Pumpkin Soup with Spanish Paprika and Coconut Milk

Lunch this week has had to be fast and brainless and available. It’s deadline week. The minute I came back, it’s been non-stop work. I get this code head thing where I can feel my stomach growling and yet I just keep saying to myself 5 more minutes and when I finally get into the kitchen I can’t think. This isn't a recipe, per se, more of a quick assembly meal.

My friend Sarah has been going on about canned pumpkin lately. So I got a couple of cans with a plan of making pumpkin pie, which never materialised. Instead I am currently loving the fact that canned pumpkin is essentially an instant soup mix. You just dump milk or broth into it and some flavoring and maybe some leftovers, suddenly lunch. So far I have dumped in Indian curry powder and chickpeas; Thai Curry and cauliflower; nutmeg and mushrooms. After a week of this - I know, Vargas, but really there is NOTHING left in the house and I did not have time to go anywhere- I think I have hit upon the perfect combo.

Coconut milk and shallots sautéed in Spanish paprika and. I added chicken but it’s not necessary. It takes 5 minutes longer than the dump method, but it’s worth it.

I went through a Spanish paprika phase last year. I knew it had gone too far when I tried to put it in a cocktail. So by now the bloom was off the rose.

Fast forward to two months ago. I was at the “Spanish Table” in Berkeley. This cute brown-eyed guy sold me the last can of “pimenton de la Vera” with the warning: “this is completely addictive”. Yeah, yeah that is what Nancy Regan told me in the 80s about weed.

Unfortunately, he is right. It is smoke dried with oak wood. And the flavor is full and sunny and deep and smoky. Sort of like if you were to drinking brandy in a field of poppy flowers in July at 4 in the afternoon and you had nothing planned for the rest of the day. It makes EVERYTHING taste mysterious, and exciting. Last week I put it in hot chocolate mmmm.

The coconut milk just brings out the sweetness of the pumpkin and adds a bit of tantalizing exotic something or other.

Pumpkin Soup with Spanish Paprika and Coconut milk.

Serves 3 for dinner- 4 for Appetizer.
time: 15 minutes

1 can pumpkin – not pie.
¾ can coconut milk*
¼ cup broth- you can use water
2 Teaspoons smoked paprika.
3 Shallots. – You can use ½ a small onion.
Splash of sherry vinegar- optional
* You can use light coconut milk and skip the broth.

1. Chop Shallot finely.
2. In a medium saucepan sauté shallot over medium heat in a touch of oil, or just use a bit off the cream off the top of coconut milk. After a minute or so add the paprika, keep sautéing stirring for about 5 minutes until you can smell the paprika and the shallots are a medium brown.
3. Pour in coconut milk, broth and pumpkin, salt and a few twists of pepper, and stir until blended and heated through- about 5 minutes. Cook a few minutes to meld the flavors. Taste and adjust for Sal and pepper.
4. Serve with a splash of sherry vinegar.

Chicken Salsa Salad

Clearly my mind is on Hawaii when it should be on yams. But you should be able to find all these veggies somewhere. Anyway I thought it would be a fine capper to "the first annual poultry month" that my friend the Brownie Queen and I have been celebrating. We are both new to cooking poultry for various reasons. So we have pledged to learn new poultry skills this month.

So what have we learned:
1. The best way to roast a chicken is the Zuni method.
2. Roasting a duck is not nearly involved enough to keep you from getting the butterflies while election results are rolling in, though it is an excellent way to celebrate the victory.
3. This is the best way to cook a chicken breast for Salad: Roast breasts skin on on a pan liberally salted. It comes out juicy and delicious, not bland and water-logged like poaching.

