Category Archives: New Products

“Fire It Up” and A Food Gal Giveaway

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How about some coffee with that meat?

The next morning you brew a cup of strong coffee, you might want to save a few cups for dinner.

Not to drink, but to grill with in this wonderful Espresso-Powered Barbecued Brisket, which features coffee three ways — in a rub, marinade and finishing sauce.

How’s that to perk up a meal?

The recipe is from the new cookbook, “Fire It Up” (Chronicle Books” by food writers, Andrew Schloss and David Joachim. It features more than 400 recipes for the grill, including Pork Tenderloin with Candied Clementine and Rosemary; Sesame-Crusted Chicken Paillards with Seaweed Salad; Wasabi-Drizzled Mussels Grilled with Green Tea Fumes; and Smoked Deviled Eggs.

I love the flavor of coffee in baked goods, so I was eager to try it on meat.

The roasted notes of coffee do indeed play well with the smoky taste of grilled beef, amplifying its meaty nature.

Make a rub by mixing finely ground dark-roast coffee with smoked paprika, dark brown sugar, ground ancho chile and lemon zest to rub all over the brisket.  Allow to marinate at least eight hours.

When ready to cook, take a little of the leftover rub and add brewed coffee, molasses, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar to make a mop to baste the meat with. After the meat is done, serve with a sauce made from more brewed coffee, ketchup, dark brown mustard, honey, citrus juice, and a dash of hot pepper sauce.

The result is bold beefiness with a beguiling tangy, earthy, subtle spicy kick.

It’s a dish sure to wake up any weekend grilling rut.

Contest: I’m thrilled to be able to give three Food Gal readers each a copy of the cookbook, “Fire It Up” by Andrew Schloss and David Joachim. Contest is open only to those in the continental United States. Entries will be accepted through midnight PST Aug. 13. Winner will be announced Aug. 15.

How to win?

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Three Summer Reads — That Aren’t Your Usual Cookbooks

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“TomatoLand”

If you’ve ever eaten a tomato, “Tomatoland” (Andrews McMeel), is an absolute must-read.

What Eric Schlosser’s book, “Fast Food Nation” (Harper Perennial), did to unveil the dark side of the cheap, drive-through burgers Americans can’t get enough of, James Beard Award-winning writer Barry Estabrook does the same to modern industrial agribusiness that has reaped the profits from creating tomatoes that are tasteless, less nutritious, 14 times higher in sodium, and inexplicably available year-round in supermarkets nationwide.

Award-winning investigative journalist Barry Estabrook delves into the industrial tomato business. (Photo coutesy of Mr. Estabrook)You’ll learn that Florida may grow one-third of all tomatoes in the United States, yet its climate is highly unsuitable for that crop. Its sandy soil possesses little nutrients, requiring the need for chemical fertilizers. Its humid, torrid temperatures foster fungal diseases and insects, necessitating hundreds of herbicides and pesticides. And the largely Hispanic migrants who pick the tomatoes work in dangerous conditions, and in some cases, treated little better than modern-day slaves.

Estabrook first popped the lid on the horrendous conditions some tomato pickers face in an investigative piece he wrote two years ago when he was a former contributing editor to Gourmet magazine.

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Food Gal Giveaway of Organic California Olive Oil

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Luscious organic, local olive oil from Northern California by Sorelle Paradiso. (Photo courtesy of Daily Gourmet)

The Scianamblo family, who trace its roots to Puglia, Italy, has been farming in Northern California for 30 years. But it wasn’t until recently that their daughter, an integrative health practitioner and educator, convinced her parents to convert their 44-acre olive grove to all organic.

The family business, Sorelle Paradiso, now makes award-winning organic extra virgin olive oils pressed from their Mission, Sevillano, and Nevadillo Blanco olives.

The golden-hued Sorelle Paradiso Sevillano oil has a beguiling aroma of grass and pear, while the Mission Blend is all green apple, nuts and hay.

A 750ml bottle of the Mission Blend and a 375ml of the Pure Sevillano regularly sell for $75 plus $21 in shipping.

But through the end of this week, Daily Gourmet, is offering the duo for $62 plus free shipping (a $34 savings). The San Francisco-based company offers limited-time deals on gourmet products from around the country to its members. Becoming a member is as easy as signing up here.

Win these two bottles of organic olive oil (total value of $96). (Photo courtesy of Daily Gourmet)

Contest: I’m happy to be giving away one bottle each of the 750ml Mission Blend and the 375ml Pure Sevillano to one lucky Food Gal reader. Contest is open only to those in the continental United States. Entries will be accepted through noon PST July 21. Winner will be announced on July 22.

How to win?

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Olallieberry Time

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Olallieberry pie -- as only Duarte's makes it.

With a lyrical name that’s just too much fun to say, olallieberries are black knobby berries with a sweet-tart, wine-y flavor that grow along the Central coast for a fleeting six weeks in summer.

Now’s the time to enjoy them fresh, especially at u-pick farms such as Phipps Country Store & Farm in Pescadero.

Perhaps no place has made olallieberries more famous, though, than Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero.

The family-run business that started in 1934 is justly known for its artichoke soup, cioppino and other fresh seafood dishes. But it’s the hand-made ollalieberry pie that everyone saves room for. Enjoy it at this landmark restaurant for$6.50 a slice or $25 for a whole pie. Because Duarte’s freezes a huge supply of the ollalieberries each season, the pie is available year-round.

For the past few years, Duarte’s also has been selling ($14) unbaked, frozen whole olallieberry pies at select Bay Area stores, including Zanotto’s in San Jose and the Milk Pail in Mountain View.  Later this year, the frozen pies also will begin being sold at all Whole Foods in Northern California.

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