Cooking in Embers a la Michael Chiarello

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Grilled potato salad with ember-roasted garlic dressing -- to put pizzazz in your Fourth of July.

Grilled potato salad with ember-roasted garlic dressing — to put pizzazz in your Fourth of July.

Men like to play with fire. And male chefs sure like cooking with it.

In fact, cooking in embers is all the rage now at places like Saison in San Francisco, and the Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena.

What’s the appeal? First, the primal aspect of it all. Second, the technique makes use of the residual heat that would otherwise just dissipate and go to waste. Third, it adds a gentle yet deep smoky quality.

I thought I’d give it a try, particularly when a free copy of the new “Michael Chiarello’s Live Fire” (Chronicle Books) landed in my mailbox for reviewing. Chiarello is a major fan of live fire. Every Northern California he’s worked in or owned — Tra Vigne, Bottega and Coqueta — all feature grills with live fire.

MichaelChiarelloLiveFire

The book includes 125 recipes for cooking everything from seafood to pizza to desserts over a live fire. Of course, not many of us may have the space to cook a whole baby goat on a spitjack in our backyard, but there are plenty of recipes easily do-able even on a compact grill.

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Sharp As A Knife and A Food Gal Giveaway

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ProHold 13-piece knife set. (Photo courtesy of Chicago Cutlery)

ProHold 13-piece knife set. (Photo courtesy of Chicago Cutlery)

One of the best investments any home-cook can make is a great knife.

Sure, knives can cost a small fortune. But take care of them, and they will last you a lifetime.

The first time you use a knife that is sharp and fits your hand well will be a revelation. Slicing and chopping will feel miraculously effortless. I know when I plunked down some cold hard cash for my first really good knife, I practically screamed when I cut an onion for the first time. The blade went through it like nobody’s business.

Over the years, I’ve tried a couple Chicago Cutlery knives, in addition to other brands. This moderate-priced line delivers a lot for a modest amount of money. The stainless steel blades also come with a lifetime warranty.

So, if you don’t yet have a well-made set of knives in your kitchen, it’s high-time you went shopping for some. They truly will change the way you cook.

CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a Chicago Cutlery 13-piece block set, a value of $69.99. The set includes an 8-inch chef’s knife, 8-inch bread knife, 5-inch utility knife, 5-inch partoku, a parer, a peeler, shears, a sharpening steel and 4 steak knives.

Entries, restricted to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST July 6. Winner will be announced July 8.

How to win?

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My First Close Encounter with A Certain Vegetable

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Classic leeks in vinaigrette.

Classic leeks in vinaigrette.

 

When I was a senior in high school, my friends and I saved up our money to dine at Chez Panisse in Berkeley for the very first time.

We four thought ourselves so grown up and so in the know.

Of course, that feeling of confidence dissipated immediately when the first course arrived.

A platter was set before us, containing mystifying long, tubular things that looked for all the world like overgrown green onions. They had been simply grilled with good olive oil, and finished with salt and pepper. We glanced at one another, perplexed, wondering what they were and just how we were supposed to eat them.

Yes, that was my first encounter with leeks.

And I admit that I didn’t necessarily appreciate them then.

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We All Scream For Ice Cream Sandwiches, Tonga Room Fun & More

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Waterbar's take on the ice cream sandwich. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant.)

Waterbar’s take on the ice cream sandwich. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant.)

Restaurants Serving Up Ice Cream Sandwiches

With summer in high gear, pastry chefs are channeling their inner child to turn out kid-pleasing ice cream sandwiches.

Lucky for us, they don’t mind if the grown-ups indulge, either.

At Waterbar in San Francisco, fudge cookies sandwich sweet cream ice cream, then get rolled in crunchy, buttery bits of chocolate shortbread ($9).

At the Americano at the Hotel Vitale in San Francisco, they’re crafting the exotic candy cap mushroom ice cream sandwich ($8). If you’ve never had one, you’re missing out. The tiny mushrooms, foraged by Executive Chef Kory Stewart, impart a heavenly maple syrup flavor to the ice cream base. This is one mushroom made for desserts.

And at Prospect in San Francisco, fresh cherries make a star turn in ice cream stuffed inside two chocolate cookies, then all rolled in candied almonds (2 pieces for $4.50).

Prospect's cherry-chocolate ice cream sandwich. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant.)

Prospect’s cherry-chocolate ice cream sandwich. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant.)

 Tonga Room Celebrates the Fourth of July

How about a bona fide beach party — indoors — at the world-famous Tonga Room in the San Francisco Fairmont?

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Summer’s Made for Iced Tea — And A Food Gal Giveaway

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Mighty Leaf Tea's Ginger Peach iced tea.

Mighty Leaf Tea’s Ginger Peach iced tea.

I am not a soda gal.

Too sweet and too many unnecessary calories for me.

When I want to quench my thirst in summer, I reach for a glass of iced tea instead.

I don’t add any extra honey, sugar or artificial sweeteners, either. I like the tannic nature it has all on its own. If I really want to get fancy, I’ll muddle some fresh fruit, mint leaves or even cucumber slices in it.

That’s exactly what I did when Mighty Leaf Tea sent me some samples to try recently. Its over-sized tea bags make it easy to brew a big pitcher of iced tea in minutes. I steeped a bag of Ginger Peach Iced Tea for 5 minutes, then added some ice cubes to chill it down. Since I’d just come back from the farmer’s market, I sliced up some nectarines and added them to the iced tea for a pretty — and pretty delicious — gulp on a warm day.

The iced tea bags come in four varieties.

The iced tea bags come in four varieties.

CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win samples of Mighty Leaf Tea’s four iced teas:  Sunburst Green, Ginger Peach, Calypso Mango and Organic Black. What’s more, the winner also will receive the Takeya plastic iced tea pitcher and Takeya glass water bottle, both pictured above.

Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST June 29. Winner will be announced July 1.

How to win?

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