Bay Area Bites » Stephanie Hua

7 Essential Cooking Lessons I Learned at San Francisco Cooking School

Stephanie Hua — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:17:40 +0000

Over the past four months, I’ve developed a new appreciation for pants with stretchy elastic bands. I’ve traded in cute shoes for kitchen clogs. And, I’ve certainly given up on manicures – I’ll consider it a win if my nails are simply clean and don’t smell like onions. Or fish.

I’ve been immersed life at the San Francisco Cooking School, and fat pants and fishy hands aside, I am loving every minute of it.

SF Cooking School came into my life somewhat fortuitously. I had been invited to cover the opening of the school for a preview story and the more I learned about the school, the more I fell in love with school’s philosophy, curriculum, and culture.

A small, intimate class. Hands-on, practical learning. And access to some of the best chefs and resources San Francisco has to offer. Sign me up! I pulled the trigger and so began my adventures in cooking school. It’s impossible to distill everything I’ve learned into a few short paragraphs, but here are a few of the big takeaways:

EFFICIENCY
Perhaps one of the biggest differences between cooking for pleasure at home and cooking with a purpose in a professional setting is the pace at which you are expected and required to work. At school, we are taught from day one to work with a sense of urgency. Whether it is a matter of using the right tool for the job, organizing your mise en place, or even walking with purpose, your goal is to work fast and work smart.

BATCH MOTIONS
Along the same lines of efficiency, you’ll work quickest if you batch together similar motions. For example, if you are forming meatballs, you wouldn’t portion out and roll each meatball one at a time. Instead, you would want to portion out the entire batch, then roll out the meatballs all at once. The work will go twice as fast. Trust me, I learned the hard way. At school, we are taught to pay attention to what are “wasted motions” or wasted effort. If you find that you have to put down and pick up your knife/utensil a lot, or if you find yourself in an awkward position, stop and reevaluate your work flow. Always arrange your work in a way that lets you complete your task with minimal effort.

ON BUTCHERY
One of the most memorable lessons we had was taking down a half hog with 4505 Meats. What a treat to be able to be able to learn about butchery from one of the leading butchers in town.

It’s amazing how similar most animals are structured. If you learn the basics of breaking down a chicken, for example, you can follow the same rules of thumb for breaking down a whole hog. Use your fingers and look for joints and natural breaking points. Follow the bone when you’re trying to remove meat from bone. Let gravity work for you.

Don’t waste anything. We used every bit of that beautiful hog. We made sausage and cured salumi, we used the leaf lard for pie dough, saved the bones for stock, made chicharrones with the skin, and even fried up the ears (PSA: pig ears splatter. A lot.)

TASTE. TASTE. TASTE.
This is probably a no brainer, but of course, one of the most important things about cooking is learning how to taste your food and then having both the know-how and ability to correct it. That second part is where it can get tricky. In order to know how to correct a flavor, you need to have some understanding about how tastes work together (how does salt balance bitterness for example), and what flavors complement one another. You need to develop your library of taste memories and then be able to draw on that information when the time comes.

Within the first week of school, we had a taste workshop with Barb Stuckey. We delved into the science of taste and learned a lot — You can smell through your mouth! Butter has no taste!! (what you perceive as the taste of butter is just aroma and texture) — ultimately, this workshop set the stage for what we were all there to learn: how do you make food taste good?

Over the past few months, we worked on tasting critically and building up our taste library. As we cooked, a tasting spoon was always at the ready. We learned to taste throughout different stages of a dish, and were even blind-tested on scent recognition of spices.

GEEK OUT
At SF Cooking School, we’re taught not just how to follow a recipe, but how to understand how and why it works so that we can fix it if something doesn’t go as planned. Understanding the whys involves a bit of science. What is happening on a molecular level when a mayonnaise breaks? Why does it then make sense to add a bit of warm water to fix it? You can go down a rabbit hole of information on any given topic when it comes to food. What I’ve come away with is to never stop seeking out the “why.”

IT’S NOT ALL SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS
As lovely and romantic as it sounds, a career in professional cooking has its hard realities. Pep talks from SF Cooking School deans Craig Stoll and Daniel Patterson were half pep, half tell-it-as-it-really-is reality checks. Life in the kitchen is serious physical work. Hours are long. Pay is…sobering. Running a restaurant is a business and being a chef is as much about managing costs as it is about creating delicious food. And, as much as we love our local, organic, responsibly grown goods here, when breaking down a case of artichokes is one of a gazillion things on your prep list for the day, you are not being paid to fondle the produce. Which is not to say there isn’t the utmost respect for the product, there is…just, fondle on your own time.

CALIFORNIA CUISINE
It may not be all sunshine and rainbows, but we still have it pretty darn great here in San Francisco, and SF Cooking School will be the first ones to celebrate that. One of the big draws to the school for me was the focus on making use of the Bay Area as a learning ground. We hit the Monterey Fish Market on a 5 a.m. field trip and learned about sustainable fishing. We went foraging with local foraging legend, Hank Shaw. We pickled and fermented everything we could get our hands on with Courtney Burns from Bar Tartine.

SF Cooking School gave us a strong foundation of classic French techniques. We learned the mother sauces. We consumed more butter and cream in four months than we probably had cumulatively in life to date. We suffered through turning vegetables that were not meant to be perfect little six-sided footballs into perfect little six-sided footballs. But, we also embraced modern California cuisine. We cooked with the season. We feasted on local fruits and vegetables, knew the name of the farmer our hog came from, and made our own sourdough bread (Lil Spence, our starter, was a fantastic class pet).

Our time in the classroom culminated with Restaurant Week, when we transformed the school into a restaurant and served friends and family a menu we developed and prepared. Here’s a peek at what we made:

Over the next two months, I’ll be continuing my education at Locanda where I’m externing! I have no doubt that I will learn a ton from Chef Anthony Strong and his talented team. I have a feeling I will get pretty good at prepping artichokes by the end of my externship. Rest assured, they will remain unmolested on the job.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few snapshots from a day in my life at San Francisco Cooking School:

Asparagus and Eggs Mimosa Salad

Stephanie Hua — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:08:34 +0000

It’s official, spring has sprung and the markets are exploding with asparagus right now. You can’t walk two feet without getting assaulted with these vibrant green spears.

I’ve fallen in love with this cold preparation for asparagus salad. It’s perfect for a big brunch or dinner party because you can easily prep it in advance, plus the presentation of the dish with the mimosa of hard-boiled eggs is dramatic.

Have you heard of eggs mimosa before? No, this is not some bizarre brunch cocktail with an egg in it. This kind of mimosa is simply finely chopped hard-boiled eggs, often used as a garnish. The preparation gets its name from the yellow blossoms of the mimosa flower. Spring blooms for a spring meal!

Pro tip for prepping your asparagus this season: peel the bottom half of the stalks with a vegetable peeler to remove the tough outer skin. You will end up with a nice tender stalk that’s a gorgeous jade green color.

The beauty of this dish is in its simplicity too. The asparagus gets a quick blanch before getting tossed in a bright citrus dressing, and topped with the mimosa. Scale it up or down as you need to. Easy enough for a weeknight, pretty enough company. Add a slice of EVOO-crisped bread and some creamy burrata, and that could be fully satisfying meal in itself. What I love most about this dish though is that it really lets the fresh sweetness of the asparagus shine.

Asparagus Salad with Eggs Mimosa
Perfect for showcasing sweet spring asparagus, this salad is topped with a beautiful garnish of eggs mimosa (fancy French for chopped up hard-boiled eggs).

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 pounds asparagus
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Bring to a boil a pot of salted water large enough to fit your asparagus. Prepare a bowl of ice water.
Hard-boil your eggs — place the eggs in a small saucepan covered with about an inch of cold water, bring to a boil, boil for a minute, turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 12 minutes. Transfer the eggs to ice water until cool enough to handle.
Meanwhile, trim the tough ends off the bottom of the asparagus spears. With a vegetable peeler, peel the bottom half of the stalks to remove the tough outer skin.
Blanch the asparagus in salted water just until tender (about 3-5 minutes). Drain and shock in ice water to stop the cooking. Roll the asparagus on a sheet pan lined with a towel to dry.
Peel the hard-boiled eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Mince each finely.
Whisk together the lemon zest, juice, shallot, white wine vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Gently toss together the asparagus and dressing until evenly coated. Arrange the asparagus on a platter, sprinkle eggs mimosa on top and enjoy!

Bread Wreath with Honey Butter

Stephanie Hua — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:31:53 +0000

This bread wreath is always a stunner at dinner parties, and would make a beautiful addition to any table. It also happens to be delicious and wholesome, full of good things like buttermilk, honey, and butter.

I first came across this recipe in Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois’ Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. The wreath is created by forming the dough into a ring and then cutting it with a pair of kitchen scissors at a sharp angle. It is super easy and makes for an impressive presentation. For a great step-by-step visual of how to do this, check out their post here.

You can use this wreath technique using any dough recipe, but my favorite is this easy Whole Wheat Honey Rolls recipe. This wholesome bread bakes up tender and soft. The best part of this bread though is the honey butter that you should make to go with it. Honey butter is actually the real party trick here. It is dead simple – literally, you just mix together softened butter and honey – but the result is pure, homey, bliss.

Enjoy this bread wreath, friends! Pass it around while it’s still warm, let people rip a hunk off for themselves, and don’t forget to slather it in honey butter goodness.

Honey-Wheat Bread Wreath with Honey Butter
This beautiful bread wreath makes for an impressive touch to any table, and is much easier than it looks. It also happens to be delicious and wholesome, full of good things like buttermilk, honey, and butter. (Adapted from A Taste of Home’s Whole Wheat Honey Rolls and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day’s Holiday Wreath Bread.)

