Cheese of the Year: Queso Fresco

I've had a lot of delicious cheese in my day. Creamy cheese. Hard cheese. Crumbly cheese. Stinky cheese. Fruit-filled cheese. Ash-filled cheese. Aged cheese. Fresh cheese. Stringy cheese. California cheese. Organic Cheese. :: GASP :: And I've even munched on the occasional bit of pasturized cheese product!

But, my most beloved cheese of 2009 was the humble, delicious, and stunning queso fresco.

I wasn't a total stranger to this cheese; I remembered bits of it crumbled on my ocasional order of enchiladas. However, until this year, I'd never really snacked on this queso for queso's sake.

The Salazar's introduced it to me on my brief So Cal visit in November. I was a little unsure of what I should expect from my snack of cold cheese slices served in a skillet-warmed corn tortilla. I hadn't had any sort of unmelted quesadilla before... But ultimately, I gave in to the better judgement of my hosts.

My first bite was life-changing. The unaged cheese was incredibly mild but full of fresh cow milk flavor. And because it wasn't over-salted, the flavor of the tortilla was able to really shine. I was so instantly enamored with the cheese that I made a batch of savory crepes the next morning for brunch and served them with queso fresco and ham.

After a few tries, the California-made Ranchero by Cacique is my favorite brand. The Casero by El Mexicano is also very popular and tasty, but I find that its more dry. Perhaps I'll try to make it from scratch in 2010.

My advice: Try it and share bites with your friends. If the bunch of you can't enjoy it in one sitting, make sure to store it in an odor resistant container - since it's such a mild, fresh cheese an inferior container may impart funky tastes or smells rendering your nice bit of cheese totally inedible.

Photo credits: me

Gadget: Potato Ricer

photo credit: me -- money shot of the finished mashers is by my sis


I've likely been lusting after my own food mill or potato ricer since high school. I'm sure I was introduced to them through the likes of Martha Stewart and Lidia Bastianich. Who wouldn't want to make your own crushed tomatoes for a marinara sans skins or ungluey, fluffy mashed potatoes?

Traditionally, our family has used those squigley-line stick mashers, the backs of wooden spoons, or the occasional pastry cutter to take care of our potato-mashing tasks. The results have always been tasty, but I knew I could aim for perfection. I aimed to possess a potato ricer as soon as the price was right.

It wasn't until I found a clearance potato ricer from Target [I'm pretty sure it was under the Chefmate label] for about $3 that I finally made the leap. My mom was skeptical of any true usefulness of the thing, but once I made her our first batch of riced mashed potatoes did she truly believe. Sadly, the ricer was so poorly constructed that it didn't even last through a second use.

I knew I wanted to have a heavy-duty ricer in time for Thanksgiving, so after consulting Cook's Illustrated equipment reviews and spending time window shopping on the web, I had a purchasing game plan. Time passed until it was the week of Thanksgiving. I didn't want to risk an online order, so I put my walking shoes on.

Ideally, I wanted to spend under $20 and get a Cook's Illustrated Recommended model [Bethany Heavy-Duty Potato Ricer]. Fail. Not one potato ricer or food mill was to be found at my local Target store.

My search was limited to a store I could walk to on my lunch break. Crate&Barrel. Sur La Table. Williams-Sonoma.

I already knew that Williams-Sonoma had a $30+ potato ricer that seemed superbly efficient and heavy-duty. The demo video was very convincing. W-S would be my last stop.

First, I went to Crate&Barrel. It carried one model. Blah. I wasn't convinced.

Second, I headed to Sur La Table. This store had at least three different ricers and three different food mills. $20 models were not as well-designed as the W-S ricer, and the $100+ food mills were too pricey for me. No go.

Last, I walked into Williams-Sonoma. To my surprise, my dream ricer was one of the first products displayed in the store. After holding it I was convinced. It had true heft; I didn't think it would break anytime soon. The hopper also seemed larger than the other models I'd seen. It had holes on all sides of its hopper making me believe the online demo marketing buzz that it would take less effort to mash more potatoes, too.

So without any hesitation, I paid the $34 + tax and took home the Deluxe Angled Potato Ricer, a "Williams-Sonoma exclusive." It still takes some elbow grease to get the potatoes through the hopper, but since I'm short, using the ricer on a lower counter top seems to work best. I'm pleased and am completely free of buyer's remorse. After all, it's an investment.

My Thanksgiving mashers were delicious, could-like, and lump-free.

Luna and Larry: Coconut Bliss Bar

I spotted a new item tag on this box of frozen dessert bars at Whole Foods a couple months ago.

I remembered being partial to Edy's/Dryer's Creamy Coconut Fruit Bars during undergrad, so I was willing to try it. After all, it said it was made with real coconut milk.

It wasn't till I took the box to the office that I read the fine print. I was not really into the touchy-feely branding, but the box looked pretty and I didn't have anything against a good vegan, gluten-free treat now and then... so I bought a box.

These bars are creamy and have a really luscious mouth-feel. Not as creamy as a true super premium dairy-based ice cream, but definitely more than a Rice Dream bar. I immediately wondered if Luna & Larry tasted better than what Art Smith made for the Zoe Deschanel episode of Top Chef Masters.

I liked 'em. They're just lightly sweetened and are pretty satisfying. I'm not entirely a fan of the bits of frozen coconut, but I don't think anything much beats real fresh young coconut or freshly toasted coconut. Perhaps if I were ever to have a restaurant with a Man Vs. Food-worthy spicy food challenge, I'd use Coconut Bliss Bars as the wuss-out relief popsicles.

Digital Camera = Blogging Comeback

I picked up a snappy, inexpensive camera bundle last week [Fuji 38]. Hurray! [Published 12/20]

Where have all the posts gone?

My lack of a functioning digital camera and unwillingness to drop enough cash to buy a fancy one, has made blogging less than pleasurable. [published 12/20]

Ghost of a Dinner Party

Last month I decided Hurricane/Tropical Depression Felicia was a good enough reason to invite people over to eat. At first I was hesitant to announce my party plans, but after a few days of watching the trajectory, it seemed like it wouldn't do major damage and would die down before landfall. Afterward, I was super-juiced that "my" hurricane didn't kill anyone.

Since Felicia was on a path from Baja to Hawaii, I thought a Mexi-Hawaiian menu would be quite appropriate.

• Bottled Coke (USA and Mexican)
  
• Elotes Asados featuring Japanese Kewpie Mayo
  
• SPAM Musubi
  
• Slow Cooker Kālua Pork Tacos
  
• Dulce de Leche-filled Churros
  

As with most common with my dinners, I rarely remember to photograph what I make. The only pic was of the last cob of grilled corn schmeared with Kewpie mayo, showered with cilantro, sprinkled with Cotija, just awaiting a sprinkle of two of my shortcuts to extra flavor... mouth-puckering Tajín seasoning (dehydrated lime juice is surprisingly addictive) and/or smokey bacon salt.

The Kālua Pork was my first time trying to dry-roast a piece of meat in the slow cooker. I took a hunk of bone-in shoulder, seasoned it with some salt, liquid smoke, and wrapped it in [frozen] banana leaves. The amount of fat it shed was positively shocking. A little Mi Pueblo salsa and fresh corn tortillas warmed on the grill made those suckers tasty, but a the meat was little dry.

Low sodium SPAM was the dark horse and clear winner of the evening. Nga helped my wrap them using my new acrylic sushi mold. There's something deeply simple and pleasurable about rice and pan-fried SPAM.

Stacey and Mark picked up the filled churros at Mi Pueblo. We reheated them on the grill and admired how the dulce caramel oozed from the center of every inch - in one continuous stream, top to bottom.

****

A couple weeks ago, I ended up improving the pork by using fresh banana leaves to line the pot and added a touch of Coke to keep the meat moist. I drained and shredded the roast and seasoned it with a little Mr. Yoshida's sauce a la Costco. I made 17 lbs. of the pork and less than half a pound remained for a crowd of 50.

Nothing Fishy Here...

 

One of the pleasant, positive externalities about making visits to properties in my work portfolio is their proximity to places to find tasty eats.

My day trip to Monterey and Santa Cruz meant that a lunch stop in Moss Landing would be totally doable. Since Moss Landing is smack between the two and a minute off the highway, I was happy to follow Cindy's recommendation to grab lunch here.

I didn't do much research except the customer ratings linked to Phil's Fish Market on the Google Map search. Had I done my homework I probably would have chosen Phil's Throwdown-worthy Cioppino. Instead, I just went with my gut - I had the steamed mussels & garlic bread. I even had my choice of green or black mussels. For fun, I went with the green.

