Cakes And Ale: What's Cooking In My Kitchen

Grilled Haloumi Cheese over spiced zucchini.

Lamb Shank Soup.

Kamut grains cooked in lamb shank soup broth, plus a spice mix using two sauteed yellow onions until just a bit browned, added the juice and zest of half a Meyer lemon, anchovy salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander, freshly ground star anise + black & white pepper, smoked paprika, ground cardamom, 1 tbsp sumac, 4 rough chopped dates, minced garlic (1 clove), fresh ground ginger (I recommend ceramic ginger graters), and a few ladles full of lamb stock.

Posole.

Pork Chops, Bok Choy, Roasted Vegetables, & Brown Rice.

Toasted rye bread with cream cheese, chopped tomato with pepper.

Mango Habanero Garlic Salsa.

Austrian sunflower bread from Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino, sauteed yellow onion & trumpet mushrooms, Ground Elk(from Harvest Market in Mendocino) patty & Italian Parsley (6/24/2018).

4 photos from today's (6/17/18) Father's Day Celebration. Above: grilled halibut tacos made by Amber.

Most of the food on table (clockwise), you can see Salad in foreground with fresh farmer's market lettuces, avocado, roasted pumpkin seeds, & home-made Goddess dressing; a few grilled mussels, tacos, shrimp ceviche, pico de gallo.

Grilled pineapple with cinnamon.

Here's the full plate: notice the Cilantro Salsa (bright green splotch to the left, and on taco) and the Coconut Chutney, right next to the Cilantro Salsa. I bought that Friday at the great Indian grocery next door to Ping's Bistro in Fremont. Later on, I'd serve freshly made Vanilla Ice Cream using a Madagascar Vanilla Bean.

Morels sauteed in a rich cream sauce with shallots, sherry & asparagus, served over baked cod and brown rice, then topped with roasted pecans and parmesan.

Tonight (4/14/18) we made a salad using 16/20 shrimp, avocado, asparagus, jicama, cucumber, carrot, scallions, butter lettuce and a salad dressing made from the juice of 1.5 Meyer lemon, freshly roasted and ground cumin & coriander, two pinches cayenne, mixed with about a cup of artichoke tapendade.

Tonight (4/12/18) I made Vignole with Cod & Beurre Blanc. Clockwise from my chef's knife: scallions, freshly-hulled peas, shallots, artichoke tapenade, Vermouth, spice grinder with black peppercorns about to be freshly ground, scallion greens, mint, organic butter, Meyer Lemon, asparagus and 3 slices of Prosciutto.

I finely chopped up a salt-cured anchovy and added it to the mixture of melted butter and extra virgin olive oil. In my left hand is the chicken stock. After the anchovy is sauteed, I add the scallion whites and half of the chopped scallop, let it soften, then add scallion greens for a minute saute, then the asparagus and peas, add a cup of chicken stock, bring to light boil, then let that simmer for a few minutes, then add artichoke, mint, ground black pepper, some minced lemon zest and juice, then take out of the pan, then grilled the cod on each side. Once done, I start the beurre blanc in a smaller pan: remaining shallots, minced garlic and teaspoon or so of minced lemon zest goes in hot pan to which is added juice of half the lemon and about half a cup of the Vermouth. Bring to a boil, then add in a tablespoon or more of butter off the heat, while stirring. Serve hot, with white rice (see below).

Often I wait to see what's good at the grocery before deciding what to make for dinner. Today (3/15/18), Berkeley Bowl has sashimi grade Tuna (Tekkamaki) chunks for almost 1/4 the price of sashimi fillets, so I got some, and with Robin's input, decided to make salads with some home grown arugula, marinated red bells, persian cucumbers, carrots and hearts of palm. I marinated the tuna in the juice of a Meyer lemon, finely chopped garlic chive I grew and picked fresh, and small amounts of light soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and chili oil. Then I added a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Burgers I just made (7/23/17): Lean Sirloin, Brioche from Model Bakery, Arugula, grilled Vidalia Onion, Garlic, & Anaheims, Goddess Dressing, Freshly Ground Black Pepper. Brioche was buttered then toasted.

Salad using lettuce & herbs I grew, Green Goddess dressing that Robin made, carrots, cabbage, avocado, tomato & red bells, plus some "chowder fish"--off cuts deeply discounted because they aren't perfect filets. Perfect Summer dish.

Pork Ribs (St. Louis Ribs, to be precise) roasted in the oven, and with a dry rub of sea salt & smoked paprika.

Kamut cooked in Chicken Stock that I had made from scratch.

Breakfast taco: eggs, smoked paprika, garlic, kale, & Gailan (Chinese Broccoli) on toasted white corn tortilla.

Quesadillas: cheddar & jack with kale & sour cream.

Roast Duck with halved red potatoes.

Wild Ridgeback Prawns, frozen sashimi grade, from Same Day Seafood at the Sunday Marin Farmer's Market. Likely from the Santa Barbara area. I lightly sauteed them in garlic butter, served with rice, Lao sausage, and a salad of arugula, lettuce, cucumber, carrot and sauteed broccolini.

These Ridgeback Prawns are some of the best I've ever had, very similar to Langoustines and even Lobster.

Variation on Migas: four corn tortillas thin-sliced & fried in light oil, salted and seasoned with smoked chile powder, topped with sauteed yellow onion, an ample amount of garlic, fresh ground cilantro & cumin, three fried eggs & chile arbols.

