Inspired by California-Mediterranean cuisines and farmers markets, I cook healthy, flavorful dishes that are easy-to-prepare yet elegant. I write for Zester Daily, One for the Table, Luxury Travel Magazine, Huffington Post & New York Daily News. My latest Amazon eCookbook is 10 Delicious Holiday Recipes. My handcrafted chocolates are available at www.dchocolates.com. "Subscribe via email" and you'll get an email whenever I post a new recipe.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Garlic Toasts and Farmers' Market Tomatoes
Taking advantage of all those tomatoes is imperative.
I especially enjoy the sweetness of cherry tomatoes. I've skewered them. Roasted and turned them into pasta sauce. Used them in salads. Served them with fresh mozzarella. Recently I discovered a new combination that is perfect for a summer meal.
With a nod to bruschetta, the vegetable and cheese topping contrasts with the garlic toasts, but the bread should be cut thin, about 1/4" thick, the easier to break apart with a knife and fork.
Assemble the salad at the last minute so the toasts stay crunchy.
Garlic Toasts Topped with Farmers' Market Fresh Vegetables
Yield 4 servings
Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
8 slices Italian bread, thin sliced, 1/4" thick
4 garlic cloves, skins removed, finely chopped
1 basket cherry tomatoes, stems removed, washed, quartered
1/4 cup olives cracked green or black, pitted, finely chopped
1 bunch Italian parsley, washed, leaves only, finely chopped
1 tablespoon red onion, finely chopped
1 cup fresh mozzarella, dried, roughly chopped
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, roughly chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
Method
In a small sauce pan, reduce the balsamic vinegar by half over a low flame, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large frying pan, add the chopped garlic and the thin slices of Italian bread. Saute until lightly browned on both sides. Add olive oil as needed but only enough so the slices brown evenly.
Place the sauteed bread on the bottom of a large bowl, add the Italian parsley, avocado, red onion, mozzarella, quartered cherry tomatoes, and slivered olives.
Drizzle with olive oil and the reduced balsamic vinegar. Season with sea salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Variations
Add 1 ear corn, boiled or grilled, kernels removed
Add 5 grilled shrimp, roughly chopped
Add 1 cup grilled chicken breast, roughly chopped
Add 4 anchovies, finely chopped
Add 1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
Friday, August 14, 2009
Now & Later Meals: Grilled Corn Has a Second Act as a Salad
When I was growing up, my mom loved to search out road side stands that sold fresh corn. She'd buy a grocery bag full and we'd feast on boiled corn with slabs of melting butter, seasoned liberally with salt and pepper.
I still enjoy corn that way, but now more often than not our corn on the cob comes to the table grilled not boiled.
Shucked and drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and pepper, then turned on a grill until lightly browned, the naturally sweet kernels are sweetened even more by caramelization. Yumm.
For a snack, nothing is better than an ear of corn pulled from the refrigerator. But there's more that can be done with those grilled ears of corn. Cutting the kernels off, they can go into a chopped salad and move from side dish to entree.
And on hot days, that's another marker of summer--putting meals on the table with as little effort as possible.
Now: Farmers' Market Fresh Grilled Corn on the Cob
Later: Grilled Corn and Chopped Vegetable Salad
NOW: Grilled Corn on the Cob
The most important part of this recipe is the corn itself. The fresher the corn, the better the taste. When you're picking out corn, select ears that have green husks and golden silks.
Yield 4 servings plus left-overs (which you will need for the LATER recipe)
Time 15 minutes
Ingredients
8 ears of corn, shucked, silks removed, washed
3 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat the grill.
Break the ears in half or cut into 3" lengths. The ears you're saving to make the salad can be left whole. Pour the olive oil onto a large plate. Season with sea salt and pepper. Roll each piece of corn in the oil.
Using tongs, grill the corn on all sides until lightly browned. Remove from the grill and serve hot.
LATER: Parsley-Corn Chopped Salad
The salad can be prepared ahead and refrigerated but it tastes better if served at room temperature.