Chicken with Salsa Salad

2 whole bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (large, at least 1 1/2 pounds each)
salt
canola or grape-seed oil.
1 large cucumber -8oz
1 large mango/peaches
red pepper
1/2 red onion
1 small jicama
juice of 2 medium limes
1/2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tblsp rice vinegar
1/4 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic
avocado
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
salt to taste

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Set breasts on small, foil-lined jelly roll pan. Brush with oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Roast until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, remove skin and bones, and shred meat into bite-sized pieces (about 5 cups). (Can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for 2 days.) Set aside.
2. While chicken is cooking chop:
   
   • mango/peaches
   • red pepper
   • red onion
   • jicama
   • cucumber
   in a large dice.
   cut up avocado in medium dice
   put into large bowl.
3. Combine honey, ginger, lime juice, vinegar, sriracha, salt, and chopped garlic. taste. Stir into chopped ingredients.

Enjoy.

luscious chicken with plums

I do not have a picture for this recipe because frankly it's not so good looking. Also I forgot to take a picture. So instead you get a thousand words, sorry folks.

This chicken IS luscious, and it is based on a recipe from Sally Schneider in “the improvisational cook”. I would highly recommend you go out and by this book now.
For this I give you three reasons

1. It contains the BEST recipe for pork shoulder ever invented.
2. It is the first book about improvising that you can actually improvise from. She starts out telling you how the basic dish was developed. This gets your imagination going. Hint: most recipes were created cause either you only had three things in the fridge, or you tasted something extraordinary but did not have the patience or resources to recreate it exactly. Then she walks you through the basics of the recipe. Then offers direction for fun.
3. It is full of extremely practical recipes and components that you will return to over and over again. It is a book you actually cook from, not just read.

So on to the chicken. I came up with this recipe, because of my love of the French prune plums that appear every year and end so quickly. They are small, the size of a golf ball, and crunchy and so sweet. I had already eaten 6 pounds of them and thought perhaps I should do something else with them. Essentially this is the proverbial chicken in a pot. The magic is that it makes it own sauce, which is amazing over just plain white rice.

You roast the chicken along with plums and Bacon and shallots. The plums turn out soft and silky and redolent with rich golden chicken-ness and slight smoky bacon flavor. The chicken is super juicy and tender and is scented with plums, and you get a thick, luscious gravy. The one thing you do not get is the crisp skin. That sadly is for another preparation, for another day. The chicken comes out looking as white as a McCain campaign center in Boston.

The hard part about this recipe is removing the pits from the plums. Everything else is just cooking up some bacon and slicing some shallots. To be perfectly honest I have no idea where you are going to get good plums this time of year. You could do it with prunes. But my friend Iran wanted this recipe and here it is for her. Also know that like with any recipe involving fruit with savory go over board on the pepper, it bridges the flavors.

As with any whole chicken recipe the key is getting a good chicken. I cheapen out and get the rocky juniors but a good well raised chicken can't be beat. I read somewhere that if you only get access to supermarket chicken, kosher birds are a good way to go. If you do not have a Dutch oven, then you can do this in foil on a baking sheet, just fry the bacon and shallots separately.

Luscious chicken with plums and bacon.

2 pounds of plums- like French prune plums.
2. Shallots
3 strips of bacon
1 whole chicken – gizzards removed. – Any size will do, I tend toward 3-pound birds
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Salt and pepper.

1. Salt the chicken: this should be done 2-24 hours in advance- and it makes all the difference. Liberally rub the bird inside and out with salt and pepper. Put it on a plate and cover and place in fridge.
2. Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 375.
3. Slice plums: half the plums remove pits set aside
4. Cook bacon: in a heavy Dutch oven. Cut the bacon up into slivers and put in a pan over medium high heat until a tiny bit crispy and the fat has rendered. Remove bacon from fat and put in bowl with plums
5. Slice Shallots: While bacon cooks, peel shallots and slice into thin slices.
6. Sauté Shallots: When bacon is done remove and set aside In the bacon fat, sauté shallots over medium heat until translucent. Using a slotted spoon, remove from bacon fat and put it in the bowls with plums and bacon, stirring the mixture together for a moment. And add a few grindings of pepper.
7. Assemble the bird -
   
