10 French Antioxidant Foods by Ruth Paget

10 French Antioxidant Foods by Ruth Paget 

When I moved to France as a young woman, I was happy to learn that the French eat many antioxidant foods that remove free radicals that cause cancer in addition to drinking red wine, which they claim reduces breast cancer when combined with Camembert cheese. 

I still eat these foods in California where I live now to help with “digestion” as the French say: 

1-Homemade Yogurt 

I use a yogurt machine made by Mueller to cook 8 pots of yogurt. I buy Euro Cuisine Yogurt Culture from Amazon and add it to six Horizon organic whole milk packages to make my own probiotic yogurt. The cooked yogurt goes in the refrigerator overnight to further solidify. The taste of yogurt made this way is slightly sour and perfect with the addition of jam or fresh fruit. 

2-Maille Mustard from Dijon 

I make my own vinaigrette with Maille mustard (part red wine vinegar, 2 parts olive oil, and 2 parts Maille mustard). I use this vinaigrette on salads like the following: 

-baby greens 

-grated carrot salad -sliced tomato salad 

-tuna-black bean-roasted red pepper-black olive-pepperoncino salad 

-pasta salad 

3-Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate for Breakfast 

4-Dry and Fresh Mushrooms 

The French eat mushroom quiche and sell it frozen at the grocery store. I tend to eat mushroom-cheese pizza in the U.S. as a quiche substitute. I also make mushroom soup and sauté mushrooms to go with steak. 

5-Pain d’épice de Dijon 

Gingerbread made with delicious spices sometimes called antiseptic such as cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.  

6-Carte Noire Coffee 

Coffee brand of strong Arabica coffee to sip after dining. 

7-Sauerkraut for Alsatian Flavor 

Sauerkraut with caraway seeds and seeds does taste really good with a cold wheat beer, hefeweizen.  

8-Curry Rice 

The French at one time had a colony in Pondicherry, India and have retained “curry” as a spice. Cooked rice with one teaspoon of curry and butter is a nice side with chicken or fish. 

9-Ratatouille 

A delicious vegetable stew made with olive oil, garlic, onion, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, thyme, and rosemary. Ratatouille is excellent with baguette slices to soak up the cooking juices. 

10-Chocolate Mousse 

Mousse made with less sugar and more dark chocolate becomes a strong antioxidant. 

These foods have the added benefit of being delicious as well as good for you. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Eating Loco Moco in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget

Eating Loco Moco in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget 

Loco Moco, a Hawaiian dish, is my first choice on the Alvarado Street Brewery’s menu for breakfast or lunch with my family in Monterey, California. 

This California Brew Pub’s version of Loco Moco features a well-done Harris Ranch beef patty on top of a mound of bacon-fried rice. Shredded cabbage, grated ginger, and a fried egg sit on top of the beef patty. Bacon gravy covers everything. I like my fried egg over easy so that every bite of loco moco is unctuous and makes me forget about the calories. 

Loco Moco is a go-to dish in California as well as Hawaii, because California grows rice in the area around Sacramento north of Monterey. 

The Alvarado Street Brewery also makes excellent beer-battered, Pacific Cod Fish and Chips, pub-made pretzels, and pizzas in addition to brewing several kinds of beer, especially IPAs (India Pale Ales). 

The best thing about the Alvarado Street Brewery in addition to food is that it is a warm, welcoming place with music, regulars, and an outdoor beer garden. 

 By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Fish Tacos in Seaside, California by Ruth Paget

Fish Tacos in Seaside, California by Ruth Paget 

Tourists seeking local flavor at Googie’s Restaurant in Seaside, California (close to Monterey) might want to try the fish tacos. The Pacific cod used in the fish tacos can be broiled or deep-fried. I like crunchy extra calories, so I always get deep-fried fish tacos. 

The fish tacos come three to a plate with soft, corn tortillas, shredded cabbage, pico de gallo salsa, and fresh lime slices for squeezing. The pico de gallo salsa, pronounced “ga-yo,” is made with chopped tomato, onion, Serrano peppers, salt, lime juice, and cilantro. Its perky flavor ties the deep-fried Pacific cod and cabbage together with the savory flavor of the warm corn tortillas. 

Googie’s also serves traditional English fish and chips complete with vinegar in a bottle on the side. 

The restaurant’s location by the ocean and the Embassy Suites Hotel and Holiday Inn Express make it a great location for breakfast before touring downtown Monterey or shopping in Seaside. (Googie’s is in the Seaside Auto Mall for starters.) 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Vegetable Vindaloo in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget

Vegetable Vindaloo in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget 

Vegan visitors to Monterey, California might want to try the vegetable vindaloo at the Ambrosia India Bistro located in downtown Monterey by the historic Casa Munras Hotel and on Cannery Row. 

Vegetable Vindaloo is a dish from the southern Indian city of Goa, a former Portuguese colony. The website www.epicurious.com gives a recipe for pork vindaloo that covers the sauce or curry ingredients. I have left out the pork and list the spices below: 

The spices make the vindaloo curry hot, pungent, and delicious. Epicurious.com lists the following spices that go into a good vindaloo: 

-Kashmiri chiles which can be replaced by guajillo chiles 

-garlic 

-ginger 

-cinnamon stick 

-vinegar 

-sugar 

-tamarind paste 

-peppercorns 

-cumin seeds 

-turmeric 

-cloves 

 -salt  

The seasonal vegetables for a vegetable vindaloo are stir-fried in an Indian wok called a kadai. Ambrosia tends to always use potatoes, cauliflower, sweet red peppers, green beans, and onions in its vegetable vindaloo with additions from the 200+ crops grown in the Salinas Valley just east of Monterey. 

