Luxurious Pappardelle with Pork Ragu

You may have noticed that the frequency of my posts has waned a bit lately.

There are a few reasons for this… one, is I am very pregnant and I underestimated the amount of brain energy that creating a whole new human being would consume. I can’t speak for anyone else, but at age 41, this procreating thing has put me into an existential tail spin and also made me a little tired. I probably could have written posts about just anything to satisfy the crowd that believes “YOU HAVE TO POST WEEKLY, AT LEAST!!!” or it is blog suicide. I would love to post weekly and perhaps I will begin doing so again. I strive to write about things that I am proud of and that I can go back to in a few years and re-publish because it was that “intentional”. I appreciate those of you who are subscribed to my blog and smile when a new post appears in their inbox. I am very excited about future blog posts, videos, RealFoodies and The Yum Factor and I am figuring out how to balance that excitement with the thrill of bringing a little human being into my family that brings with her a whole world of gadgets and gear that, until now, I only observed on passerby strollers. Ok – my philosophical moment is over… for now.

PAPPARDELLE WITH PORK RAGU

A simple little table for a mind blowing dish

This is one of my favorite dishes at Delarosa on Chestnut Street in San Francisco. They call it Pappardelle Napoletana. It is luscious and sexy, yet so comforting, kinda like the perfect partner. Oy – enough with the metaphors. If you have never had pappardelle pasta, you need to. These thin and wide ribbons of gorgeous pasta are the perfect bed for the most simple sauce to this hearty ragu. It is the pasta equivalent of silk sheets.

I looked up a few recipes on the Google because I wanted to impress my man for our anniversary. I found one that sounded like it could taste like the one at Delarosa and tweaked it a bit. I am going to ask if Chef  Ruggero Gadaldi if he will share his and will compare the two for you when I have it. For now, this one, along with my tweaks, turned out beautifully. I could have eaten two huge plates and not just because I am prego.  Items I tweaked are in bold. You may click here to see original recipe. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/recipe/appardelle-pork-ragu.html

WHAT

• 1 rack baby back ribs, cut into individual ribs – or 4 rib pieces
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2-8 Tbs. olive oil ( I like a lot of evoo)
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped into very small pieces – I ended up with big chunks o carrots, which I didn’t like. 
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3/4 cup dry red wine (original calls for 1/2 cup)
• 1 can (28 oz.) plum tomatoes, chopped ( I used San Marzano – available at Trader Joe’s)
• 1-2 T Dried Oregano
• 1 lb. fresh pappardelle (recipe calls for making it. I don’t think so)
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese, plus more for serving

Pappardelle with Pork Ragu - tastes better than it looks

HOW

Pat the ribs dry with paper towels and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In a nonreactive Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the ribs and brown, turning as needed, until nicely caramelized on all sides, about 20 minutes. Transfer the ribs to a plate.

Add the onion, carrot and celery to the pot, reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until tender and golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a simmer and deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits from the pot bottom. Cook for 1 minute to cook off some of the alcohol. Add the tomatoes, 1 cup water, and a pinch each of salt and pepper and bring the mixture to a simmer. Return the ribs to the pan, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the ribs are very tender and the meat comes away easily from the bone, about 2 1/2 hours.

Remove the ribs from the sauce and let cool slightly. Remove the meat from the bones and shred it. Return the meat to the pan and cook, uncovered, over low heat until the sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot three-fourths full of water to a rolling boil over high heat and add about 2 Tbs. salt. Add the fresh pappardelle, stir well and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 1 to 2 minutes. DO NOT OVERCOOK FRESH PASTA (Reserve a little pasta water just in case) Drain and add the pasta to the sauce, tossing gently to coat evenly. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup cheese and toss again. Serve immediately and pass additional cheese at the table. Supposed to serve 6-8, but I think 4 is more like it if you serve it with a light salad. Will serve 6-8 if there are other apps or main dishes involved.

Adapted from a recipe Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Italian by Michele Scicolone (Oxmoor House, 2007).

The salad shown with the pasta is simply pre-washed Maché rosettes with avocado, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. I needed something citrusy and light to cut the heaviness of the pasta.

Pregnant pause: This simply means to pause during speech to create suspense. I wish I did more of this. These pauses make you look like you are thinking deeply about what you are going to say next when, in fact, you are thinking of how happy you are that the McRib is back at McDonald’s for a limited time.

Me at SFTaste 2013

I know people aint got no time no more to read a lot, however I am going to tell you everything, but I will separate it into small “tapas” portions so you can read what you would like first. Here is how it is going to go.

1. HOW I ENDED UP AT THIS YEAR’S TASTE OF THE NATION EVENT IN SF, FOR FREE.

2. WHAT DID I EAT AT THIS YEARS TASTE OF THE NATION FOR FREE.

3. WHY SHARE OUR STRENGTH MATTERS TO ME PERSONALLY

1. HOW DID I END UP AT THIS YEAR’S TASTE OF THE NATION IN SF FOR FREE AND DID I FEEL DIRTY?

I felt a little dirty. I have paid to attend this event before and felt very good about it. I am 7 months pregnant and decided that this might not be the year to attend and I felt ok about it for reasons you will read in number 3. So how did my husband and I end up getting all dolled up and stuff our faces with the most delectable food ever for gratis? I was on Facebook and a friend of mine posted a thing that said, “win two tickets to this year’s Taste of the Nation” I took my dirty and greedy finger, made sure no one was looking and clicked. A few days days later, I got an email in my inbox and “boom” I had won! There went my lottery ticket luck. I quickly IM’d my husband and he said, “great, but do they know that you volunteer/teach Cooking Matters Classes, which is a Share Our Strength Program and do they know you are on the board of Three Squares, the non-profit that runs Cooking Matters in the Bay Area?” I held my head a little low and wrote to the peeps at Taste and told them and said, I understood if this precluded me from being able to win said tickets. They responded by saying that it was all the better! Yahoo, my conscience was mostly clear and I hoped I could find a dress that would not make me look like a black Easter egg with legs.We did participate in a few auctions, a wine thing and a spin the wheel thing.. to lessen the guilt.

2. WHAT DID I EAT AT THIS YEARS TASTE OF THE NATION FOR FREE?

This is going to sound a little bit FA FA, but I have been to many foodie events where the small bites were not that great and you ended up really wanting to swing by Super Duper burger after, or in my So Cal days, Tommys. I have to apologize to all of the amazing chefs that I missed. My husband warned me not to take a clutch purse because I would be wielding a camera, beverage and little plates. I didn’t listen. A girls gotta have a purse. It turns out that my hand, that I thought was bionic when it came to taking perfect low light macro shots, had given up some of it’s power to the baby, so all I have here are a meager 8 photos of amazing food.

Only 8 of a number of mind blowing dishes!

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER BECAUSE EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING. SORRY I WASN’T ABLE TO PHOTOGRAPH ALL OF THE FOOD.

Just when I say that I am kinda sick of the food snobbery that happens in San Francisco, I end up eating my words, literally at an event like this. There really is so much talent in these 7×7 miles and it is even better when they all come together for a great cause.

1. PARK TAVERN: Deviled eggs have made a come back in the last 1o years, but these really stand out above the rest. Luckily, you can get them any day of the week at Park Tavern.

2. SONS AND DAUGHTERS: Roasted beets with vadouvan and pickled mustard seeds. To some, this may look like the mini contents of a compost bin, to me, it is art and to my tongue, it was almost illegal. Holy cow, what a way to elevate beets.

3. MAYFIELD BAKERY AND CAFE: (Palo Alto) Pulled Stone Valley Farm pork, coleslaw, brioche. Pulled pork is another one of those dishes that it over done, but I didn’t think that after I tasted this. I wanted five more.

4. BOULEVARD: Snake River Farms flat iron tataki,Cherry blossom tempura. Perfectly executed little bites of tasty meatiness.

5. 25 LUSK: Truffled mushroom cheesecake. I feel almost guilty featuring this because I have such a big crush on this place. This little mushroomy bite was oh so tasty.

6. RN74: Coffee Eclair with Trinidad Rum, White Coffee, Cream and Hazlenut. I think there was a churro in there. This was one of the best desserts I have tasted in my whole life and my husband felt the same way. I am happy to report that it is on their menu. I must have one soon. Baby wants it!

7. SPRUCE: Boudin Noir, a.k.a blood sausage. I am a bit of a blood sausage snob because I have been eating it since childhood and I am really partial to the Colombian and Spanish variety. This one was delicious. I did miss a little of the dirtyness of my South American favorite, but you wouldn’t.

8. LA CONDESA: (Napa/St. Helena) Pork belly sopes with fig jam, Point Reyes Blue Cheese and Apple- Tomatillo Salpicón. These were really yummy and reminded me a little of Colombian arepas. They even switched out the cheese to a different cheese to accomodate my pregnantness. So nice. Can’t wait to try this place when I am in Napa. Their web site is all about the food and drink porn. Don’t look at it if you are hungry. It is beautiful.

9. (not shown) COQUETA: I am so sad that I took the blurriest photo ever of Michael Chiarello’s Sangria Moderna – a silky frozen Sangria, with lime, Raspberry Fizzy and Apple Gelee. I was three spoons deep when my husband said, “there’s alcohol in that”. I finished the 4th spoon and quickly put it down. I love Michael Chiarello’s Bottega in Napa and I am over the moon to know the he and his team will be opening Coqueta (flirt) soon in San Francisco. I can’t wait!

3. WHY SHARE OUR STRENGTH MATTERS TO ME PERSONALLY

As you read above, I have taught Cooking Matters Classes in SF. Cooking matters teaches free cooking and nutrition classes in the Bay Area. Each class is 3 hours long and happens once a week for 6 weeks. I have taught 8, which puts me at 144 hours. Yes, I am bragging, cus I think it is cool. Teaching Cooking Matters classes gives me huge satisfaction. The participants learn so much. There is a nutritionist in each class that changes the way our participants look at their food and nourish themselves and their families. I have become a better cook because of it and am always humbled by how positive and wonderful the participants are despite struggling to make ends meet for their families. I also get a chance to hone my stand-up skills in Spanish or at least, I think so. This year, Taste of the Nation will give a chunk of what they raised to Three Squares, the local non-profit that runs Cooking Matters in the Bay Area. I am on the board of Three Squares. Being on board sounds so stuffy, but our board is anything but. We are just there to be Cinderella’s mice to our “leader” Sarah Nelson, the petite spitfire who continues to kick ass and make our local world a lot better. Enough of that soap box. Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign also strives to help more kids get school lunches. I am pretty sure I was on that free lunch program when I was little. My parents barely spoke English and even though we weren’t destitute, I am sure it helped that they knew I was getting a nice warm meal at school. Perhaps they weren’t the healthiest warm meals, but they were food. I will never forget the cheese toast or turkey cubes with mashed potatoes and gravy. It was all exotic food to me. Yum.

* There was a huge room with beautiful libations from local wines to craft beers and gorgeous spirits, but alas, this prego didn’t partake, so I can’t write about it. My husband drank a little of all of it, but can’t remember any of it, cus he drank a little of all of it.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS ON THE OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE

Meet the Gibraltar... Yum. Would you look at the gorgeous color? Look at it!

What is a Gibraltar, you ask? If you are an SF coffee aficcionado or a hipster you already know the answer.

A while back, I wrote a post about “Macchiato”. That was my coffee of choice, a single shot of espresso, with just a little foam or milk… except for I always asked for more hot milk or I added a ton of half n half after. I realize now that it wasn’t really a Macchiato that I loved afterall.