Prep Time: 25 minutes + 1 hour 30 minutes rising time
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
2 cups warm buttermilk (110° to 115°)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour + about 1/2 cup for kneading

Preparation:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm buttermilk. Add the butter, honey, whole wheat flour, salt and baking soda. Beat until smooth. Stir in all-purpose flour to form a soft dough (if it is looking too soft to knead, add more flour).
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and stretch the dough into a ring. Place the ring on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Let rest for about 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 450°.
Right before baking, sprinkle the dough with flour. Using kitchen scissors, snip the wreath at a sharp angle, almost to the bottom of the ring to form points. The points should still be connected to the ring since you’re not cutting clean through. Now lay the points out so that they are fanned out a bit.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

For the Honey Butter:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
fleur de sel or sea salt

Mix the butter and honey until smooth. Place in a ramekin or serving bowl and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Watch people swoon as they slather it on their warm bread and inhale.

Irish Cream Cream Puffs

Stephanie Hua — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:21:29 +0000

It’s that time of year again to let the luck of the Irish rub off on us. Every year, I take this as an excuse to whip up a batch of my favorite homemade Irish Cream.

It’s always a fun little self-imposed challenge of mine to figure out what to do with all that Irish Cream. This year, we’re classin’ it up with cream puffs: Irish Cream Cream Puffs. Double the cream. How could you go wrong with that?

Cream puffs are made from a versatile dough called pâte à choux. It’s a lot easier than it seems to make this impressive looking dessert. Here’s how you do it:

Melt a stick of butter with water, a pinch of salt, and a touch of sugar. When it just starts to boil, dump in all the flour at once and stir like crazy.

Soon enough your dough will form a ball and pull away from the sides of the pan. Off the heat and stir more to cool down the mixture. There’s a lot of stirring in pâte à choux, but the arm workout is worth it. Cream puffs and buff arms – a winning combination.

Add your eggs one at a time, each time stirring until smooth before adding the next egg.

Your dough will get slippery and clumpy looking when you first add the egg. Don’t sweat it. Just keep stirring.

It will smooth out. Trust me.

Add your Irish spirit and transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a round tip.

Now here’s the fun part. Pipe out your puffs into the shape of a Hershey Kiss (or gnome hat).

Wet your fingers and tap down the tips of the cream puffs so they don’t burn when you bake them up. And into the oven they go!

Meanwhile, whip up your Irish Cream Cream into soft, billowy mounds that you want to ski in. Transfer to a piping bag and keep chilled in the fridge.

When the puffs are done, take the tip of a paring knife and make a little hole in the bottom. Fill those puffs with creamy goodness. And just wait for those sassy leprechauns to shower you with gold.

Irish Cream Cream Puffs
A St. Paddy’s Day treat fit for a classy leprechaun. Green for good luck. Stuffed with Irish Cream Cream for deliciousness.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Cooling and Assembly Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Yield: about 36 cream puffs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter
1 cup water
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup flour
3 eggs
15 drops green food coloring
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 F.
Place the butter, water, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan and heat over low heat until the butter melts and the water just begins to boil.
Add the flour all at once and stir like crazy with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth. It should form a ball and pull away from the sides of the pan. You may also see a faint skin form on the bottom of the pan if you don’t stir it for a few seconds.
Remove the pan from heat and continue to stir until it is cool enough to touch. It will still feel warm, but won’t be so hot that the mixture cooks the eggs you’re about to add in.
Add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition until the mixture is smooth before adding the next egg. When you add the egg, the mixture will separate and look slippery. Don’t worry, keep mixing, it will smooth out. When you add the last egg, add in the food coloring and mix until smooth and even in color.
Transfer the mixture into a piping bag with a round tip (I like to use a size 806 tip). With your piping bag held directly vertical to a parchment-lined baking sheet, squeeze out a mound about 1½-inch in diameter and pull up as you release, forming a Hershey’s kiss shape. Repeat until all the cream puff mixture is gone. Wet your finger and push down the tips of all the puffs so that they don’t burn when they bake.
Bake until puffed and firm, about 25 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the puffs in for another 10 minutes to dry out. Take the puffs out of the oven and let cool completely.
Meanwhile, whip together the cream and sifted sugar until soft peaks form. Add the Irish Cream and continue whipping until you have the consistency of whipped cream. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip (size 804) and keep chilled in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.
When the cream puffs have cooled, take the tip of a paring knife and make a hole on the bottom of the puffs large enough to fit your piping tip. Fill the puffs with the Irish Cream whipped cream. Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy immediately!

Make Ahead Note: You can make the dough and cream filling the night before and have them ready to go in your piping bags until the next day. You could even bake off the puffs the day before. If they feel like they’ve gotten a bit too soft, just reheat them a bit in the oven to dry them out again.

