La Familia Cortez - Inglewood, CA

"These recipes are mother to mother recipes. Mine comes from my mother and her mother and her mother's mother in El Salvador." - Ana Cox

Misconceptions are horrible 'ceptions. Maybe it's because I had listened to Snoop Dogg and he was always rapping about Inglewood being up to no good. But I was nervous about the Inglewood Sip Snap Savor dinner.

It turned out to be the most lovely experience with the most loving family. I sort of wanted to move in - Mom & Dad Cortez have four squirmy, giggly, classy daughters. Each with her own ideals and goals. It was fascinating to sit with them for a few hours in their kitchen and then in their garden patio for a long Sunday lunch.

When Jamie and I walked into the house, Fleetwood Mac was belting out in the living room. Sister Liza, was rolling limes along the length of the kitchen table in preparation for Mojitos. Mom Ana was buzzing around the kitchen and came out to greet us with hugs and smooches on our cheeks.

It already smelled incredible. Chayote Chilaquiles and Arroz Frito was in the air. The sun was shining. I was starving.






Salsa De Chilequiles
4 tomatoes
1/2 green or red bell pepper
1/2 white onion
1/2 slice of bread
1spoonful of paprika and Knorr tomate caldo
Salt & Pepper to taste

Put all vegetables, seasonings and the bread into the blender. Top off with water. Blend the "salsa" until smooth. The bread adds textures.

Heat over medium low heat. It perfumes your whole house and a slow heat allows all the flavors to coagulate.



Chayote: also known as sayote, tayota, choko, chocho, chow-chow, christophene, mirliton, and vegetable pear, is an edible plant that belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae along with melons, cucumbers and squash.

Chilequiles: The name chilaquiles is derived from the Nahuatl word chil-a-quilitl which means "herbs or greens in chile broth".


El Salvador: is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 6 million people





"We don't put alot of condiments or heavy spiced sauces on our foods en Salvador. We preserve the way things really taste. It's why I like fresh Asian foods so much. Fresh. Vibrant. Flavorful. Natural." - Luz Cortez



"Wow! There's no masking it's natural flavor. This is Chayote. I will never forget it." - Melissa

"Yes! Yes, its why I enjoy cuisines that serve fresh radishes and pickled vegetables. Lemon wedges. A little chile. Those natural condiments that preserve everything and bring it together. Not mask and hide. You have to have food integrity you know." - Luz Cortez





"The center of the chayote is the tan rico part!" - Liza Cortez





"Eating meat all the time is too heavy. You feel better if you eat some vegetables. You can make these ahead of time, two or three days in advance. Store them in tupperware in the fridge." - Ana Cortez

"This is a make you pretty dish. Full of proteins vegetables and it's so simple!" - Luz Cortez






Chilequiles
Serves 10 people

6-8 Chayotes, peeled and sliced into disks, just as you would slice a cucumber into disks
1 pckg Ranchero soft Farmer Cheese
4Tblsp Crema Salvadorena
5 egg whites (save yolks)
1/4 C vegetable oil
Salt & Pepper

Soft boil the chayote disks. When soft, 8-10 minutes, let drain and cool. They need to be cool enough to touch. Meanwhile crumble the package of Ranchero cheese into the tablespoons of crema in a small bowl. Set aside cheese mixture.

When chayote is cool enough to touch. Spread cheese mixture on one side and top with chayote to make a sort of chayote/cheese sandwich. Set on plate and make another sandwich. Continue until all chayote has been sandwiched with cheese.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Slowly add in 2-3 yolks after peaks form. This egg meringue will be the coating on the chilequiles.

Heat large skillet on medium high heat with bottom of skillet filled with half of the vegetable oil. When hot enough, coat a chayote sandwich in the egg meringue and set into skillet.

Do not crowd chayote sandwiches as they fry. Depending on the size of the skillet, fry 5-6 sandwiches at a time. The sandwiches will bubble and foam up like little marshmallow puffs.

Continue frying in batches. Stop and stir Salsa de Chilequiles occasionally. Ensure the Salsa hasn't gotten too hot.

When done frying arrange all chilequiles in a bowl. Top with Salsa de Chilequiles. Rice is a great side dish to this meal and for sopping up the beautiful Salsa.

Enjoy!

Underground Dinner in Brooklyn (Homunculus)

"Brooklyn, especially Williamsburg, is the epitome of cool and then it leaches out into the world." - Chris, co-chef at Homunculus

I'd fallen down, upon exiting the Subway station, enroute from Manhattan to Brooklyn. I do that. Fall. But I always, always, always get back up again.

And this was no different. As Jamie and I hobbled up the street, we were suddenly greeted by a flurried Ryan Scanlon - one of the co-organizers of Homunculus. Homunculus is an "Eat-Easy" think: "Speak-Easy" mixed with dashes of ingenuity, down home vibes and passion. Lots and lots of passion.




Ryan eyed my bleeding knee and directed me to band aids, ice and wine. In that order. Just as if I were in someone's home I'd known for years. I didn't feel stupid or anything.

Not like the time I fell in front of an 8 foot pop out window in front of 60 or so diners at an upscale restaurant in Montecito, California. This was NOTHING like that at all!

After we were all settled in - I had time to scan the room. A big fish tank gurgled happily. Candles were lit. Aretha Franklin was singing in the corner. Two puppy dogs (Claire and Oscar) were lying at my feet, underneath the mosaic table. People were casually making butter in a mason jar and checking on the freshly baking bread in the oven.

"Fiddleheads?!" "Divine!" "Indescribable!!!!" "You eat the frond." "Its a ... fern. Fern." "You can eat them sauteed with butter! SAW-TAID!" "So Divine" - Chef Medley from the Kitchen

So what exactly IS an underground dinner? It's not a new concept at least not on either coast. Outstanding In The Field and Ghetto Gourmet made the concept famous. Guerrilla Gourmet continues the tradition. Bringing together people, chefs, fresh ingrediants for avante garde dining situations in warehouses, art galleries, private homes and outdoor spaces.

But the idea that just about anyone with a passion for food and a tolerance for hard work can spread the word and bring together communities ... is relatively new in our media-driven-freak-everyone-out-society. You're taking a chance by attending an underground dinner.

A chance you'll meet new friends. Try new foods. Go somewhere new. Let down your guard. Be adventurous. Team Sip.Snap.Savor was lusciously rewarded. Kinton Wines laced our table (the dinner was BYOB/BYOW) along with candles and lively conversation.




"Anything you can get in a store, you chould be able to make. I'm making my own sweater from washing, carding and knitting. The whole shebang. I've made my own sake, too" - Cale, Homunculus


Complete Menu:

Bread - Currant and toasted fennel seed white bread

Soup - Cold Celery soup

Beast plate - Cajuned pork, pistachio, thyme soaked veal pate on crostini
Sherry and Cassis chicken liver mousse on a house cracker
Maple candied bacon with almond butter
Foie gras bon bon on shortbread

Appetizer - Red curry and peanut souffle

Palate cleanser - Strawberry and thyme sorbet

Entree - Beef in Barolo, parsnip puree

Salad - Endive salad with fennel shavings, walnuts, chevre, loft dressing

Dessert - Three Layer Tart - Candied bananas, chocolate and cognac custard, black berries. Side of cardamom ice cream

Care to attend a dinner yourself? Email the fellas in Brooklyn and ask to reserve a spot. $40/BYOW homunculuseatez@gmail.com

Mason Jar Butter
Take a clean, Quart Sized Mason Jar with a lid and pour into it Room Temperature Whole Milk or (even better) Cream. Screw on lid. Begin shaking at the jar. At 4-6 minutes you'll notice the milk is thickening. At about 9 minutes of shaking, the cream will start to separate from the sides of the glass. When you get to the half point at 14-16 minutes you'll notice serious solids. At 27-30 minutes it's time to stop shaking and start draining off the excess liquid from your butter. Use cheesecloth to solidly drain your butter and then salt it if you wish. Serve with warm bread.

Currant & Toasted Fennel Seed Bread
3 Cups Artisan Bread Flour
2 Cups Water, 1/2 Cup extra water (reserve)
1 pat of butter
handful of anise seeds
2 handfuls of currants
4 tsp salt
1/2 oz. dry activated yeast
5 tblsp evoo

Activate the yeast in 1/2 cup of water (water should be lukewarm/room temperature). Let stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile toast anise seeds in a pat of butter, in a pan on stove, over medium heat. Continue toasting until browned.

Mix flour and salt together in a bowl. Imprint a dimple into the center of the dry goods. Add water, oil and yeast mixture s l o w l y and incorporate all ingredients together.

On a floured surface, knead the dough until elastic and no longer sticky. Grease a bowl with a touch of evoo and put the dough in the bowl and cover with a floured dish towel.

Let rise for 2 hours.

