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Combining one of our fine foods from across the blue planet with our light and flavorful white asparagus conservas, should you take the time to whip this together for an afternoon tapa, upon the first bite you will nod with delighted satisfaction.
Total Time: Minimal. We're talking a moment of whisking and a couple minutes toasting. That's it.
1. For the vinaigrette, mix olive oil, vinegar, garlic, and Mala spice mix. If you end up with extra, it's a nice salad dressing, too.
2. Toast the bread, and while you wait slice the white asparagus spears. As you do.
3. Put all of these things together: toast, baby spinach, white asparagus, vinaigrette, chickpea crumbs.
Adapted from the Fly By Jing's Mala chicken tenders recipe.
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As part of our Fine Foods from Across the Blue Planet series, where we'll be featuring a selection of some things we think work well with what we offer, or that we just plain enjoy, we'll also be providing recipes and serving suggestions. This is the first of such things.
Apologies to anyone skilled at folding dumplings for what you see here. It was an honest effort.
Total Time: I don't know.
1. Get a nice big bowl and mix together everything above save the dumpling skins and sauce itself. In what quantities? That's up to you and what you desire. For the dumplings in the photograph, three tins of sardines were mixed with one egg and about a tablespoon of everything else, with the scallions thrown in at random. It worked.
2. Once you have your sardine mix, lay out your dumpling skins in preparation for folding. As noted, the skills exhibited in this regard are lacking, admittedly. If you need more guidance, turn to that which we all do, YouTube.
3. For the cooking portion, again, the choice is yours. Steam them in a rice cooker, drop into a pot of boiling water, fry them. The rice cooker steam method was used here, for about 30 minutes, which worked well except for some troubles with the dumplings sticking to the steaming tray. A learning experience.
Adapted from the Fly By Jing's "An Ode to Chengdu Zhong Dumplings" recipe.
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Maybe it's Tuesday! Maybe not! It doesn't really matter. Space-time is flexible and we can enjoy tacos on a Tuesday, a Wednesday, even a Sunday. If you aren't quite sure what day it is, all the better; because these tacos are too good to be contained by any mere construct like a calendar. They are tacos for whenever the perfect moment might occur. And that moment is now.
All three of these tinned fish taco recipes take little preparation while providing tremendous satisfaction to those who eat them. So, that's nice. As an added bonus, they can be served hot or cold. Warm the fish lightly in a pan, if you wish. Or don't. They'll work either way. That's how good they are.
Also, yes. The personal favorite of this writer and therefore the top taco of the trio is technically not a fish. But, it is seafood. Fish adjacent. That counts.
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Total Time: 4 minutes, 42 seconds. Or more. Or less. Again, space and time are fluid.
1. Put all of the above together in taco form, as pictured.
2. OK, a little more detail is warranted. The guacamole used here? Purchased at the local market. It's there, and it's great, so that saved a step. Making your own is of course easy enough and a very personal matter. Do what moves you. The roasted corn was also purchased roasted and perfect for the condiment it was always meant to be. The pickled red onions were made ahead of time, with brown sugar and apple cider vinegar and they are currently being used on just about everything.
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Total Time: Always approximate.
1. Make that taco.
2. The spiced sauce in the tin includes olive oil, carrot, cucumber, red pepper, onion, and secret spice, so this one was kept particularly simple. Does it need something more to truly elevate it to a top tier taco? Perhaps. Recommendations being accepted now.
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Total Time: So worth it.
1. The aforementioned top choice of this tremendous trio is no fish at all. You will not hold that against it. You will savor every bite.
2. This squid comes tinned in a Spanish interpretation of an American-style barbecue sauce, which is a fun conversation in its own right. Combine it with a honey mustard slaw? An unstoppable flavor force to be reckoned with.
3. The slaw is a mix of a bag of slaw (obviously), old-fashioned coarse grain mustard, honey, salt, black pepper, and a couple tablespoons of milk. Mostly following the proportions found in this recipe, with a certain disregard for actually measuring anything.
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A superb little sardine appetizer with lots of little sardines (and piquillo peppers).
Total Time: The time it takes to toast the garlic toast, if you've already made the pickled onions, which you should have.
1. There are many suggested variations on how best to pickle red onions. What is one of them? This is! Mostly what we're talking about here is a mixture of thinly sliced red onions, apple cider vinegar, salt, sugar, warm water. Let it sit. Be patient. You can store them in the refrigerator for a few weeks, easy. Use them for all sorts of things. Tacos, perhaps.
2. Make garlic toast. You probably have a favorite way of doing this. No? Here's how Rachael Ray makes garlic bread.
3. Place the sardinillas and piquillo pepper slices on top of those pieces of garlic toast, the pickled onions on top of that, and over it all give a few turns of the black pepper grinder.
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Salad? Put clams in it! Pasta? Put clams in it! Soup? Put clams in it! So much protein (seven grams per tin), so few calories (32 per tin), so good with just about everything. Tinned clams, particularly Donostia Foods Clams in Brine, which in our very biased opinion are the best, can improve your lunch with just the the pop of a tin.
Below are three quick and easy recipes to do just that.
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Total Time: 5 minutes.
1. In a bowl, mix clams, celery, onion, garlic, and parsley with the olive oil and some of the brine from the tin. Mix it good. Then squeeze that lemon over it all and mix some more.
2. Put all of that on top of that fresh butter lettuce and enjoy the fruit of your (not hard) labor.
3. In what quantities should the above ingredients be used? That's completely up to you. You got this.
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Total Time: 30 minutes, maybe, but you can make it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator, if time is of the essence.
1. In a pot, heat olive oil, then add onion, mushrooms, and garlic and sauté for a few minutes.
2. To that pot, add clams, carrots, soy sauce, ginger, sugar, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, lemon zest, vegetable stock and coconut milk. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15-20 minutes.
3. Adjust with more or less of those ingredients, or whatever you a believe would be a worthy addition.
4. Enjoy.
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Total Time: 10-15 minutes.
1. Boil some water and cook pasta to a perfect al dente. You got this.
2. In a pan on another burner, melt the butter and mix in the white wine.
3. In that pan mentioned in step two, add the perfect al dente pasta and clams and heat until you think, yeah, yeah I want to have dinner now. Squeeze the juice of the lemon all about and garnish with parsley and guindilla peppers.
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Looks as good as it tastes. A vegan option for an afternoon snack or party appetizer that will win raves.
Total Time: 5 minutes.
1. Toast that pita. Maybe cut it into nice little triangles before toasting, maybe after. Whatever you feel like doing in the moment.
2. While toasting that pita, slice up the extra thick white asparagus in properly proportioned pieces so they fit on those toasted triangles.
3. More slicing. Slice up some pistachios, if you have full pistachios on hand.
4. Mix za'atar, arguably the most fun spice to say, into the cream cheese, to taste.
5. Take that toasted pita out of the toaster and top first with the cream cheese and za'atar mixture, then the white asparagus, then the pieces of pistachios. Drizzle with olive oil and give everything a spritz of fresh lemon juice.
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If you're looking for a chef who reinvented school food service to bring sustainable, healthy, plant-based, locally-sourced, made from scratch meals to students of the Santa Barbara Unified School District, and founded an award-winning restaurant and music venue, look no further. You've found who you're looking for. Chef Nancy Weiss.
In a district of over 15,000 children, she restructured kitchens and retrained over a hundred employees to develop a program dedicated to bringing healthy and delicious food to all, even over summer vacation, so students know they will always have a fresh, wholesome meal prepared and waiting for them.
In an effort to be as environmentally friendly as possible, vegan dishes are included amongst those healthy and delicious meals. Kid-friendly menu ideas were introduced quietly, and the students, quite literally, ate them up. Now, half the meals at Santa Barbara Unified schools are vegan.
Some further evidence of Nancy's outstanding work and dedication to her community: 2018 Santa Barbara Independent Local Hero Award, The Spirit of Service Award (from the City of Santa Barbara for commitment to composting and sustainability), The Golden Carrot Award (from the physicians committee for responsible medicine) and The 2017 Congressional Woman of the Year Award.
For more information and to contact Nancy Weiss, please visit chefnancyweiss.com.
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Nancy Weiss is great. Jeff Bridges knows.
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The curry yogurt goes with a multitude of things, really. The octopus in olive oil is at the top of the list, but you can mix and match and concoct your own standout dish. Or just spread it all over some toast. That's good, too.
Total Time: 7 minutes.
1. In an appropriately sized bowl, mix together the yogurt, curry powder, lime juice, brown sugar, and salt. Do this all to taste, and make the sauce your own. Want even more spice? Add red pepper flakes. Want more sweetness? More brown sugar for you. Experiment. Learn about yourself. Emerge a better person for it.
2. In a pan, heat up the octopus until you get some nice charring.
3. Serve on a plate worthy of this delicious offering.
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The pinnacle of pizza, in no time at all? Yes. All who partake in this particular pizza will be pleased with their lunchtime decision, the afternoon to follow, life.
Total Time: 10 minutes.
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Put all the ingredients on top of the naan. How much of each is up to you. Make this your own.
2. Cook for 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is properly melted and the time is right to enjoy your creation.
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No need to complicate things when time is short and the ingredients are exquisite. Just three things are required for this astoundingly good appetizer.
Total Time: very little.
