Russ Parsons: The California Cook
Russ Parsons: The California Cook
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There is none so pure as the reformed sinner.
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It used to make me wonder a little when people would begin their critiques of dinner at the French Laundry by saying, “Well, it didn’t change my life.”
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We go to great restaurants for magic, for an extraordinary experience that is beyond our reach as home cooks.
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Unlike some of the blighted, benighted areas where some of our friends live (hello, Manhattan!)
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The world is cruel and unfair.
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The California Cook: A few misfortunes in the garden were rescued with some inventive cooking, but sometimes talent in the kitchen doesn’t translate to the soil.
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The 2014 California king salmon season that begins May 1 is predicted to be one of the better years recently, despite this winter’s drought.
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Conde Nast Traveler’s readers may be seriously out to lunch, but it won’t be at Providence, Mozza or any other Los Angeles restaurant.
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The California Cook: The perfect hard-boiled egg should have firm but creamy whites, a set and orange yolk, and no green ring.
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One of the Hollywood Farmers Market’s most popular vendors has been arrested on suspicion of stealing other people’s fish and has been permanently kicked out of the market.
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One of the Hollywood Farmers Market’s most popular vendors has been arrested on suspicion of stealing other people’s fish and has been permanently kicked out of the market.
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Community Seafood, Grist & Toll, Good Eggs and Belcampo offer ways to get sustainable food.
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A weekend weeding through shelves of salts, peppers and countless herbs in tins and pouches raises a question: Where did all this stuff come from?
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The California Cook: Zuckerman’s Farms jumbo spears are best, but with so many ways to prepare the spring vegetable, there’s no reason to set limits.
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The California Cook: What’s more delicious (and pungent?) than a really good canned sardine? Try them on toast with chermoula or as the stars of a simple pasta.
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California Cook: Defy convention and cook them a little longer for a surprising difference in flavor.
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The California Cook: It’s time to put aside the dried fruit hate. Particularly this time of year, when raisins, prunes and other dried fruit can come to the rescue.
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The California Cook: Here are seven steps that will help you become a better cook. It’s about focus, taste, tools and trying again.
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California Cook: When his daughter requests Christmas morning chilaquiles, he’s stumped. Then he remembers a snowbound year and a thrown-together dish. He sets about re-creating it.
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The California Cook: Spiced pork terrine is an easy step into homemade charcuterie, and rillettes and terrines are great to have on hand when holiday guests drop by.
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The California Cook: Lasagna can be made so many ways. It’s the perfect project for a Sunday afternoon.
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The California Cook: With quince, appearances can be deceiving. With a little attention, it transforms into a sweet, spicy treat that can lend flavor to many dishes.
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The California Cook: Monster zucchini doesn’t have to be a garderner’s nightmare. Stuff them and bake them to tame the beasts.
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California Cook: Burrata and tomatoes, a combination made in culinary heaven. But that’s not all. Zucchini, eggplant, pepper and prosciutto pair well too.
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Granita is easy to make. Here’s how to make granita with flavors including coffee and peach.
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Sqirl’s Jessica Koslow starts with Blenheim apricots and goes through the steps of making one of her artisan jams.
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Deviled eggs can be heavenly. Restaurants in L.A. and beyond are rediscovering them, but it’s easy to create your own. Start with a good hard-boiled egg.
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From gazpacho to a tart dairy soup, few dishes are more satisfying on a hot summer’s day. Serve as an appetizer or a light dinner.
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The basketball trainer takes his Italian heritage and his love of good food and glides like a pro around his indoor-outdoor kitchen in Manhattan Beach.
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Once many years ago I came across a fish vendor at the farmers market with a whole tray full of beautiful fresh anchovies.
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Every good cook should know the simple technique of glazing vegetables.
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Yes, the state’s abundant produce can make cooking seem effortless. But a real test is making something grand out of that thing from the back of the fridge. Example: broth from old Parmesan rinds.
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A well-boiled egg can be hard to peel. But we’ve cracked the case.
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The cook’s year can be divided in two: tomato and not-tomato.
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I was giving one of my periodic talks at local libraries the other day, and someone asked if I knew a good way to prepare artichokes.
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In most cases, I’m a terribly traditional cook.
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As culinary fashion continues to wind inexorably lower on the luxury scale — from tournedos to beef cheeks, from foie gras to pork belly — it was probably inevitable that we would eventually come to lentils.
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Teaching structures rather than recipes for roast chicken, vegetable pasta and salad leaves room for a couple to improvise, as they’ll surely have to.
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For him, here was only one way to cook Dungeness crab — until he tried it grilled at Russell Moore’s Camino restaurant in Oakland. Now he’s grilling it at home.
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Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way, maybe we can talk about something that is really important: oatmeal.
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My mom has a recipe on Epicurious. At first I found that amusing.
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Cookbook writer Yotam Ottolenghi points the way to perfect rice.
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At Ventura’s Arroyo Verde Park on Sunday, if you squinted really, really hard, you could almost believe you were in the mountains of New Mexico — the steep, brush-covered hillsides, the pine trees and, most important, the smell of roasting green chiles hanging in the air.
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Zucchini can be used in a variety of tasty summertime dishes. Here are some quick ideas.
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Feta can harmonize with watermelon, smoked chicken with cantaloupe. Vinegar, pepper, mint. It can be an interesting summer fling.
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The California Cook: Simple techniques and ingredients yield wonderful results.
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Panna cotta perfection comes down to three factors: the jiggle, the cream and the sweetness.
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Almond macaroons and snickerdoodles are simple but elegant complements to fresh fruit for dessert.
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It seems everyone’s method of cooking a hard-boiled egg is the best way. But here’s one that really is.
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Now that trees are raining down bushels, it’s time to peel, slice, squeeze and experiment.
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To make raw kale perfect for salads, give it a good rubdown.
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A Minnesota restaurant spurs the columnist to tweak a favorite pancake recipe.
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Rare, signed or well-used cookbooks are as much a part of his kitchen as pots and pans.
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With fall in the air, at least one chef’s thoughts turn to a warm and satisfying meal of this low-fat, high-fiber food. And he’s got a soaking tip too.
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Two new books can be a boon to people with kitchen aspirations, from a solid steeping in the basics (‘How to Boil Water’) to next-level practitioners (‘Ruhlman’s Twenty’).
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A bruschetta bar can liven your next gathering with a little work and a lot of combinations. Set out bread, cheese, herbs and vegetables, and your guests will get busy and full.
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Barley, bulgur and quinoa — whole grain salads using these and other grains are so good you won’t mind that they might be good for you too.
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After an enforced three-year hiatus, the state’s salmon are back, and here are two recipes that showcase the fish.
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Skye Gyngell’s ‘A Year in My Kitchen’ and Yotam Ottolenghi’s ‘Plenty’ take different approaches to vegetable recipes.
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Toast fresh bread shavings and toss with pasta or vegetables to transform the dish.
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A bold stuffing of bitter greens, salty feta and a sauce spiked with green olives makes this Easter dish. And really, it’s not that complicated, and your guests will think you’re a genius.
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Scrambled eggs for dinner doesn’t mean you have bad timing. Just add a few simple ingredients and they become a delicious and sophisticated light main course.
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Mix and match veggies, butter or olive oil and herbs.
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Sure, this classic California dish needs fish and shellfish, wine and tomato sauce. But beyond that, it’s up to you.
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The savory French cream puff dough can be made ahead of time, frozen and popped in the oven at the last minute. They taste as good as freshly made.
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Going a step beyond brining, grilling the Thanksgiving bird is an easy and delicious option. And it leaves the oven free for other duties.
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With just a few simple ingredients and a few minutes cooking and resting time, you’ve got a wonderful appetizer, dessert or pasta filling.
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A favorite dish for quick and delicious dinners just got even simpler thanks to a chance glance at a cookbook.
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Quick ways to turn small amounts of fruit into jam while indulging your spontaneous, experimental side.
