Guest Post By Leah - Raw Dino Kale Saad

There are some things in life that are just...great. Things like, a good gin & tonic. Italian Pizza. A kiss that makes you weak in the knees. Hearing your favorite song come on on the jukebox. Those are good things. Those are great things. Having your friend pick you up from work on your lunch hour so that she can recipe test on you...that qualifies as a great thing.

Enter Leah.

This Monday, she did just that. I'd driven home from Sacramento at 6:30 that morning. I could barely keep my eyes open at work, and was not so subtly trying to plan my escape, when Leah asked if I wanted to come over for lunch. I did. I am no fool.

And so she picked me up. And made me lunch. Made this salad, to be clear. I swooned over this salad. This salad was amazing. Had she not been looking, I would have gobbled the whole thing up in 5 seconds flat. I asked her to do a guest post for it, and she did just that. Enjoy!


Raw Dino Kale Salad - Guest Post by Leah

When Lily asked me if I was planning on watching the Oscars this year, I have to admit, I wasn’t that interested. But, then she pitched me the idea of making martinis and snacks and watching with a group of sensitive s**t-talkers. I was sold as soon as she said the word martini.

I love a martini.

Classic. With gin, of course.

I love the idea of it. I love trying to lift the awkward glass from the table to my mouth without loosing too much of the precious juice on the bar. I love the cold and crisp herby or citrus-y flavor. I love that it is uncomplicated. And I love that it comes with a snack. (ahhh, that emerald olive)

My dad introduced me to the best martini I have ever had about a year ago while I was with him on a business trip in Denver. The first night, we headed to his favorite restaurant in Denver, called Jax. We sat at the bar and ate red-curry muscles and drank martinis made from Cap Rock Gin. Cap Rock Gin is distilled at the Jack Rabbit Hill Biodynamic Farm in western Colorado's North Fork Gunnison Valley. It is made with apples, and so has a slightly sweet yet clean flavor. Oh, man, it is SO good!

And, I am digressing to the millionth degree. Martini’s make me do that.

So, the Oscars. We laughed, we cried. We discussed fashion, and the crazy white lady Kanye who stole Roger Ross Williams’s, (director of the best documentary short, Music by Prudence,) thunder. And we drank martinis. But, wouldn’t you know it, the real star of the show wasn’t the headliner, but the supporting actor. The raw kale salad I made as an after thought (we needed a vegetable dish to cut the richness of with our salumi and cheese-filled snack/dinner) stole my beloved martini’s spotlight.

I admit, I love this salad almost as much as I love a classic martini. It packs a punch of tangy-ness from the lemon juice and almost creamy-ness from the Parmesan. But the real treat is the raw kale. Dino kale is dark and bumpy, crunchy and satisfying, with a slightly sweet and herbaceous flavor, not completely unlike my favorite martini.

After a fall and winter of kale and leek pasta, braised kale, sautéed kale, and many, many other dishes of cooked kale, it was a pleasure to bring this back into the fold. I first read about this salad in the NY Times, and I have made it a few times over the years. It is always a winner It is the perfect accompaniment to just about anything, or it can stand out on it’s own, just like an Oscar dress or a martini.

Raw Dino Kale Salad
from the NY Times, October 2007

1 bunch Dino Kale (also called Tuscan or Lacinato Kale)
1/3 cup toasted, coarse breadcrumbs (from good white, sourdough, or Italian bread)
1-2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup grated cheese, preferably Pecorino Romano (or Ricotta Salata)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus some to garnish as needed
Fresh juice of one to 2 lemons (about ¼ cup)
1/8 – ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes (to taste)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Trim kale removing stems and discard. Slice kale leaves, including ribs, into very thin ribbons (1/8 inch or so). You should have 4-5 cups.

For the breadcrumbs, tear bread into little pieces or pulse stale bread in food processor. Toast bread in 350* oven for 7-12 minutes or until the crumbs are dry and just browned. Let cool completely.

With a mortar and pestle or the side of a knife, pound garlic into a paste with the salt. Place in a small bowl with the cheese, oil, lemon juice, pepper flakes and black pepper, and whisk to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Alternately, place garlic, cheese, oil, lemon juice, pepper flakes and salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it is all incorporated and the garlic is finely minced.

Put kale in large bowl, pour the dressing over and toss thoroughly (dressing is a little bit thick because of the cheese and so needs lots of mixing to get all the kale covered. Using hands for this is a good method).

