Hello blogspot, my friend

I've missed you... not that i have forgotten about you. On the contrary - I think of you more than ever...

On this triple digit scorcher of a day when i want to remain as immobile as possible, what do i up and decide to do?

Bake a Salmon, of course.

Earlier today, before i left for work, i took a piece of salmon from the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. And in typical "Sharon" fashion, I open my cookbooks at 10pm to see what can be done.

Suzanne Goin has been my hero for quite a while - my "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" cookbook is flagged with post-it notes sticking out in all directions. I've baked a salmon using her recipe, with modifications since i was limited to what i had on hand...

It's a Salmon covered with herbs... which herbs? Tarragon (check), Dill (check), Italian Parsley (check)! and minced Shallot... when do i ever have those 3 herbs AND a shallot? call it serendipity?

That, and the fact that my roommate is out of town... I'm alone - yet felt like sharing...

and i should be packing for my 17-day trip to europe. I've decided i'm not taking the big suitcase, but a small one and a carry on (yeah, right!). I never even touch half the stuff i pack on most trips anyways. and since i'm staying with family and going off on separate jaunts, i can wash and re-wear... as if i'm going to run into the same people in Granada, Paris & Barcelona...

just waiting for that salmon to be thawed, then i'll sprinkle with kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, then slather it with the herb mixture, top off with fleur de sel (both sides)... and bake for 25 min in a 250 degree oven.

did i mention it was in the 100's today?

F*ck this kitchen is hot.

and i'm not even hungry anymore...

Why it's good to force myself to go to the market:

On the heels of an exhausting day of food, the last thing i wanted to do was shop for food.

Yesterday I worked as a sous-chef to Lucy for one of her fabulous dinner parties. and today i'm knackered.

But i got up at 8, got dressed for yoga (which would have followed my quick market shopping)...
"must get there before the pea shoots are all gone!" thought I.
Hahahaha
wishful thinking!

i dragged.
and dragged.

decided to bake cookies for some of my farmer friends.

left my place at 10:30 am.

gave Jimmy - my valet parking guy who always hooks me up with free parking - a box of cookies.
gave Miguel & Candy - my apple farmers from Fair (something or other) Farms - 2 boxes of cookies - since they helped me yesterday when i was in a panic searching high and wide for pea shoots.
gave Tomas - from Lily's Farms - a box because he always saves me a chicken. they're the only chickens & eggs I buy nowadays.

I was still dragging... didn't want to shop. didn't know what to get. didn't feel like being there. I was too late for my pea shoots again.

But i decided on getting a chicken from Tomas.
Since i was going to roast a chicken, i wanted to roast Chiogga Beets too. So i visited McGrath Farms (where i get my pea shoots from) and asked if they had any.

Alas, a restaurant came by earlier and bought 4 cases...
Score! there was one forlorn looking bunch with 2 large & 1 small beet - so he gave it to me. Yay! and the guy promised me that next week he'll bring 2 boxes of pea shoots. (note to self - get there early!!!!)

Miguel & Candy also hooked me up with apples - i only wanted 2. They gave me 6. and they gave me a giant funny looking grapefruit (i forgot the name/variety) - some other farmer had given them a huge box of them so Candy gave me one. It's good to be friends with the farmers.

I stopped at Harry's Berries for one $5 basket of Gaviota strawberries. I like them much better than the cheaper Camarosa variety (which they don't sell).

This was all north of Selma. South of Selma, I stopped at this one table where the guy always has unusual specimens. He's the guy i bought the stinging Nettle from a few months ago. He still had some nettle for sale, but i didn't want to deal with it. Instead I got some interesting looking silvery-gray leaf wild growing plant called Lamb's (something or other). he suggested sauteing it. sure, why not try something different.

now my bags were getting rather full and heavy but i decided i needed shallots & an onion. so i went all the way down almost to sunset where these rather good looking guys from redlands sell a little bit of this and that...

