Do you scream for ice cream?
You’ll yell even louder then for ice cream sandwiches.
Join yours truly as I host a cooking demo at Macy’s Valley Fair Santa Clara at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 with Becky Sunseri, owner of Tin Pot Creamery in Palo Alto and Los Altos.
Since the demo is just two days before Valentine’s Day, we couldn’t resist enticing you with something not only sweet, but creamy and extra decadent.
“Beets & Butterfish” — one of the delights on the ever-changing menu at the new Orchard City Kitchen.
It’s been a long two years in coming for Chef Jeffrey Stout.
The former opening chef-partner of Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino, Stout was let go rather unceremoniously back then from that establishment, where he earned a Michelin star and maintained that rating for three years.
He set about to start over — this time with a more casual-style of dining with eclectic small plates that he could really put his own spin on.
The result is the wonderful new Orchard City Kitchen that opened just two months ago in Campbell’s Pruneyard. Last Wednesday night, the lively dining room was packed, a promising sign for a restaurant that has not done any marketing or public relations work. Indeed, Stout says he’s averaging over 200 covers a night already.
Chef-Owner Jeffrey Stout in the kitchen.
It’s easy to understand the restaurant’s appeal. It’s a come-as-your-are kind of place with favorite cookbooks and a Japanese Lucky Cat decorating shelves, and bare wood tables with a nifty bracket underneath to slide your wood board-backed menu into when you don’t need it anymore. A glass-fronted walk-in is visible at the back of the restaurant, lined with fresh fruits and veggies for all the world to see and to emphasize Stout’s farm-to-table philosophy. White subway tiles line the large open kitchen that Stout jokes is the “most open open-kitchen” there is because of the fact that the floor-to-ceiling, retractable windows opposite it in the dining room can open up and fold back completely, giving passersby a front-row view of the cooks at work.
Cumin, chiles and lamb make this one good dish, indeed.
I’ve always loved the no-nonsense, forthright title of Chef David Tanis‘ 2013 cookbook, “One Good Dish” (Artisan).
I’ve enjoyed even more the recipes inside, created by the former co-chef of Chez Panisse in Berkeley.
So many recipes from other chefs come packed to the gills with flourishes and garnishes that are a project in and of themselves.
Tanis pares that all away in this book. As he rightly states: A meal doesn’t have to be complicated, complex or cumbersome. Sometimes all it takes is one splendid dish to satisfy.
This book is full of those kinds of dishes, the type you really want to make — and can make without tearing your hair out. Find everything from “Cornmeal Popovers” to “Potato Salad with Peppers and Olives” to “Quick Scallion Kimchee” to “Spanish Pork Skewers.”
Black Perigord truffles. The darker one has been peeled already, hence its more pronounced color.
Carefully tucked inside Chef Ken Frank’s walk-in at La Toque restaurant in Napa last weekend sat 20 pounds of prized black Perigord truffles. Valued at more than $13,000 — wholesale.
They were destined to be the highlight of dinners, cooking demos and special restaurant offerings during last weekend’s Napa Truffle Festival.
And they all came from Italy.
For the past five years that this festival has been held, all the truffles used have been picked in Italy and flown in three days later to Napa.
But some day soon — possibly as early as this coming winter — black Perigord truffles may be harvested right here in Wine Country.
That’s because a burgeoning industry is taking root in Napa and Sonoma counties, as vintners and other property owners are gambling on growing truffles.
The American Truffle Company, which organizes the festival, has partnered with these interested folks to sell and plant filbert and oak trees that have been inoculated with the truffle fungus.
Chef Ken Frank holding a plate of black truffle risotto with quail that was made in a demo by Chef Roberto Donna.
Close-up of the risotto.
Once the trees are planted, it takes about five years for truffles to form. This winter, the trees of vintner Robert Sinskey, the first local client that signed on with the American Truffle Company, will be reaching that mark. His may become the first Perigords to be harvested in Sonoma County. Already this year, teams of truffle-hunting dogs have shown a much greater interest in his 1 1/2-acre orchard than ever before, Sinskey says, indicating truffles may indeed be forming under his trees.
Steeping my Teapigs.
I am piggish for tea after trying samples of Teapigs.
I mean, you just gotta love the name right off the bat, right?
Plus, you have to smile at a tea company that has a sense of humor. Its Chamomile tea has a drawing of an easy chair on the package, while its Chili Chai is decorated with an image of a fire extinguisher.
The company is called Teapigs because the the founders are greedy for great teas. Get it?
On top of that, the company, which started in the United Kingdom in 2006 and opened a New York branch last year, works with the communities from where it sources tea to try to improve them in some way. Case in point, it’s now helping raise money for the Noel Orphanage in Rwanda, which is located in the same region where Teapigs produces its English Breakfast blend.
Of course, the real question is how does the tea taste?