The Big-Flavor Grillfest Thrillfest

The Big-Flavor Grill cookbook is a Grillfest Thrillfest.

Who doesn't love grilled meat and grilled vegetables?   Whenever someone is grilling in their backyard, everyone in my neighborhood smells it.  We all contemplate following our noses and dropping by with a six-pack or a bottle of beer.   Please, we know better than to invite ourselves empty-handed!

The foodie-ization of America is great in so many ways, but in other ways, it can be downright intimidating.   As Chris Schlesinger & John Willoughby point out often, you don't always have time to plan your next meal hours or days ahead.  More often than not, you want to throw a delicious meal together last-minute.

The 1% can spend all they want.  The rest of us have to be more budget-conscious.  Do we need all those fancy gadgets?  Fortunately, Schlesinger and Willoughby say most gadgets are just designed to part you from your hard-earned money.   They break down grilling to its essence which I love.  What you need, what you don't.   Recipes include a "curve ball," an option when you have more time.  Perfect.

Skirt steak is one of my favorite cuts of meat.  I usually marinate it a few days before grilling.  Indeed, I have to plan ahead.  Sometimes I even forget I've been marinating and eat out/accept a dinner invitation.  Oops!  So I especially loved that this cookbook opens with skirt steak, and gives me several variations on a theme.  Grilled Skirt Steak w/Steak Sauce Chile Butter.  Grilled Skirt Steak with Honey Mustard Ranch Dressing.  Grilled Skirt Steak with Smoky Red Onions and Grilled Avocados.  You get the idea.  Like me, you're salivating.

Schlesinger & Willoughby prefer spcie ribs over marinades so there's that bias throughout the cookbook.   They feel marinades don't penetrate very far into the meats or proteins so the flavor reamins on the surface.  There's a section on seafood and vegetables, too.  The photograph of the grilled corn with basil and parmesan looks like a must try.

The recipes are written like flowcharts, making it easy as 1-2-3.   Prep Grill Toss.  Prep Grill Top.   Simplicity rules.  Therein lies the (spice) rub.   All you need to be a grill master is to keep it simple, keep it fun, keep it spontaneous.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Kitchen Confidence

Kitchen Confidence
    by Kelsey Nixon

is a wonderful cookbook for any cook looking to bolster his or her confidence in the kitchen.  The cookbook is geared more to the newcomer to the kitchen.  But that said, there are some wonderful tips and dishes for every cook.

Some of you may recognize Kelsey from her show Kelsey's Essentials on the Food Network Channel.   If you do, you know how friendly her approach is to the kitchen.  The kitchen is your friend, on your side.  It won't surprise you, then, that her recipes are easy to follow, easy to make, with easy to find ingredients.  No drudgery here.

The photographs are mouthwatering.  The sweet pea soup that greets you when you open the book immediately whets your appetite, and to learn, this luscious soup can be made with frozen peas is a wonderful secret (sssh!) you don't have to share with your guests when they slurp mmmgood.   Pea season is so short, and if using frozen peas can achieve the same result, why not try?

In Los Angeles, there are taco experts everywhere.  Every taco stand claims BEST TACO.  Kelsey says the trick to making the best carnitas tacos, braise the boneless pork shoulder in orange juice first.  I marinate skirt steak in orange juice, so this makes total sense.

Many of her recipes are contemporary twists on classics.  The BLT with apple and cheddar cheese is such an example.  Sloppy jane sliders.  Roasted tomato soup with pesto and cheesy croutons is another updated comfort food.  Her section on homemade pickles offers short cuts so you don't have to sacrifice flavor with your busy schedule.

Entertaining can be stressful and cause much performance anxiety.  Kitchen Confidence whittles away the stress so you can have fun with your guests.   Aren't those the best dinner parties, when everyone enjoys themselves?

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Living on the Edge of a Knife

Bobby Flay once complained, Nobody cooks for me!

I remember thinking, Bobby Flay, if you're willing to come to my tiny NYC studio apt, I'm willing to put my pride on the line and cook for you.

It's scary to cook for a professional chef.  Master chef.  Celebrity Chef.  Things may have changed since his lament -- it was years ago -- but his lament resonated with me because my mother was an accomplished chef.  She had the same complaint.

And I have friends who are afraid to cook for me so they don't.

So this past Sunday, when I invited a professional chef friend over for dinner -- sort of last minute -- I thought what am I doing?

Luckily I reminded myself I cooked for her before and passed the test.

But you're only as good as your next meal?

Nervous, I told her the meal would be simple.  Fresh.  Delicious.  And healthy.  Yes, I snuck that word in.   She was elated, as she errs on the side of healthy, too.

For starters, I made a chilled carrot soup which was a hit.  Refreshing on a hot summer's day.  Carrots from the farmers market.  Topped with parsley and toasted homemade seasoned bread crumbs.  

With heirloom tomatoes being sold $5-6 a pound, I do my best to grow my own.  The nasturtiums are from my garden, too.  It was so pretty, like a painting, that I photographed it before the burrata and basil were added.

Here it is with burrata and basil.

Roasted beets and blueberry salad.  One of the beets is from my garden, and I thought I can't roast only one beet.  Naturally I had to buy a few more to justify turning up the heat in an already hot kitchen.

The piece de resistance....
Organic Rack of Lamb

To round out the meal, I also served roasted lemon, garlic, parsley potatoes, asparagus with shaved parmesan and splash of balsamic.  My chef friend brought a wonderful green salad (bibb lettuce, baby kale, baby arugula) with Korean melon (sweet but crisp as a cucumber), radishes.  For dessert, fresh cherries, fresh blueberries and a pint of Cool Haus fig, basalmic vinegar and marscapone ice cream.

