American Wine & The Art of the Restaurateur

Did you know that there are more than 7,000 wineries in the US? Clearly American wine deserves its own book. While American wine has been covered before, I'm not sure it has ever been covered quite so comprehensively as it is in American Wine: The Ultimate Companion to the Wines and Wineries of the United States. The book is good for helping to sort through the American viticultural areas (AVA's) and works for wine drinkers, armchair travelers as well as those looking to actually venture into the places in the United States where wine is being produced.

For each region you get history, culture, a bit about the geography and a sense of who the major players are, and some great profiles of winemakers. There are maps and wine labels and glossy photos and the writing is straightforward and not too fussy, as you would expect from two preeminent wine writers, Jancis Robinson of the UK and Linda Murphy the former wine section editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Make no mistake, this is a coffee table book, but also a very useful guide for wine lovers. I can see it will be my go-to book when trying to familiarize myself with different American wine regions. 

Jancis Robinson will be in the Bay Area this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. 

You can meet Jancis Robinson and Linda Murphy for a wine and cheese reception at Raymond Vineyards in Napa on Sunday, March 17, tickets are free of charge. 

Attend a Commonwealth Club program with Robinson and Murphy, hosted by Leslie Sbrocco on Monday March 18, ticket prices vary depending upon which reception you attend. 

Have your book signed by Jancis Robinson at Zuni Cafe later that evening from 8 - 10 pm and get a chance to meet Nicholas Lander, author of The Art of the Restaurateur. Lander's book will also be available. It features profiles of prominent restaurateurs the world over, and is definitely an "inside baseball" or perhaps inside restaurant book. 

While we often hear from chefs, few restaurateurs are in the limelight, sharing their stories and secrets. This book is a bit erudite, especially since the author himself was once a successful restaurateur, but should be required reading for anyone even thinking about getting into the restaurant business. Space is limited, and RSVP is required.

Lunch with Robinson and Murphy on Tuesday March 19 at Quince Restaurant. Tickets include a three course lunch and signed book. 

Walnut Mushroom Casserole Recipe

When I was growing up, my parents took me and my sister to all kinds of restaurants but rarely ones with "kid's menus." We regularly came into San Francisco to eat Chinese food, tried sushi long before it became popular, and celebrated birthdays and school graduation at fancy French restaurants. Unlike many kids who probably longed for Taco Bell or McDonald’s, I enjoyed eating at  The Good Earth, a casual restaurant near my house. The menu had a mix of salads and sandwiches and some very unique entrees. It wouldn’t necessarily be considered “health food” by today’s standards but there were quite a number of vegetarian dishes. 

At The Good Earth, pretty much anyone could find something they would like to eat, and that made it perfect for dining out with everyone from my teenage girlfriends, to my grandmother. The Good Earth was famous for it’s spicy cinnamon tea which you can buy to this day. Although the restaurant chain was sold and very few restaurants remain, I remain haunted by the memory of Walnut Mushroom Casserole. It was my go to dish.

I like to think of myself as fairly adventurous, but really, when I find one dish I love, I have a hard time straying beyond it on any menu. The Walnut Mushroom Casserole at The Good Earth restaurant was my absolute favorite. It’s still on the menu at just one remaining restaurant in Southern California. Here is the dish description:

Walnut Mushroom Casserole spinach fettuccini tossed with broccoli, mushrooms, onion and water chestnuts, blended with sour cream and sherry sauce. topped with two cheeses, walnuts and scallions

I found a recipe online but it didn't seem right to me, so I adapted it as best I could to fit with my memory of it.  I used Al Dente spinach fettuccini and it was perfect. I also tested out Al Dente's bonachia spinach fettuccine, and that worked great too. Note: Do not overcook the pasta! 

Walnut Mushroom Casserole

Serves 6 

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 medium onion, cut into quarters and thinly sliced

1/2 lb small button mushroom, halved or quartered into small chunks

3 cups thinly sliced broccoli, stems and bite-sized florets

8 ounce can sliced water chestnuts

1 clove garlic, minced 

2 Tablespoons sherry

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons sour cream

6 ounces dry spinach fettuccini (such as Al Dente brand), cooked until barely tender

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a large skillet over low heat, add walnuts and stir until lightly toasted and fragrant, then remove and reserve the nuts and return the skillet to the stove.

Add one tablespoon oil to the hot skillet and the onions and mushrooms and cook until just beginning to brown, remove with a spoon and reserve. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and the broccoli and sauté until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the reserved onions, mushrooms, water chestnuts, garlic and spinach fettuccini. Remove from heat and add the sherry, soy sauce and sour cream. Stir gently to coat without breaking the noodles

Place mixture in a greased, shallow 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the reserved walnuts and then the cheeses. At this point the casserole can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bake until cheese melts and casserole is heated through, about 15 - 20 minutes. 

