Afternoon stroll at Russian Hill

Recently I've been able to do a couple projects with Spottly, and just this week they opened up their new Submissions page with one my entries to kick it all off. Enjoy.

The V word

  Of all the random things I could have possibly done to, earlier this year I decided to try out the vegetarian lifestyle. That's right. I'm going to be the V word.

 Now what started off this crazy experiment was this dish (pictured above) in my attempt to continue a series of posts that never just came to light. Then later in succession, I just happened to follow up with another meatless dish and figured why not see how far I can take this?

And since I was on this crazy crusade of a protein cleanse, I might as well make things interesting, because salads hardly hold a novelty in my book. For the later set of weeks I wanted share my exploration of the worlds take on meatless cuisine. I'm actually surprised I didn't cave in to my cravings for Fried Chicken and In-N-Out at the time.

Dish #1 Shakshouka: Tunisian dish was brought to light to me by J. Kao during our last cooking sessions before she departed back to the motherland.

• 1/4 Olive Oil
• 1 Yellow Onion 
• 2 cups chopped Kale 
• 5 cloves Garlic
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Ground Chipotle Powder
• 1 can Whole Peeled Tomatoes, Undrained  
• Sea Salt
• 4 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Goat Cheese 
• 1 tbsp Basil

- Heat oil in cast iron skillet over MEDIUM HIGH HEAT; add chopped Onions, Kale, Garlic and stir until soft.
- Add Cumin Chipotle Powder ad stir for another minute.
- Add Tomatoes and liquid to the skillet; reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes.
- When Tomato mixture has thickened, stir slightly, add in salt.
- Make a hole in the sauce and crack in Eggs.
- Cover skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes, depending on how runny you like your eggs.
- Finish with Goat Cheese + Basil, serve with toasted bread, pita, etc.

Dish #2 Rustic Onion Tart: Preferably, I love this for breakfast but I can't exactly say I have the patience to cook for that when my stomach wants food now. Luckily this is just as awesome the following morning after a few minutes back in the oven.

• 1 pie crust
• 2 large Onions (Yellow/Spanish)
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 Cup of Half & Half
• 8-10 slices of Swiss Cheese
• 2 Tbsp of Flour
• 1/2 Tsp of Salt
• 1/4 Tsp of Black Pepper 

Preheat oven to 350F

1. Put the pie dough over a glass/ceramic (oven-proof) dish or pie pan. Press to the bottom and around the edges.
2. On the bottom of the dough, spread half the onions and half of the cheese. You don't need to cover the onions completely. 
3. Beat the eggs with the flour, half & half, salt and pepper. Pour half the mixture over the cheese you laid down.
4. Spread the other half of the onions and cheese, and cover with the rest of the egg mixture.
5. Bake for 50 minutes. 

International Knickknacks

I love giving giving gifts, but it's even more awesome when I receive. Am I right people??

Recently my best friend was lucky enough to study abroad in the UK, and traveled pretty much everywhere else near by during here free time.

After four long months I was finally greeted with big hug and elegant, pretty box filled to the brim with goodies from England, Scotland, and Amsterdam. Wonderful scotchs of all varieties (and sizes), spreadable's, smokable's, and some sweet readable's. I can't be thankful enough. ^^

Make friends that like to travel, and don't forget to do so yourself!

Achieving said "impossible"

For as long as I can remember there seems to be some daunting aura about the Souffle. That the success rate is equal to getting an acceptance letter from Harvard, a mere slight difference of key tone in your voice sends this gourmet mount Everest crumbling like my new years resolution to start eating less bacon.

Every time I see a parody or skit featuring a souffle they always deflate and the person attempting to perfect it falls into a frantic reaction of woe, but what of it? Isn't still edible and most importantly, delicious? I know the French have there standards but c'mon lighten up a little guys.

Figured I'd give this a go and see whether or not this puffed pastry will collapse if I make eye contact with it.

I WILL I OWN YOU.

Crap....Note to self don't raise your voice at sensitive deserts.

It's just a little frightened, it's still good!

Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee

  

  Some of the most delicately soft and chewiest doughnuts I've ever have managed to have tried in my life. What impresses me is the lack of over the top sweetness you would expect from anything else that dons the title, yet you get something so wholesome it's mind boggling . Despite the sheer amount of quality that obviously goes into each and everyone of these, the result seems almost effortless in how good they actually are. One quick note to add, these babies don't come cheap, think 2-3 bucks a pop. But for me I see it as paying for the extra quality, that's well worth it in the end. Seriously I'm still thinking about them.

  On top of that they serve premo coffee, from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, to enjoy. I enjoy mine straight up black the way it should be when paired with sweet treats.

  -Maple Bacon- A good balance of salty & sweet, the bacon is crisp (which is a must). It surpasses virtually  every other maple bacon incarnate I've had around the So Cal area, but it's definitely not the Maple Bacon Bar over at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland (my undisputed #1). 

  -Huckleberry: Wonderfully potent in flavor, bright & rich without being to sweet. The acidic citrus bite from the berries provides a clean finish.

  -Vanilla Glaze Twist: I just basically got one of these because they just where just out of the oven and freshly glazed. Now I don't even care what variety you get, anything that comes fresh is like buttery melted gold in your mouth. Did I mention the glaze has real bits vanilla bean sprinkled about? Now I gotta say it's not so drastically different from any other good glaze twist I've had, taste-wise, but it's the wonderful texture that makes it so special. 

  I have found my happy place. 

270 E. 17th St.

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

 

Pumpkin Seed Brittle

Here's a quick one for those who have a hankering for that sweet & salty combo. Originally I was going to use this as treat to finish off the last Thanksgiving dinner I hosted, but I already had enough on plate to deal with that day (literally). I just now saw it fit to give this a go after so long on being in my to-make list. Just prepare to clean up a sticky mess with plenty of hot water!

Recipe here.

The John Coffey Special

Recently I just finished re-watching The Green Mile and it was around the end, during Michael Clark Duncan's most powerful scene, he was asked what would he like as his last meal. He request was simply "Meatloaf would be nice, mashed potatoes, gravy, okra, and maybe some of that fine corn bread your misses make [referring to Paul Edgecomb's spouse]".  For some reason that line struck a chord, I got an insight into what kind of man this character was, simple and seeking something that resembled home. Call me a sap, but I was absolutely compelled to recreate this dish in honor of him, part of me wasn't satisfied of the fact that I get to see this dish be enjoyed. Haha

When it came to deciding how I wanted to approach this, simple and as old school as possible would be the right choice, no fro-froing today. The only thing I'll a stickler about is putting a little more emphasis on the meat rather than the loaf aspect, I've had way to many breaded-down versions in my time (and I'm sure you have too). 

Meatloaf: I got my recipes from a jumble of sources but a southern cooking post can't go without at least a nod towards the queen of southern comfort, Paula Dean (hold the 10lbs of lard and sugar).

Okra: This post is a bit convoluted, but I really enjoyed it for the back story/history and attention to detail. To save you all the jumping, skipping and back tracking, I'll just give you the nitty gritty right here. Now he didn't exactly give us exact measurements, so it'll be something you'll have to eyeball.

-Cut Okra into half inch slices (removing tip and stem base), liberally adding salt to help absorb the moisture.
-Toss in a bowl a couple times with enough cornmeal to lightly cover the Okra and season with pepper. Let it sit in the bowl to allow the cornmeal to adhere (I went up to an hour).
- Pour into skillet with just enough oil to come up halfway on the sides of the sliced okra. Heat oil to the hottest point without smoking and add enough okra to cover the whole pan completely.
-Turn the heat down to medium high, cover over the pan with a tight-fitting lid and let it sizzle for a 2-3 minutes-  check undersides for browning. 
-Flip for a couple more minutes, until browned. Serve immediately 
-
Cornbread: I would play with the temp./time settings. Mine got a little too dark after just barely 30 minutes. 

Mashed Potatoes : Dead simple, and absolutely fantastic.