Food and the City

Food and the City on Hiatus

2006-02-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

Thanks for visiting Food and the City. This was a project I started in July of last year as a way for me to share my stories about food. I realize through the months that this blog isn't going in any particular direction (as I didn't establish a direction early on) and that is my own fault for not fully fleshing out my ideas prior to starting this project.

I believe that when we are passionate about something we go in with abandon. While this is great, combining passion with writing is a whole different ballgame. Food is a great passion which many of us share, while writing takes a great amount of discipline and there needs to be an initial structure to support the content of the writing. A map to show the words where to take us.

I haven't been as passionate about this blog as I was hoping to be and that is because I realize it wasn't what I originally intended. I didn't start with a structure or a theme, I just jumped in. Once I realized that my heart wasn't following the direction this blog was going, my posts became more sporadic and casual.

I have been reading many food blogs as of late and there are definitely two categories -- the Great and the Crap. I started to realize that my random chattering on Food and the City is crap. I don't wish to write random chatter, I aim to write with purpose and direction.

As they say in the movie world, I am shelving this project. I have been taking some time to focus on drafting a plan, mapping out what I want to accomplish -- as well as exploring what I can bring to the table so to speak -- by writing about food. As I work through this process, I become more and more excited about the possibilities and what I want my food blog to be. I want to educate as well as learn. I want to share a passion for that which sustains us. I want to take food writing and photography a bit more seriously to raise the bar from the amateur that I am.

If you have visited here, or commented, I appreciate the time you took to do so. I am in the process of creating a completely new food blog -- one that is centered around my philosophies about food, and cooking, and one that I hope will engage you. I will have some help on this one and am VERY excited about it all. I hope it will be up very soon and I hope that you will read it.

If I ever have a daughter, I might just have to name her Mirabella

2006-01-27T13:49:00.000-08:00

When my friend Julie was accepted to UC Berkeley back when we were barely nineteen, I traveled up the coast with her to help get her all settled into her new surroundings. It was an exciting time for her as she always wanted to live in the Bay Area -- not to mention getting into her college of choice. We packed up her Volkswagon Golf and embarked on a road trip which involved us bringing a giant bag of fortune cookies which is another story, but I digress...

Julie has some relatives in Berkeley where we stayed our first night in town. Quite the impressionable teenager at the time I was just blown away by their home and their lifestyle. They lived in a beautiful old Spanish style with old wooden doors and thick adobe walls in this wonderful part of Northern California. They boasted an impressive collection of books (cookbooks included) and when we sat down for dinner I recall it still to be one of my most memorable meals. My love affair with the Bay Area began long before that night, and there is definitely a strong pull that calls me to that part of the world, but ANYway...

Being a rather shy kid, I didn't ask for the recipe but I do remember it was a chicken dish that was so delicious that I have been trying to recreate it ever since that night... And last night I did.

I didn't know it at the time, but I am pretty sure what I enjoyed so very much that evening was Chicken Mirabella. A Mediterranean dish made with a sauce involving olives and prunes. When I first saw the recipe I knew I had to make it -- wondering to myself if this was indeed the dish I experienced. The combination might sound off-putting to some of you I know, but trust me, if you like Mediterranean food you owe it to yourself to try this. What happens is the brown sugar melts into the wine and the prunes also seem to melt as they cook and the sauce turns into a glaze as you continually baste the chicken. With the combination of the sweet and savory ingredients, the flavors all come alive. I guarantee if you come over to Casa de la Rosa anytime soon for dinner, this is what I will be serving you.

Kevin was the lucky one last night and we all died and went to heaven and ATE THE WHOLE THING.

Chicken Mirabella ( I don't really measure so I am guessing the quantities I used)
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz pitted prunes, chopped (not dried)
16 green olives (more if you like olives!)
2 tablespoons capers, with liquid
A few good glugs of olive oil
A few good glugs of red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces (or whatever parts of chicken you wish to use) I bought mine already cut up into 8 pieces courtesy of Gelson's.
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
About 1/3 of a bottle of dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish OR toasted pine nuts would be really nice too and what I will try next time

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl combine the garlic, prunes, olives, capers, olive oil, vinegar, bay leaves, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well. Spread mixture in the bottom of a baking dish large enough to hold all the chicken. Add the chicken pieces, stir and turn to coat. This whole step takes about five minutes. Cover and refrigerate overnight or however much time you have.

When ready to prepare, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dish from refrigerator. Sprinkle brown sugar on top and pour white wine all around chicken. How easy is that?

Bake for 1 hour, basting chicken with juices several times as it is cooking. Serve on a platter, pouring juices over the top, and garnish with fresh parsley or pine nuts. Enter Heaven.

I served this over couscous and we paired it with a Teroldego from Mosby Vineyards. A wine which paired wonderfully with this slightly sweet, savory and full-bodied dish.

Holy Pounds, Batman!

2006-01-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

It seems I have fallen very behind on keeping up on my Food and the City adventures. I have so many culinary stories to share, I just don't know where to begin. Do I start with our visit to O-Bar in West Hollywood to taste some truly memorable edibles that my brilliant, not to mention gorgeous, cousin Kristen prepared for us? Or do I go straight into the many truly magnificent meals we shared in New York this past weekend.

I realize that I STILL haven't shared any of the meals we ate on our adventures in Europe! And I have fallen way way way behind on the whole Santa Maria wine and food pairings experiment.

On top of all of this, I stepped on the scale this morning and had a bit of a breakdown. Just in time for my latest challenge, to recreate the top 10 2006 recipes of the Los Angeles Times food section.

I am going shopping now to buy some running shoes... sigh.

Stay tuned!

Following your dreams

2006-01-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

Whenever Jimmy and I talk about what we would do if we won the lottery, one of the things that comes up is purchasing a winery. Having, and harvesting, our own vineyard is one of those pipe dreams that I think any wine lover enjoys daydreaming about. This is why I was so happy to drink this wine we found at one of our favorite places The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

Jimmy has found a couple of really great wines here, this particular bottle being one of them. He found this one as we were perusing the shelves one weekend afternoon and showed me the back of the label, to which I immediately replied, "We need to buy this."

I am all for supporting those who realize their dreams. Especially if they are infused with wine.

Santa Maria Wine Bottle Opening Ceremony & Food Pairing #1

2005-12-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

When we arrived home from our wonderful wine country weekend, it was late, we were starving and didn't have a whole lot of motivation to go to the store, or cook anything for that matter. After scrounging through the cupboards, we realized we could make some hummus. Easy. Garbanzo beans taking a couple spins around the food processor, done. We had plenty left over, so the next day I decided to get some lamb to go with it and Jimmy was dying to open our first wine candidate of the evening... The Mosby Primativo.

All the Mosby wines we tried smelled just incredible. I have only really explored Italian wines of the chianti in a wicker basket variety for the most part so this type of Cal-Ital wine was all new to me and my palette. The Primavito is very intense, dark and full bodied. It was almost a bit too overwhelming for the lamb, but just almost. The lamb and hummus were spiced enough for it to still work. Plus Jimmy deglazed the pan the lamb was in with some of the wine, garlic, rosemary and spices which gave the meal just the boost it needed to pair nicely with the wine.

Sidenote: Our dining room table has become a wine storage of sorts until we figure out where to put all this wine we brought back. If you look closely you will see some of the wines we brought home behind the lamb. I feel like we are eating in a wine store every night. And that is not a bad thing.

We do have another bottle of this and I think next time I will pair it with something a bit more spicy to stand up to the wine. The label on the bottle recommends pairing it with Tex Mex, BBQ, or pasta in black olive and garlic paste. It all sounds good to me. I discovered later on the Mosby website that they post recipes for each type of wine. I may have to try that!

Nevada looking like she may have snuck into the Primativo.

Days of Wine and....... more wine.....

2005-12-05T12:26:00.000-08:00

I believe that the key to city life is to get out of the city as often as possible. With that in mind, Jimmy and I took a much needed break this weekend and decided to get "Sideways". For two glorious days we traveled through Santa Maria wine country. Nowhere near as famous as Napa, or as magestic as Sonoma, but not so many busloads of happy tasters either.

We left Friday evening with this little guy,

umbrellas, raincoats (yes, it does sometimes rain in sunny L.A.) and visions of Pinots and Chardonneys dancing in our heads.
We thought we might get stuck in traffic, but we made it to Buellton around 7:30 to our first stop, The Hitching Post.

Because we thought we would be stuck in traffic (being that this is LA and all) our dinner reservations weren’t until 9:00 pm. What to do? What to do? Oh well. We figured we were here to taste wine and by golly sitting at the bar and tasting the Hitching Post’s own wines was exactly what we were going to do.

So, with Fuzzbutt in tow in his cute little carrier, we bellied up to the bar where Miles and Jack first meet Maya for a drink. In fact I think I was sitting in the very barchair where Maya sat in the beginning of that scene.

Now, I know in movies locations are staged and lit in ways that are different than what may be their norm, but not much about this restaurant reminded me of what I saw in the film EXCEPT for the bar. The scene where they are all having dinner at what looks like a really cool table location didn’t exist from where I could see and the scene where Miles goes straight back to the bathroom to call his ex from the payphone? Uh-uh, not there either. And the food they showed them eating, didn’t see that on the menu anywhere. However, the wine was pretty decent and we had their signature dish at the bar, grilled artichoke with Magic Dust and Jimmy and I have never eaten anything so fast. It was really delicious and I can’t recommend it enough if you find yourselves there. I guess there is a reason it is their most popular dish.

Now back to the wine.

Jimmy tried the Highlander, their high end Pinot, and it was really, REALLY good. Big fruit but very smooth. He stuck with that the whole night. I started with the Big Circle, a Syrah, which was decent as well with a velvety texture and then at the recommendation from the couple next to us at the bar I tried the Generation Red once we were seated to pair with my meal. Now, I am no wine connoisseur by any means, and I have a pretty unsophisticated palette. As a matter of fact, my only credential being that I have drank enough wine in my day to know what I like. And what I like I think most wine connoisseurs (and by connoisseurs I mean snobs) would roll their eyes my way. That being said, in reds I adore big, bold, somewhat jammy, fruit forward wines. California Zins are my favorite. (That would be red zin NOT white zin). Taz, Core, Monster and Mother Zin come to mind off the top of my head. If I am pairing with certain foods, I may go for something more subtle like a Pinot Noir, depending. In whites I adore a buttery chardonney in all it's malolactic fermentated glory. Cue wine snobs, er connoisseurs, rolling their eyes. Although after this weekend, I really am enjoying the Pinot Gris, but I digress….

What I don’t like in reds are leathery, smoky, earthy wines that taste like tree bark that went out one night wearing a leather jacket to a smoky club, got drunk, and while hungover planted itself in an old flower pot that has now sat in the sun for too long which is what the Generation Red is to me. It’s a blended wine with Cabernet Franc which is a grape that, to me, possesses all of those qualities of wine I don’t favor. I no longer drink wine just because it’s there. If it’s delicious, I will savor it and remember it, but if its bad (read: leather jacket in a smoky club wine), I won’t drink it. So a full glass of Generation Red was unfortunately left at the dinner table. I felt weird sending it back so there it sat. Sigh. If our friend, Jeanne, were there she would have drank it and loved it. So up her alley. Still, we had a wonderful experience at the Hitching Post, and will return. Fuzzbutt couldn’t have been better, content in his carrier serenaded to sleep by the sounds of a crowded, happy restaurant.

After dinner, we checked into our hotel. Jimmy booked us the bed & breakfast package at the historic Santa Maria Inn.
A cozy, comfortable centrally located place to winerys you may wish to visit should you travel here. Oh, and they are pet friendly!

In fact, one of the coolest things about traveling here is the fact that it IS so pet friendly. We took our “godson” Fuzzbutt with us and he was welcome everywhere we went. In fact, he was the superstar everywhere we went. It was really great!
So where did you go? You may be asking. Well let me tell you!

By following along this map, you can click on each winery to find out more info should you feel inspired to do so. We started off Saturday morning at Cambria, then tried to go to Byron (tasting room not open to the public, unless you had a passport. We definitely will be getting one next year). We then headed to Rancho Sisquoc, where we met up with our friends Darwin and Eileen. Then to Foxen and Zaca Mesa. All fun and friendly wineries. Now, keep in mind we had the world's cutest puppy with us and were at each winery no less then an hour. Reason being that tasting rooms are quite a social activity to begin with and when you add an adorable puppy to that mix, you become the life of the party as it were. Tasting rooms usually stay open until only 4:00 or 5:00pm so we had to skip some in order to arrive at Fess Parker which Jimmy was chomping at the bit to get to. He had first tried Fess Parker on one of our trips to Disneyworld and drank it everynight on the cruise. Fess makes a damn nice chardonney and Jimmy was itching to get there. It was definitely the most crowded tasting room we encountered. So much so that I didn't even go to the tasting bar. Interestingly enough, we only purchased two bottles of wine from there. Funny how sometimes the most anticipated destinations turn out to be less than you expected.

After leaving Fess Parker, the five of us ventured to Los Olivos, a lovely quaint village in the heart of Santa Maria. We parked and visited Consilience Wines, (I bought a yummy port there!) as well as one other tasting room where Jimmy and Eileen were able to taste some Au Bon Climat, (another fave) and Jimmy purchased a lovely chardonney from J. Kerr which is quite possibly my new fave chardonney. Buttery like movie popcorn, I can't WAIT to have a food pairing with this soon!

Speaking of food, we then ventured to Rick's Ultimately Fine Foods for a really fun and memorable meal. Chef Rick has an open kitchen that you must walk through to get to the restroom. He is so laid back in fact, that I was able to interrupt him mid-plating to ask for a photo of him at work. I am star struck by chefs the way others are star struck by "celebrities". Anywhoo, Rick wanted me in the photo, so here we are:

After that, Rick sent us out a complimentary fried oyster appetizer, and by the time our meals came, we were so full, that we couldn't even eat them! Too much food indeed, but a fun experience should you find yourself in the area. Don't let the poor website design or strip mall location scare you, it's a fun place with great food and an impressive wine list.

Being so full of food and wine, we decided to call it a night. Well, after watching Dane Cook's monolouge on SNL of course...

The next morning it was just Jimmy, Fuzzbutt and I as Dar and Eileen decided to sleep in and head back home to Christmas tree shop. We were bummed to not see them on Sunday but Jimmy and I were on a business trip as it were, and we had wine business to tend to. It was a gloriously gorgeous day in Santa Maria. Not a cloud in the brilliant blue sky. Perfect crisp temperature. One of those days that begs to be enjoyed.... with a glass of wine.

With Fuzzbutt in tow, we headed to the last two wineries on our Sideways adventure, Sanford and Mosby. The latter produces wines made with Italian grapes and had some of the most interesting wines, and beautiful noses, Jimmy and I have ever had the honor of tasting, and smelling. So much in fact that we bought a case. The staff at Sanford couldn't have been more friendly and even gave us a complimentary copy of Rex Pickett's book Sideways, signed by the author. Rex wrote as the inscription, "Drink more wine in 2006". As if anyone needed to tell that to us. I am reading the book now, and let me just say how much different it is than the movie. But Sanford is the first winery Miles and Jack stop at. I don't blame them, it's a good one.

They say all good things must come to an end and we wrapped up our trip by stopping for a late lunch in Solvang and then headed back home along the California coast watching the sun set along the ocean with a trunkful of wine which will be detailed further with food pairings. Stay tuned...

Lying Liars and Mother Tuckers

2005-10-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

So I lied.

Not the kind of lie that hurts people but the kind of lie that makes me a lying liar. I posted here that I was making changes to this blog, but you know what? That was a lie. Because at it turns out, I'm not. The truth is I TRIED to make changes to this blog, but as I was trying to transfer all my posts, I couldn't transfer any of the photolinks or comments. And the truth is that I am too lazy to link all the photos again. And I like your comments and aren't ready to lose them.

So.... here is the long and short of it.

This blog is staying put. No fun changes, no dazzling graphics, no Amazon book deals, just the usual witty and informative writing about food and wine. Er, yeah. I better get to work on the wine part...

I am working on another blog still, so that part wasn't a lie...

In other news.... I was watching something like Good Morning America or The Today Show, or one of those other morning "news" shows the other morning and they had the story of this guy.

His name is Tucker Shaw and he just published this book.

In a nutshell, he took pictures of everything he ate for one year (with his Canon Elph 2.0 Megapixel which is my camera too!) and made a book out of it. I take pictures of a lot of things that I eat, and I mean a lot. But it got me thinking... about a couple things actually.

One was... WOW! I would be scared to think of having everything I ate for an entire year laid out in front of me, hell I ate enough in Europe to cover an entire year! Truth be told, I only take pictures of the fun things Jimmy or myself create and food we are served at fun and fancy restaurants. All the other times, I am usually eating things like yogurt, Zone Bars or (perish the thought) Lean Cuisine and it just never crosses my mind to take photos of that. That to me, and you, would be boring. I do cook a lot at home but even when I make things like poached salmon, or roasted veggies, or pesto, I usually leave those out of the photos as well. I like food as an art so it never occurs to me to take pictures of most of my mundane meals. Tucker, however, doesn't seem to think that way. And that is not a bad thing. Because what we eat is what we are. I like to talk about food and part of why I enjoy photographing certain meals is for the same reason we take pictures of anything, really. To capture a moment. Jimmy describes food as self-destroying art. You have to dig into it to truly enjoy it and it can't last. Having these photos takes me back to a certain memory. I can recall the dish, how it tasted, how it was presented, who it was shared with, the conversations that took place, well... if there wasn't too much wine involved I can recall the conversations that took place, where it took place whether it be at home in LA or while traveling to a different country, or even to someone's home, and that all makes me happy. Life is in the moments, right?

Two... but WOW! I wonder if I DID do that, you know--take pictures of everything I ate for a year, if it would make me REALLY take a look at what I eat and in what quantities. I mean, I like to eat and am not shy about it. Places like Weight Watchers make you keep a food journal. What if one kept a photo food journal? Then you could just see what you ate and how much of it you ate. I think this would scare me skinny. And perhaps that ain't a bad thing!

Three... Um... WOW!!! This guy was able to do this and can now sell it on Amazon! I ask you, is this any more crazy then this girl, who blogged about cooking all the recipes in a Julia Child book and who is now selling that on Amazon! I'm all about Julia Child, but of course if it were me, I would make every Nigella recipe out there!

Sheesh! Seems that it doesn't take much to get a book deal these days does it?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

2005-10-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

Greetings o' three readers of mine!

I know I have been really bad about posting lately, but I promise to make up for it soon. I am in the process of making changes (fun ones!) to this blog, and I am also creating another blog because as much as I LOVE food and wine, and talking about food and wine, and writing about food and wine, (although I don't feel like I have actually hit too much on wine writing in this blog, but that will change... but I digress) ... where was I? Oh yes. I have realized that while I am madly and passionately in love with food and wine, I have all kinds of things that I want to write about besides food and wine and feel this insane desire to publish it all on the web for anyone who wishes to see.

So, stay tuned, lots of fun things happening at Casa de la Rosa.

Why Europe is good for you

2005-10-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

I went to Trader Joe's this morning to stock up on essentials since we have been in Europe for the past three weeks. An essential at Casa de la Rosa is wine and I found a fun bottle of French wine that I wanted to serve with Monika from hipcooks fig bruschetta* that I was planning to make this evening. I took all my items to the cashier and when she rang the wine up she carded me.

This is funny for many reasons but mainly because I can't recall ever having been carded since I was actually in my twenties and even though some days I think I look somewhat okay for my age, I do not kid myself for a second that I look anywhere near the area of twenty-one.

This posed a dilemma as since we had just returned from Europe yesterday, I had not put everything back in my wallet and just grabbed my check card, stuck it in the back pocket of my jeans and headed out the door. I didn't have my ID or anything. Living on the edge, I know....

So I told the girl that I didn't have my ID but she should believe me when I tell her that I was way, waaaay past 21. I mean c'mon! She said she would need to get a manager to approve it and the manager came over and said, "Sorry, no ID, we can't sell you the alcohol." I wasn't upset about it; on the contrary, I was flattered in a weird way and just laughed. Then since she had already charged me for the wine, she then had to get a different manager to come and void it out of her register. This manager however saw me for the old hag that I really am and asked how old I was. For some reason I lied and told him I was 38. I don't know why, but that was the number that came out of my mouth. Guess I should get used to it since it's next. He believed me in any case and now I happily have the wine, which I will use to toast tonight why European holidays are good for you.

Because of this I am now convinced that walking around London and Paris and drinking beer at Oktoberfest makes you look younger apparantely.... spread the word.

