Hot Pot

Ah, my first post with my new camera. Obviously I need a little more practice, but this is not bad for a shot on the fly!

I'm super busy getting the remodel underway this week, so J and I decided to eat hot pot for a few days. We had napa, "chrysanthemum" vegetables, carrots, two kinds of mushrooms, fish cakes, and some lamb and pork. That's right, we're still eating mostly veggies and feeling great!

I'm Back!

Thank you, Cyber Monday! Actually, it's more like Cyber Monday + Great Recession + Going to Best Buy to shop for a range = the stars aligning to get me a great deal on a new camera.

I've promised myself for years that my next point and click camera would be a Canon Powershot. My Nikon Coolpix has been a faithful companion for many years. The quality is decent and it's certainly been durable and reliable, but the image optimization of years ago just isn't what it is these days, and I've often been envious of the crisp shots my Canon-owning friends get of night landscapes and dimly lit spaces. I'm hoping my Powershot will not disappoint. Stay tunes for my return to food photography! And thanks for tuning in during this period of blurry Blackberry photos.

The Canon, like so many other small cameras, now comes in an array of fun colors. Guess which one I picked?

*photo courtesy of Canon

Popeye's Chicken

P is for Pei! Sometimes, even I succumb to fast food. Especially fried chicken from Popeye's or Church's. Today J and I shared a 2 piece meal with a biscuit and red beans and rice during a break between Lowe's and a kitchen and bathroom supply store. Gotta keep up our energy if we want to survive remodeling!

Uni

There are some things I truly miss about LA, like cheap abundnat seafood at Asian markets.

The Original Old Clam House

Shopping for appliances, home improvement supplies, furniture, and other things we aren't usually in the market for is really bringing me and J into parts of SF we never go to. This weekend, we found The Original Old Clam House down on Bayshore.

Does it remind you of The Drunken Clam from The Family Guy? I swear that neon sign was designed by the same person.

The star of the meal was the steamed cherrystone clams. It's hard to find cherrystones on this coast, especially so perfectly prepared. The pieces of meat were large, plump, and juicy, and there was plenty of flavorful clear broth to sip. The broth wasn't too salty either! The other food passing by looked great, especially a clam bake that's brought to the table on fire. I'm a sucker for food that's on fire.

The clam strips were less interesting. I wouldn't order them again. But I do think we'll be back at The Old Clam House. It's a little out of the way, but it's the kind of homey divey place that J loves. And I can also appreciate an old-fashioned, unpretentious place that had probably been serving the same food for fifty years. Most places like that get lazy with their preparation or cut corners by buying too much out of the Sysco food catalog. Then they either shut down or survive by having cheesy decor and attracting tourists. But when gems like this keep up the food quality, they are wonderful flashes of an All-American past.

Cinderella Bakery and Cafe

Okay, not the best photo I've ever taken of a sign, but I wasn't about to stand in the middle of the street while waiting for the bus. Just pretend I caught the "Cinderalla" on the right side of this incredibly long sign.

So, let's start from the beginning. This is the outdoor seating at Cinderella Bakery & Cafe on Balboa and 5th. The cafe portion of the establishment is being renovated, but diners who are willing to eat outside can have table service at the bakery. We found the service incredibly friendly and efficient, and prices seemed to have been lowered to compensate diners for the lack of indoor dining.

The most unique thing we tried today was definitely this mug of kvas, aka. Russian bread liquor. I don't know why I expected this drink to be either like beer or very sour, but it was neither. It was lightly fizzy, quite sweet, and had a complex malt flavor that reminded me of some kind of medicine or candy or both. I know, that description makes no sense. It has very little alcohol, and I would describe it to others as being more like a weird Russian soda than a serious alcoholic beverage.

We also had two piroshkis (this is just one--they're huge!) One was beef and cheddar, the other was beef and gorgonzola. I would have liked these a little hotter, but they were quite good. The filling is encased in a fluffy, slightly chewy bread that's deep fried. Kind of like a savory doughnut.

We also had beef pelmeni, which are really just Russian dumplings or wontons in a fairly rustic skin. This is definitely the Russian dish that probably anyone in the world would enjoy. It has simple flavors and is homey and filling.

And last but not least, head cheese. I usually think of head cheese as having more meat; enough to be sliced like ham. This was more like an aspic, and it was a huge portion. Cinderella's version is very garlicky and peppery, and quite tasty with their light rye bread.

