This week's Culinary SOS: Perbacco's pine nut tart

This week's Culinary SOS comes from Deborah Pollack in Ventura: 

My husband and I recently spent a weekend in San Francisco and had a superb dinner at Perbacco. Everything was wonderful, but our dessert was one of the most delicious I've ever tasted. If you could get the recipe for its pine nut and honey tart, I could begin to cure my craving.

I love everything about this tart. Not too sweet and with just the right touch of saltiness, this rustic dessert takes on light floral notes from the addition of Tasmanian honey, balancing the richness of the buttery pine nuts. The crust owes its perfectly flaky texture to a little lard, which the restaurant renders from heritage pigs. Pastry chef Suzanne LaFleur was happy to share her recipe.

Enjoy, Deborah! You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes. If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com. I'll do my best to track it down.

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-- Noelle Carter
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Photo credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

This week's Culinary SOS: La Sandia's smoked brisket

 

This week's Culinary SOS comes from Jill Donaty in Encino: 

I just made the kale gratin, and it was luscious. Thanks. My 6-year-old daughter eats like a bird but absolutely loves the brisket from La Sandia at Santa Monica Place. It is one of the only meals she asks for. We actually splurge on the non-kid menu entree for her whenever we go there. I would like to replicate it as best I can at home. Can you please get the recipe?

It's a perfect dish if you're entertaining. La Sandia was happy to share its recipe for this deeply flavorful brisket.

Enjoy, Jill! You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes. If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com. I'll do my best to track it down.

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-- Noelle Carter
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Photo: La Sandia's smoked brisket is served with cotija white rice and salsa pibil. Recipe (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times / April 28, 2011)

This week's Culinary SOS: Highland Bakery's sweet potato pancakes

This week's Culinary SOS comes from Stacy Wawerchak in Redondo Beach: 

I was recently in Atlanta visiting a friend. She took me to Highland Bakery, where I had the most delicious sweet potato pancakes. Can you please try to get the recipe? Thank you so much.

Fresh off the griddle, these warm and tempting sweet potato pancakes are lightly spiced and deliciously aromatic. You could top them with maple syrup, but they're best drizzled with Highland Bakery's rich praline-like brown sugar butter sauce. Could Mother's Day breakfast possibly get any better? I think not. You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes. If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com. I'll do my best to track it down.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

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-- Noelle Carter
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Photo: Highland Bakery's sweet potato pancakes with brown sugar butter sauce. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

This week's Culinary SOS: Elway's charred red pepper soup

This week's Culinary SOS comes from Dave Wohl in Sudbury, Mass.: 

I was reading the L.A. Times online edition today and saw that you were able to get favorite recipes! I get to Denver a few times a year, and at Elway's restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton, they serve a terrific charred roasted red pepper soup. Can you get the recipe?

Elway's was happy to share its recipe for this richly flavorful (and completely vegan!) charred red pepper soup. I liked adding a little crumbled fresh cheese for garnish (which makes it more vegetarian than vegan), but you can top it however you wish. You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes. If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com. I'll do my best to track it down.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

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-- Noelle Carter
twitter/noellecarter

Photo credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

From the L.A. Times recipe archive: Maple bacon biscuits

Recently, I received a very important recipe request from Brenda in Malibu:

"The bacon scones at the Huckleberry Cafe in Santa Monica are out of this world. Can you get them to part with the recipe for me?"

Huckleberry's own Zoe Nathan shared her recipe with us just a few years ago when she was pastry chef at Rustic Canyon. Our Restaurant Critic S. Irene Virbila called them "gloriously crumbly" at the time, and when she later reviewed Huckleberry after it opened, she wrote:

"A Santa Monica native who worked at the highly regarded bakery Tartine in San Francisco, Nathan is a talented baker who goes for the luscious over the austere, uses butter and cream with abandon and makes some of the best biscuits ever. Those would be the incredibly flaky maple bacon biscuits that have become a morning fix for many a customer."

