PICTURE THIS: Foie Gras Bon Bon, Commonwealth, San Francisco

Yes, Foie Gras and Dark Chocolate. AMAZING!
Off the Chef's tasting menu at COMMONWEALTH, San Francisco

Recipe for Summertime Brown Rice Salad

A while ago, I blogged about how I was trying to be more organized and plan ahead by preparing some basics like beans, rice etc and keeping them in the fridge for meals during the week.  Here is a quick and easy (and adaptable to what you have on hand) salad using made ahead brown rice. It is light and delicious for summer as a side dish to pretty much anything. I served it along side my Ponzu Cardamom Marinated Tuna and it was perfect.

Black and White Wednesdays

Street Market Hong Kong

Submitted to Black and White Wednesdays

Recipe for "Sate" Roasted Chicken

This is one moist and delicious chicken, if I do say so myself, and I do!  Another experiment with some of the Penzey's spices I picked up on a recent trip to the mainland [and no, Penzey's isn't sponsoring these posts : -)]. This roasted chicken is slathered in a slurry of olive oil and Indonesian Sate seasoning (that's their spelling). I roasted it following my favorite "not just for special occasions" method.  It's foolproof.  The meat is so moist and the Sate seasoning was fantastic.


So, you might be wondering "what's in that Sate seasoning Susie Bee?"  Here is the list of ingredients:  

PICTURE THIS: Now that's a WINE TASTING!

From "Three Decades of Reserve Cabernets" at the Kapalua Food and Wine Festival.
BTW, what's that white paper cup for anyway?

Recipe for Sweet and Sour Grilling Glaze

Mr. ELEB chuckles sometimes when he sees me standing in front of an open pantry or refrigerator door.  I understand why…you can almost see the steam coming out of my ears as I’m looking at what’s in front of me and concocting possibilities in my head.  He also laughs because he knows that he might get something really yummy, occasionally something yucky.  Well, he lucked out on this most recent experiment!

It was burger night-I had defrosted some ground buffalo-and I was pondering what to do in front of the open fridge door.  I didn’t a want cheeseburger so I was trying to come up with ingredients to make the burgers interesting.    I had a bottle of white wine open (imagine that), some garlic, ginger, and I spied the bottle of ponzu tucked away in the door shelf.  I figured with some brown sugar and mustard, I could probably cook up a reasonably good glaze to add a nice layer of flavor to the meat.

Voilà!  Here’s my sweet and sour grilling glaze.

Black and White Wednesdays

Shaved Asparagus Salad

Check out the fun with black and white (and sepia) at Black and White Wednesday.

Recipe for Oven Roasted Rack of Lamb

Not everyone likes lamb.  I used to think I didn't like it, probably from having some gamey tasting mutton somewhere in England as a kid!  Today's New Zealand, Australian, or Colorado lamb is wonderful and, if you trim the fat well, it has none of the possible gamey flavors that turn some people off.  We even have lamb being raised on Maui now through the Maui Cattle Company.  I haven't tried any yet but can't wait.   This rack came from Australia via Costco.  I've found their Australian lamb to be very good and competitively priced.

PICTURE THIS: Smart Words

And if you really love them,  Healthy Tasty Food!
(Penzy's Sticker)

Black and White Wednesdays

Street Food Sweet Auburn Market Atlanta

I love black and white photographs and Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook has a brilliant idea for others who share this love with me.  Every Wednesday Susan will post submitted black and white photos as part of a Culinary Photography Event!  


So whether you have some awesome black and white photos to share or just want to gaze at some, check out the event every Wednesday at Black and White Wednesday.

Recipe for Quinoa Salad with Roasted Red Pepper, Feta, Mint, and Almonds

Even though it is warm/hot year around here in Maui, there is something about summer that just makes me want fresh, tasty salads.  This quinoa salad is great. Simple to make, yet complex in taste.  It is great as a side dish to grilled meats or alone as a meatless main course option.

Welcome Baby E!

I'm happy to report the safe delivery of my first grandchild today!  E, Mom, and Dad (the older of my two sons) are all doing great.  She is 7 lbs. 10 oz and 21 inches, head full of hair, just like her daddy had when he was born.  Can't believe I'm a grandma!  Actually, I'll be known as Meme (pronounced mimi).
Aloha, what a blessing!

