Fried Goat Cheese

The first time I've ever had fried goat cheese was at Chaya Brasserie in San Francisco. Ummmm...what can I say about it? Everything and nothing all at the same time. That was about 5 years ago. I've had it multiple times since then, and it just occured to me recently that I could make it myself - and boy was it easy...and WAY less expensive than ordering it at Chaya. My boyfriend calls it "fancy mozzarella sticks". Yeah, pretty much....same concept, but much MUCH more delectible.

In this salad, I paired the warm creamy goat cheese with sweet roasted beets and toasted walnuts. I also had some homemade bagel croutons that I threw in to give it extra crunch, and served it with a drizzle of homemade citrus vinaigrette.

Ingredients
One small log of goat cheese, slicked into 1/2 inch discs
1/3 C Flour
1 Egg, whisked
2 tsp water
1/3 C cornmeal (Can also substitute bread crumbs, but the crunch of cornmeal is fun)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil

Put the Flour, egg and cornmeal in 3 separate dishes. Add the water to the egg, and whisk together. Add the garlic powder, cayenne, sesame seeds, and a generous pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper into the cornmeal and mix.

In a small saute pan, heat up enough oil so that it's deep enough to reach at least 1/4 of the way up the side of the disk - about 1/4 inch deep. Make sure the oil is hot enough by sprinkling some flour in the oil. If it sizzles, it's hot enough, but make sure the oil doesn't smoke.

Working with one or two goat cheese discs at a time, first cover each disc with flour and pat of the extra flour. Next, dip it in the egg, making sure that the whole disc is covered, then toss it around in the cornmeal. Gently place breaded goat cheese in the hot oil and cook for one to two minutes each side, taking care when flipping so the crust doesn't puncture. Once the goat cheese is golden brown, set aside on a paper towel and serve warm on top of the already prepared salad.

Horchata

I was browsing Food Network magazine the other day and came across a recipe for horchata. I don't know why it never occurred to me that I could make my own horchata. I LOVE the stuff! Sweet, cinnamon-y rice milk. Yum yum yum! The perfect balance for any spicy Mexican meal. After reading through the recipe, I didn't think it could possibly be that easy, so I went online to see if there were other variations. I found a recipe from Emeril Lagasse that included blanched almonds in it - which I think would add the creaminess that the other recipe may have lacked, so I decided to go with that one.


In the process of making the horchata, I realized that I had run out of sugar - so I used some powdered sugar instead. I think that added to the texture a bit to make it even more silky, since creamy sweet frosting is just powdered sugar and a tiny bit of liquid. In any case, it came out DELICIOUS. It's an easy recipe to follow, but a little time consuding since it has to sit over night. It definitely tested my patience - I couldn't wait to take a giant gulp of it.

Ingredients
8 Tbs long grain rice
1 Cup blanched almonds
zest of 1/2 lime
1 tsp cinnamon (I ended up adding more)
3 Cups hot water, 4 cups cold water, divided
1 to 1 1/2 C of sugar (depending on taste)
Vanilla extract to taste (~ 1tsp)

In a blender or food processor, finely grind up the rice - as fine as you can possibly get it. The finer the rice, the better the horchata. Put it in a large pitcher and add in the almonds, lime, and cinnamon. Add three cups of boiling water, stir, and let sit over night.

The next day, blend the mixure until it's as smooth as possible. Add 2 Cups of cold water and blend until combined. Using a fine strainer or strainer and cheese cloth, allow the liquid to strain through. (I strained it 3 times because I didn't have cheese cloth). Add a 2 more cups of cold water and mix thoroughly. Add Sugar and vanilla, and a little bit more cinnamon if you'd like. Stir well until the sugar has completely dissolved. I had to let the horchata sit in the fridge for a little while in order for the sugar to fully dissolve and all the flavors to meld together. Serve cold, over ice.

Corn and Zucchini Salad with a Latin Twist

Love, love, LOVE summer time!I mean, kale and chard in the winter is great and all, but nothing beats the bright colorful flavors of summer. The combination of the warm weather with sweet, in season corn, and cool tender zucchini screams summer time to me. It’s probably one of my favorite salads to make, and it’s so versatile! You can add anything you want to it. My first corn & zucchini salad had thyme and lemon zest with a simple lemon juice and olive oil dressing. In this version, I served it as a light and fresh side to grilled fajitas, so a Latin twist was in the stars for this recipe


Ingredients:
2 ears of corn, boiled and kernels cut off
2-3 small zucchini, diced to the size of corn kernels (more tender than the big ones)
1 red bell pepper, diced to the size of corn kernels
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, finely diced
½ Cup cilantro, chopped
Zest of one lime
Juice of one lime
5 Tbs Olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Toss all of the ingredients together, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Yes, it’s THAT easy.

