I dragged my friend, Alejandra, down to the book store at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, on a Friday night, to see Christopher Kimball from America's Test Kitchen. It was pretty awesome to see him in person. He had a cute yellow bow tie on. He answered questions for half an hour and when asked about the ties, he estimated that he owned seventy of them. People asked all kinds of questions. About organic food, which to sum up, he said, doesn't really have any regulations in the states, and that a producer can essentially use the title without really providing an "organic" product.
I don't remember everything that was said however, someone inquired how it was that he got into food. The story is this: When he was about seven he made a chocolate cake for his family that wasn't good, and the frosting came out looking like snot. But, when he served it to the family, everyone remarked how good it was. It was because of that feeling, of making something and then having people appreciate it, that made him gravitate to food.
I even asked him a question. Here's the background: When I make their desserts at home, they'll usually call for a one to two hour cooling time. I can never wait that long to get my hot little hands on the goods, so I, from time to time... okay, I admit it, more often than not, will, take a little bite off the corner immediately after it has emerged from the oven. This mostly pertains to desserts like lemon bars, or brownies, but isn't limited to these by any means.
The question: Do you sneak bites of the desserts before they've cooled, or do you wait the recommended cooling time? My answer: Because we're filming, and we don't want the the whole film crew to wait for hours for the dessert to be ready, we have a backup waiting that is ready to taste.
Ah yes. I always think it's so cute, when on the show, he says he's going to talk to Adam Reid in the equipment corner, or Jack Bishop in the tasting lab, while he's waiting for his dessert to cool. Damn you magic box for fooling me... I shake my fist at the heavens!
How to start a cookbook club from Tea and Cookies, it makes me long to live in Portland. My friends and family near Portland appreciate food. Appreciate eating and making food, and enjoying these things with friends and family. That's why we started this frickin' blog. I told, Monico, that I thought it'd be awesome to start a cookbook club, as suggested in the blog. They all cook from the same cookbook, each selecting different recipes, and get together about every two months. Basically, me want cookbook club!
What he said to this, matter-of-factly, was that no one here (in SF) would want to do that with me. He's probably right, whether it be the small kitchens, or busy lives, or simply the excuse that people don't know how to cook; it just may be difficult to get people interested, but damn it, I'm going to give it a try. Even if it only happens once, I'd be satisfied. I always say, you don't need to know how to cook, as long you've got a good recipe to follow!
Beer and snacks in tow, Moni, Tara and I, headed to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival yesterday in Golden Gate Park.
The corn was roasted in their husks, and if you wanted butter, and of course, we wanted butter, they dipped it in it, and handed it over. Tara tried to avoid loosing all the skin on her hand, while seasoning her corn with lemon pepper, garlic salt, chili powder. Everything.
And even though we had snacked all day, I suggested we head over to Shanghai Dumpling King. We've been wanting to check it out, since it's rumored to be one of the best dumpling restaurants in San Francisco. Moni said no, but me and Tara wanted to eat dumps...Two against one, we win!
In a delicious broth, these suckers were my favorite...
Yum Yum, delicious! We also got green beans with onion, which were heavily salted, but perfect. However, it's all about the dumplings here, and I'm glad we went. It was a great food day for sure.
Every time I’ve tried blackberries while living in California, be it from the store, or a farmer’s market, they’ve been, not what I’ve expected. They’re sour, and not sweet. The blackberries here are a serious disappointment. I’ve stopped buying them. I’ve resorted to asking people to send them, or transport them, over state lines from Oregon, in order to again taste the sweet goodness that is an Oregon blackberry. Needless to say, it’s been awhile since I’ve eaten a tasty blackberry.
Recently, my sister came to visit me from the Portland area. She told me she was bringing some with her. I was so excited. When she arrived I first hugged her. Immediately after, I looked to see where she kept my blackberries, I was like a dog panting for its treat. She started to explain, “I brought them with me…” I stopped her, “Don’t say BUUUUT!” She continued with a grimace, “But...” “Nooooooooo.” “... they didn’t make it.” Being such a gentle delicious fruit busting with flavor, they couldn’t survive the long hot car ride. I was bummed. I’m sad to say, I’ve had no luck in procuring the elusive Oregon blackberry.