Book Review: "On A Stick" by Matt Armendariz (and recipe)

Photo by Matt Armendariz, used with permission

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to receive a free review copy of a new fun and quirky cookbook, “On a Stick!” by photographer and blogger Matt Armendariz, published by Quirk Books, May 2011.   Ha!  Quirky cookbook, published by Quirk books-unplanned, honestly!  OK, moving on.  I follow Matt’s blog (mattbites.com) so I was enthusiastic to see what in the world he had come up with for his “anything on a stick” cookbook.

Well, Matt did not disappoint!  Now, I’m not saying I’d make everything in this cookbook. However, there are plenty of fun appetizer or snack ideas that I would make and others that will inspire me to adapt the recipes to my ingredients/style. 

PICTURE THIS: West Maui Mountains and Lahaina

A Beautiful Day in West Maui

Recipe for Ponzu Cardamom Marinated Grilled Tuna

Yes, cardamom.  I thought I was using ground coriander but I realized when I smelled the pungent aroma of the cardamom that I’d grabbed the wrong bottle.  Ah well, I thought I’d give it a try since I’d already dumped it in the marinade with the tuna.  Cardamom imparts a sweet and savory flavor to chicken, meat, fruit, pastries…why not tuna?

Newton's Fruit Thins Gelato Sammies

Mr. ELEB and I are big fans of Fig Newtons, especially the 100% whole grain version. It is a go to snack for him an hour or two before he heads off for an afternoon run. There is always a bag in our pantry!


So you can imagine that I was particularly pleased to receive a complimentary bag of Newton's new Fruit Thins as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program to try.  They come in three flavors: Cranberry Citrus Oat, Chocolate Raspberry, and Blueberry Brown Sugar.  The package I received was the Blueberry Brown Sugar.

PICTURE THIS: Summer Sunset on Maui

No Words Necessary!

Easy Way to Have Money Donated to Share Our Strength

Just a quick note today.   If you make Yahoo your homepage, a donation will be made to Share Our Strength, dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America.  No brainer...just do it!  Click here.

From the Share Our Strength Website

Recipe for Smoky Tomatillo Sauce

My friends make the most amazing herb sauces to go with grilled meats.  One is a cilantro flavor bomb and the other is an amazing lime and tomatillo sauce.  I need to get the recipes, but in the mean time, I came up with my own flavor bomb-if you love cumin, you’ll love this sauce.  We had it with grilled pork chops the other night and it was amazing!  The ground nuts add a pleasant twist!

Time: 5 minutes plus chilling time

Yield: 1 ½ cups

Ingredients:

• 1 can, 12 oz, whole tomatillos, drained
• ½ cup cilantro leaves
• Juice of ½ lemon or lime
• 2 tsp smoked cumin (I’m sure it would be good with regular cumin too)
• ½ cup roasted almonds
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Place all ingredients in food processor and process until well combined.
• Chill for one hour before serving.

I’m gazing at the left over sauce and coming up with all kinds of ideas to use it.  I’ll let you know my favorites!  Do you make any herb sauces?  Please share!

Printable Recipe

Recipe for Red Wine and Garlic Portabellas Over Whole Wheat English Muffins

When we had friends visiting recently, I pulled a bunch of stuff out of the fridge for a pot luck lunch.  I had some portabellas that needed to be used and came up with this recipe.  Everyone loved it and insisted I write it up for the blog, so here you go!  This is a rich and filling veggie dish that works for lunch or dinner.  I’m also going to try the mushies on top of whole wheat pizza sometime.

PICTURE THIS: Mountain view from morning bike ride

How beautiful is that?!

Recipe for Mediterranean Crunch Salad

Here’s a healthy and hearty salad that serves a crowd.  It is modified slightly from a Whole Foods recipe.  I used chard instead of kale and made a basil-feta dressing instead of just dressing it with red wine vinegar.  It definitely needs the dressing for my tastes.  This keeps well for several days in the fridge.

Recipe for Azwain Seasoned White Beans with Roasted Red Peppers and Salmon

Mr. ELEB asked for "something light" for dinner the other night.  We're both doing pretty good with our diet and exercise plan after the excesses of the recent trip and this meal, adapted from a Mark Bittman recipe, hit the spot.

