Heirloom Tomato/Feta Towers with Vincotto and Candied Pecans

Tomato salad assembled as tasty towers makes an impressive presentation

There seem to be as many recipes for tomato salad as there are colorful heirloom tomato varieties.  I’ve gone in various directions, with the constant being reasonably large tomatoes, basil and cheese.  Personally, I prefer a more flavorful cheese (optimal: French feta) to the usual bland mozarella/bocconcini (the little mozarella balls).  But if you like bland, stick with it in the following recipe.  Two things that help elevate this salad above the usual are: the inclusion of delicious vincotto, a wonderful Italian thick, sweet wine-based condiment that’s like less-tart balsamic; and candied pecans.  Serving this salad in classy layered towers looks cool, although it will all fall apart during the eager consumption, naturally. The amounts aren’t exact below, so use more or less of everything to suit your taste.  This should be enough for 8 healthy servings

Light Spring Rolls

These can be vegetarian (or not) and are a light, delicious starter, lunch or snack.

I LOVE spring rolls — or, at least, the non-fried kind wrapped in rice paper and stuffed with herbs and veggies.  These little bites can serve as a way to use up leftovers, which is how I came to make up my version when I found myself with some grilled hanger steak (see recipe elsewhere on the blog) in the fridge that needed to be disposed of.   They are great with any leftover protein and can also be a receptacle for leftover vegetables (raw ones, preferably). Or buy flavored tofu (as seen in photo above) or sliced roast beef from the deli or whatever you want, basically. Dipped in a light Thai sauce, they burst with flavor and it’s hard to eat just one.  Try cutting them into bite-sized pieces and serve as an appetizer.  Besides being delicious, they’re light and healthy.

Light Recipe: Rhubarb Ginger Sorbet with Swanton Strawberries, Aged Balsamic Vinegar and Greek Yogurt

Dieters, this delicious dessert is almost guilt free.

Sounds ho-hum? In fact, it’s wonderful: light in calories, big in flavor and as satisfying as it is  guilt free.  My friend Patti, a Midwestern girl, introduced me  to the rhubarb sorbet concept (rhubarb is a popular ingredient back there but not so much during my California upbringing). I’d never bought rhubarb before but now I’m a believer. The sorbet is intense and creamy, the latter being a natural property of cooked rhubarb.  Also helping is the fact that no water is used in the sorbet recipe (sorbets usually are made with sugar water).  The best choice for the  strawberries are the wondrous ones from Swanton, which are available at the Menlo Park farmers market, Whole Foods and elsewhere.  And the Fage brand Greek-style yogurt is to yogurt what Domaine de la Romanée Conti is to pinot noir. Another discovery I have Patti to thank for.

Recipe: Salmon with Olive-Almond-Fennel Topping

Olives and salmon are a wonderful match. This simple, fast, bright-tasting topping can be thrown together quickly and is good on just about anything (well, not chocolate cake). Here, the salmon is pan roasted but it could just as easily be grilled or baked. And the topping is good with other fish, such as swordfish, halibut, sturgeon, sea bass, etc.

Recipe: Slow-Roasted Salmon in Dill

Brining fish? You bet. This recipe is a take-off from one created by Jerry Traunfeld, a leading Northwest chef. It’s very easy but plenty elegant enough to serve to guests. Brining does magical things to the salmon, changing the texture into a meltingly tender, moist bite of heaven.

Recipe: Salmon Tartare

Super-fresh fish like that sold by Cook’s in Menlo Park makes it possible to prepare “crudo” (raw fish)-type dishes. The flavors here are amazing; a mouthful of taste with no added fat/oil other than the omega 3s from the salmon. And it’s gorgeous to look at, too. Serve this as an appetizer or as part of a buffet. It’s so delicious, though, that you’ll be tempted to eat it for your whole meal. If you’ve got guests that simply won’t eat raw fish, it also makes some out-of-this-world salmon patties (just sauté in a little butter or oil).

Recipe: Pan-Roasted Blue-Nosed Bass with Fennel/Saffron Compote

Blue-nosed bass is one of the best meaty white fish varieties  around. Get it at Cook’s Seafood in Menlo Park. Its moistness and fine flavor stand up to accompaniments particularly well, particularly Provencal-type dishes. The fennel-saffron compote is indescribably delicious, tasting like the best parts of bouillabaisse, the famous fish stew of Marseilles, but in a different form. Halibut could be used instead of the blue-nosed bass if desired.

Recipe: Carrot Macaroni and Cheese (low calorie)

This is another excellent concept from Jeremy Fox, chef of Napa’s Ubuntu, which is a much-buzzed-about new vegetarian restaurant. The silky carrot puree is a replacement for the usual fatty cream sauce. I prefer this version to the usual bland mac ‘n cheese. I changed the recipe a little to pump up the flavors.

