Yes, Cathy Thomas Drinks! One of my favorite cocktails of 2019 is the Morrigan’s Dream at the award-winning new restaurant, Fable & Spirit in Newport Beach (Lido Marina area). Mixologist Drew Coyle makes this irresistible concoction with fresh fruit juice, fresh celery juice, gin and Yellow Chartreuse. It’s bright and refreshing. Pretty too, a delicious green hue served in a…
Gratin Crush: teams butternut squash and Yukon Golds. Beyond irresistible. My gratin love started long ago in Paris. My first family meal in the home of my soon-to-be grandmother-by-marriage, I tasted my first cauliflower gratin. It was a pivotal moment. French cuisine had grabbed my palate and my imagination. How could anything taste, smell and look so delicious? There have…
Hatch chilies are such a treat. These beauties are named for the original growing area in Hatch, New Mexico. Growers say that the intense sunlight and cool nights in this valley result in a uniquely flavored chili. (The valley, which stretches along the Rio Grande’s southern-most bend before crossing into Texas and Mexico, is covered with row after row of…
Eggs Benedict with crisp prosciutto? You bet. Pour Company in downtown Fullerton offers an inviting seasonal menu of American classics as interpreted by Nick Oberlin. As executive chef-partner, Oberlin puts his signature twists on everything from Mexican Shrimp Salad – napped with a Caesar dressing spiked with poblano chilies and Cotija cheese – to Smoked Pork Belly Sliders judiciously slathered…
I dream of summertime French breakfasts, when fruit laden clafouti is often the star. The fruit – most often pitted fresh cherries or halved apricots – is baked adrift in a thick, flan-like batter. It’s pancake-y delicious. According to Paris-based cookbook author David Lebovitz, clafouti batter is based on a crêpe batter, so unlike a traditional custard, it contains some…
Brittany Valles, executive chef at Oak Grill at the Fashion Island Hotel, adores the bright flavor and crisp texture of sugar snap peas. Her fondness for these plump crescent-shaped beauties earned her the nickname of “sugar pea” in a previous job. Both the pods and the rows of peas inside are edible, their vegetal taste edged in welcome sweetness. She…
The Ranch Restaurant in Anaheim uses their own farm to grow 600 heirloom tomato vines that include over 90 varieties. The bounty is used in a variety of irresistible ways on the menu, including Heirloom Tomato Salad, Tomato Water, Clear-Bodied Bloody Marys. Award-winning executive chef, Michael Rossi, shared the recipe for his tomato salad, a version that I think is…
It’s a no-brainer; caffeine can interfere with a good night’s sleep. But what about food, does it play a role? According to a recent Wall Street Journal story, there are foods that can keep us from snoozing. The worst offenders were fat and sugar. Darn.EAT KIWIS: According to one study reported in the WSJ, kiwis are rich in the mood-moderating…