Category Archives: Great Finds

You Need Char Siu Yams In Your Life

Grilled sweet potato wedges that taste just like Chinese barbecued pork. Who can resist?
Grilled sweet potato wedges that taste just like Chinese barbecued pork. Who can resist?

Imagine the smoky, sweet, star-anise warmth of everyone’s favorite Chinese barbecued pork.

Now, consider those same devilishly delightful flavors enveloping sweet potatoes instead.

That’s exactly what’s in store for your taste buds with “Char Siu Yams.”

This clever, addictive recipe is from “How to Grill Vegetables: The New Bible for Barbecuing Vegetables over Live Fire” (Workman Publishing) by one of America’s great grill meisters, Steven Raichlen.

In his myriad of grilling cookbooks, Raichlen has always included vegetables. But this book, of which I received a review copy, represents the first time he’s put the entire focus on them.

Learn how to grill, wood-smoke, cedar-plank, hay-smoke, and fire-blister veggies to add flavor and depth. The recipes span the gamut from “Smoked Hummus with Sesame Grilled Pita Chips,” “Rotisserie Brussels Sprouts with Turmeric Oil and Curry Leaves,” and “Nashville Hot Cauliflower” to “Cedar-Planked Eggplant Parmigiana,” ” Smoked Deviled Eggs with Wasabi,” and “Hasselback Apples Grilled on Cedar Planks.”

To make “Char Siu Yams,” you’ll need a disposable aluminum foil pan, plus wood chunks or wood chips (pre-soaked) for even more smoky flavor.

Read more

Sponsored Post: Honeycrisp Apple Cake With Rosemary

Welcome fall with this apple-licious treat.
Welcome fall with this apple-licious treat.

Fall means sweater-weather, new TV programs to binge, leaves turning a kaleidoscope of colors, and all things absolutely apple.

Indeed, few things beat biting into a fresh, sweet-tart, crunchy-as-can-be apple.

But apple cake just might.

So when samples of just-picked Honeybear Honeycrisp arrived on my porch, I eagerly set some aside to bake into fragrant, moist “Apple Cake with Rosemary.”

I am all about crackling-crisp apples. The ones that give when pressed gently with a thumb? They have no place in my life — or kitchen. With Honeybear Honeycrisp, there’s never a worry with that. Whether eaten out of hand or baked into a sweet treat, these apples live up to their name. They are delightfully crisp through and through, hold their shape well when cooked, and have a subtle honey note.

Now's the time to enjoy Honeybear Honeycrisp apples.
Now’s the time to enjoy Honeybear Honeycrisp apples.

Grown in Northern Washington alongside the Columbia River, and in the Midwest along the Mississippi River, these large, dappled apples are at peak season now through December. Load up on them at Safeway and Albertsons stores.

Then, turn up your oven and get ready to bake.

Read more

Where I’ve Been Getting Takeout of Late, Part 37

Butter & Crumble's lavishly layered Cinnamon Brown Sugar Almond cake.
Butter & Crumble’s lavishly layered Cinnamon Brown Sugar Almond cake.

Butter & Crumble, San Francisco

After being furloughed during the early days of shelter-in-place, Chef Sophie Smith thought she would pass the time by baking cakes for fun.

Little did she know that it would turn into a sweet new business that set her on an entirely new career path.

As she started baking cakes for her nascent Butter & Crumble, she wondered if anyone in the world would want an entire cake while stuck at home.

Turns out loads of people did.

She now runs her baking business out of bar in the Marina District of San Francisco that has a full-fledged kitchen. That’s where customers can pick up their pre-ordered cakes, too.

On an outing to San Francisco recently, I decided to to try one, myself.

The lofty, 4-inch-tall, 6-inch-diameter, three-layer cakes can serve 8 easily. They are priced at $45 on up, depending upon the flavor. There are usually at least nine different ones available, including Lemon Ricotta Pistachio, Chocolate Ganache Toffee, and Chai Creme Brulee.

I went with the Cinnamon Brown Butter Almond ($48). Styled after the “naked cakes” made famous by Milk Bar, Smith’s creations also sport unfrosted sides that reveal every layer clearly.

Read more

One Of The Best Butters In The World Just Got Even Better

French butter flavored with loads of raspberries -- a taste sensation to make you sit up and take notice from the first taste.
French butter flavored with loads of raspberries — a taste sensation to make you sit up and take notice from the first taste.

Let’s be clear: I have not tried every single butter in the world.

I just know that the latest products from France’s Le Beurre Bordier completely floored me.

I had already been captivated by its regular salted butter. But its seasonal Framboise (raspberry) and Bear’s Garlic & Kampot Pepper butters made me fairly gasp as they melted languidly on my palate.

Mass-produced butter can be made in a day. Founder Jean Yves Bordier needs 72 hours to turn milk from local farmers in Brittany into his high-fat, small-batch butter. He only makes the butter on demand, too, so it’s as fresh as it gets.

Campbell’s The Frenchery, a French online marketplace of gourmet food products, is the only retailer in the world to carry the entire line of Le Beurre Bordier butters (aside from Le Beurre Bordier, itself). The Frenchery pre-orders the butter ahead of time, and takes possession of it once arrives at Los Angeles International Airport. All in all, it’s about two weeks time from when the butter is made to when it gets on your table.

Thanks to The Frenchery, I had a chance to taste samples of these special seasonal butters. Like any Le Beurre Bordier, these two butters are softer than conventional ones. So much so that if you leave the bricks of butter out on the counter, they will soften to perfect spreadable consistency in only about 15 minutes.

You can’t miss the raspberry butter ($12), not with its vivid raspberry salt-water-taffy color through and through.

Read more

Where I’ve Been Getting Takeout of Late, Part 36

The 3-piece Hat Yai Fried chicken at Roost & Roast.
The 3-piece Hat Yai Fried chicken at Roost & Roast.

Roost & Roast, Palo Alto

Southern fried chicken is a staple most everywhere. Korean fried chicken just had its big moment. Now, comes Thai fried chicken on the scene.

Roost & Roast opened in Palo Alto’s Town & Country Village in June. Although there are a couple of outside tables, this tiny place with no inside seats is largely takeout.

Hat Yai Fried ($14) is probably the most popular dish with three pieces of Southern Thai-style fried chicken that come with a mound of rice strewn with deliciously crisp, fried onion and garlic slivers. Dusted in potato starch, the chicken, while at times cut into rather haphazard pieces, has a wonderfully crisp, airy exterior. There’s little to no seasoning on it, though, which is surprising. As a result, you may want to drizzle on the accompanying sweet chili sauce to boost the flavor. You better like sweet, though, because that’s the predominant taste of the sauce. However, you can also get a container of Sriracha to mix in to add more heat.

A generous portion of BBQ Chicken with rice.
A generous portion of BBQ Chicken with rice.

The BBQ Chicken ($14) was actually much more flavorful. The moist chicken tasted of rice wine, fish sauce and herbs. So much so that you really didn’t even need the accompanying sweet chili dipping sauce. It was a generous portion of chicken, too, piled over a foundation of white rice.

Read more
« Older Entries Recent Entries »