Fun Finds

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Seared fresh garbanzos. You'll eat the entire bowl-full.

Have you ever had a fresh garbanzo bean?

I’m not talking the hard, yellow ones out of a can.

I mean the far tinier ones still encased in their fuzzy, papery green pods that you can find — if you look hard enough — in markets such as Whole Foods and Berkeley Bowl at this time of year. The latter is where I bought mine for $3.29 a pound.

Tender and nutty tasting, the beans, once steamed or blanched, can be made into pesto or tossed into salads just like you would edamame or peas.

The fresh pods with the tiny beans inside.

My favorite way to enjoy them is one of the easiest. Just rinse them under water, shake dry, and place in a saute pan with a little olive oil. Put a lid on and cook for 5-8 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn.

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The One and Only Jacques Pepin

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Yes, Jacques Pepin was in the South Bay last week.

At age 76, Jacques Pepin still has no trouble leaving an audience rapt.

Especially one that’s filled with captivated culinary students from the International Culinary Center of California in Campbell, a branch of the illustrious French Culinary Institute in New York, where Pepin is dean of special programs.

Last week, Pepin — the man, the legend, and former personal chef to Charles de Gaulle — paid a visit to that Campbell campus to give a techniques demo.

There were literally gasps as he neatly boned out a whole chicken in under a minute. Who knew butchering poultry could be so mesmerizing? But in his hands, it sure is.

With his nimble knife skills, he also turned shavings of cold butter into delicate flowers and prickly artichokes into easy-to-eat, compact hearts.

Pepin before a rapt crowd of culinary students.

Pepin's handiwork in turning butter into flowers.

And boy howdy, can he handle a chicken. It's like watching a surgeon.

Here are some favorite Jacque-isms from the event:

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Wild About Ramps

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The love affair with ramps.

For the longest time, I’ve had serious ramp envy.

You see, when spring hits, chefs and foodies throughout New York go bonkers for ramps, otherwise known as wild leeks. They feature them in all manner of imaginative dishes and preparations. In West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, there are even annual festivals devoted to the pungent allium that has broad green leaves sprouting from a fuchsia -tinged stalk and a white, scallion-like bulb.

But in the Bay Area, they’re a scarce commodity.

And so, for the longest time, I just sighed at this time of year, knowing a prominent part of the country was indulging lustfully in an ingredient I just couldn’t get my hands on.

Until last week, when I ventured into Berkeley Bowl and nearly jumped three feet in the air when I spied ramps in the produce section. I took a whiff and was met head-on with a most assertive garlic aroma. I was hooked.

The ramps, from Oregon, weren’t cheap at $12.95 a pound. But I just had to have some.

Armed with a bounty I’d never seen before, let alone used, I was momentarily perplexed at what to do with the ramps now that I clutched them preciously in my hands.

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Scenes from the 25th Anniversary Star Chefs & Vintners Gala

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A Reuben slider from the crew at Foreign Cinema and Show Dogs restaurants at the Meals on Wheels gala.

It was a star-studded chef affair on Sunday night at Pier 48 in San Francisco, as more than 70 Bay Area top toques turned out to cook up a storm for a sold-out crowd in support of a noble cause.

More than 1,000 folks wined, dined and mingled at the sold-out 25th “Star Chefs & Vintners Gala,” the main fund-raiser for Meals on Wheels, the San Francisco organization that provides nutritious meals and support services to home-bound seniors. Last year’s event raised $1.4 million. Yours truly was lucky enough to be invited as a guest this year.

For the ninth time, Chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard and Prospect, both in San Francisco, took the reins as gala chair for this megawatt event. The evening kicked off with a walk-around reception, in which mixologists shook up cocktails, vintners poured special vintages and a bevy of chefs manned stations to turn out gourmet noshes.

A night to remember for a worthwhile cause.

Chefs Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani, the dynamic duo behind Terra and Bar Terra, both in St. Helena, prepared bowls of their fabulous ramen complete with succulent pork slices and a oozy poached quail egg.

The Bar Terra team hard at work...

...serving up bowls of pork belly ramen.

Chef Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono in Yountville served up cones of Georgia shrimp atop soba noodle salad made with the restaurant’s own rau ram herb, while Chef Ron Siegel of Parallel 37 in San Francisco followed the Asian vibe with a juicy scallop in dashi broth.

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A Whole Lotta Seafood and a Food Gal Giveaway

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The seafood bounty you can win. (Photo courtesy of Anderson Seafoods)

When I think of fresh seafood, I can’t help but think of my late-Mom’s simple but sublime steamed fish.

My Uncle Homer loves to fish. He’s good at it, too, as evidenced by the huge bass he used to gift to my parents from his day-long boating excursions.

I remember the white fillets, so impossibly plump looking, covered in silvery-gray skin, which my Mom always left on to keep the fish moist while it cooked.

She would place the fillets in a Pyrex pie plate atop a steamer. She’d sprinkle on liberal shards of fresh ginger before placing the cover over the pan. Curls of steam would shoot out, as the fish turned from translucent to opaque inside.

When it was done, she’d top the fish with inch-long segments of spring onion. Next, she’d heat up a small saucepan of peanut oil with a splash of soy sauce until it was smoking. Then, ever so slowly, she’d dribble the hot oil all over the fish, giving it a lovely gloss and crisping up the skin ever so slightly.

We’d dig in with our chopsticks, tearing off chunks of the silky fish and spooning the sauce over steamed rice.

That would be dinner. With the fish rightly the star of the meal. And my family thoroughly enjoying each morsel of my uncle’s gift from the sea.

Contest: Southern California-based Anderson Seafoods, which sells premium seafood with a nod toward sustainability, wants you to remember your mom this Mother’s Day with impeccable fresh seafood. Thanks to them, one lucky Food Gal reader will win a “Regatta Gift Package,” a value of $300. Yes, you read that right. The package includes four pounds of wild Mexican shrimp, two cold-water South African rock lobster tails, four pounds of dry-packed scallops, 32 ounces of Norwegian salmon and 32 ounces of Alaskan halibut.

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