1. Lather those slices of a rustic loaf in olive oil and place them in a pan over medium-high heat. Cook until the desired, golden crispness.
2. Place anchovies, a lot or a little, on these toasts.
3. Enjoy.
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In San Sebastián, the biggest festival of the year starts at the stroke of midnight on January 20th. The city flag is raised in the main plaza of Old Town to begin La Tamborrada de San Sebastián, the celebration of the city's patron saint, with drum parades and festivities in every neighborhood for the next 24 hours. A tradition dating back to (at least) 1836, today more than 147 companies march through the streets and fill the city with song.
How did such a raucous party come to be? According to Eusko Guide, during the Peninsular War Napoleon took control of the city, his troops banging their drums as they patrolled. Donostiarran women, collecting water for their families at the city's fountains, responded by mocking the occupiers, banging on their buckets in defiance.
Since then the festival has evolved. The famous culinary clubs (sociedades gastronómicas) form many of the bands that now march, the drummers donning chef's garb. Traditional foods are served. And most importantly, for a full 24 hours everyone in the city, young and old, celebrates overcoming tragedy, coming together as one, and happiness for all. Inauteriak datoz! Carnival is coming!
photo credit: Donostia Kultura
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photo credit: San Sebastián Turismo
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What's one of the traditional dishes that accompany these revels? Angulas. Tiny elver eels, warmed lightly in olive oil with a touch of garlic. As authentic angulas are quite expensive to source, the true product is typically reserved for special occasions. Such as this, obviously. Bring a taste of the celebration stateside with a tin or two.
Would you like more information on La Tamborrada? Look no further than this article from award-winning author, trained chef, and industry expert on Spanish and Basque cuisine, Marti Buckley.
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Christmas gift-giving always brings a certain amount of stress that may hinder partaking in the season's merriment. These book suggestions for the food lovers in your life will hopefully alleviate some of that anxiety and allow you to indulge in a full allotment of cheer.
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Basque Country: A Culinary Journey Through a Food Lover's Paradise by Marti Buckley
"Firewood in the oven, the crackle of a fire, the profound aroma of earth, and a countryside teeming with life -- these are the 'flavors' of the morning at Etxebarri, my restaurant in the tiny village of Axpe, Bizkaia," writes chef Bittor Arginzoniz in the foreword of this book on all things Basque."These smells, sounds and sights are typical of a Basque village."
Author Marti Buckley, an American who has lived in Basque Country for over eight years, evokes all of these smells, sounds and sights in this collection of recipes and histories that represent so much of the character of the region. From anchovies to piment d'Espelette, pintxos to txakoli, dining societies to cider houses, Buckley, a "seeker of essences", brings to each page the magic of Basque Country.
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Vegetables Unleashed: A Cookbook by José Andrés and Matt Goulding
Are vegetables sexy? If you need persuading that the answer is yes, José Andrés will do so with his trademark lust for life. Whether "grilling a peach until its flesh takes on the texture of a lobe of foie gras," or "slicing a tomato still warm from the sun and hitting it with a few crystals of coarse salt until it sheds tomato tears on the plate," writes co-author Matt Goulding, "If you don't believe in the sensuousness of produce, Jose has done his best to change that in these pages." From recipes centered on the produce of each season to conservas like guindilla peppers, white asparagus, and piquillo peppers, even the most ardent carnivores will have a new appreciation for the possibilities of plant-based dishes. As Andrés writes, "Seek out the life-changing bites."
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Salt Smoke Time: Homesteading and Heritage Techniques for the Modern Kitchen by Will Horowitz, Melissa Dobson, and Julie Horowitz
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." This quote from Albert Einstein adorns the back cover of this tome that delves into time-tested techniques for the modern kitchen. Will Horowitz specializes in "smoked, pickled, and preserved foods, with a focus on developing more sustainable food systems through the study of food history and nature" and in these pages you'll find detailed explanations of a variety of preservation techniques to make your own conservas, what preserved foods to stock your pantry with, and the recipes to use them in, including a particularly enticing pickled green tomatoes with caramelized shallots and cinnamon.
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The Bonus Tchotchke Suggestion: Casa Burner with Pinon Natural Wood Incense
Not especially food-related, no, but tchotchkes are as fun to say as they are to give as gifts. Want to elicit a smile? Give a loved one a thoughtful tchotchke. What tchotchke fits the bill? How about one that has a woodsy, wintery aroma wafting from it's tiny chimney? Create the ideal ambiance for a cozy winter's afternoon with this tiny pueblo dwelling, featured amongst the selection of fine-yet-affordable gifts in Bon Appetit's The Under $25 Gift Guide Full of Gifts You'd Never Guess Were Under $25 (along with some sensational anchovies you may recognize).
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