Random Recipes

I recently got married, which means I'll be happily spending the rest of my life with Miguelito. It also means that I've been able to stock my kitchen with loads of new gadgets from my Williams-Sonoma registry (the boxes filled up my cubicle at work). Following our Hawaiian honeymoon, Miguelito and I have been nesting and cooking at home. Here are some of the recipes and Web sites that I've got on my list to try:

Nam Nam is the noise your mouth makes when you're sloppily chewing on a sumptuous morsel. It's also the online source of daring dishes such as foie coulant with liquid heart of raw red fig, doughnut ice cream in strawberry soup and pea hummus by a Spanish foodie whose identity I’ve yet to learn.

I want to be Anita Lo when I grow up. But I have an inability to chop finely because I'm afraid that I'll cut my fingers. So I'll have to settle with recreating the millefeuille of fresh strawberries and Ricotta from Lo's acclaimed New York restaurant, Annisa.

Amanda Hesser no longer writes for The New York Times. But she has launched a new food Web site, where she posts recipes, such as one for scrambled eggs with asparagus. Though Hesser doesn't follow Julia Child's tip of using a whole stick of butter to make a mound of soft, jiggly eggs, I like the way she adds zing to the dish with lemon zest.

If I had to choose a career in the food industry, it would be that of sommelier. A friend said I'd be good at it because I'm not a heavy drinker. One day, I'd have as much influence as this grape guru from Japan.

Boutique BBQ

I used to get my barbecue from BBQ King on Cesar Chavez Avenue. Then, amidst the wave of gentrification sweeping the area surrounding downtown Los Angeles, BBQ King was razed to make way for luxury condos. Now I go to Boneyard Bistro in Sherman Oaks, Calif. If it weren't for a friend who's dating the chef, I would have never found it. Miguelito and I keep going back, partly because of the personal connection, mainly because of the finger-licking-good food. Plus, the beer menu -- categorized by alcoholic content, type and size -- is quite impressive. You could easily sample a saison, a bock and a Trappist ale in one sitting. Just don't expect a lemon with your Hefeweizen. For some reason, the chef, Aaron Robins, objects to serving any kind of garnish with the beer.

Dinner at Boneyard Bistro doesn't have to be all about carbs. On the evening we went with my sister, who was visiting from San Francisco, the evening's specials included a salad of heirloom tomatoes with a choice of blue or goat cheese. We opted for the more pungent blue, which was perfect to smear on the toast tinted with balsamic vinegar.

There are three ways to enjoy a BBQ combo: one meat, two meats or three meats. You can pick from chicken, three types of ribs (spare, baby back and St. Louis-style), sausages, brisket, tri tip, pulled pork and, as a concession to the vegetarians (and a big offense to this Southerner) portabello. Miguelito, my sister and I each tried the two-meat combo. While Miguelito ordered the baby back ribs with the tri tip, my sister had the brisket and St. Louis-style ribs. I got the same ribs as my sister did, with some chicken. The best-tasting variety was the brisket -- so tender and smoky. The chicken was perfectly cooked, as wel.. The St. Louis-style ribs, however, were too overcooked for my sister's preference. So the chef brought over a fresh plate of more tender slabs for her.

With each BBQ entree, we got our pick of two sides. We decided each of us would order the baked beans, collard greens and cole slaw enhanced with dill weed. But I had to have my own piece of fried mac 'n' cheese. The crispy triangle snapped apart easily to reveal a gooey center of soft elbow macaroni and cheese. It was a blatant violation of the bridal diet that I was all too happy to commit.

Trendy Taquerias

I'd challenge anyone to spend a day in Southern California without passing at least one taqueria. While there are the hipster-sanctified holes like Malo, there are also the primitive shacks such as the original Yuca's, set up in the middle of a parking lot across from a liquor store. On a recent Saturday, Miguelito and I cruised down Hollywood Boulevard to the newer, nicer, bigger addition of Loteria Grill, the Farmer's Market staple. We liked the clean, open space, where we could spy on the cooks as they whipped up the mole that has driven scores of hungry people to stake out a stool at the cramped stand that Loteria operates at the Farmer's Market. Still, we were a little apprehensive that the oversize cards would fall on us at the Hollywood location.

The reason we went to Loteria Grill was because I was craving huevos rancheros. Once I saw the huevos en sopes on the menu, I quickly forgot about the poached eggs served over tortillas. The fried circles of maize were so mushy, that it was a bit of a mess eating the sopes. But I liked that the yolk would run from the perfectly poached eggs and mix with the sopes, queso fresco and ranchera sauce. The side of potatoes that is de rigeur for many breakfast dishes served at American restaurants, no matter what culture you're in, was roasted with cactus at Loteria.

Miguelito ordered a trio of tacos: chicken mole, carnitas and potatoes. Satisfied with our Mexican brunch, we stepped out into the tourist traps on Hollywood Boulevard, only to be asked by some guy where the nearest McDonald was.

A few weeks later, Miguelito and I drove to Culver City for dinner at Wilson Food and Wine. At least, that's what we had planned. Founded by Michael Wilson, the gastronomically talented son of the late Dennis Wilson from The Beach Boys, the restaurant made its mark in Southern California with comfort food influenced by different world cultures. Think of French onion soup, racks of lamb and mean martinis. A couple of months ago, Wilson Food and Wine transformed to Anejo At Wilson, a tequila bar and taqueria. If Miguelito had known that, he wouldn't have filled up on tacos at King Taco earlier in the day. So he ordered the ceviche at the new Wilson.

I started the evening with pureed corn soup.

Then I indulged my fondness for offal with one of the evening's specials, a taco of sweetbreads in a rich red sauce. The complement was a taco of fried clams covered with crema mexicana and cabbage. The shellfish was a little much too gnaw on. I probably should have ordered the fried halibut taco instead. Still, our light, festive meal got us ready to jam in the Porta-Party at Royal/T.