After more than three decades at the Los Angeles Daily News, responsible for the daily food section and writing about food, developing and testing recipes and reviewing restaurants, the “axe” fell in October (2011) and I was laid off. Sadly, the food editor/restaurant reviewer positions were eliminated.
But it was a fun journey. With new restaurant trends, the birth of California cuisine, celebrity chefs, TV shows and more, over the years I’ve had an opportunity to meet, interview and write feature stories on the cream of the crop in the food world among them Wolfgang Puck, Alice Waters, Jeremiah Tower, Jacques Pepin, Nancy Silverton, Mark Peel, Lee Hefter, Sherry Yard,, Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger, John Sedlar, Roy Yamaguchi, Joachim Splichal, Piero Selvaggio, Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, Alice Medrich, Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, Paula Dean, Ann Willan, Marcella Hazan, Jean Troisgras, Patricia Wells, the late James Beard and Julia Child – and the list goes on. And that doesn’t include the numerous local cooks, food shop owners and cookbook authors.
Over the years, I’ve also had the good fortune to get a glimpse of how America was really cooking as a judge at multiple Pillsbury Bake-Offs, The National Chicken Cooking Contest, the National Beef Cook-Off, Gilroy Great Garlic Recipe Contest and a few International Chili Cook-Off. So with six cookbooks (click here for a listing of them) under my belt, I plan to move on and move my writing here and cover all things food.
HERE GOES!
With holiday festivities in full swing, here are some sweet last minute food items to whip up for friends, hostess gifts or parties – or just to share with relatives or those who drop by your home. All are easy – and two don’t require any baking.
If you plan to gift any of them, be sure to wrap and present attractively in a food-safe cellophane-type gift bag, on a doily-lined plate (covered with plastic wrap), in a holiday tin or box, etc. tied with festive ribbons.
First up is a peanut-pretzel, salted toffee bark, that I whipped up the other night. The idea is based on something I spotted (and sampled) packaged festively at a large home shop (chain) for the holidays, but I tweaked the ingredients a bit (the bark sampled was made with milk chocolate had no pretzel pieces or toffee bits on the top, but caramel pieces in it and salt on the top ).. Refrigerate the bark to firm up the chocolate before cutting or breaking into pieces. For ease in cutting even pieces, remove the bark from the fridge at least ½ hour in advance. Keep any extra bark, covered, refrigerated.
CHOCOLATE SALTED PEANUT PRETZEL TOFFEE BARK
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (18 ounces)
3/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
3/4 cup small pretzel pieces (put mini pretzels in food processor and chop into small pieces; you do not want them pulverized into sandy looking crumbs)
1/2 to 2/3 cup Heath English Toffee Bits (milk chocolate from an 8-ounce package; or you can crush your own from bars)
Sea salt for top
Place chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe 2-quart glass bowl. Heat in microwave oven on high (100 percent) power 1 1/2 minutes. Stir until melted and smooth; heat 30 seconds or longer if necessary, just until melted.
Stir in peanuts and pretzel pieces until well mixed. Spread evenly in a non-stick foil-lined 9×13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle top evenly with toffee bits, pressing them gently into chocolate, then sprinkle evenly with sea salt as desired (don’t overdo it or it will be too salty). Refrigerate until chocolate is set and hard. Remove from refrigerator about ½ hour or more before cutting or breaking into pieces. Keep any leftovers, covered, in refrigerator. Makes about 2 pounds chocolate bark.
S’Mores Bars are a good choice year ‘round – and even those who don’t love messy s’mores over a camp fire, are bound to love these. And they hold up well. I discovered them last summer when I caught a glimpse of pastry chef Anne Thornton making a baked version of s’mores on the “Today” show. The bars, made in a rectangular pan with a baked graham crust spread with melted chocolate and topped with miniature marshmallows, are a cinch to make. I’ve adapted and tweaked Thornton’s recipe. She used milk chocolate chips but we preferred them with semisweet chocolate chips. If Thornton’s name sounds familar, perhaps you’ve seen on her Food Network show, “Dessert First with Anne Thornton,” which premiered fall 2010.
