Taste With The Eyes

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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Smoky Pork Chops with Fresh Corn and Fire-Roasted Hatch Chile, Pickled Okra

Pork Chops Rubbed with Smoked Paprika, Cumin, Dry Mustard
Over Fresh Corn & Fire-Roasted Hatch Chile
Pickled Okra Garnish

Growers say that the intense sunlight and cool nights in this valley result in a uniquely flavored chile. They have been roasting up a storm in Hatch, New Mexico. Unlike other chiles, those grown in Hatch are only available for about 6 weeks each year during the months of August and September, and only as long as the fresh chile supply holds out. Hatch chiles range in spiciness from mild to very hot, choose the type that suits your palate!

Since we are sadly at the tail end of the Hatch season this year you’ve got to hurry to make smoky pork chops with fresh Hatch chiles. Luckily Anaheim, New Mexico, poblano chiles or even frozen Hatch chiles can be substituted in this recipe. But try remember to look for Hatch chiles next growing season, their flavor is really extraordinary…

Smoky Pork Chops Recipe

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Lobster Tortilla Soup

Lobster Tortilla Soup

With the world’s largest lobster festival right around the corner and in our own backyard (The Port of Los Angeles), it was time to develop a new lobster recipe. Now while lobster is usually decadent, expensive, and reserved for special occasions, I sought to create a more humble lobster dish for everyday enjoyment. These 3.5 ounce lobster tails cost $6.50 each, while the rest of the ingredients are quite inexpensive – this hearty meal in a bowl can be served to company as well as enjoyed for a weeknight dinner.

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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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A Cooking Lesson: Guilotas (Quail) en Salsa de Molcajete

Guilotas en Salsa de Molcajete
Quail with Roasted Tomato Chile Salsa (made in a molcajete)

Many of you have met Marlene, we have worked together over the years at various catering events and dinner parties. It would be difficult to pull off those events without her. Her extraordinary organization skills, strength, speed, and attention to detail, her eye for perfection all make her, in a word, indispensable. And boy oh boy, can she cook! No matter what the event – after a few minutes she knows her way around the kitchen – any kitchen, any where.

A while back, she had told me about one of her favorite dishes called guilotas en salsa de molcajete. I told her that I would love to try it someday… Well just the other day, to my delight, she had a surprise for me. I returned home from work and she had brought over 4 quail, seasonings, tomatoes, chiles, garlic, and cilantro, and proceeded to give me a cooking lesson. I couldn’t have been more thrilled. And as a bonus – there was dinner less than 40 minutes later.

Guilotas en Salsa de Molcajete Recipe

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