Side note: Feel free to play around with the amount of each ingredient to your taste!

Cornmeal and Herb Crusted Chicken Drumsticks

It breaks my heart when I hear people say that they don't like chicken drumsticks. "It's too fatty." "There's a bone in it." "It's 'dark' meat...I don't like the concept of that." ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!? First excuse on the fattiness - ok, I can kind of accept that, but fat also = flavor. It's not like you're eating a stick of butter. Second excuse: a chicken was an animal. Animals have bones. You may as well eat worms if you're scared of bones. When cooking meat with bones in it you retain moisture and flavor. The third excuse....don't even get me started. Let's just stick with the scientific explanation that dark meat is dark because of myoglobin. Chickens need to run *or..at least chickens who aren't locked up in cages*....so their legs need more oxygen. Myoglobin stores oxygen and that's what gives dark meat its color.

So science and being irked by non drumstick eaters aside....I obviously enjoy eating it. It's inexpensive, juicy and is incredibly flavorful. I've cooked it various different ways, but this is my first time breading and baking. Let's just say I'll definitely do it again. I found a couple recipes and didn't like any one of them so I took bits and pieces from various recipes and made it my own. All the herbs I used are fresh from my garden and the bread crumbs are from
an old hunk of bread that I put in the food processor.

Ingredients:
8 Chicken Drumsticks
1/4 C Dijon Mustard
3 Tbs Mayonnaise
1 Tbs Worcesterchire Sauce
A Splash or two of Tobasco Sauce
1/3 C Plain Bread Crumbs
1/3 C Cornmeal
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/4 tsp fresh Rosemary
1 1/4 tsp fresh Thyme
1 1/4 tsp fresh Oregano
1 1/4 tsp fresh Sage

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In small bowl, mix together the mustard, mayonnaise, worcestershire sauce and tobasco. In another dish combine bread crumbs, cornmeal, cayenne and chili powder. Chop up the fresh herbs all together and toss it in with the dry cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture. Working with one drumstick at a time, and using your hands, spread a thin layer of the mustard/mayo mixture all over the drumstick, then put it in the breadcrumb mixture, making sure to have the whole piece of chicken covered. Arrange the breaded chicken on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes. When you poke a knife into it, the juice should come out clear (not pink). Let sit for a couple minutes (if you can wait that long - because I couldn't and ended up burning my tongue), and serve warm.

Grilled Lobster w/ Garlic Herbed Butter

How do you pass up live, fresh lobster that are being sold at $7.99/lb. Simple - you just don't do it. *Thank you, Chowhounders for the food news updates!!!* Just the week before, I picked up 2 live crab off a boat in Bodega Bay ($6.99/lb), and steamed it with ginger and scallions (Here's a recipe for it from one of my fave blogs - Appetite for China). After that episode of fresh seafood - I was desperately craving lobster!!! Yumyumyumyumyumyumyumyum....=D.



Lucky for me, it was my dad's birthday - so I had a 'real' reason to splurge! - not that I needed a reason for $7.99/lb lobster. I ended up buying 3 lobsters that were just under 2 lbs each. Look - they're staring at you..saying "If you put me in boiling lemony water - I will forever hate you - but you will be forever pleased with my sweet and juicy meat, so I don't blame you."


Most people just eat the tail and the big claws, but there's actually a lot of delicious tender meat in the head and their skinny little legs, so I just decided to cook the whole damn thing - why not, right?

Ingredients
Lobster (in this case, 3 whole)
1 whole lemon - cut in half
1/4 Cup of Butter (1/2 a stick)
1 sprig rosemary, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Lemon wedges for serving

Boil a big pot of water and squeeze the juice of a whole lemon into it. Throw in the lemon halves for flavor. Submerge each the lobster under the boiling water for 1-1.5 minutes - until the lobster has turned orange and stops moving. =( You don't want to fully cook the lobster at this stage. If doing one lobster at a time - make sure the water comes back to a boil before putting in the next lobster.

