Coaching Cooking

A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to score an invite to a chocolate tasting. A free chocolate tasting in a hip bar with Moet & Chandon’s Dolce champagne to go with the chocolately goodness. It was an excellent evening. The tasting was organized by a company called Chocolate Dividends. Here’s a quick pic of us after the tasting. We tried so many different chocolates and it was really fun to try and guess the different flavor profiles of the chocolates. It was also very difficult to separate out the different flavors. The tasting came with a booklet that included flavor profiles for chocolates from around the world that included flavors like cinnamon, smoke and hummus (I tried really hard, but I could barely taste that one). I also had some great conversations with Andrea, the chocolatier at Mirabai Chocolates. She is so passionate about chocolate and she made some wonderful truffles for our final chocolate tasting that included a chocolate with bergamot (the key ingredient in Earl Grey tea) and a chocolate truffle with basil. This particular truffle really blew me away because it tasted like a pizza truffle. Believe me, it was actually really delicious with the best flavors of chocolate and pizza together in a sweet-salty-tangy trifecta of flavor. See where the magic happens at Mirabai right here.

So, one that note, I set out to find some other amazing candy companies. A new candy store is opening in New York City (which really doesn’t help me at all, but the website is totally fun with great music). Check out Papabubble, a candy store that has branches in Tokyo, Amsterdam and Barcelona and now NYC. Now I have to go to New York just to see the delicious and beautiful sugar candies!

Finally, I have to give a shout-out to Donnelly Chocolates and Richard Donnelly in Santa Cruz, CA. This is a place that I can definitely travel to on my own (with my lovely Prelude). We had Donnelly truffles at our wedding and they were, by far, one of the most fabulous desserts that I have consumed in my foodie life. We chose the raspberry truffles and the caramel macadamia nut truffles. My uncle was visiting from Saudia Arabia and he drove down to Santa Cruz on the premise of checking on his house in Carmel. Yeah, right. I know he was just going for the Donnelly chocolates of which he bought about FOUR boxes. You can’t have too much of a good thing, sometimes.

Happy Halloween! Wishing you candy dreams and no nightmares!!

**Stay tuned for my review of Chez TJ…a local restaurant that just garnered 2 Michelin stars…I’m looking for all treats and hopefully no tricks (or some good foodie tricks!).

For me, this is probably not a good idea. I’d probably chop off a finger. And yet I’ve grown fond of watching some high-end drama while preparing a meal. Yes, there are probably chefs out there who cringe at the thought of ruining their Zen moment of cooking with noisy and melodramatic chatter.

And yet I can’t stay away from the dramatic tv shows while I prepare dinner. There must be something satisfying about watching drama unfold in front of me while I sit and chop vegetables or sort the whithered outer layers of a green onion. Perhaps is comforts me to place myself close to drama (okay, and to my laptop screen).

A long time ago, I traveled to Danville for a Spanish wine-tasting with Kareasa, the wine goddess herself. To our great delight, the wines were accompanied by a roasted pork accented with garlic and chipotle chilies. Kareasa and I debated whether we should just grab the pork shoulder and run out of the place (hey, there are tons of wine stores, we don’t have to return to this one ever again…). Instead we tried, somewhat subtly, to eat our weight in roasted pork while discussing wines in a somewhat dignified manner (okay, that didn’t work because we were at least 15 years younger than the next youngest person there).

Since then, I have dreamed of that roast pork. It was tender and lusciously flavorful with spicy chipotle and sweet garlic to compliment the buttery meat. Yesterday I decided to find a recipe that approximated those flavors. This is the one that I used.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe based on what I had in the kitchen. I omitted the oregano and used ground cloves instead of whole cloves. I seared the pork shoulder until it was lightly browned instead of a darker browning. The searing took some time because I used a 3-lb. pork shoulder, but the final results were worth all of the prep time.

After the pork is ready, I let it rest for about 10 minutes. I also steamed some corn tortillas in the microwave by wrapping them individually in paper-soaked towels and heating for 1 and 1/2 minutes on high. Let the corn tortillas rest for a minute then unwrap them and serve immediately with the pork. Enjoy!

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.

Basil is such a versatile herb. It’s used in Italian cooking, Thai cooking and in Vietnamese cooking–just to name a few. It has a bright, clean flavor that adds a refreshing, crisp note to dishes (or even beverages). I’ve used it to make pesto and I love to use it in noodle soups to add an element of surprise. Summer is the perfect time to add basil to garden salads, stir-fries, cold beverages and more. Here are some links to recipes featuring basil.

**Note**: Basil doesn’t keep very well in the fridge. I suggest using fresh basil within a few days of purchase for best results. Or you can grow your own basil and add some beauty to a kitchen window or balcony!

