Food week in review

I have been a delinquent blog poster this week. I found myself with the proposal of gainful employment on Monday and been beside myself with excitement! My dream of working for a food company has finally come true. In preparation of actually starting the job, I have been racing around trying to get a new car, (I will be commuting outside SF) and going for doctor check-ups and such. Plus, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, at long last, and I have been spending time outside. During my time at home, I have been working away in the kitchen.

On Sunday evening I made a nice dinner of Chicken Breasts with Shallots, Chèvre, Figs, and a Port Reduction Sauce from a recipe on Chow.com. While I quite enjoyed the dish, Mike wasn't too crazy about it. Perhaps it was too French for him? I thought the creaminess of the goat cheese with the sauted shallots and fresh thyme were nice compliments to the chicken. I always love figs. I served this with fresh green beans and roasted fingerling potatoes. I did manage to spill half the reduction sauce all over myself and the kitchen. Good thing there was plenty left for the meal but my god, what a mess!

I should have know that it wasn't a great day for me to be cooking. Earlier on Sunday, I struggled with my new food mill trying to Tomato Sauce from Lidia's Italian Table with some of my own additions, like garlic. It came out all right, once I won my battle with the food mill. After safely stowing the sauce in the freezer, I had to change my clothes. I was completely splattered in red sauce!

While I was simmering the tomato sauce another culinary disaster ensued. I attempted to make L'Affaire du Clafoutis as posted on fellow blogger, Garnett's site Vanilla Garlic and I used a tart pan where the bottom pops out. I should have know better. The mixture of eggs and milk was too thin for that pan and it all came roaring out the bottom of the pan. At that point I was out of sugar. I have been trying to find a suitable organic sugar to use for my baking sugar. I went to Mollie Stones and did some shopping. I came back to try my clafoutis again in a different pan. In moment of overconfidence, thinking I had memorized the simple recipe, I forgot the "pinch of salt." Well, the missing salt and use of fat free milk, not whole milk or cream, resulted in a flat and bland tasting clafoutis. A bummer because the Italian prunes sure were delicious!

On Tuesday night I went camping with my girlfriends near Stinson Beach under the full moon. We made s'mores over the campfire for dessert. Those sweet graham cracker sandwiches brought back memories of my childhood. We had big bonfires and cookouts in our backyard with all of our neighbors each summer. My dad would whittle the kids roasting sticks for the marshmellows. I would burn at least 10 marshmellows before I toasted one perfectly and could assemble my s'more.

On Wednesdy afternoon I made a batch of absolutely delicious Pear Ginger Muffins from blog, Coconut & Lime. They are sensational. Initially, I thought the ginger might be overwhelming but it was a perfect compliment to the sweet pear. I froze half and we have been snacking on the other half of the batch. I envision eating these muffins on my way to work this fall.

Today has found me in the kitchen again. I made a batch of Split Pea and Ham Soup from a Moosewood cookbook. Obviously, I added the ham to the recipe. It is the best split pea soup and it very easy to make. The secret ingredient is red wine vinegar which you add at the end of cooking. The acidity brings out the flavors nicely. It went to the freezer as well for the winter when we are both commuting.

As I type this post, I am slow roasting tomatoes using Kalyn's Kitchen's recipe. My herb combination was fresh basil, fresh rosemary, and dried oregano. I also used some fresh ground black pepper. They are coming along nicely and the house smells divine.

This week, I finally purchased Jamie's Italy which I had been coventing. It was a great purchase. I have also been reading the book, Alice Waters and Chez Paniesse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution. It is very well written and I can barely put it down, but don't want it end either. I highly recommend putting it on your "must read" list.

I must run. Mike is taking me out to dinner to celebrate my new, cool job. We are headed to a great place in the neighborhood, Firefly. Then tomorrow I jet off to Miami, FL to spend the weekend with my Cornell girlfriends. Art deco, cuban food, and the beach, here I come! I just love, L-O-V-E Miami! And Rachel too. She is the one we are celebrating this weekend.

Happy birthday Melissa!

Yesterday I celebrated one of my dear friend's birthday. We started off the day with some ladies golf at a public course where we could go as slow as we wanted to (we are pretty bad), then a divine dinner at Canteen (side note: go to Canteen, the food is just delicious and the service is among the best in SF), and then we went to a bar to meet up with the larger crowd of celebrators. With all the planning that went into making the event special, I was most worried about the cake that she asked me to bake.

