Chef Tom – Salad Days

One of my favorite all-American treats, and one that’s starting to gain popularity after having fallen out of favor for a few decades.

Iceberg lettuce (aka crisp lettuce) got its name from the method of transportation, once the cross-country train system was created. Before refrigerated train cars, they would pile crushed ice on top of the pallets of lettuce (at the time, the number one vegetable in the US). The heads would peak out from below the ice and look like icebergs.

Miso Hungry

If you’ve never had anything with miso in it, it’s an amazing, beautifully umami, easy to use miracle-food that’s chock full of all kinds of healthy stuff. Japanese have been making it for millennia. If the only way you’ve experienced it is as an accompaniment to some yummy sushi, then you’d do well to know that this odd looking paste can elevate just about anything you cook.

The ingredients that give the following recipe its name, miso and maple syrup, are strong characters, but they play well with each together. Their flavors are warm and satisfying, mellow and not immediately knowable at first, hovering in that space between sweet and savory. Coarse-crumbed and sturdy, easy to slice, easy to serve at both breakfast and to pick up and nibble in the afternoon. Good with butter and jam or with a little cheese. And it keeps well: It’ll hold at room temperature for about 4 days.

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 – American Turkey Day

 Thanksgiving is like a slow moving freight train. Seeing it from a distance it seems as it’s not even moving. Then you look up and it’s bearing down upon you, relentless, purposeful, and unstoppable. You either get on board or get run over.

So why resist.