Michael Mina at Kapalua Wine & Food Festival

I am just back from the 34th annual Kapalua Wine & Food Festival which is the longest running food and wine festival of its kind not just in Maui, but in the country.  

It started out as a wine only event but morphed over the years. Today food is a big part of it with celebrity chefs, classes and tasting events. I got a chance to attend a lunch cooking demo class with Chef and restaurateur Michael Mina and was pleased to see RN74 Executive Chef Adam Sobel acting as right hand man. 

Michael Mina and Adam Sobel 

Here are some learnings from the event--

- Mina said the biggest mistake home cooks make is not tasting or not knowing what you’re tasting for. Following a recipe is not enough, you must taste. Ingredients are not consistent, they are different all the time and you need to adjust your recipes. 

- The four elements he considers most important? Acidity, spice, sweetness and richness, but not all dishes have all four. 

- When plating he said, put the pot down! You are going for control. If the pot is on the counter you will have more control of the spoon in your hand. 

Chilled Thai spicy lime vinaigrette with purple basil

- When it comes to cooking squid, he recommends that you cut squid then poach it for more tenderness than poaching whole. 

- When making a vinaigrette, he lets it sit for a day before using, so the flavors meld better. 

Tomato and cocoa powder dusted seared ahi with fried cauliflower, uni aioli and calabrian chiles.

- This dish had caponata an Italian vegetable dish that Mina said goes with everything--fish, chicken, seafood, etc. 

- When crusting fish or chicken, be sure to season on all sides before crusting, and season the crusting too.

Brioche banana custard brûlée

- For the French toast style dessert, the brioche was soaked a minimum of 30 minutes to an hour to allow the custard to fully hydrate the bread, then cooked in plenty of butter.

- Toasted flavors of caramel, nuts and brûlée banana complement the richness of the custard.

Thanks for the tips chef! 

Disclaimer: My thanks to the Outrigger Kapalua for hosting me at this wonderful event. I was not compensated monetarily for this or any other post on Cooking with Amy. 

Cauliflower with Chorizo, Tomatoes and Tahini Sauce Recipe

I love how sometimes seemingly random ingredients come together. This dish of roasted cauliflower and chorizo with fresh tomatoes and greens and tahini sauce was created based on what I had on hand. But it was really tasty and something I would make again.

A lot of times when I interview chefs and cookbook authors, I ask how they come up with recipes. I have to admit, I don't usually get very satisfying answers. But recently I met cookbook author Anna Jones. Her book, A Modern Way to Eat has a really cool graphic to explain how she puts together dishes. It goes something like this:

Hero Ingredient
+
How Shall I Cook it?
+
Supporting Role?
+
Add an Accent
+
Add a Flavor
+
Add an Herb
+
Add some Crunch
+
Season and Finish

Her formula has a lot of components and is designed to add layers of flavor and texture to a dish. Do you have a formula that you use or can you deconstruct a dish according to elements? It's a fun exercise and can lead to some interesting new combinations. My formula for this dish was was hero ingredient+salty+green+acid+creamy.

Cauliflower with Chorizo, Tomatoes and Tahini Sauce
Serves 2 - 4

Ingredients

1 Mexican chorizo sausage, about 1/3 cup sausage meat
3 cups cauliflower florets, any color you like (I used golden)
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Greens (I used spinach but you could use anything you like)

Tahini sauce
2 Tablespoons tahini
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch granulated garlic
Water
Salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large skillet crumble the chorizo and cook until beginning to brown. Add the cauliflower and the olive oil and continue to cook until the meat is thoroughly cooked.

Transfer the cauliflower and chorizo to a lined baking pan and sprinkle with salt. Roast until cauliflower begins to turn brown, about 40 minutes. Arrange the cauliflower and chorizo on a platter with the tomatoes and as much greens as you like.

