i8tonite

Category: Food People

i8tonite with Hawaiian Author and Food Writer Sonia R. Martinez & Recipe for Salade Niçoise with fresh ‘ahi

Sonia R. Martinez was born in the island of Cuba, and has always been drawn to tropical climes and cuisines. For the last 22 years she has lived on the Island of Hawai’i in a beautiful rain forest where she loves to play in the garden, grow herbs, collect cookbooks, test recipes, visiting farms; learning and reporting about new sustainable growing techniques, read voraciously, and work on crossword puzzles.

Her passion for food and cooking led her to own kitchen/gourmet shops and cooking schools first in Orangeburg, South Carolina and later in the Miami, Florida area. After moving to Hawai’i, she and her son owned Akaka Falls Inn, a B&B, cooking school and gourmet shop in Honomu for several years.

She has been a food writer and columnist since early 1999, writing a monthly column for The Hamakua Times newspaper of Honoka’a. Sonia is also a regular contributor to Ke Ola Magazine as well as many other local publications. I first met Sonia in the early days of Gather, a website that featured great writing and an even greater community. Her recipes, photos of life in Hawai’i, and generous, smiling personality attracted many followers, including myself. Her care and attention is genuine and I consider her decade+ friendship one of the best things coming from the islands to Michigan! She has been a beacon for visitors to visit Hawai’i, promoting the delicious local foods there, as well as encouraging healthy and fresh eating. Her recipes, food photos, and sharing of local farmer’s markets, island food, and the beautiful place she lives in has inspired countless readers.

Her cookbook Tropical Taste, published in 2001, is a compilation of three years’ worth of monthly columns published in The Hamakua Times and is now in its second printing after being picked as one of the “Best of the Best” cookbooks in Hawai’i by Quail Ridge Press. Her second cookbook, From Soup to Nuts, was published a year ago .

Sonia has maintained a blog for several years, sharing her adventures in food and gardening and her ongoing love affair with Hawai’i at www.soniatasteshawaii.com

Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):

What is your favorite food to cook at home?
Mainly simple and fresh…but I grew up with the ‘waste not’ concept and love to find creative ways to recycle leftovers so they don’t look or taste like leftovers.

What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Eggs, butter, cheese…I can live on cheese.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Appreciation and enjoyment of the food.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Inattention to the food or the other extreme, showing off their ‘gourmandise’

Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Definitely wine…unless I’m eating a paella or Arroz con Pollo…then I do enjoy a very cold beer. I am not fond of cocktails.

Your favorite cookbook author?
This is a hard one. At one time I owned a collection of well over 3000 cookbooks. Lost them in a fire, but in no time at all, my ‘new’ collection grew by leaps and bounds with gifts from friends who were trying to replace the lost ones, plus the many I added through the years. A couple of years ago, I started going through them and culling them to a manageable 4 shelf units in my office and hallway instead of all over the house. It was a time of hard decisions, but now know exactly what I have and where to find it…No mean feat, since I still own about 500, give or take.

I have an extensive collection of Cuban and Hawaiian cookbooks; a few Spanish & Portuguese, some Italian ones and Tropical Fruit ones, plus several on herbs & spices, a few single topic ones (sushi, dim sum, chocolate) and several of the classics that don’t fit into any of the categories mentioned…and of course, my own two titles, Tropical Taste and From Soup to Nuts.

Your favorite kitchen tool?
My Santoku knife…I seem to reach for that one above all other ones.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Tropical, Cuban, Italian.

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
I’ll eat anything but am most creative with chicken. I am not fond of tofu.

Favorite vegetable?
Asparagus, any way it can be prepared.

Chef you most admire?
Although I have met a few of the well-known chefs in the culinary world, and admire several of them, I will have to say that there are three ‘local’ chefs I admire the most on this island. Sam Choy of Sam Choy’s Kai Lanai in Kailua-Kona, James Babian of Pueo’s Osteria in Waikoloa, and Diana Soler of Aloha Bayfront Café in Hilo, for their commitment to using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible and their honest approach to food. Simple, fresh, beautifully prepared and presented without ostentation.

Food you like the most to eat?
Any shellfish but love scallops

Food you dislike the most?
Anything that is an imitation of the real thing

What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Play in the garden…I love planting edibles among our ornamental landscaping (I even joy weeding!), and am a voracious reader.

View from Sonia’s back yard

Who do you most admire in food?
My mentor and inspiration from way back has always been Shirley O. Corriher, who came to my first cooking school as a guest cooking teacher fairly often in the early 80s. She demystified so many of my preconceived notions in cooking and her enthusiasm and love of all things food served as great encouragement.

Where is your favorite place to eat?
A good sushi or seafood restaurant.

What is your favorite restaurant?
Takenoko’s Sushi in Hilo, is in my opinion the best sushi restaurant anywhere. We’re lucky if we can get reservations since the waiting list is so long, but it is well worth the waiting. I also enjoy dropping by Aloha Bayfront Café in Hilo for lunch. The food is always fresh, delicious, and beautifully presented, the staff is friendly, and you’re never rushed to vacate the table.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
No tattoos. My mother would have killed me!

Recipe: Salade Niçoise with fresh ‘ahi

One of my favorite simple and healthy meals to prepare at home when I can buy fresh ‘ahi (tuna) is my version of a Salade Niçoise.

Season to taste fresh ‘ahi (tuna), sear in avocado oil, serve on a bed of fresh spinach or Manoa lettuce, boiled potato wedges, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, sliced onions, a handful of lightly steamed haricot vert, and asparagus, dressed simply with Honey Wine Vinegar to which I had added a vanilla bean.

The End. Go Eat.

All photos courtesy and copyright Sonia R. Martinez

May 6, 2016
i8tonite with Salt Lake City’s Global Foodie Stormy Sweitzer & recipes for Out of the Box Mayan Brownies and Key Lime Coconut Bars

Haul from Rancho Market, the pan-Latino market we visit on the tour

After Stormy Sweitzer developed a plethora of food sensitivites several years ago, she turned to her travel experience for recipe inspiration. Many international cuisines do not typically use the wheat and dairy products she needed to cut out of her diet, so she started shopping at the ethnic food markets in town.

There is a tremendous international community in Salt Lake City. (In part, due to the fact that SLC is a designated refugee-receiving area, has a large research university, and many foreign-born members of the LDS community immigrate to Utah, as families or new spouses.) As a result, there are a lot of interesting stores, restaurants, and artisan food products from around the globe to explore. And she wanted to introduce interested locals to them. Stormy has offered the tours for about four years now, just a few times each year, through the University of Utah’s Lifelong Learning Program, as well as through private tours.

She sees the class as a gateway to exploration. Her goals are to pique people’s curiosity, encourage them to play with incorporating foreign flavors into everyday cooking (as opposed to becoming expert at international cuisine), and learn how to navigate the shops and ingredients available in their community with confidence.

Teaching before the tour

On the tour, Stormy notes, “We eat our way around town, snacking on Indian Samosas and Chinese BBQ pork buns, having lunch at the restaurant inside of the pan-Latino market, and ending with cardamom spiced tea and chocolate-covered date-covered almonds or samples of fresh dates if they are season. The owners of the shops love that each time I hold a tour, I am introducing new customers to their stores and their home cuisines.”

“Most of the people that join my tours are recently-retired folks who are bored with their cooking and want to shake things up a bit now that they have time to play in the kitchen, friends who want to spend the day exploring together, and young foodies who love to cook and want a guide for their culinary adventures. Many have driven by the shops we visit a million times, but did not feel comfortable going in because they didn’t know what to expect or what to do even if they saw something interesting. “

Stormy notes that she gets a lot of participants by word-of-mouth. They eat something amazing at a dinner party thrown by a past participant and then want to know where their host learned to make ginger and black sesame crusted tuna or cactus fruit syrup over ice cream or where they found the ingredients to pull off a green curry with fresh spring rolls and grilled bok choy. One past participant even wrote to tell her that after the tour, and her subsequent kitchen play, she was planning a trip to Mexico to take a week long cooking workshop.

