The best things in life are free (which may include pickles)...

Best things in life: are they FREE? 

Depends who you ask... Janet and Luther would probably say yes.  Damon and Stacey, same deal, for sure.  And I tend to agree, as a general rule, with the opinions of *all* singers and lipsynchers, on any topic... but especially those that fall in the realm of social justice (i.e. given your basic needs are met, like shelter and music, let's all stop and smell the roses).

~~

So, yeah, that brings me to our next question... best things in life: pickles?

Could be.  Right?

For Janet and Luther (and their adherents), we must first ask... pickles: are they free? 

Not exactly, but they could be close, depending on your garden situation. 

Regardless, if you can acquire the following equipment and ingredients:

  2 1 liter canning jars
  1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar

  1/4 cup sugar
  4 teaspoons kosher salt
  1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  2 1/4 cups hot water
  2 pounds kirby cucumbers, quartered lengthwise
  3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
  4 garlic cloves, smashed
  1/4 cup sliced white onions

And go forth with the aforementioned equipment/ingredients in the following manner:

1. In a large, heatproof measuring cup, combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, and red pepper flakes with the hot water and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let this brine cool (any salted solution is generally known as a "brine").
2. Divide the cucumbers, dill, garlic, onion, and brine among the two jars.  If there is not enough brine to cover the cucumbers, then add more water/vinegar in a 2:1 ratio, though this ratio can be adjusted to your taste.  (I usually err on the side of water than vinegar when I'm in the position to choose, but, again, it's more a matter of taste and personal experimentation.)
3. Refrigerate the pickles overnight, and shake gently once or twice during the first 24 hour period.
4. Serve cold; they should last for at least a couple of weeks in your fridge.   

Delicious homemade pickles you and your loved ones shall eat!  Best pickles you'll probably ever have, free or not, so why not give some away and make some friends-for-life (or solidify business opportunities)?!

Though, I must warn you (and your loved ones)... the garlic in these pickles is a powerful force; eating them is not a time for carelessness (especially careless whispers), so pick your time and place of indulgence wisely.  ;)

The mini-explosion continues; carts and trucks, oh my!

Now that we're past a few days of rain, it's time to get your food-cart on! And you're in luck, because they are out. in. force. I know in places like New York, this is nothing new -- there, they even have food cart awards.. the Vendys! -- but it is notable here in San Francisco, where we've had a dirth of carts until fairly recently.

I'm mean, you've always been able to find a taco truck. And then there's the Tamale Lady, who, while not in a truck/cart, serves the same purpose (though perhaps with drunker clientele). Then the Bacon Dog Cart started showing up in the Mission..

And, recently, there's been a mini-explosion of "high-end" carts showing up around town over the past couple of months (well, mostly in the Mission). Yeah, you may have heard of -- or have seen -- the Magic Curry Kart, the Crème Brûlée Cart, or the Amuse Bouche Cart (which seem to be traveling together these days) in Dolores Park, or somewhere along 24th Street..

But we ain't done yet. In the next week or two, another will roam:

Chez Spencer chef takes French food to the streets

Yes, I'll take my skate braised with capers or frog's legs with curry on the street, where it belongs. haha. Oh -- you'll find this new cart/truck, "Spencer on the Go", in SOMA, near Terroir Natural Wine Merchant & Bar, spreading the foodie wealth outside of the Mission a bit; good show!

If you're going to do chicken soup, do it with dumplings

Cabbage.

Like the actual, wrinkly-round, vegetable. (Nevermind any other uses of the term.) For the past couple of weeks, I've been getting heads of cabbage in my CSA box.. and, well, I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I've let a couple go to waste.

One of the things I like about getting the CSA box is that I'll receive fruits and vegetables that I normally wouldn't buy myself (in addition to many that I would).. and this becomes a forcing function to get out of my culinary comfortzone, to discover new recipes or cooking techniques. But my ambition waned with this cabbage business..

Weird, because I'm generally a fan of the stuff; I really love good sauerkraut. Right out of the jar.

In any case -- as luck would have it -- I stumbled upon an awesome chicken soup recipe (with chive dumplings!) at chow.com earlier this week; it was part of their "Cooking with Winter Ingredients" feature, which included, among many other fruits and veggies, the venerable cabbage. I modified the recipe slightly to amp up the vegetables and reduce the chicken a little bit; here's my version of "Easy Chicken and Chive-Dumpling Soup":

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VEGGIE1
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, small dice
3 medium celery stalks, small dice
6 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2t crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

CHICKEN
8c low-sodium chicken broth
2t poultry seasoning
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

DUMPLING
2c all-purpose flour
1/3c fresh chives, thinly sliced
1T kosher salt
2T baking powder
2/3c 2% milk
1/3c crème fraîche
3T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

VEGGIE2
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 large head savoy cabbage, large dice (about 6 cups)

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1. Heat oil in a large, shallow pot over medium-high heat (I used a cast-iron dutch oven). When oil shimmers, add all the VEGGIE1 ingredients and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

2. Add CHICKEN ingredients and bring to a boil.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, chives, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl to break up any lumps. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the DUMPLING ingredients: milk, crème fraîche, and butter. Once combined, add these wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until dough just comes together (it will be very thick).

4. When chicken is cooked through (it will be firm and opaque), add VEGGIE2 ingredients, reduce heat to medium low, and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.

5. Drop 1 heaping tablespoon of dough at a time into the soup and repeat until all dough has been used. Cover and cook until dumplings are fluffy and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

(Find the original version of the recipe here.)

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The soup came out really well; the dumplings make it hardy and memorable. And I definitely recommend making it on a chilly, rainy, or otherwise inclement night because it's going to hit the spot on multiple levels. If you can, share it with friends (although the only downside to that idea is that you probably won't have any leftovers). haha.

