Last Crumb

We returned to San Francisco from Oaxaca, Mexico late Monday night expecting that my brother would have posted at least once, but it seems this poor site has gone unloved for the whole of our vacation. Well, here is the remedy: my favorite pozole recipe.

There is a little pozole restaurant in Oaxaca that used to sit right off the main zocalo, and when I first started making pozole, it was their recipe I tried to emulate. I’m pleased to say that we tried them again (now in a different location), and found mine to be superior. It’s not quite traditional, not least because it contains no meat, but it’s perfectly spicy and tangy and robust. The recipe is very flexible, and really, there’s not much you can do wrong, but I prefer to keep the soup simple so that I can load up on the garnishes. Chop the cheddar cheese and avocados in squares and drop them right into the soup — they’re wonderful when gently warmed.

In Mexico, pozole is traditionally served on Christmas Eve, when everyone waits up until midnight and greets the next day with fireworks and celebration, much like New Years Even in the United States. There are three common types; white, green, and red, and sometimes the different kinds are said to come from different regions. My version is probably closest to a white, but the broth actually comes out a bit red.

Once you’re familiar with the recipe, it’s easy to get creative: replace the dried chipotles with roasted pasillas or jalapeños; add canned stewed tomatoes or chipotle in adobo; add some roasted tomatillos pureed with a little of the stock; stir in a red or coloradito mole; and/or add shredded chicken or pork, or cubed smoked tofu — the possibilities are endless, and delicious!

Homemade Pozole

for the soup
1 1/2 cups dried hominy, soaked overnight
1 yellow onion, finely diced
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbs olive oil
2-3 dried chipotle peppers
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
8 cups vegetable or chicken stock, or water

for the garnish
1 large avocado, quartered and chopped
1 lime, sliced into wedges
1 cup sharp cheddar, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup queso fresco, cut into cubes, or Oaxaca quesillo, shredded
cabbage, shredded
chopped cilantro, optional
toasted tortillas or tortilla chips

In a large pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Add the chipotle peppers and spices and cook until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Add the soaked hominy and 1 cup of the water or stock. When the mixture has reached a boil, add 5 cups of the water or stock and cook, partially covered, until the corn begins to split and there is no hint of chalkiness, 2-3 hours. Add the remaining water or stock, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with the garnishes. Squeeze the lime liberally over everything. If there are leftovers, poach an egg or two in the reheating broth for a hearty breakfast.

Serves 4

Posted by: Rose on February 2nd, 2008 © Filed under: Holiday Themed, Soups, Vegetable Dishes | 1 Comment »

Here it finally is - a write up, complete with links, photos, and recipes from the dinner party, nearly two weeks ago.  I’m hoping this will mark the beginning of a marvelously dedicated regime of regular posts!

It occurred to me, after I began shopping for the menu, that the dishes I’d selected for our recent dinner party might have some metaphoric resonance. Here I was, about to celebrate my 30th birthday, and somehow I found myself running around town at the end of November looking for tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, grapes. Attempting, it seemed, to hold on to the last of summer’s bounty.

I was lucky to find almost everything I needed down at the Ferry Building. The tomatoes weren’t the best of the season, but they were firm and fragrant, as was the rest of the produce. Will went down again when he got into town and grabbed me a lovely Himalayan truffle, which we shaved over the risotto.

Part of the reason for the Mediterranean focus was because I wanted to make the meal almost completely vegetarian. It’s the way we mostly eat at home, and rather than worrying about various dietary restrictions, I decided to keep things simple, plant based, and as local as possible.  I dare say, the meat eating folks didn’t miss a thing.

Autumn Menu for 15

• White gazpacho soup shots garnished with tomatillo and smoked paprika

• Baked stuffed tomatos with goat cheese fondue and breadcrumbs

• Lemon risotto with grilled prawns and shaved truffle

• Citrus salad with pomegranate, shaved fennel bulb, and frisee

• Eggplant torte with cannelloni beans, ratatouille, and Romesco sauce from the Millennium Cookbook

• Michele’s Famous Chocolate Cheesecake with candied orange peel

This is obviously an ambitions menu, but much of it can be made ahead. Disorganized as I am, I ended up preparing almost everything the day of, but I had plenty of help in the kitchen - don’t try such a feat alone! A few items, namely the gazpacho and the cheesecake, actually benefit from a little extra time in the fridge.

