Bitter Orange Marmalade: Recipe

You know how sometimes a whole crop of citrus is destroyed due to frost or unseasonably cold weather? If my mom had her way, none of that fruit would go to waste. My mother is the queen of finding a use for everything. I suppose it's a kind of variation on turning lemons into lemonade or utilitarianism.

Sadly her amazingly prolific orange tree took quite a hit this year. And while she questions if the tree will survive, she went ahead and harvested the seemingly inedible fruit and made absolutely delicious marmalade out of it. She may not have actual Seville oranges, but she certainly has a solution for unripe oranges. Their tangy sour bite is mellowed in the marmalade but brightens up your morning English muffin, toast or scone.

My mom's recipe came from the Complete American Jewish Cookbook, a book I don't have, but she made a few changes to it. I'd never made marmalade before, but having a recipe that didn't require pectin and processing jars made me game to try it. Making your own marmalade means you can make it as thick or thin as you like and as sweet or bitter as you like. Around here we like it plenty bitter and a tad thin so it spreads easily. While bitter oranges are a very seasonal item marmalade is happily enjoyed all year long.

Bitter Orange Marmalade
(more a formula than a recipe)

Ripe or unripe oranges
Sugar

Wash and dry the fruit. Cut unpeeled into quarters lengthwise then slice very thin crosswise. Measure fruit, place in a large pot and add twice as much water. Let stand overnight.

The next day, bring to boil covered then uncover and simmer 1 hour. Let stand 24 hours.

Measure the fruit and liquid and add no more than 1 1/2 cups of sugar per 2 cups of fruit mixture. Boil until it reaches the consistency you like, probably between 10 and 20 minutes or so, it will thicken slightly as it cools.

Sterilize jars in whichever method you prefer. (I wash them with soapy water then fill them halfway with water and microwave for about 5 minutes, until the water boils, remove with potholders and empty them just before filling.) Pour marmalade into hot jars and seal. If your jars do not seal airtight, just keep the jam in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Epic Roasthouse & Waterbar Opening Party

Last night's party at Pat Kuleto's two new restaurants along the Embarcadero was more like a New Year's Eve party than a typical restaurant opening. For one thing, the party was for two restaurants, not just one. Epic Roasthouse is headed up by chef Jan Birnbaum and is his contemporary take on a steak house, but I suspect there will be a lot more on the menu than beef. Waterbar its next door neighbor is a seafood restaurant with spectacular views and live fish tanks. Chef Mark Franz is co-owner and Parke Ulrich is executive chef.

For starters, the party began at 4 pm and roughly around 6 pm the two restaurants and a tented piazza in between was at capacity and a line began to form. Waiters headed out in the rain to serve nibbles to the estimated 250 people waiting to get in.

Local chefs including Roland Passot, Joanne Weir and Joey Altman were there, as were two past "villainous" Top Chef competitors. For those who follow the TV show I can say that in person Marcel is quite friendly and does not come across as egotistical. Tiffany lived up to her on-camera persona. After asking if I could take her picture, to which she said yes, I innocently asked what she was up to, she snapped "I'm talking to my friend, if you don't mind." Yikes! Wouldn't it have been just as easy to say "I'm opening a restaurant in LA, thanks for asking." If you're Tiffany, I guess not!

The band featured the amazingly talented 17-year-old daughter of one of the founders of the band the Doobie Brothers. And yes, her father did join her on stage for a set of Doobie Brothers hits.

As for the food and drink, there was plenty of wine and a fennel infused gimlet garnished with orange slices was the signature cocktail. It went particularly well with the seafood at Waterbar. I snacked on crisp salt cod cakes with aioli, fried risotto balls with a green olive tapenade, a sea bass ceviche on shrimp chips, steelhead trout tartare and ate more oysters than I can can count. There were also shots of a seafood soup, little prosciutto sandwiches and slices of pizza to feed the crowd.

