Perfect Pasta Salad (thanks Pam Smart!)

The pasta salad I made for our family bbq is from a cookbook by Pam Smart, called CookSmart: Perfect Recipes for Every Day. Its a GREAT cookbook. She is a former editor of Cooks Illustrated, which is one of my favorite resources, and her books read and work like a more gentle, less scientific version of the CI books. This particular book gives you a basic recipe for something - say, waffles - and then gives you easy variations on the basic recipe. Her waffle variations include cornmeal, blueberry, chocolate chip, etc etc.

She does the same thing for pasta salad, and her method has become my pasta salad bible, if you will. I'm not sure if one NEEDS a bible for pasta salad but it can't hurt, right?

Here is her method:

1. Cook 1 pound of pasta - small shapes like penne, fusilli, ziti, rotelle, etc.
   
2. Prepare 2 pounds of key ingredients - cooked and raw veggies, beans, seafood, mild cheeses
3. Add intense flavors - cured meats, stronger cheeses, nuts, olives
4. Add onions and herbs
5. Add dressing - she offers several different variations for use in italian, asian, and greek pasta salads, amongst others

The salad I made for the bbq on Sunday used tri-color rotini. The key ingredients were celery, garbanzos, roasted red peppers, bell pepper, artichoke hearts, and mozarella. For intense flavors, I added pepperoni, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes. I used a half of a red onion, parsley, and oregano. For the dressing I used her creamy vinaigrette - Sartini olive oil from Trader Joe's (my favorite cheap oo), fresh garlic, dijon, lemon juice, sea salt and fresh-ground pepper. It was DELICIOUS.

The only thing that I disagree with P. Smart on is when to dress the salad. She says to put the dressing on no sooner than 15 minutes before you serve. I find that putting it on an hour or two before, and chilling the salad, then bringing it closer to room temperature before serving really melds all the flavors together. In fact, I like it almost better the next day.

The book gives specific recipes for 7 or so different pasta salads, and then a list of possible ingredients so that you can design your own. The book has terrific recipes for waffles, chocolate cake, and brownies, but I think it is worth it just for the section on pasta salad. Her recipes are fresh, full of great ingredients, and they come out right every time, because her instructions are SO easy to follow.

Click Here for a USA Today article by Pam Smart, describing her pasta salad method. It includes some free recipes for a few of her dressings.

Cheers!

Em

Sorry for the reposts!

For those of you using bloglines, I apologize for the constant reposts today. We are still working out the kinks of the blog, and have been editing labels etc, which may cause the blog to show up as "new" numerous times even if there are no new posts. Hopefully things will be running smoother asap ;)

cheers!

Em

Chocolate Bar: Sending Me to Chocolate Rehab!

That barbecue sounds fabulous, Em!

I'm in NYC for the weekend, which presents many fun food opportunities. Today my boyfriend and I wandered around to the West Village and found ourselves at Chocolate Bar on 8th Ave. and 4th street. It's a cute, tidy little shop with funky decor including squares of fake grass sitting under the various chocolate products, and an orange and brown color scheme. They're known for their "Liquid Chocolate". It's basically an iced hot chocolate. Super rich. The first sip conjured up images of Augustus Gloop slurping on the chocolate river. It was divine. So rich that I almost fell into a chocolate coma after drinking a few big sips. Luckily we shared it, along with an "Elvis" chocolate-- a fluffy, painfully sweet homemade marshmallow laced with banana flavor, with a chunk of peanut butter in the center, all draped in delicious dark chocolate. It was ridiculously good. It was about three inches in diameter but even splitting it, I could only get a couple of bites down before I started feeling like I might have a chocolate overdose and be headed straight to chocolate rehab-- that and the Liquid Chocolate was just too much! Definitely a case where too much is just enough. I think the word I am looking for is decadent.

I was chatting with the ladies behind the counter about the Liquid Chocolate-- my suggestion to them was that they serve it in a shot glass. Less intimidating, and a smaller portion would really highlight the rich intensity of the stuff. I am a big fan of small portions in general because I find I savor the food much more that way. The ladies showed us a huge bucket of bittersweet chocolate slivers which they scoop into hot whole milk and allow to melt and mix. They then put that over ice, and there you have it, liquid chocolate.

Check it out at www.chocolatebarnyc.com. You can get a feel for it, but you'll have to come out to the city if you want a taste. It's a great alternative to the famous Magnolia Bakery when the line there is too long to bear.

;-p

BBQ on Sunday Afternoon

I headed home to my parent's house in the central valley this weekend, to do a little shopping with my mom, and to plan/cook for/host/attend a family bbq, which will happen later this afternoon. Menu is as follows:

To Start:

• Thomas Keller's olive tapenade - by far my favorite recipe
• Cooks Illustrated Herbed Spinach Dip with feta, oregano, and lemon juice (need membership to view)
• various cheeses, crackers, veggies, and bread

On the grill:

• Hotdogs and polish sausage
• babyback ribs
• bbq chicken wings for my grandmother, who loves them
• big burgers
• a few veggie burgers for the vegetarian cousin
• a couple of steaks

On the side:

• Antipasti pasta salad from Pam Smart's CookSmart book (will blog about this later)
• Grilled corn on the cob
• Green salad with sunflower seeds and feta
• Delicious bread (thank you ACME)
• Jello salad for the grandparents
• Fruit salad

For Dessert:

• Cooks Illustrated Ultimate Lemon Meringue Pie, 1 made with splenda for the 3 diabetics (need membership to view)
• Aroz con Leche

To Drink:

• Turn Bull Sauvignon Blanc
• A couple of Napa Roses

I love a summertime bbq. The best part will be watching my cousin's 1 year old splash around in the pool.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Em

Gracias, Emilia.

Thanks Emilia! I'm excited to make my real-life blog debut. This lawyer definitely eats. I am also a huge connoisseur of cocktails, wine and beer, so I will be piping up on those aspects of our gastronomic adventures. Eating fabulous meals with fabulous people is what I live for. Seriously. I'll have it with the wine pairings. I'm picky on quality but I'll try anything once. Most exciting food experience of late? It was last fall- staying up all night and heading to the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo at 5:00 A.M. to check out the wares and dodge speeding carts full of styrofoam boxes of fish headed out to be eaten by the world.



The real purpose of the visit though? To wait in a long line (yes, a line at the crack of dawn!) to sit next to fishermen with big rubber boots in a tiny, crowded sushi bar, eating gem-like omakase and drinking cold Japanese beer. They ladled the miso soup out of a huge bucket in the back.



I'll never forget the ikura. Here's looking at you, Ikura...we'll always have Tokyo!

:-p YUM!

Please welcome Patch!

Please welcome Patch to Lawyer.eats. She is also a lawyer and one of my premier foodie friends. She will be reporting on Los Angeles restaurants, some in NYC, and also here in SF, because we do a lot of eating when she comes to visit.

Stay tuned for the following highlights over the next two weeks:

• Sebo in San Francisco
• District in San Francisco
• a blog about the private wine dinner I go to
• a report on the food at MLB all-star week

Cheers!

Em

Los Jarritos

I was blessed to be born into a family of Mexican heritage. My mother is Mexican, and she's an amazing cook. My brothers and I grew up eating her delicious tacos, tostadas, burritos, enchiladas, tamales - the works. She's a healthy cook - she didn't cook anything especially greasy. But it was fresh, well-seasoned, and delicious.

Growing up in Los Angeles and central California, I was also blessed to be surrounded by tons of amazing Mexican food. The population in my hometown in the central valley is mostly Mexican/Latin American. There are tons of great places to get a delicious taco. My test of a good Mexican restaurant is whether they have good beans and good carnitas. The beans have to be fresh, not too heavy, not too salty. The carnitas have to be greasy enough but not too greasy, not too salty. Carnitas are basically porked braised in pork fat. So they should taste bad for you, but without making you feel ill.

When I moved to Los Angeles for college, I was once again surrounded by tons of terrific Mexican food. My favorite place there was called Los Jarritos II. I went there all the time and took family and friends there. Great delicious carnitas, great chips, hot salsa, quick, cheap, great. I hoped when I moved to Palo Alto for grad school that I would be able to find a place as good. But no dice. There is NO good mexican food in Palo Alto. Nothing. Not even worth trying.

San Francisco however.....San Francisco is another story. There is an entire neighborhood in San Francisco that has a heavy latin influence - lots of Mexican, Central and South Americans with great restaurants. I knew it wouldn't take me long to find "my place" for Mexican food in SF - and I was not disappointed. But I was surprised to find that its name, as well, was Los Jarritos.



The mission is full of taquerias and little crowded places where you can grab a quick bite. But the thing I really like about Los Jarritos is that you can sit down, have a relaxing dinner, and its still delicious and inexpensive.

The chips and salsa at Los Jarritos are pretty good. The salsa they serve before you eat is a cooked salsa - tomatoes, onions, and spices and lots of jalapeno blended until smooth and cooked before its served. The chips are always fresh, made from the corn tortillas that the restaurant makes and uses in all its recipes. My favorite things to order are the tacos - you can get them crispy or soft (I go for crispy). They put a little beans, and then your choice of delicious chicken, spicy beef, carnitas, or just rice if you are a vegetarian. The guacamole is fresh and super tasty, and made spicier if you ask them. The beans - oh man. They are pure heaven. And they are vegetarian, which means no lard - but they are so freakin good you would never know it. And the carnitas are perfect - greasy but not gross, tender, tasty, YUM.

I go to Los Jarritos once a month or so. I like to take people there. My parents have gone with me and my mom gave it her true Latina stamp of approval. I took my friend from high school, L., there for 4th of July dinner. She had the carne asada and said it was amazing. I believe her - but the carnitas are so good that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to try anything else.

So if you are in town and want good authentic Mexican food, in a cozy atmosphere, in the heart of SF - Los Jarritos is it!!

Food - (3)
Experience - (3)
Total - (3)

For an explanation of our ratings system, CLICK HERE!

Check out Los Jarritos Yelp! reviews HERE.

I dig it!

Em