Category

meat

  • The Burger That Ended It All

    The Burger That Ended It All

    The Golden State on Fairfax. After 11 days of fish and vegetables, that’s where I headed to eat meat again. Did tears trickle down my face as I took my first bite? No, they did not. That’s one thing that occurs to me now, how easy it is to take meat for granted when you…

  • On The Precipice of Meat

    On The Precipice of Meat

    11 days. It’s been 11 days of no beef, no pork, no poultry. I’ve had fish up the wazoo; sushi for lunch, seared salmon for dinner. In fact, last night’s salmon–which was very good salmon, from McCall’s in Los Feliz–made me a bit queasy, probably because, at that point, I’d become a human aquarium. Today,…

  • Socca (An Italian Beef, Cabbage & Potato Casserole)

    Socca (An Italian Beef, Cabbage & Potato Casserole)

    What’s the heartiest dish you know how to make? Chances are, this is heartier. Picture it: a pestata (or paste) is made with lots of garlic, sage, rosemary and olive oil. That paste is used to flavor sliced red potatoes and cubed beef shoulder which get layered in a giant casserole with cabbage. Then the…

  • Carnitas Tacos with Green Salsa and Pico de Gallo

    Carnitas Tacos with Green Salsa and Pico de Gallo

    To understand my Mexican food expertise, consider this: when I was younger, I took several cruises with my family that brought us to Mexico. Cozumel, mostly. Upon arriving in Mexico, my family would immediately trek to the center of town where my mom would shop for jewelry and my brother, dad and I would stand…

  • Park’s BBQ, Neptune’s Net & Marouch

    Park’s BBQ, Neptune’s Net & Marouch

    As I gear up to go to New York for three months, I’m starting to check things off my L.A. “first year” bucket list. Korean BBQ was pretty high up there, and in my browser where I have a folder called LaFood and subfolders like “Chinese,” “Ramen,” “Sushi,” “Thai,” there’s a folder that says “Korean”…

  • Today’s Meat is Tomorrow’s Sandwich

    Today’s Meat is Tomorrow’s Sandwich

    Of all the shameful things a home cook can do, the most shameful is letting leftovers go to waste. I’ve been guilty of this; maybe I’m craving sushi instead of yesterday’s lentil soup, and the lentil soup sits, gathering mold over the weeks, and getting tossed when it might’ve provided a perfectly satisfying second night…

  • Feasting Before The Feast (Or: Another Sunday Gravy)

    Feasting Before The Feast (Or: Another Sunday Gravy)

    Our old friend and neighbor Rob was in town last week and, craving an Amateur Gourmet-cooked meal, swung on over with our friend Luke (am I allowed to say “our Oscar-winning friend” Luke?) on Sunday night. Like a good Italian grandmother, I had a pot simmering on the stove all afternoon and by the time…

  • Two L.A. Sandwiches & A Burger at Bay Cities, Café Tropical & Umami

    Two L.A. Sandwiches & A Burger at Bay Cities, Café Tropical & Umami

    Stand back, mere mortals. You are about to encounter a sandwich that is not meant for the meagre constitutions of wimpy humans. This is food for giants, food for gods. “God” is even in the sandwich’s name: meet The Godmother at Bay Cities in Santa Monica. A sandwich with so much meat on it, if…

  • Steve’s Legendary Prime Rib

    Steve’s Legendary Prime Rib

    Christmas Dinner isn’t something I ever ate growing up, being a Jew and all. For the past few years, though, I’ve been visiting Craig’s family in Bellingham, Washington and Craig’s dad, Steve–a really excellent cook (see his apple pie)–has made some kind of roast to serve on the big night. And this year the prime…

  • The Secret To Killer Pork Chops at Home

    The Secret To Killer Pork Chops at Home

    There’s a psychological phenomenon–and I’m not a psychologist, so cut me some slack here–by which, even though we know what’s good for us, we don’t do the thing that’s good for us. So, for example, let’s say we’re an aspiring journalist and there’s a convention downstairs, in our building, for working journalists who are looking…