We got two piroshkis, what seemed like a pint of head cheese, a plate of pelmeni, a small cup of borscht, a mug of kvass, a big poppyseed roll to go, and a slice of chocolate cake to go for $27 after tax. Not bad for our very first sit-down Russian meal!

Hat, Hat, and Hat

The holiday season is finally upon us! The Christmas tree and ice rink are up on Union Square, holiday sales and decorations are flooding the stores, and in less than a week we'll all hopefully be stuffing our faces with turkey and gravy (mmm....gravy. Excuse me while I daydream...)

Another sign of the season is the sudden turn in the weather here. It's been positively chilly with a couple of moderate showers thrown in. In anticipation of the cold I knit three hats in one week. Impressive, huh? We knitters call sudden bursts of productivity "stash busting," as in you finally break out your embarrassingly large stash of un-worked yarn and actually make something of all the money you sank into it. Well, it's my year to be frugal, so I'm proud to say all three of these hats were made with leftover yarn from other projects. They're not perfect, but they're really not bad for what was essentially garbage.

The brown one is a slouchy beret/beanie, the color blocked one is a fitted beanie, and the striped beanie is actually a little small for my head. Maybe my little cousin will adopt it for me. Otherwise, anyone know a small child with a cold head?

Best O Burger

Best O Burger! I just like saying the name. J tried the new BOB in his office building the other day and really liked it, so I headed over to the branch on Pine Street today for a taste.

The burger is pretty good! They're going the Angus beef, never frozen route, plus the meat tastes like it's been seasoned. I made the mistake of getting a slider combo so there wasn't much burger, but that's hardly BOB's fault. The up side to getting the slider combo was that I got to try a mini shake, fries, AND onion strings. The combo is a really unbalanced meal. You get an enormous portion of onion strings, a pretty decent side of fries, and the world's tiniest burger. I know it's probably the most cost effective way for BOB to structure their combo, and the allure of two fried sides is strong, but yeesh. Anyway, here are my grades for the sides.

Fries (A+) If you like fries, get to BOB quickly. They fry the fries in rice oil, and the result is super light and crispy, almost to the point of crackling. they reminded me of McDonald's fries back when lard was vogue, except for one big improvement. Even when they cool down, these fries are still crispy! I took the entire bag to go and ate them as I walked home. Half a mile later on what was a pretty cool afternoon and the fries were still making noise as I bit down on them.

Onion strings (A) Not everyone likes onion strings, so if you prefer a big thick onion ring these might not be for you. The batter is crisp and very buttery though, so there's very little fault to find with these in terms of flavor.

Milkshake (A-) It's hard to make a bad shake when you start with Hagen Daaz ice cream. This was good, but a little icy. I like my milkshakes to be almost pure ice cream and milk, not cut with a lot of ice cubes. However, a "lighter" shake was probably a good idea after all the fried sides.

Home Sweet Home!

It's not food, but I hope it will be the source of many great meals very very soon.

That's right, J and I finally bit the bullet and bought our very first apartment! It's a cute little one bedroom in a Roaring 20s high rise--our own little piece of San Francisco history, if you'll pardon the sentimentality. No photos of the inside until after we can do a proper before vs. after, but exciting things are a'coming!

Panda Country Kitchen

Forgive its name, Panda Country Kitchen is actually quite good!

In fact, J and I both think it's the best Szechuan food we've had in SF (sorry Spices I and Z&Y, I promise I still love you both!) We beseiged PCK this morning with six hungry friends, laying waste to 10 large dishes but spending less than $17 per head after tax and tip. The food was tasty overall, and standouts for me included "water cooked" fish (quotes in place because "water" really means "chili oil") and mung bean noodles. " If I had to make one quibble, it would be that the food was not piping hot. However, I was busy chit chatting so maybe it was my fault that the food wasn't sizzling by the time it hit my plate. All in all, we were happy with this authentic, not-too-greasy, very affordable restaurant in the Inner Richmond. We'll definitely be back, hopefully with a new camera!

*photo courtesy of flickr

Miso Black Cod and New World Korean

Yum! Seafood! It's been awhile. We were at my favorite fish shop in the Mission (Sun Fat), so we splurged on a piece of black cod and marinated it in miso, rice wine, soy sauce, and plenty of grated ginger. Then we paired it with some tasty kimchi and marinated bean sprouts from New World Korean Market. SF can't match LA for Korean food, but New World takes the edge off the cravings with some great homemade kimchi and well-stocked shelves of most Korean basics. To keep up with our veggie routine, we had a plate of sauteed broccoli, carrots, and onions.

