Two New Sweets From Auberge du Soleil

Rutherford’s luxe Auberge du Soleil resort offers a pampering experience that just got a little sweeter.

Its chefs have come up with two new confections sure to satisfy any posh sweet tooth.

First, “Gianduia,” dainty hazelnut-chocolate squares made with both dark and milk chocolates, as well as organic nuts. A box is $24.50.

Next, California pistachios star in hand-wrapped pieces of rich caramel made with organic butter and cream. Fifteen pieces of “Carmel a la Pistache” come in a decorative box for $19.50.

The treats are available for purchase at the resort or through its online store.

Presidio Social Club Exempt From California Foie Gras Ban

Yes, the new state law that took effect July 1 may have bumped foie gras off menus everywhere else in California, but not at Presidio Social Club in San Francisco.

You see, it’s on federal land, thus, making it exempt from the California ban.

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I’ve been rather obsessed with this crisp, sweet-savory sammy ever since channel-surfing one day and catching Giada De Laurentiis making it on her Food Network show.

But the problem was that my panini press went kaput awhile back.

Oh, I know I could have used a frying pan with a weight on top of the bread instead, but it’s just not quite the same, if you know what I mean.

So, when the good folks at Calphalon offered me the chance to test out their electric panini grill, I leaped at the chance. Of course, you know the first thing I made with it, too.

Yup, De Laurentiis’ childhood panini that her mom used to make for her after school or as dessert. Imagine two slices of artisan bread smeared with raspberry jam, piled with milky mozzarella slices, a sprinkle of sea salt and a flurry of chopped fresh rosemary. The piece de resistance? Brown sugar sprinkled on the very top of each sandwich, so that when the sandwich goes into the panini press, it melts and caramelizes, forming a sugary, crisp crust. Now, you know why I’ve lusted after this sandwich.

It’s pure gooey comfort between two slices of bread. The sprinkle of salt and the fresh rosemary really make it special and keep it from verging into cloying territory. So, do not leave those two ingredients out.

I used slices of a sweet batard loaf and cherry jam, since a jar was already open in my fridge. I can see this working with a wide variety of jams and herbs: marmalade with fresh thyme or strawberry and tarragon, perhaps.

It makes for a decadent but deceptively simple breakfast or lunch.

Want to try making it, yourself? I’ll give you a hand:

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a Calphalon electric panini grill (valued at about $100). The panini grill features variable temperatures and grill heights to accommodate any size sandwich. The grates wipe clean easily after use, too. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST July 14. Winner will be announced July 16.

How to win?

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Fruit Pies Around the Bay Area

There are cake people. And there are pie people.

For pie lovers, you can’t ask for a better time to indulge than summer when fresh fruit ones abound.

At Madera restaurant in the Rosewood Sand Hill resort in Palo Alto, get a taste of warm tart cherry hand-pies with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream ($10).

At San Francisco’s Bluestem Brasserie, enjoy more hand-held pies. Its “Happy Camper Pies” ($9.50) are filled with fruit-herb jam and seasonal fruit. A scoop of vanilla bean ice cream accompanies, as what’s pie without ice cream, right?

Prospect in San Francisco get a load of peach fry pie ($9.50) — little pies fried up crisp with a filling of Blossom Bluff peaches, then garnished with raspberries, tayberries and Bavarian buttermilk ice cream.

Traditionalists will revel in the apple pie with brandied cherries and cheddar tuille ($10) at Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco.

French Laundry and Per Se Launch “Experience Cards”

These may very well be the ultimate gift cards.

No longer will Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Yountville and Per Se in New York issue issue plain ol’ gift certificates made of paper. Nope, now you can purchase “Experience Cards,” made of sleek metal and sent in an elegant bow-wrapped box.

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Summer Sunday Suppers at the Village Pub

Woodside’s Village Pub will offer special “Sunday Suppers” all through July.

The four-course Sunday dinners are $65 per person and available via Gilt City through Wednesday.

The dinner starts with butter-poached lobster lasagna with sweetbreads and white corn. That’s followed by a changing seasonal market-fresh course, then seared duck breast with Sauternes-poached peaches. The meal concludes with crepes flambe with roasted cherries and creme fraiche ice cream.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson to Visit the Bay Area

Meet Chef Marcus Samuelsson, acclaimed chef of Red Rooster in in Harlem and victor of “Top Chef Masters,” at a series of July events in the Bay Area to celebrate his new memoir, “Yes, Chef” (Random House).

Samuelsson’s path to cooking stardom was far from the norm. Orphaned in Ethiopia at age 3 after his mother died of tuberculosis, Samuelsson and his sister were adopted by a family in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was there in the kitchen alongside his adopted grandmother, Helga, that Samuelsson grew to love cooking.

The book recounts his culinary growth, including his earning a three-star rating from the New York Times while head chef at Aquavit. At the time, he was only 24 years old, the youngest chef to receive that coveted ranking.

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Chef Seamus Mullen was working grueling hours just after opening his Boqueria restaurant in New York, when he woke up one night with hip pain so agonizing that he had to dial 911.

The then 32-year-old chef spent the next three days hospitalized, with doctors running every test conceivable until they discovered the cause: rheumatoid arthritis.

The auto-immune disease causes the body to produce too many white blood cells and attack itself, causing painful and debilitating inflammation.

For a chef who works long hours on his feet, it was devastating news. But Mullen vowed he would not let it get the best of him. Not even when he competed on “The Next Iron Chef” three years ago, making it to the final three. The frenetic experience, though, led to another rheumatoid arthritis flare-up, leaving him unable to move quickly around the set. He was eliminated, and returned home in a wheelchair.

But Mullen fought his way back, making changes to his life, including in his diet. He doesn’t believe that food can cure illness, necessarily. But he does believe that what you eat can improve your sense of well-being.

To that  end, he’s written “Hero Food” (Andrews McMeel), of which I recently received a review copy. Arranged by the seasons, it spotlights the 18 ingredients that have made a dramatic difference in his life, including almonds, parsley, fish and olive oil.

It’s no surprise that blueberries — rich in Vitamin C, manganese and antioxidants –make an appearance in the book. Specifically, in “Mutti’s Blueberry Boy Bait,” a cake that his grandmother started baking for him when he was just a tot. It’s based on a recipe by a 15-year-old girl who competed in the junior division of a Pillsbury baking contest in the 1950s.

I couldn’t resist the name, which appears to be apt, given that my husband was as endearing as can be after having a slice warm from the oven.

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