Category Archives: Fruit

SMIP Ranch Produce Boxes, Giant See’s Lollypop and Julia Child 100th Birthday Dinners

Posted on by 3 comments

Carrots from SMIP Ranch. (Photo by Ed Anderson)

Produce Boxes with A Chef Pedigree

Have you lusted after the pristine fruits and veggies on your plate when you’ve dined at the Village Pub in Woodside, Spruce in San Francisco, Mayfield Bakery & Cafe in Palo Alto and Cafe des Amis in San Francisco?

Now, you can purchase the same just-picked produce that those Bacchus Management Group restaurants, which also includes Pizza Antica, use daily. It all comes from SMIP Ranch in the hills above Woodside.

SMIP, an acronym for “sic manebimus in pace, Latin for “thus we will remain in peace,” began its relationship with the restaurants in 2001. The five-acre farm adheres to sustainable practices. In fact, the oil used at the restaurants is recycled and converted into biodiesel that powers the farm equipment and delivery van.

Its bounty has grown so abundant that it can now offer produce boxes to the public each week for $28 each.

Read more

Michael Pollan In My Backyard

Posted on by 15 comments

Michael Pollan -- the tomato.

Yes, Michael Pollan made a splashy appearance in my backyard recently.

Um, that would be my tomato plant named for the respected food activist, author and journalist, not Mr. Pollan in the flesh, himself.

Of my four tomato seedlings planted this year, it was this one that grew most vigorously and produced not only the first tomatoes of the season, but the most fruit so far, too.

Guess it pays to be named after a man who takes food seriously.

Read more

Apricot Muffins with a Topping of Crunchy Goodness

Posted on by 19 comments

Sweet, salty, tender and crunchy -- that's what these apricot muffins are like.

Sweet, gooey caramel with a sprinkle of sea salt.

Skinny jeans with a billowy top.

And the gregarious jock with the shy, bookish girl next-door.

Plain and simple, opposites attract.

Why? Because in the immortal words of Tom Cruise to Rene Zellweger in “Jerry Maguire,” they complete one another.

The same can be said about the best baked goods. If there’s soft, there ought to be crunchy, as well, to provide added contrast and greater interest.

When I decided to bake a batch of muffins the other week, using summer apricots fresh from the farmers market, I knew I wanted the tender treats to sport not only a crunchy top, but one that was both a little sweet and a bit salty.

Read more

Cantaloupe in Cake? You Bet!

Posted on by 20 comments

Yes, you can bake with cantaloupe. Who knew!

I’ve enjoyed berries, peaches, plums and all manner of other fruit in baked treats.

But cantaloupe?

Not until now.

Don’t get me wrong. I love that beautiful netted fruit with its sunny orange flesh. But cantaloupe in a cake seemed as farfetched to me as watermelon or honeydew in one.

That is until I spied a recipe for “Cantaloupe Cake (Torta di Melone)” in “Dolci: Italy’s Sweets” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), of which I received a review copy. The book is by Francine Segan, a food historian and New York City cookbook author. The cookbook boasts more than 125 recipes for Italian specialties such as sweet ricotta crepes, rosemary semifreddo, angel hair pasta pie, and even an unlikely chocolate eggplant dish.

Because the melon chunks are soaked in Asti Spumante, a glass of the Italian sparkler makes a nice accompaniment to the cake.

I couldn’t let a chance to bake with cantaloupe pass by, so I gave it a whirl.

Read more

Fruit Pie Time, French Laundry Luxe Gift Cards & More

Posted on by 10 comments

Adorable little cherry pies at Madera restaurant in Palo Alto. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

Fruit Pies Around the Bay Area

There are cake people. And there are pie people.

For pie lovers, you can’t ask for a better time to indulge than summer when fresh fruit ones abound.

At Madera restaurant in the Rosewood Sand Hill resort in Palo Alto, get a taste of warm tart cherry hand-pies with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream ($10).

At San Francisco’s Bluestem Brasserie, enjoy more hand-held pies. Its “Happy Camper Pies” ($9.50) are filled with fruit-herb jam and seasonal fruit. A scoop of vanilla bean ice cream accompanies, as what’s pie without ice cream, right?

Perfect for one -- "Happy Camper Pie'' at Bluestem Brasserie. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

Crisp peach fry pie at Prospect restaurant. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

Prospect in San Francisco get a load of peach fry pie ($9.50) — little pies fried up crisp with a filling of Blossom Bluff peaches, then garnished with raspberries, tayberries and Bavarian buttermilk ice cream.

Traditionalists will revel in the apple pie with brandied cherries and cheddar tuille ($10) at Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco.

French Laundry and Per Se Launch “Experience Cards”

These may very well be the ultimate gift cards.

No longer will Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Yountville and Per Se in New York issue issue plain ol’ gift certificates made of paper. Nope, now you can purchase “Experience Cards,” made of sleek metal and sent in an elegant bow-wrapped box.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »