Stuffed Strawberries

My wife had her first photo shoot for the recipe book she is making today. In honor of this I thought I would post one of her fave recipes which will feature in the book. For now you will have to make do with my photography, but we will update in due course.

From the book:

Strawberry Dreams

When my mother-in-law turned 60 we decided to throw her a surprise party. The menu was set to be finger food and one of my very favorite creations was to be endives topped with blue cheese and spicy candied pecans. the evening before the party I started to stress, we had one small packet of endives and I just didn't know if it was going to be enough to serve all the guests, I needed an alternative vessel. I went to sleep in a fit of panic and during the night I dreamed of nothing but food and catering and recipes. When I awoke I had dreamed a new recipe. Everything from my dream I could remember clearly- hollowing out fat juicy strawberries, reducing onions in a thick gloop of balsamic vinegar, topping the dish with a crunchy spicy pecan. Of all the things I make this dish is the one which receives the most comments and recipe requests, people always ask where the recipe came from and I simply tell them- I dreamed it!


For the Balsamic Reduction

2 large onions thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cups balsamic vinegar

For the Candied Pecans

1 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup sugar
1tbsp lemon juice
dash of water
1 tsp chili powder

For the rest

25 strawberries
1/2 cup of gongonzola


Start by making the balsamic reduction. Fry up the onions until they are lovely and caramelized, sweet to taste. Then pour in the balsamic until it covers the onions plus some. leave to simmer until it gets thick and gloopy- you may need to add more vinegar. I like to simmer for an hour or so.

The most tricky part is the candied pecans . You basically just throw all the ingredients in a pan and heat on a medium setting. The sugar will melt and you will need to keep stirring for 10-15 minutes or so, coating all the pecans. I like to test one to see if they are done, the pecans should be crunchy but of course not burnt, the coating should be clear and shiny, in no way granular. Once they are done spread the pecans quickly on a piece of parchment, separating one from another with a fork- work fast or they will all stick together. If they do stick together you can reheat and start over.

One the pecans are done you can start to assemble the strawberries. Start by chopping of the top of the berry and lopping a tiny bit off the base so it can stand upright. then carefully hollow out the center of the berry. Stuff first with the balsamic onions, then with some blue cheese and finally top with a candied pecan. Beautiful and tasty!

Recipe Book News

My wife is currently working with a graphic design friend to create a vegetarian recipe book- with Jamie Oliver style artwork and photography. Hopefully we will be able to get some of the photos taken up on the web for this blog. they are kicking off with stuffed strawberries and spiced adzuki bean burgers on thursday- should be a fun time.

Thanksgiving

Well, I thought I would share our Thanksgiving menu- so far Amanda's thanksgiving fare on what were' eating is the best spread I have seen on the Blogosphere.

Our menu:

Turkey- (Courtesy of America's Test Kitchen- the new best recipe)

Stuffing (with sausage or chesnuts)

Mashed potatoes with peas onions garlic and mustard

Purple potatoes mashed with buttermilk

Yorkshire puddings

Brussel Sprouts with Cannelini beans, garlic and pecorino cheese

Cranberry Sauce with pears and ginger

Onion Gravy (vegetarian)

Arugala, Orange and Goat cheese salad with pomegranates

Roasted Beets and Squash

Jello Salad with cottage cheese and pineapple

desserts:
pumpkin pie
maple flan with pears
apple pie
lemon meringue pie


Yes- it was quite the feast, no room for more food for some time now!

'tis the season

Well Christmas and Thanksgiving are just around the corner so we have started to kick off our mulled wine some evenings. Even living in southern California there is nothing like a nice mug of warm mulled wine on a winter evening- it certainly takes away the sadness caused by the shortening days.

Here is the recipe we have come up with (economic and cutting down on the sugar!)

1 bottle Charles Shaw Merlot
2/3 cup rum
splash Amaretto
1/2 wine bottle water
2 oranges (sliced)
1 lemon (sliced)
3 cinnamon sticks
1 cup splenda
25 cloves
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp allspice

Stir all together and gently heat never letting the wine boil. Heat from 20 minutes and serve in festive mugs!

