Camacho Watcho

I’m in love with the book Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, an inspiring and true story of Alice Waters and her dream for a sustainable, food-conscious world. I just finished it today, to which my husband said, “now can you get on with life?” Honestly, it’s that addicting. What I love about it, is that it doesn’t focus on what we are doing wrong with food, it focuses on celebrating fresh, local ingredients to create and experience the loveliest of food. I like that.

Within the book that are several “narrative recipes” of the food they cook at Chez Panisse. While reading yesterday, there was a wonderful recipe for Lindsey’s Fruit Galette. It called for a crust (albeit to be true to the Alice Waters way of doing things, it would be a fresh made crust), sugar, flour and fruit. I just happened to have a pie crust in my refrigerator and three spendidly ripened peaches that my grandma had given me the day before. I was compelled to bake.

Peach Galette
From Lindsey Shere’s narrative in the book
Place the pie crust on a cookie sheet. Mix 2 TBSP sugar and 2 TBSP flour in a small bowl and then spread this over the crust (leaving a 2 inch border). Peel and slice the peaches and then scatter these (they don’t have to be put in a fancy design) on top of the flour and sugar. Sprinkle the top of this with sugar (you’ll need to use a moderate amount). Fold the edges of the dough up over the fruit and then brush the folded over edges heavily with water. Sprinkle these edges really heavily with sugar. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, until the crust is browned and the fruit is bubbling. Then remove from the oven and transfer immediately to a rack to cool. Take a pastry brush and spread the fruit juices on top of the fruit quickly. Enjoy!

Kyle and I had this for dessert for the last two nights. Last night, when we first served it up, we both took a piece and finished it. Then we immediately went for seconds. It was that good! You can make this with nectarines, plums, apples, pears…you just need to adjust the amount of sugar you sprinkle on top of the fruit. It’s delicious!

Last Saturday night Kyle and I decided to stay in. A good meal, a bottle of wine and a few games of Cribbage was on order for the night. Okay, I’ll admit it…I lost a few games to Kyle. I don’t like to admit it, but I did. However, this is highly unusual to “beat a Camacho girl at a game”, as Kyle put it, so he better relish in the victory…for now. Next time, I’m bringing my A-game.

The purpose of our night, however, was not for me to lose in Cribbage. Rather, we had stayed home to try some new recipes and to relax with a chilled glass of wine. I had picked up some Columbia Crest Riesling at Surdyk’s a few days earlier and decided to try it. I’m not usually a fan of Rieslings, but I have to say that I enjoyed this one. It was sweet (of course) but it was light enough that I didn’t feel like I was drinking a fermented piece of fruit like some Rieslings can taste. Overall I would definitely buy it again. It’s cheap ($8) and it’s a great wine to keep chilled for a hot summer afternoon.

We paired the wine with an appetizer of a quick oven pizza. I love these quick pizzas because you can make them so quickly and it’s easy to keep ingredients on hand. For this pizza, I took a tortilla (a wonderful cheater way of doing a thin crust) and topped it with sliced pear, blue cheese crumbles, fresh rosemary and raw walnut pieces. I baked it for 10 minutes at 375 and then drizzed honey on top before serving. Delicious!

I did a second appetizer course of sliced mushrooms with buffalo mozzarella, olive oil and herbs. This was broiled and then served with crusty bread to mop up the goodness. I had read about this recipe, but I didn’t have the oven proof platter necessary for broiling it correctly. I did like this dish, especially the olive oily mushroom residue at the bottom that we soaked up with the bread, and I’ll definitely have to try it again after I purchase a platter.

Our main course was halibut topped with basil-shallot butter. This is a recipe that I adapted from Bon Appetit. Instead of grilling the fish, however, I pan seared the fillets for a few minutes to get a wonderful brown crust on top and then finished them in a 450 oven to bake them through. I loved the crispiness of the fish and thought the basil-shallot butter added a lot of flavor. That being said I have had better versions of herbed butter than this particular recipe. I would consider trying this again substituting the basil-shallot butter for a different herbed butter topper, as I overall liked this dish, particularly the combination of textures with the crisp, flaky fish and the cool, rich butter.

I didn’t have my game on for the Cribbage, but that was after a good performance on the dinner. Staying in on Saturday night is sometimes just the needed thing.

