Fig Season

I dropped by Whole Foods this morning to pick up a coffee and a scone (you gotta try the one with whole grains and dried fruit, yum) and to my surprise I saw fresh figs! And since I am a food dork, I got very excited. Fig Season is my favorite season!

I know with fresh figs there are the 2 schools of people, the ones who love them dearly and the others who can't stand them. Too bad for those in the latter school. We are so lucky here in SoCal b/c fresh figs don't travel well, and most grown in the U.S. are from California.

I have been known to help myself to fresh figs from neglected neighborhood trees (it's great when the fig tree owner doesn't like them!). Last summer I actually made a map of where all the fig trees are in my neighborhood. I know, dork. But I found at least 6, and those are just the ones that I can freely access without trespassing (too much).

Since those who love figs already know what to do with them I won't delve into any suggestions or recipes. But my favorite way to eat them is wrapped with Prosciutto di Parma.

Yay, summer is here!

What do the Irish Eat?

Ok, so I decided to have a St. Patrick's Day party and serve Irish food. Disclaimer here: I do not eat corned beef and nor do I cook it. I find it repulsive. I don't know why anyone would want to ruin a brisket. And why is it called "corned?" But to get back on topic here I decided to serve Irish food without knowing what in the world I would cook. Now as a personal chef I do cook many different things but I have yet to come across an appetizing sounding Irish dish. So what in the world do the Irish eat?

Thank God for the internet because I've never seen an Irish cookbook either! During my online excursions I am finding things like Concannon, Boxty and Ballymole. What?

Finally I came across a recipe for an Irish stew made with beef, potatoes, carrots and Guinness. Ahhh, now that's some tasty sounding stew! I'll also make some Irish Soda Bread - very easy. Maybe a tray of some Irish cheeses - Whole Foods will be very helpful with this. And for dessert: Chocolate Stout Cake. I'll swing in to BevMo to get our "Blessed Trinity" of Guinness, Murphy's and Beamish, and hopefully all my guests will be feeling the luck of the Irish!


note: the Irish don't eat corned beef on special occasions, they don't drink green beer and they don't name their pubs using the word "Irish"
Happy St. Patrick's Day!