The spicy vindaloo curry tastes great with basmati rice. I order naan bread as well to soak up every last bit of the vindaloo. I like to think that the vegetables used in Ambrosia India Bistro’s vegan dishes are all organic and come from the Salinas Valley just east of Monterey. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Peruvian Cuisine Introduction by Ruth Paget

Peruvian Cuisine Introduction by Ruth Paget 

Peruvian food is not similar to Mexican food I learned as I read Everything Peruvian Cookbook: 300 Recipes for Fresh, Flavorful, and Exotic Dishes by Morena Cuadra and Morena Escardo. 

The difference in diet comes from the influence of more cultures being assimilated into Peru’s national culture than in Mexico. Cuadra and Escardo discuss the culinary contributions of Peru’s multicultural society as follows: 

*The Incan Diet of Ancient Peru 

 -The Incans ate a mostly vegan diet with eggs and dairy being taboo except for the ill -meat was eaten at celebration and religious rites 

-fish and seafood were good to eat and raw fish became what is known today as cebiche 

-On a daily basis, the Incans ate many carbohydrates such as potatoes, corn, quinoa, and kiwicha (amaranth) 

*Spanish Influence 

-The Spanish brought European food products to Peru that are now integral to Peru’s national cuisine such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, bananas, figs, dates, grapes, cilantro, garlic, onions, cows, goats, lambs, and pigs. -The Spanish had local farmers produce these items to save money and encouraged the eating of eggs and cheese called queso fresco, a type of Parmesan 

-Grapes went into the production of Peru’s national alcohol called pisco. 

-The Peruvians use onions and garlic along with native ají (chile peppers) to produce their base cooking sauce called aderezo. 

*The Arab Influence 

-The Spanish in Peru had recently freed themselves of Arab domination. However, some Spanish men brought Arab wives and servants with them to Peru who were considered very good cooks. 

-Empanadas, a small crescent-shaped pie stuffed with meat and/or vegetables is credited to the Arabs. 

-Very sweet desserts are also credited to the Arabs such as rice pudding and candied lime. 

*African Influence 

-Peru Imported slaves to replace Incans who had died. 

-Africans according to the authors used variety meats such as the heart and intestines to help economize. Many street stalls today sell items such as these. 

*Chinatown 

-When slaves were freed, Peru hired Chinese laborers to take their place as had been done in Cuba. -When the Chinese obtained money, they set up stores and street stalls that sold rice dishes. 

-The main Chinese contributions to Peruvian cuisine are ginger, scallions, and soy sauce. 

*The Italian Influence 

-At the end of the 19th century, Italians from Liguria came to Peru. The authors state that everyone in Peru now eats lasagna, gnocchi, ravioli, gelato, and panettone. 

-Salsa verde is Peruvian pesto. 

-Queso fresco, a white cheese, is Peru’s version of Parmesan. 

*Japanese Influence -Japanese farmworkers replaced Chinese farmworkers. -The Japanese brought their superb knife skills for sushi and applied them to cebiche, Peru’s raw fish dish cured with lime juice. 

After that informative introduction, I did read the 300 recipes, but thought trying Peruvian sauces is the best introduction to learn the flavor of the food when cooking at home. I chose the following sauces, because I thought they would go well with pasta, rice, potatoes, quinoa, sandwiches, some soups, or cooked fish: 

-salsa criolla made with onion, ají Amarillo (yellow peppers), lime juice, salt and pepper, olive oil, and cilantro. There is also a recipe for this with radishes. 

-scallion salsa criolla made with red onion, scallions, ají Amarillo, limes, olive oil, and chopped cilantro  

-black olive mayonnaise made with black olives, garlic, mayonnaise, roasted red bell peppers, and salt and pepper 

-avocado cream made with avocados, lime juice, scallions, ají amarillo, mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and cilantro leaves 

-salsa verde made with vegetable oil, onion, garlic cloves, spinach, basil leaves, evaporated milk, queso fresco 

-scallion and egg dip made with vegetable oil, ají amarillo, sliced scallions, eggs, and salt and pepper  

-papa a la Huancaina made with ají amarillo, oil, evaporated milk, soda crackers, queso fresco, Bibb lettuce, potatoes, black olives, eggs, and parsley 

Cooks interested in trying a new cuisine might enjoy Everything Peruvian Cookbook by Morena Cuadra and Morena Escardo with its 300 recipes. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Bagels for Lunch by Ruth Paget

Bagels for Lunch by Ruth Paget 

Delivery has made it possible to avoid the lunch crunch lines I experienced as a young woman when I would wait in lines for sandwiches or cheeseburgers in Paris and Chicago. 

I was in line a few times when people would say at the counter, “I am still deciding” or “What comes on the cheeseburger?” These questions are innocent in and of themselves, but when asked during one-hour or half-hour lunch breaks now, they can create a tense atmosphere. 

I like how Bagel Bakery has reduced lunch line tension by using delivery and reserved take-out tables to reduce the number of people in line. Many people love toasty bagels, but it takes time to toast them correctly.  If you order ahead, you can avoid line rage. 

