Oven Is On

I can't believe how short this summer was! Yes, August was ridiculously hot and humid, a typical New York summer. Then as soon as hearing the voice of September, the air suddenly cooled and at night I am already needing a comforter. Oh well, I think I had to give up a hope of harvesting more tomatoes from the yard.

That is the bad news. The good new is? That's right; it's a perfect baking weather. The oven will not transform the kitchen into a sauna. The butter will not melt in room temperature. And I don't have to put the pie dough back in the fridge every 5 seconds because it gets immediately sticky.

To kick-off the new 'season', I found a new recipe: Honey Cake. As always for the first try, I faithfully followed the recipe to see how it comes out. And since I didn't grow up having a honey cake, I am not sure how it is supposed to taste, either. So I test baked two loaves and brought to work where 50 hungry artists await.

Everyone who tasted loved it! I thought it is a tad sweet, but that doesn't seem to bother anyone because the wonderful sweetness of honey does not linger too long in your mouth. People liked its texture - very moist - and the crunchy almond top. It's a keeper!

Ku Cake

Misunderstood...?

In my opinion, okra is one of the most misunderstood, misrepresented, and unfairly disliked vegetables. Take my friend - she grew up eating okra that is 'cooked to death' - who wouldn't even want to look at it. Well, I do understand her repulsion. A slimy, stringy texture on any food can make a lot of people uncomfortable. So I did what a good friend would do. I cooked some okra for her birthday.

I blanched some whole okra in salty boiling water. As soon as they turn to a hue of bright green, you should take them out of the pot and quickly submerge in icy water to stop the residual cooking. And then I dressed them with soy sauce and a little bit of wasabi and bonito flakes. I don't think it was a life changing event, but at least she now accepts okra as edible food.

Longer you cook it, the slimy it gets. So the key is to keep the cooking time to the minimum. Blanching is always good, so as pan sautéing. I'm sure fried okra has a good crunch, too! Just don't make it into a stew...unless you are cooking delicious gumbo.

Ku Cake

Careful What You Wish for...

Maybe because I wrote "...I will trade a few weeks of sleepless night with the joy of tangy & sweet juicy tomatoes"... So we got it. For the second week we are 'enjoying' the extremely humid and hot weather. But look! Tomatoes are finally getting red.

Other heat-loving fruits & vegetables - peaches, apricots, corn, okra, squash, kale, chard, green & red peppers, hot peppers - finally started showing up in the market, though the size of its pile looks tad smaller than usual. I really hope the crop will recover and we can catch up with the flavors of summer a little longer!

Ku Cake

Garlic Seeds

...Or at least I think that's what it is. I 'harvested' it from the blooming garlic scape tops. I haven't quite used them yet, but just thinking about what I can do with it is fun enough already. Maybe I will sprinkle over salads. Maybe I will mix in pasta dish. I want my tuna and scallops adorned with these beautiful pearly granule! They are about the size of rice grains. As tiny as they are, they do taste the garlic, so be careful!

Ku Cake

Cool Summer

I am growing total of 9 tomato plants this summer; 6 on the ground and 3 in the pots. Normally I would be making tomato sandwiches every day by this time of year, they are slow to get big and still quite green.

The cooler weather gave us a longer season of asparagus and peas; which is not a bad thing by itself. I stockpiled them in the freezer, oh yeah. At the same time, I'm still waiting for the explosion of corns, peppers, and yes, tomatoes. Although I prefer the cooler weather - hey, we can sleep at night without the A/C! - it makes me think about the cause and effect of the climate. So this is another reason to love the Greenmarket. It is a barometer; it opens a little window that I can peek in to see what's going on the outside the big city made of steel, glass and concrete. I don't think I can notice these little seasonal quirks if I buy my veggies only from the store.

Well, we still have August. I think I will trade a few weeks of sleepless night with the joy of tangy & sweet juicy tomatoes.

Ku Cake

Which Fish Am I Eating Now?

For some reason the idea of buying fresh tuna in New York never occured to me. I think, because my concept of tuna fishing is that you sail out hundreds of miles and many days away from the shore with the huge boat and after catching them you have to bring them back frozen. You know, something you'd see on TV program like "The Deadliest Catch" where men constantly fighting against the harsh element in high seas. So when I saw the tuna stakes sold at Blue Moon Fish, I felt a strange delight. Wow, really? I can have fresh tuna for dinner?

Most of the times I would simply cook the chunk of tuna in little butter or sesame oil with minced garlic, finishing off with the splash of ponzu. This one shown, however, is breaded with potato chip crust, made up from variety of flavored chips like salt & pepper, BBQ, vinegar & salt, jalapeno, honey mustard, you name it. I keep one bag in the freezer where I saved all the pulvalized chips that's left on the bottom of the bag. It makes a rather tasty breading that can be used for pork cutlet or chicken breast. I would cook this in small amount of olive oil, with dash of valsamic vinegar.