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In ‘Four Fish,’ Paul Greenberg examines the creatures as food source and part of the ecosystem.
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Why not make that good steak a great steak? And here’s how to take the potato salad, roasted corn and homemade ice cream to a new level too.
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He loves spending a weekend morning with a mixing bowl and a classic copy of ‘Joy of Cooking.’
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Just because a meal is easy to make doesn’t mean it’s bad. On a weekday evening, tortillas filled with melted cheese and grilled mushrooms or braised greens can be perfect.
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Deborah Madison’s new cookbook shows a skilled chef’s approach to sweets.
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The farmers market revolution may have been born in farmers markets, but if it is to continue, there will have to be other paths for farmers as well.
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The seasonal vegetable is so tasty that a chef doesn’t have to do much to become a dinner table hero.
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Restaurant menus are featuring pork parts that once were unmentionable: ears, tails, trotters. And — surprise — diners are ordering them.
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Shortcuts for making polenta usually sacrifice flavor for convenience. But this stir-and-bake method really works.
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The popularity of Caesar salads plucked the lettuce from obscurity.
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Let’s not join one of the armed camps deeply suspicious of one another shouting past each other.
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The big bang captures too much of our attention at Christmas.
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How about a good saute pan? Or a mortar and pestle? Gift ideas for cooks at every level of expertise.
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Thanksgiving is a holiday built on tradition.
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Sometimes, listening to the pundits and ponderers, I get the feeling that cooking is my duty.
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No need to travel hundreds of miles east -- they’re available in SoCal. But a trip to the Land of Enchantment isn’t complete without a chile sampler.
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Tomatoes are arriving by the bushel now. Here’s how to make the most of the harvest.
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For the non-cook -- or even the out-of-ideas cook -- here are a few luscious dessert ideas starring the luscious fruits of the season.
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Nora Ephron’s ‘Julie & Julia’ gets the tale just right.
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When I wrote a column recently about my questions about organic produce, I expected that I’d get a lot of mail.
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A frozen fruit soufflé is more sophisticated than ice cream and just as delicious.
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Just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it’s the best. Let flavor dictate.
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Done right, cheap steaks cooked on the grill taste great. Your guests will never know the difference.
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His ‘Kitchen Confidential’ revolutionized the chef memoir. Now young chefs are taking a similar approach with ‘Spiced,’ ‘Cooking Dirty,’ ‘The Hunger’ and ‘Under the Table.’
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Improvisation is the name of the game when searching out and preparing farmers market finds.
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The best -- at least for now.
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Breaded and fried pork cutlets can be a quick and easy dinner at home.
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Alexandra Panousis passes down her passion for the wild mustards and other plants of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
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Too many dandelions in the mix threatens to derail an easy first course, but a little vinegar rounds out the bitter notes.
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Salt has its uses, but acidic seasonings such as lemon, vinegar and red wine add a whole different flavor dimension.
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Every once in a while, it’s good to take stock of the fridge, if only to discover what’s in all those little jars.
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Caramelizing onions over several hours creates a complex taste and smooth texture that can be savored in just about any dish or as a spread.
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With its new facility being built near San Diego, Japan’s Hokto Corp. and U.S. partner Golden Gourmet Mushrooms hope to bring a wider array of earthy delights to mainstream market shelves.
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Given the slow treatment, vegetables become rich and silky -- and reveal themselves as unexpected appetizers.
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Preserve it in spiced olive oil and you get a rich, meaty taste ready to serve in salad, with pasta or as a topping for bruschetta.
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Smoky and moist, quick-barbecued fish is an easy dish -- if you know a few tricks.
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Russ Parsons’ favorites include pickled radishes, peppers, zucchini -- and even grapes.
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Stick with basic equipment, keep a close eye on the charcoal and flames, and you’ll get wonderfully moist results.
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Rhubarb starts tart, but in a crisp, a pie, a sorbet, a compote, with strawberries or even oranges, it ends with a bang. Or go savory as a side with duck.
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Seasonal vegetables inspire vibrant bisques, chowders and broths.