Dukkah Crusted Chicken Tenders

Stephanie Hua — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:35:39 +0000

Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of the aromatic Middle Eastern spice and nut blend called dukkah, and now it seems to be everywhere (I even saw jar of it at Trader Joe’s the other day).

Well now that I’ve finally discovered this aromatic blend of toasted nuts and seeds, I feel like I need to make up for lost time. I’m slightly obsessed. Dukkah is traditionally sprinkled on olive oil-dipped pita bread, but it can also be used as a versatile topping, sprinkled over roasted vegetables, pasta, or even as a crust on fish or meat. And then the light bulb went off.

Hello, Dukkah Crusted Chicken Tenders.

Fried chicken fingers get a healthy and flavorful makeover with this baked version. You still get that chicken strip crispy crunchiness you know and love, but the taste factor is punched up with toasted hazelnuts, sesame, coriander, and cumin.

It’s crazy how much flavor you get from this mixture of nuts, seeds, and spices. Toast them up to get them really aromatic, and then give them a whir in the food processor to grind it all up.

I kept some larger pieces of nuts in the mix for extra crunch in the crust.

And then the process is just like making regular fried chicken. Dust the chicken strips in seasoned flour, give it a lovely buttermilk-sage bath, and then roll it in the dukkah to give it a tasty, nutty crust.

If you’re looking to make this even healthier, you could forego the flour dredging and buttermilk bath and use egg white instead. A bit of olive oil gives the chicken that oven-fried goodness without the guilt.

Dip these chicken tenders in honey-mustard, or try a cucumber yogurt tzatziki. Liven up your salad with them. Or make a “fried” chicken sandwich and serve with your favorite slaw.

How would you eat these fancified chicken tenders?

Recipe: Dukkah Crusted Chicken Tenders

Chicken fingers get a healthy and flavorful makeover with this baked version that is encrusted in dukkah (an aromatic Middle Eastern blend of spices and nuts).

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

For the Chicken
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon finely chopped sage
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Dukkah Spice Blend
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation:

Make the Dukkah Spice Blend

If your hazelnuts aren’t already peeled, spread them on a baking tray and bake for 3-5 minutes or until toasted. Rub the hazelnuts in between a towel to remove as much of the skins as possible. Coarsely chop the hazelnuts. Set aside.
Heat a medium skillet on medium heat. Add nuts, coriander, sesame, and cumin seeds. Cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until fragrant and toasted.
Pour everything into a food processor, add the salt and pepper, and process until crumbly. Do not allow mixture to become a paste. Pour onto a plate and set aside.

Prepare the Chicken

Preheat oven to 425 F.
Butterfly the chicken breasts and cut into 1-inch strips.
On a large plate, combine the flour, salt, and pepper. In a bowl, combine the buttermilk, mustard, and sage. Prepare your baking sheet by covering with parchment paper and rubbing the olive oil on top so that it’s completely coated.
Dredge the chicken strips in the flour until they are completely coated. Shake off any excess flour.
Give the chicken a dip in the buttermilk mixture.
Roll the chicken in the dukkah so that it’s evenly coated.
Arrange the strips on the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken strips and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Almonds, Feta, and Mint

Stephanie Hua — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:59:18 +0000

Eggplant is one of my favorite foods. It is almost decadent with its creamy texture, and so versatile because it loves soaking in the flavors of seasonings or sauces like a thirsty sponge. Eggplant is like the guy everyone gets along with — super easy going and plays well with others.

This attribute is especially valuable in a recipe like this, where some seriously vibrant flavors are at work. Thank you, The Kitchn, you never let me down. I made some adjustments, swapping in ribbons of mint for parsley, and feta in place of goat cheese, but the rest the preparation was spot on. The dish is a bit tangy, a bit smoky, creamy, fresh, mouthwatering. Healthy and light, yet comforting and indulgent at the same time.

The eggplant is tossed in a marinade of olive oil, cider vinegar, honey, smoked paprika, cumin, and garlic, and then roasted until all that goodness is baked in.

After the eggplant is done roasting, it’s dressed in lemon juice and soy sauce, and finished off with a handful of almonds, feta, scallions, and mint. And that’s it! The result is incredible.

I’ve been eating it as a salad with big handfuls of baby spinach thrown in, as a side with steak, made into a wrap with a bit of grilled chicken, even in the morning with a few eggs over easy. I’m a little obsessed…and pretty sure you’ll also find yourself coming back to this dish again and again.

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Almonds, Feta, and Mint

Eggplant is tossed in a flavor-packed marinade, roasted until golden and creamy, and then dressed in lemon, soy sauce, almonds, feta, mint, and scallions. You’ll be coming back to this again and again — as a side, on its own, in a wrap, served with eggs…it’s a good every which way! (Adapted from The Kitchn.)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 large Japanese eggplants, about 2 pounds
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup toasted almond slivers
2 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
Kosher salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut the eggplant into 1-inch cubes and put in a large bowl. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and set aside while you make the marinade.
Whisk together the olive oil, cider vinegar, honey, smoked paprika, and cumin. Toss the cubed eggplant in the marinade. Stir in the garlic.
Spread the eggplant onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes, or until very tender and slightly browned. (Stir after 20 minutes and check it at 30 minutes to make sure it is not burning.) Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
Whisk together the lemon juice and soy sauce. Return the eggplant to the bowl and toss with the lemon juice mixture. Stir in the mint, almonds, and most of the cheese, reserving a little for garnishing.
Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle the reserved feta and scallions on top.

Home Is Where the Heart Is On Valentine’s Day

Stephanie Hua — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:44:12 +0000

The very first Valentine’s Day my husband and I spent together, he invited me over to his apartment and cooked for me for the first time. I still remember, he made me teryaki salmon and baby bok choy (yeah, knew he was a keeper then). We ate at his coffee table, sitting on big throw pillows, and tried to be coy as one does only a few months into a relationship.

We’ve certainly come a long way. We survived a cross-country relationship. Flew way past the nervous flirting stage and dove right into the good stuff. The lovey dovey-ness. The learning to communicate-ness. The never forgetting to cherish and appreciate one another-ness.

There is no one I enjoy sharing a delicious meal with more than my love. And no matter how much we enjoy going out to eat, there is always something special about staying at home and cooking for one another. After all, home is where the heart is.

For this Valentine’s Day meal, we start with this irresistibly pretty dish I like to call Heart Beet Salad. It’s a dramatic, heart-shaped, layered Napoleon of beet slices and goat cheese. Blood orange and cara cara segments adorn this arugula salad, and toasted hazelnuts are the finishing touch.

For our main course, we’re bringing it back to salmon. Hua knew what he was doing back then. Salmon is a great special date night choice because it’s almost impossible to mess up. Because it’s naturally high in fat, it’s pretty forgiving if you accidentally overcook it. It also cooks really quickly, so let’s get to our side dish first: Braised Fennel with Pancetta

I’ve been loving fennel this season. This particular preparation brings out the mellow sweetness of the vegetable and takes down the licorice flavor to just a background bass note. Slow cooking it in Madeira wine and crispy pancetta creates a sweet, slightly smoky, caramelized glaze.

It’s a rich tasting side dish without feeling weighed down. (Which is good, you know…when you want to stay mobile and spritely after dinner.)

Which brings me back to the salmon. Unlike a big steak dinner, this meal won’t put you right to bed in a food coma afterwards — which is not to say that it still can’t be a special occasion meal. We bump up the luxe factor with a beurre blanc sauce here. Beurre blanc, say it with me. It just sounds sexy. It’s easy to make too, and isn’t as finicky as some other egg-based French sauces. Really, it just calls for a lot of butter, whisked into a reduction of white wine and vinegar. The kick of acid from that reduction is wonderful with the richness of the butter. And the dill — you can’t go wrong with dill and salmon.

For dessert, I have two words for you: Nutella Soufflés. Boom.

Heart Beet Salad
Beets and goat cheese salad get a V-Day makeover with a little help from a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Blood oranges, cara cara oranges, arugula, and toasted hazelnuts complete this irresistibly pretty dish.

Yield: 2 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients
2 large beets
6 oz fresh goat cheese
1 blood orange, segmented
1 teaspoon cara cara orange zest
1 cara cara orange, segmented
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 handfuls arugula
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Special Equipment: heart-shaped cookie cutter; be sure that your cookie cutter fits within the circumference of your beets

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 F. Rinse the beets and trim off the greens (you can save them to sauté later if you want). Wrap in foil and roast until tender, about 1 hour. When they’re done you should be able to easily pierce the beets through with a knife. Remove from the oven, unwrap from foil, and let cool. When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel the skin off.
Slice the beets into 1/4-inch slices. You should have at least 4 slices of beets per person. Cut out a heart shape from the beet slices using the cookie cutter. Pat the slices dry. Make the napoleon stacks by layering the beet heart slices and goat cheese until you have two beautiful stacks. Try to spread the goat cheese evenly. Clean up edges with a paper towel. (Do not assemble this too far ahead of time because if your beets are juicy, they will color the goat cheese pink as they sit.)
Zest the cara cara oranges and set aside a teaspoon for the dressing. Segment both oranges. After segments are cut, squeeze the juice out of the leftover pulp. Reserve for dressing.
Make dressing by whisking together orange juice, zest, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
Dress the arugula and orange segments. Arrange around the beet heart napoleon. Scatter hazelnuts around.

Braised Fennel with Pancetta
Fennel braised with pancetta and Madeira wine make a rich side dish that doesn’t feel heavy.

