Polly's GAZPACHO - Fresh cold tomato soup

With so many fresh vegetables from the garden in my kitchen, I wanted to try this Spanish GAZPACHO soup.  When I first encountered this recipe, I did not know that none of the vegetables are cooked.     Nor does it get heated up.    I was quite surprised with the fresh V8! you can make at home.
At the end, I actually end up with another personal tapas - Smeared GAZPACHO spread over a toasted Ciabatta slice.

 

Not sure where my GAZPACHO soup picture went,.... I think I ate it before I took the picture!

BBQ Short Ribs - No Grill

Surprisingly this no-grill BBQ Short Ribs are succulent and tasty that it added another dimension to my culinary adventure.
** Try not to use Teflon coated pan.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Eggplants - how we all love it.     Most of us love eating eggplants, but yet we try to avoid preparing it at home.     It's an oil hungry sponge!     Well, sort of.    It drink oil right into it before it is cooked.  And it wants more.    I think we all love to eat the Chinese EUSHANG-CHIEZE  I am not sure how you spell its pronunciation, but basically I think it is translated as Szechwan style fried eggplants?
   I learned a couple of ways to tackle it without using much oil - Microwave it (no oil needed) or roasting method.    For this salad, I roasted all the vegetables.     Peeled, cut, and tossed all together in a large bowl with lemon vinaigrette.

Polly's TAPAS - PAN CON TOMATE Y PARMA PROSCIUTTO

I learned all about this tiny "Dim Sum" like Spanish and Portuguese's TAPAS.    They are all the favorite snacks and  flavorful dishes on skewers and small plates.  It reminded me of South Viet-Nam a bit.  As you are seated in a cafe, a plateful of small pastries are served, etc....
So, I tried making tapas for myself with whatever I have in the refrigerator.     I have hard boiled eggs, home baked Ciabatta, home grown tomatoes, cucumbers, and I got hold of the Prosciutto di Parma from the Corti Brothers Market.    Thank goodness, I met a Italian woman at the deli section, and she was purchasing the prosciutto.    She told me Parma' prosciutto is better because it is less salty.    I purchased 1/4 lb of it.     Wow! $28.99/lb.    But only a slice is enough for my tapas.

I love the toasted Ciabatta bread slice deeply flavored with the fresh tomatoes.    The tomato juice permeated every bread crumbs and softened it for a great bite.   The saltiness from the prosciutto complemented the hard boiled egg sprinkles with Hungarian paprika.   Top it off with anything I can find in the refrigerator - Provolone cheese slice, tomato slice, fresh basil leaves (from my garden).      I enjoyed every bite of it.     I hope you will try making your own tapas - in place of that bag of chips?

RADISH-SUBIEN & Family Lunch

One of the family fun activity is definitely cooking together.    We were learning the SUBIEN - equivalent to French Puff Pastry in Chinese method.    The "YOE SUE" (like the butter block) is made with Olive Oil mixed with flour.    Then it is enclosed in the dough.  Rolled and filled and baked.
The filling is made with shredded Japanese DAIKON - white radish and some chopped green onions.    Thought it would taste bitter, but cutting out the liquid from the shredded DAIKON really worked out to be the technique to remember.    The flaky pastry made with olive oil covered with plenty of sesame seeds is just so much fun to bite into.    Make you really feel that this is a very special pastry, and psychologically make your taste buds look for the best.
And our lunch is just filled with all sorts of vegetable and meat dish - home style, and it was a great fun day.

 

 Bake for 20 minutes, and there they are!
Now it's time for our lunch.

Croissants My Way #2

My next testing with the croissants technique is learned from Chef Pino Ficara. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxCE963K-FY&noredirect=1     I noticed his dough mixing is very simple, yet the final croissants are with  "mille feuteuille".  I am quite impressed with the flattening of the dough and butter compared to the general 'butter block' method that I've seen, learned, and tested myself.  I love the repetitive pounding of the dough vs direct roll of the dough and butter, etc.   I was concerned with the gluten development of the mixed dough with his method.  To my surprise, the break and tearing was minimal during the rolling and stretching.  The stretching is quite important to the finishing croissant that most experienced pastry chef could finish with 9 layers.   I learned about this technique in Baking with Julia Child's cookbook and from Alice Water's Tartine Bakery cookbook recipe, and from Pino Ficara Cookshow.com as well.
I filled my croissant again with a dab of homemade almond paste, so I can eat it in a hurry without additional jam or jelly that I like.  My grandchildren love the ones without the filling.  Quite normal for the youngsters.
*The dough is bit softer than the other recipe due to less gluten development for less kneading required.

 

 Love the successful mille feuteuille de croissants - mission accomplished.