Earthquakes and Comfort Food
The first earthquake I actually remember was March 22, 1957. My mom was 7 months pregnant with my twin sisters, my older brother was at school, and my sister and I were playing in the back room - a room built out the back of the house on stilts. It started swaying back and forth and we went running in to my mom, with our dog, Peanuts, barking.
That earthquake - as I just looked up - was a mere 5.3 on the Richter scale. Small, but it caused a lot of damage. Our house on 19th Avenue had a lot of cracks and plaster fell from ceilings and walls. (It was all lathe and plaster.) I remember being wide-eyed and "WHAT WAS THAT?!?" but I don't remember being scared. Probably because my mom played it down so well.
Speaking with her about it years later, she confessed that she had been a complete wreck inside - but couldn't let us see her fall apart. She had to make sure that we weren't scared. My fireman father was at the firehouse, of course, so it was up to her. Married to a fireman and mother to - eventually - six children, it was a role she had to play often.
I think the road above is Skyline Boulevard - the west side of the lake. Parts of it and John Muir Drive on the south side slid into the lake that March morning . As kids we spent a lot of time riding our bikes to Lake Merced and going fishing. After the quake, we all drove over there to see the damage. Pop flashed his fireman's badge and we got to go in and see it all up close. It was pretty cool growing up with a San Francisco Fireman for a father.
Another road that collapsed was El Camino del Mar. It ran from Lands End above Sutros along the Golden Gate to Lincoln Park and then the bridge. The section from Lands End to Lincoln Park was never repaired and Mother Nature has reclaimed most of it. The section is now part of the GGNRA and called "The Earthquake Walk."
We lived right between the two of them.
The next good one was the1964 Alaska earthquake. We didn't actually feel the quake in San Francisco, but, living a mere 2 blocks from the ocean, we were down there to surf the tidal wave in! Hundreds - if not thousands - of people flocked to the beach that day. Fortunately, we were all disappointed. The tidal wave that destroyed Crescent City up by the Oregon border barely caused a ripple 350 miles south. Fortunately.
I can't even begin to count the earthquakes I've felt over the years. Most of them were "Oh. Earthquake." and ya keep on doing what you were doing. The really damaging ones - like the 1989 quake - really are few and far between.
October 17, 1989. I had received the phone call that I had been hired at San Francisco General Hospital earlier that day and was at my sister's in San Bruno getting ready to watch the World Series. We lost power for a few days and in those pre-world wide web and cell phone days, the nation watched what was happening but we were clueless. All we had were battery-operated radios and they were hyping things left and right. The sky was definitely falling. When we heard the Bay Bridge had collapsed and the Cypress freeway had collapsed, we didn't believe it. Surprise.
So... fast-forward 22 years and here I am outside of Philadelphia when a 5.9 earthquake hits - and I don't even feel it! Talk about cheated! I rather like the superior nonchalant "Oh. That little thing? Did a truck drive by?" attitude that only a native San Franciscan who has survived a score of earthquakes can pull off with perfect aplomb.
I'm bad. I admit it. And I was cheated!
Nonetheless, I decided we should have something "San Francisco-ish" from my childhood for dinner. Victor and Cybil did, after-all, feel the quake. They would need comforting. I decided upon Hamburger and Potatoes.
My mother knew how to stretch a pound of hamburger and this was always one of my favorites... Fried potatoes in one pan, hamburger, onions, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and S&P in the other. When both are cooked, they are combined and served.
Since we still have a few bell peppers from the garden, I added them, too.
The perfect comfort food for a stroll down Earthquake Memory Lane...
Skirt Steak Cuban-Style
There are so many things to cook - and I feel as if I make the same things over-and-over-and-over...
I'm in a rut.
No... I take that back - it's not a rut. I'm ready for season-change. I've been living in a closed-up house with air conditioning because it has been so miserable outside. I'm ready for open windows and cool nights. And no humidity.
The next few days are supposed to be relatively nice before the rains return on the weekend.
But it's sill officially summer, so I should be thinking officially summer-type food.
Skirt steak to the rescue.
Skirt steak used to be an inexpensive cut of beef. Great for fajitas and great for Asian stir-fry's. And then it got popular.
Like everything else.
We have fresh peppers still coming from the garden, so I decided they would be the focal-point. The recipe idea was based in part by a fish I had at the Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman a few years ago. I remember peppers and raisins and cinnamon and allspice. I think the fish was grouper. It was really good.
But back to the present... I just did a simple salt, pepper, garlic rub on the steak because I was going to put that fairly flavorful pepper topping on it.
Caribbean Peppers
- 2 bell peppers, cut in thin strips
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup coconut vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup raisins
- pinch cinnamon
- pinch allspice
- pinch cloves
- salt and pepper, to taste
Lightly saute peppers in a bit of olive oil. Add almonds and lightly brown. Add tomato paste and cook about 2 minutes, stirring all the while.
Add vinegar and then water, scraping pan. Add spices and raisins and heat through.
Serve over beef, chicken, pork, or seafood...
Really simple and really flavorful. It adds a nice touch to an otherwise uneventful plate!
Pork Tenderloin with Cherries
I had a few cherries left - maybe a cup and a half - that were close to losing their oomph. Not being able to let things go to waste, I thought a cherry sauce on a pork tenderloin would be a fun way to use them up.
A million or so years ago I worked at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe. I was hired as a cook at their gourmet lakeside restaurant, Hugo's Rotisserie. Hugo's signature dish was the rotisserie duck. Unbelievably good, it came as a classic l'orage, with a green peppercorn sauce, and a magnificent cherry sauce, among others... I think we used Montmorencies, but I'm not really sure. It was 1976. The fact that I remember I lived at Take Tahoe at all is rather remarkable.
That sauce had our hand-made demi-glace, kirsch, the cherries... it was silken-smooth and studded with perfectly-halved cherries. As it should be in a gourmet resort hotel restaurant.
I knew I wasn't about to replicate that sauce but I also knew "savory" and "cherry" went very well together. I had several directions I could go.
I decided a bit spicy-sweet was the way to go...
Cherry Sauce
- 1 1/2 cup cherries, pitted
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped
- 1 serrano chile, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 small tomato, chopped
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- salt and pepper, to taste
Saute onion, garlic, and peppers in a bit of olive oil until wilted. Add tomato paste and cook to remove raw tomato taste. Add cumin and cook to remove raw taste. Add tomatoes, wine, and vinegar. mix well.
Add cherries and heat through. Mash some cherries to release juices.
Check for seasoning and ass salt and pepper, as desired.
The flavor-profile was at the opposite end of the spectrum from Hugo's, but it worked really well. The slightly-southwestern spices with the sweet cherries was a fun combination. And it worked perfectly with a grilled pork tenderloin.
Sausage Pasties
Victor came into the kitchen yesterday and asked what I was making for dinner. I replied "Pasties." He said "Oh! Those things that twirl..." as he started moving his index fingers in opposite directions... Have you ever wanted to pick up a bag of flour and cover someone with it from head to toe? And would you do it if you didn't have to clean up the mess?!? I said PAY-stees, not PAA-stees. I should have just said a meat pie.
On the other hand... have you ever seen a really talented set of pasties in action?!? Awe-inspiring.
But I digress.
I had taken some sausage out of the freezer thinking I might just do sausage and peppers and onions. Simple enough. But when I got home, I decided I wanted something different.
Out came the aforementioned bag of flour.
Pie Crust
- 2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup pastry/cake flour
- 2 sticks butter, frozen
- pinch salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup ice water
Using a food processor, add flours, salt, and sugar. Pulse to mix.
Chop up frozen butter and add. Pulse until butter is incorporated and mixture looks grainy.
Slowly add ice water and pulse until mixed.
Turn out onto counter. Press and form mixture into two disks . Wrap in plastic and refrigerate about an hour to allow the flour to properly absorb the water and to relax the gluten.
Roll out crust and place in pie plate. Crimp edges and fill.
Pie crusts made, they went into the 'fridge
Then I made the filling.
It was a throw-together. I used 4 links of hot Italian sausage, casings removed, one peeled and diced potato, about a half-cup of chopped onion, 1 clove garlic, minced, a cup of peas, 1/2 cup grated asiago cheese, 4 oz cream cheese, salt and pepper.
I crumbled and cooked the sausage and added the onions, garlic, and then potatoes. When everything was cooked, I added the peas, heated them through, and then stirred in the cheeses and then let it cool.
I used a bowl to cut out the individual pasties. I brushed the edges with egg, filled them, folded them over and crimped with a fork.
They were brushed with egg and then went into a 425° oven for 30 minutes.
It was fun way to use otherwise ordinary ingredients.
Ground Beef. WWMD?!?
