Category Archives: Meat

Chef Richard Blais Cooks In A Peach Orchard, Whole Foods Fund-Raising Days & More

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A beautiful Suncrest peach. (Photo courtesy of Frog Hollow Farm)

A Peach of a Time with “Top Chefs Masters” Champ Richard Blais

Get ready for “Peaches & Tango: A Dinner in the Orchard’‘ on July 23 at Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood.

Farmer Al Courchesne, owner of the organic Frog Hollow Farm, has always dreamed of pairing his juicy, wonderful peaches with the drama of tango. Now, he’s doing just that — with the help of recent “Top Chef Masters” victor Richard Blais.

Meet Chef Richard Blais. (Photo courtesy of the chef)Blais will cook a feast using locally grown produce, featuring such delights as beet tartare with candied wasabi, grilled pork belly with cauliflower and peaches, and liquid nitrogen ice cream cones. Sit down to enjoy it all in the orchard, amid rows and rows of Suncrest peach trees.

To top the evening off, Trio Garufa, a company of contemporary Agentine tango dancers, will be performing, then teaching guests how to do the tango, themselves.

Tickets are $200 per person. Proceeds benefit the Chez Panisse Foundation and the Edible School Yard, both dedicated to fostering school curriculum and lunch programs in which students learn to grow, cook and share food at the table.

Whole Foods Community Fund-Raising Days

At least four times a year, each Whole Foods store sets aside a day in which 5 percent of the day’s net sales goes to a non-profit.

For June 22, the San Jose Whole Foods, 1146 Blossom Hill Road, has chosen as its recepient, the San Jose Police Foundation, which is the prime source of private support for the San Jose Police Department. And if you’ve been following the city’s budget woes of late, you know those funds are needed more than ever.

For those who live in San Francisco, if you shop on June 23 at any Whole Foods locales in that city, 5 percent of net sales will go to Project Open Hand, which provides meal and nutrition services.

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My Dad’s Steak Sauce

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An Asian-style steak sauce that tastes of family and childhood.

On their wedding day, brides usually share a first dance with their father.

I did not.

It’s not that I didn’t want to. It’s just that when it comes to elderly Asian-American parents, you know you’re treading dangerously if you dare bring up any idea that involves them making even the slightest spectacle of themselves.

Oh, my shy, reserved Mom made it perfectly clear that if I made her get up and dance in front of everyone, she wouldn’t come to my wedding. I kid you not.

On top of that, my husband was quite sure his own father wouldn’t want to be two-stepping anytime soon. No, siree. My husband’s mother also was bedridden and couldn’t attend our nuptials. So, in the end, we decided to do away with that whole parental tradition and just share only the one dance with each other as man and wife.

I sometimes wonder, though, if I still should have taken my Dad’s hand and led him through one father-daughter twirl.

You see, my late-Dad actually liked to dance.

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Pop-Up Tea Time, Free Father’s Day Burgers, Food Gal Cooking Demo & More

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Salmon rillettes with seaweed brioche -- with oolong tea. (Photo by Justin Lewis)

“Kettle Whistle” Pop-Up Tea Times

Those of you mourning the fact that Pastry Chef William Werner won’t be opening his Tell Tale Preserve bakery/cafe on Maiden Lane in San Francisco after all will rejoice to hear that you can still enjoy his innovative sweets in a new concept now.

He has teamed with Naivetea, an artisan tea company in Burlingame that was started by husband-and-wife, Lawrence Lai and Ann Lee, which specializes in oolong teas.

They will be presenting “Kettle Whistle” afternoon tea seatings at various locations around the Bay Area each month. The first will be June 25 at the Burritt Room at the Crescent Hotel in San Francisco. There will be two seatings: 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Tea with strawberries on yogurt sables. (Photo by Justin Lewis)

The three-flight, prix fixe menu is $55 per person. It will feature an array of Naivetea’s hot and iced premium Taiwanese  oolong loose-leaf teas paired with Tell Tale Preserve’s savory and sweet pastry creations.

For reservations, call (415) 643-4894 or email: events@telltalepreserveco.com

Free Burgers for Dad on Father’s Day at The Counter

Bay Area locales of The Counter want to treat Dad in meaty style on Father’s Day by giving the big guy to a free burger.

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Meet Bradley Ogden and Rick Bayless, Plus Loads More

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Meet Chef Bradley Ogden. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Shop and Dine with Chef Bradley Ogden

On June 9, shoppers at the Marin Farmers Market will get a chance to meet Chef Bradley Ogden, co-founder of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group, and Chef Aaron Wright of the Tavern at Lark Creek in Larkspur.

The two chefs will be at the Star Route Farms booth at the center of the farmers market at 9:30 a.m. to answer questions about the best produce.

That evening, join the two chefs at the Tavern at Lark Creek, when Ogden hosts a dinner to showcase dishes from his new cookbook, “Holiday Dinners with Bradley Ogden” (Running Press), which will be published in September.

The $35 per person prix fixe will include grilled apricot and goat cheese salad; flank steak with sweet oven-dried tomatoes and potato salad; and mixed berry cobbler. For reservations, call (415) 924-7766.

Rick Bayless will conduct cooking demos at Sunset magazine's big "Celebration Weekend.'' (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Rick Bayless Stars at Sunset’s Celebration Weekend

Menlo Park’s Sunset magazine opens its doors, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 4-5, for its annual “Celebration Weekend 2011: Make It Your Own.”

Chef Rick Bayless, Chicago restaurateur known for his prowess with Mexican cuisine and for winning the first season of “Top Chef Masters,” will headline cooking demos each day, 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.. He’ll be whipping up Mexican-inspired dishes, including Mexican-style shrimp cocktail and “Tropical Beach Ceviche.”

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Porky Fun and a Food Gal Giveaway

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Win some porky goodness and a cookbook autographed by Chef Richard Blais.(Image courtesy of the National Pork Board)

You know it as the “other white meat” and the current darling ingredient of so many chefs, including “Top Chef All-Stars” champ Richard Blais.

Yes, pork.

After all, you’ve got to love a beast that gives you everything from bacon, ham and prosciutto to lard, chicharrones, ribs and juicy loin.

To get you in an even more porky good mood, I’m giving one lucky Food Gal reader the all the fixings for a spectacular piggy feast.

The porky prize package. (Image courtesy of the National Pork Board)

Contest: One person will win a “Be Inspired with Pork Kit,” which is being provided to the Food Gal by the folks at the National Pork Board. It includes an 11-inch square grill pan; a 16-jar revolving spice rack; a pig-shaped wood cutting board; a digital thermometer; a copy of the cookbook, “How to Cook Like a Top Chef” (Chronicle Books), autographed by Blais; and a gift card to a local retailer to purchase some tasty pork to cook up.

Entries for the contest, open only to those in the contiguous 48 U.S. states, will be accepted through midnight PST May 21. Winner will be announced May 23.

How to win?

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