All About Chutney

I first had chutney served with Indian food, probably with curry. It was thick and gloppy and vinegary but I loved it anyway. Since that time I have eaten chutney with roasted meats such as lamb and pork and I can't bear to eat a cheese sandwich without it. I've even experimented with adding it to stews and casserole dishes.

I've also discovered that there are lots of different kinds of chutney. Some are fresh and raw, others are cooked but only slightly and the most common type I've tried is a fully cooked chutney, which usually includes vinegar, spices and some combination of fruit and or vegetables. They range from sweet to spicy and sometimes a pleasant combination of the two.

The name chutney is an anglicized version of the Hindi word, chatni. It became very popular in Europe in the 17th and 18th century and the first mention of it in the Oxford English Dictionary comes in the early 1800's. It is popular in the British Isles, and can be found in many former British colonies such as Jamaica and South Africa. Interestingly it is also a name for a type of calypso and soca music from the Caribbean, especially Trinidad and Tobago.

I recently met up with Alison of McQuade's Celtic Chutneys. Alison was making chutney from her family's recipes for friends and neighbors when one of the owners of Cowgirl Creamery asked her to make chutney for the shop to sell with cheese, and so a business was started. Now her chutney is available at several cheese shops and markets around the Bay Area. McQuade's Chutneys are a very chunky style and not goopy at all. A kind of chutney even chutney haters could love. I tried the Spiced Apple on a grilled cheddar sandwich with pear and turkey, and it was amazing.

Alison and I were chatting about how we use chutney and it occurred to me that there ought to be a cookbook for cooking with chutney. It's excellent as a condiment but it is really wonderful in recipes as well. Until someone writes the ultimate chutney cookbook, here are some of my favorite things to do with chutney in addition to serving it with Indian food, or with cheese or grilled meats:

* Mix with sour cream for a dip

* Add to barbecue sauce

* Add to mayonnaise and use with sandwiches

* Serve over a block of cream cheese or goat cheese as a appetizer

* Spread on bread in grilled cheese sandwiches

* Add to stuffing for turkey

* Add to chicken salad

* Stuff phyllo or puff pastry with goat cheese and chutney

* Bake a brie with chutney on top and serve with toasted baguette slices

Enjoy!

Spring Vegetables

Typically the arrival of thistle shaped green vegetables such as asparagus and artichokes signal that Spring has sprung. But last week I was seduced into buying some exotic looking white asparagus and violet artichokes, each of which are much more common in Europe than they are here in the states. Fortunately interest in a greater variety of vegetables is growing and so they are getting easier and easier to find. My two sources? Berkley Bowl and Trader Joe's.

Last week I got a chance to go to Berkley Bowl for the first time. Berkeley Bowl is an independent supermarket that puts the big chains to shame. The produce section is what they are most famous for and it truly is impressive. While not as elegant as the great food halls in London, the variety and volume is way beyond what I'm accustomed to. Prices are moderate, I bought a pound of white asparagus and a four pack of Belgian endive, for a little over two dollars each.

Canned white asparagus have a tinny flavor and mushy texture; but fresh they are quite wonderful. I like them so much that I smuggled them home from Paris the last time I was there. They were just as common and similarly priced as the green ones. Last night I made risotto with asparagus and shrimp inspired by a recipe I found on the back of the arborio rice box. My additions to the recipe were baby scallops, some fresh grated lemon peel and a drizzle of lemon flavored olive oil. It was divine!

At Trader Joe's I found the violet artichokes. I tried several types of delicious artichokes when I lived in Tuscany, but I don't remember seeing these. Trader Joe's calls them Fiesole artichokes, but I'm not sure what the real name for them is. They also claim they are more tender and have less choke than regular artichokes; I just found them so beautiful I couldn't resist purchasing them. Big artichokes, little ones, hot, cold, green or purple I've yet to meet an artichoke I didn't love. Then again, I could say almost the same thing about asparagus.

The last of the white asparagus and the Belgian endive will become a salad tonight, served with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette. I think I may stuff the artichokes, stay tuned for more details...

A chocolate a day...

