I Love You More Than Food

Author: Caroline

  • 10 Courses of Pasta and then we rolled over: Quince SF

    10 Courses of Pasta and then we rolled over: Quince SF

    I’ve been procrastinating on this one, which was probably not the best idea since it is painfully difficult to remember the details of 10 courses the same night, let alone weeks later, delightful as they were.

    We had the opportunity to dine at Quince (Yelp) with a friend who once worked there making pasta and other duties. Because of this, we had a rather fantastic 10 course pasta meal with multiple desserts and interludes that took up our whole Tuesday evening.

    As a normal denizen, I’d recommend going on Tuesday evening simply because the chef’s tasting menu IS a pasta tasting menu on Tuesdays…except, we had the expanded, customized version.

    Frankly, I was so mesmerized by the food we were eating and the wine we were drinking that I didn’t manage to whip out my camera until we were nearly through; it was dark anyway.

    We ate a little lobster salad with speck and watermelon to start with, a little amuse bouche. I will not be able to fully recall what we ate but I’ll try:

    Francobolli (postage stamp style ravioli) filled with cipollini onion and with a frothy fresh english pea sauce–this was incredible, delightful, light

    Spaghetti with clam, melon, espresso — surprisingly tasty

    “Cannoli” (i think??) with ricotta

    Little hat shaped pastas with a rim in an amazing broth i could not figure out with some orange, stock, etc

    Tortelli of carbonara – filled with speck, egg, parsley in a carbonara type sauce (egg yolk)

    A thick, northern noodle that was firm and dense made with farro and with a confit or braised meat and other rich, delicious things

    Dessert included blackberry gelees and sorbettos, exploding honey domes, chocolate crunchies, peaches–there were several, followed with a plate of cookies and miniture cakes and verbena truffles.

    (Officially, we had June Pride Peaches with Greek yogurt sorbet and poppy seed cake, Frozen blackberry tart with coconut sorbetto and buckwheat crumble, and provencal almond gelato with soft chocolate, lavender and honey.)

    I’m doing a poor job of reconstructing this so I will consult with our ex-cook friend and see what we can remember.

    And then, we snuck into the kitchen and had a peek. Apologies for the low light photography but I had to be a little discreet.

  • Tuscan Crepes – Crespelle (from Osteria del Circo in NY)

    Tuscan Crepes – Crespelle (from Osteria del Circo in NY)

    Tuscan Crepes - Crespelle (from Osteria del Circo in NY) recipe photo

    I first learned about these Tuscan-style crepes while living in Florence, studying food and wine (both formally and inevitably informally) at Apicius. I rediscovered them when a pleasant little article popped up in the NY Times recently about them.

    I made a pilgimage to Rainbow to get chestnut flour and good quality pine nuts (often rancid in my corner store). i went to work. I followed the recipe quite closely, save for the filling which I used a bit less boursoin and more sheep’s milk cheese. The rest was delightful. I wilted some spinich, squeezed half a lemon over it and we had a wonderful dinner. I’d recommend it and it’s a great one for a dinner party as you can assemble, and then pop in the oven for 10 minutes just before serving.

  • Spicy Tuna Salad alla copycat The Sentinel SF

    Spicy Tuna Salad alla copycat The Sentinel SF

    Well, it’s not the first time I’ve taken a hint from something I enjoyed at The Sentinel in San Francisco. It’s probably not the last.

    This serves 3-4 people.

    1/2 lb ahi tuna, fresh
    1/4 lb green beans, chopped evenly and blanched in salted water
    1 gypsy pepper, sliced very, very thinly (this is a green mini bell pepper type thing)
    1 T tomato paste (I use san marzano)
    2 T Lemonaise (mayonaise with seasoning and lemon flavor)
    1 T dijon mustard
    1 tsp tumeric powder
    1-2 T cajun seasoning (I made my own–chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, thyme, nutmeg/mace, etc)
    juice of 1/2 lemon
    handful cilantro, minced
    3 T homemade bread n butter pickles, small dice (use your imagination to sub)

    Cook the tuna in olive oil after seasoning with salt and pepper. Flake apart and chop. Mix the sauce using the lemonaise, dijon, lemon juice, tumeric, cajun powder (use more as necessary, feel free to add chili powder), tomato paste. Mix the tuna into it, then start adding green beans, gypsy pepper, cilantro, pickles. Adjust as needed. Enjoy.

