Greg's Food (and photography)

Tomato Omelet

2011-08-28T19:48:00.001-07:00

Virginia has been good to me so far. I've got my family here, I've got a great job, I've got friends. I continue to meet new people. Virginia has also provided me with great food.

Tonight for dinner I made a tomato omelet with eggs from Kirsty and Brian's chickens (brown this time, blue last time), a tomato from their garden, and some feta I had in the fridge. After a few long days and late nights an omelet has the perfect balance of tastiness and ease which leads to a high flavor return on effort.

Tomato Omelet

Olive oil
Salt
2 eggs
1 small tomato
feta cheese

Pour a little oil in the pan and heat up over medium heat.

Crack some eggs into a bowl/measuring cup, and beat up.

Pour the eggs into the hot pan, let them cook until just set at the bottom. Do you feel compelled to mix them a little? Go ahead and do it.

Slice up a tomato, put it on top of the omelet. Sprinkle with a little salt and then some feta.

A sublime little meal for a late Sunday night.

Pea Risotto

2011-07-14T04:47:00.000-07:00

Since moving to our new house in Charlottesville, VA I have cooked three things almost exclusively - a meat sauce, bread, and pea risotto.

This pea risotto is delicious - in the photo here I added some browned chicken, but that isn't necessary for the dish. The fresh, sweet taste of the peas is a nice balance for the richness of the cheese/broth.

Pea Risotto

Adapted from Real Simple Recipes

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 c arborio rice
1 c dry white wine (Try the Blenheim Vineyards Chardonnay, perhaps?)
4 c chicken broth
1 c grated Parmesan cheese
2 1/2 c frozen peas, thawed and divided
1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

Pre-rice Heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Sautee the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Put the stock in a separate pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, turn down a little to keep it hot.

Rice addition Add in the rice and stir to coat. Keep stirring the rice in with the butter/oil/onion/garlic for a few minutes, until the rice becomes fragrant or some rice browning occurs. Try not to burn the onions (it happens sometimes)

Wine and stock Add in the cup of wine and stir to absorb. It will absorb/boil off fast since the rice and pot are very hot at this point. Turn the pan down to medium-low. Add a ladleful at a time to the rice and stir. Once the rice has absorbed the stock, add another ladleful. This should take about 25 minutes. If you run out of stock before the rice seems fully cooked, add some water to the pot that the stock was heating in and heat up the water and finish the rice with water.

Cheese and peas When the rice is done (the rice grains will be tender but not mushy), add the cheese, salt and pepper. Turn off the heat. In a blender/food processor, puree 2 cups of the peas. If you need some liquid to get the peas to blend, add a little water. Add the pea puree to the rice. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of peas.

The dish was delicious. We even made it for a dinner party at some friends' house.

Shrimp Risotto

2011-05-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

There is a myth that risotto is a difficult-to-produce, time consuming, restaurant-only dish to be attempted only by the most expert home cook. Nothing could be further from the truth. In my opinion it is more difficult to produce good long-grain rice than it is to produce a risotto. Let me tell you why: for long grain rice produced by western methods (Persians make their rice in a much smarter yet more time consuming manner) one must pre-measure the rice and water, bring to a boil, then simmer and hope that the water:rice ratio and heat rate were exactly right for the presented atmospheric conditions to get a rice with full cooked but individual grains that are not mushy.

On the other hand, risotto does not rely on hope at all. In making a risotto, the cook gets to monitor the rice and make any necessary adjustments. QED.

There are a few extra steps to making risotto - heating the stock, frying the rice, and the step that scares most away: stirring. Yet none of these aspects are insurmountable. Even someone with a 6 week old infant in the house can easily make a risotto.

Shrimp Risotto

1/2 lb 41/50 shrimp, with shells
1 shallot, finely chopped
a couple cloves of garlic, finely chopped
some spring onions (thank you RMI Good Life Garden, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine (I used 2009 Dancing Bull Sauvignon blanc, California)
shrimp stock (see below)

for the shrimp stock
1 carrot
1/2 onion, quartered
shells from shrimp
water
salt

for the shrimp
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp olive oil
parsley, finely chopped

To make the stock Peel the shrimp and place the shells into a medium saucepan. Set aside the shrimp for later. Roughly chop the carrot and add to the pot. Cut the half onion into a few pieces and add to the pot. Fill the pot with water and set to a boil. As the stock boils it will extract shrimp flavor from the shells. The carrots will give it a slight orange color. Adjust salt to taste. Turn down to low and leave at a simmer.

To start the rice In a heavy pot add some olive oil and heat over medium. Once the oil starts to shimmer, add in the onions, shallot, and garlic. After a minute or two add in the rice. The rice will start to fry and sizzle. Let that go for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the rice starts to take on a little bit of color add in the wine. The pan is very hot at this point and most of the wine will flash away, boiling very quickly. When the wine is almost gone ladle in some of the shrimp stock, being careful to avoid bringing along any of the solids (People seem not to like shrimp feet in their risotto). Ladle in enough stock to keep the rice barely covered. Turn the pan down to low and let simmer away. Stir occasionally. When the liquid level drops (it is being absorbed as well as evaporated away) add some more stock with the ladle. This will go on for ~30 minutes. If you run out of stock, just finish with water and adjust the salt later.

To cook the shrimp Melt the butter with the olive oil in a skillet over medium low. When the butter is melted add in the shrimp. Let them braise in the butter/oil mixture until you can see them turn opaque through the tops. Keep covered. Once opaque, flip the shrimp and add the parsley. Recover. The shrimp turn out very tender when cooked this way.

To assemble When the rice is finished and the shrimp are finished, pour all of the cooking liquid from the shrimp into the rice and mix in. This will add additional shrimp flavor and some richness to the risotto. Since it is a shellfish risotto, I don't like to add cheese. The butter/oil will help to bind the risotto and firm up the starchy matrix. Mix in some more chopped parsley if you have any left over. Add salt to taste and allow to cool slightly.

I ate my risotto with some of the Sauvignon blanc that I used to make it. It was perfect for the occasion - It wasn't a spectacular Sauvignon blanc (none of the Sancerre crisp, mineral deliciousness or the California oaky richness) but it was perfect as a beverage to go with dinner.

Antonia enjoyed it (the main goal, of course) and we ate it with a little mixed green salad.

Carrot Gnocchi

2011-03-10T15:15:00.001-08:00

I decided to stay home sick today after I was unable to convince my boss that I was healthy yesterday.

Lunchtime rolled around and it was time to go to the fridge. I spotted some baby carrots. My mind and flavor memory were thinking of the Farmers' Market carrots I had last week while looking at the baby carrots in the fridge. I was setting myself up for disappointment. Luckily, despite how bland many foods, like baby carrots, can be a quick roast in the oven can bring out whatever sweetness is locked inside the empty shell of a vegetable.

Carrot Gnocchi

enough for one person for lunch.

2 handfuls of baby carrots (from the photo it looks like about 25)
flour
butter
Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Put the carrots on a baking sheet and roast at 400 ºF for about 30 minutes until they are soft and sweet.

(soft and sweet)

Puree the carrots in a food processor or in a mortar and pestle until you get something that loooks like carrot paste.

(not so paste-y - a mortar and pestle would have been better)

Add salt and pepper to the paste, then start working in the flour to make a dough. It's hard to say when it is done. I try to make something firm enough that I can roll out into a log without it sticking to the board but not so firm that if you push your finger into the log it bounces back more than just a little. Once you have a log, cut the log into little pieces and roll against the back of a fork to put in the sauce-holding indentations.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. At the same time melt a little bit of butter in the pan, let it foam up and then let the foam subside to start browning the milk solids. Browned butter = delicious.

After the gnocchi float to the top, drain them out and toss into the hot, sizzling butter. Give them a little bit of a fry to get a little bit of crust on the outside, then put them onto a plate and grate/shave a little bit of the parmesan cheese on top.

Eat!

More pantry cooking

2011-03-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

To continue on yesterday's theme of cooking what's available in the kitchen, I made a little egg scramble this morning for breakfast. Leftover carrots from the Davis Farmers' Market, sausage from Nugget Market some spinach and a few eggs I made a delicious breakfast.

Refrigerator Scramble

feeds 1 hungry, 2 not-so-hungry people

2 carrots, chopped into small cubes
2 eggs, beaten
1 hot italian sausage, skin removed
a handful of baby spinach

Heat up a non-stick pan to medium and add a drizzle of olive oil. Put the carrots into the pan and let them cook. When the carrots start to brown, give the pan a shake and stir around the carrots. Eventually the carrots will be nice and brown and soft. At this point smush them all to one side and break up the sausage into the pan in chunks. Brown the sausage on all sides and allow to cook through. When the sausage is cooked, mix the carrots an sausage back together and toss in the spinach. Mix it up and let the spinach soften and wilt.

Once the spinach is done, pour in the beaten eggs, mix up, let the eggs cook to the desired firmness level.

Eat!

Pasta fresca

2011-03-07T11:26:00.000-08:00

Second article under my "Food" category in Google Reader led me to this article this morning (sfgate.com). My main take away from the article is that anyone with a well-stocked pantry can keep themselves fed and that it takes less time to make food from scratch than to go to the market to pick up a missing ingredient. While not universally applicable, it is certainly true for pasta.

I made meatballs over the weekend and the leftovers were sitting in our refrigerator, waiting to be eaten. I decided to see if the pasta claim from the article holds water.

At 11:00 I started mixing the flour and egg. At 11:30 I'm writing this post - photos uploaded to Flickr, meal already eaten. 30 minutes, start to finish. Granted, I already had the sauce made, but any prepared sauce would put one in the same position.

Pasta Fresca with leftover meatballs

serves one

2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg, beaten with just a splash of olive oil
Enough sauce/meatballs for one person (4 meatballs and 2 tbsp of the tomato sauce)

for the pasta Place the flour in a mixing bowl. Make a little hole in the middle of the flour. Pour the egg mixture into the hole. Using a fork, start to mix the flour into the egg, trying to keep the eggy dough mass together. Eventually the dough will be dry enough to turn out onto the counter to finish.

Keep kneading flour into the dough until it is quite stiff. During the kneading the gluten network forms and becomes quite tight. The dough will soften considerably with just 5-10 minutes of resting. Since I didn't give the dough the usual 30 minutes f rest in the fridge, I tried to do as much kneading as possible on the front end.

After the pasta sits for a few minutes, cut it ball in half and roll out each half with a rolling pin. Get it as thin as possible and try to make it into a long, skinny rectangle. The longer the rectangle, the longer the pieces of pasta. On the other hand, the skinnier the rectangle, the fewer strands. Pick something that makes you happy. After both halves have been rolled out, carefully roll the dough sheets into cigars. Using a sharp knife, cut into strips ~ 3/4 cm wide, and then unroll. The pasta is done!
Get some water boiling.

for the sauce I had to pre-reheat the meatballs in the microwave for a few minutes. The tomato sauce went into a saucepan to reheat. As soon as it started to simmer, I added a little bit of water to thin out the sauce, as it had become quite thick in the refrigerator. Keep at a simmer until the pasta is done.

to cook the pasta When the water comes to a boil, add some salt and throw in the pasta. It should only take 2-3 minutes to cook. When it is pretty much done, throw the pasta into the sauce and let it absorb some of the sauce into the pasta. If necessary, thin out with some more water. The starch in the pasta plus the oil in the sauce makes a pretty good emulsion, so as long as it isn't soupy a little bit of water should extend the sauce without detriment.

All done! Eat.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

2011-03-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

On my way back from the vineyards yesterday where I was working with Tim on his research project I noticed that the Meat Lab board was out. For those not familiar with the meat lab, it is a small processing facility run by the Animal Sciences program. The facility is federally inspected by the USDA and sells meat from chickens, pigs, cows, and lambs, as well as some prepared food products like sausages and cheese. It is one of my favorite things about UC Davis and it is only open two days a week.

Browsing the two refrigerated cases and doing my best not to step on the small children as they shop from the bottom shelf, baskets in hand, I spotted my catch - a pork tenderloin and some ground lamb. The lamb will go into something Moroccan or Persian next week. The tenderloin was destined for dinner.

The next big question was how to prepare the meat. After very little consideration, I decided to stuff it with stuff I had at home - dried cranberries, parsley, caramelized onion, and breadcrumbs. With a bit of additional consideration I decided to go get some cashews to add some crunch and while shopping for cashews I saw white mushrooms were on sale, so I picked up a few of those, too.

To stuff the tenderloin, I had to open up the meat for stuffing. I open up the loin using what the lady in the video below calls "Roll Cutting." (It's a pretty good video)

And now, after being dazzled with pork cutting techniques, is the recipe:

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin over Mushrooms

Feeds two with leftovers

2 onions, halved and cut into 1/4" half moons
1/2 lb white onions, quartered
1 pork tenderlion, about 1 lb.
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 slice of bread
1/4 cup cashews
a handful of parsley
some red wine (I used the delicious 2008 Blenheim Vineyards Petit Verdot).

Heat oven to 375ºF. In a small bowl, add a little bit of the cranberries (about 1/4 of them) to some red wine and let them rehydrate.

Roasting the mushrooms Quarter the mushrooms and place them on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan. Add enough olive oil just to coat the mushrooms and toss them around to distribute the oil. Add some salt. Roast for about 30 minutes, while onions are cooking. Throw the slice of bread on the pan to dry out a bit.

For the caramelized onions Preheat a large skillet to medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Stir around for a few minutes until they start to take on a bit of color. Add a tablespoon of brown (or white) sugar. I know. It's cheating. I also didn't want to spend an hour on the onions. Stir in the sugar and lower the heat a bit, to medium-medium-high. Keep some water on hand. When the onions dry out and start to crackle, instead of sizzle, add some water. In about 20 minutes the onions should be nicely brown.

Prepare the pork tenderloin Open up the pork loin using the roll cutting method from the video. Pat dry on both sides and give it a little bit of salt.

To assemble the filling Chop the cashews into smaller pieces. If the cashews are salted, you shouldn't need to add any more salt to the filling. Chop up the caramelized onions. They are pretty gooey at this point so they should just fall apart. Add to the cashews. Chop the parsley and add to the filling mixture. Chop the cranberries and add to the filling. Do the same with the bread.

To fill, and roll Spread the filling over the unrolled tenderloin. Press the filling into the meat so it sticks when you are rolling it up. Roll up the tenderloin. I start from the back to the front, but it doesn't matter. I was out of butcher's twine, so I had to seal mine closed with toothpicks. If you have twine, truss it up, like in the video or however you feel comfortable. It doesn't have to be pretty.

Sear roll, then put into the oven At this point, you can probably take out the mushrooms. They should be shriveled and have some roasted flavor. Lower the oven to 350ºF. Heat some olive oil in an oven-safe pan. I use cast iron for this because cast iron pans are perfect for this - they hold heat well and transfer from stovetop to the oven. When the oil is just about smoking, turn on the kitchen fan and put in the stuffed tenderloin. Allow it to brown on the first side, approximately 4 minutes. Rotate the loin and repeat so the whole thing gets brown.

Once the tenderloin is all browned up, put the mushrooms into the pan around the loin and put it into the oven. I also threw in whatever leftover caramelized onions I had that didn't make it into the filling. Roast until the internal temperature gets to your pork-comfort-doneness level. Mine is 140ºF.

Finish the sauce, eat When the roasting is done, take the pan out of the oven and put it back on the stove. Remove the tenderloin from the pan and put it on a cutting board and cover tightly with some foil. This will allow the juices to get back into the meat and will keep it from getting cold.

Turn the burner back on to medium-high. When the juices in the pan start to sizzle, add the reserved cranberries and the wine that they were soaking in. Reduce the wine until the sauce takes on some body. The pork juices as well as any onion that breaks down in the pan should help to thicken it. Remove your trussing material (twine or toothpicks) and slice.

All done! Eat and enjoy.

A: What is Humboldt Fog?

2011-02-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

Q: Name the tastiest addition to scrambled eggs.

As a tribute to the answer and question game show Jeopardy!, I decided give my answer in the form of a question. Now that I have your attention...

Scrambled eggs are delicious and probably the most fuss-free preparation of eggs. As a bonus, the recipe scales indefinitely since there is only (well, just about) one ingredient: eggs.

Getting ready for school this morning I decided it was time to get back to food writing - it has been a while (I think Dec. 2009 was the last post to this blog). I miss posting photos and I miss writing about food and I miss the conversation. So the first thing I will write about is my breakfast: Humboldt Fog Scrambled Eggs

Humboldt Fog is the award-winning mold-ripened goat cheese from Cypress Grove in Mendocino. It is, to me, the best American goat cheese that I have had the pleasure of trying. Gooey near the edge and creamy in the middle with a thin layer of ash running throughout. Even the moldy rind is delicious.

So how does Humboldt Fog, the king of California goat cheese, go on to elevate scrambled eggs? Well, just about the only way anything adds to scrambled eggs. Scramble the cheese in!

Humboldt Fog Scrambled Eggs

Enough for one

2 eggs, cracked into a bowl and beaten
a splash of water to lighten up the eggs
a few clumps of Humboldt Fog (maybe 2 tbsp)

Scramble the eggs over medium heat in a non-stick pan. If you want, add some fat, depending on the non-stickiness of your pan. When the eggs are just starting to set, but are still plenty runny, add in the cheese and take the eggs off the heat. Stir in the cheese to melt and distribute it and let sit until the desired level of doneness/dryness is achieved.

I put the eggs over a piece of wheat toast.

Delicious!

New Blog

2009-07-23T10:44:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone. I have finally made the plunge and bought a domain: http://www.greghirson.com. I think I am going to still keep posting to this blog for recipes, etc., but keep a look out for posts on the other blog. I'm calling it Wine PhD.

A quick dinner - pesto chicken pasta, or cooking without recipes

2009-05-04T15:22:00.001-07:00

Finished, ready to go
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

There are only two things that I can say that I have been doing non-stop for a decade: going to school and cooking. My cooking adventure started with the egg, as I think many others' adventures do as well. How could I make a fried egg taste better? Cooking temperature? Cooking time? Egg size? Sunny side up or down? Butter or (gasp) margarine?

While I did not come to a definitive conclusion (though today I would say medium heat nonstick pan, butter, cook until the white is just set, use fresh eggs), I did discover that experimenting and testing and getting a feel for how foods react to cooking is a lot of fun.

Then, for a long time, I read through recipe books. Then through recipe archives online. Now, I've found myself back to experimenting. All this has become salient with the release of Michael Ruhlman's new book, Ratio, which tells us to learn ratios - food archetypes, to experiment, and to make up our own recipes. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I'm very much looking forward to it.

So, where's the recipe for that food in the picture? I'll give it to you below, but maybe in the spirit of Escoffier, who listed ingredients, then gave a few notes on how to use them.

Pesto Gemelli with Chicken

1 lb of gemelli or other short pasta
a few chicken breasts, cut into pieces
a bottle of pesto (yes, it is premade. And tasty. Stop judging)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
a few garlic cloves, chopped
1 c milk
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt
pepper
oil for cooking

Bring water to a boil. Salt, and add pasta.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and let sit on one side for 4+ minutes, in order to brown. Turn over and finish cooking.

Remove chicken from pan, pour off excess oil, if desired. Add in butter and garlic. Cook for about a minute. Add in flour and stir together to form a paste. This is basically a roux. Cook the roux until brown, then add milk and whisk until everything is incorporated. At this point, start adding in pesto, until it gets to the flavor you desire - more pesto = more basil/garlic flavor. As the sauce comes to a boil, it will thicken from the roux. Add in the chicken, and the pasta once it is finished cooking. Add fresh tomatoes to the top and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

There you go. Is that any less verbose than usual? Maybe. I'm trying, Monsieur Escoffier.

Enjoy!

I'm Still Alive!

2009-04-07T08:40:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I plan on posting a few food-related blog posts soon. Last quarter classes were crazy, but I think I will have a bit more time this quarter.

Greg

A Future Vineyard - UC Davis

2009-03-07T19:59:00.001-08:00

Site of the future RMI Vineyard
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

This is the site where the new UC Davis vineyards are going to be planted. After the week of rain, the view towards the mountains was beautiful.

Multicultural Dinner

2009-01-04T21:47:00.001-08:00

Turkey Koubideh, Kale, and Naan
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

On my last day as a free man before I start my PhD program in Agricultural Chemistry at UC Davis, I wanted to do some cooking as a relaxation exercise. A quick glance through the pantry guided the meal, a meal that had no respect for borders or traditional pairings.

Pantry contents: Koubideh spices, flour, Lacinto (aka Dinosaur) kale from Capay Organic, and ground turkey.

In addition to the pantry contents, two recipes I found on the internet today also guided the meal: Onion marmalade and Naan.

