Iced Matcha & Lemon Loaf Cake

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St. Patrick's Day calls for a green cake.
St. Patrick’s Day calls for a green cake.

St. Patrick’s Day calls for something green — and sweet.

Thankfully, Mother Nature provides the perfect natural green food coloring in the form of matcha, the Japanese ceremonial tea.

That’s what gives this cake and frosting its vivid hue.

“Iced Matcha & Lemon Loaf Cake” is a lovely dessert, both to look at and to eat.

It’s from the book, “Good & Proper Tea: How to Make, Drink and Cook with Tea” (Kyle, 2019), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Emilie Holmes, an avowed non-coffee drinker in the United Kingdom, who started her own company, Good & Proper Tea, to source and sell top-notch whole-leaf teas. With crowd-funding resources, she first started an adorable mobile tea bar out of a converted 1974 Citroen in 2012 before opening a brick-and-mortar tea shop and cafe in 2019.

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Ama’s Anchovy Pork Asada

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Anchovies in the marinade give this grilled pork extra oomph.
Anchovies in the marinade give this grilled pork extra oomph.

How do I love anchovies?

Let me count the ways.

I love them in Caesar salad so much that when a waiter queries if I want anchovies, I almost take the bait and ask for extra.

I think many a pizza just isn’t complete without them arrayed lavishly overtop.

I find tomato sauces just a little flat without their depth.

And I always have tins of them stocked in my pantry.

So of course when I spotted “Anchovy Pork Asada” in the new “Ama: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen” (Chronicle Books, 2019) cookbook, of which I received a review copy, I knew I had to try making it.

The cookbook was written by Josef Centeno, chef-owner of the Centeno Group of restaurants in Los Angeles that includes Bar Ama, Baco Mercat, Orsa & Winston; and Betty Hallock, formerly deputy food editor of the Los Angeles Times.

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Pomegranate-Glazed Roasted Quail

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Quail is definitely worth seeking out.
Quail is definitely worth seeking out.

Quail is one of the unsung heroes of fast cooking.

These little birds, with flavorful dark meat, cook up in no time flat.

In fact, it may take longer to hunt them down at a store — than to actually prepare them at home.

When Sprouts first opened, I rejoiced that its freezer section was regularly stocked with frozen quail. However, that ended more than a year ago. Then, I was relieved to find them in the freezer case of Whole Foods. Again, that was short-lived. Now, I grab them when I can find them lurking in the corner of the freezers at Zanotto’s in San Jose. Fingers crossed that they keep being a staple there.

I wish more people would give them a try. They are slightly duck-like in taste, and cook in about 10 minutes on the backyard grill or about 15 minutes in the oven.

“Pomegranate-Glazed Roasted Quail” is a no-brainer to make at home. It’s easy-peasy, and delicious with tangy-sweet-fruity pomegranate molasses scented with cinnamon and thyme glazed all over.

The recipe is from “The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook: 500 Vibrant, Kitchen-Tested Recipes for Living and Eating Well Every Day” by America’s Test Kitchen.

The cookbook, of which I received a review copy, is a wealth of judiciously tested recipes with Mediterranean influences. Savor everything from “Mussels Escabeche,” “Spiced Fava Bean Soup” and “Bulgur Salad with Grapes and Feta” to “Pan-Roasted Halibut with Chermoula,” “Spanish Grilled Octopus Salad with Orange and Bell Pepper,” and “Fig Phyllo Cookies.”

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Trailblazer Tavern — A Fantastical Taste of Hawaii, and Beyond

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Fried chicken -- Trailblazer Tavern-style.
Fried chicken — Trailblazer Tavern-style.

San Francisco’s Trailblazer Tavern — a collaboration between home-grown Chef Michael Mina, Honolulu chefs and husband-and-wife Wade Ueoka and Michelle Karr-Ueoka, and Marc Benioff’s Salesforce — is full of whimsy from the get-go.

Enter through the Salesforce East building’s lobby and be greeted by a lifelike LED-projection of fish swimming overhead, giving the impression of being at an actual aquarium. There are also playful, cartoon-ish sculptures of a bear, goat, Albert Einstein, and Astro — all part of the official Salesforce Trailblazer Crew, who are meant to represent how the company blazes new trails.

That extends to the restaurant, which opened in late 2018 to serve modern, upscale Hawaiian food in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

Part of the Trailblazer Crew.
Part of the Trailblazer Crew.
So, apparently, is Einstein.
So, apparently, is Einstein.

This is not the first partnership between Mina, Ueoka, and Karr-Ueoka, The couple also opened Burger Hale inside Mina’s The Street Food Hall in Honolulu.

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Mustard, Mustard — Everywhere: French Green Lentils with A Trio of Mustards

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Dig into this triple-mustard delight.
Dig into this triple-mustard delight.

If there is one thing that is always in my fridge, it is jars of mustard. That’s plural, because there is always more than one.

Dijon, stone-ground, brown, and yellow — it’s usually all there, to smear on sandwiches and sausages, to whisk into vinaigrettes, to flavor pork roasts, and to stir into velvety pan sauces for chicken.

As a bona fide mustard fiend, it’s no surprise that a recipe for “French Green Lentils with A Trio of Mustards” caught my eye — big-time. That’s because it incorporates not one, not two, but three types of mustard, as in Dijon, mustard seeds, and fresh mustard greens. How genius is that?

The recipe is from the wonderful new cookbook, “Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World’s Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy.

This authoritative bean bible is by Joe Yonan, James Beard Award-winning the food and dining editor of the Washington Post.

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