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*Monika's End-of Summer Fig, Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Bruschetta
OK, it is really this easy: take yourself to Trader Joe's and pick up a pack of fresh figs. They are in season! Nothing yummier than a ripe purple fig. Almost. Now, buy some rosemary sourdough bread, or whatever you fancy. A pack of Prosciutto. Are you running low on extra-virgin olive oil? Better get some. For good measure, you'll need a log of goat's cheese. Do you (or better yet, your neighbor) have some rosemary in the garden? Most likely. Good, grab a pinch. I assume you already have some garlic, since you are a Hipcook, right?

Once you are home, cut a couple of thin slices of bread and flick in the toaster and toast. Excellent, you are a pro.
Take the bread out of the toaster and rub the garlic clove on top of it, just once or twice. Bring the bread to you nose - see why you did that? Drizzle ever so lightly with the olive oil. Add a slice or two of prosciutto. (I tear the prosciutto into little pieces.) Cut some figs in half or quarters and plop on the bread. Dot lovingly with goat cheese. (If you are feeling very sneaky, at this point you will pop the whole thing in you toaster oven under "broil" for half a minute to melt and brown the cheese.) Put on a plate, sprinkle with chopped rosemary, drizzle with a little more olive oil - a light touch!. Crunch crunch. Here is the end-of-summer on a plate. Or better yet, over your sink!

Bon Voyage!

2005-09-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

Fall is my absolute favorite season. I welcome it with open arms, and cashmere sweaters! I know it's still a bit early for me to officially start saying it's fall, but I am starting to feel it coming. Yes, I realize that this is Los Angeles, and we really don't have what one might call a change in seasons, but last night was one of those nights where I woke up and had to get blankets for the bed. No more sleeping with the fan blasting directly on us. No more pining for air conditioning. No more walking outside to discover that it's actually cooler outside our apartment then it is inside. It was heavenly. Now, don't get me wrong, I love summer too, and adore daylight savings, but there is just something about fall. I love clear days and crisp weather and Santa Ana winds and lighting candles and cooking, cooking, cooking!

I made my first roast chicken last night in many months. Organic and free range of course. It was SOOOO good! My recipe, if you can call it that, is simple, take a whole chicken, hopefully organic and free range, rub it with half a garlic clove. Throw that and a couple more garlic cloves inside the chicken along with half a lemon cut into quarters and fresh herbs (I use rosemary, sage and thyme). I then put pats of butter and thin slices of lemon under the skin to keep it moist, sometimes I put whole sage leaves as well for presentation, sometimes not, just depends. Then drizzle the whole bird with a bit of olive oil, good sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Sometimes I thinly chop some of the herbs and sprinkle over as well. Put the whole thing in a 400 degree oven to get the skin crispy, then turn the oven down to around 375 after 15 minutes and continue to roast for close to another hour. Depends on the size of the bird and your oven. Just keep checking it. Oh, and basting! Don't forget to baste every ten minutes or so....

This is also really good when you throw a bunch of some halved new potatoes, or root vegetables, drizzled with olive oil, sea salt and pepper in the roasting pan. YUM!

I served it with some cous cous and a simple salad. Yum!

I am SOOO excited to have roast chicken in Paris, I can't even stand it!!

Speaking of, for those that are interested, here is our itinerary... We leave tomorrow (!), and I probably won't post until we return October 2nd. But believe me when I say I will make up for it when we get back!

Sept 13th-Fly to London, play with Nick and Freddie.
Sept 15th-Fly to Paris. Spend three glorious days in Paris eating and drinking wine.
Sept 18th-Disneyland Paris-have Silver pass, will travel!
Sept 19th-Train ride to Brussels for pomme fritte, beer and waffles! Not necessarily in that order. Then back on the train to Amsterdam to stay with Dawn. Eating and drinking to commence.
Sept 22nd-HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! Fly to Munich for Oktoberfest.
Sept 26th-Train ride to Zurich to visit Hal and Mandi!
Sept 29th-fly back to London to play for three more days and visit more friends.
Oct 2nd-fly home.

Fire Breathing Fruit

2005-09-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

I was making some Thera-Flu this morning and discovered this in our kitchen

Upon further inspection, I discovered it's a...

I have never seen anything like this. Have you? If you have, can you tell me what you are supposed to do with it? Dragonfruit souffle perhaps?

Does Thera-Flu count as an appetizer?

2005-09-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

I spent my entire holiday weekend feeling ache-y, fever-y, sniffle-y and all around yucky. It's now Tuesday and my head still feels like it's going to explode. Anyway, over the weekend, I slept about 64 of those 72 work-free hours and in my waking moments I happily discovered the Fine Living Network on cable. I just couldn't watch anymore about Katrina or I would have had to ingest Zoloft with my Thera-Flu and Advil but Holy Old-Vine Zinfadel Batman, I am now addicted to the Fine Living Network in all it's pretentious sounding glory. Jimmy and I took a break from the world and watched hour long shows about food and wine pairings, our old friend Michael Chiarello took us on a tour of Terra in Napa Valley and my husband once again found inspiration in the kitchen. See kids, television really is educational and good for you.

I suppose I feel that these days I do the lion's share of the cooking, and enjoy it, but in the word's of my dear friend Kim, "I don't think I am a good cook, but I love cooking." And I do. I love the act of cooking. Slicing, chopping, stirring, flipping and my favorite, de-glazing. Seeing what happens when ingredients come together and knowing that I created something that is giving someone pleasure (hopefully) and nourishment, it's like therapy to me. Kitchen Therapy as Nigella would say.

Here is the thing. I had been whining to Jimmy, somewhat relentlessly, for about the past year, seriously, that I was truly missing the culinary artistry that is Jimmy. He simply said he wasn't inspired by what LA had to offer ingredient-wise and was missing Central Market in Austin (simply the best market ever. anywhere. period.). A place where the boy would literally do cartwheels down the aisles. Plus, there is that whole summer with no air-conditioning issue. But I digress...

I cook mostly because we need to eat, but also because it becomes my creative outlet at the end of the day. However, when Jimmy cooks, I get to watch an artist at work. For me it's dinner and a show, but not in that order. I get bored with my cooking, but Jimmy never makes the same thing twice. So, to me, it's always like Christmas when he cooks.

So, this past Friday night when all I could do was lie on the couch and moan, Jimmy could see that our usual Friday night grab-a-bottle-of-wine-and-head-out-to-local-Silverlake-establishment ritual wasn't in the cards. Instead, he went to the store and made cornish game hens with a wonderful herb-filled flavorful broth, olives stuffed with feta and carmelized onions and figs. I heart figs. Did I mention he doesn't use recipes?

The master at work...

He made this for me last night... when I could actually eat again...

and tonight he made Asparagus Risotto!

Chef Jimmy is back!! Perhaps, I should get sick more often.....

Oh, these are my new shoes. I just love them...

I realize these have nothing to do with anything food related except that I plan on wearing them to dine somewhere in Paris next week. Oooh La La! (French for WOO HOO!)

A Drink and a Destroyer

2005-08-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

Like most of us, I am deeply saddened by what is happening in New Orleans. I have always felt a stong attachment to the "Crescent City" even before I ever had the chance to visit. Life especially in the French Quarter appeals to the darker side of me.