Not too long ago, I asked for my Macchiato with extra hot milk and the barista said, “Would you like a Gibraltar instead? … it sounds like this is what you want.” A few minutes later, Mr. Barista handed over a beautiful little coffee served up in what looked like an oversized shot glass. I added my usual ton of sugar and proceeded to enjoy the PERFECT coffee for my taste. It reminded me of a Cuban “cortado”. Cortado means “cut”, as in espresso cut with some milk.

I was so excited, so I took many risks at many different coffee joints and asked for a “Gibraltar”. I was met with many squints, some cocked heads, a few blank stares, but mostly the word, “NO”. I knew that Gibraltars were new to me, but had no idea that I was actually an “early adopter” of this coffee drink. I wasn’t sure whether to be proud or bummed because I just wanted a fricken Gibraltar and I wanted it now. I had no idea how these were made, so I “winged it” asking for them in a broken down fashion… “Hi, I would like, well, it’s called a Gibralter, usually comes in a small clear glass, but I don’t see that you have one, so I think it is like a little espresso with like double the milk?” and one barista said to me, “next time, just order and pay for a capuccino” I have had many capuccinos in life. A Gibralter is NOT a capuccino.

HOW TO ORDER A GIBRALTAR TO GO:

You don’t.

There was the time that I ordered a Gibralter TO GO and the person said, “We can’t make it to go because it is only a Gibralter if it is served in the glass.” I became a little frustrated and said, “well, can’t you just make the same coffee drink, but pour it in a paper cup?” NO. So then, I just ordered it “for here” and poured it in a paper cup myself.

I realized that I had NO idea where this little perfect coffee drink came from, so I Googled it and found that the famous Bay Area based coffee people, Blue Bottle Coffee, invented the drink. From SF Wiki:

” The Gibraltar is a specialty espresso drink invented by Blue Bottle Coffee. It is served in a small 5oz glass and consists of a double shot of espresso and 3 ounces of steamed milk. The drink is served at a lower temperature, usually around 120 degrees, and without foam and minimal texture. It is larger than a macchiato and smaller than a cappuccino.

The drink was originally something made only by baristas who would instead of wasting the extra milk from a latte would pull a new shot and pour the now cool milk into the shot. Gibraltar!

I also discovered that I wasn’t that early of an adopter, since there have been posts about this drink since 2009, but why do I still get the squints, nods and stink eye? It might just be me. I am overly nice and smiley and that is like wearing a skunk for a scarf in SF. Nice and personable are just not en vogue in SF.

My favorite Gibraltar in SF is served by Jane on Fillmore Street. It is so perfect that it doesn’t require a pound of sugar to remove the bitterness of the coffee. The baristas there always finish it with nothing short of a work of art flower, heart or squiggly design on top and it just makes me SO happy. They also serve it with a smile. Jane makes incredible pastries and serves up delicious food as well.

Jane on Fillmore. Notice the little glass for my Gibraltar.

The biggest difference between my last coffee lover, the macchiato and my current flame, the Gibraltar is two shots of espresso. I still enjoy a macchiato, mostly because I feel molto Italian when I order it, but it dissapears so fast. The Gibraltar allows me to enjoy more coffee happiness, without the extra jolt because I order mine half caf. I had to explain half caf to a fella the other day. It wasn’t pretty.

The real Gibraltar is a British overseas territory, Island between Spain and Morrocco.

The drink is named Gibraltar because the little beveled shot glass is called a Gibraltar. If you know where it got it’s name, please tell me.

OLLI SALAMI. Photo property of OLLI.

I was going to write about several products that stood out at the Winter Fancy Food Show that took place in San Francisco in January of this year and when I began to write about OLLI Salumeria as my first favorite, I realized that I could dedicate a entire post to them alone, so I did. Stay tuned for the favorite product recap, but this one is all about OLLI.

OLLI Calabrese style salame - Photo property of OLLI

OLLI SALAME

I had consumed a fair amount of OLLI salamis prior to tasting them at the show. I rarely purchase tasty meat products based on packaging, but I admit that I had instant attraction to their gorgeous packaging. Beautiful packaging tries to convey that something special is on the inside, but it is not always the case when it comes to specialty food.

When I brought home my first OLLI Salame, I was impressed by the texture of the paper they use for packaging and then more impressed by the powdery exterior of the casing. It reminded me of the first real cured sausages I had enjoyed in Spain over 15 years ago. There is a subtlety to the flavor that is hard to find in store bought salame. Their packaging looks simple, yet is masterfully engineered, the casing is man made to replicate all of the benifits of animal casing, but none of the flaws and the salame is… sublime, but don’t take my word for it.

OLLI Salumi is made in the US, yet tastes like the most delicate and artisanally-produced European salumi I have ever enjoyed. If you read the story about the founders, Oliviero (Olli) Colmignoli and Charles (Chip) Vosmik, the passion with which they operate and the attention to every detail, you can actually taste that story in every bite. Here is the video. See for yourself.

A Portrait: Olli Salumeria from Bureau Of Common Goods on Vimeo.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE NICE TO MAKE SOMETHING GREAT.

It is sad, but you don’t. However, I love companies that make wonderful and delicious products and who happen to be founded or lead by good people. I’ll call this my burgeoning 40-year old wisdom. Perhaps I have accrued too many life coaching sessions or read one too many self-help books, but a word that is the benchmark for how I strive to live my life is “impeccability”. Don’t mistake this with perfection. Impeccability is hard to achieve, but if at the end of the day, I have done one or two things impeccably, I feel pretty good.

I approached OLLI’s booth at the show and ignored, if only for a moment, the Gringo rule of not eating cured meats while pregnant. I told the fellow manning the booth, Robert, how much I loved their products and packaging. I ate some more. He gave me a beautiful red hat with their logo on it. I was like a little girl at Disneyland who had just received a free balloon from Tigger. A few weeks later, I checked out their web site because I had planned to write about them and was awestruck by beauty of it. From their logo, to the video and all of the above. I could tell that these people understand the importance of branding. This is my former ad and marketing side coming out. I wrote to Robert and told him how impressed I was with every aspect of their branding from the logo, to the writing, to the video and packaging and most importantly their salame. I truly wasn’t trying to butter them up or score a years supply of salame. Robert shared my email with a few of the heads of the company and Ross, one of their head honchos, wrote back thanking me for my email. They didn’t have to do that.  I don’t yet have Food Network status and I am not currently a potential investor. They are simply gracious people.

Don’t expect to pay Oscar Meyer prices for this Salami. Buy it to enjoy it solo or with a nice crusty piece of bread, some olive oil and a glass of wine. Click on the main categories to see all of their products and drool a little. Click here to see where you can get some near you.

SALAME
* Pepperoni
* Toscano Salame
* Norcino Salame
* Napoli Salame
* Molisana Salame
* Wild Boar Salame
* Chorizo
* Calabrese Salame

WHOLE CURED MEATS
* Berkshire Prosciutto – Becker Lane Farms
* Speck
* Duroc Prosciutto
* Mangalitsa Prosciutto
* Barley-Fed Berkshire Prosciutto

COOKING FATS
* Guanciale
* Lardo
* Pancetta

Crunchy and Tasty Cluck Cluck Cracklins - say that five times!

10 years ago, cracklins of any sort were relegated to the deep South, including Central and South America and referred specifically to pork skins. I have been crunching on crispy pig skin and belly since I was born. This is one of many reasons I am grateful for being from Colombia. Third world countries were truly ahead of the gourmet curve. We have been eating skin, ears, sweet breads, blood sausage and liver for years. Necessity inspires creativity like nothing else.

10 Points: WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF FRIED OR ROASTED CHICKEN?

ANSWER: Duh, the skin. One time, I was making a fancy dish for some girlfriends that involved braising chicken thighs. I wanted the skins to be crispy, so I decided to roast them separately. Unfortunately, most of the skins went straight into my mouth and never made it onto the dish.

I have made chicken cracklins or chicharrones a few times since then and even posted a pic on Facebook, but I decided that they deserve a post of their own.

If you love Fried chicken or roasted chicken, then free your mind a bit and don’t get skeeved by removing the skins and making precious little crunchy delicacies out of them.

Scroll down to read a snippet about Schmaltz, A.K.A chicken fat, the other unsung hero.

Chicken skins ready to get their cracklin on

HOW TO MAKE TASTY CHICKEN CHICHARRONES

1. Choose to make a dish containing chicken thighs or breasts. Remove the skins. OR ask your chicken monger if he/she can sell you some skin and if there is a better time to pick it up. Start with good hormone free, free range and fresh skins.

2. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 300 F. Wash the skins and dry them thoroughly. Season with salt and anything else that you think would taste good on something fried and crispy. In the photos shown here, I used Spanish smoked paprika, garlic powder and salt.

3. Place skins on a rack in a cookie sheet. You can probably survive without the rack, but I like rendering out most of the fat so that my skins are super crispy and less deadly. Roast for 40-60 minutes. You can give them a flip half way through if they curl and the fat begins to pool.

4. Serve as an appetizer. If you simply salt and pepper them, you can drizzle with a little lime juice right before serving.

READ ABOUT SCHMALTZ

The word schmaltz as I know it, is Yiddish for “chicken fat”. The origin is also German/Austrian and can mean fat rendered from any animal. Historically, Jews could not use fats derived from pork because it is not kosher and they could not use butter to cook with meats because butter comes from cream that comes from cows and it, well, not kosher either.

I love chicken fat. I don’t scoop it off when I make soups. If you have ever had a great matzo ball soup, the balls probably contained schmalz. The Indians prize their Ghee, clarified butter, the French their duck fat, the Southerners their lard/pork fat and the Jews, their Schmalz. I consider schmalz to be a form of liquid gold.

When American Jews refer to someone as “schmalzy”, it means that they are excessively emotional or sappy. I’m a pretty schmalzy gal.

$12,625 is nothing to scoff at, but unfortunately, it isn’t $63k.

One theory for why the project didn’t go viral is because the target audience for the show are everyday people across the nation who don’t understand what crowd-sourced funding is. Many of my friends and family who don’t live in the technology bubble didn’t understand it either. The Kickstarter page had over 650 likes and the the official Facebook page accumulated many likes quickly. People love the idea of the show and simply didn’t follow through to backing.

The success of a Kickstarter project relies heavily on backers at smaller increments and in the case of The Yum Factor, the $25 amount, which allowed people to submit their goodies via video to the show, simply didn’t reach the right audience.

I could go on all day on why it didn’t work, but the task now is how to make the show go on with or without Kickstarter.

One of the options is to relaunch the project, but only ask for a quarter of the funding to create a “teaser” to shop to Networks. Outreach to Networks and Media is already in the works.

For now, please know that you are absolutely awesome for having backed the project. If you would like to remain abreast of the what is happening, please “like” the official page on Facebook.

If you didn’t catch a glimpse of the roof top rain dance that I created to bring in the dough, please check it out.

Thank you and I hope that whatever it is that you are working on or wishing for happens for you! Please never hesitate to reach out if I can be of help with anything.

Claudia Ossa

Founder – RealFoodies, Inc.

http://www.realfoodies.com/tastybits

https://www.youtube.com/user/realfoodie?feature=mhee

http://www.claudiaossa.com

Let's Purge!

Hi Guys… this here is a video about a gadget drawer gone by the wayside. I’m not going to tell you which gadgets you should keep and which ones you should purge, cus that’s personal, but I am going to open up my drawer to you and show you what I did. This is personal stuff!

I love big signs!

