Fuyu persimmons are the tomato shaped variety that are a beautiful orange hue. Because they are not astringent, they can be eaten when apple-like firm, or when slightly softened. They are generally available late September through December. I love to add them to a ginger-enriched spinach salad. First, I create some ginger juice to create an irresistible edge to the…
Gadgets
Pomegranate passion. For me it started at an early age when I pilfered one from a neighbor’s yard, a beauty found on the ground under the tree. It was cracked and revealed 2 or 3 rows of glistening crimson seeds. Years later I apologized to the owners for the larceny. Grinning, they accepted by tearful confession, telling me I wasn’t…
“Spiralize” has become a verb, at least in the lingo of spiral slicer enthusiasts. The spiral slicer gizmos, affectionately dubbed “zoodlers” or “spiralizers,” cut raw vegetables and fruits into thick or thin pasta-like stands (as well as wide ribbon-like strands or slices, an option out-shined by the first two). Different shapes are achieved by using one of three blade options….
New canning contraption changes the game … Dad said that his mother never cried. He could remember only one long-ago exception that brought tears. That was the winter day when the shelves collapsed in the basement of their Midwest farmhouse. All of her packed-to-the-brim canning jars broke into smithereens. The preserved bounty of the summertime harvest was lost. Grandmother Young…
Use an electric pressure cooker … find quick culinary happiness. Risotto cooks in 7 minutes. No stirring. Interested? When Amar Santana tells me that I need to buy an electric pressure cooker, I buy one. The chef-owner of the newly opened Broadway by Amar Santana restaurant in Laguna Beach (and former executive chef at Charlie Palmer at South Coast Plaza),…