Suzanne stumbled across this recipe a couple weeks ago and emailed it to me with the subject “Make me yummy food.” I never say no to requests like that. After looking at the recipe, it became even more compelling. A Graham Elliot recipe. Beef Stroganoff. Elaborate and involved. It sounded like fun. The original recipe is here.

I’ve always like beef stroganoff, even as a kid. Growing up, my mom would make “beef stroganoff”. I quote it for a reason: take some ground beef, brown it, throw in a can of cream of mushroom soup and some sour cream, add season with salt & pepper. Mix & serve over egg noodles. This was altogether a different dish.

So here’s the recipe, with my comments and/or changes in italic.

Shallot marmalade

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 shallots, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rings
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sherry vinegar

I didn’t have enough shallots on hand, so I used 7 shallots and a large white onion.

In a medium, deep sauté pan over moderate heat, melt the butter. Add the shallot rings and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes.

Add the sugar and vinegar and continue cooking until amber in color and thickened to the consistency of molasses, about 20 minutes. DO AHEAD: The shallots can be made in advance and refrigerated, in an airtight container, up to 3 days.

I was tempted to just eat this up. It’s onion candy. Wow.

Peppered spaetzle

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and keep at a bare simmer. Fill a large bowl with very cold ice water.
In a second large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and pepper.

In a blender, combine the eggs, sour cream, and 1 cup water. Purée until smooth then add to the flour mixture and stir to combine (the consistency should be a little thicker than pancake batter, so adjust with more flour or more water as needed).

Working over barely simmering water, force half the batter through a spaetzlemaker, food mill, or colander. Let the spaetzle float to the surface—this will take about 1 minute—wait 30 seconds, then use a mesh skimmer or slotted spoon and transfer the spaetzle to the bowl of ice water. Once cool, transfer the spaetzle to a colander to drain. Repeat with the remaining batter. DO AHEAD: Spaetzle can be made in advance and refrigerated, in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

This seemed to have worked well enough, but I had the batter too thin and they didn’t fry nicely and ended up a bit mushy.

Peppered crème fraîche

1/2 cup crème fraîche
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, stir together the crème fraîche and pepper. The crème fraîche should have an intense pepper note, so add more pepper to taste if necessary. DO AHEAD: The crème fraîche can be made in advance and refrigerated, in an airtight container, up to 1 day.

The beef
4 (1-inch thick) beef tenderloin steaks (about 2 pounds total)
3 tablespoons olive oil

I diverged somewhat here. Keeping an eye on the budget, I opted for a nice grass fed stew beef instead of tenderloin. I’ll reserve tenderloin for a nice steak sometime. I dried the beef and cut it down into smaller pieces. I then browned it in a large dutch oven before adding the broth and some red wine. I dropped the temperature to a simmer and let the beef braise for a couple hours, until it fell apart when stabbed with a fork. Then I drained it and reserved 1/2 cup of the braising liquid for the mushroom puree (below).

Season the steaks with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat, heat the olive oil until hot but not smoking. Cook the steaks to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board as done and tent with foil. Let rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

Mushroom purée

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups (about 12 ounces) black trumpet, portobello, or cremini mushrooms, thoroughly cleaned and roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed and chopped
6 tablespoons sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
1/2 cup beef stock
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons truffle oil (optional)

I used a mix of crimini and fresh shitake.

In a large sauté pan over moderately high heat, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add 1/2 the mushrooms and sauté until golden brown, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 the garlic, shallots, and thyme and continue sautéing until the shallots are tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of vinegar and continue cooking until the vinegar is almost completely evaporated, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, shallots, thyme, and vinegar. Once all the mushrooms are sautéed, reserve about 1/2 cup.

Transfer the remaining mushrooms to a blender, add the beef stock, and purée until smooth. With the blender on, slowly add the grapeseed oil and truffle oil, if using, and continue processing until the sauce is smooth, aerated, and emulsified, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and a splash of vinegar if necessary.

In my opinion, the additional vinegar here is not required. The final dish had a very nice tartness.

To serve

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup fresh dill, minced

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the mushroom purée. When warm, transfer to a gravy boat or other serving dish.

In a large sauté pan over moderately high heat, melt the butter. Add 1/2 of the spaetzle and sauté without stirring until golden brown on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining spaetzle, the reserved 1/2 cup of mushrooms, and the shallot marmalade and sauté until warmed through, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a serving dish.

