Xie Xie's Tofu Salad with Pickled Vegetables

This meal would have been much more successful if I had eaten it for lunch the next day as was my plan. I made it at night, thinking it would sit and marinate overnight as the recipe said it could...and then I'd have it the next day. However, out of laziness for putting the final touches on it in the AM as I was scurrying out the door, I did not bring it in for lunch. I did not have it for dinner. I did not have it for lunch the NEXT day. FINALLY, two days after preparing this meal, I had it for dinner.

The tofu was marinating in soy sauce.

Soy sauce is SALTY.

My tofu was SALTY.

Oh well.

I still ate it...the doctor said that I needed added sodium anyhow so best to just throw in into my body all at once.

Nonetheless, I could tell the actual recipe was quite good.

Xie Xie's Tofu Salad with Pickled Vegetables

PICKLED RED CABBAGE
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound red cabbage, finely shredded (4 cups) - I didn't have this and used radicchio instead...a much more bitter substitute but it's what I had

CARROT KIMCHI
1 tablespoon Sriracha chile sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound carrots, finely julienned

MARINATED-TOFU SALAD
One 14-ounce block firm tofu, drained and patted dry
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (I used plain greek yogurt)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
5 ounces mesclun salad greens

DIRECTIONS

MAKE THE PICKLED CABBAGE: In a resealable plastic bag, combine the vinegar, sugar and salt, shaking to dissolve the sugar. Add the cabbage. Seal the bag, pressing out the air. Let stand for 4 hours or refrigerate overnight.

MAKE THE CARROT KIMCHI: In a resealable plastic bag, combine the Sriracha with the rice vinegar, fish sauce and sugar, shaking to dissolve the sugar. Add the carrots and seal the bag, pressing out the air. Let stand at room temperature for 4 hours or refrigerate overnight.

MAKE THE MARINATED-TOFU SALAD: Preheat a grill pan. Brush the block of tofu with the vegetable oil and grill over high heat, turning once, until lightly charred, about 5 minutes. In a shallow dish, combine the soy sauce with the lemon juice and orange juice. Add the tofu and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour or cover and refrigerate overnight.

In a large bowl, whisk the mayonnaise (or yogurt) with the rice vinegar and sugar (I also added in a teaspoon or two of the tofu marinade). Season with salt and pepper. Add the mesclun to the dressing and toss until coated. Transfer the greens to plates. Drain the pickled cabbage and carrot kimchi and arrange them next to the greens. Remove the tofu from the marinade and slice it 1/2 inch thick. Arrange the tofu slices over the greens and serve right away.


The carrots held up the best after two days given their sturdy structure...and they were really really good. I've never made pickled vegetables before so I was extremely happy when these turned out to be pretty darn good.

The "cabbage" aka radicchio - wasn't bad. Clearly cabbage would have been better but it was an OK substitute if you are too lazy to go to the store and for some odd reason have radicchio on hand.

And the tofu - well, what can I say. Looking beyond the salt - the flavor was really nice. I loved the citrus with the soy sauce.

I'll make this again, but I'll actually make a concerted effort to eat it at its peak :)

Pear Tart with Goat Cheese and Port

To me, this dessert embodies every dessert direction with exception to chocolate: fruit, pastry, cheese, dessert wine. It seemed like a good choice for a dinner party, covering all bases.

Pear Tart with Goat Cheese and Port

Ingredients

All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 piece store-bought frozen puff pastry, defrosted according to package directions
1/4 cup currants
1 1/2 cups ruby port
1 (4-ounce) log mild goat cheese
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 firm-ripe pears, cored and sliced as thinly as possible
2 tablespoons apricot jam
Splash water
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll the puff pastry sheet to a thickness of between 1/4 and 1/8-inch. Using a plate or other round template as your guide, cut the pastry to a 12-inch circle. Refrigerate while you prepare the toppings.

Combine the currants and port in a small nonreactive bowl and set aside to allow the currants to plump for at least 20 minutes.

In a food processor, or using a hand mixer, combine the goat cheese with the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla and mix until smooth. Drain the currants from the port and in a small saucepan reduce the port to about 1/4 cup. Reserve the port reduction for serving.

Place the puff pastry circle onto the lined baking sheet and spread the goat cheese mixture over the puff pastry, leaving about a 1-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle the currants over the goat cheese; arrange the pear slices evenly over the goat cheese, overlapping the slices to form a fanned out pattern. Combine the apricot jam with a small amount of water; in a small saucepan or in the microwave, melt the jam. Brush the tart with the apricot jam and sprinkle with the dark brown sugar.

Bake the tart until pastry is golden brown on the bottom and sides, usually 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool. Serve the tart at room temperature, drizzled with some of the port reduction.

I didn't quite realize how much of a pain cutting and arranging the pear slices would be. However, I think I did a decent job of making them look pretty - but it took a long time and careful selection of pear slices. When it went into the oven, I was pretty excited for the final product, I had done everything according to the recipe and it looked nice!

Unfortunately, the final product was a bit disappointing. The skin on the pears seemed too tough, I would have peeled them. But that wasn't the worst part...the cheese got a bit crumbly!!! The flavor was so good but it just wasn't right.

Oh well.

It was still impressive-ish.

The best part of making this dessert was the return to childhood that I had during the process. Whenever my Mom would make a pie with a homemade pie crust, she would make a "crusty" with the leftover dough. A "crusty" was basically rolled out dough spread with some butter, sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar, roll it up like a cigar in a crescent moon shape, and bake it until lightly golden. Though I was using puff pastry, I did the same with my leftover scraps, and to me, this was the most satisfying part of the whole dessert!

Baba Ganoush with Pita Chips

Selected as an appetizer for a Moroccan Lamb dinner party - this dish proved to be an easy and impressive offering. It was especially easy when utilizing our new kitchen toy - the VitaMix. I simply threw all of the ingredients into the heavy-duty blender and voila, in seconds I had baba ganoush!

To make the pita chips, I took whole wheat pita purchased from the store and cut it into wedges. Then I sprayed each side with EVOO using my Misto and then sprinkled the pieces with sea salt (pink himalayan sea salt to be exact). Baked at 400 for about 8-9 minutes - the pita became pita chips!

Baba Ganoush with Pita Chips

1 globe eggplant
2 tbsp. tahini
1 tbsp. EVOO
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
juice of 1/2 lemon, plus more as needed
1 small handful of cilantro (about 1/4 bunch)
salt, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

2. Prick each eggplant a few times, then char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner and as the skin chars, turn them until the eggplants are uniformly-charred on the outside.

3. Place the eggplants on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft; you should be able to easily poke a paring knife into them and meet no resistance.

4. Remove from oven and let cool.

5. Split the eggplant and scrape out the pulp. Puree the pulp in a blender or food processor with the other ingredients until smooth.

6. Taste, and season with additional salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Chill for a few hours before serving. Serve with toasted pita chips.

What a healthy, delicious dip - great for sandwiches, vegetables, pita, etc.

Pan Seared Halibut with Leek-Dijon Sauce and Leek Mashed Potatoes

Sometimes it is a risk following a recipe found on someone's random personal blog. Mine for example, I cannot guarantee that every recipe that is posted is exactly what we did...we tweak things here and there and may not have it recorded. The following meal was one of those blog finds that seemed to fit the bill after we purchased halibut and already had leeks on hand.

We did a half recipe of the potatoes, and almost full recipe of the leek-dijon sauce

Pan Seared Halibut with Leek-Dijon Sauce and Leek Mashed Potatoes

Pan Seared Halibut with Leek-Dijon Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 Halibut fillets about 1/2 lb each
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken stock or white wine
1/2 cup whole milk (we used 1%)
1 Tbsp butter
1 leek, trimmed and finely chopped
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

1. Season halibut fillets with salt and pepper and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together mustard, olive oil, chicken stock, and milk. Set aside.

2. Heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large sautée pan over medium-high heat. Add fillets to the pan and sautée on one side for about 3 minutes. Flip carefully and sautée for another 3-5 minutes. If the fillets are very thick, they may take a little longer, but be careful not to overcook them. They should flake with a fork and be just opaque (maybe even a little teeny bit translucent in the very middle depending on your taste). Remove to a warmed plate.

3. Add butter to the same pan. Add leeks and sautée gently until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and mustard mixture. Simmer over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes. Grate lemon zest over the sauce and squeeze about a Tbsp of lemon juice into the sauce. Stir to mix. Spoon sauce over fish (and mashed potatoes) and serve immediately.

Creamy Leek Mashed Potatoes
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 Yukon Gold Potatoes
Salt and pepper
1 leek trimmed and chopped finely
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup whole milk or more

Method

1. Peel potatoes and cut into one-inch pieces. Boil for about 15 minutes or until fork tender. In the meantime, melt butter over medium heat in a medium sautée pan. Add leeks and sautée until softened and slightly browned, about 4-5 minutes. Spoon into large bowl. Drain potatoes into same bowl. Add milk and mash either with hand masher or electric hand mixer. Season with salt and pepper.


The recipe also called for kale chips to top the fish. You can see in the picture that we attempted this. However, the kale chip was removed post photo because I burnt the you-know-what out of them after forgetting about them in the oven. Boy, those were bitter.

The fish was good, nothing really special. I like the sauce but wouldn't go out of my way to make it again. The potatoes were nice - I actually really liked them. But I was also craving carbs at the time...instead of the peeled large potatoes, we used small fingerling potatoes and kept the skin on, adding texture and some sort of nutrient to the dish.

In general, this would probably be a good recipe to revisit if I have everyone on hand - and the sauce would be great with chicken or pork as well. Perhaps a thin cutlet of either, breaded and sauteed, topped with the leek-dijon sauce...I think that would be quite nice.

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Beet and Orange Salad

I was looking for an excuse to use the truffle salt that I had bought for Derek for Christmas. Perhaps that is wrong that I was the one to be anxious to use his gift...but anything kitchen or food related is essentially shared as we share meals and the process of making them.

I wanted to find something relatively simple as we would be making this meal for some friends for a post-football game watching day. The last thing that I wanted was to be stuck in the kitchen while everyone else enjoyed the games.

So simple + truffle salt use = Mushroom Risotto!!

Sure, risotto is a bit hands on but the execution of the dish is relatively easy. And we had just received some trumpet mushrooms in our shipment so it seemed like a natural fit.

NOTE: Some of the trumpet mushrooms, to my surprise, went bad within the four days that we had them...when we went to chop them up to prep them for the risotto, we were sorely disappointed and had to go out and buy some more....

I used an Emeril recipe as my base but we really just started throwing things in the pot as we are fairly adept in making risotto at this point.

5 to 6 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
12 ounces assorted mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced, stems removed
2 cups arborio rice
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 to 2 teaspoons truffle salt, to taste

In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to very low to keep hot.

In a large heavy saucepan, heat the oil and melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic, and cook, stirring until fragrant and soft, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until wilted and their liquid is evaporated, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the grains are opaque, about 1 minute. Stir in the thyme. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until nearly all evaporated. Add 3/4 cup of the stock, the salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until the stock is nearly all evaporated. Continue adding more stock 1/2 cup at a time as the previous addition is nearly absorbed, until the rice is tender and the risotto is creamy, 18 to 20 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese and the parsley and mix well.

Remove from the heat and stir in the truffle salt, adjust the seasoning, to taste.

For starters, I made a simple salad of roasted beets and segmented oranges with candied almonds and arugula. The dressing was a blood orange/champagne vinaigrette:

and for a finale - Derek made Thomas Keller's Frozen Lemon Bars

picture of the bars with un-toasted meringue:

The salad, in my opinion, was just beautiful. I loved the colors with the pinkish beets, orange navel oranges and reddish blood oranges. And candied almonds just add a nice hearty sweetness to the light salad.

The risotto was also delicious. I think the combination of mushrooms and truffles (salt) is just a classic pairing. I was dying to have an earthy pinot noir with this but we instead opted for white wine that night which was fine, but not ideal.

My only wish is that risotto was slightly more healthy than it is. Sure, we lessen the effect with a lack of cream and a smart use of oil and butter...but in the end, it is still a pot of rice. And okay, I guess brown rice can be used...and while I really do love brown rice, it just isn't always the same for a risotto. Though that is getting me to thinking I should try it before I knock it...so coming up next risotto, brown rice of some sort....or maybe faux risotto with a grain such as quinoa...to be determined!

West Indian Curried Chicken Roti with Curried Collard Greens

Through our exploration of Indian flavors in homemade cooking we have had a lot of ups and downs, learning new lessons along the way. Some of these lessons include:

1. Know your spices. Indian food is based on the perfect blend of spices - consisting of several elements foreign to most American dishes. The mentality of "throwing a little bit of this and a little bit of that" is not as forgiving when it comes to Indian cooking.

2. Similar to #1 but deserving of its own bullet point - turmeric: do not overdo it. Though it has great health benefits - it can completely make or break a dish (as I have learned the hard way). According to Whole Foods' description, turmeric has a peppery, warm and bitter flavor and a mild fragrance slightly reminiscent of orange and ginger, and while it is best known as one of the ingredients used to make curry, it also gives ballpark mustard its bright yellow color. Key word: BITTER. If you use too much, your Indian dish that is supposed to be well rounded will instead be bitter.

3. Release the flavor of the spices by first heating them up in some oil to make a quasi-spice paste. You will be amazed by how much flavor will come out of a little bit of powder.

4. Use whole spices and grind them yourself - again, much more flavor will come out.

5. If using chilies in the dish, give them a little taste test first before adding them in, some are far more spicy than other, even within the same family, so you will want to adjust the amount that you add to the dish based on the spice level and your own personal tolerance.

6. Spices, spices, spices (see #1) - just have to reiterate the fact that this is what Indian cooking is all about. Stock up on the key Indian spices and make your own curry mixtures, you'll be AMAZED by how you can create a meal that tastes much like what you would get in an Indian restaurant with the key being your homemade curry powder!

FYI - curry powder isn't only that yellow stuff you buy in the store but rather a blend of Indian spices with nearly limitless variations. We've had a good time trying them out - each version creating a totally unique and wonderful flavor for the dish.

Our source (well Derek's source, he made the entire meal) was not an Indian cooking guru, but rather our beloved Emeril who has a knack for spices of his own (i.e. Emeril's entire line of fabulous blends that seem to truly kick each dish up on notch.)

West Indian Curried Chicken Roti

Original Link on FoodNetwork.com
(we used about a half recipe)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons ground turmeric
1 tablespoon crushed dried chili flakes
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 hot pepper, such as Scotch bonnet or serrano, seeded and finely chopped, or to taste
2 cups chicken broth
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 recipe West Indian Bread for Roti, recipe follows, breads kept covered and warm

Directions
In a medium skillet or saute pan combine the turmeric, chili flakes, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, ginger, garlic powder, mustard seeds, pepper, allspice, and cinnamon and cook, shaking the pan frequently, until spices are fragrant and just beginning to smoke. Remove from the heat, transfer to a shallow plate and allow to cool completely. Transfer to a coffee grinder or spice mill and process until very finely ground. Reserve 6 tablespoons of the spice mixture separately and transfer the remainder to an airtight container and save for another purpose.

In a mixing bowl combine the chicken, 2 tablespoons of the curry powder, 1 teaspoon of the salt and 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil and set aside, covered, for 20 minutes.

In a large Dutch oven, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and, when hot, add the chicken pieces and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, thyme, hot pepper if using, and remaining 4 tablespoons curry powder and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, and brown sugar and bring to a simmer. Add the remaining teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is very tender and falling from the bone and the sauce has reduced enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 1 1/2 hours. Stir in the cilantro and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

(Note: traditionally, curried chicken roti is eaten with the chicken still on the bones. If you prefer otherwise, at this point you can remove the chicken from the sauce and remove the meat from the bones and then return the meat to the sauce before serving.)

Serve the chicken and sauce ladled into the center of the roti breads, then fold both sides over the filling. Fold the top and bottom ends over the sides to form a neat square package, and serve.

West Indian Bread for Roti:
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for cooking roti
1 cup water
To make the breads, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Combine the oil and water and add this mixture to the well. Using your hands, mix to form a dough. Knead for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth. Divide the mixture into 6 balls of dough and set aside for about 2 hours, covered with a damp kitchen towel. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball of dough into a thin, flattened circle about 9 inches in diameter. Set aside, covered, until ready to cook the breads to serve. (Do not stack.)

Heat a large griddle or 12-inch skillet over high heat and add 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. When hot, add the bread dough and cook until brown spots form on the bottom, about 1 minute. Turn the bread and cook on the second side, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to a large plate or baking sheet and cover with a damp towel to keep warm while you prepare the remaining breads.

Yield: 6 large roti breads


Ever since we started making our own curry powders, the level of authenticity to our Indian dishes has sky-rocketed. Once again Derek commented (and I agreed) that this was a dish that we'd likely receive from a restaurant - and a good one at that. The sauce (curry) was just incredible, so many flavors jam packed into one bite. And the chicken was so moist and tender. Nicely done Derek.

The roti was a little bit less successful. It tasted like pancakes. Perhaps that was what it was supposed to taste like, but they were just a bit thick and reminiscent of pancakes for my taste...but then again, with the curry, it went pretty well.

We also braised some collard greens with shallots, garlic and vegetable broth and added some curry powder leftover from another recipe we had made. This one was a bit sweeter and therefore, went really well with the fairly spicy chicken curry. Though our goal isn't necessarily to master the art of Indian cuisine, I don't think that is a realistic goal, I think we're getting pretty successful at creating fairly authentic basic recipes - and that's good enough for me.

Toasted Barley Salad with Red Bell Pepper, Corn and Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

This was sort of a weird meal concept. A mishmash of barley and vegetables with a side of sliced portobello. I would normally expect the mushroom to be at least on top of the barley salad, or stuffed if it is used as a sideline item, but that was not the case here. Still, it spoke to me as I'm a fan of all of the ingredients and I put in the request to Derek to pick up the necessary ingredients to make this dinner happen.

Reading the recipe, you'll see that the grocery list wasn't exactly adequately fulfilled, however, we made due with what we had to produce a pleasing final product.

Toasted Barley Salad with Red Bell Pepper, Corn and Grilled Portobello Mushrooms


1/2 cup pearl barley (used 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (used 2 1/4 cups)

1 poblano or green bell pepper (we couldn't fine poblano so used green)
1 red bell pepper (Derek left this in the cart...did not use...used a jalapeño instead to compensate for the lack of poblano and to add a kick)

2 large plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped (about 1 cup) (this item was forgotten, luckily we had some diced fire-roasted canned tomatoes that we drained and used)
1 cup fresh corn kernels (used frozen, it's winter!!)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Nonstick olive oil spray (we used EVOO sprayed from a Misto)
2 large portobello mushrooms, stemmed, dark gills scraped away
6 large leaves spinach leaves (I used more, obviously)
Goat Cheese (crumbled) - our own addition

Place barley in heavy large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until pale golden, shaking pan occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add broth to pan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until barley is tender and broth is absorbed, about 35 minutes. Uncover and let barley cool.

Char poblano and red bell pepper over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose in paper bag and let stand 10 minutes. Peel, seed and dice poblano and red bell pepper.

Place barley, poblano and red bell pepper (whichever peppers you use) in large bowl. Add tomatoes and next 5 ingredients; toss to blend. Season salad with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover; refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Prepare barbecue, medium-high heat - (or grill pan). Spray mushrooms with nonstick spray (we used Misto to spray EVOO); sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to work surface; slice thinly.

Arrange spinach leaves on each plate. Top with barley salad. Arrange 1 sliced mushroom alongside each salad. Top mushroom with goat cheese crumbles, to taste. Serve while mushrooms are still warm.

What a healthy meal! Wow - this felt good to eat and was extremely satisfying and tasty. The dish, with winter-y ingredients such as barley and portobellos, bridged over to spring with the fresh lime, corn and cilantro.

If I were to make this again I would place the portobello slices on top of the barley mixture, along with the goat cheese. I would also consider doing a very light dressing on the spinach leaves - maybe even just some lemon juice with a touch of EVOO. It would also be great with a protein - some chicken slices on top. And I'd love to try it with poblano peppers since they are just fabulous roasted. But for having to substitute and alter ingredients as we did - the final product was very tasty.

