And Other Cooking Projects, by Karen Solomon
Thank you, Chow! I love doing videos with you. Here's my latest and greatest - rice milk and horchata recipe demonstration in 52 seconds - with two more scheduled to roll out soon...
February 1st, 2012 by karen
So, like other food preservationists and kitchen tinkerers, I love to dry things – fruit slices, fruit leather, cheese, beef jerky, etc. In the heat of summer the sun does the work for me. But the other ten months of the year in Northern California, however, I usually rely on my oven on a low setting, door slightly ajar to release moisture, to do the job. And while effective, each bite contains the residual taste of enviro-guilt that comes from leaving the oven on and the heat blowing upward for several hours. The results are excellent, but I cannot help but be haunted by the fossil fuel energy loss necessary for a homemade Fruit Roll-Up.
January 24th, 2012 by karen
We’re used to buying cardboard boxloads of factory drone candy canes that are uniform, neatly wrapped, shapely, laden with high fructose corn syrup, and positively soulless. But me – I’m the gal who likes my candy lumpy. If there were an Island of Misfit Toys for food, these “special” little guys would surely be inhabitants (along with Dingle Berries Candy and Hot Pockets, most likely).
Making candy canes is a lot of fun, and the sweat equity can’t be beat. The flavor is clean and super minty (with a little creaminess to it, thanks to the vanilla extract), and the yield is ample enough to allow me to hand them out generously. And despite the number of words in the recipe below, the whole thing took under an hour. There is a knack to it, however, as pulling hard candy can be a tricky mistress. A couple of things to keep in mind, particularly if you’ve never made candy before:
- A candy thermometer is a very, very, very good idea. No reason not to have one, as they are about $15 and they can be used for frying as well. You can buy a cheaper one made of glass, but they’re pretty breakable. I recommend one like this made of metal, with a sturdy clip, and a protector on the bottom to keep the thermometer off the bottom of the pot.
December 21st, 2011 by karen
I recently tried (and failed) to sell corned beef sandwiches at the New Taste Marketplace food hall. This is a cautionary tale/headnote – one of those “life lessons” to be looked back upon and learned from, laughed at over gin and tonics on the front porch several years from now. Several. The homemade celery soda made to go with it is absolutely delicious, and it will be highly nostalgic for anyone used to Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray. Like my story, it’s both salty and sweet.
I had every reason to think that selling sandwiches was going to be a success. First off, I love this monthly San Francisco event and I was thrilled to be a participant. New Taste Marketplace is an excellent breeding ground for small-time artisan food entrepreneurs such as Ooh La La Lumpia (stationed to my left) and Snapdragon Baking Co (to my right). The event is also a fundraiser for the food pantry of the church where it’s housed, and it brings in thousands of dollars for people who have no food at all.
I’ve never sold cooked food in my life, but I went into the idea with total confidence in my food and menu. My corned beef is delicious (make it and see – the recipe is in Can It). I’ve made it untold times and reheated whole hunks of it with steam, as the flavor of warm corned beef just kicks cold corned beef’s ass. Ba-Tampte mustard is the de-facto mustard to be served with all Jewish deli meats, and I had plenty at hand. The homemade kraut was rocking and sandwich-ready. And Semifredi’s sliced rye bread is excellent for sandwiches. Homemade cumin-scented carrot pickles were poised to brighten things up along the side and, of course, glasses of homemade celery soda to make it real.
I cured 25 lbs. of Five Dot Ranch brisket for a week, lovingly simmered it for two hours, trimmed it of its fat cap and carefully, patiently, sliced it thinly by hand to have it ready to serve the next day. This process took the better part of a day.
Saturday morning, the day of the market, I packed the car of all my gear and gently heated the sliced meat in a safe and snug aluminum pan tightly covered with foil, along with a dish of water in the oven for added steam, just to heat it through. The heat was low, the oven was moist. I arrived at the event, painstakingly set up my table, added boiling water to my chafing dish to keep the meat hot. Upon pulling back the foil to steal a piece of delicious pink, cured meat – to my horror I saw that my excellent, rosy cured beef had turned the most heinous shade of gray. Like grandpa’s sock water gray. Grungy, hideous, rolled-over-by-tires-in-the-slush gray. There was no way on earth I could sell this food, never mind give it away.
After all of my efforts, I refused to be downtrodden. I slapped a smile on my puss and let people passing by taste the carrots. For my friends who had arrived expecting to support and buy a sandwich, I gave them a glass of celery soda (and I sold and traded a couple, too). For me, this isn’t just a refreshing and unusual soda. It’s also a drink of redemption; of making the most out of what you have – a Depression-era inspiration to celebrate what’s in front of you. I learned that food retail ain’t for me. I gave money to a great charity (my vendor fee), and I encouraged other food eaters to come out and do the same and help build burgeoning local businesses. While I still taste the salt in here and consider it a necessary flavor component, this celery soda is also deliciously sweet.
**
November 29th, 2011 by karen
I'm teaching another class at Will-So downtown. Hopefully this will make the holidays suck slightly less.
Don't Buy - DIY! Make Your Own Holiday Food Gifts
Tuesday, December 6th
6:00-8:00 pm
Williams-Sonoma Union Square
340 Post St. (at Stockton)
SF
$60
To register: Call 415-362-9450
Attention shoppers! Any holiday present can come from the mall, but the best are going to come from your own kitchen. Satisfy their sweet tooth with homemade marshmallow confections, bite-sized peanut butter cups, and better-than-storebought Nutella. Sate fans of savories with beef jerky, infused vinegar, handmade finishing salt and much more. Join Ten Speed Press cookbook author and kitchen project aficionado Karen Solomon for tips on making and packaging hostess gifts, stocking stuffers, and wrap-worthy edible gifts.
November 28th, 2011 by karen
Food Eaters! The next installment of the quarterly DIY show-and-taste I host at local food and arts space 18 Reasons will take place on Thursday, December 8th, 7-9pm.
If you've ever made your own condiments, crafted your own candies, brewed your own beverages, boiled your own bagels, or fermented your own anything, come show off the splendor you've created. Meet other like-minded home crafters, share tips, resources, techniques, and help inspire the community looking to think outside the mass-produced confines of aisle six.
Enthusiasm is way more important than experience!
November 28th, 2011 by karen
Food-Eaters! Come and get your meat on, shop an awesome artisan food market, and procure a delicious lunch in the process.
I'm making corned beef sandwiches (kraut, mustard, rye) this coming Saturday, 12-5pm, at New Taste Marketplace at St. Gregory's, 500 De Haro, San Francisco, CA 94107.
Partial proceeds from the event feed and fuel the Church's non-denominational food pantry. Please come out and support!
November 15th, 2011 by karen
LOVE this, and I will be making more. Only thing I did not take careful enough notes on is how long it takes to reduce - I believe it was about 20 minutes, but i would want to field test that again. Your mileage may vary. Enjoy!
Cranberry Plum Butter
The first cranberries of fall and the last plums of summer come together into one delicious, spreadable fruit fiesta that’s as pretty to look at as it is delicious. This is at home on a number of dishes – sandwiched between cookies, spread on breakfast toast, or alongside savory roasted poultry.
November 2nd, 2011 by karen
November 3rd, 6-9pm, and $60 for a brainful of knowledge and a bellyful of excellent homemade eats!
Here's the class description:
Karen Solomon, the author of "Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it" and "Can it, Bottle it, Smoke it" will be teaching a hands-on preserving class at our store on November 3, from 6 - 9 pm. In this class we will extend summer and fall's best flavors with mastery of the food preservation skills home cooks have used for centuries. From curing one's own bacon and corned beef to canning fresh fruit butters and vinegar pickles to home drying fruit and snackable fruit leather, students will leave with inspired recipes and a wide swath of kitchen confidence and techniques to keep farmers' market-fresh flavors in the pantry year round. The cost of the class is $60.00. Please call the store at 415-362-9450 to sign up or for further questions. Copies of Karen's books will be available for purchase and for her to sign that evening!
October 25th, 2011 by karen
That's right, Fogheads and Food-Eaters. 7:45 am, bitches. And if they love me, I will be back doing regular installments. I will be sharing my favorite affordable eats in SF and beyond. And we're not talking bargain-basement buffets swarming with insects and the taste-bud impaired. I don't believe that eating frugally means having to compromise on quality ingredients - inexpensive food doesn't have to be cheap. I will be highlighting some of my favorite low-cost and high-quality food finds, be they restaurants, baked goods and take-out, farms, food events, and more.
October 25th, 2011 by karen
