The Quick Dinner

Having expended way to much energy over the past couple of days, yet sticking with my resolve to work out as often as possible, I was faced with the dilemma of what could I eat that would be quick and somewhat reasonable to eat.

A huge Super Burrito! NO!

What would the point of working out be if I then go and plow more calories and fat into my body than I could possibly justify with a simple workout. I was literally in the car to go get a burrito, when I realized this was not a good plan.

Instead, I got out the broccolini I had in the fridge, a package of fresh pasta from the Phoenix Pastifacio in Berkeley and a little uncured bacon, render the bacon, oil poach the broccolini and cook the pasta, toss in the wok and you get a really delicious and very fast dinner.



Yes, that is the true color, oil poaching, while not the lowest calorie form of preparing the vegetables provided a beautiful green color and a light crunch while still be quick and easy to manage. The veggies never left the wok after 3 minutes in hot oil, the pasta was tossed in and tossed with a few chunks of bacon. Nothing else needed, maybe a little Phu Quoc black pepper ground over the top.

The Death of Civility

Part 1
Today, as I left the car parts store, I chanced to approach the exit door as a man stepped through it, the wrong way, thus blocking my path, he held the door then leaned out and yelled at his wife (and I quote) "c'mon, hurry up bitch!" I wonder if this makes him think he is more masculine, stronger or greater because he can crudely demean another person.

I guess I have grown tired of late, of the death of civility, the name calling, the broken hearts and broken dreams, the endless parade of hate and distrust, I am even tired of cooking.

I think it is time for me to go back to the gym.

Part 2
Again, something that has nothing to do with food...something brought this memory to me. From my late Uncle Henry, who taught me all the things a son does not learn from his father when the son has stopped listening because he knows better than dad.

One day, when we were working, hard physical labor, under hot and dry conditions, and I was whining, as tennage boys are wont to do. Like many Japanese men, he told me I was born to a noble family, I told him the samurai were dead.. He pulled me aside, told me to sit down, drink some water and listen. He told me this...

You are samurai by birth, a warrior in soul and spirit, who serves his family and home with honor and valor.
You are Ronin by choice, serving no lord, but your family and all of those you would love and cherish as if they were master.
You are Servant and Companion, at your best, carrying the burden for others, that they might more easily carry theirs when the load gets heavy.

another of his axioms...when I questioned that it seemed that I was carrying the heaviest load of work (there never seemed to be a shortage of hard physical labor under hot conditions with Uncle Henry, unless it was freezing, of course) compared to others...

A strong man is at his greatest when he kneels before the weakest and bids them command him, that all would succeed.

Today, I ended up a little sadder than when I started.

I would add, I don't think I ever really did know more than the old man did. Dammit!

Veggie Burger

Aaaannndddd...it continues, I had all those vegetables and needed to do something with them. The mushrooms, a bunch of aromatics, an odd can of chickpeas and that slaw, salsa and avocado sauce. Can't let it go to waste, so I made a few changes to the stuff and came up with a veggie burger. I did add some fish sauce, as I find that a little Red Boat fish sauce goes a long way. And, even though, I personally do not consider this vegetarian, due to fish as an ingredient, many folks consider themselves to be vegetarian even though they eat fish.

Anyway, I mush up the chickpeas, added the mushrooms and the cooking liquid, added some more chopped celery and green onions along with a large egg and 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. This was mixed together and formed into patties, then fried in olive oil. This is a very loose mixture and requires either ring forms or a small saute pan to keep things together. A nice bun, some salsa and slaw and there you go.

Vegan Tostada

Today, I decided to go vegan, yes, I know, shocking. I have just had too much pork over the past few days an need to change direction briefly. Tonight, a tostada was just the thing.

I used some hand made corn tortillas available in this area, these are Sonoran style, so they are a little thicker than most corn tortillas people are used to. I like them as they are a little more moist and instead of turning into a chip, they retain some chewy tooth in the center of the tortilla.

The base of the tostada was a saute of mushrooms, in this case, crimini and shiitake, sauteed with onions, garlic a little olive oil and some Lucky Dog hot sauce and tamari. Naturally, some salt and Phu Quoc black pepper freshly ground in.

The salsa was a simple tomato and onion salsa, some cilantro then to add a little upgrade, some roasted Hatch chiles and fresh roasted corn were added. The corn was just colored up a bit over a flame, the center was still cold and fresh.

