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About 30 years ago, my mom fled her home and country amidst war and chaos.  I know that while fear and panic were a big driving force for a lot of the refugees at the time, her goal was different.  She wanted us to grow up in a place where we would never have to run from.

I found this old National Geographic recently (on Etsy of all places), with an article in it about the village she grew up in.  It was published in Sept 1981, two months before I was born.  I'll never find a Mother's day gift that could match what she gave me, my brother, or my sister.  But I'm hoping this old magazine will bring her some memories, maybe some sad ones, but hopefully a happy one in it as well.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

...

Entered into a contest hosted by NerdWallet Shopping

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Dragon #sriracha !

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Maple bacon donuts from Dynamo. Hawaii diet you had no chance. #dynamo #donuts #bacon

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Time for Easter!  Made this lamb with no fancy reductions or seasonings. Why would you want to mask the awesome lamb flavor with any heavy sauces?  And those french fry looking things are actually white asparagus.  They taste like a milder, sweeter version of normal asparagus.   Here's how I made it

Roasted Rack of Rosemary Lamb w/ White Asparagus

Materials:

- 1 Rack of lamb

- Rub:  2 T Fresh Rosemary, 2 T Fresh Thyme, 4 c garlic

- Salt, Pepper, Oil, Butter

Instructable:

- Rinse rack of lamb in water and dry with a paper towel.

1. Score criss-crossed lines into the fat.

2. Rub olive oil, salt, pepper, then the chopped herbs and garlic onto lamb.

3. Marinate overnight

(optional) - Place into a vacuum bag, and remove all air.  This will give you melt-in-your-face tender meat, because all of the pores will open up and soak in the marinade.

4. Set oven to 400

5. Allow lamb to sit around up to room temperature.

6. In a hot oiled cast iron, pan sear all sides of lamb for 1 minute.

7. Transfer to roasting rack and place in oven for 8 minutes, (rib bone side down)

8. Rotate, and reset oven to 350, and bake for another 15 minutes

9. When internal temperature reaches 125 degrees, remove, cover with foil, and rest for 5 minutes.

10. Slice between the ribs to serve.

11. In that lamb-oil juiced skillet, add white asparagus and pan sear with butter, salt and pepper for 5 minutes.  

12. Add water, a tablespoon at a time until asparagus is tender to your liking.

Done!  Happy Easter!

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catching bugs

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Its OmmeGang beers for GoT night! #gameofthrones #ommegang

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The Butcher Steak. 

They always tell us in class that this is the secret cut that will rule over all other cuts.  Beefier then a Porterhouse, more tender then a Filet Mignon.  But in my opinion, nothing beats a well cooked ribeye.  That is, unless its an even better cooked Butcher Steak (otherwise known as the Hanger Steak).  Done right, this steak should have an intense buttery beef taste.

First off, this cut is available everywhere.  Just sometimes you have to ask for it specially.  Its called a Butcher's cut because its known as the cut that butchers save for themselves.

Once you get a nice cut, I like to marinate it in a red wine for 24 hours in the fridge, and then pan sear it and broil it in a cast iron to cook it up.

Materials:

- 1 Hanger Steak

- Red Wine (to cover and marinade)

- Grapeseed Oil (or any other high-heat oil)

- Spices:  Salt, Pepper, Garlic and Onion Powder

Instructable:

1. Marinate beef in wine overnight.

2. The next day, rinse off wine and pat dry, and preheat oven on Broil Setting.

- There's a sinewy line that will run through the cut, and some people will slice this line, out, making two hanger steaks (resembling a tenderloin) out of the original cut.  I'm too lazy to do this, and being a SEA'er I love eating these off-cuts anyway. 

3. Rub with Butter, and then all the rest of the spices on both sides of the steak.

4. Sear in a hot, oiled cast iron.  (about 1 minute on all sides)

- Now remember, that part about using grapeseed oil, if you were to use a lower heat oil such as Olive Oil, your kitchen is probably filled with smoke right about now.

5. Transfer to oven.  Broil 4 minutes, flip, and broil the other side 2 minutes, until the steak is at medium rare (130 degrees).

