Julie: Pasta with caramelized onions & yogurt

Lesson 1: every ingredient matters
Lesson 2: I love caramelized onions
Lesson 3: trying to expand your husband's taste repertoire is hard

Lesson 1:
I was such a good girl, I made this dish exactly as it says... I bought beautiful fresh pasta from Market Hall, I drained the yogurt all day, I added the pasta water (I think the theory there was the starch in the water would help the sauce adhere), I caramelized the onions to perfect sweetness, and then I added the cheese. Ah, the cheese. Not being able to find the Greek cheese they recommended, the cheese shop recommended the pecorino romano Amanda also mentioned, so I thought I was golden. Well, I should have lived by the Zuni (and Jer!) rule of tasting everything before it goes in the dish, and tasting often. I didn't. I grated the cheese and dumped it in. Only then did I taste it... it was like a bland mozzarella. And not the fresh kind. The string cheese kind. It not only didn't add the complexity I thought the dish could have used, it didn't add anything other than a slight richness, and the guilt of knowing I added a cup of fat to an otherwise very healthy dish. So lesson #1 learned, or relearned really. Taste everything and taste often.

Lesson #2
Caramelized onions are amazing. So good. The aroma, the taste, all from a 50 cent item. Need to use them more often.

Lesson #3
Chris doesn't like yogurt. Making a dish where the main flavor is yogurt was a risky proposition. He's a good sport though, and was willing to try the dish. Plus it was all we had in the house for dinner, and I don't think he was willing to risk crushing my feelings by going out. I think the onions were fantastic, and a life saver. As long as he got a bite of onion in each forkful (see lesson #2) he was willing to keep eating. I had dreams of him standing up and hugging me for making this dish, as Mr. Latte did. I got the hug, but it was more of a "thanks for trying, but not so much for me" hug. That's ok. Keep trying, and reward him liberally for being a good sport.

I'm torn on my overall assessment of the dish. I did the same as Jer, and used goat's milk yogurt. I thought the flavor was perhaps too strong for the dish, and would love to try it with sheeps milk yogurt to see if it could mellow a bit. But I did like the creaminess, and especially liked the yogurt and onion combo. I think with a nice crumbly Greek cheese could have been even better. So I definitely think I will try it again, but as a side dish this time, instead of as the main. I love Kaoru's idea of having a roast chicken with it, I think that would go together superbly. I had some roast chicken leftovers in the fridge, and was really tempted to shred that into the pasta, and I think the peas would have been a great addition, but I decided to be true to the recipe for the first go around-- next time I'm experimenting!

Kaoru: Pasta with Carmelized Onions & Yogurt

What a refreshing and delicious summertime dish! Both my sister and I were surprised with how light it was and enjoyed how the incredibly sweet, sautéed maui onions were juxtaposed with the (freshly grated) salty Pecorino Romano. Some of the tweaks I made to this dish: sheep, starch and sweet peas.

SHEEP: Like Jer, I prepared the dish with goat cheese yogurt. I’d love to know how the sheep’s milk version tastes. Where does one find sheep’s milk yogurt anyway? I also didn’t see the point of draining the yogurt, only to add more liquid even if it is pasta water. So I skipped the step entirely. Call me lazy... I thought it was pretty clever! Besides, I don’t have any cheesecloth or coffee filters.

STARCH: I used rigatoni since I couldn’t find tagliatelle. It wasn’t ideal, but the grooves on the rigatoni helped catch the yogurt and I thought it was fine. And while I personally am a sucker for carbs, I decided that one pound of pasta for four servings was still rather aggressive. Instead, I boiled 3/4 pound of pasta which was the right amount. To balance out the carbs, I roasted a five-pound chicken (stuffed with juicy lemons from my sister’s abundant Meyer lemon tree) as well. The pairing was terrific & my nephew heartily gobbled up the chicken. After dinner I used the chicken bones to make broth, something I love to keep on hand in the freezer in 1-2 cup batches.

SWEET PEAS: Since I wanted to incorporate another vegetable (like Julie) & color in to the meal, I added peas to the dish. The peas at the farmer’s market have been calling out to me every week recently and I’ve been itching to cook with them. I simply de-podded and cooked them for a few minutes in the onion mixture. While they retained their beautiful color, the peas turned out just a tad shriveled. If I use them again in this dish, I will cook them separately & toss them in with the onions immediately prior to serving. I am sure the extra effort would mitigate any pea shrinkage. Nevertheless, the peas added color, another layer of sweetness as well as texture… the perfect summer veggie for this perfect summer dish.

