Keep Calm & Carry On

I can never turn away a hungry person.

Largely, the joy in cooking comes from seeing others enjoy my food, and while it's a rare gift to always be able to satisfy an appetite, I've learned to use it well.

I've also made it a habit to always have something available in my fridge, so that I can put together a meal quickly and easily, because often, there isn't time to go to the store when I have surprise guests.

By far, my most outstanding meal, was a dinner that I prepared for 6 people (myself included), with about 5 minute notice. I had some friends stop by, and invited them to dinner - so it was originally just 3 people at the last minute. Then, friends of friends showed up, and within minutes, the dinner table had expanded 100% to 6 people.

The initial dinner plan for 3 people was a light & casual gnocchi dish with bacon and peas, tossed in that awesome Pesto a le Monde. However, with this extended guest list, I had to think of something more appropriate (That would severely undermine my talent as a chef). The bacon and peas were already in the pan cooking, and so I decided to extend this and make a creamy pesto sauce, and toss it with spaghetti instead.

Pancetta and Peas is always super successful, so I brought the technique of mixing in egg yolk and cream into the sauce to stretch out that last bit of pesto that I had left.



In line with my philosophy to always store something in the fridge, I quick braised some frozen OMG meatballs in a half bottle of red wine that I also had left from spaghetti & meatballs a week ago.



Now that I had the entree and side protein sorted out - the only thing that was missing was a salad. My cheese drawer had some fresh bocconcini, so I tossed that with some fresh avocado, good olive oil (a must have in anyone's pantry), and ripe apricots, which are of course in season right now.



To much surprise, it really wasn't that difficult to pull off, and really, I could never turn strangers away, for without knowing, some have entertained angels in disguise.



Pesto, Peas, and Pasta

Serves 6

8 oz Bacon Rashers, diced
12 oz Frozen Peas
1 cup Pesto

1 cup Half & half
4 ea Egg Yolks

1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

6 portions Noodle Pasta, like linguine, fettucine, or spaghetti


1. Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil, and add the noodles
2. In a smaller pot, add scald the half and half, and reduce by about half
3. Heat a heavy sautepan, and add the bacon rashers, until browned
4. Remove most of the bacon drippings, leaving about 2 tablespoons
5. Add the frozen peas, and cover, cooking till peas are thawed out and hot
6. Quickly whisk the egg yolks and slowly temper in the hot half and half
7. Strain pasta, and then toss egg mixture, peas, bacon, and parmesan together
8. Season with freshly cracked pepper and serve immediately

Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?

I first dined at Vue de Monde in 2008, and remember the cozy bistro for their coddled eggs, topped with a truffle foam. Mmmm.. I love eggs, and a pairing with truffles is my favorite combination. It did strike a chord with me, so on this Melbourne trip, I made a special request to go back there.

The food on this occasion wasn't as memorable, but we did have a salad that Mom liked very much, and wanted to make for a dinner party. She asked me for the recipe, so I'm hacking it out here. The key to the salad is the fresh ingredients, so don't be tempted to use sub-par produce, although it might be more cost effective. Also, the presentation was perfect - a very organized mess, looking like not a lot of care was put into plating it, but really, requiring a lot of work for each individual component.



Here's the gist of it - it's not for the fainthearted, and is one of those "looks easier that it actually is" dishes.

Salade C'est Complique

Serves 4

1 ea Zucchini, Shaved into long thin slices with a peeler
1 ea Zucchini, sliced into 1/4" rounds
1 ea Yellow Pepper
1 ea Red Pepper
8 ea Cherry Tomatoes, halved
4 ea Anchovies

1 portion Batter
1/4 cup Dressing

1 portion Eggplant Caviar for base
1 cup Croutons for garnish


For the Salad:
Preheat an oven to 450F. Roast Peppers in oven until tender, but not mushy, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Peel, halve lengthwise, remove seeds, and slice each piece crosswise into four (16 pieces total)
Before serving, dip the zucchini rounds in the batter, and fry in 350F oil until browned and just tender, remove from oil, and blot with paper towels
In the remaining batter, coat the anchovies, and fry in 350F oil, until batter is crisp and brown. Remove from oil, and blot with paper towel
Combine all the vegetables together, and toss with dressing, making sure to taste, reserving 2 tbs of dressing

To serve, spread a layer of eggplant caviar on 4 plate, top with tossed salad, making sure that each has equal portions of each ingredient
Top with fried anchovy, and garnish with croutons
Drizzle each plate with remaining 1/2 tbs of dressing


Batter for Zucchini Rounds & Anchovies
1/2 cup Cake Flour
2/3 cup Ice Water
1 ea Egg Yolk
1 tsp Baking Soda

Combine ice water with egg yolk. Sift baking soda into cake flour, and quickly whisk liquid into dry ingredients. Do not overwhisk, mixture should be a little lumpy. Make this only just before using

Dressing:
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbs Minced Italian Parsley
1 Tbs Mint Chiffonade

Salt & pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together, season to taste


Eggplant Caviar
1 ea Large Eggplant
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic, finely mashed

1 Tbs Olive Oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat an oven to 450F. Prick the eggplant all over and rub with olive oil. Roast in oven for about 45 minutes, or until eggplant is tender when pierced. Remove from oven and let cool.
Strip the skin from the meat, and wrap eggplant meat in cheesecloth. Hang over a drip pan in the fridge overnight to drain excess liquid.
Spin eggplant and garlic in a food processor, and gradually add the 1/4 cup olive oil to combine. Season with salt & pepper

Seasons of Spring

Been missing the blog recently since things have been hectic in the other (under?) world, but so far April has seen come pretty culinary colors, with my favorite season for produce!



First, there was a tea party with the girls up in San Francisco, and I'm not sure how other people do tea, but we do it with lamb riblets, a cheese selection, and Chef Laura's all-time famous scones. I'm not sure where the tea was at tea, but there was some pretty good wine!





Not to mention Easter, where I contributed with an unforgettable marinade of green onion and fennel for the roasted lamb, and my signature Mediterranean quinoa salad with sundried tomatoes, green onion, squash, feta and a host of other delicious stuff.

Where would we be without contributions to the pasta book? New pasta creations include an Applewood smoked bacon and peas cappellini with poached eggs, a creamy Vegetarian peas and spinach risotto (c'mon, risotto falls under the the pasta category too), Gnocchi with bacon and spinach carbonara style (recipe below), and a special treat of red Italian sausage penne, where I didn't have to cook at all (Yes, I am still adding it to the book and claiming credit)!









A special friend came in from Portland, and I tried my best to align the menu with their health conscious goals. You can't have a special dinner without an appetizer or dessert, so a tomato and roasted garlic soup served up with some crunchy bread and creme brulee were a prelude and postlude to the entree of delicious slow roasted salmon, spicy corn salad, and a chile verde sauce.







Speaking of chile verde, Gigya had a chile competition to celebrate our Q1 close, and instead of Texas chile, I spiced it up with my contribution of oxtail chile verde, served up with some queso fresco, sour cream and corn bread, and I won!



More to come I'm sure - the rest of Spring awaits!

Carbonara Gnocchi

Serves 2

4 oz Bacon, diced
3 cups Spinach (anything except baby)
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 cup White Wine or vermouth
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
2 ea Egg Yolks

Salt and pepper to taste

Gnocchi for 2

Heat a heavy saute pan and add the bacon
Cook till browned and cripsy
Add the minced garlic and spinach, and saute till spinach wilts
Add the White wine and reduce by half
Add the heavy cream, and cook on high until sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes
Season to taste
Temper the egg yolks with the hot sauce, and then gradually combine the yolk mixture and bacon spinach cream sauce
Toss with freshly cooked gnocchi

Make it easy for yourself

Cooking for the masses is never easy. (Here we're referring to meals for 80-100, not the 25-50 parties that I do often) I learned how to do this well when I volunteered with the GRX kitchen in San Francisco, where we would cook a mini-supper for the congregation (about 100-120) after the evening service. Typically there would be 3 or 4 of us, and we'd have about 3 hours to prep and cook, which was a feat in itself. However, the biggest challenge was that I only had a budget for about $80-$100, and most often, I stuck to it pretty well!

