When I was writing my post about New England Clam Chowder, I kept running across the instructions that it should authentically be served with Common Crackers. I had no idea what they were. After all, I grew up in Minnesota, lived in Chicago and moved to L.A., where I have been ever since. I went to Boston for a weekend once, and touched down at the Bangor, Maine, airport on my way to Europe in 1976. But I never ran into any common crackers in my travels.

And then I recalled a recipe I had filed away back in the day for some kind of New England cracker and, after a huge search in my file cabinet, Eureka! I found it and it was for the Common Cracker! God, I’m good. Anyway, there was no picture for what they looked like, so I looked on-line and discovered that Common Crackers were first made in Vermont in 1828. Over the years, nationwide, they became the standard symbol of the country store. No rural store was complete without the “cracker barrel” near the cheese counter where people would have casual conversations and idle talk (I think it’s called gossip). Families would buy these crackers by the barrel, containing about 1,200 crackers, which would last a year stored in a handy place for frequent family eating. Common crackers were crumbled into cold milk for supper or a snack with a hunk of cheddar cheese on the side. There are stories about a game played by people waiting for the evening stage. Each would eat a dry cracker and see who could whistle first.

Julia Child once wrote, “As any New Englander knows, you can’t enjoy a real New England chowder without toasted common crackers.”

The first step was to make a yeast/flour starter which sits at room temperature for 24 to 60 hours. I didn’t photograph this step. The batter got big bubbles, doubled in size, then collapsed and separated into solid and liquid. It was also dynamic and exciting as the gas produced blew the cover off twice with a loud pop. Next a mixture was made of shortening, potato flakes, brown sugar, baking soda, lemon juice and water. You can see it in the photo above left. A cup of the starter was mixed with flour with fork and kneading,  and rested for an hour in the middle photo above. And last the shortening mixture was kneaded into the starter ball in a KitchenAid and another cup of flour added, to make a stiff ball.

The ball of dough was quartered and one part rolled out to 3/8-inch thickness.

The sheet of dough was run through a pasta machine on the widest setting and folded in thirds letter-style a total of six times. A 1 ¼-inch biscuit cutter was used to cut circles of dough and placed on a sheet pan.

The recipe made 108 little firm puffy crackers for me, a bunch of which I split with a sharp little knife, buttered liberally and toasted under the broiler until they turned a lovely golden brown color. Do not make the mistake I made by tasting these little buttery beauties, because you cannot eat just one. They are absolutely addicting. Just crumble them up in your clam chowder. You’ll be so happy you did.

The first time I ever saw a clam, I was about 5 years old, living with my Mom, Dad and little brother in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My father was very into fishing, which a lot of people are in Minnesota, as it is the Land of 10,000 Lakes. However, in this case he had been fishing on the Minnesota River and brought home this huge clam to show my Mom. It was gray, about 6 inches across, and they decided to boil it to see if they could eat it. I stood on a chair to see and I remember that poor clam bouncing around in the boiling water, opening up and becoming more rubbery by the minute as my twenty-something parents poked it over and over, poking each other and giggling, “Do you think it’s done yet?” Well, obviously it was a failed experiment and the whole mess got thrown away.

The first time I ate Clam Chowder was thirty years later in about 1980 at a little dive restaurant in the Redondo Beach Marina, a seaside town in Los Angeles. You know the kind, 10 tables made from hatch covers, wrap-around picture windows to see the ocean, fishing nets hanging all around over the windows decorated with shells, starfish and little buoys. My friend insisted I try the clam chowder and that was the beginning of a great love affair. With clam chowder, I mean. Has anything ever been so creamy, buttery, clam-y and potato-y. Melt in your mouth with those little pieces of clam that taste so good. You can add homemade toasted Common Crackers for a special treat. Heaven in a bowl. And just the thing to warm you up on these cold wintry days.

This recipe was inspired by the one tablespoon of Ceviche prepared by Mary Sue Milliken that I had at the Cadillac Culinary Challenge in October. It was served in a little plastic glass, but the taste impact of the Aji Amarillo Pepper Sauce was so profound I had to try to make it myself. I can’t remember the last time I experienced a totally new taste or ingredient, but this was definitely one of those times. I watched her prepare the ceviche and listened carefully as she explained the recipe as she went along. As I prepared my version I wrote down the amount of each ingredient I used and was very satisfied with my end result. More than satisfied, I was ecstatic.

