cooking within constraints

Brunch Savory Baked Oatmeal Cups

2013-05-19T11:08:00.003-07:00

I have been wanting to make a big batch of baked oatmeal some weekend morning so that we would have an easy go to and packable breakfast item for Monday and Tuesday if we were lucky. I did some research and all I kept getting was sweet recipes like apple cinnamon, or strawberry rhubarb. While that's ok, I'm really more about savory flavors. I wanted one with eggs and sausage. So I took the general proportions of oatmeal to other ingredients, baking temperature and time and went for it. The result was way better than I thought it would be! I think next time I'll pull back on the soy butter. These things were super yum, addictive, and tasted great the next day and the following day at room temperature.

Ingredients:

2 cups Old Wessex Instant Oatmeal

1 stick of Earth Balance Soy Butter melted

8 breakfast sausage links cut in 1 inch pieces

1/2 bunch of scallions sliced (round style not bias style)

2/3 cup of frozen chopped spinach

5 eggs beaten

pinch of salt

a few grinds from the pepper grinder

Equipment: big mixing bowl, paper muffin cup liners, non-stick muffin tin

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Place a cup liner into each cup of your muffin tin.

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl with a big spoon or spatula so it is all nicely mixed

Using a tablespoon gently spoon mixture into each liner evenly, you know one for each, then go around again and even out the mixture per cup.

Pop this in the oven for about 45 minutes, keep an eye on it and when they are golden crispy on the top and you can see them sizzle it's time.

Notice, child eating spinach. I'll call that a win!

These came out very moist, but I did notice most of the soy butter and sausage fat pooled at the bottom of the tin between the tin and the liner. Bonus is that the fat was nicely reduced and the cups were still moist. However I'd only use like 2 Tbsp of olive oil or something like that next time. Oh and there will be a next time because these were yummers!

Crepes with fresh berry syrup!

2013-05-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is how I follow the brisket... because I had some leftover kefir (99% lactose free) which is a fantastic substitute for milk in Jacques Pepin's crepe recipe from his book "Chez Jacques".

I adjusted his recipe slightly by using only whole wheat flour and of course swapping out the milk for the kefir that was left over from the brisket sauce. The yield is about 6-7 eight inch crepes. I also highly recommend getting a crepe pan. Mine is a brendes eight inch and it was not more than thirty bucks if memory serves. As you can see from the photo, someone was stoked that this was his dinner!

I drop all of the ingredients below into a tall pitcher for tea/juice and use a stick blender to pulse it into a lovely runny batter. The tall pitcher allows for quick and easy pouring right into my crepe pan. Can you tell I don't measure how much I pour into the pan? I just do it by feel.

Crepe Ingredients:

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of grape seed oil
1 teaspoon sugar
a dash of salt
3 /4 cup plain kefir
1 tablespoon of dark rum

It's important to put about a teaspoon of grape seed oil in the pan before you pour each crepe. When you pour the batter in, start in the center, holding the pan up from the flame so it's a bit cooler and rotate it on an elipse to get a thin coat over the bottom of the pan as quickly as possible. Let the crepe cook for a good long time so it won't tear when you flip it. You should be able the see the grape seed oil bubbling up through.

Here is what it should look like before you flip it.

Here is what it looks like when you flip it.

I completely invented the syrup on the spot because I had all the fixings. I started the syrup way before the crepe batter. Here is how I made it...

Syrup ingredients:

1 pint blueberries
1 pint blackberries
1 pint rasberries
3 stalks of rhubarb
1.5 Cups water
3/4 Cup evaporated cane sugar

Wash the berries and put them in a decently big pot with the water. Put a lid on but leave room for steam to escape (or you will be facing a huge stove mess if it boils over!).

Meanwhile wash and cut the rhubarb into 1 inch slices and add it to the pot.

Once the mixture comes to a boil, turn the flame down so it does boil but just barely. Let it boil this way for 20 minutes. (Meaning you can do some clean up here.)

After 20 minutes add the cane sugar and cook for another 20 minutes. This is the part where the sugar will caramelize the mixture. At this point I made the crepe batter.

When the second 20 minutes are up on the syrup, pull it off the stove to allow it to cool. Once it's been cooling for about 10 minutes you can puree it with the stick blender. Then strain about half of it over a smaller pot and return the strained pot to the stove and keep it on warm for your crepes.

So, there was quite a bit of pulpy syrup left over for use and here is what I did with it...

ice cubes (hello champagne!)

for an addition to plain yogurt

brisket w/ a Moroccan inspired rub and kefir sauce

2013-04-30T13:05:00.001-07:00

Lately I have been decently occupied with the slow and low cook lesser loved cuts of meat. I felt brisket calling to me this last weekend. However, on the heels of March I did not feel like the corned beef preparation. I wanted something with complex and not from here spices. So I dreamt up a Moroccan inspired rub and cold sauce for after plating. The result was much better than I expected! The complexities mixed together for quite a zing... NOM!

Sorry the photo is blurry, the eating was vigorous!

Total time- 3.5 hours
Active time- 1 hour (if you include some dish washing)

Serves 4-5 / 2 nights of dinner for us

Ingredients:

2lbs beef brisket
1 medium to large yellow onion
1 - 1.5 cups chicken stock

for the Rub:
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
21 rounds on ye olde pepper grinder (gawd I love my peugeot!)
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp good paprika
1/2 tsp herbs d' provence
pinch of pimenton picante

for the plating sauce:
1/2 spring garlic
1/2 bunch of fresh dill
1/3 bunch of fresh mint
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp kosher salt
9 rounds on ye olde pepper grinder
1.5 cups lactose free kefir

Equipment:

For the brisket you will need a shallow oven safe pan with a good fitting lid, you could use a dutch oven but 2lbs of brisket is not that tall in the pan, so I used a 10" non-stick skillet with it's own lid. (Again part of my lovely nordicware set.)

For the plating sauce you will need a mini food processor or a hand held blender. I used a hand held blender for mine.

Directions:

Brisket

take the brisket out of the refrigerator an hour prior to cook time
after the brisket has been out for 50 minutes...

preheat the oven to 350 F
mix all the ingredients for the rub in a small bowl
place the brisket directly in the pan you will cook it in and rub it down on all sides, patting the shortest surface area sides into any fallen rub in the pan
place the rubbed brisket in the pan with the fattiest of the big sides face up, this fat layer will melt down with gravity and protect the meat from getting dry where there is not going to be stock

cut the onion into 4 wedges and arrange it in the pan alongside the brisket
pour 1 inch of stock into the pan
put the lid on and leave it in the oven undisturbed for 3 hours
at 3 hours take the meat out and leave the lid on for about 15 minutes to let it rest
then move the brisket to a cutting board and cut into 1 inch slices (if you can, it will really fall apart)
arrange on a plate with some of the onions and drizzle with the kefir sauce from below

Plating Sauce

cut the spring garlic into small diced pieces and put in a bowl you can hand blend in or the processor
wash the dill and tear off the ends of 1/2 the bunch and add it to the bowl
wash up the mint and pull the leaves off of about 1/3 of the bunch and add those
add the lemon juice directly straining for seeds, salt, pepper and kefir
blend until everything is smooth and put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it

I served this with very simple, rustic and unpeeled yukon gold mashed potatoes with a stick of Earth Balance soy butter that was softened. The slab on the top left of my plate is the rubbed and cooked top fat layer, I removed it prior to sauce so you could see how crispy and tasty it gets!

Enjoy!

I got the bird dialed in.

2013-04-21T19:46:00.001-07:00

I did post a long time ago about roast chicken. I agree with Bourdain that everyone should know how to roast a chicken (unless you are not an eater of chicken I suppose). I had my method that was good, I mean really good. However I decided to start messing with it because I intuitively knew there was more I could extract from this most luscious food. Please see new method below with pictures at critical steps.

Equipment you will need: a deep oven safe pan with a lid that fits it/is meant for that pan (covering with foil is not as good and will not count as utilization of this method)

Notice the pan is about 5 inches deep. This is from my Nordicware set that I got at Costco for about 270, totally worth it as the set is vast and all of it can go in the oven which is my number 1 criteria after being non-stick (hey, I don't do the dishes so a compromise had to be reached!).

Ingredients:
1 whole bird, no awful
2 oranges
1/2 bunch of thyme
2 Tbsp kosher salt
21 grinds of fresh pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp herbs de provance

Total time: plan for 3 hours and 15 minutes
Active time: about 30 minutes
Time the bird is in the oven: 1.5 hours

First, bring the bird out of refrigeration 1 hour prior to working with it. Do not underestimate the power of the bird shedding some frigidness prior to handling and cooking.

Next, about 15 minutes prior to starting the cook time preheat the oven to 425 F and cut one of the oranges in 1/2 inch thick circles and the other in wedges. The circles will prop up part of the chicken and the wedges will go in the chicken cavity.

Then mix all of the salt, pepper, paprika and herbs de Provence in a small dish.

Now mix up the dry spices so they are uniform.

Now arrange the circular slices in the pan to prop up the wing side of the bird, don't worry about precision because you will have to fix it after the stuffing and rub.

To avoid washing a ton of raw chicken dishes, I just put the raw chicken right in the pan and pour about 1 full tsp of the dry rub in the cavity, then stuff it with alternating thyme and orange wedges. Don't forget at least on 1 wedge and some thyme in the neck!

Now pour the dry rub all over the chicken and rub it in nicely.

Notice how I used the 4 orange slices to prop up the winged side of the bird so it sits level in the pan. This will help the lid to go on flat and not touch the bird. Now put your lid on the pan and stick it in the oven for 45 minutes covered. Do not mess with your bird! Let the aromas fill the house and drink some wine. I will say here that I have stuffed a bird with lemons, sausages, just herbs, lardon, lots of stuff... this is my favorite combo. The aroma it imparts is amazing!

About this lid business... just relax, it's making sure that every cell of the bird remains juicy... let me tell you it works like a charm!

Ok, at 45 minutes take the lid off and lower the oven to 400 F. Set your timer for another 45 minutes and walk away. At the end of the 45 minutes the bird will show signs of the shrinking around the ankles on the drumsticks and the wings. Do not let this lead you to believe it is dry... because it's not. The breast meat of this thing is going to make drippy mess on your chin.

At the end of the second 45 minute set, just turn the oven off but leave the bird in there. Remember do not underestimate the gradual temperature climb and descent. In about 10 minutes take it out.

Your bird should look like this:

For a good color match, here it is on a white plate:

Important to note is as Jacques Pepin says... the chicken when done should sing. You will hear a symphony of popping chicken juices when you pull it out of the oven. Enjoy my friends!

Steadily Inspired

2013-04-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like seeing an old friend and cooking together. I am still inspired by a visit from Nina, author of The Steady Table. Recently Nina posted about beans from scratch. Being part Mexican, I have a soft spot for black and pinto beans. My favorite way is refried, but I do this in a way that is low fat, basically I mash the beans a bit and reduce the liquid over time.

Growing up my Nana would make the most fabulous pinto beans and the first night we would have them "en la olla" aka soup style. Then the next day she would mash them a bit by hand and add lard while the remaining liquid reduced.

I will opine here that beans are a very underrated food in terms of nutritional value and kids usually love them (notice the untouched gorgeous roast beef in the picture above). I am always reminded of the passage in Steinbeck's "Tortialla Flats" regarding the family that had no patriarch, rather a mother of many children and her mother who lived with them to help. The family subsisted of the bean pieces left over from the harvesting machines. They would cook up essentially the bits that are discarded because they are not whole beans and thus not worthy for market.

Enough about my bean crush, here's my no fail beans:

Ingredients
1 package / 1lb of dry black or pinto beans (the photos are black beans)
water (enough to cover the beans 3x their height in the pot)
1 yellow onion
5-7 cloves of garlic
3 bay leaves
2 Tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 pinch of cayenne/pimenton picante or some other powdered spicy red stuff
the juice of 1 fresh lime

Sort the beans on a plate (taking out any partial beans or the oddball pebble that makes it in) and put them into a strainer.
Rinse beans and place in an empty pot big enough to hold 5x the volume of beans. This pot needs a good fitting lid.
Add cold water to 3x the height of the beans in the pot (so cover the beans then 2x that amount of water)
Turn the flame on to high.
While the whole mix is coming up to temperature... chop and add the onion, then peel and crush the garlic cloves and add those... drop in the bay leaves... add the oil... add about 2 pinches of salt, just a little you will add more when the mixture is reduced to it's final form... finally go ahead and add about 13 grinds from the pepper mill and a pinch of pimenton picante.

Once the whole thing comes to a boil, turn the flame down to medium-low, put the lid on your pot and walk away and watch a movie. Seriously, leave it alone for 1.5 hours to even 2 hours. When the beans smoosh easily against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon, they are ready. At this point you can add the salt and lime that you want and eat them soup style, OR don't add salt and lime...

...what I do next is take the lid off and gently with a potato masher smash the beans up a bit, about 25 mashes with the tool. Then I give it a good stir and let the liquid reduce to the consistency of refried beans without adding any extra fat at all... not even oil. You must be at the pot for this last 20-30 minutes so you can stir the mixture because it's going to get thick and not move around through the force of the bubbles and thus easily burn and stick to the bottom of the pot. Also if you don't stir it your stove will be a mess. To combat the mess I use a very big pot so the splatter is contained.

Once you hit the consistency you want, turn the flame off and add salt and lime to taste. It is important to stir the salt and lime in all the way with the flame off. Any extra heat will decrease the brightness of the lime.

This is what the result looks like when I put them in a new container for storage right after they are seasoned and not boiling hot.

Warning: this recipe makes enough beans for a family of 3 to eat off of for about 6 days as a side for dinner or burritos here and there. Another favorite thing to make is an enfrijolada, basically a quesadilla with a slap of the beans spread throughout. One of my son's favorite things to take for lunch.

Red Rover Red Rover send Steady Table Right Over

2013-04-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

After being inspired by a grand visit from Nina Max over at The Steady Table I decided to finally try that no boil pasta dish we have chatted about on more than one occasion.

From the start I was intrigued because I could not visualize not boiling pasta. Risotto is small bits of grain that can hit the liquid pretty easily. How would the curves and negative spaces in short pasta handle this type of liquid cooking? Out of curiosity I had to find out.

The next awesome part about this dish was that I made it after a late afternoon visit to the local park with my five year old. I was freezing to the bone when we came home and needed a sauna. Next best thing was to stir this dish over the stove with the oven on cooking meatloaf for 30 minutes while sipping green tea. I am warm as toast now!

The dish is not light by any stretch of the imagination and that went well with the chilly weather. Also, the sauce that is made with the stock and pasta is so wonderfully creamy that it was begging to be topped with fried pancetta and egg. I will be doing this again and adding that pancetta and egg on the top. Everyone agreed it would be the way to go in place of cheese and butter.

Pick a cold day and give it a shot! As you will see by my notes next to the ingredients and steps I varied both pretty wildly. The key here sans cheese is the juice of half a lemon at the end.

The dish is called Olive Mill Pasta and it's original owner is Alain Ducasse, full NYT post is here. For ease of reading here's the deal:

OLIVE MILL PASTA

Time: 45 minutes

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (check)

4 tablespoons butter (Not! I obviously left this out.)

2 medium-small onions, minced (I coarsely chopped 1 medium onion.)

1/4 pound fingerling potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick (no potatoes on hand so I left this out as well, they have not been so good looking over here lately so I didn't buy any)

5 1/2 cups, approximately, vegetable or light chicken stock (I used some tetra pak veg stock, probably closer to 6 cups)

14 ounces artisanal strozzapreti pasta (I used bronze cut penne, in the original post he talks about the pasta being labeled as 'artisanal' or needing to be bronze cut if you are unsure you should look that over)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper (check)

2 medium-size ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced and diced, or 2/3 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes, not oil-cured, covered with boiling water and drained (I used about two fistfuls of sugar plum tomatoes cut in half lengthwise because that's what I had.)

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed (check)

8 branches fresh basil or arugula, leaves removed and slivered, stems lightly crushed (I used a bag of baby greens from Trader Joe's. I think it was mainly kale, chard and spinach. Have you figured out that I am terrible at following recipes to the letter, lazy, and only use what is on hand?)

1 bunch scallions, trimmed, slant-cut in 1-inch pieces (Didn't bother. See above comment.)

