Chef Tom – Salad Niçoise

“Sometimes people mistake the salad bowl for a lawless place of disorganized and mismatched ingredients, chopped and discarded – dried cranberries on pumpkin seeds on soggy corn – which offends even me.”

Chef Tom – AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Food related news recently came across my feed (no pun intended), so I thought it might be interesting to share a couple of stories. The first is about the Zuni Café in San Francisco. Long-time dining destination for the well-heeled, as well as the hoi polloi, or in this case, the gay polloi. Who knew it was one of the first gay-friendly restaurants, with a mostly gay staff, with large picture windows for full visibility.

This is a fascinating read. 

Chef Tom – In honor of Passover on the 27th

The Segarini Interview

I don’t know if you remember me, but I used to write a column or two here back before Corona went from Beer to Pandemic, and I wasn’t nipple deep in depression and writer’s block.

It occurred to me that maybe I should stick my head out of my burrow and let you know I’m okay, but still not ready to write about my favourite subjects like Gardening, Farm Tools of History, The Humour of Carrot Top and Naked Twister. Not to mention my recent discovery of a television host who may be more annoying, desperate for your love, and as shrill as the ongoing King of Late Night Fake Laughs and Maudlin Fawning, Jimmy “Don’t Call Me Jimi” Fallon.

Anyhoo, to remind you of who I are and why I is, here’s a re-run of an interview done with the Fabulous Bill King, a treasured friend and as talented a man as you are likely to ever meet. Not only will it re-introduce me to you, but will allow me to also reassure you that given enough time, Mitch McConnell will eventually die.

Chef Tom – Foodz N’ Vidz

 

Chef Tom – My Good Husband Dan

My good husband Dan’s birthday is April 1. I know, an April Fools baby. Explains a lot, really. I am counting on nine people being fully inoculated by then (three of us already are, including me), that we’re all on a sunny patio in lovely San Carlos drinking beautiful wine and eating multiple tasty courses over a four hour gathering. I’ve already started the menu.

Here are four highly recommended dishes (these are starters) from my foodiverse.

Thought I’d give you a taste.

Chef Tom – Baby, it’s Cold Outside

I think everyone is craving warmth right now, inside and out, some much more than others. I saw a drool-worthy pic of a bowl of Beef Barley soup and I hadda have me some. I doubled the time on the recipe because the beef needed more time in the pot to get meltingly tender. This is so worth the wait. I imagine you could switch out which cut, from already cut up stew meat to an indulgent rib-eye or NY (the tenderer cuts obviously don’t need the entire first 30-40 minute simmer). Chuck roast has good flavor and good connective tissue that turns into silk in your mouth.

A hearty red to go with, maybe a slice of toasted whole grain, and a simple salad makes this a most satisfying meal.

Chef Tom’s Perfect Valentine’s Day Dinner

A Note from Chef Tom – This is my 100th Column here on DBAWIS. Thanks to all.

A Note to Chef Tom from the Editor – Grateful to have you here …and this recipe has my name written all over it. Thank YOU!

I have a supper club that’s been going for over fifteen years with about twelve to fifteen cooking enthusiasts. Having it on Zoom is weird, but we’ve been doing it since the beginning. Each meal has a different theme, which is usually a country, or a region of a country. We’ve been around the world a few times. Once we even did Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet.

Chef Tom – Wangs!

 

Super Bowl Sunday. No Buffalo (wings or team – sorry Bill’s fans). I know this is late in the game, so to speak, but if you can pull one or two of these finger-lickin’ recipes together before the kick-off, go for it.

Your fans will rush the field.

Chef Tom’s Char Sui

This might look complicated, but it isn’t. The marinade comes together easily, is nicely complex, and the oven/broiler combo means you don’t need a grill. Steam up some fluffy rice and sauté a mess of your favorite (Chinese) greens, and you have a delicious, warming meal. The key is in the pre-scoring. Make deep slashes with your knife (not all the way through) to create lots and lots of surfaces to get the pork crispy and caramelized.