Some bagels I like from Bagel Bakery can be a little fragrant, making me want to eat them at home like the lox and cream cheese bagel. Lox is cured in salt water and smells briny like the ocean and tastes great. 

I also like authentic West Coast jalapeño-cheddar bagels with creams cheese with hot coffee and cream or a cold Starbucks mocha coffee, which Bagel Bakery sells. 

An office team ordering several bagels at once makes the delivery charge more palatable and gets everyone fed at once. 

A huge added plus is that delivery creates gig jobs that are taxed in California at least. Capturing money from the informal economy adds up and helps drivers pay bills with additional income. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Denver Omelets in Monterey County California by Ruth Paget

Denver Omelets in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget 

There are not as many Greek diners in Monterey County California where I live now, so I eat what I call Denver omelets at Denny’s. 

My local Denny’s calls their Denver omelets Mile High Omelets. (Denver is called the Mile High City, because it sits about one mile above sea level.) The staff and customers at my local are multicultural and like no-surprises American food just like I do to vary their diet. 

I like the take out and delivery options. Sometimes I just want to eat a Denver omelet while wearing sweatpants as I write, so I do use delivery, which always arrives with warm food. 

The Mile High Omelet at Denny’s, also known as a Denver or Western omelet, is made for people working in thin air at high altitudes. Diners at sea level like I am in Monterey County California know they might get a second meal out of their breakfast order. 

I am usually pretty hungry when I order a Mile High Omelet, which is made with three eggs and filled with ham, sautéed green peppers and onions, and melted Swiss cheese. The traditional side dishes that go with it include bacon, hash browns, and pancakes or toast. I put hot sauce like Cholula or Tabasco on the hash browns for added Vitamin C and sometimes order jalapeño peppers to go with the omelets. 

Denny’s offers a choice between toast and pancakes as a side. Between toast and calcium-rich buttermilk pancakes, I opt for the pancakes. I do not eat Denver omelets everyday, so I consider the pancakes a once-in-awhile dessert. I also tend to make the pancakes a second meal. 

Denny’s makes very good Cobb salads as well, if the Mile High Omelet might be too much to eat for you. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Guerrero (Mexico) Fare by Ruth Paget

Guerrero (Mexico) Fare by Ruth Paget 

Author Rachel Glueck offers an insider’s view of the Mexican state of Guerrero in her cookbook The Native Mexican Kitchen: A Journey into Cuisine, Culture and Mezcal. Glueck is married to an indigenous Mexican, who leads an Aztec dance troupe and runs a restaurant that serves Mezcal often made by members of his family. 

Guerrero is most famous for its resort city of Acapulco on the Pacific Coast of Mexico that heads south towards Central America. In Glueck’s introductory remarks, she notes that there are 65 indigenous groups in Mexico, that corn is revered for providing sustenance, and that the indigenous milpa cropping system grows beans, squash, chiles, and/or tomatoes together with corn. The milpa crops are all native to Mexico.  

The rest of Guerrero’s cuisine reflects the fusion of Spanish and indigenous foods. Pork and cheese, for instance, are of Spanish origin. The indigenous and Spanish ingredients come together in a dish of Oaxacan origin (Oaxaca is Guerrero’s neighboring state to the south) called a tlayuda, which people in Guerrero also eat. 

The tlayuda resembles a large, crunch tostada, but features asientos de puerco as a spread. Asientos de puerco is the settled fat from frying lard with remaining crunchy bits. I might substitute a salsa verde (green sauce made from Mexican green tomatoes) in place of asiento de puerco as a spread. On top of the tlayuda spread, cooks place refried beans, a shredded meat, lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, and salsa. The tlayuda is a filling dish made of simple ingredients that is enhanced with great salsas. 

Marge Poore, who wrote 1,000 Mexican Recipes, says that salsas are the distinguishing feature of Mexican cuisine. Glueck provides recipes for indigenous sauces that probably show up in Acapulco since they go well with fish or pork. Glueck’s sauce recipes are easy to follow and usually follow the pattern of sautéing vegetables, blending the cooked vegetables, putting the vegetables back in a pan to warm them, and stirring in the final ingredients like chunks of mango or pineapple. 

Glueck’s commentary on life in Guerrero often makes you overlook her recipes, but they are excellent and give an introduction to what indigenous food in Mexico is like.  

The following recipes might interest first-time cooks trying Mexican food: 

-peanut salsa made with peanuts, chiles, onions, tomatoes, and garlic cloves 

-salsa de piña made with pineapples for fish and pork 

-salsa de mango made with mangos and a favorite for fish or pork in Acapulco 

-tortilla soup made with chiles, garlic, onion, tomatoes, water or chicken stock, cream, cotija cheese, and avocado with garnishes like cabbage, avocado slices, and tortilla chips 

-pozole rojo soup from Jalisco (a state north of Guerrero) made with chicken breasts or pork leg, white hominy, corn, tomatillos, and chiles 

-esquites – Mexican street corn served with cream, cheese, chile powder, and lime 

-carnitas – Mexican pork belly braised with orange juice. 

 -liver and onions tacos 

The Native American Kitchen by Rachel Glueck has well-written recipes and is a good introduction for cooks who would like to make their first forays into Mexican indigenous cooking. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Feta Omelets at the Agora Restaurant by Ruth Paget

Feta Omelets at the Agora Restaurant by Ruth Paget 

A delicious memory I have of attending the University of Chicago is eating feta omelets at the Agora Restaurant in Hyde Park before going to study at the Regenstein Library. 

