Mandy's Meals. Healthy Comfort Food Made Just For You.

Just a little souffle magic                                         

As you have probably guessed, I love food. My focus as a personal chef is on healthy comfort food (but I can roll with sugar, butter and bacon, too...I have dessert for dinner at least twice a month).  

I am a graduate of The New School Of Cooking who is fully licensed, insured, ServSafe certified and a proud member of the USPCA.

In addition to cooking, I work with the super talented ladies at Food Fanatics where I assist on food styling projects and classes, collaborate on books and manage their websites and blog.

Next up: Cooking for you!

How it works:

I come to you and provide beautiful dishes. I plan menus, do the shopping, the cooking, the clean up and leave you with complete heating instructions AND your kitchen exactly how I found it. I am your food fairy!

I also love to cater intimate gatherings and teach cooking classes in the comfort of your home.

Did I mention that I'm also a vegan baking goddess? I will bring back your fondest brownie, cupcake and cookie memories...AND they will be good for you!

 Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cookies                                          

388 calorie chocolate Oreo "Blizzard"                                                             

 Vanilla brined pork tenderloin with roasted parsnips                                                                

Please contact me for a free consultation. I can't wait to start cooking for you!

                                        

Pastitsio, Jerk Chicken, and S'mores Cookie Bars

Heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil tossed with garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Toasted french baguette tossed in some fresh garlic butter.  Combine with tomatoes and you've got yourself a gorgeous panzanella salad.  I eat that alone for a perfect summer supper.

Roasted jerk chicken...

...with rice (chicken is sweet and spicy).

Fusilli with prosciutto, peas and mint in a light cream sauce.

Pastitsio.  Clients loved this so much I'm headed out to a Malibu beach house today to make another batch for a family Labor Day weekend.  My job is crazy...

S'mores cookie bars.  A sugar cookie crust, topped with a layer of marshmallow fluff, a layer of chocolate, a layer of crushed cinnamon graham crackers, topped with more sugar cookie dough.  Baked until golden and bubbly.

What are you gonna eat this Labor Day weekend?  I just ate my baby's weight in waffles with butter and syrup...xo

Peach Pie with Lard Crust!

First of all, I just have to say that the baby is rolling, rolling, rolling this morning and it makes me SO happy!  Baby dance in there.

I had the supreme pleasure and honor of baking with my best  Aunt Shayno, and we made a peach pie with LARD crust.  It's all about the lard.

We went to the farmer's market to buy the peaches and we kept moaning about having to go the grocery store just to get Crisco, when I thought, I wonder if the butcher would have lard for sale?  He did.  Beautiful, snow white, freshly rendered pork fat, y'all.

This pie was amazing.  What I learned was similar to my maple syrup experience earlier:  If you eat a little bit of the REAL THING, you are completely satisfied and have no desire to eat enormous quantities.  I have a sweet tooth's sweet tooth, and I couldn't imagine having more than one slice of this peach pie.  Why?  The lard in the crust made for such a complex, rich experience, two slices would have been too much (this is coming from the girl who ate half a store bought pecan pie on Christmas Day).

Use lard!  And real maple syrup!

My piece with a whipped cream skirt.  And yes, that is a bunny in the background.  Hungry bunny.

Aunt Shayno's Peach Crumb Pie with Lard Crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Pie Crust:

For single large pie crust
1 1/2 cups flour all-purpose
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup lard, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup ice water, 1 tbsp at a time until right consistency

Combine flour and salt.  Cut in fat with pastry blender, two knifes, or just pinch mixture together until the fat is the size of small peas.  Add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough just comes together.

Place ball of dough on a lightly floured piece of waxed paper.  Press down with your hand.  Add a touch more flour and put a second piece of waxed paper on top.  Roll out dough with rolling pin until it is about 1/4 inch thick.  Place dough in an un-greased pie pan, cutting off extra dough from sides, if needed.

Lightly press the crust in pan, and create whatever edging you desire.  Refrigerate while you make the rest of the pie magic happen.

Crumb Topping:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar

Combine flour and sugar.  Cut in butter with pastry blender, two knifes, or just pinch mixture together until you get a "coarse sand" consistency.  Set aside.

Apple Filling:

about 5 cups sliced peaches (peeled and pitted)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
pinch of ground cinnamon

Toss peach slices in a bowl with the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir to combine and set aside.

Put peach filling in pie pan, followed by crumb topping.  Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for 40 minutes, or until top is golden brown and apple filling is bubbling.



Aunt Shayno in action:

Pecan Raisin French Toast, and a Love Affair with Ann Arbor

This morning, I did something I never do.  I took myself out to breakfast.  I don't do it because I feel self-conscious, but I'm hungry and pregnant and yesterday was my birthday, so calories still don't count.

This morning I walked to Zingerman's and thoroughly enjoyed their Pecan Raisin French Toast with Michigan maple syrup.  I was once again reminded of the marvels of REAL maple syrup.  While I want to use half a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's on my waffles before I feel satisfied, one or two tablespoons are more than enough to make two large slices of French toast sing.  Simply amazing, and I will be full until dinner.