Chef Mary Sue used Red Snapper in her recipe, but I chose to use a less expensive (think cheap) fish called Swai, which is a fresh water Catfish from Vietnam found in the Mekong River Basin. I, however, bought it frozen at Ralph’s Market. Each fillet was individually frozen in cryovac, and thawed quickly in a warm water bath.

Ceviche is fresh raw fish that is “cooked” by marinating in citrus juice, usually lime juice. The proteins in the fish are denatured by the acid in the juice, which means their chemical bonds come apart. It is the same chemical undoing that happens when meat, fish or eggs are exposed to high heat.

I found the jarred Aji Amarillo Peppers and the Aji Amarillo Pepper Paste at El Gaucho Latino Market in Manhattan Beach. They have a whole panoply of South American items, including Peruvian beer. I asked the checkout lady if she cooked with the Aji Amarillo peppers and she said to go on the computer and look up Aji de Gallina. So I did, and it turns out to be one of the Peruvian national dishes, made with chicken, condensed milk and the Aji Amarillo peppers. Peruvian cuisine has been influenced by immigrants from Spain, Africa, China and Japan. Many recipes might be familiar because they are a twist on Japanese dishes. Like ceviche. Raw fish. There is an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal about Peruvian food being “The Next big Thing.” If you live in Los Angeles, have you been to Mo-Chica or Picca, two of our Peruvian restaurants? I see them in my near future.

This is the way my plate looked when I actually ate my Ceviche. I loved the Aji Amarillo Pepper Paste so much that I put some in a little bowl to be spooned onto the tortilla chip before piling on the ceviche. Just a small smear, however, because it does have significant heat and will make your nose run. But the taste is so sublime, it’s worth it.

Fete your Holiday guests with Aji Amarillo Ceviche and some Peruvian Cusquena Malt Lager Beer. They’ll never forget it and they will love you forever.

Aji Amarillo Ceviche by Chef Mary Sue Milliken

The Cadillac Culinary Challenge I attended took place on a beautiful, hot, Southern California day in the Irvine Spectrum Center courtyard next to the ferris wheel in a black open-sided tent. Inside there was a stage in front with two cooking counters for the two challengers, celebrity Chef Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill in Los Angeles, and local Chef Yvon Goetz of The Winery Restaurant in Tustin, CA. There were about 100 seats in the audience for all the people who were test driving the new Cadillacs and attending the Culinary Challenge. This event was also sponsored by Epicurious, Bon Appetit, Share Our Strength and TasteBook. And I got to be one of the judges and sit in the front row. I had no idea what to expect.

Sustainable seafood was the common ingredient in both chefs’ dishes. Chef Mary Sue chose Wild Alaska Halibut and Chef Goetz used Mahi Mahi. Chef Mary Sue talked at length about her concern with sustainability and that she used only Best Choice Seafood in her restaurants, as did Chef Goetz. Part of the PR package we received was a pamphlet from Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch listing Best Choice, Good Alternatives and fish to Avoid. Chef Mary Sue asked us to find another fish to love beside salmon.

Chef Mary Sue prepared two dishes: a Grilled Fish Taco with Cucumber Citrus Salsa, and a Ceviche with Aji Amarillo Peppers. Little plates were served to everyone in the audience, including the food bloggers who were the judges. I had to shoot the little plate as it was sitting on my lap. Very awkward. There was a camera man with a huge camera on his shoulder filming everything. After we tasted our dishes, the announcer asked us to speak into the microphone and tell our name, where we were from, the name of our food blog, and what we liked about the Taco and Ceviche. I said I liked the orange pepper in the ceviche. It really was marvelous. The Aji Amarillo peppers left a warm tingling sensation in my mouth that was so interesting and unique. The first photo at the top of this post is the full dish as it is served in the restaurant, with plantain chips and pickled onions.

Next Chef Goetz prepared his Chili Lime Rubbed Hawaiian Mahi Mahi with Ginger Jasmine Rice and Roasted Tropical Fruit Chutney. We got our little sample plates and, while being filmed, were asked what we liked about it. I said I liked the Chili Lime rub on the fish. But my taste buds were still singing about the Aji Amarillo peppers, which left this dish pale in comparison.

My fellow food blogger judges were Derrick and Quyen of Kitchen Runway,
and Rachael of La Fuji Mama.

We had one last task, which was the final vote for which chefs’ dishes we liked the best. We judges were asked to raise our hands as each name was called and I raised my hand for Chef Mary Sue Milliken. She won the Food Blogger vote hands down. Next the audience was asked to cheer for their favorite and the noise meter would determine their winner. Chef Goetz won the popular vote by a landslide. He must have had customers in the audience. The chefs met in the middle and had a handshake. Very civilized.

Each chef prepared their dish the way it is served in the restaurant so we could photograph it. This is Chef Goetz’ Chili Lime Rubbed Hawaiian Mahi Mahi with Ginger Jasmine Rice and Roasted Tropical Fruit Chutney. It had a pretty presentation.

This is the Grilled Fish Tacos with Cucumber Citrus Salsa restaurant presentation plate. We received the recipes for Chef Goetz’ Mahi Mahi and Chef Mary Sue’s Tacos, which are at the end of this post. We did not receive the recipe for the Aji Amarillo Ceviche; however, I did write down the ingredients as Chef Mary Sue was making it. The Ceviche contained red snapper, grated ginger, Aji Amarillo peppers, red onion, jalapeno, lime juice and cilantro, and was garnished with plantain chips and pickled onions. I am planning on making this in the future and I will be able to give you the ingredient amounts. It was amazing! I bought the Aji Amarillo Peppers, which are from Peru, at El Gaucho Latino Market in Redondo Beach, so I am ready to go.

During her presentation, Chef Mary Sue told us that she was going to be in Glendale the next weekend challenging Piero Topputo of Trattoria Amici. Chef Goetz said he would be happy to go along and help her. Chef Mary Sue looked at the audience, winked and said, “I don’t need your help, believe me.” All is fair in love and culinary war, I guess.

The Cadillac Culinary Challenge will be in Atlanta, GA on November 5-6, 2011 with Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster Harlem vs. Kenneth Bills of Flemings Steak House.

Then on to Ft. Lauderdale, FL November 12-13, 2011 with Marcus Samuelsson vs. Oliver Saucy of Cafe Maxx. Go to Cadillac Challenge for the details.

Last Saturday I made a special point to attend the cooking class at Grace-Marie’s Kitchen because she was making Paella, which I have tried to make a couple of times, but wasn’t happy with the results. Grace-Marie’s recipes are always so well done and delicious, so I was really looking forward to seeing how she made it. And my confidence in her was again rewarded and the Paella was fantastic. Our luncheon also included Valencia Salad with Catalan Tomato Bread and Sangria Glazed Caramelized Pears with Honey Almond Cream. Now, don’t you wish you had been there?

Grace-Marie started off sautéing the cubed chicken thighs and sliced rounds of chorizo until they were lightly caramelized, then set aside on a pan until ready to add to the final paella. We were told not to wash the pan, because all that good chorizo flavor would be cooked in with the Sofrito to be made next.

The Sofrito, which is the flavoring, similar to mirepoix and serving the same function, was now added to the pan. The onions, peppers and garlic were sautéed in oil until tender and then the tomatoes with juice, thyme, oregano, cumin, paprika and bay leaf were added. The mixture was brought to a boil, reduced to a simmer and cooked, uncovered until thickened and slightly caramelized.

When the Sofrito was cooked to the desired consistency, the uncooked rice was added and stirred to completely coat each grain. Dry white wine was added and cooked until absorbed. Simmering chicken stock with saffron and turmeric was poured over and was cooked for about 10 minutes to partially cook the rice.

The reserved chicken and chorizo was folded into the rice. Grace-Marie said this was the point where you make a judgment call as to whether you need to add more stock, and she did.