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

After a wonderful weekend filled with cookie baking, wine and Hot Toddy drinking in the mountains of Tahoe, I felt inspired to prepared myself something relatively healthy for dinner upon my arrival back to San Francisco. I also did not feel like going to the store to purchase any ingredients so - no surprise here - I made do with what I had on hand and actually made something quite delicious!

The following recipe is a tweak on one that I had come across online - I'll write it as a 2 entree or 4 appetizer servings recipe, though I did about half for myself.

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

1 head fresh butter lettuce- about 6 decent size leaves (butter or iceberg would be best, I also had some romaine that I used since I didn't have much butter lettuce left on hand)
2 tsp. vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb-size piece galangal (or ginger), grated
1 thai chili, de-seeded and finely minced
2 shallots, sliced finely
1 package firm tofu, drained and crumbled
2 carrots, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup snow peas, trimmed and cut into thin strips
4-5 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. regular soy sauce
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped if leaves are large
1 block rice noodles (dried)
4 tsp. rice vinegar
1/2 cup fresh dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
five spice powder

Preparation:

Drizzle oil into a large frying pan (wok would be best) over medium-high heat. Add garlic, galangal (or ginger), chili, and shallots. Stir-fry one minute, or until fragrant.

Add tofu, carrot, shiitake mushrooms, spring onions and snow peas. As you stir-fry, add the lime juice, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Stir-fry about 3-5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the basil leaves.

Meanwhile, cook rice noodles in boiling water for about 5 minutes until cooked through - drain and set in a bowl. Add rice vinegar and mix.

Separate and clean lettuce leaves. Top each leaf with layer of rice noodles. Add generous portion of the tofu filling. Top with a sprinkling of peanuts and a pinch of five spice powder. Then wrap up and eat!

The filling was just amazing. After about two or three bites, I ended up eating this with a fork since I filled the lettuce leaves quite full. The filling was spilling out with each bite so I decided it would just be easier to consider this a salad. Either way works - just use a little less filling if you want to use your hands.

I think I got about 4 or 5 lettuce leaves out of my half portion, so it was a significant amount of food - I contemplated leaving the last little bit for leftovers the next day but before I knew it, it was gone!

Baby Squid Stuffed with Fennel and Pine Nuts in a Tomato and Roasted Garlic Sauce

This meal was beyond frustrating. If you do not have time or patience, I would stop reading here. I should have known - a BBC recipe - what do the Brits know about food? After tasting the final product, I hated to admit that it was really tasty - but the process was time consuming and not meant for one of our Wednesday night post-spin class "I'm hungry and want to eat now" meals.

I wouldn't be complaining so much if Derek had prepped the squid beforehand as was the plan - but clearly that did not happen so we had to start from square one starting at 8 PM at night.

Squid - oh how I love you and hate you. I hate to clean them - a fact well articulated in previous posts - but love to eat them. My best compromise is to buy pre-cleaned squid but this was not available at the Farmer's Market where you know they are nice and fresh - so fine, we decided to buy them in their natural state and Derek agreed to do the cleaning so I guess I have no room to complain except for the fact that cleaning takes time - and I was hungry!

Complaining aside - I took charge of the homemade tomato sauce and chopping and left the rest to Derek.

Baby Squid Stuffed with Fennel and Pine Nuts in a Tomato and Roasted Garlic Sauce


Squid Filling
6 baby squid, cleaned
3 shallots
1 small fennel bulb
25g/1oz butter
1 tbsp olive oil
50g/2oz pine nuts (used cashew/sliced almond mix instead)
3 tbsp chopped parsley
25g/1oz pecorino cheese (used something similar)
1 tsp ouzo
½ glass white wine (we omitted - did not want to open a bottle)
juice of ½ lemon
25g/1oz breadcrumbs
3 tbsp chopped basil
For the sauce
6 cloves garlic
25g/1oz butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3 shallots

Tomato Sauce
5 ripe vine tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar (this was my own addition)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
100g/3½oz passata (we took this as "tomato sauce")
1 tsp tomato purée (and this as "tomato paste")
½ glass red wine (depends who is pouring ;) )
salt and pepper
basil leaves, to garnish (I threw in about 1/3 cup finely chopped and mixed it in)
+ additional adjustments not noted

Preparation method

Roast the garlic for the sauce in olive oil (190C/375F/Gas5) for 20-25 minutes or until very soft. (we wrapped this in tin foil)

Place the shallots in a food processor and process until very fine (or chop by hand). Place half of the shallots aside. Add the fennel to the food processor and process until very fine.

Heat 25g/1oz butter and 1 tbsp olive oil and gently cook the shallots and fennel for 5 minutes.

Chop the squid tentacles and add to the fennel mixture, along with the pine nuts. Cook for a further 5 minutes. (I found this odd, but the only way I'll willingly eat the tentacles).

Add the white wine and lemon juice to the stuffing mixture and boil rapidly to reduce by half. Meanwhile finely grate the pecorino cheese.

Add the breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese, ouzo, salt and pepper to the stuffing mixture, allow to cool slightly.

Heat 25g/1oz butter and 1 tbsp olive oil and gently fry the remaining shallots. Add tomatoes, sugar, red wine vinegar and roasted garlic cloves. Cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, use a piping bag to fill the squids and secure with cocktail sticks. Take care not to over fill the squids, as they shrink during cooking.

Place the tomato sauce in a food processor and process until smooth.

Return to the saucepan and add passata, tomato purée, red wine, salt and pepper.

Place squid in tomato sauce, cover the pan and poach for 25 minutes. Remove cocktails sticks.

Serve garnished with basil leaves.

Another case of needed those shallow bowl/plates for presentation - though in the end it all tastes the same. One initial comment - this dish screams for bread!!! There is so much tasty sauce that is just waiting to be lapped up by a good piece of bread. Mind you, the sauce would not be as tasty if I had not made so many adjustments. I found it to be almost bitter upon first shot following the recipe and had to tweak to add sweetness and more balance. You would be fine with making any tomato sauce that you enjoy for this recipe. And note - it will take on some of the squid flavor as the squid is cooked in it.

The filling for the squid is what made this recipe worth it. I actually loved using the cashews instead of pine nuts (too expensive) and with the fennel and citrus - quite heavenly!!

And speaking of heaven - yes, the squid - it was pretty incredible. Cooked just perfectly so that it could be cut with a fork. After several run-ins with chewy squid...this is certainly a feat.

At the end of the meal, I stopped complaining and realized that maybe it was worth the effort after all.

Cornmeal Crusted Red Snapper with Braised Kale and Polenta

Here's a case of a meal simply thrown together without guidance of a recipe. It is relatively simple and can be adjusted according to taste.

During our last trip to the Farmer's Market we picked up two red snapper filets - nice a fresh - packaged in individual ziploc bags. I love that the seafood man does that - that way Derek and I can each pick out our own perfect piece. For me, all of the red snapper were too large as I get tired of any protein after a while - but I was still able to get one that was smaller than Derek's massive piece.

