San Francisco: Nigella Style

My dearest friends Stacy (above) and Cat (below) toast to a lovely evening at TWO!

A night of pure, lusty food was had at TWO, a relatively new SOMA restaurant. You've already gotten a preview of the bone marrow from this restaurant, which was so delightful it required its very own posting.

My lovely friends Cat (book publishing editor) and Stacy (web channels manager) met me for an evening of total debauchery (food-wise), and I think we can all agree that it was absolutely worth every calorie and fat gram. I'll save the long descriptions for your imagination and leave you with an array of photos plus comments on the food from Nigella Lawson:

"TWO's 'bread basket' consists of warm, luscious, buttery chive biscuits and deliciously hot and naughty cayenne crisps. One might feel utterly sinful devouring these little devilish morsels of pastry but, quite frankly, I can give myself pleasure without feeling guilty, no?"

"This is an example of taking something very simple and turning it into a brilliant work of food art. Shaved asparagus, lemon zest and a sprinkle of nuts serve as a cozy bed for a delicious, fried hunk of sheep's milk cheese. The texture is slightly springy and chewy but in the most appealing way; I quite like to tear into this dish late at night wearing only a pair of my best stilettos and a cashmere scarf. I beg to ask, 'What more do you need?'"

"Some people are frightened by the thought of eating pigeons, but I can honestly say I don't discriminate when it comes to matters of the flesh. Any flesh will do, so long as its plump and exquisitely juicy. This ravioli filled with squab is perfection in my book; each is like a little treasure, wrapped in a golden moist skin and bursting with mounds of scrumptious meat...each bite bursting with savory liquid. It's quite gratifying to eat, really." [*winks*]

"Now I'm not a fan of fussy pizza as pizza is meant to be a delicious, higgledy-piggledy mess of the right flavors. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that we tore into this duck confit and caramelized onion pizza with reckless abandon. The oily, silky duck flesh and the aromatic, sweet onions - the combination was utterly pleasurable to the palate. The best way to eat something this luxurious is to toss your hair to the side, throw down your fork and grab a slice with your bare hands and get down to it. Forget the napkins and use your tongue to simply lick any excess duck fat that may remain on your lips - we wouldn't want to waste now, would we?"

"I'm not a skinny woman and I shall never be, and my love of chocolate far outweighs any desire to fit into a sample-size piece of clothing. So for our last course we ordered the bittersweet chocolate fondue with graham crackers, biscotti and candied fruit. There's something about dipping a strawberry in rich, bittersweet chocolate and watching the shiny, dark liquid drip off the tip of the voluptuous red flesh that is fully mesmerizing. This fondue provides pleasure to literally all of one's senses, so that makes it the perfect dessert in my book."

-Nigella Lawson*

*Not really Nigella Lawson, but because the food at TWO was so decadent, I thought it fitting that I get into the spirit of the world's most lusty chef to describe our experience eating there. Needless to say, I am a fan of hers and this is not meant as a slag.

San Francisco: Will You Marrow Me?

I once saw Tony Bourdain wax poetic (I think on his old Food Network show) about the kinds of places NYC chefs hang out after hours. Something about 4 a.m., Nobu bringing the sashimi and Batali hunkering down for a whiskey or two or three...I can only remember bits and pieces of it. But the one thing that did stand out was...wait for it...bone marrow.

I recall Tony saying something about how, sometimes, they got plates of cooked bones filled with fatty marrow and used it on toast like butter. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard/saw this; what an absolutely lascivious yet perfectly pure thing, this bone-marrow-on-toast phenomenon!

But until I went to Two in San Francisco, I've never seen it on a menu (outside of the typical osso buco), so naturally I had to have this most decadent treat. Served with a bit of uber caramelized tomatoes mixed with a touch of basil, the bone marrow was lusciously fatty, meaty and just downright lusty. I almost felt guilty partaking in such deviance, except I had to work very hard for it; it takes a good amount of scraping to get enough marrow to cover a small baguette. So my recovering-Catholic self felt justified in knowing that I earned this delectable dish.

Needless to say, I relished every bite.

San Francisco: Market Bar Lunch

Welcome to Market Bar

Everyone has an idea of what "the good life" means to them. When I used to live in San Francisco, I experienced little bursts of the good life on a regular basis. I'd be sitting at an outdoor cafe, with a cocktail in my hand listening to a street performer playing the saxophone and I'd think to myself, "Life is good."

Don't get me wrong, I love living in Los Angeles. But with all the driving and smog and too-hot weather, those moments seem fewer in SoCal. So I took full advantage of my free time during adtech to venture outside of the stuffy conference hall and get back into San Francisco mode.

My "Little Gem Lettuces" salad

The Ferry Building has always been one of those places that, at least for me, captures the essence of a perfect San Francisco day. The ocean breeze; the farm-fresh produce and artisan breads and cheeses in every nook and corner; and the curious children and happy, healthy adults taking it all in. So on our first day at the conference, I gave co-worker Joey a tour of the building then chose the Market Bar cafe for a quick lunch.

Joey's salad with shaved goat cheese

Joey ordered the garden salad with shaved Cypress Grove goat cheese. I have to say I've never seen shaved goat cheese before - only crumbles. I had the Little Gem Lettuces with anchovy vinaigrette. Both were excellent, as was their fabulous French bread.

For our entree, we shared the cold seafood platter which consisted of oysters, Dungeness crab, lobster and shrimp with three sauces. Joey doesn't like oysters (yay!), so I had the pleasure of slurping down every single one. No words could possibly relay how good this utterly simple and fresh array of seafood really was. As I cracked the crunchy legs of the crab and wiggled out chunks of fresh meat, and after I squirted a bit of lemon juice on and savored every bite of the buttery crab flesh, the only thing that was going through my mind was, "Life is good."

San Francisco: Alfred's Steakhouse

My coworker Joey is a simple man. He likes chicken with onions. He likes Chinese food. He likes lemon meringue pie. The list of foods he doesn't like or won't eat are much, much longer, so he knew that our trip to San Francisco (for adtech) would be a challenge.

He knew that I'd probably insist we go to lots of "weird" restaurants with "scary" foods with made-up names and gelatinous textures. So, for our first night - one that required us to make an adtech game plan for the days ahead -he wanted "something good." And something good for Joey, lucky for me, is lobster.

But Joey doesn't like the idea of eating a whole lobster; beady black eyes, tentacles that too closely resemble a possum's tail, the sharp claws, etc. He just wanted the tail. Simple enough, right? After consulting with San Francisco Chowhounds, Sam of Becks & Posh and my beloved Google, I found only a handful of restaurants that served pure and simple lobster tail. Alfred's Steakhouse was one of the only ones that A) served lobster tail; and B) was open on a Monday night. Eureka!

Old-school bar at Alfred's

As soon as we walked in, I knew we'd be kickin' it old school up in dis hizzle. The waiters were a minimum of 50-some-odd years old, the ceilings were adorned with real crystal chandeliers, the booths were filled with Scotch-drinkin' business suits and the hostess was a crotchety old woman who probably eats people like us for lunch. Case in point: We arrived 20 minutes early for our reservation and the place was half empty. I approached said old woman and she scrunched up her face and told me "it'll be a few minutes." After 10 minutes, we knew she was not going to seat us until 8:30 p.m. exactly (our reservation time), so we hung out at the big oak bar and waited patiently.

Sure enough, at 8:30 p.m. on the nose, the hostess sat us at a comfortable booth. Our waiter - whose name escapes me - was dressed like Jeeves and referred to us strictly as "sir" and "madam." I ordered a glass of Pinot Noir (Joey stuck to water) and perused the menu. Talk about old school: This 70+ year old institution serves such flash-backs as pickled pig's feet, Oysters Rockefeller and Chateaubriand of beef tenderloin - carved tableside.

For our first course, I chose the Prosciutto di Parma with fresh mozzarella cheese. The prosciutto was deliciously paper thin and the fat melted like butter shavings on my tongue, and the cheese was milky fresh and creamy.

Joey opted for the crab cake, which he raved about. Lots of crab meat and a crispy exterior - how bad can that be?

For dinner, I ordered the petit filet mignon with a lobster tail. Joey got the lobster tail with ravioli and garlic mashed potatoes. Unfortunately you can't see my steak in this picture because it was on another plate and I forgot to take a photo. But the lobster was succulent and delicious, as was the steak.

