Category Archives: Enticing Events

Goat Fest, David Chang Visits the Bay Area & More

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Nubian goat kids at Redwood Hill Farm. (Photo courtesy of the farm)

4th Annual Goat Fest

OK, just look at those faces above. How adorable are they?

For a closer look, head to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market for the 4th annual Goat Fest, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 21.

Redwood Hill Farm of Sebastopol will be bringing some of their “kids” for you to meet.

Enjoy samples of goat’s milk lotions, soaps and face creams, as well as cheeses, yogurts, caramels, fudge, chocolates and ice creams.

There also will be cooking demos and chances to meet representatives from Cypress Grove Chevre, Laloo’s Goat Milk Ice Cream and other goat’s milk product producers.

For more goat fun, you’ll be glad to know that Redwood Hill Farm will be offering tours of its farm on May 12, May 13, June 9 and June 10. Cheese, yogurt and kefir will be for sale, so don’t forget to pack a cooler. You can even milk a goat while you’re there.

The one and only David Chang. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Chef David Chang Comes to San Francisco in July

The always opinionated and colorful New York Chef David Chang will be the star attraction of an event, 8 p.m. July 17 at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

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Highlights From Florida — Beyond the Pillsbury Bake-Off

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When I wasn’t sequestered behind closed doors as a judge of the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off last week, I did manage to get out and about to discover some other fun things in Orlando. Here are other highlights of that trip:

* Poached farm egg, aleppo pepper hollandaise, California asparagus and pork belly at Luma on Park in Winter Park, Fla.

A perfectly poached egg that oozes a bright orange yolk to make a dish of juicy pork belly even richer. It doesn’t get better than that at this sophisticated restaurant with a glam two-story glass wine “jewel box” that displays bottles upon bottles of fine vintages.

Not your average edamame.

* Togarashi spice stir-fried Japanese edamame at Emeril Lagasse’s Tchoup Chop in Orlando.

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All-Star Foie Dinner, Giada De Laurentiis & More

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Chef Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono will be one of the chefs headlining the all-foie-gras dinner at the Plumed Horse. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Plumed Horse Celebrates Foie Gras April 9

With California set to be the only state in the nation to outlaw foie gras starting July 1, a bevy of chefs have been rallying to raise grass-roots support for the luxurious delicacy.

The latest to join in on the action is the Plumed Horse in Saratoga, which will host a top toque-studded $200 per person prix fixe on April 9 in which every course will feature the decadent fattened liver of a goose or duck.

Among the chefs cooking that night alongside Plumed Horse Executive Chef Peter Armellino will be Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono in Yountville, Ron Boyd of the Daniel Patterson Group, Marc Zimmerman of Alexander’s Steakhouse in San Francisco, and Joey Elenterio of Chez TJ in Mountain View.

Scargle will be serving his Sonoma Artisan foie gras and sauteed Petrale sole with spring onions, ramps and Granny Smith apples. Armellino will serve smoked chicken and foie gras dumplings. And Ted Romero, executive pastry chef of Lucy at Bardessono, will be turning heads with a Guittard chocolate, hazelnut and foie gras nougat with ruby port poached pear.

Half of the $200 per person price for the dinner will be donated to the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards, which is made up of pro-foie gras culinary professionals. For tickets, click here.

For those who want to bring their own wine, corkage will be waived that evening.

Giada De Laurentiis To Visit the Bay Area

Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis will be signing copies of her newest book, “Weeknights with Giada” (Clarkson Potter) at three upcoming Bay Area events.

The cookbook is filled with go-to dinner recipes that take about half an hour to prepare.

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Judging the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off

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My guy. (Photo courtesy of Pillsbury)

The Dough Boy and I — we go way back. We’re tight — like this (fingers intertwined). He’s even let me poke him in the tummy.

So, I was thrilled to be united with my doughy guy earlier this week, when I was invited to be a judge for America’s oldest and most lucrative cooking contest, the Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando.

It was my third time as a judge in this competition. And my third time having a hand in deciding who went home with the grand prize of $1 million.

Started in 1949, the event celebrates the joy of home-cooking as only amateurs are allowed to enter. Each time, tens of thousands of entries from home-cooks are whittled down to just 100 finalists who compete to create an original, great tasting dish that will impress not only a panel of discriminating judges, but the entire nation, which has grown up with this iconic contest.

The judges are chosen almost a year ahead of time. From that moment onward, we had to avoid reading, seeing or hearing anything about the contest so that the contestants remained completely anonymous to us. You almost felt like you’d been selected for a secret ops mission, where information is strictly on a “need to know” basis. Hmm, good thing I packed a lot of black clothing.

The ballroom with 100 kitchens set up for the Bake-Off. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

A day of quiet before all the action started. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

We 12 food professionals took our mission seriously, too. A few of us were veteran Bake-Off judges, having done it once or twice before. But others were first-timers, nervous and excited about what the judging process would be like. Should we do stomach exercises to gird ourselves for so many dishes? Should we wear XL elastic pants that day? Just how many hours would we be stuffing our faces? Would we have to arm wrestle one another if we couldn’t agree on a winner in the end?

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A Hammy Food Gal Giveaway

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How'd you like a half ham like this to grace your holiday table? (Photo courtesy of Snake River Farms)

Snake River Farms wants to make your Easter especially hammy.

The Idaho-based specialty meat company produces extraordinary Wagyu beef and Kurobuta pork, which I’ve had the good fortunate of trying many times in the past. For Easter, they’re teaming with Tree Top to entice you to bake your ham with a sweet, tangy apple juice glaze this upcoming holiday.

Contest: To whet your appetite even more, one very lucky Food Gal reader will win a half bone-in ham from Snake River Farms ($99 value), along with a basket of Tree Top goodies and a recipe for the perfect glaze.

Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST March 31. Winner will be announced April 2.

How to win?

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