Amy’s Guacamole

A Bowl of Somethin’ Super
Perhaps you haven’t heard, but the Super Bowl is this weekend. I admit I like the Super Bowl and everything that goes with it. The Food, the Commercials, the betting pools. All of it. I am also one of those people who actually likes to watch the game.

After decades of going to Super Bowl parties or having people over at my place, I have finally figured out that I prefer to be in my own home, on my own couch, with a Coke, not a Pepsi, and actually watching the game without having to shush people or turn the volume up to 80. This Sunday I will be doing just that with my Patriot fan husband. (Go ahead. Boo if you must.) But don’t think for one minute that we will be scrimping on the snackage. It may just be the five of us, but we’re going big, baby.

We have done numerous things for our Super Bowl feasting over the years. Chili. Pulled Pork. Baby Back Ribs. After serious soul searching and heated family debates, it has been decided that this year we will be having a Make Your Own Nachos bar. It may sound simple but these are not your average nachos. Sure, we could go with the basic cheese and chips with salsa, but that would be for amateurs. We take our nachos very seriously and we all like different toppings. Our ingredient list could feed a small country. There are numerous different kinds of chips, cheeses, beans, no beans, meats, and salsas. Pickled jalapeños, fresh jalapeños, no jalapeños. It’s Tex-Mex anarchy.

One thing that we do all agree on is there absolutely–the world will tilt on its axis if it’s not there–must be guacamole on the nachos. And if you ask my husband, it must be my guacamole. (Yeah. He’s a keeper.) There ain’t nothin’ better than fresh guacamole with fresh chips. Mine is SO easy to make. Just make sure the avocados are super ripe…but not brown.

Amy’s Guacamole Read more…

Roasted Cauliflower & Hazelnut Salad

I’m So Fancy.
Last week was the Fancy Food Show at Moscone Center in San Francisco. It’s a long day, and I usually end up with a stomach ache by the end. At no other time is it appropriate, let alone encouraged, to try the Salmon Jerky one minute, and wash it down with a coffee soda the next. (By the way, not a fan of the coffee soda.) Add the endless array of kale products and…you get my drift.

Despite the wacky mélange of fine foods, it’s a lot of fun. Plus there are the foods I never pass up because chances are I won’t get to taste them anytime soon. Legitimate Iberico Ham from Spain? 50 year old? (Yes. You read that right) Balsamic Vinegar? Real French Cheese? I’m talking the gooey stinky stuff that will change your life. Then there’s the Wagyu Beef! (O.M.G! The Wagyu Beef!)

The real point of this gastric free-for-all is to learn what is new and trendy, and what we will see on the market shelves in the coming year. That said, here are my takeaways from this year’s Fancy Food Show:

1. Power to the Veggies
Kale is still king, but it now has competition in the form of broccoli, cauliflower and sweet potatoes among other vitamin-packed vegetables. Everywhere I looked there was a different snack item proclaiming it’s particular health benefit. And Chickpeas! They’re everywhere.

2. Caramel is Taking Over
There will always be plenty of candy at the show. That’s just the nature of the beast. In years past chocolate, in any form, dominated. This year, I was surprised to see that while there was plenty of chocolate, there were caramels in every form and flavor including some infused with a variety of hot and trendy spices. (It’s all about the turmeric, y’all.)

3. There’s Something About Mary
Mixology is still the rage, and walking down the aisles there were plenty of options to liven up your cocktail party. Most interesting was how many booths were either offering you a bloody mary or at the very least inviting you to try their bloody mary mix. Others were pairing bloody marys with the beef jerky they were actually there to sell. (Which is a whole other craziness…Jerky everywhere.) Of course, the bloody mary could be another manifestation of the power veggie movement that happens to involve Vodka. I am okay with that.

4. Here for the Pate
Many vendors and attendees were thrilled about the ban on fois gras being struck down by the courts, and they showed it by handing fois gras out to everyone. I was happy to be right in the middle of it. Watch the shelves for some really great pates in the coming months as vendors ramp up their offerings.

5. Doing Things Right
One thing that was blatantly obvious this year is the number of vendors who are very concerned with making sure that if they are going to make something, they make it the way it should be made…almost to the point of obsession. These producers aren’t making products just because they can. They are making them because they really care about producing food for people that is the purest form of the product. For example, Italian pestos that are created in the same manner that it has been made for hundreds of years. Bottled lemon juice that literally tastes like you bit into a lemon because they take the time to add lemon oil to a specially constructed bottle. All throughout the show, there were vendors like this who were passionate about what they produce. I was inspired.

