
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Post-Cookbook Shoot
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Ubuntu

I'd say I just about fit that description! I mean, I did love Ubuntu. I'd read about the restaurant in the Times a few years ago and had had it on my must-eat list steadily since then. Finally, a reason to go emerged! We were invited upstate (as I like to call it) by some friends to do a photos hoot and after an exciting day of picture taking, it seemed all too perfect to go grab ourselves a plate of vegetables.
Ubuntu is a restaurant, garden, and yoga studio. And, while we didn't go check out the garden or yoga, the restaurant itself provided for a very zenned out environment. And the food was just fabulous. I liked that, though they serve only vegetarian cuisine, it's not really "about" that, per se. It's more like going to a fun, sexy restaurant and the food just happens to be veg (or, vegan upon request). We started with Chickpeas in Romesco Sauce from the bar and then devoured a Carrot Salad that had been seasoned with ras el hanout, a spice I recently learned about while doing cookbook testing. It's a gazillion sweet and savory spices all mixed into one - sort of like a curry. We carried on with a tangy pasta, a sweet corn steamed bun with burrata and an amazing yellow bean chili. We were on the fence with the chili but it ultimately ended up being one of the favorites of the evening. The crispy toasts afloat in the middle of the bowl did the trick ;-)
As if things weren't going yummy enough.. when the dessert menu arrived, I had a mental break down - literally everything looked good. The best thing ended up being the corn pudding- Ambrosial! I could have dove into a swimming pool of the stuff. It was laced with popcorn which tasted like butterscotch and sweet peaches and blueberries from outside. Left a very very good taste in my mouth. I think a return visit is a must.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Bake Out Episode 2
Bake Out with Jill & Joy EP02 from all things delicious on Vimeo.
Friday, July 16, 2010
When In Doubt, Make Pizza

I was making a pizza last week. It had roasted potatoes on it and olive tapenade. I had a friend over and she really liked it. Then the next night I wanted more. The great thing about my thinking around pizza is that it's relatively undefined. I think of pizza as flatbread with stuff on it, cut in either squares or triangles.
I had leftover chimichurri from something else I was working on and bought a bunch of meaty portabellas. I get the whole wheat Traders Joes dough. I sauteed the mushrooms and used the chimichurri in place of red sauce. Then I topped it with the mushrooms and added some caramelized onions at the last minute.
I highly recommend doing this. It all took about 10 minutes and it was absolutely delightful.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Bake Out Outfits
Here I am wearing a Tsumori Chisato balloon mini plus H&M shoes. ... get stoked for BERRY PIE!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Bake Out Shoot Days



Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Louisiana Shrimp Farmers
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Dragon Mark
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Thursday, May 27, 2010
We Baked Out. And You Get to Watch.
Here's the video... but head over to Joy's blog to leave a comment. You could win a spatula, whisk, or Culinista Kitchen Bundle! (you can leave a comment here too... but won't get a prize) Oh la la! Happy Memorial Day Weekend! This week has been bananas!
Bake Out with Jill & Joy from all things delicious on Vimeo.
Cafe Habana - Malibu Style.
Sometimes LA is the coolest place ever. Like when one of your favorite restaurants from your Soho days in NYC finally opens in the Country Mart a mile from your house, you go tot he opening night, it's not that crowded, and Cindy freaking Crawford is there. All of that actually happened last night. Now, I'm not saying that my I-Miss-NYC 'tude from last week is gone... but I mean, it's Cindy Crawford! Sure, her husband's a backer of the restaurant... but that doesn't mean that she necessarily needs to go to it! But she did last night. And she looked GORGEOUS. I mean just drop dead amazing. Funny thing is, when I took this picture, I was just taking a pic of the general ambiance.. and then about three minutes later I saw her and realized I had snapped this pic. Go figure a snappy snap in LA would end up celeb-infused. Her presence did sort of put a sparkle on everything. I managed to take pictures of all our food but have to say I was totally awed by the place because of her... they could have put plastic corn in front of us and I might have thought it still tasted good.
Luckily, the staff didn't get flustered by you know who and even in her presence, treated us like the prom king and queen. We had grilled corn (baby how I've missed you!), shrimp ceviche - goo goo gah gah - and some chips and guac to start.
Num num num num.... Now, post appetizers, I'd finally gotten used to the Cindy-vision. But then... outta left field... who's sits down next to her!!??? Like, as if to prove that all famous people definitely DO know each other... check.it.out.dude.
That is Kenny G! Well friends, onto the main course. Huaraches Vegetariane and Mahi Tacos. Both clean=plate worthy. Add a side of plantains and you've got two happy campers.
We stuck around for a while after we'd finished eating, enjoying the, huh, crowd, and finishing some yummy drinks. Malibu seems complete now. We'll be back. Tonight.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Hatfields Seafood Trio
The cuttlefish was so delish! Like salty ribbons of ocean. There were maitake mushrooms and sunchoke purée. Eatingla.blogspot had a picture. I didn't take any.

