I Love You More Than Food

Category: lunch

  • Matsutake Mushroom Gnocci with Watercress

    Matsutake Mushroom Gnocci with Watercress

    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.

    matsutake gnocci with watercress

    matsutake mushrooms cooking

    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.

  • French Onion Soup

    French Onion Soup

    home made french onion soup

    french onion soup cooking in cast iron enameled pot

    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.

  • Spaghetti & Shrimp in Spicy Chevre Sauce (Pasta with Goat Cheese Sauce)

    Spaghetti & Shrimp in Spicy Chevre Sauce (Pasta with Goat Cheese Sauce)

    bionaturae whole wheat spaghetti in goat cheese sauce with shrimp

    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!).

    Bionature whole wheat spaghetti with shrimp in goat cheese sauce

    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.

  • Rigatoni Pasta with Spicy Sausage & Chard

    Rigatoni Pasta with Spicy Sausage & Chard

    [donotprint]Rigatoni Pasta with Spicy Sausage & Chard

    Homemade pork sausage, chard, tomato paste/veg broth/creme fraiche sauce with rigatoni pasta.

    Lots of pasta dishes lately, as they make for quick weeknight meals.[/donotprint]

    Rigatoni Pasta with Spicy Sausage & Chard
    This recipe is forgiving and many things can be substituted to accommodate what you already have around. I will try to provide some guidance.

    50 grams dry pasta per person (for entree size)
    1/4 lb ground pork per person (or Italian sweet or spicy sausage, without casing)
    1/2 C shallot, onion, or fennel per person, sliced in nice edible size pieces
    2 cups raw greens per person (spinach, chard, kale, other braising green)
    1-2 T tomato paste per person
    1 C vegetable stock (or chicken, etc) per person
    heavy cream or creme fraiche, about 1-2 T per person

    If you are working with ground pork and not pre-seasoned sausage, season your sausage with what you have on hand: paprika, chili powder, chili flakes, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, salt, pepper and even rib rub. Mix well.

    Boil water for the pasta and begin cooking the pasta. In a large skillet on high, cook the ground pork in chunks, separating bits with your hands and tossing into the pan; when all pork is in the pan, add the onions/fennel/shallot. When pork is browned on one side, stir vigorously and add enough stock to cover the bottom of the pan. Add tomato paste and stir to dissolve, add salt. Add greens to wilt, and as the pasta is finishing, add the cream or creme fraiche to taste. Serve in warmed bowls.

  • Oven baked babyback ribs to fall off the bone all year long + mango slaw

    Oven baked babyback ribs to fall off the bone all year long + mango slaw

    Oven baked babyback ribs

    Rack of ribs cooked in oven babyback

    I know it’s barbecue season and all, but the nice little disc that distributes the heat on my gas grill pretty much withered away to dust all of the sudden, and I’m grill-less unless I want to bother with the whole charcoal thing, which most of the time just takes way too much planning.

    And so, after my latest grocery impulse buy–a rack of ribs–I had to come up with somethin’ new.

    Oven Baked Ribs

    1 rack (or more! hey! who’s to stop you) babyback pork ribs

    For the spice rub:
    1/4 C brown sugar
    1 T paprika
    2 tsp smoked paprika
    2 tsp chili powder
    1 tsp garlic powder
    2 tsp kosher salt
    1/2 tsp ground coriander
    1 tsp berbere mix if you can get your hands on some

    Mix it up and rub it on the ribs generously. Let sit overnight in the fridge with it on or at room temp at least 30 minutes.

    Make a loose foil packet for the ribs and bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

    When rib meat is pulled away from bone, dress top in bbq sauce (store bought in my case) and stick under the broiler meaty side up for a few minutes until bubbly and caramelized.

    Mango Slaw

    Mango Slaw

    1/2 cucumber,seeded and sliced thinly
    1/4 mango, julienned
    1/4 jicama tuber, julienned
    1/8th head red cabbage, sliced thinly
    1/4 carrot, sliced thinly in wafers
    2 radishes, quartered and sliced thinly
    juice of 1/2 lime
    1/4 tsp ground cumin
    1 tsp walnut oil
    1 tsp sushi vinegar or other vinegar
    pinch salt

    Whisk together last 5 ingredients and add all other ingredients. This’ll be fine the next day too but I prefer it immediately.

  • 5 spice salmon & asian mixed vegetable salad

    5 spice salmon & asian mixed vegetable salad

    five spice salmon

    asian salad with fennel and broccoli stems

    Thanks to P for the inspiration.

