It’s National Guacamole Day, or at least for a few more hours it is. Having said that, there is no bad day to make guacamole. There are few things as easy, healthy, and delicious as this ubiquitous dip. However, unless you’re grinding your aromatic vegetation in a molcajete, or against a cutting board as seen here, you’re really not tasting a classic guacamole.
The flavors not only become more intense, but actually change in character. This is just what those bland, fatty, but delectable avocados need. That and a thoughtful seasoning of lime juice, and maybe some more salt.
I know we’ve already posted a guacamole video, but that was like 8 years ago, and probably before I knew how to make it properly. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 12 portions:
1/4 to 1/3 cup finely diced white onion
2 tablespoons minced serrano pepper (or more jalapeño)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, divided in half (half to grind, half to add later)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt for grinding vegetables, plus more to taste
I’ve wanted to show this “naked” cherry tomato technique for a while now, and after having something very similar at a Japanese restaurant recently, I decided the time was right. The tomatoes this time of year in Northern California are spectacularly sweet, and there is literally no better way to enjoy them, and that includes eaten raw.
You really don’t have any idea how tough a cherry tomato skin really is, until it’s not there anymore. With this we get that same sweet/tart explosion of juicy flavor, as the fruit pops in your mouth, but with no skin to distract us. We’re talking pure tomato pleasure.
I used sherry vinegar, since my tomatoes were like candy, but if yours are less stellar, you may want to go with a sweeter vinegar, like rice or balsamic. By the way, I usually go with basil for this, but the shiso they used at the restaurant worked so perfectly, that I decided to go with mint, which has a similar fragrance and sweetness.
I realize that peeling cherry tomatoes may seem tedious, or even ridiculous, and I’m sure there was a time when I felt the exactly same way; but then you try these, and it all makes complete sense. I really hope you give these naked cherry tomatoes a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 6 "Amuse Bouche" sized portions:
24 perfect cherry tomatoes (3 per portion, plus extra for “quality control”)
The best way to eat eggplant is fried, which I’ll hopefully prove to you one day with a video recipe. In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for the second best way, which is this eggplant escabeche. It’s cold, refreshing, vibrantly-flavored, and I’m guessing, very healthy.
This was inspired by a visit to a restaurant in San Francisco called Lolinda, where Chef Alejandro Morgan serves a simple, but incredibly delicious Argentinian-style eggplant escabeche. I won’t go so far as to say it came out as good, but the noises of pleasure Michele made while eating this were very similar.
If you didn’t get the #dotsnotslots reference, I explained how to tell a “male” from “female” eggplant in a old video, which involves looking for a dot shaped mark at the end, and not a slot shaped one. This indicates a “male,” which generally has less seeds.
By the way, “male” is in quotations because eggplants don’t actually have different genders, but apparently some are less pregnant than others. I’m certainly no expert when it comes to eggplant sex, but I’ll go with that until I hear otherwise. I really do hope you give this fabulous eggplant recipe a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 2 pints: 3/4 cup sliced roasted sweet and/or hot peppers 1 large eggplant, halved, cut in 1/4 slices 1 large zucchini, halved, cut in 1/4 slices tossed with 2 tablespoons kosher salt 1 cup white wine vinegar 2/3 cup water 1/2 cup olive oil 2 cloves finely crushed garlic 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley 1 tablespoon freshly chopped oregano 1/4 cup reserved vinegar cooking liquid kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 tablespoons vegetable oil .
I don’t make sushi at home very often, or ever, since we’re surrounded by top-notch sushi chefs here in San Francisco, but that doesn’t mean I don’t make sushi rice. I think sushi rice makes a perfect side dish for just about any grilled meat, and since it’s perfectly fine at room temperature, it’s great for picnics.
You can even turn it into some quick tortilla-less tacos using nori seaweed wraps, as seen in the video. They make for such a unique summer meal – the perfect delivery system for any and all leftovers. I even seen it rolled into balls, and tossed in toasted sesame seeds, or seaweed, and served like truffles.
What I’m trying to say is, you can do a lot with this stuff. Including sushi. There are thousands of videos on YouTube showing how to make literally every type of sushi in existence, so check those out if you’re so inclined. Maybe one of these days I’ll even give it a go, if only for the “constructive criticism.”I really hope you give this sushi rice technique a try soon.Enjoy!
2 cups sushi rice, rinsed well, and left to dry for one hour
2 1/4 cups water
1/4 to 1/3 cup seasoned *rice vinegar, or to taste
* I buy mine already seasoned, but to make your own seasoned rice vinegar; combine:
There are many of foods I’ll stand in line for, and/or pay too much for, but Hawaiian-style tuna poke isn’t one of them. I can’t make a world-class croissant at home. I can make a decent one, but not a perfect one, so I’ll happily queue up at a boulangerie that does.
However, when it comes to poke, the technique is so basic that even the most inexperienced cooks can get something pretty much identical to what they’d get out. There’s one catch though. You have to use only the freshest possible tuna, even if that means it’s frozen.
Hopefully you’ll be able to get a hold of some fresh, sushi-grade tuna, but if you can’t, frozen will work. What many people don’t realize, is that most of the fish they enjoy at their favorite sushi restaurants has actually been frozen beforehand anyway. Google it, it’s true.
So, as long as the tuna is Grade A, or sushi grade, the frozen variety will work. Above and beyond that, all the other ingredients, except for the soy sauce, are optional. So, please use this video as merely a guide to the technique, understanding that this will work with so many different ingredients. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Makes 4 portions Tuna Poke:
1 pound sushi-grade ahi tuna (aka yellowfin), cut into about 3/4-inch cubes
