The food of Spain has more and better cachet, and major food cred as time goes on. Lagging behind sister European countries like France and Italy due to the slow return from Francisco Franco’s dictatorial ways, Spain’s foods, cuisine and chefs are now hitting their stride on the world stage. Only due to lack of exposure this writer hadn’t fully experienced the wonders of Spain’s food until the last few years.  Assuredly much like many others who pride themselves in eating well, traveling and experiencing new things.

A basket of jamon and chorizo at a Cristina's from Spain booth.

Cristina Rodriguez, owner of Cristina’s from Spain, was born and raised in Madrid.  She has lived for the last seventeen years in Los Angeles.  Missing many of the foods and flavors of her youth she sought out U.S.-based importers who were already importing some of her favorite things to eat from Spain.  She and her husband Tony Testa sell cheeses, jamons, chorizo, tortilla, almonds, olives and other delicacies at various farmers’ markets around Los Angeles.  The difference between what she sells versus what you may find at big box stores like Costco is that she went back to Spain, found the items she remembered she loved so much, then located the items through an established importer.  As a child she remembers a manchego maker in the countryside outside Madrid that sold his cheese village to village on a donkey.  She found him, he’s still making cheese and now she sells it in Los Angeles.

A basket of cheese at a Cristina's from Spain booth.

All the items that she and Tony sell have a similar story.  After tasting one too many mediocre versions of something Cristina knew tasted better back in Spain, she and Tony set out to find the highest quality version of that specific item.  Among the many foods they offer are quince paste, olives, marcona almond flat bread, chorizo, serrano ham, manchego, goat and blue cheeses, and the Spanish favorite tortilla (a potato and egg fritatta).  The couple made sure each item was up to snuff by having Cristina’s mother in Madrid give her approval.  If she didn’t like an item they were considering it wasn’t added to the inventory.  When Cristina and Tony visited Cristina’s mother, Tony took copious notes.  He’s now the official cook in the partnership.  Anything the couple sells that is prepared is Tony’s doing.

Cristina’s goal is to share the flavors she remembers growing up; to find those Spanish delicacies that are a step above the rest; those that taste of the place they come from, the terroir which always affects the flavors in endless nuanced ways.  With the help of people like Cristina and Tony the glorious flavors of Spain will reach more and more willing and hungry mouths.

Tony Testa manning the Cristina's from Spain booth.

Spanish tortilla. The recipe is Tony and Cristina's.

Cristina’s from Spain (323-719-1974) can be found at these Los Angeles-area farmers’ markets: Tuesdays in Silver Lake, Saturdays at La Canada, and Sundays in Atwater Village.

*A version of this post was previously posted on Honest Cooking.

Michael McCarty, chef/owner of Michael's restaurant, at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market.

A shopping and eating adventure with a world-renowned chef and restaurateur: Michael’s Market Meet-Ups — where friends, food and flavor come together.

Chef Michael McCarty is hailed as a pioneer of the California Cuisine movement that began in the early 1980s.  He and a group of California chefs started sourcing and cooking local ingredients only; those solely grown or raised in California.  And a movement was born.  Chef McCarty is the owner of Michael’s Santa Monica, a restaurant that has been at the same location on 3rd Street for thirty-two years.  Chef McCarty prides himself in only serving the best seasonal ingredients and is known for his personal connections to local growers.

Michael’s is two city blocks away from the world-famous Santa Monica Farmers’ Market.  He and his chefs make weekly visits to the market to see what is in season, to decide on menus, and to buy produce for the restaurant.  Considering his knowledge of ingredients and his familiarity with the purveyors it comes as no surprise that he can easily lead a tour of the market, and that he knows virtually every vendor.

Alex Weiser of Weiser Family Farms.

Michael’s Market Meet-Ups are monthly tours of the market led by Chef McCarty followed by a lunch prepared from items purchased at the market.  On the most recent meet-up seven of us met Chef McCarty at Michael’s at 8:30 in the morning for coffee and house-made cinnamon buns.  Shortly thereafter we set out for the market where he introduced us to his favorite vendors while also grabbing items for that day’s lunch.  Since it’s spring in California it was all about spring ingredients: English peas, fava beans, ramps and morel mushrooms.  As we toured the market Chef McCarty offered lessons on produce of the season, as well as tips for navigating the market and selecting the best ingredients.  We met Alex Weiser of Weiser Family Farms, a McCarty favorite.  We stopped by Pudwill Berry Farms, another McCarty recommendation, where his executive chef bought berries for the restaurant.

Buying berries at the Pudwill Berry Farms stand.

When we returned to Michael’s for lunch we were served Morel Mushroom Wonton Soup (English peas, fava bean wontons, ramps, tempura morel in a morel mushroom broth), followed by Warm Spring Salad (ramps, pickled English peas, morel lardons, and a poached egg in a mustard and fava bean dressing).

Morel Mushroom Wonton Soup

Warm Spring Salad

The final hurrah was receiving a copy of McCarty’s cookbook Welcome to Michael’s and having him personally autograph it.  A fun, educational culinary outing with one of California’s best-loved chefs and food personalities.  Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday morning.

For more information on Michael’s Market Meet-Ups, and to find out when the next one is scheduled, check the Michael’s Santa Monica website ~ http://www.michaelssantamonica.com/

*A version of this post was previously posted on Honest Cooking.

This sign went up recently in a Wells Fargo parking lot in my neighborhood.  It brought back so many memories.  When I was little before my father left, and even after he left, Sunday was pancake day.  The day my father made breakfast.  It was always pancakes.  They were nothing fancy.  He used Bisquick pancake mix.  They were thin and he made big stacks of them.  It seemed like I ate five or six at a sitting but that could be my memory exaggerating.  I loved putting loads of butter between each one and dousing them with syrup.  Again, it was Log Cabin syrup, nothing fancy.  When I cut into them with a fork all the butter and syrup would squish up, the pancakes acting like a saturated sponge.  It was starchy, buttery, syrupy pancake heaven.  I looked forward to Sunday all week.  I ate until I was sick (literally once!).

After my parents divorce my father would still come around on the occasional Sunday to make us pancakes but as time went on, and he remarried that ceased.  That’s when we started going to pancake breakfasts put on by the Lions Club, or the Kiwanis, or some other men’s social group.  Just like the one in the picture, they took place outdoors if the weather was nice, or in a church hall if it wasn’t.  There were long tables with chairs to sit at and eat.  The men’s club members made the pancakes, and I believe some of them were all-you-can-eat.  They were also inexpensive so for my mother raising two children on her own it was the perfect outing.  Food her children loved, away from home, we might have gone with neighbors or friends so it was social as well.  I grew up in a small California town so these pancake breakfasts had a real community feel to them.

Living in large cities all my adult life I’d forgotten about them until I saw this sign.  I just might have to go this one.  The area of Los Angeles I live in, Atwater Village, has a small town vibe to it so a Lions Club pancake breakfast fits right in.  I’ve lived here for five years, this has been going on for sixty-seven, I’m not sure why I never noticed it before.  I’m glad I did.  It’s brought back some very nice memories.  If I do end up going, I’ll report back, and post some pictures.

Are there pancake breakfasts in your community?  Do you go to them?

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My most recent story is “L.A. – Casa Vega, Hang With The Stars on Cinco de Mayo.” I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – Los Angeles ~ Sunday, May 15, 1 pm – 5 pm, ~ Taste of the Eastside 2011, an all-star regional tasting event with a diverse array of Eastside restaurants at Barnsdall Art Park.

My Status:  Enjoying the arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, peas, spring garlic.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Heartland: The Cookbook by Judith Fertig, and Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

This recipe is meant as a template.  Please alter, add, remove, adapt as you see fit based on your own tastes and ingredients at hand.  The ingredients, quantities, and methods are also loose suggestions.  (You may substitute homemade sauce in lieu of canned.)  Be as spontaneous as possible!

