Author Archives: Renate Valencia

When you’re German, it’s all about potatoes

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That’s right.  If you have potatoes, oil, salt, pepper, a pan and source of heat, you have  the makings of good eats.

Roast potatoes are a big part of my oeuvre.  They add comfort to a meal, and can serve as a complete meal when paired up with good bread, butter and preserves and maybe an egg.  They are great with creamed spinach, as well, and are fabulous served as a version of patatas bravas, in which case you need to make a good bravas sauce, such as the one in the Cesar cookbook.

Here’s all you have to do:

Roasted potatoes

1)  Wash and dry decent potatoes, like Yukon Gold, but, really, any kind will be OK.
2)  Cut into pieces as large as you like, but I usually make them no more than 1 1/2″ thick.
3)  Lay out in a single layer (with some breathing room) on a sheet pan.
4)  Add a liberal amount of salt (and some other spices, as you like, such as curry powder) to the top of the potatoes.  Don’t worry about distribution.
5)  Pour some canola oil on the potatoes.  Not too much, not too little.  You want a very thin layer on the bottom when all is said and done.
6)  Rub the whole mass together with your hands so that the taters are coated with oil, salt and spices and evenly distributed on the sheet pan.
7)  Bake at 400 deg. F., preferably with convection, until they start to brown.
8)  Turn the potatoes, prying them up carefully with a straight spatula and not allowing the browned parts to stick to the pan.
9)  Back in the oven until crispy outside and soft in the middle.
10)  Sprinkle with a little pepper

Enjoy!

Note that the photo here shows curry powder roast potatoes.

Curry roasted potatoes

Semi-homemade pizza

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Caprese pizzas ready to bake

I put together semi-homemade pizzas (two Caprese style and one a doctored-up focaccia) for a group today, using the following items:

1)  1 Tetra Pak (15 oz) of Italian tomato sauce
2)  1 small bunch of basil, washed and the leaves picked off and dried with a towel
3)  3 T good olive oil
4)  I small container (15 oz) of part-skim ricotta cheese
5)  1 lb fresh mozzarella log, such as can be found at Trader Joe’s, sliced into about 20 rounds
6)  Two cornmeal pizza crusts that you can buy at a place like Berkeley Bowl, about 10 inches in diameter
7)  One vegetable focaccia, about 8 1/2 inches X 15 inches
8)  Red pepper flakes

I’ve improved store-bought focaccia to make it a meal

Here’s what you do for the CAPRESE pizzas:

1)  Spread 1 T of the olive oil in each of the two cornmeal shells
2)  Lay down some of the basil leaves over the oil, flat
3)  Spread on about 1/3 of the tomato sauce such that the basil is mostly covered
4)  Make a mozzarella layer on top with 10 rounds of the cheese
5)  Set aside while you make the other pizza

Here’s what you do for the DOCTORED-UP FOCACCIA:

1)  Brush 1 T of the olive oil on the top of the focaccia
2)  Spread on about 1/3 of the tomato sauce (will be a light layer, but this is OK, since you should be using a focaccia that already has stuff on it)
3)  Scoop out little rounds of ricotta and distribute them evenly over the top, and then press each one down a bit with the back of a spoon
4)  Sprinkle a few red pepper flakes on top
5)  Bake ALL pizzas in a 400 deg. F. oven until the cheese on the round Caprese pizzas is bubbly and a bit browned.  This would be the time to drag out that baking stone, by the way.
6)  Allow the Caprese pizzas to set for 5 mins before you serve or else you will need a ladle

Note:  feel free to add S&P, but I don’t because of how I like cheese to taste on these

Caprese-style pies done

Yogurt granola dessert

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Yogurt & Granola Dessert

When I was in culinary school, we used to make a yogurt parfait out of the following:

1)  Really good, thick, whole milk yogurt, like Nancy’s or Fage

2)  Really good granola

3)  Fresh shredded coconut, or even that packaged, shredded, sweetened stuff.  Note that Bob’s Red Mill puts out an unsweetened dried version that you can use.

4)  Some kind of fruit, like sliced bananas, peaches or strawberries that were mixed with a very small amount of sugar about 30 minutes before (the sugar is optional)

Layer these things (with a higher ratio of yogurt and fruit) in a tall glass or bowl and top with a little whipped cream.

We used to make these for breakfast, and they are unbelievably good, but I serve them as a dessert.  One thing, though, is that you should use whole-milk yogurt if you are serving them as a dessert, since you want some richness and mouthfeel.  Don’t nickel and dime this recipe with low-fat substitutions unless you really want it that way.  And, for God’s sake, do not use watery yogurt!

Starbucks’ banana walnut bread recipe

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Starbucks’ banana walnut bread

My mom came home the other day with a card from Starbucks containing their banana walnut bread recipe.  I thought I’d give it a try since it calls for buttermilk, which is not a common ingredient.  I have to say that we all liked the bread, which was moist and flavorful.

The batter turned out very dry for me, so I added a bit more buttermilk.  However, the bananas I used were a little south of large and not overly ripe, so just know that you, too, may have to make adjustments based on the state of your bananas.  I mean, until I added the extra buttermilk, the stuff would not even move!

The recipe calls for a baking time of 45 – 60 minutes, but my loaf needed a good 20 minutes more before the wooden test skewer came out dry.

One little tip:  keep a container of baker’s buttermilk on hand.  It’s sold dry and you have to reconstitute it with water.  It’s a godsend when you need small quantities of the stuff.

Here’s the recipe:

Starbucks’ Banana Walnut Bread Recipe

Downtown in Berkeley not up to snuff

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fried olive appetizer at downtown restaurant in berkeley CA

I think it all comes down to the fried anchovy-stuffed olives in terms of whether or not I’ll ever go back to Downtown in Berkeley.  Six of us went there for dinner recently to celebrate a birthday and had a subpar experience from the get-go.  First off, we were seated in the back room, which I was hesitant about, since it does not have the same vibe as out in front, but I figured I’d keep my big mouth shut for once.  Bad idea, as the service was not good.  Bread was slow in coming (which was particularly irritating for this meal, since much of what we ordered turned out to be so watery and/or skimpy, but more about that later) and water and other beverage refills were almost nonexistent.  As a matter of fact, the server assistant was not very nice when he caught wind of our unhappiness.  Instead of trying to turn things around, which is really not so hard to do with our group, he just seethed each time he had to bring us something.

Let’s start with the apps.  Matthew and I had just had the patatas bravas at Cesar, where they are magnificent.  I broke my own rule by ordering something that is great somewhere else and I was again reminded why I have that rule.  The patatas at Downtown were a shadow of what they should be.  They were like soggy steak fries that you could have anywhere, with a wimpy sauce.  We also had an $8.50 fried calamari that was made up of the smallest, most uniform rings that I have ever seen.  My question about the uniformity and lack of tentacles was met with a “deer in the headlights” look.  I cannot believe that Downtown uses a manufactured, frozen product, but I can’t explain what we were served.  As usual, we loved the fried olives, and ordered two plates.

All six of us had the chicken entree, which was not consistently plated, with several of us not receiving one or more of the stated accompaniments, and with the pieces of chicken varying in size from miniscule to reasonable.  I wondered who was expediting that night.  The jus on the dish was little more than stock, and it just didn’t work, to boot.  I felt bad for the whole party, having “pushed” the chicken, given how excellent it always was at lunch, regardless of how it was being served on any given day.

The server caught on to our displeasure and did not add the automatic gratuity to our tab.

I was really surprised to find this state of affairs, having eaten at Downtown many, many times for lunch – back when they served lunch – always finding the food and service fabulous.

Here’s hoping they just had a bad night.