roasted yams with sour cream + chives.

i mentioned before how my sweet tooth is highly underdeveloped. when i make deserts it's pretty much a given that it's really for someone else to enjoy. my love of savory flavors is so extreme that even certain veggies don't get invited to my house often {corn....peas....i'm looking at you!}. one of those veggies is definitely yams. it's not that i don't like them {they really are quite lovely} it's just most recipes aim the draw out their richness while i would rather be hiding it. they are sweet enough on their own. do you really need to add maple syrup, or pecans, or brown sugar? please....

these yams take the place of a normal baked potato with highly satisfying results. the sweet yam mixed with the tangy sour cream and sharp chives is oddly complimentary. i never thought a roasted yam could make a baked potato {one of my favorites} look so boring.

roasted yams with sour cream + chives.

adapted from bon appetit

serves 2

• 2 small to medium-sized yams
• unsalted butter
• sour cream
• chives
• sea salt

1. preheat oven to 350. prick yams with the tines of a fork and wrap separately in aluminum foil. bake until tender, about 45 minutes.
2. cut yams into 1/2'' slices. coat slices in a little butter and salt.
3. top slices with a generous dollop of sour cream and a handful of torn chives.

a cheese plate.

5 years ago i met the boy that would end up becoming my best friend, confidant, and so much more. he was 21, wore pleated khakis and had a terrible military style haircut. he had never tried sushi and mostly lived off of canned soup and chili. on our first outing together he took me to the cheesecake factory not realizing that any restaurant with the word factory in its name is not to be trusted. i took him to nic & stef's, a steak house, where he literally orgasmed over the combination of cold tomatoes, hot steak, and strong scotch. i think something happened to him that night.....

fast forward to the present where now this boy only shops at zara man, likes to wear his hair longer, and can appreciate many more foods than just ones that come from a can. in fact, he loves food....almost as much as i do! it's one of the major bonds of our relationship. together we have discovered some of the best cuisine that la offers and a myriad of ways that an underage girl can score a hard drink.

this boy instantly {and happily i might add} became my official cooking tester. chorizo, kale & potato soup was a smash success. vegetables with orzo & feta.......a major flop. he has seen the best and the worst of me, one of those ways definitely being found in the kitchen. our favorite way of spending time together is through eating and one of our favorite things to eat is cheese. cheese is something i could exist on singularly and i'm ecstatic that my best bud feels the exact same way about it as i do.

a cheese plate is almost comically easy to put together and there's no recipe involved. grab some of your favorite cheeses, add some accompaniments, pour some red wine and voila....you're done! this was an especially tasty cheese plate but add and subtract. the whole point is to make something you enjoy. if you impress your guests you might even get a chic hostess gift like my green tea kit kats from japan.

a cheese plate.

cheese:

• triple cream brie
• smoked gouda
• stilton blue cheese

accompaniments:

• marcona almonds
• dried figs
• dried cherries
• mango honey (not pictured)
• pureed raspberry jam (not pictured)

tips:

• try to buy cheeses that each have there own unique taste and/or texture. otherwise, the flavors will blend too much.
• like melon and prosciutto or peanut butter and chocolate, wine and cheese really are meant to be together. even if you don't like or drink wine, cough up the dough and buy a bottle. trust me, for this, it's worthwhile.

my favorite cheese plates in los angeles:

• aoc
• cube
• bacaro
• mignon

zucchini-pecan cake with cream cheese frosting.

i enjoy baking! as a girl that is sometimes accused of being too boyish baking tends to be the time i feel the most womanly. i awkwardly imagine i'm wearing a full skirt and apron with pearls dangling daintily from my neck {usually i'm wearing a grubby t-shirt and loose sweatpants but hey, i can dream!}. unfortunately there are not tons of occasions when baking is useful. i'm not going to make myself a cake every week because, well, my cats and i would surely become obese and because as much i like baking i oddly don't have a major sweet tooth. thankfully there are still birthdays, holidays, tailgate parties, and these are definitely the times i can and do bake.

there is also an enemy in this sweet story. an arch-adversary that is secretly trying to sabotage my pies and pound cakes, my crisps and cobblers, his name is whirlpool accubake....my oven! my {goddamn, piece of sh*t} oven is out to destroy me, either that or show off. no matter what a recipe cooking time is supposed to be my accubake makes it 10-15 minutes faster....sometimes....other times 15-20, 20-30, he's not very consistent but, boy, is he fast. baking is such a strangely scientific process and my oven makes my attempts at it a crap shoot.

when i saw this recipe for zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting i almost fell over. i love carrot cake and this sounded like it would have a striking resemblance to that desert we all know. i had to try....accubake be damned!

my oven "brought it" and tried his hardest to ruin me. the cake ended up tasting and smelling fantastic {i could eat erasers in that frosting} but did turn out to be a tad too dry {you win this round accubake!}. i'm going to post the recipe anyways because it was still terribly tasty and if you have a tamed oven it should turn out perfect! i thought of mine as zucchini bread and ate it for breakfast. don't worry about me i'll break my accubake someday......hopefully.

zucchini-pecan cake with cream cheese frosting.

from bon appetit

serves 10

cake:

• nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (about 8 ounces)
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

frosting:

• 1/2 8-ounce package philadelphia brand cream cheese (do not use reduced-fat or fat-free), room temperature
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

for cake:

1. position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. line 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides with parchment paper. coat parchment paper with nonstick spray.
2. whisk flour, baking powder, coarse salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in medium bowl to blend well.
3. whisk oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl to blend well; fold in flour mixture, then grated zucchini and pecans. transfer cake batter to prepared pan.
   
4. bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. cool cake completely in pan, about 1 hour. cut around sides of pan to loosen. turn cake out onto platter; peel off parchment paper.

for frosting:

1. beat cream cheese and butter in medium bowl until blended. beat in sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon
   
2. spread frosting thickly over top of cake. sift cinnamon evenly over the frosting.

a strip steak.

it's always hard for me to cook for someone for the first time. my self-consciousness rises to new heights and my taste buds don't ever seem to throughly enjoy what i've prepared. i'm always dreading my friends being too polite while secretly wanting to spit out what i've made. though they never do and most even asks for seconds.

when my friend recently asked me to make something for him i felt that awkward first twinge of fear which grew into nauseous alarm when he threw in that he'd really enjoy "a steak or something". you know what? i get it, he's from minnesota where i'm sure cow is served in some form for breakfast, lunch, & dinner but here in los angeles steak seems unhealthy, fattening, and most of all cooking one threatens to set off the two fire alarms in my 900 square foot apartment.

personally, i love steak. it, along with sushi, is one of the main reasons i could never be a vegetarian but preparing a strip steak in my home always seemed intimidating. i could probably manage to cook it, yes, but would it be good? i was willing to gamble my reputation and friendship to find out.

my fire alarm ended up sounding for 15 straight minutes but, boy, was that crust worth it.

strip steak

adapted from gq

servers 2

• 1 strip steak of the best quality you can afford, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick, about 1 pound.
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt & black pepper
• fresh parsley {optional}

1. take the steak out of the fridge about an hour before cooking. let come to room temperature.
2. set your oven to 500 degrees.
3. heat tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until it's smoking.*
4. pat the steak dry with paper towels. generously salt and pepper it on all sides.
5. lay the steak in the pan and cook, untouched, for about 5 minutes. flip and move skillet to the oven. cook steak for about 8 more minutes.
6. remove the skillet from the oven and cover the steak with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.
7. drizzle steak with extra virgin olive oil and finish with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley.

* take out your fire alarm batteries if you live in a small space. make sure to keep windows open and turn your vents and fans on.....you'll thank me later.

green beans and zucchini with sauce verte.

as someone who loves food it seems almost wrong to type what i'm about to. vegetables aren't that much fun to prepare. they are rarely the main event and honestly it takes a great amount of skill to coax the flavor out of them. i like em' don't get me wrong but they can easily get a little dull. no offensive veggies, you're cute and all.

now there are simple ways of remedying this issue. the easiest being to give the veggies there own sauce. my mom did this a lot when i was a kid. broccoli just wasn't broccoli without a thick layer of cheddar cheese sauce on top. it was delicious but what's the point of eating your vegetables when it's accompaniment has more calories and fat than the rest of your meal? this sauce verte on the other hand is flavorful, fresh, and, dare i say, a healthy sauce for some green beans & zucchini.

green beans and zucchini with sauce verte

adapted from bon appetit

serves 3

sauce verte:

• 1/4 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 green onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons (packed) fresh Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoons drained capers
• a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1/2 garlic clove, peeled
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

vegetables:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 a pound green beans, stem end trimmed
• 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise, half cut lengthwise into 1/3-inch-wide strips
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley leaves (for garnish)
  

1. roughly chopped the the first 7 ingredients. put all the chopped ingredients in a bowl and add the extra virgin olive oil. let stand.
2. heat oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. add vegetables; stir until coated. sprinkle with salt and 3 tablespoons water.
3. cover; cook vegetables until almost crisp-tender, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. uncover; cook until vegetables are just tender, about 2 minutes longer.
4. stir in enough sauce verte to coat vegetables generously. season with salt and pepper.
5. transfer to bowl. garnish with parsley.

homegrown tomato bruschetta.

my grandfather loves his backyard. growing up i remember him holding the hose constantly watering his flower pots and fruit trees while i swam and splashed in his pool. my bare feet would sting as i ran on the hot summer cement to steal a plum or an apricot. those summers my chlorine-filled eyes were always bloodshot and my hands were always sticky. i ate as many wonderful fruits as his trees would allow and was curious as to why the things he grew tasted a million times better than produce from the market. i was 7.

at 23 i have a obvious understanding of why a plum picked off a tree tastes better than one flown in from chile but there's still a level of craftsmanship i don't throughly comprehend. i've tried dozens of times to grow simple things like rosemary and cilantro and i still can't get the hang of it. my grandpa can grow a zucchini that has more flavor than a piece of lamb and that skill is something inherent and something i don't possess. maybe it stems from his poor childhood when he was forced to pick his way through fields of ripe fruits and veggies or maybe, just maybe, he's lucky. either way, my papa joe gave me some of his tomatoes....

cooking a papa joe homegrown tomato seems like a travesty of justice. it tastes so good all on its own. i mainly have been eating them sliced thin with a pinch of sea salt and a little good olive oil. when a buddy came over hungry i wanted to show off a bit so i decided to whip up this quick bruschetta. the equation ended up like this = tomatoes + toast > tomatoes.

homegrown tomatoes with balsamic and dill bruschetta.

adapted from martha stewart living

serves 2

• one tomato
• extra virgin olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• crushed red pepper flakes
• chopped chives
• dill sprigs
• salt & pepper
• 2 slices of sourdough bread

1. chop the tomato and toss with balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, chopped chives, and a pinch of crushed red-pepper flakes. salt and pepper to taste. let stand.
2. heat a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. add the sourdough slices. flip slices when toasted (about three minutes) and repeat. sprinkle toasts with a pinch of salt.
3. spoon tomato mixture onto toasts, and garnish with a few dill sprigs.