Joey thoroughly enjoyed his lobster, ravioli and garlic mashed potatoes - so much that he was talking about his Alfred's dinner through the rest of our trip. I think it's safe to say it was his favorite meal in San Francisco. Considering Joey is kind of old-schizzle himself, I can see why it was a match made in Picky Eater's Food Heaven.

Stay tuned for more San Francisco treats including Citizen Cake, Two and - get ready for it - bone marrow!

San Francisco: A Starbucks Surprise

Still no time to post a proper entry, so this picture will have to do for now. What is it, you ask? It's the last bite of my Starbucks low-fat breakfast sandwich. They do not have breakfast sandwiches at Starbucks in Los Angeles - at least they didn't the last time I checked. It's kind of nice to have another option besides all the sweet fatty stuff they have going on at the SB.

My sandwich consisted of a whole wheat English muffin, low-fat white cheddar, no-cholesterol eggs (probably Eggbeaters) and some turkey bacon. It wasn't the best thing ever, but for a quickie breakfast on the go, it wasn't bad at all. And for 350 calories, it's perfectly suitable for a healthy breakfast. Too bad I forgot to take a picture until I was nearly done eating it!

More soon!

San Francisco: A Haiku

No time to write right now so I will leave you with the view from my hotel window plus a haiku about one of my favorite cities in the world!

Cool spring breezes blow

Skyscapes like rigid giants

My bayside city

Going to San Francisco - Be Back Soon!

I'm leaving for four days to attend the ad:tech conference in San Francisco, so soon I will have lots of food pics and adventures from my trip. So far I have reservations at Two, the Public (a regular favorite for me) and Alfred's (<--my coworker wants lobster tail and it is one of the few restaurants in SF that offers it). I will desperately try to hit Citizen Cake for one of their almond croissants, but I doubt I'll have time.

When I get back, I will probably need to join Weight Watchers.

In the meantime, check out Becks & Posh for her "Fish & Quips" roundup. Lots of fabulous English dishes in this roundup prove that English food is NOT a joke!

Dine Out LA: Bonaventure Brewing Company

There are lots of restaurants in downtown Los Angeles, but only two of them participated in this year's Dine Out Los Angeles. I'm not going to judge the other restos on why they wouldn't want to donate 20% of their day's receipts to AIDS charities; after all, the restaurant business is a tough one, and I would imagine a 20% take - even for one day - could be the difference between fresh spring greens or Iceberg lettuce for some kitchens.

I was just happy that one of the participants - the Bonaventure Brewing Company - is only one block away from my office. I'd never heard of the place or seen it; it's located in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, which is a place I rarely venture into.

So coworker Joey and I set out on our Dine Out LA adventure, walking against the sideways rain sans umbrellas (neither of us had one) and detouring through the "pit" at the base of the CityCorp building to try and avoid getting soaked all the way over there. Once we made it into the hotel, we had to figure out how to get to the restaurant through the round maze that is the Bonaventure. Cool design, but definitely not user-friendly. Finally, after asking a friendly staffer and walking up and down various stairwells, we found the Brewery.

Dine Out signage on the tables

The atmosphere was very welcoming and comforting - dark woods, plush chairs and a beautiful view of their rain-soaked patio. It was a nice discovery, and no doubt happened only because of the restaurant's participation in this charity event. We were served some nice, chewy bread with butter, then ordered our lunches.

For Joey, it was the Jerk Shrimp with Jasmine Rice and a mango salsa. He said everything tasted wonderful and that he very much enjoyed his lunch.

For me, it was the Cesar salad with grilled shrimp - easy on the dressing - and lots of crunchy croutons. The romaine lettuce was crisp and held up nicely to the shrimp and croutons. Great flavor and dressed just perfectly.

Our total donation to the AIDS charities? A mere $9.13, which was 20% of our bill. But, considering the restaurant had a good number of diners and they still had a dinner shift coming up, I'm going to assume their total donation for the day probably exceeded a few hundred dollars. Multiply that by all of the restaurants in Los Angeles taking part in Dine Out and you're talking tens of thousands of dollars.

And all we had to do was eat. How hard is that?