PICTURE THIS: Tommy Bahama Sliders

Beef, touch of bacon and cheese, guacamole, perfect buns.
From Tommy Bahamas, Wailea, Maui-the best happy hour nibbles and pours.
Tommy Bahama Wailea

Recipe for Strawberry Chocolate Oat Smoothie

It is widely accepted that oats help lower cholesterol. High cholesterol runs in my family and mine has been up over acceptable levels in the past so I usually have oats as part of my breakfast several times a week.  I love overnight oatmeal but sometimes I want something different.  Could I incorporate oats into a smoothie? Why yes, yes I can!  And you can too.

Corn on the Grill

Old and new worlds come together in the best ways sometimes.  This past week we have been fortunate to have some “old” friends visit from San Francisco.  Everyone has now gone home except our one friend Olivia who leaves today.  The first night when everyone started arriving, we did a sunset picnic down on the beach.  It was a rare cloudy evening, so not much in the way of sunset but the clouds provided a beautiful sky once the sun had set and was reflecting its rays from beyond the horizon.  For Olivia’s last night, our “new” friends here on Maui, Jennifer and Ryan (and their dog Chimi), hosted us at a pool side sunset barbecue.  The sunset was amazing, as was the food. 

Book Review: "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches" by Susan Russo, Photography by Matt Armendariz (and recipe)

As you can see, the full title of Susan Russo's new book is "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches, Recipes, History, and Trivia For Everything Between Sliced Bread."  And it is just that-a chunky, little book chock full of sandwiches made from just about every ingredient imaginable and nuggets of trivia and history for your reading pleasure.  


I was delighted to be able to review this book.  I bought one of my sons her first book "Recipes Every Man Should Know" so I was pretty sure this one was going to be an enjoyable read too.

PICTURE THIS: Menu from Eleven Madison Park, NYC

Four course meal, pick one ingredient from each row and be wowed
by what the kitchen prepares for you!  A new
experience in ordering food-I liked it!

Recipe for Poached Eggs over Spinach and Salmon with Pureed Roasted Red Peppers

If you read yesterday's blog post, you know we had breakfast for dinner last night using the pureed roasted red peppers I made.  This would of course also work for brunch or a morning breakfast.  Eggs, salmon, spinach, red peppers, a little dill and a squeeze of lemon-yum!  I had mine just on the bed of spinach and found it very filling.  For Mr. ELEB, I piled his on top of toasted whole wheat English muffin halves. Good either way!

Recipe for Pureed Roasted Red Peppers

A large bag of red peppers have been sitting in my fridge for a few days now.  When I saw Kalyn's Roasted Red Pepper Dip with Feta and Mint, I was inspired to roast a few (and threw the rest in the freezer-I'll let ya' know how that turns out).  On the menu is breakfast for dinner, poached eggs over spinach and salmon (I'll write it up and post it) and I don't want to do a Hollandaise sauce.  I'm going to use pureed roasted red peppers, instead.

Recipe for Asparagus Soup Seasoned with Zatar

Ever heard of Zatar?  I've seen it mentioned in receipes but hadn't found where to buy it until I got the wonderful opportunity to stop by a Penzy's Spices retail store in Menlo Park, California during our recent trip to San Francisco.  I learned about Penzy's when a friend gave me a selection of Barbecue spices from them a few months ago.  I really like the spices and have gazed longingly at Penzy's wonderful selection of products online.  So when I found out there was a store in Menlo Park, I added it to our agenda.  Well, my agenda.   Mr. ELEB visited a running shoe store while I browsed and shopped to my heart's content.

Buon Appetito from Eat Little, Eat Big, Foodbuzz, and Barilla Tortellini



Clockwise from top left:  Prosciutto Wrapped Pesto Tortellini with
Asparagus; Shaved Asparagus with Tangy Vinaigrette, Parmesan and Pine Nuts; 
Tortelloni Frittata; Crema Moka with Crispy Tortellini.

La Specialita' della Casa:

• Prosciutto wrapped pesto tortellini with asparagus
• Shaved asparagus dressed with a tangy vinaigrette, Parmesan cheese, and pine nuts
• Tortelloni frittata with sausage and spinach, topped with marinara sauce and basil
• Crema moka-layers of chocolate and coffee flavors with a crunchy tortellini surprise

The Sweet Auburn Curb Market, Atlanta, Georgia

Pulled pork taco and barbeque chicken taco from the Sweet Auburn Barbeque food truck, mmm mmm good! 

I took a couple of days out of this recent trip to attend my first blogging conference.  It was in Atlanta where my kids live.  I hated to give up two days of our time there to go to a conference but they were at work anyway.   So while Mr. ELEB amused himself at the golf course and the symphony, I learned more about the blogging world at BlogHer Food, 2011.

Quick and Easy BBQ Rubbed Skirt Steak

It's funny sometimes how we end up where we do.  Like this skirt steak.  I stumbled across an online discussion about cooking skirt steak.  The original poster (OP) was frustrated because the skirt steak had turned out very tough.  She/he got alot of feedback about marinating methods, cooking time, cutting across the grain, and the general consensus was that it is an amazing cut of meat and the OP must have overcooked it, apparently THE cardinal sin when it comes to skirt steak.

So I'm at Whole Foods later in the day and see a couple of beautiful pieces of skirt steak just calling my name.  Had I not read the discussion, I probably would have walked right by but the conviction of those touting how amazing this cut is prompted me to say "what the heck, I'll give it a try".   I'm very happy I did.

Recipe for Seared Scallops Over Brown Rice and Veggie Salad

Since returning from our recent trip, Mr. ELEB and I have been trying to get back on a healthy eating and exercise plan.  We're doing pretty good-he's actually out for a bike ride as I am typing up this recipe and I just got back from a nice long power walk on the beach, following a twelve mile bike ride yesterday.  On the trip, we had good intentions regarding exercise-packed what we needed to work out because we knew we'd be eating most of our meals at restaurants-however, we just didn't execute!  We did get alot of walking done in NY but...

So I'm working on some nutritious, delicious meals that will fuel our exercise and help us lose those *few* pounds we both gained on the trip.  We really liked this meal.  It was quick, easy to put together, tasty, and has lots of good carbs from veggies and brown rice, and protein from the scallops.

Barbecue "Surprise" Bison Burgers

Happy Memorial Day



Memorial Day.  Decoration Day as it used to be called years ago.  One day a year where we honor and remember those who have died in the military service.  Too often, it is a day of shopping, barbeques, visits to the lake or beach with barely a moment's thought for our brave service men, women, and animals who have given their life to protect our country and our beliefs.  I'm as guilty as the next person, but this year I made sure that I did honor those who have served with my own quiet moment. 


Perhaps it was the young bloggers I met in Atlanta, both married to military men.  Or maybe it was seeing all the stranded military personnel in Dallas (weather closed the airport down) last week as we travelled home.  Not sure why, but this year I felt especially nostalgic and thankful for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.   I encourage you take a minute today to reflect on the true meaning of Memorial Day as you enjoy your shopping, cook outs, visits with family, or whatever you have on your plate for today.  I hope there are some yummy things to eat on that plate too!

Here is a recipe for another "inside out" burger that we enjoyed over the long weekend.

A couple of weeks ago I made inside out turkey cheeseburgers that were really good.  So I thought I'd try something similar but this time I wanted to try the
KC Masterpiece Southern Style Barbecue Sauce that was sent to me as part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher Tastemaker program.  It's one of their new flavors. 

What to tuck inside the burgers with the sauce?  I decide to saute some red onion and mushrooms and cook down the sauce to make it thick enough to work inside the burgers.  Voilà!  Worked like a charm!

PICTURE THIS: Fruit Salad

Snack, anyone?



Three weeks, a second degree burn, and Twitter

Simply elegant place setting at The Slanted Door, San Francisco

It’s good to be back.  Hopefully you didn’t notice I was gone.   Twenty-three days away from home, away from the kitchen, away from my morning beach walks, away from my bike and weights, away from the blog.  Well, not really away from the blog thanks to automated posting.  Plus, I logged in every day to read your comments and to reply to any direct email questions.  But this is the first new blog post I’ve written in almost a month.  I’ve missed it! 

