January 2006 Archives

As I left today for work with my new borrowed book in tow, Mama said she wanted a picture of me reading this vegetable book (insert gasp here). I beat a hasty exit, stage left.
That's right, a vegetable book. And a darned good one too. I've been wracking my meat riddled mind for new things to try, do and experiment with. Up until this last weekend, I haven't been inspired enough to do anything, at all.
Friday evening Jlee offered up her Chez Panisse Vegetable book, yay!

Oh shaddap, yeah I know Alice is living in her own little world and gets a lot of flack for it. But this is an excellent book, even if I don't know anything about vegetables. I like it cause the recipes are arranged by vegetable and at each entry you're told what time of year to expect it. Very handy for us novices, I must say.
Wanna see my version of what Alice originally called, "Whole-wheat Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts, and Ricotta Salata?

No no, not me. I was perusing The Pragmatic Chef and noticed he put up a post about some food critic changing shoes for a week and waiting tables. He'd been a waiter 20 years previous, but it'd been a while and sounded like a good idea. I read Frank Bruni's article and it reminded me of my attitude towards people who take care of us in restaurants.
I remember many years ago when I was real little, maybe 5 or so and my grandmother and uncle would take myself and my little sister out to eat. Gramma always pointed out how hard waiters and waitresses worked. How many things they'd have to remember, who got what and what went to what table. Be kind and don't make trouble. Sit still in your seat and don't run around, it isn't polite. If you knock something over, ask for a towel so that 'you' (meaning me) can clean it up promptly. Don't open up the sugar packets and spread it over the table, it'll make a mess. If you have a question, ask. If you don't ask, you'll never find out the answer to your question. Kinda makes sense huh?
I remember the meals usually went fine. If the kitchen was running a little slow, Gramma would lean over to me and say, "I'll pretend to light up a cigarette and you just see if our food doesn't come out right quick." And it nearly always did, Gramma knew.
After we got the check, it was time to calculate the tip. The ever powerful way of showing your appreciation to those who matter. Or letting them know that something, wasn't quite as you had expected it to be.
We always tipped whatever the standard percentage was at that time or more if we were exceptionally pleased. Or as I grew older, too loaded and caused a scene, that's a 50% tip right there. Sorry to you and yours for that, and that, and that. Oh and there was that time at El Cabballo for Dave's birthday. Does Speaking on Tongues mean anything to you?
Over the years I've dined with many people and have been appalled at the rudeness of some. One of which flat out refused to tip based on the fact they already get paid. They shouldn't get a tip for what they're already paid for. He doesn't tip the grocery store clerk or the shoe salesperson, why the waitress? We didn't go out much to eat together.
While I don't go out to eat often, I always make a point of tipping well and not being rude, even if I am hungry and full of booze.

Here's the article! My Week as a Waiter by Frank Bruni

Yeah okay, sorry about that. I'll tell you what it is. This Brasato al Midolo is a Tuscan Style Organic Grass Fed Beef Pot Roast stuffed with Beef Marrow. Uh huh. (recipe located at end of their newsletter) As far as I know, this is a first for this special and it's tomorrow. Sorry I was late, again, this week. The Newsletter didn't roll in until Thursday and I've been completely and utterly swamped here at work and my computer area is soggy at home. Meathenge has taken another nose dive, but it'll have to. I just don't have ONE OUNCE of inspiration or time. Not even a smidge.

Alright, enough blather. Along with the special this week Fatted Calf is sportin' their organic beef hot links. See, I've had these once before and they're amazing.

These suckers should really be cooked on the grill or smoker, long and slow. They soak up BBQ sauce like a sponge, oh yeah. Everyone should have a package of these in their fridge.
Oh look, one of my favorites, Rabbit Pate with Chives! Love the chives in there, makes the rabbit all sparky and nice.
The menu this week is chocked full of wonderful goodies, read though and see for yourself.
I hope to see you at the market this coming Saturday morning in Berkeley!

xo xo

Ack! Where has the time gone? The Fatted Calf Newsletter rolled a day ago and am only now had the time to peruse the list of goodies. What's up with that?
I have a question, what is a Cantipalitos de Pimenton? Google doesn't know and Larousse Gastronomique doesn't know either. I did however, find a refrence to roasting a young camel's hump. MmmMmmMM, hump.
The Pork Crepinettes with Roasted Shallots, Walnuts and Red Wine sound nice for a wintery breakfast, don't you think? I do.
Hey, look there's Glace de Viande listed way down there at the bottom. A perfect meat syrup for glazing your roasts or thickening of your sauces & gravies. Yeah, yeah, I know. Make your own, it's easy! Well, yeah it is easy. But it takes time and you have to pay attention to what the heck you're doing. OH sure, do it a few times so you can say you did it, I agree. In fact, I've done it. But to keep it on hand on a weekly & monthly basis? That's not so easy. So, do yourself a favor and let F.C. do the hard work and you reap the goodness.
Go have a look for yourself at their menu for this coming Saturday at the Berkeley Farmer's Market.

xo xo

ps - Don't forget to reserve your roasts and treats so you KNOW for a fact you'll get what you want. Place your order HERE.

pps - I called Taylor to find out what the Cantipalitos is. It's a 4" long pork sausage with smoked paprika, garlic and a few other goodies. They're available at The Spanish Table in Berkeley, neat eh?

I received an email the other day stating that Eric the Knife Guy, from the Berkeley Farmer's market, is going to co-host a really fancy 4 hour knife skills workshop here in the San Francisco Bay Area. The other guy, Chef Charles Vollmar I don't know. So, I went to Paulding & Co. to see what was up.
These people put on largely upscale classes and it's worth a look in to. Let's say you're interested in Terry's Basic Cooking Supper Club, that'd be $260.00. It includes food though and the kitchen is fricken amazing. Here, let me quote this.

