Along with my co-hosts Jamie Peha and Anne Nisbet, I am presenting an exciting new radio program — TableTalk: Radio That Tastes Good. This lively, interactive show, on KKNW, will be live from 8 to 9 a.m. the first Monday of each month. Check out an article about our show on the Chat With Women website.
We interview tastemakers from across the country and give tips for the best food, wine, restaurants and events in our great neighborhoods. I will be doing a Conscious Feast segment on each show giving recipes for easy entertaining and sustainable resources, while Anne talks about family cooking and crafts, and Jamie keeps us up to date on exciting events around the Puget Sound.
If it has to do with great food and a good time, we will be telling you all about it. Bon Appetit and please join us the first Monday of the month, from 8-9 a.m., on KKNW 1150AM
]]>By the way, if you aren’t familiar with the Cooking Club concept, you should be. I’m a big fan and as a result I’ve been writing and teaching about them a lot lately. A Cooking Club is a great strategy for getting the most fun out of an afternoon with friends and the most value out of your food budget. It is essentially a group of a few friends or family members who pool their money to shop for and prepare a week’s worth of meals in one afternoon—or, in this case, holiday baked goods.
Nicole on Lifetime Network's 'The Balancing Act'
For those who might not be familiar with the concept, a cooking club encourages several families to pool together to make purchases that really take advantage of buying in quantity. What I aim to do is show these families how they can have fun together cooking a week’s worth of delicious, affordable meals for everyone in just a few hours.
Please view the clip on the Balancing Act website.
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Deborah—willowy, blonde and fearless—is a fourth-generation cherry farmer from Sunnyvale, California. We met at cooking school in Paris more than 20 years ago where she introduced me to foie gras, wine with a cork and French men. In the ensuing years we’ve taken many memorable, spontaneous road trips.
So, we were barreling down Highway 32 or 92 or 192—it might have been all three—trying to find a town so small it wasn’t on the map, where I was scheduled to film a cooking show on the possibilities of pomegranates. Lost and crisscrossing the scorched, post-harvest farms of the San Joaquin Valley in August, it was late in the day when we were forced to pull over for the fifth time to chip insects from the truck’s windshield.
“I think we’re near Los Banos,” Deb said . “There’s supposed to be a traditional Basque restaurant in Los Banos. I’ve heard about it for years. All the farmers in the valley rave about it. I think it’s a ‘don’t miss.’ It’s called Woolgrowers.”
“Oh, come on Deb! That can’t possibly be the right name.”
“Well…Woolgatherers…Woolmen?… No, I’m sure it…it’s Woolgrowers.”
Twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of Woolgrowers. The front was festooned with a flickering pink neon sign, although the actual entrance was hard to make out. The novelty of neon in this vast, rural valley had attracted thousands of pubescent moths. Behind the curtain of shimmying insects was a small sign with two arrows. Dining room to the left, hotel to the right. Turning left, we passed through a long, dark, wooden tunnel into a brightly lit barn. Long picnic tables ran the length of the room from entrance to kitchen. More than a hundred people were hunched forward in concentration over steaming platters of food. Most groups seemed to be large, extended tribes: mom, dad, grandma, grandpa and flocks of iPod-listening 4H candidates.
Some time later, a durable, middle-aged woman appeared to take our order—Chantal according to her nametag. She brought with her a green, plastic pitcher of water, a large icy jar of something red, an entire loaf of white bread on a plate and a bowl of paper-wrapped butter pats. From the pockets of her apron, she handed us paper napkins and silverware.
“The specials are lamb chops, roast chicken or New York steak. What’ll you have?” “We haven’t seen a menu yet,” I answered.
Chantal was clearly confused by my response so she spoke more slowly. Smiling, she said “Okay.” Deep breath. “The specials are lamb chops, steak and roast chicken. What can I get you?”
“Well, could we see a menu?” I was so hungry I would have been delighted to put a fork into any of them but still wanted the chance to read about my options.
“Girls, there aren’t any menus. There’s just steak, lamb chops or chicken—and all the ‘go withs.’ What’ll you have?” Chantal was sighing and shifting her weight from foot to foot, .clearly considering moving on to help others who knew what was what. Deborah and I panicked and plunged. Obviously there was a protocol we hadn’t grasped. You just made a choice and then everything else—the go withs —was automatic.
“Well, the name is Woolgrowers,” Deborah rushed. “Wool-sheep-lamb…lamb chops. Seems like they would be especially good here. I’ll have the lamb chops.”
