Written by Wesleigh Byrd
Boss Files

Boss Files: Sophie Dalah

Photographed by Shade Degges

Today we take a seat with the incredibly spunky and talented Chef: Sophie Dalah. Sophie is an Australian born chef who grew up in the food industry. In her process of ideation she leans on her Jewish Iraqi heritage, combined with her love of Japanese cooking to develop uniquely inspired flavors. Her menus are inspired by seasonal and local produce sourced directly from farmer’s markets, always presented artfully with a taste that’s incomparable. Hearing her story and watching her color the LA community with culinary inspiration is a story that just keeps unfolding.

We had the privilege of having her create a Fall inspired menu to share with our All Sorts Of audience, and got to know her as a creative. Please join me for this conversation and the recipes she’s created below.

Without further ado, Sophie Dalah.

 

 

a conversation with Sophie Dalah…
1

Tell us a bit about your journey. How did you both arrive at becoming a chef?

I have always loved cooking but never really thought about pursuing it as a career. My whole family loves food and cooking, so I always just thought about it as a pastime and a way to connect with my family. So much of my content on social media was food-related, and people responded really well to it. So, I kind of thought, you know what, I’m good at this, why not turn it into a business? And the rest is history!

2

What inspires you in your cooking practice on a daily basis?

Seasonality really inspires what I cook. I have learned so much of what I know about flavor by forcing myself to cook things that are in season, even if they are foreign ingredients to me. Learning how to cook in this way is what has enabled me to understand flavor and push the boundaries when it comes to pairing flavors together. I also love nothing more than being forced to make recipes from the ingredients I have left in my fridge and pantry when I haven’t gone grocery shopping.

3

How did you turn your passion for creating into a business and a brand?

Before anything else, the food I make tastes good, and all my recipes have been tried and tested. But I think my style of catering offers something beyond what traditional private dining or private catering offers. It’s interactive and aesthetic without being obnoxious, and it does look good stylistically. My catering bridges the gap between food, floristry, and table scaping. Although the food I make is the highlight, my style of catering tells a story. The settings I create excite people, and I think this is what has helped generate the buzz.

4

What does your day-to-day entail to support your company?

Wow, lots of different things, mostly creating lists so I can remember to do all the things that need to happen. There are so many elements in each thing I do. Responding to emails, making prep lists, sourcing new platters, going to farmers’ markets, cooking, making sure I’ve checked off everything on my to-do list.

 

5

Do you have any daily rituals at home that bring you stability?

I like to go for walks with my husband in the morning. Speaking to my family back in Australia is always nice, and I try to do that as much as I can in the morning before my working day starts.

6

What is your favorite part about Sophie’s Table?

My fav thing about Sophie’s table is creating a brand that ties together everything I’ve learnt in my life so far. Drawing from different memories and experiences.

7

What are your favorite rituals around food and eating with others?

I love feeding people. I get so excited when people enjoy the food I’ve made. I truly feel like a kitchen is my safe space. It doesn’t matter where I am; I feel most at ease in a kitchen, my own or somebody else’s.

8

For all my easily intimidated chefs out there, what is the easiest go-to meal you’ve been loving and why?

Probably Sungold Tomato Sauce; it’s my husband Noah’s recipe (even though I took credit for it on the jumbo time wines video I make called ‘the sauce’). It’s so easy, and everyone is always impressed when you make it for them.

 

9

What are you most looking forward to right now?

Persimmon season.

RAPID FIRE WITH SOPHIE…

1.

Favorite place to visit to spark inspiration?

My fridge-using up the weeks veggies

2.

What is your favorite color and why?

Pink! Always have loved it. I love all the shades of plums, peaches and strawberries. I also love yellow, like mango yellow.

3.

One product that’s always in your bag (can be makeup, sunglasses, momento of some sort, etc.)

My Saie Glossybounce and sunglasses!

4.

A place that feels most like home?

The kitchen I grew up in, in Sydney Australia!

5.

It’s hard to choose one – but your current favorite spice you’ve been playing with?

 

Whole coriander seeds for sure.

 

Sophie’s Frisée Salad

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 15 min
Serve: 4-6
INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup of olive oil

1 ½ lemons juiced

1 tbs of honey

A pinch of salt (or celery salt),

Cracked black pepper in a bowl

1 head of frisée lettuce.

1 apple

1/4 cup of pepita seeds

Instruction:

Step 1: Make your Dressing!

 Combine 1/3 cup of olive oil, the juice from one and a half lemons, a tablespoon of honey, a pinch of salt (or celery salt), and a couple turns of freshly cracked black pepper in a bowl or mason jar and whisk or shake to combine.

Step 2: Prep your Veg!

Clean, cut and dry one head of frisée lettuce. Slice one apple in half and then thinly slice the whole thing into half moons.

