Sesame and Chocolate Puppy Chow

The old and the new - this constitutes life.

Old beliefs and new philosophies.  Grandparents and newborns.  Old hobbies and new interests.  Old fossils and new species.  The old grounds us in its nostalgia and wisdom; the new taking us to places we haven't yet been to explore fresh sights and sounds and tastes.

And now my reading habits have come to embrace this yin and yang.

Because I'm a dork, spending time in a used bookstore is one of the best things ever.  Ever.  Row upon row, shelf upon shelf of book. All the books about all the things!  Such order!  And all the books just waiting, waiting to be picked up and taken home to be loved.

I have a special fondness for those old books.  The ones with some heft to their covers and that wonderful musty smell.  My personal bests so far include:
-Mary Cullen's Northwest Cookbook from 1946
-Adam Bede from sometime in the 1800s
-a 1943 Nancy Drew.

Recently, because I'm perpetually late to the game in just about everything, I've also come to love reading books on my phone.  No more clunky booklight during a bout of 2 am insomnia! Convenience! So portable! Maybe I can sneak a few pages of reading while the toddler wears his concentration face to engage in the exacting task of gluing Greater Kudus onto construction paper!

There is room in my heart for both forms of books.  And there is room in my heart for two Puppy Chows.  The old one - here - is a glorious Halloween celebration in a giant plastic container.  And contains notes of Nutella and some butterscotch.  This new one is a bit subtler - slightly less garish, slightly more pastel, and much more sesame.  Specifically, in the form of roasted sesame seeds and tahini.  And pretzel M&Ms for some of that salty/sweet deliciousness.

Adapted from bettycrocker.com

Ingredients
9 cups Rice Chex cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
vanilla salt and/or fleur de sel
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 package pretzel m&ms

Instructions
In a large bowl, pour in the Chex cereal. In a medium glass bowl, place chocolate chips, tahini, and butter. Carefully microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Carefully microwave again if needed.  You want the mixture to be melted together. Stir in vanilla. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal. Get the cereal as evenly coated as possible, then sprinkle with the salt and sesame seeds, and then the powdered sugar. Place the mixture on waxed paper to dry. Mix the M&Ms with the cereal mixture once it has dried. Place in an airtight container.

Happy Easter!

As someone who doesn't celebrate Easter, I have to say, it's one of my favorite holidays. I love Spring--chicks and bunnies, dyeing eggs, Easter egg hunts and deviled eggs. And in Italy I enjoy digging into the dove shaped cake called Colomba di Pasqua and big Perugina chocolate eggs impeccably wrapped.  

I'll never forget my first day in Florence, because I got to see the famous "Scoppio del Carro," It's a kind of crazy spectacle with a cart coming into the piazza led by a team of oxen and plenty of pageantry. A wire connects the carriage with the duomo and a mechanical dove travels the distance between the two and when it reaches the duomo the cart explodes with fireworks. After that, it hard to get excited about peeps! 

Tomorrow I will be sharing a very cool new recipe I created for deviled eggs with a secret ingredients I will reveal when I demonstrate the recipe at Macy's Union Square at 2 pm. I do hope you can make it! I will share the recipe here on Monday. 

In the meantime I was sent  the perfect pan for frying eggs from Green Pan. The Green Pan egg expert is an eco-friendly pan and just the right size for one egg! It's also very cute and available for only $9.99.

Happy Easter! 

Amy

Lemony-Pepper Browned Butter Vinaigrette Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms

You know those people who are so nature-y....the ones who go on hikes instead of walks, who camp instead of staying in facilities with toilets, who bike and have edible gardens and are just so "one with nature."

I'm not one of them.

I wish I was. But I'm not.

I pee a lot. Like a lot. As soon as emailing became a thing my best friend (hi Jess!) was forwarding me links to pharmaceuticals helping overactive bladder.

So I get nervous being away from civilization. Away from toilets. Away from toilet paper.

And correlated with (caused by?) this issue, I drink a lot of water. And water is heavy. So I never have enough. And I get hungry. And food supplies must be hauled around as well.

And I sunburn. Ohhhh I sunburn. This wasn't always the case. In my younger days I was able to procure a respectable tan. But not anymore. Now all I can get is a respectable burn.

So while I totally promote environmentalist values and advocate a response to climate change (seriously, what's going on with that? aren't we going to at least try to do something??), I'm much better at experiencing nature from afar (unless we count the beach, I'm pro-beach). I'd much rather be at home on the couch with some popcorn and water and a toilet just footsteps away, watching Planet Earth.  And instead of raising my own produce, I will go to a market to obtain them - in this case, asparagus, and mushrooms, and spinach.  And then head to the kitchen, with its pots and pans and utensils, and turn those into a meal with pasta and browned butter vinaigrette.  I am forever grateful for civilization.

Adapted from Cooking Light's Roasted Asparagus with Browned Butter and Balsamic Vinegar.

Ingredients
2 bundles of asparagus, ends removed, chopped into 1-inch pieces
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 ounces whole wheat elbow noodles
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped
3 cups spinach leaves

Vinaigrette:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
lots of freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese, for serving

Instructions
Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water, according to package directions.

To make the asparagus: Heat oven to 400.  Drizzle oil on asparagus.  Sprinkle salt and pepper.  Roast for 10-15 minutes, until they have some of that delicious brown color.  Once done, remove from oven and set aside.

To make the mushrooms: Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the chopped mushrooms. Stir continuously, allowing the mushrooms to absorb the butter and oil mixture. After a few minutes, the mushrooms will brown. Set aside.

To make the vinaigrette: Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat; let it cook for about three minutes or until it has turned brown and has a nutty fragrance.  Remove from heat.  Stir in soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Add a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.

In a large pot (I just used the pot that was used for making the pasta), mix asparagus, pasta, and mushrooms all together.  Toss in the spinach leaves.  Drizzle dressing over the pasta and vegetables.  Use tongs to coat.  Gently heat the pasta over low heat.  Once the pasta has been warmed and the spinach is slightly wilted, serve.  Top each pasta bowl with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Coffee Blending & Peet's Anniversary Blend

To create a recipe you have to know your ingredients and to blend coffee, you have to know your beans. At Peet's Coffee & Tea they don't just taste their coffee once, but three times, once at purchase, once when it ships and finally when it arrives at headquarters they taste it in the coffee tasting room, where they also roast samples of it.

Recently I got to visit that very coffee tasting room, which feels a bit like a cross between a lab and a kitchen with drawers filled with bean samples, multiple kettles, a roaster, espresso machine and timers. I was in the company of a barista and Doug Welsh, coffee buyer and VP of Coffee, who combines beans to create coffee blends at Peet's. At the most basic level blending comes down to three things, says Welsh: Acidity + Aroma  + Body

Coffee tasting is also known as "coffee cupping" and it's not the same as just brewing coffee for drinking, in fact, like wine tasting, you spit rather than swallow the coffee. After visually examining the beans they roast the coffee very lightly so the true flavor of the coffee comes through and is not masked by the roasting, since roasting also adds flavor. After roasting and grinding, you smell the coffee grounds, then a few tablespoons of the grounds are placed in a glass and hot water is added. After a couple of minutes the crust of grounds is broken and you smell it again. The coffee is stirred, the foam removed with spoons and then you take a sip, aerating and slurping to get the most flavor. Finally you can spit the coffee out into a spittoon.

Reviewing the beans, the barista preparing the coffee, coffee samples

There are four varieties of beans in the 2013 Anniversary blend, I got a chance to try the beans from Columbia, Ethiopia and Java.

The Columbian beans lend acidity and have bright citrus notes, they comes from Palestina, from the South Central part of  Caldas, Columbia.

Ethiopian beans make up 40% of the blend, and have very floral aromas.  I also detected some spiciness in the Ethiopian.

The coffee from Java adds body, earthiness and sweetness, maybe even some caramel notes. It has a long finish. While many of the best coffees come from the Eastern part of Java, this coffee in particular came from the West, and has a profile more similar to Sumatra coffee, which is one of the most popular coffees Peet's sells.

The Peet's Philosophy
Do you prefer single varietals of grapes or blends? Single estate chocolate or blends? One really isn't necessarily better than the other.

Welsh explained that at Peet's they believe no coffee is "too good" to blend. They are not trying to cover up defects, but to create something truly unique and greater than the sum of the parts. In trying each component I was able to see how they all add to the final blend, making an even more complex but still harmonious coffee.

The Anniversary blend is seasonal and different each year, based on the supply of beans that they have, and will only be available for about six weeks so if you want to try it, get some soon. In grocery stores it is $9.99-11.99 per pound and $15.99 per pound in Peet's stores and online, with 5% going to a KIMSSA, to support the education of kids in Ethiopia.

Passover Spinach Ricotta Gnudi

Spinach ricotta gnudi, made with no wheat flour, are my latest recipe, just in time for Passover. This week marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday celebrating the Israelites liberation from Egypt and also Spring, rebirth, renewal, freedom, belonging, ...you get the picture. Since the Israelites had to flee their oppressors quickly they didn't have time to allow bread to rise, so the story goes. To commemorate that time, during Passover Jews eat foods made with matzo meal or matzo cake meal, but not with regular flour. Most other non-wheat flours are also not allowed.

Gnudi are a little larger and plumper than gnocchi but somewhat similar. Some people think of them as "ravioli without the pasta."  This recipe is very easy because you use one of those "blocks" of frozen spinach. The secret is getting as much water as possible out of the spinach. You want the dough to be very stiff. Rolling the dumplings in potato starch also helps keep them from falling apart in the water when you boil them. Since I used potato starch instead of flour, these gnudi are also gluten free. I adapted my recipe from the Weelicious recipe for Spinach Gnocchi. 

The dumplings are primarily made from ricotta and parmesan cheese, so they are very rich. I like them served simply with brown butter and sage, but you could also serve them with tomato sauce if you prefer, but do cook them in butter before adding sauce. When you brown them they get slightly crisp on the outside, without browning they can seem a little gummy.

Passover Spinach Ricotta Dumplings

Serves 4, makes about 35 small dumplings

Ingredients

10 ounces frozen chopped spinach

1 cup skim milk ricotta cheese

2/3 cup parmesan cheese

1 egg yolk

Pinch fresh grated nutmeg 

5 Tablespoons potato starch, divided

1/4 cup unsalted butter

12 fresh sage leaves

3-4 Tablespoons parmesan cheese 

Instructions

Cook the spinach according to instructions, let cool then squeeze all the water out of it as possible using your hands and a colander. 

