Have you ever made a dish that seemed to have magical properties? Here’s one I’ve experienced.

Over the years, I’ve turned into a cauliflower junkie. I love it pureed in soups, gratins, cooked in various Italian dishes, heavily spiced in Indian dishes and even fresh, broken up into tiny florets for salads.

One day a few years ago, I found a simple preparation method on eGullet, the very popular food site & user forum. They advocated simply breaking the fresh cauliflower up and broiling it with a little drizzling of olive oil, salt and pepper.

I was hooked. The broiling/roasting brought out the sweetness of the vegetable, retaining some of the texture while softening it for easy eating. Made like this, it makes a nice (low carb!) replacement to traditional starches like mashed potatoes or rice.

But here’s the magical part. One day, I decided to eat my broiled cauliflower with a homemade tomato/marinara sauce. It was very delicious.

The next morning I woke up with the most dewy, rosy, smooth, perfect complexion I can ever remember having. I just couldn’t stop looking at myself in the mirror that morning. I felt very vain and full of myself.

I thought about what could have contributed to such a remarkable change. The only thing that came to mind was that cauliflower and tomato dish I had the night before.

Alas, the effect did not last long. The following morning I was back to being my own freckley self.

I’ve never gone back and tried that magical combination though I’ve had roasted cauliflower several times since. But I don’t think I’ll every forget that amazing morning transformation I still attribute to the magical dish of white & red.

Many summers ago, my friend and I drove our boss’ car across country when the company was relocating to the East Coast. He paid our travel expenses and we spent a fun week cruising from California to Boston.

My friend, who is of Hawaiian-Japanese descent, packed us a cooler full of goodies and it was then that I learned the importance of quality munchies to a great road-trip.

We had fresh fruit, carrot and celery sticks, a HUGE bag of Dorritos, Oreos and her homemade teriyaki chicken and seaweed-wrapped onigiri, ie. Japanese rice balls.

I was a relative novice in the kitchen at the time but as a college girl learning to cook for myself, I was very impressed with her delicious and easy to make teriyaki marinade. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t believe how easy and versatile it was.

Savory and sweet, it makes a tasty base for a variety of meats, tofu or skewers of veggies like mushrooms, peppers and onions.
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On a recent visit home, my mom showed me how to make this dish which is a special favorite of mine. Unlike the traditional dessert-style chimaki served on Boy’s Day in Japan, this one is a meal in itself, more savory than sweet and chock full of tasty veggies, meat, and rice.

These rice bundles are wrapped in a fragrant bamboo leaf then steamed, perfect for picnics since they come with their own “plate” (the leaf) and hold their shape well when unwrapped and taste quite good at room temperature. My mom packed up a few for our drive home and we happily ate them watching the surf and seagulls along the coast.

Like tamales, they can be steamed and then frozen for another day. Then, when you’re ready to eat one, just pop it in the microwave for a minute and lunch is served!

Chimaki are actually very easy to make though a bit time consuming. You may encounter slight difficulties folding the bamboo leaves on your initial tries but don’t give up. The trick is to get your mom to do them — no, wait…the trick is to remember you’re not making anything elaborate, just a simple triangle. And we’ve got step-by-step photos showing you the correct way to fold these guys. So no origami credentials are required
How To Make Savory Chimaki
Step 1: The Recipe
Step 2: Folding the Leaves
Step 3: Steaming & Serving

I’ve spent much of the day cleaning up my Movable Type templates and it’s getting late. I’ve still got work-related stuff to do so in lieu of an blog entry, here’s a wonderful piece by Brendan Sodikoff that was published in the San Jose Mercury News on Nov. 28, 2001.
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Our potted meyer lemon tree is full of ripe, fragrant lemons. During the winter I love making piping hot lemonade sweetened with one of the honeys we pick up at Middle Eastern markets. This is an ideal drink to curl up with when it’s chilly out and the honey and lemon combination is especially soothing if you have a cold or sore throat.

But this week has been surprisingly warm and sunny so I made the standard summer version with simple white sugar and chilled water. Refreshing and sweet.

Recipe
1/3 c. fresh meyer lemon juice (if using regular lemons cut down to 1/4c)
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 c. water
2 mint leaves for garnish, optional

Mix juice and sugar together then pour in water. Then stir until sugar is dissolved. For the hot version, replace sugar with your favorite honey and use hot, instead of cold water.