Yield: 2 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup diced pancetta
1 lb fennel
1/2 cup Madeira wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

In a large sauté pan, melt butter and cook pancetta until crispy. Remove pancetta and set aside.
Remove leafy fronds from fennel. Cut lengthwise and then into wedges. Add fennel to the pan used for the pancetta and brown on all sides.
Add pancetta back into the pan. Add Madeira. Cover and simmer until fennel is tender throughout, about 25 minutes. The wine should be mostly reduced, creating a glaze for the fennel. If the liquid is all evaporated and the fennel isn’t cooked through yet, add a bit of water and continue simmering covered until done.

Salmon with Dill Beurre Blanc
A simple baked salmon gets fancified with a luxe beurre blanc flavored with lemony dill.

Yield: 2 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 (6-ounce) pieces skinless salmon fillet
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 oz (1/8 cup) dry white wine (like Sauvignon Blanc)
1 oz (1/8 cup) white wine vinegar
6 oz (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 teaspoon chopped dill
Salt and white pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Grease a baking dish with olive oil. Place salmon in dish skin side down. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a light dusting of paprika. Bake until just opaque inside, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile make your beurre blanc. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine shallot, white wine, and white wine vinegar. Reduce until there is only about 1 1/2 tablespoons of liquid left. Off heat. Strain out the shallot.
Add about 2 tablespoons of butter into the reduced liquid and whisk until creamy and melted. Turn heat to low and gradually whisk in a few tablespoons of butter at a time, only adding more when about 3/4 of the butter is melted and incorporated into the sauce. Keep adding and whisking until all the butter has been incorporated. You should have a creamy butter sauce. Stir in the chopped dill and season to taste with salt and white pepper.
Spoon butter sauce over the salmon and garnish with a sprig of dill.

Homemade Nutella Soufflés

Stephanie Hua — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:12:02 +0000

Valentine’s Day can be kitschy overkill. Still, there are some things that just never go out of style. Like chocolate. Sure, a box of chocolates is great, but you’re looking to impress, right? Step it up with Homemade Nutella Soufflés and bask in the adoration.

Soufflés are one of those dishes that sound fancy and intimidating, but they’re actually not too difficult. Best of all, they can be made ahead of time, so come dessert, it won’t matter if you’re a bottle of wine in, all you have to do is turn on the oven and pop them in (and set a timer…you know, in case you get carried away with your wooing).

This particular soufflé recipe goes the extra mile with homemade Nutella (recipe below) as the main ingredient. I made my first batch of this heavenly chocolate-hazelnut spread this past Christmas, and I must say, it has changed my life. No melting chocolate, no heating milk, or double boilers. Literally, this recipe is just six ingredients blended to smooth, creamy decadence.

I’m always looking for an excuse to put my homemade Nutella to use, and this was a good occasion as any. I melted it together with a bit of cream and stirred in an egg yolk to make the base for the soufflé. To that, simply fold in egg whites that have been beaten to a firm peaks.

Then fill your prepared ramekins to the brim. I like to make little parchment paper collars to give the soufflés more support as they rise. I find that this also lets me fill the cups up to the very top without worrying about overflow. A tip on the collars — be sure to use kitchen twine to tie them closed, tape won’t work.

While we’re on tips, here are a few more to ensure a beautiful, dramatic soufflé:

Don’t over-beat your egg whites. This is easy to do, especially if you’re using an electric mixer. You’ll know you’ve gone too far if you see the egg whites starting to look a little curdled and watery looking. Your egg whites should be like smooth airy clouds with a nice sheen to them.
A spoonful of sugar. Don’t skip the sugar in the egg whites. It helps stabilize the whites, helping to prevent that pesky over-beating factor. Besides, now is not the time to be thinking about sugar intake. Live a little.
Fold gently. You don’t want to deflate all those air bubbles you worked so hard to create. Also, as you’re folding, be sure you’re scraping the bottom of the bowl too, not just the sides.
No peaking. One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to soufflés is opening the oven door too often to check on them. Every time you open the oven, the temperature in there drops, and soufflés don’t like that. Try to check just once, when you think they’re close to done, and make it fast.
Don’t use convection setting. The air flow is too disruptive and you may end up with the leaning tower of soufflé.
Don’t dawdle. Soufflés wait for no one. Have your plates and garnishes ready and serve quickly because your dramatic soufflé will start to deflate as it cools.

Crème anglaise is a classic soufflé topping, but want to know my favorite way to eat these? Split open the top and pop a little scoop of vanilla bean ice cream in there. You’re welcome.

Nutella Soufflés
Looking to impress someone? Make them a soufflé. Looking to seriously impress someone? Make that a soufflé of homemade Nutella. It’s easier than you would think…don’t worry though, that’s our little secret.