At Epic there were meatballs, spicy tender pork ribs and a divine flaked salmon appetizer served on flatbread. Desserts created by Emily Lucchetti were also standouts. Luscious tiny panna cotta cups were topped with pineapple and granola, creamy brownie sundaes were my favorite along with endless cookies, sorbet and crispy apple pastries. While at Epic a Chinese dragon made it's entrance, in San Francisco this is considered good luck even if your restaurant isn't Chinese.

To top it all off, there was a fireworks display set under the Bay bridge! Pat Kuleto is known for his over-the-top fantastic interiors and partnerships with some of the best chefs around, turns out he also throws one hell of a party.

Hotel Chocolat Contest

Waiting until the last minute to buy cheap chocolates and flowers is not very romantic. Plan ahead and win more than affection, win luxury chocolate! This Valentine's Day a heartfelt story will win a prize. If you can romance the judges, you could win a collection of Valentine's Day chocolates from Hotel Chocolat.

In fact, at least one person who enters the Hotel Chocolat contest, using this link, is guaranteed to win. To enter, explain in 200 words or less why Hotel Chocolat should surprise your loved one with a luxury chocolate gift. Dig deep and tell a moving tale, as the most compelling entry will win! And it can be a funny story, an inspiring story, a beautiful story, or even a romantic story. The competition closes on February 8th, 2008 and entries will appear live on the Hotel Chocolat site. Don't forget, at least one Cooking with Amy entrant will win!

To see what Hotel Chocolat has on offer, take a look here. I'll let you know what my favorite chocolate picks are once I get a chance to sample them...

Super Bowl Onion Dip: Recipe

What I consider "a super bowl" is not THE Super Bowl. It's a sophisticated little serving dish from Villeroy and Boch that's perfect for serving onion dip. I'm of the opinion you can never have too many bowls. Perhaps there is a food stylist somewhere deep inside me, struggling to be free.

Recently I had a creamy mushroom soup with chopped green beans and a topping of crispy onions. It was soup based on that classic, and in my opinion somewhat disgusting, Thanksgiving side dish, the green bean casserole. But the soup was delicious, proving some classics really are good if made with great ingredients. That was my idea for this dip which, coincidentally I served at Thanksgiving this year. But I think it would be great for that other major American holiday, Super Bowl Sunday.

I basically increased the seasonings and onions in a dip recipe I found on the Whole Foods Market website, which has lots of great ideas, by the way. The dip is filled with onions, leeks and garlic, a few seasonings and a rich and a creamy base that is vegan and healthy. Ok, it's tofu. I use a "light" firm soft tofu for a myriad of recipes, when pureed it becomes a creamy bland canvas, ready for flavor. This recipe is a good one for converting tofu-haters and for those who are looking for dairy-free recipes.

Onion Dip
makes about 2 cups

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion
1 leek
3 cloves garlic
pinch salt
12 ounces soft firm tofu, drained
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Peel and cut the onion in half. Thinly slice the onion halves, you should have about 2 cups of onion slices. Slice the white part of the leek and garlic. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onions, leeks and garlic and sprinkle with a little salt. Cook the onions, stirring from time to time to keep from sticking until brown and caramelized.

Transfer the onion mixture to the food processor and pulse a few times then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Taste for seasonings and adjust to your liking. Chill overnight in the refrigerator and serve with vegetables, potato chips or pita chips.

Note: If your tofu is very moist you may need to slice it and drain it on paper towels.

Enjoy!

The Pineapple Room: Restaurant Review

The Pineapple Room is one of chef Alan Wong's restaurants in Hawaii and it's located in the Macy's at the Ala Moana shopping center. Here you can try some of Alan Wong's style of Hawaiian cuisine without spending as much as you might at some of his other fancier restaurants. At dinner, entrees are in the $20-30 range and are ridiculously huge. I had a green curry braised short rib that came with tomatoes, green beans and eggplant and so many enormous prawns, it was enough for dinner plus two lunches.


I really enjoyed the stir-fried soy beans with garlic, chili peppers and soy sesame sauce. This is one of his signature dishes and was enough for the whole table. I inspired me to begin experimenting with a number of variations on this theme.


Lee had a wonderful fish dish with a buttery sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds.


My father made a meal out a few of starters including a goat cheese tart, a salad and French onion soup that had kahlua pork at the bottom of the bowl.

Dessert was also memorable, it was called Peanut Butter Sesame Crunch, 
and had layers of milk chocolate peanut crunch, peanut butter cream cheese mousse, caramelized bananas, bittersweet chocolate and Hawaiian salt caramel sauces and vanilla ice cream. 
It was crispy, soft, creamy, sweet, salty, nutty, chocolatey--it had it all.


Service is just great here so if you are looking for somewhere to splurge, this is a good choice.

The Pineapple Room
Macy's, Third Floor
Ala Moana Shopping Center
Honolulu, Oahu
808.945.6573

Meet Alice Medrich at Charles Chocolates POSTPONED

Photo ©Abigail Huller

Since the 1800's, the Bay Area has been a delicious environment for chocolate. Early on immigrants like Guittard and Ghirardelli made their fortunes not in gold, but in chocolate and their companies exist to this day. Our cool climate is particularly very well suited to making confections and I don't expect chocolate will ever be out of style.

Great locally crafted chocolate came into my consciousness back in the late 70's and early 80's when Alice Medrich was selling her chocolate truffles and decadent chocolate cakes all over the Bay Area. Over the years her cookbooks have not only been a source of inspiration, but a showcase of innovative techniques and approaches to chocolate and other high quality ingredients. Her latest book, Pure Dessert was one of my favorite books of 2007. Not surprisingly she has also inspired many artisanal chocolatiers in the Bay Area.

Come to a book signing tomorrow to meet Alice Medrich, hear her experiences working with chocolate and try some locally made chocolate confections at Charles Chocolates. A visit to the Charles Chocolates retail shop is always a treat, because it is attached to the chocolate factory where you can see practically everything that goes into creating chocolates. Proprietor Chuck Siegel is also a chocolate innovator, creating beautiful edible chocolate boxes filled with chocolates and reinterpreting classic and new chocolate combinations.

I hope you'll join me at Charles Chocolate for this event with Alice Medrich, please RSVP here, to guarantee admission.

Thursday, January 17th, 6-8pm

Charles Chocolates Chocolate Bar
6529 Hollis St.
Emeryville, CA

This event has had to be postponed due to illness, I will let you know as soon as it is rescheduled, which is likely to be early February.

Sensible Foods: Favorite things

This won't come as any surprise to you I'm sure, but people are idiots. One day I experienced this first hand when I placed my laptop, which was inside a big backpack into the security machine at the airport. This was before the days of the trays. Out of the machine it came and on the back a big smear of mushed banana. Yes, the dork behind me had put his banana on the belt heading into the screening machine. Sigh.

There are times you need to bring a snack with you on the road, and these days, into the sky. Finding healthy snacks is really not that hard to manage. Many fruits and all dried fruit don't need refrigeration and neither do nuts. Other decent snack options, in my opinion, are Asian treats like rice crackers and wasabi peas.

Listening to Michael Pollan on Michael Pollan on National Public Radio recently I heard him talk about the price we are willing to pay for packaged, processed food. He pointed out these foods are expensive, unhealthy, and generally not good for the environment. Really, they barely qualify as food at all. Adding insult to injury, much of them don't really taste all that good. Oh I guess they do if you grew up eating them, but most processed snack foods, like those bright orange squiggles that are supposedly cheese flavored, taste pretty nasty to me.