My college roommate was a Greek-American, so getting her to support the local Greek diner was no problem. We took the University bus to the nearest stop and walked the final few blocks. 

We were the steady diners, but three of our friends always tried to make it to breakfast, too. I warned them that if they did not come, we would talk about them. One of our male friends joined us for breakfast once and called us the female mafia. 

By the time senior year rolled around, we spent our breakfasts sharing job-hunting information. We were looking for work in different industries, which made it easier to share what we had learned. There was a recession in 1986 with fewer recruiters coming to campus. We were unhappy about this, but industrious about finding work nonetheless. 

I had found an international job in downtown Chicago doing informational interviews. I was a salesman at a translation agency that also did public relations work. (I eventually helped two classmates get work with the agency doing foreign-language narration and teaching/cultural consulting.) 

Since I was employed, I bought two extra pots of coffee for the table, so my friends could have abundant coffee refills as we talked about Richard N. Bolles’ book What Color is Your Parachute?, which counsels people on how to find dream jobs. 

We were all mortified that employment agencies downtown had typing skills tests. I told everyone to bite the bullet and learn to type 50 words per minute without a mistake; it could help with finding a job. Most businesses still used IBM electric typewriters in 1986 and were just beginning to introduce desktop computers to the workplace. 

The University of Chicago had “Apple” computers in the study halls, but companies downtown used all kinds of computers with Microsoft software being introduced. Knowing lots of software programs was an asset and hard to obtain. 

The tech change happening in 1986 was stressful. I credit the food I ate during this period of competitive and stressful tech change with keeping me strong, able to sleep, and willing to learn new ways of organizing and presenting information. Notably, I loved my weekly calcium-rich feta omelet with sliced, kalamata olives and roasted red peppers preserved in olive oil. 

Greek diners offer plenty of nutritious sides to go with omelets like this that I always ate including bacon, whole wheat toast with butter, calcium-added orange juice, and real cream to go with coffee. (In addition to dealing with technological change, I credit this meal with preventing me from having osteoporosis – weak bones – later in life.) 

After this robust breakfast, the female mafia would walk to the Regenstein Library like the “Reg Rats” we really were for a day of studying as we thought of dream careers and the reality of entry-level jobs. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tex-Mex Food is a Community Asset by Ruth Paget

Tex-Mex Food is a Community Asset by Ruth Paget 

Smart Californians know that having a Tex-Mex taquería down the street with from-scratch food at reasonable prices is a community asset. 

That is how I feel about Michael’s Grill and Taquería in Marina, California. My family has been their customer for many years, but I think tourists to the Monterey Peninsula might also like their Tex-Mex food in a place with free parking out of the downtown bustle. 

Some of the dishes tourists might like at Michael’s follow: 

-La Playa Combo (The Beach Combo) with charbroiled shrimp, blackened chicken, a cheese enchilada with red sauce, rice, black beans, and warm flour tortillas 

-Quesadilla with carne asada (grilled think steak) – the steak is an add-on item to the folded-over large tortilla with melted cheese. This is like a grilled cheese sandwich. 

-House burrito – a wet burrito with green tomatillo sauce (Mexican greet tomato sauce) on top of a wrapped tortilla filled with charbroiled shrimp, blackened chicken, and Spanish rice with black beans on the side 

-large tacos with blackened chicken or charbroiled shrimp with chopped lettuce and grated cheese 

-street tacos for smaller appetites 

The ordering is taquería style. You place your order at the counter, pay, and receive a number on a stand to place on your table in the dining room. A server brings your food when it is ready. 

Michael’s is good food, good prices, and good people. 

The regulars know it is great, and first-timers might be pleasantly surprised. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tomato-Black Bean Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget

Tomato-Black Bean Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget 

A vegan recipe for winter 

Serves 2 

Ingredients:

-1 (15.5-ounce) can organic black beans, rinsed and drained 

-1 (14.5-ounce) can organic, diced tomatoes with juice 

-2 tablespoons Maille mustard from Dijon 

-1 tablespoon olive oil 

-1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 

-1 teaspoon salt (optional) 

Steps: 

1-Mix the black beans and tomatoes with their juice together. 

2-Mix mustard, olive oil, and red wine vinegar together until they are homogenous. Pour dressing over the black beans and tomatoes and mix salad. 

3-Serve with pita chips or toast points. 

Source: Ruth Paget – Monterey, California 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Cannery Row for New Year's by Ruth Paget

Cannery Row for New Year’s by Ruth Paget 

Our family visits Cannery Row in Monterey, California to honor both John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts. Steinbeck wrote the book Cannery Row that made the area famous. Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck’s friend and the character “Doc” in Cannery Row, is my fellow alumni from the University of Chicago, who wrote Between Pacific Tides with tide pools as a main character. 

The influence of both writers can be felt at the Chart House Restaurant on Cannery Row, which sits above the ocean with an excellent view of the kelp forest offshore in a dinner-only bar-restaurant, part of the nationwide Landry Restaurant Group. 

As you order your meal, you can watch sea otters twirling in the surf, dolphins diving in arches, white egrets hopping from kelp top to kelp top, black cormorant birds swimming in circles dodging waves, brown pelicans flying in lines and sometimes swooping down to snag a fish, and pudgy, tan-bodied Western gulls flitting about noisy white seagulls. 

