I was in the mood for seafood but the hunky BF wanted pasta.

What’s an over-achieving boot-licker to do?

Well combine both ideas and make everyone happy of course! This is another one of those made up recipes. I can’t take all the credit though, because the BF suggested combining them (and he chose the shell-shaped pasta whose sychronicity with the shellfish made me smile). I emailed my brother for more help and he suggested chorizo. He also chose the wine for this pairing.

Though, I share the credit– and I am not one to “tweet” my own horn (well maybe I am), I still have to say this is one of the best recipes I ever made up.

The word cioppino and the dish itself have become San Francisco classics. Still, its roots (even its name) may be Italian in origin. Which may lay some credence to the tale I have heard told that it was first brought to the American palate in the North Beach section of that great city by the bay.

I love food and I love eating. It’s an important social aspect in my life, and the food I choose to put in my mouth 3 times a day 7 days a week says a lot about me and my outlook. So I peck away at this keyboard trying to put into words the connections I see between life and the foods we eat. I enjoy sharing the foods that define my attitudes.

But food is not strictly entertainment you know.  Our bodies require food in order to thrive. So I feel a responsibility towards you and the foods I present here. After all we are talking about the health and vitality that allows us enjoy life to the fullest.

So I am here today to cajole you with every mother’s mantra: EAT YOUR GREENS! Eating greens does not need to be a chore! I don’t understand why people resist.

Fortunately “going green” seems to be catching on. I think American’s long past due interest in the environment may finally make it cool to eat your greens too. And I am not talking about vegetarianism. Vegetarians choose to forego meat for all kinds of complicated reasons, not all of them are related to health issues. Because as I said the foods we choose to put into our bodies does help define us.

I have made this cook book available in my OpenSky Shop. Just CLICK here to be taken straight there.

“Food Porn” just what does that mean? Where did the phrase even come from? I find the casual use of that term mildly disturbing and a bit inappropriate. It’s not that I am a prude in any way (at all), but it does seem a bit disrespectful to actual pornography. Because it indicates a snobbish sort of elitism– a bit of tongue-in-cheek wryness designed to let the reader know just how hip we foodies think we must be. Do we really need to let the world know how cool and open-minded we are by embracing "pornography" in this superior way? Oh the irony of it, because (it seems to the world) that we foodies see pornography as – well, bourgeois.

Though to be fair, I suppose the term got its start because many of the same carnal (animalistic) instincts are tickled by both varieties of “porn”. Still “food porn” can embarrass me in a way that the other kind cannot.

Understanding the etymology of the term might help me embrace it and come to know what it means. Which may help me see why I find the term so ridiculous.

This is one of those recipes. It seems like there are a lot of steps. It's best if you can do them over a day or two. But I promise you these are the very things that make this recipe so EASY! Because all the steps take only a few minutes of actual activity, and they can be done all at once or over several days. The cooking itself is a snap and can be made snappier with a self-timed oven.

The method of preserving the tuna is really more of an oil-poaching method. It's a wonderful method to master and can be adapted in so many ways– from salads, to main courses. I particularly like serving this tuna on toasted baguette slices with shards of red onion! So you see, it's worth the effort, because the technique will pay you back– I promise. I think I may have originally learned this method from an Alice Waters recipe. But I am pretty sure serving it with a Panzanella Salad was my idea! But don't quote me on it...

This recipe has other virtues as well. It is a great opportunity to use up that day old bread, and those less than ideal off-season tomatoes you stupidly bought. What were you thinking? Plus, it's fun to introduce new tastes to the people in your life who may take a bit of prodding when it comes to unusual or strong flavors. I consider it our duty to educate them.

I call it a Three Bean Winter Panzanella Salad with Preserved Tuna.

It's Sunday. This is  my usual day to walk down the hill to the Hollywood Farmers Market to do a Market Matters post. I love the market and rarely miss it.

But today is an exception because we are having a fundraiser for the people of Haiti at my house this afternoon. It's part of StirIt28 a nationwide, multi-city effort by members of the food bloggering community to help bring some relief to Haiti. One hundred percent of the money we raise today will go to Yéle & Share Our Strength.