Grace-Marie included some halibut also, but she said any firm white fish, such as Talapia, would be fine. At this point all of the ingredients were in the paella pan and it was put in the oven to bake, uncovered, until the rice was tender, about 20 to 40 minutes. The length of time to finish cooking the rice would depend on what type you are using. The recipe included this advice: If the rice is not done after 20 minutes, drizzle 1-2 cups of stock over the rice, scatter tomatoes and beans (or peas) over the top and bake until the rice is tender and the bottom is crusty (10+ minutes).

To serve, the Paella had sliced green onions scattered over the top and wedges of lemon inserted into the rice around the edges. I gave my plate of beautiful Paella a generous squeeze of lemon juice all over and it was divine. Thank you Grace-Marie for showing me how to make Paella!

For additional recipes from Grace-Marie’s Kitchen, look under Categories in the right-hand column.

Grace-Marie Johnston

For more information about the new schedule of cooking classes, visit Grace-Marie online at Bristol Farms or email her at gmj@bristolfarms.com.

The Redondo Beach Surf “N” Turf Lobster Festival is three days of eating, dancing and drinking in the Seaside Lagoon Park at ocean-side, which will be taking place next weekend, September 23-25, 2011. There will be fresh Maine lobster dinners, or Certified Angus Beef New York Strip Steak and Main Lobster Tail dinners, plus other international food booths, arts and crafts booths selling cool beach items, and live music from some of the best Tribute Bands in Southern California. There is a dance floor, children’s area, beer garden, super shark slide and arcade-style games with prizes. And my favorite, the free mechanical bull ride will be bucking all weekend.

I start off my visit with my lobster dinner, which is part of my package that included my admission ticket and a Lobster Festival T-shirt. The gentleman on the left was one of the lobster crackers provided by the festival. I was really happy for him to do that messy job so I could just sit down at a table and dig in. My dinner included a roll, steamed potatoes, cabbage slaw and buttery dip. If you want to dunk your lobster in melted butter, you’ll have to smuggle some in. However, nothing could detract from the wonderful, succulent lobster meat.

The bands will be playing the theme Dance through the Decades featuring music from the 1950’s to the present. Some of the best Tribute Bands in Southern California will be playing on Saturday featuring the music of Johnny Cash, The Eagles and Steely Dan, or the Beach Bash on Sunday when it’s California Dreamin’ and your favorite tunes from Dick Dale, The Beach Boys, Jimmy Buffett and the Beatles. My husband is going on Saturday specifically to hear Pretzel Logic, the Steely Dan tribute band, which he says is excellent.

There is something for everyone to see and do, so take the kids for a relaxing day. They are open Friday: 5:00pm – 11:00pm; Saturday 12:00 noon – 11:00pm; and Sunday 12:00 noon – 7:00pm. Tickets are $12 at the gate, $10 online, and half-price admission for all on Friday. Free admission with military I.D. all weekend.

Check out the arts and crafts booths and get yourself a souvenir. Don’t you need a hat?

By now you might be hungry again, so check out the many other food booths. This is just an example, but next time I’m going to have some of those charred meat skewers. They looked so good.

And now, my favorite part, the free mechanical bull ride. I stood and watched the bull riders for about an hour, and the interesting thing is that no guys were willing to ride it. So their women rolled their eyeballs and volunteered. What does this tell you?

This Marlboro Man Cowboy gave each rider a training lesson before beginning, encouraging them to keep their arm in the air for balance.

There was also a second Cowboy, in the black hat, who was the announcer and gave a running commentary through each ride. His voice was broadcast on the speakers throughout the park and he encouraged everyone to come down and ride the bull.

Here is another gal, whose guy refused to ride. Neither of these cowgirls fell off the bull and both finished their rides with style.

The sun began its descent behind the Seaside Lagoon as hungry diners finished their Lobster Dinners. I hope you will be able to make it to the Redondo Beach Lobster Festival next weekend. Go with a friend, drink beer, listen to music and dance, and eat lobster. A fitting end to summer.

The inspiration for this Salmon Tart came from a photo I had in my file. I have a big collection of food photos going back about twenty years and I have no idea where I saved them from. I had been wanting to create this dish since I started my blog, because it was so pretty, and recently I had some good mangoes on hand and I decided to get busy. The photo showed pea shoots and I really liked the way they looked, so I went on a big hunt to find some. Ralphs, Bristol Farms and Whole Foods didn’t have any and I finally discovered them at a nearby Korean market. I found the Pillsbury pie crust at Bristol Farms, which is a big circle of dough rolled into a tube, and the salmon roe was finally located at Whole Foods. It took me about a week to collect everything I needed. Actually my first set of mangoes died and had to be replaced. But today I had everything I needed, at last.

