Forks Over Knives To Show In Sac

Remember awhile back when I posted about the film, Forks Over Knives? Well it looks like they've gotten a slew of great reviews and have now added a showing for Sacramento. It'll be at the Crest, starting July 1. Put it on your calendar so that you remember to get your tuckus over there.

www.forksoverknives.com

Bringing Home The Bacon

"Slicing a warm slab of bacon is a lot like giving a ferret a shave. No matter how careful you are, somebody's going to get hurt."  -Alton Brown

So for those of you have been keeping up with the blog, you probably remember me mentioning in a previous post that I stuffed my face with bacon trail mix at a recent BBQ. C'mon, like you wouldn't! Well, I'll have you know I wasn't the only one scarfing down this delectable treat. Quite honestly, I'm surprised there wasn't a brawl over the stuff. It was damn good.

Anyhow at the persistent urging (ok, ok I didn't need much urging) of Mr. S. and the kidlets, I decided to try and bake a batch of bacon trail mix earlier this week. I learned two valuable lessons in the course of an hour. 1) When you're cooking bacon, everyone wants to be your best friend (even the dog), 2) Keep an eye on the oven, things can burn to a crisp in mere seconds. I made this recipe at Mr. S.'s on Wednesday night and his oven's a bit more fickle then mine. My first batch of bacon trail mix was slightly...just slightly...overdone. The second batch was however was perfect.

So here's the recipe, give it a go. Just be prepared to beat the masses off with a stick.

Bacon Trail Mix (aka 'Tiki Trail Mix' from Food & Wine)

Ingredients

8 thick slices of meaty bacon

3 cups salted roasted peanuts and cashews

4 candied pineapple rings, cut into 1/3-inch triangles

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey (you might want to add just a skosh more if you like your trail mix a bit more "wet")

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt


Instructions

1.Preheat the oven to 350°. Arrange the bacon in a single layer on a rack set over a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, until the bacon is crisp. Drain on paper towels and cut into 1/2-inch strips.


2.In a bowl, toss the bacon with the peanuts, pineapple, sesame seeds, soy sauce, honey and cayenne. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring once, until the bacon is browned. Season the mix with salt and stir occasionally until cool, then serve.

Makes 4-1/2 cups.

Mango-Avocado Tiki Salad

I've been a bit over quinoa for some time now. Don't get me wrong, it tastes good and is healthy as heck for you but I'm a little burned out on grain salads. But sometimes you just don't know what to bring to a party (and you're feeling lazy) so you fall back on something that's tried and true which is what I did on Sunday...sorta. I made a quinoa salad....but not my standard Mediterranean quinoa salad. Since Ross and Beth's BBQ's theme was "Tiki Shindig" I decided to go with a mango-quinoa salad recipe I had read about in Isa Chandra Moskowitz's vegan cookbook, "Veganomicon." I had most of the ingredients in my kitchen already so it was a snap; I did jazz it up a little by throwing in a chopped avocado (I like to live on the edge like that). The only item I had to journey to the store for was the mango...I'm not big fan of mangoes, so I was pretty glad when the produce guy at Raley's came forth and suggested the honey mangoes (there were 3 different kinds at the grocery store) and even picked me out a ripe one. The only thing I didn't count on with the recipe was how slippery mangoes are once you peel them, mine kept trying to run away when I trying to chop it up. In fact, the mango's escape attempts made me think of a cute picture I saw awhile back on my friend Kerry's Facebook page (see below). Now it makes sense.... Anyhow, the party was fun and Mr.S. let me drink all the tiki punch I wanted but he fought me over the bacon trail mix that some amazing person brought (oh yes, I said BACON trail mix....it was magical--kind of like a hippie and a pig had a love child. I most definitely plan on trying my hand at it, but that's a blog post for another day.)

Mango-Avocado Tiki Salad

Ingredients

1 mango, peeled and diced small

1 red pepper, seeded and diced as small as you can get it

1 avocado, peeled and diced

1 cup chopped scallions

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled

1 1/2 cups black beans, drained and rinsed (a 15-ounce can)


Instructions

1. Combine the mango, red pepper, scallions, avocado and cilantro in a mixing bowl.

2. Add the red wine vinegar, grapeseed oil, and salt and stir to combine.

3. Add the quinoa and stir until everything is well incorporated.

4. Fold in the black beans.

5. Serve immediately or let it sit for a bit for the flavors to meld.

Wandering Out To Winters

What a busy weekend! I went on a fancy date night with Mr. S. on Friday, swung by the gorgeous Berryessa Gap Vineyards on Saturday and attended a tiki-themed BBQ on Sunday. When I wasn't running around town, I was learning how to make tasty macarons and delicious homemade jam from friends. I want to tell you about these fun Memorial Day weekend adventures; although I feel guilty that I'm not caught up with my posts from the past month and a half. Doh! This Girl and Her Fork needs to hunker down this week and be a Girl and Her Laptop...seriously. While I get my scribblings  in order, I thought I'd share a few photos from Saturday's trip to check out Berryessa Gap's 6th Annual Springtime in the Vineyard. A friend of mine was kind enough to put up with my awful driving (I have no sense of direction whatsoever) and head out to Winters with me. We got a tiny bit lost, but thanks to her handy phone GPS we were able to find our way there eventually. It was a bit chilly so we enjoyed our wine (their Tempranillo is fab!), munched on some yummy carnitas and shrimp and wandered around the beautiful vineyard...then we skedaddled out of there before the grey skies moved in. On the way back we stopped at the T&Y Strawberry Patch in Woodland and purchased some juicy strawberries and blackberries to make jam with. Behind the stand was a colorful sweet pea garden and my friend was able to get some gorgeous photos before the rain started to fall (I snapped a quick pic of her when she wasn't looking).

Sweet, Sweet Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

It's spring, so why have we Sacramentans been repeatedly saddled with May gray? Where's the sunshine, I ask you?

After a pleasant but wet (the patio roof was leaking) lunch at Tuli's yesterday with the amazing Michelle, I came home to a chilly cottage. Ugh! Instead of cranking up the heater (afterall, I was just running the AC only a week before) I decided to warm things up by getting all June Cleaver and baking a strawberry-rhubarb pie. Donning a girly apron and blasting the Juno soundtrack made the pie-making all the more fun. And it did the trick! The cottage warmed up and the kitchen smelled all sweet and pink like Barbie's Dream House.

This yummy recipe was lifted from a vintage cookbook: Sunset's Kitchen Cabinet Recipes, Vol. 3 (1944).

(click to enlarge)

Tree House

www.treehousesacramento.blogspot.com

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience." ~James Beard

Growing up, my dad was in the USAF and was gone on TDY (temporary duty) a lot. Whether he was in the Phillipines, Korea, or even Arkansas he always brought me back a souvenir. I received everything from a mini bouzouki from Greece to an Oklahoma Sooners sweatshirt during his time traveling, but one of my favorite gifts he brought back had nothing to do with the destination. Upon return from one of his trips, he brought me back the first book in a girl detective series called, "Trixie Belden." The series was founded in 1948 and centers around the title character, Trixie Belden, and the secret club she belongs to called the Bob-Whites of the Glen. In true Scooby Doo-esque fashion, the Bob-Whites stumble upon various mysteries and solve them effortlessly just in time for dinner. Anyhow, I think it was this series that fostered my love of "secrets." Now that I'm an adult, I revel in planning surprise parties and vacations and I surround myself in the company of secret bakers, underground butchers and now...clandestine dinner clubs. True, the secrecy and hush-hush of it all is fun but ultimately it comes down to good food and the one I attended this Sunday, simply known as Tree House, delivered. Invitations are issued via email and the location of the dinner is disclosed the night before. Diners make a "donation" to cover the cost of the ingredients, labor and service...in this case a 7-course dinner of local fare complete with wine pairings. The renegade chef turned out to be a friendly young fellow clad in a black chef's jacket and cargo shorts, a local boy who's worked his way up in some of the area's top restaurants. Despite his boyish looks and impish smile, Kevin O'Connor definitely knows his way around the kitchen and made no qualms about showing off his culinary chops. There was no silly themes or gimmicks, the night was all about showcasing the food. Every course that came out from behind the swinging kitchen door was impeccable-- both aesthetically and in flavor. The chef, himself, came out and provided brief descriptions of the locally-sourced dishes and the accompanying wines, preceding each course and never once did anything feel rushed. In fact, the dinner from start to finish ran about six leisurely hours...allowing me plenty of time to get to know the other dinner guests at the communal table. I think all eight guests would agree that the dinner was unpretentious and we all ate exceptionally well. After the last course, both guests and staff intermingled on the porch and closed out the night with some scotch. A few of us guests even joined the chef in the kitchen and got a "behind-the-scenes" glimpse while the chef shared a few funny stories of the night's mishaps. It was a nice evening of connecting over food...if you have the opportunity, I would highly recommend attending a Tree House event. It's a welcome addition to the burgeoning food scene in Sacramento.

The amuse bouche was a play on Eggs Benedict. Toasted bread crumbs and crispy prosciutto joined by a fried quail egg with a bit of hollondaise.

A crisp salad of snow peas, snap peas, english peas, and micro sorrel served with a pickled ramp aioli and a spring onion top oil on the plate.

Sturgeon tartare consisting of smoked Passmore Ranch sturgeon, radish, herbs and some sour cream and onion bubbles.

Beef heart carpaccio, olive oil, Himalayan salt, seared beech and king oyster mushrooms, fried chicken liver, and a parsley/celery leaf salad.

Pig trotter/bacon lardon terrine accompanied by white beans in a bbq gastrique, sous-vide maple nantes carrot, and pork fat.

A triple creme d'Affinois cheese from France, paired with coriander poached cherries and German walnut bread

Revolution Wines...the Malbec in particular was delicious. Craig Haarmeyer, one of the winemakers, even stopped by to give us an impromptu talk about the various wines we were partaking in.

Dessert was macerated strawberries and blackberries with oat and walnut crumbles and Douglas Fir cream.

Mignardise was fresh chocolate chip cookies, a glass of colostrum and some Temple coffee.



Thai Fish Baked in Banana Leaves

“Fish in the hands of a skilled cook can become an inexhaustible source of gustatory pleasures.”

~Jean-Antheleme Brillat-Savarin

I'm always looking for food recipes where I can get Mr. S.'s kidlets interested in food, so imagine my delight when both kidlets expressed an interest in what I was cooking last Wednesday. What drew their interest to my fumbling in the kitchen? Banana leaves. They were enamored with the idea of cooking with them. Although banana leaves can be found at pretty much any Asian market in South Sac, for two kidlets growing up in the suburbs and eating mainly mainstream American food; the idea of cooking with banana leaves seems exotic. So once I had the sauce whipped up, I enlisted their help in wrapping up the fish in the leaves. Now if you've never cooked with banana leaves before, they're great for steaming or grilling fish. The leaves keep the fish moist and tender. Now while cooking, the leaves impart a green tea-like fragrance...it wafted about making the kitchen smell wonderful!


Thai Fish Baked in Banana Leaves ( from About.com )
Yield: Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 2-3 fillets fish (I used fresh pink snapper from Oto's)

• 1 pkg. banana leaves (if frozen, thaw for at least 1/2 hour)

Marinade/Sauce:

• 1 shallot

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 thumb-size piece ginger, sliced

• 2 tsp. ground coriander

• handful of basil leaves

• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce

• 1/2 can good-quality coconut milk

• 2 kaffir lime leaves, snipped into slivers with scissors, or 1 tsp. lime zest

• 1 fresh red chili, sliced & seeds removed

• 1 tsp. chili powder

• juice of 1/2 lime


Instructions:

1. Place all marinade/sauce ingredients in a food processor and process well.

2. Place fish fillets in a large bowl and add 1/2 the marinade. Reserve the rest for later.

3. Slather the marinade over both sides of the fish, then let it sit in the refrigerator 10 to 15 minutes.

4. When fish is done marinading, spread a banana leaf approximately 1 foot square on a working surface (you will have to cut the leaf). Place one fillet in the center of the leaf.

5. Fold both sides of the leaf over the fish, then fold both ends to create a square "packet". Turn it seam-side down to keep sides from opening (or secure with a skewer, like I did). Do the same for the other fillets.

6. Place packets in a glass casserole dish or pie plate (to catch the drippings in case packets leak) and bake for 15 min. at 350 degrees, or longer depending on the thickness of the fillets.

7. After 15 minutes, open one of the packets. Insert a fork into the center of the fillet (the thickest part) and gently pull back. If inside flesh is opaque and no longer transparent, the fish is cooked. If not, return to oven for another 5-10 minutes.

8. Over low heat, warm up the reserved sauce/marinade.

9. To serve the fish, scoop several spoonfuls of rice onto the side of the fish. Spoon some of the sauce over the fish, then add a sprinkling of basil and/or garnish with diced red/yellow/green bell peppers.