Monthly Archives: January 2022

Buzzing Over Beehive Cheese

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Cheddar rubbed with New Mexico Hatch chiles and chile powder -- from Beehive.
Cheddar rubbed with New Mexico Hatch chiles and chile powder — from Beehive.

Creamy cheddar flavored with everything from espresso to bourbon, and porcini to Earl Grey tea. If that doesn’t perk up your cheese board or grilled cheese game, nothing will.

Those imaginative products and more are the handiwork of Beehive Cheese, an award-winning creamery that gets its name from Utah’s nickname, the Beehive State (who knew?), and its creativity from founders Tim Welsh and his brother-in-law Pat Ford.

The two guys went all in on cheese-making after the dot-com collapse did a number on their former software and real estate businesses. They had little cheese-making experience at the time, but didn’t let that stop them, getting help from the Western Dairy Center, a leading cheese research institute. They also had the good sense to partner with fourth-generation dairy, Wadeland South, which raises Holstein and Jersey cows for their rich tasting milk.

Because the two were learning as they went, they had no fear when it came to experimenting with what a cheese could be.

The results are unique and delicious cheddar flavors, as I found when I received samples recently.

All the cheddars are creamy and semi-firm, so they’re easy to cut into neat slices for nibbling or stacking atop a sandwich.

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Dining Outside at Mago

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A hearty wheat berry porridge finished with mustard greens and bottarga at Mago.
A hearty wheat berry porridge finished with mustard greens and bottarga at Mago.

If you’re on the hunt for a relatively reasonably priced tasting menu full of soulful flavors, where you don’t have to get dressed up fancy, and can sit comfortably at a heated outdoor patio, look no further than Oakland’s Mago.

Its name is Spanish for magician, and Chef-Owner Mark Liberman and his staff of just five certainly perform wizardry with such a small crew.

Opened in 2019, it’s Liberman’s first solo project, following his stint in San Francisco at the shuttered AQ restaurant.

Last week, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant for dinner. There’s only one tasting menu offered each night, though vegetarian and vegan versions are always available on request.

It’s $75 per person for about eight courses, which are moderate in size, but all together will definitely leave you sated at the end. Because Liberman takes a vegetable-focused approach to his rustic, Colombian-meets-California dishes, you’ll leave plenty full yet still feeling buoyant.

Chef Mark Liberman manning the live-fire grill.
Chef Mark Liberman manning the live-fire grill.

With the tasting menu lasting about two hours, I was pleasantly surprised at how many diners were indulging in it on a school night (Wednesday). Ease-dropping, I could tell quite a few were regulars, too, which is always a good sign.

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The Cutest Ever Hot Dog Flower Buns

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A genius Asian take on pigs in a blanket.
A genius Asian take on pigs in a blanket.

Before my love for B. Patisserie, Arsicault, and other modern-day baking meccas took hold, there was my childhood infatuation with Chinatown bakeries.

I remember the stacks of pink boxes on their counters, and the mesmerizing machine that would automatically wrap candy-cane colored twine around them in a blink of an eye.

I remember the bustle of customers queuing to place orders, as I scurried underfoot to get a closer look at the glass cases of golden custard tarts; glossy double-crust apple pies; squishy steamed sponge cakes; and airy layer cakes covered in ethereal whipped cream, strawberries and mandarin orange segments.

So, when I heard that the Bay Area’s Kristina Cho was writing a cookbook inspired by the sweet and savory creations of Chinese bakeries, I couldn’t have been more excited to see get these wonderful and nostalgic treats finally get their due.

“Mooncakes & Milk Bread” (Harper Horizon), of which I received a review copy, did not disappoint.

Cho, a former architectural designer turned food blogger of Eat Cho Food, recipe developer, and cooking instructor has created a true love letter to these Chinatown bakeries.

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Marinara Pasta with Secret Sauce

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Italian marinara pasta with bread crumbs gets a splash of Vietnamese fish sauce for the win.
Italian marinara pasta with bread crumbs gets a splash of Vietnamese fish sauce for the win.

My dad probably was never aware of the concept of umami.

All he knew was that a splash of soy sauce imparted a magical touch to so many dishes — from homemade steak sauce to a marinade for prime rib to Thanksgiving gravy.

He’d reach for that bottle of soy sauce instinctively, knowing it would add depth of flavor and a boost of savoriness to most anything it touched.

In much the same way, Vietnamese fish sauce is as indispensable in the kitchen.

If you know the fermented condiment made from black anchovies and salt only from its use in the ubiquitous nuoc cham dipping sauce served alongside so many dishes at Vietnamese restaurants, you know merely a fraction of its uses.

Explore just how versatile fish sauce can be in the new cookbook, “The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook: Beloved Recipes from the Family Behind the Purest Fish Sauce” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by the East Bay’s Cuong Pham, the former Apple engineer who founded Red Boat Fish Sauce, the game-changing brand that’s beloved by legions of top chefs and home-cooks.

After immigrating to the United States, he hunted high and low for the ultra fragrant, deeply amber fish sauce of his youth. When he couldn’t find any brands here that met his standards, he created his own in 2011, sourcing wild black anchovies off the coast of Vietnam and combining them with nothing but salt in wooden barrels to ferment the age-old way. In doing so, he created a fish sauce celebrated for its purity of flavor with no additives, enhancers, or preservatives.

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Yotam Ottolenghi’s Butternut Squash with Orange Oil and Caramelized Honey

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A dazzling roasted butternut squash dish with a trick for making infused orange oil so easily.
A dazzling roasted butternut squash dish with a trick for making infused orange oil so easily.

A new Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook is always an occasion to rejoice.

After all, the London restaurateur is a seven-time New York Times best-selling cookbook author.

His latest, “Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love” (Clarkson Potter) of which I received a review copy, was written by him and Noor Murad, head of the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen.

Unlike most of his other cookbooks, which showcased dishes from his acclaimed Nopi and Rovi restaurants, and Ottolenghi delis, this one aims to show you more creative ways to cook from your pantry, fridge and freezer.

That being said, that doesn’t necessarily mean these are recipes that take barely any time or effort to put together. If you know Ottolengthi recipes, you know they often require a number of steps. But in this case, none are especially difficult or laborious. And in many cases, you’ll learn a new tip or technique along the way. Many of the recipes also list handy substitutions or additional ways to use a particular sauce or serve a dish.

Case in point, “Creamy Dreamy Hummus,” which Murad and Ottolenghi provide directions for making with the preferred dried chickpeas, as well as with, yes, canned garbanzos, often considered sacrilege. But, as they note, canned ones can still create a very creamy hummus — provided you first use kitchen towels to gently release their skins, then cook them briefly in water with salt, and a pinch of cumin.

Or take the recipe for “Very Giant Giant Couscous Cake,” a clean-out-the-fridge type of crispy, savory cake made in a pan that can be put together with leftover rice or pearl barley, if you don’t have couscous on hand.

Or the “Skillet Berries, Bread, and Browned Butter” breakfast, brunch or afternoon snack that makes use of half-opened bags of frozen berries, stale bread, and that forgotten container of rolled outs by turning it all into a delicious warm fruit crumble drizzled with cold heavy cream.

With a butternut squash languishing on my countertop for a couple of weeks, I was moved to try my hand at “Butternut Squash with Orange Oil and Caramelized Honey.”

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