In other words, Jessica doesn’t follow a certain diet; she makes up her own.
That means mixing and matching many different kinds of foods and always being open to changing up a dish on the fly. When she’s craving tons of greens, she might make an herb-flecked tomatillo sauce and spoon it over sautéed fish, braised meat, or grilled vegetables. When she goes to the farmers’ market intending to buy plums and finds that the plums aren’t perfectly ripe or just don’t taste right, she opts for another type of fruit. And she never gets hung up on sticking to a recipe—the ultimate in California cool.
It could be because she’s finally doing what she loves. After college, Jessica worked in a high-end Atlanta restaurant called Bacchanalia under chef Anne Quatrano. Although she loved the experience, Jessica left to work in television production for a while. At the time, it seemed like the smart, adult thing to do. But she couldn’t shake her love of cooking. At one point, she would put in her normal office hours by day and then pull a night shift at a local bakery, all because she knew the kitchen was where she wanted to be. Eventually she moved back to Atlanta to work with Anne, determined to do it for real this time. She worked hard, studied up, and started dreaming of how she would do things at a place of her own.
Jessica moved back to Los Angeles in 2011 and was soon working in a kitchen near the Hollywood farmers’ market. A few months later, she began making her now-famous preserves, selling them under the name Sqirl. Then Sqirl the jam company became Sqirl the restaurant—the beloved breakfast and lunch spot on the edge of Los Angeles’s hip Silver Lake neighborhood that continues to draw lines out the door and around the block.
Part of the appeal of Sqirl (and there are many) is that the food is healthy but not preachy, accessible but still oh-so beautiful. It’s a mix-and-match approach to food, where whatever sounds good right now is the right choice. With this same spirit of inclusion and accommodation, she creates recipes that are endlessly adaptable. Take her Coconut-Apricot Trifle . It’s made up of layers of airy gluten-free cake crumbles, whipped coconut cream, and apricot jam. Only you don’t have to use apricot jam if you don’t want to. You can use any jam you like. And if you’d rather make regular whipped cream, that’ll work just as well.
Cooking the Jessica Koslow way: It’s all about going with the flow.
JESSICA KOSLOW
FOOD MANTRA
Ask your body what it needs and know when it’s satisfied.
PANTRY STAPLE
I love matcha, and I especially love the matcha we get for Sqirl from Ippodo, a tea company based in Kyoto, Japan. At home, I keep a few different grades of matcha. I save the finest grade for the restaurant.
FOREVER MEAL
Every day at Sqirl, I eat pretty much the same lunch: sorrel pesto rice bowl (alas, I usually eat it in a plastic deli cup), with extra kale.
FOOD RITUAL
Going to the farmers’ market on Wednesdays in Santa Monica. The farmers we buy from have become my extended family. The diversity and beauty of California produce, especially the rare and unusual fruits that I love so much, will inspire me forever.
FOOD HEROES
Anne Quatrano, chef of the James Beard Award–winning restaurant Bacchanalia and other restaurants in Atlanta. My first real kitchen experience was working for Anne. She agreed to hire me even though I had no résumé to speak of. I sent her an embarrassing e-mail we both still laugh about, in which I pleaded with her, saying I would wash her floors every day. Miraculously, it worked.
Make this salad at the height of summer, when heirloom tomatoes look like they’re about to burst open with flavorful juices. You can use any small, freshly dug potatoes, but try to get a mix of colors, like these fingerlings we buy from Alex Weiser of Weiser Family Farms. SERVES 4
2 pounds fingerling potatoes, scrubbed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon canola oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 large heirloom tomatoes, thickly sliced
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
½ teaspoon ground coriander
2–4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2 limes)
Fresh basil leaves, torn
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
On a baking sheet or in a large cast-iron skillet, toss the potatoes, oils, and salt until the potatoes are evenly coated. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the potatoes are a little softer. Remove from the oven, use 2 forks to break each potato in half lengthwise, and then return to the oven, stirring once, until the potatoes are crisp on the outside and soft inside, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.