3 ounces freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, about 1 cup. (Obviously not on the menu, left this out.)

1. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 10-inch sauté pan. Add butter. When it melts, add onions and potatoes. Cook, stirring gently, over medium heat until they begin to turn golden.

(did that, sans the butter part)

2. In a small saucepan, bring stock to a slow simmer.

(check)

3. Add pasta to sauté pan, and stir gently. Lightly season with salt and pepper, and add tomatoes, garlic and basil or arugula stems. Add 1 1/2 cups stock. Cook, stirring gently, until nearly all stock has evaporated. Add scallions and another cup of stock, and cook, stirring, adding additional stock from time to time, so there is always some liquid in the pan, until pasta is al dente, about 18 minutes. Remove garlic and herb stems.

(I pretty much did all the above using the ingredients I named up on the list, but let me say that you do have to stir this thing pretty much all the time, which worked out fine for me if you read the top of this post. However... after several tastings I ended up cooking the pasta for 28 minutes total. I added salt 3 times, I am always very cautious with salt. I also added fresh cracked pepper right when I turned the flame off and the juice of half a lemon to substitute for that zing of cheese that I would not be adding and that worked out great! Below is a picture of what it looked like at the end when I dragged the spoon across the bottom of the pot. The sauce is decently thick and shiny.)

4. Fold in cheese and all but 1 tablespoon remaining oil. Add slivered herbs. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Transfer to warm soup plates, taking care that the ingredients are well distributed. Drizzle remaining oil over each and serve.

(I skipped the olive oil and just served it with meatloaf.)

Yield: 4 servings. (This is more like 8 servings, easily.)

'cheese' steaks

2013-03-29T19:07:00.001-07:00

My dear friend Nina came into town with her awesome daughter and her badass kale salad skills. She has her very own, very worth reading, food blog called The Steady Table.

One night during her visit I hosted dinner for them, plus our mutual friend and her five year old. I knew that I had 5 adults and 3 children, of those 2 children and 4 adults would eat meat. I sought out help from my local butcher because we moved in October and the grill is not set up outside yet. I asked for a type of steak that I could pan fry and it would still be nice. He pointed me to top sirloin. Spoiler alert! This post is not about that dinner... you can see that here.

On the menu from my side was pan seared/fried top sirloin steaks, simple pasta with butter for the kids and roasted eggplant. Nina supplemented with her killer kale salad that I will try and post here soon because it is my new favorite thing to eat.

For the steaks I just used salt and pepper, and in my biggest sauté pan I was able to position them where I know it's hot and not so hot according to the size of the cut and get a good range of rare through to medium rare. When I pulled the steaks to a platter to rest I spooned on an anchovy and kalamata olive tapenade and squeezed some fresh lemon juice over them.

Lucky for us we had some steak left over and I had an orange and a yellow pepper too. So for a quick weeknight dinner I sautéed thinly sliced yellow onion, with the peppers and while they were getting color I sliced the leftover steaks very thinly and added them to the pan with a pinch of kosher salt. Once everything was done I laid slices of the amazing lactose free yogurt cheese from Trader Joe's right in the pan.

I served this up on lightly toasted sourdough with mayo and mustard.

I garnished with a few half sour spears and it was pretty fantastic... as you can see.

Ingredients:

leftover steak, about 1.5 lbs

1/3 of a yellow onion sliced very thin

1 whole yellow pepper

1 whole orange pepper (you can of course sub out for green or red)

pinch of kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

about a tablespoon of olive oil

at least 4 slices of Trader Joe's lactose free yogurt cheese (this comes in pepper jack too which would be very nice if you like the spice)

Sauté this up in a pan, lay in slices of lactose free yogurt cheese to cover and serve once the cheese is super melted.

nine years in the making

2012-10-09T22:02:00.002-07:00

Tonight is my ninth wedding anniversary, and I made a variation of beef bourguignon, roasted cauliflower, and scalloped yams. All eaters were happy tonight. Weeeeee!

Here's how I did it:

Beef Bourg

2lbs of boneless chuck roast (I asked the butcher to dice it in 2 inch dice)
2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tsp kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 large yellow onion
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups of chicken broth

prehead the oven to 350F
toss the flour, salt, pepper together in a big bowl
add the meat and coat it as best as you can, moving the meat round with tongs to get each side of each piece coated
add the meat to a hot braising pan with about 3 Tbsp of olive oil in it on a medium high heat; sear each side of the meat pieces
meanwhile slice up the onion into half inch rings and add it to the braising pan when the meat is coated by pulling the meat out to the sides and put the onion in the center
once the onion begins to get some color sprinkle the paprika around and toss in the bay leaves
deglaze with red wine
add the chicken stock
cover with a lid and roast in the oven for 3-4 hours on 350F

I did all of this the day before, let it cool over night, popped it in the fridge in the morning, then I warmed the dish in the pan (since I left it in there the whole time) on a low flame for about 30 minutes.

Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower
olive oil
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
the juice of half a lemon
white truffle oil

clean and cut apart the head of cauliflower
add it to a large bowl
coat with olive oil, salt and pepper
add to a wrapping of parchment paper and aluminium foil, with the parchment on the cauliflower side, crimp it up like a burrito that won't close so steam can escape
put it on a cookie sheet and roast for 40 minutes on 400F

Yams

2 large yams, about 3 lbs
soy butter
molasses

soy butter an oven safe dish with a lid
slice the yams and place them in the dish
add more pats of soy butter on the top
then add about 2-3 Tbsp of molasses

bake at 400F uncovered for 20 minutes, then cover for the final 20 minutes

Happy anniversary honey!

