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BOUQUET COLLECTION
For Mother’s Day we have a special collection available for a limited time. The Bouquet Collection is a flower infused collection perfect for mom.
Check out our online store to make a purchase.
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World’s 50 Best Restaurants…
The S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 2010 was just released. Noma from Denmark was voted #1 restaurant in the world.
If anyone has been to Noma, please share your experience in our comments section. We want to get the scoop!
view the entire list here
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Coffee Break!
Above: Chocolatier, Xenon Mallari, samples a Kenyan coffee at the “Coffee of the Year” cupping area of the SCAA Show.
The Happy Ending crew was recently visited by our good friend, Josh Walter (aka Josher), owner of Sunrise Coffee in Las Vegas. Josher’s boutique coffee shop only serves organic products and he’s extremely particular about the products he carries. As an avid coffee connoisseur and hands-on owner, Josher attends coffee expositions to sample products to make sure they pass his strict criteria. We joined Josher on his quality-coffee-quest (say that three times fast) at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) show in Anaheim.
Here are some of the show’s highlights and our favorite products:
Top 5 Espressos (with a couple of ties)
5. Intelligentsia, a coffee company determined to provide top notch coffee products through a high caliber staff trained at their Chicago location. We had their Kenya Tharaka blend. It was extremely wild, like a jungle in your mouth. Very acidic with hints of bacon and mushroom. Lots of umami! quite savory and great for the seasoned espresso aficionado.
5. Fratello, Boutique Coffee Roasters, based in Alberta, Canada, produces coffee artisinally with careful attention to sourcing and responsible purchasing. We had their Diamond Mountain Single Estate from Panama. They used the Slayer Machine, which allows the artisan barista to use their instincts to control pressure and timing instead of digital machines. The Panama blend was bright with a plethora of citrus notes, very springtime. Almost sour throughout. The Slayer machine is shown below.
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A Lesson Learned From Banksy
Notoriously anonymous street artist, Banksy, who uses public walls and pranks as his medium, created a film which has everyone debating about it’s intentions. As a casual art fan, I’ve followed the “illegal grey area” work of Banksy for a few years.
I was expecting to see a behind the scenes documentary that showed glimpses of Banksy and other street-artists working in the cover of night. Instead, I was taken through a roller coaster ride that began in the underground art scene in Europe and ended as a satire of the pretentiousness and mass manipulation in Los Angeles. Ultimately, Banksy’s debut feature film acts as a way for the anonymous artist to send a message to the masses about the difference between true art and consumerism.
Exit Through the Gift Shop opens with a full gamut of legendary street-artists spray-painting walls, climbing rooftops and running from the police, all set to Richard Hawley’s “The Streets Are Ours.” From that moment, I was pulled into their world. I found myself nervously scanning the movie screen, as if I were a lookout for them. The Frenchman and self-professed filmmaker, Thierry Guetta, stumbles into the underground art world in Europe through his cousin, Space Invader. Through Thierry’s lousy videotaping, I was able to witness the craftsmanship behind the street artists’ works. Before hitting the streets, these artists spend countless hours working on their pieces, blueprinting and intricately cutting stencils with precision and finesse. Like a master chef with his knife, or a sculptor with their chisel; these street artists demonstrate a mastering of their tools.Their speed, accuracy and attention to detail sets them apart from graffiti vigilantes and makes them Legends.
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Naja’s Place: Fear No Beer
With 88 taps on the Redondo Pier, Naja’s Place remains one of the best places to enjoy a beer in Los Angeles. This seldom-publicized pub features an ever-changing rotation of rare microbrews and Belgians. The impressive beer selection, knowledgeable bar staff and unpretentious atmostphere make Naja’s the antithesis of trendy beer bars like The Surly Goat. On any given day, one can step into Naja’s and expect the bartenders to be pouring anything from Deschutes Little Buddha to Russian River’s Pliny the Younger.
A sunny day, a good beer, and close proximity to the beach make an irresistable combination, so we headed over to Naja’s.
The first beer we sampled today was Deschutes’ The Abyss ‘08— American Double Stout.
Very dark obsidian color. Smells of chocolate malt, bourbon, coffee, molasses, and vanilla. Coffee comes through as the most prevalent flavor, with bourbon coming in a close second (a result of aging in bourbon barrels). Definitely a sweeter stout with a heavy, yet silky smooth mouthfeel. The Abyss is a perfect beer drinker’s dessert beer, whose coffee notes pair nicely with a bite of chocolate.
