Perfect New Year's Eve Noshes...

I've fallen madly in like with Lorraine Pascale!

Her new show 'Simply Baking' is on the Cooking Channel but episodes can also be found on youtube. This lovely lady charmed me into making her simple but delicious little apps...it may have been more of a trance because I found myself talking to the television, eyes sparkling and laughing along with her as if I was in her kitchen. Whatever it was I was with it enough to know that during the holiday season this was a must! 
Quick and easy...two of my favorite things!

Here is the link to the recipes  
Sundried Tomato Palmiers & Totally Lazy Mini Sausage Rolls

According to her you need the highest end puff pastry all butter if possible.  We picked up Pepperidge Farm, I think it was the only kind they had but it was yummy.  One box with two sheets in it was enough for us.  You take it out of the fridge and lay it on a flowered cutting board five minutes before you start working with it.  Then you roll it out.  She said puff pastry rises more than necessary so you want to pound it a little.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

For the palmiers you sprinkle the whole thing with sundried tomatoes that were chopped up into smaller pieces.  We used the jar that is packed in oil so we had to rinse and dry them so they weren’t so oily.  Then we sprinkled on fresh rosemary that we chopped up into smaller pieces. Salt and peppered then rolled it up from the long sides like a scroll, meeting in the middle.  Wrapped it in cling wrap and chilled in the fridge for 30 min.  

Then we started on the sausage rolls. You take your other rectangle of puff pastry and roll it out on a flowered cutting board.  Cut your sausages in half.  We used two packs of Aidell’s precooked smoked chicken sausages.  I think they were black pepper & fennel and an asiago & basil.  I liked the one with spices better than the one with cheese, it was a little sweet and the cheese oils come out when baking…they still tasted really good.

To measure the pastry you lay the half sausage down then take a pizza cutter and cut a strip the whole length of the pastry that wide then do it again next to it since they will all be roughly the same size.  We ended up with 4 long strips of pastry. Then you set the half of sausage at the top of the strip and roll it down until you get the right length that will allow the dough to overlap and cut across all 4 strips at that width.  I think we ended up with 16 which was perfect because there are 4 sausages per package and you cut them in half so we had 16 pieces of sausage.  It probably took you longer to read this than it actually takes ;)

Now you beat and egg, and get a brush.  Lay the sausage on the top of the mini rectangle at the other end you brush a little egg wash on the other end.  Sprinkle some fresh thyme in the middle, roll the sausage up, press the pastry down around it and repeat. You lay them on the cookie sheet (I lined it with parchment paper)and chill them for 20 minutes. 

Take the sausages out and she poked them with a fork to make it look cute.  I poked one kind and put a knife slash on the other so we could tell them apart later.  Brush the top of the roll with the egg wash, don’t get any on the sausage ends.  Then put them in the oven and pull out your palmier scroll.  The sausages take a little longer than they did on the show, but the recipe states 10-30minutes.  They swelled a lot and ended up touching maybe I didn’t pound the pastry enough (think Whac-A-Mole!).  Since they were touching the sides didn’t cook so I had to roll them on their sides about 20 minutes in. 
 

Anyway now that they are in you slice the palmiers as thin as you can get, she said 1cm thick. My knife was probably a little dull because I ended up smashing them down a bit and the sundried tomatoes are hard to slice through so some fell out.  It didn’t really matter cause you can stuff the loose stuff back in and the pastry puffs up so you can’t tell.  Lay them out on a parchment covered cookie sheet and brush the tops and sides with the egg wash. 

 By now you are probably ready to turn your sausages (if necessary). The palmiers take less time to cook then the sausages so you end up pulling them out about the same time.

I really think staring at them helped speed things along....

Your biggest challenge is going to be stopping yourself from turning a little taste testing into an unstoppable two handed hand to mouth conveyor belt scene reminiscent of Lucy & Ethel!

...which in turn would force you into the market for store bought treats on the way to your holiday party with the rest of your neighbors which no one wants to do.  One, taste one (of each of course).