Note: you can bake the mixture in any type or combination of casserole pans you wish. If you use large individual ramekins,  bake only until the casserole is hot and the cheese melts, about 10 minutes. 

Enjoy! 

Coconut & Chili--Fancy Food Show Trends 2013

In addition to "chia in everything" two other trends I saw at the Winter 2013 Fancy Food Show were lots of products with coconut and a more sophisticated use of chili. 

It was impossible to miss the virtual rivers of coconut water at the show. Interestingly, they don't all taste the same. Some are sweet and others have a funny aftertaste. Some are thin and others are slightly viscous or have chunks of coconut in them. I'm still not a huge fan, but maybe I just haven't tasted the right one yet.

Here were a few of my favorite coconut products.

Why So Good! toasted coconut chips are not yet on the market, but they will be soon. They are an addictive snack, salty and sweet but with a ton of crunch. Never mind potato chips, once you open a bag of these, poof! It's empty. Dang Foods makes a similarly delicious product, also imported from Thailand. 

JJ's Sweets Cocomels are nice little caramels that happen to be made with coconut milk. They are creamy, but not dairy so vegans can breathe a sigh of relief. 

I'm already a big fan of 479 popcorn, so I look forward to each new flavor. This time around, it's coconut, specifically toasted coconut caramel. And it's as good as it sounds. Not too sweet but kind of nutty flavored. 

Brad's raw onion rings are just one product in a line of "raw" chips and snacks. I liked the onion rings best. They are dehydrated and then flavored. "Classy coconut" is one of four flavors, but one of the best.

CHILI

Chili has been a popular ingredient in specialty foods forever, but it used to be more about heat than anything else. Now chili is showing up frequently in sweet foods in a more nuanced way. Here are some of my favorite chile products from the show. 

Chili lime chips might seem mundane these days, but Anette's Chocolate brand chili lime tequila tortilla chip brittle is anything but.  I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to make brittle out of tortilla chips, but it certainly was and incorporating sour and hot flavors into a sweet product makes it all the more delectable.  

Wild Poppy makes a line of interesting juice drinks. I particularly liked the grapefruit ginger and the blood orange chili. The heat in the ginger and chili add an almost refreshing quality to the drink, balancing the sweetness. 

Way Better Snacks Sweet Chili tortilla chips are made from sprouted grains and are flecked with sprouted chia, broccoli and daikon radish seeds, definitely a twist on the typical tortilla chip. The chili in these chips is cayenne but not too hot.

Chili mango flats from Pure Indulgent Foods are yet another example of sweet and spicy coming together, this time in a cookie like hazelnut cracker that is a good accompaniment to cheese or charcuterie. 

I'll have more favorite discoveries from the Fancy Food Show soon...

Azalina's Malaysian Pop-up Dinner March 10

Suvir Saran with Azalina Eusope at the SF Street Food Night Market, 2012

There are some chefs who cook with their whole being, with their blood, sweat and tears, with their heart and with their soul. Azalina Eusope is one of those chefs and you can taste her passion in every bite. I am not alone in feeling honored to eat her food. 

Azalina’s specialty is Malaysian street food, and it should come as no surprise because she’s a fifth generation street food vendor. Fifth generation. I have no idea what my great grandparents did, let alone my great great grandparents. I know they didn’t eat food nearly as vibrant and textured and layered with flavors as what Azalina cooks. Malaysian street food is not subtle or elegant, it’s in your face, big, bold, exciting, and comforting all at once. It demands your attention and you will be happy to give it.

I could tell you that Azalina is an inspiring role model, a success story, an immigrant, a member of the Mamak tribe renowned for their cooking abilities. But I’d rather just encourage you to eat her food. While she makes regular appearances at Off The Grid Fort Mason (a street food event) most of the year, and her prepared food is showing up in places like Bi-Rite and Whole Foods, there is another way you can enjoy it. There is one more pop-up dinner she will be doing at Wise Sons Deli next Sunday night, March 10th. But I must warn you, it’s a small restaurant and it gets very crowded so...

Come early and prepare to stand in line

Come with a very small group (2-4 people max)

Come prepared to eat! 

