Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Pisco's Lomo Saltado


Back in the beginning of September I wrote about chef Emmanuel Piqueras and his Liberty Station restaurant Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria and shared the recipes for two of his ceviches. With the weather cooling I want to now share his Lomo Saltado dish--an intriguing stir fry beef tenderloin that melds Peruvian flavors with Cantonese influences.

As Piqueras explained, Peru is a melting pot of food--a mix of Spanish, Italian, Cantonese, and Japanese styles and techniques that reflect the country's unique history. Piqueras considers himself a teacher to Americans, sharing Peru's history through its cuisine. Lomo Saltado is a popular traditional Peruvian dish--yes, stir fried beef tenderloin cook with vegetables and served with French fries or potato wedges on rice.


In this dish, Piqueras features soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, and garlic to form the sauce that is its  base. That's made in the blender and reserved. Using canola oil, he stir fries seasoned tenderloin pieces, then adds red onion, tomatoes (have you ever stir fried tomatoes?), and a jalapeño. All this is blended with that salty, sour traditional sauce and topped with scallions and perhaps a fried egg. It's easy to prepare and the brightness of the stir fried vegetables really set off the richness of the tenderloin.

Lomo Saltado
From Emmanuel Piquera of Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria
(printable recipe)
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
Canola oil for frying potatoes
8 ounces of potato wedges1 ounce of canola oil
1.5 pounds beef tenderloin cut into 1/2 inch thick
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 large red onion, cut into strips
3 Roma tomatoes, cut into strips
1 jalapeño chili, seeded and julianned
6 ounces of lomo saltado sauce*
Scallions cut into strips for garnish
Optional: fried egg

*Lomo saltado sauce:
In a blender mix 2 ounces of low sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, 1 ounce of white wine vinegar, 2 ounces of water, 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, and one clove of garlic.

Directions

Fill a large pot with oil or use a fryer and bring oil to 375 degree F. Carefully add potato wedges in small batches and fry for 5 to 7 minutes until golden brown. Remove and let drain on paper towels.


Season the tenderloin pieces with kosher salt and black pepper. 


In a wok with canola oil stir fry the tenderloin pieces and cook until golden over high  heat, add the red onion strips stir fry for two minutes, add the tomato strips cook for one minute, add the chilies, then add the lomo saltado sauce and mix everything together in high heat for one more minute.


Serve in a shallow plate, add the fried potato wedges and garnish with the scallions strips and fried egg if you like. For a traditional Peruvian experience, serve with white rice.



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Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Nourished: A Memoir of Food, Faith & Enduring Love with Recipes


Periodically I get contacted by PR people asking me to read and write about a book by their client. Usually they're not of much interest to me for one reason or another. But when I was pitched a new book by Lia Huber that got my attention. I had met Lia many years ago in San Francisco at a BlogHer convention. We also have a friend in common, my former Copley News Service editor Alison Ashton, who became Lia's editor at Cooking Light and continuing collaborator at Lia's business, Nourish Evolution, a subscription-based real food community and online menu planner.

Nourished: A Memoir of Food, Faith & Enduring Love is not a cookbook, although every chapter ends with an irresistible recipe--from Crab Ravioli in Saffron Lemon-Butter Sauce and Grilled Pork en Adobada with Cebollitas to a simple Zucchini Frittata and Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Lobster, and Caramelized Corn. It is, rather, a memoir of a woman who took the long road to find happiness and her place in the world, much of which has revolved around food and cooking. Traveling with her (and there is a lot of travel) through 20 years of her life journey was mouth watering, yes, but also an immersion into a life perhaps more adventurous than any of ours, but filled with the same sorrows and joys, discoveries of the spirit and heart, and ultimately a coming to as much peace and solace as anyone can be rewarded with in a life well lived.


Huber, Nourish Evolution's founder and CEO, is a food writer and recipe developer. Raised in Connecticut, she launches the book in 1991 in Corfu, Greece, where as a college student on break she falls in love with Alexi, whom she describes as a "tall, dark Greek man with mischievous eyes." Huber digs into Corfu with loving descriptions of the food she discovered--the smokey fish roe dip, luscious lemony scented chicken, and the fluffy mass of boiled potatoes with smashed cloves of garlic and green-yellow olive oil that is skordalia (recipe included). She fully intends to marry Alexi but returns to the States for a cousin's wedding and to finish school. The ambitious American college student, winning awards for her writing, ultimately breaks off the engagement and so begins a new chapter in her life, what she calls a "voraciousness for experience" that sent her to live in Manhattan--and then to Christianity. Not long after she meets Christopher, who would become the love of her life and partner in her travels and soul searching.

Nourished wends its way through Huber's adventures and travails. She suffers from unresolved health issues, challenges in her marriage, challenges in the travels she and Christopher (and their Rhodesian Ridgeback Talisker--yeah, there's that we also have in common) take trying to find their place in the world. It takes them from New York to San Francisco, where she launches her food writing and recipe testing career, to Costa Rica, making the 8,000-mile journey in their "gringo mobile" Rex, their Ford Explorer. They spend time in Italy and ultimately, they make their way to California's wine country, where they endure a long, torturous process of foreign adoption and then the joys and angst of parenthood.

Throughout Huber's travels, both geographical and emotional, is always food. She and Christopher cook their way through Anne Willan's Look and Cook: Asian Cooking. They discover a rich, tangy asado de boda stew in Zacatecas, a dried beef machaca in a Chihuahua truck stop, and in Cuernavaca she learns how to make sautéed zucchini flowers stuffed into poblano chiles that are then wrapped in puff pastry topped by a creamy cilantro sauce and pomegranate seeds.

While many readers may find her struggle with and solace in God and Christianity just as rewarding as her culinary evolution, that part was not as resonant with me since I'm a non-religious Jewish woman. But I could feel her pain and appreciate her quest for answers and hope. She's that good a writer.

In fact, I loved her vivid descriptions of her cooking experiences. I could see in my mind's eye what she saw. In Italy, taking a pasta-making lesson, Huber describes her instructor Francesca as "nearly as round as the ball of pasta dough sitting in front of her..." She goes on to describe making pasta sheets:

"She cut the giant ball into several smaller pieces and covered them with a dish towel. She dusted the worktable with the flour as if she were feeding pigeons, and picked up a giant rolling pin longer than a baseball bat. 'Matarello,' Francesca said."

Nourished takes us with Huber over a 20-year span and ultimately it's a joyful, yes, nourishing ride. Read the memoir for its grace and honest reflections of a life filled with bumps, questions, and ultimately love. Keep the book for the recipes that provide delicious markers for each period of her life.


Frijoles de Lia
from Lia Huber

Frijoles de olla are a traditional dish of brothy beans cooked in an earthenware pot (an olla) that are hearty enough to be a meal in and of themselves. The recipes I followed in Costa Rica—from Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless—followed a simple equation of beans, lard, an onion or garlic, and epazote. I’ve taken the liberty of adding a few more goodies that I’ve appended on over the years. 

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large poblano chiles, seeded and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander 2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons ground ancho chile
11/2 cups dried black beans, rinsed and soaked overnight (or fast  soaked in a pressure cooker)
Sea salt

In a large, heavy  bottomed pot, heat the oil over medium  high heat. Add the onion, poblano chiles, and garlic and sauté for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion is golden brown. Add the cumin, coriander, oregano, and ancho chile and sauté for 1 minute, until fra grant. Add the beans, a generous pinch of salt, and 6 cups cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 11/2 to 2 hours, until the beans are tender. Using a potato masher, mash the beans until there’s a mix of whole beans and creamy mashed beans.

Serves 10 to 12

Reprinted from NOURISHED: A Memoir of Food, Faith & Enduring Love (with Recipes) COPYRIGHT © 2017 by Lia Huber. Published by Convergent, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.





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Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Cultivating Conversation




Are you passionate about fresh, seasonal, local food--enjoyed in a serene garden setting while engaged in thought-provoking conversation about sustainable food systems?

Then you're going to love "Cultivating Conversation: A Dine and Learn Series" taking place at Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center on October 28 from 5 to 8 p.m.

I have a special affinity for Olivewood Gardens. As some of you may recall, I used to be a volunteer cooking teacher there, helping kids learn how to make delicious, nutritious food straight from the garden outside the kitchen.


Since those early days, Olivewood Gardens has expanded its programs. Not only do they still offer the School Gardens Workshops I was involved in, they also have gardening classes, cooking classes for adults in both English and Spanish as well as for kids, Mommy and Me, and Girl Scout Badge Workshops.


How do they fund these community-based programs? Well, they get grants for one thing. And there's their annual Seedling Soiree fundraiser.

And now there's Cultivating Conversation.

Cultivating Conversation is described by Olivewood Gardens at a dine and learning series that takes place in their outdoor garden setting. A farm-to-table dinner will be prepared by chef Jeff Rossman, owner of Terra American Bistro. Trish Watlington, an Olivewood Gardens board member and owner of The Red Door in Mission Hills, who happens to raise produce and chickens on her property which contribute to the restaurant's ingredients, will lead the discussion. She said it will be framed around what we can each do to support fair and local food through simple and more complex choices, why even bother, and what makes our San Diego community unique in its ability to make these choices.

"I'm going to start the conversation with my own stories from childhood and being a young adult and how they set the stage for my passion for farming, food as community, and social justice," Watlington said. "I can share some restaurant stories that illustrate some of the challenges of sourcing local. Then we'll talk about what each member of the audience can do, what's in it for them, and why this region is so special in how it allows us to make good choices."



