Cheesy Grilled Jalapeño “Poppers”

If you’re like me, you are constantly searching for more excuses to stand in front of the grill with a cold beer. This month’s issue of Cooking Light had a great recipe for cheesy stuffed peppers that you can throw on the grill, making them the perfect summer appetizer. I should warn you that it’s unlikely these little peppers will ever make it to your dinner table—once they leave the grill and hit the plate, they disappear in seconds. And that’s just with two people. If you’re serving a crowd, make extra.

Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers
adapted from Cooking Light

Note: Try to select peppers that are slightly larger in size so that they can safely hold the cheese with less chance of overflow on the grill.

4 oz goat cheese, softened
5 oz Neufchatel or cream cheese, softened
¼ cup dry white cheese, such as Cotija, Asiago, or Parmesan, grated
1/3 cup tomato, finely chopped and seeded
2-3 Tbsp green onion, finely chopped
½ tsp dried sage or 1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
½ tsp kosher salt
12 (large) jalapeño peppers
Chopped cilantro, optional

1. Halve the jalapeños lengthwise and remove seeds. Set aside. Don’t stick your fingers in your eyes afterward.
2. Pre-heat grill.
3. Combine the three cheeses in a small mixing bowl, then add tomato through salt. Mix well.
3. Fill the pepper halves with the cheese mixture until slightly rounded. Careful not to overfill or you’ll lose precious filling to the grill gods.
4. Grill peppers on medium heat uncovered for about 4 minutes to soften the pepper, then cook 3-4 minutes more covered (or until cheese is melty.)
5. Remove from grill and sprinkle with cilantro if desired. Fend off hovering bystanders with oversized grill utensils.

Eat Chocolate, Save the Rainforest

Sort of. I mean, if you eat this particular, delicious chocolate bar then no one can say that you’re not doing your part. Kallari produces organic single origin chocolate from cocoa grown and harvested by a farm cooperative in the Ecuadoran Amazon. And before you get squeamish about dropping five bucks for a bar, you should know that 100% of the profits return to the co-op, allowing the indigenous famers to continue to support sustainable development and community programs for health and education. You can choose from three bars: 70% cacao, 75% cacao, and 85% cacao.

Read more about the Kallari association and their chocolate on their website.

Where to find it: As far as I know, they are only currently available at Whole Foods or online.

Two Potato Hash: Sweet and Savory

My favorite combination: sweet and savory, especially with brunch or breakfast. Prep the night before by baking the potatoes and you’ll be set for the morning. The jalapeno and the cayenne pepper add a pleasantly unexpected kick.

Two Potato Hash
serves 3-4

2-3 medium white potatoes
1 medium sweet potato
1 small apple, cored and chopped (about a 1/3 cup)
1 small jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
butter
1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Prep
-The day before, wrap the potatoes in foil and bake them at 350 until tender, about an hour for the sweet potato, and one hour and 30 minutes for the regular potato. Let cool.
-Refrigerate overnight still in foil.

1. Remove potatoes from foil, cut into bite sized pieces, leaving the skin on the white potatoes but removing the skin from the sweet potatoes.
2. Melt a small amount of butter in a large frying pan, sauté the chopped apple for about 4 minutes or until slightly tender. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add vegetable oil to the pan and sauté the jalapeno for about 2 minutes. Turn heat on burner to medium high, add potatoes. Then add seasoning and give it a good stir.
4. Cook potatoes on medium high heat for about 15-20 minutes, turning them every three to four minutes, allowing them time to get slightly crispy on the outside. Stir in the sautéed apple near the end of your cooking time to let it get warm again.

Note-To get a good texture, you’ll want to use a pan big enough so that all the potato pieces get to touch the bottom of the pan. Too many potatoes hanging out up top can lead to soggy hash.

Road Trip: Monterey Bay

This past weekend Beta Wife and I took a trip to Monterey Bay to see the much talked about aquarium, and of course, to eat as much food as possible. We were fortunate enough to have a friend living in the area to steer us in the right direction, otherwise I’m afraid we’d have left sorely disappointed by our lack of dining options. Living right outside of San Francisco, it’s easy to forget how spoiled we are, having so many amazing options when it comes to eating out between the city and the East Bay. But that’s not to say they don’t exist in Monterey, it’s just that it’s a little harder to be impressed. Here are few places you’ll want to check out if you happen to visit Monterey. And you definitely should, if only for the harbor seals.

