It’s a cookie. It’s a truffle. No, it’s actually both in one sweet confection known as a Lovie.
Oregon’s Leah Dancer and her mother, Denise Padgett, started creating these cookie-candy-like treats two and half years ago.
Made by their Love Bucket Baking Company, they’re akin to petit fours, only instead of cake, imagine chocolate ganache wrapped in a tender shortbread-like cookie, then dipped in chocolate.
You know it as the “other white meat” and the current darling ingredient of so many chefs, including “Top Chef All-Stars” champ Richard Blais.
Yes, pork.
After all, you’ve got to love a beast that gives you everything from bacon, ham and prosciutto to lard, chicharrones, ribs and juicy loin.
To get you in an even more porky good mood, I’m giving one lucky Food Gal reader the all the fixings for a spectacular piggy feast.
Contest: One person will win a “Be Inspired with Pork Kit,” which is being provided to the Food Gal by the folks at the National Pork Board. It includes an 11-inch square grill pan; a 16-jar revolving spice rack; a pig-shaped wood cutting board; a digital thermometer; a copy of the cookbook, “How to Cook Like a Top Chef” (Chronicle Books), autographed by Blais; and a gift card to a local retailer to purchase some tasty pork to cook up.
Entries for the contest, open only to those in the contiguous 48 U.S. states, will be accepted through midnight PST May 21. Winner will be announced May 23.
How to win?
At Gather restaurant in Berkeley, it’s all about head-to-tail and root-to-shoot cooking.
The nearly year-and-a half-old restaurant at the David Brower Center takes the unique approach of making its menu 50 percent vegetarian with plenty of vegan options.
If you’re rolling your eyes, thinking it’s some hippy-dippy Berkeley joint that won’t appeal to gauche, non-Birkenstock-wearing carnivores, you’d be wrong. In fact, my husband, aka Meat Boy, has happily eaten there twice with me, once when we paid our own tab and most recently when we were invited to dine as guests of the restaurant last month.
Popular with theater-goers, the restaurant was packed almost from the moment it opened its doors for dinner at 5 p.m. that Saturday evening. The space is very California-like with a warm, laid-back vibe. There’s plenty of rustic, reclaimed wood, as well as metal, steel and concrete. Fun touches include light fixtures made from recycled vodka bottles, filtered water served in recycled milk bottles, and comfy banquettes crafted from old leather belts (I even spotted one still sporting its Gap insignia).
The restaurant was started by Bay Area food activists Ari Derfel and Eric Fenster, who founded Back to Earth, a nine-year-old organic catering company. Executive Chef Sean Baker, former sous chef at the vegan restaurant, Millennium in San Francisco, and executive chef at Gabriella Cafe in Santa Cruz, was named “2010 Chef of the Year” by Esquire magazine for his intriguing and innovative cuisine.
The compact menu features organic, local and sustainable ingredients, with vegan and gluten-free options spelled out clearly.
One dish, above all, has received a ton of buzz since the restaurant opened — “vegan charcuterie” ($16). It’s a beautiful wood board arrayed with four or so little tastes that change regularly. It doesn’t try to mimic meat salumi in any way except in its convivial nature that makes it perfect for sharing. It’s a great way to start the meal with a glass of wine.
Did you know that most Americans eat little to no lamb? Indeed, only 0.7 pounds of lamb are consumed per capita here each year, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
More’s the pity, since lamb is one of the most succulent and flavorful meats around.
Don’t take my word for it. Try it in this dish of “Lamb Shoulder Steak with Japanese Curry Oil.” The recipe is from “The Japanese Grill” (Ten Speed Press) by Tadashi Ono, executive chef of Matsuri in New York, and food writer Harris Salat. It’s also a perfect accompaniment to the duo’s “Romaine Hearts with Miso-Mustard Dressing,” which I spotlighted the other day.
Sometimes, it’s the simple things in life that bring such joy.
The feel of crisp, freshly laundered sheets on a bed.
The sensation of gulping ice-cold water after a hard workout on a blistering day.
The whiff of heady, fresh rosemary from the herb pots on my front porch.
And a shamelessly simple dressing that can transform plain ol’ lettuce leaves into a salad I can’t get enough of.
Indeed, “Romaine Hearts in Miso-Mustard Dressing” has become the new favorite salad in my house. The recipe is from the new cookbook, “The Japanese Grill” (Ten Speed Press), of which I recently received a review copy. The book is by Tadashi Ono, executive chef at Matsuri in New York, and food writer Harris Salat.
Inside, you’ll find recipes for everything from classic chicken yakitori to foil-baked onions with soy sauce to miso yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls). While most of the recipes do make use of the grill, there’s also a chapter on salads that does not. This is one of those cookbooks that will tempt you with every recipe because they are all quite straightforward and with manageable ingredient lists.