Chef Julia

PB 2 or Peanut Butter?

2012-01-27T21:01:00.000-06:00

I recently read about a product hailed as a great way to get the taste of peanut butter without all the fat, called PB2. I was shopping for groceries and saw it sitting next to the regular peanut butter and out of curiousity picked up a jar. PB2 is mixed with equal parts water and 2 tablespoons has 45 calories compared to 200 calories for 2 tablespoons of my usual organic chunky peanut butter. Sadly, I am not a fan. The PB2 tastes flat and unpleasant to me. I would rather have 1 tablespoon of the real stuff. Now I have a jar of PB2 to give away.
Now, for a good way to use peanut butter, regular of PB2 if you like it, is for breakfast. A quick breakfast is a slice of multigrain toast (I use Artisan Baking Company multigrain bread, my favorite bread and if you are fortunate enough to get some you'll see why. Artisan Baking Company is on White Settlement Road, Fort Worth and at the Cowtown Farmers Market Saturday mornings.)
Spread the peanut butter on the toast and top with 1/2 of a banana, sliced. I have several quick, standard breakfasts for workday mornings that I can make quickly and either eat at the counter or on the way to work. I will write about my top 5 breakfasts and lunches soon.

Veggie Chili

2012-01-26T06:41:00.000-06:00

Everyone in my family loves my beef chili so I make it from time to time and freeze bowls of it. That way when I'm eating some weird dinner, maybe a strange fish, my husband can just grab a bowl of chili. I made beef chile and decided to make an additional pot of chili last night, with half the calories of the beef chili and filled with fresh vegetables. There are many ways to make veggie chili so don't feel locked into my recipe. Basically you can take any fresh vegetables, stock, a few seasonings and beans and you have veggie chili. I added a cup of cooked farro which has a meaty qualtiy. Farro is a grain product available in the bulk section at Central Market. You could also add "meat" crumbles.

Vegetable Chili

1 onion

2 bell peppers, 1 red, 1 yellow, chopped

2 carrots, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

3 cloves roasted garlic

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups pinto beans, cooked (I used canned, rinsed)

1 16 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1 T New Mexico red chile powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cumin

freshly ground pepper and sea salt

1 cup farro, cooked

2 T cilantro, chopped

Saute onions and peppers in dutch oven sprayed with non stick spray until softened. Add the other vegetables, beans, spices, and stock, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add farro at the end.

Serve with cilantro and shredded Cabot 75% reduced fat cheese.

Divas' Dinner Party

2012-01-24T06:34:00.000-06:00

Divas’ Dinner Party

January 21, 2012

Back in October I, along with a group of women who worked on the Azle Taste Tour, volunteered to help with a special dinner party that raised money for the Azle Community Caring Center. The Divas' Dinner Party, in which a group of women would decorate the table, drive guests to the dinner, cook, serve, and clean up after, was the brainchild of Dawn Zuilhof. Dawn is the treasurer, Board of Directors, Community Caring Center. She envisioned this event, described it in the live auction in October, and in the end two "Divas'" parties were sold. The cook volunteers, Dawn, Jackie Barnes, Susie Bunch, and I got together to plan the menu. We decided on a very special five course meal and divided up the various dishes. The guests were picked up by the driver volunteers and arrived at 6:00 at the lovely home of Rebecca Freer on Eagle Mountain Lake. The table had been beautifully set by the group in charge of decorating. The volunteers who served the food would tell the cooks how guests responded to each of the courses. Based on their reports I'd say the dinner was a big success!

First course

Canapes

Greek Salad Skewers by Susie Bunch

Smoked Salmon in Puff Pastry by Julia Dunaway

Gancia, Prosecco

Second Course

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup with Chile Cheddar Croutons by Jackie Barnes

Mini Muffins and Rosemary Bread Sticks by Susie Bunch (not pictured)

Primarius, Pinot Noir

Third Course

Crab Cakes with Frisee, Mango Salsa, and Jalapeno Remoulade by Julia Dunaway

Intermezzo

Lavender sorbet by Susie Bunch

Fourth Course

Roasted Stuffed Tenderloin of Beef with Cherry Wood Smoked Bacon, Mushroom Ragout, and Cabernet Reduction (by Julia Dunaway)

(for one guest, Stuffed Chicken Breast with Cabernet Reduction)

Creamy Mashed Potatoes (by Dawn Zuilhof and Jackie Barnes)

Sauteed Haricots Verts with Roasted Red Bell Pepper, and Pine Nuts (by Jackie Barnes)

Silver Palm, Cabernet Sauvignon

Lovely table setting done by the decorators!

Fifth Course

Dessert Trio

Bailey's Irish Cream Mini Cheesecake (by Susie Bunch)

Key Lime Parfait with Raspberry Coulis (by Dawn Zuilhof)

Banana Cream Pie Parfait with Chocolate and Caramel Sauces (by Susie Bunch)

Robert Mondavi, Moscato D’Oro

Susie Bunch, Rebecca Freer, (hostess), Chef Julia

Chef Julia and Jackie Barnes

Susie putting the finishing touches on the sorbet

almost all the guests about to sit down to dinner

Albondigas Locas Soup (Mexican Meatball)

2012-01-23T07:11:00.000-06:00

I stopped for a quick lunch last week at Sweet Tomatoes on W 7th St. in Fort Worth. I like the fact that I can choose from a variety of fresh vegetables. I skip all the heavy stuff and enjoy my salad with some light dressing. I also selected a cup of soup from their big selection, called Albondigas Locas, and was pleasantly surprised. It was spicy and had a mixture of vegetables and rice along with some little meatballs, but although it tasted good it was waaaay oversalted. I decided right then and there that I would make my own version of that soup soon, which I did last night. My soup, pictured, was absolutely delicious, however in my first recipe I used a lot more tomato. I have changed my recipe to decrease the tomato because I will like it better, but you can't go wrong if you change this recipe to suit your own taste. Roasting the meatballs on a rack allows the grease to drain before you put them in your soup. This soup was not oily or oversalted like so many restaurant soups. I hope you try it. My husband ate 2 huge bowls and my picky daughter who says she doesn't like soup enjoyed it too.

Albondigas Locas Soup

For the meatballs:
1 pound ground sirloin (or turkey)
1/4 cup fat free milk
1 slice whole wheat bread (or sub 1/2 cup cornmeal for gluten free)
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to Convect Roast 375, or bake 400
Place the bread in a large bowl. Pour the milk on top and let it soak for a minute or tow. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients, except the beef and mix well. Add the beef and mix gently. Form into 1 inch or smaller meatballs and place on rack on top baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray.
Bake until browned, 20-25 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Soup

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups chicken stock or a combination of chicken and beef stock ( I use Swanson reduced sodium)
1/2 cup long grain rice (or sub brown rice)
2-3 tomatoes, diced or 1 cup tomato puree or canned tomatoes
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce with 1 T sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves
1 zucchini, peeled, diced large
1 red bell pepper, diced
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
fresh limes
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a large stockpot, heat the oil. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and saute until onion is tender. Add the garlic and stir about 30 seconds. Add 8 cups of stock, rice, tomatoes, chile, cumin, and bay leaves. Boil, stirring frequently so rice doesn't stick. Lower to simmer and add the zucchini and red pepper.
Add the meatballs to the soup. Simmer until the rice and vegetables are tender, 20-30 minutes.
Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime and chopped cilantro.
My husband wanted it to be like tortilla soup so he put crushed tortilla chips and grated cheese on top of his.

Great Grilled Shrimp

2012-01-21T08:09:00.000-06:00

I was so busy yesterday getting ready for a big event tonight--a "Divas' Dinner Party" where a group of us are putting on a fancy 5 course dinner that someone won in a live auction to benefit the Azle Community Caring Center. I am making a few dishes so getting ready is a little hectic, however I am excited about the fabulous food we are preparing and I know it will be a lot of fun. While I was shopping at Central Market I noticed Texas Gulf shrimp, the large ones, on sale so I picked up a pound to prepare for our dinner last night. Grilled shrimp is easy to prepare and low in calories if you make it yourself and don't slather it with tons of butter and oil. I marinated it in lime juice, jalapeno, garlic, soy sauce and cilantro, tossed it on the hot grill for a total of 5 minutes and we were ready to eat it. I served it with a brown rice quinoa blend and salad. The shrimp was sweet and juicy and my husband devoured about 8 of them. My entire dinner had a total of 300 calories and it was a lot of food!

Spicy Grilled Shrimp

1 pound large Gulf shrimp, peel and deveined, tails left on
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 T low sodium soy sauce
freshly ground sea salt and pepper
2 tsp olive oil

Place all ingredients in a bowl or zip loc bag for 10 minutes. Heat the grill (or use a skillet) to medium high. I oil the grill with a paper towel and tongs to keep food from sticking. If using a skillet, spray with non stick spray. Cook shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side, being careful not to overcook or it will become tough. Sprinkle cooked shrimp with a little chopped cilantro.

Soleil Omelet

2012-01-19T07:31:00.000-06:00

We once had a little cafe in Azle for called Cafe Soleil. Chef Paula Ambrose made fantastic omelets and I loved to get her "Soleil omelet", filled, as I remember, with sun dried tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, and goat cheese. It had a brown buttery taste, so I imagine she used real butter in the pan. My lighter version uses egg and whites and a little olive oil. The combination of assertive sun dried tomatoes with the creamy goat cheese and a little crunch of the greens is irresistable. A piece of Gwin Grimes' Artisan Baking Company Harvest 9 grain toast on the side makes this one of my favorite breakfasts.

Soleil Omelet

1 egg, 2 whites beaten
2 small crimini mushrooms, sliced thin
1 T chopped sun dried tomatoes (I use Bella San Luci brand in a jar)
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 handful baby spinach
1 ounce goat cheese, cut into small pieces

Heat skillet on medium high heat and spray with non stick spray. Saute mushrooms and scallion for 4 minutes.
Remove and set aside. Wipe out skillet.
Heat 1 tsp olive oil or use olive oil spray in same skillet. If using olive oil, spread around pan with paper towel. When pan is hot and drop of water sizzles, add eggs. Move eggs around to cook evenly, but do not overcook or brown the eggs. Reduce heat if necesssary. Add cooked mushrooms, tomatoes, scallions, goat cheese and the spinach. Fold over, cook briefly and remove to plate.

Soup's On

2012-01-18T07:29:00.001-06:00

There's nothing like a pot of homemade soup on a cold day.
I prefer to make my own soup because I know what's in it.
I have purchased soup from restaurants and grocery stores and find them to usually be way oversalted, greasy, or suffering from being kept hot for too long. Making soup is not too hard and well worth the trouble. One of my favorites is butternut squash soup. You can use fresh whole butternut squash or buy a package of already cubed squash at Costco. If you use a whole squash, prick it with a fork and place it in the microwave for a minute. The skin will soften enough to cut it easily. I learned this trick from my mother when she made Japanese kabocha, a very hard pumpkin/squash.
Here's my simple recipe for Spicy Butternut Squash Soup, the lightened up version.
I have a more complicated gourmet version I will post another time.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup
Olive oil spray
1 cup onion, diced
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 T minced garlic
2 tsp fresh sage, minced (or use 1 tsp dry sage)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
8 cups roasted butternut squash
4 cups reduced sodium fat free chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup skim milk
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper to taste

To roast the squash, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cut up squash with seeds removed, on oiled sheet pan. Roast for 35 minutes, turning twice during coooking. Cool slightly and scoop out of skin.

Saute onion, jalapeno, garlic, sage, red pepper and cinnamon in large pot sprayed with olive oil spray over medium heat. Cook until vegetables are softened, approximately 5 minutes. Add squash and broth and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for 20 minutes. Puree soup with immersion blended or transfer soup to blender in small batches. Mix in milk at the end. Salt and pepper to taste.

End of the week stir fry

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

I always have a lot of vegetables in my refrigerator since I have salads every day and use a variety of vegetables in other dishes as well. My favorite way of using up all the "ends and pieces" of these vegetables is to cut them up and stir fry them with some type of meat or tofu. This weekend I made stir fried chicken and vegetables. I have posted this before but it is worth repeating. My private student, Linda Johnson, makes versions of "stir fry" frequently and she has developed quite a reputation for her delicious stir fry.

Master Recipe for Stir-Fried Vegetables and Meat

Step 1:
Choose a protein
3/4 lb. steak, pork, or chicken thinly sliced
3/4 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
12 oz extra firm tofu, cubed
Freeze meats first for easier slicing. Place cut meat in bowl and drizzle with 1 T low sodium soy sauce or Tamari, 1 T wine, sherry or Sake, if desired. Set aside.

Step 2:
Prepare 3 cups of any vegetables:
Sliced carrots, celery, bell peppers, onions, shallots, quartered mushrooms, sliced bok choy or cabbage, whole snow peas, sliced asparagus, baby spinach, halved cherry tomatoes, blanched brocolli or cauliflower florets, thawed or fresh peas or edamame, fresh or frozen corn or baby corn, cubed eggplant, sliced or cubed zucchini or yellow squash. If it can't be cooked in a couple minutes pre-cook it by blanching in boiling water or a couple minutes in the microwave. For a spicy stir-fry slice up some jalapeno peppers. If you don't feel like making a sauce, just use the very simple "sauce", which is just some garlic, ginger and soy sauce, then drizzle a little sriracha on top.

Prepare garlic and ginger by mincing 2 cloves of garlic and 1 T fresh ginger.

Prepare garnish: Thinly slice scallions, chop peanuts, slice up some jalapenos, chop some cilantro and set aside.

Choose a sauce:

Very simple
2 cloves garlic
1 T fresh ginger
1 T reduced sodium soy sauce

Spicy
1/2 c chicken broth (low-sodium canned is fine)
1-2 T soy sauce or tamari (I use reduced sodium.)
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp hot red pepper flakes or chili sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
Mix together

Sweet and Sour
3/4 c chicken broth
1/4 c ketchup
2 tsp soy sauce or tamari
3 T rice vinegar
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Mix together

Simple sauce:
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch
1 T soy sauce or tamari
1 T hoisin or Oyster sauce
1 T Chinese rice wine or sherry
(or leave out the Hoisin or Oyster for a clear sauce)

Drain marinade from the protein. Have all ingredients by the pan. Heat pan until very hot, then add 1 T vegetable oil. Cook the protein for a couple minutes. For tofu, brown on both sides, don't stir. Remove from pan and set aside.
Wipe out the pan, heat again, add another T of oil. Add the garlic and ginger, 2 minced scallions, a pinch of salt and sugar. Stir fry 30 seconds. Add the vegetables and cook until tender/crisp, then add meat an sauce and heat for 3 minutes. Add this point you can add some cooked noodles, either wheat or rice noodles which were previously cooked and drained well.
Garnish with the scallions, peanuts, cilantro. Don't forget the garnish--it really adds something.
Serve with rice if you didn't use noodles.

Guiltless Quiche

2012-01-15T09:44:00.000-06:00

I'm always looking for something special for Sunday morning breakfast. I was thinking about a quiche I had years ago at Angelsgate B & B in Bryan, Texas. The owner called it "picante quiche". I looked in my recipe collection and found the recipe which called for lots of cheese and sour cream. Hmmm, how to remake this.....
So here is my new version which has 215 calories as opposed to the original version which I made for my husband with cheddar cheese and a serving of crumbled breakfast sausage which had 466 calories.
Be sure to place the ramekins on a baking sheet before you put them in the oven or it will be hard to handle them when they're hot. You can make customized versions of this dish to meet all the preferences in your family.

Picante Quiche
makes 1 serving

1 egg
2 whites
1 T sour cream
1 ounce 75% reduced fat Cabot cheddar
1 T finely minced scallion
1 T Joe T Garcia's medium salsa
dash of garlic powder
freshly ground salt and pepper
dash of paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a ramekin with non stick spray. I used an 8 ounce size.
Beat egg and whites well. Add sour cream and mix until light and well incorporated.
Add dash of garlic powder and freshly ground sea salt and pepper.
Grate the cheese and sprinkle it in the bottom of the ramekin. Add the salsa and scallions.
Pour the egg mixture on top. Sprinkle top with paprika. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes, checking after 20 minutes. It's done when the center is set, but take it out before it's completely set or it will be dry.
I had it with a slice of Applegate Farms turkey bacon, 35 calories, and a small piece of Artisan Baking Company Harvest 9 Grain toast, 50 calories, so my 300 calorie goal was met and it was very large, satisfying and delicious dish.