On portion size I was not disappointed. My appetizer-sized bowl would have been totally adequate to share, but I plowed through two-thirds of it on my own. The mussels were some of the freshest, plumpest I've had, but they weren't the cleanest. I had to de-beard most of them on my own, and I got a bit of grit in the beginning that made me more cautious than I had hoped. I totally loved the clean, just-right flavors of the broth... the fresh chopped garlic, tomatoes, and green onions had me till the very end. Had I carried clean, empty Ziploc Twist 'n Loc containers in my purse, I would've taken my leftover broth for the car ride home.

My co-worker who accompanied me was determined to choose something from the artichoke section of the menu. Yes. We were in artichoke country. She had the stuffed artichoke with bay shrimp, lettuce and cilantro dressing. She was pretty thrilled with her choice and liked the heady cilantro flavor.

I was pretty impressed with how busy the place was even at 2:00 PM. I would like to go back on a lazy day and take my next bite there at the wine bar or walk out back to see their view of the ocean.


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p-burg farmers' market

I made my first trip of the season to the Pittsburg Farmers' Market. For about $7 I walked away with a bunch of kang kong, two delectable white peaches, two ears of corn, and two bitter melons.

The kang kong was my favorite vegetables when I was a kid. Apparently it was one of the foods I remembered from my toddler days in Malaysia. However, I haven't had it in a while, mostly because it never looked as fresh in Massachusetts Asian grocery stores. It was nice to enjoy it stir-fried with a little garlic. My mom also stir-fried the bitter melon with a little chicken, garlic, soy n such. It's funny how I never cared for the stuff until I went to college. Now I craved that bit of bitterness. I was also super-impressed with the white peach. I usually get burned when buying stone fruits at the grocery store, so it was completely refreshing to have a perfectly ripe and juicy peach.

Old School: Caspers Famous Hot Dogs

Even though Caspers is a Bay Area institution, I never set food in one until yesterday. The menu is pretty straight forward - it's all about the hot dog and each dog variation hovers between the $2-$4 range. Toppings are straight-up too. Fresh tomatoes, hand-cut onions, mustard, relish... The chili cheese dog features a mostly-bean chili and finely shredded cheddar.

I get the impression that the dogs are famous for their natural casing, which their website describes as the "SNAP sensation." My first reaction was that the snap is more like an entertaining, semi-rubbery squeak. That's probably not the most tantalizing description, but the audible reminder that you're eating THAT-part-of-an-animal casing can freak you out if you haven't thought about it much before.

I'll be back for more, but I'm not going to leave my Costco dog any time soon.

How does your garden grow?

After my semi-successful attempts at herb gardening in Boston apartments, a California backyard has created my first opportunity to garden. This year it's all about my first tomatoes and herbs. All of the organic plants are from Sweetwater Organics in Sebastopol, CA. I picked them up as part of a 2/$5 deal at Whole Foods.

Herbs: Basil; Chives (organic); Thyme (organic); Parsley (organic); and Rosemary (organic)

Tomatoes: Bush Champion (early-season, organic), Sun Gold (cherry, organic), Pineapple (late-season, bi-color beefsteak heirloom)

I went all out with the organic theme and used organic soil and organic fertilizer. I'm a little skeptical that I can keep the plants pest-free on my own, so I've been inspecting for anything scary looking and subjecting them to a good finger-squishing or toe-stomping. If the folks at Stone Soup Farms could hand-pick potato beetle larvae, surely, I can keep my own backyard creepy crawlies away.

And after almost five years of watching infomercials, I bought two Topsy Turvy tomato planters (not to be mistaken for the knock-off Upsy-Downsy planter). The two larger tomato varieties are in the planters, mostly because the thought of having to cage/stake the plants as they grew made me less excited about gardening. So far so good with the planters. They don't look completely ridiculous and the plants seem to be doing okay. We'll see what happens once I can actually taste the fruits of my labor.

My first-in-a-long-while attempt at baking a cheesecake

I don't think I remember making a cheesecake since college or before. While I like eating cheesecake, the idea of baking one usually just seems way too torturous because of the wait-time needed to completely cool and chill the darn thing before eating it. And the act of making it reminds me of how deliciously caloric a piece of cheesecake can often be.

Mom had one of those pre-made graham cracker shells that was nearing it's recommended freshness date so I flipped over the label for some help. The recipe was simple enough, but I didn't have 16 oz of cream cheese, sour cream, or a fresh lemon on hand to complete the uncake cake. What I did have was a cup of heavy whipping cream, a mostly unused 8 oz tub of mascarpone cheese, and vanilla extract.

In the end, I made substitutions and recipe tweaks with what I had on hand and came out with an airy, slightly sweet and lemony cheesecake.

Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese, softened at room temp
8 oz(more like 6 oz) mascarpone cheese
1/2 c super fine sugar
3/4 c heavy whipping cream, whipped into soft peaks
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. lemon zest
1 t. vanilla extract
6 oz. Honey Maid graham cracker pie shell.

cake pan filled 1/3 of height with water

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees Fahrenheit
2. Whip cream into soft peaks with an electric mixer, set aside
3. Blend cheeses with mixer on medium speed
4. add sugar, blend
5. add eggs , blend
6. add lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract
7. fold in whipped cream

Pour into shell and bake for 25 minutes. Place the cake pan of water on a lower shelf to keep a moist, quasi-bain marie atmosphere. The cake will rise a bit and still be jiggly, not-quite set when done. Cool cake on rack until completely cool. Next, chill in the refrigerator until chilled through (4-5 hours for me or 24 hours if you can bear it.

Eat some. Share some. Be merry.

The Boiling Crab - SJ

Many people have made incredibly detailed reviews of this place. You should read them.

Pros: Tasty shellfish in butter, garlic, and/or Cajun spice by the pound. Pints of steamed white rice as a side dish option. Great sweet potato fries.

Cons: Unreliable servers (a little on the "young" side). Less than stellar fried fish basket (in Mei's experience). How messy are you willing to get?

Blueberry Cream Scones

I made a bunch of scones last week and brought them to the office. I was pretty pleased with myself since folks overwhelmingly praised them as the best scones they ever had.

It all started with a Cook's Country recipe for quick cheddar biscuits. I upped the sugar and added the dried blueberries to turn my savory biscuit treat into a sweetened delight. They remind me a bit of the scones Danielle and I had at Tea Time in Palo Alto.


2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dried blueberries (or dried currants)
1 c heavy cream

To finish:
1 T melted butter
1 T demerara sugar (aka, turbinado sugar or the stuff in those Sugar in the Raw packets)


A. Preheat oven to 425 F
1. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and blueberries into a large mixing bowl.
2. Stir in heavy cream, gently binding the ingredients into a crumbly dough. (30 turns of the spoon - or just use your cool, clean hands to mix)
3. Turn the dough onto a smooth surface and pat into an 8-inch diameter disk.
4. Use a pizza cutter to get 8 scones out of the dough.
5. Place scones onto a baking sheet for 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, melt butter in the microwave
7. At the 10 minute mark, brush the melted butter onto the scones and sprinkle the demerara sugar.
8. Return the tray of scones to the oven and bake for 5 more minutes until slightly golden.

Serve warm.

Goosecross Cellars 2004 Twentieth Anniversary Sparkline Rosé

I bought this sparkling wine a long while ago. It was the store's "last bottle" and I had been using the store's free wi-fi for three hours on their deck, so I had to give it a try.

I just liked the idea of a wine maker crafting this sparkling rosé (Chardonnay/Zin) as a 20-year wedding anniversary present for his wife. The shelf-talking notes or the sales woman may have also mentioned that this was the winery's first and perhaps only sparkling number.


I finally opened it for a brunch with Sylvia and Stacey. It was totally good. Not overly sweet and with a really clean finish, it suited our brunch of turkey bacon sourdough eggs benedict and Nutella crepes just fine.

California Roll Salad for a Crowd

This is my first recipe post since I've returned to California. I credit this recipe to Charlotte who made it for church lunch in Boston one Sabbath. I tweaked her recipe by adding cucumber and pre-mixing the crab salad over chopped romaine hearts.

Imagine a typical inside-out California roll: imitation crab, cucumber, and avocado wrapped tightly in nori with a sushi rice exterior and rolled in bright orange tobiko. Now imagine taking out the nori and rice, and mix the rest of the ingredients with some mayo. Top it over a bed of light leafy lettuce greens and you've got yourself an impressive salad.

I'd definitely make it again for a potluck or church lunch. I like that it's a no-cook recipe, so the most time-consuming part of prep was the washing, drying, and chopping up the romaine hearts. The fake crab sticks are pre-cooked (much like hot dogs), so using a mandoline to slice the frozen sticks on a bias make for really pretty crab bits and it kept the salad cool for transport. The salad was even kid-friendlier than I imagined. I figure the no-raw fish aspect of the dish and the automatic Japanese-food-is-cool factor helped. Even more, I cut costs of the roe low by buying frozen masago (capelin roe @ $4.95 lb) rather than frozen tobiko(flying fish roe @ $9.00/lb) or "fresh" tobiko ($20.00/lb)

The results are:
delicious (probably because of the touch of MSG in Japanese mayo);
colorful (tobiko/masago sweat food coloring like nothing else);
crunchy (romaine + cucumber + tobiko); and
kosher (as far as I can tell if you use regular mayo - maybe we should ask a Rabbi).

