Fresh Pasta with Basil & Tomato

Beautiful tomatoes from the farmer's market, torn basil, minced garlic over warm pasta. Simple, rustic, delicious. My favorite sort of meal.

My Pantry

I've been meaning to take an inventory of my whole pantry but kept putting it off thinking it would take forever. But finally did it yesterday due to the fact that my cable was broken temporarily and I was bored consequentially. But it didn't take long at all and I feel like a weights been lifted off my shoulders due to the organization and cleaning out of my pantry. Here is what I gots. And what I better use now that I am aware of their existence!

GRAINS, BEANS, FLOUR, PASTA
rolled oats
bulgar wheat
brown jasmine rice
brown basmati rice
garbanzo flour
farro
arborio
panko
spanish rice
kalgooksoo
nokdoo (mungbeans)
chickpeas
carnaroli
polenta
all purpose flour
spaghetti
fusili
large penne
egg noodle
soba noodle
spanish white beans
couscous

OIL, VINEGAR, HONEY, SAUCE STUFF
grapeseed oil
roasted almond oil
organic raspberry honey
orange blossom honey
wildflower honey
mirin
italian olive oil
spanish olive oil
canola oil
soy sauce
apple cider vinegar
white distilled vinegar
fish sauce
red vine vinegar
sherry vinegar
canola oil spray
walnut oil
ginger dressing
pomegranate mollasses
white wine vinegar
balsamic vinegar
marsala
rice vinegar
sesame oil
sesame soy oil
bacon bouillon
chicken bouillon
demi-glace

DRIED FRUIT, NUTS, SEEDS
currants
mission figs
california apricots
raw pistachio
sliced almonds
raw almonds
roasted peanuts
poppy seed
rosemary crackers
walnuts (f)
pinenuts (f)
raw blanched almonds (f)

SPICES
steak seasoning
fennel seeds 2 (duplicity is a good reason to keep track of your pantry. 1 bottle will probably go stale. boo.)
cayenne
seaweed powder
star anise
curry powder
ground ginger
oregano 2
allspice
vanilla extract
chili powder
juniper berries
nutmeg
saffron
coriander seeds
cumin
herbs de provence
spicy paprika
cream of tartar
togarashi
baking powder
bay leaves
cinnamon
whole red chilies
pasta seasoning
cinnamon sticks
crushed red pepper
bittersweet paprika
cumin/coriander mix
bonito furikake
pulao rice spice mix 2
indian grilled vege spice mix 2
nasi goreng spice mix
madras curry paste

OTHER PANTRY
tj pav bhaji
sardine
baked beans
menudo
beef chili
corn
tuna in water
canned chicken (my mom bought this!)
coconut milk
enchilada sauce
tonic water
tomato paste
soba noodle soup
portugese soup
roasted seaweed for rolls
dried wild mushroom
grape leaves
tj ketchup (the best ketchup ever)
spicy bbq sauce
hot chili peppers
giardinara
san marzano tomatoes
spring roll wrappers

FREEZER
fresh bread crumbs
edamame
turkey meatloaf
puff pastry shells
puff pastry sheets
phyllo
corn
baguette
fish sticks
chicken sausage
buffalo popcorn shrimp
pork belly
samgyupsal (thinly sliced pork belly)
chadolbaeggi (sliced deckle)
nengmyun
vege lasagne
brown vege curry
kimchi gook
dumplings

FRIDGE
duck fat
parmesan rinds
rosemary pecorino
grana padano
smoked provolone
grated gruyere
carmelized onion
roasted garlic

I haven't gone food shopping in a while so that's why the only things left in my fridge is cheese!

Summer Pudding

Less than perfect according to what I saw on Barefoot Contessa, but I'm sure no less delicious. With blueberries, raspberries and strawberries that are cooked down in a bit of sugar and water, and buttery brioche to soak it all up into a little pretty cake, the only thing that can make this summer pudding better is freshly whipped cream. And mimosas. :)


Summer Pudding (Barefoot Contessa)

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 half-pints fresh raspberries, divided
2 half-pints fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons framboise (raspberry brandy)
1 loaf brioche or egg bread (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)

Combine the strawberries, sugar, and 1/4 cup of water in a large saucepan and cook uncovered over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of the raspberries and all the blueberries and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches a simmer, and simmer for a minute. Off the heat, stir in the remaining raspberries and the framboise.

