Taste2Time

Sante Restaurant, Sonoma

 Sean and I celebrated Valentine's Day and our six month anniversary (yes, it's a little cheesy!) at Sante this past weekend. It was one of the best meals I've ever had! Sante is the restaurant inside the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn which is pretty special to us since this was base camp for our wedding events. The food and service was excellent and the ambiance is nice but relaxed. We had the tasting menu which was very well portioned - see picture of menu. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Sonoma. I had to quickly compare this to the French Laundry which we were also lucky enough to try awhile ago. French Laundry is amazing but considering bang for the buck, I would totally go for Sante! They also just received a Michelin star!

"Teach every child about food"

Sorry I have been lagging with my postings. I've been very busy trying to get my little start-up going but I would like to take the time to acknowledge the TED winner this year and my favorite chef, Jamie Oliver! His inspiring video below. Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail (with a kick)

'Tis the season for easy party food and here is one that is guaranteed to be a hit and stress-free. Also, it's easy to scale - just add more shrimps and make more sauce! The key is seasoning the shrimp well and the horseradish in the sauce to give it a kick. Here it goes! 

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail (serves 4, cooking time 20 mins)

Ingredients:

12 pieces of fresh shrimps (remove head and most of the shells - leave a little bit of shell & the tail so it's easy to hold & dip)
Several pinches of salt & pepper
Olive oil

Sauce:
4 tbs tomato ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 tsp horseradish
a bit of salt & pepper (to taste)

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Place the shrimp in one layer on a baking sheet or dish
• Season with olive oil, salt & peper. Make sure each shrimp gets enough seasoning.
• Place in the oven for 18 mins
• Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and season to taste
• Enjoy while the shrimp is hot/warm!

Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Olives & Arugula

A friend, Ethan, asked me for this recipe the other day for a Thanksgiving potluck. So Ethan, this one is for you. It also gave me the idea of doing a series on easy party food since it's holiday season! 

The first of the series is this pasta salad dish that do not need to be served hot so it's a great one for pot luck or parties, and it's vegetarian. This also taste great as leftovers for when you get the munchies the next day! This recipe is inspired by a similar Jamie Oliver recipe. (He is really one of my idols!) 

Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Olives & Arugula (serves 4 or many more if served with other dishes, cooking time 15 minutes)

Ingredients:

1 pack of Spaghetti
4/5 fresh tomatoes (I like to use heirloom tomatoes when they are in season)
1 handful of black and green olives (get ones without the pits so they are easy to chop up)
2 handfuls of arugula 
2 handfuls of basil
1 tsp of fresh/dried oregano
1 handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
 2 tbs balsamic vinegar

• Feel free to vary the tomatoes, olives and arugula measurements based on how much you like each of these ingredients
• Cook the spaghetti as per instructions on the package (typically take around 10 minutes)
• While the spaghetti is cooking, chop the tomatoes and olives into bite size pieces and julienne the basil (put one leaf on top of another and cut thinly lengthwise)
• Mix all of the above ingredients and the oregano in a large bowl with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
• Once the spaghetti is cooked, let it cool for a bit then add gradually to the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Make sure to fold the spaghetti into the other ingredients to even out the taste distribution.
• Last but not least add the arugula and parmigiano reggiano. 
• That's it really!

Farfalle Carbonara

My husband called me at 6 pm yesterday (Saturday night) to coordinate with our friends Mateo & Nicole for dinner. We didn't feel like going out so I was scratching my head for something easy, quick and delicious. Since it's been a bit cold here in San Francisco, I was thinking a nice, comforting pasta carbonara would be good. I also added a rocket & avocado salad and chocolate brownies & ice cream for dessert. Comfort food all around! The recipe is from Jamie Oliver, one of my favorite chefs! (He embraces the taste2time philosophy). Pasta carbonara can sometimes be very heavy but not this one! I promise this recipe makes a light, silky and creamy carbonara! 

Farfalle Carbonara (cooking time: 20 mins, serves 4)

Ingredients:

 1lbs farfalle pasta
 1 egg
 100 ml heavy cream
 12 rashers bacon/pancetta
 2 sprigs of mint
 3 cups of peas (frozen or fresh)
 1 cup of grated parmegiano reggiano (or just parmesan)

• Boil the pasta as per instruction on the packet (add a bit of salt and olive oil for taste)
• Whisk the egg and cream with salt & pepper in a small bowl
• Cut the bacon/pancetta into bite size pieces and fry on a pan until brown and a bit crispy (to your liking)
• Cook the peas. If frozen, follow instruction on the packet. If fresh, you can add it to the cooking pasta for the last minute and half
• Once pasta is cooked, drain the water and put in a large bowl (or even back in the pot) for mixing with the other ingredients
• Add the bacon, cream/egg mixture and peas and half of the finely sliced mint into the pasta. Mix the ingredients until even and season with salt & pepper. The key is to add the cream/egg mixture while the pasta is still hot to cook the egg without making it lumpy. Instead, the mixture should evenly coat the pasta making it silky.
• Add parmesan and the rest of the mint to serve. (It's surprising but the mint really enhances the flavor!)
Serve with a light salad and wine (I prefer a lighter red like a Merlot).

