cooking school at rancho la puerta

For their cooking classes, Rancho La Puerta invites a different chef each week to guest teach a week of classes.  We were lucky enough to be there for the week Joey Altman - a San Francisco star celeb chef - was teaching.

He kicked off the class with lots of jokes and tons of super useful tricks in the kitchen.

Like how to peel garlic in 10 seconds:

Simply take your unpeeled cloves, put them in a bowl, put another bowl on top, and shake the Dickens out of it.  When you open your bowls, you'll find your cloves perfectly peeled.

Or how to keep your avocados from turning brown:

You know that green slime-like substance on the outside of the avocado after you peel it?  Simply wipe that off with a paper towel and your avos are good to go, brown-free.

After the intro tricks, we were each assigned a recipe for the evening.

Gretters got the gluten-free sesame crackers:

Mom got the cashew hummus:

Together, the two were a total hit:

Dickie Boy got the cauliflower puree, but he was so quick and flawless in his execution, he was done before I had a chance to snap him in action.  Here's the amazing finished product:

With so much free time on his hands, Dickie Boy offered to help me with my dish: shrimp-stuffed avocados with a mango salsa.

The process involved "stuffing" the shrimp (marinated in a citrus-cilantro dressing) in a sliced avocado,

rolling said avocado into a ball with plastic wrap, and then after a half hour of chilling, unwrapping them and placing them onto a bed of mango salsa: 

The process ended up being more than I could handle on my own, so it required calling in the special forces.

But the final product was well-worth the extra work.

Other delicious dishes included a beet, feta, citrus, arugula salad, fresh-from-the-garden ratatouille, and  a basil-crusted sea bass.

And because no good meal is complete without dessert, Joey surprised us with gooey, chocolaty, luscious lava cakes with homemade coconut ice cream.

Unreal.

For these recipes and more, check out his awesome cookbook Without Reservations.  You won't be disappointed.

xoxo
KK

wacky wednesday

My absolute favorite book growing up was Dr. Seuss' Wacky Wednesday.  Have you read it?  You need to.

The premise is simple: a baffled youngster awakens to find that everything is not quite right, but no one else seems to notice.  It's a wonderful read at all ages, but especially when you're little and find great satisfaction in spotting each of the wacky things that fill Seuss' colorful pages.

But lately, it seems as though I'm living in my own Wacky Wednesday -spotting all sorts of things that seem "not quite right" in my real life.

For example, watching the morning news this morning, I stumbled upon Jos A. Bank's latest promotion:

Buy One Sport Coat, and get:

• 2 pairs of pants;
• 2 sweaters;
• 2 sportshirts +
• Android Smartphone (w/2 year contract).

At first, I was thinking: they can't be serious, this has got to be an ad for SNL's latest skit.  But as the promo ended and moved on without a nod to the joke, I thought it might actually be for real.  I quickly looked it up online, confirming its ridiculous existence.  Apparently next week, if you buy a pair of socks, you get the rest of the store for free.   

Then as I was driving into work and listening to the radio, I heard Roku's latest ad campaign:

click here to listen!

The entire ad focuses on how Roku's TV lovers just sit around and do nothing (other than watch TV, that is).  They're not the people who discover new medical procedures or develop new innovative technologies - no, no: Roku's TV lovers are - well - lazy.  As the ad says,
"Let's face it TV lovers - you weren't the leading candidate to patch the ozone anyway!"
Meaning you should just throw in the towel and watch Roku all. day. long.

I'm sorry, but does this ad make anyone else never want to watch TV again?

And then finally, as I sipped my morning coffee and perused my favorite daily deal site aggregator (www.yipit.com), I stumbled upon the following deal:

All the way over there to the left - see it?  

Saline breast implants!  40% off!  

Oh goodie!  I would LOVE to get breast implants at a place that needs to offer a 40% off coupon on a daily deal site! 

And it's only 9am.

Anything wacky in your life these days?

xoxo

KK

a cheese party

Did you know Stefan and I have a little obsession with cheese?  We like it more than we do dessert.
(And we like dessert a whole, whole lot.)

