1 pint Strauss family creamery organic half & half
1 pint Strauss family creamery organic whipping cream
1 T mirin
5 tsp matcha
2/3 C sugar
2/3 C water

Combine sugar and water and heat over medium heat, bringing to a very light simmer. Allow to gain a very small amount of color, turn off heat, immediately add mirin & stir. Take 2-3 T of the sugar mixture and mix with the matcha well. Less liquid will allow it to be smoother so add slowly when mixing.

Combine the sugar syrup and the cream/half & half into a larger non-reactive container, and chill thoroughly before using in your ice cream maker.

Makes a very creamy, dense, delicious green tea ice cream served best on black.

Not too long ago I was visiting Peter at Red Blossom Tea Company–I was going on a little about the ice cream maker I had just purchased and not really had a chance to use yet. P’s sister, Alice, jumped in talking about some ice cream she had made with their Golden Monkey tea. Now, Alice has taste in food. So I shaped up and listened. And I got sent home with some tea to make the magic, along with some instructions which I’ve re-posted here.

1 qt Strauss family creamery whole milk (or other good quality organic dairy)
or
1 pt whole milk 1 pt heavy whipping cream (for softer, creamier result)
2/3 C sugar
2/3 C water
2 T mirin
~1 C (4-5 large tea bags) loose leaf high quality organic Golden Monkey or other organic black tea, stuffed into large tea bags (or prepare to have a messy straining process, that’s fine too)

Bring 1-2 C of the milk or cream to a steeping temperature (about 195 degrees, not simmering yet) and add the tea bags. When milk begins to color, turn heat off and pour tea bags and steeped milk into container with the rest of the milk. Reserve for 2-4 days in the refrigerator, shaking/turning to mix once in a while. This part of the process is important to get the infusion process going.

At the same time, heat the water and sugar together and bring to a light simmer, cooking until beginning to color a tea color. Add mirin and remove from heat immediately. Mix, and add to milk mixture.

Use your ice cream maker as directed.

Miso marinated fish

For the slaw:

1/2 fuji or other firm apple
mixed or “rainbow” microgreens, washed & dried
2 large red radishes
gomashi or sesame seeds & coarse salt
brown rice vinegar
toasted sesame oil

Julienne the apple and radishes. Whisk the gomashi, vinegar, and oil together to make a light dressing. Mix everything together just before serving.

It’s nice to be able to get fish this quality already prepped for sashimi. On Saturdays, this has become a staple meal post-grocery trip. Some days, we find some great toro.

Let’s talk about comfort food. I took on my first porkroast after a pretty intense craving for some pulled pork mustered up a few days ago after having an extremely delicious pulled pork slider at the Alembic in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood near my house. Maybe it was the magic of the cocktails along with it (perhaps the best blood & sand I’ve ever had!), or the horseradish mayo on the sweet, soft bun, but I was left wanting more. Not surprisingly, this 6-hour roast became my project a few Sundays ago.

3-3.5 lb pork shoulder/pork butt
1T oregano
1T paprika or smoked spanish paprika
4T brown sugar
1T cayenne/chili powder or more
2 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
2 tsp garlic powder or garlic salt
BBQ sauce – vinegar based, spicy
BBQ sauce – sweet with molasses

Buns – I grabbed mine from the Japanese bakery

Buy good quality meat; if it does not come deboned and tied up, use cooking twine to pull it back together. Mix the spices (if you don’t have all on hand and won’t reuse the individual spices if you were to buy them, Penzey’s makes a similar mixture that should suffice, perhaps with the addition of a little more chili heat and brown sugar, which you can add on your own. Be sure to get plenty though, as you want to be generous with the rub) and rub onto the meat, wrap up and let sit overnight in the fridge or up to 2 days.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Place pork into a ceramic or glass container that fits it but is not excessively large. Cook for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, begin basting the pork every 20 minutes or so with bbq sauce (spicy for 2x more than molassas) and its own drippings for another 3- 3 1/2 hours.

Cut off strings and pull with two forks into bits to save. When serving, mix in more warm bbq sauce of your choosing.

Burdock root, Japanese leek, thinly cut pork, tofu, mitsuba & mixed miso with kelp dashi