Paris flaunts in it my face that he and Natalie went for a little stroll and happened upon blackberries, and not knowing what to do with them, posted the above photo on facebook to ask for suggestions. I know exactly what you can do with those blackberries, Parrrriiiissss.
I decided last night, that if I can’t eat blackberries, then I’ll have pumpkin pie instead! Smooth, creamy, one-of-my-favorite-pies ever! This recipe calls for grated fresh ginger, and some candied yams in addition to pumpkin puree. So good that I’ve been stealing bites from the fridge all day long. I probably won’t be hungry for dinner, I’m an adult now, I’ll eat pumpkin pie instead!
I know it has been a while since I posted, I lost my login info for a while, or was trying the wrong one or did I lose my camera? Anyway I am sure it was something stupid and Paris-like. But I am back, just in time to tell you about one of my new favorite cookbooks(and cookbook author!). I enjoy reading Fine Cooking magazine, everything I have made out of it has been quite good.
A while ago we decided to try to make their French Macaroons. They turned out excellent, as documented in this official photo:
Don't those look delicious?
Well that might have been the end of that, except when watching a cooking show I have been enjoying lately, Simply Ming(good show, you should check it out), the author of the article(Joanne Chang) and recipe showed up as a guest, and I discovered that she had a baking cookbook out! So we rushed out to Barnes and Nobles to get a copy.
As Rachel mentioned below in her Seattle post, I made her birthday cake out of this book. We also made the Brioche au Chocolate. And since then I have made the lime cornmeal
cookies and the parsley-sage biscuits. All of which have been excellent!
In fact the cornmeal-lime cookies inspired me to play around with them and I made the lime glaze with tequila instead of water, and sprinkled a bit of pink sea salt on top. It was very tasty, but a little too salty, I need to play around with it more. I can't wait to make more stuff out of the book.
The recipes can be a little involved, for example the brioche was about a 3 day project. Be sure the read the directions all the way through before starting. We learned that the hard way.
I think you should pick up the book, and pay attention if you see an article by Joanne Chang or see her on TV. She hasn't failed me yet!
By the way, I think I read she has a degree in physics from Harvard and decided to become a pastry chef instead. I admire the hell out of her.
One of my favorite things to do on a day off is bake while listening to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. One of my favorite songs is Breakdown.
When I moved to San Francisco seven years ago my palate was limited. I didn’t eat goat cheese. I didn’t like tomatoes, or avocado. To say the least, my food world was limited. But yesterday, I was about to order geoduck sashimi for lunch! It didn’t happen for a two reasons; 1. It was priced at 30 dollars a pound, while the required amount to purchase was at least 2 pounds, and 2. There were only 2 of us. Today, I made rosemary polenta cake with peaches and honey whipped cream for dessert. For dinner, we’re having enchiladas verde, refried beans, with guacamole and chips for starters. All made by ME! Okay, I didn’t make the chips, but 4 out of 5’s pretty good. A few years ago, I would have never considered a savory dessert, but today I’m excited to try it. I did turn 30 this year, so that may have something to do with my new found love of eating delicious, interesting food.
Paris recently gave me his recipe for homemade refried beans. I’m using it again tonight, and I’ve gotta say, I will never eat canned beans EVER again. It’s too easy to make them from scratch. There’s a little more work involved besides popping open a can, but the reward for flavorful beans is so worth it. I’ll never go back! Make your own beans!
No surprise here that the recipe for the cake comes from America’s Test Kitchen. I’m hooked. But, if it weren’t for some of my favorite shows like ATK, Top Chef, and No Reservations, I just may be relegated to eating beans from a can, and never enjoying savory sweet baked goods like this…
Cake: 1 cup whole milk 2 sprigs fresh rosemary 1 ½ cups instant polenta 3 large eggs ¼ cup honey 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup cake flour ¾ cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened
Topping: 2 large ripe peaches, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch thick wedges 1 sprig fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon sugar Pinch salt ½ cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon honey
1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 350. Grease a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Bring the milk and rosemary sprigs to a simmer in a medium saucepan, then let steep off the heat for 10 minutes: discard the rosemary sprigs. Meanwhile, spread the polenta over a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant and lightly golden, about 10 mins. Carefully whisk the hot toasted polenta into the steeped milk.
