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Monarch Madness

Aug27

Restaurant: Monarch

Location: 1212 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 596-2818

Date: January 29, 2023

Cuisine: Hong Kong fusion

Rating: Very good, but I like Chifa better

The Leon family knew within the first week of opening their Peruvian Chinese restaurant Chifa in late 2020 that a sophomore effort was in the cards. Though no one in the family was especially well-versed in food service or hospitality, the tenacious squad that includes Humberto Leon, the co-founder of fashion brand Opening Ceremony; his mother, Wendy Leon; sister, Ricardina Leon; and brother-in-law, John Liu; navigated pandemic-related hurdles and ultimately found success. Now they’re ready to do it all over again with Monarch, which opened on South Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia on Saturday, January 14.

Dressed up diner outside is totally SGV.

Super cool dining room.

8 is THE number for these round tables!

Bead screen of Iguazu Falls!

Jeffrey with Mama.

The menu.

Accidental grab as this was a $495 wine for Chinese!

Michael Kaplan’s son’s home-made chili oil (excellent).

Trusting the manager, I put in the entire menu organized into 4 flights. This 3rd flight item came out first but he graciously took it back, sorted it out, and sequenced near perfectly after that.

Silken Steamed Egg. delicate steamed egg with monkfish liver. The texture on the egg was great. However, the monkfish liver was a bit underappreciated in this (very cooked) context.

Decadent Spiced Okra. wok stir-fried okra in a Szechuan spice. Not particularly spicy, but very very pleasant with that goopy and crunchy okra texture.

Filet Mignon Tartare. Westholme Australian Wagyu filet mignon with pickled snow cabbage, chili crisp and quail egg. We mixed this all up and the result was an extremely flavorful tartare.

Shrimp chips for the tartare.

Slippery Egg Crab Fried Fun. Cantonese wok fried rice noodle with egg, crab and salmon roe add Uni. The “Fun” was basically rice sticks but this thick starchy dish was awesome with that old school “lobster sauce” flavor + uni. Really lovely.

Steamed Seabass Olive Tapenade. slow steamed chilean seabass topped with Chinese pickled olive tapenade. Olives are an unusual feature of southern Chinese cooking, probably courtesy of the Portuguese. They certainly worked in this night light seabass preparation.

Black pepper lobster. This special order prep was absolutely to die for. This 5ish pound lobster was super juicy and the black pepper sauce on of the best stir-fry sauces ever. Putting it on those thick al dente noodles was absolutely to die for. Once the oily pepper sauce soaked into the noodles… oh yeah!

Again, just because.

The gang.

Monarch Bolognese. simmered pork and tomato ragu with Chinese egg noodle. Even on their return in proper sequence this was a contentious dish. The porky Bolognese, while a touch dry, was quite lovely. But the noodles tended to clump.

Addicting Curry Noodle. fragrant and spicy curry squid ink noodle with scallop, calamari and shrimp. We all much preferred this unusual noodle dish with its grainy yellow curry flavor. Really was addicting.

Garlic Sweet & Sour Pork. crispy fried pork with Popo’s sweet & sour sauce, onions and kiwi. Like a high end Panda Express Sweet & Sour Pork! Very fried and drowned in this sweet and jammy sauce.

Black Pepper Lobster Tail. Whole lobster tail wok tossed in sweet and spicy black pepper sauce — noodles added. The lobster (and its noodles) were so good that we ordered two tails worth of lobster with MORE noodles. However they were out of the thick round ones and substituted this linguine. The tail meat was easier to eat and I enjoyed its lobster flavor, but the shell had one up on it for being finger licking good. The new noodles were good, and if we had had them first would have been great, but they just weren’t as chewy and amazing as the larger noodles.

Our special order Tomohawk came at first “well done” but again they graciously took it back and swapped for…

Tomahawk, rare. Now this was an amazing steak and really delicious with its warm deep pink/purple center. I particularly enjoyed with the sauces.

Black Pepper Cognac au Poivre sauce. Roasted Garlic Red Wine Reduction sauce. And special Chifa Cucho Sauce. My favorite was the black pepper.

Braised Curry Lamb Shank. tender braised lamb shank in fragrant tomato curry with cauliflower puree. Great that this was on a cauliflower puree (low carb) and the meat was super tender and drowned in delicious sauce.

Trinity Fried Rice. garlic, ginger, scallion trinity fried rice with egg, shirmp and fish roe. Nice large shrimp.

