CASA Blog — Page 2

The “mother sauces” were developed during the early 1800s by the bastion of French cuisine, Marie-Antoine Carême, and are a mainstay of French cuisine and cooking in general.  Except for Hollandaise, all the mother sauces start with a roux at their foundation which begs the question: what is a roux?  Answer: nothing to be afraid […]

More Funk in Food Considering the fact that people have been eating fermented foods since the dawn of civilization, one might say it’s taken some time for the American palate to attune itself to the flavor of funk.  We’re fully primed to appreciate the deeper, more complex flavors beyond the occasional get-down with a hunk […]

#1 Have a Lot of Guests? Go Buffet! If you’ve got plenty of guests coming to your holiday dinner, say more than 12, a buffet setup might be perfect for you.  Serve dishes on a sideboard or bar area where people can help themselves to seconds and thirds.  If you simply must do the traditional […]

Festive, yet refreshingly different, this spiced orange rum cake is easy to make but requires one to two days to sit, to allow the flavors to deepen. Trust me, it’s worth the wait. Also, note some of the brown sugar and the rum is reserved for the pour over, after baking and for the glaze, […]

Whether you’re making chocolate chip, peanut putter blossom, sugar or gingerbread cookies, these five helpful tips will help ensure your cookies have the best texture and flavor. # 1 – Use Real, Expensive Vanilla Fork over the dough and invest in a nice bottle of high-quality Madagascar stuff. Nielsen-Massey and J.R. Watkins both make great […]

Love the holidays but dreading all the chaos, cleanup, chopping and shopping? Well, with a little planning and a the right supplies, you can make holiday cooking this season relatively stress-free and enjoyable. 1 – Source Make-Ahead Recipes When browsing through those holiday recipes, look for the all-important phrase “make ahead.”  A slew of different […]

I’m going to go out on a limb and say stuffing is the quintessential Thanksgiving dish.  Some people are going to take issue with this; after all, we do call it “turkey day” but tell me this: when else during the year do you have stuffing as part of the meal?  Christmas perhaps?  Okay…maybe.  How […]

Want a beautiful, delicious autumnal desert everyone will love? This apple and cranberry crisp is at once simple to make and noteworthy in its tart sweetness which is perfectly balanced when served topped with a nice dollop of vanilla ice cream.  Whether you serve this for Thanksgiving, Christmas or for just for one of your […]

Love butternut squash soup but find it could use a little more pizazz for the holidays? Topped with sour cider cream, this soup has plenty of contrast going on to keep your mouth happy, from the slightly sweet, slightly earthy flavor of butternut squash to the tart richness of the cream. Find you’re always running […]

I was recently on the hunt for some old recipes from the 1800s. The objective: find a few old-time recipes worthy of being brought back today. One such recipe I found was called Indian Pudding or Hasty Pudding with the main difference between the two being that the later version called for wheat berries as […]

If you’re on the West Coast, you’re probably wondering “Is it fall yet?” Alas, the 90-degree temperatures we’re having in L.A. along with the drought and high-humidity feels nothing like fall. Don’t talk to me about pot roast or chicken pot pie! It’s just too warm out! So what is one to eat? Well, how […]

What foods are trending in Los Angeles this fall? Gone is the love of super heavy, rich food, though some of it is sure to creep back in as we move closer and closer towards the holidays. For the most part, the emphasis for Fall 2015 is on health and making choices that are generally […]