Wow, that was wordy!.  You could catch all this in a 15 minute show.  She's absolutely darling.  Enjoy! Happy holidays!

Sinful Saltine Toffee (a poor girl's See's fix)

The Perfection of Pre-Payday Pinterest Perusing...

While doing some fingertip exercises on one of those fabulously lazy Sundays spent under covers with a cup of tea, my mac and a  mystery marathon rolling in the background I stumbled upon Budget Bytes on Pinterest.  If you haven't checked out Pinterest heed my warning, it's addictive!


 'Tis season and I've been spread a little thin with nieces & nephews galore, holiday traveling, cocktail parties and the fact that there has never been a Cirque Du Soleil show that I could resist!

...needless to say Budget Bytes was a real find!  Beth has a ton of great recipes for those without a money tree growing in the backyard.

Okay back to my epically lazy Sunday ~ I'm surrounded by guilty pleasures but missing one essential item...CHOCOLATE! Sure, cravings can be managed but why?  If you find yourself questioning this then you know that giving in to temptation is not far behind.  Eventually there comes a point when one allows oneself to become frantic with desire, this was one of those moments. I wanted a special treat and I wanted it now! The search was on when what to my wandering eyes should appear...Saltine Toffee Candy!



 

The very best part is that I had all the ingredients I needed in my pantry.  The second best is the instant gratification bonus, this whole thing took about 20 minutes.

I was so excited that I twittered and facebooked the results of my obsessive search (photo above) and got some great suggestions for tweaking and holidaying this beauty up!  My mom/mentor said she attempted saltine toffee off of another recipe and the butter burned so really pay attention to the time and temperatures below.  Don't worry the longest you have to pay attention at one time is 6 minutes and that's what oven timers are for.  This created a perfect batch the first time around.

Budget Bytes.blogspot.com presents Saltine Toffee Candy 

Ingredients

1 sleeve saltine crackers

1 cup of packed brown sugar

2 sticks of butter

1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips*

topping walnuts or shredded coconut*

*My lovely friend Ashley recommended a blend of white & milk chocolate chips and using crushed peppermint as a topping...yes, she is a genius!  I bet mint chocolate chips would be fantastic!

STEP 1: Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange the saltine crackers in a single layer on the baking sheet. (break them in half to trim the edges if there is room on the sheet). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

STEP 2: In a medium pot, melt the butter and brown sugar over medium heat. When the butter begins to melt, give it one stir to combine the brown sugar and butter. Continue to heat the mixture, without stirring, until it comes to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, set a timer and let it boil for 3 minutes.

STEP 3: After three minutes, carefully pour the mixture over the saltine crackers. If needed, gently spread the mixture with a butter knife until all of the crackers are covered. Place the toffee covered crackers in the oven and bake for 6 minutes.

STEP 4: After 6 minutes of baking, turn off the oven and carefully remove the baking sheet. Once the bubbles subside, sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top. The heat from the toffee should begin to melt the chips. Place the baking sheet back in the warm oven for 1-2 minutes or until the chocolate chips are glossy (this means they are melted). Spread the melted chips over the surface with a spatula or butter knife.

 

STEP 5: If topping the chocolate with coconut or other nuts, sprinkle them over the melted chocolate and gently press them in. Allow the candy to cool at room temperature until hardened. (I had to put the tray into the fridge after it had cooled) Break the candy into pieces and EAT!

STOP! It's not okay to lick your computer monitor!

What's up? ... chicken butt!

I was so excited for this succulent little bird. 

I gathered fresh herbs, opened some wine and started browning.

I walked away to throw on a record (what's that take one minute, maybe two?) and came back to this!

Yes I did.

(what more can I say?)

The PG version ...

I just had to laugh...

Thankfully it wasn't Thanksgiving dinner for the family, although I'm sure they would've gotten a kick out of it...of course I'd never live it down!

The burned buns of my bird created the perfect little pockets for herbs and this ended up being the best chicken I've ever roasted!

My Absolutely Adorable Apron

 

 

 

 

Tipnut's Ripply Apron Pattern Vintage 1951

Securing her position as the best mother on the planet my mom made me this charming little vintage apron.  I adore it!

