Introducing caterer and master home cook Rosa Mendicino
What does yummy mean? “It’s warm, delicious, satisfying food that you can’t say no to,” says Rosa.
A Home Recipe from California Rose
I make this recipe for company and for my
catering business of twenty years. People love it and it is very easy. These days you can find Thai curry paste and fish sauce at most grocery stores and, of course, Asian markets.
Spicy Chicken with Coconut Peanut Sauce served with Sautéed Spinach
(Serves 4)
| 4 |
half chicken breasts, boneless and skinless |
| 3 |
cans Chao Koh coconut milk |
8 |
whole cloves garlic, minced |
2 |
inch segment of fresh ginger skinned, minced |
5 |
tablespoon red curry paste |
| 3 |
tablespoons chunky peanut butter |
| 1/4 |
cup fish sauce (Squid brand is good) |
| 1/2 |
cup palm sugar or light brown sugar |
| 1 |
onion, diced |
| 2 |
pounds baby spinach, washed and chopped |
| 1/4 |
cup chopped peanuts (optional) |
For the chicken:
In a food processor, pour one can coconut milk, add minced garlic, ginger and 2 tablespoons red curry paste, and mix until fairly smooth. Coat the chicken breast with the mixture, place in baking pan, bake in 400-degree oven for 20 minutes.
For the sauce:
Place 2 cans coconut milk in saucepan; reduce on low for 15 to 20 minutes until thick. Add peanut butter, fish sauce, sugar, and 3 tablespoons red curry paste; cook on medium heat for 10 minutes stirring. Take sauce off heat. Reserve.
To prepare spinach:
Sauté onion. When onion is a little brown add the spinach, cook 10 minutes, stirring. Drain any liquid.
Slice chicken on diagonal and place on spinach; pour some sauce over chicken. Top with chopped peanuts, if desired.
Serve with jasmine or basmati rice.
(Note: Sauce freezes well.)
Ku Day Ta® Oatmeal-Earl Grey Tea Breakfast Muffins
Recently, I traveled to Milpitas to visit Bee-Bee Liew’s lovely tea lounge, Ku Day Ta in the Great Mall. During our chat she mentioned that she is working on a cookbook about food made with teas. Here is one of her recipes:
Ingredients
| 1 |
cup whole milk |
| 3 |
tablespoon Ku Day Ta® Earl Grey, plus 1 tablespoon of the tea reserved |
1 1/2 |
cups oatmeal |
1 |
cup all-purpose flour, sifted |
2 |
teaspoon baking soda |
| 1 |
teaspoon baking powder |
| 1/2 |
teaspoon cinnamon |
| 1/2 |
teaspoon salt |
| 6 |
tablespoon cold unsalted butter (cut in small chunks) |
| 2 |
large eggs |
| 1/2 |
cup packed light brown sugar |
| 2 |
tablespoon honey |
| 1/4 |
cup buttermilk |
| 3 |
teaspoon vanilla extract |
| 1 |
tablespoon cooking oil |
Method
Preheat oven to 400º F.
In small saucepan heat milk until small bubbles appear.
Take saucepan off heat, stir in 3 TBSP Ku Day Ta® Earl Grey tea, steep 5-10
minutes.
Mix the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, cut
in butter with pastry cutter or forks.
Whisk eggs and slowly add in brown sugar and honey; it will become slightly
thickened.
Strain the milk (squeeze out the tea) and add in the buttermilk, vanilla
and egg mixture.
Mix wet and dry ingredients well, carefully stir in 1 TBSP Ku Day Ta®
Earl Grey tea (rinsed 30 sec. in hot water, chopped finely and patted dry).
Grease muffin tins lightly with cooking oil.
Fill muffin tins 3⁄4 full and bake for about 20 min. or until browned on
top and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5-10 min. before
removing from pan.
Makes 12 medium-sized muffins. Enjoy with sweet butter and a freshly brewed cup of tea.
A Home Recipe from GraceAnn Walden
Sometimes it’s funny how worlds collide. My dear friend, Liz Thigpen Hunt, former Queen of all culinary events in the Cellar at Macy’s, San Francisco, recently spent a couple of months in Ecuador. After she came back she sent me some delicious bottled hot sauce (Ole Hot n Fruity), which is made from tamarillo (tree tomato), vinegar and hot peppers. (It is available in stores where a variety of hot sauces are sold.)
She also included a pouch of sea salt and the spice achiote.
The same day my Ecuador package arrived, I went to Safeway and found a bag of dried beans – Mayocoba, which I had never seen before.
The culinary light bulb came on and I decided to cook the new beans with some achiote and the hot sauce.
Maicoba or mayocoba, like other beans such as pinto, kidney, navy, and black beans, are know scientifically as phaseolus vulgaris. They are referred to as common beans because they most likely were derived from a common bean ancestor that may have originated in Peru. Through traders, beans were spread throughout South and Central America, and were introduced to Europe in the 15th century.
Achiote (Bixa orellana) is a shrub or small tree from the tropical region of the American continent. The name derives from the Nahuatl word for the shrub, achiotl. It is best known as the source of the natural pigment annatto, produced from the seeds.
It can be extracted by stirring the seeds in water or by grinding them in a spice grinder. It is used to color food products, such as cheeses, fish, and salad oil. The ground seeds are primarily used to flavor and color Latin American, Jamaican and Filipino cuisines.
When I lived in New York City, I would dine on Cuchifrito in Puerto Rican cafes. Much of the components of a combo plate, various parts of a pig, were cooked in an achiote sauce, making everything very orange, but yummy.
Here’s my recipe for mayacoba beans with anchiote and Ole Hot n Fruity Sauce:
Prepping the beans
I have a long history of de-tooting beans. This works well for most people.
Wash and pick the beans for bad ones and stones.
Place beans in a large pot with cold water. Bring to a full boil. Turn heat off, cover and set aside for one hour. (This process removes the sugar in the beans that most of us don’t digest, causing flatulence.)
After the hour, drain beans, beans will be partially cooked.
Ingredients
| 1 |
package Mayocoba beans (2 pounds) partially cooked (see above) |
| |
Cold water to cover |
2 |
smoked turkey parts, like 2 wings, 2 tails OR 1 smoked ham hock |
1 |
small yellow onion, diced |
1 |
tablespoon achiote, ground |
| 1 |
teaspoon ground sage |
| 1 |
tablespoon sea salt |
| 1 |
teaspoon freshly ground pepper |
| |
A couple squirts of Ole Hot n Fruity sauce |
| 1/2 |
cup parsley, minced |
Method
Place partially cooked beans in a pot with cold water, add all the rest of the ingredients, except the parsley.
Cook on low for two hours. (Can also be done at this point in a large crockpot.)
When done, beans will be creamy.
Remove smoked parts and cool.
Remove meat from smoked parts and put in pot with beans. (optional)
The achiote adds a slight tart flavor to the beans.
Add more water if too thick. Serve as soup or a side dish. Top with minced parsley. Dress with more hot sauce. (optional)
Cookbook Review
Demolition Desserts
Elizabeth Falkner
Ten Speed Press
$35
ISBN –13: 978-1-58008-781-0
This is not a new cookbook, but it is one of my favorites for its art, and, of course, for its recipes.
I will probably never cook from it because I am a buyer not a maker of pastries.
Now, if you need a good sauce, a vegetarian or meat creation, canapés for 100 – call me. But unless it is a simple cookie recipe or banana bread, forget about it.
So, you say, how can I recommend this?
I know Falkner’s work, her food, so I know the recipes are solid.
And did I say beautiful?
Falkner, is a former art school student, who owns the Hayes Valley restaurant/bakery Citizen Cake and the restaurant Orson in SOMA.
From the Publishers Weekly review, which I agree with: “Amateurs may prefer to spend time at the back of the book with the somewhat more manageable recipes for cupcakes and drinks.”
Here is one that even I would make:
Chevre Rice Pudding
Ingredients
| 1 |
cup whole milk |
| 1/3 |
cup jasmine rice |
1 |
tablespoon granulated sugar |
1 |
teaspoon kosher salt |
2 |
ounces soft, fresh goat cheese |
| 2 |
or 3 drops orange flower water (you may substitute vanilla) |
| 1 |
cup crème anglaise (a light pouring custard used as a dessert sauce – see recipe below) |
Topping
| 4-6 |
large dates, preferably Medjool, pitted and chopped |
| |
A few candied kumquats, chopped |
1/4 |
cup shelled pistachio nuts |
2 |
tablespoon honey |
Method
In a saucepan, combine the milk, rice, sugar and salt over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover and cook, adjusting the heat to keep at a low simmer, for 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked but still firm. Remove from the heat and stir in goat cheese, orange water, and crème anglaise while the rice is still warm.
Serve right away, or let cool, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. Yields about 1 1/2 cups.
Crème anglaise recipe
| 1 |
cup milk |
| 1 |
cup heavy cream |
1/2 |
vanilla bean |
6 |
large egg yolks |
1/2 |
cup granulated sugar |
Set up an ice bath by half filling a large bowl with ice and water. Have ready a heatproof storage container or bowl (large enough to hold about 3 cups liquid) that fits in the ice bath and a fine-mesh strainer.
In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Split the bean lengthwise and, with the tip of the knife, scrape the seeds into the saucepan and then toss in the empty pod. Place the pan over medium heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth.
After about 5 minutes, when the milk begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat.
Whisk a few tablespoons of the hot milk into the egg mixture. Then while whisking continuously, slowly add the rest of the hot liquid into the eggs.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Cook stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens. The custard is done when the trace of foam on the surface is gone.
Immediately remove from heat and strain into a heatproof bowl. Let the custard cool in its ice bath for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. It will keep, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.
Volume 1 Issue 19 
I got an email from a Yummy reader asking for a tip on what to do with leftover fried rice. One of her complaints was the reheating process – she puts the rice in a pan, adds a few drops of water, and heats it on the stove at a very low temperature, but the rice still ends up “crispy rather than fluffy.” The best way to reheat fried rice is also the easiest: pop it in the microwave for about 1 minute per cup. You don’t need to add water – the steam that collects during cooking keeps the rice moist. 
