Category Archives: General

Craving Chinese Food, Part 1

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Long beans and olives? Yes, it is Chinese.

I could say that it’s the sight of all those Olympic sprinters, synchronized swimmers, and gymnasts competing at full throttle that’s working up my appetite. But really, as I’ve watched the Summer Games, it’s China itself that’s really got me hungry for some delectable Chinese food.

So out came my wok during a break from all that athleticism. I decided to try my hand at these two dishes because they each make use of an ingredient we don’t normally associate with Chinese food. Enjoy one dish today, and the second dish in tomorrow’s FoodGal posting. Make both dishes together and serve with steamed rice for an easy, quick meal. The two dishes especially complement one another because one is a little on the salty side, while the other has a natural, subtle sweetness.

Today’s dish incorporates dry-cured black olives, of all things, which, surprisingly, turn out to be a little-known but traditional Chinese ingredient. “Wok-charred long beans with black olives” was published in the July 2008 issue of Saveur magazine. It’s an adaptation of the recipe from “Around the World in 80 Dinners” (William Morrow). Cheryl Jamison says the olives give the dish a salty pungency akin to Asian shrimp paste. I heartily agree. The beans get a nice smokiness from the high heat of the wok, and the olives, garlic and black vinegar make magic together.

Wok-Charred Long Beans with Black Olives

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Meet Food Gal At Draeger’s in San Mateo in October

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Yes, those are blondies next to me, and mostly cookbooks behind me. Photo by Joanne Hoyoung-Lee.

Between food bloggers, Yelp reviewers and Zagat voters, it does seem like everyone is a food critic these days. Here’s your chance to learn how to become a better one (or at least better articulate to your friends what you loved and what you despised about the last place you dined).

Join me and Sheila Himmel, former restaurant critic for the San Jose Mercury News, on Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Draeger’s Cooking School in San Mateo, when we host the class, “Everyone’s A Critic.” We’ll teach you how to judge a great or a dismal dining experience, while entertaining you with stories about our own experiences in the eating arena. Join us for an evening of wonderful wine, delicious food, and fun banter.

Price is $55; class size is limited to 40 people. Sign up here, and hope to see you there.

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Take A Break With Homemade Blueberry Coffee Cake

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Treat yourself to warm, blueberry coffee cake

When life gives you an extra cup of sour cream, what to do? Why, make sugary, wonderful blueberry coffee cake, of course.

OK, so that’s my logic when I had leftover sour cream in the fridge from making another dish. After all, why let all that creamy lusciousness go to waste? With the addition of a little cake flour, plus a nifty trick where you create a poofy rising agent from mixing the sour cream with the baking soda, this recipe creates a sweet treat with a tender, moist, and very soft crumb. It’s from “Baking By Flavor” (John Wiley & Sons) by baking specialist Lisa Yockelson.

Yes, there’s quite a bit of granulated and brown sugar in the topping. But hey, it wouldn’t be coffee cake without it. Plus, this cake has a cup of fresh blueberries strewn throughout. With blueberries so rich in antioxidants, you can tell yourself this cake actually might be just a tiny bit good for you. That’s my logic, and I’m sticking to it.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

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Another Former Google Chef Defecting to Apple

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Two months ago, Food Gal reported that Nate Keller, former executive chef at Google’s Mountain View headquarters, had moved to Google’s Bridges cafe near San Francisco’s Embarcadero. But that gig didn’t last long, as he up and quit before he’d even gotten his chef jacket buttoned.

Now, the word is out on his new whereabouts. Keller is heading to Apple in Cupertino, according to sources. He will be joining his former compatriot, John Dickman, who left as global food services director for Google in March to join Apple.

Mmm, me thinks Apple must be sweetening the deal with plenty of stock certificates, and a lifetime supply of iPhones and iPods to lure so much corporate culinary talent. One thing’s for sure, Google’s now going to have to work harder to hold on to its claim of having the gourmet cafeteria with the mostest.

A New Texture in Chocolate Bars

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Taza Chocolate of Somerville, Mass. offers a different taste sensation in chocolate bars. Using certified organic chocolate grown on small farms in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, the bars have a distinctive texture from traditional Mexican stone grinding that’s quite different than any other chocolate bars on the market. The result is a bar that’s very minimally processed.

A 3-ounce bar is about $6 and available on the company’s web site, as well as at Mollie Stone’s in San Francisco, Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, and Yali’s Cafe in Berkeley.

I’ll use my patented scale of 1 to 10 lip-smackers, with 1 being the “Bleh, save your money” far end of the spectrum; 5 being the “I’m not sure I’d buy it, but if it was just there, I might nibble some” middle-of-the-road response; and 10 being the “My gawd, I could die now and never be happier, because this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth” supreme ranking.

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