3. Whisk the egg, honey, and vanilla together in medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time, about 30 seconds. Continue to beat the mixture until it resembles moist crumbs, 1 to 3 minutes.
4. Beat in the egg mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Break up any large clumps of the polenta with your fingers, then beat it into the batter, one handful at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the batter until smooth and uniform 2 to 4 mins.
5. Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cake until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 mins, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 mins. Run a knife around the edge of the cake, then flip it out onto a wire rack. Peel off the parchment paper, then flip the cake right side up, and let cool completely, 1-2 hours.
7. For the topping: While the cake cools, toss the peaches, rosemary, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl and let sit until the peaches release their juices, about 20 mins. Before serving, whip the cream and honey together with an electric mixer on medium-low until frothy, about 1 min. Increase the mixer speed to high and continue to whip until the cream forms soft peaks, 1-3 mins.
8 To assemble: Spread the whipped cream over the top, leaving ½ inch border around the edge. Discard the rosemary sprig from the peaches and arrange them in a concentric patter over the cream. Voila! I am considering messing around with the peaches. My peaches were ripe and tasted great, but weren’t soft enough for the fork to slide through them while they were on top of the cake. Had to push them off and construct the perfect bite. Maybe I didn’t let them macerate long enough, maybe they weren’t ripe enough, but would love to find a way to have softer peaches consistently, maybe sauté, or bake them.
R and G Lounge San Francisco. Monico and I have walked by here a few times, while either on our way from, or headed toward Chinatown. I heard it was good. Well, mostly from Monico, saying this is where his Chinese friends bring their parents when they visit. And and...Anthony Bourdain ate here when he filmed his SF episode of No Reservations. Needless to say, we've been wanting to try it, plus I've been in serious need of a crab fix lately. The crab was 38 bucks (market price) and we paid it. It is there signature dish, so we kind of had to get it, plus did I mention I was in a bad way about needing crab! It was delicious! It was everything I wanted it to be and more. Using the tools they provided I broke into the crab. My fingers were greasy. The coke I ordered was a perfect compliment to my salty-meaty pieces of crab. We ordered a side of rice and something else called, something like, three delights, I don't know really, because the crab, the crab, it's all I wanted, it's all I can remember!
After lunch I had to urge Moni to walk slower on account I didn't want to get a cramp. Since I'm a fatty, of course I ate too much, as I often do, I don't know my limit. When something's this good, I just don't want it to stop.
With dreams of my very own bakery dancing in my head, I made mini-tarts this weekend. I’m calling them cutiepies! Paris had made these amazing looking mini blueberry pies, so I wanted to make minis too. I knew exactly what I’d make, I went right for a recipe I got from a Food and Wine magazine. A Food and Wine magazine that I picked up after visiting Portland, because Noel and James get Food and Wine, so I’m scoping it out to see whether or not it’ll be the next one I order. Recipe for free form tarts:
Pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt 1 ½ sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces ½ cup ice water
Filling
Use whatever fruit you want, cut it up of course, the magazine suggested mango, and it’s absolutely the best fruit in these tarts, amazingly yummy! They also suggest pineapple and berries, use your imagination! I also like the way bananas taste after they’ve been baked, they have their own natural sweetness.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Sugar, for sprinkling Crème fraiche or vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream, for serving. But these suckers taste amazing the next day as is as a breakfast treat.
Now that you’ve got everything together, Do This:
1. Make the Pastry- In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt. Add the butter and pulse until it’s the size of small peas. Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture and pulse until it comes together. Transfer pastry to work surface and knead a few times until it comes together. Divide in half and flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour, can be made a day ahead.
2. Preheat oven to 400. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On lightly floured surface roll out a disk to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out rounds that are 5 inches in diameter, can make 4 per disk. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with second disk. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
3. Arrange the fruit on dough rounds. Bring the pastry edges up and around the fruit, pinching firmly to form pleated edges around fruit. Refrigerate 10 minutes more.
4. Brush tarts with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 35 minutes, until pastry is browned and fruit is bubbling. Cool on wire rack.