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons sugar for prepping dishes
6 ounces (3/4 cup) Nutella (recipe below)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
Pinch of salt
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F.
Brush 3/4-cup soufflé dishes with melted butter, using upward strokes up the sides; sprinkle with sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon in each cup), tilting cups to coat completely and tapping out any excess. Using strips of parchment paper and kitchen twine, make a collar around each dish. The collar should extend about 2 inches above the rim of the ramekin. Arrange prepared soufflé dishes on large baking sheet.
Combine the Nutella and cream in large metal or Pyrex bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water and stir until the mixture is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Stir egg yolk and salt into the mixture.
Beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1 tablespoon sugar, beating until semi-firm peaks form. Using rubber spatula, fold 1/4 of beaten egg whites into Nutella mixture to lighten. Fold remaining egg whites into Nutella mixture in 2 additions. Divide soufflé mixture among prepared soufflé dishes, filling dishes completely.
Bake soufflés on baking sheet until puffed and tops feel firm, about 16 minutes if at room temperature and about 18 minutes if chilled. Serve soufflés IMMEDIATELY (they will start to fall as soon as they cool). I like to serve with crème anglais or vanilla ice cream (have guests split their soufflé, and spoon a scoop of ice cream inside).

Make-Ahead Note: The soufflé mixture can be made up to 2 days ahead. Just fill the ramekins and refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled until you’re ready to bake them. Alternately, you can pop them in the freezer and keep for longer. Just move them into the refrigerator the day before you plan on baking them off.

Homemade Nutella (Vegan + Gluten-Free)
This decadent hazelnut chocolate spread is absurdly good, easy to make, and surprisingly not that bad for you! (Adapted from The Kitchn.)

Yield: About 2 cups

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups toasted hazelnuts, peeled
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted to liquid form
1 cup powdered sugar (check that it’s GF if that’s a concern)
1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

Blend the hazelnuts and coconut oil until they form a paste. Add the remaining ingredients and continue blending, scraping down the sides as necessary, until it is as smooth as possible.
Transfer your homemade bliss into a jar or resealable container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Note on equipment: If you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix, now is the time to use it. Otherwise, a food processor will work just fine, you may just have to scrape down the sides and process a bit longer to get the smooth consistency you want.

Fancy Food Show Trends and Slideshow

Stephanie Hua — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:36:31 +0000

The Fancy Food Show hit Moscone on Sunday for its annual massive three-day schmooze fest of specialty and gourmet goods. With 80,000 products shown from 35+ countries and regions, it is the largest marketplace devoted exclusively to specialty foods and beverages on the West Coast.

Strategically avoiding the crowds that formed around every booth with a TV tuned in to the Niners game, we were able to taste an impressive amount of samples from this year’s exhibitors. Here are some trends we picked up on:

1. Superfood Mania

We saw proclaimed superfoods like goji, quinoa, and chia seeds in everything from snack mixes to breakfast cereals, pastas, and energy drinks. Despite some unfortunate branding for a few of these products (I’m looking at you, Holy Crap Breakfast Cereal), most of it tasted surprisingly good. In particular, we were fans of the Raw Superfruit Mix from Extreme Health USA. It was a hefty, chewy mix of organic goji berries, mulberries, golden berries, and blueberries. The golden berries were a first for me. Also called Incan Berry, they have a sweet, tart, grapefruit-like flavor that play well with their other super friends in the mix.

2. Coconut Everything

It was virtually impossible to go a few steps without running into a coconut something or other. There were coconut oils, coconut beverages, coconut ice cream, coconut chips, even coconut cheese. The most addictive iteration of these coconutty goods was Dang Coconut Chips. Before the branding police raises an eyebrow, let it be known that Dang is named after the company founder’s mother. The chips are made from ripe coconut meat, toasted with a touch of sugar and salt until the intense, golden coconut flavor is baked in. Mixed with granola, sprinkled over yogurt, a salad, or eaten by the handful, it would be easy to demolish an entire bag of these coconut chips.

3. The Anti-Potato Chip

The whole healthy snacks thing was really prominent this year. Between all the kale chips, and lentil chips, and fruit chips, and seaweed snacks I saw, I was beginning to wonder what a girl had to do to get an old-fashioned potato chip around here. Before I had time to mourn the spud for long, the “Kale is Kool” Kids had me surrounded. I was powerless against their enthusiasm and vitamin-charged perkiness. Brad’s Raw Leafy Kale in the Vampire Killer flavor (a savory, garlicky delight) had me chanting “Kale is Kool” for a good minute or two.

4. Gluten-Free Goods

Gluten-free friends were not short-changed at the Fancy Food Show. Pretzels and shortbread cookies from Gratify Foods could have fooled me. Bixby & Co’s To The Nines white chocolate bar was fragrant with cardamom and had crunch factor from pistachios, almonds, and puffed rice. And if it is decadence you’re looking for, turn to Béquet Caramel. Hand crafted in small batches in Montana, these soft buttery caramels are sinfully rich and utterly delicious. All their flavors were fantastic (I did my due diligence and tried about six of them…see how committed I am to you), but the sleeper hit was the Cinnamon Swirl. The cinnamon flavor was deep, with an almost baked-in flavor to it, perfectly complementing the buttery vanilla caramel. For gluten-free folks, if you’ve ever craved a hot cinnamon roll, this may just do the trick. Béquet’s Cinnamon Swirl Caramel has captured the essence of warm cinnamon roll indulgence.

