Gastronomy 101

Winter is the time for hearty greens, all braised or roasted or otherwise cooked up and providing those good vitamins so you don't wither away in the frosty chill. The thing is, I like my greens raw not all cooked and wilty and soft. This is not a problem with regular lettuce or kale, which I can toss into a salad and chomp down like the good little rabbit I am. But when you get something a little more substantial, like chard, it doesn't work so well to just eat raw. They are bitter and thick and really need a little cooking to mellow them out and refine the flavor. But if you're a weirdo like me and MUST eat them raw, throwing them in a smoothie is the perfect way to do it. You may be thinking ... ewwwww! But here is the secret -- once you put sufficient fruit with your leaves, the whole thing tastes like fruit, with the added bonus of being a beautiful brilliant green color and giving you a metric ton of Vitamin A, C and potassium.  This is one of the heal...

This won't be the last squash post you'll see around here, so get used to it. Winter squash and the soups that they transform to are one of the best things about winter. Sitting under a woolly blanket with a steaming bowl of thick, sweet and spicy squash soup is sure sign it's winter, even in L.A. (Hey, it gets cold at night here!) About Acorn Squash: Acorn squash is a winter squash that is dark green on the outside and orange/yellow on the inside. It is native to America and the first Western settlers to come upon it actually thought it was a type of melon. Whoops! If you are considering growing this yourself, it is very easy to grow and can be directly seeded outdoors. It also produces delicious squash blossoms that can be eaten as well. It takes about 85 days from germination to harvest, then another 10 days of curing outside or in a warm, dry space. When buying, look for a squash that is dull and not shiny, which as much green as possible. Make sure it has n...

Everyone knows it's time for apples and oranges, but fall and winter aren't as limited as you might think when it comes to fruit. There are many ways to branch out and liven up your cold weather menu, one of which is persimmon. Persimmon is in season October through February. The name "persimmon" actually comes from the Algonquin language of Powhatan, from words that mean "a dry fruit." There are two types of persimmon that are widely available: Hachiya and Fuyu. The above pictured type is a Fuyu, which accounts for 80% of the persimmon on the market. It is generally eaten raw and can be sliced like a tomato. I think a fuyu persimmon actually is quite similar to a tomato except that it is sweeter and more solid in texture. Hachiya persimmon is rounder and fuller and is not good to eat until is fully ripe due to the high levels of tannins that make it very astringent. You don't want to eat a hachiya persimmon until it feels like you are holding a...