I made the tart shells about a week ago and stored them in an air-tight container at room temperature. Above you can see the unbaked and baked shells.The tart pans I used were 3 ¾ inches in diameter on the bottom and 4 inches at the widest on top. I made a paper template circle 5 ½ inches in diameter to cut out the dough rounds with a paring knife. I cut parchment paper circles 3 ¾ inches in diameter to line the inside of the dough. I used the paring knife to trim the excess dough from the pan rims so it was flush. I used aluminum pie weights, but you can use rice or dried beans if you prefer. I stored the tart shells in the pans so they wouldn’t break. I think the next time I make these I will make some pate brisee so there will be that buttery flavor component.

When I was making this, I tasted as I went along to see how the different parts fit together. As soon as the salmon was out of the pan, I put a bite in a big spoon with some crème fraiche and mango salsa to see how it worked together. And Lynne said, it was damn good. It occurred to me that just those three ingredients together in a Chinese soup spoon would make a really delicious amuse-bouche. Maybe garnish it with a wisp of pea shoot. (Sorry for subjecting you to my stream of consciousness here.) I had a lot of fun with this project, so I hope you enjoy the photos.

Last year for our October birthdays, my friend Michele and I went to Osteria Mozza to celebrate. This year we went to a Pork n’ Beans Rooftop BBQ put on by the Cube Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Cube Café and Marketplace. The proceeds will benefit the Cube Foundation, an organization that is dedicated to improving dietary habits and clean-food access by nurturing minds and nourishing stomachs of underprivileged Los Angeles-area children and their families. They have a team of master gardeners, food experts and educators that are working to establish a variety of programs, all based out of their downtown rooftop garden.

This year the Rooftop BBQ featured food from two artisanal producers, the Fatted Calf Charcuterie of San Francisco and Rancho Gordo in Napa. The dishes were prepared by Executive Chef Erin Eastland and they were set up in buffet style, so you could help yourself to as much as you wanted. The menu was hearty with Grilled Fatted Calf Sausages, Fatted Calf Garlic Brined Pork Shoulder, Nopales Salad with Rancho Gordo Midnight Black Beans and Charro Beans (Ranch Gordo Cowboy Beans Cooked with Fatted Calf Bacon & Beer). Plus Cornbread, Coleslaw, Grilled Sweet Potato Halves and Collard Greens Braised with Ham Hocks.

The rooftop was covered with straw and sunflowers were everywhere. It was HOT. But there were a lot of umbrellas. It may have been a BBQ on a roof, but we had big white china plates and cloth napkins. No paper plates for these guys. The Fatted Calf Sausages were fantastic, along with a Roasted Red Pepper Aioli.

We were on a rooftop and the skyscrapers from downtown Los Angeles were all around us.

I did meet Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo and he talked about his newest products, Organic Oregano Indio, Mixteca Salt and Banana Vinegar. These are products from little producers in Mexico and he was very excited about the quality and being able to bring income to them.

We took a tour of the rooftop garden while the band played.

We were stuffed, and hot and it was time to leave. But we were happy we could contribute to such a worthy cause. On the way out we were given a goodie bag from the Cube Café Marketplace, which contained, among other things, this package of Rancho Gordo Yellow Eye Beans.

So I made soup. I make my bean soup quite lemon-y, so it goes very well with the crispy browned fish. If you don’t like the fish idea, I think Swiss Chard would be great in this soup. Or cut a ham steak into cubes and add it. The soup recipe is below.

Please take a look at the Rancho Gordo, Fatted Calf  and Cube Café websites. Very interesting.

I have come to the conclusion that we are not having Summer in 2010. Today the high in Manhattan Beach was 69 degrees F and I am still wearing my winter clothes to work. You know that phenomenon where when Halloween happens, a couple of days later it’s Thanksgiving and a couple of days after that it is Christmas? Well, on Friday when I was driving home from work I saw the first Halloween costume store pop up in an empty store front. And I received my catalog for my cookbook book club and there was one whole page titled “Beautiful Holiday Recipes.” Maybe I should get going on my New Year’s Eve recipes, because it’s right around the corner.

