Devil's Food Cake

...minus the layers and frosting. Sometimes, a girl just needs one layer of chocolate cake, thank you very much.

As with all Mark Bittman recipes, this one from How to Cook Everything was straightforward and used only very common ingredients. Instead of milk it uses sour cream (that's the "devil" part), which gives the finished product a very slight tang and makes the cake a little more dense than a fluffy cake mix cake.

Today, I had a slice with a handful of blackberries and a dollop of brown sugar sour cream (that's a mound of sour cream mixed with half as much dark brown sugar, but I only had light so the color isn't as dark and rich as it should be). A lovely accompaniment to coffee, or milk if you're going the "instant transport back to childhood" route.

Watermelon Salad a la Nigella Lawson

Nothing says summer like a bowl of watermelon. With olives, lime-juice-soaked onions, chopped mint and parsley, and feta cheese. Oh, and pepper.

Before you scream "Gross!" give me a moment to explain! This is one of the most surprising dishes I've ever encountered. The first time I made it, I was skeptical the whole time I was preparing it, and halved the recipe because I feared it would be terrible.

Boy was I wrong. It's so good, and I can't even figure out why. Here's the best I can describe it: olives, feta cheese, onions, lime juice, and the herbs all go together according to conventional wisdom. It's not at all strange to put those things together in a salad with a raw vegetable. Cucumber, for instance, is often used in a feta and olive salad. The stroke of genius is taking a fruit (watemelon) and substituting it in place of a crunchy cold vegetable like cucumber. And, shockingly, it works very well. Watermelon only has a very mild flavor of its own, and is slightly grassy in the same way that cucumber is. the resulting salad is more savory than sweet; more a side dish than a fruity dessert.

It's magical, and it's a great way to change things up when you've eaten more than half a twenty-five pounder by the slab. It's also a good way to use up the kind of watermelon we get this time of year: juicy and crispy, but not yet at the height of sweetness.

Note: I play very fast and loose with the recipe, putting in very rough amounts and then adjusting to taste. For me, more mint and less parsley works well, and I like to chop both very finely.

Link to recipe

Angel Hair Frittata

I'm really bad gauging how much pasta I'm going to need for any given amount of sauce. I chalk it up to not cooking pasta enough. When I have leftover sauce, it's easy: make more pasta the next day, freeze the sauce, eat the sauce on something else, etc. But when there's too much pasta, what to do?

Apparently, the answer all this time was to make a frittata!

For this particular breakfast, I beat two eggs with a generous pinch of salt, two tablespoons of milk, and a few grinds of pepper. Then I stirred in about half a cup of chopped (leftover, raw, lemon-marinated) salmon, half a cup of grated zucchini, and two large handfuls of cooked leftover angel hair pasta. The amounts of everything are obviously flexible, but I would say I put in enough solids to soak up all but three tablespoons of the beaten eggs.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat and lightly grease it. Pour in the mixture, stir a bit to make sure everything's evenly spread out, and then turn the flame to medium and don't touch it until the bottom is golden brown. Mine's a bit overcooked, but I wanted to make sure the bottom was solid before I flipped it. It took about five minutes.

To flip, ease a spatula under the frittata with your right hand, and lift the skillet up by the handle with your left hand. Using the spatula and increasingly tilting the skillet, gently scoot the frittata onto a plate. Then invert the skillet over the plat and flip the frittata (now uncooked side down) back into the skillet. Move the frittata back into place and cook until done on the other side.

The two egg frittata, along with some toasted English muffins, wildberries preserves, and some fresh young coconut juice was a generous breakfast for two and a great day to start a work-free Monday.

Slackers' Korean

I can't take credit for having cooked anything tonight, but boy was it good.

Take a moment to admire our home Korean barbeque setup. We got a spread of marinated meats, kimchi, and panchan from the Korean market and brought out a cast iron pan set over a portabl propane grill. The propane grill was the best $10 idea J has ever had. It's handy for hot pot and Korean barbeque, and hopefully one day I'll get around to making bananas foster in it.

From the top left: red leaf lettuce for wrapping everything, steamed rice, perilla leaves, daikon kimchi, sesame marinated bean sprouts, pickled kelp, almond jello (tastes like plain jello and is mixed with perilla leaves and some other spices), marinated steak, burdock kimchi, doenjang (stinky soy bean paste), and marinated pork.

Indoor grilling is a great way to have a leisurely meal but still have your food hot, since you cook the pieces of meat as you're ready to eat them. So good! My preferred method of constructing a wrap is to lightly smear the bean paste on lettuce, then pile on very small amounts of everything on the table (in varying combinations). This one was a bit of a monstrosity. Usually I just pick one meat, some rice, and one side dish.

Ame (belated)

This is very belated, but I couldn't let a meal at Ame slide without a post.

My two lovely, wonderful, generous, smart, beautiful, talented (etc.) co-workers PH and LC took me out to lunch a few weeks back at Ame, a swanky new restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel in downtown San Francisco. I'd heard nothing but raves about this Japanese-French fusion restaraunt run by the same owners as Terra in St. Helena.

We shared everything, of course, and took gorgeous photos in the well-lit, minimalist chic dining room. First off, compliments to the kitchen on impeccably fresh seafood from start to finish.

Ceviche: an interesting twist, with a traditional halibut ceviche wrapped inside paper thin slices of pickled daikon. The color of the daikon was amazingly fuschia. Even beet dye doesn't always get things this bright. The crispy slightly tangy pickled daikon paired well with the soft, sweet, ocean-flavored fish.

Tuna poke: one of Ame's more popular dishes. Personally, I found the ceviche more interesting and tasty. Ame's poke is a traditional poke (fish mash, I call it) wrapped in seaweed, then dipped in a light crispy batter and fried until just the batter is crisped. All the fish is still very much raw and cold. Again, great texture contrast.

Miyagi oysters: deep fried and placed in lettuce cups, with horseradish-flavored fish roe. The oysters were perfectly fried: barely cooked on the very outside, but soft and raw on the inside so the sweet minerally flavor of raw oysters could shine. The use of butter lettuce instead of iceberg was a big plus.

Black cod: miso-glazed, and very sweet and tender. Cod's often bland and boring, but this was anything but boring. Delicious broth, tasty tiny vegetables, perfect all around.

Chawan mushi with lobster: I was kind of disappointed that it was a claw and not a tail, but thankful that they made it at all. Chawan mushi isn't on the lunch menu, but we asked nicely and our server asked the kitchen to whip one up. Some of the tenderest egg that ever was made, with little tiny pieces of lobster, mushrooms, and chicken floating towards the bottom. Okra slices were a strange touch, but not bad. Not the most original thing on the menu, but extremely well executed.

Trio of sorbets: strawberry, rhubarb, and mango. Fresh, fruity, not too sweet, and all made in house. A perfect end to a light and delicious lunch. The breadstick was pistachio flavored and didn't really go with anything, but was good anyway.

Ame

3rd/Mission inside the St. Regis Hotel.

What's Cooking in Pei's Kitchen

In the interest of recovering some of my drastic website audience losses, I will make an effort to describe some of the things I've been cooking lately. Note: there's nothing terribly exciting, so it's going to be more like a few ideas for quick and easy home cooked meals.

Basil Burgers
-1 onion, chopped
-1 pound ground beef
-handful basil leaves, chopped
-salt
-pepper
-vermouth (would have used Worchestershire, but ran out and needed some moisture in the burgers)

I mixed all this together and kept it covered in the fridge. When I wanted a burger, I made a patty, cooked it on my cast iron skillet, and ate it with a slice of cheese, a handful of greens, and some ketchup and mustard. All sandwiched in an English muffin, for lack of hamburger buns. Cheap, tasty, and the basil and vermouth make it kind of special without too much effort.

Chilled Asparagus Soup
-1 bunch asparagus, tough ends removed and cut into 1/2 inch sections
-1 onion, diced
-1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
-salt
-pepper
Sautee onions until soft, then add asparagus. Sautee everything until just cooked through, about five minutes. Feel free to cover the pot a little and steam the asparagus if you're lazy. The resulting soup won't be as refined, but it'll still be good. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, then simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes or until asparagus is soft all the way through but not yet mushy. Cool a little, then puree in blender in batches. Make sure you blend until very smoooth. Chill and serve. If you're craving something richer, stir in some heavy cream or creme fraiche and/or a tablespoon of butter while the soup's warm. This soup is, of course, great hot as well, but in this weather who wants piping hot soup? I, for one, am looking forward to all kinds of chilled soups in the coming months. And green goddess salad dressing!

Applemint Cocktail
Inspired by the Apple Bomb at Rye Bar in San Francisco, I mixed the following and served over ice:
-three muddled mint leaves
-one shot calvados (applejack brandy would also work)
-two shots good applejuice (please, not Treetop. Use Odwalla or Naked if you can't get fresh)
-topped off with ginger ale

Pan-Fried Catfish with Guacamole
Self-explanatory, but oh so good! Salt and pepper one filet, sear over medium high heat until golden on each side (about five minutes on the first side, less on the second; look for a good half inch of the edges to have turned white and the edges to turn up and be crisp before you try to flip the fish). Guacamole is:
-two ripe avocadoes
-half a yellow onion, diced. The onion must be fresh or it will taste bitter
-one jalepeno, finely chopped
-one tomato, seeded and diced
-one handful cilantro leaves, chopped coarsley
-juice of a quarter lime, or half a lime if it's a bit dry
-half a cucumber, peeled, seeded, pureed, and drained. I know it sounds weird, but it really lightens the texture of guacamole. It's sort of like adding a lot of tomatillos to make salsa verde instead of guacamole. In fact, now that that occured to me, I might use tomatillo in the future.
-salt

Haagen-Daaz Ice Cream
I know, I've been too lazy to make my own. But the warm weather does have me contemplating espresso granita, lemon sorbet, lemonade, berry sorbets, and other chilly delights.

Hiatus

Poor Pei.

She can't find her universal card reader. She can't load photos from her cameras to her computer. She has no pictures to share with the world. Cry, cry.

Meanwhile, she has been eating:

-the best menudo in the world
-at a farmers' market potluck
-raw milk
-lots of wine
-seared salmon over lettuce at home
-home made oden (Japanese hot pot)
-and more!

Cafe Jaqueline

Another SF institution I can cross off my to do list:

Wow on the price tag, but mmmm on the souffle (but Hubert Keller's is still better!)

Delessio Chocolate Tower Cake

The chocomagic that is the Delessio chocolate tower cake requires few words. $35 of pure joy.

Before...

...During...

...After

Guess what's for breakfast tomorrow?

Delessio Market

Detox

Reality check in a bowl:

Sometimes, even I get sick of looking at restaurant food. This salad with raspberries and blueberries, a big mug of coffee, and an even bigger mug of Naked brand carrot juice were all I ate until dinner today.

Oh, and a piece of chocolate. I'm worn out, not crazy. I only had one square, I promise. It's how I rationalize buying expensive chocolate. Lake Champlain chocolates, of which this was the solid dark chocolate bar, make good eating chocolate that's not that expensive.

And here's something pretty to look at, just because it's nice out.

Zuni

I finally, finally, FINALLY made it into Zuni. And yes, I regret not going sooner.

Before I go anywhere to this post...Chowhounds rock. Thank you to everyone for arranging this, being there...and presents? It was just all too much. I could cry...really. I know I'm usually a sarcastic *bleep* but tonight was really special because of everyone there. I couldn't have imagined a more Zuni-esque experience. Now, for the parade of food (and a quick note that there was not a clunker in the parade)...

The Appetizers

Oysters on the half shell: kumamotos, sweetwaters, and miyagis (in order of my personal preference). A befitting farewell to Tomales Bay.

A lovely white wine from France, suggested by our server to pair with the oysters. Lovely, light, fragrant, and minerally.

Rare beef salad: wow. Everything cold rare beef should be, with tasty dressing. Satisfied my lust for red meat, even though I only had a bite.

Salad with endives, asparagus, and tangerines: there was just an article in the Los Angeles Times about shaved salads. Basically, their point was that salads can get tired, but shaving vegetables very thinly can change both the taste and texture of vegetables into something new and interesting. This salad made me think of that. It wasn't quite a shaved salad, but everything was in very small slices, and the clean flavors really shone with the light dressing.

Caesar salad: people rave about it all the time, and it deserves every compliment. Extra-fishy caesar dressing with great anchovy flavor, and plenty of good Parmesan.

Squid stew: the best part of this was the soggy bread that had sopped up all the sauce. Not pretty, but so tasty. The squid iteslf was good. This dish would have wowed me were it not in the company of so many other fantastic appetizers.

Polenta: mmmm...corn. The polenta itself was thin. Not as thin as gravy, but not as thick as oatmeal. The corn bits, however, were on the larger side. Very tasty, not too salty, plenty of mascarpone, but not too much butter flavor. It was a very different polenta from the one at Oliveto, which I loved possibly more. Oliveto's is more finely ground and cooked thicker, with more butter flavor than cheese flavor. Both good, but very different. If forced to choose I'd go with Oliveto's.

The rabbit salad was my least favorite appetizer. The salad itself was fresh and tasty, with a nice dressing. The rabbit just tasted like chicken. Nothing special, though very well prepared.

The Main Courses

A very unusual Italian wine, courtesy of A (who always brings the most interesting Italian wines). Beautiful light red that made me simultaneously gasp and go "mmm" upon first sip. The wine makes people defy the laws of physics! Halfway through dinner the wine began to really open up and soften, becoming even more beautiful.

The chicken! The star of the meal, of course. It was served with frisee today instead of the traditional arugula. Hey, you go with what's at the market, right? Otherwise why go to Zuni? The chicken lived up to the hype: juicy inside, crispy outside, lovely salad dressing. I just wish they'd put a little more dressing on the bread salad, because that soggy bread and sauce thing was really working for me.

Breaded halibut: beautiful fish in light panko-like (but not panko) crumbs. So good, with little baby vegetables on the side.

Someone please remind me what this pasta was, because it was good but I can't for the life of me remember what was in it. Some kind of green vegetable chopped into small pieces. Artichokes?

Ricotta gnocchi: so good. I may never eat another potato gnocchi again, having become increasingly disillusioned by them over the past few months. I think evanescent is a good word for these. They have a cohesive shape and you can stab one with a fork and pick it up, but once you put it in your mouth it completely melts. I think the menu says they use Belleweather ricotta for this, and the milky flavor really shines.

The forgotten dish: I've given up. I always forget to photograph one dish. And it's a shame, too, because it was a two-inch thick pork chop cooked until just pink in the middle, with a side of polenta and collards. The collards, cooked with a red pepper or two in the liquor, had a little spicy kick to it that we enjoyed. The seared polenta was every bit as good as the one in a bowl, and the pork chop was well done but I didn't think I'd be able to eat the whole thing without getting very bored.

The Desserts

Three dessert wines to share at the table (from left): A Beaume de Venise, which I thought was absolutely lovely. Sweet but not cloying, with an ambrosial mouthfeel. Next was an Italian aqcua de cerdo (citrus water) dessert wine, which packed quite a punch. Sort of a cross between Grand Marnier (in flavor) and vodka (in color and texture). Nice, but strong. Finally, Bonny Doon's "Ice Box" Wine, which is a play on ice wine. Instead of harvesting grapes naturally frozen on the vine, Bonny Doon takes grapes and throws them in the freezer before making wine. Hence, "Ice Box" Wine.

Espresso granita: house classic. I've always thought of granita as hard frozen chards, but this is really fluffy and light, like just barely frozen sweet coffee. Refreshing, and pretty unique.

Strawberry rhubarb tart with vanilla ice cream: both good, but to me the vanilla ice cream was out of this world. People who don't like dense eggy vanilla should stay away from this, but for me it was perfect. The tart, while delicious, was a mere vehicle by which the vanilla was transported to my mouth. The pairing was wonderful, though, and clearly showed some thought and expertise.

Rice pudding: unlike any rice pudding I've had before (or since, ha ha). Gigantic pieces of rice (almost like orza pasta, actually) embedded in what seemed like a ricotta based custard. The orange sauce was out of this world. Not sugary at all, and not soapy like some bad marmalades are. Just intensely orangey, but gooey.

Jasmine tea ice cream: surprise of the evening, for me at least. The flavor reminded me of Stassen jasmine green tea. The tea flavor is subtle but present.

Gateau Victoire: okay, Judy Rogers, you win. You rule, I drool. Literally. I hereby officially apologize in writing for waiting this long to visit your restaurant. I'm sorry. I really am. I promise to cook tons out of your cookbook from this day forth in atonement. Anyway, a flourless chocolate cake that's fluffy, chocolatey, just barely sweet, and rich with coffee flavor? Man alive it was good! We loved this so much L asked for the recipe at the front desk. Hilariously, they had copies printed out. I guess they get a lot of requests for it.

Weekend Update: Zuni vs. Gold Mountain. It pains me to say so because I love a good Chinese banquet, but Zuni wins hands down. We spent more at Zuni, but we ordered much more alcohol and a parade of desserts. I left Zuni more full, and I'd had a larger variety of food. And let's be honest, the food at Zuni is more carefully selected and pampered than at any Chinese restaurant, and their staff makes more money too. I've heard negative reports about Zuni, but I really don't know what people are complaining about. I could see getting bored with food if I went with just one other person (portions are sizeable), but a group of four or six could get a fantastic array of dishes for a very reasonable price.

Red Door Cafe

Stopped for brunch at this adorable corner restaurant today and couldn't have loved it more.

The ginger french toast was the winner. I normally can't eat a whole order of french toast because it's just too much sugar, but I had to really refrain from reaching over and nabbing a whole slice off my friend's plate. The toast was perfectly crisped around all edges, soft and custardy in the center without being soggy or raw, and there were tiny pieces of dried raisins, currants, and candied ginger sprinkled on top. Possibly the best french toast in the city, thogh I'd have to go back to Dottie's to be sure.

Mexidilla: eggs, black beans, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and salsa. Huge. It's a mountain of food with some fruit on the side. Overall it was good, but a little bland. The black beans could have used some meat base or a little heat. The cheese was a tad rubbery as the 'dilla got cold. I'm being biased because I'm bitter about not having ordered the french toast; this was a very well prepared 'dilla and I would readily eat at Red Door Cafe again based on this dish. The wraps, however, seem to be what really draw people in. Colorful tortillas, a good variety of fillings, and generous portions. Prices are almost all under $10.

Tea, coffee, Naked juice, and a few drink specials are available. They also have some great cookies, but the person at the counter didn't know where they come from. These lacy chocolate filled sandwich cookies were the perfect treat for taking out the door and on our walk around sunny San Francisco.

Red Door Cafe looks like a hobbit hole. You have to walk down several stairs to get into the restaurant, which looks like a converted house furnished with old mismatched furniture and a bizarre assortment of old photos and contempary art. It's a worn, comfy look, and the music is mostly 50s diner standards plus some Beach Boys. Very fun, and beautiful on a sunny day like today. The servers, though frazzled, were all incredibly nice (and cute to boot). I love it when servers assertively make up my mind for me when I'm wavering between two dishes, and our server not only decided for me but described why one dish was better than the other. I can't say he was wrong; I loved my mexidilla.

Red Door Cafe
Northeast corner of Larkin and California

Gold Mountain

These photos are worth ten million words. Words we couldn't utter with our mouths full. A million thanks to KK our host--a smashing success!

My favorites? Hard to say, but the stuffed chicken, lobster, and noodles are right up there.

Cold platter: jelly fish, sliced five-spice beef, pork slices, cha sao (bbq pork), marinated chicken, and suckling pig. I liked the slices of beef and pork best. The chicken and cha sao were fine as usual, and the jelly fish was a little sub par. Not cruncy enough, and it hadn't soaked up enough marinating liquid flavor. The suckling pig was highly controversial. I loved the thick layer of crunchy skin and dense layer of fat. Some thought the fat was disgusting. Too bad for them.

Wintermelon soup in a wintermelon bowl. For special occassions, some restaurants carve intricate drawings and lucky phrases onto the melon for you. No one was getting married tonight, so a plain melon sufficed. The soup had crab meat, shrimp, chunks of duck, scallops, chicken, and maybe more. The soup itself was probably a chicken/seafood/pork blend, with some Chinese medicinal herbs as well. The only bad thing about the soup was cucumber, which tasted grassy and unnecessary. I think they just added it for color.

when it's time to serve the soup, pieces of the melon are carved out of the sides of the "tureen" and placed in each bowl of soup. Chinese people love their soups, and wintermelon soup is a national favorite. Gold Mountain's broth is clear, flavorful, and soothing, and the ingredients are carefully cut up into bite sized pieces. Someone commented that this would be something she would want if she were sick. Food for the soul.

Twin Main lobsters in ginger scallion sauce: heavy on the rice wine and vinegar, this dish hit the spot for me. I'll always love Pacific lobster more than Maine lobster, but any shellfish in a gingery gooey sauce is fine by me. This was intensely flavored, not too salty, and came steamy hot but not overcooked.

Salt and pepper crab: I have to admit, this was masterful. The way the coating clung to each piece of crab and stayed crispy throughout the meal was incredible. The batter was light and crispy enough to eat by itself, and the salt and pepper flavors were just right. The generous amount of garlic and red pepers was great. Still, at least for tonight, I liked the lobster more. And I'm usually a Dungeness crab gal.

De-boned chicken stuffed with sticky rice: the chicken I'd been waiting for! The chicken masters basically take a chicken and skin it all in one piece, leaving the gones in the legs and wings intact. They then stuff it with glutinous rice and deep fry the whole thing. It's incredible. Crunchy chicken (like a good fried chicken) on the outside, sticky rice with meat, vegetables, and mushrooms on the inside. I regret not nabbing more than one piece of this. It's so good. Why don't they serve it more!?

Yo chai with whole garlic cloves: looked good, smelled good, tasted pretty good too. It's nice to get some greens halfway through the meal.

Steamed fish with sliced green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger: classic Chinese preparation of steamed fish. Someone tell me what kind of fish this is, please? There were two of them, and they were both fatty as all get out.

Peking duck: this is just a crowd pleaser. Everyone likes duck with hoisin wrapped in a soft steamy bun of bread. This wasn't the most skillfully prepared, delicate, or "authentic" Peking duck, but neither are the Peking ducks at the vast majority of restaurants in SF. The skin was crisp, the duck was moist, the bread was soft. That's enough for me. It was delicious.

Liang mien huang: this is one of my favorite kinds of noodles. The noodles are deep fried into a disc. When it's time to serve, a gooey sauce (tonight's was seafood, but it can be pork, beef, fowl, etc.) is poured over it. The noodles that absorb the sauce become very soft and soak up the flavor of the sauce, and the noodles that stay dry are crunchy. The trick is to get a portion that has the crunchy:soft ratio that you personally prefer, and to keep the dry pieces dry until you want to eat them. The seafood in this dish was really great. Big fresh pieces of seafood cooked until just done. The noodle's supposed to be the filler at the end of a Chinese banquet, but this was one of my favorite things.

Coconut pudding: cool and refreshing, and very dense. We had no room for dessert elsewhere after this.

All in all, a very successful banquet! I gotta hand it to Gold Mountain: they keep the hot food HOT. Look at how hard it was for me to take pictures with all that steam! I admit it: I let the need to eat the food while it was hot get in the way of taking beautiful pictures. But hey, I'll always have the beautiful memories!

And to you sneaky Asians (you know who you are): a big sloppy wet kiss to you all!!

Mangosteen (and Rye!)

Cinco de Mayo? How about Vietnamese food? Hey, at least there wasn't a crowd. My craving for garlic noodles brought us to Mangosteen, which was surprisingly uncrowded at 7 p.m. on a Friday night. It stayed pretty empty all evening. I'm not often in the neighborhood, but the few times I've passed by at lunch I remember it being crowded. Maybe Cinco de Mayo drew everyone to the Mexican restaurants.

Lychee black tea: adorable presentation, no? The tea itself was black tea with a light, sweet fruit note. Refreshing, and the server was so sweet about bringing us enough cups for the whole table. To make their own lives easier, however, they should have purchased larger teapots.

Chicken garlic noodles: I was so sad that these noodles were overcooked. I had the beef noodles last time. And while the noodles are certainly supposed to be softer than Italian pasta, the noodles this time were much too soft. The sauce, like before, was intensely flavorful. Both garlic and fresh peppers were immediately apparent. I think I'll stick to beef; the chicken (small slices pounded flat) was a little dry, and I remember the beef noodles being in a slightly darker sauce.

Beef: I think it was chunked skirt steak, but could just be chuck cooked a long time. Whatever meat it was, it was very tender. I remember the garlic noodles coming in beef sauce like this, actually. This was so good with rice. Onions, garlic, a little hint of spiciness, parsley. Not the most unusual or inspired dish, but tasty.

Now come the real winners...prawn in tamarind sauce. Oh, that sauce! Sweet, tangy, oniony, starchy, and--most importantly--buttery. They must have robbed a dairy farm to find so much butter. We couldn't stop talking about that sauce, and I consumed an entire bowl of rice just eating spoonfuls of it. We joked that just a bowl of sauce and some rice would be a cheap out of this world meal. You'll notice I didn't think to take a photo until there was only one ugly prawn left. The tiger prawns they used were huge (like the ones often found at Costco), and the dish comes with four prawns. Not cheap...maybe they put the sauce on something else? I would love it on catfish.

Sea Bass: I saved the best for last. This was hands down the fovorite dish at the table. The sauce was the most interesting, unique, and tasty in a dinner filled with nothing but great sauces. This sauce was more complex than the tamarind sauce, but we identified rice wine, vinegar, sugar, garlic, onion, chili, and I think a little soy and fish sauce. It was similar to some sweeter Chinese sauces, but not. Truly amazing. The bass was flakey and sweet, though after it got cold someone mentioned it took on the texture of frozen fish.

Bonus round:

More garlic noodles. This is a "side" dish. They were also overcooked, but the sauce was so good we got over it. It's hard to see how big this bowl is, but suffice it to say this bowl of noodles can not be held with one hand. $3! If you were being cheap, one dish that's intensely saucy plus one bowl (more like tureen) of noodles for sopping up all the sauce would be under $20 and easily feed two food snobs.

Not to be completely disrespectful of Mexican Independence Day, we headed to Rye bar/lounge after dinner. Cocktails, as usual, were fantastic. Rye is easily the best place for a cocktail that I know of in the city. Every drink is $9, they're very generously sized. It's hard to find a cocktail under $10 in SF that you can actually sip for an hour. The cocktails are fruity and fun, but not laden with sweeteners or artificial flavores. Instead, they use fresh fruit; the bar is a veritable salad bar of tangerines, kumquats, berries, cucumbers, lemons, and more. They only use ripe juicy fruit, and it really shows in their drinks. The bartenders I've had at Rye have been knowledgeable and deft, and the staff is friendly as well as professional. No amateurs here! And there's a decent wine list as well. From the left:

Apple Bomb: my favorite drink. It's made with applejack brandy, ginger beer, and good apple juice. They don't use TreeTop here, thank goodness. It's deceptively mild tasting because the applejack tastes practically like juice, but it does pack a punch. It tastes like drinking watered down apple juice with bubbles, but hits you later.

Blackberry Bramble: muddled blackberries, lemon juice, and vodka. Straightforward, but the key at Rye is their use of fresh fruit. My only quibble about my drink was that the blackberries weren't really muddled, and the drink didn't come together until I had fully squashed the berries with my straw. I don't mind interactive dining, just give me a spoon!

Stormy night: I'm forgetting something, but it was vodka + ginger beer and not much else. It tastes like it sounds: light, very slightly sweet, but overall good.

Rye Manhattan: I don't even like manhattans and I have to give Rye props for this one. The rye whiskey works very well here, and the drink could not be a more beautiful, rich, sultry color. It's the color drink I would put in the hand of a silver screen siren if I were shooting a movie poster.

Mangosteen (Larkin and Ellis) Cash Only
Rye (Geary and Leavenworth)

Pazzia

Another good place for a thin crust pizza. The menu says 10", but the pies are easily over a foot in diameter. The crust is super thin, but one pizza is still a mighty fine lunch.

Margherita: mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and basil. This could have used a lot more basil and a little more cheese. I'm glad I asked for the crust extra crispy: the outer edges were cracker-thin, but the center was almost too soft and moist to pick up. It was the perfect contrast of textures that I enjoy.

Diavola: mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and spicy Italian sausage. This pizza had a little more cheese on it (kitchen fluke?) and worked much better. Other than that, it was exactly the same in texture as the margherita. There were big generous chunks of nicely spiced sausage on it. Very enjoyable.

Fusilli can Melanzane: corkscrew pasta with eggplants, tomatoes, zuchinni, and fresh mozarella. I'm assuming by fresh they mean local, not that they make it themselves. In any case, the chunks of mozarella were very soft and melty, with a rich milk flavor. It's no A16 burrata, but it's fantastic. It was the saving grace of the pasta, which was otherwise tasty but not a standout.

What I saw float by: a lot of people were eating steamed clams and mussels. They were well priced at around $10 for a generous portion (that is, cheaper than Plouf from looks alone). The antipasto platter was beautifully colorful: a mound of prosciutto and some green olives were all that I could see, but I assume there was also some cheese and salami. Afogato looked nice, but afogato always looks nice. Next time, I would order either mussels or clams, an antipasto platter, and a pizza for three people.

The place was positively packed at 1:00 p.m. on a Friday, and was still bumping when we left around 2:00. Service was understandably slow, but the staff is so cheery you can't be annoyed with them. You have to be willing to practically wave them down to get anything (water, a napkin), but once you have their attention they take care of whatever you want immediately. I'm sure when it's less busy they're attentive and polished. The kitchen is completely visible behind a waist-high counter, and the guys making pizzas throw all the guests happy smiles, waves, and Italian greetings as they come and go.

Pazzia Website (prices are $1-3 low on the website's menu)

Straus Ice Cream

Straus Family Creamery makes my favorite milk in the whole world, and today I tried the ice cream for the first time.

My first thought was that it has a very old-fashioned flavor. Intensely chocolatey with a heavy dose of malt (as opposed to tasting like cheap chocolate and high fructose corn syrup). I enjoyed the flavor a lot, but have to say the texture was no better than any number of quality ice creams. A good product with quality ingredients, made by dairy farmers with good ethics--a large part of the farm's equipment is powered by poop! Short explanation: methane gas is converted into electricity. It's worth the splurge in both dollars and calories.

Of course, my trick was to not let myeslf buy it until I'd saved up enough glass jars to pay for it. Straus re-imburses you for every glass bottle (from milk/cream/half and half) that you return to the store. Three bottles is more than enough for the ice cream!

Straus Family Creamery Website

Dong Baek

This Korean place in the Tenderloin doesn't get much attention, but in all honesty it's not too bad. The best time to go is lunch, when you can get your choice of meat and an array of panchan (sides) for under $10. Dinner will be closer to $15, but it's a lot of food.

Panchan, the reason most people go to Korean restaurants. Dong Baek had a nice variety: marinated bean sprouts, napa kimchi, two kinds of daikon kimchi, baby anchovies, fish cakes. The notable things missing were sesame spinach, mung bean noodles, and the batter fried fish a lot of Korean restaurants serve. But you can't really expect every restaurant to have all those things.