Thinly slice the steaks and arrange the meat on a small platter. Dollop the crème fraîche over the meat and sprinkle with the dill. Serve immediately.

Since it was just us and there’d be loads of leftovers, we simply layered everything (spaetzle, meat, puree, and crème fraîche) on one platter.

Once spooned out onto a plate and ready to eat, everything mixed nicely together.

The result was just amazing. We had to explicitly stop eating and pack up leftovers or we might have eaten it all.. it was that good.

I had some mushrooms and onion left over from making quesadillas yesterday and I was on dinner duty tonight. I figured a risotto would be good. I love making risotto. We had picked up some dried porcini mushrooms for yesterday, more than we needed, so I used some of those as well.

Here’s the recipe I used (from Risotto).

Wild Mushroom Risotto

• 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock (use the mushroom soaking water for part of this)
• about 1 pound of fresh mushrooms, cleaned, dried, and chopped chunky
• 4 tsbp olive oil
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 oz butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• generous 1 5/8 cups of arborrio rice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• salt & pepper to taste

Soak the dried mushrooms. Drain and dry. Heat 3 tbsp of oil. Saute the fresh mushrooms until lightly browned. Add garlic and soaked mushrooms. Cook for a couple minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer to a plate.

Continue on as a regular risotto.

When the risotto is nearing completion, add the mushrooms. Season with salt & pepper. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Sprinkle with the parlsey and serve.

Suzanne found a nice looking recipe a while ago on Epicurious: Pan Stew of Scallops, Peas, and Pearl Onions. I thought it looked good so I gathered ingrediants and made it one night our friend Derrick was over.

Give it a try if you like the look of it. It’s tasty.

I made some ravioli tonight for dinner: ricotta thyme filling with roasted heirloom tomato sauce. Everything made from scratch: the pasta, the filling, the sauce, and the ricotta in the filling.

Suzanne and I went to a ricotta making workshop recently and learned to make our own ricotta from scratch. Mix that with a bunch of fresh thyme, some lemon juice and olive oil. The pasta was a basic egg pasta: flour, egg yolks, olive oil, and some water. For the sauce, I took a few fresh, ripe hierloom tomatoes, cored them, rubbed them with olive oil and roasted under a 400 F broiler until they were soft, browned, and bubbling. Then I heated some olive oil, sauteed some minced garlic until it was soft but not browned. Next I broke up the tomatoes and add them to the garlic and let it simmer and reduce.

We recently had some folks over for dinner and Suzanne made a Thai meal. She’s been bragging about he ability to cook authentic Thai food, so this was her chance to back it up.

And back it up, she did! In style. Seven dishes and two sauces. We fed six people and had plenty of leftovers. Maybe the most amazing thing was that the entire meal required a shopping trip to a single Thai market that rang in at just under $90.

I helped out some, but not much. I did, however, make the Miang Yuan. I’ve been making them for years, and when I suggested we have them on the menu, it was suggested that if I wanted them, I could make them. Not a problem.

Here are the dishes.

Miang Yuan (Fresh Spring Rolls)

• about a pound of shrimp
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 3 oz rice vermicelli
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 9 tender lettuce leaves (such as Boston), cut lengthwise in half, washed, dried, wrapped, and chilled to crisp
• 1 cup mung bean sprouts
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves
• 18 round rice paper wrappers, each about 8 inches in dia.
• Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

Clean and/or cook the shrimp as required.

Soak the rice vermicelli until soft and drain.

To assemble the rolls, set out the ingredients on a counter in the above order. Fill a bowl with hot water. Dip a wrapper in the water until it’s soft and spread it out on a flat surface. I found that using a small cutting board worked well, then you can simply slide it along the counter from ingredient to ingredient.

Place a few shrimp in the middle of the wrapper, slightly on your side. 3 if they’re medium or more if they’re small. Place Cilantro on the shrimp, arranging it pretty if you care to. Add some noodles and carrot. Cover with a piece of lettuce and top with sprouts and mint.

Fold the edge of the wrapper nearest you over the filling. Tuck each side over the ends of the filling, and continue rolling to make a roll.

Pile them up, keeping them from touching too much. I put a piece of plastic wrap between each layer. Cover to keep from drying if you’re not serving them immediately.

Look Chin Gai (Chicken Balls)

• 1 pound boned, skinned chicken
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 2 quarts water

Grind all ingredients except the 2 quarts of water (duh) until a smooth puree is formed.

