Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Potpourri

28 Nov 2017

The Migrant Kitchen | Beyond Pho

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Potpourri

Consider this a virtual nudge to tune into The Migrant Kitchen this Wednesday at 8 PM PT on KCET in Southern California for the latest episode, Beyond Pho, which shines a light on the Vietnamese culinary diaspora in Los Angeles:

Banh Mi. Spring rolls. Pho. The war and its subsequent refugees. These are things most commonly associated with the Vietnamese culture and its people. But a group of chefs in Los Angeles (including Cassia’s Bryant Ng and Diep Tran of Good Girl Dinette) are hoping to demonstrate that there’s so much more than that. Featured in the episode: Cassia in Santa Monica, Good Girl Dinette in Highland Park, Red Boat Fish Sauce, and Minh Phan of Porridge & Puffs.

The stories and perspectives featured in Beyond Pho are extraordinarily thoughtful and thought-provoking. I hope you’ll enjoy the episode as much as I did.

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Recipe

21 Nov 2017

Russ Parson’s Mom’s Cranberry Sauce

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I love experimenting with different Thanksgiving recipes, but when it comes to cranberry sauce, this is the only one I will ever need. I have been making Russ Parsons’ mother’s recipe (Russ Parsons, by the way, is the former Food Editor for the Los Angeles Times) for the past couple of years, and it is truly as good as it gets—sweet, tart, warming, and festive. It’s perfect.

In addition to its flavor prowess, the recipe conveniently calls for a resting period of one to three days in order for the fruit, sugar, and spices to settle and meld. This means I can prepare the sauce the weekend before the big day, successfully avoiding any additional kitchen chaos.

To round out my contributions this year, I’ll be making crockpot sausage and sage stuffing (a gluten-free version for my brother-in-law with Celiac—wish me luck!), sweet potato casserole, my friend Sarah’s potato rolls, and Simply Recipes’ apple pie.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Thank you for making Gastronomy a part of your internet routine.

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Restaurant Review

16 Nov 2017

Tartine Manufactory – San Francisco

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A few months ago, I booked a weekend getaway to San Francisco in the dead of night. I’m very much a planner by nature, especially when it comes to travels, but a bout of insomnia and a too-good-to-be-true airline sale had me feeling spontaneous. Bay Area, here we come!

Following a BART ride from the airport to the hotel—a transportation treat for suburban dwellers—The Astronomer, June, and I jetted to The Mission for an early lunch at Tartine Manufactory.

Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery fame opened the 5,000-square-foot Manufactory late last summer. The expansive space houses a restaurant, coffee bar, bakery, and ice cream shop.

We were lucky enough to get a table without a wait. Granted, it was the sunniest table in the dining room, and we were squinting and sweating the entire meal, but we’ll take what we can get.

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