Coaching Cooking

Shame on me. I almost forgot to mention the original writer of this blog—Jenny. I know she had gotten a lot busier, what with teaching and going back to school, so she probably didn’t have time to work this into her schedule. So please don’t think I was a tiger waiting to pounce on her blog because I’m sad to see her gone. (I just thought it might be nice to write on another subject.) We actually met one afternoon and combined her thing with my things: winetasting in Los Gatos with a picnic lunch at Savannah Chanelle on what I remember to be a chilly and slightly drizzly day. She even came into Thomas Fogarty Winery where I used to work once or twice and brought AB and some friends along.

So, cheers to Jenny wherever she is, and I’ll try to include at least one or two recipes for cupcakes, cause I know how she loves them.

The bells are synced and the kids are ready…My desk is already cluttered with papers and pencils so I have to admit that school is now in session. Admittedly, I’m not quite ready for the year because my mind is still at Vino Locale.

For a moment, let’s look back on a lovely dinner that AB and I had at Vino Locale last weekend. Downtown Palo Alto hosted its annual art and wine festival and the atmosphere was busy, but cheerful. If I had my way, I’d probably go to Vino Locale at least twice a week just to sit in that lovely garden. We stayed for two hours and it felt like time passed by so leisurely. We were a bit surprised that we’d been sitting there for two hours in such tranquility!

So, to tempt you, here are some pics from our fabulous lunch:

We started with a wonderful caprese salad. AB tells me that bocconcinis are the medium-size mozzarella and the ones we had for lunch on this day are called “pearls.” They were creamy and soft with no hint of bitterness and they paired perfectly with the local tomatoes.

We like wine flights! Especially ones that come with a beautiful garden…

Pure heaven on bread…

AB ordered the crostini (with my strong recommendation) and it was really great again. The bread was perfectly toasted on the outside and the toppings included parmesan-cream cheese, pesto, bruschetta and pistachio pate. This was one of our last dishes and we began to reach that soporific state of satiated bliss.

You know the one…

There’s a secluded and quaint garden out back where flowers and vines grow gracefully over the fence and the tables and chairs wait patiently for guests. A small fountain in the middle of the garden sputters at first in the late morning, but then changes its tone to a flowing melody (did I mention the fountain is made of a magnum of wine?). The back garden sits between many other buildings, but we feel as if we’ve discovered Shangri-La in the middle of downtown.

The server has cosmopolitan charm punctuated pleasantly by a friendly and casual manner. He takes our beverage order and gives us plenty of time to linger over the menu. This lovely place adheres to the tenets of Slow Food USA. and the menu warns that each dish takes time to prepare (so ask for the quick items if you are in a Silicon Valley hurry!). Already we realize that this place can not be enjoyed in just one visit. The drinks arrive and V enjoys her chardonnay flight while I sip my sangria and L enjoys her Randy’s special of sparkling wine with a touch of syrah (just the look of this incites a celebration). Hours pass by unnoticed and we continue to marvel that we are sitting in the middle of downtown Palo Alto while completely missing the hustle and chaos of the nearby streets.

We eat fresh tomatoes glistening with olive oil, fresh basil and the most delicious local mozzarella and gazpacho accented with a touch of soy sauce, chunks of tomato, garlic and onion and the irresistible sweetness of the local tomatoes. Glasses of sangria, chardonnay and wine spritzers (with champagne and a touch of syrah) add to this amazing repast. It’s still quiet in the garden, broken only by our laughter (Liz recounts her horror at arriving at a cover band concert where women wear black-sequined ties, big hair and other reprehensible fashions from twenty years ago while dancing the white man’s overbite!!). The afternoon wiles away and we float on a sea of gorgeous food, wine and the pleasant company.

So if we could live here forever then our conversations would pause only for more wine and for more delicious, local food. The crostini is perfect, crisp with a soft, chewy center and topped with thin slivers of cured ham, fresh mozzarella or pate with pistachios or chopped tomatoes, garlic and basil. V eats a luscious green bean and potato salad and L has a wonderful plate of house-made hummus laden with spices and soft pita triangles. We have to have dessert and that includes a chocolate panini with melted semisweet chocolate (a perfect take on pain au chocolate) and glasses of nectarine-honey dessert wine with chocolate truffles made in San Francisco and lemon-white chocolate biscotti made in Redwood City.

If you have the opportunity, the dream can be yours as well right here.