Prepares one party tray of salad/20-25 people

• 5 romaine hearts (I used a Costco pack)
  
• 1 package of frozen imitation crab sticks (2 lbs - the package should confirm kosherness)
  
• 1 large cucumber
  
• 3 large avocados
  
• 1 package of frozen masago (capelin are in the smelt family and smelt have scales, so that's why I think it's probably kosher)
  
• 1 cup Japanese mayonnaise (use a kosher mayonnaise to be sure - the MSG might be pork-based)
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

1. Prepare the bottom layer of the salad by washing, drying, and chopping the romaine hearts.

2. Prep the "crab" from frozen. Unwrap each stick from its platic forming tube and slice the sticks on a bias using a mandoline or chop sticks into bite-sized chunks.

3. Prep the cucumber. Quarter the cucumber in long strips, then use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. Use a mandoline to slice each quarter into fine slices.

4. Prep the avocado. Half and pit the avocado. Score the flesh with a paring knife without piercing the skin. Use a spoon to harvest your diced avocado bits.

5. Combine the "crab," cucumber, avocado, masago, and mayo until all are uniformly distributed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Finish the salad by topping the greens with an even mix of the "crab" mix.

As with all salads using mayo, keep it chilled until serving time and don't let it sit out for too long.

Return to the Bay...

The first thing I ate upon my return flight to the Bay was a thermos of my mom's sinigang with some rice.

The next morning, I made sure that my first meal was a double meat, lettuce and tomato In-n-Out burger. P.S. Did you know you can ask for a free sticker with your meal? Awesome!


My first trip back into Napa to pick up my winter wine included a trip to Bouchon for some uber-buttery brioche.

The first thing I cooked/baked was my first attempt at no-knead bread. Delicious!


My first "new-to-me" place was Gyros House in Mountain View where I tried to keep up with friendly airan-chugging, pistol-shootin' Bulgarians. Another bit of awesomeness!

My first "impressive" meal was Nga and Thomas's Chinese-Vietnamese seafood wedding banquet. Of course I was too busy eating and enjoying company to take pictures =)
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My first California fix of Mexican was in Oakland at Taqueria El Farolito. The torta was hearty, but I learned that I'm not a fan of Mexican Coke.

Closing the Boston Chapter - Part 5: The Final Wish List

I've been sitting on this post for a while.

In my final months in Boston I made it to a lot of my favorite places and wish list spots.

Scups in the Harbor. This is a wish list spot that I didn't have time to visit. If I ever make it out to Logan Airport, I'm taking the airport shuttle or a cab to the harbor to make it to this too-good-to-be-true spot.

Sticky Sticky Bun from Flour. This Food Network Throw Down challenge winner is extremely rich and delicious. I really like the fact that it uses a minimum amount of cinnamon to let the brown sugar and butter flavors shine through. I will attempt to make it on my own someday...

Chacarero from Chacarero. The secret hot sauce! The bread! The steamed green beans! The mashed avocado! The salt! The pepper! The meat! Bright, clean flavors, freshness, and simplicity --- I shall miss it all.

Baked goods. Most notably I shall miss my walks down the block to Kupel's for fresh, eggy, sweet challah. I'll miss my half-priced after 5:00 loaves of bread from Sel de la Terre... the crusty french breads of Clear Flour Bakery... and lots of other carby gems.

Closing the Boston Chapter - Part 4: The H-Family Black Bottom Pie

My Boston co-worker Lisa always brought her black bottom pie at pot luck events. The pie has an Oreo crust with a gelatin whipped topping filling. I had the honor of being served my own pie during my going-away dinner with her family. My memories of eating this pie are so pleasant that I think it deserves its own blog post. The chocolate cookie wafer crust could win any chocolate snob over... and the simplicity of the whipped filling just melted with every mouthful. The recipe is a guarded treasure of her in-laws, so I'm probably going to spend a few hours of my lifetime trying to recreate it =)

Lisa and Brian also have a knack for finding tasty places to eat in E. Boston and Chelsea. Without their leads on good eats, I would never have enjoyed 303 Cafe, Angela's Cafe, Tijuana, Rino's Place, or Dough's (well, maybe Dough's). Their daughters are definitely going to have great appreciation for tasty restaurant bites.