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Entries Tagged as 'Ingredients'

Winter Fancy Food Show 2010

January 24th, 2010 · 6 Comments · Ingredients, Pantry Staples

This week, the food gods aligned yet again: Food Fete, the Winter Fancy Food Show 2010, and a last minute trip to the East Coast coincided all at once! It’s safe to say that I’m feeling stuffed and looking forward to a week of leafy greens and light broths to get back to feeling normal!

The week started off with Food Fete, a media event featuring new and delicious products to sample. Some of my favorites included the blue cheese stuffed figs from the California Fig Advisory Board, the frozen quinoa from Village Harvest and Sweetwater Spice Co.’s fajita bath, an incredible meat marinade. But I will say that the hugest surprise were the various sausages and products from the Field Roast Grain Meat company, which, being a vegan meatless product made of grains (alas, not gluten free) were perhaps the tastiest meatless products I have ever eaten. I was honestly shocked!

After a lovely evening, I went home to prime my stomach for day two, a full day at the Winter Fancy Food Show. The Fancy Food Show is the ultimate food discovery event – over 1300 vendors show up to share their products. Even pacing myself, I’d say that I may have had about 75-100 samples over the course of the day, but these were some of my favorites:

Happy Goat – Goat Milk Caramels. A smash hit. These caramels are made in tiny batches in the Bay Area, out of goat milk, organic sugar, and vanilla. Pop one in your mouth and you experience what I like to refer to as “SQUEE!!!!” : becoming completely unable to focus on anything other than how wonderful these are. And if say, you happen to have a morning caffeine habit, these taste absolutely delicious when stirred into coffee.

Cowgirl, Bellwether Farms, and Cyprus Grove Cheeses: it’s safe to say that these bay area favorites are some of the best cheeses around. I was excited to try Cowgirl’s new Devil’s Gulch cheese, which is only available for the next few months (it’s in a test phase). Bellwether’s sheep milk ricotta is always delightful, and Cyprus Grove’s Humboldt Fog is one of my favorites.

Secret Stash Salt: Having good salt is an invaluable part of any kitchen. I’m a big fan of Maldon Sea Salt, various coarse sea salts, but was completely wowed by the incredible flavors of Secret Stash – particularly the lavender, and the truffle salts.

Sam Adams Utopias: I’ve been trying to get a taste of Utopias for years, and was overjoyed to get my sip after asking coyly if they were still sampling it (there were no bottles left when I got there) – but the kind rep pulled out an unopened one and poured it for me! This stuff is touted as the strongest beer (at 27% alcohol), but tastes more like a fine liquor than a beer. In the future, when I can throw around mass sums of cash without worry, I’ll keep this in stock in my liquor cabinet. Smooth, potent, and delicious.

Black Garlic (see photo at top) – Black garlic, a fermented garlic product which tastes sweet is delicious! The fermentation process adds extra health benefits, and mellows the garlic flavor, producing a sweet product, almost like dried fruit. I’m thinking spread on some warm toast, this would be delicious.

Fentiman’s Shandy – Fentiman’s brand of fermented natural sodas are truly spectacular. They have them at Il Cane Rosso in the Ferry Building in San Francisco, but come originally from the UK. I was psyched to finally try the Shandy – a beer and lemony soda mix which is refreshing and delicious.

Kodiak Cakes - After seeing Jenna from Eat, Live, Run feature these regularly on her blog, I was excited to try some of their pancakes. Normally I’m a “from scratch” type of gal, but this mix is going to become a regular staple in my household – and I’m looking forward to trying more of their products. As I’m also particularly interested in the business of entrepreneurial food companies,  Joel from Kodiak was really kind to  give me a copy of the ‘History of Kodiak Cakes‘ which I’ve been making my way through.

Barney Butter – I stir nut butter into my oatmeal, on toast, and even into savory soba noodle salad. Recently I switched from peanut butter to almond butter, which is slightly more nutritious and in my opinion more filling. Barney Butter is a brand of almond butter which I find particularly tasty, and was happy to see that they were at the show, and sporting a cute new look.

Stonehouse 27 Spice Co: While I’m most likely to make my own cooking sauces when creating Indian dishes, I was completely impressed by these flavorful sauces created by a sweetheart entrepreneur named Sharon Fernandes. The sauces are salt-free and bursting with flavor. I tried as many as I could, my favorite being the cashew cream. These are definitely going to be in my cabinet.

Nutmeric - Turmeric is a staple in my kitchen, and I was excited to see this nut butter product with turmeric at the show – nutmeric was developed by a chemistry professor, which touches at my heartstrings, and made me chuckle. There is a huge* crossover between science people and food people…(I heart all my former science profs!)

Other favorites included Kikkoman’s new yuzu ponzu sauce, yuzu being a delicate citrus, which they served with tempura shrimp and avocado. I’m looking forward to seeing this product on the market. Yuzu also showed up with Yuzusco – a liquid spice… And I also quite enjoyed my Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the savory macarons by Fabrique Delices, and some delicious Nueske’s bacon.

Finally, I was happy to see some hometown favorites from New England, including Stonewall Kitchen, Lollipop Tree, Stoneyfield Oikos yogurt to name a few.