It is easy to see why Ed Ricketts wrote about the ecosystem of the Monterey Bay here, and why it is worth reserving a window seat. The tiered seating in the restaurant, though, makes every seat a good one for bird watching. 

On our latest outing to the Chart House to celebrate December birthdays, I ordered kimchi calamari, which comes with a sticky, mayonnaise-like sauce that is not too spicy. My main dish was butterflied and deep-fried coconut-mango shrimp followed by coffee ice cream as dessert made without sugar. My husband Laurent and daughter Florence both ordered Monterey’s famous clam chowder, prime rib, and mango sorbet as dessert. 

Everything tasted great in the packed restaurant, which is a rave review all by itself. (Note – Landry has a loyalty card point program that works at all its restaurants. Ask the waiter about it. You can sign up online.) 

That was the birthday meal celebration. My husband Laurent and I came back for New Year’s Eve. Laurent ordered clam chowder while I had Caesar Salad with shaved Parmesan for starters. For our main dish, we both had broiled sea bas with a lobster Hollandaise sauce followed by Florida’s famous, tangy key lime pie for dessert. 

Our brisk walk in the salty air of Cannery Row from one end to the other took us past the restaurants for kids and teens like Louis Linguine, Gharardelli’s Chocolate Shop, Bubba Gumps, and Lalla Lounge. I am sure the women who worked in the sardine factories that Steinbeck made famous would love it that their grandchildren and great-grandchildren can eat tony restaurants like those in LA or San Francisco on vacation. 

When we reached the Clement Hotel (part of the InterContinental Hotel Group) near the Monterey Bay Aquarium where we were staying, we opened the window in our room and fell asleep to the rhythmic sounds of waves crashing on the shore while Florence and her friends may have been dancing at Sly McFly’s Night Club nearby. 

On New Year’s Day, Laurent and I ate in the hotel’s C Restaurant. The C is reliably great and serves posh kopi luwak coffee from Indonesia (priced accordingly). I could have just drunk that for breakfast, but ordered delicious eggs benedict and fried potatoes to go with it. Laurent ate an all-American breakfast of eggs over easy, bacon, fried potatoes, and rye toast breakfast with his kopi luwak coffee. From our window seat on the ocean, we could see seagulls circling. 

After breakfast, we went to Florence’s suite and drank some sparkling white wine for the New Year from De Tierra Winery in Monterey County. One of her friends proudly works at De Tierra – they are award winners.  

Laurent and I got the car from valet parking and drove home along the coast in Pacific Grove. Pacific Grove was teeming with people on a sunny New Year’s Day with glistening lapis lazuli water. I thought of John Steinbeck and Ed Rickett’s climbing on the rocks there and wading in tide pools looking for cute creatures from the deep. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France  

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Italian Potluck Parties by Ruth Paget

Italian Potluck Parties by Ruth Paget 

Potluck parties where a host will provide a main dish and invited guests will provide side dishes and drinks keep costs down on entertaining, especially during times of economic crisis. 

Main dishes do not have to be expensive, but they should be plentiful. Some good potluck party main dishes include: 

-pasta with warm sauces 

-risottos 

-warm lentil bean salads 

-soups served in mugs, so people have less of a chance of spilling on clothes or carpets 

Hosts should do the main dish, because people do not always show up at parties. 

For potluck parties with an Italian theme, I like to use the classic and easy recipes in Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Giada De Laurentiis. What is great about this book is that you can find youtube videos about how to make these dishes from the De Laurentiis’ Food Network show.

I think the following recipes work well for Italian potlucks: 

-white bean dip with pita chips – for this recipe, you can blend olive oil, oregano, salt, pepper, cooked cannellini beans, parsley, lemon juice, and crushed garlic together. This room-temperature dip is served with pita chips that you can buy at Target. 

-clams oreganata – clams in this recipe are broiled with a bread crumb mixture made with olive oil, oregano, parsley, mint, salt, and pepper. If you like champagne or prosecco, this is a relatively inexpensive seafood dish for New Year’s Day. 

-caprese Salad – a tasty mix of mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, and torn basil with a lemon-olive oil dressing from the Isle of Capri 

-antipasti platter – a selection of Italian salami, coppa, and prosciutto along with cubes of fontina cheese and crackers of toast points. Olives and toothpick spears of roasted red pepper preserved in olive oil can also be part of an antipasti platter. 

-prosciutto antipasti are always welcome with champagne or prosecco – prosciutto wrapped breadsticks, roasted asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, and prosciutto purses, prosciutto wrapped around melon slices -

Other great potluck party recipes include: 

-roasted bell pepper salad 

-vodka-marinara pasta sauce 

-turkey meatballs in tomato sauce 

-polenta (boiled cornmeal) with gorgonzola cheese -mushroom risotto 

-rice-stuffed baked tomatoes 

The ingredients for these dishes have become readily available in supermarkets, making Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis a great buy for organizing parties or weekday entertaining for young professionals.  

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Asian Cookbooks for Winter Reading by Ruth Paget

Asian Cookbooks for Winter Reading by Ruth Paget 

When I saw that the Monterey County Free Libraries (California) had an online winter reading program for adults through www.beanstack.org, I signed up with the goal of learning more about the food of Asia. 

