Years ago, I accompanied my then boyfriend to a dinner at his new boss’s house.
The Boss’s wife made a shrimp pasta with creamy dill sauce.Everyone was served a plate mounded with linguine and shrimp, smothered in a cream sauce that was practically green with dill. Each serving could have easily fed a family of 4.
This dish was so heavy (and overwhelmingly “dill”), that after a few bites, I was done. I was faced with the dilemma – Do I leave a substantial amount of food on my plate, and risk offending our gracious hosts?OR, Do I attempt to clean my plate and risk a stomach-pumping session after dinner?
Alas, I was brought up with the mantra to never waste food – so I took a deep breath, channeled the spirit of competitive eater, and dug into my giant plate of pasta.Since that night, I have avoided anything that contained dill.Anything dill would give me flashbacks of the boss’s wife’s pasta – shudder!!
A few weeks ago, my dill-free life ended – unintentionally, unexpectedly, and undeniably- deliciously!
I enjoyed lunch at Kokkari Estiatorio.It was my first visit to this famous FiDi establishment and I was lucky to be in the company of “Kokkari insiders” Deborah Kwan and Michael Procopio!!I was in great hands- so I sat back and let them do all of the ordering!
We started with a spread of appetizers –Tomato and Peach Salad (a surprisingly delightful combination), Grilled Peppers (delicious and simple), Taramosalata (ugh! So good, I could live on this!!), Favosalata (this is not made with fava beans and please, do NOT call it “hummus”), and my favorite, the Grilled Octopus (nuff said).Michael warned us not to fill up on the pita bread – which is just so fluffy, warm, and delicious!!We followed up with the amazing Grilled Lamb Chops with the famous Kokkari Potatoes and …… the Gigantes.
Gigantes are giant beans that are baked in tomato sauce.OMG!These Gigantes changed my life!They arrived still bubbling hot from the oven – giant tender beans in rich, flavorful tomato sauce, topped with feta cheese and a green sauce. Each fork full was immediately followed with another, til I had to stop and consider that my lunch mates might want to have some Gigantes as well.The flavors in this dish were very complex – there was an ingredient that took the dish to the next level, but I couldn’t identify it…….. hmmmmm what could that flavor be??
Our dessert was Galaktoboureko – which looked like flakey filo “egg rolls” filled with semolina custard, apricot spoon sweets, and pistachio ice cream.YUM!!! (“lick the plate” good!!)
My first visit to Kokkari was unforgettable – the warm and friendly people, the cozy yet upscale surroundings, delicious, delicious food, and of course, my amazing company!The best part is- I now am the proud owner of the new Kokkari cookbook!!!
The recipes, for every wonderful dish I enjoyed at the restaurant, are included in the cookbook!!
I scanned the recipe for Gigandes (pg. 64).What was that ingredient that gave this dish such amazing flavor?Yup, it was DILL!!!
Thanks to Deborah Kwan, David Hawkand Chronicle Books for allowing me to share the following recipe with you!
From Erik Cosselmon and Janet Fletcher, Kokkari: Contemporary Greek Flavors, Chronicle Books
Oven-Baked Giant Beans with Tomato, Dill & Feta
Gigandes Plaki
We cook these enormous white beans in an aromatic broth, then let them rest overnight in tomato sauce to soak up flavor. The following day, we reheat them to order with a topping of crumbled feta and dill. Even well-heeled Greeks have a soft spot for the humble gigandes. Serve these creamy beans as a meze, as a side dish with roast lamb or goat, or as a meatless main course.
