Spice Dish

Creativity Sparks

Dali Themed Street Art. Creative.

I went to a book club a little while ago. It was full of strangers. I’ve never, in my life, done that before. We had an amazing conversation and I left completely creatively energized. It wasn’t just that I was using my critical thinking skills for the first time in months, but that I was trying something new. I realized that I needed to do lots more of this sort of thing--  not in the interest of 'self improvement' but simply for the sake of experience. For fostering creativity. For enjoying life. So I came up with a list of “Creativity Sparks” (i.e. stuff I’ve never done before but am going to try in  order to keep  my brain excited and to experience new things) Hey if Stephen Fry can get pierced, I can find things I've never done!

I’m not calling it a ‘bucket list’ because I don’t care if I do or don’t do these before I die. Dying is not the point. Some are little things, some are big life altering things. Some are free and some make me thankful I have no kids in need of a college education. 

I think I know which one I’ll start with, but I’m not sure. I don’t even know how closely I’ll be keeping track, hell I don’t even know how many items are on this list! (Just counted... 64) Here I go. Here’s to creativity!

Ride in a hot air balloon
See the northern lights
Take a sailing lesson
Write a book
Have a conversation in a language other than english
Send a message in a bottle.
Ride a camel (or elephant) etc
Take a ballroom dance class
Learn to play a musical instrument
Take a singing lesson
Make a complete fool of myself
Eat at the French Laundry
Learn to juggle
Learn to drive a stick shift
Spend three months getting my body into athletic shape
Go fishing and eat my catch
Ride a motorcycle
Work on a farm for a day
Learn a new skill (no idea what yet)
Make soup dumplings
Run a 5k (not walk)
Find a food I've never eaten and eat it
Go to a jazz show
Play a game of ice hockey
Go horseback riding along the beach
Learn to ski
Take a fencing lesson
Go on a helicopter ride
Sleep overnight on a train
Collect fresh chicken eggs from a nest
Go to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Try a new restaurant in San Francisco
See the Parthenon in Greece
Go to Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
Read Moby dick
Visit the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy
Spend an afternoon in El Prado in Madrid, Spain
See "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso at the Museo Reina Sofia
Spend a week in Bora Bora
Attend a Japanese tea ceremony
Learn to sculpt
Learn how to perform a magic trick
Learn to knit one thing
Make cheese
Watch lawrence of Arabia
Face a fear (not sure which one)
Become financially literate
Go to an auction at Christie's or Sotheby's
Sleep in a castle
Create a well-stocked pantry
Go to a yoga class by myself
Become an 'expert' at something
Write an article and have it published
Register for NaNoWriMo and write a novel in one month
Do NaBloPoMo for one month
Write a cookbook
Audition for something
Travel to another city to go to a concert/show (performer TBD)
Try fugu
Get a tarot card reading
Get hypnotized (for what I have no idea)
Eat something I've grown
Travel solo (even a day trip)
Get rid of 100 of my possessions

 

So what about you? You have a list? 

EB

Southern Goodness

There is a southern restaurant in my neighborhood called The Front Porch. Their specialties? Fried chicken, grits, pickled okra and banana pudding. Delicious, rightly rich banana pudding served in a small Ball jar. I'm sort of addicted to it. Ok not sort of. Completely. The other night, while gorging myself of a serving of the pudding I decided that it just had to be made into a frozen treat. I make my own vanilla wafers but go ahead and use the boxed ones. They are just as delicious.

Banana Pudding Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk

2 cups half & half

3 large egg yolks

3/4 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 bananas cut into slices and smashed

1 vanilla bean with seeds scraped out

Pinch of nutmeg

2 cups crushed vanilla wafers

Place the vanilla bean and seeds into a medium sauce pan. Warm the milk and half and half on medium heat don't let it boil. Beat the yolks with the sugar. Add the yolk mixture to 1/2 a cup of the cream mixture, then whisk the egg mixture and banana mush into the remaining cream. Simmer the mixture until it thickens (to the point where it will coat the back of a spoon). Stir in the nutmeg and vanilla. Chill completely then freeze according to your ice-cream maker’s instructions. About five minutes before the ice cream is finished add the crushed wafers.

That's it. Enjoy!