Sunday’s Pot au Feu was pretty disappointing but having all those leftovers started the gears turning in the old noggin. As a matter of fact, I was downright excited about taking those boring remains and trying to make something delicious with it.

I started mulling over what to do with it immediately after dinner, going over permutations with M and finally decided on homemade ravioli using the meats for filling and a sauce with the broth. With that known, I strained the foods & herbs from the broth, removed the meat from the bones and packaged up 4 containers of liquid, bones, meat & veggies and put them in the fridge.

The next morning I roasted the bones in the oven, then threw those into the defatted stock along with fresh carrots, celery, the uncooked leek greens from the day before, a new handful of fresh parsley, 2 bay leaves & several sprigs of thyme and set it all on simmer with the lid off for the rest of the day, filling the house with its wonderful aroma.

While the stock was busy becoming a pseudo-demi-glace, I thought about what to do for the filling.

I got out the Cuisinart and added a about 1.5 c of the meat (oxtail, veal shank & short ribs) , a handful of walnuts and about 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan with salt and pepper to taste and did a coarse chop. Added some of the cooked carrots and celeriac to smooth out the texture and add some sweetness to the filling. This combination was DELICIOUS. We wanted to keep eating it straight out of the Cuisinart with a spoon.

That evening I quickly made some pasta dough, one of my favorite cooking tasks, then cranked it out into sheets. D helped form the ravioli, meticulously brushing the pasta sheets with eggwhites (remains from the pot de creme recipe), scooping the meat with a melon baller and pressing them firmly closed with his fingers and slicing them into individual ravioli with the dough scraper.

Once the pasta was ready, I put a huge pot of water on to boil. In a saucepan I melted butter and added the marrow from the veal shank. When this started to sizzle, I added some fresh, cut up shitake mushrooms and let that cook for a few minutes. Then I added a few ladles of our concentrated stock, a splash of red wine and dinner was ready.

The sauce was decadent, with a depth of flavor I don’t think I’ve acheived in a sauce before. The assorted bones and veggies from the pot au feu made a superior stock! Unfortunately, while the filling was tasty, it didn’t really work well with the dish texture-wise.

It was just too dry and really needed more moisture in the form of roasted veggies or gooey cheese or maybe just more cooked carrots & celeriac. Everything from the meat to nuts to cheese choices inflicted a dry papery texture to the silky pasta and luscious sauce that didn’t work. It wasn’t something we noticed eating it on it’s own so I think we’ll use the rest of the filling as a spread for bread.

So if and when you decide to make this, either eat the filling separately as a spread or add more smoothness and moisture before filling the ravioli. It’s a promising dish but definitely needs tweakage.

Filling:
2 c. pafl (pot au feu leftover) meats, bones removed
1/2 pafl carrot
1/2 pafl celeriac
handful walnuts
2 tbsp parmesano romano
2 eggwhites
salt & pepper to taste

How to Make Homemade Pasta Dough

I’ve been very curious about Pot au Feu for some time now. I just couldn’t understand the brouhaha for what, essentially, was a bunch of boiled meats. I kept wondering if some mysterious alchemy turned the pot of assorted odds and ends into something more magical than I could imagine.

So since we were having M&M over for dinner and since I wanted to make something out of Tony Bourdain’s new Les Halles Cookbook they got me for Xmas, I decided to finally bite the bullet and try his Pot au Feu.

Well, it turns out there is no magical alchemy and it still is really boiled foods. It’s tasty in it’s own way, but still pretty boring. I served it with a variety of mustards which was kind of exciting for me as D always has at least a half dozen varieties in the fridge and another half dozen or so as back up in the pantry. Use up the mustard with wild abandon, yay!!

I have to say making the pot au feu was tremendously easy, just throw everything in a pot and let it simmer slowly for a few hours. I basically followed Bourdain’s recipe verbatim except I added more herbs to his wimpy bouquet garni. I mean, 1 parsley leaf?? Come on. So I upped the herb quotient with a handful of parlsey, 2 bay leaves and several sprigs of thyme.