So much so that for our nuptials, we ditched the wedding cake and went straight for the cheese:

 

In beautiful cake form, of course

Last year, to help share (and promote) our love of dairy, we hosted a four-course cheese dinner party.  
We had all guests bring their fav cheese for our first course (a KILLER cheese plate), 
then did four pots of gooey Swiss fondue for our second course,
then served a decadent raclette as a third, (if you're not well-versed in the intricacies of this Swiss staple, read more here)
and then finished the evening off with some fluffy ricotta cheese cake.
Amazing.

Only problem was that our guests seemed to run out of steam a bit after course number - well - one.  Despite having warned them that the meal would include a total of FOUR cheesy courses, the sheer onslaught of cheese in the first course seemed to make them forget, causing them to fill their tummies well before our signature courses arrived.

This year, we decided to do things a bit differently.  

We still had all guests bring their favorite cheese.  When guests arrived, they labeled their cheese (name, origin, sheep/cow/goat) and found a spot for it on one of our boards. 

With a glass of wine in hand, they were instructed to get busy tasting: sampling each variety to determine which cheese would reign supreme.  
 

Unlike last year, however, we ditched the fondue and brought the raclette out much sooner. 
 

\

And this year, we had the right equipment for the job: a top-of-the-line, family-size raclette oven - a sensational wedding gift from my middle namesake and my mom's best friend.  

With eight individual trays, guests were able to each prepare their own personalized raclette: 
they started with a piece of delicious cheese, 
then topped it with our plethora of raclette accoutrements: corn, onions, ham, pickles, spices, and bananas (apparently not a traditional Swiss choice, but a must-have in Stefan's home growing up),
then popped the little tray into the oven, 
waited for it to melt to perfection, 
and then scraped it (or in Stefan's words - "scrapped it") on top of warm potatoes.    
 

 

Stefan showing them how it's done

Given people's lack of interest in raclette last year (keep in mind it came after the biggest cheese plate you've ever seen AND four pots of fondue), I was skeptical we'd be able to put a dent in the monstrous chunk of the stuff Stefan picked up at the shop:

But by 11pm, that chunk was almost all gone.

The night, however, wasn't complete without a cheesecake (people were full, but this recipe hit it out of the park, leaving poor Stefan with only two teeny pieces of leftovers) as well as a proper voting on best cheese.

First place went to Stefan (who cheated a bit by keeping his secret weapon hidden in the fridge revealing it only after all the other cheeses were picked over) for Scharfe Max 365: a Swiss intense, stinky mountain cheese that's aged for 365 days.

Because we obviously couldn't take home the prize (a bottle of champagne and box of chocolates), we re-voted to crown the Klugers victorious for their submission of Ewephoria - a sheep-made, "butterscotch sweet" gouda from Holland.  It was killer.  

Further evidence of a successful night:

xoxo
KK

the candy house

Growing up, one of my favorite holiday traditions was that of The Candy House.  An antique of sorts - this hand-crafted, wooden structure was handed down from a great grandmother luckily ending up in my mother's hands.  Ever since us kids were old enough to frost, we've been decorating the house with a splattering of sweet treats.

As described last year, however, like almost all Krieg Family activities, the event has turned into somewhat of a sport - a competition for who can adorn their side in the most creative, artistic, original, esthetically pleasing way possible.

Gretchen, Sam and I always get our own side (Stefan joined my team permanently last year), but we've had a rotating competitor on the fourth.  This year, mom stepped up to bat.

And like in any good Krieg Family competition, there is a winner.  In this case, based on the number of votes accumulated for each given side.  So what better way to help us determine a winner than to ask all of you to cast a vote.  Check out our work below and tell us:

1. Which is best
2. Which is worst
3. Which aspect/detail is your fav
4. Your guess of whose side is which

SIDE 1:

Highlights include: a lit candle in the left window,

a decorated, front-yard Christmas tree,

and a pile of wood with a licorice-y ax

SIDE 2:

Highlights include: a caramel fence w/ swinging door,
elevated steps up to the front entrance (complete w/ frosted windows),
and sliced-almond siding

SIDE 3:

Highlights include: pretzel-log cabin style,
a colorful fence,
and an outhouse decorated with fragrant Christmas wreaths
(to keep smells at bay)

SIDE 4:

 Highlights include: an American flag hanging above the garage,
a snowman leaning on a pile of snowballs,
and a vintage car headed out for a Sunday drive

Leave your vote in the comments - we'll report back soon with the winner!

xoxo

KK

perfect pies

Did you have a good Thanksgiving weekend?  Ours was jam-packed with ridiculously fun activities, delicious food and tons of good company - all starting with one perfectly decadent Thanksgiving Day.

