We made our way up to Mendocino to meet a friend of mine and her extended family for Thanksgiving. The occasion called for some serious brevity as our setting was as such: two nights and one and a half days of smart, sharp, opinionated women (ages 13-60 something) and the sole male representative I brought with me (who held up handsomely, I might add, and who definitely deserves some kind of serious achievement award).

Our setting was a mish-mashed home of happiness in the woods with one of the most practical and welcoming kitchens I’ve ever had the pleasure of participating in. We made turkey, we made ham. We made oyster stuffing, pepper stuffing, broccoli, green beans, yams, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, cranberry relish, gravy, salsa, mixed squash, apple crisp, pumpkin-pecan pie cheesecake, and apricot sticky-toffee pudding. I made potato-leek soup and everyone ate it as a snack before the real feast began.

We torched a ham, and several hours later felt compelled to torch “one of the desserts.” There was a disproportionate interest in pyrotecnics when compared to the level of estrogen in the household.

A sampling of recipes and photos will follow this post as soon as I recover fully from my food coma.

For some time, I’ve been considering a home produce delivery, as the Bay Area has a large selection of vendors for this purpose–from private farms to co-op vendors who source several farms and deliver, there’s a wealth of good, organic produce in these parts. I had put off starting the shipments because I was torn between several vendors, but as an impulse buy a few days ago I signed up with Farm Fresh To You. (Ok, so really, I haddn’t been thinking about the produce deliveries since October and I was reading an article in the Chronicle about Tyler Florence in which he mentions HIS delivery of Farm Fresh To You…) Today, I received my first shipment.

I was pleased. The box sat in the shade on our stoop and I grabbed it on my way in the door, eager to dig in and see what goodies I had from the sesasonal selection. Almost everything in my box bore the Capay farms seal even though I’d opted to receive mixed produce, not only from their own farm. I received many beautiful things–including the largest and most symmetrical butternut squash that has quite possibly ever existed–but will today talk about the beautiful rainbow chard. I’ve never cooked rainbow chard.

1 bundle rainbow chard
1/4 yellow onion
4 garlic cloves
zest of 1 orange
olive oil
salt & pepper

Wash your chard and seperate the leaves from the stalks. Remove the very bottom part of the stalks if they’re especially brittle or large, then chop the stalks in 1/2-1 inch peices (smaller at the thick end larger at the thin.)

Heat a skillet or large pan to high heat and add some olive oil–don’t reach the smoking point.

Chop your onion finely and add it to the hot oil. Chop your garlic and add it a little later, reducing the heat to medium. Add salt & pepper. Once the onions are colored and translucent or soft but not shriveled (that’s too much), add your chard stalks. Let them soften for 10-15 minutes on medium heat, tossing occasionally. Add the zest of 1/2 the orange. Once softened, chop your chard leaves in 1 1/2-2 inch ribbons and add them to the pan, reducing the heat to medium low. Add the rest of the orange zest.

Let the mixture soften and reduce and once the leaves are fully cooked but not BROWN, you’re done! Serve it up. I served it with quinoa, which you can find instructions for on this site.

1/3lb (or more) dover sole filets (from morro bay)
flour
butter
juice of one orange
salt & pepper

They’ve been carrying Morro Bay Dover Sole at Andronico’s for a great price lately, and since it is a little heartier than other types of sole I’ve been digging in. Heartier=more versatile, less breakable.

Heat a non stick skillet to medium high heat. Add the butter and let heat until it stops bubbling (water evaporates). Give the fish a light touch of salt, then dredge the filets in flour and shake excess off. Place into pan and turn when 2/3rds done and the edges have curled up a bit. Use a fish turner to flip the fish and finish it. Place on a warm platter.

With the heat lowered to low, add the juice of one orange directly into the pan. let the drippings and orange juice reduce. When slightly thickened but still moist, add a small amount of the leftover flour, whisky vigorously with your fish turner until smooth. Add a bit of salt & pepper. Pour over the fish, and viola!

Watercress salad

Pick good greens, wash them thoroughly by “floating” them in water, dry well. Make a dressing of high quality, light & fruity olive oil, quality salt, a small bit of fresh ground pepper, and a bit of concentrated orange juice or a squirt of lemon. Add a bit of minced shallot or garlic as well. Whisk together, dress the watercress, and serve.

History has it that Pasta (in this case, Rigatoni) puttanesca had something to do with prostituites in Naples, but all I can tell you is it’s great in winter and terribly typically Mediterranean.

180g rigatoni (pasta for 2-3), dry
80g (several T) good quality tomato paste
1 yellow bell pepper
1/3 red bell pepper
2 T capers (packed in salt if possible)
2 T diced black, kalamata, or other full flavored pitted olive
2 Heaping spoonfuls of creme fraiche
1/4 C stock (vegetable or chicken or water if you must)
chili flakes
salt & pepper
olive oil

Boil the pasta in well salted water until al dente. While cooking, sautee 1 inch chunks of yellow bell pepper & diced chunks of red bell pepper in hot olive oil, medium high heat. Add salt & pepper. If you want, you can start with a bit of finely chopped onion. Add 2 tsp red pepper flakes or less/more to taste.