1. Pat dry with paper towels
2. Put one 1/3 or so of plums, bacon and shallots inside the cavity.
3. Put bird in Dutch oven and Scatter the rest of plum, bacon and shallot mixture around the bird.
4. Drizzle the cider vinegar over the chicken.
5. Place large sheet of aluminum foil over the bird to eliminate any air pockets. You are supposed to eliminate as much air as possible so the chicken doesn’t steam.
6. Close the lid


8. Roast the chicken Place in oven covered, and cook for approx an hour. Depending on the size of your chicken. A thermometer inserted between the thigh and body should read 170. Or prick the thickest part of the thigh and if the juices run clear, you are golden.
9. Prepare for serving: you COULD de-fat the sauce but I say leave it. Serve carved with luscious plum slices strewn over soft sticky rice or roast potatoes and plenty of drippings.

Lemon Ricotta pancakes

These are based on the ones you get at the big5 restaurant in Sonoma. They make them with cottage cheese. We had them on our 1st anniversary delivered to us in bed at the Sonoma Mission Inn, which is the best way to serve them. However since I won't be able to afford that for a while, I just had them on the couch.

They are creamy, tangy, super lemony and buttery. I once used farmer cheese for them instead of ricotta, it works great (you can get it at Costco, if no where else ). They are also incredibly fast to make the batter takes about 8 minutes and they cook up fast.

I have messed with the proportions a bit. I took the sugar way down, and used less butter, because the farmer's or ricotta cheese has a bit of fat. The key is to keep them small, this way they are mostly cheese and flavor. I made them larger at first but they were harder to flip.

They do not need syrup, just a bit of yogurt or creme fraiche works, but raspberry jam is divine on it too if you need more sweetness, I served them with peaches.

I used Meyer lemons cause that is what you get around here.

also they are delicious cold

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
(serves 4)

• 3 medium meyer lemons
  *if you use more sour lemons like Eurekas which are the ones available at most markets. use 2 lemons and add 2 tablespoons of orange juice.
• 3 whole eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2/3 cup ricotta cheese- or farmers cheese
• 1/2 stick of butter - melted- the recipe calls for clarified, but it seemed to work with just melted.
  

1. zest the lemons and juice them into a medium bowl.
   * I use a rasp grater.
2. separate the eggs, put the yolks into the lemon bowl. the whites into another medium small bowl.
3. heat greased griddle or large skillet to medium high. I used Canola oil in this one, butter would be too heavy.
   
4. to the lemon and eggs bowl add
   Flour
   Sugar
   Cheese
   Butter
   stir together until well combined.
5. whip egg whites until they form soft medium peaks. Fold into rest of batter.
6. Drop into skillet 1 tablespoon at a time.
   *note: I tried bigger but this worked the best.
   
7. Cook until you can see the edges turn dry, and the bottom is golden - about three minutes.
8. turn over and cook on the other side until crisp and brown, about 1.5 minutes.
9. Serve right away, I keep batches warm in a low oven for a few minutes while the others cook.
   

A note about pancakes. I have for years tried to keep two pans going when cooking blini, which I make a lot. but it never works i end up losing blini. Until I get good at this I am

food tour two - elite cafe

When life feels confusing, my friend Vargas and I aka the cheese doubter go to Elite cafe for Deviled eggs. I know we have other things but they fade into the mists of time and conversation about where our lives are going.

Why do the eggs set things straight? Because they obey the power of three. "The combined powers of three entities, upon such combination not only increase their power by three, but much greater. "- from the urban dictionary

part one: The white is tender and perfectly cooked, not at all rubbery. This is key to a good deviled egg, because you can not have creamy fatty goodness without a foil. And the genius of the deviled egg is that the foil is just different enough in texture without being distracting.

part two: egg yolk. The devil part of the egg is creamy and fluffy but with texture. They add just enough mayo to give it tang and extra creaminess, but not so much that they feel unctious. And they use good eggs with full rich yolks.

part three: Spices. some people like sweet eggs and I am not one of these people. The elite deviled egg gnomes spice them simply but mysteriously with rich warm spices to bring up the roundness in the eggs. Spices like paprika and pepper. The heat sneaks up on you. and it is a slightly smoky heat. but do not have extraneous things like relish or parsley to get in the way of really enjoying the rich sunny egg yolk flavor and creamy texture.

