lara's Blog - a blog by lara - FoodProof

Cornmeal: An Appreciation

lara — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:12:13 -0700

As autumn rolls around again, I find myself drawn to heartier foodstuffs. After a summer of barely-cooked fresh produce, light yeasty breads, and delicate pastry, I'm ready for something a little more dense and filling. (Even though it's definitely still summer weather here in Oakland.) I realized the other day that my cornmeal canister's been empty for months. Appalled, I picked up some of my favorite on my next trip to the market. I like to use cornmeal in all kinds of baked goods, but also i ...

Cutting Corners

lara — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:26:23 -0700

Samin Nosrat, sous chef at the just-closed restaurant Eccolo in Berkeley, wrote a thought-provoking reflection about the restaurant's demise in today's Chronicle. In her article, she considers the difficulty of providing high-quality foods and supporting small, local farmers while trying to cut down costs (a necessary endeavor since most restaurants' profits tend to be slim at best). This got me thinking a little bit about my own cooking. I am definitely a cheapskate in most of my purchases, bu ...

Saucing the Bun in the Oven

lara — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:17:07 -0800

We all know that bad things can happen to babies if their moms drink too much during pregnancy. We've also known that probably an occasional glass of wine is not "too much." What we haven't known, though, is whether there's a light-drinking threshold below which a pregnant woman can imbibe safely. This is why I was fascinated to read a (now not so recent) 2008 article in The Guardian about a major study on the topic. The researchers found that consuming one or two drinks a week doesn't hurt--a ...

The Humble Lentil

lara — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:03:52 -0800

or, How the Seventies Are Always At Our Backs. Like many children who grew up in the immediate post-hippie years, I held a long distrust of the lentil. Unless it came in Progresso's pretty cans, it had no place in my modern household. However, on leaving my parents' home (where they really never gave me lentils, so my prejudices must have been based on outdated YA novels), I discovered lots to love about this little legume. Among its many selling points, perhaps the greatest is that it requir ...

Starter Kitchen Part IV: The Pantry

lara — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:20:01 -0800

Last, and often most important, are the prepared ingredients that I keep in my pantry--in my home, under the stairs. All of these products stay good for a long time if you keep them sealed, free of contaminants, and in a dark, cool place. Canned Goods--about $3 Pinto or black beans. Healthy and easy to use since they're already cooked. (If you're fancier and have more time, you can buy dried beans.) Beans are versatile and delicious in casseroles, soups, stews, salads, and on their own. $ ...

Starter Kitchen Part III: Perishables

lara — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:19:54 -0800

These ingredients, being perishable, require more contemplation than the others, which you'll almost certainly have a chance to use before they go bad. If you don't use eggs often, you can buy them by the half dozen. With milk, you can cut down to a quart. Also, note that some companies, like Horizon, ultra-pasteurize their milk so that it keeps for a lot longer than traditionally pasteurized milk. If your milk goes bad a lot, this is 100% worth it. Dairy--around $14 Milk. In college, I wen ...

Starter Kitchen Part II: Dry Goods & Spices

lara — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:19:39 -0800

I have been especially stingy here in my basic Spices, Herbs & Flavorings list. I found that if I tried to squeeze my stalwart standby thyme onto the list, it wanted to drag a bunch of friends along. I can't have that. Also, you may find my spice prices unreasonably low. This is because I buy lots of my spices in bags from local brands in Latino or Asian markets. They're a lot cheaper that way, and they stay fresh just fine so long as I transfer them into old spice jars. (The only problem ...

Starter Kitchen Part I: Baking Goods

lara — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:19:26 -0800

As discussed in this introductory post, here's the list of items without which my kitchen would not function. Of course, this is not nearly everything a kitchen needs, but many recipes will only require that you go out and buy a few more items. I've guessed at prices, but they will vary from region to region and store to store. Also, I often buy organic products these days, so some of my estimates may be a little higher than conventional items. This list is also really subjective to my tastes, ...

How to Start a Kitchen

lara — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:19:14 -0800

Considering it's been a good ten years now, I remember the day I moved into my first apartment exceptionally well. I was 19 years old, starting my second year at UC Santa Barbara, and my dad had driven me and my possessions down to the ramshackle adjoining college town of Isla Vista. We moved my boxes and furniture and clothes into the two-bedroom that I'd share with three friends for the next few years. Then we went to the grocery store. Having lived my life thus far supported by my parents' ...

100 Things Response

lara — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:58:27 -0700

75! I'm startled! 1. Venison 2. Nettle tea 3. Huevos rancheros 4. Steak tartare 5. Crocodile 6. Black pudding 7. Cheese fondue 8. Carp 9. Borscht 10. Baba ghanoush 11. Calamari 12. Pho 13. PB&J sandwich 14. Aloo gobi 15. Hot dog from a street cart 16. Epoisses 17. Black truffle 18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes 19. Steamed pork buns 20. Pistachio ice cream 21. Heirloom tomatoes 22. Fresh wild berries 23. Foie gras 24. ...