Jer: Pasta with Caramelized Onions and Yogurt

Pasta with yogurt? Who would have thought. Yogurt with caramelized onions? Sounds even more strange. Surprisingly, the three together actually seem to work and I don’t think I would have ever tried this combination had it not been for this cooking group (at home or at a restaurant). So here’s to venturing into the unknown!

I think you really have to enjoy the taste of plain yogurt to enjoy this dish (I do and I did). If you don’t like the taste of plain yogurt I might suggest adding a teaspoon or two of sugar or honey to your yogurt (after straining it) to cut into some of the tartness. I did not add any pasta water to my yogurt sauce as I had just spent that time thickening it by draining it and I felt like it would be such a waste to dilute it again. I julienned some basil leaves and tossed them with the yogurt which was nice. Also, I had some fresh figs on the counter so I sliced one and sprinkled on top of the onions for good measure. Stonewall Kitchen does a Vidalia onion and fig sauce so why can’t I?

I thought this was a nice summery dish for when you are crazing creamy pasta but don’t want the fat and calories of butter, cream, flour and excessive cheese. I used fettuccini noodles but I think she is right in suggesting tagliatelle as the sauce is very delicate and it needs a more delicate pasta cut like tagliatelle or pappardelle (as opposed to fettuccini which tends to get cut a little thicker and is better with a heartier sauce).

I would make this again for myself (like I did on this beautiful and breezy summer afternoon) when I’m in the mood for something light and when I don’t want to run to the market for anything. Pete doesn’t like the taste of plain yogurt so I don’t think I’d make it for him. I wonder if the reason she suggests sheep’s milk yogurt as opposed to goat’s milk (which is what I used) is that sheep’s milk yogurt is less tangy. That is a possibility. If one of you is able to track down sheep’s milk yogurt I’ll be interested in hearing about the tartness level.

What I learned from this dish is that there a few ingredients that no matter what you pair it with they elevate the dish. Caramelized onions made fresh from summer Vidalias or Mauis is one of those ingredients.

Pasta with Yogurt and Caramelized Onions (CWML pg 197)

The sweet maui onions that I used in the creamed corn the other night were so amazing I went in search of a dish in Ms. Hesser’s book which profiled caramelized onions for our recipe #2. Plus I am just a fanatic right now about plain yogurt and steal a spoonful whenever I walk by the fridge. But I’ve never really cooked with it except to make tzatziki. This dish sounded summery and fresh and healthy. It was found in a chapter titled “A Few or a Dozen Favorites”; and when her fiancé ate it he hugged her. Honestly, how can we go wrong?

I love any proper evening meal that can be made without a trip to the market. All of these ingredients I usually have in Kenny (the nickname for our icebox) so I am hoping we like it!

2 C sheep’s whole milk yogurt
5 T olive oil
6 C coarsely chopped onions
Sea salt (Kaoru, you can use the Baleine!)
1 # tagliatelle
1 C coarsely grated kefalotyri or pecorino romano

Let yogurt drain in cheesecloth for two hours (I always use a coffee filter (metal or paper) to drain cheese as I’m never in the mood to buy cheesecloths). Cook onions in the olive oil and caramelize (20-30 min). Cook pasta in heavily salted water. Combine drained yogurt with ½ C pasta water and mix well. Drain pasta and toss with mixture. Divide among four warm bowls and sprinkle generously with cheese. Spoon over caramelized onions and its juices.

Kaoru: Slow Roasted Halibut with Romesco Sauce

The meal I prepared was good, but let's just say... I've had better culinary moments.

Fish: There wasn't any cod at the fish market by my house so I prepared halibut instead which was another terrific pairing for the Romesco sauce. The sauce is so versatile - love it! However, in preparing the fish, I definitely over-salted, resulting in fish as salty as the Pacific Ocean. In retrospect, I probably could've used a fourth of the amount of salt I used. I got carried away thinking... Julie said she used a lot of salt... the sauce is so sweet... My family couldn't help but comment on the saltiness. Only one person was kind enough not to say anything out loud (thank you!!!) even though it was really obvious that I over-salted. I was parched later that evening & drank gallons of water to compensate. BUMMER! I will never over-salt anything again. I will never over-salt anything again. I will never over-salt anything again. Lesson learned.

