I love this quote from Mario Batali, made during the Q&A session he did with eGullet last year.

“i am not now, nor have i ever been, nor do i harbour any false expectation of ever being, a great baker…. i can schwing a few loosely conceived fruit tarts into the abyss and am at home with cookies and brownies out of the duncan hines repertoire, but the exzacting consistancy necessary to great baking is not in my genetic puddle and i go forth, unafraid, with gina depalma (babbo pastry chef) at my side into the new world every thing she makes is my favorite thing”

May all of us who are stumped by the exactitude of pastry work schwing tarts into the abyss and go forth unafraid toward our own baking nirvana.

From those lemon flowers
Set free
By the light of the moon
From that
Odor of a love
Frustrated,
Sunken in fragrance,
There came
From the Lemon tree its yellow,
From its planetary system
The lemons came down to the earth.

Tender merchandise!
Our shores filled up with it,
The markets
Of light, of gold
From a tree,
And we open up
The two halves
Of a miracle,
Congealed acid
Which ran
From the hemispheres
Of a star
And the most profound liquor
In nature,
Unchanging, alive,
Indestructible,
Born from the freshness
Of the lemon,
From its fragrant house,
From its acid, secret symmetry.

Inside the lemon the knives
Cut
A small
Cathedral,
The window hidden behind the altars
Opened to the light its glassy acids,
And in drops
Like topazes they were dripped
Onto the altars
By the architecture of freshness.

So when your hand
Squeezes the hemisphere
Of the cut
Lemon onto your plate,
A universe of gold,
You have poured out
One 
Yellow cup
Full of miracles
One of the sweet-smelling nipples
Of the breast of the earth,
A ray of light that became a fruit,
The diminutive fire of a planet.

Pablo Neruda

I’ve spent much of the day cleaning up my Movable Type templates and it’s getting late. I’ve still got work-related stuff to do so in lieu of an blog entry, here’s a wonderful piece by Brendan Sodikoff that was published in the San Jose Mercury News on Nov. 28, 2001.
Read the rest of this entry »

DROOL LEVEL

5 dribbles
Babettes Feast
Big Night
Eat Drink Man Woman

4 dribbles
Chocolat
Mostly Martha
Tampopo: with a better omlette making scene than the famous one in Big Night

3 dribbles
Like Water for Chocolate
Sideways
Soul Food
Tortilla Soup

2 dribbles
Dinner at Andre’s

Haven’t Seen or Just Plain Forgotten
Scent of Green Papayas
What’s Cooking?

from craigslist:

Did you hear that Jack In The Box is coming out with a new drink?
It’s called E. cola.

What’s Bruce Lee’s favorite drink?
wa-TAAAAAH!!!!

What’s Bruce Lee’s favorite burger?
wa-PAAAAH!

Did you hear that the Pillsbury doughboy died?
…he had a yeast infection.

Did you hear that the Pillsbury doughboy died?
…Doc McCoy said, ‘He’s Bread Jim!’

Food for thought. They say
the world is our oyster.
Variety is the spice of life.
And we live in the land of
milk and honey. We got
eye candy. Flavors of the
month. Toast of the town.
The coolest thing since
sliced bread. The creme de
la creme. All that and a
bag of chips. And if life
gives you a lemon, make
lemonade. But what about
the bad apples and the
sour grapes and the
raspberries and the tough
nuts you can’t crack? Life
may be a banquet but it’s
no picnic, either. But hey,
if you can’t take the heat
then get out of the
kitchen. Cuz you can’t
have your cake and eat it
too. There’s no such thing
as a free lunch. You gotta
break a few eggs if you
want to make an omelette,
you know what I’m
saying? So remember:
You are what you eat.
The proof is in the
pudding, my friend.
How’d you like them
apples?
- Tatsuya Ishida

Inspired by the fresh sorrel I picked up at the farmers market, I made this quintessential spring soup. The tender greens impart a nutty, slightly tangy freshness while the baby yellow potatoes & creme give the soup depth without being too heavy.

It’s good looking too: Spring-y light green in color with deeper green & orange flecks.

Makes an elegant first course to dinner, perfect for whetting the appetite. I ate it simply, with good chewy bread. And leftovers the next day make an excellent cold lunch (imagine a smooth Spring gazpacho).

The weekend is here and the farmers markets abound. To try it, here’s what you’ll need:

from Alice Waters’ “Chez Panisse Vegetables” (c) 1996
1 med boiling potato (i used a couple small baby yellow ones)
1 med yellow onion
1 sm carrot (i used a handful of the tiniest baby carrots)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 sprig fresh thyme
salt & pepper
2 1/3 c. water
1 c. chicken stock
1 lg bunch sorrel, about 1 lb (i used 0.5lb loose leaf)
1/4 c. creme or half&half
parsley

optional: 2 oz smoked bacon (didn’t use)

Peel & dice the potato, onion, & carrot. Melt butter in 3- or 4-qt saucepan and add diced veggies & thyme. Pour in 1/3 c. water, cover and stew gently for about 15 min, with lid slightly ajar. Season w/salt & pepper, add 2 more cups water and the chicken stock,`bring to a simer and stew another 15 min with lid ajar, until potato is soft & easily mashed w/a spoon.

Meanwhile, wash & stem the sorrel, and chop the leaves into a rough chiffonade (i didn’t chop). When the veggies are done, add sorrel, return soup to a simmer. Turn off heat, cover and let stand for 5 min.

Puree the soup in a blender and pass through a medium-mesh sieve into a stainless steel bowl. Stir in creme; taste and adjust seasoning; let soup cool to room temperature. (i served befoe it cooled completely, it’s very nice warm)

Chop enough parsley fine to make about 1 tbsp. If you choose to garnish the soup w/bacon, fry it now, chop fine, rind removed, and then pound it to a paste in a mortar. Mix it together w/ chopped parsley. Warm the soup w/o boiling, pour into a warm tureen, and stir in the bacon and parsley paste, or garnish with the chopped parsley alone.

Serves 4.

(Posted this entry on Craigslist Food Forum on 4/19/02)