First, here are a few quick uses for basil:

1.) Sprinkle finely chopped basil over salads. Fresh basil is fabulous on a bbq-ranch salad with chicken, corn, black beans and a creamy dressing over romaine lettuce.

2.) Add basil to lemonade for an interesting twist. Try making a watermelon lemonade with a quick sprinkle of basil or a few basil leaves at the top of the glass.

3.) Make a quick curry with rice and sprinkle basil on top along with chopped peanuts or almonds.

And now, the recipes:

Elise over at Simply Recipes has some great recipes featuring basil including Fresh Basil Pesto, Tomato and Basil Bruschetta, and
Basil Chicken in a Coconut Curry Sauce.

Epicurean.com features basil in recipes ranging from Tomato-Basil Soup to Creamy Basil Dressing to Red Snapper with Basil Lime Sauce.

Basil Mojito, anyone?
Basil Martinis and Basil Limeade also sound so cool!

And, when in doubt, basil can provide a great de-stressing activity:

“Pounding fragrant things — particularly garlic, basil, parsley — is a tremendous antidote to depression. But it applies also to juniper berries, coriander seeds and the grilled fruits of the chilli pepper. Pounding these things produces an alteration in one’s being — from sighing with fatigue to inhaling with pleasure. The cheering effects of herbs and alliums cannot be too often reiterated. Virgil’s appetite was probably improved equally by pounding garlic as by eating it.â€?–Patience Gray, cookery author

Wontons are a staple in my house. I make a big batch of them then I fry some, boil some for soup and freeze the rest for quick dinners and snacks later (and they never last for more than a month). This time, I made a huge batch of the filling and decided to make some other interesting dishes.

Here’s a quick recipe for the filling:

Wonton Meat Filling

Ingredients:
1 lb. of ground pork
1 lb. of ground beef (avoid the super-low ground beef because there’s less flavor and the texture is hard)
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 small can of sliced water chestnuts, finely-diced
4-6 tablespoons of soy sauce (season to taste)
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
3-4 dashes of sriracha chili sauce
3 pinches of salt

Directions:
Place the pork and beef in a food processor and add the remaining ingredients. Secure the lid carefully and pulse until the meat and other ingredients form a smooth filling. Use immediately or refridgerate for later use. This filling can also be frozen in a freezer-safe container. I also suggest putting the container in a large plastic bag, sealed tightly, to avoid freezer burn.

See this recipe for the wontons. The noodle soup is a quick creation involving packaged ramen-type noodles. You can use regular ramen or rice stick (my new favorite). See the recipe below. The last recipe is a stuffed pepper with black bean sauce. This is a dish that I love to eat at dim sum restaurants, but I think it can also serve as a tasty dinner.

Jenny’s Quick Noodle Soup with Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 packages of instant rice-stick soup (or two packages of ramen)
4 cups of water
1 cup of meat filling (see recipe above for Wonton Meat Filling)
2 green onions, chopped in a medium dice

Directions:
Put the 4 cups of water into a medium saucepan. Meanwhile, place a small, non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Shape the meat filling into small meatballs (about 1/2 inch in diameter). Pan-fry the meatballs for about 3-4 minutes. While the meatballs cook, bring the water to a boil and add the soup package contents from the two noodle packages. Add the meatballs and cook for about 7-10 minutes until the meatballs are cooked thoroughly (test one meatball by cutting it in half). Add the noodles and cook according to the package directions. Sprinkle green onions on top of the soup before serving. Enjoy!

Rather than inundate you with ONE more recipe…see my next post for Stuffed Peppers with Black Bean Sauce (and some tasty pics).

Water is essential, and it really helps cool me down on a hot day. And it’s boring. It’s really, really boring by itself. So I added some lemon juice and cucumber slices. Voila…spa-quality refreshers at home-quality prices. Add a straw and get someone to massage your feet.

I usually just buy orange juice in the carton, but last Sunday we were in a homemade, juicy mood. I squeezed the oranges and I was completely stunned by the bright orange color of the organic orange juice. It was gorgeous, the most vivid orange color. We used the juice in some killer mimosas (with a sparkling, champagne-style rose).

I know I’m one of many who can sing the praises of organic produce. In this case, I can’t say enough about how sweet and delicious that orange juice tasted. Nowadays you can buy organic oranges in the supermarket too. Of course AB and I love to wander around the farmers’ market sampling juice oranges, fuzzy peaches and ripe cherries. Ahhh, the sweet life!

Yes, several days of tinkering with my new iPhone have led to a minor absence from the kitchen. I tested my new phone by loading movies onto it. I watched several episodes of Top Chef, Season 3. It was like having an extra cool visual appendage at times. Eventually, though, staring at the screen brings me back to the need for sustenance. Particularly, summer is a great time to invent a great, new drink.

Necessity is the mother of a good beverage…

So I had a bowl of citrus fruits left from my Roasted Salmon with Citrus Sauce. I decided to make a quick and refreshing drink with the leftover fruits.

Jenny’s Citrus Soda

Ingredients:

Half of a grapefruit
Half of a tangerine
Half of an orange
1/3 of a lemon
1 slice of lime
1 cup of water
2-3 tablespoons of sugar
3-4 large splashes of club soda
**Note**: This drink would also pair well with a few splashes of rum or vodka or other toasty perk

Directions: This recipe serves one (double or triple if you don’t to share!)

Put the cup of water and the 2-3 tablespoons of sugar in a microwave-proof glass. Microwave for about 90 seconds to a minute. Stir with a long spoon so the sugar is incorporated into the water. Let this mixture cool. If you don’t want to wait, I suggest a quick (and fun!) technique of pouring this mixture in between two glasses (over the sink, trust me…). This cools down the mixture a bit faster plus you look like the world’s craziest barista.

Juice all of the citrus fruits except for the lime slice. Mix into the sugar-water and add three to four large ice cubes. Add the club soda and a straw and some kickin’ tunes. Enjoy!

In these lazy days of summer it is so great to just make a simple dish to enjoy with chilled wine, an icy cocktail or a lemonade (preferably one with so many ice cubes that they hit you in the nose when you take a sip!).

Here’s a round-up of some great, quick appetizers to whet your appetite as the meat cooks on the grill:

Grissini: Italian breadsticks are often served before the main course. Check out these appetizers from the San Francisco Chronicle.

A friend of mine just mentioned an appetizer that she had with grilled peaches and prosciutto. That sounded just perfect to me so here are a few recipes that incorporate grilled peaches with or without meat:

Grilled Peaches with Pecorino Cheese and Prosciutto

Grilled Peach and Red Bell Pepper Salsa: serve this one with grilled meats such as lamb or chicken.

Grilled Jerk Pork with Curried Peach Relish: Serve this with a Riesling or a light beer

Bruschetta has become one of my favorite appetizers to serve because it is quick and easy and it always impresses the guests. Here are some links to bruschetta (that’s Broo-sket-ah) plus my own, quick version:

Bruschetta with Goat Cheese, Roasted Red Pepper and Basil

Bruschetta with Swiss Chard, Pine Nuts and Currants

Jenny’s Quick Bruschetta:

Ingredients:

3-4 medium-sized tomatoes, seeded and chopped in a small dice
8-10 leaves of basil, sliced thinly chiffonade-style
5 tablespoons of good quality olive oil, divided
salt to taste
freshly ground pepper, about 1-2 teaspoons
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced finely
1 baguette, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the baguette slices with 2 tablepoons of olive oil and place on a cookie sheet. Toast the baguette slices for about 7-10 minutes until the tops are browned lightly. Let the baguette slices cool.

While the baguette slices toast in the oven, mix the rest of the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

To serve, place the baguette slices on a large platter and top each baguette slice with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the tomato mixture. Serve with extra basil leaves as a garnish. This appetizer is also great with some freshly-shaved parmesan cheese on top.
Enjoy!

This is not an easy recipe to make. Often it depends on what you have on hand and whether you can put some ingredients together that will satisfy a hungry heart. Sometimes all you need is chocolate while other times you could eat a feast enough for ten.

For me, it is sometimes shocking to realize that food alone is not enough to satisfy the hungry soul (and being a die-hard foodie, I’ve tried to find that ultimate food, uh-huh…).

Recipe for Happiness:

Ingredients:

The right mixture of loved ones (add more as needed)
A delicious dish that you love to prepare and to serve (see ideas below)
A comfortable setting (home, the beach, the park, anywhere where you feel safe and at ease)
A willingness to remain in the moment (leave work worries in your work bag!)

Directions:

First, contact the loved ones by gathering them and arranging to meet them in the comfortable setting. Turn off your cell phone (setting it on vibrate doesn’t count!). Then prepare your delicious dish carefully and intently. Arrive at the comfortable setting and enjoy the company of your loved ones while dining on a delicious dish. Remain in the moment! The best memories are often the ones that arise from the pleasure of being surrounded by camraderie, good conversation, and–of course–good food.

Delicious Dishes: There are endless possibilities, but I’ve listed a few of my favorite dishes to serve when I want to spend time with the people I love.

**Artichoke Dip with Baguette Slices**

Ingredients:

1 16-oz can of artichoke hearts, drained and set aside
2 cloves of garlic, minced finely
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese, plus a 1/4 cup
salt and pepper to taste
1 baguette, cut into thin slices

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a small baking dish and set aside. Chop the artichoke hearts into 1/2-inch pieces. In a large bowl, mix together the garlic, mayonnaise and 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. Add the artichokes and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper and mix once more. Place the artichoke dip in the small baking dish. Top the artichoke dip with 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Wrap the baking dish with tin foil and place in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the dip is very hot. Remove the tin foil and continue baking for a few minutes until the dip is brown and slightly crisp on top (about 5 minutes more). Serve immediately with the baguette slices. This dip also pairs well with baby carrots or crackers.

*Note*: You can also add Durkee’s French-Fried Onions on top of the dip in the last 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Ah, the teacher’s life is busy! Luckily, there’s always room for a great appetizer. AB concocted this one today while we were rummaging around our fridge for some tasty food. I love it when ingredients in the fridge lend themselves perfectly to a quick appetizer. Sometimes we make a nice dinner out of a few well-paired items. It is so easy just to pair some crusy bread with cheese, sausage, butter, radishes, a delicious bottle of wine and some crunchy apples. Voila! Instant dinner and a fun mix of ingredients.

AB’s Tuesday Treat

Ingredients:

4-6 ounces of cumin cheese (look for this at a local farmer’s market, Whole Foods or other specialty stores…it has cumin seeds in it and it has a great, spicy flavor)
1 lime, sliced into thin wedges
2 tablespoons of fleur de sel
Crackers

Directions:

Arrange slices of the cumin cheese on a large plate and group the salt, lime slices and crackers on the same plate. Serve with cold beer, lemonade or margaritas.

Enjoy!

Jenny’s Quick Sausage Appetizer

Ingredients:

1 package of spicy sausage (try Andouille, cajun or spicy Italian)
1 baguette, sliced into thin rounds
3-4 tablespoons of softened butter

Cook the sausage according to the package directions. Cool the sausage and then cut into thin rounds. Arrange the sausage on a large plate by mounding it into the middle of the plate. Surround with the bread slices and serve with the butter on the side. To eat, spread some butter on a bread slice and top with the spicy sausage. Enjoy this appetizer with cold beer or, if you prefer, an ice-cold soda.

**Note**: I tried a terrific lychee soda the other day and it pairs perfectly with spicy sausage. The sweetness and slight tart flavor of the lychee complements the spices and the meaty flavor of the sausage. Try this brand. It’s available at many Asian markets and the packaging is pretty cool.

Part of the reason why I didn’t post at all this week is because I have a new job as a special education teacher. The classroom that I took over on Monday has students with moderate to severe disabilities and many of the students are autistic. Since I love to cook and I love to share food with people, I decided that it would be great to celebrate our last day of the week by making cookies.

Bless my boss for putting a giant tub of cookie dough in the fridge. Our classroom has a kitchen plus a regular classroom. We gathered in the kitchen during 6th period and made cookies. I decided that the easiest way for the students to participate would be for each student to roll a bit of cookie dough between their palms and then to place this ball of dough in a muffin tin.

Muffin tins make great catch-all baking pans. It gives cookies a uniform shape plus you can spray the muffin tin with a little cooking spray and the cookies are easy to remove. In my case, we didn’t have any cooking spray so we just loosened each cookie and pried them out. They came out a bit crumbly, but, hey, they tasted delicious anyway.

Get out those muffin tins because they’re great for baking cookies when you want the kids to help and they make some great, round cookies. Oh sugar…

“What’s on the pizza?” I ask.
“A random mixture of ingredients that don’t go together,” replies AB.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: AB loves pizza. He could eat it almost every day, several times a day. And he also loves making it at home because he puts exactly what he loves on it. He’s not one to follow recipes. Instead, he goes with his inspiration and his heart usually takes him where my stomach likes go! I like pizza too, but my passions don’t run nearly as deep. Pizza is the perfect quick meal at home. Sure, you can throw in a salad to keep up the pretense of health. I’d rather have a few slices, some beer or a cocktail, and settle down to a rerun or a movie while patting my satisfied stomach.

America’s love affair with pizza dates back to Italy with the foccacia bread. After that various forms developed until the first pizzeria opened in New York City in 1905 (read on here).

Gillian from Food Past had asked for Women’s History Month cuisine information and I’m presenting a terrific fact here:

The inventor off the pizza saver, i.e., the little plastic “table” that keeps the pizza from sticking to the lid of the pizza box is Carmela Vitale from Dix Hills, New York. She received the patent on this great invention in 1985. Without this invention, pizzas would forever be squished and less cheesy. Thanks, Carmela! We salute you with cheese dangling from the corners of our mouths.

Here are a few pizza topping combinations that will please your palate:

AB’s specialty: diced, cooked chicken marinated in spices and white truffle oil, sliced olives, red onion, mozzarella and red sauce

One of Jenny’s favorites: thinly sliced, roasted fingerling potatoes, fresh grated parmesan cheese, a drizzle of truffle oil, chopped chives, dried red pepper, white pepper and a sprinkle of grated fresh mozzarella

AC’s favorite (my dad!): crumbled Italian sausage, sliced mushroom, shredded mozzarella cheese, sliced green pepper, and sliced, white onion