Combine the spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg yolk, nutmeg and 2 tablespoons potato starch in a medium bowl. Mix until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Use a teaspoon to portion lumps of dough, and roll into balls. Place on a rimmed sheet pan. When all dough is rolled, dust the dumplings with the remaining 3 tablespoons of potato starch and roll them until they are coated on all sides. 

Boil a pot of water and add a pinch of salt. Gently place the dumplings in the water and simmer them until they rise to the surface, about 3-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, and place on a plate. 

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the butter. When the butter is melted, add the sage leaves and the drained dumpling. Cook, rolling to brown lightly. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese before serving. 

Enjoy!

More Passover recipes

Hakka Cuisine

If you want to try Hakka cuisine, head to Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco, or read Linda Lau Anusasananan's book, The Hakka Cookbook. I received a review copy of the book in the Fall, and was lucky enough to dine with the author at Hakka Restaurant recently and fell in love with the hearty robust flavors and comforting rich dishes.

Even if you have other Chinese cookbooks, it's worth getting to know Hakka cuisine, because it's mostly home style cooking, ideal to try in your own kitchen. In the book Anusasananan traces her roots and shares stories from the people she meets on her journey into her past.

Since Hakka people moved all over the world, there are stories about the cuisine from places like Peru, Hawaii and certain cities in the US and Canada. There are classic recipes for Fried Pork Hash Wontons, Salt Baked Chicken (which Anusasananan thinks may have been the creation of a crafty salt salesman) and lots and lots of vegetable dishes including Braised Mountain Mushrooms, Pickled Carrots and Radishes and Stir Fried Iceberg Lettuce and Garlic. Anusasananan was previously a recipe editor at Sunset magazine, so needless to say you won't have trouble with her recipes.

According to Anusasananan, the Hakka are like the "Jews of China," nomads, who migrated from North-Central China to the South in the fourth century. They have their own language, and the name Hakka literally means "guest family." Their cuisine is the food of the working person, robust and sometimes fatty. They use a lot of salt-preserved ingredients such as preserved vegetables, cured meats and soy sauce. The food is related to Cantonese, but more rustic. Famous Hakka classic dishes include Steamed Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens, Stuffed Tofu, and Salt-baked Chicken.

Some highlights of the meal we enjoyed at Hakka Restaurant:

Chinese Bacon with Preserved Greens

This is a very rich dish of pork belly which are somewhat sweet, served with luscious preserved vegetables.

House Special Pan-Fried Tofu

This was one of everyone's favorite dishes. Lighter and with a delicate sauce. Inside the tofu was a mild ground pork filling.

Fried Pumpkin Strips with Salted Egg Yolk

If you've never had salted egg yolk before, I'd describe it as tasting a bit like cheese. It has a strong umami flavor.

Chicken Stuffed with Preserved Greens

The chicken was good, but the gingery preserved green stuffing was particularly delicious/

Stir-fried Chinese Broccoli with Rice Wine

Another unusual dish, this one had a sweet wine sauce.

Clams with Spicy Salt and Black Beans

I'd say the garlic and green onions were the predominant flavors in this dish.

Home-Style Steamed Sea Bass

Another knockout dish, this one had a thin sauce but was loaded with shredded pork, and sour, crunchy and juicy sliced preserved mustard greens.

Hakka Restaurant
4401 Cabrillo St @ 45th Ave
San Francisco
415-876-6898

More:

Linda's Hakka dinner post

Note: This dinner was organized by the San Francisco Professional Food Society and was open to members.

Roasted Marrow Bones with Blood Oranges, Microbroccoli, and Vanilla Salt

These are unabashedly bones.

A love of chicken wings did not come easily to either of us.  To this day, I feel just a teensy bit icky about eating them.  The bones in chicken wings were (are) a hindrance, a barrier, to the good stuff - the meat and sauce.  Not just a barrier, but a hidden barrier encountered after eating has commenced.

There is no deception with this.  Which perhaps explains why my love came so quickly for roasted bones. You don't run into a bone whilst trying to pick at some chicken meat. The bone is the vessel.  Little vessels of meaty, buttery marrow.  So nakedly primal - so loudly, so truly bone.

We love to spread the marrow on little crostini and top it with blood orange juice, vanilla salt, and micro-broccoli.

Ingredients
6-8 marrow bones
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
pinch kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

1 baguette, sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

micro broccoli, broccoli sprouts or other micro green
juice from two small blood oranges

*Vanilla Salt
1 cup kosher salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half


Instructions
*For the Vanilla Salt:  Place salt and vanilla bean in an airtight container.  Leave them to mingle for a couple days before using.

Heat oven to 450. Drizzle marrow bones with a bit of olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, until the marrow inside of the bones is soft.

Heat oven to 375. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet (I used a Silpat to line mine). Pour 1/4 cup olive oil in a bowl, and brush the oil on each slice. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on each. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden-brown.

Spread marrow on crostini, then top with some micro broccoli, blood orange juice, and vanilla salt.

Quinoa Salad with Feta and Dill Recipe

I've very excited to announce I will be doing a cooking demo during Macy's Flower Show in San Francisco on March 30th at 2 pm. I'll be sharing some recipes for jazzing up your sack lunch. So skip the sandwiches! This fresh and hearty salad is healthy and inexpensive to make and might make your co-workers jealous. Better bring some to share! 

