Spice Dish

Of Sparklers and Potatoes

Take one birthday boy, add two massive filet mignons from Drewes Brothers, several bottles of red wine (okay throw in a box too) and top it off with mini pommes anna and what do you have? A grown man dancing with sparklers, a killer next-morning headache and a jones for more of those insanely delicious potato piles! Seriously, I cannot tell you how good these were topped with a fried egg the day after. Make extra. Trust me on this.

Pommes Anna

Ingredients:

6 thyme sprigs

1 tsp chopped thyme

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350*. Melt butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Use a pastry brush to coat muffin cups with butter. Line each muffin cup with a parchment paper rounds (or cut out the bottom of cupcake cups). Drizzle 1/2 tsp butter into each cup and then place a thyme sprig in the center of each. Add the chopped thyme and garlic to remaining butter in pan and simmer for two 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Use the slicing blade on a food processor or a mandolin to slice potatoes into very thin slices. Pour the garlic butter over the slices and toss along with salt and pepper. Place the slices in the muffin cups, layering in a circular pattern. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil onto the tops of the potatoes.

Cover tightly with foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil. Set the muffin tin aside and place the baking sheet on top, flip over and tap to release potatoes. Carefully flip each cake over so that the thyme sprigs are on the bottom. Remove parchment paper.

Increase heat to 425*. Return potatoes to oven and bake another 25-30 mins until golden brown. Flip cakes over once more to serve with thyme sprigs on top. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Adapted from Bon Appetit. Makes 6 Servings

Happy Birthday Christopher!

EB

Fanny Hill's Cook Book

Oh Fanny...

I'm not quite sure how to introduce this next book. Here's the thing about me. I love British  comedies, I have a well documented food obsession and I also happen to have spent much of my academic career in 'sexuality studies'.

My ownership of this book is a direct result of those facts. It all started was watching a favorite show of mine called “The Supersizers.” The gist of this show is that you take one young, charming, gluttonous food critic, pair him with a caustic and sarcastic female comedian, dress them up in period costume and make them eat like whatever period they are in for a week. The 70's episode featured a 'swingers party' with recipes based on this book. I had to have it.

Really?

The recipes are ridiculous (Frenched Freud Potatoes anyone?), the illustrations verge on pornographic (don't get me started on those for the dessert section), the copy reads like double-entendres a 15 year old boy might come up with and it is an absolutely amazing artifact of the zeitgeist of its time.

I can't imagine actually making anything out of it but I've relished reading it.

 

Enjoy!

EB

Mystery Gift

I walked up to my gate after getting stuck in my car for 15 minutes (San Francisco parking... it happens), and I noticed a big bulging package on the doorstep. First thought? "Oh mannnnnn... did I drunk shop again? What did I buy now?!" Second thought: "Maybe it's the new neighbors?!" Nope. Right there. A label with my name on it. The shame of blowing cash on an Etsy find I JUST HAD TO HAVE at 12:45 on a friday night while in a dark bar corner because my drinking companion thought it was AMAZINGLYOZOM! began to flush my cheeks. I plodded upstairs.

I ripped open the package to find several stacks of really amazing vintage cooking pamphlets and books. Such a great collection-- totally something I would buy. But no receipt. No packing list. Just a tiny yellow post-it reading "Free Fun". Wait. What?

Seriously. Someone, I have no idea who this person is (Ms. Linda from Texas whoever you are), got my address and sent me this fantastic gift! Yay Mystery Gift!

To whom ever sent this... thank you!

EB

 

New Years Party Puffs

Cheese Puffyness

Ok it's New Years Day and like the entire city I'm still in bed (seriously it's a ghost town out there)! Last night was full of friends and food and drinks and food and food and drinks. Serious feasting time. We had a New Orleans theme thing happening and there was such amazing food. Shrimp etouffee on top of cheese grits and a bourbon pecan pie rounded it off. Oh and there were hurricanes. So many hurricanes. My contribution was a savory baked beignet, cheese puff thing, otherwise known as a gougere. They are light, fluffy, tasty, look amazing and happen to be seriously easy to make. I'm pretty sure they'd go great with a morning after-bloody mary. Just sayin.

Cheese Gougeres

• 1 cup water 
• 3 tbs unsalted butter, diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

Preheat to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring water, butter, and salt to simmer in heavy saucepan over medium, until butter is completely melted. Add flour; stirring with wooden spoon until a large ball of dough is formed. Continue to stir for another two minutes or so. Place dough in large mixing bowl and allow to cool for five minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in cheese, mustard and pepper.

Drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto baking sheets, spacing about two inches apart. Bake about 25 minutes, switching position of baking sheets halfway through baking. Tops should be golden brown, while the inside is slighty moist and eggy. Serve warm. Can be made ahead and rewarmed at 300° for 5 to 10 minutes. Makes

24-32 depending on spoonful size.

 

Happy New Year from San Francisco!

EB

 

 

Seven Down and Counting

Yeah Brazil!

Ok, so many months ago I posted a list of things I was going to try in order to get my creative juices flowin’ and to add some spark to my days. Let’s do a little check-in shall we?

• Ride in a hot air balloon- I went hang gliding in Brazil (Close enough for me!)
• Have a conversation in a language other than English (Tried my hand at Portuguese in Brazil – fail)
• Find a food I've never eaten and eat it (Cashew fruit juice in Brazil again)
• Try a new restaurant in San Francisco (Done x15)
• Learn how to perform a magic trick (I met a Vegas magician, does that count?)
• Become financially literate (I’m getting there)
• Write an article and have it published (Coming soon!!)

