groove food

the dish a disco ball built

sometimes inspiration for a dish comes from a particular pile of apples at the farmers market, hit by a stream of hazy afternoon sunlight just so. sometimes it's a dog-eared recipe in a long forgotten book. sometimes its the breeziest hot pink kaftan on the planet, adorned with white turkey feathers and hand-rolled edges, hanging in the mingei at the zandra rhodes exhibit. or how the kaftan reminds me of gold and silver disco balls and something the princess of punk herself said to me long ago.

there was once a time i stood backstage to an impossibly long runway, draped in a 1970s zandra rhodes kaftan, head wrapped in tulle, nervously clutching two disco balls as lucy in the sky with diamonds blared. i had been directed to walk out and have a mesmerizing, psychedelic experience with the disco balls. perhaps sensing my fear and uncertainty, the tiny, hot pink-tressed zandra rhodes wrapped her arm around my waist and whispered up to me, "you really know how to work those disco balls." she said it like an old friend, like she'd seen me do it a thousand times before. this was the first night we'd met. as you might imagine, it stands out as one of the more memorable things to happen to me as a teenager. and i walked out and acted as if i knew how to work those disco balls.

returning home from zandra's mingei exhibit, moved all over again by the faith and confidence this renowned fashion and textile designer had shown a sixteen year old girl, i wanted to continue the conversation with her work. i asked myself what her hot pink chiffon kaftan, patterned with delicate white zigzags and orange sunbursts, would taste and look like on the plate.  like zandra admiring a length of kuba cloth, or a fanciful children's cap from guizhou, china, i began to play in my medium. inspiration is really an act of giving yourself permission.

i'm pretty sure that becoming a great cook, or a great anything, is the result of tireless practice. but it's also a willingness to experiment when you feel like you have a blindfold on. don't worry. you know how to work those disco balls.

citrus and currant salad with strawberry sauce and spiced coconut cream

for zandra rhodes. inspired by chevron shawl kaftan, 1970.

(serves 2)

2 pints strawberries, washed and hulled

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup unsweetened, canned coconut milk

3 tablespoons muscavado sugar (or light brown sugar)

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

4 - 5 citrus fruits (any combination of tangerines, mandarin oranges, grapefruit, blood oranges, tangelos, etc.), cut into supremes (how to video here)

1/2 pint red currants

freshly ground grains of paradise or pink peppercorn (optional)

make the strawberry sauce: puree the strawberries, orange juice, and honey in a blender. push the strawberry puree through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. discard the seeds and chill the sauce until ready to use.

make the coconut cream: place the coconut milk, muscavado sugar, and cardamom in a small sauce pan over medium heat. cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce has thickened--about 5-6 minutes. let cool to room temperature, and then pour the cream into a plastic squeeze bottle (alternatively, if you do not have a squeeze bottle, you can spoon the cream onto the plate).

plate the salad: using a spoon, pour about 1/4 cup of strawberry sauce onto a chilled plate. swirl the sauce with the back of the spoon to create a circle. create zigzags using the squeeze bottle of coconut cream over the strawberry sauce. place the citrus segments and currants over the sauces in an overlapping pattern. grind grains of paradise or pink peppercorns over the top. serve immediately.

 notes

* "zandra rhodes - a lifelong love affair with textiles" is an exhibit at the mingei international museum in san diego running through april 3, 2011. more information here.

* grains of paradise are a spice native to west africa. they are similar to a peppercorn, but impart a more citrusy flavor. they can be purchased at specialty grocery stores and online.

yesterday, through food

when the day includes a vg donut and this song all before 7 a.m., i start to wonder if my bliss meter has already reached max capacity. an emerson quote: "write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." 

sometimes i don't have to--the day does it for me. 

how often does your first born turn six years old? once, and never again! this called for vg donut & bakery in cardiff, california. i'm pretty sure the aroma of this place is what they use as air freshener in heaven.

the morning was so clear and quiet, the moon insisted on hanging around to be part of it. "the moon followed us to donuts," lola said. "let's do hot chocolate cheers for the moon!"

and then the quiet morning turned into big blue euphoria. doors opened so wide, you could not help but walk through them. 

yesterday, i arrived at room 273 around 11 o'clock and discovered my baby sister was the kind of lovely someone achieves only by being really, extraordinarily happy. it's the kind that makes everyone else weak in the knees to behold. 

life is so nice. yesterday, i got a new brother. his name is arto. ARTO! i like him so much, and not just because his name starts with the same letter as awesome. 

