2011 February « le blog de tranny

February 21, 2011

liveblogging: caro & michelle’s to-do list

There’s something about publishing lists of personal goals on the internet that makes one more motivated to accomplish them. Blogging encourages gourmandizing which encourages blogging. This worked pretty well with our East Bay bucket list, and good thing too considering we haven’t been over there much since we moved. Let’s see how long it takes us to do the following.

1. Make bacon-infused whiskey.

2. Turn the wood-burning stove in our backyard (which held a fire during our last backyard bbq) into a wood-fired oven.

3. Have a ladies gorge-fest at Commonwealth!

4. Use our groupons — a 6 hour limo ride to Napa & 50 percent off blowing up a digital photo onto a canvas. I think I’m gonna go with this one:

February 14, 2011

saint valentine

When it comes to the great loves of my life, whiskey and McDonald’s breakfast certainly top the list. Jane and Caro gave me a bottle of Redbreast Irish whiskey for my birthday, which I understand to be one of the few pure pot still whiskeys still in existence. I’m not quite sure what this means, though I think it has something to do with using both malted and unmalted barley, rather than just the typical malted barley that’s used in single malts.

Anyway, to me it tastes like a more delicious Jameson. Thx my lady valentines!

Paul and I have been celebrating the days preceding Valentine’s Day with extra time alone together and delicious food, eaten in and out. Last Monday Paul took me to Resto Delfina (not the pizzeria), which I’d never been to before. I loved everything we had — from the speck and shaved artichoke crudo (the raw artichoke actually had a squash-like flavor) to the lasagne “vincigrassi” made with ground pork and sweetbreads. On Saturday morning we made McDonald’s breakfast together — one of our favorite traditions.

[english muffin breakfast sandwich with egg omelet, sharp cheddar & bacon, hash browns, grapefruit juice]

The Ore-Ida frozen hash browns definitely aren’t as good as the McDonald’s ones, but with a little salt, they satisfy my needs.

Usually when making McDonald’s breakfast I make a big omelet out of eggs mixed with a little milk and s&p. I like to season my eggs before putting them in the pan. This time I added some fresh chives because we had them on hand. Cheese-wise I opt for sharp cheddar over the standard MacDo american cheese.

When Annabel moved in, she brought ramekins that are the perfect size for making McMuffin-esque egg patties. I used one like a cookie cutter to cut out a pieces of omelet that fit perfectly on top of the English muffins!

Paul might not be a masterchef, but he knows how to fry up some perfect bacon.

This is better than McDonald’s breakfast actually, because I don’t get a tummy ache afterwards!

I’ve eaten out on Valentine’s Day before but that’s always such a cluster fuck. Valentine’s Day is really quite the exploitation holiday, if you think about it. Restaurants use it as an opportunity to sell you a prix fixe menu that’s horrendously overpriced and of questionable quality; greeting card companies make a killing, and why? So tomorrow I think we’ll celebrate Valentine’s Day with a quiet dinner at home. I’m thinking roast duck legs, with asian flavors. That way I can kill two birds with one stone — I’ll fulfill one of my New Year’s resolutions (i.e. to cook duck) and I’ll get to spend some quality time with my valentine!

February 13, 2011

bbqin’ in february

I know certain ppl in certain parts of the country have been freezing their balls off for the past few months but I can’t feel bad about that, BECAUSE THEY CHOSE TO LEAVE ME. Anyway we were supposed to have a barbecue for Ken’s birthday at our house like over a month ago and last week, finally, we got our shit together (incidentally the same weekend a heat wave descended upon SF). A trip to Costco, home of cheap ribs and lump crab meat, was the deciding factor in our spread that afternoon. Caro made the sticky spicy ribs we’ve made once before, to rave reviews from all who were present. I made some crab cakes which, for how labor intensive they can be, were surprisingly not that stressful to prepare. Maybe I just had the right amount of buzz going to really get in the zone.

Sparkling Sangria

I’d seen a recipe in an old issue of Bon Appetit for cava sangria that seemed perfect for the occasion but I thought, why not use prosecco instead since it’s so inexpensive at Trader Joe’s? I merged the BA recipe with one I found online by Michael Chiarello of all people (who was such a douche on Top Chef Masters, am I right?). Best part about this recipe is the fruit is reusable — we turned a bottle of red into more sangria after the sparkling batch had been consumed (which didn’t take long).