The project is slowly grinding to its closure (sort of). I hope to have an update soon!

Everything Frittata

Leftover ratatouille, diced onions, chopped pasley, cubed potatoes, and lots of eggs turn leftovers into a tasty brunch entree. Six vegetables and a banana so far today!

Foggy Bridge Zinfandel

Have a sip of San Francisco...

Foggy Bridge Winery is one of several wineries located in San Francisco.  From their home base near Chrissy Field, the Foggy Bridge team produces a full line of red and white wines with an urban sensibility.  The folks at Foggy Bridge hope their unique location will make them a gateway to the further flung wineries of Northern California, a goal that is reflected in the diversity of their wines.   The 2007 Zinfandel is dark, smooth, round, undeniably zinfandel-y, and goes down easy. It could probably use a little more aging, but it's just fine as is.

Bargain alert: this wine is currently being offered for $10 at David & Spencer's on Polk Street, and was recently listed as one of the SF Chronicle's bargain favorites!

Clues...

Hmmm...why do I have a bank envelope and a cookie?

A Few of MyFavorite Things

Everyone enjoys life's little luxuries, and it's no surprise that many of mine are edible in form. Recently, I was excited to see the Gump's in San Francisco extended their collection of Mariage Freres teas, a really high end, high quality product from France. Tooting their own horn, Mariage Freres claims to be one of the finest teas in the world. Having grown up on great Chinese tea and terrible American tea, I have to say Mariage Freres was the first non-Asian tea that I ever liked. Since then, my favorites have expanded to include Fortnum & Mason and Palais du The.

Gump's sells all their canisters of tea for $24. Bargain shoppers can head to the Pasta Shop in Berkeley or Oakland and get a significant discount by buying bulk (or still get the canisters a little cheaper). Mariage Freres makes fabulous rooibos teas as well, for the caffeine sensitive among us.


Gump's also sells Kusmi tea from Russia. I've only had their smoky samovar flavor, which was nice, But I bought the tea bags, so I don't really have enough info to judge the overall quality of Kusmi. But they get points for gorgeous packaging!

Watermelon Wheat Beer

I think beer is a great summer drink, and only a fool would not admit that watermelon is a great summer fruit, but I never thought I'd see the two together in the same can:

21st Amendment is a San Francisco restaurant and brewery, and they have made some tasty brews over the year (available in bottles, cans, and on draft throughout the Bay Area). Imagine my surprise when on a recent visit to a different restaurant, I saw watermelon wheat on the menu! I had to try it, and I think I've decided I like it! It has the light, refreshing zing of a wheat beer, with an aftertaste akin to that of a watermelon Jolly Rancher. It's not a classic, but it's a nice change of pace. Good job, beer guys!

Oyster Lettuce Cups

Okay, this is kind of blurry, but the oysters were delicious! J decided it was a shame to let all the potato chip oil go to waste, so we deep fried some oysters and put them on butter lettuce with a dollop of mayo mixed with relish, lime juice, and chopped parsley. It's no Ame, but the cool crispy lettuce was perfect wrapped around a piping hot oyster.

Salt N' Pepper Chips

I took homemade to a new level today: potato chips! I admit homemade potato chips is a little overboard, but I had a lot of potatoes and wanted to play with my Zyliss vegetable slicer.

I fried up three small Russet potatoes and we had them as a mid-afternoon snack today. They were really tasty; not as good as Kettle Chips but much more thin and crispy than most of the brands labeled "rustic" or "organic." I hate thick, crunchy chips!

The trick with potato chips is to soak the sliced potatoes in cold or iced water for an hour, then drain and dry them on paper towels. Heat up a wok of oil to over 350 degrees. Frying potato chips is easier than frying other foods because chips are paper thin; you don't have to worry about charring the outside before the center is cooked. The oil will sizzle when you put the potatoes in, then stop sizzling as the potatoes darken and lose moisture. When it's time to pull the potatoes out, you might be tricked into thinking the oil is cold because it won't sizzle at all. Don't be fooled; it's still very hot and you need to carefully transfer the chips to a baking sheet lined with paper towels or a flattened paper bag. Salt and pepper the chips before they cool, then eat when they are safe to touch!

Semi-Veg Dinners

Red chard, I think, is one of the most beautiful vegetables out there. I just had to show a picture of it growing in the dirt, since none of us know what vegetables look like before they're lopped off and packaged for the supermarket. (photo courtesy of wikipedia).