Serves

2 – 4

Preparation Time

1 hour

Ingredients

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2- 4 Tbs olive oil

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/2 lb. ground pork

*2 – 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

*1 – 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 tsp herbes de Provence, or your herb(s) of choice

Salt & pepper, to taste

*or equivalent in homemade sauce

Method

Sauté the onions and garlic in 2 Tbs olive oil in a medium sized sauté, or frying pan.  When the onions and garlic are cooked, opaque in color, about 4 minutes of cooking time, add the mushrooms.  Add more olive oil if necessary.   Sauté the mushrooms until well-cooked, about 5- 7 minutes.  In a separate medium sized sauté, or frying pan start cooking the beef and the sausage together.  You can add a small amount of olive oil at the start of cooking.  Once the meat is cooked, add the tomato sauce, the tomato paste, the herbs, and the onion and mushroom mixture and stir together well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Let the sauce cook over low heat for 15 – 20 minutes.  Serve over your choice of pasta, or refrigerate or freeze to use later.

Read Original Post

Image from iStockphoto.com

No, not Honest Cooking, the new food news website I’m writing for but as in do I suck as a cook?  I think so all the time!  I really shouldn’t because I have both professional training and experience in restaurant kitchens.  I’ve also been cooking since I was in my late teens (37 years).  As my regular readers know I recently decided to (re)embrace my inner chef so I started this “food” blog.  This means I’ve been cooking more than I had been.  Cooking nicer meals, using exceptional ingredients, focusing on getting it right.  So when it goes wrong — and it goes wrong a lot — it really stings.  When I cooked in restaurants I never attained the title of “chef” but I can I say I was a “cook.” Meaning I know my way around a professional kitchen and certainly a home kitchen.

Things I Have Trouble With

Over-salting.  I guess I have a heavy hand.  I’m always surprised when I taste the dish and it’s too salty.  Happens too often.  Overdoing it may be part of my nature in general.  Guess I need to keep it in check.  Meat temperature.  I used to be able to determine meat temperature by touch.  Poking at a piece of cooking meat with my index finger to test for rare, medium rare, well-done.  I get it right two out of three times.  Recipes and cookbooks.  I tend to be too reliant.  There’s nothing wrong with using cookbooks and recipes but I’m not good at pulling away from them.  I could stand to be more spontaneous.  More willing to make substitutions.  I do cook a lot of meals not using cookbooks or recipes.  I have my own dishes I’ve made up but I still default to cookbooks and recipes more often than not.  Robert, the man I share most of my meals with, likes when I cook without using cookbooks or recipes.  Other recent mishaps: overcooked meat, or poultry; burned food either on the stove top, or in the oven.  I’d like to blame it on the stove and oven but I doubt they’re the culprits.  Since we’re passing blame: a lot of recipes don’t work.  Be careful when using recipes off the Internet.  I’ve found a number of those I’ve tried patently don’t work (and led to many of my cooking mishaps).  I’ve even found cookbook recipes with missing ingredients.

A Non-Perfect Cook?

The issue here, the reason I’m so hard on myself, is that I’m a perfectionist (for you astrologers out there I’m a Virgo, the sign of the nitpicky-perfectionist).  I’m afraid of my cooking not being perfect.  In fact it’s so bad that I don’t have people over because I’m afraid I’ll screw it up (it’s happened).  It’s a cook’s version of stage fright.  I’m supposed to be this skilled, knowledgeable cook, but what if I’m not?  How could I ever live that down?  Throw into the mix eating out, having professionals cook for me, which only makes doing it myself even more challenging.  I  then think that I can’t cook that well, or how can I ever rise to their heights?  I make comparisons.  I’m being a bit over-dramatic here but you get the point.  The bottom line is cooking well is a skilled craft, and it takes a lot to perfect the craft.  Home cooking regularly absolutely helps; no doubt.  It is truly about practice, practice, practice — and more practice.

A Rusty Period

My reasons for writing this are to fess up; to admit my own cooking shortcomings.  I also suspect that there are others out there like me so I wanted to share my fears, mishaps, and concerns.  You’re not alone.  I do know that making mistakes is a big part of cooking, and that it happens often even to the best cooks.  I also know that I have to learn to stop expecting perfection so I can learn from my mistakes, move on and try, try again.  I keep telling myself I’m just going through a rusty period.  But a two year rusty period?  When will it be over?  The answer to that is: never.