So when you eat them things seem more understandable and logical because they are so perfectly made and they make so much sense.

So essentially the three elements are tasty and nutritious on their own. However, when you put them together in the perfect ratio they have the power to make sense of chaos.

seems like too much to ask of a hard cooked egg whose yolk was mixed with paprika and mayo, but try it and you will see.

favorite food tour stop one - i scream.

My Portland friends have been in town. They love food as much as we do so the list of must-eats is easy to assemble but hard to manage. I want to so badly to have them try EVERYTHING. But you can really only have 6 meals in a day right?
so I am focusing this week. - or what is left of it on my continously changing favorite things in San Francisco.

So much has been written about Bi-Rite salted caramel ice cream so no-one will notice if I write a little more.

The texture is perfectly smooth, no rough bits as your tongue glides over the spoon. It melts into sauce on your tongue. The creaminess is a veil not a cloak. It caresses rather than coats.

It is sweet, but the sweetness is clean and soft. The slight bitterness comes later after the sugar has disapeared as for the salt, you do not taste the salt, it just keps the sugar clean.

And it only takes me 25 minutes to walk there.

where this is all going

I have tried to keep up with this blog twice before. But now I have made a commitment to myself to write for ten minutes a day. I wanted to write today about how that exercise is going. First off it's really fun. There is always lots to talk about and ideas inspire other ideas and i have pages of scribbles about future topics.

The blog format for me has a few big advantages. 1st off it's easy to share with others. It's also easy to accomplish the writing itself, the software makes keeping up with posts , having photos, and having a time stamp effortless.

However it poses some major problems as well. I have sent this blog to friends but have asked them not to link to it. I wanted to keep it an exercise. I wanted it to be about practicing writing not about having an audience I need to communicate with. My grammar is atrocious, and of course it is hard to write, you have to get good and it's hard to get good at something unless you are bad first.

However the thing about a blog is that it is a product. And I did not want to create a a product, figure out it's focus, its' market etc... Now that I have shared it with a few others. I keep thinking about them when I write whether they will find it useful, what they will think of the writing or the photographs. How they will think of me and of my future. SO my ego got in the way a little bit.

So I am determined this week to return to just writing about what interest me, we will see what the blog will become in the coming months. But for now it is just an exercise in writing about food.

the DH plan for challenging guests

This is from my friend Drew, who is an excellent host. He is invariably gracious and kind and is a a budding cook. Plus he has a great kitchen.

I was nervous about my mother visiting. When she visits I tend to take her on the state sanctioned tour of my adult life. Then I get mad when she tries to pierce the facade by questioning the placement of my garbage cans.

So Drew has a checklist for these kind of visits. It puts the focus on making the guest feel comfortable and the weekend seem effortless, so you can focus on feeling like a 10 year old.
I followed it with great results. Focusing on what your mom needs to be comfortable instead of forcing your fabulous lifestyle on her will make her feel appreciated and relax her. Which will make her be less critical, yes really. If it works on my mom it will work on anyone.

1. Snacks.
   Purchase and assemble her favorites, with an emphasis on things that feel like treats. The point being make sure that most of any prep is done before hand. I buy creamy cheeses, fresh breads, and cut up fruit.
2. Beverages.
   Again make a list her favorites, one alcoholic, and some non-alcoholic. and think if you have the proper glassware. Does she like mixed drinks, maybe this is a good time to make sure you have decent martini glasses and a mixer. Good time to visit crate and barrel.
3. Cleaning
   Schedule a professional cleaner come the day before.
4. Plan the weekend.
   Write out the days. And have 2-3 options that she would enjoy for each time slot including restaurants. Part of seamless is not debating over 10 activities. What would she enjoy? And make sure you include time to chill. when making your decisions. Mobility can be an issue, oh and in San Francisco factor in parking and reservations.
   