Otherwise, the slow-cooking fish method was easy. Admittedly, I got a bit nervous about the thick fillets cooking all the way through and upped the temp to 275* and cooked for ~50 minutes. The fish was very moist (albeit salty...) and tasty. This technique is definitely good to know, especially when entertaining because there is very little you have to do. It's no wonder Amanda made it for her wedding dinner celebration.

Sides: In contrast to the fish, the sides were terrific. Boiled haricot verts (green beans) which were terrific dipped in the Romesco Sauce and "Julie's Potatoes." I used small red potatoes that were in the fridge instead. Turned out quite nicely.

Since I have so much sauce left over, I think I am going to freeze it & see how it tastes when resucitated in about a month. Stay tuned!

Jer: Slow Roasted Seabass with Romesco Sauce

What an easy way to prepare moist and delicate fish. No fidgeting with the time or the temperature and perfectly seasoned once brought to the table. This is my kind of dish!

Like Kaoru I made the romesco sauce the night before therefore the day-of preparation was a cinch. I consulted one of my bibles (The Zuni Café Cookbook) to compare its version of romesco sauce to Ms. Latte’s. The only difference in the Zuni book is that she adds one piece of white bread fried in olive oil and then crumbled into the sauce (I didn’t do it but she said it provides a nice texture to the sauce). Not sure it needed it though as I thought the sauce was delicious as is.

Seaside Market delivered beautifully as I found all my ingredients there, including the L’Esteronell olive oil made from Arbequina olives that the Zuni book mentioned was the best for Spanish dishes. Fire roasted piquillo peppers also imported from Spain were waiting for me in the pickled food aisle as were a number of aged dry sherrys from the Jerez region to choose from. I love this market.

The day of, Amyra and I picked up some beautiful looking Chilean Seabass (the fish monger said Alaskan cod is tasteless; its much better in Europe) and a pound of tiger shrimp. I marinated the tiger shrimp in the romesco sauce for about an hour and then grilled them. I cooked the fish according to direction and then put the romesco sauce on in the final 5-10 minutes of cooking.

I had five beautiful white corn husks from Chino farms in the fridge and consulted with my bible for inspiration. She has an extremely simple creamed corn dish that we tried. The corn I will definitely make a number of times this summer while in season. In fact, I think I might have liked the creamed corn more than the fish and shrimp and that’s saying something as I really liked the seafood.

Zuni’s Creamed Corn

Shuck and scrape corn from 5-7 husks into a big deep bowl. Dice a medium onion (we used a Maui from the green market that was so sweet and caramelized beautifully). Cook onion in olive oil and butter until it starts to brown, add corn and season with salt to taste. After corn has cooked (about 5 minutes) add one package of mascarpone to pan. Taste, season, serve.

Julie's Potato Wedges

Peter and I have been working like dogs this last month putting our second book to bed. We must be ready to turn in the manuscript to our indexer by July 20, else we’ll put the project off by another few months as our August and September are very busy with other projects. During these crazy few weeks Peter has been working in the office quite a bit and I’ve been working at home -- a bit of let’s just each work solo so we can put our heads down, work without distraction, and finish what for the last few months has felt more like an albatross than anything else. Given that I don’t see him until late into the night he has surprised me several times during the last few weeks by coming home while I’m at the gym, setting a table for one with a formal dinner setting, lighting candles and putting one of my favorite CDs on.

Tonight I returned from the gym to another one of his lovely settings. He even placed sliced lemons for me in my water and had a wonderful glass of red wine sitting next to it. The light was softly lit and my favorite Dave Matthews CD was playing. I don’t know what I did to deserve this sweet and thoughtful man. I am as lucky as they come.

With such a lovely place setting I had to make something as elegant, regardless if it was just dinner for one. Richard Wong and his family were staying with us recently and they loved our collection of colored Le Creuset pots on our stove. They were so taken by the beautiful green pot from Kaoru, the candy apply rissoto pot from Maya, and the deep blue pan we treated ourselves to last Christmas that they wanted to add a fourth color to the collection! So as a host and hostess gift Rich and Vivienne gave us a fun and summery Le Creuset ridged fry pan in their original orange. It was inaugurated tonight.