Bring the 2 quarts to a boil. Form 1-1.5 tbsp balls out of the chicken stuff. Drop them into the boiling water and cook until they rise to the surface and are firm. Remove and drain thoroughly on a rack.

Brush the balls with oil and grill or broil until browned. Put them on skewers if you like.

Serve the above dishes with one or both of the following sauces.

Nam Jim Gratiem (Garlic Sauce)

Makes 3/4 cup

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground chili paste
• 2 tsp (about 4 cloves) finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a stainless-steel or enamel saucepan and bowl slowly until the mixture is reduced buy about a half. Ideally you want it to have a consistency slightly thinner than heavy cream.

Can be stored for up to two months in a closed jar in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Nuoc Cham (Chili Dipping Sauce, Vietnamese style)

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

• 2 tbsp coarsely chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh red cili
• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp finely chopped, unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
• 2 tbsp finely shredded or grated carrot

In a food processor or bender combine the garlic, chili, fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, lime juice and water. Blend well.

Can be stored for up to two months in a closed jar in the refrigerator. Serve at room temperature, adding the peanut and carrot just before.

Yum Wun Sen (Transparent Noodle Salad)

Serves 4-6.

• 1/4 bean thread noodles
• warm water
• 2 cups of napa cabbage (once shredded)
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 green onions (white and green parts)
• 2 serrano chilis or 1 tsp ground, roasted chili paste)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp (2 cloves) finely chopped garlic
• 1/4 lb ground pork or ground chicken
• 1/4 lb peeled, deveined raw shrimp
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• Green lettuce leaves
• 12 cup coriander sprigs

Soak the noodles for twenty minutes in warm water to cover. Drain well, cut into two-inch lengths and set them aside in a colander to continue draining.

Slice the cabbage into paper thin shreds. Finely shred the carrot. Thinly slice the celery and green onions diagonally. If using the serrano chilies, slice them into thin, lengthwise strips. Set the vegetables aside in one bowl, and mix in the chilies.

Heat a wok, add oil, and coat the pan. Add garlic and stir-fry until lightly golden. Add pork or chicken and stir-fry until the pink color has completely disappeared. Add shrimp. Add the noodles and toss gently until mixed.

Put the meat/noodle mixture into a mixing bowl and add the raw vegetables, fish sauce, and lime juice. Mix thoroughly and allow to cool to room temperature.

Put a single layer of lettuce leaves on a serving platter and arrange the salad over them. Garnish with coriander sprigs.

Kwaytiow Paht (Stir Fried Rice Noodles)

Serves 4-6.

• 1 large package of fresh, wide rice noodles (or the corresponding amount of dry rice noodles)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups sliced shallots
• 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh red or green hot chilies
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp palm sugar
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves
• fresh thai basil and/or mint to garnish

Prepare noodles as directed. Drain and set aside.

Heat a wok, add oil and swirl. When the oil is hot but not yet smoking, add shallots and stir-fry for a minute. Add garlic and chili and fry for another 30 seconds.Stir in the fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and pepper to taste. Stir until the mixture thickens, about five minutes.

Add the drained noodles and gently stir-fry until tender yet still firm to the bite, about a minute, adding a little more oil if the noodles stick. Add basil and mint and gently toss until the leaves wilt.. Remove from heat.

Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the herb leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Gai Pad nam Prig Pao (Chicken in Roasted Curry Sauce)

Serves 4-6.

• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup roasted red curry (see below)
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 6 green onions, white part only
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp (2 cloves) finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup whole, unsalted, roasted peanuts

Mix fish sauce, sugar, water, and roasted red curry in a small bowl and set aside. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and set aside. Slice the green onions diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces.

Heat a wok, add the oil, and swirl. Add garlic and stir-fry until light golden. Add chicken and str-fry until the pink color is completely gone. Add the liquid from the first step and stir until it boils.

Add peanuts and green onions, stirring until the onions are crisp-tender and the peanuts are heated through.

Serve warm, with rice.

Nam Prig Pao (Roasted Red Curry)

Use hotter chilies if you want a spicier curry.

Makes 3 cups.

• 3 oz wet tamarind (or 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate + 1/4 cup warm water)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/4 lb dried New Mexico or California chilies
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped garlic
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 1/4 cups dried shrimp
• 1/4 cup shrimp paste

Skip this step if you’re using tamarind concentrate. Soak the wet tamarind in 3/4 cup warm water for 15 minutes or until it is soft. Press it through a sieve, making sure to press through all the pulp you can. Scrape the outside of the sieve carefully to get all the pulp, and discard the residue inside the sieve.

