I am making pork chili verde for Sunday dinner. Several of the recipes that I looked at toped their dishes off with some red salsa. I decided to provide some Cal col roja en escabeche, pickled red cabbage, for my diners to put on top of their pork, if they wished. I did not want to make a mound of pickles, just enough for an accent to the green sauce.
Karl’s Cal Col Roja en Escabeche II
Pickled Red Cabbage
Filed under Pickles, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Before I left home for the first time, I sat down with my mother’s recipe box and wrote down my favorite dishes. Her monkey bread is one of those recipes. While it was good, and has a fond place in my memory, I still had to change it.
Karl’s Savory Monkey Bread
Filed under bread, California Fusion, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
Before I left home for the first time, I sat down with my mother’s recipe box and wrote down my favorite dishes. This is everything that was written on the original 3×5 card. Continue reading
Filed under bread, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
For weekday meals I have been known to take short cuts, like starting with a canned soup. Usually I boost the “tinned” flavor with some fresh seafood, but my daughter, Eilene, objects—“But fresh is so much better!” I have created a monster.
Karl’s Shrimp and Clam Chowder
Filed under Main Dishes, Seafood, Shrimp, Soups
When I make teriyaki chicken I usually use the traditional Japanese (and my mother’s) simple recipe—soy sauce, mirin, saki, ginger, and sugar. Years ago—like 30—I had a friend who added wasabi and brown sugar to his teriyaki sauce. For this meal, I decided to go a bit less traditional and do a variation of my friends recipe.
Karl’s Barbecued Chicken Teriyaki Skewers
Filed under California Fusion, Chicken, Main Dishes, Poultry, Sauces and Spices
I bought some lettuce stem for a Chinese stir-fry that I ended up not making. This is a vegetable that I learned to cook while I was in Chengdu. I have always called and thought about it as lettuce stem, but its proper name is celtuce (or wōsŭn; 莴笋 ; asparagus lettuce).
Karl’s Celtuce Pickles
Filed under Pickles, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
I love Japanese pickled vegetables and I frequently get the urge to make them. The day before my Sunday dinner I started to make a bunch. Sometimes the side dishes leads you to the main dish, rather than the other way around. Today, pickles, fresh tofu and rice balls led to teriyaki chicken skewers.
Karl’s Carrot and Daikon pickle II
Namasu 紅白なます
Filed under Pickles, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Onigiri are the Japanese equivalent of a PB&J sandwich, something to take for a school lunch or on a picnic. One of Eilene’s Japanese class friends taught her how to make these a couple of years ago. While they are commonly formed into triangles and may have savory or salty filling, they may also be formed into simple round balls.
Karl’s Onigiri (Rice Balls)
Filed under Rice, Sauces and Spices, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian
I am made a Japanese meal last Sunday. Chicken teriyaki skewers, rice balls, inari and various pickles. No Japanese meal would be complete without miso soup.
Karl’s Miso Soup II
A barbecue is very traditional for a Labor Day weekend, this year I decided to do tri-tip. Tri-tip is a very popular beef roast to barbecue in California—popularized in Oakland and Santa Maria in the 1950’s. The problems with this cut—it’s thick fat cap and odd shape—leads much of the rest of the world to slice this roast into steaks. The Hispanic world—of which California is really still a part of—knows better. Done right it is flavorful, moist and juicy—of course done wrong it is carbonized, dry and chewy.
Karl’s California Fusion Barbecued Tri-tip
Filed under Beef, California Fusion, Holidays, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
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Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 