LA A Veritable Sushi Bar

 Los Angeles is known for many things. Sunny weather. Laid back lifestyle. Now it's known for its' wide range of sushi. This is just ordinary rolls but ones that transcend artistry and taste.

Chef herself and regular contributor Tejal Rao wrote about the city's thriving sushi scene in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Not surprisingly Los Angeles has had this type of cuisine since the early 1900's. It stopped in the 1949's when Japanese Americans were bused off to internment camps. It was only until 1966 when Noritashi Kanai opened the country's first modern sushi bar, Kawafuku in the city's Little Tokyo section.It not only offered Japanese fish but tuna bellies from Boston which chefs at the time looked down on. he also offered sea urchin which only Italian immigrant ate. Not far away  the California  roll was born at Ichiro Matsura's counter . He subbed in avocado for tuna for those who wanted  a fishless bite. Osho followed in 1970,in the shadow of 20th century Fox studios. It not only attracted actors and producers but also more ambitious sushi chefs to LA. It went from immigrant status to a novelty in the 1980's along with being a culinary accessory to a certain kind of lifestyle. Now's it's everywhere. Even drugstores sell it now. There are caviar laced omakases and cream cheese buffered hand rolls coming from ghost kitchens. There are pop up and home kitchens selling the rolls.

Another interesting thing is that Los Angeles sushi is varied, unlike what's being served to the rest of the country. Most of us are eating salmon and tuna filets. A great Angeleno sushi chef will offer up a buffet if shrimp, crab, clams, abalone and scallop along with such unusual choices as mackerel and trout, There's also snapper and liver, eggs and milt, the reproductive gland of male fish. A really good sushi chef is known for his range and skill. stylish local chefs at Nobu Matsuhisa' restaurants also employ citrus juices, herbs, oils , and vegetables. Nobu Matsuhisa also fine tunes techniques that he learned in Peru for a different vibe. Other sushi chefs do the same.Morihiro Onodera who runs a restaurant of the same name hand polishes his rice every mroning in his restaurant's dining room. This is done through a small mill. He also opens his meals with a gelatinous cube, whether it's a  custardy tofu or  tomatoes set in jelly. There's also cubes of okra and salmon eggs. he torches fish so that they simmer with char and bubbles of fat.Then there's take out sushi, made luxurious by chef Yoshiyuki Inoue. These are varied and look like a box of chocolate bonbons. These are delicate pieces of various fish like squid and eel or halibut and eel on tiny perfect beds of rice.

Sushi is everywhere now. Yet it's  Los Angeles that's offers a variety of delicious  pieces skillfully made.It is a place to go to , jsut for it alone.

A King Cake For Twelth Night

 Believe i or not it's still the Christmas season. it ends with Twelfth Night or Three Kings Day. It's still a time to celebrate especially with sweets. One that's held true for millennia is King's Cake, a delicious marriage of a sweet bread like cake and icing. It's served up until Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday.

Kayla Stewart , a regular contributor to the New York Times Food section and The Bittman Project explored this New Orleans classic in today's section. King Cake is most associated with Epiphany, or January 6th the day the Wise Men arrived in Bethlehem with gifts for the Christ Child.In heavily Catholic New Orleans it is also the start of the pre-Lenten festivities leading up to the wild Carnivale season. However according to author and culinary pod caster Poppy Tooker, the treat's roots go way back to ancient Rome.It looks to the Saturnalia festival that was held in what is now mid December. Cakes were baked to honor Saturn the god of agriculture. A bean was baked into it, much like a King Cake.  when paganism died , the Church adapted a lot of the customs.The cake is so revered in the city that it's  a sacrllege to eat it before January 6th. Until the 18th century the cake was eaten only on that day , then it expanded to the days before ash Wednesday. In the early 1900's carnival krewes began to host balls where the  cake was being served. The recipe was heavily influenced by 18th century French and Spanish colonists. They were oval shaped brioches with a topping of sugary crystals.

Today they resemble Danishes, and Ms. Stewart supplies the recipe for Dominick Lee's caramelized apple one. Imagine a brioche crossed with an apple pie and topped with a rich cream cheese frosting. This is a flavorful treat  to be enjoyed until March 2nd  - Ash Wednesday. You can make it with guava which is what Jose Castillo makes at his Norma's Sweets Bakery. His family came from Honduras where the fruit was as common as strawberries. He fell in love with the cake as a five year old first tasting it in his class. His version has a layer of guava and cream cheese along with a light layer of frosting. This creates a cake with a subtle sweetness and a crisp fruity bite. Then there's Dong Phuong Bakery  , opened and run by Linh Garza. Her mother Huong Tran uses a brioche recipe, a possible holdover from the French rule on the country.It makes for a fluffy bite topped with the traditional icing. You can order from them if you don;t feel like baking. Brennan's Restaurant also sells them. Theirs has a hot of cinnamon and butter . You can also go to King Cake Hub to find a bakery. This was started by Jennifer Samuels and her late husband Will to cut down on the confusion finding the best bakery.