EB

What's the Sign for Pizza?

mozzeria.com

There’s been a lot of chatter about Mozzeria. A new little joint in the mission that specializes in Neapolitan style pizzas and happens to be owned and operated by a deaf couple. The fact that the bulk of the staff/patrons are non-hearing makes for a quieter dining experience than you might be used to in the Mission, but whether hearing or not, a draw for any restaurant is the food.

 mozzeria.com

The reviews have been mixed but my dining companions and I enjoyed pretty much everything about our meal. Knowing that pizza was the star, and wanting to try whatever came out of the Stefano Ferrara wood-burning oven, we ordered the margherita w/buffalo milk mozzarella, the eggplant/cherry tomato special and the roast duck with hoisin sauce special. Unfortunately the duck pizza was sold out. Ho hum, more room for cheese. We also ordered the crab ravioli, pecorino cheese which came with a lovely, buttery crouton and the Mozzeria Bar. Which is, for all intents and purposes, a giant, fried mozzarella stick-- a very delicious, giant, fried mozzarella stick. The pizza crusts were perfect. Thin, chewy and with a slight saltiness. The ravioli was creamy and lovely too. Our only real disappointment was the ricotta cheesecake. The flavor was great, but it was frozen solid.

There were a few tiny kinks in service, but there always are with new restaurants and nothing serious enough to complain about here.

 mozzeria.com

The next day, I did get the chef’s take on what it’s like to work there, produce usage and what he wants the menu to be (versus what it is), but cocktails were involved and we all blow off work steam at the bar right?

I really enjoyed my dinner and will most definitely go back. It seems like I’m not the only one either, lines and crowds can continually be found at their door already. 

 

Enjoy!

EB

 

You can find Mozzeria at:

 

3228 16th Street (at Guerrero Street)
San Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 489-0963

 

Resolutions 2012!

Happy New Year's!

Again, I'm not a New Years resolution kind of gal, just never have been. But lovely Marisa, of Food In Jars inspired me this morning. Just because I don't do personal resolutions doesn't mean I can't make some bloggy ones! So here goes, my Blog Resolutions for 2012:

1- To post more vintage cookbooks (you guys seem to like those)

2- Maybe a little re-design (change is good right?)

3- In general, just be more consistent with my posting (I can do it!)

Sound good? Ok then. Happy 2012!

EB

How to Eat Like a San Franciscan (In 5 Easy Steps)

San Francisco is a truly unique place. We have beautiful scenery, world-class cultural events, utterly unique residents and a reputation for knowing a thing or two about food. We San Franciscans take food pretty seriously. We know what’s good and we know where to get it. We like to think that we’ve got something special here, and we do, but really you can eat like a San Franciscan in any city, in just 5 easy steps.

#1- Know your ‘hoods. San Francisco is a small city made up of neighborhoods as distinct as red and blue states. Even though only a block may separate neighborhoods, they can be worlds apart. From the Orange County flair (and blondness) of the Marina to the dim sum-palooza that is the Richmond, each neighborhood tends to specialize in some sort of regional cuisine. You want perfect handmade noodles? Go to Japantown. You want a gut busting plate of pupusas stuffed with zucchini flowers? Head to a pupuseria in the Mission.

#2- Know your history. While it may not be trendy, hot or of the moment, some of the city’s best food can be found in joints as old school as Swan Oyster Depot (over 100 yrs old) or Tadich Grill (160+). Sure the menus haven’t changed… in ever… but there’s a reason. Not only are these places good, but they are where any city’s culinary soul lies.

#3- Know the rebels. One you know the history meet the rebels, the ones who stood up and did something different. Alice Waters and Chez Panisse? Yeah she’s an institution now, but she used to be a mouthy little upstart who thought we should be eating fresh, local foods. Mission Kitchen? Some of the best food in the entire country and it started out of a taco cart! It’s still a unique, rebellious space in that it still shares space with a ‘regular’ Chinese joint on a grubby little block. Sometimes the troublemakers have a pretty good point to make. Give them a shot.

#4- Ask yourself, “Meat or Veggie?” Know what you want and go for it. San Francisco is made for carnivores... and vegans. You know who knows meat? Amazing steak houses and neighborhood butchers. If you want good meat go to where it’s butchered with love and aged to perfection. If you don’t want to eat anything with a face you don’t have to try and find something at some middle road joint. Hit up one of the totally amazing vegan joints in the city. You know what will make you happy? A vegan tamale smothered in fresh salsa and stuffed with the season’s bounty.

