Local Cookbook Author Carolynn Carreño Appearing at Next Good Earth Great Chefs Event

Photo by Adriene Hughes

San Diego magazine writer and cookbook author Carolynn Carreño will be the featured chef at the first 2017 Good Earth/Great Chefs event. On Sunday, January 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Carreño will sign her newest book, Bowls of Plenty: Recipes for Healthy and Delicious Whole Grain Meals. The event, held at Chino Farm, will feature complementary tastes of a bowl recipe made from vegetables picked that morning at the farm. And there will be live music to enjoy as well. Those who buy her book at the event can have her sign it.

I'll be writing a piece on Carreño and her book for the San Diego Union-Tribune's food section for publication next month, but I'm a fan of the Good Earth/Great Chefs series and encourage you to attend the free event and enjoy some time on the farm.

If you're a cookbook lover, Carreño may also be a familiar name to you. She is a James Beard Award-winning journalist and has co-authored a dozen cookbooks. Most recently, she collaborated with Nancy Silverton on Mozza at Home (which I recently wrote about for the UT). Just a few months ago Silverton also appeared at a Good Earth/Great Chefs book signing. Along with book writing, Carreño has written for publications including Bon Appétit, Saveur, Gourmet, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.

Born in Tijuana, Carreño grew up in Mount Helix. While she spent time living in New York, she's recently moved into the house she grew up in.

Bowls of Plenty is filled with one-dish meals targeted to the home cook. The recipes feature vegetables and optional meats that top a foundation of whole-grain staples. And, while that sounds like they would primarily be for lunch or dinner, there are also sweet and savory breakfast bowls and even dessert bowls.

At the Good Earth/Great Chefs booksigning, Carreño will be serving her Sambal Tofu Bowl. Below she shares another of her recipes you'll find in the book:

Photo by Beatriz de Costa

CHINO RANCH VEGETABLE BOWL with Kale Pistachio Pesto and Bagna Cauda 

Chino Ranch is a farm in my hometown, San Diego, made famous in the early 1970s when Alice Waters fell in love with their green beans because, unlike grocery store green beans, they actually had tasted like green beans. Extraordinary as those beans are, the Chinos are most famous for their corn, which, were you to try it, will ruin you to any other corn for life. I am lucky enough to call the Chinos friends, and to have easy access to their delicious vegetables. Naturally, I serve many a bowl in honor of them and their ever-changing, unparalleled produce. Pesto is so easy to make I can’t understand why anyone would buy it. You just throw a bunch of stuff in a blender or food processor and go. Try it, you’ll see. I make this with kale but use any combination of basil, parsley, kale, or arugula; as long as you start with 2 cups of leaves, you’ll have pesto. 

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS
2 red or yellow bell peppers (or 1 pound mini sweet peppers)
2 ears corn, shucked
½ pound Romano beans, green beans, or yellow beans, stem ends trimmed
1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off
1 pint small cherry tomatoes, such as Sweet 100s, Sungolds, or another sweet summertime variety
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Kale Pistachio Pesto (recipe follows)
Bagna Cauda (recipe follows; optional)
1 cup farro, cooked (about 3 cups cooked farro) and cooled to room temperature
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced, or burrata, broken into segments with a spoon
½ cup fresh basil

METHOD
Preheat an outdoor grill to high or a stovetop grill pan over high heat. Brush the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Put the vegetables on the grill and grill until they are black in places, turning to grill all sides,  and removing each vegetable from the grill to a plate as it is done. (For bright green asparagus and green beans like those pictured rather than grilling them, blanch them for 1 minute in boiling, salted water and immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.)

Cut the corn kernels off the cob. Remove and discard the cores and seeds from the bell peppers (if you used baby peppers, leave them as is) and slice the peppers into thin strips.

Serve family style, with big platters of the summer veggies, the sauces in small bowls, and the grains for people to make their own bowls.

KALE PISTACHIO PESTO 
Makes about 2 cups I

INGREDIENTS
1½ cups packed torn kale leaves
½ cup packed fresh parsley or basil leaves ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons pistachios (or pine nuts, almonds, or walnuts), toasted
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Juice of 1 lemon

METHOD
Put all the ingredients except the lemon juice in a blender or food processor and blend until the pesto is smooth with some flecks, stopping to scrape down the side of the blender once or twice. The pesto should be loose and spoonable, not globby; if it’s too thick, add more oil and blend it in. Stir in the lemon juice just before using. Use the pesto or refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 days; be warned: the pesto will lose its pretty color with time but it will still taste great. Bring it to room temperature before using.

BAGNA CAUDA
Bagna cauda means "warm bath" in Italian. It’s a simple condiment made of anchovies, garlic, and olive oil. It turns something as simple as blanched, veggies into something totally special and delicious. Drizzle it on blanched or roasted asparagus, green beans, Broccolini, cauliflower, or sweet peppers. Makes about ¾ cup

INGREDIENTS
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 (1½- to 2-ounce) can or jar of anchovies (8 to 11 anchovy fillets), anchovies removed from the oil and minced
6 garlic cloves, grated on a Microplane or minced
A pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
A few turns of freshly ground black pepper

METHOD
Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant and the butter and oil just start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to very low and cook for 10 minutes so the flavors can all make friends. Serve warm.

