I made myself smile after I typed that heading. Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update has always been one of my favorite sketches on SNL. It is the show’s longest-running recurring sketch and has some memorable anchors, from the original, Chevy Chase, to the current, Seth Meyers. I especially loved Jane Curtain and more recently have enjoyed when Tina Fey and/or Amy Poehler were paired with Meyers.

But I digress, this isn’t about SNL, but rather my own weekend happenings.

Saturday’s activity could have been an SNL sketch. It involved an 81-year-old man, my dad, who will be 82 on April 18th, myself, and my 21-year-old son, Connor. The humorous part would have been watching us try to move a large, bulky, very heavy, double recliner La-Z-Boy loveseat from the bed of my dad’s truck and into his condo.

Just thinking about how it must have looked makes me wish there was a surveillance camera in the area filming us – it would be hilarious to watch back! We struggled every inch to get that monster in the house. We first stood it up on end atop a large piece of carpeting and intended to drag/push it along the narrow walkway that leads to the front door. It would not budge.

It was too heavy to pick up, so we ended up just flipping it lengthwise, from end to end until we reach the “L” turn on the sidewalk that is near the door. There, we struggled to get it around the corner. When we finally reached the door, I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo of Connor leaning his head on the recliner. We squeezed it through the door and through the even more narrow entry and finally got it into place. I hooked up the electric connectors (the recliner is electric, not lever-operated) and my guys took their well-deserved rest in the beast!

Sunday was much more relaxed and fun. I was invited to an event honoring my dear friend, mentor and colleague, Barbara Pool Fenzl.

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Here is a quote from yesterday’s post:

“So back to the drawing board. I hope to have it down by tomorrow and post the recipe and my success.”

What I hoped to have down was the recipe for “The Rebel Within” from Craftsman & Wolves, a restaurant in San Francisco.  “The Rebel Within” is a buttery, cheesy, sausage flecked muffin with a soft-cooked egg in the center. The egg yolk in the muffin should be soft and runny with the oozing yolk dripping like liquid gold onto the plate.

The muffin is named after a Hank Williams III song. Williams is the grandson of the legendary Hank Williams and the son of Hank Williams, Jr.

So, the big question is… did I get it right? Was I successful? Was the liquid gold running onto my plate?  No. No. and No!

I really wanted to name this post “Muffin Extraordinaire” but it’s honestly only “Muffin Almost There.”

I developed the recipe by using the blueprint of the muffin that I found on the restaurant’s website. It’s a tongue-in-cheek blueprint with a hint of what ingredients to use, but it has no real portions. At least it gave me a starting point.

First, I tried soft poaching the eggs for 3 minutes in simmering water and then shocking the cooked eggs in ice water, as with THIS method. But once the muffins were baked, the yolks were firm, not even close to runny.

The second go-round, I tried only poaching three of the eggs for one minute and shocking them in the ice water. I cracked the remaining three eggs directly into the bottom layer of batter in the muffin tin.

I imagined that the 1-minute poached eggs would work and that the raw eggs would run all over the place and make a mess.

Once the muffins were baked, I anxiously cut into one of each type of muffin. The result? Exactly the same as the first time around. The yolks were cooked firm. The raw eggs did not run and make a mess, as I anticipated, they were firm right in the center of the muffin, just as the poached eggs were.

Even though the yolks didn’t turn out as I had hoped, I am going to share the recipe I developed while trying to get it right, because even without runny yolks, the muffin is AMAZING! Wonderfully scrumptious. Somehow the muffin is dense, yet still fluffy and fabulously flavorful.

Instead of naming my version “The Rebel Within” I shall name mine “The Easter Egg Within.”

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The day after returning from San Francisco, I had a follow-up appointment at the orthopedics office. The x-rays showed that I am completely healed and may resume all activities, unrestricted. Yay – take that you stupid extension ladder!

I had THE best time with Marissa in the City by the Bay. We shopped, we ate, we treated ourselves to a mani/pedi, we ate, we shopped some more, and we ate…

One of the stores we went to was Pot & Pantry on the corner of Guerrero and 18th Streets.