The Cheese Shop

One thing we have never really found in san Diego is a really good sandwich place. Saturday afternoon lead to the perfect opportunity to embark on such a search. After having worked all Saturday morning we were in the mood for a nice chill out at the beach, without the hassle of picnic making. A good sandwich seemed like the perfect plan.
Having a guest staying with us we decided to head up to La Jolla and see the seals, (unfortunately they had been scared off the beach by some of the pro- children's pool folks so that plan didn't work out too well.) Nonetheless the sandwich part of our trip turned out to be much more satisfactory. After extensive internet research we found The Cheese Shop widely recommended as the best sandwich place in La Jolla and perhaps even in San Diego. The shop is very simple and fun, stocked with many British chocolate bars and pantry items, and decorated with photos taken around the world with the cheese shop Frisbee.
A slight initial disappointment was that the cheese selection was not as extensive as the name of the deli might suggest- the sandwiches certainly made up for this slight lacking however. I went for the Pork Loin sandwich, my wife got the evergreen (the main veggie option) and our guest got the chicken salad. We picked up a few of the house cookies and a drink each and headed out to a nice picnic bench on La Jolla shores- (la Jolla really is so nice in November with all the tourists gone). All sandwiches were superb, the bread in particular was excellent, with the highlight being pumpernickel. Each sandwich was absolutely stuffed to the brim with ingredients, but bread was soft enough that this did not make for unpleasant eating. All salad components were incredibly fresh and the meat was of top quality.
Very happy with the cheese shop- a great value meal with a beautiful sea view!

Umi Sushi

As promised a photo from my first forray into sushi. It was actaully really good. I was a little surprised at my friends orders for me (knowing it was my first time) - really throwing me off the deep en. The eel was probably the most adventurous, it was really great until I remembered I was eating ell, and was then a little bit too icky. My wife got the vegetable tempura roll, which she really liked, although wasn't so keen on the rice or the seaweed. Would probably have just been better off with vegetable tempura!

Umi Sushi was a fun restaurant- wonderful presentation and service.

So here's a picture of Salmon Sashimi, so good. I was very surprised.

The Liar's Club

Things have been a little subdued in our household lately, trips out for dinner have been quite scarce and home cooked meals mainly have consisted of big batches of chili or soup. One of the reasons is that my wife is right in the middle of completing her Law School applications, a very tedious process that consists of a large variety of different essays, forms and other paraphenalia.
We will be moving away in nine months time and it occurs to me I will have to change the name of the blog when we do! Currently Good East in DC, New York or the Bay Area seem like the most likely options! What will I do when we move (apart from checking out all the best places in town). Well I really have to figure out moving forward with my career education. I've been looking at Educated Nation recently to try and get some inspiration of the way to go. I still sometimes think of Culinary school, Unfortunately the district of Columbia seems to only have online Culinary Schools, but New York and the Bay area both have great options.

Anyway back to the Liar's club... So after a very uneventful week we decided to go out for a fun night. First we headed out to Umi sushi was a lot of fun- photos may be added soon! Then it was on to Liar's club. This was my first visit to the bar and I was really very impressed with the selection of beers, my wife favored one of the Alpines (which she said tasted like peaches ??) and I really enjoyed a couple of the beers from Stone Brewing Company. The only slight let down of the night were the chili cheese fries (how can you eat chili fries without a fork, it just doesn't make sense).
After a while of being poked fun at by the very knowledgeable and slightly cocky bar tender we headed off to the beach, ending the night with a calming seaside stroll, and a little touch of the freezing water. Mission Beach is a fun place to go out, a big change from our usual Hillcrest haunts.

Happy Hour on Adams

I have just discovered the wonders on Happy Hour on Adams avenue. The Green Tomato Restaurant and Kensigton Grill, (and possibly some others) have a great happy hour schedule going on.

Mondays and Tuesday are well drinks, Wednesday's bonus is half price bottles of wine, Thursday is Margarita night and Friday is Martinis. The happy hours run from 4pm-7pm and include some low price food.