Let the salad sit for a minute, mix in and top with cooled breadcrumbs, and more cheese if you want.

If you are holding the salad for a while, and it will keep very nicely for a few days in the fridge, add more bread crumbs when you serve it or they will get very soggy (which, I personally love)

Yield: four side-dish servings

Guest Post by Leah - Summer Tomato Sauce

What? You think I'd give you meatballs without a recipe for sauce? No way. I leave you with a guest post from Leah. And by the way? If you have access to the Dirty Girl Dry Farmed Tomatoes she recommends, I highly suggest you pick some up right away. Just leave a few for me.

Summer Tomato Sauce - Guest Post by Leah

A few weeks ago I was visiting a friend in Brooklyn. She was living in an old Italian neighborhood – the kind where the old ladies sit in their lawn chairs on one side of the street and yell things back and forth with their men who “take meetings” on the other side.

One day, when my friend and I were walking back from a long day traipsing through the hot and muggy city, Viki, a 60+ white haired lady with a classic Brooklyn accent, yelled after us, “You gals want a tomato?"

Had I heard this dame correctly, was she offering us a tomato?

Yes, yes she was.

She pushed a tomato that looked a lot like herself: plump, bright and red. It was tangy, juicy, and deliciously cool and it came directly from her very own garden. It was summer incarnate.

Viki doesn’t eat the tomatoes herself. But her husband Mario told me that she does make a mean sauce.

When Elissa suggested making pasta with tomato sauce and lamb meatballs for dinner, it sounded perfect. I normally think of this as a cold weather meal, but it is certainly NOT cold here. In fact, it is downright hot. With some olive bread, a caesar-ish salad and a sauce made from fresh and tangy tomatoes, the delicious comfort of this dinner made everything seem a little better. Plus, I knew there would be some jug wine from Preston, and good teamwork-cooking involved. The thought alone brought me to my happy place.

I think it might have even made Viki smile.

This is a very simple tangy tomato sauce. If tomatoes aren’t in season, you can use canned tomatoes. I like to cook my pasta until just before it is al dente in salted water and then finish the last little bit of cooking right in the sauce so that the flavor really permeates.

Light and Tangy Tomato Sauce

3lbs fresh tomatoes (we used Dirty Girl Farms dry farmed tomatoes)

1 medium white onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced

1 can tomato paste

1 fresh red chili (jalapeño) cut in half with the seeds removed

1/2 cup Olive Oil

Salt to taste

½ tbsp Fresh Oregano – chopped (can use dried)

2 tbsp Fresh Basil – chopped

Peel the tomatoes by scoring an X in the bottom of each tomato. Bring a pot of water to a boil (you can save this water to boil pasta if you want) and drop each tomato into the water for about 30 seconds. Transfer the tomatoes with a slotted spoon or tongs into ice water. The peel should slide right off the fruit.

Sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat in a sauce pot for 5-7 minutes or until translucent. Squeeze the peeled tomatoes into the onion and garlic mixture. Bring to a simmer. Stir in the tomato paste, and drop in the chili halves. Add chopped oregano. Salt to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes to 3 hours.

If the sauce is a little thick, you can thin it out by adding ½ -2 cups of the pasta cooking water.

Birthday Mushrooms - Guest Post by Leah - Warm Far West Fungi Oyster Mushroom and Garbanzo Salad

As you may have guessd by all the cakes pictured on this blog and subsequently gifted to me, I turned a year older a few weeks ago. Aside from the cakes, Elissa also gifted me a Tree Oyster Mushroom Mini-Farm. Yea I said it. Mushroom. Mini. Farm.

It is so cool.

It was procured at Far West Fungi at the Ferry Building in San Francisco where we had a choice of either Tree Oyster or Shitake mushrooms. I choose Oyster. My farm came in a large plastic bag which ties at the top and leave is to be left on a countertop out of direct sunlight. In two weeks I had about 5 clumps of the most flavorful and tender Oyster Mushrooms a girl could ask for.

The Far West folks say that they “guarantee your first crop. If you follow the instructions the Mini-Farm may produce 3-4 harvests, but each Mini-Farm is hand crafted and can have different results.” I am currently awaiting the second crop, and am thinking about sauteing them with some broccoli raab and tossing it with porcini pasta from Phoenix Pastificio. But, I guess that'll be a post for another time.

