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

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!

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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Serving for One

Well, the French Beans have been off to a slow start - could be the dry spell of my european vacation, when I forgot to stick in the 'water me' sign until a good while gone, and had to email the Community Garden manager and ask him to put it out at my plot.

I did get a small harvest from the four stalks - just enough for one serving, sliced lengthwise, sauted with a diced strip of bacon and sliced red onion. Delish!



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pasta toppings

Made this the night before I left for Paris - a simple pasta with garlic, mushrooms and the cherry tomatoes from the garden.

I've been gone for 9 days, and I had forgotten to put out the 'Please Water' sign on my community garden plot. I'm hoping someone noticed, and that my 2nd round plantings aren't shriveled dry husks of their former selves. Off to find out!

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root fruit

Ahhhhh, onions!! I've waited patiently to begin harvesting these (okay, in some cases I wasn't so patient, and harvested them as spring onions, long and slender). About a half-dozen of these are just now reaching their full bulbous potential, and I'm quartering these to scatter around the roasted chicken I'm making for dinner guests tonight.

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snipped from the garden

had my sister over for dinner tonight, and for nostalgia's sake made a doctored version of Palo Alto's Evvia restaurant's wild mushroom risotto. In it: onions and minced Italian parsley from the garden (along with diced chicken thighs and sauteed asparagas)

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