Tickets are $75 a person and can be purchased online at Brown Paper Tickets. All proceeds will support the organization's garden-based nutrition education programs.

Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center is located in National City at 2525 N Ave.


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Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Trust's Chicken Liver Mousse



Ever since I tried Trust's Chicken Liver Mousse, a luscious buttery spread with a hint of herbs and sweet liqueurs, delivered via a slice of grilled sourdough levain and accompanied by a tangy mostarda and sliced radishes, I knew I wanted to learn how to make it.

Well, it took awhile. After all chef/owner Brad Wise was about to open a new restaurant, Hundred Proof. But I finally got my chance in September and got Wise's tutorial on how to make this classic dish.

Wise, who's from South Jersey, has been cooking since he was 12 in pizza kitchens and eventually as lead line cook in a fine dining restaurant. He attended culinary school and came out to San Diego with some buddies at the age of 21, some 11 years ago. He started out at JRDN at Tower 23, served as executive chef at The Padre Hotel and most recently was executive chef at Belmont Park's Cannonball & Draft.

Wise may have spent time in fine dining but his passion is for rustic contemporary American. "It may not look great on a plate, but it's what I really like to prepare. I'm a wintertime type of guy," he said.


That, of course, explains the Chicken Liver Mousse, which has refined flavors but he serves in a very rustic style. The process for making it is very simple. And pretty quick. But you have to build in the time to prep the ingredients. You've got to soak the chicken livers in milk overnight. You'll need to slice shallots, stem and mince herbs, zest a few lemons, and cube a lot of butter. But once you do that, then the cooking process takes about 10 minutes. Oh, and then you need to let the creamy mixture sit in the fridge for at least five hours to reach the right consistency. Then before serving, take it out and let it sit at room temperature to soften.


Trust's Chicken Liver Toast is one of their most popular dishes--what Wise called a "portion of a charcuterie board in a bite." He said they make about 2 to 3 gallons a week, using five to nine pounds of liver. For this recipe, you'll only need one pound--and to be honest, once I made it I could see it could feeds scores of people, making it a perfect dish to prepare for a large party.

The directions are straightforward, but I have a couple of tips from Wise. A key one comes while you're sautéing the livers and shallots. You want the livers to be thoroughly cooked but not overcooked--think medium rare in a steak with a pink, not raw, center. You accomplish this by slicing into the larger livers as soon as you think they're almost done. If they're still on the red and mushy side, keep cooking--but remove the small ones so they won't overcook. Keep testing until they reach that sweet spot.

The next tip has to do with seasoning. Wise adds a good amount of salt to this dish. Consider what you'll be serving the mousse with. Ideally, you'll include a sweet/tart preserve, perhaps whole-grain mustard, and gherkins or cornichons--and the mousse will be served on a hearty bread or cracker. They all function as a way to add flavor, yes, but also cut the intensity of the fat. With that in mind, you'll want to punch up the mousse with more salt than you might otherwise think is appropriate. I found, as he salted, stirred, tasted, and added more, that early in the seasoning exercise the mousse seemed too salty. Then he actually added more, stirred and gave me a taste, and somehow the saltiness gave way to a more full-bodied flavor.

Finally, this is a dish you can prepared days in advance. Wise's trick here is to prepare it, then melt some more butter and pour it over the finished mousse in its container or serving dish. Refrigerate and then before serving, remove the congealed butter lid from the top and toss it. The cold butter will seal the mousse.

As for serving it, you can see here how Wise prepares the dish. He smooths the mousse over the grilled levain and slices it, then strategically spoons on mostarda and places thin radish slices and chervil on top. Then he finishes it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

You can also pour the mousse into a concave serving dish and place little bowls of preserves, mustard, and pickles nearby. Slice up a sourdough baguette or levain and let it sit out all day to get just a little stale (another Wise tip) and serve that with the mousse.




Trust's Chicken Liver Mousse 
(printable recipe)
From Chef Brad Wise
Yield: 4 cups

Ingredients
1 pound chicken livers
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 ounces shallots, sliced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, minced
2 tablespoons cognac
2 tablespoons madeira
1 tablespoon kosher salt
¾ cup heavy cream
Zest from 3 lemons
2 pounds unsalted butter, cubed



