Category Archives: Meat

Bi-Rite’s Pork Cutlets with Sweet Bing Cherries

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Cherries for dinner? Oh, yes!

Why just bake galettes, pies and cobblers with fresh cherries when you can enjoy their snappy sweetness in savory sensations, too?

Case in point, “Pan-Fried Pork Cutlets with Bing Cherries.”

It’s a recipe from “Bi-Rite Market’s Eat Good Food” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy.

The cookbook, written by Bi-Rite Owner Sam Mogannam and food writers Dabney Gough, takes you through the history of San Francisco’s most celebrated grocery store, where you’ll find not only top-notch produce but hard-to-find ingredients that are the darling of chefs.

The book takes you through each store department, teaching you the low-down on how to read labels, discern ingredients and use them at their best in a myriad of recipes.

Fruit takes to pork like peanut butter to chocolate. Cherries are no exception. Yes, you’ll have to pit them, but you use only about 18 of them, which doesn’t take that much time at all.

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Chaya Brasserie’s “Duck & Foie Gras” Fest

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Duck breast caterpillar roll (front) and seared foie gras nigiri (back) at Chaya Brasserie in San Francisco.

California restaurants are getting their last hurrahs in for foie gras, as come July 1 the fatty duck liver will become contraband in the state.

Chaya Brasserie in San Francisco is joining in on the act with its “Au Revoir Foie Gras” menu, now available through the end of June.

Over the weekend, as an invited guest of the restaurant, I had a chance to sample many of the special a la carte foie gras and duck dishes that Executive Chef Yuko Kajino has created just for this blowout. Additionally, Chaya is inviting diners to add a dollop of foie gras to any dish on the regular menu — for an additional $10.

Foie gras sushi?

Oh, yeahhhh.

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A Jacques Pepin Dish Fit for Father’s Day

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A lamb steak that any Dad is sure to love.

We cook for many reasons.

Because we’re famished. Because it’s more economical. Because it can be relaxing or satisfyingly challenging. And because we take pleasure in pleasing others.

But we also cook for the memories it evokes. For flavors that are indelible, and for the times lived and shared with those we love, which we never ever want to forget.

Often, when I try a new recipe, it often makes me think of someone who has touched my life. This lamb dish by the one and only Jacques Pepin is no exception.

It’s from his newest tome, “Essential Pepin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), of which I received a review copy. It’s filled with more than 700 timeless Pepin recipes. It also comes with a fantastic DVD with demos of fundamental cooking techniques.

One bite of “Lamb Steaks with Soy, Vinegar and Garlic” has me back in my childhood home in San Francisco, watching my Dad in the kitchen preparing steaks in a sizzling frying pan.

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Bay Area BBQ Championship & A Food Gal Give-Away

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Joanne Pang of Bad S BBQ at last year's event. (Photo courtesy of the Bay Area BBQ Championship)

Get ready to have a smoky, meaty good time when the 2nd annual Bay Area BBQ Championship rolls into the Oakland Coliseum on July 7.

Professionals, amateurs and community groups will be competing to determine who has the best barbecued chicken, ribs, brisket and pork, plus the tastiest side dishes and desserts.

What’s more, in-between sampling all that food, you can take in the A’s vs. Mariners game.

All proceeds benefit Alternative Family Services, a local organization that provides services for foster children.

General admission tickets, which include five tasting tickets each and admission to the baseball game, are $33 for adults, $12 for kids. VIP tickets — which include all of that plus VIP tent and stage seating, as well as a “Blues, Brews & BBQ” party, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. July 6 at the Coliseum — are $78 for adults and $41 for kids.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win two VIP tickets to the Bay Area BBQ Championship on July 7, which includes admission to the baseball game, a total of 10 tasting tickets, and access to the VIP party on July 6. Entries, limited to those who can be in Oakland on July 7, will be accepted through midnight PST June 10. Winner will be announced June 12.

How to win?

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Scrumptious Snapshots from New York, Part I

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Eating my way through New York, including this pasta at Eataly.

NEW YORK, NY — Yes, the hubby (aka Meat Boy) and I sneaked off to New York last week for one of the first real vacations we’ve had in a long time.

By that, I mean it was a trip that didn’t solely revolve around my work as a food writer. Instead, it was merely for relaxation and enjoyment — plus lots of good eats, of course. To make sure I actually did take time off, I wasn’t allowed to lug around my usual heavy camera, but only a tiny point-and-shoot. I had to ration my shots, too. After all, it’s not really a vacation if it’s viewed only through the lens of a camera and not the full spectrum of your own eyes.

Hope you enjoy the highlights:

When in New York, you've gotta have a bagel. Or two. Or...

Barney Greengrass

After taking the red-eye from San Jose to New York, we caught a couple of hours of shut-eye at our hotel before venturing to this 100-year-old institution. If you’re in New York, you’ve got to have a bagel or two, right? And what better place than at Barney Greengrass, famed for its smoked sturgeon.

Grab a table where you can at this tightly packed store flanked by deli cases.

My famished husband tore into a plate of smoked sturgeon scrambled with eggs and onions ($18.50), plus a bagel on the side, while I noshed on a sesame bagel stuffed with cream cheese, capers, onion, tomato, smoked sturgeon and Nova Scotia salmon ($20.75). Hello, New York!

BaoHaus

Chinese steamed buns filled with all manner of inventive fillings is the bill of fare at the shoebox-size BaoHaus started by the irreverent, lawyer-turned-street food-restaurateur Eddie Huang and his brother, Evan.

The zany artwork at BaoHaus.

Steamed buns filled with fried chicken (back) and pork belly (front).

The “Chairman Bao” ($2.99) is a fluffy white bun caressing juicy braised pork belly, cilantro, crushed peanuts and a hit of Taiwanese red sugar.

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