Excerpted from the book BOWLS OF PLENTY by Carolynn Carreño. Copyright © 2017 by Carolynn Carreño. Reprinted with permission of Grand Central Life & Style. All rights reserved.  


The Good Earth/Great Chefs event with Carolynn Carreño will be held on Sunday, January 29, 2017 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., rain or shine, at Chino Farm. The address is 6123 Calzada del Bosque in Rancho Santa Fe. 

Mediterranean Feast for Paula to Raise Alzheimer's Awareness & Funds

When my smart and funny and oh so talented friend Paula Wolfert disclosed last year that she'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, the food world was stunned and desolate. That lasted all of a moment or two--because Paula dismissed the grief and took charge in her usual way. Instead of wallowing and retreating, she stepped up to become an activist for awareness and research.

Back in November, she appeared on the PBS's NewsHour with interviewer Judy Woodruff. What she said bowled me over:

"My head is with my children, my husband, my friends, and sharing with the Alzheimer’s Association whatever I can share, because this is the most important thing I want to say. The shame that people have about their memory loss is — and the denial that exists and their friends saying, oh, everybody has — you know, it’s senior moments, forget it.

"And by the time they finally become like the old ladies or old men become, it’s too far. You can’t help — those people can’t be helped. It’s too late. It’s too late. We have to come out the way people with HIV came out, the way people with cancer came out. We’re not going to get enough money from the government or from anybody else unless we stand there and say, hey, I’m not an old zombie. I’m me, and I need help, and all the people around me who are suffering the way I am, we need help.

"But we have to come out and say it. We’re worried. We need to do something."
 

Food writer and friend Amy Sherman and I visited with Paula at her Sonoma home several years ago. Oh, the feast she made us and her husband Bill Bayer!

Indeed. And this cause has become that much closer to my heart because just a couple of months ago my dad also was diagnosed. I've relished how quickly he has improved thanks to drugs, but we don't know how long that will last. Thankfully, we have the close support of the San Diego chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, along with family and friends. That is huge for him and for those of us caring for him.

This Sunday, Mediterranean Feast for Paula, a grassroots fundraising and outreach campaign organized by chefs Farid Zadi and Susan Park, with the support of Paula and the Alzheimer's Association California Southland Chapter is being held at the Daily Dose in downtown L.A. from noon to 4 p.m.

Of course, a Mediterranean food fest is only appropriate to honor Paula, the author of eight cookbooks--five of which are on Mediterranean cuisine. The event is set to be the largest Mediterranean food event to hit L.A., with participating chefs including Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger, Farid Zadi, Nancy Silverton, Robbie Richter, Josiah Citron, Kris Yenbarmroon, Matt Molina, and others. Amy Scattergood and Evan Kleiman are the keynote speakers.

There will, of course, be tastings (think rabbit with preserved pears and ginger, duck with green olives and herbes de provence, berber skillet bread and sauteed kale with garlicky white beans, a whole lamb roast, porchetta, paella, bouillabaisse, briks, bisteeya, and so much more). There will also be a talk by Paula, and a silent auction with proceeds benefiting the Alzheimer's Association.

All this for a general admission ticket price of $75. VIP admission of $125 includes free valet parking, a goodie bag filled with spices and ancient grains, and table service with wait staff.

For tickets and more information, visit the event site.



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Big Lots: Shopping with Mr. Pic ‘N’ Save

There are a lot of people who would never deign to enter a 99-cent store. Not my dad. Despite an illustrious career leading some of the most prestigious art museums in the country, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in our family he’s always been Mr. Pic ‘N’ Save. A popular childhood outing with him was a trip to the neighborhood Pic ‘N’ Save, where he would give my younger sister and me $5 each and tell us to go crazy.

Years later, when he was director of the Palm Springs Desert Museum, we would drive out to Yucca Valley, have dinner at what was really a pretty marginal Chinese restaurant, then head on over to the local Pic ‘N’ Save. I still have the set of eight French bistro glasses I picked up for, of course, five bucks. Decades later, the tradition continued with my younger nieces, who were routinely astounded at their good fortune, since they got a “sure” every time they asked their generous grandparents if they could have the next 50-cent tchotchke they picked up, resulting in bags bulging with treasures. Pic ‘N’ Save, the name, is now a memory, having become Big Lots, but not much has changed beyond the name. And, not much about my dad has changed either. He adores Big Lots.

So, I wasn’t surprised last week when the phone rang and he asked, “You still like skinless and boneless sardines, don’t you?” (This is actually not a strange conversation opener in my family.) “Sure,” I said. "Well, then," he continued, "you should go over to Big Lots. They have them for 99 cents. "In fact," he added, "you should write about Big Lots in that blog of yours. They sell lots of food."

If that was a dare, I was game to meet it. Mr. Pic 'N' Save, my mom (more of a Mrs. Gelson's, a much beloved high-end market in L.A.) and I decided to hunt down the big bargains at the Point Loma store.

Normally, I don’t talk about prices here, since they can change so quickly. But, really, the whole point of Big Lots is the prices, so just know that both the prices and availability of the products mentioned are subject to change. After all, they are a closeout store.

Big Lots has been in the midst of renovations—not that you can really tell. It basically looks like they’ve just been rearranging things a bit. So, now when you walk into the Point Loma store, the food section is the first thing to hit you, with the aisles set at an angle compared to the rest of the store. Mr. Pic ‘N’ Save led me straight to the sardines. Sure enough, tins of Ocean Prince skinless and boneless (made by big name Crown Prince) were 99 cents, a great deal. (I like to mash them with white vinegar and chopped onions, then spread them on a toasted “everything” bagel or a bialy.) Above the sardines were 14.75-ounce cans of Bumblebee pink salmon for $1.95. Lightly smoked fish steaks, also the Ocean Prince brand, were a whole 60 cents.

That’s just the appetizer. What you’ll find food-wise at Big Lots is a wide variety of items you would probably stock in your pantry—spices, beans (canned and dried), cereal, chips, noodles, soup and the like—and some things that might leave you questioning what marketers were thinking. Like Slosh, a bubble gum flavoring you add to water. If it sounds tempting, hurry on over. It’s a dollar a box. A related product is a canister of Dubble Bubble gum that touts it can be used as a bank once the gum is gone.

The pantry fillers are a mix of incredible deals. Jars of Encore spices and herbs, made in Montreal, include cinnamon, crushed red peppers, oregano, cumin and garlic powder. They’re 55 cents each. (How fresh they are, I have no idea.) For two bucks, you can pick up cans of cooking sprays. There's an aisle filled with Doritos, Fritos, Tostitos and Lays. I found re-sealable, supersize (32 ounces) bags of Malto-Meal brand corn flakes for $3 and a 10-ounce box of Kellogg’s organic Rice Krispies for $2.50.

Big Lots has a nominal “International” section. It’s primarily Hispanic products, like large cans of hominy, menudo ($2.50 for a one-pound, 13 ½-ounce can), black beans (one pound for 70 cents) and Maseca Masa (a 4.4-pound bag is $1.99). They also carry Jumex nectars in peach, guava and strawberry/banana flavors.

My parents pointed out the T. Marzettis brand of salad dressings, which they see at Bristol Farms under a different label but from the same manufacturer. At Big Lots, the garlic, raspberry and sun-dried tomato vinaigrettes are $1.70 a bottle. Mr. Pic ‘N’ Save is a big fan of Picklefair Fresh Pack Dill Kosher Spears for $1.30, while my mom enjoys Anna’s cookies, thin biscuits that come in orange, blueberry and cappuccino flavors at a dollar a box. I picked up the orange and cappuccino. I liked both, but especially the orange with its full citrus flavor. They’re a nice addition to a cup of green tea. For $1.29, bakers can get great deals on bags of Nestle morsels in butterscotch and a milk chocolate and caramel combo.

Big Lots is big on liquid refreshments. They have a good-sized wine section for a jobber, with some familiar names, like Forest Ville and Forest Glen. If you’re willing to shell out a few bucks for cheap bottles at Trader Joe’s, you’ll feel right at home here. Sorry, but I wasn’t adventurous enough to try the 2002 Chardonnay Aussie Wine in a Can at $4 a liter.

And, if you’ve plunked down $11 at Costco for a case of San Faustino calcium water, you’ll have to drop by Big Lots to get it at 60 cents for a one-liter bottle.

Finally, Big Lots has some pretty good deals on kitchen equipment. For six bucks, you can pick up a mandolin with three interchangeable blades. They have pizza slicers and cookies sheets and all sorts of other gadgets and necessities that are inexpensive enough to richly outfit a college grad’s first apartment.

With all these savings, you can afford to indulge in a new cookbook by Nancy Silverton, the LA chef now partnering in restaurant ventures with Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. Among other accomplishments, she opened the La Brea Bakery back in 1989. The bakery, since sold, now sells their baked goods at markets like Bristol Farms and 99 Ranch Market. Her new book, “A Twist of the Wrist: Quick Flavorful Meals with Ingredients from Jars, Cans, Bags and Boxes,” has just been published by Knopf for $29.95 (Amazon has it for $17.97.). The New York Times wrote it up yesterday and it sounds great. Now, you’ll probably have to spring for more exotic or higher caliber products than what you’ll find at Big Lots, but still, think of the possibilities. Of course, if you have a fondness for all those recipes printed on the packages of products you buy, you’ve just got to get a copy of “Best Recipes From the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans & Jars” by Cecil Dyer. I’ve had mine since 1981, but it’s still in print. The Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe is in there as is Kellogg’s Crunchy Baked Chicken made with corn flakes and the Frito Chili Pie Casserole. A step back in time for many of us.

And, speaking of time, Happy Birthday, Dad!

Big Lots in Point Loma is located at 3705 Rosecrans St. There are over a dozen other locations in San Diego County. You can find one near you using the store locator at www.biglots.com.

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