A Cold Taste of Spain

Moi and la Cuisine were never close friends, despite my loving cookbooks since I could

read and growing up watching all sorts of cooking programs and food-centered movies.

Lately though, I'm finding cooking inspiration and I want to share it with you!

I love soup and one of my favorites is perfect for hot summer weather, Gazpacho.

There are several versions, but I based this recipe on Gazpacho I once had at this groovy

Spanish restaurant in New Orleans many years ago. It's light, flavorful, healthy and

extremely easy to make!

This is one of those recipes that is open to interpretation, so I'll give you my appx.

amounts/measurements, but you can adjust anything to your taste. When I decide

to make any dish, I look up several versions of the recipe to get an idea of how its

done, then make it my own.

Allow me to suggest... Pay attention to your ingredients, buy the best you can afford,

organic when you can, because there is nothing healthy or tasty about petroleum-based

fertilizers and pesticides nor animal hormones and antibiotics, that are finally being

studied regarding their dangerous effects, but not yet regulated in any meaningful way.

Remember, everything you eat has an effect on your health and happiness.

BOHEMIAN GAZPACHO

Take 1/2 loaf of bread (I use a French loaf or baguette), tear into 2 inch-ish pieces,

put into a bowl and cover with water, set aside. I take the other half, slice it and

make crostini for tapas.

Into your blender or food processor put after washing:

1 cucumber - chopped into 1 inch pieces (no need to peel unless it's waxy)

1 1/2 lb tomatoes (I used roma) - end removed and cut in half

1 red bell pepper - cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cloves garlic - peeled

2 cloves shallot - peeled

Pulse until everything is smooth, NO chunks or bits. You can put aside any of the veggies

and chop finer, if you want to garnish with them.

Then take the soggy bread to your sink and take it by the double-handful and squeeze out

as much excess water as possible, adding it to the blender as you go, transforming the soup

from reddish to pinkish as you process.

Then add and blend in for taste:

Juice from 1/2 large lemon - appx 4 tblsp

Splash of olive oil - appx 3 tblsp

Splash of sherry vinegar - appx 3 tblsp

3/4 tsp salt - use mineral or sea salt

1 tsp ground cumin

Take the soup (either still in blender or transferred to serving bowl) and refrigerate until cold.

It's best made a day in advance, so the flavors can meld and do their magic.

This serves 4 generously. You will be amazed at how flavorful such simple ingredients can be!

Make your visit to Spain complete by serving this with tapas and watching a beautiful film by

my favorite Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar, Talk to Her (2002).

Until next time... Miss Absinthe

Smoky Sweet Salty Spicy Rich and Decadent Piggy Love

I have nearly perfected the taste of love/happiness (non-vegetarian variety). After two years of trial and error so yummy I didn't care, I have taken humble organic smoked bacon, organic brown sugar and spices and transformed them into such deliciousness, words can never truly describe the euphoria involved when devouring/consuming/stuffing your happy mouth, but as an example, Sweetie-pie took about 20 minutes to lick the foil that had remnants of caramelized pig fat and sugar hardened onto it and he nearly growled when I tried to pry it from his hands. I'm telling you this stuff really appeals to the primal child in all of us.

After I candied the bacon, I took the rendered fat, the sugar/spices the bacon marinated in for two days, and the little bits too small to make into candy pieces and reduced them into a luscious caramel that I then poured into candy molds and refrigerated.

Due to the strong addictive nature of this magical porky goodness (like there will be nothing left after tomorrow and that's a lot of piggy), I only make this 2 to 3 times a year to prevent early heart attacks.

Today as I was in the kitchen, this came to mind:

Homer: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Lisa, honey, are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad! Those all come from the same animal!
Homer: [Chuckles] Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

Until next time... Miss Absinthe

Sexy Meaty Goodness at the Golden State Cafe

I've had the Golden State Cafe on Fairfax on my foodie (term used LOOSELY) radar for a couple of weeks. In one convenient location they have two foods that I have been wanting to try for year(s) but have lamely (term used STRONGLY) been unable: Let's Be Frank hotdogs and Scoops gelato. I once got to the hotdog cart and had no cash and once went there just missing it's close-time. Then about a month ago, my guy and me wanted to try Scoops after seeing a play at Sacred Fools (Forever, the Musical!) and were unable due to some street fair blocking all the streets... so we went to Whole Foods and I bought Mashti Malone icecream (tidbit for another day). Point being, I was excited and ready. Now the funny thing... last week when we tried to go (Sunday around 2ish) there was no parking, none, not for blocks on either side of Fairfax... once again I was seemingly THWARTED from hotdogs and gelato, the gods having a right good laugh at my hungry expense. So today, rightly determined, again around 2ish, the quest for more grown-up versions of my childhood favorites was made complete, for now. I was encouraged by our ability to snag a parking spot right in front of the restaurant with 20 minutes left on the meter. Was it worth the wait? Yes.

Fra Mani Italian pork sausage w/ roasted red peppers & caramelized onions

sweet potato wedges with garlic aioli

Let's Be Frank beef hotdog w/ relish & caramelized onions

jalapeno cabbage slaw

We were made to feel instantly welcome (by both the counter staff and one of the owners, Jason), which is something I do not take for granted, even though the recession seems to have brought the customer service bar up a few notches. Only minor snafu is that they were out of the chicken apple sausage my guy wanted, but being an Italian (him) I suggested the Italian sausage ;) hey I take the jokes where I can get them! I love love love hotdogs, so I went the more traditional route and got the beef hotdog. We were both pleased with what we got and hopefully the food porny shots (by him) will convey just how satisfying our meals were.

My hotdog was flavorful, had a nice bite/texture and while having hints of more "conventional" hotdogs, had a subtle difference, brighter if that makes sense. I'm not bothered by it being larger than the bun. That way I got a first bite of simple hotdog before it married with the house-made relish, caramelized onions, mustard and lightly toasted bun. Paired with the not-too-hot jalapeno cabbage slaw which utilizes their garlic aioli ever so lightly, I was able to finish it all without any feeling of heaviness. Oh yeah, I'm already thinking about the next time.

He liked his sausage (well, but not overly seasoned) w/ roasted red peppers and some of my caramelized onions, served with the sweet potato wedges, which he actually ate with the aioli served with them, a miracle since he has this mayo thing that goes back 20 years. It's good stuff. At $7 & $8, which includes tax, 2 toppings and 1 side, for food that is more ethical, local, and sustainable... everybody wins.

We then took a stroll around Fairfax where I snagged a Mexican peasant top and 2 glass bottle thingies (have a project in mind) at Out of the Closet. After making a circuit we went back to GS for a scoop of gelato to share (one way we stay thin). We chose the Salty Chocolate (girl with pms chooses!) and how good was it? It didn't last long enough for a picture. Reminded us a little of fudgecicles we ate as kids... with just the right amount of salt to make it a different take on decadent.

Definitely adding this place to my regular haunts.

Golden State Cafe

426 N. Fairfax

LA CA 90036

Until next time... Miss Absinthe