thanks, Marcella

First off, that Bill Cunningham event was off the chain.  I think everyone can agree on that.  I'm sure it's cross-linked on every fashion blog in Sac if you wanna see pictures.

 The Lao New Year event at Cal Expo was pretty good.  Not nearly as flamboyant or crowded as Hmong New Year.  I was glad I got in free - it costs 12 bucks!  There were not enough food vendors and the wait at most of them was at least an hour.  I will not wait in line that long for any food, so I may have missed the best food.

 This is chicken larb.  It had skin, gizzards, and meat chopped up fine, mixed with a hefty dose of lemongrass and chopped chilies.  Larb is like the best poverty food: you could  put almost anything there but it's seasoned so well that it doesn't matter.  It can really stretch a little bit of meat, which I think was the point, traditionally.We got two different papaya salads.

 This was at the chicken larb booth, and it looked so good we had to go for it.  Cherry tomatoes, peanuts, and tamarind!

This was the first papaya salad I had., under that chopped cabbage.  It was hotter and fishier than the other one. That's a Lao sausage.  They are shorter and juicier than Hmong sausages, but both types totally taste like lemongrass.

 Deep-fried chicken wings

This is a dessert called kanom klok.  When I tried to order it, I was told by the harried teen manning the booth that there would be at least a 15 minute wait (turned out to be more like 30 minutes) so I knew I had ordered the right stuff.  It tasted like tapioca pudding with coconut milk mixed in, and then fried in these cast iron pans specially designed to make half spheres.  Served piping hot and kind of charred on the outside.  Delicious!  

While I waited I watched the papaya eating contest.  It was kind of weak because no one could eat their portion of papaya salad in the allotted five minutes.  However, as the young Lao dudes scarfed it down to the blared soundtrack of lil Wayne and "teach me how to dougie" I couldn't help but think that about  what a uniquely American scene I was witnessing.  U.S.A! U.S.A.!

Here's a dude grillin' it up

Easter lunch post after the jump!

Spring has sprung

Babs can't be caged

De Dolle Easter beer

This was my first time trimming artichokes.  I'm not sure it's worth the effort.

 I decided to make my entire Easter lunch from Marcella Hazan's recipes.  Kind of just because I was being lazy and her recipes are so simple and kind of just because she is a genius and her recipes are the best.  They are for sure the best for peak, in-season produce.

Her recipe for favas, pancetta, and onion is a winner.

This almond cake was so simple that I have the recipe memorized from making it once.  Do you want it?

 Here it is:
10 oz almonds
1 1/3 c sugar
8 egg whites
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbl flour

preheat oven to 400.  grind the almonds (no blanching, nada) with the sugar in a food processor until fine. beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff. fold in the almonds gently.  then sift the flour onto the top gradually and gently fold. don't worry too much about deflating the egg whites, as long as you mix carefully with a spatual, you're fine. butter the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch springform pan (I think I used 9), and cook for one hour on 400 degrees.  check for doneness with toothpick.  it's so fucking good if you love almonds.