Split Pea Soup (the best!)

Split pea soup might not be the sexiest of soups but it's the one you want to crawl into bed with on a cold, cold winter night. You know, winter in Los Angeles and the "cold snap" of this week - high of 65degreesF, low of 42degreesF. SO CRAZY COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE MIDWEST OR EAST COAST. Hey, we pay a "weather tax" for this glorious-ness.

Split Pea Soup
Serves 6
Adapted from Ina Garten

1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
Glug of good olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups medium-diced carrots
1 cup medium-diced red boiling potatoes, unpeeled
1 pound dried split green peas, rinsed
8 cups chicken stock (low sodium if possible)

In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with the olive oil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper until the onions are translucent, approx 5-7 minutes. Add the carrots, red potatoes, split peas, and chicken stock.

Bring to a boil, then skim off all the foam that rises to the top. Place a wooden spoon across the top of the pot to keep it from boiling over (I have no idea why this works). Simmer uncovered for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Stir frequently to keep the solids from burning on the bottom – really don’t ignore this step! It'll look super watery at first but as it cooks it gets super thick and creamy. 

Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Moelleux of Fruits (Almond Cake)

 

Take a look at this cake. It's so versatile. It was SO GOOD and SO EASY to put together. I was shocked at how good it was! Make it with whatever fruits you have in your refrigerator - the original recipe called for stone/summer fruits but I used the figs from our backyard. 

Just a disclaimer: figs release lots of syrupy juices. Do not crowd them. I did that with a tart and it looked gorgeous before baking ... but it came out a wet mess! I can't wait to try this with pears, peaches, nectarines, a handful of berries, etc. 

Feel free to make adjustments to the almond meal and flours. The original recipe called for 3/4 cup almond meal and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour but I ran out of almond meal ... and then I ran out of all-purpose flour ... so I made do with that I had. But the ratio was fantastic. The sugar on top created a nice caramelization on the top, esp at the edges of the cake.

Moelleux of Fruits (Almond Cake)

Adapted from David Lebovitz

6 figs (or other fruits; enough to half and slice into 3/4-1" thick wedges)
1/4 cup almond meal (I ground my own almonds - 1 cup almonds with 1 Tbsp sugar)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
4 ounces (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp almond extract)
1 Tbsp coarse granulated brown sugar, such as tubinado sugar (or in my case, three packages of Sugar in the Raw which I took from a coffee shop)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan with butter or non-stick spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the different flours, baking powder and granulated sugar with a silicon spatula. Add the room temperature butter and mix it in with the spatula until it's broken up into little pieces and thoroughly mixed - it should look shaggy and kind of like wet sand with small bunched chunks in it. Stir in the eggs and vanilla extract. It's fine if there are small pieces of butter visible.

Pour the batter into the pan and smooth out the top with the silicon spatula. Arrange the fruit prettily on top of the cake - if using stone fruits or pears, place the wedges of fruit on their sides in concentric circles, snugly against each other. Press them gently into the batter, about 1/4 inch down. Avoid putting the fruits right up against the sides of the pan, to leave some room for the batter to rise.

Sprinkle the coarse sugar evenly over the top and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean, approx 1 hour. Start checking around the 45 minute parm. Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack. If any fruit juices have bubbled up and stuck to the sides of the pan, run a knife around the outside of the cake, which will help it release later.

After 15 minutes, then remove the springform portion while the cake is still warm.

Pork & Napa Cabbage Dumplings

So I've never made dumplings at home before! My grandma always kicked us out of the kitchen and wrapped all 1000 of them herself (give or take on the number of dumplings). I've only made wontons before (and it was almost ten years ago), shaping them into "nurse hats" the way my grandma taught me. It's pretty calming and meditative to wrap them too.

The complaint that my mom and brother had with my wontons were that the meat was "too hard" instead of being soft and tender. Looking back, I probably should have added more water to the pork, and some vegetables. My grandma told me her recipe in that classic way - get some pork hind butt meat, make sure there's enough fat, add some ginger and white pepper, make sure you add some water, take four chopsticks and stir clockwise, then wrap your dumplings. SMH.