But nooo, I’m back here grilling a whole fish, pretending its summer. I got my whole Red Snapper at the 99 Ranch Market, which has about 25 feet of whole fresh fish on ice. The fish guy cleaned out and scaled my fish so it was ready to cook. The truth is, this is the first whole fish I have ever grilled and I was quite excited to give it a try.

I wasn’t sure if I should put the fish directly on the grill or in a grill basket, so I started out putting it on the grill, which I had sprayed with oil. I left it on for five minutes to cook the skin, but when I tried to turn it with a spatula, the skin had stuck to the grill in places and came off. So after I got it loose, I put it in a sprayed grill basket and continued on from there. I cooked it covered and turned it several times, basting with the marinade each time, until it was no longer opaque. I brushed the marinade over the whole fish on the serving platter to give it a beautiful shiny presentation.

I picked Red Snapper because every recipe I read on grilling whole fish listed it as one of the best tasting choices. And because I’m me, I had to do some research to find out all about this fish. So. The Red Snapper is found in the Gulf of Mexico and the southeast Atlantic coast of the U.S. They have been caught at over 40 pounds, but the usual range is up to 10 pounds and 20 inches in length. They are sexually mature at 2-5 years and can live for more than 50 years. Their vibrant red color comes from the high levels of carotenoid pigments, mostly astaxanthin, coming from shrimp in their natural diet.

The Ginger Sweet Chili Sauce for dipping was inspired by a dish I had at a Thai restaurant a couple of years ago and has been percolating at the back of my mind ever since. As I recall, my husband had ordered a whole deep fried fish, and when he’d had his fill, I tried a bite or two and ended up finishing the whole thing, because the ginger sauce was so amazing. So I hope you enjoy my rendition, because we certainly did!

This post is dedicated to Patti A., as I haven’t had a chance to do the Angel Food Cake with Strawberries recipe that she requested. This ones for you, girl!

Today is the 4^th of July, and I can hear the fireworks going off as I’m writing this. Finally, and hopefully, the weather will warm up now. I cleaned and readied my BBQ grill today for the first time since last summer. I was so happy to get that chore done, so there will be minimal preparation for future grilling. I have that whole Red Snapper that I want to grill next, plus recipes for Chicken Wings with Lime Sauce and Chicken Curry Kabobs that are marinated in a yogurt sauce. I love my grill. Maybe I’ll go out and give it a big hug right now!

You start the Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp by precooking the bacon to partially render some of the fat. It will look gross, but don’t brown it, because you need it soft to wrap around the shrimp. Exercise whatever self control is necessary for this procedure.

The marinade is red from the paprika and cayenne, sweet from sugar and has zing from the lemon juice, curry powder and cumin. Combined with the smoky notes from the bacon, this is an irresistible combination. I usually remove the tails, but left them on this time for the photographic drama. So, on or off, your preference.

The amount of time to grill the shrimp will depend on how hot your fire is and the distance from the heat. Just cook them until the bacon is crispy and a little charred.

If you are putting these out as an appetizer, they won’t last long. I made them for a family gathering once and I noticed that everybody had disappeared. I searched and they were all standing around the platter with the BBQ Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp. They weren’t talking, just chewing. They did that until the shrimp were all gone. I had to muscle my way in to grab a few for myself. Anyway, I just want you to be ready for this phenomenon.

And then…sigh…the last morsel is gone.

My first food photograph taken with my point-and-shoot camera on September 9, 2009.

I have been in a big quandary about what to post about next. So, I have decided to see what you would choose for me.  I  wonder what will be the deciding factor…the photo? The recipe? The story? Chocolate? Here are 7 potential posts to choose from, and I would like you to tell me which one looks the most interesting. And if you are ambitious, the order of interest to you. Here goes:

A) Felipe’s La Bete Noir – My foodie friend Felipe’s flourless chocolate cake. He says, “Cut in small wedges. This cake is not for the faint hearted.” (Photo by Felipe)

B) Umami Burger – My adventure to this new L.A. burger joint.

