Too Hot to Cook!

By Sandy Hu

We haven’t had a single sweltering summer day, to date, in San Francisco this year. But across the country, people are baking. So all this week, Special Fork bloggers are sharing no-cook, cook-ahead or cold dishes to help lower the temperature in the kitchen and at the dinner table.

My favorite hot weather meal is cold soba noodles with a dipping sauce, called Zaru Soba. This is a Japanese classic summer dish. There’s no fat in this meal – just a clean, simple taste – so it won’t leave you feeling sluggish.

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A Visit to my Cousin’s Coffee Farm

By Sandy Hu

I come from a line of Kona coffee farmers on my mother’s side of the family. My grandpa and grandma Honda had a small coffee farm, as did many of my aunts and uncles. Today, my cousin Randall in Holualoa, Hawaii, is the only one carrying on the tradition.

Instead of a recipe demo for Video Friday, we’re visiting Randall’s farm and picking some coffee! To learn more about Kona coffee, read The Hawai‘i Coffee Book, A Gourmet’s Guide from Kona to Kaua‘i by Shawn Steiman, c. 2008, published by Watermark Publishing. And, if you ever visit the Big Island of Hawaii, enter the world of the immigrant coffee farmer with a trip to The Kona Coffee Living History Farm that vividly and authentically recreates the experience.

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Coleslaw – Less Fat, More Flavor

By Sandy Hu

Growing up, my mom used to make a tart and sweet coleslaw with lemon juice and sugar, but I prefer the creamy kind made with mayonnaise. Still, I’m concerned about the fat – especially with all the rich fixings that tend to accompany coleslaw as part of the typical barbecue meal.

In the current issue of Bon Appétit, a recipe for coleslaw calls for two parts of nonfat Greek yogurt to one part of mayo. What a great solution! I tried out the idea for our Fourth of July barbecue and loved the results.

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Happy Fourth!

By Sandy Hu

The Fourth of July falling midweek this year is a bit inconvenient since we can’t hook it easily to the weekend. If you have people over to celebrate, there’s no free day in advance to prepare, nor a day afterwards to recover.

But I’m glad we, as a country, haven’t tried to turn this sacrosanct holiday into a three-day weekend for our own convenience, as we have other holidays like Memorial Day. I believe we should honor the day for its meaning; not for our barbecues. Memorial Day to me will always be May 30 and a holiday in remembrance of our war dead; not the last Monday in May and the kickoff to summer.

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Ratatouille – a Provençal Taste of Summer

By Sandy Hu

In the summer, I dream of Provence – the dry-hot heat, cicadas thrumming, fields of sunflowers and lavender, and farmers’ markets filled to bursting with fresh produce of the region. One day, I want to rent a little house in the country and spend a few weeks reading, puttering about, shopping with my straw basket on market days and cooking leisurely meals while I sip delicious Provençal rosés.

I was in a Provençal state of mind, when I invited my Twitter friend from Hawaii to dinner last Wednesday night. So I made a simple meal starting with tapenade and crostini. Steve grilled a butterflied leg of lamb marinated in olive oil and garlic. And to complete the menu, I roasted some new potatoes, made ratatouille and baked lemon tart for dessert.

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