Opening up the pages of Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Highway 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 elements—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 gorgeous dishes within the e book; he’s revealing secrets and techniques that effortlessly elevate our cooking at dwelling. Beneath, I’m sharing his sensible but sensible suggestions that any dwelling prepare dinner can use to immediately rework 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.
Should you’re going to take a leap and do one thing you haven’t accomplished earlier than, leap 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 once you’re doing one thing outdoors your consolation zone, you could have the whole lot in place to know that you simply’re secure.
In restaurant kitchens, the time period for that is “mise en place.” Nevertheless it’s not simply measuring out elements 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 will get out of your consolation zone however nonetheless really feel safe that you already know the place the whole lot’s going to go. Then you possibly can crush it. It’s a must to be organized to prepare dinner properly. 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 snug, and have extra enjoyable.
2. Learn the recipe earlier than you begin cooking.
That is mise en putting your thoughts. Put one other manner, your recipe (sure, together with the headnote) is your guidebook and highway map to the place you’re going; it particulars the whole lot you should prepare dinner the dish efficiently. I wish to hit the highway absolutely conscious, particularly when the journey takes a couple of hours, like numerous the recipes on this e book do. You don’t need to uncover you possibly can’t make it to your vacation spot on time, regardless of how recklessly you velocity, identical to you don’t need to attempt to make Hen Liver Mousse (web page 270) final minute, solely to search out out you have been purported to brine the livers in a single day. You don’t need to end up stranded on the facet of the highway with out a spare tire, identical to you don’t need to try to copy Dad’s Hamburger Sandwich with out Pickled Onions in your fridge. We’re after a chill journey, and hopefully, studying the recipes might be a pleasure in and of itself.
It’s a must to be organized to prepare dinner properly. 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 snug, and have extra enjoyable.
3. Should you’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 occasions earlier than the dish received to the desk. Should you’re cooking in considered one of these eating places, you most likely shouldn’t want household meal since you style meals so many occasions throughout the day. At 4 p.m. each 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 part of each dish we prepped. The factor that all the time received me is when individuals didn’t clear their slicing boards between jobs. I might put that grapefruit in my mouth and style shallots. You will have to have the ability to catch these issues. And with long-cooked dishes like soups and stews, you need 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 a must to hold relationship your elements. You possibly can’t simply anticipate them to be there each day for those who don’t hold the spark alive. Be a lover; open the door in your ripe tomatoes. Present them your ardour. Wash them, respect their seasonality, and put them to mattress lovingly.
5. Retailer the whole lot correctly.
Should you don’t pack and stow meals appropriately, then your entire good work turns bitter. All through these recipes, I point out how lengthy you possibly can 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 already know what’s in them and the way lengthy it’s been there. You’re making all this enjoyable stuff, and also you need 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 individuals, 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 need to contact. Nevertheless it’s wise too. It’s so simple as realizing how tender 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). Should you simply get in there and get after it, you be taught rather a lot within the course of. You should utilize the perception you acquire to turn out to be a extra succesful prepare dinner. I additionally promote consuming something you possibly can together with your arms. Really feel it, like it, seize it, become involved.
7. Focus.
Arms on the wheel, eyes on the highway. Decelerate, assume deliberately, and also you’ll be taught a ton. Issues that really feel international at first will turn out to be your signposts, and small, even seemingly annoying methods will reveal themselves to be wildly helpful since you strove to grasp what it’s you’re doing. Why will we peel fats asparagus after which prepare dinner it in a broth made with its peels? Do it rigorously, style it, and also you’ll know why. The primary time you put together a recipe, you’re clunky, however for those who 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 Highway Journey by Scott Clark with Betsy Andrews, © 2025. Revealed by Chronicle Books. Images © Cheyenne Ellis.
