Kane’s Cuisine: Vodka martini with ginger and a twist

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – After enjoying a wonderful and rather boozy weekend entertaining an old friend from New York, I returned home this evening in search of a nightcap. My heart is full, and it’s one of those muggy later summer nights in which an ice-cold martini just felt appropriate.

In my youth, back when my friend and I first met, I lacked the self-control to abide that old maxim that, like breasts, one is too few and three too many. I couldn’t see it then, but I lacked the elan at 25 to order anything other than a well drink.

Making a vodka martini in my own home tonight felt…sophisticated. And with the proper stemware, along with fresh ginger and lemon, I had the makings for a cocktail that represents the platonic ideal of where I am now in life.

Kane’s Cuisine: A dish for when you find top-tier tomatoes

Kane’s Cuisine: A dish for when you find top-tier tomatoes

Kane’s Cuisine: Pork fried rice (Chris’s version)

Kane’s Cuisine: Frozen Tequila Collins

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – My vegetable and herb gardens are not exactly thriving these days. The fault lies not with the plants but with my failure to spend enough time and attention caring for them.

The good news is my tomato plant, which had long looked like it was on the verge of certain death, made a sudden, dramatic recovery last week and delivered a bounty of the best Sun Golds I have ever tasted.

When this happens to you, or when you can smell the tomatoes in your farmer’s market or grocery store from an arm’s length away because they have reached that elusive state of peak ripeness, you are obliged to act.

Jump on the opportunity like you’ve found a dom top who can host and is free to meet up now. Or pass up the opportunity at your own peril, because while you may have a second chance tomorrow, it might be another 9 months before god showers you with his blessings again. (That last part really applies more to tomatoes. It’s mid-August, after all, which really means we’re on borrowed time.)

Whatever you make with them should be simple and decidedly tomato-forward. Treat them like the gifts that they are (unlike the plants that are now languishing in my backyard because I’ve neglected them).

A very simple tomato salad

*Tip: If using cherry tomatoes, don’t do as I did here and cut straight down on a 90-degree angle from the portion of the fruit that was once connected to the stem of the plant facing upward. Instead, slice on a slight bias, and you’ll be left with more visually appealing halves (because the whitish part will not be visible).

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – The recipe was adapted from The Woks of Life, with my signature method of cooking rice and enough changes that I feel comfortable calling it my own.

It’s pork fried rice (Chris’s version).

Pro tip: The next time you make rice, replace half the water with full-fat coconut milk.

Pro tip #2: Add 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 1 teaspoon MSG per cup of dried rice.

Pro tip #3: Cook until the rice sticks to the bottom of your pot and browns a little.

Pro tip #4: Make enough so your leftovers can be transformed into the dish below.

**Feel free to also add bean sprouts, peas, diced carrots…

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – Last night I was overserved…in my own home, if you can believe it!

There are times when even *I* don’t feel like cooking. So, when we had friends over on Saturday, we ordered pizza and I made a batch of these.

Joke’s on me because I’m hosting again tonight and now I need to drag my hungover ass to Eastern Market for tomatoes.

Recipe adapted from Rebekah Peppler’s frozen Tom Collins via NYT Cooking. (I used tequila only because that’s what I had on hand.)

By the way, how cool are these lowball glasses? You can buy them here.

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – Last week, the government told us they had recovered biological material of non-human origin from unidentified anomalous phenomena, f.k.a. UFOs.

And we…mostly didn’t care.

Perhaps it’s partly because we must concern ourselves with people like RFK Jr. who belong in the ash heap of history but instead are making their conspiracy theories our collective problem.

Or maybe it’s the weather.

For any extraterrestrials reading, don’t bother with any close encounters unless it’s to beam us away from this boiling rock. Not all of us, though. Let the politicians who deny climate change stay on the planet they helped ruin.

Today I’m making raspberry lavender clafoutis, served à la mode bien sûr!

Raspberries are in season from June to August, one of the only good things about the midsummer heat. So pick (or pick up) a few cups, preheat the oven (I know, I’m sorry), and let’s get started.

Recipe adapted from Melissa Clark’s “Dinner in French: My Recipes by Way of France”

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – “Our ‘Best Gazpacho,’” Julia Moskin proclaimed last month in The New York Times, “Is a Five-Star Reader Favorite to Sip All Summer.”

When it comes to food, the Times has never steered me wrong. Everyone who cooks or bakes should subscribe to NYT Cooking.

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – Here again I must plug my favorite DC butcher, Canales Quality Meats. Thank you, guys, for supplying these GORGEOUS ribeye steaks, along with the guanciale, pancetta, and bone-in center-cut pork chops that I bought this week alone.

My new house is a few metro stops away from Eastern Market, which means I now see my meat purveyors more than I see my actual friends and you know what? No complaints.

I am one of those people who never needs to be reminded about self-care. I don’t need a good reason to buy a pair of Gucci pool slides and the most expensive cut of meat available on the same day, just because it’s hot.

Nevertheless, tonight’s dinner felt really special. Romantic, even.

A huge thanks to my sensei Brody Levesque for the recipe, lightly adapted below. Chef’s kiss.

*Note: I cooked three whole steaks, which is a lot of meat, but we had a few people over for dinner. Scale this recipe up or down according to your wants and needs.

Slice and serve steak with pan sauce, Sam Sifton’s baked potatoes (recipe here), and green beans cooked in butter and topped with flaky sea salt.

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – Our corporate overlords at Google and Meta have shoved so much Barbie film-related content down my throat that I’m liable to puke at any moment.

So much so that I wondered if I could link this week’s dessert to Mattel’s most famous fashion doll. The last thing the world needs is another Barbie promotion, though.

Are you going to see the movie? Sound off in the comments. Just kidding, we don’t have a comments section here. Your cooking columnist is much too insecure and sensitive to criticism.

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – Here’s yet another simple and delicious dessert from Alison Roman’s “Sweet Enough.” Don’t sleep on this one.

Let pie cool, and then refrigerate until totally chilled, at least an hour. Top with a thin layer of sour cream and fruit before serving

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects

WASHINGTON – Looking for an easy summertime appetizer? How about cherry ricotta toast with prosciutto and mint? Doesn’t that sound like something they would serve at Chez Panisse?

An amuse bouche should take as much time to make as it does to eat, relative to the main course. In other words, I don’t want to be spending too much time on it. But to forego the app is to risk having nothing for your guests to eat if dinner takes longer than anticipated (which it always seems to do, in my case).

I also don’t want anything too heavy. Lookin’ at you, mozzarella sticks. Whose idea was it to bread and deep-fry blocks of cheese for dipping in marinara sauce? Sir, that’s not a snack that’s a damn pizza.

Top with ricotta, pitted and quartered cherries, torn prosciutto, thinly sliced mint leaves, drizzled olive oil, and flaky sea salt

LA Blade White House correspondent Christopher Kane shares his love and passion of cooking writing in his weekly column

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The LA Blade’s intrepid Washington D.C.-based White House correspondent snarks his way through another delicious weekly recipe while dishing tea on other subjects…

WASHINGTON – Summer fruit = summer desserts. Let me just say this watermelon sherbet is both the easiest dessert I’ve ever made and one of my most-complimented.

…which doesn’t make me feel great about the considerably greater effort I’ve put into pies, galettes, cakes, and all manner of other sweet things that I’ve served to my guests over the years.

Also on the menu today is Alison Roman’s old fashioned strawberry cake, from her desserts cookbook “Sweet Enough”

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