Passover Cupcakes? Perfect for Your Seder

I don't know about you, but finding a terrific Passover dessert is pretty daunting and usually disappointing. Between the no regular flour and no leavening you can find some dreadful offerings to choke down at the end of a Seder.

So I got a big kick out of the announcement from Sprinkles that they are doing a flourless chocolate cupcake, complete with a blue Star of David on top, for Passover. No, it's not kosher, but for those of us who don't keep kosher but like the tradition of eliminating chametz for the week, this sounds terrific.

The Passover cupcakes will be available from April 18th to the 26th. In San Diego, Sprinkles is located in La Jolla in the same shopping center as Whole Foods.

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Taste--In Honor of George

The San Diego food community lost a dear friend a week ago. George Palmer, owner with his wife Mary of TasteCheese, passed away after a tough illness. Those of us who were his friends are still in shock. Mary has been amazingly strong throughout, doing everything in her power to will him back to good health and then letting him go when the unthinkable time finally came--all while working hard at her farmers market booths with a good cheer that masked what she's been enduring.

Yesterday, Mary's weekly newsletter talked about the cheeses George loved the most--stinky French Epoisses, freshly cut Parmigiano Reggiano, Acapella, Tomme Dolce and Minuet. These choices don't surprise me. George was a true epicure, a master of cheeses, as well as wines and beers. Want to have a passionate discussion on olive oils or balsamic vinegars? George was your guy. In the days when they owned their shop on University in Hillcrest, I'd go in to chat and nibble so George could teach me about the latest new cheese they got in or their latest salt or other condiment they had discovered at a trade show. George and Mary introduced me to saba, truffle salt, Knight Salumi, and fennel pollen--not to mention a host of artisan cheeses I adore.

George was a smart, sweet, funny, witty man with a booming deep voice to match his astounding height. He was truly a man of taste--but thoroughly unpretentious about it. He just wanted others to enjoy what he was so utterly tickled by. I'm glad I got to know him and that he became my friend. I will miss him terribly.

Now it's time to celebrate his life and support Mary as she continues on with her life and her business. Stop by the TasteCheese booth at the Little Italy Mercato, Adams Ave., North Park, and Hillcrest farmers markets. Ask Mary if you can try George's favorite cheeses and then buy some and enjoy it with a great glass of wine or beer to have your own celebration of what George loved so much.

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School Lunch. What You Enjoyed--Or Missed

Last Sunday's "School Lunch" event put on by Cooks Confab and Slow Food Urban San Diego was that perfect combination of convivial, educational, and simply delicious. The crowd--and it was a crowd--learned about the issues around creating healthy lunch programs at our local schools from Vanessa Zajfen, San Diego Unified's Farm to School Specialist. In the background you could hear the chefs prepping the cafeteria line and before long lines of guests were forming to try the salad bar and nutritious and tasty variations on traditional (nasty) cafeteria items. Take a look...

Jack Fisher and Katie Grebow prepping their dishes

Even the chefs' kids got involved. Isn't Jason Knibb's son adorable!

Lori Huffman made strawberry yogurt with chocolate dipping sticks.

Paul McCabe and Donald Coffman made "fish and chips" -- wild striped bass and baked veggie chips

Just a part of the best salad bar ever from Waters Fine Catering and Melissa Mayer

Gorgeous noodle salad at the salad bar

The Altmanns with Lisa's amazing Viva Pops fresh popsicles.

Lots of culinary student volunteers from The Art Institute helped out.

Snake Oil's Ian Ward made "strawberry milkshakes."

Lining up at the salad bar...

Michelle Cox and daughter Cerise filled their trays.

Very casual lunch

Family-style lunch

Dining Detail's Julie Frans enjoying a meal without the kids.

Time for dessert!

Want to learn more about efforts at improving school lunch programs locally and beyond--and how you can effect change? Here are some resources:

San Diego Unified Farm to School program
EcoSchool Design
Edible Schoolyard
Chefs Move to Schools
Olivewood Gardens
School Nutrition Association
Slow Food in Schools

If you have some examples of school districts making positive changes or ideas for how to improve school nutrition, let's hear it!

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Thai-fun with Su-Mei Yu

Saffron's Su-Mei Yu teaches at lots of different venues, but she'd never actually taught a hands-on cooking class at her restaurant Saffron. So, when she announced she was going to do two classes that would include both a tour of Thuan Phat Market in Linda Vista and then a trip over to Saffron to learn to make a variety of traditional Thai dishes--well, that was simply irresistible.

Thuan Phat used to be Vien Dong and the new owners have done a wonderful job cleaning up the place and creating an inviting market that specializes in fresh seafood and traditional Asian produce. Su-Mei took students up and down aisles to show us everything from fish sauce to noodles. The trip to the produce section was eye opening as we examined beetle leaves (not for chewing, but to wrap food for cooking), Thai eggplant, pandan leaves (used in Southeast Asia like we use vanilla), chrysanthemum leaves (wonderful in a stir fry or omelet), and a host of other items mysterious to most of us.