I had pulled out a package of ground beef from the freezer with no real idea of what I was going to make tonight. This seems to be more and more of a common theme with me. Get something out of the freezer and deal with it later. Unfortunately, more often than not when I finally start thinking about it the mind comes up blank. The ideas just weren't there. So I decided to try and channel my mother. She was queen of ground beef. She knew a million and one ways to stretch a pound of hamburger to feed 8 people. What Would Mommy Do?!?
I started rummaging through the cabinets and came across a single packet of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix. A yellowed single packet of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix. It had been around for a while. It had to have been bought for some sort of gathering where we had Onion Dip. When my brother was here in 2003? Victor's mom's 75th birthday party when we had a really huge gathering?!? (She turned 85 this past May.)
I don't really know. I just know it wasn't really very recent. It didn't even occur to me to throw it out. The shelf-life has to be just short of plutonium.
So... I started thinking back to those thrilling days of yesteryear and some of the things Mommy Dearest put onion soup mix in. Meatloaf, for sure, but I wasn't really in a meatloaf mood. I decided on the next best thing - meatballs!
In just a couple of minutes I had mixed up ground beef, bread crumbs, chopped celery, chopped parsley, half a package of onion soup mix, pepper, and an egg. I scopped them onto a sheet pan and baked them off at 350° for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile I made the gravy... I sauteed mushrooms in a bit of bacon grease (Mommy always saved her bacon grease) and when they were browned, I added a splash of Marsala. (Mommy also cooked with Marsala a lot.) Then added beef broth and the other half of the onion soup mix. (My mother would have used bouillon cubes and water and the soup mix. I never buy bouillon cubes. Ever.) I then did a quick thickening with cornstarch and added the cooked meatballs to reheat.
Extra-wide eggs noodles and frozen peas were the perfect accompaniment.
And ya know... it actually wasn't bad. There were a couple of onion pieces that didn't quite rehydrate, but overall, it wasn't bad. I don't think I'll be rushing out to replace the onion soup mix any time soon but it was fun trying to recreate a childhood recipe without having any idea whether I had ever had it before or not. Of course, if I didn't have these, I had something pretty similar.
Thanks, Mom!
Fig-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
I've had a jar of fig paste in the cupboard for ages. I think I bought it in San Francisco at Cost Plus, but it also could have been something picked up at Wegman's. I tend to unconsciously pick up jars of this-and-that. And after our shopping trip today, I'm thinking the cabinets shall be falling off the wall at any moment. Victor and I both went shopping together at Wegmans, today. I hadn't been in a while since it's now out of my way since I do Monday shopping for his mom, but I wanted to pick up a few things because lord knows, we didn't have enough cans and jars on the shelves already! I spent a lot less that I expected to, but more than I needed to. I brought some things down to the basement knowing I wouldn't be using them before fall...
"Hello. My name is Tim. I'm a food shopper."
Okay... It's not really that bad... Mostly.
We do have a no-regrets rule. We buy it, we eat it. And I will use those blocks of Guava Paste one of these days... Maybe a Guava-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro-Jalapeño Salsa or some such thing. And the score of Asian and Indian pastes?!? I'm getting there as soon as the weather changes. Hot curries and spicy soups and stews are the things of winter.
The fig paste coming off the shelves was really to make room for the new jar of Onions in Balsamic and since I had it in my hand, it was time to use it.
I was originally thinking fig paste and goat cheese as a stuffing, but the final result was:
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 link Italian sausage, crumbled
- 1/2 cup fig paste
- 1/4 cup diced fresh mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tbsp parsley
- salt and pepper
I sauteed the onion, added the sausage and cooked it through. I put it into a bowl, let it cool a bit, added the fig paste, cheese, and walnuts and a bit of salt and pepper.
I pounded chicken breasts, stuffed them, rolled them up and put into a 365° oven for 30 minutes.
While they were cooking, I sauteed some mushrooms, added a splash of Marsala and let it cook down, added a cup of chicken stock, let it cook down a bit and thickened it with a bit of cornstarch. Instant mushroom sauce.
Whole-grain rice on the side.
The cabinets are full. Time to start doing some serious cooking!
Filet of Sole
Sole is one of the lightest, most delicate of the flat fish. And Dover Sole is the best of the best.
Sole pretty much demands a classic preparation. Lightly floured, lightly fried, heartily eaten!
