25 Apr 2014
by scolgin
in Eating Out, Food, Pork
Tags: buffet, food, humor, silent auction, The 1909, Topanga, Topanga Elementary Charter School, Topanga Hustle, wood burning pizza oven
They first approached me about cooking for the elementary school’s silent auction a couple years back. This year, they meant it. And being that it was for the good of the kids, I agreed!
Glass candle baubles dangle from the oaks at 1909
I don’t often do large events — when I cook for others, it’s usually private dinners — and the logistics would be a challenge. The event, 200 or so people gathered to eat, drink, bid on things they really didn’t need, would have a 1970s “Topanga Hustle” theme. More
04 Mar 2014
by scolgin
in Pork, Recipes, Video
Tags: food, Mexican cooking, Mexican pizzas, Mexico, Oaxaca, recipes, Rick Bayless, street food, Tlayuda
It was a Saturday afternoon, I had a bit of a cold. So I settled into my bed to watch cooking shows on PBS. One of my favorites is “Mexico One Plate at a Time,” with Rick Bayless spotlighting a different region of Mexican cooking each season. This season, he’s in Oaxaca, which is a part of Mexico I’ve never had the privilege to visit.
I often get inspired to cook by things I see Rick talking about on his show — last season he was in Baja, and I found myself trying out air-dried machaca beef, shrimp tacos folded in fried cheese and even an avante garde foamy sea urchin ceviche. And now, lying in bed, I watched as Rick, visiting a sustainable farm in the Oaxacan mountains, dug into something called a tlayuda. More
04 Feb 2014
by scolgin
in Pork, Recipes
Tags: japan, Japanese cooking, Ponzu, Pork, schnitzel, tokyo, tonkatsu, yōshoku
As I’ve explored in previous posts about tempura, ramen, sumiyaki, sushi and other specialities Japonais, dining in Japan can be very segmented. Stroll about a street in Tokyo and you’ll find restaurants devoted to each of these particular styles of cooking (or not cooking) and many more.
Tonkatsu with Japanese cole slaw and egg/mirin dipping sauce
Browsing the aisles of my favorite Japanese market the other day, I found a beautiful Kurobata pork loin on sale. Now pork loin can be one of the stupidest of meats, mostly because it has zero fat. But the Japanese have a nifty way of rectifying that problem with the dish, tonkatsu. More
10 Jan 2014
by scolgin
in Pork, Recipes
Tags: David Chang, Father's Office, food, Ivan Orkin, Ivan Ramen, Japanese cooking, ramen, tokyo, Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle, Umami Burger
My pal Greg, who has expanded my cookbook horizon in the past, got me an interesting book for Christmas. It’s called “Ivan Ramen.”
So this Jewish guy Ivan from Long Island moves to Tokyo, it seems, and decides to open a ramen shop. (Sounds like the set-up for a bad joke.)
Ivan
Ramen is an interesting food. To most of us, it’s something that comes in a brick in a package to be added to hot water. In Japan, it’s essentially a fast food, but is treated with an amount of reverence not afforded our chicken nuggets or fajita wraps. More
15 Oct 2013
by scolgin
in Observations, Pork
Tags: Attempts in Domesticity, Doves Today, Erica's Recipes, Frank's Red Hot, Japanese cooking, Jim Lahey, lobster roll, Old Bay, Pork, Taste of Japan
I appreciate it when people tell me they’ve made something I featured on the blog and enjoyed it. (Likewise, I’m mortified when people making something and it doesn’t turn out well … which I think has only happened once when a friend tried to make my bagna cauda.)
The food blog world is a unique universe. I subscribe to a variety of food blogs which I enjoy reading, and every so often read a recipe that I know I will have to try myself. And I thought it only fair to share a few of my favorites.
Erica’s crab dip
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