Place the tamarind and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Remove the stems and seeds from the chilies, and tear into pieces once inch square or smaller. Heat a wok, add 1/2 cup of oil, and swirl. Stir-fry the chilies over moderate heat until they are a deep red and lightly fragrant, being careful not to let them burn. Remove the chilies, but not the oil. Set them aside in a bowl.

Add two tbsp more oil to the wok and stir-fry the garlic until it is lightly golden. Remove the garlic, but not the oil, and add it to the chilies.

Add two tbsp more oil to the wok and stir-fry the onion until it is light golden. Remove the onion, but not the oil, and add it to the garlic and chilies.

Add 1/4 cup more oil to the wok. Add the dried shrimp and cook for about a minute. Add the shrimp paste and stir-fry until the color has become uniform and the strong oder has subsided. Remove the mixture, including the oil and add it to the previously fried ingredients. Allow them to cool to room temperature.

Place the fried mixture and the oil in a food processor or blender and grind it to a smooth paste. If it seems dry or crumbly, add more oil to form a smooth, thick paste.

Add the cooked tamarind mixture to the ground chili mixture and stir to combine well.

Store the curry in a closed jar in the refrigerator for up to six months.

Mussaman Nue (Beef Mussman)

Serves 8-10.

• 2 oz wet tamarind or 1/4 cup tamarind concentrate
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 lb flank steak
• 1 cup whole roasted unsalted peanuts
• 3 cups thin coconut milk
• 1 large potato
• 2 cups thick coconut milk
• 1 recipe of Musman Curry (see below)
• 12 cardamon seeds
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp sugar

Skip this step if you’re using tamarind concentrate. Soak the wet tamarind in 3/4 cup warm water for 15 minutes or until it is soft. Press it through a sieve, making sure to press through all the pulp you can. Scrape the outside of the sieve carefully to get all the pulp, and discard the residue inside the sieve.

Cut the beef into 1/3-inch cubes. Place beef, peanuts, and thin coconut milk in a large covered saucepan and boil gently over medium heat for 30 minutes.

Peel the potato and cut it into 1/3-inch cubes. Add it to the saucepan, stir, and cook the mixture, covered, for 15 minutes more. Remove the mixture from the heat and set aside.

Bring the thick coconut milk to a boil in a saucepan and remove it from the heat.

Heat a wok and add 1/4 cup of the thick coconut milk and the Musman Curry. Stir the mixture over moderate heat until it is thick and pale tan. Add the cardamom seeds. Add the rest of the thick coconut milk, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring it over high heat until the sauce becomes slightly thick after each addition.

Add the mixture from the above step to the beef mixture, and bring it to a boil. Add the fish sauce, sugar, and tamarind solution/concentrate. (If you used concentrate, add 1/2 cup warm water and stir to mix well).

Serve with rice.

Nam Prig Gang Mussaman (Musman Curry)

Makes 1/2 cup.

• 7 small dried red chilies
• 2 pieces kah
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin or fennel seeds
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1 stalk lemon grass, bottom 6 inches only
• 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

Remove the stems and seeds from the chilies. Soak the chilies and kah in the warm water for 20 minutes. After soaking, drain and discard the soaking water.

Place the coriander seeds, cumin (or fennel) seeds, and the coves in a dry skillet and roast them over moderate heat until the cumin seeds have darkened, the cloves have turned a green-grey color, and the mixture is very fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Chop the chilies, kah, and lemon grass finely. Combine with the remaining ingredients and pound or grind to a smooth paste with a mortar or blender. (If you’re using a blender you may need to add water to aid in grinding.)

Can be stored in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Taco Saku (Coconut Rice Pudding)

Makes 16 pieces.

• 1/2 cup long-grain rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup small tapioca pearls
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 cups thick coconut milk

Soak the rice in the 2 cups water overnight

Bring 1 1/2 water to a boil. Put the tapioca pearls in a sieve and rinse them quickly under running water. Add them to the boiling water and stir until they become translucent. Add the 1/4 cup+ sugar and stir until it dissolves.

Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it into small custard cups or an 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking pan.

Wash the soaked rice in 2 or 3 changes of water until the water runs clear, and drain it well. Grind the uncooked rice with the salt, sugar, and 1 cup of the coconut milk until it is pureed.

Put the ground rice mixture into a pan with the remaining coconut milk. Cook over medium heat until it thickens slightly. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 to 15 minutes more, until it is very thick but still pourable. If the mixture begins to dry out or gets too thick to pour, add more coconut milk as needed.

Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture evenly over the layer of tapioca pudding.

Serve at room temperature.

In an earlier post about my visit to Avec, I said I was going to try to replicate the Chorizo stuffed dates at home. Well, I did the following weekend. I picked up chorizo, dried medjool dates, and applewood smoked bacon at WholeFoods. The piquillo peppers proved more difficult. I live in a largely Latino area of San Francisco so Mexican chilies are easy to find. Spanish chilies, not so much. I ended up substituting canned chipotle chilies in adobo.

Ingrediants:

• Dried medjool dates
• Chorizo
• Smoked bacon
• Tomatoes, finely chopped
• Onion, finely chopped
• Chipotle chilies in adobo, to taste, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 320F.
2. Split the dates end to end along one side. Fill with chorizo and close the date. Wrap in a slice of bacon. Place on a baking sheet with the end of the bacon on the bottom. Repeat for all the dates. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
3. While the dates bake, saute the onion until softened. Add the chili and tomato. Saute until everything is well softened. Blend into a smooth sauce. Keep warm.
4. When the dates are finished baking, place the sauce in a baking dish. Sit the dates in the sauce and serve.

We’ve been cooking up a storm lately!

Inspired by one of the challenges from last season’s Hell’s Kitchen, I made a savory & sweet crepe for Saturday brunch. This was a bit of work since the two batters are a bit different. We ended up doing brunch in two stages, with some idle time while I made the sweet crepes. It made for a leisurely, decadent brunch.

We started with a take on bacon and eggs.

1. Fry bacon, taking it out of the pan and setting it aside. Later, when it cools, crumble it.
2. Scramble eggs in the still hot bacon grease, along with some finely chopped onions and sweet peppers.
3. Once that’s done, take it off the heat and stir in a dollop of creme fraiche, some grated aged gouda, and the crumbled bacon. Season as desired.
4. Use this mixture to fill a couple of fresh savory crepes.

Next up was a sweet berry crepe. There were some fresh, local strawberries and blueberries in our produce delivery last week. That’s always great with a sweet crepe.

1. Make sweet crepes. Let them cool before using.
2. Melt a bit of butter in a saucier. Add sliced fresh strawberries and whole blueberries, reserving a few of each for garnish. Simmer until they are sofftened. Add a touch of vanilla extract (I used homemade extract made with a nice brandy) and some Grand Marnier. Simmer briefly, the stir in a few tablespoons of heavy cream or creme fraiche.
3. Get the cooled crepes. Fill each with mascarpone (I usually pipe in the filling). Spoon the hot berry sauce over top the crepes. Top with a large dollop of creme fraiche and the reserved berries.

Suzanne has been looking for an excuse to use the mandoline. It came in to form of a handful of sweet potatoes from our produce delivery.

Wash them well, cut in two across (to give a circular cross section) and slice them really thin (I.e. less than 1/16″ thick). Then deep fry them and sprinkle with salt … Yum!

I first tried making this meal after consulting with Chef Billy Krupp at Google a couple years ago. I wanted to do a seared tuna steak and was casting about for ideas of sides. Rice or potatoes, a vegetable, that sort of thing. Chef Krupp made the suggestion of doing wasabi mashers. He also suggested asparagus with red thai chili peppers (which I did at the time, but it was asparagus season then).

When I made it this time I used swiss chard as the side, as we had some from our produce delivery.

Chard

• Wash, trim, and chop into thin ribbons (the stems into small chunks).
• Quickly sauté until just tender
• season with sesame oil

Tuna

• Coat the steaks in sesame seeds: white, black, or a mix.
• Quickly sear each side in a bit of oil in a hot pan. A cast iron (plain or enameled) pan works great for this.
• Be careful not to overcook, it should still be pink/raw in the middle.

Potatoes

• Make mashed potatoes.
• Mix in wasabi paste. If you’re mixed the paste from powder, you probably want to make more than you think you might need. It takes quite a bit to give these a nice kick.

That’s all there is to it. And here it is plated and ready to eat.

Suzanne’s been in a smoothie making mood. Maybe because I’ve been buying mangos & bananas.

The latest was especially tasty, and deserving of mention. Mostly it was like the past incarnations: yogurt, banana, mango, ice. Blend until smooth. But today, instead of the usual dollop of honey, she tossed in some dried dates. Not only did it taste good, but it looked great, with flecks of dark brown date giving it a very nice visual texture.