Farmers market baby Carrots

I know carrots are considered a common vegetable, but sometimes you can get excited about them.
These little farmers market beauties are only about 3 inches long, but as thick as normal size carrots and they are so fresh that the dirt they grew in is still on them. I washed and peeled them before I quickly blanched them in salted water, then they were finished in a saute pan with a dash of butter and a pinch of fresh chopped parsley. Simply delicious.

Roast Duck

Ready to Roast




Golden & Crispy

I was in the mood for duck, but what to part to eat first? the moist duck meat or the crispy skin? Its all good. To start the skin was scored to help release some of the fat while cooking and then into a hot 350F oven to roast for about an hour, next plum sauce was thickly brushed all over in the final stage of cooking, this glaze caramelizes to a dark golden brown with the plum flavors becoming sweet and intensifying. Carved thin and served with Chinese pancakes and scallions, a classic! Note: Be sure to save the rendered duck fat, very good for use in cooking potatoes.

Thai Style Fish Curry

There's nothing quite like a good Thai curry, those exotic flavors that I grew to love during my first trip to Thailand many years ago. I like to make curry when ever I get that urge and its really not that hard either if you keep common curry staples in your house. Some of the ingredients I always like to have on hand are Thai curry pastes (red, yellow and green) ginger root, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, canned coconut milk, cilantro and kaffir lime leaf from the tree growing in my back yard. With these simple ingredients you just add your favorite choice of meat or vegetables. I had some uncooked Rock Snapper from a previous nights dinner that went into my curry. I used cooked Chinese Lo mein noodles to be tossed and served with the fish curry. Easy, fast and good!

Pacific Rock Snapper with Avocado

When I came across some nice looking Rock Snapper the other day, I just had to buy a few of the fillets. My plan for these beautiful pink fleshed fish are to saute them skin side down till golden and crispy. I normally try to stay away from heavy cream style sauces, so some type of salsa will go with it. For the salsa I diced avocado, cherry tomatoes, cilantro and plenty of lime juice. The cleaned and scaled fish fillets are seasoned with salt and pepper and go skin side down in smoking hot pan with a touch of vegetable oil, when browned they are flipped for about a minute then onto a warm plate with a generous dollop of the avocado mixture.

Okinawa Purple Sweet Potato

I went to visit my favorite Asian market in San Francisco during the last weekend. I like going there because there is always some new product or food to see, this time in vegetable department.
I discovered what appeared to be normal sweet potatoes, but upon removing the brown skin a bright purple center was exposed!  This variety of sweet potato is called Okinawa originally from the Yomitan village in the Okinawa region in Japan. I wanted to simply cook them so I would be able to taste the sweet potatoes in there purest form. I roasted them with their skins on for about an hour in a 350 degree oven. When soft, I split them in half and scooped out the purple flesh, then a little sprinkle of salt to finish. They were really good, but if you did not see the color they would have tasted like any other sweet potatoes.

Spring is very Close

Spring time! the awaking of dormant plants. I look forward to this time when young plant shoots begin to grow in the warm and longer daylight of the new season. Classic spring foods such as asparagus, fava beans, artichokes and peas will begin to flood the local markets. I can't wait to start cooking all of these foods. Today I saw a display of first of the season asparagus and I had to buy a bunch, my plan was to simply grill them and finish with sprinkle of sea salt and splash of extra virgin olive oil. I stuck to my plan and was rewarded with a plate of amazing asparagus, I will do other recipes soon but for now I wanted to taste nothing but pure asparagus flavor.

Food Specialty?

I just finished watching a new episode of No Reservations hosted by Anthony Bourdain. This show happens to be one of my favorite on TV. Tonight's subject was on food obsession, what kind of foods people like and are obsessed with. It got me thinking about if there is one food that I am obsessed with? Most of my favorite foods are seasonal, I look forward to and enjoy cooking and eating these seasonal foods when they become available. My next category would be foods from the warmer regions of the world and most of these foods also tend to be spicy, which I also like a lot. Sometimes I will cook foods from a particular region of the world for a few days to get it out of my system, then I will move on to another type of food from somewhere else. I really have to agree with Anthony that pork is king and if its in the the form of Latin food then I am truly happy.

Caramel Apples

Its a new week and a new school project that I helped my daughter with, today its caramel apples on a stick. This cooking project is new to me as well, I have made lots of caramel in my life for different menus but have never dipped a whole apple in it. My daughter wanted to make enough for the whole class, too many for me so I had to haggle the number down to a easy 10. I chose small basic red apples and used chopsticks instead of the common Popsicle stick, a good trick I learned was to chill the apples so the caramel hardens faster and will not drip off, a basic caramel recipe using sugar, cream and a touch of water is made and the apples are dipped and placed on a silpat non stick baking mat to cool. These apples can be rolled in chopped nuts or other ingredients if desired. My daughter is looking forward to lots of smiles from her classmates and maybe some extra credit from the teacher.

Roasted Vegetables

There is still a little bit of winter left and roasted vegetables are great on a cool night. Common root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, turnips and potatoes are perfect, these are firm vegetables that will get golden brown and hold there shape with out becoming mushy. The flavors become concentrated and the natural sugars caramelize when roasted. My first choice would be a wood burning oven for cooking because of the smoky flavors and high heat. Just cut all vegetables about the same size so they cook evenly, then toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and maybe fresh herbs, into a hot oven to cook. I added asparagus because my kids love them. Its a great with a chicken or beef roast.

Carne Asada Tacos

Ready to eat Carne Asada Taco

Carne asada is simply Mexican beef steak, its most often thin cuts of beef such as flank, skirt and hanger steak. I like to make a quick marinade with salt, pepper, chili powder and fresh lime juice, after a brief period to let the meat absorb the marinade flavors its on to a hot grill to quickly cook, when done it comes off the heat and rests for a few minutes. When cutting its best to have thin slices cut across the grain, next the meat is piled into a waiting warm tortilla. Mine will always have plenty of Guacamole and hot sauce. Now wheres the cold beers?

Five Ingredients for Dinner

After a long day of cooking for others it is time to relax and cook one last meal, I quick trip to the store and in my bag is a nice piece of sea bass, brussel sprouts, pancetta bacon, potatoes and a good bottle of chilled white Burgundy. With just these few ingredients it will not take long to get from pan to plate. The new potatoes are cut and simmered in salted water, in another pan small pieces of pancetta are browned and shaved brussel sprouts go in to cook, the Sea bass is seasoned with kosher salt and pepper and goes into a hot pan with a touch of olive oil. When all the ingredients are cooked they come together on a warmed plate with a waiting second glass of wine. I offen avoid using a sauce with fish because I want to taste it by itself. Simple, uncomplicated and Delicious.

Duck Breast on Corn Pancake

On one of my recent trips to my local farmers market I came across a stall selling fresh duck breasts from California, its rare to find local duck at a farmers market so I had to get some to try. The duck breasts were small at around 6 ounces each (186.62 G) I marinated them over night in red wine, garlic and fresh thyme. The next day I scored the skin which helps render the fat and make it crisp, the breasts then go into a pan on very low heat, propping up one side so the fat drains away from the duck, after most of the fat melts away and is drained, the pan goes into a hot oven and the duck breasts cook till medium rare. While the duck was cooking a batter for fresh corn pancakes is assembled. Small pancakes are made using a hot nonstick pan and kept warm. A chutney like condiment of slow cooked sliced red onions with vinegar and sugar is made. The duck breast is sliced thin and placed on a corn pancake with a dollop of the red onion jam.

Fresh Corn Pancake Batter

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
4 ears of corn kernels
3/4 cup whole milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 stick melted butter cooled

Method:

1. Combine all dry ingredients.

2. Blend half the corn kernels in the milk.

3. Whisk all wet ingredients and corn kernels slowly into the dry ingredients.

4. Place small spoonfuls of batter on a hot oiled pan or griddle, flip when golden.

Note: This recipe is great in the summer when corn is at its peek, not to worry because frozen corn kernels work really nice too.

Mac & Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is considered a comfort classic, I consider it a fast and easy dinner to make for the kids which they love it. The classic version uses just three basic ingredients, elbow macaroni and a milk based yellow cheddar cheese sauce. Lots of variations to this basic recipe can be made such as using a different pasta shape, choice of cheese and additives like ham or vegetables. Sometimes I will sprinkle Panko bread crumbs on top to give it a golden color and crunch. I like to serve it in small individual Spanish cazuela pots.

Pot-au-feu

Another rainy week approaches and with that in mind I decided on doing a long and slow braise of Beef and vegetables. The classic name for this dish is Pot-au-fue which translates to pot on the fire. I started by taking a large cut of beef and seasoning it with Kosher salt and pepper, into a hot pot with a touch of olive oil to brown on all sides, this will give great flavor and nice color to the cooking liquid. I deglaze with red wine and add water to cover the meat. Fresh thyme, bay leaf, diced carrot, diced celery, diced onion and garlic are added, this is brought to a boil then turned down to a simmer, after a few hours the meat is getting tender and the vegetables are removed with a slotted spoon. A new bunch of peeled and cut carrots, onions and celery go in, these will cook for about half an hour and will be served along side the meat. At roughly the three hour mark, everything comes out onto a serving platter, the beef is sliced and the liquid is spooned over, Grain mustard and horseradish on the side. Other root vegetables could have been added as well as potatoes and that bottle of wine that was opened at the start can be served if there is any left.

Chicken and Rice

Chicken & Rice

I had the idea of making slow simmered chicken served with rice pilaf, I really didn't have a plan about what was going in it, I just used ingredients that I have on hand. I started by cutting up the whole chicken into eight pieces and seasoning it with salt and pepper, next I browned it in a hot pan with a touch of olive oil. Next sliced onions and garlic go in for a few minutes to sweat, I then added a touch of smoked paprika, saffron, cooked chick peas, pitted green olives and enough water to cover chicken. This was brought to a simmer and cooked covered for about a hour, a couple of cups of the cooking liquid was removed and used to cook rice. Fresh chopped parsley goes into the finished chicken and it is served along side the cooked rice. It turned out great for a made up recipe.