Saturday, December 18, 2010

Poached Egg and Toast

This has nothing to do with cooking for anyone other than me. If the lady had been awake, she would have turned her nose up at this breakfast. However, there is just something wonderful about a perfectly poached egg, a slice of toast and a cup of tea.

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Friday, December 17, 2010

Rose Shortbread Cookies

Generally, I find the addition of a little bit of rosewater or orange-blossom water adds a nice complexity to baked goods. In fact, it is a neat little trick. However, this recipe is not about adding subtle complexity to a recipe, this recipe is about putting rosewater at the forefront. It took a long time to develop, but the result is a vanilla cookie with great texture that you want to smell as much as you want to eat. This particular batch is headed to Grandma Kate's cookie exchange tomorrow.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Sauteed Cauliflower

I try and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables every day, but sometimes I am lax. Worse than that, sometimes I buy vegetables because I want them, forget about them, and then buy more of them. That's what happened to me this week. I wanted cauliflower while I was at the store, forgot I had it and bought more the next time I was at the store. So today when I made stirfry, I had far more cauliflower than I could use. I made the stirfry, and then sauteed the rest of the cauliflower. I used a simple recipe. I just sliced the cauliflower into 1/2 inch slices and dropped them into a frying pan with hot olive oil. I let them brown and added a little salt. It is such a simple preparation, and yet it is so delicious.

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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Chamomile Creme Brulee, part 1

So, this is my first two part post. It stems from the fact that I have recently become obsessed with infusing creme brulee with a chamomile flavor. I made my first attempt last Sunday, with my friend, Leah. We tried to steep chamomile tea bags in the warmed cream. This was a failure. We ended up with vanilla creme brulee. It was delicious, but it was not chamomile. Thus, I set about my current obsession. I decided that attempting to steep the chamomile was a mistake. Instead, I decided to infuse vodka with chamomile and use that infusion to flavor the creme brulee. Step one has been completed. I have the chamomile infusion. It smells and tastes like chamomile, and it has a beautiful amber color. I used a tiny airplane bottle of Finlandia vodka for the infussion substrate. Here is a photo of the process and of the result. Stay tuned for part 2, when I attempt to use this concoction to flavor a creme brulee.

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Saturday, November 20, 2010

Passion Cafe

I very rarely write about restaurant food, but I found a real Tenderloin treat. Passion Cafe is a little French bistro on Sixth just south of Market. There is an upstairs terrace and the food is excellent. The lady had a goat cheese tartine and I had a tartine with ratatoui and anchovies. Both were delicious. Oh, right, also, they have $3 beer for happy hour. It is a great new place in the TL, and I hope that it does well.

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Beef Stew

It's been a while since I have posted. Sadly, I had a terrible cold. I did make it to the grocery store in my convalescence. At the store, all I wanted was the warmest, hardiest meal I could imagine. Beef stew is about as hardy as it gets. I used the recipe in Alice Waters's Simple Foods cookbook as a basis for this stew. Ms. Waters might suggest that the secret ingredient to her stew is the 3 tablespoons of brandy or the 2 cups of wine. They are key ingredients, but I tend to believe that the secret to this stew is the giant bowl of seasoned meat. The flavor is great, but next time I think I am going to add more vegetables.

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Sunday, November 7, 2010

Habenoro Chicken Quesadilla

It has been a while since I posted, and for good reason, the lady and I went to Mexico for her birthday. We had a great time visiting her family and seeing the sights. I was inspired by our trip, so I made habenero chicken quesadillas. For the record, there is no ñ in habenero, which means 90% of the time I mispronounce it. Here are pictures of the quesadillas and there preparation.

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Potato Leek Soup

You know what makes the first cold week of fall in San Francisco worthwhile? That's right, Potato Leek Soup. So I made some this evening. I even managed to take some pictures of each step of the process. The soup is delicious by the by.

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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Mexican Skulls

While she was gone, the lady visited a Mexican sweet shop, which seems like an utterly reasonable thing to do in Mexico. She found these beautiful candy skulls.

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Popover Sunday

It's hard to cook for someone with whom you are on drastically different schedules. That's why weekend breakfasts are so nice. Today we had popovers.

Also, it has come to my attention that some of you want recipes of the food I post. I am happy to post recipes upon request. Just ask in the comments.

As for popovers, they are just 4 ounces of milk mixed with an egg, 2 ounces of flour and a pinch of salt. The trick, then, is to preheat the pan while you preheat the oven to 475°. Put a little bit of butter in the bottom of the pan and pour in the batter. Bake at 475° for 10 minutes or so to make them puff up and then reduce the heat to 325° for 20 more minutes. Serve them while they are hot. Add some herbs and cheese for savory popocers.

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Saturday, October 16, 2010

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Sorry for the break. The lady was gone and not much cooking went on in her absence. Now she's back, and we had whole wheat pancakes for breakfast. Maple syrup too. I snapped a photo of them cooking but not finished. They were gone too quickly.

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Asparagus Pilaf

I don't really know what else to call this. It is sort of a stir fry, but the sauce has Worcestershire instead of soy sauce, and it's finished with a little butter and sherry. The spices are a bit different too. I really just made it up as I went. It tastes much better than it sounds.

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Monday, September 27, 2010

Chocolate Chip Cookies > Donuts

A bet settled and a debt discharged.

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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Gratin of Sweet Potato and Whiskey

Here is Robyn's famous Gratin of Sweet Potato and Whiskey. I am too full from soufle to try them, but they have always been great in the past. Even better, with this dish, I have officially cooked all of the many sweet potatoes I bought.

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Sweet Potato Souflé

Today I am making Robyn's famous Gratin of Sweet Potato and Whiskey. But, I bought too many sweet potatoes. I decided to make the extra into Sweet Potato Souflé. It was amazing. I had so much I had to share with my friend down the hall.

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Saturday, September 25, 2010

Nice Morning

It was the perfect way to start a Saturday. I got up and ran in the sun and then came back and had a Mexican breakfast with my Mexican lady. Black Bean and Cheese Omelettes. I mixed some leftover egg whites with a couple of fresh eggs, so they should have been healthy, but the cheese probably eliminated any hope of that. It was still a nice way to use leftover black beans and egg whites that I might have otherwise thrown out.

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Crepes Banana Foster

Dinner hasn't been so exciting this week, so I thought maybe I'd do up dessert today. The lady said she wanted crepes. I didn't have any lemon, which is her standard crepe topping. I did have banana and brandy though. The result was well worth the sink full of dishes I have to face I'm the morning.

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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Dessert for Five

I went to a BBQ at some friends' house today. Below is what amounts to dessert for five. Peach crisp, homemade brown-sugar ice cream and key lime pie. Sometimes I love my friends. Other times I really love me friends.

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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Vanilla Brandy Creme Brulee

It is my understanding that no one can be unhappy with creme brulee around. They'll get torched when it's time to eat them.
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Mission Style Burritos

I was in the mood for a good Mission style burrito. She claims it's not Mexican food because if you asked for a burrito in Mexico, then you will get an ass (not even that kind of ass). I don't know if she knows what she's talking about. The lady doesn't eat cilantro. I put the question to you. What kind of Mexican doesn't like cilantro? Mexican style or Mission style, here are the burritos.
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Friday, September 17, 2010

One Great Sadness

It pains me to report that this little apartment on Golden Gate Avenue has suffered a great sadness from which none of us might recover. That's right it is finally the day that the homemade beer is ready, and it is bad. For some reason the beer didn't carbonate. Otherwise, it is really good. It has good flavor, and it is not too sweet. What a shame. But who wants flat beer? I mean, I might still drink it, but I really don't want it. Oh well, here are some pictures anyhow.
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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Lamb Basil Broccoli Stir Fry

So I'm back with a little Asian flare. The lamb was a tasty addition to normal stirfry fare, and in the wok the entire thing is pretty. The sauce is a teriyaki that I like to make with 1 part water, 1 part rice vinegar and 1 part soy sauce mixed with a little sugar. Good stuff.

On another exciting note, my first batch of beer is ready tomorrow.
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