Persimmon Chips

Although I'm Asian, I didn't grow up eating persimmons. It's more of a Japanese cultural item than Chinese, and I was much more about the fruits of Hawaii (guava, lilikoi, lychee). But persimmons are so abundant in SF during the fall season, that I decided to take a stab at cooking them.


This is the easiest preparation of them EVER - simply slice and bake.  I put them on a grid cooling rack in the oven, so both sides are exposed to the heat.  15-20 minutes is all it takes, and I wait til I see a bit of browning on the thinner slices. YUM!

Cheesemaking 101

Yeah, because I don't have ENOUGH hobbies, I decided to try cheesemaking. I blame Kris (just kiddin' ya, Pepper!)

This hobby is NOT for the faint of heart.  It takes a lot of equipment, and the precision of baking (not my strong suit) as well as the patience of a saint (both in the making process and in the waiting to age).

And you have to wait weeks before you even know if it turned out okay.

Lets just say, I'm still at the 101 level. Here's what I've attempted (more or less successfully):
1.  Morel mushroom infused Camembert
2.  Cabacou (thin disks of fresh goat milk cheese stored covered with herbed olive oil)
3.  St. Marcellain (soft rind brie)
4.  Herbed Jack

Chinese New Year Potstickers!

My mom used to buy all the ingredients and then say to me "I know how much you LOVE making (postickers), so I got everything for you ready to go!" and there would go my whole weekend afternoon. Because making postickers is WORK. Not just the slicing and dicing, but the portioning and sealing, the staging and cooking. Sure, it's a labor of love, but definitely LABOR.

Ingredients:
zucchini, finely diced
mushrooms, finely diced
carrots, peeled into strips and finely diced
white onion, finely diced
ground pork and/or shrimp (optional)
garlic, grated
roasted sesame oil
2 eggs
salt & pepper
ground ginger

Mix all the ingredients together with the oil and egg as binder.  Scoop a teaspoon of filling into the center of potsticker wraps and fold into triangles, sealing the edge with raw beaten egg.  If you freeze them, be sure to stack them with some space between the filling pockets, or they'll stick together (and tear apart once you thaw them).

Cook the postickers by dropping them into boiling water or broth until the wrapper 'skins' become somewhat translucent and 'wrinkle' around the filling. These can then be additionally sauteed for a crisper finish, or just strained out of the broth and served with a drizzle of soy or ponzu sauce.

Roasted Little Belgiuns

AKA: Brussel Sprouts
I've stolen this method for roasting brussel sprouts from FireFly restaurant in Noe Valley - and it works a charm! Easy-peasy, and the BEST tasting method I've tried/tasted to date!

NEEDED: HOT oven, wide roasting pan w/ lip, alum foil*

PREP: PREHEAT (empty) roasting pan. THIS IS THE TRICK!! I prefer to preheat to 425, but the dish will work with most (350 minimum) any temp you have set for other dishes. Seriously - the pan needs to be HOT before you add the sprouts.

Wash and SLIGHTLY trim base off brussel sprouts (you want SOME base to remain to hold them together). Halve smaller sprouts, quarter larger ones. Lightly toss in olive oil and salt/pepper generously (I like lots of pepper). Seasoning them BEFORE roasting ensures the spices stick to the sprouts, rather than dusting them on later.

Dump the halved/quartered seasoned sprouts into HOT roasting pan - you'll hear the sizzle! Spread them out evenly, with some space between them for crispier outcome. If you have so many that they crowd each other, consider roasting in 2 pans. *Cover with aluminum foil, tightly sealed (use oven mitts, as the pan is already hot!) and slide into the oven.

Roast for 10m covered, then uncover and test larger sprouts for tenderness. Stir and continue roasting uncovered ~10m more, or until loose leaves have browned to your liking. Transfer to serving bowl and lightly drizzle with truffle oil (optional). Fight off others at the table who attempt to dish up more than their share.

Enjoy!

*Covering with foil may not be necessary if your sprouts are small or quartered.  If you prefer them softer in the middle, cover.  Otherwise, roasting uncovered ~20m total has worked fine for my taste!

Hedgehog Potatoes - the preamble

Heading to Julie's for a backyard BBQ tomorrow - so excited!!!
I've prepped a new dish: Hedgehog Potatoes

Take yellow potatoes (wax-type work better than russets for this dish)
Slice them 1/4" widthwise: not quite through - place on a large spoon to stop the knife strokes
Slip in slivered garlic between the slices
Mix a marinade of Harissa and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Baste with loving goodness!
Roast in oven - 350ish for 30ish (validation on this after the BBQ)

Viola! Scrumptiousness!

tassajara tales

R E L A X - I'm not giving up meat. I am, however, trying out several vegetarian recipes from the Tassajara Cookbook in preparation for the week long visit of my grew-up-vegetarian mother, who now eats meat, but not much.

This is the Sesame Marinade for firm tofu that I'm testing. The only bit from my garden is the scallions, but that's enough to qualify it for the blog, right? Right. This is MY universe, people! [wink]

Anyway, these tofu triangles will marinade overnight, then I'll bake them and pack them for a road trip north to Sebastepol, where we're picking up 2 boxes of bees for the backyard hives.*


*Last years hive collapsed, reasons unknown. The new batch of bees is 'survivor stock' so we'll see how this season goes. Let's hope for lots of honey!

chicken stuffed with (garden) sage, over roasted (garden) fennel

1. stuffedchicken, 2. breadedchicken, 3. chickenfennel

I'm in love with fennel. I oughta marry it.

I'm also currently in love with the two kinds of sage that are going like gangbusters in my gardens - one is long and willowy, with light silvery green leaves, and the other is squat, with rounder, darker and more textured leaves. I'm slipping the thin leaves under a lot of chicken skin prior to roasting (yummilicious) and dicing up more of the rounder leaves for sauteing into risotto, soup, etc.

This time I diced up the round leaf sage with shallots, garlic and s&p and stuffed the mix into skinless chicken thighs, pinned together with toothpicks. Breaded and roasted over quartered fennel, leeks and sage, this was a PUUUURFECT summer al fresco meal on the back deck!

(I didn't think of it at the time, but I should have served it with this)

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Fava's Are In

Don't they look great? I still have a bunch more to harvest. Tonight I'm heading home to make Fava Garlic Spread. Easy to make and great on toast points. Recipe to follow.

Blue Lake Beans

I planted a six-pack of Blue Lake Beans along the chainlink fence of my Community Garden. I built up a bamboo trellis for the beans, and then sat back and waited. The bean plants never really took to the trellis - I don't know if I didn't plant them close enough (unlikely), or something else is at play here, but these plants are STILL - easily 6 weeks later - less than 12" tall.

Yet, THESE BABIES PRODUCE.

Yes, the stunted, miniscule bean plants of mine are pumping out beans like NOBODY'S BUSINESS! I harvested well over a quart of full 5" long beans, as plump and ready as could be!

I'll be serving these up french style: split longwise, sauteed with red onion, garlic and diced bacon. YUM!

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Happy 4th, with Lemon Verbena twist

Verbena Royale
from SF Park Chow restaurant

There are few herbs as fragrant as lemon verbena, and Park Chow (1240 Ninth Ave. at Lincoln) takes full advantage of its bouquet and flavor in the Verbena Royale. A sophisticated blend of Lillet and prosecco is dusted with microbits of the herb, with a garnish of whole leaves that marinate in the mix.

Yummy.

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