Luke was out-of-town this past weekend and when he goes out-of-town it is my chance to make all the food that he hates and refuses to eat. One of the foods that he hates are mushrooms. He has a total and complete aversion to mushrooms for some reason. But I love them. So while he was out of the house, I made a big pot of herbed mushrooms over some creamy polenta.
Read MoreSo I am going to get this recipe in right before the New Year. Right before New Year's resolutions take all of the fun out of eating. Which is exactly what they are going to do to me. (I have been ordered by a medical professional to remove gluten, dairy and eggs for the first 3 months of the year. Ugg! More on that later) I am giving myself until the New Year to listen to that so I am currently eating gluten, eggs and dairy with wild abandon. Bourbon coffee milkshakes is definitely on that list of things to eat before the New Year.
Read MoreEvery year for the holidays I give away holiday candy. I am not big on presents (sorry but it is true) I just don't get the whole giving someone something because you feel like you have to. Yes, Bah Humbug. But I do enjoy cooking for friends and family and then giving those away as presents. So over the next couple of weeks leading up to the holidays, I am going to share my go-to candy recipes so you all can try your hand at making them for your loved ones.
This is the perfect recipe to start with, salted caramel candies. Ooey gooey caramels, topped with a little sea salt, it s the perfect treat for the holidays. Also, who doesn't love salted caramel?
Read MoreSo my birthday is almost here. Wednesday I will be turning the big 32. Yep, thirty-two. I don't mind the whole getting older thing, the thing that is weird is that I don't feel 32. When did I become a thirty-something? I still feel like I an 18 year old who should not be allowed to live by myself, drink alcohol,or let alone live with a guy! (Or 2 guys for that matter if you count Chumley) 32 is seriously adult.
Read MoreThanksgiving is officially 21 days away and I cannot wait. It is my favorite holiday. How could it not be - a day that starts off with the Macy's Day Parade, then it is followed by food, a nap and then more food? So, in an effort to not feel too guilty about the indulgence of Thanksgiving I am trying to eat a little healthier for the next couple of weeks. So in true California fashion I am turning to kale and quinoa. Yep - had you asked me whether I ate those before I moved to SF I probably would have ignored you and maybe even rolled my eyes. (Back then my diet seemed to consist of NY's finest bagels and pizza) But the California sunshine has changed my ways and now even though kale is uber trendy right now, I am a huge fan. What I like about kale is that it is hearty and eating a salad of it doesn't leave you starving, like most salads do for me. But what I am not a fan of is cleaning kale. It is a serious pain. I thought I would share with you the way I clean kale. The trick that I discovered is to take the kale leaf in two hands and softy (this is the key) pull one side and then the other. This should remove the leaves easily from the middle rib. In cooking school I was taught to remove the rib with a knife - but that takes too much time and effort (in my opinion) and if you are going to eat kale, you need to be able to clean it quickly and easily before you change your mind.
Read MoreI recently attended a soba making class taught by the queen of soba, Sonoko Sakai. Sonoko runs the website Common Grains, and is a food writer, soba maker and all around Japanese food superstar based in Los Angeles.
Read MoreI recently had an iteration of this chutney and fell in love. This chutney is life changing. It is the ideal condiment for most meats. It is a little sour, a little sweet - the perfect thing to cut through a heavy meal like Thanksgiving . So when thinking about Thanksgiving Dinner I thought maybe fig chutney should be the new cranberry sauce.
Read MoreI started off this week with a 3 hour cheese tasting course. Pretty rough Monday right? I was fortunate enough to learn everything and anything about cheese from one of the best, Juliana Uruburu from the Pasta Shop in Berkely. She has been in the cheese business for over 26 years so she kind of knows what she is talking about. If you live in San Francisco, she teaches at The Cheese School. (Yes that is a real place) Make sure to check her out. Cheese tasting is amazing until you have to get up from the table. That is when it hits you like a brick - you have like 5 pounds of cheese just sitting in your belly. Needless to say I was really full. I couldn't even think about dinner. But when I had to, I decided to make gazpacho.
Read MoreHave you heard of the cronut craze that is sweeping the nation right now? If not, take cover, because I feel like cronuts are about to be everywhere. Dare I say that cronuts are the new cupcake? For those that don't know, a cronut is the love child of a croissant and a donut. Cronut = croissant + donut.
Read MoreI thought I would share with you all a staple of what I have been eating recently. It doesn't really have a formal name, so I am going to call it Summertime Salsa. It combines the flavors of summer - corn, tomatoes and avocados and it is highly addictive.
Read MoreHeirloom tomatoes are finally in season! They are my summer obsession and they are finally affordable at the grocery store. Now for the next month, I will pretty much eat nothing but heirloom tomatoes. The best way to eat them is raw topped with a little olive oil and salt and you have pretty much got the most perfect dinner. It is even better if you have fresh bread to go with it.
Read MoreCafe Jacqueline is this fantastic restaurant near our apartment that only serves soufflés. Literally the only thing on the menu are soufflés. Amazing.
This is an old school gem of a restaurant. There are no frills at this place, only a couple of tables, and an old women in the back (presumably Jacqueline) whipping those egg whites for the soufflés. You have to walk by her to get to the restroom and there she is whipping and whipping - by hand no less.
Read MoreRecently, I was fortunate enough to attend a pickling class taught by chef Courtney Barnes from Bar Tartine. Bar Tartine is a great restaurant here in SF that has an Eastern European menu with heavy emphasis on pickling and fermented foods. I know what you are thinking, gross. Which is kind of what I said originally. But this class completely changed my views. We made kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, preserved lemons and my new favorite escabeche.
Read More
