Ulu (Breadfruit) Salad - like a potato salad

I finally was able to cook with my best friend, my cooking partner, Denise. It has been a long time since we have been able to cook together. So this has been the highlight of my time here on the Big Island of Hawaii. Denise lived in the downstairs apartment and me upstairs, our men with us too. Our guys were often the inspiration of our cooking. And a few months a go she had to move back to her family in Hawaii to get the care she desperately needed. It was so hard to see her go, so empty without them. In fact it is still empty downstairs.

Ulu is breadfruit, is kinda like a potato in flavor and texture but in no way looks. The breadfruit had already been cooked and sliced, some of it even fried. We cubed it up, added a bit of mayo, sesame oil, and a few other items I didn't see. Some grated carrot, green onion, red onion and what else?

D hasn't been cooking for a while, not by choice, but rather had to focus on her health and her energy wasn't there for her to cook. So when she started to get this Ulu salad together it was bliss it was a good surprise.

A few days later we got some good news, we are not out of the woods but it is definitely a big step in the right direction.

All I can say is be healthy, eat healthy and make happy.

Last week's fury

Monday - frijoles de la olla, arroz mexicana, and carnitas, with fresh salsa and gaucamole.
Tuesday - Cuban style black beans and Tangy Roast Chicken
Wednesday - no dinner
Thursday - out to Tokyogogo - super yum!
Friday - late night scampi with spaghetti and chili

I guess you could say that I am warming up for Cinco de Margarita coming up. I am still scouring the Internet for a good Coctel de Cameron recipe. I should just forget the recipe and get cooking. Actually I should get myself down to the Mission to get supplies, maybe with a mask, swine flu is going around.

With the leftover black beans I made a Tico style hot dip. And then this morning I had some with scrambled eggs.

Moroccan spiced roast chicken is now a new standard. A satisfying roast chicken but with so much more flavor. I used the Tyler Florence recipe in his book real kitchen, but brined it and added a cardamon pod. Raspberry and blueberry whole wheat cream scones. Maybe some brioche or some other yeasty thing is the next creation.

Fine weather equals gaucamole

I have been craving my guacamole for weeks now. And in San Francisco today we are expecting 90s, so I am going to celebrate with guacamole. Pacifico's and guacamole to start and then it gets bigger and better. CARNITAS and freshly made frijoles de la olla and arrox mexicana.

I took a trip to Costco the other day bought the avocados, plus some pork shoulder. So now I need to hop on my bike to head to Dimitri's (Noriega Produce) to pick up rice and some salsa ingredients. Someone else will hopefully deliver the Pico's. I might eve split the 7 1/2 pounds of pork shoulder and Chile Verde another time.

The rice, beans, and carnitas are all recipes that take time. Which is cool because I can go for a walk with the dog or just maybe take in some sun on the beach.

Since I have all day and only certain ingredients now, I am cooking in stages. Beans first. Clean up, and start something else. The Carnitas is my version. It is not a traditional Carnitas in terms of method and ingredients but it tastes just as super. I heavily salt the meat and brush it with liquid smoke, cover in banana leaf, then foil. It is cooked in the oven at a low temperature, I think 300, maybe 275 for several hours. This time will be different, no banana leaf and the shoulder has been cut into country boneless ribs. I am guessing maybe less cooking time.

Ok, off to Dimitri's!

The last of my Gilroy Garlic Braid

Last June Darin and I went tot he Gilroy Garlic Festival. Although the fest did not live up to my expectations, the garlic braid surpassed it. It was the last day of the fest in the hot afternoon sun and after a couple beers we decided we needed a braid. After all we enjoy a lot of garlic for its flavor and health benefits. I was a little surprised Darin wanted to go for the 3 foot braid but I was willing to try. The garlic lasted very well. We were told that the stalk of the garlic somehow preserves it or keeps it from drying out. Well they were right. It lasted about nine months. I wonder if Mariquita will make a garlic braid. I sure would love one that is organic and grown on a farm with heart. I am proud of Gilroy, but I really try to eat organic as possible and they are not quite there yet at Christopher Ranch.

I had hoped to count the braid to know the number of heads we went through, but we love to compost so to the compost it went.

The interesting thing as the last of the Gilroy garlic is finished, I have been getting green garlic from Mariquita and experimenting with that. I have a lot to learn with green garlic, at least I think I do.

I love to make granola.

In the last two months I have learned to make granola. It is very easy and quick to make, a simple clean up and results in a very satisfying breakfast or snack. Granola welcomes creativity with the various nuts, grains, fruits, seeds, sweeteners, and spices I can use. And like most of my cooking, it starts in the pantry cupboard with, hmmm, what can I combine to make something yummy?

For the goodies: I used to make my granola with sliced raw almonds and now it is raw cashews my Mother got me in Panama. Sometimes cinnamon, sometimes cardamon, and today I am adding cinnamon apples chips. They are dehydrated apples with cinnamon, all organic and nothing else. Sounds good, huh? Sweeteners are always changing. Sometimes it is my brother's honey, agave nectar, and once in a while a spoonful of brown sugar.

I think I might start experimenting with different almond, hemp, and rice milks to see if I can find any taste synergies.

Time for breakfast.

Cooking contests

As usual, I have been watching a lot of Food Netword and PBS. Lately I seem to catch the cook offs and I want in! Firstly, most recipes seem nasty, but maybe that is from nasty processed sponsors. So I took a more local look at contests and I think my best friend and I might enter together.

We have learned a lot this year about eating and health in regard to cancer and our recipes are starting to reflect that. So why not enter a delicious recipe that actually won't make you sick inthe long run. You can still be gourmet and slightly decadent. Small easy adjustments. I just hope the food industry gets on board. Organic, grass fed, whole grains, not so much dairy, that is the tough one. Read "ANTI-CANCER" by Servan-Schreiber and you will know what we do.

So now we are struggling with what recipe, where to film, how to film, can we do it by the deadline. Deadlines seem to be all in the next 2 weeks. So not much time, wish me luck.

On the hunt for cooking chopsticks

I have a pair of cooking chopsticks that I have had since college. I love them dearly, but mostly for their nimble action with bubbly bacon in my cast iron. These chopsticks, however, are the envy of my friends and family. My boyfriend wants to get them for his family, and rightly so. I think if anyone cooks they surely could use them and not just for the toaster oven either.

I am on the hunt for a new pair, a back up pair. I am not ready to compost them (they are bamboo) just yet. But I like to have back up. I grew up in the country so we truly knew how to stock up. No, I was not part of a family farm-steading or little-house-on-the-prarie'ing it. We just didn't return to town if we forgot the sour cream for that night.

A trip to Japantown in San Francisco sounds in order.

Micro Popcorn!

I tried to make a healthier and cheaper version of microwave popcorn. I consulted a recipe from the Food Network of Alton Brown's and made simple modifications. I took organic popping corn, placed a few tablespoons in a clean brown paper bag and folded the bag twice to seal. No staples in the micro, and hot melting tape sounds toxic, so just fold. I microwaved it using the popcorn button. I stop the microwave and remove the bag when popping has stopped for three seconds.

I left it plain for the first time to truly understand the taste of popcorn without salt butter or other flavorings. It was delicious and light. I also noticed I ate less, so that is good feeling satisfied.

I can think of rosemary, Parmesan, and olive oil. Curry powder and butter. Just take a look at your spice drawer and have at it.

Lunchmeat

If you have been brown bagging it, try cooking your own turkey breast. It is about $12 less a pound than deli sliced meats; most deli meats I would eat are about $14.99 per pound and up. And the meat is as clean and natural as you buy it. Buy organic grass fed if possible. It is the most tasty and the best for your health and for the planet, I digress. Meaning you do not add preservatives, sodiums, and "flavors." Simply quick brine for about an hour and roast in the oven until internal temp reaches 165. Remove and let rest under a tent of foil for about 15 minutes before slicing in. Feel free to experiment with the different spices from your kitchen.

Or if you like to pay $15.99 a pound go to the butcher counter instead and pick up some filet mignon, it is the same price so why not have it for lunch at your desk.