Celery & Red Chidori Kale (V). simple wok tossed celery and kale with fresh garlic. This was a surprise stand out for me. I very much enjoyed the crisp crunch of the celery.

Dessert menu, but we had better:

Cremino al Siciliana Gelato — The base made with Galbani Whole Milk Ricotta and Sicilian Acacia Honey laced with house-made Bronte Pistacchio DOCG “Fudge” — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #ricotta #honey #pistachio #pistacchio #fudge

Overall, this was an amazing meal. It’s sort of an interesting fusion, as it’s essentially Chifa — both the restaurant and the cuisine. Specifically this is a Hong Kong Peruvian hybrid fusion. It’s good and the decor and service are fabulous. But it’s also more expensive than almost all SGV Chinese. And I’m not sure it’s exactly better, just different. I actually like my Chinese very Chinese. I don’t even love Hong Kong “style” Chinese as much as most mainland restaurants because of the European (aka British) influence.

My favorite dishes here at Monarch were many of the ones that were at Chifa as well, like the lobster and steak. I do have to say, however, that the black pepper lobster is INSANELY GOOD. Best Chinese style lobster I’ve had. It’s also pretty expensive, but worth it. And the version we had was off menu, as the on menu one is lobster tail (which is also really good and we also had).

My recommendation would be that anyone very into SGV Chinese, or Chinese food in general, try out Monarch and see what they think themselves. I imagine many people will love it. I’ll certainly be back.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Black pepper, BYOG, Chifa, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, Lobster, Monarch, Wine

Reference Pasta – Cacio e Pepe

Jan15

I’m pretty much a pasta fiend, particularly good homemade pasta, so an evening home with my son afforded a good opportunity to try out my pasta cooking chops on this ultimate reference pasta — cacio e pepe. Literarily, it just means “cheese & pepper” and it’s an extremely basic pasta from Rome that showcases its extremely few ingredients. In Gavin tradition, like my ultimate pizza or my uber tiramisu, I try to do it to the highest standard of quality.

That starts with a good pasta. Cacio e pepe is traditionally done with spaghetti or a similar thick long pasta. This pici, is a thick hand rolled pasta, like fat spaghetti. This one is homemade (not by me) out of durum semolina and has a fantastic bite and coarse surface perfect for saucing.

This is a 22 minute to al dente pasta! Wow. I used a pinch of applewood smoked salt in the water to lend a slight smokiness to it.

Some other supplementary ingredients. More on the egg late, but you need a little fat. The most traditional would be pancetta, but staying dairy olive oil or butter work fine. Romans would usually use the pork or olive oil. In the grinder is very fresh, very strong black peppercorns. This awesome grinder makes a very coarse grind. It’s extremely important to have coarse ground bitey pepper. This pasta is about cheese and pepper — so none of that weak sauce pepper with no flavor.

The don’t call it “cheese and pepper” for nothing.

My son and I grated the cheese as the pasta cooked. Only real, fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano will do. Check out the cute little olive wood grater box I bought last time I was in Tuscany.

And the signature cheese: Cacio de Roma (Roman Cheese). This is a sharp, salty, medium firm, creamy sheepmilk cheese. You could use generic pecorino, but it’s not really creamy enough. This is the right cheese.

Drain the pasta and keep some water (I just plucked it out with tongs and dropped it into the strainer). Even at 22 minutes it was seriously al dente, very thick, with a nice weightiness to it. Don’t rinse it. You want that starch.

Now here is the secret to proper pasta that Americans forget. You have to make the sauce in a pan and throw the cooked pasta into it. Before adding the noodles, I melted some fat (butter this time), then toasted some pepper in it for a minute or so, then added a bit of the pasta water and boiled it. This creates a butter/starch base. In went the pasta.

And then most of the cheese (about 3/4 a cup of ground Parmesan and 1/3 a cup of Cacio). You toss it all around for a minute or so to melt the cheese into the sauce and coat the noodles.

To finish it, I ground in a bunch more pepper and threw in an egg yolk. A tasty Carbonara I had a month ago gave me this idea. It’s not strictly traditional to the Cacio e Pepe, but it does add a nice richness. I stirred that in too.

And voila, one heart stopping bowl of simple pasta. This was pretty spectacular. Very weighty, with a richness to the eggy cheese, and a good bite from the pepper. Adult mac & cheese done right.