I was lucky enough to visit New Orleans right after our wedding in 2001. Call it a pre-honeymoon, with guests. We were married in Austin, TX and since New Orleans was a hop skip away, we were able to spend four days there with my Mom, her husband, Kenny, and our good friends Dawn and Marcus.

The first night we were there, since I was the "N'awlins" virgin, Dawn, Jimmy and Marcus took me to infamous Pat O'Briens to indulge in the now ironic drink "The Hurricane". One of those was all I needed to have...... ever. But when in Rome as they say.

According to this article, I guess its no coincidence that the official drink of New Orleans is called the hurricane, but I do find it a bit eerie that this article was published less than a month ago. Like most of us, I am watching the news with my jaw dropped.

To me, New Orleans is one the few places in the United States with a multi-cultural history and strong character. If cities were people, New Orleans would be your fun, vibrant, colorfully dressed, French, Creole Uncle Paul who loved to eat, drink and tell insane stories about his colorful--if somewhat shady--upbringing, sing the blues, listen to jazz and pass out with his clothes on. The Uncle that your parents never want you to spend time with as a kid, because he has that crazy voodoo doll, but the one you always want to be around because he is just so fun.

Unfortunately, I don't have a crazy Uncle Paul, but when I went to New Orleans it was like meeting a soulmate. I felt that close to the city. Although, I think any city with French influence, amazing architecture and absinthe history speaks to me.... but that's a whole different talk show, er, blog.

Now, this IS a food blog so let's talk about the food! We had it all while we were there... To die for Cafe Au Lait and Beignets at the world famous Café Du Monde. Po Boy's, Etouffe, Gumbo, peel and eat shrimp. We walked to Central Grocery for muffaleta and enjoyed a picnic along the Mississippi River. At the strong recommendation of my Uncle John (who is not crazy by the way) we went to Mother's. It was all good.

Jimmy and I stayed in the Garden District here....

...around the corner from Anne Rice's former house and Trent Reznor's now former abode. We always said we would stay in that wonderful house again whenever we had the chance to return....

My heart goes out to all the wonderful and warm people, and their pets, of New Orleans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ADDENDUM: My mom has generously opened up her guesthouse in Arizona for any displaced New Orleans family that needs a place to stay. If you are interested in finding out more about how to share your home, spare bed, couch, etc. please check out:

Operation Share Your Home

Her info is under CandleGirl

or here at Hurricane Housing through Move On

Also, donations for Katrina relief, any of the animal assistance programs, or your favorite charitable organization can be made through Network for Good.

Salad Days

2005-08-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

When I was in Connecticut for a week, Jimmy told me that he was making himself salads for dinner every night. This is a normal phase we go through every so often in the summer when it's hotter in our apartment then it is outside and the mere thought of turning on the oven makes us pass out from heat exhaustion. I don't mean to sound so dramatic, but we have no air-conditioning in our 1920's building and the afternoon sun seems to shoot laser beams of heat directly into our apt. But I digress...

I would be on the phone with him in the evenings listening to him talk about how he could eat salad everynight for dinner. He's from Texas, so I know it's the heat talking. But it did get me thinking... The food I had in CT was, let's just say not worthy of writing about* and it seemed that whenever I turned around we were having pizza and fried stuff. Things I love, but "try" and avoid when possible.

So, since I have returned, I have made a concious effort to be a tad more healthful in my eating habits, that combined with the fact that it's blazing hot, and we are leaving for Europe in 2 weeks (WOO HOO!)

I LOVE salads. My usual favorite salad I make at home regularly consists of baby lettuces with Arugula thrown somewhere in the mix, walnuts, grape or pear tomatoes, bleu, goat or feta cheese, sometimes avocado and a simple dressing of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and sea salt. This is a staple at our place. If you have been here for dinner, you have probably had some version of this. Hope you liked it.

Tonight, I made a really yummy salad that was different then my normal salad as I had some nitrate-free bacon I wanted to use up and I had some shrimp as well. This isn't a recipe really, but it was good and I want to make it again so here you go...

I call it BLAST!!! Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Shrimp and Tomato Salad.

Cut into small bite size pieces and cook about three slices of bacon (hopefully nitrate-free). When fully cooked, drain between a napkin or paper towel or whatever.

While that is cooking, peel and devein your shrimp if they aren't already (frozen would work too) and add whatever spices you have around (I used an Italian Seasoning). Put some olive oil and chopped garlic in a pan and add the shrimp when heated. Shrimp cooks fast and you don't want to over cook so watch them carefully!

In the meantime, open a bag of Portofino lettuce from Gelson's (well, that's what I did) or whatever lettuce you want. Slice and dice an avocado, halve some grape tomatoes and throw it on your platter or bowl of lettuce.

Add your cooked shrimp. Save the good stuff left in the pan from the shrimp. There will probably be some garlic and olive oil and spices left. You don't want to waste that! Add a tad more olive oil and add a good size teaspoon of mustard to the pan. (It may splatter so be careful if you are wearing a white shirt like I was) Also add a splash of red wine vinegar or sherry, whatever you have and reduce it down a bit, it won't take long. This is your dressing. Add some salt and pepper. Pour it over the top of your salad, don't forget those crispy bacon pieces. Open a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay and have a BLAST! (sorry, I couldn't resist....)

* Now, I know I said the food wasn't worth writing about, but if you ever find yourself in Westport, CT, there is a wonderful restaurant there called Acqua. It's a little Mediterranean restaurant that overlooks the water and it was the best meal I had there. Definitely worth writing about, so stay tuned....

Taking a teeny tiny bite out of the Big Apple

2005-08-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

I was in Connecticut on business all last week and was lucky enough to be able to take the train into New York for one magical evening. New York is a city that I have always fantasized about, but miraculously had never been to until last week. I say miraculously because I have romanticized NY for so long and yet have not made every effort to get there. I have Paris on a pedestal as well and will miraculously be there in a few weeks also. But I digress....

Hillary, an old friend of Jimmy's, and her husband, Cisco, ran me through a whirlwind 5-hour tour of the city which was just incredible! NY did not disapoint; all my expectations were exactly as I had envisioned in my mind. Rushes of people on sidewalks walking really fast and not making eye contact, cars in the street in a dance with pedestrians seemingly running them down as they turn the corners, exhausted commuters on the subway, amazing stores (Dean and Deluca!) and an absolutely intoxicating energy that I can't wait to experience again. I remember reading somewhere that if you don't want to look like a tourist, you shouldn't look up at the buildings. Well, I was all tourist that day and was absolutely transfixed by the movie-set feel of it all and sheer height of the buildings. I was in absolute awe of the Chrysler Building. I also discovered H&M while there. Unfortunately, Century 21 was closed.

I took the train to Grand Central Station. Hillary was kind enough to greet me at the station (that's us bottom left)

and from there we walked down 42nd Street to Times Square, passing the New York Public Libray along the way. We then jumped on subways A, C, E, B, D, F and V to West 4th Street in Greenwich Village where we ran into Cisco and Robin and enjoyed some yummy crepes.