My experience.. Monday night, found this recipe online, made a few calls, sent a few txt's; and Tuesday night, I had 10 SF peeps in my kitchen, um, chowing down. I can assure you: it wasn't my company that they were after.. it was the free soup. Apparently, the economy *is* that bad after all! ;)

Weather the storm with soup; I'll join you.

Watch out for flying spoons, at Humphry Slocombe

When I was younger, I didn't like cake. Yeah: a kid that didn't like cake! Whaa?

Even at my elementary school birthday parties -- wow: I can still remember the feel, the snap, of the cheap stretchy string that held cone birthday hats on our heads, the same cheap stretchy string that could also be used to launch various projectiles at a younger brother or sister -- yeah, my mom would get me an ice cream cake from the local Carvel, black cookie crumbs sometimes pressed into the sides. The spread also included sickly-sweet sherbert from Pathmark, served directly out of their clear plastic containers.

No cake.

While I've grown, over the years, to like a selected variety of cakey things -- give me ginger or carrot or lemon anything -- I've never lost that love affair with ice cream. In high school, I used to eat it by the half-gallon (rocky road, natch). Whew! But cut to 2009; and while I'm still into the stuff, I indulge in MUCH smaller quantities, refined quantities.

I got my latest fix just last week at Humphry Slocombe, a new, innovative ice cream shop in the Mission. Folks on yelp, on chowhound, on dailycandy -- not to mention in the local print -- are writing up a storm about it. Have you been? Have you been? Have you been?

Humphry Slocombe is the buzz of the town, it seems.

And, I think, with good reason.

First, you gotta check out the list of flavors that they have made or will make. At any given time, they will be selling maybe 12 or so of them (which seems to be the limit of the freezer in the front), with some favorites always on-the-ready and a rotating cast of, um, creamy-dreaminess(-and-sometimes-whimsiness).

I'm looking at you, foie gras, and, you, Andante chevre + strawberry jam.

On my particular visit, I got to sample quite a few of the offerings (the scooper seems to be patient enough to allow you to sample pretty much as many as you want -- on a quiet night, anyway): the Guiness gingerbread, the Valrhona fudgesicle, the Blue Bottle Vietnamese coffee, the balsamic caramel, the olive oil, and the Secret Breakfast.

Without getting into individual reviews, my lasting impression is that the ice cream of Jake Godby -- owner/chef of Humphry Slocombe -- really embodied the ingredients. And given their high quality, this makes for a wonderful experience for the palate. Tummy too.

Now, I'm not saying that you'll like all the flavors -- for example, the balsamic caramel wasn't for me (I'm not a fan of vinegar tang in general) -- but you're going to really like something. Even for the ones that aren't totally up your alley, you're going to appreciate the flavors on an academic level (well, maybe if you're like me and occasionally dabble in foodie-dom); you'll say, "I've never had this flavor of icecream before"; or, "this flavor has never been captured in icecream so well". Word.

Well, like I said, I ain't the first one to say it, but here goes: check this place out! Humphry Slocombe, on the west side of Harrison St., a tad north of 24th Street (map).

You'll see a few tables outside.

You might even see me there, Secret Breakfast in hand.. er, dish. One warning though: if I'm wearing a cone birthday hat with one of those elastic string things, watch out for flying spoons. Whap!

We'll make it happen in the 'Loin

You know, I'm usually pretty wary of lists trying to tell you about the "best food and drinks" in any city, or the best of anything, really.. and especially if it's a city of any significant size or density. Like San Francisco. But the folks over at chow.com have recently -- well, recently, when I first noted the article a month and a half ago -- offered up such a list for our fair city.

At least they acknowledge that the act of compiling such a list is "a bold statement"; and so by qualifying it as such, I feel better about the whole endeavor. haha. So, check it:

Grit and Grub in SF's Tenderloin
http://www.chow.com/stories/11247

And you know what? Part of the reason that this article caught my interest (and why I can't refute too much of its contents) is that I can't really say much about the Tenderloin; I just don't have intimate knowledge of the neighborhood. I mean, over my years here in San Francisco, I've really just fluttered through those roughshod downtown streets for the occasional drink, the occasional show, or the occasional meal; I've really only concentrated my (social) affections, for better or worse (but mostly for the better), on The Mission, SOMA, The Lower Haight, and, more recently, on Hayes Valley, Divis Corridor, and parts of Civic Center.

In any case, I keep *meaning* to explore the Tenderloin a bit more (I think I say that about a lot of spots about town), but in the weeks since this article was published, I still haven't visited any of the places on the list.. and these are places that I actually *want* to check out, like Turtle Tower Restaurant (for the pho ga, natch) and Fish & Farm (maybe just for the delicious-looking/sounding desserts and cocktails). What's up with gittin'er done?

Let me just say that the next person to suggest that we do something -- at least of a non-sexual and/or non-drug nature, other traditional vices of the area (although there is a time a place for, um, most things; haha) -- in the Tenderloin, well, we'll make it happen (it takes two to tango, kid). No questions asked.

'Loin, activate!

Don't be scared by the freedom (of granola)!

I just got back from a five-day climbing trip with some friends in Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite National Park), and one of the things that sustained me -- nutritionally, that is -- was a boatload of homemade granola. In fact, I've been making my own granola the past couple of months... almost exclusively for overnight climbing trips, but I do have it in mind to make it more often, to have it jar'd up and ready-to-eat whenever.

While the ingredients of a specific "granola" can vary widely, it most certainly includes a base of (whole) rolled oats, nuts, and dried fruit, which is then sweetened, oiled, spiced, and baked at a low temperature. Yeah -- so a search for "granola recipe" on google yields a multitude of results (owing to, again, its loose definition).

Don't be scared by the freedom!

Here, my advice is the same as for cooking/baking other things: start with some old, trusted stand-bys as a source of inspiration; then, once you've (hopefully) had some successes (or near-successes), start playing around with ingredients and ratios. So, as I have for other endeavors-in-the-kitchen, I turned to Alton Brown and Ina Garten, but also liked some of the ideas from Kathy Nicol's "Heathy Habits" blog.