Toast a 1/4 cup of pepita seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant and lightly brown – about four minutes. Set aside.

Step 3: Salad Time!

Put your lettuce and apple in large bowl. Pour your dressing over and use your hands to toss and combine well. Shower your pepita seeds over top, season with a generous pinch of flaky salt and serve!

Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Saffron-y Garlic Labneh

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 30 min
Serve: 6
INGREDIENTS:

3 LBS Potatoes

1 cup Labneh

1 Lemon

1 Whole Garlic Head

1 1/2 TSP Turmeric

2 TBSP Ground Coriander

2 TBSP Sesame Seeds

4 TBSP Olive Oil

Salt and pepper

Pinch of Saffron Threads

Hot honey

Instruction:

Step 1: Get Going!

Preheat your oven to 400.

Throw all of your potatoes into a pot, fill up with cold water and heavily season with salt. Don’t be scared – two handfuls of salt should do it. Set your potatoes over medium heat and let slowly come up to a boil while we get everything else together.

Step 2: Make the Labneh!

You have to heat up a little bit of water for your saffron so either set a tea kettle on the stove or throw a 1/4 cup of water in a pan and set it on medium heat.

Put one cup of labneh in a bowl and squeeze the juice of one lemon in. Grab your microplane and grate four cloves of garlic into the bowl. Season with a teaspoon of turmeric, a big pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Take a pinch of your saffron threads and put them into a small cup. Pour just a little (about 2 TBSP) of hot water over the threads and let them steep like tea for five minutes. The saffron’s beautiful color will seep into the water, which is what we want! After five minutes put about half of the water and all of the saffron threads into your labneh mixture. Stir to combine and taste. Adjust salt if you think it needs it and use some (or all) of the leftover saffron water if you want to thin the mixture’s consistency out. Set aside to let it get a lot more yum while you finish everything else.

Step 3: Smash, Season and Cook the Potatoes!

Once you can poke the tines of a fork into the potatoes easily, drain them from the water and transfer them to your cutting board. Dry them off to get rid of some of the moisture. Working one by one – smash each one down with something heavy from your kitchen (a pan, spatula, hand or mallet will all work). Don’t worry about them all being evenly smashed – unevenness is yum! Toss all of your smashed potatoes in a large bowl with two teaspoons of ground coriander, 1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric, five whole smashed garlic cloves, two tablespoons of sesame seeds, a pinch of salt and four tablespoons of olive oil. Toss them well to coat – this step is important super important so that the potatoes can get fluffy, some can fall apart and they can all get ready for showtime. Remember unevenness is yum.

Transfer your potato mixture onto a sheet tray, drizzle with more olive oil and put into your 400 degree oven for about an hour. Start checking on them around 50 minutes – their doneness is all really about personal preference. Taste them and if they are perfectly crispy to you it’s their time and if you want them more crispy – let them go longer!

Step 4: Serve them Up!

Put some of your labneh down on the plate for your potatoes to pile on top of. Pour your potatoes on top and add more of the labneh on top so they are all saucy. Drizzle some hot honey over the top of your potato mountain and finish with lots of fresh cilantro piled on top.

Hope you love them as much as I do! xx

Iraqi Red Rice Squash

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 40 min
Serve: 6
INGREDIENTS:

1 Kabocha Squash

4 TBS Olive oil

Salt

2 cups jasmine rice

1 yellow onion

1 - 8 oz can of tomato paste

3 cups of chicken stock

big handful of currants

3/4 cup slivered almonds

Fresh tender herbs (parsley, cilantro, mint or basil)

Instruction:

Step 1: Prep the Squash!

Preheat your oven to 375.

Now let’s take the lid or “hat” off of your Kabocha. (This requires some patience, a good attitude and a sharp knife. I like using my serrated bread knife!) Place your squash on it’s side and start making a cut about a half inch or an inch below the stem. The goal is to cut the “hat” off of the squash in as straight of a line as possible. The outside skin is tough so go slowly and methodically to get all the way through and then set it aside.

Use your hands or a spoon to get inside the center of the squash and remove all of the inner string-y stuff and seeds. Most will come out with your hands but I like to take a spoon, once I’ve removed the majority of what I can get with my hands, and scrape it all along the bottoms and the inner sides of the squash to remove all the strings. It should be string free and smooth along the bottom and all the inner walls after a couple passes of scraping. Keep your squash hat handy but throw away all the innards.

Now that the squash is clean, its time to get it ready for the oven. Take a generous amount of olive oil and pour it into the inside of the squash. You want coverage everywhere in there so use your hands or a brush to make sure the oil is not just on the bottom but all around the inside as well. Lastly, evenly and generously salt the inside of the squash. Once it’s clean and ready put it into your oven on a rimmed baking sheet. We are going to cook it until the rice is ready to go inside the squash – the timing of the recipe works but in all the squash will be in the oven for a little over an hour. Keep your squash hat to the side for later.

