Local Lemons

Pan-Roasted Cauliflower with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto & Wild Rice

Earthy and dense, cauliflower can easily turn a vegetarian side dish into a hearty main course. Unlike the distinct flavor of, say, broccoli, cauliflower blends itself into its surrounding flavors and complements even the spiciest of dishes. This particular recipe combines a pesto made of sweet sun-dried tomatoes, green garlic and walnuts, with wild rice and cauliflower that I roasted in a cast iron pot.   

I don't usually pick solid wild rice because it is so much more expensive than brown rice, but since I was incorporating so many other ingredients I didn't need much, and it proved to be well worth the $7.50 per pound price tag. My favorite part of this recipe was the chopped walnuts that I picked up at the Old Oakland farmers' market. I never knew walnuts could taste so fresh!

The Great Pizza Debate: Delfina vs. Lucali

I went into this with an open mind and an empty stomach. And while I’ll always have a special place in my heart for New York, like soft cheese on warm bread I have completely fused to life on the West Coast.

That said, after hearing over and over again that Pizzeria Delfina was the best in San Francisco, I knew this was the place that may stand up to, in my opinion, the preeminent pizza joint in New York - Lucali. I was wrong. Very  wrong…

A Slight Tweak on Marcella Hazan's Roasted Chicken with 2 Lemons

I know, I know. This recipe has been talked about, blogged about, maybe even sung about and many of you may be tired of hearing about it. Well, I have found a way to make Marcella Hazan’s chicken just a tad better. That’s right, I said it – her succulent, incredibly tasty roasted chicken can be even better!

It’s not so much the chicken that I changed, but what I cooked with it. A couple of weeks ago, Melissa Clark, food writer for the NYTimes, wrote about bread soaked in the pan drippings of a roasted chicken. Ever since I read her article, I could not get the idea out of my head. Marcella’s chicken, with Melissa’s bread. Perfection.

It’s pretty simple. Place thick slices of bread under the chicken before you put it in the oven, and it all cooks together. Melissa suggested brushing the bread with olive oil, salt and pepper, but I just left them plain. She used ciabatta bread, but I chose a sourdough baguette, that I sliced on the diagonal. I thought the crust on the baguette would stand up to all the delectable juices better than the softer ciabatta. The result? Crunchy in some places, soft in others, and delicious everywhere. I think I ate more bread than chicken.

Serve this with some bright vegetables to add some color to the poultry and bread. Some steamed broccoli drizzled with olive oil and crushed red pepper would be ideal.

Avocado Toast with Smoked Salmon

I can't wait for brunch. All week long I daydream about the eggs, french toast, ripe fruit, mimosas, and all the other goodies that come with this weekend-only treat. If I'm lucky, it'll be one of those unforgettable brunches that give me an entire day of complete contentment - like that time I discovered avocado toast.

Alejandro and I first encountered avocado toast at St. Helen's, a brunch spot in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn. We were so enamored with this glistening menu gem, that despite the snarls from the uber-hipster waitstaff, week after week, we still went back for more. It amazes me how much bad service I'll put up with for great food. But alas, like many other trendier-than-thou Williamsburgh hot spots, St. Helen's closed their doors.

This dish reminds me of how lucky I am to live in Berkeley, where heaps of black and green avocados are piled high at every corner market. And better yet, they are all far less than the $2 a pop I was paying in Brooklyn. In fact, pretty much all the produce is much less expensive on this side of the US.

So if you need a little something extra to help get you through the coming week, keep this recipe on your fridge and count the days until brunch.

Baked Whole Wheat Orecchiette with Broccoli, Asparagus & Peas

Sometimes I wish I could eat pasta every day of my life. Seriously – I would have no qualms about slurping down homemade trenette with pesto, pappardelle with a thick ragu, or grandma’s cheesy lasagna every single day of my life. This unrealistic infatuation with the mighty noodle happens to me every time I create a pasta dish that turns out perfect. By perfect, I mean every aspect of the dish fits together in gloriously delicious harmony, with a myriad of tastes and textures in every last bite.

This particularly perfect pasta recipe will prove that not all baked pasta dishes are vein-cloggingly (is that a word?) bad for you. Not all semolina that comes out of the oven must be covered with cream and cheese (not that I have anything against a good mac and chz). This baked dish combines first-of-the-season asparagus, fresh broccoli, roasted garlic and peas, with high-quality Asiago and Romano cheeses, and some homemade breadcrumbs. Not too unhealthy, right? I actually reasoned that it was healthy enough to take a rather large second serving.

One note – although it would be much quicker, don’t skip the roasting step. The caramelized vegetables are what makes this dish so special. 

Salt & Pepper Drumettes over Roasted Reds

It always amazes me how the most simple chicken recipes always turn out the best. This was a lesson I learned from Marcella Hazan, one of my favorite chefs. As long as you buy high-quality, happy chickens, there is little you have to do for it to turn out juicy and delicious.

Roasting is probably the way I prepare chicken most often, and because of that I've picked up a few tricks along the way. First, always make sure your chicken is DRY. Pat it down thoroughly after you wash it. This is true for vegetables too - if you wash them right before cooking, dry them with a cloth before putting them in the oven. Second, put your tray in the upper-middle of your oven. If it's too close to the bottom everything will cook unevenly.

I didn't have much on hand when I made this, but the combination of tomatoes, peppers and onions was really all the chicken needed, and the final dish was definitely worth blogging about. I almost thought this recipe was too simple to post, but I didn't want to deprive you of a perfect alternative to the chicken dish you make most often. Served with some brown rice to soak up the juices, and you have a super easy happy chicken recipe.

Spring Cannellini Soup with Romano Croutons

If you have yet to try any of my recipes, I urge you to start here. I didn’t have a set plan when I started cooking, but this turned out to be one of the best soups I have ever crafted. Imagine California’s earliest spring produce infused with a beautiful Tuscan memory, and that’s exactly what this soup tastes like.

It was a gray, rainy Sunday in Berkeley, but the farmers' market had glowing vegetables that gave me plenty of inspiration for this dish. It has fresh carrots, spring onions, rainbow chard and cannellini beans that I soaked overnight. I threw in organic fresh sage, then pureed just some of it so it would be thick, without any heaviness. The crowning achievement, though, was the Romano croutons. I finely grated high-quality Romano cheese, and toasted it on thick cuts of ciabatta bread, that I also picked up at the market. It was really hard to stop eating them when they came out of the oven – I had to keep reminding myself that they’d be even better after sopping up some of the delicious soup.

Italian Hazelnut Cookies

Here is my question - how does one become an exceptional baker when she is married to a man who shuns sweets? While I cannot call my baking exceptional, my workaround for this household dilemma –  besides eating all the cookies myself – was to create some recipes with less sweet and more of, well, everything else.

These Italian cookies are chock full of chopped hazelnuts and gooey nutella. They are chewy and crunchy and perfect for dunking in your morning coffee. I don't make cookies often (or often enough), but I can definitely see myself baking these again sometime soon. I may sneak in some chocolate chips next time though.

Spicy Broccolini & Caper Aioli

Sometimes, albeit rarely, I just can't make time to go food shopping. Between my birthday celebrations and finally starting a new job, my cooking is unfortunately the one that's hurting. Actually, Alejandro may be suffering a bit too...

Although I thought I'd be eating brown rice with weeks-old onion for dinner, I was pleasantly surprised to find some beautiful broccolini waiting in my fridge. If you're new to this relatively unusual green, it looks almost like broccoli rabe, but its flavor lacks the bitterness. It's more like a child of spinach and broccoli. 

Forsaking the rice, I decided to toast whole wheat bread and make it interesting with a light coating of caper aioli. I added some garlic to the aioli and skipped it when sauteing the greens - something I rarely leave out when sauteing. The result was a completely satisfying light meal with bright leafy greens. Go easy on the aioli though, a little goes a long way.

Spaghetti d'Arvier

Without thinking too long, can you recall the best meal of your life? I know it's a tough question, but I am lucky enough to remember every minute detail of the most amazing food I have ever tasted.

The meal was at Cafe Du Bourg, in the small town of Arvier located in the Valle d'Aosta in northern Italy. This town has two restaurants, and is known for their local red wine, Enfer d'Arvier. This particular region of Italy churns out magnificent dairy products, and this is because the fresh water that rolls down from Mont Blanc feeds the grass, which in turn feeds the happy cows.

As for the meal, it included fresh cheese, two homemade pasta dishes, and a steak I still drool over. When the waiter asked us how we liked the food, Alejandro responded, "The chef is truly an artist!" To that, the waiter replied, "La chef? Es la mia mama!" From there, to say they treated us as family would be an understatement - it was the Italian experience you only dream about.

This dish is my adaptation of my favorite part of the night, spaghetti with wild mushrooms, tomato and fontina cheese. I bought homemade porcini spaghetti from the farmers' market, and found fontina from Aosta at my local Italian shop. If you spot this cheese at your market, pick it up! It is earthy, creamy and nothing like fontina from elsewhere.

Prawns, Pancetta & Spring Onions

I've been on a pork kick lately, which is strange because only a few months ago I wouldn't touch the stuff. I blame it on turning 30.

My inspiration for this dish came from the classic Italian combination of leeks with pancetta - but spring onions' short season, I opted for their lighter flavor instead. The prawns add a great tang, and contrasted the heaviness of the chickpeas cooked with pancetta. The array of textures and flavors made this meal memorable, and it's perfect for days when you're not in the mood for potatoes or rice as a side.

Traditional Ajiaco Soup

I hate to admit it, but when Alejandro woke up sniffling and sneezing, I was more excited at the idea of making Ajiaco than I was concerned for his well being. Does that make me a bad person?

Ajiaco is the Colombian soup of Alejandro's childhood. It's a thick potato, corn and chicken soup, served with avocado, fresh cream and capers. What makes this soup so different from those with similar ingredients are the specifics - including the papas criollas and the cream that you use as a garnish. Papas criollas are small, yellow potatoes that grow in high altitudes and dissolve in the soup to thicken it up. If you have a Latin American grocer nearby, start your shopping there.