Preface: The only other context I’ve eaten matsutake is in dashi and in a quesadilla (a delicious quesadilla). I don’t think I would make this dish exactly the same next time; I think it would be better in more broth, without the creme fraiche, with egg noodles (Asian style). I used really good quality, fluffy, fresh gnocci for this dish and I think it was really competing with the matsutake, which is a shame because they should have been the feature of the dish.

Luckily, matsutakes had a bumper crop this year and they were only $20/lb. In SF, they can be found for $40 or more most years, so this was a really nice surprise last time I popped in at the Japanese market. Yesterday, I even saw them at Rainbow Foods!

I do think simmering the matsutakes in dashi (it was small amounts of mirin, soy sauce, sake, walnut oil and then a larger amount of straight up dashi–water infused with kombu and i-forget-the-name tuna flakes) worked well, I just would have made more of it next time and omitted the creme fraiche I added. The watercress also worked well. So go ahead and do that, and sub those gnocci for egg noodles and I’m pretty sure you’ll have a delicious meal.

Anyway, no recipe here since I won’t stand behind it, but thought you might learn from my experience.

A friend and I stopped by Farmer Brown for a late night meal after seeing a play about a week ago and we had some shrimp & grits. Created a little inspiration.

Had a little panic, though. I canned my own tomatoes this summer with just some fresh lemon juice; a coworker and I were talking about canning techniques and she mtnioned she would not can her own tomatoes especially without preserved lemon juice because of the variation in pH in fresh lemons, due to the botulism risk.. I felt like a bit of a dummy. I took chemistry, why’s my brain not thinkin?

At any rate, I ran out of tomatoes and really had to break open that jar and had myself all hyped up that we might start having lazy eyes and collapsing lungs within a day or two, but it’s been a few and we’re fine. I did throw the rest of the jar away, kinda regretting that now, and what we did eat would have been totally worth it because it was totally tasty.

Here’s my version.

Shrimp and Grits
For four

1 C polenta
1 C chopped tomatoes, strained tomatoes, or 2C fresh tomatoes chopped and seeded
1 tsp dry thyme or 1 T fresh thyme
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/4 C vegetable stock
16 18-20 count shrimp (prefer blue Mexican prawns), deveined and shell removed completely
2 C chopped fresh spinach
salt

Cook the polenta using a 1-3 ratio with water or stock. Be sure to bring liquid to boil first, evenly cipher in the polenta and continue stirring on low heat for at least 5-6 minutes until creamy and thick.

In a sauce pan bring the tomatoes to a simmer and add the chili flakes, thyme, and veg stock. Reserve some veg stock in case you need to thin the sauce. Let it reduce to a tasty, rich flavor and add the shrimp to cook. Add the spinach, turning off the heat and throwing a lid on the pan for 30 seconds or so to wilt. Serve on top of the polenta in a bowl.

6 large onions of mixed variety (mostly sweet yellow, but mix in some shallots, white onions, vidalia, etc)
2 qts beef stock or veal stock
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 tsp dried thyme or lots of fresh thyme
1 T butter
2 large beef short ribs (optional)
1/4 C white wine (optional)
lots of salt
nice bread
gruyere cheese

Slice your onions thinly;  if you have a mandolin use it to save time. Try to keep some longer strands along with some smaller ones.

Begin by melting the butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven at medium high heat, then (if using them) add the salted short ribs, browning on each side. When finished browning, remove ribs and set aside, add 1/4 C white wine to deglaze, (if you are not using ribs, continue here) then add the onions with 1-2 T kosher salt (a lot less if you are using iodized for some inexcusable reason) & the thyme, then reduce heat to medium low. Cook the onions at least 1 hour until limp and golden, and sweet to taste.

Add the ribs, stock, and bouillon cubes to the pot. Cover and cook at medium low or low for 1-2 hours. Remove ribs and seperate the meat, adding back to the pot in small pieces. Chop if necessary, removing large pieces of fat or other matter. Test for seasoning and add salt if needed.

If you do not have ramekins or other fire-safe serving ware, you’ll want to prepare the bread separately. Heat the oven to 400, slice the bread and top with gruyere. Cook about 10 minutes, until bubbly and golden. Place on top of the soup when serving.

If you do have ramekins, add the soup to them, a piece of bread to fit the top, and top generously with grated gruyere cheese, placing under the flame of your broiler until bubbly and golden.

Another round of macarons..using the Italian method. Admittedly, I was a little rushed and a little lazy piping this out, so they are a bit unevenly sized.