Both restaurants have great atmospheres and it is pleasure to sit in the elegant surroundings - a very nice break after a day at work. We were there for Margarita night, and opted first for the top shelf at Kensington Grill. This was a really wonderful margarita, (far better than most that I have tried in Old Town). For some tastes it may have been a little strong, but this being top shelf alcohol, it just tasted really great. We also ordered a mango and Brie quesadilla (not on the happy hour menu but it looked too good to miss). The quesadilla was excellent- although the hightlight foodwise was probably the squaw bread with accompanying red pepper dip. The bar tender was very affable and managed admirably the very full bar, having time for everyone's little wants and needs.

Green Tomato was a new restaurant to us. The dining room is very calming and the slightly darkened bar led for a lazy late night feel that was very enjoyable. There were a fair few 'regulars' at the bar- some of them on their 6th or 7th margarita by the looks of it! Still despite being newbies everyone made us feel very welcome and the margaritas were again excellent.

So a really fun night out, excellent value. I would love to come back for Martini night, and Green Tomato will certainly entice me back for dinner at some point. The namesake green tomato appertizer look particuarly appealing.

Our favorite Soup

Cooked up our favorite soup last night. It's the thing my wife would always make surprise guests when they can over unexpected. There was always chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and pasta in the larder and spinach in the garden. Sauteing the onions in rosemary makes the whole house smell wonderful!


We cooked this up last night as a symbol of the cooling days. I think we are going to try and start cooking soup more often, it feels so good to be eating soup. I'm going to pick up that nice bean and grain mix from WholeFoods and get some interesting variations going.

Chickpea, Spinach and Pasta Soup

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

4 Cloves Garlic (crushed)

1 Onion (chopped)

1 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary (chopped)

2 Cans Chickpeas

2 Pints Vegetable Stock

3 oz Small Pasta Shapes

4 oz Fresh Spinach Leaves (shredded)

Salt and Pepper

Grated Nutmeg

Method

1, Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Fry the onion garlic and rosemary for 5 minutes.

2, Add the chickpeas and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

3, Add the pasta and return to the boil for 6-8 minutes.

4, Stir in the spinach and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.

5, Season with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg.

Kous Kous

After parking in the free parking lot on 4th avenue (Hillcrest) we wandered up and down the street looking for Kous Kous, and initially were a little confused as it was not immediately apparent. After a more thorough search however we found it, located underground (beneath Martinis) and not clearly visible from the road.
Initially a little put off by the location we were incredibly impressed once we stepped inside the restaurant. They have really done an amazing job with what is, essentially, a basement. The ceiling pipes and cables have all been nicely painted, and have become almost invisible. A canopy structure in the corner of the restaurant adds some interest. Palms and other house plants abound the space making for a wonderfully exotic feel and the beautiful furniture table linens and dinnerware were nicely contemporary and made for a clean sophisticated feel. The sense of Morocco is impressive (without being overbearing), from the rugs and scattered pillows right down to the wonderful hostess and staff who were friendly and attentive throughout our meal.
Our server turned out, in fact, to be the brother of the proprietor. He has his own similar restaurant in New Zealand and is just here a few weeks to help his brother get off the ground. A more charismatic server would be difficult to find, and he really increased our enjoyment.
We started off the meal with a jug of Sangria- the waiter making sure to add plenty of fruit to our glasses. The Sangria was certainly one of the better mixes I have had, and it was a nice change from wine. For nibbles before the meal we were presented with a plate of marinated carrots (excellent) and olives (quite good).
Perusing the (rather short) menu I had a hard time choosing, but settled in the end for a Shrimp Kabob. My wife went for the Vegetable Tagine. One of the main reasons we had come to try out Kous Kous was the coupon we had received in Uptown magazine. This was for one entree. It was fortunate that we had the coupon as the food turned out to be really quite pricey. At $15+ per entree we really would have expected a little bit more. Don't get me wrong, the food really was excellent, flavorful, fresh and authentic. Perhaps the problem is that we often cook in a similar way at home. Cous cous is a huge staple in our larder and the Moroccan spices and flavors are very familiar.
We really enjoyed our meal at Kous kous, and I hope that the wonderful staff succeed in their venture. This certainly adds a nice alternative to the Hillcrest staples. I would very much like to go back, (particularly once the menu has been a little expanded), but will have a slightly difficult time justifying a trip at the current prices.
I wish them luck and encourage everyone to pay a visit.

The past week

It's been a fairly uniteresting week culinarily speaking. My parents were down for the weekend, which meant a roast dinner one night and a BBQ the next. We've been eating a good deal of left overs.

Went to Apertivo again on Wednesday night. the food was good, and the price even better. However there was one issues, which really did spoil our meal to an extent: the five people in our party were all crowded onto one tiny little table. The fifth person at the end had no room for his legs which was incredible uncomfortable. What was most ridiculous is that his is a place that serves tapas, i.e. many small plates. After our wine and water glasses were in place there was barely enough room for 1 plate, let alone 5 or 6. We asked for a change of table and were met with a rude frustrated response. not good service.

Tonight we are considering the new Kouskous place. Wine and tapas served until midnight. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Julian Apple Pie

Drove up to Julian yesterday for the start of Apple season.

I have to say we were really quite disappointed. First of all it was an incredibly cold and blustery day, dressed in our San Diego clothes we were not really too happy- but you can't help the weather.

Next thing, nearly all the apple orchards were not yet open to the public, the one we did find was really none too impressive. Two varieties one golden delicious was pretty good, and one Gala, which honestly was bland and watery. We had fun however, picking the most attractive apples we could find from the trees and filling up our bag right to the brim.

Then we headed off for Apple pie. This time we decided to try the Julian Bakery right in the center of town. They were offering a pumpkin and apple pie. At first I was a little wary but always one to try new things I decided to go for it, whilst the others in my party had the regular Apple Pie a la mode.

My choice was definitely worthwhile. This isn't something I would eat every day, but the flavors went surprisingly well together. The pumpkin was not overwhelming, but more of a subtle after taste. More predominate were the typical pumpkin pie spices, which are always delicious. Funnily enough in fact my pie turned out to be far more satisfactory than the regular apple, which was very heavy on the cinnamon, luke warm and had a very dry and unappealing crust.

Stuffed Tomatoes

Got some great tomatos from the farmers market today, really huge.

I'm going stuff them for appertizers tonight:



Stuffed Beef Tomatoes

4 Huge (Beef) Tomatoes

4 cloves garlic (finely diced)

1 small red onion (finely diced)

Freshly chopped mint

Freshly chopped oregano

Freshly chopped Basil

Freshly chopped chives

½ cucumber (finely diced)

1 ball mozzarella (finely diced)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp white wine

1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1, Cut off a lid of each of the beef tomatoes, 1 cm from the top. Hollow out the flesh from inside the tomato. Place the flesh in a bowl, setting aside the shells.

2, Roughly chop the flesh and combine with the onion, garlic, herbs, cucumber and mozzarella.

3, Add the oil, vinegar, white wine and lemon juice, and carefully mix together. Spoon the mixture back inside the tomatoes. Leave for several hours, and then serve with thick slices of bread.

Parallel 33

Well, the moment we have all been waiting for my review of Parallel 33. Unfortunately I was really quite disappointed. The food was very good, that I certainly can’t deny, but I don’t think I have encountered such bad service since the Corvette Diner!

At eight o’clock on Saturday evening we arrived at Parallel 33 ready for our reservation. Stupidly I had been under the impression that one reserves a table so that it is there for you when you arrive. This sadly was not the case, of course a few minutes wait would not have been a problem, but we were not seated at our table until 8.45, this is just bad management in my opinion. As a small restaurant with very low capacity P33 should just consider the Linkery’s option of refusing to make reservations, if this is going to be how they treat their customers that do.