To crust the snapper we followed the standard procedure: flour, egg, cornmeal. The cornmeal was seasoned with a bit of Emeril's seasoning - a fantastic spice to keep on hand - goes with everything! We sauteed the fish on each side until browned and cooked through.

Served with some braised kale (simple garlic, onion, tomato, vegetable stock) and polenta that we added some truffle salt into just to try it out - we hadn't yet used the truffle salt - it didn't necessary fit with the meal but it tasted good!!

a simple Sunday night dinner.

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Frosting

One of the gifts that I received this Christmas was a great big mini-muffin pan. The pan is perfect for making wonderful bite sized treats such as muffins (obviously), cupcakes, brownie bites, quiche, etc... to break it in, I chose to bake up some mini cupcakes to bring to a party to watch the Auburn/Oregon game. And since we were going to an apartment of avid Auburn fans (and I was rooting for them as well) then I thought - how perfect to make these little creations in Auburn colors (or somewhere along those lines at least)!

I'd call this a "semi-homemade" recipe since I must admit that I purchased store-bought frosting - Duncan Hines Whipped White Frosting - in the big container. But of course, I had to tweak it - otherwise I really couldn't take any credit for how tasty the end product would be. For the cupcake, I used my trusted source: joyofbaking.com.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Frosting:

1/2 cup (50 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water
2 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter, or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners (I used my mini muffin pan and made around 48 mini cupcakes total).

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16-20 minutes (less for mini cupcakes) or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. You can either spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a small spatula or if piping, use a large Wilton 1M open star tip to make lovely swirls (I used a ziploc bag cut in the corner...would like to have some nice baking accessories but this worked).

Orange Frosting

1 tub Duncan Hines Whipped White Frosting
4 Tbsp. Cointreau
1 orange, zested (only zest used)

Mix all ingredients together and stick in the refrigerator to cool slightly to make sure it isn't runny when you apply it.


Yum yum yum. I could (and did) eat that frosting just by itself - and I'm not a frosting person. The cupcakes came out a little dense but I believe that was due to two factors:

1. I stuck them in the refrigerator shortly after I frosted them
2. I used regular unprocessed cocoa powder which reacts with baking soda whereas dutch-processed cocoa powder reacts with baking powder. Here's what joyofbaking has to say about that....

Dutch-processed cocoa powder is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids. Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda, it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder, unless there are other acidic ingredients in sufficient quantities used. It has a reddish-brown color, mild flavor, and is easy to dissolve in liquids. Its delicate flavor makes it ideal in baked goods like European cakes and pastries where its subtle flavor complements other ingredients. Droste, Lindt, Valrhona, Poulain and Pernigotti are some popular brands.

Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder tastes very bitter and gives a deep chocolate flavor to baked goods. Its intense flavor makes it well suited for use in brownies, cookies and some chocolate cakes. When natural cocoa (an acid) is used in recipes calling for baking soda (an alkali), it creates a leavening action that causes the batter to rise when placed in the oven. Popular brands are Hershey's, Ghirardelli, and Scharffen Berger.

I found this to be a very useful tidbit of information to know that will now guide my baking. My cupcakes had that fantastic deep chocolate flavor as the natural unsweetened cocoa powder is supposed to have - if I would have just mixed it with baking soda instead of baking powder then they would have been just perfect! Note taken.

Pan Roasted Five Spice Duck with Asian Kale and Black Jasmine Rice

This meal was designated as Derek and my "Christmas Dinner" since we made it on the night that we celebrated Christmas - only a few weeks after the actual day. Since I had already had prime rib, I opted out of make that. When Derek came up with duck, I though "perfect!" with a nice Christmas-y Chinese Five Spice - that will be very holiday like. Though the meal still had a hint of Christmas, it evolved into a clearly Asian dish, a feature I wouldn't necessarily associate with my fond memories of celebrating a Christmas in the US. No complaints, though, it was delicious.

Pan-Roasted Five Spice Duck Breasts
adapted from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

Ingredients
2 duck breasts
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Chinese Five Spice Powder
1 orange
Balsamic vinegar
2 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
Canola oil


1. Using a sharp knife, cut a 1/4-inch crosshatch pattern in the skin of each breast, being careful not to pierce the meat. Do this while the duck is cold, since it's difficult to make such precise cuts at room temperature.

2. Turn the duck breasts skin-side-down on the baking sheet. If the tenderloins, the smaller piece of meat that runs along the bottom of the breast, are still attached, leave them on the breasts. Use a paring knife to remove the small white tendon that runs through each tenderloin. You will see a vein that runs the length of each breast. Run your finger down the length of each vein, and if any blood comes out, wipe it away with a paper towel.

3. Season the flesh side of each breast with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of five spice powder. Grate a little orange zest over each breast and sprinkle with a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Lay a sprig of thyme running lengthwise down the center of each breast and cover with a bay leaf. Turn over and season each breast with a generous pinch of salt and a grating of nutmeg. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 1 hour, or up to 12 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

5. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Set a metal bowl or other container near the stove. With a paper towel, blot any moisture from the duck breasts. Season both sides of each breast with a pinch of salt.

6. Pour some canola oil into a large ovenproof frying pans over medium-low heat. Add the duck skin-side-down. Move the duck breasts every few minutes to help them brown evenly. As the fat is rendered, carefully remove the excess from the frying pan (there will be more than you would expect!): move the pan away from the heat when you remove the fat, since if any fat hits the flame it will cause flare-up.

7. Cook the duck for a total of 20-25 minutes, until the skin is an even rich brown and very crisp; the internal temperature of the breasts should be approximately 115 degrees F. Flip each breast and just "kiss" the meat side for about 30 seconds.

8. Put the duck skin-side-down in the oven and cook for about 5 minutes. The internal temperature should be 125 degrees F for a rosy medium-rare.

9. Put the duck breasts skin-side-down on the cooling rack and let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Cut each piece of duck lengthwise into 3 slices. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.

This is probably one of the only dishes that I will happily eat fat. Typically it is not my thing - on steak? no thank you. on duck? yes please - but not TOO much. It really is where all the flavor it and it simply melts in your mouth. Think of it as slathering butter on a piece of bread. Sure, bread is fine by itself but when you put some butter on top, it transforms the simple bread into simple decadence. Same idea with the fat on the duck breast. It has transforming powers. It is also topped with the fantastic crust with the five-spice powder that I am a huge fan of. Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Star Anise, Cloves...or some variation following similar flavors. It is essentially Christmas in a powder form..ahh.

The duck was tender and delicious and I don't need to say anything else positive about it - just look at the blurry picture, it does it enough justice.

My contribution to the meal was the Asian Kale that I braised with ginger, sesame oil, onion, garlic, vegetable stock - and maybe some soy sauce, I cannot remember precisely. Needless to say I did not follow a recipe but it turned out fantastic.

Finally, the black jasmine rice added a nice roundness to the dish.

Merry Christmas #2.