There was also romaine lettuce and doen jiang (stinky bean sauce) to go with one of our entrees.

Kimchi soon tubu: kimchi tofu stew. It came with a few oysters and bulgogi in it. Not spicy enough for me, and not enough of either fish or beef flavor. Don't get me wrong, it was plenty good: the tofu was very soft and tender, the portion was generous, and it was nice for them to have both meat and seafood in it even though it was listed as just kimchi soon tubu. It just wasn't magical. And where was my raw egg? They usually give you a raw egg to crack into the clay pot while the stew's still boiling.

Bulgogi: a bit salty, and a tad on the dry side. Tasty, huge portion, but again not magical. What was surprisingly good was the rice. Perfectly cooked, good quality short grain Japanese rice. This was the one thing in the whole meal that made me say wow. I love a good bowl of rice. This was better prepared than a lot of sushi rice I see these days.

Dong Baek makes fine food. The hot food's hot and the cold food's cold, which counts for a lot in my book. However, it all lacks sparkle. It's food that a busy Korean mom would throw together on a weeknight, and that her family would eat to get full on. The family wouldn't complain about it, but the family wouldn't compliment the mom either. And for $15 after tax and tip, I'm not able to complain or compliment either.

Fage Total Yogurt + Almonds

This has been my breakfast at work each day this week: a light roast coffee from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, brewed in a french press; and a bowl of Fage Total Greek Yogurt with a drizzle of honey and a handful of crushed almonds.

It's a surprisingly filling breakfast because of the almonds, which have lots of protein, vitamins, and help raise good cholesterol (KK, anything you want to add?). It was sort of a take on cereal, but with much more contrast: soft yogurt vs. crunchy almonds, sweet honey vs. slightly salted almonds. I really like dishes that have a lot of contrasts, so this was great. Thank you to KK's family for their prize California almonds. To make this breakfast perfect, all I needed were a few berries for some extra color and flavor.

Street Smarts

This doesn't relate very closely to food, but when someone I care about is put in danger I feel the need to put out a reminder to all the women who read this site. Besides, the pursuit of good food often leads us to less than desireable neighborhoods, so let this be a crash course in keeping safe wherever you are. I don't mean to target this friend, but let's review what she did wrong.

A friend of mine was robbed today by two young women who asked to borrow her phone.

NO: never ever let strangers on the street borrow your cell phone. That's just common sense. If they're really in dire straits, you can give them fifty cents for a pay phone, or they can pay a store clerk to use the phone. Normal people don't ask strangers for their cell phones. The one time I was caught without a cell phone I went into a store and begged to use theirs. I didn't approach strangers on the street. If you must be a saint, insist on walking into a store and standing in front of the cashier or security guard while the stranger uses your phone.

What I really think (as in, people are not usually in as dire straits as they'd like you to think): she should never have stopped in the first place. No fumbling for the phone, no standing around on the street, nothing. People usually approach you as you're walking. Don't stop walking. Keep talking and walking, and in a situation where you're outsized or outnumbered keep your eyes straight and walk into the nearest store you come across. Just try to get where there are people. On with the story...

While one of the girls was using the phone (pretending, methinks), the other girl chatted my friend up and asked to see her ipod. My friend handed it over.

NO: never ever let strangers on the street borrow your ipod. They can go see one at the Mac store.

The girl took the ipod and ran. My friend kicked off her heels and chased after her, dropping her briefcase in the process.

NO: Now let's get one thing straight--my friend can run. There's no doubt in my mind that it took her no time at all to catch up to her overweight ipod thief. And in a movie, this would have been a really sweet scene. But in real life, you don't drop your wallet and briefcase to go chasing after an ipod, and you don't go chasing after someone who might have a weapon.

Lucky for her, after some cussing and a few punches the woman threw the ipod back at her and ran off. The cell phone, in the meantime, had disappeared with the other woman. My friend escaped with a lost phone, scraped knee, and major jitters. I say she got off easy.

Let's review a few Walking While Female pointers (not that they're not good rules for men too):