Built in 2003-04, the Paulding & Company Kitchen is unique. It is spacious, light and well equipped, set up for both professional catering and baking, and for hands-on cooking events and classes. Amenities include a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, a 12-burner commercial stove, 4 full-size commercial convection ovens and a 24-inch char grill; 90-second low-temperature commercial dishwasher, full-size 3-compartment sink, prep sink, and roomy work table space and seating for 36.

You get the idea, these people mean business. This must be why they picked Eric & Charles to host this upcoming class on this February 12th.
So, if you've been waiting for an excellent local Knife Skills class and Shuna isn't available, this is where you need to be.
Please read on for the invite and announcement including bios at the end.

I'll be the first one to admit I'm a meat/food snob. This finds it's evil ways in to cooking methods as well. So, I suppose you could say I'm a meat/food/cooking snob. It's taken years, but I've learned to accept it and to hell with anyone who can't deal with it.
However, I'll be the second one to admit, I can't be an snob for every meal.
So, it's with much pleasure I bring you this awesome "BBQ" Pork Spare Rib dinner.

It was dark out and the sign was lit. Chilebrown, Ms. Goofy, Mama and myself headed out to Rodeo to the new Mazatlan taqueria to celebrate our Dueling Briskets contest the previous weekend. It's been a month or less since it opened and being 1 of 2 Mexican restaurants in town, we just had to go see. Hopefully it doesn't suck as much as the other one.

Godammit it's been a long time. 2? 3 weeks? I don't know. I've forgotten what charcuterie is. After reading through Kim O'Neill's Fatted Calf Newsletter, I'm not even sure I remember what anything tastes like!
This week's special are the Little Lamb Leg Roasts with Olive Tapenade. I've had these a handful of times and they're quite tasty. The lamb is extremely fresh and you can tell, it's mild and tender. The Tapenade is something they make themselves and permeates the meat, your oven and the house! Plus, lamb don't take that long to cook. This means you aren't sitting around all day waiting for your meal, niiice.
The wily boudin noir is here too, many people wait for this treat. If you're in to the noir, don't miss it this week. Count Biggles in for the Rabbit Boudin, this is my treat. It's so warm and sweet, perfect for breakfast & supper.
This is a wonderful time to visit your local farmer's market. The crowds are light and the deals are there to be had. Please leave some room in your busy schedule and head out this coming weekend, even if it is a little rainy. See you there!

Biggles

Please read on to Kim O'Neill's Fatted Calf Newsletter.

If you've ever used a film or digital camera, you've heard the news, friends and collegues talk about film versus digital. One doesn't replace the other, they're each good for different situations. I think there was this nagging little bug in the back of our heads that truly thought, some day, when my hair is grey and cars ride 4 feet off the ground, film will no longer be available.
Uh, game over pal, film is dead and Nikon has shut down production of all but 2 film cameras, the F6 and FM10. Oh, and they were nice enough to continue to manufacture a few manual focus lenses for those too. How thoughtful.
One might think that maybe Canon will carry the torch, I doubt it. This is business pal, and if the public ain't buying? The companies aren't going to produce the cameras. And that will be pretty much that.
Here's one more experience that I'll be taking to the grave. The experience of holding a hand-made Nikon camera to my eye, living in my own space and time with the ability to capture life, death and the world around me.
Rest in peace old friend, I will not forget the love.

Biggles

Barrett from Too Many Chefs has inspired me a handful of times over the last year or so to try some vegetarian dishes. This isn't easy to do, maybe I've changed my wily ways? Probably not, but Barrett puts forth his recipes in a way that doesn't attack me for being a meateater. Or, mentioning in the prose some place how meateaters like it and they never miss the meat! That crap blows my stack. Anyone who tells me I won't miss the bacon or I won't miss the pork roast is off their rocker. Barrett doesn't take that route and it's pleasing to cook from his stash.
Today we have Biggles' version of Barrett's Poppyseed Cabbage and Egg Noodles.

As I situate myself for this post, I flash back to Saturday evening when this beast was removed from the oven and plated up. I started with Justin Wilson's Mushroom Braised Brisket, followed with simmered greens (swiss chard) and finished with Meathead's Southern Cornbread. Mr. Wilson would have been proud of my version, very proud.
How did this all start? Well, that's a story in itself, are you interested?

I would like to preface this entry with a note that this cornbread success story is 1 part in a Brisket Cookoff between Chilerown and I over this last weekend. It was quite an adventure, a cool one too, and just couldn't wait to tell you about the cornbread. I'll get the Beef Brisket Fun written and up soon, I promise.

Over the last few years I've been chasing Meathead's Southern Cornbread and there's good reason. It's one of the finest things I've ever put in my mouth. However, the recipe is elusive because over nearly 3 or 4 generations, there's no written recipe! He wrote me up another one with a different oven temperature and I decided it was time to give it one more shot.

We find our plucky Biggles hard at work, doing what he does to pay the bills. When Creepy E walks in and tosses this down on his desk. A Yan Can Cook vegetable cleaver with a nasty notch taken out of it. He laughs and says that I can have it, it's mine. I'm turning this thing over and over thinking, "What the hell?"
It turns out, he thinks he was cutting meat with it and got to the bone and I finished the sentance with, "and you wrenched it to the side to unembed it from the bone, didn't you?" PING !!!

It wasn't obvious what was in a wrapped gifty box a good friend had dropped off. He offered that I should open it sooner rather than later, probably guessing I'd want to play right away. Thinking it might be nice to open a present at the regularly scheduled time, I left it rest for that week and din't give it much thought.
I wish I'd opened it sooner, don't you think?