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Old Bay Dungeness Crab

Mar 15th, 2010
by jmarshall

Ah, the scent of pee. So romantic. At least, that’s what the male Dungeness crab thinks when a female is nearby during mating season.

Dungeness crab, or Cancer magister, is named after the town of Dungeness, Washington – which is named after a headland on the coast of Kent, England. This “master crab” is fished on the West Coast and lives in habitat ranging from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska south to Santa Cruz, California. According to Wikipedia, Dungeness, WA was the location of the West Coast’s first commercial fishery (1848).

Today, you should only get male Dungeness crab on your plate, in keeping with sustainable fishing practices.

The word “Dungeness” may have evolved from a French word meaning “dangerous nose.” Good warning to keep those big, strong claws far away from your shnozz.

Last week, a friend called in the crew to demolish more than a dozen of the biggest Dungeness crabs I’ve ever seen. We did a good job, but he had plenty of meat left over for crab cakes the next day.

In San Francisco, I like to buy live crab at the Asian markets in the Sunset or the Richmond – they do a brisk business so it’s fresh and the price is usually great. The crab season generally runs from November to April.

This foolproof method (see video) for steaming Dungeness crab results in moist, succulent meat flavored with salty, savory Old Bay.  Depending on the size of the crabs, you’ll need to steam them 15-20 minutes.

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Duck Confit Salad

Mar 12th, 2010
by Julie

Duck Salad

My husband and I love duck confit but have only made it once and said “we’ll never make that again.”  When we saw ready-made Grimaud Farms duck confit legs at Costco we were excited. All you have to do is cook them in the oven for 15 minutes and voila!

On a recent Sunday afternoon we wanted a healthy lunch with the duck confit that was delicate and healthy with a hint of sweetness. We looked in the fridge to see what we had on hand and found spring mix, tomatoes, turkish feta, corn and pears. While it may seem like a hodgepodge of ingredients, they all worked well together.   The feta gives the salad a salty flavor while the pears and dried cherries work together to give this dish sweetness.

This is an easy, perfect salad for a weekend lunch or dinner which would be well over $12 in any restaurant.  We loved this salad so much that we had it the following weekend, too…but this time with a nice glass of white wine! Bon Appetit! Continue reading…

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Posted in: Recipes, Salads.
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Crab Cakes with Mango Salsa

Mar 10th, 2010
by JL McNamara

crab cakes with mango salsa

I was out of town last week and happily had many delicious restaurant meals. The downside, though, was that by the end of the week I was feeling a tad gross from all of the rich food. While I did try to exhibit some restraint when ordering, it was really difficult to say no to a chocolate pithivier. So I didn’t. This scenario (un)fortunately repeated itself several times throughout the week, bringing me back to my original point: too much rich food.

So, like Dan, I embarked on my own week of healthy cooking. I haven’t gone so far as to have a vegetarian week because the meat lover who is my husband would have been cranky beyond belief. But the key word for the week has been “lite.”

Crab cakes with mango salsa has been my fallback “lite” recipe for years. For some reason, I can’t eat a naked crab cake. Tartar sauce or aioli is usually my dressing of choice, but mango salsa provides a light, bright, complementary flavor without the guilt of delicious, creamy tartar sauce. Paired with a side salad, it makes an easy weeknight meal.

I generally buy my crab cakes at Whole Foods but if you’d rather make your own, the recipe for their crab cakes can be found here. Continue reading…

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Posted in: Dips, Main Course - Seafood, Recipes.
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Farro of the Unknown

Mar 8th, 2010
by Margot

Farro is one of those grains that has always caused me pause – what exactly is it? how do you cook it? will it be mushy? I was plagued with doubt and avoided cooking it for quite some time. The other day I swallowed my fear and decided to do some research and cook farro for the first time. You know what? It was easy and delicious! After poking around on the Interwebs, here’s what I learned about farro:

A) Farro is an ancient grain that has been eaten in Italy for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years.

B) People disagree on what to call it. To some it is known as emmer, others say it’s a kind of spelt, and then there’s another group that insists farro is its own unique species of wheat.

C) There’s an Italian institute for “underutilized species” that has compiled everything you’d ever want to know about farro in a short paper (that’s right, get your geek on).

Here’s how I learned to cook farro: soak it overnight (like you would for dried beans), then simmer it for 7-10 minutes, finally drain it and then let it steam. The result was a fluffy, slightly nutty grain with a gentle toothsomeness that is familiar yet unique.

I prepared this first batch of farro as a warm salad and the recipe that follows is similar to an Italian-style fried rice – it’s quite versatile and very satisfying.

Warm Farro Salad

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Posted in: Appetizers, Main Course - Vegetarian, Pasta, Recipes, Salads.
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Adventures in Healthy Cooking

Mar 5th, 2010
by dan

For some people it’s birthdays. For others it’s a New Year’s resolution. Or even a trip to the doctor. Everyone gets inspiration for eating healthier from different places. For me, it’s the fact that I’m getting married in seven months and I agreed to pay someone a substantial amount of money to take pictures of me. So I want those pictures to look good.