During our wait we tried the Tears of the Prophet, which was good, but again I was disappointed by the bartender. One of our fellow diners asked for some recommendation as to how to drink Green Tea vodka- the answer “however you want to drink it” “however you like it”. This is not good bartending, and the man flatly refused to inspire any of our party also.

Once we had been seated at our table we then began the long long wait for food, I had lost count by this point as to how long we waited, but it was a considerable amount of time. In the mean time the request we had put in for more flatbreads had apparently been completely forgotten, and we were getting rather hungry.

The food, as I have said was good. My wife wasn’t utterly thrilled with hers, and wonders why the only vegetarian option at most restaurant always has something to do with sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese- not that she doesn’t like them, its just a little overdone. I got a steak dish, with wonderful potatoes as an accompaniment, this was really excellent, the steak cooked to perfection.

After we had finished our main course we were offered dessert menus. I should add here that earlier in the evening one of our friends had quietly asked if they did anything for Birthdays, she was told that yes a dessert plate would be arranged. We were rather surprised therefore to see the dessert menus, but assuming they had forgotten like many other things in this meal, glanced at the menu and decided to instead head to Heaven Sent desserts, making arrangements to meet a couple of friends there. Waiting another 20 minutes for our check, suddenly the dessert platter arrived- made up of a chocolate cake and a date cake that would certainly not have been any preference of ours. Still it seemed like a nice gesture, and we all tucked in- room could still be made for Heaven Sent!

The shock came with the check- not only had we been charged for the dessert plate- but it was the cost of two desserts. Now I don’t want to sound cheap, but every restaurant I have ever been to for any sort of special occasion throws in a free dessert for the honoree. I have to say we were pretty disappointed. Not that it cost loads, just the principal of after our long long wait this was.

Ah well, nice concept for a restaurant, good food and some good drinks. Maybe I had just been looking forward to it too much and building it up in my head?

Hawthornes

So
For the birthday itself, we decided to go somewhere close by in North Park. First choice was Spread, but unfortunately they were closed this very day, catering an event in Los Angeles. Second choice was Terra (we had a coupon and really enjoyed the quality of their breakfast ) unfortunately Thursdays is BBq and blues night at Terra, not so good for the vegetarians. Browsing through uptown magazine at our coupons we came (not for the first time) upon Hawthornes. My wife had previously called and asked about vegetarian options only to be told there were none available. Still it seemed worth calling again, (if for no other reason that repeated phone calls might make them reconsider their menu). So she called, and was pleasantly surprised that they offered to create something for her in the kitchen. After this we couldn't very well not pay them a visit and so we headed off.
Hawthornes always looks so attractive from the street, the bright white lights and the clean linens making a nice contrast with a shabby North Park. Being attached to the theatre this dictated the decor, and shots of actors adorned all the walls.
the menu at Hawthornes is not extensive and focuses on very traditional dishes. My wife of course was taken care of by the kitchen and was served with some fusilli, artichoke hearts, shitakke mushrooms, and white asparagus. I opted for the Fettucini with clams- this was enjoyable although a little dull. Perhaps the fault of a poor choice on my part.
The service at the restaurant was incredibly friendly, and our waitress seemed great at first. Unfortunate she however used the whole- 'I don't need to write things down on paper' approach, and then summarily forgot many of our requests and orders.
For dessert we ordered a cheesecake , which was really excellent, probably the highly of the meal.
Definitely enjoyed Hawthorne's will come back and order something more exciting next time (although as I mentioned, this may be tricky.

Birthday Meal

Well the birthday is coming up this week and I think we have been persuaded by all the kind posters to go to Paralell 33. Now we are just deciding on whether to go the actual birthday date, or if to wait and go on Saturday when we can relax a bit more.
I'll definitely post how it all goes (and try to remember my camera).