    This dish is extremely quick to prepare if you have the right equipment (a mandolin or julienne tool) and 100% doable on a weekday. Took me about 15 minutes, healthy, tasty, and very presentable.

    For the Salmon

    1/3 lb salmon per person, fillet, non farmed
    5 spice powder
    berbere spice mixture or a bit of cayenne
    salt

    Salt the salmon, let sit for a couple of minutes. Dust the fleshiest side of the salmon in five spice powder and then top with 1/3 as much berbere or cayenne or other similar mixture.

    For the Asian Mixed Vegetable Salad

    2 broccoli stalks, trimmed and peeled w/ veg peeler
    2 radishes, quartered and sliced thinly
    1/4 bulb fennel, shaved on mandolin
    1/2 cucumber, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
    4 leaves butter lettuce, roughly ripped into 1-2 inch squares or so
    1 pink pluot, in 1/2 inch cubes
    1 dark plumb, in 1/2 inch cubes
    2T seasoned rice vinegar
    1T walnut oil or other fragrant nut oil
    1T sesame seeds or gomashi
    salt to taste

    Julienne broccoli stems (hopefully you have a mandolin type contraption to do this) and mix all ingredients together!

  • Rigatoni with Tomato Cream Sauce, Peas, Chard (Pasta with Spring Vegetables)

    Rigatoni with Tomato Cream Sauce, Peas, Chard (Pasta with Spring Vegetables)

    Pasta with spring vegetables - Rigatoni with fresh english peas, chard, and tomato cream sauce weeknight pasta

    Feel free to improvise the dairy combo in this; I used what I had on hand–full cream or whole milk would suffice, or you can combine skim and sour cream, whatever you have around. Ultimately this is pasta with spring vegetables, and you can substitute where it makes sense to.

    For two

    150 grams rigatoni
    1 cup milk
    2 T creme fraiche
    1/2 tsp Italian dried herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, any combo thereof)
    2-3 T tomato paste
    1/2 cup peas, shelled
    1 1/2 cups cleaned, chopped chard or kale

    As you start the pasta is cooking (bring water to boil first before starting the sauce), use a large skillet to gently warm the milk and tomato paste. Add some salt.

    When steaming or very lightly simmering, stir mixture and add herbs and peas. Continue cooking a few more minutes.

    When pasta is done,  drain and add to the sauce pan, adding the chard and creme fraiche, covering, and letting wilt. A little parm or pecorino on top is nice.

  • Microgreen Slaw & Miso broiled black cod

    Microgreen Slaw & Miso broiled black cod

    Microgreens SlawMicrogreen Slaw and Miso Broiled Black Cod

    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.

  • Miso Black Cod & Winter Flatbread

    Miso Black Cod & Winter Flatbread

    Winter Flatbread with potato & butternut squash

    Winter Flatbread & Miso Black Cod

    Miso Fish (black cod)

    Pizza dough

    1/4 lb french fingerling (red) potatoes, cut into rounds 1/4 or less thick
    1/4 lb butternut squash flesh, cubed or sliced  1/4 inch thick and cut into chunks
    olive oil
    garlic

    Roast garlic cloves in oil in the oven, and remove when soft but not deeply colored or dried out. Puree in small food processor or with mortar & pestle. This will be spread over your pizza skin.

    In a nonstick pan, use a bit of oil to cook the potatoes & squash, covering to cook through if necessary. Reserve. I used leftovers from another meal, so it’s fine if they are cold when you use them.

    Preheat oven to as hot as it will go and be sure your pizza stone is clean. If you don’t have a pizza stone, place skin on a cookie sheet preferably without edges and “dock” the skin with a fork to allow air to circulate better and crisp it while cooking.

    Instead of rolling out your pizza dough, use your fingers to create a thin but mostly even center, leaving an edge that is thicker.

    Spread the garlic oil & garlic over the skin evenly and randomly scatter the cooked potatoes & squash. Cook until golden, 3-6 minutes depending on oven temperature. Cut into wedges.

    If you’re feeling fancy, throw some fresh chopped herbs on it when it comes out (thyme or basil would be great) of the oven, and dab the edges with a bit of olive oil.

  • Herb Fromage Blanc Ravioli in Heiloom Tomato Sauce

    Herb Fromage Blanc Ravioli in Heiloom Tomato Sauce

    Fromage Blanc Ravioli Recipe Photo

    Fromage Blanc with herbs from Cowgirl Creamery (well actually, from somewhere else, but they carry it?), heirloom cherry/grape tomatoes from capay organics, olive oil, chili flakes, homemade pasta dough with yolks.

    FAIL on recipe supply, I’m simply not in the mood and this one is overdue.