Gastronomy 101

Sometimes, when I put up these recipe posts, I feel a little guilty. See, I put up these recipe posts, but I don't have corresponding posts for what I eat every other night. So it may seem as if I am just cooking lovely meals from scratch all the time. Um, no. I like to cook, but people, I am a lawyer. I work all day long. I may not work the crazy hours that some attorneys do--I also make about 1/3 their salary--but I still get home at around 6:45 at the earliest most of the time. Cooking from scratch is just not something I'm prepared to do every day. In addition, while I love a home cooked meal, or an interesting, exotic, chef-created masterpiece, I have to say that most of all I love ... ingredients. Yup. Most of what I eat is just "ingredients." I have been told my meals are like elementary school lunches. Okay, I can't argue with that. I took my lunch to work today in a brown paper bag. It was a salad of mixed greens with olive oil and vinegar and sea salt, a...

Spring has sprung, you guys. Look at that flower that has miraculously appeared outside my office window. It surprises me every time I print something out. I often suspect that it is fake, except for the fact that it is growing right out of the ground. Since the weather is nice enough to coax brilliant orange flowers out of their shells, it's nice enough to coax epicureans out of their kitchens and out about the town. Here are some events coming up throughout the next month, should you feel the need to shake off the winter dust and get out for some activity. April 5: Passover Dinner at Angeli Caffe . Angeli's Thursday night family-style dinner this week will be a Passover meal. The meal includes Long-Cooked Eggs Tinted with Onion Skins; Haroset of Dates, Oranges, Raisins, Nuts, Spices; Leek Croquettes; Pesce en Carpione (sauteed whitefish marinated w/caramelized onions in a mustard-champagne vinaigrette); Chicken Soup w/Chicken Dumplings and Matzo Balls; Evan’s Pot Roast; Pol...

Do you ever just get sick of L.A. and want to be somewhere else? Somewhere European? Somewhere ... French? I do, all the time. But I've now found a place where I can go to France temporarily. Please read about The Little Next Door on la.foodblogging .

Eggs--can you think of a greater foodstuff? If you have enough chickens, then you have a steady source of eggs, so they are a renewable food source. In addition, they come in their own packaging and are chock full of protein and nutrients. But most of us don't have our own chickens in the backyard providing us with a regular supply of the things. Instead, we have to buy them at the store. And at the store, they come in dozens, or may half-dozens. Unless you're making something for a whole lot of people, you're going to have some eggs left over. And eggs don't last forever. You have to use them while they're fresh. So if you find yourself with a carton of leftover eggs and limited days to eat them all up, here are my top five ways to cook eggs. These mostly make a good breakfast, but I wouldn't be afraid to eat them for any meal. 1. Omelette/Omelet : Whether your eggs are boys or girls, you can make them into an easy and endlessly variable meal. An omelet is som...

I have been searching for this for NINE years. I am so glad they invented YouTube. I saw this on a "funniest bloopers" show in London in 1998 and have always wanted to see it again. It's the funniest thing I have ever ever seen on television and I could watch it a hundred thousand times. And it's kind of food-related because the cartoon guy looks like a cross between a banana and Mr. Peanut.

There are different reasons why people start blogs. Some people are looking to promote a business. Some are looking to start a career. Some just have passion bubbling over for their subject. Some want to communicate or just express their thoughts. And which group do I fall into? I fall into the other group. I have a blog because I have a gigantic ego. I love to talk about myself! I realize that often other people are not so much into listening to me babble on about myself. So I had to get another outlet. And trick people into reading it, I also talk about food! But some people don't have to trick anyone, and they also really just want to talk about food. Some people are just really good at this, and it's nice to see good things come to them. Such is the case with one of the original food bloggers, Heidi Swanson. Heidi's blog is 101 Cookbooks , and you only have to take one look at it to understand that she is a pro to my amateur. Her pictures are out of this world and her b...

