The Marketplace in Bernal Heights

Bernal Heights is happening, with the opening of The Marketplace at 331 Cortland an “indoor street food” marketplace earlier this year (I think). Cortland Avenue is sort of Main Street for Bernal Heights, it had been awhile since we explored Cortland Avenue until one of our neighbors turned us on to The Marketplace. The Marketplace consists of places to pick up organic local treats and it also houses a Cutlery;

• Della Terra Organics
• ICHI Lucky Cat Deli
• Wholesome Bakery
• Paulie’s Pickling
• El Porteño Empanadas
• Bernal Cutlery

Pickles from Paulie’s Pickling was the first thing I tried when our friends served them one evening, the next day or so we made it up the hill to check out this place that produced great pickles that she was raving about. Our first visit was one morning and not everything was open so we tried again when friends were visiting and that was the first time we tried empanadas from El Porteno http://www.elportenosf.com/. The empanadas are the best I have had outside of Argentina; my favorites are the chicken and the mushroom. My husband like the jamon and our friends liked the sweet corn; I am sure that I would have liked all of them but I only tried the chicken and the mushrooms.

We have had the Pickles Corn and Tomatillo Salsa from Paulie’s Pickling and our friends tasted and purchased some really truly hot sauce, it was good but way too hot for me. The Marketplace in Bernal Heights is a place that should not be missed; next time we are taking knifes to be sharpened. That’s all for now it’s time to eat my empanadas – Cao!

Rock Fish Confit

The other night I watched Iron Chef as I often do but I don’t usually see anything that I could ever imagine preparing myself. The ingredient for this episode was fish (I don’t remember what kind). The challenger prepared a fish confit for one of his dishes. Yesterday, I planned to prepare rock cod for dinner.

Around dinner time I begin to think about how I might prepare the fish so I began looking in my cupboard, freezer and the refrigerator for ideas. There it was in the refrigerator a partial container of duck fat, the light bulb lite up - - I remembered the Iron Chef preparing a fish confit so I decided to git it a try since I had all of the ingredients.

I have a little herb garden on my patio, with thyme, rosemary, and chives and sage - - I sniped a little thyme and chives to add to the duck fat along with a clove of garlic, then into the oven 175 degrees for 30 minutes. While the fat was heating slowly I begin preparation of my side dish; asparagus and lemon risotto. 30 minutes later I added the fish to the duck fat for about 10 minutes. The fish was like butter, you could hardly pick it up with a fork and meal was rockin!

I hadn’t planned on blogging about this but I was encouraged by a foodie friend that said “how many people have duck fat in the fridge” - - that was my inspiration for this blog. Thank you Hungry Dog!!!!

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

For the past four years we have made our annual pilgrimage to Ashland Oregon for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival http://www.osfashland.org/. This year the festival celebrated 75 years of continuous operation, which is quite a feat indeed! Every year we struggle with the right time of year to visit the festival because the weather is variable in Southern Oregon. The first year we went early October and nearly froze to death, the following year we went in May and was faced with the rain, last year we went over the Memorial Day holiday and again it was cold. We decided to go mid June this year in hopes of good weather and once again it was cool and overcast; but that didn’t stop us from having a good time.

We purchased our tickets in January deciding on four plays and a backstage tour. The plays we chose were Hamlet, Merchant of Venice, Pride and Prejudice, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. At the same time we purchased our tickets we should have secured our lodging but as usual we didn’t do that but we found lodging a couple of months before we left at the Plaza Inn & Suites at Ashland Creek. We have stayed all around Ashland and you can usually find very nice lodging. This was our second stay at the Plaza Inn and we would definitely stay there again but we will make our lodging arrangements earlier so that we can get the room we want.

Ashland Oregon is roughly 350 from San Francisco nestled in the hills just across the California State line. You’ve got a few options to get there - - you could fly from San Francisco to Medford Oregon and get land transportation to Ashland. Rail is also an option I’m told but we have never figured out how it really works; once someone told us we would have to take a bus to Oakland then a train to Medford. The other option is to drive where it takes you from 5 – 6 hours depending on stops to get there, this is the option we have chosen every time. We make a fun road trip out of it. For the past two years are good friends from Chicago have joined us for the Ashland trip. This year they flew in the morning of the 14th of June, picked up a SUV at the airport and drove to our place to begin the trip.