    I really enjoyed this, especially since these damn pickles have been sitting in my fridge almost as long as the homemade preserved lemons I made last year.

  • Orange Dayboat Scallops, Golden Chard, Scalloped potatoes

    Orange Dayboat Scallops, Golden Chard, Scalloped potatoes

    Orange Scallops for two:
    6 dayboat (nitrate free) scallops
    1-2 tsp thyme
    1 orange
    4 cloves garlic (don’t go overboard)
    4-6 T butter
    Cointreau or brandy

    Melt the butter at medium low heat, zest the orange. When butter melted and water evaporated, add the garlic, minced. Reduce heat to not color the garlic, cook until softening. Add half the orange zest, the thyme (rub between fingers on the way into the pan, or use fresh thyme minced–triple the amount) and the juice of the orange. Turn up heat to medium high. Cook down until thickened, add the booze (use judgement), cook off the fun part and then set the sauce aside into a small bowl.

    Put the pan back on the burner and add another T or two of butter. Add the orange zest with it, let it melt and get hot on medium high heat. Turn the heat up once it’s stopped bubbling, and add the scallops almost immediately. Let them brown quickly on each side, flipping only once. Plate the scallops when cooked (DO NOT overcook. Get the dayboat scallops so they are OK to eat raw and eat them rare).

    Put the sauce back in the pan and cook more, heat it up, soak up the scallop leftovers. Serve on top the scallops.

    For golden chard side:
    small bunch golden chard
    olive oil
    salt & pepper

    Simply clean the chard, seperate the stems from the leaves. Chiffonade the leaves, chop the stems in even pieces. Heat a pan to medium, add some olive oil. Cook the stems until nearly tender. Add salt and pepper. Add the leaves and reduce heat to low, cook until bright and tender.

    Scalloped Potatoes (serves 4)
    8 small yellow creamer potatoes, washed
    3 oz cheddar, or other cheese that doesn’t become stringy
    1 small/medium spring onion
    1 cup milk
    1/2 cup cream
    salt & pepper
    2-5 T butter

    Preheat oven to 350. Slice the potatoes using the side of a cheese grater or a mandolin, ideally. Grate coarsely the cheese. Slice very thin the onions in half circles. In a 8×8 baking pan or something similar, put a few pats of butter on the bottom, very thin, or grease the pan. Add alternating single layers of potatoes and the onion broken into single pieces, add salt every other layer, a little cheese on the alternate. Add pats of butter again on top. End in onions.

    Heat the milk and cream until just hot. Pour over the layered poatoes. Cook for 40-50 minutes, covered for the first 35 minutes, uncovered for the rest. I turned the heat up for the last part, to 400.

  • Gomashi Sea Bass Medallions, Wilted Spinich, Sweet Summer Corn

    Gomashi Sea Bass Medallions, Wilted Spinich, Sweet Summer Corn

    I recreated a recent (and new) favorite (proud to say 100% original too) recipe with Chilean sea bass instead of halibut.. I do prefer the halibut, but it worked quite well, and I subbed the microgreens out for wilted spinich.

  • Farmer’s Market Flowers

    Farmer’s Market Flowers

    It’s nice to get up on Sunday and walk a few blocks in the morning sun, meander around and buy some scallops, some beautiful flowers for $10.

  • Alaskan Halibut on Hazelnut Gomashi Corn, Peaches in Wine

    Alaskan Halibut on Hazelnut Gomashi Corn, Peaches in Wine

    Halibut on hazelnut gomashi corn

    1lb halibut fillet, no skin
    5 ears fresh sweet corn (2 white 3 yellow)
    Gomashi (toasted sesame seeds and salt in a grinder, use a mortal and pestal lightly if you dont have one)
    Rainbow microgreens
    3 green onions/scallions
    Hazelnut Oil
    Sesame seeds
    Soy Sauce
    1T butter
    Olive oil

    Marinate the halibut in soy sauce, touch of olive oil, and sesame seeds for at least a couple of hours, but not more than 12.  Cook it in a nonstick pan just big enough for it, so it’s nice and tight. More on this in a moment.

    Cut the corn off the cob. Slice the scallions thinly into the green.

