Everyone, from famous movie stars in their big locked houses up in the hills, to the man who asked me for spare change outside the grocery store has someone who has influenced them. It may be subtle. I know very few people who can sit down and think of one person who made them decide to be whom they are, entirely, with no outside help.  I’ve had lots help, lots of influences, people who have taught me new approaches to food and cooking, who have encouraged me to grow and change and explore new things. Someone asked me recently who my ‘idol’ is. I didn’t know what to say. Simply put, I have many, none of them food network stars or the world’s finest chefs. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a food network star, or the worlds finest chef. But my influences are closer to home. They are my family and friends. People I steal recipes from and cook meals for.  

My parents are both great cooks. Not that either one of them has time, but when they make time, both of them can make amazing meals. Growing up, we never lacked a variety of things to eat. For the most part, they cooked fresh food, in simple ways. Reading food magazines, I see that fresh food prepared simply is a big deal right now. A trend, if you will. My parents have been cooking that way at least 21 years. They could open a restaurant using their own recipes and food they made us for dinner every night and do perfectly well for themselves.

My mom was the person I saw in the kitchen most of the time when I was little. I guess that’s because I was home more, she was home and not working and had a bit more time on her hands. She doesn’t eat meat, but loves fish. So through her I’ve got hundreds of fish and vegetarian recipes. Some of them I love, some of them struck fear into my heart when she put them on the table.  Sorry mom, but I never was a big fan of your root vegetable soup. Not enough salt. Plus it always left me wanting a piece of meat.  Soup aside, my mom makes great meals. Her black bean salad is something I still make all the time. She also makes amazing pastries. Her breads and cakes are great. I remember every Christmas having stolen traditional German bread, filled with dried fruit and glazed with a sweet glaze. It’s one of those things that made our Christmas ours. On Easter it was hot cross buns. When she had time there was fresh bread and muffins. And on birthdays, always home made birthday cakes, never from the store. Her pastries were inspirational. When I open my bakery one day, I fully intend on stealing her recipes. As we got older, there was less time. Either my sister Kieran or I needed to be driven to soccer, choir, orchestra, piano, and school. So birthday cakes started to come from bakeries. But there was always Easter and Christmas to look forward to.  Also, thanksgiving when she’d make pies. Her favorite is mince meat. Mine was probably her apple and cranberry tart.

My dad cooked dinner a lot. And more and more as we got older, mom got busier with work and two growing girls. And except for the holidays, which deserve their own article, the food was simple and rarely varied in format. Protein, starch, and vegetables. Sometimes dessert. A lot of times he’d end up cooking 2 or 3 meals in one night to deal with all the dietary restrictions of my family. My mom, as I mentioned before, doesn’t eat meat. My sister, at about 14, went vegetarian. I’m pretty much an omnivore, as is my father. So dinners could be a bit complicated. He took it all in stride. I can’t really think of a time my dad made pastries. It isn’t his thing. He loves to eat them, but rarely makes them. But his dinners are good. Basic, in the best, most complementary sense of the word, and delicious. My favorite meal that he ever makes has to be his chicken. Salted, peppered, broiled till the skin is crispy and bubbly and the meat is cooked through. Not a whole chicken that would be hard to do without burning it. Dad always used a cut up chicken that he spent what seemed like an eternity picking out at the store. Now I understand the importance of finding a good looking piece of meat, but as a kid, hanging on the back of the shopping cart, I didn’t quite understand why he couldn’t just grab the first one he found. He makes the best green beans in the world, stir fried with lots of garlic and almonds in the beat up old wok that has to be the best, most seasoned pot in the house. The garlic gets crispy, the almonds get toasted and the beans are tender, sweet, and sprinkled with salt.

My sister has been an influence too. Not in the same way as my parents. She didn’t teach me how to cook anything, encourage me to play in the kitchen, or yell at me to clean up my mess (cleanliness is important, from the biggest professional kitchen down to the smallest family kitchen. Now I know that. At the time, cleaning was a drag). But Kieran did help me become who I am today in the kitchen. When I left school and took over some of the cooking duties in the house, trying to figure out what I really wanted to do, I cooked dinners. She had gone vegetarian and I got to figure out the many creative uses for vegetables to satisfy a budding vegetarian’s palate. Even before that, when we were both younger, we worked as a team in the kitchen. I remember countless batches of cookies we baked and decorated together. It had to be hundreds, if not thousands. I also remember the meals we’d cook together for our parents. Sometimes they worked. Sometimes they didn’t. A lot of the time, Kieran and I would argue. Looking back on it all, it was fun.

I’m sure there have been other influences on the way. I have vague memories of my dad’s aunt Helen making delicious cookies. I definitely remember family dinners at my grandfather's house, how there were lots of people and always lots of food and laughing. I know that I grew up in a very ethnically diverse neighborhood in Chicago. There are people from all over the world and restaurants from all over the world, all in that little neighborhood of Hyde Park. Walk through one of the larger apartment buildings and you’ll probably smell a lot of it being cooked; everything from curry to Chinese dumplings to broiled chicken, the stink of kim chee and fragrance of French pastries. Hyde Park had it all. Growing up, I’d eat at friend’s houses and restaurants. I think I had tried more kinds of food in the first 5 years of my life than many of the adults I know have.

Here in LA, I’m discovering new influences all of my own. A lot if it is based on our proximity to the Mexican border. I can go into a taqueria and have the most delicious, most savory tacos for a couple dollars. Not fast food tacos, but small, fresh tortillas with flavorful braised meat, some cilantro leaves and maybe some salsa fresca. Food that flavorful needs nothing more, no sour cream, no cheese, and no refried beans. LA is a driving town. You don’t get many places on busses here, so everyone drives. And with the driving, comes traffic. I end up getting off the freeway and onto side streets a lot, which ends up taking just as long, but I see things on the way. There are stores and restaurants with lines out the door. The Spanish grocery store and restaurant rolled into one in Silverlake, with the best Paella I’ve had yet, Indian and Persian spice markets, Chinese dim sum and well, Chinese wholesale meat markets, where you get to see your chickens running around before you eat them. The way to learn here, in a new city, is to keep my eyes and ears open.

Mom’s Black Bean Salad

This is a refreshing summer salad that will keep in the refrigerator and actually get more flavorful and delicious for about a week. It’s all about marinating the beans. They take on wonderful flavors. Last time I made this salad I probably spent about 10 dollars. It lasted me a week or so. And I shared.

• 2 cans black beans (regular sized cans, the one in my pantry says 15 oz, drained)
• 2 cans corn (drained)
• 4 ribs celery, washed, leaves removed, fine diced
• 1 red pepper, cleaned, seeded, diced
• 1 green pepper, cleaned, seeded, diced
• ½ red onion, diced
• ½ cup packed FRESH cilantro leaves
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup lime juice
• 1 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Basically, you put everything in a large bowl, toss it a few times, and let it marinate in the refrigerator at least 3 hours. It couldn’t be simpler.

Dads Chicken

I basically gave the recipe earlier, just repeating myself. This is one of those dishes, that when made right, I could eat forever.

• 1 cut up chicken, skin on. None of that boneless skinless stuff
• Salt and pepper

1. Turn the oven on broil.
2. Salt and pepper the chicken, both sides.
3. Broil, bottom (bone) side first. When skin is crispy flip so that the top, (meatier, or prettier) side is up, let that broil till the skin is crisp. When poked with a fork and the juices run out clean. Technically poultry is done at about 170-180 degrees, if you insist on using a thermometer.                            

Enjoy!

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