Gold Nugget Mandarins with Cinnamon Honey It may not be the holidays anymore, but it's still mandarin season. Mandarin oranges, or tangerines had their start in India and China at least 3,000 years ago. They are called "mandarin" oranges after China. In the 16th century, the satsuma, which is the Japanese version, made its appearance. And in the 19th century we get the Mediterranean cousin, which is where the name "tangerine" comes from (Tangiers, Morocco). Mandarins are a loose-peeled orange variety that can be sweet or tart, seeded or seedless, small or large. They are smaller and flatter than an orange and their peel is often easier to get off. They are extremely juicy with a fragrant aroma that is both fruity and a little herbal. Satsumas are the easiest to eat, having a peel that rips right off and being seedless. Mandarins are a winter fruit and different varieties come into season throughout the winter and spring, generally from November to June. Now in ...

There are approximately 80 jillion different wines in the world and each year, there is a new vintage of those wines. Not to mention the blends and the new arrivals and the special editions. There is no way that one single person could come even close to knowing about every single wine there is. In fact, the most that one could hope for it to know a decent-sounding fraction. When someone has managed to accumulate their decent fraction and can safely call themselves of expert or an enthusiast or whatever makes them feel the coolest, then chances are, when they go to a restaurant, they can find at least one wine they recognize, or can make an educated guess about. But what about the rest of us schmos? How do we negotiate a restaurant wine list? The first thing to do is to learn not to fear the wine list. Especially if it's a gigantic big binder with millions of pages and categories. Do not give in to your fear or exasperation and order the house wine. Even if it's an okay wine, ...

I'm reading this book right now called " The Devil in the White City ." It's a history book that alternates between detailing the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and telling the true crime story of perhaps the first American serial killer, who happened to be living in Chicago at the same time. I have to say, it's an interesting book, but there are hazards to choosing to tell both of these stories in conjunction. When you have a reader like me, who's not so much inclined to read non-fiction, and especially not history books, to alternate chapters that are full of details about construction and landscaping and bureacracy with chapters about a serial killer who is luring in and preying on various women, well ... it could work against you. I often find it's difficult to finish the chapter about what type of boats they should use to ferry the passengers about when I could just skip ahead to see how the killer convinces his wife's sister that he's a goo...

Okay, the Food tube marathon stops here. The dog needs to go out and is bothering me. Enjoy les videos!

Short but sweet. An awesome snack, plus dancing zombies. Perfection.

I think you have to have seen "V for Vendetta" to appreciate this Sesame Street parody trailer. But I love it. "Two! Two last chance!"

A young artist finds the Virgin Mary in his sandwich. Or perhaps it's a Virgin Mary of sandwiches. Whatever it is, it's a wonder to behold. Completely brilliant.

Very educational! Civil rights activist Petey Greene teaches us all how to truly appreciate a watermelon.

While I'm on puppets, here's my first love - The Swedish Chef.

Cookie Monster and the Sesame Street Beetles sing "Hey Food."

I've been inspired by Amateur Gourmet . I'm going to copy his Food Tube Marathon and see if I can find such cool stuff. It's 9:55. Over the next hour, I'm combing YouTube for food-related awesome videos. What can I find? I wonder if I can top his clip of Martha Stewart teaching Borat how to make a bed. Ready? ................. GO!

I like Sunday afternoons to be lazy. I like everything I do to be easily accomplished within the confines of my apartment, preferably within the confines of my futon. If I must leave, it had better be somewhere I can walk to. Besides laying around reading or watching TV, another thing I like to do is cook. I have two goals for this month. I am dieting in order to slim down in preparation for my trip to Japan at the end of the month. I also have a lot of work to finish up before I leave for said trip, so I need to make things easy for myself, since I probably won't have a lot of free time. So this Sunday I spent the afternoon making a gigantor batch of soup to provide me with ready made meals throughout the week. I based the recipe on a chicken and hominy soup I found in Bon Appetit. I used beans instead of hominy for a more European style soup. First. Before you make anything, you need a refreshing drink to help you. Because it's Sunday, and I am still feeling Italian after my...