Yield 4 servings
Time 15 minutes
Ingredients
3-4 ears of grilled corn
1 large bunch Italian parsley, washed, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, skin on
1 tablespoon yellow onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, washed, peeled, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and pepper
Directions
Put the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan and reduce by half over a low flame. Set aside to cool.
Using a sharp knife, cut off the kernels and put into a mixing bowl. Place the garlic clove on a skewer or the point of a sharp knife. Char in a flame so the skin burns off. Brush off any bits of burnt skin and roughly chop the garlic.
Add the charred garlic, parsley, and onions to the mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and reduced balsamic vinegar. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.
Transfer to a serving dish.
Variations
Instead of using a raw carrot, grill a carrot cut into slabs 1/4" thick; dredged the slabs in seasoned olive oil and grill until lightly browned; let cool and chop into pieces the same size as the corn kernels; add to the salad
Grill asparagus dredged in seasoned olive oil, then chop into pieces and add to the salad
Quarter cherry tomatoes and add to the salad
Add 1 cup cooked couscous
Add 1 medium sized avocado, peeled, roughly chopped
Add 6 medium sized shrimp, washed, peeled, deveined, and grilled, roughly shopped
Crumble 3 pieces of crisp bacon on the salad and toss
Shred 1/2 cup turkey or chicken breast and add to the salad
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Cherry Tomatoes and Pasta Go Hand in Hand
The cherry tomatoes are sweet like candy.
At this time of year, cherry tomatoes are plentiful. Not just in our garden, which has gone kind of cherry-tomato-crazy, but in the farmers' markets as well. Big baskets of perfectly ripe tomatoes are selling for $1.00/basket. They're perfect for salads and skewering. With a plentiful supply, they also make a delicious pasta sauce.
Pasta alla Checca
Yield 4 servings
Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 pound pasta, penne, gnocchi style, fussili, or spaghetti
1 basket farmers' market fresh cherry tomatoes, stems removed, washed, quartered
1 bunch basil, washed, stems removed
1 garlic clove, skin removed, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Method
Put the quartered tomatoes into a large bowl, season with sea salt and pepper, add the olive oil,minced garlic, and toss. Do this a few minutes before you cook the pasta.
Add the kosher salt to a large pot with a gallon of water, heat to boiling, add the pasta, and stir well. Stir every couple of minutes to prevent the pasta from sticking together. After 10 minutes sample a piece of pasta. When it's cooked to your taste, strain, and put the pasta into the bowl with the seasoned tomatoes.
Toss well. Chop or tear by hand the basil leaves and add to the pasta. Top with grated cheese and serve immediately.
Variations
Over an open flame, char the garlic clove with the skin still on. Remove the blackened skin, mince the garlic
Add 1/4 cup finely chopped, pitted olives, cracked green or black
Add 2 anchovies, minced
Add 1 tablespoon red onion, finely chopped or cut into thin rings
Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce
Cooked into a sauce, cherry tomatoes have a flavor that is different from their large-bodied cousins. One basket makes enough sauce to serve 4 people, so the price-break is good.
If you want, the sauce can be made ahead, frozen, and used weeks later with little loss of flavor.
Yield 4 servings
Time 60 minutes
Ingredients
2 baskets farmers' market fresh cherry tomatoes, stems removed, washed
4 garlic cloves, skins removed, minced
1 cup Italian parsley leaves, washed, finely chopped
4 shiitake or brown mushrooms, washed, finely chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, skin removed, washed, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet butter
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Toss the cherry tomatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, half of the minced garlic, season with sea salt and pepper, place on a baking tray that has been lined with a Silpat or parchment sheet. Bake 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
Reserve the seasoned olive oil in the bowl and use to saute the remaining garlic, parsley, onion, and mushrooms until lightly browned. Set aside.
Put the roasted tomatoes, including all the liquid on the baking tray, through a food mill. Add the tomato sauce and pulp to the saute pan.
Simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the sweet butter, taste, and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and pepper.
Toss with pasta and serve with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
Variations
Use the tomato sauce without the vegetable saute
With the vegetables, saute 1 cup smoked sausage or Italian sausage, finely chopped, until lightly browned
Use fresh basil instead of the Italian parsley
Add 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne to the saute
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Risotto with Farmers' Market Fresh Squash Blossoms and Baby Zucchini
After much hesitation, I finally took the plunge and you know what I discovered, making risotto is easy, requiring only a little more skill than making pasta.
