Last night I had the pleasure to dine out with some friends at a most incredible restaurant. We are in California, San Carlos to be exact, attending the Better Light Owner’s Conference. For those of you that have never heard of Better Light, it is a digital scanning back used for fine art reproduction, commercial photography and high res scenics. Basically, you take a 4×5 Camera and instead of inserting a film holder in the slot you use a digital capture back.
Well, back to dinner last night. One of the attendees had been tooling around town and interviewing residents on where their favorite restaurant was. He came across a place that was called “Kabul” www.kabulcuisine.com and decided that this was the place we should eat. They have two locations one right here in San Carlos and another in Burlingame. The two establishments are run by two brothers and apparently they have the same menu. We went to the one in San Carlos. It was located in this little strip mall and we almost missed it. In fact, we thought the GPS had lost its mind when it told us we were there. Then we looked back over our shoulder and sure enough saw a sign saying Kabul. OK, this was a nice big parking lot so finding a place to park was easy. We walked over to where we thought the restaurant was and there was no marking on the door indicating the name of the establishment. It did have an open sign and credit card stickers yet we still were not sure if it was open – until we tried the door. Voila! The door opened and in we stepped to a wonderful dining room complete with tables draped in white tablecloths.
After being seated and presented with menus, they brought our water. We began perusing the menu and realized we didn’t really know what these things were. We were reading things like Aushak and Pakawra-e-Badenjan. What in the world is this stuff??? Granted they did have a complete English description of each item, but it would take an awful lot of reading to figure out what to order. That’s when my husband, Randy, came up with a brilliant idea. The waiter came over to the table to ask if we had any questions on the menu. Randy tells him, “We want to sample everything. Just bring us a variety of dishes, stick them all in the middle, and we will eat family style.” The waiter was so pleased with the idea, he began to rattle off all the dishes he would bring, and we just waited in anticipation for the feast that he was preparing for us.
Let me just say that we were not disappointed. We started out with the Mantoo (a lamb dumpling topped with yogurt and veggies) and Pakawra-e-badenjan (Battered eggplant with yogurt and meat sauce). For the entrée, he made several kabobs – lamb, shrimp, chicken, and deskewered them onto a big platter to set in the middle. There was also this really spunky green sauce that we used to dip our meats into. We were served assorted vegetables, rice and a pumpkin dish. All I can say is the feast was amazing. But it didn’t stop there. For desert he brought us some baklava and ice cream. I think we ate til our eyes crossed. This being said, if you are ever in the San Francisco area, San Carlos is only about 15 minutes south and a trip to Kabul Afghan Cuisine is well worth the trip.
I never knew what a comfort food Shoyu Chicken had become to my children until Melissa, after traveling the world for 6 months was coming home for a visit. “Oh Mom,” she said, “The one thing I really want you to make for me is Shoyu Chicken.” I always thought it was Stephanie’s favorite but I guess it’s kind of like Toasted Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup – you just can’t go wrong. So here it is, my recipe for Shoyu Chicken:
Shoyu Chicken
Ingredients:
3-5# Chicken Thighs (with bone and skin)
Ginger Root
20 cloves Garlic
1 – 2 C Raw Sugar (to taste)
Soy Sauce
Water
Start by covering the chicken thighs with water in a Dutch oven sized pot and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes. This is done to “clean” the meat. You will see some icky foamy stuff come off of it. Using a slotted spoon fish out the chicken pieces and leave behind the foamy stuff. If you have dogs, this broth makes a great “people food” addition to their dry food. My dogs think they have died and gone to heaven when I add this to their food. Rinse the pot out so there is no more icky stuff. Put the chicken pieces back in the pot and cover about halfway with Soy Sauce. Add enough water to almost cover the chicken. Slice the ginger root in 1/4” slices (on a slant). Using the handle of your knife give a quick whack to each exposed side of the ginger slices. Add to chicken. Use the side of your knife blade and smash the garlic. Add to chicken. Add 1 C sugar and after it melts into the sauce taste it and add enough sugar to give it that sweet salty flavor that’s oh so good. Boil on low, stirring occasionally for about 2 – 2 1/2 hrs. until the chicken falls off the bone. Fish all the chicken out of the sauce, then turn the sauce on high and reduce for a real yummy sauce. Strain out the ginger and garlic, then skim off the fat. The chicken can also be baked in the oven in a 13×19 pan at 350 for about 2 hours.
I like to serve this with brown sweet rice and some sort of veggie.