Mind you - i'm still moving in slow motion... and that's when i get into good conversations with the farmers. I'm not just doing the transaction and leaving. I ask questions & learn about them & their produce. That's how i've developed my rapport. I'm not in a rush to get anywhere... i'm lingering slowly and really seeing what's there.

so back to those good looking guys who sell sweet potatoes & onions & a few eggs, winter squashes & these tiny strawberries for $2/basket. they really look pathetically tiny compared to the Camarosa (which i don't like), the Gaviota (which i do like), the Alvion (they're ok)...
These were Chandler strawberries. i sampled one - and it was impressively sweet & delightful. so i asked one of the guys to pick me a nice basket... he grabbed 2 and asked which one i'd prefer... I left it up to him... He went and combined the 2 into one... and gave me an extra large basket.

It's good to slow down. you make real connections that way.

Pictures will be posted soon. i'm overdue for a nap.

Too Hot for Soup

Yesterday's shopping - though without a specific list - had me with ingredients to make this soup from the SMFM cookbook for Green Garlic & New Potato soup.

so i got to chopping.

mind you it was 95 degrees this april 20th here in L.A.

by the time the soup was done - i was melting.

so i opted for salad instead.

and ate al fresco!
New Potato Soup w/ Green Garlic (modified version from SMFM cookbook - working with what i had)

the salad contained watercress, pea shoots, fava beans, blanched ramps, chive blossoms (from my garden) & drizzled with lemon & olive oil.

to drink - i had water with mint... but then thought a Mojito would be nice... so i searched for recipes and this was the best one i found. of course i didn't have all the ingredients... but i've bookmarked it now, and will make some of the mint infused simple syrup for future uses.

Today at the Market

Today at the Market

On the days I'm not "feeling it" - i usually stumble upon new things...

Those Green Onion-y looking things with the roots attached: Ramps
they're like wild Leeks
Suzanne Goin from Lucques talks about them
Found them at the Clearwater Farms' stand.
I also got Morels.
those are the honeycomb shaped mushrooms.
apparently they pair up nicely with eggs.


I decided to give Fava Beans a try again. I got the pre-shelled ones.
They are too much work otherwise.

My other spring faves are Green Garlic & Pea shoots.

Citrus & Apples are waning

But Strawberries are in full swing!

I am in a fruit rut at the moment. The only thing out there that is affordable and peaking are Strawberries. I'm done with citrus at the moment... though i got 2 grapefruits... my Pink Lady apples are bruised and getting tired. Stone fruits (plums, peaches...) are still not out yet... so really the only fruit to get now are strawberries...

When i left the house this morning i was really in a bummer of a mood and was depressed there were going to be no fruits... but i'm really celebrating spring in the veggie department. And since I'm trying to cut back on sweets again - i bought a bunch of Casablanca Lilies... spent my $$ on flowers rather than sorbet... i'll look at them as a reminder to not eat sugar (if only).

Nooooo!!!

My favorite bookstore is closing... my heart is breaking.

The Cook's Library on 3rd street... I love that store... I made a point of paying more (full price as listed on the book jacket) because of the service I would get.

Sure, I could get some books cheaper on Amazon, and I did at times... but only if it was a considerable difference... (40% or more - and some books are super expensive).

However when it comes to cookbooks - you really need to see the book. flip through the pages. see if the recipes inspire you. does it have any pictures? does it need pictures?

And because the Cook's Library specialized in Cook Books they were staffed by a crew of people who have a passion for food - and are familiar with the authors... or have had feedback from other customers as to the merits or flaws of certain books or authors.

I'd go there and ask for a book that had mostly seasonal recipes - mostly vegetables, but not vegetarian, not too complicated... and Alan (one of my favorite employees there) took me to a special section, pulled out a couple of selections - and highlighted one in particular... I ended up buying that one, and came back for another copy to give as a gift a week later.

It's a bookstore by foodies, for foodies... We have til April 30th... I will be visiting them... and then mourning their disappearance.

sigh.

Citrus

As promised a while back - I was going to share some pix and comments on everything citrus...

I've tried a lot. I'm still buying some - what's still around, at least...

Newest discovery: Bergamot Oranges... that flavoring behind earl gray tea comes from the zest of the Bergamot Orange... It's a bitter fruit... mostly grown in the mediterranean - especially in Italy.

But i found this one vendor at the Hollywood farmer's market who had a few yellow lemony looking fruits in a basket simply labled "Bergamot $1". Being the inquisitive shopper that I am - I started asking all about them - and bought one. There's a picture of it above - I used my microplaner to zest it - and add it to my hot water... I drank some fragrant earl gray - infused water without the caffeine (or the resulting teeth stains).

