Culinary Vixen

Quick Recipe: Mexican Spiced Roast Beef

2012-02-20T07:05:00.000-08:00

I love writing recipes. My computer programmer type brain loves listing out commands in specific order. I envision putting the recipe into a cooking machine (or the hands of a good cook) and if my recipe is well written, precise & elegant (programmer speak), only great food can come from it.

My sister asked me about the Mexican Spiced Roast Beef I was making to turn into chile this week. I typed this up with my thumbs, on my iPhone, as my husband drove us to Mammoth yesterday. Can't think of a better way to kill drive time than writing recipes!

Mexican Spiced Roast Beef

Ingredients:

5lb roast beef

2 TBSP oil,
1 TBSP each coriander, cumin, Mexican oregano & salt, some pepper.
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced.
1 Beer

Method:

Rub the roast with all the spices.

Brown the roast in the hot oil in large Dutch Oven.

Add the onion & garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the beer.

Cover it & bake in oven at 325F for 3 hours.

(I added carrots & potatoes for last 40 minutes. Yum!)

Remove from oven. Let roast rest for 20 minutes, slice & serve with the jus from the pot.

"Bottle it!"

2012-02-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

Goat Cheese Dip with Sun-dried Tomatoes & Thyme

Back in the late 1980's, when I first made this dip, sun-dried tomatoes were a very popular ingredient for Americans. I served this on toasted baguette slices that had been slathered in garlic butter and lightly toasted. At one dinner party, the now CEO of Symantec, Enrique Salem, loved it so much he thought it should be marketed and sold: "Bottle it!", was his advice.
I'm not sure how you could bottle goat cheese dip.
Instead I turned it into a cheese ball this year, recipe is over at the LybationNation blog.
Recipe for Chevre Dip with Sun Dried Tomatoes & Thyme

Enjoy!

Get Well Chicken Soup

2012-01-13T08:49:00.000-08:00

The weather is beautiful here in Southern California. But we still have the cold & flu season to battle even in the sunshiny weather. When I heard a friend had been down with pneumonia since before Christmas, I felt compelled to make some soup to share. Once I started I couldn't stop and I've made three batches this week, handing it out to the not so well as they each raised their hands as willing acceptors of the healing liquid. A longtime friend requested the recipe so she could share with her family and friends & here it is, my Get Well Chicken Soup.

Get Well Chicken Soup

(Feeds 6-10 depending on sickness)

Get Well Broth Ingredients
1 whole chicken
1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery ribs
4 garlic cloves
4 slices of ginger
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 sprig of flat leaf parsley
10 peppercorns

Soup Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
Salt to taste
8 oz wide egg noodles

Special Equipment
Cheese cloth for straining

Method
Rinse the chicken in cold water and place it in a big soup pot. Trim the onion, carrots and celery & cut into large chunks. Put them in the pot with the chicken. Add the other broth ingredients to the pot (ginger, garlic, bay, thyme, parsley & peppercorns). Fill the pot within 1" of the top with water and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat and keep at a very low simmer for 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the broth and let it cool. Turn off the heat on the broth. Remove the meat from the chicken and pull apart into bite sized pieces.

In another large pot, heat 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil over medium heat. Saute the diced onion, carrot and celery until they begin to soften. Turn the heat to low.

Drape cheesecloth over a strainer and place over the onion, carrots & celery. Ladle the broth into the strainer and keep adding broth until you have 3" of liquid over your vegetables. Remove the strainer. Add the chicken meat and stir gently. Bring to a boil. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add salt to taste.

Add noodles in last 10 minutes of cooking - OR cook noodles separately and serve the soup poured over the noodles.

Add more strained broth as necessary and to your taste.

Don't waste any extra broth. Strain and reserve for other use or drink it!

Enjoy!

BLOT Sauce for Cheese Ravioli: Oscar Inspiration

2012-01-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

Years ago I catered an Oscar party and one of the dishes I served was a Tomato, Escarole & Bacon pasta. I used lovely cherry tomatoes, cut in half and tossed into a hot pan where the bacon was crisping, some shallot and garlic were added creating an intoxicating aroma to entice the party guests. Fresh herbs as well a head of torn escarole, some white wine & chicken stock were added as well. It was finished off with luscious al dente cooked pasta which was all gently tossed together as the greens wilted and the flavors melded before it was quickly devoured by the hungry movie buffs.

Inspired by that dish and a large box of Pomi diced tomatoes in my pantry, I set out to create a more simple version which could be whipped up in 20 minutes. So I stripped the recipe in my memory down to the BLT ingredients, but added the O(lives) for texture and punch.

It's may not be Oscar worthy, but certainly does make a quick delicious dinner for the family.

Enjoy!

Bacon, escaroLe, Olive & Tomato - BLOT Sauce
for Cheese Ravioli or Tortellini

(Serves 4, more or less)

Ingredients:
6 oz. diced bacon
2 lb. can or box of Pomi diced tomatoes
1/3 Cup Kalmata olives
salt, pepper
dried Italian herb mix or Oregano to taste
1 head of Escarole
1 lb of cheese ravioli or tortellini

Method:
Fill a large pot with water and put it on to boil.* Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the diced bacon and continue to occasionally stir the bacon as it cooks for about 8 minutes until very crispy.
Meanwhile, thoroughly wash the head of escarole. Cut out the core and trim off the coarse white ends. Tear or cut the leaves into 2" pieces. Set aside.
Pit and coarsely chop the olives. Set aside.
When the bacon is crispy remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Pour out 1/2 of the bacon drippings in the pan (if you are a whimp, I left them all in there.).
Return pan to the heat and pour in the tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a slow simmer.
Add a little salt and pepper and a teaspoon or so of a favorite dried spice mix (I used a Greek blend because I really love Greek oregano, but use whatever is on hand.) to taste.
Add the escarole and olives. Stir to combine thoroughly. Partially cover.
Cook the ravioli pasta al dente, don't over cook. Before you drain the pasta, add 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water to the tomato escarole sauce.
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir gently to thoroughly coat the ravioli.
Don't forget to add back the bacon into the pan.**
Serve to hungry family.

*A very smart friend has passed on the advice of a wise chef & that is to always first put a pot of water on to boil, you will need it for something, surely.
**Honestly, I was taking the picture I shared on my blog of this dish & saw the bowl of bacon I had completely forgotten to put back into the dish. Ha, mediocre dish avoided!

2011-12-09T19:58:00.001-08:00

Sharing my cheesy knowledge over at the Lybations blog - LybationNation.

Quick little post about labeling the cheeses you are sharing this holiday season: Chalk it up to Great Taste

Happy Holidays!

Greek(ish) Baked Shrimp, for the sour lover!

2011-11-12T08:36:00.001-08:00

Greek(ish) Baked Shrimp

When I have a craving for sour, I pull out the pepperonciniand eat a few, right out of the jar. Ifthat doesn’t satisfy my need for acid, I make this dish. Each time I make it I’ve added a newcomponent and now it’s a great way to clean out the refrigerator of a bunch ofpickled jarred items. Tastes great too!

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, diced
3 Tomatoes, cored, cut into large dice
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 mild roasted red pepper (I used fresh, but jarred is fine),diced
10 Kalmata Olives, coarsely chopped
3 Tablespoons Capers, rinsed
3 Pepperoncini peppers, chopped
2 Tablespoons of Threbe (Wild Greek Oregano)*
½ Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lb peeled, deveined raw shrimp
8 oz. Greek Sheep milk Feta cheese, diced
1 lemon, cut into supremes, broken into bits**

Method:

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, add 3 Tablespoonsof the Olive Oil. Use the remainingTablespoon of Olive Oil to oil the inside of a 9 x 12 baking dish. Preheat the oven to 400F.

Cook the onion in the oil until it becomes softened (5minutes). Keep the heat down low, youdon’t want any browning. Add the Tomatoesand garlic. Continue to cook for another2-3 minutes until the tomatoes begin to soften and the garlic is fragrant.

Add the red pepper, olives, capers, pepperoncini, Threbe andpepper. Mix well. Turn off the heat. Fold in the shrimp, turning gently to coatthe shrimp in the vegetable mix. Pourthis into your greased baking dish.

Sprinkle the diced feta over the top. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove whenthe shrimp are just turning pink, do not overcook your shrimp! For a little more browning on top and to charthe tips of the Feta, heat it under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.

Sprinkle the lemon bits over the whole dish.

Serve with potatoes or over rice or with bread for dippinginto the amazing sauce at the bottom of the dish!

Enjoy!

*Wild Greek Oregano is a different plant than Mexican orEuropean oregano. It has a lightherbaceous scent that is a secret ingredient to making things taste VERY GREEK!

**Citrus Supremes: A fancy chef way of cutting up a piece ofcitrus so you only have the citrus segments, without peel, seeds, or membrane. Cut the top and bottom off of the fruit. Stand it on one of the flat ends. Using downward slices around the fruit to carveaway, not only the peel off the fruit, but the membrane as well; exposing justmeat of each segment all the way around. Trim it up a bit, removing ALL pith. Now use your knife to remove each juicy segment. Remove the seeds. Those are citrus supremes that are left. Takes practice. J

Fall Classic: Chile Verde

2011-11-06T16:21:00.001-08:00

Assorted chiles, roasted, peeled, deseeded and ready to be chopped for the chile.

A favorite recipe for this time of year, now with pics: Cuilnary Vixen's Chile Verde.

Thanksgiving Ideas

2011-11-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Have you played with pinterest? It's perfect for people like me who don't do scrapbooking, but do love to look at pretty things. Electronic scrapbooking is so much easier than the real thing... no scissors, glue guns or stickers needed.

I'm collecting ideas for our Thanksgiving Feast right now. I'm also looking at pictures from past holiday gatherings and deciding what to do differently. Time to get a head count and order that turkey!

Let the holidays begin!

Mulled Wine: Our Family's Holloween Treat

2011-10-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

As far back as I can remember our house filled with the scent of cinnamon and cloves on Holloween evening. On our block mulled wine was the number one treat for the adults. My mother credits our next-door neighbors, the Reis family for starting the tradition. She has a copy of their recipe dated 1971. I was five years old that year and I believe the recipe was passed down as the Reis' moved away. My mom certainly did her best to uphold the tradition. Each year she would make up a big batch and keep it warm in a Corningware percolator sitting atop a lit jack-o-lantern. She passed out styrofoam cups to the adults who were chaperoning their kids through the flat suburbs of Lakewood Gardens.

As soon as we became homeowners I began making mulled wine on Halloween night and did my best to pass it around to weary trick-o-treaters. It's not easy to come into a new neighborhood and pass out hot wine. People get suspicious. It has taken years for the locals here in Manhattan Beach to take me seriously about the offer of a hot spiced toddy to fortify them for the candy trail. One day, I'll have the steady stream of friends, neighbors & locals, as my mother did. Perhaps you will too.

Enjoy!

Mulled Wine from the Reis Family

Ingredients:

1 C sugar

4 C water

Zest 1/2 lemon

18 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

12" square of cheese cloth

2 bottles (750ml) dry red, cheap wine

Method:

Put sugar and water in a large sauce pan. Tie the lemon zest and spices into a large square of cheese cloth. Add the spice bundle to the sugar water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the wine. Heat until steaming but not boiling. Remove the spice bundle. Keep warm. Serve to weary travellers, family members at holiday gatherings, holiday revellers, anemic enemies & friendly strangers.

Breakfast Crostini

2011-09-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

A cheese kiss to you! QuesoBeso

2011-09-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

As you may know, I really like cheese. I've always had an affinity towards savory foods more than sweets but cheese itself has always held a special place on my palate. A few years ago I had the opportunity to sell cheese at a farmer's market. For two years I sampled, bought, sold, cared for, cut, packaged, served, & read about CHEESE!

My newest (and cheesiest) endeavor is writing a cheese app. Yes, a program for your mobile device. A little something you can carry with you and use daily - when you REALLY need to know more about CHEESE.

The app will be called QuesoBeso. Bruce (my husband) came up with the name as a way to describe the database I created which describes all the cheeses I have encountered.

QuesoBeso will be a regional, local guide and the first version will be QuesoBeso, CA. It will cover all things good and cheesy about the state of California, my home state.

The Culinary Vixen blog will continue but with a decidedly pro-dairy bent.

I'll be tweeting @CulinaryVixen as I do my cheese research around California.

QuesoBeso has a Facebook page which is here: QuesoBeso's FB Fan Page I'll be posting lots of cheesy pictures and comments as I taste my way across California's cheesy landscape.

My first big research trip is a boondoggle to San Francisco in two weeks. I would love suggestions from anyone who knows of a good place in San Francisco to get a good cheese fix! Email, tweet, comment, love your cheesy ideas...

Follow @QuesoBeso

Smokey Vinegared Greens

2011-07-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

As summer comes on strong, the winter greens are still arriving weekly in my Community Supported Agriculture box of produce each week. I'm becoming a professional at adding hearty healthy greens to other recipes, boosting the nutrition of the dish as well as using up all this great produce.

This dish was made to compliment the Summer Pork Roast with Stone Fruit and it did exactly that. Smokey richness from the bacon is a classic addition to greens, the vinegar added a brightness which woke up the fruit flavors which had been mellowed from cooking for hours.

The two together make a really colorful and delicious meal.

Enjoy!

Smokey Vinegared Greens

(serves 6 as side dish)

Ingredients:
4 slices best quality smoked Bacon
3 bunches of Winter Greens (kale, collards, chard)
Salt to taste*
White Pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons Cider vinegar

Method:
Cut the bacon into 1/8" bits and brown over medium heat in a large dutch oven.

Wash the greens, de-stem them and cut into 1 1/2" squares (or ribbons, your preference).

When the bacon is browned, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon, set aside. Remove all but 2 Tablespoons of the bacon fat from the dutch oven.

Add the greens to the pan. Toss to coat them in the hot oil. Lower the heat to just below medium. Put a lid on the pot and cook until the greens are to your desired tenderness (I like them with a little chew to them, others like completely tender). This will take between 5 and 15 minutes.

