First in an occasional series of picture postcards. I’ll tell you more later.
I just couldn’t wait. Bowen Court Potluck tomorrow but that didn’t stop me today. I went to the Hollywood Farmers’ Market for the first time in weeks and weeks (it seems a bit extravagant to drive so far, but I was reminded today as always that it is one of the two best markets in Los Angeles (the other is Santa Monica and that cross town haul really is out of the question). I went a little overboard so this week will be even more produce heavy than summer weeks are in general for me.
So here’s tonight’s fare: My favorite romano beans roasted/fried in foil, a couple of toro del oro peppers (which will get filled with something later in the week) and a Hearst Ranch (verily, he of Rosebud the sled fame) steak. Add half a baked potato and a glass of Lillie’s Merlot from Northern California’s Guenoc Winery. …BUT…the real treasure here is red shishito peppers from Weiser Family Farm. If you can get to a market where the Weisers sell DO IT THIS WEEK!!! These were spectacularly delicious. I love shishitos, which you almost always see green, and these had all the same lovely flavor but concentrated and magnified.
Stay tuned for more grilling tomorrow, on a union-made-in-America Weber grill.
Oh, and the other half of the baked potato will be incorporated in to a batch of coconut/chocolate candy…
This was supposed to post yesterday, but I was distracted by the Daily Show coverage of the Republican convention. Please forgive me and just pretend it’s Friday as you read…
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Yesterday was one weird day in Los Angeles! I left my house in Pasadena in mid-afternoon pleased to see a very overcast sky (though the temperature was still in the upper 80s). My neighbor Dawn was waxing her car, and I thanked her for helping to assure that it WOULD rain. Just as I was done with my pedicure and heading out to my car, which I had left with the windows open a bit, it started not to rain but to pour! I made a dash for it and my seat was not too wet. I decided to go ahead and go to the South Pasadena farmers’ market; after all, how much could it rain in August in Southern California? It was the first time in over a decade that it had rained at all in August. By the time I had gone a couple of miles traffic was stopped in the direction I wanted to go – an indication of flooded intersections ahead. So, I went another way. Well, typical of SoCal (and especially after months of dry weather) the roads, oil slicked, were a mess. I was stuck on the freeway behind a 3-car accident for a good half hour (thankfully there were no injuries). By the time I made it to the farmers’ market the merchants were packed up due to a flash flood warning – IN AUGUST!!! Home again – produceless – I picked some shishito peppers and did a quick stir-fry. It was so good that I ate too much and have pledged a light day today.
Years ago Trader Joes stocked green garbanzo bean (in the freezer case). They didn’t catch on and so went the way of so many other products that they tried out. I rather liked them and last week I came across them at Whole Foods (their house 365 brand). So I picked up a bag and made a batch of lovely pale green hummus. I used my regular recipe but lightened up on everything but the tahini since the green garbanzos have a much more delicate flavor than the ubiquitous mature ones.
I stripped the kernels from a couple of ears of corn that I had roasted earlier in the week to play around with. Right about that time I got a text from a friend inviting me to join the Friday Al Fresco lunch crowd – all writers of one sort or another. We managed NOT to talk about Clint Eastwood. The special salad of the day was topped with cold fried chicken (a weak spot of mine) so there went the meatless day. Ah, well…
Back to the kitchen and the corn – I came up with “Corn Slaw”. Pretty and tasty too.
I’ll add a caprese and some other odds and ends of 
marinated vegetables that I’ve been making lately and call it dinner! I’m especially enjoying quick half-sour garlic dills.
Easier than you could possibly believe! The hardest part was finding popsicle molds. After checking at Target (online only) and Bed Bath and Beyond (too expensive for an experiment) I went to my neighbor Sharon. She has 2 daughters out of college and, as I suspected, at the back of a bottoms kitchen cabinet was a classic set of Tupperware molds. SCORE! I wish I got a photo of her later in the day eating one of these yummies – it was after 5pm and still over 90 degrees; she looked like a happy kid.
Melt 5 ounces of semisweet chocolate in 1/2 cup of strong coffee or espresso. (I used cold brew concentrate) this took 8 minutes in my microwave at 50% power. Just bring it up to really soft and then stir until liquid. Add 2 teaspoons of corn syrup or honey to minimize crystals when freezing, a teaspoon of vanilla and a pinch of kosher salt. Pour into molds and freeze. There was enough for 8 popsicles. With only 6 molds in the set, I used 1/4 cup silicone prep bowls for the rest.
By the way, these guys come in at inter 110 calories each!
I generally agree that (most) beans are not the worse for having been canned. Canned beans are certainly a great ingredient to have on hand at all times, but last week I tried something new. I’m an instant convert and will never willingly go back, even to my favorite organic brands and middle eastern imports.
Whole Foods Markets carries frozen cooked organic garbanzo beans (chick peas or ceci beans, etc). They are quite simply a different animal! Trader Joe’s used to carry frozen green garbanzo beans too, which were interesting, but alas, no longer. I’ve looked in the area’s Mideastern markets, and though there are several brands of frozen favas there are no garbaznos.
These beans make far and away the best hummus I’ve ever made (and I am justifiable proud of my hummus). I brought some to an Israeli coworker who is a self-professed hummus freak and she raved. She told me that there is a saying in Israel – “You make hummus with love or you don’t make it.” I like that! It might just be my new motto.
The Jewish Daily Forward (a newspaper that goes back to the late 19th century and is now online) is currently doing a series on the proliferation of many-flavored hummuses on the market. I agree with one of their tasters who said that these new hybrids might be good spreads, but they’re not hummus. Here’s some of the hummus section at Trader Joe’s today.
To say that my granddaughter Loves hummus would be a gross understatement. Click on the photo of her below to see the “sales jingle” she wrote. She wants me to go into the hummus business; she just might have something. By the way, even though in the photo she is helping me get ready for her birthday party that is not cake frosting she is so gleefully licking off her finger. YUP! – it’s hummus.
Flori Cooks 