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Phipp’s Red Lentil and Barley Soup

November 12th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Food Travel, Ingredients, Local stores, Pantry Staples, Soups

Phipps Lentil Barley

A few weeks ago we headed down the California coastline to a tiny town named Pescadero, on a quest for beans. Pescadero, at the midway point between San Francisco and Santa Cruz – is known for a lovely beach, antiques, the historic artichoke soup at Duarte’s Tavern (which apparently Guy Fieri is a fan of), and the burrito joint in the gas station – but if you drive farther down the road you will get to a mystical and magical place named Phipps Country Store, which has both an unusually large selection of beans, and an unusually large selection of birds, small furry animals, livestock and antique stoves.

PhippsFarm Animals

So, truthfully, I drove over an hour just to buy beans. But, oh what beans!!! Phipps brags over 50 types of beans, most of which are grown by them, using no sprays/chemicals. While I was there I picked up some chickpeas, runner beans, soup mixes, and chestnut runners, all glorious stuff.

Phipps Beans

Included in my purchase was one really great package of red lentils and barley – that came with a recipe which I adapted for dinner.

Soup Package

This soup is perfect for the winter weather, and like most soups, tastes absolutely delicious for lunch the next day even if you are eating it cold. My twist is the miso – I use white miso, which adds a really nice depth of flavor to soups without it tasting miso-y or exotic. You can easily find white miso paste in the refrigerator section of any asian market, and I would highly recommend buying it to have on hand. If you can’t find miso, you could substitute bouillon.

Phipp’s Red Lentil Barley Soup
makes 8-9 1 cup servings

1 slice thick cut bacon (I use Niman Ranch)
1 cup (or 1 large) onion, chopped
1 cup (or three stalks) celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, or 4 cups diced fresh tomatoes
3/4 cups red lentils, rinsed
3/4 cup pearl barley
4 cups water
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon white miso paste
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup shredded swiss cheese, or sharp cheddar (optional)

In a large heavy bottomed soup pot, place the slice of bacon over medium heat, until most of the fat is rendered. Add in the onions, celery and garlic, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the water, chicken broth, miso paste, tomatoes, lentils, barley, rosemary oregano, carrots and pepper. Bring to a boil, and then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 40 minutes or until the barley, lentils and carrots are tender. Top with swiss cheese or sharp cheddar if desired. (It goes well with or without!). I made a small batch of salt and olive oil rolls from my refrigerated master dough from “Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day” and it went perfectly with this.

Nutritional Information: (Per 1 cup serving, not including cheese) Calories: 158, Total Fat: 1.6 g, Sodium: 115.9 mg, Total Carbs: 29.3 g, Dietary Fiber: 6.5 g, Protein: 7.7 g

Phipps Country Store and Farm
2700 Pescadero Road, Pescadero, CA 94060
(650) 879-0787
Hours: 10:00 – 5:00 during winter, Closed Mondays


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Farro Salad – a Master Recipe

August 6th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Ingredients, Italian, Pantry Staples, Quick and Easy

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Farro is an interesting grain with a nice bite, that is well suited to easy summer salads. I use it in recipes that call for wheatberries, green lentils, bulgur or even barley occasionally as a replacement, but I find that I love it best in this salad with tomato, basil, feta, and a balsamic vinaigrette. I’m lucky to find farro at Rainbow Foods in San Francisco, but in some places, farro can be pricey – try shopping for it in stores with bulk bins, at trader joe’s, or even online.

Farro is an Italian word, and when I eat this grain, I find myself transported to Tuscany, sitting in the garden of my imaginary apartment, eating blissfully, drinking a glass of wine, and contemplating nothing but relaxation.

As usual, I use Mark Bittman’s pretty foolproof way of cooking most grains – put one cup of the grain in a small pot, and cover by at least an inch of liquid – bring to a boil, and turn down, cover, and simmer for 30-35 minutes without touching it. Then you can test it – if it’s not done, just add a few more tablespoons of liquid, and leave on the heat for ten more minutes. Unlike rice, don’t worry if there is extra liquid after the cooking time, just drain it.

MASTER RECIPE! Variations: This salad is also a great vehicle for crunchy vegetables – feel free to add fresh corn kernels (you don’t need to cook them!), black beans, bits of chopped red pepper, cucumber, shavings of carrot, chick peas, or even little cubes of summer squash to name just a few! Also, you can punch up the herbs with some fresh parsley or fresh mint (or both) to give it some extra green. No balsamic on hand? Just make a simple lemon vinaigrette with the same proportions of lemon to olive oil.

Farro Salad with Tomatoes, Basil, and Feta
serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side

Ingredients:

- 1 cup farro
-  enough salted water or chicken broth to cover farro by one inch in pot (about 2.5 cups)
- 1 large heirloom tomato, chopped (ripe! uglier the better!)
- about ten leaves of basil, rolled into a cigar shape and chopped
- salt and pepper
- 2 ounces feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the farro and enough water (or chicken stock) to cover farro by an inch. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the farro is tender, about 35 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, add the chopped tomatoes, basil, and feta, and cover with the slightly cooled farro. In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil to make a vinaigrette. Pour into the farro salad, and toss to coat. You can eat this warm, or it can be made in advance and popped in the refrigerator. Just let it come back to room temperature when you want to eat it, and make sure to re-toss it!

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