City of Gold film review

The documentary City of Gold is very much a love letter to the culture, the cuisine and the spirit of Los Angeles. It follows the career and life of the Pulitzer prize winning writer Jonathan Gold. Gold writes about food, but food is just a lens through which he sees the world and perhaps most importantly, the people in it. While the food in this film is tantalizing, it's the stories from the restaurateurs and even street food vendors that are particularly compelling. These are the stories that Jonathan Gold tells.

Every city ought to have a Jonathan Gold. By that I mean someone who has an uncanny sense of finding great food, is a marvelous writer and is truly passionate about his home turf. Gold, the longtime food critic first with the LA Weekly and now with the LA Times, explores, discovers and importantly, does his homework to learn about various cuisines before writing about them. He's also as democratic an eater as ever, happily eating hot dogs and tacos from carts one day and dining in restaurants with celebrity chefs the next.

The film serves not only as a profile of Gold but also as an introduction to the sprawling diversity that is Los Angeles. It's no surprise that much of the film takes place in Gold's truck as he drives from one part of town to another. No question it will make you want to dine in LA, but hopefully will also inspire you to dig deeper in your neck of the woods. It's a truly wonderful film and I recommend it wholeheartedly. Check online for local screenings of City of Gold.

Artichokes with Creamy Spinach Dip Recipe

As a child I wasn’t crazy about vegetables with one notable exception. I loved artichokes. My mother served them with lemon butter or garlic mayonnaise and upon retrospect I think that was in no small part why I loved them so much. All other vegetables were served plain, but artichokes got the royal treatment, and frankly, what isn’t better with a dip in lemon butter or garlic mayonnaise?

There’ s a popular dip with canned or frozen artichoke hearts. spinach and loaded with cheese and mayonnaise. I’ve remade the recipe, creating a creamy dip made with fresh spinach, herbs and Greek yogurt. Dip the artchoke leaves and heart into the dip and you get the flavor of that dip but in a much fresher, lighter and healthier way.

Artichokes are good hot or cold and are a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin c, vitamin k, folate and manganese and a good source of niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and copper. They do require a little prep work. You need a good pair of kitchen shears to trim the thorny tips off the leaves, I also remove a few of the tougher small leaves on the base of the archoke and use a paring knife to trim the stem just so the artchoke will stand up during cooking. If you are only making one artichoke, you can easily prepare it in the microwave. Simply trim the artichoke and place it stem side up, along with 1/4 cup of water in a soup mug or cereal bowl. Cover with microwave safe plastic wrap and microwave for about 6 minutes. It’s that easy!

If you’ve never cooked artichokes before, now would be a good time to start. Ocean Mist Farms is running the Artichoke Adventurer contest. Upload a picture or video of yourself cooking or eating a fresh artichoke – even if it’s your first time – for a chance to win a trip to Monterey, California for the 2016 Castroville Artichoke Food & Wine Festival June 4 - 5, 2016 for you and a friend. The grand prize will include a travel and lodging from June 3 – 6, 2016, admission to the Artichoke Festival, and $1,800 in gift cards to enjoy other experiences in Monterey, such as wine tasting, kayaking, museums and more. Your entry will be judged based on creativity of your photo or video, and how well you show off your adventurous spirit.

See official rules for details and enter the contest at http://ift.tt/231X1GP

Artichokes with Creamy Spinach Dip

4 servings

Ingredients

4 fresh artichokes

10-12 ounces baby spinach

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

1/4 cup finey chopped fresh dill, cilantro or combination

1 cup Greek yogurt, preferably 2%

Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Trim the thorny tips of the artichokes and any small tough outer leaves at the base, If you have a pressure cooker, use a steamer basket and cook with a cup of water, under high pressure for 10 minutes. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, steam them for about 40 minutes, or untll the leaves can be plucked with a gentle tug. Let cool.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, add the spinach and blanch for 10 to 20 seconds, just until wilted. Transfer to a bowl and run cool water over it until cool to the touch, then drain and squeeze very dry.

Finely chop the spinach or place the spinach in a food processor and pulse. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the garlic powder, salt, olive oil, green onions, herbs and yogurt. Season to taste with fresh pepper. Serve the artichokes with the dip.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I received artichokes from Ocean Mist Farms, I was not compensated monetarily for this or any other post.

Bread Machine Buttermilk Wheat Bread Recipe

Recently I’ve gotten back into baking bread. First I tested a bread recipe using Einkorn flour in anticipation of reviewing an Einkorn cookbook. And when my friend Jerry James Stone asked if I would contribute a recipe to his Three Loaves project, I couldn’t say no.