i like arto because he bakes cookies. brides and grooms who stay up baking raspberry thumbprints for their friends and families the night before their wedding deserve a disproportionately larger amount of "better" in "for better or for worse." 

like any self respecting student of gastronomy, i interpreted "celebrate" to mean "let's kick back a dozen oysters." be warned: if you say that word (or pretty much any of its synonyms), i am going to take it as carte blanche to deplete the nearest supply of kumamotos. 

oyster and a cupcake? january 21, 2011 was a break the mold sort of day. 

plus, the afternoon provided quite a gang of cupcake eaters. 

somehow, amidst all of this, there was a totally unaccounted for bonus hour that coincided with the mission hills farmers market. as an act of repentance for the day so far, i stared at a basket of broccoli. 

and followed it with a cup of french fries and two rounds of UNO! at five guys burgers and fries, per the birthday girl's wishes.  

one might expect i would have needed an alka seltzer, or, at the very least, a cup of peppermint tea at the end of all of this. really, all i needed or wanted was to be the filling in a thing 1 and thing 2 sandwich.

don't mind me, it's a quarter past silly and my bliss meter is being rebuilt to new standards. some yesterdays will do that to you. 

notes

* the song in the beginning of this post is "dance, dance, dance" by lykke li.

* vg's donut & bakery is located at 106 aberdeen drive in cardiff by the sea, california. visit their website here.

* top of the market at the fish market is located at 750 north harbor drive in san diego, california. on the web.

* the mission hills farmer's market runs every friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on falcon street between fort stockton drive and washington.

* five guys burgers and fries san diego location is located at NAS north island, building 2017 in liberty station, point loma. for nationwide locations, visit here.

 

ten bites: art mitchell

I am indisputably related to Art Mitchell. For one thing, he is my dad's brother. But there is also the fact that he plans our family's Christmas meal months out, carefully selecting a country, researching its Christmas foods, and penning the menu in the language of that country. When it comes to eating, we are a family of extreme measures. Art's travels are built around restaurants he will visit and foods he will try. I bet he would spend an extra hour or two in transit if it meant the best cannoli or oyster at the destination. I know I would.  But the most telltale sign of our relation is my uncle's use of the word awesome in this ten bites interview: all in CAPS, followed by an exclamation point. Some might save such a superlative for describing Jupiter being bold and visible on a clear night, but my uncle lays it on a taco. Which, in my mind, makes him AWESOME!

Best meal in San Diego?

This is a hard one as I have had so many outstanding meals in San Diego. Where to start?  Growing up in San Diego, I have watched it progress from a town best known for “Jack-in-the-Box” and thousands of Sonoran style taco shoppes to becoming a cosmopolitan city with so many outstanding restaurants.   So, I would have to classify them: Best Romantic dinner was at the Marine Room;  Best Seafood was at Point Loma Seafood; Best Festive meal is a toss-up between 1500 and Misters A’s.

Winter salad?

It is more of an autumn salad, but the Waldorf salad is my favorite.

Cookbook?

Well, to get down to the basics and still be able to prepare a wide range of foods, I would boil it down to three books: Bernard Clayton’s, The New Complete Book of Bread and James Beard’s two companion books, The New James Beard and James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.  I might throw in Beard’s book on Fish Cookery. With these three books, you could fill your lifetime with outstanding food.

Beverage of choice?

Nothing like fresh, sun-warmed blood orange juice: picking the three or four oranges from the tree on a warm Southern California afternoon in mid-February to immediately squeeze them.  Truly nectar of the food gods!

Christmas food?

Work in progress, still so many cuisines and traditions to sample.

Food memory?

My first fish tacos: that would be 1979 on the quay in Ensenada.  Back before container ships made Ensenada a port-o-call and you could see Todo Santos island from the quay.  My brother and I were on our way to a Hobie Cat regatta in Punta Banda, which is 10km south of Ensenada.   We hit the Corona distributor first to replenish our supply of Coronas—did I mention the beers were 10 cents apiece, including the bottle deposit?  Duly replenished, it was down to the quay.  As the fisherman were bringing in their harvest from the sea, there stood a little Mexican Lady with her food stand—a table under a tiny umbrella, a pot of oil, some mismatched bowls, a meat cleaver, and a rather worn chopping block.   While we watched, she carefully chopped up some salsa and cabbage.  As the fisherman walked by, she bought some fresh fish, filleted the fish, and battered and fried it.  Within minutes we were feasting on twenty-five cent fresh fish tacos!  AWESOME!

Person, dead or alive, you'd most like to eat with?

Le emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, that is.  I would love to dine with him after the Battle of Marengo. Maybe then I could end the age old food controversy: veal or chicken Marengo?

