Gluten-free at Jack's Prime

Several years ago, I gave a nice review to Jack's Prime Burgers and Shakes, in San Mateo, California.
I was wild about their burgers from humanely raised cows and turkeys (plus a really good veggie option), as well as their stellar chocolate shakes.

Burgers and a shake at Jack's Prime

Once I gave up eating wheat, I missed the burgers but enjoyed their excellent entree salads.

Recently I took some red meat and wheat-eating friends to experience Jack's, and was delighted to discover that they have added a gluten free bun option for the burgers. There is no upcharge for the alternative bun; and it's quite good. Better than Udi's, for instance.

So, now I'm pleased to declare Jack's my personal favorite burger joint.

Seed Catalog Season

The Cook's Garden catalog arrived in the mail this week, just in time for dreaming about Spring.

Organic, dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes

Leafing through it took me back to the winters of my childhood, when the ground was too hard to sink a shovel into and bare trees reached towards bleak skies threatening (or promising, on school nights) snow.

We'd sprawl in front of the fireplace with catalogs from Burpees and Parks, making our wish lists and trying to imagine the feel of heat and humidity that the photos of verdant gardens evoked.

These days, I'm not jonesing to turn over damp earth and nestle seedlings into their beds. I'd rather be cooking the ingredients than raising them, a task I leave mostly (and gratefully) to local family farms who bring their produce to my local farmers markets.

But the Cook's Garden folks seem to know this about me, for they've included tempting recipes and alluring photos. And they've called out the heirlooms and the organics. Now the seed of doubt is germinating - what if I can't find purple asparagus or pink-and-white-swirled chiogga beets at the market?
Perhaps I should try growing just a few things this year . . .

Hot Harvest Nights Cool Off

Just a few weeks ago, I stopped by my favorite local farmers' market after work, and really felt the "hot" in hot harvest nights. At 6pm, it was 90 degrees outside! The market was bustling with shoppers, and full of vendors with height-of-summer produce like tomatoes, eggplant, corn and zucchini. Since then, the days have shortened noticeably and the temperatures have dropped to autumn cool levels.

This market is one of the Peninsula's many locations that keeps a short season, opening in May and closing down in late September. (I hope to catch the very last one, this coming Thursday.) Last year, I wrote an article for Patch.com about where to find markets open year-round, or later into the fall. Now I'll need to consult it again, myself.

While I always feel a bit sad when Hot Harvest Nights shutters for the winter, there is something that feels appropriately seasonal about the decision. Set up on the main street of San Carlos, with businesses on either side, the good light falling on the vendors visibly wanes in the last few weeks of the market season. Could the city bring in lights and draw shoppers throughout the fall and winter? Probably. But the crowds would certainly thin, along with the lovely anticipation of the market's re-opening in May.

Let the Strawberry Bonanza Begin!

Frosty freezer strawberries

After years of living in the Bay Area, the start of strawberry season still takes me by surprise. April just seems so early. But the berries in my local farmers' markets are the real deal; and they are plentiful.
This weekend I bought a three-basket set of organics, and enjoyed passing them out to neighbors on the way home. Then I ate some more, froze a bunch, and well - snacked on some more.
The frozen ones make great ice cubes, as well as smoothie and yogurt parfait ingredients.
Best of all? From now until the seasons wanes in early fall (really! it's that long), they just get sweeter. This year, I pledge to find even more ways to enjoy them.

Tasting Club - Book Review

Dina Cheney's enjoyable book introduces socially-minded food lovers to a new concept: the tasting club.
Patterned after the better known book club model, members get together at each other's homes to sample one particular food at each meeting.
Dina teaches you how to host this type of gathering, including the ideal number of guests, how to set up the space, and what to serve as drinks, palette cleansers, and accompaniments.

Strong Points:

• There is very useful background provided on each of the highlighted foods (which have separated chapters).
• The how-to's for each would put any novice at ease.
• The recipes for accompaniments look tasty.
• Gorgeous photos dress up every section of the book.
• The perspective is well-educated on food, but not elitist - you need not be a 'foodie' to enjoy it.

Points to Improve:

• Stong bias for foods from New England may leave some readers at a loss.
• Local foods could be promoted much more strongly. The emphasis on imported foods serves to reinforce the 'good things only come from abroad' fallacy.

Foods Highlighted:
Wine
Chocolate
Cheese
Honey
Tea
Olive Oil
Cured Meats
Apples
Beer

My Twist:
Follow Dina's template, but highlight the best seasonal foods of your local area.

Saute Secrets Video

The first cooking demonstration of the season focuses on fundamentals - how to bring out the best flavors of fresh, local produce.
Laura Stec, chef and co-author of Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming, teaches technique to host Angelina Le Grix, using broccoli from the farmers market.

Food Banks

As much as I enjoy the latitude to write about renewable energy, green building, recycling, and the whole varied realm of more sustainable living, every so often I can't help but focusing the Green Views from the Peninsula column on food issues.