Three Loaves is a project where participants make three loaves of bread, one for themselves, another for a friend and a third for someone in need, every month. After signing up, each month you receive a new recipe to try. Since my recipe uses a bread machine, you won’t be baking all three loaves at once, but the concept is the same—bake and share.

My baking supplies were rather low and I didn’t have any bread flour in the house so I decided to look for a recipe I could make in my mini Zojirushi bread machine (it makes one pound loaves) that used all purpose flour. I found the basic recipe on the King Arthur Flour website for Sandwich Bread for the Mini Zo Bread Machine. The comments on this recipe were very encouraging. Commenters had good success with the recipe using different bread machines, and with adapting it, which is exactly what I did. I used ingredients I had on hand—namely honey, buttermilk and white whole wheat flour.

I’m sharing my version which makes a light whole wheat loaf, but if you want to make some changes, feel free! The original recipe is very forgiving. If you want to make a larger loaf, you could certainly double the recipe. It makes very good toast and is perfect for sandwiches.

Bread Machine Buttermilk Wheat Bread

Makes a one pound loaf

Ingredients

2/3 cup hot water

1/4 cup cold buttermilk

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

Instructions

Place all ingredients into the pan of the bread machine in the order listed, and program the machine for a one pound loaf, Basic White Bread and press start.

Enjoy!

SF Chocolate Salon & Amano Chocolate Giveaway!

This year marks the 10th San Francisco International Chocolate Salon. I’ve been a judge and moderated panels and even spoken a couple of times at this fun event. It offers the opportunity to discover new chocolates, new flavors, new creations and even meet some chocolatiers and chocolate makers. There's also usually some wine and spirits for those over 21.

At the upcoming SF Chocolate Salon I recommend checking out chocolates from some of my favorite local producers—melt in your mouth truffles from NeoCocoa, pretty bon bons from Jade Chocolates and Socola Chocolatier and scrumptious chocolate covered mazipan from Nuttyness.

My other favorites are William Dean Chocolates from Florida and Amano Artisan Chocolate from Utah. Don’t miss either of them!

The reason I enjoy attending (not to mention judging) the Chocolate Salon is I get to catch up in person with some of the best chocolate makers and chocolatiers I know. Nothing beats finding out what they are up to and trying some of their latest treats.

At the last Salon I got a chance to try the new flavored bars from Amano. Here are my tasting notes:

Raspberry Rose

Inspired by a pastry in Paris, this has just very clear raspberry flavor and just a hint of something floral. Eating it is a dreamy, transporting experience.

Cardamom Black Pepper

Chocolate, cardamom and black peper is one of Art Pollard of Amano's favorite combinations and I have to agree. This bar is exotic and familiar at the same time. For me this is the most well balanced of the flavored bars.

Mango Chili

This bar has a kick, but also some sweet fruity flavors from the mango. It’s only for chocolate lovers who can handle some heat.

The SF Chocolate Salon is this Saturday March 5th, 2016 at Fort Mason in San Francisco and tickets are $20 if purchased in advance.

GIVEAWAY

Whether you are or are not attending the Salon, I have a treat for you. Thanks to Amano I’m giving away two absolutely exquisite chocolate bars, the Chuao Village, a single origin Venezuelan dark chocolate 70% cocoa (2 oz, $9.95) and Dos Rios, a single origin bar from the Dominican Republic, also 70% cocoa (3oz. $7.95).

The Chuao Village bar is made from some of the most prized cocao in the world. It’s extremely precious and difficult to attain, even dried in a unique manner. You don’t just fly in to Chuao, you hike hours over the mountains through rainforests or take a fishing boat to reach it on the coast.

The Dos Rios bar has a very unusual and complex with strong citrus and spice flavors. On tasting it you might think it's flavored with orange and cinnamon, but it's not. It's one of the signature bars from Amano because the beans are are available exclusively to them.

To win the bars, let me know your favorite chocolate experience--what chocolate you enjoyed, and anything you remember about eating or drinking it in a comment below. You must have a US mailing address to win. You MUST leave your email address in the field designated in the comment, it will not be visible to the public, only to me. DO NOT leave your email address in the body of your comment, if you do, I will delete it. Only one entry per person! I will choose the winner at random on March 10, 2016.

Disclaimer: Review samples and giveaway prizes provided by Amano. I was not provided with monetary compensation for this or any other post.