nommymommy - Page 4 of 5 - Eating, thinking about eating, making things to eat.

Breakfast, Make

Kiribath (Sri Lankan Milk Rice)

“I don’t make this dish the correct way,” my father-in-law mused to me as I stood by the stove, watching him vigorously stir the milk rice.

“What do you mean?” I responded, confused. I had only ever eaten his version of kiribath — Sri Lankan milk rice — so I was unable to visualize any other way in which it could be prepared. His rendition seemed plenty tasty to me. A mellow, milky, unseasoned rice pudding, my father-in-law’s version of the dish is utterly comforting and a nice way to start the day.

January 4, 2016 by Sunny

Make

Perfect Spaghetti alla Carbonara, from Prune

After the crazy hustle and bustle of the winter holidays, it’s hard to motivate to cook very much. My stomach is still roiling from a potent combination of cookies, cakes, and other rich festive foods. My house is still much more of a mess than usual (though it’s always a mess), and our family members have staked out strategic napping positions on the gift wrap-littered couches — my husband stretches out on the long couch, and I curl up with my dog on the knobby convertible couch. It’s actually cold this year (a rarity in Los Angeles in recent years) so we’ve set a fire to roaring in the gas fireplace. At least one of is probably dozing off atop some combination of unfolded laundry, stray ribbon, and cookie crumbs. When we wake up hungry, neither of us is in any mood to fuss too much over a hot stove.

Which is why this recipe for Spaghetti alla Carbonara, by the brilliant Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune restaurant in NYC, is so perfect for this particular moment: the dish is simple, quick to throw together, and, if made according to our tastes, not oversauced or heavy. (As Gabrielle charmingly explains in her instructions: “Don’t ‘creamy up’ the yolk and parm with extra hot pasta water or extra cheese or by adding the cheese early so it melts — sometimes I have been dismayed to see it go out looking like creamy white pasta alfredo.”)

December 28, 2015 by Sunny

Make

Christmas Special: Jelly Bowl Cookies

Since 1995, I’ve baked approximately a thousand of these beautiful jewel-colored jelly bowl cookies. And although (or, perhaps, because) everyone in my life expects me to keep baking these cookies, I will continue to bake thousands more.

December 21, 2015 by Sunny

Dessert, Make

One Shortbread Cookie, Two Sisters: A Tale of Two Very Different Cooks

When I was 11, I loved baking from a book published in 1975 called “The International Cookie Jar Cookbook.” Although the book has long since been out of print, I was able to find a used copy for a penny earlier this year. When I thumbed through the book for the first time in more than twenty years, I realized, with a start, that what I had remembered as a cute, illustrated cookie book for kids was actually a relatively sophisticated cookie book for adults.

December 14, 2015 by Sunny

Dessert, Make

Hong Kong-Style Egg Tarts with Cream Cheese Crust

The Hong Kong-style egg tart, most commonly known to Americans as a dish served at the Cantonese dining phenomenon of dim sum, is one of those sweets that tastes so much more austere than it looks. The custard ranges in color from a pale, milky yellow to an outrageously sunny, summery yellow. Egg tarts can similarly run the gamut of sweetness and richness, but the Hong Kong-style egg tarts I’ve eaten over the years tend more toward an eggy, clean-tasting treat that could potentially be served for breakfast than a dense, creamy sugar bomb.

December 8, 2015 by Sunny

Make

Holiday Rustiche Cookies: An Homage to Russ Parsons

Rustiche (a hard, crunchy, biscotti-like cookie, fragrant with candied citrus) and a cup of tea

For more than twenty years now — since I was twelve years old — I’ve been curious about an obscure Italian cookie that I’ve never seen or tasted. Like many eccentric adults, I’ve always been a bit odd. By the age of thirteen, I had amassed a kick-ass collection of vintage cookbooks with titles like “Cooking from Quilt Country,” “The New Cookbook for Poor Poets,” and “Helen Gurley Brown’s Single Girl Cookbook.” When not at the library checking out more cookbooks, I would spend hours painstakingly clipping intriguing columns and recipes out of the Los Angeles Times’ Food section and gluing them into dog-eared spiral-bound notebooks that contained my old pre-algebra notes. (Think of this as a cross between scrapbooking and Pinterest.)

