Green Goddess Dressing UPDATED

I came to realize that my previous post on the history of Green Goddess Dressing has a link that is officially defunct. So, here's a new link sharing the historic divinity of this classic recipe.

Use Your Head - The Easy Way to Peel Garlic

When I stumbled across this little goodie from Saveur, I had to share it with you. You can do this with individual cloves and use a bowl with a firm lid. Very handy!

The Speakeasy Preview

Today in my ever ridiculously busy schedule, I am working on a piece for my upcoming Vintage Life Magazine deadline. I actually have some time before it's due, but since I'll be submerged in the Caribbean on that day, I figured I had to get a head start.

As many of you know, I'm a cocktail hound. I love cocktails, especially vintage cocktails. If someone held a gun to my head and made me choose a decade that I loved the most in history I would have to say it was the Roaring Twenties. I can't quite put my finger on why, maybe I lived a previous life during that era, or maybe it was the political atmosphere - women gaining the right to vote, the blatant disregard for puritanical laws by practically everyone, or perhaps it is because it laid the groundwork for who we are as a nation today. But the more I think about it, it's none of those, simply put, it made being bad classy.

Enter the speakeasy. An air of mystery surrounded the basement, and attic, hooch parlors, making them inviting to practically everyone. Police, judges and politicians were all misbehavin'; even housewives became corrupted by the allure of banned liquor served in teacups, cigarettes and Jazz music. Bottom line, there's just something so good about being bad.

So, without giving away too much of my upcoming piece, I'll share with you only this. I painstakingly (sarcasm injected) performed my research for this piece at PX Lounge in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia...just outside of Washington, DC. If you're in the area, make a reservation and go...you will not be disappointed. Oh, but be sure to expect a hefty bar tab...fresh made bitters and expert mixologists don't come cheap these days.

Herbes de Provence: Part II

I have been meaning to post back about my Herbes de Provence experiment a couple of weeks ago...but once again, I have found myself preoccupied with other tasks, i.e.: pimping my newly completed, historical fiction novel about the world to literary agents and publishers (no news yet to report) and now I'm knee deep in writing my food piece for my column in Vintage Life Magazine (I'll be posting a short blog about that one too), not to mention tending to the care and feeding of my ever hungry, ridiculously expensive to maintain, husband. Oh, and how can I forget about Christmas shopping. Whew...it's been busy.

In any case, here's what I've surmised from my experience with Herbes de Provence: You can use them on anything you would season with basil, oregano, etc. They are simply lovely, earthy with a floral delicateness. As a devout Italian, and true to my heritage, I use garlic, basil, oregano and parsley in just about everything, but being the experimental home cook that I am, I plan on finding a recipe for a roast with an Italian herb crust...and substituting Herbes de Provence for my usual Italian herb arsenal.

Now go...grab your Herbes and get cooking...and please, let me know of any good recipes for these delightful bouquet of herbes.

Green Goddess Dressing

I know I'm a bit lax on maintaining this blog, but in my defense, I've just finished a novel that is undergoing edits so that it might one day be published for all of you to read. "What type of novel?" you ask. Well, it's contemporary fiction, with science fiction, historical fiction and a splash of steamy romance all wrapped up in 141,000 words and since it's already been submitted to the Library of Congress for copyright, I can tell you it's called "Cage of Souls." I'll fill you in with more details soon!

In the meantime, this week I stumbled across a Green Goddess recipe that appears to originate in San Francisco in the 1920's and since I'm a huge fan of creamy, tasty salad dressings I had to share this one with you. I have tried many restaurants' versions of the Green Goddess dressing as a sauce for chicken and seafood but in true vintage foodie fashion, I'll be attempting my own version of this recipe very soon. In the meantime, here's a link to the details of its origin, as well as the recipe. Give it a whirl and let me know how you like it!

http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/grgdssdr.html

Cheers!