5. Photos
   If you don't already. Put out a photo of the two of you together even if you just put up on the fridge with a magnet. It let's her know she is in your thoughts.
   
6. her room
   I like to think, if I were staying in a hotel. what do I want
• make the bed before hand, put out the towels, and fluff the pillows.
• Flowers in her room are key.
  
• and water by the bed
• spray something nice in the air.
7. plan your clothes (optional)
   This may be specifically for women. I lay out clothes know she will not respond negatively to, make sure they are clean. My mom can spot a piece of lint a mile away. It also allows you to work in something she might have given you.
   
   

easy quick lunch recipe

I do not have a pic because I put this into a bowl and it looked terrible.

It is a great use for left-over pasta sauce especially if it is chunky.

Sianessa's delicous veggie rich sauce is great for this. I cut up the veggies thicker than her, cause the 8 year old I cooked it for likes zucchini.

for each serving:
1 cup of chunky tomato sauce.
2 eggs
1 slice of bread.

1. Heat the sauce in a small sauce pan to simmering over medium heat.
2. Gently break egg into sauce- do not turn down heat.
3. Cover tightly and let the eggs cook until desired level of runniness,
5 minutes for runny,
7-9 for firm.
serve with toast.

belief in ingredients

ok I can't believe I have missed so many days, so I am going to attempt to catch up for the rest of the week.

On thursday of last week. I made a mistake I have made many times and yet I keep making. I had some lardo- essentially smoked pork fat, bacon without the meat. When I was a kid we used to keep some in the freezer and slice of razor thin slices on brown bread, for soem reason this is delicous on finn-crisps.

I also had some ham left over I had been craving carbonara, probably because I was on a Madmen marathon and the music credits pop-up with David Carbonara. So I used this delicous, high quality lardo in place of the proscuito, ham and fresh eggs, and some cream, but then I used this terrible gritty pre-grated parmesan. and it pretty much ruined the whole thing. I had been thinking abotu this luscious creamy dish for days.

I should have waited till I had the good stuff.

cheese!!

Ok, Tully and Vargas, stop yer clever little jokes and witticisms.
I made cheese.

It was crazy easy, and really I am not the first person to say so.

http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2006/01/homemade-ricotta.html

if you like bacon.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000282.html
if you don't.

It has two ingredients. milk and buttermilk. yeah, that is it.
Oh and you don't really need a candy thermometer you can see when it gets all separated.Someone online even told me that an old pillow case work as well as cheesecloth.

One tip though: do not let the thing cook for very long when it gets to the separated stage. It makes it tough.

Anyway the question you might be asking. Is it worth it? Yeah it probably is.

1. It takes pretty much 15 minutes and most of that isn't even active, just letting it drain.
2. It is SO fresh tasting and creamy amazing with fruit, so a great company summer dessert. just dump some chopped up fruit, maybe macerated with sugar. It definitly tastes fresher than Calabro which is my current ricotta favorite.
4. It's cheaper that the good stuff.

I made it with Raw milk and to be honest I am not sure this makes such a difference. plus it is too pricy that way I say go for something super fresh like strauss.

My next test is try and make it without buttermilk.

If you have wandering around the ferry plaza you may have seen Boccalone.

I found out about this purveyor of pork from a web search on meat CSAs. My friend and I were all set to get in on some wholesome beef and chicken when we were sidetracked by the the vision of "salted pig parts" coming at us twice a month. Twice a month!!

So every two weeks, it's Christmas. We are developing a ritual. We take turns picking it up. The pickupper arrives at the doorstep with brown box in hand. Eagerly we get out the knives and cut thin slices of what is inside.

