The Economy May Be Down, But Your Holiday Culinary Inspiration Is About To Go Up!

For the past couple of months now, people across this nation have been waking up to nothing but bad news about the economy. Stocks have tumbled, the unemployment rate is up, and everyone wants a bailout. Fortunately for me, I am poor. I haven't lost millions of anything except for perhaps what seem to be the millions of hours I have wasted on Facebook. It is harder and harder to drive into the office everyday, wondering if you will have a job at the end of the day or if you will get that Christmas bonus you were looking forward to the whole year prior.

Well, I am here to help brighten the bleakness for just a moment. Where better can one find comfort from the anxiety and enjoyment in the gift of life but in food. Yesterday my fellow office coworkers and I gathered to share a meal in the spirit of the holidays, family and friends and the celebration of heritage, culture and food. Everyone brought a dish from the country of their family's origin. The broad range of dishes not only whet my appetite for my own future kitchen experiments but more importantly they pulled me into a sloth-like state of afternoon inertia, the ultimate holiday state of being.

Here's a list of a few great holiday culinary ideas that we feasted on that just might inspire your own holiday repertoire:

1) Russian Cheese Blintzes. I don't know if I had ever actually eaten a blintz prior to yesterday, but I knew they were kinda cheesey and fruity and dessert-like. I always thought of them as a cousin to the danish. Yesterday cleared up all uncertainty for me. Big thanks to the Executive Media Director, Paul Silverman, and more specifically, to his wife for preparing on behalf of Paul. They are crepe-like burrito-like cheese-stuffed pillows of goodness. They are served with preserves (and sour cream to help cut through the richness, which I highly recommend). These would make a delicious breakfast or dessert dish for your guests at home, or because of their convenient packaging, they can easily be transported to your aunt's house on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas morning, or one of the 7 days of Hanukkah, or even Kwanzaa! Try Epicurious' take on blintzes.


2) Pastichio (Greek Lasagna, pronounced "past-EE-see-oh"). Calling all Feta cheese lovers! Is this the dish for you! Handmade by our very own PR Greek Goddess Alyssa Jones, not once but TWICE for practice and final product, Alyssa combined tube pasta noodles with ground meat, tomato sauce and lots and lots of feta cheese. The result was two, three and for some, four return trips to the platter to refill our plates. Could be an excellent side dish for any holiday dinner, and guaranteed no leftovers. Here's an easy recipe for this Greek staple.


3) Bulgogi (Korean BBQ). The secret to this incredible dish was two-fold, according to our Korean ambassador and media sweetheart Rosie Chung. a) Use top sirloin steak thinly sliced with as little marbling as possible, and b) use the juices from cooked meat as the base for the bbq "reduction", if you will. After the meat is initially cooked (pan fried perhaps), it is then reseasoned and stewed with its own reduction sauce (caramelized onions, seasonings and au jus). The result is a tangy and tender dish served with white steamed rice. A dish like this could and should be incorporated into the everyday menu, but for the holidays, I would leave this dish to perhaps the days when the family is way over the turkey leftovers, or perhaps as an alternative to the tradition of a holiday ham. Would also work great for a kosher meal (just be sure to use kosher seasonings). Check out Food Network's recipe here.


4) Tuscan White Bean Salad. Light and easy, this salad makes a perfect side for any holiday meal. It is also easy and quick (unless you buy the white beans raw, then you must include boiling time), and Chris Frati, our western media expert, hit a home run with it. Olive oil and a light vinegar to taste compliment the heartiness of the beans with a lighter aromatic flavor. The starchiness and dressing also go well with red wine by helping to cleanse the palate for those holiday dinners when multiple bottles of various wines are opened. (Don't act like I'm the only person whose holiday dinner involve this...) Here's an interesting take on Tuscan White Bean Salad that includes tuna (if you like tuna... if not, leave it out.)