”Me, too.”
Then Deborah asked to see the wine list. Chantal responded with a great big, hospitable grin. “Well girls, it’s included” she crowed. “The wine is a go with.” Deborah (the wife of a sommelier) said, “Chantal, that’s great. What kind of wine is it?”
“Kind? Red” she answered, tapping the dewy, crimson jar on the table between us. She must have noticed the expression on Deborah’s face because she quickly added, “Or there’s Coca Cola. Would you rather have a Coke?”
We longed for a crispy, cool Pinot Grigio or a comforting bowl of Merlot. Possibly both, consecutively. Deborah ran her hand down the side of the frosted beaker. “Could we order another wine? Something special from the bar? We’re celebrating,” she lied. “We’re happy to pay extra for it.”
“Well, no. This is the only wine there is.”
I interjected, ”Don’t worry about it. Water will be fine. We sure are hungry though.” Chantal shrugged and strolled off in the direction of the kitchen. Three minutes later she reappeared with a stainless steel mixing bowl filled with roughly torn heads of iceberg lettuce, a towering basket of crackers, a crock-pot of soup and an oval platter of potato salad. Deborah’s eyes bulged. I began to understand the enthusiasm her farmer friends had expressed.
We sampled everything. The dressing on the salad was delicious, a real French vinaigrette. Floating in the soup were potato chunks, celery spears and mutton—specifically, the parts of a grown up lamb that remain after the chops, roasts, steaks and wool have been removed. The potato salad reminded me of my grandmother. Chantal returned with a smoking platter of French fries, baked beans and another terra cotta crock pot. This second pot warmed a thick, dark lamb stew. In order to add these dishes to our table, Chantal had to use her muscular hip to shift plates. She finished up by stacking the butter on the crackers on the bread.
Dusting her hands in satisfaction, she said “Dig in girls. Your lamb chops should be ready in a coupla minutes. They come with some nice mashed potatoes, peas and pan gravy.”
As she walked away I hissed, “Deb, I don’t think I can go on. I’m already so full my teeth hurt.” Deborah laid her ears back like a challenged pit bull. “We’ve come all of this way and this is a very famous place. We owe it to ourselves to try everything. This is a once in a lifetime experience.”
The French fries were awesome. My guess is they were fried in some combination of rendered sheep fat and clean oil. The lamb stew was thick and dark with gobs of mushrooms, peppers and rosemary.
Chantal returned with an oval plastic platter piled with a dozen lamb chops. The chops were prepared in a fashion completely new to me. A three-inch layer of glistening fat enrobed each chop. And they had been deep fried, to a crispy, even, medium well. The mashed potatoes were bathed in a quart of grey gravy; the peas had their own casserole. At this point, Chantal started shoveling food onto our dinner plates from the appetizer platters to make room for the entrees. I whimpered and flapped my hands ineffectually while Deborah adopted a fierce, waxy smile.
“You know Chantal,” she said. “ I think we’ll take a little breather. I bet there’s a store in town where we could buy a bottle of wine. That would really help all of this go down.” She grabbed my elbow and dragged me to my feet. “I saw a Stop-n-Go as we pulled into town. They’ll have something. Save this for us, okay, Chantal?”
The Stop-n-Go had wine in boxes and gallon jugs¾mostly in shades of iridescent pink. We bought the least intimidating and drove back to rejoin the Woolgrowers family to discover Chantal standing at our table with an industrial box of foil under one arm and a determined look on her face. “You know you’ll be wanting this later,” she said as she transferred everything into bulging, football-sized packets. I did not moan. On the last package, she fashioned two small appendages. Giving them a final tweak, she smiled and said, “Lamb’s ears. It’s our trademark.”
While Chantal was packing this astonishing buffet, Deborah wrestled the cap off the wine and filled our plastic tumblers. Tasting hers, she fished some ice cubes from our water pitcher, added them to her glass and sipped again. She smacked her lips and said, “It’ll do.”
I took a sip. Either my taste buds had been dulled by sensory overload or I had seriously underrated pink, fizzy wine. “This isn’t bad.” We toasted with a dull clunk and grinned at each other across our shiny pile of Basque leftovers.
And then Chantal brought dessert. Into the space in front of us still warm from piles of lamb-every-way, she served us each a crockery bowl full of vanilla ice cream topped by glossy, burgundy cherries the size of plums. When I tasted a spoonful, these cherries snapped like tiny, ruby apples—so saturated with tart juice I had to press my lips together to keep it from spurting across the table. The homemade ice cream was as good as any we had made in France¾better. The sexy, dense fruit (from Deborah’s farm, we later learned) mingled with the sweet, frozen cream to remind me of why I liked eating in the first place.
As usual, Deb was right. This had been a “once in a lifetime” experience. I had eaten some of the best and some of the worst food in years—all in one sitting. The moths were still making neon-love as we groaned back out into the San Joaquin summer night.
]]>I am absolutely passionate about entertaining and cooking with a mindful approach to global sustainability, and as I’ve taken the time to go back and update past recipes with this approach, I felt they needed a home of their own.
On nicolealoni.net, I’ll continue to blog and share my experiences as a food writer and spokesperson. You can also turn here for the scoop on upcoming tours, media appearances, and when I might be visiting your town for a class or talk. If you’d like to keep up with me on this site, please consider subscribing via RSS or email.
Nicole partnered with Debi Lily (Oprah’s event planner) to discuss Cooking Clubs, the collaborative strategy for families to get great meals on the table for less money. More than 16 television stations from around the country taped the duo for live interviews.
]]>“If you are a foodie and go to this country, you will go insane.”
Those who live to eat know that Vietnamese cuisine ranks up there with the best of them. French and Chinese sophistication have been intertwined with Vietnamese ethnic traditions to create a remarkably rich culinary experience.
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“If you are a foodie and go to this country, you will go insane.”
Renowned Southeast Asia tour company Danu Tours have asked me to co-lead a remarkable culinary adventure across Vietnam’s most delicious destinations.
Those who live to eat know that Vietnamese cuisine ranks up there with the best of them. French and Chinese sophistication have been intertwined with Vietnamese ethnic traditions to create a remarkably rich culinary experience.
Nicole’s classic French training will come in handy as she collaborates with local Vietnamese chefs to explore this fascinating cuisine.
Please visit the Danu Tours website for a detailed itinerary and registration information.
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Cooking Solutions for Tough Times
I’m happy to introduce a series of recipes from the Komo TV News feature Tactics for Tough Times with KOMO reporter Elisa Jaffe. These features started to air Friday, March 6th, 2009.
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Slow Food
The organization that cherishes traditional foodways, artisanal producers, heirloom foods and the art of gracious time at the table.
Nielsen-Massey Vanilla
They have been making the best vanilla for 100 years (and the owner is a friend). They have conventional and organic vanilla in many formats: the paste is the bomb! Absolutely outrageously good vanilla!
Cow Girl Creamery
Based in gorgeous Point Reyes, Ca., these two women have created a mini-empire of prize-winning, artisanal cheeses. Made from milk from local cows. Visit if you can! And you can order online. The Humboldt Fog is one of my absolute favorites.
Theo Chocolate
A Seattle company that makes me very proud to live here. They produce some of America’s only organic, free trade chocolate and they do it in unique flavor combinations (like curry and chai). If you’re in Seattle, you can go on a tour of their very Willy Wonka-ish factory. Their products are available online and through my Amazon store.
With so many great sites for the aspiring gourmet (and gourmand), it gets a little difficult deciding who to turn to when you need great advice, or want to check out the latest on great chefs and techniques. These are some of my favorites.
Cook Street Culinary School
Denver, CO
CookStreet.com offers a wide variety of culinary courses for everyone from the aspiring professional chef, to the backyard grill master.
Epicurious
From Conde Nast, the recipe collections from Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines, with good search engine.
Food Network
From the Food Network Channel; recipes, programming, products and celebrity chefs.
The Food Paper
An online “newsletter” with cookbook reviews and sales, plus upcoming events for food and wine lovers.
Jessica’s Biscuit
Jessica’s Biscuit cookbook collection with over 13,000 titles. Both of Nicole’s books are available at 30% off.
Leite’s Culinaria
Winner of the 2006 James Beard award for Best Internet Food Website, billed as “hot food, dry wit.” This site offers up recipes, articles, resources and shopping.
Natalie MacLean
This is the website for Natalie MacLean, wine writer and accredited sommelier. Sign up for the free newsletter, “Nat Decants.” Read recent articles and reviews, food and wine pairings, and book reviews. There’s an “Ask Nat” section and Wine Picks — both vintages and values.
Novus Vinum
Expert reviews and wine tastings, featuring small production wines and boutique wineries.
Top Secret Recipes
This site specializes in reproducing famous and secret recipes from major manufacturers.
Wine Enthusiast
Online feature stories and articles from the magazine plus online catalog with wine products.