New Year's Nosh

As a great good friend once sagely pointed out, people are portable. And so we spent today on planes rather than in the kitchen, arriving just in time for Shabbos dinner and a grand celebration ushering in 2011.

As if to review all the tastes of the year, or perhaps to sample the coming year, it was a night of nosh. The pre-supper spread was perfect for visiting - chips, crackers, crudite, dips sweet and savory, hummus, olives, nuts, and grapes.  Plenty to nibbles without requiring a pause in conversation.

The blessing were said with the help of multiple challah - plain, pumpkin, and chocolate chip.

Supper began with a lovely lentil soup, piquant with balsamic. As the bowls were cleared, all 16 of us filed into the kitchen to serve ourselves from a bountiful buffet.  Most dishes were served hot: curried brussel sprouts, cous cous with spicy vegetables, butternut squash with apricot puree, and roasted yams.  The morrocan carrots, bean and egg salad, and potato and olive salad were served cool, either at room temperature or chilled.  Once seated, conversation ebbed and flowed as attention was diverted to our plates.

Definitely a night to pace oneself, I was pleased to have saved room for a taste of desert - almost literally a bite of each.  The blood orage salad with cured black olives, the watemelon and mint salad, the vegan rosewater cake, the pistachio rice pudding, and even the mango slices, all whispered of travels to new and exciting lands.  For an accompanying after-dinner drink, it felt only right to choose chai tea.

A meal this grand requires marvelous company; and the gathering of friends old and newly met perfectly matched the table offerings - no two the same, plenty to sample, and everyone a delight in their own way. May the new year live up to tonight's auspicious beginning!

Philly's Best - Chocolate

Philadelphia cuisine may be known best for its eponymous sandwich, the Philly cheesesteak, but in actuality the highest quality of many types of food can be found in the City of Brotherly Love. Authentic tastes from around the world (from Italy to Viet Nam, and everywhere in between) are available. And now the list includes that culinary delight enjoyed on nearly every continent: chocolate.

Naked Chocolate Cafe, with its main store on Walnut, offers decadent chocolate drinks, pastries, and artisanal  truffle-like candies.  As if in consolation for not being able to make a visit in person, a box of these morsels arrived by mail shortly before Christmas.  The aroma alone is intoxicating.  The milk chocolate pieces are of such high quality I don't even mind that they aren't dark; and the darks are truly sublime.  The richness of the assortment requires a modicum of restraint - splitting pieces for tasting works well; and two or three tastes sates even a serious sweet-tooth. Just don't tease anyone by hiding the box . . .

Literary Fare - the Trilogy

My early nightfalls this year have been filled with stories written as trilogies.  And each has had its own distinct food culture.
First I devoured the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books. By midway through the second, the craving for coffee was too strong to shake, though I was not suggestible enough to want it with toast with cheese and marmalade.  Every character drank coffee frequently, with only one or two references to mineral water and one notable exception when a minor character choose Diet Coke as a substitute. So I finally learned to use the grinder and French press at home - and then buzzed around until I could sit still to read on.

Next I chewed through the Wraeththu serious, which was hearty but not so delicious.  Food played a role as an indicator of wealth, but was never described in much detail.  Like the characters, I ate whatever I found handy until I reached the end.

The third chapter of this literary adventure, gentle readers, may prove my undoing.  Only a few chapters into Soulless (book the first of the steampunk Parasol Protectorate trilogy), food has taken on a strong supporting role. Very specific Victorian-era foods, prepared in very specific ways, are used regularly both as metaphor and as actual props.  The protagonist's interest in dining well proves both enticing and amusing, restoring my appetite.  Of one thing you may be sure - many cups of tea will be consumed before the last page is turned (by me, in both cases).

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Decadent, addictive - yet full of veggies.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium or 3 small zukes, grated, then nuked 2 minutes (do not discard liquid)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup gluten-free baking mix, or rice flour *
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar.
• Separate eggs.
• Add yolks and vanilla to butter mixture, beat and set aside.
• Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then beat into butter mixture.
• Fold in zucchinis, then stir in chips.
• Finally, beat egg whites until fluffy (just shy of peaking) and fold them in.

Bake in a greased, floured loaf pan at 350 for up to 1 hour (check earlier).

* If you aren't trying to bake without gluten, the same amount of regular wheat flour works fine.

Susan's Pao de Quiejo

A friend shared this recipe for Pao de Quiejo, aka Brazilian Cheese Bread.  Her notes:

Makes 2 dozen appetizer-sized balls (or 1 dozen balls and 3-4 single-serving pizza crusts)

Preheat oven to 400 DEG;. Boil the following until white foam appears (on stove or in microwave):

½ cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup milk

Add this hot mixture to 2 cups tapioca starch. Mix well with wooden spoon
and let rest for about 15 minutes. You will get white ball. Mix in 2 eggs
and about 6 ounces grated hard cheese* (e.g., parmesan). You will get a
gooey, sticky mass.

To form balls, cover hands with grease, use a teaspoon and quickly roll
into ball shape as best you can (they will smooth out during baking).
Better yet, use a miniature ice-cream scoop. Each ball should be about 1-
½ inch in diameter. Bake on lightly greased sheet or on parchment paper or silicone (Matfer) sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on size, until tops begin to brown.

For pizza, put about half the dough aside in a plastic bag in the refrigerator to use later. Take out the chilled dough and roll it into single-serving size pizzas directly on parchment or a silicone sheet. Prick it all over with a fork, to keep it from forming large blisters, and pre-bake it about 10-12 minutes. Take it out, top it and return to oven to finish baking.

*I like to use half grated, half shredded parmesan or other similar hard cheese.

Sufganiot

Mmm - jelly donuts for Chanukah!
And the RetroDome is selling them (as well as latkes with applesauce) during performances of The MeshugaNutcracker.
Could the festival of lights get any sweeter?

Gluten-free Recipes

By popular demand, I have created a gluten-free page on the Bite-Size-Green site.

The recipe section is fairly small at the moment, but will continue to grow as I test and adapt more dishes.
On the plus side, a few of them already have demo videos.

At the same time, excellent chefs and accomplished writers, such as the duo behind the Gluten-free Girl blog, have been creating marvelous recipes for years before I reached the scene.  I seek them out for inspiration, and frequently recommend them.