French Toast

2012-01-14T13:25:00.000-06:00

French Toast can be a nightmare if you're trying to lighten things up. An order of Sonic French toast sticks has 500 calories and restuarant plates of stuffed French toast can be close to 1,000. I wanted French toast this morning that fit within my breaksfast calorie range of under 300 calories for grains, fruit, and protein.

Yesterday I picked up my weekly loaf of bread of Artisan Baking Company on White Settlement Road.

It is open from 9-1 on Fridays, so if you want artisan bread made with the highest quality ingredients that tastes like bread is supposed to taste, then make a trip there, or go to the Cowtown Farmers Market on Saturday mornings where Artisan has a stand. I had a loaf of Harvest 9-grain bread, one of my two favorites, the other being Multigrain bread.

Recipe
4 slices Harvest bread (or multigrain bread of your choice)
2 eggs, 2 whites, beaten

1/4 cup soy milk

1/2 T Sun Crystals (stevia and sugar product)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients and place in 13 x 9 pan. Add bread slices and allow to soak up the liquid. Turn bread a few times.

Heat a large skillet on medium high. Spray with non-stick spray and add bread. Brown on on side, flip, and continue cooking. Reduce heat so bread cooks all the way through.

Serve with a little maple syrup as you can. I used 1/2 T, 25 calories, which I prefer over fake or sugar free syrups.

My delicious serving of French toast was 185 calories. Although I didn't I could have added a piece of chicken apple breakfast sausage from Applegate Farms. I had some fruit and was satisfied.

A salad a day.....

2012-01-13T07:17:00.000-06:00

Salads don't have to be boring. Taking a salad for lunch nearly every day is a lot simpler if all the ingredients are prepared ahead of time and ready to go. On Sundays I wash and dry a head of red leaf lettuce and a bag of mixed field greens using a salad spinner. If you don't have one I highly recommend it. If your lettuce is not dry it will wilt and turn brown quickly but dried in the spinner and placed either back in the salad spinner as a bowl (without the insert) or in a zip loc bag lined with a paper towel, the lettuce will keep for several days. Now I know you can buy big tubs of already washed lettuce or bags of it and it can be good or not so good, depending on the brand and how longs it's been on the grocery store shelf. I prefer to choose the lettuce myself and only buy it for a few days at a time. I find the big tubs start tasting icky way before I'm done with them. I buy a bell pepper, cucumbers and carrots. I get the fresh organic carrots with the greens still attached at Central Market--they are so sweet. Yes, you can buy the bags of carrot type things that are already washed and ready to eat, but I find them to be bland. If you don't love your salad you will not want to eat it frequently and salads are very filling and satisfying IF they are made with quality ingredients.
Add some sliced red onion, avocodos, black beans, feta cheese, tomatoes, and pecans or almonds and you have a complete meal. Don't be afraid to use an avocado. You can use a quarter of it at a time and tightly wrap the rest, seed and skin, in plastic wrap. I buy a container of feta cheese or a log of goat cheese to use in salads or omelets. I use my low fat balsamic vinaigrette for dressing.
So this weekend I will buy a new supply of salad ingredients for next week and I hope you will too.

New Zealand King Salmon at Pappadeaux

2012-01-12T07:08:00.001-06:00

My usual behavior is to let eating out at a restaurant throw me off track, gain back the pound or two I struggled to lose all week and I'm back to square one. Well, I made a decision to quit doing that this year and figure out how to enjoy restaurant meals even while I'm losing weight. I was tested in this decision last night when we had dinner at Pappadeaux Restaurant on our way back from a long trip to Love Field to pick up my son, Glenn. I know what's on their menu so it's not a big challenge to figure out what to eat (or not to eat!)

They do have a new section called, "naked fish" where you choose a plain fish and a sauce, however you can also just choose a fish with no sauce. I had the New Zealand King Salmon, chargrilled with spaghetti squash. Knowing there was probably a big ladle of butter on the squash, I asked to have no butter on it.

I ordered the house salad and a side of light Greek dressing which I drizzled on the salad, very lightly.

Although I normally have a glass of wine, share the Ceasar salad with Steve, have at least one piece of bread, fish with a rich sauce and dirty rice, and maybe even a bite or two of dessert, I did not feel deprived. I am losing weight, feeling good, and not about to get off track after my commitment this year.
The formula for any restaurant meal if you're really serious about losing weight is simple, but I don't have time this morning to go into details. More to come later.

Ultimate Healthy Breakfast Sandwich

2012-01-11T07:24:00.000-06:00

Start with a whole wheat Rudi's organic muffin (120 calories), brown a slice of Applegate Farms nitrate free turkey bacon (35 calories), add an egg cooked in the non-stick pan with Pam (80 calories), sprinkle on an ounce of Cabot's 75% reduced fat cheddar (35 calories) and there you have it--a 270 calorie delicious breakfast sandwich. If you want to lower it even more use an egg white instead of the whole egg and it would be 220 calories. I use the whole egg for the vitamin D in the yolk. Contrast that to a McDonald's bacon, egg, cheese biscuit with 420 calories, 1160mg of sodium and 23 grams of fat.

My meatless Monday lunch

2012-01-10T07:04:00.000-06:00

Trying to cut back on meat is a good way to eat lighter and I really like the Amy's "burgers". I've tried the Texas burger and yesterday tried the California burger for the first time. I usually have a package of whole wheat tortillas on hand. Using the wrap idea again I defrosted the burger for 30 seconds on high in the microwave, browned it and cooked it for a few minutes in a skillet sprayed with Pam. I cut it into 3 sections and lined the section down the middle of the tortilla, added a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, rolled it up and wrapped it tightly with saran wrap since I was taking it to work for lunch.

I made a salad of mixed greens (already washed on Sunday), cucumbers (already cut up on Sunday), and tomatoes.

I also tried a new salad dressing that is simpler and lighter than my signature balsamic vinaigrette.

1 T Extra Virgin olive oil

1 T water

1 tsp Balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp honey

I simply put all the ingredients in a small plastic container, added some freshly ground sea salt and pepper, a dash of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute (you could also add some fresh herbs such as thyme or other dried herbs on hand), shook it up and put it in the bag with my wrap. At lunch time I mixed up the salad with about half of the dressing above and placed a generous portion inside the wrap and re-rolled it.

Outstanding, and only 300 calories. A snack of hummus and carrot sticks later was all I needed.

By the way, another great find from my new favorite store, Costo, is their prepared hummus. Now, of course I can make fantastic hummus anytime I want, but it's not something I feel like doing at 6 AM before work. The hummus comes in prepacked containers, 50 calories each, and tastes pretty good, and I'm pretty picky about eating any pre-made foods. Give it a try sometime. Eat it with cucumber or carrot sticks to get more vegetables in your day.

Chirashizushi in honor of my mother

2012-01-08T17:35:00.001-06:00

New Version

My mother's version

Today was the annual Fort Worth Japanese Society New Year Party, a day when over 100 society members gather to celebrate the New Year, share Japanese food in a pot luck, win raffle prizes, and see old friends. My mother always loved to go and tried to talk me into going with her. I usually said I was too busy with church, children, or something. Now that I'm on the board of directors I go to almost all the events and seeing her old friends, all the little 80 something year old Japanese ladies, I smile to myself and know that my mother would be so happy that I'm involved. Whenever my mother went to pot lucks she had some often requested favorite dishes. I watched her make her version of Chirashizushi, scattered sushi, many times. Today I made two versions, one with brown rice, shrimp, salmon, and imitation crab, the other exactly like my mother's, with vegetables only. Truthfully, parts of her version were much better, and some elements of mine were better, so I have combined the best of both parts for this recipe.

Chirashizushi Recipe

2 1/4 cups Japanese Rice
1/4 cup sushi vinegar (seasoned rice vinegar)
8 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups of warm water
1 T soy sauce
1 T sugar
1 tsp mirin
3 eggs
1/2 T sugar
1 cucumber, julienned (1/8 by 2 inches)
1/2 lb. sushi grade salmon
1/2 lb. sushi grade tuna
4 ounces lump crab
2 sheets of nori, toasted and cut into thin strips, julienne size
1 avocado, diced

Prepare the Japanese rice by washing it well with cold water. .Place rice and 2 1/2 cups water in a rice cooker, or pan and soak for 30 minutes. If using a pan, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked..
Spread the hot rice in a large bowl and add the vinegar. Fold the rice gently with a rice spatula and fan it until it cools off.
Meanwhile remove stems from the shiitake and slice thinly. Heat 2/3 cup of the water used for rehydrating shiitake in a medium pan. Add shiitake and soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Simmer shiitake on low heat until liquid is almost gone. Set aside.
Beat eggs in a bowl and add 1/2 T sugar, a dash of salt and a dash of soy sauce. Oil a medium skillet and pour a ladle of egg mixture into the skillet and made a thin omelet-like a crepe. Turn over, remove to a plate. Make several of these thin omelet sheets and then cut into thin strips.
Cut the salmon and tuna into uniform, thin slices. Break the crab meat into uniform pieces.
Cut the avocado into 1/2 inch squares.
Spread the rice in an attractive serving bowl. Artfully arrange the shiitake mushrooms, fish, crab, cucumber, omelet strips and avocado. Top with strips of nori.

Feel free to use any type of fresh fish, cooked shrimp, or even stips of teriyaki chicken for your chirashizushi. If you order this dish in a sushi restaurant the chef will prepare it with a wide variety of fresh sashimi, some vegetables, and egg. I order it at Sushi Axiom and Japanese Palace and it's always wonderful.

Goat Cheese Salad with Grilled Salmon at Gogo Gumbo

2012-01-07T22:19:00.000-06:00

Goat Cheese Salad with Grilled Salmon at Gogo Gumbo in Boyd, an unassuming little place with some of the best seafood around.
It's not far from Azle so we are fortunate to be able to dine there often, however since their food is so good it's hard to eat "healthy". That's because I am often tempted to taste my husband's seafood rigatoni in jalapeno cream sauce, or start watching people getting desserts that are housemade and award winning, such as the 2 die 4 or the banana cream pie with chocolate and caramel sauces and suggest Steve order a piece so I can have a "bite".
But last night I had the Goat Cheese Salad, a salad of mixed greens with thinly sliced Fuji apple, dates, and a pecan crusted slice of warm goat cheese dressed in the house balsamic vinaigrette. I added the grilled salmon. Every bite was perfect. There are other healthy dishes on the menu such as the cedar plank salmon with fresh vegetables and whole grain medley. I strongly suggest you head to Gogo Gumbo at the earliest opportunity no matter how far way you live. It will be worth it. Bring your own wine or beer. They have a Facebook page so look them up.

Spinach is my friend

2012-01-06T07:10:00.000-06:00

I like raw spinach in salads mixed with other salad greens, but I much prefer it cooked, but not overcooked. Overcooked spinach is awful and maybe why a lot of people think they don't like cooked spinach. You can buy washed, ready to eat spinach anywhere now and it's usually in huge plastic bins, or my preference, a bag of local, ready to eat spinach from Central Market.

If you take it out of the bag where it's been pressed to take up as little space as possible it looks like an enormous amount, but once properly cooked it will shrink down before your eyes. The best way to prepare it is by heating a small amount (2 tsp) of olive oil in a large skillet, adding a few slices of garlic until it sizzles for a minute. Remove the garlic, unless you want to eat it, which is fine. The pan should be very hot--don't be afraid. Add as much spinach as you want, pile it up high, and then using tongs start turning if over a few times. When it's wilted, but still bright green and doesn't even look cooked all around, get it out of the pan. Sprinkle a little freshly ground sea salt and pepper, a few red pepper flakes and enjoy!
I served it for dinner with polenta, roasted mushrooms, and chicken sausage. This morning I will use my leftover spinach and mushrooms in an omelet made with 1 egg and 2 whites, with feta cheese and a small portion of brown rice. I always have brown rice in my freezer, stored in sandwich size ziploc bags. This is something I learned from my mother, who ate Japanese rice nearly every day. When she lived alone she would cook rice and freeze it, which I thought was weird at the time since I had a big family and there were never enough leftovers to freeze much of anything. But, it is a great way to always have fresh brown rice on hand and only takes 1 minute to heat up in the microwave.

Sandwich cravings

2012-01-05T07:16:00.000-06:00

Sandwich cravings come along sometimes, especially after seeing a giant flatbread wrap filled with turkey, cream cheese spread, and vegetables in a magazine. Of course I'm not going to make myself a 1,000 calorie sandwich, but I was able to get the craving out of my system by making my own version.

One whole wheat tortilla (Central Market)
2 ounces 3 pepper turkey breast (Deli at Central Market roasts turkey breast daily--always good)
1 ounce reduced fat swiss cheese
organic red leaf lettuce
Texas hothouse local tomato
whole grain mustard

I held it together with toothpicks and it was a fabulous lunch, along with a Gala apple.

Roasted Green Beans

2012-01-03T21:46:00.000-06:00

I picked up a 32 ounce bag of green beans, "hand-trimmed haricot vert" at Costco the other day (same day I bought the seaweed snacks) and decided to use them tonight with my simple meal of salad and chicken burger. Don't laugh, but the chicken burger was a sweet caramelized onion chicken burger, gluten free, no preservatives, 150 calories and also from Costco. Hey, if I don't make this easy it won't work! Chefs can't make gourmet meals every day, especially when there has to be time for exercise.

The green beans were tossed with some smashed garlic, a little mustard, tarragon, olive oil and freshly ground salt and pepper. They were roasted in a hot oven and developed nice caramelized areas and the flavor was outstanding. Only 1 tablespoon of olive for the entire pound of green beans, and that could even be reduced. Next time I'll post a photo.

Oven Roasted Haricot Vert
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
1 pound haricot vert (or regular green beans) trimmed
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 cup water
1 T EVOO
2 tsp chopped tarragon, or any herbs
2 tsp whole grain mustard
Freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Toss green beans with all ingredients. Place on a large sheet pan and roast for 20 minutes. If they are still too crunchy for your taste, reduce heat to 325 and continue roasting until desired tenderness, about 5 more minutes.

Seaweed-my all time favorite healthy snack

2012-01-02T16:42:00.001-06:00

Here's the best one money can buy--seaweed. Yes, that's right. A case of roasted seaweed snacks can be found at Costco for abour $6.00 for 12 packs. Only 30 calories, 0 fat, 50 mg sodium and it's even good for you. Funny thing is I was eating Korean roasted seaweed for years, buying it in the Korean store and eating it from a big sheet. My family thought I was weird, and then I saw cases of the same seaweed at Costco. Who's laughing now?
Try it and see if you like it. If you don't like seaweed I found lots of other good snacks at Costco, Lara bars, Clif Mojo bars, dried fruit, etc. Just don't eat the whole thing at one time because those bars have about 200 calories each. I eat half and save the other half for another time.
I worked out on the treadmill earlier and now I'm on my way to meet Sandra at The Barn for an hour, then off to the Tri County Dog Club to train my boxer, Mochi. Somewhere in there I'll have a salad with red pear, a little blue cheese and my signature balsami vinaigrette with a few spiced pecans.
I'll post that recipe later.

365 Days of Healthy Eating Challenge

2012-01-01T20:40:00.002-06:00

September 2006

I have been overweight for ages, sometimes losing a few pounds and then gaining them back. It's been a big struggle and harder in recent years to get weight off.
I worked really hard in 2011 to get healthier. In April 2011 I started working out at a private weightlifting club, The Barn, in Azle, with Sandra Kidd, a personal trainer. She is a competitive body builder and is very serious about what she does. I have been meeting with her 2-3 times a week since April and managed to drop almost 14 pounds and get into much better shape, necessitating smaller work clothes and a new wardrobe of skinny jeans and more fitted clothes. My BMI dropped into the normal, not overweight zone, for the first time since 1997 when I went through the Phen-fen phase and got down to a few pounds lower than what I weigh now but felt terrible. I feel great now, full of energy, sleep well, normal blood pressure, strong, etc.. Over the holidays, however, I got back into my usual routine of overdoing it. I made way too many sweets for "gifts", indulged in rich foods, and exercised less.