Pantry and internet came together to guide tonight's dinner:

Turkey Koubideh, Kale with Caramelized Onions, and Naan

I suppose I will go through the recipes in the order that I made them.

Naan
Modified from this recipe

1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs warm water
200 g plain flour
0.25 tsp salt
0.5 g baking powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp soy-based sour cream
2 tbsp soy milk

Note: Use yoghurt and real milk in place of the sour cream and soy milk if you have no reason not to.

Dissolve yeast in water and add sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes while doing the next step. It is ready when you see bubbles on the surface. Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Add vegetable oil, sour cream, and soy milk. Add yeast mixture. Stir until it comes together. If it is to dry to form a dough, add more water until you get the right consistency.
(Aside: I have found that the only way to *know* what the right consistency is for a dough is to remember what the dough feels like every time you knead and when a bread comes out perfectly, recall what the dough felt like. Each kind of dough seems to need a specific hydration percent (water to dry ratio) to come out right.)
Turn out dough onto floured surface and knead for 5-6 minutes. Put back into bowl, cover with damp tea towl, and let sit in a warm place for an hour.

After an hour or so, pull the dough out of the bowl, split into four pieces, and form into balls. Let the balls sit for another 45 minutes, or so.

After the second rise is finished, get out a cast iron skillet or a heavy bottomed pan. Heat the pan to medium high heat. In the mean time, roll out the dough balls into ovals ~1/8" thick. Once the pan is hot, brush with a bit of vegetable oil (or butter) and put a dough oval on in the skillet. Let sit on the first side until bubbles form on the top. Peak at the bottom after a minute or so, and check for brown/black patches. Once it has a good bit of dark spots, turn it over and cook the other side for 10-15 seconds. I find that the bubbles on the second side burn before the rest really gets brown, but it still turns out good. Let cool, or don't - they are good both ways.

Caramelized Onion Marmalade
Modified from BBC Good Food

4 lbs yellow onions
4 cloves of garlic
6 tbsp olive oil
140 g brown sugar
a big pinch of chili flakes
the last sad sprig of thyme from the garden
950 mL red wine 1 bottle (750mL) + 200 mL
335 mL red wine vinegar

Peel and cut onions in half, slice thin. Slice garlic thin. Heat up oil over high heat. Add onions and garlic, stir to coat. Add sugar and chili flakes, stir in. Reduce heat to medium high and let cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes. By the end they will be brown and sticky and 99% of the liquid will have evaporated. If the onions seem to be browning so quickly that they start to blacken, back off on the heat.

Add red wine and vinegar to onions, turn up heat to high, and evaporate the liquid for 40 minutes, or until the wine has turned into a thick syrup. When a wooden spoon drawn across the bottom of the pan leaves a dry trail, it is done.

Kale and Caramelized Onions
by me.

1 bunch Lacimento kale
1 big scoop (1/2 c) onion mixture, above.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Clean kale, take out the ribs, and roughly chop. Add kale to boiling water. Let boil 5 minutes, until tender. Drain and lightly press out some of the water.

Add a scoop of the onions to the kale.

Turkey Koubideh
from the package directions.

1/4 cup water
1.25 lbs turkey
1 package Sadaf Ground Meat Seasoning

Dissolve spices in generous 1/4 cup water. Mix into the turkey. Let sit for 15 minutes. Cook on a grill or grill pan until done, about 15 minutes.

Now, for the best part: putting it all together.

Make a gyro-like sandwich of the naan, turkey koubideh, and kale. This was honestly a heavenly meal. It has no respect for borders but pulls freshness, seasonality, and flavor together for a wonderfully flavorful, light meal.

Fresh Onions

2008-12-29T11:05:00.001-08:00

Fresh Onions
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

One of my favorite aspects of Davis, CA is its Farmer's Market. These onions came from a farm near Lodi or Esparto (which are not particularly close to one another), if I remember correctly. These went into a leek and onion tart, modified from this recipe.

Twilight in Davis

2008-12-22T17:06:00.001-08:00

Twilight in Davis
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Yeast Rolls

2008-12-19T16:52:00.001-08:00

Yeast Rolls Proofing
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I have been reading a bread blog for a while now called The Fresh Loaf, and while I don't participate (shame on me), I do enjoy the sharing of bread recipes, experiences, and feedback that exists on the site.

I picked up the recipe for these rolls submitted by Eli on the Fresh Loaf post and gave them a try. They are wonderful, tasty, and truly easy rolls to make.

I made a few substitutions, so below is my version of the recipe.

Yeast Rolls
adapted from The Fresh Loaf

250 g bread flour
244 g AP flour
65 g sugar
5 g instant dry yeast
5 g salt
50 g egg, beaten (I think that is one egg.)
195 g soy milk
50 g vegetable shortening
50 g water

Combine the flours, yeast, and sugar in a bowl, add water. This mixture is very, very dry. Its ok. Let it sit for as long as it takes you to do the next part.

Beat egg, shortening, and salt, with the milk. The shortening did not totally disperse for me, but stayed as lumps. Its ok. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine. It should now look like a wet, sticky dough.

Turn out onto a floured counter and knead for 12-13 minutes. The dough will be smooth, but tacky. Place in oiled bowl and let rise ~2 hours.

Once after 2 hours, the dough should have doubled in volume. If it hasn't, let it sit a bit longer, or proceed, your choice. If you have come this far, you must have a kitchen scale, so using the scale, cut the dough into 1.75-2.00 oz (50-60 g) pieces and form into balls. Let the balls proof (as in above photo) for 1-2 hours under a towel. The dough is ready when you poke a dough ball and the indentation slowly comes about half way back out.

Bake in a 375ºF oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops get a nice brown. Don't pull them out too early; your patience will be rewarded with a nice crunchy crust and a fluffy interior.

Wait until the rolls have cooled, about 30 minutes, to get the optimal texture. I couldn't wait (I ate 5 straight from the oven) and wish I had.

Single Serving Lunch - Spaghetti alla Carbonara

2008-12-02T15:41:00.001-08:00

Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I decided to make today's lunch in the same manner I decide to make many meals - by asking myself "What is in the fridge?"

We have:
fridge: eggs, Parmesan cheese, bacon.
cupboard: pasta, olive oil, salt, pepper
garden: parsley

All the ingredients necessary for Spaghetti alla Carbonara. What about cream, you might ask? No cream in carbonara for me.

Single Serving Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Adapted from Tyler Florence

1 slice of bacon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 egg
1 handful freshly grated Parmesan
1 handful of parsley, chopped
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1 big pinch garlic powder (no garlic on hand, unfortunately) or 1 clove, chopped
1 bunch of spaghetti judged to satisfy your appetite

Boil water for pasta, add salt. At the same time, heat up oil in skillet to about medium high. Add pasta to water. Once the pasta is going, we go to work. Chop up bacon and add to oil, let fat render and keep cooking until the bacon is crispy - about 5 minutes. Add in garlic (1 clove chopped, if you have it) or garlic powder. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together egg and cheese until well mixed.

When the pasta is al dente (about a minute before you would call it done-done) use some kitchen utensil to get the pasta into the skillet without throwing away the pasta water. Toss pasta through the oil to get it nice and coated with bacony goodness. Once the pasta is coated and and the sizzling changes from a water boiling sizzle to a oil frying sizzle, take the pasta off of the heat. Slowly pour the egg-cheese mixture over the top, careful not to let it hit the bottom of the pan. Start to stir the egg mixture into the pasta. The goal is to get the egg to cook without scrambling. If the pan was left on the heat, scrambling would commence forthwith.

Once the sauce comes together, add the parsley and give a final mix. If the sauce is too stiff, add some starchy pasta water, 1 tsp at a time until you are happy with the consistency.

I like this recipe because it is made from one of each ingredient. It has nice recipe-symmetry.

How we learn to smell and the use of wine tasting notes.

2008-12-02T08:44:00.001-08:00

Examination, in the style of VEN 125
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I have been reading a lot of posts (NYTimes, for example) lately about wine tasting and its related art - tasting note poetry.

I will be the first to admit that tasting note poetry can go overboard, stepping into the realm of ode, or possibly love sonnet. But there is a profound usefulness to tasting notes: They provide a vehicle for sharing an inherently personal experience.

Like sight and sound, each person has a slightly different genetic makeup coding for the proteins and receptors related to smell. Each person has a unique-to-them experience when evaluating the flavors in the glass (See Thorngate, 1997).

Just like any language, in order to communicate wine tasting experiences effectively, there needs to exist a shared set of rules under which the communication takes place - the grammar and vocabulary of wine tasting notes. As young children we took vocabulary tests, an exercise designed to associate words with meanings by rote memorization. A similar vocabulary test takes place when learning to communicate wine experience. Odorants (smells) and their identity are associated with one another through rote memorization.

In order to pull strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, or olallieberry aroma out of a wine, a firm representation of the aroma of these berries needs to live in the brain. To form this association, aroma standards are produced according to various recipes (Noble et. al, 1987) and then repeatedly smelled and identified until the association sticks.

Therefore, if the appropriate work is done to learn the aromas, the learn the vocabulary of wine, then tasting notes become quite useful. The assumption required for usefulness is that the note writer and the note reader are speaking the same language.

The photo above was taken during the final exam of "Sensory Evaluation of Wine" taught by Dr. Heymann at UC Davis. This is a required course for all graduates of the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology program. The students in the class have to identify approximately 50 aroma standards out of numbered, black tasting glasses. As a graduate of the program, I can say that it is not an easy task. But, for all of the work it takes to learn the aromas, I am confident that when I speak to others about wine aromas who have had the same wine language training, we are communicating effectively a shared wine tasting experience.

Back to Cooking, Back to Blogging

2008-11-15T00:30:00.001-08:00

Spaghetti and Meatballs
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

My fun, hectic ride as a harvest intern came to an end today. Three months went by quickly and while I am saddened that I will not be working with Erin, Josh, Phil, and David any longer, I am glad that I will have some time to catch up on some cooking.

Last week received a call while cleaning crushpad equipment to come back to the office - "the meat had arrived." The rumblings were true - a whole cow was purchased and I was to go home with an intern's share of meat - a few pounds of ground beef and a few pounds of stew meat.

This first dish to come of the cow caché is Spaghetti and Meatballs - a quick, tasty dish that allows the flavor of the beef to shine - though in my version it is tempered with a turkey to give it a lighter touch. Also, these meatballs are baked, again for lightness.

Spaghetti and Meatballs
adapted from Baked Meatballs on The Crepes of Wrath.

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground turkey
1.5 eggs, beaten (or 3/4 of two eggs beaten. If you can find a half egg, all the more power to you.)
2 tsp dried parsley
1.5 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tsp salt
1 c panko breadcrumbs, divided
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Parmesan cheese, if you like

3/4 lb. spaghetti
Pasta sauce of your choosing (homemade or a nice jar of sauce)

Heat oven to 400ºF. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or grease the sheet with some cooking spray. Put a pot of water on to boil.

Combine the ground beef and ground turkey, egg, 2/3 of bread crumbs, herbs, and spices in a mixing bowl. Blend together with hands, until everything is together, but not so much that things start to heat up and the meat gets overworked.

When the oven is ready, make golf balls out of the meat mixture - or whatever size you want. Roll in the remainder of the breadcrumbs and place them on the sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

In the mean time, once the water comes to a boil, salt the water and add the spaghetti. Cook until it suits your palate - I like al dente (just a bit of bite in the middle of the noodle). If your sauce is cold, heat it up in a saucepan. If it is room temperature, it can just be added to the drained pasta.

Drain the pasta and combine with the sauce. Place a few meatballs on top. If you like cheese, add some fresh grated Parmesan.

I made 15 large meatballs out of this recipe, so there are left overs, which can only mean one thing - meatball sandwiches!

Hopefully I will have more time now to get back to cooking and posting.

Pasta with Tomatoes and Zucchini

2008-08-17T21:24:00.001-07:00

Pasta with Tomatoes and Zucchini
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

When zucchini and tomatoes are in season (summer), this is by far my favorite easy meal to make. It has been adapted from so many different sources, re-jiggered as I read new recipes so many times that I don't even know when I started making it. I do know, however, that it had to be within the last three years - before then, I had not had a tomato worth eating. Moving to Davis and discovering the homegrown tomato, I now know what tomatoes should taste like.

Pasta with Tomatoes and Zucchini
enough for one

1/2 lb linguine, or other straight pasta
2 handfuls cherry/grape/Sun Gold tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/3 inch pieces
Red pepper flake, added to desired spiciness (I like a lot)
Olive oil, salt, and pepper
Tarragon (or whatever herb you prefer)

Put water on to boil. Let it get pretty close to boiling, add some salt, then recover and start the sauce.

Heat a few teaspoons of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the zucchini. Let it cook until it starts to brown. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, turn down to medium, and stir while cooking for 30-45 seconds. When the garlic just starts to color, add in the tomatoes. Remember- leave a few to snack on while the sauce is cooking! When the water comes to a boil, add in the pasta.

Once the tomatoes have been sizzling for a few minutes and start to slip out of their skins and break down a bit, turn the heat down to just below medium. As the sauce starts to run out of liquid, add about a quarter cup of boiling pasta water to the sauce. There is something that happens when pasta water is added to an oil-based sauce - it is as if it forms an emulsion of sorts and forms a thick-ish sauce - certainly thicker than either oil or water.

Let the sauce continue to simmer. When the pasta is al dente, turn the sauce back up to high, add in the pasta with a touch more water and mix everything together. Once the sauce has adhered to the pasta, it's ready to go. Add pepper and more salt, if necessary, to taste.

There you have my favorite summer meal.

Pear Preserves

2008-08-03T19:49:00.001-07:00

Pear Preserves
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

One of the great advantages to working in Wickson Hall, an advantage that we will forfeit when we move to the new Robert Mondavi Institute building later this week, is that there are often surplus fruits and nuts available to take home. I don't mean one or two apples here and there. I mean 200 lbs of extra apples. Or a trash can full of walnuts. Or unripe pears.

A similar jettison of excess food led to the Walnut Butter that I made at the beginning of this year.

I took home about 5-6 lbs. of pears, which needed to sit in the refrigerator for a week, presumably to induce ripening. After I took them out and ate a pear or two, I realized that between Antonia and I, there is no way we would be able to eat 6 lbs of pears before the pears spoiled. The only thing that I could think to do was to can the pears.

This is my first foray into the world of canning. It is a tradition that suburban youths like me, who grew up in Irvine, CA, only heard about when hearing stories about the farm. So how was I to learn of canning? I had the greatest canning resource of all at my fingertips: The Internet.

I settled on the official-sounding National Center for Home Food Preservation website. How much more to-the-point could a website name be?

You can click through to see the procedures in full, but the basic outline is:

1) make a syrup.
2) add pears to syrup, boil until they are soft.
3) Add lemons to increase the acid to act as a preservative.
4) Sterilize mason jars.
5) Fill mason jars.
6) Process mason jars.

It was Step 6 for me that was the least obvious. Up until 6, skipping any step would lead to something other than pear preserves. I had the idea that once the food was placed in the mason jar, the process is finished. I was wrong. The jars are boiled after they are sealed, I think to kill any microbes that are present.

The one thing I will do before I can again is to get the correct equipment. The jar tongs are a must - I don't want to get boiling water on my hands and face a second time. In spite of this small setback, I have discovered an activity that has opened up a new world of cooking for me... and as a bonus, I can eat pears, processed at the height of their flavor and maturity, in the middle of winter. If only these last so long...

Pesto Scrambled Eggs

2008-08-02T16:10:00.001-07:00

Pesto Scrambled Eggs
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Pesto is a wonderful food. In fact, I am going to make pesto today for the second time in three days. Why am I making pesto again? Well, there are two reasons. 1) The basil at the Davis Farmer's Market looked amazing. I used all of my pesto eating pesto elbows with sausage and and pesto scrambled eggs.

As you can see here, pesto scrambled eggs is a wonderful food. Especially if topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Another wonderful start to a day. If you are looking for something to do with you eggs on a weekend for breakfast, I highly recommend this dish.

The perfect four ingredient food

2008-08-02T15:29:00.001-07:00

BLT
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

What is the perfect four ingredient food? Lets go down the list:

The perfect one ingredient food: The is one is obvious and taken a bit for granted. If you had to choose only one one-ingredient food, what would it be. It would be boring. It would be plain. It would be in most cases flavorless (if you are lucky). The perfect one ingredient food is water.

The perfect two ingredient food: What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Is it brushing your teeth.... no. Is it eating breakfast.... no. Is it checking your email... sadly, for large segment of the population (including myself on many a day)... yes. But, what is the most important first activity one can do in a day? That's right - drink that perfect cup of coffee. Your programmable coffee maker is your most loyal servant. It has waiting, at my case at 7am, the most indispensable nourishment of the day: The perfect two ingredient food is the first cup of coffee.

The perfect three ingredient food: This one is simple yet deceiving, mainly because it is taken for granted. I am in the process of making this perfect food as I write this post. What is it? Here is a clue. Water. Flour. Yeast. That's right: The perfect three ingredient food is bread.

Now, to the purpose of this treatise. What is the perfect four ingredient food? After four ingredients, the outcomes are endless. Five, six, ten, twenty ingredients - there is no end in sight... you can eat curry at this point! So what is the perfect four ingredient food?
...
.....
........
..........

The BLT. Bacon. Lettuce. Tomato. (Bread). In this case, homemade baguette, cluster tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and Niman Ranch Bacon. Honestly, this is one of the world's perfect foods. Although it is quite hot in the summer, cooking bacon for a BLT is a pleasure - as it sizzles and hops in the pan, one can only envision the wonderful end to its life. The smell will permeate your house for hours after the consumption of the perfect food.

The BLT. A wonderful food.

Scrabble

2008-08-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

Scrabble
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Baking Baguettes

2008-07-25T16:27:00.001-07:00

Baguette
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

There is something about summer that leads me to bake. One might figure that winter is an appropriate time to get into baking: its cold outside, the oven can warm the house, generate the beautiful smells of bread.

Such is not the case for me. I bake in the heat of summer. 95+ºF outside and I turn the oven on to 500ºF. I can't exactly explain why, except that summer is when I have the time to coordinate my day around the bread.

That's the thing with bread: The actual hands-to-dough work is not all that intensive, especially if a mixer is employed. It is the waiting time: 16 hours, 20 minutes, 3 hours, 1 hour, 25 minutes - that force baking to command scheduling priority.

Today I did a bit of baking using a new recipe that I found on an amazing website: The Fresh Loaf.

Last night I started with the poolish and pate frementee (two methods used as bread starters. Usually a recipe calls for one or the other. This recipe called for both). This morning I mixed, let the dough rise, shaped, and baked. I came out with three loaves, two of which are ready for photos. Above is the baguette. Below is a batard - something a little bit longer. I think the batard is going to make wonderful sandwiches over the next two days.

Now, what can I bake this weekend???

Batard
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

The closest I have come to recreating a Cheeseboard pizza

2008-07-23T21:21:00.001-07:00

Pizza for dinner - 7/23/08
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

How can I convey to you, reader, how good this pizza was (and I say was, because it is gone - I ate the WHOLE pizza. All 8 slices.)?

As the title of this post states, this is the closest that I have ever come to recreating a pizza from Cheeseboard. Now, if you have ever heard me wax poetic about The Cheeseboard and you know me, you are aware that I do not have a large enough ego to even attempt to recreate one of their pizzas. This is just a "pizza in the style of Cheeseboard." Cheeseboard pizzas are truly a heaven on earth.

I have recently returned to bread baking thanks to Peter Reinhart, and others. 4-6 baguettes every week, plus pizza. The pizza recipe comes from the King Arthur flour website. Now, if I were able to afford KA flour, I would buy it every time. Unfortunately, such is not the case. Tonight Antonia and I had pizza made from the KA .

The routine at our house when it comes to pizza is that each of us makes our own pizza. I divide the dough recipe in half and we bake two pizza: one for Antonia, and one for me. We each design our own.

Tonight, Antonia's was comprised of: tomato sauce, meatballs, onions, mushrooms, scallions, and zucchini.

Mine, as the title of this post suggests, was good enough mention Cheeseboard in the same sentence.

My pizza was topped with: Roma tomatoes (home grown), roasted zucchini (home grown), garlic (home grown), mushrooms, sauteed red onions, scallions, Gruyere, and Mozzarella. This was a truly sublime pizza. The vegetable:cheese ratio was perfect. The crust was great thanks to 500ºF on a pizza stone for 12 minutes.

Now, with such a tasty pizza, only a good bottle of wine could make things even better, and such was the case: 2005 Hanzell Chardonnay, courtesy of our friend Wynne.

This was truly one of the nicest meals that I can remember making at home: we ate outside, it was warm, Antonia and I had great conversation - everything was perfect.

