Friday, I was in charge of the gravy for a post-Thanksgiving dinner, and the two turkey breasts weren’t offering enough juice to make gravy, so I went with the old standard. Mine has its roots in the Cook’s Illustrated All-Purpose Gravy, but mine is simpler and taste’s better.  All the measurements are one or a quarter, and the times are all dimes.

• 1 /4-stick butter
• 1 carrot, fine dice
• 1 stalk celery, fine dice
• 1 large shallot, fine dice
• 1 /4-cup flour
• 1 quart stock (beef or chicken or half and half)
• 1 /4-teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 /4-teaspoon basil
• 1 /4-teaspoon oregano
• 1 /4-teaspoon thyme
• 1 bay leaf

Saute the vegetables in butter over medium-high heat for 10 minutes and lower the heat to medium.  Stir in the flour and cook 10 minutes more.  Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes more, skimming off any foam that rises to the top.  Strain or remove the bay leaf and blend, then salt & pepper to taste.

“To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy.”– Bette Davis

Motivated by an article in New York Magazine about a new Asian barbecue spot in the West Village, I’ve started planning an Asian BBQ menu of my own for a party in the not too distant future.

A couple familiar items from the Chinese New Year Dinner Party will necessarily be present. Here’s what I am thinking so far:

• OMG Ribs
• Whole tea-smoked chicken or game hen stuffed with rice, herbs and dried fruit
• Vietnamese-style BBQ duck soup dumplings (maybe soup isn’t right for the occasion. I wonder if I can steam then grill the dumplings)
• BBQ pork steamed buns
• Asian variations on macaroni salad and potato salad
• Ceviche (I know it isn’t really Asian or BBQ, but I think it would be a great accompaniment. I can always dress the fish sashimi-style in yuzu juice, soy sauce, cilantro and scallion)
• Japanese-style pickled veggies
• Haupia with mango pearls and grilled lime wedges
• The Hiro-Jito
• Thai basil or shiso lemonade (recipe below)

Thai Basil or Shiso Lemonade

1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 bunch Thai basil (about ¾ cup) or Shiso (Japanese mint) leaves
1 ½ cups sugar
7 cups water
2 cups lemon juice (about a dozen lemons worth)

1. Muddle lemon slices, leaves and sugar thoroughly in bottom of pitcher.
2. Add water and lemon juice.
3. Stir until sugar has fully dissolved and chill.

A good breakfast snack for the days when you start drinking early.
I guess that makes it a brunch snack.
Whatever.

1 pound Medjool dates (about 30), pitted
1 pound bacon (about 15 slices), cut in half
30 Pecans (pieces work just as well as whole nuts though.)
3 wooden skewers, soaked in water for an hour

Replace the pits with pecans, wrap each date in bacon and slide ten on each skewer. Grill 3-5 minutes on each side until bacon is crispy.

Tip: remove pits with a chopstick. Most are easy enough to remove just by sliding the point in at one end, lining up with the tip of the pit and pushing out the other side. Tougher ones require stabbing a hole in both ends with the point and then pushing the pit out with the blunt end of the stick. Either way, it’s much less sticky and slow than doing it by hand.

I’ve was never a fan of the bloody mary until I had a pre-brunch bloody at Finnegan’s Wake while waiting for a table to open up at Zazie. I’m not quite sure what the old man put in my drink, but I now love the occasional (very well made) bloody mary.

As temperatures in San Francisco have reached week-long record highs, and my apartment is ecologically AC-free, the only thing that’s putting me comfortably to sleep is an ice-cold bloody mary. My off-color recipe follows:

1 ounce firewater
1 ounce good vodka
4 ounces V-8
1 dash Pickapeppa sauce
2 teaspoons meyer lemon juice
pinch very coarsely cracked pepper
pinch celery salt
3 cubes ice, cracked
Celery stalk or dill pickle spear for stirring

Pairs nicely with a tall can of PBR.

I’ve been out of the kitchen for a while, but I want to jot down a few ideas before I lose them.
OK, so there are only two items on the menu right now, but I’ll keep working on it. It would probably be easier if the dishes weren’t inspired by their quirky names.

Tako Taco
Tako is the Japanese word for octopus.
Taco is the Mexican word for taco.
Right now I’m picturing either a tangy octopus salad (Tako salad?) or breaded fried slices all wrapped up in a tortilla with avocado, shredded veg, spicy sauce and a squirt of lime juice.

Hiro-jito
Shiso is one of the primary aromatics in Japanese cuisine and a relative of mint.
Mojito is Cuban cocktail made with rum, soda, sugar, lime juice, and mint.
Hirohito was the 124th Emperor of Japan.
Enough said.

I’m also thinking of a high-class street food. Offal Falafel anyone?

A few nights ago, TSB came over to make pizza with me. I’m a big fan of buying dough at the pizzeria or grocery store (Trader Joe’s has decent whole wheat dough), rolling it thin and grilling it on my Griddler, before covering it with cheese, sauce and toppings. A few minutes in the oven at 400 degrees to melt the cheese and warm it through, and you have a great pizza.

Last week’s homemade ravioli experiment taught us that she and I are not the best culinary collaborators without a designated leader, but when one of us takes the helm and they other plays sous chef, we make a great team in the kitchen.

We built one pizza with grilled turkey ham, sautéed shallots and leeks, and goat cheese and another with sautéed mushrooms and goat cheese, and based on the remaining ingredients, we made a shallot, leek, mushroom and goat cheese pie.

I was assigned to grill the dough and prep the veggies, while she took the lead on designing the menu, creating the toppings, and cooking the sauce. This was the first time she had made pizza sauce, and had recently decided she wanted to create her own recipe. That night she engaged in what we expected would be a long and arduous process of revamping and fine tuning, but by Jove, she nailed it the first time! This sauce is incredible, and despite my foolhardy urging, has no added sugar, so it is far better for you than what you can buy in a jar.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
½ can tomato paste
3 stewed Roma tomatoes from a can
¼ cup cabernet sauvignon
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf

1. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.
2. Smash and peel two cloves garlic and add to pan, removing when they start to brown.
3. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer and thicken, stirring frequently.
4. Remove bay leaf before using.

As necessity is the mother of culinary innovation, I just MacGyvered a new curry for dinner and it is surprisingly tasty. I was craving the coconut curry sauce from last week’s Lunar New Year party, but lacking some vital ingredients, I got creative with what I could find around the house (ok, really just around the kitchen). What I ended up with was a scrumptious and spicy pineapple coconut shrimp curry. Oddly, this pairs well with Orange Fanta, but a dry white wine would be nice as well.

2 tablespoons oil
3 large shallots, diced *
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional, but good if you like spicy)
1 red bell pepper, seeded, ribbed and julienned
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, ribbed and diced
1 20 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained *
1 14 ounce can coconut milk *
1-2 cups medium size, raw shrimp
1 lime, juiced and zested

* items that everyone should always have on hand, but so few people do.

1. In a stir-fry or other large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil until shimmering over medium high heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until soft.
2. Add all but the last three ingredients and stir fry 3-4 minutes more before adding the coconut milk.
3. Bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes to reduce.
4. While curry simmers, heat remaining tablespoon of oil in another pan over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook two minutes on each side, then add to the shrimp to the curry and remove from heat.
5. Finish sauce with lime juice, serve over rice noodles and garnish with zest, but not too much zest.

The dinner party went off without a hitch, other than my being chained to the stove more than half the night. That was to be expected and my kitchen is open to the main party room, so I got to visit with all 18 guests as they munched and mingled. Several friends also stopped into the kitchen to lend a hand with stuffing wontons, stirring sauces, wrapping spring rolls and washing dishes.

What I served:

Shrimp and pork potstickers
Crab Mangoon
Vietnamese spring rolls
OMG ribs

Noodles: glass, rice and egg
Sauces: Peanut Sauce, Coconut Curry, Asian Pesto
Veggies: snap peas, cucumbers, beets, carrots, broccolis, tofu, peppers, sprouts, mushrooms
Seasoning: Sriracha, soy, hoisin, chili paste, rice vinegar, mirin, sesame oil
Toppings: sesame seeds, scallion, lime wedges, cilantro, mint, basil, peanuts
Meat: rare, thinly sliced beef

Oranges
Wonton Cannolis filled with Haupia and mango caviar
Ginger bacon cookies

Special thanks to TSB and her lovely roommate for secretly cleaning my apartment while I was working at the museum Saturday.

It’s easy, it’s traditional, and it’s delicious. My only concern is that, like a cornstarch-thickened gravy, it’s hard to get out all the lumps.

1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
Vanilla (I scraped out about 1/5 of a bean, but I would guess that a few drops or a 1/4 teaspoon extract would do the trick)

1. Whisk together all ingredients in saucepan over low heat, whisking occasionally until thickened.
2. Chill.

2 pounds bok choy
2 pounds pork, finely chopped (almost to the point of looking like ground meat)
1 pound raw, shelled shrimp, finely chopped
1 small can water chestnuts, ¼ inch dice
1 small can bamboo shoots, ¼ inch dice
6 scallions, cut to ¼ inch rings
3 shallots, fine dice
2 large carrots, shredded
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, fine dice
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
5 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons Sriracha
1 cup panko flakes (optional)
1 package Wonton wrappers
2 cups chicken broth

1. Combine all but last three ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour to overnight.
2. Put a couple of drops of cooking oil in a large, hot sauté pan and add 1 tablespoon filling. Stir fry until cooked through and taste. Adjust seasoning accordingly. If filling is very wet or loose, or on a whim, add ½ to 1 cup panko flakes.
3. Lay out several rows of wontons, and place a round tablespoon of filling on each.
4. Wet one finger (no, not with spit) and moisten the outside edge of the wonton, then fold it in half to make a triangle and pinch along the edges to seal. Use a fork to crimp the edges.
5. Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a large, heavy-bottom sauté pan, and fill with dumplings, being sure they don’t touch. Once golden brown, flip the dumplings and brown the other side.
6. Add ½ cup broth to the pan, keeping in mind that if the dumplings didn’t absorb enough, you are essentially pouring water into hot oil, which is dangerous and stupid…but no recipe devoid of danger and stupidity could ever be as fun.
7. Shake pan back and forth until all dumplings slide freely, then cover. Shake occasionally and wait until the broth has reduced to the consistency of maple syrup.
8. Repeat until all potstickers are cooked, keeping them in a warm oven until all are ready to serve.