A Bloody Good Breakfast

I love a good breakfast, even on a weekday. Not sure about the rest of you, but if I fail to eat the all-important first meal of the day, I'm very cranky and stomach-achy. Achy, breaky stomach - that's me.

So I was chuffed beyond belief when my parents gave me a jar of their homemade blood orange marmalade. It's sweet, slightly sour and absolutely fabulous on a piece of crusty toast, or mixed into some yogurt, or on top of vanilla ice cream. Thanks Mom and Papa!

The Burrito Dilemma

I don't crave a lot of foods, but the two that I long for, lust for, at least once a week is sushi and Mexican food. Luckily for me, sushi is rather healthy, so it's a guiltless indulgence, but Mexican...well, that's a whole different taco all together.

When I do crave Mexican, I usually want a burrito. The chewiness of a gigantic flour tortilla, the creaminess of the slightly spicy refried beans, the juicy shredded chicken and melty, glorious cheese - I wantitwantitwantit now. But if I ran out and got this meaty cheesy goodness every time I had a craving, I'd be looking like a stocky stuffed burrito (more than I already do - ha!).

So I have found a solution. Make a healthy version of the food I crave. In this case, I start off with one, Trader Joe's brown-rice-flour tortilla (gluten and wheat free for those of you with celiac) and a slice of jalapeno Veggie Slices cheese.

The start of healthy burrito greatness

Put those in the micro for a sec, to let the "cheese" melt. Then add one, heated (micro for one minute) Dr. Praeger's Tex Mex veggie burger and a few pieces of chicken - in my case, it's the already-cooked "Just Chicken" from Trader Joe's - to the tortilla/soy cheese. The Tex Mex veggie burger has a very bean-y texture, and the spices are just perfect for Mexican food. Nuke for another minute to heat up the chicken.

I then add some red onions and salsa, plus a good amount of Tapatio, then roll up the tortilla and secure with a toothpick. I eat it with some Mary's Gone gluten-free crackers and more salsa. You can eat it with baked tortilla chips, which I would have preferred, but I only had these crackers in the pantry.

Needless to say, my burrito craving was satiated. No, it's not authentic by any stretch, but it got me through one dinner and it saved me about a zillion calories. So it's all good.

Bourdain on the Food Network Awards

"Give me a fucking cigarette!"

Anthony Bourdain has a few choice things to say about last night's Food Network Awards. I missed the whole debacle because, between the Tudors, the Sopranos and Entourage, I had better things to watch. Sounds like I didn't miss much.

Some of Bourdain's observations:

On his favorite person: "I even found myself feeling bad for Rachael Ray...how must it have felt for her to stand up there in front of what appeared to be a halfway empty room of stunned, near comatose trout and feign enthusiasm while presenting the award for 'Best Appliance?'"

On chef Robert Irvine: "The overmuscled fuckwit from DINNER SLIGHTLY DIFFICULT delivered the best line: something like 'This is the greatest night ever!' If that was his greatest night ever, I suspect he would say the same thing while being publicly butt-slammed by the San Diego Chicken."

On Nigella Lawson: "My only hope is that Charles, her husband, on hearing of this atrocity, this degrading mis-use of his wife , will buy the network--in order to spare her further ill treatment."

On the Food Network: "Did the network, upon realizing (as they surely did) that the whole thing was a hideous, stultifyingly boring cluster fuck--and a public slap to their talent--did they consider maybe having the good taste to just bury the whole thing in archives like a rotten bone?"

Read the complete article here: http://blog.ruhlman.com/2007/04/the_fabulous_fo.html

Hay Hay It's Donna Day: Pistacho Mousse Shortbread Stack

When I was a child, one of my favorite desserts was a Pistachio Dream bar. It consisted of a shortbread crust, pistachio pudding and Cool Whip topping. So when Helen of Tartlette announced that HHDD #11 would be on mousse, I decided to try and recreate this dessert, but with a touch of gourmet flair.

One thing I found out quite quickly: It's nearly impossible to find pistachio extract. So I did some research and found that it's pretty easy to make a pistachio milk reduction that can be used in place of extract. You simply grind some raw pistachios into powder, add milk, cook down until thick and strain. You end up with a yellow-ish green reduction that has a very strong pistachio flavor:

I wanted my mousse to be a little on the thick/dense side, as I planned to make a stack that had a shortbread bottom AND top. I mixed together some ground pistachios, pistachio reduction, sugar, marscapone, ricotta, vanilla extract and whipped cream.