Lemon Risotto with Prawns

Lemon risotto is simple and classic. I borrowed the idea of garnishing it with prawns from Alfred Portale’s Twelve Seasons Cookbook (now out of print, I think). Truffles, though not strictly necessary, contrast nicely with the creamy tang of the rice.

Ingredients

• 2 quarts vegetable stock (chicken is also fine)
• 2 tbs unsalted butter
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 lb arborio rice
• 3 tsp minced lemon zest
• 3 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme or rosemary (optional)
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs (chives and/or parsley)
• 15 large prawns or jumbo shrimp, in the shell
• Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
• One fresh truffle (we used the less expensive, Himilayan truffle)

Method

For the risotto: Heat broth in a large saucepan and put aside, keeping warm over low heat. In a large, heavy pot, melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until just tender, about 3 minutes. Add rice and stir 5-10 minutes with a wooden spoon until it begins to look milky white and opaque. Add the white wine, lemon zest, and thyme or rosemary if using and stir until the wine is nearly absorbed. Add about 1 cup of the warm stock and simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add stock a cup at a time, making sure broth is nearly absorbed before adding more. Continue this process, stirring frequently, until rices is creamy and tender, but still firm, about 20-30 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and fresh herbs and season with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with two prawn halves and a sprinkling of fresh truffle.

For the prawns: Preheat the broiler. With a sharp chef’s knife, slice the prawns lengthwise through the shell and clean. Arrange them, cut side up, on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil for 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned.

Citrus Salad with Pomegranate, Shaved Fennel Bulb, and Frisee

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs seedless clementine or manderine oranges
• 1 ruby grapfruit
• 1 pomegranate, skin and white parts removed
• 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 2 heads frisee
• Olive oil
• Seasoned rice vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Orange juice
• Salt and pepper

Method

Combine ingredients in a large bowl and dress with 2 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar and 1 part orange juice. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of soy sauce.

Posted by: Rose on December 14th, 2007 © Filed under: Main Dishes, Menus, Vegetable Dishes | 2 Comments »

It finally happened. I turned 30. And the best part is, it didn’t bother me at all. In fact, I celebrated like I’ve not celebrated a birthday in many years, with multiple nights of revelry, shameless hints about presents, and to top it all off, a formal dinner party for 15 at our house on Saturday night. Will and Mary even flew in from Long Beach for the big event. Sure, there were plenty of “what did I get myself into?” moments, mostly around how we would fit all those people into our living room and what would they sit on, but it was well worth it.

I baked this cheesecake for dessert, garnishing it with candied orange peel for an even more dramatic effect. Our stepmother, Michele, is a fabulous cook and baker and her cheesecakes really are famous among everyone who knows her, and many who do not. Less than half an hour after the five course meal, our little party of 15 wolfed down nearly the entire cake.

Michele’s Chocolate Cheesecake

My favorite birthday cake growing up, this cheesecake is just about perfect - smooth, creamy, rich, tangy, and succulent. I often make it for pot lucks, and it is always popular. Use a high quality baking chocolate for the ultimate in silky, complex, decadence. To slice cleanly and easily, wipe down the knife and heat it in a cup of hot water between each slice.

Ingredients:

For the crust

• 25 chocolate wafers, crushed
• 6 tbs unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

For the cake

• 1 1/2 lbs cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups sour cream
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 2 tbs cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together wafers and butter and press into a well-buttered 10 inch springform pan. Chill while you assemble the cake. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Beat in melted chocolate, cocoa, and vanilla blending thoroughly. Beat in the sour cream.

Pour mixture into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes. The cake might look runny, but it will firm up as it chills. Cool at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.

Posted by: Rose on December 5th, 2007 © Filed under: Baking | 4 Comments »

It’s dark, now, as I leave the office in the evenings, and I’m finding it harder to motivate for anything but curling up in a big chair with a book and a cup of tea. But the “to do” list seems to double in length daily, and somehow it seems like time is being trimmed from the days along with the light. We’ve been up late for the last week trying to fit it all in - in bed at 3 a.m., tired at the 7 a.m alarm, and still the house grows messier, the plants go un-watered. We did finally finish painting our bedroom, and it is a calm, cozy oasis filled with books and our small plantation of coffee trees.

Tonight we’ll make a shopping list, and tomorrow try to prep what we can in anticipation of Thursday. We’re hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year, which, in an odd way, feels more like a milestone than the 30th birthday I’ll be celebrating in a few weeks. Andy’s parents will be there, as well as my mom and my stepfather Ben, Andy’s cousin, our housemate Keith, and a few good friends. In lieu of a turkey, we’re preparing a whole, wild, line caught salmon, which we plan to parchment steam and serve with a Bearnaise sauce “gravy.” On the side, we’ll have a wild rice pilaf, potatoes mashed with garlic, wasabi, and savoy cabbage, cornbread, and a salad of citrus and bitter greens.

Will is also hosting a Thanksgiving celebration this year, and he is soon to add his more classic version of a menu. We’ll both be adding recipes as we find time today and tomorrow, but for now, I’ll leave you a starter . . .

Rose’s Thanksgiving Menu

To Start

Champagne Cocktails

• Dry champagne
• Brandy
• Angostura bitters (or homemade!)
• Sugar cubes
• Unsweetened dried cherries

Plump the dried cherries in brandy at least one hour beforehand. Thread the cherries onto toothpicks (about three to a toothpick is nice - two is bad luck according to old bartending lore) making enough for all of your cocktails. Place a sugar cube in each champagne flute and moisten the sugar with a few good shakes of bitters (be careful though, you can overdo it!) Fill glasses with champagne, and garnish with the brandy soaked cherries.

• Endive boats with Roquefort and caramelized walnut - I stole the idea for these from Le Zinc, a charming little French place in Noe Valley. They make a light and tasty accompaniment to the cocktails. Simply separate the endive leaves and place a small cube of Roquefort cheese and a caramelized walnut at the white end of each.

• Curried almonds

• Fruit and cheese plate

The Feast

• Whole parchment steamed salmon stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and edameme beans
• Eggless Bearnaise sauce “gravy” - The cooking juices made such a nice sauce that we did away with the additional “gravy.”
• Potatoes mashed with garlic, wasabi, and savoy cabbage - Cube and steam 3-4 lbs russet potatoes, leaving the skins on. While potatoes are steaming, thinly slice a small savoy cabbage and place in a large bowl with 3 cloves crushed or diced garlic and 3 tsp powdered wasabi (or to taste). When potatoes are very tender but still firm, toss them with the cabbage until it begins to wilt. Add about 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup milk or cream, and plenty of salt and pepper to taste. Mash until potatoes are soft, but not entirely uniform.
• Citrus salad with bitter greens
• Wild rice pilaf - Combine 8 cups water, 1 1/2 cups wild rice, 1 1/2 cups long grain brown or white rice, 1/2 cup sliced almonds, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, and 1/2 tsp salt in a rice cooker, or add ingredients to the boiling water in a large pot with a tight fitting lid. Return the pilaf to a boil, lower heat, and cook covered for about 1 hour, or until the wild rice is firm but tender to the bite. Fluff and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

• Wine pairings

Dessert

• Pumpkin pie
• Orange whipped cream
• Quady Essensia Orange Muscat dessert wine

***

Will’s Thanksgiving Menu

I’m not sure how classic this really is, but here goes:

To Start

The Gin Buck

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. gin (I use Junipero Gin for its robust flavor and ability to stand up to a strong ginger beer)
• Ginger Beer ( I’m a huge ginger beer fan, and my favorite brand other than my homemade stuff, is Fentimans out of the UK, now available at Cost Plus World Markets)
• The juice of 1/2 lemon
• Lemon wedge to garnish

Method:

1. Pour the gin and lemon juice into an ice filled highball glass
2. Top off with ginger beer
3. Add the lemon wedge as a garnish
4. Enjoy one of the best highballs known to man

Fresh sourdough bread with butter
Cheese plate
Olives

The Feast

• Fresh (never frozen) pasture raised Heritage Turkey roasted to perfection with stuffing, leeks, carrots, and quince
• Gravy
• Mashed potatoes made the old fashioned way without any “new fangled” fixins
• Hashed Brussels Sprouts With Lemon Zest
• Fuyu persimmon salad with cumin-lime vinaigrette
• My original home cooked cranberry sauce (see recipe below)
• Wine pairings

