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Summer harvest at the produce market makes cooking a little easier. Especially when we get all the stone fruits in the market; dessert becomes a little easier to formulate.

What better produce to get then somewhere local offering high quality at a reasonable price. Jared’s Real Food farm in Lakeside has been our go to farm stand this year.

Earlier this summer I was cooking for groups of 2-6 quite often; as people were looking to celebrate in small groups at home. I even had a couple parties of 10. They rented a house in San Diego to party it up and be on vacation, without actually leaving the house. I being alone am a safer option than any dine in business at this point. The only drawback to my service, (compared to a restaurant), is fancy table ware. Restaurants usually have plates and bowls that are elegant or unique, while I serve with whatever the household supplies. Occasionally someone is set up with fancy pants dishes, but usually there are not enough of the cool ones to serve everyone.

Bellow are a couple luscious dishes that have quit a bit going on. First is a wild boar meatball with grilled and marinated baby eggplant, peeled cherry tomatoes and rutabaga noodles. (Yes, even if you don’t like eggplant or rutabaga…this is gooood). The second pic is a lovely, yet complicated salad of bitter endive, tart rhubarb, sweetened broccolini and peeled fresh loquats.

I am currently entertaining small groups of wonderful people eating memorable food. Being masked up during parties is no fun, but it beats not being at the party.

Moving forward, we will continue to be healthy, vigilant and kind. We will keep some of our protocols as business returns to whatever the new normal is. A masked up June is looking great for me as I hope it is for you. Remember; the world is churning right now, but sometimes agitation gives you something magical…like butter. Below is a quick snap from an anniversary dinner for two awesome parents.

This dinner was fun because the kids were really interested in the process, and presented themselves as my sidekicks or sous chefs. The parents appreciated my willingness to entertain them and still present a lovely experience. Surprising the palate and the brain are my goals for any dinner. Masked up or not, I’m there to help with, and hopefully provide some memories worth hanging onto. Anywhere in the greater San Diego county area is free game for travel. Treating yourself to this experience is a welcome feeling of normalcy because you are enjoying the family, at home, safe and sound.

Plums are good, and lemon Plums have hit the market. A bright, happy version of the classic plum; this will put a twist into any springtime fruit situation you’ve got goin’ on.

I’m a bit of a sucker for new flashy fruits or cute veggies of unusually small size. Plum cobbler is my favorite of all fruit cobblers. Coming across this stone fruit made my dessert planning an easy decision. Ingredients like this plum are a prime example of why planning menu details can be counter productive. Planning food around known ingredients can spoil the opportunity for surprise, creation and invention. Which in turn create excitement, which triggers emotion and helps us hold onto a memory.

While the base of this recipe is old, tried, true, and simple. As with all food, it still has to be done properly. This properly cooked cobbler was course 6 of 6. Served with butter roasted, salted cashews and brown sugar/vanilla whipped cream. It was a lovely end to an awesome dinner.

Maybe as a reader there is the important question…what were the other 5 courses? Well, an aspect to a perfect dinner is mystery and intrigue. Even though my dinners are always different, there are often variations on a theme. Like mushrooms and steak with potatoes. Fish the is fresh, cooked simply but layered with complex vegetable preparations that balance and highlight. Another important key is staying connected to farmers market to keep up with seasonal magic. Coming across a couple new or sought after fruits and veggies can change the direction of the entire meal. Sparking creativity and happiness for the client and myself.

A small group of friends at a Mission beach rental are in full vacation mode. Life’s a beach with appetizers and a beautiful sunset at cocktail hour. But there’s something special about beach sunsets that make you feel blessed and relaxed.

A good time was had by all this night; with the guests all interested in the goings on of the kitchen more than most. Cooking demo style, we worked through 4 courses and 2 appetizers. One of the client requests was crab cakes. I enjoy crab cakes but haven’t made ’em in a while…which is great. I enjoy cooking requests and favorites.

The crab cakes where made simply, without much added flavor. Mirepoix with fresh thyme and garlic were there. But a crab cakes magic lies in being moist on the inside and crispy on the outside with minimal, to no bread crumb in the mixture. This version of crab was set with celery root slaw, citrus salad, turmeric oil, pickled Armenian cucumber and edible flowers. However, it took a keen eye and a lust for perfection for the group to decide which plate up design was the best.

We have a winner!

Involving the group in plate up is not a normal activity I have fun with. But spontaneity is one of the hallmarks of my dinner parties, so bringing in the group to have a hand in the dinner gave us a sense of teamwork and control. In fact, this is probably the first time I’ve ever done something like that.

Who wants a new vegetable?

Cardoon is a late fall thistle that pops up in the grocery store every year. Being a thistle, it’s in the artichoke family, which is the reason we eat and buy the scary looking thing. It has a mild bitterness absent in artichokes, but it’s never the overwhelming on the palate. More of an, “oh, yeah, I see what you’re, talking about.”

New Vegetable Preparation

New vegetables can be intimidating. For quick and easy artichoke flavor, you only need 20 minutes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While you are waiting for it to heat, prepare the Cardoon. Rinse off any dirt, then slice or peel away the thorns on the edges. Cut the trimmed stalks into 1/2″ slices and dump into the boiling water with a big pinch of salt. Boil for about 5 minutes or until tender. Strain and toss with good salted butter. They’re also great in a casserole or made into a soup or sauce. I like to cook them with water, salt butter and a little potato until soft. Then puree in a high powered blender like a Vitamix and season and garnish to taste.

Like artichokes, these need to be cooked to expunge their astringency. It’s a good idea to boil these separately before adding to a soup or casserole. If you’ve ever cooked stinging nettle, it has a similar property. The side thorns of the cardoon are harmless but trimming them gives a better texture as they tend to be attached with a fibrous string. Yay to interesting and easy new vegetables!

