Inspiration - Where Are You?

It's been a while, hasn't it?  Sorry about that.  


Inspiration - where are you? 


Can't let more time go by so I'm going to post a few pictures of semi-recent dishes I've made that I hope you find inspiring.

When Kumquats were still in season I made a batch of these cute orbs, half enrobed in dark chocolate and the other half in white chocolate.  Kumquats from Melissa's will be

available again around December, just in time for those holiday dessert buffets.

This jar of zesty, pickled veggies made an appearance at the 13th Annual Summer Solstice picnic at Emerald Isle Park.  The theme was "fiesta" so these slightly spicy, colorful, fresh carrots, radishes, celery, and yellow chile peppers fit right in.  They only need to marinate overnight to be ready to go.  Easy.

This Italian Pressed Sandwich was my potluck picnic dish for a recent gathering of Food Bloggers Los Angeles.  Everyone was surprised (except me) at how delicious this all-vegan and very tasty sandwich was, perfect for picnics or anytime.  Ciabatta bread from Whole Foods (2 loaves for $3.99), vegan salami and turkey, vegan mozzarella, Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers from Melissa's, arugula, sliced red onion, and Vegenaise. 

I recently received a care package from Robert Schueller at Melissa's, filled with fantastic, unique varieties of seasonal stone fruit.  The varieties were Black Velvet Apricots, Mango Nectarines, Peach Pie Peaches, and Plumogranate Plumcots.   As I'm sure you can imagine, any of these would be scrumptious "as-is", but I got it in my head to make a pie so that's what I did.  Store bought crust, 6 cups of mixed stone fruit including some fresh raspberries  just because, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup minute tapioca. and a teaspoon of cinnamon.  Super simple - mix the fruit together with the sugar, tapioca, and cinnamon and let sit 15 minutes.  Pour into the bottom crust; top with the other crust.  Vent and bake.  Top with Soy Delicious Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean "ice cream" and drizzle with Melissa's Raspberry Dessert Sauce.

Please enjoy!

National Strawberry Shortcake (Stackcake) Day

June 14 is National Strawberry Shortcake Day.  To some people, a shortcake is a biscuit, made from scratch.  At our house, strawberry shortcake was made with either sponge, pound, or angel food cake, from the grocery store.  Although I've made biscuits  http://adventureswithnancyrose.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html  I'm not a true baker, and usually say "why bake if you can buy"?

What I do enjoy is taking delicious ingredients (like Driscoll strawberries) and creating my own tribute to the strawberry shortcake.  I went into my closet of fantastic cooking aids that have never been used and found a truly oldie but a goodie.  Stacks-The Kit, The Art of Vertical Food - Why cook a meal when you can create a sensation?  http://www.amazon.com/Stacks-The-Art-Vertical-Food/dp/1580080626.  Creator, entertaining expert, interior designer, and entrepreneur Deborah Fabricant said "Stack-it", pack it, and attack it".  Thanks Deborah, I think I will.

Strawberry Stackcake
Driscoll Strawberries, sliced
brown sugar

pound cake, cut into stack shaped 1/4-1/3" slices
softened cream cheese (I use Tofutti brand) 
kiwis, sliced
dry toasted sliced almonds
strawberry sauce*
fresh lime
whipped cream

*Make strawberry sauce by pureeing fresh strawberries with a splash of fresh lime juice and a pinch of brown sugar.

Take a Stack mold and spray the inside lightly with cooking oil.  Put a piece of parchment paper on a plate and put the stack on this, or use a cookie sheet covered in parchment if you plan to make multiple stacks.

Slice the strawberries, sprinkle with some brown sugar, stir and set aside.

Schmear a little softened cream cheese on a slice of pound cake and place it in the mold.  Lay sliced strawberries to cover the layer.  Repeat with another schmeared pound cake slice with a layer of sliced kiwi.  Repeat with a strawberry layer, then repeat with a kiwi layer, and if you have some juice accumulated from the macerated strawberries drizzle some on the stack as you go along.

Top the last piece of plain pound cake with a layer of sliced strawberries.  Cover the stack and refrigerate at least one hour, but I did it overnight. 

Remove the stack from the refrigerator and put it on a serving plate.  Carefully remove the mold to reveal an amazing structure of colorful strawberry goodness.  Garnish with the strawberry sauce, whipped cream, and almonds.

This is definitely a wow presentation and really delicious too.  I'm sure it has you wondering about all the stacking possibilities, sweet and savory.  What would you stack?

(For more about National Strawberry Shortcake Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-S9z5H6XsQ)

Japanese Garden Inspiration

http://www.thejapanesegarden.com/

Inspiration for creativity, solutions for problems small and large, and opportunities for adventures are all around us.  A recent bout of anxiety over some of life's challenges was perfectly counter balanced with my first visit to The Japanese Garden in Van Nuys, California.  This 6 1/2 acre "Garden of Water and Fragrance" is remarkably freeway close (405 at Burbank Blvd.) while at the same time a world away from the noise, bustle, and pressures of city living.  Positive energy trumping negative energy, smack dab in the middle of the San Fernando Valley.

Authentic dry gardens, lakes, stone lanterns, plants, trees, flowers, and a beautiful Japanese tea house provide the perfect meditative environment to refocus and reflect on life and nature's simple pleasures.  Dr. Koichi Kawana, the garden's creator, succeeded in adapting this oasis to be true in Japanese detail while still compatible with the adjoining water reclamation plant and administration facility, "thus achieving what he termed mystic profundity".  Yin and Yang, so glad to see you again.

 

The garden provided many things, especially a much needed sense of peace, and of course a little culinary inspiration as well.  My favorite, easy, Japanese recipe is tempura veggies (and fruits) so I made up a batch using Veggie Sweet Mini Peppers and sweet potatoes.  Since I've been working on creating a homemade veggie burger recipe I thought it would be fun to take some of the same vividly purple Okinawa Sweet Potatoes from Melissa's I used in the first recipe and make them into Tempura Fries to accompany some mini burgers.  (Until my own burger recipe is ready to publish, please choose any of the very good veggie burgers available at your supermarket to recreate this dish.)

Purple Okinawa Tempura Fries 

2 large Okinawa sweet potatoes
2 large regular sweet potatoes
tempura batter mix
vegetable oil
teriyaki sauce + ketchup

Fill a bowl with cold water.  Peel the potatoes, cut them into traditional fry shapes or rounds if you prefer, and place them into the cold water.

Make the tempura batter according to instructions on the box and set aside while oil heats.   In the meantime, drain the potato pieces on paper towels and thoroughly pat dry.

In a heavy pot heat the vegetable oil, at least 2 inches deep, until a drop of batter sizzles.  Dip each potato piece into the batter, let some drip off, then gently drop into the hot oil.  Repeat with more pieces but don't overcrowd the pot.  Cook 2-3 minutes per side, remove finished pieces to a pan lined with parchment paper, and repeat until all the potatoes are cooked.

Allow the fries to cool slightly then serve with both teriyaki sauce and ketchup, alongside your veggie burgers.   

More Japanese and American yin/yang synchronicity:

http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenant/yokohamasthonore/eindex.php

Last week while getting my 18 year old Volvo repainted I explored the Mitsuwa Marketplace on Western in Torrance and found these amazing Egg Salad Donuts.  The donut isn't sweet, more like a fried bread filled with super delicious egg salad.  Amazing!

Why Vegetarian?

Recently I was invited to an event to meet blogger (http://herbivoracious.com/), food photographer, and cookbook author Michael Natkin.  His new, first book, "herbivoracious", published by the Harvard Common Press, is a beautiful, useful, practical, and aspirational collection of his recipes and philosophy that vegetarian cooking is very special while still accessible.

Melissa's Jalapenos + Lemon Grass

The recipe I chose to cook from the book, Aromatic Tofu Packets (p. 221), is not only composed of ingredients I already love, but it gave me the perfect reason to try the Paper Chef brand culinary parchment paper that was in my Camp Blogaway swag bag.  It's kind of amazing that you can put some tofu, veggies, chile peppers, sauces, and spices in a square of magic paper and end up with a steamy, incredibly fragrant, neatly wrapped packet of fantastic flavors.

In "herbivoracious" Michael asks the simple question "Why vegetarian?" then answers "Because vegetarian meals are good for you, tread more lightly on our planet's resources, and are kinder to animals."  Whether you agree with this 100% like I do, or if you just want to have more variety and healthful ingredients in your diet, you will surely be inspired by "herbivoracious".

Salads - Simply Sensational

Fruit Salad Fixins from Camp Blogaway

Salads are sensational, on so many levels.  They can be light or substantial, combining raw and cooked, cold and warm, savory and sweet, local and exotic.  All vegetable, all fruit, or a combo?  You can leave them au naturale, or dress them up any which way.  From hundreds of greens, grains, vegetables, beans, protein (vegetarian, of course), cheese (easy does it), nuts, crispy bits, herbs, fruit, seeds, oils, vinegars, fruit juices, wine, and spices, you can create thousands of combinations for every occasion, special or du jour.  Something classic done exactly according to tradition, or maybe with a twist; something with ethnic inspiration to evoke exotic places; what's on hand; what's at the market; whatever.  

