Chefs/Restaurants Archives - Page 30 of 55

Cocktail Nibbles Inspired by The Late Great James Beard

For the Civilized Tradition of Cocktail Entertaining
Nibbles Inspired by The Late Great James Beard

well washed down with the drink of your choosing
flavored with good will and love and understanding

Simple and Sublime. Tomato and Onion. Plus my favorite cocktail, and yours. He wrote the first major cookbook devoted exclusively to cocktail food and drink in 1940! His entertaining advice is pithy, precious, and ultimately timeless. These bites are not meant to satiate, but to leave one hungry, hungry for what comes next…

“The food, no matter how simple, should show some degree of imagination,” wrote James Beard, Dean of American Cookery.

featuring

Mini Sweet Onion Sandwiches with Mayo and Fresh Herbs
and
Mini Heirloom Tomatoes Dipped in Absinthe and Kosher Salt

When James Beard died at 81 on January 21, 1985, he left a legacy of culinary excellence and integrity to generations of home cooks and professional chefs. His name remains synonymous with American food. – from James Beard Foundation

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Sushi School

Andy Matsuda became a master sushi chef just when sushi’s popularity began to take off around the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Up until that time, the palates of most Americans had not reached the point where they could fathom eating raw fish, no matter how fresh it was.

With the advent of fusion sushi cuisine, i.e. the California Roll, Western tastes became acclimated to sushi. Thirty years later, the traditional Japanese cuisine grew into an industry that grossed $2 billion in annual sales with sushi restaurants spreading to nearly every major city in the United States.

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Thyme & Mint Roasted Eggplant with Arugula, Spinach, Tomato and Yogurt Sauce

Thyme & Mint Roasted Eggplant

Japanese Eggplant, Arugula, Spinach, Tomato
Garlicky Yogurt Sauce, Arugula Flowers Garnish

While the presentation may look a bit familiar, the dish itself is unique. It is inspired by one of my all time favorite chefs ~ Yotam Ottolenghi. His fans will recognize the Japanese eggplant presentation from the cover of his innovative vegetarian cookbook Plenty, where he adorns them with pomegranate arils and za’atar. Try Ottolenghi’s dish in autumn when pomegranates are in season, but try my version this summer with bursting ripe tomatoes and vibrant fresh greens.

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Farmer Turns a City Dump into Urban Farm

Local Farmer Turns a City Dump into a Charming Urban Farm

Long littered with car bumpers, scrap metal and trash, a land plot in Long Beach, California has been transformed into an enchanting petite urban farm. There, everything is organically grown and tended to the old fashioned way— by hand, without the use of chemicals or pesticides.

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Caesar Cardini Chicken Club Sandwich

Caesar Cardini Chicken Club

“I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad.
I was about 9 when my parents took me to Tijuana, just the other side of the border from San Diego.

They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad, which had already been written up and talked about everywhere. And it was dramatic, I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so it looked like a wave turning over.”
-Julia Child

This double-decker sandwich was inspired by Caesar Cardini’s famous combination of ingredients from almost a century ago. Over the years, many have added chicken breast to the salad to make a more substantial meal. Here, I cook up moist and tasty chicken burgers from freshly ground thigh meat. Garlic toast stands in for the croutons. And a caesar aioli and hard boiled eggs replace the original egg-garlic-cheese dressing. I use two types of anchovies, of which unfortunately, Julia Child would disapprove. She said, “You don’t want herbs and anchovies and things like that – then you have adulterated it.” But fans of anchovies will agree that they add another layer of umami savoriness to the sandwich. Also included are lemon and parmesan cheese, in an effort to capture Mr. Cardini’s authentic flavor combination.

Caesar Cardini Chicken Club Recipe

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