Make the tahini sauce by stirring together the tahini, lemon juice and granulated garlic. Stir in enough water to make a thick creamy sauce, about 2 tablespoons. Season with salt and drizzle the sauce over the salad.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This post includes an affiliate link. I was not paid to write this or any other post on Cooking with Amy

Unforgettable: Bold Flavors from a Renegade Life

I'm a big fan of Paula Wolfert. She has an amazing talent for a kind of culinary cultural anthropology, exploring various cuisines, digging in deep, learning and documenting recipes like nobody's business. I have relished my time with her, especially at her home in Sonoma and subsequently in a class. I love hearing her stories, getting her career advice, not to mention having her cook for me. So I couldn't be more excited to learn of the plan to document her extraordinary life, along with some of her most important recipes. Leading the charge is former Food & Wine editor and cookbook author, Emily Thelin. The top team also includes photographer Eric Wolfinger and my friend, Andrea Nguyen who is acting as project manager.

I was planning to run this interview with Andrea in hopes of encouraging you to support the project and help it to meet its goal. Fortunately the initial goal has been reached. Now it's time to s-t-r-e-t-c-h and make this project even more special by lending your support to help reach the next milestone. Visit the kickstarter page to learn more. 

1. How did this project come about?

Andrea Nguyen: Last year, my friend Emily Thelin (formerly of Food & Wine) told me she wanted to write Paula’s biographical cookbook, and that Eric Wolfinger had offered to be the photographer. Eric had also suggested that they publish it themselves as an experimental project, true to Paula's renegade spirit. Emily told me she saw parallels between Paula's and my immersive approaches to our books. Given my experience writing and publishing four cookbooks, she asked if I would help.


2. Who is publishing the book? 

AN: We’re self-publishing Unforgettable. 



3. Why did you decide to go the kickstarter route?

AN:Crowdfunding this project allows us to do meaningful, small-batch cookbook publishing. It has its challenges but it hasn't been as hard as we thought. We're lucky to be pros in our respective areas and plucky enough to get this going. Knowing people like you is invaluable.


4. What is the process for the book? Are you cooking all the recipes with Paula? 


AN: Incredibly, we’ve met our minimum funding goal. If we’re lucky to reach our stretch goal of $80,000 we’ll be able to double the print run and comfortably cover costs. From now until July 11 when the campaign ends, it’s full tilt boogie to garner community backing for Unforgettable.

Paula wrote nine cookbooks and as you can imagine, can come up with a recipe off the top of her head. A group of folks familiar with Paula’s work will work through roughly 100 select recipes to find ones that are most suitable for the book. Vivid, doable, compelling recipes that speak to Paula’s life journey are what we’re aiming for.

Once we’ve got our short list, we’ll cook through many of them with Paula at her home. Those sessions will enable us to convey the connection between food and memory, the savors of life.

Right now, with the campaign just having been launched, we’re focused on making it super successful. With everybody’s support, we’ll cross the finish line with the ability to make a stellar publication.


5. Paula has greatly changed her own personal diet since her diagnosis, how many recipes will reflect this? 

AN: Many of them will but not all of them. It’s hard to pin point a number because making a book is a fluid process. We do want to incorporate recipes, ideas and techniques that speak to Paula’s current lifestyle. She has ironically been ahead of the curve for most of her life. This time, she has a few companions with her.

Thanks Andrea!

Now please do watch the video above if you haven't already, and head to the kickstarter page to support this project (yes, there are thank you gifts!)

Interview with Hugh Acheson

Chef Hugh Acheson | Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee

Chef Hugh Acheson released his third book, The Broad Fork: Recipes for the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruits, last month, which I reviewed in a round up of Southern cookbooks recently. It's an exciting cookbook with truly creative combination of ingredients and a focus on using vegetables you might just find at a farmers market or in a CSA box. We got a chance to meet and talk while he was in San Francisco just last week. 

Where have you been eating in the Bay Area? Any standouts?

Octavia, La Taqueria, Deli Board. For coffee--Sightglass, Blue Bottle and Coffee Cultures. Up in Healdsburg--Healdsburg Shed, Scopa, Dry Creek Kitchen. Hana for sushi in Rohnert Park was phenomenal. I'm looking forward to checking out Souvla today. 