I have to say that this year was the first time in a while that I walked away from the Fancy Food show excited. It was not the same old stuff, only re-packaged. We found a number of products that we are excited about, so be on the lookout for new things in the aisles. And, of course, we’ll let you know about them.

In the meantime, jump on the veggie bandwagon and try the recipe below. It’s a great way to get your vitamins and liven up your winter palate.

Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad
Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi

Cauliflower, raw or lightly cooked, is a useful salad ingredient, above all in winter when there isn’t a great variety of fresh vegetables available. It soaks up flavors particularly effectively and benefits from anything sweet and sharp. This Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad is inspired by a recipe from a brilliant Australian chef and food writer, Karen Martini. Read more…

Autumn Salad with Apples, Comté, and Hazelnuts

The Big Cheese

Cheese is good. I have always been a big fan of cheese in many forms, though I DO draw the line at spray cheese. ( My sister, on the other hand…)And don’t forget the Earthquake Velveta buried in the back of my Mom’s pantry. Uh, no thanks. I would rather perish!

Around the holidays I find that I eat much more cheese than usual. (Of course I am eating a lot more than usual of a lot of things, but it’s the holidays, who am I to fight tradition?)

Cheese is one of the easiest things to nibble on at parties, and since there are numerous parties during this time, the chances of finding oneself in front of a cheese plate or creamy baked brie are pretty good. In fact a cheese plate with an assortment of interesting and not your everyday cheeses is my easy, go-to potluck contribution. (It’s also a great way to get a conversation going, ”This cheese is awesome!” “Oh, what is it?”)

There are plenty of ways to incorporate some really good cheese into your holiday meals. Cheesy dips are a no-brainer and cheese balls are always festive. (The real ones. Not the neon orange things, and not your Uncle Bob.)

One of my favorite ways to enjoy a little cheesy decadence is in a salad. Most people add goat cheese, or feta, or even crumbled blue to their salads– which is great, but don’t under estimate the power of a good, nutty Parrano Gouda or Emmenthaler. When cut into matchstick sized pieces and tossed into mixed greens with some dried cranberries or cherries, these hard cheeses are darn good.

A favorite salad with cheese is this Autumn Salad with Apples and Comte. The Cider vinaigrette alone is straw worthy. This dish would make a great addition to your Thanksgiving table or any other celebration.
Read more…

Endive & Fuyu Persimmon Salad with Pecans

You Say Persimmon, I say…Well…Persimmon

We are fortunate to have a Fuyu Persimmon tree in our backyard. For those who are unfamiliar, the Fuyu is the flat persimmon that you eat while it’s still firm. Not the ones that are teardrop shaped and make you pucker unless they are über soft.

I have never really been a huge fan of The Persimmon. My grandmother would make a persimmon salad for Thanksgiving every year, and every year I would scrape the persimmon off and eat the rest of the salad. She would also make persimmon pudding. Again, not one of my favorites. Of course, that’s when I was a kid. As I’ve gotten older my tastes have changed.

While persimmons are not exactly what I reach for when I am in need of a snack, I do enjoy them from time to time. My daughter, however, will go and grab them off the tree anytime the mood strikes. I wholeheartedly encourage this behavior, though she did teach the chickens to do the same thing. Nothin’ like playing in the yard and grabbing a snack.

The crop this year has been crazy-big and earlier than normal. I blame it on the cool summer and lack of water. We were eating persimmons in mid-September, way before you would see them in the market. Yesterday, we picked a bunch of persimmons to give to our neighbors for use in their restaurant. This was the third round of harvesting and it looks like we will probably get one more in before the leaves drop, though I may just pick them and use them as decoration. The color is perfect for October…as is this salad.

Endive & Fuyu Persimmon Salad with Pecans
Recipe adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rogers

A rich, slippery, fleshy salad that can just as easily be a dessert. Choose Fuyus that are saturated orange in color and as firm as a slightly underripe peach, or the skin of a just ripe banana. (Don’t use the torpedo-shaped Hachiya persimmons, which need to be jelly-soft before they are edible.) This salad is also nice with a few sprigs of watercress for contrast. You’ll get a very different flavor balance, still delicious and unusual. Read more…