Mixing mousse ingredients

Then I created a pistachio shortbread: butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and chopped pistachios. Instead of rolling them out and cutting out circles, I waited until after the shortbread was baked to cut.

Because shortbread comes out somewhat soft, it's much easier to cut rounds out of an already-baked shortbread. This takes out the tedious chore of rolling out dough. The circles came out clean and even:

Now the best part: assembly! I piped the mousse onto a shortbread circle, topped with a bit of fresh whipped cream, then topped with another shortbread circle and a few pistachios. Because shortbread is nice and crumbly, it's very easy to cut through all the layers with a fork without the mousse oozing out of the sides. The shortbread isn't too sweet, and works really well with the rich, sweet pistachio mousse. The flavor of the pistachio really came through, and you get a nice little crunch because of the finely chopped nuts in the mix. All in all it came out wonderfully and it took me back to my childhood. Next time, however, I may add a few drops of green food coloring, just for presentation.

Pistachio Mousse Shortbread Stack

Pistachio Shortbread Rounds

2 sticks (1/2 cup) butter at room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand until a dough forms. Spread the dough out on a cookie sheet (dough will cover about half of a regular-sized cookie sheet) until about 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until slightly golden. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, immediately cut rounds out of baked shortbread, then let cool. Makes approx one dozen rounds.

Pistachio Mousse Shortbread Stack

3 tablespoons Pistachio Reduction (see recipe below)

1 cup ricotta cheese - room temperature

1/2 cup marscapone cheese - room temperature

1/2 cup super fine sugar

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup fine ground pistachios

1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup slightly sweet whipped cream

Pistachio Shortbread Rounds

Pistachio halves (for garnish)

Combine first 6 ingredients with a whisk until smooth. Carefully fold in 1/2 cup of slightly sweetened whipped cream. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Pipe onto shortbread rounds, then top with remaining whipped cream, another shortbread round and garnish with pistachios.

Pistachio Reduction

1 cup of finely ground pistachios

2 cups whole milk

Combine pistachios and milk in a sauce pan, and bring to a boil - stirring constantly. Turn heat the very low and continue cooking for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixture will get very thick and slightly lumpy. Pour through a fine sieve and allow mixture to cool at room temperature. Store in jar or plastic container and refrigerate for 3 hours or until cold.

Last Minute Idea: Pesto Crusted Trout

Last week I bought some fabulously fresh trout from Whole Foods and boy, did I have plans for it. Since I've always been a fan of poached fish, but have never poached fish before, I was looking forward to trying this delicate method of cooking fish. I had big plans, too: I would buy some red curry paste, coconut milk, sweet basil and red onions and cook up a soupy curry with which I would poach the trout. It was Sunday night, and my mouth was watering at the idea that Curried Poached Trout would be my lunch for the week.

I went through the aisle at Ralph's grocery store, picking up my basil, red onions, curry paste and...oh wait...they're out of coconut milk? My eyes darted up and down, side to side, desperately seeking one, just one can of this necessary ingredient. Not a single bleedin' can. There I stood, defeated, in front of the mockingly empty space where the coconut milk usually sits. And being a Sunday night, I didn't have the time or energy to go to another store.

So I went back through the aisles, returning the paste and the red onions; after all, I had already done my weekly grocery shopping so I didn't really need these items if they were not going to be a part of my fabulous poaching fish party for one.

When I got home, I realized I'd forgotten to put the basil back. As we all know, basil turns into a slimy bunch of blackness after only a few days, so I needed to figure out how to use the basil with the fish. Before you could say, "presto," it hit me: PESTO!

Mini food processor for pesto making

I had some pine nuts left over from the quinoa I made the previous week, and I always have Parmesan and olive oil in the kitchen. I used my handy mini-food chopper (which I got at Walgreens for $12 - it's a cheapo but it works great for stuff like this) and blended all the ingredients together. Next I slathered the pesto onto my raw trout, sealed it in a Tupperware and let it sit in the fridge for four hours.

