Category: cooking

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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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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

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our 37th wedding anniversary is saturday

000LauraSweetAndSourPlate
sweet & sour pork a la Laurie

By now, if you know us, then you are aware of how important the right food can be to mark a special occasion, be it: a great geographical landmark, our various travels, new cultures and their people, or even major seismic events. After all, cuisine is the international tongue that speaks to us all clearly. The expression “Breaking bread” ,and sharing a meal, has always been the first step to gaining an understanding of those around you… and  you may remember in Sunday School how Jesus was recognized by his style in breaking and sharing bread.

In any event, Saturday marks Laura and my 37th wedding anniversary. Believe it or not, there is actually a stone or material to mark this unusual anniversary, it is  ALABASTER. Hmmmm … I guess I could buy Laura an 8′ chunk of wall board… but that doesn’t sound very romantic…  unless you view it as something  to strengthen a well loved home.

Back to food, around the time of the Beijing Olympics , Laura was searching for one of her favorite Chinese meals to fully enjoy the festive occasion. She found a wonderful recipe for sweet and sour pork and added her own twist of vegetables. This will be our anniversary dinner as well.

Here is the recipe and Laura’s variation

Now, what to buy? …….. Is ten sheets of wall board too much?

Roger

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the cliff notes to French cooking

a nice little book to have around the kitchen
a nice little book to have around the kitchen

One of the things that I have enjoyed in reading the works of  Chef Escoffier was his frustration with the turn of the century trend towards simplification of recipes. His praise of inventiveness and hope for the development of new and wondrous recipes reflects someone who believes that not everything has been discovered. He was a master chef who was continually willing to explore . Who can argue with that?

This little book is part dictionary and part recipe short hand that gives both the professional and the amateur a wonderful reference. Here is the Escoffier shorthand for an entree I made other other day:

“LOBSTER THERMIDOR: Dress the collups in halved carapaces and coat with Bercy reduction and mustard cohered with Mornay sauce, glaze.”

In case you are staring at this with glazed eyes, here are a few definitions to help understand the shorthand:

MORNAY SAUCE: Béchamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added.
(Béchamel sauce is made by whisking scalded milk — or cream in the old way — gradually into a white flour and butter roux)

BERCY BUTTER: a sauce made with a reduction of white wine with shallots, butter, marrow, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper.

COLLOPS: thin slices of meat.

CARAPACE: the thick hard shield of  lobsters

To take a quote from the preface:

In using the Répertoire, one learns — or will be reminded — of largely forgotten categories like Dessert Croutes (even though Pain Dore became the All-American favorite — French Toast). Le Répertoire de La Cuisine  is not a book of abstraction, but a handy, brilliantly conceived, easily compressed compendium of everything you should know about the organized system of the culinary arts.

One of the truism of the book can be found in an obscure passage:

“The better the ingredients employed, the better will be the final result.”

Bon Appetite

Roger

PS. this beautiful handbook can be purchased very inexpensively on Amazon.com