Dangshin has the palette of an old man. He asked for split pea soup and I made split pea soup. I am not a fan of the puréed baby food consistency so I made it more like a stew. Tailored it from Maya's recipe:
Didn't make the croutons because I didn't make any bread! I know. I can't believe it myself. But I did pick up a small baguette when I got the smoked shanks. They were skinless...what is the point of that?! My butcher, Ramon, at Gelsons on Hyperion informs me that "Americans" don't like or eat the skin. Um, this American does! He then proceeded to tell me where to get the best tacos and mariscos in the world. I smell a food adventure to TJ coming on!
Second alteration to Maya's recipe was the addition of one jalapeño. Never made it spicy before so this was an experiment. It was a success! Be warned. It was really spicy. Here's my crude photo below:
Then, what kicked things up another notch was my persimmon salad:
Pretty, ain't it? Crappy photo and all. This is my own creation and I look forward to eating this every year. My neighbor always gives me a bunch from her tree. These are the hard, flat fuyu variety that adds sweet and crunch to the salad. Add fennel (I used the stalks sliced thinly across the ribs and the fronds --completely under appreciated IMO), jalapeno (bam!) parsley (I usually use arugula but didn't have any), lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper. By the way, that is the easiest salad dressing to make and it lets your seasonal, fresh ingredients really have center stage. So good!
