Gastronomy 101

Greens with Chevre Dressing , originally uploaded by ktglick . All right, so in honor of goat cheese, and summer, I decided to make this salad with a chevre dressing. Unfortunately, the dressing just was not all that great, in my opinion. It was not very flavorful and didn't add much to the salad at all. I thought that it either needed more thyme, or perhaps a more pungent herb, like cilantro or dill, or maybe some lemon zest or juice to add some acidity. My walnut oil was at the bottom of the bottle and so I suspect it may have been on the way out, quality-wise, so that may have been the culprit as well. It was not the cheese. I put the leftover goat cheese on some bread and baked it to make some mini-toasts to eat with the salad and they were great. The next day, I ate the salad with just olive oil and balsamic vinegar and it was great. The flavor of the toasted nuts and fresh greens really stood out without the distraction of the bland goat cheese dressing. This recipe came fro...

Most goat cheese comes from France, and is called chevre , which means, appropriately enough, "goat." Now that goat cheese has gained popularity, though, you can find American-made artisan goat cheeses in the market as well as a few imports from other European countries. I like to buy Laura Chenel cheese. Not only can I purchase it in a small serving, so I can use it all right away, but Laura Chenel is the person who brought goat cheese to America. She went to France to learn how to make it, and then brought it back and gave it to Alice Waters who introduced it at Chez Panisse. Goat cheese is distinctive because of its flavor, which is tangier than cow's milk cheese due to different fatty acids present in the milk and different types of feed; because of the creamy texture; and because it is a "non-melting cheese," meaning it will hold its shape when heated, rather than melting all over the place. Milk production for goats is seasonal, lasting from spring through...

A.O.C Restaurant , originally uploaded by ktglick . I'm going to let you in on my secret. It's one of those things that I don't really want everyone to get clued in on. It's that good. My secret is the cheese bar at A.O.C. I have been seated at a normal table at A.O.C. for a fabulous date-night dinner and I have sat at the cheese bar at A.O.C. for a fun and friendly and equally fabulous dining experience. I don't think I ever want to sit anywhere but the cheese bar again. The trick is getting a seat there. They don't take reservations for it, and there are only eight spots available so the trick is really just to get there at the right time. If you're me, that means you get there right when the restaurant opens to assure yourself that coveted spot. Why is it so much better sitting there? Well, first of all you get to watch the person that I must call the charcutier et fromagier . I don't know what else to call her. She slices the meat and makes the ...

Plata Fria , originally uploaded by ktglick . It's the end of a long week--no, a long two weeks. It's the beginning of a holiday weekend. You are ready to relax and most importantly to have a drink. Or two. Or three. You tried to go to the bar and it was closed. You had to go to the Mexican place down the street and have a cheap margarita and it was full of Valley losers and an old drunk who tells you that you need to exercise more because your stomach is to big for someone your age. Thanks, jerk. (It was my shirt, I swear! Rob B. did not work my abs out for six months for someone to tell me that!) So you have to leave there and you drive around and no place is open and then people call from San Francisco to tell you that they are going to your old favorite bar and it's not fair. And then you come back and the first bar is open. Ole! Tapas Bar. And it's dark, and a Frenchman sits you down on a red velvet sofa and brings you a bottle of wine and a Red Bull and toas...

Being an attorney I generally spend my lunch hour one of three ways: (1) hunched over my home brought lunch before my computer, trying desperately not to spill sauce or salad dressing or what-have-you all over my keyboard or the files; (2) running to the Whole Foods or gas station to purchase whatever I can eat quickly and cleanly, yet still healthily, while racking up yet another billable hour (like now: fruit salad perched on my desk, bag o' pretzels propped up by my foot, and bag of almonds on my side table; WordPerfect open ready to draft letter); or (3) running to the taco stand to get tacos/taquitos/quesadilla to chow down in a few minutes while I take a little break and look at the internet. Not very relaxing, not all that fun. But then there are some days when I've had enough. Generally I have been through a stressful couple of days, and suddenly there is a lull. My boss is out of the office. And I almost always have an enormous headache on these days. On these days, I ...

Spice Rubbed Tilapia with Tomatillo, Mango, and Black Bean Salad , originally uploaded by ktglick . Fine Cooking recently had an article an tilapia that had a variety of different recipes for preparing this fish. So, I am trying them out to see the different things one can do with this little whitefish. This recipe I thought would be a lot spicier than it was, since I was rubbing the fish in chili powder, among other things. It actually turned out to be quite savory. That may be because I used kosher salt in the rub instead of regular. But I like saltiness and I like the tenderizing effect the large grains of kosher salt have on the fish. This may be too salty for some people though. According to J--, the salad was "surprisingly good." I thought so too. It's definitely a different combo but I love the combination of mangoes and meat, and the mangoes actually went very well with the tomatillo. I have never used tomatillo in cooking before and the smell when you cut it...

Tilapia is an herbivorous fish that is native to Africa. It's a hardy fish and can live in fresh or brackish water. Several different species and hybrids are sold under the name tilapia. Although they are freshwater fish, tilapia produce TMAO, a substance generally only produced by saltwater fish, which breaks down to produce the "fishy" smell, so this type of fish will be more "fishy" than freshwater fish normally are. Be careful when cooking this fish because it is one of the fish that's prone to "mushiness." This means that if it's slow cooked to a lower temperature, protein digesting enzymes in the muscle cells will become increasingly active during the cooking process until 130-140 degrees F is reached, at which point they inactivate, and the texture of the fish will be rendered unpleasantly mushy. It is best to either cook quickly to 160-170 degrees F or cook quickly to a lower temperature and serve immediately. Tilapia is one of the type...

So I had this other blog, and it was fun to post in, but it had no focus. And I found that as time went on, it became harder to post. I didn't know what the posts should be about. I had originally wanted it to be some sort of research blog where I could answer questions, etc. But then I found that I don't come up with nearly as many interesting questions as I thought I did. Then it just sort of became all about me ... a general spot where my little blog community of friends could come to read about me and I would go to their blogs to read about them. Except that ... posting has become daunting. Given no particular subject, I often don't know what to write. I'm not good at baring my soul like Milla is, or coming up with provocative topics--nor do I have a cute baby, like Jeremy . But there's one thing that is a part of my life every day, and that is food. Now that I am an attorney and spend most of my day reading, researching and writing and very concentratedly usi...