The house smelled delicious from the stock which simmered for hours. I think maybe this dish is a type of comfort food for people who have grown up with things like this. I have my own, rather bland set of comfort foods that satisfy my palate (mmm, hot white rice with avocado & soy sauce! Macaroni & cheese with hot dog slices!) but boiled meats & veggies isn’t one of them.

I’m not saying this dish was terrible. On the contrary it was satisfying in it’s own way: a simple, hot fragrant broth full of tender, tasty meats and soft veggies. It’s just not worth it for me to make on purpose again.

ON THE MENU

Munchies
- Pate de Campagne
- Brie
- Manchego (a hard white spanish sheep’s cheese)
- Sesame & Water Crackers

Main Course
- Pot Au Feu
- Bread: I was kind of at a loss trying to come up with a starch for this dish, but it doesn’t really need one beyond the small potatoes I added to the stock pot and veggies. I did bake my foccacia and some of us sopped up the soup with that.
- Cornichons: Bought these at Trader Joes and they were horrible. I don’t know what I was expecting but I couldn’t eat these. D said they were sort of like sweet gherkins but I thought the ones at Bouchon were more sour. I didn’t really eat much of those, either.
- Sea Salt
- Mustards: Dijon, Horseradish & Stout
- Celeri-rave Remoulade: also from Bourdain’s book. I had never tried cooking with celeriac before today and was surprised to find how easy that ugly root was to deal with. Just a quick peel, julienne with my cheap Japanese mandoline and I was set. This dish was fast to make and Mr M and I found it tasty. D thought it was a little bland. He called it my french cole slaw.

Dessert
Chocolate Pot de Creme: Basically creme brulee with Sharffenberger chocolate instead of vanilla bean. M loved it but I found it lacking in depth of flavor. Next time I make this I’d add the vanilla bean for added depth. But the texture was thick, rich and smooth.

I’ve been eating a lot of this recently. It’s nice when something so simple, made with basic pantry items that are easy to keep on hand, is so tasty. Tonno e Fagioli doesn’t require any cooking so it’s a great standby meal to throw together when it’s too hot to turn on the stove or I’m otherwise too lazy to think about preparing food.

It’s also a flavorful spread to serve with bread rounds during a casual party or served atop a leafy salad of bitter greens.

Use tuna packed in oil for maximum flavor, though I generally make this with regular tuna packed in water which is healthier and still quite good.

Tonno e Fagioli

- 1 can tuna, drained
- 1 can cannoli beans, drained
- 1/4 c. red onion, diced
- EVOO, salt & pepper
- squeeze of lemon, optional

Combine all ingredients, drizzling EVOO, salt and pepper to taste. Let sit for 1/2 hr at room temperature until flavors combine. Eat with chewy bread and a glass of white wine.

Serves 2

I think I adapted this recipe from a newspaper clipping I picked up somewhere though it’s long since disappeared.

This dish is delicious and easy to prepare, an especial favorite during the BBQ season. Just remember to start the marinade 1 day in advance so the chicken can absorb the tangy flavors.

18 boneless thighs or other chicken pieces

Marinade
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1.5 tsp tumeric
- 0.5 tsp cayenne powder
- 2 tsp black pepper, ground
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- 1/4 c. lemon juice
- 1/2 c. olive oil

Optional Garnishes
- 1/4 c. chopped mint
- 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions
Mix marinade ingredients together in large ziplock bag. Add chicken pieces. Coat well and marinade in fridge overnight.

BBQ or broil chicken the next day until done.

Healthy and extra yummy. I make this often and once made it for lunch during a painting session with my mother-in-law. It made a quick and easy hot meal for us on a rainy afternoon.

Ingredients
- 1/2 large onion, sliced thin
- 1 c. large shrimp (I often use Trader Joe’s frozen)
- 3 extra large handfuls of spinach leaves, cleaned
- 1/4 c. edemame beans, shelled (Trader Joe’s often stocks these as well)
- 1/8 tsp Hondashi/Bonito Powder (available in asian markets)
- 1/4 c. corn kernels
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- salt & pepper

Instructions
In a skillet on medium high heat, heat peanut oil and saute onion until softened. Add frozen shrimp, beans and corn. Stir until cooked about 5-10 minutes.

Add spinach into hot skillet and sprinkle in hondashi powder. Heat until spinach *just* begins to wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over brown rice.

Makes 2 servings.