In my O.C. neighborhood over the last few days, strawberry stands have started selling their bounty. Berries by the basket, and berries by the box. Ready for hungry mouths. One is a Thacker stand. A vendor told me that Thacker opened a strawberry farm 15 years ago in Irvine, now has farms in Oxnard, Santa Maria, and Watsonville. I couldn’t…
Cathy Thomas Cooks
My swami loves pancakes. But finding the cloud-like hot cakes that he remembers from his childhood has been a bit of an obsession for this gentle man who holds a master’s degree in Asian medicine. He isn’t a swami, per se. I call him that with respect and affection. He’s a board-certified acupuncturist, a fellow that seems to have found…
Cook soup for a dog? Why not! Twelve years ago, our then 14-year-old terrier Blossom posed for this shot. Close to the end of her life she developed a deep cough. The kind of cough that could peel wallpaper off the wall. So I made chicken soup for her on a regular basis (and wrote a story about it for…
Of course it’s crazy for me to think that I can whittle down my favorite-dish list. I’ve eaten at least a hundred new-to-me dishes in restaurants this year, rejoicing in concoctions that dazzled and comforted at the same time. But we all love lists, right? So here goes – in no particular order … Start with dessert. 1. Stonehill Tavern’s…
I CUT DAYS OF WORK off the prep. My version takes lots of shortcuts. The traditional approach takes three days, so I devised a way to wiggle out of most of the work. And, trust me, it’s delicious. Leave it to the French to elevate a simple bean casserole into a gastronomic masterpiece replete with goose, pork and lamb. No…
Justin Miller, executive chef at Pizzeria Ortica in Costa Mesa, creates beautiful, market-inspired dishes that showcase his produce purchases. Most Wednesdays, he drives to Chino Farms in Rancho Santa Fe to buy seasonal fruit and vegetables for the restaurant’s menu. Chino Farms’ focus is on flavor, harvesting fruits and vegetables each day at the peak of ripeness. One of my…
Recently I ran a riff about Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramels in my e-newsletter. I cautioned that they are too good. A buttery soft crew made irresistible with fancy French sea salt. Theirs are so delectable, I stopped making them. A couple of readers wrote to complain. Trader Joe’s in their neighborhoods had run out. The supply? Kaput. They…
SALUMI TEARS: Cathy Pavlos, chef-owner of LUCCA in Irvine, made some visiting Italian chefs cry. After they enjoyed a platter of glorious salumi, she told them it was American-made. They didn’t believe her. She brought out the proof. Two of them wept. Salt-curing and air-drying meats and sausages is a centuries-old artisanal tradition in Italy. But … American artisanal salumi…