Spring

Saison (french word for spring) http://saisonsf.com/ is this lovely little restaurant in the French tradition tucked away in the back of The Stable Café http://stablecafe.com/ on Folsom Street in the Mission. You enter the restaurant through the industrial kitchen that connects The Stable Café with Saison. The dining room is inviting in the modern farmhouse style; a large communal dinning table in the center of the round surrounded by tables of four; the dining room seats roughly 30 people. The walls are adorned with artwork and the tables all have simple floral arrangements.

It was this past Sunday evening when my husband, a friend and I dinned at Saison. We had a long, leisurely delightful meal and a magical dining experience! We had the wine pairing with our meal, I was a little concern because our friend is Brian Duncan http://www.bin36.com/brian.html wine director at Bin 36 in Chicago http://www.plumtv.com/videos/2009-food-wine-classic-video-bin-36s-wine-director-brian-duncans-grand-tasting-tent-picks/index.html, he know his was around wine and food and Saison delivered! The food is fresh Saison claims “each morning our menu is crafted from scratch. We source all of our ingredients from the surrounding land and our network of small farms, ranches and fisherman” and it taste like it!
The food was so beautiful, simple, clean and precise in its presentation and flavor profile. Every course left us speechless and satisfied beyond belief waiting to experience the next plate. After every course I proclaimed it my favorite; the oyster and egg stood out. Brain said that the dessert was the best he ever had in his life!

Menu
Little leeks, Sweetwater oyster jus, wild caviar
Bailly-Lapierre Cremant de Bourgogne, France

Our farm EGG, smoked butter & golden trout roe

Garden vegetables & herbs cooked various ways
Can Feixes Penedes, Spain 2008

Roots stewed with bonito, caramelized flowering rabes
Domaine Seguinot Bordet Chablis, Burgundy France 2007

Crimson BEET aigre-doux, hibiscus & bone marrow
Poggio Argentiera Morellion de Scansano, Tuscany, Italy 2008

Poularde, whole-roasted with podi spides, almond milk, natural jus
Copani Pinot Noir “ tous ensemble” Mendocino 2007

Point Reyes Inverness, sun-toasted walnuts

Satsuma Creamsicle

Chocolate-walnut crumble, salted caramel ice cream

Saison is so very refreshing like spring, although it is expensive the meal and the experience was worth every cent! Chef Joshua Skenes is a master a shinning star on the culinary scene in San Francisco. I can’t wait until my next experience at Saison!

chef joshua & brian

Chocolate Month

It’s February – Chocolate Month; I was in Chicago for Valentine’s Day (I will muse about that later) so I missed having chocolate for Valentine’s Day. I have been craving chocolate for days so I decided to do something about it. Now in all honesty I have cravings for chocolate and may other things all of the time, I just thought the post Valentine’s Day craving was a nice lead into this blog.

Last night watching Bobby Flay Throw Down on HGTV the challenge was brownies, after watching that show I decided to make brownies would full fill my chocolate fix. Checking the pantry I found that I had almost all of the ingredients and what I didn’t have I could pick up from the store. Gooey fudgy brownies are the only ones for me. This brownie recipe started off as someone else but I have made so many adjustments to the recipe that it is truly mine. Remember the better the ingredients the better the brownie; enjoy this recipe and make your own adjustments if you like!

Johnnie’s Brownies

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (the good stuff, it makes a difference)
4 large eggs
I cup macadamia nuts (or whatever you like)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Sift the flour, 1 cup of sugar and salt together in food processor bowl (you can do this by hand if you want & if so you would put these dry ingredients into a bowl.).
3. Melt the butter and chocolate (not the chocolate chips) in a medium saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently and keeping a watchful eye on the pot to make certain the chocolate doesn’t scorch. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture and stir for 30 seconds or so, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
4. Little by little, pour chocolate mixture into the food processor bowl alternating adding the eggs, pulse constantly scraping the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
5. Pour and scrape the batter in to a buttered 12-inch glass pan (I prefer a glass pan when baking brownies, I like the chewy bottom) and fold in the nuts & chocolate chips. (I rough chopped some of the nuts and sprinkled them over the top)
6. Bake the brownies for approximately 30 minutes (remember it depends on your oven so use your judgment), during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry.
7. Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack.
I made a simple ganache with some of the chocolate chips and a little whipping cream to drizzle over the top of the brownies.