Off the Menu Curry Dinner

Last night I got to attend an Asia Society Off the Menu dinner, and what fun it was. This series explores favorite dishes that chefs have not been able to keep on their restaurant menus. A ticket to one of these events means you get to taste some very special dishes, no matter what the theme. My fellow Bay Area Bites blogger Thy Tran moderated a fascinating conversation between the chefs. Each participating chef talked about curries from their home countries--India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand and dispelled some common misconceptions. From India, Ruta Kahate made a beef curry, and shared that beef is eaten by some Indians and that not all curries have lots of ingredients, this one used only three spices. From Indonesia chef Daniel Sudar made a spicy goat curry called Gulai Kambing that is usually only served once a year but that he plans on putting on the menu at his soon-to-be-opened Red Lantern restaurant. Alex Ong from Betelnut restaurant made a Nonya style Korma ......

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Bargain Bank: Shop CLOSED

My name is Amy and I am a bargain hunter. I recognize it is a disease and I have no power over it. If I see a bargain, I don't just buy one, I buy two, three, four or more. And now I sometimes get on the phone to call others, do they want some? So I guess this makes me something of a bargain pimp. We have a little joke in our household. I say "I'm going to the bank" and Lee says "Going to the Bargain Bank?" Well, he's right. The Bargain Bank is right across the street from the actual bank, so how can I not go? Every single day there is new stuff that I want to check out. I don't actually buy stuff everyday. As all bargain hunters know, vigilance is key because you never know when or where you will find your next treasure. The Bargain Bank often has a good selection of gourmet products. Sometimes products are frighteningly near an expiration date, but not always. Some of my most impressive finds have been white truffle honey, Scharffenberger Nib......

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Weird Fish: Restaurant Review CLOSED

The latest Eat Local Challenge has been announced, and this time around the organizers are taking cost into account. It's being called the Penny Wise Eat Local Challenge . I Iook forward to seeing how everyone does in regard to their respective budgets (or guidelines) as outlined by the Department of Labor. For anyone participating here in the Bay Area, I have a suggestion. When you want to eat out, head over to Weird Fish . Weird Fish is a fun and funky little restaurant on what I suppose you could call an up-and-coming stretch of Mission Street at 18th. I've eaten there twice and each time a line formed out the door. The restaurant serves fish but not much. On some days the fish selection is limited to maybe just tilapia and catfish. Why? They only serve sustainable, farmed fish so as to not deplete the oceans. While firmly committed to serving local produce, they also care about cost and balance sustainability with expenses. The prices are low to moderate for a seafood resta......

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Cooking School Daze

Have you ever daydreamed about going to culinary school? I have. While I seriously doubt I'll ever attend, I do enjoy getting a glimpse of the professional kitchen. Here are some great ways to sneak a peek for less than even a day's tuition. Whether you want to see videos of students, techniques or great chefs, the Culinary Institute of America at Epicurious.com has it all. The webcasts or "epi-sodes" are really addictive. I watched one, then another, then another. The chef videos are particularly good. Some highlights are a tour of the Per Se kitchen with Thomas Keller, an interview with Jacques Torres and a clay pot cooking lesson with Charles Phan. Tip: Start at the student episodes and then you can get to Channel Navigation where the technique and chef videos are. Another great source of cooking school lessons comes from the Culinary Institute of America's ProChef program. There are a free "e-learning" classes you can take online, sponsored ......

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Cool Quesadilla Combos:Recipe

Somewhere along the line I seem to have forgotten about quesadillas. But recently a couple of factors lead to me rediscovering them and their potential. One is the Organic Whole Wheat & Corn Flour Tortillas available at Trader Joe's . Each tortilla has only one gram of fat, five grams of fiber and is high in iron. They fit into my "try to eat more whole grain foods" resolution. A little experimenting lead me to discover that the nutty flavor of whole wheat tortillas is really good with non-traditional, not-necessarily Mexican fillings. The other bit of inspiration came from a recipe I read in Sara Foster's Casual Cooking for Grilled Shrimp and Goat Cheese Toastadas. That jumping off point lead me to create a shrimp, avocado, radicchio and goat cheese quesadilla with a drizzle of chimichurri sauce. It was truly outstanding. I know quesadillas were all the rage about five years ago, but if you haven't played around with them in a while, they are defini......

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Contest Winners

Congratulations to my chicken-smart readers. The first three to answer correctly, Sarah, Debbie and Ed have won a copy of 150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken (And 50 Ways to Roast It) courtesy of Taunton Press . 1. A four pound chicken is typically raised in six weeks with A. 20 pounds of feed B. 15 pounds of feed C. 10 pounds of feed D. 8 pounds of feed 2. In 1950 what percentage of US chickens were "free range"? A. 50% B. 80% C. 90% D. 40% 3. You shouldn't eat a chicken liver if it is which color? A. Green B. Red C. Brown D. Grey 4. Which part of a chicken has the most calories? A. Gizzard B. Wing C. Breast D. Drumstick 5. In Ancient Rome someone who said "you were raised by a hen" was A. Insulting you B Complimenting you C.Teasing you D. Annoying you 6. Swiss law requires that all chickens raised in country A. Have access to the outdoors B. Have milk with their cereal C. Are fed organic feed D. Get chocolate if they lay eggs READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bit......

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150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken: Cookbook & Contest

Back when I was working more than full-time at a design firm, Sunday was my cooking day. I always spent at least a few hours preparing for the week ahead. What did I cook? Things I could quickly freeze and reheat for dinner such as chili, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf and lasagna or I made roast chicken with vegetables. The thing about roast chicken is, not only is it wonderful when you make it, any leftovers become the base of literally hundreds of other meals. My mainstays were chicken enchiladas, chicken stuffed crepes, chicken salad and chicken pot pie. Over the past few years I have experimented with endless methods of roasting. I've used a vertical rack, I've split the bird and flattened it, cooked it under a brick, you name it. Lately I've been rather partial to Nigella Lawson's formula for cooking it which is 15 minutes per pound at 400 degrees plus 10 minutes or until the internal temperature hits 180 degrees. I start with the breast facing down then flip it......

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Princess Cake

Lee's favorite cake is a Swedish Princess cake. I get him one every year on his birthday. It's layers of fluffy genoise, smooth custard and raspberry jam all topped with whipped cream and then completely covered with a thin layer of marzipan. This cake really delights marzipan lovers, and it's the perfect Spring cake for birthdays, weddings or showers. It's colored pale green, it's creamy and light with just a little fruit flavor to it. In San Francisco several bakeries make good Princess cake. Though it's a Swedish cake, you can get it from an Italian bakery, Victoria Pastry , a German bakery, Schubert's Bakery or a French bakery, Patisserie Delanghe . They are all delicious. I can't say I really have a favorite. Oh yeah. How could I forget? Lee's my favorite. Happy Birthday Lee! FOOD...

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Penne with Rapini & Italian Sausage Recipe

I know there are other things to do with rapini but I am stuck in a happy rut. I always eat it exactly the same way. Rapini also called broccoli rabe looks like a leafy miniature broccoli and has a slight bitterness to it that marries well with the richness of Italian sausage. Toss that combination with a little onion, garlic, chili flakes and pasta and you're in business. Broccoli rabe or rapini was something I ate in Italy, there it was blanched and then sauted in olive oil with garlic. Only in Italy it was called broccoli rape pronounced "rah-pay". But I imagine the "rape" name has not helped it much in the popularity department in the English speaking world. If you look it up in the dictionary it turns out to have even more names--rapa, raab, rappone (for big bunches I guess) Italian turnip, taitcat and turnip broccoli. In Italian rapa means turnip and broccoli means broccoli. As for the identity crisis--am I a turnip or am I broccoli? It is a relative of......

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Super Natural Cooking: Cookbook

I met Heidi Swanson back in my early blogging days, almost three years ago to the day. Her blog 101 Cookbooks was and is one of the blogs that inspired me the most. She has seemingly endless creative talents; in addition to being an amazing photographer she is also a wonderful writer and recipe developer. Sometimes people talk about how the blind have better hearing. Because Heidi is a vegetarian, I think she has a heightened senses of flavors and textures in food. She manages to coax the most out of everything she cooks. What else sets Heidi's recipes apart from the rest? She balances health concerns with taste. In her latest book, Super Natural Cooking , she has taken on whole and natural ingredients, coming up with all sorts of mouthwatering recipes. Just flip through the book and you'll see what I mean. For example she uses beluga black lentils to top a chive goat cheese crostini and her Lime-Bathed Peanut Salad, inspired by the lime peanuts she ate in Mexico, featu......

