Toast Goes Savory at Superba Food + Bread in Venice

I'm enjoying doing chef cooking demonstrations for my YouTube Channel Secrets of Restaurant Chefs.  A dozen chefs have taken me into their restaurant-kitchens to prepare signature dishes. I've learned so much.

Chef Taylor Boudreaux demonstrated how to get crispy skin on salmon filets. That session changed my cooking because he turned me on to carbon steel pans which are better than cast iron pans. At the moment I have only found them at Surfas Culinary District (8777 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232),  although regrettably, they are often sold out of the pans.

High heat is now my mantra as I use my carbon steel pans (10", 12.5" and 14") to make crispy skin fish filets, charred tofu, sweet scallops finished with butter, steaks with dry rub crust, vegetables caramelized by high heat and seared Japanese noodles.

Some chefs have kitchens that are expansive work spaces with the latest high tech tools like David Codney at the Peninsula where he and his staff demonstrated making mac n' cheese with truffles, a fine dining riff on a childhood favorite.

In the only hotel restaurant on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, in a tiny corner of his compact kitchen, David Padillo showed me how easy it is to make a spicy, citrus drunken shrimp, Mexican style.

In the city of Napa at the entrance way to the Napa Valley chef Paul Fields prepares gluten-free meals for guests of the Inn on Randolph. When I stayed at the Inn he made gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and a breakfast of Beluga lentils with roasted vegetables topped with a poached egg.

For Zester Daily I posted an interview and video cooking demonstration with the baker and chef at Superba Food + Bread (1900 S. Lincoln Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90291). Chef Jason Travi and baker Jonathan Eng used their partnership to create savory toasts, elevating that most simple of snacks into a gastronomic delight. A signature toast is one that uses a grilled slice of Eng's pain au levain topped with Travi's Lebanese red pepper-walnut muhammara sauce and finished with spoonfuls of fresh burrata.

Take a look at the Zester Daily article with a video by Travi and Eng. The toast in the video is the toast I ate after the demonstration. It was absolutely delicious. And easy to make at home.

New Dishes Added to Thanksgiving Day's Favorites

My mother loved Thanksgiving. For her the day was the best holiday of the year. A time, she felt, when family would gather around the table and enjoy a meal with so many favorite dishes.

To prepare the meal, she would include my sister and myself as helpers. My father was old school, so his responsibilities involved showing up at the table when the meal was ready. Which was fine with my sister and myself. We enjoyed the time in the kitchen chopping vegetables and stuffing the turkey, which meant my sister and I held the turkey butt-up as my mom spooned in the stuffing.

For dessert, my favorite was her apple pie. My mom tossed peeled and sliced apples with lemon juice and brown sugar mixed with raisins. The combination of sweet and tart was kind of ideal. For this Thanksgiving, I'm going to make an apple dessert but a galette instead of a pie because I like the folded crust on top and it is easier to make.

For a new dish I'm going to make truffle macaroni and cheese, a dish demonstrated by chef David Codney (the Peninsula Beverly Hills). The recipe and video are on Zester Daily. The dish is elegant and easy to make and it's perfect as an appetizer or a side dish as a companion for Thanksgiving's more rustic fare.

I've been experimenting with dry sautéed nuts. The one I like a lot, which I'll make for Thanksgiving, is raw pistachios in the shell tossed with sea salt, thyme and rosemary. It's easy and quick with a carbon steel pan that can take the heat.

Have a great Thanksgiving.