Asian Fusion Dinner

 Hello World, I'm Back!

In the past few years the whole world has experience so many challenges and change that, having the drive to pursue my past interest has been difficult and superfluous.  I'm slowly getting there and now have some of my art supplies at home (thank you Kyle).

As always, cooking at home is always fun and enjoyable specially since  I now have a very large kitchen with many prepping areas and Kyle is always ready to help with meal preps.

Blending a fusion of many ethnic foods is a challenge but I continue to experiment and my family is always and willing to partake.  I have been following one of my favorite chefs, David Chang create delicious sauces for his noodle dishes.  As many of you know (family & friends), Mustard's Restaurant in the Sonoma area is one of my favorite restaurants and I own a few of Cindy Pawlcyn's cookbooks.  Of course all of her recipes and incredible, mouthwatering but difficult to execute and require many, many ingredients but; of course I found a shortcut.  I created a quick and tasty marinade for her Mongolian Pork Chops which I paired with one of David Chang's noodles for a complete dinner.  When I cook and missing an ingredient I always find a substitute for or use whatever is arm's reach and, since I did not have all of Momofuku's ingredients of course I substituted, thank you Trader Joe's 😉

Mongolian Pork Chops with Noodles

Serves 4-6                                            Prep Time 2-4 hrs                  Cook Time  10 minutes

Ingredients

• 4-6 bone in pork chops
• 8 ounces Hoisin Sauce with pear juice (store bought)
• 1/4 C Soy Sauce
• 2 T Worcestershire Sauce 
• 1T Sesame Seed Oil
• 1t hot sauce

Mix all liquid ingredients together, pour over pork chops and marinade for at least two hours in fridge.

 

David's Noodles Ingredients

• 4 Packs air dried, not toasted, Korean style noodles
• 1/2 a cucumber, julienned
• 1/2 a carrot, julienned
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced (sorry David)
• 1 T Honey Chili Crunch, Momofuku
• 1 T Chili Crunch, Momofuku
• 1/4 C Hoisin Sauce with pear juice
• 2 T Soy Sauce
• 1 T Sesame Seed Oil
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 2 T minced Ginger
  
• 1 t Hot Sauce, optional, to taste
• 1-2 T Furikake, rice seasoning

In blender mix sauce ingredients together by combining Honey Chili Crunch, Hot Chili Crunch, Hoisin Sauce, Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, hot sauce, garlic and ginger; add to large bowl. Bring pot to boil and cook noodles according to directions.  Have an ice water bowl ready, once noodles are cooked put in ice water bowl, drain and add to bowl with sauce. If to dry, add more of the liquid ingredients to taste.

 

Kyle grilled the pork chops in our new outside kitchen, 2 minutes per side on high flame.

When plating simply place a pork chop along with noodles, dress noodles by adding the cucumber, carrot and green onions then sprinkle all over with Furikake.  Enjoy!

 

 

Buttersctotch Pots de Creme

Happy New Year, Health, Love and Prosperity to the Whole World!

Well its been a few years since I have written anything here since my children have told me that my pictures are awful and I should not write any recipes without good pictures.  Well that's not improved at all and I usually forget to take a pictures of my food anyway, like I did this past New Year's Eve celebration when I made these delicious Pots de Creme.

A few years back in the 'big city" while having dinner with a dear friend at one of my favorite restaurants, Gjelina in Venice, CA we had an awesome dessert which consist of pretty much everything I crave for in a dessert; butterscotch, caramel, sweet & salty and gooey yum consistency.
Anyhow, this is my version of it and since I had many request  for the recipe, I believe it does Gjelina's delicious Pots de Creme justice.

Butterscotch Pots de Creme

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 5 cups heavy creme
• 2 t fine sea salt
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 6 lg egg yolk
• boiling water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In large saucepan melt butter, add brown sugar and cook over moderately high heat, whisking constantly until smooth and bubbling.  Slowly whisk in the cream.  Return the mixture to boil, whisking constantly.  Add salt and vanilla seeds.  Remove from heat.  