To top the whole experience off, I was fortunate enough to have Stakes Is High by De La Soul playing while I wrote this, an album which contains one of my favorite songs: Itzsoweezee (Hot).

Enjoy your dinner, enjoy your pizza, enjoy your wine!

train track line 2

2008-07-20T10:33:00.001-07:00

train track line 2
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Egg Salad Sandwich

2008-07-18T15:21:00.001-07:00

Egg Salad Sandwich
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I am going to forgo posting about our wedding and honeymoon for just a little bit longer in order to write about one of my favorite foods - the egg salad sandwich.

Why do I like egg salad sandwiches? I believe that I like these sandwiches for much the same reason everyone likes them: my mom made egg salad often when I was a young child. As a result, eating them is both tasty and nostalgic.

When Antonia and I were deciding what to have for lunch today, we were close to making a tofu stir fry over rice. This plan made sense except for one glaring oversight: I had made baguettes this morning. A brief aside:

Last night before bed, I started the poolish for a French bread. Usually, my routine is to let the poolish go for about 7 hours then refrigerate it to retard the yeast. Last night, however, I decided to let the poolish go overnight, then I would wake up early to make bread. Upon a brief back-calculation, I learned that to have bread ready for a visit to a friend this morning, I would have to wake up at 5am to start the dough. Oh, to be the type of person who plans out projects before starting them. No matter - I was going to follow through with my plan. At 5, I woke up, started the dough, and by 5:30 I was back in bed. 7:30, the dough was formed, and by 9:30 the last loaf was out of the oven. One baguette went to our friend and the other was for us.

Now, back to the story. With this fresh bread in front of us, sandwiches were just a short logical hop. Now, what kind?

Our refrigerator solved that problem for us. Eggs. That was about the only sandwich-worthy foodstuff on the shelves.

I went online to find a hard boiled egg recipe - I have used so many over the years that I couldn't even keep them straight any longer. After a brief perusal of the available literature, I settled on this one from Adam Roberts, the Amateur Gourmet.

The Amateur Gourmet's Egg Salad Soliloquy, as modified by me.

6 eggs
mayo
Dijon mustard
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper
smoked paprika

Put the eggs into cold water and put the pot on the stove on high. When the pot starts to boil (I actually stopped at 90ºC), take the pot off the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes (not about 15 minutes, but exactly 15 minutes. If one is going to be particular about the cooking time, punctuality can be expected, no?). After 15 minutes, place eggs into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Let them cool down for a few minutes, then peel.

Here is where this recipe sold me: instead of mashing the eggs, they are finely cubed with a knife. It gives the egg salad a different texture, as the yolks do not totally dissolve into the mayo.

Put all of the egg into a bowl, add a tablespoon of mayo, salt, pepper, spices, and mustard. Mix and eat.

I broiled the sliced baguettes to get them a bit crunchy, then built our lunch. I was quite happy with the outcome - the smoked paprika give it a bit of sweetness that was unexpected but nice.

I think this may become my standard egg salad. While it didn't have the spicy tang of Tabasco that my mom's has, it still produced the nostalgic pang that makes egg salad such a fulfilling dish.

I just found out that this is my 100th post. And it only took 3 years!

Kitchen Still Life

2008-07-15T11:37:00.001-07:00

Kitchen Still Life
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

A snapshot of life in our kitchen.

Tasting: 1986 Wines

2008-06-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I had the chance to sit for a very nice tasting.

1986

1986 Beringer Private Reserve, Napa Valley, CA
1986 Cos d'Estournel, St. Estephe, FR
1986 Gruaud-Larose, St. Julien, FR
1986 La Jota Howell Mountain, Howell Mountain, CA
1986 Chateau Léoville Las Cases, St. Julien, FR
1986 Chateau Margaux, Margaux, FR
1986 Mondavi Reserve, Napa Valley, CA
1986 Chateau Montelena Estate, Napa Valley, CA
1986 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, FR
1986 Joseph Phelps Eisele Vineyard, Napa Valley, CA
1986 Chateau Pichon-Lalande, Pauillac, FR
1986 Chateau Talbot, St. Julien, FR

It was great - my favorites were the Mouton Rothschild and the Cos d'Estournel.

A night at Billo's House

2008-05-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

After tasting 13 wines from Burgundy and California at the VITIS Burgundy tasting last week, a few of us headed to Billo's house for a relaxing night of wine tasting.

Here is the list of wines we enjoyed.

1995 Domaine Beaurenard Chateuneuf-de-Pape
2001 Turley Petit Sirah, Library Vineyard, Napa Valley
1992 Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
1993 Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2003 Hess Collection Mountain Cuveé, Napa Valley
1988 Delicato Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2004 Ridge York Creek Zinfandel, Sonoma
2005 Frank Family Zinfandel, Napa Valley
1999 Argyle Brut
2004 Chateau Pesquié Quintessence
1999 James Irvine Merlot, Eden Valley
2005 HdV Syrah, Los Carneros
2004 Lamborn Family Zinfandel, Howell Mountain
1994 Chateau Montrose
1994 Phillip Togni Cabernet, Napa Valley

and the last wine I missed :(

1977 Gould Campbell Vintage Port

Another great night.

1926 Mouton Rothschild

2008-05-01T09:22:00.001-07:00

1926 Mouton Rothschild
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

A 125L Savor Wine. I'd be willing to bet that I won't taste this wine again. Old...very old. Tasted like cigars, leaves, and soy with just a glimmer of fruit. Apparently not a good Bordeaux year, either.

Pasta with Garbanzo Beans, Chorizo, and Bread Crumbs

2008-04-15T21:13:00.001-07:00

Pasta with Garbanzo Beans, Chorizo, and Bread Crumbs
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Mark Bittman's blog at NY Times, Bitten, has become one of my go-to places for weeknight dinner ideas. Although I love to cook, I haven't had much time to explore the kitchen lately. I am tackling data analysis for my Master's thesis; I think I have made 100+ graphs in the last 2 days.
But, overworked or not, I still love to cook. This article came across my feed reader yesterday describing a recipe for pasta with garbanzo beans, chorizo, and bread crumbs. It sounded great and Antonia was on board, so tonight I made it.

Pasta with Garbanzo Beans, Chorizo, and Bread Crumbs
by Mark Bittman

salt and pepper
olive oil
1/4 lb cooked chorizo sausage (I used two fresh sausages from Nugget Market)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (hooray for the food processor)
4 cups cooked chickpeas/garbanzo beans with their liquid (I used two cans, one drained, one not drained)
1/2 lb cut pasta (I used 1 lb. large shells)
chopped parsley (None in the fridge, I used dried parsley)

Since I started with fresh, uncooked sausage, I had to cook the sausage first. I did this on a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once the sausages were cooked, I set them aside. In the same skillet, I added 1 tbsp olive oil and added the garlic. I gave it a 1-2 minute hot oil bath and just as it started to change color from yellow to gold, I added the bread crumbs.

The pan was turned down to medium-low and the crumbs were stirred until they turned a deep deep gold, almost brown proper. I didn't let them burn, but they were teetering on the edge. I find the best cooking-derived flavor (as opposed to ingredient-derived flavor) comes when the food is balanced on the edge of browning and .... more than browning. Once the bread crumbs were done, I put them aside.

After letting the sausage cool a bit, I cut it up and gave it another run in the pan, just to make sure the insides were cooked.

Cooking is very relaxing for me, despite what people who have been around me when I cook will say. The serenity of cooking is furthered by some music (I listened to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde) and a glass of wine. I am down to my last few bottles of Rd 29, so this was a treat to myself.

Next, the pasta water is boiled and salted, and the pasta goes in.

While the pasta is boiling, the garbanzo beans went into a large skillet with a few tablespoons of olive oil. One of the cans of beans was drained, the other was not. While they simmered with the olive oil, they received a dusting of salt, pepper, and dried parsley.

When the pasta is maybe 2 or 3 minutes from being ready, drain it out of the water and add it to the garbanzo beans to finish cooking with the sauce. This will let the flavors of the sauce soak into the pasta, as well as have the starch from the pasta thicken the sauce.

After the pasta is cooked through (sample prodigiously while cooking; it is bar-none the best perk of spending time in the kitchen) add the chorizo and toss (carefully).

It's done! Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture and eat.

Thank you, Mr. Bittman.

A Day of Bread

2008-04-06T17:06:00.001-07:00

A Day of Bread
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Noble Pig asked me, in the comments on one of my previous posts, where's the bread?

Here it is, Mrs. Pig. Three loaves of Rustic Bread, and a big stack of naan. The bread had a wonderfully dark crust that almost took on a caramelized sweetness. It also had a nice crunchy crust with a soft, stretchy crumb. I had quite of bit of leftover biga pre-ferment, so while the bread was proofing and baking, I mixed the biga with water and flour to make an ersatz naan dough. It wasn't traditional, but it did the job.

We had bread for a week from this bake-a-thon - I even sent out a mass email to a student group offering a loaf of bread to the first person who could get to our house to pick it up; there was no way Antonia and I could eat three loaves of bread before they went stale. A loaf of the bread when to a good home within the hour.

Wines, Week 1

2008-04-04T09:23:00.001-07:00

Old Cork
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

This quarter, I am one of the teaching assistants for VEN 125L - Sensory Evaluation of Wines. During the labs, students are introduced to sensory techniques for wine evaluation - difference testing, reference standards, etc. At the end of each lab, the students are given 6 wines to try - these wines are termed savor wines (savor wines from last year).

Week 1 were oxidized white wines. All of the wines were old, but each had a different "old wine" character. Some where outright spoiled, while others had hints of life left in them. All of the wines were tasted blind.

Week 1 - Unintentionally oxidized white wines

1986 Wente Napa Valley Fumé blanc - ethyl acetate, acetaldehyde.

1988 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay, Beckstoffer Ranch - chalk, acetaldehyde

1990 Jordan Alexander Valley Chardonnay (375mL) - honey, Lyle's Golden Syrup

1991 Alderbrook Dry Creek Semillon - plastic, grapey, phenol, floral

1992 Van Der Heyden Vineyards Napa Valley Chardonnay - acetaldehyde, lemon, soy, brothy/meaty, ashy, boiled mushrooms

1996 Louis Martini Napa Valley Sauvignon blanc - green tea/olive oil, fruity flavors

My favorites were the Jordan (in splits!) and the Alderbrook Semillon. I was pleasantly surprised that some of these wines still had something left - I wouldn't call what was left "life", but there is a spark of something. Other wines, like the Wente and Stag's Leap, were just plain dead.

I look forward to next week's tasting, though I'm not sure what it is.

A weekend of food and Rigatoni with Spinach and Green Beans

2008-03-28T13:58:00.001-07:00

Rigatoni with Spinach and Green Beans
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I am now technically 5/6 done with grad school. I say technically, because I will be finished with grad school when my thesis is finished, not when classes are over. Nonetheless, it feels like school is winding down.

This last quarter, Winter Quarter 2008, was quite busy. I was TAing for Wine Stability with Dr. Boulton while at the same time carrying out the sensory portion of my thesis research. I spent hours on end holding wine glasses up to blindfolded students' noses. I am glad that data collection is almost complete.

March 24-28, 2008 is when Spring "Break" was scheduled for this year. "Break" is in quotation marks because there really was no break in the traditional sense for me. I was in the lab every day working on my thesis. I have been working on the Methods and Literature Review sections. I think I made some good progress in the quite of the Break-time lab.

A second, tastier consequence of "Break" is that it once again gives me time to do some cooking.

Last night for dinner, I made the pasta pictured above (recipe to follow). This morning, after I began my one day stint as a dogsitter, I started to work on bread. Oh break, I have missed you so. There really is nothing like kneading dough. It is therapeutic in a way very few other activities are. I have been making bread out of Curst and Crumb by Peter Reinhart. I recommend anyone who wants to get into bread baking pick up this book or one of Mr. Reinhart's other books.

Tomorrow, I am going to pick up some ground beef from Mr. Bledsoe at the Davis Farmers Market and will make some kreplach. I may not
fry them as per the NYT recipe, but who knows.

Any any event, it has been nice to be able to cook and blog again; hopefully it won't be so long until I do it again.

Rigatoni with Spinach and Green Beans

1 lb dried rigatoni
2 tbs olive oil
1 big handful of green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 big handful of frozen spinach
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin
paprika
garlic powder (I'm out of garlic - who knew that could happen?!?!)
dried thyme
dried fennel
cayenne pepper
salt
pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
2 big tablespoons of hummus

Start pot of water boiling. In the mean time, heat up a large skillet or pot with olive oil on medium high. When the oil is very hot and moves about the pan with little resistance, add in the onions and green beans. Turn down heat to medium and let soften.

When the water comes to a boil add a big pinch of salt (big!), add the pasta.

After about 6-8 minutes, add in the spinach and the spices. When the spinach has unfrozen and incorporated, add the hummus. This gives the sauce body without adding cream or butter. Once that cooks for a minute or two, add in the diced tomatoes. Let these cook for a few minutes. If the pasta is already in the water, add about a cup of the pasta water to the sauce. The starch in the pasta water will help to firm up the sauce. If the pasta is not in yet, don't worry; just add the water.

Keep the sauce simmering over medium-low, allowing it to reduce and concentrate. Add back a little bit of pasta water if the sauce gets to thick. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

When the pasta is just about finished (maybe 1 minute before you would normally take it off), add it into the sauce and let them cook together. This will allow some of the sauce flavor to infuse into to pasta.

I finished the sauce with a little bit of Pecorino cheese. It was a very fulfilling meal which I am about to go eat for lunch.

Weekend Re-cap

2008-01-27T16:28:00.000-08:00

This weekend was quite productive for me. I was able to:

1) Can the walnut butter that I had made
2) Bake 2 loaves of bread
3) Make 4 quarts of chicken stock
4) Read, cover to cover, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan.
5) Catch up on sleep.

On #4, I recommend that everyone go as soon as possible to the library or bookstore and pick up this book. The food that we eat is a subject that needs to be sorted out and I think this book goes a long way to clarify things.

Walnut Butter Jars

2008-01-27T12:14:00.001-08:00

Walnut Butter Jars
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Last week on Tuesday the Pomology Department, which shares Wickson Hall with the Viticulture and Enology Department, put out walnuts for people to take home. There must have been 50-100 lbs of walnuts. I took home a few bags worth, spent the next two days shelling them, and turned them into walnut butter. As you may note by looking below, there is not much to making nut butters.

After making the walnut butter, I put it in jars, made a label and a little tag, which more or less includes what is stated in the preceding paragraph.

Walnut Butter

walnuts, lightly toasted (7-10 min in a 250ºF oven)
walnut oil (or peanut, olive, etc.)
salt (optional)

Place walnuts in food processor. Blend until it forms a paste, and add a little bit of the oil to fix the consistency. Add salt if you desire.

Fresh Fettucini with Pesto

2007-12-23T15:49:00.001-08:00

Fresh Fettucini with Pesto
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Another day, another lunch. How I enjoy vacation time!

I can never find the pasta dough recipe, but it is really easy:

Fresh Fettucini with Pesto

3.5c flour
4 eggs
pesto
olive oil
garlic

Add 3.5 cups of flour to a food processor with 4 eggs. Pulse until mixed, but not to where a ball forms. Add a little dash of water if necessary. Turn out and knead into a ball. Let sit for 20 minutes. Cut into 8 parts and roll out on a pasta machine. For this, I rolled the pasta out to "1", or the thinnest setting on my machine (which I broke in the process of making this pasta, but that is another story).

Once you have sheets of dough, let them sit for ~20 minutes to partially dry out. Dust the dough with flour on both sides and roll up like a cigar. Cut off the frayed ends then cut into thin rings - when you unwrap them you will have fettucini (or whatever shape's thickness you cut them to). Put into salted, boiled water for 3-5 minutes and its done!

For the pesto, I took a little olive oil and infused it with a clove of chopped garlic by chopping the garlic and adding it to the cold oil in the pan, then turning it on to medium. As soon as it bubbles, I turn it off. The result is garlic flavored olive oil, with cooked garlic but not browned. I tossed the finished pasta in the garlic oil, then added some pesto, which I bought from Nugget. Then I ate.

I only made ~10 stands of pasta for my late, so if you were making the whole recipe, I would add more than 1 clove of garlic.

Spaghetti with Peas

2007-12-17T16:05:00.001-08:00

Spaghetti with Peas
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

This morning it was really cold in my lab. I went in to do some experiments, but it was too cold to even work - the aroma compounds in wine volatilize as a function of temperature, and my experiments are done at a warmer temperature. It was 14ºC in there - 57.2ºF. So, being that I couldn't work, I went to the library to pick up some books. One that I picked up was The Art of Modern Cookery by Auguste Escoffier. It's amazing that there are literally thousands of recipes in that book. #19 is a recipe for roux. A roux is a combination of flour and butter used to thicken sauces. It is the base for béchamel and hollandaise. I decided that my lunch would be thickened with a roux.

I spent a few hours at Mishka's (not-)studying, trying to do some work. On the way home I picked up some English peas from the Co-Op. I once had a dish at Chez Panisse Cafe of Campanelle with Morels and Peas. That was the inspiration for this. My lunch came nowhere close the the delicate beauty of that meal, but it was still very tasty.

Spaghetti with Peas

Spaghetti, enough for one
A few handfuls of peas, shucked
1 tbs butter
1 tbs flour
1/2 c milk
salt
pepper
paprika

Cook the spaghetti according to the package. In the mean time, shuck the peas. Put the peas in a sieve and cook in the boiling pasta water for 5 minutes, until bright green.

For the sauce, heat up a saucepan to medium heat. Add the butter and flour. Stir constantly, until the flour cooks out and turns a very light brown. Add the milk and whisk until the sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper. Toss in half of the peas and cook a little longer. When the pasta is finished, drain off the water and add the pasta to the sauce. Mix through. Put on a plate, add the remaining peas, a dash of paprika and eat.

For a cold, rainy day like today, it was a nice warm lunch with a little bit of heft, but not heavy.

Leek and Mushroom Risotto with Shrimp

2007-12-09T14:29:00.001-08:00

Leek and Mushroom Risotto with Shrimp
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

The quarter is finally finished. Now that I am done with classes and mostly done with my TA duties, I have time again to cook and take some photos.

On Friday night we had our annual "Repeal of Prohibition" party for our department. We decided this year to cater the event ourselves, so on Friday morning, 10 or so of us cooked for 150 people. If my calculations were correct, we made ~1800 pieces of food. The party was great; everyone seemed to have a good time. Of course, there was lots of wine - how could one celebrate the repeal of Prohibition without it?

After the party, it feels like I slept for 2 days. Finally today I was ready to start cooking again. Antonia and I went to the Nugget and I picked up some leeks and a few shrimp to make some lunch.

Leek and Mushroom Risotto with Shrimp

5 c hot chicken broth
2 leeks, white and pale green parts, sliced and rinsed
8 or so crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 1/2 c arborio rice
3/4 c white wine (I used a bit of Rd. 29 Chardonnay)
3 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil + 1 tsp olive oil
3 16/20 shrimp
4 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Heat up butter and 1 tbs olive oil over medium heat. Once melted, sweat/sauté the leeks and mushrooms until both are soft, about 7 minutes. Add in rice and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, just to coat the rice and let it heat up a little. Add the wine and turn down the heat to medium low. Once the wine is absorbed, start adding in the hot stock, 1/2 c at a time. Keep stirring. Add more stock once it is absorbed. After about 30 minutes, the rice will be tender yet toothsome and creamy. Take off the heat and add the cheese, stir to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper. Because the cheese is salty, it won't take too much salt. In a separate skillet, heat up the 1 tsp oil over medium heat. Season the shrimp and gently cook them. Do not over cook, if possible - they are so nice when they are still juicy and soft and just a bit crunchy.

I enjoyed my risotto with a glass of Rd. 29 Chardonnay. If you can find a bottle of this wine, you must know me :)

A Perfect Meal

2007-11-17T14:22:00.001-08:00

Porcini Omelette with Parmigiano-Reggiano
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

The title of this post is "A Perfect Meal". The reason why it is not "The Perfect Meal" is because one can have more than one perfect meal. And it would follow, naturally, that if one can have more than one perfect meal, one can have an infinite number of perfect meals. I posit that the perfectness of a meal comes not from the dish itself, but the circumstances surrounding the meal. This meal attains its perfection from simplicity. The following is the ingredient list of this Perfect Meal.

Ingredient List
1 egg
1/2 porcini mushroom
butter
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

How often, honestly, do you see a Perfect Meal with 4 ingredients or fewer? I can immediately think of one other (Prosciutto e Melone), but there may be others. Do you know of any others? Leave me a note, it would be much appreciated.

The idea for this meal started while admiring a post at Chez Pim titled Porcini (cèpes), persillade butter, and fried egg - or the lunch that wasn't. IWhen I read it last week, I immediately had a yearning for eggs and fresh porcinis, together on a plate. I, unfortunately, did not have access to fresh porcinis. That all changed this morning.

Antonia asked me if I wanted to go with her to Old Navy in Vacaville. I always want to spend time with her, but I did have an ulterior motive: I wanted to pick up a bottle of Amarula at BevMo. So, as a condition of my company, I demanded that we first go to the Farmer's Market before leaving to Old Navy. This was a demand, only in the most theoretical framework, as Antonia was more than willing to take a detour past the market before leaving Davis.

While there, the Solano Mushroom stand had beaucoup champignons: chanterelles, matsutakes, maitakes, portabellas, oysters, and of course, porcinis.

Honestly, how could I pass that up?

I subsequently bought half a porcini mushroom for $5.60 to use as I saw fit.

Here is the recipe for one of the few Perfect Meals that I have had in my life:

Porcini Omelette with Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 egg (with two yolks or an egg plus a yolk)
2 slices fresh porcini mushroom
butter, to lubricate the pan and coat the omelette
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Sautee the mushroom slices in butter. Set aside.

Make a one egg omelette.... (Aside)....

I have a pet peeve. Well, I have many pet peeves, but one of them is cooked eggs. Eggs cooked in a pan should never be brown. Under no circumstances. Well except maybe as a component of French toast. Omelettes and scrambled eggs should be free from brownness.

When the omelette is almost set to your liking, add one slice of sauteed porcini and some grated cheese. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Fold over the omelette in 3 parts. Place on a plate.

Rub the newly-folded omelette with some more butter, add the other slice of porcini, and sprinkle with some more cheese.

I had my omelette with a 2001 Petit Verdot made by a friend in Windsor, CA.

Porcinis are not often found fresh. They are often found dried in mixed wild mushrooms bags sold at the supermarket. While they impart a boatload of flavor once reconstituted, they do not have the light flavorfulness of a fresh mushroom. If you see them fresh, I recommend that you give them a chance.

Good luck finding one of your own Perfect Meals - they are out there ready to be eaten and enjoyed.

Rd 29 Chardonnay gets it's first review!

2007-10-20T10:05:00.001-07:00

"Universally liked, very lovely nose, floral and bright fruit, big size but not disproportionate, great and appropriate flavors. It didn't seem tank or barrel samplish, but indeed seemed finished--even without filtration good clarity. Very nice wine."

Rosemary Bread

2007-09-30T21:52:00.001-07:00

Rosemary Bread
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Tonight was the most successful bread experiment that I have conducted so far. The bread turned out nearly perfect. A nice hard crust, a soft, supple crumb. I decided that baking bread is much more economical than buying it; 2.49 for a demi-ciabatta is extortion, if you ask me. I remember being in Paris, paying 0.39 cents (Euro cents, for what it's worth) for a baguette. I am done with the Nugget prices for bread; I'm on my own.

I decided to make bread myself tonight. Here is what I did.

I decided that my previous bread trials were not satisfactory. I could not really decide what factor was making the bread less than acceptable for me, so I decided to start from scratch. As a scientist, I failed. I changed every variable at the same time. Oh well, the bread turned out great.

Rosemary Bread

2.5+ c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1.25 cups water, ~100ºF (lukewarm)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs sea salt
1/4 c olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped fine

Take the water and add the yeast and mix them in after a minute of floating on the surface. After about 5 minutes, add the sugar, and stir to dissolve.

Add 1 cup of flour. Stir to mix. After one cup of flour is mixed, add the olive oil, salt and rosemary. I add these ingredients after a flour addition in order to keep the flour from being coated in fat. I want the flour/water to blend with the fat; I don't want little flour globs that are armored with oil in a sea of water.

After all of the flavorants are added, keep adding flour until a moderately wet dough is formed. I added about 3 c. of flour.

Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes.

A part of the new bread direction came from this website: http://www.rusticocooking.com/bread101.htm Despite being somewhat commercial in nature, it gave a good overview of the theory of breadmaking.

[Digression]
Whenever I try to teach someone chemistry, it is much more important they they understand the theory than they do the law. What I mean is - it benefits you more to understand why something is happening than to see a list of consequences.

Therefore, I was very happy to stumble upon this website. It gave me a lot of useful information on why each step of breadmaking is done. Now, in the future, I can use this info to my advantage.

[End Digression]

The kneaded dough was then put into a greased bowl for 1 hour to rise. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, the dough was turned out onto a floured board but not punched down. The dough was cut into two pieces; one was shaped into a baguette and one into a round. They were were then placed on a cornmeal-dusted board to go through a second rise for 30 more minutes.

They breads were then transferred onto a pizza stone in a preheated 425ºF oven and allowed to bake for 30 minutes. In the first 10 minutes of baking, I used a spray bottle to shower the oven with water (about 4 spritzes, 3 times in the first 10 minutes) with water. This kept the crust from forming until later in the process.

After 30 minutes, the two breads came out and cooled. It was an exciting experience to try them - I had no expectations but Antonia and I were both very pleasantly surprised.

I have caught the bread bug and imagine that the next week or two (before midterms) will be filled with breadmaking. One website I found calculated that a loaf of bread make at home costs about $1.20. I think that that is much better than $2.49+ for a loaf at the Nugget.

Bread!

Dinner Parties

2007-08-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

Dinner parties are great things. The best thing about them (besides spending quality, non-work time with friends) is that they get easier with practice. Last week we had Antonia's mom, Freddie, over for dinner. While it was a lot of fun, it was a little stressful making the pasta while trying to converse and be social. Tonight, we are having Jesse over, a friend from the V&E program. I decided tonight to go try what I see all the time when Food TV personalities talk about entertaining: get as much done beforehand as possible.

Tonight I made the Turkey-Pesto Meatballs, the Pasta (bow ties, because Antonia enjoys formal dinners) and Curried Roasted Zucchini before Jesse arrived. In addition, Antonia made an Apple Pie that has little stars on top instead of a lattice. It looks wonderful.

Everything looks set to go. Jesse arrives in 18 minutes and I still need to put on pants!

Pappardelle with Tomatoes

2007-08-02T19:31:00.001-07:00

Pappardelle with Tomatoes
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I can't get over how good fresh pasta is. It's going to be tough to go back to dried pasta. I think I'll start a little side project - anyone who wants some fresh pasta, I'll make it for you for only $7/lb. (I'm only half-way kidding.)

Orecchiette alla Antonia: A step-by-step how to

2007-07-31T18:02:00.001-07:00

Cutting the dough
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Remember when your English teacher told you never to start an essay with "This essay is about...." They are probably correct. I am going to respectfully ignore their collective advice.

This post is going to be a step-by-step guide on how I made a dish that I think is good enough to carry Antonia's name. (Disclosure: The other reason that the dish carries Antonia's name is that she made the sauce.)

There are two parts: The sauce and the pasta. We started both at the same time. Most of the pictures that I was able to take are of the pasta, not the sauce, unfortunately.

Sauce

Step 1: Chop up one medium onion and one carrot fine. Heat up 2 tbs margarine (we are generally a milk-free household) and 2 tbs of olive oil together in a pot. Once hot, add the onions and carrots and sautee for 2 minutes.

Step 2: Add 1 lb of ground turkey, stirring for 2 minutes until meat is brown. Add some salt and pepper. This can always be adjusted later.

Step 3: Add 1/2 c soy milk and 1/2 c water and a little bit of nutmeg. Cook down until the liquid is mostly gone. Add 1 c dry white wine (we used Sauvignon blanc, a wine usually good for cooking, in my opinion). Again, cook down until mostly evaporated.

Step 4: In a blender, coarsely puree a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes with the juice. Add tomato puree to sauce and lower heat to a very low simmer for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hrs. Stir occasionally.

At this point, the pasta can be started.

Pasta

Step 1: Add 2 c semolina flour and 2 c all-purpose flour to a large bowl and mix it up.

Step 2: Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add 1 c lukewarm water and a big pinch of salt. Using a fork, slowly incorporate the flour into the water, forming a dough. Not all of the flour will incorporate.

Step 3: Turn out what dough did form onto a surface. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes, adding in as much flour as the dough will take (I have never really understood what that means - I can keep adding flour and kneading until it forms a brick, so I guess it is a matter of practice). Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.

Step 4: Cut up the dough into 8 equal pieces and individually wrap the pieces in plastic wrap.

Step 5: One at a time, unwrap the dough balls and using any way that is comfortable, turn the ball into a log 1/2" wide and as long as possible (I could get to about 2' with the amount of dough I had).

Step 6: Cut the dough log into 1/2" pieces, being careful to separate them and not let them touch. Adding a little bit of the extra flour may help.

Step 7: Take a dough nugget and with floured hands, put the cut side down into your palm. Make a depression with your other thumb, doing a slight twist at the end. It took me a long time to figure out the appropriate pressure to make a good depression but not get the dough to stick to my hands.

Step 8: Place the little ears on a towel on a sheet pan. A little flour on the towel can't hurt.

....Continue with all of the balls of dough....

Step 9: Wait until the sauce is done. You are in the home stretch! Get a pot of salted water boiling. Once boiling, add in the ears about 20 at a time. They only take 1-2 minutes. They will be done once they are floating. Add them into a bowl some of the sauce.

Step Done: Eat!

One last picture, just because I like it. This was the last log of dough after I cut it up.

If these recipes look familiar to you, you must read a lot of food magazines! They in fact did come from epicurious.com. We modified the sauce and the pasta is basically by the book.

Mushroom Tart - An Experiment

2007-07-26T12:13:00.001-07:00

Mushroom Tart
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I decided that because it is summer and I do not have too much to do (I do have a lot, just not A LOT), I would start up some playful kitchen experimentation. One of the things I (and Antonia) made was a tomato tart (featured here). This gave me the idea to make a mushroom tart.

It is so mushroom-y because it is all mushroom!

Mushroom Tart

Savory Tart Shell (recipe to follow)

3 Cremini mushrooms
Splash of olive oil
Splash of red wine (I used a few day old Zinfandel)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

Take two of the mushrooms and chop roughly. Put them into a food processor (I use a mini-chop) with the splash of wine and olive oil. Add a little bit of salt and pepper. Chop until a medium paste, pulsing if necessary.

Scoop out into tart shell. Distribute evenly with the back of a spoon or spatula.

Take the last mushroom and slice it thin. Using the largest slices from the middle of the mushroom, lay them down in a pattern on the top of the tart. Sprinkle with paprika

Bake in a 275ºF oven for 10 or so minutes.

Easy as ~~pie~~ tart and so tasty.

A View of Downtown

2007-07-12T20:10:00.001-07:00

A View of Downtown
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Downtown Los Angeles from the Griffith Park Observatory.

Suburban Fireworks

2007-07-05T10:32:00.001-07:00

Suburban Fireworks
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

We sat in the corner of two suburban streets and watched the fireworks, which are launched from two blocks away. We were greeted not only to "Rockets red glare" and "Bombs bursting in air", but also a symphony of car alarms.

It was actually very relaxing - no jostling for position along the main road where hundreds of Woodbridgites vie for a seat as close as possible to the launch site. Another 4th of July in Irvine and nothing to complain about.

A Better way to view flickr photos: PicLens

2007-06-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

I ran across a TechCrunch article this morning on a browser plug-in called PicLens (Safari on Mac, Firefox on Windows. Why not Firefox on Mac? Probably something about graphics systems). It is truly a different flickr experience. It allows you to view flickr photos full screen and in a slideshow, which some may say is even better than the built-in slideshow functionality. I have tried some other things - Lightbox plug-in for Firefox, Flickrfox, but none of them were really any better. This is totally different.

Give it a try.

Additional screenshots and screencasts are available at the website.

Full Screen Web Photo Browsing with PicLens [TechCrunch]

Another Great Tasting

2007-06-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night, to celebrate the end of the year, we reconvened at Billo's house to taste some wines. There were two sections to the evening; first we tasted Bordeaux wines not blind, in an attempt to understand the differences between the communes. We had representatives from St. Emilion, Pomerol, Margaux, Pauillac, St. Julien and St. Estephe. We also had a white representative from Pessac-Leognan. The second part of the night was tasting blind, putting our new understanding of Bordeaux (and other regions) to work.

In addition to nice wines, we also had great food. We started off with Bacon-wrapped Dates. Billo and Jesse cooked up some Hawaiian Cowboy Steaks and a huge Leg of Lamb. Side dishes of Orzo and Couscous were present in abundance. We also had for dessert a Peach Granita, Strawberries with Creme Fraiche and Brown Sugar and a Blueberry Pie. Everyone had the same idea as I did - it's too hot for chocolate! Fresh fruit was the star of the desserts.

Wines
Starter
1. 1999 J Vineyards Sparkling Wine Brut, Sonoma
2. 2005 Rose Tablas Creek, Paso Robles

Non-Blind Bordeaux
3. 2003 Ch. Giscours, Margaux
4. 2002 Clos. Rene, Pomerol
5. 2003 Ch. Quinault "l'Enclos", St. Emilion Grand Cru
6. 2003 Ch. Carbonnieux Blanc, Pessac-Leognan
7. 1993 Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac
8. 2003 Ch. Gloria, St. Julien
9. 1900 Phelan Segur, St. Estephe

Blind Wines
10. 1990 Ch. Trotte Vieille, St. Emilion Grand Cru
11. 2002 Ch. Reignac, Bordeaux Superieur
12. 1976 Ridge Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains
13. 1982 Haut Batailley, Pauillac
14. 1996 Seavy Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
15. 1987 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac
16. 1999 Wild Duck Creek Cabernet Sauvignon "Springlat", Heathcote
17. 1998 Rolf Binder/Veritas "Pressings" Shiraz, Barossa Valley

Another great night. I hope that summer is filled with great wine, find food and time spent with good friends.

Congrats all.

Next Year

2007-06-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

So I have just about finished my first of two years in the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology MS program. It has been a fantastic year - I have met great people, learned from amazing professors, and drank amazing wine.

I was made aware this morning at a meeting that I have signed up for a laundry list of jobs for next year. I will:

be GSA representative with Scott
run Vitis with Jesse
be on the Executive Committee with Wynne
be DEVO secretary

I have a long year ahead of me.

Speaking of DEVO, the Dinner under the Winkler Vine got a glowing review from Bob Dunning, our local paper's most influential writer. Unfortunately, in their infinite (lack of) wisdom, The Davis Enterprise puts all articles older than ONE day old in a fee-based archive, so I can't link to the article, but here is a quote:

Because I have friends in high places on the UC Davis campus (the guy washing the windows at the Top of the Mrak) I found myself one recent evening sitting out under the stars with the Red-Headed Girl of My Dreams and dozens of others, being wined and dined in a most extraordinary fashion.

Yes, this would be the esteemed "Dinner Under the Winkler Vine," seventh edition, a major fund-raiser put on by the student-run group DEVO, the Davis Enology and Viticulture Organization. In other words, if you don't like wine, put your checkbook back in your pocket and go home.

...

The kids from DEVO are the grape growers and wine makers of tomorrow. I'd say we're in good hands.

-Bob Dunning, Davis Enterprise, June 6, 2007

Good work, DEVO. Hopefully things will go as well next year as they did this year.

2007 Dinner Under the Winkler Vine

2007-05-31T15:13:00.001-07:00

Aprium Three Ways with Diver Scallop
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Each year D.E.V.O (Department of Enology and Viticulture Organization), the student group in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, puts on a benefit dinner to support the group. The dinner, Dinner Under the Winkler Vine, features five chefs who prepare courses to pair with five wines. This year was a great success. We had chefs from California and New Mexico pair courses with wines from California and Oregon. The menu was:

Shrimp and Scallop Mousse Crab Cake with Passion Fruit Vinaigrette / Smoked Salmon Hash with Mozzarella and Herb-Oil Crostini paired with 2003 Shramsberg Vineyards Blanc de Blancs
Eric Frost - Brick Marble Bistro, Murrieta, CA

Lavender Honey Diver Scallop with Aprium Three Ways: Cranberry Chutney, Goat Cheese Quenelle, Fresh Fruit Brulee paired with 2005 Chehalem Dry Riesling Reserve
Sachin Chopra, Executive Chef - Mantra, Palo Alto, CA

Sweetswoods' Goat Cheese Orzo with Roasted Wild Mushrooms paired with 2005 Cakebread Napa Valley Chardonnay
Jennifer James, Albuquerque, NM

Local Squab Three Ways with Spring Vegetables : Crispy Breast, Confit Sweet Potato Agnolotti, Huckleberry and Pinot-Liver Emulsion paired with 2005 Saintsbury Brown Ranch Pinot noir
Mark Estee, Chef - Moody's Bistro and Lounge, Truckee, CA

Rack of Lamb with Blue Cheese Crust, Baby Root Vegetables, Celery Root Puree, Cabernet Rosemary Jus paired with 2000 Seavy Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
Nicholas Johnson, Chef - Piper-Johnson Catering, Calistoga, CA

Pear Soup with Semolina Cake and Almond Panna Cotta paired with 2005 Robert Sinskey Vineyards Late Harvest Pinot gris
Mica and Robert Gott, Savoy Catering, Oakland, CA

The dinner went off without a hitch. We had great live and silent auctions. Five of my photos were featured in the silent auction and one sold for $220!

I hope next year's dinner goes off as well as this year's. Congratulations to D.E.V.O. for putting the event together and thank you to everyone who attended for supporting the mission of D.E.V.O.

If you are in Davis in May/June 2008 and want to attend, contact me through the blog.

A week of good wine.

2007-05-25T01:34:00.001-07:00

The Wines
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

This week has been kind of crazy in terms of wine. I have had the opportunity to try the fabulous, the old and the rare.

It is late (early on Friday morning), so if I forget anything, I will come back and edit the post.

The wine week is broken into 3 main parts: Billo's house, 125L Savor and the Hungarians.

1. Billo's House

Billo had a few people over to his house to hang out with is brother, who is in town for a couple of days. After Wynne and I finished dinner with Antonia at my house, we headed of to Billo's place. When we arrived, we were a couple of wines behind in the brown bag tasting, so we got moving. Here are the wines:

1995 Meursault-Genevrieres Premier Cru, Dom. Latour-Giraud
2003 Chardonnay "Mitsuko's Vineyard", Clos Pegase, Napa Valley
2004 Pinot noir "La Cruz Vineyard", Testarossa, Sonoma Coast
2004 Cuvee Juveniles, Torbreck, Barossa Valley
2004 Valpolicella Superiore, Ripassa Zentao
2001 Pinot noir, Wither Hills, Marlborough
1997 Merlot, Pahlmeyer, Napa Valley
2003 Merlot, Duckhorn, Napa Valley
1996 "Alchemy", Canobolas-Smith, New South Wales
2003 Syrah "Wells Vineyard", K Vineyards, Walla Walla
1982 St. Emillon Premier Grand Cru, Ch. Beau-Sejour Becot
1985 Warre's Vintage Porto

So yeah. It was awesome. For me, the highlights were the St. Emillon and the Pahlmeyer, along with the Port. When Billo brought out the St. Emillon, he said that it was for my birthday, which he wasn't able to make it to. Every wine had something to offer. We played the "guess the grape/country" game and it actually went fairly well. All in all we were pretty respectable.

2. 125L Savor wines

This week, in our last week of lab, Hildegarde and Mike treated us to some wines that they found in the cellar. While cleaning out the education locker in the cellar, they came across a mixed case of old Sauternes. Wednesday's lab tried 6 bottles including the 1975 Rieussec, and we tried 6 bottles in the Thursday lab. Our flight was centered more in Barsac.
The wines:

1962 Barsac Premier Cru, Ch. Climens
1962 Sauternes Premier Cru, Ch. La Tour Blanche
1962 Barsac Preimer Cru, Ch. Coutet
1966 Barsac Premier Cru, Ch. Coutet
1967 Barsac Premier Cru, Ch. Coutet
1967 Sauternes, Ch. Filhot

These wines were so distinct. They were among the oldest Sauternes that I have ever tried. The first two, the Climens and the La Tour Blanche were stand out favorites of mine. The Climens actually tasted like Lyle's Golden Syrup, at least to me.

125L lab lasted from 1-4. At 6, the next even began.

3. Hungarian wine tasting

Each year (as far as I know), two Hungarians (Laszlo Kocsis and Gabor Sellyei) come to UC Davis to talk about and share Hungarian wines. Last year the talk focused on the dry wines of Tokaj (I think). This year, we learned about the red wine growing regions (there are 22) and then about Tokaj wines. We learned about the Puttonyos and how they turn botrytized berries (aszu) into Aszu Tokaj wines. There are 6 sweetness levels (1 puttonyos or p. through 6p.) and then the ultimate in sugary - the aszueszencia, which is the equivalent of >6p. We were extremely fortunate to try 5 red wines and 4 6p. Tokajs.