Tipnut is one of those websites that you can lose time on, they have so many patterns. If you have the talent or a mom like mine take a peek here.

Tipnut Apron Patterns

In this economy we are all tightening our apron strings Tipnut has a tip...

Make An Apron From An Old Shirt 

"When the collars and cuffs are frayed beyond redemption, use the rest of the shirt for aprons–little tie-arounds or larger ones. Patterned fabrics can be used from one shirt to edge an apron cut from another. Attractive combinations can be worked out." 

This could be a lot of fun, there are so many funky shirts out there! It would also make a lovely memento.  Give a newlywed an apron made of her groom's shirt.  I miss my grandpa every day, I wish I had an apron made of one of his Sunday shirts.

This may be the day a seamstress was born!

Coq Au Vin (pre-booze) Cockeyed Grin (post-booze)...in true Julia fashion!

When I got the call that my parents were coming for a visit my first question was how long can you stay and my second was what are we going to cook.

My mom is one of the best cooks I know but she is also easy breezy.  A loaf of bread, a block of cheese and some wine would've been just fine...you knew I had to get it from somewhere.

Anyway, I made the executive decision ~

we were going ALL OUT!  

At my diamond in the rough bookstore 

  Half Price Books  [which is so cool it has it's own blog], 

I came across a well loved copy of
Julia Child's The French Chef Cookbook.  

My mom and I were going to slay the Coq Au Vin dragon!

We smeared a couple sauce prints on the page in tribute.

Julia Child's Coq Au Vin

From the Kitchen of Julia Child

Servings: 4-6

Difficulty: Moderate

Cook Time: 30-60 min

Legendary chef Julia Child appeared on "Good Morning America" on
May 11, 1995, with her Ragout of Chicken and Coq a Vin recipes.

Coq au Vin is chicken in red wine with small braised onions,
mushrooms, and lardons of pork - an elaboration on the far more
elementary preceding ragout, coq au vin involves more hand work
since you have lardons of bacon to prepare for the special flavor
they give to the sauce. Then there is the traditional garnish of
small braised onions and sautéed mushrooms. This combination
makes a wonderfully satisfying dish, and a fine one for company.

Ingredients

1/2 cup lardons (4 ounces -- 1-by-1/4-inch strips of blanched
slab bacon or salt pork - see Special Note below)
2 1/2 to 3 pounds frying chicken parts
2 tbs. butter
1 tbs. olive oil (or good cooking oil)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 or 2 large cloves of garlic, pureed
1 imported bay leaf {Imported? It's one teenie leaf!}
1/4 tsp or so thyme
1 large ripe red unpeeled tomato, chopped, (or 1/3 cup canned
Italian plum tomatoes)
3 cups young red wine (Zinfandel, Macon or Chianti type)
1 cup chicken stock (or more)
Beurre manie, for the sauce (1 1/2 tbs. each flour softened butter blended to a paste)

{This wasn't in our book.  We just put a shit load of butter in there. It became an in honor of Julia  drinking game.  Take a sip, add a pad...it worked for us.}
Fresh parsley sprigs (or chopped parsley)
1/3 cup good brandy (optional) {Pssht}
12 to 16 small brown-braised white onions

3 cups fresh mushrooms, trimmed, quartered and sautéed

Directions

Browning and simmering the chicken. Before browning the chicken,

sauté the blanched bacon or salt pork and remove to a side dish,
leaving the fat in the pan. Brown the chicken in the pork fat,
adding a little olive oil, if needed. Flame the chicken with the
brandy, if you wish -- it does give its own special flavor,
besides being fun to do. 

{The one bottle of wine down, Julia Child possessed Carissa said "Hellz yes!" followed by a fist pump.  Mom said no while mumbling something about my place being a rental, wooden cabinets, a pot full of booze and an open flame.  In hindsight I should've hid the charred oven mitt laying next to the stove top that she couldn't take her eyes off of.}

Then proceed to simmer the chicken in
the wine, stock, tomatoes and seasoning as directed in the master
recipe.

Finishing the dish. Strain, degrease, and finish the sauce, also
as described. Strew the braised onions and sautéed mushrooms over
the chicken, baste with the sauce, and simmer a few minutes,
basting, to rewarm the chicken and to blend flavors.

Special note: To blanch bacon or salt pork: When you use bacon or
salt pork in cooking, you want to remove its salt as well as its
smoky flavor, which would permeate the rest of the food. To do
so, you blanch it -- meaning, you drop it into a saucepan of cold
water to cover it by 2 to 3 inches, bring it to the boil, and
simmer 5 to 8 minutes; the drain, refresh in cold water, and pat
dry in paper towels.

{We skipped this step.  We <3 bacon in all of it's salty & smoky glory!  Plus everything but the kitchen sink is in here I can't imagine how on Earth a half a cup of bacon would "permeate" the rest of the food...then again I have to beg mercy from the Kitchen Goddess on a regular basis so who am I to question the master?}

Mom's stamp of approval

Me blowing on the spoon just to reenact the moment since in truth I shoved the spoon in my mouth so fast that I scalded my tongue and dribbled sauce down the front of my shirt!
It's written all over my face...now you see it.
(of course my mom caught that shot but it will be buried in her memory card forever)

When the house smelled so good we couldn't take it anymore we sat down to an incredible dinner family style.  The records were spinning, the wine was flowing and memories were made...
I love you mom & dad!

Alice Waters ~ Chez Panisse

Chez Panisse

Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café
1517 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709-1516
(510) 548-5525

A little bit about Chez Panisse

Chez Panisse opened its doors in 1971, founded by Alice Waters and a group of idealistic friends. A neighborhood bistro, it is named after Honoré Panisse, a character in Marcel Pagnol’s 1930s movie trilogy about waterfront life in Marseille (Marius, Fanny, and César), as an homage to the sentiment, comedy, and informality of these classic films.

From the beginning, Alice and her partners tried to do things the way they would like them done at a dinner party at home, with generosity and attention to detail. The Restaurant, located downstairs, is open for dinner Monday through Saturday, by reservation only. The fixed dinner menu consists of three to four courses. The menu which changes every night is designed to be appropriate to the season and composed to  feature the finest sustainably-sourced, organic, and seasonal ingredients including meat, fish, and poultry.

Alice and Chez Panisse are convinced that the best-tasting food is organically and locally grown and harvested in ways that are ecologically sound by people who are taking care of the land for future generations. The quest for such ingredients has always determined the restaurant’s cuisine. Since 1971, Chez Panisse has invited diners to partake of the immediacy and excitement of vegetables just out of the garden, fruit right off the branch, and fish straight out of the sea. In doing so, Chez Panisse has established a network of nearby suppliers who, like the restaurant, are striving for both environmental harmony and delicious flavor.

~

I cannot believe I almost forgot to share my incredible experience at Alice Water's Chez Pannise! 

My foodies and I had this reservation for the better part of a month so the countdown was excruciating.  I checked their website daily like a stalker even though they post their menu a week at a time.  I have to give our escort Doug props for in true gentlemanly fashion he dropped us ladies at the door before finding parking rather than jumping out of the car while it was still running leaving us to fend for ourselves.  All of which would've been understandable, even acceptable...but that's not our Doug.

The old house that Chez Panisse takes residence in is absolutely charming. The entry is narrow and funnels you into a beautiful open, candlelit space.  The walls are papered with daily menus from over the years and the kitchen is wide open exposing the heart of Chez Panisse.  Upstairs you will find the quaint cafe which is barely more than a gorgeous bar and beautiful views who needs any more than that.