 Most challenging dish you've ever prepared?

If you go to the extremes of food science and technique, there can be many challenges on every dish: boiling an egg can be a science.  In the extremes, one challenge was Julia Childs’ recipe for the classic coq au vin. I think there were like 40-50 steps to the recipe.  The other challenging dish was Kulebiaka, which is a puff pastry salmon dish from the Baltic Sea region of Russia.  The salmon-filled pastry loaf is about two feet long, six inches wide and five inches tall.  The pastry shell is covered with pastry leaves and stems.  The finished Kulebiaka is as magnificent to behold as it is to eat.

Piece of kitchen equipment or utensil?

Other than that perfect spoon, I would say my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer is essential.  There are so many loaves of bread to bake.

Food destination?

In the past four years, Seattle, Washington with its fresh local ingredients and variety of cuisines is truly unbelievable.

Notes

* Image of Napolean eating a Napolean is courtesy of of twelve_cards' on flickr

* Image of Pike's Place Market is courtesy of moi. I took it from a window at Matt's in the Market. Go there.

* The photograph of my uncle is at Blanca Restaurant in Solana Beach, California during restaurant week. Our meal included a delectable quenelle of olive oil ice cream, among many other delights. Visit Blanca here.

 

days of magic

there are some days that have a particular mission of pointing to things.

they will call you to pause on the afterlife of a crayon. 

they will unearth a treasure from the riprap of routine. you will wonder what it means.

it means to wonder.

carrot soup with ginger and coconut milk, for any day

this soup, with all of eight simple ingredients and an even simpler preparation, is pure magic. 

(serves 8)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 yellow onions, medium diced

2 stalks celery, medium diced

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and minced until you have 1 tablespoon of minced ginger

4 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into 1 - 2 inch lengths

2 quarts chicken stock, low sodium store bought or homemade

15.4 ounces unsweetened coconut milk (1 can)

heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. add the onions and celery once the olive oil is shimmering. season with a little salt and pepper. cook for 7 - 10 minutes, until the onion and celery have softened (adjust the heat if they are browning too quickly). add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook for 2 - 3 minutes more, taking care not to burn the garlic and ginger (stir frequently).

add the carrots and enough chicken stock to cover the carrots. bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. cook for 30 - 40 minutes, until the carrots are tender throughout. stir in the coconut milk.

puree the soup in batches using a blender. add a little water if you desire a thinner consistency. once all the soup is pureed, return it to a pot over gentle heat to bring it back to hot. taste. add more salt and pepper if desired. serve immediately.

dinner with dot

do you know what i love even more than eating? 

cooking.

especially when cooking involves my dearest friend dot, aka lauren orman. in honor of our turning thirty (within four days of each other), dot and her boyfriend, christian, took a little drive from their home in carmel, california to san diego. the photo above shows us piled into a prius with thing 1 & thing 2, set out for the most important kind of mission: produce. the beauty of making dinner with dot is embarking with only the vaguest of plans and letting whatever we find inspire us. i don't know how to do that very well, but this lady does!

is there any better source of inspiration than chino's vegetable shop in rancho santa fe? dot picked a bagful of tender, buttery lettuce and bouquets of the tiniest spring onions and leafy sorrel. i went straight for the grumpiest looking, most esoteric root vegetables i could find. what can i say? i like produce that scowls at me from time to time. craggly, knobby celery root, parsnips, and sunchokes won my heart, in addition to red spinach and spring garlic.

while dot & christian spent the afternoon playing afoot and afield in san diego, i set the table with the assistance of thing 1 & thing 2. they are experts in the art of scattering rose petals and blowing out candles. they also made place cards for everyone and spent the better part of an hour bickering over who would sit next to dot. chairs were rearranged so thing 1 & thing 2 could make a dot sandwich and everyone was cheerful when our co-chefs arrived.

seeing this picture of dot's wild mushroom salad with truffle vinaigrette is making my mouth water all over again. earthy pan-browned mushrooms entangled in the prettiest of lettuces and showered with shards of pecorino romano, spring onions, and celery root greens, then all united with a slurry of meyer lemon juice and truffle oil. dot is really gorgeous, but i have other reasons for being in love with her.

(dot's recipe here)

a bowl of fragrant blood oranges and those grumpy root vegetables inspired my entree. i used a favorite recipe for slow roasted sea bass (the very best recipe for serving thick, fleshy fish to a crowd), and set it atop a puree of parsnips, celery root, and sunchokes with flash-cooked red spinach laced with green garlic and currants. the entire pile got doused over with bright blood orange sauce and a crumble of hazelnuts. no one complained.

