Baked Better Introduces A Gluten-Free Bread Mix; Plus New Santa Cruz Organic Jams

Posted on by 9 comments

Fort Green Gluten Free bread mix -- just add water and a sweetener of your choice.

With more and more of my friends going gluten-free, I’m always on the lookout for baked goods that fit their dietary restrictions and taste good.

Believe me, the two don’t always go hand in hand.

But at Brooklyn’s Baked Better, they definitely do. The company, founded by two friends, makes organic bread mixes that make baking your own loaf at home a cinch. All you do is add water and a tad of honey or sugar.

I’d already tried their three initial mixes, when they sent me a sample of their newest creation: Fort Greene Gluten Free.

The mix, named after one of Brooklyn’s most historic neighborhoods, contains brown rice flour, light buckwheat flour, teff flour, rolled oats, ground flaxseed meal, sunflower seeds, flax seeds and yeast.

Read more

Chef Daniel Humm to Visit San Francisco, Beer Tuesdays at Boxing Room, and More

Posted on by 4 comments

Daniel Humm (right) and Will Guidara (right). (Photo by Francesco Tonelli)

Meet Chef Daniel Humm at A Book-Signing

Daniel Humm, acclaimed chef of New York’s Eleven Madison Park, will be appearing at 7 p.m. April 3 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.

Humm will be in conversation with the restaurant’s General Manager Will Guidara, with whom he collaborated on the cookbook, “I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes” (Ten Speed Press). The cookbook, which will be released in April, fuses innovative dishes with New York classics like smoked fish, egg cream, and black and white cookies.

A culinary treat is promised to attendees at the reception and book-signing afterward.

Tickets are $15 to $25, and available by calling the box office at (415) 292-1233.

DIY Dinner Kits at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza has introduced weekly Farmers Market Chef Baskets, which come complete with recipes to make dinner, along with all the fresh ingredients needed as sourced from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

Each basket has been curated by a particular chef. For instance, Chef Joanne Weir’s market basket dinner includes the makings for fennel soup with Meyer lemon creme fraiche, and fresh spinach and shaved root vegetable salad. The $29 basket serves 2 to 3. All the recipes are gluten free, and can be made vegan, too. If you have hungrier appetites at home, you can opt for the Joanne Weir basket that adds a 1/2 chicken from Mountain Ranch Organically Grown to the mix for a total of $39.

Read more


Ina Garten’s Easy Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Croutons

Posted on by 36 comments

Tomato soup gets a whole lot more fun with grilled cheese croutons.

If ever there was a food that transports us back to childhood with just one sip, it’s tomato soup.

I remember digging a spoon into a deep bowl of that cheerful orange-red, velvety soup as an after-school snack, alongside a stack of saltine crackers. I remember yearning for it on rainy days, especially. And I remember it as the perfect pick-me-up sure to cure any teenage funk.

Of course, back then, my tomato soup did come out of a can.

Now, leave it to Food Network Star Ina Garten to come up with a homemade version of that beloved staple so many of us grew up on. Hers is decidedly more grown-up, yet still maintains the heart and soul we all love about the canned kind.

Read more

Introducing “Neighborfood” and a Food Gal Giveaway

Posted on by 9 comments

Dishcrawl, the South Bay start-up that brings folks together for unique food experiences, is launching a new program: Neighborfood.

Like the name implies, it’s a way to enjoy eight different dishes at eight different restaurants in one afternoon. It’s a great way to get to know a community that might be new to you. Or to discover an eatery you might not have known about.

The next one takes place 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 24 in downtown Mountain View. Among the restaurants participating will be Asian Box, Bangkok Spoon and Hangen.

Tickets are $40 with proceeds benefiting the Arts Council of Silicon Valley.

CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a free pair of tickets to the Feb. 24 Neighborfood event. Entries are limited to those who can actually make it to Mountain View that day. Entries will be accepted through midnight PST Feb. 17. The winner will be announced Feb. 19.

How to win?

Read more

Sate Your Thirst and More at The Abbot’s Cellar

Posted on by 6 comments

A generous plate of pork osso bucco -- part of the nightly tasting menu at The Abbot's Cellar.

For a hip, happening and sudsy time, head to the very beer-centric The Abbot’s Cellar in San Francisco’s Mission District.

I admit I tend to be more of a wine gal. But experiencing a tasting menu of this caliber with a different beer paired with each course was one of the most fun and palate-tickling experiences I’ve had recently.

The Abbot’s Cellar was opened seven months ago by the same team behind Monk’s Kettle in San Francisco, which was established six years ago.

Both are temples to the art of craft beer. But The Abbot’s Cellar is even more ambitious. It even has a two-story stone cellar to hold a range of beers and wines at their optimum temperatures. There’s also a dramatic back-lit wall of every imaginable glassware for beer and wine. And just for fun, a few cookbooks are propped up on the bar for patrons to peruse.

An eye-catching back-lit wall of beer and wine glassware behind the bar.

About 100 beers are available by the bottle and another 20 on tap, with each characterized by intensity, style, flavors and alcohol percentage. The beer list conveniently slides out of a nook built into the side of each wooden dining table for an added dose of cool.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »