Akitachow.com: A food site and a big dog

Easy Chocolate-covered Strawberries for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 12, 2011 by admin

Chocolate-covered strawberries ready to be served

I always make chocolate-covered strawberries for my family on Valentine’s Day. My husband loves them, and they make my son feel better if he’s between girlfriends — I hope.

While it’s nice to temper chocolate using a thermometer to know you’ve nailed it, go ahead and prep your chocolate the way I describe if it means you’ll actually make the recipe. Don’t suffer from that old perfection-or-nothing affliction going around, especially when it comes to something like this.

If you want to be a little fancy, get your hands on some long-stemmed strawberries. Trader Joe’s has them for $6.99 per pound. A little high, I know, but think of the occasion — it’s love, man!

You’ll need:

1# long-stemmed strawberries, gently washed and absolutely dry. Trim the very end of each stem at an angle, and trim off brown leaves, too.

Silicone baking mat laid out on a cutting board or flat counter.

Glass, heat-resistant, 2-cup measuring cup, like Pyrex. Place in cup about 1-1/4 cups good chocolate nibs. I use Valrhona Manjari (64% cacao), which I buy in a large bag at Spun Sugar in Berkeley.

An additional small handful of the chocolate nibs.

White nonpareils. If you bake for the holidays, those shaker decoration sets often have them, especially Hanukkah versions.

A microwave.

A small spoon.

The process:

1). Melt chocolate for about 2 minutes in the microwave at 50% power. Check after 1 minute to make sure you’re on the right track by mixing with the spoon. They should be nice and melted and not too thick after the 2 minutes, give or take.

2). Toss in the small handful of chocolate nibs and mix well. This pulls down the temperature and tempers the chocolate to allow it to set firmly and have a nice, shiny look.

3). Dip each strawberry into the chocolate, largest first, and coat to about the 2/3 point and transfer to the silicone mat. You should realize now why I told you to use a measuring cup. It gives you height and you need less chocolate to do the job. You may need to swirl the last few to coat, but that’s OK. Work quickly so your chocolate does not set before you’re done.

4). Sprinkle the top of the chocolate coating with a few nonpareils. Just a few, and be careful, ‘cuz they travel and your wife/husband/partner won’t want to be picking them up for the next week.

5). Allow to sit about 30 minutes and then carefully peel the silicone away from under each strawberry (slowly — and don’t pull them up by their stems!) and move to a nice serving dish.

6). Eat soon, and do not put in fridge. Chocolate does not like the fridge — you have been warned.

Terrible photo of set-up for chocolate-covered strawberries

Strawberries coated with chocolate and nonpareils on silicone mat

Posted in Holidays, Recipes | Tagged chocolate, desserts, fruit, strawberries, Valentine's Day | Leave a comment

Make a cheese souffle at home

Posted on February 6, 2011 by admin

Cheese souffle just out of the oven

Cheese souffle is the kind of thing many home cooks are afraid to make because they think it’s difficult. It’s really not. You need to practice once or twice in terms of technique, which is the part you need to pay attention to since there are not all that many ingredients in a basic cheese souffle — the one I suggest, since it’s wonderful and doesn’t need to be loaded up with all manner of nonsense.

This will serve 4 with some bread and maybe sliced heirloom tomatoes, though my family could probably polish two of these off in nothing flat.

Use good cheese and organic whole milk and eggs. This recipe is simple and relies on quality ingredients. If you use crappy, mass-produced cheese product you won’t wind up with a deeply-flavored, rich, complex souffle.

This is a good dish if you want to show off, though I stopped doing that about 20 years ago. I wound up bombing when I tried to show off and, since I’m no longer trying to lure a boyfriend into my web, there’s no real need. I figure my family and friends know the deal with me and it’s all good, fallen souffles, broken oyster stews and all.

Cheese Souffle
Serves 4

6-cup souffle dish, or other casserole, with high, smooth interior
Whisk
High-heat spatula
Stand mixer or balloon whisk and large, copper-lined mixing bowl

2-1/2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons AP flour
1 cup whole milk
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch white pepper
Pinch salt
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shredded cheese (Gruyere, Cheddar, a mix, whatever you like)

For prepping souffle dish:
1 tablespoon soft butter
1/2 cup panko (course breadcrumbs)

1). Prep souffle dish by buttering the inside, being careful to catch the whole surface.
2). Toss in panko, and turn dish this way and that, so the panko sticks to the butter and there is panko on the entire surface. This will allow the souffle to climb up the side of the dish. Set aside.
3). Make a thick bechamel sauce, like so: microwave the milk for 1 minute and set aside; melt the butter in a saute pan and add the flour; combine with spatula and stir over low heat for a minute — stirring constantly. You don’t want any color, which should result in a roux blanc, or white roux. Whisk in all of the milk quickly; add the seasoning pinches; cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for a minute or so. When you have a thick white sauce, which is what a bechamel is, take it off the heat. Note: if you use cold milk you’ll get lumps. You have been warned.
4). Separate the egg whites from the yolks by hand, so you don’t lose half the whites — which you will if you use the shells. Make sure you have absolutely no yolk in your whites! You should have one little bowl of 5 whites and one with 4 intact yolks. Wrap up the extra yolk for some other use.
5). Place the whites and the salt into your mixing bowl and whip at high speed until you have serious peaks. At this point you should pre-heat your oven to 400 deg. F.
6). Whisk the egg yolks into your white sauce.
7). With your spatula, cut out a nice chunk of the egg whites and gently whisk it into your now-yellow sauce to lighten it up.
8). Fold the cheese into the sauce with your spatula.
9). Fold the rest of the egg white into your sauce — carefully. It’s OK to transfer the sauce to the mixing bowl with the whites, assuming you used a small saucepan for the white sauce.
10). Place batter into prepped souffle dish using spatula, but don’t disturb the sides.
11). Place on center rack of oven and turn it down to 375 deg. F.
12). Cook for 30 minutes and then test with a skewer, which should come out relatively clean. You need to work quickly. If too soft for your taste, put back in the oven for 5 minutes.
13). Separate the top with a fork and spoon and serve ASAP, as it will deflate in only a few moments!

Ingredients for cheese souffle

Making roux blanc for cheese souffle

Bechamel for cheese souffle done

Bechamel with egg yolks whisked in

Whipped egg whites and salt - testing for peaks

Sauce lightened with some whipped egg white and now adding the cheese (I used a spatula to mix the cheese in - not the whisk shown)

Cheese souffle ready for the oven (I sprinkled a little extra cheese on the top)

Cheese souffle is done

Posted in Recipes | Tagged cheese, french cuisine, souffle | Leave a comment

Did a “drive by” at Delhi Dhaba & Chaat in San Pablo (CA)

Posted on January 22, 2011 by admin

Chicken wrap with masala fries

Matthew and I were hungry (what else is new?) while taking care of a Smart & Final shopping trip in San Pablo recently. It was pouring rain so we didn’t want a production, and decided that he would run into the new Indian place, Delhi Dhaba & Chaat, with $20 and buy a few things to snack on in the car.

He came back with pakora and a chicken wrap with masala fries, costing something in the neighborhood of $10.

Here’s a quick run-down of what we thought:

1). The pakora, little vegetable fritters, were served in a paper bag to absorb the oil. They were OK, but a little batter-heavy and veggie-light.
2). The masala fries were regular fries with a little powdered seasoning. Fine, but, you know, decent fries with a little something on them – what more can you say?
3). The chicken wrap was fabulous. Lots of really moist, flavorful chicken with fried onion and green bell pepper. All kinds of juices so it wasn’t dry. The naan was warm and charred. I’m happy to have this available because I’ve been missing the chix wraps at Curry Cafe on Solano in Albany. They used to have a great chicken wrap, but when the place changed over to House of Curries, I didn’t, and still don’t, like their version.

The proprietors at DD&C, according to Matthew, are very nice and have years of experience in the restaurant business.

Matt and I’ll go back for a full meal and report to you soon.

If you go, though, try that chicken wrap.

Posted in Restaurants & Reviews | Tagged chicken wraps, indian cuisine | Leave a comment

Affogato: Quick, wonderful dessert

Posted on January 16, 2011 by admin

Affogato at Pasta Pomodoro in El Cerrito

My son’s friend, Ed, introduced him to affogato a few years ago, and I’m glad.