As is traditional in the Krieg Family home, we spent the day prepping pies.  And by pies, I don't just mean 1 or 2.  I mean seven.  And even that was a very light year for us (just-a-bit-excessive) pie lovers. 
One year we cranked out no less than 13 before 3. 

While it used to be the full Krieg clan in the kitchen each contributing equal amounts to the pie creations, we've since relinquished the majorities of duties to the premier pie maker among us.

Any guesses on who that might be?

 

My 6'2", 238 lb, football-playing, soon-to-be investment-banking (little) brother.

As has become tradition, Sam got help from a good high school friend who has mastered the art of rolling out the perfect pie crust.  The two of them spent the day preparing batch upon batch of dough, and then batch upon batch of fillings.

While they prepared the vast majority of the pies, they introduced the newest member of the family to the tradition as well - teaching Stefan how to roll the dough evenly without letting it crack.

 

 

He did pretty well, only needing a little bit of help in the transfer of the crust to the pan.

(Look at how serious that face is in the transfer.  He knew Sam meant business.)

 

The pies all (even the one they let me roll out) turned out amazing.  Our best year yet.

 

 

 

Do you have any special dishes you make every single year?

 

xoxo

KK

apples, apples and more apples

Last weekend a good friend of mine organized a "fall-inspired" day packed full of fun seasonal activities: pumpkin picking, apple picking and - of course - a picnic.  As some of my fondest childhood memories include picking apples and coming home to bake them into a homemade pie on a cozy Sunday afternoon, I was super sad to miss out (I was in Maine with the fam).  So satiate my need, Stefan and I decided to do a little trip of our own this past Sunday.

After a good amount of research, I decided on Twin Hills Ranch - it was a beautiful 1ish hour drive north of the city, had gotten good reviews and advertised apples on the cheap - only a buck a pound.

We picked up our well-worn shopping cart basket (not quite the woven version I had envisioned) and made our way through the orchards.

 

 

Since none of the trees were labeled by type, we had been instructed to simply try each tree's offerings to determine whether it was worthy of our pick.  A horrible task indeed.

But it wasn't just the baskets and tree markings that were unkept, the orchard aisles were lined with all sorts of interesting findings:

Here an old, completely rusted-out water tank

and a half-deflated soccer ball

"You'd never see something like that in Switzerland," Stefan told me the second he spotted the old water tank. 
And it was true - the Swiss would never leave yesterday's garbage around for today's viewing.  Even old, never-to-be-used-again bridges, buildings, and autos get deconstructed and disposed of simply because they don't want an eye sore.  While there's something so clean and refreshing about this obsessive cleanliness, there's also a certain charm about these waning items of a day gone by - a reminder of what has been here, in this very spot, not too long ago.

After our basket was too full to be able to carry anymore, we made our way back to pay for our pickings.

In addition to our 14 pounds (!!) of apples,

we left with a huge jug of cider and a

luscious loaf of their signature apple bread

Rather than make an apple pie that evening, we decided to opt for the Swiss route - instead making a homemade apple "mousse" as Stefan so aptly called it.  

Simply chop up 6-8 apples (preferably on the sweeter side), cook them in a bit of hot water for ~10 minutes with a few pinches of sugar and cinnamon, and then blend them to creamy perfection.  You may know this delicious delicacy by its American name: applesauce.

While the sauce was exactly what we wanted, it didn't do much in helping us use up our 14 pounds of produce. 

Any ideas for easy yet delicious apple dishes outside of the traditional apple pie a la mode?

xoxo
KK