Stuffed Local California Squid in Tomato Sauce

Fresh Monterey Squid

Making Heirloom Tomato Sauce

Squid Simmering in Tomato Sauce

Braised Stuffed Squid in Heirloom Tomato Sauce

On a recent visit to one of San Francisco's Asian neighborhoods I noticed fresh local squid available in the market, so I bought a few pounds to take home to cook. These little sea creatures come from an area in the United States where they are very plentiful- Monterey Bay, California. Because of their vast numbers it's OK for them to be harvested without hurting their species or the environment. These squid are seen on most restaurant menus everywhere, often served fried with some kind of dipping sauce. Tonight my idea is to stuff the tube-shaped body and slowly cook them till tender in a spicy fresh tomato sauce. It was a little time consuming to clean, stuff and cook them but I was rewarded with a very flavorful dish.

Stuffed Squid in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh squid or pre cleaned tubes and tentacles 
1/2 cup cooked plain rice
1 T fresh herbs, chopped (Parsley, etc)
1 T garlic, chopped
2 cups heirloom or roma tomato, diced
3 T Olive oil
2 cup white wine
Toothpicks

Method:
1. Clean squid by removing tentacles from head and cleaning out tubes really well.
2. Mix some of the herbs and garlic into the rice.
3. loosely stuff the tubes with the rice mixture and secure with toothpick.
4. Make a tomato sauce by sauteing garlic and tomatoes in olive oil.
5. Add white wine and rest of herbs, simmer till saucy.
6. Add all squid and cover pan, cook on low heat for about 20-30 minutes.
7. Remove cover and continue to cook till the liquid reduces to a slightly thick sauce.
8. Remove toothpicks from squid and serve with the sauce.

Note: Great along side Pasta or risotto.

Edamame, Fresh from my Garden

Soy Beans 

Soy beans are found everywhere now and not just at your local Sushi bar. A native of East Asia that is commonly used to make soy sauce and tofu, has now migrated to many forms including soy oils, soy milk and the list goes on. I have found that these beans are super easy to grow and will produce mature beans in about five weeks. Put them on your garden list for the next growing season.

Cool Weather Cooking

Slow Cooked Red Wine Chicken

Winter comfort foods are best cooked low and slow which translates to cooking at a low temperature for a long time. Tonight that's just what I did with organic chicken thighs, fresh herbs, aromatic vegetables and red wine. Slowly cooked till tender with a rich flavorful sauce spooned over white corn polenta. Perfect.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Right off the Vine

Spiced and Soaking in Buttermilk

Frying to a Golden Brown

Grilled Bread with Green Tomatoes, Arugula and Bacon

This is a classic Southern Summertime staple -fried green tomatoes. These are simply green, unripe tomatoes that are coated with some type of batter or seasoned flour and fried till crispy brown.
The tomatoes can be harvested unripe any time during the growing season, but often in the Fall when the last of the tomato crop will not have time to ripen is the best.  The green tomatoes are firm with a slight tangy to sour flavor and will remain firm and not soggy when cooked. My idea was to pair these classic fried tomatoes with the classic BLT sandwich, with lots of good flavors and textures.
I treated my tomatoes to the same process of my fried chicken. I sliced them thick to soak in buttermilk and a southern dry-spice mixture, then dredged them in a spiced cornmeal-flour mixture. Next fried in vegetable oil heated to 350F till crisp and brown, drained and sprinkled with salt.

Fried Green Tomatoes
Ingredients:
Green unripe tomatoes, sliced thick
Buttermilk to cover
Kosher salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Cornmeal
Paprika
Cayenne pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for frying

Method:
1. Soak the tomato slices in buttermilk and spices for a few hours.
2. Heat vegetable oil to 350F in a deep heavy pot.
3. Toss the tomato slices in cornmeal and spices.
4. Fry the tomatoes in small batches till golden crisp.
5. Remove and place on wire rack or paper towels.

Note: Serve right away with a dusting of salt.

Late Season Baby Squash Blossoms

A Farmers Market Bundle of Baby Squash

Baby Squash with Heirloom Tomato Sauce

It's amazing that these Summer baby squash are still available this time of the year, so I had to buy them before they are done for the season. These small, tender squash still have the flower blossoms attached which are great stuffed.  I decided on a quick saute with olive oil and fresh herbs set on a pool of home- grown heirloom tomato sauce. Simply amazingly good and a perfect first course.