After boiling, run it under cold water or submerge into a bucket of ice water to stop the cooking. Peel off the large claws and set aside to get it out of your way. Using a large knife, slice each lobster length wise using the bottom side of the lobster as a guide - in between its legs and down the middle of the tail. Clean out the guts and rinse it out a bit w/cold water. Let the water drain.


In the meantime, prepare the herbed butter. Mix the minced rosemary and garlic in with the butter and put it in the microwave until all the butter is melted (30 - 40 seconds). This allows the flavors of the garlic and rosemary to seep into the butter. Brush the garlic herb butter evenly on the open sides of the 6 lobster halves. Place cut side down onto a HOT grill for 3-4 minutes until the the meat is browned. While the halves are grilling, also place the claws on the grill - they'll take a total of 6-8 minutes to cook (3-4 minutes on each side).


Before serving, crack the shells of the claws using a mallot, and serve with lemon wedges.

Citrus Poppy Seed Cookies

This post is LONG over due. I made these cookies a couple months back after buying a bag of poppy seeds at random from a local european specialty food store. I went into the store wanting to buy something I had never purchased before since the store had so many unusual items like cured meats with weird names I had never heard of to sauces that were completely foreign to me. What I came out with was a bag of poppy seeds, a mug of mustard (yes, a mug....), and a few other little snacks.

I asked the lady at the counter what she'd make with poppy seeds and mustard, and she suggested, in a very heavy German-like accent, *I could barely understand her*....that a great recipe her mom made was to spread a thin layer of mustard all over a whole fish, stuff the inside w/ avocado and lemon, and sprinkle poppy seeds over it. Mustard Avocado & Poppy Seed Fish. It sounded great - but I wasn't in a fishy mood - that might be another post one of these days..... I'm familiar with poppy seeds in lemon poppy seed cake, muffins, etc...so I figured I'd stick to familiarity before venturing off into foreign territory. I found a recipe online for Lemon Poppy Seed cookies that sounded pretty good. I had fresh oranges to spare as well - so why not mix lemon and orange and make it my own! The came out sweet, slightly tart and deliciously cakey/chewy!


Ingredients:
1/2 Cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 tsp lemon zest
1.5 tsp orange zest
1/2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 Tbs orange juice
2 Tbs Poppy Seeds
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 Cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:
1 Cup powdered sugar
1/2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 Tbs orange juice

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and blend. Add the citrus zest, poppy seeds and sour cream and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough and roll to form each cookie. Drop them onto un-greased cookie sheets - keeping the about 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookes are lightly browned - about 18 minutes. Let the cookies cool before icing.

For the icing: Put powdered sugar into a bowl and mix in citrus juices until smooth. Dip the top of the cookies and let it drip before placing it down to allow it to harden.

Makes about 20 cookies

Scallion Cakes

I opened my produce box last week and to my horror, I found a humongous bunch of scallions. Yucky yuck yuck. Ok - they weren't ugly or anything - quite beautiful actually, with pretty shades of purple, white and green.

But if you know me, you know I hate scallions. When I was little, I'd pick them out of my fried rice, spoon it out of bowls of congee, and spit it out after taking a sip of miso soup. I gagged when I ate them. To this day, I pick them out whenever I can. When I tell people this little fact about me, they think I'm crazy because I like to eat pretty much everything. This next little tidbit is probably even more odd. Despite my hatred for scallions - there are only 2 ways I eat them. In both ways - they are used as the MAIN ingredient and can possibly be 2 of my favorite foods. Weird, right? I know. One of them is ginger scallion sauce, which I love to mix with white rice and gobble up, and the other is scallion cake. Hot, flaky, chewy and salty little pastries that have an incredible green onion flavor that I happen to love.


Ingredients:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup room temperature water
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 scallions chopped into little pieces
A little bowl of salt - course preferred
A little bowl of corn oil

In separate bowls, mix together 1 Cup of flour with the boiling water, and the remaining cup of flour with room temperature water. Once each mixture is mixed well, combine the 2 together and knead until it's fully combined. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest for one hour. In the meantime, chop up the scallions.


Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a a time, roll the dough into a circle that's about 1/8 inch thick. Using a brush, generously brush the dough with oil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with chopped green onions. See picture for amount of green onions. (I know, I'd NEVER put that amount of scallions straight into my mouth). Roll up the dough length wise into a log. Then roll the log into a circle. Once a circle is formed, press it down flat. Some onions will ooze out, but that's OK. Repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough.

Once all the cakes are formed, heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook the cakes for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve warm.