Affogato means “drowned” in Italian, and involves pouring a shot of hot espresso over a scoop of vanilla gelato or ice cream, and is quite delicious. I’m glad to have learned about it because it’s an easy way to serve a lovely dessert on the fly.

If you don’t have an espresso machine, a very strong shot of regular or good instant coffee works, but, really, you can go to Marshall’s or Ross and get a stove top espresso maker for around $10. You don’t need some expensive job from Sur La Table. One can of Illy and a quart of decent ice cream in the freezer will make you dessert-ready.

Ideally, serve the ice cream in a cup and the espresso on the side in a little silver pitcher or creamer, allowing your guests to pour said espresso over said ice cream.

The photo above is of a mini-affogato we had recently at Pasta Pomodoro in El Cerrito – which you can generally order even when it’s not listed on the menu.

Posted in Recipes, Tips | Tagged affogato, dessert, espresso, icre cream | Leave a comment

Kirkland Fresh White Truffles

Posted on December 24, 2010 by admin

Package of white truffles at my Costco on 12/23/10

Well, not Kirkland, but you get what I’m saying.

I was at my Costco (Richmond, Cali) yesterday and they had fresh white truffles for $1,799.99 per pound. No kidding. Really. Not behind any kind of glass or protected by armed guard. Out in the open in a case next to other stuff for $8.99 a pound. Not to be believed. I thought I’d seen it all.

These truffles are more valuable than the jewelry or cameras they sell.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Posted in Markets, Products | Tagged costco, truffles | 2 Comments

Potato & Cabbage Gratin

Posted on December 19, 2010 by admin

Serving of potato cabbage gratin on blue fiestaware

An oozing casserole is a great thing to have for din-din on a cold winter’s eve.

While a potato gratin may be the perfect form of this, I like to add a little something else to the mix.

Awhile ago I adapted Tyler Florence’s “ultimate” recipe to what I give you here - having added the booze, changed the type of cabbage, altered the proportions and simplified the bacon process a bit.

You’ll need an oblong casserole – something like 13″ X 9″ and deep enough to hold 5 layers.

Have this with some crusty bread and a bold red. That is all. I tell you this because I first made it as a side and was told not to make anything else next time – just lots of gratin.

Shred the cabbage by hand so you get a hearty result

Potato & Cabbage Gratin with Bacon
Serves 4 - 6 as a main dish with bread

8 ounces bacon, cut into small dice or pieces
2 tablespoons butter plus extra to butter the casserole and drizzle on top
1 very small head green cabbage (or half a medium head), medium shred
2-1/4 cups heavy cream
1 shot dry sherry
1 teaspoon ground thyme
3 or so huge Russet potatoes, sliced on the thin side – at an angle (don’t peel)
1-1/2 cups shredded Asiago or Parmesano Reggiano cheese
Sea salt
Ground black pepper

1). Fry the bacon in a medium saucepan until it’s just about browned and remove from heat for a moment.
2). Return to a low flame and add the butter.
3). Add the cabbage and a little salt and pepper (depending upon bacon) and saute for about 10 minutes, keeping it moving a bit.
4). Cover cabbage and set aside.
5). Butter your casserole and shingle in a layer of potatoes – like the photo below.
6). Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese on top – evenly.
7). Add another layer of potatoes and 1/4 of the cheese.
8). Spread the cabbage out as its own layer.
9). Add another 2 layers of potatoes and cheese.
10). Whisk the thyme, sherry and a little salt and pepper into the cream.
11). Pour the cream mixture into the casserole (find a spot in the middle – don’t douse the whole top).
12). Sprinkle a little melted butter on the top.
13). Cover very well with foil and bake at 350 deg. F for an hour.
14). Remove from oven and test middle with sharp knife. When potatoes are tender, jack temp up to 400 deg. F and bake until brown and bubbly – without foil - but watch carefully to avoid burning. You’ll need about 15 mins or so at this higher temperature. If you need more browning, just broil for a couple of minutes.
15). Allow to rest for 10 mins before serving.

This is how to shingle potato slices for the gratin

Potato cabbage gratin in a glass baking dish ready for the oven

Gratin ready for the oven - just needs foil cover

Gratin done and ready to serve

Posted in Recipes | Tagged bacon, cabbage, casseroles, gratin, potatoes | 2 Comments

Gres des Vosges at my Costco

Posted on December 18, 2010 by admin

125 gram box of gres des vosges cheese on black background

You normally don’t find 125 gram packages of any food item at Costco. Well, maybe caviar.

I was very happy to come across this wonderful little fern frond-topped cheese — essentially a pasteurized milk version of Alsatian Munster — at the Richmond (CA) branch.

The real deal — meaning raw milk Alsatian Munster — is illegal to import/sell in the US unless it has been aged 60 days or more, in which case it would be dead.

This is a soft cow’s milk cheese with a washed rind. Earthy, yeasty, pungent and a little fruity, it’s quite funky when very ripe, which I always appreciate. Life’s a bore without a little stank, and I felt the presence of this baby in the cheese case even though it was situated next to some overripe teleme that had all but run out of its package.

Have it with some bread, fruit and a spicy white or dessert wine.

Posted in Markets, Products | Tagged cheese, dairy, french cheese, Gres des Vosges, munster | Leave a comment

Little Crab Casseroles

Posted on December 12, 2010 by admin

Individual crab casseroles in little fiestaware ramekins

Here’s an easy recipe for decadent little creamy crab casseroles I developed based on a couple 1950′s dip recipes.

They work very well if you are having people over and want to serve a comforting, hot appetizer.

Do me a favor, though: buy decent ingredients. Good mayo, like Best Foods/Hellmann’s, Raley’s or the new Costco version, and real cream cheese without gums, fillers and all the rest of the garbage in popular brands. Gina Marie is good, and is available at some Costco locations in addition to upscale and natural markets.

Creamy Crab Casseroles
Makes 8

8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Asiago cheese
A few drops of chili oil and a couple dashes of white pepper OR a little regular old pepper
16 oz crab meat
1 tablespoon butter
8 ramekins (about 3/4 cup capacity)

1). Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and mix with a stiff spatula or spoon until softened.
2). Mix in sour cream, mayo, cheese and chili oil/white pepper or black pepper.
3). Carefully fold in crab meat.
4). Lightly butter the ramekins.
5). Distribute crab mixture evenly among ramekins and smooth out tops.
6). Bake at 325 deg F. until a bit bubbly – about 20 minutes.
7). Broil for a minute or two to brown tops, but carefully so as not to burn!
8). Serve with good crackers or some crusty bread.

Posted in Markets, Products, Recipes | Tagged appetizers, casseroles, crab | 2 Comments

Leftovers: Roast ‘taters with Cheese & Short Rib Gravy

Posted on December 7, 2010 by admin

Roast potatoes and butternut squash with aged cheddar and short rib gravy

Anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows I’m big into leftovers.

If I make something or go out to eat I don’t care what’s left, how much or how little, I put it in a container and eat it the next day or incorporate it into another meal. We can’t afford to waste food, particularly animal products, because animals have died for what we are eating!

It always amazes me when people throw leftovers away, and I’m often surprised by the kinds of people I see do this: greenies, nouveau hippies – though I guess they’re really pseudo-hippies, animal rights activists. Maybe it’s because the people in my circle who fall into those enlightened groups have more money than my poor friends (for example, other bloggers and artists) who can’t afford to throw away a scrap.

When I see this I’m reminded of the line from the Staple Singers’ song, Respect Yourself:

“Keep talkin’ ’bout the president, won’t stop air pollution
Put your hand o’er your mouth when you cough, that’ll help the solution”

Saving the world starts at home.

One thing to have hanging around is a wide variety of containers – especially little ones. I buy these at Ichiban Kan, or other Asian housewares shops. They tend to carry food grade plastic containers in sizes from an ounce to a gallon.

If you have lots of them in the half-cup or so size, you can freeze little containers of sauce from whatever you’re making: braises, like short ribs or shanks, and tomato-based saucy dishes, like chicken cacciatore. You’ll be well-fixed to bust out a little sauce to serve with those fries you brought home, or leftover potato pancakes from the night before.