Curious thing I discovered about a difference between lemons and limes... I started slicing them up and adding them to a pitcher of water that I would take to my room to remind me to drink more water...

... Lemon wedges/slices float - whereas the lime wedges/slices sink to the bottom. I noticed that a few times.

Also, during this celebration of citrus - I've been collecting the peels to candy them - an old middle eastern recipe for making preserves/confections... I remember my Nonna making them. The recipe i have (from Claudia Roden's book of middle eastern cooking) calls for the peels of bitter orange... I'm not sure what those are - or where to get them... but i did the recipe using Pommelos, Tangelos, Cara Cara Oranges (pink navel orange), Marsh grapefruit, Cocktail Grapefruit, Tangerines, Blood Oranges - and even Bergamot oranges... since you need to zest the fruit first before cooking them, i was able to collect the zest of all the bergamots and infuse some sugar with it. It's nice to add it to tea.

Pictured above is a small jar of the candied peels. Talk about labor intensive! there are so many steps and so much handling of the peels... takes forever... no wonder no one in my family does this recipe any more... it's from a time when there was no tv, no computers, no texting, no distractions... a time when people would gather around the table and work on creating these little tasty jewels. I'm sure mine aren't anywhere as good as my nonna's - i don't ever seem to have the patience... besides - other than working off a recipe that isn't too detailed, I don't have any real model to follow... so i'm not sure if i'm doing it right.

I sliced some up and sugared them so that i have little pinwheels of candied citrus - perhaps to top cupcakes or some other dessert.

For something a little more simple - I made a great dessert using a variety of fruits... For this, a sharp knife makes life so much easier - you have to supreme the citrus - that is cut the sections out of the membrane... once you get the hang of it, it's simple (as long as you have a good knife).

Citrus Medley with Rose water

• use a variety of citrus fruits - grapefruits (pink/yellow/white), oranges, blood oranges, tangerines...
• supreme them into a bowl - get a nice color combo going...
  
• add 2 Tbsp of honey
• add 1 tsp. Rose blossom water
• add some chopped pistacios if desired.

The combination of the rose blossom water with the citrus & pistacio & honey is so delicious! it's simple - easy - light... you can adjust the amounts to taste... I used a really good bottle of rose blossom water where a little goes a long way... and I tried another bottle that i found a whole foods - weak and insipid... so make the adjustments to what works for you. Personally, I don't eat pistacios (they don't agree with me though i love the taste) so i omitted them from my prep... but i can see how the distinct flavor from that nut would enhance the citrus & rose - such a typical Middle Eastern flavor combo.

I'm pretty much done with citrus and I'm thrilled that Strawberries are back in season! Harry's Berries had some Gaviotas last week which i couldn't resist though they were more than 2x more than the Albions being sold all around at the market... So I paid more for Strawberries - I cut back on other things... bought chicken instead of fish.

What will replace the fallen?

So the domino effect is hitting the large Multi-National corporations...

Were they getting too big for their own good? They killed off many small, independently owned & operated businesses... and now that they are going, what's going to fill the void?

Circuit City is one major chain that is going.
Ann Taylor clothing stores are already closed up and gone.
There are even massive layoffs at Wal-Marts and Starbucks.

For a while, it seemed that everywhere i would go - there were those mega-shopping centers... all designed the same, all housing the same chain stores... didn't matter what city you were in - you'd find that same shopping center with it's Toys R Us and Baby's R Us and Best Buy and the same fast food chains... all looping around a massive sea of asphalt parking lot. No local flavor - no charm - no personality.

I look at old photos of Westwood Village or Beverly Hills from the 70's or 80's and see the names of all the shops and restaurants that are long gone and dearly missed... they were replaced by chain stores... Bebe... Anthropologie... Victoria's Secret... the Gap... with all the same merchandise...

Anthropologie is vacating it's location on Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills...

But so is Spirituali on Larchmont... Larchmont Blvd. has lost a lot of it's charming independent businesses recently due to jacked-up rents by new landlords.

Many factors come in to play here as to why all these businesses are shuttering in this economy... but as the storefronts become vacant, what will replace the businesses?

