Category Archives: California Fusion

Karl’s Meyer Lemon Chicken Soup

Jan and I have colds this week, so she asked for chicken soup for dinner. It is Meyer lemon season and I thought that a garlic lemon soup would be the thing to make. Jan was unsure about this, because she thought it would be too sour. My solution was to add a dollop of lemon curd to cut the citric acid.

Karl’s Meyer Lemon Chicken Soup

Karl’s Meyer Lemon Chicken Soup

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Filed under California Fusion, Chicken, Main Dishes, Poultry, Soups

Karl’s Corn Crackers with Chili Pepper Salt

Jan was visiting her graduate friends in Santa Barbara last weekend. She brought me back some chili salt. She suggested that using it to top corn meal crackers would be something to do.

Karl’s Corn Crackers with Chili Pepper Salt

Karl’s Corn Crackers with Chili Pepper Salt
and (on right) Flor de Sel

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Filed under bread, California Fusion, Side Dishes, Vegetarian

Karl’s Cumin Water Crackers

To go with the red lentil soup I was making for Jan’s friend, Jan asked me to make crackers. Her friend is allergic to dairy, so I could not make my usual butter crackers. I decided to change the spicing of my water crackers to match the soup by adding cumin.

Karl’s Cumin Water Crackers

Karl’s Cumin Water Crackers

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Filed under bread, California Fusion, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Karl’s Red Lentil Soup

Jan has spent this weekend visiting her graduate school friends in Santa Barbara. One of her friends is dropping her off, on her way to the North Bay. She requesting something for a quick snack, before she continues her journey.

Karl’s Red Lentil Soup

Karl’s Red Lentil Soup

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Filed under California Fusion, Side Dishes, Soups, Vegan, Vegetarian, Weeknight

Karl’s Mini-Meatloaves

I made meat loaf recently and both Jan and Eilene complained that there was too much “loaf” and not enough “crusty bits.” To make up for this deficit, I decided to make mini-meatloaves. These would be small enough so that they would be all crusty end bits.

Karl’s Mini-Meatloaves

Karl’s Mini-Meatloaves

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Filed under Beef, California Fusion, Main Dishes, Pork

Papa’s Fine Soup II

The first dish I created on my own—rather than following a recipe—was a soup that Miriam called “Papa’s Fine Soup.” Some powdered lemon grass, chicken, snow peas, green onion, and udon noodles. While this soup has changed over time, it has been a comfort food in our house for almost 30 years.

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Filed under California Fusion, Chicken, Main Dishes, Poultry, Soups

Karl’s Chicken Marsala and Butter Dumplings

Chicken and dumplings is an classic Southern (U.S.) that is basically a chicken stew topped with biscuit dough. At my house it is a weekday comfort food, whenever someone is stressed out. Although I make this dish once or twice a month, I realized that I took it for granted and have never posted about it.

Karl’s Chicken Marsala and Butter Dumplings

Karl’s Chicken Marsala
and Butter Dumplings

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Filed under California Fusion, Chicken, Main Dishes, Poultry, Stews

Karl’s Meatloaf with Orange Marmalade Sauce

Jan requested that I make meatloaf for dinner. Both Jan and Eilene like the outsides of the loaf  to have plenty of “crusty bits.” One way to please them is to make mini-meatloaves. A second, easier, way is to not make the loaf too thick—a low thin loaf. Add some fry bread and a salad and you have a really nice meal.

Karl’s Meatloaf with Orange Marmalade Sauce

Karl’s Meatloaf with Orange Marmalade Sauce
(on the right)

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Filed under Beef, California Fusion, Main Dishes, Pork, Sauces and Spices

Karl’s Fry Bread

Jan had requested meatloaf for dinner and I wanted a bread-like side dish to go with it. Jan has problems with digesting fats and she generally avoids white flour breads. Knowing that Jan would probably eat only a bite or two of this bread—Jan would be happy with just the salad and the meat—freed me to make it how I would really like it to be.

Karl’s Fry Bread

Karl’s Fry Bread (on the left)

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Karl’s Asian Pear-apple , Radish and Arugula Salad

I was looking for a vegetable side dish to go with my meatloaf. A few weeks ago, I discovered that letting the root vegetables marinate in a marmalade base worked really well as a salad dressing.  This is what I settled on for tonight’s salad.

Karl’s Asian Pear-apple , Radish and Arugula Salad

Karl’s Asian Pear-apple , Radish,
and Arugula Salad

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Filed under California Fusion, Green Vegetables, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian