KCET FOOD

A Shortbread Recipe for Your “Doc Martin” Viewing Party

We’ve all got Doc Martin mania, and to celebrate his both movie and the new season premiering this week, we’re whipping up one of the most beloved, classic desserts from Great Britain: shortbread!

This recipe comes from, funnily enough, America’s Test Kitchen, but we are assured it’s authentic as can be. And we believe them, given that this is an oats-based recipe, just as it was meant to be when the Scots invented it all those years ago. The end result is the perfect snack for a viewing party of the movie, or the show, or both. Here’s the air schedule:

Sunday, April 1, 9pm: Doc Martin: The Movie

Sunday, April 1, 5pm & 10:30pm: Behind the Scenes

Thursday, April 5, 8pm: Doc Martin season premiere

Authentic Shortbread
Makes 16 wedges
Use the collar of a springform pan to form the shortbread into an even round. Mold the shortbread with the collar in the closed position, then open the collar, but leave it in place. This allows the shortbread to expand slightly but keeps it from spreading too far. Wrapped well and stored at room temperature, shortbread will keep for up to 7 days.
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1½ cups (7½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
⅔ cup (2⅔ ounces) confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon table salt
14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into ⅛-inch-thick slices

See more here!

Oscar Party Tips from a Catering Expert, and a Finger Food Recipe

When the world turns to Hollywood for Oscar Week buzz, we turn to the parties. Specifically our own viewing parties and what we’ll serve because we, like the majority of the world, will never walk the red carpet in front of the Kodak Theater, nor will we attend any of the splashy after parties to nibble and nosh with celebrities. But we can look to the caterers who feed them for ideas.

Mascarpone, Gorgonzola and Pear Finger Sandwiches
Recipe adapted from Crumble Catering
Makes 1 sandwich, or 4-6 triangles

2 slices raisin bread, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 Asian pear, cored and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter

See more here!

Recipe: Malo’s Ground Beef and Pickle Tacos

Great food sometimes comes from a mix of kitchen confidence and creative improvisation.

For example, take the alleged origins of modern day mayonnaise. As one story is told, when the Mediterranean island port-city of Mahón was captured in 1756, a celebration meal was in order. A traditional sauce was usually made of cream and eggs, but the chef in charge had no cream and substituted olive oil. The sauce was eventually tweaked into what is known today as mayonnaise.

Keeping with a theme: during his wife’s pregnancy, in which she lost her appetite, Alfredo di Lelio in 1914 headed to the kitchen and created the eponymous sauce that these days is a pasta menu staple.

Now fast forward to a rainy day in 1982. A young Robert Luna is sitting the kitchen of his East L.A. home, savoring his mom’s burger: ground sirloin, cheddar cheese, kosher dill pickles, a spread of sour cream and mayonnaise and serve it on wheat bread. But there’s one problem: no bread.

See the recipe here!

Super Bowl Snack Extraordinaire: Furikake Kettle Corn

Furikake Kettle Corn
Recipe adapted from Roy Choi, A-Frame
Makes 4 servings

4 cups kettle corn
2/3 cup of corn pops
2 ounces clarified butter
2 tablespoon furikake
1 teaspoon red chili flake
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoon dried pineapple
2 tablespoon chopped bacon
2 teaspoon minced chives or Shiso

See more here!