Author Archives: foodgal

Take Five With Jessica Entzel Nolan, Former Gordon Ramsay Pastry Chef and Michelin Inspector, And Now Founder of Doughpamine

Jessica Entzel Nolan, founder of Doughpamine, holding one of her Salty Chocolate Chunk gourmet cookies. (Photo by Monica Lo)
Jessica Entzel Nolan, founder of Doughpamine, holding one of her Salty Chocolate Chunk gourmet cookies. (Photo by Monica Lo)

At age 38, Pastry Chef Jessica Entzel Nolan of Novato has already racked up an illustrious culinary career that would be the envy of many.

Not only has she worked in the pastry department at the celebrated restaurants of Wolfgang Puck (Minneapolis’ 20.21 in the Walker Art Center), Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Spice Market in New York City), Gordon Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay at the London in New York City), and Masaharu Morimoto (Morimoto Napa), but she also triumphed on Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen,” and fulfilled a dream of becoming an actual Michelin inspector.

Last summer, she launched the first company of her own, financing it, herself, with a small business loan. Playfully and aptly named, Doughpamine is her line of gourmet frozen cookie dough, now sold at 55 stores in the Bay Area, including Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco; Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley; Draeger’s stores on the Peninsula; and New Leaf markets in Santa Cruz and Aptos. The frozen cookie bags are also sold on the Doughpamine site for shipping nationwide.

The cookie dough comes in four flavors: the best-selling Miso Peanut Butter (salty-sweet-savory and buttery tasting); Salty Chocolate Chunk (comes with a tiny bag of Maldon to sprinkle on before baking); Rhapsody Road (super chocolatey with gooey marshmallows and crunchy almonds), and my personal favorite of Blueberry Corn (tastes like a quintessential corn muffin in cookie form).

The frozen cookie dough comes in resealable bags. (photo by Carolyn Jung)
The frozen cookie dough comes in resealable bags. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

Bake as many as you want, whenever you want, in a 375-degree oven (either convection or non-convection) for fresh, warm cookies that are crispy on the outside and gooey-soft within, or as Entzel Nolan describes “medium-rare” perfection.

Look for the cookies served at San Francisco’s Flour & Water Pizzeria and the Bay Area’s Square Pie Guys, too.

Recently, I had a chance to chat with her about her childhood baking endeavors, what it was like working with world-renowned chefs, what it takes to be a Michelin inspector, and the meet-cute way she and her husband connected — and yes, it did involve food.

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A One-Pot Middle Eastern Chicken For the Win

A complete meal -- all made in one pot in the oven.
A complete meal — all made in one pot in the oven.

Molly Baz says this just might be her favorite recipe in her newest cookbook.

One taste, and you’ll be nodding in immediate agreement.

“One-Pot Chicken Mujadara,” is her take on the warmly scented Middle Eastern dish of rice and lentils in which she cooks them together in a Dutch oven with a whole chicken that turns to blissful, fall-apart tenderness.

The recipe is from her “More Is More” (Clarkson Potter, 2023) of which I received a review copy.

Baz is the Los Angeles girl wonder — the New York Times bestselling cookbook author; founder of the natural wine company, Drink This Wine; and creator of the YouTube series “Hit, The Kitch.”

These sunny, easy-breezy recipes in the book include many with QR codes to scan for step-by-step tutorials and recipe videos, too.

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Lidia Bastianich’s Spicy Vinegar Ribs and Potatoes

Italian-style ribs and potatoes -- all cooked in one roasting pan in the oven.
Italian-style ribs and potatoes — all cooked in one roasting pan in the oven.

Whenever I found myself mindlessly channel surfing while growing up, I would immediately be transfixed whenever I hit channel 9 to find Lidia Matticchio Bastianich cooking up something — anything — in her kitchen.

She has a knack for making cooking seem so natural, so effortless, and so achievable. And her Italian warmth just makes you want to pull up a chair to her table and stay a long while.

Her newest cookbook embodies that spirit. “Lidia’s From Our Family Table to Yours” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2023), of which I received a review copy, was written by the incomparable Emmy Award-winning public television host, best-selling cookbook author, and restaurateur. With her son, Joe Bastianich and business partner Oscar Farinetti, she also opened Eataly, the famous Italian food-and-wine emporium in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Toronto, San Jose, Dallas, and Sao Paulo.

She co-wrote the book with her daughter, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, who spearheads the production of her mother’s television series, and is a co-partner in the Italian sandwich shop, All’Antico Vinaio in New York City.

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Soup’s On With 18 Chestnuts

18 Reasons Beetroot Apple soup that I garnished with a little parsley.
18 Reasons Beetroot Apple soup that I garnished with a little parsley.

Ilona Kossoff was running a commercial real estate company with her husband, when she decided to enroll in the Cornell University healthy living nutrition certification program, a move that would change the trajectory of her life.

As someone who suffered from digestive issues and followed a mostly plant-based diet, she decided to combine her new-found knowledge with her love of cooking soups.

Voila — 18 Chestnuts was born.

The Ashville, NC family-owned company makes shelf-stable vegan soups that are low fat, low sodium, and gluten-free.

The soups come in shelf-stable glass jars.
The soups come in shelf-stable glass jars.

She named the company for her love of chestnuts and because her best-selling Chestnut Maple Soup has 18 chestnuts in every bowl.

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A Clever, Distinctive Riff on Lasagna

Get ready for the incredible dan dan lasagna.
Get ready for the incredible dan dan lasagna.

Chances are this will be the most unique lasagna you’ve ever sunk your teeth into.

That’s because in this version, the classic Italian dish veers Chinese — big-time.

The expected wide, frilly noodles with tomato sauce, abundant ground pork, and loads of stretchy cheese are there. But so are numbing Sichuan peppercorns, spicy chili oil, fragrant five-spice powder, and salty, funky preserved mustard greens.

Meet you new bestie, “Dan Dan Lasagna.”

This inventive recipe is from “Kung Food” (Clarkson Potter, 2023), of which I received a review copy. It was written by culinary content creator, and TikTok, YouTube and Instagram sensation, Jon Kung.

Born in Los Angeles, raised in Hong Kong and Toronto, and now living in Detroit, he pivoted from hosting pop-ups during the pandemic to growing a social media presence. His food emanates from what he calls his third-culture kitchen, seasoned and flavored by his personal experience as the child of immigrants who grew up in a new culture adopted by his parents. Feeling neither wholly American or Chinese, Kung considers his cooking American Chinese, or Third-Culture Chinese, a blend unique to his own upbringing.

The result is a collection of 100 recipes that tantalize with fun and flair, such as “SELT (Spam, Egg, Lettuce, and Tomato)” sandwich, “Spaghetti and Lion’s Head Meatballs,” “A Clay Pot Inspired By Jollof Rice,” “Hong Kong Chicken and Waffles,” and “Chile Chipotle Mango Pudding.”

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