Quinoa is kind of like a blank canvas, it doesn't have much flavor or texture. It has protein but to be satisfying I think you need more variety. A little bit of feta and chickpeas add more protein and creamy textures. Originally I was trying to make a Greek inspired salad, but I didn't want to add salty olives and I found it was a little bland. Fresh dill and lemon really add some zest to it. I also used English cucumbers which are available all year round.

I do have a few tips for making this salad, for one, always remember to rinse quinoa before you cook it. It is very bitter otherwise. Also I use less water than the package suggests, I find 1 and 1/2 cups of liquid is plenty for 1 cup of quinoa. Finally serve this salad at room temperature. It keeps well in the refrigerator but doesn't taste quite as delicious when it's chilled so just take it out a half an hour or so before serving it.

Quinoa Salad with Feta and Dill
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed
1 cup English cucumber, diced
1 cup feta, crumbled
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/3 cup green onions, minced
3-4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Rinse the quinoa under cold water then cook according to package instructions. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Let quinoa cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, chickpeas, cucumber, feta, dill, green onions and lemon juice. Add plenty of fresh ground pepper then taste for seasoning. Serve at room temperature. Keeps for up to 3 days in the refrigerator

Enjoy!

Almost Instant Banana, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter "Pudding"

Ugh, I hate those recipes that pretend to be one thing but in reality are nothing like it.  I'm looking at you pureed cauliflower masquerading as fettucine alfredo.

Afterwards, you are all sad and regretful because you ate something that was not delicious.  Unless you are like Anton Ego, living the philosophy of  "If I don't love it, I don't swallow."  In which case you are still hungry.

It occurs to you that you should have just made the real thing - with you know, cream and butter and cheese - then maybe just stuff a handful of spinach in your face and be done with it.

It is hard for me to tell if I am breaking my own rule.  Maybe this really is nothing like pudding.  But calling it a "pudding-like substance" doesn't exactly flow.  And maybe I hate myself a bit for even posting this.

But even if this is not pudding, but technically a "pudding-like substance," I did at least convince the toddler that this was a dessert - something to demand, to crave.  He can be a tough crowd, a pint-sized but nonetheless fervent subscriber to Anton Ego's food philosophy .  Case in point - never serve this child homemade biscuits that are not fresh from the oven - lest one offend his his delicate sensibilities.

Ingredients
1 frozen banana
1 banana
1 1/2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon (roasted Saigon cinnamon works really well)
pinch sea salt

Instructions
Put everything into a bowl and blend with an immersion blender.  Alternatively, put everything in a blender to blend.  That's it!

Sriracha-Glazed Bacon and Apple Scallion Sliders with Coconut Cashew Spread

It is funny how life has a way of making things disappear, only to reappear when you least expect it.  After the hope has evaporated.  And by life, I mean cats and toddlers.

For Valentine's Day, Max picked out a pack of pink balls to give to the cats. One of these, a tiny pink soccer ball, was given to Rambo.  Within five minutes, the ball was lost. We ( I ) looked and looked in all the usual places, eventually giving up the search.

It was lost, but not forgotten, as Max would ask me for the pink ball just about every day.  It became a sort of joke between us. Randomly, he would ask for it, and smile, and I would say I don't know and he would giggle.

Magically, just a few days ago, the elusive pink ball appeared in Max's hand as we made our way down the stairs.  I've tried asking where he found it, but I get no response to my inquiry.

Silence is the same response given to questions about the mysterious whereabouts of JiJi's collar.  Though not as surprising, since they are cats and all.

About 4 years ago,  when our puff cat was tiny and resembled more of a "puff" than an actual cat, we gave her a collar.  A red collar.  And that red collar, or so we thought, looked super cute on her.  At this time, our puff preferred staying in our bedroom, away from our pig cat.  A new home and big feline brother were a lot for this puff to take in.

The puff and pig would occasionally play paw games under the door.  A toe spot paw would wave its little black spot and the pig cat would come and play with her.  One day, this game evolved into "pass the collar under the door."  JiJi was caught passing her collar under the door to Rambo, who, we can only imagine, had instructions to hide it.  A not-so-subtle sign that she was not happy about that collar.

A few months later, no longer wanting to be confined to the bedroom, the collar completely disappeared.  Not even stumbled upon during our move to Dana Point.  We figured it was lost to the nether.

About four months ago, years after the move, a red collar was mysteriously placed on the floor of our bedroom.  A taunt.  A "Haha you thought it was gone, but we knew where it was the whole time," kind of taunt.  It was picked up and placed in a drawer.

Nut butter has made a similar, though not as dramatic, disappearance and reappearance in our lives.  Seth has never really liked nut butter, except in some savory dishes.  For me, it was something I enjoyed as a child, but not so much now.  Useful as an ingredient, but never the star of the show.  My affections for the stuff never ran deep, and it was never a pantry staple until Max came around.

Then we got word of March's Creative Cooking Crew challenge - a Chopped-style assignment using the following four ingredients in one dish - Granny Smith apple, bacon, vinegar and nut butter.

Here we were, face to face with nut butter, a not so beloved ingredient.  We decided to make our own nut butter with our favorite nut - the cashew (okay okay it isn't really a nut, but it totally acts like a nut, so we are just going with it).

Making our own cashew butter has actually forced a reevaluation of our nut butter stance.  We were seriously smitten with it.  Using a spoon to shovel the stuff right from the jar smitten.  It was so good, we decided to do a post just for the cashew butter.

The real reason for it, however, was as a spread for these bacon sliders.  We glazed the bacon with maple syrup and Sriracha.  The apples and vinegar became a salad/slaw concoction - a crispy, fresh, and tart counterpoint to the rich bacon.  The cashew coconut spread and a minty basil leaf added complexity to each bite.

Now the yelps of other nuts can be heard, begging to be turned into butter as well.  And we will gladly oblige their requests. The stuff will not be disappearing from our lives again.  And neither will these sliders.  To check out the rest of the CCC posts for this month, click here!

Ingredients
Sriracha and Maple Glazed Bacon
8 strips bacon
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons Sriracha

Apple and Scallion Salad
1 large apple, julienned
1/4 cup chopped strawberries
2 scallions, chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon ume plum vinegar
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cashew Coconut Spread
2/3 cup cashew butter
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons lime juice

slider rolls or mini Kaiser rolls
basil leaves

Instructions
For the glazed bacon:
Heat oven to 400.  In a small bowl, mix maple syrup and Sriracha.  Place bacon on parchment-lined baking sheet.  Brush syrup mixture on bacon strips.  Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until browned and crispy around the edges.

For the apple salad:
Toss apple, strawberries, and scallions in a large bowl.  Drizzle oil and vinegar, and coat the apple mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the cashew coconut spread:
In a medium bowl, stir together the cashew butter, coconut milk, and lime juice.

To assemble the sliders:
Toast the rolls.  Spread the cashew spread on the top bun.  On the bottom half, layer the glazed bacon, a basil leaf and then a generous helping of the apple salad.  Close the sandwich and eat!

Homemade Cashew Butter

My mind is is filled with clouds.  Some are stratus clouds, keeping running mental lists of groceries, chores and projects to complete, activities to do with Max.

Some are more like the wispy cirrus kind, with nascent, fleeting thoughts.  The sliver of a Max story to remember to tell Seth.  The name of the book I absolutely need to read. Ohh my god, I need a muffin.  The stream of consciousness stuff.

Some are puffy cumulus clouds, obsessing about watching the next episode of West Wing (yes, we are like a decade late to this), or what I want to eat for dinner.  Or exactly what kind of sweet treat I'm in the mood for (we've all experienced the crushing disappointment of eating cookies when really, you need some ice cream).  There are probably a lot of food clouds floating around.  Okay, there are DEFINITELY lots of food clouds.

Then there are the nimbus clouds, brooding over climate change and foolhardy austerity measures.   Wondering what it all means when someone who was all about Gap Dream grew up into someone more like a Gap Om. Fretting about growing income inequality and finances.  Worrying that WE ALL ARE JUST CHARACTERS in a book (never again will Pat the Bunny and Goodnight Moon be the same).  Grieving over the cancellation of Don't Trust the B in Apt 23 (Dawson forever!!), etc.

With all the clouds swirling around, I can sometimes be oblivious to things going on around me.  The physical world.  The tangible.

Until the physical finally brushes up against me.  Or, I brush up against it.

Like the other night. When my hairbrush went up against the largest knot I have ever had the joy (dismay) of experiencing. Just hanging there. All tangled and big. Did I mention tangled?  Bringing up the extremely pressing questions of "how long has this been there" and "how did I not notice this before??!??" Errands, playground trips, all likely done by the girl with the giant knot in her hair.

This cloudy world I inhabit seems to also have obscured the deliciousness of cashews.  I've always liked them, but never did I realize how wonderful they are.  It is more than just like - it is love.  I have begun to make up for lost time by throwing them in everything that remotely appears to be a good match for them.  Like this chicken salad, or these meringues.  And now they have been turned into cashew butter.  It's got a flavor that will part the clouds any day.

Ingredients
10 ounces roasted and salted cashews
2 1/2 teaspoons wild dandelion honey
2 tablespoons walnut or other nut oil
2 tablespoons canola oil (feel free to use more if needed)
pinch kosher salt

Instructions
Run the cashews in a food processor until very fine.  Add in the honey and walnut oil and process until everything comes together (this may take a bit, just be patient).  Slowly add in the canola oil and process until the mixture reaches your desired consistency.  I made mine on the thick side, as it would work better in a recipe I was using it in.  Add kosher salt to taste.

Hidden Talents and Super Delicious Veggie Chips from Green Giant

I hate being in the spotlight. I'm more on the shy, reserved, bookish side of the spectrum. I'm self-conscious and anxious. It takes awhile for me to be comfortable in showing all my cards, so to speak.

So when you have all these traits, they converge into a person who will never dance in public (among other things - see also public speaking). A wallflower, perhaps. But I prefer to think of it as "sitting back and observing the human condition."

But back to the dancing. It just doesn't happen. I was never interested in going to clubs. Pubs, yes. But not clubs.

However, once I'm back home...with Seth and Max and the cats...that's when I can let go of inhibitions. And dance!

Not at all in a coordinated manner. But at least a passionate one. One looking to experience the joy of (clumsy) movement.

And Seth and Max and Rambo and JiJi definitely get a show. A full spectrum of dance exploration. Maybe some ballet leaps and pirouettes. Then maybe a can-can followed by a sort of running man style move.  And animated facial expressions to go right along with it.

Just like I have this hidden talent (or non-talent, depending on your definition of the words "dance" and "talent"), this (arguably) more fun side that gets a chance to come out and experience the world, Green Giant does as well! They don't just do the frozen and canned vegetables. The steamed broccoli as your side dish. The peas you add into your pasta to round out the meal. They too have a hidden talent, a fun side, a snack side. Chips!

Glorious, glorious chips. Two different kinds - a Roasted Veggie Tortilla Chip with Zesty Cheddar Flavor and a Multigrain Sweet Potato Chip with Sea Salt. These were both seriously so, so good. Crispy!  Flavorful!  And contain vegetables!  It was love at first bite.

Here is a nutritional rundown on these goodies:
The Green Giant™ Roasted Veggie Tortilla Chips – Zesty Cheddar Flavor are made with real vegetables (like bell peppers and corn!), 17 grams of whole grain per serving (48g are recommended daily), and are naturally flavored.
The Green Giant™ Multigrain Sweet Potato Chips – Sea Salt Flavor are made with real sweet potatoes and made with 14 grams of whole grain. Plus, they contains 40 percent less fat than regular potato chips.

So if you want to experience more surprise talents (which you totally do!), check out Green Giant's Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And if you want a coupon for 85 cents of Veggie Snack Chips (you definitely do), click here!

Thank you to The Green Giant™ for being a sponsor. Show the Giant your surprise talent at www.facebook.com/greengiant.  All opinions are my own.

American Wine & The Art of the Restaurateur

Did you know that there are more than 7,000 wineries in the US? Clearly American wine deserves its own book. While American wine has been covered before, I'm not sure it has ever been covered quite so comprehensively as it is in American Wine: The Ultimate Companion to the Wines and Wineries of the United States. The book is good for helping to sort through the American viticultural areas (AVA's) and works for wine drinkers, armchair travelers as well as those looking to actually venture into the places in the United States where wine is being produced.

For each region you get history, culture, a bit about the geography and a sense of who the major players are, and some great profiles of winemakers. There are maps and wine labels and glossy photos and the writing is straightforward and not too fussy, as you would expect from two preeminent wine writers, Jancis Robinson of the UK and Linda Murphy the former wine section editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Make no mistake, this is a coffee table book, but also a very useful guide for wine lovers. I can see it will be my go-to book when trying to familiarize myself with different American wine regions. 

Jancis Robinson will be in the Bay Area this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. 

You can meet Jancis Robinson and Linda Murphy for a wine and cheese reception at Raymond Vineyards in Napa on Sunday, March 17, tickets are free of charge. 

Attend a Commonwealth Club program with Robinson and Murphy, hosted by Leslie Sbrocco on Monday March 18, ticket prices vary depending upon which reception you attend. 

Have your book signed by Jancis Robinson at Zuni Cafe later that evening from 8 - 10 pm and get a chance to meet Nicholas Lander, author of The Art of the Restaurateur. Lander's book will also be available. It features profiles of prominent restaurateurs the world over, and is definitely an "inside baseball" or perhaps inside restaurant book. 

While we often hear from chefs, few restaurateurs are in the limelight, sharing their stories and secrets. This book is a bit erudite, especially since the author himself was once a successful restaurateur, but should be required reading for anyone even thinking about getting into the restaurant business. Space is limited, and RSVP is required.

Lunch with Robinson and Murphy on Tuesday March 19 at Quince Restaurant. Tickets include a three course lunch and signed book. 

Walnut Mushroom Casserole Recipe

When I was growing up, my parents took me and my sister to all kinds of restaurants but rarely ones with "kid's menus." We regularly came into San Francisco to eat Chinese food, tried sushi long before it became popular, and celebrated birthdays and school graduation at fancy French restaurants. Unlike many kids who probably longed for Taco Bell or McDonald’s, I enjoyed eating at  The Good Earth, a casual restaurant near my house. The menu had a mix of salads and sandwiches and some very unique entrees. It wouldn’t necessarily be considered “health food” by today’s standards but there were quite a number of vegetarian dishes. 

At The Good Earth, pretty much anyone could find something they would like to eat, and that made it perfect for dining out with everyone from my teenage girlfriends, to my grandmother. The Good Earth was famous for it’s spicy cinnamon tea which you can buy to this day. Although the restaurant chain was sold and very few restaurants remain, I remain haunted by the memory of Walnut Mushroom Casserole. It was my go to dish.

I like to think of myself as fairly adventurous, but really, when I find one dish I love, I have a hard time straying beyond it on any menu. The Walnut Mushroom Casserole at The Good Earth restaurant was my absolute favorite. It’s still on the menu at just one remaining restaurant in Southern California. Here is the dish description:

Walnut Mushroom Casserole spinach fettuccini tossed with broccoli, mushrooms, onion and water chestnuts, blended with sour cream and sherry sauce. topped with two cheeses, walnuts and scallions

I found a recipe online but it didn't seem right to me, so I adapted it as best I could to fit with my memory of it.  I used Al Dente spinach fettuccini and it was perfect. I also tested out Al Dente's bonachia spinach fettuccine, and that worked great too. Note: Do not overcook the pasta! 

Walnut Mushroom Casserole

Serves 6 

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 medium onion, cut into quarters and thinly sliced

1/2 lb small button mushroom, halved or quartered into small chunks

3 cups thinly sliced broccoli, stems and bite-sized florets

8 ounce can sliced water chestnuts

1 clove garlic, minced 

2 Tablespoons sherry

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons sour cream

6 ounces dry spinach fettuccini (such as Al Dente brand), cooked until barely tender

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a large skillet over low heat, add walnuts and stir until lightly toasted and fragrant, then remove and reserve the nuts and return the skillet to the stove.

Add one tablespoon oil to the hot skillet and the onions and mushrooms and cook until just beginning to brown, remove with a spoon and reserve. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and the broccoli and sauté until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the reserved onions, mushrooms, water chestnuts, garlic and spinach fettuccini. Remove from heat and add the sherry, soy sauce and sour cream. Stir gently to coat without breaking the noodles

Place mixture in a greased, shallow 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the reserved walnuts and then the cheeses. At this point the casserole can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bake until cheese melts and casserole is heated through, about 15 - 20 minutes. 

Note: you can bake the mixture in any type or combination of casserole pans you wish. If you use large individual ramekins,  bake only until the casserole is hot and the cheese melts, about 10 minutes. 

Enjoy! 

Brown Sugar Meringues Dipped in Coconuty Chocolate and Chopped Cashews

I could perhaps justify the malformed nature of these baked goods by:

a) rambling on about creating miniature abstract art sculptures, expressing myself by forming meringue batter into individual confections, each one displaying its own personality, its own story, through its unique set of peaks and valleys

or

b) blaming the toddler, who after getting to watch egg whites billow up into fluffiness, desperately wanted to help put the said fluffiness onto baking sheets

In a way, I guess these are sort of true. Max insisted on scooping some of the batter onto  trays.  And I do sometimes stiffen under the demands of Pinterest worthy beauty.

In reality though, it all comes down to my inability to make things look pretty.  I've yet to do anything that resembles piping (Seth can do this...see Bus Cake).  I've picked up pastry bags and tips and tried to do the things you do with them, but it just doesn't work out.  My fingers and hands and wrists never communicate to each other in ways that produce even and controlled results.  They instead choose to create blobs.  Blobs of meringue.  Blobs of frosting.  And after the failure to produce "pretty," I once again hide the bags and tips in the back of a drawer until one day I optimistically, defiantly, get it into my head that I can get this.  So it goes.

These meringues (adapted from this Cooking Light recipe), made with dark brown sugar and vanilla, are baked to a crispy, almost caramely goodness, and then dipped into a mixture of chocolate and coconut oil (with just a bit of espresso powder to intensify the chocolate taste).  A roll in some chopped cashews finishes these off.  Maybe they have appearance issues, but they make up for it in taste.  A perfectly imperfect cookie.

Ingredients
5 egg whites
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/3 cup roasted and salted cashews, finely chopped

Instructions
Heat oven to 250.  Pour egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Whip the egg whites until foamy, then add the cream of tartar and salt.  Once the mixture reaches soft peaks, gradually add in sugar and vanilla and continue beating until stiff peaks form.  Line two baking sheets, and either neatly pipe the meringue mixture into rounds, or just spoon the mixture Bake for an hour, until they are dry and no longer sticky.  Turn the oven off, and leave the meringues in the oven for another hour.  Put chocolate chips, coconut oil, and espresso powder in a microwaveable bowl and microwave on low power in 30 second intervals (stirring in between) until melted.  Put the chopped cashews in a bowl.  Dip the meringues in the chocolate and then the cashews.  Let the chocolate set before eating.  Or not.  Totally up to you!

Coconut & Chili--Fancy Food Show Trends 2013

In addition to "chia in everything" two other trends I saw at the Winter 2013 Fancy Food Show were lots of products with coconut and a more sophisticated use of chili. 

It was impossible to miss the virtual rivers of coconut water at the show. Interestingly, they don't all taste the same. Some are sweet and others have a funny aftertaste. Some are thin and others are slightly viscous or have chunks of coconut in them. I'm still not a huge fan, but maybe I just haven't tasted the right one yet.

Here were a few of my favorite coconut products.

Why So Good! toasted coconut chips are not yet on the market, but they will be soon. They are an addictive snack, salty and sweet but with a ton of crunch. Never mind potato chips, once you open a bag of these, poof! It's empty. Dang Foods makes a similarly delicious product, also imported from Thailand. 

JJ's Sweets Cocomels are nice little caramels that happen to be made with coconut milk. They are creamy, but not dairy so vegans can breathe a sigh of relief. 

I'm already a big fan of 479 popcorn, so I look forward to each new flavor. This time around, it's coconut, specifically toasted coconut caramel. And it's as good as it sounds. Not too sweet but kind of nutty flavored. 

Brad's raw onion rings are just one product in a line of "raw" chips and snacks. I liked the onion rings best. They are dehydrated and then flavored. "Classy coconut" is one of four flavors, but one of the best.

CHILI

Chili has been a popular ingredient in specialty foods forever, but it used to be more about heat than anything else. Now chili is showing up frequently in sweet foods in a more nuanced way. Here are some of my favorite chile products from the show. 

Chili lime chips might seem mundane these days, but Anette's Chocolate brand chili lime tequila tortilla chip brittle is anything but.  I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to make brittle out of tortilla chips, but it certainly was and incorporating sour and hot flavors into a sweet product makes it all the more delectable.  