The view from my solitary table.  If you know me, you know that I covet Zingerman's.  It's just a happy place and the food is guaranteed to be extraordinary.

I was waiting for a dear friend, and fellow "magically hip mother", Claudette, to pick me up for my birthday lunch, and decided to take a picture of one of my mom's plant creations.  Notice the pot with painted pears and the wee little fairy bird house.  This is how she decorates her entire world; every nook and cranny has a whimsical surprise, but you need to be quiet enough to really look.  She's amazing.

Claudette introduced me to Logan, and I am so very glad she did.  I had their roasted asparagus, mushroom and gruyere sandwich, and it was life affirming.  I LOVE when a restaurant is THOUGHTFUL:  Each component was perfectly seasoned.  No salt shaker needed.  I will be going back, and I will be taking family with me!

For my birthday dinner, sister took me out to The Blue Nile.  It did not disappoint.  I was telling a friend today who inquired about what I like about Ethiopian food that it has everything I love about Indian food (lentils, veggies, stewed meats...) with none of the stuff I hate about Indian food (too pungent, too sweet, whole seeds crunching in my teeth, too milky...).

We were very, very full, but not too full to enjoy this:

Cake Nouveau is a relatively new cake joint just down the street from my parents house.  I sampled their vanilla cupcake, lemon meringue cupcake, and blueberry, almond and birthday cake "truffles" (remember my oreo truffles?  Similar idea).  I have to be honest and say I was not blown away.  Flavors weren't pronounced and the cake was very dry and a bit hard.  Didn't stop me from eating most it, though!

The remainder of this post is dedicated to my love of Ann Arbor.  I took these on my walk through downtown this morning.  I can only say that this is my HOME.  Los Angeles is where I live, where my lovely husband is, where my lovely apartment is, where my lovely friends are, where my incredible support system is, where my amazing work opportunities abound...but my home is here.  My dream is to summer here, and let LA be LA for the rest of the year (must admit I am very excited to be delivering my boy in January, and be able to WALK him to the Farmer's Market the same month).

I give you Ann Arbor...and this is me.

Terra Chips Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone for your interest and for entering.  I chose the lucky winner through Random.Org, with the following results:

Congratulations, DG!  I'll send your information along to the good folks at Terra Chips!  Have a wonderful weekend, y'all.  What's everyone cooking?  I'm all about the farmer's market tomorrow, gonna let that dictate the menu...xo

Terra Chips Giveaway!

I've long looked at the fancy bags of Terra Chips at Wholefoods, but had not tasted them until the good folks at Terra sent me a VERY generous care package.  They are delightful; just enough salt to enhance the natural flavors of the potatoes (and other root veggies), with a light crispness that stands up surprisingly well in dips and even tossed in salads.  Goodbye, croutons!

Terra Chips now offers an online entertaining guide providing summer entertaining tips, pairings and nine mouth-watering recipes (Blissful Bruschetta, Spicy Fish & Chips a la Terra, etc.).

Separately, they are holding a “Fire Up the Flavor” online sweepstakes, running through August 31st, which features 25 grand prizes (charcoal grill, serving bowl, $250 grocery gift card, 12 bags of Terra Chips and a printed entertaining guide) and 50 first prizes (six serving bowls, an array of Terra Chips and a printed entertaining guide).  Details on both are located here.  

Last but not least, they have offered to send one of my readers a care package of their own, complete with four bags of chips, coupons, a serving bowl and a summer entertaining guide.

To be entered in the giveaway, go to their website and enter their "Fire Up the Flavor" sweepstakes, then leave me a comment letting me know you've done so.  I will select one winner at random on Friday, August 13!

I know what you're thinking.  What are you going to do with four bags of chips (other than inhale them all by yourself while sitting in a baby pool)?  The possibilities are endless.

I was inspired by Terra's zesty new A La Mexican flavor and made a taco salad and potato nachos.  This was a super fun (and tasty) way to mix up traditional nachos and taco salads; no corn tortillas here!  I'll post pics of those dishes very soon...

Pupusas!

I was so excited to go the farmer's market this morning.  The sky was overcast, and I walked from home with my big red produce bag slung across my growing belly.  Once there, I stocked up on freshly shucked corn, heirloom tomatoes and baby yellow and orange melons.

My friend Amy told me about the pupusas here, so I decided that would be breakfast.  I'd heard of pupusas but had never tasted them.  As instructed, I ordered one vegetable and cheese.

Mistress of the grill.  I knew these were going to be good; there was a line at 9:30am.

A complete meal for three bucks, y'all.  The pupusa is not a wispy little thing either, it had heft, and was piping hot.  Served with a cabbage salad, fresh salsa and avocado.  I ventured across the street and sat on the steps of an elementary school to people watch and listen to my Good Food podcast while I enjoyed my meal.

So so so so good!  The corn masa was crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and brimming with thinly shaved squash, carrots, maybe spinach (?), and a creamy, slightly salty cheese.  The salsa was just spicy enough and the bitterness of the raw cabbage balanced it all perfectly.  I know what Sunday breakfast is going to look like for a LONG time to come.

Now I want to make these for my clients!  I think they would reheat beautifully....