Cisco went for the Nutella, Peanut Butter and banana crepe while the girls stuck with the savory: turkey, ham and mozzarella.

Afterward, Cisco walked me over to see Washington Park

and then we all went inside the Village Theatre to see SUV: The Musical It was SO fantastic, I thought I would pee my pants from laughing so hard. You should check out some of the songs on the site--hysterical if the message were not so true.

After the show we took a cab through SoHo, NoHo and Canal Street arriving at Ground Zero to reflect,

walked through the financial district and all too quickly I had to catch my train back to CT.

I have been in a NY state of mind since, and will be visiting again, Jimmy in tow. I have a list of restaurants that I want to visit next time I am there... if you have a favorite, please let me know!

I heart NY.

* Grand Central Station and WTC photos courtesy of Cisco

Tuesday night supper club

2005-08-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

On my last night of freedom before I started my new job, Jimmy and I went on a double date with Kevin and Elkeer. I used to work at Disney with Elkeer, way back in the day, and for the life of me can't figure out why we don't hang out more. She is just so much fun! Elkeer, we need to hang out more!

Anyway, here are Kevin and Elkeer looking positively foxy...

We were at Cliff's Edge, one of the more recently unveiled hipster hangouts here in trendy Silverlake. I like Cliff's Edge mainly for the patio. It has a very lush garden replete with bamboo, buddahs, loungy pillows and swashes of fabric. Very Bali meets Bollywood. It has fantastic ambiance and setting a gorgeous mood is almost as important as plating gorgeous food to me. I like Cliff's Edge a lot, for dinner and brunch, but truth be told, I find it to be a little pricey for what it is, but then again, ambiance goes a long way with me. The reason, however, I always come back is for these....

They serve a mean french fry with gorgonzola sauce. If you find yourself at this restaurant, these are a no-brainer and begged to be ordered. Yeah, I know, french fries will kill you...blah, blah, blah. That is why I "try" and eat only the best of the best and these are some of the best.

We plowed through these, along with 2 (3?) bottles of wine so the rest of the pictures didn't turn out so well, but it was a fun night with good friends and that is what the dining experience is all about.

Blast from the past

2005-08-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

This is Kevin

We used to live together. He once made me a pie and carved my name into it...

We have been friends for about 8 years. But really I can't remember time before him, it's like he has always been in my life. I am just introducing you to him now because he will be showing up here a lot.

My perfect Tuesday morning

2005-08-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

1) Not having to go to work.

2) Waking up and going for a long walk through the hills of Silverlake.

3) Coming home to leftover tortilla espanola, perfectly served at room temperature.

My First Flan!

2005-08-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

I am not much of a dessert person, and truth be told, flan is never one of those desserts that I think about ordering, much less making... well... ever. If I am going to indulge, it's going to be in some form of chocolate in most cases. But perhaps like most, I just haven't had good, homemade flan.... until tapas class that is.

Forget that gelatinous gutter funk you are used to ordering in restaurants and perish the thought of (gasp!) flan in a box(!) Thanks to Monika it's so easy to make. So let's get crackin', shall we?

Preheat oven to 350F. Arrange 6 small ramekins, custard cups, drinking glasses, what have you in a baking pan.

For the caramel: In the heaviest bottomed saucepan you have, melt 1/2 a cup of sugar over highish heat, stirring occassionally with a wooden spoon, until it's, well, caramel! Be sure to watch it. To cool, add some liquid: water, orange juice... I used mango passionfruit juice, Kevin used cranberry juice, it was all good. Divide this mixture into your ramekins, or one large dish if preferred.

Scald 2 cups of heavy cream plus 1 cup of milk (not non-fat). Add mixture to 1/2 cup of sugar, 4 eggs plus 2 yolks that you have mixed together with vanilla. I also added some cinammon. Pour the mixture over the caramel and bake in a water bath at 350 F until just set, about 30 minutes. I think the expression used in class was "Beyonce not JLo". Basically, a little jiggle is good as the flan will continue to set as it cools. Place them in the fridge to chill for a couple hours.

To serve: run a small knife around flan to loosen. Turn over onto plate. Shake gently to release flan, allowing caramel to runneth over.

Eat and savor.

Here is my first attempt at flan....

that was served to these freaks....

P.S. By the way, melted sugar=liquid hot magma, don't stick your finger in it like I did. Ouch!

My (almost) Perfect Sunday Morning Version Two

2005-08-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

After becoming inspired by my recent tapas class, I decided to make breakfast this Sunday. Now as stated here, Jimmy is not a fan of breakfast at all, especially eggs which play a starring role in my culinary adventure of the morning Tortilla Espanola. But, lucky for me, his spanish heritage was into it this morning so instead of walking down to one of our local cafes, I got to nurture my inner domestic goddess and spend the morning cooking. Sounds hellish to some I know, but I was excited.

So excited in fact, that I woke up early with buckets of ambition and in my determination to live like the French, decided to walk to the store to gather my ingredients for Tortilla Espanola. I adore multi-tasking. I could get exercise, be alone with my thoughts--walking always clears my head, listen to my favorite toy--the iPod shuffle, be good to the enviroment by saving gas, and get to try one of my new tapas recipes as learned in class all at the same time!

"Life is good", I thought as I walked down Griffith Park Blvd. And it is, however, there were a couple things that I had forgotten about in my quest to "live like the French". The Trader Joes and Gelson's where I shop are a good mile away, not down the block. So the walk there was great as I had nothing to carry except for my thoughts. The walk home would be a different story.

I was listening to Kyoto Jazz Massive and Buena Vista Social Club, the latter in honor of the great Ibrahim Ferrer, and basically enjoying this time. I needed a few items to make the tortilla and for the flan I was going to make for later today, namely eggs--2 dozen of them. Add to that a glass bottle of mango passionfruit juice, a quart of milk, heavy cream, berries, a BAG of potatoes and a large onion and I was pretty weighted down by the time I left the store.

I was thisclose to calling either Jimmy or Kevin for a ride home but I didn't have my cell phone. "Oh well", I thought, "have iPod will travel". As I walked I realized that it was indeed Sunday morning and I should go to church. The church of Stevie Wonder that is. The song "As" came on my iPod shuffle as I was walking and it was the perfect inspiration to keep me walking as the temperature had seemed to just shoot up to 158 degrees and I have to now walk over a mile with all this food I was carrying. Music has the power to transcend us and this song does it for me. After visiting the church of Stevie, the iPod shuffle took me to the church of Prince's "Sexy M.F." which made me laugh out loud rendering those around me wondering who the crazy bag lady was walking down the street. It was funny to me because I couldn't have been the opposite of a Sexy M.F. at that point, a girl in an old tank top and sweats, crazy curly hair in a pony tail, lugging two bags of heavy groceries who by now is a complete sweaty mess and listening to the funkadelic sounds of Prince. Perhaps I really am crazy!?