Recipe: Green Pea Soup with Tarragon and Pea Sprouts

Pea soup is wonderful and this one is a fast, easy, light version of the richer kind that contains cream. It can be made vegetarian via vegetable broth but tastes better if Swanson’s Natural Goodness low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth is used. Or better yet, homemade stock.  I modified the original recipe a bit to make it better.

Recipe: Chicory Salad (Radicchio, Orange, Date, Ricotta Salata)

This salad has big, bold, mouth-filling flavors and is essentially a meal-in-a-bowl.  I had a version of it at Lure in  San Mateo (see my restaurant review of this great spot on the blog) and it was so memorable that I developed my own version.  It’s a good fall/winter salad, during prime citrus season.  Among the wonderful things about this salad is the contrast of sweet/bitter, soft/crunchy and it’s beautiful to look at as well.

Recipe: Red Pepper Sauce (2 versions)

One of the most irrisistible, all-purpose vegetarian sauces in existence is some variation of the classic Spanish romesco sauce, which is based on red peppers, nuts, bread and oil.   It’s good on fish, meat, vegetables, as a dip, you name it.  The original version is fine but I prefer variations with no bread and more vegetables.  Here are two.  The first is based on a Jerry Traunfeld recipe and the second is a diet version I made up that I eat all the time as a condiment on pretty much anything.  It has no fat/oil, no sugar, just veggies, hence negligible calories.  And it’s delicious!

Recipe: Root Vegetable Pancakes

These savory pancakes are absolutely delicious and easy to make.  They would please any vegetarian and are also wonderful as an accompaniment to some sort of protein. The inclusion of a little maple syrup and nut oil enriches the earthy flavors in a subtle way. I serve them with grilled salmon, which works well. The recipe was inspired by one from the chef of New York’s Union Square Cafe, but I removed 3/4 of the (unnecessary) fat and simplified the recipe.The chef, Michael Romano, uses sunchokes but I like a mixture of celery root and carrot.

Hanger Steak: The Cut for Non-Cow Aficionados

Lean, tough, but oh so tasty!

Cards on the table: I find bloody beef somewhat revolting. Although I don’t eat it often, I can enjoy smallish bites of meat that have an interesting flavor – think lamb, duck and other full-flavored proteins. But to me, beef doesn’t have an interesting enough taste – not to mention health benefits — to include on my consumption list. This attitude changed the first time I tried hanger steak a couple of years back. While I still don’t eat it often, this is the first steak I can honestly say doesn’t just taste like beef.

My Magic Marinade – Makes Almost Anything Delicious and It’s Soooo Easy!

If I scraped up roadkill, this marinade would probably make it quite tasty. It surely has for an array of proteins like fish, fowl, meat and even tofu (if you must). It has just three ingredients and can be frozen and reused indefinitely. It sounds Asian but it doesn’t taste that way. About the only thing easier – but not nearly as pleasing – would be out-of-the-jar barbeque sauce. Eeeuuu. Just about all you do is open up the cans or bottles and stir it together.

Recipe: Main-Course Farmers Market Salad

Sweet, tender greens from Blue Heron Farms

Fresh figs, soft greens, roasted nuts and a complementary cheese with a killer, super-easy dressing add up to a fast, healthy summer one-course meal. And all the ingredients are available from the Palo Alto Farmers Market (or a store within walking distance). But best of all, this combination TASTES SO GOOD! Besides, it’s fun to cruise the market with a meal in mind. If you can’t make it to the farmers market on Saturday morning, acceptable substitutes can be found at a good grocery store.

Recipe: Quick, Easy Version of Nobu’s Miso-Marinated Black Cod

The most-imitated and most-famous signature dish of celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa deserves its fame because it’s just plain delicious. Here’s a link to his original recipe for those purists. Food & Wine recently published a simplified version, which I simplified (and improved, imho) further.

Recipe: Vegan German Chocolate Cookies

This is a reinvented (and improved) version of Whole Foods’ delicious cookies. The store’s version is on the left and my version is on the right. Enough said (if you love chocolate).

Any serious chocolate lover will adore these intensely chocolatey, addictive cookies – and can do so without too much guilt, happily. I reinvented these based on what might be the best item offered in Whole Foods’ bakeries – namely, their vegan German chocolate cookies. However, I reduced the fat (the Whole Foods version are little grease balls), cut back on the sweeteners and otherwise revamped the recipe (or rather, what I assume is the recipe because I’ve only seen the ingredient list on the package) to maximize what’s most delicious in this wonderful treat. Truthfully, these are less “German” due to the intensified chocolate-ness but that should be fine to most folks. My version is way easy to make, too.