Spaghetti, Please!

I recently made a very spontaneous red sauce for pasta because I wanted to replicate a dish we often ate when I was growing up: Spaghetti.  To us the word “spaghetti” was about the whole dish not just the noodle.  My mother made it with hamburger, canned tomato sauce, dried herbs, and we always ate with spaghetti (I never knew there were other pasta shapes until I left home).  The one I made was very different but still satisfied that yen for childhood flavors.

Print Recipe

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My most recent story is “L.A. – Grilled Cheese Invitational 2011.”  I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – Los Angeles ~ Sunday, May 15, 1 pm – 5 pm, ~ Taste of the Eastside 2011, an all-star regional tasting event with a diverse array of Eastside restaurants at Barnsdall Art Park.

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, and the tail end of winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Heartland: The Cookbook by Judith Fertig, and Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

My great-grandmother, Ora Goodman, and her garden, were the impetus for me to start writing this blog.  She was a major influence all through my childhood.  She lived a ‘local’ life without realizing she was doing so.  She simply lived her life.  This series is part of a longer piece I am working on about her, and her life.  Herewith, Part 6…

Spring, Summer is Coming

The advent of spring always thrilled me because it meant that my favorite season — Summer! – was just around the corner.  The spring garden was magnificent – and it was then that the blackberries, raspberries and strawberries began to appear.  If we were lucky and spring was on time, we would have fruit as early as mid-May or early June.

But spring was really about the very tall and brilliant vermilion poppies that invaded my great-grandmother’s garden.  It was as if they had bloomed over night.  I would wake-up one morning, and there would be a sea of red floating in the breeze.  I was absolutely sure the poppies had not been there the day before.  They had, without a doubt, magically bloomed in the night.

My great-grandmother, Ora Chandler Goodman (left) standing in her flower garden with a family friend.

I would run outside and plunge into them, disappearing from sight for hours on end as the flowers towered over me.  Down on my knees in the fine sand they grew in, I would crawl around exploring, catching bugs, squinting up through the flower petals to the sunlight and sky above.  When the day grew too hot, I would lie down and rest amongst the cool, red blooms.  It was my magical kingdom away from adults, away from all those things that frightened a small child.  Symbols of my great-grandmother, those amazing flowers sprouted up from the earth – iridescent, strong – year after year.

Summer!  It’s Berry Season

My favorite time of year in the garden was summer, when the flowers were in full bloom, and the fruits and vegetables were at their most flavorful.  My sister and I would always visit the strawberry patch first, kneeling in the sandy soil and plucking fruit directly from the vine — warmed by the sun and the most flavorful I’ve ever tasted.  Next we would go to the raspberry and blackberry bushes and eat as many of those as we could.  By the time we were finished, our fingers, teeth and tongues were stained bright purple, as were the clothes we wore.  We were the happiest two kids for miles around.  Cooking and eating outside became summertime priorities.  Gathering fruits and vegetables ripe and right off the vine was another.

To be continued…

Here’s a simple recipe for garden-ripe tomatoes:

Print Recipe

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My most recent story is “L.A. – Grilled Cheese Invitational 2011.”  I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – Los Angeles ~ Sunday, May 15, 1 pm – 5 pm, ~ Taste of the Eastside 2011, an all-star regional tasting event with a diverse array of Eastside restaurants at Barnsdall Art Park.

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, and the tail end of winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Heartland: The Cookbook by Judith Fertig, and Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

The key to this dish is that the rest of the meal must already be on the table before it is prepared.

Ingredients

Fresh, ripe, garden Beefsteak tomatoes, or farmers market, organic tomatoes

Olive oil

Fresh ground pepper & salt

Method

The tomatoes should be warm and fragrant from the sun, just picked if possible.  As everyone begins eating, slice and serve the still warm tomatoes. They may be drizzled with olive oil if desired.  Add fresh ground salt and pepper to taste.  If using organic farmers market tomatoes try leaving them outside to ‘sun warm’ them.