Alas, I made it home and will share with you Tortilla Espanola (Courtesy of Monika Reti):
Slice about 2 1/2 lbs (about 4 large and 8 small) russet potatoes (or if you prefer, a bag of red bliss potatoes with the skins on) into rounds and par-boil them until just al dente. (That means put them in water, bring them up to a boil and then drain them in plenty of cold water to stop the cooking process!) Thinly slice a large sweet yellow onion into crescents. Sauté the onion in about a quarter cup of olive oil (trust me, your tortilla will be yummy this way) over a medium heat until they begin to turn translucent.

Add the potatoes and stir. Evenly distribute slivers of uncooked cod over the top, (or salt cod that you have soaked in advance). Be creative, you can "americanize" this by adding ham, bacon or veggies instead of fish, or how about some cheese? Crack and beat 7 eggs, add a very generous pinch of salt and perhaps a handful of parsley if you like something green and a squeeze of lemon for lift. Add to the pan, making sure the egg is well-distributed over and in between the potatoes. If you need more egg, add some!

Transfer to a 350-degree oven until fully set. Wait until it cools to room temp before attempting to cut.

Also, please serve at room temp, so if you have made it the day in advance and have stored it in the fridge, then let it sit for a while at room temp before serving! (Cold tortilla = yucky!)

I served ours with bluberries, raspberries and a slice of toasted rosemary bread.

I LOVED cooking breakfast this morning, but I say my "almost" perfect Sunday morning because who is going to come and clean all these dirty dishes now?

Una Noche en Espana

2005-08-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

I attended another one of Monika's HipCooks cooking classes this past week. This was a tapas class full of spanish nibbles. My friend Kevin went with me and we had an absolute blast. I am now having fantasies about having everyone over for a tapas party very soon. Your invite is on it's way! Ole!!!!!

Seriously, if you live in the LA area, you owe it to yourself to check out LA's historic brewery where Monika hosts her classes. For $50 you will learn how to prepare many gorgeous dishes, enjoy a cocktail or two, learn some new things about food, the whys of food prep and cooking and meet some fun people.

In tapas class, we learned the origin of how tapas came to be. In my own research, it turns out there is more than one theory behind tapas origin, but I like the one we learned in class. According to my spanish speaking husband, the word tapas literally translates into "tops" or "lids" like on a canister. The idea being that small pieces of bread, cheese or ham were placed over the tops of wine glasses to keep the bugs from taking a swim in your rioja. Works for me, I hate nothing more than seeing a little drunk bug who has drowned in my wine. It ruins the whole effect. But then the question remains, how do you keep the insects off your tapas? I guess the idea is to eat and drink enough so it's not of concern. I'll buy it. If anyone has a different theory, please educate me.

Anywhoo, Kevin and I learned how to make a few yummy tapas items including candied nuts ( I will be making these a lot), marinated olives, hummus, manchego com Membrillo (Manchego cheese-my fave, paired with quince paste-my new fave--so simple, so good) Gambas Bravas (saffron shrimp), Tortilla Exspanola (the spanish version of a tortilla), Empanadillas (who knew how easy these could be), the best flan ever and red AND white sangria. Knowing Kevin and I, we will be making lots of sangria now that we know how easy it is to make.

I will go more into detail about the process of each in upcoming posts as I plan on recreating each item very soon.

For me, the best thing about Monika's classes, besides the fact that she uses no measuring utensils and is all about creativity in the kitchen, is that she really emphasizes the benefits of using fresh, organic foods. Eating and cooking in this way is right in line with my own food philosophies--eat whole foods as much as possible, cook with the freshest ingredients you can find and buy organic when available. To eat good food is to live a life well fed.

Yummy!

2005-08-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

... and the seafood wasn't bad either!

Live! Love! Eat!

2005-07-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

For some unholy reason, we ended up on Hollywood Blvd. today at one of the newest tourist trap shopping meccas here in Los Angeles known as Hollywood and Highland. Home to the Academy Awards, The Governer's Ball, Mann's Chinese Theatre, and a guy who dresses up like Spider Man who will charge you money to take his picture with him.

We had wanted to go back to Vert, the latest brainchild of Wolfgang Puck. After a highly unsuccessful shopping trip to the Camarillo Outlet Malls to purchase some items for our upcoming trip to Europe, we needed to console ourselves with drink and food.

Our mouths were watering as we took a window booth at Vert. Having been one time before we immediately ordered one of their fine pizza's to start. It starts with a super thin cracker crust topped with a light sprinkling of mozzarella, thinly sliced potatoes, pancetta and fresh thyme. By the time it hit the table, we grabbed at it like rabid dogs so unfortunately, I can't show you how pretty it was. However, I can tell you that was it damn tasty, and should you find yourself at Brasserie Vert in Hollywood, Califor-nye-ay, do yourself a favor and try this. It makes a great appetizer, or snicky snack to nosh on if you are just having cocktails at the bar.

After our blood sugar levels were back to normal, we decided to just split a few appetizers instead of ordering full entrees. But before I tell you about that, I have GOT to tell you about their bread basket. Now, we are all used to going to restaurants that serve the obligatory bread and butter, and more often than not the butter is wrapped in gold foil and so hard from being cold that you have to set it on the tiny tealight on the table to warm it up to the point where it can be spread on your bread. Not here, Wolfgang simply won't have it, and God love him for it. Here, the bread basket is presented with about four different breads, crackers and breadsticks and not butter, nor olive oil, but a round pat of goat cheese rolled in fresh herbs and topped with olive tapenade and drizzled with olive oil. Say it with me.... "Yummmmmmmmm!" I know.

We also split a crabcake. When it came to the table, I thought it rather small as there was only one, but after one bite I knew why. I always seem to forget how rich crabcakes are, and at times I also seem to forget that I may be one of the only people who is not an absolute fan of the crabcake. Sure they are tasty, but give me a King crab leg anyday with some clarified butter. When it comes to seafood, I tend to like things simply dressed and Crabcakes are defintely dressed up in their Sunday finest.

I was also feeling the need for some semblance of a vegetable, so we orderd a tomato salad with boccocini cheese, red onion, and celery in balsamic vinegar. That was actually very good and my favorite dish next to the pizza.

All in all, it was pretty good, but we may need to come back at some point as we have now been there twice and have still not tried any of the entrees.

Method to the Madness

2005-07-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

When my husband first moved to Los Angeles almost seven years ago, he would spend a lot of time cooking. He wasn't yet gainfully employed and was having fun learning that the way to his future wife's heart was definitely through her stomach. So during that wonderful time, I would come home for dinner, and lunch most days, to the most delicious and beautifully presented meals. The most endearing, and sometimes frustrating, thing about his creations is that Jimmy doesn't use recipes. He is a true artist in the kitchen. If something at the market looks good, he will build an entire theme around it. So, what I would find is that he would make something random, for example a date sauce to go over a steak, that if bottled I am convinced would have made us millionaires, and then not be able to recreate it.

Damn, that date sauce was good too..... but I digress.

Anyway, I would be in absolute rapture eating something he created and when I would ask, "How on earth did you do this?" he would think for a moment and say, "Hmmm...I don't remember now."