The Local Place: The Crown and Anchor

A British style pub with lots of good beer on tap and fairly authentic English fare (this may not appeal to everyone), and lots of quirky personality that you might expect from a pub with a nautical theme. Though I wouldn’t recommend the fish and chips, we also tried the Nelson’s Cottage Pie that arrived in a charming loaf shape and was topped with lots of salty brown gravy. It was one of those dishes that while you’re eating and trying to decide whether or not you actually like it, you find that it disappeared but can’t quite figure out how. We agreed that had the food come on an old beat up tin plate it would have tasted even better. Unfortunately due to consuming too many pints of Fuller’s Extra Special Bitter, there was no room for dessert despite a hearty recommendation for the sticky toffee pudding that our friend described as “brilliant.” There will definitely have to be a next time.

150 W. Franklin St.
Monterey, CA 93940


The Touristy Place: Willy’s Smokehouse

After emerging from the Monterey Aquarium after four hours of (literally) rubbing elbows with small ill-behaved children no doubt carrying various upper respiratory illnesses, and the throngs of equally ill-behaved parents pushing oversized strollers carrying more of those children…my blood sugar was low. I needed some food and a drink, and I needed them to be far from the aquarium if I were to muster the energy to return to see the otter feeding. Willy’s Smokehouse looks like a terrible chain restaurant from the outside and clearly someone went a little overboard on the branding. While debating whether or not to go in after glancing at the menu, I noticed the waitress bring out a trio of barbeque sauces to a table outside. I was sold. I am sucker for a trio of sauces. Overall we were both pleasantly surprised by the food, and the service was excellent. I even let the server talk me into ordering a beer made with passion fruit. We split the hot wings and a pulled pork sandwich topped with jalapeno slaw—both were very good. The pork was moist and not overcooked, and there was plenty of it. They have a full bar with a good local beer selection, a detail almost as important as how nice and clean the bathrooms were. Almost.

95 Prescott Ave
Monterey, CA 93942

The Place We Stumbled Upon: Peppers Mexicali Cafe

We were wandering around the area near our B&B looking for a place to grab a drink before dinner. The smells and packed dining room lured us in for dinner as well. We had a margarita at the bar, decent, but not fantastic. Dinner, however, was another story. It was so good I needed my emergency pants, but alas, I left them at home. We split two dishes that were on the specials list, the chicken mole enchiladas and the steak tacos. The enchiladas were filled with moist shredded chicken that had been smothered in a rich mole sauce, it was one of the best enchiladas I’ve eaten at a restaurant. The tacos were also very good, filled with grilled steak and served with rice that was actually fluffy, seasoned black beans, and a ridiculous amount of cheese, lettuce and guacamole. All of it very, very fresh. And of course the fact that the chips were served with two salsas was another point in their favor. Good stuff.

170 Forest Avenue
Pacific Grove, CA 93950


The Organic Sustainable Place: The Ol’ Factory Café

Do you get it? Ol’ Factory? Ha. Funny stuff. It took me like, five minutes to catch on. I had not yet had my coffee. This was our favorite place overall, so much so that the wife and I decided that we’d drive up to an hour to eat there on any given day. Unfortunately, it’s a good two hours away from us in Sand City. First of all, it’s in a great space—an old car garage with high ceilings and big rolling doors. Second they have coffee (including espresso bar) and a really nice beer selection for the evening. Or afternoon. Or after you’ve had your coffee. We split the bacon cheese burger served with a cup of ranch (they got soooo many points for that) and massive, crunchy onion rings, as well as the grilled chipotle chicken sandwich (recommended by our barista) that was served with some of the best sweet potato fries I’ve ever had. And if that wasn’t enough they have giant fresh baked cookies. They’re as a big as a plate. A really thick plate. My final opinion: Best place ever.

Okay, one more thing, just so I give them ample credit. The chicken sandwich was fantastic, and I don’t do the whole grilled chicken thing. If there’s chicken on my sandwich, then it better damn well be fried. I’m certain it’s the best grilled chicken sandwich anywhere on earth.

