Before/After

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Pickled chioggia beets with mango

A Tale of Two Proteins

Today was recipe testing day. I got lucky with this recipe - every single ingredient (with the exception of olives) was already in my kitchen! That's definitely a rare occurrence.

Up to bat was a recipe from Chef Michael Schlow of Boston's Via Matta - Snapper with Tomatoes, Olives, and Capers, served with his Crunchy Green Bean Salad. Click here for the fish recipe, and here for the green bean salad.

After having this dish the first night with snapper, I decided to try out the relish with breaded chicken. The results? The tomato relish was the real winner here. Incredibly flavorful, it would taste good on just about anything... scrambled eggs, dover sole, medium rare steak...

The crunchy green bean salad was also very delicious. I'm always looking for new ways to prepare one of my favorite green vegetables, and this was definitely something I'd make again.

Leaning Tower of Tofu

 

This was really, really good - better than I expected. I made this salad up on a whim, knowing (as with last night's dinner) that I wanted something cool and easy to make. This was both. I started with making a miso dressing, which was surprisingly simple. I used about one and a half tablespoons of white miso paste, a couple teaspoons or so of soy sauce, one minced garlic clove, maybe 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar, vegetable oil, a splash of water, and some honey to balance all the flavors out. I gave it a whir with my hand blender, and that was it. The shrimp were gently poached in water spiked with lots of fresh lime juice. Next time I make this, I'll change two things: I'll add a little jalepeno, and I'll use the freshest, silkiest tofu I can find, since this is really a big component of the dish.  

p.s. I just realized that if you click on the photo, you'll see an extra-large image that shows what's on my plate in more detail. Cool!

Give Me Something Cold, and Give it to Me Pronto.

During my formative years I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend some time in South America. What experiences I had, all of which were defined within the context of food. Oh yes, fresh-squeezed tropical juice before setting off for work, chocolate stuffed pastries on the way to work, and delicious fat fries with some kind of dipping sauce for midday break. And lunch was always something to look forward to. I remember the first time I had ceviche, served with popcorn alongside it. I thought that was so cool to have popcorn with your meal.

So tonight, in celebration of the sweltering heat, I made cool and clean shrimp ceviche, with popcorn of course.

Breakfast for Dinner, Take Two.

My husband and I fell in love in Paris. Not because of the Eiffel Tower or the romantic little cobbled streets - but because of the food. But even more specifically, it was because I could finally cook for him. I finally had the space and the tools to prepare a decent meal. You see, my husband's apartment kitchen in the Upper West Side consisted of one skillet from the mid-eighties, spices that were so old, they were the color of hay (I kid you not.) and maybe a rusty spatula. Why didn't he just come to my kitchen, you ask? Because he was too snobby to come to Brooklyn. Sigh...

In Paris, we stayed in a beautiful little studio apartment and I would make breakfast every morning with all the delicious treats we'd acquired the day before. One of his absolute favorite breakfasts was French Toast topped with sauteed pears and strawberries. He had no idea that our relationship could bring a new culinary treat everyday, and was so excited by this particular breakfast that he took a picture and framed the camera so that my face was in the background, hovering over a giant plate of French Toast in the foreground. I just might have to post that picture.

Anyway, biting into dinner tonight took me back almost six years ago and made me realize how lucky I am to be just as madly in love with him now as I was back then.

Fine-Ah-Lee!

A long time ago, back when I was an impressionable young thing, I worked at this "upscale" deli in P-town. I was behind the hot food counter, which basically entailed peeling carrots and chopping onions (not very glamourous, I know - especially the time when I cut myself and fainted in the arms of my Jerry Garcia look-alike boss). One of the perks of working at the hot food counter, however, was that whatever was left over at the end of the night, we could take home! That was music to a poor college student's ears...

Hands down, my favorite dish was their strawberry blueberry bread pudding. I've had a hankering for that pudding, and I've been saving bread butts for a couple of weeks now in anticipation of making this dessert.

Fine-Ah-Lee! I got to make my pudding tonight. This one used left over bread from the bread loaves I've been baking, and what a difference homemade bread makes! The pudding soaked in a brandy-spiked custard over night, and peaches and blueberries were added to the top. If you look closely at the photo, you'll notice little white specks on the fruit. That was my last minute attempt to caramelize the top... it didn't quite work out, but it was delicious none the less.

I have to give a quick "shout-out" to Moo - thanks for the pic...

BLT

Bacon + farm stand tomatoes + lettuce + (soy) mayo (of course) on homemade bread = a mighty fine lunch.

And by the way, I challenge ANYONE to a bacon cook-off. My bacon KICKS ASS. (Kicks butt if my little 11 year old mentee is reading this...)

Ode to Omlettes

First of all, how the frick do you spell omlette??! Argh! Ok, now that I got that off my chest, I can explain why I love the omelet (thank you, spell check- but I think my way of spelling it is better).

Omlets are really one of the perfect dishes to make during summer. You can use so little to make it and yet get a very satisfying meal. This omelet (yes I know the picture is so lame!) consists simply of fried onions, green onions, jalapeno, and cheddar. I placed it on a bed of farm-grown tomatoes, and viola! Dinner was done.

On a sidenote - I have one little tangent to add. I NEVER add milk to my scrambled eggs. Why do people do this?! First of all, if you need a little extra moisture, and nine times out of ten you don't, then add a little water! In my humble opinion, adding milk makes the finished product smell reminiscent of wet dog. Blech.

Improvisation

Well, not exactly. I had a general idea of what I wanted to make for dinner these past few nights, but usually what happens is that I have one or two ingredients in the fridge and then get inspiration for dinner from that. For example, I had some tomatillos and cilantro in the fridge, so I decided to make something I haven't had in years, roasted halibut with mango tomatillo salsa. It was really good, although next time I might try using cod. I find it to be a "juicier" fish than halibut. For the salsa, I cooked the tomatillos down with some onion and garlic. The rest of the ingredients were raw, which added a nice juxtaposition of flavors and textures.

The salad below is a simple spinach salad with bacon vinaigrette. Again, I had a bunch of bacon in the 'ole ice box and was really tired of BLT's. This was a pretty straightforward salad, (spinach, hard boiled eggs, red onion, bacon) with the exception of caramelizing the onions first as opposed to keeping them thinly sliced and raw. I really dislike biting into raw onions. Talk about having killer breath...

Introduction

So, at the suggestion of my 11 year old mentee, I've started a blog. She did it. So why not I? When asked, "what do you want your blog to be about, Ms. Alicia?" I thought, food of course.

Now, on to the task of deciding what to call this... one would think I had southern upbringings with the inclusion of "y'all" in the title. But no, I'm a born and bred valley girl from California (although I really don't think I talk like one). Honestly, this title is the first thing that came to mind - end of story.

Welcome to my blog! I hope you find inspiration to cook or to try something new. Please feel free to submit comments and suggestions for recipes or cooking ideas...

Cheesecake

Out of nowhere, I got the urge for cheesecake! This one turned out pretty good, except I forgot to add an extra egg which made the inside a little less set than I would have liked it to be... the cake is topped with sweet white peaches, and rasberries. I sliced off a big chunk of cake and brought it to the upstairs neighbors. I'm trying to bring back that whole neighborly thing.

Yes, it satisfied the urge. Da-lish.

I'm buring alive

I left the California valley at the tender age of 17. During the peak of summer, the temperature would reach about 103 degrees. Today, I am reminded of that hellish summer past. It is 95 degrees, and I feel like I'm burning alive...It's too hot to cook.