A Heavenly Time at Heaven’s Dog

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So much Chinese food often gets bogged down in grease, cornstarch and cheapo ingredients.

So much so that when you taste a once-mundane dish elevated with primo produce, it can be a revelation.

Such was the case when a friend and I encountered Chef Charles Phan’s distinctive take on the usual run-of-the-mill “Ants Climbing Tree” dish ($11) at his hip Heaven’s Dog restaurant in San Francisco, steps from the Holiday Inn Civic Center.

As a Chinese-American who grew up in San Francisco, I’ve long eaten this homey dish of ground meat (the so-called “ants”) cooked with garlic, soy sauce and ginger, then ladled over slippery cellophane noodles (the “tree”). My Mom would cook it or buy it to-go from an Asian deli. It was a fine dish — just nothing I necessarily ever craved or went out of my way for.

That is, until I tried the one at Heaven’s Dog, which was a most pleasant surprise. This meatless rendition was loaded with fresh black trumpet mushrooms and plenty of leeks. The crowning touch was the toasted pine nuts sprinkled all over the top, giving it unexpected crunch and richness. There was so much flavor and texture that I almost felt like I was tasting this warhorse of a dish for the very first time.

We couldn’t resist the Shanghai dumplings ($10), which burst appropriately with hot broth from the first careful bite.

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Food Gal Featured in the New “Cooking for Geeks”

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I’ve made no secret of the fact that me and technology don’t always get along.

So, it’s with both great flattery and some bemusement that I find myself included in the new “Cooking for Geeks” (O’Reilly) book by self-professed computer geek and cooking aficionado, Jeff Potter.

Potter studied computer science and visual art at Brown University. This is his first book, which looks at how science works to create so many delicious dishes we love.

Potter includes not only recipes but interviews with folks, including yours truly. I’m in good company, too. Some of the other profiled in the book include Dave Arnold, instructor at the French Culinary Institute in New York; Harold McGee, author of the seminal “On Food and Cooking” (Scribner); and Brian Wansink, author and Cornell University professor, who studies how people interact with food.

In the book, you’ll find me rhapsodizing about making preserved lemons, a process that always leaves me spellbound by the transformation that occurs when you add copious amounts of salt to fresh lemons, and let the mixture sit for a few weeks.

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Scenes From SF Chefs 2010

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Didn’t make it to the SF Chefs 2010 extravaganza this past weekend at Union Square in San Francisco?

No fear. Here’s a glimpse of the opening festivities last Friday night, which featured a slew of chefs, mixologists and vintners doling out gourmet goodies under a billowing white tent on the square.

The big guns were out in force, too, including New York Chef David Burke and star restaurateur, Drew Nieporent of the Myriad Restaurant Group.

The event officially got underway with a sabering ceremony, where a bottle of bubbly was dramatically opened by using a long knife to slice off the top of it.

You can tell from the expressions of the crowd that it was quite the sight.

A bevy of chefs were in attendance, including Mourad Lahlou of Aziza in San Francisco, whose first cooking show is expected to debut on PBS in the fall of 2011. Filmed in Marrakech and the Bay Area, the show will shine the spotlight on both traditional and modern Moroccan cooking. He’s still looking for help from investors, too. So if you’ve done well in the stock market or with the Lotto lately, don’t be shy and drop him a line.

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Indian Independence Day, New Beard Papa, Chocolate Meets Tofu & More

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South Bay and Peninsula News

Revel in festivities for Indian Independence Day, Aug. 15, when Junnoon restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, features live music and a special menu.

“A Tryst with Junnoon,” starting at 5:30 p.m., salutes India’s 63rd Independence Day with a $40 three-course menu that includes chicken tikka achari, made with saffron, green mustard and garlic. Each dish represents the colors of India’s flag — deep saffron, white and dark green. The prix fixe dishes also can be enjoyed à la carte.

Celebratory cocktails also will be available, including “Soul of a Nation” (peach schnapps, mango puree and Champagne), which represents the colors of Indian summers.

Advanced reservations are recommended and can be made by calling (650) 329-9644.

Sakoon in Mountain View also will be celebrating Indian Independence Day with a brunch buffet on Aug. 15.

In addition to regular favorites, the buffet that day also will offer new items such as Goan fish curry and lamb chettinad (with tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper powder).

Price is $17.95 per person and includes a free mimosa.

Another Beard Papa will open its doors in the Bay Area, this one in Milpitas at 1535 Landess Ave. in the Seasons Marketplace.

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Abracadabra — Nectarines!

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My hubby makes fun of me because I often whine, “I hate technology!”

You know the feeling — when your server goes down or your email has the hiccups or some dastardly virus has infiltrated your otherwise peaceful online existence.

At times like that, can you blame me for uttering those blasphemous words? I think not.

But a couple of weeks ago, you might have heard me proclaim instead, “I adore technology!”

You see, it all started when I tweeted that I had bought some fabulously soft, juicy, drippy-licious Suncrest peaches at the Frog Hollow Farm store at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

Then, what happens, but two days later, I find a huge box on my porch of just-picked nectarines, courtesy of Frog Hollow Farm.

Big Brother at work?

Big nectarines is more like it. Sweet, with just the right amount of tang, too.

Most of them, I just enjoyed out of hand. But I saved a few choice ones for extra special treatment: “Nectarine-Frangipane Galette.”

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