We rarely sit down and plate it, just stand around the kitchen, exhibiting little moans. When my mom was here we put some pate on a plate. Cause it's mom. You don't want her thinking you just stand there with a knife on a Saturday morning eating salami out of a brown box.

Today's breakfast of plenty came to me courtesy of that little brown box. The brown box of piggy flavor.

It looks fatty but it's sliced so thin and when you cook it it crisps up quick. It's not salty exactly, the main flavor you get is intensely pork, almost gamey.

Unlike regular bacon this stuff isn't about texture and salt, it's about that gamey porky quality and fat.

I cut the bacon into little chunks fried it crispy, and then I broke two eggs on top of it in the pan and fried it sunny side up.

fantastic.

ah japantown..i miss you so

I was wandering my old neighborhood japan-town yesterday. God I miss it so much. I will write more about the supermarket soon. I buy something new every-time I go there and there is still so much to try. One that intrigued me was shumai stuffed with edamame, of course HAD to try them, on the way home I read the label and found it was made with something called "lizardfish paste". Now there is something to fuel the imagination. I wish i could draw, so i could create a lizardfish.

After being turned away at the bathhouse there (life is so tough for me). I consoled myself by recreating the meal that kept me somewhat healthy through many code-athons when I worked at home. It is infinitely adaptable, and amazingly delicious.

There are two things that i keep in the pantry for this meal: Red Clam Miso Dressing and Soba Noodles. Red Clam miso dressing is pretty much the only dressing I buy in a bottle. It is creamy without being cloying or oily. It has a savory, gentle and yet surprisingly fresh taste. AND you can buy it at a lot of supermarkets. I have found though that I like to use 1/3 acid, like rice vinegar or lime juice with it. It cuts the fat and richness.

Soba noodles I am sure everyone is familiar with. I love them because they taste so rich and toothsome and yet are healthier than regular Italian pasta, plus they cook super fast.

Japantown nostalgia salad

• Soba noodles
• Red Clam miso dressing
• Rice vinegar or lime juice.
• any vegetables you have left over. I like broccoli and red peppers.
• Scallions or red onion
• cilantro
• Tofu or Frozen shelled edamame or cooked chicken.
• a bonus if you have japanese pickles

1. start boiling water about as much as you would for the same servings of pasta.
2. cut up vegetables.
3. when water has boiled throw in soba noodles. if you are using frozen edamame put that in now. Throw any of the hard veggies like broccoli or carrots into the pot after a minute or so.
4. drain the pasta and veggies after 5 minutes. Then cool with running water or ice bath.
5. in a bowl put rest of veggies and cooled pasta and veggies. Toss with 3 parts Red clam miso dressing and 1 part vinegar or lime juice(I use about 2 tablespoons and two splashes of vinegar for each s), I put Sriracha in at this time but I can never give up any excuse to use sriracha. God damn you rooster!!!!

There you go. It all took 15 minutes. easy peasy.

plenty in a time of anxiety

I lost my job yesterday and it has been a roller-coaster of thought and emotion. a very wise friend of mine advised me to gather my resources before plunging back in.

Some of these are logistical, some of these are emotional. But the one thing I did do was have a very delicous breakfast that put things in perspective.

a soft creamy stinky cheese fresh bread. tomatoes, grapes. When things get bad, this is what i turn too. I turn to many things when it gets bad. But this is a classic.

You start to feel like life isn't so bad when you are sitting in the california sunshine gazing out over the city eating like this.

mmm potatoes

sadly these are moving out of the market. But there are still some great potatoes to be found.

anyone ever made them this way?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=300&objectid=10523278

a New Drink

No, I am not going to call it the Politini!

It is scarlet colored
So I am going to call it the Scarlet O'Bera? no that is stupid.
I need a better name.

1oz vodka
1/2 oz pimm's
1/2 oz pomegranate juice
juice of 1/4 of a lime

It's been kid tested and mother approved.*
And don't say my mother will drink anything. It's not entirely true, my father once saw her turn down Retsina.

* do not test on children under 21.