I also missed cooking.  While on this trip, I helped cook some roasted veggies at a friend’s house in San Francisco (and gave myself a 2^nd degree burn in the process), cooked a simple meal at my son’s apartment in Atlanta, and made him a microwaved egg white breakfast one morning (no injuries incurred).   And that was it for cooking.  Eating?  Oh, yes there was plenty of that.  Stay tuned.

Recipe for Quick Sauteed Potatoes



There is nothing fancy about this recipe.  But it is quick and full of good simple flavors.  Just the ticket when you want a starchy side dish in a hurry.

Makes 4 servings, each approximately 172 calories, 5.4 grams fat, 29 grams carbs, 4 grams fiber, 3.5 grams protein, 5 WW Points+

Recipe for Mango Crisp

We don’t eat a lot of dessert at home, it’s more of a treat when we go out and we tend to share.  Mr. ELEB loves fruit pies, crumbles, crisps, all those fruity possibilities for dessert.  Me, I’m more into chocolate, caramel etc.  So, picking something to share is often challenging.

I do recognize that for the most part, the fruit options are better for us but rationalize the chocolate because “I eat whole fruit several times a day” and “it’s a treat and a little bit of something richly chocolate goes a long way.”  Plus, as you can see from the nutrition breakdown here, just because something is a fruit dessert doesn’t mean it isn’t “Big Eats”.

Recipe for Quick Asparagus Soup

Asparagus...I always feel a little guilty throwing away the stems after I trim them.  I give them a pretty severe chop because I really only like the tops of the asparagus, not the stems.  So I was very happy to find this idea over at Green Lite Bites.  Roni always has some good ideas on her blog and this one is a winner!  Guilt assuaged. 

PICTURE THIS: Beautiful Flowers of Hawaii

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.  ~John Ruskin

Updated Method for Bread Baking

I’m still sold on the “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day” technique and recipes from Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois (2009, St. Martins Press) however I’ve been trying some adaptations mentioned in the book or on their blog.  Here is my current method for baking off a baguette with italicized text noting changes from how I was baking it by their standard technique.

Start with a grapefruit sized piece of the Master Dough Recipe
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSOoH686_b8) or page 53 of the book. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for 30 minutes with baking stone on the lowest shelf of oven; no roasting pan in the bottom of the oven as required in previous method.  By the way, I recently got an oven thermometer and learned my oven was off by 30 degrees (lower) when set on 450 so I’d encourage you to check your oven temp if you haven’t lately.

Shape, rest, covered, on silpat, brush with water, sprinkle with mixed sesame seeds and kosher salt, and slash as in original recipe.

When oven is ready, place silpat with bread on baking stone and cover with a disposable baking pan large enough to cover the dough completely and still fit on baking stone.  This is now how the steam is generated instead of water poured into a hot roasting pan.

Bake for 15 minutes.    Remove baking pan and move bread, without silpat or baking stone, to an upper rack in oven and bake an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown.

This steam method works-when you take the disposable baking pan off the bread, there is still steam under there so be careful not to burn yourself.  I didn’t have any problems with my oven from the other steam method, but read about plenty of people who had problems with the control boards going out which was blamed on the steam.  This method avoids any possibility of that.  Moving the bread up in the oven for part of the baking time gives the top crust more color and crunch.

Are you baking your own bread?  I’d love to hear about your experiences, methods in the comments.

Recipe for Baked Goat's Cheese

I had baked goat’s cheese years ago in a tapas restaurant, probably in San Francisco, and have loved it ever since.  It’s easy to prepare and is delicious spread on crusty bread.  It is best bubbly hot out of the oven (be careful!) but is also good room temp.  The better quality of cheese you buy, the better the experience.

Ingredients:
4 oz. good quality goat's cheese
1/4 cup homemade or store bought pesto


Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Place goat's cheese on oven proof dish and pour pesto over cheese. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until browning and bubbly. 

Depending on the pesto you use, you may have to carefully pour off some of the excess olive oil that bakes out during cooking.  Before serving, stir any remaining oil back in to the pesto sauce.

Serve with crusty whole grain bread or crackers.

Printable Recipe