In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, ginger, vinegar, cardamom, pepper flakes, coriander, and lime juice. Toss gently to mix. Add the crispy potatoes and toss gently. Season with more salt as needed. Garnish with the basil and serve.
This is like polenta, but it’s prepared with masa harina, which is flour made from corn soaked in limewater. Masa harina is the same flour you’d use to make masa for tamales, sopes, and tortillas. Specks of charred and finely chopped Broccolini and onion make this dish fun. SERVES 4
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 bunches Broccolini (about ¾ pound)
1 yellow onion, sliced ½" thick
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup masa harina
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the oil, Broccolini, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly charred and tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a cutting board and chop finely.
Bring the broth to a boil in a large heavy-bottom pot over high heat. While whisking the broth, gradually add the masa harina. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the butter, salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, whisking often, until the masa harina is cooked and soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Mix in the chopped vegetables. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if needed.
Beyond its now-famous ricotta toast and sorrel pesto bowl, modification is the name of the game at Sqirl. People are constantly requesting a swap of some sort to adapt the dish to their personal tastes or dietary restrictions. “No cheese, extra garlic cream, dressing on the side, plus a fried egg not too well done.” It’s enough to drive most people crazy, but Jessica is such a good sport about it. “We’re a breakfast and lunch–only spot,” she says, “and people usually come in knowing exactly what they’d like to eat on a given day. That’s unlike going out for dinner at a restaurant, where most of us are game to try a dish as the chef intended it to be, even if it maybe sounds a little weird.” Jessica is always willing to modify every single dish to suit the dietary needs of every single diner. She has learned to think on her feet and come up with a substitution that is no less delicious than the original. She believes cooking can and should be deeply personal and endlessly adaptable, whether you’re cooking for customers at a restaurant or a group of friends (or just yourself!) at home. Don’t feel like adding feta cheese to a dish you’re cooking? Leave it out. Does extra greens sound good today? Pile ’em on.
I love the way this pale pink fish and bright green sauce look together on the plate. However, if a different type of fish looks fresher at the market, please go ahead and buy it instead. The tomatillo sauce is really tasty spooned over lots of other things, like braised meat and grilled fish or vegetables. Make a double batch and serve the extra sauce with tacos! SERVES 4
SAUCE
½ pound tomatillos, husked and halved
½ ripe avocado
½ jalapeño chile pepper (wear plastic gloves when handling)
⅓ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
⅓ cup fresh cilantro
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
SNAPPER
4 red snapper fillets, skin on (about 5 ounces each)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
½ lemon
Flaky sea salt
To make the sauce: Using a blender, combine the tomatillos, avocado, pepper, parsley, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, oil, and salt. Process until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt if needed.
To make the snapper: Season the fillets with sea salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add the oil and 2 fillets, skin side down, to the skillet. Immediately reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 3 minutes, flip, and add 1 tablespoon of the butter. Cook for 1 minute longer, using a spoon to baste the fish with the melted butter. Transfer the fish to a plate and repeat to cook the other fillets. (You don’t need to add more oil to the already-hot skillet for the second batch.)
To serve, place 1 snapper fillet in the center of each plate. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the fish and sprinkle with flaky salt. Spoon the tomatillo sauce over and around the fish.
A few years ago, I broke my ankle. I went looking for anything that would help a lady who stands in the kitchen all day. I found turmeric, a rhizome that looks like ginger’s colorful cousin. Turmeric’s anti-inflammatory properties make it an amazing ingredient to incorporate into food. Just know that it has a knack for staining everything it touches. SERVES 4
2 cups medium-grain brown rice
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
5 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced on the diagonal
⅓ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rice and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain through a fine-mesh sieve, and then transfer the cooked rice to a large bowl.
In a small, dry skillet over medium-low heat, combine the cumin and coriander. Toast the spices, shaking the skillet often, until fragrant but not burned, about 3 minutes. Using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind the toasted spices to a powder.