1 pound dried gigantes (giant white beans) or other white beans
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 inner ribs celery, coarsely chopped
1 large leek, including pale green parts, coarsely chopped and rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried Greek oregano, crumbled
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 cups Kokkari Tomato Sauce (please see separate recipe)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1/4 pound Greek feta cheese, crumbled
Cover the beans with 3 inches of cold water and let soak overnight. Drain and rinse. Put the soaked beans in a stockpot and cover with 2 inches of cold water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, skimming any surface foam. Add 2 teaspoons salt. Cover and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. After 45 minutes, add the onion, carrot, celery, leek, garlic, oregano, and bay leaves. Raise the heat to return to a simmer. Adjust the heat to maintain a bare simmer and cook, uncovered, until the beans are tender, 45 minutes or more depending on their age. Test several, as they do not always cook evenly.
Drain the beans in a colander, reserving the tasty broth for another use, such as soup. Remove the bay leaves. Return the beans to the pot and stir in the tomato sauce, olive oil, and 3 tablespoons of the dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You can prepare the beans to this point 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate. Reheat gently before continuing.
Preheat the broiler. Transfer the beans to an 11-by-7-inch baking dish or a dish of comparable size, spreading them evenly. Combine the feta and the remaining 1 tablespoon dill and sprinkle evenly over the beans. Broil on the top rack until the beans are heated through and the surface is appetizingly browned. Serve hot.
Serves 6
Kokkari Tomato Sauce
The reputation of a Greek kitchen rests in part on its tomato sauce because so many key dishes rely on it. You can’t make a tasty pastitsioor a soul-stirring rendition of baked gigandes without it. Some cooks add sugar, cinnamon, or allspice, but we favor Mediterranean herbs: fresh basil and the dried Greek oregano that is our aromatic signature. The sauce keeps for 1 week in the refrigerator, or you can freeze it.
1 can (28-ounce) San Marzano tomatoes, with juice
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian tomato paste (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried Greek oregano, crumbled
1 sprig fresh basil
Sea salt
In a food processor, puree the tomatoes with their juice. Set aside. Crush the garlic cloves with the heel of your palm against the side of a chef’s knife.
In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté just until it begins to brown, tipping the pan so the cloves remain covered in oil. Remove from the heat and discard the garlic cloves.
Add the pureed tomatoes to the hot oil—the mixture will sizzle and splatter—then return the pan to medium heat. Cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, until the sauce has thickened and lost its raw taste, about 15 minutes. If the flavor does not seem rich enough, stir in the tomato paste. Add the oregano and simmer 5 minutes more. Add the basil sprig and remove from the heat. Season to taste with salt. You can refrigerate any unused sauce for up to 3 days.
Makes 2 1/2 cups
So my food moral of this tale is that ingredients – whether good, bad, expensive, cheap – should never be used in excess, and unless I’m allergic to something, I should never boycott an ingredient for the risk of missing out on true taste sensory bliss!!
Erik and Janet will be at Omnivore Books Saturday, Oct 15th, 2011 from 3-4pm to share tastes of dishes from the cookbook.
During the summer months, the farmer’s markets are filled with stands offering tasty, sweet samples of stone fruit. I can’t resist! I come home from the market, delicately cradling my peaches, nectarines, pluots, apriums, plucots, and other unique stone fruit varieties. Of course they all tend to ripen at the same time, so my diet from mid week til the weekend, tends to be “fruit heavy”.
The most memorable dish I have had featuring stone fruit, was actually at Basta Pasta, a Japanese/Italian restaurant in New York City. It was Christmas Eve, I was having a bittersweet goodbye dinner with my boyfriend at our favorite restaurant. He was leaving the next day to move back to Japan, and I was staying in New York to start grad school. We were sharing dishes from the special Christmas Eve menu, seated at a table next to Wesley Snipes and his two (inappropriately -dressed) female companions.
One of the appetizer options was a peach pasta – white Japanese peaches, basil tossed with angel hair pasta. The flavors were so unique! It might have been because I was feeling sad and emotional, or because my senses were heightened from all of the crying – but at that particular moment, that peach pasta dish was the most the most delicious thing I had ever tasted in my life!
Over the years, I have tried to replicate this, but have never been successful. I don’t think the restaurant ever had it on the menu again. (sad, sad face!)