A wedding trip to Raleigh North Carolina took me to parts unknown. Alone in another city with nothing to do but explore and eat? The hunt for inspiration was on.

What to do with time to kill

Eating in any downtown can be fun, especially after walking 15 miles of it. There are always options for fun and food, the only question is: What do you want? Most people are satisfied with trendy places that have fancy whiskey drinks and a large assortment of craft beers. I veer toward history and proof of quality. Hunting for inspiration in Raleigh, I wanted ethereal BBQ and fried chicken. Most other things would take a side seat to finding those items. I tried to branch out here and there, and there were some fails…but the wins were awesome.

The classics are what I seek

I referenced some life changing fried chicken here. With that in mind, I kept ordering fried chicken at places trying to chase that crispy tender dream. I also pride myself on a top quality biscuit, so when someone boasts best biscuit in the city…I gotta check it out. With all the food in Raleigh I had, nothing made me close my eyes and sigh…except the BBQ. This Eastern style whole hog BBQ chopped pork sandwich was everything I needed and wanted. This sandwich alone allowed me to get on my plane at peace with myself and the world. I ordered another one to-go before I left :-)

Almost perfect pickles…

The biggest ordering mistake I made were these fried pickles. I needed a salad at that point, but didn’t realize it till after I ordered. They were overly salty because the flour dredge was heavily seasoned for other items. With the salty pickles it was too much. However. I still got my answer to the quality of the place and the dish. Yes, over salting was a mistake, but the pickles themselves were either home made, or of very high quality and the cut was great. So overall they told me the place cared about small things. If I were to return and order the pickles. I would be very disappointed if they were salty again.

Overall, Raleigh was clean, safe, friendly and delicious. Cheers to a great town.

Perusing seasonal fruits for menu delectability just got easier. I just introduced myself to Lucy Glow and Lucy Rose apples. These new apples are all that and a bag of chips. So good, so cool, and the first colored flesh Pome I’ve ever seen. On top of the cool color, their friggin’ delicious. The glow, with the darker flesh and golden hued skin tastes and textures like the best Fuji. The Lucy Rose is like the best Honeycrisp I’ve ever had…with some heavy berry notes. Here is a lazy link for info, courtesy of Specialty Produce.

What to do with a new fruit or vegetable is always a good question. But, a lot like loquats, this new apple is best eaten cold and without preparation. Don’t over think it. Don’t try to impress anyone with your culinary prowess. These apples do the work for you. Just hand it over and let the perfect crunch, sweetness and moisture content do the heavy lifting. Whomever you give it to will be appreciative and elated. Just K.I.S.S.

If you are going to “cook” with them, I recommend still keeping them raw and trying to highlight their texture and sweetness by not cutting them too small or too thin.

A summer party is a real party. If you’re not having a good time…you’re at a lame party. Is it your fault? Maybe, but probably not. Everyone has a recipe for a good party. I appreciate- great food, music and drinks. Add on some cool people and a tidy place, light some candles if the sun is down and good times are afoot. One thing I have found to be true over the years doing dinner parties everywhere in the county. A summer party on the direct beach coastline, like Mission Beach, parts of PB and La Jolla. The hour before sunset is absolutely intoxicating, equaled only by grand mountain views.

Although my food is always moisture rich, I have been efforting sauces lately for photography’s sake. While I’m efforting sauce for pictures, what do I do? A brown sauce, with no shiny counterpoint Oi vey. Oh well, I’ll keep working on it and will get a new camera soon :-)

Summer parties are different. The weather usually allows a freedom and carefree feeling other seasons can’t quite attain. Being outside or having the doors and windows open feels right. It feels how things are naturally supposed to feel. Of course seasonal change in general is always cool, but summer parties get pools, beaches, sun and swimsuits. Add some righteous food and drinks…some great people and memories will be made.

…or Hogsmeade (age dependent). But a proper Hogwarts pint has always been part of the magic and intrigue of these fantastic stories.

My wife and I started reading Harry Potter around 2003 while entertaining ourselves on long road trips. Over the years we enjoyed the movies, but, for various reasons we only finished the 3rd book. A few years ago we picked the books back up for and with our boys. We ripped through the first three pretty quickly, but they needed to grow up a bit more as the books progressed.

Being the food minded person I am, I couldn’t see finishing off our last movies without trying my hand at two of the most classic beverages in the series. Butterbeer of course, which I’ve dabbled with since ’07, but always coming back to the original online knock off of the theme park recipe. But I’d made that for the boys before; and I wanted something new and exciting. Something with all the delectable notions of Butterbeer. One that kept popping up and sounding yummy was “Pumpkin Juice”. Pumpkin Juice comes up a lot during breakfast time at Hogwarts and always held a notion of nourishment and comfort.

In reality, anything close to plain actual pumpkin juice sounds gaggy. So I went with a mental mix of pumpkin pie and Orange Julius. Although I didn’t incorporate orange flavor, I would like to try this again someday with that flavor in mind. But this one is wicked good.

Recipes

Pumpkin Juice

2c filtered water 1/3c pumpkin puree 1/4c pure maple syrup pinch of pumpkin pie spice (TJ’s is best)
Small pinch cinnamon
Small pinch salt
1/4tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4tsp lemon juice
1/4tsp vanilla
1 organic free range egg
orange food coloring to look desired

Puree in a blender and serve chilled or over ice

ButterBeer
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
½  teaspoon butterscotch extract
Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda

In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.
Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4c of the heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature and add the butterscotch.
In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.
To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass).

Cheers! To all the kids in need of a legal proper pint.