Warm Far West Fungi Oyster Mushroom and Garbanzo Salad

1/4 to 1/2 lbs oyster mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1/2 lb fresh garbanzo beans, shelled and blanched (canned ones are fine, just drain and rinse them)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp lemon thyme (regular thyme is just fine)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large skillet head olive oil until hot but not smoking. (Oil will be shimmery and will show dimples when you tilt the pan). Add sliced mushrooms and toss to coat with oil. Cook until tender and browned along edges. Add garlic and garbanzos. Toss until combined and cook until the garbanzos are warmed through. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add lemon thyme to finish. Serve warm.

Louise + Jacques - Clafoutis - Guest Post by Leah

While it isn’t confirmed, I always suspected that my grandmother Louise might have had a love affair with Jacques Pepin. I am not sure if she ever met Jacques in person, but I do know, at the very least, that she was very much in love with his cooking. Of course, he’s not too bad looking either and I’m sure his wife of 40+ years, Gloria, thinks so too.

I have no real evidence of a love affair. It’s not like I ever caught them whisk deep in the béarnaise or anything, but she often referenced him when showing me the proper way to cut a chicken or temper chocolate. While Louise wasn’t exactly a woman who waxes poetic, she did have a way of looking at you that conveyed “there is more to this story, and rest assured it is a little tawdry.”

Louise was a risk taker. She loved to ski, (even after breaking many bones) she traveled the world, and drove a red Corvette. But mostly, she loved to cook. She loved taking dishes from her travels and eating experiences and re-creating them in her kitchen at home. With her grandchildren, Louise was generous and patient. We spent a lot of time in the kitchen “playing” and creating meals to share with our loved ones. She always put as much into a breakfast after a sleepover as she did for a family holiday… well -- as much love, if not effort. Besides her chocolate cake, German pancake, mazzoball soup, and a plethora of other dishes, I loved her Clafoutis.

Clafoutis (cla-fou-tee) is a custard-like French dessert typically made by baking fresh fruit (traditionally cherries) and a batter somewhat similar to pancake batter, in a baking dish. It can be served for dessert or breakfast, but my personal favorite is around 4pm after a long day of swimming and playing in the backyard. (Oh man, my sense memory is going crazy!) It's also a great way to use slightly over ripened fruit.

Also, in case you were wondering, I am working on my “there is more to this story, and rest assured it is a little tawdry” side-glance.

Louise’s Fresh Fruit Clafoutis
Serves 4

1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup sugar + more for ramekin
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2-ish cups fresh fruit cut into small pieces (berries, peaches, plums, cherries, strawberries, whatever you desire)

• Heat oven to 400°F. Butter four 3 ½ - inch ramekins and dust with sugar.
• Whisk egg until frothy and add sugar, half and half and vanilla extract; mix to combine.
• Add the all purpose flour and whisk very well.
• Divide the fruit into the ramekins and pour the batter over the fruit.

Bake for 25-50 minutes until golden brown and the middle is set.




The custard will soufflé up and then when you take it out of the oven it will fall back down.

Serve the Clafoutis warm or room temperature either inside or removed from the ramekins.

Bon Appetit!

Leah's Guest Post - Continued - Escabeche

Do you know what it is to have a friend who can cook like nobody's business? I am lucky enough to be able to say that I do. So it is, that when Leah makes Mexican food, she doesn't just make the best Chili Rellanos you've ever tasted, she doesn't just have ice cold pacifico's waiting in the fridge, nor does she just teach you to make tortillas by hand. No. When Leah makes Mexican food, she goes all out. She even makes Escabeche, that little dish of pickled somethings that arrives on the side of a good authentic dish.

Oh my. It. Was. Delicious.

-ed


Right now It seems like canning is all the rage. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Happy Girl Kitchen cabbage and man are those pickled beets de-lish! But, to be honest, I am so much more of an instant gratification girl. I think that's why I cook and don't make pottery (all that waiting, and leaving it alone kills me!) I want to be the kind of person who can pick a bunch of Ollieberries and make copious jars of jam for winter gifts or set cucumbers in a brine for weeks until they emerge all perfect and ready for a sandwich. But I am just not. I seem to always be looking for a short cut or at least a way to enjoy the fruits of my labor NOW.

Which is why I am sharing with you two recipes for one of my favorite side dishes, Spicy Carrot and Radish Escabeche. One is the quick eat it NOW version and the other is the "Save for Later" 5 hour soak. Both are equally delicious, but of course, the longer one (the one that takes a little more patience --which is a virtue, they tell me) is a little rounder in flavor. The longer version can also be stored for about 3 months, and so you end up being able to stretch out the enjoyment as well as the process.