Recently, coming home from the farmer’s market with my stone fruit bounty, I was inspired to search for peach pasta recipes. I found one on Better Homes and Gardens.
The following is my own riff on this recipe using Japanese soba noodles instead of pasta. I prefer the flavor of soba noodles, and the texture of the soba holds up better in this dish than wheat pasta. It is best to use ripe, sweet peaches or nectarines in season.
Summer Soba
1 pkg of Japanese Soba Noodles (8-15 oz)
6 cloves of garlic minced
1 Tbs Olive oil
1 pint grape tomatoes
2 lbs (approx 6) ripe sweet yellow or white, peaches or nectarines (I used a mixture of all 4), pitted and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup chopped basil leaves + more for garnish
1/2 tsp crushed chili pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste
Prepare soba according to package directions. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Drain soba and return to pot; keep warm.
Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet cook garlic in olive oil over medium heat for 1 minute. Add tomatoes. Cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes til heated through. Add peaches/nectarines and chili flakes. Cook 4 to 5 minutes more or until peaches are just soft, stirring occasionally.
Add cooked soba noodles and basil and toss well. Add reserved soba cooking liquid as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with fresh basil on top.
It is getting closer, but it is still not the pasta I remember from that night……
This past weekend, I met my cousins for dinner in Milpitas. It was a long drive down the 880 - past 4 Walmarts.
Admission – a guilty pleasure of mine, is to visit Walmarts late at night. After the crowds of rowdy families are gone, I like to roam the aisles. In addition to all of the basic necessities, they carry the most random stuff!
I especially enjoy spending time in their food section. The assortment reflects the tastes of their clientele. My kitchen is filled with an assortment of Hispanic and Asian spices and ingredients I have found in the Walmart Food section!
That night I was craving something sweet. I actually picked up a box of strawberry Twinkies – but I put it back down. Yup, the craving was pretty strong. What I really wanted was a cupcake. When I lived in New York, I would walk home from dinner in the West Village, and stop by Magnolia Bakery for a freshly frosted cupcake – YUM! In California, I was on my own.
There’s a place down the street from me that makes fancy cakes for weddings and special events. They have chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that are so decadent – I can practically feel the inches grow on my hips as soon as they touch my lips. The cake part is not typical – it is more dense – like a brownie. So I wanted to make my own “ghetto delicious” version of this gourmet cupcake.
I picked up a box of brownie mix and a tub of cream cheese frosting and drove back home up the 880.
The result? It was pretty darn close to the original!
Ghetto Delicious Gourmet Cupcake
1 box of brownie mix
1 tub of cream cheese frosting
cupcake papers
Prepare brownie mix as directed on box. Bake time will be shorter than the 13″x9″ pan time – check with a toothpick for doneness.
Remove from pan to cool. When cool top with frosting.
Don’t judge. Try them yourself. They’re really really good! Just don’t tell people you made them from a box and a tub!
We couldn’t stop eating it! The cake was moist, and the topping was sweet ooooey gooey bliss!
Recently I was invited to attend youfedababychili’s Battle Beer Can Chicken 4. I figured it would be the perfect venue to try out the Sticky Toffee Date Cake!!
This is a really cool cake to make. When cooking the chopped dates, you add in baking soda, and the entire mixture bubbles up – whoosh! Then, you add the date mixture into the batter. The batter becomes very watery – but then, you add in baking powder – and then more bubbles start to form! The end result is a moist fluffy cake that isn’t too sweet.
The challenge is to get the toffee sauce right.
May I present, Exhibit 2: my first attempt at Sticky Toffee Date Cake moments after I poured the warm toffee sauce over the warm cake:
Not too bad – right? I left the cake in the pan because I knew I was going to transport it.
The next day, I arrived chez babychili, and realized that I would need to invert the cake – luckily I brought extra sauce.