Without further ado, check my granola recipe:

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DRY
4c whole rolled oats
1c roasted and lightly salted whole almonds
1c roasted and lightly salted broken cashews
1T sesame seeds
1T flax seeds
2t ground Saigon cinnamon
1t ground ginger
1/4t ground cayenne pepper
1/2t salt

WET
1/4c brown sugar
1/4c vegetable oil
3/8c maple syrup (grade B)
1t vanilla extract

FRUIT
1c golden raisins
1c dried cranberries

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1. Preheat your oven to 250° F.

2. Mix the DRY ingredients in a large mixing bowl and the WET ones in a medium-sized bowl.

3. Add the WET ingredients to the DRY ones (i.e. into the large mixing bowl) and combine evenly. Note that the amount of WET ingredients is relatively "light" compared to other granola recipes, but it will coat all the DRY ingredients with some careful mixing.

4. Dump the moistened oat/nut mixture onto a rimmed cookie sheet (or half-sheet pan), spread it around to the edges, and bake for 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 20 minutes, stirring the mixture around the pan every 15-16 minutes to make sure it all bakes evenly. Note that for pans with a tiny rim, this can be a challenge, so stir carefully to avoid granola falling everywhere!

5. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool. Mix in the FRUIT ingredients and you're ready to rock some deliciousness.

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If you store your granola in an airtight container, it should last a couple of weeks... which is why it's been good to bring on camping trips. But, as I implied before, it's good to have around the house for mixing in yogurt, snacking on its own, or -- and this is something I haven't tried yet -- baking with it.

Let me know if you give this recipe a go... or, change up the nut or fruit options, change up the spicing! It's really hard to go wrong. And share it with the rest of us. ;)

Don't just take my word for it

I've been cooking/baking quite a bit lately - ahem, mostly for myself.. though last night a friend got the full dinner treatment, homemade walnut bread (warm and fresh and crackly!) and all. So, given that most of these simple kitchen endeavors resolve around the fresh ingredients that I'm receiving in my weekly "CSA box", I've found myself explaining, "what, exactly, is this CSA thing?"; in fact, I've had to do so a few times in the past couple of weeks.

These people obviously don't read my blog. ahem. CSA = Community-Supported Agriculture, and it is, essentially, a farm business model that allows folks to buy "shares" of a harvest at the start of the season (although many farms allow one to pay monthly, and some allow members to join on a rolling basis). In this way, a farm has a guaranteed source of income upfront (vs. the ongoing threat of customer capriciousness when selling at, say, a farmer's market), and shareholders get weekly deliveries of the seasonal harvest.

Of course, there are drawbacks: a late frost could destroy a delicate crop of tomatoes and members would get nothing for the week (well, at least: no tomatoes). And you are otherwise at the mercy of the seasons in terms of what grows when.. for example, you are not likely to receive blueberries in January if you live anywhere in the US (and you are not likely to receive blueberries at all if you live in Northern CA). Still, I'm a fan insofar that the CSA program allows me to support local agriculture, for one, and two, it challenges me to expand the breadth of my cooking skills. There is a forcing function in finding new recipes that incorporate some of the ingredients that I normally wouldn't automatically pick up at the supermarket by myself (ex. acorn squash, green beans); I hate throwing out food.

In short, I think the pros far outweigh the cons for my lifestyle/interests right now. Yeah, and if I really want something not in season and not local (ex. bananas, at least until they go extinct), I still make my way over to the supermarket. ;)

Well, as fortune would have it, you don't have to take my word for it with respect to all this CSA business.. the NYTimes posted an short article today talking about how this food distribution model came to be in the United State and what sorts of folks indulge in them today (and why):

Shoppers Buy Slices of Farms
By Susan Saulny
Published: July 10, 2008

I don't think the article is going to answer all your questions on how a CSA works - that is, how you, how you! can get ahold of fresh, local, organic fruits and vegetables (or local, grass fed beef for that matter) - but it *could* very well whet your appetite to find out more. If so, I'd recommend making your next stop Local Harvest, a popular CSA (and farmer's market) online clearinghouse.

But regardless of all this CSA talk, I hope you're eating and drinking well in general, (among other active pursuits); summer is upon us!

It's true: Everybody Likes Sandwiches

For a few weeks in May/June, I got sacks of deep-red cherries in my weekly CSA box. And given that I don't really like eating them "fresh" - sacrilege, I know - I had looked around for some recipes to bake them into something delicious.

While some cherries were used to, um, spice up pancakes (using my own recipe as the base), I put others to good use in a tasty little muffin recipe I found at the Everybody Likes Sandwiches blog. In fact, I made the latest batch (and last, perhaps, for the season) of "very cherry whole wheat muffins" last night**.

Let me first say that the use of pastry flour is key to a good texture (especially given that these treats are 100% whole wheat). And if you want to add more than the 1 cup of pitted and chopped cherries called for, I ain't gonna stop you.

Also in this latest batch, I did fool around with adding some chopped almonds (~1/3c) and the remains of a bag of dark chocolate chips (~1/4c) to the batter.. and, you know what?.. I didn't think they really contributed in a meaningful way to the original recipe (they didn't *take* anything away either - how you gonna argue with chocolate anything?). But, you see, these muffins are so delicately sweetened (that is to say: not much) and the consistency already slightly dense, that I don't think they can really handle the in-your-face-ness of the chocolate or the extra bulk of the almonds. But that was just my opinion; I fully advocate any-and-all experimentation in your own kitchen! (Let me know how it goes, s'il vous plait.)

In any case, it was really fortuitous to find this *particular* cherry recipe because it led me to look around Everybody Loves Sandwiches, a blog full of simple, great recipes.. from "chipotle shrimp" to "eggplant involtini" (and some sweets too!); check the archives. Just when I was wondering what to do with this week's batch of green beans from the CSA, I found a post for "green beans & tofu in a thai coconut sauce" (and the secret of great tofu). Pretty good timing, huh?

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** If you're looking to sample the goods (a reasonable request in a normal kitchen.. where the cook isn't a voracious eater), I'm semi-ashamed to admit that I already ate 10 of the 12; and I wouldn't hold out hold that the last two pieces of cherry goodness will hold out after, say, 10am tomorrow morning! ;)

Rediscover the traditional foods of America

Have you ever tried making squirrel stew?

No?

Waiting for the right recipe?

Well, your wait is over, my friends; let me point you to Gary Paul Nabhan's new must-read, "Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods", which compiles and chronicles the long-and-getting-longer list of traditional foods (i.e. plants + animals) at risk of becoming extinct here in the US. In doing so, he follows the following philosophy:

"If we save a vegetable but we don’t save the recipes and the farmers don't benefit because no one eats it, then we haven’t done our work."

In other words, he knows we can't mandate that farmers grow certain crops or raise certain animals from the top-down, simply for the sake of them being museum pieces (even as it *would* good for overall genetic diversity); farmers still need to make a living, so how would we fund this work? As such, Mr. Nabhan takes the bottom-up approach, stirring demand for heirloom varieties of traditional American foods, such as Chickasaw plum and free-range American bison, by working with organizations like Slow Food and the Chefs Collaborative to educate, first, "foodies", and, now, slowly, a broader public audience (like myself).

In any case, I found this book through an article in The NYTimes (big surprise, huh?):

An Unlikely Way to Save a Species: Serve It for Dinner
By Kim Severson
Published: April 30, 2008

While the book focuses on the stories of 93 ingredients, Mr. Nabhan's full list is actually over a thousand, organized into 13 culinary regions; the NYTimes created a wonderful interactive map of the system here.

For sure, check it. The map makes me hungry in every sense of the word; it makes me want to travel 'cross the country, sampling a bit of food (eat!) and a bit of air (breathe!) from here and a bit from there. And if you have the chance, find your local farmer's market and buy what's fresh and interesting; or see what heirloom goodies are on the menus of your local restaurants.

Perhaps, here, you can follow the old advice (challenge?) to an almost-literal degree: put your money where you mouth is.. because your loudest vote - even in a big election year like this one - is always done with your dollars. And if you end up rustlin' up the ingredients for a big ol' pot of Kentucky burgoo, let me know; I'll swing on over, mind open, spoon in hand, and tastebuds ready for action.

Visiting the Gold Tips motherland

Let me sing you - if you could get me singing anything while I'm NOT in the shower - the praises of the Yunnan Gold Tips. This type of tea is the basis for the hot honey wine in my cup, lightly steaming, as we speak (write). It's total cheese (I know, I know), but I'm breathing in the malty aroma, and, in doing so, I breathe in a bit of smooth contentment. (CUT! - this commercial is a wrap!)

It's sorta making it hard for me to work. haha.

My taste for (the preparation of) loose leaf tea comes and goes; certainly for the past couple of months I've been a straight-up teabagger (um.. yeah), but I was inspired last week.. I *had* to break out my little tote of Ito-En teas from their dark hiding place - one of the many stashes of loose-leaf tea in my apartment - and indulge in some of this quality China snuff.

I mean, I brought so much tea back from my summer travels.. beyond this Ito-En shizz (acquired from their flagship store), I gots greens and blacks from Russia, from Kyrgyzstan.. Rainbow Grocery too! My Beehouse has been awaiting for me to fill it with more than just Honey Ginseng Green from Republic of Tea or the "new" Black Pearl pyramid tea bags from Lipton.

It's been waiting until this week, that is. My snooty little teapot got what it's been asking for; I'm glad to be an enabler. And, as I alluded to above, my favorite taste thus far has been the Yunnan Gold Tips from Ito-En; their look sets them apart from other black teas, but, once prepared, you can't beat the smell of that sweet, sweet, liqueur.

Ah, this reminds me.. I need to totally bring back mad amounts of tea - Gold Tips or otherwise - when I go to Beijing for a work trip this coming month. I'll, basically, be in the motherland! ;)

Redux: Gently fold WET2 into WET1 and add to DRY0

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I tweaked my pancake recipe for (my) apparently-evolving tastes; the short version is that it includes more liquid, which really lightens and fluffifies these (nominally breakfast, but really - for anytime) treats.

Check it:

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DRY0 ingredients:
1c whole wheat flour
2T Spiru-tein Vanilla protein powder
1/2t grated orange or lemon peel
2t ground cinnamon
1/2t allspice
1/4t nutmeg
1/2t salt
1/4t baking soda
1 1/4t baking powder
optional: 2T brown sugar or other "dry" sweetener

WET1 ingredients:
1/2c plain lowfat yogurt
2c vanilla soymilk
1T olive oil
2 eggs

WET2 ingredients:
optional: 1 1/2c fresh blackberries
optional: (any manner of fruit/nuts/etc.)
optional: 2T honey or other "wet" sweetener

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1. Mix together the DRY0 ingredients in a medium-to-large-sized bowl. (This is the bowl that the full batter will end up in.)

2. Whisk the WET1 ingredients vigorously in another bowl and gently fold in those from WET2 (if using).

3. Add the contents of the WET bowl to DRY0 and, again, fold everything together GENTLY; do not overmix (it's better to have a few lumps than to overmix - if you do overmix, you'll end up with dense pancakes). Also note that depending on the juiciness of your berries or whatever in WET2, you may need adjust the amount of soymilk in the batter to get a nice, pourable consistency.

4. Butter up a medium-hot cast iron skillet or stovetop griddle and cook up some deliciousness. Note that I'd err on the side of using lower heat and cooking the pancakes a little longer (versus high heat, which carries the potential of the outside of the pancakes being done before the inside solidifies up). Look for bubbles forming on the top of your pancakes and the edges firming a little before flipping; if you haven't made too many pancakes before - or at least not with this batter - it might take you a few tries to get a feel for when to flip.. it's all part of the "jungle knowledge" of cooking. ;)

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This recipe will make 8-10, slim, 7 inch pancakes.. which sounds like quite a party, for brunch or beyond. Top them with maple syrup, crème fraîche, yogurt, more of the optional WET2 ingredients (ex. blackberries), or some combo of these and enjoy (duh).