Kabocha Squash Green Curry

A kabocha squash ended up in our apartment after an aimless trip to the Farmer's Market. I had never cooked with it before so I figured I'd give it a shot and curry was the first thing that came to my mind. For those unfamiliar with this type of winter squash:


A relative newcomer to the US squash scene, Kabocha squash (pronounced kuh-boh-cha) is a hard winter squash available from late fall to late spring. Its hard, dull, bumpy dark green shell is marked with pale celery green striations. It's rather heavy for its size (usually 2-3 pounds) and has a stumpy grayish colored stalk. Kabocha squash has a brilliant yellow-orange flesh, like a pumpkin's. Both the texture and flavor of Kabocha squash is similar to a sweet potato: the soft, moist, fluffy flesh is surprisingly sweet and slightly nutty. source

"Nutty" squash with a "spicy" and "creamy" curry - sounds like a nice combination!

Kabocha Squash Green Curry


For the Curry Paste...

4-6 Green Thai Bird Chiles (Derek used 6)
2 tbsp. Chopped Shallots
2 tsp. Chopped Galangal
1 tsp. Kaffir Lime Rind
2 tsp. Chopped Garlic
2 tbsp. Chopped Ginger
2 tbsp. Chopped Lemongrass
1/2 tsp. Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp. Coriander Seeds
1/2 tsp Salt

Put ingredients in mortar. Pound with pestle until everything is mixed and ground thoroughly. Make sure there are no seeds left uncrushed. (we used a food processor)

Other Ingredients...
1 small kabocha squash, roasted until slightly undercooked (you don't want it mushy as you'll be adding it to the other curry vegetables), peeled, and cut into cubes
Assorced Sliced Vegetables (carrots - julienned, sno peas - trimmed, shiitake mushrooms - sliced)

1 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp. Fish Sauce
4 Stems of Sweet Basil
1 Cup of Coconut Milk
1/2 Cup of Water

Pour coconut milk into saucepan and turn on medium heat. Stir until oil appears on the top.

Add green curry paste and stir until almost done.

Add vegetables, fish sauce, water, sugar and turn heat up and stir a little.

When everything is cooked, mix in the sweet basil leaves.

Serve with Jasmine Rice or Sticky Rice (we opted to go carb free for the evening)

I really can't be a larger proponent for homemade curries. I love curry - and loved curry when I was using the pre-made paste that came in the jar. Though that is still tasty - it doesn't even compare to the complexity and freshness exuded by a fresh curyr. It's simple to make - you just have to have the ingredients on hand. We keep galangal and keffir lime leaves in a jar in our refrigerator so we never have to go out to the store to try and find them. Lemongrass is easily found at the Asian market near my work - as are the thai chiles and everything else is a standard grocery store item! We made enough this time around for a few more curries - just put it in the jar and hopefully it will stay nice and fresh.

Given that I want to keep it around and use it again - yes, this was very good. I would have liked some pepper and some eggplant to be added into the vegetable mix, but the selection was fine - and the squash was a nice variation from what I normally have in my curry. I would have also added a bit more basil since I think it is such a wonderful compliment in the curry - and if it is thai basil - even better.

For leftovers - since there isn't a huge portion left - I'm thinking about cooking up some rice noodles (they cook in about 5 minutes just soaking in hot water) and mixing them with the sauce and vegetables. I have a feeling it will be just as satisfying as the first time around.

Pan-Fried Polenta with an Orange, Candied Almond, and Red Onion Salad

Oh another night of simplicity and creativity. The plan was to go to the Farmer's Market (Sunday) and pick up a piece of fish to pair with an orange, candied almond salad that I had been envisioning in my head. I was very close to not even leaving the house for the Farmer's Market given the bleak day - cold and rainy - leaving was the last thing that I wanted to do. However, knowing that Derek was still down for the count with a back injury, dinner was going to have to be my responsibility that night so leaving the apartment would be inevitable.

Against my will, I piled on warm clothing and headed out for the market - ready to do a quick trip to pick up my short list of items. Unfortunately, to my disappointment, the farmer's must have had the same dilemma as I had just recently had, with most of them deciding to stay warm and forfeit the market. There was no fish guy, no oranges, and hardly any lettuce available. What a waste of time. Thank you Safeway for being right across the street so I could eat that night.

Still, no protein on hand (as we have removed Safeway from our meat vendor list) so I had to be creative. How about polenta? Cheap, easy...and on hand at home...great.

I decided to do a pan-fried polenta with a semi-homemade tomato sauce (semi because I used canned tomatoes - not fresh - probably best this time of year). It turned out surprisingly well - the sauce was delicious. Here's what I did:

Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
1 Tbsp. EVOO
2 Tsp. butter
1 medium cipollini onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1/4 cup water (more or less depending on how thick you want it)
1 bay leaf
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper

Over medium-low heat, heat the butter and oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and cook for about 20-25 minutes in order to caramelize the onions. Be sure to stir frequently so that the onions do not burn. Add the garlic and saute for about a minute.

Add the tomatoes (juices and all), water, sugar, bay leaf and thyme. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce to remove any tomato chunks until the sauce has reached your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

I served this with the pan-fried polenta made by cooking the polenta stove-top according to directions (about 25-35 minutes for the regular polenta, not quick-cooking) - stirring very frequently. Then I spread the polenta into a lightly greased pan (about a 9 x 9 glass baking dish) and let it cool (stuck it in the refrigerator) for about 40 minutes to an hour.

From the pan I cut the polenta into triangles (cut into squares and then in half. In a pan I heated a generous amount of butter and let it heat. Once hot (but not burnt) I added the polenta and pan-fried for about 6 minutes per side, until the surface was nicely browned.

To serve I placed some tomato sauce on the bottom of a plate and topped it with one polenta triangle. Added some sauce to that and propped up another triangle.

(polenta does not look too browned here...probably should have used a better batch for the blurry photo - not like it matters anyhow...where is my good camera!!!)

This could have used some cheese to make it extra delicious but for using just ingredients on-hand, I was completely surprised by how good it was.

Served with a salad of butter lettuce, segmented oranges, thinly sliced red onions, and candied blanched almonds (made by heating sugar and water in a pan and then adding the almonds, cooking until coated and very slightly toasted. NOTE: do not try to eat the sugar off of the spatula during cooking - I suffered a burnt roof of my mouth for three days from that mistake.... Dressing was fresh orange juice, splash of grapefruit juice, honey, champagne vinegar, EVOO. Made it again for lunch later in the week and gosh - what an incredible combination - especially with some avocado added in to make it a complete meal!

Emeril's Chocolate Souffle

Though I had proclaimed my disinterest in post-holiday desserts...for some reason I decided to make one from scratch just three days after returning to San Francisco. Originally I had thought of doing molten lava cakes as they are supposed to be quite easy (surprisingly, I have never before made one). However, I then remembered I had been wanted to make souffles and considered them the healthier alternative. After making the souffles, I realized that they were likely no better for you than molten lava cakes are...but oh well! The individual servings mean that you don't have additional servings laying around the house to be each night after night - so you indulge one time, enjoy it, and it's done!

