Category Archives: Recipes (Savory)

Stewing About Weather

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OK, it’s nearly summer and I’m still making stew.

What gives?

Hey, I wasn’t the one that ordered up last week’s crazy, uncharacteristic rainstorm in the Bay Area. Is it global warming? A freak occurrence that doesn’t mean anything? Or?

I like to think of it as Mother Nature’s way of telling me there’s still a little time left to enjoy one of my favorite methods of cooking — braising hearty vegetables with a tough, economical cut of meat in  one big ol’ pot on the stove or in the oven until they all turn tender and irresistible.

When I get the hankering for great stew, I often turn to “Braises and Stews” (Chronicle Books) by San Francisco food writer Tori Ritchie. It’s loaded with comforting dishes that are simple to prepare. Best yet, Ritchie’s renditions often take a little less time than other, standard versions found elsewhere.

Her “Harvest Pork Stew with Pumpkin” is a fall dish, to be sure. I changed it up to “Pork Stew with Kabocha” because I love the sweet, nutty, starchy Japanese squash enough to eat it practically year-round. You probably do, too, as it’s a standard in restaurant tempura.

By the way, a great tip to make cutting up a hard kabocha a little easier? Microwave the whole squash for a minute or so until the nearly impenetrable exterior softens enough so that you can get a cleaver or tip of a sharp, heavy-duty chef’s knife into it without much trouble.

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Upscale Tuna Noodle Casserole

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I get a kick out of foams, froths, sous vide, and all the other modern wonders of molecular gastronomy.

But sometimes, I just want to kick it old-school.

And it doesn’t get any more back-in-the-day nostalgic than tuna noodle casserole.

Like so many of you, I grew up on the beloved casserole made with cream of mushroom soup and canned tuna baked in the trusty ol’ Pyrex dish.

That’s why when I spied the recipe for “Campanile Tuna Noodle Casserole” in the cookbook, “New Classic Family Dinners” (Wiley), I knew I had to make it. The book is by Chef Mark Peel of Campanile, that beloved landmark restaurant in Los Angeles, which you must try if you haven’t yet.

This dish can actually be found on the menu there, and it’s always a hit with children and adults alike, Peel writes.

I can see why, because it’s a taste of childhood but with way better ingredients and punched-up flavor.

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Tasty Tofu and Tomatoes

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One of the advantages of being the youngest in the family was that I was doted on by all manner of aunties, uncles and cousins.

One of the biggest drawbacks, though, was that by the time I was born, all but one of my grand-parents had already passed away.

My mother’s mother was still alive when I was a toddler. But by that time, she was quite advanced in age, bed-ridden, and being cared for by another of her daughters. Worse, my grandmother spoke no English. And I spoke no Cantonese.

I would run into her bedroom to say hello, as best I could. She would respond in Chinese, as she lay in bed. If my Mom or aunt were not present to translate, I would have no idea what she had just said. I’d smile meekly, and just nod, not knowing what else to do.

So, when I hear folks talk nostalgically about the wonderful food their grandmother cooked for them when they were growing up, I get wistful, because I never had that magical experience.

Which is why “The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook (Sasquatch Book) touches my heart so. It was written by my friend, Patricia Tanumihardja, who grew up in Singapore and now lives on the Monterey Peninsula.

Pat interviewed and cooked with Asian grandmothers, mothers and aunts to create this book of 130 recipes for home-style dishes that might otherwise have never been written down and might have faded away from memory.

Dishes such as this super simple, “Deep-Fried Tofu Simmered with Tomatoes,” that’s perfect on a harried weeknight.

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Craving Corn

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Now that fresh corn on the cob season is slowly getting under way, what better time to enjoy a dish packed with corny flavor?

“Turkey-Andouille-Pinto Bean Tamale Potpie with Corn Bread” is a recipe I concocted after saving this recipe for “Pork Tamale Potpie with Corn Bread” from the February 1990 issue of Gourmet magazine. It makes use of fresh or frozen corn, and has the bonus of a corn bread topper.

As you can tell I took a few liberties with the original recipe by adding diced andouille sausage, pinto beans and chipotle cheddar, as well as substituting ground turkey for ground pork.

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A Delicious Mother’s Day Remembrance

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My Mom was like the Chinese-American June Cleaver.

For those of you too young to remember the 1960’s black-and-white television comedy, “Leave It to Beaver,” actress Barbara Billingsley played Mrs. Cleaver, a devoted wife in suburbia, caring for her hard-working husband, and two sons — the elder, Wally, and the younger, mischievous, Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver.

No matter what scrapes Beaver got into, Mrs. Cleaver never had a hair out of place.

And no matter if she was just vacuuming or tidying up the house, June Cleaver was always decked out immaculately in a fitted shirt, bouffant skirt, heels, and pearls.

My late-Mom may not have gone that far. But she was close.

My cousin Gary jokes that at a family barbecue at his house years ago, where everyone else turned up in T-shirts, jeans, shorts or chinos, there was my Mom — in a smart skirt and blouse ensemble, with a jade bracelet on her wrist.

There were no “Casual Fridays” back when she was working, so this was my Mom’s uniform, so to speak, whether she was at work at her office in San Francisco, or chatting with visiting relatives in her living room at home.

Even when she did housework, my Mom dressed in a simple shift, with buttons down the front or a zipper up the back, which she often had sewed, herself.

The idea of sweats or shorts on the weekends never entered her imagination. I don’t recall her wearing a pair of jeans. Nope, not ever.

In fact, I rarely even saw her in slacks. I think she only owned a pair or two. And they came out of the closet only to be packed in a suitcase when she and my Dad would take a cruise.

I look at old snapshots of her now and that’s the Mom that I see. Graceful, delicate, dainty, and neat as a pin.

Which is why whenever I make her dish of “Prawns with Pork and Black Bean Sauce,” I can’t help but smile, because it’s a bit messy.

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