Best of all, Stormy says, “I do not teach people how to cook. I just invite them to taste, smell, touch, and explore the foods we encounter and to eat together. It is a very sensory, community experience. And, I talk about everyday uses for (e.g., add curry powder to their tuna salad, or a little Thai basil and lime juice to fresh watermelon), storage of, and resources to guide the preparation of the ingredients they decide to try.”

Stormy is a professional problem-solver, everyday explorer, and co-author, with her husband/collaborator Will Swanepoel, of the YA environmental spy thriller The Drowning Shark (which I love!). You can learn about the book at SierraRouge.com and more about Stormy’s work and recipes at StormySweitzer.com.

Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):
What is your favorite food to cook at home?
My husband makes a killer biryani. I am happy to play a supporting role.

What do you always have in your fridge at home?
A lebanese garlic, olive oil and lemon juice condiment called toum made by Salt Lake City producer Laziz. We cook with it like nothing else.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Curiosity. About anything. It makes for interesting conversation and enjoyment of the meal.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Cell phone use.

Beer, wine, or cocktail?
I love a good cocktail, but what I drink really depends on the season.

Your favorite cookbook author?
Karen A. Page and Andrew Dornenburg, co-authors of my favorite cooking resource: The Flavor Bible.

Coconut knife found at SouthEast Asian Market used for pitting a cherry (one of Stormy’s favorite kitchen tools)

Your favorite kitchen tool?
My lemon squeezer and a coconut knife I found at a local Asian market; I use it to pit cherries in the summer.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Indian and Mexican.

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Pork, although I’ve been eating way less animal protein lately than I normally do.

Favorite vegetable?
Kabocha squash. I eat it a few times a week in different ways: smoothie, roasted, soup, etc.

Chef you most admire?
Honestly, I’m a hole-in-the-wall-restaurant kind of eater.

Food you like the most to eat?
My mom’s homemade refried beans and rice. It’s what I grew up eating.

Food you dislike the most?
Gluten wreaks havoc on my system, but I would rather face the consequences of eating wheat bread occasionally or avoid bread altogether than eat a gluten-free substitute.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Read. Voraciously.

Where is your favorite place to eat?
I travel a lot, so any place recommended by locals that leaves me thankful for having tried it is great in my book.

What is your favorite restaurant?
La Cai Noodle House, our favorite Vietnamese spot.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
Yes. None.

Belize-inspired key lime bars and easy Mayan Brownies

Recipe: Out of the Box Mayan Brownies

This recipe makes the most of traditional Mayan flavors…cocoa, citrus, cinnamon, chile, and vanilla… with the ease of your favorite store-bought fudge brownie mix. If you would like to use your own homemade brownie recipe in place of a mix, simply follow your own recipe’s instructions for eggs and oil/butter, and then add the extra cocoa, cinnamon, habañero, vanilla, walnuts and orange zest in the amounts listed below.

Ingredients
1 package fudge brownie mix
1/8 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
2 eggs
8 Tbsp melted butter or 8 Tbsp walnut oil (adds richness)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp finely minced habañero chile pepper
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp orange zest

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 8″x8″ pan.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together brownie mix, cocoa, and cinnamon. Add eggs, butter/oil, and vanilla and mix well. Fold in habañero, walnuts, and zest.
Pour batter into pan. Bake according to package instructions, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Be careful not to overcook or edges will harden.

Recipe: Key Lime Coconut Bars

These Belize-inspired treats are packed full of flavor and will transport you to the tropics. You can make them gluten-free by using rice flour instead of all-purpose baking flour made from wheat. For a bit of a kick, add the optional habañero to the filling. Makes ~15 bars.

For crust
• 1 cup shredded non-sweetened coconut
• 1 ½ cups flour (all-purpose or rice)
• ½ cup powdered sugar + more for dusting
• 10 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces (for dairy-free option, use vegan butter alternative)
For filling
• ¼ cup cups flour (all-purpose or rice)
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 5 large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup key lime juice (~15 medium key limes)
• 2 teaspoons grated key lime zest
• ¼ tsp finely minced habañero chile pepper

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat sauté pan to medium heat. Pour in 1 cup unsweetened coconut shreds and pan toast it, stirring continuously to prevent it from burning.
• Prepare crust in a large mixing bowl, by first combining the flour, ½ cup of sugar and ½ cup of the toasted coconut. Cut the butter into the flour-coconut mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
• Pour flour-coconut mixture into a lightly-greased 9-by-13-inch pan, and press it into the bottom of the pan (not the sides). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven.
• While the crust is cooling, prepare the filling in a separate mixing bowl. Beating the eggs together well. Then, add in lime juice, lime zest, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and optional habañero. Mix well. Quick tips: wear gloves when handling the habañero; your eyes will thank you later. ¼ tsp habañero is just enough to add a tiny, occasional bite; add more or less to taste. If you squeeze your own lime juice, strain it before adding it to the mix – it will help remove unwanted pulp and seeds.
• Pour filling into cooled crust and sprinkle the remaining toasted coconut on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden.
• Cool completely and chill until ready to serve. Cut into 2-inch squares. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, before serving.

The End. Go Eat.

April 29, 2016
i8tonite: with Erika Lenkert, Creator, EIC of GFF Magazine & Her Best Effing Chicken

San Franciscan-born and bred Erika Lenkert is the creator and editor in chief of GFF (Gluten Free Forever) Magazine. She is also a bon vivant, a traveler, a culinary writer, a single mother, and – importantly – a lover of great food. She says, “I’ve always been a food person. Growing up as a child of a single mother, my mother would take me everywhere to eat, but I also needed to fend for myself in the kitchen. When I was in junior high and high school, I was working as a receptionist, and then cold-calling at another job, but with the money (I earned), I would take myself out to eat.” Even more prescient of her future undertakings, as a child, Lenkert would gather her friends together and they would play how to create a magazine, creating subscription cards along with feature stories

After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in English Literature, Lenkert began a career as a freelance writer – and never looked back. For twenty years, she’s been a food writer for both San Francisco and Los Angeles Magazines and penned prolifically for Food & Wine, InStyle, San Francisco Chronicle, Elle, Travel & Leisure, and numerous other outlets with an approachable but knowledgeable voice. Furthermore, she’s written several books, including Party Girl Primer, Raw with Chef Juliano Brotman, and The Real Deal Guide to Pregnancy.

Beet Hummus

In 2014, Lenkert, who has been gluten intolerant since 2001, originated a Kickstarter campaign, raising close to $100,00 for a new culinary book about cooking without gluten; hence, GFF Magazine was born. “Starting a magazine was a crazy idea,” she says. “I feel like I bit off more than I could chew. I’ve always been more of a barter type of person but I found that I had to ask for what I needed without the possibility of giving it back.” At that time, she states, it was the most difficult in her life as she was going through a divorce, starting GFF, and found herself sick for the first time in her adult life with erythema infectiosum, commonly called the “fifth disease.” However, she never gave up her lifelong mission of creating a quality culinary magazine along the lines of Gourmet, except for the new health-oriented generation. “The food always has to be the star,” she says.

In March 2016, Lenkert partnered her second baby – she has another with two legs — with Meredith Corporation, who currently publishes well-read titles devoted to food and wellness such as Eating Well, Shape, and Better Homes & Gardens. Essentially, the relationship moves Lenkert’s quarterly publication from 12,000 issues to 250,000, with a newsstand price of $9.99 under their specialty titles. In today’s publishing world – with journals dropping like flies – it’s nothing short of a miracle. Truth be told, the deal was probably sealed with Lenkert’s infectious enthusiasm for her work in creating a culinary periodical. She – a runaway train knowing its’ true and right destination – states, “The name of the magazine might be GFF, but I want people to have the opportunity to cook and eat well. I want to give people happy food.” (Readers of i8tonite can receive a special price with the promo code: SPRING16. Sign-up via gffmag.com).

Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust)

What is your favorite food to cook at home? The “Best Effing Chicken”—a stupidly simple, over-the-top delicious boneless roasted chicken recipe taught to me by SF chef Daniel Patterson. It uses two ingredients and takes two minutes of prep, and it’s seriously fabulous. Or caramelized broccoli – I regularly make a meal out of it.

What do you always have in your fridge at home? Califia Farms vanilla almond milk, butter, eggs, and peanut butter.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? A penchant for skipping the small talk and getting right into the frank, honest conversation.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Resistance to sharing food.

Beer, wine, or cocktail? Depends. GF beer after a long day, wine at a dinner party, and a Manhattan out with friends.

Your favorite cookbook author? I don’t have time to read or cook from cookbooks. With 45 or more recipes in each issue of GFF, whenever I finish one, I’m off recipe developing, testing, and writing for the next.

Your favorite kitchen tool? A good knife. I’m not a gadget girl (less is more for me), but I do like my microplane, too.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook? Favorite? Japanese. Most common? Italian or “Californian” (i.e., a bunch of fresh stuff thrown together).

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu? Chicken, though I’m leaning more and more toward a vegetarian diet.

Favorite vegetable? Broccoli

Chef you most admire? Hiro Sone. He makes such beautiful food. Literally and figuratively.

Food you like the most to eat? Sushi. And French fries. 🙂

Food you dislike the most? I’m not a hater.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do? Travel, though that always includes food exploration.

Where is your favorite place to eat? Anywhere there’s good company. Or good food. Or fun bar-dining. Or all three.

What is your favorite restaurant? I don’t have one. But Nopa is my San Francisco fallback—because it has the aforementioned elements that make up my “favorite place to eat.”

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food? My skin is unadulterated—except for the sun damage from iodine-baby oil sun-tanning in the ‘80s and living on Maui in my 20s.

Recipe: Best Effing Chicken

Get the butcher to debone 1 large whole chicken (they’ll do it at Whole Foods). Salt it with 1 teaspoon of salt 1 to 3 hours prior to cooking and reserve in the refrigerator until 10 minutes before cooking. Lay the chicken flat, skin-side up, on a rimmed sheet pan and broil it about 3 inches from the heat, or until the skin is very crispy and brown, about 10 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 250°F and cook for 25 minutes. Cut the chicken into entrée-size pieces, transfer to a platter, and prepare to be blown away.

– The End. Go Eat. –

April 22, 2016
i8tonite with Grow Your Own Cake Author Holly Farrell & her Pumpkin Soda Bread Recipe

“Who doesn’t love cake?” Thus my introduction to Holly Farrell began, when I called her at her gardener’s cottage on an estate in the UK, near the Shropshire/Herefordshire border. Farrell is a serious gardener, mom of a toddler, and the author of Grow Your Own Cake: Recipes from Pot to Plate, a genius book that is both a backyard gardening guide and cookbook. The beautiful, inspiring photos are by Jason Ingram.

Farrell has a delicious twist to her cake recipes, though – she has a vegetable garden devoted to all things cake. How did this come about?

In college, Farrell majored in history. Which led, curiously, to gardening. What? Yes, well, love entered the picture, too, as you’ll find out in a moment. She got the growing bug working at a chili pepper farm, after which she trained at RHS Gardens Wisley, where she gained the Wisley Diploma in Practical Horticulture and the RHS Certificate and Diploma, both with Commendation – and met her husband! They now live on the country estate where he is the Head Gardener.

Soon, she started writing garden books – and freelancing on kitchen gardens for private clients. Now one thing that’s a bit unusual, you’d think, for gardeners – sometimes the accommodations where they lived didn’t have big gardens, because the estate had such extensive gardens! So, she has been growing her own fruit and vegetables for many years, in a variety of settings, from allotments to container gardens. I think for Farrell, gardening is like breathing – something you do no matter where you are. It was amazing to hear her clear passion for gardening – and her love of teaching how to grow things – from across the pond.

Farrell has always cooked, and always liked cake. This book is a glorious combination of the two, where ingredients you never thought would be in a cake are the stars – or the firmament.

lavender shortbread cookies

She hopes to inspire people to expand their gardens – and palates. This book will appeal to gardeners who are already growing, and bakers who have never gardened, too. Using freshly grown ingredients (including herbs and flowers) – especially from your own hand and land – makes such a difference. Can’t grow much? Start with herbs in pots on your windowsill, and get the rest from local farmers at your farmer’s market.

Rose cake

I love this book, for it teaches much in both the garden and the kitchen. If you know one, skip ahead to the other. But the recipes (50 of them!) shine, I will be honest. Her chapters include spring and summer cakes, autumn and winter cakes, afternoon tea, pudding, and savory bakes. When I asked what readers might be surprised about her book, Farrell mentions that she while she loves gardening, she doesn’t grow her own wheat, or raises cows and chickens – and the recipe that raises the most eyebrows is the savory cheesecake (you know I flipped right to that page after our afternoon chat, and indeed, I was both intrigued and impressed. Making soon!).

As a mom, I asked Farrell for tips were to get kids started baking (and gardening) early. She said to start early by baking sweet stuff! And while plenty of people are great at hiding vegetables in a cake, that’s not what she’s about. She prefers getting kids to appreciate growing things, picking, and then cooking them. Their time and efforts are rewarded and they’ll want to try it again (and again).

I was impressed with Farrell’s philosophy on gardening, eating, and life. She noted that, “so much goes into the experience of eating – where you are, who you’re with, if the sun is shining, etc. The cakes in the book will taste good, but hopefully you’ll be in a good place, a garden, and the satisfaction of having grown it yourself will make it better.”

To that end, she’s shared two recipes to inspire you.

Questionnaire, with a nod to Proust:

What is your favorite food to cook at home?
Cake! Or anything involving cheese.

What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Butter and eggs, and parmesan cheese (see above).

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
I’m terrible at deciding between dishes in restaurants, so it’s always nice when they order the other choice so I can try both!

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Poor table manners.

Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Cocktail.

Your favorite cookbook author?
Too many to choose, but for the writing, Nigel Slater and recently Ruby Tandoh.

Your favorite kitchen tool?
My silicone spatula.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Anything sweet – pudding, dessert, cake…

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Chicken, but I couldn’t live without pancetta for ragu.

Pea Cheesecake (told you. Make one!)

Favorite vegetable?
Broccoli – it’s what I crave when I’m under the weather, but for baking with, carrots.

Chef you most admire?
Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall do great work with their campaigns for better food.

Food you like the most to eat?
I couldn’t live without chocolate.

Food you dislike the most?
Visible fat on meat – I just can’t stomach chewing it. Or semolina and rice puddings, a school-dinner legacy.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Gardening.

Who do you most admire in food?
Michael Pollan writes so well, and his Food Rules is brilliant.

Where is your favorite place to eat?
At the kitchen table with my husband and daughter.

What is your favorite restaurant?
The best meals I’ve ever had out were at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir, and at a little place called Da Enzo in Rome.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
Hah! No, sorry, I’m not nearly rock and roll (or brave) enough for tattoos.

Growing Carrots & Carrot Cake Recipe

Grow your own carrots…

G R O W CARROTS
When I first started growing my own vegetables, I had a friend who thought carrots is carrots is carrots. I presented him with my home-grown roots for dinner, pulled from the soil that afternoon. ‘Oh’, he said, ‘so that’s what carrots are supposed to taste like.’