October 2011

As a result, I gained a couple pounds back, no surprise. A few weeks ago I told Sandra my goal for 2012 was to be at my ideal weight by April, a year after starting with her. There is no reason for me to still be struggling with these few extra pounds after have 8-12 private sessions every month with her.
As you can see from my photos, I have trimmed down quite a bit, but I would really like to lose 20 pounds and keep it off.
There is absolutely no reason for me, a trained chef, to be overweight since I am capable of preparing any type of healthy food. My children are grown so I can come home and exercise. They used to to be my excuse for not being able to exercise regularly.
I will be posting daily recipes I've either created or found as well as successes and challenges on my endeavor.
This morning I made a delicious frittata, inspired by one I saw in the fall at the Santa Fe Farmers Market. That frittata was filled with peppers, corn, and green chiles. Mine has some mushrooms and goat cheese as well.

Santa Fe Frittata

2 green chiles, roasted, seeded and diced
5 egg whites and 1 whole egg, beaten
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced onion
4 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 T corn
3 T cilantro, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
dash of cumin
2 T goat cheese

Saute vegetables in non stick pan sprayed with Pam until tender, 3-4 minutes. Set aside. Saute mushrooms in non stick pan sprayed with Pam, 3-4 minutes. Clean pan with paper towel.
Heat and spray with Pam. Add eggs and all vegetables and crumbled goat cheese. Add 1/2 the cilantro. Cook on medium low heat until set. But under hot broiler to brown top, just for a couple minutes. Sprinkle the rest of the cilantro on top.
Serves 2

I tried an Ezekiel Sprouted Grain tortilla with this but found it too be inedible, way too chewy and weird. The frittata was fantastic and I enjoyed it immensely.

The show Hungry Girl was playing on Food Network in the background : )

Sandra Kidd, far right

Dinner Destination: Riven Rock Ranch, Fredericksburg Trip, Part 2

2011-12-03T23:17:00.001-06:00

We started out the day, Friday, with a stop at the Becker Vineyards in Stonewall, right outside Fredericksburg. We've been buying their wines for years and even belong to their wine club and get new wines shipped to us every few months. I wanted a bottle of their Vintage Port to make some port wine caramelized pecans. Steve wanted to get six bottles so he could take advantage of the 10% discount for 6 bottles or more. He really liked the 201l Albarino, a white wine made from Albarino, native to northwestern Iberia. Apparently this was a very popular wine and supply was low. He also got a couple bottles of the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, one of my favorites. When we first started going to the Becker Vineyards the tasting area was just a little counter, but now there is a huge tasting room. They have a selection of good cheeses, meats, crackers, etc. to put together a nice wine, cheese picnic. Now that's an idea for future trips!

New Tasting Room

Original Tasting Room

Becker Vineyards, Stonewall, Texas

We originally wanted to just go to Kerrville to see the Texas Furniture Makers show/exhibit, but then added the other places for food sampling. I had read about the Bear Moon Bakery Cafe in Boerne, known for it's Jalapeno Hogs (sausage kolaches with local sausage) and other baked goods as well as their gourmet soups, salads, and sandwiches. Since we had the disappointment of Rather Sweet Bakery closing we were looking forward to discovering a new place to pick up some of our favorites.
We arrived in Boerne, which is really a nice town with a main street similar to Fredericksburg, but more like it was 20 years ago before the big Houston and Dallas money came to town. Lots of antique stores, small gift shops, local businesses and little old fashioned cafes line the street. I loved the Kiss the Cook kitchen store, an old house filled with chef supplies and kitchen stuff. I couldn't resist buying a stack of 6 inch round Emile Henry enamel baking dishes like the ones our bed and breakfast uses for the delicious Santa Fe eggs we had for breakfast. (See blog entry Oct 2010 visit to Fredericksburg for description of breakfast.)
The Christmas Shop was full of fun decorations so I had to buy a few snowmen for my collection and a Russian nesting doll filled with Christmas ornaments for my daughter.

We finally made it to the Bear Moon Bakery Cafe which was packed for lunch. I asked for a Jalapeno Hog, but they were all sold out. Too bad. We ordered off the lunch menu and tried the White Bean Chicken Chili and a "Mentalist" sandwich. Weird name for a sandwich of smoked turkey on wheat bread with avocado and basil pesto mayo. The bread used for the sandwich was fresh whole wheat, nuttly and really quite good and the chili was fair. On our way out we purchased a few cookies for Steve to snack on and a "world famous piggy" to sample for breakfast tomorrow Well, I might try a bite or two, but just in case my personal trainer is reading this.....

After a visit to the Texas Furniture Makers exhibit where we saw some beautiful handcrafted mesquite, walnut, and maple furniture and discovered the table we wanted was around $15,000.00, we realized we needed a new car more than a new table and gave up on the table plan, but it was nice to look.

Riven Rock Ranch

After a stop back in Fredericksburg, we headed to Comfort to the Riven Rock Ranch. I read about the Terrace Grill when I did a search on places to dine in Comfort and it sounded pretty nice. Riven Rock Ranch is a working ranch located above the Guadalupe River with a bed and breakfast, event pavillions, and restaurants. Reviews were very positive so we decided to give it a try. It was a beautiful facility, although on the overcast, rainy night it was hard to really see it all. We were seated in front of the outdoor fireplace, protected from the elements by a plastic "wall". There was a very powerful outdoor heater near our table so we were toasty warm throughout the dinner. Our server, Dorinda, was friendly and helpful. She went through a very detailed description of all the specials, and suggested her favorites.

Chicken Fried Quail Legs

We ordered the Chicken Fried Quail Legs for an appetizer, served with house made jalapeno jelly and mascarpone cheese. They were hot, spicy, creamy, crunchy and everything you could ask for in an appetizer. Definitely worth the drive to Comfort just for this dish. The spinach salad with honey vinaigrette, bacon, quail eggs, and red onion with cashews was also a winner. The fresh, young spinach was dressed just enough for all the flavors in the various ingredients to stand out.

For my entree, I ordered the Mixed Grill of Colorado elk, Axis deer and wild board sausage with cheese and jalapeno, and quail served with Yukon gold potaotoes and cauliflower/brocolli. Steve ordered the Filet with Herb Butter and Gouda mashed potatoes. Both entrees were top notch, served piping hot, on hot plates, seasoned properly, moist and tender. No complaints here. I would definitely go back. Dessert was the chocolate pot de creme. It was served very hot, not the usual cold or room temperature I was expecting, so not my favorite dish tonight.

Mixed Grill

Filet with Herb Butter

Chocolate Pot De Creme

Back to Fredericksburg for a busy day on Saturday.

Saturday morning started with our Bed and Breakfast, herb scrambled eggs with the potato vegetable hash and turkey sausages, breakfast. The breakfasts are always very good, but hard to finish. I always end up saving parts of it for snacks later. After breakfast we stopped by the St. Nicholas Market in the Marketplatz in the center of Fredericksburg. This is a two day event where all sorts of vendors selling gift items, many imported German and some Russian items. We were able to find some unique gifts before starting out on the home tour.

The home tour of seven homes started with the home of General Michael Hagee, who is from Fredericksburg and retired here. What a beautiful home! In fact, all 7 homes were unique and a pleasure to tour, (well, mostly--there were a couple we didn't care for).

We had to run back to Becker for wine glasses to replenish our home supply so while we were there we found out as wine club members we could have free tastings. We tried some different wines including a very nice Cabernet Syrah Reserve we will probably buy sometime.

Cottages at Limestone on Main breakfast

At the St. Nicholas Market

Home of General (Retired) Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corp

a new, but old style home on the tour

The inside of this home reminds us of ours.

We can't resist going to The Nest. We've been going here since 2001 and it has not changed a bit, unlike most things in Fredericksburg. There are always specials but the menu has not changed and the soup of the day is always the best dish.

The Nest

French Onion Soup

House salad

Atlantic salmon with citrus butter sauce and rice

Shrimp with Citrus Sauce

Fredericksburg Trip, Part 1

2011-12-03T09:14:00.000-06:00

Giant Pyramid Candle in the Marketplatz

We set out for Fredericksburg on on Thursday, December 1st, to stay at our favorite B & B, Cottages at Limestone on Main, and relax a few days, shop, go on the annual Christmas Tour of Homes and enjoy the local cuisine, of course. The drive to Fredericksburg via state highway 16 seems short and pleasant since Steve does the driving and I catch up on reading. A stop in San Saba at the Oliver Pecan Company is always a must this time of year when pecan season is at its peak. We buy bags of cracked pecans after sampling the season's choices. This year we bought 20 pounds of "Desirable" pecans, or I should say Steve bought them along with a couple jars of Dumas Walker Texas Strawberries (pickled jalapenos, sliced very thin) and a book called The Texas Hill Country that I threw in at the last minute. The pecans are sweet, chrisp, and perfect. We will use them for salads, pecan brittle gifts, baking and just cracking them and eating.
Once we arrived in Fredericksburg we had a couple hours to shop on Main Street before check in time.
We walked to our first stop whenever we go to Fredericksburg, the Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe, to have a light lunch and buy some cookies (for Steve, of course). We stood there open mouthed when we saw it no longer existed. I later found out it closed and will re open in 2012 as "Sugar and Smoke".
We happened upon the Rather Sweet Bakery when it was a tiny new establishment in 2001 and over the years were so excited when Rebecca Rather published three cookbooks and became so famous. I have made so many of her recipes with great success it is so sad to see her business gone.
We went over to Main Street and ended up at the Bejas Grill, a southwestern restaurant where we shared a very nice Angus burger with green chiles, bacon, cheese, and avocado. Their crispy fries were excellent. I had a cup of the soup special of the day, a sweet potato chipotle soup, which although tasty, had a strange chunky texture.
We did some shopping on the beautifully decorated Main Street where there are so many unique stores that sell home decorating items, Christmas things, gifts, etc. I found some things for my holiday table centerpiece at one of my favorite stores, Devinely Designed, and browsed in Linens & More, a great place for all sorts of kitchen and bedroom linens. One of my favorite stores is Der Kuchen Laden, a huge, rambling kitchen store with every gadget you could imagine. Rustlin' Rob's is also fun, a store that sells sauces, relishes, spices and has samples of everything they sell set out with baskets of crackers. You can taste everything, which can get pretty filling, so don't go before a meal.
Phil Jackson's Iron and Granite Store is also a favorite place. We have some beautiful pieces we've bought for the last 11 years, including my favorite, a lazy susan made of the local pink granite on our kitchen table. Then we always buy a hand decorated Christmas ornament from the Christmas Store.
After unpacking and resting a bit, we went to our dinner destination, The Navajo Grill. This restaurant has been around for many years and keeps getting better. We started with a cranberry cocktail and fall cocktail with Frangelico, both quite tasty and refreshing. I had the eggplant tomato soup to begin. Not bad, but a little too much cayenne burning the back of my throat was not pleasant. Steve's Romaine salad (a southwestern Caesar salad) was nice, though. My entree was outstanding. I had the Bone In Pork Chop, a double cut Niman Ranch pork chop, grilled perfectly with pear chutney, ancho mashed potatoes and caramelized garlic greens. The pork was so juicy and flavorful. The Paso Robles Wild Horse Cabernet Sauvignon was just right with this dish. Steve's Hot and Crunchy Shrimp--a chile and almond crusted shrimp on a bed of ancho mashed potatoes with a cilantro dipping sauce, was pretty good, but not as good as the pork.

Niman Ranch Pork Chop

Hot and Crunchy Shrimp

Izakaya Event, Fort Worth Japanese Society, November 20, 2011

2011-11-27T08:18:00.001-06:00

Fort Worth Japanese Society Izakaya Pub Luncheon Menu

Yakisoba

Takoyaki with Octopus, Shrimp, or Cheese

Sunomono with Wakame

Spicy Stir-fried Edamame

Regular Edamame with Sea Salt

Yakitori

Yaki Onigiri

We had the above menu at a recent lunch event for the Fort Worth Japanese Society. I am on the board and the events committee so earlier in the year when we were thinking of monthly lunch ideas I mentioned the Izakaya Pub. In Japan an izakaya is typically an establishment where people stop for drinks (place for sake is the literal meaning of izakaya) and food. The food varies but you might compare it to Japanese "tapas", small plates of many types of food. I had read that lately the izkaya food is being served at daytime restaurants in Japan, not just sake/beer bar type places, so I thought it would be fun to serve a selection of these foods for a luncheon. The board members liked the idea so we came up with a plan.
Sam and Elishia brought lots of red lanterns to hang (red lanterns are often outside the door of izakayas) and along with other members decorated the building. Elishia wrote signs in Japanese and English to hang over each station (table) where the food was being prepared. We had Sam, John, Michael, Cameron, and my son, Glenn outside preparing yakitori. John also prepared lots of takoyaki batter and Akiko and Mikako spent the entire time making takoyaki. Sonya sliced a dozen English cucumbers and made the sunomono, and spicy edamame for those who wanted it.
I was at the yakisoba station and cooked it as quickly as I could. Fortunately I had done most of the work prior to the event so I had a big container of cooked chuka soba, and containers of vegetables and pork, already cooked. I just had to heat oil, toss in the vegetables, meat, noodles, and sauce.
We estimated around 55 guests, so there was a lot of yakisoba to cook!
Yakisoba Recipe

1 pound pork loin, frozen slightly and sliced, then cut into thin strips

sprinkle lightly with low sodium soy sauce and 2 T sake

1 c mushrooms, shiitake or white, sliced

½ c vegetable oil

4 oz cabbage, cut into 1 inch wide strips

Small carrot, cut into thin sticks

½ green pepper, cut into thin sticks

1 c bean sprouts

½ c onion, cut into thin strips

8 oz chuka soba, cooked according to package directions (DO NOT OVERCOOK!)

Sauce:

1 T sake

1/3 c chicken stock

1 ½ tsp soy sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1-2 tsp Worchestershire sauce

½ tsp sugar

White pepper to taste

Soy sauce, to taste

or used bottle Yakisoba sauce, 2 T per serving

Garnish: Benishoga (pickled red ginger)

Aonori or strips of nori (seaweed)

Heat a wok or skillet and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Cook the pork and remove.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet and stir fry the vegetables on high heat for 1-2 minutes. Remove. Cook enough for 2 people at a time by adding a tablespoon of oil to the hot pan, some pork, vegetables and noodles. Add sauce, adding more to taste. Serve with pickled ginger.

Santa Fe in the Fall

2011-10-23T08:51:00.000-05:00

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Tomatillo Papaya Salsa

Day 1, Tuesday: After a very long drive from Fort Worth we arrived in Santa Fe. Our only food stop along the way was at Red Robin in Amarillo. I happen to like their chili and there is not much to choose from in Amarillo, unless we wanted to stop by the Big Texan Steak Ranch and try the 72 ounce steak dinner. When we arrived in Santa Fe we checked into our hotel, The Chimayo De Santa Fe Hotel on the Plaza. Tune Up Café was our destination, a place we saw on a DDD episode a couple years ago. Former Café Pasqual chef, Jesus Rivera, started it in an old gas station. I love his papusas and chile rellenos, so that’s what we had for our appetizers.

Jesus and Charlotte Rivera, owners of Tune Up Cafe

We weren’t disappointed in our entrees either, mine the special, Chipotle Lime Mahi Mahi with Mango, Tomatillo, Papaya, Jalapeno Sauce with a bright green Cilantro Rice, and well-seasoned Black Beans. My two glasses of wine, one ordered by mistake, didn’t hurt my mood. Steve’s Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas were spicy, saucy, and just right.

Day 2, Wednesday: Tecolote Café was our choice for breakfast. Steve is crazy about their Huevos Rancheros so that’s what we had. Their green chile sauce has a spicy kick to it. The bakery basket filled with blueberry muffins, chocolate chip muffins, and biscuits is a nice touch.

Plaza was cool and sunny every day we were there.

We planned to skip lunch but I wanted to sample Roque’s Carnitas, from a food cart in the Plaza. This guy is famous and has been featured on TV, in newspapers and magazines and was on the Food Truck Race episode filmed in Santa Fe. Sorry to say it was not that great. Bland meat, too raw onions and peppers in a tortilla. My weeknight fajitas made after working all day are so much better, so we don’t know what all the fuss is about. I also wanted to try the famous Fritos Pie at the Five and Dime. Best Thing I Ever Ate featured it recently. Lukewarm canned tasting chili on Fritos with raw onions and cheese served in the Fritos bag, is not the stuff of my dreams. OK, we tried it, into the trash it went along with the half eaten carnita.

Galisteo Bistro and Wine Bar

Galisteo Bistro was my pick for dinner based on reading up on top restaurants in Santa Fe. It was also my way to get a break from New Mexican chile food, but don’t tell Steve! We were pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere, a quiet, cozy place with an open kitchen. While waiting for our table I was watching the chefs prepare the food and I had flashbacks of working the line at culinary school. Everything was ready to go, chopped and prepared, stored in little containers in a cart. Each dish was made to order in hot skillets with fresh sauces and herbs. We were seated right next to the kitchen so I could watch the chef prepare our orders. We tried a small plate, the Chipotle Shrimp, spicy shrimp, seared and served with a couple very nice sauces, great for dunking the chewy bread. Steve wasn’t interested in my Cheese Flight with Double Cream Brie, Chardonnay marinated raisins, dates, and toasted pinons, but I convinced him to try a bite. It was a true taste bud teaser and he couldn’t stop eating the little crostinis.

Salad with Cajun Seared Tuna

Cheese Flight

Chicken Saltimbocca

Mud Puddle

With my glass of Paso Robles Cabernet, I was definitely enjoying this bistro. My Citrus Dressed Field Green with Roasted Orzo Salad and Raspberry Vinaigrette and a Cajun Seared Yellowfin Tuna was light and satisfying. The tuna was perfectly seared and the components of the salad were crunch, smooth, creamy and bright. Steve’s Chicken Saltimbocca was pan roasted, layered with fresh sage, prosciutto, fontina, with a nice brown butter madeira sauce, served with some Vegetable Orzo Confetti. It was hot, savory, and prepared just like the classic versions I’ve tasted, but the sauce added a deeper dimension to the dish. We ended our meal with the Mud Puddle, a layered coffee ice cream, chocolate crumbs, and mocha mousse concoction, topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds. I love that dessert. I think I’ll copy it and make it myself sometime—isn’t that the greatest compliment?

We stopped at the Cantina, Casa Sena, to listen to music and enjoy an after dinner drink. Seems the staff are all quite talented and they took turns singing show tunes while the piano player accompanied them. Very nice.

Day 3, Thursday:

Café Pasqual is one of my all-time favorite restaurants. A few years ago I was introduced to their Huevos Rancheros and chile sauces. I bought their cookbooks and started making some really good food. This time of year the crowds were gone and we were seated right away. Our waiter said we looked familiar and asked if we were at Galisteo Bistro the night before. He is a waiter there too!

Cafe Pasqual's Pappas Fritas

I had the Pappas Fritas, a dish I’ve never tried but one I had seen someone else eating and had plate envy last time we were there. Red potatoes are sliced and sautéed until crispy around the edges. They are placed in a bowl, on top of a corn tortilla, covered with green chile sauce, melted jack cheese, topped with two over easy eggs, some scallions and sour cream. Yum, yum, yum. Steve’s bacon, egg, and green chile quesadilla was sad in comparison so I shared my huge bowl of goodness with him. Did I say I love Café Pasqual?

Breakfast Quesadilla

On our way to Taos for a day trip, we stopped at Chimayo. Chimayo is known for Chimayo red chiles and weavers. We stopped at Ortegas to pick up some more coasters (our German Shepherd ate most of the ones we bought before). We were told the chile hook up was in the museum shop next door. We spoke to the woman there and she told us that Chimayo chile powder was hard to get, very rare and very expensive. $80.00 per pound! We had promised to bring some back for Anthony at La Choza in Azle, so we got 4 ounces for him, and 4 ounces for us. Seems that the true Chimayo chile seed has been mixed with other seeds and there has been a recent effort to purify the seed. The DNA of the Chimayo chile is used to verify the real thing. Can’t wait to make something with this chile powder!

The real thing--Chimayo red chile

Taos is a quaint, mountain community, very artsy and nice to walk around in due to lots of streets closed to traffic. The weather was perfect for strolling around and seeing the sights. The Plaza was small, lots of shops and interesting characters. One interesting character was the guy at the “great noodles” cart.

He had a small cart, a big wok on a gas burner fueled by a propane tank, ice chests filled with his ingredients, and a bunch of metal bins with vegetables, etc. Sauces were in old Sriracha bottles on his cart. Hmm, this was very interesting. He had quite a selection of Asian noodle dishes. Although we had lunch plans I had to try one of his dishes as part of my food research, right? We order the Red Curry Coconut Rice Noodles with Vegetables. I watched him make it and saw that he makes each order, one at a time, and it takes a while to cook all the vegetables and noodles. He packs it all in a Chinese take-out container, tops it with chopped peanuts and scallions. We shared a few bites of this research, but saved room for the real lunch.

Graham’s Grill with Lesley Fay

Lunch in Taos was at Graham’s Grill, a highly rated restaurant featuring Chef Leslie Fay, trained in the Napa area in California. We sat in the patio with the sun warming us and ordered sandwiches. Steve had his first Green Chile Cheeseburger of the trip and I had a Wild Salmon BLT with Chipotle Aioili. Both were served on fresh bakery brioche buns, cooked just right with fresh vegetables, crispy sweet potato fries and handmade sauces. We were ready to head back to Santa Fe. But first I purchased Lesley Fay’s cookbook.

Jambo Café was our choice for dinner later. The café was rated #1 in Santa Fe in numerous ratings and although it was out of the way, on Cerillos Rd., we decided to try it. After all the new Mexican food a Caribbean African café sounded pretty good. I had the special, Jamaican Jerk Pineapple Shrimp Skewers With Curry Basil Brown Coconut Brown Rice with Sauteed Spinach. Steve had Hummus and Coconut Shrimp. I also tried the Butternut Squash and Black Lentil Soup. The shrimp skewers were spicy and exciting, if you can use that term for food. The sauce was indescribable, full of spices and herbs with a range of tastes I could not even identify. I wanted to keep eating that dish until everything on my plate was wiped clean, not my usual behavior. The chef is very good at this unimposing strip center restaurant and I can see why the place gets such high ratings. I think we need to come back for lunch tomorrow.

Chef/Owner Ahmed Obo

Jamaican Shrimp Skewers

Coconut Shrimp

Hummus

Day 4, Friday: I sent Steve to Starbucks for a sandwich so I could skip breakfast and have an appetite for lunch at Jambo Café. I wanted to try the Organic Jerk Chicken.
We planned to continue on our Chocolate Trail before lunch and then go to Las Golindrinas Living History Museum after lunch.

Cooking ovens and well

After stopping at Kokowa Chocolates, Chocolate Smith, and HC Higgins Chocolates we had lunch at Jambo Café. My Jerk Chicken was good, but not as good as last night’s shrimp skewers. It was something I could easily make at home and was bit of a let down after the fantastic meal last night.

Our last dinner in Santa Fe was at Café Pasqual’s. We had to wait a long time for our reserved table, about 25 minutes, but finally sat down. We had the special salad, Field Greens with Buffalo Mozarella, Proscuitto, Fresh Dates, Tomatoes, and Honey Vinaigrette with Carta de Musica (a special thin flatbread on top). It was an excellent salad. My entrée was the Yellow Fin Tuna with Rice and Spinach, am altogether forgettable dish. Steve’s Barbacoa Tacos, though, were outstanding, full of flavors, complex and interesting. We got out of there and headed to La Casa Sena Cantina to have an after dinner drink and listen to some show tunes.

Grilled Yellowfin Tuna

Dos Tacos Barbeqoas

James Eustace, hand crafted bracelet, anniversary gift from Steve

Outside our hotel, Cuban band playing lively music, lots of dancing

Saturday morning, time to head back to Azle. We went to Cafe Pasqual's for breakfast before heading to the Santa Fe farmers market. I wanted to try the Huevos Barbacoa Con Chile D'Arbol Salsa and it was really good! Steve had pancakes--he was through with chiles for awhile.

Huevos Barbacoa con chile d'arbol salsa

Santa Fe Chocolate Trail

2011-10-22T08:49:00.000-05:00

Todos Santos, in the Casa Sena courtyard was our first stop on the Chocolate Trail, really nothing more than a list of a few chocolate places suggested on a card we picked up at our hotel. We had already planned to go to Chocolate Smith for our favorite chile chocolates but trying some new places is always fun. Todas Santos was small, packed with lots of "dark" items with skull themes and Day of The Dead items, from what I could tell. I just wanted to hurry out of there, so we picked a few chocolates and left!

Starting in Upper Left--Caramel Toffee, Black Pepper Truffle, Chipotle Orange Cone, Classic Dark, Pumpkin Buttercream

Chocolate Smith

Always my favorite place for spicy chocolate, and still fantastic. My favorite is the red chile pistachio bark and this time I will try a couple new ones, the spicy caramel and orange chipotle and the unknown one too.

Red and Green Pistachio Bark, Sierra Blanca, Spicy Caramel, Orange Chipotle, and one I can't remember!

Kakawa

Atole hot chocolate, which we tried and loved, and my favorite Chile Caramels with Agave. We also got a couple chile cherry trufles and a mole truffle.

CG Higgins is known for nuts, brittles, and fudge and chocolates. We sampled several and selected the pumpkin fudge and some chile brittle.

Key Lime Pie

2011-10-03T20:42:00.000-05:00

I had a request to post my recipe for key lime pie. I've made this pie many, many times and it always turns out great. I adapted this recipe from one by Rebecca Rather.

Crust
1 cup Texas pecans
3 cups graham cracker crumbs (the whole box, 3 packages, made into crumbs in the food processor)
1 T sugar
1 cup salted butter, melted (2 sticks)

Filling
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups key lime juice (I buy a mesh bag of key limes and it takes the entire bag, very labor intensive but worth it. Don't buy the bottled juice!)
3 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk (2 cans)

Whipped Cream
2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
limes for garnish

Crust: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat a 10 by 2 inch tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray. Toast the pecans in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Place pecans in food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Combine with the graham cracker crumbs. Add butter and sugar and mix well.
Press into the greased tart pan.

Filling
Whisk the egg yolks, lime juice and condensed milk until thoroughly combined. Let this mixture stand for 30 minutes to thicken. Pour into the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is light brown and the filling is partially set. (Be sure to set the pan on a baking sheet before putting it in the oven so it won't leak butter all over your oven.) Let cool, then refrigerate overnight.

Whipped Cream
Beat cream with electric mixer (whisk attachment). Add the powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
Use a pastry bag to decorate top of pie by makiong large mounds with a star tip.
Garnish with slices of lime.

I've also made this in mini pie pans, 3 inch diameter. Reduce the cooking time to 20 minutes.

Farm & Fork: Think Globally, Eat locally Street Food Goes Gourmet

2011-10-02T10:42:00.003-05:00

The second Farm & Fork event was held on September 25 at the Lightcatcher Winery. The announcement read:

"Join the winemaker, chefs, farmers, cooking school teachers, bakers and restauranteur for an evening of food, wine and entertainment at Lightcatcher Winery."

The Lightcatcher Winery is a unique, boutique winery owned by Caris and Terry Turpen. Caris is the lead chef and winemaker. They have produced award winning wines and the food created by Chef Caris Turpen and her staff is stellar. I loved the atmosphere--from the tasting room filled with unusual gifts and displays of their wine to the outdoor patio where a nice breeze was blowing and guitarist Adam Hull was playing classical music.

Stations were set up throughout the winery where interpretations of international street foods
were served. After selecting our glasses of wine, 2010 Texas Kiss Rose Merlot, a sweet, crisp and fruity wine, we found a table on the patio. I was excited to see some friends whom I had told about the event waving at us from their table, Jim and Peggy Davis and Jim and Mary Painter. Mindy and Mike Masters joined us later.

I visited the Culinary School of Fort Worth station first. They were serving grilled Mediterranean tenderloin kabob and Cowtown Farmers Market vegetable couscous. Chef Brad Waier was nearby. I always enjoy seeing him, but a part of me always gets a little anxious because he was one of my chef instructors when I attended culinary school. I made some pretty awful dishes then and I'm sure he remembers that. Seriously, he is a great guy, and is a gifted teacher. I enjoyed the tenderloin kabob, and by now I had a glass of the Lightcatcher 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, my favorite Lightcatcher wine, to enjoy with it. I especially enjoyed the Israeli couscous with vegetables. I didn't think I liked Israeli couscous because I had been served some that was prepared in a way that resulted in an off texture, however in one of my private cooking classes recently the student bought Israeli couscous instead of the fine ground type. We made the recipe and it was better than it had been when I made it with the other couscous. Now I really prefer the Israeli couscous. The tenderloin was grilled nicely and moist and tender.

I tried the Lightcatcher Winery dish next. Chef Turpen's sous chef was on hand to present a Beggar's Purse of puff pastry filled with abalone and scallops. From a previous dinner at Lightcatcher a few weeks ago I knew I was in for a treat. I tried the abalone appetizer and liked it so well we had it again the next week. The Beggar's Purse was flaky, creamy, rich and left you wanting more. Although tempted to have another one, I had to save room for the other 3 stations.

The Farm & Fork Banh Mi was next. This version of the French-Vietnamese poboy sandwich was made with an Artisan Baking Co. baguette, pate created by Chef Waier, roast pork, salad greens, pickled vegetables and cilantro. I am a big fan of the Banh Mi, having made them on a few occasions myself. I also experienced the Nom Nom food truck Banh Mi when it stopped in Fort Worth during the Food Network food truck race. The Farm & Fork Banh Mi was immediately superior to all other Banh Mi sandwiches because of the bread. Chef Grimes makes the best baguette, hands down. In fact, I plan to order about 40 loaves of it for something I'm making later this month. The pork was tender and the pate was well executed. My overall impression was that it lacked the heat and sharpness I expected, but then I have a taste for very spicy foods and would be the one throwing sliced jalapeños and sriracha all over it if they were available. Not saying that I didn't scarf down the entire sandwich, though.

I was ready for a little ice cream after the Banh Mi so I went over to the Wine Down Bistro stand. Chef Andrea Blair was there with her Savory Lemon-Thyme Buttermilk ice cream in Cracked Pepper Cones. The savory/sweet combination is very different so those who were expecting the usual super sweet ice cream had to adjust their palate. The peppery cone and lemon herb ice cream went together well. Chef Blair's Wine Down Bistro was the setting of the last Farm & Fork event and I can't wait to get over there again and try some of her creations.

The Artisan Baking Co. Interactive Dessert station was last. I watched the culinary students make the crepes and noticed the different fillings, including vanilla custard and lemon curd and then the sauces--a mixed berry fruit sauce made with locally grown strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. There was also a chocolate sauce. I sampled two variations, my husband's vanilla custard with chocolate sauce crepe and mine with vanilla custard, lemon curd and berry sauce. Both were delicious, rich, creamy, and addictive.

Chef Gwin Grimes

The dinner was so relaxing and enjoyable. The cool air and outdoor setting was such a pleasure after our long, hot summer. I loved talking to all the chefs at the various stations and hearing about how they prepared the food. The interactive style of this event was a definite plus. These are some talented, committed, energetic professionals and aspiring chefs. Attention to detail was evident all around, even the signs, hand painted blackboards on stands prominently displayed a detailed description of the dishes. Megan Waier did an outstanding job creating the lovely boards.

Stillwater Grill, The Lodge at Pebble Beach

2011-09-21T22:04:00.000-05:00

My last night on the Monterey Peninsula and a dinner at the Stillwater Bar & Grill at the beautiful Lodge at Pebble Beach. The view outside the window is the famous golf course and ocean view. I found it hard to concentrate on the menu because I couldn't stop looking outside.

We ordered the Smoked Trout and Fuji Apple Salad with Local Petite Greens, Apple Vinaigrette and Candied Walnuts and from the Live Tank Selection, Monterey Bay Red Abalone with Capellini Pasta, Organic Baby Mache Lettuce, Lemon Truffle Vinaigrette. We enjoyed glasses of champagne with the appetizers. The local greens and salad ingredients were fresh but the trout was so finely shredded I could barely detect its presence. I was, however, wowed by the abalone. Abalone is a treasure to me, not something found in land-locked Texas (unless it's imported from far away), and growing up we were able to eat giant abalone steaks at local restaurants when anyone could harvest abalone from the rocks around in Monterey. The abalone could not have been better. It was cooked perfectly and paired with the lemon truffle vinaigrette the tastes exploded in my mouth. The pasta and lettuce provided texture and a nice chewiness.

Monterey Bay Red Abalone

Smoked Trout with Fuji Apple

Our entrees were: Grilled Center Cut Angus Rib Eye with Stillwater Gratin, Sautéed Beet Greens with Bacon and Shallots & Red Wine Demi-Glace and Crispy Skin Arctic Char, Fresh Baby Artichokes, Fingerling Potatoes, Petite Carrots, Asparagus & Castroville Artichoke Lemon Emulsion. The Rombauer Cabernet, 2007, was our wine. The Arctic Char's crispy skin and the silky texture of the fish, dipped into the lemon emulsion was a bite of heaven. The vegetables were fresh, cooked until tender crispy. I sampled of few bites of Yo's steak and enjoyed the rich sauce and tender beef. I preferred the fish, but as I've said throughout the Monterey Peninsula blog series, I don't have the chance to eat fresh fish very often, but we get lots of great steaks in Texas!

Arctic Char

Grilled Rib Eye

My last dinner was definitely one I will never forget. The Lodge at Pebble Beach is a place I will never forget for its spectacular beauty. Many thanks to my good friend, Yo, for your hospitality, your mutual interest in food and wine, and the great conversation.

We went back to Restaurant 1833 for chocolate mousse cake, after dinner drinks of Amaretto and Hennesey Cognac.

Fresh Cream Restaurant, Carmel

2011-09-21T20:51:00.001-05:00

Fresh Cream Restuarant is a charming French restaurant in Carmel, California. The setting is intimate and warm, the menu varied and detailed. We started with glasses of Louis Roederer Brut Champagne with the
Housemade lobster mousse raviolis, lobster sauce, Riesling beurre blanc, and caviar and the Burrata mozzarella with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic syrup, basil & parsley salad and sourdough crostini. Both were excellent, but I particularly enjoyed the crostini. Balsamic syrup brings me back to my dining experiences in Italy earlier this year.

For entrees we ordered the Premium Angus Beef Filet Mignon, pan seared and sliced, with roasted cippolini onions, potatoes au gratin, sautéed mushrooms, garden vegetables, and sauce béarnaise and Whole Holland Dover sole sautéed, deboned at table, brown butter, lemon, parsley and toasted almonds. I have always wanted to order the whole sole ever since I read about Julia Child's culinary awakening when she had the dish at a restaurant in France. The sole was brought on a cart and the waiter deboned it. The brown buttery sole with fresh lemon was very nice. I sampled a few bites of the filet and thought it was a bit heavy. I prefer the steak to be whole so I can cut it myself. With the bottle of Opus One, 2003, anything would have tasted good. The wine, brought to the restaurant from Yo's wine collection, was truly amazing.

Dessert was the Grand Marnier Souffle and the Carmel Lava Cake. The Carmel Lava cake was a chocolate cake with a molten caramel flow, Hawaiian black lava salt, and housemade vanilla ice cream. This was my favorite dessert so far. I've had molten chocolate cake many times, but never molten caramel cake. The souflle was light and airy but I am much fonder of chocolate and caramel desserts.

Wine Dinner, The C Restaurant and Bar, Cannery Row

2011-09-21T19:58:00.002-05:00

The C restaurant + bar in the Intercontinental Hotel, Cannery Row, is clean, classy, and a place to be seen, judging by the crowd attending the wine dinner. The restaurant has a wide open view of the Monterey Bay and is in a word, elegant. What a lovely setting for the wine dinner, hosted by John Jordan, owner of Jordan Winery.
The menu read, "Tonight you will have the opportunity to try these fantastic wines that have made Jordan Winery and Vineyard a well known brand worldwide."
The majority of the wines featured were Cabernet Sauvignon, which happens to be my favorite wine, and the Jordan wines did not disappoint. I would have any of them again, and in fact, saw some of these wines recently on a wine list in Washington DC. Had I not been the only wine drinker, I would have ordered a bottle.

1st Course

Heirloom Tomato & Watermelon Gazpacho
Tomatoes and Dungeness Crab
J. Cuvee, Russian River Valley, N.V.

The Gazpacho was fresh, bright and sensational. It was the inspiration for a dish Yo prepared later at one of his events. The J Cuvee sparkling wine's clean flavors were the perfect compliment.

2nd Course

Lightly Smoked Alaskan Salmon
Grilled Local Corn, Toasted Farro, Pancetta
Brown Butter & Cured Lemon

Jordan, Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, 2009

The toasted farro was nutty, with a nice texture, combined with the sweet corn, salty pancetta, rich butter and the added touch of citrus, topped with a melt in your mouth lightly smoked salmon. I could not stop thinking about this dish and have made a version of it in Texas, my first time to prepare farro.
My version was very similar and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite, but not as much as I did in the lovely setting of the C restaurant with my gracious dining companion.

3rd Course

Trio of Cabernet Sauvignons Paired with Seasonal Presentations

Pan Seared Natural Rib Eye
Bintje Potato Puree, Summer Beans
Cocoa Infused Cabernet Sauce

Jordan, Cabernet Sauvignon
Alexander Valley, 2006

Slow Roasted Lamb Chop
Goat Cheese Polenta
Ratatouille & Fennel Jus

Jordan, Cabernet Sauvignon
Alexander Valley, 2007

Thyme Roasted Duck Breast
Cherry & Prune Stuffed Ricotta Gnochhi
Foie Gras Sauce

Jordan, Cabernet Sauvignon
Alexander Valley, 2008

The meat dishes were cooked to the right temperature and I enjoyed a taste of each of them but I had favorite components of each dish. The Goat Cheese Polenta, the Gnocchi, and the Ratatouille, with the lamb chop were my favorites. We both loved the 2008 Cabernet, a yet to be released wine.

Cheese Course

Rouge et Noir Camembert
Plums, Star Anise Gastrique & Toasted Walnut Bread

Jordan, Cabernet Sauvignon
Alexander Valley, 2004

A rich cheese, tart fruit but sweet fruit with the nutty bread was a nice ending. Too full to have more than a taste, it was extemely enjoyable with the 2004 Cabernet.

A trip to the way too "cool" bar for an after dinner glass of Frangelico and a fun visit with the bartender, Louis, made me wish I could have the C restaurant and bar in Fort Worth, Texas.

Cannery Row brings back fond memories. It was a place I visited on special occasions with my family when I was young. The best restaurants were always on Cannery Row, including Neil De Vaughn's, and The Outrigger. My parents would bring me to The Outrigger to celebrate birthdays and special occasions.
I look forward to my return trip to the Monterey Peninsula.

Sierra Mar, Big Sur

2011-09-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

The day started with a drive to the Big Sur Bakery and Cafe, a place I had always wanted to visit, ever since having purchased the cookbook a couple years ago.
I was fascinated by the setting, the food, and the people described. We arrived and were told the only food available was in the pastry case, so we stood in line and purchased some pastries, a chard quiche and a berry ricotta pastry. The cashier asked it I wanted it warmed up (like I would eat it cold?) It was dim and drafty inside and we were found a table near a sliver of sunlight. We were completely underwhelmed.
I still love the cookbook, though.
After a nice hike to the waterfall at the Pfeiffer State Park, and a stop at the Coast Gallery where I found the most unusual business card holder made of ebony and walnut, we drove through Big Sur, stopping at Ventana Inn to check out their restaurant (they wouldn't let us in), by the Post Ranch Inn (they wouldn't let us in there either unless we had a reservation at the restaurant) and then to Nepenthe, another famous spot, (and another cookbook I own).

Yo had mentioned that Post Ranch Inn had a fabulous restaurant called Sierra Mar and while we were in Nepenthe I spotted a thick cookbook called Sierra Mar. The photos in the book were eye popping, brilliant, unique and appealing. I knew that is where we needed to go.

What a beautiful place! The restaurant is perched over a cliff overlooking the ocean. All the tables have a view out the window, however the day we were there the fog obscured the view somewhat, but it was still unreal. A glass of champagne, some wagyu carpaccchio and being in one of the most spectacular places in the world. What more could you ask?

Although I said I wasn't too fond of beets, the Beet and Baked Goat Cheese with Pistachios changed my mind. The beets were so fresh, tender, and flavorful and combined with the sauce, crunchy pistachios and tangy goat cheese I could not believe how much I was enjoying a beet dish. I looked for this dish in the Sierra Mar cookbook but did not find it.

Beets and Baked Goat Cheese with Pistachios

We had a delicious Heirloom Tomato Soup, Seared Ahi Tuna with Salad Greens and Won Tons and last but not least, my favorite, Creme Fraiche Cheesecake with Candied Zest, Berries and Berry Sauce.

Heirloom Tomato Soup

Seared Ahi Tuna

Creme Fraiche Cheesecake with Candied Zest, Berries, and Berry Sauce

The cheesecake was so light and I could tell this fruit was so fresh and at its peak. The combination of orange and berries was just perfect.
We left having experienced a one of a kind restaurant. I love Big Sur!

Cafe Rustica, Carmel Valley

2011-09-19T22:33:00.002-05:00

The 11 mile stretch of road from Highway 1 to Carmel Valley Village was always a gorgeous drive but in the many years since I've lived in the area things have changed. Now there are a number of wineries and wine tasting rooms , such as Chateau Julien Winery, Durney-Heller Estate, Bernardus, Georis, Jouillian, Talbott, and others. But before the winery tour, we would have a memorable lunch at Cafe Rustica, described by Zagut as follows:

"It's understandably "crowded with locals", but carloads from the coast declare it's "worth the drive inland to laid-back Carmel Valley" for the "friendly hospitality" and "reasonably priced" "variety of hearthy","creative" Californian dishes (with shout-outs to the "delicious" "thin crust",wood fired pizzas and "enormous salads") proffered at this "terrific" cottage; inside can get a little "cramped and noisy", but on a "hot, dry day or a starlit night", the "gorgeous patio" "feels like Tuscany."

It really did feel like Tuscany when I walked through the patio (too cool to eat outside) and stepped inside and saw the pizza oven and drank in the warm feeling of the restaurant. We were the first diners of the day so we had the whole place to ourselves for awhile. I wanted to have something fresh, knowing how excellent the produce is in this area. I selected the Red Leaf Lettuce, Crumbled Blue Cheese, Pears, Caramelized Pecans and Creamy Balsamic Salad. Yo had to have his favorite Escargots a la Bourguignonne (classic French snails baked in garlic, shallots, and herb butter.) He also likes their Grilled Eggplant Napoleon on Toasted Brioche with Fresh Mozarella, Roasted Red Bell Peppers, Basil, Pine Nuts, and Kalamata Olives.

We ordered the Lorraine pizza with caramelized onions, maple smoked bacon, Gruyere cheese, and Italian parsley.

The salad was fresh, a winning combination of flavors and textures with the sweet pear, crunchy pecans, and tangy blue cheese. The creamy balsamic added just the right amount of tartness. This is a salad I would like to have again, meaning I will have to make it myself from Texas ingredients, which I will one day.

Red Leaf Lettuce Salad

Grilled Eggplant

Escargots

I tried one of the snails, a first for me, and it wasn't bad--but not good enough that I have become a fan. Some things just don't appeal to me. Sorry, Yo, but I did really enjoy the Grilled Eggplant dish. The charred eggplant was cooked just right and was nutty and sweet. It was beautiful to look at as well.

Lorraine pizza

And, the pizza was fabulous. The thin crispy crust, sweet onions, Gruyere cheese and bacon were right together. Too bad we were already stuffed and could barely eat a piece of this terrific pizza.
Off to taste some wine at Georis and Talbott Wineries. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, great company, and another unforgettable meal.

Flying Fish Grill, Carmel

2011-09-19T20:58:00.000-05:00

The Flying Fish Grill in Carmel is a cozy, warm place with wood walls and floors, beautiful tables, unique art work, and colorful fish suspended from the ceiling. The menu was filled with a variety of fresh fish dishes, fusion dishes, and Japanese classics. We tried the Nikumaki, beef rolled around scallions with a light sauce, and Carmel Valley Mixed Greens with Sesame Soy Vinaigrette. Sipping on a glass of Rombauer Chardonnay, (Carneros) '05, and enjoying the fresh greens and tasty beef was quite pleasant. Clay Pots are a specialty of Flying Fish and Yo was anxious for me to try Shabu Shabu, not believing that I, a "happa" (half Japanese), had never tried it. What can I say? I grew up eating Sukiyaki and broth with briefly cooked beef never sounded that great to me. But I graciously agreed to try the Shabu Shabu, described on the menu as, "thin slices of rib-eye steak, vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, rice noodles, cooked in broth and served with lemon shoyu and sesame aioli dipping sauce. We also ordered Black Bean Halibut, Alaskan halibut, fermented Chinese black beans, ginger and scallions, steamed in a paper pouch with steamed vegetables and rice. I had seen someone at the next table order it and it smelled wonderful when they opened the paper.

A bottle of Etude Pinot Noir (Carneros) '05, was so good I took a photo so I wouldn't forget it.

The halibut was fragant, fresh, cooked perfectly and thoroughly enjoyable. I watched as we were given a clay donabe (just like the ones my mother either created or collected that I have all over my house!) The table had a built in electric burner and we cooked the various ingredients ourselves, adding the paper thin slices of beef at the end. We dipped the meat and vegetables in the sauces and I have to admit, I loved it!
The sesame aioli paired with the tender beef was such a great flavor combination. The vegetables, noodles, and tofu were also tasty and soaked up the flavor of the broth after we had cooked the meat. I will prepare some Shabu Shabu as soon as I can, once the weather in Texas cools down. This is not a dish for 100+ degree days we've been having. I thought I knew all about Japanese food so it was a surprise to try something new to me and realize what I had been missing. After the hot pot cooking, a cool trio of sorbets and some fresh fruit were very refreshing.

Since it will be a very long time before I can return to the Flying Fish Grill I am going to recreate this experience in my own kitchen and remember the wonderful time in Carmel. Many thanks to Kenny Fukumoto, whom I had the pleasure to meet.

Little Napoli, Carmel, Calfornia

2011-09-19T19:52:00.003-05:00

I haven't been to Carmel in a decade and it's still the quaint, scenic place it's always been. It was a cool, sunny day and being there brought me back to times long ago when I would walk around Carmel just because it was such a beautiful place.
Lunch at Little Napoli was highly enjoyable. We ordered Bruschetta Campania with Cambozola, Tuscan Bean and Vegetable Soup, Gnocchi all Gorgonzola, and Garlic Prawns "Al Martino", white prawns, bay shrimp, red peppers in a garlic-butter wine sauce over spaghetti. I don't recall ever trying Cambozola cheese so I was in for a pleasant surprise. The crunchy Italian bread was topped with small, roasted tomatoes, fresh basil and melted Cambozola cheese. The Cambozola cheese looked a little like Brie with streaks of gorgonzola cheese and tasted creamy, rich, and sharp from the gorgonzola. I am now a fan of Cambozola and have purchased a small wedge of it upon my return to Texas, waiting to buy some fresh tomatoes from the farmers market so I can make my own Bruschetta Campania.
The soup was tasty, but a little thick and heavy. I had to leave most of it to save room for all the other dishes. The Gnocchi with Gorgonzola was light, just as it should be, with a stuffing of gorgonzola and a light creamy sauce. I am often hesitant to order gnocchi because it's often heavy and tough, but Little Napoli knows how to prepare it correctly. The Garlic Prawns "Al Martino" were tender and fresh with a sauce that complimented them without overpowering. Just when I didn't think I could eat another bite, I was told I had to try Tartufo di Limoncello, a lemon gelato with a Limoncello center, raspberry and white chocolate coulis.

