Author Archives: foodgal

Yes, It Rhymes With “Witch”

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So I guess you’ve noticed that semi-naughty little badge on the right-hand rail of FoodGal. You know, the one promoting “Official Bitch Day.”

OK, admit it: You know we all mutter that word, at least in a whisper once in awhile. And you know we sometimes just have to let it all out. Well, Ladies, here’s your chance.

The social networking site, Fabulously40 (don’t worry, you don’t look a day over 32), is hosting its first dedicated day on Oct. 1 for any and all women to gripe, groan, bemoan — and yes _ bitch in a supportive environment about whatever they so desire. Just register on the site to participate, as well as to win prizes.

And let the bitching begin.

Totes for Tots

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Perfect for toting lunch to school.

This lunch bag is not only cute, but made of certified organic cotton that’s easily washable. It also was designed by a self-professed “industrial designer and Silicon Valley dropout.”

Susanne Maddux of San Francisco was the first woman on Apple computer’s elite international design team. She later started her own design consultancy business, where she helped design products for such companies as Sony, Nike, and Kuhn Rikon.

About two years ago, after losing her father and step-father to cancer, and giving birth to her second child prematurely, Maddux’s focus shifted, after she painfully realized how fragile life could be. She rededicated herself to designing things that would be socially and ecologically responsible. The result was her company, Hero Bags, which manufactures totes in the United States using sustainable materials.

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Meet Moroccan Cooking Expert Kitty Morse

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Kitty Morse, the woman who taught me how to make preserved lemons

Want to learn how to make the perfect tagine? Then, stop in at a Bay Area Le Creuset store on Sept. 20 and 21, when veteran cookbook author and Moroccan cuisine expert, Kitty Morse, visits to do a book-signing and cooking demo.

The events are free, too.

I always will be indebted to Morse because she turned me on to making my own preserved lemons. I almost always have some in the fridge now, made with Meyer lemons that have been partially cut, stuffed with Kosher salt, then packed tightly into a sterilized glass jar. After the jar sits on the counter for a couple of days, the lemons will exude their juices and combine with the salt to create a thick preserving brine.

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The Dawn of Celebrity Chefs

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(left to right) Clark Wolf, Jonathan Gold, Zoi Antonitsis, Joey Altman, and Scott Hocker

Restaurant consultant Clark Wolf remembers the pivotal moment when chefs were first transformed into celebrities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was in the 1980s, when the visage of larger-than-life Chef Jeremiah Tower, of fabled Stars restaurant, graced a billboard advertisement for Dewar’s Scotch.

“That’s what started it in the Bay Area,” Wolf recalled. “Everyone thought, ‘How will Tower ever be taken seriously again?’ ”

He was. And the fame he garnered became the touchstone for stardom that legions of chefs after him coveted mercilessly. Nowadays, chefs are the new rock stars, the new reality TV idols, the ones groupies snap photos of, and seek autographs from. What has this era of celebrity chefs really resulted in? That was the intriguing topic earlier this week at a San Francisco Professional Food Society panel discussion at the new Miss Pearl’s Jam House in Oakland.

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My Mom’s One And Only Tomato Beef Chow Mein

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My favorite tomato beef chow mein. Recipe follows at the end.

Fresh tomatoes. Seared slices of flank steak. Pan-crisped Chinese egg noodles.

Three simple ingredients that together have the most profound of meanings for me.

They make up my favorite tomato beef chow mein dish that my late-mother used to make for family lunches and dinners. Of all the home-style Cantonese dishes she cooked, it’s the one that most reminds me of her, it’s the one that most epitomizes her.  It’s a strong dish that can stand on its own, yet it’s unfussy, it’s comforting, and it’s full of sweet soulfulness.

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