What's For Dinner?

Badge recently read the Omnivore's Dilemma. What ensued was a furious hunt for pastured chicken, not to mention a persistent and nagging voice beside my ear to buy local, buy local, buy local.

He really knows how to brainwash a gal.

Last weekend, we finally dragged our butts to the Hillcrest Farmers Market. There was tons of produce which was great. Of course the first thing we did was hit the food carts since we were starving. Several gourmet tamales later, we were fit to wander the tents, picking up sundried tomatoes, chard, russian kale, jams, oranges and much more. I even discovered sweet cherimoya which looked a lot like my favorite fruit in Taiwan, the sugar apple. Sadly, when I later partook of the cherimoya, it wasn't nearly as good as the sugar apple. I was sad.

Cherimoya:


Sugar apple (taken when I was in Taiwan):


Unfortunately, the pastured chicken vendor was nowhere to be found but we did pick up fresh eggs from another vendor.

This past Sunday, Badge and I decided to hit up the Little Italy farmer's market, which supposedly had a different pastured chicken vendor. This market turned out to be quite large. Again, we found a gourmet tamale shop to attack (these were better than the Hillcrest shop). I then made the bad call to get a nutella crepe which nearly wiped us out with it's thick chocolate-y overindulgence. Luckily, we managed to not pass out and proceed with our shopping. After buying more veggies and fruit, we finally found the vendor. Since the chicken was pricey, we decided to try a half chicken first.


And that brings us to tonight. Tonight, I made roasted chicken with asparagus and garlic bread. The chicken turned out to be quite interesting. The dark meat was chewy and gamey. The breast was pretty moist and tender. Overall, it definitely seemed like a different beast than normal chicken from the store. Of course Badge looked at my disapprovingly when I fell upon the chicken carcass with my hands (sorry maybe it's a cultural thing). I think next time, I might try to cut up the meat portions first before deciding what to make. I can definitely see using the breast for cutlets or katsudon and the thighs and drumsticks for stew. I doubt my inner penny pincher will allow us to buy this chicken every week but I certainly see it making the biweekly or monthly route.

Baked Potato

I have been dying for a baked potato all week. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating. Ask Badge, that's all I've been able to talk about.

Well, tonight, my dream came true. Heaping layers of cheese, butter, sour cream and chives.

I feel complete.

Dumplings

During my family's visit last week, we made dumplings! I've made dumplings a few times in my life, mostly while I was in college. Of course, I'd always bought dumpling wrappers from the store. As it turns out, Monkey is now an expert dough maker, so she taught me how to make my own.


First we made the filling (see Monkey's post for recipe). We made one batch of pork and one batch of turkey.


Then Monkey made the dough out of just flour and water (go figure). She kneaded the hell out of that dough, then let it rest for a while. Then it was time for the rolling.


Look at those beautifully thin wrappers.


We had quite the little sweatshop going in my kitchen. This is about 1/3 of the dumplings we eventually cranked out.


We panfried these suckers by heating them in oil, adding a bit of water, covering, and letting the steam cook the dumplings.




Overall very tasty. I definitely like the texture of the homemade wrappers more than store bought. Unfortunately I ran out of things like sesame oil and white pepper so the filling wasn't quite right (plus I didn't add enough salt), but since you're dipping it in soy sauce anyway I didn't notice too much. The rest we froze for another day. I heart dumplings.

Christmas

Ah Christmas. A time to eat, to spend time with your family, to drink lots of wine, to eat, to spend time with your cats, to eat, to drink lots of wine, and to eat.

Yup, that sounds about right.

This Christmas, both my mom and Monkey came to stay. Both arrived on the 23rd. To welcome them, I made an enormous pot of kimchi jjigae. So hearty. So fermented. So good.


The next night, Ferret (one of Monkey's best friends) flew in from Philly to join the fun. Because they are wonderful, all my guests brought gifts. Monkey brought us by-products of her latest hobby: soapmaking. These were lavender scented. Smell and feel heavenly on the skin.


She also got me a baking illustrated book. My sis knows me so well.


My mom brought japanese honey cakes she smuggled directly from Taiwan. Check out the beautiful packaging.


If you've never had japanese honey cake, then I weep for your soul.


And lastly, Ferret brought this surprisingly fun card game called Munchkin. It's kind of a spoof on role playing games. Pretty complicated but once you learn the rules, it's oh so addicting. I think we played 5-10 times. I'm pretty sure Monkey won them all. Jerk.


Here's my ma. Looking as young as a spring chicken.


Certainly spry enough to wrestle Fred into submission.


On a random shopping trip, my mom insisted on buying persimmons even though I assured her that we all found them disgusting. Of course, she bought a bunch anyway, promising to eat each and every one of them. Though the thought of eating these made me nauseous (one of my least favorite fruits), at least they made pretty counter decor.


Ok on to the Christmas day menu. First up, buttermilk biscuits from my new baking book.


Brisket with dried apricots, prunes, and aromatic spices (beef from Homegrown Meats again). Cooked to tender perfection.


Scalloped potatoes with root vegetables. Very creamy and tasty.


Side of sauteed spinach. Here's the complete spread.




The happy diners.


No meal is complete without dessert. In this case, we made a decadent two layer chocolate cake. This is the same cake we made a couple years ago when we spent Christmas in LA. Amazingly moist and delicious. Make it, and you will be happy.


And lastly, we had homemade eggnog. Here's Badge psychotically pouring for everyone.


The next day, we drove up to LA for the day. For lunch we went to El Pollo Inka, one of our favorite restaurants, for peruvian food. I had my usual saltado de pollo (photo courtesy of Monkey).


In the afternoon, Badge and I met up with Kara for some picture taking. Check out her beautiful photo blog. She's got such a great eye for this stuff. It's amazing that she's only just recently picked up photography.

For dinner, we picked up chinese food from our favorite chinese restaurant, Seafood Port. Since we were still stuffed from lunch, we stashed the food in the trunk and waited till we got back to SD before busting it out. Yum!


The rest of the trip was spent eating ridiculously amounts of food, playing games (mostly Munchkin) and hanging out. Junk food adventures included Palomino's for fish tacos, Rubio's, Pizza Hut, In&Out. On thursday, we met Spike and Frog at Kensington Grill for a delicious feast (man that place is good!). Somewhere in there I managed to run 5.3 miles one day and ~7 miles another (this probably burned about 1/16th of the extra calories I consumed). Ferret was scheduled to leave on Tues but turns out his flight was cancelled and he had to fly out the next day instead. More time for scooter rides!


Sadly, as with any vacation, time flew by way too quickly. My mom and Monkey left on Friday the 31st. That night we met up with two couple friends for NYE dinner at Farmhouse Cafe. Very good. Nice to know they make an effort to buy seasonal local foods. After dinner, we all went downtown to party, dance, and welcome in the new year.

And with that, we are now in 2011. Happy new year everyone! Here's a mug of hot chocolate to you (courtesy of Spike).


Remember, Fred loves you all.


Many more pics can be found here


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Brisket with Dried Apricots, Prunes, and Aromatic Spices

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

Scalloped Potatoes with Root Vegetables
Courtesy of Cooks Illustrated

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion , minced (about 1 cup)
2 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 ounces celery root (about 1/2 medium), peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
8 ounces parsnips (about 2 medium), peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 2 large), peeled and sliced 1/8-inch thick (see photos below)
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese , shredded (1 cup)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add celery root, parsnips, chicken broth, cream, and bay leaves and bring to simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, bring mixture back to simmer, cover, and cook until potatoes are almost tender (paring knife can be slipped into and out of potato slice with some resistance), about 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves.

3. Transfer mixture to 8-inch-square baking dish (or other 1 1/2-quart gratin dish) and press into an even layer; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake until cream is bubbling around edges and top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Holiday Eggnog
Courtesy of Cooks Illustrated

6 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup brandy , bourbon, or dark rum
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg , plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup heavy cream , whipped to soft peaks

1. Off heat, whisk eggs, yolks, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in heavy 3- or 4-quart saucepan. Stir in milk, one-half cup at a time, blending well after each addition. Heat slowly over lowest possible flame, stirring constantly, until custard registers 160 degrees on instant read thermometer, thickens, and coats the back of a spoon, 25 to 30 minutes. Pour custard through sieve into large bowl; stir in liquor, vanilla and grated nutmeg. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least three hours and up to three days.

2. Just before serving, whip cream in medium bowl to very soft peaks and gently fold into custard mixture until incorporated. Serve in chilled punch bowl or cups, garnishing with optional grated nutmeg.

Bananas

When we first bought the house, there was a stumpy ambiguous-looking tropical plant in the side yard. My mom insisted it was a banana tree even though we told her repeatedly it was unlikely. After all, don't banana grow in humid places like Mexico or Taiwan?


Well, fast forward 2 years and turns out we were wrong. You win this round, Mom....Over the years, the tree has grown to phenomenal heights. So much in fact, that I've threatened to cut it down many times. Luckily I didn't, because lo' and behold, I looked out my side window last week and saw a cluster of baby bananas. Crazy! Having seen a banana tree during our Taiwan visit (see frightening pic below), I instantly recognized it for what it was. Will be interesting to see what these taste like when they're ripe.