Hangin' with Sam the Cooking Guy

The first time I met Sam Zien, aka Sam the Cooking Guy, was a couple of years ago at Congregation Beth Israel, where we were both judging a temple cooking contest. Every time he and I would stand together to discuss a dish, a different elderly woman would come over and literally shove me aside so that her husband could shoot a photo of her snuggled up with Sam.

Sam is clearly a rock star with the bubbe set.

But, Sam's popularity spans across generations or he wouldn't be as popular a figure as he is in San Diego's food scene and beyond, and he's reinforcing that with a new online show, The Sam Livecast, where Sam cooks but also chats about whatever happens to interest him at the moment. And, yes, you can still find Sam the Cooking Guy on TV locally, in LA, Orange County, Las Vegas, and Arizona -- and even on the East Coast in Georgia and Virgina. You can catch videos of him preparing recipes from his shows. You can even shop Sam at "Sam's Store," where you can buy his three cookbooks or kitchen gadgets and gear. Sam is an industry.

He's also a very nice guy and, yes, a terrific cook, as I discovered when I was invited to appear Sept. 26 on The Sam Livecast. The live streaming show is pretty relaxed. He chats with his very young crew and people--like me--who hang out on the couch in the kitchen with Sam's wife, Kelly, his interns, perhaps his sons and their girlfriends. And the two dogs. It's very casual with the periodic f-bomb dropped. But don't let that fool you; Sam knows what he's doing. Ingredients are prepped in a home kitchen any food person would envy. He does his schtick, but then the cooking begins and as easy as he makes it looks, that's how delicious the dish is.

When I was invited on, the idea was basically an appearance with idle back and forth from the couch about my writing. But I thought it would be fun to show him a little of what I do--and promote Olivewood Gardens--so I offered to make corn tortillas with flowers pressed in them with him on the show--as I've been doing with the kids I teach at Olivewood Gardens. Well, the counteroffer was for me just to bring in the tortillas, already made. Which I did, along with homemade tomato salsa.

And that was the inspiration for Sam, along with bluefin tuna that he'd acquired, to make seared bluefin tuna tacos with mango salsa. Prettiest tacos around, what with the gorgeous yellow salsa and being encased in tortillas highlighted with orange and yellow nasturtiums or purple and white violets.

You can catch the livecast on his website, where you'll also find recipes. And I describe there how to make the tortillas. And stay tuned for more shows. The livecast airs live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 6 p.m. pacific time. I hear he's going to have more food writers/bloggers on the show as guests. You never know who will turn up.

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Tweak the Seder Meal with an Apple-Matzoh Kugel

Holiday meals are sacred stuff and it's the rare family that likes to change tradition. Passover is certainly one of those meals. In our family, it means chicken soup with matzoh balls (floaters, not sinkers), doctored gefilte fish (Mom adds cooked carrots and onions to the jelly), brisket, matzoh meal popovers, and usually asparagus as our vegetable side. And, of course, all the delights of the Seder table.

Where we tend to fail each year is with kugel. The problem is they tend to be dry and chewy, especially potato kugel.

My mom and I attended our temple's Women's Seder a couple of weeks ago and both did double takes when we took bites of the matzoh kugel served. We could taste apples. It was moist and not too heavy. We kind of liked it. So when my mom found the recipe of the temple's website, she decided to make it for our little Seder and I decided to make it for the Seder with friends I was invited to the night before Passover began.

But Mom did, of course, change it up. She rarely sticks to an actual recipe but instead adds her unique stamp to it. To this she added a couple more matzohs, plus lemon zest and juice, dried cranberries, and chopped pecans to top it. She chose tart Granny Smiths to keep it from becoming overly sweet.

And then she made a mistake, which actually improved the kugel. She'd put it all together and poured about half of the melted butter on top just before sprinkling the cinnamon sugar and nuts--and then realized she'd forgotten to add the dried cranberries. So she folded them in and the melted butter went with them, adding another layer of flavor. She finished it off with the rest of the butter and the topping and in it went into the oven, where it puffed up like a souffle and came out moist and just a little sweet.