You need (I don’t really know how many servings this makes but you do the math — how many of your friends can 1 bottle of Prosecco stretch to satisfy? I doubled this recipe when I made it.):
- 2 bottles of Prosecco
- 1 cup of brandy
- 1/2 cup of orange liqueur (I used Triple Sec, unfortunately)
- 1/2 cup of white grape juice
- 1 green apple, sliced
- half a carton of strawberries, sliced
- 1 lime, sliced
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 nectarine, sliced
- some fresh mint leaves, torn

Combine the fruit, mint, brandy and orange liqueur in a pitcher. Give it a quick toss and then let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. Pour in the Prosecco just before serving.

Also on the menu that day: Caro’s aunt’s blue cheese coleslaw, burgers with blue cheese and avocado, potato salad, fruit salad, and chips and guacamole. And beer.

Crab Cakes with Caper “Aioli”
I put a fair amount of research into this one, looking at about 8 different crab cake recipes. One must be familiar with the literature on crab cakes before putting out original work on the subject, non? I love going through different recipes for the same dish and cherry-picking the elements that I think I’d most enjoy. But then if the final product doesn’t stand up to what you thought it would be, you’ve no one to blame but yourself. Anyway I know this isn’t exactly barbecue (since the grill is nowhere to be found in this recipe) but if you’re hosting a bbq and everyone else is using the grill, why not do something on the stove top instead?

You need (for ~40 generous crab cakes):
- 1 yellow bell pepper, small dice
- 1 red bell pepper, small dice
- garlic, minced
- 1 bunch of scallions, sliced
- 2 lbs lump crab meat, broken up
- 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp dijon
- juice of 1 lemon + zest
- 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
- fresh parsley, chopped
- fresh chives, chopped
- fresh dill, chopped
- Old Bay seasoning
- Sriracha or other hot sauce
- butter and oil (I think I used extra virgin olive oil for the bell pepper mixture and canola oil for frying the crab cakes)

For the caper aioli:
- capers
- mayonnaise
- a lemon
- fresh parsley

1. Saute the bell peppers with the garlic and green onion in melted butter and oil over medium low heat until tender, 15-20 minutes. Season liberally with Old Bay and s&p. Take off the heat to cool.
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. (I’d add the eggs last so you can adjust for seasoning.) You’ll probably need to add more Old Bay. I’d say I used at least a tablespoon of Sriracha.
3. Add the cooled bell pepper mixture to the crab mixture. Mix well. Add more panko if the mixture seems too wet to form into crab cakes, but it should definitely be very moist.
4. Form the mixture into crab cakes. It’s better to have all the crab shaped into cakes before you start frying.
5. Working in batches, fry the crab cakes in a mixture of melted butter and canola oil over medium high heat until brown on both sides. Keep crab cakes warm in a 250 degree oven while you’re frying up the rest of them.

As I finished each batch I was placing the finished crab cakes in what I thought was a warming drawer. But it turns out this “warming drawer” doubles as a broiler, and since we had the oven on at 350 for the ribs, the crab cakes came out substantially browner than they were when I put them in. No harm done really; they were a bit browner than I would’ve liked but not by much.

[crab cakes with caper aioli]

Historically it’s always bothered me when a recipe claims to be an “aioli recipe” but is really just a recipe that calls for mixing mayonnaise with ingredients such as lemon juice and garlic. Such a recipe should be called a “lazy man’s aioli” recipe. But then again, caper aioli sounds so much better than caper mayonnaise doesn’t it? If it’s perfectly acceptable to call one the other then I’ll opt for the hoighty-toighty option, thank you. To make the caper “aioli” all I did was combine mayonnaise in a bowl with lemon juice, chopped capers and chopped fresh parsley to taste.

But one last thing before you go..

[rib porn]

1 comment

February 10, 2011

birthday dinner at coi

During the birthday week (a bit ago) I chased my 24 oysters with 11 courses of exquisite edible art at Coi, courtesy of the ol’ bf (and Daniel Patterson). The restaurant certainly lived up to its credentials, though Paul and I did think that the food at Benu was better — but then again Benu will more than likely get some Michelin decorations of its own next year.