In heatproof large bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Gradually whisk in the hot cream mixture.  Strain the custard into eight 6 ounce ramekins dishes or something like it.  Set the dishes in a large roasting pan or two and place in oven  Fill the roasting pan with enough boiling water to cover halfway up the sides of ramekins.  Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour, until custards are set but still wobbly in the center.  Transfer ramekins to a baking sheet and refrigerate and chill at least 4 hours.  

When ready to serve you'll need caramel sauce and sweetened whipped cream and a bit of Maldon sea salt.  You can of course make your own or buy first 2 ingredients the key here is the Maldon salt.

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 As you can see this is not a picture of my dessert but of my husband Bill and our friend Don being chased by an elephant seal at the WR Hearst Beach in San Simeon as they are washing the paella pans (that's a different recipe ).

Summer Lasagna

Good Morning World!  What a great morning here in  paradise.

Yesterday's dinner time comes around and I start thinking "what to cook for dinner".  As one of many Cambrians here in SLO county I subscribe to Talley's Farm fresh box delivery of fruits and vegetables and, though me and my family absolutely love every single fruit and vegetable in the box and always finish our weekly allowance on or before the week is over; I looked in my vegetable crisper I had 2 weeks worth of yellow summer squash. I would have normally just steamed them with dinner and call it a successful conclusion to the beautiful squash but, these babies were a bit larger than most yellow squash, one would have been enough for a serving.  So I put on my thinking cap and remembered seeing a recipe in the July issue of Sunset magazine. Their recipe it's a
"Zucchini and Corn Lasagna" and, of course I tweaked this to accommodate my yellow summer squash.

This recipe takes a bit of time in preparation but it could easily be assembled ahead of time and baked right before dinner time.  The squash needs to be sliced as thin as possible, line a large baking sheet with paper towels and spread the squash over it and sprinkle with 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt and set aside for 30 minutes.  The sliced squash needs to be grilled for 2 minutes per side, I did this in my kitchen over my stove top but you can do it on your outdoor grill and it will be faster.

Summer Lasagna 

Serves 8   

Ingredients:
 3 1/2 lb yellow squash or zucchini (thinly sliced)
1 3/4 t salt, divided
1 1/2 T cooking oil or choice
1 large onion, chopped (or 1/2 C chopped shallots)
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 cups of raw corn kernels
1 t fresh thyme and oregano
15 oz ricotta cheese
3/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 C  shredded dry mozzarella cheese
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 C basil leaved (chopped)
2 T chives (chopped)
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t pepper
1 T butter

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non stick organic cooking oil (or butter)
Follow my above instruction on the squash preparation.  Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium heat add oil.  Add onion and garlic brown, add corn and thyme and cook for 2 minutes.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the ricotta, half the cheeses, egg, basil, chives, nutmeg and 1/2 t salt and  pepper, mix to incorporate all ingredients.
Arrange a quarter of the yellow squash in bottom of dish, slightly overlapping.  Evenly spread one third of the corn/cheese mixture.  Repeat process 2 more times, ending with squash.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and butter cut into small squares.
Bake for about 45 minutes until lasagna turns golden brown, rotate dish halfway through.  Let lasagna rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Of course you may add sausage, prosciutto or mushroom if desired 

Note:  If you find a lot of liquid concentrating on bottom of pan; tilt dish to one side by raising one end and let all liquid drain to low end.  Remove with a teaspoon before serving.

 

Steam Punk

Here in Cambria there's a yearly wacky art show exhibit called the "927" show, in which I just entered my first mixed media piece which it's made up of two parts, three if you count the stand that I also altered/designed.
 The tile of my work is "Some Era in Time" :

I am a terrible photographer so this is what I have so far.

Oh, here's the spine of my art journal

Fried Rice

As you all may have heard "Cauliflower", has recently gained a great reputation from all the great chefs around as been the new rice, potato or any neutral non- starchy "carb".  I of course have been experimenting with it and have come out with a simple healthy, Fried Rice.  As always I am a great believer in using whatever I have available at the time of cooking therefore; my recipe may change
from time to time, (left overs are great for this).