1725 Contra Costa St
Sand City, CA 93955

Thanks to Brendon and Cara for the advice.

Why I Should Never Buy Groceries Without Supervision

And why I should not be left home alone...

Mixology Monday: Ginger

Ginger is the theme of this month’s Mixology Monday, a perfect ingredient for summer, and even more perfect for lazy me. It just so happens that a couple of weeks ago I made a syrup using up the lemon verbena that I received in my CSA box and some ginger that was hiding in the back of the fridge, and have been pondering what to do with it ever since. Rum Dood, our host for June, threw down the challenge, but left us plenty of boozy canvas to work with. The cocktail’s only requirement is that it contains ginger, and though his blog’s focus, as you might have guessed, is rum, it’s not required that the drinks be rum based. I would not have been so kind. However, paying my respects to the Dood, I decided to experiment with cachaça. I have never been a huge fan of this spirit, though admittedly my exposure to it has been limited. It’s something I’ve wanted to like, so I decided to sample Leblon, a brand that has one several gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The lightly spicy ginger and its citrusy counterpart paired well with the bright Leblon. Having just visited Monterey Bay, I decided to name the drink after some of the local marine life—and of course it’s in Portuguese, just to make it a real pain in the ass to pronounce.

Lobo-Marinho
by Alpha Cook

2 oz cachaça (I used Leblon)
½ oz ginger and lemon verbena syrup (recipe below)
3-4 thin wheels of lime

Tools: shaker, muddler, mallet

1. In a rocks glass, take about three thin wheels of freshly sliced lime and muddle them with the syrup and cachaça.
2. Crush ice lightly with a mallet or in an ice crusher. If you’re not using bagged ice at home, place cubes in a bar towel and smack them with a mallet. Or you can use you fancy refrigerator’s automatic dispenser.
3. Pour into a shaker filled with enough crushed ice to fill the glass, shake for about 10 seconds and pour contents back into the rocks glass. (Hopefully you will end up with a surplus of ice in your glass to make it cold and refreshing.)

Garnish with a lime wheel or wedge.


Ginger and Lemon Verbena Syrup

1 ½ - 2 cups water, filtered
¼ cup fresh ginger, finely sliced or chopped
1 hand-full of fresh, or lightly dried lemon verbena (I have very small hands)
white cane sugar

1. Add water and ginger to a small pot, bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
2. Remove mixture from heat, add lemon verbena, let steep for about 4-6 minutes.
3. Strain solids from water, then strain through a coffee filter.
4. Measure the liquid and return it to the pot, adding an equal amount of sugar to it. Heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool until it can be funneled into a container.

Store in the refrigerator.

An Open Letter To Starbucks with a Language Advisory

Dear Starbucks,

Please quit making shit up. When I come up to the counter and order a café au lait, please do not give me a blank look and act as though you’ve never heard of this beverage. After I explain this beverage to you, please do not proceed to correct me in a snotty tone by telling me that this beverage is actually called a Misto. Oohhh, you meant a Misto. No, no I did not mean a fucking Misto, I meant an au lait, which is what the drink is called every where else in the world except the 400sqft inside your so-called café and maybe some parts of Italy. Furthermore, you make your baristas seem even more foolish by feigning ignorance of a well known coffee drink just to further your brand power…baristas who already don’t even pull their own espresso shots. (Oh, sorry guys, that was a cheap shot. No pun intended.) After I had finally made peace with your existence, Starbucks, you have set our personal relationship back about six years. I hope the recession is not finished having its way with you.

Best,
Alpha Cook


A Café Au Lait what’s that? Like you don’t know. Oh and don't forget Foamy, who has similar feelings about this situation.

Cherry Streusel Muffins

Beta Wife’s latest baking creation is one of my new favorite breakfast items ever in the whole world. With cherries coming into season, we’ve received a few pints from our CSA and, aside from some initial cocktail experimentation, all these delicious fresh cherries have really only had one purpose: streusel-topped muffins. I mean, muffins themselves are fairly boring baked goods. I don’t exactly jump up and down when I see muffins in a bakery. But these muffins…these muffins are special. When I said, “Beta Wife, I’d like some cherry muffins,” I was not expecting moist, fruity cake-like nuggets of baked bliss. And though the wife was reluctant to part with her magical recipe, I persuaded her that we could change thousands of lives. You’re welcome.


