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Prickly Pear Margaritas!
This just in: prickly pears are PRICKLY!!! Cactus Pear Margarita with rose & lime…sublime Yes, they are aptly named. Can you believe it? Well I couldn’t. I was too good for gloves. Too good for...
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Farm to Table Spring Crudités with Confit Onion Dip
Crudité platters need to be brought back from the 1980′s graveyard! They should burst with seasonal veggies of gorgeous color and shapely form. After all, the veg platter does not need to be sanctioned...
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Green Garlic & Nettle Vichyssoise
Green garlic & nettle are the heralds of Spring! Both are exceptionally mild so don’t let the ‘garlic’ part of the title scare you away. I know it sounds a little frightening but green garlic...
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Heirloom Carrot & Nopalitos Green Salad
I’m officially announcing my new favorite ingredient: nopales! I’m having tons o’ fun with edible beaver tail cactus and its fruit (prickly pear or ‘tuna’) since it grows wild on Pie Ranch and since...
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Roast Pork Loin with Prickly Pear Glaze
Any excuse to use my last name in a recipe – and ‘Glaze’ really is my last name! As mentioned in my last post on nopales I am having a fun time experimenting with edible cactus including its fruit, the...
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Spoonbread! (It’s Gluten Free)
This gluten-free cornmeal soufflé is without a doubt the most satisfying creation I’ve feasted upon since giving up all wheat products. I baked one off as a test run for a farm-to-table event, and the...
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Nopales & Delicata Squash Quiche
This post concludes my love affair with nopales. Yes, my little prickly friend, we are done! I have used you up and now we must part. And same to you Delicata, you are the very end, my friend. It was...
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Roasted Beet & Cara Cara Salad with Orange Blossom Vinaigrette
I’ve got to squeeze in the end-of-Winter-citrus recipes before Spring blankets us in sweet peas, strawberries, and rhubarb! Cara Cara & beets salad with fennel, orange blossom vinaigrette, and...
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Chorizo & Feta Stuffed Calamari with Tuscan Bean Salad
Maybe it’s the abnormally hot weather in SF, but I’m craving food that is: tangy, spicy, salty, juicy and fresh– nothing manicured, or tweezed to perfection, or ridiculously complex with subtle...
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Rosé Poached Salmon, Lemony Parmesan Cream & Pommes Anna
I missed posting this for Easter – good thing Mother’s Day is right around the corner! How about rosé wine poached salmon infused with herbs and sauced with lemony Parmesan cream for brunch? Rosé...
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Cooking Classes at Pie Ranch!
Are you interested in cooking organic just-picked produce and preparing local and sustainable meat & fish in a farm setting? NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! Come cook with me at Pie Ranch! We will make a...
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Cooking with the Legendary Chef Faz
No, I’m not drowning in some self-afflicted pool of despair – that is not why I haven’t posted in eons. Quite the opposite, I am now the Executive Corporate Chef (official title: Culinary Arts...
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Hami Melon & Avocado Salad
Hami melon is my latest and greatest discovery of the summer. It’s sweet & salty like cantaloup. Crisp & juicy like watermelon. And refreshing and delicate in color – so pale in fact that it...
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Pan Seared Fluke with Warm Wild Mushroom & Lentil Salad, Sunchoke Smear & Lardon
Oh how I WISH that I had stayed current with my blog over the last 8 months, but alas I’ve been so busy with 5 restaurants that weekly fish specials have come and gone! Here is one for Winter; I love...
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Blood Orange & Castelfranco Radicchio Winter Salad
How totally snobby does this salad sound: Cara Cara Blood Orange & Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco Salad? I would burst out laughing if I saw that actually printed on a menu, but hey, that’s...
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Truffled Celeriac Soup with Dungeness Crab & Romanesco
For a root that looks like a large baseball dusted with dirt, celeriac sure is rich tasting. Celeriac’s flavor is reminiscent of cream-of-celery soup straight out of a Campbell’s can and yet, this...
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Persimmon Upside Down Spice Cake
Is there any Winter fruit more beautiful than Persimmon? Persimmon Upside Down Cake with Hachiya and Fuyu Persimmons Especially the Hachiya persimmons; the heart-shaped flame colored fruit hangs heavy...
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Pomegranate Swordfish with Romanesco Couscous & Labneh Dill Sauce
I create recipes for five Mediterranean restaurants that are Persian inspired so it only makes sense that our cuisine reflects that influence. The flavors of Iran are exciting and the colors vibrant. I...
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Fuyu Persimmon & Little Gem Lettuces with Labneh Kefir Ranch Dressing
Did I mention that my new favorite ingredient is Labneh? The thick kefir based strained tangy yogurt (some say soft cheese) that is mega delicious and packed with bazillions of probiotics? If you’re a...
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Tamarind Scented Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Pomegranate & Pistachio
This is a sensuous soup with earthy flavors that hit all the right spots. Tamarind lends a sweet n’ sour finish to the puréed caramelized cauliflower and pomegranate gives a bright pop with toasted...
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Chermoula Roasted Salmon with Saffron Pearl Cous Cous and Dill-Lebni Sauce
This is a mainstay for four Faz restaurants. It started out as a special item at our Oakland location and then customers kept asking for it, so now it’s at all the restaurants! I love the sour n’ spicy...
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Strawberry & Bibb Lettuce Salad with Creamy Herb Dressing
Spring salads! The easiest way to breathe new life into a menu is to update the salads. So it’s out with the pear and pomegranate starter that was so popular during the Winter and in with the berries...
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Spring Radish & Snap Pea Salad with Sumac Vinaigrette
Finally Spring is here! Yay for the verdant greens of baby lettuces, peas & asparagus and the popping pinks of radishes & strawberries! Here’s another easy salad for all the upcoming Easter or...
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Baked French Toast with Orange Blossom Maple Syrup
Is it the weekend yet? I’m ready for Sunday brunch! This might be the most over engineered baked french toast recipe on earth, but it also elicits comments like: “This is the best I’ve ever had”. The...
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Shrimp Salad Appetizer
Here’s a pretty pastel appetizer for Easter – bay shrimp salad with fennel & radish. I use medium size scallop shells to plate this recipe when serving as an appetizer and large ones for a sit...
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Shaker Lemon Pie
Shaker Lemon Pie a.k.a. Ohio Lemon Pie is one of my top ten favorite lemon desserts – right up there with lemon bars, lemon curd and the French tarte aux citron. The filling calls for thinly sliced...
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Squash Blossom & Walnut Pesto Pasta Salad
Squash blossom & walnut pesto pasta salad can be served warm or cold. I shave in baby summer squash for a little crunch. Add some warm rendered pancetta or grilled shrimp or both for a heartier...
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Grilled Branzino with Green Harissa
Grilled Branzini stuffed with mint, parsley and lemon Branzini is the plural form of branzino, did you know that? After all these years of cooking and I just found that out! I thought they were just...
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Persian Fried Chicken, Sumac Peaches, Sabzi Salad
We’re a Persian-American family. After many years as Chef for six Persian inspired Mediterranean restaurants, plus having a Mother-In-Law who throws lavish dinner parties with delectable traditional...
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How To Talk Like A Mom
Gone are the days where I used to enjoy calling out orders and organizing tickets shouting things like: “One by one on the halibut! Working three steak frîtes all day, 86 shortribs…” Now my lingo takes...
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Rotisserie Leg of Lamb Shawarma
I fell in love with lamb shawarmas way back when I lived in Paris. After a gruelling 12-14 hour day of cooking, I would stop off in the Latin Quarter and devour one of these before crashing. Something...
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Cucumber Labneh Dip: Mast-o-Khiar
This dip is simple, yes, but if you make it right it’s also unbelievably delicious. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked for the recipe! I’ve seen guests gather around this dip and chow down...
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Pink Pearl Apple Galette with Cardamom Brown Butter
I’m the Johnny Appleseed for Pink Pearl apples because I plant one wherever I go. It’s my good luck tree. If I’ve got a backyard, then I’ve got a Pink Pearl. To me, they are the perfect apple:...
