Filed under: Cocky Cocktails
Basil Cooler
A simple, refreshing drink for these hot(!) San Francisco days. Muddle fresh basil and one blood orange, sliced, with ice. Add soda. For a more potent cooler, add one ounce of high quality vodka and simple syrup to taste. Enjoy!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Yesterday I purchased meat for the first time in my life. I became vegetarian when I was about 15, because I was horrified at the way food animals are treated in the US. I still am horrified, but i realized it is not enough simply to boycott processed foods and other meat products from factory farms. I can say I support the sustainable and humane production of heritage meat that is sold to local markets, but those words mean nothing if they aren’t backed by dollars. By supporting butchers who sell humanely raised meat, I am making their businesses more profitable and ensuring a better life for more animals. If everyone starts buying the highest quality meat, more places will sell it.
This was a simple yet scrumptious dinner. I roasted sliced fingerling potatoes with garlic, onions, and fresh goat cheese in olive oil and served it with sauteed kale. I always forget how much I absolutely adore kale.
I made a mostly successful stir fry with baby broccoli, asparagus, ginger, onion, kumquats, and brown rice cooked with red wine and soy sauce. I feel it may have been missing something, but I’m not sure quite what. Maybe I could have substituted something for the wine, but it’s what I had on hand.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’ve been in bed sick for a couple of days, and all I want is bowls and bowls of hot soup. I’ve already had Vietnamese vegetable noodle soup (with lots of Sriracha) and Chinese hot and sour soup. However, as I am missing work for this, I can’t really afford to keep getting delivery. Therefore, I decided to brave the walk to my neighborhood store and purchase ingredients for soup.
I wanted something simple and hearty, something that wouldn’t take too much brain power to make. I didn’t really measure anything, but with this soup it doesn’t matter. Here’s what I did:
1. Saute one half diced onion and a couple of handfuls of brown rice in butter and olive oil until both become somewhat transparent.
2. Add vegetable stock, chopped potatoes, chopped beets, and fresh ginger.
3. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes and beets are tender.
4. Season with salt, black pepper, and white pepper.
If I weren’t ill, I would garnish this with sour cream. It’s still delicious as is though.
Filed under: Farmers Market Finds
I have had a long love affair with potatoes. When times are tough and my wallet is light, potatoes allow me to cook a filling meal without feeling like I am going without. When I first left home at 17, I basically lived off of fried potatoes and eggs, and fried potatoes are still my favorite.
I’ve been buying fingerling and baby yukon potatoes from the same woman at the Ferry Building Farmers Market for a few years now. We’ve shared a special bond (at least in my mind) ever since she yelled at a yuppie woman for trying to take my place in line. She called me a lady and made me blush. And her potatoes are the freshest, so I’m a loyal customer.
Here’s today’s breakfast:
Filed under: recipes
I had a fabulous meal planned for Christmas day. The new boy and I had been having a terrible time finding room in our schedules to see each other, and we finally both had the same day off from work. I wanted to do something special, and cooking dinner sounded like the best possible option.
Until he flaked via text message. I deleted his phone number and had vodka and pretzels for dinner. The last thing on my mind was cooking a tasty meal.
However, I am not one to waste good mushrooms, and I had bought a bag full of wild hedgehog mushrooms the day before. So today I cooked what should have been a meal for two. I would have done something fancier, had I had an audience, but a simple stir fry was just as delicious. I think I have a new second favorite mushroom.
Hedgehog Mushroom Stir Fry
1 medium red potato
1/2 red onion
1 small head of broccoli
1 cup hedgehog mushrooms
butter
ginger juice
soy sauce
salt
white pepper
I cooked the onions and potatoes for about ten minutes, then added everything but the broccoli. I stir fried everything on medium high heat until the mushrooms were cooked through, then added the broccoli for just a few minutes.
Simple and tasty.
After having hot buttered rum at KoKo’s last night, I decided to try making it myself. I made a batch of spiced butter, so that I could bring it to work and make this cocktail for my Monday bar patrons. It was a huge success, and I almost ran out of butter. I didn’t measure anything, but it’s easy enough to figure the amounts out by taste. Here’s the recipe:
Salted Butter
Brown Sugar
Pumpkin Pie Spice
I simply melted a stick of butter and mixed in maybe half a cup or so of brown sugar and about half a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice. I then put slightly less than a tablespoon of the mixture in each glass, mixed in a little hot water, added Captain Morgan’s Spiced rum and more hot water, and garnished it with a lemon twist. Delicious!
My current favorite Hot Toddie recipe:
Two round slices of lemon in a heat proof glass.
(Optional- stud the lemon skin with a few whole cloves.)
1/2 oz. Bärenjäger honey liquor
1 oz. Maker’s Mark
6-8 oz. hot water.
Garnish with lemon.
