03 Sep 2013 15 Comments
in Eating Out, Recipes, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories) Tags: Ernie Demontreux, food, humor, Malibu, pop-up restaurant, Topanga Canyon, Topanga Elementary, Trust Ranch, Wine Guerrilla
In cooking, as in many things in life, it’s all a matter of scale.
The chefs — (l to r) your humble author and pals, Ernie and Peri
“That’s not enough gazpacho for 60 people!” my wife declared, alarmed, as I walked through the kitchen with a gallon bag a quarter full of soup. “I have another bag,” I said.
“It’s still not enough!” More
27 Aug 2013 12 Comments
in Markets & Stores, Recipes Tags: Anarhichas minor, cous cous, food, humor, Norway, Norwegian wolf fish, recipes, Trader Joe's, yoga
Here’s what happened:
I was strolling through the aisles at Trader Joe’s, thinking about a meal I was making for some clients of ours. Being that they were vaguely yogic people and I didn’t want to send them into a premature savasana pose by serving them something that had once been living — other than fish, that is, which somehow doesn’t count as having lived in those circles — I decided to do an all seafood dinner.
Norwegian wolf fish
So as I browsed the frozen fish aisle look for something inspiring, dark spots caught my eye — Norwegian wolf fish, a species I had never seen nor even heard of before. And I’m a sucker for new stuff. More
22 Aug 2013 13 Comments
in American Series, Humor, Recipes, Sensational Salads Tags: crab louie, Daniel Shore, Dungeness crab, food, humor, salad, San Francisco
A couple years back, my pal Dan (most recently of rattlesnake culinary ambitions infamy) invited us over for dinner. He was making Crab Louie.
Crab Louie, I thought, now there’s a classic dish that doesn’t get much ink in the foodie lexicon. So I decided I would feature Dan’s dinner on my blog. On the appointed night, we arrived wine in hand.
Dan’s Crab Louie
“Tell me what you’re doing there, Dan,” I said, iPhone video camera in hand. And Dan, who is a natural on camera, walked me through the process of making this delicious salad while I asked insightful questions and captured it all on the phone. Unfortunately, it was Dan’s phone I was using. More
20 Aug 2013 17 Comments
in Humor, Observations, Recipes Tags: Greek food, humor, Jack London, kolokithokeftedes, New Zealand, Sea Wolf, Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day, The Marrow, Wolf Larsen, zucchini
There was a knock at the door.
Standing there was Jerry, disheveled assistant to my sister Laura’s boyfriend, Ron, holding the largest zucchini I’ve ever seen.
“This is from Ron,” he said, handing it to me. It weighed more than a ham.
I thanked him and closed the door.
My 7-year-old daughter regarded the squash suspiciously.
“What is that?” she asked. More
26 Jul 2013 12 Comments
in Cooking Tips, Recipes, Video Tags: Alaska, Copper River, food, humor, Juneau, lox, salmon, Sitka, smoking, vodka
As we prepare for our upcoming family trip to Alaska, I find myself thinking a lot about salmon. The beautiful filets of sockeye and king from the Copper and other pristine rivers I’m finding at the fishmarkets these days have my mind already north. I once saw a river in Sitka so choked with spawning salmon swimming upstream that it seemed as if you could’ve walked across their backs and never touched water. Another river near Juneau was littered with the skinless carcasses of salmon — in bumper years, the bears peel off and eat the skin, and discard the rest.
Spawning sockeye in Juneau.
I’ve oft commented on this blog about how people tend to overcook salmon. And while it is still a delicious fish when cooked all the way through, it is so much better when left medium-rare to rare. Or, as I personally prefer, raw. More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 