Pesto massage for the trout

Now I know some Italians think using Parmesan on fish is akin to blasphemy, so to those of you I say this: Look away! Shield your occhi! But before you do, I have to say that the Parmesan in the pesto creates a delicious, light crust on the fish when you cook it.

Momma mia! Pesto fish-o!

The pesto trout was excellent, and I will definitely be making it again. I've been eating it almost every day for lunch this week, alongside the roasted carrots and the stir fried Chinese spinach I made a few days ago.

In a word? Squisito!

Pesto Crusted Trout

1 bunch of basil

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 lb of trout fillets

Olive oil spray

In a food processor, blender or food chopper, mix the basil and pine nuts until finely chopped. Add in the Parmesan, garlic and olive oil and blend until smooth. Rub the pesto onto the fish - covering both sides - then put the fish into a plastic container and seal tightly. Refrigerate for 2-5 hours.

Spray a grill or saute pan with olive oil, and turn on heat to medium. Cook the trout on each side for about 5 minutes, or until cooked. Serve immediately.

The Accidental Waitress

Recently after a long day at work, I decided to hit happy hour with a few friends at Weiland's Brewery in downtown Los Angeles (the 6th and Flower underground location). A couple of glasses of wine, some $2 deep fried appetizers and a little catching is a pretty good prescription for a stressful day.

From the very beginning, our waitress was clearly in a foul mood. When she carded two of my friends and not me, I joked, "What? No I.D. from me?" to which she dryly replied, "Well if you want to show it to me, you're more than welcome." Ohhhhhhhhkay. Never mind, then. We'll just order some onion rings with a side of a sense of HUMOR, if you can manage it.

She continued to be curt and somewhat irritable with us but we didn't really mind that much; maybe she had a bad day or her dog died or something. Sure, it was annoying, but what are you going to do? We just smiled and and tried to be polite.

Toward the end of our evening, said waitress came over and started clearing some plates. In her haste, she dropped a plate onto my full glass of wine, sending shards of glass and wine all over my hands and lap. Naturally she was horrified. I just stood up, said it wasn't a problem and picked bits of glass off of my fingers and clothing. Luckily I didn't get cut, though my jeans and shirt were covered in red wine and glass splinters.

Though I was nice about the whole thing, I will admit that I expected her to comp at least one of my glasses of wine. Yes, she replaced the broken one, and it was an accident, but it put a bit of a glitch in our evening and left me with stained clothes. When we got our check, there was not a single comp. I am not a spoiled brat or a mooch of any sort, but I think that the restaurant should have paid for at least one drink. My dry cleaning bill is going to cost more than a glass of wine, but I would have considered a free glass a fair trade.

I ended up leaving her a 10% tip and a note that said, "Next time you spill a glass of wine on somebody, you may want to consider comping it." Mean? Maybe a little. Unwarranted? I think not. In retrospect, I probably should have spoken to a manager there but I was too pissed and caught up in the moment. In any case, I think she got the message.

What do you think?

Vegetable-y Goodness

Sometimes you feel like a health nut; sometimes you don't. Personally, I am going through a pretty crunchy-granola phase right now (I even stuck to vegetables and fish only at the Chateau last night; for those of you who know what I'm talking about, you know this is kind of a big deal!). I usually eat pretty clean food, but lately I'm going overboard. But that's a good thing, right?

My grocery cart this week featured items such as Mary's Gone Gluten-Free Crackers, Turkish figs, wild trout and brown rice bread. And I already told you that I bought loads of veggies at the farmer's market last week.

One of the veg was a few bunches of Chinese spinach. What makes this spinach Chinese? I'm not quite sure, but the texture and flavor are quite different from the regular (American?) variety. They are glossy and lack the grittiness that regular spinach has, and they taste a bit like bok choy leaves. And the stems are thicker and juicier, if that makes any sense.

Greenery in my sink

For this simple stir fry, I put a bit of oil, soy sauce and Splenda in my wok. I then threw in some sliced garlic, shallots and red bell pepper, and let that cook for 2 minutes or so over high heat.

My trifecta of flavor

Next came the Chinese spinach. Though it cooks down considerably, it doesn't shrink as much as regular spinach, which is kind of nice. And there's a bit more bite - as in al dente, not spicy - to it. I think I may prefer the Chinese variety.

Great flavor, color and texture

I'm not sure if this is a common item in regular grocery stores, but I found it at the Eagle Rock Farmer's Market so I assume you will be able to find it at other farmer's markets. One thing's for sure: I will definitely be cooking with Chinese spinach again.

Roasting Ain't Just for Winter Anymore

Last week I went to the Eagle Rock Farmer's Market (Friday nights between 5-9 p.m.) and discovered that it has a lot to offer. Not only does it offer a decent variety of street food (roasted chicken, tacos, kebabs, roasted corn) and a petting zoo with the cutest little pig I've ever seen in my life, it has an impressive array of vegetables and fruits - both standard and exotic.

I'm not usually impressed by the standard veg, but for some reason, the gigantic carrots being sold at one stand stood out. I hardly ever eat carrots outside of a salad, but seeing these reminded me of a fabulous batch of roasted carrots I made a long time ago for a family dinner. Without any hesitation, I decided to grab a few and get roastin'.

Like the age rings of a tree, so are the innards of our carrots

I had purchased some leeks from another stand, and decided that it would be a nice mix with the carrots. I simply washed and cut the veg and spread them out on a roasting pan. I then hit it with some olive oil, cracked pepper and sea salt then used my hands to make sure each nugget was touched by the oil. Sounds like a twisted version of that religious TV show..."Touched By The Oil."

Carrot and leek oil wrestling match - round one!

I then put the pan in a preheated 500 degree oven for 20 minutes. The result? Caramelized, tender, flavorful vegetables perfect alone or as a side dish - all for about $1.50. Why would anyone boil carrots when roasting creates this beautiful array of loveliness? WHY? WHYYYYYYYY????

Ahem...my point is this: Roast, don't toast. I mean, roast, don't boil. Too bad that doesn't rhyme.

Fish & Quips: English Food is NOT a Joke!

When Sam of Becks & Posh challenged food bloggers everywhere to consider why English food is not a joke, I knew I had to enter my feedback. My simple answer? English food is not a joke because nobody does biscuits (cookies) better. If you ever need to bribe me for any reason, just present me with a tube of chocolate-covered digestive biscuits and you can have whatever you want.

I recently needed to bribe someone who likes light, not-too-sweet cookies. Who, you ask? The who would be Otto, the manager of the parking structure in my office building; also known as the most powerful man in downtown Los Angeles. When there are thousands of office folk and only hundreds of parking spaces, and you're the one who decides who gets a parking pass and who doesn't, you've got power beyond any meathead bouncer at even the most "it" LA nightclubs. So I promised Otto I'd make him some fabulous, light cookies if he gave me a parking space. I like English biscuits in particular because they are never overly sweet but still decadently buttery and rich. The perfect match in this case? Shrewsbury biscuits.

Very basic ingredients

Shrewsbury biscuits originate from an English town of the same name, and were made popular by a baker named Mr. Palin in 1819. Though his original version was very hard, later recipes resulted in softer, chewier cookies. In any case, Mr. Palin's biscuits were beloved by many, as illustrated by Elizabeth Anderton in her "A Little Shropshire Gift Book," published in 1978, which says:

"Mr Palin, prince of cake compounders, the mouth liquefies at thy very name! This fulsome praise, given in one of ‘The Ingoldsby Legends’, is for Mr Palin of Shrewsbury, renowned for his particular mix of Shrewsbury cake or biscuits."

The recipe is very simple: butter, egg yolks, sugar, flour and lemon rind. There are variations of this cookie that include cardamon and other spices, but I am a sucker for pure lemon flavor so I went with the basic version.

Cookies ready for the oven

I improvised a bit and added some blood orange rind to the lemon rind as I only had a half of a lemon in my kitchen. I'm not sure if you can see it in this picture, but it produced little flecks of dark orange throughout the cookie, which added a nice decorative touch.

I packaged the cookies in an old Japanese tin I had, and will be giving them to Otto tomorrow; he's already promised me a pass - after my promise of cookies - and these Shrewsbury Biscuits will not disappoint. The cookies came out thin and chewy and lemony and light and utterly irresistable. Who knew English food could be all of those things and more? Just more evidence that English food is NOT a joke!

Ready to bribe!