May I present Exhibit 3: e’s cake plated
Not the prettiest cake I ever seen…. Tasty, but not the oooey gooey delight it should have been. Once the sauce had cooled, it turned solid and grainy. I was grateful to see that the group of very accomplished chefs and food bloggers at the event consumed it anyway. (Bless you guys!)
I couldn’t give up! Practice makes perfect – right? So a week later, I decided to make this cake again for my friend S’s son B’s second birthday party.
May I present, Exhibit 4 – STDC 2 aka CTDC (Crunchy Toffee Date Cake)
Thinking that I could solve the graininess issue, I cooked the sauce a little too long, and it had gone into the “Hard-Ball Stage”.
The sauce formed a crunch coat on the top of the cake.
Exhibit 5: The extra sauce
You should NOT be able to mold sauce into shapes………
Again, the cake was tasty, and the toffee pieces on top were absolutely delicious! We had to refrain from just picking off the toffee pieces.
However, I did have a ‘tinkering’ success! I adapted the original recipe, and made an extra gluten-free version of this cake especially for S. Since the extra sauce was too hard for the cake, she put some store bought frosting on top and had two servings! She was thrilled to find a delicious gluten-free dessert. I was thrilled that she enjoyed it so much! Yay!!!
Below is my recipe for Gluten Free Sticky Toffee Date Cake!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare one 9 in round cake pan
Cake
1/2 pound dates, pitted and chopped
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup flax meal (why not? everyone needs some extra fiber and omega-3s!)
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs + 2 tsp baking powder
Sauce
1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Place dates into large saucepan with 1 3/4 cups of cold water. Bring to boil, stirring to break up the dates. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Sprinkle baking soda over the top. Chemical reaction #1. The mixture will bubble and expand – keep this in mind when selecting the pan. You need about 2-3 inches extra space to accommodate this. (note: if any reader has insight on why this happens, please comment – baking soda bubbles when it comes into contact with something acidic. From what I have read, dates are supposed to be alkaline. So what’s causing this?)
In separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together til pale and creamy/ Add the eggs one at a time. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract, then rice flour, flax meal and salt.
Add the warm date mixture in two batches. Mix on slow speed. The batter is watery, so may spatter. (I made the mistake of mixing at too high of speed, and am still finding dried sticky date batter in random places around my kitchen) Scrape down sides of bowl and mixer to incorporate.
Sift in baking powder – when J and I have made it without sifting, you tend to get clumps of uncooked baking powder in the final product. I find adding the baking powder through a sifter helps prevent this from happening. The batter will bubble up. Mix til incorporated, but don’t over mix. This batter was VERY watery – much more than the traditional wheat flour version. I had to adjust cooking time to accommodate.
Pour batter into pan. Bake for about 40, then lower the temp to 300 degrees and cook for another 10-15 mins. Check periodically. Cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean in the middle of the cake.
While the cake is baking, make the sauce – again, this part has never come out successfully for me. These are the directions as written in Ina’s recipe. Combine the butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer gently for a minute or two until thickened and well blended. You might want to use a candy thermometer so that you don’t over cook like I did – “Thread” stage is between 235-240 degrees F.
When the cake is done, poke little holes all over the surface with a toothpick. Pour the caramel sauce over cakes while both are still warm and leave to soak for about 10 mins. (I typically will pour half of the sauce over the cakes, and then save half to serve on the side. This cake can be too sweet.) The original recipe says to serve the cakes upside down. I prefer to use a spring-form cake pan and serve it top-side up.
There is very little difference in taste and texture between the original and the gluten-free version. Both were moist and lightly sweet.
I will continue to tinker in the kitchen, and continue my attempts to master this tricky sauce.
To my friends and family who continue to support my hobby and endure my wacky food creations – I am so grateful, and love you all dearly! Just don’t call me a ‘foodie”!!
I spent my birthday this year with my LA “family”.