#5- Think “local, local, local.” In this city, we spout “local” as a mantra for pretty much everything: clothes, music, literature, booze, and especially food. Find a farmers market, a local supperclub, artisan cheese makers and ice cream shops. Find events like the Underground Market or Off the Grid where small scale makers of all things “local food’ get together and sell their wares in one spot.

You want a little of our San Francisco magic? Give the 5 steps a shot. These might be easier to do in some cities than others but not impossible by any means. If you do just a little homework, you too can eat fresh, local, specialized and completely San Franciscan.

Enjoy!

EB

Cheap Eats in the Summer of Love

Looove the logo!

Hardworking immigrants who operate small establishments, serving heartfelt food at living wage prices? That’s our favorite thing these days in San Francisco right? Really, there is some truth to the saying that there is nothing new under the sun. We've always been a food city.

In 1969 R. B. Bread was a writer for the Examiner-Chronicle and a little book called “The San Francisco Underground Gourmet: An Irreverant Guide to Dining in the Bay Area.” His specialty was finding “different and excellent eateries” that were “small and modest.” He championed the mom n' pop joints that were overlooked by most publications. At the time, “ethnic” foods were all over the city but not nearly in the numbers we think of as normal today. While now you see Bernal Hill three year olds chowing down on octopus at any given sushi joint, in 1969 Read had to spend half his time explaining what things were before he could tell you where you should eat them!

So why on earth did I pick up an ethnic food restaurant guide from 1969? There were two things that made me plunk down my four dollars for the book: one, Read proclaims that “San Franciscans need a restaurant guide” due to the fact that for all of San Franciscans “heady interest in the subject” there was very little exploring outside of certain comfort zones. Can you imagine? Us needing a restaurant guide? Two, Read includes “Gay” as an ethnic food category, right between Frisco and German! He acknowledges that most gays are not “glamorous theatrical personages” but “wage earners in humdrum and humble occupations” who needed a place to go be themselves, where they could be free from discrimination. In a sign of the times, while he only finds three Korean restaurants worth mention he lists almost three pages of “Gay” restaurants. Can you imagine his joy cruising the Richmond today? 

Very few of his haunts remain, but some like Lois the Pie Queen hold fast and have changed little. Others like Tadich Grill remain but are clearly out of the budget conscious realm that got them in the book.

While apparently Read was a “well-known San Francisco epicure and bon vivant,” a “world traveler, journalist and resource economist,” I haven’t been able to find much about him. But I think it’s pretty clear, with his ‘get out there and find good food in small places’ mentality he would undoubtedly be a food blogger if he were on the scene today.

EB

Of Anniversaries and Things

My first picture posted

I started SpiceDish four years ago. FOUR. It’s strange where life takes you in four years. I’ve never been a diary keeper (too embarrassing) but I realize now that SpiceDish is a diary of sorts. Looking back on past posts I can see when I was happy at my work (fewer posts), when I needed escape (more posts), when I was engaged with the blogosphere (lots of comments), and when I was playing recluse (no comments).

I can see when larger life issues, very personal ones, took precedence over posting or when I was compelled to post by those same issues.

I have met some truly amazing people because of SpiceDish. People like Bethany, Victoria, Sarah and Jessie.  I have been let into many other worlds in the past years and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Like a lot of you, I’m at yet another crossroads in life. The ‘what’s next’ type. The ‘can I really make that happen’ type.  I have no idea where I will be come next October’s blogiversary, and that’s a bit scary. I do know that I’ll be able to look over the year’s posts and see where I’ve been. And that is comforting.

Here’s to another year.

Enjoy-

EB

 

It's All About the Meat

An absloutley perfect old fashioned  

There are some places in this city that defy description. That said, let me try. The House of Prime Rib is a bastion of all things old-school and awesome. This place has become an institution since opening in 1949. With good reason-- perfect old fashioneds, never ending martinis and meat--lots of meat. In fact, while the wine list is so large it requires dictionary-like binding, there is actually only one item on the restaurant’s menu. Prime rib. You can choose your size of cut, but that’s it. It comes with sides: salad, creamed spinach, Yorkshire pudding and potato. These are your options folks, and you are blessedly grateful for it. Ok yea sure, there's a "fish option" listed sheepishly, and in very small print, on the menu-- a concession to some sad souls to be sure.

The salad is spun at your table, sour cream is flung at baked potatoes, bread is dutifully replenished to soak up the copious cocktails. But it’s the beef that is the star. And that is as it should be. It’s perfectly  cooked, perfectly seasoned and it’s everything you didn’t know you wanted.