My plan was to review a bunch of healthy, low-fat, snacks. But the ones I tasted were so crappy I couldn't see the point. The one packaged/processed snack that I really do like is called Sensible Foods, Crunch Dried Snacks. Most of the line is organic, GMO-free and includes no artificial flavors or colors. There are sweet fruit snacks including the Cherry Berry blend of apples, cherries, blueberries and strawberries and Orchard Blend which has apples, peaches and apricots, as well as a couple of savory versions too such as Roasted Soy Nuts and Organic Supersweet Corn which has a pinch of sea salt added. They taste really good are healthy and convenient and will never leave a big messy spot on anyone's backpack.

Chinese Food in Hawaii

I guess it's the same everywhere. If you're not celebrating Christmas or going to a New Year's Eve party, one of your best bets for finding an open restaurant is Chinese food. In Hawaii I had two memorable Chinese meals this time around. One was at Little Village Noodle House and the other at Panda Cuisine (NOT Panda Express!). Both restaurants were attractive, had excellent food and were inexpensive to boot. They also each have parking, so there you go.


At Little Village Noodle House the menu seems rather standard, but even the classic dishes are done well. The orange chicken we ordered for the kids was one of the best versions I've ever had. We ordered mostly from the specials menu which I highly recommend. The volcano pork chops were served from a tin foil pouch and were crispy and salty and studded with garlic. The hot pot dishes were rustic and hearty--one had lamb and the other pork and bitter melon. This is a fun place to go with a group and whether you are adventurous or like to stick with what you know, you can't go wrong.


My Hawaii sources all pointed to Panda Cuisine as the place for dim sum. But I was unprepared for how good the dim sum would be. Really. It put my local favorites to shame. The noodle dishes here were outstanding--possibly the best chow fun I've ever had. The noodles with thick but not gummy and the sauce delicate and balanced. The dumplings were really made with care and there was a cold smoked fish dish that was rich and flavorful and hard to resist. Best of all, they serve dim sum all day and all night and the menu features pictures of everything so there are few surprises of the "did we order that?" variety. I will definitely be back on my next trip.

Little Village Noodle House
1113 Smith Street
Honolulu, HI
808.545.3008

Panda Cuisine
641 Keeaumoku Street
Honolulu, HI
808.947.1688

Hank's Haute Dogs: Restaurant Review

Despite mixed reviews I was eager to try Hank's Haute Dogs. I rarely eat hot dogs at home, but on the road there is sometimes a special one that calls out to me like a Chicago style or in New York a Papaya King dog or a Nathan's frank in Brooklyn.

The story of Hank's Haute Dogs is probably what sent me there even more than the dogs. Apparently the owner was a prominent restaurateur in Chicago before returning to Hawaii where his parents had run a hot dog stand in the 40's and 50's. His hot dogs range from the classic Chicago style to some unusual specials like reindeer dogs, duck and foie gras and even the no dog. The no dog is a bun with chunks of local avocado, tomato, onion, cucumber, spicy chipotle mayo, piled high with grated cheddar and garnished with cilantro.

I had the Portuguese sausage which is commonly served in slices, as a breakfast side order, in Hawaii. It was topped with scrumptious melt-in-your-mouth grilled onions. If you are lucky, you can also get this sausage at the Kukui sausage stand at the farmers' market on Saturday mornings. The fries and onion rings are a must. The onion rings are made with Maui onions and are very lightly battered with a bit of panko crumbs. The fries are home made and crispy they way I like them. On the side we ordered what turned out to be a very mild wasabi tobiko cream and a spicy ketchup.

My biggest complaint about Hank's was that the buns were a little mushy. That said, I would probably go back. It was fun choosing a dog and the sides were particularly memorable.

Hank's Haute Dogs
324 Coral Avenue @ the Nimitz
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.532.4265

Cinnamon's Restaurant: Restaurant Review

Before I left for vacation I put out a call for restaurant recommendations. In the comments section I took particular notice of this entry:

For a casual breakfast/brunch, check out Cinnamon's Restaurant in Kailua. I love the loco moco there. A few blocks away is Agnes' Bake Shop. The malasadas are the best, better than Leonard's! Have fun, I'm jealous you are in Oahu.
 Chuck

Chuck, who by the way has a terrific food blog called Sunday Nite Supper, was right on the money.

Ending up in Kailua around lunch time one day, I suggested we give the place a try. Cinnamon's is hidden away inside a business complex in Kailua which is on the east side of Oahu. The menu is extensive and serves breakfast well into the lunch hour, which pleases the proponents of "second breakfasts" in our group. The friendly waitress typified the kind of hospitality you find almost everywhere in Hawaii--making suggestions, giving us extra time to figure out what to order and chatting with the kids at the table.

So what did we order? Lots of delicious things from both the breakfast and lunch menu. I had the Hawaiian plate which was enormous. Sumo size I'd say. I couldn't eat the whole thing. The lau lau was possibly the healthiest thing on the plate. A goodly portion of steamed taro leaves was filled with chunks of pork. The Kahlua pork was very smoky despite having been made in the oven. It was also juicy and not the least bit greasy.


Lee had what he proclaimed to be the best loco moco ever. Loco moco is a crazy dish of a hamburger patty, fried egg and gravy served over rice. It's filling and rich and somehow manages to be comfort food. Is the oozing egg yolk? The gravy and rice? I'm not sure. But it was tasty.


My father had a special item called guava chiffon pancakes. The buttermilk pancakes were just perfect--luscious and tender and topped with two tropical sauces. Delish.


Thanks for the comments and though I don't ask that often, thanks especially for your recommendations next time I'm leaving room for the malasadas...

Cinnamon's Restaurant
315 Uluniu Street
Kailua, Oahu
808.261.8724

BonBonBar: Favorite things

So on the day I vow to return to the gym there is a severe weather alert, bridges close, roofs and scaffolding blows into roadways as rain pours and winds approach 80 miles per hour. I dunno. Perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something? I'm pretty sure the message is "stay home and eat candy."

I've been following the blog Sweet Napa for ages and have to admit I was taken with Nina's idea for creating really high quality candy bars and confections from the moment she shared it with her readers. Now many moons later her company, BonBonBar is a reality. The philosophy behind the company is to use fresh ingredients that are organic and local whenever possible, that chocolate should only mingle with equally spectacular ingredients, like butter, cream, California nuts, vanilla beans, and sea salt and to banish artificial ingredients, including high-fructose corn syrup.

When Nina offered to send me some of her products I was thrilled. Of course my house was filled with candy and chocolate at the time but being the professional I am, I managed to give it a try nonetheless. Ah the sacrifices I make! One bite and I was smitten.

BonBonBar is selling only a few items at the moment and I can proudly say I have tried them all. The Malt Bar is like the world's best Kit Kat bar. It comes in both dark and milk chocolate and I was amazed that I actually liked the milk chocolate version best. The shortbread is crisp and buttery, the malty layer is rich and the chocolate coating just the right balance.



The Caramel Nut Bar is a combination of fresh and toasty mixed nuts, cocoa nibs, with a slightly salty caramel filling that is soft and gooey all covered in a deep dark chocolate.



The bars are a bit pricey at $5 a pop, but a really decadent treat. I shared them and found a little goes a long way. The marshmallows which come in passion fruit and vanilla were the biggest revelation. Frankly, I've not been impressed by "artisanal" marshmallows in the past. The ones I've tried have always been too rubbery and didn't have that strong a flavor. Worst of all, they didn't melt well in hot chocolate or in s'mores. The BonBonBar versions are light and fluffy and have a lovely texture, just like I was hoping for, and in addition they actually smell and taste like the flavors listed on the package.



None of these treats are fancy pants sophisticated confections, but are like idealized versions of things you probably loved as a child. For me, BonBonBar offers not just delicious and high quality treats, but the cure for candy nostalgia. Here's hoping Nina takes on a few of my other childhood favorites, a Chunky bar, and a Violet Crumble...