Gastronomie

Book 13 has landed

Apparently, I'm the first person on Book 13. I'm keeping it for a few more days... I thought I'd do something fun with it since it got to me just before Valentine's Day...

From me, it goes on to Her Baking highness, Bakerina.

Slow Food... from the heart

This past Friday night, I headed to the Ferry Building to meet up with a few other food bloggers (Amy, Pim & Karen ended up making it) for the kickoff of "Food from the Heart."

The public was invited to "stroll the candlelit nave", whilst sipping wine and sampling chocolates and other noshings from the purveyors at the plaza, all of which sounded like a lovely way to end a hectic week. Of course, the nave was packed, and I saw not a candle anywhere (except those for sale, of course!). Regardless, it was fun, and we got to sample some nice bites.

The arancini (risotto balls) from Boulette's Larder were tasty - crisply breaded outside, nicely firm green-herb risotto inside with a little jeweled center of oozing Fontina.

Delica had two tasty morsels, a deep-fried scallop and a tofu & chicken dumpling with hijiki. I sampled both, and thought they were very, very good. The scallop batter was light, and not at all greasy.

Golden Gate Meat Co. offered up braised buffalo short ribs.  These were cooked in wine and broth for five hours until the meat was falling off the bone. No matter how many times I try buffalo, I keep being surprised and the mild flavor of the meat. This was really delicious and made me wish I had the patience for long, slow cooking.

Donate a recipe to Boxer Rescue

Anyone who knows me well knows that my dogs are incredibly important to me, and that I spend a lot of my personal time working for canine-welfare and rescue.

So, I humbly ask you, if you have it in your heart, to please donate a recipe to Blue Ridge Boxer Rescue's Fundraising Cookbook effort. The cookbooks will be available in late Spring for $15. All proceeds go towards outstanding vet bills so that Blue Ridge can help more homeless Boxers.

You can email your recipe to Trey & Shelby Carland, and if you want a Gmail invitation (or 5) for your effort, just cc me on your email.

Frank Chu, a San Francisco fixture

So... there's this guy... Frank Chu.

He walks around the San Francisco Financial District carrying this sign.

If you're a San Franciscan, you know about him. And if you're not... well... this article in the Chronicle is pretty damn funny anyway.

Duck Leg in an hour

This past weekend, I picked up two beautiful duck legs at the Cafe Rouge meat market thinking I'd give them a long, slow braise in red wine, kind of like this.

Of course, the week got away from me, and last night, I was faced with these two duck legs and only about an hour to get dinner on the table. After consulting Bittman (no help), Pepin (not much better) and the  folks at Chowhound, I finally cobbled together a sear-steam-broil method in which, frankly, I had very little confidence. I mean, in theory, it should have worked, but we all know how fickle protein can be.

To start, I seasoned the duck liberally with salt & pepper. Next, in my Le Creuset dutch oven, I seared the duck on both sides until well-browned then lowered the heat to medium, put the lid on the pot, and let the meat steam for about 30 minutes (you could add wine at this point, but I didn't because I wanted to be able to reserve the duck fat).

I drained the accumulated grease, turned the duck legs over, added enough red wine to come 3/4 of the way up the side of the duck (about 1.5 cups) but leaving the skin exposed, and steamed another 15 minutes.

Next, I added a couple of handfuls of dried apricots and prunes, and let them cook down with the remaining wine. Finally, I put the duck under the broiler for about 5 minutes to let the skin crisp up, which it did, beautifully.

With the duck, we drank Cakebread Napa Valley Cabernet '01. It's a nicely balanced wine with lots of cedar-y, sawdust-y scents, a smooth, mild, black-cherry palate and a surprisingly long finish.  I thought this wine was fine, but less compelling than many other $60 wines I've had. But then, I'm not a big Cal Cab drinker, either.

Overall, this was one of those meals where C and I try to remember why we go out to eat.

Then, we walked into the kitchen and remembered the answer... I'm an extraordinarily messy cook.

I'm hit!! Music in my Kitchen...

This little meme has been making its way around for a week or so now, with most of my favorite bloggers having been hit... so when Amy tagged me, my biggest stress factor was, “who is left to send it to, and how do I know they haven't been tagged yet??”