Celebrate Three King's day and the days leading up to Ash Wednesday with this rich treat. Enjoy its' lush icing and buttery breadlike cake. It's the perfect way to enjoy a sweet and extend the holiday.

Reducing Your Kitchen's Footprint

A new year starts with resolutions. Many are going to do their best to reduce their carbon footprint. This could mean adding solar panels to their homes, shorter showers or subbing in public transportation for driving their cars to work. You can make a small difference , just by making your kitchen eco friendly.

First of all think about all the wasted food in your kitchen during the holidays.This happened to me when I discovered a half can of opened peaches covered in mold. I used half the peaches a few weeks ago to test out a peach melba recipe for CHristmas. Yet I didn;t use the rest of the can. The peaches went moldy and I had to throw them out.It was a waste. I  should have bought a smaller amount. or smaller can. I also realized that peach Melba is best made during the peach season which is the summer months. Use only fruit in season. That way you only have to buy one or two pieces if you're experimenting with a recipe.The same is true with veggies. Some veggies can give you a pass. You can easily turn any into part of a salad or full salad as well as part of of an omelet.Use every part of your chicken or turkey. The meat can be turned into sandwiches and hash while the bones can be used for soup.Stale bread can be ground into breadcrumbs. stale Cookies can be ground into crumbs for topping ice cream and parfaits.

What about with cleaning the kitchen? One of the best eco friendly cleaning devices is Casabella Infuse All Purpose cleaner. Target sells all the Infuse cleaners and tools. The mop is the best with a mop pad that can be used over and over again.It just has to be put into the washing machine every so often to clean it. The soap which again is all natural and non toxic is put into a tube in the handle. Then it's just squirt and mop. There are several green dish soaps that work well.One of the most popular is Mrs. Meyers, that's also sold at Target. It comes in nine different scents like Sea Salt Neroli and Lavender Cedar Leaf.What about those tough hard to get rid of grease stains and burnt parts that stick like glue onto pots and pans. Try the age old solution of apple cider and baking soda. It gets rid of any cooking debris and dirt. This combo also makes an excellent oven and range cleaner. Distilled vinegar is also a good cleaner , especially for the fridge and windows. You can also use it for cleaning out the microwave too.

This year resolve to make your kitchen an eco friendly one one. Think about what you're buying and if you;re going to waste it. Clean with all natural products.You'll be shrinking your kitchen and your house's carbon footprint for a greener ,cleaner planet

New Year New Foods

 It;s a brand new year and that means rethinking the way we eat. It was fun indulging over the holidays but it's now time to look to the healthier -healthy foods - healthy cooking habits - even healthy treats evey now and then.

For me it's more apple based products.These have helped tremendously in the past with my gall bladder issues/

I bought Acme's brand of unfiltered apple juice which is the best kind for softening gall stones. I just mix it with a shot of water to soften the taste a bit.Then there's the store's apple cider vinegar which I can take with warm water to also soften the stones and alleviate the pains. It;s also great in salad dressings. I definitely plan to mane more salads using beneficial greens this year.

 Any form of salmon will be included in my diet since I was recently diagnosed with high cholesterol. Omega 3 in the fish lowers it without the aid of statins.I'm not a big fan of this fish preferring tuna more. Yet it can be a  blank canvas, and I'm going to experiment with adding spices and herbs to it.

This is the wild caught kind from Chicken of the Sea. Go with the wild caught version if you are switching to a  full or semi pescatarian diet. The salmon caught in the wild has less contaminants than the farmed fish. I'm trying a packet first before going over to the cans. Keep in mind that this along with sardines and mackerel are high in much needed omega 3s too. You may want to vary your diet with these and chicken this year.

It's a new year and that's incentive to eat healthy,Start with small changes and then work your way up. Every little bit helps and will add up to a better lifestyle.

Gold Coins For The New Year

 It's important to start the New Year with good food and good luck. One is eating lentils which represents coins. The same can be said of polenta cut into rounds. They too can mean prosperity in 2022.  They're also just great tasting with a good sauce.

I decided to make them along in a sauce, which is also a perfect winter dish.  You can buy the polenta logs at any grocery.

Cut them thin and then fry them in either olive oil or I used Melt  vegan butter which imparts a lovely buttery flavor. Since it was the holiday I used Acme's already made sauce. I didn;t feel like making a pot of sauce from scratch so I used the in house tomato and basil one.it was just doctored with some water a a good dash of oregano. I added Fieldhouse smoked hot dogs which do taste like sausages (they are fantastic on their own, on rye bread). They were cut into one inch pieces.

                                     It was then cooking the sauce with the dogs  for  few minutes.

The sauce was ladled onto the polenta rounds for a warming welcoming the New Year's lunch.

It was a tasty dish, that can easily be reheated. It was also a bowl of comfort after all of last night's party foods.The flavors were rich without being too strong. You could also use any kind of short pasta like rotelli or penne for this.It;s also good with a good loaf of Italian bread too.

Celebrate the new Year with any kind of food representing gold coins.THis dish is also a great way of welcoming in winter. It's warm and comforting like a hug from 2022.

A Simple Celebration

 It's New Year's Eve and many are either celebrating solo or with just one other. Not to worry . You can create a variety of good dishes for one or for two.

i went for a vegan variation of croque monsieur. This is one of my favorites , easy to make but packed with flavor and charm.

it was simple. I also gave a nod to the classic ham and cheese on rye. It's buttering slices of rye (I bought a fresh made loaf from the Acme) and layering the sliced vegan ham from Christmas with GO Veggie American cheese slices. This worked well because the vegan cheese is exactly like the real one and the taste blended in perfectly with the ham. It was then frying in Melt plant butter . This is a fun way  to celebrate with New Year.It also works well as a weekend dinner too.

If you;re a meat eat eater then a great celebratory dish for one is a French dip sandwich. This is just a roas tbeef and sometimes Provolone topped hero dipped in au jus.. Chicken a la king on brioche toast is another indulgent meal , perfect for one , excellent for two. The chicken dish can be bought canned,You could also make turkey a la king with any Christmas leftovers and a package of peas and carrots. A fun salad which can be well stretched into the weekend is also a nice way to welcome in 2022. Add crab and shrimp to a simple package of mixed spring greens. Chopped celery and grape tomatoes finish it with crunch and color. If you want to get a jump start on healthy eating  a salad Nicoise is your way to go.Make it decadent with the addition of hard boiled eggs and seasoned bread crumbs. Go the good for you route with adding salmon, rich in omega 3's and freshly steamed green beans. A simple vinaigrette is all both variations need. Add warmed, crusty French bread and a good wine to finish it off.

Even a part of one - or two - can have a tasty New Year's Eve meal. make it. simple, elegant and delicious. It's easy and fun , a perfect way to party at home tonight.

Ancient New Year's Customs To America

 Food and the New year are always entwined.  There are so many customs and legends. Many of our Black American food customs have originated from them and they are a delicious way to ring in a new year.

Kayla Stewart an award winning food writer and part of the Bittman Project, an online food journal write this informative piece in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Every New Year's Black Americans have some combination of green veggies and cow peas, namely collards and Hopping John. Why these foods?The choice of greens, usually cooked with pork for flavor symbolize paper moneys. collards do resemble folded dollars. The peas promise good luck,health and abundance according to Adrian Miller a food scholar and author. Yet African countries never had any food related New Year's customs. This is a messy marriage of using european based ingredients such as collards, a derivation of colewort or a non heading cabbage and African cooking methods, namely a long, low and slow simmer. West Africans did cook black eyed peas but these were for deities who had a fondness for the legume. Geography also played a strong part in the way the dishes are prepared. Lousiana has a surprisingly strong German influence so cabbage instead of collards. Black and Southern traditions became inextricable. The foods were the same. 

There are distinctions though. Amethyst  Ganaway, a Lowcountry chef and writer have noted that people interchange  black eyed peas and rice with Hopping John. . The last is a one pot meal of rice and field peas.It's also lighter , redder and creamier in look and texture than the other.. How people celebrate will factor in, it means sharing good will along with hope  from a marginalized and suppressed sector of society. It,s not just greens and beans either for welcoming another year. Other foods have also been included in the New Year's canon is seafood gumbo. It came from the Carolinas Low Country J.J. Johnson the and owner  chef of New York's Fieldtrip believes his grandmother's philosophy of if you eat good and healthy in the new year, you'll be good and healthy in the new year.Ms. Stewart includes recipes for all these dishes.There is one for collard greens plus cornmeal dumplings which are an easy blend of cornmeal, flour, baking powder and butter. The collards are flavored with green onions and garlic.  There is an easy black eyed pea  recipe made with salt pork or bacon. The gumbo is a bit more elaborate but worth it. You do have to create a gumbo spice mix first. The gumbo is a tasty mix of lobster , crab and scallops.

The traditions are a messy marriage of European and African yet it works. These recipes symbolize hope and happiness for the new year. It speaks to the aspirations in all of us.