Read Original Post

A dining room at Gaulthier, London, England.

Jill is American but lives in London with her British husband, Malcolm.  We met in 2003 at a dinner held by our Italian friend, Patrizia in an Umbrian hill town.  We became fast friends, and are still very close despite the distance that separates us.  Both Jill and Malcolm enjoy good food, and eating well.  That only solidified the friendship.  I’ve had the pleasure of being at table with Jill and Malcolm in Los Angeles, London and Italy.  Every once in awhile Jill sends me notes, emails, of somewhere she and Malcolm have just been, of the things they ate.  The way she writes about the dishes is like culinary poetry to me.  This is partially due to the way the British write about ingredients, and their use of differing words for the same ingredients we use in the U.S. but it’s primarily Jill’s way of describing a dish that is so captivating.

Jill is a novelist and book editor by trade so she is well-versed in English; she also has a writer’s ear for language.  She and Malcolm recently celebrated a birthday by going out to a couple of London restaurants.   Here in her own words where they went after a visit to an art gallery:

“We had a snackette at Clarke’s before going on to visit Ham House and Garden, south of the river — a nearly intact 17th century historic house.  From there, we walked along the river to Petersham Nurseries, where, oh my, the food was good!  I started with a rose prosecco, then had homemade linguine with meltingly soft cherry tomatoes and black olives, a soupçon of lemon.  The main course was new season’s garlic sliced in cross sections (so it looked like marble) and served with torpedo onions and soft, gooey caprina cheese — like mascarpone.  For pudding I had lemon possett with rhubarb and Malcolm had a blood orange and lemon tart.”

So my questions to the above are: What are torpedo onions?  What is lemon possett?  I haven’t looked up the answers.  I’m not sure I want or need to know.  They sound so exotic.  I also haven’t heard of caprina cheese but it also sounds amazing.  And I already know that pudding means dessert.

The next day Jill went to lunch at Gauthier in SoHo, and this is what she ate:

“I had watercress velouté to start, then duck egg, followed by a cheese selection. Very, very good, and all hosted in a Georgian townhouse in Soho.”

Several years back she and Malcolm were in Rome:

“I must tell you about a meal Malcolm and I had in Rome8 today.  First we went to a gelato place by the Pantheon where I had rose and dark, dark chocolate ice cream.  A marvel, I’m telling you.  At lunch I had pasta (two different types because I couldn’t decide — the nice waiter said he’d get them to make both for me, only one serving) with a citrus and nut sauce, and the more interesting one was with a grape sauce.  Lemon, wine, grape, no garlic or onion.  Malcolm had a pasta with — get this — fig, cinnamon and a clove sauce.  It was truly wonderful.  I had rice pudding with blackberries for dessert and Malcolm had baked yellow plums with a kind of marzipan custard.  The coffee came in tall espresso cups with tiny lids on them.  A religious experience, to be sure.”

*The restaurant in Rome is Ristorante Trattoria.

So tell me, dear readers, don’t her words of food make you want to taste every last morsel?  They do me.  I think I’ll keep on saving these, who knows one day there may even be a book.

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My most recent story is “L.A. – Return of the Neighborhood Butcher.” I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – Saturday, April 23, 11 am – 6 pm ~ The 2nd 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational, a grilled cheese cooking competition.  You cook.  Judges vote.  Everybody wins!

#3 – Sunday, May 15, 1 pm – 5 pm, ~ Taste of the Eastside 2011, an all-star regional tasting event with a diverse array of Eastside restaurants at Barnsdall Art Park.

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, and the tail end of winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers by Debby Maugans.

3.0 miles, about 10 minutes from my home in Atwater Village.

A new kind of sausage has arrived to Los Angeles: Berlin-style currywurst.  Something new, and oh-so-different to the always evolving culinary scene in Los Angeles.  Currywurst is German street food that has been around for at least sixty years.  Considered the number one street food in Germany, currywurst vendors can be found on street corners throughout the country, and most definitely in Berlin.  As Los Angeles has the bacon-wrapped hot dog vendors waiting outside bars and nightclubs to feed hungry late night hipsters, Berlin has its currywurst stands.  Many of which have become neighborhood meeting points.

Such is the case with Berlin Currywurst located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.  Not a food stand but a brick and mortar shop; small in size with a few tables outside, it is sandwiched between an artisan gelato shop and a bead store.  The food is simple yet immensely satisfying.  Big on flavor, it’s a mix-and-match menu.  The reason it’s called currywurst is due to the red curry flavored tomato sauce that each plate of wursts is served under.  Pick your wurst (brat, bock, rinds and so on), pick your level of heat for the sauce (1 to 4), add a flavoring (garlic, chipotle, jambalaya), and fritten (French fries) if you wish, and you’re set.  If beef, veal and pork are not in your diet they offer chicken and tofu wursts.  Each plate of sausages is served with German farmers bread.  Berlin Currywurst uses all-natural meat, the made-on-the-premises sauce contains organic ingredients only, and the fries are made with hand cut, organic potatoes.

Opened in February 2011 by husband and wife team Lena and Hardeep Manak along with partner Haike Buentemeyer, Berlin Currywurst already has a dedicated following.  A recent lunch of Paprikawurst (all natural pork with paprika and garlic), heat level 1, garlic flavoring, and fritten with onions was so satisfying that I can’t wait to go again.

Berlin Currywurst, 3827 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA  90026, 323-663-1989, www.berlincurrywurst.com

**A version of this article was first published in Honest Cooking, April 14, 2011.

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

Follow The Local Report on Twitter: @TheLocalReport

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My first story was published on April 14, 2011: “Berlin Currywurst Arrives to L.A.” I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – A Menu of Parisian Bistro Classics at Le Saint Amour, Culver City, CA.  Consulting chef Walter Manzke offers a different Parisian bistro dish every night of the week (Sunday is Poulet Frit for example) at Le Saint Amour.  If you like classic French food like I do then get thee to Le Saint Amour for a plat du jour, or for something delicious off their full menu.  Bon appétit!

#3 – Saturday, April 16 & Sunday, April 17, 2011, 11 am – 8 pm (Sat.), 11 am – 7 pm (Sun.) ~ Artisanal L.A. where nearly 100 local, artisanal and handmade vendors showcase their wares.  Support your local crafts persons, vendors and businesses.

#4 – Saturday, April 23, 11 am – 6 pm ~ The 2nd 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational, a grilled cheese cooking competition.  You cook.  Judges vote.  Everybody wins!

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, and the tail end of winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers by Debby Maugans.

Sean Sullivan, author of Spectacularly Delicious.

New York-based food blogger, Sean Sullivan writes the food blog Spectacularly Delicious.  Sean can really cook.  No, I mean REALLY cook.  He cans; he makes jams, jellies, preserves, and chutneys; he bakes; he makes sausages from scratch; he goes out in the morning on Long Island and forages for sea beans, or whitebait and then serves them that night.  Together if he can.  At a dinner party for ten.  Sean is a self-taught cook.  And his enthusiasm for cooking, eating and food is infectious.  One of the many pleasures I’ve had since starting this blog has been meeting new and interesting people.  Sean is among that group.  We met this past August in Seattle at the International Food Bloggers Conference.  Once he introduced himself that was it.  Friends for life.

I love his blog.  He searches for, and finds the most retro, cool and interesting recipes that he can.  Most of the time he’ll take a classic, or even one that never made it to classic status, and put his own spin on it.  One never quite knows what each new blog post will bring.  As Sean states so well: “The mission of Spectacularly Delicious is to share my life long collection of show-stopping recipes and culinary presentations that will amaze and astound.”  Sean sees dinner as theater and entertain he does.

