Category: Tasty Recipes

Hangtown Fry

Eggs, Bacon, Oysters
According to legend, during the California Gold Rush in the mid-1800’s, one fortunate prospector struck gold near a settlement called Hangtown, now the thriving city of Placerville. He was RICH! After subsisting on nothing more than beans since he reached California, he requested that the innkeepers at the El Dorado Hotel prepare him the most extravagant meal available. It consisted of eggs, bacon, and fresh oysters. Exactly how they prepared it is anyone’s guess, but here, I present you with our version of the legendary Hangtown Fry.

Bacon is sliced and sautéed. The fat is reserved for cooking the oysters.

Imagine the process of getting fresh oysters to Hangtown (about 130 miles) from San Francisco Bay in 1849…
Pacific coast oysters are dusted in flour, dipped in egg, coated with panko breadcrumbs then sautéed in the bacon fat with vegetable oil.

Eggs are scrambled in a non-stick skillet, whisking constantly to create a small creamy curd. Bacon is added near the end of cooking.
Original California Cuisine – The Hangtown Fry
Other oyster recipes you might enjoy:

With what meal would you celebrate your good fortune?
Mine would definitely involve Champagne…

Mushroom Egg Foo Young with Gravy

mushroom egg foo young

Mushroom Egg Foo Young
UPDATE:
A newer recipe for Egg Foo Young is now posted here.
 
I grew up in Chicago.
Every Sunday we would have Chinese take-out for dinner.
As a kid, one of my favorite dishes was the mysterious egg foo young.
Back then, the only ingredient that I knew it contained for sure, was egg.

Blend 4 eggs with 2 T. flour, then add a finely chopped shallot, a couple sliced scallions, chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

Add about a cup each of chopped bean sprouts and cooked brown mushrooms.

Heat vegetable oil in an omelette pan then ladle in half of the egg mixture. This recipe makes 2.  Cook over medium high heat until the bottom browns. Finish cooking the top side under the broiler.

Meanwhile prepare the gravy by making a light brown roux with 2 T. each vegetable oil and flour. Slowly add a cup of beef (or vegetable) stock, finish with a splash of dry sherry, salt and pepper to taste.

Place a serving platter on the pan and flip the egg foo young over onto the platter.
Top with gravy and garnish with scallions and parsley.
Egg Foo Young, demystified and delicious.
Do you remember an exotic dish from your childhood?
 
UPDATE:
A newer recipe for Egg Foo Young is now posted here.

Grilled Rack of Lamb, Haricot Vert Amandine

Grilled Rack of Lamb with Herbed Hawaiian Red Salt
Mint Vinegar Sauce
Haricot Vert Tossed with Roasted Walnut Oil, Marcona Almonds

A special thank you to Peter of Kalofagas blog, and ultimately Bobby Flay, for the idea to crust the lamb with herbed salt. Here I took fresh mint, parsley and dill and blended in a food processor with Hawaiian Red Salt.

Hawaiian Red Salt
A small amount of harvested reddish Hawaiian clay called alaea enriches the sea salt with iron-oxide.
The traditional red salt originated on Kauai, where red volcanic clay mingled with sea salt during heavy rains. Evaporation created Hawaiian Red Alaea Sea Salt.
The herbed salt looked like little jewels, watermelon tourmaline crystals to be exact. Beautiful!

The rack was removed from the refrigerator about an hour before cooking. It is massaged with fresh ground pepper and the herbed salt. (You can also wrap each bone with strips of aluminum foil to keep them from blackening).

Place lamb rack on the hot grill with a remote thermometer inserted into the meat. Close the lid and turn the fire to medium. It is important to watch as there may be fire flare-ups. If so, douse with a sprinkle of water. Turn the rack over once. When the temperature reaches 140 degrees (for medium-pink) remove the lamb from the grill and let it rest. Once the lamb was removed from the heat the temperature went up to 155 degrees while resting, then when it came back down to 140, it was sliced. I like to use the temperature to determine when the meat is ready to be sliced.

Very little of the juices were lost when slicing by waiting for the temperature to come back down. This method gave us juicy and smokey medium-pink chops exceptionally well-seasoned with the herbed salt and pepper.

In the meantime it is a snap to make a tasty mint vinegar sauce to complement the lamb. And to whomever it was that came up with the idea to pair not just mint, but vinegar too, with lamb, thank you very much.

The haricot vert are steamed then tossed with Hawaiian red salt, roasted walnut oil, and Spanish marcona almonds.
If you haven’t cooked a rack of lamb on the grill, you just might want to give this smokey version a try!

Wild Caught Petrale Sole, Two Sauces

Fresh Wild Pacific Northwest Petrale Sole
Honey Teriyaki and Tahini Drizzle
Cilantro and Pickled Ginger

Here I lightly flour and season the fish then sauté in half butter half olive oil over medium heat. The sole is plated then drizzled with Honey Teriyaki and Tahini sauces and topped with Cilantro and Pickled Ginger.

The is a monthly competition involving creativity and three ingredients hosted by The current month’s ingredients are picked by last month’s victor, Peter of Kalofagas, who chose ingredients that sang to me:
  • Seafood
  • Cilantro
  • Sesame

Wine Recommendation: M.Chapoutier Belleruche Côtes du Rhône Rosé
Do I expect to win the JOUST, just by drizzling two bottled sauces on a piece of fish and topping it with the third ingredient? No way. But I so loved the synergism of the elements of this dish, I do believe it is worthy of sharing.

Other Petrale Sole Recipes:
Sole Meunière in honor of Julia Child

Steamed Green Curry & Shrimp Custards

Love of Steamed Savory Custard – Part II

Please refer to the previous post for the basic recipe. This time we tweaked it and came up with something that pleasantly surprised us. We used half of the coconut milk in the original recipe and substituted light cream. We also added a teaspoon of Thai Green Curry paste to the milk infusion.

So here is my lovely bamboo steamer which is the optimal vessel for steaming this custard as it absorbs excess moisture and prevents condensation from dripping on the food. It sits atop my new toy: A Viking Portable Electric Induction Cooker (I will definitely post more on this baby later).

Shrimp were cooked in olive oil with salt and pepper until just slightly underdone. Cooled and sliced into thirds horizontally. The lemongrass/ginger/green curry custard was ladled into the cups. Several shrimp slices were added, then cilantro, chives, and razor-thin sliced Serrano pepper. Since the shrimp sinks to the bottom, we held back a slice of shrimp per cup, then added it 5 minutes before the end of cooking so there would be a shrimp on top too.

The ramekins worked great yesterday but aren’t these cute dishes, lid and all? We picked them up at Mitsuwa that morning. Steam without the lid, it is just for presentation purposes. Oh, and we enjoyed this alfresco as well…lovin’ summertime!