Yummy Supper

BRAISED PORK WITH BLISTERED TOMATILLOS

2012-01-27T12:35:00.000-08:00

After the enthusiastic response to my post on Momofuku's Pulled Pork, I found that I am not alone in my love of pig. Pork fans, add this recipe to your porcine list. Take a little time this weekend to blister tomatillos and braise some pork, and your whole house will smell like Mexican comfort food.

I trust Rick Bayless. He has earned a good rep by making great food at Frontera Grill in Chicago (sadly a place I've never had the chance to eat.) Plus, he has a nice face... somehow that open smile makes me trust him even more.

As Californians, my little family eats a lot of Mexican food. When we go out to eat, 9 out of 10 times it's Mexican, though we don't cook much Mexican food at home. We do make tacos, and the occasional carnitas, but rarely more. A few weeks ago our neighbors loaned us a copy of Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen and I knew I needed to spend some time in my kitchen with Rick.

I was right to trust the guy - Bayless' recipe for Tomatillo Braised Pork was a total hit. Succulent pork, a spicy/sweet stew, oh yeah!

INGREDIENTS adapted from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen
(printable recipe)

for the sauce:

1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husked and rinsed
fresh Serrano chilies, stems removed and roughly chopped (Bayless calls for 5 chilies, I only used 2 and there still was a nice kick)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves, plus a few sprigs for garnish
salt, about 1 1/2 teaspoon, plus more for seasoning the meat

for the stew:

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds pork country ribs, or pork shoulder, cut into large chunks*
2 small white onions, finely chopped, plus some round slices for garnish
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
8 medium boiling potatoes, quartered

*We've made this recipe with a few different cuts of meat. I preferred our batch that used pork country ribs and some pork belly. So rich and succulent.

THE SAUCE:

Preheat your broiler. Husk and rinse your tomatillos, then scatter them on a broiling pan. Stick pan with the tomatillos a few inches under the hot broiler and cook for a few minutes until the skins are blistered. Then turn the tomatillos a bit to makes sure they are roasted on all sides and beginning to soften nicely.

Put the roasted tomatillos in a blender. Blend until smooth, then add cilantro leaves, 3/4 cup water, and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt. Blend again. Your sauce is done!

THE STEW:

Prep your pork, by cutting it into big chunks and seasoning all sides with salt. Leave the fatty bits on - they really make the flavor here.

In a large heavy bottomed pan, (I used my Le Creuset Dutch Oven), heat olive oil over a medium/high flame. Add the chunks of meat to the pan in a single layer and brown the meat on all sides. ( I needed to brown my meat in a couple of batches because I couldn't fit all the meat in the pan at once.) This whole process should take about 20 minutes.

Set aside browned meat.

Preheat oven to 325.

Pour out all but a thin coating of oil from your dutch oven. Heat over medium. Add onions and saute for about 4 minutes until they become translucent. Add the garlic and cook a few more minutes. Pour the tomatillo sauce into the pot. Turn up the heat and bring the sauce to a roiling boil. Add the pork. Stir. Cover the dutch oven and place it in the hot oven. Cook for 45 minutes until the pork is just tender. Skim off any fat that has risen to the surface.

Add the chopped potatoes to the pot. Submerge the potatoes in the sauce. Return the whole thing to the oven and continue cooking for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Before serving, take the pork out of the stew. Remove any fatty bits and pull the meat apart into bite sized bits. Stick the meat back in the warm stew and serve.

Garnish with cilantro and round slices of raw onion. We served our stew with corn tortillas, guacamole, slices radishes, beans, and rice.

YUM!

Serves 4-8. With just a simple side salad, the stew is a hearty meal for 4. If you serve this along with a bunch of nice side dishes, this can easily serve 8.

CHICKPEAS + DANDELION GREENS

2012-01-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

I'm all about greens these days.

Since the New Year, I have been going without refined sugar, and skipping most dairy. As an always-hungry omnivore, I resist restrictions in my diet like a petulant child being told to put down the candy. But once in a while, I just get to the point where my body needs a break. When one glance at a butter cookie starts to make to make my belly ache, it's time to switch things up. Amazingly, my biggest craving right now is for greens, and I'm not gonna fight a desire that's this healthy.

Last post, I shared a Breakfast Salad (Greens for breakfast? Yes, please!). Now, I have another recipe for you that packs a healthy punch. Dandelion greens are high in antioxidants, as well as Vitamin A, Potassium, and Vitamin Κ.*

(Plus, I love an excuse to photograph Meyer lemons from the little tree in my backyard....)

INGREDIENTS adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day
(printable recipe)

2 cups cooked garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups dandelion greens, washed and stems trimmed ( I think mustard greens would be good too)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
zest of one lemon
juice of one small tangerine
sea salt

Place cooked garbanzo beans in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Once all your ingredients are prepped, get out a large saute pan, and place it on the stove top. Pour in olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Turn heat to medium. Once the garlic sizzles a bit without browning, add the greens. Toss everything a few times with tongs to coat the greens with the warm oil. Cover pan with a lid and cook for 2 minutes or until tender.

Add the wilted greens to your bowl of garbanzos. Stir. (I liked using my hands to mix everything together.) At this point I strayed from the original recipe and added the juice of a fresh tangerine: the sweetness of the citrus helps to temper the bitterness of the greens. Add sea salt to taste. Top with lemon zest.

Serve and enjoy. I ate this dish all on its own as a satisfying lunch. I also bet it would be delicious served over quinoa or other healthy grain.

*source on nutritional facts on mustard greens

A BREAKFAST SALAD?

2012-01-05T10:50:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Like most people, I am trying embark on 2012 with a renewed commitment to health, joy, and calm. Maybe my lofty aspirations will last only a few days before the roller coaster of life, obligations, and not-so-good habits take over. Day five and I'm going strong.... only 360 to go.

A nourishing breakfast can never be a bad thing and this recipe has become quite popular at our house. I finally have my soft boiled eggs down to an art, and the rest of the dish is so simple that you whip up the whole thing in about 10 minutes. Easy, right?

I was eating my bowl of soft-boiled eggs, toast, and arugula and Abby remarked, "Hey, that's a salad."

Yes. Salad for breakfast.... 2012 here we come!

INGREDIENTS
(printable recipe)

one or two farm eggs (room temp)
one or two slices of your favorite bread for toasting
unsalted butter
handful of arugula leaves
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

To bring your eggs to room temp, submerge them in a bowl of really warm (but not boiling hot) tap water.

Fill a small sauce pan with 3-4 inches of water. Cover pan with a lid and heat water on your stove top over a high flame.

Toss your bread in the toaster.

When the water is boiling, gently lower your eggs into the sauce pan, and set your timer to 5 minutes and 15 seconds. Adjust flame to achieve a nice simmer. While the eggs are cooking, dump out the bowl of water that you used to warm your uncooked eggs. Refill the bowl with cold water and a few ice cubes. When the timer goes off, quickly remove eggs from the pot (using a slotted spoon is easiest) and immediately place cooked eggs in the ice water bath while you finish prepping the rest of your goodies. The eggs can rest here for a minute or so until they are cool enough to handle.

When your toast is ready, butter it and tear it into pieces. Nestle the buttery toast bits into a small bowl. Scatter arugula leaves over the toast.

Using a serrated knife, cut the top off of the egg. Scoop the egg out of the shell and place it on top of your toast and arugula. Sprinkle with good salt and some fresh ground pepper.

Enjoy!

Serves one. You can easily increase the all ingredients to feed as many as you wish.

POTATO GALETTE

2011-12-26T08:47:00.000-08:00

Crispy layers of thinly sliced potatoes cooked in duck fat... Yep, this is my kind of food.

Doesn't this potato galette beg to sit aside a nice roast for New Eve Year's? No pressure. If you can't get to this galette recipe this week, bookmark it for 2012 for a simple supper with roasted chicken and a green salad.

Wishing all of you a healthy, joyous & delicious new year!

INGREDIENTS from Bon Appetit December 2011
(printable recipe)

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (plus a bit more to rub on a parchment-lined baking sheet)
2 Tablespoons rendered duck fat (you should be able to find duck fat at your specialty grocer, or you can use bacon drippings)
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled
1 small sweet onion (like Maui or Walla Walla)
extra equipment: outer ring of 9 inch spring form cake pan

Preheat oven to 425.

Place the caraway seeds in a small saute pan. Heat over medium/high heat for a few minutes until seeds are nicely toasted. Set aside. When the seeds have cooled, crush them with a mortar and pestle.

Melt duck fat and 2 tablespoons of butter. Place in a large bowl with salt, pepper, and caraway seeds.

Slice potatoes (using a mandolin if you've got one) into 1/8 inch thick rounds. Toss them with the butter and seasonings in the large bowl until well coated in yumminess.

Peel and thinly slice onion and toss in a smaller bowl with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Cover a baking sheet with a layer of parchment. Place the spring form on top of the parchment. Brush the parchment with a little melted butter to avoid sticking.

Take 1/4 of the sliced potatoes and arrange them within the spring form ring. Then add a layer of onion. Continue layering a couple more times until all the potatoes and onions are layered up. Please, make sure to have a potato layer on top. Carefully remove ring.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of your preheated oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes until potatoes are tender, then brush the top of the galette with one last tablespoon of melted butter. Put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Edges of potatoes should be crisp and the whole galette should be a nice golden brown.

Season with a sprinkling of additional salt if desired. Slice and serve.

Enjoy!

Serves 6

CHOCOLATE BARK WITH CARAMELIZED MARCONA ALMONDS

2011-12-13T08:37:00.001-08:00

Wow! Is it just me or are the holidays gaining on us like a freight train? I am still in denial and keep casually telling myself there must still be weeks and weeks to get ready. I may not have done much holiday shopping yet, but I have gotten some cooking in. Last weekend the kids and I made peppermint bark - an old favorite in our house - and we tried out this new bark recipe that I am in love with.

Keeping life simple and sane around the holiday is a huge goal for me. How can we all have fun and not get stressed? This kind of recipe makes me so happy not only because it tastes delish, but it also takes very little time and the kids love to help. Here's a recipe that once again proves that just a few really good ingredients mixed together can make for damned good eats.

Marcona almonds + Caramel + Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt = Happiness

Don't forget to share....This bark makes an awesome gift.

INGREDIENTS from Bon Appetit December 2011
(printable recipe)

1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup roasted Marcona almonds (not in oil)
1 pound high quality dark chocolate (60-70% cacao), chopped (or chocolate chips will work)
flaky sea salt, like Maldon

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place sugar and water in a small heavy bottomed sauce-pan. Place pan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar crystals have completely dissolved. (You don't want the sugar to burn until all the crystals have broken down.)Then, bring to a boil, continue stirring occasionally, and cook for a few minutes until you get that nice deep amber color. Take the pan off heat and immediately whisk in butter.

Toss Marcona almonds into the caramel and stir to coat. Spread out gooey caramelized almonds onto the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let cool and then break up/or chop the bigger clusters. Set aside 1/4 of the almonds for garnish.

Slowly melt chocolate in a double boiler. (This can mean simply placing a metal mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water.) When chocolate is completely melted, add 3/4 of the caramelized almonds and stir quickly to coat. Pour the chocolate/almond mixture back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread out the chocolate so that the nuts are only one layer thick. Sprinkle the remaining almonds and flaky sea salt over the top of the chocolate.

Refrigerate for 3 hours. Break apart the hardened bark, and you are ready to go.

Keep chilled.

Wishing you peaceful, healthy, and cozy holidays! xo E

A FOOD-LOVER'S HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

2011-12-02T18:21:00.001-08:00

Generally, we keep it really low key for the holidays. Feeling so fortunate in our lives for family and friends, we don't want for much else when the holidays roll around. That said, I do take great pleasure in picking just the right gift, so I thought I'd mention a few of my favorite things that would make great gifts for the food-lovers in your life. We might as well share ideas around here, right?

(Note: Bay Area folks, I list local stockist in the footnotes. Please buy local, when you can!)

For years I have been on the lookout for the perfect cutting board - by far the most used item in our kitchen - and I couldn't find a good one. Recently, I discovered Josh and Kelly at Blackcreek Mercantile and Trading Co. and I knew I had found the dream cutting board, made by really nice people. All crafted by hand, with stunning American woods, and tons of love, Josh's boards are the kind of heirloom item your grandchildren will fight over someday. Note: To get a gift in time for the holidays, order it right away, or check with their stockist. Each board is made by hand. (Bay Area folks, Blackcreek goods are sold at March in SF 415.931.7433)

I came across these adorable white enamel lunch pails at Kaufman Mercantile's awesome online shop, and had to have one. Just big enough to hold a single lunch serving, you can take this cutie with you and reheat it directly on a stove top or in the oven. According to Kaufman, "The surface doesn’t harbor bacteria like a crack in ceramic,and doesn’t have any harmful chemicals to leech like BPA in plastic." A stylish, eco-friendly, durable, and re-heatable lunch pail... I'm sold.

I'm really into the hippie-scientist vibe of these Chemex coffee pots with leather and wood detailing (oh yeah!). Invented in 1941 and now part of the design collections of the MOMA and Smithsonian, this little coffee pot is calling your name, right? (Local folks, they sell Chemex at Peet's).

My favorite gifts are always those that are homemade or homegrown. Even if you aren't a craft-master, you can bake a couple of batches of granola for your loved-ones. Put some chunky granola in a nice Weck Jar (see gift idea # 9), stick on a handwritten label, and you're good to go. If granola isn't your thing, maybe Homemade Caramel Sauce is calling your name?

Talk about old school - you should be able to pick up good cheap cast iron skillets at your local hardware store. These beauties are the beloved work horses of our kitchen.

The recipes in this book strike just the right note for me. Heidi's food is nourishing, fresh, and local. Heidi is a vegetarian, yet her recipes are hearty enough for meat-lovers like us. We are always trying to eat a little less meat and thanks to Heidi, we have no excuse not to cut back a bit. Plus she is a local author! Super Natural Everyday should be available at your neighborhood book shop.

When we were away from home last year, I missed our California fruit. Now that we're home, I cannot seem to get enough fresh fruit goodness and Frog Hollow Farm always makes me happy. If you don't live in a part of the country where you can buy good local organic pears this time of year, Frog Hollow ships their fruit. I know I would be stoked to get a box of beautiful fruit for the holidays!

Wild harvested teas are available at the Juniper Ridge. I cannot get over the delicious, lightly floral flavor of this Douglas Fir Tea. (Local folks, I bought this tea at Berkeley Hort.)

We use these jars for just about everything: beans and grains get stored; leftovers are transported. And of course any time P gets the jamming bug, he uses these jars to preserve his preserves. I do love a good old mason jar, but somehow these Weck jars make the simplest thing special. Weck used to be really hard to find, but now they are available at most specialty kitchen shops. (Local people, Heath Ceramics has a nice selection.)

#10

I am completely smitten with Canal House and their beautiful little books. Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton are the magic duo behind this series packed with tempting recipes and lush photos. You can buy each book individually, get a set, or a even a subscription. I cannot imagine a food-lover who wouldn't love subscription to Canal House!

If you have other gift ideas to add, please feel free to leave a comment and share with the rest of us. I'd love to hear what's on your list this year, and I'm sure everyone else would like your ideas too!

TOASTED PISTACHIO PESTO

2011-11-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

My belly is still recovering from overindulging in a delicious Thanksgiving feast. How about yours? Every year I am shocked to be hungry in the days after Thanksgiving. But here I am, back in the kitchen, ready for more.

Speaking of thanks, topping my list of things to be thankful for this year (and the list is long!) is... my mom is healthy and cancer-free after a very scary couple of months. I continue to be awed by her strength, attitude, grace, and resilience. When I brought her home after her second surgery last month, I told her I'd cook anything she craved. She wanted pesto. The sweet, funky, grocery store in her little town doesn't always stock pine nuts, but they did have some really good, roasted, organic pistachios from a farm nearby. I was inspired. I whipped up some chunky, rustic, and super flavorful pesto for my hungry mom. I was sure to pack in an extra dose of love in this meal knowing how essential every bite is to her healing process. She wolfed down her bowl of pistachio pesto pasta and continued to crave and eat bowls of pesto pasta for days. I was so honored to feed my mom.

I've been playing around with this recipe ever since. I tried adding some lemon zest and that didn't work. I substituted parsley for basil - success. I thought sweet and nutty Piave would be a great partner to the standard Parmesan and it was. I also ended up loving the addition of whole pistachios, leaves of parsley, and extra grated cheese to be scattered over the platted pesto pasta - the varied texture of the deconstructed pesto elements gives this classic a refreshing new life.

Like pretty much all of the recipes I share with you, this one is only as good as its ingredients. The pistachios need to be flavorful, the parsley fresh and perky, and the cheese delicious. I hope this recipe nourishes you as it did my mom.

INGREDIENTS (printable recipe)

pasta of your liking
1 1/4 cups pistachios, roasted (or if raw follow my roasting suggestions below)
1 cup loosely packed Italian parsley leaves
1/2 cup finely grated Piave (if you cannot find Piave, you can just use Parmesan)
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan (plus some extra for the table)
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Heat a large pot of pasta water while you make the pesto.

If you are using raw pistachios, do the following.... Heat a skillet over medium heat on the stove top. Toss in the raw pistachios and give them a shake occasionally to ensure even browning. It should take about 10 minutes to toast the pistachios this way.

Set pistachios aside to cool. They will firm up a bit as they cool to room temp.

For garnish later, set aside 1/4 cup of roasted whole pistachios, 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan.

Get out your blender. Place 1 cup cooled pistachios in the blender and pulse until the nuts are very coarsely chopped. (I think this coarse texture really makes the dish). Add 3/4 cup parsley leaves and pulse again a few times to blend. Add just enough olive oil to make the mixture move - about 1/2 cup. Add garlic, 1 cup grated cheese, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Barely blend in order to preserve that coarse texture. Taste to see if you'd like additional salt or pepper. Add if needed.

Cook your pasta.

Scoop pesto onto piles of warm pasta. Scatter a few whole pistachios and parsley leaves over each plate. Pass the grated cheese, salt, pepper grinder, and even a little dish with extra pesto.

Enjoy!

makes about 1 cup of pesto - enough dress 4-5 generous servings of pasta. (I have to tell you, I had some pesto leftover and slathered it onto roasted pork loin. Damn, it was good!)

PEARS POACHED IN LILLET

2011-11-16T06:48:00.001-08:00

I have an insatiable appetite for pears this time of year. I eat them sliced on my oatmeal, tossed into crisps, and just eaten solo. All sorts of pears make me happy, but one in particular is my favorite.... Warrens. There is something magically perfect about the Warrens - their flesh is juicy, silky, sweet, and firm all at the same time.