Recipe: Wild Shrimp with Carrot-Mint Curry

This big-flavored dish with unexpected ingredients combines sweet, savory, tart and just a hint of spicy elements and is also gorgeous to look at. Although the delicious wild shrimp from the gulf that Pietro sells at the Palo Alto and Menlo Park farmers markets was the inspiration for this simple but elegant dish, it could also be made with shrimp/prawns from a good market – or seared scallops or just about any flavorful, white seafood. The shrimp cooking technique is based on something I learned eons ago in a Chinese cooking class that’s a super-easy version of the French en papillote method.

Yum! Pimientos de Padrón

Addictive. Exciting (there’s about one muy caliente pepper in a batch). The little Spanish peppers available from Happy Quail Farms at the Palo Alto, Menlo Park and SF Ferry Plaza farmers markets make an easy and tasty casual starter during the warm months when the peppers are grown. Cooked in oil and sprinkled with salt, these treats are common in Spain’s tapas bars.

Recipe: Strawberry Gazpacho (David Kinch)

The simplicity of this recipe belies how out-of-this-world wonderful it tastes. I begged David for months for the recipe because I couldn’t duplicate it. He sometimes serves this as an amuse bouche before the meal starts. Great berries are a necessity, so go to a farmers market or buy the divine Swanton strawberries sometimes sold at Whole Foods. At Manresa (his superb restaurant in Los Gatos), he uses the freshest ingredients available, of course, so be choosy in your shopping. Higher-end grocery stores like Draeger’s are more likely to carry the quality balsamic vinegar and nut oil (best: imported French oil such as J. Leblanc; the only acceptable domestic oils are by LaTourangelle) called for in the recipe. David’s recipes are presented “chef’s style,” in weight measurements rather than the volume measurements typically found in home recipes. I’ve added some further explanations in the recipe.

Recipe: Raw Bluefin Tuna with Yuzu (David Kinch)

(from me) Although I haven’t made this crudo recipe, I intend to. Everything David cooks is wonderful. All the Asian ingredients are available at Nak’s in Menlo Park, an excellent source for sushi fish as well. Cook’s Seafood in Menlo Park also has super-fresh tuna. To get the unique flavor of yuzu, one suggestion is to buy bottled yuzu at Nak’s and mix a little in with the fresh Meyer lemon.

Recipe: White Peach/Jasmine Sorbet (Daniel Patterson)

(chef’s notes) The floral notes of the white peaches and jasmine work in concert as if they were made for each other. The jasmine flavor in the base should seem a bit strong, and the base fairly sweet, as the freezing process dulls both flavor and aroma. You can serve the sorbet by itself, or on a bed of white peaches seasoned with sugar.

Recipe: Yellow Corn Pudding Glazed with White Truffle Butter (Daniel Patterson)

(chef’s notes) This is a glorious expression of mid-summer, when the corn is intensely sweet and flavorful. Here bread pudding is reworked into an elegant, sensually textured combination of corn custard and brioche, which is baked in the oven until set and then glazed with a sauce made from corn juice and butter that is scented with white truffle oil. You will need eight 4-6 ounce molds in which to bake the puddings.

(my notes) This is a very delicious recipe, although it’s time consuming. If you love the rich essence of sweet corn, it’s worth it.

Recipe: Crispy Black Bass/Salt Cod Ravioli/Mussel Broth (Mark Sullivan)

(from me) I haven’t tried this recipe but I’m sure it’s great, like all Mark’s food. The ravioli are undoubtedly wonderful, but they take a lot of work. A suggested substitution is to buy some high-quality seafood ravioli. Believe it or not, Sigona’s Produce (Stanford Shopping Center & Redwood City) has some really, really good frozen ravioli and I think there’s a smoked salmon version. Or choose one you like elsewhere. Serving fish in a broth vs. the usual sauce is a terrific approach that I’ve done many times. It’s less fattening, too.

Recipes for Pietro’s Salmon

Here’s an initial batch of recipes designed to make the most of the wild salmon (from Alaska) offered by Pietro Parravano, a fisherman who sells his wares at the Palo Alto and Menlo Park farmers markets. For overall ideas inspired by Pietro’s fish, see my earlier post (Pietro’s Fish: What Comes After Wild Salmon?). These salmon recipes vary from something easy for everyday to dinner-party dishes designed to compete with the conversation. Another excellent local source of fresh wild salmon is Cook’s Seafood in Menlo Park., whose wares are fresher than what I’ve found at other stores.

Recipe: Sturgeon (or Halibut) with Tomato Bread Salad (Bradley Ogden)

(chef’s notes) Surgeon has a mellow flavor and a meaty texture. If you cannot find it, try halibut or seabass in this preparation. The recipe calls for Roasted Tomato Oil; you will have some leftover, so try scrambling some in eggs with jack cheese or use to replace some of the olive oil called for in your favorite vinaigrette.