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.
I’ve been cooking rice bowls for breakfast this week. I start with brown rice and then saute whatever vegetables I have around and add a fried egg. The variations are endless, and the results are always scrumptious.
Today’s rice bowl consisted of assorted wild mushrooms, bell pepper, onions, and garlic sauteed with ginger juice, soy sauce, and a little olive oil.
Filed under: recipes | Tags: chanterelles, cooking, fingerling potatoes, mushrooms, recipes
I made dinner last night for my house mate and myself. Rainbow Grocery had huge chanterelle mushrooms, so I looked for recipe inspiration at http://fungi.com, (which is an AWESOME website. You can order gourmet mushroom grow kits to produce your own fancy fungi at home!) The one thing I took from their recipes was adding sour cream to the finished product. I kind of made this up as I went along, and it turned out really well. Here’s what I did:
I started a cup of brown rice in the steamer and boiled the fingerling potatoes until just barely cooked through. Then I melted one tablespoon of butter in a saucepan with one small, diced red onion, two crushed cloves of garlic, sliced fingerling potatoes, and one giant, sliced chanterelle. I added salt and herbs de Provence, then sauteed everything for about 14 minutes.
At this point, the rice was pretty much done, but there was still too much water in it, so I dumped everything out of the pan and put in the rice with a little more butter. I pan fried the rice for a few minutes, letting some of it get golden brown and a little crunchy. Next I took the pan off the heat and added a couple tablespoons of sour cream, mixing it into the rice. Finally, I put the rice in bowls and topped it with the sauteed mushrooms and potatoes.
My house mate seemed to really like this, and I think I will definitely make it again when I have chanterelles to use. I have one mushroom left, and I think I will use it to make a pasta sauce. Yum.
As a bartender, I have been mostly anti-shooters, for several reasons. First, shooters have different names in different regions, and bar patrons never seem to understand why I don’t know what is in the Purple Hooting Ugly Duckling Blow Job that they always get at their college campus bar. Second, the recipes vary as much as the names. Third, these drinks always seem to get ordered when I am slammed, and they all require chilling several ingredients. Fourth, the people who order them are assholes, and the same young kids who will later puke in the bathroom and try to bring their drinks outside.
However, a few exceptions exist. My new favorite shooter isn’t even in the same category as the rest. It is beautiful in it’s simplicity, and has a strong, clean flavor. This drink is the Russian Suicide, and it is comprised of a chilled shot of vodka, followed with a lemon slice coated in half ground coffee and half sugar. Delicious. I would have photos, if I trusted myself to carry around my camera on the nights that lead to this drink.
Just promise me you won’t try this when your bartender is swamped with customers. Getting out the coffee when busy is kind of a pain.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I had grand plans for this fall involving the abundant harvests of the farmers market. Those plans are on hold indefinitely while I figure out my living situation, but I still have my wish list of equipment that would help me turn fresh summer produce into scrumptious meals throughout the colder months.
Number one on my list is the Harsch Fermenting Crock from Germany. I could use it to make raw sauerkraut and old fashioned pickled vegetables, making my daily bacteria consumption that much more delicious.
The second thing I want is a canning setup, so that I can make homemade tomato sauce and endless preserves and jams.
I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and it has filled me with a longing to buy up all of the fresh produce I can and process it myself to last until spring. At first I wasn’t sure I would like a book focused on the life of a wife and her family, but her stories and recipes are quite inspiring. I wish I could take a week off from my life and stay on her farm. I guess I will settle for making my own orange marmalade during the holiday season this year.
Filed under: Guilty Pleasures | Tags: britney spears, crystal hot sauce, food, white trash snacks
We all have our weaknesses. Being from the South, mine are often of the white trash variety. This morning, lacking the motivation to brave the overtaxed Muni system, I walked down to the liquor store to pick up what I call my “Britney Spears Breakfast”. This consists of ruffled potato chips, sour cream, and Louisiana’s own Crystal Hot Sauce. Those of you who are familiar with the awesomeness that is sour cream and potato chips will understand. The rest of you, try not to judge me too harshly. And you don’t know what you are missing.