Once a bit softened, add tomato paste and a splash of vegetable or chicken stock (water if you have to). Let paste incorporate and sauce simmer until reduced. Add capers and olives, let warm. Turn off heat and add creme fraiche (I used the ultra full flavored and delicious local SF Cowgirl Creamery variety), stir in. Toss pasta and serve.

It’d be nice with a nice spicy red wine like sangiovese (chianti, chianti classico, rosso di montalcino, etc) or a lighter zinfandel, or a well balanced merlot to soften it up and take away the spice a bit.

Very close to my place of work in downtown San Francisco is a popular gourmet take-out staged in a former cigar/tobacco stand, aptly named The Sentinel (you can read people’s thoughts on the place here). They serve a rotating, limited menu daily which is updated every morning on their website. Almost every day, they offer their signature chocolate-walnut cookies.

They are amazing. I flatter myself by attempting to re-create this cookie when the chef is so famous in our area…Mine came out almost equally tasty, but a little more chewy and a bit darker in color. A few mornings ago, I asked the Chef when I swung by to get myself a pear muffin at 7:30am, what I might have done wrong. He is pretty short with people, but he told me not to cook them so long. I’ll update this post next time I make these cookies.

3/4 C raw, fresh walnuts (I picked mine up at the Bernal Heights Farmer’s Market in SF)
1/2 C chocolate chips
1 stick butter
3/4 C white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325.

In a food processor, grind walnuts until the texture of fine breadcrumbs or panko. When almost there, add the chocolate chips, and blend so they’re smaller than chocolate chips overall and mixed with the walnuts. Reserve.

Melt the butter, mix with sugar and vanilla. Add walnut mixture, blend. Add flour & other dry ingredients until blended. Add additional flour if necessary to have a solid but not stiff mixture.

Cook several inches apart on parchment/baking paper or on greased pan; I put 6 cookies on a standard sheet and gently press them flat into discs rather than balls, this ensures even spreading so the edges don’t burn.

Bake 6-9 minutes until spread evenly. Allow to cool a few minutes before moving to retain flat, even shape. Makes 8-10 cookies.

I’ve been making a lot of salads lately in an attempt to incorporate both more greens and more fiber into my evening diet. One way that I trick myself into eating an item I’m generally not too crazy about is by adding what should have been really obvious: fried potatoes. This has been the basis of many a salad lately, often incorporating minced red bell pepper, Brianna’s cheddar-chipotle dressing (the ONLY dressing I have ever used and been satisfied with or tolerant of), hangar steak, etc.

I prefer to use pre-washed, organic mixed greens because they’re not only versatile but the cost is completely worth the work that’s already been done, and I find in general they’re better or equal quality to what I can find pre-mixed in bulk, and last longer in the right quantities than what I can cut & mix on my own.

1 large pack “organic girl” pre washed mixed greens
3 T olive oil
1 T good balsamic vinegar (I like Bariani, for those of us in central & northern California)
salt & pepper
1 medium red potato, peeled & cubed
1 T butter
4-6 T soy nuts
1/4 C raw pistachios
1 slice dried pineapple, diced small
1/2 ripe fuyu persimmon, diced

In a saute pan on high heat, melt the butter. Add the cut potato, topping with plenty of salt & pepper. Toss, and let cook. Toss occasionally, once colored, reduce heat to medium low to cook through.

Meanwhile, Whisk together briskly the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper. Mix the greens to evenly coat, and add the soy nuts, pistachios, pineapple, and persimmon. Toss. If possible, let the potatoes cool a bit, and then toss them in as well. Serve immediately.

When I was a little girl, I lived in Seoul, South Korea for some time. My family sometimes ate at the Italian restaurant at the Seoul Hilton–foreign food was a delicacy to us back then (early 90’s), and sometimes real cravings surfaced. Since my mom is a pretty accomplished home chef (and has managed some pretty amazing multi-course 12 person dinner parties on her own!), she, over the course of some months or years, befriended the chef of the restaurant, an Italian man named Chef Bosco (I heard he now has a restaurant somewhere near the heel in Italy).

I loved Chef Bosco’s tomato soup. For a kid who loved sugar and chocolate more than anything, the amount that I loved this soup really cannot be communicated. I craved it. My family would eat a 3-course meal at this restaurant, and I’d order this soup for appetizer, main course, and even dessert. I couldn’t get enough of it. After 3 years, when we were moving away from Seoul, Chef Bosco was kind enough to share his recipe with my mother. I have modified it slightly to recreate it most suitibly to ingredients available in the US.

600-800 grams canned San Marzano Tomatoes (make sure they are real and imported from the Napoli area, with the DOC identification on the can. Alternatively, use canned tomatoes from other areas of Italy that are the PLUM variety, for example, a brand from Bolghari in Tuscany has some that compare). This is VERY IMPORTANT to the quality and flavor of the soup.

3 medium carrots, peeled
1 large onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick (or just scant) of butter
4+ C home made chicken stock
1 pint heavy whipping cream
4-6 T Parmesean cheese, grated
salt & pepper
Crusty bread for making crutons
Chives for garnish

Melt butter in large sauce or saute pan. When melted, add onion, garlic, and carrot. Add salt & pepper. Sautee until soft and bright in color.

