Category Archives: Great Finds

Anytime Is Right For Chili Crisp Salmon Burger

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Would you believe this was made with tinned smoked salmon flavored with chili crisp?
Would you believe this was made with tinned smoked salmon flavored with chili crisp?

Tinned fish is having a moment. So much so, that some people are just over it.

Not me, though.

At any given moment, you’ll always find in my pantry tins of anchovies, sardines, trout, tuna, and salmon.

Especially Fishwife Tinned Seafood’s collab with my go-to chili crisp-maker, Fly by Jing, of which I recently received samples.

Fishwife was founded by Becca Millstein and Caroline Goldfarb in 2020 during the pandemic. Like so many of us, they were cooking more at home and unsatisfied with the quality of tinned seafood in the market. So, they set out to create their own, based on wild and farmed seafood that’s sustainable.

Today, Fishwife offers a range of products including salmon, mussels, trout, albacore tuna, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, and even California white sturgeon caviar.

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Marin French Cheese Co. Celebrates 160 Years With New Products

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The new Petit Breakfast Everything from Marin French Cheese Co.
The new Petit Breakfast Everything from Marin French Cheese Co.

America’s oldest cheese company, Marin French, marks its 160th anniversary this year in a big way — with new cheese offerings.

The West Marin company has expanded its “Breakfast Range,” its fresh brie that is rindless and not aged. I had the opportunity to try samples of the new products.

I’ve long been a fan of its Petit Breakfast ($7.99), its 4-ounce wheel that is soft, creamy, tangy yet mild that I often enjoy with jam on an English muffin for breakfast. So, I couldn’t be happier that it now comes in a size that’s twice as large.

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Not Your Usual Blondies

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A whole tablespoon of toasted sesame oil really adds an irresistible flavor to these blondies.
A whole tablespoon of toasted sesame oil really adds an irresistible flavor to these blondies.

Brownies and blondies are classics that always satisfy.

But rarely do they offer up a surprise.

“Toasted Sesame Blondies” definitely does, though.

These have all the portability plus chewy texture you love about blondies. But they also sport a splash of toasted sesame oil and a profusion of black and white sesame seeds overtop that give them a whole new personality.

One that tastes as if butterscotch and sesame had a love fest.

This fabulous recipe is from “100 Afternoon Sweets” (Chronicle Books, 2024), of which I received a review copy.

It’s by Sarah Kieffer, a Minneapolis baker and creator of the award-winning The Vanilla Bean Blog.

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Tuck Into Gochujang Sesame Noodles with Broccolini

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The Korean staple fermented pepper paste really jazzes up these sesame noodles.
The Korean staple fermented pepper paste really jazzes up these sesame noodles.

If you go nutty for Asian sesame or peanut noodles, then this version will definitely have you hooked from the first bite.

That’s because “Gochujang Sesame Noodles with Broccolini” adds the Korean fermented pepper paste to the mix for big, brawny flavor that grabs your taste buds and doesn’t let go.

Easy enough to make on a weeknight, this recipe is from “You Got This!” (Simon Element), of which I received a review copy.

It’s by Connecticut-based Diane Morrisey, a self-taught cook who’s a former caterer and executive at Whole Foods overseeing prepared foods.

She describes the collection of 100 recipes as being for “real people.” After all, as a wife and working mom of six kids, she knows all about how hard it can be to juggle multiple responsibilities while still trying to get food on the table every night.

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Michelin Three-Starred Benu Celebrates 15 Years

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The unforgettable mussel at Benu.
The unforgettable mussel at Benu.

Just before you’re escorted into the kitchen at Benu in San Francisco, you’ll spot a formidable column decorated with autographs from a who’s who in the culinary world: David Kinch, Michelin three-starred chef of now-shuttered Manresa in Los Gato; Chef Sang Yoon of Father’s Office and Helms Bakery, both in Los Angeles; Fuchsia Dunlop, James Beard Award-winning food writer and Chinese cuisine expert; the late-Charles Phan, founder of the Slanted Door restaurant in Napa and San Ramon; the late-Chuck Williams, founder of Williams Sonoma; and so many more.

Because since its opening in 2010, this fine-dining, tasting-menu restaurant has attracted everyone who’s anyone to its minimalist dining room for its elegant fare that blends East and West with incredible finesse.

It was the first San Francisco restaurant to receive three Michelin stars in 2014. It has maintained them ever since, too.

Opened by Chef Corey Lee, former chef de cuisine of Michelin three-starred The French Laundry in Yountville, Benu is also the first restaurant that Thomas Keller ever invested in that wasn’t his own.

The courtyard entrance.
The courtyard entrance.
A view into the kitchen.
A view into the kitchen.
Crocks of house-made soy sauce.
Crocks of house-made soy sauce.

While I’ve dined several times at Lee’s casual Korean restaurant, San Ho Won in San Francisco, which has a Michelin star, it’s been many years since I’d last been to Benu. And since my cousins, who are huge fans of San Ho Won, had never been to Benu, I figured it was high time we all went together.

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