jessg23

February 16, 2010

All Sunchoked Up

There are certain foods that are in your cooking comfort zone – tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, even eggplant to a degree. Then there are others which you know taste good – they said so on Top Chef – but are so alien to you, that any time you see them in the grocery store, you hurry past and hope they didn’t see you coming. Sunchokes are one of those foods. I most commonly have heard of sunchokes as the base of a creamy, wintery soup for which people hmm and haw over its delicate taste. As a relative of the sunflower, […]

February 12, 2010

A Super(bowl) Makeover Story

I don’t know about you, but I rolled home last sunday full of chili, chips, and chicken wings. I love Super Bowl Sunday for a variety of reasons – mainly good time spent with friends and the excuse to be overly-gluttonous. But I forgot that on Super Bowl Sunday, even more so than on my second favorite holiday of the year – Thanksgiving – our eyes become much bigger than our stomachs. And I came home on Sunday evening with a tupperware tub full of spicy, ginger chicken wings that needed to be consumed. Now, wasting food annoys me more […]

February 10, 2010

Custard’s Last Stand

Although this may be a shock, there are some people in this world who do not like chocolate. No, no. I don’t mean myself. Trust me, I’m on a steady diet of the dark stuff for breakfast every morning. It’s good for your health, right? But there are people out there (hey Dad) who, for some reason, do not taste the bitter sweet, buttery flavors that we find so decadent. So for those folk, I wanted to offer up a Valentine’s Day treat that is not dipped, coated, or sprinkled with any form of cacao: A Simple Vanilla Custard. This […]

February 9, 2010

Cooking with Kaz – The Novel

I’m sure none of you could sleep well last night, awaiting today’s big reveal of Kaz’s five-course, Shojin feast. I think I’m personally working on about four hours of sleep. So let’s jump right in and get to the good stuff. I just can’t wait any longer. Last Friday, I invited three friends over to share in my low sodium, Japanese cooking project and our evening with Kaz couldn’t have been more special. He is one of the warmest people I have ever met and Kaz immediately made himself at home. He regaled us with stories from Japan, LA, and […]

February 8, 2010

Cooking with Kaz – The Preface

Last Friday night, I had an amazing low sodium cooking adventure where I learned to make a traditional, five-course, Japanese meal which included that beautiful ball of tofu sitting in a pond of orange beet puree that you see above. But before we get into this multi-volume thriller, a quick spoiler alert. This is a long post – actually, it will be broken into two posts – that is worth every minute of procrastination. So to prepare for the reading road ahead, I suggest we get our blood pumping and begin this morning with a little interactive blogging. When I say […]

February 5, 2010

Oh My Mustard

This weekend, my bet is neither on the Colts nor the Saints. I’m putting my money, all five dollars of it, on the fact that you will most likely bite into / wolf down a large plate of (low sodium, home-made) fries or a quarter-pounder at some point during this festive weekend. To make those ball park treats all the more enjoyable, I also imagine that you will want something with which you can slather, slop, or dip. While I love Heinz no salt ketchup (5mg of sodium), I have to admit that I have a deep condiment commitment to […]

February 4, 2010

Do It Yo'self

Tonight I’m heading to a fundraiser for Room to Read that is being hosted by Parties That Cook and Crushpad. Wine, food, and doing good? Sounds like a perfect evening to me. The big event of the night is a hands-on cooking class that will cover an asian-inspired menu: Curried Flatbread with Mango Currant Chutney Vegetable Curry Cups with Basmati Rice Peanut and Coconut Potstickers with Sweet Soy Dipping Sauce Coconut Blini with Cilantro Lime Creme Fraiche Indian-Spiced Lamb Burgers with Cucumber-Lemon Raita Lettuce Cups with Gingery Minced Pork Fiery Prawns with Mint-Jalapeno Chutney Chicken Skewers with Spicy Peanut Sauce […]

February 3, 2010

Tally Me Bananas

Sometimes a blog post is short and sweet, just like a good afternoon snack or the lovely lady you call Mom. Today, I’m going to focus on the former (sorry Mom) and share with you a newly discovered treat that comes in an individually sized pouch and is so delicious that it will disappear in minutes. Its name? Danielle. I know. It sounds like the title of a telenovela and trust me, these perfectly fried banana bites are just as captivating. After an afternoon of work and errands, my good friend Emmerson and I decided it was high time for […]

February 2, 2010

The Maverick Challenge

Maverick Restaurant sits quietly on 17th street, just off the busy, foodie-trodden path of Valencia. Unless you know it is there, you might just pass by the banner, with its dashing red “M” emblem, that hangs modestly above the entry way. But this is a restaurant that no one, dietary restriction or not, wants to miss. Co-owners Scott Youkilis and Mike Pierce make a killer team with Mike manning the front of the house and the extraordinary wine list and Scott preparing the dazzling regional cuisine in the back. I made my first trip to Maverick in the spring of […]

February 1, 2010

Once You Pop, You Can't Stop

Sometimes, it’s nice to take tradition and flip it on its head. The oyster po’ boy sandwich is an old favorite – a seaside comfort food that stirs up memories of overcast Half Moon Bay weather, a cold brew, and a bonfire. There is something clunky and majestic about this treat that calls for it to be eaten from a paper boat plate, away from the rugs and white couches of one’s home. So to make it a home-cook, classic, I needed to repackage the recipe and turn it into a one-bite wonder. I took all of the sandwich’s magical […]

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