. dash of food .

After having wanting to make the jump with my blog going onto the next phase for quite a few months, I've finally done it! The .dash of food. blog has a new web address now :) You can see the changes over at www.dashoffood.com ! Hope you enjoy your visit there, and please update your RSS reader with the new feed address as well. For those subscribing to the feeds by email updates, I will shortly update the feed link, so you shouldn't have to do anything to continue receiving the email updates from the new site. Thank you for following along my sporatic adventures in and outside the kitchen. With the update of the site, I hope to become better at posting more often and making your visits and reads worthwhile.

Photograph by kaishin chu © 2009 . The Bonus - Basil Pistachio Pesto Well, after lamenting over the loss of production from my basil plants, I had a colander full of uninfested basil leaves that were rescued one by one from the culled stalks. J washed and cleaned these one by one to make sure there were no hidden baby scale bugs still attached. I had never before made fresh basil pesto before, but seen many different recipes, so figured I couldn't go too wrong. One thing missing though, was Pine nuts. I haven't seen pine nuts here yet, though I know China produces them and does eat them in the north country. I figured I would try substituting with the excellent pistachios we had on hand for sake of experimenting. It turned out great and was delicious :) Ingredients: Phase 1: 2 cups fresh basil, packed 2 med - large cloves garlic, peeled, roughly chopped (about 2 tbsp, or half this, if you prefer) 1/2 cup pistachio nuts, shelled 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1/4 tsp.fresh lemon

Photography: kaishin chu © 2009. One thing both J and I love to smell during the winter months esp. is the smell of garlic roasitng in the house. It is intoxicating. We figured out the settings needed for our toaster oven to do a proper job, and we are so happy for it. (it's been much cooler in the month of Dec - Feb here, temp avg. around 11-17C, and with non insulated housing [ for the humid months] and no central heating, it took a bit of playing around to get the right temp to cook it in the proper time.) ---- Cut top off, drizzle olive oil, dash of salt, cover with foil in pan, roast, enjoy aromas, then devour. Toaster oven in winter: 375F for 1-1/4 hour, then left inside to cool down for 1/2 hour. In our Vancouver convection oven: 325F for 45 min, and left inside to cool down for 1/2 - 1 hour. If you like it less pungent, lower temp and lengthen roast time :)

Has anyone seen this in the Vancouver markets and tried it? A sustainable tuna, yum!! Kona Kampachi® is a delicious, sushi-grade Hawaiian yellowtail, sustainably raised in the pristine open ocean off the coast of Hawaii. In the wild, Seriola rivoliana would be known as Almaco Jack or kahala, but Kona Kampachi® is substantially different from its wild counterpart. Kona Blue nurtures its Kona Kampachi® through its entire life cycle from hatch to harvest, yielding one of the healthiest and most delicious fish on the market today.

Mouthwatering and heartwarming food event...

Photos posted by Kaishin Chu © 2009. I created this recipe a few years back while we vacationed in Tofino in a log cabin. I had hoped to make buttermilk pancakes (a recipe originally developed in my college days), but we couldn't find any buttermilk to purchase at the local little market on our way into town. Since I often adapt recipes in lieu of missing ingredients, so in this case seeing that I had brought a container of strawberries macerating in balsamic vinegar, I thought I would use the vinegar with milk to create something similar to buttermilk. I figured it couldn't hurt. Photos posted by Kaishin Chu © 2009. The breakfast turned out amazing, the pancakes were fluffy yet substantial, moist and full of flavour, esp. with maple syrup... After the meal, the idea for a proper recipe was set forth. Last year, I dreamt up another delectable recipe using balsamic vinegar left over from macerating fruit, to make panna cotta... I'll save that recipe to share with you for a