I went with Emeril's recipe because it seemed easy enough and we had all of the ingredients on had. Plus the addition of orange liqueur sparked my interest.

Emeril's Chocolate Souffle
(entitled Chocolate Chocolate Souffle on Foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients
2 teaspoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips)
4 large egg whites
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup Grand Marnier (we have Cointreau instead)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 4 individual ramekins. Sprinkle each ramekin with 1 teaspoon sugar - place in the freezer until ready to use. In a large metal bowl, set over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate, whisking it occasionally (I just stuck the chocolate chips in the microwave at 50 percent power, stirring the chocolate every 30 seconds or so to make sure that the chocolate didn't burn). Remove the bowl from the heat.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with 1/4 cup of the sugar until stiff and glossy. Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate one at a time, add the Grand Marnier, and whisk in the remaining sugar. Fold in the egg whites and blend until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake until they are puffed and somewhat firm, about 20 to 25 minutes (20-21 minutes seemed to be good enough). Remove from the oven and serve with the chocolate sauce and powdered sugar (which I did not have...but would have sprinkled on for a nice black/white contrast for serving).

Given that I was just cooking for two, I made a half recipe making only one small error in my translation. According to the recipe, I should have used 1.5 egg yolks (the full recipe calls for 3) - not thinking, I just plopped both egg yolks that I had separated from the egg whites into the recipe and there was no turning back. I was just hoping that the extra 1/2 yolk would not affect the final product. Luckily - it didn't.

One of the most gratifying aspects of cooking or baking is to see and taste a well executed final product - to know that you were responsible for putting together all of the ingredients in such a way that worked! For me, seeing the souffles pop up over the ramekin was a pure moment of joy. At that point, I didn't really care how they tasted, I had already achieved my goal of making a successful souffle.

Silly, I know...taste is clearly the most important part. Luckily, that too was successful. The chocolate was rich, toned down only by the light texture of the fluffy souffle. Derek said he'd be happy to get it in a restaurant. That's good enough for me - though next time I'll try it with 1/2 an egg yolk less and see if that makes a difference!

African Sweet Potato Soup

One of the only redeeming factors of cold weather is the comfort of a nice hot bowl of soup to warm you up. Though I thought San Francisco was never supposed to be extremely cold, I've seen a trend of 40 and 50 degree days. This certainly constitutes soup days and discourages outside activity. So while I await a glimpse of warmth (which in SF is 60s/70s...still not warm enough) I'll make soup so there is at least something nice and comforting.

On Top Chef All-Stars one of the contestants had recently made an African Groundnut Soup - a complex take on a simple sweet potato/peanut butter soup. Though I would like to make her recipes one of these days, complete with a roasted pepper and adzuki bean garnish, I opted for an easier version of the comforting soup for this night.

African Sweet Potato Soup

(I swear, I cannot seem to take a good picture of soup...)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce
ground black pepper to taste
1 15-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup peanut butter

Garnish:
chopped cilantro
chopped peanuts

Preparation

Place a large pot over medium heat. Once it is warmed, add the oil and the onions. Cook for 5–7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the carrots, sweet potatoes, and the spices and stir thoroughly. Cook for 5 minutes and add a little broth if necessary to keep the vegetables from sticking.

Increase the heat to medium-high and add the can of tomatoes and the broth. Stir the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let the vegetables simmer for 25–30 minutes. Use an immersion blender to make smooth.

Increase the heat to medium and stir in the peanut butter. Cook for 5 minutes until the peanut butter is thoroughly combined and warmed. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro if desired.


The bit of chili-garlic sauce added into the soup just made it. The sweet potatoes and the peanut butter are fairly rich, so when you add a nice kick to it - the soup is simply taken to another level. Then the cilantro on top is a must in my opinion. That adds the needed freshness to make it a complete dish.

Next time I'll try the top chef recipe if I'm feeling a bit more adventurous but this was even more enjoyable than I thought it would be...so I achieved both goals: warmth and tastiness in one dish.

Hermits

Whenever I go home for the holidays I tend to take full advantage of my parents' massive kitchen, equipped with three ovens and my favorite machine of all time - a Kitchen Aid. Though it is probably from at least the 1980s, it still runs beautifully and is the tool that I have been using throughout my years of baking. Though at around $300, a Kitchen Aid Mixer is probably something I could treat myself too at some point - I'm hesitant to bring it into my home. Why is this? I made two arguments in support of my hesitation:

1 - to me a Kitchen Aid Mixer is something that I've wanted for so long that I simply cannot just go to Bed Bath and Beyond on a Tuesday afternoon and pick it up...the purchase of this product needs to be much more ceremonial than that.

2 - a Kitchen Aid Mixer = domestication. Though one can easily argue that I'm already there (and I probably will not counter-argue), it is a symbol of stability that I'm not quite ready for. I always say - when I'm married...that's when I'll get my Kitchen Aid. Perhaps that will be the most exciting thing about my new marriage (Derek is going to hate this comment - assuming he is the other half). Given that we are already living together and essentially live as a married couple, getting a Kitchen Aid Mixer upon "making it official" will be like bringing a new member into the household. Perhaps that is a little far-fetched but you can see that I hold this piece of equipment in very high regards and simply do not feel ready to commit to it yet.

Plus - I'm holding out for the true beauty that I met for the first time at Williams Sonoma - a satin copper mixer...reasonably priced at only around $900! Gasp.

So until then, I'll use my hand mixer in my kitchen and play with my favorite toy when I visit my parents.

On the agenda for this visit was to learn how to make a cookie classic that my dad has been making since I can remember: Hermits. This may not be a widely known cookie and I understand that there are several different variations of what a true hermit is. Apparently Hermits originally were a plain cookie with spices and raisins or currants added. They started out with brown sugar in the Champlain Valley of New York which is across Lake Champlain from New England’s Vermont. By the mid-1900s nuts were being added to Hermits and a variety of dried fruits like dates, figs, apricots and citrons. This last development took ingredients associated with Boston Cookies and integrated into the Hermits. Homemade versions call for dropped or rolled & cut cookies. The commercial bakery version is different it was and still is baked in long wide lengths and cut into squares. This shape is what most people associate with Hermits. Source

My dad's version follows the "bakery" style as they are long and wide - and though we cut them into more of a rectangular shape for at-home consumption, it's the same concept. His interest in the cookie began back in his childhood when he was living in New York and spending summers in Vermont - thus enveloped in the center of the hermit origin. My dad said that he remembers going to the bakery and picking up some fresh, delicious hermits that happened to be frosted - a characteristic not widely found. As an adult he wanted to re-create this childhood memory and went through variations of tweaking and perfecting hermit recipes to come to a version that best resembles his original hermit + the fantastic addition of icing. This is his recipe.