Do you know what this is? Pretty obvious right. Bars of chocolate. But that's not all, it's also Lee's latest prescription. Lee's doctor told him to eat one square of a dark, bittersweet over 70% chocolate bar every day. This is the tastiest medicine, and the only downside is that there is no way our insurance is ever going to pay for it.

There have been several studies linking chocolate with health benefits. Darker chocolate is the most beneficial. Studies show that phytochemicals called flavonoids in chocolate block arterial damage caused by free radicals and inhibit platelet aggregation which can lead to heart attack or stroke. The antioxidants also relax the blood vessels and inhibit an enzyme that causes inflammation. While high in fat, chocolate is cholesterol free and very high in magnesium which is considered good for both the cardiovascular system and high blood pressure.

There are tons of articles on the internet about the healthful properties of chocolate. You can check out a very recent one here. If you're still not convinced, you can make an appointment with Dr. Aron, or you can just visit his web site.

Recipe: Cranberry Zinger Muffins

Today is the 13th edition of Is My Blog Burning hosted by Maki of I Was Just Really Very Hungry. Check out her site for a complete listing of participants.

Baking muffins is a great way to start the day. The smell and warmth fills the house and the muffins themselves lure any sleepyheads out of bed. Leftover muffins make for a good breakfast-on-the-run during the week. Somehow a muffin just seems more special than a slice of coffee cake.

I'm always looking to develop that perfect recipe that uses things I happen to have on hand. So in general I avoid recipes with buttermilk and heavy cream. In the interest of health, I also prefer not to use too much butter or too many eggs, if I can. Experimenting with baking is tricky. I made this recipe several times before I got it right. But now it's a keeper!

It's Spring and I am craving mouth-watering tangy flavors. I find most muffins are too sweet for breakfast. This muffin recipe combines lots of tangy flavors that I love, especially lemon but also orange, cranberries and ginger. You can leave out the ginger if it's too zingy for you or your family.

Note: Remember when all muffin recipes called for filling the tin only 2/3 of the way up? Now we love our muffins oversized but it can be a challenge to get them out the pan whole. Wait for them to cool (I know it's hard!) and if you twist them in the pan, they will loosen and lift out easily. Don't forget to spray the top to the muffin pan! (thanks Tanvi for that tip)

Cranberry Zinger Muffins
12 muffins

2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 large egg
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c unsalted butter, softened but not melted
1/2 t grated fresh ginger
Rind of one lemon grated
Rind of one orange, gated
3/4 c citrus juice (combined juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange)
1 1/4 c fresh or frozen cranberries (I used them straight out the freezer)
2 T sugar

Preheat oven to 400. Coat a 12-muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk together the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. Using a hand mixer or pastry cutter, cream the sugar and butter until smooth, mix in the egg. Add the orange juice and ginger, lemon, and orange peel and stir to combine. Mix the flour and cranberries into the batter just until combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan. Sprinkle each with sugar.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes our until the muffins are lightly browned, puff up, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin set on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and eat them warm or let them cool completely on wire rack.

Enjoy!

If you haven't checked it out recently, head over to KQED's food blog, Bay Area Bites. The site has relaunched with a new look and a new feature--Take 5.

Take 5 features five interview questions with a person involved in the culinary life of the Bay Area. Today's Take 5 focuses on Belinda Leong, the pastry chef at Restaurant Gary Danko. Take a look and let me know what you think! And check back here tomorrow for Is My Blog Burning...

Cookies, anyone?

Take one part improv, a lot of monologue, a pinch or two of dialogue and a healthy dose of comedy and mix it up with one hip solo performer and what do you get? One smart cookie!

Heather Gold's one woman show, "I Look Like An Egg, But I Identify As A Cookie" follows a recipe of sorts, the wet, the dry, the mixing, forming and baking, each of which relate to a part of her history and identity.

Proving that women are the ultimate multi-taskers, Heather actually bakes cookies on stage while sharing her adventures through many life changing experiences and nothing is off limits--growing up Jewish in Canada, enduring law school, her dot com escapades, even her sexual experiences. It's a tasty performance that ends with a cozy cookie party for the audience and performer alike.

