In the kitchen: Rubies + Diamonds and chocolate chip cookies
If you’ve been to the Columbia Square development in Hollywood, chances are you’ve stopped by Rubies + Diamonds, the new cafe owned by Jean Shim. In addition to an extensive coffee and tea menu, the place specializes in a variety of specialty drinks. But if you get there early enough, you might also chance upon the chocolate chip cookies. The cookies, baked daily by Shim’s daughter, Elia Lim, frequently sell out by the afternoon. Lucky for us, the mother-daughter team share the recipe.
We’ve also been taken by the colorful squash blossoms found in the farmers markets now. And what’s not to love? Whether stuffed with cheese and baked, tossed with pasta, or maybe just deep-fried, we collected some of our favorite recipes to make use of the blossoms at home.
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Next time you’re thinking about what to fix for breakfast, you’ll have to try the scones recipe from the Savoy hotel in London. And if you’re looking for a topping, you’ll have to try the strawberry and rhubarb jam from pastry Roxana Jullapat, who also dishes on her new project with partner, chef Daniel Mattern. Finally, we review Christine Moore’s new cookbook, “Little Flower Baking,” which includes plenty of recipes you’ll want to add to your regular rotation.
The mother-daughter team at Rubies + Diamonds
Can cookies teach entrepreneurial and practical skills? For Elia Min, they do. Min, the 12-year-old daughter of Jean Shim, owner of Rubies + Diamonds and former co-owner of La Mill in Silver Lake, has had a tasty lesson in business by baking cookies for her mother’s cafe. Among her creations? “Elia’s chocolate chip cookies,” along with oatmeal currant cashew cookies and a line of dog biscuits. Min shares her chocolate chip cookie recipe, along with some of the lessons she’s learned working with her mother.
Squash blossoms are in season. We have recipes
Ranging from vibrant yellow to deep orange, squash blossoms are a colorful prelude to all the zucchini and other summer squash turning up later in the summer. The large blossoms carry the faint flavor of the squash itself, and can be used in a variety of ways, both raw and cooked. We share six of our favorite recipes.
Buttermilk substitution tips, plus a scone recipe straight from London
Buttermilk is not a kitchen staple many of us keep handy in the fridge, but it’s perfect when you want to brighten a dish with fresh, tangy notes, be it fried chicken, coffeecake or biscuits. Luckily, it’s not that hard to improvise — simply combine milk with a touch of acid from lemon juice or vinegar. It’s a kitchen tip to keep handy next time you have a recipe that calls for only a small amount of buttermilk, like the scones from the Savoy hotel in London, one of our most popular recipes at the moment.
A jam recipe to tide you over until Friends and Family opens
Pastry chef Roxana Jullapat opened up about her latest project with Daniel Mattern, a bakery/cafe/marketplace slated to open in early summer. Friends and Family, a 4,000-square-foot location on Hollywood Boulevard, will focus on breakfast and lunch, with a retail component for Jullapat’s breads, pastries and jams. In the meantime, Jullapat shares her recipe for strawberry and rhubarb jam.
Marshmallows and more in Christine Moore’s new cookbook
Christine Moore, of Little Flower Candy Co. and Lincoln, is out with her second cookbook, “Little Flower Baking,” written with her longtime pastry chef Cecilia Leung. There are recipes ranging from sweet — those massive marshmallows, pastries and baked goods — along with savory recipes including chicken pot pie and an Alsatian onion tart. Food editor Amy Scattergood reports.
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