Newsletter: In the kitchen: Cookbooks and winter greens

Evan Kleiman may not use all of her many cookbooks for meal planning, but she continues to turn to them for research, entertainment and nostalgia.

Feb. 29, 2016 7:57 PM PT

For many of us, this is the time we begin to think about spring cleaning. This may include reorganizing the refrigerator, or cleaning out a cluttered kitchen drawer, cabinet or closet. For longtime KCRW “Good Food” host Evan Kleiman, this year’s cleaning is a bit more consequential, and bittersweet — she’s downsizing to a smaller home, and is therefore thinning out her massive cookbook collection, amassed over decades of cooking.

Meanwhile, we’re still in the middle of winter, even if our Southern California weather would argue otherwise. We have ideas -- including recipes -- for all the gorgeous mounds of winter greens now at the market. We also have suggestions for the interesting-looking puntarelle showing up at some market stands for at least the next few weeks. Finally, we found one cool new kitchen gadget you’ll want to check out and consider adding to your collection.

– Noelle Carter

Evan Kleiman slims down her extensive cookbook collection

Paco sits in front of Evan Kleiman's elaborate cook book collection. Kleiman is downsizing from a spacious apartment to a compact 500 square feet and she has a lot of cookbooks.

Evan Kleiman has a lifetime of cookbooks; the renowned radio host and longtime chef and owner of Angeli Caffe estimates she’s received an average of 5 books a week since she began hosting “Good Food” in 1998. Downsizing from a spacious apartment to a much smaller 500-foot living space has its consequences. From traditional cookbooks to memoirs, historical tomes to books she relies on for research or merely for sentimental value, she has no choice but to thin her impressive collection. She shares how she made her choices, and what she decided to keep.

You can do a lot with winter greens. We have ideas -- and recipes

Stroll the produce aisle of your supermarket almost any time of the year, and it seems there’s no limit to the variety of winter greens available. But there is such a thing as a season, and colder weather is when these vegetables thrive. Right now, look for cabbages such as kale, endive and escarole, as well as spinach, chard, beet and turnip greens, mustard and collard greens, and broccoli. We share tips for using and cooking, along with several recipes.

Puntarelle: What it is and how to use it

Puntarelle is an Italian member of the chicory family. Use its celery-like core in a classic Roman salad, or add to a salad or roast or grill.

You may have never heard of puntarelle, an Italian member of the chicory family, but chances are you’ve seen the odd-looking vegetable at stands at farmers markets. The green, which is related to endive, radicchio and escarole, looks kind of like Tim Burton grafted a bunch of dandelion leaves onto a massive head of bok choy.

You’ll love the new multi-purpose Cube Grater from Microplane

Grate, collect and measure — the Cube Grater makes a messy task easier

About the size of a Rubik’s Cube, this handy multifunctional tool allows you to quickly grate a variety of hard and soft ingredients using your choice of fine, coarse and ribbon grating options. The tool catches ingredients in a see-through cover with handy measurement marks that also doubles as storage for your grated cheese or chocolate ribbons.

This honeycomb ice cream recipe doesn’t need an ice cream maker

Forget El Nino -- this past month was the hottest February on record in Los Angeles, beating the previous record set in 1954. If nothing else, cool down with a batch of homemade ice cream from the folks at Rustic Canyon. We have a recipe for creamy honeycomb ice cream that you don’t even need an ice cream maker to make.

Newsletter: In the kitchen: Cookbooks and winter greens

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