Wild Poppy makes a line of interesting juice drinks. I particularly liked the grapefruit ginger and the blood orange chili. The heat in the ginger and chili add an almost refreshing quality to the drink, balancing the sweetness. 

Way Better Snacks Sweet Chili tortilla chips are made from sprouted grains and are flecked with sprouted chia, broccoli and daikon radish seeds, definitely a twist on the typical tortilla chip. The chili in these chips is cayenne but not too hot.

Chili mango flats from Pure Indulgent Foods are yet another example of sweet and spicy coming together, this time in a cookie like hazelnut cracker that is a good accompaniment to cheese or charcuterie. 

I'll have more favorite discoveries from the Fancy Food Show soon...

Mango Kiwi Cashew Chicken Salad in an Avocado Coconut Sauce

Regrets litter our lives.  Words spoken in haste, sentiments left unspoken.  Ideas remaining only ideas.   Bad decisions made. Actions rashly performed.

Recent regrets include, but are not limited to, the following:
-Choosing to wear flimsy pink ballet flats while spending approximately 12 hours walking around outside.
-Teaching our offspring about the wonders of popcorn and ice cream so that every single day of the week involves toddler demands for these two items.
-Adding butternut squash to macaroni and cheese, tainting the glorious cheese and pasta combination with a cloying sweetness.
-Eating marinara sauce while having a giant canker sore.
-Failing to put sunblock on my back, resulting in painful redness.
-Adding butternut squash a second time to a batch of macaroni and cheese.
-Eating a Granny Smith apple while having a giant canker sore.
-Wearing the flimsy pink ballet flats AGAIN while spending copious hours walking outside.
-Doing that super embarrassing mom move where you lick your hand to pat down a renegade hair on a child, the repercussions of this involved tiny saliva filled hands being wiped on my skin and hair.
-Eating Granny Smith apple in a salad containing both vinegar and lemon juice while having that giant canker sore.
-Picking up way too many avocados at the exact same stage of ripeness, forcing us to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two days straight.

I am not a quick learner.

Future regrets include:
-Watching the upcoming season of Secret Life of the American Teenager.  Now would have been perfect time to stop the addiction.

Looking back, one good thing did result from this surfeit of avocados.  A salad of chicken, mango, kiwi, cashews and cilantro coated in a gingery coconut and avocado sauce.  Most definitely not a regret.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
canola oil
1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
3 kiwifruit, peeled and diced
1/2 cup roasted and salted cashews
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, pit and peel removed
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
2 teaspoons lemon juice
bit of lemon zest
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
Sprinkle chicken with curry powder, salt, and pepper, brown each side in canola oil over high heat. Turn heat to low to finish cooking.  Once it has cooked, take off heat and let cool.  Slice into chunks. Place in a bowl with the mango, kiwi, cashews, and cilantro.

In a medium bowl,  stir the avocado and milk together.  Add in the ginger, lemon juice and zest.  Mix in the chicken mixture.  Adjust salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.  Serve with baguette slices or on a sandwich.

Azalina's Malaysian Pop-up Dinner March 10

Suvir Saran with Azalina Eusope at the SF Street Food Night Market, 2012

There are some chefs who cook with their whole being, with their blood, sweat and tears, with their heart and with their soul. Azalina Eusope is one of those chefs and you can taste her passion in every bite. I am not alone in feeling honored to eat her food. 

Azalina’s specialty is Malaysian street food, and it should come as no surprise because she’s a fifth generation street food vendor. Fifth generation. I have no idea what my great grandparents did, let alone my great great grandparents. I know they didn’t eat food nearly as vibrant and textured and layered with flavors as what Azalina cooks. Malaysian street food is not subtle or elegant, it’s in your face, big, bold, exciting, and comforting all at once. It demands your attention and you will be happy to give it.

I could tell you that Azalina is an inspiring role model, a success story, an immigrant, a member of the Mamak tribe renowned for their cooking abilities. But I’d rather just encourage you to eat her food. While she makes regular appearances at Off The Grid Fort Mason (a street food event) most of the year, and her prepared food is showing up in places like Bi-Rite and Whole Foods, there is another way you can enjoy it. There is one more pop-up dinner she will be doing at Wise Sons Deli next Sunday night, March 10th. But I must warn you, it’s a small restaurant and it gets very crowded so...

Come early and prepare to stand in line

Come with a very small group (2-4 people max)

Come prepared to eat! 

The a la carte menu changes every week, so you can check Azalina's website if you’d like to know what she’ll be serving. This is what I had this past Sunday night: 

Asam Laksa

This sour and tangy tamarind based noodle soup with a healthy dose of spice has mackerel and was topped with slices of cucumber, chile, red onion and pineapple. Asam laksa is very delicious, but don’t just take my word for it, CNN listed it as the #7 most delicious dish in the world in 2011. 

Mee rebus 

This is another popular street food dish, with yam, potatoes, tomato and spices, hand made noodles, fritters, drenched in a very rich and sweet curry like gravy and garnished with peanuts and herbs and a hard boiled egg. Pure comfort. 

Sweet potato dumplings

These chewy dumplings had a dash of coconut cream and some fresh sprouts. 

Azalina’s Pop up

at

Wise Sons Deli 

3150 24th St 

San Francisco

March 10, 6-9 pm.