BEST VARIETIES
For recipes that call for blended or grated carrot, sweet, juicy, long, blunt-ended varieties are best, such as ‘Sugarsnax 54’, ‘St Valery’,
any of the ‘Nantes’ type or the shorter ‘Amsterdam Forcing’ for growing in pots. When using whole carrots, as in Root veg
tarte Tatin, baby carrot varieties such as ‘Paris Market’ are a good choice, and also suitable for growing in pots.

PLANTING
Sow carrots in a sunny spot in spring, and again at intervals until late summer. Scatter the seed thinly in a drill in well-prepared soil free from large stones. Small carrots can be grown in pots, and this is actually preferable to growing them in heavy clay soils.

MAINTENANCE
Carrot flies are attracted by the scent of the foliage so avoid brushing it while tending the plants. To protect the crop from such pests, cover with horticultural fleece or fine mesh. Clear plastic tunnels can also be used if aired daily. Check the edges and folds regularly for slugs and snails. Thin the seedlings once the roots have grown to a usable size, leaving one plant every 10cm/4cm or so.

HARVEST
Satisfying as it is to just pull up carrots using the foliage, this should be avoided so the root does not break; instead use a fork to lever them out of the ground. Carrot thinnings provide the first harvest, while the main crop will be ready around four months after sowing.

Recipe: CARROT CAKE

for this amazing carrot cake!

Perhaps the most well-known of all the vegetable cakes, and with good reason, carrot cake comes in many guises. This sponge version is lightly spiced, moist and includes a zesty buttercream. It is light enough for baking with fresh, sweet carrots in summer.

MAKES A TWO-LAYER CAKE
YOU WILL NEED
2 x deep, round cake tins, 20cm/8in diameter, greased and base-lined

INGREDIENTS
Cake:
200g/7oz peeled carrots
2 tbsp natural yogurt
1 tbsp orange juice
330g/11oz plain flour
300g/10oz light brown muscovado sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1½ tbsp baking powder
180g/6oz unsalted butter
3 eggs

Candied carrot:
1 peeled carrot
70g/2½oz caster sugar
70ml/2½fl oz water

Buttercream:
300g/10oz icing sugar
150g/5oz unsalted butter
3 tsp lemon juice, to taste

Decoration:
1 lemon, zest
75g/2½oz walnuts and/or pecans, toasted

METHOD
• For the cake, preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas mark 3. Grate the carrots, then blitz in a food processor or blender with the yogurt and orange juice to form a rough purée. Set aside. Sift the flour, sugar, spices and baking powder into a large bowl, then beat in the butter until it has coated the dry ingredients and the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Beat in the eggs until just incorporated, and then the carrot purée for 2–3 minutes. Divide between the two tins. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Then remove from the oven and turn out the cakes to cool on a wire rack.
• For the candied carrot, using a zester or small knife, pare long, thin strips of carrot into a small saucepan. Then add the sugar and water. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes, until a thin syrup has formed. Hook out the carrot strips and leave to cool on a wire rack.
• For the buttercream, sift the icing sugar and beat with the butter to combine, then add lemon juice to taste. Beat for 5–10 minutes until light and fluffy.

TO ASSEMBLE
Use half the buttercream to sandwich the two layers of cake together, and the other half to cover the top. Grate over the lemon zest and finish by sprinkling over the toasted nuts and candied carrot.

Recipe: PUMPKIN SODA BREAD

Soda bread, which is created using baking powder rather than yeast, requires no kneading and no proving. It is best served warm, making it an ideal choice for a quick weekend lunch. Tradition has it that the cross sliced into the top of the bread is to ward off the devil, but whatever the origin it makes each loaf easy to tear apart into
chunks to share.

MAKES 2 LOAVES

YOU WILL NEED
1 × baking sheet, dusted with flour

INGREDIENTS
500g/1lb 2oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
4 tsp baking powder
150g/5oz grated pumpkin
100g/3½oz grated
gruyere cheese
300ml/½ pint buttermilk

METHOD
• Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Mix the flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, pumpkin and three-quarters of the cheese quickly and thoroughly in a large bowl. Then make a well in the centre.
• Pour in the buttermilk and stir until it comes together as one ball of dough. Work as quickly as possible until the ingredients are all incorporated, but do not mix for longer than necessary to do this.
• Divide the dough into two equal pieces, and shape each into a ball. Put on to the baking sheet and flatten slightly. Cut a deep (almost to the base) cross in each ball, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and dust with a little flour.
• Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

TO SERVE
Serve warm or cold. The loaves will last 2 days at most, and are best eaten as soon as possible after baking.

Inspiration, indeed. Spring is here – what are you planting, with a mind to bake and eat?

The End. Go Eat.

April 1, 2016
i8tonite with Philosophy Professor and American Foodie Author Dwight Furrow

San Diego Mesa College Professor Dwight Furrow specializes in the philosophy of food and wine, aesthetics, and ethics. He is also a Certified Wine Specialist with certification from the Society of Wine Educators and an advanced level certification from the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust. Furrow is the author of Edible Arts, a blog devoted to food and wine aesthetics, and evaluates wine for the Sommelier Company. I am fascinated by his writings on Mindful Eating, and since discovering them, have enhanced my dining experiences with thoughtful practice.

Furrow’s new book, American Foodie: Taste, Art, and the Cultural Revolution, will change the way you think about food. In this book, he shares:

* How food preparation and consumption is both an art form and one of life’s essential pleasures.
* How slow and purposeful approaches to food can improve our lives as opposed to fast and convenient.
* Elements of American history that have kept the nation from developing its own respected cuisine – until now.
* The philosophy of the foodie craze as a search for aesthetic authenticity in our increasingly pre-packaged world.
* 10 reasons to eat mindfully (that have nothing to do with losing weight)
* Why food bloggers are the heart of the food revolution.

It’s time for a new way to look at food and how we eat – and Furrow does just that.

Food People Questions:

What is your favorite food to cook at home?
Soups. They can easily be adapted to any situation, are the perfect medium for creativity in the kitchen, and hard to screw up.

What do you always have in your fridge at home?
A good cheese, preferably a little stinky.

Parmesan crisps with soppreseta and Radicchio

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
A belief that the most important thing in the world is a good meal.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
A mile-long checklist of foods they don’t like. (Exceptions for health issues, of course.)

Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Oh, definitely wine. Nothing goes better with food than wine.

Your favorite cookbook author?
Peter Kaminsky and Gray Kunz. To my knowledge they only wrote one cookbook, The Elements of Taste, but it was a revelation for me.

Your favorite kitchen tool?
Cast Iron Frying Pan. Versatile, indestructible, and holds up to high heat.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Spanish (especially Tapas), Italian, Mexican

Peanut sesame noodles with Sichuan pepper

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Pork – nothing beats braised pork. Why is tofu on this list?

Favorite vegetable?
The ones that are really fruit: avocado and tomato

Chef you most admire?
Ferran Adrià. A genuine artist in the kitchen. Of course, his restaurant El Bulli closed. Knowing when to quit is a virtue.

Food you like the most to eat?
Tapas-style, lots of flavor sensations in one meal. If you don’t like something, you can just move on.

Food you dislike the most?
Eggs. They are fascinating, fun to cook, and I hate that I don’t like them. But I just don’t.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Read, especially philosophy. No, I’m not a masochist.

Who do you most admire in food?
Artisan winemakers, brewers, coffee-roasters, and small build-from-scratch restaurant chefs/owners. They are doing it for love.

Where is your favorite place to eat?
Home. It’s where I can be creative and where my most appreciative audience resides.

What is your favorite restaurant?
Juniper and Ivy (San Diego), Uchi (Austin), Curate (Asheville), Pok Pok (Portland)

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
No

Recipe: Pan-Fried Fish Filet with Radish and Citrus Sauce

The red radish is an afterthought – a colorful garnish or peppery accessory to a salad, but seldom the star of the show. This strikes me as a great injustice. After all, the radish is brightly colored, pleasingly plump, crunchy, and distinctively flavored. It’s not boring, offensive, or unwelcoming. It doesn’t deserve to be ignored.

I will make it my mission in life to rectify this injustice. The problem is that radishes lose their crunch and peppery flavor when you cook them. Boredom looms. But with just enough heat, they acquire a pleasing nutty/earthy flavor that pops when you pair them with caraway seeds.

So here is the launch of the Radish Redemption Project. Plenty of citrus and ginger, some soy to provide umami depth, and gently roasted radishes enhanced by the pungent notes of caraway make a fascinating sauce for buttery pan-fried fish.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 radishes, cleaned and trimmed
2 tablespoon olive oil (divided use)
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon caraway seeds, crushed
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper
4 fish fillets, mildly flavored, such as tilapia or halibut
2 tablespoons butter
cilantro for garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice radishes in half, pole to pole, then place the cut side down and cut each half into thirds. (Each radish is cut into 6 equal portions)
3. Toss sliced radishes with 1 tablespoon olive oil and roast in the oven for 6-8 minutes. Reserve. (Radishes should still have some crunch but lose their raw flavor. Be careful not to overcook)
4. Warm olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until soft.
5. Add ginger and cook briefly, then add citrus juices soy sauce, honey, caraway seeds, and cumin and stir. When sauce begins to simmer, reduce heat to low then cover so the sauce does not reduce too much.
6. Pat fish dry and put seasoned flour on a dish or pan.
7. Heat frying pan to medium high and melt butter (be careful not to burn the butter).
8. Dredge fish in flour and fry in frying pan until fish is lightly browned and cooked through. (If your frying pan is too small for 4 filets, cook them 2 at a time and keep warm in the oven.)
9. While fish is cooking, adjust consistency of the sauce if necessary, add radishes to the sauce and increase the heat briefly so they will warm.
10. To serve, distribute sauce on plates with radishes on the border, top with fish filet and garnish with cilantro.

The End. Go Eat.

March 25, 2016
i8tonite with Rancho Gordo Founder Steve Sando & Recipe for Posole Verde

Rancho Gordo’s founder Steve Sando is the embodiment of an i8tonite food person. In under two decades, he has revitalized a New World food, something so grubby that it was taken for granted by most Americans – beans. Prior to Rancho Gordo’s revival of legume culture, beans were found on the lower level of supermarket shelves, holding back the dust bunnies. Thankfully, dried beans have a long shelf life – but like all things hidden in dark corners, and subjected to fluorescent lighting (besides the horrible music), commodity beans will eventually lose some flavor and become stale.

Beautiful heirloom beans from the Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project

Rancho Gordo’s beans are heirloom varieties, meaning that the origin (seed) is largely unmodified by technology or genetic science. In essence, the varieties of beans Rancho Gordo grows are dictated by the adage “let nature takes its course.” To the eater, this means more flavor, essence, and character.

Sando was based in Napa Valley, arguably one of the world’s best agriculture regions and home to The French Laundry. Subsequently, it was only a matter of time before his products made it onto North America’s most illustrious dining menu. “Thomas Keller gave us his blessing,” states Sando…and he’s been thriving with great beans and products since.

Poached egg broth over a bed of Sta Maria Pinquitos

Rancho Gordo produces almost 35 varieties of heirloom beans, using a selection of farmers from California, Oregon, and Washington – and they almost always sell out. His customers are mostly home-cooks, but there are quite a few chefs who use Rancho Gordo but don’t understand heirloom varietals. “Chefs are the worst,” Sando chuckles. “We sell heirloom beans, which means our farms produce a low yield. We run out of varieties, yet (chefs) expect them to always be available. It takes about six months to develop each crop. So when we are out, we have to reseed, replant, and re-harvest.” (Stock up, chefs!)

Recently, Sando named one of his heirloom finds the Marcella, named after the famed Italian cookbook author Marcella Hazan. The story about their friendship and the eponymously named bean made it into the New York Times. “It killed us,” he says. “But in a good way.” His mail order business is robust, with sixty-five percent of his business coming from on-line but he also has two outlets: Napa, where Rancho Gordo is based, and in San Francisco’s legendary food emporium, the Ferry Building.

At the end of the day, Sando, a farmer with all the accolades and outpouring of goodwill about his beans, is a normal food person like the rest of us. And he eats beans, every day.

Food People Questions (with a nod to Proust):

What is your favorite food to cook at home?
Obviously, it would be beans. But I poach a chicken every week and use the meat in other meals and the broth becomes soup. Then I tend to improvise with vegetables.

What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Chipotle en vinagre. It’s one of the best relishes I know. One day I’d love to make them commerically.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
I love when they react to the food, the music, the table, the other people. It’s so easy to eat alone. I would hope they know how to express the joy of breaking bread with others.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
My first reaction would be to say someone who talks with their mouth full, but really, I can forgive that if they’re enthusiastic. I think people who drone on and are not aware of the rhythm of the conversation. I sometimes am guilty and stop myself if I’m hearing my own voice too much.

Beer, wine, or cocktail?
I love a single cocktail before dinner. A nice round, ready as your guests come in the door, is welcome. But put it away and switch to wine ASAP. My crowd tends to be wine and beer people and they don’t remember how to pace themselves with cocktails. You want your guests loose, not sloppy.
Beer or wine with dinner, depending on what is served.

Your favorite cookbook author?
I can read Diana Kennedy’s books like novels. But I have to add Paula Wolfert, Georgeanne Brennan, and Marcella Hazan. All strong women from an era when cookbooks weren’t just extended magazine articles.

Your favorite kitchen tool?
I have a huge collection of clay pots. I don’t think I could single one out.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Mexican is my obsession. The more I go, I realize am strictly a tourist with this cuisine. We haven’t even scratched the surface.

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Pork. Then Chicken.

Favorite vegetable?
Beans would be too obvious, so i’ll say nopales. I love harvesting green cactus paddles and eating them as a vegetable. I understand they’re healthy, too, but that doesn’t interest me much.

Chef you most admire?
I think Frances Mallmann. He seems to understand that you are cooking to enjoy it with friends and good wine, not just cooking to cook or be clever. I’m also loving Sean Brock these days. He’s so clearly passionate about ingredients and I think he’s presenting southern food in a really appealing way. I’ve never met either of them but I’d like to.

Food you like the most to eat?
I think our local crab. It’s a workout and there’s a pay off.

Food you dislike the most?
I wish there were one. I love it all, to different degrees. And if I say I hate rutabagas (which is close to true), I’ll still keep an open mind and I bet there’s a chef who could turn me around.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Road trips in rural Mexico.

Who do you most admire in food?
I think the indigenous women who I’ve met in Mexico. They’re the real thing. They have no concept of food trends and just make delicious food.

Where is your favorite place to eat?
I think a beach with cold beers and a bucket of perfectly steamed shrimp.

What is your favorite restaurant?
I don’t really have one, but if pushed, I’d say Contrmar in Mexico City.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
Nope! One aspect of me is still virginal.

Recipe: Posole Verde

Serves 6

• 1/4 pound Rancho Gordo White Posole (prepared hominy)
• 1 1/2 onions, white or red, peeled and halved
• Salt
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 15 to 20 tomatillos, paper skins removed
• 2 poblano chiles
• 1 serrano chile
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 2 teaspoons Rancho Gordo Mexican Oregano
• 1 1/2 quarts vegetable or chicken broth
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Soak posole overnight in water to cover generously. Drain.

2. Place it in a saucepan with fresh water to cover generously.

3. Add 1/2 onion, bring to a simmer, cover partially and cook at a gentle simmer until the corn kernels are tender, 2 to 3 hours; many will split open. Season with salt and cool in the liquid.

4. On a hot, dry griddle or skillet, roast the remaining halved onions, garlic, tomatillos and chiles, turning occasionally, until they are charred and slightly softened, 15 to 20 minutes. Work in batches if necessary.