I still can't get over how incredible it is that the menu changes every day. They have two seatings each evening so everyone arrives and leaves around the same time.  I never considered what a different vibe that creates.  Your candlelit discussions aren't interrupted by all the anticipated comings and food coma goings and since Chez Panisse decides what you are having, the noise of picky orderers and a chaotic kitchen was nonexistent.  You are presented with a meal list and a wine list. Normally I think part of the fun of dining with friends is when everyone orders something different allowing us all to experience as much as possible but, there is something to be said about just showing up and letting someone else take care of you...and of course not having to share.  They only decision I had to make for myself was what kind of wine I wanted with dinner, although they offer a pairing.  All I said was big & peppery and I had a fantastic red in my hand in a matter of moments.  The ambiance enhancers (staff) slipped in and out undetected but as soon as you had so much as a sparkle in your eye indicating you had a question they were by your side offering their wisdom and guidance.

The Menu

An Aperitif and Roasted Almonds

Heirloom Tomato Carpaccio

Local King Salmon Baked In Fig Leaves With Sweet And Sour Fig Relish

Grilled Paine Farm Squab With Chanterelle Mushrooms, Romano Beans, And Squab Liver Toast

Summer Berry Clafoutis With Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

{I'll give you a second to wipe the drool from your keyboard}

...


..


.

I am a fan of everything tomato (well except for stewed, I have no idea why).  I pop cherry tomatoes like candy, eat early girls like apples, and sprinkle heirlooms with salt and pepper as a snack or a side dish ~ they are a staple of my summer diet. So I was delighted to see that our introduction to Chez Panisse was through tomato carpaccio.

The niceties began with salmon.  I like salmon but I don't looove salmon which some people believe should cause me to be stripped of my Californian card.  I thought this salmon was to die for...so you know it's sensational!

The crush came with squab...as well as some seriously off color jokes!

and we fell in love over clafoutis...who wouldn't?

I will never forget our evening together Chez Panisse...

"Parting is such sweet sorrow."

Poptart Pandemonium

The other weekend I was on kid duty and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try out this fun recipe.

Strawberry PopTarts

Ingredients

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour plus additional for shaping and rolling
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons ice water
• 12 tablespoons strawberry preserves (preferably organic homemade)
• Powdered sugar
• Fresh strawberries

Recipe

Whisk 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, coarse salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips or back of fork, blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water by tablespoonfuls, tossing until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Divide in half; shape each half into disk. Wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour.

Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough on floured surface to about 13x11 inches. Trim to 12x10-inch rectangle, then cut into eight 5x3-inch rectangles.

Arrange 4 rectangles, spaced apart, on each sheet. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons preserves in row down center of each rectangle. Top preserves with second dough rectangle. Using fingertips, gently press all edges of each tart to seal; press all edges with tines of fork to double-seal. Using toothpick, poke a few holes in center of top dough rectangle. Cover; freeze tarts on sheets at least 2 hours and up to 1 week.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake frozen tarts uncovered until golden, reversing sheets after 15 minutes, 25 to 30 minutes total (some preserves may leak out). Immediately transfer tarts to rack. Sift powdered sugar lightly over. Serve warm or at room temperature with fresh berries.

I was wrong...for two reasons. After two nights sharing a bed with Bruce and Lee I was bruised, battered and exhausted.  Secondly, this recipe was a lot of work with very little payoff.

I had to borrow my nephew's stylin' wristband just to keep my hand on while whisking/forking the ingredients for batter, USE A MIXER! {unless some dough puncher out there knows a rule that prohibits this and can enlighten us.}  Their sweet, sleepy smiles turned to frowns when I read out loud the step informing us that the batter needed to chill for an hour.  A couple games of operation and way too many episodes of iCarly later we got to work.

And work it was!  Rolling this out was like laying pavement (not that I've done that before but I found my internal dialogue was similar to that of a construction worker!)  Then I blew it.  I don't know what my issue with reading recipes is but I blame my exhaustion for this one...and it was a biggie.  I somehow misread it to say freeze for 2 hours again.  Leading to a symphony of moans and groans, mostly coming from me.  So I wrap the rolled out dough and put it in the freezer for as close to two hours as I could stand or approximately 35 "is it time yets?".

The dough was now impossible to roll any thinner so we just cut and filled.  We went with strawberry preserves and nutella.  As shown below this huge process yielded 4 pop tarts, 3 normal sized and 1 pop tent!  4 fricken pop tarts!!!

A lot of love went into these little pockets.

fancy forking

edible door stops!

we went through a gallon of milk washing these down!

The light at the end of the tunnel!

cinnamon & sugar pie crisps!

Maybe this recipe will be better

Serious Eats ~ Strawberry Pop Tarts



On the bright side I came up with an idea that may be fantastic which means I'm  actually willing to relive this experience again.  I was lucky enough this spring to check something off my bucket list...the Kentucky Derby.

While in Louiville we were wined and dined to the nines but my favorite meal was one we had in a little barbecue joint on Bardstown Rd. before heading to the airport.
Mark's Feedstore

This is where I tasted burgoo, a southern stew.  Ever since then I have wanted to make a chicken burgoo pot pie.  My thinking is if I'm going to try a burgoo pot pie, why not a burgoo "hot pocket" (nothing like Jim Gaffigan Hot Pockets!) All I would have to change from the above recipe aside from the filling is using salted butter and nixing the sugar and berries.

According to
Wikipedia ~ Burgoo


Burgoo is a spicy stew, similar to Irish or Mulligan stew, often served with cornbread or corn muffins.
Traditionally, burgoo was made using whatever meats and vegetables were available -- typically, venison, squirrel, opossum, raccoon or game birds, giving it its mocking name "roadkill soup".

Today, local Kentucky barbecue restaurants use a specific meat in their recipes, usually pork, chicken, or mutton, which, along with the spices used, creates a distinct flavor unique to each restaurant.

No standardized recipe exists, but it is a combination of at least three things. Today, the meat is usually one of or a combination of beef, pork, chicken, and mutton, often hickory-smoked, but other meats are seen occasionally -- the Hilltop Inn of Evansville, Indiana, as featured on Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt television series,^[2] serves a variety made with squirrel meat. Vegetables such as lima beans, corn, okra, and potatoes have always been popular. A thickening agent of cornmeal, ground beans, whole wheat, or potato starch is all that most cookbook recipes use today, but it is traditional to add soup bones for taste and thickening.
The ingredients are combined in order of cooking time required, with meat usually going in first, vegetables second, and if necessary, thickening agents last. A good burgoo is said to be able to have a spoon stand up in it. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and other savory spices can be added much like in Cincinnati chili. Some varieties use cider vinegar, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or chili powder. These condiments are often made available for people to spice up their own bowl as well.



I believe I have found the recipe I want to use...I'll let you know how it goes.

Emeril Lagasse's
 Emeril Lagasse Kentucky Burgoo

ZAP 'Iron Chef' 2011

Last week I was invited by two of my favorite people, Billy Grant of the Purple Wine Group and Janell Dusi of JDusi Wines (rockstars of the California wine scene!) to take part in a spectacular event put on by ZAP Zinfandel Advocates & Producers. If you haven't been to the ZAP Zinfest in SF put it on your bucket list..hopefully I'll be pouring!  ZAP is at it again, they have created their own version of Iron Chef where two local restaurants are matched up with two local winemakers in a six course cooking challenge with three star ingredients, two of which have to be present in each course.  The goal is to prepare dishes that aren't usually paired with Zinfandel and show how they can be complemented by them...all within a couple hours.  The teams were scored on creativity, presentation and of course taste.

Location:

City College, San Francisco

 Ingredients:

Peaches

Pork Belly 

(I can barely type that word without shaking!)

Cod

Teams:

Team Red -  1300 on Fillmore and Three Wine Company ~ Winemaker Matt Kline

vs.

Team Black - Hayes Street Grill and D Cubed Cellars ~ Winemaker Duane Dappen 

(my team)

The Menus:

Team Red

Bourbon Hickory Smoked Pork Belly

Celery Root & Parsnip Puree, Roasted Peaches

paired with ZAP 2009 Heritage Vineyard

Black Cod, Smoked Ham Hock-Red Wine Sauce

Shelling Pea Cake

paired with 2008 Old Vine, Contra Costa County

Grilled Ribeye Steak

Yukon Gold Potato Hash, Beurre Rouge

paired with 2008 Evangelho Vineyard, Contra Costa County

Mississippi Mud Pie

Roast Peaches Compote

paired with 2004 Trinitas Revelation, Late Harvest Cuvee

Team Black

Grilled Shrimp Wrapped In Crispy Pork Belly

Gingered Peach Dipping Sauce, Garnished With Fried Tofu & Black Sesame Seeds

paired with ZAP 2009 Heritage Vineyard

Salad of Seared Scallops

Daikon, Mizuna, Peaches, Shiso & Pork Belly Lardons, Ponzu-Ginger Dressing & Yuzu Cream

paired with 2007 Napa Valley Zinfandel

Fall Stew

Rock Cod, Clams, Pork Belly & Kabocha in Mirin-Dashi-Spy broth, 

Garnished With Toasted Nori & Green Onions

paired with 2007 Korte Ranch Zinfandel

Peach & Yuzu Galette

Gingered Cream, Toasted Almonds & Candied Pork Belly

paired with 2005 Late Harvest Zinfandel

As intensely incredible as that sounds all I heard was Charlie Brown's teacher in between the words professional kitchen, rockstar chefs, fancy food, fantastic wines and no dishes.  We were so excited just to be there!  Competition mode kicked in much later.  I've never had to create edible magic in such a small amount of time.  At my house we eat when it's ready, but at City College food must be plated be 7:30p.m.

Team Black a.k.a. The Motley Crew ~ We're a lot tougher then we look, as team red came to find out! P.S. We had to hold Janell back!  That's my spanking hand! Jonni's not really waving, it's a karate chop AND yes, Tony (the guy in the back) is certifiable!

We had no idea what to expect when entering the halls of the culinary arts department.  We were greeted with smiling faces, handed name tags (one of the few times I haven't been inclined to use an alias) and given our colors.  There was some friendly bantering between black and red...picture the news team battle of 'Anchorman' but with kitchen utensils!

This post is going to sound more biased than I would like it to, not because I have anything against the team red but because we were so crazy busy once we walked through those doors I almost forgot the red team was on the other side of our kitchen.  So sorry, no secret tips or even any photos of our challengers. 

 As the kitchen doors opened the glazed deer in the headlight looks fell off our faces, jokes/heavy hints about CamelBaks for the wine turned to murmurs and nervous chuckles as we stared in awe. Eventually we pulled ourselves together, toasted, cheered, high-fived a little about how rad we are and rushed to our corner of the "boxing ring".  Our Mickey was Rob Zaborny.  His quiet but confident command of his crew insured our success.  

"The Rob" whipping up ponzu-ginger dressing.

Forget gin & juice when there is ginger juice!

ginger tip:  use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin and then peel the ginger and squeeze the pile of ginger into whatever you are seasoning...no more grating, slicing or dicing!

Pork Belly Wrapped Prawns, Wine and Crazy Tony what could be better?

Oh...it's on!

Billy searing scallops.

Lots and lots of scallops...

Candied Pork Belly...more flashy than diamonds in this joint!

Perfect little peach pockets!

The madness is over...or so we thought.

We've rushed to beat the clock and we are ushered (more like rolled) to our tables to partake in this epic eating event after several taste tests and wine samples.  Each course was introduced by it's creator.  The way Rob described his thought process and how he pulled the flavors together to make everything pop it's no wonder his restaurant is the staple of Hayes Valley that it is.  David of 1300 on Fillmore's velvety British accent should be considered an additional ingredient. Rob's (later dubbed "The Rob") courses were light, crisp and exploded with flavor.  David's courses were big hearty hints of home cooking that warmed your very core.  I have never been so happy not to be a judge!  It seemed neck and neck.

The winner was finally revealed although we truly all felt like winners after our date with gluttony!

"The Rob" took honors and it was well deserved.  

Both Rob and David were gracious and charming.  I plan on paying a visit to Hayes Street Grill next time I catch a show in the Civic Center District and 1300 on Fillmore for Gospel Sunday Brunch!  Look them up when planning a trip into the City, you won't be disappointed.