World Cup of Yum

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Whenever I go out for Vietnamese food, I like to start my meal with Vietnamese Spring Rolls. They are fresh and crunchy, and a great vehicle for yummy dipping sauce. I learned from a Vietnamese friend that they’re actually pretty straightforward to make. The hardest part is getting the hang of working with the moistened…

Ravioli, Gnocchi, Marinara, Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Cookbook Club – Handmade Pasta The holiday season tends to be filled with gatherings that heavily involve eating (and therefore cooking). It’s a wonderful time for the kind of people who would join a Cookbook Club, but we were worried that people might need a bit of a break. We didn’t want to skip December’s…

Pickled Beet Stems

I hate wasting food. So when I roasted beets, I was happy to discover that I could use the beet greens to make pesto (find my Guessipe here). But it just uses the leaves, and even the idea of throwing out the beet stems bummed me out. Problem solved – pickled beet stems! Beet stems…

Iron Chef X-mas 2016

Special Ingredient: Cinnamon! I get my love of food from my family. We’ve often been known to start discussing what we’re going to eat for our next meal, while still in the process of eating our current meal. We decided to make Christmas 2016 an Iron Chef X-mas – Special Ingredient: Cinnamon! Each participant could…

Mexican Hot Chocolate Pot de Creme

My family decided to do Iron Chef Christmas – special ingredient: Cinnamon (go here to check out the fierce competition)! Each dish would be judged on flavor, presentation, and creativity. Cinnamon immediately made me think of Mexican hot chocolate, which I adore for its dark spicy sweetness. But just making Mexican hot chocolate seemed boring,…

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

Cookbook Club – Smitten Kitchen Bonus Recipe Anthony made the Gooey Cinnamon Squares when we used The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook for our Cookbook Club (see all the dishes here). They were fantastic, so when my family decided that the special ingredient for our Iron Chef Christmas was cinnamon, I knew I had a good place…

Boozy Sundae Bar

So I go visit my parents for the holidays. The night I arrive, we are sitting around chatting after dinner, and we get onto the topic of ice cream (not surprising if you know me at all). I comment that Baileys is really good on vanilla ice cream. My dad responds that Amaretto is great…

Coni’Seafood Restaurant Review

Gold Dig #23 Coni’Seafood is in the middle of nowhere Inglewood. It has a tiny 4-car parking lot that you have to back up into the street to exit. But it’s often on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list, so we trekked to Inglewood to try it. It was worth the effort. The back patio…

Pesto

Pesto is ideal for a Guessipe, because it’s pretty flexible. While pesto is traditionally made with basil, you can substitute with parsley, cilantro, carrot greens, radish greens, beet greens, and probably others! You can also use walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, or pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts. In this Guessipe I used walnuts and…

Jitlada Restaurant Review

Gold Dig #22 Jitlada is perhaps the most well-known of the Thai places on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. It was featured in City of Gold, the documentary following Jonathan Gold as he explored LA’s culinary culture. Not only is the food awesome, but chef-owner Jazz is a super cool lady. We were lucky enough to…

Bacon-Wrapped Bananas

They’re bacon-wrapped bananas… need I say more? I love these for football parties. They are salty, sweet, and a little spicy. The bacon fat caramelizes the banana as it cooks so you get amazing crispy bits. And they’re easy to pop in your mouth as you watch the game. Guessipe 4 bananas, each cut into…

Animal Restaurant Review

Gold Dig #21 Animal is another of several restaurants by Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo that make appearances on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. In addition to Animal, Jon and Vinny have Son of a Gun, Jon & Vinny’s, Petit Trois, and Trois Mec – all within about a 3-mile radius in the Fairfax area. So far I’ve only been…