Opening up the pages of Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Street Journey is a one-way ticket to sun-drenched afternoons on the Central Coast of California. From rolling vineyards to salty ocean breezes, each web page is an escape into the world of the fishermen, crabbers, farmers, winemakers, and foragers who stretch alongside the Pacific Coast Freeway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Past its beautiful imagery and thoughtfully-curated recipes, this cookbook stands out for its deep reverence of recent, seasonal substances—each lovingly spotlighted in easy but elevated dishes.
I used to be captivated by Chef Scott Clark’s journey from San Francisco’s most celebrated eating places to proudly owning his beloved sandwich-and-pie store, Dad’s Luncheonette, in Half Moon Bay. And fortunate for us, Clark isn’t simply sharing beautiful dishes within the e book; he’s revealing secrets and techniques that effortlessly elevate our cooking at dwelling. Under, I’m sharing his sensible but sensible ideas that any dwelling prepare dinner can use to immediately remodel meals from good to unforgettable. Get able to uncover the insider methods cooks swear by—and begin cooking with extra confidence, ease, and pleasure.
Get the recipe: Scott Clark’s Charred Broccolini with Melted Anchovy and Garlic
The Chef-Proprietor of Dad’s Luncheonette Shares His “Rules of the Road”
1. Prep in your touchdown.
For those who’re going to take a leap and do one thing you haven’t performed earlier than, bounce with mindfulness. The place am I going to place this sizzling pot? Do I’ve a bowl for my kitchen scraps? Reply these questions earlier than you begin. Prepping in your touchdown ensures that while you’re doing one thing exterior your consolation zone, you could have the whole lot in place to know that you simply’re protected.
In restaurant kitchens, the time period for that is “mise en place.” But it surely’s not simply measuring out substances beforehand. You mise en place your self, your station, your kitchen. Include an apron on and a kitchen towel folded over your apron strings. Arrange a clear water bathtub, or what cooks name a bain-marie, filled with spoons and a whisk. Get your kitchen timer in place. Put all these issues so as, so you may get out of your consolation zone however nonetheless really feel safe that you realize the place the whole lot’s going to go. Then you’ll be able to crush it. It’s important to be organized to prepare dinner effectively. Not solely will you do it higher, however you’ll additionally make much less of a large number, wash fewer dishes, be all-around extra comfy, and have extra enjoyable.
2. Learn the recipe earlier than you begin cooking.
That is mise en putting your thoughts. Put one other method, your recipe (sure, together with the headnote) is your guidebook and street map to the place you’re going; it particulars the whole lot it is advisable to prepare dinner the dish efficiently. I wish to hit the street absolutely conscious, particularly when the journey takes a number of hours, like quite a lot of the recipes on this e book do. You don’t wish to uncover you’ll be able to’t make it to your vacation spot on time, regardless of how recklessly you velocity, similar to you don’t wish to attempt to make Hen Liver Mousse (web page 270) final minute, solely to search out out you have been speculated to brine the livers in a single day. You don’t wish to end up stranded on the facet of the street with no spare tire, similar to you don’t wish to try to duplicate Dad’s Hamburger Sandwich with out Pickled Onions in your fridge. We’re after a chill experience, and hopefully, studying the recipes shall be a pleasure in and of itself.
It’s important to be organized to prepare dinner effectively. Not solely will you do it higher, however you’ll additionally make much less of a large number, wash fewer dishes, be all-around extra comfy, and have extra enjoyable.
3. For those who’re cooking, you’re tasting.
The explanation issues style so good at Michelin-starred eating places is that somebody put a spoon within the meals and put that spoon of their mouth and stored doing that with extra spoons about fifteen instances earlier than the dish acquired to the desk. For those who’re cooking in one in every of these eating places, you in all probability shouldn’t want household meal since you style meals so many instances in the course of the day. At 4 p.m. day-after-day at Saison, we’d name for tasting trays. Ice cream, caviar, diced grapefruit, lobster gelée, micro herbs—the sous cooks and I might style each element of each dish we prepped. The factor that all the time acquired me is when folks didn’t clear their chopping boards between jobs. I might put that grapefruit in my mouth and style shallots. You could have to have the ability to catch these issues. And with long-cooked dishes like soups and stews, you wish to see how your flavors are creating and whether or not you want extra seasoning. Style as you go, all the time.
4. Lavish consideration on the whole lot.
Cooking is like being in a long-term relationship. It’s important to hold courting your substances. You may’t simply count on them to be there day-after-day in the event you don’t hold the spark alive. Be a lover; open the door in your ripe tomatoes. Present them your ardour. Wash them, recognize their seasonality, and put them to mattress lovingly.
5. Retailer the whole lot correctly.
For those who don’t pack and stow meals accurately, then your whole good work turns bitter. All through these recipes, I point out how lengthy you’ll be able to hold meals and the way it is best to retailer them. Take my recommendation. Then give your self the time to wrap and stack issues proper. Use hermetic containers in your fridge and freezer. Label the containers so you realize what’s in them and the way lengthy it’s been there. You’re making all this enjoyable stuff, and also you wish to hold it on the proper temperature and within the appropriate situation to make sure its deliciousness.
6. Your arms are instruments.
It’s a frowned-upon situation for some folks, however I’m telling you: Cooking is excessive contact. Wash your arms first, then contact the whole lot. I’m a tactile human, anyway, due to my ADHD. I wish to contact. But it surely’s smart too. It’s so simple as understanding how mushy a lemon is, or if a radish is woody. It’s kneading dough, it’s tossing salad, it’s pulling the meat from the pig’s cranium for head cheese (web page 271). For those who simply get in there and get after it, you study so much within the course of. You should use the perception you achieve to develop into a extra succesful prepare dinner. I additionally promote consuming something you’ll be able to along with your arms. Really feel it, like it, seize it, become involved.
7. Focus.
Fingers on the wheel, eyes on the street. Decelerate, assume deliberately, and also you’ll study a ton. Issues that really feel international at first will develop into your signposts, and small, even seemingly annoying methods will reveal themselves to be wildly helpful since you strove to know what it’s you’re doing. Why can we peel fats asparagus after which prepare dinner it in a broth made with its peels? Do it fastidiously, style it, and also you’ll know why. The primary time you put together a recipe, you’re clunky, however in the event you pay shut consideration, by the third or fourth time, you’re shifting gracefully. So be current whereas making a meal for your self and your family members. You’ll benefit from the course of extra.
Excerpted from Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Street Journey by Scott Clark with Betsy Andrews, © 2025. Revealed by Chronicle Books. Images © Cheyenne Ellis.