This time, I cooked for the Menlo Park Pres Choir Welcome Dinner, and my main priorities were efficiency & quality! When cooking for such a large crowd, you need to be able to minimize the cooking on the extra day itself. This means that most things should be done ahead of time! For example, if you're serving a pasta, the pasta sauce needs to have been made two days in advance, to cook, cool, and store properly. Then, if you were serving a meat, letting it sit in a marinade usually works well to tenderize and impart good flavor, since, quite often the luxury of quick searing or slow braising is not there to give the meat it's best shot.

The same guidelines apply when you're throwing a dinner party. I always ask myself these two questions: What can be done ahead, and how can I showcase the food at it's best given the constraints?

I ended up serving a pasta with the Romesco sauce that I'm so fond of - to stretch it, I used half and half, and also added a good amount of roasted tomatoes from the garden. Chicken is always welcome at large dinners, since it agrees with everyone, and I chose to do roasted chicken thighs, which I was sure would hold their juices quite well. The recipe I used was the same one that I previously published for the roasted veggie salad, and can be found here. You don't need too much for the marinade, about 1/3 cup per 2 large chicken thighs.

I love pairing meats with stuff that's farmer's fresh, and figs are in season right now. So, I threw together a fig compote that accompanied the chicken for that extra special touch. It's super simple to make, and you can serve this alongside chicken, pork, and even cheese! Here's the recipe

Easy Fig Compote

Makes 2 cups

1 pt Fresh Figs, stemmed & chopped
1 cup Chicken Stock
1/4 ea Red Onion, diced
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan, and sweat red onion until translucent
Add the figs, and saute for 1 minute before adding chicken stock
Bring to a boil, and simmer until compote thickens and liquid has mostly evaporated
Keep stirring the pot to prevent browning
Puree the mixture and leave to cool before storing in the fridge

How does your garden grow?

Our tomato vines are fruiting, and so we have an abundance of ripe, red, tomatoes on hand. Desperate to not let it go to waste, I decided to go with my famous roasted tomato and garlic bisque, which was perfect for the small dinner party that we had over the weekend.

I've made this soup a couple of times for events, and it's always performed so well, probably because it's one of the quintessential comfort food items.

I remember the first time I dreamed up the soup. It was in early fall one year, when Heirloom tomatoes were making an unusually long season after a hot summer. I also had just discovered the pleasures of roasted garlic, and was putting the delicious, creamy, caramelized stuff in almost everything. At the time, I was also suffering from what they call "bad kitchen syndrome", which meant that I had only a very tiny electric stove, which never got hot enough. Fortunately, the kitchen came with a little oven which worked quite well. So, to marry the three things together (Heirloom, Roasted Garlic & Oven), I chucked everything in the oven, and 45 minutes later, the perfect tomato soup!

You might not be able to get heirlooms all year round, but regular tomatoes work just as well, and when they come from your own garden - oh yum. Nothing beats that, except if it comes with a grilled cheese sandwich. Butter on both sides please :)

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Bisque

Makes two servings

1 ea Large Heirloom Tomato, or 8 oz equivalent
1/4 ea Yellow onion, preferably vidalia, chopped
1 head Garlic
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 cup Chicken Stock
1/2 cup Heavy Cream


Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375F
Slice the top of the garlic head and drizzle with 1 tbs olive oil
Wrap the garlic head with foil
Core the tomato/tomatoes and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet
Roast the tomatoes and the garlic for about 40 minutes or until the tomatoes are lightly charred on the outside
While the tomatoes and garlic are roasting, sweat the onions in the remaining olive oil and let the onions brown just very slightly
Squeeze the garlic pulp from the papery skin
Combine the roasted garlic, tomatoes, onions and chicken stock in a sauce pot
Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes
Puree soup, strain, then add the cream and simmer for another 10 minutes
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately

Dinner in 30 Minutes (How To)

In anticipation of the major food fest that I'll be getting when I get to Korea, I whet my appetite last night with a healthy home cooked dinner. I had some leftover produce anyway, and wanted to use it up. Fridge inventory check revealed - 1 bag of Bloomsdale Spinach, 2 avocados, and chicken breasts.