(recipe here)

finally, dot and i found a pretty way to serve the sesame seed benne wafers we had baked earlier in the afternoon. the recipe for benne wafers comes courtesy of the wednesday chef. it can be found here. our advice: sprinkle them generously with sea salt before baking and leave them in the oven for an extra minute. they are peculiarly addictive, especially if you set them beside apples roasted in red wine, spiced whipped cream, and pomegranates.

(recipe here)

 

beautiful things happen when you cook with your best friend. at the end of the night, you have a dinner to share over candles and rose petals. plus, look at those two lovely lovebirds i got to laugh and feast with. could life get any sweeter? why, yes.

the day after this delightful meal went down, christian and dot got engaged!

permit me to gloat: on dot and my's 25th birthday we took a roadtrip to big sur, california where christian lived and i played a cosmic part in introducing them for the first time. and now, two of the most wonderful people i know are gettin' hitched.

the love continues shortly with a ten bites interview with miss dot. soon to be missus.

so long, twenties

a new decade of life. today! 

a lot has happened since the chargers lost the playoffs thirty years ago on the day i was born. for one thing, it's been delicious. i've fallen for the flavor of lemons, sea salt, just-shucked-oysters, achinback honey, morning's first coffee. i've fallen for people and so many places. when falling was no longer adequate, i came to devotion. i got in it for the braise. 

i grew five feet and seven inches, gave birth to two babies. i took up a job in the business of making people feel good. i became a cook. all my senses surrendered to the perfume of black pepper, olive oil's sheen, huckleberries plucked from the sun. i've learned these gifts only require room. 

i discovered that the more i forgive, the better everything tastes. 

there was once a time i made out with a uniformed french police officer in front of my favorite fromagerie in paris. it was bastille day. the scent of brie forever reminds me. i'm glad i took care of this in my twenties.

i have not, not even for one day, been the weight indicated on my california drivers license. oh well. the cake was good. 

i've unabashedly sustained myself on your smile, your pleasure. i am happy all these things happened.

i decided to spend my days writing love letters and making salad. 

what do i want: to be as close as possible to the thing that makes a tomato seed and then turns it into a tomato.

who do i want to be: someone safe to talk to.  

i've taken perfectly average walks through parks. lots of them. on one i became undeniably certain there is enough food/love to go around. i know it like i know how to breathe. as a very small expression of this, i invite you to share your favorite birthday meal in the comments section. for each response, i will donate the monetary equivalent of a meal for a schoolchild in need in tijuana. donations will be made to project concern international, the nonprofit organization i am working on a cookbook for this year. i can think of no better birthday gift than this and i especially look forward to reading what you eat to celebrate your special day.

my grandfather vernon could peel an apple in one long, curvy strand. he also had an uncanny knack for responding to the question "how are you doing?"

with not even a pause he'd boom, "never better!" 

so if you ask me how it feels to be thirty, you'll know what to expect.

never better. 

recipe resolutions

it has come to my attention that i am a little left of center. or so says my friend tim. i’m not sure he means it as a compliment, but i will take it anyway. my uncle fondly recounts how i once proposed we have a dinner party where everyone brings a dish that they don’t like. i was a tad sinister, even at seven. with a new year upon us and resolutions of pounds to be shed resounding in gym locker rooms across the land, i turn my thoughts resolutely toward what sorts of mischief i can make in the kitchen. and by mischief i mean ever newer combinations of butter (preferably browned), egg yolks, and sugar. it's fun to scheme. i give you my recipe resolutions. i hope you will share a few of yours, but even more, i hope you resolve to cook. together. all the time in 2011.

things to make in 2011

1. tamales. a must! each time i eat a tamale, i promise myself i will learn how to make them. 2011…the year of the tamale.

2. thomas keller’s seven yolk pasta dough

3. my grandfather vernon’s oyster stew

4. mole in the oaxacan style

5. pho. recreated from memories of hanoi

6. homemade sriracha rooster sauce

7. ricotta cheese from scratch

8. chino’s corn cream from jeffrey steingarten’s it must've been something i ate

9. belgian style “frites”

10. superbowl, super spicy seafood gumbo from Donald link’s real cajun

11. brioche

12. abelskivers…those puffy danish pancakes i imagine my ancestors gorged themselves on.

13. butterscotch budinos from orangette

14. homemade marshmallows

15. momofuku’s cereal milk ice cream. recipe here.

16. perfect pie crust. coconut cream pie and banana cream pie come first.

17. homemade masala chai

18. watermelon agua fresca

19. curry powder

20. perfect sushi rice