For more food write-ups, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Al dente, Black pepper, Cacio de Roma, Cacio e Pepe, Cooking, italian, Olive oil, pasta, Recipe, Rome

Singapore – Long Beach Dempsey

May01

Restaurant: Long Beach Dempsey

Location: 25 Dempsey road Left turn to Dempsey via Holland Rd (before Peirce Rd) Singapore 249670 Tel: 6323 2222

Date: March 23, 2012

Cuisine: Singaporean

Rating: Amazing Crab

On my way back from the Maldives (see here for that food) we stopped for a day in Singapore. I’d been told this pretty and modern city has some of the best eating in Asia. The Raffles hotel (where we were staying) sent us to this local chain for some chili crab. It wasn’t fancy by western standards, but the crab was phenomenal.

Got to love these Asian picture menus.

This is “sweet and sour shrimp.” Heavily fried but oh so good.

And a different kind of fried shrimp, the “House Specialty Prawn.” These were good too, a bit like shrimp tempura with a slightly more Chinese taste.

And for the trio of main event items this is “classic white pepper crab.” There were a choice of crabs between $68 and $220 dollars. We went for these “popular” Sri Lankan crags. They were huge and delicious, and not nearly as expensive as the Alaskan King Crabs and the like. The white pepper crab had an awesome and delicate white pepper flavor. Not cloying in the least.

Here is the “Famous Black Pepper Crab.” It was also great, perhaps a little more powerful in taste than the white. Spicier. I think I might have liked the white slightly better.

Then comes the “world famous chili crab.” This guy is drenched in a curry-like chili sauce. The sauce was incredible.

It was so good we got these bread balls to scoop it up with. But that wasn’t enough. We spooned it and more (see later).

Next were some “Dong Po ribs with honey sauce.” These were some of the best Chinese-style pork ribs I’ve had. They melted from the bone.

“Renowned Crispy Duck.” Also good, but a little dry in comparison to everything else.

When we ordered this clam and noodle dish the waiter sold us we wouldn’t like it, “too local.” It was odd. Like steamed clams in gravy covered in strips of fried clams. By gravy I mean Turkey gravy or the like. As I said, odd.

My poor wife had to watch the other seven of us devour all that before she got anything she could eat. This fried grouper in sweat and sour schezhuan sauce. It was good too.

After finishing the crab itself and dipping up a storm with the sauce we just couldn’t let it go.

At the suggestion of the staff we ordered some egg fried rice and just spooned the sauce on over it. Yum!

Then we got a pair of peculiar Asian desserts. These are like panacotta with in one case caramel and the other chocolate.

You can see it closer here. It was steaming like dry ice. The flavor was mild and sweet, making it a pleasant was to end a very pleasant evening.

This meal might not look like one of my crazy Michelin places but it sure was fantastic!

For more dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Asia, bbq, Black pepper, Chili Crab, Chilli crab, crab, Long Beach Dempsey, Raffles Hotel, ribs, shrimp, Singapore, Sri Lanka

Sushi Glutton – Takao Three

May19

Restaurant: Takao [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 11656 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 207-8636

Date: May 15, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

Rating: 9/10 creative “new style” sushi

I’ve already covered Takao in some detail HERE and then separately here, but we went back (we go often) and I built another “custom omakase” trying some different things. The full menu and some information on the history of the place can be found through the first link.

House cold sake. Masumi “Okuden-Kanzukuri” Nagano prefecture.

Heirloom totmato salad with sesame dressing.

Tai (red snapper), with garlic, salt, red peppercorn, onions, olive oil. A very bright flavor, and the peppercorns, not spicy at all, add a nice textural component.

Seared bonito sashimi with scallions and ginger in ponzu.

Miso soup. I think if you ask they have a couple different types. This is the basic scallion and tofu.

Uni (sea urchin) tempura with shiso leaf and seaweed. Sea salt.

There is also the classic tempura dipping sauce.

Here is a closeup of one of the Uni fries. This stuff is yummy! With the crunch of the fry, the minty flavor of the shiso and the briney soft taste/texture of the sea urchin pairing wonderfully.

“Scottish Salmon ‘to-ban’ Taki.” Salmon and vegetables cooked on Japanese earthenware ‘to-ban’ with special Miso sauce.

Rock Shrimp Tempura Dynamite. The underlying component is in itself tasty. Sweet rock shrimp perfectly fried. Then you ad some dynamite with it’s zesty zing and it gets even better. For those not in the know Dynamite is a warm sauce consisting of mayo, sriarcha hot sauce, and masago semlt roe.