Pantry staples that contributed to this meal - Quinoa, Garlic, Anchovies, Olive Oil, Lemon Juice

From the Garden - Thyme

After setting quinoa on the stove, I made delicious green goddess dressing by mincing up the garlic, and then combining that with the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil & anchovies in the food processor (10 minutes). Then, I marinated the chicken breasts in some balsamic vinegrette, the garden thyme, olive oil & salt, before firing up the grill. Once the chicken breasts were marked on both sides (10 minutes), I closed the hood then went back to cook the spinach.

I love spinach because it's absolutely so healthy, delicious, versatile, and best of all, easy to cook. In a large sauce pan, a splash of water, add all the spinach and then cover for about 10 minutes. By the way. this timing works for farmed spinach, but if you want to get that wilty stuff in a bag, then cover for 1 minute instead.

Just when the spinach was done, the chicken was ready to come off the grill, and the quinoa was also well prepared and fluffy.

It's amazing what a good sauce can do to zazzle up some simple ingredients, and it doesn't always have to take a day to make!

Here's the recipe for a green goddess dressing

Green Goddess Dressing

Makes 1 cup

2 ea Avocados
2 fillet Anchovies
3 ea Garlic Cloves, minced
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

If desired, 1 egg yolk for added richness

1. Pulse all ingredients except oil in a food processor until smooth
2. With processor running, slowly add the olive oil in a stream until incorporated
3. Add salt & pepper to taste

If making ahead, cover tightly with plastic wrap to prevent browning

What I had for Dinner

So, as I mentioned earlier today, I'd be cooking dinner. It's a rare occasion that I do decide to cook on a weeknight. Usually it's leftovers from the weekend or something that we're nuking up; otherwise, it's some brown rice or quinoa with steamed veggies - nothing particularly exciting from Chef Laura's kitchen.

However, I was inspired by a certain friend who had offered to cook dinner for their date, and decided I'd treat Daryl to a delicious weeknight meal, even if it wasn't as lavish as the one we had on a Monday night a few weeks ago at Aqua.

Anyway, I even planned in advance (like one day) - we had this rack of lamb in the freezer that I decided to use, plus fresh baby asparagus tips from the market on Sunday. Remember that romesco sauce I made the other day for the Gigya party? Well, no time like the present to use up leftovers.

I haven't exhausted my use of the grill yet either, and have learned some tricks. Turns out that roasting potatoes on the grill take about half as long as when you do them in the oven - so I did that first. I wrapped some assorted baby potatoes (purple peruvian, fingerling, banana, ruby crescent) coated in the romesco sauce, in foil, then stuck them under the hood for about 25 minutes, which was just in time for Daryl to get home and for me to prep the rest of the ingredients, which wasn't that hard anyway.

I'll be writing more about my little farm soon, but currently while everything is kind of just shooting up in Spring, my herbs are just thriving! I only snipped off a sprig of rosemary and some mint, since they are still baby plants and i don't want to kill them just yet. (I'm really excited about our first batch of tomatoes & veggies though!)

I sliced the rack of lamb into individual cutlets so that they'd cook easier, then brushed them with the minced herbs and olive oil. For the asparagus, I lightly dressed them in the balsamic vin that I had made last week for the roasted veggie salad - it really is a great marinade to have on hand, and you can get the recipe below.

Once Daryl got back, I got to grilling the lamb chops which were done in like 5 minutes, and then the asparagus, another 3.

