the series

Dinner I II III and IV

Each print is $80 and measures 10" x 20"

Please let me know if you'd like a set!

frooshi

frooshi, or fruit sushi, is a collabo with jesse. here it is on its third iteration:

To make, first cut up all your fillings. Our favorite varieties so far are: mango,

white peach-mint-basil-ginger, and date-cucumber-mint.

Have a cooled bowl of sweet rice at the ready (sweet rice, water, coconut milk,

salt, sugar, soak and cook). Soak a rice paper sheet in warm water and lay on

your work surface. Add a small amount of rice and filling, and roll like a burrito!

Use a really sharp knife to cut it into pieces. It helps to wet the knife between

cuts. Frooshi tastes best with a competitive game of team Scrabble.

concurry cake

gluten free curry cake!

(needs a second iteration, it came out the consistency of a Chinese steamed

mung bean cake, or something)

sorghum flour, sweet rice flour (about 3:1)

touch of xanthan gum

baking powder

curry powder

salt

2 eggs (too many)

water

coconut milk

olive oil

maple syrup

plain yogurt

bake at 350 for 25 minutes

frost with:

plain yogurt

coconut oil

medjool dates, squished

cinnamon

combine, chill, whip, frost

coat with toasted coconut flakes, and coarsely ground pistachios and cardamon

seeds

Let's talk about serious things for a minute

Well the reason for the tamale dinner was to feed a small crowd of brainstormers

(thinking can make you hungry, you know.)

Jesse and I have been talking about how we can get involved with the Deepwater

Horizon oil situation. After a few days of abstract musings, we needed to get

something down on paper. So the two of us and the lovely Francisco sat down and

thought. This is what we came up with by the time we were all half-asleep. Please

leave feedback here, and let me know if you would like to join this conversation.

This image can be read like so: top to bottom is the progression of questions we

were answering, and left to right are subsets of the answers after sorting them

into relevant groups.

The image is hard to read, so here is everything, typed out. Look back to the

image for drawings and better groupings.

If you'd like to host your own brainstorming session, I'd be happy to write more

about our process, just say the word.

More ideas, more concrete images, more voices to be posted soon, my apologies

for the amateur photoshopping, and please expect this (and food) to be the main

focus of this blog for the next long while.

Well, back in the kitchen I had an old bag of corn masa that was just itching

to be used, and a batch of tamales was in order!

Tamale dough:

masa

baking powder

salt

butter/lard/coconut oil/palm oil

broth/water

fresh corn (optional)

whip the oil, mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. the consistency you

are looking for is stuck together but not sticky and not dry. balance with more

masa or more broth.

Fillings:

1. Mole

chili powder

cocoa powder

chocolate, melted

salt

cinnamon

veggies or meat of your choice

(I used onions, garlic, zucchini, plantains and black beans, and Jesse made

chicken on the side)

broth

heat the first group of ingredients in oil until your kitchen smells amazing (and

the chili makes you cough). I added garlic and onions and just cooked it forever.

Then I added broth to reduce, and added the rest of my veggies toward the end

of the reducing.

Here's a great way to make your food faster and ALSO satisfy your vegetarian

vs. carnivore dilemma: Take the veggies out of the mole sauce to use in the

tamales. While wrapping and steaming, add your meat to the mole with extra

broth, and simmer until you are ready to eat. This should make your meat nice

and stringy and your sauce nice and thick. Serve on top of veggie tamales.

2. Sweet potato and pepper jack cheese (Jesse's creation, I may be missing some

details)

Thinly sliced sweet potatoes, cooked at 400 for about 10-15 minutes

grated pepper jack cheese

salt

mash everything together, to taste

3. Dessert! Ricotta and Fig

(for this batch, I made a different dough using cinnamon, maple syrup and coconut

milk instead of broth)

fresh figs, sliced

ricotta cheese

lemon juice

lemon zest

maple syrup or other sweetener

mix together to taste

To make the tamales:

get some corn husks (I used bamboo leaves, because that's what they sell

here in Chinatown, and while they smelled like bamboo, they were way easier

to use than corn husks.), soak them for a while, let them dry out slightly.

lay out a piece on your work surface. with bamboo leaves, use two leaves. On

each leaf spread out flat a small quantity of dough, about the dimensions of

the tamale you want.

dollop on a small amount of filling.

invert the leaf without the filling over the one with it, and seal the sides.

fold down ends and sides, tear some lengths of husk to act as string, and tie

the ends down into a nice package.

when you have a lot of these, set them up in a steamer basket and steam for a

while. Make sure your water doesn't all evaporate, because it will make your

tamales taste or smell like carbon (ask me how I know). if you are making

multiple batches, take the tamales out of the steamer and keep them in a warm

oven while you make the next round.

Serve with anything you like! We had plantain-guacamole, peach-avocado

tomatillo salsa and plain yogurt.

Also, Jesse blended up a batch of watermelon margaritas: watermelon, tequila,

lime juice and ice. As he eloquently recounted: "I'm not saying they were great,

I'm just saying they were amazing."

soup truffles!

Well wonder of wonders, here are two new truffle recipes inspired by my new neighborhood:

(left)

Wasabi Truffles

chocolate, melted

coconut milk

coconut oil

powdered wasabi (check your wasabi, some of the pastes have gluten and all sorts of weird-sounding preservatives in them, plus SO much green!)

salt

toasted black sesame seeds

mix all together to taste

freeze

thaw slightly and roll into truffle balls

(right)

Tom Yum Truffles

chocolate, melted

coconut oil

coconut milk

water

kaffir lime leaves

fresh lemongrass

salt

chili flakes

chili oil

sesame oil (just a dash)

toasted coconut flakes

melt chocolate

add lemongrass, lime leaves, salt, chili and oils to coconut milk, and heat for ages (until it tastes like the lime leaves)

mix with chocolate and coconut oil

freeze

follow as before

with both batches, i melted more chocolate with coconut oil and rolled the refrozen truffles in it to coat, then topped them with sesame seeds and coconut flakes.

mmmmm

gluten-free polenta-bread

combination of (~1 cup):

sorghum flour, garbanzo flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch

~1 t xanthan gum

salt

~1/2 cup liquid (i used rice milk and plain yogurt. I'll bet apple juice

would be good, or miso soup, or water)

2 eggs

2 T oil

1-2 T honey

1/2-1 c polenta (or cornmeal)

seeds and a jalapeno pepper

char the jalapeno over a burner (or a real fire!) and chop thinly

dry-toast seeds (i used sunflower and black sesame seeds) in a pan over

high heat until browned and poppy

mix flours together in a bowl

mix liquids and add to flour bowl

stir in polenta

coat cast iron skillet (mini) with oil, seeds and jalapeno slices

fill with batter

bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.

cut around sides of pan and invert

enjoy!

(the texture will change drastically as it cools, going from a bready texture

to a polenta-y texture)