What to do with all the juices rendered when one cooks chicken, turkey, duck and other fowl? Tonight I roasted two huge turkey thighs with a dry rub (sea salt, paprika, Lebanese spice blend) in a pan with a yellow onion and two mild Italian sausages. Took the onions and sausage out when they were done, but the turkey needed more time. When it was ready, I took the pan out of the oven, disembarked the thighs to a plate, then turned on the grill, and cooked brussel sprouts in the already hot pan in the turkey juices redolent of spices. Served the sausage, onion , sprouts over beluga lentils that had some vinegar (turkey's for tomorrow).

Decided to cook roast duck today--above are some Kishu mandarins I picked from our tree, squeezed the juice on top of the raw duck, then threw the remainders inside the cavity. I peeled and minced the ginger and put most of that inside as well. A couple of tips: you can used a spoon to peel ginger, and I highly recommend investing in a ceramic ginger grater, which I've seen at Asian grocery stores for less than $5.

So I lightly sprinkled some sea salt and pepper on top, and popped the duck in the oven at 375.

What to do with the duck gizzards and neck? On the left pan you can see a huge piece of duck fat that I rendered, cut away from the neck area, some chopped ginger, and duck neck bone browning. On the right is duck liver & gizzards, sprinkled with sea salt and pepper. Once the neck pieces were browned, the ginger browned, and the fat mostly rendered, then I did a quick saute of the liver and gizzards. Liver cooks fast, so pay attention. Gizzards you can let brown on low heat.

On the left, I've got a batch of porcini farro going, after letting the caramelized ginger & duck necks boil in the water for ten minutes. To the far right you can see fresh green beans I've cut up, and while the garlic & shallots wait to be minced. In the middle is the cooked duck gizzards, liver and cracklings (i.e. fat).

After an hour of the duck roasting at 375 (F), it was basting time. BTW, the paella pan I was using had been used to reduce down chanterelles, so that flavor mixed with the rendered duck fat was what I basted the duck with. Some recipes call for basting with melted butter, which is fine by me, but there's always plenty of duck fat that works much better to this purpose.

So over here, I've sauteed chopped shallot in duck fat, then added the fresh green beans, which I simply tossed every few minutes until done the way I wanted it (not hammered, but with a slight browning).

Look: the farro's nearly done.

Duck out of the oven, after another 45 minutes of cooking. The little thermometer would pop up in a minute. Always let your meat rest after taking it off the heat & before cutting into it, or else the juices will drain away. In this case, I let it rest 30 minutes. The basting really helps crisp up the skin.

And here's the plate. Clockwise from right: duck leg & piece of breast; green beans with brown shallots and a sprinkle of minced raw garlic; farro with minced garlic; duck gizzards, liver & cracklings. I had a glass of $5 Zinfandel I bought at Grocery Outlet, a vintage from Glen Ellen.

We've been accumulating some Indian ingredients like fresh curry leaves, naan, okra, ghee, organic garlic pickle, and Surati Mixed Pickle. On a serving of Brown Basmati rice sits some garbanzos, with okra curry to the side, and mixed vegetables (roma beans, cabbage, carrots, onion) sauteed with freshly roasted and ground spices. Except for some ghee, completely vegan.

Robin traded one of her mushroom t-shirts for some blewit mushrooms with a local picker. She prepped them, and then I used them tonight with the cream-based sauce with sauteed leeks, meyer lemon, splash of dry white wine, two kinds of cheese ravioli (one with basil), and crab. I cooked the cream sauce down, added a touch of the pasta water to make it thicken more. Threw the crab & mushrooms (both already cooked) at the last moment. One of the best dishes I've ever made, thanks to the great ingredients.

Made a paella tonight with Squid, fresh Sardines, and Halibut. I cooked vegetables separately: sweet Italian chiles, Romano Beans, and Leeks sauteed with garlic and lemon zest.

Note the sprinkling of smoked paprika on top.

Now that local Sardines are in season, and super-cheap, we're going to get some soon to make Grilled Sardines, Spanish-style. Stay tuned.

Cooking some stuff that's been in the fridge a while: Okra from the Vallejo Farmer's Market, and at right, all chopped up, is som Organic Wild Rice Tempeh. Okra is cooking in some Coconut Oil.

Okra's close to being done, so I threw a lot of Sambar Curry powder & the Tempeh.

Steamed up the lens for this closeup above. That and the shot below you can see I've thrown in a couple of whole red chiles, and flipped everything. I let this go another few minutes on medium, then added some water and put the lid on to let it steam, then turned the heat to super low.

NorCal BLT: Organic Heirloom Locally-Grown Tomato, Prosciutto, Arugula, White Cheddar and Truffle Oil on toasted Ciabatta.

Here's the kind of food I like to make myself when Robin's not around (6/9/16). From midnight, counter clockwise: prosciutto, chopped parsley, garlic, onion, jalapenos, brown rice, white cheddar, and in the middle, lamb bacon.

So I sauteed the lamb bacon in neutral oil for a short spell, added chopped onion and jalapeno to saute. Oh yeah, there's also eggs. You can see I'm getting garlic ready on the board.

Once the onions were translucent & slightly browned, I threw in the rice, garlic, eggs and chopped prosciutto. Got white cheddar slices ready as well as some smoked paprika.

That's the dish, once the cheese melts. I had this with salsa and a few blue corn chips.

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Organic Chicken Drumsticks, dusted with salt & spices, spritzed with Meyer Lemon juice & red wine, it's going to sit on top of brown rice & sauteed poblano pepper, and get garnished with an herb mix or Italian flat leaf parsely, mint, oregano & garlic chives.