What kinds of restaurants appeal to you the most? 

I’m always looking for current and contemporary and "ethnic" food. When I travel it’s usually long days, so I don't want a three hour, 12 course meal, I find them exhausting, I don’t eat much, I like to try a lot of things.  I like a place with good wine, with good burgundy.

Your culinary influences are so diverse—French, Southern, Japanese, Indian, Mediterranean—what is your process for creating a dish? 

I’m trying to pick up on nuances of flavor. It’s important that recipes are grounded in culinary logic. I try to make sure I’m putting together a puzzle that works, and in the case of  The Broad Fork, respecting the actual vegetable. I don’t like overwrought food—I prefer food to be light on the palate. I just want people to cook more. 

We went through a period 20 years ago of using ingredients and coming up with dishes like wasabi mashed potatoes. It showed a shallow knowledge of cultures. Now we’re cooking a lot more from scratch. Our understanding is much more relevant as ingredients are more accessable. Umami type flavors are more prevalent than ever before. Most of the recipes in the book are not complicated, I’m not having you stuff a chicken and age it in a tree for three months.  

For years the press has talked about “vegetables moving to the center of the plate.” It’s starting to happen in some San Francisco non-vegetarian restaurants. Will it happen with home cooking, in restaurants? At any of your restaurants?

We are moving towards it, protein prices have become exceptionally difficult and it’s hard to have quality and not charge $45 a plate. I don’t eat 6 ounces of protein anymore, 3-4 ounces is plenty. 

What role does pickling and preserving play in your cooking?

The Southern larder is all about pickling and preserving, as we get to the bottom of it and nerd out on it you can see the world’s pantry revolves around those things too. We’re nerds, we are learning whole new genres and saving the season's bounty. 

What are some good recipes for home cooks who are just getting started with pickling and preserving?

Americans get scared by fermentation but they eat and drink fermented food all the time. The fears are real, but there are smart common sense rules. I’d recommend making vinegar, but not just adding tarragon to white vinegar and hoping for the best. Or make sauerkraut. Or carrots with ginger or pickled peppers. Kimchi. Making these things is like science projects for my kids. 

You are one of the only chefs I know to advocate the use of a slow cooker and pressure cooker. How do you recommend using them?

You can make chicken stock in both! I think the slow cooker is just an evenly tempered cooker. You can slow cook lamb shanks over 8 hours.

Pressure cookers may not be the chefs favorite things, but they are used everyday in Asia and Mexico—anywhere with legume rich cuisine. Both are excellent at tenderizing. You can make corned beef in 55 minutes, of course that’s after brining for a week. The best beans ever are cooked in the pressure cooker. Once you get used ot it you can control it. They are pretty versatile machines. 

What’s next for you? More restaurants, cookbooks, TV? 

Not another book! My full time job is running 4 restaurants. We're opening a coffee shop, we’re very into coffee at the restaurant.

I do a lot of public speaking. I have a charitable organization. We are creating a family consumer science program for grades 6-8 to give kids life skills--so they can make a vinaigrette, roast a chicken, poach an egg. So they don’t run into the dilemma of how to feed a family of 4 on 8 dollars. We have a school district that is going to put it into place. 

I’m also working on a healthy fast food concept. It’s called Broad Fork and we’re trying to form the right alliances. Think large plates, based on the Southern meat and 3 formula.  You will make your own plate with protein and lots of salad elements. A cafetaria model kind of like Chipotle.

Is healthy fast food the wave of the future? 
In San Francisco you're going to have Locol—I think Patterson and Choi are on to something. Beefsteak in DC. There’s a big market for changes and disruptive markets. When we say fast food and fast casual, it’s how America eats.

Wine of Alsace: Wine on Friday

Orschwihr--Copyright ZVARDON-ConseilVinsAlsace

Many years ago I explored the little villages and towns on the famous “route du vin" in the Alsace. I was charmed by the rolling landscape of vineyards, dotted with medieval towns with cobblestone streets, castles and half-timbered houses with colorful flowering window boxes. And I was excited to see magnificent white storks nesting on rooftops.