Add the vinegar and mix to combine flavors. Add the bacon and a little white pepper. Taste and and THEN add salt if necessary or more vinegar if you want more brightness.

Serve with any roasted meat, but even better with that summer pork roast!

*Note: Bacon can have no salt or a lot of salt.... so please, wait until the end of cooking, taste the dish and THEN add salt if needed.

Summer Pork Roast with Stone Fruit Compote

2011-07-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

A gluttony of summer fruit, what to do when you have too much of a good thing.

My kids love stone fruit. They wait all year to get their fill of plums, nectarines, peaches, pluots & apricots. I tend to fully indulge them when the season hits. We buy pounds of the sweet fruit and indulge all summer. But sometimes our eyes are just to big for our stomach to keep up. We buy too much of the sweet stuff and it rots.... FAST.

This year when a big bowl of peaches & nectarines were slowly softening by the kitchen window, I devised a quick plan, a delicious, slow-cooked plan!

Summer Pork Roast with Stone Fruit Compote
(serves 4-6 as main course)

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
2-3 lb Pork Shoulder Roast (also called Picnic Roast)
1 Tablespoon ground coriander
Salt & Pepper - to season & to taste
1 Large Onion
3 Ribs of Celery
1 Large Carrot
1 Large Jalapeno
2 lbs. Overripe Stone Fruit
3 Cloves of Garlic
1 " Fresh Ginger Root
1 12 oz Beer

Method:
In a large dutch oven heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Rub the pork all over with the coriander and season liberally with the salt and pepper.
Brown the pork roast on all sides, letting it brown well on one side before turning to the next.
Chop the onion, celery, carrot & jalapeno into medium dice.
When the pork roast is on it's final side, add the vegetables to the pan. Stir around to combine. Lower the heat to medium.
Cut the flesh off the pit of each piece of stone fruit. Slice coarsely into thick slices.
Peel & smash the garlic & ginger. Mince thoroughly.
Add the fruit, ginger & garlic to the pan. Stir gently for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Pour in the beer, fold into the fruit & vegetable mixture.
Cover and Braise in the oven @ 325F OR on the stove-top on low heat - for 3 hours.
Remove from the heat when the pork is fall apart tender. Take the roast from the pan and put on a serving dish. If the sauce in the pan is quite runny, boil it over high heat (do not stir or you will break up the fruit) for a few minutes to thicken into a sauce before serving.
Slice the pork, serve with the thickened compote and the Smokey Vinegared Greens.
Enjoy!

Bitter? Melon

2011-07-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

This week's CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) box contained a few Chinese bitter melon. I haven't cooked with them before & was a bit hesitant. But now that I've prepped them & had a chance to taste them, I don't get it. Where is the bitter? All I get is cool, slightly sweet & melony - dense cucumber.

A Must Try: Curry Mustard

2011-07-09T09:48:00.001-07:00

I don't know where I bought it. Keep on the lookout for it. We
finished our jar last night & I already miss the flavor. Yeah, it's
that good. Made in France. I know, not local. It's a special piquant
treat!

BFF - Big F*&%ing Fruit

2011-05-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

"The Jackfruit is the largest edible fruit grown on trees in the world." This is a quote from the back of a bag of Danielle Premium Hand Cooked Chips. I picked up a bag of these snacks recently out of curiosity. I had never tried Jackfruit and I love crunchy snacks. It turns out I really like jackfruit, it has a wonderful mild pineapple flavor without the tropical overtones of a passion fruit or guava.
The Jackfruit got me thinking about that quote... and big fruit. I consider the watermelon the biggest fruit in my occidental diet. My youngest son loves Watermelon. I rarely buy a watermelon because they are TOO BIG. Sure now adays you can buy small mini watermelons, but I'm already averse to watermelons after years of not being able to pick a perfect one. Why buy when you can't be assured you won't pick the mealy mushy one that isn't sweet? Then there is the problem of being stuck with 5 lbs of BAD fruit!??!
But since my son loves it, sometimes I bring one to a party so we can get rid of it all in one day, whether it's good OR bad. We went to a party recently and brought one, but the hostess had bought one too and already cut hers - Oh No!!
I brought the beastly huge fruit home. We cut into it the next day and for the first time in years, I had picked a good watermelon! Sweet, juicy, crisp! Now we had to find a way to eat it all.
Internet to the rescue, searched for watermelon salad, read up a bit and created my own using up some other great seasonal produce I had on hand. It's simple but complex enough to become addicting. Not too sweet, not quite savory so it will pair well with grilled meats. This simple salad is a great way to use up a bunch of that BFF!

Watermelon & Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:
2 lb. Ripe, sweet Watermelon flesh, cut into 3/4" cubes
1 large Cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4" cubes
1 lb. Jicama (small one or 1/2 of a BFF) peeled, cut into 3/4" cubes
1/2 bunch Cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1 juicy Lime (or two)
2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar or Honey or Sugar

Method

Combine the cut fruits and vegetables in a large bowl. Combine the lime juice and agave. Taste and add more lime or agave to your liking (less sweet watermelon may need more sweetener, more sweet watermelon, more lime). Pour the dressing over the fruit. Stir gently to coat. Sprinkle with the cilantro. Put in the refrigerator for an hour or so to let the flavors combine.

Accidental Brown Butter

2011-04-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

With the inspiration of the baby potatoes & huge parsnips I set out to make a garlic herb butter to toss them in before subjecting them to a very hot oven for roasting. A large blue LeCrueset Dutch Oven was on the stove top. I pictured dumping the vegetables right into the pot before spreading them on a baking sheet. I plopped a cube of butter into the big blue pan and turned on the heat.
Distracted by the pressure cooker and then obsessing on getting the pressure, just right, so that no steam was really escaping and it was cooking nicely and then… What’s that smell?
Oh my, boiling butter. I pushed the Dutch Oven off the hot burner and let it cool. It smelled good, not burned, just browned. But I didn’t want or need browned butter for my potatoes and parsnips. It wasn’t going to hold well in a hot oven, it was done, needed to be appreciated for what it was, not filled with herbs and garlic which would mask its nutty sweetness.
The asparagus were begging for the brown butter but they weren’t joining the dinner without the blood oranges coming along. I juiced a few of the blood oranges into the browned butter, added a little salt and white pepper. I roasted the thick asparagus in the oven and gave them a bath in the Blood Orange Brown Butter sauce before serving.
The potatoes & parsnips did get the Herb Garlic Butter & Olive Oil treatment I had promised them.
Sometimes kitchen mistakes turn into something quite tasty!

Carrot Soup with Ginger & Caraway

2011-04-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

This week my cooking was inspired by a Food&Wine 'what to cook next' article. What caught my eye was a recipe for pressure cooker pork carnitas which promised tender pork shoulder in 35 minutes. I happened to have had just such a shoulder roast in my freezer.

On Tuesday I shared the carnitas dinner with my dad and family. Everyone was impressed with the tenderness of the pork in such little time. Magical Pressure Cooker indeed!

Later in the week I re-read the Food&Wine article concentrating more on the subject of the article: Nathan Myhrvold the author of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. And then my eye caught the carmelized carrot soup recipe.

Last weekend at the Mar Vista Farmer's Market we bought a bounty of produce that really needed to be used and soon! My refrigerator was bursting with:
• Tiny White Potatoes
• Huge Parsnips
• Heirloom Carrots
• Hearty Asparagus Spears
• Blood Oranges
But I wanted to use up the wilting fennel bulb and lonely single leek both lurking at the bottom of my produce drawer. They were begging for soup. Using the article as a guideline I created my own recipe:

Pressure Cooker
Carrot Soup with Ginger & Carraway
Six First Course Servings
Ingredients:
5 Tablespoons Butter
1 lb. Heirloom variety carrots*
1 small fennel bulb
1 leek
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda** optional
2 Cups Carrot Juice
2 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
Method:
Peel the carrots and cut into ¾” slices. Trim the fennel bulb removing any wilted edges and removing the tough core. Slice into ¾” pieces. Use only the white and light green of the leek. Slice lengthwise and then into ¾” slices. Put the carrots, fennel & leek into the pressure cooker.
Add the butter cut into chunks. Cook uncovered until the butter melts. Mix well. Add the salt & baking soda if using. Cover and bring to 15 psi using your pressure cooker’s manufacturer’s instructions. Cook for 10 minutes at 15 psi. Cool quickly in your sink using cool water.

Return the uncovered pressure cooker to the stove. Add the carrot juice, ginger & caraway seeds. Stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer. Cook for an additional 5 minutes on low heat. Taste for salt.
Puree and strain the soup using either a blender or submersion blender & then a food mill or cheesecloth & metal strainer.
Serve hot.

*Heirloom Carrots I used a variety of carrots using up what I had as well as adding a few heirlooms for color. Note that some heirloom carrots have a VERY fibrous core. The red variety with a bright yellow core was so fibrous my Wustof chef’s knife would not go through it. These red carrots were the true reason the soup needed to be strained! Without straining, it was inedible, chewy soup.

**Baking Soda The original recipe was for “Caramelized Carrot Soup” and the baking soda is added to speed up the caramelization. I didn’t get any caramelization in my soup, but perhaps the baking soda helps break down the vegetables quicker, so I listed it here, add if you wish.

Farmer's Market Veggie Feast

2011-04-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

It's what''s for dinner:

Heirloom Carrot Soup with Ginger & Caraway

Roasted Parsnips & Potatoes in Garlic Thyme Butter

Roasted Asparagus in Blood Orange Brown Butter Sauce

Bread? Easy!

2011-01-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

I'm really enjoying my new baking adventure. In the past two weeks I've made two batches of basic sourdough/whole wheat boule dough, one batch of limpa (a honey sweetened and cardommom spiced dough from Sweden), & one batch of olive oil dough.

I've baked foccacia, peasant loaves and sandwich bread. So far I've learned just how easy it can be to fill your home with mouthwatering aromas and oodles of delicious baked goods.

So now, that's easy, to simply get tasty bread on the table. But as I bake, I have more questions: How do I make my breads a bit lighter but keep them healthy with whole grain flours? How can I get them to rise higher? How can I perfect the slashing across the top technique?

I've ordered the second book by the same authors of "Artisan Bread in 5 Mintues a Day", which is titled: "Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day" and I look forward to diving into the new recipes. I'm also hoping for more bread baking tips and techniques.

All in good time. For now, I'm enjoying each baking experience, one loaf at a time.

My first loaf

2011-01-05T16:27:00.001-08:00

A full year after purchasing "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day", I'm finally getting started on my dough odyssey. I've mixed up a huge batch of dough and it's maturing in my fridge. The methods in the book are quite easy, as expected, and I'm already looking forward to branching out to the more interesting recipes.

Today I pulled off a hunk of dough to create my first loaf. I'm fairly pleased with the results, although the shape is a bit bulbous, it has taught me a valuable lesson. When slashing the top of the bread just before baking, make sure the cuts are uniformly deep. I must have cut deeper on one side and the dough expanded more, creating the swelling.

It's still cooling or I'd describe the taste and texture. I'll save that for later!

Biscuit Donuts

2010-12-11T09:04:00.001-08:00

My favorite morning sweet as a child was biscuit donuts. My mom would fry up a batch anytime a friend or cousin had spent the night. She would use a can of Pillsbury Buttermilk biscuits and a thimble to cut a whole into each one. Fried up quickly in a light oil, they need only a bit of powdered sugar to finish off these fried beauties. They also make a great Hannukah treat! The trick to making them light and airy is to keep the oil at a steady temp (375F) so that the middle is baking as the outside is browning.
There was a double sleepover at our house last night and I couldn't think of a better way to treat all four boys this morning!

Creamy Blue Jack Cheese Singles

2010-11-22T12:14:00.001-08:00

Vickie McCorkendale (@CulinaryVixen)
11/5/10 2:41 PM
This is the strangest cheese I've seen in a long time and that is saying a LOT! http://yfrog.com/5nb1owj

Sent from my iPhone

THK Chalkboard

2010-11-16T08:26:00.001-08:00

Edythe loves the blackboard signs I create for the market each week. If I
could find a job writing with chalk, I'd do it. So much fun to be creative
in a temporary medium, each week, new art!

Too many FIGS!

2010-09-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

Edythe's backyard has a beautiful fig tree which produces hundreds of big Turkish Brown figs each summer. Some are left on the tree, for wasps and rodents to feast upon. Many are used to create spiced whole figs, fig jam and fig newton bars for The Heritage Kitchen to sell at the market. Edythe hand picks each one of the hundreds of figs off her tree each summer and what aren't used for baking come to the market with her, where we give them to long time customers and sell, at a very reasonable price, to new ones!

My Sister's Potato Salad

2010-09-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

It becomes clear that you know how to cook when someone can give you a list of a few ingredients and you know just what to do to create a delicious dish from them.

Yesterday I asked my sister for her potato salad recipe, which I tried recently and really liked. It is basic, but sometimes that is just what hits the spot, or rounds out the plate.

If you cook often, her text to me should be good enough for you too:

Red potatoes, onion, mustard, mayo, lots of egg, salt, pepper and paprika on top

Make sure you cut the potatoes in small cubes not big.

Damn good potato salad...

Local Cheeses in Goteborg, Sweden

2010-08-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

Sunday's Cheese Display

2010-07-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

$750 worth of cheese arrived today.

2010-05-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

Because I work Sunday mornings, Saturday has become big breakfast day. Bacon & Cinnamon Raisin French Toast over sliced bananas. Happy boys!

