Category Archives: Great Finds

Fancying a Fancy Cookie

Homemade cookies that looked like they came from a fancy bakery.

You will be after getting a gander at these beauties.

But trust me, they only look fancy as if they came fresh from some chic bakery, where you must have paid a fortune for them.

They’re actually quite easy to make in your home kitchen.

“Walnut Acorn Cookies” is from the new “The Gourmet Cookie Book” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), of which I recently received a review copy. The wonderful book spotlights the best cookie recipe of each year, spanning from 1941 through 2009. for a total of 68 recipes in all.

This particular recipe hails from the December 2000 issue of the new defunct magazine. These buttery cookies with a tender, crumbly texture from finely chopped walnuts in the dough, are formed into an acorn-like shape.

Decorate them with just finely chopped walnuts, if you like.

Although the recipe says it makes 4 dozen cookies, I found it made more like 2 1/2 dozen.

Once baked and cooled, one end of each cookie is dipped into melted chocolate, then finely chopped walnuts for a beautiful presentation. Take care when dipping the cookies; a gentle hand is needed or else they may break.

Instead of walnuts for a few of the cookies, I decorated them instead with nifty Callebaut Pearls, which come in both dark chocolate and white chocolate. These are small, crunchy spheres that resemble individual Rice Krispies coated in chocolate.  Use them to decorate cakes, cupcakes, cookies and donuts.  Though, truth be told, they’re pretty darn tasty just eaten by the handful straight from the bag.

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Food Gal Giveaway — For Anyone Who’s Ever Been Mystified In Asian Markets

A handy app for anyone who shops at an Asian market.

Yes, that includes me.

I can tell you horror stories about circling the aisles at my local Asian market until I was dizzy to try to locate shaoxing wine, which is never stocked where you’d think it would be. Or the time I actually sweet-talked a fellow Chinese-American customer into helping me find just the right preserved fish from the countless jarred and bagged varieties available in the store.

Now, help is only an iPhone or iPad touch away with “Asian Ingredients 101” by my friend and fellow Bay Area blogger, Pat Tanumihardja.

All about oyster sauce.The handy-dandy app is a comprehensive guide to East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian ingredients that is sure to come in handy whenever you shop at an Asian market or travel to Asia.

Find info on 100 different ingredients, including spices, herbs and sauces. Along with photos, you’ll find the common names for the ingredients in different languages, as well as where to find the ingredients in the stores. You’ll also learn tips for selecting the best ingredients and what to use them for.

Contest: Now, one lucky Food Gal reader will get a chance to win the app, as well as a copy of Tanumihardja’s  “The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook” (Sasquatch), filled with wonderful stories and recipes passed down from generations.

The contest is open only to those in the continental United States. Deadline to enter is midnight PST Jan. 22. The winner will be announced Jan. 24.

How to win? Just tell me the Asian ingredient you can’t live without and the one you’d be happy to never see again, and why. The most memorable response wins.

Here’s my own answer:

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Fruit and Veggie Delivery Made Easy

Organic dried black eyed peas for the new year.

That’s just what San Francisco’s The FruitGuys does.

The 12-year-old company delivers boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables — grown by small family farms — to offices and homes nationwide. Think of it as a convenient way to bring a taste of the farmers market right to your door.

Three years ago as a way to give back, the 12-year-old company also launched its Farm Stewart Program to support sustainable family farming. The company donates 88,000 pounds of fresh fruit annually to non-profit groups and regional food pantries.

Its gift boxes, which start at $39, make thoughtful presents for anyone who appreciates gourmet eats. The boxes can include items such as handpicked apples, pears, citrus, honey-roasted cashews, cinnamon pecans, regional honey and the Philo Apple Farm’s apple cider vinegar.

A sample of The FruitGuys' new TakeHome box.

Just before New Year’s, I had a chance to try a sample of The FruitGuys’ new TakeHome box, which starts at $24 and is filled with farm-fresh, regional organic produce. Choose from all fruit, all veggie or a mix of both.

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A CSA That’s A Cut Above

Baia Nicchia's unusual varieties of fall/winter squash.

If your New Year’s resolution includes eating more healthful, you just might want to make good on that by joining a CSA.

For a community supported agriculture program that’s a cut above the rest, look no further than Baia Nicchia’s. Fred Hempel, a geneticist turned farmer who owns the 9 1/2-acre Baia Nicchia Farm in Sunol, provides a weekly box of his fresh fruit, veggies and herbs to you. You pay $30 a week, but end up getting $35 or more worth of produce.

Recently, I had a chance to sample a couple of boxes and what a culinary treasure trove they were. Included was a brilliant rainbow of winter squash — from the deep orange-hued French Potimarron to the dusty peach-colored Kikuza (an heirloom Japanese variety) to the large pale creamsicle Terremoto to the haunting pale blue Australian Triamble that can be stored up to two years. Additionally, there was a bunch of my fave lacinato kale, as well as sweet Scotch Blue kale, peppery Dutch arugula, spigarello (a broccoli rabe relative), baby turnips, sprigs of pungent orange balsam thyme and fragrant yuzu.

Baia Nicchia supplies to top Bay Area restaurants (including Marché in Menlo Park), so Hempel will often include some fun, unusual items in his CSA boxes that he grows primarily for chefs, such as edible chrysanthemum and amazing finger limes. Because he operates a nursery, he sometimes includes seedlings as well, such as mustard greens that you can pot in your backyard and snip all winter long to enhance salads and stir-fry dishes.

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My Fave Eats of 2010

I’ve eaten a lot this year. Let’s just get that out of the way at the start.

So, you can imagine my dilemma in coming up with a list of a mere 10 dishes or items that were my ultimate favorites this year. I limited the list to meals I ate out at restaurants, rather than made at home.  They also had to be so great as to have me still longing for a taste even now.

Here, in no particular order, are my top eats of this year:

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