It was a very delicious evening.  My chef friend said it was the best meal she's had in a very long time, and she felt very loved.

Certainly, all the dishes were cooked and conceived with a lot of love.

Summer time and the living is easy

When the temperature rises in the summer, often you want to eat light and stay out of a hot kitchen.   Summer is also the time when our garden yields a lot of tomatoes, basil, zucchini, crookneck squash.  So I thought I'd make something refreshing out of the ingredients, most fresh from my organic garden.

I usually try to bring something healthy to potlucks because so many people bring rich and sweet entrees.  People joke around with me, "You brought the kale salad, didn't you?"

Guilty as charged.

I also like to experiment with flavors and tastebuds.  Enjoy expanding my horizons as well as yours.

I can't tell you how many people haven't eaten things like my kimchi dumplings or kimchi fried rice and said, "You put kimchi in there?  If I had known, I'd never have eaten it.  But I love it!"

It's the same with my writing.   "Your play NUMBER ONE SON made me realize gay people are just like you and me."

Back to food:

  

You brought the cucumber mint agua fresca, didn't you?

You brought the blueberry lavender martini, didn't you? 

You brought the cantaloupe soup, didn't you?

Yes, all me.

I care about my body, my health and about yours.  That's why SENSUOUS GOURMET.  

I'm not especially fond of medical bills, sitting around at the hospital, waiting around for biopsy results.  

I brought this zucchini, crookneck squash, tomato, burrata, basil salad to wine club.  No leftovers.  A big hit.  The squash is julienned so you can eat it raw.  Lightly drizzled with high quality virgin olive oil, crack pepper, fleur de sel, basil and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Simple, fresh, delicious.   Ssssh, it's also quite healthy.   So, if you have too much squash, send it over to me.  All my friends on Facebook want some.

Onstage/Offstage interview

Well, I couldn't afford to do Ithaca Fringe Fest this year.
Next best thing, talking to George Sapio.

Catch this week's Onstage/Offstage where the guest is... playwright Lucy Wang! http://www.onstageoffstage.com  WRFI Thurs Jun3 5, 2014, 3:30pm EST 
88.1 Stream http://www.wrfi.org 

WILD, TOO

It took a long time for me to pick up and read Cheryl Strayed's book WILD.  When WILD hit the bestseller list, I was hiking in the Angeles Forest regularly and it seemed all the women hikers were reading it.  And of course, they had to share.

So I felt like I was reading it then as well.

Now I know better.

The other reason I waited is...you have to know when something is good for you.   Yes, I know, this is not always as easy as it may sound.   The deep pain that Cheryl feels about losing her mother....well, I still feel that pain acutely too.  But there are major differences.

Cheryl's mother died too young.
My mother is still alive.  But she might as well be dead b/c she abandoned us and when she reinvented herself, my brother and I became casualties of war.

http://herkind.org/articles/on-my-mind/other-mothers

Like Cheryl, I am sad on my mother's birthday.   I think of her, and wonder, how is she.    It's one of those dates I call a blackout date.  A date you don't want to travel.

Another blackout date, my birthday which is coming up in four days.  I wonder does she ever think of me?  Wonder if I'm OK?  Google me?

Movies like Philomena give me false hope.  Oh, she must think of me!   Philomena couldn't stop thinking of her son.  I must go visit my mum in Australia and try, try again!   But doing the same thing over and expecting different results -- that's the very definition of insanity -- isn't it?

Plus in this day and age, she could find me if she wanted.

When I go to the doctor's, increasingly they ask for family history.  A few doctors have urged me to call her and say, "OK, you don't want to be my mom....Fine.  But I need your medical history so my doctors know what to do."   Be aggressive, be laid back, be ______________.  My mother could help fill in the blanks.

I admire Cheryl's courage, writing, honesty so much I've decided to start a book.  Of course, it's totally different.   Inspired by my life, my one woman show CHINESE GIRLS DON'T SWEAR and a literary agent in NYC.  This agent in NYC loves my wit, my courage, my writing.  She says my story is totally inspiring and empowering.

I've been resisting because I didn't want to go "there."  It's dark, it's personal, it's sad.

I resisted because my mother once pleaded, "C'mon, grow up, you don't need a mother any more."   Because I loved her, I believed her, I thought, hey I'm super mature.  Precocious.  Tiger Cub!

I resisted because everyone wants to know about my mother, but when you tell them, they don't freaking believe you.  "Oh no, a mother would never do that!"  "Are you kidding me?"   Sadly, tragically, I'm not kidding.  Even though I excel at comedy, have done standup, and my bits about my mother never fail to bring the house down.   Time + Tragedy = Comedy.

But I understand why nobody believes -- everyone else seems to have loving, nurturing mothers.  Top Chefs, Oscar Winners, Biggest Loser Contestants.   My girlfriends often say, "My mother's my BFF!" You find posts like this all over social media.

You are never too old, too wild, for want of a mother's love.

Tired of being sad, waiting for comedy gigs, feeling pity on those Blackout Dates (Mother's Day is probably the worst blackout date!), I will set out on a journey to write my novel.  I'm hoping that by blogging about it, I can inspire and push myself.

Chicago Booth Alumna Profile

University of Chicago Booth is known for its rigorous academics, Nobel Prize winners, top notch graduates so I was thrilled and surprised when they told me they wanted to profile me.

http://email.chicagobooth.edu/bwc/Lucy_Wang_email.aspx