Cooking with Amy, live onstage? Well, yes! I am excited to be the special guest for the April 3rd performance at the Hotel Rex. I join the ranks of other illustrious guests, such as writer Beth Lisick, Citizen Cake's Elizabeth Falkner, Cowgirl Creamery co-founder Peggy Smith and musician Lynee Breedlove. For discount tickets, click here. I hope you'll come and if you do, please stick around for cookies and a chat after the show.

I Look Like An Egg, But I Identify As A Cookie
Hotel Rex in Union Sq. 562 Sutter near Powell St
Sundays March 27th & 28th
Every Sunday and Monday in April, except the 11th (3,4,10,17,18,24,25)
Doors open 7:30, show at 8 pm

Discount tickets available for April 3
General admission tickets avilable at subvert and brown paper tickets
or call 1-800-838-3006

Is My Blog Burning? #13

Think of this vintage Betty Crocker recipe card as a reminder. Is My Blog Burning? is coming up this Thursday, March 24th.

For those who dn't know about it, Is My Blog Burning? is a virtual online event where food bloggers from all over the globe post recipes on a given theme on one single day. For more information you can visit the "official" IMBB site

This time the theme is My Little Cupcake (or muffin) and it is hosted by Maki of I Was Just Really Very Hungry.

I made cupcakes back when the theme of Is My Blog Burning was cake, so I've been experimenting with muffin recipes and am almost satisfied with my recipe, almost. If you want to participate there is still time, visit the IMBB link for details, dust off your muffin pans and preheat your ovens!

Author Event Today

One of my absolute favorite food blogs is Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks. Heidi is a talented writer, designer, photographer, cook and cookbook author in addition to being a very sweet person. Her blog is an exploration of recipes from her vast cookbook collection.

She is one of the first bloggers to publish a cookbook, Cook 1.0.

If you are in San Francisco today, though it's rotten weather, Heidi will be at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market from 10:30-11:30 doing a cooking demonstration and signing books.

Zante's Pizza : Restaurant Review

Dungeness crabs, sourdough bread, a wide choice of cuisines--especially Asian. We are so blessed in the Bay Area with great food. But something else particular to San Francisco may be Indian Pizza. Yup, you heard right, Indian pizza and I'm pleased to report the one place making it, Zante's in Bernal Heights, delivers citywide.

Ever since I tried this pizza a few weeks ago I have been positively obsessed with it. There are several things that make this pizza addictive--but the most important is probably the sauce and the unique toppings. Now I know what you're thinking, pizza is all about the crust, but in this case it's not. They use Sag paneer, a cheesy pureed spinach that works perfectly as a base. On top of it they add eggplant, cauliflower, ginger, green onions, cilantro, garlic, cheese and if you like, tandoori chicken or lamb. The crust is a chewy and crisp thick pizza dough, good but not the greatest. The whole thing is baked in a tandoori oven. Luscious spicy flavors of India explode in your mouth from the first bite. I know it sounds weird, but surprisingly it's not.

If you're not in the mood for pizza Zante's also serves Indian food, though I haven't tried it. Around since the mid 1980's it's been garnering attention from various publications since it opened. Until just recently it has never really been on my radar, probably because I didn't realize they deliver...

Zante's owner has roots in India and yet learned to make pizza in New York. Exactly how this happy mix of pizza and Indian food happened, I'm not sure, but I'm ever so grateful!

Zante's Pizza and Indian Cuisine
3489 Mission St @ 30th Street.
San Francisco
Open daily 11-3 and 5-11 pm
415.821.3949

Creamy Beet Soup: Recipe

Beets are like paint bombs. Deliciously sweet, red, flavored paint bombs, so intensely colored they stain your fingers, bleed into the sink, tint the cutting board, you name it. When cooked, they aren't so much red as deep magenta. When mixed with sour cream they turn paler shades of magenta to pink. The color, like the flavor is either something you love or you hate.