Spicy Carrot and Radish Escabeche

These pickled carrots and radishes, which are often found in Mexican restaurants, are great as a side dish but I also love to put these carrots and radishes inside sandwiches for a little texture and flavor kick. You can make them as spicy as you want by adjusting the jalapeno amount.

4 large carrots, peeled and sliced on an angle
1 bunch radishes, washed and sliced into rounds
1-2 large jalapenos, quartered
1 cup champagne vinegar (or any vinegar you like, but NOT balsamic)
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
4 whole bay leaves
1 star anise pod

(optional: 2 cups of ice)


1. The Eat NOW Version:
Bring the Water, Vinegar, Salt to a boil in a sauce pan when the salt dissolves bring the heat down to a simmer.
Add the Oregano, Bay, and Star Anise. Simmer for one minute.
Add Carrots, Radish, and Jalapenos.

Turn the heat off and cover for 5 minutes.

Add ice to the carrots etc. to cool mixture down.
When carrots, radishes, and jalapenos are cold drain the liquid out.
Discard the bay leaves and star anise.

Serve cold and enjoy.

2. The Save for Later Version:

Toss together the carrots, radishes and jalapenos and fit into a large glass container (with a lid)

In a large sauce pan, combine the vinegar, water, salt, oregano, bay, and star anise. Bring to a simmer for two minutes.

Carefully pour the vinegar mixture over the carrot mixture until it covers all the vegetables, and allow to cool on the counter top. (Leftover liquid should be discarded) When cool, cap and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.

Serve cold and Enjoy!
Can be kept for up to three months.

Guest Post by Leah - Chili Rellenos

Rellenos. Tortillas. Cerveza. Ay Dios Mio.

It could be because I am from LA? (Don’t hate) Or, maybe it’s on account of the warm weather? Perhaps, as my mother likes to tell me, it’s a result of all the salsa she put on everything while she was pregnant with me? But, anyway you look at it, I love Mexican Food. From a late night burrito in the Mission, a plate of carnitas at Doña Tomas, or my favorite: Sea Bass with Lime Caper Mole at Tlapazola in Los Angeles. Mmmmm, Lime Caper Mole… I dream that some day I will be able to re-create that sauce….

But, I digress. The thing is that it just seemed like a good evening for Chili Rellenos. While I don’t often shy away from frying, I like to bake these little babies especially when the ingredients are in the height of their season.

I had some Pasilla (aka Anaheim) Peppers from the farmer’s market that were waiting to be used as well as some left over grilled corn and a couple of Pacifico's in the back of the fridge that were just asking to be consumed. So, I called some friends to join me for dinner and headed to Mi Tierra Foods for a few more ingredients. My recipe is definitely not traditional, but it is one of my favorite things to eat.

I like to serve the Rellenos with sliced Avocado, Lime Crema and homemade Corn Tortillas (or if I am simply not feeling it, I buy the “homemade corn tortillas” from Trader Joes or Primavera and pretend like I made them at home… sssshhhh!)


Baked Chili Rellenos

6 Fresh Pasilla Peppers (same as Anaheim’s or Poblano’s)
3 Ears of Corn – Roasted and cut off the cob (can use Frozen white corn)
¼ - ½ Cup Cherry Tomatoes – cut into quarters
¼ lb Queso Oaxaca - Shredded. it is a like a sharp mozzarella (you can use mozzarella or goat cheese)
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp coriander
¼ cup Cilantro – Chopped
2 TBL Olive Oil
salt/pepper

Heat the oven to 350*F and grease a 9x13” baking dish.

Roast the peppers to remove the skin. Try to not rip the flesh of the peppers, they are very delicate. (But if you do, don’t worry, they will still be delicious. ) Cut a slit in the pepper from stem to tip and carefully remove the seeds.

All of the other ingredients should be chopped/cut so they are all about the same size and shape. Combine all of them together.

Very carefully fill the peppers with the corn mixture and place them in the baking dish.

If the peppers rip open, just spoon some of the mixture on top and try to fold over the pepper on top of the mixture.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until all the cheese is melted.

Lime Crema

½ Cup Sour Cream
Zest and Juice of one Lime (it’s easier if you zest the lime before you juice it)
Pinch of Salt
Combine all ingredients

Corn Tortillas

1 1/2 cups Masa Harina
2 tsp Salt
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 1/4 +/- cups warm Water

Combine the Masa Harina, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in the oil then the water a little at a time and stir until smooth. The dough should be slightly sticky and form a ball when pressed together. To test, flatten a small ball of dough between your palms. If the edges crack, add water to the dough, a tablespoon at a time, until a test piece does not crack.

Place a piece of plastic wrap onto each side of a tortilla press.

Form a 1 1/2-inch ball of dough and place it in the center of the press, and push the lever down to form the tortilla. (If you don’t have a tortilla press, the dough balls can be rolled between plastic sheets with a rolling pin.) Open the press and carefully peel the tortilla off the bottom plastic and set aside.

Place the tortillas onto a hot, ungreased comal or cast iron skillet cook for about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove the tortilla and place it on a clean tea towel; keep it covered to keep it soft and pliable. Continue until you have used up all the dough.



Thanks to Leah for dinner and the post!

Rocket Recipe - Guest Post by Leah - Homemade Ricotta with Macerated Strawberries, Rosemary & Black Pepper

Rocket Kitchen is a supper club started by Sonya and me about two years ago. It’s based on our belief that food should be nourishing, interesting, and shared. Our goals are to foster experimentation and to create a community dining experience different from a traditional restaurant. We’re based in the East Bay, but the actual event is nomadic. In essence, we want to bring together great people with great food that is produced with ingredients directly from our community. Mostly though, it’s just an excuse to have fun! For this week’s Rocket Kitchen, we served goat’s milk ricotta drizzled with honey and paired with strawberries to compliment both the season and our main dish of fennel crusted roasted pork loin.

In Italian, Ricotta means, "to cook again" or "twice cooked." It’s a soft, smooth, fresh and un-ripened Italian cheese usually made from the whey of cow's or sheep's milk. In our case, we used goat’s milk to give it a tangy flavor. The traditional recipe uses the whey that remains after removing the curds when making hard cheese, but since we hadn’t gotten farther than buying the rennet (the enzyme used in making cheese that coagulates the milk, causing it to separate into curds and liquid whey – Little Miss Muffet, anyone) from Rainbow Grocery we decided to make non-traditional Whole Milk Ricotta instead.

It was served as the final dish, drizzled with honey from the farmer’s market and paired with strawberries macerated in sugar, rosemary, and black pepper. Inspired, if I do say so myself!

Whole Milk Ricotta
This recipe is taken from the Fiats Co Farm web page.

2 - quarts whole Cow, Sheep, or Goat milk (do not use “Ultra-Pasteurized’)
3 – Tablespoons White Vinegar OR ¼ Cup fresh, strained lemon juice
Cheese Cloth

In a heavy pot, over direct heat, slowly heat 2 quarts of whole milk to 200 degrees. Add the white vinegar OR lemon juice. Make sure to bring the temperature back up to 200. You will see very tiny white particles (the albumin protein) floating in the whey. The heat and acid from the ripe whey has precipitated the protein.

Remove the pot from the heat and set it, covered, to rest undisturbed for about 15 minutes.
Line a colander with very fine cheesecloth, called "butter muslin". You must use a very fine cloth here, or your cheese will pass through. If you do not have fine cheesecloth, use a clean cotton cloth (like a pillow case). Place the colander over a big pot so you can save the whey and carefully pour the whey into the colander. Be very careful because the liquid will be hot. Bring together the ends of the cheesecloth together and hang the ricotta to drain for up to an hour or so (the longer it hangs the "drier" your finished cheese will be.) We left a bit of liquid in the cheese so it would have a creamier and have a less “cottage cheese” like consistency.

When it has drained, place the ricotta in a bowl, break up, stir and add salt to taste (1/4 tsp.- 1/2 tsp.). This Ricotta will keep for about a week in the fridge.

Macerated Strawberries with Rosemary and Black Pepper

1/2-cup sugar
3 pints (baskets) strawberries cleaned and quartered
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
1 ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Muddle the rosemary and sugar together with a mortar and pestle or with the back of a wooden spoon to release the essential oils of the rosemary into the sugar.

Pour the sugar over the berries and mix carefully to combine. Let sit for 25-30 minutes. A good deal of liquid will release from the berries, leaving you with amazing syrup you can reserve or pour over the ricotta when serving.

Just before serving crack a bit of black pepper into the macerated berries and mix gently to combine.

And finally, a few more pictures from the evening. All photo's in this post taken by Elizabeth Minor:



Post by Leah Zonis