I loved the sound of it so much, I made it for my "pre-Passover" Seder. It's as silky as a noodle kugel--one of my favorite dishes. I think this is going to be a new insert into our family tradition.

Passover Apple-Matzoh Kugel
From Congregation Beth Israel, Adapted by Evie Golden
Serves 10

8 Matzoh
12 eggs, 2 separated
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled
½ cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
zest of one lemon
½ cup melted butter
Cinnamon-sugar mixture
½ cup lightly toasted, chopped pecans

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Break up matzoh and pour boiling water over the pieces in a bowl. Let sit for about 5 minutes, then drain and squeeze out excess moisture if necessary.
• Grate apples and add lemon juice and zest.
• Beat 10 eggs, plus 2 yolks, and the vanilla. Set the whites aside.
• Combine the sugar, salt, and cinnamon and add to the eggs. Stir in the matzoh and apple mixture. Blend well.
• Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until thick. Fold into the egg/matzoh mixture. Add the cranberries and half of the melted butter.
• Pour into a 9 X 13 greased casserole dish. Pour the rest of the melted butter over the top. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mix and pecan pieces.
• Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

You can make this ahead of time and bake half way, then freeze. When reheating make sure it’s thawed completely and then bake for at least 30 minutes.

And, here's a wish for a happy, healthy Pesach to my Jewish friends! Gut Yontiff!


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What's the Deal? San Diego's Best Restaurant Values

I'm going to be judging a cook-off this Saturday night with Sam (the Cooking Guy) Zien at my temple, Congregation Beth Israel. I was asked if I could fill the crowd in on five of the best values in local dining in San Diego. I've got some of my own ideas, but, of course, I wanted to reach out to my friends on Twitter and Facebook and already have been getting some great suggestions. You'll find a lot of the value is at the happy hour, but not exclusively.

Here's what I've heard so far from followers and friends (sorry PR folks, no good just giving me client names; what's the deal?). Please let me know if you have any favorites!

1. Wine Vault & Bistro's Saturday five-course tasting menu for $30.
2. Surati Farsan on Black Mountain Road: Four-course meal for $12. "Killer dosas for $4. Yummy belpuri chast."
3. Sunday lunch at Sakura on Convoy. Miso salmon and all the fixings.
4. Wet Stone on 4th for wine and small plates. Happy hour specials during the week.
5. The Marble Room downtown. "A relatively new spot in the Gaslamp that has an interesting variety of entrees and appetizers at reasonable prices compared to other upscale Gaslamp hot spots. They don't advertise as "Tapas Style" but it really is so it's fun and affordable good food."
6. Spices Thai
7. Cafe Sevilla is "right-sizing their menu in terms of both portions and prices, including many tapitas at $5 or under. And, their happy hour at the tapas bar includes 16 dishes, most of which are $4 and under along with daily drink specials."
8. Tender Greens. "It's a great value. You can get a great fresh from the farm organic meal for under $15."
9. The Pearl. "On Mondays we do a three-course meal for $25 with happy hour pricing all night."

To that I add:
1. Sbicca: Half-priced wine Tuesday and Thursday. No corkage Sunday and Monday. Half-price bar food nightly between 4 and 6:30.
2. Opera Cafe & Patisserie: An unlikely location in Sorrento Valley's office park area but wonderful French food priced very reasonably. Mostly breakfast and lunch, but they're now open Fridays for dinner and are serving wine.
3. Starlite: Come for early bird food specials during happy hour or stop by for a late-night meal.
4. Avenue 5: Another happy hour pick. Great prices for terrific food in Bankers Hill.
5. Tapenade: Authentic French food is very accessible at their happy hour and with their Bar-Tapas menu. Or try their Riviera three-course lunch menu for $21.95.
6. Laurel: 7 before Seven happy hour -- seven drinks, seven eats at $7 each. Plus, Mondays at the bar: Wagyu beef burger, truffle fries and beer for $14.95. Tapas Tuesdays at the bar: Chef comes out and makes tapas from 5 to 8:30. Mad Wednesdays selected bottles of wine are half price.

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