by Sam Tackeff | Jan 4, 2010 | Local stores, Shopping
The news is hot:
Six local vendors are about to open a collaborative culinary marketplace in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood… in other words, less than a mile away from my house. Yeehaw!!! I walk up the hill to Bernal about once a week, partly for the pleasure of huffing and puffing my way up the little hill from Mission to Cortland – and partly for the pleasure of enjoying this great little corner of San Francisco filled with independent coffee shops, bookstores, cute restaurants, and nice markets. I haven’t yet tried the new Sandbox bakery, but I hear that it’s fantastic… Anyone want to join me?
The lineup of vendors is looking particularly promising:
Wholesome Bakery: Tasty vegan treats and baked goods – that are also wheat-free, yeast-free and soy-free. And to wash them down, Desiree Salomon’s DEZYS DRINKS—including “freshly made chai, juice, and kombucha tea, all made from scratch daily using mostly organic fruits, vegetables, and spices, and all kid-friendly.” Yum!
Paulie’s Pickling : featuring hand crafted pickled vegetables and fruits, as well as sauces, relishes, sandwiches and salads. I have a thing for pickles that rivals any pregnancy craving, so I’m guessing that this one is going to be a particular favorite of mine.
ICHI Lucky Cat Deli : Japanese deli delights! I’m particularly looking forward to their sushi (which has until now been experienced only by those lucky enough to have ICHI cater an event..) Japanese sandwiches, and take home sushi kits.
El Porteño Empanadas : I went to college with Texans responsible for my love of empanadas. But really, who wouldn’t love an empanada? Little handpies that you can fill with savory or sweet, and then grab on the go? My type of food! El Porteño Empanadas are of Argentinian influence, and will feature Prather Ranch Beef, Fulton Farms Chicken, and fresh organic/local veg for their vegetarian versions.
Della Terra Organics : organic produce from the bay area – open seven days a week when you miss out on farmer’s market.
And for the kitchen oriented,
Bernal Cutlery will set up shop on the premises to sharpen your well used knives.. and maybe tempt you with some new ones.
This is just a taste, but I’ll be sure to report from the field in a few weeks when the doors open! [Opening Late January, 2010.]
331 Cortland
Bernal Heights
331 Cortland Avenue, San Francisco
California, 94110
Contact: 415-822-4024
by Sam Tackeff | Jan 2, 2010 | Baking
I haven’t been baking lately. Martha, my poor Kitchen Aid mixer has been a little bit lonely as my healthy lifestyle goals have reduced the amount of cookies coming out of my oven. I generally tend to use the excuse that my stove is unreliable, but the truth is, I’m afraid of baking a batch of wonderful cookies and not being able to control myself from eating the entire batch. Ah, the woes of a food lover trying to find balance.
Fortunately, I was invited to a party – which means that a host gift was in order – and Martha was finally put to good use for a batch of shortbread, one of my favorite cookies. I used to consume those stick shortbread in the red plaid packaging on a regular basis (Walkers), but baking your own buttery, crumbly shortbread is one of the easiest forays into baking there is, and well worth the (limited!) effort.
Traditional shortbread is made from one part white sugar, two parts butter and three parts oatmeal flour, but all I had on hand was some white flour, which tends to be the most commonly used today. Fortunately, If you stick to the ratio of 3 parts flour: 2 parts fat: 1 part sugar, you can be pretty adventurous – perhaps substituting some rice flour, or cornflour to vary the texture without risking the integrity of the final product.
You can also add in a number of mix ins – mini chocolate chips, flavoring such as almond or vanilla extract, citrus zest of all kind, pecans, dried fruit, or even use fresh herbs such as lavender or rosemary.
Other wonderful aspects of the shortbread cookie: The dough can be made in advance, rolled into a log, and stored in your refrigerator for several days so that you can slice a few cookies off when you want them. They also ship fairly well and are great as gifts. And the greatest part is that there are no eggs in the batter so you can eat it raw with abandon.
And don’t forget the cookie crumbles! You can bake those too! (The rejects make great quality control for the cook…) Now, to avoid broken slices, just let the log sit at room temperature for a few minutes before slicing, and use a warm knife. I’m impatient however, so some of my cookies turned out like this…
Shortbread
Makes about 2 dozen
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
a pinch of kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1/2 a lemon
1. In a bowl, mix flour and salt, and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, add softened butter and sugar, and beat on medium speed just until just smooth, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract, and lemon zest, and beat until combined. Set speed of mixer to low. Slowly add flour mixture to the mixer, and beat on a low speed until blended and just coming together.
