Five ways to make life more yummy

Why not make everything better?  Don’t we all just hope to make our lives just a little more delicious?  I possess a growing list of ingredients to add to most any dish to simply make it better, quickly more delicious.  From boring leftovers, a hurried breakfast or an afternoon snack, to even the most thoughtfully planned dinner, you have the power to easily drizzle, spoon or slice these everyday ingredients on your meal for instant yumminess.

1.  Good olive oil.  Without question, no matter the dish, 100 percent of the time, your meal will be completely more delicious after a lavish drizzle of really good, really peppery olive oil.  Preferably local.  Best bets for success: soups of any kind, vegetables of course, eggs and rice, grain or pasta dishes.

2.  Fresh ricotta cheese.  This is my current obsession, I simply cannot stop putting it on everything.  Our local Bellwether Farms version in particular.  A dollop of, ideally, full-fat ricotta turns a plate of ho-hum anything to a dazzling, decadent something.  My recent favorite was topping two lovely soft scrambled eggs from a friend’s backyard birds.

3.  Put an egg on it.  Leftovers shine when chopped up, heated briefly and topped with a quick fried or poached egg.  This is my go-to breakfast and I couldn’t think of anything more perfect to get me through the day.  A salad?  Yup, better with an egg on it.  Those boring veggies?  Yes sir, grated hardboiled egg will make ‘em fun.  Don’t even get me started on putting an egg on that burger!

4.  Arugula.  It isn’t just for salads, you know?  The peppery, fresh crunch of arugula is truly one of the great food loves of my life.  There is hardly a day where you won’t find a little baggie of it in my fridge for tossing into a bowl of soup, folding into a grain salad, garnishing a plate of whatever or pureeing into a heavenly condiment for spooning onto just about everything.

5.  Crunchy salt.  Truly good quality salt has characteristics of the sea, of minerals, of brine and varying degrees of delicate floral saltiness, not to mention an addictive crunch.  These good-for-you salts come from all over the world, but can be found nowadays at most grocery stores.  I carry my own with me in my purse, but more on that in a future column.  Look for affordable, coarse ground grey salt or flake sea salt to sprinkle wildly on a dish right before serving it to add that nice little crunch and fresh salty brightness.  Now, if you’d like to absolutely go crazy… add all five of the above and you’ve got yourself one heck of a dreamy dish.

Coming soon: more Rosso

Plans are finally complete for yet another happy-dance inducing project from my favorite pizza-producing folks at Rosso Pizzeria.  You’ll remember, my constant gushing concerning the Santa Rosa pizzeria’s absolutely perfect, wood-oven pies and their wonderful philosophies of utilizing only the most local, seasonal, farm fresh produce and serving it up alongside affordable wines, in a festive setting… not to mention their contagious passion for soccer.  And, then there was the Petaluma Theater District location which is, happily, a few minutes closer and features a mozzarella bar where fresh mozzarella and Burrata are made to order.  Yum!  Slated for a March 24 opening is the sprawling new Rosso Rosticceria.  The 4,900 square foot space is located on Dutton Road in Santa Rosa, just north of College Avenue.  Along with the Italian inspired lunch and dinner yummies, the Rosso team always dishes out, there will be a wood-burning rotisserie at the center of the action where meats will be roasted.  The fantastical sounding concept will also sport a cafe where breakfasts, coffee, and pastries will be served, a large patio for lingering, and plenty of sweets from the team’s new pastry chef.  Rosticceria is located at 1229 Dutton Avenue, Santa Rosa.  Call 544.3221 for more information.

Best thing I ate this week: Topsy’s chicken biscuit

They had me at chicken biscuit.  I suppose it is not surprising that I fall in love with a chicken dish, in all places, Petaluma.  The chicken in question is seriously swoon-worthy.  Tender, super moist, buttermilk drenched pieces all fried to a beautiful mahogany, its skin crazy-crunchy.  The whole grease-free specimen is the epitome of Southern fried chicken, just like my Gramma used to shake up each Sunday in her greasy brown paper bag and then fry in heaping spoonfuls of glistening, melted Crisco in a massive, coveted, cast iron skillet.

There could not have been a more heavenly way to start this past gorgeous, sun-shiney Saturday morning than with a leisurely breakfast just me and the Marvelous Mrs. M.  We lounged on Topsy’s little patio, a newish, absurdly charming new spot on Kentucky Street in Petaluma, sipping mimosas under a tree heavy with teeny white blossoms.  Each drifting petal reflected the brilliant sunlight as they drifted down like snow, the flowers catching in my hair, settling on the edge of my saucer.

Yes, I was indulging in fried chicken before noon.  I am a proper Southern gal, you know, and there simply ain’t no wrong time for digging into deep fried bird.  The insanely moist fried chicken is first glazed with a flower-scented honey and then sandwiched between a tender on the inside and burnished on the outside buttermilk biscuit; a fried egg finally crowning the whole beautiful concoction.  Smearing each bite with a smidge of honey butter would have made Gramma proud, but certainly would have justified Topsy’s claim that here, “California shows the South how it’s done.”

My grandmother’s fried chicken

It’s this classic buttermilk batter that gives chicken its crunchy texture. The batter should just barely adhere to the chicken, so make sure you give each piece a little shake to let extra batter drop off before frying.  After the chicken is in the hot oil, my grandmother would put the lid on her pot and a kind of pressure cooker thing begins to happen inside, meaning the meat inside gets to cook, leaving the outside crispy.

• 1 free-range, organic chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 3 cups flour
• Canola oil

Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, soak the chicken in the buttermilk for at least 15 minutes. The idea is that the lactic acids tenderize the chicken. Sometimes my grandmother would even put the soaking chicken in the fridge overnight.

Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together and spread on a plate. Dredge each chicken piece in the seasoned flour to coat well.  She would typically put the flour mixture in a brown shopping bag and shake each piece individually.

Heat about 1 inch of canola oil in a cast iron pan until it reads 350˚ on a candythermometer. In small batches, place a few pieces of the chicken in the oil at a time and fry for 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, turn each piece over, then cover the pan to cook for an additional 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels and salt well. Serve warm or even room temperature with honey on the side for dipping.

 Foodie find of the week: Caldrea products

It’s the little things in life.  This, I’ve realized, is the path to true contentment.  Grandma’s berry jam on your English muffin, good salt, thick Greek yogurt or just a little bite of dark chocolate.  I suppose you’ve guessed that the little things in my life that leave me happiest tend to have something to do with food.  That’s why when I randomly chose a hand soap while shopping at Target recently, I had no idea that it would soon become one of those little, happy things in my life.  The Caldrea line of all-natural soaps and cleaning products have the most heavenly scents that could easily have been procured from the kitchen.  Tangerine blossoms, saffron, white thyme, bitter orange oil, cardamon & sea salt.  Each time I wash my hands I love to just take a moment and inhale, mmmm.  Find Caldrea products here in Sonoma at the Corner Store, 498 First Street East or at the Sign of the Bear, 435 First Street West.