I've been wanting to share a poached pear recipe for a while now and with Thanksgiving fast approaching, I can imagine these pears as a fresh and light option for ending the day's feast. When I got a precious box of Frog Hollow Warrens, I knew I had to use something special for poaching liquid - it would be a shame to overpower the luscious pear-ness of the fruit. Lillet, an aperitif of Bordeaux wines and citrus liqueurs, and its light fruity fragrance seemed a decadent, yet subtle choice.

Lillet - on the rocks with a generous orange twist - is one of my favorite summer cocktails. Here, those sunny flavors meld with the perfect fall pear and I have to tell you... it's damned good!

INGREDIENTS
(printable recipe)

1 bottle of White Lillet ( 3 cups)
juice and zest of one Valencia orange
2 small tangerines or 8 kumquats (sliced thin, with the peels still on)
8 black peppercorns
10 sprigs thyme, fresh or dry
2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
4 just-ripe Warren Pears (others pears, like D'Anjou or Bosc would also work in this recipe)
parchment paper

Place all ingredients, except the pears, into a 4 quart saucepan. Heat liquid over medium high heat for a few minutes until sugar dissolves.

In the meantime, peel your pears and cut a bit off the bottom of each pear to make it flat and able to stand without falling. (Come serving time, you will appreciate a pear that can stand up.) Keep the stems intact.

Submerge the peeled pears in the poaching liquid and return to a simmer. Cut out a circle of parchment to cover the pears and the liquid. Place a plate or small pot lid over the parchment-covered pears to keep them submerged. If your pears are not totally covered by liquid, you may want to add a bit more water or just rotate the pears periodically to insure even cooking.

Simmer covered pears for 30 minutes. ( If your pears are a little under-ripe, you may want to add 10 or so minutes of cooking time. If the pears are very ripe, 20 minutes of poaching could be enough.) To test for doneness, a sharp knife should be able to pierce the pear without effort. Remove pears from the stove top. Let pears sit covered and submerged in poaching liquid for another 15-30 minute before serving.

Place each pear in a small pretty bowl or glass. Strain poaching liquid and keep all the goodies, setting them aside for garnish. Pour some of the strained liquid over each pear. Add a couple of the poached citrus slices, a twig of two of thyme, and some orange zest to each bowl.

If you want to serve the pears later, place them in their cooking liquid, in the fridge for up to a day. The poached pears are delicious served cool as well as warm.

makes 4 large servings (or if you want this to be a smaller dessert, and enough to feed eight, you can cut the pears in half before serving)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

FIG SALAD WITH WATERCRESS + BACON

2011-11-06T07:48:00.000-08:00

For years, Abby has been telling me tales about a delicious fig salad she makes. Thanks to the hot and sunny weather we had through the month of October, our fig tree has been pumping out tons of juicy fruit. I get giddy when I can step out of my kitchen door to pick food for supper. Yippee!

This salad has that dreamy combination of sweet, salty, creamy, and peppery flavors.... a party in each bite. And there is a lot of room for playful substitutions here. You could try arugula or frisee instead of watercress. Blue cheese could stand in for the chevre, or you can skip the cheese all together. I also think roasted hazelnuts would be tasty. And Abs says that pomegranate seeds are a nice addition as well... yum!

INGREDIENTS

(printable recipe)

4 fresh figs
4 slices of bacon or pancetta
1 bunch watercress
2 tablespoons chevre
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
8 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
optional: toasted hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds

Wash and thoroughly dry watercress. Scatter leaves, with some stems left on, over 4 salad plates.

Slice figs and nestle them into the watercress.

Crumble chevre over each plate.

Cook bacon until crispy. (I suggest cooking the bacon at the last minute so that it's warm going into the salad. It really makes a difference.)

While bacon is cooking, take a jar (that has a lid), pour in balsamic and salt. Give them a stir to blend a bit. Add the olive oil. Put lid on jar, and shake it like crazy. My kids love to do this part. Take off lid and you've got emulsified dressing ready to go.

Crumble warm bacon onto the salad. Lightly dress each plate with a spoonful or two of dressing. (You will have dressing left over to stick in the fridge for your next salad....never a bad thing.)

Eat and enjoy!

serves 4

WHAT ELSE IS COOKING?

RUSTIC APPLE TART

2011-10-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

Simple pleasures. This is what it's all about for me these days. When P, the kids, and I were on the road last year, slowness was our theme. Action and adventure does not describe our travel style - we had tons of family time and savored it deeply. I really believe the serenity of our time away added years back onto my life.

I am trying to figure out ways to integrate this attitude into our American lives. Lilah still finds great happiness in imaginary play and collecting twigs and flowers. Otis now goes to our local middle school and only gets in the car once in while. Paul and I are trying to limit our commitments and spend lots of time at home enjoying our kids. Little things.

What does this have to do with food? In our family, where much of life revolves around eating, this means taking time to harvest blackberries and picking apples with friends on their bucolic land in West Sonoma County.

Rach and Justin invited a slew of us to spend the day with them. It was true Indian summer. The leaves had started falling, a bit of crispness cooled the air while still being warm enough for kids to swim, pluck juicy concord grapes from the vine, and pick apples... Life is good.

I like how uncomplicated this apple tart is - just apples on buttery pastry with a sprinkle of sugar. Simple pleasure. But I also enjoyed gussying this apple tart up a little bit with a drizzle with Homemade Caramel Sauce and voila .... Caramel Apple Tart, anyone?

INGREDIENTS adapted from David Tanis' Platter of Figs
(printable recipe)

1/2 recipe flaky pastry dough
2-3 pounds apples
2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar
Homemade Caramel Sauce (optional, but highly recommended)

Prepare your dough as per the instructions here. A couple of notes:

First, you only need half of the recipe for the pastry dough for this recipe. Have fun making a tart of your choice with the other half.

Second, please don't roll the dough too thin or the edges get pretty charred before the apples can cook all the way. (Tanis suggests rolling the dough into a 16x11 inch rectangle. I had more success when I made a thicker 11x6 inch oval of dough.)

Place the rolled out dough (on a parchment-lined baking sheet) into the fridge while you prep your apples.

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel and core apples and slice them thin. Take the prepared dough from the fridge. Lay the apples on the dough in long layered rows. ( If you aren't going to serve your tart until later, Tanis suggests covering the prepared tart in the fridge for up to 8 hours.)

Sprinkle Turbinado sugar over the apples and pastry. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the apples are tender.

We found the tart to be most delicious when served warm and drizzled with caramel sauce. When we ate the leftovers, we'd quickly warm up a slice in the oven before noshing.

Enjoy!

What else is cooking?

MOMOFUKU'S PULLED PORK

2011-10-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

PULLED PORK...when those two words are uttered in our house, my family starts to chant, cheer, and drool.

That's right.

Now, I try not to be too bossy, but I can't help myself this time. (Sorry my vegetarian and kosher friends.) The rest of you must try this recipe! It is that easy. That good. And I'm making some right now.

This recipe comes from David Chang (of beloved Momofuku) and his new magazine Lucky Peach. This is the pulled pork Chang sticks in Momofuku's pork buns, bowls of ramen, etc..

We've made this recipe a half dozen times since we discovered it a couple of months ago. We scarf the crispy, juicy, salty pork on its own (with maybe a veggie or two along side just to make us feel healthy.) Pulled pork tacos with radish slices and guacamole have also proved a popular variation on this piggy theme. And if there are ever any leftovers, a sandwich with pork slathered with BBQ sauce is our favorite option.

Now that we are hooked on this pulled pork, I'd love any other ideas you guys might have for ways to eat it. Suggestions, anyone?

Be sure to take into consideration that the pork needs to sit overnight in the fridge with its salt/sugar rub, and it does need to roast for 6 hours in the oven. Be patient. It's worth it!

INGREDIENTS from Lucky Peach Issue 1
(printable recipe)

3-4 pounds boneless pork shoulder
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salt per pound of pork *
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar per pound of pork
black pepper

* An important note on salt. I have found, and gotten reader feedback, that this pork can tend to be too salty. Feel free to reduce the salt by 1/2. Also using Kosher salt, instead of sea salt, can make a difference.

Rub salt, sugar, and a bit of ground pepper onto the pork shoulder. Cover and refrigerate pork overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Place seasoned pork into a roasting pan. We use our trusty cast iron skillet. Toss it in the oven.

Roast for 6 hours. Lucky Peach suggests occasionally basting the pork with the rendered fat and juices after 3 hours. (Honestly, I usually skip the basting and really dig the crispy exterior.)

After 6 hours, take the pork from the oven, let it rest for a half hour or so. Then use forks to break apart the pork. Lucky Peach says to "savage the pork with two forks." I LOVE that!

What else is cooking this week?

Cannellini Bean Soup with Wilted Greens: this soulful recipe from Alice Waters lives deep in my archives, but I've made a couple of batches recently, loved every bite, and I thought you might enjoy it too!

TEA + COOKIES

2011-10-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

I don't want to get too heavy on you, though I have to admit, this is an intense week. One of my favorite people on this planet is getting ready for a really tough surgery. Maybe it's my coping mechanisms kicking in... but I needed to bake some cookies. Crispy, chewy cookies. Comforting, easy cookies. In fact, you may not even have to go to the store to buy ingredients for these little guys, because they are made with just a few simple pantry ingredients.

Cookie-making highlights....

Getting to stay in my pajamas while I cooked.

The smell of the almond extract when I whisk the egg whites.

Eating cookies and tea before lunch.

The warm heat of the oven on a gray and rainy day.

AMARETTI adapted from Patricia Well's Tratoria
(printable recipe)

1/3 cup egg whites (whites from 2-3 eggs) - warmed to room temperature
3/4 cups finely ground blanched almonds
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350.

If you are pulling your eggs from the fridge, you can quickly bring them to room temperature by submerging them in a bowl of warm water.

In a medium bowl, mix ground almonds and sugar.

In another bowl, whisk egg whites and almond extract. Doesn't that smell good!

Pour whisked egg into the bowl with the almonds and sugar, stir, and you'll have a sticky batter that's ready to bake.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop 1/2 teaspoon dollops of batter on to the parchment paper. Leave plenty of room around each cookie so they can spread. Wells suggests baking only 12 cookies on a sheet, and that worked well for me.

Bake for 11-15 minutes. The cookies are done when the outsides are golden brown and the middle is a little firm. Remove from the oven and place cookies (while still on the parchment) onto a cooling rack. The cookies will crisp up quickly and be ready to eat.

Boy, were those easy and good. I'm satisfied now.

Makes 3 dozen cookies. These should keep up to 10 days in an airtight container.

BOLINAS BLACKBERRY JAM

2011-09-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling nostalgic these days.

I want my kids to have those memories. You know the ones where you wander through mysterious verdant paths searching for berries to pick. Where you have a basket in hand. A few minor wounds from thorny bushes. Fingers stained with berry juice. Those memories.

Just after I put together this post to share with you, I got a very kind email that seemed amazingly prescient. Pam Fitch, the dear mom of Paul's best friends, wrote to me about how my husband would pick blackberries in the San Juan Islands when he was a kid visiting for the summer. Pam would promise to make jams and cobblers, if the kids took the time to pick berries. I guess Paul spent most of his time eating his berries long before any could make it back to the kitchen. When I shared the email with Paul, we both smiled at our long love of the blackberry hunt. For both of us, the memories are just as sweet as the fruit.

Here's to carrying on the tradition and joy of picking blackberries. Foraged berries may be funkier than those gorgeous specimens we can buy at the store, but we picked 'em ourselves, damn it. Now let's make some jam with our bounty....

INGREDIENTS
(printable recipe)

2 1/2 pounds or 5 cups of blackberries
3 - 3 3/4 cups sugar
1 lemon (zest and juice)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Wash the berries. Place berries and sugar in a dutch oven or stock pot.

Zest the lemon and blanch the zest in hot water for 2-3 minutes to remove the bitter oils from the skins. Add blanched zest, along with the juice of the lemon, to the dutch oven. Stir everything together.

Set the dutch oven on the stove top over high heat. Stir berries regularly to avoid burning. You want the mixture to cook and bubble away vigorously. Taste periodically for sweetness and add a little more sugar, if you think it needs it. Trust yourself. I personally like my blackberry jam nice and sweet.

While your jam cooks, get your jars ready. A while back, Paul took a preserving class with local jam goddess, June Taylor, who taught Paul a very easy sterilizing technique: place clean jars on a baking sheet in a 250 degree oven while your jam is cooking (for at least 10 minutes). Paul also puts a glass Pyrex pouring cup in the oven along with the jars to sterilize the all the glass. He then washes the lids and seals in hot soapy water. (If you use Weck's glass lids, you can sterilize them in the oven too.)

Set everything aside when sterile and wait for jam finish cooking.

Your jam should be done as it becomes thick and syrupy after about 20 minutes. There is a whole jamming mystery about achieving the proper set and there is also a lot of subjectivity about this notion. I followed Paul's suggestions and he said to look for the the foam to lessen and the bubbles settle down a bit as the jam reaches the point of doneness.

Scoop hot jam into the jars using the sterile Pyrex pouring cup. Be sure to use a clean paper towel to wipe any excess jam for the lip of the jar before you pop the lids on. Seal immediately and the hot jam locks everything into place.

Enjoy!

makes 6 cups

SLOW ROASTED TOMATOES

2011-09-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

If you are anything like me, you find yourself drooling over the huge piles of late summer produce at the market. I am scarfing down peaches, tomatoes, and pluots like they are going out of style. I guess that is the point... these delights of summer are not gonna to be around for long. So let's talk more about preserving. We made pickles last go around, now it's time for preserving tomatoes!

I love the rich, sweetness of an oven-roasted tomato. And I am particularly drawn to the caramelized taste of this slow roasted version. I hope you like it too!

INGREDIENTS
(printable recipe)

2 pounds fresh tomatoes (I am addicted to Dry Farmed Early Girls - they may not look fancy, but the flavor is unbeatable in my opinion)
olive oil
sea salt
optional: 1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (or the lowest setting). Slice small tomatoes in half and spread them out over a metal baking sheet. (If you are using big heirlooms, cut them into quarters or even eighths.) Lightly drizzle olive oil over the tops of the tomatoes. Sprinkle generously with sea salt. And I like to sprinkle on a bit of sugar too, just to add to that caramely goodness.

Check your tomatoes after a couple of hours and see what you think. I have read about people cooking tomatoes in this fashion and leaving them in the 200-250 degree oven for anywhere from 1.5 to 6 hours. I found that they are just right for me after about 3 hours.

You can go ahead and eat the roasted tomatoes right away - they are hard to resist. But if you want to keep a taste of summer for a cold autumn day, place the roasted tomatoes in a jar, cover them with olive oil and keep in the fridge until later.

Enjoy!

PICKLE TIME

2011-09-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Pickles are not hard to make. Don't be shy to make your own.

As many of you know, Paul is always game for preserving. He has made oodles of jams over the years and recently he has been tempted by the savory route. A couple of weeks ago, he whipped up a batch of pickles and I thought I'd share the easy recipe with you. A favorite book of Paul's, the urban homestead is filled with all sorts of practical tips for greener, simpler living. Their pickle recipe is one that uses traditional lacto-fermentation - no vinegar is needed, just salt water. Before canning or freezing, lacto-fermentation was a means of preserving the vegetable harvest.

Last week was an amazingly vibrant and particularly food-obsessed week here in Berkeley as Chez Panisse celebrated it's 40th birthday. There were endless fun and delicious events to raise money for the Edible Schoolyard Project and Eating for Education. At the Berkeley Art Museum, farmers, bakers, kids, and beekeepers set up demonstrations and shared a love of food. Teens from Oakland-based Obugs taught pickle making and they used the lacto-fermentation technique Paul had just learned. I smiled at this coincidence and my kids eagerly make their own custom batches of pickles.

INGREDIENTS adapted from the urban homesteader
(printable recipe)

2 tablespoons sea salt (do not use iodized salt)
1 quart filtered or bottled water
enough cucumbers to fill a quart jar (note that all sorts of other veggies can be used like carrots, baby onions, green beans, cabbage, garlic...)
flavor enhancers: dill (fresh or dried), black peppercorns, garlic cloves
optional: grape leaf

Make your brine solution by mixing the sea salt and water.

Pack washed cucumbers into a very clean quart-sized jar. Add seasoning to your liking... a few peeled garlic cloves, some black peppercorns, and some sprigs of dill. You can also use a bit of grape leaf in the jar (a tip from Obugs) to keep the cucumber crunchier.

Pour salty water over the cucumbers until the jar is nearly full. Leave a quarter inch of breathing room before you put on the lid.

Place your jar of pickles in a dark place (not the fridge) and let the fermenting begin. Obugs recommended loosening the jar's lid every morning and tightening it back up every night. My boy Otis really liked this idea and has started to call his jar of pickles his "pet." Maybe I need to get my kid a dog!

After a few days, taste your pickles and see if they are ready to eat. Pickling can take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks.

Once your pickles are done, place jar in the fridge to prolong the life.

Enjoy!

HOMEMADE PARMESAN CRACKERS

2011-08-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have a crush on Christopher Hirsheimer.

I have never met Christopher, but nearly every time I drool over a stunning piece of food photography, Hirsheimer's name seems to be at the bottom. I first learned of Hirsheimer through her work on David Tanis' books and I was completely inspired by the rustic beauty of the images. I then found out that she was one of the founders of Saveur - of course that makes sense.

Last week I was running errands around Berkeley and came across a cool new shop called Home 101. Home 101's eclectic mix of vintage housewares and yummy preserves, olive oils and granola by local artisans feels just right. It turns out the owner Allison is a totally nice woman and after we got to chatting about food photography, she generously gave me a copy of Canal House Cooking no 6. What does this story have to do with my girl crush on Hirsheimer? Well, Canal House is her project, too.

Canal House is a beautiful series of small cookbooks full of homey recipes and adorned by Hersheimer's mouth-watering and honest photography. Find it if you can. Buy it if you can. It is a treat!

I have never made my own crackers, but have been curious to give them a try. The simplicity of the Canal House recipe inspired me to take the plunge.

Man they are good...cheesy, buttery, and so easy to make, what more could I want from a recipe?

INGREDIENTS adapted from Canal House Cooking #6
(printable recipe)

6 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup flour (GF folks I used Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
pinch ground cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
ice water

Finely grate cheese and place in Kitchen Aid Mixer. (Equipment note: Canal House recommends making the dough in a food processor, but I don't have one. If you don't have a Kitchen Aid Mixer or food processor, you could mix the dough with forks, or a pastry cutter.)