-If you want to make them super tiny like I did…I made them 3 inch rounds, and decreased the temperature of the oven to 350 for the first 15 minutes, after that, I rotated the pan and turned the oven up to the standard 400 for the rest of the time, still cooking them for a total of 35 minutes. I made some with tops too, just remember to make holes in the top crust. Enjoy!
Oooh boy, summer in a bowl. I made this last year, and as soon as it FINALLY started to warm up here, I jumped at the chance to make it again. I go heavier on the poblano chiles, add an extra piece of bread to the crumbs mixture and usually fry up more bread cubes to sprinkle on top as croutons. My favorite part is the mango chunks and crispy bits of radish. I brought this to a potluck party once and my friend who claimed to never really get into chilled soups said it was delicious. But to be fair, it's not really even like a soup, more like an excuse to pile a bunch of fresh stuff into an amazing salsa.
Ok, first things first: OMSI After Dark is awesome. They (Oregon Science Museum peoples) stay open late for the 21 and over, with microbreweries set up in booths all over the place. There are special activities and presentations geared towards adults (think: Taiko drumming and the science behind beer tricks, not XXX) and music, and you get a pint glass and there was a sausage truck and and and...PROS: Awesome! Beer! Science! No kids! CONS: Really crowded and long lines.
Just had to throw that in there because for some reason I really like it when reviews sum it all up in a "Pros" vs "Cons" sorta way.
I was at first determined to sample all the brews available at the event, but I abandoned that quest after a short while when I found myself gravitating towards two repeatedly.
Beer #1: Oakshire Espresso Stout by Oakshire Brewing This stout was so crazy good I think Tara had two pints. Oakshire Brewing is in Eugene. While James immediately recognized it, I had never heard of it. This stout was heavenly, creamy, coffee, thick and smooth. I just purchased two bottles as a hard week's reward. And because I couldn't get it out of my mind. PROS: Delicious. Stout. Tastes like coffee. CONS: Filling! And I think it may have got me drunkish but who's to know?
Beer #2: Chamomellow by Buckman Brewery This was the first sample that I tried and kept going back for, and then they ran out and I cried for two seconds before running over to the Oakshire stand again. Chamomile beer. Two of the most comforting things in this world, beer and chamomile tea, got together and had a beautiful baby, that when imbibed, will immediately transport you to a state of relaxation and unicorns. For some reason, it just works. Looks like Buckman Brewery is right here in P-town; I will soon be hunting it down... PROS: Beer was never more soothing. Herbal and light. CONS: Beer was never more soothing.
Or, Seattle Happy Birthday Time Or, I turned 30 in Seattle, Or, My continued obsession with Anthony Bourdain and cured meats!
My obsession with Anthony Bourdain and cured meats continued during my trip to Seattle. While I was visiting Portland, I watched the Portland episode of No Reservations. It only stands to reason that, while visiting Seattle, I indeed watch that episode of No Reservations as well, which led me to Salumi, only a hop, skip and a jump away from Pikes Place Market. I bought Paris a pre-birthday meal, since his birthday is the day after mine, and with lunch in our hot little hands we crossed the street and ate picnic style. We made sure to purchase a log of delicious cured meats to take with us so everyone could partake in the joy that is Salumi.
In the Italian episode of his show, Anthony Bourdain remarked that he kills that which he loves. By enlightening the masses, we come and tour and eat and crush, and eventually, squeeze the essence from these unique food sanctuaries. I want him to know, I am grateful for what he has done for me personally. I'm sure many would agree with me... I am a better person with delicious, juicy, particles of meat and fat and grease dribbling from my mouth and eventually making there way into my grateful tummy. My knowledge of food has grown exponentially because of him and his show, and I say thank you, my tummy thanks you. I promise to not crush, and to always tip generously!
Ceviche ala Paris, recipe...Rick Bayless, winner of Top Chef Masters Season 1. It is delicious and super easy, exactly my kind of cooking!
Beecher's was also on No Reservations. It's at Pikes Place Market, across the street. I ordered mac-n-cheese and watched them make the cheese right there. Good times!
Salumi meat, provolone, apples, and a baguette, a perfect afternoon snack.