These cookies are a great addition to all kinds of parties and festivities – and one of my new easy, favorites that sweet fans enjoy.
S’MORES BARS
2 to 2 1/4 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs (you can buy the crumbs already crushed in a box)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted (OR use salted butter and just add a dash of salt)
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (18 ounces)
3 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows
Line bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick foil. Leave about 4 inches of overhang on the 2 opposite sides to use as handles to remove bars from pan in 1 piece.
In a large bowl, combine crumbs, sugar, sea salt and melted butter. Set aside a heaping 1/2 cup crumb mixture for top. Evenly press remaining crumb mixture into bottom of foil-lined pan. Bake crust in a preheated 350-degree oven 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove crust from oven and allow to cool on a rack.
Melt chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continuously until smooth. Do not increase heat to hurry this process. Alternately, you can microwave chocolate on low power, stirring after 2 minutes, until melted and smooth.
Preheat an oven broiler. Spread melted chocolate evenly over cooled graham cracker crust. Sprinkle evenly with marshmallows, pressing lightly into chocolate. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top and in between marshmallows so no chocolate peeks through. Broil 6 to 7 inches from heat source until marshmallows are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes, watching carefully to avoid burning (browns very quickly, so don’t walk away). Cool several minutes.
Refrigerate bars until chocolate is hard, 2 hours or longer. Grab ends of foil liner and lift bars out of pan in 1 piece; move to a cutting board (may need to leave at room temperature ½ hour or longer for easy cutting) and cut into 24 squares. Makes 24.
Peppermint Bark continues to be trendy and is offered in tins in several stores and catalogs, After sampling one of the popular ones, here’s an easy copycat version I developed for home cooks. You won’t believe how simple it is to make — it takes just minutes. And the end results are terrific! The concept also lends itself to other kinds of bark flavors. Instead of topping the semisweet and white chocolate layers with crushed peppermint candy canes, sprinkle with chopped-up peanut butter cups, English toffee, Butterfingers or favorite candy. Or sprinkle with dried cherries or cut up dried apricots and pistachios or coarsely chopped pecans. Keep refrigerated until serving or wrapping up for gifts. Give the recipe a whirl - and add it to your holiday repertoire. It’s a winner!
PEPPERMINT BARK
1 (12-ounce) package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
1 (10-ounce) package white baking chips (Trader Joe’s brand)
6 red and white peppermint candy canes, crushed between sheets of waxed paper with a meat mallet
Line an 11×7-inch baking pan with foil (do not grease). In a 1-quart glass measuring cup, melt semisweet chocolate chips in a microwave oven on high power about 1 1/2 minutes, until melted and smooth when stirred. Spread evenly in foil-lined pan. Refrigerate 5 minutes (you do not want chocolate to firm up).
Meanwhile, in another 1-quart glass measuring cup, melt white baking chips in a microwave oven on 50 percent power (NOT high) about 3 1/2 minutes or longer, until melted and smooth when stirred. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Drizzle or drop blobs of melted white chocolate over semisweet chocolate in pan and then spread evenly, being very careful. Sprinkle top with crushed candy canes, pressing in gently with fingertips. Refrigerate until firm. When firm, remove candy from pan and cut into irregular shapes with sharp knife. Makes 1 pan of bark.
NOTE: For a variation, make peanut butter cup, English toffee or other flavor candy bark. Delete crushed peppermint candy. Sprinkle top (white layer) with 4 to 6 chopped candy bars of your choice. Press candy in gently with fingertips and proceed as directed in recipe.
Natalie’s site is currently in its infancy. Check back regularly for insights into stories for the L.A. Daily News, recipe development, and overall rants and raves regarding the L.A. food scene. We will also post links to Natalie’s stories from the 