Add flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne to the cheese. Stir to blend.

Add one tablespoon of butter at a time until dough is crumbly.

Slowly drizzle about 4 tablespoons of ice water into dough while mixing. Stop adding water as soon as the dough is moist enough to be formed into a ball.

Place ball of dough onto parchment paper. Flatten into a thick disk, wrap the dough up in the paper, and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to a day.

When you are ready to roll out your cracker dough, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll dough between two pieces of parchment until it is 1/8 inch thick. Use small cookie cutters to cut the crackers.

Place uncooked crackers on a parchment-lined baking sheet into the preheated oven. I recommend placing the crackers on one of the upper racks of your oven so the bottoms don't get too brown.

Cook for 8-12 minutes until golden.

Enjoy!

TOMATO SALAD WITH OLIVES + CORIANDER

2011-08-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year..... juicy red tomatoes are everywhere! I cannot take a trip to Monterey Market without bringing home bushel of the beauties. Our go-to August tomato salad is the classic Caprese and we eat it a couple times a week. I'm not complaining, but it is also nice to try something new. With meaty heirlooms, sweet cherries, and endless varietals temping us in the late summer, we are always searching for tomato recipes to try in late summer.

Once again David Tanis is here to help out in my kitchen. His tomato salad with olives and coriander is respectful of rich flavor that tomatoes have to offer and his salad pays great tribute to the ingredient. Tomatoes are the well-deserved star of the recipe. Tanis's addition of green and black olives, as well as fresh cilantro leaves and toasted coriander seeds, is a refreshing twist on the tomato dishes we usually make. Paul oohed and awed and ate huge plates of the salad. I am happy to have yet another excuse to buy up more of those gorgeous tomatoes!

INGREDIENTS adapted from David Tanis' Heart of the Artichoke
(printable recipe)

1/4 cup finely diced red onions or shallot
1 clove garlic, smashed to a paste with a little salt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon coriander seed
pinch of cayenne
2 pounds ripe tomatoes
1/2 Picholine or other good green olives (not pitted)
1/2 cup oil cured black olives (not pitted)
1 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

In a small bowl or cup, combine the onions, garlic, and vinegar. Drizzle in the olive oil, while whisking to emulsify dressing.

In a small skillet, toast the coriander seeds over medium-high heat. After a few minutes, when you start to smell the coriander, remove the seeds from the pan. Using a mortar and pestle, or a spice grinder, grind the coriander and add to the dressing. Add the cayenne as well at this point.

Slice the tomato into thick pieces or wedges and transfer to a serving platter or bowl. Season with salt. Sprinkle the olives over the top. Drizzle on the dressing. And scatter the cilantro leaves over the salad. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

FRESH BERRY DIGESTIF

2011-07-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am on a David Tanis kick. I loved his platter of figs, and the first cookbook I bought after our travels, is heart of the artichoke. I made two of Tanis' recipes already today and have the fixings for another for tonight's dinner. I so appreciate that many of the dishes are super simple and quick to toss together. Tanis is great company in the kitchen.

Paul and I have been intrigued by the idea of making our own spirits, ciders, and beers. We have yet to take the plunge and brew our own, but I thought I'd get my toes wet by trying Tanis' Digestivo with Fresh Berries.

I think serving this berry digestif to dinner party guests would be a fun end to a meal. Or why not take a large jam jar full of the rosy concoction as a hostess gift, next time you are invited to eat at someone else's table.

INGREDIENTS from David Tanis' heart of the artichoke
(printable recipe)

1 cup fresh berries (Tanis suggests a mix of raspberries and blackberries)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups of vodka or grappa

Place washed berries in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Crush the berries and sugar between your fingers to combine. Pour vodka (or grappa) over the sugar/berry mixture. Stir. Cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving.

Serve the digestif in small glasses. Use a spoon or small ladle to scoop some of the crushed berries into each glass. I would serve the digestif with tiny spoons so that everyone can scoop up the boozy berries. Why waste such deliciousness?

By the way... we also mixed the berry vodka with a little tonic for a delightful cocktail. Yum!

OTTOLENGHI MUSHROOM PARCELS

2011-07-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Nine summers ago, I found myself walking around London trying to find ways to entertain and feed (then two-year-old) Otis. P was doing research for his dissertation, which left Otis and me with weeks to explore the city. As I pushed Otis' stroller through Notting Hill one morning, we stumbled upon a charmingly narrow and bright storefront with plates of tantalizing goodies in the window. After we went inside, I knew we were on to something. We chose spicy salads and baked treats to nibble on and wandered downstairs to the single communal table and settled in. The food was good - I mean really good. And the coffee was perfect. We ended up eating at Ottolenghi twice a day for the two weeks we were in London. On our final visit, the owner said that they had opened the week we arrived in London. He told us we were Ottolenghi's first regular customers.

In these past 9 years, big things have happened for Yotam Ottolenghi - now with 4 locations and 2 cookbooks, Ottolenghi is beloved not just in London, but globally. Last week, Yotam came to the East Bay for an event at one of my favorite local restaurants, Camino. The evening was full of great food. And I was thrilled to reconnect with so many people from home (who just happen to be fans of Ottolenghi too.) Russ, the chef/owner of Camino, served a delicious dinner inspired by Ottolengi's new book Plenty. One of the many luscious dishes on the menu was wild mushroom parcels. Now, thanks to my newly purchased copy of Yotam's book, I can share the recipe with you.

INGREDIENTS - adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty
(printable recipe)

7 cups of wild mushrooms (Ottolenghi recommends a mix of button mushrooms and wild)
1/2 cup chopped chervil
1/4 cup chopped tarragon
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 tablespoons heavy cream
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
parchment paper
kitchen twine

Preheat oven to 400.

Clean and prep mushrooms. Chop the big guys and leave the little ones unchopped.

Wash herbs and remove the leaves. Chop.

In a large bowl mix mushrooms, herbs, garlic, olive oil, cream, a few pinches of salt, and some generous grinds of black pepper. Toss to coat everything.

Cut six large squares of parchment (standard parchment allows for squares that are just shy of 13" x 13"). Scoop an equal amount (about one heaping cup) of the mushroom mix into the center of each parchment square. Gather the edges of the paper and tie with kitchen twine. Place uncooked mushroom parcels onto a baking sheet, and transfer the sheet to the hot oven.

Ottolenghi suggests baking the mushrooms for about 17 minutes. I found that some of my heartier mushrooms (fresh porcini) weren't cooked at this point. I recommend opening up one of the packets after the suggested cooking time and checking for doneness. You can always add more cooking time, if necessary.

When finished cooked, the mushrooms should sit in their packets for a few minutes be you serve them.

It's fun to place a wrapped parcel on every plate, so each diner gets the thrill of discovering the herby deliciousness inside.

Serves 6

NECTARINE SHERBET

2011-07-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

After a magical year-long travel adventure with my family, I was kinda scared to come home and have it all end.

But now that I am here in our Berkeley house, it feels sooooo good.... seeing friends and family, sleeping in my cushy bed, checking out my jungle-like backyard. And being the food-obsessed person I am, I am blown away by the abundance of good eats. I have always known what a special, lush food world we have here in the Bay Area, but after being away for a year, I am stunned to come back to this food-lovers paradise.

Every trip to Monterey Market is a dream of stone fruits, juicy berries, countless herbs, tomatoes, cheeses, farm eggs. It is almost too much deliciousness for me to take in. We've been going to the market every day, buying just enough ingredients to toss together summer salads, morning fruit, and simple dinners. My cooking is a little rusty (a few steps beyond rustic!) after being away and having really limited access to ingredients and kitchen supplies. Now, with sharp knives, a working stove, a spacious fridge, and endless gorgeous produce, I am getting back into my old Berkeley cooking groove and it feels damned good.

In honor of summer and my love for Berkeley, I give you this homecoming recipe from Chez Panisse Desserts. It couldn't be more simple and it is totally yummy. I have always been a fan of sherbet, especially Rainbow Sherbet: Lindsey Remolif Shere's Nectarine Sherbet has the all festive fun of childhood without the naughty chemicals - the vibrant flavor and playful "sherbet" color are all thanks to mother nature. Does it get better than this?

(Keep in mind that this dessert is only as good as its ingredients - make sure you use sweet, fragrant, ripe nectarines.)

By the way, I made this sherbet without an ice cream machine, so there's excuse not give this easy recipe a try...

INGREDIENTS - adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Remolif Shere

(printable recipe)

1 3/4 pounds ripe nectarines (or peaches)
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup sugar
lemon juice
(Shere suggests a splash of kirsch to taste. I didn't use any, although I'm sure it's good.)

First, wash nectarines.

Remove the pits, and rough chop nectarine flesh. (If you use peaches, Shere suggest removing the peels, but this is not necessary with nectarines.) Place chopped fruit and 2 tablespoons of water into a heavy bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven. Stew nectarines for 10-15 minutes, over low heat, until they are warmed through.

Scoop warmed nectarines into a blender or food processor. You may need to do a couple of batches depending on the size of your blender. Don't fill the blender too high, or you could burn yourself with the hot fruit. Puree until smooth. Add sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice and blend again. Taste for sweetness and add a little more sugar if you think it needs it.

You should have about 3 cups of puree.

(If you have an ice cream maker, go ahead and follow its instructions.)

If you are going old-school, as I did, transfer the puree into a freezable container. I used one of my glass storage bowls that has a lid. Place the covered puree in the fridge until it cools. When the fruit has cooled, put the container in the freezer. Every thirty to forty five minutes, thoroughly stir the fruit mixture. Be sure to especially scrape the frozen bits on the sides of the bowl and keep the mix well integrated, and smooth. (I used a metal soup spoon to do my stirring, but you could also use a whisk, wooden spoon, or even try an egg beater.) After a few hours of freezing and stirring, you are ready to eat.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Makes about 1 quart.

If you need more frozen dessert inspiration, check out my friend Phyllis at Dash and Bella's new post on making Caramel Ice Cream. Yum!

THANK YOU ISTANBUL

2011-07-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

I've had a lifelong craving for Turkey. Not the winged Thanksgiving bird, but the faraway place. I've been to Greece many times and have toyed with a stop in neighboring Turkey, but never could make it happen until now. Paul, the kids, and I found ourselves spending 9 days in Istanbul as an end to our epic eleven-month travel adventure. Despite having always wanted to go to Turkey and having heard so many friends rave about the place, I was nervous about taking our travel-weary selves to a new city (with 17 millions people!) at this twilight moment in our trip.

Istanbul couldn't have been a better place to end to our travels. We stayed in Beyoglu, a charming part of the city, filled with cobblestone streets and old-school fruits cart right outside our apartment door. We would wake in the morning to the hauntingly beautiful sounds of the call to prayer mixed with the shouts of various street vendors enthusiastically hawking their wares. I don't speak Turkish, so imagine these guys were singing something like "Cherries for sale. Sweet ripe cherries for sale...." ( Or maybe peas?)

There is so much I loved about Istanbul: the stunning architecture and breathtaking skyline; the kind, kid-friendly people; and the food. Oh the food! There were so many wonderful places to eat in that city. The kids couldn't get enough Turkish Delight, but I think the most remarkable thing for me about the Istanbul food culture is the fresh abundance and variety of treats we saw for sale on the streets. For someone ingredient obsessed like myself, Istanbul was endlessly inspiring....from pistachios to apricots to fresh fish - all good. Here's a little taste...

One day a man (a total stranger) bought orange juice for me and the kids - the sort of kindness that happens in this town.

Corn on the cob roasted for a snack - brilliantly simple...

And when I saw popcorn popped over an open flame I was giddy.

I have to thank the generosity of Cent from Cafe Fernando, a fantastic blog, for his amazing suggestions of places to eat in Istanbul. His tips were spot on and having his insider perspective on the city was priceless. Thank you Cent!

We made it around the world. We are bleary-eyed, jet lagged, but damned happy to be home. Eleven months is a long time to be on the road. It feels so good to be back in our community with all of the people we love. And the food here at home... ahhh magic! I cannot wait to start cooking up some good California summer recipes to share with you.

MEDITERRANEAN DAYS

2011-06-18T08:13:00.007-07:00

After nearly a year exploring South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and that part of the globe we made our way to the Mediterranean a couple weeks ago. The lush, green, wet heat of Bali became the arid white breeze of Folegandros. P and I first went to Folegandros, a sleepy island in the Greek Cyclades, on our honeymoon years ago and we fell for this island with its steep cliffs crashing into dark Mediterranean waters. Not much has changed. In the evenings people still stroll around the whitewashed old town square, then eat delicious suppers under almond trees strewn with lights. I didn't think I could love a place as much as Bali, but Folegandros is equally dreamy for me. This may sound silly, but I think my half-Greek blood has me feel instantly at home in the Mediterranean. The smell of grapevines toasting in the sun, the stunning light, the flavors at the table. I love it here.

Every day last week, Paul, Otis, Lilah, and I took the funky white and blue striped public bus to a little pebbled cove a few miles from town. Paul taught the kids to skip rocks while I devoured Keith Richard's autobiography.

I apologize for not having a recipe to share with you today. I haven't cooked since we left our Bali house, though we have eaten like royalty - actually more like happy peasants. My favorite Greek food is the rustic, grandma-style cooking that still seems to dominate taverna menus. We scarfed succulent meats, long stewed in local tomatoes, olive oil, and herbs. Greek salads filled with tangy local feta, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, and fragrant red onion, and a generous drizzle of olive oil were a daily necessity at our table. Sweet stuffed tomatoes with rice and oregano and thyme were perfect, as were the tatziki and fava spreads. We snacked on local almonds, firm red cherries, and plump apricots with plenty of creamy yogurt drizzled with honey.

I am itching to get back to my Berkeley kitchen, bust out my grandmother's old dogeared Greek cookbooks and get cooking.

Do any of you have any Greek recipes or cookbooks you adore? Please share with us if you do! For a while now, I've been eying Vefa's Kitchen. I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried it.

We are heading to Istanbul in a few days - more to come soon...

I LOVE OMELETS

2011-06-09T05:24:00.004-07:00

Ever since I started Yummy Supper, I have wanted to do a post on my love of omelets, which may just be my favorite meal for lunch, breakfast, or dinner for that matter. You can stuff them with greens, mushrooms, asparagus, crab, cheese, or keep it light and simple with just a bit of herbs. My mom has always made incredible omelets and she taught me her ways when I was a teenager. People can be quite opinionated about the "right" way to make an omelet. I'm not so sure I buy into dogmas, but I do know that this is an omelet I love - the eggs are nice and fluffy, while the inside is tender and filled with goodies.

SPINACH + FETA OMELET (makes two)
(printable recipe)

large bunch spinach, leaves removed and cleaned
1 small hot chili (optional), finely chopped
4 small or 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 tablespoon butter (1 for cooking the spinach + 2 more tablespoons for cooking the eggs)
4 tablespoons crumbled feta
4 large or 6 small eggs
salt
pepper

First, prep all of your ingredients for filling. In a large saute pan, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil with 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat until bubbling. Add chili, garlic, and shallots. Cook a minute or two until everything starts to soften. Add the washed spinach leaves (we used beautiful water spinach - an ubiquitous ingredient in Bali - but any spinach would be wonderful.) Stir to coat. Saute until tender. Remove cooked spinach from heat and set aside to cool a bit. When the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out any excess water. (If you don't, you'll end up with a sad, watery omelet.) Rough chop spinach and separate into 2 piles. Set aside.

Crumble feta. Set up two equal sized piles of cheese (2 tablespoons each).

Most people who regularly cook omelets have a pan they use just for this purpose. A little well-seasoned cast iron pan with rounded sides is my favorite at home in California. In Bali, where we made omelets at least once a week for lunch, we used a non-stick pan and it worked just fine.

In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk 2 large, or 3 small, eggs. Add a pinch of salt (you may not need any salt at all if your feta is really salty), a few grinds from the pepper mill, and a splash of water. Whisk to integrate.

Here's the way my mom taught me, and this is the method I will pass on to my kids. I hope you like it too!

All of the cooking happens in a number of minutes so be patient with yourself if you are new to cooking omelets.....

Warm pan over medium heat. Plop in a tablespoon of butter. Tilt pan to coat all sides with the butter. When butter is hot and the bubbling has slowed, pour in eggs. Again, tilt the pan to spread the eggs evenly over the bottom of the pan.

When the eggs begin to cook, and big bubbles form, start the technique I show in the photos below: Use a wooden spoon to pull back the eggs from the side of the pan, then tilt the pan letting the runny egg fill the void....

Do this in three or four places until you have a nice, rumpled surface....

Then add cheese....

Then spinach....

Then flip that omelet out of the pan and you are ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Makes 2 omelets.

Travel note: We made it to the Greek Islands - so dreamy, yet completely different from Bali. Will have photos to share soon...

GILI ISLAND DELIGHT

2011-05-26T19:28:00.006-07:00

The Gilis Islands are a dreamy paradise, just a boat ride away from Bali. On this little Indonesian archipelago, there is not a motorized vehicle in sight, only cidomo - funky horse-drawn buggies. Yes, on Gili Trawangan you can find backpackers smoking weed, flirting, and hanging out. Or like us, you can escape to the sleepy side of the island where there is nothing to do but snorkel with sea turtles, read novels, have bonfires on the beach, and watch epic sunsets. I think Gili T is my new happy place.

I've noticed that travel to remote spots often means sacrificing good eats. But at the whitewashed and stylish Gili Eco Villas, we lucked out with a gem of a cook - Pip a la Supiana, whose food wasn't just decent island fare, it was fantastic. Pip has that magic touch: with simplicity, respect of ingredients, love, and the subtlety of perfect preparation that looks effortless. Everything Pip makes is full of freshness and flavor. My kind of food.

Pip let me join him in his kitchen one afternoon and I had so much fun. We made fragrant yellow rice, prawn skewers on lemongrass, and this delectable squid dish. One of the best things about cooking with Pip was learning more about his palate of spices that are so different from my typical pantry staples. In my Berkeley kitchen, I tend to favor garlic, rosemary, parsley, thyme, lemon, and mint - where Pip tosses in lemongrass, turmeric, ginger, sesame, chilies, lots of lime, and honey. There is no reason why the rest of us cannot try to cook like Pip: all of his "exotic" ingredients are actually easy to find. I know I will take his cooking home with me to California.

I so enjoyed eating Pip's squid that I ordered it every night we stayed in the Gilis. I won't have the opportunity to cook this squid dish myself until we are back in California later this summer, but I couldn't wait that long to share Pip's recipe with you.

I can imagine 10 years from now coming back to Indonesia and finding Pip with a slew of successful restaurants of his own. He is that good.