5. Put the roasted poblano chiles in a paper bag to steam until cool.

6. Transfer the other vegetables to a bowl and let cool, collecting their juices.

7. Skin the poblanos, discarding seeds and stems. Discard the serrano chile stem but don’t skin or seed.

8. Put all the roasted vegetables in a blender, in batches if necessary, and puree until smooth.

9. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over moderate heat.

10. Add the vegetable puree and adjust heat to maintain a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes to blend the flavors.

11. In the blender, puree the cilantro, oregano and 1 cup of the broth. Add to the vegetable mixture along with 4 cups additional broth.

12. Drain the posole and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper and return to a simmer. Thin with additional broth if necessary. Serve in warm bowls.

The End. Go Eat.

March 11, 2016
i8tonite with Eat Smart Culinary Travel Guides’ Susan Chwae & Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Susan Chwae, along with her mother Joan Peterson, are publishers of the award-winning Eat Smart Culinary travel guidebook series. To date, they have published guides to Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Peru, Poland, Sicily, and Turkey. Note: the links are to my interviews with the authors! I love these guides and have enjoyed reading and sharing them for many years. This series? It’s the best thing you can read if you love food and are traveling.

In 2014, Susan designed the Eat Smart Abroad App that pulls the menu guide and foods and flavors chapters from each book so you never have to wonder what’s on the menu or in the market with easy-to-use translators for food and beverage terminology.

Susan also co-leads the Eat Smart Culinary Tours. Their annual Eat Smart Culinary Tour to Turkey is their most popular tour. Here’s a video from one of their tour participants:

They also lead tours to Morocco, India, Peru, Sicily, and in 2016 will be launching the 2016 Culinary Tour to Indonesia, with William Wongso, who is considered one of Indonesia’s national treasures.

Joan Peterson and Susan Chwae of Eat Smart Guides

Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):

What is your favorite food to cook at home? My grandma’s Shepherd’s Pie. It’s simple and a real comfort food in the winter months. I tend to cook with what I have available at the moment and this recipe is perfect to use what you have on hand, or that single parsnip or rutabaga you received in your CSA share.

What do you always have in your fridge at home? Cheese, a Wisconsin kitchen staple.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? A mutual appreciation for the thought and creativity that went into preparing the meal.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Eating too fast, and making me clean up the kitchen.

Beer, wine, or cocktail? Wine or cocktail.

Your favorite cookbook author? When I went away to college, my dad bought me the Better Homes and Garden cookbook collection. He wrote a message on the inside cover in each of them. I grab those first for ideas and then create my dishes with what I have on hand.

Turkish spoons

Your favorite kitchen tool? My Şimşir wood spoon collection from Turkey. There are shops behind the Spice Market in Istanbul where they are made and sold and we always stop to shop as part of our tour itinerary.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook? I’m a casserole fan. And I love traditional Mexican foods.

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu? Chicken

Favorite vegetable? Asparagus

Chef you most admire? My husband. When he starts creating a dish, he absolutely has to master it and I admire his dedication.

Food you like the most to eat? King crab legs

Food you dislike the most? Pearl onions

What is your favorite non-food thing to do? Watch my daughters perform in dance and music. Both of them are passionate about the arts.

Who do you most admire in food? Right now, William Wongso. He’s going to be co-leading our upcoming culinary tour to Indonesia. His dedication and drive to promote the cuisine of Indonesia is awe-inspiring.

Where is your favorite place to eat? Home. I am surrounded by great cooks.

What is your favorite restaurant? Salvatore’s Tomato Pies in Madison.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food? If I did, I wouldn’t be able to say because my mother will read this.

Recipe: Thelma’s Shepherd’s Pie

Brown ground or diced lamb with chopped onions.

Add a variety of small or diced vegetables you have on hand, some flour, worcestershire sauce, some herbs, salt and pepper, and enough water to thicken the mixture.

Place in a deep casserole dish and top with prepared mashed-potatoes.

Sprinkle with paprika and bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, around 30 minutes.

-The End. Go Eat.-

March 4, 2016
i8tonite: with America’s First Culinary Couple, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough
NOTE: This is an original post we wrote in October 2015. We like to pull a Saturday Night Live, and occasionally have rebroadcasts. Heh.

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are America’s first culinary couple sort of like Julia Child and Jacques Pepin except, they are married, like Lucy and Desi. As a business partnership, they have written 26 cookbooks and ghost-written six more for star vanity projects. Ham: An Obsession with the Hindquarter (2010) and Vegetarian Dinner Parties (2014) were nominated for the coveted James Beard Award for “Best Cookbook”. As a couple, they have been together for 19 years – meeting in an AOL chatroom while living in New York City. Even then, they were ahead of their time.

There isn’t a comparative food coupling in the culinary world like Bruce and Mark. Certainly, not cooking in a restaurant, on a Food Network or Cooking Channel show. Or for that matter on PBS or Logo. Instead of going through today’s star-making channels – YouTube and reality television – the pair did it the old-fashioned way. Hard work.

You might say, “What about so-and-so?” They started on reality television running around the world.

“What about the Food Network’s blah?” They stick to one food type.

“What about…?” Nay. She was a well-known actress before she met her husband.

Bruce and Mark are a team, having written and eaten their way to a successful career and a country Connecticut home. They finish each other’s sentences in the adoring, long-time love affair way and they laugh at each other’s jokes. If Woody Allen were casting for a movie during his Annie Hall days, Bruce and Mark would embody the perfect museum-going Manhattan pair. Smart. Literate. Witty.

The type-A personality couple spends almost 24 hours together but maintain separate endeavors to keep the relationship strong. Weinstein, the cook of the couple, knits runway-ready sweaters (of course, he does) and has written a book about it (of course, he has). Scarbrough, the writer and academic, teaches Chaucer (of course, he does) and has just created an iTunes podcast for the couple (of course, he has). Supposedly, they do play a mean game of bridge as partners in their off-time from the stove and computer.

Somewhere – amongst over two dozen cookbooks written –the prolific twosome has time to appear on QVC hawking mass cookbooks about pressure cookers to mid-Western cooking hobbyists. There’s also the column contribution to Weight Watcher’s online and they can be viewed on Craftsy.com espousing on – what else? – cooking.

Photo by Eric Medsker

Like fellow comedic pairings before them, such as Gracie Allen and George Burns, making the audience laugh is much a part of who they are as what they do when whipping up garlicky mash potatoes. It’s a blend of entertainment and cooking.

To the outsider looking in, their relationship seems to embody a lot of laughter….and eating. And drinking…. with lots of laughing. For Bruce and Mark, it all appears to be about having fun and enjoying life. After all is said and done, the inspiring pair is enjoying it all except they would like to have a little bubbly with all that love.

Food People Questionnaire:

What is your favorite food to cook at home?

Ham: An Obsession with the Hindquarters. Photo by Marcus Nilsson

Bruce: Oxtails, beef tongue, or veal cheeks—tough choice.

Mark: As you can see, there’s no need for me to cook at home. I write the books. I get fed. It’s a great trade-off.

What do you always have in your fridge at home?

Bruce: See the above answer.

Mark: Skim milk—because I think it actually makes the best foam for my morning four-shot latte.

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?

Bruce: A nice shirt—I’m going to be looking at it all night.

Mark: Well, maybe not, Bruce! I really like good conversation skills. Give-and-take. Back-and-forth. First time someone says, “Another thing about me is . . .” I’m out of there.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?

Bruce: Slurping solid food.

Mark: Texting. Please. Stop.

Beer, wine or cocktail?

Bruce: Cocktail to start, wine with, beer after.

Mark: Wine. I hear they’re making it in other colors besides red these days. Wouldn’t know.

Your favorite cookbook author?

Bruce: Fuchsia Dunlop. My Sichuan master.

Mark: Abby Dodge. It’s right every time.

Your favorite kitchen tool?

Bruce: My hands.

Mark: His cleaned and dried hands.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook?

Bruce: Anything east of India. Crazy about Sichuan these days. Want to come over for a ten-course tasting dinner?

Mark: Worcestershire sauce. Seriously. I make the best.

Beef, chicken, pork or tofu?

Bruce: If only tofu had bones.

Mark: Well, lately, salmon fillets. Cilantro, mint, sliced fresh jalapeños, olive oil, crunchy salt. Trust me.

Favorite vegetable?

Bruce: Artichokes, preferably trimmed and cleaned by someone else

Mark: Winter squashes as so much. I had a roasted Blue Hubbard the other night that was orgasmic.

Chef you most admire?

Bruce: Tony Wu. Ever see this guy hand-pull noodles? Check out his youtube videos.

Mark: Right now, Daniel Eddy at Rebelle in New York City. Kick. Ass. Food.

Food you like the most to eat?

Bruce: Grilled burger any day of the week.

Photo by Edsel Little.

Mark: I have a healthy appetite. Enough said. But my choice indulgence is Époisses de Bourgogne.

Food you dislike the most?

Bruce: Root beer. I have to wipe it off my tongue with a rag.

Mark: Jell-O. Period. Also, panna cotta, its evil twin.

What is your favorite non-food thing to do?

Bruce: Play Chopin preludes.

Mark: Read lyric poetry. I have a podcast on it. Check it out: Lyric Life on iTunes.

Who do you most admire in food?

Bruce: Bill Niman. He changed the way we think about food in this country.

Mark: My agent. Twenty-seven cookbooks sold for us ain’t too bad.

Where is your favorite place to eat?

Bruce: Siena. No questions.

Mark: Joucas, France. (There’s only one restaurant. See below.)

What is your favorite restaurant?

Beach Point Coast, Prince Edward Island

Bruce: Richard’s Fresh Seafood on Covehead Wharf in the national park on Prince Edward Island, Canada

Mark: The restaurant at Le Mas des Herbes Blanches in Joucas, France. Go in the summer when the lavender fields are in bloom against the red cliffs of Roussillon down in the valley.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?

Bruce: Some things you have to leave to the imagination.

Mark: No. And I still have things you can imagine.

Ricotta/Spinach Dumplings, Parmesan Cream Sauce (6 servings)

Photo by Eric Medsker

From Bruce and Mark: Winter weekends are made for dinner parties. As the sun sets early and the darkness creeps over our yard, we banish the cold by lighting the candles and serving hearty, warming fare like this casserole. The tender, spiced, even lemony dumplings are baked in a simple cream sauce that emphasizes their luxurious texture while softening some of their sweetness. It’s best minutes out of the oven, so plan your timing carefully.
- One 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 8 ounces regular or part-skim ricotta
- 4 ounces Pecorino Romano, finely grated (about 1 cup)
- 3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup semolina flour, plus additional for rolling the dumplings
- 1 tablespoon minced chives
- 1 tablespoon minced dill fronds
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole or 2% milk
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine, such as a California Chardonnay
- 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (about 1/4 cup)
1. Squeeze the thawed spinach by the handful over the sink to remove excess moisture, then crumble it into a large bowl.
2. Stir in the ricotta, pecorino, egg yolks, semolina, chives, dill, zest, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the salt, and nutmeg to form a wet but coherent dough. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. Spread more semolina flour on a large plate. Use damp, clean hands to form the dough into 24 balls, each about the size of a golf ball, rolling them one by one in the semolina to coat thoroughly before setting them on a large lipped baking sheet.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Working in batches, add 5 or 6 dumplings and boil for 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them out, drain them, and transfer to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.
5. Position the rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F.
6. Make the sauce by melting the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until a creamy paste. Slowly whisk in the milk in a steady, fine stream until the paste has dissolved. Whisk in the wine and continue whisking over the heat until thickened and bubbling, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in the Parmigiano-Reggiano, then pour this sauce over the dumplings in the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper over the casserole.
7. Bake until lightly browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Ahead: Complete the recipe through step 6 up to 2 hours in advance; store, lightly covered, at room temperature.

Garnish: Although we’re not a fan of side dishes at dinner parties, this casserole could use a little contrast. Spoon the baked dumplings and sauce onto plates, accompanied by grilled asparagus spears, drizzled with a flavorful but light vinaigrette.

Note: Make sure the lemon zest is in fine bits. If you don’t use a small-bored microplane to grate the zest, mince it on a cutting board to make sure no one ends up with a big thread in a single dumpling.

The End. Go Eat.

(Correction: Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough’s monthly column was incorrectly attributed to Fine Cooking Magazine. It is Weight Watcher’s Online.)
February 26, 2016
i8tonite with Eleni’s New York Founder & Food Entrepreneur Eleni Gianopulos

Eleni Gianopulos began her career in the media world working at the venerable Time Inc., eventually moving into the editorial division of Life Magazine. Through a twist of fate, Eleni, who had a passion for baking, began a small catering business in her apartment. What began as a side business featuring Eleni’s mother’s famous oatmeal-raisin cookies quickly outgrew her home kitchen and evolved into a full-fledged cookie empire. Eleni is a business owner that is also committed to giving back to female entrepreneurs trying to start their companies today. Eleni is about to share some exciting news regarding her mission to help female entrepreneurs. Stay tuned!

Language of Love cookies

Since 1997, Eleni’s New York has been a must-stop at Manhattan’s iconic Chelsea Market, later followed by her website, where irresistibly designed custom “Conversation Cookies TM” and other treats, including Color Me Cookies, await for fans located around the world. Today, Eleni’s custom cookie creations are a favorite of celebrities, luxury brands, Fortune 500 companies, and cookie lovers alike. Her cookie concierges design cookies around events, holidays, and popular trends. All of Eleni’s cookies are certified nut free. We love them.

Eleni’s Day of the Dead cookies

Eleni and I had a lively chat about parenting, cookies, and growing and running a business. Eleni noted that it was challenging to be a mom in business, but it’s also rewarding and exciting for her kids to see that their parents have careers they love. She grew up watching her father, who owned his own company, going to work every day and loving it. Her kids are happy that their mom owns a bakery (lucky kids!), and Eleni said that she’s a better boss for having kids.

Eleni’s New York butterfly cookies

Eleni remarked that she feels fortunate and is strategic in finding employees that are in different phases of their lives – many of her employees have kids of all ages. It is this wide range of experience within the company that helps Eleni’s New York continue with their business expansion – a recent Valentine’s Day partnership with 650 Target stores in the Northeast (crisp chocolate chip, butterscotch, and pink sugar cookies!), a new grocery line that will be launched at the Fancy Foods Show this coming July, as well as more retail locations and an expansion of the very popular Color Me Line of cookies.

Eleni’s New York Sea Breeze cookies

What I loved most, as a non-New Yorker, was talking about living in the city with Eleni. She’s moved to keep close to her work – starting in Chelsea Market, when she first opened; then a move to be near her cookie plant in Long Island City; and recently a move back to the center of the city to be closer to all the action as they open locations in Manhattan this coming year. When talking about the local bakery (Maison Kaiser) that she heads to every morning with her King Charles Cavalier, Lovey Pie, to pick up croissants and breads for the kids every morning, her love of her neighborhood shone through – she mentioned stores, spaces, colors, and flavors. And while she hits the farmer’s market many times a week, it’s closed on Sundays – and is a perfect place for her young kids to ride their bikes.

Eleni and her team are surrounded by design inspiration, so look for new cookies inspired by this neighborhood – as well as museums, parks, something from one of the kids’ schoolbooks, etc. And yes, they all still sketch on the back of a napkin at times, to save their ideas. But Eleni’s cookies are also influenced by technology. An exciting development in cookie design at Eleni’s is a new process which allows them to put ink onto a cookie with no sugar film. This adds more and more layers and intricacy – you can see this in the upcoming Easter cookie line, inspired by Faberge designs.