My best friend J’s mom (aka “nana”) makes the best tuna salad I have ever eaten. It doesn’t taste fishy or too mayonnaise-y. I beg her to make it every time I’m in town.
For my birthday, nana made a batch of tuna salad – just for me!!! This is the special kind of birthday gift that you can only get from someone who loves you and knows you so well!! Nana made my birthday tuna with all the extras that I like (cuz J likes it plain). It was delicious!!!! She was kind enough to include a copy of the recipe in my birthday card – so I don’t have to wait an entire year to enjoy it again!!
Love you nana!!!
Nana’s Tuna Recipe
4 small cans of solid albacore tuna in water, rinsed and drained well
8 hard boiled eggs (you may use the whole egg or just the egg whites)
4 stalks of celery diced
1 medium red onion diced
sweet pickle relish including some juice to taste (approx one cup)
Mayonanaise to just make moist
Mash tuna and eggs well. Add remaining vegetables and mix with mayo.
There are many times a year that I say to myself, “I’m soooooooo lucky to be living in the Bay Area!!”.
We are currently in the middle of berry and cherry season!!!! My friend C and I made the trek to Brentwood yesterday and came back with pounds and pounds seasonal loot!!
Pease Ranch had a large variety of berries and cherries. We picked ripe juicy loganberries, olallieberries, and boysenberries (I think my favorite!). My hands were fulfullingly stained with berry juice! After the berries, we swapped our cardboard baskets for buckets to pick cherries. C introduced me to the Utah Giants variety of cherries (which also tops my list!). We also picked some Bings, Raniers and some brighter red variety (we didn’t catch the name).
There are only two more weeks worth of berries, and probably more weeks worth of cherries. Then come the apricots, other stone fruit, and then corn….. (yes, I love living here!!!)
Yesterday, I drove up to Marin, enduring record-breaking June rainfall, to take a petit four (French for “little oven”) class at Dragonfly Cakes in Sausalito.
During the Fancy Food Show this year, I encountered Brooks Coulson Nguyen’s at her Dragonfly Cakes booth. There were trays and trays of delightful pastel colored petit fours. Yes, we were allowed to sample, but all of them looked so delectable, it was so difficult to choose just one! (so I had two.) When Groupon featured a class to learn how to make your own petit fours at Dragonfly Cakes, I could not pass up the opportunity!
Andrea was our instructor for the day. The entire petit four process requires multiple steps, and multiple days – our class was only two hours, so we got a condensed overview of the process, and spent most of our time on the decorating step (IMHO – the “fun-est” step).
I took copious notes, and now fully appreciate all the work that goes into creating these cute, delicious, one-bite treats.
Phase 1: Making and Preparing the Cake
Dragonfly uses a chiffon cake base, that is light, airy and not too sweet. Andrea mentioned that some past students have tried this at home using box cake mix, but beware, the texture of box mix cake might be more difficult to use.
A very thin layer of batter is poured on a sheet pan, lined with parchment paper, and sprayed with non-stick spray (ie, PAM), do not use the Baker’s Spray, which typically includes flour, and do not use the flavored non-stick spray, or olive oil versions. The pan goes into a hot oven, and bakes for about 5 mins.
Once the cake has fully cooled (you can freeze), scrape off the “sugar bloom” off the top of the cake. This will make sure that the cake layers will adhere to the fillings, otherwise they might “slip off”. After scraping off the sugar bloom, flip over the cake and carefully peel it off the parchment. Cut the cake into more manageable pieces for assembly – Andrea cut the sheet cake into quarters. First she brushed each layer with sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water) to rehydrate the cake, and make a moist petit four. Then she applied a layer of buttercream, another layer of cake, brush with simple syrup, chocolate ganache (flavor layer), topped ganache with more butter cream, another layer of cake, brush with simple syrup, layer of buttercream. Re-cap: 3 layers of cake (brushed with simple syrup), each topped with a layer of buttercream, and the second layer has a layer of flavor applied directly to the cake (in this example, ganache – but you can use any of your favorite jams (no seeds!) and curds). On the very top of all of these cake and buttercream layers, is a layer of marzipan (vs a cake layer) for a smooth even finish.