The big sushi plate. This was all mine! And so were most of the preceding dishes.

Kani (Alaskan king crab) sushi.

Japanese scallop sushi (raw).

On the bottom, Ika (squid), perfect chewy pasty texture. Underneath was shiso leaf.

Scottish Salmon.

Kanpachi (young yellowtail).

Uni (sea urchin — from Santa Barbara).

kura (salmon eggs).

O-toro (ultra fatty tuna belly). Like butter!

Unagi (fresh water eel) BBQ, with sweet BBQ sauce.

Tamago (sweet egg omelet) sushi.

And this wraps up the custom omakase.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Below is the Salmon Terriyaki “set dinner,” it comes with everything shown.

Salad.

Mixed tempura.

Miso soup.

Salmon Terriyaki.

Rice.

Choice of dessert, in this case vanilla mochi balls (ice cream coated in sweetened pounded rice).

The chefs at work, Takao himself on the right.

For more LA area sushi, see here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Black pepper, Dessert, Fish and Chips, Hamachi, Japanese cuisine, Los Angeles, Miso, Nagano Prefecture, sake, Sashimi, Sea urchin, Shellfish, Sushi, Takao, vegetarian, Wine tasting descriptors

The “Reform Kosher” for Passover Tuna Melt

Apr23

We were scrounging around for lunch and came up with this variant passover tuna melt. While “passover” compliant it is in the tradition of the Great Trefa Banquet of 1883. You’ll see why. My wife did not participate — for the same reason.

So in making the tuna itself. At home I use this red chunk Italian tuna packed in olive oil which is amazing. Here I only had some Trader Joe’s albacore packed in water. So I added some olive oil (I don’t like mayo with my tuna). I also threw in some chopped cornichons, fresh ground pepper, lemon juice.

And mustard. Now this is a great mustard, but as we searched my mom’s very deep pantry, it came up.

Notice the price on this baby, and the yellowed tag. Today you’d find this tub for around $29, therefore dating this particular example to the 80s. We moved on to a lesser, but “younger” mustard.

The tuna.

The matzah, waiting.

Here’s the Trefa, a little Prosciutto.

Matzah, ham, then tuna.

A nice aged cheddar (goes so well with the ham).

All four.

A little trip to the toaster oven and…

Voila.

Close up. Yum!

Others who aren’t tomato haters used some of these.

As shown.

And after baking.

Our explorations in the pantry also turned up this vintage can of hazelnut oil, complete with archaic french price tag. It might date back to the late 70s!

To see my passover seder, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Black pepper, Cooking, Lemon juice, lunch, Matzo, Olive oil, Passover, Prosciutto, Sandwich, Tuna, Tuna melt

Takao Two

Mar20

Restaurant: Takao [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 11656 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 207-8636

Date: March 13, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

Rating: 9/10 creative “new style” sushi

I’ve already covered Takao in some detail HERE, but we went back (we go often) and I built another “custom omakase” trying some different things. The full menu and some information on the history of the place can be found through the above link.

House cold sake. Masumi “Okuden-Kanzukuri” Nagano prefecture.

Miso soup. I think if you ask they have a couple different types. This is the basic scallion and tofu.

Big eye tuna sashimi. This displays the fish at it’s finest.

Wild Japanese Scallop sashimi. I love good scallops. These had that pleasant meaty texture, and the soft “scallopy” flavor.

Tai (red snapper), with garlic, salt, red peppercorn, onions, olive oil. A very bright flavor, and the peppercorns, not spicy at all, add a nice textural component.

Main lobster tempura (1/2). Takao has a lot of interesting tempuras. Uni (my second favorite), sardine, crab, unusual seafood pancake with shiso, and more. This is a decadent favorite of mine, and in a half portion is pretty reasonable.

This is a very traditional Japanese egg custard with bits of mushroom, shrimp, and white fish baked inside. It has a very subtle mellow eggy flavor I find nostalgic from my many trips to Japan.

Just some of the sushi.

In the very front, Wild Japanese Scallop sushi. Behind that next to the wasabi is Tai (red snapper).

In the back, chu-toro (fatty tuna belly). Melts in your mouth!

Salmon of course.

Kanpachi (young yellow tail).

In the center, Ika (squid), perfect chewy pasty texture.

And fresh raw Tako (octopus). Most places serve it only frozen/cooked. This had a bit of yuzu on it, delicious.