So, taking matters into my own hands, I started to document what he was doing in the kitchen. Armed with a notebook and a camera, I made notes, asked questions and photographed end results. Whenever I would tell people this, they thought I was nuts until I said, "You don't understand, this is something I HAVE to do. Otherwise I will never get to taste that ________ (fill in the blank with scrumptious food item here) ever again!"

Flash forward to 2005. In starting a blog, I have been exposed to a whole new world of food blogs and I am happy to have realized that I have found my people. The internet is ripe with fellow foodies who take pictures of their food! I am not crazy after all!

And although we have never been able to recreate that date sauce after all these years, I am still comforted in the fact that I have all these food memories, some with pictures, that I can share.

We had two of our friends over for a casual dinner one night and this photo shows what Jimmy made. The hens were roasted with herbs and stuffed with sausage resting on a bed of something he made with sweet roasted corn that was to die for. The pears were poached and covered with a gorgonzola sauce and sprinkled with cripsy bacon. The flowers were edible. With the assistance of my notes, he has recreated this since, but never the same way twice. It's just not in him to try and recreate an inspired moment and one of the many reasons I love him. I mean come on, would you tell Picasso how to paint?

Lunch with the Proper Stranger

2005-07-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon Jimmy and I had lunch with our favorite Brazilian couple Vanessa and Marina. Now, they are no strangers to us, as suggested in the title of this post, but rather strangers to Greek food, which Jimmy and I adore, so we thought we would introduce them to a small sampling of some mediterranean delights.

Now, as stated, I am not trained in the culinary arts, but I did recently take a cooking class called "My Big Fat Greek Cooking Class" with Monika Reti at her uber-hip downtown loft where she hosts HipCooks. Therfore my original idea was, "I'll cook!" This option went away rather quickly as it has been around 185 degrees here in Los Angeles as of late and our 1920's building has no air conditioning. The temptation of an air-conditioned restaurant would have to suffice until the fall when I will gladly make the best dolmas I have ever had in my life courtesy of Monika at hipcooks.

We ended up sharing many appetizers during our lunch which included, spanikopita, baba ganoush, dolmas, some kind of greek cheese flambed in ouzo (I am pretty sure it was haloumi), greek salad, gyro and plenty of grilled pita. My favorite part of introducing people to foods they haven't experienced is getting them to try things they think they don't like. Marina was hell bent on passing on the baba ganoush, and in the wrong hands, I couldn't agree more. Eggplant has a tendancy to be cold and flimsy with a not so pleasant flavor or mouthfeel. And storebought Baba Ganoush can be a risky proposition at best. But, my favorite way of eating eggplant is making Baba Ganoush what with all the olive oil and garlic, you can't go wrong! If you haven't ever tried Baba Ganoush I highly recommend you do yourself this favor and try Monika's recipe, even if you think you don't like eggplant.

So, not only did Marina like it, she practically ate the whole platter by herself and the rest of us were more than amused, especially Vanessa. Three hours later, we wrapped up our lunch that was made wonderful mostly by the company alone.

Baba Ganoush (courtesy of Monika Reti)
Here, take one large eggplant and toss it on a hot grill. If you do not have a grill, an oven set to 450 degrees will do just fine! If you are using a grill, it will go pretty fast. In about 5 - 7 minutes you'll notice the eggplant is getting nicely charred on one side. Excellent. Do not be concerned about blackened-skin - you like that. Rotate it 20 degrees. Keep going until the entire eggplant is done. If you are oven-baking, allow your eggplant to roast as such for about 15 - 20 minutes on one side, and then the other. You, too, will notice the eggplant flesh getting charred and puffy. Allow to cool and notice how easily the skin slides right off.

Do you have a food processor? Yes? Excellent. Whap a large peel garlic clove in the processor, whiz it, add the eggplant, the juice of at least one lemon, a hearty pinch of sea salt, and about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. If you like, you can add a wee little bit of sesame oil to richen the flavor. Turn out onto a plate and add a handful or chopped parsley. Cilantro works great, too. Or how about some toasted and bashed coriander seed (the seeds of cilantro) like we did in class? Up to you!

If you do not have a food processor, not to worry. Have another glass of Ouzo, finely chop the garlic, and mash everything together with a fork. Be pleased at the hearty consistency that this baba ganoush has.

You can make this lovely dip even a couple of days in advance. Just like you - it gets better over time.
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With a recipe like that, how can you NOT want to try it!!!

My Perfect Sunday Morning

2005-07-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, Jimmy (my husband) and I did something we don't ordinarily do on the weekends. We lingered lavishly at a cafe and read the Los Angeles Sunday Times. I know what you are thinking, "Whoa, jump back," you say, "that there is just some crazy talk, two people going to a cafe to read the paper. Get Out!"
Now, let me interject, to know us is to know that Jimmy does not like breakfast foods of any kind and I adore a long and lingering breakfast. We usually split the difference and go to a fave local breakfast establishment most weekends to enjoy the best of both worlds as well as be a part of what our local scenery has to offer. You also must understand that we have a handful of breakfast places that we are fiercely loyal to that I will eventually list. We also NEVER read the paper. That is what cnn.com is for.

We were meeting some friends of ours later that day for a late afternoon lunch and didn't want to eat a heavy breakfast. We did however want to have a bit of a snicky snack and peruse the travel section as we are about to embark on 19 days of eating our way through Europe and a friend suggested checking out the travel ads for some cheap flights.

I suggested soy lattes and grabbing a paper this particular morning and to my astonished delight, Jimmy agreed. He is not big on breakfast pastries, or coffee, so trust me, it was a gamble even asking but suprisingly he seemed into it.

We walked down the street to get in touch with our inner bohemian at a local place here in Silverlake called Casbah Cafe. A delightful Moroccan flavored cafe which serves coffee drinks, teas, assorted pastries, sandwiches, sweets as well as sells clothes and trinkets and provides some excellent Silverlake people watching.

As we sat down with our fabulous soy lattes (Yum!) we lingered over a plate of savory empanadas and devoured the travel section of the paper as well. I was giddy with caffeine as I looked around the room at the eclectic wares for sale, the freakishly skinny trendy kids ordering Snapples, the guy at the table over from us on his Apple powerbook (right on!), the cute couple sharing a dessert in the corner and my beloved reading the Opinion section across the table from me slowly sipping a soy latte. As I melted into the sultry sounds of Portishead serenading us in the background, I couldn't help but think, this truly is a perfect Sunday morning.

My absolute new favorite sandwich

2005-07-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

There is a small gourmet store here in Silverlake called Say Cheese. One side is a delicatessen which sells fine cheeses, salads and delectable deserts along with gourmet specialty food items, books about cheese, coffees, teas and a few select bottles of wine.

The other side is a wonderful cafe which serves mainly salads, sandwiches and deserts. They also make the most amazing soy latte that I have ever encountered, but that is for another blog.

I bring to you the Barcelona sandwich courtesy of Say Cheese:

Toast two slices of rosemary bread
Layer with paper thin slices of manchego cheese and prosciutto
Add a layer of roasted red bell peppers and a healthy sprinkling of capers

Simple. Sublime. Savor.