Tarragon Shrooms

2012-10-05T14:26:00.002-07:00

Due to moving the pantry is oddly stocked. As such I came up with this very simple side dish that knocked everyone's socks off. All mouths quietly chewing which is not so easy to achieve sans burgers and pizza.

I sliced each mushroom in about 4 even slices because they were all about the same size. I put them in a hot non-stick skillet with plenty of olive oil. I added about 1 tsp of kosher salt and then I left them alone to get nice and brown on one side. When that was done I flooped them in the pan to get the backside. Meanwhile I chopped up some freshly rinsed tarragon and cut a fresh lemon in half.

I added the juice of half the lemon over the mushrooms and tossed in the tarragon. Once everything was cooked, say maybe 2 minutes of cooking after the tarragon was added, I gave it a round of fresh ground plack pepper and served with things that escape me because the mushrooms were the only memorable bit of the meal.

_Adjusted_ Plum Cake from Jacques Pepin

2012-10-02T13:35:00.002-07:00

After watching Jacques Pepin make this on my Tivo about 3 times I had to try to pull it off with no nuts or dairy.

The original recipe is here:

http://blogs.kqed.org/essentialpepin/2011/09/19/quick-almond-and-plum-cake/

It uses almonds and dairy, I basically swapped in sunflower seeds and watered down kefir. One of the best parts about this cake is that you make the batter in a food processor and it's in the oven so quickly.

It is essential to use a spring form pan, non-stick like mine I can only imagine helps. When you cut the cake open the full plums are displayed in all their caramelized splendor.

Here is my version of this speedy beauty...

CAKE

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) Earth Balance Soy Butter, softened

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup roasted but unsalted sunflower seeds

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large eggs

1/4 cup plain kefir

add water to the above kefir until you hit the 1/3 cup measurement mark, then stir to simulate milk

TOPPING

4–6 ripe plums, I have used both red and black plums, just go for quality

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup plum jam

1 tablespoon plum brandy or Calvados

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the center. Soy butter a 9-inch springform pan with 1/2 teaspoon of the soy butter.

FOR THE CAKE: Process the flour, sunflower seeds, sugar, and baking powder in a food processor until the mixture is a coarse powder. Add the vanilla, the remaining soy butter, the oil, and eggs and process for a few seconds, just until incorporated. Add the kefir-water mixture and process for a few seconds, until the mixture is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

FOR THE TOPPING: Using the point of a sharp knife, remove the pit from the stem end of each plum.

Let me just say here that Jacques is very skilled with a knife as we all know. I sharpened my Global 4.5in parer and still mutilated some of the plums since they were ripe. It is of no matter, just put the prettiest side facing up... no one will know!

(If the plums are not fully ripened and feel hard, prick them all over with the point of a sharp knife to soften them.) Rinse the whole plums well under cold water. While they are still wet, roll them in the sugar. Arrange the plums on top of the cake, spacing them evenly, and push them down into the batter until the bottom half of each is immersed.

Place the cake on a cookie sheet and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until puffy and nicely browned on top. Cool on a rack to lukewarm.

Mix the plum jam and brandy together in a small bowl and brush the top of the lukewarm cake with the mixture. Remove the sides of the pan and cut the cake into 6 to 8 wedges, so that each serving contains at least half a plum. Serve warm or just at room temperature.

I have served the cake with no topping, which a rhubarb and cognac topping, with tofu sour cream, you name it... the cake will stand to many variations.

left over leaves

2012-06-22T20:28:00.001-07:00

When asked today "what do you do with left over sage leaves?" I had my answer ready... here it is folks.

cook pasta al dente
meanwhile fry whole sage leaves in olive oil skillet, remove and place on a napkin to get crispy
add a little salt and pepper to the oil
add the pasta when it's done, toss through the oil
plate, add sage leaves and tear up some prosciutto over the top (so it gets sweaty... aw yeah)

eat!

getting vegetables on the table

2012-02-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

I am making a real effort to prepare vegetables in more interesting ways and get them on the plate in larger portions. As such I have a new found appreciation for my mandolin. In this recipe I use Champagne vinegar because it is slightly sweet, and I found the julienne shape of the slice juxtaposed with the crunch of the ingredients is a winner. This is so easy and goes really well with pork dishes and a nice dry white wine.

4 Fuji Apples, cored and stems/flower ends cut out, then halved
Jicama about 5 inches in diameter, peeled and halved
Celeriac aka celery root, also about 5 inches in diameter peeled and halved
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 Tbsp canola oil (if you are aiming for left overs in the fridge, olive oil will solidify)
1 Tbsp Champagne vinegar
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

If you don't have a mandolin, show off your knife skills by julienne slicing the celeriac and jicama, set it aside.
Next squeeze the juice of half a lemon in a bowl that will be big enough to hold the whole salad and allow you to mix it.
Now julienne the apples right into the lemon juice and toss them around so they don't turn brown.
Then mix up the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a separate smaller bowl with a whisk.
Add all the celeriac and jicama to the big bowl, then the dressing and mix well with a large spoon.

Serve up!

as much as I love mayonnaise...

2012-02-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

I am leaving it out of potato salad these days opting for a German style rustic version. It's fantastic and travels way better than the kind with mayo.

2-3 lbs of waxy potatoes, I prefer red skinned smallish yukons
1/3 cup finely minced red onion
1 bunch of fresh marjoram
1 bunch of fresh dill, I urge you to find the market that has nice fresh dill with crisp stems
1/2 cup of canola oil (olive oil will solidify if you are aiming for leftovers)
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1.5 Tbsp stone ground mustard
kosher salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 30 minutes, a fork should pierce them easily but you don't want them falling apart.
Strain the potatoes and let them cool off a bit so you can slice them in 1/2 inch slices.
While they are cooling mince the onion and coarsely chop the marjoram and dill.
Then in a large bowl big enough to mix the volume of salad you will be dealing with start your dressing with the oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and a whisk.
Add the chopped herbs and onion, whisk.
Move on to the potato slicing, then gently mix it all together.
Best served just done when the potatoes are warm but by no means hot.

waste not...

2012-02-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

This recipe for cornbread has been modified to loose the dairy, while upping the ante with bacon grease... aw yeah.

Shown here with home made orange marmalade.

1.5 cups cornmeal
.5 cup whole wheat flower
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp sugar
2 cups plain keifer (I like the Lifeway because the label says 99% lactose free)
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp bacon grease warmed to liquid state

Sift dry ingredients together.
Mix keifer and eggs together, then add the bacon grease when it's just about to solidify so it's not too hot.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix well.
Pour into a greased 8x10 inch loaf pan.
Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes.

breakin' the law!

2011-10-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

yeah, ok so this has cheese... my husband can take a pill for that my son cannot take a pill for nuts so here we are...

1.5 lbs of plumogranates (you could sub pluots)
4-5 oz. machego cheese

dressing:
2 TBSP good olive oil
1 TBSP good balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP chocolate sauce (I used Trader Joe's midnight moo)
sea salt
fresh ground pepper

slice the fruit in half, remove the pit, then slice in big thin circles
arrange in a 1 broad layer on a plate
take a vegetable peeler and shave off some cheese on top and arrange that in a thin layer
drizzle with dressing

the acidity of the balsamic and fruit with the cream of the cheese and chocolate, plust the chocolate and balsamic doing their thing together was so yum!

zucchini pancakes with fresh rhubarb compote and tofu sour cream

2011-07-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

have i mentioned i love pancakes? i have spent a while perfecting a few variations, this is my latest success story. there was a not so great version using beat puree rather than grated zucchini. edible, not blog worthy.

ingredients:

1 cup sifted organic white flour
1 cup sifted organic whole wheat flour
add to above sifting 3 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt (1/2 tsp or so)
3 tbsp organic cane sugar
4 medium zucchini grated
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 - 1 1/2 cups soy milk

sift the dry ingredients, in a separate bowl mix everything else except for the soy milk, add only 1/2 cup at first, then put the wet and dry ingredients together and add the remaining soy milk until you arrive at your desired consistency. i like my pancakes thick and fluffy, so my batter is quite thick. if you want the pancakes super fluffy, separate the eggs and whip the whites with the sugar in a 3rd bowl and fold this in last last last and gently gently gently!

fry in a non-stick skillet in olive oil on medium heat. i pour about 1/2 cup of batter per pancake and it makes enough for 3-4 adults.

fresh rhubarb compote

ingredients:

1 big stalk of fresh rhubarb
1/3 cup of organic cane sugar
a few squeezes of fresh lime juice, say 1 tsp
water

chop the rhubarb in a coarse dice, add all the ingredients to a small saucepot and simmer until jamlike. i usually put this on first while i make the pancakes.

finally, assemble the pancakes with compote and tofutti sour cream. add a pot of fresh coffee and a long weekend morning and YUM!

split pea soup (wait for it...) with chopped bacon and soft boiled egg

2011-06-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

it's time to use the yummy chicken stock from a couple of posts back!

2-3 spring onions (look for 3/4 cup yield chopped)
8 cups home made chicken stock
1 pkg frozen peas
1/4 cup finely chopped mint
the juice of 1 lime
5 thick slices of applewood smoked bacon
1 perfectly soft boiled egg per bowl of soup
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
olive oil

in a deep pot sweat the onions in the olive oil with a bit of salt
meanwhile put the bacon in a 375 degree oven on an inch deep cookie sheet with parchment paper to save you the clean up hassle later (you can just wad up the paper and put it all in the compost); when the bacon is done but not too crispy pull it out and let it cool off
back to your soup... add the chicken stock, lime juice, peas, salt and pepper and let it come to a soft simmer (the trick here is not to let it bubble into a froth)
once the peas are bright green, turn the heat off, and get out your hand blender; pulse the soup until you have a texture you like, i left mine with big half peas all over the place since i wasn't out to make porridge or baby food
then turn the heat back to the lowest possible flame and taste for salt and pepper (remember you are going to lay bacon on top of this so be mindful of the salt)
now pull your eggs out of the refrigerator and put them into a bowl of hot tap water to temper them and put a pot of water on to soft boil them; while you make the eggs your soup will have time to amalgamate
once the water is ready, take a thumbtack and very carefully poke a hole in the blunt end of each egg as you lay it into the boiling water with a spoon (thank you once again Jacques Pepin!)
set your timer for 4 minutes
after 4 minutes of boiling, turn the heat off of the eggs and set your timer for 1 minute
while this last minute elapses, get an ice bath ready for the eggs
while your eggs are in the ice bath, coarsely chop the bacon
now assemble your soup with soup first, then bacon then egg
the egg will add a huge dimension of creaminess to the soup; between that and the bacon you won't be missing dairy at all!

new oven! let's start with chicken stock!

2011-01-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

the new oven came only because we moved. seriously my land lady thought i would go through the Christmas season without a working oven. her words: "gee i hope you aren't planning to cook Thanksgiving dinner!" she wrote the end of the story with that comment.

the move was mid-December but it just now feels like home because i made the first batch of golden chicken stock. with no regrets i moved zip-lock bags of frozen chicken carcasses and other bits of carrots, celery, beet greens.

here is the way to fail safe stock that will enhance everything you make from non-red sauce pastas, to rice, and to of course soups. loved or hated, Gordon Ramsay did say the easiest way to take your dishes to the next level is to start making your own stocks. he is right on that one. actually in his book he didn't even use any foul language when he said it, or his editor rolled their eyes and hit the back space.

equipment:

1 stock pot short enough to fit in your oven
a cooking spoon to scoop off the scum from the top
fine mesh strainer or sieve or chinois
large bowl to catch the strained liquid
little containers for freezing you can even use ice cube trays for little bits of stock but you still have to wrap them in plastic once the stock is frozen or your freezer smells like soup

what you need and cannot substitute:

2 chicken carcasses, they can be raw or cooked
i store all chicken parts in the freezer but you need 2 torsos at least, you can add wings but you need the spine etc. to get the flavor
3 carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 big onion / 2 small
5 whole cloves
15-20 whole peppercorns
2-3 bay leaves

what you can throw in for added flavor:

the green tops of carrots (adds a great herb and floral flavor but makes spooning off the scum more difficult)
whole and unpeeled cloves of garlic
whole and unpeeled shallots
mushrooms / discarded mushroom stems and pieces
any other vegetable item that you think might be good but is free of dirt like leek bits, tops of turnips, etc.

let's get to it then!

preheat your oven to 425
put just the chicken in the pot and into the oven, pull them when it's sizzling and brown, 20 minutes should do it
add everything to the pot
(you can get fancy and push the cloves into the onion)
fill with water, turn up the flame but be very careful to add the water gently and _never_ stir the pot; if you stir it you are mixing the scum pieces with the broth and it pretty much will never separate again and your stock will be cloudy
in fact, keep a close eye on your pot you never want it to simmer or boil, just get nice and hot so all the flavor is released. you should see little wisps of steam rise from the liquid but it should never jiggle and release bubbles.
when you see foam at the top, use your cooking spoon to remove while rinsing the spoon between scoops. you want the stock to be hot for 2-3 hours.
after 3 hours turn off the flame and let it cool, i sometimes put a lid on it and leave it overnight if i started my stock at dinnertime.
then get a ladle and pour the stock over a sieve into a larger bowl from which you can then ladle into small containers. i use 2 cup size because that way i can just add it to 1 cup of rice while the stock is still frozen and it works pretty well. if you try to pour from the bowl you will get some sediment that you don't want, so be prepared to just throw the last cup down the sink. you should get about 10 to 12 cups. when i make the stock at night and turn it off before bed, i do this ladle bit over coffee the next day.

money: to make stock is close to free because you use what most people put in the trash

time: it takes about 1/2 a day to make the stock to where you can put it in the freezer. active time is maybe one hour.

day 12 of a broken oven

2010-11-22T14:38:00.000-08:00

so as usual, i opened my oven to put in prosciutto wrapped asparagus, everything fine, t minus 30 minutes or so to dinner, then when i go to close the door it won't close all the way... it just hangs open about 4 or 5 inches all the heat escaping and my wrapped asparagus potentially getting ruined. I ended up cooking them at a brisk saute level of heat and then adding the clementine sherry vinaigrette. it worked out but for the past 12 days i have been working my toaster oven like a tired donkey and tailoring all of our meals to not include the oven. oh and yeah it's now perfect chilly baking weather but i have no oven! i can bake some, but not cookies.

wrap asparagus in proscuitto
grill/bake/saute
cover in a vinaigrette of olive oil, sherry vinegar, clementine zest and juice, sea salt and pepper. very intense and addicting!

dinomite dino kale salad!

2010-11-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

ok, so my csa brought dino kale and with it a NY times recipe for a dino kale salad that was basically the raw kale cut into ribbons, leaving on the fibrous ribs and topping on pecorino and pine nuts. so i got to thinking, well what would take the place of smokey toasted pine nuts and sharp salty yet creamy from animal protein cheese? the answer came in a flash, simple really... BACON!

so after a few tweaks i came up with the following salad that was mouth watering and we have had it a few more times since.

heat your oven to 425 and meanwhile set up some parchment in an inch deep cookie sheet, place about 4-5 strips of smoked bacon in and plop them in said 425 oven until they are nice and crispy on the edge but still some chew on the bright pink parts of meat.
while your bacon is toasting up to perfection, wash and slice the kale into thin ribbons sans the ribs. trust me you don't want to much on those ribs! also slice a fennel bulb paper thin. and some red onion paper thin. then cut about a cup of cherry tomatoes in half (the sweetness will counter the super salt o' the bacon). i also added about 3/4 cup of cubed few days old ACME herb slab bread. then in a small bowl whisk together the juice of 1 lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. dress the salad without the bacon and let it stand about 20 minutes and mix it a few times, like every time you walk by it so the dressing can soften the kale. when the bacon is done, let it cool for a few minutes then slice it shortways and add it to the salad. lemon-bacon-sweet tomato-dino kale yummy yums! my husband who is luke warm at best on kale loved this dish. 'nuff said really.

there's always sloppy joe

2010-10-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

for whatever reason this is one of my favorite comfort foods and the key for me is a nice fresh but soft bun to squish around the juicy filling and smash in the cheese (Trader Joe's yogurt cheese sans lactose of course!). i make special trips to TJ's just for this cheese! i will buy about 5 packs and freeze some. they jalepeno flavor is good but way spicy for the little one.