With a glass of Muscato, the tart lemon dessert was the perfect ending to a wonderful meal. I'd love to go back and try everything on the menu! Off to 17 Mile Drive and a stop at the Lodge at Pebble Beach.

Restaurant 1833, Monterey, California

2011-09-14T21:46:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago, during a visit to the Monterey Peninsula, an old friend from high school heard I was coming and was happy to show me around the local food scene. He's the food and beverage manager at members only golf club in Pebble Beach and from what I can tell, he knows all the best restaurants in Monterey, Carmel, Pebble Beach and Big Sur.
He said we had to go to one of his all time favorite restaurants, Restaurant 1833, located in downtown Monterey. According to their Facebook page, "Located in the former Stokes Adobe in Monterey, Restaurant 1833 resides in a national heritage site that is rich with historical elements from Monterey's historical background. Named after the year the building was established, 1833, the building once housed a former apothecary, was home to California's first newspaper press, was formerly the famous "Gallatin's" restaurant, and formerly contained the first kiln in California. The two-story restaurant is a design-forward space with regal, turn-of-the-century elements that play homage to the buildings rich history in each of the six interior spaces. The restaurant's outdoor space provides an intimate setting for outdoor dining, and a patio area with four fire pits which provide the perfect space for gusts to sit back and relax while enjoying various small bites and custom cocktails made by 1833's own Bar Smith. Executive Chef Levi Mezick has created a menu that highlights regionally specific ingredients including Monterey seafood; greens and lettuces sourced from Salinas and Carmel Valley; and sea salt foraged from Big Sur, giving the consumer an authentic sense of the place, with high quality, fresh and seasonal ingredients."

We were initially seated in the main floor dining room under a bright light in a noisy area. We requested the upstairs but were told the owners were using it for a private party. My friend was recognized by the general manager and somehow we were moved up to the upstairs dining room and given a private booth. It was much quieter and more scenic than the crowded dining room, allowing me to glimpse the entire restaurant.

I had read several reviews on this restaurant and there were many positive comments on their Horseradish Crusted Marrow Bone with Brioche, so we definitely ordered that.

Interesting violin shaped wine case

Marrow Bone with Brioche

My friend, Yo, recommended the Bacon Cheddar Biscuits with Maple Chili Butter. I wanted to try the Beef Carpaccio with Horseradish Sauce and Daikon. We also ordered an Heirloom Tomato Salad with Pickled Red Onion, Feta Cheese, And Balsamic Reduction. For our entrees I ordered Crispy Sea Bass with Leeks, Mussels, and Tomato and he ordered Grilled Veal Chop with Crispy Sweetbreads, Castelvetrano Olives and Basil Puree.
He brought a bottle of wine to the restaurant, a 1986 Silver Oak Cabernet, however we started with glasses of Bollinger champagne.

The Bacon Cheddar Biscuits with Maple Chili Butter were surprisingly delicious.
I was not expecting to be impressed by biscuits, after all I am from Texas, home of great biscuits, but these were chewy, moist, and flavorful and with the spicy and sweet butter, a perfect bite. I got so enamored of these biscuits I forgot to take the photo until they were almost gone!

Bacon Cheddar Biscuits with Maple Chili Butter

The waiter told me the secret to the biscuits and I have to confess I have attempted to re-create them here in Texas and they came out very close to 1833's. Good thing, since unlike my friend, Yo, I can't go to 1833 every week, sometimes more than once a week!
The Beef Carpaccio was stunning. It was served on a chilled plate, sliced paper thin with little pools of very icy cold sauce and crispy pieces of radish. The sharp horseradish sauce complimented the rich taste of the beef and the crunchy radish pieces added a nice texture.

Beef Carpaccio

Heirloom Tomato Salad

I was unexpectedly disappointed in the Marrow Bone. It was no doubt properly prepared but I'm just not fond of the texture or flavor, maybe a little too rich for me. I enjoyed the fresh Heirloom Tomato Salad with the contrasting salty, sharp, and silky tastes and textures. Produce from this part of California is all fantastic.
My Crispy Sea Bass was in a beautiful sauce, with perfect crispy skin and a silky texture inside. The mussels were fresh, and the components of the sauce worked together well. I wish I could have identified everything in the sauce so I could make it myself. This is one of my all time favorite seafood dishes.

Crispy Sea Bass

Veal Chop

I tasted Yo's veal and sweetbreads and although it was prepared expertly, I much preferred the Sea Bass. I enjoyed the Silver Oak Cabernet and who wouldn't? Such a fine wine for this special dinner! I thought it couldn't get any better but then dessert was served. We sampled the Orange Olive Oil Cake with Muskat Sabayon and Carmelized Peaches and the Chocolate Mousse Cake.

Orange Olive Oil Cake

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Athough I was fascinated with the description of the Orange Olive Oil Cake and it was as tasty as I thought it would be it did not measure up to the outstanding Chocolate Mousse Cake, with its crispy crust, silky texture, and a sauce and housemade ice cream. In fact, I loved the Chocolate Mousse Cake so much I had it again the last night of my stay in Monterey.
I have to go back! How is that possible since I live in Fort Worth, Texas? What a fabulous meal and a fabulous place. Many thanks to the general manager, William, sommelier, and waitstaff, and of course, my good friend, Yo, for making this experience unforgettable.

Farm To Fork Pop Up Restaurant

2011-08-18T20:57:00.001-05:00

I recently read the book, Secret Suppers, Rogue Chefs and Underground Restaurants in Warehouses, Townhouses, Open Fields, and Everywhere In Between by Jenn Garbee so when I received an e-mail from Artisan Baking Company owner, friend, and a great culinary school instructor, Chef Gwin Grimes, inquiring about her website's subscribers and facebook friends' interest in "pop-up" restaurants, I responded with an enthusiastic "yes", offering my services if needed. When the invitation came for the first "Farm to Fork" event it was described (paraphrased) as follows:
"This one-time event will be at Wine Down Bistro, limited to 32 guests only. Farm & Fork is a creative collaboration between Chef Andrea Blair of Wine Down Bistro, Chef Brad Waier of the Culinary School of Fort Worth, Farmer Kim Gerdeman of Texas Prairie Farms in Godley, Cowtown Farmers Market in Fort Worth, Teel's Custom Meats in Weatherford and Lone Oak Winery in Burleson. It's an especially appropriate way to wrap up National Farmer's Week, August 7-13. The menu was created by Chef Brad Waier of the Culinary School of Fort Worth and Artisan Baking Co.'s resident pastamaker (with his daughter, Megan Waier). The cost is $49.00 per person (additional $18.00 for wine pairing)."

Steve signed us up for both the dinner and the wine.

Chef Gwin Grimes welcoming guests

Wine Down Bistro is a charming bungalow in Burleson. I loved the openness of the restaurant and it reminded me of one of my all time favorite restaurants which is also in a converted house, The Nest, in Fredericksburg, Texas. Guests were greeted with a complimentary glass of Prosecco. We were seated dinner-party style at tables of four or eight. Gwin sat us with her good friends, Ron and Patty and we were joined by another couple sitting in the room, the Barclay's. Conversation was lively particularly with a crowd of like-minded people who appreciate the farm to table concept and love good food and wine.

The Menu:

The appetizer was a cheese plate, served family style and included Eagle Mountain Farmhouse Cheese, Latte Da Dairy Chevre, and Artisan Baking Company crackers and pickles. Chef Grimes made the pickles and I couldn't stop eating them. I enjoyed the aged gouda cheese and the Latte Da goat cheese was fresh and tangy. We drank NV Prosecco di Valdobbiandene, Le Caseere with the appetizer.

The salad course included Littlejohn Farms watermelon and Texas Prarie Farms arugula with a balsamic reduction and glazed pecans. The sweet and juicy watermelon was a perfect compliment to the sharp greens and Chef Grime's glazed pecans provided the right amount of crunchiness to the dish. The dish was served with a 2010 Lone Oak Winery Chardonique

Entree

Teel's Custom Meats in Weatherford provided pork loins from locally raised hogs. The loins were butterflied and stuffed with Kim's spinach and proscuitto and Artisan's breadcrumbs and served with gremolata. Chef Waier created the cavatelli pasta with beurre noisette (browned butter sauce). I loved the texture and flavor of the handmade pasta with the rich buttery sauce. There was a beautiful tomato and vegetable terrine with lemon basil. The wine was a 2009 Lone Oak Winery Red Mosaic

Dessert

Chef Grimes outdid herself with the rustic peach galette with vanilla bean ice cream and cajeta sauce. The pastry was light and flaky filled with fresh, sweet peaches. The vanilla and caramel flavors only added to the already delicious fruit. The 2011 Lone Oak Winery Moscato was a wonderful ending to the meal.

The students from the Culinary School of Fort Worth were busy in the kitchen and serving the guests.

It was great to see the students and remember my student days with the school from Sept 2008-Dec 2009 and also a relief to know that I was just relaxing and enjoying myself as a guest and not stressed out in the kitchen! Seeing Chef Waier, one of my instructors, was a pleasure. I learned so much from him and continue to use what both he and Chef Grimes taught in my culinary endeavors. I look forward to the next "pop-up" event.

Mediterranean Cooking Class

2011-07-23T13:10:00.001-05:00

I had the pleasure of being asked to do a cooking class with a group of women on July 18.
They get together on a regular basis but had never had a cooking class together as a group.
The class was held at a beautiful ranch, set on a hill on 70 acres with a lake view. The kitchen was open, with plenty of counter space, a professional style gas range, and had a lovely view of the lake.

They selected the Mediterraean menu which included:

Hummus with Cucumbers and Carrots
Herb-crusted Lamb Chops
Mediterranean Couscous with Spinach
Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Peaches

I demonstrated the dishes while the guests observed and then they sampled what I made. The hummus was
a version I have made many times and can be modified depending on your mood. Personally, I think it was too salty and I have modified my recipe to start with less salt and add more later. A pretty dish with a bowl of hummus surrounded by sliced carrots and cucumbers is a beautiful appetizer. The class enjoyed the hummus with the crispy fresh vegetables and pita chips. We made the panna cotta next using a fresh vanilla bean. If you've never worked with a vanilla bean it's an interesting technique and the fresh vanilla bean makes things tasted so good. The panna cotta had little flecks of vanilla bean throughout it and great flavor.
The couscous dish was next, a simple but complex tasting dish, with the fresh tastes of good cherry tomatoes and herbs, and the tang of the feta cheese. It was also a colorful and appetizing dish to look at.
Finally, we made the lamb chops so when they were done the lamb could be eaten with the couscous and spinach. The class was surprised to see that I made my own bread crumbs by cutting the crusts off some Italian bread and pulsing it in the food processor. The herbs and fresh bread crumbs looked and smelled fantastic. It was a little tricky making the lamb chops on a stove I had never used, but they turned out fine, tender and juicy with the taste of the crust in every bite. The hostess invited me to sit at the table, which I did, and we all ate the lamb and couscous. The panna cotta with fresh peaches was a nice finish to the meal. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did!

Hummus

2-4 garlic cloves
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1/2 tsp kosher salt (you can add more later if you like it saltier)
1 tsp cumin, toasted
1/3 cup tahini
6 T fresh lemon juice
2 T liquid from chickpeas
1/2 tsp hot sauce or 1/4 tsp cayenne
1-2 T extra virgin olive oil
optional: add a chopped jalapeno or serrano pepper
For red bell pepper hummus, add a roasted red bell pepper
Garnish with paprika, chopped cilantro or chopped parsley
Serve with pita chips, toasted pita bread, sliced cucumbers, sliced carrots or any vegetable.

Pulse all ingredients in the food processor, adding chickpea liquid to thin as you desire. Drizzle with more olive oil.

Mediterranean Couscous

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked couscous
1-2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup red onion (or sweet yellow onion)
2 tsp fresh dill, chopped
3 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 T olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add couscous and salt and stir. Remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. In a mixing bowl add lemon juice, dill, and pepper. Add a few drops of oil and whisk briskly, then add the rest of the oil. Add the other ingredients to the couscous. Serve warm on a bed of raw or wilted spinach.

The couscous was excellent and a perfect side dish for the herb-crusted lamb chops.

Herb Crusted Lamb Chops

2 garlic cloves
2 cups fresh bread crumbs
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 T fresh basil
1 T fresh oregano
2 T fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup grapeseed oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place garlic, bread crumbs and herbs in a food processor and pulse until herbs are finely chopped. Sprinkly sea salt and pepper on the lamb chops and coat with olive oil (lightly). Press crumb mixture firmly on both sides of the lamb chops.
Heat grapeseed oil on medium high in a saute pan. Brown each side of the lamb chops, leaving undisturbed for the first 2 minutes to allow a crust to form. Place on a baking sheet and finish in the oven for 4-6 minutes for medium rare.

Hiyashi Chuka Soba

2011-07-23T13:07:00.001-05:00

The Fort Worth Japanese Society July luncheon on July 17th featured the popular cold noodle dish, Hiyashi Chuka Soba. I volunteered to coordinate the preparation of the meal with a few others from the board. The Japanese Society has a kitchen so we had a place to prepare the food. I prepared numerous packages of dried chukka soba and thin omelets ahead of time and at 9:30 AM our hard working group of four started slicing vegetables and ham. With our good team effort we managed to finish all the preparation in an hour and a half. Sam cut carrots, I cut cucumbers, Elisha made sauce, and Sonya cut up ham. Nobuko brought cooked shiitake mushrooms.
I cut up seaweed and Elisha prepared Chinese hot mustard. We were ready to put it all together by placing a cup of cooked noodles on the plate topped with all the beautiful toppings and sauce, with a dab of mustard, and a little beni shoga (pickled ginger).
Judging by the clean plates and comments the food was good. I can say from my tasting, it was delicious! Please make this Japanese summertime dish and you will not be sorry.

1 8 ounce package of Chuka Soba, cooked according to package directions, rinsed in cold water
1/4 pound ham, cooked chicken or cooked pork, cut in julienne strips
1 cucumber, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp sugar

Dressing
1/3 cup water
3 T rice vinegar
3 T sugar
1 tsp sesame oil

Garnish
beni shoga
nori (dried seaweed strips)
roasted white sesame seeds
Karashi mustard (hot Chinese mustard)

Add sugar to beaten egg and mix well. Heat some oil in a skillet and pour about one quarter of the egg mixture in the skillet. spread the egg thinly and fry until done. Make four thin and round omelets like crepes. Slice in thin strips. Put chilled noodles on individual dishes. Arrange cucumber, ham, and egg strips on the noodles. Garnish with beni shoga. Pour dressing over noodles just before serving. Sprinkle on some nori and sesame seeds. Put a little dab of karashi on the plate if you like.

A total of 50 plates of noodles were made!

This is the type of noodles I used.

Private Cooking Class for Linda Johnson

2011-07-23T12:49:00.001-05:00

A long time ago I gave Linda a list of some of my favorite recipes. She selected three recipes for this week's class. Her selections were: Korean Cucumber Salad, Chunky Potatoes with Garlic and Peanuts, and Lemongrass Beef with Rice Noodles. I believe she saw the recipe for Lemongrass Beef on an earlier blog post, but she chose the Cucumber Salad and Chunky Potatoes from my list. I was tickled when I realized we were going to make Korean food, Indian food, and Vietnamese food in our class. Considering that Linda rarely ever ate any ethnic food, other than a little Mexican food, I am quite impressed with her willingness to stretch beyond her comfort zone. We started with the Lemonsgrass Beef so we could marinate the meat. Linda has some sirloin from her sides of beef and the marinade was perfect for her beef. The recipe for the Lemongrass Beef can be found on this blog, June 21, 2011.
The Korean Cucumber Salad is a great way to made cucumbers taste sensational.