2010-05-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Tale of Two Pizzas

2010-05-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

We make homemade pizza about once a month, with two boys in the house it's an often requested dinner. However, my last attempt at pizza dough was a yeast disaster. I overheated the dough and killed the yeast. Last week I set out to calmly become friends with yeast and make a few beautiful homemade pizzas. I have come to rely on Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Pasta, Pizza & Calzone cookbook for a basic pizza dough recipe. She calls for kneading the dough 10-15 minutes. I measured out the ingredients and began kneading the first batch. I was kneading, and kneading, and kneading, then, I had an idea. Another favorite baking cookbook of mine is Suzanne Dunaway's No Need to Knead. We have had fabulous results with her techniques. And as my hands were beginning to cramp up, I decided, HEY, I'm not going to knead the second batch! So, I just mixed the ingredents all together into a ball and stopped there.
In the end, I preferred the no-knead pizza. The dough was easier to work with but still provided a lovely crunchy crust and held up to a lot of toppings (sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions).
The kneaded dough was turned into two mini-pizzas for the boys. They turned out crunchy as well, but I'd say with a little too much chew.
So if the difference between the two is minor, and in favor of the easier method, I say why knead if there is no need?

The No-Knead Pizza, The Winner!

2010-05-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

My Thai Tacos

2010-04-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

A recent article in Food & Wine magazine discussed a culinary trend towards tacos. It had a few chef recipes for tacos with influences from various cultures around the world. I really expected to see an old favorite of mine in the article, but alas it wasn't there. So I searched around, on google, on my hard drive, in my archives, in my handwritten recipe file... but no luck, I simply have never written down my Thai Taco recipe.
While digging through the hand written recipe journal a sheet of paper fell out. It lists 40 simple week night dinner ideas. I really wanted to reach my goal of 50 dinners before listing them out in an article, but I never got there. Number two on the list of the Culinary Vixen's simple and tasty dinner ideas: Thai Tacos - circa 1995.

Culinary Vixen's Thai Tacos
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1.5 lb Lean Ground Beef (or tofu, turkey, TVP)
4 garlic cloves
5 green onions
1 red bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
White Pepper to Taste
-----------------------
1 small head Nappa Cabbage
1 Cup mung bean sprouts
1 Carrot
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch Thai Basil (other basil can be substituted)
1/2 bunch mint
2 Tablespoon Thai Fish Sauce
2 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 Cup Salad Oil (Canola, Safflower, Sunflower, etc.)
juice of 1-2 limes
----------------------
1 dozen Soft Taco Sized Flour Tortillas

Method:
Brown the beef in a large frying pan, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Smash the garlic and chop finely. Slice the green onions, red pepper and jalapeno into small dice. When the beef is almost cooked, add the chopped garlic and vegetables. Simmer on low while you prepare the greens (about 20 minutes).

Wash the cabbage, sprouts and herbs. Peel the carrot. Cut the cabbage sideways into thin ribbons and then once or twice length ways to make bite sized pieces. Put the cabbage into a large salad bowl. Put the mung bean sprouts over the cabbage. Using a vegetable peeler, cut the carrot into ribbons over the sprouts. Coarsely chop the cilantro, basil and mint (leaves only) and sprinkle over the carrot.

Combine the fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, sesame oil, soy sauce and salad oil in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Put the lid on the jar and shake vigorously. Add some lime juice and season with soy sauce, sesame oil and lime juice to taste.

Heat a comal or frying pan. Warm the tortillas on each side.

Turn the heat off under the meat mixture. Pour 4 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce and 1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil over the beef in the frying pan. Stir well. Taste and season with additional soy sauce and white pepper if desired.

Dress the salad with the dressing. Serve tortillas with meat and salad filling. Chopped chiles and lime wedges are great accompaniments.

Enjoy!

Culinary Vixen

Bowl of Steamed Crawfish, Pat's Fisherman's Warff

2010-03-12T05:54:00.000-08:00

Red Wine & Burritos in Ballmorhea, TX

2010-03-10T18:27:00.001-08:00

I'm on a road trip from Manhattan Beach, Ca to Tampa, FL with my friend Michi. Today we stopped in Ballmorhea, TX to find lunch. It was the first market we had seen off Highway 10E in 100 miles. It was clean and neat inside. Somehow Michi knew they would have wine. I was doubtful and then blown away by the sparse but worldly collection of about 50 bottles available. I asked the clerk if the locals were wine lovers. He assured me that the local woman wine lover bought it in the box. He explained that he and his wife belonged to a few wine clubs and they don't drink them, they resell them in the store! I took a good look before selecting a 2006 Pillastro Primitivo from Puglia, Italy. Before leaving I made one more round through the store looking for something local to eat. I found some Beef Jerky made by The Lights Jerky Company of Alpine,TX. and was slightly encouraged. By the exit I hit paydirt, eight varieties of tiny homemade burritos, made by the proprietor's wife. We picked out our four favorites and the nine fingered lumbering proprietor was kind enough to warm them up and pack them to go. We ate the burritos for lunch on the road. Thick 8" tortillas filled with fresh ingredients and spicy sauces. The best was the green chile beef - fiery green jalapeno sauce, tender potatoes, slow cooked beef. We popped open the wine at the cheap motel we stooped in for the night. Its smooth berry-full flavor went a long way in healing our travel weary palates.
Sometimes really good things are found in really strange places.

Ethnicities Change?

2010-02-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

Always on the lookout for good sources for ethnic food ingredients, I was quick to find the Saigon Market in Lawndale soon after moving to Manhattan Beach. As the name implies the place specializes in Asian groceries. Six years ago I was drawn to the Thai, Indian and Vietnamese ingredients. The Asian specific produce (sour gourds and melons, green papayas, DURIAN!, fresh green herbs, etc.) continues to be another great reason to visit.
This week I took a trip to the Saigon Market only to find the addition of Peruvian specialties to the mix. Delicately speckled quail eggs were the first new ingredient I spotted. At the check out counter banana leaf packets tied in string were piled for sale. The woman behind me asked if they were rice or corn - "Corn and Chicken" the clerk answered. I picked up a few dozen of the eggs and one Peruvian tamale.
Last night I cracked (using a serrated knife to cut through the shell - learned that on CHOPPED!) a quail egg into my boys' Udon noodle soup dinner. They said it added a rich yummy flavor.
I gave the second dozen of eggs and the tamale to a Peruvian friend who stopped by last night. I was hoping they would give her and her mom a bit of comfort from their homeland.
The Saigon Market has incorporated one more interesting ethnic twist and I couldn't be happier about it!

Saigon Market
105705 South Hawthorne
Lawndale, CA 90260
310-679-2661

Quicky for T'day

2009-11-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hosting Thanksgiving is one of my duties as a mom and wife in this family. We have the big house, we're centrally located, I cook... so it's my gig. I enjoy it... once I have it under control. I used to make lists for weeks, now I stay calm, keep it simple and delegate!

One of my favorite crowd pleasers is Cranberry Salsa. The first year I did this the family thought i was crazy. They had never heard of such a thing and we're from California! Ten years later, they ask for it. In fact my sister in Virginia asked for the recipe today. The best recipe I've found for cran-salsa is made in the blender, which also makes it the easist!

Break out the tortilla chips and let the party begin!

Cranberry Salsa

Ingredients:
1 package cranberries
juice of 2 limes
1 garlic clove
2/3 cup sugar
½ cup cilantro
2 jalapenos, diced and seeded
4 green onions

Method:
Put all ingredients in blender or food processor. Pulse to desired consistency.
Let stand in refrigerator for a few hours. The salsa will get spicier as it sits.

Enjoy!

Meatloaf to the Stars

2009-09-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

One of the best leftovers for making sandwiches is meatloaf. The flavors only get better the next day! My favorite meatloaf recipe is from 72 Market Street. It is not your average meatloaf. Sausage and beef, tender fresh vegetables, and loads of seasonings make it a moist and flavorful dish. Once a celebrity owned restaurant in Venice, CA, 72 Market Street closed its doors in 2000. The meatloaf lives on!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup scallions, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, finely chopped
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, minced
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
1-2 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup half-and-half
2 pounds lean ground beef chuck
12 ounces sausage meat (not Italian sausage)
3/4 cup fine fresh bread crumbs, toasted

Procedure:
Melt the butter in a heavy skillet, and add the onion, scallions, carrots, celery, bell peppers, and garlic. Cook until the moisture from the vegetables has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool; then refrigerate, covered, until chilled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine the salt, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, cumin, nutmeg, and eggs in a mixing bowl, and beat well. Add the ketchup and half-and-half. Blend thoroughly. Add the ground beef, sausage, and bread crumbs to the egg mixture. Then add the chilled vegetables and mix thoroughly with your hands, kneading for 5 minutes. With damp hands to keep the mixture from sticking, gently press into one large or two small loaf pans. Put loaf pans in one large baking pan. Pour boiling water into the larger pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the loaf pans. Place the loaf pans in their water bath into the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the loaf pans from the water bath, and let the meat loaf rest for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

What's In The Box?

2009-09-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Filling a lunch box with healthy, hearty and wholesome foods is a task that requires persistent energy, creative solutions, and careful planning. Or does it?
Packing a lunch to take to the office is quite easy. It’s simple to make a quick sandwich, salad or wrap with what’s on hand. Adding a piece of fruit or yogurt to a container of a favorite leftover meal is a thrifty habit. Including a special sweet gives the meal a little sparkle and becomes something to look forward to while working.
However, when one is packing a school lunch, things can get complicated. A successful lunch is one that gets eaten. Many a school lunches are thrown away each day, and the time and love spent packing them goes to waste. Involving the child in the process of making the lunch helps to ensure it’s edibility. Don’t complicate things by packing new foods or too many items into your children’s lunch box. For most kids, the golden rule is “Keep It Simple” - a sandwich, a fruit or vegetable, a healthy snack item and water or milk (no juice, no soda!). That’s it, nothing more.
Make a sandwich your child enjoys. Don’t make it too fancy. Giving your child a few basic choices each day will help simplify things. Turkey or Ham? PB&THKJ or Tuna? Egg Salad or Avocado, Sprouts and Tomato?
Pack a fruit or vegetable you know will be eaten and that travels well. Bananas, citrus and apples are fine whole. Berries, stone fruits, and grapes do well when portioned into reusable containers. Vegetables may be more appealing if packed with a favorite dipping sauce or sprinkled with a bit of seasoned rice vinegar.
Including a third item balances out the meal. A container of yogurt, a cheese stick, some crackers, a few almonds or walnuts, a piece of beef jerky, a hard boiled egg, fruit leather, a handful of savory Farmer’s Market kettle corn, or a rice cake are all fun choices.
Save the sweets for after school. Not including the tempting dessert makes healthy eating the only choice. Saving the sweet reward for the afterschool homework hour, creates a wholesome habit the whole family can enjoy!

It's Come To This

2009-08-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

I've been using email consistently since the 1980's. I was working at an Internet research institute when the World Wide Web (which is what those three little w's stand for kiddies!) was first created. Before the first Internet browser was created I was logging into Usenet groups to swap recipes and download free cookbooks. So, let's just say, I'm a bit tech savvy.

Two years ago I created this blog so that I'd have a creative outlet for my food writing. Last year I discovered Facebook and found it to be a fun and easy way to keep in touch with many friends. Last month I created a twitter account and have thoroughly enjoyed tweeting daily about my culinary life. But now I find that my writing time has diminished. I'm working at the Farmer's Market on Sunday's. I'm taking care of my kids, husband and our life during the rest of the week. I'm tweeting, facebooking, blogging... and I believe the blog gets the short end of things. It's much easier to tweet and update your status than it is to write a decent article.

So, it's come to this, I'm recycling writing I've been doing for The Heritage Kitchen, and posting it here on my blog. The following recipe comes from our August newsletter. We've been publishing a monthly one-pager since February which contains a feature article, product highlight, Back To The Future rant and a seasonal recipe. Stop by our booth on Sundays,at the Pacific Palisades Farmer's Market between the hours of 8am - 1pm and you can pick up a copy. Sample some cheese while you are there!

V

Market Fresh Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Fresh black-eyed peas are an August special at the Farmer’s market. Cooked for four hours on high in a slow cooker, they become a hearty ingredient ready to use in soups, salads, or with rice for a nutritious meal.

Ingredients:
1 lb cooked—fresh black eyed peas
4 ears fresh corn
3 small zucchini diced
3 small yellow squash diced
6 Roma tomatoes, cored, diced
8 green onions, sliced
1/4 Cup Sherry vinegar
1/2 Cup Plain yogurt
1/2 Cup Extra-virgin Olive Oil
1 bunch Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add two tablespoons of salt to the water. Shuck the ears of corn and put in the pot to cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove cobs from the water, drain and let cool. Cut the corn from the cobs and place in a large bowl. Add the zucchini, squash, tomatoes, green onions and cooled black eyed peas.
Pour the vinegar into a medium bowl and whisk in the yogurt, and a little salt and pepper. Continue to whisk as you slowly pour in the olive oil creating an emulsion. Taste the dressing for salt and pepper, adding more to taste. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and combine gently. Sprinkle the parsley over the top.

Serves 8 as a main, 12 as a side dish.

Figaro and Hooligan

2009-07-15T21:55:00.001-07:00

Here they are, today's cheese selections...

Figaro from Andante Dairy in Petaluma, CA. This cheese comes from a
small batch artisan, Soyoung Scanlan who is famous for the care she
gives to her craft. Figaro is a very seasonal cow and goat cheese
wrapped in wine soaked fig leaves. Lovely fruit notes on a creamy
spraedable texture.

Hooligan is a cow milk cheese with a buttermilk washed rind from Cato
Corner Farms in Connecticut. Stinky on the nose, very rich creamy
center with a mild flavor.

Loved them both. Bruce says they went well together. Thank you Edythe
for sharing!

Pastie Report

2009-07-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

The pasties were a big hit. The dough was nice and light even with the whole wheat flour. The beef and pork filling turned out amazingly tender. I used Clyde Hooper's recipe with the following substitutions:

I used butter instead of beef suet

Took out the turnips, used carrots

2 Cups whole wheat flour were substituted for 2 C of the All Purpose flour

2 Tablespoons of Worchestershire sauce was added to the stuffing

I made a Chimmichurri type sauce using Italian parsley, cilantro, a serrano chile, a jalapeno chile, red wine vinegar, olive oil salt and pepper. I purreed it in a food processor until smooth and bright green.