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Grilled Artichokes with Anchovy Remoulade and Mint
I don’t think you can call yourself a Bay Area resident if you don’t know how to eat an artichoke, it’s sort of a right of passage around these parts. My Dad, who grew up on a farm in Ohio, said he...
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Herb Crusted Flank Steak with Cherry Tomatoes and Olives
My Step-Dad used to call this easy grilled flank steak recipe “A company diner!” meaning that it was so delicious he would happily serve it to guests. I found this dish in my Mom’s enormous recipe...
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Sliced Tomatoes with Rosemary Flowers and Capers
My Mom loved to serve a simple sliced tomato plate with a little side of mayonnaise when the Northern California dry farmed coastal varieties (like Molinas and Early Girls) hit the farmer’s markets....
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Fluffy, Eggy, Creamy Potato Salad
Warning: this potato salad is addictive. It is really, really hard to stop eating. This is a Southern-style potato salad where Russet potatoes are boiled in their jackets, peeled while still warm and...
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Turning 45, Embracing Miracles and Thankfully Giving Away
As I sit here typing in the fourth hotel/cabin/place-other-than-home that I’ve lived in during the last two weeks I am filled with a mixture of gratitude, deep aching loss for humanity, and a growing...
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Do Ahead Holiday Brunch For a Crowd
Ah, finally a moment after all the Christmas craziness to sit down. Happy holidays friends and family! Hope you had a good one spending time with loved ones, no matter where you are or what you...
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Plum & Pluot Salad with La Quercia Prosciutto and Dukkah Spiced Flatbread
Holy ham hocks – this American Tamworth prosciutto by La Quercia is delicious! I tasted four different prosciuttos from all over the world and La Quercia completely killed the competition! Seriously,...
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Summer Squash Carpaccio with Seafood Squid Ink Spaghetti
Are your neighbor’s locking the doors and pulling the curtains tight when you come over with a pretty basket (dirty crate) of summer squash? Are you trying to pawn off five-pound zucchinis on...
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Persian Sour Cherry Rice: Albaloo Polo
I grew up in a household that ate potatoes: mashed, roasted, smashed and steamed. We did occasionally eat rice, but it was normally served alongside fish which, during the early 70’s, was not...
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Persian Saffron Chicken Kabobs: Jujeh Kabobs
That’s not a kabob – THIS IS A KABOB!!! Saffron Chicken Kabobs I didn’t want to leave you hanging with that last saffron cherry rice dish (albaloo polo). I know you were like: What do we serve with it...
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Angel Food Cake Topped with Meyer Lemon Curd
Everyone needs their own cake. Everyone. I have mine, do you have yours? Okay, truth be told, my birthday cake is not fancy, I love a simple poppy seed cake dusted with powdered sugar. But my Mom had...
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French Apple Cake
Before I reflect on this French Apple Cake made with magical Pink Pearl apples, I just have to say that this is the first time in over three years, where I have had a moment in the evening to be alone....
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Pork Chops & Pink Apples, Fennel, Shallot & Thyme
My apples! My Pink Pearl apples! My jewels! Where did you go my pink fleshed beauties?!?! Those pesky squirrels…. Last week the tree was loaded with bushels of apples, this week they are practically...
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Pear and Almond Tart
Since everything is haywire this Thanksgiving, I’m opting for something other than the normal pie trifecta (pumpkin, apple, pecan) for dessert. Not that I don’t love pie trifecta – I do! – I’m just...
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Butternut Bisque with Crab
Behind every good recipe is a great adventure. And I promise that this one, will not disappoint. Or actually it will disappoint but only briefly. First, the butternut soup, then the live crab part of...
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Gingerbread Cake with Rum Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house, every creature was stirring, yes, even a mouse! A gingerbread cake spiked neatly with rum, put the children back to bed before they could...
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Braised Short Ribs with Madeira Truffle Sauce
Valentine’s dinner! You know, the dinner that happens after the babies are put to bed? I’m using black truffle for the meat course – this is date night after all! I saw these awesome short ribs at my...
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