I did the classic preparation but in place of the browned pan butter I sauteed garlic in butter, added the juice of a lemon, and let it simmer. I then strained out the garlic and added fresh parsley.
Really simple.
Of course, I say really simple as in the preparation and cooking. The mess I made was anything but simple!
It really is a knack being able to destroy a kitchen with such a simple meal. 4 pans, a sheet pan, the pie plate holding the flour... I think I would have sent Victor straight over the edge if I had dipped it in egg!
But chocolate brownies with fresh cherries baked into them saved me for another day - and another mess!
Grilled Chicken, Pesto, and Apricots
My impulse purchase at the grocery store today was some apricots.
Once upon time, apricots - along with plums - were my most favorite summer fruit. That, of course, was in the days before huge agri-farming where everything became grown for mechanical harvesting and shipping and not for flavor.
I did produce-buying for a gourmet food distributor once upon a time. I wandered the produce markets at 4am looking for new, fresh, and vibrant. I still have a fairly good eye for some things even after all these years. Seeing the apricots, I was slightly skeptical because I haven't gotten a good apricot at a grocery store since moving here. The apricots I espied did look nice - and they were ripe. They had a nice blush to them. I went for it.
Sadly, they didn't taste quite as good as they looked. They weren't totally bad, they just weren't really good. Too dry and just not sweet enough. They weren't for eating-out-of-hand, but I knew I could turn them into a savory dinner.
I had made pesto earlier in the day and wanted to incorporate the pesto - made with pistachios - into dinner, as well.
Grilled chicken breasts were born! I sauteed red onion with a bit of olive oil and then added the sliced and unpeeled apricots. I wanted to add a bit of sweetness, so I added about a tablespoon of honey. Not just any honey, though... I used Mount Rainier Fireweed Honey that our friends Bonnie and Print gave us a while back. It has a really unique honey flavor that worked perfectly with the onions and apricots. And then, just for grins and giggles, I added one dried chile pepper that I crumbled into the skillet. It added just enough balance to the sweetness of the honey.
And the pesto...
It is pretty much a traditional pesto, but I used pistachios instead of pine nuts. They added a fun and unique flavor while at the same time staying true to the pesto flavor. You know it's different, but it's a subtle difference.
Pistachio Pesto
- 1/4 cup pistachios
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 packed cup basil
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Place everything but olive oil into food processor and process until smooth. With machine running, slowly drizzle in olive oil.
Refrigerate or freeze.
So...
For dinner, I grilled the chicken breasts. I brushed them earlier with olive oil and then salt and pepper. I purposely didn't add any other seasonings because I knew the toppings were going to be quite powerful.
When the chicken was done, I spooned on the basil and then topped it with the apricots and onions.
The sweet potato was boiled and mashed with just butter, salt and pepper. Again, I didn't want too add any more competing flavors.
And it all came together just as I hoped. The garlicky nutty basil complimented the sweet and barely spicy apricots and onions. The simplicity of the potatoes actually made them stand out on the plate. And the grilled chicken was the vehicle to pull it all together.
Even being less than perfect, the apricots came through, although I probably won't be buying too many more unless they're local.
And in other news...
The Pasta Issue arrived today!
Victor will soon be back in the kitchen working his way through the entire magazine!
He decided to change the day from Monday to Sunday to allow himself more time to create. Besides, we'll be able to get the family over a bit more often to share in the fun.
Look for this to start in September.
Macaroni Salad
While I was working, today, Victor was home cooking. It's a great Saturday Tradition!
Today he created a pretty classic macaroni salad. Not a pasta salad. A macaroni salad.
There is a difference.
Pasta salad is made with anything other than elbow macaroni. Macaroni salad is made with elbow macaroni. (There is a product out there called "salad macaroni" that is just little tiny tubes, but I never buy it.)
The salad was classic in that it had a mayonnaise dressing. The rest was classic Victor.
Tomatoes and peppers from the garden, hard-cooked eggs, celery, onion, and a can of tuna!
It really was good. Every flavor was there individually and collectively. Sometimes the best things are the simplest.
I had brought home a couple of chicken breasts to grill but after tasting the salad decided to grill them and then top them with bacon, sliced tomatoes, and melted cheese.
It was the perfect accompaniment to the perfect salad.
And since I had so little to do with dinner I made coconut rice pudding for dessert. Victor claimed it was the best rice pudding I have ever made.
More on that later...
Burgers
I love a good burger.