I received a BA in East Asian Studies from the University of Chicago and have learned to cook many Asian dishes to add to my study of Japan and China that began when I was an exchange student in Japan and a study tour participant in China. Over the years, I have accumulated cookbooks from Southeast Asia as well as East Asian ones in paper and kindle formats to learn more about the foods I have sampled for fun and as a restaurant reviewer for the Monterey County Weekly newspaper (Circulation: 200,000). 

The books I have read so far for winter reading at the Monterey County Free Libraries include the following: 

 *Bhutan 

 -Foods of the Kingdom of Bhutan by Ernest and Eric Nagamatsu 

*Cambodia 

-Num Pang by Ratha Chapouly 

*China 

-All Under Heaven by Carolyn Phillips 

-Complete Chinese Cookbook by Ken Hom 

-Cooking South of the Clouds by Georgia Freedman 

-Dim Sum Field Guide by Carolyn Phillips 

-Every Grain of Rice by Fuschsia Dunlop 

-Invitation to a Banquet by Fuchsia Dunlop 

-Land of Fish and Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop 

-Land of Plenty by Fuchsia 

-Nom Wah Cookbook by Wilson Tang 

-Phoenix Claw and Jade Trees by Kian Lam Kho 

-Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop 

*India 

-660 Curries by Rhagavan Iyer 

-Chaat by Maneet Chauhan 

-Complete Book of Indian Cooking by Suneeta Vaswani 

-Feasts and Fasts by Colleen Taylor Sen 

-Indian for Everyone by Anupy Singla 

-Masala by Anita Jaisinghani 

 *Indonesia 

-Balinese Food by Vivienne Kruger 

-Indonesian Regional Food and Cooking by Sri Owen 

*Japan 

-Bento for Beginners by Chika Ravitch 

-Harumi’s Japanese Kitchen by Harumi Kurihara 

-Japanese Cooking by Shizuo Tsuji 

-Japanese Grill by Tadashi Ono 

-Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto 

-Modern Japanese Cuisine by Katarzyna Cwiertka 

-Ramen Obsession by Naomi Imatome-Yun 

-Tokyo Cult Recipes by Maori Murota 

-Washoku by Elizabeth Andoh 

*Korea 

-Korean Cuisine by Michael J. Pettid 

-Korean Home Cooking by Sohui Kim 

-Koreatown by Deuki Hong 

*Malaysia 

-The Malaysian Kitchen by Christina Arokiasamy 

*Myanmar 

-Delicious Myanmar by Juan Gallardo 

*Nepal 

-Foods and Flavors from Nepal by Jyoti Pahak 

*Philippines 

-7000 Islands by Yasmin Newman 

-Amboy

*Polynesia 

-Totally Polynesian by Sarah Spencer 

*Russia (Most of Russia is in Asia) 

-Cabbage and Caviar by Alison K. Smith 

*Thailand 

-Bangkok by Leela Panyaratabandhu 

-From the Source – Thailand by Lonely Planet Food 

-Pok Pok by Andy Ricker 

*Vietnam 

-Asian Dumplings by Andrea Nguyen

-Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen 

-Phô Cookbook by Linda Nguyen 

-Rice and Baguette by Vu Hong Lien 

To tie all my Asian cookbook reading together, I read Leading with Cultural Intelligence by David Livermore. Livermore writes for readers who want to become expatriate managers who want to live overseas or become diplomats. He says that one of the best ways to prepare for these professions is to learn foreign languages and eat foreign food. Both of these activities can be done by young people before college. 

You can also prepare foreign foods while listening to foreign music to further enhance what you read about in Asian cookbooks. 

Happy cooking! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Monterey Peninsula Cookbook Shelf by Ruth Paget

Monterey Peninsula Cookbook Shelf by Ruth Paget 

When I moved to the Monterey Peninsula on California’s Central Coast more than thirty years ago, I knew I would be able to find many Hispanic and Asian markets and restaurants with products and dishes from the many cultures that make up those broad categories. 

What I did not expect was how easy it was to find Italian and French ingredients that I could cook with at home. Over the years, I have made a Monterey Peninsula Cookbook shelf that leans towards Western Europe. I cook this way and eat Asian and Hispanic food from restaurants. 

The information in these cookbooks has helped me maintain weight and set up a three-meals-per-day weekly menu with no snacks. 

The following books may be on Kindle now to lower costs for purchasing them: 

-The Breakfast Bible: 100+ Favorite Recipes to Start the Day by Kate McMillan 

-Breakfast by Brigit L. Binns 

-Focaccia: Simple Breads from the Italian Oven by Carol Field 

-The Elements of Pizza: Unlocking the Secrets to World-Class Pies at Home by Ken Forkish 

-Mastering Pasta: The Art and Practice of Homemade Pasta, Gnocchi, and Risotto by Marc Vetri 

-Pasta Sauces by Chuck Williams 

-Martha Stewart’s Appetizers 

-Hors d’Oeuvres and Appetizers by Chuck Williams 

-Pâté, Confit, Rillettes: Recipes from the Craft of Charcuterie by Bian Polcyn with Michael Ruhlman 

-The Sommelier Prep Course: An Introduction to the Wines, Beers, and Spirtis of the World by Michael Gibson 

-The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss  

-Coffee: A Conneisseur’s Companion by Claudia Roden 

 -Coffee for Dummies by Major Cohen -Honey for Dummies by C. Marina Marchese and Howland Blackiston 

-The Good Cook’s Book of Mustard by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -The Book of Cheese: The Essential Guide to Discovering Cheeses You’ll Love by Liz Thorpe 

 -Sugar Changed the World by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos 

 -The Chocolate Connoisseur by Chloe Doutre-Roussel 

 -Holiday Entertaining by Chuck Williams 

 -Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination by Paul Freedman 

 -Vinaigrettes and Other Dressings by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -The Good Cook’s Book of Oil and Vinegar by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -The Good Cook’s Book of Tomatoes by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -The Good Cook’s Book of Salt and Pepper by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -Polenta by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -California Home Cooking by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -The New Cook’s Tour of Sonoma by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -Complete Pasta Cookbook by Chuck Williams 

 -San Francisco Seafood by Michele Anna Jordan 

 -The Food of France by Waverly Root 

 -The Food of Italy by Waverly Root 

- More than Meatballs by Michele Anna Jordan

 -The Art of the Table by Suzanne von Drachenfels 

 -Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson 

These books feature the home cooking of France, Italy, and California for the most part. The recipes are fun to try and teach some very valuable life skills like how to limit usage of delicious and expensive red wine vinegar. 

Happy cooking! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Faux Steak Croutons Recipe by Ruth Paget

Faux Steak Croutons Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Makes 3 – 4 cups 

Ingredients: 

-Day-old bread cut into large cubes to make 3 to 4 cups 

-1/4 cup olive oil 

-1 to 2 tablespoons meat seasoning such as Omaha Steak Seasoning 

Steps: 

1-Heat olive oil in a frying pan with the seasoning. 

2-Add bread cubes and turn them to coat all sides with seasoned oil. 

3-Turn bread cubes until all oil is absorbed. 4-Cool and serve as a snack. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Fisherman's Grotto in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget

The Old Fisherman’s Grotto by Ruth Pennington Paget 

When my daughter Florence sang in musicals at the Bruce Ariss Theatre on the Monterey Wharf, we would stop the for bowls of clam chowder at the Old Fisherman’s Grotto sometimes before her rehearsals and performances. 

They sold clam chowder that you could eat outside the restaurant and other things like sandwiches, candy, bottled water, and soda for families who came to visit the Monterey Wharf and look at seals, take whaling boat trips, and buy souvenirs. Even well-heeled families from San Francisco got food at Grotto’s outside stand. Most families chose items to eat from this outside café, because the items were reasonably priced. 

The restaurants in downtown Monterey are “fancy.” You have to probably show that your kids have earned a certificate in etiquette at the American School of Protocol to eat in them anymore. The director for the musicals Florence was in went to the Grotto before shows for an early dinner. She was a former Broadway director and voice teacher, who obviously was well-versed in opera, too. 

Once you had auditioned and gotten into a play, she rehearsed leads and chorus with equal rigor. While she rehearsed the chorus with piano accompaniment, I would work on my articles for the Global Librarian column I did for the Bay Area Chapter of the Special Libraries Association in San Francisco when I was getting my master’s degree in Library and Information Science at San Jose State University in California’s Silicon Valley. 

Fortunately, I like musicals, so I did not mind listening to the songs from Sound of Music, H.M.S. Pinafore, and Give my Regards to Broadway as I was writing. Even though I was listening to this, I was able to write about intercultural role playing groups for training people to work with library customers from different cultural backgrounds, tips for learning foreign languages, the history of the Spanish language, tailoring websites for different cultures, tips on how to work with Chinese-American library customers, tips on interpretation, tips on how to organize and produce foreign-language marketing materials, and tips on how to work with Arab-American library customers (many Arab-Americans are Orthodox Christians with new immigrants being Muslim). 

Each show Florence was in required four months of rehearsal (4 to 5 hours per night) and three months performance. We usually ate early dinner at home, and then I would drive Florence down to the Wharf. She got in costume, put on full make-up, and sold tickets to the shows all over downtown. They always had a full house. Florence sang lead songs for kids and took pictures with tourists. 

She got some clam chowder paid for by me for doing all this. She also did make-up for the leads for dress rehearsals and performances. She memorized the entire play and assisted the stage manager on the other side of the stage in case actors forgot lines. Florence was a professional child actor with tons of acting and sales experience before she was eighteen years old. 

One of the reasons she was accepted into the playwrighting program at Juilliard was her knowledge of all aspects of theatre, which included three semesters of college-level acting courses at Monterey Peninsula College. 

This Christmas season, my little family went down to the Monterey Wharf for several dinners at the Old Fisherman’s Grotto – inside this time. There were harbor seals playing around and a large school of sardines swimming around. 

We arrived early to get the locals menu. Florence reserved us window seats overlooking Pacific Grove on the upper level of the restaurant. The restaurant is always a little chilly, so Florence kept her Juilliard jacket on. I smiled at her and ordered a Bloody Mary cocktail to go with my chicken piccata, a standard pantry dish of chicken breast sautéed in olive oil with lemon juice and capers. 

I could buy the clam chowder in cans as a souvenir.

The food is good, but I just liked listening to all the Frank Sinatra music in this Manhattan by Monterey Bay Restaurant crooning, “I did it my way.” 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Parisian Sandwiches in Monterey (CA) by Ruth Paget

Parisian Sandwiches in Monterey (CA) by Ruth Paget 

My family usually goes to Crêpes of Brittany in Monterey (California) to eat crêpes made the traditional way with the addition of melted butter to the batter, making for a hearty meal despite the thinness of the crêpe. 

However, Crêpes of Brittany also offers five Parisian sandwiches for a cosmopolitan snack akin to Germany’s butterbrot sandwiches. 

The five baguette sandwich selections come with a choice of potato, pasta, or green salad. The sandwiches include: 

-French ham and butter 

-French ham or turkey with mayonnaise, gruyère cheese, lettuce, tomato, and boiled egg 

-French ham and Brie cheese with butter, lettuce, and tomato 

-Brie cheese with caramelized onion and apple 

-Tuna 

The French usually leave the Brie cheese rind on for flavor and texture on sandwiches. If you prefer not to eat the rind, let the waiter know when ordering. 

Crêpes of Brittany serves 11 kinds of coffee and spiced chai as well as alcoholic French apple cider from Brittany and Normandy. 

The crêperie is a perfect place to rejuvenate while visiting the historic and cultural sites in downtown Monterey. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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French Cakes at Paris Bakery by Ruth Paget

Paris Bakery Cakes by Ruth Paget 

My family has been going to Paris Bakery in Seaside, California for more than thirty years to buy baguette bread with a five-year hiatus when my husband Laurent and I lived in Stuttgart, Germany. 

What a lot of people do not know is that Paris Bakery can make French, Austrian, and German cakes and pastries with advance notice for parties. They often have snack size versions of pastries available for purchase for tasting as well. 

Some of Paris Bakery’s beautiful and delicious confections include: 

-Diplomat Cake- 

This round cake that is served in wedges is perfect for watching the Diplomat TV series with tea or coffee. It is made with croissant pieces and golden raisins in a Grand Marnier egg custard and topped off with a maraschino cherry and a whipped cream rosette. 

-Fraisiers (Strawberry Cake) or Framboisiers (Raspberry Cake)- 

This yellow layer cake is filled with mousseline cream and strawberries. It is iced with whipped cream and garnished with toasted and sliced almonds. 

-Opera Cake- 

This cake is perfect for theatre nights. It is made with two layers of yellow cake and one chocolate layer flavored with coffee syrup. The alternating layers are filled with mocha buttercream and chocolate ganache. Ganache is creamy, fudgy frosting. 

-Napoleons- 

Mille Feuille dough filled with pastry cream. Mille Feuille means 1,000 layers. 

-St Michel- 

This dessert is made up of one layer of chocolate mousse topped with a layer of Grand Marnier mousse. 

-Linzer Torte- 

This Austrian pastry is filled with jam and has a lattice piecrust topping. 

Two holiday cakes you might want to try are the bûche de Noël (Yule log) and the galette des rois (kings’ cake). The galette des rois is eaten two weeks after Christmas and comes with a crown for the person who finds the fève (porcelain figurine) in their piece of cake. 

These cakes will get you started on a French cake tasting adventure. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Greek Festival Pointers - Part 2 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Greek Festival Pointers – Part 2 – by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

The dimotiká folk songs provide music for the folk dances performed by Greek-American teenagers hailing from Salinas, Carmel, and Oakland.  Performing at Greek festivals throughout the state helps the teens keep their Greek heritage alive.

The popular circle dances like the kalamarianos resemble those portrayed on ancient Greek vases.  Line dances encourage everyone to participate.

The large, white napkin that the line dance leader holds is absolutely necessary to signal authority in a culture of strong individuals whose members jokingly describe themselves in the saying, “Twelve Greeks equal thirteen captains.”

Yelling, “Opa!” and line dancing through the crowd should make festivalgoers work up an appetite for even more Greek food with the following 9 items offered:

-village salad – featuring tangy feta cheese made from sheep’s milk and plump kalamata olives

-grape leaves stuffed with rice or beef and flavored with mint

-spanakopita – spinach phyllo pie with pine nuts

-tyropita – phyllo pie made with feta and ricotta cheese

-pastitio – Greek lasagna with beef, macaroni, tomatoes, and a cream sauce seasoned with cinnamon that gives this dish a delicate taste

-moussaka – layered tomato and eggplant cooked in a tomato sauce flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg

-the famous gyro sandwich – made with garlic seasoned pressed beef in pocket bread (pita) with cucumber and garlic sauce

-souvlaki – lamb or pork kebab

-barbecue chicken

As your server wishes you, “Bon Appetit! (Kali Orexi),” it is easy to see how Greek women discreetly rule the home through the stomach.

Wine adventurers might want to try the white Retsina wine made from Savatiano grapes grown in the Attica region around Athens.

Legend recounts that the ancient Greeks added pine resin to this wine to discourage invaders from drinking it.  When I drink Retsina with feta cheese, black olives, and bread, I think it is refreshing just like the modern Greeks do.

Monterey’s Greek community invites festivalgoers to enjoy festival kéfi, joyful exuberance, at their Greek Festival held over Labor Day Weekend in Monterey, California.

End of Article

Notes:

2019 Idea – Maybe a pre-paid “reserve and pick up” dessert and cookie box areas would increase festival sales.  Suggested areas: one in the festival area and another in a far parking lot that would allow drive-thru pickups for the disabled, elderly, or families with babies.

Maybe those dessert and cookie boxes could be sold throughout the year at Demetra restaurants as a dessert and take out item.

FYI – I saw a sign for a gyros restaurant in Seaside, California.  I have not tried the restaurant yet, but it might be worth a try.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France


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