The atmosphere was warm if not a little new age-y with the stone arrangements everywhere (including in the bathroom sink). Silly. They try and source all of their ingredients from no more than 300 miles away. Local. We drank our Founder’s Art Reserve Cabernet because corkage was only $25. It was just the occasion we’d been waiting for.

Coi’s take on an aperitif — a frozen mandarin sour made with mandarin vodka gel, angostura bitters, kumquat, satsuma ice and Murray River salt. Crunchy, dry, refreshing (not juicy). If you’re wondering why anyone (or in particular, Chef DP/his sous chef) would choose river salt over sea salt it’s because the former is more floral and crunchier. Yes, I asked.

[frozen mandarin sour; mandarin vodka gel underneath]

Remember the ep where Tony Bourdain pulls a gooey duck out of the sand? It definitely tastes like it’s from the sea, that’s for sure. It’s also kind of crunchy, like cartilage. I thought the fennel worked really well here and the young kelp, which had been blanched, had a tender, pleasant mouthfeel that I was not expecting.

[manila clam and geoduck with bull kelp, meyer lemon and fennel]

Beets mixed with fresh cow and goat’s cheese topped with wild sprouts and flowers (that Paul identified to be miner’s lettuce, chickweed, wood sorel, baby thistle and radish green because he grew up naked in nature!). Not my favorite of the night though I was proud of P’s plant identification prowess. Looks like a (bloody) cow patty.

[beets roasted in hay, fresh cheese, wild sprouts and flowers]

A “crab melt” — crab on toast served cold with melted lardo over the top instead of cheese. It tasted very “Californian” indeed with the wheatgrass reduction and little pea shoots hopping all over the plate. But I think I would’ve preferred a regular crab melt… you know the kind that’s served warm.. maybe with melted lardo.

["californian" crab melt with lardo and wheatgrass]

I accidentally disturbed the puree before taking this photo. Serving an egg yolk hidden beneath the creamiest, most decadent cauliflower puree is an easy way to win people over. It was goooood.

[farm egg with cauliflower puree, caperberry, pickled shallot and nettle dandelion salsa verde]

“Earth and Sea” — this asiany soup has yuba (aka strips of tofu skin) in it instead of noodles. The textures and flavors were right up my alley.

[steamed tofu mousseline with a hint of ginger, mushroom dashi, yuba, radish, rice wine pickled turnip, fresh seaweed]

A foam made of sherry and mushroom stock conceals a stick-to-your-ribs chanterelle porridge – so delicious!

The porridge came with a bowl of crisp sunchokes, parsnip, salsify, burdock and parsley root.

[savory chanterelle porridge with crisp root vegetables, cress and sherry]

A very tender tenderloin from Prather Ranch that was served with a potato puree of the olive oil-y variety. Also on the plate were some “coastal grasses” tossed in champagne vinegar which balanced out the dish quite nicely.

[prather ranch beef, potato, coastal grasses, monterey cypress]

Coi’s play on a “cheese course” was a Tomme D’Ossau grilled cheese on Acme rye with onion marmalade two ways. Apparently Coi has always been big on the Tomme D’Ossau, which is a sheep’s milk cheese from the Pyrenees. Check out this photo I found on someone’s Flickr — did Coi srsly serve a piece of cheese just sitting on the plate like that? LOL I’m glad that wasn’t a course on our tasting menu — because I probably would’ve shit myself.

[grilled cheese, tomme d'ossau, rye, onion, pickled daikon]

The first of two desserts. This one had a crispy vanilla bean meringue and mint gelatin.

[lime sherbet, frozen yogurt, pomegranate, mint]

The “Bread and Chocolate” dessert was to die for, coming from someone who is not the biggest fan of dessert and who was incredibly stuffed by this point. The combination of the brioche, dark chocolate, pistachio and grenache was absolutely perfect. The dessert featured both a caramelized brioche and a brioche ice cream, and the dark chocolate pudding was surrounded by a ring of baked grenache. SO MUCH PLEASURE.

[brioche ice cream, pistachio, tarragon]

Some firethorn jellies to send us off!

Goooodnight.