Jessica Tom's Blog, page 19

Endive & Orange Salad

At The Bazaar by José Andrés, you can get all sorts of food somersaults. I love me some culinary acrobatics, but for home, I prefer something a little more down-to-earth.

This came in an endive boat, but if you don't want to feel like you're at a cocktail party, just chop up the endives. It's sweet, bitter, creamy and a little piquant, depending on how many scallions you use. 

RECIPE: Slice four endives into 1/2 inch rings and place in large mixing bowl. Separate leaves. Supreme two oranges (or tangerines for a punchier fragrance) and toss with endives. Chop 1-2 scallions and add to bowl. Make a vinaigrette with olive oil, rice vinegar, the excess juice from the oranges' core and peel, and a dash of mustard. Toss with salad then add toasted sliced almonds and feta cheese, to taste. 

Brûléed Peeps

Today I lived my fantasy of brûléeing Peeps. Now I want to brûlée everything that's sugar-coated. 

The appeal is obvious -- it's crème brûlée meets s'more. Unlike a creme brûlée, the sugar on a Peep is very fine, resulting in a very thin sugar crust. Think: a film of frost rather than a hard chunk of ice. 

At first, I was a little scared to use the blow torch. It's not some frou-frou Williams-Sonoma thing -- it's the real deal to solder pipes and repair cars. I assembled a kit and was kinda scared I was gonna blow up. 

But I guess my pyro tendencies took over and I got the hang of it. FIRE! 

 

 

How I Got the Book Cover of My Dreams

You wrote a book. So many great words, put together in elegant ways! Words matter!

Well, yes, they do. But no one will read them without a compelling, unique cover (sorry).

I took this to heart very early on and developed a plan: Operation Badass Cover Art -- from brainstorming, to articulating to William Morrow’s (amazing) art team, to a final product that delights me every time I look at it.

Here’s how I did it. 

1. Create a Pinterest board. 

Don’t worry about why you like them or if your examples are even book covers to begin with. Just trust your gut and pin things that speak to you. What would you pick up at the bookstore? What does your current bookshelf look like?

2. Look around your life.

my old apartment, painted in the colors of this Georgia O'Keeffe painting

 

What’s the color scheme of your life? I live in a jewel-toned apartment and wear colorful, textured clothes. Your personality -- and your palette --  are infused into your words. Make your cover match, too. 

3. PICK OUT VISUAL THEMES.

After enough thought, certain patterns will emerge. For me, I found that my personal style and the designs I liked fell into these two looks.

Lush & Pretty 


























































Graphic


























































4. Pick out conceptual ideas.

You’ll also find you like covers created with a certain technique. These were mine.

Food that tells a story





















































































































Make you look twice





















































































































A hand-touch (something to make it look alive)





















































































































5. Pick out covers you don’t like.

I won’t name them here because that’s rude. But you’ll know them when you see them. Perhaps the reasons are universal: they look cheap or cliché. Or, maybe your reasons are more specific to you -- you don’t like script, or images of people. It’s important your art team knows your dislikes as much as your likes.

6. Mock up your cover (optional).

Sometimes you don’t want to beat around the bush and have to put pen to paper (or fingers to mouse). You can say you want X, Y, Z, but you won’t really know until you make it and see. I highly recommend Canva if you're not an actual graphic designer. 

7. Send everything to your editor! (or to your designer if that’s your process )

I made a picture-heavy PDF presentation that included all of the above, along with “key elements” (themes and characters that could make good cover content). If you have explicit ideas for your cover, send them too.

So how did it turn out?


















 

I think the William Morrow/ HarperCollins art team did an amazing job. What do you think?

The key is to 1) know what you want, 2) articulate it in a clear and actionable way for your art team, and 3) trust the process. Your cover art designer is like any designer -- he or she wants clear guidelines, and then: freedom to do his or her thing.

Singapore Slaw

Susur Lee makes this insane slaw that's often said to have 19 ingredients. It actually has over 30, if you count all the components that make the components. 