6. Take the steak out and let it rest and cook up the rest of the way.  Always cook under your desired doneness and let it get to the level you want.  You can always throw it back into the oven to re-fire it, but an overdone piece of meat is only gonna get tougher.

7. After 5 minutes or so, slice the steaks up (always against the grain!)

Enjoy!

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POCKET TILAPIA stuffed with Fennel, Shrimp, and Scallops

Materials:

* 1 Tilapia - deboned, descaled, de-gutted, de-licious!  

* 1/4 c small scallops

* 1/4 c shrimp

* fennel bulb

* garlic

* 1 scallion

* 1 med onion

* 4 clv garlic

* 2 T butter

* 1 t dill

* 1 lemon

* 1/4 cup white wine

Instructable:

- Preheat oven to 350

1. Pat inside, and outside of Tilapia with butter, salt & pepper

2. Sautee chopped scallions & onion in 1 T butter.

3. Add chopped garlic

4. Add chopped fennel, salt & pepper

5. Add shrimp, and scallops, cook 2 minutes then deglaze pan with white wine.

5. Stuff this into the Tilapia.

6. Tie the fish together with kitchen twine, and fennel stalks to keep everything in.

8. Top with lemon slices and dill.

9. Place fish on broiling pan and cook in oven for 20 minutes.

10. Fish should be nearing 140 degrees (check with a thermometer).

11. Finish for five minutes with the oven on Broil setting.  

12. Fish will be flaky and finished at 145 degrees.

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Pan Fried Sartain's Cod over Mint Pea Puree

Marinated some Pacific Cod with my favorite sauce - Sartains.

Materials:

- 4 cod fillets

- Sartains BBQ Sauce (if you can't find this sauce in your area, use any tangy BBQ sauce you can find).

- Lemon (sliced)

- Chives (diced)

- 1 T Butter, 1 T Grapeseed oil

*  Pea Puree

- 16 oz frozen peas

- 1/2 C chicken stock.

- 1 T cream

- 1/3 C fresh mint

- 1/4 C parmasean cheese

- Salt and Peppper

Instructable:

1. Marinate fillets in sauce overnight.

2. Let them get to room temperature about 45 min before cooking.

3. Melt butter on Med-H heat. Add oil.

4. Add fillets and pan-fry for 2 min.

5. Add lemon slices

6. Flip fillets over for an additional 2 minutes.

- Because not all fillets are created equal, check on the skinnier ones first.  If any are approaching 118 degrees internally, its time to take them out.  (as such, always have your meat thermometer on hand).

7. Serve over Pea Puree.

8. Top with chives.

*  For pea puree:

1. Boil chicken stock.

2. Add frozen peas, boil for 5 minutes.

3. Add the rest of the pea puree ingredients.

4. Mix with an immersion blender.

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Popcorn Chicken Gizzards w/ Sesame Honey Sauce  ...And hearts.  And liver.  Deep fry it all!

I haven't gone back to cooking up any off-cuts recently, but chicken parts comes offaly close.

This is an awesome recipe from Maangchi: 

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/popcorn-chicken-gizzards

Materials:

- chicken gizzards, hearts, liver (as much as you want to fry)

- grapeseed oil to do the frying in

- olives, mushrooms, and other veggies to deep fry

- a batter of (4 T corn starch, 1 T sweet rice powder ...or mochi powder, 3 T Wheat Flour), lemon zest from half a lemon, 1 t salt, and a pinch of baking soda) 

- 1 egg

Sesame Honey Sauce:

- 3 T japanese mayo + juice from half a lemon + 1 T Soy Sauce + 3 T ground sesame seeds + 1 t sesame oil + 1 t chopped chives + 1 t honey

Instructable:

1. Dip meat in egg and then coat with batter mixture.

2. Fry - 4-5 minutes on med to med-high heat.  Just a bit at a time to not change the temp of the oil too much.

3. Watch out for the liver.  That thing likes to explode when to comes into contact with oil.

4. Drain off excess oil.

5. Top with lemon, white pepper and chopped chives.

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Uni Cream Sauced Pasta

Uni's not a cheap ingredient, so I hate destroying its texture, but I wanted to experiment with making a cream sauce that had the distinct taste and punch of sea urchin infused into every bite of pasta.

INSTRUCTABLE:

1. Whip up: Uni, Cream, Parmesan Cheese, Salt, and Pepper with an immersion blender. 

2. Saute 4 cloves garlic in 4 T European butter.

3. Add uni cream sauce and mix it up for 2 min on low heat.

4. Toss with cooked thin fettuccine.

5. Top with tobiko, chopped chives, shredded Nori, and cooked Scallops.

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This is the SS Pt. Reyes.

We came across this boat one day while kayaking Tomales bay, and we happened to catch it the other day right at Golden Hour.  You won't be able to google map this very easily, but the coordinates are:

38° 5' 51.92" N  122° 51' 2.76" W

for the adventurers out there.

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Tomales Bay at the Marin Headlands in California has more then just oysters.  Come on the right day and you can grab the freshest Clams and Mussels on this side of the coast.

Here's a recipe for Thai Green Curry Mussels.  One of my favs.

Supplies:

2 lb mussels (de-bearded and scrubbed)

1 stalk lemongrass (smashed)

1 handful of mushrooms (pre-roasted), Parsley

1 thinly sliced onion

1/2 lime

1 cup coconut milk

1 T fish sauce

1 T sliced ginger

3 cloves garlic

1 T green curry paste

1 cup clam broth

1/2 C water

1 T oil

Salt and Pepper

Instructable:

* With mussels, you'll want to toss certain ones out.  First, before cooking, if some are open and don't close up with a tap (means they're dead).  And second, after cooking when they remain closed (means they're dead).

1. Caramelize Onions in oil for two minutes

2. Add Lemongrass, Ginger and Garlic, cook until fragrant

3. Add Green Curry Paste (cook for 2 minutes)

4. Add coconut milk & water.

5. Add Mussels.

6. Steam until all mussels open up (5 minutes)

7. Add broth, mushrooms, parsley, and the lime.

8. Serve with a side of fries and bread.

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Sweetheart Steaks - An interesting Valentines Day cut of two semi-butchered Ribeye Steaks locked in a lover's embrace.

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We made Pad Thai!

I like this recipe below because even though the ingredients aren't super fancy, that familiar spicy/sweet flavor of pad thai shines. 

You'll probably already have all the ingredients in your kitchen (minus the Tamarind which might be a pain to find unless you live near an Asian grocery store).

Ingredients:

A bag of dried rice noodles (soak them in warm water for 45 min)

1 lb Tiger Shrimp (butterflied)

1/3 c fish sauce

1 T tamarind concentrate + 2 T water

2 T sugar

6 cloves garlic (chopped)

2 Shallots sliced

2 Thai Chilies (sliced)

1 Egg

1 lime

Cilantro (a small handful)

Instructable:

1. Drain water from noodles (they should be soft but firm, and definitely not mushy).

2. Prepare the sauce: Mix together fish sauce, tamarind, water, sugar.

3. Add 1 T Oil to a hot Wok.

4. Throw in butterflied shrimp and 2 cloves of chopped garlic, cook about 1 minute a side, and remove.

5. Add 2 T oil, shallots, and thai chilies.  Cook until fragrant (about a minute)

6. Scramble the egg into the wok.  (don't overdo it)

7. Add noodles and Pad Thai sauce. 

8. Cook until noodles are soft (about 4 minutes).  Add a couple T of water if the noodles are still stiff.

9. Return shrimp to the wok and cook for another minute.

10. Serve with lime, and cilantro.

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Pizza night at home.  I love amoeba shaped pizzas.  Went with a White Sauce this time to shake things up.

Start by making a basic roux:

- 3 T Butter (i like the european butters because their creaminess works well in this   sauce).

- 3 T Flour

1.  Add flour slowly to melted butter on low heat.  Whisk till any clumps are gone.

 Whisk in:

1 C milk

1/2 t kosher salt

1/4 t pepper

4 garlic cloves

2 T basil (oregano and savory give a real good flavor too)

1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1/4 cup gruyere

2. Spread over your favorite crust.  (par bake and brush with olive oil first) 

3. Finish it with more gruyere and your favorite toppings (I like to use wild mushrooms like porcini or chanterelles). 

4. Stick it in the oven for 5 minutes.

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