In fact, think of risotto and pasta as two sisters. The key to both is what goes on top.
Just about everything you like with pasta will work with risotto. Most vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, and fresh herbs if sauteed first can be added to risotto just the way you'd add them to cooked pasta. And both like a bit of freshly grated cheese on top.
This past Sunday at the Pacific Palisades Farmers' Market, I could have chosen any number of fresh vegetables to use for the risotto: corn, tomatoes, asparagus, peppers--red, yellow, orange, or green--carrots, onions, Italian parsley, kale, or spinach. I settled on squash blossoms with baby zucchini because one of my favorite farmers, John Sweredoski insisted that I had to get them, they were that fresh, that good.
He was right.
Risotto with Farmers' Market Fresh Squash Blossoms and Baby Zucchini
Yield 4 servings
Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano rice
10 squash blossoms
6 baby zucchinis, washed, ends trimmed, cut into thin rounds
4 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
6 shiitake or brown mushrooms, washed, thinly sliced and roughly chopped
1/2 yellow onion, peeled, finely chopped
4 cups broth, vegetable, chicken, or beef, preferably home made
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet butter
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Slice open each squash blossom. Cut off the stem and pistil and discard. Flatten the blossoms on a cutting board and cut length-wise into thin strips. In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and saute all the vegetables until lightly browned. Remove and set aside.
In the same pan add the other tablespoon of olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add the risotto and saute on a medium flame, turning frequently, until the grains start to be translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of broth, deglazing the pan and stirring the grains with the liquid until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid. Keep stirring.
After 10 minutes, add back the sauteed vegetables and mix together with the rice.
After another 5 minutes, add the butter and stir well, continuing to add 1/2 cup of broth at a time. Season with sea salt and pepper. From this point on, start tasting the rice.
When the risotto is done to your taste, Make sure you have enough liquid because a good risotto has a nice amount of gravy.
Serve immediately because the rice will continue to absorb the liquid even after you've taken the pan off the burner. Sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese on top.
Variations
Add a roasted tomato, skin removed, roughly torn apart, with its juice
Saute the kernels from one ear of corn with the other vegetables
Saute 1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley with the other vegetables
Add 1/2 cup sauteed diced sausage pieces
Add 2 pounds fresh butter clams, cooked in 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes covered over high heat, add the opened clams and broth at the same time you return the sauteed vegetables to the pan
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Summer Vegetable Risotto
This past Sunday at the Palisades Farmers' Market, we picked up several ears of fresh corn and some baby zucchini. We also bought carrots, spinach, Italian parsley, scallions, green garlic, squash, asparagus, English peas, spinach, and broccoli, any of which would be good in the risotto.
To make risotto requires a variety of rice--Carnaroli, Violone or Arborio-- with a high starch content, the source of risotto's distinctive creamy quality.
For the liquid, you have a lot of choices: vegetable, chicken, meat, or fish stock, wine, even water with a pat of butter added for flavor. You'll achieve the best results if you use homemade stock with its fresher taste and lower sodium content.
Risotto likes a steady hand, stirring frequently for 18-20 minutes. Because the rice both releases starches into and absorbs the stock, there is a window of a few minutes when the rice is simultaneously al dente and the broth creamy. Past that point, the grains bond together, becoming gummy like porridge, which still tastes good but isn't risotto.
Those last moments are crucial and the rice wants all your attention. Whatever you want to add to the risotto should either cook in a few minutes like spinach or be prepared ahead and added in those last moments.
Serve immediately because the rice will keep absorbing the broth even after you've removed the risotto from the stove.
Risotto with Farmers' Market Fresh Vegetables
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 large tomato, washed
1 small yellow onion, peeled, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
1 ear of corn, shucked, kernels removed
4 baby zucchini, washed, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups risotto
3 1/2 cups homemade stock, vegetable, chicken, fish, meat, or wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sweet butter (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut out the stem part of the tomato. Put the tomato on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes. Remove, let cool to the touch, peel off the skin and discard, tear apart and reserve the pulp and juice in a bowl. The tomato can be roasted ahead and frozen. That way it is ready and waiting whenever you need it to spice up a sauce or stew or, in this case, a risotto.
Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan. On a medium flame, saute the onions, garlic, and corn kernels until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Drizzle the 2nd tablespoon of olive oil in the pan, season with sea salt and pepper, add the rice, stir and cook for 2 minutes, then add 1/2 cup of stock. The stock will deglaze the pan, adding the caramelized flavors of the vegetables to the rice.
Continue stirring. Add another 1/2 cup of stock as the rice absorbs the stock. Continue adding a 1/2 cup of stock at a time, stirring, and adding more stock. Do this for 18-20 minutes until the rice is al dente.
When the rice is almost cooked, add back the sauteed vegetables and roasted tomato pulp. Stir well, taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil or a pat of butter.
Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
Variations
To the saute add 4 mushrooms, brown or shiitake, washed, dried, thinly sliced
To the saute add 1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves
Add 1 cup grilled chicken breast, cut into small pieces
Add 1 cup asparagus cut into 1/2" pieces to the saute
Add 1 cup grilled Italian sausage, cut into small pieces
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Couscous and Bulgar Salads are Affordable, Easy to Make and Oh So Good for You
When we visit her parents, I usually do some of the cooking under her mom's supervision. The first time I cooked in Helen's kitchen I was showing off my then-specialty: whole roasted chicken cooked at high temperature. The impact on her kitchen was regrettable. The "high heat" was so high that her corningware roasting pan exploded. The resulting splatter on the inside of her oven took several days to clean. Needless to say I didn't make the best first-impression on my prospective mother-in-law. Luckily the chicken was delicious but I haven't used her oven since.
Couscous is one of Michelle's staples, so she took along a box of whole wheat couscous from Trader Joe's. Since she hadn't made it before, I wanted her to have the recipe for the weekend.
The recipes for couscous are the same as for bulgar. They are delicious as salads and side dishes. They accommodate any number of vegetables and herbs.
Couscous or Bulgar Salad with Celery
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup instant couscous or fine grained bulgar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 celery stalk, washed, leaves removed, finely chopped
1 scallion, washed, ends trimmed, finely chopped
5 Italian parsley sprigs, leaves removed, washed, finely chopped
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Boil the water. Put the couscous or bulgar into a bowl, add the water, stir, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, cover with plastic wrap for 10 minutes.
Using a fork, fluff the couscous or bulgar, add the rest of the olive oil, season with sea salt and pepper to taste, toss with the celery, scallion, and parsley.
Serve at room temperature as a salad or a side dish.
Variations:
Add chopped raw tomatoes
Add Iranian cucumbers, washed, peeled, finely chopped
Add 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
Add currants
Couscous or Bulgar with Grilled Vegetables
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup instant couscous or fine grained bulgar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large carrot, washed, peeled, ends removed, cut into 1" long slabs, 1/4" thick
1 large broccoli crown, washed, cut into 1" long slabs, 1/4" thick
5 Italian parsley sprigs, leaves removed, washed, finely chopped
Sea salt and pepper
Boil the water. Put the couscous or bulgar into a bowl, add the water, stir, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, cover with plastic wrap for 10 minutes.
Toss the carrots and broccoli pieces with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper. Grill or roast in a 350 degree oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool and finely chop.
Using a fork, fluff the couscous or bulgar, add the rest of the olive oil, season with sea salt and pepper to taste, toss with the cut up carrots and broccoli.
Serve at room temperature as a salad or a side dish.
Variations:
Add 1/4 cup corn kernels, seasoned with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper, grilled or roasted
Add 1/4 cup olives, pitted, chopped
Add 1 cup spinach leaves, no stems, washed, roughly chopped
Monday, February 2, 2009
What's New in Santa Monica? Copa d'Oro
Before it closed, the mall had been overshadowed by the success of the Promenade's mile long shopping and entertainment corridor. The mall's decline had impacted the businesses along Broadway. The sidewalks always seemed littered. The restaurants, bars, and stores had a run-down, abandoned feeling.
When Santa Monica Place reopens, the area will be reinvigorated as the mall celebrates its proximity to the beach. What was once a closed box monolith will have been transformed into an elegant, open air plaza.
Looking to that future, Jonathan Chu who already has Buddha's Belly on the block, opened an intimate bar, Copa d'Oro (217 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90401; 310/576-3030) across the street from Macy's (soon to be replaced by Bloomingdale's).
The food at the bar is simplicity itself, a short list of panini. The drinks are something else entirely. Vincenzo Marianella, a bartender who has mastered the classics and innovates like a master of improvisation, is the star attraction. Taking his cue from the well-known Santa Monica Farmers' Markets, Marianella relies on what's fresh, seasonal, and local. Spread along the bar is an array of vegetables and fruits more likely to be seen in Alice Waters' kitchen.
You can order from the bar menu or ask for a drink featuring any of the fruits, herbs, or vegetables displayed on the bar: strawberries, grapefruit, passion fruit, apples, pear, grape, orange, kiwi, papaya, mango, apple, lemons, mint, rosemary, basil, sage, thyme, parsley, bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, habenero, wasabi, ginger...
Pick your spirit and what comes back is uniquely blended for you. Never too sweet, the mixology at Copa d'Oro brings out the best in the ingredients.
Sitting at the bar, listening to the laughter and easy conversations around me, I enjoy a tall iced glass of passion fruit, Aperol, and vodka and imagine how nice it will be when Santa Monica Place reopens.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Blackened Peppers Go to the Head of the Class for Versatility
Peppers can be used raw in salads or in a crudité and they're a welcome addition to a stir fry or a sauté.
I've come up with a way of prepping peppers so they're even more versatile.
Grilling Peppers on the Stove Top
To start, simply grill the peppers on top of a gas range, remove the blackened skin, discard the seeds, and put them in a sealed jar where they'll keep a week in the refrigerator or for months in the freezer.
Miraculously overnight the peppers will create their own oil. The peppers can then be used as an appetizer on bread with cheese, in a pasta, or a sauté.
Use a mix of peppers so the result is that much more colorful. As a side note, I haven't had as much success grilling green or purple peppers, so I stick to the red, yellow, and orange ones.
Blackened Peppers with Capers, Parsley, and Garlic
Yield: 6-8 servings
Time: 15 minutes
To add more layers of flavor, I've come up with a simple marinade.
Ingredients
3-4 red, yellow, or orange peppers (washed, pat dried)
4 garlic cloves (skin on)
1 tablespoon capers (drained, finely chopped)
1 tablespoon parsley leaves (washed, dried, finely chopped)
1/4 cup oil from the grilled peppers
4 anchovy fillets (finely chopped) optional
Method
Lay the peppers on a wire rack on a gas burner with the flame turned up high. Turn frequently so the charring happens evenly. Be sure to char the tops and bottoms of the peppers as well. Let cool on a plate, then remove the blackened skin and cut open the peppers and discard the seeds. Put the cooked peppers in a jar and refrigerate.
In the morning you'll find that the peppers have created an oil, approximately 1/4 cup for every 3-4 grilled peppers. The peppers can be kept in any form you like: whole, quartered, julienned, or diced.
The garlic can be used either raw or grilled. If cooked, they'll have a milder flavor, which I prefer. Leave the outer skin or paper on the garlic and skewer the cloves. Blacken them on an open flame on top of the stove until the skins have all but burnt away. Remove and finely chop.
Toss together the peppers, garlic, parsley, and capers. Return to the sealed jar and keep in the refrigerator.
Marinated Peppers as an Appetizer
Yield: 8 servings
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
2 cups marinated peppers (julienned or finely chopped)
1/2 pound soft cheese
Olive oil
Pepper flakes
Sea salt and pepper
Toast rounds or crackers
Method
Perfect for a TV-watching party (Presidential debates, football games, any reality show) or an appetizer with wine before a meal, the peppers have so many layers of flavor, they go well with lightly toasted or grilled toast rounds or even with crackers.
