Birthday dinner

Sorry It's been a while since my last post. While I have been keeping up with my solar and conventional cooking (more posts to come soon), I've been a little preoccupied with making travel plans (for this current trip as well as upcoming Italy), getting and setting up a new computer (MacMini!), finishing paperwork for my new job with Stanford starting Monday, and of course celebrating my birthday with so many thoughtful friends and family. Thank you so much for your love and kind wishes.

So in other words, I will be posting plenty of photos and videos with accompanying recipes in the coming weeks, just as soon as I get settled in again. And after that I hope to make regular, bi-weekly updates. Keep me honest, fellow foodies!

So I got to celebrate 27 trips around the sun with my parents and Marisol at Anthony's fine dining! The food was good (crispy duck, escargot - yum! - moist beef tenderloin medallions in mushroom sauce, and a rich pork tenderloin roulade) and the wine, chosen for our namesake (Dalla Valle), totaled half of the bill! It had a beautiful bouquet, though left me wanting a fuller, richer taste and body. Grenache? I think so, but to be honest the nose was the most memorable part. It smelled sweet with fruity, floral aromas, and reminded me of my favorite petite syrah (Turley 2005, if you were wondering).

And what birthday would be complete without cake, Maria? Or in this case, baked Alaska, which is basically a yummy ice cream cake covered in meringue and set on fire! so much fun.









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tucson, AZ

Solar tip#1: UV Index website and forecast

Solar cookers should know, this is the place to go for all your solar cooking planning. That, or to the nearest window to check cloud cover. Perhaps seemingly counterintuitive, solar cooking benefits from and depends on UV exposure more than outside temperature.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Solar recipe#1: Coliflor y ejotes

This recipe couldn't be simpler. About the only preparation it requires is washing the veggies and snapping the ends off the beans that you wouldn't want to eat. After that I tossed them in a thick bottomed pot, seasoned with salt n pepper and about two Tbs. Butter. 1.5~2hrs in the solar oven at UV Index 5-6 et voilá! C'est magnifique. Serve with protein (see marena's chuleta to appreciate the fall-off-the-bone leftovers i had for lunch today :)

Before (and cooked alongside my veggies for stock):

After (Love the light in this foto, even thought the colors weren't so bright)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

How long does it take to become a (video) blogger?

For reals this time, I THINK i've gotten this new blog to work, and to be honest, it's taking a lot longer than I had anticipated. And it's looking like blogger will be the place for my videos, since it's the only server that I've been able to upload to (for free). We shall see shortly...

Anyway, in the meantime, let's keep this a surprise for Grandma for her birthday. Thankfully there's very little danger of getting la Sra. Valle on the internet, but better safe than sorry, right?

This video is just the first that I made for her and to inaugurate the new site, though I'm hopeful that after learning a bit more about this stuff I may be able to invest the time and resources into some serious video blogging. Or if my (future) readers prefer, I may just stick to photos and recipe posts.  So, what's your preference?

Hot Kale Chips

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
EVOO for coating leaves (truffle flavored oil is really nice with this recipe)
Sea Salt and  black pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 250F
Rinse and dry kale and place on baking sheets (wire racks on top of the trays help give nice crunch without as much risk of burning, but are not necessary)
Brush kale with EVOO (or drizzle it, just get good coverage)
Season with S&P

Try them with the long, dark green variety that looks like a feather (sometimes called dinosaur kale). It is my new favorite, though any kind works and there's potential for experimenting with other leafy greens - chard, spinach...basil?