Toro Bravo Cookbook
Left to right -- Tyler, John and Josh testing the couscous for the Moroccan tuna in the Toro Bravo Cookbook, due out fall 2013 from McSweeney's.
It was a busy weekend work-wise so I'm not feeling up to putting together a blog post at the moment. That said, I hope that this photo will give you a little food for thought as well as an eye into what I've been up. We're having a lot of fun working on the Toro Bravo Cookbook these days...
One of our best skillet breakfasts to date -- pulled pork, cheddar, onion and eggs.
We've gotten a lot of good news in the past few weeks -- one of the biggest causes for celebration being McSweeney's picking up the Toro Bravo Cookbook that I'm writing with John Gorham, with photography by David Lanthan Reamer and illustrations by Tyler Adams! (We're busy working on it now and it comes out in fall 2013.) With all of that celebrating comes a certain number of meals out and cava corks popped.
Still, we've made some tasty food at home as always and below is some of what we've been cooking. Hope that you're doing well and eating well too. Please chime in with anything you've cooked lately that you've loved.
This was our first meal with the spicy pulled pork that I recently made -- straight up on a bun with spicy garlic dills.
Then we had it over turmeric rice and that was great for all of the sauce.
This Meyer lemon miso pasta with hazelnuts, carrots and cilantro was really fresh and tasty.
And so was this saute of turkey and brussels sprouts with a light gravy over rice.
We make this sort of a snack platter a lot in the winter -- cheese breads with grated onion, homemade pickled beets and honeycrisp apple.
Dungeness drizzled in Meyer lemon butter on a soft Viet-French baguette with mayo and Sriracha. So fucking good.
This is the proposal that our agent sent out to seal the deal...
I can't tell you how happy it makes me to announce that McSweeney's is going to publish the Toro Bravo Cookbook and it's due out in fall 2013! First of all, we've been putting in the hours working on this book for awhile now and from day one chef-owner John Gorham and the entire Toro family has been adamant about getting the Toro Bravo story out there in its entirety with no compromises. Every last sweaty, dirty, salty and spicy detail that fuels the brave bull. I'm so happy and grateful to be a part. Working with John and Renee and their entire Toro staff on this has been so much fun and such an honor.
To give you an idea of what this book is going to be like -- there will be 100 or so Toro recipes along with essays on everything from Toro's unique take on service, to the restaurant's playful take on advertising and John's travels throughout Spain. The book will celebrate the beauty of wild, loud and deeply social Spanish tapas cuisine and the culture and beauty of wild, loud and deeply social Toro Bravo.
Toro Bravo family member and food photographer, David Lanthan Reamer, is doing the book's photography and my boyfriend, Tyler Adams, owner of Grizzly Tattoo is doing the illustrations. Our agent, Kim Witherspoon, is a force to be reckoned with and we're so happy to be signed with her.
I don't know if you love McSweeney's like I do but I can tell you that they are one of my favorite publishing houses and they were our top choice for publishing the Toro Bravo Cookbook. Have you seen the first cookbook that they published in 2011? Have you read their new quarterly food magazine Lucky Peach? I've been reading the incredible books and publications that they've put out since the late '90s and I've never been disappointed. I'm a big fan of McSweeney's and here are just a few of the many reasons why:
1. I'm wearing my gold and black striped pirate socks as I type this. Yep, the ones that I bought at 826 Valencia several years ago -- the non-profit arm of McSweeney's that does such good work with kids and literary arts. The same year that I got my pirate socks we went to a McSweeney's play that Denis Johnson (who writes regularly for McSweeney's) wrote just down the street from 826.
2. One year my mom got me the best Christmas present ever -- the McSweeney's trio of a year's subscription to Wolphin, The Believer Magazine AND McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. Great year. You can still order this here.
3. I have two copies of old Might Magazines on my desk that my friend Michelle gave me to read. I didn't bring them on the plane with me recently because I thought they might get damaged.
4. Whenever McSweeney's is at Wordstock -- and they usually are -- I spend a very long time at their booth handling their books. I buy inappropriate books for friends' children there along with many other bound paper things.
5. When I see a McSweeney's book, magazine, or publication I have to pick it up. In an age of ever increasing digital media and ebooks McSweeney's remains focused on the book as an object. I have never seen such beautiful books in all my life as the ones that they publish. And now, the Toro Bravo Cookbook is going to be one! Fuck yeah! Go Team Gorham!
More soon...
Toro Bravo -- www.torobravopdx.com McSweeney's -- www.mcsweeneys.net InkWell Management -- www.inkwellmanagement.com David Lanthan Reamer -- www.dlreamer.com Tyler Adams -- www.grizzlytattoo.com