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Andrew's question was read on Forum with Jacques Pépin!

http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201204171000

Cauliflower Fritters with Yogurt, Early Cucumbers, Mint and Dill Dipping sauce

What you'll need:

1 Head Cauliflower

1 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese

Minced: 

Green Garlic

Parsley

Dill

Mint

Greek Yogurt

Cucumber

2 Beaten Eggs

1 1/2 cups Flour

1/4 cup Milk

Olive Oil

Vegetable Oil

Salt

Pepper

Mix Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp Olive Oil, Chopped Dill, Mint, and Cucumber in a bowl.

Add Salt and Pepper to taste, set aside in fridge. 

Heat Vegetable Oil to 350 degrees, use a candy thermometer, in a heavy bottomed pot 

(we used a dutch oven because it retains a lot of heat)

Roast Cauliflower in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Add All ingredients to a large bowl, add Cauliflower.

Add more flour if batter is liquidy at all, you want it to stick together.

Once Oil is at 350, add a scoop the size of a large spoon of the mixture.  

Fry until golden brown and then set on a plate lined with paper towels.  

Salt.

Dip in Yogurt and enjoy!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Spring is in the air! What's better than firing up the barbeque and filling that fresh air with wood smoke and the smell of roasting meats? 

Store bought BBQ sauce is often times too sweet for us.  We want BBQ sauce to be tangy enough to stand up to the smokiness from the grill.  

BBQ Chicken Method

Part one: Brine

Start with one whole bird.  Cut it into eight parts.  If you are unsure how to do this ask your butcher to do it for you.  

Make a simple brine.  For this recipe we use 5% salt.  50 grams of salt in 1 liter of water.  There's nothing more American than using the metric system to brine your BBQ chicken.  I also added 20 grams of brown sugar.  Brine the bird for 4-6 hours.  

In the meantime, chuck the bones in a pot of water and make a blonde chicken stock.  

Part 2: Rub

Get out your spice grinder and buzz up some delicious flavors.  Heres what we did (or thereabouts)

1 t cumin

1 t corriander.

6 each allspice

1/4 stick cinnemon

2-3 cloves

1 T black pepper

2 dry New Mexico chiles

Part 3: Sauce

Now that your grill is hot and your bird is brined, dried and rubbed, you better get your sauce workin.  

What follows is a recap of the sauce.  If its too tangy add more sweet ingredients.  Conversely taste with each addition of sweet ingredients so as not to cause diabetes.  

1 cup chopped shallots

4 cloves garlic chopped

1 inch ginger chopped

1/2 cup sherry or cider vinegar

1 cup tomato (can or fresh)

1 T tamarind

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 T maple syrup

2 dry ancho chiles

1/4 cup honey

1 quart blond chicken stock (from above)

Sweat the shallots until they start to color.  Add the tomato and cook it down until it starts to stick.  Add garlic and ginger.  Cook until fragrant.  Add brown sugar and carefully stir until it begins to caramelize.  Deglaze with vinegar.  Add the other ingredients and reduce until thick.    Puree with immersion blender.  

Start  the chicken skin side over a hot grill until crispy.  Coat with sauce and cook over indirect heat until done.  

Put some beer or sangria on ice.  Set up a table outside and enjoy with friends.  

Mako and a Chicken

Asparagus Tortilla de Patata

This is a twist on the classic that I learned from my Tita Charie in Barcelona.  Tortilla de Patata (also known as a Spanish Omelette) is a humble Tapa yet you can find it at pretty much any bar, cafe or high end restaurant in Spain.  Today we used the ingredients that came in our weekly CSA box.  Asparagus just came into season so we decided to incorporate it into our Tortilla.

Ingredients:

Potatoes (we used Russet, nice and starchy)

8 eggs

Garlic

Spring onion (you can use any onion)

Arugula (optional)

Asparagus (optional)

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

cast iron pan

Set your oven to 450 degrees.

Peel and blanch asparagus, set aside.

Scramble 8 eggs in a large bowl and set aside. 

Start by peeling the potatoes, then slicing them into thin slices.  Cook them in olive oil until soft, add a generous amount of salt and then remove them from the pan and put them into the bowl with the uncooked scrambled eggs.  Keep olive oil in pan.

Add garlic, spring onion and arugula to pan.  Sauté until the greens are wilted.  Add greens to the egg/potato mixture.

Add more olive oil to the pan.  Once oil is hot, add egg mixture to pan.  As soon as the bottom of the omelette browns and the eggs are starting to thicken, nestle the asparagus into the omelette.  Try making a pattern so that each slice will get a stalk of asparagus.

Remove from stove and put cast iron pan into the oven until the top is nice and brown.  Make sure that the middle is cooked with a fork directly in the middle.  If the fork comes out clean, you're good to go.

Slice, top with a dab of aioli and enjoy.

Eat leftovers as breakfast or add a slice to a fresh baguette, rubbed with tomato for a nice sandwich!

Pop-Up Pepe photos by Olivia Wright