Almost too Hot Pepper Sauce

Habanero Peppers

Cooked and Ready to Blend

Prawn Ceviche with Habanero Salsa

The saying goes "When life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade" well when I get Chilli's I make Salsa. A friend of mine recently gave me a big handful of his home grown Habanero peppers. They were small and bright orange like little fiery pumpkins. After many years of eating salsas I have developed a appreciation for the flavor of the peppers that goes beyond the heat they produce, that's good because Habanero peppers are high on the scoville scale, a number scale of how hot peppers are. 100,000-350,000 for Habanero while the common jalapeno is 3,500+. When I make cooked Salsas I use my normal recipe of simmering them with yellow onions and garlic in white vinegar with a touch of sugar and salt, then carefully blending and straining. This salsa turned out great with really a good fresh chili flavor up front and with a mouth numbing burn starting slowly to becoming intensely hot after a few minutes, did you know drinking milk is a great way to stop the pain?

Habanero Salsa
Ingredients: 
2 cups Fresh Habanero chili
1/2 Yellow onion, diced
3 Garlic Cloves, rough chopped
1 cup White vinegar
1/4 cup Sugar
Pinch Kosher salt
1 Tomato, chopped (optional for a more saucy texture)

Method:
1. Simmer all ingredients for about 30 minutes till soft.
2. Carefully Blend till smooth, add water to thin if necessary.
3. Use a medium wire strainer to remove any large bits or seeds for a smooth sauce.
4. Refrigerate for up to a month.

Note: Always wear plastic gloves when handling raw chilies and don't touch your Face!

Ready for Fall Chicken with Grits

Low and Slow Braising Chicken

Its slowly becoming Fall here in California with some cooler days and a occasional shower now, with that change comes the season of stews and other slow cooked foods. I recently made a stewed chicken dish  the other day using common aromatic ingredients such as garlic, onions and tomatoes, normally I like to serve this stewed chicken with soft and creamy polenta. This time I had the idea to try and use ground hominy instead of polenta, Hominy is a form of corn just processed differently. It is dried corn kernels treated with slaked lime, washed and then ground, it can be ground to a flour which is used to make common corn tortillas (Masa Harina) if its ground course then it can be cooked like polenta with the southern name of hominy grits. It turned out great and the leftover grits were put into a loaf pan to set up, the next day it was sliced and fried in a pan.

Chicken with Hominy Grits

Poached Petrale Sole with Garden Yellow Tomato Sauce

Wine Poached Sole with Tomato Sauce

Working backwards tonight I started with yellow tomatoes from the garden and came up with a menu to go with it. My idea is to make a yellow tomato sauce and serve it with white wine poached Petrale Sole and jumbo Gulf prawns. Only a few ingredients & so simple; quality is the key.

Poached Sole with Yellow Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
Petrale Sole fillet, cleaned (4-5 oz per person)
2 medium Yellow tomato, rough chopped 
Jumbo Gulf prawns, cleaned, shells reserved (3 per person)
1 cup White wine or vermouth 
2 cloves Garlic, peeled, chopped
1 Shallot, peeled, chopped
1 Knob Butter
Kosher salt/pepper
Pinch Arugula

Method:
1. Simmer garlic, shallots and prawn shells in wine for about ten minutes then remove shells.
2. Roll the sole, season and place in wine liquid, gently poach till cooked through, remove and keep warm in low 200F oven.
3. Add tomatoes to poaching liquid and cook till soft, add a pat of butter and blend till smooth.
4. Check sauce seasoning and adjust if necessary, keep warm.
5. Saute prawns in butter and garlic till just done.
6. Place a sole roll and 3 prawns on a warm plate, spoon sauce over and garnish with arugula.

Notes: Can be served chilled. Sole can also be stuffed with sauteed spinach.

Food Truck Party Catering

Dinner is Served with Million Dollar Views

The Boneyard Food Truck

Choices

Strawberries and Cream

A new trend in party catering is to simply hire your favorite food truck. I attended a birthday party recently and that's exactly what they did. The food was from the barbecue truck The Boneyard of San Francisco. The truck is fairly new to the food truck scene and is the creation of pit masters Mike Bradford and Rich Mainzer.
The truck has a rotating menu of BBQ staples such as brisket or pulled pork, salads, beans, etc.

The Boneyard Barbecue Truck
boneyardtruck@gmail.com

Home Style Sweet Potato Fries

Grilled Sweet Potato Fries

Grilling in a Stove Top Pan

It seems like after years of eating russet potatoes, people are enjoying the new and somewhat trendy sweet potato. Not just for holiday meals anymore, they are served with every day meals now. My kids will often share a big bowl of grilled sweet potatoes, their favorite. I simply peel and slice them about a half inch thick, toss in olive oil with a light dusting of kosher salt, slowly grill on a stove top pan till tender. Non stick pans work great. They're also good grilled over a charcoal fire with a squeeze of lime.

Fresh Garden Vegetable Hash

Just Picked Heirloom Tomatoes

Peppers, Potatoes, Onions and Tomatoes

Garden Vegetables, Grilled Beef and Smoked Bacon Hash with Poached Egg

When the garden is producing amazing vegetables you have to cook them anyway you can. This morning I made a hash with lots of mild gypsy peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and a little smoky bacon for flavor and finished with a poached egg & sliced avocado. A big cast iron pan works great in this recipe. This is simple to prep in the morning while you are drinking your first cup of coffee. The first step is to dice all the ingredients, next slowly cook the bacon. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook till tender and crispy browned, season to taste then place a scoop on a plate. Top with a poached egg if you wish.

Note: I love hot sauce with mine, maybe you will too.

Cool Summer Soup

Yellow Pear Tomato Gazpacho

Hot tomato soup is a winter classic, but in the Summer full of warm days a chilled soup is very refreshing. The first soup that comes to mind is the Spanish classic Gazpacho. It's a very simple soup to make, and with that the quality of the ingredients are key. It's August so tomatoes are at their absolute best right now. Gazpacho is almost like a blended tomato salad with most of the same ingredients like vinegar, olive oil, cucumbers and tomatoes. This is a great soup to make ahead and serve the next day. Give it a try.

Gazpacho
Ingredients:
3 cups Heirloom Tomatoes
1 cup Cucumber
1/4 cup Red onion
3 cloves Garlic
Pinch Oregano (fresh or dried)
1/4 cup Vinegar (Spanish sherry or red)
1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh Pepper

Method:
1. Peel and rough chop the cucumbers, red onion and garlic.
2. Rough chop the tomatoes, save a little for garnish.
3. Put all ingredients except for salt in a blender, blend till smooth or chunky.
4. Salt to taste and pour into bowls.
5. Garnish with diced tomato and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Tamalpie Pizza Restaurant

Tamalpie Pizza, Mill Valley

"The Dipsea" Fresh Mozzarella Pizza

Crunchy Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad

I recently went out for pizza the other night and tried a new to me restaurant called Tamalpie in Mill Valley California, the name is taken form the local landmark Mt Tamalpais and Pie the slang word for pizza. The restaurants design theme is taken from mountain biking along with some of the pizzas named after the more popular local biking trails. I really like the menu and with additions of local artisan ingredients like Hobbs Pepperoni and Point Reyes Blue Cheese it was hard to choose. The Pizza here is the star but the sides and or menu items are just as good.

Tamalpie Pizza
475 Miller Ave.
Mill Valley, Ca
94941
415.388.7437

Garden Heirloom Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Summer Heirloom Tomato and Lemon Cucumber Salad

Late Summer is the time of year when tomato plants are in full production, and coming up with ways to use them all is a fun challenge. I was recently given a basket of really nice home grown sun gold and yellow pear tomatoes with a few lemon cucumbers. A salad was my first thought and its a great way to fully taste the tomatoes without masking their perfect flavor. Lemon cucumbers look and are about the same size of a lemon with mild flavor.

Summer Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Ingredients:
Ripe Tomatoes, sliced
Cucumber, peeled/sliced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Quality White Vinegar (Maybe Champagne)
Fresh picked Herbs (Parsley, Oregano, Thyme)
Kosher Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper

Method:
1. Arrange the Vegetables and Drizzle with the Olive oil and Vinegar.
2. Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper.
3. Scatter with the Herbs.

Note: Other ingredients can be added like Parmesan, Red Onions, Avocado, Etc.

Almost Harvest Time

Almost Ready Red Grapes in Sonoma

It's almost harvest time in the great wine regions just North of me- Sonoma, Russian River and Napa. It's said to be a good producing year with a bumper harvest expected. Can't wait and might have to go help out at a friends vineyard. You know harvest brings great parties at the end.