I get cooked for too, sometimes!

My boyfriend has serious omelette skills.....peep this beauty........ a shitake, spinach, swiss and turkey sausage breakfast!

From the archives...Memphis

This is a bit old....about a year and a half ago.  Was in Oxford, MS for a wedding and HAD to try the bbq as we were leaving Memphis.  Friends, Central BBQ was the jambox.   Ribs so amazing, falling off the bone, ridic sides....I hate going to a bbq place where they don't pay attention to the quality of their sides.  Got to see a bit of Graceland as well.....the gate at least ;)

Why I cook....

This was a small, impromptu get together at my house, when I decided to make thai food.  I made way too much and had to call over some friends to help eat.  We were discussing some of the food I bought at the thai market, some strange, some delicious........On the menu:  shrimp toasts, papaya salad, pad thai with tofu and green curry with chicken.  That cooking class I took in Thailand has really come in handy for parties. 

yes.

Liz.

Daily Affirmation.

An American girl in Paris

Why I don't like to review restaurants....and other ramblings about my childhood.

I love food.  I love to eat. I love restaurants.  Eating out and trying new places is my fav thing to do.  I have recommendations for days on where to go for a mellow evening, where to go when the fam is in town, where to go to impress someone, where to go to get the best pasta dish you have ever had, where to get caribbean food,  places that are open late, good for groups, brunch, happy hour........etc. You get the point. The reason why I don't really blog about restaurants is because I love food so much.
It's simply too hard for me to sit there when a beautiful dish arrives and not dig in.  I don't want to have to arrange it on the table so it gets the best light for a picture.   I don't want to have to take notes when I eat. And frankly, I don't want to be that person at the table doing all that shit.  I want to EAT!   I want to taste, savor, talk, drink....not have to think about what sentence I will write for the Papardelle with braised rabbit ragu. I feel like that takes you out of the moment, takes you out of the experience.  And the only moment I want to be in, is the one eating (hopefully) amazing food.  I guess that's why I was so adverse to "blogging" in the first place.  But I guess, your blog is what you make of it.  No one said I had to review places. I have and will occasionally "review" a spot, usually only if it's so amazing I want to tell everyone about it. But who cares about my opinion?  My 8 followers?
I guess my blog has become somewhat of a moment in my brain; what I like at the moment.  What I'm thinking about......what I'm doing, liking etc. It's a sort of documentation for me.
Obviously, I cook a lot.  I used to know nothing about cooking.  I don't remember ever really even wanting to know how until I moved to England for college.  We had a communal kitchen and I had to learn or else get fat eating the fish and chips/bangers and mash at the pub on campus.  My friend Richard worked at an Italian restaurant in Baltimore and he taught me the basics of pasta in our kitchen in Devon.  Pasta with pesto, pasta with white wine sauce, pasta with a red sauce, a pink sauce....layering the flavors with olive oil and garlic and shallots........ok so I STILL got fat ;) But at least I learned something.  I learned that I liked cooking.  I learned that I wanted to learn more.
I always thought as a child that I was a picky eater.  I remember being around 5 and going to other kids McDonald's birthday parties.  All the other kids loved McDonald's and were so excited to be eating that food.  I however, thought it was gross.  They loved the nuggets and I thought they were grissly and inedible.  The cheeseburgers that every kid loves, I thought tasted like cat food.  My mom would beg me to eat something and I would turn up my nose and just have a couple fries and an apple pie. I was picky about my fast food!  What kid doesn't like fast food? My fast food of choice was Wendy's.  It was pretty much the only fast food I found acceptable. The burgers were on a decent bun (not that puny, spongelike thing at mcd's) didn't have the thinness of a communion cracker  (again, like the patty at that other place) and actually tasted like meat.   I did however, LOVE a steak.  I take after my Dad, who is also a meat man. My grandfather indulged me at a young age and made sure I knew that filet was the most tender cut and therefore the best.   I was 9 years old ordering filet mignon and sipping my grandfather's wine.  I also loved stuffed mushrooms with crab.  Out to dinner with my family consisted of my sisters and cousins ordering chicken fingers off of the kids menu and I had an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms with a steak.  Or the scallops.  Or the chicken marsala.  I was about 10. A few years later, I remember asking my mom if we could leave a Mexican restaurant before we even ordered because the tortilla chips were from a bag, not made in the restaurant.  I realized at an early age, if a Mexican place couldn't get their tortilla chips right, then the rest of the meal was gonna suck. I mean, how hard was it to make your own tortilla chips?  The ones from a bag were just insulting.
My poor mother had to deal with me when making my school lunches.  I wouldn't eat peanut butter and jelly.  Or tunafish. I thought it was disgusting.  I had to have a roast beef and lettuce sandwich (no mayo, EVER, ick) , a cheesesteak (very specific bread, cheese and sauteed mushrooms) , or fried chicken from Royal Farms (but it had to have a very specific type of breading on the chicken).  I wasn't a banana and a PB n J sack lunch kinda girl.  I knew what I liked and I wanted it to actually taste good. My dad got so mad once when on a Sunday after a day at my grandparents my mom said we had to stop at the store on the way home.  The sole reason was for my roast beef for my school lunch.  When he realized this stop was just to accommodate me and my taste buds, he got mad and actually threw my precious deli cut, roast beast out the window of the moving car.  Why did I get a special lunch? Why couldn't I eat what my sisters ate?
Anyway......all of this leads me to now.  I realized recently that as I child, I wasn't necessarily picky, I just had an advanced palate for my age.  I liked the taste of "grown up" food.  I could tell the difference (somewhat) between good food and the crap Mickey D's was trying to pawn off as food to kids.  I didn't buy it.  I didn't think that just because I was a kid, I should eat chicken fingers and fries for every meal when out to dinner.  I didn't want the boring bowl of kid sized spaghetti with red sauce, I wanted the veal scallopini.  I didn't eat just to eat because I had to, even then I was eating for pleasure. It all makes sense now.  I feel like I should apologize to my parents or something, apologize to my boyfriend for wanting to go to a new restaurant 2-3 times a week, apologize to my friends when I take them on a wild goose chase downtown because I heard there was the best taco truck ever somewhere in Little Tokyo.

My parents and niece, Emme

My blog is mainly about the adventure of food and travel.  The adventure of trying to make something you've never made before and it tasting good. The adventure of traveling to a place you have never been. That feeling of having no idea what is around the corner. The adventure of showing other people how damn easy it is to make something that really tastes good.
There's something so fulfilling in that.  I love feeding people.  I love cooking.  I love travel. And....... I like blogging about it.

My favorite thing to eat for lunch!!! Make this NOW

At the restaurant where I work, we have a dish called Chickpea Stew.  I eat it all the time.  I find myself craving it. It's so so yummy, especially with this awful, rainy weather we have been having in la. There's something comforting about it.  It's also vegetarian and with the leafy greens and the yogurt, I never feel bad afterword ;)  It also can be made in about ten minutes and feeds 2-4 depending on how much you hog yourself.
This is my version of it.

You need:   Pearl Cous Cous (bigger than normal cous cous also called Israeli cous cous)
                   1 can of chickpeas ( or same amount of fresh also called garbanzo beans)
                   kale or collard greens or even spinach
                   plain yogurt (any kind but I especially love the thicker greek style yogurt)
                   garlic
                   tomato sauce or paste
                   cumin
                   cayenne pepper

Cook the cous cous according to package directions.  When most of the liquid has evaporated, add the can of chickpeas and turn heat to low.

In a separate pan, cook chopped kale in olive oil. Toss in some chopped garlic at the end.  Season with salt and pepper.  Kale is done when wilted about 5 minutes.

Add a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste to cous cous or about 1/4 cup sauce.  Add more to taste.
Once paste or sauce is incorporated turn off the heat and spoon into bowls.  Top with kale.

Mix yogurt, cumin and cayenne in a bowl.  I like a lot of cumin and a lot of cayenne.  Make sure you have a little kick as the yogurt balances out the spice.