There have been times when I’ve questioned my diet and times when I’ve hoped to reform my caloric intake to reflect a style of eating (vegetarianism, the Hiroshima diet, macrobiotic diet). Then I scrapped it all and just started enjoying all foods. So, in defense of fats, I must give my support to the villainized fat (butter, meat, cheese, oil, sour cream and on and on). We are encouraged in this day and age to live cautiously and to devour the latest scientific reports on what is healthy and what is evil. People often refer to foods as good or bad. They might say, “Oh, I’m being bad today. Diet starts tomorrow!” And some foods (chocolate, fried foods, desserts of all kinds) are labelled as sinful. And yet, I submit that perhaps it is okay to stray from rigid ways of eating. Who reaches the end of their life and wishes that they’d eaten more green vegetables or bran cereal?

This reflection brings me to a central idea, namely, that fat is good. Fat tastes good. Fat adds flavor to foods. I’m not suggesting that one should smear all dishes with unlimited tallow or butter. Instead, I just want to promote the fact that fat is sometimes an unloved component of our culinary repertoire. Give me a steak with some marbling or some potatoes sautéed in a little olive oil or butter. Yes, flavor can be added using a variety of other flavorings (chicken stock, broth, herbs, to name a few).

Hey, I love my sandwiches with some chilled mayonnaise. I adore steamed artichokes with a small side of mayo. Pork chops taste bland without a little pork fat to make those chops sing. AB loves broccoli with a light dusting of grated parmesan. Just a simple plate of bread, soft garlic butter and a good French cheese is enough to make me forget about all other foods.

The “mouthfeel� of food includes that richness brought in by fat. If you’ve ever tried to replace sour cream with that nonfat garbage then you know exactly what I mean. I’m not seduced by nonfat milk. It’s like drinking white-colored water! Try a little silkiness and spring for the one percent or go crazy and get two percent (you know you want it…).

Sometimes, just a simple pat of butter can elevate a dish from good to great. Experiment and find just the right amount of richness. Sure, you may not ever look like Halle Berry, but at least you can say that you ate like a queen.

This post is dedicated to my dear sister, Lisa, who once thought that Thai food was pronounced “Thigh food.” I love you, Lisa!

I lament all those years that I missed out on eating Thai food. All those years devoid of cilantro, lemongrass, galangal, chilies and coconut milk while I ate bland, colorless meals seasoned only with salt and ketchup. Ahhh, how divinely Thai food now rests in that Top Five Best Cuisine file in my mind’s eye.

One of my foodie heroes, Ruth Reichl, once described an incredible encounter with this soup by explaining how it created an explosion of flavor in her mouth and she also found herself choking on a tiny piece of food! My experience with Tom Kha soup wasn’t quite as dramatic, but, let me warn you, those chili peppers will catch up with you! The lemongrass sneaks up on you too, although in a much more pleasant way, but those chili peppers are the silent assassins. I ate one chili pepper, last night, that was so powerful I could feel my inner ear tingling. So far Tom Kha soup has been the best sinus reliever I have ever experienced. Now let’s talk about taste…

Now, clearly, I have a problem because the Tom Kha soup that I had at Thai Chili in Sunnyvale is permanently fixed on my taste buds and I see no end to the craving in sight. I’ll have to stroll into that restaurant again and sit with bated breath while I await another fantastic spoonful of that flavorful, lemony concoction. The first spoonful smelled faintly of lemon and then a burst of coconut, fish broth and a light creaminess gave way to chilis, cilantro, that subtle hint of lemongrass and galangal (also known as Thai ginger). Watch out, Thai Chili, I may haunt your dining room with visions of Tom Kha dancing in my eyes!

Thai, Thai food, lemongrass, galangal, chili pepper, Tom Kha

As a kid, I remember walking down long streets in San Francisco towards Golden Gate Park. We would walk past the withered city trees and I would watch my mom’s long, 70s hair swing in the wind. Sometimes, on weekends, we would go to a tiny Russian bakery near Irving Street, the street where we lived. This bakery has becomed a blurred image in my mind, but the one thing that I remember is the piroshkis. These savory, doughy treats had ground beef, cheese and spices encased in a savory, puffy doughnut-like confection. This piroshki stands out in my child’s mind as one of the glorious ends to a great day walking around in the city. We’d eat the piroshki as it steamed and the slight crunch of the bread created a perfect contrast to the rich, meaty filling.

I rediscovered these piroshki of my childhood a few weekends ago at the Mountain View farmers’ market (which has become my new foodie mecca…I will tell you about the fresh oysters a bit later). It’s so rare to find something that tastes of childhood with the sweetness of memories past. That will always be piroshki for me.

Check out these piroshki recipes:

Taylor’s Piroshki
Piroshki II from Cooks.com (not sure what happened to Piroshki I)
This recipe from Lesley Chamberlain that includes three fillings (meat, spinach and kasha)

There are many things to love about Hawaii. It is beautiful in a way that is almost indescribable. The people are so friendly and I feel almost at home. As an Chinese-American, Hawaii feels like a second home (and a place where I don’t automatically feel like a minority). But I digress…the air in Hawaii often smells like fragrant flowers and then there’s the food: there are culinary delights around nearly every corner from ahi poke to the best shaved ice (here’s an aerial pic) ever to fresh seafood and juicy fresh fruit.

On the Big Island, one of my favorite treats is the local Korean barbeque joint called Kal-Bi’s. The island lunch plate at this restaurant (and many others) includes a scoop of steamed, white rice along with barbeque steak, sesame oil-slicked greens, and saimin noodles with shredded carrot and green onion.

One island treat that I have not yet sampled on the Big Island is the spam musubi. Spam is a big seller in Hawaii. It’s history is long and, like many other treats, disputed in terms of whether it is sushi or a Japanese snack unrelated to sushi. My first spam musubi actually occurred in California, but I’m hoping Hawaiians will forgive me the transgression. It was so delicious that I wished I had ordered another. We were dining at Lukoki in Mountain View and the spam musubi was made to order. It arrived with the rice still warm and the salty slices of spam complemented the nori (seaweed strips) and rice to make a lasting impression on me.

I found this great history of the spam musubi in addition to recipes and a history of spam right here.
I know it might be hard to get used to the idea (or the reality) of eating Spam. Trust me, spam musubi is the perfect combination of salty meat (it’s better if you don’t think about exactly WHAT type of meat…) plus soft, white rice and nori. Once you get past that, spam musubi is the really the ideal combination of sweet, salty and soft (plus the alliteration make s it so much catchier, non?).

Since I am an undisputed Bay Area girl, here are a few places where a local foodie who hungers for a taste of the spam musubi can feed their curiosity:

Lukoki: a great lunch or dinner place located in Mountain View
Hukilau: This restaurant, located in downtown Palo Alto, has a great selection of tropical drinks in addition to excellent spam musubi and generous platters of Hawaiian fare.

It’s nearing the end of the week and I’m not particularly witty today. So, I’d like to present two of my favorite things in combination: a good read and a good drink.

All the books listed below are foodie favorites of mine. Some of them stretch back as far as elementary school and some are newer favorites. I’ve combined each book with a tantalizing drink.

Enjoy!

1.) Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Hot Whisky Toddy

Farmer Boy was a book that I read over and over for the lavish meals and the generous helpings of farm fresh goodness. Almanzo Wilder eats hearty meals while enjoying a wholesome farm upbringing. I would go back to that time just for the breakfasts!

2.) Griffin and Sabine (any of the books in this series) by Nick Bantock
Affogato Mocha

I discovered these book in high school and they are truly unique and gorgeous in their artistry. The books follow an extraordinary correspondence between Griffin and Sabine, two people who know each other psychically and through letters. Will these two people ever meet? Why are they linked? The best part of these books is that you actually open their letters and read them and then put them back into their envelopes. I would love to enjoy these books over chocolate any day…and they are so romantic that it makes time alone seem special.

3.) Any book by Ruth Reichl
A good glass of wine

I don’t remember when I first discovered Reichl’s amazing memoirs. Reichl is currently the editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine. In her books, she tells fabulous stories about her travels and her encounters with chefs, foodies and persons of interest. Any good glass of wine will do and many chapters include great recipes that you might want to save for some great culinary inspiration and some excellent feasts.

4.) Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Green tea or warm sake

Banana Yoshimoto is one of those authors who touches my soul. She writes about food and life with such longing and wistfulness. Her books make me want to curl up for hours just to revel in the poetic lives of her characters. And I long to travel to Tokyo and to experience the joys of Japanese cuisine.

5.) Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
A naughty cocktail such as a lychee martini, peach gin fizz or a raspberry lime rickey.