It had a nice kick and really added a nice acidic balance to the basic meat and potato filling.

The Hooper kids tell me that Clyde would have paired his with Malt Vinegar and Catsup. Yum!

Here's a pic of the one I sampled.

Bruce making the pasties in honor of Clyde Hooper

2009-07-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

Just like in the UP 'eh...

We used beef and pork with potatoes, carrots and onions. We made the
dough using half whole wheat and half AP.

I will post pics once they come out of the oven an we have a taste.

Fabulous Pie!

2009-07-03T16:00:00.001-07:00

In the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California, six miles down a county road which leads only to a trail head, lies a tiny rustic lunch counter called Pie in the Sky Café at the Rock Creek Lakes Resort (http://www.rockcreeklake.com/resort/). We were camping near the resort this week and stopped in for a burger and pie lunch. This place is famous for their homemade pies. Even in the winter people hike or snowshoe in to get a piece. Approximately ten different pies are available each day, sold by the slice. The pies sell out every day, one flavor after another getting crossed out on the white board at the lunch counter. By the time we arrived Fresh Peach was already gone. We decided on one slice of Boysenberry and one slice of Lemon Crème. They were awesome! We loved the contrast between the fruity bright boysenberry with its delicate top crust and the light lemon fililng with whipped cream topping of the other. Great lunch, excellent pie!

Mother of a Gift

2009-06-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

I went on a foodie adventure with Edythe and my kids today. We scoured an estate sale for kitchen kitsch, dug through the garden for any bits to harvest, and best of all, she gave us a mother! Edythe has been feeding her mother of vinegar for a few years. She generously gave me a few nice pieces to take home. I fed her the remains of a bottle of red wine which was left on the counter over our vacation. The mother seems happy in her new home, a large Ball jar with a paper towel lid allowing air in. I'm looking forward to the amazing vinegar she'll help me produce with the dribs and drabs of left over wine from our kitchen. I'm also hoping I can collect a white wine mother as well. I love vinegar! So much fun to be able to make my own good quality supply!

Mike's Pastry in the North End

2009-06-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Cannoli!

Regina's Pizza Lunch, Boston's North End

2009-06-21T14:58:00.001-07:00

We asked a few locals who were chatting in Italian where to get the
best pie... They didn't steer us wrong. Yum!

Best Green Olives - EVER!

2009-06-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Recently a good friend came over for a visit. We sat and enjoyed a glass of wine and, of course, some cheese. I had purchased some beautiful green olives at Whole Foods that day. The olives were huge, bright green and crisp like fruit in texture. My friend claimed that these olives were the best tasting olive she'd ever had. I was at Whole Foods this morning and saw them at the Olive Bar, I couldn't resist sharing them with everyone.

Enjoy!

My Favorite $20

2009-06-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

The Rose guy has returned to the Farmer's Market. Each year he brings these absolutely gorgeous roses in large bouquets. He arrives in May, just in time for Mother's Day. The crowds have thinned out at his booth since last month...and I was able to get a bargain at the end of the day as they are usually $25 per bunch. This was the best $20 I spent all week...

Another Caprese Picture

2009-06-01T06:33:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm addicted to Angelo & Franco's fresh mozzarella, the Caprese salad has become a standard Sunday dish after I get home from the Farmer's Market. I picked up some heirloom tomatoes for Cole's BBQ bash and had a few left over. Got the basil at the market and the cheese was the last unsold container for the day... turned out fairly beautiful.

The Cub Scout parents liked it...

Caprese with Angelo and Franco Mozzarella and Burricotti

2009-05-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

Hand made cheese... made just for me. I made the salad to share the cheese with friends today.

What is it?

2009-05-24T15:53:00.001-07:00

Do you know? I do.

Practicing Safe Cheese

2009-05-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

Bruce and I went to the Farmer's Market at the Americana in Glendale this morning. We spied around a bit and found the BH Cheese Store and their very clever, custom made cheese safe. Love it! Want one!

Winnimere and San Andreas

2009-05-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

The Winninere is the runny one in the back. It is wrapped in tree bark (looks like bacon) before it is aged. The San Andreas has the delicate Bellwhether Farms drawings on the rind... Lovely.

Santa Monica Cheese Shops

2009-05-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Edythe and I visited Andrew's Cheese Shop as well as Goudas and Vines this morning.

We were quite impressed with Andrew and his shop on Montana in Santa Monica. He carries a wide variety of cheeses from all over the world. He labels his cheeses well and writes an interesting, informative and often witty description for each one. We sampled a goat cheese from Spain that tickled the throat. We sampled one of the best blues in the world, which is from right here in the USA.

I bought two cheeses. A wedge of a cow cheese, very creamy and stinky, a bit runny - it's from Vermont and called Winnimere from Jasper Hill Farm. The second piece is San Andreas, from Bellwhether Farms in Petaluma, CA and is made from sheep milk. It has crystals in it, a few small eyes (air bubble holes) and has a great complex rich flavor of a well made sheep cheese.

I'll post a picture of my purchases later today. When I pull the cheeses out to eat a bit of each.

The visit to Goudas and Vines wasn't as productive. I had heard from a friend that it was a cheese shop, but it is more like a wine shop, deli, specialty foods store that happens to also have a case with some good cheeses. But there was nothing to write home about and no one interested in talking to us about their cheeses, so we left.

We had time for one more stop, so we took the opportunity to visit with Lauren at Market Gourmet in Venice on Abbot Kinney. Here is an article I found with some great pics of the place:
http://www.yovenice.com/2007/09/05/market-gourmet/

Lauren's place is somewhat similar to both Andrew's and Goudas and Vines, not sure they carry wine though. Market Gourmet carries a wide variety of cheeses and she was very informative and helpful answering our numerous questions and even giving us some contact information for obtaining some great American Artisan Cheeses.

We're working on finding smaller burrata which keep for over a week and they need to be packaged individually... not that we're demanding or anything...

Street Food in Beijing

2009-05-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures from Bruce's recent trip to Beijing. He wandered through the street vendors and found himself sitting, dining and drinking with a migrant worker in need of company. Bruce said that the scent of the charcoal fires and grilled foods permeates the air throughout the city.

Pic of the cheese

2009-05-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

We introduced the Angelo and Franco Mozzarella and Ricotta this weekend. It sold out. We're so happy our customers can appreciate the fine craft of making fresh Italian cheese.

Cole at the Angelo and Franco Factory

2009-05-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Cole during our tour of the cheese factory in Hawthorne.

Vickie

Angelo and Franco Mozzarella

2009-04-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

We are expanding the cheese selection at The Heritage Kitchen booth. We are trying a new Italian cheese maker for our ricotta, mozzarella and a burrata type mozzarella ball filled with ricotta.
I'm off to visit the Angelo and Franco cheese company in Hawthorne. I hope to post pictures later.

Wrapping Cheese

2009-04-23T22:29:00.001-07:00

Recently we've had a great need for good cheese storage. We're selling cheese. We're sampling cheese. We're eating cheese. We need to keep our cheese fresh.
I have been using waxed paper for storing my cheeses. I like the natural brown waxed paper bags available at Whole Foods. They are inexpensive and seem to work as an efficient smell barrier while allowing the cheese to breath. If the wax paper gets a little soggy, I simply replace it, every few days.
We've discovered a product designed just for this task, cheese wrapping paper. We're very curious as to it's superiority as a cheese storage medium.
Formaticum Cheese Paper is quite expensive but the website indicates that funds go to helping the dairy farmers, which I like.

I'm also interested in glassine bags. They are traditionally used to store baked goods and candies and are similar to waxed paper. I'm wondering, are they better than waxed paper?

Is Formaticum Cheese Paper worth the expense?

Cheesy Broads need to know!

River's Edge Goat Selection

2009-04-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

It's all about the cheese!

Naturally Dyed Eggs

2009-04-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

Use onion skins for a beautiful batik effect. Save the papery skins of yellow onions until you have a big bagful, or ask your supermarket’s produce manager to let you collect loose skins from the onion bin. Tear the skins into bits and place piles of them in 8-inch squares of cheesecloth. Place a raw egg in the center of each pile, and tie the cheesecloth around it in a tight bundle, making sure the egg is completely covered by the onion skins. Place the eggs in a large pot with enough cold water to cover. Heat until the water begins to boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and let the eggs sit in the water until they are cool enough to handle. Carefully unwrap the eggs, dry them, and place them in a decorative bowl or basket. The onion skins impart no flavor to the eggs, and their rich mottled copper color will make a most unusual spring centerpiece.

This article was first published in The Heritage Kitchen April newsletter and was written by Edythe Preet.

Cheese Report - Robert Downey Jr.

2009-03-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

I worked at the market today. I've been working at the Pacific Palisades Farmer's Market at the Heritage Kitchen booth since January. I work with Edythe Preet selling vintage linens, homemade jams, jellies, pickles, chow-chows and chutneys, fresh baked goods, and CHEESE! I love cheese. I really enjoy spending each Sunday morning displaying, sampling and selling fine artisan made cheeses. What's not to like?
Today I looked up to hand out a sample I had just sliced from the Carr Valley Mobay. It's a sheep and goat cheese with a fine layer of grape vine ash in between the two which creates a beutifully layered wedge when cut. The goat cheese is a pure beautiful white and the sheep half is a buttery yellow. As you can see, I like CHEESE! But I digress. I was sampling the Mobay and as I reached out with the little bit of cheese on a waxed paper square I looked into the eyes of Robert Downey Jr. I stayed calm and sliced more samples and kept handing them out. He asked us which three cheeses we would pick and we steered him to our favorites: Three Sister's Serena and Carr Valley's Snow White Goat Cheddar (which won Best in Show at the 2008 American Cheese Society's annual competition) and Black Truffled Sheep. He sought out our Honeyed Goat Cheese with Blueberries and also picked up some fresh Dinosaur Plum Preserves. He wanted to know what made the Plums Dinosaurs. Edythe, a food historian, explained that Dinosaur Plums are a spotted heirloom variety. He paid for his products and was off. He seemed nice enough. He certainly knew what he wanted... CHEESE!

REAL Italian in the South Bay

2009-03-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

I took a friend out to dinner last night for her birthday. She lives in Redondo Beach and wanted seafood. I headed towards Hermosa Beach and brainstormed along the way. I really wanted Italian food. Then I remembered Il Boccaccio at Pier Plaza in Hermosa Beach.
I discovered Il Boccaccio after eating their lasagna at the MBEF wine auction three years ago. One bite and i was hooked! They make the best lasagna I've ever tasted. They use homemade pasta sheets and a rich meat sauce and creamy ricotta which give it a hearty lusciousness that is addicting.
So we headed over to the Pier Plaza and walked right in. People who live in the South Bay know that the Pier Plaza is a party area. I think of it as a frat party for those in the 30-50 year old range. There is always loud music coming out of the various bars. The rent is high and these places pack them in and pour the liquor liberally.
But Il Boccaccio is not like that, in any way. It evokes the feeling of a small family run restaurant in Italy. The menu is simple and contains the basics of Italian food from many different regions. However, the specials are what really makes this place stand out. They are seasonal, freshly prepared and always changing.
We ordered the fennel and blood orange salad. The classic combination of flavors was fresh and clean.
I couldn't resist the Pasta Puttanesca made with FRESH anchovies. I love oily fish and these were very tender laying on top of a bed of angel hair dressed with tomatoes and capers. Another classic combination, this one made even better with the big juicy anchovies.
My friend ordered the grilled scallop special and seemed to really love them as they were gone by the time I looked up to ask her how they were!
Before leaving we chatted briefly with the chef/owner (Joe?) and let him know how happy we were to be enjoying a wonderful meal prepared by those who care - rather than being part of the cacophony that was going on just outside on the plaza. He appreciated the comments and we loved the evening.
Their website is a bit outdated, but don't let that stop you from going. If the website was all up to date I'd be worried that they weren't concentrating on the food!

Joys of a hearty breakfast

2009-03-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else watch the Oprah show last week that was designed to get Americans cooking for their families? She sent out a few celebrity chefs into actual homes to show people just how easy and thrifty it is to make home cooked meals. The families which were chosen had fallen into common American eating ruts - relying on pre-made microfood, take out restaurant foods or just plain fast food to nourish their families.
You may think I had nothing to learn from such a show. But in fact, I too felt a bit inspired by the hearty breakfast section.
I have done my reading about nutrition and I know that a breakfast high in protein gives a satiated feeling that lasts well into the day. So why haven't I been feeding my children a high protein breakfast each day? I found it too tiresome. Until recently, when I embraced the hard boiled egg and began boiling them by the dozen and feeding them to my children liberally. I have also embraced bacon. I love bacon and so does my family. Who says my boys can't start the day with a few slices of crispy pork to fill their bellies? It's certainly better than the processed junk we Americans call cereal.
Now if I can only find a decent BBQ sauce and Blackberry jam which don't contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. These are the latest in my NASTY food discoveries. My boys hate me for that. Oh well...

Katia Serving at Brunch

2009-03-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

Catering Brunch at Linda's

2009-03-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

My Chile Verde Recipe

2009-03-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

I've been making green chile stew or chile verde for quite a few years. Originally I'd use a recipe I found at the old rec.food.recipes newsgroup, which was quite simple, but never really had enough punch for my taste. So, I've modified it over the years and it's become better and better.

I usually make the dish using pork. I dice up a picnic roast or pork butt roast (it's really pork shoulder, don't ask me why they call it butt!). Recently I made it with chicken and it turned out wonderful. If you are using chicken, I suggest boiling a whole chicken with some onion, carrot, celery, parsley and peppercorns and then pulling the meat from the chicken. Now you've made the chicken stock for the recipe and you don't need to brown the chicken, just add it after sauteing the onion and spices.

I think either way, this is a fabulous recipe and worth the effort.