Islands

Well my poor wife called me at 5 yesterday, desperate for a ride home and some food. She had been running around like a madwoman and hadn't eaten since the night before, a migraine fast approaching she needed feeding fast. We briefly considered old town, but then thought of the poor service that we have encountered there before- Gulf Coast Grill was another option, but I think we have eaten the same three menu items there enough times to be pretty sick and tired of them by now! She said she felt like a burger, and so where better than Islands in Mission Valley. I like Islands because it always has great fast service, you can get a whole wheat bun, and the different selections of burgers are very interesting.
Happily we were not disappointed- when asked what could be on our table within 2 minutes, our server responded with some chips salsa and guacamole in a matter of seconds. I enjoyed some Hawaiian burger and my wife went for the Blunami- (basically a veggie patties with blue cheese and a few other fixings). We shared a basket of fries, and as usual with Islands came no where close to finishing.
So Islands saved the day- not the best burgers in town, but always reliably good, parking is never a problem (except I guess during a Chargers game) and the service is always good. The only bad thing I can really say is the irritating love song music and the endless videos of surfers.

Sunday Brunch at the Beach House

First let me say how much I adore the Sunday Brunch Master site. The perfect site that I wish I had the time an patience to create! Congrats to Jim, that site is amazing.

Anyway, browsing through the Site we searched for a place to go on Sunday morning. The beautiful day clearly called for a view and preferably outdoor seating. We had some time on our hands and planned to visit the beach afterwards, so we settled on the Beach House in Cardiff. Best decision ever!

The Beach house outdoor seating is located to all intents and purposes actually on the beach, a beautiful view of the sea, and less developed area than San Diego bay views. The service was absolutely impeccable We were seated immediately and then treated to the complimentary champagne, which, bottomless, was refilled extremely regularly. The brunch also comes with complimentary pastries and a bowl of fresh fruit. The pastries could have been fresher, but were still a very nice touch.

Choosing our breakfast entree I decided to branch out and try the lobster benedict. My wife went for the Ranchers omelet. Both dishes were great, the lobster benedict came with an orange hollandaise, a very interesting touch, and perfectly cooked eggs. The ranchers omelet was packed with asparagus, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and many other delicious veggies.

We lingered long enjoying our brunch, the sunshine and the amazing view and finished our meal with a wonderful cup of coffee. The best surprise of the meal was yet to come with the check- only $34. That's for 2 huge entrees, pastries, fresh fruit bowls, endless champagne and delicious coffee. Surely the best value meal I have had in a long time.

We spent the afternoon (our brunch having been a rather late one), on Cardiff beach which was very peaceful, and had a great refreshing swim in the sea. Certainly the best Sunday I have had in a long while.

Kitima Thai

We decided to head out to Hillcrest and try a new Thai restaurant last night. I have heard great things about Celadon Thai, and so we headed in that direction. We had no reservations, but it was 9.15pm by the time we went out and we didn't think we would have any trouble.
We arrived at Celadon and waited for someone to seat us, unfortunately servers passed us by never acknowledging our presence, giving us not even a smile of welcome. After 10 minutes waiting in the lobby and not been giving even a hello, we decided to leave. It would have been one thing to be informed there was a 20 minute wait, but to be ignored so completely was, in my opinion, just rude.
So we wandered down University Avenue a bit further and eventually came across Kitima Thai. My wife at once fell in love with the eclectic decor, so different from the regal Thai restaurants we are used to, so we decided to give it a try. The menu was certainly interesting with a wealth of both vegetarian and meat entrees. An added bonus also came from the jazz trio playing upstairs in the restaurant, which made for a great chilled out atmosphere.
The menu being so extensive, it took us some time to settle on our choices. Gone were the usual options of Drunken noodles and Swimming Rama, Instead I went for a lemongrass chicken and my wife took the Tofu Fitness dish. Both dishes were absolutely wonderful, I haven't had such a great lemongrass flavor in a while and I had forgotten quite how much I love it. I tried some of the veggie dish and was impressed by the wealth of different flavors and textures.

We really enjoyed our late night at Kitima, a refreshing change from Amarin and Lotus Thai, definitely somewhere I would love to take guests.

Birthday Meal

Where shall I take my wife for her birthday?

On the shortlist are:

Chive
Spread
Parallel 33
Kemo Sabe

Recommendations? Thoughts? Preferences?