This inspiration led to a discussion of leafy green vegetables and hearty whole grains. But discussion didn’t lead to much action, at first. We have a good routine in our kitchen, and we can manage a week of fairly healthy, enjoyable dinners with pretty minimal effort. Routine doesn’t include a ton of weeknight culinary adventures though. We talked a big game, but other than brown rice, whole grains were nowhere to be found, and kale, chard, and even the less-novel spinach, never made an appearance.

The solution? Vegetarian Week 2010

Curry Prep

Curry Prep

To really dig into the grains and veggies we claimed to want to try, we had to force the issue. A week-long commitment to meatless meals required us to put a little more thought into recipes and menu-planning up front than usual. Thankfully, there are some good resources out there for the carnivore who’s veg-curious. I started with our under-utlized copy of Rebecca Wood’s The Splendid Grain and 101 Cookbooks.

After a Korean BBQ-induced meat fugue on Saturday night, we started the week with palak daal, a great lentil dish. Then we had kasha paprikas from The Splendid Grain with a quick black bean soup and a salad, followed by a mushroom and spinach pasta. By far, the best meal yet was the cashew curry dish below, from 101 Cookbooks.

Two observations about vegetarian cooking:

  • You have to like beans. A lot. Black beans. Lentils. Tofu. Somehow or another, you need to get some protein in your meals, and beans are pretty central to the non-meat protein world.
  • You have to like cutting vegetables. A lot. Chop this. Dice that. Mince this. It’s a mise en place marathon.

But we’ve been really enjoying it, and learning a lot about grains and veggies that we can incorporate into our normal omnivorous lifestyle. If you’ve got a suggestion for a good veggie recipe, let us know in the comments.

Cashew Curry

Cashew Curry

Cashew Curry
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 1/2 c. coconut milk
3 tablespoons curry powder*
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2/3 c. water
7 ounces extra firm tofu (half a standard package), cut into small cubes*
1 1/4 c. green beans, cut into 1-inch segments
2 c. cauliflower (about half a head), cut into tiny florets
1/2 cup cashews*
a handful of cilantro, loosely chopped
Continue reading…

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Posted in: Main Course - Vegetarian, Recipes.
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Guilt-free Fish

Mar 3rd, 2010
by bethabigail

Even if you’re not a nature documentary junkie, it’s hard to ignore the fact that our oceans are in danger. The media reports how plastic is littering the seas and beaches, choking seabirds and poisoning fish. Overfishing threatens whole species and irresponsible fish farming destroys habitats and pollutes ocean waters. The seas boil, the skies rain fire, Catfish and Dogfish are living together — mass hysteria!

Fresh Fish

So how can you consume seafood nowadays without feeling like a total jerk? A few years ago we learned about the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Pocket Guides, which helps consumers choose responsible seafood options when dining and shopping. It was nice and succinct but unfortunately, easily misplaced. So, we were excited to learn that the Aquarium now has a free iPhone App, which provides you with searchable and more up-to-date information.

San Francisco Fish Company

But before recommending this app to you, we first wanted to field test it at the San Francisco Fish Company. Located in the San Francisco Ferry Building, they advertise themselves as a sustainable fish market. Thom has been there in the past and found the guys behind the counter to be friendly, knowledgeable, and chatty. Unfortunately, those guys had the day off when we showed up with the Seafood Watch App. When asked, “Has this ahi tuna been caught in an environmentally friendly fashion?” the fishmonger behind the counter stared at us for a while before replying, “I don’t even know what that means.” Okay… so much for that idea. I guess this experience serves as just one example of how difficult it can be to know exactly where your fish comes from and how it’s been caught — even when you’re someplace where they pride themselves on their sustainable options. In any seafood situation, your best option is choose to be an informed consumer and luckily we had our iPhone App, which confirmed that this tuna fit the bill.

So, with this choice piece of sustainably harvested fish we chose to cook up one of our new favorite dishes: Maple Glazed Tuna with Pear Potato Salad. It’s a simple dish to prepare with a delicious combination of savory and sweet flavor.

Maple Glazed Tuna with Pear Potato Salad

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Posted in: Main Course - Seafood, Recipes.
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Drowned Eggs: Huevos Ahogados

Mar 1st, 2010
by jmarshall

huevos_ahogados

“I’m still here, El Guapo,” shouted the mustachioed bandit to his distraught jéfe, as they caught sight of the rest of their outlaw gang fleeing in panic, away from the tiny Mexican village defended hysterically by the Three Amigos (and a band of Three Amigos look-alikes).

Never mind that after he said that he promptly got shot.

The point I’m trying to make is that, despite being an outlaw, he was a faithful sidekick. A Robin to his Batman. A Watson to his Sherlock. An Iceman to his Maverick. He gave him a sweater for his birthday, for God’s sake.

The type of friend who’s always there for you. In the kitchen, when all seems lost, when it seems there’s nothing to eat, I imagine a tiny voice coming from the vegetable drawer (no, I’m not insane): “We’re still here, La Guapa” (because, of course, I’m female and very good looking).

Tomatoes, onions and garlic. The Three Amigos of so many dishes – including those from the Italian part of my family and the Mexican part of my husband’s. A true marriage of the old and new worlds. It’s amazing how different these three ingredients can taste, even when you don’t do much different to them. Think: pasta sauce, salsa, bruschetta.

This recipe is the latest incarnation of the Trinity. During a recent visit to my in-laws, I got a front row seat to the alchemy that is one of my favorite Mexican breakfasts: huevos ahogados. I was very excited to find out that it’s a really simple dish to make and would be perfect for feeding a crowd for brunch. Continue reading…

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Fried Rice

Feb 25th, 2010
by JL McNamara

fried rice

Rourke was out of town for a few days, so I was on my own for dinner. Left to my own devices, I generally do one of two things:

  • Experiment. Sometimes this has led to tasty things, and sometimes this has led to awful things that immediately needed to be thrown out.
  • Scavenge. It is amazing what you will put together when you are too lazy to cook or go out for food. Cheese and crackers + can of tuna + a few carrots = a somewhat balanced meal?

The thing that I end up cooking often, though, is fried rice. Easy, quick, and a good way to throw together odds and ends that you might have in the fridge. For me, you need just a few basic ingredients for fried rice: leftover rice, eggs, scallions, white pepper, salt, and sugar. That’s it.

You might notice that there isn’t any soy sauce in that list. Cantonese fried rice doesn’t need soy sauce. You could maybe drizzle a small amount on if you really want to. But the stuff that you buy in a lot of the open kitchen, chinese take out spots where the fried rice is brown from soy sauce? Not it.

A few tips when making fried rice:

  • The most important thing is that you use chilled, leftover rice. Freshly cooked rice has too much moisture and will result in a mushy, gluey mess.
  • If you are adding meat or vegetables, you need to cook everything separately. This is done so that each individual ingredient retains its own flavor rather than tasting like everything else in the pan. You would cook in order of most delicate flavor to heaviest flavor. For example, eggs, then vegetables, then meat.

In the above photo, I had some lap cheong, which is chinese sausage, in the fridge so I added that to my fried rice. Here in the Bay Area, Wycen Foods makes excellent lap cheong.

Continue reading…

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Dijon Chicken Stew

Feb 22nd, 2010
by dan

chicken stewThe first time I planned to cook for my fiance, I was going to make beef stew. It’s simple, hearty, and perfect for a cold San Francisco evening. As a bonus, it requires you to open a bottle of wine, pour out about a cup to cook with, and then wait for a good while. So we’d have an open bottle of wine and some time to talk while dinner simmered.

Then disaster struck. I cut up the carrots. Then I cut up the potatoes. Everything was going fine. Then I opened the meat, purchased only two days prior from a grocery store that will remain nameless. The meat was rotten. Not “a little gamey” or “on the maybe side.” It was funkier than George Clinton.

We considered ordering delivery, but cooking was a point of pride for me. And I’m stubborn. And the potatoes and carrots were already cut up and waiting. So I made chicken stew. Sub out rotten beef for chicken thigh meat from the freezer. Replace the cabernet with white wine (in that case, 2006 Tres Sabores sauvignon blanc). Tweak the seasoning for chicken instead of beef. It was perfect. Not only did I cook a romantic dinner, I did it in MacGyver style. We’ve made it numerous times since then, tweaking here and there every time, but starting with this basic recipe. Continue reading…

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Posted in: Main Course - Chicken, Recipes.
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Giant Butter Bean & Feta Gratin

Feb 18th, 2010
by jmarshall

beans 004

I’m cursed by a total inability to cook the “magical fruit” from scratch. Every time I try, I end up with rock-hard nubbins that would be better as pebbles on the bottom of a fish tank than dinner.

Fortunately, there is a wide selection of the canned variety at the store.

While I like bacon as much as the next girl, I don’t miss meat ONE BIT when eating this bean gratin: creamy beans in a savory sauce, topped with crunchy bread crumbs and salty cheese. You have got to try it – healthy, hearty, cheap and easy. Hard to beat.

How did this delectable bean dish enter my life? I ordered a similar bean gratin at Nopa one night, years ago. Since then, it’s become one of my favorite dishes at the restaurant, even as it changes to incorporate seasonal ingredients. I wanted to try replicating it at home but I was nervous about making the right sauce. Then a friend of mine mentioned a dish she had at Ubuntu and a recipe for the dish in the New York Times… and although that dish is more of a soup, the flavors seemed right, so I adapted it to make this bean gratin. The results = good.

I chose butter beans — big, creamy beans — for the recipe. Apparently they are in the lima bean family, but they are pale yellow and much larger and softer. Lima beans originated in Lima, Peru. Who knew, though I guess it should have been obvious.

The butter beans I bought at the grocery store (in a can!) were from Italy (wait, I thought they were Peruvian!). A true staple of the cooking of so many cultures, beans have traveled all over the world, so they seem to “come” from everywhere. In a past life, I did some PR work related to beans and nutrition and learned a bit about beans’ history and culinary trends. (I know it’s a “commercial” site, but the papers on the “professional” pages are really informational and pretty interesting.) Continue reading…

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Posted in: Appetizers, Main Course - Vegetarian, Recipes, Sides.
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