All in all, it took 30 minutes to get the plate ready - Herb Scented Lamb Cutlets with Marinated Asparagus and an Assortment of roasted Potatoes with Romesco sauce. I also served it with the apple mint jelly that I made from Easter. The jelly is keeping so well, and it pairs up perfectly with so many things (lamb, beef, cheese plates, bread, etc etc), that I think I'll be doing some canning soon to have it as a staple in my pantry.

I'm really loving this outdoor grill/fresh food/gourmet dinner thing now; but I don't expect that I'll be cooking like this everyday that's for sure...

More to come soon!

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Use this to marinade meats, or for a quick salad dressing. It's a tasty sauce to always keep handy in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before using each time. Keeps almost forever.

Makes 1 Cup

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
3/4 Cup Good Quality olive Oil
1 Tbs Shallot, Miced
1 Tbs Garlic, Minced
2 Tbs Parsley, Minced
1 Tbs Mixed herb like oregano, thyme, mint, basil, minced

Zest of 1 orange

Salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender, until oil & vinegas form an emulsion
Season to taste
If mixture separates while in storage, shake well before next use

Burrito a la Calafia

I made a californian burrito for dinner last night. It was the most delicious non-traditional burrito I've ever had. Don't get me wrong - I really love my carnitas, and salsa verde super burrito with sour cream, guac, the works, etc (secretly I even sometimes crave for chipotle, even though La Vics still comes up top). But last night's burrito, well, that was something else.

So what exactly is a californian burrito? In my books, it' a burrito that has ingredients that are decidedly californian, or exhibit properties of "californian cuisine", (which I define as a fine juxtaposition of flavors from east to west, but always firmly grounded on fresh and local produce).

Side note about the Burrito - when I was at Masa's there were these two servers, a pair of brothers, Hugo & Victor. Hugo once swore to me that the Burrito originated in California, because when he was in Mexico growing up, there didn't exist such a thing as the burrito as we know it, What d'ya know, maybe all burritos are californian after all!

Anyway, it started off with some cold grilled sancho seasoned chicken breast, that I had used to test-drive the new grill with. By the way, I was in a hurry to do the test run because this Friday we have a Gigya BBQ, and if the grill doesn't work, I'm pretty sure there would be a host of disappointment. Anyway, the grill worked perfectly, but then we had to leave for dinner & the Opera, so I stuck the grilled chicken in the fridge. I'm not even sure what possessed me to use sancho.

Sunday dinners are always a blur, and I usually try to make stuff out of leftovers, so this was no exception. Plus, in the afternoon, I made an awesome romesco sauce (which is another story in itself), and felt like that would stand in well for salsa! For your information, the romesco sauce is also for that BBQ which is happening later in the week.

Not to mention, I picked up a ripe hass avocado (now everyone knows there's nothing more californian than a hass avocado), and had a leftover tomato from the romesco sauce to make an awesome guacamole.

Back to leftovers, I had the shredded cheddar cheese from the previous week's sausage casserole, and also leftover tortillas from when I went snowboarding and made breakfast burritos for everyone. Yes, I know that was a while ago, but tortillas keep pretty well ok?

So anyway, I piled the sliced sancho chicken, guacamole, cheese and romesco sauce on a giant tortilla, rolled it up and then stuck it in the toaster oven at 450F for about 15 minutes, just enough to get everything hot.

And then, I bit into it.

Oh yum. The cheese was melted, and the romesco sauce was just all over the chicken so that it didn't dry out. Plus, that Hass Guac - mmmmm, the perfect rich mouth feel that you have to have with a good burrito. It was healthy too!

I think it'll be on the menu for a while.

Californian Burritos

Serves 2

2 ea Flour Tortilla
1 ea Chicken Breast, seasoned, grilled or roasted and sliced
1/2 cup Cheese Shredded
1/2 cup Romesco sauce or jar salsa
Guac from 1 Avocado

Preheat the oven to 450F
Seperate all the ingredients and pile them onto each tortilla shell
Roll the tortilla up and stick it in the oven for 15 minutes


Here's how I make my guac:
1 Avocado, peeled, stoned & sliced
1 Roma Tomato, small dice
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 Tbs Yellow onion, minced
1 stalk Green Onion, chopped
Juice of half a meyer lemon (if possible, if not regular lemons are fine too)
Salt & pepper

Mash the avocado, then mix in all the other ingredients well
Generously season with salt

How to Throw a Party

Good food, wine, friends, and an icebreaker game for a conversation starter!

Here's the menu from our Easter Party



1. Tomato Water Gelee Shots with Mozzerella balls & Arugula Cream



2. Chilled Spring Pea Soup with White Truffle Cream



3. Citrus & Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb, served with Apple Mint Jelly



4. Slow Roasted Salmon with Marrow & Mushroom Bordelaise

5. Beer Braised Duck Pie with Root Vegetable Puree



6. Shellfish Pasta in White Wine Sauce



7. Marinated Beet Salad with Crushed Hazelnuts

8. Roasted Asparagus with Meyer Lemon



9. Spanish Potato Cake with Tomato Saffrom Sauce & Fennel

10. Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries



11. Olive Oil Cake with Ganache & Sea Salt



12. Peanut Butter & Rum Banana Cream Pie



13. Old Fashioned Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Assorted Candy, Homemade Marshmallows & Dulce de Leche



The spread!

2 Weeks Notice

A long standing joke between Chin and Chef Laura has always been that he never gives me enough notice to make dinner for him when he visits.

So - this time, he did give notice. About 5 hours.

1pm - Lunch

Daryl: "What are you doing tonight for dinner?"
Chin: "No plans, why?"
Daryl: "Oh, you want to come over for dinner?"

Chef Laura casually chokes on carnitas burrito

Chin: "Sure!", turns to Randy & Sharlene "You guys?"
Randy: "Yeah no plans, we'll be there"
Daryl: "Ok, 7pm"

Chef Laura: wait... Did I just get pimped out to make dinner?

2:15pm Costco Trip & Farmer's Market

The goods -
5.5 lbs Ribeye Roast
1 lb Lump crab meat
Ramps
Chives
Baby Yukon Potatoes
Various types of oranges: Blood, Cara Cara, Navel
Ripe Melon ( hard to find usually)
Strawberries
Eggs
Creme Fraiche

Menu after much grumbling -

Crab & Citrus Salad with Melon Consomme
Prime Rib
Roasted Asparagus with Lemon & Parmesan
Smashed Baby Yukon Potatoes, roasted with Ramp Aioli
Meyer Lemon Butter Cake with Homemade Dulce de Leche and Strawberries

3pm: Nap Time

4pm: Start work after a large cup of instant coffee

Preheating the oven is always the first thing
Prepare the cake batter & bake
Meanwhile, set the evaporated milk & sugar on simmer, get Daryl to stir, since he volunteered
Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil potatoes
Kim & Joon arrive for a chat - send Daryl to entertain them for 20 minutes, buying me enough time to finely brunoise the onions for the crab salad, and spin the melons in the food processor without distraction
Chat with guests while prepping the rest of the ingredients, finely knife chives, zest & segment oranges, prepare ramp aioli, smash potatoes and lay them on trays,make crab salad.

The Finished Roasted Potates Roast Beef Dinner with Chin

Prep Rib Roast

5:15pm: Cake comes out of the oven and Roast goes in for 20 + 90 minutes

Salt & Pepper Roast Beef Roast Beef Dinner with Chin

6pm: Guest arrive one hour early!!! WHAT! Kim & Joon take off.

Chef Laura sends the early guests out to the citrus trees to work for their food. Meanwhile, portion the desert, slice strawberries and whip cream for desert.

Dulce de Leche Cake with Strawberries Roast Beef Dinner with Chin

Chin comes back with a bag of citrus - dang, now we have to use it. Slice & juice citrus, while making simple syrup.

Side of Asparagus Roast Beef Dinner with Chin

7:10pm: Bathroom break to freshen up

7:30pm: First course served!

Next time - 2 weeks notice please!

Happy Chin & Cal Roast Beef Dinner with Chin