Seafood for Father’s Day and a Food Gal Giveaway

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A dish with which to spoil any father.

A dish with which to spoil any father.

 

My Dad loved nothing better than scrambled eggs in the morning enfolded with salty chunks of SPAM.

Yup, that was his breakfast of choice, if given his druthers.

If he were still alive this Father’s Day, I’d change that up. I’d present him with pillowy scrambled eggs, all right. But topped with briny caviar instead.

I’m sure he’d be startled, thinking I’d lost my mind or was mortgaging my house to do so.

Nope, on both accounts.

Instead, I’d tell him that Southern California-based Anderson Seafoods provided me with a sample to try. The roe is from American Lake Sturgeon. The teeny-tiny, ebony-charcoal-hued eggs have a nice pop when you bite into them. At $38 for a 1-ounce jar, it’s relatively affordable, too, as far as caviar goes, especially because it takes only a smidgeon to make anything more luxurious tasting.

The company offers an array of fresh and frozen seafood, all of which can be delivered to your door overnight.

A precious jar of roe.

A precious jar of roe.

CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a chance to sample $300 worth of seafood of your choice, courtesy of Anderson Seafoods. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through 6 p.m. PST June 13. The winner will be announced June 14.

How to win?

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A Return Visit to All Spice in San Mateo

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The signature "Snowglobe'' dessert at All Spice.

The signature “Snowglobe” dessert at All Spice.

What happens to a restaurant after it receives a coveted Michelin star for the first time?

It gets busy, busy, busy.

Such is the case with the charming All Spice in San Mateo, which opened in 2010, and was awarded a Michelin star in 2012.

The award is proudly displayed in the foyer of the 1906 Victorian that houses the restaurant.

The first time I visited the restaurant a few months after it opened, there were a few empty seats here and there in the cozy dining rooms. Now, the place is packed, as evidenced by a recent visit last month, when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant.

Chef Sachin Chopra, who cut his chops at Amber India in San Jose and Daniel in New York, conceived of All Spice as a tribute to modern Indian cuisine. In the past few years, he’s fine-tuned his vision even more. All Spice has never been about blow-out-your palate spiciness. It’s always been far more subtle. It’s more so now. The fine-dining approach is evident in the artistry of the presentations. The techniques evoke French classicism. The flavors are Californian with measured accents of Indian.

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Silken Tofu for a Sultry Day

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On a warm day, this is as simple and delicious as it gets.

On a warm day, this is as simple and delicious as it gets.

 

Bet you never thought you’d see the words, “tofu” and “sultry” together, did you?

After all, the bean curd doesn’t always get the love it deserves. But this easy-breezy dish might just make you a believer.

On a warm, lazy day, there’s nothing better than “Silken Tofu with Avocado.”

It’s from “Every Grain of Rice” (W.W. Norton & Company), the newest cookbook by Chinese cooking authority Fuchsia Dunlop. The cookbook, of which I received a review copy, includes 150 recipes for straightforward, Chinese home-style dishes. Included are helpful primers on Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques.

Cold dishes are traditionally served at the start of a meal. It’s actually a sly way to tide guests over with already prepared noshes while the host gets busy stir-frying the rest of the meal.

Dunlop writes that she first experienced a tofu-avocado dish like this years ago in a restaurant in the southern hills of Taipei, where the cuisine is influenced by Taiwanese street food, as well as Taiwan’s history as a Japanese colony.

Indeed, the flavors of this dish will remind you of a California roll, what with the avocado, soy sauce and hit of wasabi.

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Join the Food Gal and Chef Robert Sapirman at Macy’s Valley Fair

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MacysSapirmanAd

Join me, 6 p.m. June 25 at Macy’s Valley Fair in Santa Clara, when I’ll be hosting a cooking demo with Chef Robert Sapirman of Citrus restaurant.

Sapirman, head chef of the restaurant at the Hotel Valencia in San Jose’s Santana Row across the street, will be dropping by to cook up a storm with local, sustainable ingredients. You may remember the long-time South Bay chef from his years at Parcel 104 in Santa Clara, too.

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Joanne Chang’s Brown Sugar-Oat Cherry Muffins

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Cherries and oats galore in these hearty muffins by Pastry Chef Joanne Chang.

Cherries and oats galore in these hearty muffins by Pastry Chef Joanne Chang.

 

These muffins are loaded. With oats, cherries and a whole lot of goodness.

They fill the pan with an avalanche of batter, rising up with bountiful domes.

Joanne Chang, the Harvard grad-turned-baker extraordinare with four Flour bakeries and the Myers + Chang diner, all in Massachusetts, has done it again. If you loved her first cookbook, “Flour” (Chronicle Books), you’re sure to treasure its follow-up, “Flour, Too” “Flour, Too” (Chronicle Books). The second cookbook, of which I received a review copy, includes 100 recipes, not just for sweets, but savories, as well, including apple-wood smoked BLT, “Mama Chang’s Hot and Sour Soup,” and mushroom and leek lasagna.

Of course, having the sweet tooth that I do, I couldn’t resist zeroing in on the pastries first.

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“Brown Sugar-Oat Cherry Muffin” is like a nourishing bowl of morning oatmeal — only in muffin form. Which means it’s just a little naughty, as a result.

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