He Had Me at Pomegranates

I think it was last fall when Sean wrote a blog post titled “A Spectacular Celebration of Pomegranates!“  The POM people asked Sean to throw a dinner party using pomegranates.  So not only does he create a pomegranate centric menu, he creates this amazing pomegranate centerpiece, and records a step-by-step instructional video that he posts on You Tube.  I am stopping you right here, dear reader.  You have to watch Sean make this centerpiece before reading on: How To Make A Pomegranate Centerpiece.   I mean I can cook just fine; I throw a pretty mean dinner party but whip up a center piece that easily?  I don’t think so.

Photo credit: Sean Sullivan.

The Spectacular Origins

Sean grew up with four brothers in an Irish Catholic household in St. Louis, Missouri.  He tells a story of how his mother made a deal with the milkman who helped her get a cafeteria-style stainless steel dispenser that held five gallons of milk supplying the five growing boys with cold milk on tap.  Sean’s parents loved to entertain and did so on a grand scale, (clam bakes, pig roasts, a nine foot pizza once), and it rubbed off on all the boys.  When Sean was in college he started cooking for himself, poorly at first.  While working in restaurants as a student, and for New York City caterers after college, his food interests escalated and his cooking skills improved.  As a young man Sean worked in entertainment traveling to Japan, Mexico and Europe where he picked up more recipes, and cooking tips.  His home-canning passion began when he started frequenting the Union Square Farmers’ Market in Manhattan.  He currently holds a marketing position with House Beautiful which also provides material for his cooking interests.

St. Patrick's Day sausages by Sean Sullivan. Photo credit: Sean Sullivan.

Liberace, Elvis, Phyllis Diller, and The Famous Airline Cookbook

Sean is a prolific blogger posting on average twice a week.  Each post has a nice often very funny story and always includes a recipe.  He spends his weekends at his Long Island house cooking, photographing and videotaping the upcoming week’s recipes.  Often a dinner party is thrown.  His partner Steve assists as sous-chef, videographer and official taster.  There are many posts I’ve enjoyed reading but the Qantas Barramundi Macadamia: Gourmet Recipe post really made me giggle because it’s inspired by “The Famous Airline Cookbook.”  Sean found this cookbook full of recipes from the world’s airlines.  I actually do remember when airline food wasn’t horrible with Air France being more than edible.  To me the book and the recipe sums up what Sean does so well.  Finding the old, retro, très chic foods of bygone days brushing them off then adding a new patina to them.  What could be more fun that that?

Liberace's Nusstorte by Sean Sullivan. Photo credit: Sean Sullivan.

Liberace cooked!  Who knew?  He also wrote cookbooks: “Liberace Cooks! Recipes from His Seven Dining Rooms.”  In a recent blog post Sean re-purposes Liberace’s Scampi Prosciutto.  How ’50s Las Vegas does that sound? In Sean’s version he uses German speck instead of prosciutto, and serves it with couscous instead of egg noodles.  The giggle to this post is the You Tube video Sean tacks on to the end: Liberace and Phyllis Diller on The Liberace Show from 1969.  For the Elvis connection Sean writes about a young Alabama entrepreneur who came up with Fat Elvis Ice Cream which contains bananas, bacon, brown sugar and peanut butter.

I always learn something new with each Spectacularly Delicious post whether it be a tidbit of gossip, a cookbook I’ve never heard of, or how to cook, can, or preserve an unfamiliar ingredient.  Spectacularly Delicious is a swell read, Sean is an accomplished cook and raconteur, and a delightful friend.

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – A Menu of Parisian Bistro Classics at Le Saint Amour, Culver City, CA.  Consulting chef Walter Manzke offers a different Parisian bistro dish every night of the week (Sunday is Poulet Frit for example) at Le Saint Amour.  If you like classic French food like I do then get thee to Le Saint Amour for a plat du jour, or for something delicious off their full menu.  Bon appétit!

#2 – Saturday, April 16 & Sunday, April 17, 2011, 11 am – 8 pm (Sat.), 11 am – 7 pm (Sun.) ~ Artisanal L.A. where nearly 100 local, artisanal and handmade vendors showcase their wares.  Support your local crafts persons, vendors and businesses.

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the last of the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens, fennel.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers by Debby Maugans.