Directions
1. Soak chicken livers overnight in milk. Place in colander over a bowl and drain. Put napkin on top of livers to soak up additional moisture.
2. Place a large skillet over medium high heat and add oil. Sauté shallots until they just start to brown. Stir in herbs. Add livers and cook until the middle is pink but not raw—medium rare. To check on doneness, cut through the thickest part of the livers.
3. About halfway through the cooking process, deglaze the skillet with the liquor. Reduce the heat as the livers absorb the liquor. Add the salt and stir well.
4. Once the livers are cooked, turn off the heat and let sit about 20 seconds.
5. Using a heavy-weight blender, like a Vitamix, add the liver mixture, scrapping the skillet clean to get all the bits included. Add the cream and the lemon zest. Blend until smooth.
6. Take off the top and slowly add the butter while at medium/high speed. Add a pinch more salt while mixing.
7. If you want, you can strain the mousse mixture through a sieve. Stir the mixture and add more salt until it’s just a bit saltier than you think you’d like, taking into account what you’ll be serving the mousse with, such as whole grain mustard and jam.
8. Pour the mousse into a concave serving dish and refrigerate at least five hours to let it firm. You can make this several days in advance. To keep it fresh, melt butter and pour over the top to seal it and refrigerate. Before serving, lift up the congealed butter top and discard.


Trust is located in Hillcrest at 3752 Park Blvd.

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Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Nathan Lingle's Pear Tart


It must officially be fall if chefs are now making desserts with pears!

And, in fact, the morning I hung out in the kitchen with Kitchen 1540's executive chef Nathan Lingle the weather was cool and overcast. Perfect for making a pear tart.


We started the morning with David Johnson and his Specialty Produce colleagues tasting vegetables and fruits on their farmers market truck. I walked away with a small bag of smoked sun-dried tomatoes from Windrose Farm, but not before we tasted a variety of pears and melons. Lingle made his selections from both conventional Bartletts and Asian pears, then we walked through the L'Auberge grounds to the kitchen to make the tarts.

Lingle came up with a duck fat tart dough using L.A.'s Grist & Toll Urban Flour Mill's flour that he paired with almond frangipane, diced sweet Asian pears, grilled Bartlett pears (to bring out the sweetness in a bland piece of fruit) and pear balls poached in a dry Riesling syrup (the fragrant syrup alone is worth having the entire recipe; pour it over ice cream or poached fruit or custards). There were also pear slices tossed in fresh thyme and cinnamon, and a swoop of almond butter. Together the various taste notes created a lovely symphony of flavor. He made individual tarts using--get this--mason jar lids as tart "pans" but you could easily make a single tart to serve.

Lingle, who's originally from Camden Rockport, Maine, has been with Kitchen 1540 for two years. Previously, he had been in Woodstock, Vermont as a restaurant consultant, and before that with the Ritz Carlton--spending five years in Philadelphia and 10 in Naples, Florida.

"I grew up in a household where Mom always cooked dinner," he said. "We had a garden and bought eggs from neighbors down the road. The best pasta was made with those eggs. I was eating and cooking duck and goose eggs before they became trendy."

With an uncle who ran two restaurants in New Haven, cooking was central to the family. When he'd return to Maine, the family would gather for a stretch of cooking and feasting.

"As I started to get into cooking, that's what resonated with me--finding good ingredients and helping people to connect with that to have an experience of fresh ingredients and a meal that brought them together."

Nathan Lingle's Pear Tart with Duck Fat Tart Dough
(printable recipe)

There are several components to this tart. Each one is listed below, with instructions for how to put it all together at the end.

Duck Fat Tart Dough 
1 tsp thyme leaf
1 tsp salt
1 tsp water
3 T sugar
1 whole egg
2 T cultured butter
2 T duck fat
1 ¼ cup flour, sifted
½ tsp baking soda

In a bowl, combine thyme, salt, water and sugar. Add the egg, butter and duck fat. Sift together the flour and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in small increments. Knead until pastry comes together, and then work dough for 2 minutes. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.

Roll out the dough between sheets of parchment paper. Place in a single tart pan or use mason jar lids to create individual tarts.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Blind bake the tart shells for five minutes. Let cool and reserve.

Almond Frangipane 
2 eggs
1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
1 cup almond flour
10 T whole butter

Combine all ingredients in food processor. Reserve.


Dry Riesling Syrup Poached Pears
1 bottle dry Riesling wine
1/4 cup sugar
1 ripe Bartlett pear

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and reduce until syrupy over low heat. Using a fruit baller, scoop out balls from the pear. Add them to the syrup and continue cooking over low heat until pears are cooked through. Let cool and reserve.


Create Tart

Ingredients
Duck Fat Tart Dough
Almond Frangiane
Ripe Asian pears, diced
Fresh pear slices
Thyme leaves
Ground cinnamon
Almond butter
Dry Riesling Syrup Poached Pears


Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Smooth a layer of frangipane over the bottom of the duck fat tart crust.
3. Add Asian pear pieces.
4. Bake for 10 minutes.


5. To plate, spread a swish of almond butter on the plate. Place the baked tart on the plate. Toss the pear slices with thyme leaves and cinnamon, then strategically place the slices on the plate around the tart. Then finish with the poached pear balls. Serve.



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