Welcome to Cooking Stuff. This is a place where we talk about all things food, cooking, and life. If you are not a subscriber, hit that button below to join us. I made a few changes to the newsletter, let me know what you think of it. More of me, here.
Hello! How are you? I am doing quite well thank you for asking. I’m still riding a high from last weekend because BACKYARD went great. I have a small list of things I would like to do differently next time but truly the evening went off without a hitch. It ended up being all friends which was really nice and made the evening a little less stressful for me. The hardest part of the whole night was having to speak to everyone as a group. This isn’t something that has ever been a problem for me but I was so nervous and self-conscious. Not about the food but about myself, extra weird that I felt this way with friends. I wanted to hide behind my dishes and I kind of did. Starting off the evening, introducing dishes, and thanking everyone with a little more confidence is my number one thing to work on for next time…and I am so excited to do more.
One person at the dinner was gluten-free and it actually wasn’t a problem at all. The only items with gluten were naan and ice cream sandwiches. For her dessert, I gave her a scoop of strawberry ice cream but I couldn’t use the malt chocolate ice cream (it contains malted barley). Just before I made another batch of ice cream I remembered the basil ice cream that I had prepared for the canceled dinner. It had been sitting in my freezer untouched waiting for someone to enjoy it. After serving dessert people caught wind of her special scoop and everyone wanted to try it. The night ended with me walking around serving tableside scoops of the basil ice cream I made when everything went down. It was too painful to eat it on my own but serving it to everyone at my first dinner was a nice full-circle moment.
You might have noticed that last week I didn’t send out a newsletter. This was in part because I needed a minute from everything going on to get myself focused on BACKYARD and also because I have been shifting my focus offline more. When I started my newsletter back up at the beginning of the year I told myself (and Marco) that I would give it my all for a few months to confirm that this is what I wanted to be doing full-time. Within a few weeks, I had my answer.
I have been craving real-life connections badly. Don’t get me wrong the internet is great and I love my newsletter but one of the reasons I pushed to move back to LA was to be able to do things in person. Launching a supper club was at the top of my list and bake sales were right below it. I did all the work to get both those things off the ground and now I can do as many as I want. So I have combined my newsletters into one, with recipes for paid subscribers at the bottom, and I’ll be sending them out every other week. I’m hoping this gives me a little more time to focus on growing my community, my business, and as a cook in the real world!
Before we move on, I am going to try to keep this newsletter not so spam-y with event and sale promotions because you guys are all over. If you are in Los Angeles and want updates on BACKYARD tickets and future bake sales, please add your email to the list below. I know, I’m sorry another list! This is the same mailing list from when I first launched BACKYARD so if you added your email already, you are good to go!
I’ll send out emails the second things on live on my website or when a new date is confirmed but only to the people that want to receive them. Thank you, love you!!
I’m making this for Marco’s birthday this weekend, per his request. We can’t get enough.
How to make a potato chip omelet from The Bear – Did you know I missed breakfast week in culinary school and am wildly insecure about my egg cooking abilities?
Why an Ice Bath Is the Key to Fresher, Greener Vegetables – Been ice bathing for years. It is the secret to exceptional crudité.
How Americans replaced soft drinks with bottled water. – Big dairy probably isn’t happy about this.
I’m majorly influenced by Caroline Schiff’s baked Alaskas right now and am planning to do some at an upcoming dinner.
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Whipped Ricotta
This was on of the favorites from last week that is unbelievably delicious. I’m writing this recipe as “roasted” cherry tomatoes because most people will roast them in the oven (I’m assuming?). I make this recipe in my Big Green Egg using my “Conveggtor” which is a ceramic heat deflector. It blocks the flame underneath from reaching the pan of tomatoes. Instead, it pushes heat up the sides and turns the Egg into an oven. If you choose to use a grill and have the ability to add smoking chips throw a handful of cherry chips in to smoke the tomatoes. This is what I did and served them as Smoked Cherry Tomatoes. They were kissed with a delicate touch of summer smoke.
Whether you are using a grill or oven, once you start roasting leave the tomatoes alone. The top bits will caramelize and then char a bit. We want that!! These tomatoes go for 50-70 minutes until the juices have thickened. You can head inside to whip the ricotta while they cook.
The first few times I attempted whipped ricotta I used a food processor because that’s what the internet said to do. Instead of whipped it was more like saucy ricotta…yea, no. Use a hand mixer, a stand mixer works too, and whip the ricotta until it is airy. You will be able to pull a spoon through and see air pockets.