5. Untraditional Sodas

Fizzy drinks had a comeback this year with a large selection of interestingly flavored carbonated beverages. Vignette cornered the wine soda market, with flavors deriving from varietal wine grapes. Q Drinks has expanded from their hallmark tonic to ginger ale and kola. And Joia uses creative combinations of fruit, herbs, and spices (think Grapefruit Chamomile & Cardamom) to bring life to their lightly carbonated drinks. If you’re a soda aficionado in SF, check out The Fizzary, experts in acquiring and distributing craft and vintage sodas.

Romanesco, the Lady Gaga of Broccoli

Stephanie Hua — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:17:43 +0000

Romanesco is like the Lady Gaga of broccoli.

Unapologetic, captivating, a bit peculiar. Certainly there isn’t a more stylish vegetable.

With its kaleidoscopic spires and minarets, it looks like it could be some kind of architectural coral from the ocean floor…or Mars. The fractal nature of broccoli romanesco’s structure is quite stunning, and what’s even more remarkable, the number of spirals on a head of romanesco is a Fibonacci number.

Sometimes called “Roman cauliflower” the lineage of the vegetable indeed goes back to cauliflower, and it has the same texture of cauliflower, but the flavor is closer to that of broccoli, except more subdued.

As I pondered how to cook this beautiful head of romanesco, my mind landed on another classic Roman dish, Cacio e Pepe, traditionally a simple and satisfying spaghetti dish adorned with just Pecorino Romano cheese, black pepper, and some olive oil.

With a few tweaks and coaching from America’s Test Kitchen and Serious Eats, a properly Roman dish was born: Romanesco Cacio e Pepe.

I traded in the spaghetti strands for bite-sized orecchiette to match the shape of the romanesco florets I’d be tossing into the pasta. The chew of the al dente orecchiette was wonderful and the little indentations in them held just the right amount of sauce inside. Pecorino Romano is the classic cheese used, but I’m a Parmigiano Reggiano lover so I used half and half in this. The combination is great – you get that sheep’s milk tang from one and that sweet, round nuttiness from the other. Although it will be a bit more expensive, I recommend using the real imported stuff. In a dish like this where there are just a handful of ingredients, the flavors of each really shine and I think you’ll be able to taste the difference.

As for the romanesco, simple is the name of the game here, so I just did a quick blanch to cook them through, and finished them in a sauté of olive oil fragrant with slivers of garlic.

A few bites in, I realized why this combination of flavors tasted so familiar. When you were little, did you ever have Mac ‘n’ Cheese with little bits of broccoli mixed in? Well, yeah, this is like the grown and sexy, Roman version. Buon appetito to that!

Romanesco Cacio e Pepe
A properly Roman dish, this dish combines the classic “Cacio e Pepe” (cheese and pepper) with beautiful florets of broccoli romanesco sautéed in garlic and olive oil. Since the ingredients are few, using real imported Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano Reggiano will make a noticeable difference here. Bon appetito!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
1 head of broccoli romanesco
1 clove garlic
4 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, 2 ounces finely grated and 2 ounces coarsely grated (about 1 cup of each)
2 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup)
1 pound orecchiette pasta
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
Kosher salt to taste

Preparation

Prep the broccoli romanesco by removing the exterior leaves and core, and separating it into bite-sized florets. Wash the florets and then blanch them in a large pot of boiling, salted water until they just turn tender (about 3 minutes). Shock them in an ice bath or very cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, and add the pasta. Cook until al dente, giving it a stir every once in awhile to keep the pasta from sticking together.
Place the finely grated Pecorino and Parmigiano in a medium bowl, this will be made into a sauce. The coarsely grated Pecorino will be used for garnishing at the end and can be placed in a small serving bowl.
Slice the garlic as thin as you can and sauté in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until lightly toasted. The garlic slices will brown quickly so be careful not to let them burn. Add the romanesco florets and a pinch of salt, and sauté briefly, coating them in the olive oil. Set aside until the pasta is done cooking.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the empty pot.
Slowly whisk 1 cup reserved pasta cooking water into the finely grated Pecorino and Parmigiano until smooth. Whisk in cream, 2 teaspoons olive oil, and black pepper. Gradually pour cheese mixture over pasta, tossing to coat.
Let pasta rest 1 to 2 minutes, tossing frequently. The sauce will thicken a bit as it sets. If it is too thick, add more of the reserved pasta water. Toss in the romanesco. Salt to taste. Top with coarsely grated Pecorino and enjoy immediately!