    In a large nonstick pan, heat 2 T hazelnut oil and butter (alternatively use a lightly flavored oil or olive oil and toast actual hazelnuts in it–crush them well first, use low heat for some time to infuse, but it’s just not the same) at medium heat, and add the corn. Add Gomashi mixture to add saltiness. Taste as you cook to add regular salt if needed, depending on proportion of your gomashi.

    In a small nonstick pan, cook your marinated halibut on medium, top side down first. Once getting opaque, flip it over and cover it at least loosely with a lid, reduce heat slightly and continue cooking through.

    When corn starts to color, add the scallions. Keep tossing until some kernels are browned and all are cooked. Place this on the base of your plate.

    Top with clean microgreens, then portion the halibut onto each plate. This serves four with an appetizer (we had some heirloom tomato sauce & red pepper linguini, very small amount).

    There is also now a Chilean Sea Bass & Spinich version of this dish.

    White and Yellow Organic Peaches, Sliced

    Peaches in Wine

    4-5 peaches (you can mix apricots too, and yellow and white peaches)
    White sugar
    Rose or dry white wine

    No need to skin them unless you don’t like the skin

    Slice evenly and toss in a bit of sugar, then cover in rose or dry white wine, most of the way. Cover and refrigerate for several hours at least. I served them on shortcakes and reduced the liquid to syrup in a pan, putting on top.

  • Snapper with Red & Green sauces, fennel, & israeli couscous

    Snapper with Red & Green sauces, fennel, & israeli couscous

    This was a weeknight meal, which, admittedly, didn’t flow all that well together (couscous vs fish & sauce), but was very tasty and healthy.

    Israeli Couscous (with amendment: pine nuts instead of almonds, though I prefer the latter almost, and this is also one of the most delicious and easy things you’ll ever make, and it’s surprisingly versatile)

    Snapper, dredged in flour and fried in butter (3 fillets) until cooked but definitely not over cooked

    Basil sauce (In the food processor, fresh basil, juice of one lemon, olive oil, two cloves garlic, puree until it looks like above)

    Roasted Tomato & Pepper sauce (Roast heirlooms with spring onions in olive oil, salt, pepper until soft and in their own liquid. Puree in food processor, add chunks of fresh gypsy peppers, add salt)

    Roasted fennel slivers (tossed in olive oil, cut cleanly and evenly, not too heavily coated, some salt, and into the oven for some color and texture)

  • Weekday Cheese Souffle

    Weekday Cheese Souffle

    I can’t remember who it was, but someone was talking to me about how effortlessly the French will whip up a souffle for dinner, something on par with opening a can of soup or mixing rice a roni in an American household.

    I do love a good souffle, and while I’ve been more partial to Alton Brown’s cheddar souffle (and sometimes adulterate it with blanched broccoli or asparagus pieces), I was inspired by Molly from Orangette‘s recipe in Bon Apetite, which I bookmarked some months ago (it uses gruyere–I used a combo of comte affinee, a more sweet gruyere very snack worthy and not stringy at all, and a 4 month cave aged gruyere). Granted, while I was making it I made some adjustments in line with my beloved Alton Brown recipe (like the mustard powder..), but I thought sharing both with you would make sense. I did use a 5 qt souffle dish and it serves 2-4 people depending on how much cheese your boyfriend likes to or is willing to eat.

    Alton Brown’s Cheese Souffle Recipe

    Molly Wizenberg‘s Everyday Souffle (maybe it was her story..)

  • Tri Tip Tacos with Cuban Black Beans

    Tri Tip Tacos with Cuban Black Beans

    I rushed home from a Saturday morning outing to cook dinner for two boys. We ate in the backyard, it was gorgeous and sunny, and I had very little time to prep. I bought some amazing artisinal corn tortillas (taco size, one pack in chipotle and one in white corn), some pre-marinated tri tip (a faux paus but a sometimes necessary evil–I did not prep the night before), shallots, etc and made a pretty grand meal of it all. They were satisfied, anyway.

    I got so excited, though, I failed to take a picture of an actual taco, instead only of the fixin’s. We had a size of grilled yellow squash, and cuban black beans too.

    3 shallots, sliced thinly on the diagonal
    4 radishes, sliced thinly
    1 lime, cut into 12 peices (in half as if juicing, and then into 6 slices each half)
    cilantro (washed, but let people pick off their own leaves to save time)
    tortillas
    1.5lb-2.5lb tri tip, marinated
    hot salsa

    Assemble as you please.