In the pan I seared a piece of pork tenderloin marinated in soy-ginger sauce that we picked up yesterday from Seaside (is there any other luxury than a high-grade market within a mile that does fabulous pre-marinated meats for the grill?). It went into the oven with Julie’s potatoes wedges in the same pan. I used one sweet potato as I thought the sweet potato would pair nicely with the soy-ginger pork. It took less than five minutes to put in the oven and was as delicious as meals come. Best yet, the tenderloin and sweet potato cost less than $6 and is plenty for two.

I think the first time I ever felt like a real adult was an evening spent very similar to this one – an elegant meal by myself with a lovely glass of red wine (that I actually enjoyed as opposed to thinking I should enjoy it) and Norah Jones crooning in the background (Pete is not as big a fan of hers as I am so I indulge when he’s not home). Tonight was one of those nights.

Kaoru: Romesco Sauce

I decided to make the Romesco Sauce tonight so that I would have little to do tomorrow. My sauce turned out runnier than I would have liked, (too many tomatoes? too much olive oil? pureed too long?) but tasty nonetheless. It's slightly sweet, very nutty & rich. I have a hunch it will go equally well with fish, as with chicken (similar to the chicken in mole sauce Jer made when I visited).

Shopping: Definitely a bit of a hunt. Who knew how challenging it would be to find fire-roasted piquillo peppers? I also learned that hazelnuts are a.k.a. "filberts". Who knew?!?!

Cooking: Preparing the individual components of the sauce was incredibly satisfying. My ancho chile pepper yielded absolutely no flesh however, so I tossed in chunks of the entire thing (thanks Julie for the idea). Also, I substituted balsamic vinegar (for aged dry sherry) - turned out just fine. Finally, since my "filberts" weren't blanched already, I looked up how to blanch them myself. See below.

Blanching "filberts":
- Toast @ 350* for 10-15 min, stirring occassionally. Remove from oven.
- Place on terry cloth towel & cover nuts with the towel. Let sit ~10 min.
- Once nuts are cool, rub towel/nuts together until the thin, brown outer skin breaks off.

Tomorrow: Hit fish market, see how sauce flavors have settled overnight, prep fish, eat!

Slow Roasted Sablefish with Romesco Sauce

Shopping for ingredients for this dish was involved but really fun-- went to my favorite farmers market (berkeley), to Market Hall's specialty shops in our neighborhood, including the wine shop to get a Rioja to splash in the sauce and drink the rest, ala Julia Child, and the fishmonger, who convinced me to get the Wild Alaskan Sablefish instead of the cod-- it had come in fresh that morning (according to him), and he said it was beautiful, and would be even more delish. (and expensive!)

I made the sauce in the afternoon- Amanda was right, there was something relaxing about preparing all the ingredients in their own way. I did have trouble scraping the flesh from the soaked pepper, as it all sort of just disintegrated, so I just cut the few tough parts off, and threw the rest in figuring the food processor would take care of it. Other then that, all the other preparations were straight forward, made even easier with my beloved Cuisinart. The flavor of the sauce was delicious and earthy, and adding those few tablespoons of the sherry vinegar made such a huge difference-- really brightening the flavor. I was surprised at how much sauce the recipe made-- ended up with loads of leftovers which I think I'm going to throw over some pasta later in the week, and serve with some scallops or shrimp.

Cooked up the fish later that night-- the cooking time was about 40 minutes, but completely uninvolved, so I could definitely do it on a weeknight. I wasn't sure about how much to salt the fish, as she said liberally, and I knew it was a mild fish, so I used quite a bit of salt, almost creating a light coating. I used a mixture of grey and kosher salt, and it came out perfectly seasoned, which was a relief, as I was nervous about that part.


I served the fish over some fresh arugula, as I thought the color and sharpness of the greens would go nicely with the gentle fish and earthy sauce. Also roasted up some wedges of potato, as I figured they'd be great to dunk in some of the leftover sauce. Overall, I thought the dish was great. The slow roasting of the fish, a first for me, left it so delicate yet cooked all the way through. And I liked the sauce a lot, so much flavor-- though I'm thinking with some of the leftover to try mixing in a few capers, as I think maybe they might add a nice tang to it.

Oh, and the wine, at $11 a bottle, was a fantastic value. Albiker 2004 Rioja.

Overall a lovely meal that I am definitely going to recreate next time I'm entertaining... with maybe some Spanish finger foods to start and a nice cheese course to end... makes me want to have a dinner party soon!