Mmmm-mmm!

Ku Cake

All Dressed Up

Let's face it. There are times even my cakes want to look pretty.

My friend asked me to bake for a small wedding reception that she was attending. Although the reception was to be held in informal locale, the occasion certainly calls for something special. I mean, wedding is wedding! It's not an everyday event. My friend knew I don't do designer cakes but her request got me thinking. I wanted to make a memorable cake; not just it tastes good but also comes with the 'wow!' factor.

Well, you can't tell from the picture, but it is actually a green tea flavor cake. I covered it with white frosting made from combination of cream cheese, Mascarpone, and whipped heavy cream (it was SOOOO good if I may say so myself.) On it, I dusted some green tea powder and arranged the beautiful bright orange Nasturtium flowers I bought at the Greenmarket. When I looked at the finished cake, I was really happy because it came out exactly the way I envisioned. I also baked 3 doz. apple-cranberry cupcakes to supplement for the 30-plus crowd.

Of course the only thing I wasn't sure was....will the bride like it?

Happily, my friend reported back it was a big hit! Phew. I was relieved, and knowing I was able to contribute to her special day made me feel content. Thank you for letting me be the part of it.

Ku Cake

Luxurious Breakfast

After picking up a bunch of fresh asparagus, organic eggs, and a hunk of bread from the Saturday Greenmarket, I now prepare a leisure weekend breakfast.

First, make coffee (saving the used grinds for the yard, of course.) While it's brewing, I put a greased frying pan on the gas, wash and snap the ends of asparagus. Let's not skimp at all, let's cook a handful! As I sip coffee, I slowly pan roast them, turning once or twice for an even roast. When they are done, take 'em out, and add a pat of butter. It slides down to the middle of pan where it creates a foamy puddle, quietly sizzles, browns a bit, releasing the sweet aroma. Two eggs into the pan, sunny side up. Oh, and let's not forget the toast.

The whole process could take up to 30 minutes until I can sit down. But, patience my dear...this is so good...

Ku Cake

Food + Friends = Feast

It's been a while since the last time I invited some ancient friends, some recent friends, and some whom I didn't know, for a get-together. I don't remember exactly when that was, but I do remember it was very hot. So this time I wanted to have it in May. It's a good month in many ways. First, the winter weather should have been gone. Second, the heat wave shouldn't have arrived. And third, the yard should be in the state of the best looking - dead leaves cleaned up, new crop of flowers, herbs & tomatoes planted, and thank goodness the weeds are not quite yet taking over - oh how I wished each year I could keep this up for the rest of summer!

The month of May is a tricky one though, because there are not many weekends without plans or obligations. The 2nd weekend is reserved for the Mother's Day. The 4th weekend is already the Memorial Day Weekend; the first official summer getaway! So I announced well in advance that people should pencil in the 3rd Saturday for this party. The total of 27 people came between 6pm and 11pm.

The miracle of miracles; rain held up. From the morning it was foggy & cloudy, with chance of thunder shower all afternoon & evening. So I was begging 'someone upstairs', please no rain between 5 and 12. I even made some Teru-Teru-Bozu, the little paper doll you make when you want to fend off the rainy weather. And it worked! Literally ten minutes after the last guest left, I heard the rain coming down. Amazing.

The menu:
Meatball Sliders (2 of my friends who don't eat meat, ate them. I take that as the highest form of compliments)
Shrimp Cocktail [cocktail sauce, lemon wedges]
Falafel [tahini sauce]
Sauteed Spinach & Ramps
Bell Peppers in Balsamic Vinegar
Asaparagus, Baby Carrots, Broccoli [garlicky cheese dip, roasted pepper dip]
Black-eyed Peas in Basil Vinaigrette
Pasta with Roasted Asparagus & Mushrooms
Olives, Pickled Ramps
Rainbow Fruit Salad
Apple-Cranberry Cake
Brownies
Grapes, Mini Clementines

Maybe I want to make this an annual event...? It was so great to see everyone at once! And I didn't have to travel 'home': I guess that's the best part of throwing a party at home...

Ku Cake

See You Later!

Holy Mackerel! Last week there were tab full of them. This week they are gone for the season.

I like mackerels because: a) they are small and easy to handle, b) they are great source of Omega-3, Vitamine D and B12, and perhaps most conveniently, c) there aren't scales! (I guess that makes them certified kosher.) You know how messy and annoying it can be...finding bits of scale dried stuck everywhere in the kitchen!

Before its abrupt disappearance, I was able to haul them back home a few times to practice my fish cleaning skill, which I think is showing improvement. Like I said, it is relatively easy. First cut off the head. Then slit the underbelly and take out innerds. After that, you can either keep it whole or fillet. A few of them were even carrying delicate egg sacks that I cooked in style of "Nanban-zuke", similar to "escabeche". They were delicious.

OK, gorgeous mackerels, we'll meet again when the water gets cold and air clean & crisp. See you later.

Ku Cake