Argentinian Feast

Roasted Vegetables

White Bean Salad

Roasted Chicken

During the Labor Day weekend we celebrated my Mom's Birthday and because she does SO much for us we wanted to throw her a delicious Argentinian feast. We all decided to bring a dish and because my dad wanted to get some empanadas from an Argentinian bakery I decided to plan my menu around them.

Argentina is know for their grilled roasted flavors so no matter what I decided the base has to be that smokey-herby signature flavor. After looking for some recipes I went with a white bean and roasted vegetable salad and my juicy herb grilled chicken with roasted finger potatoes. Here are the recipes:

White Bean Salad with Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients
2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained

1 bag of mixed greens.
1/2 cup small diced roasted red pepper
1/2 cup small roasted baby heirloom tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsley

Dressing

1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot

1 lemons (zest & juice)
kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a cookie sheet roast bell peppers and baby heirloom tomatoes at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Once finish let it cool before combine.
2. In a medium bowl, combine beans, peppers, tomatoes, and mixed greens.
3. In a small Tupperware or jar (with a lid), combine garlic, shallot, oregano, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Cover with lid and shake well.
4. Pour dressing over beans. Eat immediately, or store covered, in the fridge for later.

Perfect Roast Chicken

Ingredients:
1 six-pound roasting chicken
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick
1 lemon
3 large cloves garlic, peeled
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup , or canned low-sodium chicken broth, skimmed of fat Homemade Chicken Stock

Directions:

1. Let chicken and 1 tablespoon butter stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove and discard the plastic pop-up timer from chicken if there is one. Remove the giblets and excess fat from the chicken cavity. Rinse chicken inside and out under cold running water. Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towels. Tuck the wing tips under the body. Sprinkle the cavity of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, and set aside.
2. In the center of a heavy-duty roasting pan, place onion slices in two rows, touching. Place the palm of your hand on top of lemon and, pressing down, roll lemon back and forth several times. This softens the lemon and allows the juice to flow more freely. Pierce entire surface of lemon with a fork. Using the side of a large knife, gently press on garlic cloves to open slightly. Insert garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, and lemon into cavity. Place chicken in pan, on onion slices. Cut about 18 inches of kitchen twine, bring chicken legs forward, cross them, and tie together.
3. Spread the softened butter over entire surface of chicken, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place in the oven, and roast until skin is deep golden brown and crisp and the juices run clear when pierced, about 1 1/2 hours. When chicken seems done, insert an instant-read thermometer into the breast, then the thigh. The breast temperature should read 180 degrees and the thigh 190 degrees.
4. Remove chicken from oven, and transfer to a cutting board with a well. Let chicken stand 10 to 15 minutes so the juices settle. Meanwhile, pour the pan drippings into a shallow bowl or fat separator, and leave onions in the pan. Leave any brown baked-on bits in the bottom of the roasting pan, and remove and discard any blackened bits. Using a large spoon or fat separator, skim off and discard as much fat as possible. Pour the remaining drippings and the juices that have collected under the resting chicken back into the roasting pan. Place on the stove over medium-high heat to cook, about 1 minute. Add chicken stock, raise heat to high, and, using a wooden spoon, stir up and combine the brown bits with the stock until the liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Strain the gravy into a small bowl, pressing on onions to extract any liquid. Discard onions, and stir in the remaining tablespoon of cold butter until melted and incorporated. Untie the legs, and remove and discard garlic, thyme, and lemon. Carve, and serve gravy on the side.
5. Garnish with roasted finger potatoes and roasted red onions (350 degrees for 15 minutes), mint and lemon wedges.

images via: hayanarts 

recipe via: chicken by martha stewart

Glass Canisters

Currently we are dreaming of roads and roads of glass canisters for our kitchen. The options are endless! We have a collection of coffee beans and tea buds and they would look lovely in our kitchen counter. All started with the queen of the glass canisters Ina Garten and her fabulous kitchen feature in her cooking show Barefoot Contessa.

Ina Garten Kitchen

There chic, timeless and quite affordable. You can find them here, here, and here. Also they look beautiful in the bathroom too!

images via: pinterest

Frittata

Breakfast is always a must in our home and one of our staples is a Frittata. A Frittata is an Italian way to use up leftover ingredients and to make a quick meal or snack. Unlike an American omelet, they're not usually eaten at breakfast. In fact, they are probably eaten more often as a snack or as a portable sandwich for a road trip or train ride. Here's a recipe for a fool proof frittata from Extra Virgen.