The a la carte menu changes every week, so you can check Azalina's website if you’d like to know what she’ll be serving. This is what I had this past Sunday night: 

Asam Laksa

This sour and tangy tamarind based noodle soup with a healthy dose of spice has mackerel and was topped with slices of cucumber, chile, red onion and pineapple. Asam laksa is very delicious, but don’t just take my word for it, CNN listed it as the #7 most delicious dish in the world in 2011. 

Mee rebus 

This is another popular street food dish, with yam, potatoes, tomato and spices, hand made noodles, fritters, drenched in a very rich and sweet curry like gravy and garnished with peanuts and herbs and a hard boiled egg. Pure comfort. 

Sweet potato dumplings

These chewy dumplings had a dash of coconut cream and some fresh sprouts. 

Azalina’s Pop up

at

Wise Sons Deli 

3150 24th St 

San Francisco

March 10, 6-9 pm.

Sweet Potato Poha Recipe

Not long ago Chef Suvir Saran tipped off Facebook followers, letting us know his poha recipe that was on Tasting Table and urging us to try it. I know how good it feels to have people cook your recipes and so does cookbook author and food writer Marlena Spieler so we both took him up on it. Neither of us had ever cooked with poha before. Poha are rice flakes used in a variety of Indian recipes, especially for breakfast. They cook up light and fluffy and are very mild. Like hash brown potatoes, they make a great blank canvas for spices, aromatics and vegetables. 

Marlene Spieler shopping at Vik's

Planning to cook an Indian dish makes a fine excuse for lunch at Vik's Chaat House in Berkeley. Marlena and I met up for bountiful chaat, pani puri and a luscious special with creamy eggplant and okra then we headed over to the adjoining shop for further culinary adventures. I stocked up on fragrant curry leaves, coconut flakes, thick poha flakes, chiles and black sesame seeds while Marlena ogled the pickled mango and lime and picked out some beans. It's easy to get inspired in an Indian market! 

I found Suvir's recipe fairly easy to follow, though I adapted the instructions a bit and bumped up the crunch factor by adding more coconut and peanuts.  The preparation takes a little effort but the actual cooking goes very quickly. 

To prepare poha you simply rinse the rice flakes in cool water then gently heat them up in a pan with whatever ingredients you like. This recipe uses sweet potatoes, peanuts, coconut and plenty of red onion but I've seen much more basic recipes too. I served this poha dish as a side dish, instead of rice with veal chops.

In addition to being versatile, poha is very economical too, an enormous 2 pound bag cost only $1.49. I enjoyed the poha leftovers with a fried egg on top and it was heavenly. Now go see Marlena's post and recipe.



Sweet Potato Poha adapted from a recipe by Suvir Saran & Tasting Table

Serves 4 

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon rice bran oil or vegetable oil

12 curry leaves, roughly torn

1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 dried red chile

1/8 teaspoon asafetida

1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1 medium sweet potato, chopped into roughly ½-inch dice

1/2 cup roasted and salted peanuts, roughly chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened large-flake dried coconut

1 serrano pepper, finely chopped

2 cups thick poha rice flakes, rinsed under cold water and drained

Juice of 1 lime, plus 1 lime cut into wedges

1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro

Instructions

Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-low heat, add the coconut and cook until crispy and golden. Remove coconut from the pan and set aside. Return the pan to the stove and add the oil, curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chile and asafetida and cook, stirring often, until the cumin seeds are golden brown, about 2 minutes (be careful--the mustard seeds will pop).

Add the onion and ½ teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, 3 to 4 minutes (if the onions begin to brown, reduce the heat). Stir in the sweet potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are cooked around the edges, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the serrano pepper, cooking until the sweet potatoes are tender about 5 minutes, add a couple tablespoons of water to keep the sweet potatoes from sticking to the pan if necessary.

Add the poha and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Gently stir the poha into the sweet potato-onion mixture to incorporate it without breaking the delicate rice flakes. Drizzle the water around the sides of the skillet, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook the poha until it is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Remove the cover and add the reserved coconut, chopped peanuts, and the lime juice use a fork to fluff the mixture and combine. Taste and adjust the salt if needed. Sprinkle with the cilantro and serve with the lime wedges on the side.

Enjoy!

Delicious Things to Eat

In addition to blogging, copywriting, editing and developing recipes for corporate clients, I am now writing a monthly roundup of top new restaurant and bar openings in San Francisco and the Bay Area for CitySearch. I'm also adding my "tips" for what to eat and where. It's giving me a great excuse to visit and revisit local restaurants. Here are some of the most delicious things I've eaten recently:

Pizza at The Forge

I'm crazy about pizza and I really liked the one I tried at a press preview of The Forge which is on the watefront at Jack London Square in Oakland, it was puffy and had those love crisp bits plus just the right amount of sauce.