                                                           Fried Rice

 Ingredients                                                                                                                 Serves 2-4

•   1/2 head of cauliflower 
•   1/2 C carrots - cut 1/4" square
•   1/2 C celery - cut 1/4" squares
•   2 garlic cloves - finely diced
•   2 eggs 
•   1 C green vegetable - peas, broccoli, snap peas, beans
•   1/4 C soy sauce  
•   2 t fish sauce (Tiparos)  
•   1 T cooking oil of choice
•   1/2 - 1 C - chopped left over chicken, fish, pork, etc.  (optional)
•   1/2 t black pepper                                     

Preparation:  In food processor, chop cauliflower to the consistency of large rice grains.  Heat oil and stir fry all raw vegetables including cauliflower for about 2 minutes; do not over cook, you want bright crisp vegetables.
In small bowl beat the eggs with a little bit of water, in another frying pan or in the same one if large enough, make a simple omelet, lightly cooked (don't brown edges) and cut into small pieces with spatula.  Mix vegetables, eggs and extra protein in frying pan then add soy sauce, fish sauce and pepper until all ingredients are warm, about 1-2 minutes.  And that it's it, simple.

When plating I like to add chopped green onion and cilantro on top.  If you like a bit of Thai style fried rice add, fresh diced tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro and of course green onions and a little 
hot sauce such as Sriracha or Tapatio, Enjoy!

Calamari with Avocado Salad and lime dressing

Now that summer is here I love to use all the beautiful fruits and vegetables that are showing up at my local farmer's market. In order to take advantage of freshness from the local produce I made this salad for lunch on two consecutive days in two different versions.
One served with soft shell crab

 

The other with calamari lightly coated with cornmeal and flash pan fried. In the first version salad I added strawberries to the salad and the other a mixture of berries.

Avocado Salad with Lime dressing

4 oz arugula
1/2 romaine lettuce - hand trimed
1/4 cup cilantro
4 green onion - diced
1 avocado - sliced or cut in cubes
1/2 English cucumber - sliced then cut in halves
1/2 bell pepper - roughly chopped
1 cup of berries of choice

Lime Dressing 

juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon fresh ginger - minced
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 olive oil
S&P

Start by whisking all dressing ingredients first and let rest for about 10 minutes.
Mix all salad ingredients together then drizzle with dressing and toss gently before serving.
 
 

Au gratin Potatoes

Hello from Cambria!
It has been quite busy the last few months and I'm just starting to get comfortable here in Cambria. Living here its definitely going back to simpler times and Bill and I could not be happier here.  Lovely weather, great restaurants, beautiful wines from all of the local wineries and the local farms and ranches with fresh produce and meat.
There's a great grocery store in the west village called Soto's Marketplace where they carry many local organic produce and Hearst meats. And not to be missed on Fridays a beautiful farmer's market.

One thing I missed from SCV its my herb garden and, since I like to cook fresh organic meals, an herb garden its a must.  So, Bill and I designed this vertical herb garden outside on the deck.

After our shopping at the farmer's market this past Friday I bought some beautiful potatoes, local cheeses and filet Mignon from a local rancher so, I decided to make my husband's favorite meal: Filet Mignon with Cabernet reduction, Au gratin potatoes and some yummy glazed baby carrots.

Au gratin potatoes

Ingredients:

• 3  lbs russet potatoes (thinly sliced)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 garlic cloved, peeled and smashed
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1 bay leaf
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 2 garlic cloves finely choped
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 2.5 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup shreadded parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shreaded gruyere cheese
• salt & pepper

Method:

In a small saucepan bring heavy cream, smashed garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, salt & pepper to simmer; let steep for about 30 minutes. In meantime peel and slice potatoes (I use my food processor) then place in cold water. You may grate cheese at this time also using your food processor.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

 Drain potatoes over strainer. Butter a 9x13 baking pan. Once potatoes have drained, start layering baking pan with them and sprinkle with small amounts of salt and pepper every 2- 3 layers.  Strain cream mixture and save cream.  In sauce pan melt butter and quickly brown garlic then add flour and brown for 1-2 minutes, add the sherry, stir well and scrape sides and bottom of pan then add  reserved seasoned heavy cream and re-heat but don’t boil, add cheeses , stir well to combine and remove from heat.  Pour the cream mixture over potatoes, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 10 or so minutes to brown the top.

Here's a picture of the plated dinner.