Taste With The Eyes

Pâté & Blackberry Canapés

Pork Pâté, Fresh Blackberries, Blackberry Jam, Fleur De Sel
Toasted Pain Rustique Brushed with Olive Oil

The idea for this jaunty little appetizer came from a sublime dish my brother ordered at Bradley Ogden in Caesar’s Palace. It was a seared foie gras with fresh strawberry, strawberry jam, spice cake, and licorice gastrique. The snappy combination of liver and fresh berries with matching jam was simultaneously chic and rustic. The first incarnation appeared on my Thanksgiving hors d’oeuvre table. Truffle Mousse Pâté with Fresh Raspberry, Raspberry Jam & Fleur de Sel was such a hit it keeps reappearing at my parties in a slightly altered form. Most recently, with pork and blackberries.

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Why deep-fry a turkey?

I can state unequivocally that we will NOT be deep frying a turkey at my house next Thanksgiving. I’d be a nervous wreck – two busy nephews, a dog, and a huge vat of hot oil do not mix. But it sure was fun to watch my friends Sally and Al deep fry the bird at their home this past Super Bowl Sunday (recipe here). No little kids, no pets in sight.

In about 45 minutes this 12 lb. hen was faultlessly cooked – with crispy bronzed skin and succulent flavorful meat. A thing of beauty. It didn’t hurt that it was a banner day for cooking outdoors either. Sunny and 70° here in Southern California. So, why deep-fry a turkey? If the conditions are right, the weather and all the (many) safety issues are considered, it would be difficult to get any closer to poultry perfection.

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One of Chicago’s Most Elegant: RIA

What are your three favorite dining towns?

Topping my list are…

Chicago
Las Vegas
Paris

…in order of where I happen to be visiting at the time, and were the next reservation will take us. I recently returned home from Chicago, experiencing nothing short of culinary nirvana.

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A Quinoa Meatball Landscape

Evolution of the Creation/
A Quinoa Meatball Landscape

Meatballs. Swedish meatballs. New Nordic Cuisine. Landscape design. Bed head. Tousled. Meatballs. Vegetarian. Quinoa. Fundamental naturalism. Foraging. Windy. Wavy. Ruffled. Native. Tasty. Satisfying. Elemental. Pickled. Fresh. Healthful. Tumbled. Unordered. Artfully disheveled. Meatballs…

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purple sweet potato soup – coconut, red chili, toasted cumin

purple sweet potato soup – coconut, red chile, toasted cumin

Color, color, color. This is one intensely hued soup. It is warm and comforting because it is soup, after all. But it is also exotic, spicy, jazzy. Made from purple-fleshed sweet potatoes from the farmers’ market. But what if one was to close the eyes? No “Taste With The Eyes” allowed. Would this soup still hit the mark? Flavor, texture, balance, intrigue…yes, yes, yes.

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