Category Archives: Recipes

CSA Pickles: Revised Ratio!

By ruhlman | Published: July 28, 2010

Pardus Pickles, photo by Donna

Chef Pardus blew through Cleveland a couple weeks ago, and with summer in full swing we had loads of little cukes on hand (we also did veal heart again, got it on video, stay tuned).  While there was much to do in getting dinner out (tongue salad with new potatoes, calves liver and onions, corn relish, cucumber sunomono, grilled foie gras (grilling foie takes some serious attention!), and the grilled heart with an herb shallot vinaigrette—Pardus found time to get my pickles on the cure.  Because of time constraints and other issues, he didn't add aromatics.  What he did was make a 3% brine. I have for years been using a 5% brine for everything, pickles, chicken, pork, etc.  But this 3% worked great and I'm thinking that if you're ...

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Also posted in Ratios, Technique, Vegetables | Comments closed

California Travel
Fresh Spring Rolls with Viet Dipping Sauce Recipe

By ruhlman | Published: July 26, 2010

Durian fruit being cut at a Vietnamese market in southern L.A. The green behemoths in front and back are jackfruit. (All photos by Donna.)

Flew out to southern California last week to be with one of Donna's oldest and dearest, almost entirely beaching it, but found time for one great restaurant meal and one day exploring little Saigon south of LA with the extraordinary White On Rice Couple, Todd Porter and Diane Cu. Diane, born in Vietnam two years before the family fled in 1975, and Todd, a native of Oregon, are photographers, videographers, writers, cooks and gardeners.  I met them in Ixtapa last January and was immediately impressed with their energy and work, but I didn't quite appreciate how fine these two souls were until they invited me and Donna and the ...

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Also posted in Main Courses, Travel | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Zucchini Fritters Recipe

By ruhlman | Published: July 12, 2010

Photo by Donna, from Live To Cook

You'll never guess what was included in our CSA haul this week.  Zucchini!  That's right, amazing as it may sound, there they were, three big fatties at the bottom of the bag. Seriously, it's not that I have a problem with zucchini, itself (though I did publicly disparage the zucchini a while back on Iron Chef America, which had a few zucchini lovers up in arms).  I like zucchini.  Julienned and sauteed in butter it's a simple summer side dish.  Add some nuts, herbs and a vinaigrette to zucchini you've salted for ten minutes and it's a revelation (raw zucchini salad). There are indeed all kinds of things you can do to zucchini.  I guess my problem is how much of it is grown.  Why do people grow ...

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Butter-Braised Radishes with Snow Peas

By ruhlman | Published: July 5, 2010

Butter-Braised Radishes with Snow Peas, photo by Donna
This was a last minute dish on Saturday to follow the fritters.  We had radishes, we had snow peas.  I had some mint in the garden.  Why not?  Crunchy, refreshing, satisfying, a fine vegetable dish.  You see, I don't ALWAYS have to throw cured pork products in (though, come to thing of it, this would be delicious with some bacon or pancetta thrown in!).  When you get your CSA goods, remember that it would be hard to combine them in ways that do not go together.  I wouldn't serve blueberries and chard but for the most part all this stuff goes well side by side. Butter Braised Radishes with Snow Peas a few tablespoons of butter Radishes, as needed, trimmed and quartered Snow peas, as needed, picked salt and pepper to taste a tablespoon ...

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Quick Deviled Eggs

By ruhlman | Published: June 30, 2010

So Joe and I got to playing with the video camera early this spring, just to have some fun. (Please excuse awkward editing moment.) Also, it's a bit on the longish side (6:30) so if you want to cut to the chase, the point of this thing happens between 2:30 and 3:10 minutes. I love deviled eggs, but after making this video I realized that there was no reason you even have to go through the rigmarole of mixing the yolks and mayo and mustard and piping all that into halved whites.  For a last minute deviled egg, just top it with the same ingredients. Last minute Deviled Eggs 6 ounces mayonnaise (see video above for technique) 1 tablespoon minced shallot macerated for 10 minutes in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, then strained 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne 4 hard cooked ...

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