When I first met Jennifer Magley at an event, she offered huge smiles, genuine warmth, displayed a brilliant fashion sense all while listening to an old fart (me) prattle on about nonsense. That very morning, her company downsized leaving her without work. To her credit, she showed grit and resilience by coming out to make new acquaintances instead of staying cooped up, feeling sorry for herself, which is what I would have done.
Born in Kansas, Magley attended the University of Florida and was a scholarship athlete at IMG Academy under the direct tutelage of renowned tennis coach Nick Bollettieri. While in college, Magley became the number one ranked NCAA Division, Singles player in the country, a four-time All-American, and the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar recipient. As a member of TEAM USA, Magley represented the United States in over 14 countries. After graduation, she competed professionally on the WTA Tour before being named Associate Head Coach at Wichita State University. With many accolades and recognition, she became the nation’s youngest NCAA Division head coach at Florida Gulf Coast University.
She has written two books, with her debut novel Division I, released in 2014, spotlighting issues that affect female collegiate athletes and, in 2021, How to Be Queen-A Leadership Fable, about the power of imperfect leadership.
Today, with national media coverage, from USA Today, CNN, ESPN, Foundr Magazine, and US News & World Report, she is a successful Keynote Speaker and High-Performance Coach, having spent over a decade as a recruiter and helping successful people become their best. Additionally, she started Magley Mass Media, where she promotes women, including her mother, Evelyn Magley, the first Black woman to head a men’s professional basketball league. Her father, a former pro player with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dave Magley, was the former commissioner of the National Basketball League of Canada and now is the president and chief operating officer for the North American Basketball League.
Between her sold-out luncheons, writing, speaking, and being just a media superstar, Magley graced us with answers to i8tonite questions and a time-honored yeast rolls recipe.
Why did you start Magley Mass Media?
In March, my full-time role as a technical recruiter laid me off and launched Magley Mass Media. I just looked at my phone and it says I started doing my thing on April 18th full time.
What gives you the greatest joy in working in this space?
For most people, the reality is that no one knows your name; I help change that through 90-day Media Mastermind Groups. My greatest joy is seeing the folks I partner with land more media, connections, and onstage opportunities. People need to know you exist and that you have expertise.
What is your favorite thing to do around your company?
Finding new ways to surprise and promote the people I work with. I deeply believe that over-performing is such a gift. It’s a joy to be able to see my clients light up.
Could you tell us about your favorite inspirations?
There have been a lot of people who have sacrificed in my bloodline for me to be where I am today. I have descended from slaves and slave owners, immigrants, and orphans. That’s positive motivation. On the flip side, there are a handful of men that have taunted me with their money and arrogance. Hard to say which inspires me more.
What are your favorite things about the Midwest?
The people. Indiana has been rated by the IEDC as one of the best places in the country to begin a business. That proves to be true. I was born in Kansas, so that’s why I probably say the people. Secondly, cost of living.
What is your favorite regional city and why?
This is unexpected but Cincinnati, that counts right? They have done so much to develop their downtown, especially Over the Rhine, with restaurants and shops. They have a bit more elevation than Indianapolis and it really is such a lovely place, and the food is fantastic.
Where is your favorite place to eat and why?
VIDA. (It’s a) Cunningham property, however it is a chef’s restaurant, so it is not a chain. This is where we go for special occasions because of their four-course dinner. Chef’s kiss. I’ve had literally everything on the menu and their consistency is unmatched for fine dining in Indy.
What do you have in the fridge currently?
Oatmilk. Organic Eggs. Champagne. Organic Greens. I want to be bourgeois.
Jennifer Magley’s Grandma’s Yeast Rolls
Ingredients
4 – 5 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups hot water
⅔ cup sugar
½ cup of liquid Crisco or any liquid cooking oil
3 eggs
2 packages yeast, Rapid rise or day (3 if you are in a hurry)
Pre-heat oven to 375° to 400°depending upon oven. Mix hot water, oil, sugar and eggs. Stir until sugar is dissolved. If you use rapid rise yeast, sprinkle in liquid, then let it dissolve waiting a few minutes. Stir. Add about two cups of flour and stir adding more flour on the right consistency for kneading. You may put a kneading board on the counter-top.
Knead very little, just enough to roll out and cut. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, use a cup to cut out two circles and a half. Fold the circles in half and add the half-circle into the greased and floured cupcake pans. Pinch the edges together. Brush with melted butter and let rise until they look right for baking. (Forty-five minutes to an hour).
“This makes for the rolls to be very lovely in shape and fashioned to pull apart.”.
Jennifer Magley
Bake for 10 minutes or until brown, brush with butter again when removed from oven.
Cinnamon Rolls: Simply roll out as you do for rolls. Brush with butter.
Mix brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, raisins and nuts. Roll up the dough into a log. Let rise.
Making your own Middle Eastern dip tastes better than store bought.
After a year and a half of living in our second and newest Indy neighborhood, Nick and I had our neighbors, a couple, for a repast of small bites. He made the cocktails and I served a wheat-free pizza (gluten-free store bought), Buffalo wings, a charcuterie and cheese board with Norwegian crispbread and GF crackers and hummus.
While sipping on her New Zealand Sauvignon blanc, washing down the cracker topped with the Middle Eastern dip, Tricia commented, “Everything is delicious, but I need your recipe for the hummus. It’s really good!”
I’ve been making the chickpea and tahini dip for close to 30 years now, long before its ubiquity in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. I discovered it at Yaffa Cafe, an East Village eatery which opened in the early eighties but closed in 2014. It was an eclectic spot in an area growing with creativity. Then, I ate as a vegan and this was one of the few restaurants that I could afford that offered meat and dairy free dishes. It also expanded my horizons with food. I wasn’t stuck with eating rice and beans anymore. I discovered Mediterranean foods.
In order to make this delicious item, I would walk a few blocks to a natural grocery store called Commodities in Tribeca. (I saw Blondie’s Chris Stein and the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. there). Housed in a massive cast-iron building, I found freshly ground nut butters like peanut, almond and sesame (tahini) by the pound and also lots of meat substitutes like seitan and tofu. Going there for groceries felt like heaven, although it wasn’t inexpensive by any stretch. I relegated my purchases to specific items.
The only special thing I needed was a food processor. Unless you’re into hand grinding things into a paste with a molcajete, it’s a must have. A NYC boyfriend had one which he never used. Purchased by his parents when he moved to Manhattan, it was an unwieldy contraption that was as heavy as a cement brick. And that is how I started making this hummus.
During my time in New York, I made the bean spread for every party at the loft I lived in with two roommates. We served guacamole, crackers, chips and sliced baguettes and sangria nearly every weekend.
While I would say taking a trip to Manhattan and eating Middle Eastern food on the Lower East Side would be divine, staying home can be just as fun.
While I started with the Silver Palate cookbook recipe, I adapted it to suit my tastes over the years. Add roasted vegetables such as red peppers or carrots if you like. Pop them in as you hit pulse or blend on the machine. For a bit of fun, make a traditional pesto, omitting the nuts. Or leave them in and stir in before serving for a swirl of color and flavor.
Manhattan to Indy Hummus
1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of half a lemon. Remove seeds. (I can see someone saying, “Do I remove the seeds?”)
1/2 cup of tahini. (Make sure you stir the oil and paste if separated.)
1 cup of water (You will use this to slowly drizzle, thinning out the hummus, giving it a smoother consistency.)
A couple of glugs of extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of salt (adjust to taste)
Dusting of hot paprika (optional, for garnish)
Flaky sea salt like Maldon’s (optional, for garnish)
How to make:
In a food processor or blender, combine the chickpeas, minced garlic, lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, and salt. Process the mixture until smooth. If it seems too thick, add water (¼ cup at a time) until you reach the desired consistency. If you add too much liquid, add more tahini.
Taste the hummus and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt or lemon juice if needed. Transfer the hummus to a bowl. Finish with a little olive oil on top and sprinkle with hot paprika and salt for added flavor and presentation.
Refrigerate any leftovers. When serving again, add tahini and/or water to freshen up.
(Disclosure: We may make a commission from any links to this site.)
Nick previously lived in Indiana for 10 months before we moved to Indianapolis together. He grew up outside of Milwaukee, so he knows the Midwest intimately and the frosty months. That’s something everyone from the area talks about, the weather, and ice and snow.
The opposite of winter is summer, which I heard less about. Having grown up on the coasts and never been in the center of the United States, my impression became that the middle of the country needed more warmth. Maybe because I never asked since Al Roker always gave me the lowdown. From January until March, he would say,”… blustery February snowstorms in Chicago with temperatures in the teens moving over to the northeast, dropping temperatures to the single digits.” Or something like that.
Post-holiday seasons and into any new year, the Southern California population from Santa Barbara to San Diego would lounge in shorts, maybe putting on a jacket, venturing out with the dogs or in the evening for a red-carpet event. Indeed, there were dramatic Hollywood seasons when a Mr. Freeze-like El Nino or La Nina laid into the Malibu Ken and Barbie’s lifestyle. Still, it was temperate for 60 percent of the two decades I resided in the Golden State. (Now, the Bay Area in the summer was cold. Talk about a mindf**k.)
For all the wind and chill in Indiana, getting to summer makes skidding on black ice almost worth it. Arguably, it’s the best season anywhere on Earth. I don’t mean that lightly, either. I’ve spent time in parts of Europe during spring and summer. Winter and fall in Asia, South America and Australia. A cool season in Morocco.
When the dandelion seed-like clouds gently brush against a glass cleaner blue tinted sky, I believe in Mother Nature. I feel that there needs to be a balance with natural seasons. I know this will change. The last pandemic winter saw a drop to minus double-digits during the holidays but still managed to be the 17th warmest on record, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Nary, a snowflake, caught an eyelash.
Now, when I’m asked what my favorite thing about living in the middle of the country is, I always say the summer. Best thing ever.
Indiana BBQ Sauce
I know that the fourth of July is over but you always need a good homemade sauce. It can be smeared on to any grilled protein, including fish like salmon, taking it from good to stupendous. In the Hoosier State, everything has a tendency to be a little sweeter. Most likely, that’s been handed down over generations using maple syrup which can be found in abundance with the trees that grow throughout the region. Importantly, King Rib, the first drive through for slabs, serves a mighty tasty version.
According to food historian Robert Moss, in a story he wrote for Serious Eats, pork ribs began in early 20th century in Indianapolis and Ohio with industrial meatpacking.
Ingredients:
1 can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of maple syrup
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of onion powder
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 or teaspoons black pepper
Hot sauce (adjust to your desired level of spiciness)
1/2 teaspoon salt
water (optional, for thinning the sauce)
How to Make:
Combine all the ingredients in a in a saucepan. Stir well incorporating all the dry ingredients into the wet. Simmer over low heat stirring frequently to prevent burning or sticking. . Allow the sauce to simmer over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld and the sauce to thicken slightly. Adjust all seasonings according to your preference. You can add more sweetness with additional brown sugar or more tanginess with extra vinegar. If you want it spicier, increase the amount of hot sauce.
Have you seen the new cookbook, Forking Good: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place by Valya Dudycz Lupescu and Stephen H. Segal? Like the show, Forking Good combines food humor with moral philosophy for a delightfully unexpected cooking experience.
Valya Dudycz Lupescu and Stephen H. Segal are the coauthors of Geek Parenting and the cofounders of the Wyrd Words storytelling laboratory. They live in Chicago in an Art Deco building that dates to the days of pulp magazines and Prohibition. Their weird family enjoys fan conventions, well-considered color palettes, and lots of music.
Valya is the author of the novel The Silence of Trees. She earned her MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her poetry and prose have appeared in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2019, Kenyon Review, Culture, Gargoyle Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Chicago Reader.
Stephen is a journalist who has covered artists, scientists, musicians, and makers for Philadelphia Weekly and WQED Pittsburgh. As the chief editor at Legacy.com and, formerly, Weird Tales magazine, he has encouraged writers of both fiction and nonfiction to dig deep for unexpected truths. He grew up at the Jersey Shore.
~What is your favorite food to cook?
Valya: Vegetables—the variety, color, texture, and taste of them in different combinations depending on the season and my mood. I find them so satisfying to all the senses, especially roasted/sautéed and well-seasoned! I tend to go on kicks for a few months, exploring the different things one can do with them. For a while it was brussels sprouts, then asparagus, then red cabbage, and it’s been cauliflower since the summer. Oven-roasted cauliflower with different types of spices is one of our current family favorites.
~What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Stephen: More than actually fits! Two kinds of milk and three mustards and four salad dressings and five raw vegetables and six juice boxes and honestly more maple syrups than you would think anyone would have….
~What do you cook at home?
Valya: We make a lot of curries, stir fries, and pasta. Each of those has so much room for creative improvisation (and spices!)
~What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Valya: Curiosity. I enjoy sharing a meal with someone who is curious, from their openness to savor new flavor experiences to their willingness to answer and ask provocative questions in conversation.
~What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Stephen: At meals, I’m happy either to chat or eat together quietly — but if we’re talking at the table, one thing that always riles me up is when someone asks me questions and then keeps interrupting me before I can finish answering. Hey, if you’re gonna ask, listen!
~Tupperware, Rubbermaid, or Pyrex?
Valya: Pyrex, hands down. I prefer the non-porous surface of glass for storing food and for dishwasher cleaning.
~Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Stephen: Cocktail — something complicated yet cohesive, a layered flavor profile that goes on expanding from the scent right on through the aftertaste.
~Your favorite cookbook author?
Valya: I have many cookbooks that I love, but one of my favorite cookbook authors is a dear friend and fellow writer, Mary Anne Mohanraj. Mary Anne is a fantastic cook and writer who has been sharing her recipes on Patreon for years. Her most recent cookbook, A Feasts of Serendib: Recipes from Sri Lanka, is available on her website: http://serendibkitchen.com
~Your favorite kitchen tool?
Stephen: Three-way tie: the Vitamix (it has ten speeds!), the apple corer (it’s so geometric!), and the pizza cutter (it rolls so satisfyingly!)
Valya: My Wüsthof paring knife and my cast iron skillet.
~Your favorite ingredient?
Stephen: Soft cheese. Chevre, mascarpone, soft manchego, whatever. It has a happy place in breakfasts, lunches, snacks, dinners, and desserts.
~Your least favorite ingredient?
Valya: Cilantro. I’m one of those “cilantro tastes like soap” people.
~Least favorite thing to do in a kitchen?
Stephen: The third load of dishes in the same day.
~Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Valya: I love to cook Ukrainian cuisine. I don’t do it often, usually on holidays and special occasions, but the hearty, comfort foods like pierogis (which are called varenyky in Ukrainian), borsch, Ukrainian breads and cakes, all connect me with my heritage and my ancestors.
Stephen: Hm. To cook? Mediterranean. Flipping falafels is fun.
~Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Stephen: Humanely farmed chicken.
~Favorite vegetable?
Valya: Onions. I use onions in most of my dishes, especially caramelized. It’s such a perfect flavor, alone or layered with other flavors.
Stephen: More beets, please.
~Chef you most admire?
Valya: The chef that had the greatest impact on me growing up was Julia Child. I loved watching her cook on PBS; there was so much joy in it. Hers was the kind of passion I try to apply to all my meals. I also deeply admire Grant Achatz for his incredible perseverance and his fearless creativity. Eating at Alinea was an unforgettable and inspirational experience.
~Food you like the most to eat?
Stephen: At a meal: Indian cuisine — it’s such a perfectly satisfying blend of sweet, salty, savory, and spicy. As a snack: frozen dark chocolate-covered banana slices.
~What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Valya: Our apartment is full of books. We are definitely a family of readers and music-lovers.
~Who do you most admire in food?
Valya: Melissa Clark. A dear friend and fellow foodie turned me onto Melissa’s videos, and I did a deep dive into her work. I love the way she writes about food, it’s such a pleasure watching her cook, and her “Weeknight Kitchen” podcast is one of my favorite things to listen to on my way home from work.
~Where is your favorite place to eat?
Valya: Honestly, I love to eat at home—ours and other peoples. I appreciate the intimacy and personality. Outside of home dining, we really love our neighborhood Ethiopian restaurant, Ras Dashen. Also high on our list is Band of Bohemia, such wonderful food and cocktails. w
Stephen: As an East Coaster relocated to Chicago, I thank the heavens for Jimmy’s Pizza Cafe, which is the place to get real New York pizza in town.
~How many tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
Stephen: None.
Valya: Two. None of food, though.
Stephen: Yet.
I Kant Believe It’s Not Buttermilk Pancakes
Excerpted from Forking Good: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place by Valya Dudycz Lupescu and Stephen H. Segal. Reprinted with permission from Quirk Books.
“In this realm, IHOP stands for Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes. You don’t really eat these pancakes. It’s more like they eat you.”—Michael, Season 2, Episode 10, “Rhonda, Diana, Jake, and Trent”
When Chidi agrees to teach Eleanor about ethics, he turns to Immanuel Kant’s The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. In it, Kant creates a basis for defining what behaviors are ethically acceptable (and, further, what behaviors are ethically required). Kant believed that ethical action was guided by the so-called categorical imperative of rules that produce ethical behavior if they are followed. It was his opinion that immorality is the result of a person holding others to a different standard of behavior than they do for themselves.
In Season 2, Episode 10, Chidi struggles against the obvious need to lie to maintain the Soul Squad’s aliases when they find themselves in the Bad Place. He tells Eleanor that according to Kant, lying is always wrong. He tells her, “Principles aren’t principles when you pick and choose when you’re gonna follow them!” Eleanor declares herself a moral particularist, invoking the philosopher Jonathan Dancy to make the argument that, “You have to choose your actions based on the particular situation.” Eleanor wins that round, and the conflicted Chidi tries to blend in.
The limitations of Kant’s categorical imperative don’t seem to apply in the absurdity of the afterlife. Kant may have argued that the contradiction of standards was immoral, but what happens when you have a completely different set of rules to follow, because you’re literally in hell? Or when you find yourself at . . .
THE INTERDIMENSIONAL HOLE OF PANCAKES
In Season 3, the Soul Squad arrives in the Neutral Zone between Good and Bad, at the Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes—the crossroads of all dimensions, where the pancakes contain interdimensional portals and want to eat you as much as you want to eat them. The Judge augments reality to make this place appear as a regular IHOP, but dangers still exist. As Michael warns the humans, “If you eat anything in this IHOP, you will literally explode.” Chidi missteps and falls into a portal, shrinks, and tumbles through time and space. Before he’s retrieved, he gets a glimpse of the Time Knife, which he describes as “a trillion different realities folding onto each other like thin sheets of metal, forming a single blade.”
For the indecisive deontological philosopher who spent his life in perpetual conflict for being unable to make the simplest of decisions, what does it mean to see so many dimensional possibilities at once? We’re not sure; he seems to snap back into their dimension fairly easily. Fortunately, the glimpse of the fractalesque reality did not launch him into the existential crisis that Jeremy Bearimy did.
So how does this influence our pancake recipe?
Some version of it has been part of the human diet for thousands of years, so it’s fitting that the crossroads of all dimensions is a symbolic house of pancakes. The earliest written reference to a pancake is the tagenia from ancient Greece, mentioned in the writing of the fifth century B.C.E. poets Cratinus and Magnes, and made with flour, olive oil, honey, and milk.
There are versions of pan cakes all over the world: Ethiopian injera and Indonesian serabi, French crêpes and German Pfannkuchen, Chinese bing and Indian cheela— some sweet, some savory, all grain based. In America, the earliest pancakes were likely made with cornmeal or buckwheat and called flapjacks or johnnycakes. Buttermilk pancakes, which are perhaps the most popular iteration in the United States, are believed to have come from Scotland, where they are called drop scones and made with a leavening agent that produces a taller cake than the typical crêpe-like British pancake.
Our vegan version drops the buttermilk and eggs but still captures the delicious fluff and flavor. And they won’t try to eat you.
I Kant Believe It’s Not Buttermilk Pancakes
MAKES: 25–30 silver dollar pancakes
Vegan
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly (use refined for a neutral flavor or unrefined if you want a stronger coconut taste)
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
Vegetable oil or coconut oil to grease the griddle/pan
Powdered sugar and fresh fruit, for topping
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine melted coconut oil, milk, and syrup.
• Add dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just incorporated. Don’t overbeat the batter or the pancakes will be tough.
• Allow batter to sit for 5 minutes while you heat a griddle or a cast-iron skillet on medium-low heat. The pan is ready when a drop of water sizzles upon contact.
• Lightly grease the griddle with vegetable oil or coconut oil.
• Using a large spoon, ladle small portions, about a heaping tablespoon, of batter onto the griddle. (You want the pancakes to be bite-sized.)
• When bubbles form in the batter, use a spatula to flip pancake and cook for another minute or two. Transfer cooked pancakes to the prepared baking sheet and warm in the oven while you cook the remaining batter.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar and top with the fruit of your choice.
With nine books and thousands of articles published across the internet, Lindsay Boyers, CHNC, is a seasoned author. Lindsay’s latest publication, The Everything Keto Diet Meal Prep Cookbook, is a new foray, as she breeches the world of published recipes. The cookbook highlights Lindsay’s stance on health and nutrition, positing a low-carb, ketogenic lifestyle needn’t be complicated, intimidating, or expensive. Indeed, Lindsay’s cookbook demonstrates a ketogenic way of life can be enjoyable and satisfying. Further, readers can make many of these dishes with standard pantry items.
The Everything Keto Meal Prep Cookbook starts out introducing ketogenic basics and food prep, before moving onto recipes. The recipes are detailed, easy to follow, and, true to Lindsay’s promise, uncomplicated! From comforting classics (hello, Chicken Cordon Bleu!), to summer favorites (Key Lime Bars), and delicious twists (Thai Peanut Mason Jar Salad), Lindsay has all cravings covered. All food lovers will enjoy these cleverly crafted, easy, and delightful recipes regardless of carb orientation.
Lindsay Boyers, CHNC is a nutrition consultant with extensive experience in a wide range of dietary therapies including the ketogenic diet. She also specializes in elimination diets, gut health, and identifying food sensitivities in her clients. Lindsay’s articles on nutrition and health have been published on various health and wellness sites, including Healthline.com, Livestrong.com, and JillianMichaels.com. She lives in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.
Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):
What is your favorite food to cook at home? Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers! It’s always a hit and I love using my pressure cooker whenever I get the chance.
What do you always have in your fridge at home? Tessemae’s Habanero Ranch Dressing!
What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Open-mindedness! I love when someone is willing to try something new.
Greek Buddha Bowl
What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal? Close-mindedness! It doesn’t bother me if someone doesn’t like something, but it does bother me when someone says they don’t like something before even trying it!
Beer, wine, or cocktail? Beer in the summer, wine in the winter.
Your favorite cookbook author? Danielle Walker of Against All Grain.
Your favorite kitchen tool? It’s a tie between my Instant Pot and my French press.
Gouda and Bacon Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
Favorite types of cuisine to cook? Italian and Mexican (even though I’m Portuguese).
Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu? Beef if it’s ground, chicken if it’s not.
Favorite vegetable? Broccoli.
Chef you most admire? I’m a big fan of Alton Brown.
Food you like the most to eat? Avocados with Everything Bagel Seasoning sprinkled on top!
Food you dislike the most? Cottage cheese, for sure.
What is your favorite non-food thing to do? Does reading count? I’ve always been in introvert, and my favorite thing in the world is reading in a hammock with a blanket.
Zucchini Pizza Bites
Who do you most admire in food? There are a lot of people, but I’d probably have to choose Dr. Mark Hyman.
Where is your favorite place to eat? My house! I much prefer cooking to going out to eat. That way I can control the ingredients and make it exactly to my liking.
What is your favorite restaurant? There’s a sushi restaurant that’s local to me called Yama Zakura, and it is OUT OF THIS WORLD.
Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food? I do! I have two. None of them are of food. I was 18 and 19 when I got them, so they’re not the best looking things.
Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu with Creamy Lemon Butter Sauce
If you want a richer flavor, you can use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts. This will also double the fat content of each serving, as chicken thighs are much higher in fat.
Note: Save Money with Thighs! Chicken thighs don’t get as much love as chicken breasts, but they’re an excellent source of both protein and fat. When cooked, the fat renders from the chicken thigh into the sauce in which it’s being cooked and gives it a richer flavor than chicken breasts. Plus, chicken thighs tend to be cheaper and go on sale more often, especially the bone-in, skin-on varieties. You can use chicken thighs in any recipes that call for chicken breasts. If the recipe calls for skinless, you can save money by buying it with the skin on and then removing before cooking.
INGREDIENTS | SERVES 6
6 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 slices Swiss cheese
6 slices no-sugar-added deli ham
3 tablespoons Paleo flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grass-fed butter, divided
1⁄2 cup keto-friendly white wine
2 shallots, minced
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Pound chicken with a meat mallet to 1⁄2″ thickness. Place one slice of cheese and ham on each breast and fold chicken over, securing with a toothpick.
Combine Paleo flour with paprika in a medium bowl. Dip each chicken breast in flour mixture and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken breasts and cook 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is cooked through.
While chicken is cooking, combine wine and shallots in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce until 2 tablespoons of liquid remain.
Reduce heat to low and whisk in remaining butter, stirring constantly until butter is incorporated. Remove from heat and whisk in cream and lemon juice.
Pour sauce over chicken and cook 1 more minute. Remove from heat.
Transfer one chicken breast and equal amounts of sauce to each of six separate airtight containers. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat, up to one week.
PER SERVING Calories: 686 | Fat: 55 g | Protein: 39 g | Sodium: 441 mg | Fiber: 2.5 g | Carbohydrates: 6.5 g | Sugar: 1.5 g | Net
Carbohydrates: 4 g
Keto Kalamazoo has a wanderlust for travel and culinary adventures. In 2017, she ate her way across 29 countries and is itching to set off again! To date, her favorite destination is Budapest, Hungary, where she ate enough sour cherry soup to fill the Danube. A former secret diner, KK tries to stay active by promoting food and culture within her local community. She’s also a professor–but that’s not as fun and exotic as food adventures.
Get ready, readers! Cheese Tea is a new and interesting drink…boba with a twist! Have you tried it yet? What do you think?
Jenny Zheng, 25, is the Founder of Little Fluffy Head Cafe, one of the first cheese tea boba shops in Los Angeles of its kind. She graduated from the University of California Los Angeles with a Master’s degree in Bioengineering in 2016. While on a trip to Asia before graduation, she stumbled upon the latest millennials craze: cheese tea. Being a big fan of cheese, she obsessed on bringing the concept to the U.S.. So upon graduation, instead of going a traditional route with her degree, Zheng decided to spend the time to develop her own version of creamy cheese tea and opened her very first cafe in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles in the summer of 2017. Right now, she is fully dedicated to running the cafe to provide her customers the highest-quality and authentic cheese tea.
What is your favorite food to cook at home?
My mom used to make me a tomato noodle soup every morning when I was younger, utimately it has become my favorite Asian comfort food I like to cook at home. It reminds me of my family.
What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Different kinds of cheese to pair with wine
What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
One characteristic I look for in a person is the ability to criticize or the ability to question. Especially if I am going to eat with this person, I want the dinner table conversation to be as meaningful as possible, talking about things that we could be better at.
What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Unreliable
Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Definitely wine!
Your favorite cookbook author?
I don’t have one yet. At this moment, I spend most of my foodie time searching for great restaurants to eat at, rather than a good cookbook to teach myself how to cook.
Your favorite kitchen tool?
Hand mixer
Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
East Asian cuisine
Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Chicken
Favorite vegetable or fruit?
Tomato
Chef you most admire?
A sushi chef by the name of Kazunori Nozawa
Food you like the most to eat?
Squid ink pasta with lobster sauce. So yummy!
Food you dislike the most?
Anything with mushroom. My mom made me eat a lot of mushrooms when I was little, and I am mentally afraid of mushrooms now.
What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Reading
Who do you most admire in food?
My mom. She could make you a platter of seafood like the ones you see at high end restaurants.
Where is your favorite place to eat? What is your favorite restaurant?
Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar inside the Grove in Los Angeles. Great atmosphere and fresh sushi.
Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
I have two tattoos. I got them before I turned into a foodie, so sadly none of them were related to food.
Recipe: Jenny’s version of cheese tea
1. Prepare:
9 teaspoon of whipping cream
3 teaspoon of milk
0.5 oz of cream cheese
a pinch of salt and sugar
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whip together using a hand mixer until the texture is thick.
Gluten-Free to Industry: Allie Luckman Overcame Food Allergies for Her Family and Found a Calling
“Do you mind if we chat while I’m driving?” starts CEO and owner of Allie’s GF Goodies, Allison Luckman. “I couldn’t find allergen-free gumdrops, so I’m on my way to the store to buy the ingredients to make them.” With that as an intriguing conversation starter, how could one not want to talk to her via Bluetooth? The Long Island, New York-based Luckman, like many of today’s mothers, found that she had genetically passed her many food allergies onto her kids. Therefore, she started baking for them to make sure her kids could eat baked treats just like their friends – without feeling left out of any celebration.
Starting with a hobby crafting cakes and muffins for tiny tots birthdays and celebrations in 2012, Luckman found the flowering enterprise grew into a bakery. The certified gluten-free and qualified kosher shop concentrates on baked goods free of potential allergens such as dairy, egg, soy, gluten, coconut, peanuts, tree nuts, or sesame. Hence, most of the products are also suitable for vegans. As her business grew, Luckman developed a following among those in the entertainment business. Her clients have included rapper Snoop Dog and hip-hop impresario Steve Lobel, as well as having been featured on A & E’s Married at First Sight and on an episode of Millionaire Matchmaker.
Almost two years ago, Luckman found a growing need to serve the gentile and Jewish communities by turning her baking business into a complete kosher pareve (dairy-free) enterprise. “I was getting more calls to omit eggs and milk products, so we decided to make a go. Our business gets supported by the many rabbis recommending our goods,” Luckman comments.
When asked what she finds the hardest to do, she doesn’t pause. “Finding good bakers. If they have been working for as a baker for a while, they don’t understand how to work with my recipes that I have personally developed, sometimes working on them for weeks, if not months. When someone fresh comes in, I can train them to work with the types of flours we use. It’s a specific process particular to our products.”
Luckily, those with allergies can now have some of the best in award-winning baked goods (TasteTV’s “Healthy Gourmet Snacks of the Year Awards” and ““People’s Choice Award for Most Innovative New Product” at the International Food Service & Restaurant Show) in the world including bagels, black and white cookies, and challah. Seriously, what child or adult could go through life without devouring a bagel and a smear? They won’t have to go without, due to Allie Luckman and her GF Goodies. #nochildleftout.
Allie GF Goodies are available online and can be shipped throughout the U.S. Follow on Facebook, website: www.alliegfg.com, or by calling (516) 216 – 1719.
Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):
What is your favorite food to cook at home?
I love to make either a full roasted turkey or chicken. My family loves it, giving them the feeling of comfort. Along the same lines I love to make them traditional chicken soup, and they have always loved mine the best.
What do you always have in your fridge at home?
In my fridge at home, we have freshly sliced turkey breast, a variety of cheeses, and kosher pickles, both half sour and garlic dill.
What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
I enjoy eating with people who enjoy and appreciate good food.
What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
I hate eating with people with bad table manners.
Beer, wine, or cocktail?
I am definitely a wine person.
Your favorite cookbook author?
My favorite cookbook author has always been Mark Bittman.
Your favorite kitchen or bar tool?
I have three favorites in the kitchen. Every baker/ chef needs a whisk, a KitchenAid stand mixer, and a food processor.
Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
I like to cook all types of cuisine as long as there is flavor, room for personal flair, and not too spicy (although my husband will eat as spicy as I give him)!
Beef, chicken, pork, seafood, or tofu?
I’m either a chicken or beef person. Never tofu.
Favorite vegetable?
I love asparagus and broccoli, although I’m not personally allowed many vegetables.
Chef or culinary person you most admire?
I admire Florian Bellinger, the pastry chef.
Food you dislike the most?
I truly dislike mushrooms. I loathe the texture. However, I don’t mind the flavor in a sauce or soup.
What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
My favorite nonfood thing to do, aside from catching up on sleep, is spending time with my husband and grown children, either watching television or traveling.
Whom do you most admire in food?
I admire Ron Ben Israel for his cake business that he’s created.
Where is your favorite place to eat/ drink?
I live on Long Island. My local faves are 388 Restaurant, where they make excellent family style Italian food. They carry and use my products, and are hyper vigilant about my celiac disease so that I can eat safely. I have always been a Peter Luger’s fan—like every New Yorker. And my go-to in Manhattan these days is Felidia, where they take celiac disease very seriously.
Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
I do not have a tattoo, nor will I ever. I’ve had so many surgeries that I’m marked up enough.
Recipe: Allie’s Banana Bread
Ingredients:
2 c Allie’s flour
3/4 c sugar
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 t salt
1/2 c unsalted butter or Earth Balance, softened
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
2 eggs
1/3 T lowfat or hemp milk
1/4 c chocolate chips or blueberries (optional)
Directions:
• Preheat oven to 350.
• In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar
• Beat eggs in separate bowl and add butter/sugar to the mixture. Then add bananas, milk, and vanilla until well blended.
• In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Then add to the banana mixture until fully blended.
• Add chocolate chips or blueberries, if desired.
• Pour into greased pan and bake 50-60 minutes for loaf.
Simon Thibault is a Halifax-based journalist and radio producer whose work focuses on food. His written work has been featured in The Globe and Mail and East Coast Living. He has contributed to CBC Radio, and The Southern Foodways Alliance’s Gravy podcast. He was also a judge for the 2015 James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Awards.
Thibault’s new book, Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food, is a fantastic read – and resource. This expertly written and beautifully produced new title is part cookbook and part history guide exploring the culinary legacy of Canada’s Acadian Diaspora located within the eastern Maritime region. We don’t know enough about Acadian history and food – and I am glad to have the opportunity to learn more, in this book.
Acadian food is humble, homey, and comforting, which is what inspired Thibault to highlight the cuisine. It is made with love and devotion from a larder that is small but mighty, and holds history within itself. Each recipe is adapted from Thibault’s own family collection or from various women’s auxiliaries within the region – the result is a cookbook of extraordinary value and uniqueness.
I LOVE IT.
Tip: Make the apple pie (it was the first thing I made from the book!). It’s incredible.
Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):
What is your favorite food to cook at home?
I think readers of cookbooks falsely imagine that the authors cook nothing but the food they extoll in their books. I did do so when I was recipe testing. I think I ate more lard and molasses than one perhaps should on a regular basis while living a semi-sedentary lifestyle. But I tend to cook, for lack of a better term, Pan-Asian food at home. I’m lucky that I know farmers here in Nova Scotia who grow a lot of northern Chinese/Korean/Japanese vegetables. So I often will cook extra rice in a rice cooker while I am doing other things, and then will cook the vegetables à la minute. I usually top things off with an egg or two.
What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Eggs. Always. At least a carton and a half. That way the older eggs can be used for boiling, the fresh ones for poaching and frying. Salted onions, which is a condiment from my book. It lends a nice salty/umami kick to soups.
What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
For them to chide me when I say, “I screwed this up, this could be better,” when realistically, they are right. it’s usually quite good. I just always have this platonic ideal of a dish in my head, and it doesn’t always happen. But the other person is happy that someone has cooked for them. And cooking for another is something I love to do.
What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
If I am in a restaurant, if they are dismissive of staff. As someone who has worked the front of house in various places and times in my life, I find that to be especially heinous.
Beer, wine, or cocktail?
If I am at home, amaro. I am learning to embrace the bitter. And all I need is an ice cube. If I am in a bar where I can see what’s behind the bar in terms of booze, I tend to go for a cocktail.
Your favorite cookbook author?
I have to say Naomi Duguid. She wrote the foreword to my book, Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food, but the books that she wrote with her former partner, Jefferey Alford, taught me how to cook. I am still very grateful that I have gotten to know her. I even cooked an apple cake from her book, Home Baking, today.
Your favorite kitchen tool?
A food mill. Apple sauce is magical, and the best whipped/mashed potatoes you’ve ever eaten. And they’re very inexpensive.
Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Chinese. Grace Young’s “The Breath Of A Wok” was the beginning of my understanding of how chinese food works from the act of cooking.
Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
Grass-fed beef, that has been well-reared. Preferably something like a flank, or a hanger steak.
Favorite vegetable?
Chinese long beans. The season is short, and you can cook them in a minute or two, or make a variation on the Vietnamese Som Tam, or green papaya salad. Just substitute the long beans cut into pieces and flattened with the side of a knife.
Chef you most admire?
The people who work at America’s Test Kitchen, behind the scenes. They teach so many people to feel comfortable in kitchens, and answer all the questions you may have when creating a recipe. I admire any chef who thinks it’s important to give people agency in a kitchen.
Food you like the most to eat?
Anything made with flour. I live for carbohydrates, whether sweet or savoury.
Food you dislike the most?
Although I love Japanese food in so many forms, and I like fermented foods, I can’t wrap my brain around natto. It’s fermented soybeans that have long white mucilaginous tendrils when you pull it apart. I can’t.
What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
I can’t stop reading about food. I have a (bad? good?) cookbook habit. I went to Kitchen Arts and Letters in New York City, and walked out $700 poorer. And I practiced restraint in doing so.
Who do you most admire in food?
Women.
Where is your favorite place to eat?
An apple, in my parent’s orchard.
What is your favorite restaurant?
In Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I live, there is a wonderful spot called The Highwayman. Small plates, Basque-inspired cuisine. In New York, I have a love for Gabrielle Hamilton’s Prune. Every. Little. Thing. Is. Thought. Out. From the amount of servers on staff, to the wine list, to the price point, to the friendliness of staff. I went there with my friend Sofia, who is a native New Yorker, and she and I ate like kings and queens.
Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
I don’t actually, though I can see why people would assume. If I did, it would probably be of fruit that grows in my parent’s orchard. Peaches for my sister, who passed away and loved them. Apples for my parents, who taught me the value of work. Blueberries for my nieces, who love picking them. And I would be a quince.
Ingredients
2 cups molasses
1 cup lard or shortening
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon all spice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (optional)
Directions
• Preheat your oven to 375˚F.
• Grease a 10×10-inch cake pan, and then dust generously with flour. Alternatively, add greased and floured parchment paper and place into cake pan.
• Using the paddle attachment on your mixer, fold the flour and lard
together on low speed until completely combined, about 4–5 minutes.
• Add the molasses, cinnamon, fresh ginger (if using), and allspice, and mix on low. Make sure to occasionally stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the molasses, lard, and seasonings are blended.
• Add the baking soda and salt, then the milk to the batter, and stir until well incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the pan, and place into the oven.
• Bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake has receded from the edges of the pan and a toothpick placed in the centre comes out clean. Depending on the size of your pan, it may take a bit more or less time. Just keep checking until it comes out nice and clean.
• Leave cake in pan for about 20 minutes, and then invert onto a rack.
Serve on its own, or as a dessert with Maple Whipped Cream (page
176), Easy Caramel Sauce (page 177), or Brown Sugar Sauce (page 202).
Chef Jennifer Hill Booker’s culinary path has not always been a linear one. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Tulsa before graduating first in her class, eighteen months later, with an Associate of Occupational Science from Oklahoma State Institute of Technology. Extensive travel while married to an United States Army Officer pushed Jennifer to blaze a trail that fit her unique situation-a female African American chef, living abroad – as a result, Your Resident Gourmet was born.
During her time living in Germany, Jennifer honed her culinary talents by providing cooking classes for both military and German families. She was also able to fulfill a lifelong dream of attending Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Paris, where she once again graduated top of her class.
Twenty years later Jennifer finds herself once again blazing culinary trails as she wears many culinary hats as chef, cookbook author of Field Peas to Foie Gras and Dinner Deja Vu, reality TV personality, culinary educator, and business owner.
She is a Georgia Grown Executive Chef for the GA Department of Agriculture, the Culinary Explorer for the Georgia Department of Tourism and Travel, is the founder of Southern Divas of the New South™ Dinner Series, and currently sits on the James Beard Foundation Food Waste Advisory Council.
Weaving her love of traditional Southern cuisine with her belief in incorporating healthy, seasonal foods and her classic French training, Chef Jennifer created a unique style of cooking that she termed Modern Southern Healthy Cuisine with a French Accent. Chef Jennifer shares this brand of cooking through her cooking segment ‘Chef Jenn to the Rescue’, on CBS46’s Atlanta Plugged In, with original recipes in such publications as Garden & Gun and Essence Magazine, as well as her Food Network debut as a finalist on Cutthroat Kitchen.
Chef Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):
How long have you been cooking?
Professionally for 20+ years. As a novice, I’ve been cooking since around 7-when I got my first Holly Hobby Oven.
What is your favorite food to cook?
I love to mesh Southern and French ingredients and cooking techniques together to get what I call Modern Healthy Southern Cuisine with a French Accent. It’s not Creole or what’s typically found in New Orleans-I think it’s more Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama style Southern with classical French mixed in. So more fresh seasonal produce, farm raised meat and poultry, and lots and lots of layered flavors. I don’t use much roux, hot spices, or heavy sauces in my food. It’s my foundation and what I use approach everything I approach-like black eyed pea hummus or a cassoulet with smoked ham hocks and salt pork.
Fried Chicken Livers
What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Eggs, cream, butter, some type of cheese, capers, olives, and bacon. I can make almost everything from those ingredients.
What do you cook at home?
I’m a Southerner at heart. Nothing makes me happier than cooking a pot of beans with a ham hock or ham bone thrown in. I also love greens-either cooked or served as a salad.
What marked characteristic do you love in a customer?
Customers that are adventurous eaters and LOVE food! They are a joy to cook for.
What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a customer?
Those who give you the wash list of their dietary ‘restrictions’. You’re a grown up, you know what you can and cannot eat.
Tupperware, Rubbermaid, or Pyrex?
Oh my gosh-this is a good one! I grew up on Tupperware but when I got my own place, I couldn’t afford it! Now I use a mix of Rubbermaid and Lexan – which is commercial kitchen storage brand that ends up in my home kitchen. I do like the glass Pyrex casserole dishes with the snap on lids-how clever is that!?
Making cocktails
Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Cocktails in polite company-but I really prefer my booze on the rocks. It tastes pure and without any pesky calories from mixers.
Your favorite cookbook author?
I like recipes that work-and Ina Garten’s always do. For inspiration, I have to have lots of bright juicy pictures in the cookbooks I read- and the Culinaria cookbook series are beautiful. But my all time favorite cookbook? Julia Child. She explains her recipes, no matter how arduous, and soldiers through.
Your favorite kitchen tool?
Hands down a rubber spatula. You can stir, fold, mix, sauté, and scrape! Scraping the bowl, pot, or pan clean is near and dear to my heart because it prevents waste, you get that last bite that can make or break a portion, and it Saves Money. Why wash food down the drain when you can scrape it out and eat it?!
Your favorite ingredient?
Garlic. I Love Garlic. It adds aroma and enhances the flavor to a dish-and can be strong and pungent or soft and sweet.
Your least favorite ingredient?
I don’t have a least favorite, but I am totally over Kale.
Least favorite thing to do in a kitchen?
Peel shrimp and clean the oven. I still have scars on my fingers for the thousands of pounds of shrimp I’ve peeled over my culinary career. I just hate taking the time to clean the oven! It takes smoke and a small fire in the oven to compel me to finally clean it.
Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
My all time go to favorites are Southern, Classical French, and Mediterranean (which for me is just a way to cook everything that has tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic in it). I also get excited by what’s in season or a style of cooking. I went through a period where I grilled everything-fruit, pizza, bones for stock!
Beef, chicken, pork, or tofu?
This is a hard one. I’m going to go with pork. You can coax so many flavors and textures from pork that it never gets boring.
Favorite vegetable?
If I had to eat one vegetable for the rest of my life . . . I guess it would be brussels sprouts. They taste like broccoli and cabbage and are so versatile I’d never get bored.
Chef you most admire?
I have a chef crush on Anthony Bourdain-mainly because of his bad boy imagine and he knows his stuff! A dear friend of mine, Chef Joe Randall, has my unwavering admiration. He’s been cooking as an Executive Chef for 40 years. He’s run kitchens (both North and South), written cookbooks, owned a cooking school, mentored young chefs, and currently runs the African American Chefs Hall of Fame in Savannah, Georgia, and unapologetically promotes Southern cuisine. None of which are easy-especially for a proud Black man in America.
Food you like the most to eat?
I’m all about the savory!
I love big flavors that range from my Mother’s turkey & dressing to roasted tomatoes and garlic with fresh basil and shaved parm or a muffuletta from Central Grocery in New Orleans that I smuggle home and bake in a cast iron skillet with another skillet pressing it down. Now I’m hungry!
Food you dislike the most?
Cauliflower-how can it be a vegetable when it’s white?? It’s almost like broccoli’s twin sister, while broccoli is popular and has personality, cauliflower is bland and boring and hoping people will like her.
How many tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
I have 2 tattoos. One is food and it’s also my Zodiac sign . . . I’ll let you figure that one out.
When Frida’s first opened in 2002 along the forgotten strip of Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, there was a lack of well-crafted Mexican food in Beverly Hills. The world-renowned town at the time celebrated tomahawk steaks with martinis rather than reposado tequilas and molés. Upon opening, the small but mighty restaurant fostered a growing interest in the cuisine outside of the standard Tex-Mex that populated the City of Angels. More than 17 years later while other area restaurants have come and gone, Frida’s still stands, crafting south of the border dishes one might have in the very cosmopolitan Mexico City.
Owner Vicente del Rio, who was born in the metropolis’s historical and well-to-do borough of Coyocan, said during a phone interview, “I learned how to cook from my mother and grandmother, and I wanted to bring that authentic experience here. I feel that’s why we are successful.”
After a fruitful debut year, del Rio started to spread out to other parts of Los Angeles. As CEO of FriMex Hospitality, he has launched eating experiences throughout Los Angeles County with Frida’s Tacos in five locations (Brentwood, Old Town and East Pasadena, Melrose, and Campus Village) and a Taco Libre in Santa Monica. His team has also expanded the original experience of Frida’s to Westwood, Sherman Oaks, Torrance, Cerritos, and opening soon in Sherman Oaks.
Asked about why he thinks Frida is so successful, he says, “We don’t reduce the quality of our food to increase profits. We also have a great team of people working to make sure that we embody the Mexican culture. We want everyone to enjoy our delicious history.”
Food People Questionnaire (with a nod to Proust):
What is your favorite food to cook at home?
Barbeque and paella
What do you always have in your fridge at home?
All types of fresh fruits, vegetables, and proteins
What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
That they enjoy the food that they ate and are interested in trying diverse foods
What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
They complain about the food and service
Beer, wine, or cocktail?
Martini
Your favorite cookbook author?
Laura Caraza
Your favorite kitchen or bar tool?
Knives
Favorite types of cuisine to cook?
Mexican and Spanish
Beef, chicken, pork, seafood, or tofu?
Beef
Favorite vegetable?
Mushrooms
Chef or culinary person you most admire?
My mother and grandmother, who taught me everything
Food you like the most to eat?
Besides Mexican and sushi?
Food you dislike the most?
Cheese
What is your favorite non-food thing to do?
Golf
Whom do you most admire in food?
Jose Andres
Where is your favorite place to eat/drink?
Mexico City
What is your favorite restaurant?
Frida Beverly Hills
Do you have any tattoos?
And if so, how many are of food?
None
Recipe: Roasted Pork with Green Mole
Total time: 3 hours, 15 minutes, largely unattended. Serves 8
Ingredients:
3 1/2- to 4-pound pork shoulder roast, fat trimmed
Salt
Pepper
6 tablespoons oil, divided
6 cups chicken broth, divided, plus 1/4 to 1/2 cup if needed
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
5 tomatillos, husked and chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup shelled raw peanuts
1/2 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds), hulled
1 bunch cilantro (tough lower stems removed)
1/2 bunch epazote (1 cup leaves)
1 cup chopped iceberg or romaine lettuce
1 corn tortilla, torn into pieces
1 bolillo roll, sliced
3 whole jalapeno chiles (not seeded)
2 whole serrano chiles, seeds removed7 poblano chiles, seeds removed, chopped (4 cups chopped)
1/2 cup toasted pepitas
Directions:
1. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven. Add the pork shoulder and sear on all sides. Pour 2 cups chicken broth into the pan and cover.
2. Place in a 325-degree oven and cook until the meat is tender and easily pulled apart with a fork, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
3. Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and tomatillos and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the peanuts and the raw pepitas and cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Add the cilantro, epazote, lettuce, tortilla pieces, bolillo slices and chiles. Stir in the remaining chicken broth and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat. Simmer until the chiles are soft and flavors have melded, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Let the mixture cool slightly, then blend in batches until smooth. Add a little water or broth (one-fourth to one-half cup) if necessary to make a thick but pourable sauce.
7. Return the sauce to the pan and heat to serving temperature. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt or to taste. Makes 6 cups sauce, ½ cup per serving.
8. Serve on shredded pork, arrange on a serving platter. Sprinkle with pepitas.
– The End. Go Eat. –
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