Cherry Streusel Muffins

1 cup white flour
¾ cups white wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
1 egg, beaten
¾ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
½-1 tsp vanilla extract
¼-½ tsp almond extract
about 1 cup fresh sweet cherries, pitted and coarsely chopped

Topping

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1-½ Tbsp butter

For the streusel topping, mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl, then cut in the butter until coarse crumbs form. You can do this with your fingers, no problem.

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°. Line a muffin pan with cups or grease lightly. Set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in the center and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the beaten egg, milk, oil, and vanilla & almond extracts. Add this to the dry mixture, stirring until just moistened (batter will still appear slightly lumpy – don’t worry!). Stir in the chopped cherries.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until each one is 2/3 full. Add streusel topping. Bake at 400° for about 17 minutes. Keep a close eye on them – they’re best if they don’t overbake.

Cherries: A guide to pitting

So cherries are in season. There is no excuse for you not to have any in your possession. In fact, just down the street on San Pablo Ave there is a truck parked on the side of the road selling cherries almost every weekday. It’s between 55th and Alcatraz, I think. Go, go now and get your cherries, because they are awesome. Cherries were invented by the gods to be put in baked goods, and therefore automatically have mystical, baked-goods properties. (Please check back in for the magic cherry muffin recipe.)

For now I will show you how to pit cherries without any special gadgets, and give you a quick recipe for cherry puree that will make a great addition to ice cream or your next vodka Collins.

Step 1

Get an oversized paperclip and wash/sterilize it. Bend it (so that you have two little hooks on each end) by pulling the center out like opening a book.

Now you have a cherry pitter!

Step 2

Remove the stems from all of your cherries.

Step 3

Take a cherry and use the smaller end of the paperclip to slowly but firmly press into the cherry where the stem once was. Get the hook around the pit and fish it out.

Step 4

Discard pit. Admire handiwork.

Step 5 (optional)

Get spouse to bake something.

With a little practice, you will be able to

remove the pits without too much cosmetic damage to the cherry.






Cherry Puree

1 cup fresh sweet or sour cherries, pitted
2 oz simple syrup (adjust to taste)
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp Maraschino liqueur

1. Put all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
2. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove skins, etc.
3. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Intro photo by Alpha Cook, action photos by Beta Wife.

The Ghost of Easter Past

Creepy Bunny Binks says “I’m ready for my close-up.”

Tucked away in a Ziploc baggy, an earless “chocolate” bunny was lurking in the depths of the pantry, staring at me with those crazy yellow eyes. Noooo, not the Dip! He met his end by way of the compost bin and will not be missed.

Friday Snack Review: Oogie’s Gourmet Popcorn

Normally it’s a silly thing to buy pre-popped popcorn from the store. It’s overpriced, and in the end, it turns out to be just popcorn. Nothing really that special emerges from the container. (Unless of course we’re talking about a giant, oversized tin of holiday popcorn that comes in a three flavors. This of course, does not count in my evaluation.) However, I must say that in a sudden moment of munchy-fueled “must have snack now” impulse buying, I discovered a popcorn that might warrant an exception.

Oogie’s Gourmet Popcorn is $3.99 a bag. And despite its deliciousness, let’s not forget that the main ingredient here is popcorn. It’s still a bit pricey, considering. But I’m willing to splurge every now and again. Also, I’m totally addicted to it. Here are the three flavors we’ve tried so far.

Photo by Oogie's

Romano and Pesto
This was my favorite, though Beta Wife chose the Asiago as her number one. The most complex of the three we sampled, I had expected it to be my least favorite. Pesto flavored foods have the capacity to turn out so very wrong. But this is so, so right. Cheesy, salty, tangy, and not too bad with a martini.

Asiago and Cracked Pepper
My least favorite, just because in comparison it lacked excitement. Still really quite tasty. Leave the bag within reach for too long and there’ll soon be no more popcorn.