2 small cucumbers
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallinos, finely chopped
1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 T Sambal Olek
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp fish sauce
2 T rice vinegar

Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/8 inch half moons. Place in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly with salt. Let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile combine garlic, scallions, ginger, vinegar, sambal olek, sugar, vinegar, and fish sauce in a medium ceramic or non reactive bowl. Stir the cucumbers into the vinegar mixture. Cover and refrigerate.

Chunky Potatoes with Garlic and Peanuts
From 600 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

2 T white sesame seeds
2 T raw peanuts
4 garlic cloves
3 dried Thai chiles, stems removed
2 T canola oil
1 pound russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes, and kept in a bowl of cold water to prevent browning
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes
2 tsp kosher salt
2 T finely chopped cilantro

Combine the sesame seeds, peanuts, garlic, and chiles in a food processor and pulse to form a gritty, sticky, mellow-smelling blend. Heat the oil in a medium-size saucepan over medium low heat.
Scrape the sesame-peanut blend into the warmed oil and roast the mixture, stirring, until it starts to release its own oils and loosen, turning crumbly and nutty brown, 5-8 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain the potatoes. Stir the turmeric into the sesame-peanut blend and cook for 5 seconds. Then add the potatoes, tomatoes (with their juices), 1 cup water, and the salt.
Stir, then bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover the pan, and cook, stirring occasionally until the sauce has thickened, 25-30 minutes.

This dish is really good with rice.

All the dishes turned out really well. The Lemongrass Beef was tender and flavorful and I could tell Linda really liked it and so did her husband, Baker. The spicy Indian potato dish was also a hit. I was so pleased that Linda loved the Korean Cucumber Salad, one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to the next lesson in August.

Special Banana Bread

2011-07-08T20:16:00.000-05:00

My friend, Yo, in California sent me some fantastic wines last month and I wanted to send him something special from my kitchen since I really can't compete in the wine department. I did send a few of my favorite Becker Vineyards wine, though but I doubt they will taste as good as the Marinus or Opus One.
I made some of my gourmet banana bread. I call it gourmet because I use only the best ingredients.

Pecans and walnuts, from Central Market, Callebaut dark and milk chocolate, Lindt white coconut chocolate

The recipe is fairly standard, although I have modified it every time I've made it, depending on my mood and the ingredients. Sometimes I make a healthy whole wheat flour version with turbinado sugar, but this time I made it with the works.

Recipe

3 medium bananas, very ripe and soft

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room termperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup toasted walnuts and pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chunks

2 ounces white coconut chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease mini loaf pans with Baker's Secret. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with the sugar. Add softened butter. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Mix the flour with the baking soda, powder, and salt and add it, very gently mixing with the wet ingredients until just combined.

Divide evenly between 4 mini loaf pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes, remove to rack.

I hope he and his family enjoy the banana bread!

New Orleans

2011-06-23T22:53:00.005-05:00

I am in New Orleans for a Public Health Service conference. I've been here since Monday and spent the last 4 days in meetings so not much of a chance to see New Orleans.

The Sheraton food has been barely edible mostly. Feeding 700 people usually means typical convention food and they decided to have cold everything. I did enjoy a cup of potato leek soup on Monday, and the redfish at the formal dinner Monday night tasted pretty good, but I really wanted to try some of the famous New Orleans cuisine. On Tuesday night a group of us headed out to the Bourbon House. I had some really good heirloom tomatoes for an appetizer and the redfish on the half shell with grilled shrimp was good, although not that memorable. The Acme Oyster House next door has a line of people waiting to get in but the Bourbon House was not very busy. The next day I had some free time at lunch and walked over to the Napoleon House cafe at 500 Charles St. in the historic Napoleon House. I had a quarter of a muffaletta and some jambalaya. OK, but not that good. Cold jambalaya and fairly bland muffaletta.
By this time I was getting discouraged about New Orleans food but I was hopeful about dinner at K Paul's once Steve arrived Wednesday night. We had a reservation, a good thing because they were packed. I liked the warm, inviting restaurant, with large posters of their recipes on the wall and pieces of paper on the table with recipes.

We had the special K Paul's cosmopolitans, a very nice drink. Their bread basket contained jalapeño yeast rolls, corn muffins, molasses muffins, and dinner rolls. All were so fresh and delicious. I had some gumbo, fair, nothing special. Steve ordered a special that came with a shrimp enchilada appetizer. That sounded strange but it was really good. Very fresh, perfect shrimp in a tortilla in a beef chili sauce with melted cheese. I tasted it to be polite but wanted more. Steve had a pan fried flounder with an Indian bayou sauce. From what I could tell the sauce had curry, tomato, corn, and shrimp. It was perfectly cooked fish and the sauce complimented it well. I ordered the blackened drum. Not bad, but not great either. A little over salted for my taste.

Blackened Drum

Pan Fried Flounder with Indian Bayou Sauce

K Paul's Chocolate Tart with Caramel Sauce

Steve was nice enough to give me more of his fish! His dinner came with dessert so he ordered chocolate tart. That was a very nice chocolate tart. What I liked about it was that it looked homemade, not a perfect pastry shipped in from somewhere. Although we were so stuffed we couldn't stop eating the dessert. We waddled out of K Paul's and headed to Bourbon Street to walk off some calories. As we were walking we heard some really good music coming for a club, Fat Catz. We stopped in and ended up staying for over 2 hours listening to great rhythm and blues from the last 50 years. This group, the Cannection, was really good. Back at the hotel running through a sudden downpour, drenched, but feeling good.
Thursday was the last day of the conference so I had to attend meetings until lunch time. We ventured out to walk around and sightsee. Someone at work recommended Mother's on Poydras so we headed there to have a sandwich. A popular place, big line and full of people, Mother's has been around since 1938 and is known for "world's best baked ham". We had shrimp and oyster po boys. Probably should have gotten the "famous ferdi special" with ham, roast beef, debris and gravy, but our po boys were pretty good and just what we needed to start the day.

We walked for hours, stopped at the corner of Royal and Toulouse for a long time to listen to a man playing the saxophone.

It was unexpectedly beautiful music and I couldn't tear myself away. I have been so impressed with the music here. Our PHS dinner has an excellent local band and people stayed on to dance, a very unusual occurrence with our group.
After a rest break and workout at the gym, we left for dinner at Brennan's. I had to try Brennan's after my culinary school experience. Many of Brennan's dishes were in our textbook and I once had the assignment to make and serve Bananas Foster table side to the instructors. That was nerve wracking, to say the least! I've always heard good things about Brennan's so I was looking forward to the dinner. They have an extensive wine list and menu. We ordered on the a la carte menu rather than the 4 course "prix fixe" menu. We couldn't stand the thought of having 4 courses each--way too much food. I wanted to try the famous shrimp remoulade that I had been seeing on all the menus. Steve ordered the salad with blue cheese and spiced pecans. I did not like the shrimp! My idea of remoulade was a creamy sauce but this version was very sharp, lots of horseradish and mustard. I was thinking bad thoughts about Brennan's until my entree appeared. After 4 days of redfish I ordered a pepper filet and barbeque shrimp. The filet was perfectly cooked and had some really tasty pepper cream sauce on it. There were some cream mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables on the plate. The bbq shrimp, a New Orleans style dish of shrimp in a spicy sauce, was fabulous. Steve's redfish Perez, redfish with a crab and shrimp topping, was also outstanding. The food was served on very hot plates and stayed piping hot throughout the meal and I like my food to be hot.

Shrimp Remoulade

Redfish Perez with Hollandaise Sauce, Shrimp, and Crab

Pepper filet with BBQ Shimp and Pepper cream sauce

For wine, Steve had a glass of Acacia Chardonnay and I had a glass of a Napa cabernet, can't remember the name. Next time we'll read up on their wines. I learned that Brennan's wine cellar has over 35,000 wines and a 56 page wine list.
We ended with the Bananas Foster and watched our server prepare it for us. It was just as I remembered it, caramelized bananas with rum and brown sugar sauce on top of vanilla ice cream.

Bananas Foster

Our plan to head back to Bourbon Street for more music was changed due to a heavy rain. We'll try tomorrow night.
Our plans for Friday include breakfast at Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait, a street car ride to St. Charles St., lunch at Central Grocery (muffulettas), shopping and site seeing, and dinner at John Besh's August restaurant. (and another work out at the gym).
By the way, if Sandra, my personal trainer is reading this, I worked out at the gym every day, Monday-Friday, for at least 1 hour!

Friday morning we set out for Cafe Du Monde, the original location on Decatur Street, for some beignets and cafe au lait. There was a long line but it moved quickly. Our beignets were hot, chewy, and delicious and the coffee was just right.

The atmosphere was very noisy and busy so the enjoyment was lessened by the crowds. Next time I would go there late at night or very early. They are open 24 hours a day so it shouldn't be hard to find a better time.

We planned to go to Central Grocery for a muffuleta so we had to walk around a few hours to work off the beignets. New Orleans is very humid! After a short time of walking around it feels like you've been at the gym and my hair frizzed up immediately every time I walked out the door. We waited in line again for a muffuleta but it was worth it. The Central Grocery has been open since 1906 when the family who started it sold food from their native country, Italy, Sicily, to be exact. They wanted to have something that a workman could take with him that had the tastes of home--the meats, cheeses, and olives, which are prized in Sicily.
The muffuletta became the perfect combination. We ordered a whole muffuletta, but should have ordered a half because it was huge. The olive salad was chunky, fresh, and flavored nicely.

The bread was crusty, chewy, with sesame seeds and great flavor. I ate way more of it than I intended but didn't reget it. I loved the fact the store was so old and everything in it was imported from Italy.

We had a reservation at August, John Besh's restaurant on Tchoupitoulas St. What a beautiful restaurant! Very elegant and quiet with gorgeous design and lovely furniture. Flowers, champagne chilling in a silver bucket, tuxedoed waiters, and well dressed patrons. The menu was full of interesting dishes and not at all the usual New Orleans fare. We were served house made sourdough bread with hand churned creamy butter, the care and attention to even that detail was impressive.

Amuse Bouche Sabayon with Caviar

Chop Salad

Crispy Soft Shell Crab Almondine

Soft Shell Shrimp, Tempura style with crispy rice cakes and chile vinaigrette

Gnocchi with crab and black truffles

Banana Rum Cake with Creole Cream Cheese Icing

Steve had soft shell shrimp, tempura style, with crispy rice cakes, and chile vinaigrette. He also ordered handmade potato gnocchi with blue crab and black truffles. I ordered a vegetable chop salad with petite herbs and champagne vinaigrette and crispy soft shell crab almondine with crab meat and haricot vert salad, brown butter and marcona almonds. This crab dish was one of the best things I've ever eaten, seriously. The layers of flavors were unbelieveable! We shared a bottle of Savignon Blanc, 2010 Frogs Leap, Napa, California. For dessert we shared Pere Roux's Banana rum cake with creole cream cheese icing. They also brough pralines, truffles, and a fruit candy.

If you have the chance, don't miss August. The attention to detail, freshness of the food and the atmosphere are all impeccable.

Our last eating experience was Saturday at the Cooking School of New Orleans where we took a "class" on how to make gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding and pralines. It was fun because the chef instructor, Big Kevin, was a hoot.

He had a wise crack for every one and he didn't tae himself or cooking too seriously. I liked his tips on roux making and his version of bread pudding, although I wouldn't make it with Pina Colada mix like he did--way too sweet, but I liked his technique. He gave some good advice on how to layer flavor and how to alter the recipes to make them unique. Although I've made gumbo and jambalaya many times it was still good to learn how the locals do it. We had a great lunch as well, a good ending to our trip.

Back to Ft. Worth now and time for some Tex-Mex. I think I'll make huevos rancheros for breakfast tomorrow!

"A Night in Tuscany" Cooking Party

2011-06-23T08:39:00.008-05:00

I was asked to do a cooking class at the home of Julie Treat with the theme, "A Night in Tuscany". She is family, my husband's niece, and knew about our trip to Reggio Emilia in March of this year. She has also been to Italy and is very interested in the cuisine and thought a group of her friends would enjoy sampling authentic Italian food. Although technically we were not really staying in the Tuscany region, we did visit it and had a gastronomic tour there. Our trip was centered on the Emilio-Romanga region in the town of Reggio Emilia where we visited Parma, Modena, and Bologna. There are three blog posts about the culinary immersion program in Italy if you are interested in reading about the specifics.
For Julie's cooking party we decided on this menu:

Antipasto: Fontina, gorgonzola, and pancetta with herbs on crostini
Primo: Tortelli verde with salsa bianca and salciccia
Secondo: Pork tenderloin stuffed with proscuitto and parmigiano-reggiano with Lambrusco sauce, served with herb oven roasted potatoes
Contorno: Panzanella
Dolce: Panna cotta with fresh Amaretto peach sauce

I also brought a sampling of my 30 month aged parmigiana reggiano cheese from Parma, some grissini, proscuitto, olives, and served in with aged balsamic vinegar. I couldn't resist sharing the antipasto we had nearly every meal in Italy.

Panzanella salad

Julie serve Prosecco, as an aperitif, when the guests arrived, Lambrusco and some other red wines, and Limoncello at the end.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Proscuitto and Parmigiano Reggiano and Red Wine Sauce

2 pork tenderloins
4 ounces proscuitto, thinly sliced
4 ounces parmigiano reggiano cheese, shaved
16 ounces Lambrusco wine and 16 ounces white Marsala or dry white or red wine
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp sage, minced
2 tsp parsley, chopped
2 T all-purpose flour
2 T butter

Salt and pepper the surface of the pork. Pound with mallet until uniform thickness. Divide ham and cheese in two equal amounts. Place each portion down the center of each of the two pieces of pork. Roll the meat and tie with butcher twine. Heat a large skillet to medium high and add 1 T oil. Brown the tenderloins on all sides. Place meat in a large baking pan, sprinkle it with flour, rub it with garlic, rosemary, and sage and sprinkle it with half the wine. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until liquid is clear when pierced with a fork.
Take the meat out of the pan and allow it to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the sauce. Deglaze the pan with some of the reserved wine and cook it for 5 minutes. Strain it and add it to a small saucepan. Add butter and cook until it's smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Slice pork and drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top.
Serve with roasted potatoes.

Herb Roasted Potatoes
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic, sage (1 tsp each)
1 T oil
1 T butter
Cut potatoes into wedges. Blanch for 5 minutes in boiling water. Drain and place on a large baking pan. Sprinkle with herbs, salt,a and pepper, oil and butter. Bake at 375 degrees until brown and tender, approximately 20-25 minutes. Turn halfway through baking. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake an additional 5 minutes for crispier potatoes.

