Sometimes I like being told what to do—not too often mind you, so don’t get the wrong idea! But once in a while when I’m lacking the proper kitchen inspiration, it is nice to get helpful instruction. That happened the other day with this eggplant recipe. We were having a group of friends over and needed some sort of appetizer. Hegui whipped out Yotam Ottolenghi and was on a roll. I had nothing. So sad! Fortunately he had enough enthusiasm for the both of us. He “suggested” that I try the “burnt eggplant with tahini” recipe from Plenty. Well, yum!

roasted eggplant with tahini and pomegranate party dip

Sort of like babaganoush on steroids, this has the exciting addition of pomegranate molasses, which I’d not had before. It is so delightfully tart. Mmmm. That plus cherry tomatoes and sliced cucumber with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds for garnish really make this recipe pop. Part salad, part dip, and very festive looking; you’ll be happy that you spouse demanded that you make this one.

roasted eggplant with tahini and pomegranate party dip

1 large Italian eggplant
1/3 cup tahini
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
juice from half a lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
Salt and black pepper to taste
12 cherry tomatoes in halves
half an English cucumber, cut in quarters the long way then sliced thinly
½ cup pomegranate seeds
olive oil to finish

Roast whole eggplant on grill at highest temperature for about thirty minutes, turning occasionally, until it shrinks. Remove from heat, let cool then peel. Discard skin and stem. Tear flesh with a fork. It will have some residual juice (or at least mine did). Use this instead of water to thin the dish.

Add tahini, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, salt and black pepper to eggplant. Mix thoroughly. Fold in cherry tomatoes and cucumber. Place in a serving dish. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serve with bread or crackers as an appetizer or as a side.

chickpea soup with rosemary

This incredible recipe comes from the new David Rocco cookbook, Made in Italy. We’d not heard of this stylish Italian chef until Hegui happened across his gorgeous cookbook in a shop in Healdsburg while we were wine tasting that weekend. Apparently he’s a Food Network star for their Canadian outlet. There’re tons of videos from the show on U-tube. Here’s one:

I like the food and the excitement that Rocco brings to the subject. Can’t wait for his show to come out in the U.S. For now, we’ll just have to content ourselves with these yummy recipes.

I basically followed his but used more chickpeas. Mine were a mix of canned and dried that I rehydrated, though in the book it calls only for canned. The taste was superb. Too bad the soup, unlike the celebrity chef, isn’t especially photogenic.

chickpea soup with rosemary

4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
3 cups chickpeas
Salt and black pepper to taste
Water to taste
Parmigiano-Reggiano and more olive oil to finish

Sauté diced onion and rosemary in olive oil until onions start to turn golden. Add chickpeas, salt and pepper. Add water to your taste. I made my soup a little watery. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Use a stick blender to mash some of the chickpeas and onion to thicken the soup. Cook about 15 minutes. Serve warm and finish with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and some olive oil.

This is another delicious recipe I’ve adapted from Marja Vongerichten’s The Kimchi Chronicles. I never learned to appreciate coleslaw American-style. I think it tends to be too sweet, creamy bordering on slimy. And then, on top of that, sometimes it comes with another surprise flavor: pineapple. Ugh! More sweetness. I like the ingredients individually, but when mixed this way I just can’t take it.

Korean ‘slaw

So here is an alternative to the traditional kind: Korean style. Try this recipe. You won’t go back to the sweet type. Plus this one’s healthier.

Instead of dressing it with buttermilk, mayo or another store bought cream sauce, the bright flavors here get enlightened by the sourness of rice vinegar as well as lime and lemon juices. Okay, I’ll admit that there is a touch of sweetness, too, but only a touch. This sort of reminded me of fattoush or Thai som tam salad.

Note: Because this salad does not use any oil, it needs to sit room temperature for about 15 minutes for flavors to meld: a must.

Korean ‘slaw

6 cups Napa cabbage, julienned
1 cup white daikon, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
½ medium red onion cut into thin half-moon slices
2 scallions, green and white parts, cut into thin rounds
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 small Asian pear, julienned
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp coarse salt
2 tbsp rice vinegar
Juice of a juicy lime
Juice of a juicy lemon

Place cut vegetables in a non reactive bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Toss to coat. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Toss occasionally. Serve as a side dish.

This yummy recipe comes from The Kimchi Chronicles by Marja Vongerichten, a marvelous and very accessible Korean cookbook. Marja writes that she learned this recipe from her husband, who apparently first discovered it on a visit to a small island off the southern coast of Korea, called Jeju.

Korean kimchi seafood bouillabaisse AKA haemul jeongol

I love bouillabaisse-style seafood soups with flavorful clear broths, though this is not your typical one at all. This turned out lively with a powerful spicy and sour flavor. Somewhat reminiscent of Thai bouillabaisse this one does not use the aromatic herbs, galangal root, lemon grass and kafir lime leaves. But the umma paste gives it wonderful flavor.

I used store-bought kimchi this time but for the next, I want to make my own.

store-bought kimchi

Korean kimchi seafood bouillabaisse AKA haemul jeogol

3 cups chopped kimichi with juices
8 cups water
1 small onion, cut into large cubes
6 Korean radish (moo) or daikon root sliced thin, ~ 2 cups
1 bunch watercress
3 tbsp umma paste
2 tbsp fish sauce
½ tsp sugar
Salt
10 clams
10 mussels
6 shrimp
1 piece red snapper

Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan, add chopped kimichi and boil for about 5 minutes. Add moo, umma paste, fish sauce, sugar and salt and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust flavor with more salt, fish sauce or even umma paste. Add fish and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove fish and keep warm. Add clams and mussels and let them cook until they open. Discard unopened shells. Turn temperature to low, add shrimp, fish and watercress. Turn heat off, keep it covered until watercress has wilted and shrimp turn pink. Serve and enjoy!

I always ordered this dish when eating out at the Thai Pavilion restaurant in Astoria, Queens, my favorite Thai place when we lived in New York. There they called it Potek. It was this clear aromatic and spicy broth with loads of fish and shellfish. After moving to San Francisco, I learned to make it myself because I got tired of asking at restaurants whether they could accommodate my needs by making the soup with vegetable broth or just plain water. Plus I like making Thai food.

Thai bouillabaisse with salmon and clams

The soup can be like Tom Yum on steroids. Beyond shrimp, potek is packed with other types of seafood, such as fish, clams, mussels, sea scallops, crab claws or lobster. Heaven! You can use the seafood of your choice, like I did here: this time, just salmon and clams.

key ingredients for Thai bouillabaisse

Thai bouillabaisse

7½ cups water
2 stalks lemon grass, smashed with a cleaver
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 inch piece of galangal root, cut into chunks
½ cup cilantro, chopped
10 mint leaves
10 Thai basil leaves
½ Thai red chili pepper cut in thin rounds
1 tsp garlic chili pepper
½ tsp sugar
7 tbsp fish sauce
Kosher salt
3 small individual pieces of sushi grade king salmon
1 lb clams
1 cup button mushrooms, quartered

Bring water to a boil then add lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal root. Simmer for about 10 minutes so flavors meld. Add garlic chili paste, sugar, salt and fish sauce. Adjust flavor with more fish sauce, salt or chili sauce for spicier results. Add clams and cook for a couple of minutes or until they begin to open, add mushroom followed by the salmon. Remove from heat. Let it poach in the broth. Toss in Thai basil, red chili, mint and cilantro. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with a side of Thai Jasmine rice.

som tam AKA spicy green papaya salad

We had a Thai inspired dinner the other evening. This som tam was served with a spicy potek soup and Jasmine rice. In Brazil we frequently ate green papaya at home but the way my mother made it was completely different. She cooked it with garlic, oil, salt and pepper and sometimes stewed with tomatoes. That was good, but not as incredible as this Thai dish that is just packed with amazing flavors: spicy, sour, umami, salty, sweet and crunchy. I love it!

green papaya warming in the afternoon sunshine

som tam

1 lb shredded green (unripe) papaya (I used a mandolin to shred it)
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 Thai bird’s eye chili pepper
8 fresh green beans, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 large clove fresh garlic
Juice of 4 limes or more
½ tsp sugar
4 heirloom tomatoes cut into wedges
Japanese cucumber slices

In Thailand, it is fun to watch green papaya salad being prepared by street vendors. They pound garlic, sugar, tomato and green beans in a large mortar and pestle right in front of you. Then they add the papaya, lime juice and pound it again to bruise everything to release flavors. It is like a cooking demonstration on the side of the road. I don’t have a mortar so I improvised a bit. I placed the green beans between 2 layers of saran wrap and flattened them with the rolling pin. I squeezed the tomatoes a bit with my hands. I grated the garlic and chili pepper with a micro-plane grater. Then everything was mixed together and let macerate for about 20 minutes before going to the table. The delicious Japanese cucumber slices helped cool down the heat of the salad. Serve on a few leaves of lettuce with some cucumbers on the side.

Thai tomato, coconut and Dungeness crab soup

I had this tomato soup at a dinner party recently. My boss, Elliot, hosted at his place. It was a fun evening filled with good chat, many delectable savory dishes and lovely wine! Thank you Elliot for being such a good cook and host! I wanted to ask for the recipe but didn’t get the chance as I had to leave a bit early to take care of our bully Clarence.

A few days later while browsing one of the latest issues of Bon Appétit magazine I found the recipe. Yoo-hoo! But then I misplaced it. Turns out they posted it online.

This past weekend we had our friends Jasmine and Prof. T over for dinner. I wanted to awe not only them but Steven too with this flavorful Thai inspired soup. Jasmine said “this is gourmet eating,” which is exactly what I said when I dined at Elliot’s, and it is. This soup really entices your palate with fragrant sweet and sour flavors and silky, creamy textures without being heavy or dense. This is definitely something that I will make again. And since tomatoes are in season now, I am already thinking of experimenting with different heirlooms to change the color: yellow, chocolate, green zebra varieties? If you can’t find crab, I am sure shrimp, or even lobster would do.

Thai tomato, coconut and Dungeness crab soup

3 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch scallions–approx 6– chopped fine, white and dark green parts included
2 stalks of fresh lemon grass, tough outer layer removed, sliced thinly
1 Serrano pepper, seeds partially removed, minced
2½ lb ripe tomatoes
½ cup light unsweetened coconut milk
1½ tbsp fish sauce
Juice of one lime or more, depending on how sour you like it, plus some lime wedges for garnish
Juice of one orange
½ lb fresh Dungeness crab meat
Kosher salt
½ cup pea shoots
1 clove garlic smashed

Bring a saucepan full of water to a boil. Meanwhile using a paring knife make a cross incision at bottom of each tomato, and cut the woody top off. Place them in boiling water until skin begins to curl. Drain, let cool a bit, remove skins and cube them. Set aside.

Place 2tbsp olive oil, scallions and lemon grass in a sauce pan. Sauté until scallions wilt. Add tomatoes and cook for about 8 minutes, long enough to bring it to a boil. Add coconut, orange juice, fish sauce and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool down for few minutes.

Add remaining olive oil to a skillet, followed by garlic. Sauté until aromatic. Add fresh crab. Turn heat off and cook for a minute. Sprinkle with salt, discard garlic clove. Set aside

Using a stick blender, wiz soup until puréed and smooth. Stir in lime juice. Add salt and more lime juice, if needed. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with Dungeness crab meat and pea shots. Have lime wedges on the side for the table.

Michele from the blog That’s so Michelle made the same recipe. Check it out here.

We’ve this incredible overabundance of Tuscan (dinosaur) kale from our community garden right now. The stuff is delicious but after a while, you simply run out of creative ideas for this ultra healthy green. What a relief it was, then, to try our friend, John’s raw Tuscan kale salad “cooked” in lemon juice on our picnic excursion to Mt. Tamalpais the other week.

raw Tuscan kale salad with lemon

I write cooked in quotation marks because I feel almost positive there is a culinary term for preparing food with lemon juice but without heat. I just cannot for the life of me remember it and my attempt to Google the word was a complete failure. Do you know the proper term for that process? If so, do write in and tell me! It’s driving me batty.

