Gastronomie

Stella & Bogart's 15 minutes

This is clearly NOT food-related, but check out our hounds on Modern Pooch...

Stella & Bogart on Modern Pooch

Nannies Party Potatoes

OK, I admit it. I teased C about these endlessly when he first asked me to make them for Christmas dinner. But, in my defense, when I asked him what the ingredients were, he listed "ranch dressing" as one of them. So, really, can you blame me for being unable to keep a straight face?

Anyway, after much pleading, cajoling and bargaining, I told him to get the recipe from his mom. And get this - NO WHERE IN THIS RECIPE DOES IT CALL FOR RANCH DRESSING!

It does, however, call for an obscene ratio of fat-laden dairy products to potato... now THAT is my kind of recipe.

•       8 to 10 med potatoes (Yukon Gold)
•       1 8oz package of cream cheese
•       1 cup of sour cream
•       1 tsp salt
•       1 tsp garlic salt
•       dots of butter (lots)

Of course, dear readers, you know me. And you know that I can't leave any recipe un-bastardized somehow. So, I increased the number of potatoes as I was using fairly petite Yukon Golds. I had probably 12-14. Then, instead of sour cream, I used lebneh (greek "yogurt-cheese"). I also don't own garlic salt so substituted garlic powder, and added a sploosh of half-and-half.

I peeled and boiled the potatoes in heavily salted water, and started to mash with the cream cheese and lebneh. C came in and said, "no, no, you have to use the cake mixer... it had to be really smooth!"

So out came the trusty cake mixer. And the half-and-half. Whipped those potatoes to within and inch of their lives... beat plenty of air and fluff into 'em. Then pour them out into a trusty casserole, and, remember those "dots of butter (lots)"? Yeah, you'll be using those now. I probably used 1/2 a stick of unsalted Plugra on a rather small casserole pan. This is how it looks before baking:

Baked it at 350° for about 30 minutes... I turned the broiler on for the last minute or two to get nice browning on the top. This is how it looks after it comes out.

Leftovers reheated amazingly well, and make an awesome accompaniment to hearty, beefy stew the next day.

A sad break from food

If you haven't already, please take a moment to spare what you can to the relief efforts in Asia.

When a massive earthquake devastated the city of Bam in Iran, it was the generosity of the rest of the world that allowed for some relief to the survivors. This earthquake and resulting tsunami have ravaged Asia, and even parts of Africa.

Doctors Without Borders is already on the scene, and is one of my personal favorite relief organizations.
American Red Cross explains why monetary donations are critical, and preferred over physical items.

Also, if you work for a large corporation, consider finding out if they have a matching policy. Some companies will do a dollar-for-dollar match of employee contributions.

Finally, don't forget the non-Tsunami-related non-profit organizations to whom you usually make donations. They will be needing your help more than ever this year, because they won't be getting their annual donations from individuals.

Thank you for your generosity and consideration.

Joyeux Noël!

Well, it's that day again. This year, we followed C's family traditions, which meant we opened all our gifts last night. We saved one big gift each plus, of course, our stocking stuffers for this morning. Frankly, I made out like a bandit (more on that later).

At the moment, I have a brief reprieve from my kitchen duties for dinner tonight. C is off trying to find a package of cream cheese for his Nannie's Party Potatoes (am I a good wife or what??). K & O will be over around 4pm at which time we shall start drinking, and hopefully will be good and ready to eat dinner around 6pm.

My dinner is nowhere near as elaborate as Sam's, but it's nothing to sneeze at, either! On the menu this evening:

- Shrimp Cocktail (really, the simplest and tastiest holiday appetizer)
- Seared Scallops with champagne beurre blanc

- Mushroom & Leek Soup
- Spinach Salad
- Herb & Garlic-crusted Standing Rib Roast
- Nannie's Party Potatoes (really just twice-baked mashed potatoes with an ungodly amount of dairy products)
- Brown-butter Baby Green Beans

K is charged with bringing dessert since that is her forte and not mine. As of Friday at 4pm, she was thinking of making Fallen Chocolate Souffle Torte with Eggnog Ice cream.

My very best wishes for a wonderful, fantastic, joyous holiday season for you and yours!

In pursuit of gustatory pleasure (and knowing when to quit)

I'm going to Washington, DC this weekend. Actually, I'm leaving tomorrow. And somehow, by some random act of kindness, I managed to score a reservation to The Inn at Little Washington.