The kitchen is also roasting entrees in their pizza ovens and serving some of the best salads around.

Pancake at Ssisso

I went to Ssisso to try the fried chicken, but it was under seasoned and I didn't like the sauce. Thank goodness I ordered the seafood scallion pancake (Haemul pajeon). It was crispy, greasy and oniony and I loved every bite!

It was so good I forgot to order the "frozen khusterd" so I need to go back, also the dinner menu is somewhat different from the lunch menu.

Clam "tortilla soup" with barley at Exploratorium

Ok, I didn't actually eat at the Exploratorium, but it is opening in a new location at Pier 15 soon and in the meantime I got a preview of some of the menu items that will be featured at the Seaglass waterfront restaurant.

My favorite dish was this fantastic clam tortilla soup with briny clams and and creamy bits of avocado.


Butterscotch pudding at One Market

Did you know that One Market is celebrating it's 20th anniversary? I was at their anniversary party and enjoyed many favorites from the menu. A stalwart for business lunches, it's good to know the food is as good as ever and that their creamy butterscotch pudding is not coming off the menu anytime soon.


Bruschetta at Scala's Bistro

Scala's has launched a $9 after 9 (as in 9 pm) menu, offering cocktails, a carafe of wine, and a variety lot little bites like oysters and pizzettas for $9 each. My favorite bite? Hand's down the very seasonal bruschetta with winter squash caponata, black garlic aioli, La Quercia prosciutto, pignoli and mizuna. I loved biting into the soft squash with a zing of black garlic. This is as good a reason as ever to stay for a nightcap!

Grilled albacore tuna from St. Francis winery

St. Francis in Sonoma has a deluxe  5 course food and wine menu you can enjoy at the winery for $42. While I loved all the pairings, one of my favorites was this grilled albacore tuna with sweet potatoes, baby turnips, smoky bacon, garlic chips and ramen broth paired with their 2010 Sangiovese Caro Santo from Sonoma Valley. The bright acidity and red fruit in the wine really cut through the smoky, garlicky broth.

Now head over to CitySearch where you can check out more of my picks, and don't forget to vote for your favorite restaurants in categories like Burgers, Brunch and Burritos, you could win a "Dream Dinner" worth $250!

Superfood Cereal Recipe

I love breakfast, but I also find it the easiest meal to skip. I get bored with traditional breakfast foods like eggs and cereal and pancakes day after day. Sometimes I eat leftovers from the previous night's dinner for breakfast but more frequently I just skip it entirely. I know skipping breakfast is not a good idea and so I'm always looking for tasty breakfast solutions, especially ones that take little time to prepare. 

My latest weekday breakfast is what I am calling superfood cereal. It's based on a Canadian cereal I tried at the Winter Fancy Food Show called "Holy Crap." It's made from chia, hemp, buckwheat and some dried fruit and it soaks in milk for 15 minutes before you eat it. It tastes a lot like tapioca pudding with a bit of crunch from the buckwheat, though not quite as sweet as pudding. What's most amazing about it is how little it takes to satisfy. Just a few tablespoons of cereal and a quarter cup of milk and I swear for hours I am not even the slightest bit hungry.

While I don't think this cereal is a cure all, it is very healthy. Chia is a good source of fiber, protein and omega-3 fatty acids, buckwheat is high in the essential amino acids lysine and arginine and hemp seeds are rich in magnesium, potassium, iron, protein and essential omega-3, -6 and -9 fatty acids. I encourage you to change up the proportions to suit your taste. The possibilities are endless, you could switch up the dried fruit, maybe add a little coconut. Holy Crap also includes a bit of cinnamon and dried apples. Some other ideas would be to add shredded apple, flaxseed, vanilla, mashed banana or even juice instead of milk. Have fun and make it yours!

Superfood Cereal

serves 1

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon raw buckwheat groats

1 Tablespoon chia seeds

1 Tablespoon hemp seeds or "hearts"

2 teaspoons dried berries, chopped finely

1/4 cup milk, any kind
Fresh fruit, optional

Instructions

Crush the buckwheat groats either in a mortar with a pestle, in a food processor or place them in a heavy plastic bag and smack them with a rolling pin. You want them somewhat crushed, but not into powder. It's easiest to do this with more groats, then just measure out a tablespoon at a time after they are crushed. 

Combine the crushed buckwheat, chia, hemp and dried berries in a very small bowl. Add the milk, stir to combine then let sit for 15 minutes to soak before serving. Top with fresh fruit if desired.

Enjoy!