Thursday, May 22, 2008

Emily Gould

I just read a great article about blogging by Emily Gould in the NY Times' Magazine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25internet-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Frisee Salad and Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

I've been spending a lot of time with my man, but tonight, I had to work a little OT at the office, hit the gym (literally, I just started doing my punches and kicks with the bag at the gym again. My knuckles are bruised and a little bloody, and it makes for difficult typing, but it's all worth it).

When I came home, I wanted to reward myself with asparagus and spanish anchovies. However, not together. Something fresh and spring-like. Something satisfying without too much carbohydrates.

So, I made a frisee and raddichio salad with spanish anchovies marinated in a lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and olive oil. I just tossed the salad in white balsamic vinegar. I mixed the lemon juice, minced garlic, freshly chopped oregano, olive oil and some chili pepper flakes and then threw in a few anchovies to marinate. Then, I spooned the anchovies on top of the salad, making sure I had extra marinade spill onto the salad.



With the asparagus, I roasted them in the oven with olive oil and sea salt. Then, I wrapped prosciutto around every other stalk and laid them onto a plate. A little lemon juice drizzled over the asparagus, then grated pecorino romano, fresh ground pepper, and a sprinkling of chopped fresh leaf parsley. Finally, I boiled two organic eggs and placed them on top of the asparagus.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Food For Men

What instantly comes to mind when I think of cooking for my man? Julia's Roast Chicken with Lemon and Herbs.

I think I'll do a spring chicken this week with a side of baby carrots in an orange and herb reduction. Also, I'll do asparagus wrapped in parma ham, pecorino and topped with perfectly poached eggs. Also, a nice spring mesclun salad with white anchovies.

I hope my man likes my cooking!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

My Kind of Therapy

I had plans this evening of going out to the Castro to celebrate the CA State Supreme Court's ruling to allow gay marriages. My friends Andy and Adrienne really just wanted another reason to go drinking again, but after having spent little time at home this week and getting a little antsy to just relax [and especially in this unseasonably warm weather], I bailed.

Honestly, the office has been stressing me out as of late. The work keeps growing, and although I don't see myself in administration for the rest of my life, sometimes it feels like it. My only way out is to keep doing the things I love, like writing and cooking, and hoping that one day, someone will cut me some slack and actually be interested in what I have to say and the stories I have to tell.

So, still a little stressed and worried when I got home, I threw off my work clothes, and went straight to the fridge to pull out the ingredients for a simple supper. As soon as I got into the rhythm of chopping, soaking, kneading and saute-ing, I felt instant relief from my day....and much of my worries from this week. The neck muscles relaxed as my arms twiddled up and down with my chef's knife. Thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack.

I am feeling much better now!

Sweet and Sour Japanese Meatballs

Meatballs

4 pieces of reconstituted shitake mushrooms, chopped finely
3 tbsp of finely chopped green scallions
1/2 lbs of ground kurobuta pork
1/2 lbs of ground beef
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp of whole milk

Sweet and Sour Sauce

3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
splash of sesame oil

Combine meatball ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix well with hands. Form little meatballs about 1" in diameter. Place meatballs in a skillet with about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil heated thoroughly at low-medium heat. Please meatballs in skillet and brown, making sure to get all of the sides cooked.



While the meatballs are cooking, combine the sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well, and when the meatballs look nice and brown on the outside, pour the sweet and sour sauce in, coating all of the meatballs well. Cook on low heat until sauce turns thick and the meatballs are well done.

Garnish with chopped scallions. Serve with rice and/or green salad.

HOT

Hot weather suppresses my appetite. All I want to eat is chilled fruit and drink water.

However, there are actually some interesting foods for warm weather that doesn't require too much prep like certain salads, gazpacho and sorbet. I really want to make that Persian rose water ice dessert from Maykadeh. Yum.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

There's a First Time for Everything

OK, not to toot my own horn, but I managed to please EVERYONE in my family this Mother's Day with only a couple of hours of prep, and serving brunch an hour later than I planned.

[Side note: I also realized today why my prep time always takes longer than most people. It's not that my knife skills suck or that I am extremely disorganized. It's because I take after Japanese sushi chefs, cleaning everything between each step. While that may ensure a very clean and disinfected kitchen, and frees up quite a bit of utensils, pots and pans; it adds about half an hour to an hour. I'll need to keep that in mind next time I make a meal for someone.]

Usually, when I make something Mom considers delicious, Dad will turn his nose at it. When I make something good according to Dad, Mom will give me an ear-load of how unhealthful the food is and how Dad should really be eating more salads or drinking fruit shakes. Pleasing my brother is even more difficult. He's one of those who will clean his plate without making any comments, and then, after the meal is over, he'll say something like, "I kind of wanted to eat X instead. You also need to add more salt to Y. Oh, and where's the Z?"

You see how it is in my family?

Well, I finally made a meal that everyone seemed to enjoy greatly. Spicy oven-fried chicken marinated in buttermilk and spices topped with bacon, citrus-flavored red cabbage slaw, spring carrots sauteed with rosemary and lemon, accompanied with warm and crunchy French bread. We ended the meal with fresh, ripe mangoes from the Philippines.

[I had bigger aspirations of making yorkshire pudding and white bacon gravy, but I forgot to buy some cupcake pans and I burnt the roux for the gravy, which wasn't really my fault because everyone arrived at the moment where the roux was at its critical point and I had to answer the door and greet the family.]

The chicken turned out with a thick, panko crust and extremely juicy, and my father LOVED his drumstick with the crunchy crust and bacon. He gnawed that piece clean. The slaw was the perfect tangy accompaniment, which my mother called, "very refreshing." The carrots were sweet and tasty and balanced with the fresh rosemary and lemon; I think this dish was my favorite today. My brother loved the chicken marinade and asked for the recipe.

Now, I am going to sit back and relish this first.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Moroccan Feast

I've been on a Moroccan kick lately.

I think it was the visit to Cafe Zitouna that really did me in, having bastilla for the first time and then having to describe it in a review, which really started my juices for Middle Eastern and Mediterranean spices and food. There's something about the mix of all of that region's herbs, meat, grains and what little vegetables they have growing under harsh circumstances that makes me yearn to learn more about gypsy and desert lifestyles/cuisines.

Tonight, I made sugar snap peas with fresh mint and then a turmeric potato stew, both from the encyclopedia of vegetarian food by Madhur Jaffrey. Coincidentally, Madiha's mom Yasmin is very good friends with Jaffrey, and has attended some dinner parties and such in India and the UK.

Clearly, Jaffrey knows her Indian, but pulls on friends' knowledge of Native American, Chinese, Middle Eastern, European and a host of other regions to build her collection of vegetarian recipes. The tome is actually quite well put together.

Anyway, I didn't take any photos tonight because although the dishes turned out quite tasty, unfortunately, they're not so photogenic. Somewhat like me. Har har har.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Carrot and Cauliflower Soup


I made a few changes to the original recipe, adding coconut milk and fennel.

1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 a head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 bunch of fresh spring carrots, washed, trimmed, unpeeled, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 fennel bulb, cut into squares
1/2 medium yellow onion, cut into squares
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp course sea salt
1/2 cup coconut milk

Saute onions, fennel, cauliflower and carrots in large nonstick pot. add cumin and salt towards the end when vegetables look cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add coconut milk and 5 cups of water. Simmer soup for half an hour until vegetables are very soft and break up under the slightest pressure.

Either with a hand blender or regular blender, puree the ingredients until creamy and smooth.

I topped off the soup with some white truffle oil and sprigs of cilantro. Serve with warm, crusty French bread and sweet butter.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Spring Vegetables Part II

I've already hit on the topic of seasonal ingredients in a prior post, but looking through the list of ingredients for every season, I'm tempted to say my favorites are Spring and Fall. Summer is packed with fruits, and the sugar levels in a Summer diet filled with fruit is just a little too much for my palate. Winter is great, with all of the citrus fruits, but also lacking in a lot of leafy greens.

The menu this week:

Fresh Carrot and Cauliflower Soup
Sugar Snap Peas with Mint
Moroccan New Potato Stew
Stewed Hunza Apricots with Vanilla Rice Ice Cream

I realize I need to add protein to my diet, but I'll probably go out to dinner or lunch around 2-3 times this week so I'll order meat entrees as well as boosting up the nut intake. I'm also slowly starting to consume eggs again even though I don't process them well. We'll see how it goes. I've already lost 2-3 pounds since limiting my carbohydrate and meat intake.

I also plan to stop drinking at those dumb happy hours on Fridays. Destroy Your Liver? No thanks. I like my liver and Saturday mornings too much.

Btw, HOORAY! The Fillmore Farmer's Market is back, on Saturday mornings!!! I just saw a flyer for it this morning on my way home from Ashtanga class.

I FINALLY did a Pincha Mayurasana (bent elbow stand) with the aid of a wall, and didn't run out of steam halfway through the five-minute pose. It felt incredibly normal to be upside down for that long...perhaps I was a bat in a previous life?

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Tempura

Tempura is one of my favorite picks at a Japanese restaurant, and I judge restaurants by the type of batter they use, texture of the tempura crust and how well the vegetables and proteins hold up underneath. I decided to make it at home one night and although deep-frying is not the most healthful option to cook, sometimes a girl’s just got to give in to her cravings!

Basically, any vegetable can be fried in tempura batter, but typically, you will find: eggplant, sweet onion, green onions, sweet potato, haricot verts or green bean, potato, carrot, shitake mushroom, and enoki mushroom on the menu at a restaurant. The trick is to slice the larger vegetable items into the same width and size so that cooking time is about the same for everything. Items such as eggplant and potatoes should be sliced into ¼” rounds. Green beans or haricots verts should be washed, dried and trimmed.

Seafood is the primary protein used in tempura, so shrimp, Atlantic cod [or any kind of fleshy, white fish], red snapper, and scallops may be used. Just make sure everything is cut and trimmed into slightly larger bite-sized pieces, and the shrimp is deveined and shelled.

Batter:

One part pastry flour
One part cold mineral water
Sea salt
A quart of vegetable or peanut oil

Special equipment: cooking thermometer, large deep fry pan and tongs

Heat oil to 400 degrees. Oil should not drop lower than 325 during the course of frying.



Mix the pastry flour, sea salt and mineral water together in a large bowl. Coat a few of your ingredients with the batter.

Once oil is hot, gently place 5-7 pieces of the vegetables or seafood into the pan. Needless to say, the oil will be HOT, so be careful of any splatter or splashes.




When the tempura items turn a light-medium golden brown, use the tongs and pick them out and place them on a plate lined with either newspapers or paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Sprinkle with some sea salt flakes and freshly ground white pepper before plating. Serve with some steamed rice, a green salad and a traditional Japanese or German lager like Asahi, Sapporo or Spaten.


Thursday, May 01, 2008

Great Chefs Do Simple Dishes Well


Amazing what you can do with a few fresh and seasonal ingredients. I took a recipe off of Epicurious today from Eric Ripert's repertoire and it turned out not only delicious, but a feast for the eyes as well.