Anyway, I never did get John’s exact recipe, so I sort of guessed about what he did. Really this is like a kale Cesar salad in a sense. It is important to slice the raw kale as thinly as possible and let it marinade in the dressing for at least 20 or 30 minutes to tenderize it.

organic Tuscan kale from our community garden, lemon and garlic make this salad memorable

raw Tuscan kale salad with lemon

1 large bunch of Tuscan kale, thick stems removed
Juice of three lemons
¼ cup olive oil
1 small clove garlic
2 anchovy fillets
Salt and black pepper to taste
3 tbsps. Parmesan

Slice kale extremely thinly and place in a large bowl. Blend lemon juice, olive oil, garlic clove, anchovies, salt and black pepper together in a food processor. Toss with kale, cover and let sit for about 30 minutes. Toss with parmesan. Adjust with more salt or pepper, if needed.

We had ours with black beans and rice, catfish tenders, and sautéed okra with garlic and carrot.

mozzarella di buffala and heirloom tomatoes salad with fennel vinaigrette

This is another great recipe from “Plenty.” I’ve had salads like this before but I don’t remember ever having one with fennel seeds. I think they add a distinct touch of licorice flavor to the dish. While shopping for the ingredients make sure that you select the best cheese and that the tomatoes are the freshest, preferably vine ripened. We are lucky here in California as the heirloom tomato season has just arrived. Right now, they’re bursting with flavor. I got three types of heirlooms: yellow, red and chocolate-red. Delish.

mozzarella di buffala and heirloom tomatoes salad with fennel vinaigrette

4 medium sized, assorted heirloom tomatoes, cut into half moons
3 125gr containers mozzarella di buffala, cut into quarters
1 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded
Zest of ½ lemon
½ tsp fennel seeds
5 tbsp arbequina olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled, pressed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Dry roast fennel seeds in skillet for a minute or so. Roughly crush them to release flavor. Transfer seeds to a small bowl. Add lemon zest, olive oil, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Pour sauce over cheese and let it rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Arrange cut tomatoes next to cheese, drizzle with a bit more olive oil and serve.

Happy summer!

quinoa, fresh fava bean and avocado salad

I’ve adapted this light and protein-rich salad from Plenty by Yotam Ottelenghi. It is flavorful and perfect for a barbeque party. You will enchant all your guests with this one, whether they’re vegan, vegetarian, or more omnivorous. The dish combines ingredients from both new and old worlds to become a beautiful international delight, just the way we like it

quinoa, fresh fava bean and avocado salad

½ cup red quinoa
½ cup white quinoa
2 ripe Hass avocados
1½ cups fresh fava beans, from about 2 lbs fava pods
8 fresh multicolor oblong French radishes, quartered
1 cup frisée escarole, cleaned, cut into bite size pieces
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 garlic clove crushed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Aleppo pepper chili flakes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Add both red and white quinoa to a sauce pan, top with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce temperature to medium and cook until soft and little seeds have partially burst. Drain, rinse and let cool down to room temperature in a strainer.

Using a sharp paring knife cut a tiny strip off the stringy part of the fava pod lengthways, pop beans out of their velvety pod. Repeat process for remaining pods. Add beans to a pot with boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes. Drain, shock beans with cold water, let them cool down. Remove outer membrane from around each bean, being careful not to crush them.

Cut avocados in halves, remove large seeds. Slice into wedges, transfer to bowl and sprinkle with some lemon juice to prevent oxidation. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix garlic, salt, peppers, remainder of the lemon juice, cumin and olive oil.

Transfer quinoa, fava, radish and frisée to a serving dish, pour dressing over everything and toss to combine. Adjust flavors if necessary. Gently fold in avocado wedges.  Garnish with some crisp lettuce leaves.