So, what's the problem? Well, to start with, I had no business MAKING the reservation. In fact, I had no business making the damn CALL, for a myriad of reason which I will not go into here. Apparently, however, I am a glutton for punishment, and a master at the art of self-deprivation.

So, this afternoon, I actually called and cancelled the reservation {sigh}. I'm sad. Very sad.

More later...

Kee's Chocolates (formerly Chocolate Garden)

My boss is one of those guys who "knows someone who knows someone." He's got six degrees of separation to nearly every interesting person in San Francisco, and most of 'em in New York, too. He also loves chocolate almost as much as a girl, and he shares with his favorite people (of which I am one). This is why I work for him, y'see.

When I walked in to his office, and saw this gorgeous brushed aluminum box on his desk, I knew there had to be something interesting in it. Turns out, the box itself was a new sample from a vendor. But tucked inside the beautiful box was something else... something special.

This box contained 12 morsels of goodness. Twelve small jewels of flavor and texture. They were Kee's Chocolates by Kee Ling Tong.

Ms. Tong, formerly a corporate-type, opened her shop in SoHo called "Chocolate Garden" a few years ago. Apparently, her two passions are floral arranging and confectionery. She's since renamed the shop to "Kee's Chocolates", and focuses on these amazing little truffles, handmade daily and (woe is me) unavailable for shipping.

So far, I've tried five of them. Before I describe each flavor, I should say that the ganache filling on each one has been sublimely smooth and creamy. The shells are inexplicably, unbelievably, thin and crisp, even at room temperature.

Passion Fruit - this one was wonderfully tart, and my favorite so far. The flavor really packed a punch - no subtlety here.

Jasmine or Green Tea - OK, so I couldn't tell. The fragrance was of jasmine, but the slightly tannic mouthfeel was more green tea. So, I guess it could have been Jasmine Tea. Regardless, it was very nice.

Ginger - I'm not a big fan of glacéed ginger, but if I were, I'd love this truffle. It had small bits of ginger inside the shell. Slightly chewy texture broke things up.

Black Sesame - I'm not sure why this is called black sesame - there were both black and white sesame seeds encrusting this truffle. While the crunch of the sesame seeds was really cool, I didn't feel compelled to finish this one.

Key Lime - I thought this one could have been tarter (it was LESS tart than the passion fruit, go figure). But the flavor was intensely pure, and reminiscent of a really wonderful key lime curd I one had the joy of tasting.

We'll hit the box again tomorrow, and I'll report again on the rest of the flavors (if CF doesn't finish 'em before I get a taste!). I'm really hoping that, somewhere in that special little box is a crème brûlée truffle, her signature.

Kee's Chocolates are 1.75 a piece, six for $10, 12 for $19, or 18 for $29

A very sad break from food - stopping puppy importers.

I'm giving fair warning and notice that this posting is disturbing, and contains images that some readers may find objectionable. Regardless, as a woman who is proudly, joyously owned by two French Bulldogs (one of whom is a puppy mill rescue), I feel the need to post this 'cross-post' from another board.

Please... if you have a strong stomach, and love animals, read on, and cross-post this elsewhere.

My almost-missed lunch at The Slanted Door

Yesterday, I almost didn't have lunch at The Slanted Door.

I loved SD when it was in the Mission. Anytime we were shooting at Sandbox Studios, I always requested lunch there... the grapefruit & jicama salad was probably my single favorite thing on the menu.

When they moved to South Beach, I got lucky, because my new office was literally 2 blocks away. So again, I ate tons of Charles Phan's food - lunch, dinner, takeout. But it was clear that there was an elevated sense of superiority after a few months in that location, they were packing the bodies in, and the hostesses knew it. They let it get to their heads.

Fast forward a few months, and after letting the dust settle, JPW and I decided to give lunch a go. I called first, and after 8 minutes on hold, got a recording telling me that if I'd been "holding longer than 5 minutes, please hang up and call back at a MUCH later time." Huh? I called JPW and said, "Forget it. I don't want or need to go."

He called yesterday morning, saying he'd gotten a table for 12:30, and was I still interested? As long as I didn't have to deal with it... yeah, OK. But the experience was already tainted... and it was going to take a lot to convince me that I should spend my own time and money on the place again.