Gently remove dough from the bowl and fold it to remove all air bubbles. Return to bowl and cover with floured kitchen towel. Let rise once again.

After 30 minutes, remove from bowl, place on greased cookie sheet (in desired shape), in 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.

Serve piping hot with cool, homemade butter.

Rick & Mike's Top Fifteen Charcuterie Quotes & Tips

"It was like drinking Phil's coffee for the first time and wondering what the fuck you've been drinking this whole time" - Rick Abruzzo, comparing store bought bacon to home cured bacon

Mike & Rick, of Chez Poulet, have been friends for 10 Years. They work together to offer neighborly instructional how-to's in the kitchen. Next on the docket for them is cheesemaking and possiby pâté. They are easy to learn from, really know their subjects and are very passionate about food. They are also humble and honest. The best kind of teachers.


1. Use fantastic, amazing ingredients. It really makes a difference. Use high quality maple syrup for your breakfast bacon.

2. Cut off the skin from the pork belly, BEFORE you smoke it. It's easier to remove it before you smoke it.

3. Load casings like condoms.

4. Put a little cold water in the tray below your encasing machine, so the fresh sausages don't stick to your tray.



5. "I hate vegans and Cafe Gratitude!"

6. Twist after every other link, spin casing to create the links.

7. Get Pork Belly from the butcher and ask for the more square shaped pices. The end pieces (Tail Pieces) are more oval shaped and you can't slice them as easily into what looks like normal slices of bacon.

8. Allow flavors to really express themselves, be natural. Figure out how things are REALLY supposed to taste. Its amazing to taste test store bought, mass produced stuff (thats usually flash-brined) and stuff you can easily make at home. The difference is astounding.

9. Cold Liquid (Water or Wine) will help evenly distribute your sausage seasonings.

10. Meat & fat are like oil & water. they don't want to stick together. You'll have to really mix it up and keep blending it to get it cohesive.



11. Cold Smoke = Under 100 degree (Think: Prosciutto or Salmon) / Hot Smoke is 150 degrees and up (Think: Kilbasa)

12. Good sausages are THOROUGHLY mixed before you go to encase them. If you don't mash & mix everything you end up with an uncoagulated meat blend.

13. For an advanced bacon cure try: Coffee, Cinnamon, Cloves & Maple Syrup.

14. Warmth, is sometimes not your friend. Use ice to keep your meat cold when you are handling it. And refridgerate immediately.

15. "Don't dream too far or get too carried away. Think of something simple like a pan roasted cannoli. Always good, always easy. Take your sausage combinations from there."

Mauti, Dhania & Geera - Trifecta of the Apiaceae Family

Spices are central to Nepalese cooking. The three most prevalent at our dinner were Fennel (Mauti), Coriander (Dhania) and Cumin (Geera). All of them, at some point or another were toasted or heated in oil. They were involved in nearly every recipe we collected. Lets look a little closer. . .

Fennel: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum (treated as the sole species in the genus by most botanists). It is a member of the family Apiaceae. It is a highly aromatic and flavorful herb with culinary and medicinal uses, and is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe.

Fennel is widely cultivated, both in its native range and elsewhere, for its edible, strongly-flavoured leaves and seeds. Its aniseed flavour comes from anethole, an aromatic compound also found in anise and star anise, and its taste and aroma are similar to theirs, though usually not as strong.Also, it was from the giant fennel, Ferula communis, that the Bacchanalian wands of the god Dionysus and his followers were said to have come.

It is one of the plants which is said to be disliked by fleas, and powdered fennel has the effect of driving away fleas from kennels and stables.
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Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. It is also known as cilantro, particularly in the USA. Coriander is native to southwestern Asia west to north Africa. It is a soft, hairless plant. All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the most commonly used in cooking.

Coriander is commonly used in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Indian, South Asian, Latin American, Chinese, African and Southeast Asian cuisine. The leaves have a very different taste from the seeds, with citrus-like overtones.

Coriander has been used as a folk medicine for the relief of anxiety and insomnia.
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Cumin: Cumin is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to East India. The flavour of cumin plays a major role in the Latin American, especially in the Northern Mexican, Cuban but also in Thai, Vietnamese, Turkish, Moroccan, Afghan, Indian cuisines.

Cumin is a critical ingredient of chili powder, and is found in achiote blends, adobos, sofrito, garam masala, curry powder, and bahaarat. Cumin seeds are often ground up before being added to dishes.

Cumin seeds are also often toasted by being heated in an ungreased frying pan to help release their essential oils.

