so what do we make to eat? well just about everything is fast and easy since we are so busy. this is a new area where we will post our recipes with the hope over time to offer a culinary snapshot of food from around the world.

half the fun of cooking is experimentation. don't have an ingredient? try something similar. all the recipes we have come up with were due to being spontaneous and creative - like our bbq sauce and apricot jam. so use this area as inspiration and don't feel you have to follow a recipe exactly (except when it come to baking that is more of a science). who knows what you might come up with - maybe a masterpiece - or a master disaster. but that is the excitement of adventuresome cooking. We are kicking off this new section with some of our own recipes - that were spontaneous yet delicious experiments.

Our preserved meyer lemon rub that we just started selling in the SF Bay area directly to customers is an incredible, versatile condiment. We have been making this rub just for ourselves for about 6 years. Up until recently we used it exclusively to rub under the skin of a whole organic chicken and rotisserie that yields a succulent chicken infused with a tangy lemony flavor. The drippings make an incredible gravy. However, on a whim, I purchased some ground turkey thigh meat to make some burgers recently for a quick dinner and added some of the lemon rub into the meat. The result? The most amazing burger you will ever eat. Below is our recipe. Want the rub? If you are local email us for direct, hand delivery, since this rub is not in stores yet and takes us 6 months of aging of the lemons before we can mix with our special spices and add to jars.

Makes two burger patties. Double or triple the recipe for more.

1 lb of ground turkey thigh meat. This is a darker, fattier meat that doesn't dry out like ground chicken. Of course you can use ground chicken or turkey breast if you can't find the turkey thigh meat - just be careful not to overcook since the lower fat content can make it dry out quickly.

Take 1 lb of ground turkey thigh meat and add around 3/4 Tablespoon of our Meyer Lemon Rub.

Add 1 teaspoon of high quality, organic Japanese soy sauce. We use a Teraoka Yuki Jozo distributed by Saison Trading, Inc. in San Diego.

Mix all ingredients well and form into two patties.

Add to a grill or a nonstick All Clad will do just as well. We use grapeseed or peanut oil, or a special organic olive oil from a friend's orchard in Italy that can be used for high heat in a pan if you use it.

It seems so impossible to make those nice flat patties at home. We hand form them, and once on the heated surface, immediately flatten with a spatula.

Cook around 6 minutes covered (if grilling, add some aluminum foil on top) and flip. Cook about 4 minutes and flip again. If you can press on the patty with the spatula and pink juices run out it needs more time. We like to flip about every minute so it won't burn. After around 8-10 minutes depending on the heat, cut into the center of the patty with a knife, if it is a consistent off white, and not pink, remove from heat to a plate.

We like to toast the buns in the hot pan/grill for a few seconds pressing down on it with our hand for a solid contact. Then build your burger with some fresh avocado, tomatoes, cheese, onions and whatever condiments you like on a burger. Delicious!

 

 

Making bread crumbs is a cinch. While most people save old hard bread pieces with the hope of turning them into a nice big batch of crumbs, our experience proves that this goal never is reached and the stale loaves end up in the compost. Why? Because of the hassle of breaking up the bread into pieces and putting them in the food processor. But, this is a better way to make crumbs. It also is great for people who don't have a food processor. Just get a sharp scalloped bread knife (we only use Dexter Russell knives) and just shave in a sawing motion off thin (1-2 millimeters) sheets of the bread that fall off as crumbs. There will be bigger pieces, but they can be put in a paper bag and pounded with your fist or a rolling pin or anything hard. This isn't the best technique for making a big batch, but we like the ease of doing it in little bits when we need it.

What to do with bread crumbs? Make some crab cakes. Making crab cakes is so much fun, fast and easy. Most good markets sell fresh, cooked cracked crab meat. It is expensive, but you don't need that much. Half a pound, around $15 is enough for four crab cakes. Just mix the crab meat with some bread crumbs, mayonnaise, maybe some diced celery, cornichons or dill pickles, green onions etc. (be creative), yuzu pepper paste (1/2 teaspoon) or our meyer lemon rub (1 teaspoon), paprika, black pepper and and form into 2" wide patties and saute in olive oil until brown on both sides. They cook fast so keep an eye on them! Yum.

