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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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]

Blogged on Slashfood!

Today one of my sandwiches got blogged on Slashfood.
Food Porn, Healthy Version

Yeah food!