Dana Slatkin | DanaSlatkin.com

May Giveaway

05/02/2013 By Dana Slatkin 1 Comment

May flowers are here! The Farmgirl loves these beautiful tea cups for a Mother’s Day brunch, tea with friends, or an elegant breakfast in bed. Each comes with its own saucer and spoon. They are works of art! Valued at approximately $40 each, the Farmgirl wants you to have a pair to enjoy a deux. To enter, simply fill out the form below. You can enter as many times as you wish. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced the first week in June. Wishing you all a colorful and delicious Spring! xo Dana … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Giveaway

Puerto Vallarta Pesto

05/02/2013 By Dana Slatkin Leave a Comment

Cue the drumroll for the winner of the Farmgirl April Cooking Contest! Let me say first, the competition was stiff. Just try picking a favorite between Breakfast Nachos, Enchilada Pie, Southwestern Corn Pudding, Caramelized Onion Tortilla Pie, Chile-grilled Salmon with Garlicky Lime-Cilantro Yogurt Sauce, Chipotle-Chive Potato Salad, Garden Gazpacho, Chipotle Ribs, Huevos Rancheros Pie, and a hundred others. One recipe even came all the way from Gujarat, India (regrettably, it wasn’t Mexican). It was a very close call. But ultimately, this recipe from Candy Barnhart beat out the others with its originality, zesty flavors, ease of preparation and versatility. Candy lives near the western slope of Mount Haleakala on the island of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen

Dulce de Leche Pudding

04/30/2013 By Dana Slatkin Leave a Comment

I’ve always marveled at how some people are able to recount stories from their early childhood in great detail. I simply don’t remember much, save for a few snippets that have lingered with the help of old photos. Do you remember anything you did when you were two, or five, or eight? If so, I’d love to hear about it. But one memory that has remained lucid in my mind takes me back to when I was about five years old. It’s a warm evening and I’m listening to a boisterous mariachi band on Olvera Street, licking a cone-shaped lollipop flavored with the colors of the Mexican flag. My mother loved to bring my brother and me to ethnic neighborhoods for a taste of other cultures, and Olvera Street was one of her favorites. Dating back to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dessert Recipes

Spring Fritters with Chick Peas and Lentils

04/24/2013 By Dana Slatkin Leave a Comment

A few posts ago, I wrote about cooking your way back to groovy with some Justin Timberlake-inspired meatless cooking. How’s that going for you? Hopefully you’ve begun the season with some fresh, home-cooked fare. I’d love to hear about it! As promised, here is another “make-ahead marvel” for a quick and flavorful lunch or dinner. I’ve adapted the recipe from my friend Matt Poley of Heirloom L.A. Catering, who was kind enough to share some of his favorite vegan recipes with my students last month. The fritters are a lighter version of felafel, and even lighter than the fritters I posted a couple seasons ago. Absent breadcrumbs or fillers, the cumin-scented patties pack a lot of pizazz. The whole chick peas and lentils add some … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Vegan Recipes

Fresh Spring Pea Soup with Fennel and Chives

04/15/2013 By Dana Slatkin Leave a Comment

Adapted from Shutters On The Beach When I met my husband twenty years ago, I was fresh out of cooking school and working my first restaurant manager job at L’Orangerie in Los Angeles. My husband and his brother had just inked a deal on a half-built beach hotel that needed a roof, thousands of new sheets, and an identity. We were young and ambitious, eager to please. A year later, when Shutters On The Beach opened its doors in 1993, I remember tasting a fresh pea soup at a table overlooking the sea. The peas came from the Santa Monica Farmers Market just down the street, all grassy and new, perfumed simply with fresh mint, some salty air and sweet beach breezes. It was one of those meals that became a signpost for me, a verdant bowl … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Soup Recipes

April Cooking Contest

04/05/2013 By Dana Slatkin 1 Comment

This month promises blue skies, warmer weather, and perhaps your first outdoor meal of the year! With Cinco de Mayo coming up, the Farmgirl is having a Mexican moment. I’m loving flavors like smoky chiles, beans in a rainbow of colors, cloud-light Cotija cheese and handmade tortillas. Crowd-pleasing and perfect for easy entertaining, Mexican and Latin flavors put me in the mood for summer. What is your favorite Mexican dish? To enter the contest, send in your recipe, along with a little information about you – where you’re from, what you like to cook, and the source of your cooking inspiration. You have all month and can enter as many times as you wish. All recipes will be acknowledged, tested and tasted. You can enter as many … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cooking Contest

Cashew Cheese with Chipotle

04/01/2013 By Dana Slatkin Leave a Comment

Here’s a lovely serving suggestion from chezbettay.com

...adapted from Heirloom Catering. Spring 2013 is sure to be a defining moment in our country’s history. As our Supreme Court grapples with the legal boundaries of marriage, I find myself thinking about my own margins of acceptance. When I was a kid, I gravitated to the familiar. It was comforting to eat the same foods every day, to be with friends who had similar backgrounds and personalities, to cling to routine. But as I get older, I find myself wanting to try the untried. I crave new tastes, new ideas, anyone and anything that’s out of the box. Maybe that explains one of my new infatuations. It’s rich and creamy, part cheese, part spread, with a smoky pep. And it’s just a little unconventional. This quirky vegan recipe … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dairy-free

Nigella’s Cinnamon Almond Cake

03/22/2013 By Dana Slatkin Leave a Comment

adapted from (Clarkson Potter 2013) Nigellissima, Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes Find Nigella’s original recipe here. Every so often I’ll stumble on a recipe that is just what I needed, exactly when I needed it. This is one of them. Around the time of my birthday last month, one of my friends knew how much I idolize Nigella Lawson, the eloquent and stunning television host of “The Taste” and deservedly successful cookbook author. When Nigella was signing her latest tome, Nigellissima, Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes, at a Williams-Sonoma in Orange County, my friend waited in line for four hours to have her autograph a birthday gift for me. That night, I read my new cookbook cover to cover. I marked dozens of pages with sticky … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dessert Recipes