Smoked Gouda
I expected this to taste like another generic cheese popcorn. After all, most cheese popcorns all really taste the same, don’t they? But this one had a nice light flavor with a subtle smokiness that hits you after the salty taste. Much more complex in flavor than you’d expect.

Find them locally at Andronico's markets.

Growing Your Own Herbs

Gather round, brown thumbs . . . I have good news. You can grow your own herbs at home. A former notorious killer of innocent houseplants, I’ve turned over a new leaf. Against all odds, I’ve managed to grow my own herbs for the kitchen, much of it from seed. And I think you should give it a try. Oh, and you can’t use the “I don’t have room to plant things excuse.” Herbs like containers, so if you don’t have a yard to start a garden, just pick up a few pots and some good quality potting soil and you’ll be in business. Go on, it’s really easy. I mean, you still have to remember to water them, but aside from that, totally effortless. Okay, and you have to talk to them too. But not like every day. Oh and the basil really likes it when you turn on the tv for it.

Seriously, just water them.

Mint

Be careful with mint if you’re planting it in the garden with your other plants; it spreads like a weed. Which is good if you like Mojitos and mint juleps and the like. I have a container full of Peppermint that started out only a few inches tall, and now stands at least a foot high.

Planting Tips: Stick with planting it in container and choose a couple of varieties. Mint cross-pollinates, so you might end up with some interesting results. Also, it can be helpful to keep some critters out of the garden. Rodents are not fans of mint; they think it’s stinky, so they’ll usually avoid it.

Parsley

I recommend growing both the curly and flat variety. They seem to be happy co-existing in the same planter together. Parsley has many uses, including stocks, soups, veggies, and herbed butter.

Planting Tips: To keep your plants productive, cut off the full length of the stems on a regular basis.

Cilantro

Cilantro is my favorite herb, hands down. It’s great in salsas, sprinkled on soups, in salad dressing, and of course on tacos and burritos. When the plant bolts and begins to flower the flavor is said to be past its peak. But let the cilantro continue to grow. The seeds from the flowers are coriander, and can be used whole or ground.

Planting Tips: This herb has a long taproot, so be careful if you’re transplanting it. I recommend sowing the seeds into an indoor pot filled with high quality potting soil, and not moving them at all.

Basil

So far I’ve found Sweet basil to be the trickiest herb of the bunch to keep alive and healthy. Starting the plant from seed is relatively foolproof, but once it gets a few inches tall, I am reminded that my gardening knowledge needs some growing.

Helpful Hint: A tip from last month’s Organic Gardening said to brew a cup of coffee, let it cool (of course), and use it to spray your basil plants once a week to keep them healthy. I have yet to give this one a try.

But wait, there’s more: You can start your herbs indoor in pots, but make sure to keep the soil moist to ensure that they will germinate. Make sure you use potting soil and not dirt from your garden—this will prevent diseases and pests from terrorizing your herbs. Another option is to get a bag of peat pellets at your nursery or hardware store. Later, you can transplant them into a container or to your garden.

If you’re planning to move them outside, make sure you “harden” the plants before planting them. Set them outside during the day in indirect sunlight after they’ve grown their first true leaves. Bring them in at night. After a week or so, they should be ready to stand on their own.

And don’t forget to water them.

A Healthy Strawberry Dessert

Yeah, I said it. Healthy. And very simple. So easy a beta cook could do it.

Strawberry and Fig “Parfait”

3 whole wheat Fig Newtons (or similar fruit bars)
5-6 medium strawberries, sliced
1 scoop vanilla bean ice cream or
vanilla frozen yogurt (yogurt is the healthy option)
1 Tbsp Amaretto liquor

1. Crumble the Fig Newtons into a mug (or a sturdy, oversized martini glass, if you want to get all fancy).
2. Top with sliced strawberries and yogurt/ice cream.
3. Pour over the Amaretto liquor.

Top with whipped cream if you want to cancel out the good-for-you aspect.

Beta Wife says: Wait a second here, do I need to call the BADL (Beta Anti-Defamation League)? We can cook too, damn it!

Printed Retraction of Above Statement: In no way did I mean to imply that beta cooks are not as capable as the skilled, and very gifted alpha cooks. My bad.