Food, Photography and Bon Mots
I often look to David Tanis’ food column for inspired food ideas. He was a lead chef for more than thirty years at Berkeley’s legendary Chez Panisse. That credential alone positions him in the pantheon of culinary immortals. Since leaving Chez Panisse in 2011, Tanis has written a…
OK everyone. All together now. Say cowpeas. That’s what black-eyed peas are. They are a type of cowpeas, “one of the most ancient crops known to man” according to Purdue’s horticultural Jefferson Institute, and the real shocker is that they aren’t really peas at all.…
It has been chilly here in southern California for the last couple of days. I found a thick coat of frost on my car this morning and my thermostat registered 55 degrees in my house. Even my pup Juliet was reluctant to leave the warmth…
I’m in love. OK. Not in love in love. I’m in love with this white bean ragout. It is spectacular–garlicky, cheesy, beany spectacular. Ragouts haven’t always been held in high esteem,though. Notably, eighteenth-century Tom Jones author Henry Fielding blamed Britain’s declining military prowess on the…
Years ago, a friend from school went chasing his dreams and moved to Alicante, Spain. We travelled there to visit and the four of us spent long leisurely afternoons laughing a lot, eating paella and drinking lots of red wine. In the late…
Easy peasy. This soup couldn’t be easier to prepare–or more delicious. The link to the original Marcella Hazan recipe from which this dish was adapted appears at the bottom of this post along with a link to heirloom bean supplier Rancho Gordo which markets…
What in the heck is farro? When I first (mis)heard the term on the radio while driving, my distracted mind went in all sorts of wrong directions—a bitter Woody Allen misalliance, a dark Coen Brothers comedy that gave the Minnesota expression “you betcha”…
This salad is a stunner. Couscous laced with black beans, corn, red pepper, green onions and dressed in a lime juice and olive oil dressing… How could that not be wonderful? And, did I mention that it is fast to make? It can…
I’m really taken by the beauty and good taste of Rancho Gordo brand heirloom dried beans. Here is a recipe from their site–a take on the classic Tuscan soup called Ribollita. I used Rancho Gordo’s Mother Stallard beans and substituted baby spinach for the kale…
Some years ago I clipped a recipe from the LA Times for this bright black-eyed pea salad. The provenance of the recipe was listed as Senegal, from a book titled Yolele! Recipes from the Heart of Senegal by Pierre Thiam. This salad is beautiful on…