There were a total of 7 guests and all were more than willing to prepare the various dishes. Two prepared the antipasto which was enjoyed by all. Julie was very interested in learning how to make pasta so she led the pasta team. We made the dough from scratch and filled it with a chard and ricotta filling. The sauce was a simple butter, cream, parmigiano reggiano sauce and we added some browned Italian sausage to the sauce. Pasta making for the first time is not the easiest thing to do, but Julie is a quick learner and she and her friends made excellent pasta. The good thing about fresh pasta is that is cooks quickly so it was ready in just 4 minutes. The guests sat down and ate the pasta while it was hot and fresh. Judging by their comments I believe they really enjoyed it. We started on the pork tenderloin and got it stuffed and browned. In the Motti School in Reggio Emilia the student chefs placed the pork in a roasting pan, sprinkled a couple tablespoons of flour on it, tossed in a handful of chopped fresh herbs, and added about 4 cups of wine (Lambrusco and dry, not sweet, Marsala). I had never seen that technique but it resulted in a thickened wine mixture after the pork was cooked. This worked well with the class and we had a great sauce base. I strained the wine mixture and put in in a saucepan, added a little butter, salt and pepper, and the Lambrusco sauce was perfect. The pork was tender and juicy, drizzled with the wine sauce and served with the potatoes we roasted. The potato recipe was also something I learned in Italy. The chef boiled the potato wedges for 5 minutes, drained them, and placed them on a baking sheet with some oive oil and a handful of chopped herbs. Since they were partially cooked they roasted to a golden brown within about 20 minutes. The guests were happy to learn this technique so they could make their oven roasted potatoes on a weeknight without it taking over an hour. We all had samples of the pork and potatoes (including me, standing in the kitchen) and I was transported back to Italy where I enjoyed the same dish. I am hoping the guests liked it. We hurried to make the panzanella. Now this is one true Tuscan dish. When we were on the walking gastronomic tour of Florence the tour guide was telling me about what people in Florence eat at home. She explained that they enjoyed a lot of fresh vegetables in minestra (soup), then used stale bread to turn the leftover soup into ribolita (re-boiled soup with bread). She also described panzanella, made with stale bread soaked briefly in water, squeezed out, then combined with the freshest tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. With it being tomato season right now I made panzanella at home with tomatoes from my garden. I didn't have enough for the class so we used local tomatoes. We did not soak the bread since it was too fresh but it was just right combined with the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, basil and dressing. None of the guests had tasted this dish before and Julie remarked, "I'd rather have bread in my salad than lettuce!"
For dessert, I had made panna cotta at my house and transported it to the class because it takes several hours to set. We were going to make the panna cotta at Julie's but eat the ones I brought. We ended up making the fresh peaches and Amaretto and skipping the actual panna cotta making due to the lateness of the hour. I explained the process in detail, though. I used half whole milk and half heavy cream, just like the Italian student chefs did at our class and I found their panna cotta to be the best dessert I had my entire trip. I was hoping we would create a similar dessert for Julie's guests.
Two guests made the fresh peach sauce and the peaches were incredibly sweet and tasty.
When the women spooned the silky panna cotta topped with the Amaretto peaches every one of them were very pleased.
The "digestivo", Limoncello, was not the most popular item of the night. Most of the women did not care for it at all.

Cooking class with Linda Johnson: Thai Basil Chicken

2011-06-21T12:09:00.002-05:00

Cornmeal cakes with oven dried tomatoes

Linda Johnson has been having me over to her house since last September for private cooking lessons. We have one or two classes a month and it's been a lot of fun. What I love about Linda is her adventurous spirit. Although she readily admits she is from west Texas and doesn't know much about international cuisine, she never hesitates to try dishes from Japan, India, Thailand, Mexico, and various regions of the United States, such as southwestern.
One of her favorite classes was on how to stir fry various meats and vegetables and create a variety of sauces. She has embraced the concept and made it her own and I'm very proud of her. For someone who rarely, if ever, used most of the ingredients we use, she has become very comfortable with fresh ginger, herbs, spices, seasonings, and cooking techniques such as searing. I loved hearing her story of how she made excellent seared steaks with a spice rub for her family. She doesn't seem to be tiring of classes yet so we will carry on until she does.

For this class we made Thai Basil Chicken, Cornmeal Cakes with oven dried tomatoes (recipe is in a previous post), and dark chocolate and pecan blondies (have to have something sweet for husband, Baker) Thai basil chicken is my husband's favorite Thai dish and one we've had many times at restaurants. In fact, we first remember eating it at an excellent Thai restaurant in Azle, of all places. The Mithsampun Restaurant had the best Spicy Thai Basil chicken or beef and the owner told me how they made it. Unfortunately they closed years ago, but I make the Thai Bssil Chicken often. It's great in the summer when basil and hot peppers are plentiful in the garden and it takes minutes to prepare. It's very versatile and can be made with beef, shrimp, tofu, pork and chicken. I serve it with brown rice, Japanese short grain rice, or Jasmine rice. I always have bags of cooked, frozen rice in my freezer, a trick my mother taught me. I just put 1 cup portions in sandwich bags and put the smaller bags in a large bag. (or to skip all the bags, put the portions on a baking sheet and freeze, then put them in a large container.

Thai Basil Chicken
2 T vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 pound chicken thighs or breasts, chopped into small pieces
1/2-2 T fish sauce
1 cup Thai basil (or Italian basil if you can't find Thai)
4 jalapeño peppers or 12 Thai chiles
3 tsp soy sauce or Golden Mountain Sauce
1 T oyster sauce
2 T lime juice

Optional ingredients:

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 T white wine
1 T brown sugar

Experiment with the sauce ingredients and vegetables to see what your preferences are.
Don't be afraid to add other vegetables you have on hand such as zucchini or okra.
Heat large skillet or wok until very hot. Add oil, then garlic, then shallots. Add chicken and stir fry for 1-2 mintues. Add peppers and sauce ingredients. Once chicken is cooked add the basil and remove from heat once basil is slightly wilted. Serve right away with rice.

Dark Chocolate and Pecan Blondies

Azle Farmers Market: Grilled Lemongrass Beef with Rice Noodles

2011-06-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

Grilled Lemongrass Beef with Rice Noodles

Today was the first day I was back at the Azle Farmers Market since last year. My life has been so hectic with the garden tour, deployment training, Japanese Cooking Series, and trip to Houston that this was the first Saturday I could go. I wanted to showcase my first attempt to grow lemongrass and also use some nice hot Serrano peppers I'm growing so I decided on Lemongrass Beef with Rice Noodles. I have also made this with chicken and shrimp and the marinade is really flavorful and exciting. Tofu is a good vegetarian choice as well. This is a perfect summertime dish because it is eaten cold, although the meat can be warm from the grill if you like.

Marinade
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 small hot chiles (Thai, Serrano, jalapeño) stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 T sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 T soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 T lime juice
1 T sesame seeds
1 1/2 pounds beef (tenderloin, sirloin, top round) sliced paper thin, across the grain

Place garlic, lemon grass, shallot, ginger, chiles, sugar, black pepper and salt in a heavy mortar and pound to a puree with a pestle. (or use a food processor) Add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir in sesame seeds. Add marinade to a large plastic bag and marinate for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

Rice Noodles
8 ounces rice noodles (vermicelli)
Prepare according to package directions--they tend to differ depending on the brand. I boil them for a few minutes, drain and place in a bowl and keep in the refrigerator. I like the texture of them after they've chilled for a few hours.

Vegetables
Lettuces leaves, left whole (Boston lettuce) or shredded red leaf or other lettuce
1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
2-4 Thai chiles, thinly sliced
2-3 cups bean sprouts
1 bunch Thai basil, rinsed, dried and torn into sprigs
1 bunch fresh mint, rinsed, dried and torn into sprigs
1 bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed, dried, and torn into sprigs

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
1 carrot, peeled
2 T sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 hot chile, cut into thin pieces
Use a vegetable peeler to cut 4 paper thin strips of carrot and then cut into thin slices. Add the rest of the ingredients.

1/2 cup finely chopped salted, roasted peanuts.

Serve by placing noodles, beef, vegetables and sauce on lettuce leaves or chopped lettuce and top with peanuts and more cilantro and the sauce.

Please try this recipe. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

Japanese Cooking Series: Gyoza, Chicken Curry, and Omurice

2011-06-05T15:44:00.001-05:00

The BEST EVER Japanese Chicken Curry

I have been teaching a series of Japanese cooking classes for the Fort Worth Japanese Society since April of this year. This three part series started with a class on hot pot (nabemono) dishes, followed by a class on donburi dishes such as katsudon, magurodon, and gyudon. The last class was on yoshoku, or Western inspired dishes. I wanted to teach a class on some of my favorite Japanese comfort foods that I associate with living in Japan and also with foods I watched my mother cook at home.
Yoshoku and Chuka foods are technically not Japanese foods but the Japanese have made them their own by adapting these imported foods to Japanese tastes. Yoshoku began by altering Western recipes but over time some dishes evolved that are not based on European foods, such as chicken rice and omurice (omelet rice). Chinese dishes (chuka) such as gyoza are very popular in Japan. I wanted to spotlight these foods for my last class in the Fort Worth Japanese Society cooking series. In recent trips to Japan I spotted these dishes in display cases everywhere.

I'm ready to start the class.

Students ready for the class to begin

Japanese chicken curry was the first dish I made. We could let the curry cook during the class so it would be ready to eat by the end of class. I have made this curry many times and it is by far the best Japanese curry I've ever had. It is by no means like authentic Indian curry where all the spices are hand ground. The Japanese put together their own blend and it works just fine. I do not use the blocks of curry seasoning because they are full of MSG and other processed foods and don't taste good to me.

Making curry from scratch is not difficult but it is harder than throwing together a packaged paste and some meat and vegetables. You have to make a roux and use the freshest spices and vegetables to have the best curry you've ever tasted, but it is so worth it! Feel free to use tofu, beef, or even shrimp in this curry.
(See photo of the finished curry at the top of this post.)

Japanese Chicken Curry
3 cups chicken stock (homemade or low sodium Swanson's)
1 T vegetable or canola oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" chunks
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 T butter
1 tsp grated ginger
1 medium onion, 1/2 diced, 1/2 cut into 1" pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
4 T flour
2 T S & B curry powder
2 T crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, sliced into 1/2" thick rounds
1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 small Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1 tsp honey
1 T soy sauce
Steamed Japanese rice
Simmer the chicken stock in a medium pot on the stove. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 4-5 quart pot and add 1 T oil. Brown chicken and remove from pot. Set aside.
Return the pot to medium-high heat and melt the butter. Add the ginger, chopped onions, and garlic and cook until onions are softened. Sprinkle in flour and cook until mixture is light brown, about 2 minutes. Add curry powder and tomatoes. Mix well and remove from heat. Add 1 cup of the warm chicken stock and whisk to combine. Add the rest of the chicken stock, then add the chicken thigh meat, onion pieces, carrots, bay leaf and potatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the apples, honey, and soy sauce and salt to taste. Cook for 5 more minutes. Serve with steamed Japanese rice and beni shoga (red ginger).

Curry is not quite ready yet...

Gyoza

You've probably eaten gyoza or "potstickers" somewhere in your lifetime. They can be incredibly good or incredibly bad depending on how they were cooked and how long they've been sitting around. Making your own is a good way to have succulent, fresh and out of this world gyoza. It is a bit time consuming but a fun thing to make with friends. For the class I had the students fill the wrappers and then I cooked their

finished gyoza. We made a sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar and spicy chile oil. By their comments and the disappearing gyoza I know they loved this dish!

Gyoza
Filling
2 cups napa cabbage, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 T chopped scallions
6 ounces ground pork or beef
4 ounces shrimp, minced (optional)
pinch of sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 T sake
1 1/2 T soy ssauce

3 dozen gyoza wrappers

Sauce
5 T soy sauce
2 1/2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
1/2 tsp chile oil
S & B Japanese hot mustard, prepared according to directions on the can

Toss cabbage with salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Drain water, rinse cabbage and drain again. Squeeze out all excess liquid. Combine cabbage with filling ingredients and mix well. Fill wrappers with 1 T of filling and create a half moon shape. Use a few drops of water to help the wrapper stick. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and keep covered with a dry kitchen towel.
To pan fry, use a large skillet heated over medium high heat. Add 1 T oil, then add gyoza. Fry 1-2 minutes until light brown on the bottom. Add 1/3 cup hot water to skillet holding lid close to top of pan. Cover pan and let steam for 6 minutes. Remove cover and cook until water is gone.
Combine sauce ingredients. Serve with sauce and Japanese mustard.

Gyoza with bottoms on top to show how brown they should be

Omurice (omelet rice)

I recall my mother asking my youngest daughter one day, "Do you want me to make you some omurice?" This is to Japanese what macaroni and cheese is to Americans. It is simple and children love it.

Omu Raisu
Chicken Fried Rice for filling
4 cups day old white or brown rice
3 T butter or oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 pound chicken breast meat, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup green peas (frozen or fresh)
1/4 cup ketchup
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the butter or oil and saute the onion. Cook the onion over low heat until it is solf. Add the carrot and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and salt and pepper. Raise the heat to medium high and cook until the liquid is absorbed. Add th erice and peas, turn to high heat and stir until the rice is heated through and mixed with the chicken. Add the ketuchp and stir.

Omelette
3 eggs, beaten
2 T butter or oil
1/2 recipe chicken fried rice
Season eggs with salt and pepper. Heat an 8-10 inch skillet and add the butter or oil. Add the eggs all at once and quickly swirl to coat the bottom of the pan evenly. Cook until they are set on the bottom and half cooked on top. Spread the fried rice over half the omelet and fold the other half over, covering the rice completely. Place a plate over the top of the skillet and carefully flip the plate over to plate the omelet
Serve with ketchup.
Variations: Use any type of fried rice with this dish and substitute tofu, mushrooms, etc. for the meat.
Also try using a brown rice filling and egg white outside for a "zen omu rice".

Houston trip: Les Givrals and Giacomo's cibo e vino

2011-05-31T19:12:00.000-05:00

I'm visiting my daughter, Helen, granddaughter, Grace, and Will, Helen's boyfriend and his son Atticus, in Houston for Memorial Day weekend. This weekend I have not done any cooking and instead was fortunate enough to have some great meals here. Helen lives in the Bellaire area, close to everything, so she didn't blink when I asked to try Les Givrals, a Vietnamese restaurant. We went Saturday and enjoyed their Bahn Mi sandwiches and spring rolls.

All were freshly made with just the right crispy french rolls. The spring rolls were tender, not rubbery as is often the case, and there were several sauces available to spice up the food. The entire dinner for all 6 of us was $30.00.
Breakfast the next morning at the local "Egg and I" was just fine. A cute family restaurant with fresh and imaginative food. I had a vegetable frittata and freshly squeezed orange juice. The highlight of this weekend's eating was tonight, however.

Helen had been to a local place called, Giacomo's cibo e vino, an Italian style wine and food bar. She loved it and thought that I would "get it". There are several ways to eat there and it is not typical in any way. It reminded me of the little wine bars all over Italy where you could stop in, buy a glass of wine and then help yourself to antipasti set out on the bar. At Giacomo's you are shown the day's special antipasti, or "chichetti freddi" (little cold dishes) and you can have a sampling of any of them, for about $5-6 per plate. You can also order anitpasti from the menu, or "chichetti caldi" (little hot dishes). Then there are soups, salads, "secondi" (main course portions) of meats and seafood, house made pasta, panini, and "contorni" (vegetable sides). We selected glasses of wine (which come in half and full glasses--a great way to sample several wines), however we chose just one glass each of Pavillion Cabernet Sauvignon. The waiter escorted us to the bar area and showed us the 10 or so special cold antipasti.

Daily selection of cold antipasti

It was hard to choose but we decided on the marinated mushrooms, seafood salad with shrimp and squid, and spicy broccoli. We ordered a basket of bread which included some nice foccacia.

Marinated mushrooms, spicy broccoli, squid and shrimp salad, foccacia

Instead of the heavier tortellini in brodo (pasta stuffed with meat) and served with cream sauces that the girls ordered, Helen and I decided on vegetable misto and salsiccia di pollo (chicken sausage) with frisee and arugula.

misto (vegetables) and salciccia di pollo (chicken sausage)

We weren't sorry with our choices. We sampled the pasta and although it was al dente and flavorful I preferred the variety of vegetable dishes and the one meat dish. Since we had room for dessert we all ordered it: lemon tart, gelato for Grace (white chocolate and chocolate), and panna cotta for Helen and I. The panna cotta with vanilla yogurt, cinnamon and lemon was silky and tart, reminding me of the melt in your mouth gelato I had at the Motti School in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

Just give me gelato!

The silky vanilla lemon cinnamon panna cotta

Lemon Tart

If I lived in Houston I would go to Giacomo's on a regular basis and sample everything. Helen, next time you come visit me in Azle, bring a cooler full of Giacomo's cold antipasti, bread, and a panna cotta. Please!