To roll out marzipan, dust the rolling surface and rolling pin with corn starch – you can use powdered sugar too. DO NOT use flour!!!!
Roll out thinly and evenly, and then loosen from surface with an off-set spatula. Using a piece of parchment paper, cut the marzipan to match your cake layers. Then using a dowel, slowly roll up the marzipan off the table, taking care to brush off excess corn starch along the way. Lay the marzipan on top of the cake layers.
Freeze this overnight.
Phase 2: Cutting and Decorating the Cakes
Once the cake as frozen and set overnight, now it is time to cut and decorate!
Andrea taught that cutting and decorating the mini-cakes are best done when they are still frozen. She also recommended that instead of attempting diagonal cuts (for diamond shapes) you can cut straight strips, then cut these strips diagonally. Different shapes were used to help differentiate the flavors – apricot was rectangle, diamond for hazelnut, and paralellagram for rasperry and chocolate. Dragonfly has a cutting machine so that is how they get an entire sheet of perfect, even mini-cakes.
The cakes are then dipped in coating chocolate – which can be the same Candy Wafers we used when we made cakeballs. Coating chocolate is chocolate that has some cocoa fat removed and replaced with oil to prevent blooming, unsightly streaks, and removes the need to temper (just put in microwave). A flavorless oil, like vegetable, or soybean is added to the melted candy wafers to get a thin, runny consistancy (when warm – at room temp, it should still be able to solidify). Dragonfly gets their coating chocolate from Italy.
To dip the frozen cake pieces into the coating chocolate – use a fork to submerge the cake under the chocolate a few times, to make sure all of the bubbles are out, and the cake is evenly coated. Lift the cake with your fork, with the marzipan layer-side up, gently tap a few times on the side of the container to remove excess coating, then gently place on parchment so the coating can set and harden. Now the fun begins! Deco-a-palooza!
The team at Dragonfly supplied us with a broad variety of fun things to decorate our chocolate coated cakes!
Edible glitter – sparkly, bright colored glitter, some in heart shapes. The chocolate coating needs to be wet in order for this to stick, so apply before your coating sets fully, or cheat (like we did) by piping some liquid coating on top then sprinkle glitter on top.
White chocolate coating was turned into brightly colorored chocolate using oil-based food coloring. Andrea made piping bags using triangles of parchment paper – rolled and then stapled sealed on top, so the filling didn’t ooze out the back side. If using food coloring, make sure that the coloring is oil-based, or else it cause the chocolate to “seize up”.
Molded chocolate shapes – flowers, stars, moons, circles handmade by the staff of Dragonfly Cakes.
We sprinkled, piped, and applied to our heart’s content. When we left, we each had boxes of happy little cakes to bring home to eat (and maybe to share..)
I highly recommend the Petit Four class at Dragonfly Cakes! The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the class is so much fun! (and you bring home many delicious memories!!)
“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”
Sorry to start this post with such a morbid quote from Hannibal Lecter. But I must admit, I avoided fava beans until recently, because I couldn’t get this quote out of my head.
Now, the only thing that keeps me away from fava beans is Time – these delicious broad beans are incredibly labor-intensive!
Spring is the season for two of my favorite ingredients – fava beans and green garlic.
I encountered both of these ingredients during my Supper Club cooking classes at Paulding & Co. Green garlic was used with cauliflower in a creamy soup. And a huge pile of fava beans in their pods became a small handful of beans to sprinkle on a shaved fennel and asparagus salad.
Both fava beans and green garlic are best eaten while they are young and tender (I think Hannibal Lecter would agree….)
Green garlic, available in the springtime is the same garlic you would buy in bulb form, but picked when the stalks are fresh green and before the bulb has formed into the sections. The entire plant is used, like a leek – and tastes like a sweeter, milder version of the more mature bulb form!
