chicory endive

actually, i like all veggies. when i was younger, sure, i steered away from brussel spouts but i adore them now. so when i'm in the amazing - and overwhelming - Berkeley Bowl West and i see something that i haven't cooked before, i buy it. yesterday it was chicory endive. it's bitter raw. it reminds me of the bitterness of radicchio meets mustard greens. certainly, most people have encountered this 'curly endive' raw but i wanted to try cooking it. bravo, me.

it was amazing.



wash it
cut into pieces
boil water (salted)
throw chicory into water for no longer than 5 minutes
drain



heat some high quality GARLIC olive oil (try Rinaldo's Organic Gold Garlic....gooood)
add the drained chicory to the oil
salt
red pepper flakes
cook ~2-3 minutes



enjoy!

entertaining

i really adore throwing parties, combine that with my love for cooking and it is a deadly week-long prepping/planning event. for the past couple of years, we've had just a few people over for new year's eve dinner and drinks. everyone spends the night and we wake up super early and head into downtown san francisco. it's nice to be up before everyone else (bloody marys and baileys spiked coffees in hand). the streets are empty with the exception of the fallen hats, lone sequins and the occasional 'couple' still adorning their party gear from the festivities of yesteryear. that is until we make it to our destination - and that is where we meet our people. but i digress. interested in the menu and decor from the famed low-key new years eve party.

look.

no.

further.

m e n u

spicy, smokey slow cooked beef brisket sliders with jalapeno slaw and homemade pickled onions. black forest and gruyere pastry thumbprints. bacon, parsley stuffed mushrooms. warm fennel seed spinach dip. fresh marinated mozzarella and heirloom tomato skewers. cream of onion soup. ... recipes to come...

d e c o r

my new owl (a bargain at $4) and flowers from a friend...

all the food out, ready to party....

new year's eve = sparkle

flowers that look like fireworks and my love thistle

bitter and sweet

81 degrees in oakland on this fine mid november day warrants a new salad creation. so here goes:

beets, blue cheese, radicchio,

drizzle white balsamic, drizzle olive oil, pepper,

drizzle honey, rock salt

it's an odd combination and certainly not for everyone but i really enjoyed the bursts of bitter and sweet the radicchio and honey delivered. not to mention it has the most beautiful RED color.

serve this bleeding salad with this serving set from anthro. xo

balls

turkey meat balls. my first attempt at turkey meatballs were a success. although adding bacon to anything pretty much guarantees success.

here you go: cook 5 pieces high quality bacon until crisp. let cool & crumble. mix italian bread crumbs, grated parm, fresh minced garlic, 1 lb ground turkey, 1 egg, dried oregano, salt, soy sauce (i know, its weird but i love the salty, and meaty flavor it gives), hot sauce (again, weird but i use a louisiana style hot sauce which is essentially salt, vinegar, and hot pepper) and the bacon. after well incorporated, form 2 inch balls. heat oil in pan at med-high. fry balls each side ~5 minutes each (don't let them burn). I couldn't get them to cook through without burning so i baked them at 350 for 10-15 until they were cooked. raw ground turkey is gross. after they've been cooked through add red sauce to pan that you fried them in (you may need to wipe out) and heat on medium, add cooked balls, continue cooking all for about 5 minutes and presto! easy, homemade meatballs.

long lunch

yes. and by lunch i mean wine. there is nothing i love more than spending an afternoon drinking wine, eating bread & olives and pretending that i live anywhere but where i actually do. me gusta barlata!

diner

how to have the perfect morning? go to a breakfast joint that serves up diner style food with high quality organic sustainable ingredients. this morning after dropping off someone at oakland airport my friend called me for brekky. 6:30 am. i'm in. we soon realized that nothing was open. thanks to yelps "open now" feature we discovered that the adorable bette's oceanview diner was open and slangin' corn beef so good that it was featured on diner, driveins and dives. check out the perfectly poached egg. are you kidding me, bette? i love you.

pizza

yes, i like pizza but who doesn't? last night i made a pizza that was super good so i thought i'd share the recipe. i forgot to take a picture of the final product so here's a picture of it before it went into the oven.

wondering what to do with the buy 3 for $1 sweet white corn? look no further.

base/sauce: saute corn (from 2 corns) in garlic (a clove) for about 4 min (until they are just starting to get tender). core, then roast ~4-5 small heirloom tomatoes in the oven at 375 until the skin start to peel. peel them (once cooled, of course). in a food processor put corn, peeled tomatoes, 1/4-1/3 cup of pepitas (raw shelled pumpkin seed), 1/2 fresh cilantro and 1/3 + cup fresh grated Romano cheese. blend until mostly smooth. add cayenne, lime zest, hot sauce, salt & pepper to taste (and more cheese?).

topping: kenrals of 2 cobs, juice of 1 lime, fresh cilantro, red pepper flakes, salt pepper. let marinate.

i bought some trader joes dough (i was feeling lazy!). follow dough instructions then put the base, then some mixed salty cheese, parm, romano, mozz, etc, then the fresh corn topping. bake until cooked and golden. add some more cilantro and lime if you like and enjoy!

being the early bird

it's true. anyone who knows me, especially if you've lived with me, knows that i am the furthest thing from a morning thing. but when i made the move back to the west coast, i told myself that i would try to keep waking up 3 hours before i normally would. i've been pretty good so far and today was my reward. i woke up at 6:30. on a work-from-home day, that's early! after taking my very sweet time getting myself together, i drove down toward my favorite coffee and bakery shops. i was beyond delighted when i discovered that the city of oakland doesn't charge for parking before 8. as i walked around rockridge collecting my morning goodies i looked around at the other morning birds and thought, "you all had the right idea too." now i'm back home for a day of work, hiking, and cooking. pandora has already played erykah, common and the isley brothers. if pandora played 'today was a good day' by ice cube, i'd swear it was reading my mind. instead it's playing old school mary j blige. turns out it's reading my heart.

best coffee EVER: royal at claremont & college (now known as Cole Coffee)

best morning buns in the east bay: la farine (down college 1/2 block from royal...toward berkeley)

spring dinner

i've been very busy cooking and pretending it's spring despite it being the '2nd rainiest month in boston ever'.

tonight's recipe as follows:

• 2 red potatoes


• green beans


• 2 ripe tomatoes


• brie cheese


• angel hair


• olive oil


• salt


• fresh pepper


• rosemary


• lemon (optional)

cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes (smaller the better), toss in olive oil, salt and a tiny bit of chopped rosemary. stick in the oven to roast until golden and tender... around 375 for 30 minutes

dice tomatoes set aside, cube brie cheese & set aside

boil salted water, cook pasta...reserve water by draining into another pot

bring reserve water back to boil, put in roughly chopped green beans, cook 3 minutes. drain and save about 1/4 cup of reserve water

toss pasta, cheese and 1/4 reserve water with a little olive oil until creamy. then add the rest of the ingredients, toss and serve with lemon slice. i like the lemon squeezed at the end. brightens it all up!

next time i will substitute parmesan for brie to make it more creamy and i will wear an apron as cute as this one from anthro

specialty food shops

cardullos in cambridge, oh how i like thee. i could honestly spend hours and thousands of dollars in that little store. to prepare for hours of back to back queer as folk we stopped in to grab snacks. yes, this was right after lunch. don't judge.

we picked up a great bottle of viognier, stilton cheese, baguette and a bar goat's milk dark chocolate. honestly, i'm not sold on the chocolate. the bitterness of the dark chocolate with the sourness of goat milk made for an odd combination. not bad at all, but not quite right. i would like to try a more sweet goat chocolate to balance it a bit more. the cheese on the other hand was just how it always is.....blue and amazing. and it made the wine so sweet when paired. into it.

sunday lunch

a thai sunday lunch. som tum, tom kha gai, dumplings and pineapple fried rice, hold the dried pork topping, please.

it was great. a little place in cambridge called tamarind house. they don't have a website that i can tell but they are super nice and the food is fresh. i have a friend who loves that word: fresh.

love good thai food on a lazy sunday afternoon.

sharing sportello

yes. i like to share. wellll, most of the time. i really do love to share food because then i get to try twice as much! take last night. sarah and i went to Barbara Lynch's sportello and ordered off of the restaurant week menu.

in total we had:

baby greens w/rye croutons, mustard vinaigrette and walnut creme

cured smoked salmon w/ celeriac creme fraiche & myer lemon puree

bigoli w/ green garlic pesto, potato & green beans

pork belly w/ fennel and parsley salad

a PLATE of cookies, and

chocolate walnut torta w/ salted caramel

a glass of barbera and prosecco

Highlights: pork belly and the salmon.

Best part overall: Barbara Lynch was there! I saw her and even took a picture, but you really can't see her so i won't bother posting. awesome night. i like.

drink

i haven't said it yet, but i like (to) drink. it is, by far, my favorite bar in boston. to order, you can just let the bartender know what you like generally and they will create something magical for you. before dinner upstairs, sarah and i stopped in. i ordered "something with whiskey and elderflower" and sarah ordered a classic mint julip. both were perfection. also love how there are no booze bottles. simple. amazing.