Basic French Macarons (Italian Method)

Part One
1 1/2 C powdered sugar (168 grams)
1 1/2 C Almond flour (or other nut flour; 168 grams)
2 large egg whites (55 grams)
Any extracts (use sparingly, 1/4 tsp or less), cocoa powder, or food colorings are added in this stage

Part Two
2 large egg whites (55 grams)
3/4 C granulated sugar (150 grams)
1/4 C water

Equipment
Stand mixer (If you choose to use a hand mixer I recommend having four hands, or you will find this to be a pain.)
Candy thermometer or good probe thermometer
Piping bags (1 large, one smaller for the icing; I prefer to use one with a coupler)
3/8 plain piping tip
Non-temperamental oven, or oven thermometer and hawk eye

Line 2 baking sheets with silpats or parchment; You may want to create a template to place below the parchment when piping of 1 inch circles. Prep your large piping bag with the tip, using a coupler or not. Preheat the oven to 275 F.

Place two egg whites in bowl of the stand mixer and add the whisk attachment. Plug the beast in.

In a bowl, preferably with a flat bottom, mix the powdered sugar and almond flour well. Add any powders such as matcha or cocoa at this time. For RED VELVET cookies/chocolate cookies, add 20 grams cocoa powder as a replacement for some powdered sugar. Always replace powdered sugar with dry flavorings in order to keep the balance of the batter. Add the egg whites and any food coloring and extracts such as vanilla, almond, etc. Mix into a paste with a large spatula, until it shows even color.

In small saucepan on medium heat, bring water and sugar to a boil. Place the thermometer in the pan from the get-go, when it gets to 226F, begin whipping the egg whites on high. When the sugar reaches 230 (egg whites should be a bit foamy), remove it from the flame and add the liquid slowly to the whipping egg whites to create an Italian meringue. Continue whipping until the bowl is cool to touch, about 8 minutes or so, depending on the temp of the room.

Fold the cooled meringue into the almond mixture. Notice that the batter looks like shiny plastic; watch for it to look like wet plastic shortly after the ingredients are combined. Be sure not to stir the batter, but to fold* cutting in and rotating the bowl. When it looks shiny, stop, and put it in the piping bag.

*Find a youtube video on this if you aren’t sure how. The videos are all wrong, I just looked. None of them are quite right. The main thing is to put your spatula in vertical, like a knife. Then, pull it through along the side of the bowl and around, gently turning it over the center and letting the batter you scooped drop. Rotate the bowl 1/4 and cut into the center and do it again. Rinse and repeat. It’s important.

Pipe them out into even 1-inch circles spaced 1 inch apart. Bake for 12-20 minutes; Mine took about 14. Check every 2 minutes after the first twelve by touching the top of the macaron with a flat finger and trying to shake it. The cookies are done when the top moves just a little against the ruffle.  Let them cool a minute or two before attempting to remove with a small, sturdy metal spatula. They taste best if you stick them in the fridge covered overnight, or even the completed cookies this way. They’re good up to five days, and the cookies without filling can be frozen.

Cream Cheese Icing for Red Velvet Macarons
4 oz cream cheese room temp
1/2 stick butter room temp
1/2 lb confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix butter and cream cheese – whip 30 seconds or so. Slowly add sugar with a hand mixer on low, scrape sides once in a while. Add vanilla and blend until fluffy, 1 minute.

Italian Buttercream Icing – Great standard macaron filling
2 egg whites (55 grams)
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp granulated sugar
60g unsalted butter at room temp, roughly diced (just less than a 1/2 stick)

Whisk together the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl bain-marie style (over a pot of simmering water) and heat the mixture, whisking often, for 3-5mins until the  sugar has dissolved.

Remove from heat and whisk on high speed with a hand mixer until it is stiff and shiny, similar to the Italian meringue made for the macarons. Add the butter slowly, one cube at a time, and continue to mix till all the butter is combined. Add any flavorings and refrigerate to firm up to use in a piping bag.

You can flavor and color this icing many different ways; try adding some green tea powder when the sugar is melting, or some food coloring once it’s whipped up.

& Thank you gifts! I hosted my old roommate (of Tuscany Road Trip 2006 fame) & her friend a few weeks ago; recently a surprise package arrived! She sent me delicious fig balsamic and extremely hard-to-get-my-paws-on Ligurian Olive oil!! Way to bring back awesome times, K! I spent lots of weekends in Cinque Terre when I lived in Florence, and it just brought back amazing culinary memories. I can’t wait to use it.

I was reading the Times a couple of days ago and saw an article about whole wheat pasta and its merits. Yeah, it’s merits. I haven’t tried the stuff in years and 100% agreed with the starting sentiment of the article–it’s icky stuff, and I’m a pasta traditionalist, picky as hell about my Italian food in general.

