Take a close look at all the food in these photos from my meal at Puesto in Santa Clara.
We’re talking a creamy horchata, a tall glass of hefeweizen, tortilla chips with spicy salsa, three sizeable chicken flautas, and six bountiful tacos.
That spread — enough to completely stuff myself and my husband, plus have enough leftovers for one lunch the next day — was $98 before tip.
But I got it all for $58.38.
How?
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The name Safe Catch says it all.
The Sausalito canned seafood company purports to be the only brand that tests every catch for mercury. Its newest product, Safe Catch Trout Fillets, is tested to a limit of 0.1ppm, more stringent than the recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration. The product has even been given the nod by the American Pregnancy Association.
I had a chance to try the new products, which come in two varieties: Skinless, Smoked Trout Fillets in Water; and Skinless, Smoked Trout Fillets in Sunflower Oil with Chili. The former contains only trout, water, and salt. The latter has only trout, sunflower oil, salt, and chili.
The rainbow trout fillets in both are boneless, mild tasting, tender, and flaky.
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These babies are total butter bombs.
They also possess a kick of heat, not the kind that knocks you for a loop but rather tickles playfully,
Like Detroit pan pizza, the corner pieces with irresistible crispy edges and sides are worth fighting for first, too.
“Chili Crisp Biscuits with Honey-Butter Glaze” are all that and more, thanks to an entire stick of butter being melted and poured into the pan first, so that the dough bakes up in the pool of it.
With your favorite store-bought chili crisp added to both the dough and the honey-infused butter glaze that’s poured all over the top after baking, these biscuits have personality to spare.
This fabulous recipe is from “Chili Crisp” (Chronicle Books, 2023), of which I received a review copy.
Written by James Park, a Brooklyn-based recipe developer and food writer, it is a collection of more than 50 recipes, both sweet and savory, that star everyone’s new favorite Chinese condiment, glistening orange-red and loaded with warmth and crunchy bits.
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Watching the Olympics these past few weeks sure made me long to be in Paris.
Fortunately, San Francisco’s Routier more than satisfied my yearning with its comforting French bistro-like fare with California aplomb.
Audaciously opened during the height of the pandemic with only food to-go, Routier has grown into a warm, cozy dining spot, the type every neighborhood would be so lucky to have.
That it not only launched but overcame such a tumultuous time is a testament to its owners: Chef John Paul Carmona, former chef de cuisine of the former Michelin powerhouse Manresa in Los Gatos; Pastry Chef Belinda Leong, who also owns B. Patisserie a few steps away and B. On The Go, the kitty-corner sandwich shop; and Michel Suas, co-owner of B. Patisserie and founder of the San Francisco Baking Institute.
On a Friday night, the corner restaurant with windows all around, was humming with diners galore in the dining room done up in shades of blue.
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Gaze at that orange glow of succulent salmon with crisp skin, all in a pool of sunshine-y buttery corn sauce with fancy salmon roe dolloped on top.
I didn’t enjoy it at an upscale restaurant.
Nope, I actually made that dish at home.
Not to brag, but this dish easily looks and tastes like one that would be $40 at a restaurant. However, I made it for probably less than half that cost per person.
What’s more, “Pan-Roasted Salmon with Seared Corn Sauce” is a looker of a dish that actually doesn’t require hours of prepping and primping.
The recipe is from “The Hog Island Book of Fish & Seafood” (Abrams Books, 2023), of which I received a review copy.
Written by chef-restaurateur John Ash, it features more than 250 recipes from Hog Island Oyster Co., the premier sustainable bivalve producer in Tomales Bay, as well as from other chefs and restaurants who are passionate about its shellfish.
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