The One and Only Joyce Goldstein

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Fish fillets cooked Catalan-style -- with pine nuts. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

For four decades, San Francisco’s Joyce Goldstein has been a cooking teacher, cookbook author, chef and restaurateur.

She introduced us to tapas long before the now-crazed small plates trend existed.

She was making couscous at her restaurant before most people even knew what it was.

Now, she’s hard at work on what will be her 26th book.

And oh, by the way, she just turned 75.

This tiny, bespectacled woman continues to teach us all about cooking, eating and culture. Read all about her in my story in the September issue of Food Arts magazine, in which she is spotlighted as this month’s recipient of its Silver Spoon Award.

Then, enjoy this dish from her book, “Tapas: Sensational Small Plates from Spain” (Chronicle Books).

As Goldstein notes, “Fish in Pine Nut Sauce,” which I spied on Epicurious.com, is typical of many Spanish fish dishes in that it features sauces made with nuts. Fillets of firm, white fish are either baked in the oven or cooked on the stovetop in a homestyle, brothy Catalan sauce of tomatoes, green peas, dry white wine, garlic, and sweet paprika that gets its body from ground pine nuts and bread crumbs.

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Unusual New Peppers from East Palo Alto’s Happy Quail Farms

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Some like it hot. Or at least tongue-tingling.

That’s what Happy Quail Farms of East Palo Alto is hoping with its two new spicy peppers. Owner David Winsberg is believed to be the only one in the United States selling the Guindilla Verde from Bilbao, Spain and the Shaerma from Bhutan.

The light green, heirloom Guindilla Verde, with its grassy flavor and moderate heat, is perfect in piperade, egg scrambles, stir-fries or simply grilled and served alongside steaks. When it turns red, taking on a sweeter note, it’s typically used in Spanish chorizo, giving the sausages their distinctive, crimson tinge.

The dark green Shaerma is practically a national treasure in Bhutan, gracing almost every meal of the day.  Similar to a New Mexico Hatch chile in spiciness and to a Pimiento de Padron in flavor, this tender pepper is fairly hot, making it ideal for dishes with cheese to tame it a tad.

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A Clucking Good Time at the Foster Farms Chicken Cooking Contest

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In gleaming chef’s whites last Friday at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, six amateur and professional cooks took to the stoves, battling one another to come up with a delicious, appealing and creative spin on a protein so commonplace in our diets that most of us eat it at least twice a week.

Of course, that would be chicken.

This was the first ever Foster Farms West Coast Chicken Cooking Contest. The grand prize? A cool $10,000, plus a year’s supply of Foster Farms fresh chickens.

More than 2,000 folks entered the contest, which was limited to entrants from California, Oregon and Washington. On Friday, two regional finalists from each state competed in the final cook-off, which was judged by yours truly, along with Lena Birnbaum, associate food editor of Bon Appetit magazine; Elaine Johnson, associate food editor of Sunset magazine; and Michele Kayal, a contributing writer for the Associated Press and creator of the Hyphenated Chef blog.

The contest is the successor to the long-running National Chicken Cooking Contest, which began in 1949, but ended last year because of economic issues. That was when West Coast-based Foster Farms, family-owned since 1939, stepped in to carry on the tradition with a contest of its own.

The contest was open to both professional and homecooks. Contestants were required to use Foster Farms chicken in their recipes, which were designed to serve four, as well as an abundance of fresh and local ingredients. The only caveat was that the recipes could not involve grilling, as Foster Farms reps wanted recipes that could be cooked year-round in any part of the country.

At 8:30 a.m., we judges gathered with forks and knives to taste chicken bright and early. The contestants, who would cook in the kitchen three at a time and have 90 minutes to complete their dish, were already hunched over cutting boards, slicing chicken, chopping garlic and carefully measuring sugar and oil.

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A Farm in Silicon Valley? You Betcha

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Orchards and farms have all but disappeared from the Valley of Heart’s Delight.

But look closely, beyond the chips and wafers that now grow in the Santa Clara Valley, and you’ll still find a few, including the inspiring Full Circle Farm, an 11-acre, organic, educational farm designed to supply fresh produce to Santa Clara Unified School District cafeterias.

Last year, the farm grew more than 40,000 pounds of fruits and veggies, 10,000 pounds of which were donated to local food banks and shelters. The farm also supplied weekly produce to 55 community sponsored agriculture share holders and operated a year-round farm stand on its grounds. Moreover, it provided fresh vegetables to the school district’s children’s lunch program, where nearly half the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

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Rumba Ice Creams Cause a Delicious Rumble

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Laly Protzel may have spent a decade as an interior architecture designer.

But one taste of her new Rumba Desserts makes you realize this is one woman who knows and loves fine ice creams.

What really sets Protzel’s ice creams apart is that they are made with natural fruits grown exclusively in her native Peru.

I had a chance to try a few samples recently of her preservative-free, egg-free, all natural ice creams, which are made in Sunnyvale and are available at Whole Foods, Draeger’s, Zanotto’s and Sigona’s Market. A pint sells for about $7.99.

The Maracuya (yellow passion fruit)  tastes like a tropical island. It’s a nice blend of sweet-tart.

The Banana Cinnamon tastes like bananas flambé with a nice dose of warm cinnamon.

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