It's been another week of not eating out, but I'd thought I'd share the vegetable-intensive dinners of two unabashed carnivores. We're not shy about eating meat, but I do try to follow a few rules. I try to eat meat once a day, I buy everything I can from the farmers market, I rarely eat canned or boxed foods, and the hardest thing to remember: I try to eat five different fruits and vegetables a day. You'd think that with three meals a day, eating five different plants would be the easiest thing on earth. But it's hard! Let's see how I did this week, at least in terms of dinner.

MONDAY: Spaghetti and Meatballs

-the meatballs had parsley, onions, and garlic in them. The sauce had tomatoes and basil. I also had a romaine salad. That's four kinds of vegetables. I think I ate an apple for dessert. Barely five.

TUESDAY: Pork Chashu

-potatoes, carrots, and onions in the braise, and water spinach as a side. Pears for dessert. Again, that's barely five.

WEDNESDAY: Vegetable Spring Rolls

-we did really good this day! Spring rolls filled with carrots, mint, red lettuce, and egg; blanched gai lan (Chinese broccoli), and stir fried potatoes and carrots. I had a persimmon for dessert, which brought me up to seven. Seven!!!

THURSDAY: Butternut Fennel Soup

-I haven't made dinner yet, but the plan is a hearty soup with fennel, butternut squash, carrots, onions, parsley, garbanzo beans, and chard stems. As sides I'll serve poached eggs in a bed of braised chard and a plate of sautéed lions' head mushrooms. If I do fruit for dessert again we'll be at seven (eight if you count beans), and if I serve a side salad we'll easily reach nine or ten.

The lesson here is this: eating five plants a day becomes easier if you don't eat meat. Look at the days we ate meat: there wasn't much room left for leafy greens. We've gradually decreased the amount of meat we eat over the years, and made a pretty concerted effort the last few months to really pump up the vegetable eating these last few months. That's more money in the bank for good, tasty, delicious meat (beef, anyone? Seriously, I could never give up beef--unless it was all replaced with buffalo).

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I read a lot of books about food. After a few, they can seem a little didactic. They all rail against the Carhills and Monsantos of our world, extole the virtues of shopping locally and supporting small farms, and encourage everyone to eat a wider variety of plants and a smaller amount of quality fish and meat. While I don't disagree in theory, it doesn't make for very exciting reading book after book.

Enter Barbara Kingsolver of Poisonwood Bible fame. In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Kingsolver documents her family's year-long project of eating locally in the Appalachians. The story really reads quickly, in large part because Kingsolver is a novelist and not a food scientist or chef. It also helps that she focuses on her family's story and only occasionally refers to the larger fod issues plaguing this country. The book is alternately thoughtful and whimsical, and it makes me grateful to live in California. It's especially fun to see her teenage daughters really getting into a way of eating that most kids would consider torturous deprivation.

Kingsolver makes me want to leave it all behind and move to Sonoma, but she also does not candy coat the hard work that goes into working even the smallest farms. You can't leave your home for a day, much less a week, without worrying that something will happen to a crop and destroy a crop you were hoping to eat for the next year. If an entire tree of fruit ripens on the same day, you need to be outside from dawn until dusk making sure you get to the fruit before animals do. Farming is back breaking work, and it involves a LOT of mud. And if you want to eat meat, you have to deal with stinky animals and be willing to kill them yourself. And yet, Kingsolver has me hooked. Hopefully one day, when I start talking about secret projects, I'll be talking about moving to the countryside!

To see Kingsolver's website, click here.

Cheaters' Pork Cha Su

Dinner at Ramen Kahoo last month reminded me how much I like Japanese style braised pork. Or, for that matter, any kind of braised pork. We're still sticking with our long term goal of eating more and more vegetables and less and less meat over time, but everyone deserves a treat sometimes. We had a small amount of cha su (which is what the Japanese call their braised pork--not to be confused with char siu, which is Cantonese style bbq) with plenty of carrots, potatoes, and a big side of garlic stir fried green vegetables.