Spoon the yogurt mixture over the kale. Top with chopped parsley.  Get cozy and eat.
Don't let the pic fool you, I usually put 10 times the yogurt mixture on top ;)

Don't be scerrrrrd of ribs.....

I'll start by saying ribs aren't the easiest but it's pretty hard to mess them up.  Hell, even if they are overdone, they still taste good imo.  I had two racks of babybacks.   I tried two different marinades, a dry rub and a wet sauce. Both were equally yummy however, I like the crust that develops from a wet marinade better.  Just sayin........anyhoo.......................

The dry rub consisted of cayenne, brown sugar, garlic salt, paprika, and cumin. It was a bit spicy. I tend to have a heavy hand with the cayenne. 

No need to measure, just toss in ingredients and taste.  If you like it, it's good. 

 The wet rub was the sweeter of the two and included thyme, molasses, vinegar, olive oil, garlic salt, cayenne and jamaican allspice. I let them both marinate for about 4 hours.

The trick with ribs that I haven't mastered, is the heat.  Ribs should be cooked low and slow.  Place the coals on one side of your grill and a pot of water on the other side.  This creates steam.  The ribs should go above the cool side.  They should be cooked for a few hours until the meat is pulling away from the bone.  While I have accomplished this feat, it was purely by accident.  Most times, the ribs end up a bit overdone.  I'm still perfecting my technique and if you have any tips, let me know!  However, they still taste damn good. 

While they are cooking, I make bbq sauce.  I hate store bought bbq sauce, it tastes gross. Even as a child, the KC Masterpiece my mom bought just didn't taste good to me and in my house, it was thought to be the best.  I didn't understand why the bbq sauce at the grocery store tasted so different from the bbq sauce used at actual bbq places.  THAT was gooooood!  For a long time, when bbq-ing, Ryan and I would buy the sauce from Baby Blues BBQ.  It's so good, I could literally pour it on anything just to act as a vessel for getting that sauce in my mouth.  Spicy, tangy, sweet....so many flavors at once. I decided to try to make my own. It couldn't be that hard but it did seem like a daunting task.  If the grocery store brands couldn't get it right, why should I be able to? Well, I tried and I must say, the sauce is soooo good and soooo easy. 

I didn't use a recipe.  I took the basic ingredients, vinegar, molasses, tomato sauce (canned as tomatoes aren't in season)  and added spices.  

I added garlic, cayenne, pepper, oregano, thyme......I adjusted to my spice level.....more cayenne.  Then to Ryan's spice level.....more molasses :)  Eventually we reached the perfect balance of heat and sweet.   In about 15 minutes I had made a sauce that Ryan said was as good as Baby Blues. 

Now the ribs were a tad overdone and not falling off the bone how I'd like......the coals were still too hot I guess.  However, the marinades were awesome, the sauce was delicious and it wasn't a total loss at all! We ate both racks in one sitting.  Hello,  delicious babies.....

2 things I love makes this a great gift!

1. Cheese
2. my pomeranian, Finley

Ladies and gents, I give you, the Pomeranian Cheese Board!
I don't know what's worse....the fact that these are being made and bought (and yes, I will accept one if given to me) or the fact that I was just googling Pomeranian items (looking for a pillow actually) .

I also found these sweet socks.....check out the pom doing Fin's "begging move".

Btw my birthday is April 18th.  ;)

and while I'm archiving.....Beauty & the Beast 2006

West Coast Premiere Plan B Productions California Theatre, San Bernadino, Ca 

(I'm front right)

From the archives....

Me. As Edie. 

 Photo by Brian Ulrich

Edie.

Edie Sedgwick.
She led a charmed/destructive life that ended at 28. Actress, fashion icon, Andy Warhol's muse, factory girl......
Everything she wore, she wore effortlessly.  Bob Dylan fell in love with her. Her style is exactly what I want to wear now.....black tights and leotards are a staple.  Huge Chandelier earrings.....short hair bleached with dark roots that actually makes me want to cut mine again......sailor striped tops........simple little dresses.....dark eyebrows and eye makeup....I've been obsessed with her for years.  I was lucky enough to do an Edie inspired photo shoot almost two years ago. Perhaps I'll post some..........