Last Saturday, my article on the Second Harvest Food Bank ran.  It highlights the fundamental green-ness of all gleaning programs, preventing food from being wasted. Green initiatives, like using hybrid trucks, or solar panels, or high-efficiency refrigerators, are really icing on a very healthy cake.

All over the country, food pantries and feeding programs take on this challenge. If my food bank distributes 45 million pounds of food a year, the vast majority rescued from being plowed under or sent to landfills, imagine what the totals for the United States must be. Staggering as it may be to realize how much food is available in a country where so many can't be sure of their next meal, it helps to know how hard program staff and millions of volunteers work to make certain that as much as possible reach our neighbors who need it.

Food by the Boatload

When visitors to Venice complain about the high cost of meals there, I don't hear much recognition of the effort it takes to get food into the city. Yes, prices are higher at restaurants that cater to tourists. And yes, the two-tier pricing system, for drinks and snacks taken al banco (standing at the bar) v. with table service requires decision-making that Americans are unaccustomed to.

Boat on Venice canal unloads to produce stand

But the high price of food overall is not a racket, despite the assumptions of many shocked travelers. Four euro for a can of Diet Coke! (Or 1.50 on the street.) Two and half euro for a single avocado! Seems exorbitant, until you consider what it takes for edibles to reach the neighborhood shop or cafe.

Everything that makes it to the city's interior streets  finishes its trip by handtruck, in small loads with a person attached. That person hand-lifted each parcel off of a small boat that fit through the small canals.

What actually surprised me, given the logistics, was how affordable many staples remained. We had an apartment with a nice kitchen, and so were able to pick up rice, polenta, fresh fish, salad greens, and wine on our strolls through various neighborhoods. The comparability in pricing of some basics to grocery prices at home made me realize how much of our food costs go to the overhead that large stores carry. By practicing those savvy shopper skills we often forget at home, we ate simpler, fresher meals that we lingered over and enjoyed tremendously. That really took the bite out of the occasional restaurant bill.

Floating Farmers Market

In Venice, one reason food costs so much is that it all comes to the islands via boat. Often from a big boat to a little boat, then by a handtruck to a cafe, hotel or storefront. In the case of items like canned soda, all that handling can drive the per-item cost way up.

When the process can be short-cut, food items stay much more reasonable in cost. For example, a boat that fits in the canals and only has to travel from the nearby farming area (such as San Erasmo) can offer produce at rates I would find a pleasant surprise in a grocery store in the United States.

People who live in cities with lots of tourists and inflated costs for basics must always find ways to adapt and manage. In the case of Venice, the best solutions also seem to come with the bonus of beauty. The floating farmers market by Campo San Barnabo fits the bill in every way.

Chihuly Onions

Back in 2005, Dale Chihuly had an installation at Kew Gardens, outside of London.

Dale Chihuly's floating walla wallas at Kew Gardens

One of my favorite features was the floating glass he called Walla Wallas. Except for the gorgeous array of colors, the actual sweet onions from eastern Washington do look remarkably like the art pieces.

We wondered, in Britian, how many people would get the joke. And what types of sweet onions are indigenous to Europe? Would we have been among the select few if he had called them Vidalias, instead?

Local Strawberries, All Year

Eating locally necessarily entails eating seasonally, as well - for the most part.  In fact, one of the joys of being a locavore is learning what ripens when in your area, anticipating that time, and making the most of it while it lasts.  Asparagus arrives in the market in spring, and for six weeks we put it in crepes, soups, salads, and grill mixes.  Tomatoes show up in the spring here too, but don't pop with flavor until late June or July (right into September, some years). For months, we go tomato-wild, indulging in caprese, tomato sandwiches, and a multitude of pairings.

organic strawberries fresh from the freezer

For many types of produce, just having them fresh in season satisfies me.  But there are a few items, like strawberries, that I want to use all year long. In season, I put them into many dishes; but in the winter, only into my stand-by breakfast and healthy snack, the fruit smoothie.  For years I bought bagged frozen berries from the grocery, feeling sheepish. Then I realized what a bargain a half-flat of organic strawberries at the season's peak really is; and I started freezing my own.  With a little forethought, it's easy to put up an ample supply for the winter.

Tips:
1. Don't cut or wash them until you are ready to freeze them.  If you need to store them first, put them while they are cool and dry into an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
2. When ready, de-leaf and cut them up in batches, then wash but do not dry.
3. Lay them on a tray, not quite touching, and place that in the freezer.
4. Wait a half hour or so, then transfer them to a bag.  The little layer of frost on each one keeps them from clumping up too much in the bag.
5. Put the bag in the freezer right away, to avoid thawing and clumping on re-freezing.

Roy's at Ko'Olina

Oahu has three of the small chain of Roy's restaurants. The two in the heaviest tourist zones, Honolulu and Waikiki, handle very heavy traffic and reputedly suffer an occasional miss under the strain.  Out on the leeward side of the island, however, the Ko'Olina Roy's is known to be spot-on with every single dish.

Butterfish, with bok choy and asparagus

Perfect presentation and perfectly prepared fish were certainly our experience tonight. Half of our party of six ordered the butterfish, which was indeed delightful. For just a few dollars more, however, the Hawaiian fusion prix fixe menu was a great deal. A tidy little appetizer sampler plate included one short rib, one spring roll, and two slices of slightly seared ahi with a creamy wasabi sauce. For the entree, I chose the macadamia nut-crusted shutome * (broad-billed swordfish), served with asparagus and new potatoes, seated over two savory sauces to complement the flavors of fish and vegetables. And for dessert, the melting hot chocolate souffle. A decadent meal, but not over the top.

Monterey Bay's Seafood Watch classifies Hawaiian broad-billed swordfish as a "Best Choice" West Coast fish. On Oahu, it also counts as local.

Spring Chickens

Ever wonder why eggs show up in so many religious and cultural events of the springtime?

If you ask a Christian the link between Easter and eggs, there is usually a short story about new life, re-birth, etc. On the seder plate, an egg appears with a rather different symbology. And in many varied places, people color them or make egg-rich dishes for spring festivals.

The answer, from a food perspective, lies not with the egg but the chicken. When they live normal, non-factory-farmed lives, chickens slow down production as the days shorten. Eggs in winter become scarce for  locavores - less protein, no custards, no egg breads, etc. And then spring arrives! The chickens celebrate, waking earlier, scratching in the new grass, and laying again. If you live near chickens all year, it's a real joy to behold, and a boon to the table.

One-Block Party?

Sunset invited its readers to take up a One-Block Party challenge, to use its new One Block Feast book as a guide and by summer's end orchestrate a party based around home-grown and home-made dinner ingredients. Although I let the deadline for entry (yesterday) slide by with only a little regret, it did get me to thinking: what can I produce in the limited and challenging setting available?

Generally, I rely heavily and happily on my local farmers markets, supplemented by a few friends or co-workers with gardens. Living literally on the water, with only modest deck space and some not-well protected pots to tend, attempts at nurturing any but the most hardy stock have been disappointing. Succulents do well, as do some very drought-tolerant, wind tolerant vines and flowers. And with great care, a few herbs, including basil.

So I'm going to brainstorm this one with my neighbors, and come up with a challenge both less prosaic than the usual 100-mile diet and more realistic than one geared towards folks with yards. We've got the most idyllic spots to enjoy a locally-crafted meal together. Surely we can craft a delicious challenge for ourselves. Stay tuned -

Gluten-free Bakery

As well as we've been getting along baking our own bread, making our own pizza dough, and using rice pastas from Trader Joes, the relief I felt to discover a gluten-free bakery near home surprised me.  Much of what Zest bakes in its San Carlos kitchen doesn't tempt me - cookies, muffins, sweet loaves, and mini cheesecakes I can live happily without.

For me, the ravioli and loaves of sandwich bread are much more critical to the savory pleasures of everyday life; and the occasional cupcake or brownie will please my sweet tooth.  And knowing I can walk in and order a basic sandwich, the one lunch item that all the great salads, SE Asian (Chinese, Thai and Indian) rice-using dishes, and soups or stews simply can't replace, is deeply comforting.

While I focus more on the abundance of good food choices that don't slam my joints and muddle my brain than on the few conveniences I should do without, some days being scrupulously prudent wears on the soul.  To walk into a shop brimming with good fresh-made offerings (and they are all good, based on taste tests so far) feels liberating.  Anything that appeals is available. I'd forgotten what that feels like.

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.

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.

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.

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.
  

Dry-farmed tomatoes

On the very last day of the San Carlos farmers' market (Hot Harvest nights are a sadly limited season), I found the one item that will haunt me over the winter. My favorite organic farm stand (which has the loveliest strawberries in late spring and early summer, and gorgeous sunflowers for months) discreetly displayed a small table of brilliantly red tomatoes (next to the assortment of typically mottled-looking heirlooms). Labelled "dry-farmed Early Girls," they made me pause and think twice. Picking one up, it felt dense and a little tough-skinned, compared to the delicate heirloom tomatoes.

Handing my selection of modest-sized reds to the vendor, I asked about the dry-farming aspect. She said the fruit is super-flavorful, because no extra water suffuses the flesh in the way we are accustomed to seeing in irrigated varieties. Which is why, she added, "They have a cult following."

In a land of foodies and culinary fashion trends, the popularity of one varietal does not impress me much. But one bite converted me to a follower. As Basha described the experience, "This is the tomato of my childhood." They have the intense, sweet tomato-ness of her uncle's kitchen garden at his farm near Joliet, Illinois (before the new Federal highway system bisected the property). Not satisfied to wait til next summer, we are searching for them at several year-round markets nearby. A worthy quest.