 Well when I get to thinking about food and community, I get a little misty. I can't help it. That's because food sustains life. The people of Haiti desperately need this sustenence. The stories of what is going on there will tear you apart. Getting food, water, medicine and shelter are the first needs that need to be met. The charities we are benefiting today are ready and able to provide these needs. They just need financial resources. That is where the help you and I can provide is essential. That is the reason I opened my home to this event.

Meat & Potatoes. I promised a week of Meat & Potatoes. 6 recipes in 6 days. That's a week in my book. So this is the last of these recipes.

My meat is sausage. Spicy Italian sausage. My potatoes are potatoes. Is that clear enough?

If not I should also say this is a recipe for flatbread. Meat & Potato Flat Bread with Mustard Greens. I added the mustard greens because spring has begun to sprung here in So. Cal and the hills are alive! Every spring the first things to come alive in the hills near my house are wild mustard plants. That means urban foraging to me.

I live in the Hollywood Hills. My street backs up to some L.A. County conservancy property, which bleeds into Lake Hollywood and the land owned by Department of Water and Power, and culminates in 4200 acres of Griffith Park. That is a lot of wild land in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world.

As I said, winter rain makes spring come early in California. Julie Andrews has nothin’ on these hills, because they really are “alive” right now. That means the tasty young leaves of wild mustard are everywhere. So I was out bright and early today gathering a big bag of mustard greens. Naturally I just had to use them within hours of picking them. So they make an appearance here in the last of my Meat & Potato posts. Meat & Potato Flat Bread with Mustard Greens serves 8 CLICK here for a printable recipe.

Neeps and Tatties. That did not come out of my brain. But I have had them on my brain ever since I first read about them over at The Daily Spud. It seems Neeps and Tatties are a traditional Scotish favorite, though my version is hardly traditional.

I am sure you can guess that the Tatties are taters. Actualy potaters. But Neeps may be new to you. If so I hope the name makes you smile as much as it does me. Especially when said in conjunction with Tatties! Neeps and Tatties. I dare not say where my mind goes when I hear that phrase.

But where my mind should be going is to the Scotish turnip, or what we would call a rutabaga. Because that's what a Neep is. A super huge rutabaga. I used regular old American-sized rutabagas so keep that in mind when reading the recipe. It's a long recipe too so I want to get a move on here. But I do need to say this is another entry in  my week of Meat and Potatoes, or rather my week of Meat and Tatties (with Neeps).

It’s February and half the country is snowed in. I heard there was snow in Florida last week! Well I live in Southern California and we are feeling the effects of some cold weather too. Not snow, of course, but chilly none-the-less.

Cold weather puts me in the mood for substantial dinners. Soup is good food and can be just the thing for a winter’s chill. But snow and ice require real sustenance, the kind that sticks to the ribs, and gets our butts into endurance mode. I am talking survival of the fittest, manly meals.

Manly meals require animal sacrifice. I am sorry, that is just the way it is. We are the masters of the King Of The Hill mentality, and that mindset requires us to eat other creatures in order to show our dominance. I am not kidding. It requires that.

So I have a whole week of eating other creatures planned for you here. But not wimpy little creatures that my baby sister might eat. Little girly creatures like chicken, squab or fillet of sole. Nope that’s not the kind of meat that I am talking about. In fact you won’t see anything with feathers or gills here at all this week.

If there is one universally loved vegetable it seems to be asparagus. Even the fussy eaters in my life, or the “no vegetables for me please” freaks, will eat asparagus. I know people who eat it several times a week. Even when it’s off season, expensive and not that great.

So now that the fat young spears are in season here in California, cheap, and really great I thought the time was right to honor it with this weeks Market Matters post from the Hollywood Farmers Market.

I love asparagus. But not all asparagus is the same. There are the very thin types. Often called baby asparagus. Which is mostly a misnomer because the thin spears are usually from older plants and are produced further out from the center of the plant.

Thin asparagus is usually a bit stringier.  It has an earthier, more pronounced asparagus flavor in my opinion too. This does not mean it is not as good as fat asparagus. In fact many people prefer this type. I would say fat or thin are pretty much equally good. If handled properly.  Fat spears almost always need to be peeled. Thick asparagus seems to concentrate its fibers in the skin. Peeling may be necessary because in some methods of cooking they can become a mushy mess by the time they have cooked enough to get the skin tender.