7 posts from March 2008

I warned you guys that the Indian food obsession was far from over.  I made a palak paneer, which is essentially a spinach and paneer (Indian cheese) curry. I substituted regular ol' frozen spinach with some fresh, hearty, just-in-season heirloom Bloomsdale spinach. You know I gotta put my own farmers' market twist on everything. :) While doing some Indian cooking homework, I stumbled upon this video with instructions for moong dal dosas (Indian crepes). Perfect. I had just bought a giant 4 lb bag of moong dal with the expectation of using them in my new found love for Indian cooking. Can you say overzealous shopper/eater?


I soaked my moong dal overnight, food processed it and added water and salt to make a nice thin batter. A few minutes on a hot oiled skillet yielded a crispy, nutty crepe that I instantly fell in love with. I served this for lunch with some leftover pakoras. I'm so happy about my new food discovery and so is mah belly. Thanks again Purplesque!

Yikes... I still have about 3.75 lbs of moong dal... any ideas?

How many times have I been asked about cow tipping? Countless.

How many cows have I tipped? Nada, zero, zilch.

Being from the "Asparagus Capital of the World", most people have a preconceived idea about my childhood. And though it is a very agricultural area of California, I led what I would consider a very normal suburban life. In a house, not a barn mind you! From the suburban life to city life, I've always been borderline obsessed with vegetables, most notably *asparagus*. Must have been something in the water up there. :) There's even a booth at the FM down here (300+ miles away) from Stockton that exclusively sells asparagus. Tips, white, green, jumbo, skinny... you name it. So when I saw these beauties, I grabbed as many as I thought humanly possible to consume in one week (3 bundles! Told you guys I'm crazy about 'em).
Dinner was going to be all about asparagus. To really highlight their versatility I served them two ways in this dish. I prepared a veloute, which is a stock thickened with a roux, and I also served the tender tips raw for a crisp contrast. To compliment the dish, I seared some Magdalena Bay Scallops that just seemed to melt into the veloute. I also diced up some roasted beets that added a touch of earthy sweetness and a much needed pop of color. Beet is my favorite color (Go to Foodrockz for a nice dose of beet color therapy).

Bon appetit guys. Have a great weekend. I know I'm early but since the stock market's closed tomorrow, I have the day off. Yeah! I see some molecular gastronomy in my future.

Inspired by White on Rice Couple's recent post/video on Mojo Tofu and an excess of Angry Chicken marinade, I decided to make a nice vegetarian friendly option. I love, love, love spicy food and so does B. Sometimes I have to slap his hand away from the sriracha bottle and scold him in my angry, old Chinese lady voice, "Stop it. You gonna drown out the delicate flavors!" The rest of the time I'm fighting him for the bottle. :)

After pressing out the excess liquid from the firm tofu, I marinaded it in my spicy, "angry" yogurt mix with a few extra serrano chiles. After a few hours I breaded my tofu strips with some panko for extra crunch and fried them up in the some canola oil. I did this on the same night I made the shiitake tempura. Can you say food frying frenzy???


Crispy, check! Spicy, check! Delicious, check check check! Since fried foods go hand in hand with nice cold beer,  we enjoyed this meal with Laguanita's Hairy Eyeball Ale.

Yesterday, I was too tired to go to the gym (that one hour time change has totally screwed me up) but had too much energy to just curl up on the couch and watch BAD television. Believe me, I start watching some embarrassing TV. Cheaters, Bad Girls Club, Flavor of Love 3.... like the first two weren't trashy enough right? Don't get me started. This is also attributed to the fact that my remote control has been MIA since the first weekend in January! Imagine getting up to change the channel. If I felt like working out I would have just gone to the gym. :)
In order to avoid having my brain instantaneously turn into swiss cheese, I decided to have a foodie photo shoot. That just involves me rummaging through the refrigerator and taking advantage of natural light. Shooting in natural light really yields the best results. Here's one of my little shroom friends:

I scored some giant shiitakes that were just beautiful. Here's another one that looks like a space ship:

I was having fun playing with DOF and all, but the really fun part of the shoot was, of course, the eating portion of it. I sliced up the mushrooms to make some tempura. I cheated by using a prepared tempura batter. One of those ones where all you do is add cold water. After that a quick swim in hot oil and a sprinkle of salt finished them off.

Scrumptious! B kept saying that they tasted like candy.

I just finished eating this, literally, two minutes ago and couldn't wait to share it with you guys. I get so darn excited about eating. Tonight, I broiled pieces of Chilean Sea Bass collar that I had seasoned with sesame oil, sugar and soy sauce. All crispy and caramelized on the outside - oh yummy. Savory white miso broth just wilted my snow pea leaves just enough to leave it with a nice bite. I also added some napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, scallions and shallots to make it a complete meal in a bowl (I'm a huge fan of one bowl meals). A scattering of finely diced jalapeño added bit of heat to the broth and nicely contrasted the sweetness of the fish. I devoured this.

Broiled Chilean Sea Bass Collar in Miso Broth
1 Chilean Sea Bass Collar, brought to room temperature
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
white pepper to taste

1 tsp white miso paste
1/4 cup of snow pea leaves
1/4 cup napa cabbage, finely shredded
1 shiitake mushroom, finely sliced
1 scallion, sliced on a diagonal
finely diced jalapeño, to taste

Turn the broiler on high. Coat the collar (or fillets if you cant find collar) with the next four ingredients. Place the fish on a sheet tray a few inches from the flame. Bring 11/2 cups of water to a boil. Add shiitake mushroom to the boiling water and after a few minutes turn the heat off and dissolve the miso in the water. Flip your fish once it's caramelized on the first side and once it's gotten a good color on the second side it's good to go. Ladle your broth into a bowl and add your napa cabbage and snow pea leaves. Nestle your fish on top and garnish with your scallion and jalapeño.

Serves 1 hungry girl post-yoga

As always, Julie's Kitchen, is keeping it seasonal. I found these beautiful heads of Romanesco at the Weiser Family Farms booth. I'm totally hooked on their nutty sweetness. A quick roasting is usually my favorite preparation for our little fractal friends, but I was feeling like trying something new.


I remembered a Sicilian Potato Gratin recipe from a recent issue of Bon Appetit where the gratin was studded with capers. What a yummy idea so I decided to do a rendition of it with romanesco instead of potatoes.


I layered my romanesco florets and pecorino shavings into a buttered casserole dish and baked it at 375 degrees until crispy golden brown on top. I plated it on top of some creamy soft polenta and at that point I suddenly realized that I had absent-mindedly left out my capers. Doh! To improvise, I ended up using the briny capers as garnish along with some chopped parsley. This dish has so many flavors going on. It tastes fresh and as my friend Kiel put it last night, "It tastes like an instant shot of vitamins." Food that's good for you can taste good too.