Recipe Development Techniques

I am deep into recipe development right now, sometimes creating up to 4 or 5 recipes in one day. My first step was making the scary decision to take my laptop into the kitchen. I was talked into it by my friend Pam of Project Foodie. Of course, Pam has a more modern kitchen than I do. Mine is circa 1920 and has no built in counters. I don't work as "clean" as I should in the kitchen so I fear gunking up my keyboard with whatever I'm cooking! Maybe this will force me to be a bit less messy. I have begun wearing an apron in the kitchen and slipping a kitchen towel through the apron strings.

My real working space is a very cramped and crowded butcher block island. I also have various improvised spaces and a tiny little cutting board that slides out from a cabinet. I have always used it as a place to hold whatever cookbooks I was cooking out of at the moment, sometimes stacking up two or three on top of each other. Using print-outs of recipes from my computer was problematic because the ink always smeared as ingredients dripped onto them. Also my printer died earlier this week, with any luck the new one will show up today. It's a laser printer so perhaps I'll have less ink issues.

My recipes usually start out as just a list of ingredients. I come up with the amounts as I go and fill them in, and after tasting often add an ingredient or go back and recalculate the amounts.

How about you? Any tips? What's your process for creating recipes in the kitchen?

Interested in hiring me to do recipe development? Check out my web site for more information and links to recipes I have developed for clients.

Yummy Potatoes: Cookbook Review

Last week I went through a box of recipes I had clipped from the San Francisco Chronicle. I found recipes dating back to the late 90's! I wish I was as good at organizing as I am at hoarding. Reviewing all those clippings, I can safely say I had saved more recipes written by Marlena Spieler than from anyone else. Spieler has been a writer for the Chronicle for ages and has written tons of cookbooks to boot.

So imagine my pleasure at receiving a review copy of Marlena Spieler's latest book, called Yummy Potatoes 65 Downright Delicious Recipes. And on the same day I posted one of my yummy potato recipes! Potatoes on the brain. I cannot tell you how delectable most of her recipes look! There are Breakfast Potatoes, Tapas, Meze and Antipasti, Soups, Salads, Mashes, Baked, Fried, Sides and a category called "Potatoes for Dinner!" I swear the exclamation point is hers, not mine, but it might as well be mine.

The notes that go with each recipe are filled with wonderful anecdotes like the time she went digging in HRH Prince Charles' garden, or took a class from James Beard and whether it's a story about her Aunt Stellie or her travels through Italy, France or Greece you can't help but wish Marlena were your friend to chat with over a meal. Anecdotes aside, I'll hang onto this book not just for the recipes but also for the inspired combinations like potatoes with lemon juice and olive oil, potatoes and chermoula, potatoes with pasta, tomatoes and cheese and potato enchiladas with red chile sauce. Check out several of the recipe on the Chronicle Books site. Yummy. Potatoes. Indeed!

READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites is my review of The Breakaway Cook.

Mustard Roasted Potatoes: Recipe

In addition to being an absolute pasta freak, I am passionate about potatoes. I could eat pasta everyday and potatoes, probably every other day. I love them every which way. A number of years ago Oprah's personal chef at the time wrote a cookbook called In the Kitchen with Rosie. It was a huge bestseller and featured very low fat recipes. There were some good recipes and techniques in the book. One of the recipes that made a big impression on me was called Mustard Roasted Potatoes.

The Mustard Roasted Potato recipe was red potatoes tossed with Dijon mustard, cumin, paprika, chili and cayenne. The potatoes roast in the oven and become all crusty and delectable. It's a great technique and can be endlessly varied. I've incorporated plain yogurt, fresh herbs, and different kinds of mustard. I like the Moroccan mustard from Dulcet Cuisine for this recipe because it has so much flavor you don't need to add any additional spices, but feel free to experiment and try any spiced mustard you like or add some spices.

Seriously, these potatoes are like candy they are so good! They are as addictive as french fries but infinitely healthier. Serve them as a side dish but make extras because they reheat fabulously well and even make a great snack. This is also about the least fussy recipe ever, you really can't go wrong with it.