Ok so it turns out that my Brazil trip knocked a few of these out but I really, really need to get on this! Anything I should add?

EB

Trend Spotting

bonappetit.com

So it seems I may need a new job title. Food Trend Spotter anyone? Bacon. Cupcakes? Called it. Speakeasies. Food Trucks? Nailed it. Pickling? On it. My latest 'discovery'? Nonino Amaro. I happen to drink it with soda and a grapefruit garnish. I came upon it in my local bar, Rock Bar, by way of a super friendly bartender who spent one night diligently letting a friend and I taste every random Amaro-type item they had on the shelf. It became my go-to when I was out and about, wanted a drink, but not to get um... sloppy. I got several friends hooked on it and was the crowned 'knower of secret yummyness' then BOOM! Flipping through a copy of Bon Appetit and there it was. A full page dedicated to my favorite libation. Naked. Out there for all the world to see!

I lamented to one I'd bestowed my secret to and she decided that I needed to become a Food Trend Spotter, which is indeed a thing.

So what should my business cards look like?

 

EB

Cooking at the County Fair

Do you know what Kauai is not known for? Food. There are however, chefs willing to experiment and a die-hard ‘eat local’ ethos. Somehow, and I’m not quite sure how, I ended up at the Kauai County Farm Bureau Fair last a few days ago. It was like every county fair ever with rickety rides, fried treats, un-winnable games and pigs. I was treated to something special though: the “Kauai Coffee Celebrity Chef Cookoff for Charity.” The best and brightest chefs on the island came out to cook local ingredients and help out some great charities.

Beet cones!

One of the most innovative and interesting entries was a ‘Beet Cotton Candy, Coconut Crème, and Coffee Infused Waffle Cone “ice cream cone”’ entered by Collin Darrel of Grow Culture.

On the other end of the food spectrum there were blue ribbons given for the biggest jackfruit, tastiest mangoes and most abundant star fruit, all grown in the locals’ backyards. I’m not saying we didn’t eat the fried Oreos and caramel apples (because we did) but the highlight of the evening really was the local abundance made tasty in the chef’s competition.

Stuffed silly, we wandered through the 4H livestock competition (there was a huge pig named ‘Frieda Carlo’- true story), tried to knock over milk bottles and visited the entertainment tent where there were taiko drummers and ‘Las Vegas Hypnotist’ Ralph Maxwell.

It really was like every county fair anywhere and made me realize that it doesn’t get any more locavore than your neighbors prize winning green beans or the local 4H kids’ calf entries. Next time yours comes to town. Go. Eat.  

 EB

Step Up and Eat

So you know those nights when you are really, really, excited to put on yoga pants, pour some wine and eat a fresh tomato salad for dinner? Or actually get some decent sleep? You know, when you plan on being healthy in some way, shape or form? Yeah, then don’t agree to go to Straw with your friends last minute. You’ll end up eating mini-corn dogs and fried chicken & waffle sandwiches. There will also be Sriracha/cinnamon chicken wings and god help me “cotton candy cocktails.” Oh yes. This is a thing.

This is not a place for a light snack or conservative glass of wine. It’s fried, it’s fun and it’s carnival themed. You will destroy your diet, get a bit of a sugar high and you just might make friends with an adorable pair of bears in a Tilt-A-Whirl booth. (We did and they were lovely!)

Straw | 203 Octavia Boulevard  San Francisco, CA 94102

Enjoy!

EB

Chicago

Ok, so this post is about a month late. See I went to Chicago again. Same exact week as I went last year. This year was yet again for work, only for a completely new job. The trip reminded me how important good friends are. My friend that I was visiting had a pretty intense health scare while I was there and my trip became something very different than we both imagined.

The incident led to me having a limited, different and altogether strange experience. Instead of going on and on about some amazing meals all I can offer are snapshots of Chicago. Small breaks in the crazyness that was a few weeks ago.

Good to know that kids will still run after a moving vehicle that plays 'Turkey in the Straw.'

A mint julep from Q Barbeque that led to an impromptu tasting of High West Whiskeys.

The biggest macaron ever from Hendrickx Belgian Bakery.

And a big thanks to the ex-pat San Franciscan bartender who treated me to a few shots and a sympatheic ear!

Till next year Chicago!

EB

Ice Cream Truck Tastes

Ok. Remember when you were 7 or so, playing outside with your friends and hearing the faint tinkling of the ice cream truck? As you bolted into the house to beg for ice cream money, dreading that you’d miss it and never eat ice cream again, the tinkling became less and less faint. Crumpled dollar balled up in your sweaty little hand you ran outside and lined up waiting anxiously to get your very own Strawberry Shortcake ice cream on a stick? Well waiting for this recipe to finish turning can give you that same feeling, and thankfully, the same taste.

Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream

2 cups strawberries
2 cups angel food cake, frozen
¾ cups whole milk
1½ cups heavy cream
1½ tsp vanilla extract
⅔ cup powdered sugar
1 pinch salt

Cut up the strawberries and blitz them in a food processor until finely chopped. Set aside. Cut up your angel food and set aside. Whisk together the whole milk, sugar and salt and blend well. Whisk in cream and vanilla. Add strawberries and angel food cake. Stir until combined.

Cover and put in the fridge until chilled completely (approx. 1 to 2 hours). Freeze in ice cream maker until it reaches your desired texture.

Enjoy!

EB