The octopus rocked as well. Coins of hearts of palm nuzzled up with the thinly sliced octopus.. all on a puree of something that had saffron in it. Couldn't find photo online.
Then we had this perfect piece of cod. Sun dried tomatoes, olives, and eggplant joined in. And a crispy thing on top. Maybe the skin, deep fried. My favorite of the dish.
Oh but then we had to get dessert. It was over priced but the bar tender kept giving us all this free booze so we were like oh well what the fuck let's do it. The hot chocolate souffle tarlet screamed eat me so we complied. Like a molten chocolate cake with a chocolate tart crust. I didn't taste any chicory in the ice cream as advertised but I still loved it all the same.
We left happy, well-fed, and feeling kinda like celebs. They were so darn nice. We'll be back. And i'll bring my camera.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Gwyneth Loves Us.

A few months back, we cooked for Gwyneth.. Gwyneth Paltrow. It was pretty cool.. especially when she totally got the service, loved the concept, and told us that she wanted to tell the world about it by writing her thoughts in her newsletter, GOOP. Well fast forward a few months, and back a few days, and that was my Thursday... a shower of email inquiries rained upon us at The Dish's Dish and Culinista Kitchen. It's been tremendous, to say the least.
GP's newsletter was about "how to help", as in, how to help a friend after they've had surgery... or have just gone through a major life change. Sending them a Culinista for a week works juuuuust right. And so does cooking a week's worth of food for them yourself (with the help of Culinista Kitchen). What a great idea Gwyn!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Mom Approved
Mom Approved - Nachos from all things delicious on Vimeo.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Don't Got Milk
I mean look how healthy he looks!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Botanica Bakery Blows my Mind

Woah!!! Weird!!! And yet so delicious. I tried all flavors (below), and the Fennel Pollen was my #1. Following close behind was Cardamom and then Cinnamon Basil. They go together really well! I am telling you it's weird but wonderful!

But the goodness doesn't stop at the w&w flavor combos. There are also only like 5 ingredients in each cookie. Yes, two are butter and sugar but guess what? They are organic! And, 5 ingredients?? That's holy awesomeness right there. They are like homemade but you didn't have to get the kitchen messy. Get these today - The Dish wholly endorses them.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Kara's Kitchen Adventure with Culinista Kate

Kate got down to business from the minute she arrived at my house. I could tell right away that she was a total pro and at ease while I hung around -- asking tons of questions, snapping tons of photos. I had a blast and all of the dishes were so delicious and light. Thanks Kate! ;)
The Menu
- Tomato Salad with Corn Vin
- Swordfish Tomato Skewers
- Farro Kalamata Salad
- Roasted Cauliflower with Caper Vin
- Chicken Green Chili
- Pulled Turkey Salad with Roasted Shallots and Currants served on a bed of spinach (my personal fave!)
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crostada
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (these were honestly gone in two days)
Lemon Poppy Pancakes

Mix dry ingredients.

Add to wet.

Mix up batter. Heat and butter a pan.

Add pancakes to hot pan. Num num num num num....

Flip onto a plate in a stack.

Top with jam. Call it a birthday.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Cooking with Matcha
I skimmed through until I found something that perked my interest. The croquettes! It's hard to go wrong when you fry something. All that labor of rolling things into balls is offset by the fact that, if you don't burn them, it'll all taste great.
I boiled some potatoes and sauteed onions and peas. The recipe called for meat as well, but I skipped it.

Then I added the matcha powder to the vegetables. Strange! But I kinda liked the feeling.

I then added the mixture to my boiled, drained, and fork-mashed taters. I had to really work things through with the fork to smooth it all out.

I kept thinking back to my matcha friend. Her skin and hair were so good; something to do with the matcha I am sure. I hopped over to her site for a minute while I was cooking to get pumped. I suggest visiting it if you're cooking with matcha!
Back at the range, it was time for me to heat some oil, set up my dipping bowls for frying, and get to forming croquettes.

I wasn't in the mood to deep fry so I pan-fried, making sure to roll the croquettes around every few minutes.

I set up a plate with a paper towel on it to drain the buggers off et voila! Matcha croquettes.