C) June Easy Reader Beach Magazine – Recap of my June article and recipes.

D) Alto Adige – Grace-Marie’s Kitchen at Bristol Farms’ recipes from the Alto Adige region of Italy featuring Speck and several regional cheeses. The photo is Speck-wrapped melon and baby greens.

E) BBQ Bacon Wrapped Shrimp – The shrimp and bacon are coated in a tangy, sweet-sour, thick, spicy marinade that clings after grilling.

F) The Getty – I went to an Art Exhibition of the photographs by the pioneering first food photographers, who began in the late 1800’s.

G) Grilled Whole Red Snapper – Coated in a oyster sauce-based marinade with a sweet chile-ginger dipping sauce.

Go to it. Speak to me!  Or tell me to find some other stuff to write about. Don’t spare me.

I wasn’t planning to do this recipe today. At all. But I was busy and I went into my freezer to grab a container of something to heat up in the microwave. When it was heated up I saw that it wasn’t what I thought it was. It turned out to be this container of Yellow Split Pea Soup, of which I had only one container left, and which I was saving to blog about on a day when I didn’t have time to cook something. Like an insurance policy, you know?

Well, it was heated up, so I had to photograph it, and because I didn’t have a chance to write about what I was going to write about, now I’m writing about the Yellow Split Pea Soup.

You see, I was going to write about the amazing day I spent at the studio of the world-renowned food photographer, Jon Edwards, watching a photo shoot for an international food market chain. And photographing Denise Vivaldo, Cindie Flannigan and Jeff Parker as they did the food styling for the photographs. I took 340 photos and I was planning on going through them all, sorting out the unusable ones, and choosing the ones to tell my story. Then photoshopping and maybe even finishing the writing. I had been procrastinating over the last week, but today I felt was really the day I would get that post done.

But noooooo…. I had to heat up the wrong container.

So – this is an easy, wonderful soup that is so tasty and filling. Something happens about half way through the cooking: the broth turns so sweet and becomes infused with the flavor of the parsley and basil. Sort of a magical transformation. This recipe didn’t start out with shrimp initially – that was something I added one day when I had some extra shrimp that I needed to use up. Well, it was so good, I have made it a permanent ingredient in this dish. It’s interesting how recipes evolve over time, isn’t it?

When Grace-Marie told me she was cooking something with salmon and avocado today, I immediately volunteered to photograph whatever she came up with. Two of my favorite ingredients that are also photogenic and I’m right there. I arrived when the class was just about over and they all gave me a sitting ovation. They love Grace-Marie and had been reading my blog about her. It was pretty incredible and heart warming. The article I wrote about her in the Easy Reader Beach Magazine is coming out tomorrow. A copy of it was attached to the back of the recipe packet, so they could all see it. I wonder if she told them how we have been jumping up and down so excited for the last month since we found out it was going to be in the magazine.

I had no idea how Grace-Marie had prepared the salmon, so she made me a demo plate. It looked like guacamole and a cooked red salsa sauce. I took my fork and scooped up some of the salmon, avocado and tomato, put it in my mouth, and these A-MAZ-ING flavors exploded. This was no south-of-the-border ordinariness. This was the Pacific Rim exulting with wasabi paste, rice vinegar, freshly grated ginger root, sweet chili sauce, sesame oil and soy sauce. Did I say grated ginger? Grace-Marie told me she really likes it, and she wasn’t kidding. I couldn’t stop eating it. I had to be gently nudged towards my camera.

I was imagining those mashed avocados waiting patiently in the bowl to be joined by their usual companions: onion, diced tomato, lime juice and cilantro, and their astonishment when it was wasabi paste, rice vinegar and soy sauce. Seriously, this avocado mash can easily rival guacamole, plus the jicama makes it crunchy and interesting. I took some home and tried it with corn tortilla chips. It was wonderful.

Grace-Marie Johnston

For more information about the cooking classes visit Grace-Marie online at Bristol Farms or email her at  gmj@bristolfarms.com.

Click to continue for printable recipes.

Last summer I went crazy cooking Thai recipes. If it had fish sauce in it, I just had to try it. I acquired a copy of Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, and kept seeing palm sugar in many recipes. I had always substituted brown sugar for palm sugar, but I wanted to try to make the food as authentic as possible.

This meant it was necessary to go to my local 99 Ranch Market in Gardena, where I get all my Chinese and Southeast Asian ingredients. If you live in Southern California and have never been to a 99 Ranch Market, going there just for a field trip is so interesting. In one aisle they have 15 kinds of fish sauce, and half an aisle devoted just to different soy sauces. I go there also to buy curry paste and fermented black beans. In their fish section they have about 20 feet of fresh whole fish of different kinds on ice. I found the palm sugar in the Indonesian section right next to the shrimp paste.

Gula Jawa or palm sugar is made from the sweet watery sap from cut flower buds of the Arenga Pinnata palm tree that grows wild all over Malaysia and Indonesia. Making palm sugar is a home industry in most villages in Indonesia. The sap is boiled in large pots until it is a thick, dark syrup that is then poured into bamboo molds until it dries into cylinders. It is quite solid and pieces are sliced off with a knife.

The brown sugar we are used to in the United States is made from sugar cane or sugar beets with natural or processed molasses from sugar cane added. To me, brown sugar has kind of a one-note flavor, and I absolutely need it to make Chocolate Chip Cookies. But Gula Jawa is an amazing, smoky, intensely caramel-flavored jazz ensemble on your tongue. Think the difference between a cup of black coffee and a glass of Kahlua.

If you don’t have a market near you that has Gula Jawa, you can mail order it (here).

I wanted my first post to be an Eggs Benedict recipe, because I think it is one of the most wonderful dishes ever invented by man. I love the drama of the stacked ingredients, the variations in texture, from crunchy to creamy, and of course the buttery, lemony Hollandaise Sauce that marries all of the components in delicious synergy.

I wanted to make the Eggs Benedict to my own liking, as I’m not that enthralled with the traditional English muffin, so I decided to do a little potato pancake instead. I thought for the photo that the salmon was more picturesque than a slice of Canadian bacon, and that the egg should be cooked in a form, rather than in simmering water. I really don’t like those stringy little wisps of egg white you get when poaching in water, not to mention a third of the egg is wasted, and you get a shapeless blob of egg which may or may not have a runny yolk.

After cooking the Eggs Benedict, photographing it, and then devouring it, I was working on my computer with the photo and so forth, and I decided to do a Google search on my dish. The first site to pop up was Wikipedia, which has a nice little history of who invented E.B., plus a list of about 25 interesting variations.

The second site brought me to Google Images. I almost fell off my chair, I was laughing so hard. My search returned 383,000 images of Eggs Benedict. Well, so much for the originality of my first post. But at least I’m doing a dish that is, to say the least, broadly popular.

I reviewed about 200 of these photos, and came to the conclusion that there are two schools of thought about how to cook the egg for E.B: 1) Mine, cooked in a form; and 2) everyone else, poached in water. I didn’t see one photo that remotely looked like mine. How about you – form or water?

There are several claims to the origin of Eggs Benedict. Some say it originated in the 1890’s in New York, perhaps at Delmonico’s or the Waldorf Hotel. Or it may be a variation of a French dish named oeufs bénédictine that had salt cod, fried bread, egg and Hollandaise, which may go as far back as the Renaissance.

Hollandaise Sauce has been around even longer. France’s first great culinary writer, Pierre La Vareme, chef to Henri IV, wrote of an egg and butter emulsified sauce in his cookbook Le Cuisinier in 1651. I think you could say, after more than 350 years, that this dish has seen the test of time.

The potato pancakes in this recipe are a very simple variation. I took half of a large Idaho Classic Russet Potato and grated it on the large holes of a box grater into a medium bowl. I sprinkled on some salt and pepper, mixed it up with my fingers, and formed it into three patties about the diameter of an English muffin. I sautéed them in some butter until brown and crisp on the outside, and soft and creamy on the inside.

The salmon was sautéed in butter also. That’s what gives it that mouth-watering sheen.

The chives were added for color and whimsy.

The eggs were cooked in a pan, over water, covered, in a three-well egg poacher. You can poach them directly in the water…go ahead, I’ll just look the other way.