My triumph in high school was convincing my English teacher, Mrs. Irvin, to let me read this book instead of that crappy Zorba the Greek. And I still love this book for its frivolous, soap-opera plot and likeable characters. Give me a feather boa, this book and a fizzy drink and I’m wishing that I was a gay man in San Francisco in the 1970s.

AB marked the beginning of our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple by opening the Rosenbaum 2005 Paso Robles Zinfandel:

Then we preceded to regale the day with a delicious Dungeness Crab cocktail and AB’s special, oven roasted prosciutto-wrapped asparagus:

The slight crunch and saltiness of the prosciutto (that had been roasted in the oven) perfectly complemented the asparagus and the wine (thanks for the recommendation, Farley!). Then we moved on to the main course: beef fondue. Here’s the wok heating up (we used a combination of peanut and canola oils). The wok we used is electric with a nice rack (yeah, ha ha) that really comes in handy for slightly cooling the meats and vegetables after they are cooked. We also opted to use chopsticks instead of fondue forks so we wouldn’t scratch the wok.

In addition to beef cubes, I also prepped mushrooms and AB prepped broccoli (which turned out to be the second most popular part of the meal). We cooked the beef and ate it with dijon mustard, tarragon/mustard sauce, barbeque sauce and a special balsamic reduction that AB made just for today.

We rounded out the meal with some roasted potatoes (from Trader Joe’s) and some shrimp (also cooked in the wok) along with Pellegrino and Moet & Chandon’s White Star (our fav champagne). Then AB used his fabulous barista skills to make lattes which we drank with these exquisite chocolates:

Thus, bellies full and foodie souls sated, we toast you to a wonderful February night while we lick the chocolate from our lips! Happy Valentine’s to you and yours…

Apologies in advance for the estrogen-laden comments in this post. I own all of the “Sex and the City” seasons on dvd and now many episodes have entered themselves into my daily lexicon. Sorry, guys. I am truly sorry.

So, although I am now married, I still desperately cling to random behaviors from my past (and I’ve also developed new ones). I won’t bore you with all the details, but here are a few:

knitting while watching anything on iTunes, making a quick lemonade in my Nalgene bottle with lemon slices, sugar, lemon juice and several large ice cubes, painting my toenails red while watching Law & Order…and now on to the food…

Lately, I’ve realized that many people have secret single behaviors that involve peanut butter (and yes, the ones I speak of are all G-rated, so don’t get too excited).

My secret single behavior involves Trader Joe’s mini stone wheat crackers, peanut butter and jam. See below:

Somehow this combination is vastly superior to pb&j with the crusts cut off (sorry, Bender). There’s a quick crunch of the cracker plus the immensely satisfying creaminess of the peanut butter and the sweet tang of jam.

Peanut butter is one of those foods that inspires plenty of SSB or at least some brief attacks with a large spoon. Here are some other combinations that might inspire SSB or a nice snack:

Spoonfuls of peanut butter with honey (this is a nod to my father-in-law, Mark)

Spoonfuls of peanut butter and chocolate chips

Peanut butter on toast with honey and coconut

And there are many more…enjoy your secret single behavior with peanut butter. I know my furniture secretly enjoys the break it gets while my yappy mouth is busy chomping away at pb&j on crackers.

Sadly, this year marks a bad year for oranges. And for me, it’s sad because I truly love this fruit. It looks gorgeous in salads, it is delicious as a healthy dessert, and its cheerful color always brightens dishes ranging from fruit salad to fish to chicken.

Here’s a recipe that I’ve used for years. It incorporates oranges, red onion and avocados and has the tangiest dressing. I make it a lot for parties and potluck dinners and it is always a favorite. As Monique and AB say, “this is not the salad of my people.” And it just doesn’t matter because this salad tastes fantastic!

Mayan Salad:
myfavoriteknife.JPG

Ingredients:

1 head of red butter lettuce
1 head of regular butter lettuce
1 small red onion, sliced into thin, half-rounds
1 ripe avocado
2 oranges, peeled, seeded and sliced (remove the pith)
1 grapefruit, peeled, seeded and sliced
1/2 cup of cilantro leaves (optional)

Ingredients for the dressing:
1/2 cup of good olive oil
1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
small pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)

Directions:
Mix together the ingredients for the dressing and set aside. Tear the lettuce into bite-sized pieces after washing. Cut the avocado into bite-sized pieces. Toss the lettuce, red onion, avocado, orange slices and grapefruit slices together in a serving bowl. Toss the salad ingredients with the dressing right before serving. Enjoy this salad with Mexican food or as a light lunch with a bowl of soup or a sandwich.