Red
2006 Kadarka, Frittmann
2003 Kadarka, Vida
2004 Zweigelt, Wunderlich
2002 Bull's Blood, Monarchia
2003 Kekfrankos, Vesztergombi

We were informed that 2003 is the best year for Hungarian red wines in the last 10+ years. Remember that if you are ever faced with picking out a Hungarian red.

Gabor has aptly named the 6p. Tokaj wines the "6 star generals of Tokaj" in reference to the American military system. These wines come above 5 star generals in Tokaj. We had the great fortune to try 4 "6 star generals" three from the same vintage.

6p. Aszu-Tokaj

1993 6p. Marcatus
2000 6p. Patricius
2000 6p. Degenfeld
2000 6p. Dobogo

What a crazy week! It actually all occured within 24 hours, so really I can call it the crazy day of wine.

To close, here is a picture of the happy group at Billo's house: Jesse, Jen, Steph, Wynne, Billo, Kristy, Pinto and me.

Dinner at Chez Panisse

2007-04-22T14:10:00.001-07:00

Menu
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

(Disclaimer: I have been waiting 6 years to eat this meal.)

A month or two ago, my dad called and explained that he was coming up to surprise my brother for his birthday and that I needed to make plans. I asked "Can we go to Chez Panisse?" - I was expecting one of two answers: 1) Ha ha ha ha ha ha... and so forth and so on, or 2) Sure, if it's you're treat. Needless to say, I was elated when the answer was "Sure, just make the reservations." 6 Years ago my dad and I tried to get reservations at the restaurant when he came up to visit me in my freshman year at Cal. There were no seatings on such short notice, so instead we ended up going to Rivoli, which may have been a blessing in disguise. It is another of my favorite Berkeley restaurants. I digress. So I looked up on the web site that they have a policy that reservations can only be made one month in advance. So bright and early on March 21st, the day that we left for our Oregon Spring Break trip, I called. They open at 10am for reservations - by 10:13am, when I finally got past the busy signals, I was given a choice of 6:30 or 8:45. I took 8:45.

Finally. I had done it. I was going to Chez Panisse Restaurant for dinner. I have to admit, I have been to the Café twice. Both times I had amazing meals, one of which was with my brother.

April 21st arrived and Antonia and I set off to Berkeley from Davis. We were being lodged at the Claremont, so we went in there and checked in. Wow. I had been in the lobby to go to a function once, but never to the rooms. They are really nice. Cozy, but elegant. I went to Oakland airport to pick up my dad and Janeen. We got back from the airport, went to the restaurant for a pre-dinner drink. I got a glass of Trefethen dry Riesling. Ok, but a little bit on the hot side. I called my brother and set up a meeting time and then we got ready.

8:45pm.

We get to the restaurant and tell them that we are here. They needed a few more minutes to set up, so we went upstairs and hung out by the bar until the table was ready.

8:55pm.

It was time. We went through the velvet curtains in to the restaurant and were seated. What a beautiful room. Cozy, woody and warm. I was transported to liminal space. I looked over at the kitchen and it was a full 2 times as large as the dining room. How wonderful that disproportionate juxtaposition appeared. Our waiter Gianni came and introduced himself and started us of with an aperitif.

Aperitif: Citrus-ginger Prosecco
Citrus and ginger are flavors that are often found together in Eastern or East-West fusion cuisine. It was interesting to see them together in an aperitif, but it worked magically. The ginger was not overpowering, but stood up to the citrus. The prosecco gave a little bit of necessary sparkle.

Gianni came back and suggested a Sancerre for the fish and an Bandol for the lamb. I perused the wine list and went with his Sancerre suggestion but decided on a Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-de-Pape for the lamb. What a great decision that ended up being.

2004 Sancerre, La Croix du Roy, Lucien Crochet

Roasted tai snapper with celery root

The first course, fish, came out shortly after the wine. It was a perfectly cooked piece for snapper, simply presented with a celery and celery root puree. It was well-seasoned with a salty skin. The flesh was buttery and cooked impeccably well.

Spring vegetable ragout with morel mushrooms
It must be morel season. They had a big bowl of morels at the entrance to the dining room. Last time I came with my brother to the cafe, we had Campanelle with Morels and Peas. It was a great pasta dish and I gained an appreciation morels, now my second favorite Ascomycete to eat (after truffles). The dish came out in a very simple sauce. That was the theme of the evening: Simple Sauces. Nothing was over-sauced. The ingredients were the stars and nothing was going to detract from that. I have a lot of respect for that viewpoint of cuisine.

The red wine came out next and I was chatting with Gianni while he was opening the bottle. I asked how many of the wines he had tasted, as I wanted to find out what he thought of the Chehalem Dry Riesling which was on the list. He hadn't tasted them all, but explained that every week they have a class where the waiters can come and try the wines and listen to the director of their wine program. What a great experience.

2004 Chateauneuf-de-Pape, Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe

Grilled rack, loin and should of Watson Ranch lamb with roasted potatoes, spring onions and garden lettuces

With wine in hand, the lamb arrived. The CdP was great - A little bit reserved but full of berries with good acidity and nice tannins. If I come into some money, I may start buying this wine. The lamb was cooked rare - perfect for lamb. All of the lamb parts were great. I enjoyed the shoulder the most, I think. It had a little bit more fat than the rib chop and consequently was a little bit richer. All in all an wonderful dish that celebrated lamb.

While we were having dinner, Gianni brought over Jonathan Waters, the director of their wine program. We talked a little bit about wine and I told him I was a grad student in the V&E program at UC Davis. His advice to me was to go to a cool region to grow grapes on the west coast. I think that is a fine idea. It was great to meet someone who has been in that job for 20 years or so - he has seen a lot of wine and a lot of people and a lot of food go through that restaurant.

Bittersweet chocolate and strawberry gelato cassatta

Happy birthday! This was a playfully elegant interpretation of Neapolitan ice cream - chocolate strawberry and pistachio gelatos sandwiched together. It was rich and flavorful, but light at the same time. A great way to end the meal.

We had assorted dessert wines with dessert - a port, a banyuls and a French dessert wine that I cannot remember at the moment. It was the greatest meal that I have had to date. It is going to be hard to top, but I will always keep an open mind when comparing future dining experiences to this one.

Thank you to my dad for helping me realize a 6 year old dream and to my brother for having his birthday during morel season.

Oregon Trail

2007-04-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

(This was written on my last day of the Oregon Trip. It is now 4 weeks later. C'est la vie.)

As I sit in the dining room of a perfectly maintained 1928 Craftsman, drinking wine from a yet to be labeled bottle of 2005 Domaine Drouhin Oregon “Laurene” Pinot Noir, cool sunlight streaming in over the Coastal Range, I finally have a few seconds to reflect back on a wonderfully fast-paced vacation.

We arrived on Wednesday at the Portland Airport and were picked up by Wynne’s mom, Judy. After driving back to her house in SW Portland and pruning her table grapevines (Andy Walker would be proud) and meeting Dot the Dalmatian and Sadie the Blue heeler/pitbull mix, we headed up to NW Portland to seek out lunch. We ended up at Saint Honore, a charming bakery/bistro on the meniscus of the gentrification of the industrial part of NW Portland.

Saint Honore

Provence Panini – Greg and Lisanne
Seasonal Mushroom Fritatta Croissant – Greg and Lisanne
Brie Bartlett Panini – Wynne and Mandy
Coffee for all

Upon arriving back at Judy’s house, we met Andy Wipple, a local writer photographer who is about to have a book released. I chatted with him about photography before dinner, about our favorite lenses (primes) and the exciting foray into Photoshop. Soon, dinner arrived.

Judy Nedry’s House

Minestrone Soup with Sausage
Green Salad with Hazelnuts
No-Knead Bread
Plum Tart
Pecorino Luciano
Neal’s Yard Berkswell
Mixed Cow/Sheep’s Milk Cheese from Italy.

2002 Pinot blanc “Rosenberg de Wettolsheim”, Domaine Barmes Buecher, Alsace, FR

Soon after dinner, it was time to head out to Chehalem, Wynne’s dad’s winery just outside of Newberg, OR. We were given the grand tour, picked rooms, then got to the fun part – picking some wines to drink.

2003 Syrah “Saleyards”, Murdoch James, Martinborough, NZ
2004 Pinot noir, Elk Cove Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR

After a couple of bottles of wine, we saw a comprehensive selections of spirits and Eaux de Vie. We decided to try a locally produced whiskey made by Steve McCarthy at Clear Creek Distillery in Portland. Touching this drink to our lips would change the course of our vacation.

McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt Pot Distilled Whiskey, Clear Creek Distillery.

This whiskey to me tasted unexpectedly similar to Laphroig and Lagavulin Islay Scotches. I was so impressed that an American distillery could get so close to the smoky peatiness of an Islay Scotch.

Soon though, the fun had to come to an end and we went to sleep.

The next day we woke up and were reminded that Thursday was Wynne’s Haircut Day. We hopped in the car and headed to Downtown Portland to get some coffee at Stumptown. This is a coffeeshop/roaster that I had previously heard about while reading the food blog Slashfood. I ordered a pound of coffee from them about a year ago – an Ethiopian Sidamo that tasted just like strawberries and cream. As soon as I met Wynne and learned that she was from Portland, I told her about my experience with Stumptown. She informed me that she too was a big fan of their coffee, as were most residents of Portland. We found some parking and headed in to a den of caffeine-fueled coolness that Mishka’s in Davis can only dream about.

Stumptown Coffee, Downtown Portland

Honduras El Puente Coffee
Croissant

I had some reservations about going in and getting a refill of coffee. I instinctively knew that I would be scorned and/or shunned by the bicycle messenger hipsters when I waited in line for 10 minutes to ask how I ordered a refill. I should have observed the locals and used a bit of inductive reasoning to figure out the formula for getting a refill, but instead I took the shortcut and asked. Big mistake. The man behind the counter looked at me, snickered, and stated that the first refill was free, and then it was $0.50 to get more coffee. A friendly local waiting in line for a refill witnessed the psychological torture that I had just been put through and allowed me to skip in front of him to get a refill. Portlanders are a funny bunch.

We moved on to the Pearl District where Wynne dropped us off to go shopping while she got her haircut. Mandy and Lisanne went shopping at Diesel and Antropoligie while I contemplated where to… put all the coffee that I had just drank. After a bit of clothes shopping, we headed to Powell’s Bookstore where I found a bathroom and a book by M.F.K. Fisher.

We then got the call from Wynne that she was done with the haircut. She picked us up and we headed to Southeast Portland for the featured activity of the day: Dim Sum at Wong’s King. I had never participated in a Dim Sum food orgy before, but Wynne, Mandy and Lissane had. I should have inferred from the mental exercises that they were doing that I was in for an ordeal.

Wong’s King Dim Sum

BBQ Pork Buns, steamed
Rice Noodles with Shrimp
Rice Noodles with Beef
Friend bean Curd
Shrimp Balls
Water Chestnut and Pork Balls
Crab and Shrimp Balls
BBQ Pork Buns, baked
Fried Shrimp, Pork and Mushroom Balls
Fried Bean Paste Balls

After 13 dishes delivered to our plates, we met up with JP, Dan and Lauren, who had just landed. We were a little bit behind schedule and had to rush back down to the Newberg area to get to Beaux Freres, the first winery visit of our vacation.

Beaux Freres

2005 Pinot noir, Willamette Valley, OR
2005 Pinot noir “Beaux Freres Vineyard”, Willamette Valley, OR

We met the winemaker Mike Etzel at Beaux Freres who gave us a comprehensive tour of his vineyards. During our walk through the vineyards, he gave us a history of Pinot growing in Oregon and a history of the winery and vineyards, explaining along the way his move over to biodynamics. We learned that he considers himself more a soil farmer than a grape grower or a winemaker.

After leaving the winery with a supremely satisfied feeling in our cheeks, but not our stomachs, we headed to Fred Meyer, the Portland supermarket that sells everything from food to electronics to clothing. For dinner, we decided on a menu of two types of ribs.

While cooking and prepping dinner, we opened a bottle of Pinot gris to get us through the “hardship” of cooking dinner.
2005 Pinot gris, Martinborough Vineyards, Martinborough, NZ

My assigned job was dessert, an assignment that I undertook with tired efficiency.

Dinner @ Chehalem House

Barbeque Baby Back Pork Ribs
Cross Cut Beef Ribs, Asian Style
Salad
Bread
Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and Paprika
Roasted Asparagus
Vanilla and Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches

NV Domaine Chandon “Riche” Sparkling Wine
2003 Pinot noir “De Lancellotti Vineyard”, Bergrstom, Willamette Valley, OR
2002 Merlot, Pepper Bridge, Walla Walla, WA
1997 Pinot noir “Ridgecrest”, Willamette Valley, OR
2002 Pinot noir, Ribbon Ridge Winery, Willamette Valley, OR

After dinner we were treated by Harry Peterson-Nedry, Wynne’s dad, to a selection of Eaux de Vie from Clear Creek Distillery.

Pear Brandy
Blue Plum Brandy
Framboise

After dinner and cleanup, we headed to sleep. Wynne and I had an early wake up at 6:00am in order to pick up Antonia from the airport at 7:50am the next morning.

Finally everyone was present: Wynne, Antonia, Mandy, Lisanne, Dan, Lauren, JP and myself. We started the morning off with a little bit of coffee and then headed to our first appointment of the day – Domaine Drouhin Oregon, or as the locals call it, “DDO”. Joseph Drouhin came to Oregon in the 80’s and bought the property up in the Red Hills of Dundee. The vineyards are planted 1mx1.3m, which yields… a lot of vines per acre (something around 2000). The facility is beautiful – all gravity flow, all French equipment, very elegant and simple on the inside. I do think they may have taken the Frenchiness of the place a little bit too far – the imported French doors and French windows for the winery. We were given a tour of the facilities and even saw a little bit of bottling action. They were bottling their premier Pinot noir – Called “Louise”, a wine which they only produce 350-400 cases per year, regardless of the yield of the vintage. We then went up to the tasting room and were treated to wines from both Joseph Drouhin in Burgundy and Domaine Drouhin Oregon.

Domaine Drouhin Oregon

2005 Chabilis Premier Cru, Maison Joseph Drouhin, FR
2001 Chambolle-Misigny Villages, Maison Joseph Drouhin, FR
2004 Pinot noir, Domaine Joesph Drouhin Oregon, Willamette Valley, OR
2004 Pinot noir “Laurene” (yet to be released), Domaine Joseph Drouhin Oregon, Willamette Valley, OR
2003 Pinot noir “Laurene”, Domaine Joseph Drouhin, Willamette Valley, OR

After tasting those wonderful wines, we had a little bit of time to fill before our next appointment at Carlton Winemakers’ Studio. The plan was to get a bit of lunch, but we decided that because we were so close to Stoller Vineyards, we would stop by and say hello. Wynne and her family have a relationship with the Stollers, so it was nice to drop by and be so welcomed. We said hello to everyone and got a tour of their facilities. Another gravity flow operation, but seemed to be smaller than DDO. The winery was fairly new and was solar and on its way to being green. After reaching the nadir of the winery, we wound back up the stairs to the tasting room, a modernist foray into winery furnishings.

Stoller Vineyards

2006 Pinot noir rosé “ Junior Vines (JV) Estate”, Stoller Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR
2006 Chardonnay “JV Estate Stainless”, Stoller Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR
2006 Chardonnay “Senior Vines (SV) Estate”, Stoller Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR
2005 Pinot noir “JV Estate”, Stoller Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR

We left Stoller with less time than expected for lunch. In the back and forth of “Where should we eat, No you decide” that precipitated in the next few minutes, we finally ended up at a little Mexican restaurant that I had noticed in Newberg the day before.

Lunch @ Panederia and Taqueria Gonzalez

Tacos al Pastor – Greg
Burrito al Pollo – Antonia
Tacos al Pastor and Sope – Wynne

Various other combinations of plate and meat, including but not limited to tacos, burritos, enchiladas, sopes, tamales with carnitas, pollo, pastor, lengua, asada and pollo al pastor.

It was phenomenal Mexican food – the type that cannot possibly be made by anyone except an abuelita or one of her progeny. I think that it comes close, but does not match the flavor Tacos el Jalisciense in Woodland, CA, except maybe the tortillas, which appeared to be handmade and were exceptional. We all ate so fast while waiting for each other’s food that the other patrons suggested that we just take a seat at the booths, but we declined; we had more wine to drink taste.

We hurried back to the car and headed of to Carlton, OR to find the Carlton Winemakers’ Studio, a building set up a few years ago as a place for up-and-coming winemakers to use state-of-the-art equipment to make wine without financial concerns of starting a winery. When we arrived the gentleman who was supposed to give us a tour was not around, so instead we sat down at the bar and tasted a few wines before one of the men from the tasting room started an impromptu tour of the facilities.

2005 Riesling “Private Lumpkin”, Lazy River Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR
2004 Early Muscat, Ribbon Ridge Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR

While we were inside we ran into the assistant winemaker, Grant, who worked for the man who owned the facilities. He is a graduate of the Fresno program, and understanding what we were doing in terms of our education, proceeded to give us an awesome tour of his wines. We tasted some Pinots in tank and in barrel. We also learned that he was in his last week on the job as he had just been hired as the assistant winemaker at Beaux Freres. For such a nice guy, it is going to be a well-deserved promotion in responsibility.

Finally our tour guide showed up and gave us the official tour, espousing the advantages that the Studio offers to its winemakers. The most interesting thing that I learned on the tour was that instead of acting as one bonded winery, there were actually ten different TTB bonds in the facility, one for each winemaker. Ten (!!!). The manager of the Studio has to reevaluate each year who is in residence and how much wine they expect to make and renew each of the bonds. It seems like a financial and administrative nightmare.

Our day was not yet over, however. We made our way back to Chehalem where Harry was waiting to give us a tour of the winery and taste through all of the whites just before they are bottled, which are being bottled as I write.

Chehalem White Wines

2006 Pinot blanc, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2006 Chardonnay “INOX”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2006 Pinot gris, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2006 Pinot gris “Reserve”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2006 Riesling “Reserve”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2006 Riesling “Corral Creek Vineyards”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR

After tasting though the whites, we moved back to the barrel room, where all of the reds were soaking up some oak. Harry wanted us to understand the differences between the three vineyards from which he grows fruit. He gets fruit from Stoller Vineyard, Corral Creek Vineyard and Ridgecrest Vineyard.

The Ridgecrest Vineyard produced my favorite wine, but I will just have to wait until it is in the bottle to see how it turned out.

Chehalem Red Wines (Barrel Samples)

2x Corral Creek Vineyard
1x Stoller Vineyard
3x Ridgecrest Vineyard
1x 5 Acres
1x Wind Ridge

After tasting out of the barrels, we moved back into the tasting room, where we were treated to wines from near and far. We started off with Chehalem wines that had made it into the bottle, then we moved on to more… exotic fare.

Chehalem Tasting Room

2005 Riesling “Reserve”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2005 Pinot blanc, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2005 Pinot gris “Reserve”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2003 Chardonnay “Ian’s Reserve”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2005 Pinot noir “3 Vineyards”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2004 Pinot noir “Ridgecrest”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2004 Pinot noir “Reserve”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR
2003 Pinot noir, Ribbon Ridge, Ribbon Ridge, OR
2005 Chardonnay “SV Estate”, Stoller Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR
NV Chardonnay “Ragapple”, Apple Lassie Vineyards, NC
2005 Chardonnay, Byington, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA

The wine tasting portion of the day had come to and end, but eating had not yet commenced.

We headed out en masse to Tina’s, Harry’s and Wynne’s favorite restaurant in Dundee, OR. Harry is a regular there, a fact corroborated by “Harry’s Wine List”, a wine list that restaurant keeps just for him, mostly of Alsatian Rieslings. It was hard to select an entrée from the menu at Tina’s. It took me until the last possible second, when the waiter was about to walk away from me, that I finally decided on the Short Ribs. This makes the second night in a row eating ribs. Mmmm……

Tina’s

Fried Walapa Bay Oysters with sorrel mayonnaise
Tempura Vegetables
Salmon Spring Rolls with spicy hazelnut sauce
Scallops wrapped in Bacon with lentils

Carrot-Ginger Soup
Salad with Hazelnuts

Cypress Grove Chevre Souffle
Braised Strawberry Mountain Beef Short Ribs
Grilled Beef Tenderloin Medallions
Pan Fried Skate Wing
Grilled Su Dan Farms Lamb Loin Chops

2005 Riesling, J. Christopher, Willamette Valley, OR
2004 Riesling “Schlossberg Cuvee St Catherine”, Domaine Weinbach, Alsace Grand Cru, FR
2004 Pinot noir “Antoinette”, J.K. Carriere, Willamette Valley, OR
2004 Pinot noir, Thomas, Willamette Valley, OR

Buttermilk & Lemon Tart
Chocolate Hazelnut Souffle
Quince & Apple Cobbler
Crème Brulee

Coffee
Peppermint Tea
Espresso

With fat stomachs, we moved to the parking lot. Karoake at Lumpy’s (the local dive bar) was considered, but in the end we decided to go back to the house and go to sleep.

The next morning we woke up early to make a 9am appointment at Argyle to taste some sparking wines. We also packed some pillows and blankets in the car to keep us warm at Wynne’s old apartment, where we were going to stay the night with her friend and old roommate, Eliza. The winemaker there, Rollin Stoles, was a classmate of Hildegarde Heymann, a professor in our department, when they were in our program. He showed us around his facilities, including his insulated fermentation tanks – they are housed in an insulated housing that requires minimal heating and cooling. He said that he could have a tank going through cold stabilization next to a tank going through ML and not worry about heating issues.

Argyle Winery

3x base wines (Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Riesling)
3x Chardonnay barrel samples
2000 Chardonnay, Argyle, Willamette Valley, OR
1999 Blanc de blancs, Argyle, Willamette Valley, OR
2004 Pinot noir, Argyle, Willamette Valley, OR
2005 Pinot noir, Argyle, Willamette Valley, OR

Rollin was a really nice guy and had myriad opinions on the industry and his colleagues in California. His main message was “question the crap that wineries and winemakers feed you”.

We were running a little late for our next appointment, an adventure which I alluded to earlier. After tasting the Eaux de Vie from Clear Creek Distillery, Wynne got the number of the owner, Steve McCarthy, and called him up and made us an appointment to look around. After a quick trip from Dundee to NW Portland, we arrived back where we first stepped on to Portland soil, 4 blocks form Saint Honore.

Steve gave us a history and a tour of his distillery. Not having been to a distillery before, it was so interesting to see how other alcoholic products are made. He works with fruit that ferment to 5% alcohol, a situation which yeast are not so happy about, we learned. He showed us the fermentation tanks, German stills and barrel room. After the tour, it was time to taste.

Clear Creek Distillery

Pear Brandy
8 year Apple Brandy
Steve McCarthy Whiskey
Douglas Fir Eau de Vie

That’s right, Steve makes an Eux de Vie out of Douglas Fir buds. It is a drink unlike anything that I have had before. So strong and so fragrant. He manages to perfectly capture the fruits that he uses in his spirits. The aromas are not at all artificial-smelling. It is quite a feet. I think Roger Boulton should take his distillation class up to Clear Creek on a field trip next year (hint, hint).

After quite a few sips of spirits, we needed a good soak. Not wanting to go very far as it was now starting to rain a little bit, we headed back to Saint Honore.

Lunch @ Saint Honore

Croque Monsieur
Chicken Crudite Baguette
Brie Bartlett Panini
Chocolate Brioche
Apple pastry w/ Custard

This Croque Monsieur was the best I have had outside of France. The one from Champagne Bakery in Irvine is very good, but this one was better.

After lunch we walked around for a bit in NW Portland and split up. Some of us took a trip to the airport to drop off Mandy, who had to get back to California to entertain some family friends and/or family. Antonia, Lisanne, Wynne and I, upon returning back from the airport, headed to downtown Portland to do some shopping. Wynne and Antonia bought some clothes; Lisanne got a pair of shoes, as did I. I really needed some new shoes. My dock shoes would leak in water when it was raining and soak my socks, leaving me with wet feet all day. Wynne went to pick up the car – it was pouring rain at this point – and we headed of to dinner at Park Kitchen in Portland. Wynne originally booked a table for 8, but when the quickly expanded to 17, we were moved to the back room which we had to ourselves. It was set up as a tasting menu. I was expecting a few dishes. Not quite.

Dinner @ Park Kitchen

Appetizer Tasting Menu

Roasted beet with oranges, local fresh cheese and toasted almonds
Chickpea fries with pumpkin ketchup
House cured anchovies with preserved lemons and fennel
Braised lamb neck with chickpea ragout and sunchoke chips
Red kale ratini
Celery root remoulade with red lentils and duck ham
Poached razor clams “ceviche” with blood oranges
Gin and vermouth steamed mussels with leaks cooked in saffron and potato cream
Frito misto of salt cod, rabbit confit and duck leg
Braised pork belly with sauerkraut and pears
Duck confit ravioli with sauerkraut
Artichoke salad with sunchoke chips, salami and new potatoes
Sweetbreads with carrot sauce, butter and sauerkraut

Entrée Tasting Menu

Steak and eggs – Braised beef short ribs with acorn squash and Yorkshire pudding with a poached egg
Skate wing with spinach cream, lentils, carrots, leaks, fried cauliflower and mint vinaigrette
Rabbit loin and belly confit with salsify and escarole
Roasted artichoke
Pork two ways – pork loin roast and pork “dolmas” – pork shoulder, duck liver puree and cipollini onions wrapped in savoy cabbage

2003 Riesling “Beblenheim”, Marcel Deiss, Alsace, FR
1996 Buzet “Hommage a Nick Spanopolous”, Les Vignerons de Buzet, FR
1999 Toscana IGT “Maestro Raro”, Fattoria di Felsina Berardenga, Toscana, IT
1998 Barbresco “Bric Turot”, Prunotto, Langhe, IT

Dessert Tasting Menu

Chocolate sorbet with molasses cookies
Lemon pudding with macaroons
Caramel hazelnut tart with grapefruit and Camapri sauce

What a gastronomic orgy we had that night. I tasted so many new things (sunchokes, rabbit and sweetbreads) as well as beef ribs for the third night in a row (I’m definitely not complaining). After dinner we all headed to Apotheke, a club nearby where someone we had dinner with knew the DJ.

When we got to the second floor of the building where Apotheke was located, we were greeted with some electronic music and white. A lot of white. The whole bar was white –the walls, the tables, the floor, the chairs, the bar. It was like being in a Stanely Kubrik film. The bar was also themed – did not serve mixed drinks, only whiskey, aperitifs and digestifs. I saw a lot of pastis imbibed, as well as Chartreuse and an interesting spirit made from molasses. A few Clear Creek Eaux de Vie may also have been ordered. I did not have anything – I needed a break from putting anything else in my body.

After the club I drove us back to Eliza’s apartment, where we all promptly fell asleep.

After sleeping in until 11:30am, the latest I have slept in over 2 years, we headed out to breakfast. JP and Lauren woke up early, so they headed out on their own. The rest of us – Antonia, Lisanne, Wynne, Dan, Eliza and I found our way to Utopia Café after stopping in at the SE Portland Stumptown for some early afernoon coffee.

Stumptown, Southeast Portland

Rwanda Karaba Coffee
Espresso Macchiato
Espresso with hazelnut syrup
Izze Soda

Breakfast @ Utopia Café

Jo Jo’s Breakfast Burrito
Oatmeal, Fruit
Baja Scramble
Blue Corn Pancakes
Blueberry Pancakes
Tomato, Spinach and Feta Scramble

Orange Juice
Water

After brunch, more shopping ensued, then we made our way back to the vineyard. We got back and a few of my compatriots passed out from lack of sleep, while the rest of us showered and did crossword puzzles. At around 7:30pm, we decided we should have something to eat, so JP and Lauren headed to Fred Meyer in Newberg to buy some groceries. Once again, cooking and drinking commenced.

Dinner @ Chehalem House

Angel hair pasta with basil, chicken, tomatoes, grilled vegetables, pinenuts and Romano cheese
Leftover beef and pork ribs

Ice cream sandwiches

1983 Riesling “Scharzhofberger”, Auslese, Bauer & Co., Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, GR
2000 Riesling “Smaragd”, Nikolaihof, Mawtern-Wachau, GR
2003 Pinot noir “Reserve”, Chehalem, Willamette Valley, OR

After dinner we read for a bit, then went to sleep. Antonia and I said goodbye to everyone, including Harry and Bala and Dimitri (the dogs).

When we woke up the next morning, we went to the airport and came home. The rest of the crew was going to Penner-Ash and to the beach (cold!).

That is the end of my Oregon Trail. I hope to make it back there soon. The winemakers in Oregon were wonderful people who really opened themselves up to Davis students. I thank all of them for taking us in to their wineries and vineyards and telling us about what the do and why they love wine.

Shafer Vineyards

2007-04-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

Mustard in the Row
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Last quarter we took a trip with our Winery Design class taught by Roger Boulton to Shafer Vineyards in Napa Valley. It was an enlightening experience to get to see the winery from the perspective of their winemaker, Elias Fernandez, through the lens of winemaking practices. This was the view from the winery looking back out west to the rest of the Napa Valley.

Brown Bag Tasting

2007-04-08T22:40:00.001-07:00

Brown Bag Tasting
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

A couple of us got together at Billo's behest to have an impromptu blind wine tasting. We were charged with the task of picking a wine that was representative of the region or varietal of the wine and to mask its identity.
A few people brought some food, all of us brought at least one bottle of wine, and we had a great time.

Pre Dinner

2005 Pinot gris, Elk Cove, Willamette Valley, OR - Wynne
2003 Seyval blanc, Falconer Vineyards, Minnesota - Jesse
2005 White Bordeaux, Chateau Guiraud, Bordeaux, FR - Jen
2004 Pinot noir "Jermome Reserve", Lemelson Vineyards, Willamette Valley, OR - Wynne
1997 Yves Cuilleron "Les Serines" St Joseph, Rhone, FR - Billo
2005 Syrah/Viognier D'Arenberg "The Laughing Magpie", McLaren Vale, AU - Billo
2005 Pinotage, Jacobsdal, Stellenbosch, ZA- Greg
2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, Provenance, Rutherford, CA - Billo
1990 Chateau La Tour de Pin Figeuc "Moueix", St. Emillon Grand Cru, FR - Billo

Dinner
Beet, Arugula and Goat Cheese Salad - Jen
Breadless Bruschetta - Laura
2 Color Beets with Blood Orange - Stephanie
Grilled Tamari Beef with Daikon and Shitake Mushrooms -Billo

Dessert Wines

2003 Banyuls (Grenache noir), Les Clos de Paulilles, FR - Kristy
2000 Royal Tokaji "5 Puttonyos Red Label", Hungary - Stephanie
2004 Riesling, Dr. H. Thanisch "Classic Qualitswein", Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, GR - Laura
1983 Vintage Port, Fonseca, Oporto, PT

Dessert
(Note: I hope I remember everything - I didn't write dessert down, so this is from compromised memory -GH)
Grandma's Sunshine Cake - Laura
Chocolate Cake and Chocolate-Dipped Stawberries - Kristy
Tart Tatin - Stephanie

This was definitely an amazing tasting - thanks to Billo for hosting us all. Hopefully this will not be the last of our "Brown Bag" tastings; this should be the beginning of a great tradition. I had a wonderful time and I'm sure everyone else did, as well.

See you at the next "Brown Bag".

Davis Farmer's Market, back from hibernation.

2007-03-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

Asparagus
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

It's time again. The Farmer's Market in Davis comes back to life in the spring when the farmers have more to offer than winter greens and apples. I bought a bunch of asparagus and a pound of king oyster mushrooms.

The asparagus were extremely tender - I only had to break off maybe 1cm of the ends. The mushrooms were so different than oysters. The man from Solano Mushroom Grower's, when I asked what to expect from these king oyster mushrooms, told me that they were like mild porcinis. Was he ever correct. They are so meaty its unsettling sometimes to think that I am eating mushrooms and not steak. I sauteed those with some garlic in olive oil for 3 or 4 minutes.

Antonia and I and Tilden went on a picnic with our comestibles to the Putah Creek Canal Reserve - just south of the vineyards on campus. There are picnic benches there and Tilden could roam around on his extended (50 ft.) rope-leash. All in all, a wonderful day.

Now, time to study.

Head Trained Vines

2007-03-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Head trained vine
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

These were taken out at the Oakville Research Station in Oakville - a sub-appellation of the Napa Valley. Grape vines seem to be as beautiful pruned as they do with foliage.

The direction of Greg's Food

2007-03-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

So, I'll get to the point quite quickly. I've decided to expand Greg's Food somewhat to encompass my other passion - photography. Henceforth, Greg's Food will be Greg's Food (and photography).

If anyone has an objection, please don't let me know. Just kidding.

Greg

Sunday Night Dinner

2007-03-04T19:31:00.001-08:00

Dinner
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Here is tonight's dinner. We totally ran out of food today. We looked around our pantry for what we could make, and I think the best we could come up with was plain rice or plain pasta. We were totally out of food. So, as always when we come upon the rice or pasta realization, we head out to Nugget. I decided that we should try a flank steak for dinner - the weather is beautiful and flank steak is cheap. So, I went past Wynne's house and picked up the briquettes that I left there after the barbeque at her house on Friday night, and I went to work. I also picked up some sweet onions and portabellas at the market. So, dinner ended up consisting of:

Flank steak - medium-rare with paprika, salt and pepper.

Grilled portabella mushrooms.

Grilled sweet onions.

Couscous with parsley.

A 2005 Chateau de Ségriès Cotes du Rhone - very fruity, but not much else - just fine for the price.

What a wonderful thing - to be able to sit outside for dinner at the beginning of March in Davis - I'm still convinced that this is the beginning of the end - global warming has finally caught up with us.

Dinner tonight and a new layout

2007-02-20T22:10:00.000-08:00

First, the new layout. Blogger forced me to upgrade to their new system, so in the process I decided it was time for a change. Hence, the new layout.

Now, for dinner.

I have discovered that the best meals come from simple, good ingredients.

Tonight for dinner I had Rice with Lamb Loin and Broccoli with Sage and Thyme.

Thats it. Rice. Lamb. Broccoli. Sage. Thyme. Maybe some salt and pepper.

It tasted amazing. Dinner doesn't have to be complicated or technique-intensive, although both of those are fun. Sometimes, fresh and simple is best.

Rice with Lamb Loin and Broccoli with Sage and Thyme

1 Lamb loin chop, grilled then cut off the bone into chunks

1/2 of broccoli, steamed then sautee-finished

1/2 cup long grain rice, cooked

1 leaf of sage, chopped

1 sprig of thyme, chopped

salt and pepper

Mix.

Eat.

From 1/18/07 NY Times...

2007-01-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

Help, I'm Surrounded By Jerks

For Ann Rothman, a Manhattan real estate agent, her difficult person is a know-it-all friend who simply cannot be pleased.

“She’s a superior human being, and she comes from a superior area — Berkeley, Calif.,” Ms. Rothman said. “She has told me many times that there are only two places to get good food. One of them is Berkeley, and one of them is France. And France is only second to Berkeley.”

She's not being difficult, she's just telling the truth :)

Best Wine Tasting Yet

2007-01-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

Tonight I had the best wine tasting so far in my short 23 years.

1971 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
1986 Chateau Latour, Pauillac
1986 Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac
1986 Cain Five Bordeaux Blend, Napa Valley
1986 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
1986 Cheval Blanc, St. Emillion
1986 Chateau Margaux, Margaux
2002 Oakville Station Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville
1988 Oakville Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
1988 Heitz Cellars Martha's Vineyard

It was really great. There were a lot of good wines, some great wines, and a few "not so good wines". Hopefully I will have a chance to add tasting notes one day, but in the mean time, I'm going to enjoy my $15 bottle of wine that I bought for myself while I think about the very expensive wines that I just tasted.

Leek Tart

2006-12-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

Leek Tart
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Last weekend, Wynne had a few people over at her house for a Pinot tasting/dinner. I brought some homemade quesadillas made with corn tortillas from the Davis Farmer's Market. Stephanie, another grad student in our department, brought a heavenly leek tart. A few days later, she brought me her recipe, so I decided to give it a go.

Leek Tart
adapted from a recipe in an unknown recipe book

Filling
2.5 lbs leeks
3 tbs butter
1.5+ tsp water
8 springs of thyme, leaves removed from stem
salt
pepper
flour

Trim off tops (green part) and bottoms (root end) of leeks. Cut the leeks in half lengthwise, then cut them crosswise to make 1/4" half moons. Put into a colander and wash away the grit and sand.

Heat a skillet over med-high heat. Add butter and water (I know, I have never seen this technique either). When butter has melted, add leeks and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until leeks are tender, 8-10 minutes. Add a little more water if the leeks start to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Set aside while you make the dough.

Galette Dough
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
6 oz (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter
1/3 c ice water

Combine flour, sugar and salt. Using half of the butter (according to the recipe "should be cool - not cold and hard, but not too soft, either"), cut (mash with back of fork) into the flour mixture until the consistency of cornmeal is reached. Add the other half of the butter in bigger chunks. Work into the dough very briefly, just so it is in the dough, but not homogeneously mixed through. The little butter batches will help make a flaky dough. Lightly fork in ice water until evenly moistened. Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and put in the refrigerator for an hour.

Assembly
About 10 minutes before the dough is done chilling, preheat the oven to 400ºF with a rack in the lowest position.

Roll out one of the disks on a lightly floured surface to make a 12" circle (approx 1/8" thick, if you can tell). Carefully transfer dough circle onto a baking sheet. Lightly flour the dough. I think this is to help absorb some of the liquid from the leeks so it doesn't get soggy. Evenly add the leek mixture to the dough. Only add the leeks in the middle 10" (leave a 1" border). Fold over the border of the dough to make a pseudo-crust. Beat an egg and brush the outside of the dough with the eggwash. This will help in brown in the oven. Put this in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

If the top gets too brown before the bottom does, just place a piece of foil on the top (no need to wrap, just place) and let it finish baking until the bottom browns.

The recipe did not say anything about waiting to cool, so I didn't :)

Enjoy!

Finished!

2006-12-08T23:09:00.000-08:00

Finished!
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Today was the last day of my first quarter of grad school at UC Davis. It has been an intense experience. I have learned so much and have met so many people. In this picture I am wearing a fashionable pinotblogger t-shirt. They are a new winery starting in the RRV and I am excited to see what they do.
Next week: Finals and some time took catch up on cooking.

Curried Carrot Socca

2006-12-07T00:08:00.000-08:00

Curried Carrot Socca
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

First off, time for an explanation. Grad school is a lot of work. So much so, in fact, that I have not had time to cook, never mind take pictures of my food, never mind write about it. I have decided, however, that the busiest time of the quarter (finals) is a great time to start again. So here it is...

A socca is a chickpea flour-based food originating from Provence. I first had one at Gregoire's second restaurant, Socca Oven (unfortunately now closed), in Berkeley, CA. Molly, Antonia and I each had a socca, and from that first taste, I decided that I would try to develop my socca-making skills. I started off making crepe-like pancakes in a crepe pan. They were very good, but not the same as Gregoire made them. Here is my first success with the thicker, heavenly socca.

Curried Carrot Socca
1 c. chickpea flour
1 c. warm water
2 tbs. olive oil, plus extra for the pan
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 red onion, sliced very thin
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1 large or 3 small carrots, diced. (I got mine from the Davis Farmer's Market and they were the best carrots I have ever tasted. The texture was not fibrous like supermarket carrots... but I digress...)
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp curry powder
salt
pepper

Heat oven to 450ºF and put a cast iron skillet in to heat up.
Add chickpea flour, salt and pepper to a mixing bowl. Whisk in the water. Whisk in the oil. Let sit out for 20 minutes to hydrate.
In the mean time, heat a little bit of olive oil in a med-high skillet. Cook garlic for a few seconds, then add the onions and the carrots. Sweat for a minute while constantly stirring to avoid burning garlic, then turn down heat to medium. Add the curry powder and cayenne pepper. Continue to sweat for another minute, then turn of heat, stir for a minute, then remove from the heat.

Once the batter has sat for 20-30 minutes, add the onion mixture and stir. Pull the cast iron pan out of the oven. Add a little bit of oil (2 tsp) to coat the bottom of the skillet entirely. Pour in the batter and replace the skillet in the oven. Bake at 450ºF for 10 minutes. When the socca has set, move the skillet to the top of the oven and set the oven to broil for 2 minutes, until it starts to get a little bit brown.

The socca should come out of the pan pretty easily. I had to invert it onto a plate, then invert it back onto a second plate, but it stayed intact.

Good luck on your socca adventures and let me know how it goes for you, or if you have had the chance to have a socca previously.

How to: Make Pesto

2006-08-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Summer is a wonderful time being that it provides the opportunity to partake in many activities not available during other parts of the year. One of the things that happens in summer is that basil grows very rapidly. I awoke this morning to find this picture from Hypnotic Aubergine.

Upon seeing that image I calculated that the best use of my late morning would be in the creation of some pesto. At the same time, I thought, "I should document the creation of the pesto and share it." I have done just that... and I discovered that making pesto, from picking the basil to putting the food processor in the dish washer, takes under 20 minutes. What a treat!

