I'm Still Alive!
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
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Saturday, March 07, 2009
A Future Vineyard - UC Davis
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.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Multicultural Dinner
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.
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.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Fresh Onions
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.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Yeast Rolls
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Single Serving Lunch - Spaghetti alla Carbonara
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.
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Back to Cooking, Back to Blogging
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.
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.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Pasta with Tomatoes and Zucchini
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.
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.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Pear Preserves
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...
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...
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Pesto Scrambled Eggs
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.
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
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.
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.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Baking Baguettes
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???
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???
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The closest I have come to recreating a Cheeseboard pizza
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!
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!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Egg Salad Sandwich
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!
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!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Tasting: 1986 Wines
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.
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