PIP'S GILI ISLAND SQUID
(printable recipe)

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon peeled and chopped fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 large pieces of squid
1- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 more lime

For the Sauce:

1 teaspoon peeled and finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped spring onion
1 teaspoon peeled and finely chopped ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped chilies (green and or red chilies of your choice)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup honey
garnish: sprinkling of sesame seeds

Grind garlic, ginger, and sea salt in a mortar and pestle until you have a well-blended paste. Transfer this mixture to a bowl large enough to marinate the squid. Add juice of 1/2 lime and toss the already squeezed lime into the bowl. (I love that Peep puts already juiced citrus into the marinade - a rustic alternative to adding zest.) Add the olive oil. Stir the marinade and set aside.

Cut squid tubes open so that you have large flat pieces. Cut squid into smaller pieces (maybe 2x4 inches each) then score the squid by making shallow cuts in a grid-like pattern. Add squid to the marinade bowl, and rub marinade all over the squid especially into the scored grooves. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Chop and prep all ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.

After the squid has marinated for an hour or so, heat up a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon or two of sesame oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the squid. Squeeze in the juice of another lime over the top of the squid while it is cooking. Cook squid pieces for a few minutes on each side until done. ( I would love to try cooking this squid on our grill at home. I think the smokey flavor would be delish.)

Set aside the cooked squid. Toss all of the sauce ingredients into the already hot pan that still has the cooking juices from the squid. Stir sauce and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the flavors are released. Pour sauce over the squid, sprinkle sesame seeds over the top and serve. Yum!

SWEET POTATO FRIES

2011-05-18T18:09:00.007-07:00

I cannot believe we are leaving Bali next week! I keep having dreams about Berkeley and I already feel part of myself transitioning to that other life of ours. Even though we have another month of travel before we step foot in California, I feel in limbo. I am totally excited to see Bangkok, Greece, and Turkey, but after ten months on the road, I am also happy to be coming home.

I am putting together a few more posts from Indonesia to share with you in the coming weeks. These Sweet Potato Fries are the first...

As I have mentioned before, we are always trying to get creative about snacks for Otis and Lilah, who seem to be having continual growth spurts accompanied by insatiable appetites. A while back, our friend Johnny loaned us this little, light-weight box of an oven that rests on top of our two-burner stove. I thought you might get a kick out of this clever invention.

As you might imagine, we were thrilled to have an oven. We baked many batches of cookies and started regularly roasting veggies for supper. The temp gauge wasn't exactly accurate and some corners of the oven were way hotter than others, so we've had to be pretty flexible about the whole affair. But who cares - we had an oven!

Recently The Notorious Experiments posted gorgeous sweet potato fries, which totally inspired me. Then I saw more yummy fries at A Chow Life. I thought, why can't we make some of those here in Bali? Always a sucker for dishes using only 3 ingredients, I ended up doing a very simplified version of the fries. I hope you'll give coconut oil a try. It gives such a subtle sweetness that works beautifully with the sweet potatoes.

INGREDIENTS
(Printable Recipe)

a few tablespoons of coconut oil (or olive oil would work here)
2 large sweet potato
plenty of sea salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into french fry-style sticks. Place potato pieces in a bowl and toss with coconut oil and a few pinches of salt to coat.

Scatter fries on a baking sheet (I did some batches using tin foil to cover the baking sheet, but finally gave up on the foil finding it unnecessary.) Place fries in the hot oven. After about 7 or 8 minutes, remove fries and turn them over to insure even cooking on all sides. Bake for a total of 15-20 minutes until potatoes are tender and cooked through.

Sprinkle with additional sea salt. Serve. Enjoy!

Okay. Some of my fries are a little burnt, but I am doing the best I can with this funky oven! Otis and Lilah didn't complain at bit.

LEMONGRASS + GINGER GRANITA

2011-05-07T23:18:00.002-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all my favorite mamas out there, and especially to my own mom!

There are no Hallmark Cards or tear-jerking commercials to remind the Balinese that this is a day to celebrate mothers - I can only imagine how completely strange they would find this entire holiday. In Bali there are daily rituals and countless elaborate ceremonies to honor ancestors, nature, and spirits, but no Mother's Day. I am not complaining. In so many ways, the past eight months of travel have felt like one long Mother's Day for me; all this family time has been a dream, and every day I am grateful to be Otis and Lilah's mom. Okay, now I'm getting all sappy on you!

Let's get to a recipe that is easy enough for kids to make for/or with their moms....

Granitas make me happy - I love recipes that leave room for improvisation while still being reliable in their deliciousness. P, the kids, and I are devotees of this always-refreshing and easy-to-make dessert.

Since we hit the road last August and haven't always had the best equipped kitchens, granitas have become our favorite after dinner treat: we made ruby red grapefruit in Northern Australia; pineapple in Fiji; elderflower in New Zealand; and now, lemongrass granita here in Bali. Always curious to see food at its source, P and I took a shady walk along the rice fields just north of Ubud to visit Mr. Nomad's organic veggie farm. There was plenty of lemongrass sprouting and P remarked that maybe we could try growing this fragrant herb at home in Berkeley this fall.

Continuing our granita making tradition, I wonder what flavor we will make next month in Corfu when celebrate Abby's birthday. What delights will a Greek Island farmer's market have in June? I cannot wait to find out.

Note: Be sure to make your granita at least a few hours before you want to serve it. The freezing process takes a while.

INGREDIENTS
(printable recipe)

6-8 stalks fresh lemongrass
2-3 inch hunk of fresh ginger root
3 cups water
3/4 cup raw organic sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice (lemon or lime juice work as well)

Peel outer leaves and rough ends off lemongrass and discard. Rough chop remaining tender inner stalks, making about 1/3 cup lemongrass pieces. Peel ginger and rough chop until you have 2 tablespoons of ginger bits. Place chopped lemongrass and ginger in a medium sauce pan. Cover with 3 cups water. Add 3/4 cup raw organic sugar and 2 tablespoons fresh citrus juice.

Bring liquid to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. After the liquid come to a boil, turn off heat, cover the pot, and let it steep for 30 minutes.

Strain liquid, and get ready to freeze your granita.

Freezing: Pour liquid into shallow baking pan, or any shallow bowl. Freeze 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from freezer and stir with a fork to break up any frozen bits. Make sure to scrape the edges of the pan, this is where the freezing begins.

Continue to freeze for 30 minute intervals. Scrape with fork. Freeze again. After two to three hours of freezing and stirring, your granita will be ready to eat.

Once you are ready to eat the granita, remove from freezer and serve immediately. It melts quickly. Try chilling cups, or bowls to help keep the granita frozen longer.

Enjoy!

SPICY QUINOA WITH TANGERINES, PISTACHIOS, AND HERB PUREE

2011-04-29T21:44:00.005-07:00

Here in Bali, we've been buying these tangerines for months now and I still am awed every time I cut one open - the contrast of the ultra-dark green skin and the bright ripe orange interior is a thing of beauty. I wanted to celebrate these stunners with a recipe for you, and I came up with this new dish that I am crazy about.

I knew I wanted to make something with quinoa, tangerines, and pistachios. After adding a little of this and a little more of that, we have a recipe that is sweet, savory, spicy, salty, and wholesome all in one bowl.

In order to get the kids to eat this dish, I served all the elements separately. Lilah, favoring pistachios and tangerine slices, ate everything but the spicy dressing. Otis helped make the puree and loved everything but the feta. P and I doused our quinoa in the verdant puree and liberally sprinkled every goody over the top. We all went back for seconds - success!

This quinoa could easily be a vegetarian main course and I think it would make a delicious accompaniment for simple grilled chicken, or a whole roasted fish.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups quinoa (brown rice can also be used in this recipe)
1/3 cup fresh tangerine juice
1/3 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons lime juice (approximately 3 limes)
1 teaspoon sea salt
pinch of fresh ground black pepper
1 or 2 jalapenos, de-seeded and chopped
1 (loosely packed) cup fresh cilantro leaves + extra for garnish
1/2 (loosely packed) cup fresh mint leaves + extra for garnish
1/2 cup pistachios
2 large, or 4 small tangerines
1/2 cup crumbled feta

Rinse quinoa several times. Then combine quinoa with 3 cups of water in a large sauce pan. Bring water to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until grain is tender and cooked. Rinse with cold water. Let cool to room temp.

Place tangerine juice, olive oil, lime juice, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, chopped jalapeno, 1 cup cilantro leaves, and 1/2 cup mint leaves into a blender. Blend until you have a nice vibrant green puree.

Prepare tangerines: Peel 2 large (or 4 small) tangerines. I kept the peels on for the photographs because I just love the look (and my one and only knife here is duller than you can imagine!), but I wouldn't recommend eating that much peel in the salad. Check out this post, for a really easy way to slice citrus for salad. Or, if you happen to have tangerines with tender membranes, you can just peel them and use the sections unsliced. Set aside tangerine slices/sections.

If you have picky little eaters, serve all ingredients separately. Otherwise, toss room temperature quinoa and dressing together. Scoop a mound of dressed quinoa onto each plate. Scatter tangerine, pistachios, feta, and the remaining fresh herbs over the top.

Enjoy!

makes 4- 6 servings as a side dish, or 2-3 large mains

SAVORY BROWN RICE BALLS WITH OLIVES

2011-04-21T16:04:00.010-07:00

Our time here in the world’s rice belt has shown us new rice varietals and inspired fresh recipes in our kitchen. Today's recipe comes from our friends Johnny and Cath at Bali Eco Stay. An Italian, foodie friend of theirs introduced the rice balls to their resort kitchen and I had to bring them to yours. Using brown rice and herbs seems a healthy and modern twist on classic, Italian "Arancini," a Sicilian dish meaning "little orange" which dates back to the 10th century. I have always loved Arancini, though this is the first time I have made them myself. I adore this recipe and look forward to using it all sorts of ways. Maybe using red rice instead of brown? Different herbs, or even spinach? Mushrooms? Sun dried Tomatoes? Feta? Who knows, but the potential for deliciousness seems endless.

Rice has been a dominant theme of our time here in Bali. We are living right on the rice fields, have watched the green plants grow, then yellow for harvest time. Now our field lies fallow. The ducks have come to work their magic. As I write this, the hum of the tractor - prepping the field for a new crop - is working its way to our doorstep.

I do love seeing where our food comes from. Rice, just ready for harvest, is a golden delight I had to share with you and I think you'll love the rice balls!

INGREDIENTS adapted from Bali Eco Stay
(printable recipe)

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice, still warm
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped basil
6 large green olives, pitted and chopped
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tsp paprika
3 red chilies (medium hot), finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste if necessary
pepper, to taste
white rice flour
2 eggs
brown rice flour
raw coconut oil or other high heat oil

While your brown rice is cooking on the stove top, prep all ingredients. Place chopped herbs, olives, grated Parm, paprika, chilies, salt and pepper into a large bowl.

Take hot cooked rice and add it to the bowl. Using a wooden spoon, stir all ingredients to integrate. Taste for seasoning. I must warn you that the mixture is so good at this point, you will be temped to stop here and have risottoesque meal and be very very happy.

When the mixture is cool enough to handle, mold the rice into balls. Set aside.

Set out three low bowls for dredging. One with white rice flour. One with whisked raw egg. One with brown rice flour.

Take each rice ball and first roll it lightly in the white rice flour, then the egg, then the brown rice flour. You are ready to cook.

Heat coconut oil in a large frying pan. You want your oil to be hot and bubbly, but not smoking. The hot coconut oil smells so good!

Place four to five balls in the hot oil, with ample space between. Turn a few times until golden brown all over. Remove the cooked balls from the oil and let cool a bit on paper towels, which will soak up any excess oil.

Add a sprinkling of salt if you desire. Serve warm with a leafy green salad.

Enjoy!

FRESH LIME FIZZ

2011-04-13T19:27:00.004-07:00

What is it about Bali that makes us happy? The tropical weather, colorful temples, family time, verdant landscape, open smiles, slowness. As I wrote a couple weeks ago, I am thinking of ways to take some of the magic of this trip home with us to Berkeley. Obviously we cannot take home the Balinese climate, amazing people, or their unique culture. But maybe the small joys of this place could work their way into our Berkeley lives, and into your kitchens as well!

On every menu in Bali, there is a list of fresh fruit drinks to choose from: papaya, watermelon, lime, pineapple, banana, lemon, etc... For Lilah, my 7 year old, these enticing drink menus even inspired her to really learn to read. All four of us guzzle down some kind of juicy concoction whenever we go out to eat. I try to avoid Sodas, filled with high fructose corn syrups and unpronounceable chemicals, but indulging in something cool, fresh, and homemade is a habit I would like to cultivate. We may not have ample tropical fruit available in Northern California, but we do have citrus, and plenty of it.

Almost daily, I have been making these Fresh Lime Fizzes for P, the kids, and myself. Seeing just how easy it is to whip up a "soda" at home makes me realize there is no excuse not to have citrus fizzes as a regular treat no matter where you are.

Wanting to keep these fizzes on the healthy side, I tried them with honey instead of simple syrup. Paul liked the taste, but for me the flavor was a bit medicinal. I much prefer the simple syrup.

When we get home to Berkeley, I am going to get Otis' old fashion spritzer working so we can even make the sparkling water ourselves.

INGREDIENTS
(individual servings)

2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons simple syrup or liquid honey
1- 1 1/2 cups sparkling water
lots of ice
lime wedge for serving

First, make simple syrup: combine 1/2 cup of sugar into 1/2 cup of water in a sauce pan over medium heat; warm until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool. This should be plenty of simple syrup for 4 fizzes.

Squeeze lime juice, through a strainer, into a glass. Add simple syrup or liquid honey. Stir to blend. Fill glass with ice cubes. Pour in sparking water to fill the glass. Stir again.

Sit back, sip, and relax.

Note: you can serve the fizz with a little pitcher of additional simple syrup on the side so that everyone can sweeten the drink to their liking.

RICE FLOUR PANCAKES

2011-04-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Being that we are spending 5 months living on the edge of a rice field, it seems appropriate to share a recipe to mark the harvest in our field. When we first arrived in Bali in January, our field was a young, deep, dewy green. We have watched stalks grow higher, eventually displaying cascades of rice. Recently the plants yellowed as their life cycle came to an end; and, last week, the farmers harvested the plot outside our door.

I am embarrassed to admit that these crepe-like pancakes are a daily indulgence for us here in Bali. Lilah prefers hers with a sprinkling of coconut sugar. P and I top ours with yogurt and fresh fruit. Otis takes his plain. With just a pour of palm sugar syrup - the pancakes are simply delicious...

INGREDIENTS

2 large eggs or 3 small
3 tablespoons sugar
10 tablespoons rice flour
pinch of salt
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water
butter
optional: palm sugar syrup

Crack eggs into a mixing bowl. Add sugar. Whisk to integrate.

Add rice flour and salt. Whisk again.

Add milk. Whisk.

Add water. Whisk. When the batter is ready, see Nyoman's cooking technique...

Over medium heat, warm a bit of butter in a 9 inch crepe-style pan. Tilt pan to coat with butter. Add just enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook until underside is golden. Flip and cook until both sides are golden brown.

Enjoy!

Serves family of 4 - makes 12 small pancakes.

VEGGIE FRITTERS

2011-03-29T23:24:00.005-07:00

We are now two thirds of the way through our trip and we've begun to talk of going home. Of course the kids have already planned our first California meals. Otis wants to stop at Picante for grub on his way home from the airport, even before stepping foot in our house.

I look forward to being with friends and neighbors. I am curious to see our garden and I cannot wait to sleep in our comfy bed.

But I am also nervous about leaving our trip behind. Getting this much time with Paul and the kids is a dream that isn't a realistic scenario in Berkeley. I have never seen my family happier, more relaxed, and inspired. P and I talk a lot about how to weave some of this trip's experience into our lives back home. Maybe not filling the calendar with play dates and activities - staying spontaneous. Slowing down to thoroughly enjoy the family time we do have. We know we need to make traveling a regular part of our lives and we already talk about where we to go next year. Otis and Lilah vote for a return to Bali. They have so many friends here, are speaking more and more Bahasa Indonesia, and this lush island feels a lot like home.

In these next three months, I still have many tastes to share with you including these delectable Veggie Fritters...

A while back I wrote about a cooking class I took with with Dr. Kekada. Remember that creamy Chai latte? Well, there's more tastiness where that came from.

Dr. Kekada is an Ayurvedic doctor - for her food is medicine. According to Kekada, this "medicine" should be full of flavor as well as health. My girlfriends and I devoured a feast she made for us, and these veggie fritters (Pakora) dipped in Fresh Mint Chutney was the favorite dish for all.

I love that these fritters are not at all doughy - they are wonderful mix of mostly leafy greens and spices, with chickpea flour for binding. Simple, healthy and flavorful all at the same time.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups white or yellow onion, sliced
2 packed cups, chopped amaranth greens or kale
1 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
2 cups chickpea flour
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
raw coconut oil

Place onion, greens, turmeric, fennel seed, chickpea flour, and sea salt in a large bowl. Mix all ingredients together with your hands. After everything is well integrated, add lemon juice. Also add 1/2 cup of water into bowl. Mix again with your hands. Keep adding water and stirring until the mixture is not longer dry and turns into a damp dough. Kedada calls for more than a cup of water, but I used only about 3/4 cup of water for my fritters.

Put dough into fridge to cool for a while. Maybe while you are cooking some Dal, or whipping up some Mint Chutney for dipping.

Put enough oil to reach half way up the side of a medium to large frying pan. Heat oil over medium/high heat until oil is hot, but not smoking. To make fritters, scoop four or five tablespoons of batter (each scoop separated by at least an inch) into the hot oil. Cook until undersides are golden. Using a slotted spoon, flip fritters and cook other sides until golden all over.

Place cooked fritters onto paper towels or cheese cloth to soak up excess oil. Keep cooking batches of fritters until you run out of dough.

Eat while the fritters are warm. Served these with Mint Chutney for dipping.

Enjoy!

MINT CHUTNEY

2011-03-29T23:23:00.003-07:00

As most of you know, I am a sucker for fresh herbs and mint is one of my favorite ingredients. Here in Bali, I am especially loving cooking with mint - just a taste of its flavor and I feel refreshed in the heat.

This Mint Chutney was part of a delicious spread cooked for us by Dr. Sujatha Kekada. She served the chutney as a dipping sauce for her Pakora. The cool minty goodness was a wonderful contrast to warm fried Veggie Fritters.

I think this sauce has potential to find other uses. I imagine it would be lovely served with grilled fish. Kekada also says the this recipe works well with cilantro replacing the mint. Yum.