On the left, Ikura (salmon eggs), and on the right Uni (Santa Barbara Sea Urchin). Both delicious.

Albacore with a bit of ginger and scallions.

Salmon tempura cut roll (technically for my two year old).

A bit more sushi. In the back grilled Unagi (fresh water eel) rolls, and Hamachi (yellowtail) and scallion rolls.

Kani (Alaskan king crab) sushi.

Tamago (sweet egg omelet) sushi.

And some vanilla mochi balls (ice cream covered with sweetened pounded rice). The red stuff is strawberry sauce.

Takao is top flight as always. I tend to enjoy ordering ala carte like this best, but it’s actually more expensive than getting an omakase, perhaps because I order a lot more sushi.

For my LA Sushi index, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (6)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Black pepper, Dessert, Food, Hamachi, Japan, Japanese cuisine, Los Angeles, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Sashimi, side dishes, Sushi, Takao, Tamago, Tuna, Uni, vegetarian, Yellowtail

Ultimate Pizza – The Toppings

Jan01

When making Ultimate Pizza fresh ingredients are one of the most crucial elements. I already went over the preparation of the Dough, the Pesto, and the Sauce. Now I’ll cover the bulk of the shopping and for toppings.

I get most of my “fancy” condiments at Bay Cities Italian Deli and Bakery. This is a convient one-stop-shop spot for all sorts of Italian (and other) goodies.

I have never been in there when they aren’t mobbed. The deli counter wait alone is usually 30-45 minutes.

They make some darn good hoagies, and they have a bit of outside seating. Even though it’s December 31 the weather is gorgeous.

I had them make a “Jersey Style” Italian Hoagie. No mayo. No mustard. Just cold cuts, provolone, and oil and vinegar. Oh and don’t forget the onions, lettuce, pepper-chinos.

I went to the Gelsons for produce. Bay cities doesn’t really have produce.

The loot nestled in the trunk. This is pizza only for five!

Dairy. Next after the dough, and possibly the olive oil, nothing is so important as the dairy. Burrata, world’s greatest fresh cheese, fresh from the local creamery. Mozzarella (balled and blocks from shredding), Creme Fraiche, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Ricotta, Bay Cities House Blend (parm and pecorino grated), and Bucheron (very fancy goat cheese). I threw in some Egg Nog because of the season.

Some jarred and canned stuff. Anchovies (in vinegar and in oil), black truffle oil, Italian tuna, capers, roasted peppers, sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, tomatoes, various compotes, jams, corn (sometimes I’ll roast it fresh but I was too busy), and more.

Polenta to use as “pizza lube” (getting it off the stones and peels). Olive Oil (single vineyard), balsamic must (the Romans used this), honey, garlic, vinegars, onion marmelade, balsamic glaze, black mission figs, marcona almonds. I have white truffle oil too, but I forgot to stick it in the photo.

Produce. Five types of mushrooms, including morels and fresh chanterelles. Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Chives, Dill, Sage, Cilantro, Mint, Arugala, crushed red pepper.

More produce. Italian squash. Red onion, avocado, lemons, meyer lemons, roma tomatos.

Every item needs to be prepped and put in a bowl or similar so it is accessible during the pizza making. Here is the basil. In total, this is a huge amount of work.

Mozzarella is grated.

Arugala is coated in Meyer Lemon and fresh ground pepper.

Gorgonzola crumbled.

Dried mushrooms rehydrated, fresh ones washed.

White asparagus boiled and blanched.

Vegetables chopped.

In aggregate, this prep takes 2-3 hours, even after all the shopping. The the above is just a sampling of photos.

Here is the complete spread prior to guest arrival.

Please CONTINUE HERE WITH THE PIZZA ITSELF.

By: agavin
Comments (5)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bay Cities, Black pepper, Bucheron, Burrata, Cook, Cooking, Creme Fraiche, Deli, Dough, Eggnog, Food, Home, Olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pesto, Pizza, Shopping

Quick Eats: Andy’s Spanish Eggs

Nov07

Although I’m a ludicrously obsessive Foodie, I don’t cook that many things. However, those that I do make, I try to do to the Nth degree (anyone who knows me knows this to be true of me in general). One of my breakfast specialities is Spanish Poached Eggs. The original recipe was taught to me personally by Mark Peel of Campanille at a cooking class. I’ve made a few small improvements (adding Burrata and arugala). The result is below:

First, you need to make some homemade Romesco sauce. You can do this a couple days in advance if you like (I do).