i make the sauce the Mario Batali way. 1.5lbs ground beef, 16% fat organic grass fed is the way to go. i pick mine up at whole foods mostly because my whole foods is not one of the crazy high dollar ones, the prices are comparable to TJ's for any of the organic merchandise... lucky me!

so you drizzle a good 4 TBsps of olive oil and put the beef in a big flat skillet, i use a huge stainless one that can be put in the oven for cooking if need be, so heavy, not a non stick, and large flat surface area for nice browning. season with sea salt, fresh cracked pepper and an Italian spice blend. let this cook on med-high to high for a long time. when the meat turns gray don't stop, keep going. get all the moisture out and let it brown nice and stick to the pan a bit. keep it moving occasionally so it won't burn mind you, but you want the meat to caramelize for the next steps. when the meat is starting to brown add 1/2 a good sized onion chopped coarsely. when the meat is sticking to the pan in about 30 seconds after a stir, then deglaze with about a cup of red wine. be sure to scrape up all the stuck meat bits so they will be in your sauce. then turn the flame down and add a big can of crushed san marziano tomatoes. add more salt and pepper if you think it needs it and let this simmer very gently to evaporate the liquid until it hits the texture you like for your sloppy joe.

slap on a soft bun with said yogurt cheese and YUM!

awesome for left overs too!

time: 1 hour total, 20 mins active

money: about 12 bucks for the meat, about 3 bucks for the can of tomatoes, 3 bucks for good buns, the rest is negligable

pork tacos

2010-10-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

i start off with making the shredded porky bits that will be the base of the filling.

2lbs of pork shoulder, i find the butt/belly way too greasy (not that it's not good, just slides around too much)

i rub the meat with a mix of kosher salt, dried ground cumin, fresh cracked pepper. that's it. rub it and store in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours and a max of 12. dump out the liquid and roast uncovered in a pan that will not allow the meat to spread out (think a bread loaf pan here) at 250F for about 4.5-6 hours until the top has a crust with the rub on it and the meat falls apart at the slightest prying of a fork. after the meat rests for about 20 minutes discard the liquid and shred with 2 forks. while the meat is resting i usually heat up the tortillas, cut avocado, stir tofutti sour cream, etc.

i think salsa verde is the way to go here:

3 green tomatoes or about 1.5 lbs of tomatillos if they are available
1/2 bunch green onions
1-2 jalapeno(s) - as the master jacques pepin says, taste the chile to see how hot it is, then decide how much
lime juice to taste
1 clove garlic
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

coarsely chop everything and go at it with a hand blender and let it sit for at least 20 minutes so the flavors can mix.

finished product:

i want to add a few stats now for my posts, money and time.

money:
2lbs of pork shoulder from my whole foods is about 8.50 USD
total price of the salsa items is maybe 6.00 USD and you will have about 4 cups so maybe you want to half the recipe.
my favorite corn tortillas are the sonoma brand also found at whole foods. i like these because they are thick and have the consistency and texture of a freshly made tortilla when heated over open flame.

time:
prepping the meat is 5 minutes, making the salsa and other condiments can be from 30 minutes to an hour.
total time is a full day if you include everything, but um look at the picture it's so good and therefore totally worth it!

banana pancakes

2010-10-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, so now after making these no one in the house eats the bananas and lets them go black in the hopes of banana pancakes landing on their plate. I slightly altered the 'griddlecakes' recipe from my 1932 "American Womans Cookbook" (which if you have never seen is worth a flip through at least to the possum pie page).

In your dry ingredient bowl sift 2 C flour (I go for the King Arthur organic white all purpose), 3 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.

In your wet ingredient bowl whisk up 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tsp evaporated cane juice, 1 TBSP olive oil, and 4 smashed up over ripe bananas.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients slowly, when the mixture is too heavy start adding some coconut milk to get it to the proper texture. I like my pancakes dense so I never use a whole can of coconut milk which is kind of a drag.

Fry them up and serve! We serve with Earth Balance soy butter and agave nectar syrup. The coconut milk gives that taste of Thailand.

tri-color carrot salad

2010-09-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

The above is all carrots, no onion or ginger or anything else. My CSA dropped off purple, white/green, and orange carrots. I grated them all and dressed simply with a dressing of grapeseed oil, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and some cardamom that I pulverized into a dusty deliciousness in a marble mortar and pestle. The trick here is not to be shy with the salt, there's a good amount of sweet to balance.

Simple, quick, crispy side!

burger

2010-08-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

this is what has led me to success time and time again:

16% fat organic grass fed (skimp here and you are building your burger on a house of cards)
1 clove of extremely fine minced fresh garlic for every lb of meat
1 tsp of sherry vinegar for every lb of meat
1 Tbsp of grapeseed oil for every lb of meat (keeps the lapping flames from charring too much)
1 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce for every lb of meat
Sea salt (don't use anything else please)
Freshly cracked pepper

successful variations are...

my favorite in spring when Sonoma county lambs are under the glass is to add 1/3 of the total meat ratio as ground lamb and pair with a big red, yeah i am feeling light headed just thinking about it. the lamb will bring the burger to a whole new level. 1/2 lamb is too much, 1/4 lamb is not enough, i know this to be true!

another goodie is to use a mix of anchovy paste and sea salt, careful here as you know the little fishies are muy salty!

serve on hand cut slices of La Brea Bakery's Italian Round