Sesame Ginger Noodle Salad

Sunday Morning Hazards
Sometimes my mouth gets me in trouble. Sometimes I agree to things without thinking. Sometimes it’s worth it.

Last Sunday morning, we were couch-surfing after a tasty French toast breakfast and the Pioneer Woman was on the TV (because the Food Network is always my daughter’s first choice unless any of the Harry Potter movies are on). I wasn’t really paying attention but I had a vague idea that it was on in the background. Our plans that day revolved around a woodwork project for the back patio so I was trying to figure out my plan of attack. It was then that I heard my husband announce to the room” I want that for dinner!” and I stopped everything that I was doing to take a look.

It is rare that a member of my family tells me exactly what they want to eat without any prompting from me. Usually, there is a lot of back and forth about what sounds good? What do we have in the fridge? Etc..So when someone says I want that, it’s kind of a big deal. I said yes without hesitation. I was already planning on going to the store anyway so no biggie…right?

This, of course, was all before I spent the next 6 hours crouched down staining two by fours in the sun. When we finished our project and it was time for dinner I was less enthusiastic about our dinner plans and promises I made. Thankfully the recipe came together easily and went well with the pork chops I threw on the grill. Even better it made enough to cover lunch the next day. (This recipe actually makes a lot. It would be perfect for a potluck…when we can do that again!) In fact, it was even better the next day.

I wasn’t better the next day. I was walking like the tin man….

Sesame Ginger Noodle Salad
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network
Yields 6 servings Read more…

Brown Sugar Kitchen

Food Is Love Made Visible
Every week I sit down and write this blog. I love it. Any opportunity I have to talk to people about food is a good time in my book. This week? I don’t have the words…

Posting ideas and recipes on what to make for dinner this week seemed trivial and, frankly, tone-deaf. I thought about it a lot. The more I thought about it the more I kept coming back to the power that good food can have. Good food can comfort. Good food can heal. And, I believe, good food can bring a community together.

One of my favorite cookbooks—and restaurants for that matter—is Brown Sugar Kitchen by Tanya Holland. Why? Because it’s the kind of food I like to eat. Did I grow up eating it? No. But good food is good food no matter who or where it comes from. Tanya’s Creole Spice Mix lives in a mason jar by the side of my stove. It stays out on my counter because I use it on so many things from shrimp to chicken to pork that it doesn’t make sense to put it away. (Though I admit, sometimes I go with straight thyme instead of the Herbs De Provence).

The Brown Sugar Kitchen is one of many black-owned restaurants that could use our support right now. The fact that it is a woman-owned business only sweetens the pot. If you would like to support Tanya and the Brown Sugar Kitchen, they are serving up food-to-go that you can order from their website. You can also find a link on their website to donate a meal if you are so inclined.

For those who want to try to recreate their BSK favorites, you can purchase their cookbook here.

Brown Sugar Kitchen is just one of many of the Bay Area’s African American-owned restaurants and businesses that could use your help and support. For a full list check out this spreadsheet.

Turmeric Pickles

Nothin’ But Time
So here we are at the end of May still with a lot of time on our hands. If you planted a veggie garden at the beginning of all this, time may not be all that you have on your hands. My tomatoes have been going crazy, and even more so with the recent heat. I don’t have any actual tomatoes yet but they are definitely coming. What I do have are cucumbers.

I love cucumbers. I use them in salads, obviously, but I really like to use them by slicing them up and putting them along with a fresh mint sprig in a pitcher of water to keep in the fridge. The cold cucumber water is especially refreshing on hot days.

The best use for an over-abundance of cucumbers is, of course, pickles. These Garlic Dill Pickles are my favorite but sometimes the same old thing gets, well, old. My sister is big into pickling and has a number of favorite recipes—but the one I think she uses the most is the turmeric pickle recipe from the Mustard’s Grill Napa Valley cookbook that we highlighted for one of our Cookbook club dinners. Mustard’s is a Napa Valley icon and, since things seem to be opening up in those parts, it might be worth a trip in the weeks to come…

In the meantime, try these pickles if you have the inclination. They are excellent when made with both cucumbers or zucchini which means you will always have a way to handle an over-producing garden. I like to add a dried chili in there for a little extra kick….

Turmeric Pickles
Yields about 4 Cups
Adapted from Mustard’s Napa Valley Grill Cookbook Read more…

Grilled Apricot and Ricotta Tartine

Grilled Apricot and Ricotta Tartine Groundhog Day
Until yesterday, I had no clue that this weekend is Memorial Day Weekend. Let’s be real. I even struggled to try to remember that it was Wednesday today. Every day feels like the same day on repeat. It is, in fact, groundhog day. I don’t really feel there is much of a difference between Tuesday and Saturday and I am pretty sure I am not the only one.

So, Memorial Day…

Theoretically, it is the unofficial beginning of Summer. Any other year we’d be packing for a tournament and figuring what to throw on the grill when we got home. This year? *Sigh*

I’m sure you all will forgive me for my lack of enthusiasm. It’s becoming harder and harder to be excited about what I am making for dinner. Call it culinary lethargy. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just as some restrictions are slowly being lifted around the state, stone fruits are starting to make their appearance in the produce department. Hurray!

Yep, the arrival of cherries, apricots, and early peaches and nectarines are just the thing to get me excited again. In fact, these two recipes got my mouth-watering to the point of embarrassment just by looking at them. Grilled Apricots with Burrata, Country Ham and Arugula can also be made with plums, peaches, and pears (depending on the season). And our recipe for Grilled Apricot and Ricotta Tartine is the bomb.

From there it was not hard to picture snacking on either while enjoying this weekend’s warm weather on my back patio, cold beverage in hand…Voila!

Memorial Day Weekend saved!

Grilled Apricot and Ricotta Tartine Recipe