For lunch, a snack, as a dinner starter, or main course, a salad could be just what you need to fill up, and not out.  A nice salad, without high calorie/high fat embellishments, eaten at the start of the meal, has been proven to result in consuming less calories overall.  And nearly all of salads' plant-based ingredients have health benefits like vitamins, antioxidants, and/or fiber.  While it's sure nice to have all of these benefits, even without them, salads are so darn delicious I'd eat them anyway.

Actual Bloggers, not actors, 'Created by Diane' and 'Liz the Chef'

Whether it's supper for one or enough to please a crowd, as in the two dinner salads I created and served at Camp Blogaway (fresh air, fun, food) recently, if you haven't already elevated the salad from what you think you should eat when you're on a diet, to what you want to eat as often as possible, let the ingredients and your imagination be the guide to your own sensational salads.

Camp Blogaway Friday Night Salad
Spring mix salad greens
shelled, cooked edamame
ready-to-use beets, diced
shredded or diced carrots
fresh mint leaves, torn into small pieces
shallots, minced
crumbled feta cheese
garden herb croutons
dressing: seasoned rice vinegar,
grapeseed oil, fresh lemon, pepper

To make the dressing: whisk 1 part vinegar to 1 part oil, add as much lemon juice as you like, and add pepper to taste.

To make the salad, toss together the greens and veggies (in whatever proportion you like), add dressing, toss, add cheese, toss, add croutons, toss, maybe add more dressing, toss and serve.

Camp Blogaway Saturday Night Salad
Spring mix salad greens
baby heirloom tomatoes
mini cucumbers
shredded or diced carrots
fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
shallots, minced
pine nuts
shredded Parmesan cheese
tomato & basil croutons
dressing: extra virgin olive oil,
seasoned rice vinegar, pepper

To make the dressing whisk 1 part oil to 1 part vinegar, and add pepper to taste.

To make the salad,  toss together the greens and veggies (in whatever proportion you like), add dressing, toss, add nuts and cheese, toss, add croutons, toss, maybe add more dressing, toss and serve.

Thanks Melissa's for Sponsoring Camp Blogaway!

Cinco de Mama

At our latest Los Angeles Food Bloggers' potluck we were asked to bring a recipe that represented something from our mother's repertoire.  After hearing from several bloggers that their mothers didn't cook, heated-up tv dinners, or ordered out, I realized again how lucky I was to have a mother who cooked every night, and as a bonus, her cooking was really good.   Maybe that's why I cook almost every night, and really good too I think.

While my mother was able to embrace a variety of cuisines, so there was spaghetti, chop-suey, and many "American" dishes on the menu, her specialty was and is Moroccan food, and my favorite has always been her Tomato and Preserved Lemon Salad.  I loved the other salads too, and there were usually at least 4-5, but I'd be happy if there was just T&PLS, with hunks of bread for scooping, dipping, and sponging.

Since this salad has some of the best qualities of a really, fresh tomato salsa and since Cinco de Mayo is coming up, I thought I'd cross-purpose the salad to accompany some easy, delicious Tamales, with a Moroccan twist.  Starting with Melissa's Tamale kit, I added some ground cumin to the masa mix, set this aside, and then roasted strips of sweet potatoes and zucchini sprinkled with cumin, cinnamon, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, and olive oil.  The beauty of this kit is that the masa mix is made by simply adding water, and is already very tasty just that way but will gladly except any flavor you'd like.  The corn husks are pre-soaked, pliable, and after adding a nice amount of the masa mix, they can be topped with anything you can imagine - in this case, the roasted, spiced veggies.  No cheese was added because a. not Moroccan, and b. not necessary - the roasted sweet potato added an almost cheesy texture.

In about 1 1/2 hours (30 minutes to roast the veggies, 1 hour to assemble and cook the tamales) I had a dozen, hot, steamy, creamy, flavorful tamales to be deliciously embellished by my mother's wonderful tomato salad.



So for those of you celebrating Cinco de Mayo and/or Mother's Day (whether your mother cooked or not),  I take my sombrero off to you all!

Marie's Moroccan Tomato & Preserved Lemon Salad
8 ripe Roma tomatoes, diced
10 pepperoncini peppers, stems and seeds removed, diced
1/4 of a preserved lemon, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
handful of fresh parsley, minced
extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

1.  Mix everything together.  You may not need salt because the preserved lemons are salty, but you decide.
2.  See #1.

Serve this salad as an appetizer alongside chunks of French bread or equivalent, use as a salsa, or any other way you'd like.  It's really good. 

NY, NY, It's A Wonderful Town!