By the way, adding sweetener into DRY0 or WET2 is really a matter of taste, and may be a function of how sugared your other ingredients are. For example, you may be using unsweetened soy milk, or your berries might be a little more tart than you may like; in these cases, a little added sugar (or equivalent, maybe some honey or maple syrup?) may be in order.

Enjoy!

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ps. Find my original recipe here, if you like a thicker and more hardy pancake (but that would make you a ruffian).

I'm a thirsty boy, you know?

You ever looking for a smooth-as-silk (and hot) kick-in-the-pants? Well, I can help you out (more than ever before) because, as of this past weekend, I've upgraded the coffee-making possibilities at my apartment. And my stable of caffeine-deprived Rodys have never been happier (or more polka-dotted, or delightfully puffy).

You see, a friend just returned from some fun in Milan and was kind enough - so kind; she's awesome! - to bring back a totally sweet stainless steel moka pot for me. It's straight-up Italian shizz, so shiny and in a shape so-lovely. Word.

And while I've used a couple of these gurgling devices over the past year or two at friends' places, this is *my* first - I hear you always remember your first - and I'm looking forward to giving it a go soon; this weekend.. at the latest, I swear. Yes, in fact, the gift included some fine coffee - the funkystuff is ORO, yo - so I'm good to go (and go and go). Still, I'd like to get my own coffee grinder in the not-too-distant future because the local beans here in the Bay Area are tops - or so that's the word on the street. ;)

Speaking of tasty drinks, I ordered up - and promptly downed - one of the best cocktails I've had in a long time this past Saturday, courtesy of Huckleberry Bar in Brooklyn. It was called a "Francois Hannibal d'Estrees" and was made with all manner of herbal infusions (alcohol-based, natch): Boodles Gin, Carpano Antica Formula, Yellow Chartreuse, and Lillet (Blanc?).

Yeah, it's quite an ingredient list, but somehow everything came together, and it was a good way to start the, um, inebriated part of the evening - at 11:30pm or so (hey, I only rolled into town at like 9:30pm and we were going until the latelate).

One (mean) drink, and dancing soon followed; I mean, disco-y beats were being played for Chrissake!.. real disco, even (and without a hint of irony)! What you gonna do in a situation like that? Oh, and if you don't immediately see the space for dancing, you can make space; Huckleberry Bar seems good like that.

By the way, the Francois Hannibal d'Estrees is just the tip of the iceberg with respect to the tasty cocktail selection at this place.. they've got an incredibly well-stocked bar, with madselect whiskeys and tequilas and more. In addition, the food menu looks pretty awesome; I'd go back just to try a few things off that, actually.. but, still, I'm not gonna say no to *something* to drink with the meal if I do end up back there again. I'm a thirsty boy, you know?

Carrots at every course, at every meal

So, I put those dee-lish carrots from my CSA to work and made a big batch of Ginger-Carrot soup over the weekend. It's funny, I like raw carrots well enough (but not overly so), and cooked carrots are just ok..

But a Ginger Carrot soup really hits the spot; it's one of my favorite soups, actually. Whoa! And now that I think about it, that ginger-carrot-orange combination does me right at *all* dinner courses: I did say "Let them eat Carrot-orange Cake" just a few months ago. haha. In any case, I've made a few versions of the soup over the years and have honed in on this recipe as my favorite:

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BLEND
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3/8 cup minced fresh ginger (peeled)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
4 cups sliced peeled carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)

SWIRL
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

GARNISH
salt + pepper to taste (a MUST!)
1/4 cup Toasted unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
1/4 cup matchstick-size strips peeled carrot (optional)
1 tablespoon matchstick-size strips peeled fresh ginger (optional)

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1. Heat both oils in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat; add the onion and ginger and sauté until the onion pieces are translucent (about 5 minutes).

2. Add the chicken stock and sliced carrots. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender (about 30 minutes - but will depend on the size of your carrot pieces).

3. Working in batches, puree mixture in a blender or food processor. Pureeing hot liquids in a blender is always an, um, recipe for a mess in the kitchen, but chow.com has a tip here you might want to try to avoid massive spillage. You could also use an immersion blender if you have one, but I think they have their own challenges in terms of splatter and - more importantly - getting a consistent puree. But, in short, use what ya got!

4. Return pureed soup to saucepan and mix in the orange juice, then the coconut milk. Cook over low heat 5 minutes (until warmed through) and then mix in ground cinnamon.

5. The soup at this point definitely needs some salt and pepper; how much is up to you (or your guests). In fact, you might want to ladle the soup into bowls now and let your guests decide how much they want to put in themselves. But if you're going to add some into the big batch itself, I'd say start with 1/2 teaspoon and go from there (you'll probably want more, but start slow because you can always put more in, but you can't take it out!).

6. If it's not already there, ladle soup into bowls and top with any combination of the toasted coconut flakes, carrot or ginger strips under the GARNISH list. Give your guests the option of more salt and pepper, and you should be good to go!

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In the future, I'll probably fool around with adding some more spices, something to play off the coconut milk like curry powder or star anise or something. Maybe even add more coconut milk, or a bit of crème fraîche. If you have any ideas (or want to roll up them sleeves and cook with me), let me know..

Let me tell you about my new carrots

It's been a long time coming, but I picked up my first CSA box earlier this week.. the first of many. And so, it seems, I'm guaranteed an, um, afternoon delight on Wednesdays, veggies and fruits - oh my! CSA, you ask? (Or was that afternoon delight?)

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and for a cityfolk like me, it's the closest thing I'll get to having a crazybig garden myself to provide fresh fruits and veggies all year 'round. I basically bought a "share" of a local farm's harvest and, as such, they will deliver a seasonal selection of goodies weekly to a neighborhood drop-off point a few blocks from my apartment. Pretty cool, huh?

And even though we're in the middle of winter - typically the worst selection of the year - the box is pretty good.. it's filled with apples and grapefruit and spinach and some other good things. California, yes! And now, late at night, I'm thinking about the last few carrots that wait for me for tomorrow. Yes, it's the carrots - the best I've had in ages (and I don't care if part of it is placebo effect) - that confirmed that this was the right CSA (Terra Firma), at the right time (regardless of season). If this first box is any indication, then we, my friend, are on our way (to tastyland)..

In fact, I've already seen the bounty coming at more harvest-friendly times of the year - via some friends who hooked up with this CSA ages ago - and I know that the mid-January selection is just the tip of the iceberg. Yeah, so lots to look forward to like asparagus, snap peas, and strawberries; I can't wait for the season to develop! Signing up was long overdue; and what better excuse to explore some new recipes - and have friends over - than having fresh, organic, local produce show up, basically, at your door? Eat well!

Chocolate delivers, rain or shine

When the weather is cold and wet - and one is invited to a dinner party on such a Thursday night - a young man's fancy turns to baking (if he's an, um, fancyman, that is). Of course, chocolate is always in fashion, rain or shine, so yesterday I broke out a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I had saved away a few months ago.

I found it on SFGate.com (here), but the recipe is originally from "Demolition Desserts" by Elizabeth Falkner (of Citizen Cake fame), a book that takes some familiar desserts and reformulates them into almost unfamiliar - but still very much delicious (or moreso) - formats. Some of the recipes, in fact, could be classified more as "projects" than simple baking in terms of the effort required to pull them off, but if you're going for pizazz, you can't really go wrong with what she suggests.

That said, there are very doable recipes for folks with less time to invest but still want to impress your friends. Ms. Falkner's Chocolate² Chip Espresso Cookies fit the bill nicely; the recipe follows (with my own baking notes):

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SIFT:
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons finely ground espresso-roast coffee beans

BASE:
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7 1/4 ounces) firmly packed dark brown sugar

ADD1:
1 (1 1/2 ounces) large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

ADD2:
1 1/3 cups (8 ounces) semisweet, milk, or white chocolate chips, or a combination

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1. In a medium bowl, sift together the SIFT ingredients

2. In a large bowl cream together the butter and brown and granulated sugars (thge BASE ingredients) until smooth but not overmixed using a wooden spoon.

3. Add the ADD1 ingredients to the large bowl and stir just until combined.

4. Add the SIFT ingredients to the butter mixture in two additions, stirring gently after each addition just until combined. When I added the SIFT ingredients, the dough was crazy crumbly and was not really coming together into a smooth, whole, dough. In fact, I rechecked the recipe several times because I thought I left out some milk or eggs or something else that would bind everything together. But no; the ingredients listed above are all you need. So, at this point, I just got into the bowl with my hands and everything came together just fine into a thick, chocolaty, dough.

5. Add the chocolate chips and stir - or, as I did, use your hands - just until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

6. In the meantime, position the racks in the upper third and lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°.

7. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and scoop up 1-inch balls of dough for full-size cookies or 1/2-inch balls for mini cookies with a spoon or mini scoop. Set the large scoops 2 inches apart or the small scoops 1 inch apart on the prepared pans. Yesterday, I actually made 2-inch balls of dough (and patted them down on the cookie sheet because I was in a hurry to get these guys in the oven - I was late for dinner!

8. Bake the mini cookies for about 5 minutes and the full-size cookies for about 8 minutes, and then rotate the pans and bake both sizes for another 3 minutes, or until they are puffed and still look a little wet in the center. Transfer to racks and let cool. For the 2-inch versions that I made, I baked them according to the directions for the "full-size" cookies, which left them with a *very* fudgey consistency.. I did not hear any complaints!

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These cookies will keep for 2 to 3 days in an airtight container, but they will be at their most tender the day you bake them. The recipe makes about 4 dozen full-size cookies, 8 dozen mini cookies, or - as I found out - about 2 dozen mega cookies (2-inchers). No matter the size, these cookies are pretty awesome.. and will get you buzzed on all sorts of levels: you'll find sugar, chocolate, and coffee, in each delectable bite. It seems, for these cookies at least, size doesn't matter (except when it does), so eat up!

The subtleties of bread-baking technique

Aww man.. I pulled one of the most beautiful loaves of bread I've ever made out of the oven earlier tonight, a golden round of walnuts and wheat. It had been awhile, but I broke out the "No-Knead Bread" recipe I've mentioned before; you know, the one from the NYTimes that helped to get me on this baking kick earlier this year.

Per usual, I modified the original recipe a bit - partially on purpose and partially by accident (no harm, no foul). I just cut off a slice and it's pretty good; not my best ever, but pretty good.. and, as I mentioned before, it's oh-so-pretty. Here you go:

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1/2t rapid rise yeast
1/8c warm water
1T honey

1 1/2c white bread flour
1 1/2c whole wheat bread flour
1 1/2c warm water
1 1/4t salt

1/2c walnut halves (shelled)
more flour for dusting

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1. Place the yeast into a large mixing bowl and stir in the 1/8c of warm water and honey; let this mixture sit for a few minutes while the yeast froths back to life.

2. To this, add in both the flours, the salt and the final 1 1/2c of warm water. Note that I usually add the salt after I've added the flours because I don't want to take the chance of deactivating my yeast by dumping them with a hyper-sodium environment up front.

3. Take a wooden spoon and mix everything in the bowl into a wet dough; it will be still be very sticky once everything is combined! This is actually desired; the extra liquid in the dough will allow the chemical reactions needed for tasty bread to happen much easier compared to a consistency you might be used to.