I mentioned in my post yesterday that Carrie and Aidan could eat, during their fabulous and casual date, an exotic dessert that has lychee fruit and almond jello.

If you’ve ever been to dim sum at a Chinese restaurant, you might have seen almond jello served in tiny cups with that classic 1950s fruit cocktail (cherries, pears, peaches and pineapple).

This dessert conjures up such great childhood memories for me. I can see the grim waitresses with their rolling carts and hear my father barking in Cantonese as he orders one after another of delicious shrimp dumplings, pork buns and Hong Kong-style noodles. I almost never had the chance to order the almond jello because we ate so many great dim sum dishes and I was always too full, But, every once in a while, my mom would make it for a special occasion. I love that something as simple and pedestrian as almond-flavored jello and canned cocktail fruit can delight one’s senses.

Here are a few links to recipes for almond jello. It’s very easy and I like to add canned lychee fruit for extra exotic delight.

Almond Jello with Fruit Cocktail

An Australian almond jello recipe

And one more time, for the cheap seats in the back…

Serve the almond jello and canned fruit in something fun, like a martini glass or those new stemless wine glasses that are all the rage. This dessert compliments jasmine tea or genmaicha (brown rice tea) perfectly.

The strawberry-pineapple guava is a fruit that I’ve loved since the first time my neighbor called me over to see her tree. Since then, my mom regularly harvests the guavas every spring (and interestingly enough, she lives in our neighbor’s old house tree and all).

According to CRFG, the California Rare Fruit Growers Association, the pineapple guava (also known to me as the strawberry pineapple-guava) is also known as the Feijoa or the guavasteen. It is native to many South American countries including Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The fruit itself is green with smooth skin. Inside, the fruity flesh is white when it is ripe although at times it also has a yellowish and pinkish tinge.

For those of you who love lichee fruit, I encourage you to try the pineapple-guava if you ever get a chance. The fruit tastes sweet and a bit tangy (much like kiwi or lychee fruits) and it can become such an addictive flavor.

The first time I tried pineapple-guava I remember that we cut the fruits in half and then scooped out the juicy fruit with spoons. My sister and I must have stood in the kitchen for at least a half hour, eating the guavas rapidly and tasting the delicious and tangy strawberry-pineapple-guava flavors.

Ahh, I can’t wait for spring and pineapple-guavas. Oh, and sunshine!

True love is risotto made by a loved one:

Thanks, AB. You’re the best!

Apricots are one of my favorite fruits from childhood. I loved–and still love–dried apricots and their chewy, tangy taste. Then, as a teenager, I remember picking fresh apricots from a tree in our sideyard. They smelled so fragrant and their skins were peachy soft. Fresh apricots are perfumed with delicate flavors plus that delicious tang. We would pick the apricots fresh from the tree and slice them carefully in half. The juices would run down our hands and I remember just how sweet they were!

Fast-forward to the present…AB works late on most nights and I like to reward him with a great meal (hey, I’m a feminist, but I also believe in eating well!). So last night I decided to make stuffed cornish hens with apricot-shallot-cornbread stuffing.

I cheated this time and used the box stuffing and added chopped, dried apricots and quartered shallots, garlic cloves and lemon. There are times when it pays to be an ambitious chef and times when it’s nice to eat a wonderful meal without the Herculean strength of a sous chef.

So, to wit, here’s the recipe for Apricot-Shallot-Cornbread Stuffing:

Ingredients:

1 box of cornbread stuffing mix
4 tablespoons of butter or margarine
1 ½ cups of water
½ cup of dried apricots, chopped into medium dice

Directions:

Prep the apricots, garlic and lemon. Prepare the cornbread stuffing according to the package directions and add in the appropriate amounts of butter and water plus the apricots. Set the stuffing aside in a medium-sized bowl.

If you plan to use the stuffing with Cornish hens or chicken or turkey then prepare the meat according to instructions or a recipe. After testing the meat internally to make sure it has reached the proper degree (the stuffing box has instructions for this) add the stuffing to the meat of your choice. Place sliced lemons, whole cloves of garlic into the meat before roasting it. Remove the lemons and garlice before stuffing the meat with the cornbread stuffing about halfway into the roasting process (again, the stuffing box has the instructions for when and how).

Bon appetit!