I don't bake, or at the least, I don't bake very well. Every layer cake I have ever made is terribly lop-sided and not very tasty. But for the first time, I had some success. The layers were fairly even in size and cooked flat on the top. The icing job looked pretty good. The cake was moist and light.
Some of the success was due to finally owning some quality baking equipment, an accurately and evenly heated oven, and following the instructions extremely carefully. She requested a chocolate cake, chocolate icing, with some fruit additions. So I dug out my The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook and set to work. I chose a milk chocolate layer cake with milk chocolate butter cream icing. As a special treat, I iced the middle layer of the cake with organic strawberry jam and topped the cake with strawberry halves and toasted almonds. Perhaps the decorations could have been a little more stylish or even gold in color in keeping with color scheme of the fiesta. But for my first cake success, I am not going to worry about such little details.

Perhaps the most harrowing of all, the cake even made up and down the steep hills of San Francisco without any damage. Thank you to my trusty cake holders!

Field guides to food

These Field Guides are the best books for the home cooking basics. I could not cook without these books within easy reach in my kitchen. In total, there are four in the series, but I currently only have three of them. These books tell you everthing you need to know about the basics of meats, produce, and herb and spices.

The Field Guide to Meat book is sectioned by animal and there is an overview about each animal and how is graded and other general shopping tips. For each cut of meat, the book supplies a picture, other names of the cut, a general description, what part of the animal the meat comes from, how to choose, how much to buy, how to store the meat, general preparation techniques, and flavor affinities. What more could you need to know?

The Field Guide to Produce book is split into two sections - fruits and vegetables. In this book, the general description is longer and tells of all the different varieties of that fruit or vegetable. It also tells the season of the fruit or vegetable, what to look for when you purchase, how to best store, prepare, and suggests servings. Again, there are pictures of each fruit and vegetable. The book comes in especially handy in Chinatown when I have no idea what the vegetables I am looking at are!

The Field Guide to Herbs and Spices book follows the same pattern. However, this book is particularly helpful in identifying what herbs or spices to use with what type of dish or protein and also supplies a recipe for each herb or spice. There is also a section of the ingredients in spice mixtures from around the world.

I still need to buy the Field Guide to Seafood.

I scream, you scream

We all scream for ice cream! I finally did it. I went to Sur La Table and bought an ice cream maker and David Lebowitz's book, The Perfect Scoop. I could not resist all the rage in the food world about homemade ice cream and this cookbook so I had to join in the fun. So next week, I begin making ice cream!

A food lover's bible

There is one book among my cookbooks that has no recipes, but I use as frequently as my cookbooks. This book is called "The Food Lover's Companion" and it has definitions for 6,000 food, drink, and culinary terms.

The entries are alphabetical and cross-referenced so it is easy to find what you are looking for. The descriptions are just the right length. At longest, the definitions are a page in length. The book also lists all the other names by which items are called and examples of the item. For example, under the "apple" entry, it lists: Baldwin, Braeburn, Cortland, Criterion, Fuji, Gala, etc. For the "baking soda" entry the definition mentions that it is also called, bicarbonate of soda. The entries also have pronunciations. This book has every item on the global menu and every preparation technique that you have seen on a menu but have no idea of what it is. I always come home from restaurants and head straight to this book to get a better understanding of what I just ate (or passed up!).

I bet you do not know:

- What Burgoo is?

- What Gianduja tastes like?

- Another name for paua?

I didn't either until I got this book. It is definitely a great book to have around the kitchen. It also makes a great gift.

A great place to buy cookbooks

I have discovered that the best place to buy cookbooks at a bargain price is Strand Books in New York City. Despite living in NYC for two years I had never been to Strand until my brother took me there one time when I was visiting him. Now I make a point to go every time I am in New York. The prices cannot be beat, they have an incredible selection of cookbooks, and ambiance of the place is amazing.

I discovered that Strand is place to buy cookbooks when I found The Silver Spoon, a cookbook I had been coveting, for about $20. It was half off! I could not resist purchasing the cookbook (and several other books). Pretty much all the books, including cookbooks are marked 30-50% off the cover price. The nice thing about this bargain buying experience is, unlike Amazon or shopping online, you can actually flip through the myriad of cookbooks they have right then and there.