While sipping on The Abyss, we nibbled on our First Class bon-bon: peanut ganache accented with salty pretzels in a dark chocolate shell. Peanuts, pretzels, chocolate, and The Abyss’ complex flavors join forces to create a hedonistic flavor combination. The salt from the pretzels brings other flavors out from The Abyss. Licorice, molasses, toasted coconut, and cocoa all made an appearance after a bite of First Class.
Highly recommended. 11% abv (scarily drinkable).
Next we tried Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge by Brouwerij Bockor N.V. — Flander’s Red Ale.
Looks like a dark red cola, doesn’t it? Smells like stable hay, vinegar, cherries and oak. Probably a 6 or 7 on a sour scale from 1-10. Flavor profile strongly represented by sour cherries, green apple, and wild yeast. Crisp and refreshing with a little lingering acidity on the tongue. This well-crafted beer is perfect for sharing with friends on a hot day… mild enough for sour novices, yet interesting enough for beer conisseurs.
Last we tried New Belgium’s Eric’s Ale
Golden straw color. Eric’s Ale is filtered and highly carbonated, setting this brew apart from the many sour beers we’ve experienced. Smells of peaches, white grapes and wet asphalt. Not too sour, a 3 on the sour scale. Mild tart peach flavor that finishes bone dry. Thin mouthfeel as a result of filtration.
Delicious and refreshing, but Eric’s Ale was our least favorite beer of the day (the others were that good)! 7% abv.
Naja’s bartenders Darin and Jay (in Darin’s arms).
Please note: If hunger strikes while at Najas, and filling your belly with bar food doesn’t sound appealing, head down the boardwalk to Quality Seafood. Enjoy live crab, steamed to order; oysters; fresh fish, fried to order; live uni; or just about any other edible sea creature at this long-established purveyor of seafood. Just grab a ticket, tell the fishmonger what you want/ how you want your selection prepared, find a table (outdoor seating only), and stuff your face!
We stuffed our faces with 1 lb of savory clams, and a New Zealand snapper, broiled to order along with a baguette, corn on the cob, french fries, rice, and potato salad for less than $25!
Savory clams steamed to order with white wine and garlic.
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Rabbit Adobo
The Happy Ending team was walking around the LA Farmer’s Market when we happened upon the succulent rabbits at Puritan Poultry. While we were planning on posting our chicken adobo recipe (the inspiration for our chicken adobo bon-bon), the rabbits in the butcher’s case were too tempting and Easter was too close around the corner for us to resist putting this deliciously sacrilegious spin on the traditional Filipino dish.
In traditional Filipino adobo, chicken or pork is stewed in white vinegar and soy sauce with garlic, black peppercorns, and bay leaves. Stewing creates a rich savory-tart sauce which is spooned over white rice.
Our take on adobo replaces white vinegar with rice wine and champagne vinegars, which add complexity to the sauce. A splash of beer and apple juice round out the tartness of the vinegars, while the rabbit, which is all white meat, skinless, and contains more bones than chicken or pork creates an incredibly flavorful, yet lean dish.
We served ours with forbidden rice, blanched carrots, and roasted garlic. YUM!
Ingredients:
1 rabbit, cut into pieces (we got ours at Puritan Poultry 6333 West 3rd St.)
1 cup soy sauce
¾ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup champagne vinegar
1 ½ cups water
¼ cup apple juice
¼ cup lager-style beer
½ onion thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, crushed
3-4 bay leaves
10 peppercorns (5 crushed, 5 whole)
lemon-pepper
olive oil
chives for garnish
optional: 1/4 tsp ginger root, peeled and minced
thin slices of jalapeno
Procedure:
- Season rabbit generously with lemon-pepper. Let sit for at least 15 mins.
- Heat olive oil in dutch oven on medium-high. Sautee garlic, onions and ginger (if using) till they begin to brown.
- Reduce heat to medium, add rabbit and lightly brown.
- Add peppercorns, soy sauce, vinegars and water.
- Cover and cook for 30-35 minutes turning it over only once at 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and add bay leaves, apple juice, beer and jalapeno (if using).
- Continue cooking on very low for 5 more minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Serve with rice and vegetables, garnish with thinly sliced chives.
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An Interview with Jacub Gagnon
As a chocolatier, I’m always looking for new ideas and inspiration. A few weeks ago I was looking for inspiration in the pages of Juxtapoz magazine when I came across the work of Jacub Gagnon, a young, pop surrealist artist. His work teases one’s perceptions of reality and challenges the status quo, which is what Happy Ending Chocolates aims to accomplish in the confectionary world. Jacub was kind enough to set aside a few minutes to chat with a fellow artist.
X: So are you a foodie?
J: Yeah, a little bit
X: What’s your favorite food?
J: Believe it or not, it’s chocolate. I have to have chocolate everyday and if I go a few days without it I kinda go crazy. I’m addicted(laughs)
X: Nice! I’ll keep that in mind. So you went to school in Toronto. Have you always been in Toronto?
J: No, I’m actually from a tiny rural town; almost no one has heard of it. Marmora.
X: Where?
J: Exactly.[…] It’s tiny. Maybe 1,200 people.
X: So why pop-surrealism?
J: I don’t really know. I’ve just always been a fan of surreal art. I just like to doodle without an end in mind. I just draw and paint whatever might be on my mind at the time. My mom would always look at my sketches and say, “What are you drawing? That’s gross” (laughs)
X: You say you’ve always been a fan of surrealism. Any particular artist that influenced or inspired you?
J Well of course, Dali. There are a couple of other artists, but Dali is the father of [surrealism].
X: I know you have an upcoming exhibit at Distinction Gallery in Escondido, but are you planning a visit to L.A. anytime before that?
J: No, I’ve actually never been to LA. […] I’ve never even been to the US. I get a lot of content on the web, so I’m able to see what’s going on [in L.A.]. That’s actually how I track the progress of my exhibits.
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Last night I went to check out the House Industries x Eames exhibition reception at Eames Office in Santa Monica. The event was to celebrate the official release of the Eames Century Modern Font Collection. It was a great night, filled with lots of inspiration.
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Meyer Lemon Springthyme Truffles
It’s spring. You know what that means? Meyer lemons are in season! Woo hoo! To commemorate the arrival of spring we’re making meyer lemon & thyme truffles (you’ll soon realize we can’t resist a corny play on words).
Bittersweet chocolate ganache is infused with meyer lemons and thyme, coated in a dark chocolate couveture (or not), then rolled in confectioners sugar. The result is a sweet, slightly tart, herbaceous truffle.
This recipe has been tailored to the home cook with annotations added for the more ambitious home confectioner.
Yield: 40 truffles
Ganache Ingredients
6 oz dark chocolate (170g)
1.4 oz milk chocolate (40g)
3 Meyer lemons juiced, strained (90g juice)
Zest of one Meyer lemon
½ C heavy whipping cream (100g)
1.5 Tb butter, at room temp (20g)
1.5 Tb honey (or invert sugar 20g)
10 sprigs thyme, more if desired
1.5 C confectioner’s sugar, or snow sugar (available at Chef Rubber)
Do your best to work in a cool, dry environment, preferably 70 degrees.
- Heat thyme in a small saucepan with 1 tsp. of water. Heat until most of the water has evaporated & thyme is bright green, about 2 minutes. Water helps extract flavors from the thyme so the cream doesn’t have to do all the work.
- Add the cream and zest to the saucepan. Heat until cream just starts to boil. You will see bubbles start to form around the outer edges of the cream. Remove from heat. Place in a glass bowl and steep cream and thyme mixture for 30 mins.
- Bring lemon juice to a boil. Reduce lemon juice by 2/3, or until you have about 30g. of lemon concentrate. Remove from heat & set aside.
- Chop chocolate as finely as possible in order to prevent clumping during the following melting process
- Strain cream over chocolate. Stir briefly and let this chocolate mixture sit for 2 minutes, letting the cream melt the chocolate. After two minutes, whisk ganache until smooth. Warm lemon juice to about 90 degrees; then pour into ganache. Whisk together, making sure to incorporate as little air as possible. If you notice clumps in your chocolate, heat ever-so-slightly with a heat gun and whisk. Clumps should disappear.
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“REDEFINE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A HUMAN BEING”
Art does just that… From the words of Jeff Koons. A true visionary and living legend in the art world. Now curating a special exhibition using pieces owned by Greek businessman and philanthropist Dakis Joannou. Koons receives a heap of criticism for his kitschy pieces, but I feel his work brings a sense empowerment and a new perception on art.
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