We arrived into this absolutely gorgeous entryway, pictured above. The rest of the space is equally beautiful, and the restaurant was packed - there was literally not one single open seat.

We started with two orders of spring rolls, plus an order of grapefruit & jicama salad. The rolls were basic and good, but I detected a note of overly fatty pork in them. The salad was ridiculously stingy with the grapefruit and pecans. Without exaggeration, there were 5 segments of the grapefruit, and there was maybe a teaspoon of tiny crumbles of pecan. Also, the jicama, instead of being crisp and bright, was almost tender and mealy. I was so disappointed in the quality of this, my formerly favorite dish.

JPW ordered the shaking beef on my recommendation. This dish, which SD does seem to do consistently well, was $18.50 even at lunch. Obviously, SD uses filet for their haute version of bo luc lac. Still, though, one would expect a bit more on the plate for that price.

I had the caramelized shrimp, another of my favorite dishes here. Again, this quintessential Slanted Door dish missed the mark. While the flavors were all there, the shrimp were overcooked. Not to the point of being unpalatable, mind you, but more than they should have been for a restaurant of SD's caliber.

JPW loved his dark chocolate cake with mint gelato, while I really enjoyed my trio of gelatos, including crème fraîche, burnt sugar and peanut butter. We also ordered a pot of French Press, but unfortunately, the grind was too fine, so there was an awful amount of grit in the coffee, and it was virtually undrinkable - this coming from a gal who lives for turkish coffee.

I'm truly sad to say that it's going to be a long time before I go back to Slanted Door. Frankly, I wish I had trusted my gut, and not ruined my memories of this place and my favorite dishes with such a disappointing meal.

Late night dinner at Globe

Last night, a group of five of us found ourselves ravenously hungry at 10pm. And as every San Franciscan know, this city, while glorious and majestic and cultured, does not eat late. After striking out at Grand Cafe and Cortez, a debate ensued about what was left. Not wanting to go to either Asia de Cuba for underwhelming, overpriced food or Max's, I excitedly announced, "we are going to Globe!"

As always, the service at Globe was a bit aloof and surly. But most of our food was pretty great.

We had a bottle of Rafannelli Zinfandel at $52. SP and I shared a baker's dozen of oysters to start. They were small - sweetwaters, maybe - but nicely briny and fresh. Then, CF and I shared the NY steak for two. This was presented on a huge platter, already sliced for serving, with caramelized onions and a side potato gratin. Very tasty, and cooked properly. But the meat itself wasn't very tender.

I got to taste SPs lamb which was really wonderful - I can't honestly remember the preparation (we'd been drinking pretty heavily at the holiday party we came from) but it was from the filet, I believe. SL's truffle pizza was easily the best thing on the table - the crust was perfectly crisp, the sauce was savory and a tiny bit sweet and the truffles and truffle oil were exceptionally delicious in this presentation.

Globe used to be a destination restaurant - while it was convenient that it was open late, that wasn't the reason you went there. You went because the food was consistently excellent and creative.

So, while I admit that the reports are true, and that it has gone somewhat downhill, Globe continues to be my favorite late-night destination. The food is still quite good (though not excellent), and the dark, heavy interior lends itself to that kind of dining.

Globe
290 Pacific Avenue (at Battery)
(415) 391-4132

A lovely brunch at home

Normally, when C & I entertain, we do really elaborate dinner parties - like 5 or 6 courses, wines paired with each course, etc. This past weekend, we did brunch for 6 for the first time.

It was really incredibly fun, and everything was easily put together early. That meant that we were both so much more relaxed than when we have dinner parties.

The Menu:

• Orange, Pomelo & Satsuma Salad, dressed with orange blossom water and sugared mint.
• An assortment of pastries including Lemon Currant Scones, croissants, baguettes & morning buns served with Plugra butter, Bonne Maman blackberry jelly & homemade apricot preserves.
• Strata of Prosciutto, Spinach, Chard and Gruyere, served with an Arugula & Mixed Greens Salad dressed lightly with good balsamico & olive oil.
• Yogurt & Mascarpone "50/50", dressed with creamed honey, spiced pecans & roasted pears.

Click below to see the recipes... pictures to follow tomorrow (they are on C's camera, which is currently somewhere either in Philly or Manhattan)