Add tomatoes, and pleanty more salt. Let cook, break down, simmer and incorporate. When thickened, place into food processor, in parts if necessary. Blend until very smooth.

Add to pan large enough for all soup. Add the chicken stock (heat it/warm it first!). Mix, let come to boil. Add in heavy cream just before serving. (If you increase the batch or otherwise wish to freeze or preserve the soup for more than 3 days, do not add the cream. Add the cream before serving.) Add the parmesean cheese, let incorporate.

Serve with crutons on top, a crack of fresh ground pepper, whole or diced chives, and optional creme fraiche.

For Crutons: Dice bread. Spread evenly and in one layer on baking sheet, bake at 315-325 for 15-20 minutes, until darkened and dry. When almost done, heat 1-2 T butter in saucepan. Add 1 clove minced garlic. Let soften. Toss diced, toasted bread, turn off heat, let sit in butter.

For Two:
Italian style loaf bread, sliced thick
1/2 lb rare roast beef
1/4 large onion
pesto
Swiss, Leerdammer, or Bleu Cheese (Blue d’auvergene, St Agur, etc)
olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat your panini machine, slice the bread. Dice the onion and place into hot sautee pan with olive oil, adding salt & pepper. Cook until translucent.

Assemble sandwiches–Spread blue cheese on one side of the bread (alternatively layer your cheese), smear pesto on the other peice. Add hot onions against the cheese side, then add roast beef slices. You could also add arugula. Brush the outer sides of the bread with olive oil and grill at medium heat until heated through and golden outside.

Roast Vegetable Ragout
2 large heirloom tomatoes, preferably green/purple variety or other rich color
2 large carrots, peeled & trimmed
1/2 medium onion
6+ garlic cloves, peeled & trimmed
1/2 red bell pepper

Cut all vegetables into chunks; carrots diagonally. Put into baking dish, toss with 1/4-1/3 C olive oil, pleanty of sea salt & cracked pepper. Cook for 45-90min until soft and rich in color. Add 2/3rds mixture to food processor or blender, pulse until coarsely incorporated. Mix with left over whole vegetables. Reserve to place on bread, eat with roast meat, etc.

Alternatively, roast these vegetables with a london broil steak or other cut to roast; the juice from the meat will enrich the flavor, or add your own beef stock (1/3 cup) before roasting.

Place on toasted baguette that has been rubbed with a fresh, uncooked garlic clove.

Coconut Macadamia Green Beans
3 spring carrots (small with tops on) trimmed, peeled
1 lb green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup halved macadamia nuts (roasted & salted)
1/2 medium size hot pepper, small diced
2 cloves garlic
1 handful fresh pea shoots, washed & drained
3 T unrefined raw coconut oil (looks for lack of better description like large chunks of crack cocaine, with lots of actual coconut pulp left in it)

Cut green beans into 1-inch segments, cut carrots into 1/8th inch thick segments (or thinner). Mince garlic. Smash macadamia nuts unevenly to have mostly small pieces and some larger ones.

Heat non stick pan to medium heat, fully. Add coconut oil, let melt a little. It will retain some uneven chunks of coconut, don’t worry about this. Just make sure the heat is not so high it wil burn the coconut, though browning is OK. Add the carrot, hot fresh pepper, and garlic, cook 1-2 minutes until slightly softened/brightened color. Add cracked pepper, and a small amount of salt.  Next add the green beans. Reduce heat after 2-3 minutes to medium low. Let cook until beans slightly softened and much brighter in color. Add macadamia nuts, cook several more minutes, tossing as you go. Add the pea shoots at the end, raw on top.

Crepe Batter:
1/2 C Hazelnut “flour” (finely ground hazelnuts)
1/2 C -2T all-purpose unbleached flour
3 eggs
2T melted butter
1 1/3 C whole milk
dash salt
dash fresh grated nutmeg

Mix dry; Mix wet, add into a “well” of the dry and whisk together to avoid lumps, slowly incorporating the dry. The batter should be the consistency of light cream.

2 large fresh leeks, greens removed
4 small to medium white new potatoes
2-3 T butter
salt & pepper
5-8 stalks fresh wild arugula

Split leeks in half and chop finely in half circles. Dice finely the new potatoes to the size just slightly bigger than the eraser on a pencil. Melt the butter in a non stick pan at medium high heat (you could also use pancetta and half as much butter). When the water has evaporated (it stops bubbling), add the potatoes, with plenty of salt & pepper. Let them color, tossing occasionally. Reduce heat to medium, add leeks. Let leeks soften and color while potatoes also finish cooking.

Use a non-stick skillet and cook the crepes at medium high heat. Coat the pan in butter first, let the water evaporate and add batter. Don’t add too much batter or the crepes will be too thick; they should barely coat the pan. Flip when mostly done, cooking briefly on the other side.

Assemble, adding fresh washed arugula. Top with creme fraiche or sour creme and a few whole hazelnuts.