Say for example Home Depot were to close down. many of the small hardware stores that struggled to compete with the likes of the mega discount monster have since shuttered... where will one go to get some nails or caulk? No mega-store, no mom & pop shop... we're screwed!

I hope that some local flavor will return to the cities and towns that were once full of stores loaded with independently-minded selections of merchandise. What has helped many of the independent stores survive is that they had their niche, and they knew their customers - they knew how to serve the surrounding population.

One reason why I gave up on my subscription to the L.A. Times years ago is because they kept tinkering with it... and fouled it up royally. Some big shot out of Chicago buys it up, shuffles the writing staff around, re-organizes the layout, eliminates columns, and ships popular writers off to other cities with papers owned by the same big shot.

If Jack Smith were still alive today, he'd probably have been sent to Chicago. Sacrilege! And even though i wouldn't put Mike Downey on the same level of Jack Smith, i was still upset when he was shifted from the sports section to whatever he was shifted to before being sent to the windy city... His column sometimes appears... but how does it really affect me in L.A.? I liked getting the local paper written by writers who lived here, who grew up here, or who chose to live here because they love it here. But if many of the articles are by the Associated Press, or Times Staff Writer (who might be in some other city) - how is it the Los Angeles Times?

I'm not against the syndication of popular columns like Dear Abby & the like... but I long for the writers who have that special insight one can get by being part of the local scene. I loved Allan Malamud's column in the sports section... his use of the ellipses as punctuation was eventually adopted by yours truly... Steve Harvey's Only In L.A. column was always good for a chuckle, and even though it got tiresome, i could always count on Robert Hilburn reviewing some new band and comparing it to Guns n Roses, U2 or his other favorite Bruce Springsteen. These are some of the things i remember from the Los Angeles Times that I used to read and enjoy. Now? Meh... i get my news from the Huffington Post or whatever headlines pop up on my google start-up menu. If my local paper won't give me my local flavor, then why bother with it?

What's really killing me though is the loss of my favorite radio station Indie 103.1 - I don't know what to do with myself anymore when i'm stuck in traffic. When it first came out, the playlist was wild and fun and unpredictable. And though i hated him at first - i couldn't understand why someone would listen to that monotonous drivel... but i finally listened (really listened) one day - and realized the genius that was Jonesy's Jukebox. I would listen almost daily... i hated when i couldn't listen to the radio from noon until 2. I'm missing that station so badly... and every day that goes by, i'm furiously hitting my pre-sets, finding nothing of interest, going back to my barely functioning ipod, and getting bored again of the same songs i've heard hundreds of times over.

Again, don't get me wrong... I love my Sirius... I love listening to Howard Stern... but sometimes i want to listen to a station that is run out of the city i'm driving around in. If the weather is warm, I like to hear the DJ comment on the beautiful L.A. day. If the sunset is stunning, i like hearing the DJ comment on that. if there was a temblor, i will sometimes check the radio to again hear that i wasn't the only one who felt it. I can't get that on a station with no Djs (Jack-FM) or satellite stations... The current station selection is killing me! KROQ sold it's soul ages ago - and STAR is trying to be a sorry excuse for a copy of what is now the hollow shell of what was once a powerhouse of a radio station (again, i'm talking about KROQ). The Sound (100.3) plays some interesting songs that are off the beaten path... but i can't listen to a station that plays that much Steely Dan...

I once worked in radio (intern at KROQ 1994-1995) and i am aware of the inner workings/politics of the parent company behind the parent company that owned Indie 103.1 - and why the station was created, and how it evolved, crumbled and then ceased to exist...

But when these mighty corporations fall, can we get a return to the local? please?

I really miss Indie 103.1 - especially Jonesy, and all their other irreverent DJs... one of my favorite things was when i was driving home at around 5pm on a gorgeous day in June and the energy was great and TK was playing a song by the Fratellis... and after it was done, he said "I liked that - I'm playing it again"... and he did! The mood was right... why the hell not? It was live - it was in the moment... it fit the situation... you can't get that with all the pre-programmed radio stations... or from a syndicated show...

I love Los Angeles... now let's celebrate what makes L.A. L.A. rather than something we can experience anyplace, USA.