5) Homemade Pasta Sauce. The holidays inevitably bring out the Martha Stewart in even the most novice of kitcheneers. So why not use the holidays as an excuse to pull out that stewing pot in the far back corner of your cupboard and your great grandmother's recipe that you have in your junk drawer, and wow your guests and family? Media princess Amanda Taft did, and what a presentation it was! She won our first prize for Best Heritage Represented at our potluck (it was a reality game show as well as a lunch time office party) for representing her Italian roots. Using fresh ingredients and even stirring her sauce every six minutes for four hours (as the recipe called for), Amanda's hard work paid off with an authentic pasta sauce on farfalla (bow tie) noodles. Homecooked and old family recipes always work as a great holiday "gift" to others, and your love for your guests will shine through during a holiday meal (especially if you follow the recipe and it actually tastes good...). And pairing a traditional recipe with an appropriate spirit (limoncello, in Amanda's case) helps to fully embrace a cultural theme to your meal.


As more holiday inspirations come my way, I will be sure and share them with you. Check out Food & Wine's best holiday wine list to make sure your guests are at least happy with the spirits and won't notice if the turkey comes out dry...

Food Keeps the Memories Alive Forever.

A family friend of mine passed away last week. He was like a grandfather to me, and his ties to my family run deep. My father told me once that Don was the dad he wished he had. A gentle and quiet giant, Don's quick sense of humor and kindness warmed the hearts of every guest he had in his home. He could almost never say no to his wife, Lorraine, whose love for animals created a number of farms and rescue scenarios throughout their lives together. And it was those farm animals (the chickens, geese, goats, pigs, horses, rabbits, countless dogs and cats, and even an EMU!) that Don would feed every morning at 6am and care for. He worked hard with his hands, and he could build and repair almost anything, construction-wise and mechanical. As a young buck, he and Lorraine were 50s greasers and motorcycle lovers. That love was passed on to their son Ronnie, who still loves to play around with bikes.

My fondest memories of Don revolve around a cute country home they had in Chihuahua Valley north of San Diego and east of Temecula. Our family would drive up to visit the Dodge family and bring food to cook, and I just loved being in the kitchen with Lorraine and her daughter Renee, my mom and my sister, all of our hands in something. We were always either baking or cooking or washing or serving, or eating. Don loved to eat. And eat he did. We would cook a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, and Don would sit at the head of the table near the woodburning stove in the dining area, he would pray over the meal and carve the turkey. We would all sit together, eat together, laugh together, eat some more together, and laugh a whole hell of a lot more together. We would look through old pictures, share stories, gossip, tell corny jokes and watch movies together. Don even sat with Lorraine and watched Dancing With the Stars, since it was Lorraine's favorite tv show for a little while.

I will miss Don's laughter, his jokes and stories from his youth, and the way he could put down a meal without really looking up once but to laugh now and then at the rest of us while he polished his plate clean. I will miss him waking up early in the morning, sitting for a few minutes with his coffee in the kitchen and his invitation to help him feed the animals.

My family and I will miss Don Dodge and his love, but his memories will live on every time I sit to have a turkey dinner, or sit near a fireplace, or go for a walk in a snowy mountain. Thank you, Don, for the wonderful memories.

The Not-So-Humble Humble Tavern

The Italian word "osteria" is defined as "a tavern or humble restaurant." This is a complete understatement when it comes to LA's Osteria Mozza. Made famous by celebrity chef owners Nancy Silverton (La Brea Bakery), Mario Batali (Iron Chef America on FoodNetwork) and Joseph Bastianich (Babbo NY and Batali biz partner), Mozza has received great praise and applause by critics and patrons alike since its opening in late 2006. Why am I always the last one to try out the new places???


Upon first entering the restaurant lying on the southwest corner of Melrose and Highland Avenue in the heart of LA, the dark wood floors and walls and starch white table linens make you feel as though the weather outside is 20 degrees with snow, and you are about to see Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall in the back corner enjoying an aperitivo in the company of their businessmen. The buzz inside the restaurant is warm and welcoming, and a hearty laugh is definitely not balked at.