Tacos are a staple in my household. I love the versatility of them and the ease of how just a few ingredients can come together quickly to make a fresh, delicious meal.

This past Saturday Kyle and I ventured out to the Midtown Global Market in search of the thinly sliced steak we have eaten there several times at our favorite taco stand. Located just inside the doors of the 10th Avenue entrance, this taco stand is open both for meals cooked fresh in minutes, or as a meat counter to take cuts of meats to go. We bought a couple steaks and headed back home. There, we took the steaks and seasoned them with olive oil, salt and pepper and then quickly grilled them, about 2 minutes per side. Juicy, tender and seasoned well with a marbling of fat, the steak was delicious. Piled into a tortilla with cilantro, avocado and lime juice, it truly made for a fantastic lunch.

A few nights later, I was craving fish tacos. I had attempted to make fish tacos in the past, but I never seem to like the versions that I make. This time was no exception, as we were, unfortunately, not thrilled with how the fish turned out. I believe it was due to the type of fish we used. I had previously bought some cod, intending to use it for a different recipe. However, when I began to crave fish tacos, I decided that to just change things up a bit, add some blackening seasoning and grill it up for a tasty meal. Unfortunately, cod just isn’t the right fish. Next time, I’ll make sure to use tilapia or another more appropriate type. The seasoning was good, but the texture was just all off.

Regardless of the fish mistake, the mango salsa that I served with the fish was delicious. I got this recipe from my mother-in-law and have made it twice. Its flavor is sweet, spicy and cool; perfect to pair with blackening seasoning or just to serve with tortilla chips.

Spicy Mango Salsa
2 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
1 fresh navel orange, peeled and sections diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or more, I love cilantro so I add it liberally)
2 green onions, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced (if you’ve never cooked with a fresh jalapeno, note that you should use rubber gloves or put a baggy over your hands to prevent burning)
2 TBSP fresh limed juice (2 fresh limes)
1 tsp soy sauce

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve immediately or cover and chill.

A little over a year ago Kyle and I were invited to join a newly formed cooking club with three other couples. The idea, thought up by Chad and Vickie, was to bring four couples together every two to three months to try new recipes, eat dinner, and get to know each other better. Needless to say, I was pretty excited! The way it works is the hosting responsibility rotates each time and the hosting couple chooses the theme and recipes and then emails them out to the group a week or two ahead of time. Recipes are assigned to couples and the idea is to make that exact recipe in order to try new things. Since the beginning of the club, Kyle and I have made fudge, stuffed mushroom caps, peperoni imbottiti, and Italian love cake.

This past Saturday night marked the official beginning of “Season Two”, as we are calling it. We have made it through all the couples hosting, although it did take us over a year to do so. Saturday was Chad and Vickie’s turn to host again and they chose a barbecue theme: bbq shrimp, corn bread, potato salad, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, baby back ribs, and keylime pie. And to wash it all down, Tennessee Tea, a concoction of several hard alcohols and coke. Yes, it was a lot of food…cooking club generally does leave you overly full and begging for mercy, but it’s a really fun all-out smorgasbord of guilty-pleasure eating.

Kyle and I were in charge of the bbq shrimp and the potato salad. All in all, we really didn’t like the shrimp. As Kyle said, “I think someone mistook heavy seasoning for good flavor.” It’s true, the shrimp were dry-rubbed with two rubs and then smothered in a really sweet bbq sauce. It just really wasn’t our thing. The potato salad was pretty good, considering it called for Italian parsley and I am not a parsley fan. I strayed just a bit from the recipe and used about 2/3 of the mayo sauce and only half a bunch of parsley. The flavor was good, although I do wonder if I could get a tangier taste by adding the cider vinegar directly into the mayo…I’ll have to try that next time.

Of all the recipes, my favorites were the cornbread and the ribs. The cornbread, a recipe from Red Stone Restaurant, has pieces of real corn to add texture and is baked in a cast iron skillet. Topped with maple butter, it simply melts in your mouth. Second to the cornbread, was the dry rub on the ribs. It is thick and spicy and, when topped with a sweet and tangy bbq sauce, is a wonderful complement to the tender pork ribs.

Another successful cooking club night. Good food, good conversation…good times.