Chuck Cruz is a local chef I recently stumbled upon on Instagram. He often films at places I know so I decided to start following him. Even better, his recipes always look interesting. When a friend dropped of some fresh clams I immediately thought of his Clams in Turmeric Beer Broth.
The clams are steamed in a broth of chorizo, turmeric, shallots, jalapeno, ginger and makrut lime leaves. Once the clams open, coconut milk is stirred in and the sauce is slightly reduced. Cilantro and lime juice are added at the end to maintain their freshness. We all loved this dish and will definitely make again. I can see it also being good with other seafood of fish.
There is the endless debate about authentic vs modified/fusion dishes when going to restaurants. And many tend to be more interested in “authentic” dishes but for us that is often something to make at home and we like to go to restaurants for a chef’s interpretation of a dish (and the more creative the better).
Chef Sujan Sarkar is trying to do it for Indian cuisine. He is involved in a number of restaurants in a number of cities with ROOH https://www.roohrestaurants.com/palo-alto having two locations in the Bay Area. We recently visited the restaurant in Palo Alto and really enjoyed this modern interpretation of Indian cuisine which is clearly rooted in Indian dishes but isn’t afraid to incorporate “foreign” components or ingredients.
Tonight’s dinner was fettuccine with asparagus and red pepper. The asparagus and red pepper were from my CSA and I added a little wild garlic from the farmers market.
Dinner last night at the Japanese Bra$$erie. We didn’t go nuts ordering like we did when my BFF was in town, but still had a nice selection of things: started off with their incredible milk bread with fermented red pepper butter,
Our buddy who joined us for dinner Wednesday was having a lil fire in his backyard with a couple of his friends, and had asked if we wanted to come over.
Apart from a surprise thunderstorm that hit hard while we were still seated at the restaurant (under a canopy, thankfully), we weren’t sure if we were up for it — but he kept texting so we thought what the hey. Brought over a couple beers & a bottle of rosé and tried to make conversation with his not-very-lively friends while our host was grilling tiny sausages, making us appreciate that we’d eaten already . One of the guys took one hit from my pen, and it completely obliterated him. I felt really bad (BTDT) and we offered chocolate & cold water, but he barely recovered before we left the premises. Think he mighta crashed with our buddy, but I’m sure he’ll be fine today
Tofu stir-fry with tenderstem broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers, spring onions, sliced bird’s eye chillies and minced garlic. Sauce made of soy sauce (light and dark), rice wine, honey and Guilin style chilli sauce. Will be served with plain steamed rice.
That sound like a great and unusual blend of flavors, it has been put on the “to make” list.
The Chorizo, Clams and Coconut sound vaguely Goan but the Makrut Lime Leaves takes it elsewhere.
Nonstop dealing with the move from 8:30 a.m. to almost 6:45 p.m.
Alarm set for 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning to be there before 8 a.m. to facilitate the move. I’m hoping like hell I’m out of there by 2-3 p.m.
Thought (this morning) about pizza. Got home and didn’t want to heat up the kitchen by preheating the oven. The toaster oven to the rescue with a calzone using a half ball of pizza dough.
Chopped roasted chicken, caramelized onions, roasted red pepper sauce with tomato paste and minced garlic added, arugula and grated mozz was the filling. Forgot slivers of basil. No surprise with as tired as I am.
Brushed with butter and baked at 425° for about 20 minutes. Rested for 8 minutes, then cut in half.
Fair. Better than scrambled eggs.
I did have some wine. Which should help with sleep.
. One of the guys took one hit from my pen, and it completely obliterated him. I felt really bad (BTDT) and we offered chocolate & cold water, but he barely recovered before we left the premises. Think he mighta crashed with our buddy, but I’m sure he’ll be fine today 