Vickie's Chile Verde

Serves 6

Ingredients:
8 fresh Anaheim green chiles
8 fresh Pasilla dark green chiles
1 lb. fresh Tomatillos
1 large white onion
4 garlic cloves
2 lb. lean pork, cut into large dice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
salt and pepper
1 12-oz. bottle of Mexican beer
1-2 Cups Chicken Stock
1 lime

Method:
Roast, peel and de-seed the chiles. Cut them into small dice. If you have never done this, please, look online and read up on how to do it right. You really want to get rid of all the skin off the chiles and blackening them is the best way.
Preheat your oven to 375F. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and rinse them well. Put them on a baking sheet. Cut the onion into quarters and put them on the baking sheet as well. Roast the tomatillos and onions until the tomatillos have brown spots and are soft (20-30 minutes).

Roated onion, tomatillos, garlic & zucchini - did them all in the oven for this batch.

While the tomatillos are roasting, smash the garlic cloves. Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the diced pork. Brown the pork a few handfuls at a time. Don't crowd the pan, you want the pork to get some nice brown carmelization. Set asside the cooked pork.

Browning the cubed and seasoned pork in small batches to get some good carmelization going.

Pulverize the tomatillos in a blender until smooth. Dice the now softened onion. Saute the onion in the pot, add the garlic, cumin, oregano and a little salt and pepper. Now add back the pork and stir well. Pour in the tomatillo mix. Stir again. Add the beer and enough chicken stock to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil and then lower heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the roasted green chiles, mix well. Add the lime juice and mix again. Taste. Adjust for salt.

The final stew. This batch had multicolored chiles and added zuccini.

Variations:

Add a minced serrano to make it more spicy.
Add some corn (cut from the cob and fried up a bit OR a small can).
Add a can of hominy.

Accompaniment ideas:

Tortillas hot off the griddle
Corn tortilla chips
Mexican Crema or sour cream
Chopped fresh cilantro
Sliced Green Onions
Xenepek (google it!)

Enjoy!

Black Bean Salad - EASY!

2009-03-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

I had a request for my black bean salad recipe and I thought for SURE I'd be able to find it online. But no, it was never posted on a website, or a newsgroup, or saved by me at all. So, here is the recipe, it's easy to make, travels well and doesn't need to stay refrigerated, which makes it the perfect picnic and potluck dish.

Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small can of corn, drained
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
5 green onions, the white and some of the green, sliced thinly
1 green chile pepper (optional) chopped fine
2 garlic cloves pressed or minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro chopped fine
juice of 2 limes
3 tablespoon of olive oil

Method:
Combine the black beans, corn, tomatoes, green onions and chile pepper in a large bowl. Make a dressing with the garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, cilantro, lime juice and oil. Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning to your liking by adding more salt, or lime juice. Pour over the salad, mix well. Chill for an hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Pork Ribs with Sour Orange, Fennel and Chipotle

2009-02-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Lenae!
It was Bruce's sister's birthday last week and we invited her and her son over for dinner. Lenae loves my cooking. I asked her if she had any requests for her dinner. She mentioned her usual favorites, MEAT and cooked celery. She has a thing for cooked celery.
I bought a pork roast and was contemplating what to make exactly. Then, other obligations got in the way and usurped the pork roast. I had a few beautiful sour oranges waiting to be turned into something special. I've never even seen a sour orange until two weeks prior when I was on a foodie shopping adventure with Edythe. We were at the Arab Market and there they were, with all the other gorgeously fresh, ripe and seasonal produce. Sour Oranges are used in many cuisines around the world (Spanish, Italian, Central American, Cuban, etc.) but haven't really become popular enough for even specialty shops to carry here in the US. I had to buy some. I couldn't wait to play with them.
I searched for recipes using the sour oranges. I found a pork recipe or two that looked interesting. I read through them and kept thinking. When it came time to make the dinner it came together with ease and made for an incredible dinner.
The tender pork absorba the delicate orange flavor, the fennel seeds pair perfectly with the celery and the chipotle adds a subtle heat which pulls them together. Serve over roasted or mashed potatoes or rice, something to soak up all the wonderful juices.

Slow Cooked Pork Ribs with Sour Orange, Fennel and Chipotle

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 racks of Pork Ribs
2 Onions, cut into 1" dice
1 head of Celery, cut into 1" dice
4 large cloves of Garlic, smashed
1 Tablespoon Fennel Seeds
1 - 3 Teaspoons ground Chipotle Chile
2 Sour Oranges, juiced
2 Regular Oranges, juiced
Salt and Pepper

Method:
Rinse the pork ribs under cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Salt and Pepper them well. Heat a Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add the Olive Oil. Brown the pork ribs. You can cut the racks into halves which will make them easier to manipulate.
If you are using a slow cooker, move the ribs into it after you've browned them. If not, put them aside on a plate.
Add the onion and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, orange juices, fennel, and chipotle. Bring to a boil.
If using the slow cooker, add the vegetables to it and let it cook on low for 8 hours.
If using your Dutch Oven, put the ribs back into the pot. Put in a low oven (250 F) for 8 hours.

NOTE: Since sour oranges are hard to find, you may use a substitute: juice of one lime and one regular orange for each sour orange used.

Cheesecake at the Russian Deli in Reseda, CA

2009-02-16T07:46:00.000-08:00

Sticky Orange Bun

2009-01-24T15:46:00.001-08:00

Preserved Lemons - Recipes from Xmas

2009-01-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

My son Miles and I made jars of Moroccan Preserved Lemons for family Christmas gifts this year. They are so easy and tasty I wanted to share this exotic treat with everyone.

Salt preserved lemons are a special ingredient used in Mediterranean cooking. The flesh of the fruit is not used, only the peel, which becomes very tender after sitting in salt and lemon juice for a few weeks.

We handed out these recipes with the lemons:

Preserved Lemons

Ingredients:

2 dozen medium size fresh lemons

Sea salt

1 quart glass jar with lid
Method:

Slice each lemon in half. In a mixing bowl, toss the lemons generously with salt. Place half of the lemons in the quart jar. Juice the remaining lemons and pour into the jar. Fill the jar to the top. Secure the lid and let sit in a cool dry place for at least 3 days. The lemons, can set longer and will keep in the refrigerator.
Yield: 1 quart

Grilled chicken
with preserved lemon dressing and couscous salad

Ingredients:

½ cup (125ml) chicken or vegetable stock

20g butter

½ cup (100g) couscous

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons olive oil salt and pepper

zest and juice of 1-2 lemons

4 small chicken breasts

2 quarters of preserved lemon, finely chopped

1 bunch mint, roughly chopped

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

130g bag mixed lettuce leaves

½ cup olives, roughly chopped
Method:

Place stock and butter in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in couscous. Cover and stand for 5 minutes.
Pre-heat char-grill, grill plate or large flat pan.
Combine garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and half of the lemon zest and juice in a large bowl. Lay chicken on a large plate and pour over a third of garlic and lemon oil; turn to coat in mixture.
Cook chicken for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through, turning halfway.
Meanwhile, add fluffed up couscous to remaining lemon oil mixture; toss to combine. Add preserved lemon, herbs, lettuce leaves and olives and toss gently.
Slice chicken thickly and serve on the couscous salad; drizzle with extra olive oil if desired.
Serving size: Serves 4

Preserved Lemon Dip

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons red wine vinegar

6 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley

2 tablespoons minced anchovies

2 tablespoons minced cornichons

2 tablespoons harissa paste

Peel from 1 preserved lemon, rinsed, minced (about 1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

1 cup olive oil
Method:

Whisk first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Gradually whisk in both oils. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 2 weeks. Rewhisk before serving.

Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 quarter preserved lemon peel freed of pulp and chopped fine
1 shallot or small mild onion chopped fine

4 - 5 Tablespoons of good olive oil
Method:

Put everything in a small jar with a tight lid and shake it well.

Moroccan Lamb Stew with Preserved Lemons

Ingredients:

3 pounds boneless lamb stew meat, from the shoulder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch saffron threads

1 orange, zested and juiced

1/2 bunch cilantro, stems removed

3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 yellow onions, finely chopped

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 cup water

1 cup pitted green Moroccan (or other) olives, chopped

Minced peel of 1 preserved lemon
Method:

Trim excess fat and gristle from meat and cut lamb into 1-inch cubes. Place meat in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix the cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and saffron; sprinkle over the meat and set aside.
On a cutting board, mince together the orange zest, cilantro leaves, garlic, and salt until you have a paste. Add to the meat along with the orange juice and stir well to coat. Cover the bowl and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
Transfer the mixture to a heavy pot, add the onions, tomatoes, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer (or bake in a preheated 350 degree oven) until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add olives preserved lemon to the pot. Cook about 10 minutes more, then serve.

The Vegetables - Xmas 2008

2009-01-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Along with the cranberry sauce and chutney, the Hoopers requested vegetables. They love my vegetables. I love cooking vegetables. And the Hoopers are always kind in accepting whichever recipes I choose to explore each year.

I brought three vegetable dishes this year. My first choice was a cauliflower dish I discovered a few months ago. For the record, I am not a big cauliflower fan. I find it boring, tasteless, a pale sister to broccoli. But this recipe turned the bland into beautiful. The cauliflower head is sliced into thick slices, roasted in the oven and tossed with a lemon mustard butter sauce that is out of this world. The carmelization from the roasting combines beautifully with the sauce and this dish is a big hit in my book.

I love broccoli and enjoy finding new ways to prepare it that don't include butter, cream or cheese (because that is cheating, anything will taste great with enough butter, cream or cheese!). I found this recipe at Epicurious. It's a Mario Batali recipe and I wasn't sure it would be too exciting, but it is! The wine infuses the broccoli spears with a tangy goodness that is absolutely addicting.

I had to please the children at the party as well, so carrots were in order. (Can anyone tell my why children love orange and white food so much? My 10 year old spent at least 2 years of his life eating only only foods that were orange and white. Strange.) I cheated and used a bag of organic baby carrots and the texture of the final product always suffers when I do this. But hey, I was busy, it was Christmas Eve! I often do a orange glazed carrot recipe using marmalade and butter, sometimes garlic and ginger too. I kept it simple this year and just used the marmalade and a knob of butter in a large frying pan with a little bit of water. I simmered them slowly until they were tender voila. No recipe, just winged it.

Here are the recipes for the other two:

Cauliflower with Mustard Lemon Butter

Ingredients:
1 large head of Cauliflower
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest finely grated
6 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly butter a rimmed baking sheet. Cut cauliflower in half, then cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices in single layer on prepared baking sheet; sprinkle with salt. Roast until cauliflower is slightly softened, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in lemon juice, mustard, and lemon peel. Spoon mustard-lemon butter evenly over cauliflower and roast until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes longer.
Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.

Broccoli with White Wine and Garlic

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 pounds broccoli, cut into spears
1 cup Frascati or other dry white wine
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange

Method:

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil with the garlic over medium-high heat until just sizzling. Add the broccoli and cook, tossing frequently and gradually adding the wine to keep the garlic from browning until the stalks are tender 8 to 10 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and zests, and tossing well, taste and season with salt, serve immediately.

Flippant Culinary Style - Cranberry Sauces from Xmas 2008

2009-01-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

This year was similar to many years past in that I was requested to bring vegetable dishes to the Christmas Eve Hooper dinner. One of the Hoopers put in a special request for my cranberry chutney. However, this simple request revealed a defect in my flippant culinary style. My passion is recipes, writing them, reading them, finding them. But not filing them. I hate filing. My motto when it comes to paperwork is: You know when it is time to file things when the item you were looking for was found in the 'to be filed' pile. Then, and only then do I even consider wasting my time stuffing paper into over crowded files.
This is the first time my office paperwork policy has tripped up my culinary world. I have no idea to which cranberry chutney recipe she refers. Bummer really, that I cannot keep track of such things. Each year I make what sounds good, looks good in a magazine, is sent to me by a friend, found on a website, referred to in a cookbook... whatever inspires me at the moment. I have no recipe loyalty, I make what I want each day. Once in a while I revisit favorite recipes, but in general, I'm always looking forward to something new. I don't have time to cut out, collate, collect, categorize, and certainly not FILE any recipe.

So, in an effort to fulfill the cranberry chutney request, I searched online and found two really nice recipes to bring to the Christmas Eve event. One I have used before, it's a recipe I heard on National Public Radio several years ago. It's a horseradish concoction that is excellent with roast beef.

The second cranberry recipe is simply one I found when I googled 'recipe, cranberry, chutney'. I liked the looks of it, the comments at the website were positive, so I used it. It received rave reviews by the Hoopers. It would be excellent on ice cream and went great with the turkey.

In an effort to keep track of things, and to be able to answer when someone asks: What was in that cranberry stuff you brought to the Hooper Christmas Eve Party last year?, here are the recipes.

Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish

Ingredients:
1 bag whole raw cranberries, washed
1 small white onion, cut into large dice
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons horseradish from a jar

Method:
Put the cranberries and the onion into a food processor and pulse to a course puree. Add everything else and mix. The color will be shocking pink.

Keep refrigerated until ready to use. May be frozen and left a little slushy for a unique texture.

Makes 1-1/2 pints.

Spiced Cranberry Chutney with Apple

Ingredients:
1 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
1 cup apples - peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Method:
In a medium saucepan bring the water and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Add the cranberries, apples, cider vinegar, raisins and spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes stirring often.
Pour mixture into a mixing bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the sauce. Cool to room temperature and serve or cover and refrigerate. Bring chutney to room temperature before serving.

Simple Tomato Sauce Recipe

2008-12-18T16:13:00.000-08:00

On busy nights when I need to get a quick dinner together for the boys I often rely on this simple tomato sauce recipe I learned in my professional baking class. The instructor made the sauce in front of us as we kneaded our pasta dough. By the end of the night we had homemade pasta with this lovely marinara to munch on before leaving.

Enjoy!

Simple Tomato Sauce

(enough for 1 lb of pasta)

Ingredients:

1/2 - 1 Onion, diced

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

pinch of red chile flakes

1 garlic clove minced

5-10 fresh basil leaves

1 28oz can of imported Italian Plum Tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and saute until tender (5-7 minutes). Chop the basil leaves into little strips. Open the can of tomatoes and use the sharp edge of the lid to cut up the tomatoes in the can. Add the garlic and chile flakes. Stir for one minute until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and basil. Break the tomatoes into bite size pieces. Bring to a boil and then turn down to lowest heat setting. Cook for about 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.

