Lemon Plums have hit the market. A bright, happy version of the classic plum; this will put a twist into any springtime fruit situation you’ve got goin’ on.
I’m a bit of a sucker for new flashy fruits or cute veggies of unusually small size. Plum cobbler is my favorite of all fruit cobblers. Coming across this stone fruit made my dessert planning an easy decision. Ingredients like this plum are a prime example of why planning menu details can be counter productive. Planning food around known ingredients can spoil the opportunity for surprise, creation and invention. Which in turn create excitement, which triggers emotion and helps us hold onto a memory.
While the base of this recipe is old, tried, true, and simple. As in all food, It still has to be done properly. This properly cooked cobbler was course 6 of 6. Served with butter roasted, salted cashews and brown sugar/vanilla whipped cream. It was a lovely end to an awesome dinner.
A small group of friends at a Mission beach rental are in full vacation mode. Life’s just beachy with appetizers and a beautiful sunset at cocktail hour. But there’s something special about beach sunsets that make you feel blessed and relaxed.
A good time was had by all this night; with the guests all interested in the goings on of the kitchen more then most. Cooking demo style, we worked through 4 courses and 2 appetizers. One of the client requests was crab cakes. I enjoy crab cakes but haven’t made ’em in awhile…which is great. I enjoy cooking requests and favorites.
The crab cakes where made simply, without much added flavor. Mirepoix with fresh thyme and garlic were there. But a crab cakes magic lies in being moist on the inside and crispy on the outside with minimal, to no bread crumb in the mixture. This version of crab was set with celery root slaw, citrus salad, turmeric oil, pickled Armenian cucumber and edible flowers. However, it took a keen eye and a lust for perfection, for the group to decide which plate up design was the best.
Cardoon is a late fall thistle that pops up in the grocery store every year. Being a thistle, it’s in the artichoke family, which is the reason we eat and buy the scary looking thing. It has a mild bitterness absent in artichokes, but it’s never the overwhelming on the palate. More of an, “oh, yeah, I see what you’re, talking about.”
Preparation
For quick and easy artichoke flavor, you only need 20 minutes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While you are waiting for it to heat, prepare the Cardoon. Rinse off any dirt, then slice or peel away the thorns on the edges. Cut the trimmed stalks into 1/2″ slices and dump into the boiling water with a big pinch of salt. Boil for about 5 minutes or until tender. Strain and toss with good salted butter. They are also great in a casserole.
Wedding trip to Raleigh North Carolina took me to parts unknown. Alone in another city with nothing to do but explore and eat? Yes please.
What to do with time to kill
Eating in any downtown can be fun, especially after walking 15 miles of it. There are always options for fun and food, the only question is: What do you want? Most people are satisfied with trendy places that have fancy whiskey drinks and a large assortment of craft beers. I veer toward history and proof of quality. On my recent trip to Raleigh I wanted ethereal BBQ and fried chicken. Most other things would take a side seat to finding those. Of course I branched out here and there. But nothing ever blew my mind, and I failed on some documentation.
The classics are what I seek
I referenced some life changing fried chicken here. With that in mind, I kept ordering fried chicken at places trying to chase that crispy tender dream. I also pride myself on a top quality biscuit, so when someone boasts best biscuit in the city…I gotta check it out. With all the food in Raleigh I had, nothing made me close my eyes and sigh…except the BBQ. This Eastern style whole hog BBQ chopped pork sandwich was everything I needed and wanted. This sandwich alone allowed me to get on my plane at peace with myself and the world. I ordered another one to-go before I left :-)
Almost perfect pickles…
The biggest ordering mistake I made were these fried pickles. I needed a salad at that point, but didn’t realize it till after I ordered. They were overly salty because the flour dredge was heavily seasoned for other items. With the salty pickles it was too much. However. I still got my answer to the quality of the place and the dish. Yes, over salting was a mistake, but the pickles themselves were either home made, or of very high quality and the cut was great. So overall they told me the place cared about small things. If I were to return and order the pickles. I would be very disappointed if they were salty again.
Overall, Raleigh was clean, safe, friendly and delicious. Cheers to a great town.
Perusing seasonal fruits for menu delectability just got easier. I just introduced myself to Lucy Glow and Lucy Rose apples. They are so good, and so cool. The first flesh colored hybrid Pome I’ve ever seen. On top of the cool color, their friggin’ delicious. The glow, with the darker flesh and golden hued skin tastes and textures like the best Fuji. While the Lucy Rose is like the best honeycrisp I’ve ever had; with some berry notes. Here is a lazy link for info, courtesy of Specialty Produce.
A party is a party. If you’re not having a good time…you’re at a lame party. Is it your fault? Maybe, but probably not. Everyone has a recipe for a good party. I like; great food, music and drinks. Add on some cool people and a tidy place, light some candles if the sun is down and good times are afoot. One thing I have found to be true over the years doing dinner parties everywhere in the county. Parties on the direct beach coastline, like Mission Beach, parts of PB and La Jolla. The hour before sunset is absolutley intoxicating, equaled only by grand mountain views.
Although my food is always moisture rich, I have been efforting sauces lately for photography’s sake. And while I am efforting sauce for pictures…what do I do? A brown sauce, with no shiney counterpoint…Oh well, I’ll keep working on it and will get a new camera soon :-)
My wife and I started reading Harry Potter around 2003 while entertaining ourselves on long roadtrips. Over the years we enjoyed the movies, but, for various reasons we only finished the 3rd book. A few years ago we picked the books back up for and with our boys. We ripped through the first three pretty quickly, but they needed to grow up a bit more as the books progressed.
Being the food minded person I am, I couldn’t see finishing off our last movies without trying my hand at two of the most classic beverages in the series. Butterbeer of course, which I’ve dabbled with since ’07, but always coming back to the original online knock off of the theme park recipe. But I’d made that for the boys before; and I wanted something new and exciting. Something with all the delectable notions of Butterbeer. One that kept popping up and sounding yummy was “Pumpkin Juice”. “Pumpkin Juice” comes up a lot during breakfast time at Hogwarts and always held a notion of nourishment and comfort.
In reality, anything close to plain actual pumpkin juice sounds gaggy. So I went with a mental mix of pumpkin pie and Orange Julius. Although I didn’t incorporate orange flavor, I would like to try this again someday with that flavor in mind. But this one is wicked good.
Pumpkin Juice 2c filtered water 1/3c pumpkin puree 1/4c pure maple syrup pinch of pumpkin pie spice (TJ’s is best) Small pinch cinnamon Small pinch salt 1/4tsp apple cider vinegar 1/4tsp lemon juice 1/4tsp vanilla 1 organic free range egg orange food coloring to look desired
Puree in a blender and serve chilled or over ice
ButterBeer 1 cup light or dark brown sugar 2 tablespoons water 6 tablespoon butter 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar 3/4 cup heavy cream, divided ½ teaspoon butterscotch extract Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda
In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer. Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4c of the heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature and add the butterscotch. In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes. To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass).
Ahhhh, the Pacific Northwest. Maybe I’m just always on vacation, doing what I love, with who I love; but it always feels right. My wife and I visited Seattle over Labor Day. A although we’ve been there a few times, we still keep missing Pikes Place Market for some reason. I guess that means another trip is in the future :-)
When traveling, I’m usually doing what I can to somehow “taste the region”. That could involve one bite at one place, or many bites at many places. Last time I went to Colorado, I was doing everything I could to find cool game meat. Which was great tearing down on some elk and rattlesnake. This year, I had a craving for NW mollusks that aren’t common in other areas. That meant NW oysters and geoduck. Not having had geoduck in years, it was a treat. But I wasn’t loving the salmon eggs scattered over everything. They dominated rather then played with the flavor. The turmeric oil was lovely and the clam was perfectly prepared.
Oysters can be frustrating because I don’t have them often enough to remember the correct names. There are distinct differences between oyster flavors, so it really matters what you order. We carefully enjoyed and articulated our oysters at Taylor Shellfish,. But alas, I forgot which were which, even though we took this reminder pic.
Working from the fatties on the right, to the left in pairs. The oyster selection was great, great, not good, ok, and amazing. Although I’m sure there are local favorites that Seattleites go to for seafood. I found Taylors searching online for geoduck and they had great Yelp reviews. Enjoyed ourselves so much that we ruined our time table to see Pikes Place. Oh well, at least there was time to blow my taste buds open with some salami from Salumi.
Back to Batalli’s
What used to be famous for being Mario Batalli’s Dad’s joint This place is now just a great old Seattle staple that doesn’t disappoint. As I’m typing this, I’m gnawing on a slice of the whole grain mustard salami pictured below that is just….drool. Although my current (and very temporary) diet disallows me chile flake. I still ordered the chile rolled coppa because I have a hard time controlling myself :-|
A 50th birthday, a 25th reunion and a vacationing big family BBQ were all wonderful parties this summer. Two at gorgeous Airbnb rentals and another on Mt Helix in La mesa; there was, as usual, an abundance of good laughs, great food and awesome people. This summer has me all around the county, from Chula Vista and Jamul, to The Elfin Forest in Escondido.
My wife and I honeymooned in Greece, and I’ll never forget the dry desert breeze against the brundly ocean. I felt at home in Greece because it’s weather was very much like our local deserts, where my family vacationed often in my youth. So I often refer to San Diego as the American Mediterranean because our irrigated desert has an almost continuous dry breeze that can put you in vacation mode faster then you can say Margarita. Recently I prepared a big family style buffet for a happy family from Austin, Texas that were enjoying all the bounty the American Mediterranean has to offer.
Butter browned brussels with rhubarb and sweet onion Pickled Guaco Taco Duck breast wrapped cotton candy grape with chile arbol and cinnamon
Grilled prime tri-tip Seared yellowtail with grilled shrimp and soy dipping sauce Artichoke mashed potatoes Blackend chile corn and fresh fava beans Grilled purple cauliflower and peeled broccolini stems Marinated kale and celery root salad with roasted butternut brunoise and pepitas Tomato salad with pickled cucumber, jicima and radish Roasted plum over white velvet cream draped butter cake