Start with a thin slice of goat cheese, a triple cream, or mozzarella, lay on a strand of marinated pepper, and drizzle some of the pepper's own oil. There are variations to play with: add chopped avocado or scallions or cherry tomatoes or grilled corn...
Top with a little olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper.
Add a bowl of olives and a glass of chilled white wine, and you'll have an easy-to-make starter.
Vegetarian Pasta with Blackened Peppers and Garlic
Yield: 4 servings
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
3/4 box pasta, penne, cavatappi, or spaghetti (cooked in boiling salted water until al dente)
1 cup pasta water
1 cup marinated grilled marinated peppers
1 tablespoon red or yellow onion (peeled, finely chopped)
1 cup olives, cracked green or kalamata (pitted, quartered)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
1 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese (grated)
Method
Sauté the marinated peppers, butter, and deglaze the pan with the pasta water. Simmer a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the pasta and toss, continuing to reduce the sauce until it coats the pasta. Add the olives and onions, toss. Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and pepper. If you're using anchovies, you won't need any salt.
Top with the grated cheese, finish with a drizzle of olive oil, toss and serve with a green salad.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Grilled Corn Salads
Summer for me is defined by vegetables: great tomatoes, corn, melons... Our favorite way of preparing corn is simply grilling the ears on the grill with a little olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Eaten on the cob is so delicious but added to salads is also a great way to go.
I posted 2 recipes on Mark Bittman's site, Bitten. One combines the grilled corn with parsley, the other features tomatoes. They're easy to make and go with just about anything. Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Word of Mouth: San Gabriel’s Chung King
Not all Chung King’s are created equally. The only one to try, according to Nicole is the one run by Linda Huang’s at her address at
We weren’t able to join Jonas when he led a recent outing to the restaurant. Our visit last weekend was completely serendipitous. We had driven out to Banning to pay our respects to my mom who is buried there. If you have ever gone to
My mom used to joke that the most beautiful place in Banning was the cemetery and our last trip there proved her correct on that score. Blissfully quiet, the graves are placed on a broad plateau that sits high above the desert floor. No freeway or town noise reaches this far up into the mountains. Eventhough the dry heat bakes the landscape, the well-watered grass is green around the graves and the trees that surround the plateau stand straight and tall. We shared a peaceful moment with my mom, had a group hug, and then headed back to LA.
We were tired and hungry and debated whether or not we should take the time to stop and eat or just go straight home. We realized that we would drive through
The advantage of eating with a large group is being able to sample more of the menu. With four of us, we stayed close to familiar dishes: Kung Pao Chicken (#59), Green Beans (#105), Wonton Soup (#31), and Szechwan Shredded Pork (#53). I took a chance with a dish I hadn't seen before, something called Crispy Rice Crust with Shrimp (#77). Frank discovered the pickled
The first dish was the Szechwan Flavors Cold Dishes. Perfectly seasoned with just the right amount of heat, the sea weed and bean sprouts (with a few slices of carrots and shredded scallions thrown in for contrast) were delicious. I ate them as a topping to the steaming rice. We had barely gotten half way through the large serving when the Kung Pao Chicken arrived, Michael’s favorite. The outside of the chicken was crispy, the inside moist. The caramelized sauce was counter-balanced by the heat of the
Then the Shredded Pork arrived. Again, the flavors were perfectly balanced, the meat succulent. After our time in the desert and almost four hours driving, the meal was starting to revive us. Then came two revelations: the Crispy Rice Crust with Shrimp and the Won Ton Soup.
Actually called Broth Wonton, the soup was a minimalist version of a won ton soup. No carrots, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, bok choy, or chicken, the soup was as advertised, broth + wontons with a sprinkling of chopped scallions. The soup was lightly spiced with black pepper but was otherwise fat free and clear. The pork inside the won tons was sweet and lightly seasoned. This was soup and won ton wrapper and pork, pure and simple. Each ingredient as fresh as possible, each complimening the other with simplicity. In her novels and food articles, Nicole Mones speaks eloquently about the sophistication of Chinese cooking. The soup was such a good example of what she describes.
And then there was the Crispy Rice. I thought this might be like a Korean rice dish I’d had before with the rice crisped on the bottom of a hot stone pot, but this was something else entirely. A clear sauce, stir fried vegetables—bok choy, carrots, onions, tree mushrooms, fresh bamboo shoots--and shrimp were ladled on top of half a dozen crispy rice cakes. Where the sauce had touched the rice cakes, they had begun to soften, but where they were still separate from the sauce, they retained their crunchy, smoky flavor.
We ate and talked and ate again, the food reviving us after a long, hot day. The meal was perfect for the occasion, because we were hungry and because my mother was famously a lover of Asian food: Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese (her favorite). It was appropriate that we had visited her just before and then eaten at Chung King. She would have enjoyed the meal.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
From Los Angeles to UC Davis with a Stop at San Francisco's Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market
The last time I shopped at the market I was working for
For an appetizer Ron was going to barbeque skewers of
There were stand-outs at the market: large bunches of watercress from White Crane Springs Ranch, peaches and nectarines from Frog Hollow Farm, and Ella Bella Farm's broccoli di cicco (sprouted broccoli). We also bought corn, tomatoes, arugula, and Italian parsley. The market is such a treat. Even if you didn't need to shop, walking through the crowds and enjoying the visual experience of the waterfront setting is more than enough reason to come to the market.
Ironically we would have missed one of the best parts of the market if the forest fires weren't raging in
We hadn't planned to eat at the market because we were on our way to
Claire had patiently endured our extra time at the market. We owed it to her to finish shopping quickly. While she ate a breakfast muffin from Downtown Bakery, I picked up a chicken from the Golden Gate Meat Company and a piece of Capricious cheese from Achadinha Cheese Company.
Later that afternoon Ron, Michelle, and I cooked our dinner, which included grilled chicken, sausages, and vegetables; a summer drink of white rum, mint, and limes that combines the best of a Mojito and a Caipirinha; Ron's skewers of Wagyu beef and morels were amazing, the morels' earthiness perfectly complimented the meat's buttery sweetness; chopped liver and egg salad; grilled lavash; arugula and carrot salad; chopped salad; watercress with grated Capricious cheese; and the banana chocolate chip walnut cake.
Of all the dishes we made, what Marii liked best was the chopped salad with grilled vegetables and Italian parsley. There will be more about the rest of the dinner in subsequent posts, but I wanted to start with Marii's favorite dish.
Summer's Best Chopped Salad
A salad with an infinite number of variations.
Yield 4 servings
Time 45 minutes
Ingredients
2 bunches Italian parsley (washed, finely chopped, leaves and stems)
1 large avocado (peeled, pit removed, roughly chopped)
4 carrots (washed, peeled, cut into 1/4" thick, 2" long slabs)
2 scallions (washed, ends trimmed)
4 ears of corn (husks and silks removed, washed)
1/2 pound broccoli (washed, ends trimmed, stems peeled, florets cut into 1/4" thick, 2" long slabs; if using sprouted broccoli grill whole)
1/2 pound string beans (washed, ends trimmed)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and pepper
Method
Put the chopped parsley and avocado into a large mixing bowl. Heat a barbecue grill. Drizzle olive oil on the vegetables, season with sea salt and pepper. Grill 5-10 minutes until lightly brown. If you don't have a grill, you can accomplish a similar result in a 350 degree oven. Turn frequently in either case so the vegetables don't burn. Remove and let cool.
Reduce the balsamic vinegar in a saucepan on a low flame until you have a quarter of the original volume. The vinegar will become sweet.
Finely chop the grilled vegetables, add to the parsley, drizzle with olive oil and reduced balsamic, season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Toss well and transfer to a salad bowl.
Variations
Keep the salad vegetarian and grill any vegetable you enjoy, like squash, asparagus, onions or mushrooms, chop, and add to the salad.
Add cheese such as crumbled feta, finely chopped comte, mozzarella, Swiss or cheddar.
Add chopped artichoke bottoms.
Add chopped hardboiled eggs.
Add homemade croutons.
Add chopped roasted beets.
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