Use as is, chunky, or cool for a few minutes and puree in a blender for a smooth sauce (more kid friendly).

Variations: Add more garlic or chile flakes to your taste. Add a 1/2 C of red wine when you add the tomatoes for a more rich sauce.

Easy Chicken Mole

2008-12-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

This year I offered to host the Tin Va lunch. This is a gathering of ladies I dance with every week at the Spectrum clubs around the South Bay of Los Angeles. I've been taking these classes for over two years and have made quite a few friends. Last year another classmate graciously invited us into her home for lunch with the dancing ladies. This year was my turn.

I wanted to make Mole of some sort. I love Mexican Mole sauce, but I have done it from scratch a few times and it takes at least two days to do it right and not go insane. I didn't have two days to give to this dish.

Luckily I hosted another party over the weekend and they became my Guinea Pigs. I made it on Saturday night and it was a hit. My husband said it was good and that was good enough for me.

It WAS good, and a great easy crowd pleaser. I can't help but feeling guilty, it is SO easy!

Here is the recipe I used: http://www.mex-recipes.com/chicken-mole-recipe.html

Of course nothing compares to the real deal and now I'm inspired to to spend a few days making something only half my family will touch. I'm thankful the sauce freezes well... I can make it last!

Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Menu

2008-12-01T14:31:00.001-08:00

We visited my family in Virginia over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a small gathering of eight for what turned out to be an early Thanksgiving dinner (lunch). As usual, my roasted turkey cooked quicker than I had anticipated and we were ready to sit down by 1:00pm.

I kept the menu basic and to the point. Everyone loved it. Here was the menu with links to the recipes that inspired my cooking this year.

Fresh Cranberry Salsa
Tortillas Chips

Brined and Roasted Maple Turkey
Homemade Gravy
Cornbread and Sausage Dressing
Mashed Potatoes and Celery Root
Roasted Cranberries
Green Bean Casserole
Baked Yams with Marshmallows
French Rolls and Butter

Belgian Waiter with Attitude

2008-10-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

He saw me taking pictures and wanted one of himself. So he posed and I took it. He really would have preferred that we sit and eat an overpriced seafood dinner at his restaurant, but we didn't.

Slow Food Dinner - Hayes Street Grill - The Pass

2008-10-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

We were seated very close to the kitchen, which I loved. We could look over and see the staff tending to the wood fire oven which was used to grill a few of the seafood dishes. The entire restaurant was used for this dinner so the staff had to prepare about 80 plates for each course and then they were served all at the same time. Not an easy task! We were impressed. But we were the only ones looking in the kitchen. The rest of the guests were content listening to the fishermen describe their boat and their families and the types of fish they caught. We were more happy to watch as the guys in the back of the house took those beautiful fish and prepared them carefully into a VERY tasty meal.

Slow Food Dinner - Hayes Street Grill #2

2008-10-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

I wonder why they sat us at our own table...

Slow Food Dinner at Hayes Street Grill

2008-10-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here I am at the seafood dinner at Hayes Street Grill in San Francisco. We were the only ones with children with us. We had a table to ourselves, which is unusual as Slow Food dinners are meant to bring people together. We didn't mind, it was a great meal.

Slow Food Nation 2008 - Bread Snail

2008-10-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to San Francisco for the Slow Food Nation weekend. They loved this snail at the tasting pavilion. It's made of loaves of bread.

Andrew Zimmern Filiming in Paris

2008-10-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

Have you watched Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the travel channel? We happened to find him filming on the Concorde in Paris during our trip. Bruce snagged this quick shot before they walked off into the Tuileries.

Le Gavroche - Table Tally

2008-10-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

Dinner at Le Gavroche was as Parissienne French as it could possibly be. The tiny place was packed and the one waiter kept a tally on each table of what was ordered. This picture shows our tally as well as a bottle of one of their house wines from the Rhone region of France.

New Japanese in MB

2008-09-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

We walked downtown yesterday and had a late lunch at Sashi: Sushi + Sake. This place has been open for a few weeks but this was our first time trying it. Sashi is located in the Metlox Shopping area in downtown Manhattan Beach. On Sunday afternoons there is live music in the patio which contains the outdoor seating areas for Petro's, Shade Hotel, and Le Pain Quotidian. We had a great few of Incendio warming up and then playing their first set.

The boys order the kid's Bento Box and Tempura Udon Bowl. We start with an order of the Jalapeno Yellowtail. Bruce has the Angry Chicken and Sashimi combo and I try their Miso Black Cod and a stir fried beef dish.

The free concert sets a relaxing mood. It's a good thing too as the service keeps us waiting. The Yellowtail comes out in about 10 minutes. One of the kids meals quickly after that. But it's another 15 minutes before the remaining three entrees arrive at our table. In the meantime our waitress, or any waitstaff at all is non existent in the patio area. When she does appear, she drops something off and then runs away.

The food is tasty and well prepared. I find the stir-fried brown rice served on each dish to be a bit off the mark. Next time we'll have to ask about plain steamed white rice. Everyone enjoys their lunch.

We'll have to try again, perhaps when the live music isn't distracting the wait staff???

Peach Salsa - last taste of Summer!

2008-09-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Peaches, grilled peaches. This was the inspiration for dinner. Bruce wanted chicken too and teriyaki. So I bought some boneless, skinless chicken thighs and cut them into big chunks. I marinated the chicken in a teriyaki marinade for a few hours.

But what to do with the peach idea. Salsa. I turned out fabulous!

Fresh Peach Salsa

Ingredients:
1 clove of garlic
1" piece of ginger

1 Serrano chile
7 mint leaves
1 Tablespoon of honey
2 Tablespoons of lime juice
salt
white pepper

1 large freestone Peach
4 green onions

Method:

Mince the garlic and ginger together until very fine. Mince the mint leaves into tiny pieces. Put the ginger, garlic and mint into a medium bowl.

Slice the top off the chile. Slice it in half lenghthwise. Scoop out most of the seed and membrane inside the chile. Finely mince the chile flesh and add to the bowl.

Add the lime juice and honey, a little salt and a little white pepper. Taste the mixture and adjust for sweet, sour and saltiness.

I was lucky enough to have a huge freestone peach to use. If you use just any peach, you may need to slice the flesh off of the stone before dicing it. Either way, dice up the peach flesh into 1/2 inch pieces. Add them to the bowl. Slice the green onions thinly and add them to the bowl. Fold the mixture together gently.

Voila! The spicy sweet taste of summer goodness! Excellent with teriyaki anything. Also good over grilled fish.

Wine Morons

2008-07-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Last winter we were dining at Restaurant LuLu in the Village at Mammoth Mountain. It was just my husband and I enjoying a nice dinner without the kids. We've been to this Californian/Mediterranean bistro a few times before. They specialize in family sized servings from their wood-fired oven, grill and roaster. They also have a wonderful selection of wines with loads of California, French and Italian selections. They even offer a few flights of interesting wine types such as Burgundian style whites and Rhone style reds.
A group of six arrived and was seated next to us. They were around our age and discussing their children. It soon became obvious that these people were dating each other, singles, not married couples.
When the waitress arrived, the three men deferred to the one among them deemed the wine expert. He was expected to order in a way to impress the ladies. He ordered a bottle of Opus One. They hadn't decided on starters or main courses, they just ordered the wine.
The overpriced Cabernet Sauvignon blend arrived, was opened and then poured out into the six large wine glasses. Soon they were sipping it up quickly. The men exclaimed with gusto - "Ah, that's the stuff" "Yeah, great cab." and the like. The waitress was busy and took a while getting back to their table. They were a bit rude to her as they ordered their appetizers.
The bottle of Opus One was finished before a morsel of food arrived at the table.
Is it just me who thinks this behaviour is ridiculous?
Is it only the price tag of the Cabernet (because it always is a Cabernet) that implies wine knowledge?
Doesn't a big tannic red deserve to breath?
Doesn't a Meritage of that magnitude and over-hype need food, fatty rich food, to be enjoyed fully?
In the wine classes I've taken the first rule we learned was, drink what you like. I take this to heart, fully. Sometimes a $10 red is all a meal needs. The company will appreciate the value, the food is simple enough to shine with something basic but flavorful.
Still other times a wine needs to impress. If it's very important to pair a wine with a meal, I ask for help. I know my limitations and I also know that the sommelier or wine merchant is never used enough and is complimented by a directed inquiry. By directed I mean - know what you like. Heavy or light? Fruity or dry? $20 or $200?
If I was under the pressure of the single rich guy next to us that night, I too may have ordered the Opus One. It certainly impressed everyone at the table. But I also would have been sure to order a wood fired flat bread topped with a few cured meats and cheeses, a platter of grilled vegetables and perhaps even something beefy rich to really pull the flavors out of that bottle.
The quick slurping of that bottle made me sad.
Sad for the guy who missed the other half of his opportunity to impress.
Sad for the bottle, it wanted a slow enjoyment, to be savored and appreciated fully.
Sad for my husband and I for we had to witness their showy stupidity and it was very distracting.

Gardena Adventure

2008-07-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

Just east (~5 miles) of the bucolic beach town where I live lies a wondrous melting pot where the ethnic foods are genuine and the architecture shockingly diverse.

On a recent family outing we venture to Gardena with a few specific goals in mind:

Scout Shop for Cub Scout Supplies (Gardena Department Store)

Korean Tofu Lunch (Lee's Soon Tofu)

Japanese Groceries (Marukai)

Handmade Sausages (Eschbach)

On our drive to Gardena we pass through sedate suburban neighborhoods with sun-baked front yards. Some are well kept with family members working tirelessly on well clipped hedges. Some have fences surrounding the entire property and bars on all the windows. Still others seem to be neglected entirely with dirt yards, unpainted trim and dilapidated front porches.

We know we're close when we get to the Donut King 2 (My children always ask where Donut King I is located). This is one of the iconic buildings in Los Angeles with a 25' donut on the roof of a small shack of a donut store. We make a few turns and arrive in the central shopping district of downtown Gardena. The buildings have the faded facades of 1940's-50's architecture and give you the distinct outdoor shopping experience of the same era.

The Gardena Department Store is a discount clothing store which houses an amazing array of items. Most people come to the store for the scouting items, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, you name it. But they also carry every type of uniform you may need including most gang uniforms. Yes, I said Gang Uniform. You need a bandanna, do-rag, wallet chain, trucker hat, belt buckle, or pair of low-riding Dickies? This is the place for you! The selection of goods fascinates me and I usually find myself wandering through looking for a bargain because I usually find one. Last year I was in need of a tropical dress for an upcoming Hawaiian party. I wandered through the women's clothing and found the perfect all cotton, spaghetti straped, black and white flowered print, made in Hawaii dress and it was $19.99! Fits like a dream as well! I highly recommend the Gardena Department Store for your basic clothing needs, they sell all types of Levi's and a rainbow of Hanes t-shirts. This is cheap boy clothes heaven.

With the cub scout uniform updated and patches sewn on securely we venture towards lunch. At the corner of Redondo Beach Blvd. and Western Ave. there is a blue tile roofed mini-mall with a bounty of Asian food choices. Sushi? Noodles? Pho? Tofu? All this and more in one mall. We've tried most of the places but our favorite for lunch is Lee's Tofu. The hot pots of tofu soup are basic Korean fare done well, with all the vegetable trimmings to munch on as the blazing hot soup cools down. The kal-bi (bbq ribs) are excellent as well. My sons make a meal out of the ribs, rice and seasoned seaweed sheets. My husband and I add the wicked kimchi directly to the soup which adds a nice fiery flavor.

With lunch out of the way, it's time to get more errands out of the way. We drive down Western to Artesia Blvd. to the flagship Marukai market. Marukai is more than a Japanese grocery store, it also houses mini-stores featuring everything from cell phones to furniture. There is also a food court and we've had a decent lunch here as well. Usually we are on a mission for specific ingredients: rice, udon noodles, miso, and fish cake, lots and lots of fishcake. My oldest son can eat an entire fishcake loaf in one sitting. It's always fun to search the aisles for an adventure. Most labels are in Japanese so you'll need to know what you are looking for or be bold enough to ask a Japanese speaker to help you out.

We leave Marukai and again head further South on Western Ave. On a previous outing I had spotted a very interesting site. A place called Eschbach's Meats and Sausages. This tiny Sausage company seems to have been here since the 1940's. The building certainly has. It's cinder block construction is a bit off-putting from the parking lot. They usually leave the door to the back room open and you can see all the large stainless steel equipment used to make sausages there on the premises. The meat counter has everything from Bratwurst to ground beef, but the sausages are obviously the star. Many people swear by their inexpensive and tasty sandwiches and according to chowhound the place gets quite the lunch rush crowd. We are there on a mission - Brats for a birthday party. They have four types, regular and Hungarian both raw and smoked. We pick up 20 regular, 10 Hungarian (which have extra garlic and the spicy kick of hot Paprika), and one smoked Hungarian (for me to eat on the way home). The recipe for the Bratwurst is fabulous. They are flavorful and not too fatty. The smoked Hungarian one I snacked on was like the ultimate Slim Jim, except it wasn't slim, it was fat, chewy, spicy and smokey. Heaven in a meat stick.

Our adventures in Gardena usually end there. At this point our car has perishables that need refrigeration and we need to get our kids home. The adventure is always a success, bargains found, great lunch enjoyed, more sights and sounds that we have time to process. Gardena is a unique Southern Californian city/town that truly can boast a few very genuine ethnic experiences. A large population of Japanese have called it home for over 100 years. In the past 30 years Latinos have moved in to create a unique mix of people and place. If you get a chance, go explore.

Lena's Wine Cooler

2008-07-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

Our Swedish friends were visiting last month. We organized a picnic lunch at a beautiful spot for a warm sunny day. Lena and I made a special trip to the Farmer's Market in Santa Monica for the ingredients and then we couldn't carry all we wanted to buy. We ended up making loads of food - Grilled Asparagus with Blood Orange Sauce, Marinated Cucumbers with Dill, Mustardy Potato and Green Bean Salad, Tarragon Chicken Salad, Fresh Peach Cake and there may have been a few other items I have forgotten.

The hit of the day was the wine cooler I devised based on Lena's suggestion of Cucumbers and Green Apples as substitutes for the citrus I usually use. I happened to have a few sprigs of Lemon Verbena in my produce drawer, left over from the previous week's farmer's market outing. I can't resist the smell and taste of Lemon Verbena it's just about the best one leaf breath freshener there is and the beautiful bush is easy to grow in our Southern Californian climate. Usually I don't find a good use for what I buy, but simply eat it leaf by leaf for the experience. But this time it made the perfect infused sugar syrup to go with the cucumbers and apples.

I choose to use a wine called Colombelle. It has a purply lavender label and a screw off top. It's under $10/bottle and comes from the Southwest of France made from Colombard and Ugni blanc grapes. If I didn't use the Colombelle I would have used a Sauvignon Blanc as you want a light citrusy wine with no oaky overtones.

Here's the recipe:

Lena's Cucumber and Apple Wine Coolers

Makes 2 - 1/2 gal batches

Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Water
3 sprigs Lemon Verbena

2 750ml bottle Colombelle
2 liter bottles of seltzer water

Ice
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced
2 granny smith apples, sliced thinly off the core

Method:
In a small saucepan combine the sugar, water and lemon verbena. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes to infuse the syrup with the lemon verbena. Take it off the heat and let cool for several hours or overnight.

In a one gallon pitcher place the apple slices, cucumber slices and a few cups of ice. Pour in 1/2 of the sugar syrup, one bottle of wine and one bottle of seltzer. Stir gently. Serve over more ice with a thin slice of apple or cucumber as garnish.

Enjoy!

BLT in One Step?

2008-07-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

At the start of our fabulous meal at Le Cinq in Paris we were offered several types of freshly baked breads. Most were the usual choices, brioche, olive bread, a crispy roll. But one choice stood out from the others. Thin slices from a loaf of bacon bread. Yes, cooked bacon lardoons strewn throughout a rich buttery white bread loaf. Each of us had to try it. We had never seen anything like it.
It was amazingly good. (I'm sure they wouldn't have served it if it wasn't.) The smokey taste of the bacon permeated each bite and the chewy bacon pieces added interesting texture and flavor which was hard to resist.
The bread sparked a discussion about the joys of a BLT sandwich and how interesting it would be to toast up a few slices of this bread, slather it in a fresh mayonnaise and then top it with a slice of fresh tomato and crisp lettuce. The idea was intriguing.
Two nights later Bruce and I started our evening with a cocktail at the beautifully posh hotel bar at the hotel (Four Seasons George V). We were brought a small tray with a dish of warm assorted nuts. A few minutes later the bartender brought out two small muffins, hot from the oven. He said that they were arugula muffins. What?
They were delicious. Somewhat like a zucchini bread or carrot bread, but less sweet, not quite savory. We devoured them and the discussion regarding the unique BLT began again.
Not only can you make bread with bacon in it, you can also add the greens into the mix as well. Well then, why not add some slivers of plumped up sun dried tomato as well?
Wouldn't one need only to toast a thick slice of this creation and slather it with some fabulous homemade mayonnaise, perhaps an aioli, to make just about the most simple and creative BLT sandwich ever made? Add a sliced avocado and now we're close to simplistic perfection in a sandwich.
I have yet to experiment with a recipe. I may consult my baking friends on the idea... when I get closer to making this dream a reality, I'll address the subject again.
Intrigued?

Paris Eats III: George V

2008-07-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

A year ago my husband and I were at the annual ginormous fund raising event for the local school district. We've attended each year since moving here. It's a fabulously entertaining event with great food, lots of wine, and the best people watching venue of the year - everything from casually clad beach trash to skimpily dressed packs of cougars roam through tennis courts filled with food and wine booths and hundreds of silent auction items. The live auction occurs toward the end of the event, when everyone is sufficiently drunk enough to feel comfortable bidding on the ultra high end lots of goods. Last year's auction was sluggish. Each item was taking an excruciating amount of time to be sold off at a decent price. I wasn't paying much attention until the business class round trip tickets to Paris with four nights at the Four Seasons hotel came up on the block. The bidding started around 5k and my husband's hand shot up. That caught my attention. In the past we had sat silently watching the auction, never really bidding on anything or even caring what was going on up there, but here he was with a serious and determined look on his face (as serious as he could be after drinking a few bottles of wine). "What are you doing?" I asked. "As long as it's under valued I might as well bid!" was his reply. And he was right, we were planning a trip to Paris with friends for the following Spring and business class seats would be a fabulous catch, not to mention a few nights at one of the best hotels in the world. The bidding continued and his hand stayed put in the upright position. 7,8,9k "Are you sure?" "Why not?" 10, 11, 12k gulp 13, 14, 15, 16k and we got it. Wow! It was below value and we were thrilled - vibrating with excitement. My husband refers to that night as "The night we pretended to be rich."

Fast forward a year and now you'll understand how we found ourselves checking out of our tiny Montparnasse "hotel" and into the Four Seasons Georges V HOTEL for our last four nights in Paris. The George V is not large by any standards but the luxury and class of the place hit you as you walk in the door. For the first day or so the level of service and attention to detail keep your attention. Each and every person on staff says hello or bonjour as you walk past. Every corner of every room is cleaned and polished, all the time!

We have a posh Parisian breakfast the morning we check in and watch a team of workers, we referred to them as the "water boys", roll a low flat cart in through the lobby restaurant and into Le Cinq (the high end dinner restaurant) and retrieve all of the tall, and I mean tall, 3-6', cylindrical vases which are filled with water and orchids. They carefully roll them out of the restaurant to refill them and then return them. This is done each morning and is quite a chore taking well over an hour to complete. The staff are endlessly busy.

We love our room without a view. It's beautifully decorated and has every amenity one could wish for. We spend time resting there between Parisian adventures, just soaking up the beauty of the place.

Our finest meal during our Paris trip was at Le Cinq in the George V hotel. It was the last meal we shared with our friends who travelled with us in Paris. Our reservation was for 8pm and we were the second party to be seated for the night, a woman and her grand-daughter had beaten us to the dining room by a few minutes. We are sat in a corner, overlooking the hotel's courtyard, at a round table. It was raining and continued to come down more and more steadily as the evening progressed.

The menu offered items a la carte as well as two types of tasting menus, a chef's menu with five courses and a menu de la gustation offering eight courses. The entire table would have to order the same tasting menu if one was chosen. As we noshed on the wonderful fresh breads that were offered with the Normandy butter we had become addicted to, we pondered the tasting menu question. There wasn't much discussion... we had to do it. When would we be here again? When would again have the stamina to persevere through such an undertaking? Of course we'd have to have wine paired with each course as well, doing without was out of the question. This decision was easy for me as the menu had no pricing on it all. I had almost forgotten the old fashioned practice of not allowing the women to see the cost of the meal she was ordering. So quaint and so helpful because I'm not sure I would have pushed for the larger menu if I had known the extravagance of the price.

I won't list out the entire menu giving descriptions of each dish. It's not my style and the truth is I wouldn't be able to remember enough detail to give justice to the chef's work (Eric Beaumard). I do remember morels, sorrel, asparagus, a truffled parmesan crisp, lamb that was a bit too gamey for my taste, and then... the cheeses.

The service was impeccable as well as friendly. I'll never forget how a swarm of waiters would circle our table delivering each course under a metal dome placed at each setting "un, deux, trois" and the domes would be lifted simultaneously.

The wines paired with each dish were incredibly well thought out. And of course they were as the head sommelier (Thierry Hamon) at Le Cinq has won top sommelier of the world awards - so he knows his stuff. We saw him walk by a few times, but for the most part we had a few of his minions serving us. You could tell the sommeliers by the little grape cluster pin on each of their lapels - the fancier the pin, the more respected the sommelier - the head guy had gold with diamonds, which made his position obvious!

The highlight of the wines was the fun of a blind pour. Black wine glasses were brought to our table before our roasted langoustine and fennel dish. I perked up right away and began chatting up the wine guy asking if we were to have a blind tasting. He said yes, yes and we won't know if the wine is red or white. But a minute later another wine guy was removing our black glasses and we asked why. Weren't we doing the blind thing? Yes he explained, but we need to pour the wine away from the table or else you'd see the color of the wine is as it goes into the glass and he finished his explanation with a deriding remark in a thickly French accented English about the newby guy who had put the black glasses at our table "Pierre!". Poor Pierre! Unfortunately the wine was not too mysterious, there were no tannins to speak of and our guess of white was confirmed when one of our guests poured a drop onto her white napkin (CHEATER!).

During the lamb course I had eyed the cheese cart across the way. I didn't let it out of my sight... anxious for my turn to choose a few delicious bits. It seemed to take forever to come our way. We had to finish our main courses, have a bit of sorbet to cleanse our palates, and then wait patiently for it to be rolled over to our table. Each person at the table was able to choose a few to try. Our dining companions have somewhat less adventurous taste than my husband and I and we did our best to pick out a few standard favorites we knew they would like. The cheese guy was very knowledgeable and picked up on the differences between each of us and made sure to give my husband the stinkiest of all the cheeses and me the most interesting and rare, things I may not have tried before. They were all lovely, I rarely meet a cheese I don' t like. In fact the cheese was so good that when our waiter came to ask which dessert we'd like, the chocolate souffle or the something or other... I chose more cheese please! They couldn't believe it, no dessert? No, just another glass of that fabulous red we had with the cheese course (Chateau Chalon 1996 Domaine Pichet) and a few more slivers of the fatty rich aged dairy product please!
Besieds, I knew that any fancy restaurant worth it's cheese is going to put out a plate of sweets after the dessert is served and these few slivers of chocolate would be more than enough sweet for me. And they were!

I so impressed the wait staff with my love of cheese that one of them suggested a restaurant he knew of that paired a cheese with each course it serves. I asked him to please try to get me the information for this place as it sounded like an adventure made just for me. A few minutes later he came to our table with a page copied out of a restaurant book with the contact information for the restaurant. I wasted no time at all in making a bee-line to the concierge desk on my next bathroom break to ask them for help in obtaining reservations anytime over the next few days, please! (A note slipped under our door overnight regretted to inform us that the restaurant no longer exists. What a disappointment!)

We rolled out of the restaurant after midnight. We were the last people to leave. We were tipsy and still reeling from the sensory overload of the place, food, wine, service, expense and experience. We wandered out in front of the hotel and smoked cigars in the rain before saying a fond farewell to our friends as they were leaving for home the next morning. What a send off they had!

Paris Eats Part II: Le Gavroche

2008-06-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Before we left on our trip to Paris, we choose a list of restaurants where we wanted dinner resevations for the whole trip. I didn't want us to get there and be scrambling for a place. I wanted a nice selection of establishments, both fancy and simple, located all across Paris, so that we'd be able to experience different neighborhoods and types of restaurnts. Truly in Paris there is a difference between a cafe, bistro, brasserie and restaurant (although don't quiz me on the brasserie vs. bistro one!).

Le Gavroche had a favorable review in the Pudlo restaurant guide and was described as an inexpensive bistro serving fabulous French classic dishes.

The place is very tiny with a small bar as you enter which holds maybe five people. There are tables pressed against one another in typical Parisian fashion which hold an additional 20 or so people in the main room. There is a second room which holds perhaps another 10. Similar to Hier et Aujourd'hui, there were only two people running the place two men, one in the kitchen and one in the front of the house.

We definately got to know your neighbors as we were seated eight inches away from them in either direction. The English men to my left talked loudly as if wanting us to chime in with our opinion. The single guy to my right was content eating and drinking in silence. I did notice that he had the same copy of the Pudlo book as we did, nice choice!

The local feel made me nervous at first, would we fit in? The menu made me relax because as promised it held all the French basics I wanted to see... escargot, fresh anchovies, charcuterie plates, pomme frites, steak with peppercorn sauce, etc.

We patiently waited for the waiter's attention and then blasted our order at him... big plate of escargot, marinated white anchovies, carrot salad, tomato salad, and a charcuterie plate. I loved the old fashioned way the waiter kept track of our order by writing directly on the butcher paper covering our table. We loved the wine choices. There were several wines from Beaujolais that had a proprietary label on them. We chose a Fleurie and Julienas over the course of our meal.

The escargot were good, everything was good. Not fabulous, but delicious, simply prepared classics. It all really hit the spot, we had been craving good French food and this delivered the food and the very Parisian experience I wanted.

Our entree's were equally basic, filling and well prepared. I had a grilled sausage salad, which was a bit gamey but, after borrowing the mustard from the English men's table, really perked up. The pork with Dijon sauce was deemed a hit by my husband and the veal with peppercorn sauce was perfectly cooked and disappeared quickly.

I ordered the Baba Rhum for dessert which Pudlo recommended and it was wonderfully moist and delicious.

While waiting for l'addition, the solo waiter stopped by to pour my husband and I one more glass of red wine, which we gladly accepted. At this point I knew that we had managed to fit in with the locals. We found that if you enjoy food, wine and a true French meal, which we certainly did that night, well then the Parisians are going to respect you and your joie de vivre.

We stumbled out of our tiny table and took a picture of the chef in his tiny kitchen and he was happy to ham it up for the photo. They were certainly proud of the ambiance, food and experience they had shared with us that night. We were happy to have been there and I'd go back anytime!

Le Gavroche
2nd Arronidssement
19, Rue St Marc 75002 Paris, France
ph. +33 1 42 96 89 70‎

Paris Images: Hier et Aujourd'hui

2008-06-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Paris Eats Part I: Today and Tommorrow

2008-06-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

We choose to eat at Hier & Aujourd'hui (In English: Today and Tomorrow) based on Pudlo's recommendation. The restaurant had won his year's Value for the Money award and we were anxious to see if it measured up to our expectations.