Step 2: Rice Time!

Wash two cups of jasmine rice vigorously in a fine mesh sieve or bowl. Continue to wash it and rummage it around with your hands until the water stops being so cloudy and begins to run clear from the rice. Set aside.

Dice one yellow onion and put into a wide bottomed pot. Make sure that you have a tight fitting lid for whatever pot you use as we are going to use this to cook the rice. Douse the onions in a generous amount of olive oil and a big pinch of salt and set over medium high heat for five minutes until they start to soften and become translucent. Once your onions are ready, squeeze a whole tube of tomato paste in incorporate it with your onions. You want to help cook and caramelize the tomato paste so let that fry, stirring occasionally over medium heat, for another five minutes. Throw your washed rice into the pot with a another generous pinch of salt and combine with the tomato and onion mixture. Toast that rice, stirring constantly, for another two minutes. Add in three cups of chicken stock, a generous handful of currants, stir to combine and set your burner to high. Once the liquid in your pot comes to a boil put your tight fitting lid on top and set your burner to low.

Let your rice cook for 15 minutes and then turn the heat off.

Step 3: Bake the Rice!

Take your squash out of the oven and spoon as much of the rice as will fit inside, loosely packing it in, and then put the hat back on top of the squash to cover and set it back into the oven. Cook for another fifteen to twenty minutes until your rice is fully cooked through. Once you love the way it tastes and is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it cool.

Step 4: Finishing Touches!

Toast your slivered almonds in a dry pan over medium heat until they are nice and toasty – about three or four minutes. Once they are nicely toasted, set them aside. Coarsely chop a generous handful of fresh tender herbs (like parsley, cilantro, mint or basil) and set them aside. Finally, take the lid off of your squash and cut it in half. Your rice will be beautifully baked and should hold its shape. Cut each half into three wedges each and set on a platter. Garnish each wedge with herbs, almonds, some more currants if you have, flaky salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Drizzle some olive oil over the top and it’s finally time to have the party. Enjoy!

Spiced Tomato-y Fish

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 30 min
Serve: 6
INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup Sake

1/4 cup Miso

1/4 cup Harissa Paste

Big pinch of salt and sugar

2 1/2 LBS of Cherry Tomatoes

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Yellow Onion

5 Garlic Cloves

1 Lemon

2 TBSP Ras el Hanout

2 TBSP Butter

Instruction:

Step 1: Marinate the Fish!

Combine a 1/4 cup each of sake and miso in a bowl, whisk until smooth and then add in a big tablespoon each of salt, sugar and harissa paste and whisk again. Take your six fish fillets, place them in your marinade and gently toss them until they are well coated. Cover your bowl and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours (but one or two will work wonders too)!

Step 2: Make your Sauce!

Preheat your oven to 375.

Preheat a dutch oven or other wide bottomed (oven proof!) pan over medium heat. Slice your onion in half, peel and remove the skins and then slice each half into four wedges. You’ll have eight wedges total. Coat the bottom of your pan with olive oil, reduce the heat to medium low and throw in your onion wedges. Toss those around to coat in the oil and start cooking. While your onion is cooking – smash, peel and set aside five cloves of garlic. Cut your lemon in half and remove all the seeds. Slice both halves into half moons and set half of them aside. Take your remaining lemon slices and diced them up finely. Throw in your whole garlic, sliced and diced lemon, a tablespoon of ras el hanout and two tablespoons of butter to your pot and stir. Season with a big pinch of salt and cook for ten to twelve minutes until the mixture is cooked down, shiny and the onions taste sweet.

Turn the heat up to medium, add in your 1/2 cup of sake and scrape the bottom of the pan to get anything stuck to pan free. Cook for a minute and then add in your 2 1/2 pounds of cherry tomatoes. Season with another pinch of salt and then toss to combine. Put a lid on your pot, reduce the heat to medium low and let the tomatoes cook for ten minutes. After ten minutes – remove your lid and use your spoon to help most of the cherry tomatoes burst against the edge of the pan. They will pop so be gentle! The juice from the tomatoes becomes the majority of your sauce so once you’ve done most of them – give it a taste and adjust the seasoning if it needs more salt. It should be delicious and spiced and yum!

Step 3: Cook your Fish!

Nestle your fillets of fish into your tomato sauce and season the tops of them with a little olive oil, salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Pop the whole thing into the oven for ten minutes. Once they’re done – tear a lot of fresh basil over the top, drizzle with a little more olive oil and flaky salt and serve!

SHOP THIS DINING SCENE…

Hand Carved Shallow Bowl

$290

Monroe Wine Glass

$21

Canvas Vintage Tablecloth

$230

Samos Dinnerware

From $38

Capri Dinnerware

From $40

Shelburne Flatware

$95

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