Category Archives: Enticing Events

The Ultimate Holiday Cookie

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Just four ingredients combine to make these unforgettable cookies.

How good are they?

Ever since “Classic Home Desserts” (Houghton Mifflin Court) by the late-great Richard Sax was reissued in 2000, I have baked these super chewy, almond-intense macaroons for Christmas.

Yes, every Christmas. Friends, family, and co-workers clamor for them, and can’t wait for their appearance in cellophane-bagged stocking stuffers or on party dessert trays. Basically, they won’t let me make anything else.

But that’s OK, because I can’t get enough of them, either.

At the annual potluck at the San Jose Mercury News, my contribution was always a batch of these festive cookies. Colleagues would grab a cookie prior to lining up for the entrees, just to be sure they got one before they all disappeared. In fact, they talked me into baking TWO batches in subsequent years. And one year, a former copy editor who had moved to San Diego was visiting the area at this time, and showed up to the potluck only because she wanted to snag one of my macaroons.

If you’re not a fan of coconut, no worries. There is no coconut in these macaroons. Just egg whites, sugar, and almond paste. That’s it. The original recipe, Mary’s Pignoli, calls for rolling 1-inch balls of the mixture in pine nuts. But with their high oil content, the pine nuts made the cookies almost too rich, if you can believe that. The recipe states sliced or slivered almonds are other alternatives. I like using slivered almonds because they give these pale-golden cookies an almost snowflake-like look.

Make a batch and see for yourself just what perfect holiday cookies they are.

And for more cookie fun, be sure to tune in to “Dining Around with Gene Burns” (KGO Radio, AM810), 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 13, for the 13th annual Holiday Cookie Exchange at the InterContinental San Francisco.

Twenty-five finalists will present their best cookies for judging by yours truly, the Food Gal; Dominique Crenn, executive chef of Luce in the InterContinental San Francisco; Cindy Mushet, author of Sur La Table’s “The Art & Soul of Baking” cookbook; and Emily Lucchetti, cookbook author and pastry chef of Farallon, WaterBar, and Epic Roadhouse, all in San Francisco.

Top winners will receive get-away weekends to San Francisco, Monterey, and Yosemite, as well as restaurant gift certificates.

Italian Macaroons

(makes about 5 dozen)

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Gingerbread Galore, Cooking Shows, Olive Blessings, and More

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The 2007 gingerbread creation crafted by Pastry Chef Carlos Sanchez of Parcel 104.

If you missed seeing last year’s incredible gingerbread creation by Pastry Chef Carlos Sanchez of Parcel 104 in Santa Clara, you really missed out.

His gingerbread dreamscape of the world was the stuff of sweet dreams (see photo above). But this year, he’s turning over the hard work to students at the Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell. The students are tasked with creating gingerbread houses at the school, then carefully transporting them to Parcel 104, where they will be put on display in the lobby of the Santa Clara Marriott at 5 p.m. tonight.

Let’s hope they survive the move, because 10 houses are expected to be on display. Sanchez, members of the local Chaine des Rotisseurs, and Marriott guests will get to cast votes for the best house based on creativity, festiveness, and attention to detail.

First place will win $250, second place $150, and third place $100. Winners will be announced in a ceremony later in the month at the school.

Tune into KTEH Public Television (channel 54) in San Jose at 7 p.m Dec. 3 to watch “KTEH Cooks with Garlic.” Nine local amateur cooks will be strutting their culinary skills live on TV as they cook with — you guessed it — garlic. The nine were selected from 40 videotapes submitted.

These recipes and others will be included in a future “KTEH Cooks with Garlic Cookbook.” To submit your own recipe for the cookbook, go to www.kteh.org/garlic.

Sonoma olives. (Photo courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau)

If you prefer olives to garlic, head to historic Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma in Sonoma at 10 a.m. Dec. 6 for the start of a three-month long Sonoma Valley Olive Festival that kicks off with the blessing of the olives. Admission is free.

That will be followed at 10 a.m. that day by an open house and tasting at the Olive Press in Sonoma. Noon to 3 p.m., author Carol Firenze wil sign copies of her book, “The Passionate Olive — 101 Things to Do with Olive Oil.” Admission is free.

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A Whirlwind of Information on Sustainable Seafood

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Gravlax topped with a creamy sauce of Greek yogurt and Dijon mustard.

That’s exactly what my buddy,  Jacqueline Church, has created in her 2008 “Teach a Man to Fish” blogging extravaganza.

Church, a Boston food writer and the creator of the LeatherDistrictGourmet blog, asked notable chefs, homecooks, seafood experts, and food writers from around the world — including yours truly — to submit a favorite recipe, and our thoughts on why we so strongly champion sustainable seafood.

You’ll find a wealth of seafood resource links, video clips, and 37 mouth-watering recipes you can enjoy without environmental guilt.

I hope you enjoy my contribution on the “Teach a Man to Fish”  roundup: New York Times food writer Mark Bittman’s Gravlax, served with Carolyn’s Creamy Greek Yogurt-Dijon Sauce.

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Calling All Chocoholics Who Love to Cook

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Create a cutting-edge, imaginative recipe using fine artisan chocolate and diverse ingredients in the second annual “Chocolate Adventure Contest,” and you could end up thousands of dollars richer.

That got your attention?

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker of Berkeley and TuttiFoodie.com know how to put a contest together. And yes, this one does stipulate you use Scharffen Berger chocolate in any one of three categories: sweet, savory, and beverage. One grand prize winner in each of those categories pockets a cool $5,000.

Contestants also are required to use at least one “adventure ingredient” from the following list: popping candy (unflavored or flavored), wattleseed, palm sugar, basil, mustard seeds, coriander, black sesame seeds, black or pink peppercorns, chili pepper (fresh or whole dried), coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf, matcha tea, mango, plantain, jicama, tapioca pearls (any size), tamarind (or tamarind paste), and/or cacao nibs.

It’s that simple, so get cracking. You have through Jan. 4, 2009 to enter online at www.chocolateadventurecontest.com.

“When we started Scharffen Berger, we were the first ones in the United States to focus on bringing out the intrinsic flavors of cacao in our chocolate, and the first to highlight the importance of cacao by featuring its percentage on our label,” says company Co-Founder John Scharffenberger.  “Our goal was to enhance the way Americans thought about chocolate.  We’re looking for that same forward-looking spirit in this recipe contest.”

Entries will be scrutinized by a panel of chocolate experts, including cookbook authors Alice Medrich and Elizabeth Falkner, John Scharffenberger, and TuttiFoodie.com’s Lisa Schiffman. Recipes will be judged on originality, creativity, taste, and ease of preparation.

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