What is the total number of music files on your computer?
None on my laptop, 190GB on the home computer (around 57M songs)

The last CD you last bought?
It's been so long... I think it was Mylene Farmer L'autre, a replacement for a copy that, ahem, disappeared.

What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
Angel by Massive Attack

Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
A Lovely Day -- Bill Withers
Cherry Coloured Funk -- Cocteau Twins
Dream On -- Aerosmith (Stop laughing...I mean it)
Oxygene 1 -- Jean-Michel Jarre
How Soon is Now -- The Smiths

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Culinary Muse, because I would love to hear the soundtrack to the muse
SF Culinaire, because a site that beautiful must be inspired by beautiful music
Life Begins at Thirty, because Jen told me before I knew it myself, so I didn't freak about my 30th birthday, and I owe that to her.

Saturday Adventures, part 2 - Champagne Tasting

So, after our lovely lunch at Citizen Cake (for which, as Sam pointed out, we walked a dozen blocks), we headed around the corner to Arlequin for our tasting of Bruno Paillard wines.

Marie Caroline Paillard was on hand to pour and discuss the wines, and was très charmant. She poured four different wines, and discussed everything from dégorgement to the varietals themselves.

Before I get to the wines themselves, I should issue a caveat that I really, really know nothing about Champagne. I know what I like (Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose NV, for example, and Veuve Clicquot Brut '95), but I have a hard time describing why or what I don't like.

First up, we sampled the Brut Première Cuvée (~$35). This seemed to me like a fairly typical NV champagne - yeasty, extremely effervescent, lots of acidity.

Saturday Adventures, part 1 - Lunch

I'm on Arlequin Wine's email list, and every few months, they have an in-store tasting that piques my interest. This past weekend was a tasting of Bruno Paillard Champagnes.

Sam (Becks & Posh) was game, so we made plans to have lunch at Tamal, a new place on 12th & Howard that's been getting rave reviews on Chowhound, then head over to the tasting. I also decided that I'd stop off at Citizen Cupcake and pick up a couple of those lemon cookies we both swoon over.

As I was walking out of Virgin, my cell phone rang, and it was Sam (who was standing across the street) telling me that Tamal is closed for weekend lunch. So, after much walking and talking, we ended up at Citizen Cake (oh, the irony) since neither of us had actually had ever had a sitdown meal there.

Turns out, Citizen Cake does a mean lunch. We shared the Croques Tartuffe sandwich ($11) and the Ahi Tuna salad ($13).

In honor of Dr. Biggles

I had promised to have an entry ready for Meathenge's Meat Platter contest. But of course, too much cider, beer and pork led to a food coma that put me out of the running.

Regardless, here's my entry, if late and incomplete. Feh.

Jeff at Pierotti Brothers had baby back ribs on sale for around $4/lb, so we promptly bought two racks, invited K & O for dinner and I made Moroccan spiced baby back ribs with Amy's Pomegranate BBQ Sauce.

Chocolate Orgasm

Did you know that chocolate releases the same endorphins that, ahem, "intimate relations"?

That's not really what this post is about. But now that I have your attention...

...IL CIOCCOLATO DI BRUCO IS THE BEST CHOCOLATE I HAVE EVER WRAPPED MY LIPS AROUND...

Phew, sorry. Didn't mean to yell, but I couldn't restrain myself. But seriously, this stuff is amazing. I picked it up at Citizen Cupcake, where I had stopped to get one of the lemon sandwich cookies that Sam turned me on to.

Citizen Cupcake has a really unique and wonderful selection of chocolates and candies. From the classic American Idaho Spud, to a broad range of Dolfin bars, they've spanned the generational and cultural gaps.

Andrea and I started chatting about Vosges (whose bars I think are decent, but whose balsamico and taleggio cheese truffles I adore), and I told her about Katrina Markoff's Full Moon Brownies made from their Black Pearl Bar which contains ginger & wasabi.

As I mentioned I was always looking for really interesting dark chocolates for brownies and chocolat chaud, she excitedly told me about this new ancho-flavored bar they have.  We wandered over to the back wall (which, shame on me, I hadn't even noticed), and she pulled out this pretty little red paper pouch with silver writing. At nearly $4, the stuff isn't cheap, but I was hooked anyway.