We Call Him Yes!Chef!

A lot of things can happen in a few short months.

Yes!Chef! and I have been busy…and a little lazy about blogging.  As I have mentioned, Yes!Chef! has a day job that sometimes takes him out of town for several weeks.  And, since I am a photographer, by trade, I have also been busier than usual this year (which is always a good thing.)

One of the best things we got to do together at the end of March was to photograph a wedding in Mendocino County in Northern California.  Most people would say that I live in Northern California (I would also say this), but in reality we live a little north of the center of California.  Mendocino County is near the top of the state…about a 5 hour drive from our house (which is near Lake Tahoe.)

Most people, who have never been to California or have not spent much time in Northern California think that California is one big beach with sunbathers and surfers galore.  Southern California can be that way.  Northern California coast is much cooler and much wilder…not so conducive for either surfers or sun bathers.  But it is a delight for the eyes.

Yes!Chef! and I had the privilege of staying at the Light Keepers house on Point Cabrillo.  We stayed there with two other families, whom we knew, who were family members of the couple that was getting married.

We had a great view of the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse from the Light Keepers house (which was built in the early 1900’s for the Light Keeper and his family).

Every morning, Yes!Chef! and I got up early to watch the sun rise and look out at the ocean and the Lighthouse.

The wedding was fabulous and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

We drove home on Sunday after two very full days of wedding photography and great fellowship.  We drove through Anderson Valley, which is famous for Pinot Noir.  We stopped at a couple of places to do a little tasting and we happened upon, Golden Eye Winery.  It was a beautiful spring day and we were able to sit out on the tasting patio which had gorgeous views of the surrounding hills and vineyards.  The tasting fee was $15.00 per person (non-refundable even if you bought a bottle of wine.) But it was well worth it.  We got a little tray with 5 “tastes” served in Riedel glasses.  We decided to share the “tastes” and it was plenty of wine.  We both got good tastes and swooned through every one of them.

The wine was very expensive, but we bought a bottle anyway to celebrate when we finally sell our house (yes, it’s still on the market.)  Good thing the wine ages well.

Anyway, it was quite pleasant and Yes!Chef! and I vow to go back to Mendocino when we can spend more time wandering around together.

What does all this have to do with Asian Meatballs?

Not much.  It was just another adventure that I enjoyed with Yes!Chef!

I told Yes!Chef! the other day that I would love some meatballs with an Asian flare and flavor palette.  So, of course, he immediately found something that fit the bill and added his own flavorful touch to it.

He initially made the meatballs as per the recipe, but altered the sauce a little to suit our tastes.  I requested that he make them again, because we had leftover sauce (delicious), but using almond flour instead of Panko breadcrumbs.  Yes!Chef! and I are avoiding flour and other grains, for the most part, so substituting almond flour works for us.

Here’s the recipe:

Asian Meatballs (adapted from Food.com)

Makes about 35 meatballs

Takes about 30 minutes

Meatball Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 pound ground beef (80/20)
• 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs or almond flour
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 eggs
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 cup thinly-sliced green onion

Optional garnish:  toasted sesame seeds and/or sliced scallions

Asian Sauce Ingredients

• 2/3 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix all meatball ingredients with your hands until well-combined.  Form into 1 1/2″ diameter balls.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until meatballs are golden and no longer pink on the inside.
3. For sauce, mix together all of the sauce ingredients with a whisk.  Set aside.
4. The sauce can be served as a dipping sauce, or pour over the top of meatballs and top with sesame seeds and scallions.
5. Or both…which I did.

The sauce is very, very yummy.  I could not get enough of it.  We had some left over so, Yes!Chef! cooked up some tuna and we poured it over that top of that, too.  Yum!

I upgraded my cell phone (an old iPhone 4) for a new iPhone 6 (not the +).  So, I used the camera on the new phone to take all the food photos.  I’m not willing to throw away my Canon 5D Mark III, yet, but I think it did a pretty decent job.  Food photography is all about the light, anyway.

And one final piece of advice that I saw as we were walking along Point Cabrillo (we saw whales, too, but I didn’t get a picture of them.)

Try not to get angry because it can cause you to fall off the cliff and die.  So stay happy, folks and eat meatballs with Asian sauce.