Will’s Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 bag fresh cranberries (rinse thoroughly and discard the rotten ones)
• 1 organic orange, zested and then squeezed
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger (heaping)
• 1 pinch black pepper (my grannies trick)
• 1 pinch grated nutmeg
• 2 dashes orange bitters (optional)
• 4 Tbs. real maple syrup
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 3/4 cup water

Method:

1. Combine orange juice (about 1/4 cup), water, sugar, maple syrup, orange zest, ginger, bitters, black pepper, and nutmeg in a sauce pan over medium heat
2. Stir to dissolve all the sugar
3. Add the cranberries
4. Stir often, and wait until all the berries have popped
5. Continue stirring as the mixture foams up
6. When the mixture calms down and turns a deep red it’s time to turn off the heat (the whole process should take less than ten minutes)
7. Let cool
8. This recipe keeps very well and can be made well in advance of Thanksgiving

Dessert

• Mary’s Cranberry yam apple crisp
• Butternut squash pie
• Cointreau flavored whipped cream (I’ll let you know how it turns out)
• Bonny Doon Muscat “Vin de Glaciere” (ice wine)

With any luck things will turn out as delicious as they sound and i will be posting more recipes in time for the next round of holiday festivities.

Posted by: Rose on November 20th, 2007 © Filed under: Cocktails & Spirits, Condiments, Fruit, Menus, Sweets | 3 Comments »

It is finally, fully, fall in San Francisco. The days crisp and mostly clear, the wind sharper. This year, as usual, fall has been chaotic and crowded. We’re overwhelmed with projects and visitors and holiday plans. We can’t seem to get enough sleep or find time to nurture the writer selves that are an important part of us. Even our bird has learned a piercing new screech that is sending me to my wit’s end. And for once, I haven’t welcomed the switch to standard time. For days straight now, I’ve been knocked out cold before midnight, but I can’t seem to drag myself up in the morning, despite the “hour gained.”

We’re lucky here, to have dry farmed early girl tomatoes still in the farmers markets, but I have to admit, I’m pleased to see the new autumn bounty nudging out the abundance of summer crops. Two weeks ago, I bought some of the last fresh green olives at the farmers market, then last weekend harvested a heavy bag of ripe black olives from trees we discovered on a drive through Lake County. I pickled both in a salt brine and hid them at the back of the pantry to be leeched free of their bitterness.

Fresh olives carry a compound called oleuropein, which is responsible for their extreme, lingering, bitter flavor when uncured. The bitterness fades as they ripen, but black olives retain enough bitterness to need several months of curing. Oddly, these were some of the first foods humans cultivated, though they need long treatment to be edible. Olive cultivation began in both Crete and Syria independently as far back as 2,500 B.C.

Home Cured Black Olives

There’s very little to curing black olives. They can be soaked in a salt water brine until ready to eat, then rinsed and seasoned as desired. Many olive growers will not start selling ripe black olives until December, but in much of California, trees are abundant and laden with unused fruit. Make sure to pick olives that are still firm to the touch.

3-5 lbs ripe black olives
sea salt
water
1 egg, washed well

1. To prepare the brine, add salt to water until the egg floats to the surface. Depending on the salt you use, this could take anywhere from 1 tablespoon per quart of water, to 2 tablespoons per cup. I used a natural sea salt and found that it took a little over a tablespoon per cup of water before the egg really floated.

2. Rinse olives gently and remove any soft or bruised fruit. Place them in a clean crock or large mason jar and cover with the brine. Use a small plate or other weight to make sure all of the olives are submerged. One trick is to fill a plastic bag with a little bit of water, tie it up, and use that as a weight.

3. Store olives in a cool place out of the sun, and stir once a week. After about 30 days, remove and taste an olive, but be aware that the curing process may take up to 90 days. Olives will continue to cure as long as they are in the brine. If they become too salty, drain and rinse them, then cover with a less salty solution. At that point, they should be stored in the refrigerator.

Posted by: Rose on November 8th, 2007 © Filed under: Preserves | 10 Comments »