Bruschetta at Zero Zero

When we dined at zero we tried one thing from every category in the menu. One of the must haves was definitely their bruschetta. they had 3 kinda but we had the proscuitto, mushroom and ricotta one. it was on thick fresh bread, served warm.

Ingredients:
par baked bread
mushrooms chanterelles
ricotta
parsley
proscuitto
olive oil

mince garlic and pour olive oil over garlic. slice bread about three inches thick. spread garlic oil mixture on both sides. bake bread according to instructions.

cook mushrooms in pan. season with salt and pepper.

clean some parsley leaves. mix parsley with ricotta. spread ricotta mixture on bread. top with mushrooms and proscuitto.

the recipe seems simple but the combination when served hot is delicious!

morimotos sea urchin carbonara

when we visited morimoto napa, the uni carbonara was a standout dish. i just took a carbonara recipe and added some ingredients.

Ingredients:
5 teaspoons olive oil
4 shallots, diced
1 large onion, cut into thin strips
1 pound bacon
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 (16 ounce) package angel hair
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
petite green peas
uni
tobiko
shredded seaweed
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1.Heat olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Saute shallots until softened. Stir in onion and bacon and peas, and cook until bacon is evenly browned. Stir in garlic when bacon is about half done. Remove from heat.
2.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta, then return it to the pot.
3.In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, and shredded Parmesan. Pour the bacon mixture over the pasta, then stir in the cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Top with uni, tobiko, and seaweed. the outcome though was not like what we had at the restaurant. the conclusion is that morimotos was not a real carbonara but his pasta had a very soupy, light, cream broth. i actually tried making it again the next night, not with uni and the results were closer and better. the broth helps melt the uni and not make the pasta too heavy.

california sushi salad
i used to eat this a lot when i was in hong kong. here though, you cant really find it anywhere. its basically california roll without rice or seaweed. really simple

Ingredients:
imitation crab (not the frozen one, from japan)

cucumber

kewpie mayonaise

tobiko (not masago)

Prep the imitation crab but separating it into strips. Prep the cucumber by cutting off the ends and using the cut piece, rub the cut faces together. you will notice a white foam form. i remember someone telling me this takes away the bitterness of the cucumber. not sure what it does, but i do it everytime now. i also do it to zuchinnis. using a mandolin, juliene the cucumber so its the same length as the imitation crab.

mix the imitation crab and cucumber together and coat lightly with mayonnaise. top with tobiko for presentation or you can just mix it in.

if you want you can put a bit of wasabi into the mayo and mix it together before putting the salad together. inherently, the imitation crab is a bit fishy so the wasabi can help with that

maple pot de creme with blackberry sauce

we had maple pot de creme with huckleberry sauce at go fish . i just realized from reading my yelp review again that it was a hucklyberry compote not just sauce. no wonder mine wasnt as thick. anyways ... i also didnt quite know where to get huckleberries so i just went with blackberries. the recipe is pretty straightforward. the only difficult part was not overcooking the darn things. i tried twice and both times ended up with a wrinkly/bubbly top. i think the 50-60min time varies depending on the oven. the timer was set to 55 and it still over cooked. i have to admit my first try i accidentally set the oven to 400. oops. i tried again at 45 minutes and still bubble on top. there must be a trick

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and arrange four ramekins in a rimmed baking dish.

Combine the cream, maple syrup, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat until it comes to a simmer. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Using a small ladle, add some hot cream to the egg yolks a few tablespoons at a time. Whisk the egg yolks into the cream in the saucepan until combined. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.

Pour the mixture into the four ramekins. Carefully pour enough hot water into the rimmed baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the edges are set but the center gently jiggles when shook, about 50-60 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and cool to room temperature.

Sauce:
2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (or cherries) , plus more for garnish (optional)
2/3 cup sugar
lime

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat cook the berries and 2/3 cup sugar, stirring occasionally, until berries release their liquid and begin to break down, about 20 minutes. Juice and zest the lime

Next time i think i might try not adding sugar to the blackberries or fruit. the sauce made the whole dessert really really sweet. or i might try decreasing the sweetness of the pot de creme. but that would mean finding maple flavoring and adding sugar.

NOPAs leek onion sausage soup
so i first had this soup for my birthday at NOPA. since then ive been making a version of it at home. i dont put lentils in mine, mainly because i dont think it adds much, but i havent tried so maybe one day i will try. I have tried putting orzo in it, which makes it super stew-y and thick and hearty.

Ingredients:

2 onions (dice)

2 leeks (wash thoroughly and dice)

chicken broth (homemade or from the can)

ground italian sausage

parmesean rinds

first saute the onions and leeks together. also brown the sausage. sometimes i get lazy and put the sausage in with the onions and leeks. not sure if that makes a difference. after it cooks together a while, then i add in the broth and parm rinds. you can add as much parm rinds as you like. it gives the soup a cheesy flavor without making it thick.

i have some recipe/cooking posts on my other blog but i thought i might make a dedicated one to my adventures into cooking. i decided to call it copycat cook because i tend to taste something at a restaurant and then try to make it at home. sometimes ill find a similar recipe. sometimes i will just wing it. of course there are some cornerstones of cooking that most ppl know and should follow like:
1. dont put anything in until the oil/water is hot
2. only use fresh ingredients
but other than that if you can see the ingredients and taste different things in a dish, then you can just throw it together! the one thing i find really hard to make is sauce. the french kind. they seem to be pretty complex. but if you look on the menu and find the name, there should be a recipe out there.