If you haven’t heard already, I am on Kickstarter.com raising funds for a wonderful new foodie competetion show called, wait for it, THE YUM FACTOR!… do you love it? WHEN The Yum Factor airs, everyday people who make not so everyday specialty food as a hobby, like brownies, hot sauce or anything really, can compete on the show to get Fairy Godmothered… they will win money to start their business, food business training, beautiful package design from and award winning design team, distribution, a place on the shelf of a specialty food store and a place on the shelf of The Yum Factor online store. They will win everything short of a make-over. Smiley face.

BUT WHAT HECK IS KICKSTARTER?

Kickstarter is nothing short of amazing. It is a place where creative projects come to life because of you and me. I have backed in small increments everything from bbq sauce and a book on afros to a bottle opener and ink to make t-shirts in the sun with negatives. Usually you get “rewards” in return. The reward can be the actual product or in the case of The Yum Factor, a sexy logo bag, a yummy food product, a t-shirt or your chance to enter your goodie and be a contestant on the show.

Folks get confused when they actually click “Pledge” because it takes you to Amazon and kind of forces you to have an account or create and account. Kickstarter’s specialty is being the platform for all of these creative projects to fund themselves, Amazon is the expert on transactions with money.

The most important thing to know about Kickstarter is that no one gets charged if all of the money isn’t raised in the amount of time alloted. This is sad and scary, but also awesome. It just puts that much more pressure on ME to get everyone’s attention and get everyone to back on some level. The most successful projects are those where everyone’s facebook friends participated.

Enough words. If you are passionate about food or you simply want to see if I bomb on tv, please click here to back The Yum Factor! Check out the fun pitch video!

Ross's yummy potato leek soup garnished with a little fresh Thyme

My brother in law is a very quiet guy. It took me about 20 years to figure out that he is not mad at me. Actually, sometimes I still wonder, but mostly it is because I deserve it half the time. To say that I adore him is putting it mildly. He has been the American patriarch of my little Colombian family since he stepped into the picture 27 years ago. He even walked me down the aisle.

Part of his magic lies in that he is always in the kitchen with several pots and pans going at once. My sis, 23 year old niece and 21 year old nephew and I sit around chatting on the couch while he conjures up magic in the kitchen.

Just the other day when I was on a visit he had two soups going, a potato leek and white chicken chili.

We seldom sit at the table, but this time we did. The white chicken chili was really good, but I opted for the potato leek. I was blown away at how delicious it was and when he told me how easy it was, I begged for the recipe. Ross, that’s his name, doesn’t usually stick to any recipe, so I was happy to get this one. I made it the other night for my husband who protested because I wasn’t supporting him in his low carbiness, but then devoured two bowls.

I have always wanted to share more of Ross’s recipes, but again, he is a mood cooker, so it isn’t super easy to get him to write one down, but I promise I will try. The irony is that this man who makes sumptuously delicious food only likes one adjective when it comes to describing great food. Tasty.

ROSS’S TASTY AND VERY EASY POTOTO LEEK SOUP

INGREDIENTS

4 Leeks, green parts and ends chopped off, washed thoroughly and chopped into rough 1/2″ pieces
6 Medium creamer potatoes chopped. (any creamy and waxy potato can be used)
1 Quart/ 1 box of chicken broth. Ross uses Trader Joe’s low sodium. I used Costco organic chicken stock.
Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper
1/4 Cup cream (I used 2% milk and eye balled the thickness)
2 teaspoons of butter and 2 T olive oil (my addition)

HOW

This is where I put my spin on it. Ross boils the potatoes in the broth until done, then adds leeks and lets sit for 5 minutes, purees and adds the rest of the ingredients… I saute the leeks lightly in olive oil and a teeny it of butter for about 10 minutes without browning the leeks, then I add the broth and chopped up potatoes and cook for another 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. I then puree the mixtre using a hand blender right in the pot, you may use a regular blender. Once everything is blended, I add the milk and seasonings. Don’t be afraid to use a good amount of salt and pepper.

TIP:

This is a really easy way to make most cream soups… you can subsitute potatoes for carrots, asparagus, broccoli… use a small onion instead of leeks. Just be careful not to overcook green veggies. Enjoy!