 
It's all about the meat

In short,  it’s glorious. It’s fun, it’s ridiculous, it is an experience. It’s the House of Prime Rib.

 

Go. Eat meat. Enjoy!

 

House of Prime Rib

(888) 808-7631 

1906 Van Ness Ave

The Naughty 90's

No... not those 90s. The other ones. Before those...

I have in my collection strange little book, "Rector's Naughty '90s Cookbook". This fascinating book was published in 1949, yet the recipes are from the 1890s. They are recipes from father and son team Charles and George Rector. in 1899 Rector's Restaurant on Broadway in NYC was one of the finest, most opulent restaurants anywhere in the U.S. This article from 1908 notes that the building bought to 'upgrade' the restaurant cost upwards of $700,000! It was where anyone, who was anyone went. It was known for “loose” women, not so above-board gentlemen and all around hijinks. It's name was put to songs, plays and slang.

  
                 Rector's in full swing!

On the elder Rector's death, hundreds of recipes were found in his files. Those recipes are what make up this interesting little book, filled with long forgotten ingredients, headshots and biographies of leading women of the day and period (for the 1890s) advertisements.

The recipes themselves are a great collection of the 'novel' and 'elegant' from turn of the century America. There one I chose was for:

Stuffed Avocado a la Maxine Elliot

 

It's an old take on the shellfish stuffed avocado with “Russian” dressing. One of those, at one time was considered elegnt, now is considered cliché dishes. The recipe for the dressing included a few ingredients I had never heard of, “India Relish”? But it really was tasty. There's a reason recipes like this one stick around.

As for the recipe's namesake? This Maxine Elliot was one dapper woman. She was smart, beautiful and strong. She was an actress, lover of kings, robber barons and anyone else she fancied. Married several times, it was said she had better business sense than most men. I assume this dish was served at one of her sought after lavish and "fabulous dinner parties."

Russian Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tbs chili sauce

2 tsp finely chopped green pepper

2 tsp India relish

2 tsp finely chopped pimento

Combine all ingredients and blend well.

 

After prohibition made running the restaurant difficult, George Rector (the son) and his wife toured the US and wrote food articles for the Saturday Evening Post. They issued a well received cookbook in 1928 and were considered culinary experts who appeared in national newspapers, on the radio and in newsreels offering culinary advice until 1947.

The book is a snapshot of what Americans were looking back at in the 40s. What were they nostalgic for? Apparently the freedom to be "loose," carefree and opulent. Sounds good to me!

Enjoy-

EB

Freezing Cold Tourists

pier39.com

I have a new job. I do. And it’s at the corner of pasty Wisconsinite and tourist Hell, aka Pier 39. Pier 39 of the bad chain restaurants, Duck Boat tours, $4.95 corn dogs, Hooters and very few San Franciscans. As I look out my office window at large tourists in pedi-cabs on their way to eat at Bubba Gumps (and shivering in the cold June fog) I have to wonder why. There are so many amazing places to eat in this city… why that? How did this bastion of overpriced tourism come to represent “San Francisco”? Where did it come from to begin with?

Pier 39 was not an organic creation.

It was built specifically as a tourist attraction to accompany the goings on at Fisherman’s Wharf. Restaurants weren’t always the main “attraction” at the wharf, apparently “In the early days of the fishing fleet, the homes of the Italian fishermen boasted the area’s finest cuisine. But, even before there were any sidewalks or restaurants at Fisherman’s Wharf, some of the fishermen set up cauldrons of boiling water for cooking the freshly caught crabs, dispensing them in paper cups as a crab cocktail to be enjoyed by visitors.”

                                                                                      www.letseat.at/cioppinos  

Those fisherman also got together and created "cioppino." The origin of the name is little fuzzy but the fact that this is a distinctly San Franciscan dish created by immigrants (supposedly “chipping in” ingredients) is such a San Franciscan way to do things.

These  days a lot of that fish stew comes with a hunk of Boudin sourdough. A bakery that started in 1849. As in the Gold Rush 1849, as in the namesake of our beloved 49ers. There is a museum on the wharf dedicated to the bread and to it's motherdough. A starter that is older than most other institutions in this city.

While doing this research, I didn't come to love Pier 39 but I did come to understand how the wharf itself drew visitors. Food. Always food. Hot steaming crab, swarthy fisherman cooking with garlic, tangy sourdough and an ocean view. What's not to love?

 

EB