Restaurant Review: Dinner at Downtown

lara — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:17:06 -0700

Before we walked into Downtown, appropriately situated in downtown Berkeley, California, my mom whispered to me about the ambivalent recent reviews she'd read of the place. "Apparently the food is really good," she said, "but we may be confronted with 'surly' or 'inattentive' service." Fortunately for us, this was not at all the case. Our server was excellent, always on hand when needed, and ready to inform. We decided to share a bunch of small plates. We started with some patatas bravas, fri ...

On Inspiration and Julia Child

lara — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:01:35 -0700

So, I've been making my wedding dress (!) and it's a time-consuming process so I'm also listening to a book on CD from the library while I work. The book I grabbed off the rack is My Life in France by Julia Child (with Alex Prud'homme--the foreword explains that she told her story to Alex, who then rewrote it from his notes). It's a fascinating story: she married at 34, moved to Paris with her new husband for his job, and sort of at loose ends decided to learn to cook. She ended up learning Fre ...

100-Mile Eating & Party Invitation!

lara — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:12:38 -0700

I've been thinking a lot today about sustainability. What aspects of how we eat today will still be sustainable even just throughout our lifetimes? So much of what we eat comes from far away, is grown in depleted soil enriched with chemical fertilizers, and generally is not going to hold up very well when the imminent oil crisis strikes. When that happens, we're going to have to define a weird new agrarianism in which we source food, and really everything, locally. Lots of people have been prac ...

Skillet Baking

lara — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:47:37 -0700

Hooray! I'm on summer vacation. Of course, this means the weather suddenly got a lot less summery (though still nice). It also means I have time for cooking again. We finagled ourselves an invitation to my folks' house for dinner (Mitch wants some ping-pong action with my dad) and I volunteered to bring dessert. Flipping through the Gourmet cookbook, I found a great-looking recipe for Apricot Upside-Down Cake. It's baking now, and smells delicious, like caramel and almond and hot jam. I love b ...

New Restaurants!: Camino

lara — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:34:10 -0700

Last night, Mom and I had a tasty pizza dinner at Lanesplitter on Telegraph, and she told me that the new upscale restaurant by a former Chez Panisse chef (can we make an acronym for this? URBAFCPC?) is opening soon on Grand right near her house. She said "I've always hoped that some day we'd have an A Cote within walking distance!" Anyway, the new place is called Camino and is already getting great reviews a few days in. Apparently, they offer just a handful of options each night (so far, at l ...

Cookie Recipe Name Challenge

lara — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:21:31 -0700

I just wrote a recipe for some cookies I invented tonight. I think they're pretty good. Mitch is still on the fence. (I think he's weirded out by the granularity of the chocolate chunks.) The issue at hand, though, is that I don't know what to call them. These cookies include two kinds of chocolate--unsweetened and Mexican--as well as slivered almonds. For the present, they're called "Lara's Chocolate Almond Cookies." Let me know if you can do me one better!

Event: Pure Dessert at Hangar 1

lara — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:25:16 -0700

I just got this email from Hangar 1 in Alameda, and thought some 'proofers might be interested. Check it out! Pure Dessert Book Release Party, May 9th To help celebrate the release of our friend Alice Medrich's new cookbook Pure Dessert, we will be hosting a book signing party on Friday, May 9th from 5pm to 8pm. You'll enjoy a small sampling of desserts from the book (some featuring our spirits), light snacks, and a specially designed cocktail by Alice herself! $15 admission fee, $10 of which ...

Spoonbread!

lara — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:49:06 -0700

SFGate has a great article about spoonbread today. This looks awesomely delicious. I bet it would be great as a side with some soup or stew. Here's hoping I have time to cook tonight!

Up Late

lara — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:46:08 -0700

It's going to be a busy week, and I'm just about done with tonight's busy preparations for tomorrow's busy business. I had a great dinner earlier, fyi! I took a little leftover vegetable curry, hotted it up with twice or thrice as much water and a little bouillon paste and spices, plucked out the veg so they wouldn't overcook, and then boiled some noodles in the broth and reintroduced the veg. A tasty and very easy soup that made old food taste new. Right now, I'm going to go start som ...

Photo Challenge: Pot Pie

lara — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:37:33 -0800

Set-up: I'm going to make some kind of pot pie for dinner tonight. What kind will depend on the ingredients in my fridge, but the outcome will be the same as always--a self-contained package of tender, savory delight. After making said pot pie, I will photograph it and post photo and, if it tastes good, recipe. (Mine will be way more photogenic than old Stouffer's.) Challenge: That said, I would really like to see other people's pot pie photos. Therefore, I challenge you to ...