Add a few big pinches of the ground toasted spices to the bowl of rice. Stir in the turmeric, oil, and salt.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the rice mixture and cook, stirring often, for about 1 minute. Add the scallions, parsley, and vinegar. Season with salt, pepper, and more ground spice mixture to taste.
This dessert is a layered mash-up of cake crumbles, fresh fruit, apricot jam, and a rich (yet dairy-free) whipped coconut cream. Just the gluten-free cake alone is worth making. But together, all these elements add up to something great. And it tastes even better the day after, once all the flavors have had a chance to mingle. Make sure you start ahead of time and put the coconut milk in the refrigerator to chill overnight. SERVES 6 TO 8
1 can (15 ounces) full-fat coconut milk
Unsalted butter, for the pan
⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons sweet rice flour
¼ cup potato starch
2 tablespoons tapioca starch
½ cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
6 tablespoons apricot jam
4 apricots (see note ), pitted and sliced
¼ cup toasted and chopped pistachios or almonds
Place the unopened can of coconut milk in the fridge for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter the sides of a 9" round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the flours, potato starch, tapioca starch, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream. Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until incorporated. Transfer to the prepared pan, spreading it evenly. Brush the top with cream and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until evenly golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool completely.
Meanwhile, open the chilled can of coconut milk and scoop all the solidified cream from the top into a bowl, leaving the liquid behind in the can. Add the confectioners’ sugar. Using a whisk or an electric mixer with beaters, whip until smooth, creamy, and as stiff as whipped cream.
To assemble the trifle, use your hands to break the cake into large pieces and scatter about half of the cake in the bottom of a wide, tall-sided glass dish. Spoon about half of the whipped coconut cream in dollops scattered evenly over the cake. Add the apricot jam in big spoonfuls. Top with fresh apricot slices and the rest of the cake. Spoon the remaining whipped coconut cream over the top in dollops. Garnish with the nuts.
Serve right away or store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Note: My favorite variety of apricot is Blenheim. It’s a really special fruit that turns into silky apricot sorcery when cooked into jam. Look for Blenheims at farmers’ markets—they don’t travel well because they bruise so easily.
Before there was the restaurant, there was jam. Jessica learned the art of preserving during her first restaurant job under chef Anne Quatrano at Bacchanalia in Atlanta, and then again at Anne’s Abattoir, where preserving pickles, meats, and chutneys was a specialty. Jessica took what she learned at the restaurant and tinkered at night in her own kitchen, developing preserves that were the precursor to Sqirl. Once she moved to LA, she used those same techniques to preserve California’s bountiful produce. She couldn’t believe more people weren’t doing it—there’s just so much produce! She’d stop by the farmers’ market and pick up dozens of flats of fruit. Before long, she was churning out jams of all sorts: apricot, plum, and tomato, plus raspberry and cardamom, blackberry and lemon, and strawberry–rose geranium. Nothing was off-limits. That’s what made Jessica’s jams so special: She took fruits at their peak flavor and mixed them with subtle, complementary spices, herbs, and other fruits.
Thai iced tea is supposed to be made with strongly brewed black Ceylon tea. We like to make it with rooibos instead. Rooibos is caffeine-free, packed full of vitamin C, and just delicious. For extra-credit points, you could top each glass of this iced tea with a spoonful of the whipped coconut cream from the Coconut-Apricot Trifle . SERVES 4
4 cups water
2 tablespoons loose rooibos tea leaves or 4 rooibos tea bags
¾ cup sugar
1 green cardamom pod
2 cloves
Crushed ice, for serving
½ cup half-and-half or full-fat coconut milk, for serving
In a small saucepan, combine the water, tea, sugar, cardamom, and cloves and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for a few minutes, and then remove from the heat and let steep for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Strain the cooled tea through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth, discarding the solids and any tea bags.
Fill 4 tall glasses with crushed ice. Pour the strained tea into the glasses, leaving some space at the top. Pour 2 tablespoons of the half-and-half or coconut milk into each glass and serve with a long-handled spoon for stirring.
