Monthly Archives: April 2012

All-Star Foie Dinner, Giada De Laurentiis & More

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Chef Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono will be one of the chefs headlining the all-foie-gras dinner at the Plumed Horse. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Plumed Horse Celebrates Foie Gras April 9

With California set to be the only state in the nation to outlaw foie gras starting July 1, a bevy of chefs have been rallying to raise grass-roots support for the luxurious delicacy.

The latest to join in on the action is the Plumed Horse in Saratoga, which will host a top toque-studded $200 per person prix fixe on April 9 in which every course will feature the decadent fattened liver of a goose or duck.

Among the chefs cooking that night alongside Plumed Horse Executive Chef Peter Armellino will be Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono in Yountville, Ron Boyd of the Daniel Patterson Group, Marc Zimmerman of Alexander’s Steakhouse in San Francisco, and Joey Elenterio of Chez TJ in Mountain View.

Scargle will be serving his Sonoma Artisan foie gras and sauteed Petrale sole with spring onions, ramps and Granny Smith apples. Armellino will serve smoked chicken and foie gras dumplings. And Ted Romero, executive pastry chef of Lucy at Bardessono, will be turning heads with a Guittard chocolate, hazelnut and foie gras nougat with ruby port poached pear.

Half of the $200 per person price for the dinner will be donated to the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards, which is made up of pro-foie gras culinary professionals. For tickets, click here.

For those who want to bring their own wine, corkage will be waived that evening.

Giada De Laurentiis To Visit the Bay Area

Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis will be signing copies of her newest book, “Weeknights with Giada” (Clarkson Potter) at three upcoming Bay Area events.

The cookbook is filled with go-to dinner recipes that take about half an hour to prepare.

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A Most Eggs-Cellent Farm

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Deep orange yolks exemplify how special the eggs from Coastide Ranch are.

When you’re the son of rock legend Neil Young, it might be expected if you rested comfortably on your father’s laurels.

When you’re his son and born with cerebral palsy, which has left you wheelchair-bound and able to communicate only with a computer device, it would be understandable if you were at all reclusive.

But that’s not Ben Young, 33, the middle child of the famed singer-songwriter.

Ben Young, who has cerebral palsy, is the son of the legendary Neil Young.

Thirteen years ago, Young started an egg farm called Coastside Farms on three acres of his family’s La Honda property. In 2002, it was certified organic. A few weeks ago, I had a chance to visit him there.

Today, he raises about 250 Red Sex-Links, similar to Rhode Island Reds, which have the run of the place under the close watch of a herd of adorable alpacas who guard them against predators.

A ranch mascot.

He sells the eggs, with their glorious deep orange yolks, to Calafia Cafe in Palo Alto and Cafe Gibraltar in El Granada, where he makes deliveries each week with the help of his assistant.

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Judging the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off

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My guy. (Photo courtesy of Pillsbury)

The Dough Boy and I — we go way back. We’re tight — like this (fingers intertwined). He’s even let me poke him in the tummy.

So, I was thrilled to be united with my doughy guy earlier this week, when I was invited to be a judge for America’s oldest and most lucrative cooking contest, the Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando.

It was my third time as a judge in this competition. And my third time having a hand in deciding who went home with the grand prize of $1 million.

Started in 1949, the event celebrates the joy of home-cooking as only amateurs are allowed to enter. Each time, tens of thousands of entries from home-cooks are whittled down to just 100 finalists who compete to create an original, great tasting dish that will impress not only a panel of discriminating judges, but the entire nation, which has grown up with this iconic contest.

The judges are chosen almost a year ahead of time. From that moment onward, we had to avoid reading, seeing or hearing anything about the contest so that the contestants remained completely anonymous to us. You almost felt like you’d been selected for a secret ops mission, where information is strictly on a “need to know” basis. Hmm, good thing I packed a lot of black clothing.

The ballroom with 100 kitchens set up for the Bake-Off. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

A day of quiet before all the action started. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

We 12 food professionals took our mission seriously, too. A few of us were veteran Bake-Off judges, having done it once or twice before. But others were first-timers, nervous and excited about what the judging process would be like. Should we do stomach exercises to gird ourselves for so many dishes? Should we wear XL elastic pants that day? Just how many hours would we be stuffing our faces? Would we have to arm wrestle one another if we couldn’t agree on a winner in the end?

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Adopt An Olive Tree — Plus A Food Gal Giveaway

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The spring adoption kit to grow your own mini olive tree. (Photo courtesy of Nudo-Italia)

How would you like to be a proud parent of a budding, baby olive tree?

You can, thanks to Nudo-Italia, an artisan olive oil company founded by Jason Gibb and Cathy Rogers, former TV producers who chucked it all to restore an abandoned 21-acre olive grove in Italy’s Le Marche.

Besides selling wonderful olive oils, they offer a unique program in which anyone around the world can adopt an olive tree for a year. The project is a collaboration between Nudo and small-scale artisan olive oil producers in Le Marche and Abruzzo.

The company’s new spring “adoption box”  ($97) includes a personalized adoption certificate and booklet that describes your tree, one 250ml tin of first cold press extra virgin olive oil, three 500ml tins of first cold press extra virgin olive oil from your adopted tree, an invitation to come visit your tree, and a “Grow Your Own Olive Tree in a Tin” with growing instructions. It’s a gift that definitely keeps on giving.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will get a chance to try out their green thumb on their own “Grow Your Own Olive Tree in a Tin” (a $7.49 value). Stick it on a windowsill or kitchen ledge, then water. Who knows — this cute little thing might even bear some fruit.

Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST March 31. Winner will be announced April 2.

How to win?

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A Dish When There’s No Time

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Scallops with a creamy, spicy sauce.

Roasting often conjures up images of low, slow cooking in the oven for hours on end.

But this particular recipe for roasting is quick, quick, quick.

“Quick-Roasted Scallops with Sriracha and Lime” is for times when you want dinner on the table fast, fast, fast. It’s from “All About Roasting” (W.W. Norton & Company) by award-winning cookbook author Molly Stevens.

The book, of which I received a review copy, is full of recipes sure to keep your oven busy. Large scallops get baked, then quickly broiled with a simple topping of mayo, lime juice, sugar and Sriracha. They remind me of the baked or broiled mayo-topped scallops at Japanese restaurants.

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