To prepare, remove the outer layers as necessary. Trim the bottom, cutting off the roots. You should be able to start slicing from the bottom of the bulb. You can use all of the green garlic that is tender and mostly white. The dark green parts tend to be too tough – discard this.
Yummy, buttery fava beans are delicious, but require a multi-step process before you can eat:
Step 1: Shell the beans from their pods, using your thumbs to open up the pod, then pluck the beans off. You will be left with a big pile of empty pods (don’t eat) and a tiny pile of beans (take to step 2)
Step 2: Bring a pot of water to boil, then blanch the beans for about 30 seconds
Step 3: if the beans are very young, you might be able to skip this step, but typically, you will need to pop the beans from the skins. Pinch the skins open, and you can pop out the green bean from the white-ish outer skin. Discard skins, keep the bright green bean portion.
This year, I started seeing at the market, Fava Greens (or Fava Leaves). These leaves are soft and slightly fuzzy, and taste like sugar snap peas. You can eat them raw in a salad, stir fry them, or – a local vendor had the greens displayed with a recipe for Spring Pesto with Fava Leaves and Green Garlic – I know I had to try this!
The following recipe is my spin on a recipe I found on the Fairview Gardens CSA site. A great way to celebrate Spring!!!
Springtime Pasta – with Fava Beans, Green Garlic and Fava Green Pesto.
(Serves 4 – but you might have extra pesto left over)
Pesto:
2-3 cups of fava greens washed
1/3 cup of pine nuts (other nuts can be used – like walnuts, sunflower seeds)
1 green garlic stem, washed and chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup olive oil
1 lemon – use the zest and juice
salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until creamy and evenly incorporated. Set aside.
Pasta:
1 lb of dried pasta (I used whole wheat fusilli to capture all of the yummy pesto)
Set a pot of water to boil. When boiling, add salt until water tastes like the sea, prepare pasta as instructed, drain, but reserve about 1 cup of pasta water.
Fava beans and green garlic:
2 lbs of fava beans in pod
2 stalks of green garlic, sliced into thin rounds
1 Tbs of some sort of fat (olive oil, duck fat, butter)
Prepare fava beans as described above. You should be left with about a cup of actual beans after blanching and removal of outer skin.
Meanwhile Heat up “fat” in a medium skillet, add green garlic and cook until soft. Add fava beans, and stir until heated through.
Assembly:
Toss drained pasta with about half of pesto, add a little pasta water to thin out. Gradually add more pesto as needed. Add in sauteed fava beans and green garlic and toss til incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some extra fated Parmesan cheese on top!
I used the extra pesto on some shrimp – YUM!! I’m sure you can find many ways to use your leftover Fava Green Pesto!!
A few years ago, my friend J gave me a wonderful book by her friend Rosemary Gong, called Good Luck Life. It is a charming and informative book about Chinese American celebrations and customs, perfect for those “ABC” aka, American Born Chinese.
I have really wanted to meet this talented author, ever since I received her book! Finally this past weekend, I met Rosemary! Now, she’s a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Woman of the Year candidate!
Rosemary is a blood cancer survivor – to meet her, you would believe that this happy, energetic, woman is capable of overcoming just about anything that might come across her path! She will say that she is an unlikely candidate for Woman of the Year – that’s her Chinese modesty talking – because I can’t imagine anyone more worthy of this title! She is an inspiration!
Auntie Lao’s Fan Club is the platform for Rosemary’s 10-week, nationwide fundraising campaign to raise $100,000 for blood cancer research. The Good Long Life Luncheon at the Empress of China restaurant this weekend, was just one of the many events planned.
At the luncheon, Martin Yan was a special featured guest. Martin wrote the foreword for Rosemary’s book. When he heard that Rosemary was raising money for LLS at this luncheon, he postponed his trip to Australia so that he could help.