Frittata with Scallions

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch scallions, sliced
8 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat a medium-size saute pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once the butter foams, saute scallions until soft and season with salt and pepper. Let cool slightly.

Add eggs, milk, and Parmesan cheese to a large bowl and whisk well to combine. Add the sauteed scallions and blend.

Heat a 14-inch nonstick pan over medium heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to melt. Once hot and foaming, add the egg mixture, do not stir, and turn heat to medium-low. Cover the pan and continue to cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until firm.

recipe: cooking tv

Ramen Girl

We recently saw The Ramen Girl by the late Brittany Murphy. Its a cute little movie about a girl who goes to Japan and decides to learn how to cook ramen after heartbreak. Its a combination of The Karate Kid meets Babette's feast (both good on their own right). One of the reasons this little movie not know in the US is because is a japanese production and yes its is both in japanese and in english but if you love culinary movies you won't be dissapointed.

Here's a link to the Best Ramen restaurants in San Diego and a recipe too!

Miso Ramen Soup:

Miso and dashi are both gluten free (though please double check the label of whatever you purchase). Instant dashi does contain MSG, so if you're concerned about that, make the dashi from scratch or leave it out entirely and add in an additional teaspoon or so of soy sauce.

For the broth, use pork-based or vegetable broth. Chicken and beef are too strong in flavor for this soup.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
10 oz (285 g) dried ramen noodles
1/2 cup (200 g) fresh or canned bamboo shoots, sliced
1/2 cup (170 g) fresh or canned corn kernels, drained
1/3 cup (80 g) defrosted frozen or fresh spinach
8 cups (2 liters) store-bought or homemade pork or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons instant dashi granules
1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste
4 tablespoons fresh miso paste
1 cup (100 g) fresh bean sprouts
1 stalk green onion (scallions), finely chopped
4 teaspoons chili oil (optional)

Directions:

Place the whole, un-cracked eggs in a medium pot and fill with water to cover eggs by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Turn the heat to high and when boiling, turn the heat off and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. Promptly use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs and peel the egg under cold running water. Slice each egg in half.

Return the same pot of water to a boil. Add the ramen noodles and cook according to package instructions (most ramen noodles only take 3 minutes to cook.) Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

Divide the noodles, hardboiled eggs, bamboo shoots, corn and spinach among 4 large serving bowls.

In a large pot, add the stock, instant dashi and soy sauce. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the miso. Taste the soup and add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of miso if you’d like. Ladle soup into each bowl. Top each bowl with fresh bean sprouts, green onions and a drizzle of chili oil, if desired.

for more info click here!

images via: google recipe via: steamy kitchen

Tweets to Follow

Did you know we are twitter? Follow us @CafeOleSD for your latest cafe ole news and updates!

It's been a while since we did a post and specially a twitter related one (remember this one) we just to give our readers a gently reminder that you can follow us as well as an updated list of our favorite chefs, foodies and coffee lovers that we follow, read and retweet.

The Coffee List:

• Cafe Moto Roasters | small batch, big flavor roasters
• Coffee Detective | author of the coffee detectives
• Specialty Coffee | coffee trade association
• Dear Coffee | culture, creativity & design intersect
• Counter Coffee Culture | finding the most exciting coffees in world

The Food List:

• Edible San Diego | sustainable food
• Life & Food | border culinary blogger
• PBS Food | celebrated food & cooking
• NPR Food | the salt food blog
• Nutrition | daily nutrition facts

The Fun List:

• Microscopic Images |  the eyes of a electron microscope
• Science Porn | best of science
• Just So You Know | unimportant facts 

image via: google

Pan Dulce

One of the items that I missed the most about no living in Mexico are the "Panaderias". Although I'm living in sunny San Diego, a few miles away from my beautiful Tijuana. The Panaderias in San Diego are lacking that abuelita feeling that Mexico provides you.

Yan and I clearly remember when we were young when our grandparents went to Sanborn's and order just a basket of pan dulce and coffee for breakfast. How decadent and comforting!