But the author won my trust as I read and knowing I could get their “favorite” brand at my neighborhood grocer, I grabbed some when I was at the store later in the week and gave it a go. It’s really non offensive. It even has a nice texture. We’ll try rigatoni next time.

Also, I just returned from a fabulous trip to Mexico with my S.O., and am seriously craving some pasta! We ate pretty much meat, and a little bit of vegetables, and a lot of coconut milk and wine (oh come on, not together!).

Pasta with Goat Cheese for two:

12 shrimp of your preference (blue Mexican gulf prawns for me, until they don’t have them next year..)
2 T butter
2 tsp olive oil
2 T goat cheese
3/4 C vegetable stock
1/4 C heavy cream
120 grams spaghetti (I used bionature whole wheat organic spaghetti)
1 tsp chili flakes
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp mixed Italian dry spices
salt & pepper

Start your water to boil and chop the garlic finely. When you add the pasta to the boiling water, warm a skillet to medium high heat and add the butter and oil.

When the oil and butter are hot, reduce to medium and add the garlic. When the garlic is fragrant, add the veg stock, cream, chili flakes and spices.

De-vein and peel your shrimp, patting dry and tossing with a little salt. When the sauce is bubbly and slightly reduced, add the goat cheese until incorporated, and then immediately the shrimp.

The pasta should be about done; drain and add it immediately to the sauce*. If you should need to wait for it to finish, DO NOT over cook the shrimp–take them out slightly underdone and set aside, re-adding them with the pasta. Simmer a bit as you see in the picture above and serve it up!

*You could also add some swiss chard, kale, or spinach to this dish at the end, throw a lid on it to wilt and serve.

*In my opinion, the trick to really good home pasta is to simmer the pasta a bit in the sauce, getting it really hot.

French Macaron Recipe is now here.

Please welcome the newest addition to my kitchen family, the marvelous pistachio kitchenaid stand mixer!!

Let me summarize how such a grand belonging came to be in my possession: there was a pair of friends, they conspired to do what lady friends do on evenings that their manfriends are scarce; the evening may or may not have involved a lot of wine, dessert at a 5 star restaurant and coffee with an Algerian, but nonetheless at the start of the evening one asked the other to “put away and lift something heavy in my kitchen” which turned out to be a shockingly good early birthday present to yours truly from said friend.

“BUT CAROLINE! HOW CAN I HAVE SUCH FRIENDS THAT BESTOW UPON ME HEAVENLY MIXERS??” I must tell you only that you should be equally kind and awesome and such things may follow. Thank you so much L, I’ll be thinking about you for years to come as I make tasty treats and watch my waistline expand.

My my, what is that, you say? That’s a matcha buttercream stuffed red velvet macaron.

And, the first batch I made, which cracked, raised funny and flat–and I realized, before cooking the batch above the day after, that it was because they’d been placed on my pizza stone. So, the red velvet-matcha buttercream macarons went on the top rack instead.

Physically challeneged vanilla buttercream black sesame macarons–they suffered the wrath of my pizza stone which made them lack feet and crack in the center–a real mystery for your typical macaron trouble-shooting where lack of feet indicates too cool an oven and cracking indicates too hot!

Macaron & buttercream recipe is here.

Made my way to the Alemany farmer’s market this Saturday with a friend and scored some habaneros (plans to make my own garlicky hot sauce this week), 10 Lisbon limes, some fresh dates (they have a bitter chemical taste on the tongue similar to what tannins in wine do to your palette, but have an AMAZING sweetness that can only be described as like intense honeysuckle or straight up honey), and some amazing flowers

Here’s a look at the garden with some “historic” images from planting time. The only major change is that the lemon cucumbers didn’t make it, and have been replaced by new plantings of lacinato kale, which I’m looking forward to harvesting through the winter.

Organic Early Girl Tomato hybrid for SF weather

Organic bunching onions

Organic Golden & Red Beets

Organic Rainbow Chard

Mixed Salad Greens – Arugula, Red leaf lettuce, Green leaf lettuce, all organic

Little Gem Organic Lettuce

Lacinato Kale – New Planting

And here are some pictures of the problems I’ve been having primarily with the beets and chard–if anyone knows what this is and how to treat it please tell me!! I have been trying to make sure the plants are not overly wet, not watered at night to minimize moisture on leaves and have been spraying them with an organic friendly bug killer, but this seems to be more fungusy….

sick beet plant, has withered, almost petrified leaves in sections

and here is the sick chard plant; I have been harvesting unafflicted leaves anyway but can’t seem to stop this once it’s effected a leaf.

And finally, here’s my latest batch of lettuce from the lettuce trough!