I dug up the recipe (well, actually, this is one of those recipes that I keep close to me at all times, you know, just in case), which was so popular that we named it one of our Top 10 Recipes in 2008.

Enjoy, Brenda!  You can find the recipe here.

If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com. I'll do my best to track it down.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
twitter/noellecarter

Photo credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

This week's Culinary SOS: Hudson's steamed clams

This week's Culinary SOS comes from Robert E. Tumelty in Seal Beach: 

Dear SOS: Over the Christmas holiday season, we quartered at the beautiful Heathman Lodge, Vancouver, Wash., to be near relatives in both Oregon and Washington, and enjoyed its renowned Hudson's Bar and Grill. Among other marvelous presentations was its steamed Manila clams. Do you suppose its chef, Brendan Callaghan, would share his recipe?

Hudson's Grill was happy to share its wonderfully flavorful (and fast and easy) recipe for steamed Manila clams. Enjoy, Robert!  You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes. If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com. I'll do my best to track it down.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

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-- Noelle Carter
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Photo credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

This week's Culinary SOS: Tender Green's happy vegan salad

This week's Culinary SOS comes from Jessica Zi in Los Angeles: 

My fiancé and I are regulars at the Tender Greens in Culver City, and we finally tried its best dish on meatless Monday: the happy vegan. It successfully combines the tastiest health foods such as red quinoa salad, green hummus and farro, with toasted hazelnuts, all on one plate. Please help me with the recipe!

The happy vegan is a combination of several smaller salads, and Tender Greens was happy to share its recipes. The combined salads are perfect if you’re hosting a gathering, or they can be made separately.

You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes. If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com. I'll do my best to track it down.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
twitter/noellecarter

Photo credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

From the Culinary SOS archive: Lazy Ox Canteen's rice pudding

Recently, Caitlin from Rancho Palos Verdes sent me an email request for Lazy Ox Canteen's rice pudding, stating it was "out of this world good."

I totally agree. It was a favorite of ours when we ran it a couple years ago:

What immediately sets this rice pudding apart is its amazingly light and delicate texture. Make the pudding ahead of time and chill thoroughly, then fold in whipped cream at the last minute to give it that fluffy texture. Serve it with warm caramel sauce and almond brittle for added texture, and you'll never look at rice pudding in the same way again.

You can find a link to the recipe here. Enjoy, Caitlin!

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes. If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com. I'll do my best to track it down.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
twitter/noellecarter

Photo credit: Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times

This week's Culinary SOS: Julienne's shaved asparagus salad

This week's Culinary SOS comes from Stephanie Studer in Granada Hills:

My parents and I had the most wonderful time dining at restaurant Julienne in Santa Barbara. By far, the standout for us was the shaved asparagus salad with house-made coppa. Now, the only problem is that we would love to re-create the salad at home. We were hoping you could help us in getting the recipe from chef Justin West. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bright, colorful and amazingly easy to make, this shaved salad makes for a striking presentation, whether you're entertaining company or savoring a simple night at home.

Enjoy, Stephanie! You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes.

If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

I'll do my best to track it down!

ALSO:

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
Twitter.com/noellecarter

Photo: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

This week's Culinary SOS: Nage's clementine salad

This week's Culinary SOS comes from Kathleen Sheldon in Santa Monica:

I had a delicious meal at Nage restaurant on a recent trip to Washington, D.C., and I would love to have the recipe for its clementine salad.

This salad is the perfect way to highlight these sweet little mandarin oranges. Nage combines the orange segments with fresh shaved fennel, mixed greens, crystallized ginger and toasted salted cashews, tossing the salad with a sweet and fragrant five-spice dressing.

Enjoy, Kathleen! You can find the recipe here.

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes.

If you have a favorite restaurant recipe you'd like to request, feel free to email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

I'll do my best to track it down!

ALSO:

Click here for more Culinary SOS recipes.

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
Twitter.com/noellecarter

Photo: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times