One little tip is to make lots of extra roast potatoes when you’re having them as a side to serve as a future dish with salad, as follows:

Roast your potatoes like so, perhaps. Feel free to add some butternut squash, which roasts up nice and sweet. Eat dinner and then save the leftovers.

Next day toss them with crumbles of a good, aged cheddar and bake, covered, or microwave, until all is hot and cheese is melty.

When you take the ‘taters out of the oven, microwave some of your frozen short rib or other gravy until it’s very hot, and pour it over the potatoes and cheese.

Serve ASAP. You will not be sorry!

Posted in Recipes, Tips | Tagged aged cheddar, leftovers, short rib gravy | Leave a comment

An Open Letter to Costco

Posted on December 5, 2010 by admin

A whole smoked whitefish from acme smoked fish corp in brooklyn

5 December 2010

Costco Wholesale Corporation
Attn: Customer Service
P. O. Box 34331
Seattle, WA 98124

Re: Lack of Acme Fish Corporation’s smoked whitefish products at your Richmond, California, store

Dear Costco:

It’s me, your biggest fan.

I’m wondering why you, once again, pulled the rug out from under my supply of smoked whitefish. Clearly you don’t understand what kind of hardship this presents – particularly during the holidays. Why do you think I’m always filling out those customer cards when I leave the store, crestfallen?

I’ve lost all hope in terms of the smoked whitefish salad, which you had for some 18 glorious months several years ago. Those two pound tubs for $7.99 made me scoff at the local bagel stores hawking the same exact stuff for upwards of $15 a pound. The laugh was on me, though, Costco, when I had to go crawling back to those places with my tail between my legs when you discontinued that product.

Oh, sure, you sometimes have the whole smoked whitefish, but, like a parochial school girl in a short plaid skirt, you’re a tease.

Costco, you know I love you. I always talk you up to my friends, even when you hurt me. I love you even though I understand you conduct random drug tests on your employees, which I believe to be a violation of Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, but I’m willing look past that and dip a toe into the waters of hypocrisy because you carry such excellent cheeses. Your inexpensive Prosciutto di Parma, #10 cans of Rokeach gefilte fish, environmentally-friendly cleaning products and very berry sundae have me all wrapped up.

Why can’t you justify my love and give me a regular supply of whole whitefish, at the very least, if you can’t manage to stock the salad? This way I can make my own whitefish salad, though I’d really appreciate being spared the grief of all those bones, if you catch my drift.

Do you think you could hook the Richmond store up with one or both of these products from Halloween through the New Year, and then again at Passover?

Some of us don’t drive – or can’t drive on freeways or bridges and so cannot easily get to a different Costco. Some of us are tired of asking friends in San Francisco to look for these products for us.

Give an ex-New Yorker with a Jewish husband and German mother a break. Ex-South Floridians, ex-La-La Landers, Northern Europeans and others in the Oakland-to-Richmond corridor of the East Bay would appreciate it, too.

Costco, I believe you have spies people out in cyberspace keeping track of what is said about you and your products on blogs and other sites. I think those people might even comment now and again to diffuse negative criticism. I can’t prove it, and I don’t blame you, but the analytics for my blog, as well as a few suspicious comments, seem to point in that direction.

I know you didn’t like it when I said the dressings provided with some of your in-store prepared wraps are too viscous because you use gums. No, I don’t think you liked that at all.

I’m hoping that the gentle criticism I offer now and then on my blog won’t have a negative effect on my smoked whitefish request.

To remind you, these products are marketed under the Blue Hill Bay label and come from Acme Smoked Fish Corporation in Brooklyn. I also provided a photo of a whole smoked whitefish at the top of this post for your convenience.

I won’t be sending this letter through the mail because I’m certain you’ll be aware of it in very little time, given keywords I used.

With best wishes for a wonderful holiday,

The Akitachow household

PS: I’m assuming you’ll be handing out free cookbooks and samples of your caramel apples and peppermint bark, but maybe you can also have someone there cutting up a whole prosciutto on the afternoon of 9 December?

Posted in Markets, Products | Tagged acme smoked fish corporation, blue bay, costco, smoked fish, smoked whitefish | 6 Comments