Right Here, Right Now

Leftovers for Dinner, Recipes for Spring, and Love Letters to Friends and Family

I’m currently sitting at my dining room table with my pants entirely open. In a way, it feels like an act of acknowledging and appreciating good food and amazing friends. Last night, we ate at Carousel in Hollywood and had an incredible meal (thank you, forever neighbors-at-heart Pat and Luma). This morning we went for a very sweet and celebratory send-off brunch at Saffy’s Coffee & Tea Shop (love you guys, P, J, S, & A, New York is too lucky). Sam and I just housed an assortment of leftovers for dinner (for me, that was mostly sautéed liver and onions with pickled turnips, and for Sam, it was all lula, baba gannuj, pita, and falafel). While what I should be doing right now is feeding my starters, I’m choosing to remain here, unbuttoned, just a little while longer.

Between birthdays, more meals with friends and family, and a few upcoming bigger gigs, the next couple of weeks are looking a lot busier than usual. We’re lucky. It will all be exciting, and it will also all be expensive: Our washing machine died and the kitchen towels won’t clean themselves. I needed to purchase a portable grill to make skewers without smoking up an extremely beautifully filled space. And, 20 bottles of wine (even of the decently-priced variety) exceeded budgets quickly.

So long as I prepare myself as best as possible, everything will be beyond worth it. I want to feed and warm everyone as much as I can. It’s true that Sam had to physically shake me out of buying ingredients outside of my means multiple times today, but, whatever, it worked, and it’s now pushing me to be more creative with what I already have on hand—I’m looking at you, pumpkin seeds and rice. I’ll be skipping the farmers’ market tomorrow and waiting for Wednesday morning in Santa Monica for necessities only.

At the end of last month, Isaac and I went to Toyin’s African Market in North Hills. I love going to any market I’ve never been to before, but this one was so, so special. As first timers, we were offered our choice flavor of fried plantains for free. We couldn’t miss the opportunity to grab a bottle of Palm Wine, either (if you’ve never had Palm Wine, it’s goooood, get some). Jollof rice and scotch bonnet peppers were added to the cart, too. We got yams bigger than our heads and two different types of suya spices to try and compare. Here’s the one I loved most. Oh, and if you’re ever in search of coconut drinks served in their shells, Toyin’s is your spot—she can order you party trays (!). With leftover fruit from a dessert course, I made savory plantain chips at home with the suya seasoning and a generous amount of salt. Sam said I should “bag them,” which is code for make more, please.

Sam, Lee, Isaac, Ari, and I did our first test shoot together the other day. Egoless passion projects with talented friends are always the best, but this one was especially inspiring and taught me so much about composition and thinking visually first. We made and enjoyed a long spring lunch with asparagus, potatoes, and soft scrambled eggs, as well as loads of condiments and garnishes (and herbs from our garden). The asparagus was probably my favorite, and it was also the most simple dish—peel it, toss it in olive oil, set it on a hot grill pan covered with a heat-proof bowl or lid to allow it to char and simultaneously cook through. Quickly mix together mayonnaise, dijon mustard, a little lemon juice/zest, and whatever seasonings your heart desires (we used Aleppo). Top it all with some toasted almonds and the perfect bite exists, again and again.

For The Bittman Project, I shared recipes for what I’ve been calling “angeled” eggs, which turn jammy eggs a little devilish by adding small dollops of creamy things and all of your other favorite go-to garnishes. The eggs take seven minutes to cook, and the garnishes don’t have to be too complicated to be crowd pleasers. No food processor, no separating yolks from whites, no piping bags to wrestle with. Just joy. Next up will be three recipes for vegetable scraps and making the most of them in unexpected but undeniably delicious ways. Stay tuned.

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Until next time, some of the food-related subject lines of my inbox lately:

People are Cooking for Each Other Again
Black lime, lamb, and mint yogurt walk into a marinade…
Braised, Confused and Broke
Got Vegan Food Connections??
It Was a Dark and Toasty Oat
A Letter to Chefs Who Believe Food Can Heal
The Veggie: Say peas
Fish Sauce.
The peanut butter cookie that got me through this hellish week.
Rhubarb loves chicken
Colostrum martinis and protein sundaes-
All This Fuss For A Baked Potato
Fruit Slop and Funmaxxing
Can you overdo fiber? The rise—and risks—of fibermaxxing
i fixed a toaster.
Chocolate Marshmallows
Poached Eggs: You’ve Been Lied To
There Can Still Be Lunch