Category Archives: New Products

Can’t Beat Peanut Butter and Chocolate for the Long Holiday Weekend

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An ice cream sandwich that you don't need an ice cream machine to make.

An ice cream sandwich that you don’t need an ice cream machine to make.

 

As a native San Franciscan, I’m proud to say that my first encounter with an ice cream sandwich was with the It’s It, the iconic treat invented here way back in 1928.

In our freezer at home, my Dad would often stash a few of those big-fisted oatmeal cookie sandwiches filled with vanilla ice cream and dunked in chocolate. As a kid, I couldn’t even eat an entire one at one sitting.

I’ve been a sucker for ice cream sandwiches ever since.

So when a review copy of “Ice Cream Sandwiches” (Ten Speed Press) landed in my mailbox recently, I leafed through it with the utmost nostalgia. The book is by Donna Egan, founder of the Buttercup Cake Shop, London’s first cupcake bakery. After opening in 2006, the bakery added ice cream sandwiches to its repertoire five years later and has never looked back.

The book features 65 recipes for all manner of ice cream sandwiches. The “Peanut Butter Dream” caught my eye because, well, who doesn’t love chocolate and peanut butter together?

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It Looks Like Beef — But It’s Better for You

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A hefty burger made with bison meat distributed by a San Francisco start-up.

A hefty burger made with bison meat distributed by a San Francisco start-up.

Wouldn’t you like to sink your teeth into that burger above?

You can — and do a body good, too.

That’s because it’s bison meat — which is lower in fat, lower in cholesterol and higher in good-for-you Omega 3’s than skinless chicken or grass-fed beef.

It’s also rich in iron, B12, zinc and niacin.

Recently, I had a chance to sample some ground bison meat from BisonBison Co., a new San Francisco start-up distributor that’s on a mission to introduce more folks to the merits of bison meat from American buffalo raised in South Dakota.

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Fruit to Take Along Anywhere

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(Front to back) Tangerine, cantaloupe and Asian pear -- freeze-dried.

(Front to back) Tangerine, cantaloupe and Asian pear — freeze-dried.

 

That’s exactly what Crispy Green is.

The New Jersey company takes fresh fruit and freeze dries them before packaging them in convenient pouches that you can throw in your purse or backpack or stash in a desk drawer or car glove box.

Crispy Green offers seven different fruits: apple, mango, Asian pears, banana, cantaloupe, pineapple and tangerine.

You have to love an ingredients label that includes only one thing. What’s in the freeze-dried Asian pears? Only Asian pears.

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The Debut of Chef David Kinch’s “Manresa” Cookbook

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Chef-Owner David Kinch of Manresa stands in front of a display of his new cookbook, hot off the presses.

Chef-Owner David Kinch of Manresa stands in front of a display of his new cookbook, hot off the presses.

 

David Kinch, the supremely gifted. Michelin two-starred chef-owner of Manresa in Los Gatos, has wanted to do a cookbook for more than seven years.

But the timing was never right.

Until now.

His first cookbook, “Manresa” (Ten Speed Press), will debut Oct. 22.

Like all that he does, it was meticulously thought out beforehand. So much so that the concept and artistic look were nearly fully formed already when he finally sat down to commit to doing it.

The book was 14 months in the making, but years in the thinking.

The book was 14 months in the making, but years in the thinking.

For instance, the measurements for the ingredients in the recipes are listed first and foremost in metric weights with imperial quantities following in parenthesis. That’s because that’s the way that chefs cook for greatest efficiency and precision.

Kinch spent 14 months crafting the book, which focuses on dishes served at the restaurant over its past 13 years. Almost all of the gorgeous photos in the book were taken in the Manresa dining room, with photo shoots once a month of a dozen dishes each time.

The result is a stunning book that’s quite personal, too, with stories about how Kinch took the advice of Thomas Keller of the French Laundry to buy the building he opened Manresa in, rather than just lease it, in order to cement a future there. Kinch also writes about how his relationships began with Love Apple Farms, which supplies exclusively to Manresa, and hobbyist farmer Gene Lester, a retired IBM engineer who now grows some of the most illustrious citrus around that’s spotlighted in a multi-course dinner each year at the restaurant.

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Get A Taste of Jose Andres’ New Food Products

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Plump, wonderful mussels -- Galician-style -- by Jose Andres.

Plump, wonderful mussels — Galician-style — by Jose Andres.

 

Would you pay $18 for this tiny tin of canned mussels?

You just might if they carry the stamp of approval of renowned Chef Jose Andres.

With glam restaurants around the world, including The Bazaar in Beverly Hills, this Ferran Adria protege has introduced his own line of food products, Jose Andres Foods, that speak to his Spanish heritage.

Recently, I had a chance to sample a few of the products.

Spain takes its canned seafood seriously. Unlike in the United States, where tinned seafood is often thought of as a cheap pantry staple, Spaniards treat their canned seafood with reverence because the quality is high enough to serve in the best restaurants.

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