Slice the bread in 1/2-inch-thick slices and remove the crusts. In the bottom of a 7 1/2-inch round by 3-inch high souffle or baking dish, ladle about 1/2 cup of the cooked berry mixture. Arrange slices of bread in a pattern (this will become the top when it's unmolded) and then add more berry mixture to saturate. Continue adding bread, cutting it to fit the mold, and berries. Finish with bread and cooked berries, using all of the fruit and syrup.

Place a sheet of plastic wrap loosely over the pudding. Find a plate approximately the same diameter as the inside of the mold and place it on top. Weight the mold with a heavy can and refrigerate. Remove the weight after 6 to 8 hours. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, run a knife around the outside of the pudding and unmold it upside down onto a serving plate. Serve in wedges with rum whipped cream.

Rosemary Parmesan Polenta Bites

Can you guess where the above polenta "stars" came from? Well its an easy peasy question considering the little polenta circles that left behind the spread of stars is featured on the prior post.

Try to use up scraps whenever you make food. You never know, it might just be super delicious. I broiled off the little polenta stars and here is what came out:



The star edges are essential to this being delicious because they brown and crisp up so nicely. Crispy and cheesy with a teeny bit of heat from red pepper flakes. I think it would make a perfect anju (side dishes that accompany alcohol) to a nice chilled glass of beer. So next time you make polenta cakes, save the leftover bits and transform into something delicious like these polenta poppers!

Opening Party + Summer + Hor d'oeuvres

My blog stamina has been lacking these days. I seriously don't know what I do at work. Every morning I used to go down my blog bookmarks (back then there was about 30). Each and every single one I would peek into as soon as I got to work while eating breakfast of some sort. Now days, I neither blog like a loony nor blog surf with speed and agility as I used to. But I don't work either. So what the hell am I doing?!

Hmm, not blogging on time is one of em. Recently I catered my biggest production to date. It was a hair salon opening party and the gig fell into my lap via a few friends who recruited me for help. But somehow I took charge and became the ringleader of this challenge.

Although I was nervous at first at the number of people, once I ran a few logistics through my head, I knew we would have it under control. The client was expecting around 70 people and wanted hor d'oeuvres. I churned my head and thought of these to serve...

Gruyere Gougere



Let's just call these Gruyere Cheese Puffs. Trust me, people will keep saying "what?!" if you say gougere. Basically it's a pate a choux dough piped out into little balls, sprinkled with grated gruyere and baked off til puffed like this:

So much nicer straight out of the oven and before the toll of the unusual LA humidity we were having for a few weeks. However it was delicious and a few guests were hooked on it. Served up in little berry baskets that I saved and accented with complementarily hued flowers, the cheese puffs looked so pretty and unique.

Caponata Canape with Pecorino



Caponata crostinis were wildly successful for one of my Writing Pad menus so I thought why not. Except this time I bought little cocktail cups at Surfas. There is no way I'm baking 120 gougeres and toasting 120 crostinis. In one electric oven. No frickin way. Anyways, these little cups did not disappoint and even one guest mentioned that this was her favorite. Yay!

Caponata, by the way, is a Sicilian dish made up of eggplant, tomato, raisan, capers and red pepper. Of course I had to add cheese to it. I swear I was going to serve it og style but it was missing something. Teeny small diced tangy Pecorino Romano can't hurt right? In fact, it did not hurt and it was even better. Love that pecorino.

Rosemary Polenta with Currant-Pinenut Relish

Polenta is my ever resourceful dish in the kitchen. I made this one in the style of Barefoot Contessa but I think I added more Parmigiano Reggiano. This polenta was wreaking parmesan. That's not a complaint by the way.

I believe the currant pinenut pairing is Italian. I've seen that combo in a few recipes. It's a dynamic combination and this relish is one that will make a veal scallopine special, or maybe a cheese stuffed chicken thigh, or in this case a little polenta cake infused with piney floral rosemary, butter, red pepper flakes, and parmesan.

What a looker too. I really liked the varieties of colors that each dish brought to the table. Cute little edible round stuff in all sorts of colors but organized prettily to bring a smile to my face, the guests face, and most importantly the client's face.



And oh yes, dessert. Dessert isn't my thing but it is everyone else's according to personal experience. My accomplices took charge of baking and with a little help from an unnamed source of immense help, these were easily made and easily consumed. I iced them with Santo's Mascarpone Icing although I failed to make the beautiful spikes. Instead I made little flowers which actually looked cute. Just not as cool as the spikes. I thought hair salon? Spikes? Would have gone funkily cool together but oh wells. I should stay away from desserts. How can I make something good that I don't even like to have that often?

The most people I've catered for so far is about 12. Then jumped to 70! More like 60 but who's counting. It was a success, I was tired, and I was ready to drink at the end.

Where Would I Be

Where would I be if deprived from Asian packaged foods? I would certaintly be at hungry. Today's breakfast - instant miso, Japanese microwave rice, Korean seafood flavor rice seasoning. Simple comfort, all in cute small packages.

Flatbread Pizza; Pig Candy; Roasted Almonds with Fleur de Sel

Flatbread pizzas are so easy to make and so delicious, like any pizza with a good base and good topping. I made two varieties which both started off with a base of ricotta and carmelized onion. Then they split off - one was crowned with roasted red pepper, anchovy and goat cheese.



While the other one got sauteed creminis with pancetta and pecorino. If I had a one of those wooden pizza spatulas I could have put them on the oven rack directly and the base would have been crisp throughout. I'll add that to my "To Buy" list, although the pizza stone I currently have has used been only once. I swear I'm going to get around to making a real pizza dough again sometime. Hmm, sometime soon?



I also made some delicious and wholly addicting pig candy. I was alerted to its existence not too long ago when LOU came up in LA Weekly. I made mine with Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Cured Bacon. Sprinkle of brown sugar and cayenne then it went into the oven to bake and make my house smell like the most delicious edible thing ever. It was hard not to open the oven door just to inhale the aroma. I love bacon!!!

I baked the smoky bacon twice to adjust for the flavoring and made sure it had a nice heat to it, mellowed by the brown sugar, and just the right amount of crisp. I also roasted some almonds tossed in olive oil, then tossed the toasty nuts with fleur de sel. Let's just say my kitchen was smellin pretty good after all the pizza, bacon, and almond business.

A catered menu for www.writingpad.com

Ricotta Pea Crostini with Pecorino; Greek Salad

Over the last six months I've made some crazy number of crostinis. And here is another one - Ricotta Pea Crostini with Pecorino. I got idea from Seven Spoons but I made mine a bit different. I cooked down some small diced shallots with itty bitty bit of thyme, then added the peas and warmed it up. I was planning to just smash it up with a fork and mix in the ricotta but the smashing wasn't goin so successfully. I threw everything into the food processor with a squeeze of half a lemon and then came out the pretty green puree. Oh yea, I added a small mint leaf and someone actually detected it! Impressive only because I remember how small the mint leaf was and how subtle it tasted in the puree.

Oh yes, back to the crostini. Shave some pecorino with a vegetable peeler and top the crostini. That's it. I don't think it can get simpler than that.



Then a pretty little Greek Salad. I know, you're thinking greek salad?! But look how pretty it looks? It's not the big bowl of tomato, onion, romaine, crumbled feta family style greek salad you recall. Not that there is anything wrong with that and I love me a big bowl of salad. But this is for guests so it needs to be a tad bit more presentable.

So this above salad shows off pretty pear-shaped tomatoes from Trader Joe's sliced in half, a block of feta cut into chunks instead of using the messy looking pre-crumbled stuff, peppery frisee, nice juicy olives, and very very thinly sliced, cold water-bathed onion slices.

I just love the combination of juicy tomatoes, crunchy fresh veges, salty briny olives, and tangy feta all together. Delicious!

A catered menu for www.writingpad.com

Endive with Spiced Chickpea Puree & Salsa Verde; Manchego, Quince Paste, Rosemary Crackers & Spanish Soria Sausages

Endives, although on the pricey side used as an appetizer or hor d'oeuvre base, seem to add an elegant aesthetic touch to the presentation. With its pale, perfectly boat-shaped leaves with just a tiny tinge of yellow-green to the feathery thin edges, it cannot help but look cute lined up on a plate. This time carrying a dollop of warm spiced chickpea puree brightened by a spoonful of herby salsa verde.

The chickpea puree is quite easy to make. I sweated some onion and garlic with thyme for a few minutes then added drained chickpeas to the pan. Then add your choice of spices. Mine were paprika and cayenne. Then add a bit of chicken stock. A few minutes of whirl in the processor and you got chickpea puree. Taste and adjust liquid, salt, pepper, and olive oil to your taste.

Although I did buy the hugest Thai mortar and pestle that's been sitting on my counter, I decided to chop up the herbs for the salsa verde. So parsley, mint, garlic, anchovy, capers, lemon juice, and olive oil all mixed up together for a vibrant sauce.

I also served a cheese plate of Manchego, quince paste and The Fine Cheese Co's rosemary crackers. I haven't had Manchego in a while but that first bite reminded me of its delicious flavor. Semi-soft, a slight tang and nuttiness. It's quite easy to keep popping in your mouth. Maybe too easy.

A plate of Soria sausage accompanied the cheese plate.
Soria or Spanish Girl sausage: This variety originated in Old Castille around Soria and Logroño. Although actually a sausage, it resembles a gently seasoned, lean pork loin with a concentrated meaty taste. The meat is diced by hand, seasoned, and cured overnight to reduce its moisture. The mixture is then tightly packed into natural, Portuguese net-like casings and air-dried for three months. Simply eat it sliced and in sandwiches. [www.laespanolameats]

Cured sausage, what would I do without cured sausage? I would wither away.

A catered menu for www.writingpad.com

When the Temperature Goes Down...

After being debilitated last weekend and melting away in the crazy humid heat, I am so happy to announce that I cooked this week! And thank god I did, because I had leftovers in my fridge that were getting impatient with me. Some stuff did go bad but some stuff survived. Here is what I made this week trying to use up all the leftovers...

Monday



It's still hot on Monday. Bugger. I picked up a few slices of prosciutto, marinated some leftover roasted pepper with sherry vinegar, capers, golden raisans, and olive oil, toasted leftover baguette that had been sitting in my fridge drawer, sliced up some manchego. And a simple dinner it became as Manchego Prosciutto Crostini with Roasted Pepper Relish. The crostinis could have been thinner but I was in a hurry to stop being hot!

Tuesday


No cooking! Ate spicy tuna roll and hwaedupbap (sashimi rice) takeout from Yanusa.

Wednesday
My mom told me to eat the rest of the turnip beef soup for dinner that she had made a few days before. But little did she know that I've been eating this for breakfast. It makes a perfect breakfast though with a little mound of rice. Soupy, soothing, something nice to gently wake me up in the morning.



But there were only dregs left in the pot by Wednesday. I had eaten the last good bit in the morning and was planning to clean the pot when I got home from work. But then when I got home, I suddenly got an idea to use up the scraps. Donburi! Now I've never made donburi before but had been checking out oyako donburi recipes when I crave comfort food.





I took the meat, flank I believe, out of the pot and shredded by hand. Marinated it in equal portions of mirin and soy sauce. I wisked up a few eggs with scallion, mirin and soy sauce. I brought the tidbit of broth up to a boil, added the meat, then added the egg. Although the eggs didn't coddle wholesomely as I would have liked, the dish was delicious. I ended up mashing the beef and egg into the rice anyways, so who needs perfect coddling? (Next time I will try better though). My mom was surprised at how good it was and also impressed with my use of trash-destined scraps.



