Pierogi

Haven't ever done that, although now that I've become a baker (or at least pretending I'm a baker....) I should do some treeetz for them. What really makes the girls very happy is raw veggies ! They both have never met a veggie they didn't love....broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper, celery, cabbage, you name, they love it. As soon as they hear me chopping, they're right there looking starved.

I got it about a month ago, and just finished "reading" it. I have a list of about 30 recipes to make, and another 10 or so that are flagged as "must make IMMEDIATELY". I basically learned to cook from the Sunset softcover cookbooks they used to publish back in the day. I have about 10 of them, ranging from salads, to BBQ, to Mexican to "Oriental". I still cook regularly from them. I've always been a fan of their recipe style.

Yes, indeedy. We will be doing Cajun/Creole food for sure.

Chris, what were the greens on the side? They look interesting, and I am currently being inundated by hearty, winter greens from my CSA. I'm pretty much out of new things to do with them....TIA

Good, rustic FLAVORFUL bread, drizzled with good olive oil, and toasted under the broiler, or in a really hot oven. Rub with the cut side of a garlic clove, and then take a ripe tomato, cut in half, and smear the flesh over the bread. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Best. Bruschetta. Ever.

About a month or so ago, I made a Meyer lemon budino with a boatload of lemons from a friend's tree. The recipe is on Epicurious.com. It was seriously good. So light but still so rich and flavorful.

Oh, and a semi-funny story about the Dodger Dogs. For a bazillion years, the packaging that's in that picture has been the retail package for the hot dogs sold by Farmer John meat packing as "Dodger Dogs". They are the official purveyor of hot dogs at Dodger Stadium, and yes, they're called Dodger Dogs there (only get 'em grilled, please. The steamed ones are nasty....) When I was asked to do this blog, I knew I'd have to provide teaser photos, and as Heidi pointed out, since my avatar is my own, personal Dodger Dog, I thought that a package of the real ones would be a good clue. Fast forward to Tuesday, when I went to the grocery store, in search of Dodger Dogs. None to be found, and I went to all 5 of the major chains in my 'hood. The closest I could come was a package of the foot-long Farmer John Dogs labeled "Big Game Dogs" or some such twaddle. They literally disappeared off of the shelves in the space of less than a week. Figures, the one time in my life I actually WANT an entire package of Dodger Dogs, and they seem to have become extinct. Luckily, the Farmer John web site still had a picture of the old, traditional packaging. Until tomorrow ! Big day in the little kitchen planned.

To me, Beard is about the best pure "writer" that ever wrote about food. I actually forgot to even look at the recipes in "Beard On Food" until I was almost done with the book. I was so taken by the prose, that when the article ended, I skipped on by to the next one. Only when I was done with the prose, did I go back to actually read the recipes and decide which ones I'd like to try. An amazing talent.

*deep breath* *gulp* I'd like to thank the Academy. Oh wait....that was LAST weekend ! Yes, Heidi, Darienne and Nickrey got it. I did sort of know that the Dodger Dogs and the Polish cookbook would give it to y'all. Your guest host this week is little ol' moi. I am so thrilled to invite you into my kitchen, and very flattered that eG thought me worthy of a vaunted Foodblog. Or, if there were no other takers, I'd prefer not to know ! Let me live in my fool's paradise To address a couple of comments from the "coming attractions" thread, Prasantrin, the first Mexican angel is indeed an ornament, not jewelry. She hangs in my kitchen, as does the print of the angels baking. Robirdstx, hadn't thought about the connection to LA, but I LIKE it since Long Beach is, in fact, the largest "suburb" of LA. If we were anywhere else but 30 miles south of downtown LA, we'd be a big city on our own, but here in LaLaLand, we're but a suburb. Actually, the angels are because I collect angels, and those particular ones also were making or offering food. Which, or course, speaks to my soul. Chris Hennes, Heidi nailed it. Your "mountains" in the distance is, in fact Catalina Island....26 miles across the sea, as they say. And that's the Port of Long Beach, with downtown Long Beach in the far foreground. There's a hill in the middle of Long Beach, which is an independently incorporated city, called Signal Hill. It's where a lot of the old-time oil operations in the area was based. That picture was taken from the top of Signal Hill. You can also see downtown LA from there, but it was a bit too hazy to make it out clearly the day I was there. Anyways, back to food. Tomorrow we'll get into the throes of the week. As a last teaser, here's some of the resources we'll be using to cook our way through the next few days. And yes, there will be a few field trips, and probably (more than) a few gratutious cute, furry dog shots. Hey, THEY eat my cooking too !