When I found out several months ago that this year's International Association of Culinary Professionals Conference would be held in NYC I started psyching myself up for the challenge.  You see, I didn't have a New York state of mind, never understood why so many people did, and second and third-guessed my opposing opinion.  Previous trips had for various reasons left me with certain negative impressions, but I decided that this trip would be different.  I'm thrilled to report that a very positive attitude, an excellent conference on a professional level, pretty good weather, and spending quality time with old and new friends more than did the trick and I'm now on board the I heart NY ABC/1-2-3 trains.

For the food and fun portion of my trip, several destinations stood out:

Cheesecakes at Pasticceria Rocco

Pasticceria Rocco on Bleecker Street for the most amazing Pistachio Merringue cookies, cafe' latte, and Italian pastries - https://www.facebook.com/RoccosPastry 

Raffetto's Nona Ramona

Raffetto's on Houston Street in Greenwich Village for extraordinary handmade pasta, sauces, and Italian groceries - http://www.yelp.com/biz/raffettos-new-york

Grandaisy Bakery on Sullivan Street for NY-modern, European-style pizza, bread, and more - http://www.grandaisybakery.com/products/pizza/pizza-pecorino/

Grandaisy's Butternut Squash Pizza

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

None of This My Mac's Better Than Your Mac

There was a really fun insider's tour of the Test Kitchen at Meredith Publishing, with the food editors of  Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Everyday with Rachel Ray, and Better Homes & Gardens, with each magazine's version of a Mac & Cheese for tasting.  These accomplished women showed exactly how sharing one kitchen works to make each of their magazines better.

DP's Doughnut Pillow Wall

And now, for the recipe portion of this post, I'd like to share with you a very important pilgrimage I made.  I walked (with my new friend Teresa) from Times Square to Chelsea (I think it was kind of far if you're from California but not so much if you're a native) to pay homage to the Doughnut Plant (http://www.doughnutplant.com/).  For years I've seen DP featured on various food TV shows and day dreamed about going there one day.  Visit Doughnut Plant - check.

Of all the delicious food NY had to offer, my inspiration for this post was the fillings and glazes at DP.  I decided to fill my doughnuts with a Cactus Pear, Mango & Ancho Chile Jam that I preserved a few months ago, and top it with a simple glaze starring Melissa's Ojai Pixie Tangerines http://www.melissas.com/Products/Products/Ojai-Pixie-Tangerines.aspx, with a crushed Pepita garnish.  I'm pretty sure DP uses only the finest, best, purest, organic, ingredients for their dough, but I am not so noble.  So I used a trick I picked up a couple of years ago of using frozen yeast bread dough to make really pretty amazing doughnuts.  I know doughnuts are a nough-nough where healthy eating is concerned, but I never said anything about healthy, did I?  Plus really, the glaze and fillings are made with fresh fruits and there's only a short dunk in hot vegetable oil to make these doughnuts worth every ounce of evilness.

Best Doughnuts Ever  - Mine!
1 loaf frozen bread dough (out of a 3-pack)
vegetable oil for frying
your favorite jam
2 Melissa's Ojai Pixie Tangerines
powdered sugar
pepitas (crushed)

1. Defrost the loaf in the fridge overnight.  Cut the loaf into 6 sections, form each section into whatever shape you want, then put each piece on a cooking oil sprayed, parchment paper lined baking sheet, and cover with cooking oil sprayed plastic wrap.  Put the pan in a warm place (I use my oven) and let dough rise at least 1 hour - longer is even better.

2. Then take each piece of dough, gently punch it a bit, reshape, and again place on the baking sheet, cover, and let rise another hour or so.

3. Using a pretty deep pan that is wide enough to fit one doughnut at a time, fill the pan with vegetable oil  about 3" or so deep, and heat at medium-high about 10-15 minutes until oil sizzles when you stick a wooden skewer into it.

4.  Gently place one doughnut into the hot oil and cook one one side about 20 seconds then turn over with the wooden skewer and cook on the other side  20 seconds.  Then flip the doughnut back over and cook another 10 seconds or so on each side until golden brown.  Use a spatula to remove the doughnut to a parchment lined baking sheet, then repeat with remaining 5 doughnuts, one at a time.

5.  Make the glaze with the juice of one pixie tangerine and powdered sugar blended together until smooth and glazey.  Add the zest of one tangerine into the glaze.  Reserve the zest from the other tangerine.

6.  When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, take a metal skewer and poke a small hole into the side of each doughnut, twisting the skewer slightly to create a pocket for the filling.  Put your jam into a squeeze bottle or piping bag and fill each hole with the jam.  Lay the doughnuts back on the baking sheet.

7.  Take the glaze and put a heaping spoonful onto the middle of the top of each donut.  It will drip on its own but help it out if necessary.  Sprinkle each glazed doughnut with the crushed pepitas and some tangerine zest.