Category: Dear Dad

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Madame Wu and the art of chinese cooking

Madame Wu's Cookbook -- buy it if you can find it!
Madame Wu's Cookbook -- buy it if you can find it!

Whenever Laura and I could save enough, we would make the journey to Madame Wu’s for a very special dinner. Considering dinner for us struggling students meant coming up with a weeks pay for dinner for two, we valued the times we were able to come and dine.

I have wanted a copy of Madame Wu’s cookbook for quite some time, but I have had a bit of a wait. Her cookbook I love was printed in 1973 ( the year after Laura and I were married) and her recipes are simple, yet wonderful. Her specialty at the time was Wu’s Beef, one of my many favorites. She speaks — as some of us sometimes do — that the culinary world is as important to a culture as art and science… and I agree.

“The first condition on learning how to eat is how to talk about it. Only in a society wherein people of culture and refinement inquire after a cook’s health, instead of talking about the weather, can the art of cuisine be developed. No food is really enjoyed unless it is keenly anticipated, discussed, eaten and then commented on….. as the poets of yore praised good Chinese food, so will you!”

I hope Laura doesn’t find the recipe for “Cashew Shrimp” or I’ll never get her out of the kitchen. In the meantime, I plan to prepare and enjoy every recipe in her lovely and simple book.

Roger

PS. Madame Wu has returned to Los Angeles near their farmer’s market under the name MADAME WU’S ASIAN BISTRO & SUSHI. It won’t take a week’s salary anymore as it is most affordable… and I hope to try it the next time we’re in town.

(323) 965-8150

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ye best cooks have some pirate blood

that be pirate cookies, matey!
that be pirate cookies, matey!

Aye learned told long ago that many o’ th’ best chefs an’ cooks had a wee bit o’ seafarin’ hearty blood in them! Some might say that they be willin’ t’ throw the’r ethics t’ th’ wind an’ `steal` a recipe or two.

However, I be thinkin’ what be really goin’ on be th’ continual thirst fer ideas an’ a new perspective on on th’ horizon!  Fresh sassy ideas an’ new ships are worthy plunder!

Me recipes be nay fer th’ fainthearted as they require a lot o’ work, many more ingredients an’ much more time t’ prepare than most swabbies be willin’ t’ spend. I be havin’ t’ say though  th’ final result be ample reward fur th’ journey.

Recently one sea dog around these waters tried t’ steal me recipe fer  Gingerbread cookies. However, aye recaptured me scuttled notes an’ I be now makin’ th’ requested cookies fer me lass Kristin in Iraq.

`Tis clear sailin’  fer me cookies now, matey.

argh

Roger

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sweet & sour pork is a great anniversary dinner

sweet & sour pork a la Laura
sweet & sour pork a la Laura

Laura and I work well together… however, when we are both in the kitchen it becomes a bit of a struggle… but making this wonderful dish brought us together for our anniversary… now 37 years married.

Here’s the recipe!

We married at the ripe old age of 20 and one of our favorite places to go was  “Madame Wu’s” in Santa Monica. MW’s was a gourmet Chinese restaurant … a bit unique for the time but a wonderful experience. Making this particular ‘sweet & sour pork’ recipe brought those fond memories back.

The future is always uncertain, but I hope we have many more of these wonderful years and incomparable meals!

Roger

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remembering is more than not forgetting

My daughter Karla also remembers .....
My daughter Karla also remembers .....

Karla wrote about what she remembers of the day:

I was at home, at our house. I just woke up from my sleep and I was walking in the hallway to get a snack from the kitchen. I remembered that Mom or Dad was talking to a friend on the phone, saying “Oh no! Look what happened to the World Trade Center!” and then they went to their bedroom to watch the news on TV to see what happened. Karen was at school at SMU that day. Kristin was in a Officer’s Basic Course in Missouri before being stationed in Seattle at Fort Lewis. That same day I was drawing in my room and listening to my radio walkman. I was only 17 years old that day. Even so, but still. I feel very sorry for the poor families who lost their loved ones on that day. I hope a day like this never happens again. Not only the day affected the United States, but also affected most other countries altogether. We shall never forget.

Thank you Karla,

Dad

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making concord grape jam in san luis obispo

making Concord Gram Jam in San Luis Obispo
making Concord Gram Jam in San Luis Obispo

We can grow a lot of great things in our county and almost every variety of grape, except Concord I am told. So there lay the challenge! Some 20 plus years ago, I received a concord grape cutting from New York and planted it where I thought we would get the most wind chill. Our side of the world has a daily afternoon typhoon that will really bring the wind chill down at night… making for great bonfires and — of course — concord grapes. The dusting on the grapes is actually natural yeast, something that doesn’t usually happen in a vineyard until it is quite mature… things started to ferment right away when I pressed the grapes and for a moment I thought I might make wine instead…

Rather than just snack on our grapes this year, we endeavored to make some jam! There required a little more preparation than I intended, I went out and bought a ‘food mill’ from Bed , Bath & Beyond to easily separate out the troublesome seeds. We have many wild blackberries and such in the area and for years we were surrounded by them (think Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and you get the idea!) So, this is the first time we actually needed anything like a food mill.

Concord has a lot of its own pectin so many recipes exclude adding any… and I wanted to use honey rather than any other sugar… so we did a bit of recipe tweaking.

I am looking forward to toast tomorrow at breakfast! BTW, my daughter drew me as  ‘chef bear’ …a family moniker.

Roger