Before spotting the Don or his conciliere anywhere, we first enjoyed a drink at the bar, touting a wine list of over 200 regional Italian wines, almost all unfamiliar to me, who now seems to be the extremely novice wine lover. We were immediately informed that the menu varies daily, so I will caveat my experience by saying you may or may not have the exact same inspiring meal... In the center of the main dining room is the Mozzarella Bar - a 3-sided counter area encasing 3 to 4 chefs dedicated exclusively to the preparation, presentation and praise of all things mozzarella. The specialty is a burrata basilicata, served only on Thursdays on a bed of leeks in a warm puddle of olive oil. Delicious and subtle in flavor, this burrata is served with warm (and very buttery) grilled sourdough panini. A few bites will leave you licking your fingers and checking the corners of your mouth for residuals to savor.


Before jumping right into the cheese, the chef served a crispy ricotta crustini that just made me salivate for more. The ricotta light topped with a small drop of olive tapenade - sure, I could make this little appetizer at home, but do I? No! Will I now? I damn sure will try!


The extensive "primi" portion of the menu includes a number of pastas I have either never heard of and/or have never tried. The hands-down best pasta of the evening was the Agnolotti, a small pillow-like stuffed pasta that tingled the taste buds with butter and sage flavors. These little bites of heaven worked so well in concerto with the rest of the evening's flavors, and like the crustinis, left you wanting even more.
A trio of pastas, clockwise from top: Oriecchette, Agnolotti, and Tagliatelle.

"Secondi" includes a broad range of meats and fish, such as a Grilled Quail that was so tasty, it made you curse its small size. I may have been the only person in my party whose heart jumped at tasting the pancetta wrapped around the tender bits of quail coated in a light honey sauce. The grilled beef tagliata did not disappoint either, nor did the light monkfish served alla diavolo in a subtle spicy sauce paired with a side of polenta.

Top to bottom: Grilled Quail; Monkfish; Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary; Fava Bean Salad

I would be amiss to not mention the desserts... although by the time you get through the wine and main courses, dessert just might put you over the edge into a coma. That didn't seem to stop us though as we ordered to Bombolini, fluffy, sweet and cinnamoney donut balls paired with vanilla bean ice cream, or the Dark Chocolate Cake with its rich bittersweet flavor that balanced the palate at the end of the night.


A great experience all around, definitely meriting a number of return visits, even if I never spot the Don or his conciliere, or if it never snows in LA.

Stirred, Not Shaken - Bringing Cocktails Back

The cultural climate of the past year or so has culminated with a new President-elect Obama and the call for change. Change in our politics, change in our social consciousness, change in our treatment of Mother Earth. And today, I am calling for another change: change in our culture of entertaining.

Recently, a wise man revealed something to me that I had not given much thought to. Our modern day culture of entertaining has turned from classy to trashy; from Dean Martin to Mel Gibson; Ella Fitzgerald to Amy Winehouse. Don't get me wrong. Gibson is one of my favorite actors. Amy is an incredible artist with talent for years (unless her lifestyle overtakes her). But my point is that today cocktails are no longer seen as the ice-breaker or way to wind down and relax with friends at home before dinner or at a lounge before a night out. Instead, our western culture has forgotten the proper cocktail, and we've resorted to indulging in mixed drinks (I use the word "mixed" loosely, meaning 95% alcohol, 5% whatever) for the mere sake of getting a buzz (or more) at the fastest rate possible. I like to call this a symptom of "the beer bong generation".

It's time for us to bring change: to enjoy one another's company by bringing back the art of entertaining with a well-made proper cocktail. Learn how to make a proper "king of cocktails", the Manhattan, which was a drink of choice by the swanky upscale metropolitan city-dwellers on their way to the opera. Try a refreshing Mojito by using fresh-squeezed lime juice and mint leaves. Go out and buy real cocktail glasses (no need to overspend!) and invest in the presentation of your cocktails. Presentation is 9/10s of the law, after all... Well, the law in my world, at least.

Let's bring back the swagger and coolness of our grand and greatgrandparents' time. Let's revive the art of the cocktail, even if it's one drink at a time!!

The Thanksgiving Trifecta!!

As the holiday season approaches and turkey farms across the country beef up (no pun intended) their turkey livestock with hormones in order compete for the Guinness Book of World Record's heaviest (but chemically enhanced) American holiday mascot, this year I am straying from tradition. I will still enjoy the company of loved ones imbibing early in the day, later to be glued to the football game and ultimately find a warm spot on a couch or bed for a nap. However, this year I will be deep frying a TURDUCKEN: a deboned turkey breast stuffed with a deboned duck breast stuffed with a deboned chicken breast, rewrapped in a turkey "chassis", if you will.

My inspiration for turducken came from the quaint little French bistro Monsieur Marcel in the famous 3rd Street Farmer's Market. The duck in their Salade Magret de Canard ou Bouef (aka warm duck salad) is tender and juicy without the grease or gaminess that duck can sometimes have. A small but satisfying dish, this salad will leave you wanting more of the tender bits of le' Donald, which is when my love for duck was recently revived, and the idea to kick Thanksgiving up a notch hatched... 3-ways.

Thanks to JWen, my kitchen partner in crime, we will go even one step further with this poultry trifecta and engage the magic of a deep fryer. We haven't really talked about the seasoning or recipe to follow, but here is one that just might pull off the magic perfectly.

Anyone want to invite us and our Thanksgiving Trifecta over? :) (I will be moving the day after, and so I will not have a kitchen or dining room in my own apartment to host myself.) Stay tuned for a blog on the results!!!

Happy Holidays!!!!

The coyote is on the run... as it should be...

Being half-Mexican and growing up on REAL Mexican food like menudo, homemade tortillas and carne-con-chile, I always did hate their horrible Gringo-Mexican food with over-cheesed and over-refried beans and inauthentic dishes... Sorry, Margie, my Coyote fan friend.

And now, aside from being accused of misrepresenting Mexican food, LA's infamous El Coyote is being accused of intolerance.

I would boycott El Coyote on GP, but now I have some more fodder... I don't necessarily agree with boycotting the employer of a contributor to a political campaign because the employer is not automatically deemed to share the sentiments of its employees. However, if you feel like being a true rebel, take a look at the contributing COMPANIES who supported Proposition 8...

Happy Boycotting!!!!

The "Whiz" is Back!

Thanks to a dear Philly-native (shoutout to JWen) who recently re-introduced me to a proper Philly cheesesteak sandwich in LA county ("Philly's Best" in Burbank on Olive), I have come to embrace a once-denied love for Cheese Whiz. Yes, most American gen-Xers and gen-Yers fondly associate Cheese Whiz with a short whip cream-like can that allowed easier serving onto a cracker, a hot dog, or any other food we wanted to personalize and perfect with some "whiz". We also remember those hardcore whiz fans who preferred to do without the middle-man and take shots straight from the can.

While watching the Giants/Eagles game last night, we thought it culturally appropriate and enriching to gorge on what my Philly-native expert deemed a "good" cheesesteak this side of the Mississippi. I, being the naive but hungry dining partner asked what makes a "good" cheesesteak, and quickly learned that an original and true Philly cheesesteak is made up of thin steak (ie. top sirloin), Amoroso bread (shipped from Philly direct) and American, Provolone or, MOST AUTHENTIC, Cheese Whiz. At first, I balked at the cheese choices and decided on the whiz as my topping. I was never a fan of American cheese because it was just "so processed and fake..." My cheesesteak connoisseur quickly called me out on my contradictory philosophy, and I laughed saying, "Cheese whiz is an exception since it is acceptable on so many good things like NACHOS."

Little did I realize how much I really love cheese whiz. And it WAS perfect on my cheesesteak. In between the tender bits of steak were oozing ebbs and flows of the whiz, wrapping all of the meat, peppers and grilled onions in a warm golden blanket of drippy goodness in between the safety of the Amoroso bread. The cheesesteak was so good, I burned the roof of my mouth while quickly inhaling the first three bites, licking every finger that evidenced the yellow sandwich "glue". Yes, the meat was good and tender, the peppers tangy and the grilled onions sweet, but it was the whiz that brought harmony and togetherness to that cheesesteak.

My biggest problem now is finding new recipes that call for Cheese Whiz that don't involve words like "kids", "easy mac" or "pizza snack" to incorporate into my repertoire, without feeling like a hungry hormonal teenager or drunk college student at 3am.