Milanese-Style Pizza Making for Home Cooks

Just over a year ago, two young guys from Milan opened up Ambrogio15 in San Diego's Pacific Beach neighborhood. The thin-crust pizza is crispy and decadent. Lucky me, one of the partners, Andrea Borrone, who is the pizza maker, taught me how he does it--even changing up the recipe for home cooks so it will work in our conventional, lower-temperature ovens. And he pairs the Arugula Pistachio Pesto Pizza, traditional Pizza Margherita, and Salsiccia, Cippole, Pomodori Secchi Pizza with a wonderful acidic fennel Sicilian Salad with Citronette Dressing. I am happy to share his recipes and techniques for all these with readers in this new story that appears in the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Culinary Training for Those in Need of a Fresh Start

If you are feeling bombarded by bad news, take heart. Great things are going on in communities--including San Diego. It's why I love Kitchens for Good, which I just wrote about for The San Diego Union-Tribune's food section. The focus of the piece is on their teaching component. They offer a course for people with barriers to employment to learn culinary and workplace skills--and their grads are getting jobs! You can read about the program here--and get three of their recipes. Photography by Nancee Lewis.

How to Be a Pasta Pro

There are so many talented chefs in San Diego who make pasta from scratch and with whom I've spent time in the kitchen picking up tips and recipes. I shared what I learned from Jeremy Oursland of Bottega Americano and his pasta chef Karen Martinez in The San Diego Union-Tribune! We got a tutorial in making and rolling out pasta, creating gorgeous ravioli, and, to accompany it, a recipe for a stone fruit salad. Thanks also to the great video shot by photographer Eduardo Contreras, who also took the photo above, what they taught me should inspire you to make it at home! 

The Passing of a Farm

With the astounding announcement that Lucila de Alejandro (above) and Robin Taylor were closing their iconic Suzie's Farm, San Diego's food community was left with mouths dropped on the floor. Many of us knew that keeping the farm going was always a struggle but the couple had just muscled on, believing in the power of community to turn things around.

But, ultimately, the burden of debt without profit proved too much. Last week, right after the news broke via a live video Lucila posted on Facebook, my editor at Edible San Diego asked me to write first an editorial on the implications of this loss and later a larger story for the September issue that will focus on what's needed to keep organic farms like Suzie's healthy and viable for the long term. 

Here's the editorial.

Chef Brian Malarkey's Perfect Picnic

When I made a visit to Brian Malarkey's new restaurant/market Urban Eatery, I was struck by the wicker picnic baskets he was selling, along with all the makings of a terrific outing. So, I decided to get his input on how to create the perfect picnic--and get a bunch of recipes, of course. Here's the story, published today in The San Diego Union-Tribune's food section.

Brian Malarkey's Beet and Humboldt Fog Salad. (Eduardo Contreras / U-T)

Home Cooking with Richard Blais--So Good

Recently I had the opportunity to sit with Top Chef alum and San Diego restaurateur Richard Blais and talk about his new cookbook, So Good. The book is Blais' second--and geared toward the home cook who may not be all that keen on trying out Blais' more modernist, science-geek techniques. The recipes are more user-friendly and accessible than you'd think, although he also encourages home cooks to reach a bit. I used my time with Blais to get tips for how to better succeed with various recipes, so you'll get the benefit of his expertise. He's a good teacher. You can find the story in this week's San Diego Union-Tribune food section.