Monthly Archives: September 2009

Valrhona Grands Crus Chocolate Bars

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Deep, dark, and irresistible.

Professional and home-cooks covet Valrhona chocolate for baking.

This year, the French chocolate company expanded its chocolate bar and home-baking range. I’ve baked many a time with the deep, complex tasting dark chocolate with unparalleled results.

When samples of its 3.5-ounce chocolate bars arrived in the mail, it was the perfect time to see if they stacked up to their baking counterparts.

I’ll use my patented scale of 1 to 10 lip-smackers, with 1 being the “Bleh, save your money” far end of the spectrum; 5 being the “I’m not sure I’d buy it, but if it was just there, I might nibble some” middle-of-the-road response; and 10 being the “My gawd, I could die now and never be happier, because this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth” supreme ranking.

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Bruce Aidells On the Finer Points of Cured Pork

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Meaty Duroc ham.

Less is more when it comes to curing pork and bacon.

Indeed, it’s what you don’t put into them that matters most, says Bay Area meat guru, Bruce Aidells.

It’s been years since Aidells has been associated with Aidells Sausage Company, which he founded and which still bears his name. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy with all things meaty. In fall 2010, the veteran cookbook author will publish a new comprehensive meat book that will include information on grass-fed beef, buffalo, goat, venison, sustainability, pasture-raised, and the importance of buying local.

Moreover, for the past three years, he’s been working with Vande Rose Farms in Iowa, helping its pig farmers cure bacon and ham, and find distributors for these artisan products. You’ll now find Vande Rose featured at restaurants such as BarBersQ in Napa, and sold at stores such as Andronico’s and  Mollie Stone’s in the Bay Area, Central Market in Texas, and Balducci’s nationwide. The products also are available on the Vande Rose Farms Web site.

Aidells’ ham and bacon cure is essentially just salt, pepper, brown sugar, and nitrates. No water is added, which is key.

The term, “ham,” means no water added, he explains. In contrast, “ham with natural juices,” means that water has been added. So much so that after cooking, the latter will weigh 10 percent less than it did when you bought it.

“True ‘hams’ are very hard to find,” he says. “Not many people sell them, and not many people can tell the difference between them. But ‘hams’ are more expensive.”

It’s not hard to guess which type Aidells prefers.

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Five Reasons to Go To Five Restaurant

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Bet you'll eat more than five onion strings at Five in Berkeley.

1) The gifted Scott Howard, formerly of Fork in San Anselmo and Scott Howard restaurant in San Francisco, is the chef.

2) The bold, artsy black-and-white interior is a modern-take on a Southern plantation.

3) If you’re out and about in the East Bay, it’s an airy, lively place to take a load off.

4) Fun drinks quench your thirst, such as “Hell or High Watermelon,” a wheat beer in which 400 pounds of watermelon are pressed in each batch. It’s dry, clean-tasting, and faintly fruity on the back note.

5) Vanilla bean butterscotch pudding with crumbles of peanut brittle and shavings of chocolate is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.

The ornate dining room.

Five restaurant, which opened in July in downtown Berkeley inside the refurbished Hotel Shattuck Plaza, serves American classics with a twist. Think orzo “mac & cheese” ($12), short rib pot roast ($22), and steak tartare ($12).

Why the name? The press materials explain that it’s “a number that is familiar and appears frequently in our day-to-day lives: five senses, five elements, and five o’clock happy hour, to name a few.  Although familiar and frequent, the term FIVE is complex and dimensional, similar to the restaurant’s offerings and Howard’s culinary technique.”

So Berkeley, isn’t it?

The decor is, too. Flashes of red, including a massive flame-jeweled chandelier, make the space grand and eye-catching. Look closely when you enter, and you’ll notice a peace sign inlaid in the floor.

I was eager to try the new restaurant when I got an invitation to do so last month, because I have been a fan of Howard’s cooking since his days at his eponymous restaurant in San Francisco’s Jackson Square neighborhood.

His food at Five is more homey, less thrilling and not so cutting-edge as in San Francisco. But choose wisely, and you’ll be rewarded.

Service, at least a few weeks ago, still had a few kinks. Our waiter had to return to our table twice — once after taking our drink order, the next time after taking our entree orders — to make sure he got it all correctly. I felt like telling him it was perfectly OK if he wanted to actually write it down, because he didn’t either times. We forgave him the lapses, though, because he was so sincere and well-meaning.

Biscuit heaven.

Plus, we were in too good a mood after noshing on the buttery, tender, house-made chive biscuits that come with a little crock of pimento cheese. I could make a meal of these alone.

My hubby and I started with the “Deviled Surf & Turf Eggs” ($10), and the ahi tuna tartare ($14).

Deviled eggs done two ways.

The deviled eggs came six halves to an order — three of them filled with Dungeness crab salad, the other three stuffed with deviled egg yolk with slivers of crispy, salty ham.

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Get Ready for Burgers, Chocolate, Celeb Chefs, and More

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Fleming's Prime Burger is a mouth-full and then some. (Photo courtesy of Fleming's)

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is rolling out a bevy of burgers on its bar menu.

Sit down in the bar area at either of the two Bay Area locations, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek, to take your pick of Fleming’s Prime Burger (with cheddar cheese and peppered bacon, $12), Sliced Filet Mignon Burger (with sauteed mushrooms and Bernaise sauce, $18), Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Burger (with creamy mustard sauce, $16), Ahi Tuna Burger (with soy ginger sauce, $12), or Portobello Mushroom Burger (with sauteed spinach and creamy goat cheese, $10).

All are accompanied by a mini wedge salad and onion rings.

Every Wednesday through September from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., the restaurant will offer complimentary samplings of its burger menu to entice you even more.

Chocolate and more chocolate star at the Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival. (Photo courtesy of Ghirardelli)

If chocolate is more your thing, you’ll be in heaven at the 14th annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival, noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 12-13.

More than 40 vendors will be showcasing their chocolate creations, including Kika’s Treats, Mary Louise Butters Brownies, and Ciao Bella Gelato.

There will be live music, as well as a “Hands Free” Earthquake Ice Cream Sundae Eating Contest. Yes, it’s just what you think it is, and just as messy. The winner takes home a ginormous basket of Ghirardelli chocolate.

Top Chef's Casey Thompson. (Photo courtesy of the Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival)

If that weren’t enough, “Top Chef” finalist, Casey Thompson, will lead the cooking demonstrations at 2 p.m. both days.  Bravo TV fans may remember that Thompson was not only voted “America’s Favorite” on the show, but nicknamed “the Jennifer Aniston of cooking” by the one and only Anthony Bourdain.

The festival is free. Chocolate tasting tickets are $20 for 15 tastings. The event benefits Project Open Hand, a San Francisco non-profit that provides meals to seniors and seriously ill individuals.

Summer heirloom tomatoes go swank at Masa’s in San Francisco.

The restaurant is featuring a “Celebration of Tomatoes’‘ eight-course menu for $105 per person, Tuesday through Saturday nights through September. Wine pairing is an additional $79.

Dishes are expected to include ones such as Green Zebra tomato gazpacho with ricotta cheese flan and Gravenstein apple salad; and pan-seared medallion of prime New York beef with roasted tomato tartlette. The tomatoes are from Verdure Farm in Healdsburg.

Seafood goes Italian-style at Poggio Trattoria in Sausalito.

Sept. 15-19, the restaurant will host “Festa di Pesce” to showcase local seafood such as sardines, calamari, anchovies, mackerel, and swordfish.

Chef Peter McNee will debut a special menu of crudo (raw, marinated, cured), and cotto (cooked) seafood antipasti. They will be priced from $7 to $9, or three for $21. A pairing of three tastes of Italian wine is an additional $12 per person.

Duck leg confit with plum glaze, which I got to sample last week at LarkCreekSteak.

The Lark Creek Restaurant Group spotlights South Australia through September.

The “South Australia Comes to America” promotion will feature menus, wines, and special events showcasing the fourth largest of Australia’s six states. South Australia is one and a half times larger than Texas, and accounts for about 60 percent of all wine made in Australia.

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Thirsty?

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A new way to enjoy sparkling water.

Then R.W. Knudsen has a new product that will definitely leave you feeling quenched.

Its new Sparkling Essence is fizzy, carbonated water that comes flavored with either organic lemon, organic mint, organic cucumber, or organic blueberry.

Moreover, the flavored waters have no calories, no fat, no carbs, no sugar, and no sugar substitutes. They’re also made with all natural ingredients.

I’ll drink to that!

They beverages are made by brewing the organic ingredients in fresh spring water. The fruit or herb is then extracted, leaving only the flavor behind, without the sugar or calories.

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