Braised Rabbit with Coriander Seeds, Green Olives, and White Wine

Vegetarians can be an off-putting lot. I should know. I was one for years. I'd beat you with a carrot if you suggested I eat meat.

I'm still in sympathy with the cause. But I eat meat. We should talk about that dichotomy sometime.

Anyway, earlier this year I was on L.A. NPR to talk about our HAM book, the drop-dead funny cookbook (no lie) about all things piggishly back-ended (look for it here). I made some cracks about raising and eating our own pig. Very light-hearted stuff, despite its being about death.

Afterwards, I got about many requests from people in LalaLand to be facebook friends. Wow, I thought, NPR has quite a following out there.

Until I discovered they were militant vegetarians. And started writing horrible things on my wall. And posting videos of animal slaughter. And sending messages to all my facebook friends about what a nightmare I was.

I cleaned these people off my lists as quickly as I could. Bruce and I talked about it. Decided it was a strange quirk. And went on our way. Until he twittered two weeks ago about making rabbit for dinner. And got word-lashed and then unfollowed by a bunch of similar types who thought his meal choice was unethical.

Again, the ethics of eating meat. Let's talk about them sometime. But for now, I'd like to share with you the rabbit recipe that got him defriended and unfollowed. Because it's so darn wonderful. Every single bite of its four servings. If you've never eaten rabbit, now's the time. It's autumnal, comforting, light, and savory. What could be better?

Click to read more ...

Salmon with Crisp Potatoes and Olives

Ah, the lowly salmon fillet. It's the boneless skinless chicken breast of our day: a cliché, really. One that gets a tad tired. Or tiring. Whatever. It can be decidedly dull. But stocked with omega-3s, it's real food, a high-nutrition feast. How then to make it exciting?

I've been puzzling on this and I think I've come up with one delicious solution. Delicious enough that Bruce and I have had it for dinner now on two Tuesdays running. I had to share it with you: a skillet sauté for salmon fillets with potatoes and olives that get crisp.

Yes, even the olives. You really let them go. The potatoes, too. Until you have this crisp, salty bed for the salmon. Pure bliss. I sucked mine down last night with a glass of Coffaro Fresco. (If you don't know about the fantastic wines from the Coffaros in California, then check them out here. They'll drop ship right to your house. Plus, Pat's a pleasure to get to know!)

OK, so here's how to get the job done.

Click to read more ...

Salad Bar Pizza

Although I'm blogging about a great pie, I'm actually still having that real food discussion, the one that got started on this blog the other day (at this spot and this one).

I've been thinking about it a lot. Pondering what's real and what's not. And trying to come to terms with why I see the high-falutin' pretension of so much of the current foodie world--let them eat grass-fed cake--so darn overbearing, so silly.

Yes, Bruce and I are real-food mavens. Yes, we do such crazy things as buying our beef from a local farm (see it here), our pork from our local CSA (see it here), and our eggs from several little roadside stands near us. Bruce spends most of the summer canning. Witness how many jams and pickles have appeared on this blog.

But then there's the silly stuff, the macho stuff: making your own sauerkraut, killing a wild hog, and showing the world your chest hair. Or the Earth Mother stuff: wearing your Birkenstocks, nurturing your own vinegar, and cultivating your whole-grain pantry. Neither is a real answer to the food dilemmas strafing the developed world.

Here's one of my answers: a real-food pizza that's not a make-it-yourself. Everything here is from the store. Everything here COULD be made at home--if someone had the time. But in the end, everything here is good and real, nothing fake, no chemical chicanery, no excess fat or sugar to mask half-hearted flavors. Just delicious.

Click to read more ...