For me, it was the first time I tasted an avocado. I was probably about 16 or 17, and although I'd lived in Southern California at that point for over 10 years, my family's tastes were still heavily rooted in the Midwest. I was at a friend's house, and her Mom made us snacks, which included a dead-ripe, perfectly creamy, sliced avocado sprinkled with a bit of salt. My mind was well and truly blown. I still remember that taste and sensation every time I eat an avocado. It takes me right back to that first, well, epiphany. Followed closely, both in terms of experience and time, by the first artichoke I ate. But I'll take that avocado memory with me to my grave. Yours...?

Andie, I feel the same way about the TJ's Greek yogurt. It's so superior in things like raita and other applications where you want thick and creamy. It doesn't break down and get runny, and you don't have to fool around with draining it to get that thick consistency. And the flavor is outstanding. I've noticed it stays fresher, longer, as well. It's a good product.

I found, that with the technique I used, which was *not* to dip in batter and deep fry the stuffed chile, if you had a couple of little rips around where the slit was, or even on the other side, it didn't make much difference. I pooled batter in about 1/4" of grease, set the stuffed chile on top, let it set, and then poured/"molded" more batter on top. It gave me a thicker coating of batter than I would've gotten by deep frying, and also was less critical to having an entirely intact chile. Since the batter was sort of firm around the chile when I flipped it over, any defects in the chile were covered by the set batter. But. As we all know, there's more than one way to fry a relleno. Some dip. Some deep fry. For me, since I pretty much assiduously avoid deep frying anything, the above technique works, and is more forgiving of minorly ragged chiles. NOTE----minorly ragged only. Strips, yeah, still not gonna work.

I just use a very small (3&1/2"), very sharp paring knife. I just cut very gently right under the "shoulder" part of the chile on the inside, through the core. Once it's mostly cut, I can usually pull it out with my fingers, and then pull out any stragglers after the bulk has been removed. While I'm cutting & pulling, the chile is laying flat on the board, and I'm trying, with my left hand, to hold the top of it as stable as possible, to keep it mostly attached to the stem.

Quality problems in California as well. Out of a 3 pound bag of yellows I bought a couple weeks back, I got exactly one I could use in its entirety, and two where I could only salvage half of each. And like all y'all, I thought it was just me. For me, sweets, reds and whites tend to go bad, or be bad to start with, more frequently than the yellows.

That is a true bummer. I loved Keiller Dundee marmelade. Trader Joe's carried out here, they were the only outlet as far as I know. I didn't buy a lot of it, maybe one jar a year, but when I wanted it, I wanted it. Damn. Wonder what TJ's is going to carry in it's place. I always thought about saving the white glass jar when I'd finished one off. Now I wish I had.

Those are the sine qua non of peanuts as far as I'm concerned. The salted ones only, though. But the baseball branded shell-one bags that Heidi mentioned are also pretty darned good.

A McDonald's fry that has fallen to the floorboard of my car and rolled under the seat and has been sitting there for a year is still better than In-n-Out french fries. Why *is* that?! They make wonderful burgers. They make awful fries. They're *slightly* better if you ask for them well-done, which they will do, happily. The fries are fresh cut, not from frozen potatoes, and only single fried, which will never give you the crispness of a par-cooked, frozen fry (like Mickey D's) or a double-fried fresh cut fry (first fry at low temp, like 300°, then remove from the oil, drain and refry at a higher temp). Well-done, and doused in salt and ketchup I can tolerate them, but they're not the star of the show anyway. Not eating all the fries leaves more room for the Animal Style DoubleDouble and the chocolate shake.

Cleaver. It literally does cleave. Potato masher.

Pasta sauce with chopped, dead-ripe summer tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, fresh mozzarella and the herb of your choice. I've used both cilantro and basil successfully (...but not together !). Some minced jalapeno maybe if you're using cilantro. Salt and pepper. Let sit at room temp for about half an hour. Pour in hot, cooked pasta of your choice, cover and let sit a bit to soften the mozzarella. Sprinkle Parmesan and eat. One of my favorite summer dinners.

Oh, I used to love that stand when I worked over there. My office was off Lomita, between Crenshaw & Hawthorne, and Ishibashi was a regular stop for me in season. They had the best corn..... If Torrance wasn't so totally inaccessible by freeway, I'd be there a lot more frequently.

OHHHHHHHH, Mjx just lit a brain cell or 2 for me. Pfeffernusse ! They're a German spice cookie usually made around the holidays. Some recipes don't use black pepper, but most do. They're sort of hard & crunchy and rolled in powdered sugar. An aquired taste, but if you like spicy, and peppery, they're quite good. I don't have a recipe, but just pulled up a bunch from our buddy Google.