Friday, April 23, 2010
Bling in Your Cereal

Sneak Peek! Bake Out!

Le YUM: Holy Goats!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
O M G a new Le Yum!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
A Spoon for Every Bite
Watch and learn.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Flatbreads
No Sleep Til Joseph Leonard
The rest of my evenings' plans included a meeting at Soho House around 9 followed by a rendez-vous with one of my favorite lady friends. The night went on... meeting turned into champagne-fueled laughfest 2010... and before I knew it, my girlfriend came to tag out the fellow from my meeting. The ladies were off to Bobo to meet some other buddies. After some more bubbly, I felt a hole in my stomach and realized I'd been subsisting on Soho House snack mix for the last few hours - I was in that blissed out state of hungry and buzzed! I also realized that JL was opened on the late side. I parted ways with my pretty blonde sidekick and roped another friend from the crew into crossing Seventh Avenue with me for some grub. We pulled up to the bar around 1am and I ordered spicy Brussels sprouts, an octopus appetizer, and that hockey puck potato pancake featured above. In daylight, these three items may not seem like the most nature combination, but add carbonated alcohol and the wee hours of the morning to the equation... and now you see what I am talking about. The meal was manna. I finished everything to my friends horror/delight.
I even topped things off with a butterscotch pudding served up in a little bell jar - ask for extra cookie crumble - that my friend couldn't help but split with me. I finally made it to Joseph Leonard and there was no putting a lid on it.
Locanda Verde - Hit Me Baby One More Time
So you can imagine my squeals of joy when my uncle and I decided to dine al fresco on one of the first warm days this year. We started with a few blue crab crostini and washed them down with some mushrooms. Then he went for the casarecce pasta with spicy seafood. It was a light, yet robust combination of flavors that took us both out of Tribeca and into a seaside villa. I went for the scallops which came with cauliflower in a citrus-y broth. It, too, was masterful and we both cleaned our plates.
Dessert was something maple but by that time, martinis and wine has taken hold and I was more interested in dancing than anything else. Locanda Verde was just as magical as I remembered it. It's perfect for any occasion - from first date to dinner with your boss. Go for lunch or dinner no matter; just go hungry and you can't go wrong.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Gjelina Redux
So, when Taylor and I had to do an errand in Venice over the weekend, it seemed like the perfect excuse to hit up our old favorite. We sat at the bar where we were treated like celebs when given a complimentary olive tapenade and burrata starter. Wow. That salty tapenade with the creamy, stringy burrata. What an impact. This actually might be my favorite burrata in the city. I shall inquire where they source next time around.
When we ordered, we decided we had to have our very favorite dish - the cauliflower. Slowly but surely, I am investigating all the ingredients and plan to hone in on a recreation.

Dang. That cauli is good. After a beat, the salt and pepper fries arrived and then the tuna with eggplant caponata followed suit. The French fries were decidedly a portion for a family of six. They came with an underwhelming, runny aoili (some strange West coast version?) and a super yummy, tangy Romanesco sauce, which of course we both favorite to the mystery dip.

Somehow in the course of the evening, we actually managed to power through the majority of the pile. I've been known as a fry pusher at times. But to order these was truly a mutual decision. And so was our most substantial dish, the big eye tuna with eggplant caponata. We died! Fat slabs of rare tuna on a mountain of chunky marinated eggplant, red peppers, and pine nuts. A little crema sealed the deal up top.

We purposely saved ample room for dessert - as we known that Gjelina does sweet right. And that they did with the butterscotch pudding topped with whipped cream and salted caramel. It innocently arrived in a teacup, but it was anything but - yeah... we finished it.

All in all, another golden evening at Gjelina. Sure, we had to wait 90 minutes for a table. But it was a First Friday so stores along Abbott Kinney were hopping and we wrangled excellent drinks at the Tasting Kitchen beforehand.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Michel Roux's Cucumber Coulis

When I got Michel Roux's book on sauces
The recipe seemed easy enough - with just a handful of ingredients that I forgot to snap a photo of in their true states. But here's what things looked like as I started to blend them up with my stick blender. That's cucumber, red chile, parsley, and sage.

Yummy! Then I started streaming in some olive oil to smooth things out.

And here it is in it's finished state before I added it as that special something to dinner.

This took a total of about 90 seconds from start to finish - and it really sauced up a boring Pesach meal. Check it out.

Nova on matzoh never looked so good. I jarred the rest of it and plan on using it for the next few weeks atop some flaky white fish... in a tomato and basil salad.. and on crab cakes. Wait, is that Kosher?