We had some great burger joints in San Francisco when I was growing up. Beeps Burgers, Tic-Toc, Whiz Burgers... The Cable Car, The Hippo, Red's Java Shack. Bill's... Hamburger Haven... and the French Burger at Original Joe's.
San Francisco was - and is - a Burger Town. All but The Hippo and Hamburger Haven are still around - and many, may more have opened over the years. Hamburger Mary's isn't exactly what it was 40 years ago - in fact it's a franchise, today - but there's also Barney's, Super Duper, and Hall of Flame to name but a (very) few.
We had Fat Boy two blocks away from us at 46th and Sloat before it was torn down to build a Doggie Diner in the mid-'60s, but even DD had a reasonably decent burger.
The great thing about burgers in San Francisco was that they were all local. Zoning, unions, and better-than-average eating habits kept the chains out until (I think) the mid-70's when McDonald's finally won a lawsuit. We had food that was fast. We didn't have fast-food. No golden arches, crowns, or girls in pinafores. No KFC. We had Chicken Delight.
I've mentioned a few times what a great place San Francisco was to grow up. This is but one of the many, many reasons. The food was superior because the people demanded superior food. They still do.
Fast-forward a few years and move east a few thousand miles and thoughts of those burgers are clogging my arteries as I type. Sitting outside on the patio at Bill's on one of the rare nice Summer days in the Outer Richmond. Sitting in a drive-in in my 1957 Ford Fairlane (my first legal car) with a greasy burger wrapped in waxed paper. A Swiss burger with bacon, avocado, tomato, and sprouts. The Western Burger with BBQ sauce and cheddar. Pure heaven.
I didn't think about any of those places until I bit into tonight's burger. Had I been thinking, I would have had hand-cut french fries along with the home made rolls instead of frozen cubed potatoes. Maybe even a milk shake. No... I wasn't thinking...
The first bite really did it for me. A crunchy, crusty roll and everything just slipping and sliding around. And I was a total minimalist! I didn't put half the stuff I normally put on a burger! Just cheese, sliced tomato, pickle, mayo, and catsup. You know a burger is good when you have to get up after only eating half to wash your hands. No amount of napkins was working. Had I put any more on it I would have had to eat it standing over the sink. It really was that good.
So do yourselves a favor. Eschew the national chains for your next burger and hit up one of those greasy burger joints of your youth. Wear old clothes and bring the kids. Remember what a real hamburger tasted like and what it was like to need a half-dozen napkins to eat one!
And don't worry about making a mess.
It is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Tomatoes and Peppers
Farmer Victor did another harvest today.
It really is fun having a couple of things growing outside our door. The peppers and tomatoes are doing great, as are the herbs. Unfortunately, the critters are loving them, too. A couple of absolutely perfectly red and ripe tomatoes had been attacked. We're now at the point where we have to pick the big ones before they fully ripen if we want to eat them! I actually don't mind the critters having a meal now and again, but it does irk me when they go for the absolutely-most-perfect-tomato and then don't even eat it all!
Oh well...
I knew at lunch that dinner was going to involve fresh-baked bread and tomatoes and peppers, but I wasn't really sure how it was all going to come together. Victor started and I followed his lead.
Farmer Victor roasted the green peppers and then peeled and drizzled olive oil, minced fresh garlic, and salt and pepper on them. I had the bread in the oven so I knew dinner was going to be picky-foods. Stuff on top of bread. How could that be wrong?!?
I had the bread dough in the 'fridge, so it was just a 30 minute rise outside (in Mother Nature's Proofing Box) and 30 minutes in the oven. Active work time was less than 5 minutes.
Roasted peppers meant sausage and onions. And candied tomatoes. I had some andouille sausage in the freezer, so that came out and was fried up with half a red onion. Candied tomatoes was another no-brainer. I am infatuated with them! They are just the most fun way to eat cherry tomatoes! I'm loving them.
And since there was a hunk of brie in the 'fridge, the tomato jam from the other day came out along with some pecans. Into the oven it went to ooze goodness... The tomato jam is another serious keeper. I see more of that in our future.
And, with slices of bread in hand, we dove in!
The fun part was making all of the different combinations... Peppers and candied tomatoes, sausage and peppers, sausage and cheese, onions and tomatoes, cheese, onions, and peppers, tomatoes and sausage, a little bit of everything... There were just too many combinations but I tried as many as I could.
It really was a great dinner. Lots of variety, lots of flavor, and lots of fun.