Mustard Roasted Potatoes
Serves 4

1/3 cup Moroccan mustard
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cut into small thumb-sized chunks

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mustard and olive oil. Add the potatoes and toss to coat. Dump the potatoes onto a foil lined large rimmed baking sheet and spread them in a single layer. Roast, tossing with a spatula a few times, until the potatoes are crusty on the outside and tender throughout, about an hour. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Farina: Restaurant Review

My review of a relatively new Italian restaurant in the Mission district, called Farina is up over at SF Station.

Aside from a few rough spots, I liked the place and will go again. I had a good meal of mostly Ligurian style focaccia and pastas with Lee and my friend Alton. It was also fun running into author and scientist Harold McGee, former SF Chronicle restaurant reviewer Amanda Berne, chef Daniel Patterson and his wife, just one table away.

I like this photo because it's a bit of a "where's Waldo?" I took it from across the street and Lee is in it.

Marinated Mustard Vegetables: Recipe

I don't think you can ever have enough vegetable recipes. Growing up I ate vegetables steamed and served plain. Frankly I found them pretty boring served that way and I still do. Vegetables should be savored. Of course drenching them in hollandaise sauce or butter makes them taste good, but that's not the only way to dress them up. I like sauteing vegetables with a little red chili, garlic, sprinkling them with fresh herbs, Indian spices, drizzling on any numbers of flavorings.

So often the recipes I develop for clients are very meat-oriented. I like challenging myself to come up with interesting vegetable dishes when I can. This marinated vegetable salad was developed because I wanted to find something that would be good for a potluck, It uses a variety of vegetables and can be served cold or at room temperature, but won't wilt like a green salad.

Unlike some dishes that I have to repeat several times to get right, this one was a surprise because it came out great the first time I tried it. I like experimenting with mustard as a seasoning for vegetables. We usually think of it as something to serve on hot dogs but it is so much more versatile than that. The Moroccan mustard from Dulcet Cuisine has pungent flavors of ginger, coriander, garlic and paprka in it. Just a mere tablespoon flavors a big batch of vegetables beautifully. You could easily vary the vegetables to taste. It keeps very well in the refrigerator.

Marinated Mustard Vegetables

2 cups small broccoli florets
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 cups button mushrooms, cut into chunks
1 cup zucchini, cut into chunks
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Moroccan mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine vegetables in a large zip lock bag; set aside. Combine vinegar, mustard and olive oil in a jar; cover tightly, and shake vigorously. Pour over vegetables, and toss the bag gently to coat them completely. The mixture will seem a bit dry, but the vegetables will become more juicy as they marinate. Marinate in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight, turning the bag occasionally. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Crispy Panko Mustard Chicken: Recipe

Do you know panko? It's a Japanese style of bread crumbs used to coat fried food. The crumbs are large and very flaky. It's made from yeast-raised bread dough that is baked in a special oven so it does not form a crust. The crumbs start out very pale colored but cook up golden brown. You can find it in the Asian section of just about any supermarket.

Traditional Japanese recipes using panko include Tonkatsu, a breaded fried pork cutlet. It is delicious, like most fried food, but not very healthy. I knew there had to be a way to use panko to make an oven-fried crispy chicken breast or cutlet. But I will admit, it took several attempts to get this one right. It really satisfies that craving for crispy fried food but is practically guilt-free. I used the Creole Mustard from Dulcet Cuisine which has a stone-ground texture and is flavored with onion, garlic, paprika, pepper and thyme. So I guess this is kind of a Southern/Japanese fusion entree.

The trick to this technique is to mix the panko crumbs with just a little bit of melted butter then put it on top of the mustard coated chicken by hand instead of dipping the chicken in the crumbs. You can use any kind of mustard you like, but the Creole Mustard is really terrific with this recipe. I recommend letting the chicken cool a little and serving it in slices with roast potatoes, carrots and brussels sprouts.

Crispy Panko Mustard Chicken
serves 2

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon Creole Mustard
1/4 cup panko
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Melt the butter in a small dish in a microwave oven then combine the butter with the panko crumbs in a small mixing bowl.

Coat chicken breasts with mustard then place on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet, top with crumbs and bake approximately 15 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.

Enjoy!

Marco Pierre White with Gordon Ramsey

Check out this video on ifoods that somebody uploaded. I have never actually seen it but it shows Gordon Ramsey and Marco Pierre White when they were still friends about 8 years ago. Facinating!