The avocado is more of an avocado salsa, less of a guacamole. I use some cider vinegar and olive oil, along with some almond milk to make it more liquid and smoother than a guacamole. I like the edge of sour bite that the vinegar gives and a little Lucky Dog hot sauce. I add a little sugar, Phu Quoc black pepper and salt to balance it all out.

The slaw is a very simple cabbage and carrot slaw, a little shredded green onion and cilantro for the herbal touch. Again, vinegar, a little sugar, Phu Quoc black pepper and salt, and a little Lucky Dog hot sauce.

Boot and Shoe Service Cafe

It is probably no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love coffee, I treat it just like many who love wine or beer, I love the complexity and variety, of how the hand of man (or woman if it is one of my favorite roasters) can affect the work of nature and how terroir changes a sibple seed. In San Francisco, there is an oft-rotating 'best coffee ever!' buzz surrounding whatever latest coffee roaster or coffee house is the current darling of the crowd. Lately, Sightglass coffee keeps coming up in conversation of the coffee cogniscenti. So, it was both surprsing and good news when I heard that Boot and Shoe Service in Oakland, Ca. was serving Sightglass coffee as a part of new morning service. They have turned a narrow and very rustic space into their coffee bar.

They are using a small La Marzocco espresso machine which seems perfectly sized for the location. Of late, it really seems all of the coffee I enjoy is made on some version of a La Marzocco, including my ususal coffee from Zocalo in San Leandro.

They do have a little competition, being within easy distance from powerhouse chains Peet's and Starbucks, which I suspect will not be a problem for them. In part, it has to do with the coffee, the espresso, my preferred method for getting to know a coffee shop, lacked for nothing. It had a wonderfuil texture, with a touch of sweetness and a smooth overall mouthfeel. The flavore were berry and fruit forward with a tough of mocha richness on the backside, lingering coffee flavor with no bitterness. The coffee and crema held beautifully with the flavor holding even as the coffee cooled. Look at tha...hey, where did it go?

However, as good as the coffee was, the food really shows it's heritage of being a part of a restaurant. For those not in the know, Boot and Shoe is the second restaurant opened by Charlie Hollowell of Pizzaiolo. The baked goods are handled in-house or at Pizzaiolo and the food is prepared in the kitchen.

The shop also offers house made granola and house made baked treats, we did not try these, as we were inclinded to more substantial fare. But, it is easy to see that they have all the standards people look for in a coffee shop as well as a few other options less often seen. The granola is very interesting looking with a unique color and loose texture.

We had a delicious pork belly sandwich which offered a unctuous and tender pork belly, which must have been slow cooked and a wonderful sauce that balanced the heft of the prok belly fat. The sandwich was certainly a worthy representative and will cause me to come back here again.

The real treat was the crispy friend sweet polenta with honey, this was a wonderful balance of crispy, creamy and sweet which could, and probably should, be served as a dessert. This dish represented one of those hallmarks of a great kitchen, simple ingredients in a simple presentation that tastes incredible.

Anytime I run across food like this, it really makes me want to come back and try out the other items on the menu. Boot and Shoe Service got me in with excellent coffee, but, I will be back for the food coming out of the kitchen.

San Francisco Street Food Festival

I love street food, real street food, the kind that speaks to the hands of someone who made a few items, things they make in the style of their family, the imperfect world of food prepared for service on the run. There is something about the immediacy of food prepared and served for eating on the move, the lack of refinement and the nature of the cook’s hands making the food from shelf to mouth. It is the purest, and probably the oldest form of food cooked for others.

This past Saturday was the 3^rd Annual San Francisco Street Food Festival presented by La Cocina, this event occurs in the Mission District of San Francisco and is a great food scene with many of the City’s buzz-worthy restaurants and trucks taking part and supporting La Cocina.  I love the Mission District of San Francisco, although it has it’s seedy side, areas where you are probably best off not being too familiar with, it is also one of the most vital and diverse neighborhoods in a very diverse city. With its traditionally Hispanic population and lower socioeconomic incomes blending with the newer influx of hispters and foodies, the neighborhood buzzes with activity every day. There are precious few places where you can go from a block of three dollar burritos to perfect croissants and pizzas by walking a block or two. In this mix is La Cocina, an incubator kitchen focused on assisting lower income and underserved women with starting food businesses, providing them a place to cook, a source for ingredients and advice and direction in dealing with the codes and requirements of starting a business. This is their way of celebrating the support, food-centric people and neighborhood that has supported their efforts.

Although there were some very polished restaurants at this festival, showing all the glory of cooking in a brigade, all the culinary training, the great sourcing and quality of their ingredients and polish of theior technique, there is still something wonderfully uncontrolled about vending a limited menu, out the front of a truck or tent, that makes this food special. Because this is The Mission, there was also the guy with a tiny hot dog cart, the tinkling of the Mexican ice cream push cart and even the odd entrepreneur selling home baked cookies. What a mix it was.

We got to experience Salvadoran, Asian, American and fusions of all of these in various guises. My eating companions included food journalists and taste makers from around the U.S., as I had the opportunity to eat and visit with the media covering this event. It was interesting to hear their take on the San Francisco food and food scene. There is something very enjoyable about eating and drinking with folks that take this part of our local culture seriously.

Some random images as well.

Even when you live out of a shopping cart, a friend or two sure makes the day go better.

I love these luchadore masks with the great colors

Is there something that speaks to California and Mexican street food than grilled corn?

Who needs hundreds of dollars of portable fryers and steamers when you have a dog cart.

We got two dishes from this cook, the puffy masa cakes with cheese folded into the cake and some corn cakes that would make any brunch better, here she cooks just for us (not so much really)

There were cocktails, as there needed to be, Lynchburg Lemonade

And later, we found a small but sleek coffee shop, with the hot tattooed baristas, and open seats

Lime pangas, this seemed such a great decoration for a food booth in the Mission

Mmmm, fried chicken, and I did not know there were such things as portable fryolators, I feel I will have to get one of these.

This was also very cook, a kushiyaki grill with traditional Japanese charcoal, I got some grilled beef heart off of this little grill.

And looking over all of the festivities, one of the many murals around the Mission District

There was quite the crowd, featuring all of the diversity that San Francisco is so well known for. I was forunate to meet up with my friend Mai from Flavor Boulevard, who had ventured over to experience the event as well. Here is her take on the festival. It was certainly fortuitous that she found me, as Mai is tiny, I would never have found her amongst the crowds. I tend to stand out a bit more.

Where are all the usual close-up food pics and detailed culinary descriptions? Well, for me, this event is really more about people, people and community and a shared passion for the locale. I was glad to be there supporting a good cause and a fine neighborhood, the food was just a part of a great day.

Home-made Alkali Noodles

Following up on my ramen post, I decided to make some alkali noodles to complement the level of flavor development that I had with the smoked brisket and bacon broth I used for the last ramen post. The noodles, which I bought, were just not good enough, they were soft coming out of the bag and got softer after a bried cooking. I think ramen needs to have noodles with texture and tooth, because of the hot broth, the alkali noodle is a perfect foil for the broth.

I am basing this on a variety of sources, but, took a large amount on inspiration from Lucky Peach, the aforementioned quarterly from the mind of David Chang. Since I based it upon his recipe, I hesitate to publish the recipe, as you should really buy this publication. However, the real key is simple, you need some form of kansui, an alkaline powder, which lends additional body to the noodle.

I went with a batch using 3 cups of flour and just enough water and kansui to pull a rough dough together. This was then kneaded for 5 minutes, an athletic 5 minutes, to pull together the dough into a not quite smooth dough.

Wrapped in plastic wrap and allowed to rest for 20 to 30 minutes, this results in the time for a second kneading, to further develop gluten, I suppose.

After this, since I was not going to need the noodles today, I split the recipe in two, wrapped the dough balls in plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator. It needs to be in there for an hour at least, so my plan is to chill them for at least an hour, then I will freeze one ball and keep the other one for tomorrow night.

One day later, I rolled and cut the ramen by hand, this was not by choice. I would sure like to know where the heck my pasta rollers have gotten to. How could they get lost? Oh well, ramen rustica I guess. After rolling, I hand cut and floured the noodles.

These were later boiled in hot water while everyhting else was prepared. Since I did not want to do a lot of cooking tonight, I went with a simple 'tare' of Tonkatsu sauce. I happen to like Tonkatsu sauce and it works great to support the flavors in ramen.

Tonight was leftovers, so I at the last of my brisket dashi, fortified with some chicken legs and some furikake I had lying around. A couple of eggs, shreds of chicken and some green beans from last night. Ta Daaaa! Quick(ish) ramen dinner.