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Hot Chocolate Lounges

Something amazing that happens when you drink really good hot chocolate. It's like you're mainlining happiness. Maybe because it's creamy, warm and already melted, that mellowing euphoria hits you hard, harder even than when nibbling on a chocolate bar. Needless to say, I was really thrilled to write about the hot chocolate lounge phenomenon for Epicurious in their Daily Dish section. If you think a chocolate lounge sounds like a piece of furniture, think again. Chocolate lounges or cafes are places where you can linger over any number of deluxe chocolate beverages and experience the euphoria for yourself. Here in San Francisco we have quite a few places to choose from such as the newly opened Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe on Chestnut Street, Bittersweet Cafe on Fillmore or my personal favorite, CocoaBella on Union Street. CocoaBella serves eight different flavors of European style hot chocolate each of which is rich and thick and made with melted chocolate, not ju......

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Books to Give and Get

Sometimes when I review a book I keep it. Other times I give it away. Recently a couple of books that I reviewed fell into that second category. First off a pocket version of Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Guide . This is the most handy guide to finding good things to eat. I've raved about earlier versions of the guide and this one is no exception. No reviewer is going to match everyones tastes perfectly, but Unterman comes pretty close. The guide divides up recommendations by neighborhood and includes restaurants, cafes, bars, delis, markets, wine, cookware and more. Stash this slim volume in your glove compartment and you will never be at a loss for dining options ever again. While this book is not just for tourists, I couldn't help but pass my copy off to a visiting hungry eater/blogger who already used it to find the burrito of his dreams . The other book that impressed me was Everyday Food: Great Food Fast . It's filled with 250 terri......

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Tanita Kitchen Scale: Favorite Things

I remember when I first tried a Microplane grater/zester on a lemon. I remember when I first tried cooking scrambled eggs with a silicone heat resistant spatula . I remember the first time I used a remote oven thermometer on a roast chicken. There was no going back. You put up with crappy kitchen equipment and gadgets and you don't even realize how lousy they are until you try something better. Meet my latest kitchen favorite, a digital kitchen scale--the Tanita KD-404 . I had a little kitchen scale I bought for a couple of dollars. It didn't work all that well but I'd grown accustomed to it. I never gave it a second thought. So when I was offered the chance to try out a new digital scale I figured, why not? I was not prepared to love it as much as I do. First of all it has a wide surface meaning nothing will topple over when you try to weigh it and it's no problem to clean. It has a very clear digital display and you can easily switch between grams and ounces......

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This week three sweet treat posts caught my eye. I hope they don't make you crave frozen yogurt, fresh mangoes and doughnuts, but if they do, take comfort. You are in good company. First Lulu loved Manhattan , then London , and now Bombay. Who can blame her when mangoes are in season ? Check out her gorgeous photos and post combined with descriptions of my favorite fruit. Not every trip to the market yields perfection, sometimes just a little taste of what's to come... Jennifer has a refined palate so it's no surprise the best post about the much hyped Pinkberry comes from her at the Hungry Hendonist . She even managed to sneak in some photos. I love all things sour, including yogurt, so I can't wait to get a taste. Hey Pinkberry, how about opening up a shop in San Francisco? All the talk of doughnuts made me end up trying some very unsatisfying ones at a new restaurant in town that I think needs a little more time to iron out the wrinkles. But the eggbeater p......

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I Want Candy! Miette Confiserie

Audiences loved the romanticized fantasy version of Paris to be found in the movie Amelie . It was saturated with color, filled with quirky personality and a timelessness that made it seem charmingly old-fashioned and modern all at once. If Amelie was a candy shop, it would be Miette Confiserie . Imagine a shop with large apothecary jars filled with old time candies you might remember from your childhood like cinnamon red hots, sanded lemon drops, and Swedish fish. Added to the bulk candies are those little tins of foil-wrapped chocolate sardines, chocolate bars, lollipops, even packages of pop rocks. Looking for something more deluxe? There are handmade caramels, a good selection of foil-wrapped chocolates and chocolate bars and imported marzipan in addition to packages of freshly made cookies from the Miette bakery. There is also a lot of licorice if that's your vice. The thing is, it's all as visually delicious as it is tasty. Little touches like a gum drop tree and a bouqu......

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