Category Archives: Great Finds

Wild About Ramps

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The love affair with ramps.

For the longest time, I’ve had serious ramp envy.

You see, when spring hits, chefs and foodies throughout New York go bonkers for ramps, otherwise known as wild leeks. They feature them in all manner of imaginative dishes and preparations. In West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, there are even annual festivals devoted to the pungent allium that has broad green leaves sprouting from a fuchsia -tinged stalk and a white, scallion-like bulb.

But in the Bay Area, they’re a scarce commodity.

And so, for the longest time, I just sighed at this time of year, knowing a prominent part of the country was indulging lustfully in an ingredient I just couldn’t get my hands on.

Until last week, when I ventured into Berkeley Bowl and nearly jumped three feet in the air when I spied ramps in the produce section. I took a whiff and was met head-on with a most assertive garlic aroma. I was hooked.

The ramps, from Oregon, weren’t cheap at $12.95 a pound. But I just had to have some.

Armed with a bounty I’d never seen before, let alone used, I was momentarily perplexed at what to do with the ramps now that I clutched them preciously in my hands.

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Made in Brooklyn, Baked at Home

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The "Dumbo Delicious'' loaf. And boy, is it ever delicious.

With its barbecue joints, hipster flea market, vibrant DIY food culture and slightly more affordable housing prices relatively speaking, Brooklyn is the “it” city these days.

Thanks to Baked Better, you can bring a taste of Brooklyn home with you. The company, founded by two friends, sells fabulous organic bread mixes that make baking fresh, warm loaves as easy as can be.

I’m not always a fan of mixes because so many of them are not only pricey, but require you to add so many other ingredients that you might as well just make the whole darn thing from scratch. Not so with Baked Better mixes, of which I had a chance to try samples.

You just add water, salt and a sweetener like sugar, honey, molasses or agave nectar to the contents of the bag, along with the enclosed yeast packet. Stir with a wooden spoon, then pour into a greased loaf pan to let rise for half an hour. Then, bake in the oven for an hour.

What emerges is a loaf of bread on par with those at an artisan bakery — moist, tender, very hearty and suffused with a developed grain flavor.

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“Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining” — Food Gal’s First App — Plus A Give-Away

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Yes, your favorite Food Gal has joined the app world.

I’m proud to be part of the new venture, “Know What,” an app that takes the guess-work out of figuring out the food and cultural hot spots most worth visiting in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles region. The recommendations come already vetted by experts in those areas, including yours truly.

Here’s how it works: Purchase the “Know What Essentials” app for $2.99 to get 250 top picks for food, hikes, museums and bars in both Northern and Southern California. Then, you can add on more specific modules for an additional nominal fee, including my “Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining” ($3.99), which includes my spotlights on 72 delicious places around the Bay Area not to be missed. My guide will be updated regularly, too, at no future charge to you.

Since it’s map-based, it couldn’t be easier to use. Just click on the map to see the places near you worth checking out. So, for folks who regularly email me questions such as, “Where should I go eat after the game today at AT&T Park in San Francisco?” or “What’s a new place to try in downtown Palo Alto?” — and you know who you are — having my guide at your fingertips is the next best thing to me being right there with you to lead the way.

Other Bay Area guides available by local writers include: “The City’s Best Cocktail Spots” by Camper English; “Things in San Jose that Don’t Suck” by Gary Singh; and “San Francisco’s Top 30 Taquerias” by Burritoeater.

“Know What” and my “Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining” are available for iPhones via the iTunes store. Look for an Android version possibly toward the end of the year.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a free copy of the “Know What Essentials” app, along with my “Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining.” Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Feb. 25. Winner will be announced Feb. 27.

How to win?

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Two Cool Culinary Stores to Check Out in San Francisco

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The folks behind Bernal Cutlery conjure up a surreal Dutch Masters still life for this knife display. (Photo by Eric Zepeda)

Knives Galore at Bernal Cutlery

You know the proprietors behind Bernal Cutlery in San Francisco have to have a rather macabre sense of humor to come up with a knife display like this one above.

They also know their stuff. Their shop, opened in 2005, boasts the largest selection of knives in San Francisco, including Japanese, French and vintage ones.

It also offers precision sharpening using Japanese whetstone grinding techniques, as well as classes to teach you how to care for — and best use — your knives at home.

Owner Josh Donald calls himself a knife geek. He even worked with stone while studying sculpture and poured metal in a foundry in order to refine his knife-sharpening skills even more. His team also includes two sushi chefs.

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Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

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Ready-to-bake cookie dough balls with spectacular results.

In their plastic container, they almost resemble mini scoops of mocha chip ice cream.

But bake them in the oven to transform them into thick chocolate chip cookies with crisp exteriors and chewy interiors — the kind you’ll have an extremely hard time saying “no” to.

These ready-for-baking cookie dough balls are the brainchild of Erin Harrison, a single mom, who left a career as a film industry publicist for Pixar and Sony Pictures, to get her baking groove on.

They look like scoops of mocha chip ice cream.

Her South San Francisco-based Country Baking Company turns out cookie dough balls, a dozen to a container, which can be found in the refrigerator case at local Whole Foods markets, Lunardi’s, Draeger’s and Piedmont Grocery. Look for them soon at Mollie Stone’s, too.

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