Cooking Up Crème Brûlée

For Christmas I received a mini blow torch for kitchen use, so last week I decided to make crème brûlée. I tend to shy away from baking and desserts as it is so mathematical and I tend to just change up recipes to my liking. This is something you cannot do with baking! I did combine recipes though, as I didn't find one I really liked.

3 cups of heavy cream with one vanilla bean split in two, seeds scraped out and added in too. Brought it to a boil and took it off the heat to steep.

Whisk the 6 egg yolks with a half cup of sugar till it forms 'ribbons'. It gets super thick and white, as seen below.

You then temper the sugar/yolk mixture with some of the warm cream and continue combining the two, which you then strain to get out any coagulated egg.

Then you fill your dishes - which can be any shape really...this effects cooking time so you might want to look into what recipes that use your size container say.

In a water bath, the pans go into a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.

Let them cool on the counter and then into the fridge for a little while to let it all set even more.

The sad part is that I completely forgot to take a picture of the sugar torching bit and the finished product!! Guess I'll just have to do this all again!!

Anchor Woodfire Kitchen

One of Santa Barbara's newest restaurants, Anchor Woodfire Kitchen is an exciting addition! The atmosphere is quite lively and vibrant. There's a constant movement and buzz, especially as things are quite busy with curious locals and tourists. Located in the new Hotel Indigo, near the train station, you'll see some visitors, but locals are filling the majority of tables. I sat at the bar with my friend and we ordered a couple cocktails. I enjoyed Jason's Negroni (served on the rocks, though they normally do it up) - St.George Botanivore gin, Carpano antica, Campari orange.

Clean, crisp decorations fill the space. The wood fire oven is in plain sight and all the guys and gals in the kitchen do their wonderful dance, churning out dish after dish.

This lovely side of wood oven roasted Maitake mushrooms in olive oil, sea salt, and thyme was beautiful in its simplicity. Super mushroom flavor.

The seared scallop over sea urchin risotto looked beautiful nestled in its own deep bowl. The dish was overly salty (and I adore salt) and the risotto too al dente (and I like my risotto al dente), but the base flavors were there. The scallops were cooked to perfection and full of their characteristic sweet, rich flavor.

My favorite dish was the Duck Egg Raviolo with mascarpone, truffles, duck brodo. The pasta is house made and when you cut into the raviolo, the duck egg yolk comes running out mixing with the brodo and parmesan cheese. What a bite this creates!

We also enjoyed a margherita pizza with prosciutto on top. They make their own charcuterie so we just had to add it on the pizza. The prosciutto had a less salty and more mild flavor compared to the Parma kind, and a bit more smokiness. I can't wait to try all the other meat creations they had on their menu. The pizza was good, but I would go there for the pasta and other meat dishes instead.

Make sure to get a reservation or take a chance for a spot at the bar. It's quite the hot spot to go right now so a little planning helps ensure a wonderful night. I am looking forward to biting into the other main meat dishes and exploring the cocktail menu a bit further...not to mention breakfast and lunch!!

119 State Street (Hotel Indigo)
805-845-0989
Mon - Sun: 7:00 am - 12:00 am

New Pizzeria in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara favorite Ca Dario's has at last opened its pizzeria a few doors down and it's delicious. It opened mid December and I had heard multiple opinions about it (not all good...). I ventured in to find out what it was like for myself. I found a small space with few tables and a bar backed with loads of bottles of wine. The small kitchen with the intensely hot pizza oven is squished in the corner. A simple, straightforward menu was presented to us and I found it hard to choose what to order. On top of it, the prices were quite reasonable!

 Each dish was made from extremely fresh ingredients. The tomato sauce is super tomato-y and all ingredients, for that matter, taste strongly as they should. The simplicity is quite welcome and ever so the Italian way - fantastic ingredients paired perfectly. The Prosciutto Cotto pizza seen above with mushrooms, mozzarella, and fresh oregano was delicious. The dough is full of flavor and very thin.

The mozzarella, roasted eggplant, and tomato sauce appetizer is wonderful in its simplicity. Once again simply high quality ingredients treated with the respect they deserve.

And the pizza I will now be craving - the Napoletana - made with white anchovies. AMAZING. It is extremely simple, yes, but done perfectly to my palate's desires. Fresh, flavorful dough and tomato sauce. Bright capers and marinated white anchovies all in one bite equal a very satisfying pizza indeed.

Go for it! Try it out! It's a different pizza experience than the other delicious Italian pizza spot in SB so give it a chance and enjoy! Buon appetito!


Address: 37 East Victoria Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone:(805) 884-9419
Hours: Thursday hours 11:30 am–2:30 pm, 5:00 pm–10:00 pm

Montecito Wine Bistro

The Montecito Wine Bistro is a new addition in the Pierre Lafond empire of Santa Barbara. The menu is full of trendy things like kale and quinoa, as well as classics in the world of pizza and Italian dishes. By the fire one is quite cozy in the rather large space. The wait staff is kind, but not very connected with you as the diner.

The chicken parmigiana I ordered was good, but not excellent. I found the chicken to be a bit dry and the entire thing a bit bland. However, this may just have been a bad choice on my part. My mother enjoyed the quinoa salad seen at the bottom. It had kale and all sorts of healthy goodies in it.

Good, straight forward food at Montecito prices is what you'll find here and that necessarily isn't a bad thing at all.

516 San Ysidro Road  Montecito, CA 93108
(805) 969-7520

Beautiful Plates About Town

A few shots to share with all you food loving folks out there...all taken in Santa Barbara.

Fig dessert at Petit Valentien.

The smoked salmon plate at Scarlett Begonia. A true work of art as far as I am concerned. Tasted fantastic too!

Look at those mini pansies!!!

Beautiful in its simplicity...from Scarlett Begonia again.

One of the BEST DISHES IN SANTA BARBARA found at Via Maestra 42. The name escapes me, but it is a delicious plate filled with octopus, potatoes, onions, and tiny diced vegetables covered in lightly spicy flavors.

Cooking Chez Eve

I have been doing quite a lot of cooking this fall, not to mention Thanksgiving! Here are few recent creations...

Picnic consisting of local oysters (they were massive!!), smoked salmon, heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella, and some avocado.

Piles of brie with fresh thyme and fig jam created quite the grilled cheeses!!

Fresh clams in a tomato, Vermouth, butter sauce... Clams are from Kanaloa Seafood.

 ...with fresh linguine from the Farmer's Market at the Solvang Bread stand.

Tarte au citron.

Homemade bread...could have let it bake longer though...still can't beat fresh bread.

 Apple tart for Turkey Day...

 Turkey stock from our Thanksgiving bird.

Pace in SB

Don't let the super relaxed vibe of this restaurant make you think the cooking isn't going to be up to snuff. The dishes coming out of the kitchen are quite delicious. I was not sold when Pace first opened. I had eaten a mediocre tomato, mozzarella wrap and had little hope, but I was proven wrong! I ventured in for dinner and had a most scrumptious chicken piccata. The chicken was perfectly cooked and moist and the sauce was zingy with lemon and capers. The side vegetables (that night they were green beans) were fresh and flavorful and their mashed potatoes were not the bland mush you usually find in restaurants. The wait staff is cheery and pleasant creating a light atmosphere. Live music fills the space every night from 8pm to 10pm. On top of it, they have a unique variety of beers on tap. I enjoyed a Lagunitas Pilsner from San Diego. Definitely a great spot for a weekday night out!

Pace Restaurant

413 State Street

Santa Barbara

(805) 845-8388