This is our home version of mixer for Suan Mei Tang, using
ingredients that are easily accessible in Berkeley / 99 Ranch in Albany. It
probably should be diluted with sparkling water.
- 200g sour plums
- 50g dried apples
- 50g dried apricots
- 50g gogi berries
- 2.5L water
This is a verbatim translation of the Lentejas recipe from the Rancho Gordo
Bean Club newsletter, which in turn is apparently a verbatim replica of this
recipe. This is actually one of the best bean dishes I’ve ever had.
Spanish-Style Pardina Lentils with Serrano Ham and Pimentón
Ingredients:
- ½ pound dried Rancho Gordo Pardina Lentils
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 4 ounces Serrano ham, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Spanish pimentón, such as Rancho Gordo Castillo Pimentón
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1½ cups chicken or vegetable stock (or more, depending on your preference)
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Steps:
- Check the lentils carefully for debris, and rinse thoroughly. Because of the
size and color of these lentils, pebbles and other natural debris may remain
despite our best efforts to sort them before packaging.
- Place in a pot and add enough water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring to a
full boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer, using a lid to help regulate
the heat, and gently cook until done, 25 to 35 minutes. Strain and set aside,
reserving the cooking liquid.
- In a wide, shallow pan over a medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic,
onion, and carrot and cook until softened, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the Serrano
ham and cook for another 5 or so minutes.
- Stir in the pimentón, tomatoes, and wine and simmer, stirring, until the
mixture cooks down into a thick sauce, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir the lentils into the sauce with about ½ cup of the reserved cooking
liquid and the stock. If you prefer a stewier dish, you can add more
lentil-cooking liquid or stock. Season to taste with vinegar, salt, and
pepper. Simmer until the lentils are heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish
with parsley.
Modifications:
- Double the amount of ham. Any dry country ham is good, including Southern
country ham and proscuitto.
We’ve been really into the Weilong Moishine Hot and Spicy Konjac Strips and I
thought to make these at home after reading this article about their
processing. It’s not quite the same, but is still pretty good, has a nice meaty
tripe texture, and produces a lot less packaging waste than buying it at 99
Ranch.
Some things.
- Freezing/thawing the konjac makes it porous and crunchy.
- The rest of this is basically a Sichuan stir fry base. Did I ask Claude for
advice about this based on the package ingredients? Definitely.
Steps:
- Freeze 16oz Konjac Tofu overnight, and then thaw the next day. Cut/shred into
strips and then blanch in salted water (or steam). Drain, cool, and then
squeeze out as much water as you can.
- Can be purchased at Berkeley Bowl next to regular soy tofu
- In a wok, fry with some grapeseed oil, one at a time:
- Sliced ginger
- 1 tbsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tsp doubanjiang
- 4 chopped garlic cloves
- Then add:
- 2 tbsp chili oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
- Toss in the konjac strips and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Refrigerate!
You can definitely vary the amount of peppercorn, chili oil, for the amount of
Mala you’re going for. I haven’t tried steaming the konjac, which might be
better than blanching.
This is a replica of a Market Hall salad that can just be made with containers
of things from Berkeley Bowl. This version is significantly cheaper than a trip
to Rockridge.
In a giant metal bowl, mix:
- Two bunches of dino kale, washed, shredded, and then massaged with olive oil
- 2 cups of green lentils cooked with bay leaves
- Cup or so roasted, unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
- One square of sheep feta, chopped
- One half-quart container of Castelvetrano olives, roughly chopped
- (Optional) Two small avocados, diced
Add olive oil, sherry or red vinegar, and salt to taste.
Adapted from “Salad Samurai”’s That 70s Tofu recipe. Tastes like you got it at a hot bar at a hippie food co-op. I brought this to a potluck and it was surprisingly a hit with the 1 year old. We’ve been making it a lot this year since it’s a low effort dish that is easy to make if you’re home all the time with a new born, say. I can’t believe my first tofu recipe on this blog is a white people tofu recipe! I will have to write up some Chinese tofu recipes in penance….
Ingredients
- 1 pack firm tofu
- 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (I eyeball)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce (for Authenticity, use Braggs aminos, but I don’t keep that around)
- 1 tablespoon granulated dried garlic
- 1 tablespoon “white people dried green herbs” of some kind – oregano, basil.
- 4 tablespoons chili powder. You don’t want like, spicy good chili powder here. You want the back of the shelf, found it at an Airbnb, somebody once used this to make some beef chili vibes. If you don’t have that, sub paprika.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Technique
- Dice tofu. (Cut it down the middle like you’re opening a book, cut it 4-5x in both of the other axes)
- Add all ingredients, stir. There should be some liquid pooling at the bottom. If not, add some more soy sauce / acv.
- Marinate on the counter for at least 1 hour, stirring everytime you pass the bowl, at least 3-4x. Or shove it in the fridge and stir it in a few times in the next day or two.
- Place on a baking sheet in a toaster oven at 400F. Bake until liquid is almost entirely evaporated, stir so that all of the tofu gets coated by the sauce.
- Serve hot, warm, or cold.
I’ve been making this roast duck for some years, riffing off of Julia’s Album. That website appears to be 99% ads now, and I’m nervous it’ll one day get taken down, so replicating what we do here for posterity and to share with friends.
Ingredients
- 1 (or more) whole ducks
- aromatics of your choice for stuffing the cavity (good ones: bay leaves, onions, lemons, fennel tops, fennel bottoms…whatever you have around)
Glaze Ingredients
optional: add some spices to your glaze ingredients to zhzuzz it up. cinnamon could be good if you go the plum route!
Making the Duck
-
These instructions get the duck to 165 (well-done). Adjust accordingly down in times if you want to cook a duck to 140 or 150.
-
Preheat oven to 350.
- Score the duck breast in a diamond pattern all over.
- Poke all the fatty parts with a fork, esp the legs/thighs. Your goal here is to let the fat render and release!
- Stuff cavity with whatever aromatics you prepared
-
Fold any extra duck skin over the cavity, then tie the legs together with some butcher’s twine or aluminum foil.
- Set duck on half sheet with wire rack set inside. You don’t need a roasting rack (who owns one of those anymore) but it’s important to elevate the duck from the bottom of the sheet pan.
-
Roast duck breast side up for 40 minutes.
-
While the duck is roasting breast side up prepare the glaze. Heat all ingredients together in a small sauce pan until things look glossy and glaze-y. Taste as you go! Add water if necessary to thin out. If you’re working with jam/fruit, make sure to mash up the chunky bits.
-
Flip duck and roast duck for another 15 minutes back side up.
-
Wait at this step until the duck is 130-135F.
-
Remove any rendered out fat from the pan for other purposes at this time.
-
Brush the back of the duck with the glaze and return to the oven and roast for another 5-10 minutes.
-
Flip duck back over to breast side up. Brush the duck all over with the glaze. Continue to cook another 20 minutes, or until the duck internal temperature reaches 155F, it will go up to 165 as it rests!. Brush with the glaze every 10 minutes.
-
Rest the duck at least 10 min before carving.
- If you have glaze leftover, you can either set it out to eat w the duck directly, or make a pan sauce with some duck fat / butter and adding some extra acid to it.
