Monthly Archives: March 2012

Chef Demos, Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Plus More

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Chef Brandon Jew of Bar Agricole will cook up a storm at the Flower & Garden Show. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Chefs Star at the 2012 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

It’s time for the largest garden festival around, the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, March 21-25, where you’ll not only get to gawk at gorgeous garden exhibits, but enjoy a host of cooking demos, too.

Some of the Bay Area’s finest will be showcasing garden-to-table cooking. Among those taking the stage are: Executive Chef Brandon Jew of Bar Agricole in San Francisco (March 21); Melanie Eisemann and David Budworth of Avedano’s Meats in San Francisco; Chef Greg Dunmore of Nojo in San Francisco (March 22); Pastry Chef James Ormsby of Bluestem Brasserie (March 22); Chef Annie Somerville of Greens in San Francisco (March 23); the creative team behind Bi-Rite Market and Creamery (March 24); and TV cooking personality Martin Yan.

And for those in the South Bay and Peninsula loathe to drive to San Francisco, remember the garden show actually is held in San Mateo at the San Mateo County Event Center. So, there’s no excuse not to go now.

Tickets to the garden show are $20 for a single day, $25 for the all-show pass good on all days of the event, and $65 for the gala, which includes food, wine and music.

"Bacon and eggs'' at last year's Pebble Beach Food & Wine. (Photo by Barnaby Draper Studios)

Fifth Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Join more than 75 of the world’s best chefs and 250 acclaimed vintners at the Pebble Beach Resorts, April 12-15, for a slew of gala dinners, cooking demos and one-of-a-kind wine tastings.

Among the highlights at this year’s Pebble Beach Food & Wine will be a celebrity chef golf tournament, a special father-daughter presentation by Jacques Pepin and Claudine Pepin, a cooking demo by Michael Chiarello of Bottega in Yountville, and a dinner in tribute to Thomas Keller of the French Laundry.

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A Taste of French Comfort Food in San Carlos

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Roast chicken in creamy mustard sauce at Cuisinett.

Geoffroy Raby came to California a little more than a decade ago from northern France without knowing any English.

But he had the dream of recreating the simple, classic and casual bistro fare of his native land.

Last October, he did just that — opening Cuisinett in San Carlos with the assistance of Consulting Chef Guillaume Bienaime late of Marche in Menlo Park. Bienaime designed the menu, created the recipes and did all the training of the kitchen staff at Cuisinett. He’s even doing the book-keeping there. Raby makes you feel welcome immediately, chatting easily with both regulars and newcomers as if they had just stepped into his own home.

The rooster logo.

It’s a tiny place with only about 26 seats at small tables fashioned from reclaimed wood. Brick walls, exposed pipes and small arched windows just below the ceiling give the place an industrial charm. It’s already proved a hit. On Friday and Saturday nights, there’s often an hour-long wait to get in.

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Made in Brooklyn, Baked at Home

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The "Dumbo Delicious'' loaf. And boy, is it ever delicious.

With its barbecue joints, hipster flea market, vibrant DIY food culture and slightly more affordable housing prices relatively speaking, Brooklyn is the “it” city these days.

Thanks to Baked Better, you can bring a taste of Brooklyn home with you. The company, founded by two friends, sells fabulous organic bread mixes that make baking fresh, warm loaves as easy as can be.

I’m not always a fan of mixes because so many of them are not only pricey, but require you to add so many other ingredients that you might as well just make the whole darn thing from scratch. Not so with Baked Better mixes, of which I had a chance to try samples.

You just add water, salt and a sweetener like sugar, honey, molasses or agave nectar to the contents of the bag, along with the enclosed yeast packet. Stir with a wooden spoon, then pour into a greased loaf pan to let rise for half an hour. Then, bake in the oven for an hour.

What emerges is a loaf of bread on par with those at an artisan bakery — moist, tender, very hearty and suffused with a developed grain flavor.

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Stewing Over Time

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Stew that is the epitome of spring.

Admittedly, I sometimes stew about how time flies these days, about how in a blink of an eye a third of a year is somehow already gone. What gives?

But then again, why stew when you can eat it instead, right?

Especially when it’s a stew that’s made for the bright arrival of spring.

That’s just what “Green-As-Spring Veal Stew” is. It’s a recipe from “Around My French Table”(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by everyone’s favorite culinary guru, Dorie Greenspan. The cookbook, of which I received a review copy, is filled with French comfort food for every season.

Cubes of veal simmer in broth with garlic, onion, carrots, celery and thyme until tender. Fish them out, then add a plethora of herbs and greens to the braising liquid. We’re talking bountiful handfuls of arugula, spinach, dill fronds, parsley and tarragon. Blend them all until you get a vibrant green sauce. Although the recipe says you can use a blender, food processor or hand blender, don’t opt for the latter, as the leaves may end up clogging it. Better to let your food processor or blender make easy, efficient work of it all instead.

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SusieCakes Opens First Peninsula Location, Porchetta Time & More

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Get ready for cupcakes galore at SusieCakes in Menlo Park. (Photo courtesy of the bakery)

SusieCakes Comes to Menlo Park

SusieCakes, which started in Southern California but has spread to these northern parts, is opening its newest location at 642 Santa Cruz Ave. in downtown Menlo Park.

The bakery, know in particular for its old-fashioned cakes and cupcakes, already has two other Bay Area locations: San Francisco and Marin County.

Join in the grand opening ceremony at the Menlo Park bakery, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 24. Dust off your favorite poodle skirt for an old-fashioned sock hop with 50’s tunes. Best costume wins a prize. There will be plenty of cupcakes, cookies and bars to sample, too.

Get a gander at this porchetta at Brassica. (Photo by Sean Knight)

Porchetta Sundays at Brassica in the Napa Valley

After a weekend of wine tasting, there’s nothing better than a big hunk of  juicy, slow-cooked pork to go along with it.

Every Sunday night now at Chef Cindy Pawlcyn’s Brassica in St. Helena, they’re serving up porchetta — a whole loin of pork stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel fronds and fennel pollen, then roasted in a Caja China charcoal oven for 3 1/2 hours.

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