4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for at least 18 hours, at a warm room temperature; the inside of your oven would probably be a good choice (make sure it is OFF!). For this particular instance, I let my dough rest for about 40 hours because I didn't have the time/desire to bake it yesterday. ;)

5. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles (and if you waited 40 hours it most certainly will be ready), which have been generated by the metabolic action of the yeast. At this point, lightly flour a clean and level work area, and place the dough on it. I find that keeping a bowl of water nearby and dipping my fingers in it throughout this process helps from me sticking to the dough (as much).

6. Fold the dough over on itself a few times; and in each instance, throw some of the walnut halves into it until you've used up the full 1/2c. At the end, the walnuts should be evenly distributed throughout the dough (but don't worry about it being perfect).

7. Cover the now-walnuted dough loosely with the plastic wrap - right there on your work surface - and let rest for about 15 minutes while it "sets itself up"; it will be easier to work with for the next step.

8. Dip your fingers into the water bowl (again, to keep them from sticking) and shape the dough into a ball as quickly as possible by curling the circular edge of the dough under itself; the visible portion of the ball should be smooth, while the underside will have a "seam".

9. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour and drop the dough onto it, seam-side down; dust the top with more flour. Cover with another cotton towel (loosely) and let rise for another 2-3 hours. Again, due to the timing of other things going on today, I let this particular batch go for more like 5 hours.

10. At least half an hour before dough is ready, preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and place your 6-to-8 quart baking vessel in it while it comes up to temperature; the baking vessel should be a heavy covered pot, made of cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic - it is important that it can retain heat well.

11. When the dough is ready (finally!), remove the baking vessel from the oven - be careful.. it's going to be HOT! - and flip the dough from the towel into the pot, seam-side up. Don't worry too much if it looks like a mess; shake the pot once or twice to straighten it out a little, but any residual "imperfections" will, soon enough, become "character".

12. Cover the baking vessel with its lid and bake for 30 minutes. Once done, turn the oven up to 450 degrees and let the pot sit for 10 minutes more, lid still covering the pot.

13. Then, remove the lid and let the loaf bake - and the outer crust develop - for 30 minutes more at 450 degrees. At this point, the bread should be beautifully browned, with some highlights of off-white flour stuck to its exterior. Cool on a rack and rock this thing with some good cheese.. or simply by itself.

** Note that you might have to play around with the baking times and temperatures, depending on your oven and other environmental variables. For example, I've heard that some folks raise the temperature to 475 or 500 degrees in the last step to get their preferred level of crust. Baking bread is, for sure, a learned skill; the subtleties of technique will develop over some trial-and-error (and, therefore, oh-so-satisfying when you get it right).

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Warm bread from the oven has no match!

A return of the infamous No. 9

If you caught me soon after I returned from my trip to Russia this past summer, there was a good chance that I told you about my desire to host a taste test featuring the full line-up of beers from Балтика (Baltika) brewing. It was a request slightly out of (my beer) character; you see, Baltika brews lagers - almost exclusively - and I'm not a fan of lagers in general. But! With my adventures in Russia still on the forefront of my mind, the novelty of tracking down the ten different Baltika beers, numbered from 0 to 9, seemed fun and worthwhile.

Baltika No. 0 is a non-alcoholic lager
Baltika No. 1 is a light lager, at 4.4% abv
Baltika No. 2 is a pale lager, at 4.7% abv
Baltika No. 3 is a pale lager, at 5.1% abv
Baltika No. 4 is a Vienna lager, at 5.6% abv
Baltika No. 5 is a golden lager, at 5.0% abv
Baltika No. 6 is a Baltic porter, at 7.0% abv
Baltika No. 7 is an export lager, 5.4% abv
Baltika No. 8 is an unfiltered wheat ale, at 5.0% abv
Baltika No. 9 is a strong export lager, at 8.0% abv

*There are a couple more "special" beers that really don't get much distribution, so the list above is really what I was looking for; Baltika also brews some other product lines (like Арсенальное), but, again, the list above suffices for my (ahem, imagined) purposes.*

Soon, though, my taste buds reigned in such fanciful (and alcoholic) fascinations - back to my usual kickass West Coast ales! - and the tasting never came to fruition. So it was only yesterday that I came across another Baltika beer. And, in fact, it was the infamous No. 9! haha.

No. 9 is, for sure, the go-to beer for bang-for-your-gettin'-drunk-buck (if you're not drinking cheap vodka, that is). At 8.0% abv, a few half-liters will put you on your ass.. and along the way, you know exactly what you're getting into, given it doesn't try to hide its alcohol at all. Yikes! Fortunately, I was sharing a couple of bottles with a few people over a homestyle Russian dinner at Sadko, a Russian restaurant in the Outer Richmond. It was, I can assure you, the first time that I poured Baltika No. 9 into a wine glass (once I emptied it of its original contents: квас); in fact, it was the first time I wouldn't have thought to drink it straight from the bottle.

In any case, if you want to know what Russian food "is", I'd recommend checking out Sadko; you'll even get that stereotypical Russian service (i.e. brusk) included in the price! haha. From a culinary perspective, it helped that I was there with my Ukrainian buddy and a crew from his work (but only my buddy speaks Russian; the rest were even more clueless than me at what they were getting into). As such, he ordered a huge amount of "classic" Russian food and drink for the lot of us; and so, we got to try a lot of different dishes at once. Good stuff!

And while I'll be no substitute translator, if you're interested in going, let me know; I certainly plan on a return trip. While I'm (still) not going to be craving Russian food on any sort of regular basis, the overall ambiance certainly has a place in my heart; at the least, Sadko's version of квас was the best I've had (and it comes in pitchers).

Of course, if you're just interested in a Baltika No. 9 experience, I think we can skip the restaurant altogether and track one down - one for each of us, that is - from a local grocery and just hang out in the park. Classic, for sure (even if we have to paper-bag it; the SF police look down upon the open container)!

Let them eat Carrot-orange Cake

What are you gonna do with extra ginger cream cheese icing chillin' in your fridge? You put it on cake! So I make cake today:

Carrot-orange Cake

DRY
1c whole wheat flour
1c all-purpose flour
2t baking soda
1t baking powder
2t ground cinnamon
2t ground ginger
1/2t ground nutmeg
1/2t ground allspice
1/2t salt

WET
1/2c applesauce
1/2c melted butter
1/2c vegetable oil
1c brown sugar
4 eggs
1/3c orange juice
1T orange zest

GOODIES
3c grated carrots
1c chopped walnuts
1 1/2c golden raisins

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1. Preheat your oven to 325°F. And butter two 9" layer cake pans (the round ones, 1.5" deep).

2. Sift everything in the DRY list into a medium-sized bowl and set aside. In a large bowl - this will be the one that everything ends up in - mix all the WET ingredients; and then add the GOODIES! Finally, fold the DRY ingredients in to the large bowl as gently as possible, and you've constructed a kickass batter.

3. Pour half of the batter into the first cake pan and the rest into the second. Toss them both into oven - as centrally as possible - and bake for 40 minutes (do a toothpick test); afterwards, let the cakes cool completely.

4. Once cool, flip the first cake onto an, um, pretty plate, then top it with a layer of that delicious ginger cream cheese icing. Yeah, you know what to do next: drop the second layer of cake on top of that. And finish it all by covering the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the icing.

It's pretty much the best cake I've ever made (and like all the other recipes I've posted directly on the blog, it's original). Eat it now! And if you like it, let me know..

A ginger icing workout

Never is the need for a stand mixer more apparent than when you need to make cream cheese frosting without it. I mean, even with the butter and cream cheese at room temperature, it is a difficult endeavor to get a completely smooth consistency. That said, I done made it happen last night (and got a wicked shoulder workout in the process). This recipe is an original amalgamation of a couple variations that I came across online; it came out pretty delicious:

Ginger Cream Cheese Icing

8oz cream cheese, at room temperature
6T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1T fresh ginger, finely grated
2t powdered ginger
1t powdered cinnamon
1T + 1t fresh orange juice
1T orange zest
3c powdered sugar

"Simply" whip all these ingredients together until you get a velvety-smooth consistency. If you have a stand-up mixer, this is pretty easy: put the cream cheese and butter into the mixer and let it go for about 5 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients, one at a time; when you get to the powdered sugar, add it in three 1c increments. In short, just let the mixer do its thing until everything is fully combined.

Without the mechanical assistance, the procedure is basically the same, but know that you are in for 30-60 minutes of exertion. I mean, you need to pulverize all these little pieces of butter or cream cheese, each desperately trying to hang on to their individual lipidic identities. And while a noble ideal, it certainly makes your life as a kitchen alchemist more difficult. But, like I said, it's totally possible; in this case, the last ingredient is, uh, elbow grease.

So, if you're dedicated, you'll end up with a spicy-sweet - and rich! - icing to put on any number of cake-like devices, large or small. For example, you may want to top some zucchini pine nut muffins or an orange carrot cake with the stuff. Me? I went the seasonal route - and continued my minor obsession with the pumpkin:

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

DRY
4c cake flour
1T + 1t baking powder
1T powdered cinnamon
1T powdered ginger
1/2t ground allspice
1 1/4t ground cloves
1 1/4t ground nutmeg
1t kosher salt
1/2t baking soda

PUMPKIN
2c pureed pumpkin
1c whole milk

BUTTER
8oz unsalted butter
2c brown sugar
4 eggs
2t vanilla extract
2t dark maple syrup (grade B)

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1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. And set up a muffin tin or two with about 20 "jumbo" - about 2" high - baking cups (cupcake wrappers). You can use smaller ones to make more cupcakes, of course, but then reduce the baking time in step #5.

2. Sift everything in the DRY ingredient list together in a medium-sized bowl. Then, in a separate (but similarly-sized) bowl, combine the two items in the PUMPKIN list.

3. In a large bowl - this will be the one that everything ends up in - cream the butter and brown sugar together (again, if you have a stand-up mixer, use it here!), then add the eggs, one at at time (mixing each one in as you go); finally pour in the vanilla extract.

4. Still with the large bowl, fold in - gently - a third of the DRY bowl, followed by a third of the PUMPKIN bowl; repeat in an alternating fashion until you've got one big, delicious mixture of spiced pumpkin cupcake batter. Remember that you want to keep the batter as light as possible (while still making it homogeneous); in short, don't over mix (similar to what I said about pancake batter).

5. Spoon the batter into your baking cups to about two-thrids of the way to the top. Toss the muffin tins into the oven (as central as you can get them) and bake for about 20 minutes.. or a little less if you're using a smaller cupcake size. Use a toothpick test to determine "doneness".

6. Let the cupcakes cool completely, and top with a generous portion of Ginger Cream Cheese Icing (which you can make while the cupcakes are baking/cooling). I found that the icing recipe above made about twice as much as I needed for the cupcakes, so either double your cupcake output, or slather that icing on HIGH!

Note that the cupcakes will be somewhat dense (even if you were careful mixing the batter), so you might want to eat them with silverware; in other words they be as rich at the icing yo! In fact, I may try increasing the amount of baking powder and baking soda - just a tad - next time I make them (to see if I can develop a little more "loft"). Another than that, I say enjoy!

A new tea embassador: James Norwood Pratt

I won't introduce this video interview of James Norwood Pratt too much, except to say he seems to be most gentlemanly; and his iconic status will surely extend easily from the world of wine to the world of tea.

The Proper Cup of Tea: James Norwood Pratt is steeped in it
By Meredith Arthur and Eric Slatkin
(http://www.chow.com/stories/10721)

Be sure to at least check out the segment called "Most Interesting Tea". He describes a simple scene, drinking tea with a "tea statesman" in Japan - an individual who, in his youth, served tea in the most incredible of circumstances!