Category Archives: New Products

Bread Galore In Every Which Way at the New Manresa Bread Campbell

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A two-fisted chicken schnitzel at the new Manresa Bread in Campbell.

A two-fisted chicken schnitzel at the new Manresa Bread in Campbell.

 

If you already love the artisan loaves at Manresa Bread, then you are sure to go bonkers for the new downtown Campbell location that opened less than two weeks ago.

That’s because it features not only its already adored long-fermented loaves made with its freshly milled flours, but bread in so many other incarnations.

We’re talking chicken schnitzel breaded in the bakery’s own crumbs before being fried to a crisp and loaded into a fresh-baked bun with caper, mayo and house-fermented kraut.

Spaetzle made with a sourdough starter, and finished in a sauce of whey, butter and Pecorino.

And bone marrow matzo balls bobbing in bone broth, with the tender, moist dumplings actually made with levain bread crumbs.

Shelves of bread where you help yourself to loaves.

Shelves of bread where you help yourself to loaves.

Crusty baguettes.

Crusty baguettes.

At 2,100 square feet, the Campbell locale is twice the size of the Los Gatos and Los Altos locations, enabling it to also operate much more like an all-day cafe, with hours from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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The Thanksgiving Feast Is A Breeze With Luke’s Local

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Thanksgiving is served -- in a jiffy, thanks to Luke's Local.

Thanksgiving is served — in a jiffy, thanks to Luke’s Local.

 

Did Thanksgiving sneak up on you? Are you little prepared? Dog-tired? Rather leave the cooking to someone else?

Look no further than Luke’s Local.

The San Francisco-based business not only has a market in Cole Valley, but also offers catering and delivery of not only prepared foods but flowers, bread, cheese and produce from local purveyors.

For Thanksgiving, Luke’s offers a range of prepared sides; wines; house-smoked turkeys or fresh birds from Branigan’s Turkey Farm, Mary’s and Willie Bird; and desserts from Black Jet Baking Company, Mission Pie, and Starter Bakery.

In short, it’s everything you’d need for a fuss-free feast, where the only heavy-lifting you probably need to do is carry everything to the dining room table and enjoy.

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Cheese, Please — For the Holidays

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Cranberry & Cinnamon goat cheese for spiffing up the holidays.

Cranberry & Cinnamon goat cheese for spiffing up the holidays.

 

One of the easiest — and tastiest — no-fuss treats for holiday entertaining is cheese.

Just unwrap, arrange prettily with crackers, baguette slices, and maybe some toasted nuts and dried fruit, and you are good to go.

Laura Chenel, the pioneer in artisan goat cheese in Northern California, makes doing so especially festive with her flavored ones. Recently, I had a chance to try a couple samples that are particularly perfect at this time of year.

Her new Cranberry & Cinnamon Medallion is new this year. The 3.5-ounce thick round disk ($3.99) is naturally tangy from the goat cheese, but with a touch of fruity sweetness and warmth from the dried cranberries and touch of cinnamon.

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A Complete Thanksgiving Meal — Rendered In Ice Cream Form

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Turkey fat caramel ice cream with candied turkey skin brittle mixed in. I kid you not.

Turkey fat caramel ice cream with candied turkey skin brittle mixed in. I kid you not.

 

I just downed a scoop of turkey ice cream — and I loved it!

If you’re looking for a way to jazz up Thanksgiving, look no further than Salt & Straw.

The Portland-based ice creamery that has become a sensation with its highly unusual offerings has encapsulated the quintessential flavors of the Thanksgiving feast in its new holiday ice creams.

I had a chance to try samples of the five festive flavors, when pints were sent to my home.

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The Countdown Begins — For My Next Cookbook

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Photographer Eva Kolenko arranging potential images for my "East Bay Cooks'' cookbook.

Photographer Eva Kolenko arranging potential images for my “East Bay Cooks” cookbook.

 

For most of this year, I’ve immersed myself in writing a new cookbook, “East Bay Cooks” (Figure 1 Publishing), which spotlights the diverse, progressive and talented chefs of the East Bay Area.

Writing a cookbook is a major undertaking involving a multitude of interviews, fine-tuning a heap of recipes, and conducting scores of interviews.

For so long, it’s lived mostly as text in my manuscript. But last week, it all came to vivid life when the photography on the project began.

Chef Paul Canales of Oakland's Duende with a salmon dish ready to go before the cameras.

Chef Paul Canales of Oakland’s Duende with a salmon dish ready to go before the cameras.

Chefs from all around the East Bay descended upon the incredibly equipped Rule & Level Studio in Berkeley, where they and their dishes were photographed by the incomparable Eva Kolenko.

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