While waiting for my brother to hurry the heck up, I was worrying about how I was going to tell Mike I bought a 20 lb book that I needed to carry back to San Francisco with me. I noticed a sign that they will ship your purchases for a very reasonable price. Things kept getting better and better. I now had a cookbook I had wanted forever and I did not have to break my arms to get it home!

If you ever find yourself in NYC and near Union Square check out Strand Book Store located at the corner of 12th Street and Broadway, just south of Union Square. Their hours are: Monday-Saturday 9:30 AM-10:30 PM and Sunday 11:00 AM-10:30 PM.

Core Team dinners

About every two weeks, my six closest friends (i.e., the Core Team as deemed by one of my more business-minded friendss) in San Francisco get together for dinner at one of our places. Our collective friendship began as a result of roommate, work/commuting buddies, and college friends, situations. While we may no longer live or work together for the last year and half or so we have made an effort to get together.

Well "dinner" has turned into quite an affair for a Monday night. Good thing we rotate. We do apps, entrees and dessert (my least favorite to make). We drink lots of vino and catch up on each others lives. Understandably, my husband makes himself scarce!

This Monday night is my turn to cook. I absolutely love it. I really put a lot of thought into my menu, asking myself what will my guests like eat and what will be a challenge for me to make? A non-critical audience is a good thing for an adventuresome cook! Though honestly, I usually lose ambition out on dessert and ask someone to bring something.

I have put together the following menu using Rick Bayless's Everyday Mexican cookbook that I received for my birthday and his website. I am still stumped on dessert though. Probably just ice cream which is a delicious dessert when you live blocks from Mitchell's Ice Cream. Or maybe I will try to make hot fudge sauce using the mexican chocolate that I have in my freezer from Oaxaca.

Appetizer:
Yucatecan Pumpkinseed Dip with Tortilla Chips

Main:
Roasted Pepper Salad with Butter Lettuce and Creamy Queso Anejo Dressing
Red Chile Chicken and Rice with Black Beans

Dessert:
? Still brainstorming...

I am going to do some of the prep tonight. I'll let you know how dinner goes!

Gear for your kitchen

As a passionate home cook with the opportunity to stock my kitchen with everything I have ever wanted, I struggled with what to actually put on my wedding registry. I didn't want a bunch of stuff laying around my smallish San Francisco kitchen that would get infrequent use. And of the things that did get frequent use I, perhaps naively, want them to last forever. Not surprisingly, Bloomingdales and Crate and Barrel want you to register for everything under the sun.

So for this endeavour I used three resources.

One, was a New York Times, Food section article about what to actually register for and how much of each item you will want. The how much is important as you needs now are not what they are going to be in the future. I survived with four plates in my tiny Manhattan apartment just fine. But then again, more than four people could not come over for dinner at one time. You have to look at this list and cater it to your needs. I ended up registering for 16 plates, instead of the recommended 12, as I love hosting dinner parties.

Two, I used The New Best Recipe (by the Editors of Cooks Illustrated) cookbook, which periodically recommends their favorite brands for pots, pans and knifes.

Third, I also heavily relied upon a book introduced to me by my friend's boyfriend entitled, "Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen." It is amazing. While personally, I think Alton's show on Food Network, Good Eats, is incredibly annoying and slightly childish, I like his scientific approach to cooking. Sometimes I tolerate all the nonsense just to learn. He did teach me how to make the best scrambled eggs you will ever eat. (Low heat, patience and pull them off the stove top before they are done as they keep cooking until they get on the table.) He doesn't just show you How but Why and this book is just the same.

This book explains Alton's kitchen tool essentials and their frequency of use. He also shares his favorites of each kitchen product and his favorites are definitely not the most expensive ones out there. He also explains the pros and cons of different materials. The book covers the spectrum of everything you would consider buying for your kitchen. My husband especially liked the chapter on knives. He wanted to what knives were used for what purpose and it was easier to show him the book rather than try to stumble through the tutorial myself.

For anyone who is getting married and likes to cook or for anyone at all who wants to know what kitchen gears products are the best and if they are worth buying at all, this book is an invaluable resource. I plan to use this book anytime I am considering making a kitchen gear purchase.

That's it. I must go retrieve my seasoned cast iron skillet from the oven. (I now know how to season a cast iron skillet thanks to this book!)