I think everyone (Asian or non-Asian) has heard of, or seen “Yan Can Cook!” or “Martin Yan’s China” on PBS. Having watched Martin as a child with my sister and mother, he was a long time idol! I was a bit starstruck, and wondered if he would be interesting in person.
Martin did NOT disappoint! First, Martin surprised the crowd by jumping on the drums during the Lion Dance Performance. Then he proceeded to entertain a packed dining room for several hours with his stories, cooking demonstrations and tips (including a tutorial on “chicken massage”).
He also gave Rosemary some helpful tips on “persuasive fundraising” using a very sharp cleaver.
He demonstrated his expert knife skills
slicing a red pepper into 25 see-through layers (you can actually read the label through them!)
He demonstrated how to make a few dishes, then auctioned each of them off to the highest bidder.
He also donated proceeds from the day’s book sales and graciously signed every single one!
There were also many wonderful speakers at the event. Rosemary’s doctor, C. Babis Andreadis, MD, MSCE provided information about Leukemia and addressed many of the misconceptions about the disease. Pat Kramer of The SF Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, who described all of the great outreach and support that this great organization provides. Sandy Zhou of the Asian American Donor Program, who enlightened us about stem cell donations – finding a matching donor is often based on ethnicity – and the shortage of Asian donors. And Rosemary gave us her own personal story.
The event was a smashing success!! Everyone really rallied in to help Rosemary raise a LOT of money for a wonderful cause!! Everyone had a great time.
In college, I spent a year abroad in Japan as an exchange student at Waseda University. It was definitely a life-changing experience that has shaped me (both for good and bad – but mostly good….) into the person I am today.
Several years have passed since my days as a “ryugaku-sei”, but I still keep in touch with my Host Family in Tokyo. Last year they came to visit me for a few weeks in the Bay Area. It felt as if no time had passed – I was still that young college student, with Mama and Papa still fussing over me.
I feel truly blessed for having these people in my life, and having the opportunity to experience the amazing people and culture of Japan.
Since the earthquake in Japan on March 11th, 2011, I have been walking around with a lump in my chest. I can’t imagine what the people who have been affected by this disaster must be going through. I want to help!! But am not sure what is the best way.
When I heard about Bakesale for Japan, organized by Samin Nosrat, I knew that I wanted to get involved! I wasn’t alone! There has been overwhelming response to the Bakesale for Japan!! What started off as a local Bay Area event has grown into a nationwide movement!!
I spent the day yesterday making 3 batches of my version of Nikki’s Healthy Cookies Recipe that I got off the wonderful 101 Cookbooks blog. My apartment was filled with the wonderful smell of bananas, spices and chocolate. My version of the recipe (which I call Banana Coconut Almond Oat Stacks) is here:
Banana Coconut Almond Oat Stacks (aka e’s version of Nikki’s Healthy Cookies)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped
In large bowl combine the mashed bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside.
In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Then fold in the chocolate chunks/chips til incorporated.
With a mini cookie scoop, scoop out mounds of dough and place on lined cookie sheet. These don’t puff up, or grow much, so you can actually put them pretty close together. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes. I like my cookies on the crunchier, drier side. Adjust baking time to your tastes and oven temperament (mine is very fussy!!)
Makes about 2 1/2 – 3 dozen bite-sized cookies. You should make a few batches! They will disappear fast!!
Yesterday Mama-san and I spoke on the phone. These past few weeks, we have been in touch more frequently. They live in Tokyo, which thankfully experienced minimal earthquake damage. She told me that my host sister Emi has moved back home with her and papa – she has friends from Fukushima who have moved into her apartment temporarily. I told her that I was preparing for a day of baking for the Bakesale for Japan. I don’t think she fully understood the American concept of “Bakesale”, but she was truly touched that so many people in America were all trying to help Japan.
So go to your local Bakesale for Japan location today between 10-2, or go to the website and donate directly.