3. Form dough into a logs, about 2 inches in diameter; wrap in parchment, and refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 3 days). If it’s still slightly crumbly, don’t worry, pack it tightly in the log, and it should firm up in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the dough for up to one month, and if frozen, let the log stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. 15 minutes before taking the dough out of the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Remove shortbread from the fridge and remove parchment. Slice logs into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, and space about 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment or Sil-pat. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are just slightly golden, about 12 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. (Cooling both allows the cookies to firm up so that they don’t fall apart, and will also help you to avoid burning your mouth on 350 degree butter.)
Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week, but believe me, they won’t last this long. They are also freezable, for up to a month.
Note: Recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, you name it. The main rule of thumb is to stick to the 3-2-1 ratio of flour to fat to sugar.
by Sam Tackeff | Dec 31, 2009 | Restaurants
I took myself on a date yesterday afternoon. I wore my bright new red coat, which is great for confidence, and headed out on the town. And by on the town, I mean that I had some errands to run. And by errands, I mean shopping.
Fortunately it was a very nice afternoon in the bay, and I ended up walking from my little corner of Noe Valley past Dolores Park, and down to Church and Market with no real target in mind. I hopped on the J-Church and headed into the Embarcadero to wander through the Ferry Building. The Ferry Building is the ideal spot for wandering, because if you get bored you can walk outside and sit watching the cars shuttle by on the bay bridge, or you can just eat samples all afternoon.
I spent some time in Sur La Table, testing out some Shun and Global knives, and a tiny part of me wishing I could be a chef and get sponsored by one of these companies and receive a nice shiny set of my own, all for free. Alas, that’s probably not a good enough reason to become a chef…
I was also happy to see Mariposa Baking Company has set up shop in the Ferry Building – tasty gluten free treats that won’t make you miss the gluten laden stuff.
This time I passed up the sweet stuff, and opted to finally sit down and try a bite at Il Cane Rosso, the joint venture of Daniel Patterson (the chef and owner of Coi) and Lauren Kiino (who headed the kitchen at Delfina). Il Cane Rosso is what I like to call slow fast food – where you order your local, organic, and seasonal food, and sit down to eat it in a casual setting with no real table service. I actually love eating this way – I’m particularly fussy about the quality of my food, but have no desire to eat every day in a formal setting. Perhaps why I love Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc so much.
After reading John Birdsall’s review in SF Weekly, Sandy of Foodhoe’s Foraging’s write up, and seeing Haas of No Salad As A Meal’s write up and beautiful photos I knew I had to stop by immediately even if just for a quick bite.
One of my favorite things about this little restaurant is the way it looks. Namely, I’d love to have a kitchen in my own home that looks like this – gray concrete floors (yes, I’m a concrete lover), wooden paneling of real wood, shiny silver appliances, open shelves, and those red metal accent beams and sweeping high ceilings… A girl can dream. But I also quite enjoy the seasonal accents like the squash and corn here. I try to do this regularly in my own kitchen before eating said accents.
I love this big squash! Can’t you see it roasted with a big cheesy strata inside it?
And also, I need to give a nod to their selection of drinks. I’m not really a soda drinker, but their selection even had me debating – Fentimans botanically brewed sodas are mighty tasty.
Finally I opted for the soup of the day, the “Long & Bailey Pork and Lentil Soup” ($6). I know, all I ate was one soup, and I’m passing judgment? Shame on me! But let me tell you, this soup was pretty near perfect. It had the right balance of stuff to flavorful broth that was perfectly seasoned. The lentils were tender but still had a nice bite and weren’t falling apart. The long and bailey pork was cubed in bite size pieces that were melt in your mouth and so darn savory. The difference between this stuff and the conventional is like two completely different animals. It was the perfect afternoon treat.
And yet I managed to only get one measly picture of the soup, fogging my lens to boot. Bad food blogger! I’ll be back soon for a more thorough tasting. Although lunch is generally the perfect time to go, their three course tasting dinner is $25 dollars, and if anything like lunch, is pretty much a steal.
Just as I was getting up to go they were closing their doors for a brief break between lunch and dinner. I contemplating staying for round two, but I had places to go and things to do. I’ll be back, sooner, rather than later.
Il Cane Rosso, open daily for lunch and dinner, breakfasts on Saturdays and Sundays
One Ferry Building #41
San Francisco
Phone: 415.391.7599
www.canerossosf.com