Pesto
The first step in making pesto is getting yourself some basil. For me this is quite easy; all I have to do is go outside and pick it (Steps 1a, 1b, and 2).

Step 1a: Find the Basil

Step 1b: Appreciate the beauty of basil

Step 2: Pick the basil

After acquiring some basil, I suggest that you give it a little rinse. Here in Davis, we recently had arial spraying of pesticides to try to wipe out mosquitos carrying West Nile Virus.

Step 3: Wash the basil

Another important ingredient in my version of pesto is garlic. I like using 2 cloves of garlic in my pesto, regardless of how much I make. I'm a sucker for garlic.

Step 4: Find the garlic cloves

The garlic does not have to be chopped too finely; it is going to go for a spin the food processor in a second.

Step 5: Roughly chop the garlic

Next, I gave the garlic a few pulses in the food processor to finely chop it. After it was minced up, the basil went in and it too was finely chopped up with the pulse button.

Step 6a: Put garlic in food processor

Step 6b: Pulse garlic until it is finely minced

Step 7a: Put basil in food processor

Step 7b: Pulse basil until it is finely chopped

Pesto is held together by olive oil. In order to keep the pesto tasting alive and fruity, use good extra virgin olive oil. I chose Yolo Vineyards Olive Oil Company Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it is both good and local.

Step 8: Find some good extra virgin olive oil

The next part is the trickiest part for me. This is where the consistency of the pesto is decided. Some people like it thicker, some thinner. To get consistent results, I drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto starts moving around in a clump. At the beggining of the drizzle, nothing will really happen. Eventually, when the level of the olive oil gets up to the blade, it will start sloshing around and the pesto will incorporate.

Step 9: Add olive oil

The rest of the pesto making is adding in the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and the pine nuts. I prefer raw pine nuts in my pesto, while some use toasted pine nuts.

Step 10: Acquire some Parmigiano Reggiano

Into the food processor now went some grated P-R cheese, a handful of pine nuts, salt and pepper.

Step 11: Add the rest of the stuff

Incorporate the new additions, and you are done!

Step 12: Pulse until the pine nuts are well incorporated

All done!

Step Done!: Don't let your dog eat your pesto

Tilden was more than interested in what I had been doing. It seemed like making pesto was really fast, and after looking at the EXIF data on the photos, I confirmed that hunch: It took 19 minutes start to finish to make the pesto.

Bon Apetit!

Slideshow of pesto making

Pizza Dough Recipe

2006-08-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

For Sparsh and Nadoshi:

Here is the recipe that we use. It is adapted from a magazine article whose title I forgot to write down. As soon as I get home, I will update this post.

Pizza Dough

2.75-3.25 c AP flour
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 c warm water
2-3 tbs olive oil

In a large bowl combine 1.25 c flour, yeast and salt. Add warm water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds, scraping down constantly. Beat on high 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn out dough onto floured board. Kneed in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Divide into 8,4,2 pieces depending on size of pizza desired. (I usually make 2 14-16" diameter pizzas out of this. The crust is pretty thin, which I enjoy.) Let rest for 10 minutes minimum. I leave for it for 30min - 1 hour, which gives the dough a little bit more time to rise and a slightly spongier crust.

Dinner idea rates going up

2006-08-13T18:08:00.000-07:00

Due to recent press, my rate for dinner ideas will be going up to $5/15 minutes. So you lucky person who got to get an idea at my low introductory rate - Congrats. For the rest of you, I've got a head full of decent ideas about what you can do for dinner.

Two tomatoes or Living in the tomato capital and err... not living up to expecations.

2006-08-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Our Zebra Tomato
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

It was time for the big reveal, the moment that we have waited for all summer, the point in time when we realize that living in the Central Valley of California has an upside. It was time to eat the first tomatoes of the season. We live in Davis, California which is in Yolo County. Yolo County is the tomato capital of America. I'm not kidding. 90% of the U.S. tomatoes are grown in our fair county. The soil and the temperature are perfect to grow tomatoes, and for this reason, EVERYONE grows tomatoes. We like every other household in Davis planted tomatoes as soon as it stopped raining.

Now, months later, we realized that while Yolo County may be heaven for tomatoes, our backyard is not. We planted 3 tomato vines and were managed to get 6 flowers to set fruit. While most of Davis can get 6 fruits in a bunch, we made 6 total. Today I picked the 2 zebra tomatoes that we grew. Now, all is not lost; I tasted one and it was amazing - deep flavor, a slight hint of sweetness with no supermarket tomato qualities. It was a beautiful feeling cutting into the first tomato of the season. Yet there was something in the back of my head nagging at me... Two. Two? Two! I can't believe we were only able to grow 2 zebra tomatoes this season.

Oh well, next year will be better (I hope) and in the mean time, I think we are going to pull out the tomato plants and let the eggplant thrive with some additional light and let the lemon cucumbers colonize the rest of the bed. We have no problem growing those... In fact we can't give them away fast enough. If you are in town and want some zucchini or lemon cucumbers, give us a call. We would be more than happy to fill you up.

Eat Local!

2006-07-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

Zucchini and Garlic Pizzetta
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

After finishing Michael Pollan's Book The Omnivore's Dilemma and realizing that I live in an agricultural county, I decided that I can do a lot of good for the world by trying to eat foods that were grown close to my home.

As an aside (I promise it is relevant), when Antonia and I were in Rome a year ago, I had a life changing event. Pizza. Yes, Pizza with a capital P. Pizza in Rome compared to pizza is like the Church compared to a church. The best pizza that I had was near the Spanga metro stop - it was mozzarella and zucchini (now you can see where I'm going).

So I embarked on a culinary mission to recreate this pizza. I was able to do that a while ago, but because I fell so deeply in love with this pizza, I have been working for months on improving my recipe.

Finally! I can put together two of my missions - Eating Local (see the associated flickr group that I just started) and zucchini pizza.

Ingredient list
Pizza dough - homemade with Yolo County honey
Garlic - Yolo County
Olive Oil - Yolo County
Zucchini - our garden
Rosemary - our garden
Mozzarella - USA
Parmigiano-Reggiano - Italy

As you may be able to see, Italy is certainly not local. We all have our lines, and they are arbitrary, and they move. For me, its eating as local as possible, not necessarily boycotting supermarkets.

So, without further ado...
Zucchini and Garlic Pizzetta

1 ball of pizza dough, stretched out to a 10" circle
1/2 zucchini, grated and squeezed to remove excess water.
1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 spring of baby rosemary (1/2 full grown) finely chopped
1/2 c mozzarella cheese, grated
1/3 c Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

Onto 10" circle of dough, drizzle olive oil, then spread around with your fingers to make an even layer of oil. Add garlic in an even layer.
Add mozzarella cheese. Instead of grating it first and adding it to the pizza, I just grate it straight onto the pizza. I find that I can get a more even application of cheese. Do the same with the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Mix together the zucchini and rosemary, and spread out onto top of cheese.

Put into a 425ºF oven for 15 minutes. To get the bottom a little bit browned, I do it on a cooling rack, but straight on a baking sheet will work, too.

Eating Local is a life choice for me, but I hope I will have some of you out there join me in my quest to save the world, one local vegetable at at time.

"Forget the omnivore’s dilemma; this was more like the carnivore’s discombobulation."

2006-07-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Steaks With Lots of Asides

You were the superstar judge on Top Chef... now what?
I'll take the Grade 8, 42-day aged, Ridgefield Farm Corn-Fed Premium Hereford Beef New York Strip Steak. Thank you very much.

Roasted Corn Soup with Seared Sea Scallops

2006-05-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

Roasted Corn Soup with Seared Sea Scallops
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Is 2 times in one day too many times to eat corn soup? Possibly. If the second time the corn soup is home made and includes sea scallops, would you change your answer?

Roasted Corn Soup with Seared Sea Scallops

Soup
4 ears fresh white corn, sliced off cob
1/2 fresno (hot) chile pepper, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tbs chopped cilantro
juice of 2 limes
5 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs margarine
1 c vegetable stock
salt/pepper

Scallops
6 sea scallops, cut in half to make to circles
salt/pepper
2 tbs vegetable oil

~Soup~

Heat up oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add in all of the vegetables. Smooth out into a single layer (or as close to as possible) and leave for 3-4 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Do not give in to the tempatation to stir. After that time, mix up the vegetables and smooth out again. Repeat this process until the corn is nice and brown. During the last repetition, add in the cilantro and lime juice. Note: Do not salt and pepper every time :) just the first.

Move roasted vegetables into a food processor. Turn on and let puree . Add the vegetable stock to thin out, although the soup will still be thick. Add in the margarine to finish the soup.

~Scallops~

Heat up the vegetable oil in the same large skillet, after cleaning it out (or a different skillet, I suppose). Salt and pepper the scallops and add to the oil. Cook them 2 minutes on the first side. After this time, they will release from the pan and be nicely browned. Give them 1-2 minutes on the second side, until done and brown.

~Assembly~

Add the soup to a bowl and place 2-4 scallops on top. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

The feedback from my test subject (read:Antonia) is that this soup is much better than prepared corn soup. Who would have guessed?

A: BROIL!

2006-05-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Steak Taco
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Now, I bet you are wondering what kind of question has the answer "BROIL!" Well, here it is:
What do you do when your dishwasher and air conditioner break at the same time?
Now, intuitively, neither of these would seem like a particularly good idea. I mean, besides food, the two main products of cooking are dishes and heat. And let me tell you, we have heat inside our house.

So why did I answer the question with broil instead of, say "pool" or "sleep"? Ingredients, that's why.

I had in my possession, all at one time
1) Fresh tortillas from a lady in Woodland, made this morning.
2) Tomatoes
3) Cotija cheese
4) Lime
5) Onions
6) Zucchini
and 7) Steak.
The only sane thing to do would be to put them together. So I did.

1 lb steak (I used top sirloin)
1/4 white onion, chopped
1/6 zucchini, chopped
1/4 tomato, chopped
2 tortillas, warmed over a gas burner or in the oven
fresh lime juice
salt
pepper
chili powder
cayenne powder
garlic powder
paprika

I made a rub out of the salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and paprika and rubbed it on both sides of the steak.

The oven was set to broil at 500ºF.

With the oven rack set it its topmost position, put in seasoned steak (on a baking sheet). Broil for 5-6 minutes on the first side and 4-5 minutes on the second side, depending on how you like your meat.

After that finishes, take it out and LET IT SIT for 10 minutes. We will be using those 10 minutes to prepare the rest of the food anyway, but don't be tempted to cut before 10 minutes. You will be sorry. As you cut into the meat, you will watch all of the precious juices flow right onto the board. That is flavor. Pure flavor.

But I digress.

To make the onions and zucchini, heat up some olive oil (regular, not extra virgin, if possible) over med-high heat. Add in the onions and sautee for 3 minutes, and then add in the zucchini. While they are going, season with salt and chili powder. These seasonings will end up making a flavored oil to pour over the tacos.

Once you have made the onion-zucchini mixture, take it off the heat and cut up your steak into little pieces. Put the steak pieces into the tortilla, scoop on some onion mixture, add some tomato on top, sprinkle with a little cotija and pour over some of that precious, flavorful oil. I finished it with a little bit of parsley (I know David - again, I didn't have cilantro when I needed it!) and some lime juice.

Eat!

Ode to Chickenless Nuggets and Other Fake Foods

2006-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Ode to Chickenless Nuggets
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

You may be able to tell by reading the posts on the blog that I enjoy food. I enjoy learning about ingredients, talking to producers, cooking and of course, eating. If I had to pick one phrase that describes what I think of as the best food, it would be "fresh and grown close to home."

This is all well and good most of the time, but there are occasions that I am strongly attracted to foods so antithetical to the above descriptor that some could call it blashphemy.

I enjoy fake food. Chickenless nuggets, Idaho Spuds, Del Taco $0.39 tacos. Each is fake and each holds a special place in my heart.

Idaho Spuds
I grew up eating fake mashed potatoes. In fact, to this day, my favorite comfort food is Louis Rich turkey hot dogs and Idaho Spuds fake mashed potatoes. It is what my mom would make for my brother and me when we got to request a meal. It was our favorite.

Del Taco Tacos
Anyone who has had a real taco knows that Del Taco does not serve real tacos. There is a place in Woodland, near Davis, called Tacos al Jalisciense. They serve real tacos. Asada, pollo, pastor, lengua, cabeza... I've still yet to try a couple of those. But when I go to Del Taco with my brother, its like we are transported back to our youth. No responsibility, to cares. Just fake tacos between brothers.

Chickenless Nuggets
I was only introduced to these later in my life - at 21. Antonia ate these and introduced me to them. They are one of our special meals.

You can see here that I gave a fake food a plating that it deserves. I feel bad for these fake foods sometimes. People who love foods tend to shun fake foods, yet they mean so much to us as a people. Some would say they are the glue that holds society together.

Some would call it folklore. :)

Davis Farmer's Market

2006-04-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

Selling Thier Wares
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

The return of the sun signals the return of the Farmer's Market. Well, more accurately, the return of the sun signals the return of Greg to the Farmer's Market. Here some of the farmers selling their produce. The man in the blue sweatshirt with the woman bending over is selling honey and almonds. A few months ago Antonia and I took a picnic out in the country and then found out that we had our picnic in this man's almond orchard.

This is only one of many farmer's markets that take place every day all over the world. The Cooking Diva is putting together a gallery of farmer's markets all over the world. I think photos from the markets in South and Central America are beautiful.

When I'm at the farmer's market, I try to find out as much as possible about the produce that the farmers are selling. There will never be a better time, I think, to find out about how the food is made. These people are 0 steps away from the land. They know what was done to the fruits and vegetables (and animals) every day, from when they were planted (or born) until we see them at the market. They are a fantastic source of information, and I exploit them. There, I said it. I exploit the farmers at the farmer's market for their expansive knowledge of their foods.

The End of Passover

2006-04-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

Passover Cookies
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Well, tonight Passover officially ends. For those of you who have been reading some of the Passover posts or looking at the pictures, you may notice that some recipes, such as these cookies, could not have been made without chametz (grain). That is true. These cookies have oatmeal. This all stems from my admittedly modified observance of Passover. To me, the whole ordeal of Passover is to remember what happened during the Exodus and to re-enact a little bit of the hardship that our ancestors faced. To go as far as not using corn or oats or corn syrup(!) is forgetting the meaning of what happened, in my mind. If the Jews leaving Egypt didn't have time to bake their bread, they also didn't have time to make matzo ball soup, egg salad, or macaroons. It doesn't stop us from making all of these foods. We don't consume flour in observance of what happened. For me, its no flour, no yeast. So if you find recipes that don't apprear kosher for Passover, now you know why. :)

That said, I hope everyone had a great Pesach and enjoy thier rice/pasta/corn/bread/cake/pastry tonight!

-Greg

Passover Chocolate Pie

2006-04-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

Passover Chocolate Pie
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Antonia proves again to be the most wonderful human alive. She has taken it upon herself to come up with tasty Passover dessert, which is not easy (ask anyone who has had Passover cookies).

She did manage to make a pie so good, that I would eat it during the rest of the year, never mind just this week.

Antonia's Passover Chocolate Pie

Crust
1 stick margarine
1 c matzo meal
1 c almond meal
1 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c sugar
slash of ice water

Pulse all of the ingredients besides the water in a food processor until blended. Splash in some water until the desired consistency is achieved. The amount of water varies depending on the moisture in the air. I don't know what she looks for, but it works. You will have to ask her :)

Grease a pie plate with some Pam. Press the crust into the pan. Dock the dough with a fork gently (Poke holes in it).

Put the crust into the oven for 15 minutes @ 375ºF. Pull out the crust, spray one side of a piece of aluminum foil and put the foil into the crust, spray side down. Put some beans or rice on top of the foil and put it back in for 10 more minutes.

Pull out and let cool.

Filling

2 c chocolate chips, melted
1/2 c sweet white wine or liquer
1 pkg silken tofu
1 tbs vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs honey
2 tbs cocoa powder

Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor. Pour filling into cooled (or mostly cooled) pie crust. Garnish with grated chocolate and put in the refrigerator to set. Let set overnight.

We made this last night and tried it today after lunch. We were both blown away by the extent of its tastiness. It does not taste one bit like a Passover food... Which raises the question - If you aren't sacrificing for Passover, is it really a Passover food?

PASSOVER SPECIAL! - Cauliflower Soup with Crisp Garlic and Olive Oil

2006-04-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Cauliflower Soup with Crisp Garlic and Olive Oil
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Today was the first day that I had to deal with Passover cooking. Passover is a very powerful holiday, but cooking without flour is much harder than it seems. I saw this recipe on Slashfood this morning, and figured it would be perfect for Passover. I tweaked it a little (basically changing the garnish; switching out the scallion and adding olive oil).

Cauliflower Soup with Crisp Garlic and Olive Oil

1/2 head cauliflower florets
5 cloves garlic, whole
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
1 tbs olive oil
salt

Steam the cauliflower and the 5 cloves of garlic until the cauliflower is very soft.

Add the cauliflower and garlic to a blender, and add about 1/2 cup of the steaming liquid. Blend until smooth. Add salt to taste.

In a small sautee pan, heat up some olive oil. When hot, add in the sliced garlic, and fry on one side until it browns.

Pour the cauliflower soup into a bowl and garnish with the browned, crisp garlic and some olive oil.

This was a very easy and quick food, perfect for Passover.

Broiled Salmon in Soy-Honey and Wasabi Sauces

2006-03-27T19:21:00.000-08:00

Broiled Salmon in Soy-Honey and Wasabi Sauces
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

After a food-filled trip to Southern California, it was time to lighten up the fare at our house. I had sushi for lunch today, which inspired me to prepare fish for dinner. While at work, I did some searching and came across this recipe at epicurious.com [recipe]. I added some shitake mushrooms, and we had an awesome, tasty dinner that was light and pretty healthy.
Here is the recipe from the link above:

For salmon
1/2 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
4 (6-oz) pieces salmon fillet

For sauces
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons wasabi powder
1 tablespoon water

Accompaniment: lime wedges

Marinate salmon:, Stir together mirin, soy sauce, vinegar, and ginger in a shallow dish. Add fish, skin sides up, and marinate, covered, at room temperature 10 minutes.

Preheat broiler.

Make sauces: Boil soy sauce, honey, and lime juice in a small saucepan, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 4 minutes.

Stir together wasabi powder and water in a small bowl.

Broil fish, skin sides down, on oiled rack of a broiler pan 5 to 7 inches from heat until fish is just cooked through, about 6 minutes.

Serve salmon drizzled with sauces.

Cooks' note:

• Soy-honey and wasabi sauces can be made 2 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings.

Gourmet
May 2001

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

We ended up using only 2 salmon filets, so it served 2 instead of 4, but everything else was the same.

For the mushrooms, I bought 6 shitake mushrooms and cut them into 1/4" slices. I heated up some vegetable oil in a sautee pan and let the mushrooms brown. Sauteeing the mushrooms at high heat lets them caramelize a little bit, adding some flavors. If they went in at lower heat, they would have steamed more than sauteed, and they would have been less flavorful.

Enjoy everyone, and leave me a comment if you end up making this.

Fresh Mozzarella, Zucchini and Garlic Pizza

2006-03-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

Fresh Mozzarella, Zucchini and Garlic Pizza
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Today I bring a before and after sequence. We will demonstrate today the magical qualities of heat.

It has the ability to turn this flacid concoction

into this beautiful pizza.

Here's how the magic happened:

The day before the magic happened, Antonia had made a batch of dough - a dough different than our usual pizza dough in that it had a little bit of sugar and less kneading time. Both of these made for the most delicious pizza dough I have had in... a week. The Trader Joe's dough is really good, too (but not as good as Toni's, of course).

On top of a batch of this dough, stretch ed out to fill our pizza pan (it's not a stone, but it works), went grated fresh mozarella, grated zucchini, and some finely chopped garlic. On top of that went a little bit of local olive oil.

Into a 425°F oven for 15 minutes.

[Note: The aforementioned 15 minutes is where teh magic happens.]

It was so good that anyone who would like to try it and shows up to my house will get a slice, even if I have to go out and buy the ingredients to make it.

Maitake Ravioli with Truffle Oil

2006-03-18T20:27:00.000-08:00

Maitake Ravioli with Truffle Oil
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

What is better than a going to the farmer's market, then coming home and cooking something with the spoils of the day? Nothing, that's what.

This morning, Antonia and I and the puppy went to the Farmer's Market. While walking past the stalls, I came across a fungal find that I could not pass up. Ever. Maitake mushrooms. How often do we see these in California? Almost never, I'd imagine. It turns out that the Solano Mushroom Growers (I think that is what the sign said) have started to grow maitake mushrooms. At $5 for 1/4 lb, they are not cheap, but also not an everyday find. I bought a quarter pound and started to think up what I could make with them.

When I got home, I remembered that there was a block of frozen pasta dough sitting in the freezer left over from when me made pasta 2 weekends ago. Perfect. Maitake Ravioli.

Maitake Ravioli with White Truffle Oil

1/4 lb maitake mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
2 tbs minced shallot
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tbs olive oil
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano if you are lucky and rich)
1 recipe pasta dough (see here)
white truffle oil
parsely, chopped for garnish

In a sautee pan, heat up the olive oil. When it is hot, add the shallots and sautee for ~30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and sautee for 2 minutes. Then add the garlic and sautee for one more minute. Move the mushroom mixture to a bowl and stir in the cheese.

Roll down the pasta dough to the 1 setting on a pasta machine. Mound 1 tablespoon of filling onto the center of the dough. Only use 1 half of the dough. Once there are enough mounds of filling to cover 1/2 of the strip of dough, fold over the other half and press the ravioli. Make sure when pressing the ravioli that you get out all of the air. When folding over the dough, wet your fingers and lightly wet one side of the dough (the side with the filling) where the dough halves are going to touch to get a good seal. Cut the ravioli apart and press the edges with a fork lightly.

Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil. A rolling boil may be to vigorous for the delicate ravioli. Let them boil for 4 minutes. Take them out with a slotted spoon and let them drain.

Dribble a little bit of white truffle oil over the ravioli and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

Mmmmmmmmmmm..... I can still taste truffle oil in my mouth. It is an expensive ingredient, but brings so much flavor to a dish.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti al Pesto con Gamberoni, or Celebratory Dinner

2006-03-06T10:58:00.000-08:00

Spaghetti al Pesto con Gamberoni
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Sunday night was a night to celebrate! I found out that I was accepted to the Viticulture and Enology Program at UC Davis. I will soon be a winemaker! To celebrate, I put together a dinner based around my all-time favorite sauce - pesto.

Spaghetti al Pesto con Gamberoni
Spaghetti with Pesto and Shrimp

1/2 box spaghetti
1 bunch basil, leaves only
1/4 c pine nuts
3 cloves garliic, chopped
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
olive oil, at least 1/2 cup
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
8 16/20 shrimp

To make pesto:
In a food processor, Add the basil, pine nuts and garlic. Turn on the processor and drizzle in the oil until a paste of the desired consistency is met. Add in the cheese. If the consistency becomes too thick, add in some oil, or even a little bit of water (shhh).

To make the pasta:
Add pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente or however you like your pasta.

To make shrimp:
Clean and devein the shrimp. Spinkle each with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Heat a skillet to medium high heat with a little bit of olive oil. When the pan is hot, add in the shrimp. Cook on the first side for 4-5 minutes and the second side for 3-4 minutes. On the second side, just cook until the shrimp are totally opaque.

Toss the pasta with the pesto and add the shrimp. Sprinkle with some parmesan and enjoy.

Next time you have pesto, think of me as a winemaker!

Time for a midweek omelette

2006-03-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

Mushroom Omelette
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

The beginning of a new month warranted a worthy breakfast. On the morning of the first, after waking up VERY early to let out the puppy, I had some extra time to think about breakfast. This is what I came up with.

Mushroom Omelette with Aged Cheddar

1 handful of sliced mushrooms
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 c cheese, grated
olive oil
salt
pepper

In a nonstick pan heated up to medium-high with some olive oil, add in the sliced mushrooms. Give them some time on each side to get a good brown. Since the mushrooms have a lot of water, they can take the high heat. Once the mushrooms are browned and soft, take the pan off the heat for 30 seconds and turn the burner down to medium-low. After 30 seconds, or when the sizzling dies down a little bit, add in the beaten eggs. Do a little pan-jiggle-spatula-swirl-in-opposite-directions move to form the curd. Once the omelette is almost set, add in the grated cheese and give it some time to melt. Salt and pepper to taste, and get the omelette ready for flipping out(!!!!). Do your bi-fold/tri-fold maneuver onto the plate, and enjoy!

Ginger Vinegarette + Peanut Butter = Crazy Delicious

2006-02-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

Crazy Delicious
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

While the title for this post was so easy to come up with (come on, you know you watched Lazy Sunday like 10 times) this dish was even easier!

As I walked in from work, knowing that I was supposed to go to the gym (I hurt! I hurt!), I needed to come up with a quick diversion. Dinner!, I thought.

Genius had struck.

Capellini in a Ginger-Peanut Sauce with Chicken and Carrots

1 pkg Trader Joe's® Egg Capellini
1/2 cup Amy's® Ginger Vinegarette
1/5-1/4 cup natural peanut butter.
2 baby carrots
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 chicken breasts
salt
pepper
olive oil

Set oven to 375ºF, get a big pot of water boiling
While the oven is heating up, sautee the garlic and shallots until translucent. Salt and pepper them. At this point, add in about 1/2-3/4 of the ginger vinegarette and take off the heat. Add in the peanut butter. Once the peanut butter is incorporated, use the rest of the vinegarette to thin out the sauce to a desired consistency. Add more dressing if necessary.

Now that the sauce is done, its time to start the chicken. Heat up a large skillet to medium-high/high with some olive oil. When the olive oil just starts to smoke, put the breasts in smooth side down (tender side up). LEAVE THEM ALONE! I know its hard, I can't even do it, but if you can leave those breasts alone for 5 minutes, they will get a great looking crust on them. After 5 minutes, flip the breasts over and stick the skillet in the oven. If you have plastic handles on your cookware, make sure that they are oven safe, or you will have a goopey mess.

Ok - sauce done, chicken in the oven.
The chicken is going to nap in its warm bedroom for about 12 minutes. In that time, all that is left to do is chop up some carrots (julienne, then cut the sticks in half) and cook the pasta. The pasta take 6-8 minutes, so everything should work out from here.

When the pasta is done, drain it, but leave a little bit of the water stuck to the pasta - the starchy water will help get the sauce to stick. Mix the pasta up with the carrots and sauce. When the chicken is done, take it out of the oven and slice it up. Toss it in with the pasta and you are ready to eat!

Remember, Ginger Vinegarette + Peanut Butter = Crazy Delicious!

FREE MSG!

2006-02-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

So, it apprears that MSG may not be as bad for us as once thought. I have always had that feeling. I mean really - its a salt of an amino acid. We make them every time we break down protiens. Jeffrey Steingraten, Food Editor for Vogue Magazine, makes an interesting point

"Two or three ounces of Parmesan cheese contain enough free glutamate to give a headache to anybody who claims to be sensitive to MSG, and yet I have never heard of a Parmesan Headache."

Well, there it is. I propose a campaign to reintroduce MSG into our restaurants. I mean, more flavor is good, right?
[via Slashfood]

An Original Creation

2006-02-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

Tumeric Tofu with Garlic and Onions
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Last night, for dinner #1 (I got hungry again - it's really not that much food.) I came up with an original creation, something that I haven't done in a while. It was fun to let out some culinary creativity. This dish is very simple but flowery and flavorful at the same time.

Tumeric Tofu with Onions and Garlic
1/4 block firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1 small yellow onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
tumeric
salt
pepper
red pepper flake
1 tbs white wine

Slice garlic thin, but not too thin as we don't want it to burn when the oil heats. Put the garlic slices into a suatee pan, and add 2 tbs olive oil to the pan. Turn the burner on to medium high. The garlic was put into the oil cold to let the flavors infuse into the oil over a longer period of time. When the garlic starts to sautee and has gained a little bit of color, add in the onion. Let the onion sautee for 5-6 minutes. Add some salt and pepper and a little bit of red pepper flake. When the onions are translucent and soft, but still with a little bit of crunch, take them out and reserve them. Into the hot pan, add the tofu. Leave it alone for a couple of minutes to let it brown. Toss around and try to get an even brown on the tofu. Add back the onion/garlic mixture and sprinkle with 1tbs tumeric. This stuff is yellow and seems to stain, so be careful. Once the tumeric has coated everything, give it a minute or two in the pan to heat everything toghether. Add in the 1tbs of white wine and let it boil off.

DONE!

This was really good and light. The tumeric gave it a bright yellow color in addition to a floral taste.

I plan on making this again soon, maybe even tonight with the remaining quarter of a block of tofu.

Enjoy!

I Must Photograph You!

2006-01-31T08:11:00.000-08:00

Sachertorte
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I'll admit right at the eighth word... I didn't make this cake. Antonia's mom made it for dinner on Friday night. One day I will make this wonderful cake - the fruity, chocolatey sachertorte. I believe it was invented in Austria [wikipedia]. Mine may not have a fancy napkin on the plate, but it did have a easy-to-make custard sauce (creme anglaise) to swim in. When Antonia and I were in Dinan, France, the chocolate cake that we had also was swimming in a creme anglaise and that cake was awesome. My little slice was striving for awesomeness.
I found this recipe on epicurious.com and I think it is great because it is made with no milk. I've found that soy milk can be used in almost anything that milk is used in - it just may need more reducing to thicken.
Anyway, the recipe is here.

Enjoy!

Holy god that's a lot of money

2006-01-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

Apparently a couple of bottles of wine sold at auction for ungodly sums of money. Check it out, have a small stroke, and do a double take.

Wine is Art [via Fermentation]

The Joy of Tofu, or Honey Tofu with Poppy Seeds

2006-01-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

Honey Tofu with Poppy Seeds
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

I love tofu. It's true. I'll admit that congealed soy curd is not the most appealing phrase to the ears, but oh, does my tongue love it. Admittedly, enjoying tofu is an acquired fondness. I think most of the acclimatization comes in getting used to the feel of tofu in the mouth, not the taste. Tastewise, tofu is a lot like mushrooms- they taste like whatever they are in or with.
Tofu is healthy, light, and easy to prepare.

So, if you don't already enjoy tofu, I plead with you to learn to love it - one day it might be our only form of sustenance.

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Shitake Mushrooms, Rice and Shallots

2006-01-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Shitake Mushrooms, Rice and Shallots
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

Last night when I got home, I offered to make Antonia dinner.

This is what came out :)

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Shitake Mushrooms, Rice and Shallots with Potato Stacks.

Chicken Breasts

2 Chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and pat dry with paper towels
1 shallot
10 shitake mushrooms
1/2 c cooked rice
salt
pepper
olive oil
paprika
2 Yukon Gold potatoes

To make the stuffing, I ran the shallot and mushrooms through the food processor (my Christmas present from Antonia!) until minced. With no food processor, I would have just chopped very fine with a knife.
I combined the mushroom mixture with the rice and a teaspoon of olive oil to bind it together. Salt and pepper were added.
I cut slits in the chicken breasts from the thick side - I slid the knife in the fat end and then rotated my wrist to cut a slit while trying to keep the opening relatively small. I then stuffed the stuffing into the slit. The tops of the chicken were rubbed with olive oil and salt, pepper and paprika'd. These were placed in a baking dish with a little bit of olive oil down to prevent sticking.

Potato Stacks

I took the 2 potatoes and sliced them as thin as I could with a knife. If you have a mandolin, you could probably get away with 1 potato - I had a lot of screw-up slices.
I brushed some olive oil on a sheet pan and lay the potatoes down, olive-oiled the top and added salt and pepper.

Cooking! Yeah!

The chicken started in the oven at 425°F. 10 minutes went by and I added the potatoes in. For the next 5 minutes both continued to cook at the same temperature. With 5 minutes left (or after 5 more minutes, being out of a total 20), I turned the oven up to 475°F. 3 More minutes and the potatoes came out, basically because they were starting to burn. 2 more minutes and teh chicken came out.

I took the most crisp 2 potato slices and used them for the top and bottom, and filled in the stack with the rest.

The salad was spinach and almonds with a mango dressing, prepared by Antonia.

The chicken was cooked perfectly. The stuffing could have used more flavor - cheese (try Mahon - its a Spanish cheese), thyme, sage, rosemary - all of which we didn't have. This would have made it a lot tastier.
The potato stack were great, I liked them a lot. I would add rosemary to some of the potato slices, too, if I had had the chance.

There it is, last night's dinner. The wine is a Pinto Grigio/Chardonnay blend from Cline Cellars - very fruity and easy to drink.

Macaroni and Cheese

2006-01-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

Macaroni and Cheese
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

After looking at the mouth-watering Coquillettes au Comte et Pousses d'Epinard", I had a hankering to introduce my variation on the ubiquitous theme.

Greg's Macaroni and Cheese

4 oz. gemelli, cooked al dente
2 tbs milk (I used soy milk - its what I have)
2-3oz Humboldt Fog cheese or any good goat cheese
salt
pepper
paprika

Heat up milk in a saucepan over medium heat. When it starts to scald (when you see steam coming up), add in the cheese, a couple sprinkles of paprike, salt and pepper. Whisk the sauce until the cheese is melted. The consistency will be a little bit thinner than the final product at this point, but if it seems too thin, add some more cheese in.

Once the cheese has melted, take the sauce off the heat. As it cools, it will set up and thicken a little bit. When it thickens, add in the pasta, toss to coat, and eat.

I love this version because the goat cheese is so light in contrast the the heavy feeling of cheddar.

I like the C&Z version as well - while we still have spinach growing in the backyard, I should try it.

Another Sunday, another Omelet

2006-01-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Mushroom and Red Dragon Cheddar Omelet
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

It appears that all omelet-related posts to this blog appear on the weekends. That makes sense, being that the weekend is the only time that I have 20-30 minutes to prepare myself breakfast. In honor of the weekend-omelet correlation, I have decided to rename Sunday to Omeletday.

Today, the inagural Omeletday, I made a new egg/fungus/milk-fungus creation (aka EFMF aka omelet). It is a Mushroom and Red Dragon Cheddar Omelet. I picked up the Red Dragon Cheddar at Trader Joe's in my neverending quest to try all cheeses. Red Dragon is Welsh cheddar spiked with whole mustard seeds and Welsh ale. It is surprisingly good. I usually don't approve of these McCheeses (like a McFlurry), but this one is great. I recommend it to anyone shopping at TJ's who is willing to try something new and is tired of electric orange cheese product.

Mushroom and Red Dragon Omelet

2 eggs, whipped with a fork
3 crimini mushrooms, sliced thin and sauteed.
1-2 oz (a little pile) of grated Red Dragon Cheddar.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Get a pan hot over medium-high heat. Rub some butter or margarine on the bottom of the pan. My pattern of choice is concentric circles out from the center, but I have been known to experiment with criss-cross and random butter-application patterns. Let the primary sizzle subside, then pour in the eggs. Swirl them around and scrape the eggs with a spatula for 10 seconds, building up a little bit of curd and distributing the raw egg to hot pan. Now let some of the egg cook. Add the cheese first, to let it melt on the hot egg, then the mushrooms on top to the middle third or outside half (from the handle), depending on if you are making a trifold or bifold omelet. I prefer trifold, as you can see :). Give it another 30-40 seconds and:
1. Bifold omelet - slide the filling-laden half onto a plate and use the lip of the pan to fold the empty half over, producing a bifold omelet.
2. Trifold omelet - with a spatula, fold the outside third of the omelet over the middle third. Slide it off the pan and again use the lip to fold the inside third onto the other thirds.

That's it. A wonderful, rich, filling omelet for the first ever Omeletday.

Try it, change it, do whatever you want to it, but join me in Omeletday every week!

Baked Tofu with Garlic Chard

2006-01-12T10:45:00.000-08:00

Baked Tofu with Garlic Chard
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

My first exposure to baked tofu came surprise! in Berkeley. Smart Alec's has a Tofu Sandwich made with baked tofu. Over the 4 years of eating in the South Campus area, this sandwich became one of my favorites, up with Pad See Ew from Thai Basil and Gypsy's Chicken.
In a quest to recreate this wonderful culinary creation, I set out over the years (with varying degree of success) to make my own baked tofu.

10 Jan marks the day when I accomplished my goal.

Baked Tofu with Garlic Chard

Baked Tofu

1 pkg firm tofu
1/3 c soy sauce (low-sodium for your bp!)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
juice of 1/2 lemon

Garlic Chard (from epicurious.com [Recipe])

1 bunch chard (oooh the colors)
2-3 tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced (the more the better)
Preheat oven to 375°F

Slice tofu into 3-4 slices the longest way (through its depth). Place those on 2 layers of paper towel on top of a baking sheet and put two more pieces of towel on top. Put another baking sheet on top and weigh it (I use a lot of cans) down to squeeze out excess water.
In a shallow dish, mix together the soy sauce, garlic, paprika, cumin seeds and lemon juice.

After the tofu has drained from about 20 minutes, put it into the marinade and let marinate for 20 minutes in the fridge, flipping along the way (one, twice, three times baked tofu).

Grease a baking sheet and place tofu on the sheet, put in the oven for 45 minutes.

When the tofu comes out, its done! Its so easy and tastes so good. I ate the leftovers on a sandwich with arugula and olive oil.

To make the chard, boil up a pot of water. Separate the ribs from the green leafy parts and chop up the ribs into 1/2" pieces. Boil the ribs from 5 minutes and take out and put aside. DO NOT DUMP OUT WATER! :) Roughly chop the leafy portion into strips and douse in boiling water for 3 minutes. Take out and put together with the ribs.

Heat up a saucepan to med-high with some olive oil in the bottom. Give the garlic 1 minute on each side, stirring constantly to make sure it doesn't burn. Add in the chard which has been thoroughly drained, sqeezed and pressed to remove as much water as possible. Give it 2 minutes in the pan to wilt and gain some flavor of the garlic. The par-cooking on the boiling water gets rid of the bitterness that develops in chard when cooking it quickly over relatively high heat.

We served it with some rice, but the tofu on a bed of the greens would be my plan for the baked tofu v2.0

Make this, it is easy and tasty! Let me know how it goes.

Just looking at the picture, I wish this was my lunch. Instead I get Antonia's Southwest Salad - a post to come....?

St. Andre on Melba Toasts - another great breakfast

2006-01-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

St. Andre on Melba Toasts
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

On the same trip to Trader Joe's that provided the ingredients for the Salame and Arugula Sandwich, I picked up a wedge of St. Andre cheese. I had never had this wonderfully mild cheese before - what a waste of youth; I could have been eating this cheese all my life!

Anyway, all it takes are some chunks of St. Andre and a few Melba toasts to create a wonderful breakfast. It's a very simple way to start the day; cheese and coffee. Maybe I'll start a movement called "Cheese and Coffee for Breakfast."

Who's with me?

Salame Sandwich with Mushroom Spread and Arugula

2006-01-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

Salami Sandwich with Mushroom Spread and Arugula
Originally uploaded by monkeycat!.

After a trip to pick up a new dryer, we found ourselves close to Trader Joe's in Sacramento. A quick runaround in TJs provided us with wine (not the one pictured), bread, arugula, mushrooms and salami.

What to do with all of these new ingredients? Make a sandwich, of course!

I had a salami sandwich on the savory challah roll that we baked a few days earlier. It was good, but it was missing something as it consisted of bread and meat.

Not to be defeated by a sandwich, I persevered to make a better salami sandwich.

Salami Sandwich with Mushroom Spread and Arugula

6-8 in baguette piece, cut in half
4-10 slices of salami, depending on the size
crimini (brown) mushrooms, slicked to 1/8"
olive oil
tomato paste
water
oregano
red pepper flakes
baby arugula
salt
pepper

In a sautee pan, heat some olive oil to med-high heat. Add in the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Let the mushrooms color on the first side, then flip them over or mix them up to get them softened, but not floppy. Add in a big tablesppon of tomato paste and cook until the paste is warmed through. Add in a shake of oregano and 3 shakes of red pepper flake (or 2 or 1 shake, to your heat-index preference). Slowly add in some water, 1 tsp at a time, until the consistency of a spread is attained. Dump the tomato/mushroom concoction onto a chopping board and chop up the mushrooms into small pieces for easier spreading (although not required, it makes its easier to cut the sandwich in half).

Time for assembly:
Drizzle some olive oil on each side of the baguette. Lay down the salami on the bottom half. Spread the spread over the salami and pile on the arugula. Salt and pepper it, close it up and cut in half. You are ready to eat!

A accompanied my sandwich with a balsamic vinegarette arugula salad and a glass of 2001 White Oak Syrah. Both were very good.

So, mission accomplished. I created a much better version of a salami sandwich

I even have a testamonial:
"It was transcendent. I'll never look at cured meats the same way again." -Antonia Oakley, Davis, CA

A victory for real food

2006-01-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

McDonalds driven out of town by a real baker. Music to my ears, fennel to my tastebuds.
The baker who beat McDonald's [via Slashfood]