I especially loved the recipes that were accompanied by an engrossing story. My mother is a good cook, but rarely made anything beyond Taiwanese or basic American food, and had an aversion to certain delicious ingredients — like bacon, and salt. Prego-covered soft spaghetti and lightly stir-fried potato sticks represent some of the fondest food memories I have from childhood. Cookbooks and food articles were one way I could see the world beyond my mother’s suburban kitchen. And one of the best storytellers that entertained me over the years was Russ Parsons.

November 29, 2015 by Sunny

Make, Restaurants

Thanksgiving Special: A.O.C.’s Bacon-Wrapped Dates

Parmesan-Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Dates, ready for baking

This is a story about Thanksgiving. But it’s also a story celebrating the city of Los Angeles, new love, and that time I almost set my mother-in-law’s kitchen on fire.

November 23, 2015 by Sunny

Dessert, Make, Restaurants

Alinea, and a Recipe for Spicy-Tamarind Caramels

Spicy Tamarind Caramels, Inspired by Alinea

I find the ubiquitous “best restaurant in the world” lists hard to stomach (pun intended). What does that even mean? Does the restaurant have to be French in order to qualify as best in the world? (You might think so, given Michelin’s still-strong influence on our luxury dining industry). What if the best restaurant in the world were the tamale lady down the street from you? What if the best restaurant in the world were your grandma’s kitchen, with the magical tools your grandma’s weathered hands that had practically memorized how to make dumplings in her sleep? See, these ratings are far too subjective.

But if you were to ask me where you could find the best tasting menu in the world…one with the most interesting little bites and the most theatrical, exciting presentation…that would be an easy request for me to answer, after I first asked you to clear your calendar and wait for your year-end bonus: Grant Achatz‘s Alinea, in Chicago.

November 16, 2015 by Sunny

Dessert, Make, Restaurants

The French Laundry, and a Recipe for Shortbread Cookies with Basil-Blackberry Whipped Cream

In a certain sense, it’s taken me 15 years to write this review, because I’ve waited 15 years to eat at The French Laundry. When I was a poor college student, I would comb Chowhound’s San Francisco messageboard for tips about good, affordable restaurants. In those pre-Yelp Dark Ages, the board was even more bare-bones than it is now, and nearly impossible to navigate or search. Yet it was still clear that the holy grail of dining experiences was not to be found in San Francisco proper, but rather in a city to its northeast. Yountville, California – that’s where my Mecca was located – The French Laundry.

October 6, 2015 by Sunny

Make, Restaurants, Travel

Tomato Toast (Pa Amb Tomàquet), Inspired by Barcelona Restaurant Paco Meralgo

Years ago, on a whim, I booked a trip with my friend to Spain. I slowly psyched myself up for paella, hams that cost as much as gold, and churros con chocolate. The trip would take place in the waning days of August, a time when many locals close up shop and escape for their own vacations to the Greek isles and other beach paradises, but I assuaged my type-A worries by dusting off my high school Spanish and obsessively phoning restaurants. A few weeks later, I boarded my plane, very short list of restaurants in hand, guidebook and map tucked snugly in my carry-on. I crossed my fingers for deliciousness in Madrid and Barcelona.

I’ll admit I didn’t take to Spanish food immediately. I couldn’t get used to bacalao, cod that had been dried/salted, and then reconstituted – I wasn’t used to the chewy texture nor the strongly salty, fishy flavor. I quickly maxed out on paella in Valencia, where, at every meal, my friend ambitiously ordered two family-sized paellas for two women of average appetite. (The flavor of salty, squid-inky, slightly-undercooked paella rice haunts me to this day.) And I just didn’t get the Spanish bread that was served to us at tapas bars – if grilled, it was delightfully crunchy, but otherwise it just served as a bland, nondescript vehicle for savory toppings, often in the side dish pan con tomate or pa amb tomàquet (“bread with tomatoes”).

September 19, 2015 by Sunny

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