Dad's Hermits
Makes 4-5 dozen

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1/3 cup molasses
4 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ¾ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 + teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup raisins
1 ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (I prefer pecans...haven't tried toasting them first yet but I'd imagine that would be quite good)
Prepared icing (see recipe below)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Butter and flour three baking sheets (this is preferred over using a silpat - my Dad said they didn't turn out quite right when he used one - I have no opinion!)
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the brown sugar and cream until light and smooth. Add the eggs, beating well after each addition; add the molasses and beat in.
4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture. Stir to blend. Add the raisins and nuts; do not overmix.
5. Form the dough into long, flat log shapes with your fingers, shaping them 1.5 inch wide and placing no more than two per sheet. Space the “logs” wide apart; they will spread while baking.
6. Bake in the center level of the oven for about 13 minutes until golden (the dough will still be quite soft). Check carefully; timing can vary from 10 to 14 minutes but these cookies should not be overbaked. Cool for about 10 minutes and then top the bars with the prepared icing/glaze - you want a fairly thin layer so as to not oversweeten the bar but enough there to be considered an "icing" adding slightly more than you would for a glaze. Once the icing has set, slice into bars 2 inches wide (we do about 1 in cookies - that way you can eat two at a time ;). Hermits keep well, stored airtight.

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 T. milk
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp. rum extract

note: my dad usually makes a batch and a half.

Fresh, frozen, raw (dough), cooked...these are some of my favorite cookies. Perhaps because they bring me back to my childhood, typically made around Christmas-time, adding to the comfort of the holidays. Oftentimes I think about a recipe and think about how I can tweak it - what would make it even better? Contemplating this question with regards to these cookies - I don't think there's anything that I would change...they're perfect.

Christmas Dinner: Blow Torch Prime Rib and Popovers

Yes, I had a Thomas Keller recipe show up all the way in South Carolina for my family's Christmas dinner. Every year we do a roast or a nice cut of beef so while I was flipping through Ad Hoc and came across a recipe using a blow torch on a roast, I was excited to give it a try and hoped my Dad would be OK with using this method as our base recipe for Christmas. Luckily I didn't have to do much convincing - perhaps because what guy would not want to torch a piece of meat with a man tool?

As with most Thomas Keller recipes - the product is fairly simple, leaving some room for creative variation. In this case, rather than seasoning the roast with just salt and pepper (which I'm sure is fine on its own) - we decided to make a simple rosemary and garlic rub to introduce some unique complimentary flavors to the roast.

Given that I'm not a meat master, I kept the prime rib under my Dad's control while I focused on making some of the side dishes. He knows what he's doing so I knew that the combination of my Dad and Thomas Keller was sure to produce a wonderful product.

Blow Torch Prime Rib Roast

Ingredients
One 2-bone center-cut rib roast (about 4½ pounds), trimmed of excess fat
Kosher salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
coarse sea salt
Rosemary Garlic Rub
Horseradish Cream (recipe follows)
Directions for Prime Rib Roast

Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 275°F.

Put the roast on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Hold a blowtorch about 1 inch from the roast and turn to lightly brown the fat on all sides; the idea is to start the fat rendering and to torch the meat just until the surface begins to turn gray. Season the roast generously with salt and pepper.

Transfer to the oven, with the meat toward the back of the oven, and cook until the roast registers 128°F in the center. The total cooking time will be about 2 hours, but begin to check the temperature after 1½ hours. Remove from the oven and let rest in a warm spot for at least 30 minutes for medium-rare.

To carve, cut the meat away from the bones. Separate the bones and put them on a serving platter. Cut the roast in half through the center, turn each piece cut side down, and slice straight down into slices that are about ½ inch thick. Arrange the meat on the platter and sprinkle with gray salt and pepper.
Serve with the horseradish cream on the side.

Horseradish Cream Recipe

makes about 1 cup
Ingredients for Horseradish Cream

½ cup very cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
About ¼ cup drained prepared horseradish
½ teaspoon fleur de sel, or to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Directions for Horseradish Cream

This is a basic, and very easy, horseradish sauce—prepared horseradish and cream, seasoned with salt and pepper and a little bit of sherry vinegar. It goes especially well with grilled or roasted beef, like this prime rib roast, and the Peppercorn-Crusted Beef Tenderloin (page 47).
Put the heavy cream and vinegar in a medium bowl and whisk until the cream holds a soft shape. Whisk in the horseradish, salt, and pepper.
Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 1 week.

served with Balsamic Glazed Cippolini Onions, Speck Wrapped Asparagus, and Popovers


I am not a fan of horseradish so I can't say I tried the sauce. I ate my prime rib all on its own - no sauce needed. It was certainly flavorful enough on its own - the meat was tender and juicy - with a nicely browned crust despite the low cooking temperature - I think this was the biggest benefit of using the blow torch - allowing for the beautiful crust.

As with most Christmases, the popovers failed. Typically they either burn or do not pop enough. This year, the latter was the case. It's comical - because it is a tradition to have no-so-perfect popovers! Now I must give my Dad credit, I have had a perfect popover during some Christmas dinner - but the ratio of good to bad makes it laughable that we still make them!! Mind you even the unpopped popovers taste really great - and the burnt ones are fine if you peel away any part that is too black - but after this Christmas dinner I was on a quest to try my hand at making these difficult little creature. A few nights after Christmas we had a lamb dinner and I requested to take charge of the popovers and see just how hard they were!

Here's the basic recipe that I used:

Popovers

Ingredients:
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 large eggs - room temperature
1 cup milk - room temperature
melted unsalted butter for brushing the popover pan

Directions:
Into a bowl sift together the flour and the salt. In a small bowl whisk together the eggs and the milk. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring, and stir the batter until it is smooth. In a preheated 450°F oven heat a six-cup popover pan for 5 minutes, or until it is hot, brush the cups with the melted butter, and fill them half full with the batter. Bake the popovers in the middle of the 450°F. oven for 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 375°F., and bake the popovers for 20 minutes more, or until they are golden brown and crisp (mine needed only about 12 of the 20 minutes).

As you can see - they popped! You can only imagine my excitement when I watched them grow through the oven window. They were light and fluffy and crisp on the outside. I was pleased.

I think the key to popovers is following the nit-picky instructions such as room temperature eggs, room temperature milk, pre-heated popover pans - greased. I also read some recipes that called for chilled batter which I decided not to do. I had already left the butter and milk at room temperature so I thought that chilling the batter would then counteract that feature. However, I'd be open to trying it with another batch - maybe they would pop up even more!

Regardless - these were a success and fairly easy to make. Though I will not knock my Dad for producing "poor" popovers from time to time because I realize that he's been in charge of putting together the entire Christmas dinner. When you have a roast and have to make a sauce/gravy, and sides, and time everything perfectly - it's completely understandable that something as testy as popovers may not always cooperate. Now that I know my way around the kitchen, I'll help alleviate my Dad's responsibilities and perhaps take on the Christmas popovers again next year!