I have a couple of tongs, one Oxo and one a supermarket cheapie. For me, it depends on the day, and how tired I am if I can use them effectively. Some days no issue, some days my hands and wrists ache if I so much as try to flip a shrimp with them. I've not tried the Trudeau tongs, but, again for me, a lot depends on how "springy" that top joint is. If it takes too much pressure to hold it closed empty, it's going to cause me problems in use. I'd try to find a pair in a store Darienne, and handle them a bit. See if they "fit" and if they cause pain or fatigue for you. That's really the only way to be sure. FWIW, the Oxo is pretty good. It has good balance, and has the silicone tips, combined with the strength of the metal arms, and it doesn't take too much pressure to keep it closed. Those scissors tongs for me are harder to work, and I'm more clumsy with them, plus they press on pressure points in the joints that are extremely painful.

This is by no means a scientific opinion, nor is it well tested or challenged more than the one time I experienced it. But, it's my opinion, and I'm stickin' to it.... About 6 months ago, I joined a CSA. Last month they started offering eggs. Last pickup (on 2/10), I got a half a dozen (they have limited hens, its been cold here and the girls don't lay well in cooler weather, and lots of members want the eggs, so its currently limited to 1/2 dozen at a time). A couple of days after I got the first CSA eggs, I didn't feel like making a big dinner, so I decided I'd have a fried egg sammich instead. I had decent bread, some decent Cheddar, decent butter, you get the drift. I also used a bit of ketchup, S&P and some very thinly sliced sweet onion. The typical players in my fried egg sandwiches. I took my first bite of the CSA egg sandwich and thought *HOLY CATS...THIS EGG HAS FLAVOR*. I could taste the egg even above and beyond the ketchup, onion and Cheddar. And the texture of the yolk was different from the commercial eggs I'm used to. It was.....creamier. And I'd been buying "cage free, organic" eggs from Trader Joe's for a while now. Maybe I just had a good egg zen day cooking it. Maybe I was seduced psychologically by the siren song and myth of happy chickens and happy eggs and happy farms and happy happy joy joy. But I believe there was a difference in the taste of that egg, and now I can't wait to bake with the new 1/2 dozen I have in the fridge. And to make another fried egg sammich. Not to say commercial eggs aren't a great deal, and a great product, and a model of efficient distribution and marketing. But, I think small producer eggs may be better.

Tonight I made the best roast chicken I have ever eaten, let alone made. I based it on the Judy Rodgers' Zuni method for seasoning and salting (dry brining). Dry the chicken well, stuff herbs (I used rosemary) and garlic under the skin over the breasts and thighs, maybe a bit of herbs in the cavity, and salt and pepper the skin. No wrapping. Let it air dry in the fridge for 2 days. I did it on a rack over a sheet pan, so the bottom didn't sit in any juices that might accumulate. Pull it out about 2 hours before cooking, and let it come to room temp. Now, in the supposed Zuni recipe I have, the technique is to blast it in a 475° oven, in a preheated cast-iron or equivalent pan/skillet. I wanted to further riff on the idea of the French rotisserie chickens, which have small, roasted potates on the side that roast under the chicken in the drippings. I figured the potatoes, the ones I used were baby Dutch yellows, would burn at that temperature. So I preheated the oven, hard, to 450°. I gave it at least an hour to get to temp. Then I put the chicken in a V-rack in a roasting pan, breast side down. The pan had been drizzled with a bit of olive oil, less than a tablespoon, actually. Just to get the potates started. I also oiled the ribs of the V-rack, since the skin of the chicken looked so dry at this point. Chicken went in breast side down, heat went down to 400° for 1/2 an hour. Bird got flipped. 15 minutes, breast side up at 400° Then I raised the temp to 425° for another 1/2 an hour. Flipped again, another 1/2 hour breast down at 425°. Flipped again, and finished off the breast side skin under the broiler. I also moved the potatoes around whenever I pulled it out of the oven. The breast meat was perfectly done, and juicy. The thigh meat was perfectly done. The skin was AMAZING, as were the potatoes. You could probably get away with less time on a smaller bird, but for the usual 4-5 pounders, this timing, I think works. It was truly a thing of beauty.

They keep sellin' 'em don't they? *SOMEONE'S* eating them. In droves, or there wouldn't be a Subway on every corner. ETA---and BTW, every time I pass one, no matter what time of day, they're packed. Absolutely packed. I don't get it, but someone must.