Category Archives: General

Two Chefs Plus Three Goats at One Market Restaurant

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My first taste of goat tartare -- and hopefully, not my last.

What do you get when you put two chefs together with three goats?

The makings of a deliriously delicious evening.

Such was the case last week at One Market restaurant in San Francisco, when resident Chef Mark Dommen invited Chef Staffan Terje of Perbacco in San Francisco to cook with him on a multi-course feast that was all about goat.

The event was part of the “Dinner Party Project,” a series of dinners throughout July hosted by SF Chefs, the food and wine extravaganza that officially takes place July 30-Aug. 5. The dinners bring together two or more chefs to collaborate on a themed dinner. A portion of proceeds of each dinner benefits the Center for Urban Education and Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), which operates the Ferry Building farmers market.

I was lucky enough to be invited as a guest to the dinner, which kicked off with Terje’s spectacular goat leg tartare. The mild red meat got a hit of crunch from diced celery heart, a pop of salinity from Cantabrian anchovy and floral acidity from preserved Meyer lemons.

Mark Dommen's goat charcuterie with apricots and pistachios.

Dommen lobbed with goat liver terrine and goat mortadella with fresh apricots and apricot mustardo. It was the type of food that made you wish you were on a picnic in the south of France.

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Fruit Pie Time, French Laundry Luxe Gift Cards & More

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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.

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Puff Pastry Part II: Slim Apricot Tarts

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Fresh apricots adorn a round of flaky puff pastry.

With a name like that, I wish I could tell you these tarts were the new magic diet food.

If only I could hunker down with one all to myself and become instantly slim.

I wish!

“Slim Apricot Tarts” are majestic with fresh summer apricots. And fruit does a body good, doesn’t it?

Oh sure, the fruit does sit on a platform of buttery puff pastry. And the apricots do get brushed with sweet apricot jam before serving.

But it’s all good, isn’t it?

It sure tastes that way. The apricots are first par-boiled to get them squishy soft. You remove the pits and peel off the skins (throw them away or nosh on them as you toil away at this task). Then, you place them atop the puff pastry dough to bake.

The recipe is from “Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard” (Ten Speed Press), of which I recently received a review copy. The book is by the wonderful British food writer, Nigel Slater. If you have never experienced his elegant, evocative, winning prose — especially in books like my favorite “Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger” (Gotham) — you are truly missing out.

Apricots from Frog Hollow Farm.

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Puff Pastry Part I: Savory Sun-Dried Tomato and Onion Tart

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Mustard cream, sweet onions, Gruyere cheese and sun-dried tomatoes crown this buttery, flaky tart.

This tart is red and white, and sure to chase away any blues.

Perfect for the Fourth of July, isn’t it?

“Sun-Dried Tomato and Onion Tart” is an explosion of flavors on a crisp, buttery foundation of puff pastry. The recipe, which appeared in the Wall Street Journal in March of this year, is by that Quebecois madman, Chef Martin Picard. He’s best known for his outsized personality, his over-the-top interpretations of classic Canadian dishes (poutine with foie gras, anyone?) and for foisting a litany of rich foie dishes on Anthony Bourdain at his Au Pied de Cochon restaurant in Montreal until the “No Reservations” host practically had to cry, “uncle!”

Picard’s tart won’t cause you to do that. Instead, it’s layered with flavors: onions caramelized until they’re nearly as sweet as candy, fragrant thyme, nutty Gruyere, a dash of sharp Dijon, and sun-dried tomatoes to add just enough acid so you don’t feel too weighed down.

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Mango Habanero Potato Chips — and A Food Gal Giveaway

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Chips that have some heat.

Potato chips flavored with tropical mango and blistering habanero?

Oh, yes.

Of course, it’s the newest flavor by Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips.

I recently had a chance to sample the new ”Mango Habanero!” (don’t forget that exclamation mark) chips.

They’re thin and crisp to be sure. They have a kick of heat — not nearly as potent as an actual fresh habanero, but you’ll definitely notice a warm burn on the palate. The mango is more elusive. There’s a very faint back-note of something fruity. But if I didn’t know it was supposed to be mango, I’m not sure I would have detected it.

The chips are available in a range of different sized bags at your local grocery stores.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will get a chance to win four small (1-ounce each) bags of the new “Hawaiian Kettle Style Mango Habanero!” chips. It’s the perfect size for tucking into a lunch bag.

Entries, open only to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST July 7. Winner will be announced July 9.

How to win your chips?

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