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Happy New Year Californiavore readers! I hope your holidays were restful and tasty and that you are geared up for a new year of delicious eating and drinking.
Before Christmas I wrote about how last year’s resolution to take the weekly family plan out of my head and actually write it down where everyone could see it, made for a saner, happier household. By extension, writing down your cooking plan for any party can make the whole operation run much more smoothly.
Funny enough, we proved the point by failing to write a plan for a Christmas Eve dinner with friends. Our friends brought cold champagne, decadent lamb pate, and trays of snacks for the kids. My husband started cooking the ragu bolognese for the lasagna two days in advance; I assembled the lasagna the day before; we even had extra ragu and gluten free pasta for our GF friends. But we didn’t write a plan. When it was time to eat, I was holding three unwashed bunches of kale looking at my husband wondering if there was still time.
“The ragu has vegetables in it, right?”
“Sure, practically a salad.”
There you go. No plan, no kale. Guess what we will be doing next holiday party? Writing down the plan.
Now it’s time to layout some resolutions for 2024.
Don’t Skip the Comfort Food
For several years I wrote a weekly cooking column for a now defunct recipe website. It was the peak of Rachel Ray and I was hired to write about dishes that could be made in 30 minutes. The audience was definitely more All Recipes than Bon Appetit. The dishes I cooked were largely comfort fare - simple, easy to make on a weeknight, delicious to eat any time. Time to go back in the archives and rediscover some old gems. First up, family favorite Shrimp Saganaki, showing that comfort food and seafood can most certainly go together (see below for recipe).
Read My New Cookbooks Cover to Cover
I’ve recently been gifted a couple of books that defy traditional categorization. Are they cookbooks? Collections of essays on food? History? Maybe all of the above! Whatever they are, they definitely invite me in for a proper read, to stay awhile. I will read them for their “bookiness” and try out their recipes too.
Looking for a weightier cookbook or interesting food/culture/history writing with some recipes mixed in? Check out Black Food edited by the chef and food activist Bryant Terry as well as A History of the World in Ten Dinners.
Keep Trying New Things
With the new year, I dove into the cooking new things challenge, tackling octopus for the first time. It all started with some lovely looking, sustainable octopus was on offer at Whole Foods. After flagging a recipe in Black Food for “Black-Eyed Peas & Charred Octopus Salad”, I was on my way to a perfect New Year’s meal. The several step process means was this was far from quick to prepare, however the actual work was minimal. The result? A new family winner.
Seek Out the Lesser-Known Grapes
How many grape varieties can you name? Is it more than can fit on one hand? Over 10,000 varieties of grapes are made into wine around the world and yet we generally drink only a few that we recognize with ease. I always love an underdog. Seeking out the lesser-known varietals is as much about championing the overlooked as it is about preserving history, discovering new flavors and yes, even values. My wine pick this week fits this in every way. A mix of grapes from the Southwest of France that you have probably never heard of, it woke up my palate with its mix of stone fruit and wild herbs, all for less than $20 a bottle.
What are your resolutions this year? Cooking more? Eating healthier? Drinking better or drinking less? Leave a comment and below and let me know. I’d love to help you along the way, whatever your goals.
Recipe
Greek Shrimp Saganaki
I’ve never missed a chance to order saganaki just for the pleasure of cleaning the last bits of a sauce with a crusty bread. This recipe is adapted from the beloved San Francisco institution Kokkari.
Serves 6
3 cloves garlic
60 ml + 30 ml + 90 ml + 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 spring fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried oregano
Salt and pepper
1.5 lb medium shrimp, shell-on
120 ml shrimp broth (made with the shells), store bought fish stock, or water
¼ c. chopped dill + extra springs for garnish
3 spring onions
8 oz. feta, crumbled
½ tsp. smoked paprika
Bread
Note: You can make this easier by using high quality tomato sauce in place of this homemade version. Freeze the extra sauce from this recipe or use it for pizza or any number of tomato sauce pasta recipes. Don’t like dill? Substitute parsley or a combination of dill and parsley.
Make the tomato sauce (or open a high-quality store-bought jar). Mince garlic. Heat 60 ml olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and sauté, watching closely, until just starting to brown, 2-4 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, bring to a simmer along with a spring of fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried oregano. Reduce to medium low and simmer until thickened, at least 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Preheat broiler with rack near the top of the oven.
Clean shrimp and peel, leaving tails on. If you have time and the inclination, make a quick shrimp stock putting shells in a small pan just covered in water. Simmer for 10 minutes then strain. You will need 120 ml. Otherwise, measure out 120ml water or store-bought shrimp stock.
Chop fresh dill and thinly slice the spring onions, white and green parts.
In an oven-proof casserole dish, drizzle 30 ml olive oil on the bottom. Layout shrimp on top of olive oil tightly packed in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper.
In a small sauté pan, stir together 350 ml of the prepared tomato sauce with 120 ml shrimp stock, broth or water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in half of the feta cheese, 90 ml olive oil, paprika, dill and spring onions.
Spoon the tomato sauce over the shrimp in the baking dish. Crumble over remaining feta cheese. Drizzle over remaining 30 ml olive oil. Bake for about 7 minutes until cheese is browned and sauce is bubbling. You can check for shrimp doneness by pushing back some sauce and checking the shrimp is pink and firm.
To serve, sprinkle with reserved dill sprigs. Serve with crusty bread for sopping up the sauce.
To Drink…
Plaimont ‘Les Cepages Preserves’ Blanc Saint Mont, Cotes de Gascogne, France 2019
Gascogny in the southwest of France may be best known for Armagnac, but a small contingent of producers are trying to give the region’s still wines the respect they deserve. Plaimont Cooperative rests in the tiny AOC of Saint Mont, only 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and majestic Pyrenees mountain range. Here a group of growers and winemakers have dedicated themselves to reviving nearly lost varietals. A blend of Gros Manseng, Petit Corbu and Aruffiac, this wine is golden in the glass with mouth-watering notes of stone fruit and wild herbs. This medium bodied white is one that lingers. For lovers of aromatic wines like Roussanne and Chenin Blanc. This scored 95 points in Decanter and is widely available for less than $20 a bottle. A powerhouse wine at a small price? That’s a resolution to stick to.
From $16 a bottle available online or at Wine Connnection, San Diego