Which crab tasted better?  The yellow male or the red female?  I should have gotten two males or two females to make this a more balanced taste test.  Some fishmongers swear that female crabs have a sweeter flesh.  I’ve definitely found that to be the case when it comes to Blue Crabs from the Atlantic.  But with the Rock Crabs of Santa Barbara the opposite was true!  The red female had a more pungent briny flavor…a little bit of scallion on the finish.  The yellow male had way more sweetness and was the favorite of the day.  The male also had slightly larger claws with boatloads of meat inside.  I was surprised because the crew at Sea Fever Seafood said there wasn't any difference, yet these clearly were two different crabs.  Don't get me wrong, both of them were fantastic and very easy to clean.  I think one thing that made the female stronger flavored was the fact that she was full of roe which was wicked pungent but beautiful in its rusty color.

CRAB!

What a treat!  

For quite a while I’ve been eyeing the amazing seafood that the gang from SEA FEVER SEAFOOD has been bringing to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Sundays.  In addition to the crabs, they also have a few beautiful fish (almost always some gorgeous rock and ling cod), nice looking spiny lobsters and Pacific conch which are smaller and less flashier than the Caribbean variety.  This week the boat brought in some outstanding ridgeback shrimp that really tempted me but when I got a look at the crabs I knew what I was having for lunch!

I had to take a snap of these beauties at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market last week.  I love the way they are stacked up, a wall of root veg.  And all the colors—red can be so redundant.  Why is it that we always think radishes are red?

For Thanksgiving in 2009 (well, it was actually the day after Thanksgiving since I was catering on the big day) my wife and I had a few friends over for dinner.  The lovely Melanie (that’s my misses) took care of all the apps and the first thing she chose—and insisted on—was radishes with butter and sea salt.  It was like an obsession for her.

Hello amigos!

I am back again after a bit of a hiatus. I was on a journey, a journey that reminded me I really love to write and I really enjoy working on organicatoz.com my original site, blog and web series. A lot has happened since we launched this little rabbit and I haven’t been around to fill you in on my adventures. So before I start blogging about all things food, here’s a brief recap of my culinary exploits in the world of media!

The good people at the Discovery Channel asked me if I'd put ORGANIC A to Z on their PLANET GREEN website.  My answer?  HELL YES!

I'm really excited about this.  Planet Green rocks and I FINISH THE ALPHABET!  That's right, they gave me the kick in the ass I needed to complete this series.  We recycle content from the first several episodes but things get REALLY GOOD once we hit the letter K and they don't stop till we fly to Z. 

So click the link and get an extra helping of organic love at PLANET GREEN!

I first took note of Spring when I found Asparagus and Morel Mushrooms growing in my backyard! I was doing the dishes one day and looked out the window to see these poofy looking things all over the ground. I figured my dog, Midnight, had taken a crap and went outside to clean it up. But oh no, those were not turds but gorgeous morel mushrooms! I picked a handful, ran to a farmer’s market and got a positive ID on the fungus. Indeed, California Black Morels!

Well it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere and raining like mad out here in California…perfect weather for ICE CREAM SANDWICHES!!!

As promised, I’m posting the final episodes of ORGANIC A to Z from Southern California. Both “I” and “J” were taped back in a warmer, sunnier and more ice cream friendly Los Angeles. If you’re too cold to rock the ice cream, just make these awesome cookies. If you’re sweating down under this January, enjoy the whole sando with some OG ice cream in between!!!

MUCHOS APOLOGIES!

I AM BACK!

I never intended to be away for so long, just thought it’d be a quick break from the show, but an adventure ensued! I started working as a pastry chef again, then started teaching cooking classes, finally decided to get into wine—literally. I moved to Sonoma County and took a job as a Harvest Intern doing all the grunt work for a family-run, sustainable winery.

And now, I’m back with new videos, new recipes and more info than ever all from my new home in the ultra -organic Sonoma County!

Coming in January we’ll have regularly updated posts on local, organic and sustainable eating, cooking and living! Till then I’ll post a few appetizers as well as the remaining two shows taped in Los Angeles.

Side tracking a bit, we're showing you how to GROW HERBS for the letter H!