For our small meal I used:

• 2 pork steaks from the Mexican market (they call it bistek de puerco, naturally enough). Traditionally the Japanese use pork belly, pork shoulder, or pork cheeks
• 2 carrot
• 2 potatoes
• 4 big slices ginger
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine
• 1 heaping tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups water
• salt and white pepper to taste

Sear pork on all sides, then put in ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and rice wine. Add enough water to barely cover the pork, then bring the mixture to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer. Simmer for an hour to two hours, until the pork is cooked but not falling off the bone. Timing will depend on how thick your pieces are. At this point, taste the mixture and add sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Remember some more water will evaporate, so err on the side of not salty enough. Remove the ginger and garlic and add the potatoes and carrots. Continue until the pork is falling off the bone, then use two forks to shred the pork. Taste again for seasoning, and boil off the liquid until you have a nice stew to serve over rice!

Bay Breads

Look! Food! Restaurant food! I'm trying not to lose all my readers so I treated myself to brunch today. Actually, I had a coupon so I only paid for coffee. What a great deal. This is the $9 croque madame from Bay Breads, a small chain of super cute bakery cafes in the French country style. The cafes are each named "La Boulangerie du _street name__.". Today I was at La Boulangerie du Polk after a lovely run to Fort Mason. The hardest part of the meal was not grabbing macaroons and caneles to go.

Food for Fara

Reader Fara says she's coming to SF on a trip, so I'm wracking my brain thinking of reasonably priced places she and her husband can go with a toddler in tow. Off the top of my head, and convenient to the Moscone Center (everyone else feel free to chime in! What have I suggested that you have loved?):

-Saturday farmers' market at the Ferry Building. There will be a lot of hearstoppingly expensive items, but also some good deals. Most importantly, there will be fun food that's hard to get elsewhere. Peruse the stands out back, grab a coffee at Peet's or Blue Bottle, and try a pulled pork sandwich at the new Il Cane Rosso (take some bacon caramel popcorn home). Buy ACME cheese rolls for your kid to chew on throughout the day, or an old-fashioned chocolate cupcake from Miette (though there are mixed reviews about Miette, I find the chocolate cupcakes delightful). Even if you cannot make it on a Saturday, the Ferry Building is loads of fun. Happy hour Thursdays for $1 oysters at Hog Island. Slanted Door is an SF darling and good for lunch, but it is a little pricey so I don't go often.

-Happy Hour oysters at Waterbar. Call and ask, but I think it's 3-6pm and $1 for the oysters of the day. It is a happy hour, but there are tables in the bar area as well as outside dining. I've seen people with strollers, especially on week nights. The vibe is a combination of tourist families and business dinners, not hard core partiers

-Boudin, if you're doing the tourist thing up on Fisherman's Wharf. It's cheesy, but I took my relatives recently and hello? Bread shaped animals? The kids loved it. I don't know if I'd go out of my way for it, but if I'm ever in the area with tourists I'm dropping in for sure. Eat downstairs; the same bowl of $6 chowder will run you $12 upstairs. For a less touristy waterfront equivalent my friends swear by Pier 23, but I have yet to go so I don't know what type of crowd it is.

-If you're near Union Square around lunch time, $12 buffet at Sultan. The place is clean, spacious, casual, and the food is good to GREAT. And unlike other Tenderloin places, the block is reasonably safe and clean in case someone decides to act up. :)

-Shanghai House. This place is deep in the heart of Richmond District, but serves some seriously delicious Shanghai cuisine. If you have a car or are game to head out that far, I highly recommend the savory soy milk, lamb and pickled vegetable soup, the "fake duck," and the Shanghai soup dumplings.

-Hong Kong Lounge. Hands down my favorite dim sum restaurant right now. Also a bit of a trek from downtown, but not nearly as far as Shanghai House.

Where have you been and what did you like? There's so much to eat and love around here!

Lambs Quarters

Today I present another nutritional powerhouse: lambs quarters! The guy at the farmers market referred to it as wild spinach, and it wasn't until I looked it up that I realized this was the wild green I'd so often read about but always forgot to look for at the market. Lambs quarters are basically a weed that goes for $1 a bundle at normal farmers' markets. Hit up a fancy shopping arena like the Ferry Building, however, and I'm sure you're paying anywhere from $3-6 for the same handful of greens.

Weed status notwithstanding, lambs quarters are one of nature's super foods. They are more nutrient dense than regular spinach, and rank up there with nettles and purslane as being ridiculously chock full of vitamins, antioxidants, and so on--wild vegetables are just better for you, there's no two ways about it. Excited by our new find, we sauteed a huge bunch of these in sage and garlic brown butter and ate it with rice and some sauteed mushrooms. See? I told you we are practically vegan these days.

*photo courtesy of modernbeet.com