Festival Season: Loquat Cocktails, Crazy Pants, Hippies, Phish Dancing etc.

 What would happen if a kooky art lady and a ninja had a baby? 

These pants. 

Our weekend was full of grass sitting, beach hanging, BBQ having, and regret.......of everything we ate at aforementioned BBQ's. On Saturday we made our way up to hippie heaven, aka Topanga Days. It's a small music and arts festival in Topanga, CA. Great place to watch people Phish Dance. You know, the gyrating/flailing dance that hippes do at jam band concerts. So I says to myself,
"what a perfect excuse to wear the crazy pants!"
I love them even if they resemble the innards of a clog-wearing art lady. I threw on my Ramones denim jacket and the hat to even out the hippie vibe.

After the grass grazing and people watching at Topanga Days, we cruised to a friend's house for a BBQ, and Loquat cocktails. I know...wtf is a Loquat? Growing up in Texas my exposure to fruit consisted of 

 apple. 

Since moving to California our fruit horizon has broadened, and now we eat (and drink) things like Loquats, which have a mild peach-citrus-mango flavor. Check out our friend Zach's recipe at the bottom of the post! 

 Topanga thugs, up to no good. 

Boys that like to snack. I told Jonny he could keep the mustache if he rocked it with the Fresh Prince hat. The outcome was amazing. 

Loquat Cocktails
1 loquat, muddled (you can use mango too)
Club Soda
Pinch of brown sugar or simple syrup
1 shot of dark rum

In a glass, muddle your loquat (or a peeled mago) with a bit of brown sugar, and a splash of club soda. Add a shot of rum, and ice that mother doooooown, stir and enjoy!

Vegan Shepherd's Pie (AKA Shepherdless Pie)

Guest Post By: Hang Knighton

It's so wrong it's right! Yes, to celebrate the Christianization of Ireland it is customary to get lit up like a Chinese fire cracker on Tet spewing bile as if it were fire from the dragon's mouth. I'm sure the good Saint Patrick is giddy with delight over the thought of it. Being that I'm Asian with no chance of Irish decent anywhere in my bloodline I will most likely be the first one face down from said revelry. Unless of course I have my fill of some hearty healthy Shepherd's Pie before partaking in a green beer keg stand contest. I can't even do a head or handstand even when sober much less while drinking beer upside down. I've tried. It's ugly and embarrassing for everyone involved. Besides, it's rumored that Shepard's pie isn't even originally from Ireland, it's bloody British. So was Saint Patrick, but who even cares anymore because we are blaspheming them all by going vegan with this thing. Calm yourselves, Irish eyes, there's some green stuff in there, kin to cabbage(very Irish), kinda like the shamrock. 

Why vegan you ask? I have vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian, and full on carnivores at the dining table at any given time so I made both meat and veg versions one evening. Aside from the ethical and health related reasons, I actually like the veg version better. It defies all meat eating logic, but it's just true. Plus, it gives you more room in the ol' gut for some Guinness. And what could possibly make beer better than it already is? Some aged Irish cheddar cheese if you please. I wouldn't say no to a fist full of it in the potatoes, but this is one of those recipes you can make your own according to your preferences and what's in the fridge. If you do go down the meat road, Bison is a nice alternative with less fat and higher iron and protein content. So, whichever way your meat ball rolls, it will still make for a lovely Shepherd/ Cottage/ Shepherdless/Vegan Pie.( I did some research and shepherd=lamb, cottage=beef, and you get the rest.) 

Ingredients:
6 potatoes
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp vegan butter spread
*kosher salt (I can, but won't tell you how much to salt your food; you are your own salt master)
1 quart vegetable stock
3 tbsp olive oil (similar to salt, olive oil master, use more or less)
2 cups chopped kale
3 chopped carrots
2 chopped parsnips
1 cup quartered baby bella mushrooms
1/2 cup green lentils
4 garlic cloves
1 yellow onion
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs savory
6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine
1tbsp worcestershire sauce (depending on how strictly vegan you are)
1tbsp brown rice miso paste
breadcrumbs

Directions:
Peel, rinse, roughly cube potatoes and cook till soft. The smaller the pieces the faster it takes to cook as well as easier to mash. While waiting for water to boil, cook lentils for 15 minutes in 2 cups water, 1 cup vegetable stock and a *sprinkle of salt. After potatoes are fully cooked, drain, salt, butter, milk, and mash while still hot using hand mashing tool of your choice.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Heat large pan with olive oil. Add chopped onions and cook till translucent. Add chopped garlic, herbs, carrots, parsnips and cook for 5 minutes. If your pan starts to get dry at this point splash in some vegetable stock. Otherwise, add the wine in now. Throw in the mushrooms. Add tomato and miso paste, worcestershire, and a few turns of the pepper grinder. When the mushrooms start to soften pour a cup or so of the stock into the mix, stir, taste, waft in the goodness. Now add the kale and the rest of the stock as well as the lentils, stir and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove stems from herbs as well as the bay leaves and discard. Salt to taste before ladling it all into an oven safe casserole dish. Finally, top with potato mash and breadcrumbs and put in the oven for 30-45 minutes. For a nice presentation you can top with chives or parseley. After removing from oven allow for 15 minutes or so to rest as it will be bubbling hot.

Chocolate Éclair's: Valentines Day Dessert

By: Hang Knighton

A note: This is the first installment of a regular guest post series by my best gal pal, Hang. She is a super duper rock star and seriously excels in a place where I feel as helpless as a kitten up a tree: The Kitchen...and I'm not so bad behind the lens so we decided to team up! She regularly entertains and cooks for 4-8 people at a time, and she does it all with a 2 year old at her feet or on her hip. Hopefully we can learn a thing or two from her series of posts (hopefully once a month!) 

Oooh-la-la, I do d’éclair! Is it a fancy no fry crème filled doughnut…or is the doughnut a fat American abomination of this delicate beauty? Eclairs are such a simple dessert but for some reason the dessert gods are out there clouding us in their éclair mystique. While I found this recipe on about.com I compared it to those of Martha Stewart and the CIA cookbook as well as a few others. I find it’s always good to compare recipes because after a while you can see which ones speak to your culinary sensibilities and you can also assess which steps or ingredients might be safely omitted or adjusted. Sometimes you don’t need that extra stick of butter or that extra cup of sugar nor do you need to make an ice bath for such and such. If the final product is high-fivable with friends and your man or lady smacks your bottom and winks while licking pastry cream off their lips, well, I think it’s a success! So grab a few simple things from your general grocer and voila! You will soon earn the rights to draw a skinny, swirled at the ends mustache on your sweaty upper lip while gesturing to be stuck in a giant box.      

Pastry Cream 

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes 

Chill : 1 hour… It won’t be the end of the world as you know it if it doesn’t chill that long. I most certainly didn’t have the patience but for 30 minutes, maybe? 

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups whole milk

3 egg yolks

¼ cup granulated sugar

1/8 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation:                                                                                          

In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until it is just hot enough to steam. While the milk is warming, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, flour, and cornstarch until the mixture is completely smooth.

Once the milk is steaming, add half of it, whisking constantly, to the egg mixture. Add the milk and eggs back into the hot milk, continue stirring, and heat it for 1-2 minutes, until the custard reaches 170F on a digital thermometer and is very thick. It should be the consistency of pudding. By the time I rummage through my unorganized drawer for a thermometer it would definitely be too late. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and chill before filling pastry.

Pate a Choux (Pastry Dough)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

1 cup water

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs

Preparation: Makes enough dough for 8 medium-sized pastries

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter in the water. Add salt and flour, and stir until a sticky batter is formed. Take the batter off the heat and beat until it cools to about body temperature. Using a stand mixer is ideal. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until the batter is smooth.

Preheat oven to 425F and lightly grease 1 baking sheet. Or just pop a sheet of parchment paper on the baking sheet and you are good to go. Spoon the prepared basic choux pastry dough into a pastry bag fitted with a wide, plain tip and pipe 8 5-inch lengths onto the baking sheet. It can also be spooned directly onto the baking sheet for a more rustic approach especially if your piping skills are lacking. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the éclairs puff up and turn golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before filling.

Chocolate Glaze

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I prefer Lindt)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Make the chocolate glaze while the éclairs are baking and cooling. Place the chopped chocolate in a heat safe bowl and set aside. Heat the heavy cream just to boiling over low- medium heat and remove from the heat immediately. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until it forms a thin, smooth consistency. Set the chocolate glaze aside at room temperature for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To assemble the éclairs:

Fit a pastry bag with a medium-sized plain tip and fill it with vanilla pastry cream. Insert the tip of the bag into the end of an éclair and pipe about 2 1/2 tablespoons of pastry cream into it. Gently spread 1 tablespoon of chocolate glaze onto or carefully dip the top of each filled éclair into the glaze before serving.