The closest thing that we have is Pancho Villa or North Gate, but when I'm truly craving that comforting sensation I just cross the border and go to panaderia "La Mejor". It's not call the best for nothing!

images via: pinterest

Slut Raspberries

 

During the weekend I saw one of the most decadent desserts ever made in television with a scandalous name: Slut Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly! made from the Queen of Food Porn, Nigella Lawson. Although this dessert its luxury at its best to my surprise its quite simple to make. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 bottle good fruity chardonnay
11 oz raspberries
1 vanilla bean (split lengthwise)
10 gelatine leaves (16g)
9 oz superfine sugar
heavy cream (to serve)

Method:

• Place the wine and berries in a bowl and allow to steep for half an hour. Strain the wine into a saucepan and keep the raspberries to one side. Heat the wine with the vanilla bean until nearly boiling and leave to steep on one side for 15 minutes.
• Soak the gelatine leaves - which you can find in the supermarket these days - in cold water for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, after removing the vanilla bean, reheat the wine and stir in the sugar until it dissolves; allow to boil if you want to lose the alcohol.
• Add a third of the hot wine to the wrung-out gelatine leaves in a measuring jug and stir to dissolve, then add this mixture back into the rest of the wine and stir well. Strain into a large jug.
• Place the raspberries, equally, into six flattish, clear glass serving bowls, and pour the strained wine over the top.
• Allow to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours, though a day would be fine if you want to make this well ahead, and take out of the fridge 15 minutes before serving.

Serve some heavy cream in a jug, and let people pour this into the fragrant, tender, fruit-jewelled jelly as they eat. 

image & recipe via: nigella

Bloody Mary Pops

Bloody Mary's is one of my favorite cocktails. Growing up in Baja is a staple for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We used to drink it with beer and clams and its know to cure any hangover. So when I discover this pop cycle recipe I was thrilled! Here is the complete recipe:

Bloody Mary Popsicles



Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs tomatoes (about six 2 ½ inch diameter in size)
1 celery stalk
Juice of half a lemon
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon of chili powder
¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
Pinch of salt
½ cup vodka

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients except the vodka in a food processor or a blender and process until everything is pureed. Pass mixture through a medium strainer and then return strained mixture to blender or food processor. Add vodka and process for another 20-30 seconds to blend well. Pour mixture into popsicles mold.

2. Freeze for about 2 hours or until mixture starts to solidify enough to hold a popsicle stick upright. Insert popsicle sticks and finish freezing popsicles overnight. To release popsicles run hot water on the outside of popsicle molds for a 2-3 seconds.

recipe via: endless poptails

Kitchen Cutie

I recently came across a story featuring Dita Von Teese about food on The New Potato. They have a picture of her extremely pink kitchen. Perfect for any retro gal and although I'm not a pink kinda girl (know a few) I appreciated all the vintages features such as the lamp, the retro floor and  the beautiful head vases. You can always get the look on the Big Chill! For more Dita and food check out this, this and this. Also a link on her favorite foods.

image via: google

Green Cleaning

During the week I conquer some deep cleaning but in a green way. Lately I been obsessed with home blogs and one of my favorites is Manhattan Nest. I was thrilled when I found out that Daniel (MN author) is writing a column for Design Sponge all about cleaning ( I know I'm a huge dork) and I was surprise about the products he uses and his methods. So I decided to give it a go and to my surprise it really works!! Now I'm going to convert to green cleaning and save a ton on cleaning supplies...plus my corneas won't have any third degree burns with those pesky cleaning fumes. Here are the basics:

The staples of a good cleaning toolkit are as follows:

1. A few empty spray bottles for mixing your own cleaners.

2. White vinegar is great for deodorizing and disinfecting, and its acidity means it’s good for breaking down calcium in tubs and other inorganic compounds around the house. Need to clean glass or wood floors? One part water, one part white vinegar. Done. Vinegar smells, well, like vinegar when it’s wet, but the scent quickly dissipates when it dries.

3. Baking soda is a very gentle but powerful abrasive, and it’s good at cutting through grease, so it’s a great option for cleaning pots and pans, ovens and stove tops. It’s also safer and cheaper than commercial cleaners. To scrub away messes in the kitchen, mix one part baking soda with three parts warm water and get to work. Place a box of it in your fridge to keep food odors at bay.

4. Dish soap is great when diluted in water as an all-purpose cleaner or mixed with baking soda into a paste to scrub things in the bathroom, like grout. For an all-purpose cleaner, mix two tablespoons dish soap with two cups of water. Just remember to wipe everything down with water to avoid leaving a soapy residue.

5. Lemon juice has mild bleaching properties, naturally deodorizes and disinfects and is great to mix with a vinegar solution for bathroom and kitchen cleaning. It smells fresh, too!

6. Rubber gloves. Your hands will thank me later. If you’re at the dollar store already, get fancy and spring for the $1.49 gloves that are made of thicker rubber and extend further up your forearm. That’s class.