The food in the Alsace is outstanding, two typical dishes are choucroute with sausages and sauerkraut and potatoes and flammekueche, a wood fired tart with creamy onion topping and lardons, that is like a French version of pizza. I would eat one right now if I could! 

Some postcards from the Alsace

The region has a German influence and shares many of the same wine varietals, but there are clear differences. While German wines tend to be lower in alcohol and sweeter, the French wines of this region are often floral, fruity, dry and richer with just a bit more alcohol, little or no oak and well priced. Needless to say, the wines of the Alsace are well worth getting to know. They have a clean and concentrated characteristic along with terrific acidity that makes them the perfect pairing for the food of the region and far beyond. Perhaps 20% of the wineries are organic or biodynamic, although as is typical in France, this isn’t something you’re likely to find on a label. Many of the best known wineries have been around for hundreds of years. 

Recently I had a number of Alsatian wines at a dinner with Moroccan inspired food. The range of wines showed how they could cool warm spicy chiles, yet stand up to the richness of a creamy eggplant dip. The wines of the Alsace are labeled by the varietal and only a small percentage are ever blended. The Alsace is dominated by white wines, here are the major varietals to know: 

Gewurtzraminer—aromatic with fruit, flowers and spice. It’s richer and less sweet than the German ones, but the fruitiness can make you think it’s sweeter than it is. 

Pinot Gris—the Alsace is just north of Burgundy, and Pinot Gris is in some ways like the white wines of that region. It’s bold and concentrated and often has smoky aromas with spice and fruit such as ginger or peach as well as earthy notes. Whatever you do, don’t compare it to Pinot Grigio, it’s a much weightier wine.

Riesling—dry and fruity, this varietal in the Alsace has fantastic minerality and a bright citrus quality. They are much bigger wines than the ones in Germany and  bit higher in alcohol too. Older ones become rich with age.

Muscat—unlike Muscat from other regions, this one is dry, and is known for being the perfect complement to asparagus. It’s full bodied, floral and citrussy.  

Pinot Blanc—I have to admit, I’m generally not a big fan of Pinot Blanc. It’s creamy and subtle but doesn’t have much “star power.” That said, I had a blend of 65% Pinot Auxerrois, 20% Pinot Blanc, 15% Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir from Meyer-Fonné that was outstanding. 

A few other wines:

Cremant —the Alsace is right next to Champagne and Cremant is the Alsatian bubbly wine made in the same manner. There are lovely versions made from either Pinot Blanc or Pinot Noir rather than Chardonnay and they represent 25% of wine sales from the region. They are light, refreshing, clean and make a terriific apperitif. They are also very affordable, I tried two that retail at just $20 a bottle. 

Grand Cru— a relatively new designation, Grand Cru wines come from one of 51exceptional terroirs and are limited to Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer. They tend to be more elegant and complex and not surprisingly, much higher in price.

To learn more visit Wines of Alsace

Disclaimer: While I was guest at a dinner featuring the wines of the Alsace, I was not compensated monetarily for this or any other post on Cooking with Amy. 

Strawberry Cheese Tartine Recipe

If you like soft, rich, creamy cheeses, you’ve probably discovered triple creme cheeses like St. Andre and double creme cheeses like brie. Double creme cheeses are between 60 and 75% butterfat. Triple creme cheeses are over 75% butterfat. Saint Angel from Fromagerie Guilloteau is something in the middle. It’s 71% butterfat, so technically it's a double creme cheese, but it has a texture much more similar to a triple creme cheese. 

Fromagerie Guilloteau the maker of Fromager d’Affinois cheeses including Saint Angel uses a process of “ultrafiltration” of milk, which not only shortens the aging time, but helps the cheese to retain a higher concentration of protein and calcium. Saint Angel is a white bloomy rind cow's milk cheese with fairly mild and subtle flavor but a little bit of tang and an intensely silky texture. It’s easy to spread and when I read that it was recommended with grilled bread or summer berries, I knew immediately how I was going to use it. 