I also had leftover carmelized onion and sauteed cremini mushrooms begging to be used. Sorry but it's just been way to hot to cook. Until Wednesday that is. I defrosted a sheet of puff pastry, rolled it out, laid some carmelized onion and cremini on top, sprinkled some thyme leaves, grated a bit of pecorino, and baked it off. Puff pastry is never bad is it? The Carmelized Onion & Cremini Tart made for a delicious and satisfying lunch the next day.



I had made plans to make Apple Coffee Cake last week. Instead the heat got me lazy the apple I had bought for this recipe were sitting in my fridge. Poor things, they were a little bit dried up and bruised lightly in some spots. I used Emeril's recipe and they came out perfect. I reduced the amount of sugar by a third though, which is perfect for my taste.

Oh yeah, the reason I searched out this recipe was because I had leftover sour cream and had nothing to use it in. Although the sour cream expiration date was 7/15, it stayed good until the 26th. It stayed good for 11 more days than it said it would! Miracle I tell ya. The container stamped with 7/14 went bad. Good thing I finally used the sour cream up. I think it was waiting for me to make the coffee cake.

Thursday


By now you're probably thinking damn this girl's got so much leftovers! Yes, yes I do. I had some leftover chocolate sauce from making profiterols two weeks ago. I searched and searched for a recipe to use this up in. And Chocolate Mousse was the winner.
I had stored the chocolate sauce in a 2-cup glass measuring cup. I popped that in the microwave with a few tablespoons of butter. Whisked in 3 yolks into the chocolate mixture. Then whipped up 3 egg whites in the mixer with cream of tartar and sugar. Whipped up some cream by hand and added vanilla extract. Folded the egg white into the chocolate. Then folded the whipped cream into the chocolate egg mixture. Then finally spooned into little ramekins and chilled. Topped it off with some whipped cream and grated chocolate.

It was so airy and light! It almost give you the impression you're not eating that much chocolate, but more like chocolate air. A happy success for my first chocolate mousse.

*pic to be inserted here*

More leftovers or stored food... Long time ago I made chicken stock from scratch. It's been sitting in my freezer for a while now. Not so long that I couldn't use it but long enough that I better find something good to put it in. With plans to make brown curry I defrosted the two containers full of my first homemade chicken stock ever. I also had turkey meatloaf sitting in my freezer too. It's more like emergency food, if I don't have time to make lunch or get lazy or something. I defrosted two balls of those.

I threw in some potato, onion, carrots, zucchini, summer squash, and button mushroom into the broth. Added the cubed up tender pieces of turkey meatloaf. Added the curry mix. And the deed was done - delicious Brown Curry with Veges and Turkey Meatloaf.

Friday
Ahh, I feel clean and purged of my leftovers and freezer-stored foods. I still have bits of leftovers here and there but mostly I've cleaned out my fridge. And my conscience at that. I crown myself Master of Leftovers. :)

And here is today. Well I happened to get hooked up to a catering gig tomorrow for 70 people so I'll be cooking it up tonight with a few friends. Hopefully I won't have too much leftover ingredients from the gig or else I will have to rack my brain for more recipes!

Lavash with Roasted Veges and Lemon-Cumin Yogurt; Tabouli

Roasting is one of my favorite ways to cook vegetables. They develop a deeper flavor as they roast, becoming sweet, nutty, and carmelized in all the right places. For this simple wrap, I roasted an eggplant, farmer's market carrots, red pepper, zucchini, and onion. I added a basil leaf or two after the vegetables cooled a little bit.



Now top that lavash with the beautiful roasted veges, a sprinkle of tabouli and a dollop of thick, creamy whole yogurt tinged with lemon zest and cumin. So simple and so good! Lavash has become a good friend to me. How can one so versatile be a bad friend in the kitchen?



Marilyn's dessert: Pistachio Truffles with Ice Cream

A catered menu for www.writingpad.com

Hot Weekend Things

I had grand plans for squash blossoms and tapas with roasted pepper relish livened up with raisan, capers and parsley. For a simple tomato salad with fleur de sel and peppery olive oil and pasta bianco with shavings of pecorino and black pepper.

But I did none of that. Zero. In fact, I could barely move this whole weekend. When is this heat and humidity going to stop? Earth please have mercy on us cooks!

After late escapading til 5 on Friday, I woke up Saturday mid-morning contemplating whether to head over to the Santa Monica farmer's market. But it was already hot and I thought about my previously made plans to deep fry some squash blossoms. Hmmm... stay home and watch tv and nap. Or goto the farmer's market so I can deep fry on one of the hottest days of this season.

I stayed home. Ate a bowl of my mom's turnip soup made with a light beef broth, mixed grain rice, and kimchi. This is my ideal breakfast anytime - Korean soup that is. So then I napped, watched TV. Rolled around my living room as the day got hotter and hotter. I watched 4 episodes of a Korean drama called Dae Jang Geum. It's about a royal cook way back in the days. It's frickin awesome and there is a lot of food shots in there. I believe there is a dvd version of it with subtitles. Really educational and so intriguing. Anyhow, that is what I did until Boy came over around lunch time.

Then we ate spicy chicken and potatoes with mushroom and red peppers. Rice, scallion salad, and a bowl of the turnip soup. Ahh, life is good when the fridge is stocked with previously made food. Then we watched Miller's Crossing on IFC as we tried to cool down unsuccessfully. Oh did I mention that the AC is broken? Yip.

Instead we sat in front of a plug in air conditioner named Narita. Narita really did try her best but dammit, we were melting and melting. It was horrible.

Then it was time to eat again. We ordered Korean-Chinese food from Mandarin House. Some Chinese meatballs, yaki dumplings, and jiajangmyun. I got full. It was still hot. I could not move. Bleh.

Then Sunday came about. Boy and I headed over to Cactus Tacqueria for lunch. Ate on one of their benches. It was hard to breathe but the tacos were so good I survived. Then off to see Strangers with Candy at the Sunset Laemmle. Hallelujah! The theater was so well air-conditioned that I almost even got goosebumps at one point. The movie was funny, I was nicely chilled and happy. Until we left that is. I told Boy maybe we should go back inside for another movie since neither of our places are air conditioned and at $10/2 hr it's probably the cheapest thing we could do.



Instead we headed over to Santa Monica to get a drink at Father's Office. It was hot, but a tiny bit better on the oceanside of town. There was a short wait but we got in and got ourselves bar seats. Chilled glasses of Russian River's Pliny the Elder brought back a bit of happiness to our lives. We sipped and ate their soft-shell crab with corn relish, which was excellent by the way. Then a basket of the sweet potatoes fries with roasted garlic cabrales aioli came our way. It was excellent as usual. Unfortunately, with the heat and the exhaustion that comes with it, the glass of double IPA did not sit well with my head. Pounding ensued. Sigh.

So we headed to Boy's place to watch Deadwood. It was 89 degrees in his place. Ai yai yai. I am really looking forward to this week of cooling down. The food this weekend was excellent and delicious but I want to cook for a change without melting away!

How was everyone else's weekend?

Yay for Yai

After reading Santos's delicious post of a few Thai restaurants I straight headed over to Yai, her favorite of the group, to try some of the wonderful sounding dishes. My mouth is getting watery just thinking about the food now. Here is what we tried...


Gai sapp nok...
This was a nice and spicy dish of ground chicken and curry. Perfect over fluffy jasmine rice to soak up some of the juices and also provide a little relief from the chiles.



The sole was also nice and spicy. Although at the time I didn't think that it was that spicy, when I had it for lunch the next day my tongue was kind of starting to burn up. I enjoy that though. :)



Delicious chicken satay with the ubiquitous plate accessory - white bread. Who started this? I thought it funny the first time I saw white bread come out with an appetizer at Sanamluang.


Black egg pow...
This was my first taste of preserved egg. Although it looks kind of scary it was delicious. I didn't expect such a soft silky texture. I loved the heap of fried basil on top of this dish. I wouldn't mind having a bowl of rice with just the fried basil leaves and some soy sauce. Truly delicious.

We also tried the dry bbq duck noodles which I loved! Okay, I loved everything. I really enjoyed the brothy sauce and the bean sprouts at the bottom. The duck meat was tender and delicious and plenty to go around.

