The Adventures of Tin-Tin

I can't believe I never made Welsh Rarebit before today!

Welsh rarebit (or Welsh rabbit) is something I've always wanted to make, but I guess it was never a priority until I saw Alton Brown making it on Good Eats. This is seriously delicious and so simple to make. The best way to describe it is like a cheddar cheese fondue with the consistency of nacho cheese--at least the way I made it--on top of toast. 

 

 

 

Make Your Own Creme Fraiche

I made my own creme fraiche yesterday after reading a very inspiring issue of Sunset Magazine. The recipe called for 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 tablespoons of buttermilk. You mix it up and then let it sit until it thickens, which the recipe suggested could take 8 hours or overnight. I found it took over 24 hours to get it to the right consistency. This might be because I used pasteurized whipping cream. It might also be due to the fact that I did not cook the cream to 105 degrees like other websites suggested. Eh. It still works. The result was creme fraichey, but a little runny. I think that I will leave it out for maybe 32 hours next time to get a real firm consistency. I have never had the luxury of having too much creme fraiche, so I think I will make Ina Garten's Mustard Roasted Fish which calls for 8 oz of creme fraiche.

I Love Portland Part 1-- Food Stands Aplenty

I don't think I can say anything new about Portland that recent visitors and locals don't already know. If you've never been, you will be amazed at the number of gourmet food stands parked throughout the city. I've heard we had them in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I've never actually seen one. During our three days in Portland, our tummies were so full from eating at the great restaurants in the area. Whenever we happened to drive by a food stand, there was no room left in my bloated belly for thai food, fried pies or other treats. The morning of our departure, we paid a visit to a colony of food trucks we saw parked at an intersection. Just our luck, most of the vendors were closed. It seemed all were closed but El Brasero. Had all the food stands in that corner been open, El Brasero would have been the last place we would try since we live near San Jose and good Mexican food is always around the corner. But good food can sneak up on you in the unlikeliest of places. Good burritos in Portland? Yes! I had one of the best breakfast burritos I've ever had. It had real chunks of potato, egg, chorizo and cheese all for about $4.50!

Food stands galore! We didn't get to try any fried pies or belgian fries, but maybe next time.

El Brasero on 12th Ave and SE Hawthorne in Portland, OR 97214

Ebelskiver

I made ebelskiver today after buying an ebelskiver pan at Tyler Florence's kitchen supply store in Mill Valley yesterday. I'm not sure what possessed me to buy it. And I'm not sure what possessed me to make ebelskiver either considering that I have no energy and I am sick with a sore throat. The tummy wants what the tummy wants, I guess. 

Photo courtesy of Williams-Sonoma.com 

What are ebelskiver? The easiest way to describe ebelskiver is a small Danish pancake puff that is sometimes filled with jam, chocolate or whatever. I put bits of banana in mine. They were wonderful. I think next time I will try making it with rice flour so it has more resistance. If you know what takoyaki are, then picture a sweet dessert takoyaki and you get ebelskiver. I'm too lazy to take pictures so check out a fellow bay area blogger's post on making ebeskiver. The recipe I used was from Williams-Sonoma. I did some searching and found that you can either make dense ebelskiver using any pancake recipe or you can make them lighter by folding whipped egg whites into the batter.

Homemade Ricotta

As a lover of all things dairy, few things are more inspiring to me than whole milk. It's so creamy and pure. I rarely buy it since I am almost always on some sort of diet that regulates fat, but I couldn't help myself from buying a gallon when I saw the latest issue of Bon Appetit Magazine containing a recipe for fresh homemade ricotta. Who knew it could be so simple? I will probably never go back to store-bought-white-opaque-container ricotta again.

After heating a mixture of whole milk and salt, lemon juice is added. The acid causes the milk to curdle. After about two minutes, the curds are easily skimmed using a slotted spoon.

Here's what the curds look like all clumpy and mooshy as they are draining in cheesecloth.
It's such a wonderful treat. If you don't want to bother, Whole Foods sells homemade ricotta cheese that is almost just as good as making it yourself. Next time, I will try making ricotta using vinegar since this recipe left the ricotta with a hint of lemon.

Aside from serving it warm on flatbread with a little salt, my favorite way to enjoy ricotta is with creamy scrambled eggs.

Soft Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Ricotta and Chives courtesy of Bon Appetit.

• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel or coarse kosher salt plus more for sprinkling
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese
• 4 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick slices whole grain bread or 8 whole grain baguette slices, lightly toasted and buttered
• Whole chives (optional)

Whisk eggs, chopped chives, and 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel in medium bowl until well blended. Melt butter in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. When foam subsides, add eggs and stir with heatproof silicone spatula until eggs are almost cooked but still runny in parts, tilting skillet and stirring with spatula to allow uncooked portion to flow underneath, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add ricotta and stir just until incorporated but clumps of cheese are still visible.

Arrange 2 toasts or 4 baguette slices on each of 2 plates. Spoon scrambled eggs atop toasts. Sprinkle with more fleur de sel and pepper. Garnish with whole chives, if desired.

From Epicurious.com

Salsa La Gloria

 

I'm not a big fan of spicy or hot food. I order everything mild and I pick out all the peppers from my vietnamese sandwichess. My brother and sister are the same way. So for us to shovel in chips and hot salsa nonstop for half an hour is rare. Oooooh but this is no ordinary salsa! I was fanning my mouth (yeah like that helps) and each scoop felt like hot lava burning my taste buds. But I couldn't stop.

Salsa La Gloria is made by Bay Area-based Fernandez Specialty Foods. We got our Salsa La Gloria experience from the Santana Row Farmers Market in San Jose. It's nice because you get to try the salsas before you buy them. I love farmers markets. :)

My favorite one is the one with tomatillo, avocado, lime and garlic. I'm sure there was something else in there because my mouth was on fire, but it was soooo tasty. With every bite, you'd get a kick of salt, lime, creamy avocado and molten hot lava. So many layers! Then I would alternate with the salsa made with cucumbers. It was a very refreshing experience. For luxurious breakfasts, I like to put the cucumber salsa on creamy scrambled eggs and eat it with hot buttered tortillas and super sweet little grape tomatoes. If you've never had homemade salsa before, and even if you have, you should get your hands on Salsa La Gloria.

Herve Mons Camembert

Photo courtesy of the SFGate.com

J would not touch this stuff because he said it smelled rotten. I thought it smelled mushroomy and there was no ammonia smell at all. Someone on some cooking show said the best cheeses smell like the feet of angels. The special camembert cheese made by award-winning cheesemaker Herve Mons especially for Whole Foods is one of those delicate stinkers. On election night/J's birthday, I was at the Cupertino Whole Foods (or as I like to call it, the center of all things liberal, expensive and good) searching for this cheese. I was informed that it sold out on the day the San Francisco Chronicle ran the article and would not be in for a few weeks. The night before Thanksgiving--there it was! I tried it and it was good. Very good.