I love the idea of tartines or bruschetta with breakfast instead of plain old toast and jam. I first had breakfast bruschetta in Hawaii at Koko Head Cafe. Chef Lee Anne Wong makes sugary Japanese style rusks and tops them with Greek yogurt, local fruit and some grated toasted macadamia nuts. I went even an simpler route for this treat. I just toasted baguette slices, spread them generously with Saint Angel cheese and topped them with slices of fresh strawberries. Voila! If you can’t find Saint Angel cheese, you could certainly try this with another double or triple creme cheese. I do think using a sweet baguette is key. You want a mild bread that doesn’t compete with the contrast of the tangy cheese and the sweetness of the berries. Because this uses French bread and French cheese, I’m calling it a tartine rather than bruschetta, but either name is fine. 

Strawberry Cheese Tartine

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients 

12 slices sweet baguette slices, cut about 1/3 inch thick

About 12 ripe, sweet strawberries, each cut into 3-4 slices, lengthwise 

6 ounces Saint Angel cheese (or another soft mild double or triple creme cheese)

Instructions 

Toast the slices of baguette until just lightly golden, not brown. Spread the slices thickly with cheese and top each slice with about 3 - 4 slices of strawberry. 

Enjoy! 

Disclaimer: My thanks to Fromagerie Guilloteau for sending me a sample of Saint Angel cheese. I was not compensated monetarily for this or any other post on Cooking with Amy

Vinho Verde: Wine on Friday

There's a sommelier I know who compares wine to people--she says Zinfandel is a dude, Pinot Noir is an elegant lady. If I had to choose a wine that fits with my personality, it might just be Vinho Verde. It’s fresh, approachable, bright, straight forward, and sometimes a little bit bubbly. And it loves food. 

Vinho Verde means green wine, but it’s not the color green, it’s green meaning young. This inexpensive wine is intended to be consumed right after it's bottled. It’s low in alcohol and could not be more refreshing. Vinho Verde is usually a blend of Portuguese white varietals including Arinto, Loureiro and Trajadura and sometimes Alvarinho, which in Spanish is Albariño. It comes from one of the oldest wine regions in Portugal, produced on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It's a region I'd very much like to visit. 

I fell in love with Vinho Verde when I was researching Portuguese wines for Wine Passport Portugal. When I discovered it I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t more popular. I’ve come to think of it as the ultimate California cuisine wine. It pairs so well with light, fresh flavors of seafood, salads and chicken but also spicy food. You can throw pretty much anything at it— rich foods, salty foods, fruit and even hot chiles. Don’t get me wrong, I love other summery wines like rose and anything sparkling, but my house white is Vinho Verde. Best of all, you will be hard pressed to find a bottle that costs $15. You can find truly wonderful Vinho Verde for $10. What does it taste like? Think tangy green apples, pears, some minerality, bright acidity and never any oak. 

Which Vinho Verde? 

Start with something really cheap and cheerful, anything from Aveleda. Look for the lacy labeled Casal Garcia or Quinta da Aveleda. These wines are good year in and year out and are priced between $5 and $8.

A wine I received recently to try is Enoport's Vinho Altas, made with Arinto, Trajadura and Loureiro. This is one of the first Portuguese wines I've ever seen with a screw top! I read that the company freezes unfermented grape juice and then makes wine, basically fermenting on demand, so the wine is always fresh. Price is about $8. 

I've always been fond of the Broadbent Vinho Verde. This wine with the pretty flower on the label just screams—“take me to a party!” It’s clean with plenty of citrus and costs just about $9-10

Created by a wine cooperative, as many of these wines are, Via Latina Loureiro is a newer style of Vinho Verde, a tad higher in alcohol at 11%, riper and drier and still rather than bubbly. I don't have any price information for it but past vintages have been around $10 a bottle.


