San Diego Foodstuff Earns Feedspot Position in Top 50 San Diego Blogs and Websites on the Web

San Diego Foodstuff, the food blog I launched back in 2007, has been included in Feedspot's list of Top 50 San Diego Blogs and Websites. This comes after SDF was awarded Best of Show for website entries by the San Diego Press Club last October. 

Feedspot explained that winners were ranked based on the following criteria:

• Google reputation and Google search ranking
• Influence and popularity on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites
• Quality and consistency of posts.
• Feedspot’s editorial team and expert review

So, perhaps your business would like to join Specialty Produce in advertising on it to support my work...

Restaurateur Masters Wholesome Latin Cuisine

Long before it was trendy, Isabel Cruz, of Isabel’s Cantina and Coffee Cup, was putting a healthy spin on Latin cuisine. Back in the 1990s, when she opened her first restaurant, The Mission, she put dishes on the menu she wanted to eat and would be healthful but that wouldn’t make her feel that she was depriving herself.

All these years later, she follows the same philosophy. “Our dishes have simple ingredients and are made from scratch,” she said. “They’re healthy and simplified and allow for restrictions, like gluten free, low-fat, and paleo.”

I met with Cruz just before New Year's to learn just how she does it--and came away impressed with the range of dishes she creates that are technicolor gorgeous--even in winter--and equally delicious. Albondigas--turkey meatballs--in a comforting veggie-filled broth. A brilliantly vibrant citrus salad. And pepita-crusted seabass with an orange coconut chili oil you'll want to have around for other dishes. 

Read the story and get all five recipes in The San Diego Union-Tribune!

Elegant Recipes for Holiday Entertaining

A holiday party doesn’t have to be a full spread of a meal. Make it easy on yourself — and your guests — and treat them to a cocktail party with elegant seasonal appetizers and drinks.

For my latest story for the San Diego Union-Tribune I spent some time at one of San Diego’s most elegant restaurants, Addison, with both executive chef William Bradley and mixologist Ian Ward. They created what can be the foundation and inspiration for your holiday cocktail party. 

Ward presented two cocktails: his Pumpkin Lemonade, a striking orange rum-enhanced drink, and his Fleur de Noel, brilliantly red thanks to hibiscus tea, and popping with distinctly tropical flavors.

Bradley showed off “BLT” canapés, a pork lover’s dream of unsliced bacon (feel free to use pork belly for real extravagance and richness) wrapped in feuille de brick — ready-made thin pastry sheets — and sautéed until crisp, then topped with tomato confit and tiny lettuce leaves.

Bradley’s Caviar Tart is totally New Years — a pâte brisée tart filled with crème fraîche and thinly sliced chives, then topped, of course, with caviar.

Read the story and get all four recipes in The San Diego Union-Tribune!

Creative Crullers from Nomad Donuts

Love crullers? Well, Nomad Donuts's Kristianna Zabala taught me how to make hers--three stunning varieties. Yes, you can do this at home! Read all about it here in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Multiple Awards, Including Best of Show, from San Diego Press Club

Last night was the 2017 San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards event. I was stunned to learn that my 10-year-old food blog, San Diego Foodstuff, was awarded Best of Show in the Website entries category. The entire category! I feel very honored--and, yes, gobsmacked. I also was awarded four other honors: two first place, one second place, and one third place award. Here's what they were for:

• First Place Websites: Blog-Topic Based for San Diego Foodstuff
• First Place Online and Daily Newspapers -Food for my post on San Diego Foodstuff ("Mort's Favorites")
• Second place Websites-Blog by Corporation or Group for the American Personal and Private Chef Association's blog à al minute that I write
• Third place Magazines-Environment for my story for Edible San Diego ("Closing the Loop: A Zero-Waste Sustainability Business). 

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.