I scoured the internets to look for a bunch of recipes, then Frankenstein-ed something together. Feel free to change things around but make sure there is a 40% ratio of meat to vegetable and a 5:8 ratio of meat to water (LOL now I sound like my grandma, but with just vague numbers).

I also didn't try to make my own skins, but that's also something you can do if you want. There is a recipe for dumpling skins here. It's definitely easy to buy them (freeze whatever you have left over for the next wrapping session) and keep in mind ... dumpling/potsticker skins are the same (round), wonton skins are different (square).

I need to learn how to pleat dumplings the "gyoza" way ... these were done by M and I thought he would do different than the mash-in-half-then-pleat method haha

Pork & Napa Cabbage Dumplings
Makes approx 35

Napa or regular cabbage

2 tsp sea salt

Chop the cabbage into tiny pieces, like almost-minced. Season with 2 tsp salt and let it sit for 10 minutes to draw out the water. Scrape into a paper towel or into a kitchen towel and then squeeze out all the water possible. Measure the weight and use 40% more ground pork than the amount of cabbage and adjust the measurements below

150 grams dehydrated cabbage
210 grams seasoned ground pork
1/2 tsp sea salt
50-60 milliliters water
Pinch white pepper powder
1/2 tsp white or dark sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp grated ginger
One finely chopped green or spring onion

Mix all ingredients thoroughly together with a spoon. Don't overwork the meat mixture or it will become tough. The vegetables and water should make the meat "soft" for the dumplings. Let the mixture sit for an hour to marry the flavors, then fill and pleat the wrappers in the form you like best.

Fresh Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

I wasn't quite sure what to think when I came across a recipe for a fresh tomato blended pasta sauce. But I had a ton of basil left over from my Thao Family Farms CSA box and wanted to do something with very little cooking in this heat. And optimally, as little dishes as possible (even though I don't do dishes in this household).

Don't let the photo fool you, this sauce was fantastic! And required just a food processor and a pot.

Fresh Tomato & Almond Pasta Sauce

Serves 4

1 lb pasta of choice
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 pint small tomatoes, any kind (I used grape)
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/2 cup fresh basil (you can mix basil and parsley)

1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 olive oil

Optional (since you'll need another pan): toast the almonds in a dry pan over low heat until they're golden and smell good. It bring out the flavor of the nuts more and adds to the dish.

Cook pasta according to package directions. While it's boiling, put the tomatoes, almonds, herbs, salt and Parmesan cheese in a food processor and puree. Scrape down the food processor bowl and turn it back on; then slowly drizzle the olive oil into the spout until the sauce comes together. Taste for seasoning and add extra salt, if necessary.

Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Garnish with additional Parmesan and shredded basil.

Rigatoni with Eggplant and Tomato Puree

Just for the record, I did not put the pasta into this bowl - that's why it looks so messy. But the taste of it was fantastic. We all loved it and 100% would make it again. The sauce consist of pureed eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and basil. Different than usual tomato sauce and so much flavor!

Rigatoni with Eggplant and Tomato Puree
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Serves 4

1 medium Italian eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)
1 lb rigatoni pasta
1/2 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup basil leaves, julienned

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

 Spread the eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, 2.5 Tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper out in an even layer on the baking sheet; toss thoroughly to combine. Roast in the oven until the vegetables are tender and the eggplant is golden and slightly charred, about 35 minutes.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just before al dente, approximately 8-10 minutes depending on the pasta. Reserve one cup of pasta water, drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

Transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor or blender. Add the basil leaves and 3 Tbps olive oil. Blend until almost smooth. My food processor is small, so I had to do this in two batches, splitting the olive oil, basil and vegetables in half each time.

Mix the pureed sauce and 1/2 cup pasta water with the rigatoni thoroughly and cook everything together over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add more pasta cooking water if necessary to loosen the sauce, about 1/4 cup at a time.

Turn off the heat and mix in the Parmesan and additional basil.

* optional to add ricotta salata instead of Parmesan and/or 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts