Funke spent 6 1/2 years with the Wolfgang Puck organization, starting out in catering and moving up to sous chef at Spago, followed by a stint as chef de cuisine at the Avalon Hotel. 

As Funke moved off to talk to Windrose Farm's Barbara Spenser about lamb, Mohajer confirmed that he and Paul Shoemaker (formerly chef de cuisine at Providence) have a restaurant in the works:  "That's the plan."  It turns out that Mojaher and Shoemaker went to culinary school together -- Pasadena's CSCA -- from which Funke also graduated.  Maybe it was a secret alumni meeting....

Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen, 1119 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica.  (310) 393-7050.  Lunch, 11:30-2:30 p.m. Tues.- Fri.; dinner, 5:30-10:00 p.m. daily (closing hours may vary). 

-- Amy Scattergood

Photo by Amy Scattergood