Easy Comfort Food: Shepherd's Pie

This is my go-to comfort food recipe. I spent many years in a British boarding school - not particularly famous for it's culinary skills. Despite that, Shepherd's Pie has always been my favorite school dinner. Yes, it's that easy and scalable for a large number of people. The traditional Shepherd's pie is made with minced beef but I think it's tastier with minced lamb. 

Shepherd's Pie (cooking time: 30 mins, serves 4)

Ingredients: 

1 tbs olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 
2 carrots, finely chopped
1.5-2 lbs ground lamb
2 tbs tomato ketchup beef stock cube worcestershire sauce
6 potatoes (I like Yukon Gold, but you can use whatever is available)
milk
butter

• Turn oven to 400F.
• Heat oil in frying pan, add onion and carrots until they begin to soften and turn brown.
• Add meat, turning over and mash out any large chunks
• When meat is browned, add ketchup and sprinke the stock cube. Season with salt & pepper.
• If there are lots of broth, simmer for about 10 mins. If it's too dry, add a bit of water and simmer.
• Season with salt & pepper and add worcestershire sauce to taste.
• While meat is cooking, cook the potatoes until tender.
• When they are soft, drain and mash them with milk, butter and plenty of seasoning (salt & pepper).
• Transfer the meat to an oven-proof dish and layer on the mash potatoes on top
• Dot some butter over the potatoes
• Bake for 20 minutes
• Serve immediately with green peas or salad

Amber India, San Francisco

Sean and I used to live in Singapore and we were spoiled by the number of great Indian restaurants/food stalls. There was one underneath our office called Chutney Cafe that sells these addictive and juicy tandoori chicken wraps. They were delicious! Now that we live in San Francisco, we are always looking out for good Indian food. Our favorite so far is Amber India. It's an upscale, chic Indian restaurant and the food definitely lives up to the "coolness" of the place. We had a great double date here with our friends Mateo and Nicole last Friday and here is what we ordered:

Appetizers

• Murg Taj Kebab
• Malabari Shrimps

Entrees

• Butter Chicken (of course!)
• Kashmiri Roganjosh
• Sea Bass Moilee
• Dal Amber

Plus some rice, naan and pratha

Quick & Tasty Mid-Week Dinner: Salad, Salmon & Broccolini

Our friend Meghana was in town for a few days from India and we wanted to catch up over dinner. We got home at 8 pm and dinner was ready by 8.20 pm. The key here is fresh ingredients. Fast and delicious dinner for three!

 Heirloom Tomato and Avocado Salad (cooking time: 5 mins)

• Cut two large heirloom tomatoes into large but bite-sized chunks (I like to get a mix of color so they look pretty)
• Cut one avocado into large chunks.
• Chop two cloves of garlic (depends on how garlicky you like your food - i like garlic!)
• Toss all the above ingredients in a bowl and add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

Easiest Salmon in the world (cooking time: 7.5 mins)

• Season two fillets of salmon with good quality salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil
• Put in the broiler (high) for 7 minutes
• Let it rest for a few minutes and serve with Ponzu sauce (available in any Asian or large food store e.g. whole foods, safeway etc.)
• Voila!

Broccolini with garlic and shallots (cooking time: 5 mins)

• Chop half of the stems of the broccolini
• Chop some garlic and shallots
• Boil water in a saucepan and add the broccolini for 2 mins until the color turns bright green
• Heat a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan and cook with the garlic and shallots
• Toss the broccolini into the saucepan for 2 mins and season with salt and pepper

Serve with a glass of sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio

The Best Strawberry Jam

Strawberry is not even my favorite jam flavor. I typically prefer raspberry or apricot but this one took my breath away. A few weekends ago my friend, Lesley and I were at the Ferry Building farmers market and she introduced me to June Taylor jams. They were all good but the best IMHO is the Strawberry & Rose Geranium. A few times now, I've bought plain cheesecake and put the jam on top of it. Yumm! She also does classes in her Still Room. Another thing on my to-do list.