INGREDIENTS

2 packed cups fresh mint leaves
1 cup shredded fresh coconut (or 1/3 cups dry coconut re-hydrated in water)
1/2 glass room temperature water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
optional: 1/2 fresh hot chili

Simply place all ingredients in a blender and puree for 3 minutes.

Serve. It's that easy!

BALINESE TEA CAKES

2011-03-22T16:26:00.004-07:00

Last fall in the mountains of Bali, we tasted a local delicacy that we ended up dreaming about for months: lak lak, small crumpet-like cakes made from rice flour. P, the kids, and I were all smitten and found ourselves scarfing down these Balinese tea cakes as though we hadn't eaten in ages. When we returned to Mount Batukaru last month, we knew we had to eat more lak lak. Johnny, our ever-gracious host at Bali Eco Stay, not only plied us with daily doses of these fresh Balinese cakes topped with palm sugar syrup and shredded coconut, he arranged for Lilah and I to go and cook with the lak lak lady.

It turns out there are lak lak all over Bali, with many regional variations, but Ibu Yoga is the lak lak goddess of Kanciana village. She makes hundreds daily to sell nearby. Being invited into a traditional Balinese kitchen was a first for me, and I was psyched. Ibu Yoga's kitchen is without fancy gadgets, electrical appliances, or even running water. Everything is cooked over a fire. I was awed by the beauty of the walls blackened with years of smoke and wondered just how many lak laks had been cooked there.

With very little verbal communication possible, I studied Ibu Yoga's technique and tried to glean her recipe. I watched closely as she made the batter. With her hands, she mixed only two ingredients, rice flour and very warm water, until the consistency was like watery paint. When I saw her special terracotta lak lak pan, I asked if there was somewhere I could buy one. She ended up giving me her old pan (the one used in these photos) assuring me she had a nice new pan for herself. I treasured her soot-covered ceramic pan and hoped that all its memories of lak lak-making with Ibu Yoga would lead to success in my own kitchen.

When we got back to our little Bali kitchen, I was itching to try my luck at lak lak. I knew that cooking over a wood fire was essential to Ibu Yoga's cakes. An open fire, aside from camping, is not the norm for me - so I put Ibu's pan over the gas flame and got cooking. Like Ibu, I heated water up in a kettle, chopped candlenuts for seasoning the pan, then I mixed rice flour and warm water with my hands until the consistency looked like the Ibu Yoga's batter.

My first few attempts at my own lak lak were not great: the cakes were too thick, chewy, or under-cooked. But after a couple of tries, I felt as though my brief training with the master paid off. Now, after school, I fire up the lak lak pan and my kids and their buddies line up panting and chanting for lak lak. Sometimes we top them with palm syrup and coconut in the traditional fashion. Otherwise we use a dollop of coconut cream and a sprinkling of coconut sugar, or even just a smear of Nutella.

In this year of traveling mostly in the world's rice belt, I have come to see rice and rice flour as astonishingly versatile ingredients. I never would have guessed that rice flour mixed with water could be transformed into something as delicious as lak lak. Even if Ibu Yoga's ceramic lak lak pan does not survive our journey home, I am going to try a cast iron aebleskiver pan on my gas stove top in Berkeley. We cannot live without lak laks.

BLACK RICE PUDDING

2011-03-15T21:06:00.006-07:00

I apologize for making you wait. How could I spend all these months eating and cooking in Bali without sharing this island's signature dish?

Before we left home last August, everyone I know who has been to Bali pleaded with me to share a black rice pudding recipe. There is something magical about this dish. Even eleven years after our first visit to Bali, I distinctly remembered the creamy, sweet satisfaction.

Black rice pudding is served for breakfast, afternoon tea, as well as for dessert. I have yet to find a Balinese menu without it.

I have heard that black rice is a highly nutritious grain. In my sleuthing, I read that black rice considered a super food, is loaded with iron, and is a powerful antioxidant. Black rice has been called "forbidden rice" in China where only the emperor was allowed to eat it. I must say, this grain does seem august and I'm quite happy it isn't forbidden.

I have tried a number of recipes for this dish. After much experimentation, I came up with this version that I hope you love as much as we do.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup black rice
4 cups water
1/4 cup sticky rice (optional)
pinch sea salt
1 vanilla pod
1/2 cup palm/coconut sugar
coconut cream or coconut milk
optional: shaved coconut, vanilla ice cream

Soak black rice overnight in 4 cups water. Add sticky rice and soak another hour or two. Add pinch of sea salt and simmer rice until cooked - approximately 45 minutes. Rice should be soft to the bite, moist, and glistening. Pour out any excess cooking water.

Scrape the inside of a vanilla pod and add the essence to the cooked rice. Stir. Add sugar. ( You can add more or less than I suggested, depending on how sweet you like your pudding.) Stir again to coat. Now your silky black rice is ready to eat.

Top with coconut cream or coconut milk. You can also add shredded coconut and even vanilla ice cream to be totally decadent.

Enjoy!

serves 6

ZUCCHINI RIBBON PASTA

2011-03-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, this isn't really "pasta." Can you forgive me?

A couple of years ago the idea of making pasta out of shaved zucchini was buzzing around the food world (like the food section of the New York Times.) This was about the time doctors told me to get gluten out of our kitchen. So, any pasta that didn't involve wheat called my name. Since then, grated zucchini - usually sauteed, and topped with pesto - has gone into steady rotation at our house.

For you, I wanted to refine this simple idea a bit, give it a little flare, and here we are...

This recipe is delicious on its own, or works as side dish for grilled fish or chicken. If you want to turn the zucchini ribbons into a more substantial vegetarian meal, serve on a bed quinoa with a little additional lemon juice/olive oil vinaigrette.

INGREDIENTS

4 large (or 6-8 small) zucchini
1 large or 2 small lemons, juice and zest
1/4 cup feta
olive oil
sea salt
1 bunch fresh mint

Scrub lemons. Grate the zest and set aside. Slice lemon in half and remove seeds. Set aside for juicing later.

Wash, dry and trim mint leaves and set aside.

Wash zucchini. Cut off the stem and base ends. Using a mandolin, or simple vegetable peeler, cut thin strips - ribbons - of zucchini. Slice 3 or 4 strips on a side, and then rotate the zucchini and continue slicing. Then rotate again. Keep working your way around the zucchini until you get to the seedy middle. Discard the core.

Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, though not smoking, add 1/3 to 1/2 of the zucchini ribbons. Toss to coat with olive oil. Add a pinch or two of sea salt. Cover the pan for a minute or so allowing the zucchini to steam a bit. Uncover and continue to saute until tender and just cooked through - al dente. If sliced thin, the zucchini really only needs a few minutes to cook. Give a generous squeeze of lemon juice to the cooked zucchini so that the citrus can blend with the warm oil. Set aside the cooked veg as you continue to saute zucchini in batches until done. Don't worry about the zucchini cooling down, this dish should be served warm or even room-temp.

Heap zucchini ribbons onto individual plates. Sprinkle with finely crumbled feta, lemon zest, and mint leaves. Add a little more sea salt if desired, though this usually isn't necessary with the salty feta and flavorful lemon juice.

Serves 4 as a substantial side.

MASALA CHAI LATTE

2011-02-27T16:34:00.009-08:00

The gorgeous produce at the Berkeley Farmer's Market inspires me to make veggie tarts, pesto, and big salads. In Bali, the market greens are lush, the fruit exotic, and the spices plentiful. Check out these meter-long cinnamon sticks and the pile of star anise at the Ubud Central Market....

Chai, made from an array of such flavors, seems a perfect celebration of the abundance of locally-grown Balinese spices. I have always been a fan of chai, but the Starbucksification of the drink has turned me off. Some buddies and I recently had the chance to cook with a very cool, smart, young Ayurvedic doctor and she taught us how to make Chai from scratch.

After Dr. Kekada's cooking class, I had a good excuse to buy all sorts of spices at the market. I have since made many pots of masala chai, played around with her recipe, and now am making a chai that P and I really love! My mom, a huge chai fan, comes to visit us this week and I cannot wait to make some for her.

While you might not find these spices at your local farmer's market, you should be able to easily get everything you need at the supermarket.

INGREDIENTS
adapted from Amrta Siddhi cooking class

3 cups water
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
6 cardamom pods, crushed in mortar and pestle
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
2 pinches fresh grated nutmeg
6 pieces star anise
8 black peppercorns
1 1/2 cup milk
assam or darjeeling tea- 6 teaspoons of loose tea, or 6 tea bags
sugar, as desired (I like to add a couple of tablespoons of coconut sugar into the spice mixture)
optional for serving: cinnamon stick and star anise

Place water, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon powder, nutmeg, star anise, and black peppercorns in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.

When the liquid comes to a boil, add milk. Let everything return to a boil. Then add tea and simmer for 1 minute.

Pour your chai through a strainer into a clean bowl or a metal pitcher like the photo below. Then pour the chai back into a clean pot/bowl. Check out Dr. Kedada in the photo below: if you continue to pour the chai back and forth like this a few times, you will froth the milk a bit - thus the "latte." I found out that in India, this is the technique the chai vendors use. Clever.

Have fun playing around with the spices and flavor combinations until you get a chai that you love. Who needs to buy packaged chai after knowing how easy it really is to make yourself.

Enjoy!

serves 4, or makes 2 big lattes

PRAWN, LIME, CILANTRO, AND COCONUT RICE SALAD

2011-02-20T04:14:00.003-08:00

When we were in Australia last fall, I loved scouring all the wonderful cooking magazines from that part of the world. There was a freshness and enthusiasm that really resonated with me. I clipped numerous recipes and kept them folded up in my journal until we had a real kitchen. In Bali, we are cooking a lot. Our kitchen equipment is pretty limited compared to home, but it is unmatched when I think of most cooking spaces we've encountered while traveling.

This recipe from Delicious Magazine is a new favorite at our place. The pureed lime, coconut cream, and cilantro are so fresh and tasty that I actually wanted to drink the dressing on its own. The combination of flavors and textures in the final salad is perfect - citrusy, herby, creamy, crunchy, with a hint of heat.

INGREDIENTS
adapted from Delicious November 2010

1 1/2 cups rice
2 pounds prawns
2 tablespoons peanut, coconut, or canola oil
1/4 cup lime juice
grated zest of one lime
1 tablespoon grated palm sugar or brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut cream
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 long red chili, seeds removed and finely chopped
sea salt
1 cucumber, peeled and finely chopped
4 spring onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped (I used small Asian peanuts and left them whole)

Cook rice. (Both brown rice and white rice work for this dish.) Rinse cooked rice under cold water and set aside to cool.

Peel prawns. You can leave the tails on if you like the look. Heat oil over medium heat. Quickly saute prawns until they turn pink and are cooked though. Toss with a pinch or two of sea salt to season. Set aside.

In a blender, puree lime juice, zest, sugar, coconut cream, a pinch of salt, and most of the cilantro leaves (save a few sprigs for serving). Add additional salt if necessary.

Place a scoop of rice on 4 plates. Top with prawns, cucumber, spring onion. Drizzle dressing over each salad. Sprinkle peanuts and cilantro leaves over the top. Serve with sliced lime.

Eat and Enjoy!

Serves 4

BALI MOUNTAIN WEEKEND

2011-02-13T16:17:00.003-08:00

Do you ever dream of dropping out of the rat race? Maybe... starting a bar on a Caribbean island; living in the hills of Mexico; sailing around the globe. P, the kids, and I are taking a single precious year away, and will return to our American life this summer. Our friends Cath, Johnny, and seven-year-old Huey have taken a profoundly deeper plunge. Their little family unit has left behind Australian life on the gorgeous and posh Sunshine Coast in order to open a small resort in the mountains of Bali. So damn bold!

Johnny, Cath, and Huey are not vacationing - they are making a new life for themselves. They are now part of a village, very far from home. Kanciana is a small village where local kids run around, splashing in the river. Huey, too, joyously runs wild and talks eagerly of the natural world that is now his own.

We got to spend a long weekend at Johnny and Cath's newly opened Bali Eco Stay on pristine Mount Batukaru. The stunningly serene resort is no small undertaking. There are extensive permaculture gardens, hydro power, gorgeous bungalows, a sparkling swimming hole, and an airy restaurant with views down to the sea.

I'm not sure how many of you remember Mini, and her fabulous recipe for Cap Cay, that I shared here last September. Well, she and her husband are Johnny and Cath's local business partners at the Bali Eco Stay. I got to go back into the kitchen with Mini while she made a sumptuous feast of Balinese duck, green beans from the garden, and local rice, of course.

Bali Eco Stay is remarkably peaceful, blissfully off the standard tourist path; plus, the service has a level of graciousness that is rare in this world. What a delicious weekend!

ICE POPS WITH LEMONGRASS

2011-02-06T16:23:00.002-08:00

I hear that the weather has been unseasonably warm (even "balmy") at home in California so I thought it might be a good moment to share my new snack.

Bali is not like home. Here, I can't pop over to Berkeley Natural Grocery and pick up some healthy quick afterschool snacks for the kids. I have had to get creative.

In the past month, Lilah and Otis have snacked on kilos of roasted peanuts, plenty of taro chips, and even some delicious freshly baked bread from a bakery nearby. I did roast my own chickpeas, though no surprise... the real hit with the kids has been these fresh fruit popsicles. I was looking for recipes on how to use lemongrass and I came upon this adorable idea for using lemongrass as popsicle sticks. I was inspired!

Most kids (and I guess adults too) are suckers for a fun presentation of food. Yes, the kids dig slices of fresh juicy melon, but they beamed when they saw the ice pops.

Really, any fruit can be transformed into popsicles - pear, apple, berry, lemon, banana, whatever happens to be in season.

INGREDIENTS

6 cups of chopped fresh fruit
water
mild-flavored honey
6 lemongrass sticks (you should be able to get these at any Asian market)

Cut melon from the rind into chunks. Place in blender. Add just enough water ( I needed less than a cup) to the blender so that you can puree the fruit. Taste for sweetness. For really sweet, ripe fruit, you may not need any additional sweetener. The melon I used wasn't particularly sweet, so I added one tablespoon of honey at a time until I got the flavor I wanted. I ended up needing 6 tablespoons.

Pour pureed fruit into 6 separate cups or popsicle molds. I like to avoid using plastic as much as I can, though I couldn't freeze the pops in glass or they would have broken. So I bought these cute little plastic cups that we will keep reusing for more pops.

Trim lemongrass, peel off the outermost leaf, and place one stick in each cup of fruit puree. As you can see, I ended up using tape to hold the lemongrass in place. I giggled at myself as I felt like I had a little kitchen craft project going. Tape in the kitchen.... that was a first for me. But it worked.

Freeze for a few hours until solid.

Enjoy!

makes 6 generous ice pops

PALM SUGAR SYRUP

2011-01-26T19:24:00.003-08:00

It is so good to be back in Bali. We four are truly happy here. The kids are in a fun school nearby. We have a little glass-walled bungalow overlooking a vast expanse of rice fields. Life is sweet.

Once I got over my jet lag, which sadly has gotten more and more tenacious as I get older, all I have wanted to do is dive into the local flavors. What are the most luscious and delectable local ingredients? Where are the best markets? P has taken to waking up early for trips to our small daily village market. Everyone chuckles at him as the odd foreigner; he just keeps going and brings back fantastic goodies. Yes, we really dig rambutans, passion fruit, and mangosteens, but I promise not to share too many recipes using a bunch of obscure tropical ingredients that aren't available away from the equator - I want my travel finds to work in your home kitchens.

The thing I really want to share with you today is my new love....palm (coconut) sugar! When we were first here late August, I fell for coconut sugar, its flavor dark, caramely, rich, and not-too-sweet. Now that we have a working kitchen, it has become my new favorite ingredient. Quick to melt, palm sugar is a great tool for bakers to have. And here in Asia it is used in both sweet and savory dishes.

Little did I know that my new indulgence isn't so bad for you. I read up on palm sugar and found that it is low glycemic, high in iron, potassium, zinc, and a multitude of vitamins, etc. Turns out Palm Sugar is the new thing. Who knew?

Every morning we have rice flour pancakes (post coming soon, I promise) topped with yogurt and a drizzle of palm syrup. We use the syrup in a cocktail with Arak (a local Balinese spirit), lime, and mint. I also like to stir palm syrup into plain yogurt to achieve just the right sweetness.

If you try this palm syrup recipe at home, I'd love to hear what you think of the unusual and complex flavor and how you use it. I hope you love it as much as we do!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Palm Sugar: Granulated is easiest and organic seems to be readily available. (If you can only find a block of palm sugar, it is easy to grate with a cheese grater) Note:you should be able to find palm sugar at Asian markets or your local health food store.
1/3 cup water
optional 1 vanilla pod (let steep in syrup)

Place grated/granulated palm sugar in a sauce pan with water on stove top over medium heat. Cook until sugar is dissolved and begins to bubble. Take off heat. Let cool. It's that simple.

Now play around with this tasty stuff. Try mixing into yogurt. Drizzle a little on top of your morning pancakes. Have fun!

ASPARAGUS WITH FETA AND CHERVIL

2011-01-19T17:48:00.005-08:00

Finding really good ingredients on the road has been more difficult than I had anticipated. In California we are spoiled by countless, wondrous organic farms, great butchers, fish mongers, and specialty food shops. New Zealand is lush with green and I imagined it to be an organic veggie-growing paradise. My illusions of Garden of Eden fertility did not bear fruit. With supermarket culture dominating much of the food landscape in New Zealand, I had a surprisingly hard time finding really fresh veg.

We hit up farm stands and farmer’s markets wherever we could. The bustling Saturday market in Nelson is an institution and each of the delicious ingredients for this dish comes from the market. (I won’t give up anyone’s cover, but the salty fresh feta was a contraband, raw, unregulated treat.)

Having limited access to top notch ingredients while traveling has been a good reminder that keeping my cooking simple - which is the way I like it anyway - makes for really tasty meals. The success of this dish is completely dependent on the quality of the ingredients you use. When you have farmer’s market delights, keep it simple.

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch asparagus
a few ounces tablespoons fresh salty goat or sheep cheese - feta or ricotta salata
a few sprigs of chervil
really good olive oil

Wash and trim asparagus. I trim my asparagus by breaking off the tough ends. Peeling the stalks can be a good idea, but with the slender young asparagus peeling isn’t necessary. You can save ends for a nice veggie broth.

Steam asparagus. Cooking time will depend on thickness. Don’t over cook. The asparagus should still firm but cooked through. Place in ice bath immediately after steaming to retain flavor and color. Asparagus should be room temp for this dish.

Arrange asparagus on serving plate.

Crumble, dice, or shave cheese. Set aside.

Trim and wash chervil. Separate leaves and discard the stalks. Leave leaves whole.

Drizzle a tiny bit of flavorful, high quality olive oil over the top of the asparagus.

Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of cheese.

Top with chervil.

Note on seasoning: If you use a flavorful salty cheese, there is no need for additional salt or pepper in this dish.

This is my last installment from New Zealand. We are now settling into our little Bali kitchen, collecting ingredients, and discovering local markets. We’ll be sharing our new finds next post.

RASPBERRY TEA CAKES

2011-01-11T16:48:00.007-08:00

All over New Zealand and Australia, we encountered delicious pastries called Friands, a descendant of the French financier. I found a recipe to try, baked and ate batch after batch until they were just right. Now, I am hooked on these moist almondy tea cakes. Yum!

In Nelson, New Zealand, we settled in for a longer stay, had a cute little kitchen, and I decided to take on more adventurous baking projects. Since my cooking life became free of wheat, I have been hesitant to start making my own flour mixes. I love to use ground nuts in baking and when a recipe calls for wheat flour, I have relied on Pamela’s brilliant flour blends as a substitute. Since we started traveling, I have been playing a bit with other flours. I have had some mean rice pancakes and throughout Asia, rice flour has been a good friend to me. In Nelson, I found a groovy little health food store with all sorts of bulk grains and flours. I picked up some millet flour because the flavor is so good and it is healthy as well.

Unlike many gluten-free baked goods, these tea cakes are fluffy and light in the centers thanks to the whipped egg whites.

INGREDIENTS
adapted from Raspberry Friand Recipe in Donna Hay December 2010

1 cup ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 2/3 cup confectioners sugar
5 lightly whisked egg whites, room temp
1/4 cup millet flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
(3/4 cup of cake flour can be substituted for the rice and millet flours)
1/2 cup butter, melted
raspberries, fresh or frozen will do

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease muffin tin. Set aside.

Bring eggs to room temperature.

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy, but not stiff.

In a separate bowl, sift baking powder, sugar and flours. Add ground almond to the dry ingredients. Stir.

Fold dry ingredients into egg whites.

Add melted butter. Stir to incorporate batter.

Pour batter into greased muffin tin and sprinkle a few raspberries over the tops.

Bake 25 minutes until golden.

makes 12

QUINOA SALAD WITH FAVAS AND PRESERVED LEMON

2011-01-03T21:58:00.003-08:00

I am always looking for new ways to enjoy quinoa and I suspect this recipe will become a staple for us when favas are in season. If you don’t have access to favas, I think steamed, chopped asparagus or even spinach, would be a delicious substitute in this dish. Plus here's another use for those preserved lemons you might have made with me a while back.

Eating favas in the middle of California winter, I feel like a traitor to my friends at home. Here in New Zealand it is early Summer and favas ( aka “broad beans” ) are ready for harvest and impossible for me to resist. I stumbled on this recipe in Australia’s Gourmet Traveller (my new favorite food mag) and loved the mix of flavors. I ended up making a lot of changes to the original recipe until I was satisfied with the balance of fresh, creamy, lemony, flavors I craved. I served the salad to P and my mom - when they oohed and aahed, I figured I needed to share the recipe with you.

This salad can be a one-bowl-meal in itself or works as a substantial side dish for grilled fish or chicken.

INGREDIENTS
adapted from Matt Stone’s recipe in Gourmet Traveller September 2010

1 1/2 cup quinoa
2 pounds favas/broad beans, in their pods
1/4-1/2 of a preserved lemon, flesh discarded, rinsed thoroughly, and chopped fine
1/3 cup olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon
add 1/4 cup soft creamy fresh goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup mint leaves, roughly torn
1/4 cup parsley, roughly torn
note: if preserved lemon is well integrated into the salad, then no need for more salt.

Prepare preserved lemon (be sure to adequately rinse the preserved lemon, otherwise the preserving salt will overpower the dish). Start by using 1/4 lemon at this point. You can always add more lemon to season the dish later. Mix with olive oil to blend the flavors. Set aside.

Fill a medium sauce pan with water. Set water to a boil on the stove top. ( This pot is for cooking the favas.)

Rinse quinoa several times. Then combine quinoa with 3 cups of water in a large sauce pan. Bring water to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Rinse with cold water. Let quinoa cool to room temp.

While quinoa is cooking, prepare favas. Remove beans from their pods. Parboil beans for 2 -3 minutes. Refresh in cold water. When favas are cool enough to handle, remove vibrant green beans from their skins. The prep for favas is a bit tedious, but well worth it.

Toss room temperature quinoa with olive oil, preserved lemon, and lemon juice. Add favas, parsley, and mix. Make sure everything is well integrated. Taste to make sure seasoning is balanced. Feel free to add a bit more lemon juice, olive oil, or preserved lemon if it suits you. Gently fold in bits of goat cheese.

Enjoy!

serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish

CANDIED LEMON BITS

2010-12-27T11:06:00.008-08:00

Whenever we get to a new town on our journey, I seek out the food shops first. Where can I get some organic veggies, farm eggs, free range meats, and local fish?

The groovy, health-food stores seem to always be the best place to start. We joke that the hippie markets are my “happy place.” I never know what I’ll find at these little independent shops, but usually I can get some good bulk grains, nuts, organic milk, eggs and butter. And when I am lucky, they will have a limited selection of organic produce.

When I do find vibrant organic produce, I like to use every precious scrap. Candying citrus peel is easy, tasty, and makes a nice gift for friends. Plus you end up with an incredible bi-product... lemony simple syrup!

Lilah turned 7 this month and she wanted to make these candied lemon bits to top her birthday cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS

4-6 lemons (For candied citrus, try to use organic lemons. The peel holds much of the pesticide on conventional lemons.)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
approximately 1 more cup white sugar

Wash and scrub lemons.

Peel your lemons while trying to avoid as much white “pith” as possible.” (Of course you can peel the lemon skin into long strips, but if you are letting kids help, you may end up with “bits” instead.)

After removing the peels, blanch them in simmering water for about 3 minutes to remove the bitter oils.

Scrape as much remaining pith as possible from the blanched peels using the back of a spoon. Lilah helped with this part and we ended up with a little pith, and it wasn’t a huge problem.

Make a simple syrup. Combine 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir regularly until sugar has dissolved. Add peels to simple syrup. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. (Note that thicker skinned citrus like oranges may need 5 minutes to blanch and up to 20 minutes in the syrup).

Save the simple syrup which is now infused with lemon essence. Use some in cocktails, or homemade lemon soda. If you are willing to part with the syrup, bottle it and give it to a friend.

Lay out parchment paper and set out a low bowl with sugar. Take the strips/bits and dip them in the sugar, which will easily stick to the syrupy peels.

Let dry on parchment. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

You won't have trouble finding helpers for this recipe....

GOLDEN BAY MUSSELS

2010-12-19T11:31:00.001-08:00

We like mussels at our house.... a budget-conscious and delicious buy from Monterey Fish. Plus the quick prep makes for an easy dinner. At home in California, foraging for Mussels is a no-no. Quarantine signs warn of contamination and unhealthy waters.

For the first time in my life, we got to harvest our own mussels off the shore! We were recently in Golden Bay, New Zealand - tucked into the lightly populated shores on the gorgeous South Island, the waters are clean and harvesting seafood from the beaches is just fine.

We heard that the tides were low at ten am, so off we set with a few buckets in hand. Within 15 minutes we had plenty of mussels to cook up.

In trying to keep our meal as simple and local as possible, we threw together an easy spaghetti with mussels. We borrowed a few spices from our neighbor, harvested some herbs from the garden there, then walked to the nearby market and bought some New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, local onions, butter, olive oil, sea salt, and pasta.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds mussels
1 1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
pinch of red pepper flakes or chili powder
1/4 cup cream
5 sprigs thyme
1/4 cup heavy cream, warmed
fresh ground pepper
sea salt
handful of chopped parsley and/or parsley blossoms if available
1 pound spaghetti or linguine

Clean and de-beard mussels. (Our harvested mussels took a lot more prep than the ones we buy at Monterey Fish. Paul scrubbed a multitude of barnacles from the shells. He gave the mussels numerous baths in fresh water. Then he and Lilah removed the beards.)

Start to heat a large stock pot of water for cooking pasta.

Warm 4-6 low soup bowls.

Get another large pot ready in which to cook the mussels. Melt butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, chili, and fennel seeds. Cook for just a few minutes until garlic is tender.

(Put pasta on to cook. Strain when done and put equal servings into 4-6 warmed low/soup bowls.)

Add white wine to the mussel pot and simmer for about 6 -8 minutes until reduced by half.

Add mussels and thyme sprigs to the pot. Cover. Steam for about 5 minutes until mussels have opened. Remove mussels with a slotted spoon.

Put an equal amount of mussels on top of each serving of pasta.

Quickly strain mussel cooking liquid. Combine 1 cup of cooking liquid with 1/4 cup of warm heavy cream. ( Save the extra cooking liquid as stock for your next risotto or seafood stew.) Whisk cream to blend and add salt and pepper to taste. (Note that freshly harvested mussels can be quite salty and don’t need much/if any added salt.)

Distribute the sauce evenly over each bowl of pasta and mussels. Generously sprinkle fresh herbs/blossoms and plenty of fresh ground pepper. Eat and enjoy!

serves 4 as main/ 6 as appetizer

Usually we have a crab fest for Christmas dinner, though I think a big bowl of steaming mussels could be a festive holiday supper!

BREAKFAST POLENTA WITH BUTTERED APPLES AND HAZELNUTS

2010-12-11T13:35:00.002-08:00

After eating dreamy breakfast polenta at Bather's Pavillion in Sydney, I had to make it myself. Polenta usually gets relegated to lunch or dinner, but it makes a really good breakfast porridge. So many ingredients can top the polenta... berries, pears, nuts of all sorts. And if you are wanting a less-sweet breakfast, poached eggs and aparagus would be tasty here as well.

In honor of all the apple orchards we've seen across New Zealand, I made simple, baked and buttered apples, inspired by Elizabeth David. I couldn't resist adding locally harvested hazelnuts from the Nelson Saturday Market.

If you are in need of a holiday breakfast, this belly-warming dish could easily serve a crowd.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup fine white polenta (not instant)
salt
2 cups apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons sugar, demerara or brown
1 lemon peel
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a medium, heavy-bottomed sauce pan, heat 4 cups of salted water over high heat. When the water is just shy of boiling, slowly pour in polenta while whisking continuously. Turn down heat and continue to stir until a thick porridge begins to form. Keep polenta cooking over low heat and stir occasionally. If polenta starts to appear too thick, add splashes of water as necessary. Polenta should be nice and creamy and ready to eat after about 40 minutes.

While your polenta is cooking on the stove top, preheat oven to 350.

Peel, core, and slice apples and place them in a baking dish. Dab bits of butter over the tops of the apples. Then, sprinkle sugar over everything. Toss in a lemon peel. Bake apples in the center of the oven for 20-30 minutes. They should be tender when done, but not mushy.

While the polenta and apples are cooking, heat a saute pan over medium heat. Toss in the hazelnuts and toast them up. Give the pan an occasional shake to insure toasting on all sides. (I like to roast nuts on the stove top so I can keep an eye on them.) Place the roasted nuts in a clean dish cloth and rub to remove skins. Coarsely chop and set aside.

Your polenta and apples should be just about ready at this point.

Scoop polenta into four bowls. Top with a generous scoop of warm roasted apples and chopped hazelnuts. At the table, pass around a pitcher of heavy cream, and a bowl of demerara sugar, or a little maple syrup so that everyone can make their porridge just right.

Serves 4. (This recipe can easily be doubled to feed a larger group.)
FOOD 52 Editor's Pick

OVEN ROASTED BROCCOLI

2010-12-04T23:24:00.003-08:00

I admit it... I have a sweet tooth. And as the holidays approach my jonze for sweets goes into high gear - I have a Pavlovian need to seek out as many sugary goodies as possible.

My approach to holiday cooking is:

#1 Bake as many fun, easy, treats as you have time for. Share them with people you love.

#2 Whenever you can, try to get some veggies into your system.

Maybe roasting broccoli is obvious to you, but for me it was a simple cooking revelation. Roasted this way, the broccoli retains some of its lovely crunch and has such a nice roasted flavor.

When I was growing up, we ate a lot of broccoli, always steamed and topped with butter and salt. No complaints for me there. But you can only eat broccoli the same way so many times. Rachel, a fantastic cook, said her family likes to eat their broccoli roasted in the oven. At my house, we are CRAZY for Crispy Oven Baked Kale but we had never tried broccoli that way. After Rachel’s suggestion, we gave it a go. We are hooked!

INGREDIENTS

broccoli
olive oil
sea salt salt
optional: garlic

Preheat oven to 400.

Keeping some of the stem of the florets, half/quarter/chop the broccoli into reasonable sized pieces. If your broccoli has leaves, leave them on or just toss them in the pan- they roast up nicely.

Spread broccoli onto a cookie sheet or low baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the top (just enough to coat the broccoli.) Sprinkle on some nice sea salt. Toss to coat the broccoli with the seasonings. (You can also add a couple of cloves of minced garlic to the mix.)

Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes. That’s it!

We all need a quick and easy veggie fix this time of year, don't we?

SNOWY ALMOND COOKIES

2010-11-27T23:26:00.006-08:00

These cookies are simple, chewy, and good! They are made without flour - the ground almonds give rich flavor and even add a little healthiness to these easy treats. I knew they were good when my family quickly devoured an entire batch and whined for more.

Even though we are in New Zealand where it is Spring time, as native Northern Hemisphere dwellers, we have the Winter holidays on our mind. The kids and I whipped up a batch of these cookies one day and dubbed them - “Snowy” in honor of the holiday season.

Maybe it’s the holiday of year, maybe it’s the preponderance of sweets temptimg me at every cafe in NZ, or maybe it’s the adorable tiny cottage we are staying in with a white picket fence... all I know is I need to bake. For ages, I have been wanting to make my own macarons. I did some research into recipes and decided they would take way too much time, effort, and equipment for me in my temporary, basic kitchen. Plus I am way too impatient for intricate and complicated baking recipes - not my forte. So here I am making a faux-macaronish chewy almond cookie... and I am totally satisfied.

INGREDIENTS
adapted from Jo Segar the Chelsea Cafe

2 cups ground almonds
3/4 cup sugar (fine/caster is preferable)
grated zest of one orange
2 egg whites, room temperature
1 heaping tablespoon honey
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk room temperature egg whites until soft peaks form. (The air you whip into the egg whites will provide volume for the cookies.) Our rental's kitchen doesn't have a mixer so I found this trusty old-school-hand-mixer at the local vintage shop.

Fold sugar into egg whites. Then grate orange zest into the mix. Fold in ground almonds. Finally stir in honey. Stir to incorporate all ingredients until you have a thick sticky dough.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift powdered sugar over the parchment. Set aside.

Dust your work surface with sifted powdered sugar. Make small balls of dough. Roll them in the powdered sugar until well coated.

Place prepared cookies on lined and sugared cookie sheet. Make sure you leave at least 3/4 of an inch between cookies to allow for spreading during baking.

Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack. (You can sift additional powdered sugar over the tops of the cookies if you wish.)

Makes 30 small cookies

It feels great to have a kitchen again and be able to share new recipes: I have been cooking like a fiend and there are many more recipes to come!

BREAKFAST AT BATHER'S

2010-11-17T19:39:00.001-08:00

This is my last installment about eating our way through Australia. We have made it to New Zealand now and we have a kitchen again... we're cooking up a storm and I promise new recipes are on their way. We even foraged for our own mussels the other day. It feels great to be cooking for ourselves again!

I fell in love with Sydney 11 years ago - its warm mild weather, Caribbean blue waters, Victorian architecture, modern attitude, and great food. The city felt like a culturally diverse meeting ground for the Pacific and South East Asia. And that sparkly light....man oh man.

Back then, P and I were in our 20s. We stayed in a stylish little hotel in the then slightly seedy neighborhood of Darlinghurst. The area was packed with new vibrant restaurants. We ate like kings.

This time around, with two kids in tow, we settled into a comfortable apartment in posh and quiet Balmoral, a gorgeous ferry ride away from downtown. The neighborhood was picturesque with clean sandy beaches dotted with little sailboats and families strolling in the sun.

By chance, our little apartment was across the street from an institution in the Sydney culinary world. Bather’s Pavilion has been a player for the past 20 years; far from new or edgy, this spot serves up some gorgeous food with ease. Bathers was bustling with people, filled with sunshine, and the food was just right. In fact we ended up starting each of our 3 days in Sydney with breakfast at Bather’s making it emblematic of our family’s time in Sydney.

My favorite dish was the creamy white polenta (shown in the top photo) topped with fresh figs, poached ginger pears, and cream. I am dying to figure out their trick to achieving this perfectly smooth porridge. Anyone know Bather’s secret? If you do please share. I could eat it every day.

Update: I think I have figured out how to make the polenta. I hope to share with you all soon!

ODE TO TASMANIA

2010-11-11T16:01:00.001-08:00

Where the hell is Bruny Island?

In 1999, P and I went to Australia on part of another longer trip. We hoped to make it to Tasmania but travel there was difficult and very expensive back then. We ended up only visiting Sydney; I can’t complain because our time there remains one of my best travel memories.

This trip I was determined to visit Tasmania. Tasmania has a magnetic pull for me - my yearning seems to stem from a romantic notion of this remote isle nestled near the Antarctic waters. I am always drawn to islands: Zanzibar, Folegandros, Tikehau and Bali - all islands - are some of my favorite places on this planet. The connection to the sea is a great lure for me.

Tasmania lived up to my mythic expectations. The port of Hobart was full of old pirate charm - the sea was alive and the waves rough. Cobblestone streets, ship captains’ houses and copious wrought iron details typified the intact architecture. Plus the island was exploding with the glory of Spring - a cacophany of lavender, roses, wisteria, apple and cherry blossoms.

Even more romantically obscure than its already remote mainland, Tasmania’s Bruny Island called us to visit. We’d heard the island was gorgeous and had world class oysters and artisinal cheese. Enough said.

After an hours drive South of Hobart and a quick ferry ride to Bruny Island, we headed straight to Bruny Island Oyster. We bought a couple dozen beauties from Joe, the proprietor and P got to shucking. With just a quirt of lemon juice we devoured the deliciously salty bivalves that came fresh from what might be the purest sea water I have ever seen. Bruny Island Oysters were perfect - firm, briny and tasting of sea - worthy of a trip half way across the globe.