Beets get a bad rap from the low carb police, but they are actually quite healthy, filled with antioxidants, low in calories, they have significant amounts of fiber, folate, manganese and potassium. I know some people find beets too "earthy" tasting, but both Lee and I love 'em. Especially in beet soup.

There are an unbelievable number of recipes for beet soup. It's commonly served all over Eastern Europe. There are versions that are cold, hot, vegetarian, with meat, chunky, smooth, with tons of vegetables, with no other vegetables.

Lately I've been experimenting with "less is more". I've tried stripping down various recipes to the barest of basics to see if I could coax the ingredients to shine through. This is one of those recipes. In my experiment to get to the essence of the beet, I developed a recipe that has little more than beets in it at all. A pinch or two of sugar perks up the flavor and the broth and sour cream add body and richness.

And yet this soup is variable, you can make it as creamy as you like by varying the amount of sour cream. Sometimes you taste something and you struggle to make out the ingredients. In this case you may be amazed at the depth of flavor in just plain beets embellished only with a little broth and sour cream...

Creamy-As-You-Like Beet Soup
(serves 2 as entree or 4 as a starter)
3 beets
14 oz chicken broth (or seasoned vegetable broth)
1-2 teaspoons sugar
1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 cup sour cream (depending on how you like it)

Prepare the beets by scrubbing them well, trimming them and leaving about one inch of the stems. Place in a glass microwave-safe container with 1/2 cup of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 10 minutes. Let cool, reserving the liquid. Peel and trim beets, then shred with a hand grater.

Place the beet and liquid back in the glass container, add the chicken broth and cover, microwave until heated through, 5 minutes (longer if the beets are very cold). Taste broth for seasoning, depending on the beets you may need a teaspoon of sugar. Place contents in blender with sour cream and blend until smooth.

Chill in the fridge. Serve thoroughly chilled.

Enjoy!

San Francisco Food Lover's Guide: Review

You might have noticed all my caveats about the Zagat Survey the other day. I have none to report for the fourth edition of Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Guide. As the last edition did, this one shall sit right next to the Zagat on my desk. In some ways it is almost the opposite of the Zagat, it is not a guide of popular opinion but rather one very enthusiastic eaters' opinion.

The guide is a staggering 562 pages and includes markets, bars, butchers, cafes, and a handful of recipes. A true guide to food in the Bay Area it also has many indexes that include where to eat after 10 pm, with kids, a seasonal produce guide, etc. In addition to San Francisco there are smaller sections on Berkley, Marin and the Wine Country. But the real reason to buy the book is the restaurant reviews. For years friends and family have called me for restaurant suggestions, owning this book is like having Unterman at your beck and call. Far from comprehensive, this is just an excellent selection of the best of the Bay Area.

For those who don't know, Patricia Unterman is a fixture in the Bay Area. She owns the beloved Hayes Street Grill, one of the best places to get seafood in San Francisco. She also writes restaurant reviews for the Eats section of the San Francisco Examiner where she routinely uncovers hidden culinary gems. She is also one of the founders and a board member of the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market.

At under $20 bucks this is a great gift for anyone who loves the Bay Area whether they are natives, newcomers or just here for a visit. And by the way, papa, if you're reading this, you can have last years edition.

Berry Berry Good: Lasagna Recipe

When I lived in Italy I especially looked forward to holiday meals. For every holiday and every family in Italy there is a special dish to savor. One of my favorite recipes was one I learned to make while spending Christmas with some friends in Verona. It was a delicious eggplant lasagna, very different from any other lasagna I had ever had. I ate so much of it on that Christmas eve, I just couldn't get enough of it. To this day, this is the best lasagna I've ever eaten or ever made.

Eggplant lasagna, for one thing, eggplant! Who puts eggplant in lasagna? And then the sauce, it was a mixture of a tomato sauce and a bechamel sauce. As for cheese, well a sprinkling of parmesan was about it--no ricotta, no mozzarella. The noodles were thin, probably homemade, not the thick curly kind.

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, except that it's not really a vegetable. Eggplant is actually a fruit, and a berry at that. I love it's meatiness. It's tremendously versatile; you can steam it, broil it, bake it or fry it. Found in many Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean recipes, it is adaptable as an ingredient to almost anything, even lasagna. There are several types of eggplants that come in different sizes and shapes but the most common one I use is the Italian style pictured above, which grows quite large.

By salting slices of eggplant and letting them drain, you can collapse the cell walls and make the eggplant even more dense and meaty. But if you like soft and light, don't salt it and cook it in a way that will not absorb oil such as steaming or baking.

I have made some changes to this recipe, but it's very similar to how I remember having had it the first time. It remains a version of lasagna I have never encountered in any cookbook or restaurant. It is a delicate lasagna, rich but all the layers are thin. Though traditionally served at Christmas, it's not something I save for special occasions, but eat year round.

Eggplant Lasagna
serves 4

1 large eggplant
olive oil
9-12 boiled lasagna noodles, use the thinnest kind you can find (enough for a 9 x 13 inch baking dish)
3 1/2 - 4 Cups tomato sauce, high quality jar sauce* is fine, homemade is better, my sauce recipe can be found here
3/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 Cups milk
2 Tablespoon flour
2 Tablespoon butter
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Cut eggplant lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices, salt them and lay flat to drain. After 30 minutes, drain and rinse the slices. Pat the slices dry, then brush with olive oil and broil until cooked through and slightly brown, watching to make sure they don't burn.

In a saucepan melt butter and add flour, stir with a whisk until smooth and bubbly and golden but not brown. Add the milk, whisking to prevent lumps and cook until slightly thickened. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

Spread the baking dish with sauce, then noodles, top with another layer of tomato sauce, then eggplant, then bechamel sauce, then a sprinkling of cheese. Repeat layers of noodles, tomato sauce, eggplant, bechanchel and cheese, until all ingredients are used (top last layer with bechamel and parmesan). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

*In a pinch, I prefer Classico Spicy Red Pepper

Enjoy!

Madeleines:For the Love of Butter

I like butter. A lot. My parents tell me that as a small child I ate pats of butter right off the table when we went out to restaurants. It's a wonder I'm not morbidly obese. But can you blame me? After all, what tastes better than butter? One of the tastiest buttery treats is a madeleine. They were made famous by Marcel Proust in his novel Remembrance of Things Past. Translations are never quite the same as the original, but I'm sure you get the drift from this quote:

"I raised to my lips a spoonful of tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched on my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses."

As much as I love them, madeleines can be a little infuriating, the more you try to figure them out, the more they confuse. Are madeleines cookies? cakes? And which side is the top, the fluted side or the rounded "belly"?

Since the 18th Century madeleines have been associated with the French town of Commercy. There was once a local convent in Commercy dedicated to St. Mary Magdelen, so that could be where the name comes from. Historians hypothesize that nuns sold their recipe to the bakers of the town when convents were abolished during the French Revolution. Yet another story says madeleines were invented during a feast given in Commercy by a young servant named Madeleine. The Dutch carried them on a pilgrimage to Spain in the 1700's (the shape was the symbol of the pilgrimage). Going back almost another 100 years, there are also various accounts of cakes being baked in aspic pans to test out the batter. The definitive origin of the madeleine remains a mystery.

I recently got a chance to try several kinds and brands of madeleines and I was particularly impressed with one in particular that is made here in the Bay Area--Donsuemor Madeleines.. The company prides itself on using all natural ingredients and no preservatives, but trying to learn more about the butter they used was a trade secret I could not get anyone to part with. Is it European butter? Domestic butter? Another mystery. The only thing I know for sure is the taste of butter, and it's in there.

You can find Donsuemor Madeleines at Trader Joe's, Peet's Coffee & Tea and at a large coffee chain with a mermaid for a logo. They are available in the traditional style, lemon flavored or chocolate dipped. Next year is the company's 30th anniversary and they expect to roll out one more flavor. In France madeleines come in many flavors--chocolate, spiced and even orange flower water so I'm guessing it might be one of those.

Whatever madeleine you choose, make sure it's tender and fresh, it should never be hard. Donsuemor actually recommends refreshing them in the oven which is not a bad idea. Eating a fresh madeleine you can enjoy what Donsuemor describes as the "madeleine moment". It's kind of like those old TV ads for Calgon where the harried housefrau would say "Calgon, take me away!" and suddenly there was a vision of a bathtub filled with bubbles and soft music in the background. Without getting naked, eating a madeleine can transport you. Just ask Proust.

Hot!

It's official, food blogs are hot stuff. The latest article to feature Cooking with Amy and a recipe to boot, is in my hometown paper, the San Francisco Chronicle. A big thanks to Chronicle food writer Amanda Berne for such a great article profiling so many of the local food bloggers and blogs I have come to know and love.

There are so many articles on food blogs and bloggers it's getting tough to keep track! But Graham over at Noodle Pie has detailed the six major publications that have covered food blogging in the last week or so. Check it out by visiting Noodle Pie.

Meanwhile if you'd like to read more about my continuing obsession with Jacques Pepin, head over to KQED's blog Bay Area Bites . I'll be back with something new here tomorrow.

Aziza:Restaurant Review

I am so enamored of Morocco. It's the rich super-saturated colors and the flavors that appeal to me, I can't imagine it ever being bland or boring. I know I romanticize the place but I've never been, so indulge me. The closest I've been to Morocco is Aziza, a local restaurant that features contemporary and California interpretations of Moroccan food. I've eaten at Aziza three or four times since it opened a couple of years ago and it's the perfect place for celebrations, small or large.

The restaurant has a warm beautiful interior that breaks several spaces into cozy mini dining rooms. The colors are rich terra cotta, blues and golds that give the place an elegant and festive feeling from the moment you step inside. Your evening begins when rose water is offered to refresh your hands. The scent will transport you if the visual environment hasn't already.

The staff at Aziza is very professional and accommodating which is necessary because this is not the kind of place where you stop in for a quick bite. The menu is large but the wait staff is informed and willing to make suggestions along the way. I have to recommend dining "family-style" and ordering the five course chef's tasting menu ($39/person) because you will get a chance to try more items, and it is a friendlier more communal way to enjoy the experience. But even if you order off the regular menu, be sure to indulge in multiple appetizers, they are always wonderful.

At dinner this past Saturday night we had so many appetizers we could have a made a meal of them. There were bowls of a light lentil soup as well as a creamy celeriac soup, deliciously thick dips--balsamic eggplant, roasted pepper and pomegranate, and yogurt-dill, served along with freshly grilled flat bread. We enjoyed nibbles of grilled tender grass-fed beef and grape kebabs over a shredded cucumber salad dressed with a black sesame vinaigrette. One dish I kept digging into was a casserole of giant beans oven baked in a ras el hanout tomato puree, covered in shaved french feta, and doused with tuscan olive oil and a generous amount of minced garlic. Finally there was a baked goat cheese covered with a warm roasted tomato-argan oil compote served with long and crisp zaatar seasoned croutons. The appetizers will vary depending upon what the chef chooses that night, so don't be fooled into thinking that eating here once is enough!

After all the appetizers, came the best version of basteeya I've ever had. This is a phyllo "pie" filled with a chicken, almonds and dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Often it is too sweet and the chicken is dry, crumbly and flavorless, but here it was a great balance of sweet and savory and the chicken was moist and saffron scented.

I won't even go into the specifics of the main dishes we had, except to say the that a couple of the lamb dishes could have easily served two. Some of the main courses are more traditional than others, what they have in common is the use of local high-quality fresh ingredients that show off the creativity of chef Mourad Lahlou.

Finally dessert, the highlights were an intense huckleberry sorbet served with a yogurt and goat cheese soup and a napoleon of crisp phyllo spread with tangy meyer lemon curd and fluffy pastry cream mingled with blood orange segments and bergamot and tarragon essences. The two desserts were fresh, inventive plays on traditional themes, and a wonderful combination of textures and refreshing flavors. And that, in a nutshell, is Aziza.

Aziza
5800 Geary Blvd @ 22nd Ave
San Francisco
415.752.2222
Weds-Sun 5:30-10:30 pm

In The News...Again

Wow! Cooking with Amy made it into two articles that published today! The Tennessean ran a really wonderful article in which the writer spends a week trying out blogger's recipes to great success including my recipe for Leek & Potato Soup. Congratulations to the other terrific bloggers featured in the article.

The other article is in the online version of Time Asia. It's an article about the online event "Is My Blog Burning?" For clarification, I use the event as an excuse to develop new recipes myself, not necessarily to try other people's recipes, though that is a very good idea.

Zagat Survey

The best thing about the Zagat Survey is how tremendously convenient it is. While an online subscription may give you access to all the guides, having the actual book also has its merits. It's a great thing to throw in the glove compartment or keep on your desk so you can quickly browse for a place to eat. It may not be the ultimate guide to finding undiscovered great little restaurants, and while I don't always agree with the ratings, or even trust the pricing information, I have to concede it is a very good measure of popular opinion.

If you would like a free copy of the Zagat Survey 2006 San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants, all you have to do is participate in their online survey by April 17th 2005 (but do it now before you forget). When the guide is published, the folks at Zagat will send you a copy. If you say something witty they might even publish your comments.

Kitchen to Kitsch

Culinary art is synonymous with cuisine, and according to the dictionary it just means preparing food. But for many, food is art and inspires art. There isn't any type of artist that I can think of that hasn't been inspired by food. Sculptors, painters, photographers, film makers, poets, you name it. There is high art on the theme of food, such as still life paintings from the Netherlands in the 16th century, and then there is low art, such as the kitschy Doggie Diner heads.

Here in San Francisco the Doggie Diner was a popular chain of restaurants in the 1950's through until the last one closed in 1986. The huge emblem of the sad faced dachshund with a chefs hat was familiar to all who visited the City. Its demise was quite controversial with battles over whether the 7-foot fiberglass busts were to be preserved as art or not. The preservationists won out and the icon was just recently restored and resurrected to great fanfare on Sloat Boulevard.

Now there is an art exhibit on the very theme of food and drink that will include at least one image of the Doggie Diner icon. Over thirty artists will be presenting painting, ceramics, prints, photography, sculpture, collage and more at Delicious: A show of culinary art. The show runs March 2nd through April 3rd and there is an opening reception this Saturday, March 5th from 4-8 pm. How much do you wanna bet there'll be refreshments?

If you are unable to make it in person you can see photos of the work from the show here.

Studio Gallery
1718A Polk Street (between Clay & Washington)
San Francisco
Weds - Fri 11 am - 8 pm
Sat & Sun 11 am - 6 pm
Mon & Tues by appointment
415.931.3130

Bills Open Kitchen:Cookbook

I've never really understood the appeal of Australia. In many ways it just seems too similar to California and the Bay Area in particular--the climate, a famous bridge, the beaches, vineyards, a relationship to the Pacific, it's rough-and-tumble "pioneer" heritage, it's melting pot culture of immigrants. But reading my friend Lulu's posts about a recent trip to Sydney gave me a hint of what really makes Australia so special--a relaxed lifestyle in tune with nature. (Scroll down to mid February to read her posts here)

Bills Open Kitchen is a newly released cookbook from an Australian chef who owns several successful restaurants and cafes in Sydney. Like Australia itself, my guess is you will either love this book or fail to understand its appeal. The book is the chefs personal take on recipes of British, Italian, Indian, Asian and Mediterranean origins. One of the features of this cookbook that I really like is a sneak peak at the chefs cookbook shelf. This truly gives you a sense of his roots.

All the recipes are adapted to fit today's hectic pace. The cookbook should have been called "Bills Easy Kitchen". These are not all-day-in-the-kitchen recipes but rather make-something-wonderful-quick recipes, the kinds of things that the chef prepares for his own family at home. These recipes may offend the purist, but I find them refreshing. I am looking forward to making the the Greek Salad with Pan-fried Haloumi, the Chickpea Stew with Tomatoes and Green Chili, and the beautiful Pistachio Biscuits (cookies, really) Perhaps it's because of what Australia and California have in common that this book actually does appeal to me.