New Potatoes with Mustard Oil Herb Salsa

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Get acquainted with mustard oil with this punchy potato salad.
Get acquainted with mustard oil with this punchy potato salad.

Some like it hot.

Not the scorching inferno down the throat type.

But a clear-the-sinuses, combustion-of-the-nose kind of way.

Like wasabi or horseradish.

Only, this happens to be golden, viscous mustard oil.

It offers a similar kick in the nostrils, but also has a sharpness and nuttiness. It also has a high smoke point, making it versatile enough to use either as a finishing or cooking oil.

I had a chance to play around with it after receiving a sample of Yandilla Mustard Seed Oil ($22.95 for a 500ml bottle), made in Australia.

The only FDA-approved mustard oil.
The only FDA-approved mustard oil.

It bills itself as the only food-grade mustard oil in the United States that is FDA approved, thanks to its very low level of erucic acid.

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Striped Bass and Kimchi Stew

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Striped bass fillets cooked in a punchy kimchi-laced broth.
Striped bass fillets cooked in a punchy kimchi-laced broth.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When it gives you jars of kimchi, make warming fish and kimchi stew.

I almost always have a jar of kimchi in my fridge. And you should, too. It comes in so handy for everything from fried rice to breakfast eggs to mac ‘n’ cheese.

“Striped Bass and Kimchi Stew” is a recipe by cook and food editor Rick A. Martinez, as published in the New York Times.

This recipe is based on the classic Korean dish, kimchi-jjigae, the stew of kimchi, seafood, pork or tofu that comes bubbling ferociously in an iron pot to your table at a Korean restaurant.

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Where I’ve Been Getting Takeout of Late, Part 24

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Mel Canares' fried chicken sandwich -- photographed on the hood of my car.
Mel Canares’ fried chicken sandwich — photographed on the hood of my car.

Cocina Canares, South San Francisco

Mel Canares doesn’t really have a name yet for his fried chicken sandwich joint — at least one that’s printable in a family blog (ahem), as evidenced by his Instagram handle. Cocina Canares, another moniker by which he sometimes refers to it, actually doesn’t even have a real bona fide structure, either.

Instead, Canares, a former corporate chef for Genentech, cooks and serves his fried chicken sandwich out of his backyard in South San Francisco.

He serves one thing, and only one thing — that sandwich.

And he does so only one day of the week — Sunday.

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Roasted Chicken Thighs with — Wait, What?

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Barbecue sauce-slathered chicken thighs with a surprising ingredient.
Barbecue sauce-slathered chicken thighs with a surprising ingredient.

These chicken thighs get roasted in the oven in no time flat, and slathered with a barbecue sauce that has an unlikely ingredient.

Peanut butter.

Make that creamy, too, not chunky.

It’s the taste of the American South meets Indonesia.

“Roasted Chicken Thighs with Peanut Butter Barbecue Sauce” is a fun and delightful recipe by Kay Chun, a recipe developer and editor, that was printed in the New York Times.

Not just for sandwiches with jelly.
Not just for sandwiches with jelly.

The peanut butter really thickens up this barbecue sauce, giving it a nutty, rich taste reminiscent of satay, but with added sweetness, spiciness and tang.

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Where I’ve Been Getting Takeout of Late, Part 23

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Spicy nduja pizza from Terun.
Spicy nduja pizza from Terun.

Terun, Palo Alto

I know I’m not the only one cheering that “Stanley Tucci’s Searching For Italy” has been picked up for a second season on CNN, even if every episode has sent me binging on carbs to high heaven.

So, it’s no wonder that after last week’s episode, I found my way to Terun in Palo Alto’s California Ave. Brothers Franco and Maico Campilongo, and their friend, chef Kristyan d’Angelo, all of whom hail from Italy, opened the doors in 2012 to serve authentic Southern Italian fare.

This place takes Neopolitan pizza seriously. In fact, it’s one of the few restaurants in California that is a member of the American Delegation of the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, a non-profit that recognizes restaurants outside of Italy that meet strict standards and traditions of Neapolitan pizza making.

Fava beans and broccoli rabe with cheesy crostini hidden below.
Fava beans and broccoli rabe with cheesy crostini hidden below.

At Terun, the pies are cooked over wood in a blistering Marr Forni Neapolitan oven. There are 13 different pizzas available. Plus, you can add extra ingredients to any of them for an additional cost, if you like.

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