All of us enjoyed our lunch and we stuffed ourselves. And who would have thought that the little Thai restaurant in the tiny strip mall could serve it up so good? I never even noticed the place before. But thank god for food bloggers or else I would have never known!

5757 Hollywood Blvd
323.466.0153

Squash Blossoms

Here is my first attempt at deep frying and squash blossoms. I can't say it was completely a success since I adore the ones at AOC and Hungry Cat, but the first few were delicious. You can see the beautiful color of the squash blossoms through the thin batter. Although this is quite visually enjoyable I want to achieve a more crunchy tempura like batter next time. I must be crazy to want to fry in this weather but the thought of waiting until next summer to have squash blossoms again makes me panic.

I stuffed these with ricotta and goat cheese. The ricotta was full of moisture and I didn't have the forethought to drain it a little bit. Duh! So by the last frying squash blossom these cheese was leaking out of the flower. And of course I was freaking out from a few feet away. I thought the oil was going to explode or something at this point. See? No deep frying experience over here.

I'm not so into frying at home although I love fried foods. The hot weather right now, the hot oil splattering over my hands and stove, cleaning and disposing of the oil - not my ideal way to enjoy food. But squash blossoms are worth it. I'm going to give another go this weekend.

Now that I'm no longer a frying virgin (hehe that sounds weird) I guess I can move onto all those wonderful foods I've been avoiding making at home. Fried chicken, tempura, fried shrimp and oysters, and fries. Mmmm~!

Raspberry Pavlova

I'm not too into sweets and would almost always prefer ending a meal with a cheese plate with the last sips of my wine than get a dessert. What can I say? I am a savory gal.

But pavlovas, that's another story. Now here's a dessert I can definitely have lots of in one sitting. Pavlova is basically a meringue base with whipped cream topped with fresh fruit. In this case, beautiful apricot-hued raspberries tumbled upon a pile of freshly whipped cream upon a light meringue base that just melts in your mouth. There is no frickin way that can't be good.

I like the cool milkiness of the freshly whipped cream sans sugar, the sweet juiciness of the berries and the crunchy light meringue. I've tried strawberries but I am partial to raspberries for this dessert. Everyone I've made pavlova for absolutely loves it. Including me. :)

Roasted Cauliflower with Curry & Paprika; Israeli Couscous with Currants, Golden Raisans & Pinenuts

Roasted cauliflower with spices is so easy to make and so affordable. You get a great bang for your buck with this flavorful dish. First you cut off the florets, toss it with olive oil, cumin, coriander, curry, paprika, and a teeny bit of black pepper. The roasted it with wedges of onion and little knobs of butter. I like it when the floret edges get really and carmelized and charred. The above picture does not show such carmelized edges - waahh. Broiling for a few minutes could have worked that out though.

To go with the roasted cauliflower I made Israeli couscous. I sauteed some shallots and then added water to this. Brought it up to a boil, added the couscous, and cooked it covered until the water had been absorbed. Alternatively, you can cook the couscous in more water then drain it. To the cooked couscous I added dried currants, raisans, parsley, black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. The sweetness from the currants and raisans in the couscous paired up well with the spiced cauliflower. I really enjoyed the texture of the Israeli couscous, so much more than Moroccan couscous which is the only couscous I knew until I made this one.



Marilyn's dessert: Papaya Lime Soup Shooter

A catered menu for www.writingpad.com

Burrata & Tomato Salad; Fresh Shell Pasta with Pancetta, Corn & Brown Butter Salsa Verde; Profiterol with Vanilla Ice Cream & Chocolate Sauce

The yellow one is Lemon Boy, the darker one is Purple Cherokee, and the green one is Green Zebra. Aren't they just darling?! I hit up the Saturday farmer's market over in Santa Monica this weekend, in preparation for a lunch I was preparing for my friend H for her birthday. Then I hit up Bay Cities and went crazy. I do that sometimes. Go crazy buying all sorts of stuff I need and may need. Did that last week at Mitsuwa too. What's wrong with me?! I've gone food shopping crazy!



I got some wonderful wonderful burrata at Bay Cities. The skin on this creamy mozzarella was super thin and the flesh creamy and milky. What better way to enjoy it then a simple salad with beautiful tomatoes and fragrant basil straight from the market? I drizzled the salad with a Spanish olive oil, sprinkled some fleur de sel, and ground black pepper. Nothing else, and it was truly delicious.



I also picked up some corn and chanterelle mushrooms at the farmer's market and fresh shell pasta at Bay Cities. I sauteed some pancetta, onion and garlic. Then added thyme, chanterelles, and a pinch of saffron. Deglazed with a bit of white wine then added the cut corn. Meanwhile I cooked the pasta in a pot of well salted water. Then tossed all together along with brown butter salsa verde, and shaved over some Pecorino Romano.

The dish I originally had in mind was fresh pasta with pancetta, pea, saffron and pecorino. And the leftover salsa verde was to be employed in the burrata tomato salad. But instead I kept the salad simple with a drizzle of the olive oil and decided to make brown butter salsa verde (a la Lucques) to finish the pasta. Brown butter is, well, browned butter. The salsa verde is made of parsley, mint, anchovies and capers. Now add those two together and you got yourself some herb infused nutty brown butter.

But in my little spontaneous turn of the recipe I believed I faltered a bit. The pasta definitely could do without the saffron since there was a lot of herb flavor going on. I would have used less butter or oil in order to control the total amount of fat in the dish. When I added the brown butter salsa verde, it was a bit too buttery. Perhaps more chanterelles would have been nice but those things are expensive and also I was out of money. Okay, enough analysis!

However, this is not to say that it wasn't delicious. H happily filled herself up with the pasta as did the rest of us. The corn was sweet, fresh, and cooked just enough to keep intact some of the pleasant crunch. And the Bay Cities' fresh pasta is so delicious. Do try it. It'll do well even with just a grind of black pepper, a shave of pecorino, and a drizzle of good olive oil.



I even decided to make the dessert. You guys know I only make dessert once in a while but since this menu was pretty simple I decided to put in some time in the dessert department. So profiterols with Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Ice Cream and chocolate sauce. I followed the Barefoot Contessa recipe for the profiterols and they came out delicious. The dough is sticky and messy to clean from the food processor but the recipe is super easy. I was happy with the results. I think we all were!

*Happy birthday H! Glad you enjoyed your lunch. :)

Quickeasy Meal - Flatbread Pizza

As I demonstrated to myself before that flatbread is indeed an easy meal waiting to be fixed, I thought the last piece of lavash would well received (in my mouth that is) as a quickie dinner. A flatbread pizza sounded like something that was easy, fast & not too messy of a recipe for a weeknight tv dinner.

I topped the lavash with some semi-carmelized brown onion, thyme, anchovy pieces, goat cheese and s&p. Baked it off. Easy as that!

The results were delicious - the crispy lavash with the sweet onion, salty anchovy, and tangy goat cheese. I did sprinkle an one too many sprinkle of the salt and it was a bit salty especially with the anchovy. Next time more chops to the anchovy and less sprinkles of the salt. Am I forgiven? I may even add a smear of ricotta to the base. Mmmm.



La Chouffe's Dobbelen IPA Tripel accompanied this easy meal. It's Belgian, it's a tripel, but not too much of them hops as the name might suggest. However, it was still a delicious beverage to imbibe, well-balanced and not as heavy as the "Tripel" made me think.

I think flatbread pizzas may become a recurring dish on this blog. It's a perfect entertaining dish. Hmm, time for a party?

Back Up

My computer is back up! Yay! At least for the time being. I have no idea how it goes from not recognizing the hard drive one day to turning back on another day. Anyhow, until it breaks again I will be posting. A delicious lunch at Yai, Writing Pad menu, birthday lunch... to be posted soon!

Technological Difficulties

My computer crashed the other day so postings may be delayed. The previous post was the last bit of the uploaded pics. Maybe I'll post without pics until the comp gets fixed/replaced. I feel self-conscious writing without the photos though! Because then I'll really have to pay attention to what I'm writing instead of cheating with the pics. :) I hope you understand and I hope I make sense sans pics.