1 small tomato, cut in half
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 heaping tablespoon unblanched almonds
1 heaping tablespoon hazelnuts
1 medium (8 ounce) red bell pepper
1/4 slice white sourdough bread, toasted
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Adjust the oven racks to the middle and upper positions, and preheat theoven to 350° F.

Drizzle the tomato halves with a teaspoon of the olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place the tomatoes. cut side down, on a baking sheet, and roast on the upperrack for 45 minutes to an hour, until they are soft and the skin has wrinkled and blackened slightly. Allow to cool, remove, and discard the skin.

In a very small ovenproof skillet, saucepan, or dish, combine approximately 1/4 cup of the olive oil with the garlic cloves, to cover the cloves halfway. Roast in the oven on the middle rack about 20 minutes, until the garlic is soft and malleable. Allow to cool, and squeeze the pulp from the cloves. Reserve the oil and set aside.

Turn the oven down to 325°.

Spread the almonds and hazelnuts on a baking sheet (in separate piles). Toast on the middle rack in the oven for 12 – 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Place the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel, and rub them together to remove the skins.

Meanwhile, on a hot grill or directly on the stovetop over high heat, char the pepper over an open flame, turning frequently until the skin is blackened on all sides and the flesh becomes tender. Place the pepper in a plastic bag or in abowl covered tightly with plastic wrap to steam until cool enough to handle.Using a towel, wipe off the charred skin. Remove and discard the seeds and ribs. Coarsely chop the pepper.

In a small skillet, over medium heat, warm the reserved olive oil from the garlic. When the oil is hot, fry the bread on both sides until lightly browned. Remove the bread to a paper towel to drain.

In a mortar and pestle, or in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, grind the nuts and bread until they form a coarse paste. Add the tomato, roasted pepper. vinegar, garlic pulp, cayenne pepper and salt and pulverize or process until smooth. Slowly pour in the remaining cup of olive oil and stir or process until combined. Season with salt to taste. lt will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

For the actual dish you will need:

Lots of eggs, one per dish
A loaf or two of good rustic bread. I use La Brea Bakery rustic italian or similar. Cut into big slices.
A huge bottle of extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper
A bag of arugala
A tub of fresh Burrata, no more than two days out of the creamery. In LA you can buy it at Bay Cities Deli. If you live somewhere (most places) where you can’t get this tub of heaven, then you will have to use some good mozzarella.
A couple Meyer lemons (regular will suffice if you are feeling lazy)

Next up is the bread. This can be prepared right before, or even a couple hours before eating. Get a real cast iron pan. No mamby pamby modern pans allowed. Fill it halfway up with olive oil and bring to a near boil. Be careful, if you get it too hot the oil will ignite and you will have to stick a lid on it (have one handy for snuffing fires) and wait for it to cool. Hot olive oil spontaneously combusts in the presence of oxygen.

After the oil is hot, quickly fry the bread slices. This makes a mess, but they fry in 5-10 seconds per side.

You end up with this, a plate of fried bread. This is yummy by itself or smeared with the Romesco.

Wash your arugala and put it in a bowl, toss with black pepper and Meyer Lemon juice.

Now that we’ve done the hard stuff. The following you do while your victims (guests) sit around the kitchen. This is sort of frenzied assembly because it needs to be eaten VERY soon after the egg gets poached (in the hot olive oil). So prep your bread.

Take a piece, smear generously with Romesco and add some tossed arugala. Have the Burrata (or Mozzerella) handy nearby.

Then add a nice blob in preparation for the egg. Burrata, when fresh it’s creaminess is visceral.

You can use your same hot olive oil (keep the bottle on hand to refill) to poach the egg. Have a slotted spoon and tongs ready. Crack an egg carefully into the oil. I use a small bowl, into which I crack the egg first, so that I can slip it quickly into the oil without splashing a lot of boiling oil onto my hands (a little is just a small price to pay for this dish).

It poaches (I prefer not to think of it as fried) in about 10 seconds. Spoon some hot oil over the top. You want it crispy and fluffy, but the yolk totally runny. Then get it out of there fast with the slotted spoon, drain, and onto your prepped bread.

Here it is again. Eat instantly. The yolk will run out and soak the crunchy bread. If you’re a more moderate person you could leave out the Burrata, or even not fry the bread, but the full monty is much better.