January 26, 2013- Cooking for the Bestie

My best friend is visiting from San Francisco, so of course I had to have her over. Rather than a composed menu, I did a smattering of appetizers and items she had a craving for.

We started with a seared eggplant caprese insalata. Years ago, I had an incredible grilled eggplant caprese at Tulio. The simplicity of the dish blew me away; clean flavors and good quality ingredients.

Winter means it’s oyster season. One of my favorite ways of having a fresh shucked oyster, is in an oyster shooter. So out came my adorable little shot glasses from Crate & Barrel.

I figured by this time, she might need something warm in her tummy. Soup time. One of her favorites is oxtail soup. When she lived in the Seattle area, I used to bring her half whenever I made a pot. This was a taste of home.

One of the dishes I’ve been very proud of is the crab cake scotch egg. I can’t take credit for the idea, but since there was no recipe or direction, I do take pride in figuring out the mechanics. Let me assure you, it is a BITCH to put together. Not completely horrible, but definitely not anything you’d want to throw together in a hurry. But it’s my bestie, so of course I had to serve it.

Next course- Dungeness crab ceviche. I was up late the night before dismantling (i.e. murdering) crabs the night before and I wanted to find a simple way of showcasing the crab’s sweet, clean flavor. 

One of her and my favorite dishes is pan fried bean curd wrap. It is usually found Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurants, which is unfortunately a dying species. Made of bean curd skin or yuba, the inside is filled with stir fried vegetables of varying textures- the entire thing is then pan fried. It’s basically an eggroll be the bean curd skin gives it another dimension of texture. Let me be very clear- working with bean curd skin is a ROYAL BITCH. It comes in dehydrated form which must be soaked for several hours. Then it breaks with the slightest bit of pressure. However, the result is altogether worth it. Since it’s nearly impossible to find a restaurant that makes a good one, a few years ago I started making my own. 

This next dish is an homage to her mother, who invented it. Chinese have steamed egg dish that is beloved by all. Sometimes the filling at the bottom is seasoned ground pork. Sometimes dried shrimp. I’m not sure how she got the notion to do this, but god bless her for it. One night she put crab roe (or crab butter) into the steamed egg. I can’t begin to say how incredibly good this is. 

Tonight is obviously a night for indulgence. I picked up the biggest scallops at the store; several could easily make a meal. I didn’t have to do much with them; just a sear and a dab of Jamaica Me sauce. 

One of the things I’ve been itching to do is crack open an uni. I’ve seen it done a dozen times on Iron Chef and have always wanted to try. Everyone should do this- it is a total trip! Picking out the roe was like dissecting an alien brain. Not in a gross way, but perplexing and fascinating at the same time. I scraped and cleaned out the shell for presentation purposes. 

Dessert is Japanese cheesecake which is more like an airy sponge cake. Like most Asian desserts, very subtle on the sweetness. Considering she had to borrow a pair of my sweatpants in mid-meal, I would consider tonight a success! Happy eating to you and yours =)