When they arrived at our place the table was set for brunch, I made a quiche and a mixed green salad with sweet peas (they are so good this time of the year). After lunch we threw our bags in the SUV and took to the road. Our friend RD drove, he prefers driving to riding and we prefer riding to driving so it worked out perfectly!

We arrived in Ashland early evening, settled into our rooms, and went out searching for wine at Liquid Asset, one of our favorite places, and a place for a nice relaxing dinner. Thai Pepper was the restaurant choice for our first evening; we sat on the patio overlooking Ashland Creek and had a nice meal and a really good refreshing drink. Our first night in Ashland was an early evening; we slept like new born babies.

The next day was free to explore because our play wasn’t until 8:30 pm. Following a suggestion from the concierge we went to the Rough Valley Growers Crafters Market. Our concierge said it was a short walk, she lied it was a really long walk but we made the most of it. The market was fun when we finally got there; it was light on crafts but had wonderful produce and foodstuff. I bought some wonderful goat cheese, strawberries and chocolate - - a little something for the room. I also, sampled one of the best tamales I have ever had from one of the local vendors - - it was spicy chicken tamale. The masa was soft and creamy and the chicken was tender and spicy; beautifully seasoned and balanced! After the market we walked back to town stopping off at Co – Op grocery store to pick up a few more items for an in room picnic before the theater.

It’s finally show time first night and Hamlet was our first play. It is important to note that the festival uses a color, race and gender blind cast and they also have deaf actors in the company; this is so provocative which is one of the reasons we love the festival! This Hamlet was edgy set in modern day Denmark. When you entered the theater Hamlet was sitting on stage holding vigil at his father’s casket. He sat there all decked out in his black suite and shades until the play began - - powerful and awesome! Everyone knows the story but this telling made the play fresh.

Side bar: a woman sitting a couple of seats away from me on the front row remembered me from the hotel so she decided to have a little chat with me during intermission where she said “I didn’t like the two antagonist being played as lesbians especially the Asian woman playing a man and I don’t like the Gertrude character - - after all it is Denmark for God’s sake” - - this is a true story. Gertrude was played by an African American woman. My respond to the woman was “the play takes place in modern time - - have you ever been to Denmark because they have all color and types of people living there.” I was going to say something else but she replied “that’s a good point”, she went back to her seat and we never spoke again. We didn’t let that spoil our evening; our friend summed it up perfectly by saying “people like that should stay home”! The woman was from the “bubble” San Francisco.

Most of our plays were in the evening so the days were generally spent shopping in sales tax free Oregon and exploring the quaint neighboring town of Jacksonville. Jacksonville is nestled among rolling hillsides of evergreens, at the entrance to the Applegate Valley Wine Country. Having preserved its gold rush roots from the

1800's, it is one of few towns able to boast its designation as a National Historic Landmark. The quaint brick and wooden buildings now house an eclectic mix of shops, plentiful restaurants, spas, and unique lodging- not to mention fantastic wineries dotted along the valley. Two of my best meals were in Jacksonville; lunched at Bella Union where the Oregon beer went nicely with a delicious roast beef sandwich and dinner one evening at the Carriage House where I had a deconstructed Cesar Salad - - delicious!

We enjoyed the afternoon at Fiasco Winery leaving there with wine, balsamic vinegar, mustard and wonderful memories; Dave the proprietor was awesome. We went to the Rough Valley Cheese Shop where we tasted an assortment of cheeses and brought home smoked blue cheese. The Lillie Belle Farms Handmade Chocolate shop supplied us with salted caramels.

We had a lovely visit at The Rough Valley Gallery and a market in Medford. Honestly, Medford lacked a lot to be desired although we did find a little outlet mall with two shops were we were able to purchase a couple of pieces of clothing at a real discounted price.

Our second play was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I loved – loved – loved the set in all of it’s simplicity and the character of Britt was excellently played as the numb alcoholic. The next night we saw The Merchant of Venice in the Elizabethan outdoor theater; I love that theater, it’s beautiful to see a play as it would have been performed in the 17th century because you had to suffer to enjoy the experience. The days were cool in Ashland and the nights in an open arena was frigid. Because I experienced the Elizabethan stage last year I was somewhat better prepared this year; I put on pretty much all of the clothing that I brought with me - - next year I am bringing a blanket!!!!

Our last day in Ashland started with a back stage tour - - the tour took me back to my days in costume design at the Goodman Theater. It is amazing to see all of the back stage work that goes into producing a play. We saw the set of Pride and Prejudice, our last play as it was being prepared for the matinee performance and the tour ended on the stage of the Elizabethan Theater. The back stage tour led by one of the actors was a highlight of the trip. After the back stage tour we had lunch at Standing Stone Brewery before our matinee performance. We dined there earlier in the week and decided to return; I had ribs and sweet potato fries one time and a pizza the next but my husband ordered the burger both times and it was really good. The next time I eat at Standing Stone Brewery I’m going straight for the burger.

I’m not a real big fan of Jane Austin but I really enjoyed Pride and Prejudice the play, sitting to my left in the theater was two young girls and they were quite demonstrative in their enjoyment of the play and it rubbed off on me. Once again Ashland delivered a wonderful experience!

Saturday morning we loaded up the SUV with our luggage and new purchases and took to the road towards San Francisco. We stopped for gas in Yreka and stumbled into a street fair The State of Jefferson Vigilance Committee Re-enactors! Folks were dressed up in western gear all over town and there was a Chili contest. We stayed for about an hour mingling with the towns’ folk and we tasted all nine chilies in the contest, and voted. This stop was a very nice surprise! One more stop at a farm stand to pick up a basket of stone fruit to bring home.

Our friends visited with us for a few more days in San Francisco and I made a Cherry Clafoutis (Julia Child’s recipe) with the cherries we picked up at the farm stand. We had a ball and we are looking forward to our next adventure!

huile d'olive - aceite de oliva - olive oil

It’s been a week now and I have been meaning to blog about the delectable olive oil poached halibut I prepared last Saturday but my busy schedule got in the way. A week later I now have time to share this wonderful preparation and more. Leading up to last Saturday I dinned out a few days in a row with a fairly heavy meat and poultry diet so it was time for fish. A trip to the farmers market was in order where I picked up halibut and other ingredients for the evenings meal and the next day. Because I choose halibut I wanted a delicate preparation so I decided to poach the fish in olive oil.

Never having prepared fish this way did not concern me – I have poached fish before in juices so how different could it be. I also, decided that I did not need to spend any time looking up recipes for such a simple preparation. When I returned from the market the first thing I decided to do was to infuse the olive oil with aromatics and let the infused olive oil stand until I was ready to poach the fish.

Infused Olive Oil
1 ½ c. olive oil (you should use as much as it takes to cover your fish)
1 clove garlic
Lemon
Sprig rosemary
Dash red pepper flakes
¼ t. salt & pepper
Tablespoon capers
Spring Onion

When I was ready to prepare the fish later in the day I preheated the oven to 250 and placed the infused olive oil into the oven for 30 minutes or so, cooking is not an exact science. I added the fish to the infused oil and return the dish to the oven for 10 minutes or so - - really that’s all the time it took. After I removed the dish from the oven I kept the lid on until the food was plated. The fish was awesome, light and mellow and almost melted in your mouth like butter! I was so into this preparation that the next night I prepared shrimp using the same method, poaching time about 5 minutes longer – that’s all.

Sunday we were invited to our neighbors for a cook out (more about that later) so I decided to make the Almond Citrus Olive Cake (see blog April 17, 2010). The first time I made this cake it was a hit, I followed the recipe to the letter, something I rarely do. This time I decided to “do it my way” by substituting ¼ of a cup of the olive oil with a blood orange olive oil and I added ¼ teaspoon of pure almond extract and I baked the cake in individual bunt pans. The house smelled so good when the cakes were baking in the oven and our neighbors enjoyed the finished product as much as we did. The cake was so delicious, light almost feather weight with a nice nutty fruity taste.

Olives are fruit as you all know and they are so versatile in sweet or savory dishes.

The moral of this story (blog) is to buy some really great ingredients, trust yourself and experiment and you are bound to achieve greatness!

What A Beautiful Day

Leading up to mother’s day I was a little melancholy but my darling son saw to it that I had a perfect mother’s day! Friday, my son came in from work and presented me with a box of chocolate covered strawberries, how sweet. Mother’s Day morning he took his dad and me to breakfast at Luce http://www.lucewinerestaurant.com/, this modern and sophisticated restaurant is located on Howard St. at 5th.

The breakfast brunch menu had a nice mix of light fare to more robust morning afternoon meals, we chose the traditional breakfast. Starting with coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice I had good old fashion pancakes; my son had the American classic with sausage, eggs, toast and hash browns, and my husband had the pastry basket.

The food was great, the service was excellent and the room was beautiful but spending the morning with my son and husband was simply special. Since I have my own family I understand how much joy my mother felt just being surrounded by her children - - mother’s are so easy! At the conclusion of our meal the waiter gave me a gift bag and two beautiful tulips. Oh what a beautiful morning…..

After breakfast we came home, my husband made mimosas and I sipped and lounged around all day. Towards evening I began to wonder about dinner, I began to mill around the kitchen and my son told me to go upstairs and relax until dinner. I was called down to dinner and was served a delicious cat fish dinner with roasted potatoes and asparagus. The fish was fried but not greasy at all, everything was prepared perfectly. The food was tasty - - the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree if you get my meaning.

While my son was tiding up the kitchen his dad made a run to Anthony’s Cookies http://anthonyscookies.com/ for dessert - - Oh what a beautiful day thanks to my darling son!

Mother's Day

The week leading up to mother’s day has been filled with all sorts of emotions, confusion and conundrum. My dear mother is in a nursing home and she hasn’t spoken since November, every year that if I was not able to spend Mother’s Day with my mother I always sent a card and flowers. Before my parents moved to the nursing home they lived in a senior building and they loved receiving packages from me for two reasons; one they were from me and the other a little bit of showing off. For every occasion I was not present I sent flowers, candy, fruit and all sorts of things; the Fedx, UPS or FTD truck was always showing up with deliveries for them.

Earlier this week I went into a card shop to buy a sympathy card and was almost paralyzed, you see I lost my father March 1st; I quickly regained my composure and chose a card. Then I noticed that I was surrounded by mother’s day cards so I paused for awhile trying to decide if I should send my mother a card. I knew she couldn’t read it but she is still here on this earth and I could not imagine not sending something to acknowledge mother’s day. I called my sister and she told me that she would read the card to mother, so I sent the card. The next thing I struggled with was sending flowers, I decided against sending flowers for possible health related reasons.

This is all a little difficult for me because I have lived my entire life with the best mother ever! I never had to look beyond my mother for a role model. My mother is kind, loving and giving; she taught me right from wrong, how to give of myself without expecting anything in return, how to accept people for what they are and how to forgive. My mother never expressed disparaging words about anyone and she always saw the good in everyone (I have a little trouble with this one but I am working on it).

Although this mother’s day is a mark difference from mother’s days past I am so very thankful to still have my mother, and for the first time in many years I will be spending mother’s day with my son! So this mother’s day like all of the others will start with me calling my sister and a few close friends to wish them a Happy Mother’s Day. Later in the day when my sister is visiting our mother I will call her again so she can put the phone to my mother’s ear so that I can wish my mother a Happy Mother’s Day and tell her how much I love her - - then I will be ready to enjoy the day with my darling husband and wonderful son!

So to all you awesome mother’s, sons and daughters I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day!

P.S. I will be return to my ‘hungrybroad’ self talking about food next blog, I promise…

Good Friends

Last week we had friends visiting from Chicago by way of Los Angeles, prior to this visit it had been six years since our friends visited us in San Francisco. Before they arrived a lot of my time was happily spent planning activities and the welcome menu for dinner on their arrival night, most importantly the dessert. The entrée ‘Boeuf Bourguignon” and for dessert I baked an Almond Citrus Olive Cake recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentis. I used a mild Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the cake was wonderful and I can’t wait to make this cake again.

Almond Citrus Olive Oil Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted, coarsely crumbled
Powdered sugar, for sifting

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8-inch-diameter cake pan. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs, and zests in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the milk. Gradually beat in the oil. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in the almonds. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Place cake pan on baking pan to collect any possible spills. Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool for 15 minutes. Remove cake and place on serving platter, top side up. Sift powdered sugar over the cake.

We had a ball with our friends; we took them to Sutro Towers the highest peak in San Francisco, Stinson Beach, Point Reyes Station to name a few places. We introduced them to the best ice cream in the world at Bi-Rite Creamery and after their first taste we had to visit the Creamery every day. We had a lovely dinner at Chez Papa and we saw a really bad movie but mostly we just visited with each other and had a good time. We are so fortunate to have such good friends and to live in one of the best cities in the country, life is good!