7. A toothbrush. Toothbrushes are essential for cleaning hard-to-reach areas like corners, around faucets, the edge of a kitchen sink, grout lines, the base of your toilet . . . the possibilities are endless!

8. Sponges with a soft and rough side (much like your personality) are helpful when scrubbing stuff with natural cleaners. Low-tech cleaning products do take a bit more elbow grease, but you can usually make up for that with a little light scrubbing.

9. A lint-free cloth is good for cleaning almost anything, including glass and acrylic, and wiping down counter tops.

10. Recycled paper towels. Yeah, I know they’re wasteful, but sometimes you need to be able to throw it away and be done with it. You’ll know when the occasion to use a paper towel arises because the mess will rank high on the grossness scale.

image via: hayanarts

Club 200 Cal

 or

This is what 200 calories looks like. Brilliant and Scary at the same time...you decide. More options here.

image via: imgur

Culinary Charts

We been fans of Pop Chart Lab for a while. We love their famous haircuts chart but recently they starting adding culinary charts. Our favorite is the coffee...of course but the culinary tools is a close second. Besides being beautifully design they are extremely informative. Check them out!

images via: pop lab charts

Scallop + Cauliflower Soup

This soup looks so deliciously decadent! Rich, creamy and zesty and the herbs are always right.We have to make it during the week. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the Soup:
1/2 lb butter
Extra virgin olive oil
2 cups diced white onion
1 cup sliced leek whites
2 shallots, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
2 stalks lemongrass
1/ bunch thyme
1 head cauliflower, stem removed, florets roughly chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 quarts milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
Kosher salt
White Pepper

For the Scallops:
30-40 bay scallops or 16 sea scallops
Grapeseed Oil

To Assemble and Serve:
Fennel fronds or microgreens
Maldon Sea Salt

Method:

For the Brown Butter:
In a small pot, gently heat the butter until it stops bubbling and begins to turn from yellow to light brown. Remove from heat and strain through a fine meshed sieve into a small bowl. Reserve warm.

For the Soup:
In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil. When oil is smoking, add onions, leeks, and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and stir frequently, avoiding any browning whatsoever. Peel the outer layer of the lemongrass. Using a heavy object, smash and bruise the lemongrass stalk until middle is split. Add the lemongrass and thyme. When vegetables are translucent, add the cauliflower. Cook, stirring frequently until the cauliflower begins to soften. Add heavy cream and milk to barely cover the cauliflower. Cook until cauliflower is very soft. Remove thyme and lemongrass. Transfer mixture to blender in batches and blend, adding milk to thin out to desired consistency. To each blending batch, add about 3 tablespoons of brown butter. Strain the blended soup through a fine meshed sieve into another pot. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Reserve warm.

For the Scallops:
In a pan, heat grapeseed oil to smoking point. Season scallops and add to the pan, making sure to develop a crust on the bottom of the scallop. Flip the scallop and continue cooking on the other side. Remove scallops from pan and drain on paper towels. Slice scallops as desired and reserve warm.

To Assemble and Serve:
Heat the soup to desired temperature. Place the soup in a bowl. Top with scallops, fennel fronds, and sprinkle with Maldon sea salt. Optionally add a drizzle of brown butter over the top.

JJ’s Tips:
Since butter is purely for seasoning in this recipe you really want to use the best butter you can find. The self-respecting cook with soul has two choices here: a lovingly-made, local farmstead butter, or the most expensive French AOC butter at the local upscale grocery. AOC stands for appellation d’origine contrôlée, merely an official French designation meaning that the product is certified to be made “the old way” and live up to it’s reputation. So that six dollar log of Normandy butter slowly melting in your tote bag is the real deal – made as those clog-wearing nuns always made it – from the milk of sedated French cows grazing among the foggy orchards on salty, seaside grass. You get the point – it’s all about the butter elevating the cauliflower.

Whether your scallops are small or large, make sure you’ve salt and peppered both sides before you sear, so they can develop a crust. They won’t need to cook much, so keep a close eye on them and flip with a small spoon or spatula when the first seared side is golden brown. Let the other side cook for about 15 seconds and transfer the scallops to a paper towel and leave them alone for a minute or two. Now you can trim them down to bite-size by slicing right though them. How long do they really need to cook? Consider that really fresh ones can be eaten completely raw, so really it is up to you. I say the less, the better.

*original recipe by jj proville // photography by vicky wasik