And other credible sites, run by folks with Celiac, already exist as well.  So I've made sure to include resource links, and would encourage readers who want to understand the medical and logistical details of living gluten-free as a disciplined practice to dig in to those.

The main thing to remember while delving into  the serious world of 'living without' is that a world of excellent, naturally gluten-free foods and ingredients exists.  A speciality grocery aisle is not your only source of nutrition and nurture. The more you learn to cook from scratch, the easier and more enjoyable the adventure becomes.

What the Dickens?

Steampunk being a fantasy world with strong Victorian elements, one can take liberties with the standard British fare of the era.
Dickens Fair being a Victorian Christmas bazaar set in modern America, some liberties are apparently called for as well.

For all those who came to see and be seen in period costume, to buy gifts for oneself or others, and to be generally entertained by games, music, performance and the overall atmosphere, many food choices present themselves.  Traditional pub grub like bangers and mash, fish and chips, and meat pies can be found at stalls adjacent to the more exotic Greek and Italian offerings. Fresh roasted chestnuts and mulled cider call the season to life (even while in the faux outdoors, inside the heated venue).  But modern coffees and chai can also be had.  Or, for the purist, tea. And for a splurge, high tea at 4pm. Lovely - just lovely.

Steampunk Epicurean

Pull a Google image search for "steampunk" and you'll see what steampunkers wear.
And YouTube has plenty of steampunk music videos.
But what do steampunkers eat?

Tea seems the most obvious choice - finger sandwiches, crumpets, scones, etc.
And everything else Dickens ever mentioned, or Jules Verne and HG Wells threw into their stories as incidentals.
Or, if you follow the Weird, Weird West off-shoot of classic steampunk, saloon grub.

But if you are going to create an alternate history, why not throw in some food realities of the re-imagined era, such as seasonality, locality and organic growing methods?  With, perhaps, some spices from The East.
Today's slow food dinners would fit right in.

Corn-o-copia

The horn of plenty, made completely of cornbread.
 A feast in itself.

Abundance and Gratitude

Here's how I feel wealthy: go to the grocery store, and get what I want to. Now, there's plenty that I don't want, and some things that I shouldn't get, and others that are just an occasional splurge.  But what a luxury to think first about whether we have space and upcoming needs (to avoid clutter and waste) first, and price second.  Brings me gratitude with every shop.

Even better was shopping for the food bank, and being able to get whatever fit the request list. Wealthy enough to share!  And deeply grateful for the abundance.

Yam Snacks

Yams - they're not just for breakfast anymore.  What? You don't eat baked yams for breakfast? You think they're reserved for Thanksgiving, as a second-tier side dish?  And, you concede, quite nice as sweet potato fries?
Well, they are quite nice as a snack, too.  As soon as the days begin to shorten and cool, I find myself craving orange food, and yams most of all.  First I'll dip a toe into autumn with one or two baked and enjoyed as a reminder, like the first cup of warm spiced apple cider.  But soon I'm baking whole sheets, and taking one to the office each day to eat as second-breakfast or as my mid-afternoon snack.  My favorite toppings are butter and a little salt.  The options for dressing them up, however, are limited only by time and imagination.

Yucca Sticks

The innovative brunch menu at Limon, a Peruvian, Latin-fusion restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District, includes appetizers like ceviche, entrees, salads, and a few tempting side dishes.  Since we love crispy, garlicky Cuban yucca, we had to try Limon's take on the tuber.

Elegant presentation was only the first notable difference.  With a very light frying and no garlic or salt, the crispy-outside, almost soft-inside sticks worked beautifully with the two dip options.

At home I will still prepare yucca my way, mainly to complement black beans and rice. But this positive experience with a different approach to a basically bland starchy vegetable has broadened by thinking about what makes it yummy.  Now I understand that being a savory host for garlic is not nearly the limit of its potential.

Basket Bounty

What could be lovelier to find on one's doorstep?

Gluten-free Pizza

Since dropping 80+% of the wheat I used to eat out of my diet, pizza has become a rare treat.  So rare that I never bother with bad pizza any more. Which, until recently meant saving up all my 'wheat points' for the occasional splurge at a really good local spot, like Rainbow Pizza (semi-deep dish) or Applewood (not deep, but not thin crust, either).

Then I stumbled into an Amici's Pizza, a nice local chain. All I wanted was a sense of whether their 'East Coast style' translated to a pie good enough to indulge in. To my amazement, the first item I spied in the heavenly smelling pizzeria was a gluten-free menu.  The real deal - ingredients and prep space kept separate, so that folks with celiac (or otherwise more strict than I) have more assurance of their safety.

But the real test came this weekend, when I returned as a party of three (OK, with 2 guests, not with a giant appetite).  We ordered drinks (soft drinks and gluten-free beer available), no salad or other sides, and two pizzas.  All the gluten-frees are 12-inch, which may help the kitchen keep them segregated from the 4 sizes available on the standard menu.  Were they pricey? Yes. Were they worth it? Oh, yes.

I still won't be eating pizza as casually as I used to, but now I can really enjoy it without worrying about the  side effects.  And I will, soon.  There's a whole menu to work through.

Prop 26 - Unsafe at Any Speed

Do you know what a food inspector does? And what restaurant conditions would be like if they didn't?

I really enjoy eating out; and I don't mind that restaurants have to pay an annual permit fee to local governments to cover the cost of regular inspections. Of course that cost of doing business is passed on to me. And so is the benefit of not getting food poisoning.

Does my local government follow standards to set that fee, and spend it on the service it promises to provide with it (as required by California law)?  If I'm unsure and interested, I can find out.

Do I want to be forced to vote every time that program, or thousands of others run by the County, my city, or the state need to re-authorize or adjust their fee structure in order to keep providing health and safety services to my community?  Nope.

Eat out. Enjoy the benefits of good governance (as the Canadians call it), and vote no on CA Prop 26.

Apples and Cheddar

My grandfather Paul was a Wisconsin farm boy, who loved many things dairy.  One of his favorite snacks was a sliced apple with chunks of cheddar.  On my homebound stop at Trader Joe's today, I enjoyed a sample of the very same (served in little paper cups, rather than off a plate).  Took me right back to my grandparents' kitchen. Autumn and nostalgia, an excellent pairing.

Corni di Toro

Take the bull by the horns!

Corni di toro sound hot, and look suspiciously like chipotles, jalapenos, and other spicy pepper vareities; but they are actually sweet.  So if you've skipped chile rellenos or other stuffed pepper dishes from fear of scalding your taste buds, try these.

This summer is the first time I've seen them in local farmers markets, so they may still be a rare find for shoppers. Fortunately, many seed catalogs carry them.

Zero-waste Plate

As Coastal Cleanup Day winds down at Ryder Park in San Mateo, the grill fires up.  Does the celebration lunch create more waste than the volunteers remove from the creek and shoreline?  Not by a long shot. In fact, the city aims for zero waste, employing compost, recycling, and reusables.  My favorite twist on this increasingly common event theme is the use of frisbees, turned under-side up and topped with a layer of wax paper, as the plates.  Volunteers may keep theirs as a souvenir, or leave them to be washed and reused.

Dahlias!

Dahlias may not be edible, but they do brighten a table.  At dahlia farms (free range, every one) outside of Seattle, one can stroll through aisle after aisle of these flowers, and never see the same variety twice.  Some specialty growers have over 300 types in one several-acre garden; and you would hardly guess that all of them belong to the same category of flower.

At the West Seattle farmers market, a hint of this diversity was represented in the bouquets for sale.  In my head I heard the voice of Ann Lovejoy, the first time I ever met her.  As I put fresh-cut dahlias into coffee cans of water on dinner tables in a rustic cafeteria, I heard a woman exclaim happily, "Dahlias! Nothing subtle about them."

And indeed, they nearly shout, "Look at me!" from any venue - field, florist's stand, or even a coffee can vase. They never whisper seductively, like a rose or scented vine. And they never ever attempt to be overlooked, like a few of the shy edible flowers.

Their brilliance attracts pollinators, to whom all of us who like to eat are deeply indebted. So perhaps in their own outspoken way, dahlias are tied to the table as more than just decoration.

Season Lengths

Finding strawberries in the local farmers markets from April (sometimes even February) through October (sometimes November) shocked me the first year I lived in San Francisco Bay Area.  The next few years, it still seemed odd but marvelous, a gift from a stranger too enticing to be trusted entirely.

At the West Seattle Farmer's market over the Labor Day weekend, the paucity of berries reminded me just how fortunate we are.  A half-flat of organic strawberries will probably not hit $10 here, even at the end of the season.  And the vendor in Seattle made it quite clear that the following week would be the last for his area's season.

On the other hand, he offered an item I have never seen down here - fresh blackberries. They do grow wild in the Northwest, in alleys and yards and public parks.  Anyone willing to get scratched and sweaty can easily fill up buckets in August, and make pies into the winter.  Perhaps I should have picked some of those up . . .

Bitter Eggplant?

What does eggplant have to be bitter about?
Could it be the way that so many get smoked down to a little bowl of baba ganoush?
Or perhaps the unjustness of its reputation as less than marvelous in any way?

Or - maybe it's the common misperception that all eggplant are the same, which this display clearly refutes (without even showing several more varieties commonly found in farmers markets here).

Gluten-free Waffles

Turns out, the gluten-free waffle mix found in fine groceries everywhere is not so fine.  Like many packaged gluten-free baked products, the mix waffles come out a bit dry and dense.  So I have been experimenting with making my own; and today's batch came out very pleasing indeed.

Wet Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
Half cup vegetable oil
2 cups buttermilk

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup fine cornmeal
1/8 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup (nearly) white rice flour
1 Tbsp baking powder

The Iced Tea Lunch

Some days I crave a particular cuisine - Thai, Indian, Chinese, etc. But some days when I have the opportunity to eat lunch out, what I want most is the experience.  I want to sit at a table, peruse a menu, and have a pleasant person ask me if I'd like more iced tea in my glass.  Diner or upscale restaurant, the principle is the same.

Occasionally, the experience transcends my basic expectations. At a hotel cafe in Sacramento, for instance, the tea arrived with a refill pitcher. The side dish options included sweet potato fries. The BLT used heirloom tomatoes. And the BLT was made possible by the procurement of bacon from a humanely-raised pig from a local family farm (meeting my own private kosher standard).

All this lunch lacked was the time to linger. But that, on work travel, would be too much to ask or to expect.

Plu-perfect

At the grocery store, you owe exactly what the cash register declares on its digital readout. At the farmers market, the vendor displays a price, weighs your produce, and then rounds down if he or she feels like it. Or you round up, if you choose.

Recently I bought a handful of beautiful little yellow nectarines, which came to two dollars and 80 cents. I was about to say "keep the change" when the vendor offered to throw in a gorgeous yellow pluot to knock off the last 20 cents.  Sure, I said.

I've never been a huge pluot fan - why cross a perfectly good plum with a perfectly good apricot? But this one specimen, a serendipitous purchase, was perfect.

Strawberry Toast

Who says dessert requires chocolate? Strawberry toast works equally well as breakfast, a snack, or a sweet treat in lieu of cookies, pastry or ice cream. All it requires is bread (home-made gluten-free shown here), a little cinnamon sugar, and fresh strawberries sliced on top.  Butter doesn't hurt, but can be skipped unless the bread is very dry.  Opinions vary about whether to toast the bread before topping it, or warm the berries as part of the toasting process.  I myself opt to toast, then butter, sprinkle, and garnish with strawberry slices. Anyway you do it, fresh ripe berries are the key.

Ambrosia

If you like cantaloupe, an ambrosia melon will strike you as, well . . . ambrosia.
I have never encountered one in a grocery store, but talked to the farmer at her booth during Hot Harvest Nights. Watch out, she warned - a whole melon can disappear before the second person gets to try it!

Could it really be that luscious? Yes. But I only ate half the melon on my first try.

Gum: Food or Art?

San Luis Obispo offers many good restaurants, and a marvelous farmers market.

But when you visit, look for Gum Alley. A dynamic piece of living art, locals and tourists alike add to the texture and colors of the walls.

If it grosses you out, search for it after you've dined.  If it delights you, go view it to whet your appetite.

Double Market Week

At the height of summer, every day of the week offers a farmers market somewhere nearby. Still, I normally make it to one only, based on convenience of time and location for my schedule, as well as what's ripe and what's keeping well in the fridge.

This week we ran out of eggs right after the first market, and held off a couple days until the next, in order to try the fresh, cage-free ones available there.

While I was steeled to absorb the sticker shock, it was not so bad as I anticipated.  The $5 and $7 price cards referred not to white or brown dozens, but to flats of 20 and 30.  Turned out a dozen brown were $3 and whites only $2.50, which beats the sticker at many local grocery stores.

That happy surprise left more cash in my pocket, allowing me to over-stuff my produce bag with peppers, corn, onions, spinach, lettuce, nectarines, and even rhubarb.

Arnold Palmer

What ever happened to Jolt Cola?  "All the sugar - and twice the caffeine!"
Never was a soda tagline so forthright.

The Arnold Palmer, or Arnie, mixes iced tea with lemonade. Simple, refreshing, and like Jolt Cola, a supplier of both forms of liquid upper. When made with real lemonade and freshly brewed tea, it should come with a warning label: "Caution. Instantly addictive. Side effects include refreshment, a burst of energy, and a subsequent crash." 

Tonight I made a tall glass at home, but decided not to photograph it.  Apparently unfiltered Meyer lemon juice (leftover from pie-making) and homemade seltzer create a fairly murky mix.  Tastes great - but not so photogenic.  The perfect pairing for tonight's stir fry.

Lemon Meringue Pie

3 key ingredients for a fantastic lemon meringue pie:

1. Lots of fresh, local Meyer lemons (preferably from a friend's tree)
2. Happy chicken eggs
3. Gluten-free ginger snaps for the crust

Use any recipe you like for the custard; but the first two items will provide the lightness for the meringue and the richness and freshness for the custard.

For the crust, most cookie-crumb recipes will do - the ginger snaps just provide a nice counter-flavor to the lemon curd.

Rooftop Garden Tea Party

One of Oakland's best kept secrets (oops - there it goes) is the Kaiser corporate headquarters' roof garden. Not to be confused with a roof that's had a few planters dropped onto it, or a sedum bed laid over roofing to absorb rainfall, this garden works as a full-fledged park.

As if the setting weren't magical enough, the event showcased the whimsical sound creations of a local group, complete with parasols for visitors to carry (somehow enhancing the auditory experience).  The operators of two antique Victrolas even dressed in period costume (of somewhat indeterminate period, but with great atmospheric value nonetheless). 

The crowning touch to this already extraordinary event was the elegant provision of a light summer tea.  To drink, carafes of lemonade and iced tea were provided. And to eat, sundry nibbles of fruit, nuts, and crostini accompanied the highlight - tea sandwiches.  Nothing makes me feel like a kid so much as eating finger sandwiches with their crusts cut off.  Delightful.

The Cuke-est Armenians

Armenian striped cucumbers are SO last year!
Well, OK - they're cool as a cuke every season.  A long, curly, striped standout. Rare.
But this year, the same farmers brought a second Armenian variety to market. Like its striped cousin, it grows with a distinctive pattern in its skin - more like a bitter melon, in this case.

What really sets it apart, however, is the crisper, drier inside. A little tangier in flavor, and textured like a seedless despite the tender center.  Possibly the perfect dipper for a bowl of hummus.

Moroccan Salad

Salads with an innovative mix of ingredients are never boring.  But they can be a bit too much prep work to motivate me to compose a really good one at home.  So I could not resist when I read the description of the Moroccan Chicken Salad offered at a restaurant recently.  In addition to a modest portion of chicken bits, it also featured

• chopped Medjool dates
• chunks of roasted butternut squash
• hard boiled eggs
• julienned carrot
• roasted beets
• toasted almonds
• avocado chunks

all tossed in a champagne vinaigrette dressing with romaine lettuce.

Could all that together really work?  It did, and surprisingly well.

Composting in Public

I had heard through the grapevine that the city of San Francisco had started curbside compost collection for its residents, and either offered the service or required it of restaurants.  These both seemed progressive and sensible, resource-conservative steps for a major city to take.  Manageable.  And I have been to conferences and catered meetings fairly often where the food provider places bins for trash, recycling, and compost out in the serving area for guests to use.  In all these situations, average people seem to either catch on quickly without help or manage to sort their napkins, plates, scraps, etc properly with a modicum of technical assistance and peer pressure.

So I must confess that finding the three-bin system in a public space, untended, still surprised me.  I ran across the containers inside Ferry Plaza, on a day it was overflowing with visitors, most of them shopping for food.  Not a soul hovering nearby to help the clueless distinguish compost from trash.  Could mere signage do the trick?  In fact, a peek inside the bins revealed as accurate a sort (it's never perfect, regardless of the setting or the crowd) as I usually see at managed events. 

While I always like to see materials handled properly to avoid waste, what pleased me most was the publicness of the set-up.  For the thousands of people who visit this site (and others like it throughout the city), and may not even have municipal composting available at home, it sets a great example.  Nothing jumps the obstacles placed before a theory (composting smells, attracts bugs, requires too much work, etc) like visiting decision-makers going home and saying, "Well, I saw it working."

Ferry Plaza - Indoors

Three days a week, the outdoor farmers market at Ferry Plaza in San Francisco draws locals and tourists alike.  What about the other four days?  On those 'off' times, well, it's just a great indoor market well worth seeing on its own.
The Plaza hosts an impressive collection of long-time vendors of food and food-related items.  A few notable shops include:

• Farwest Fungi
• Prather Ranch (pasture-raised pigs and chickens)
• Stonehouse Olive Oil
• Sur La Table
• Cowgirl Creamery
• San Francisco Fish Company
• Imperial Tea Court
• Boccalone (Tasty Salted Pig Parts)

If you've made the Plaza your destination and reserved well in advance, you can also dine at the Slanted Door.  If not, there are a handful of excellent cafes, as well as a Peet's Coffee and Blue Bottle Coffee shops for a hot cup or a pound of beans to take home.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

Is the Saturday farmers market at Ferry Plaza in San Francisco the best in the world? The US? The west coast?

The answer, of course, is completely subjective.  This market, which includes an impressive indoor component every day and vendor stalls outdoors on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, stands up to some of the best anywhere.  On Saturdays, when both locals and tourists have time to wander the Embarcadero, the market pulls out all the stops.  Multiple buskers play for the crowds, on fiddles, saxaphones, guitars, and more.  Hot food vendors offer a portable feast, best eaten on a bench looking up at the Bay Bridge or out at a flock of pelicans skimming the Bay.

Besides the remarkable atmosphere, the culinary ingredients on offer are nearly overwhelming.  Any produce in season can be found, from every-color carrots and potatoes to purple bell peppers and white eggplants.  With over 100 stalls, gorgeous produce is only the beginning.  Fresh shrimp, crab and fish can be found a few feet from goat milk, cage-free eggs, pastured animal meat, honey and preserves, and even herb and vegetable starts for the home garden.

Not until I overheard the words, "Thank you, Chef" from a vendor handing over a large pile of goods did the truly cosmopolitan nature of this market sink in.  If you are serious about always having access to the freshest, highest quality seasonal ingredients, Ferry Plaza provides a one-stop cornucopia.

Strawberry Love

It's hard to pick a favorite farm at most farmer's markets.  And at this time of year, it's hard to pick a favorite strawberry. 

But for strawberries, my all-time favorite vendor is Watsonville's Tomatero Farm.  Last week they offered three varieties: Seascape, Albion, and Chandler. Naturally I had to conduct a thorough taste test.  As always, the Seascape were lovely, a little on the tart side.  Albion were mellower. But the Chandler - oh my!  Super sweet.
This week the Albion were all sold out, but the other two tested out the same again.  So another three baskets of the organic beauties came home.
How, we asked, does this farm manage to produce the most luscious strawberries around? 

• Great organic soil
• A beautiful setting just past Mt. Madonna
• Picking varieties that thrive in this micro-climate

And, last but not least, the love.  It shines through in every bite.

Red Egg Revelry

This weekend, I had the pleasure and privilege to attend my first Red Egg party, a traditional Chinese banquet to celebrate a newborn reaching its first month. Hosted by the baby's grandparents, the party was held in a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, with a few dozen guests spread across four large round tables.  The lavish menu was served to each table family style, with about 10 courses arriving in pretty quick succession.  After appetizers and soup, the crab, lobster, steak, scallops, and chicken arrived.  Just sampling everything required pacing oneself.  The banquet continued for over two hours, not including the toasts and thank-you's, and the singing as the meal would down.
And the red eggs?  Each table received a plate full of hard-boiled eggs dyed red, with a bowl of pickled ginger on the side.  Iconic, but not so exotic as the jelly-fish appetizer, my favorite first-time taste. 

Platanos

Fried plantains, the sublime side-dish of Latin cuisine, come in several different formats.  This weekend, our local El Salvadoran cafe served them in long strips, as if they had peeled the whole plantain and made full-length slices about 1/2 inch thick.  In Florida, where they were a common offering at restaurants and cafes regardless of the menu's ethnic theme, the plantains were cut into chunks about two inches thick prior to frying.  At home, we cut chunks less than 1 inch thick and and fry them twice, mashing them flat on the second go in the Cuban noche buena supper tradition.

Regardless of how they end up on the plate, platanos maduros begin in the market as green plantains, a large, starchy cousin of the US-favored banana.  They mature on the shelves until they start to soften and the skins turn dark brown or even black.  When fully ripe, the sugars really sing in the pan, where they caramelize a bit, browning as they fry.  While I prefer my style of fried plantains, having someone else do the prep work is a real treat; and finding them so often in Florida endeared the state to me.
Add a sprinkle of salt, and there's heaven on the plate.  Crema provides a popular accompaniment, too. But why add to perfection?

Nosh

Grazing accommodates my metabolism - I get hungry every few hours, so I keep my meals small. But noshing provides the self-defense I often need against junk food cravings. Tonight, for instance, I walked downtown for a concert on the square. Too early for supper beforehand, instead I noshed.  A carrot sliced to scoop a little hummus, plus a half of a small avocado's worth of creamy guacamole, vaccinated me against the lure of street food.  Had I too rushed for that little bit of food prep, I'd have grabbed an apple and a handful of nuts to munch as I walked, instead.  But that would have been a snack . . .

Gluten-free Rapture

Although flourChylde Bakery does most of its business closer to its Marin County home base, it makes the trip down to the Peninsula once a week, May - September, for San Carlos' Hot Harvest Nights.  And I show my appreciation by always taking home at least one little treat.

In addition to traditional baked goods, flourChylde offers an array of luscious, small, gluten-free cakes. My favorite is the aptly-named Rapture, a marbled chocolate and plain/almond meal confection.  Like all of the cakes, it is pleasingly moist and substantial without being too dense, a tricky balance to achieve in any form of gluten-free baking.

This week, I may branch out and try the Little Black Dress again, or one of the other flavors I always neglect.  Or maybe one new variety, and one Rapture . . . .

Not Grilling Weather

Although much of our produce is following the normal seasonal patterns here - asparagus nearing the end of its run, strawberries in full swing, corn just beginning to show up in the farmers' markets - the weather isn't.  Seems the Bay Area is emulating Seattle.  The regular interruptions of spring sun and warmth with chilly, wet days has disrupted my seasonal sense of how to prepare foods.  I should be grilling (tonight's salmon and asparagus, for instance), but instead I hunker down in the kitchen, using oven and stovetop. The crisper is full of salad greens; but what I really want are more baked yams.

With a cool spell threatening to dampen Memorial Day weekend, I do hope that Junuary isn't around the corner.  If it travels down to the Bay Area too, I may have to demand a refund on the deposit I put down for California weather.

Maker Faire Food

Make Magazine's annual Bay Area extravaganza, the Maker Faire, just happens to be held in my backyard (well, at the Expo Center near it - my backyard won't hold 90,000 people in one weekend).

The fair draws the sorts of folks who read the magazine, visit the site for how-to tips, and/or watch Make TV - inventors, techies, gamers, crafters, eccentrics, eclectics and DIY'ers.

Makers are often resourceful, in the old-fashioned sense of the word: they use and re-use resources, taking items apart and repairing, enhancing, or creating something new from them.  In the dystopian world of speculative fiction writers, they will not only inherit the earth, but show us how to mine its waste piles for raw materials.  And they'll look funkily cool while having fun doing it.

Apparently, they will also eat well.  The Faire included many food related demos, workshops, and items for sale or barter, including:

• Composting demonstrations by our local Master Gardener program volunteers
• A vertical garden, constructed of pots planted with edibles and ornamental, hung on a wall
• Books on nearly-forgotten home arts, from traditional canning to growing crops from kitchen scraps
• A home cheese-making kit (with cheese queen Ricki Carroll's cow on it)
• A seed swap from the fledgling SPROUT seed library
• Some mighty fine henhouse models, complete with demo chickens

Box of Happiness

I'm always looking for reasons to stay away from McDonald's, because whatever's in their faux food really works on me - while I consume it I feel funny; immediately afterwards I feel bad; and a couple weeks later I want more. Knowing I have this weakness makes me avoid the ads whenever possible, as they very effectively work their subliminal magic, too.

Recently I rode by a billboard with just a giant splash of Mickey D's fries, and the words, "Box of Happiness" on it. And that's where they tripped up. While many have used the expression, and no one can claim the copyright, I still wanted to step up and tell them to cease and desist. For that phrase is used best by Alice Austin, book artist.

The authentic B of H is not loaded with fat and sodium, but with sound advice for fuller living - sleep late, throw a party, drink coffee, eat more pie . . . and not one word about fast food binges.  And until the golden arches offer something as real as that, I'm sticking with the Alice plan.

Ayurvedic Tea

A long, wet winter with colds that keep recurring, or a long pollen season call for the magic of Ayurveda. I can't pretend any expertise in the area; but I do have a sue-fire tea recipe from friends who know their stuff:

While the water boils, peel some fresh ginger. Drop a few chunks in a mug, and pour the hot water in. Add a large squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of honey, and a hefty sprinkle of tumeric. Repeat several times a day, until your lungs work well again.

When I don't have fresh lemon, I use a little dab of vitamin C crystals. The other ingredients really should be fresh; and sugar doesn't substitute well for the honey, since it can't coat the throat. As you make more cups, the proportions of the ingredients can be modified until just the right flavor balance is reached. Which is likely to be different for each drinker. As cold remedies go, ginger-honey-lemon-tumeric tea is much lovelier than any pharmaceutical.

A Tall Glass of Water

Annie Leonard has done it again!
With  The Story of Bottled Water, the creator of The Story of Stuff packs all you really need to know about bottled water into eight entertaining minutes. It's refreshing as, well, a tall cool glass from the tap.



She even includes some bigger-picture steps to take than my simple tips for switching back from bottled to tap water at home (including making your own soda with juice, tap water, and a seltzer machine). Cheers, Annie!

Produce after Dark

For my trip to San Luis Obispo, the one event I looked forward to with the most anticipation and curiosity was the Thursday farmers market, held from 6 to 9pm.  In March that equals dusk to dark, mostly.  Markets in my area target daylight-only hours, reducing their season if they start in the afternoon.  How would they keep the customers, once the light got sketchy?

As it turns out, there are four parts to the answer:

1. A street fair atmosphere - music and performers at several locations.
2. Open, lit businesses on either side of the closed-to-traffic downtown blocks.
3. Lots of hot food vendors, providing an after-work supper to shoppers.
4. Great local produce (such as the kiwis in the photo, from the only local farm growing them), at tables that often added their own lighting as the sun set.

As spring ripens and summer blooms, I expect the decent offerings of produce will expand to a real bounty.  As it was in mid-March, the greens from "America's salad bowl" were plentiful, with accompaniments of local citrus and other odds and ends.

Green Wine

Everyone seems to define the new buzzwords "green wine" a bit differently.  To some, organic is the key.  To others, using primarily IPM (integrated pest management) and preserving local habitat.  Some also count practices like not burning the vine clippings,  powering vineyard equipment with biodiesel, and growing some varietals without irrigation.  Like most products using the 'green' label in marketing, you really just have to ask the producer what they mean.  In the case of Wolff Vineyards in San Luis Obispo, the answer gets quite lengthy, pairs well with amusing anecdotes, and comes with a palate cleanser of great views and fresh breezes.

The Wolff family's 125 acres of Edna Valley vines produce quite a variety of grapes, including two whites and several reds.   None of the finished vines are mass produced, or marketed too far afield.  The family of vinters prefer to have a small, loyal following of repeat customers.
While the 55 acres of dry-farmed chardonnay intrigued me the most, the family has been implementing a host of restorative practices on their land, well-summarized on their website.  Getting the full story is just one good excuse to visit.

First Strawberries

Strawberries have been on groceries shelves here in the Bay Area nearly all winter.  But that doesn't make them in season, locally.  Lucky for me, the season for growers vending at my local farmers markets is incredibly long (generally April - October, with a bit of a shoulder extension in good years).  I only have to quick-freeze a couple quarts to hold me through the dry spell.

Finding myself a few hours south, and close to the Salinas valley's produce bounty, I was delighted to discover one variety on offer at the San Luis Obispo Thursday evening market.
I brought home a three-pack, about 3 quarts worth.  About 2 quarts worth, after snacking on the car ride home.
The first strawberries of the season always surprise and delight me.  They lack the height-of season exquisite sweetness of mid-summer berries, but make up for it by reminding me what that distinctive mix of acid and sweetness brings.  And by giving me months of simple, ripe pleasure to look forward to.

Big Sky Cafe

A recent work trip introduced me to San Luis Obispo, California, a charming college town (Go, Cal Poly!) nestled among gorgeous hills still green from winter rains.  For a place its size, it offers an impressive range of good eats.  Top honors this trip go to Big Sky Cafe, which was so good the first night that I returned on my only other free night, to try a bit more of the menu.

Although the interior is upscale-casual, the prices are very reasonable, the service friendly and efficient, the menu is clearly the star.  Three names appear inside the printed menu:  the head chef, the sous chef, and the pastry chef.  And all of them deserve credit the beautifully composed and ingeniously designed dishes.

Using the tagline 'fresh market cuisine,' the back of the menu thanks all the local producers of the noticeably high-quality ingredients utilized.

The Morrocan vegetable tagine over couscous was lovely, though not as stunning and complex as my first night's entree, a lamb shank with roasted vegetables (and potato-zucchini latkes!) that rivaled a fine osso buco.

The dessert menu, like the appetizers, salads, sides, and entrees offered, was not extensive.  But I would rather have a modest menu of great choices, with nightly specials rotated in for variety, than a huge inventory of mediocre fare.  The descriptions bordered on food porn; and the desserts lived up to their descriptions.  Shown above are the meyer lemon panna cotta (with blueberries and a pine nut crust) and the beignet with a dark chocolate filling (best shared by three non-diabetics).  The first night's delights, a Chinese 5-spice creme brulee with a garnish of sugar-cooked citrus slices, and an 'amor brujo' chocolate tart, were pure rapture.

Although I'd like to explore more restaurants in SLO, I'll need at least one meal each visit at Big Sky.

Reality and Revolution - Thanks, Jamie Oliver

Generally speaking, reality shows exhaust my patience in the first few minutes of contrived drama.  But I just couldn't resist watching the first episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  It's clearly scripted and edited to be the classic hero's journey, full of tremendous obstacles to overcome.  But it also portrays some truths about our industrialized food system in a way that millions of Americans not inclined to watch a documentary can swallow.  Using a British celebrity chef as the instigator for school lunch reform and general education in small town USA is clever - our notable home-grown slow food advocates (Alice Waters, Michael Pollen, etc) just don't carry the star power needed with those outside the choir.
The first episode provoked a number of visceral reactions from me, while watching, and a bit of cynicism on reflection; but my lasting impression is one of gratitude and relief.   When a show like this makes it to network TV, I have hope that a revolution in food policy and practice really is possible.

Eat More Pie

Alice Austin's most recent work, Box of Happiness, offers a few pearls of wisdom for those who seek happiness: read a map; throw a party; drink coffee; sleep late; plant a garden; travel far; buy shoes.  And my own favorite - eat more pie.

Matt Harnack, of Grass Fed Films, explores how individual happiness is magnified when pie becomes a community endeavor.  His 12-minute documentary, Pie from Scratch, follows a high-schooler from San Francisco's Mission neighborhood to Pie Ranch in Pescadero, back to school, and ultimately to the Mission Pie shop that he helps to run.  Excellent story-telling, with beautiful visuals.  Makes me want to visit Pie Ranch, and also to eat more pie.


Pie From Scratch from Matt Harnack on Vimeo.

P.S.  If the embedded video doesn't play for you, go to Vimeo to watch it there.

OysterGate ?

Drakes Bay Oyster Farm is part of the historic in-holdings in the Point Reyes National Seashore; and leases for a handful or farms there are managed by the Department of the Interior.
Point Reyes is truly a national treasure, worthy of preserving culturally and ecologically.  The Lunny family, when they bought the oyster company in 2005, took part in that preservation by cleaning up the existing operation and maintaining sustainable environmental conditions there.  On their Drakes Bay Family Farms website, they discuss the area's history and ecology, their practices, and the challenges they face.  Essentially, everything I look for when I research a food supplier.

Now the Lunnys, and everyone who enjoys their oysters, are in jeopardy of losing this resource, a vital part of Marin's local food movement.  The San Francisco Chronicle provided a fair and balanced summary of the situation in May of 2009.  Sadly, the situation has not been resolved, despite a public support campaign and the involvement of California US senators.

More recently, supporters pooled funds to create a 4+ minute video, called Oystergate.  If you can get past the presentation style (feels like a parody of a 60 Minutes expose), it's an easy way to absorb the history of the conflict between the Lunnys and the Department of Interior. 

Fish Wednesday

We've been truly blessed these past couple years to have a neighbor who loves to fish and love to share.  Along with the fish, he shares stories about catching them, and the rules about size, seasons, and numbers allowed per license.  He has strong preferences between types of trout, while I merely like the differences in their pretty skins and strongly prefer that they arrive in my kitchen pre-gutted.  I have learned to really appreciate the art of filleting, and anyone who will demonstrate it for me.

Besides the lake-caught trout, we've enjoyed a variety of treats from the SF Bay, such as Dungeness crab.  One of my favorites so far is fresh halibut (pictured here).

Although fish caught the same day needs barely any dressing up to be delicious, the gifts of the sea are so lovely they deserve thoughtful preparation.  Fish Wednesday, a blog by a friend of a friend, provides some inspiration and very clear instructions.  Pam covers both the adventure of finding sustainable seafood for sale (a doable feat in Seattle) and creating lovely dishes.  The photos (unlike mine) are always appetizing, showcasing the finished dish.

Cooking for One

When I was 18, I met a real live bachelor who cooked.  Not a man living alone who heated frozen dinners up, or ate cereal over the sink.  He shopped often, buying small quantities of fresh ingredients.  And then he prepared them simply but with real care, and enjoyed his creations at the table with a good wine or beer.  A good (European) role model.

I think of Gem from time to time, when single friends confide their solo eating habits, and when I have the house to myself for several days in a row.  Mostly I put together a respectable repast and serve myself with some care. (I'm more likely to make supper of guacamole and popcorn, or salad and yogurt, on a random night at home alone, tired after work.)  But I do notice that I kick my game up a notch anytime I have someone else's palate to think about. 

While Europe is by no means uniformly populated with great home cooks, married or single, there still remains a generally more respectful attitude about meals.  Lunch and dinner are for sitting down and eating something worth paying attention to, not merely ingesting during a rushed break between activities (or while doing them, in the car or on the computer).  If there are friends or family, schoolmates or co-workers to share the meal with, then there is conversation.  If not, there is music, reading, or people-watching for company.  When company is not present, you treat yourself as the person for whom the meal is served, the recipient of your own care.

Baby Food

Two of our friends recently had a baby; and sharing certain core values with us, they were concerned about having time to cook.  As it turns out, that's a valid concern.  Newborns want to eat practically every time they wake up - and they take their time doing it.  Then they have the nerve to expect that someone will carry them around, doing the baby dance and patting them lightly on the back.

Simple as it seems, this routine makes everything I take for granted nearly impossible.  Pop in the shower?  Not til there's another competent adult to key an eye on the little one.  Throw  a quick meal together on the stove?  Suddenly a herculean feat.  Even assembling a simple salad becomes a rare treat.

 

What could be simpler than salad?  Tear some washed greens, slice some veggies, whisk a little balsamic and olive oil together, and toss.   It only took me a few minutes.  But for the tired mom who'd been microwaving stews and soups and casseroles all week, just having fresh raw veggies was bliss.  Three servings of bliss.

Bite-size Remodel

Gentle Reader,
If you are lovely enough to read both this blog for my anecdotes and my site of the same name for all the non-story information, prepare yourself for a shock.
At this very moment (actually, all moments but now - I'm doing this, now), Bite-size Green is being taken apart and reconstructed.  Unlike a kitchen remodel, there is no dust and no having to eat out for weeks while the construction and re-decorating take place.
The host I am migrating to (yay, Yola) lets me build all my new pages, style elements, and navigation on their server before I move the [extremely valuable, I'm sure] domain over.  In non-tech terms, both sites will exist separately until I press the button to make only one show up when you type the site name in.

While the remodel is underway, you can take a sneak peek by visiting www.greenbites.yolasite.com
If you get a chance, please look at both and tell me how you think the new one compares to the old (bearing in mind that styling, links and pages are still underway - it's a beta version, for another week or two).

• Do the main categories across the top work better for you than the long list down the left side?
• Do you like the overall look and feel?
• Is it easy to move around, and find what you're looking for, and go back again?
• Are there any crucial features missing?

Kindly provide your insights at your earliest convenience, with my gratitude assured.
I remain, as ever,
Yours

Carb-alicious

When I realized how much better I feel not eating wheat, at first I felt euphoric - such a simple route to better health.  But then the creeping fears of deprivation began to rear their ugly heads.  No bread?! No pizza?! No pasta?!

As it turns out, going gluten-free is sometimes an inconvenience.  Eating out requires more care; and some places just don't offer much worth eating that isn't served on bread or with wheat noodles.  Thai and Chinese restaurants are a blessing, but Italian joints are fraught with danger.

Rice, corn and potatoes fill the gap very well most of the time.  Polenta is fabulous, and thai rice noodles are marvelous comfort food.  Homemade bread has turned into a regular treat; and it makes better pizza toast than the frozen gluten-free crusts do.

But pasta stayed a real concern during the phase of trying out the fancy brands from various health food stores.  The poor texture, complex taste and tricky performance (easy to cook til it falls apart, and hard to reheat well) made me even sadder than the leaden quality of store-bought pizza crusts and bread loaves.

Finally we discovered Trader Joe's house brand of brown rice pastas - penne, fusili, and spaghetti.  I serve them to guests without bothering to tell them we're enjoying a gluten-free meal, because they can't tell the difference.  And neither can I.  The simple joy of just making a quick bowl of pasta with red sauce is mine again.  I am complete.

Soup Season

Winter may be mild here - no piles of snow, no ice storms, and hardly even a frost to speak of - but it's wetter and darker, and sometimes very windy.  Which makes me crave baked dishes, and soups.

Today I threw some organic russet potatoes in the oven, and then stuck a big pot of (rice pasta) penne with marinara, sweet Italian sausage, and grated cheese in to join the spuds.  While all that cooked, I put together a big pot of vegetarian chili and set that to simmering on the stovetop.

Since chili tastes bests the next day, I may pull out the leftovers of last weekend's comfort food, a marvelous, hearty split-pea soup.  And for more inspiration, I may search Create TV's archives for Jacques Pepin demonstrating how to make his quick and easy potato leek soup.

Honey Teriyaki Salmon

When beekeeper Wayne Pitts appeared on the Bite-size Green TV episode The Buzz about Bees, he was a marvelous guest.  He not only shared humorous anecdotes, facts, and photos; but he also provided a cooking demonstration.  Like many good cooks, he tried a dish at a restaurant and said, "I could make this."  The result became his Honey-teriyaki glazed grilled salmon.  Naturally, it's best if made from wild salmon and with honey from your own apiary.  If you can't become a beekeeper by suppertime, visit one at your local farmers market (Wayne can be found in Palo Alto every Sunday) and ask for a local variety.

Ingredients (to serve eight):

• One cup honey, warmed
• One cup teriyaki
• A large fillet of wild-caught salmon
• Fresh leaf spinach, in bite-size pieces
• Two types of fruit, in small chunks (or whole, if berries)
• Blue cheese crumbles (or goat, if preferred)
• Walnut bits (or other nut, as preferred)
  
• Cherries tomatoes to garnish
• A fruity vinagrette dressing

To prepare:

• While warming the grill, fold a double layer of aluminum foil into a tray, and pour a layer of glaze into it.  
• Place the salmon onto the glaze, and pour the remainder over the fillet.
• Close the grill and let cook approx 20 minutes (med. heat).  
• Check to make sure the salmon is caramelizing.
• While the salmon is cooking, arrange the spinach on each plate.
• When the salmon is done (and cooled, if you like), place a portion on each plate,  over the spinach.
• Add the fruit, nuts, cheese and garnish to each plate, and drizzle with dressing.
• Enjoy the quiet while everyone digs in.
  

More Produce, Less Plastic

Trader Joe's provides such a more enjoyable experience than most grocery stores, it inspires me to buy as many staples there as I can.  My willingness to choose them for fresh produce, however, has been limited not just to items unavailable at the local farmers' market, but also to items not ridiculously over -packaged in plastic.   Until recently, that left only a few offerings.

Over the last year or so, the stores in my area (always a qualifier, as stores vary by region, with localized offerings for some items - New England dairies on the East Coast, for instance) have transitioned to more and more un-packaged produce.  Where once were stacks of clear plastic containers holding six apples like a half-dozen red eggs, now there are apple bins.  Where once only bagged avocados or red peppers on a shrink-wrapped foam tray like a cut of meat, now these items two have bins.

TJ's really likes efficiency; and a key reason for the old presentation of produce was its choice to not slow check-out down by weighing any item.  In the new system, anything not sold in a bag or carton (such as pre-washed spinach or pre-cut fresh veggies) has a per-item price.  Each apple or banana or loose orange pepper costs the same as any other of its type, even if they vary a bit in size or weight.  As far as I can tell, this feature has not deterred the loyal shoppers.  It certainly has not me.