In my book, that makes this salad true restaurant food. Even though there's barely any cooking (as defined by applying heat to comestibles), there's a whole lot of prep. An impressive amount, if you eat it while dining out. A masochistic amount of prep, if you're dining in.

And yet. I had this dish more than five years ago at the now-shuttered Shang*, and I'm still thinking about it. It's a chaotic mix of flavors and textures, more cacophonous Asian night market than Brooklyn farmer's market. It's Asian without relying on easy shorthands of soy and sesame. 

I make a salad almost everyday, and was cursing the fact that I spent so much time on this. But the truth is: you can taste the difference.

Here's the full recipe, if you're jonesin' for a challenge. My version is way abbreviated, definitely inferior, but a delicious addition to your dinner table. 

RECIPE: 

Quick Pickled Onions: Using a mandoline, slice two red onions. Add to bowl and add one heaping tablespoon of salt and one teaspoon of sugar. Cover with vinegar and let rest for at least one hour in the refrigerator. 

Salad: Get slicing. The upside is that you'll get to practice all your knife skills. The key here is to choose veggies of varying bite and juiciness. Cut for visual and mouthfeel contrast. I used: bean sprouts, snow peas, jicima, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, scallions, mint and basil. Other ideas: raw beets, napa cabbage, radish, chayote. 

Crispies: Slice and deep-fry shallots, garlic, and lemongrass. Drain on paper towels. Toast peanuts and sesame seeds. 

Dressing: Mix pickled ginger, fish sauce, rice vinegar, a little bit of the oil from the crispies, and a little bit of the pickling juice from the onions. 

Now, mix everything together, making sure to add that crispies at the last moment so they stay...crunchy. 

* Shang is actually featured in BAD TASTE. The fictitious restaurant Panh Ho is a cross between Shang and SHO Shaun Hergatt (both shuttered, I'm afraid).

The Day My Book Sold (and I became an "author")

YES!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, what else can be said about this? From Publisher's Marketplace:

FICTION:  Debut Jessica Tom's BAD TASTE, pitched as THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA for foodies, about an aspiring cookbook author who discovers the glamour -- and toxic realities -- of the New York restaurant scene when she's recruited to serve as a ghost writer and surrogate eater for a famed Times' restaurant critic desperate to hide that he's lost his sense of taste, to Chelsey Emmelhainz at William Morrow, in a pre-empt, by Stefanie Lieberman at Janklow & Nesbit (World).

I started working on BAD TASTE in 2009. You might know it by a different name, but chances are, if you've ever heard me talking about writing any novel, I was talking about this one.

Since then, it's been a long road of obsessive plotting, writing, revising. Intense spurts of hustling. And, always, always determination in the face of fatigue, complacency, and doubt.

The Publisher's Marketplace announcement came out on a Thursday. I said "yes" to William Morrow and my editor Chelsey Emmelhainz just two days earlier. I'm a writer, and therefore a dreamer, but I never quite imagined the subtle ways a Publisher's Marketplace announcement could make a difference.

Here's what has surprised me, one week after I got The Call and this became a Thing.

1) It will feel unreal. When you work so hard on something, after awhile all you know is the work. It's like you're on a long road trip, with a destination that you and your GPS can only guess. Once you're there, you can't quite believe it.

2) You will walk into a bookstore and feel a sense of camaraderie. When you sign with HarperCollins, they give you this amazing Welcome Kit with heart-stopping sentences like this: "Congratulations, and welcome to HarperCollins....the house of Mark Twain, the Brontë sisters, Thackeray, Dickens, John F. Kennedy, Maurice Sendak, Shel Silverstein, and Margaret Wise Brown." And even just walking into a bookstore, I can't help but feel a sense of family, that I'm pursuing an art that's much deeper and wider than myself.

3) Your friends and family will be so proud of you. Writing is a lonely pursuit and, if you're anything like me, you will keep the process relatively private. But open the doors a little bit, and the rush of support and pride and excitement is a reward unto itself. Your friends will say you are an inspiration, but you will be inspired and strengthened by them just as much.

There's still tons more to say and I plan on writing more about the writing and publishing process. If you have a request, please let me know in the comments below and I'll do my best! Author websites have been such a great resource for me, and I'd love to pay it forward.

Slow-Cooked Button Mushrooms

Mushrooms used to be a hard sell. It's hard to recall exactly why. Maybe it was their styrofoam pop. Their non-taste. The earthiness. The fact that they're fungi?
And then mushrooms got exoticized. In my world, that started with the silky umbrella-like straw mushroom. The meaty portabello. The savory shiitake. As I got older and the food landscaped changed, then came morels, sponges for butter and cream, and maitake, coral reefs of crunch and soft, give and take.

Mushrooms got sexier, and I got more fanatical. One of my favorite dishes is a mushroom melange -- some mix of all of the mushrooms above and perhaps some enoki, trumpet, oyster, lobster, chanterelle.

But I'm a bit disgusted to read that. Snobby, right? The equivalent of a bland designer dress, all label and no style.

This dish goes out to the white button mushroom. I cooked them in the slowcooker to concentrate the mushroom flavor (no sear to distract) and to create mushroom consomme-type thing. Just don't call it normcore.

RECIPE: Wash and trim 2lbs of white button mushrooms. Leave them whole. Add to slow cooker with 2 diced onions or shallots, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, and a glug of white wine (3 tablespoons-ish). Slow cook on low for 4 hours. Before serving, add a knob of butter and parsley.

 

Broccoli Rabe & Bison Meatball Sub

This dish was a result of a couple what-ifs.
What if you didn't have to deal with meatballs rolling out of your sub?
What if you could make a meatball out of bison -- juicy and flavorful, but also lean?
What if you could get a Philly cheesesteak the way you actually want it -- more veggies, cleaner meat, and just a sprinkling of cheese?

And so this broccoli rabe and bison meatball sub was born. This is seriously one of the best things I've ever made. There's the bitterness of the rabe, the sweetness of the onions, the umami of the bison meatballs (and the soy sauce and ketchup inside them), and the oomph of the cheese. But I'd say the real revelation is the baguette end. Go out of your way to get the real deal -- crusty, with that addictive bready je ne sais quoi. Those baguette stubs are game-changers.

RECIPE:
Meatballs (adapted from this Whole Foods Recipe): Mix 1 lb ground bison, 1 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp oregano, pinch cayenne pepper, 1 cup Panko, 1 egg. Roll into 1-inch balls and bake in an oven preheated at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Broccoli Rabe and Onions: Dice 1 onion and 6 garlic cloves and saute on high for 3 minutes. Add 1 bunch of broccoli rabe, trimmed of stems (stems are great, but can be a bit cumbersome in a sandwich) and continue to saute for another 7 minutes, until everything is wilted and the onions are browned.

Final Steps: Cut the baguette into the sizes you want (go for the stubs first). Toast. Sprinkle mini cubes of provolone of any other sweet/musty cheese on the rabe and onions. I used Tome de Vache Basque. Using tongs, stuff the baguette with meatballs and veggies, alternating until stuffed 'til the brim.

Harnesses & Sculptural Leather

No reason to get prudish about it. I'm not going to get all 50 Shades on you.

When I was younger, I didn't think leather looked right on me. Too armored, too mature.

Now I wear leather for the exact reasons I avoided it as a kid. Leather toughens up any outfit, articulates your lines.

When you're younger, you can get away with loose, cottony things. Later, you want structure and polish -- blazers, crisp button-downs, slicked-back hair.

I'm not talking about shoes and purses, because those aren't de facto statement pieces. I'm walking about statement leather --  detailing in your shirt, panels in your coat, etc.

But  leather is also kind of tricky if you're not in a position to be a dominatrix at work or a biker chick at the grocery store. That's why I love delicate harnesses and sculptural leather. They don't have the heavy-handed connotations of "hard" leather, and bring another sort of sexy tough elegance to any outfit.

Here's what I'm wearing above:

Tank: VPL // Sculptured Vest: Manish Arora ( I got it at Oak forever ago and can't find it online. When you see a totally unique piece like this -- you have to get it or else you will regret it.) // Skirt: Theory // Lipstick: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics in Black Dahlia

Some other pieces I love (btw, I'm also on Polyvore!)

Harnesses by jessica-tom on Polyvore

from top to bottom, left to right

Harness by BCBG, worn by PeaceLoveShea -- Whoa. Originally I thought this was Givenchy, but the fact that this is BCBG makes it even better (in the sense that it's more attainable). The dress is okay in a MILFy work dress sort of way, but the harness takes it to the next level.

Bullet Bustier by Zana Bayne -- I feel like you could wear this under a blazer and it'd function like a sweater vest. The uncomplicated seaming and matte leather saves this from 80s Madonna territory.

Pentagram Harness by Zana Bayne -- Devil worship aside, this is kinda like a strappy sandal -- for your body. Delicate, sexy, structured. Done.

Silver Fox Mask by Fleet Ilya -- Remember when lace bunny ears were in a zillion fashion editorials? This is an evolution of that -- cute and elegant, but with a touch of the sinister.

Ponystep by Fleet Ilya -- I have no practical applications for this, but I like it anyway.

Feather Shoulder Piece by Two Weeks -- The inspiration behind this post, my most pinned image, and so damn enchanting. These aren't some poufy Victoria's Secret maribou confections. Again, it comes down to the leather and the feathers, the hard and the soft.

Zana Bayne Bullet Bustier
openingceremony.us

FOX MASK SILVER
$445 - fleetilya.com

Baked Panko Falafel with Cucumber Fennel Raita

I won't make this a healthy eating thing. They're baked! They've been lightened with panko, not bread crumbs or flour! That doesn't really tell you how delicious they are. There are few foods I love more than deep-fried falafel on a plate of cold mezze, but when you're in the mood for something different, there's this.

With baking, you'll get a cookie-like texture similar to a French sablé, not the crackling outside and supple inside of a fried falafel. Plus, panko takes out the guesswork of lightness. A falafel lives and dies by its lightness. Too much flour or breadcrumbs, and the thing turns into a matzoh ball (which is fine, but not what you're doing here).

Bonus brightness comes from lemon and sumac. Who knew that falafel tasted good a little a sour?

RECIPE (adapted from how sweet it is): Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a food processor, grind 2 cans of rinsed chickpeas, 6 garlic cloves, 4 scallions, 1 egg, the juice of lemon, 2/3 cup of soft herbs (parsley, cilantro, dill, mint), 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of aleppo pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of sumac. Process until you have a 50/50 mix of chickpea chunks and a hummus-like mixture. Add 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of panko crumbs, enough to get the dough to cling to itself. Form into patties and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until golden.

For the raita, slice and salt cucumbers and fennel. Drain. Add yogurt, salt, pepper, and olive oil. You can add cumin and red pepper flakes, but I prefer to keep the raita pure when paired against something so aromatic.

Asian Chicken Slaw

I always want things like this, but they're frustratingly hard to find. What is "this"?

"This" is a great post-workout meal -- Fresh and crunchy and satisfying. "Hearty" salads tend to have cream or cheese, which slam the gut. The key is enough protein (here, chicken breast), the body of an aromatic oil (sesame oil in this case), and some support from some nuts (almonds and black sesame seeds, above). See, no sluggishness!

"This" is not a flimsy salad --I'll take slaw over salad any day. A great salad is a revelation -- gossamer lettuce as silken as rose petals, dressing of elegance and subtlety, toppings that play nice while still adding textural, visual, and flavor contrast.  But salads are hard to balance because the leaves are so delicate. Slaws are easy. Make it with cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, carrots -- anything with bite. They'll withstand anything you throw its way.

"This" is nostalgic -- Remember the "Oriental Chicken Salad"? Oh, it was a confusing piece of work -- canned mandarin oranges, fried chow mein noodles, and a honey mustard mayo-based dressing made "Asian" with rice vinegar and sesame oil. I loved this salad, but it could bear to be less gross.

RECIPE: Slice Napa cabbage and salt generously. Saute chicken in olive oil and let rest once done. Dice carrots, red bell pepper, and scallions and add to cabbage. Add chicken, then soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Before serving, toss with sliced almonds and sesame seeds.