Eric loves octopus, and Phineas hates it because of the way it looks. That is good since this salad he gets to eat all himself.

Once we were at a restaurant in Napoli (our favorite Italian big city) called da Dora, where we got a tiny marinated octopus each that we washed down with one of our favorite white wines called Falanghina. (The very best white wine we ever had was at a small restaurant at the beach on Capri by the Punta Carena lighthouse - it was local and dirt cheap and we have no idea what type grape it was and we had so much fun hanging out drinking it with a wild Australian woman called Melissa). The octopus was so delicious due to the freshness, and the infusion of garlic, olive oil and some vinegar. Phineas really had trouble eating it - not because it wasn't delicious (he thought it was) but they way it looked with its little eyes peeking up at him from the plate.

Anyhow, this recipe is inspired by a grocery store that used to be on the corner of Mission and 18th street in San Francisco where Eric lived nearby in 1991-1993. It was owned by a friendly Korean family but lots of the food sold there was for the Spanish speaking locals in the area. They used to make this salad and sell it with their other prepared foods. This is Eric's version of it. It is quite healthy since octopus are so low in fat.

1 big cooked tentacle of octopus (normally for sale at Japanese markets in the sushi section) slicked into 1/4 discs.

Mix in a bowl with around a pint of cherry tomatoes chopped in half, or diced fresh tomatoes (you can mix up different varieties for color enhancement like green, yellow, red etc.)

Add a handful of washed and loosely chopped cilantro

1/4 of a red onion (2-3" in diameter size) diced

Juice of one lime - more to taste if you want

1/8 cup of good fruity olive oil

a little less than 1/8 cup of good red vinegar, persimmon vinegar, or rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon of salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

mix all the ingredients and refrigerate at least 6 hours before eating cold.

This is one of those rare dishes that is super cheap, results in an abundent supply of food, and is down right delicious. It was created in our post-student days when rents in SF used to be $250 for a room in a flat and you could live off $800 a month - which in those days was mostly allocated to beer and thrift store shopping for clothes, records and books at Thrift Town. (We miss the 17 Reasons Why Sign so much - Eric could see it from his kitchen window at 35A Hoff Street in those days.) This salad is perfect all year, but summer time is a natural for a cold pasta salad like this.

1 lb of Farfalle or Farfalloni pasta cooked, strained and set in a large mixing bowl.

With the pasta still hot, toss first with with a large handful of crumbled feta cheese - more or less to taste - around half a pound. Mix the pasta and cheese so all the pasta is well coated and the cheese begins to melt - around a minute.

Then add 7 oz or so of either pepperoni you cut into 1/4" or 1/2" strips or a nice chorizo that has been sliced into 1/8" thin discs. (Try to find charcuterie that doesn't have any nitrates or preservatives). Mix well so the heat of the pasta and cheese releases some of the sausage flavors. If you are a big sausage lover, we have learned from experience if you cut it into smaller pieces, you get more sausage oomph per bite. Experience will guide you.

Then add 1 lb of halved cherry tomatoes, or diced tomatoes - we love dry-farmed Early Girls. In fact this is a tomato lovers dish as well. Fresh, organic, backyard tomatoes really shine in this dish since their sweetness complements the spicy smoky flavor of the sausage, and the tang of the feta. Store bought tomatoes are so gross. They subject them with gas to turn them from green to red. That is why they don't taste like tomatoes. And the health risks? Don't ask.

Add some slivers or diced large pieces (1/2") of a combination of yellow, orange or red peppers.

Add some freshly ground pepper, and if you are used to more salty foods, add some salt, but we think the salt from the cheese and sausage is enough, but we aren't big salt people which is why we normally go into a coma after eating at restaurants who use way too much salt and fat. But a shake or two of sea salt won't kill you.

Mix with a high quality olive oil to taste and chill. We have a favorite organic olive oil from Italy that is distributed in the US, but we keep forgetting to remember its name. Many expensive California olive oils are way too peppery for our tastes. A little burn is OK, but if it tastes like you just swallowed a chili - well...

Fresh mint goes well with chorizo and pepperoni - so you can toss in some freshly torn leaves just before serving. The cooling effect of the mint or spearmint is nice both for warm weather, and the contrast to the hot elements of the peppers and sausage and black pepper. Or you can do some fresh basil, or any combination of fresh herbs depending on what you like.

 

This recipe is an adaption of one that was published in the Wall Street Journal about two years ago when they first started publishing recipes in the then new Weekend Journal, and have since scaled back. This is the very best recipe from this time, and is a knock out. Since we cut out just this recipe, we don't know who the chef was, so our apologies - they should be credited for this great dish we have tinkered with. We have also made it with two whole chickens cut up, rubbing the herbs under the skin for a faster dish. If you use the chicken, it will cook in about an hour and a half and we don't marinate it overnight.

This is a perfect dish for the Fall, when the days become shorter and the weather becomes colder, and a nice savory comfort dinner is a great way to ease into the evening.

4-5 lb pork shoulder trimmed of big pieces of fat or two chickens cut up.

Mix in a bowl 1 tablespoon of toasted and ground fennel seed (we grind it in a little braun coffee grinder perfect for spices), 2 teaspoons of cracked peppercorns, 2 Tablespoons of packed fresh chopped rosemary, 2 Tablespoons of packed fresh thyme leaves, four garlic cloves minced or squeezed through a garlic press, 2 Tablespoons of sea salt (we use fleur de sel since it is less salty) and 2 Tablespoons of good olive oil.

Take the herb mixture and rub all over the pork shoulder inside and out. Wrap it in butcher paper (we refuse to use shrink wrap until a biodegradable version is available) and refrigerate overnight. If you use the chicken, simply proceed to the next step.

Preheat an oven to 450.

Peel, halve and core and then quarter 4 tart apples like granny smith.

Peel and slice into strips one medium sized yellow onion.

One carrot sliced into 1/4" discs.

One cup of mushrooms halved.

Take the apples, onions, carrot and mushrooms and toss with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, place in a dutch oven or a lidded pan that will tightly fit the meat and the other ingredients.

Put the meat on top of the vegetables and apples and roast uncovered for 30 minutes.

Turn the heat down to 325 and add 1.5 cups of white wine, cover with a lid or foil, and roast for 2-3 hours for the pork until it pulls away easily with a fork or knife, and 1.5 hours for the chicken.

Put meat on a plate.

Strain the veggies and set aside. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock to the strained wine mixture and bring to a boil in the pot you cooked everything in scraping up any bits on the bottom. Add the veggies again to the sauce and serve. Garlic mashed potatoes is a nice side dish to serve with this.

 

This is one of the most simple things to make and can easily serve as a sophisticated, yet tasty upgrade as a dip for raw vegetables, steamed asparagus, artichoke etc. It was given long time ago by a friend from Japan who's family owned a restaurant in Tokyo - and was his mother's creation. All you do is add enough mayonnaise (home made is always preferred) to a small bowl that is the amount you need for a dip, and using a fork or small whisk, stir in a few drops of good quality Japanese soy sauce until you arrive at a flavor you like. Some people like just a few drops of soy slightly darkening the color, whereas others like to add more for a richer flavor. Japanese style mayonnaise is more yellow than what American style mayonnaise is like due to the addition of more egg yolks and cider vinegar, so if you make your own experiment with the ratio of yolks to whites, or, try to find a Japanese brand without any MSG - a common additive in the most popular brand called Kewpie.

Using soy sauce adds umami - a fifth taste that the tongue identifies as savory. This same friend also used to add about a tablespoon of soy sauce to tomato sauce when he made it. Yes, it sounds weird, but if you don't add any meat, this slight addition adds a savory, almost meaty flavor. Try it and see. Our bbq sauce we make has soy sauce in it because of the rich flavor it adds. Soy sauce is not just for Asian cooking. Use it instead of salt when you want to add a rich, hearty, savory, almost meat-like flavor to a dish. We recommend you experiment with different types of soy sauce from Japan. Don't use any from China - who knows what is in it. We will avoid any food products from China until there is better regulation and quality control.