Su-Mei Yu showing us whole jackfruit

And here's a pomelo (think oversized grapefruit)

Pretty little Thai eggplant

We then picked several vegetables to take back with us to the class to stir fry. Baby bok choy, water spinach, and Chinese broccoli were our selections.

Back at Saffron, we went upstairs to the garden, where we encountered this strange grouping.

Beyond were the outdoor work stations Su-Mei had created for all of us.

Our first lesson was Coconuts 101. Su-Mei gathered us around to show us how to select and then prep the coconuts so they could be broken down. Basically you check the eyes at the bottom of the coconut to make sure they're clean, that the coconut is heavy for its weight, and by shaking it, make sure there's lots of liquid sloshing around inside. Once home, use a Phillips screw driver and a mallet to poke holes into the eyes and drain out the liquid (preferably on your plants, which will love it). Then put the coconut in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. The heat should help separate the shell from the meat once you whack it open. Don't toss the shells; save them for the next time you use your grill. Can't use the coconut meat immediately? Place it in a plastic bag with a serrano or Thai chili on the meat and keep it in the fridge.

Then we shuffled over to the curious little stools. Turns out they are Thai coconut shredders. Here's how you use them (and we all took a turn at it):



No shredder? No problem. Pull the meat away from the shell and use a peeler to get rid of any excess brown peel hanging on. Cut the meat into one-inch pieces and put in the food processor and chop until you have tiny shreds.

At this point, we're caught up with those on the little stools. For directions on how to make coconut milk, you can see my recent Local Bounty post.

Su-Mei continued with teaching us a variety of techniques as we worked--how to use a mortar and pestle, how to stir fry, how to squeeze limes and section oranges--within the context of the recipes we all made. One of the best, if simplest, recipes is her Savory Thai Salad Dressing. Take a look at how she demonstrated this to us, starting with pounding the garlic, as we followed along at our stations.



The afternoon concluded with lunch--made by all of us--eaten on the floor, Thai style.

And that salad? Gorgeous and tangy with fresh greens, finely sliced endive, sections of orange, toasted peanuts, shrimp coated with The Big Four Paste and grilled, and topped with toasted shredded coconut. It was surely one of the best salads I've ever had and one I'll certainly try to duplicate at home. Isn't that the point, after all?

Su-Mei Yu's Savory Thai Salad Dressing
Makes about 1/2 cup

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 3 Thai chiles, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (can substitute with agave syrup)
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional for vegetarians; if you leave out, increase the amount of salt)

Put the garlic, salt, and chiles in a mortar and pound with a pestle until the garlic is pureed and the chiles turn pulpy. Add the sugar and blend. Add the lime juice, orange juice, and fish sauce. Mix well. Taste for balance. Transfer to a bowl.

Saffron is at 3731-B India St.
Thuan Phat Market is at 6935 Linda Vista Rd.

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What Goes with Charcuterie? Pickles!

I left you in February with a little taste of the two-part hands-on charcuterie class I attended at Cups. We had learned the ins and outs of making chorizo and pancetta from Quality Social's Jared Van Camp and Sam Burman. Then they took our pork concoctions back to the restaurant to cure for a month. We reconvened about a month later to retrieve our work and learn how to make one of the best accompaniments to the salty unctuousness of a perfect salumi. Pickles. Specifically Bread & Butter Pickles and Natural Pickles.

Now, I grew up with a grandmother who made jars upon jars of kosher dills but she never actually showed me how to do it. I would simply arrive at her apartment to find several huge bottles sitting out in the sun. We'd take them home to finish fermenting and then would dig into the most perfectly garlicky dill sour cukes you could imagine. It's past due time to retrieve that recipe and recreate that experience.

When our group gathered again, there was a big box of produce sitting on the counter and a huge stock pot on the stove. Burman was quietly slicing samples of Quality Social's charcuterie--soppressata, finochiona, Tuscana, pepperoni, and fresh mortadella--for us to snack on.

In front of the charcuterie were three small white bowls filled with pickled cauliflower and green garlic and bread and butter pickles. We each filled a plate and sat down together as Van Camp gave us a brief background on pickling and what we'd be doing.

We started with, what else, chopping vegetables. Those four onions above needed to be sliced to add to the brine for the Bread & Butter pickles. While the brine was brought to a boil, we focused on the the Natural Pickles. Van Camp had picked up gorgeous Romanesco cauliflower, carrots, and garlic from Suzie's Farm. Unlike the stripped heads you see at the markets, these cauliflowers still were surrounded by the leaves, which we discovered were delicious--perfect for a quick saute or for making soup. (So, the next time you see these at the Suzie's Farm stall, ask the person working there if they would sell them with the leaves.) Several of us took big bunches of them home.

We chopped the veggies and following Van Camp's lead, began stuffing them into jars interspersed with the pickling spice.

Then we poured the simmered distilled water and kosher salt over the mixture and tightened the lid.

 
These will sit in a dark, cool spot for about two weeks to cure. Once opened, they go into the refrigerator.

Then, it was on to the Bread and Butter pickles. The chefs had already sliced and soaked the cukes overnight in a salt solution. The brine was boiled and cooled. So all that was left was for us to fill jars with the cucumber slices, pour the cooled brine over them and twist on the lids.

By the end of class we had several jars of pickles and, in lieu of diplomas, what we had been waiting for most: our hand-crafted charcuterie, all wrapped up.

Quality Social's Natural Pickle
from Jared Van Camp and Sam Burman

1.75 ounces kosher salt
1 teaspoon pickling spice
4.25 cups distilled water
8 ounces trimmed and peeled vegetables

1. Combine the salt, pickling spice and water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir to dissolve the salt. Remove brine from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Place the vegetables in a clean jar that will hold them comfortably. Pour enough brine over them to keep submerged. Weight the vegetables down if necessary with some plastic wrap and a little more brine.
3. Place the jar in a cool spot for ferment for at least seven but preferably 14 days (60 to 75 degrees).
4. After seven days the vegetables should have a nice sour salty taste (not sour like vinegar).
5. To store your vegetables, strain the brine from the jar, place the vegetables in a new jar, bring brine to boil on the stove top, cool to room temperature, and pour back over your vegetables.



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Lemongrass and Coconut Seafood Chowder

It looks like Mark Lane, owner of Poppa's Fish, has found his calling. Sure, he's been selling seafood at an ever-expanding number of farmers markets in San Diego, but little by little he's also been expanding his culinary repertoire. Starting first with ceviche, sea urchin, and freshly shucked oysters topped with homemade pico de gallo, he's since brought out the grill and is now making dishes like scallop and ginger tacos, shrimp chile rellenos, jalapeño shrimp poppers, and lemon pepper grilled mussels.

 
Everything is simple but beautifully cooked. And now, he's partnered with the Ryan Smith of Bitchin' Sauce, having him in his stall at the Hillcrest Farmers Market to sell their delicious almond-based sauces and using the sauces to make "Bitchin' Tacos."

It was there I tasted his tacos and the mussels and was so inspired on that chilly first day of spring that I decided to buy a yellowtail fillet and a rock crab to make a seafood chowder.

 
One of the benefits of getting to know your vendors is that you can ask plenty of questions. While I'd shown lobsters the end of life, for some reason I hadn't done the same with crabs. Lane stepped away from the grill to give me a brief crab anatomy lesson (crabs with a wide chest plate are females and mine was definitely female), explain how to hold it to avoid the painful pinch of claws, and how to clean it once it was cooked.

The flavors of chowder recipe were inspired by my experience the day before with Su-Mei Yu of Saffron, who taught a marvelous hands-on cooking class in the outdoor space above Saffron. I already had lemongrass, ginger, and coconut milk at home. I picked a lime from my tree and cut it the way she demonstrated to get the most juicy yield. I don't know that Su-Mei would approve of exactly what I did, but I hope she wouldn't argue with the results. The flavors are fresh and tangy and the chowder was infused with a tender heat that complemented the creamy coconut milk and sweet seafood. It was a perfect dinner for a stormy night.

Lemongrass and Coconut Seafood Chowder
Serves 4

There are a lot of ingredients here, but they all serve to build flavor. Instead of using plain water when cooking the vegetables, use the water the crabs are boiled in to create a flavorful base for the chowder.

Ingredients
4 cups cold water
12 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks
1 medium onion, diced
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into chunks
2 jalapeño peppers, diced (for more heat, add 1 or 2 Thai peppers)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1, 4-inch stalk of lemongrass (the soft part), thinly sliced
½ inch of a knob of ginger to equal 1 tablespoon, peeled and minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Zest of 1 lime (reserve the lime for juice)
1, 14-ounce can coconut milk (I use “light.”)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
Juice from 1 lime
2 live rock crabs
1/2 pound skinless firm-flesh raw fish (such as cod, sea bass, halibut, yellowtail), cut into bite-size pieces
1 pound raw mussels, shrimp or calamari – or combination of them, cleaned
1 cup Asian greens, chopped (optional)
½ cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Pour water into a medium-size soup pot and bring to a boil, then carefully add the crab. Cover and cook the crab for 10 to 15 minutes. Pull the crab out and let cool, saving the water for cooking the rest of the ingredients. When the crab is cool enough to handle, pull out the meat from the body and claws, also saving the legs.