It’s an adorable little store that is deliberately designed to feel as if you’re shopping in a friend’s kitchen. Customers can buy, sell, or trade new and gently used kitchenware. It’s mostly new with a bit of vintage here and there.

I bought a couple of little things, big surprise!

While checking out, I noticed little postcard-sized cards that had lovely watercolors of food on them.

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The idea for this pizza came from the Corkscrew Cafe in Carmel Valley, California.

I’ve never been there. I have never had their pizza, but as you well know, I have Meyer lemons… so it is this pizza that I made!

I read the description on the menu, and the plethora of raves about it on Yelp, and I came up with my own Meyer Lemon Pizza.

Are you worried that you may not like this pizza because of the full lemon slices on there? Peel and all! Please don’t be. Meyer lemon peel is thinner and sweeter and it is delicious!

In addition, just yesterday, my friend, Amy (Amy’s Famous Taco Soup) sent me an email with all kinds of amazing information about lemon peels.

Did you know that lemon peels contain as much as 10 times more vitamins than the lemon juice itself? Lemon peels eradicate toxic elements in the body. The peel is an antimicrobial agent that fights against bacterial infections and fungi, effective against internal parasites and worms, it regulates blood pressure, and is an antidepressant, that combats stress and nervous disorders. And according to the email Amy sent me, lemon kills cancer cells and is 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy.

Now, I haven’t done an ounce of research to back up any of the information in that email, it could be “internet truth.” But if even 1/10th of that is true… well get out there and eat your lemons, peels and all… and start with this pizza! If you still are not convinced, you can always look to have pizza delivered to you through a simple online order.

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In case you’re not local and just in case you haven’t heard – we’ve been freezing here in the desert this past week.

Literally freezing.
It’s not right.
This is the desert!
That land of saguaro cactus and yucca, not ice and snow!

Winter is our prime time! It’s what we live for, perfect weather! Not freezing temps that damage our desert-loving plants. (Yes, those are sheets covering plants and trees in my backyard.)

We aren’t supposed to be moaning and groaning about the weather now, that’s what we have 6 months of summer for … 115+ degree days … that’s our moaning and groaning time.

I am not happy! Not happy because it forced me to get out and try to pick as many of my Meyer lemons as I possibly could pick in one day. I wasn’t able to get them all. Close, but not all. The photo above represents about 1/4 of the crop I got off the tree.

My dad took home a full crate plus a full shopping bag.

The tree was the most prolific it has ever been. Here is what it looked like on Thanksgiving day.

So many lemons, that they were laying on the ground, still attached to the tree. The weight of them brought them down that far.

In late November and early December, I picked all the low lemons and took several bags to Les Gourmettes, to share with the teachers and students there.

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What a lovely sentiment about having a lovely day. Seems like a nice way to begin today’s post.

On to the matters at hand…

Aside from when we’ve been out of town and I haven’t had a kitchen to cook in, I am in the middle of the longest span of time that I have not cooked a meal.

Four of the last 8 days we were dining out and the other 4 days, we were eating leftovers. Quite honestly, I have not felt like cooking. Yes, it happens to me too.

One of those “nights out” was Sunday night when Connor, my dad, Dave, and I went to Noca for the sold-out “Fried Chicken Throw Down” between Noca and FnB.

Boy, did we enjoy some amazing fried chicken! At the time we did not know which chicken was cooked by which chef.

It has since been revealed that the crunchy fried chicken on the far side of the plate with the “hot sides” of tomato gravy served with mashed potatoes, haricots vert, and a honey-butter biscuit, belonged to Noca.

On the near side is FnB’s crispy buttermilk-brined fried chicken with the “cold sides” of pickled corn on the cob niblet, kale slaw, and a baking powder biscuit ladled with creamy giblet gravy.

Both were exceptional, and next to the fried chicken itself, the best thing on the plate was that honey-butter biscuit!

Here is how Dave, my dad, and I voted.

The three of us preferred the chicken with cold sides (FnB).

Connor, on the other hand, voted for the chicken with hot sides (Noca). The winner was posted on Facebook on Monday and later that day, the event was written about on the Chow Bella blog. Read all about it HERE.

Believe it or not, Noca won by 1 (ONE!) vote.

Curse you, Connor, you made the difference in the end result. Solid proof that every vote counts!!  This seems like the perfect opportunity to remind you to vote, two weeks from today, on Tuesday, November 6th!!!

OK, let me get back on topic … the drought…

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The first time I stepped foot into America’s Taco Shop, I was completely sold! It was back in February when Tram and I first dropped in during a full afternoon of shopping on 7th Avenue in the Melrose District. And the most recent time I was lucky enough to eat at America’s was this past weekend, with Kim, and yes… we were shopping again.

In addition to the signature tacos, Kim and I shared an “extra” – America’s Corn (sweet white corn, lite mayo, cotija cheese, chili, and lime).

This is how it was served, which would be perfect for one. But since we were sharing, I began to use a little plastic knife to cut the kernels from the cob so we could eat the corn with chips. A server walked by and said it could be ordered off the cob too, so he took it back to the kitchen and cut the kernels off for us (most likely with a metal knife!) Wow! It is terrific – so terrific in fact – that I made it at home for my guys… who loved it too.

Cotija (pronounced ko-TEE-hah) cheese is a hard, crumbly Mexican cheese made from cow’s milk. Named after the town of Cotija in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It can be hard to find in all grocery stores, so a good substitute is either Parmigiano-Reggiano or feta. I used Parmesan.

The mayo-slathered corn is a common street food you’ll find being sold on corners throughout Mexico.

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Pure brilliance!!! That is what I think of the idea of making Sriracha Powder from the wildly popular Sriracha sauce. The brilliant idea and recipe are courtesy of Chef Dale Talde of Talde in Brooklyn, New York.

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Chef Talde uses the powder to make his signature Sri-rancha, a Sriracha-flavored homemade ranch dressing. In my book, turning the sauce into a powder is brilliant for two reasons. First, it intensifies the delicious Sriracha flavor. Secondly, it prevents the sauce from watering down dressings, such as the ever-popular Sriracha Mayo. So many wonderful uses come to mind – including sprinkling it atop deviled eggs and potato salad or stirring it into soups and stir-fry.

Plus when you run out of Sriracha, which I do more often than I’d like to admit, you can have the powder on hand as a quick substitute until you get to the market again.

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As promised, I recreated the Pepperoni Arrostiti that we so enjoyed at Trattoria Contadina.  The cheese-stuffed bell pepper uses three different Italian kinds of cheese; mozzarella, asiago, and bel paese. In case you haven’t heard of bel paese before…

Bel Paese – Literally meaning “beautiful country”. This cheese was invented in 1929 by the Galbani Cheese Company in Lobardy. A wax rind covers the uncooked cheese made of pasteurized cow’s milk. The small discs have a soft texture and are peppered with small holes. Bel Paese appears pale with touches of creamy yellow. This cheese is similar to mozzarella or Fontina in its mild, buttery flavor but is distinct in its body and tang. Bel Paese is versatile and easily melted.

It took two tries to get this recipe just right.  The first time, I took pictures. The second time, I forgot to do so. As a result, the pictures won’t reflect the light roasting of the peppers before cutting and filling with cheese. I decided this was needed because the peppers were not soft enough the first time around. After roasting lightly, they were the perfect texture… just as we’d enjoyed at the restaurant. Be certain to serve with a nice crusty Italian bread. Trust me, you’ll want it to sop up the tasty sauce.

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Mark Tarbell and Tarbell’s are one of the many chef friends/restaurants that I follow on Facebook. A great side-benefit to following these talents is that they sometimes post what is on special for dinner that night. When it looks tempting, I can hurry up and make reservations… or if we don’t feel like going out… I can try and duplicate the dish for my own knock-off “special of the day”.

This was the case late last week when I saw Tarbell’s post above.  It reads:

“A new week, a new Mr. Fish! Nantucket Sea Bass with a stew of sweet corn, summer squash, and Napa cabbage is topped with a cured tomato relish. We’re loving the veggies we’re getting from local Crooked Sky Farms!“

It is a big recipe, but after not posting a recipe for a full week, a big recipe is called for!

I didn’t have sea bass, but I did have halibut. Additionally, I didn’t want to cure tomatoes for the relish, so instead, I used sun-dried tomatoes as the base. Following is the delectable result.

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