February | 2009 | Food Gal

Monthly Archives: February 2009

Restaurant Specials and Food From the Heart

Posted on February 5, 2009 by foodgal 4 comments

If you’re a night owl, gather your nocturnal friends for a dining deal at Zare at Fly Trap restaurant in San Francisco.

Its new “Ten After Ten” promotion lets parties of 10 or more who make a dinner reservation for 10 p.m. or later get 50 percent off the cost of food. It’s good Monday through Saturday. Just mention what special occasion you’re celebrating — birthday, anniversary, bachelorette party or something else — when you book.

Meatballs with harissa at Zare at Fly Trap. (Photo courtesy of the National Honey Board)

If you prefer eating earlier, Chez Papa Resto in San Francisco has introduced a monthly changing themed four-course prix fixe dinner menu (with amuse bouche) nightly for $50. Wine pairing is available for an additional $35.

Fancy Focaccia

Posted on February 4, 2009 by foodgal 19 comments

Some say, “Patience is a virtue.”

I say, “Patience is bread.”

After all, you cannot hurry bread-making. It forces you to slow down, to take your time, to wait until it is good and ready, and not a moment sooner.

In this hustle-bustle world, where we can’t sit still to sip a cup of coffee, where people talk on phones and text-message when they should be simply driving, and where we constantly complain that time is passing us by, making bread from scratch should be a requisite for all of us at least once a month.

It would make us take a breather. And that’s always a good thing.

Take a deserved time out by making “Raisin, Rosemary, and Cinnamon Focaccia” from the new “The Art & Soul of Baking” (Andrews McMeel) by Sur La Table, and pastry chef and baking teacher, Cindy Mushet.

Mushet, who used to live in the Bay Area, but now makes her home in the Pasadena area, was a fellow judge with me in December for the Gene Burns Holiday Cookie Exchange contest. With a fun sense of humor that puts you at ease immediately and a discerning eye for detail, Mushet’s personality is much like this divine focaccia. It’s a mix of strong characteristics that come together seamlessly.

This ever so slightly sweet focaccia is perfect for breakfast, smeared with a little mascarpone, fromage blanc, or jam. Think raisin bread, but not so sugary tasting and squishy soft. Instead, this is a more rustic, chewy version turnedÂ grown-up with the addition of heady rosemary.

A couple of my husband’s male colleagues found the 1/3 cup of fresh rosemary too strong for their tastes. But if you like rosemary, it’s not overwhelming. Indeed, both my hubster’s female co-worker and I both thought the pine-y flavor a nice counterpart to the sweetness of both the raisins and turbinado sugar sprinkled on top.

I even used the new Chinese cassia cinnamon I had just bought at Penzeys in Menlo Park in the dough. When I opened the jar, I could really smell the strong spicy, earthy fragrance — a real contrast to the wimpy aroma of most supermarket jars that have been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long.

The dough came together easily in the mixer. Then, I let it rise for 90 minutes. After patting it into the sheet pan and brushing it with a slick of good olive oil, I had to wait for it to rise yet again for almost another two hours. See what I mean about patience when it comes to bread-making?

After 30 minutes, the focaccia came out of the oven a deep golden brown. I had to allow it to cool for a mere 10 minutes before digging in.

I ate one piece. Then, another. I had to be restrained before I reached for a third.

Patience does indeed come to those who wait. And with it, some mighty fine focaccia, too.

Raisin, Rosemary, and Cinnamon Focaccia

Celebrate Suds — Big-Time

Posted on February 3, 2009 by foodgal One comment

Brewski lovers will rejoice that “SF Beer Week” rolls around, Feb. 6-15.

The 10-day beer celebration will showcase the San Francisco Bay Area’s long heritage with craft beer. More than 150 events are planned throughout the Bay Area. TheyÂ include beer festivals, beer dinners, meet-the-brewers evenings, home-brewing demonstrations, music, films, and even a museum exhibition.

“We want the public to know that San Francisco is a hot spot for artisan and craft beers. It is an artisan environment,” said Dave McLean, owner and brewer of Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery, and the Alembic bar. “San Francisco has the top examples of artists – from cheese, to wine, to arts and culture – and beer is a part of that excellence.”

Get ready for Beer Week. (Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pub)

After all, beer is considered the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. The Bay Area’s connection dates back to the 19th Century, when it had nearly 50 breweries.

The Joys of Jook

Posted on February 2, 2009 by foodgal 29 comments

For most people, the big winter celebrations come to an end when the Christmas tree is taken down, and the New Year’s streamers and empy Champagne bottles are tossed out.

Not for me.

It never really feels finis for me until I make my huge pot of jook, the creamy, comforting rice porridge that I, like so many others of Asian heritage, grew up with.

My late-Mom always made it with the Thanksgiving turkey carcass. She sometimes made it, too, right after Easter with the leftover ham.

Following her tradition, I freeze my Thanksgiving turkey carcass exactly for this purpose. A few weeks later, it’s joined in the freezer by the big, bulky bone from Christmas’ centerpiece, a Berkshire ham. There, these two picked-over, yet still flavor-packed specimens wait until Jook Day comes.

And that day is usually sometime in January when we start to crave turkey and ham again after having had more than our fill over the December holidays. Then, I defrost the ham bone and turkey carcass overnight in the fridge.

In they go into the biggest pot I have in the house, where they combine slowly for four hours with grains of rice: Short-grain if you like your porridge or congee exceedingly creamy with the rice grains almost completely broken down; Jasmine or long-grain if you prefer your jook to be a little more brothy with still slightly distinct grains of rice.

I like to cook my porridge with coins of fresh ginger, Chinese black mushrooms, a drizzle of sesame oil, and a pinch of white pepper. When it’s finally creamy, practically custardy, I ladle it into big bowls, then sprinkle on slivers of green onion.

Then, I sit back and savor my favorite one-last-taste of the holidays.

My Version of Jook

Go Red

Posted on February 2, 2009 by foodgal 5 comments

February is American Heart Month, so be good to your ticker.

Alarmingly, heart disease is the number one killer of women. So resolve to eat healthier, exercise more, quit smoking, lose weight, and keep your cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure under control.

The Food Gal will be doing her part in all of this, too. Yours truly will be joining a handful of other women on ABC’s “View From the Bay” ( KGO-TV channel 7), 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, with hosts Spencer Christian and Janelle Wang. We’ll be participating in a fashion show organized by the American Heart Association and Macy’s. Basically, I’m just hoping I don’t trip over my own two feet walking down the runway.

You can do your part, too, by wearing red on Feb. 6, National Wear Red Day. Landmark buildings around the Bay Area, including San Jose City Hall’s dome, will be lit up in red that day for the occasion.