Disclaimer: I received the Vinhas Altas and Via Latina as samples, I purchased the other wines myself. I was not compensated monetarily for this or any other post on Cooking with Amy.

New Southern Cookbooks

Southern cooking is having a moment. It’s a cuisine that has deep roots in America, and great historical impact, but you could argue that it got derailed somewhere in the last few decades. Its main ingredients have often reflected what was abundant and inexpensive. When the South was an agrarian economy, that meant vegetables and whole grains. But as cheap commodity food penetrated American society, it really took hold in the South (think packaged and convenience food.) Sadly you'll still find more canned and frozen food than fresh in many parts of the South to this day.

But Southern food is rising again! And it’s not one size fits all. There are several different takes on it and all of them aim to be true to the history of the cuisine while also making it more relevant for today. Here are three recent examples in cookbook form.

The Broad Fork: Recipes for the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruits is written by Hugh Acheson, the award winning chef and restaurateur, and Southern transplant. Sometimes it takes an outsider to truly appreciate a cuisine, and Acheson immerses himself not just in the ingredients, but in traditional cooking techniques like pickling, salt curing, fermenting, stewing and even using a pressure cooker. While not explicitly about Southern food, there is no denying that for all practical purposes, Acheson is a Southern chef. He shares the most trendy of recipes like salt and sugar curing egg yolks and foraged ingredients like nasturtium leaves, yacon and fiddlehead ferns. He also uses ingredients that are not traditionally found in the Southern kitchen; from preserved lemons to miso and galangal. I can’t even begin to tell you how this collection runs the gamut from deeply traditional recipes like Southern Artichoke Dip and Corn Spoonbread to wildly original ones like Sautéed Carrots with Pine Nuts, Malt Vinegar and Sorghum or Pickled Pepper and Feta Salad with Chickpeas, Olives, Raisins, Orange, and Mint. This book is a keeper and a solid reference book you will turn to again and again. 

Lighten up, y’all: Classic Southern Recipes made Healthy & Wholesome is the latest cookbook from Virginia Willis, a classically French trained chef from the South. I’ve been a fan of Virginia Willis for some time, and in this book she revises recipes and shares the results of her experimenting in the kitchen to capture the flavor, without all the calories, of some of her favorite dishes. While it would easy to take obvious shortcuts to reduce the amount of fat in a recipe, Willis carefully finds her own ways to preserve the flavor while shaving off calories. She is the first to admit when a substitution doesn’t work and refuses to sacrifice good taste. From her Hot Mess Spinach and Feta Dip to Pulled Pork Tenderloin and Multigrain Pecan Waffles, her recipes are appealing and not complicated or cheffy. I’m not going to give away the secrets in the book, but I will tell you it’s worth buying just for recipes for Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie and Collard Green with Chipotle Potlikker. This book is also a keeper.

Southern Made Fresh: Vibrant Dishes Rooted in Homegrown Flavor is another “fresh” approach to Southern food. While I love abundance as much as the next person, many of the recipes from author Tasia Malakasis feel over the top to me. For example, a kale salad that serves six people and calls for one cup of Parmesan cheese just seems excessive as does using three whole avocados in a spring greens salad for six. On the other hand some of the recipes are so simple they barely needed including at all, like Grilled Peaches or Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta (is there anyone who doesn’t know how to chop tomatoes and basil and put it on bread?). There are also a lot of recipes that really don’t connect to Southern cuisine for me such as Sardine Rillettes, Spicy Ginger-Chicken Lettuce Wraps or Mushroom & Chicken Meatballs. The most appealing recipes are ones that use Southern ingredients in a new way, like Collard & Black-Eyed Pea Soup, Pasta with Green Tomatoes & Goat Cheese or Lima Bean Hummus. I'll let you decide if this book deserves a spot in your collection. For me, it's a pass. 

Disclaimer: These cookbooks were sent to me for review purposes. This post includes affiliate links. I was not paid to write this or any other post on Cooking with Amy.