I love eggplant. The problem I have with this vegetable is that the only way I really know how to prepare it is either a ratatouille or as eggplant parmesan. When making Ratatouille it ends up rather soggy and when making eggplant parmesan you end up using so much cheese you may as well wear it. Here is a great recipe for eggplant that is a bit lower in fat but is not short on flavor.
Eggplant Ricotta
Sauce Ingredients:
1 – 15oz can Tomato Sauce
1 Bell Pepper, Roasted, Skin and seeds removed
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp each dried basil and oregano
1/4 tsp salt and fresh ground pepper
To roast the pepper, rub with olive oil and grill or broil until the skin has blackened. Put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for about 15-20 min. Under running water, peel off the skin (it should slip right off). Open up and take out the stem, seeds and ribs.
Put all sauce ingredients into a blender and liquefy.
Eggplant Ingredients:
2- medium eggplant
olive oil
salt and pepper
3 C packed fresh spinach or kale
1-15 oz container skim milk ricotta
1/2 tsp each dried basil and oregano
1 clove garlic, crushed
Start by preparing the eggplant. Cut off both ends. Holding the eggplant lengthwise cut a thin slice off each side. Then slice lengthwise in slices just a bit smaller than 1/2”. Make sure you cut the eggplant in an even number of slices as we will be using them two by two. Brush with olive oil and broil 2-4 minutes until lightly browned. Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a medium skillet add a little water and the spinach or kale. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, cover and cook about 2 minutes until wilted. Remove from heat and drain the water. Mix together with ricotta basil, oregano and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste.
The next step is to make little sandwiches with the eggplant. Put a dollop of sauce under each slice of eggplant. Then layer, first with eggplant, then ricotta mixture and topping off with another slice of eggplant. Once all is layered top with remaining sauce and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Top with toasted pine nuts if you want.
I visited Whole Foods today and decided that I would make an authentic Italian Pizza. I didn’t know what I would do for the pizza dough (didn’t really feel like making my own and the frozen stuff looked gross). When I waltzed past the pizza station I looked at their counter and saw balls of dough. “That” I said to myself, “Is exactly what I am looking for.” As I was perusing this station what did I see but a basket of dough balls right in front of me! This, my friends, was quite serendipitous. I promptly grabbed a ball of dough and headed to the meat (deli kine) counter. I knew there was nothing that could top off an authentic Italian pizza better that prosciutto and arugula. Being single (momentarily as my husband is traveling) I decided that a variety of flavors needed to be created. I purchased some prosciutto and pancetta, then was off to the produce section for baby arugula. I had most of the ingredients that I needed at home so this was all I had to purchase tonight.
Well, that ball of dough that I bought ended up making 4 amazing pizzas and I had to call my neighbors and beg them to let me share my experiment. This is what I came up with:
First, I gathered all the ingredients that sounded good to me. Marinara sauce (with extra garlic of course), pesto, goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes(soak up the oil with paper towels), mozzarella, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes (soak up the excess liquid on paper towels), and zucchini. The onion and bell peppers were sliced and roasted in hot oil, the tomatoes and zucchini were sliced thin. I took the marinara sauce fortified with garlic and reduced it to get rid of some of the liquid.
Once all the veggie prep was done it was onto creation. I divided the dough in fourths and using a little flour worked each into a nice thin crust. There was absolutely no uniformity in any of the shapes. How they ended up was how I kept them. Each crust was brushed with olive oil and placed oil side down on a hot grill (as in Bar B Q). As that side was grilling I brushed the upper side with oil. When the one side was done (with the lid open), I removed the dough, flipped it (so the cooked side was up) and brought it back in the house for the toppings.
Here is where the real fun begins. For two of the crusts, I used my garlic fortified marinara sauce and for the other two I used a store bought pesto from Costco. On the marinara pizzas I added grated mozzarella and the grilled veggies. For one, I topped it with pancetta, for the other I baked as is (this one I added the prosciutto on top as soon as it was cooked). Both of these were topped with fresh baby arugula as soon as they were off the grill. The heat of the pizza wilted the arugula beautifully. On the pesto topped crusts, I only used veggies – this is a great way to appease your vegetarian friends along with the meat lovers. The pesto pizzas also were the happy recipients of the goat cheese.
I decided that this would be a really fun way to have a pizza party with your friends. Bring home the dough, prepare the ingredients and let your friends make their own combinations (reminds me of Diane and Bron’s pizza parties).
So Randy and I were sitting around thinking about how to use up leftover ahi. It’s just not one of those things that you say “Sweet…I have a bunch of leftover ahi, I think I’ll have a snack!” Well this is a dish I like to call “Your Not so Ordinary Fish N Chips”. The chips are tortilla chips and the fish is grilled ahi. This is a great starter or a simple meal.
Your Not so Ordinary Fish N Chips
Organic Tortilla Chips (www.costco.com)
Grilled Ahi (tuna fish) [sliced thin into bite sized pieces]
Tarter Sauce (mayonnaise and pickle relish)
Cayenne Pepper (optional) [www.mortonbassett.com]
Mango with Peach Salsa by Santa Barbara Salsa (www.sbsalsa.com)
Once all these ingredients are laid out begin the layering. Here is the preferred method:
Take one tortilla chip. Add a small dollop of tarter sauce then a piece of the ahi. Top this off with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper (optional, use if you like a little heat) then a dollop of salsa. This should be just the right size to shovel into your mouth with one bite. If it’s too big for one bite, try again with smaller portions.
Sauces are something extra that foods don’t necessarily need, but oh how they make any dish sing instead of hum. Here’s a recipe for a Beurre Blanc sauce that I infused with some saffron. Try using it with seafood or veggies. It puts the yum in yummy!
Saffron infused Beurre Blanc Sauce
1/3 C Champagne or Rice Vinegar
1/3 C White wine
2 Shallots or green onions
2 T lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
Pinch of Saffron threads
1/2 C heavy cream (or 1/2 and 1/2)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
In a 2 qt saucepan mix together vinegar, wine, shallots, lemon juice and saffron. Heat to boiling, reduce sauce to about 2 tablespoons. Add cream and reduce a little keeping on low heat. Slowly whisk in the butter 1T at a time. Keep heat low enough so sauce will emulsify without curdling. If it does start to curdle, remove from heat and add a little ice whisking like there’s no tomorrow, then continue whisking in the butter. Add as much salt and pepper as you like.
Enjoy.
Friday, January 29, 2010 Posted in recipes
Eggs can be used in so many ways and in so many different dishes. As a matter of fact, eggs are not just for breakfast anymore. Let’s talk about quiche. Quiche is an incredibly versatile dish. You can serve it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It can be made a vegetarian dish or you can add some sort of white meat to it such as seafood or chicken.
The biggest issue I have with quiche is the crust. I hate making crust for quiche. Maybe I just don’t like the idea of having a pie crust under my eggs. whatever it is, I think I have found the solution. You can make a fabulous crust using leftover brown rice. Here is my recipe:
Broccoli Quiche
Crust:
2 eggs
1/2 C Parmasan Cheese
1 1/2 C cooked brown rice
salt and pepper to taste
Mix thoroughly and press into pie plate. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Filling:
1 C raw broccoli
1/4 C diced onions
1/4 C diced bell pepper
1/2 C preferred meat (lobster, chicken, shrimp)
2 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
1 c swiss cheese (like Jarlsberg)
Egg mixture:
4 eggs
1 Can evaporated milk
4 cloves garlic, crushed (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp tarragon
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp salt or ormus
Once crust is cooked, sprinkle with 1/2 of the grated cheese. Evenly sprinkle the bacon on the cheese then sprinkle remaining filling ingredients. Evenly pour egg mixture then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool at least 5 minutes before cutting.
I love clam chowder. There’s something about that creamy goodness that makes you go mmmmmmmm. Last night I made a special edition clam chowder. In this chowder you will not have to search for the clams. Nae. In every bite, no matter how sma, this chowder is chock full of clams. The key to this dish?…instead of using a 6 oz. can of clams, try using a 50 oz can of clams. My clam chowder has to have at least as much clam as chowder.
Here are the ingredients for this dish:
2 slices thick cut smoked bacon, diced
1 TBS Butter
2 C minced onions
2 C chopped celery
1/3 C minced garlic
2 tsp Spice Blend (see below)
3 TBS Flour
1 51 oz can clams, drained reserving liquid (approx. 4 C)
2 C Half and Half
1 C Milk
Pinch of Saffron
6-8 small red potatoes
For Spice Blend use the following dried herbs:
4 tsp oregano, 4 tsp parsley, 2 tsp marjoram, 2 tsp thyme, 4 TBS Basil, 2 tsp. tarragon, 1 TBS Flour, Mix well.
Boil Potatoes until al dente. Drain reserving 1/3 C potato water. Blanch in cold water. Peel and dice. Use reserved liquid to bloom the saffron.
Heat dutch oven on stove and add bacon. When fat has been rendered, add butter, onions, cook 1-2 minutes. Add garlic, celery and spice mix, simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes. Stir in flour and cook on medium for 1-2 minutes. Turn to low and slowly add the reserved clam juice. Once the juice is fully incorporated, bring to a boil then reduce the heat. Add Half and Half, Milk , and Saffron (including potato water the saffron bloomed in). Bring almost to a boil and simmer for 20 min. Add potatoes and bring close to a boil. Now add the reserved clams and just bring them up to eating temperature. Remember, if they boil they have a chance to become tough.
Include some garlic bread and this will be a great meal for 6. Used as an appetizer this can stretch to 12-15 servings.
WOW
I love alfalfa sprouts. Really! I just can’t get enough of them. The problem is, there are not many outlets where you can buy alfalfa sprouts. You can find clover sprouts, radish sprouts and mixed sprouts, but alfalfa is very hard to find. Why do you suppose that is? Well, one reason is that alfalfa sprouts are more tender and delicate than the other sprouts I mentioned. I have a difficult time digesting clover and radish sprouts (I burp like a pig) but I don’t have those issues with alfalfa sprouts.
It was this revelation that made me decide that I would work on always having fresh alfalfa sprouts in the house. I thought it might be a difficult task but discovered how simple and rewarding sprouting my own alfalfa could be.
The hardware is fairly simple. You will need 1 qt sized canning jar with ring top (the wide mouth variety is preferable), some cheese cloth, a tupperware that you can finish the sprouts in that has a lid for storage.
Start with 2 TBS alfalfa seeds
Put in jar, cover with water, put cheese cloth on the top and screw on the lid.
In the morning, pour out water, rinse with fresh water, pour that out and shake the jar holding the lid end in a wrist-twisty sort of motion so the seeds adhere to the sides. Continue this process daily until the sprouts end up in a clump instead of adhering to the side of the jar. At this point pour out into your tupperware and spread evenly. Depending on how sprout crazy you are, now would be a good time to start the next batch. Cover with wet cheese cloth. Continue to water daily until sprouts are at the height of the top of the tupperware. On this day, set the sprouts outside in the sun to get a last dose of sunshine before being stored in the fridge.
Voila! Your own fresh alfalfa sprouts.
It has been said that I am the leftover queen. I have to tell you that I am only living what my mother taught me. How do you take a bunch of leftover stuff and create an entirely new meal that your family will not even know is leftovers and at the same time save yourself from those nasty science experiments? The answer relies heavily on what that “leftover” dish will be. One of my favorite leftover meals is enchiladas.
Enchiladas are very forgiving because normally, the filling is in small dice-sized pieces and the dish is covered in cheese and sauce (who can resist that?!). The basic ingredients you need for enchiladas are cheese, sauce, corn tortillas and filling. The filling will consist of whatever you have in the fridge today. For me, since we Barbecued a turkey for Christmas, my enchiladas will have turkey in them. Another ingredient I like in enchiladas (although I have made some without it) is cottage cheese.
You will need:
13×19 glass pan
1 can enchilada sauce (or get the packaged stuff and follow the recipe)
1 can olives, drained and sliced
2 C grated cheese (start with cheddar and add whatever else you have)
1 C leftover meat
2 C diced vegies (leftover or fresh) be sure to include onions and possibly broccoli and carrots
10-12 corn tortillas (I use 10 – 2 rows of 5 – because 12 seems a bit crowded)
Cottage cheese
Canola or olive oil (used to soften the tortillas)
Corn tortillas have a tendency to crack so the first step I take is to soften the tortillas with a little oil. Heat a large pan on the stove with a teaspoon of oil. When it gets hot, swirl the tortilla in the oil to cover and flip tortilla over to do the same on the other side. This process is very fast and won’t take but a couple minutes to soften all the tortillas.
Once the tortillas are softened and all your prep is complete you are ready to assemble the enchiladas. Take a softened tortilla and add some meat, vegies and cottage cheese. Roll up in a tube and place in pan. Continue this process for the rest of the tortillas and other ingredients. Cover with sauce. Sprinkle on the cheese. Cut the olives in slices and sprinkle on top (there may be too many olives in one can for just one batch of enchiladas and if this is the case, the only proper option is to snack).
Place pan in a preheated 350 degree oven for approx. 20 minutes. If it looks hot and bubbly then it’s done. If not, leave in an additional 10 minutes. Once you have retrieved the enchiladas from the oven, make sure they rest (and cool) for a minimum of 5 minutes (preferably 10) before serving.
This can be served with a variety of sides (including rice and beans if you want). One of my favorites is to top the enchilada with sour cream and a big pile of fresh alfalfa sprouts. This brings a special brightness to the meal and you can have your salad right on top of your enchilada.
by rebecca
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