Our next food stop was at Bruny Island Cheese. We sampled every cheese they made and found the firm cow’s cheese infused with saffron to be our favorite. And even though it was only 11 am and we were already sated with oysters, we couldn’t resist trying some of their homemade ice cream. When I saw rhubarb and bay on the menu I was smitten. The ice cream was infused with earthy flavor yet creamy with milk of happy island cows.

Our food pilgrimage was well worth the journey - Tasmania was a pastoral island paradise. Cows with shiny black coats and wooly sheep grazed on wide open emerald green fields. Sandy beaches were filled with happy (and tasty looking!) clams. Copious blossoming berry bushes held promise for a summer of preserves and pies. If only we could have stayed longer!

MELBOURNE EATS

2010-11-01T04:58:00.003-07:00

Melbourne, Australia has a reputation.

A reputation for great food.

As our trip to this Southern Pacific food mecca approached, I started to day dream of tastiness that awaited us. We ended up spending a week in Melbourne hanging out with old friends and eating our way through town. I had to share some culinary high points with you. Follow me...

Cafe culture is strong here. In Melbourne, there must be more coffee shops per capita then anywhere on earth. I thought we loved our coffee in the Bay Area, but we are wimps compared to Melbournites. Wow. I found myself unable to resist the "flat whites" (dreamily perfect Australian lattes) that tempted me at every corner cafe. I could barely sleep my first few nights here because I was so overcaffeinated!

My favorite cafes of all were hidden down the shadowed cobblestone alleys in the heart of the city.

My friend Alex and I had one of our best meals in Melbourne at Sondito! a charming little restaurant run by a family of beautiful young Columbian hipsters.

P, the kids, and I had a fun lunch at Journal Canteen tucked away on the second floor above the city library. The challenge of finding this hidden gem added to the appeal.

A note of gratitude to Melbourne..... Not all of you out there have dietary restrictions and for the most part I like to downplay my own. I am a food lover first, and a gluten-free eater by necessity. Eating at home, this restriction is not a problem - we eat damned well. But, I have to say going out to eat in most parts of the world while having dietary limitations really puts a crimp in my omnivorous desires.

Melbourne is a gluten-free dream! Every cafe/restaurant/bistro/pizzeria/deli has copious gluten free options. I am not sure if this town is full of folks that are gluten-intolerant or if it is a food craze, but I LOVED having such ease eating anywhere we pleased.

We even got to go for a high tea at Hopetoun Tea Room an old Melbourne institution dating back to 1892 tucked into the Victorian-era Block Arcade. Gluten-free high tea? Who knew.

Tomorrow we head for Tasmania - a place I have always dreamed of visiting. The food is supposed to be amazing... fresh seafood, local produce, artisanal cheeses and wines. I'll let you know what we find.

FIJI HARVEST - A COOK'S PARADISE

2010-10-25T22:20:00.002-07:00

Imagine a lush garden bursting with over 100 varieties of happy organic vegetables, herbs, and fruit growing on a hillside with views of warm turquoise waters and swaying coconut palms.

This cook’s paradise really exists, I swear. If you are an intrepid, gardening chef, who might want to partake in this Eden, read on....

Just up the hill from the bungalow we called home for the past 20 days is Joe’s vegetable garden. Remember Joe, my roasted coconut guru? Joe is full of knowledge, energy, and ideas. He has contemplated creating a perfect village on his gorgeous stretch of beachfront land; lucky for us, his visions of utopia have taken a more entrepreneurial route that resulted in a mellow island resort. Joe leaves the running of the business to his son and daughter-in-law while he tends to his baby - the garden.

I had to share images of the edible beauty that abounds in Joe’s remote island garden and the pristine reef nearby. The colors are otherworldly.... Have you ever seen a Rainbow Lobster? This was my idea of heaven.

P and I grow our own veggies in a 700 square foot patch in Berkeley, so I was blown away by Joe’s vast growing space, covering at least an acre of land. Joe’s green thumb, the hot tropical sun, rich volcanic soil, and crisp, clear water from the nearby spring make for an extraordinary garden. Tomatoes, bok choy, shallots, parsley, arugula, mustard greens, eggplant, peppers, and various lettuce greens reminded me of home. Joe also cultivates more exotic species that I envied - pineapple, hibiscus, taro, banana, papaya, kava, mango, and of course coconut.

spring water irrigation

Joe dreams of hosting visitors who want to work in the garden and have fun cooking its bounty. He has entertained the idea of a WWOOF listing - a brilliant organization for green thumbs worldwide. If a stint in this cook’s paradise appeals to you, go! Imagine the endless culinary possibilities....

CONTACT JOE AND INQUIRE ABOUT A WORK EXCHANGE IN HIS GARDEN:

MAI DIVE RESORT, ONO ISLAND, FIJI

WOOD ROASTED COCONUT

2010-10-16T21:06:00.005-07:00

I apologize for being out of touch, but I have a good excuse. P, the kids, and I have been on remote Ono Island in Fiji for the past two weeks. Quiet, ocean, rain, cards, and books have defined our lazy days.

Travel is funny. You go somewhere with preconceived notions of what a place will be like and the time you plan to have. We went to Fiji sure that we would have endless sunny days of beach combing and snorkeling. Nature had other plans - rain and plenty of it.

We imagined our big adventure to be a year of summer. So confident in our tropical destinations, we didn't even pack a pair of jeans. In the end, we may not be able to claim our family's trip to be the year of sunshine, though I do think we could deem it the year of the coconut.

I am all about eating whatever is fresh and locally grown, and coconut is the bumper crop in these tropical locales. Man oh man, we have eaten coconut every which way and I have written about coconut sugar, coconut milk, shredded coconut, coconut oil... Thank goodness I LOVE coconut. Now in Fiji, a new yummy dish has been added to my repertoire - roasted coconut.

At Mai Dive, our comfortable home for these three Fijian weeks, every evening as the sun goes down, we sit around with the other guests, having a drink before dinner. When the bowl of freshly roasted, and still warm, coconut is put on the table, it is devoured as everyone seems to like this simple snack as much as I do.

Joe, the charming patriarch of our peaceful Fijian spot, is a wealth of information. P and I soak up his stories like thirsty children. No surprise, I am especially enthralled when the subject of food comes up - Joe tells tales of mud crabs freshly caught and simply steamed, seaweed harvested straight off the beach and simmered in coconut cream, and his huge beloved veggie garden leaves me awed.

I told Joe just how much I like the smoked coconut and he took the time to teach me the old-school Fijian approach to this simple treat. He told me that he and his buddies sit around the evening fire, drinking beer and eating coconut right off the grill. Hmmmm..... tropical bar snack? Yes, please.

Coconut can easily be roasted in the oven or on the stove-top. Prepared this way, it has delicious flavor that is reminiscent of popcorn. But when the coconut is grilled over an open fire, the deep smokey flavor is irresistible. Our new friend Magda astutely noted that the wood roasted coconut has hints of bacon - in my book a mark of culinary greatness.

INGREDIENTS

fresh coconut (s) in the shell

For ideal smokey flavor, get your fire started.

In the meantime hack open your coconut (s) - Joe used an axe.

Then with a knife, slice the coconut flesh into strips about 3-5 inches long by 3/4 inch wide and pry coconut from the shell. If slices are too small, they will be hard to handle on the fire.

When you are done removing and slicing the coconut meat, set it aside and check on the fire. Let the flames settle down until you have good hot coals but no big flames.

Place a grate over the top of your fire, scatter some sliced coconut over the grill. Use tongs to flip slices and cook each side until golden brown. Let cool slightly and coconut is ready to eat.

I can see why the Fijians like sitting around the fire snacking of freshly smoked coconut- not only is it seductively delicious, but the smell is one I wish I could bottle and share with you all.

RUBY RED GRAPEFRUIT & GINGER GRANITA

2010-10-01T22:16:00.008-07:00

I miss my kitchen. During the past five weeks, we have eaten in more restaurants than I can count, and for the most part the food has been really tasty. Having meals cooked for me day after day is an indulgence I haven’t had experienced in years. That said, from time to time I long for my home kitchen with all of its familiar tools, counter tops.....

Last week, we had an apartment with a real kitchen and ample equipment to make our own meals. After a little sleuthing, I tracked down the one and only organic market in Darwin, Australia - not a town known for its cuisine. Though during our stay in the Northern Territory, we did try baramundi, kangaroo, and termite mound (yes termite mound!).

Greenies is hidden deep in a rundown strip mall, ghostly with its many vacancies. The shop is no cartoonishly abundant Bay Area market, yet Greenies had everything we were looking for - life, good music, and happy hippie foods. Rushing back to our pad, we roasted chicken in our familiar way, tossed together a Berkeley-style salad with plenty of avocado and arugula, and ate kilos of strange exotic fruits.

Darwin is damned hot - over 100 degrees every day we were there, and this wasn’t even the hot time of year. I needed the satisfaction of making a refreshing treat for my travelin’ clan. After spending a month in Bali indulging with decadent abandon in fresh fruit juices, lassies, and slushies, I felt inspired to make my own fruity concoction. It was devoured in minutes - a success!

The candied ginger, though not necessary, was delicious with the granita. Next time I’d like to make my own.

INGREDIENTS

4-5 ruby red grapefruit, yielding approximately 3 cups of juice
3 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled
approximately 1 1/2 cup sugar
candied ginger (optional)

Squeeze out grapefruit juice and remove seeds. Put juice, ginger chunk, and sugar in a saucepan. Cook, stirring regularly over high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Taste for sweetness. Add more sugar if you want a sweeter granita. Make sure all sugar is dissolved before removing liquid from heat. Then let sit for 20 minutes. Strain out pulp and remove ginger chunk.

Freezing: Pour liquid into shallow baking pan, or any shallow bowl. Freeze 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and stir with a fork to break up any frozen bits. Make sure to scrape the edges of the pan, this is where the freezing begins.

Continue to freeze for 20-30 minute intervals. Stir. Freeze again. After two to three hours of freezing and stirring, your granita will be ready to eat.

Once you are ready to eat the granita, remove from freezer and serve immediately. It melts quickly. Try chilling cups, or bowls to help keep the granita frozen longer.

Serve with candied ginger. Enjoy!

serves 4

BALINESE GARDEN STEW

2010-09-20T04:11:00.003-07:00

When we left Bali last week, my paradisical travel bubble burst: ceiling fans and lush sweet frangipani flowers have been replaced by fake orchids and round-the-clock air conditioning; locals devoted to poetic offerings to their ancestors are now overweight twenty somethings obsessed with beer, lots of beer; and the charming wood carving studios are now adult superstores.

I won't mention the name of the city we are currently stuck in in Northern Australia - but suffice it to say, I won't be coming back here. Did I mention that is is beyond expensive here too. Ugh.

In wanting to savor the taste, smell, and vibe of Bali, I offer Mini's superb recipe to you.....

Mini is a fabulous cook. Everything she makes is full of flavor and belly-warming goodness. Recently, I got to spend the afternoon in her kitchen and learned a number of her delectable dishes. This stew was my favorite. I ate it for lunch for five days straight! It was that good.

At Sarinbuana, a small eco-resort tucked in the mountains of Bali, you order your meals at the beginning of the day so that just the right ingredients can be plucked fresh from the organic garden. This is not your run of the mill organic kitchen garden, but a permaculture food forest in the mountain jungles of Bali. Wow!

Okay, in most of our lives we don't have access to magical rain forest ingredients, but I do think that if you use whatever veggies you grow yourself or pick up ultra fresh at the market, you will be rewarded with a really tasty, and ridiculously quick meal. So many veggie combinations would work for this soup. Play around with the recipe and use what is in season.

Cap Cay ( pronounced "chap chai") is a traditional Indonesian dish and I think is going to become a staple meal in our household. Mini and I made this stew in a single serving size (for my dinner in fact) and I thought a solo lunch or supper recipe would be a nice thing to have on-hand. You can easily double, triple, quadruple this recipe to suit your needs.

Mini's notes and condiments for the day's meals...

INGREDIENTS
thanks to Mini at Sarinbuana Eco Lodge

coconut oil, or Canola oil
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, pressed
1 mild Indonesian red chili or 1/4 red bell pepper, seeds removed and chopped
1/2 chicken breast (skin and bones removed), cut into bite sized chunks
sea salt ( Get Balinese salt if you can - it is delectable.)
1 teaspoon soy sauce (GF folks, be sure to use Tamari)
1/3 cup carrot, sliced into lovely flowers - check out Mini's technique in the photos below...
1/3 cup turnip, sliced into lovely flowers as well
1 small tomato, diced
2 large button mushrooms, sliced into sixths
1/3 cup fresh corn kernels ( or baby corn sliced)
1/3 cup sliced green beans
(cauliflower and broccoli also work in this soup)
1 shallot, peeled and sliced thin
5-6 cashews (You might as well have a few more, just for munching.)
2/3 cup chopped Napa cabbage
2/3 cup chopped bok choy

Prep all ingredients. Later, you will need to quickly add ingredients and want to have everything easy and ready for this quick-to-cook stew.

Place a sauce pan on the stove over medium high heat. Quickly heat 1 tablespoon coconut or Canola oil, then turn heat down to medium. Saute and stir red pepper, onion, garlic in the oil for about 1 minute. Add chicken and about 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Stir and cook for another minute or so. Add 1 teaspoon soy sauce and one cup water. Stir and turn up heat to high. When liquid comes to a boil, add turnips and carrots. Reduce heat to a vigorous simmer and cook about 3 minutes. Add chopped tomato - cook another minute. Add mushrooms, corn, and green beans and cook another two minutes. Set stew aside until you're ready to eat.

I love that Mini remarked that the Cap Cay is ruined if the vegetables are over-cooked. Too true.

Slice shallot. Saute shallots over medium/low heat with a small amount of coconut or canola oil for about 5 minutes until brown and crispy. Stir shallots regularly to insure even cooking. Set aside.

Quickly fry cashews in coconut or Canola oil until brown. Set aside.

Just before eating, bring soup to a boil. Add cabbage and bok choy. Cook only a minute or so until all veggies are tender.

Top with fried shallot and cashews. So fresh, delicious, simple - I love this soup! Thank you Mini!

Serves One

FISH WRAPPED IN BANANA LEAF

2010-09-11T19:07:00.006-07:00

When I met Tonok, I knew I wanted to cook with him. I was eating a delicious curry chicken salad for lunch at the Bloo Lagoon and I peered into the outdoor kitchen to find Tonok at work. I told him how much I enjoyed his salad and he smiled broadly. He knew his food was good. I don’t mean to be hokey here, but Tonok’s food has that thing, that secret to all tasty food - love. This guy loves to cook and it comes through in the dishes he serves. As we started chatting, limited by his English and my non-existent Balinese and Indonesian, I asked him about cooking and his arms would start waving, he would give me a vigorous thumb’s up, and his smile would grow wide. I had heard that the Bloo Lagoon offered cooking classes so I asked him if he could teach me some of his favorite dishes. With total authority, he planned a meal of traditional Balinese food that we would make together the next day.

The next morning Tonok and I went to the local morning market in Padangbai. Without having my morning “Bali Coffee” aka Balinese jet fuel, I was bleary eyed until the action of the market woke me up. This tiny market, only half-a-block long, was jammin’.

Baskets of bananas, pineapples, and papayas lined the street. Women were weaving palm fronds and selling a rainbow of flowers for offerings.

Fresh, shiny fish were displayed on planks of wood.

And there were so many intriguing hand-made packages of just-prepared treats. With Tonok’s help in identifying the mysterious eats, I started snapping up goodies: two newspaper packages of cooked yellow rice with spices; another paper-wrapped meal of pork on a stick, herbs and rice; black rice pudding. I even abandoned the squeamish American in me and bought a funky cassava, shaved coconut, and palm sugar treat made by a grandmother as I waited. What would the Health Department say?

I felt hungry and triumphant with this indulgent spree that cost me less than a buck.

Tonok and I got our ingredients for later. Just before lunch time we set to work. First we made Pepes Ikan, Balinese fish wrapped in banana leaf...

PEPES IKAN INGREDIENTS
adapted from of the Bloo Lagoon

4 mild red chilis or 1 red bell pepper
3-4 small shallots
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon shrimp paste (optional)
2 tablespoon coconut oil
3 bay leaves
4 tablespoons coconut milk plus 1/3 coconut milk/ or 2 cups fresh coconut meat (see instructions below for making your own coconut milk)
1/2 pound chopped fresh fish: snapper, tuna or halibut would be great here
2 small tomatoes, slices
1/4 cup yellow onion chopped
1/3 cup coconut milk
sea salt and pepper to taste

If you are making your own coconut milk, do so now. I was especially excited to learn to make this myself. Chop 2 cups fresh mature coconut flesh.

Place coconut in blender and cover the flesh with enough water to be able to puree.

Run the pureed coconut through a sieve and there you have it fresh coconut milk. Set aside.

Puree peppers, shallots and garlic. Heat coconut oil over medium high heat. Saute pepper puree for 5-7 minutes. Add shrimp paste, and 4 tablespoons coconut milk.Stir and continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes. Add bay leaf. This sauce is called “ bumbu merah.” Set aside.

Saute tomato slices, onion with 1/4 cup bumbu merah until tomatoes and onions begin to soften. Add fish and 1/3 cup coconut milk and cook another 6-8 minutes.

Wrap fish mixture in banana leaf. Scoop about 1/4 cup fish concoction onto a 10 inch square of banana leaf. Wrap and secure each end with a toothpick.

Steam or grill fish packets for about 10-15 minutes until fish is cooked to your liking.

Serves 4

As Tonok and I made the fish, I thought of the Halibut in Fig Leaves I would be making at home in California this time of year. Normally, we just add a little salt and olive oil to the fish before wrapping it up. Tonok’s Pepes Ikan made me think I that I should try marinating the fish next time before wrapping it up and tossing it on the grill. Maybe a citrus, herb and olive oil concoction; or coconut milk, shallots, lime and ginger. Even if you aren’t going to go out and track down all of the ingredients to recreate this Balinese dish, try wrapping snapper, halibut, or tuna in fig or grape leaves and savor how moist the fish is. Plus the leaf packets are fun to serve.

We also made long beans with shaved coconut. Tonok’s recipe calls for all sorts of cool local spices like “aromatic root” and candlenut. Instead of giving you a recipe that is difficult to recreate, let me suggest trying blanched green beans tossed with curry, grated coconut, lime, and crispy shallots. It is a great flavor combo. Crispy shallots seem to top so many Balinese dishes. The shallot are thinly sliced and fried in coconut oil. Yum!!

I have endless things to share about our trip so far. We are relaxed in a way we haven’t been in years, or maybe ever. The kids are weaned off TV, and they now get excited by stone carving and walks through the jungle. We are meeting extraordinary people every day. This Island is ridiculously beautiful. We feel so lucky!

SUCKLING PIG

2010-09-01T22:31:00.006-07:00

Vegetarians, you might want to close your eyes. Pork-lovers out there, read on...

We have been eating like royalty here in Bali. Fresh fruit juices, garlic prawns, pungent sauces, candlelit dinners while reclining on batik cushions......ahhhhhhhh. This has been a decadent beginning to our trip. We realize that things won't always be so plush so we are soaking it all in with great appreciation.

Our lunch at Ibu Oka was by no means fancy, but this was a meal I had to share with you. As many of you know, my family loves pork. Give us carnitas, ribs, bacon, any tasty, salty pig, and we are happy. Hearing of the famous suckling pig at Ibu Oka, we knew this was the place for us.

As we entered the warung, we saw piles of juicy roasted pork. At lightning speed, the meat was being put onto plates or scooped into paper cones for take away. These quick-to-assemble travel containers are one of my favorite food tricks here in Bali. A folded piece of paper - so simple, green, and quite cute.

I digress....

As we waited for our own sampling of this famous pork, the kids gulped bright orange Fanta, P had a morning Bintang, and I happily slurped young coconut. Then came the pork: succulent, thinly-sliced deliciousness, with crispy skin to boot. Damned this stuff is good! Anthony Bourdain is right. This might be the best pork on earth!

In the middle of our meal, a delivery boy pulled up on his moped. He had an entire roasted pig on a tray, on his head! How he maneuvered this, I have no idea, but I leaped up to take photos. Within minutes, the new arrival had been carved and was feeding the long line of newly arrived patrons. This was only 11 am. I wonder how many suckling pigs they sell in a day.

Sadly, I don't know the recipe for this gorgeous pork. If this post leaves you craving pork, try my mother-in-law's Carnitas recipe. I have yet to roast my own suckling pig, but a girl can dream, right?

By the way, I had the good fortune to spend this morning learning a few Balinese dishes with a very kind local cook. I will share those homey Balinese recipes, and photos, with you soon!

BALI BREAKFAST

2010-08-25T19:16:00.007-07:00

Hello from Bali! We made it after a grueling forty one ( yes 41!) hours of travel. The air is warm and soft. Pounding rain lulls us to sleep in our open bungalow. Roosters wake us early. I am not typically a morning person, but the dreamy mist that colors the Bali mornings fully rewards the early riser. And the breakfasts aren't too shabby either!

There is beauty everywhere. Offering of fresh flowers, rice, and incense are found at every door step and even perched in trees.

Intricate woodcarvings adorn even the most insignificant railing. Women and men alike wear ornate batik sarongs. And the food.... not only is it fresh and yummy, it's gorgeous. Every morning Wayan or Made brings us a simple fruit salad with yogurt. In typical Balinese fashion, the fruit is cut into various lovely shapes and layered into a colorful sculpture. Each plate is topped with a charming handwoven cover.

I often eat fruit and yogurt at home, but I never take the time to beautify the slices of fruit. This first post from the road is less of an intricate recipe than a fresh approach towards a simple breakfast.

INGREDIENTS

3 kinds of seasonal fresh fruit (here in Bali we are eating papaya, banana, and pineapple) cut into festive shapes and layered
1 generous scoop of plain yogurt
optional: if the fruit itself isn't sweet enough, top with a drizzle of honey or a sprinkling of coconut sugar (one of my new favorite ingredients thanks to Bali)

Along with happily writing, photographing, and eating for Yummy Supper, I will keep a simple photo journal of our travels. If you want to peek, check out ....

316 Pacific Days

-E

BROWN SUGAR CARAMEL CORN WITH FLEUR DE SEL

2010-08-19T08:17:00.002-07:00

I'll fess up - these really are like Cracker Jacks. Maybe I just needed a little taste of Americana before our departure tomorrow. Next stop - Bali!

This recipe was born from a serious jonze for caramel. Ever since I discovered how easy it is to do Homemade Caramel Sauce, we have been making it at least once a month. (And yes with this new habit, our waistlines have expanded.) Recently, we were in Sea Ranch with Rach and Justin when the craving for caramel kicked in. We were in a borrowed kitchen, with no Internet, no recipes, and no white sugar. Hmmmm.... we did have my memory (not always so good), brown sugar, butter, and cream so I got to work. We ended up with a rich and decadent brown sugar caramel that we drizzled over whiskey gelato. Gotta love being isolated from technology, while still being able to buy artisinal whiskey gelato at the local store!

We used the leftover sauce to make caramel corn for the kids and it was a huge success. Once I got home, I read up on caramel corn and found that brown sugar is a pretty standard ingredient. Who knew?

INGREDIENTS

1 cup popcorn kernels (approximately 5 quarts popped corn)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
generous pinch of fleur de sel
1 1/2 cups roasted salted peanuts

First pop your popcorn using whatever technique suits you. The kids always love using this old-fashioned popper. I use a little canola oil in the popper along with a cup of corn. Here's Lilah at work...

When popcorn is done. Set aside.

Kids had to munch a bit on the plain popcorn.

Get ready to make the caramel sauce. Here's Otie prepping the butter...

Place brown sugar in a small heavy sauce pan. Pour water evenly over the top. Turn stove top to medium-high heat. Hold sauce pan by the handle and swirl occasionally until sugar has dissolved. (Avoid letting sugar burn until completely dissolved.) Cover pan, turn heat to high, and boil for 2 minutes. Remove lid and continue to boil until syrup turns brown around the edges of the pan. Again grab the handle and swirl syrup occasionally until it thickens and begins to smoke. The sauce should reach about 275 to 300 degrees before you remove it from the heat.

Remove pan from heat. Add butter. Gently whisk, until all butter is mixed in.

Stir in cream.

If sauce become lumpy, set pan over low heat and stir until smooth then turn off heat again.

Stir in vanilla and salt and your caramel is done.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

The caramel corn should be baked in two batches: First, line a large cookie sheet with parchment. Next, spread about 1/2 of the popcorn on the parchment. Then drizzle about 1/2 of the caramel over the top of the popcorn. Add 3/4 cup peanuts. Toss until ingredient are integrated.

Place cookie sheet in the oven. Stir every 20 minutes or so. Note: don't use your fingers to toss corn. Hot caramel sticks to your fingers and really burns!

The caramel corn should be done in 45 minutes to an hour. Remove cookie sheet from oven, let the caramel corn cool. Make your second batch. Eat. Enjoy!

FOOD 52 Editor's Pick

MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH GREEN OLIVES AND PRESERVED LEMON

2010-08-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Brian at Riverdog Farm had a request for me: "More chicken and duck recipes please." I think this may be the first request I've had and of course I had to oblige. So here is my second poultry recipe in just a few weeks. At our house, we do eat a lot of chicken, and occasionally duck, quail, or guinea hen. Usually Paul does his Fire Alarm Chicken a la Judy Rogers or he tosses a smaller bird on the grill. But I am always looking for ways to mix things up, so here we go....

I am drawn to Moroccan food, but never cook it myself. A few months ago, my neighbor Rich loaned me two gorgeous Moroccan cookbooks. I drooled over the photos and found lots of tempting recipes. The Preserved Meyer Lemon recipe that I shared back in May came from Modern Moroccan by Ghillie Basan; we have been enjoying our stash of delicious preserved lemons ever since - cavalierly tossing a few into a roast chicken, or making that scrumptious A16 recipe for Halibut.

I have been remiss in returning Rich's cookbooks because I want to make so many of the recipes. Next Friday we leave for our year of travel and I really can't justify keeping the books any longer. Here's one recipe I had to try before we say goodbye to our kitchen for a year.

We served this succulent chicken over a buttery quinoa pilaf that soaked up the chicken's yummy, lemony sauce.

INGREDIENTS
from Modern Moroccan by Ghillie Basan - a truly inspiring cookbook that sadly seems to be out of print

3 pound chicken
3 cloves garlic, crushed
small bunch of fresh oregano, finely chopped (Basan's recipe calls for cilantro instead)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, grated
pinch of saffron threads
1 teaspoon ground ginger (we used fresh grated ginger instead)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 cup cracked green olives
2 preserved lemons, rinsed and cut into strips

Rub the cavity of the chicken with garlic, cilantro, lemon juice, and salt.

Mix olive oil, grated onion, saffron, ginger, and pepper on the chicken's skin. Place chicken in a tagine or large flameproof casserole ( I used my trusty Le Creuset dutch oven). Pour the marinating juices over the top, cover, and let the bird marinate for 30 minutes.

Move pot to the stove top. Pour enough water into the pot to come half-way up the sides of the chicken. Add the cinnamon stick and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour. Turn the chicken occasionally.

Preheat oven to 300.

Carefully lift the chicken out of the pot and set aside on a plate and cover with foil. Turn up the heat on the stove top and reduce the cooking liquid with about 5 minutes of cooking. Return chicken to the pot and baste thoroughly in the juices.

Add olives and preserved lemons. Place casserole in the oven for about 10 minutes. Turn oven up to 475 for a final 5-10 minutes of cooking (this will help to slightly brown the bird).

Serves 4-6

FYI.....We made an unbelievably delicious ginger ale with the leftover fresh ginger. Go to Crumpets and Cakes, get Monika's brilliantly simple recipe and you will be so happy. Amazing!

TARTINE'S GOUGERES

2010-08-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

San Francisco's Tartine bakery is amazing. More often than not, this Guerrero Street institution has customers lined out the door for the copious and tempting baked goods.

When I had to stop eating wheat two years ago, my pilgrimages to Tartine were forced to end. Recently, my friend Sarah, who is an fantastic cook, loaned me her copy of the Tartine cookbook. I devoured it with my eyes. The photographs by France Ruffenach are stunning and totally capture the Tartine experience. My kids, P, and I started drooling and bookmarking page after page of recipes to attempt at home. Before long almost every page and every photo had been chosen. Where to start with this irresistible book?

Gougeres..."the perfect combination of a crusty, caramelized outside and a soft eggy inside."

INGREDIENTS
from Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson's Tartine cookbook

1 1/4 cup non-fat milk (non-fat is crucial to the success of this recipe)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour ( GF folks, I used Pamela's Bread and Flour Mix)
5 large eggs
3/4 cup grated Gruyere
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced

for topping:

1 large egg
1 pinch salt
grated Gruyere for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate cheese and set aside.

Place milk, butter, and salt in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Let the butter melt and milk come to a full boil.

Then add the flour all at once.

Stir vigorously for a few minutes until the ingredients form a thick smooth dough.

Place the dough in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment.

Add one egg at a time. Mix at medium speed until each egg is fully integrated before adding the next.

Using a rubber spatula, mix thyme, Gruyere, and pepper into the dough.

At this point the book suggests that you can use a pastry bag to make little gougeres. I don't happen to have a pastry bag, so I followed the directions for a larger, 4 inch sized gougeres. Simply scoop 3 inch mounds of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Brush the tops of each mound with lightly beaten egg and then sprinkle with extra Gruyere. Space about 2 inches apart.

These larger (sandwich roll)-sized gougeres should be baked in the oven for 35-45 minutes. According to Prueitt and Robertson, when the gougeres are done, they are "puffed, light for their size, and golden brown." When making this larger size, poke the cooked gougeres with a toothpick several times to allow steam to be released, this will help prevent collapse.

Serve warm or at room temp.

We ate a number of these tasty morsels straight out of the oven and then we saved a few to stuff with homemade tarragon chicken salad.

Otis remarked they are like an cheesy popover. Yum!

Makes 8-10 large gougeres.

TARRAGON CHICKEN SALAD

2010-07-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

It's summer time, though you wouldn't know it with this wintry weather we are having here in Berkeley. Regardless of the temperature outside, during the summer season I cannot seem to eat enough salad. Around noon, I peer into the fridge and start to imagine a meal based on what we've got on-hand. Fresh cherries marinated in balsamic with toasted hazelnuts and goat cheese has been a new discovery. Or arugula, hard-boiled egg, and thinly sliced fennel is a standby. And almost any salad with avocado makes me happy.

We often have leftover roast chicken, a prime candidate for salad-making, and this tarragon chicken is one of our favorites. There are a few unexpected ingredients - fennel, shallots, and pine nuts - but otherwise the salad is a classic that always seems to be a crowd pleaser, working as a simple lunch or a great picnic.

Serve salad on a bed of butter lettuce or eat on a sandwich. We devoured ours on homemade gougeres. I'll have that recipe for you next week.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound leftover roasted chicken, or chicken breast (with skin and bone removed)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup mayonnaise (please try homemade... it will make you smile)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/3 cup finely chopped fennel bulb
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallot (you could also use red onion)
1/3 cup crisp green apple, julienned
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
butter lettuce
fresh bread or gougere

If you are going to make your own mayo, do so now and set aside.

Lightly toast pine nuts on the stove top. Of course you can roast nuts in the oven, but my mother-in-law converted me to using the stove top. You can keep an eye on the nuts, giving them a shake every few minutes to insure even toasting. When done, set aside.

If you don't have any leftover chicken and are going to cook chicken for this salad, here's what you do. Preheat oven to 350. Take chicken from the fridge. Generously salt meat. Heat an oven-proof skillet on the stove top at medium to medium high heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the hot pan. Place chicken in the bubbling butter. You don't want the chicken to get really browned, so check that the heat isn't too high. Very lightly sear each side of the chicken. Place the skillet in the oven to finish cooking. It should come out nice and tender.

While the chicken is cooking, prep the other ingredients. Peel apple and cut into julienne. Mince shallot. Finely chop fennel. Chop tarragon.

In a medium bowl, mix 1/3 cup mayonnaise, mustard, shallot, fennel, apple, lemon juice, and two tablespoons tarragon (save the third tablespoon for garnish). Set aside.

When the chicken is cooked and has rested for about 10 minutes to collect its juices, cut into small bite-sized chunks. Note: if you are using leftover roast chicken for this recipe, make sure the meat is room temperature before adding to the salad. Toss chicken and toasted pine nuts in with the other ingredients. Taste for seasoning. Feel free to add a little more mayo, lemon, juice or salt and pepper.

Scoop chicken salad onto bed of butter lettuce or a nice fresh roll. Sprinkle with additional chopped tarragon for garnish.

Serves 6.

WAFFLE POTATOES

2010-07-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

I know. I know.

Simple cooking is my thing and what am I doing making my own waffle cut potatoes? Well, my boy Otis, who is just shy of ten, wanted to make dinner for the family. He had a menu in mind... steak, salad with walnuts and his own signature salad dressing, and waffle cut potatoes. How could I deny my boy the fun of cooking this delicious meal? I kept reminding myself that at least the steak and salad were simple enough.

In the end, these potatoes were indeed labor intensive and really really good. Otis' first dinner party (he invited our neighbors to join us) was an elegant and tasty affair. I was impressed with his ambition and determination....and all of our bellies were very happy.

INGREDIENTS
from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables

6 medium Russets Potatoes
2 quarts Peanut Oil
Salt
Special cooking items: thermometer for the oil, mandolin with waffle setting

Peel potatoes. Place in cold water until ready to ready to slice.

Get out your mandolin and set it to the 1/16 inch waffle cut setting. Take one potato out of the cold water bath, slice in half and run it across the mandolin waffle blade. (I only let Otis use this mandolin because he is one of the most careful guys I know.)

You want the potatoes to be thin, but not so thin they are fragile. I think we made ours a bit too thin and they were a little crumbly.

After each each slice, turn the potato 180 degrees to make for a criss-crossed pattern.

Wow. It felt like I bit of a miracle that a potato was so quickly transformed to waffle form.

While you are slicing potatoes, place the finished waffled potatoes into a large bowl of cool water until you are done with all the slicing.

Place full bowl of sliced potatoes under cold running water for about 15 minutes until all the potato starch is removed that the water is no longer cloudy.

In the meantime, start to heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pot on the stove top. Place a candy thermometer in the pan to monitor the temperature.

When all the starch has been washed away. Transfer slices to paper towels to dry thoroughly before frying.

When the potatoes are sliced are dry and the oil is at 365 degrees, start to cook slices in smallish batches. Cook quickly until golden brown.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked potatoes to a dry paper towel to soak up the excess oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Keep warm until serving.

Our neighbor remarked that these homemade waffle cut potatoes were so much more potato-y then the store bought version. Without the total salt overkill of their commercial brothers, you can really taste the essence of the potato.

Serves 8

WATERMELON PUNCH WITH FRESH LIME AND CRUSHED MINT

2010-07-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Every time I go for Mexican food, I hope to find watermelon aqua fresca. There is something so perfectly refreshing about this drink for me. Making watermelon aqua fresca at home inspired me to concoct my own summer punch. I could slurp this sweet, tangy, minty punch all day long. If you are are looking for something a little stronger, add a some rum and you have a damned good cocktail.

When I was working on this punch recipe, P and I found ourselves tasting rummy cocktails at ten am - it felt totally decadent and made me think..... this would be a tasty drink to sip at brunch.

Note: Try to make your simple syrup, puree the watermelon, and chill both a few hours before you want to serve the punch. If time doesn't allow for this chilling time, just add plenty of ice and you are good to go.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups watermelon puree ( approximately 1 medium watermelon)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (approximately 4-5 juicy limes)
mint leaves, 1/3 cup loosely packed
1/2 cup, plus 2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup water
boozy option: light rum

Make a simple syrup. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a sauce pan. Heat until sugar has dissolved. Let cool. The simple syrup you don't use for this recipe can be refrigerated and and put to other uses in cocktails or to sweeten your iced coffee or tea.

Cut off watermelon rind.

Remove seeds if there are any.

Place approximately 2 cups of watermelon flesh into your blender. Using your fingers or a spoon, push down the watermelon chunks until they release a bunch of juice (this released liquid will help make the blending easier). Blend thoroughly. Do another batch until you have yielded 4 cups of pureed watermelon. You could strain the watermelon pulp at this point, but I really prefer the thicker texture of the pulp left in. Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Juice limes.

Coarsely chop mint leaves. Crush mint with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Use a mortar and pestle if you have one, otherwise use a wooden spoon in a bowl to pulverize the mint and sugar. When you are done, you will have a well-integrated mint/sugar paste. Add paste to the lime juice.

Mix pureed watermelon and lime juice (with the sugary mint). Add 2-3 tablespoons simple syrup. How much simple syrup you use will depend on the natural sugar content of your watermelon and your own personal preference for sweetness.

Served chilled. Always give the punch a stir before serving to integrate the ingredients.

If you want to transform this punch into a cocktail, I suggest adding 2 tablespoons rum to every cup of punch.