Hier & Aujourd'hui is located in the 17th Arr. - way the heck north in the outskirts of Paris. We took the Metro as close as we could and then walked and walked and walked trying to find the place. The neighborhood we passed through on rue de Saussure was the most un-Parisian we had experienced. It was very quiet, not a sole walking the streets. The area is filled with large apartment buildings most of which appeared to have been built in the 1960's or 70's. It seemed to be a bedroom community and there was no street-life to speak of. When we reached the huge train yard we knew we were close. We arrived at 8pm and were the first patrons to be seated for the night.

The place is simple and charming with dark wooden tables on a slab concrete floor, swaths of gray and white linen soften each table setting. A huge slate wall serves as the menu. The meals are all prix fixe here. There are five appetizers, seven main courses and five desserts to choose from.

The place is small, seating only a maximum of 40 people. I imagine this is the perfect size seeing that there are only two people running the entire place. One woman runs the front of the house which has one seating a night. One man is in the kitchen, quite methodically cooking and plating each dish. It's a marvel of hard work, focused calm and attention to detail which pull together to make this place seem bigger, more special than it's simple appearance.

The hand writing on the slate wall is difficult for us to read and our poor French makes things even more difficult. But we muddle through. Two of us order the beef entrecote as a main course, another a roasted fish fillet and I choose the slow cooked pork with pistou. For starters two spinach salads, the seasonal white asparagus with egg and I go for the gusto with the foie gras pots du creme (Pudlo had suggested it.).

The service is very French. We wait a long time to place our order, but by this time in the trip we have come to relax into the slow pace of a French meal. While we wait for our first courses, a beautiful country style terrine of pork and duck is brought to the table with a spreading knife sticking out of it, it isn't sliced, we're brought the whole thing still in the terrine in which it was cooked. A basked of fresh baked bread and a crock of cornichons round out the wonderful start to the meal. The terrine is perfectly seasoned and the bread is warm and just dense enough to hold up to a thick slathering of the meaty goodness. The cornichons add the perfect balance of acidity to wash away the fatty richness left in our mouths. We could actually make a meal out of just this... but alas we have to share the terrine. As our starters arrive the terrine is brought to the next table of patrons. An ingenious, if not hygienic, way to feed many in a simple manner.

The spinach salad has shards of a spicy cured meat laced throughout and has a creamy dressing. What seems a simple salad had obviously been well thought out, the spicy meat wakes up the spinach and the dressing pulls them both together. It's quite addicting and it's shared around the table. The white asparagus are wonderful, huge, perfectly cooked and dressed with French scrambled eggs and a creamy cheese which offers a tangy taste to offset the richness of everything else on the plate. The fois gras pots du creme arrive in two shot glasses. They are filled with thick creme and topped with a rich clear jus. Spread onto a thin toast or just spooned into the mouth it offers an explosion of foie gras flavor and creamy texture. It is so rich that I can only eat one and offer the second to Bruce who then offers me the second half of his spinach salad - a good deal for both of us.

Our main courses did not disappoint either. The beef entrecotes were large, perfectly cooked and well seasoned. Served with a lovely Lyonnaise potato salad neither serving could be finished as the portions are very generous.

The pork I ordered, rather adventurously as I didn't really understand the description on the board, is a simple and homey dish served in a bowl. It's pork shank that has been slow cooked and taken off the bone. It's served in a rich broth with large tender white beans, and cubes of carrots and zucchini. A basil pistou has been swirled into the broth offering a fresh flavor that brightens the whole taste. I was thrilled with this dish because it's something I can easily make at home and each bite is like the best home cooked meal you've ever had. Lovely!

For dessert we ordered one chocolate mousse, two yogurt, fruit and graham crumb parfaits and one baba rum. The mousse was light and fluffy served in messy large scoops onto a plate. Chuck inhaled it so quickly we could barely get a taste. Bruce loved the yogurt and vowed to eat his yogurt this way every day once we got back home. The Baba Rhum was served with a dollop of chantilly cream and was a bit dry. The entire bottle of rum, made in Martinique, was brought to the table and with a generous pour over the top, the cake and whipped cream became palatable enough through my rume induced haze.

We sipped coffee and espressos as we waited to get the waitresses attention for l'addition (check). This took quite a while as by this time every table was full and she was hustling calmly between each of them, serving, bussing, chatting, etc.

Pudlo certainly did not disappoint with regards to this fine establishment. The food was simply delicious and very affordable compared to most any restaurant we sampled in Paris. It's worth venturing out of the center of Paris to experience this wonderful spot as well as the unique neighborhood in which it resides.

Pudlo for Paris

2008-06-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hands down the best choice we made before leaving for our Paris trip this spring was purchasing the Pudlo Paris Restaurant Guide. We used this book for every restaurant choice we made. Before we left we used it to make a list of our desired dinner reservations to give to our concierge. On the trip we used it to look up places with great food that weren't too expensive, for our lunches.

The book is organized by arrondissement and uses symbols to give details such as fancy or everyday, expensive or affordable, and whether the food is exceptional for the amount paid.

Our best meals, with the most Parisian ambiance and very local feel as well as great traditional French food were chosen directly from Pudlo's best food for the money choices. The worst meals we endured in Paris were found when we went on our own without any Pudlo guidance.

The Pudlo book is similar to both the Zagat and Michelin guides. Similar to Zagat as it is written with authoritative opinion and direct quotes from the reviewers (Pudlo uses a team of people to review each restaurant). Similar to Michelin in the breadth of detail and local flavor given to the guide (you need to know the article for the name of the restaurant to find it in the index - le? la? l'?).

We ended up destroying our Pudlo Paris book during the trip. It was my husband's idea. Why not rip out the pages you need for the day and just put them in your day pack? This worked like a charm as the book itself is quite large and heavy. We tore out pages with abandon and left the tattered shell in the trash of our George V hotel room on the last day. The book comes out yearly, so clearly we'd need another one for our next Parisian adventure.

It's well worth the expense!

Plating and Prepping in Ferndale

2008-03-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

As the new year approached our family drove up north (WAY up north) to Ferndale, CA for a visit with our long time friends the Ruedlingers. Joe and Karla moved to Ferndale to start a new life for themselves just a year and a half ago. They truly embraced the Victorian atmosphere of the town by purchasing their own 100 year old home and doing a beautiful and true to the era remodel bringing the house back to it's original splendor.
But a house remodel was just the beginning of their new life. Karla's true passion is baking and after completing a professional course over at the CIA Greystone in Napa, she was ready to make her name in the pastry business.
The have leased a very quaint Victorian building with a great location on the main road into the small town. They gave the restaurant a beautiful face lift with a lot of hard work, paint, plaster, furniture and a state-0f-the art kitchen.
La Petite Maison has been open since last summer and has received lots of great press and attention. Karla's cakes have become THE cake to have for any function, be it a birthday, anniversary or wedding. She uses only quality ingredients and doesn't skimp on any of the good stuff!
Petite Maison has become more than a bakery, it's a cafe as well. They put their heart and soul into the foods they make and you can tell... soups, salads, pizzas and bistro fare are all above and beyond the pale food choices available in that small town.
Our visit to Ferndale was designed for us to finally see the restaurant first hand, but also for me to be able to play in their kitchen. You see, I have a secret desire to slave away in a professional kitchen and this was my chance to do so... at least for a few days. I was very lucky that my husband was willing to entertain our boys while Karla and I played in the kitchen.
On my first night in the kitchen, Karla had me plating food. I have to tell you, I didn't think this was a good thing for me to do... I'm not an artist, I'm a cook. But Karla showed me her tricks for dotting the sauce across her plates and fluffing salads so they stood up beautiful and fluffy. I actually had a great time and learned a few things.
On New Year's Eve they had quite a few reservations for dinner and we had a lot of prep work to be done before service could start for the night. Joe rattled off the soups we'd need to make, garlic and tomatoes to be roasted, a beef stew special, a caramelized onion sauce and any other mise en place necessary for the pizzas and salads on the menu. It took a little while and a good show of my speed in the kitchen before Joe felt comfortable enough to escape with my husband and the boys for a beach adventure on The Lost Coast. Whew! Now I could relax and cook, pretending it was MY kitchen. Karla and I had great time, working hard and gossiping about family and friends at the same time. I watched her knead her magic into loaves of bread, dinner rolls, a few cakes and pizza dough. The woman is one wicked baker!
As dinner service approached we all braced for the busy evening. Once again I was on the plating station and also stepped in to open wine bottles as necessary... their daughter Paige (the front of the house diva) has a hard time with the corkscrew and I could wow her easily with my quick cork removal skills!
The only trouble I got into during my work that week was when I got carried away and started calling out orders as they came in on tiny little note paper, hand written by Paige. I so much wanted that high energy feeling of working the pass, being the controller, watching the magic of pulling a meal together in minutes... I overstepped my bounds. Besides, the place is quite petite and the guests could hear my loud voice calling out the orders over the quaint French music, ruining the ambiance. Ooops.
Thanks Joe, Thanks Karla, I had a blast!

Cooking with Joe and Karla

2008-03-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Here I am with Joe and Karla Ruedlinger in the kitchen of La Petite Maison in Ferndale, CA

Spicy Garlic Shrimp Scampi, a la' Marina del Rey

2008-02-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

I entered a recipe contest once. It was back in the early 1990's. Marina del Rey, CA was holding a food festival (the first and only) and had a contest asking for recipes that encapsulate the Marina lifestyle. There may have been categories, I don't even remember. I do remember that I had been toying with a simple shrimp scampi dish at home and decided that I could fiddle with it and make it into an entree by serving it over pasta.

I won first prize for my Spicy Shrimp Scampi dish which the contest organizers renamed as: "Festival Shrimp Scampi". It was published in the free local paper and I believe I won two or three dinners for two at local restaurants. I've never entered another such contest. I figured I'd quit while I'm ahead.

The shrimp in this dish, made without the cheese, pasta or breadcrumbs, but all the spices, makes a fabulously simple first course or party appetizer. The trick to make succulent and juicy shrimp instead of dried out and rubberized seafood lies in not overcooking them. While tossing them in the hot pan, be ready to take the pan off the heat as soon as the last few shrimp are turning from grey to pink. They will finish cooking if you let them rest after seasoning them one last time and squeezing a little lemon juice over them. Lovely.

Festival Shrimp Scampi

1 lb medium size Shrimp (I used peeled, some may preferred unpeeled)

3 T butter
3 T olive oil (best quality you have)
3 cloves garlic, minced (more if preferred :)
1/2t ground white pepper
1/2t red pepper flakes
1/4t Cayenne pepper
1/4t dried oregano (or 1/2 t fresh minced)
1/2 lemon - juice of
1/2C Parmesan cheese
5 T Italian bread crumbs (or bread crumbs with a little salt, pepper,
oregano and basil added).
1/4C parsley - minced
salt - to taste
1 lb cooked fettuccine or linguine

Melt butter with the olive oil in a saute pan that is large enough to hold the shrimp in a thin
layer.

When mixture is hot, add the garlic. Toss about and don't let it burn. While it cooks, add the white pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano and Cayenne pepper, stir well. When garlic looks cooked but not brown (2 minutes), add the shrimp. Toss the shrimp about in the pan, coating with the spiced oil. Add the lemon juice and keep tossing over the heat. Quickly add the parsley, bread crumbs and Parmesan. Toss to coat completely. The shrimp should now be bright
pink and cooked through.

Place the pan under the broiler until cheese looks melted and the smell infuses your kitchen (1-2 minutes). Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (will probably need a bit of salt).

Serve over the cooked pasta, with additional Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

Enjoy!

The Simple Joys of Mirepoix

2008-02-18T15:15:00.000-08:00

I'm teaching my husband how to cook. He helps me with my mise en place on big recipes, stirs and flips, and keeps an eye on slow braises and stews. It's a great thing to have an extra set of hands in the kitchen.

In teaching him, I've tried to follow the guidelines I learned in cooking school so long ago. We've started with knife skills and are moving on to stocks and soups. He's a slow prep cook and I give him a hard time about it. I don't know if it's just that I'm quick or if he truly is as slow as the culinary sloth I think he is.

I haven't really been strict about teaching the fundamental cuts for vegetables (brunoise, baton, small, medium, and large dice). It's now become a priority. If I don't specify right up front the exact size I want the vegetables, they are likely to become very small dice. He really likes to cut things small, he thinks it takes more skill and he's anxious to please. But most of the time these little bits are too small. I can sometimes turn them into a good thing, pureeing them into a sauce as a final step. But, most of the time, they turn to mush before the dish has finished cooking.

One of Bruce's most favorite lessons in cooking has been the basic mirepoix (onion, carrots and celery). The novice cook may not appreciate these three basic ingredients. But the knowledgeable chef knows the value of this first step in most any classic dish. Mirepoix is the first set of ingredients for almost all stocks, soups, stews, braises, and roasts in French cooking. Whether vegetarian or meat filled, all dishes are enhanced by starting with these three vegetables cooked slowly (sweated) in a little olive oil or butter. These simple ingredients become magically fragrant and add an amazing richness to home cooked foods. They fill the kitchen and the house with the warm savory fragrance of ... home, of food lovingly prepared, of something good, simmering slowly.

We love garlic and often add a few cloves in after the vegetables has been sweating over a nice low heat to add a distinct piquant richness that only garlic can. There are a few different varieties of mirepoix with other such additions or subtractions. Here are a few I find useful:

Cajun or Southern Mirepoix: Onions, Celery and Green Peppers

Southwest or Mexican Mirepoix: White Onion, Garlic, Chile Peppers

Indian Basic Aromatics: Onion, Chiles, Garlic, Ginger cooked in Ghee (clarified butter)

Italian: add a few cloves of garlic; use olive oil instead of butter or a combination of both

White Mirepoix: Onions, Celery and Parsnips (leeks and mushrooms often added)