Book Review: Sunday Suppers at Lucques

sunday supper

I picked up Suzanne Goin’s new book: Sunday Suppers at Lucques. Fantastic book. The recipe for Devil’s Chicken with Leeks has been a hit at my house. Lots of herbs and mustard. It is based on Julia Child’s recipe in The Way to Cook.

I follow the recipe pretty closely, though most prefer chicken breasts to thighs. To compensate for the shorter cooking time of a skinless-boneless breast, I eliminated the second cooking stage and instead broil the chicken to crisp up the bread crumbs.

412JMM9RZ9L._SL160_Leeks don’t get much attention these days, but this recipe put them back on the map for me. It also got me poking around for other neglected vegetables. All in all, I love this book. It’s low on cooking voodoo and high on classic pairings.

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Grilled Chicken

Hardwood charcoal. I use B&B. Most of the other brands I have tried look like chopped up 2 x 4’s. B&B is big lumps of Mesquite. I grill up a bunch of chicken for the coming week to eat in tacos. (Usually standing there holding a beer feeling very manly.)

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Pasta Bolognese

I make a lot of this and freeze it. Then you just have to make your pasta in the future. The sauce is Beef, Veal (free-range) and Pork. Onion, carrot, tomato paste, cream and white wine.

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Restaurant Review: Downey’s (Santa Barbara)

We just had dinner at Downey’s for our third wedding anniversary. Best Restaurant in North America.
• Ojai, 2004 Santa Rita Hills, Clos Pepe Vineyard, Pinot Noir
• Fresh Local Crab Toasts with Curried Fruits & Arugula
• Endive Salad with watercress, organic strawberry, hazelnuts and vinaigrette
• Halibut with Meyer lemon and Sorrel sauce, red potatoes
• Lobster, sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, asparagus, angel hair pasta salad
• Cheese plate: two double cream cheeses from France – one mushroomy, other buttery; triple cream from France – rich, creamy; Manchego; Stilton from England with red grapes, Fuji apples, water crackers, raisin bread and walnuts.

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