Author: zambranoworld

Edible Gold (kinda smoked salmon)

This is the best piece of food imaginable. A juicy succulent salmon that makes it hard to eat salmon any other way. It’s not classic smoked lox, it is a super moist yet fully cooked piece of fish. 

Sui generis. 

All it takes is skin off salmon and a teriyaki glaze. 

  1. Put salmon in marinade for an hr. 
  2. OR
  3. The Knepper method is to not marinade it, rather just brush it with a thick glaze just before putting in.
  4. Preheat smoker to 225
  5. I used to use planks but not necessary. Just on a raised grill.
  6. Smoke to 120 internal temp, takes about an hour
  7. Let sit a good 10 minutes before serving.

Places you need to see/visit in Glen Ellen

Wineries:

  1. Benzinger: a walk from you and just a gorgeous setting. Bio-dynamic wines and worth going to the reserve tasting. The family sold it but have heard the wines are still as fabulous.
  2. Hamel Wines: a must if you can schedule a tour. The library tasting is amazing too. They may already be booked up but worth trying. Definitely one of our favorites. If you want, drop our name and see if that helps….we have been loyal wine members and used to do events there.
  3. Repris: another amazing experience and definitely need to schedule a visit vs. just a walk in. On the level of Hamel and the setting is spectacular.
  4. Talisman wines: need to set up a tasting. This is situated right downtown in a small building. Amazing pinos. We have been on again off again members because they’re so good.

Food:

  1. Yeti – amazing nepalese food and should have awesome vegetarian dishes too. They have gorgeous outdoor seating now too.
  2. Glen Ellen Star: great grilled veggies and pizzas. Very much a scene so make reservations. 

Random

  1. Wine Country Chocolates: Started by a mom and daughter and their main facility was in GE (not sure anymore). They have a retail store in GE. You won’t be disappointed. I love the rocky road chocolate.
  2. Glen Ellen Village Market. Love, love, love. What’s not to love about a grocery store. It’s owned and operated by someone who ❤ GE. People that work there love it too…food is off the hook and some of their  prepared dressings and sauces, like tomatillo, are awesome. Great vibe all around. 
  3. Our first office was in this building.… across from the GE Market. Had our initial office in a former wine storage closet and made it to the bigtime when we expanded upstairs. 
  4. Jack London Park: You’ll love everything about this place. Soulful! Not dog friendly.
  5. Sonoma Valley Regional park – Nice hikes everywhere and dog friendly.

 

Scallops

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/4 pounds (600 grams) scallops
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 4-5 large garlic cloves, minced (or 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic)
  • Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.
  2. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat until hot and sizzling. Add the scallops in a single layer  
  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste and fry for 3 minutes on one side (until a golden crust forms underneath), then flip and fry again for 2 minutes until crisp, lightly browned and cooked through (opaque). Remove from skillet and transfer to a plate.
  4. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the same pan, scraping up any browned bits left over from the scallops. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant (1 minute)
  5. Pour in wine and bring to a simmer for 2 minutes or until wine reduces by about half. Add cream and allow to simmer until slightly thickened.
  6. Remove pan from the heat; stir in lemon juice and add the scallops back into the pan to warm through slightly and garnish with parsley

Tomato chicken with anchovy

  1. 2.5 lbs of skin on chicken thighs
  2. Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
  3. 2 tablespoons olive oil
  4. 2 tablespoons butter
  5. 6 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
  6. 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
  7. 4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon, or 2 teaspoons dried tarragon
  8. 4 ripe plum tomatoes cut into small cubes + 14 oz canned tomatoes, drained and chopped)
  9. 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  10. 1/2 cup drained capers
  11. 1 cup dry white wine
  12. 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
  13. ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

  1. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil and butter in a heavy-bottom skillet. Add the chicken and saute over medium-high heat, turning the pieces often until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the shallots and garlic around the chicken. Cook briefly; add the tarragon, tomatoes, vinegar, capers, wine and tomato paste. Stir to dissolve the brown particles adhering to the bottom of the skillet.
  3. Blend well, bring to a boil
  4. Remove chicken and sear in separate skillet
  5. Put back in pan and then cover and simmer for 9 minutes. (or til done but not overcooked)
  6. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Baked Cod

One of my favorite baked fish dishes

  1. Bunch scallions, green and white parts separated
  2. 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  3. Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  4. 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless cod fillets 
  5. 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
  6. 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  7. ⅔ cup plain Greek yogurt
  8. ⅔ cup finely chopped Persian or English (hothouse) cucumber
  9. 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill or mint
  10. 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, plus more for serving
  11. 1 garlic clove, finely grated or mashed to a paste
  12.  Red-pepper flakes
  13.  Flaky sea salt, for serving
  1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mince enough of the scallion greens to equal 2 tablespoons and reserve. Halve remaining scallion whites and greens lengthwise to make ribbons. Place scallion ribbons in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon oil and a pinch of salt; set aside. 
  2. Season cod with salt and pepper, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle cod with a little oil, soy sauce and fish sauce. Transfer to the oven and roast, 2 minutes. Add scallion ribbons to the baking sheet, spreading them out in one layer around the fish, and roast until the fish is opaque in the center and golden at the edges, and scallions are browned in spots, 6 to 10 minutes.
  3. While fish roasts, make the sauce: In a small bowl, mix together remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil with 1 tablespoon minced scallion greens, the yogurt, cucumber, dill, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
  4. To serve, arrange cod and scallions on serving plates and squeeze lemon over the top. Dollop yogurt sauce over with cod and garnish with remaining scallion greens, red-pepper flakes, more black pepper, and sea salt, if you like.

Do: use a lot of sauce

Don’t: overcook the fish

Dry wings

Best wings ever.

Ingredients:

  • Chicken party package (comes with wings and drummies) can get at Safeway 
  • Dry seasoning of choice
    • Basic – Salt & Pepper
    • Other – paprika, cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin)
  • Olive oil
  • Oven temp – 400
  • Cooking time – total 35-40 min

 

  1. Remove wings from package and dry with paper towel and place on cookie sheet with paper towel under and on top.  Let sit in fridge for a bit to get nice and dry
  2. Take out and blot again with paper towel
  3. Put in bowl with and coat very lightly with olive oil
  4. Add seasoning and rub in good and let sit for a bit (30 min or so then add a bit more if desired)
  5. Preheat oven to 400
  6. Place foil on bottom of a large baking sheet for grease to drip and ease clean up
  7. Get cooling rack and place on baking sheet and place wings and drummies on the rack (top side up)  a bit above bottom of baking sheet
  8. Bake for 20 min then flip
  9. Bake for 10 min more
  10. Broil for 2-3 min (make sure the rack isn’t too close to the broiler or will burn…watch closely)
  11. Flip and boil for 2-3 min on the original side

Since these are basic, ideally you use several dipping sauces: Like BBQ, Ranch and Buffalo.

 

Chachalaca (tequila drink)

The Chachalaca is a simple classic Mexican marathoner drink. Originated on the beaches of the Riviera Maya, this drink is considered the healthiest of all cocktails. Its not actually called a chachalaca… thats a grapefruit drink

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz Julio 70, or any premium white tequila
  • Small soda water can or bottle, ideally a 10 oz’er
  • 1/2 lime
  • Cocktail ice
  • Salt
  1. Salt rim of tall cocktail glass (use lime edge for adherence)
  2. Fill tall cocktail glass with ice
  3. Add tequila
  4. Add 1/2 of a large lime

Enjoy!

Pad thai

here is the shit 

ingredients

  • 8 oz pad thai noodles
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1 serrano chile
  • 1/4 cup canola oil (lose the gun)
  • 3 large shallots thinly sliced
  • 3-4 garlic cloves minced
  • 12 oz medium to large shrimp
  • 2 eggs (beaten)
  • 4 scallions (thinly sliced)
  • Chopped cilantro for serving
  • 2 tbsp asian fish sauce

Process: (not the 76’ers)

  1. Put the noodles in a large bowl and cover with very hot water. Let soak until just pliable, about 5 minutes. Transfer the noodles to a colander and drain, shaking and tossing the noodles once or twice.
  2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and chile. Set aside 
  3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2’ish tablespoons of the oil until shimmering. Add the shallots and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.Add the garlic, cook for 1 min so as not to burn
  4. Add the pad thai noodles and stir-fry until heated through, about 2 minutes.
  5. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until a touch under-cooked 
  6. Pile the noodles and shrimp to one side of the pan (away from you) and add a tablespoon of oil to the empty side of the skillet to cook the eggs in.  Add the eggs and cook to 50-75% done. At this point you are cooking the eggs in a small corner of the skillet at a major slant so as not to get the oil into the other stuff
  7. Add the scallions and toss everything together, keeping the eggs relatively intact.
  8. Add the fish sauce mixture and lightly stir-fry until the noodles are evenly coated, 1-2 minutes.
  9. Top w cilantro and a splash of lime
will get back to you on do’s and dont’s

Legendary healthy chicken soup

Healthy chicken soup

Ingredients:

  • 2 quarts chicken stock, preferably homemade. Make sure its hardy (or salt it up later)
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 serrano, diced
  • 1 (14-ounce can) whole tomatos, drained
  • 2 cup shredded cooked chicken breast. Approx 2-3 breasts
  • Cilantro
  • 1 Lime
  • 1 avocado
  • Sourdough or other nice bread like olive bread
  • Creme fraiche

Process:

  1. Season three chicken breast with classic garlic salt overnight (or not and do in real time)
  2. And the next day….par boil chicken to a bit underdone
  3. Hand shred the chicken and set aside
  4. Saute onion, garlic and Serrano. First do the onion and Serrano and then the garlic for the last 60 seconds (so it doesn’t burn). 
  5. Concurrently bring the chicken stock to a simmer
  6. Add the onion, garlic and chile, and simmer 15 minutes.
  7. Add the tomatoes, and simmer for another five+ minutes. Taste and adjust salt (if needed) 
  8. Serving
    1. In up to 4 small bowls put a small handful of shredded chicken
    2. Ladle in a helping of broth
    3. Top each bowl with half an avocado (sliced restaurant style )
    4. Place a dollop of creme fraiche on top of the avocado
    5. Sprinkle diced cilantro and a squeeze of lime in bowl 
  9. Add a slice of toasted sourdough

done.