• Wear walking shoes. I don't care if your New Balance don't match your Armani suit. Your feet, your shins, your knees, and your spine will thank you and you won't have to kick off your shoes if you need to run. You are not Jennifer Garner. You cannot sprint in Manolos, and you are not a crime fighting machine.
• Stay alert. It's easy to start daydreaming when you're walking, but in a city you really should be scanning the street like you do when you're driving. If you see any people who make you uncomfortable, step aside or cross the street. Better safe than sorry, and do feel free to utilize completely illogical criminal profiling techniques. It's all in your head, no one's going to call you sexist or racist or ageist or classist. Your gut knows best.
• Keep your bags close to you, preferably with one hand on a strap and/or a shoulder strap across your chest. No, it won't really prevent a strong person from grabbing your bag, but if someone's deciding between you and an unsecure bag he/she will pass you by.
• Don't be ostentatious. A young woman in a suit and high heels, laden by work bags, listening to her ipod and talking on the phone is a pretty obvious target.
• Keep your hand on some pepper spray. When I'm walking alone at night, I really do keep one hand in my pocket on an open can of pepper spray. I know all the things people say about pepper spray being ineffective, but I'm hoping someone who approaches me will be somewhat deterred by it.
• When in doubt, go pretend shopping. I've only done this once or twice, but if I feel like someone's trailing me I walk into a store. This, of course, means I also choose to walk on well lit streets where there are at least some liquor stores open at all time. The one time I can remember was when some guy catcalled me and then walked behind me for a block. Maybe he really was just walking in the same direction, but maybe he had something else in mind. Either way, I walked into a liquor store, pretended to look at some food, and when I saw him far down the street I kept walking. Sometimes when someone's been behind me for awhile I'll slow down and let him pass just for the assurance that he's not trailing me or try to figure out how to pick my pocket. I also surreptitiously check reflections in store windows to see if the person clacking along behind me looks suspicious. Betcha didn't know I was so sneaky.
• Safety in numbers. Obviously, don't walk alone if you don't have to, especially at night. Walk on the light side of the street, and catch up to crowds if you can. For example, I was once waiting for a train alone at night. At one end of the platform were a lot of empty seats near a dirty man with shifty eyes. On the other end was a bunch of college kids being loud and goofy. Guess who I stood near.
• Like your mama said, don't talk to strangers. People know better than to approach a lone woman. A stranger who needs something will almost always ask a man, because strangers know that women often feel threatened when approached on the street. So if you're a woman, you're alone, and you're approached, be aware.
• Just say NO. People have this strange reluctance to say no to strangers that baffles me. "Do you have a cell phone?" "No." "Spare change?" "No." It's not hard. It's not a long word. So you lie. Who cares? It's your cell phone, it's your spare change; if the person gives you the heebie jeebies, keep walking. You don't need to sneer as you say it, just say it firmly.

Anything else? I promise, I use all these rules all the time and I in no way appear to be a paranoid wreck when I'm walking down the street. They're easy things to do, and it's just about being aware of where you are and how you appear to other people. I'm already a short Asian woman. I don't need to look scared and confused too. I'd rather be a little terse than be taken advantage of, and I'd rather be too careful than not careful enough.

Turkey No More

A moment of silence for the last turkey post...

Boiled down the last of the bones the other night, and used the stock to make this beautiful porridge (which I will give the alternate name of "Chinese risotto," as per Claire's request):

It's just regular porridge with chopped spinach cooked in from the start so it disintegrates and dyes the rice green, with shredded turkey added towards the end. The first photo is a shot of it before it's completely ready. It looks a little watery around the edges, and the grains of rice are intact. The second photo is when it's ready to eat: very thick and gooey like oatmeal, with the rice almost completely fallen apart. Not as pretty, but much tastier.

Here's a project for you readers: what should I name this dish? It's so pretty, it needs a name. So far I'm going with Jade Rice, but I'm open to suggestions.

Chaat Cafe

All the physical labor involved with unpacking our new office has left me hungrier than usual. My stomach told me salad wasn't going to be enough, so down the street I went to Chaat Cafe. This little chain is known for decent Indian curries and little appetizer snacks (chaat), but it's most famous for its wraps (probably because not many others in the Bay Area has thought to make a naan wrap. I've been told Naan and Beyond in DC does a fine version, and I would eat there just for the excuse to say that name over and over.)

Here's the drill at Chaat Cafe: order at the front, grab your own water, utensils, sauces, find a seat, and wait for someone to bring your order to your table. Nothing on the lunch menu seemed exceptionally unique, so I got two chaat instead. Besides, it was too hot for a steaming plate of food.

Papri Chaat was my "something new:" fantastic! A bowl of yogurt, potato batons, garbanzo beans, tamarind sauce, powdered spice mix, and crunchy broken chips of deep fried dough. The crunch pieces tasted like like deep fried wonton skins, and were in fact probably deep fried samosa skins. I've also been told Indians use tortillas at home. It sounds like a bizarre combination, but the contrasts of soft versus crunchy, savory versus sweet, and mild versus spicy were pleasingly surprising. It was soothing and cool on a hot day. My only negative reaction to it was that it tasted like eating breakfast. Papri Chaat, I dub thee Indian muesli! Don't order it if you don't like plain yogurt and granola-type combinations.

Samosas were my "something familiar:" The samosas are generous and well made at Chaat. The skins aren't quite as thin and crispy as at Little Delhi, but the potato filling has more spices in it and the samosas come with a side of garbanzo beans. The samosas are nice and hot, which really matters (although these samosas still tasted pretty good as they cooled down). The garbanzo beans were good, and had a flavor remniscent of a good beef chili what with all the cumin and peppers.

Sauces were fine: the tamarind was not too sweet and had some complexity beyond sugariness. The mint chutney leaned toward cilantros in flavor and didn't pack too much heat. The samosas were spiced enough that I just used the tamarind for most of it. What really caught me off guard was the chutney. I didn't know what to expect, but the flavor was overwhelmingly that of a Chinese medicine shop. I did not like it at all. Does anyone know what it is? It's not any of the usual spices (cumin, fennel, anise, tarragon, coriander, paprika). It's something I don't know the name of, and a mouthful of it was incredibly hard for me to swallow.

Sharing is good here; there was no way I could finish both of these chaat, even though they were just appetizers.

Nice room, efficient service, good portions, reasonable prices, and not at all crowded between 11:30-12:30 on a weekday. Not a destination Indian food spot, but nice to have as an option if you work nearby.

Chaat Cafes Website