Paris and I made birthday cakes for each other. He requested carrot with vanilla frosting. Which, I was opposed to immediately, since carrot cake usually dictates a cream cheese frosting, but you have to make concessions, and give people what they want on their birthday, if at no other time during the year. It was pretty tasty, since it was, America's Test Kitchen recipe all the way baby. I used fresh ground pepper this time, and there was no doubt that pepper was in there, which made it interesting, but didn't ruin it. For mine, I wanted none other than my go-to-have-to-have-above-all-else...yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Num num in my tum. His recipe came from Flour, a book that he remarked, is his new favorite. I had lots-o-fun, until next time Seattle!
The Cuban sandwich with the bites missing had a jalapeno relish; the pork was super juicy, and the sandwich was delicious. The weather has been amazing in San Francisco. On Friday's there are food trucks in the Civic Center/UN Plaza area. They travel around the city, if you have a favorite you can follow on twitter and facebook to see where they'll be next.
Baking...
The fruit tart was a recipe from a Food and Wine magazine I picked up this month, they were super easy to make. And the chocolate chip cookies, which I've made before, and the carrot cupcakes are from, my favorite, America's Test Kitchen.
James and I decided to have a festive and indulgent breakfast this morning, or actually, perhaps I should say I decided to have a festive breakfast morning (Mother's Day! Yeah... I have a mother... I should eat steak), fueled by visions of the "fool-proof" hollandaise sauce featured in my recent Bon Appétit issue. You may remember my past hang-ups about hollandaise, the fear and terror it creates in me, juxtaposed against my insatiable urges for the sauce. The process outlined in Bon Appétit claims you, yes YOU, can create easy, fool-proof hollandaise sauce in 5-minutes, using a blender and ... uh... one pan. Since James was able to do it the old fashioned method and it turned out fantastic, I figured perhaps this dumbed down version could be my personal introduction into the (previously denied) culinary world of cream sauces.
However, in case you didn't notice, the world has not imploded, pigs do not fly, hell has not frozen over and I found a way to fuck hollandaise up once again. Ok, check out the recipe:
Fill a blender with hot water; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Remove pan from heat. Drain blender and dry well. Put egg yolks and 2 Tbsp. lemon juice in blender; cover and blend to combine. Working quickly and with blender running, remove lid insert and slowly pour hot butter into blender in a thin stream of droplets, discarding the milk solids in bottom of the saucepan. Blend until creamy sauce forms. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and with more lemon juice. Serve immediately.
Pretty simple sounding, oui oui? Well, after the meal was consumed (errant sauce and all) I checked out the vid to see what differences in preparation must have occurred. And seriously, check it out: here it is.
After I got over the excitement of realizing this was Eric Ripert's recipe, I watched him blend the sauce for about, oh... 10 seconds? Seriously: watch it and time it for me please. Ripert and the other dude even refer to it as "60 second" hollandaise. Ugh. You can't mess around with me and sauces! I need guidelines! Strict measurements! Hard and fast rules! The freaking printed piece called it 5-minute hollandaise! I blended that shit til I got mayo. Specifically, I blended that shit for 5 minutes. When I pressed that stop button and ventured a taste, that stuff was THICK.
Creamy, delicious, lemony mayo, but nonetheless, mayo. It was so good though, that I still poured that all over my plate and wondered how commercial mayo sucks so much.
Meat and charcuterie seem to be running themes while Noel, James and Tara were in San Francisco. It was Tara's birthday week, we had lots of fun and ate lots and lots of delicious meats!
Tara's reese's peanut butter cup birthday cake!
I made breakfast one morning while the guys were still sleeping, the weather was beautiful and I was awake at 8 in the morning, so I decided to take a walk and get ingredients at Whole Foods, where I recently discovered their deli (meat) counter! Meat and cheese, yum!
North Beach meat!
We took home some meat! Yummy yummy meat, that we ate at three in the morning, with Lee's baguette after a few drinks.
Tommy's Joint on Geary and VanNess, lunch line style, bring cash, you will find strong drinks, meat and mashed potatoes, and delicious pastrami sandwiches.
Noel's first trip to In and Out. It's not your typical fast-food joint.
And it's burgers instead!
Mandatory trip to get salt water taffy after In and Out.