It is this creativity, passion for her work, and inclusion of family that makes Eleni’s work shine.

Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):

How long have you been cooking? Over 20 years

What is your favorite food to cook? Cookies, pies, cakes, and Greek specialty appetizers like dolmathes, spanakopita and baklava.

What do you always have in your fridge at home? Milk for my coffee, butter for kids’ toast, and Pellegrino

What do you cook at home? Mexican food. I love America’s Test Kitchen Favorite Mexican Recipes and test new recipes on my family often.

What marked characteristic do you love in a customer? Direct and to the point.

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a customer? This customer requested the most beautiful design, my team executed to perfection. The client received the order and complained that the frosting was off ¼”. From that point on, we insist on sample approval for custom work. And I just knew even if we remade the order this customer would never be satistfied, so I quickly accommodated the request and moved on. I have only seen something like this happen 2 times in 20 years, though.

Tupperware, Rubbermaid, or Pyrex? Tupperware

Beer, wine, or cocktail? Cocktail

Your favorite cookbook author? America’s Test Kitchen Series of Cook Books, I love how they start off every paragraph…we made this recipe 34 times and found that …

Eleni’s Lemon Cupcakes

Your favorite kitchen tool? The plastic pastry bags I bring home from work, I use them for everything.

Your favorite ingredient? Lemon, I add it to everything.

Your least favorite ingredient? Orange, I don’t like orange in desserts nor entrees.

Least favorite thing to do in a kitchen? Dishes – my husband says when I cook at home I think I’m at work! I tend to make a big mess, and use every pot and pan in the house.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook? Greek, Mexican, Italian

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu? Chicken

Favorite vegetable? Broccoli

Chef you most admire? Thomas Keller

Food you like the most to eat? Indian

Food you dislike the most? Eggs, cottage cheese, odd scary meat.

How many tattoos? And if so, how many are of food? 0

Recipe: The Crispy Roast Chicken recipe from America’s Test Kitchen!

The Crispy Roast Chicken recipe from America’s Test Kitchen!

For best flavor, use a high-quality chicken, such as one from Bell & Evans. Do not brine the bird; it will prohibit the skin from becoming crisp. The sheet of foil between the roasting pan and V-rack will keep drippings from burning and smoking.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds), giblets removed and discarded
1 tablespoon kosher salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place chicken breast-side down on work surface. Following photos above, use tip of sharp knife to make four 1-inch incisions along back of chicken. Using fingers or handle of wooden spoon, carefully separate skin from thighs and breast. Using metal skewer, poke 15 to 20 holes in fat deposits on top of breast halves and thighs. Tuck wing tips underneath chicken.

2. Combine salt, baking powder, and pepper in small bowl. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle all over with salt mixture. Rub in mixture with hands, coating entire surface evenly. Set chicken, breast-side up, in V-rack set on rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for 12 to 24 hours.

3. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Using paring knife, poke 20 holes about 1 1/2 inches apart in 16- by 12-inch piece of foil. Place foil loosely in large roasting pan. Flip chicken so breast side faces down, and set V-rack in roasting pan on top of foil. Roast chicken 25 minutes.

4. Remove roasting pan from oven. Using 2 large wads of paper towels, rotate chicken breast-side up. Continue to roast until instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast registers 135 degrees, 15 to 25 minutes.

5. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Continue to roast until skin is golden brown, crisp, and instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees and 175 degrees in thickest part of thigh, 10 to 20 minutes.
6. Transfer chicken to cutting board and let rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Carve and serve immediately.

Recipe and photo: America’s Test Kitchen

– The End. Go Eat. –

February 19, 2016
i8tonite with Food Person Bob Warden: QVC Pioneer and Cooking Legend

There is no arguing that Bob Warden is one of leading figures in today’s food world. His presence on QVC shopping network has pushed several billion dollars in sales, ranging from small kitchen appliances such as a pressure cooker, the Ninja bullet, and countless cookbooks. Furthermore, he is a pioneer in television shopping – selling the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing Systems in 1986 ushered in the first kitchen product infomercial.

Born in the Midwest, Warden studied to be an accountant. However, with the adage of being in the “right place at the right time,” opportunities began opening up in the food world, taking him to Alaska, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City. Now, residing in New England and Pennsylvania, the seventy-one year seems to have no bounds and endless energy, starting a new project, The Perfect Portion Cookbook with actor and food entrepreneur Anson Williams and nutritionist and co-author, Mona Dolgov.

Flatbread Pizza for Perfect Portions Cookbook 2015

Warden has collaborated with a variety of kitchen companies, bringing over 1,000 products to the consumer. From 1998 to 2014, Warden was instrumental in developing QVC’s private label Cook’s Essentials® and Technique® cookware and small electric appliance lines. During that span, Warden personally appeared as a celebrated QVC on-air chef for more than 5,000 live presentations.

Warden and his team have authored, developed, printed, and published over 30 cookbooks, totaling over 3 million books sold. By doing so, he has become the recognized international expert in creating cookbooks specifically designed to support specialty housewares products, such as pressure cookers, Ninja blenders, slow cookers, steam ovens, etc. It’s quite an accomplishment, as he may be better known than Elvis, Madonna, and The Beatles.

Grandpa Bob needs help

Asked what his greatest accomplishments are, he replies, “My six children and fourteen grandchildren, but I’m almost proud on a professional level about bringing breakthrough kitchen concepts to the consumer.”

Food People Questions (with a nod to Proust):

What is your favorite food to cook at home?
My over-researched and over-tested Short Rib recipe served over Risotto

What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Fresh Berries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries

What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Intelligent, witty conversationalist!

What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Rudeness, especially talking on the phone, texting or reading email

Bob Warden’s perfected potroast

Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Yes, Yes, and Yes. If only one, a really good red or white table wine to fit the occasion.

Your favorite cookbook author?
Americas’s Test Kitchen – I use their work as my reality check.

Your favorite kitchen tool?
My Sarah Weiner chef’s knife, because I am a snob when it comes to knives.

Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Discovery food, trying new ethnic combinations in old comfort food recipes

Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Pork! I was raised on a pork farm and know how to pig out!

Favorite vegetable?
Eggplant, because it is so versatile

Chef you most admire?
So many for different reasons. If I could pick one to be my private teaching chef, it would be Eric Rupert.

Food you like the most to eat?
Flat Bread Pizza, because you can put and endless array of tasty food on a pizza, and always have crunch.

Food you dislike the most?
To look at: Overcooked Asparagus. I never eat it!

What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Play Tennis so I can eat more food!

Who do you most admire in food?
Anthony Bourdain, because he is brave enough to try the food that I am not brave enough to try.

Where is your favorite place to eat?
My local Pub, its like being wrapped in a comfortable warm sweater of food and people I know.

What is your favorite restaurant?
Le Bernardin because there is no better combination of food, service, ambience, and grandeur in America.

Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
No, but if I were to get one, I would wear a radish in the right place.

Recipe: Berry Good and Nutty Whole Grain Cereal Breakfast

Recipe: Berry Good and Nutty Whole Grain Cereal Breakfast

1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill 10 grain cereal mix
1 cup water
7 walnut halves
5 pecan halves
1 pinch pumpkin seeds
1 pinch flax seed
1 cup of berries I like four at once: raspberries , blueberries, blackberries and strawberries
1 tablespoon demerara or brown sugar

Bring water to boil in a small saucepan.
Add cereal mix and stir, reduce heat, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add all remaining ingredients to a cereal bowl, spoon cereal over the top, and stir together.
Eat, feeling good about yourself, because you have all the darn grains, fruit, seeds, nuts, and fiber out of the way for the day.

The End. Go Eat.

February 12, 2016