Superstition during the Middle Ages cited that cumin kept chickens and lovers from wandering.

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Ghal Bheda Jo Achar (Tomato Relish)
In a frying pan, heat several tablespoons of vegetable or mustard oil. Add a pinch of fennel seed and cumin seed to the pan.

After heating, add half a diced yellow or white onion, several cloves diced garlic, several pinches of fresh grated ginger and let them all saute to a warm brown color. Add 3/4 cup of green peas and continue to lightly fry.

Finally add two large diced tomatoes and add a pinch of chili powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt. Allow the tomato to cook down to a thick chutney consistency (4-6 minutes).

Set aside and let cool.

This is the standard Nepali condiment for many dishes including Daal, Masu, Saag and Dira.

fusion - fuse one

I started thinking about fusion cuisine - that cross over movement that is so popular with foodies the country over.

Tex Mex!

Nouveau Californian!

French Vietnamese!

Spanish Tapas meets 50s Diner!

Expensive Hamburgers! (truffles, gold foiled tomatoes, rare cuts of beef)

...

But really, every family fuses what they know into a new food movement - self-contained in their home kitchen. I think of my grandparents and really see that as a a prime example. My grandparents have single handedly shaped who I am as a cook and who my mother is as a cook. They shaped who my sister is and what she creates in the kitchen. All my cousins. All my aunts and uncles. Everyone. Shaped by two people, who came together and meshed their generation-handed-down traditional knowledge.

Leroy, was the only one in his family not born in Italy. He was born on the family farm in Watsonville, CA in 1931. He remembers eating well all through the Depression because his mother (Nana) raised chickens and his father (Papa) had an extensive garden.

He remembers his mother being taken away to a Japanese Internment Camp, because during WWII - Italy was the enemy and Nana never earned her American citizenship.

He remembers the plentiful apple and peach orchards his father ran on the farm dying in the 1950s and no one wanted to replant them, as it meant a lifetime as a farmer. A lifetime of toil and trouble.

Leroy learned to make sardines in tomatoe sauce on crackers for an appetizer. He learned to dry mushrooms to put in thick marinara sauces. He was the master at hand-rolling gnocchi.

Beverly was the youngest child, born to a Southern Mama, from Arkansas and a Father from the fields of Fresno. Beverly's mother (Great Grandma Claire) had inherited millions of dollars from a railroad accident that killed her father. Alone at 18 years old with money to burn, she went to work at a peach cannery on Cannery Row in Monterey. She met the most handsome guy (Great Grandpa Henry - King of the Wet Kiss) at the cannery one day and they used to frolic on the beaches of Santa Cruz.


After they were married, they opened hotels, casinos and restaurants. My great grandmother Claire had a gorgeous jewelry collection and there are beautiful photographs of her dressed up in 40's dresses with cloche hats and her ever present cigarette.

One day, all the money ran out. And so Beverly who had been learning to cook thick New York steaks and expensive german chocolate cakes. Became well versed in preparing noodles and potatoes. And high balls. Every day at 4 pm, my great grandparents had a highball and watched the sun set.

I remember being a young girl at their house and they made me a high ball (mostly water) because I so desperately wanted to feel glamorous and grown up with them at the big table and watch the sun set.

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When Beverly and Leroy got married they developed what my entire family has grown up eating. Southern Fried Italian Fusion. Depression Style Methodology of saving and eating EVERYTHING.



I was the only grandchild with a matching iron stomach to my grandfathers. So I spent the most time with him in his garden because I never had to take a break and go into the house for lunch. I'd eat whatever he'd packed for himself. Which was always leftovers he didn't want to throw away but was forced to hide and eat because Beverly had put her foot down and was forcing it out of the house.

I remember her saying to me as a small child, "Muhl- Leesah! If you eat that, don't come crying to me if you get sick!"

Bu I never did get sick.

Instead I learned how to make vegetable stock from roasted vegetables. I learned how to stretch things into one more meal. I learned how to disguise things into something else. I knew about Swiss Chard, Fava Beans and Rabe before it was hip to eat vegetables (see Chez Panisse and the small farmer movement).

This is a long winded way of saying that, families come together. People share their knowledge in the kitchen. Everything is fusion. Everything is a morph of something else.


My mother was re-married, and she brought into our family, a man who is the master of chicken cacciatore. He is Italian, but from a different era, region and background. So we have morphed lessons from Leroy into the teachings of my stepdad.

Fusion.

Embrace it, shared knowledge is a beautiful thing.