Add all the rest of the ingredients (except the seafood, greens, lime juice and cilantro) to the pot with the hot crab water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are just tender (about 15 minutes).

Transfer 2/3 of the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree.

Return the puree to the pot with the rest of the mixture. Add the seafood (including the crabmeat and legs) and greens to the saucepan. Cover and simmer until the seafood is cooked (the fish should be opaque, the mussels open, the shrimp pink).

Squeeze in lime juice from the reserved lime and stir in cilantro, saving some for garnish.


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Cochinita Pibil -- a la El Vitral's Norma Martinez

My two favorite places on earth are at the markets and in the kitchen--with a great chef. So, it was a kick to hang out last week with Chef Norma Martinez of El Vitral while she made me her version of Cochinita Pibil, a rich pork dish redolent of achiote sauce, wrapped in banana leaves, and topped with pickled red onions.

The dish is really three recipes in one because this marinade is so versatile. Martinez uses it for shrimp, ribs, and skinned chicken thighs, and adds tamarind to the marinade to break down tough meats. And the pickled onions can be used in all sorts of ways. But together, this is a sensational dish for a family meal or a party.

The 30-year-old Martinez has been with El Vitral since it's opening almost two years ago. A Tijuana native, she comes honestly by her cooking skills -- her mother and grandmother are known in Tijuana as great cooks and she brings the warmth of the home cooking she grew up with to her restaurant kitchen in San Diego's East Village. She's also formally trained, having attended the Instituto Culinario de México in Puebla and the Spermalie School in Bruges.

And, as Martinez jokes, "You're not a Baja chef if you haven't gone through the Plascencia training." That would be Chef Javier Plascencia and his family, who have owned a number of restaurants for decades. She worked for the family in Tijuana and even put in a stint at Plascencia's Romesco in Bonita, training the chefs there on a consulting basis (for lack of a green card at the time, she was unable to be one of the chefs). Ultimately, she landed at The Westgate Hotel under Chef Fabrice Hardel, where she stayed until 2008, when she opened El Vitral. She credits her time at the hotel with teaching her invaluable time management skills that she puts to use at the restaurant.

Martinez and I both have in common a love for the family-owned Northgate Gonzalez markets. Like me, she and her husband are crazy for their ceviches. And while Martinez makes her restaurant moles from scratch (she's promised to invite me back to show me how), she is a fan of the moles made at the market -- with some doctoring -- for home. She adds ketchup, cocoa powder, peanut butter, and chicken stock to the mole poblano. For the mole negro, she does almost the same but leaves out the ketchup and adds cloves and star anise.

A new favorite ingredient of hers is coriander seeds. "It's lemon, vinegar, and salt in a seed," she says. Be sure to toast the seeds lightly before using them to bring out the flavors.

Her final tip? This recipe calls for vinegar and she thinks it's silly to use "the fancy stuff" when cooking this type of Mexican dish. Regular white vinegar is just fine.

This Cochinita Pibil is a simple dish to make and you can find all the ingredients at markets like Northgate Gonzalez.

Cochinita Pibil
from Chef Norma Martinez of El Vitral
(printable recipe)
Serves 12

9 lb. clean pork butt, diced into 1-inch cubes
1.5 qt. Achiote Sauce (see below)
1 pack banana leafs
2 sliced oranges
1 cup pickled onions (see below)
1 tsp. Kosher salt

Clean the pork discarding the excess fat and dice into 1” cubes. Season the meat with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl mix the pork with the achiote sauce, cover it and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking dish with the banana leaves leaving a good edge to cover the pan. Pour in the pork and achiote sauce mix, cover with the banana leaf, and then cover with foil. Bake for about 3 hours or until meat is tender enough to shred with a fork.

While still warm shred the pork with a fork and serve in a clean piece of banana leaf and top with the pickled onions. This dish is excellent served family style and paired with rice, beans, and fresh tortillas. A good fresh salsa verde or habanero salsa is excellent with Cochinita Pibil.

Achiote Sauce

21 oz. achiote paste
1 cup white vinegar
1 oz. sugar
4 cups fresh orange juice
1 cup water
2 pieces bay leaf
2 tbs. Mexican oregano
3 cloves garlic

Toss all the ingredients in the blender and process until it’s nice and smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add some water and season with salt and pepper.

Pickled Red Onions
2 thinly sliced red onions
1 small beet, peeled
¼ cup fresh orange juice
½ cup white vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Mexican oregano
2 qt. water

In a sauce pan bring the water to a boil and season with salt. Add the onions. As soon as the water returns to a boil strain the onions and discard the water.

Mix together the vinegar, orange juice, spices, and beet and add the hot onions. Make sure the liquid covers the onions completely.

The onions will be ready in about an hour and will keep for about five days. Make sure to check the seasoning. For a spicy version add a diced habanero pepper.

El Vitral is located at 815 J. St. in San Diego.

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