Mission Street Food

The first rule of Mission Street Food is: You do not talk about Mission Street Food.

This underground dining experiment that began less than a year ago in an off-duty taco truck in the Mission has grown into one of the biggest foodie destinations in The City that nobody knows about. It started as a noble experiment: Invite young and up-and-coming chefs to create new and exciting dishes away from the tedious kitchen line, serve it street food-style, and donate profits to local food charities. Soon the word got out that a couple of rogue chefs were serving seriously high-quality eats out of a taco truck on Mission Street every Thursday night. Lines stretched down the block.



After a while, Mission Street Food had to move into an indoor space with tables and chairs, and open the doors a second night per week. Now settled into the Lung Shan Chinese Restaurant on Mission between 18th & 19th, Mission Street Food has a bigger kitchen to work with, and space to seat hundreds of guests per night, often booking up just an hour after opening.

This past Saturday, when we arrived at the front of Lung Shan Restaurant shortly before 6 p.m., there was already a line stretching several hundred feet down Mission. Passers-by gave us funny looks, curious why such a large group of people were standing in front of this shabby Chinese restaurant that was apparently not even open. They seated the first round of people, then started giving seating times to those of us still in line. Since we got there relatively early, we would be seated just after 7 p.m.

To eat at Mission Street Food feels more like a clandestine eating adventure than Saturday night dinner. The restaurant is dark, except for small tealight candles on the tables and the neon beer sign on the front window. People crowd tightly to the front of the building as the hostess rushes in and out of the door, trying to arrange seating. The food and drink are served in the restaurant's own dishes. It all feels as though they have broken in after hours to play "chef" and are constantly worried about being caught.

The menu, along with the cooks, changes each night. This Saturday, Bud Teasley of Boccalone and Carlo Espinas of Bar Jules featured a taste of South Carolina-style Barbeque. While purists may not consider the Blenheim Ginger BBQ'd Pork with Smokehouse Beans traditional South Carolina Barbeque, keep in mind this isn't your traditional dining experience.

The barbecue came served on slider buns plated with the sweet and tangy baked beans. The quirky salad of rhubarb and baby mustard greens came with a small candied apple covered in bacon caramel. It was a little wacky, but it worked somehow; the salty bacon accented the sweet caramel and that cute little apple paired very well with the rhubarb salad. The next dish to hit our cozy little table was the Tater Boat, a deep fried russet potato with taleggio nacho cheese and green garlic. Fried potato with melted, liquidy cheese and garlic? Yes, please.

In the hurried quick-step of the wait staff, the dishes came out whenever they were ready and in no real particular order. No problem there; our table was crowded with plates most of the time, anyway. We didn't come to Mission Street Food for subtle refinement or perfectly arranged dishes. We came for fantastically good food.



And any meal at Mission Street Food would be woefully incomplete without desert. We ordered two: The Butter fried cornbread with min julep honey and Humphrey Slocombe sour cream ice cream and a scoop of Humphrey Slocombe Secret Breakfast Ice Cream.

The butter fried cornbread was an interesting mingling of flavors, from the crisp and buttery cornbread, the sweetness of the mint julep honey, and the subtle tang of the sour cream ice cream that really tasted like sour cream. All together a brilliantly conceived desert.

Then, a small paper cup nestled in a plain white Chinese teacup, filled with the Secret Breakfast Ice Cream. This ice cream, the most talked about flavor from the new kid on the block, is flavored with crushed cornflakes and bourbon. Yep, cornflakes. And bourbon. Wow. For my first taste of the new players in the gourmet ice cream game, I was beyond impressed with the creative flavors and thrilled Mission Street Food included them in their menu.

As an added bonus, the charity Mission Street Food was supporting was 826 Valencia, my favorite writing center and pirate store. We had a fantastic meal courtesy of the fantastic, rouge cooks of Mission Street Food. Dinner is served Thursday and Saturday nights starting at 6:00 until it ends at 2234 Mission Street. If you want to get on the list, bring cash, get there early (before 6) and get ready to wait in line.

For more info on Mission Street Food, check out their blog here, and this recent San Francisco Chronicle write-up.

A Box of Plenty

With San Francisco still trying to decide if it's Winter or Spring, I'm feeling pretty grateful to be able to pickup fresh seasonal veggie deliveries from Eatwell Farm. The box of goodies that we picked up just over a week ago has provided us with a refrigerator full of fresh, crisp and delicious fruits and vegetables that never had to see the inside of a supermarket.

In the spirit of our little city apartment receiving the bounty of the season directly from the farm, I want to share the dishes we made over the last week trying to use as many ingredients from the box in each meal as possible. Some days, like Monday, are busy and the missus and I get home at different times, so it's usually leftovers or a quick and easy pasta. Last Monday, Mrs. Rosewater got crafty and threw together a tasty little pesto with spinach, walnuts, and a generous dose of olive oil. It's all about what you have in your cupboard.



Luckily, the rest of the week is a little more consistent, so we have plenty of time to put together a proper dinner for two. Mid-week, we borrowed a recipe from the Eatwell Farm Newsletter for a vegetable risotto. My relationship with risotto has been pretty hit and miss in the past, and it has often turned into a marginally edible rice-paste with vegetables. This time? Not a problem. The rice was just right, and the addition of tarragon made it wonderfully fragrant and richly flavored.



Radish & Leek Risotto

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 large or 2 small leeks, with tops removed and diced
1 bunch of radishes (about 8) chopped into small cubes
1 bunch of green garlic (4 - 5), cleaned, trimmed and chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 Small handful of tarragon, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Saute the leeks, garlic and radishes in the oil until the radishes begin to become translucent and the leeks begin to shrink, about 5 - 10 minutes. Add rice and stir for a couple of minutes, until the oil has been absorbed by the rice. Slowly add heated broth one ladle at a time, stirring constantly, until absorbed and the rice is cooked completely. Taste the rice frequently to test it's doneness. When rice is fully cooked, remove from heat and add tarragon. Season with salt and pepper. No risotto is complete without cheese, so grate about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (or more, if you like) into the risotto before you serve and stir it in. Serve in a bowl topped with more parmesan cheese. (Yes, I like cheese.)



And since San Francisco and the Bay Area seem to be suffering from juvenile fits of cold wind and rain this month instead of a proper grown-up storm, it felt like a good time to make a thick, tasty soup to keep us warm. Plus, it's pretty much the only thing I know how to make with butternut squash. The recipe changes each time because I always have different ingredients in the refrigerator, sometimes things that need to be cooked and eaten before they go bad.


Photo note: The picture above was not taken by my talented photographer wife, but instead by me. Notice the chipped bowl? I didn't. This is why I leave the visual stuff to the missus, and I stick to the words.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
1 2 1/2 lb butternut squash (or 2 small squashes) peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 Sweet red onion, chopped
4 - 5 garlic cloves, minced
1 large or 2 small leeks, tops removed and chopped
Small handful of tarragon, chopped
5 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup white wine
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large stockpot. Saute the onion, leek and garlic until they become fragrant and the onion begins to turn translucent. Add squash, and saute for a couple of minutes and stir in salt and pepper. Add white wine, and allow the alcohol to cook off and liquid to reduce, stirring occasionally. Add 5 cups of broth; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cook until squash is tender, about 40 min. Remove from heat and add tarragon.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth and thick. If soup is too thin, return to heat and allow to reduce slightly. Serve topped with a drizzle of olive oil or heavy cream, and with a plate of crusty, toasted bread nearby.



This soup wasn't the best I've ever made, but it did the trick. I think it needed to be a little thicker, and some cream would have added to the flavor. I love the sweetness of the squash paired with the tart bite of onion and leek. The tarragon just added that little something extra.

Having this huge box of farm fresh veggies thrust at us all at once was a little intimidating, so it's going to be an adventure making sure we get the most out of each delivery and nothing goes to waste. If you haven't already, look into finding a local CSA in your area, and keep your kitchen stocked with the freshest seasonal produce around.

Enjoy!

Urban Pastoral

This week we picked up our first delivery of fresh, organic seasonal fruits and vegetables from Eatwell Farm's Community Supported Agriculture program. I'm super excited about getting a box of amazing produce every other week.

This weeks box included Fuji Apples, Pomelo, Lettuce, Spinach, Leeks, Bok Choy, Collards, Green Garlic, Radishes, Italian Flat-Leafed Parsley, Butternut Squash, Oranges, and Kiwis.

Not only does the Tiny Kitchen get to enjoy this fresh organic bounty, we are supporting the good hardworking people of a local California farm striving to keep alive the agrarian traditions of our great state. Local farms like Eatwell are the cornerstone of our food system, and the source of our continued sustenance.

And because we are all watching our expenses these days, it bears mentioning that buying a share in any CSA program is vastly cheaper than shopping at your local Safeway. A 4 week share from Eatwell Farm costs $108, or about $27 per week. Most CSA's, like Eatwell, let you choose between weekly or bi-weekly delivery.

For more information on Eatwell Farm and local Community Sponsored Agriculture, please visit the Eatwell Farm website or Localharvest.org.

Udon Miso Soup

The great thing about soup is that you can make it with just about whatever you have ready to go in your kitchen. It can be a simple light broth with veggies, or a thick and rich stew of meat, beans and noodles. I've never really tried anything with miso before, but recently a cold San Francisco night was calling for a good soup. The miso soup I have had before, primarily in restaurants, has been little else but broth and tiny cubes of tofu. Since this was going to be the main course instead of just a starter, I figured it was going to need a little substance.

I adapted yet another recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks for this soup, and while I added generous amounts of vegetables for this batch, it is really easily adaptable for whatever suits your tastes. I heartily recommend adding a small amount of miso and tasting the broth at first, you can always add more if it isn't flavorful enough. Miso can be pretty salty, so you probably don't need to add salt to anything. I used the fresh udon noodles that I found in the refrigerated section at the store, next to the tofu. Dried noodles should serve just as well.

Udon Miso Soup

Ingredients:
1 package of fresh udon noodles
2 - 4 tablespoons miso paste (to taste)
3 - 5 ounces of extra firm tofu, sliced into tiny 1/2 inch cubes
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups of water
3 celery stalks, sliced into 1/4 inch chunks
1 package of fresh shitake mushrooms or other variety, sliced thin
4 - 5 radishes, sliced very thin
Small handful of fresh cilantro
A pinch of red pepper flakes (for heat)

Boil the noodles in salted water until cooked and just tender, drain, rinse and set aside. Bring 4 cups of vegetable broth to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Mix a few tablespoons of the broth into a small bowl with the miso paste and whisk so it thins out the miso. Pour mix back into the pot. At this point, taste the broth to see if it needs more miso. Add the water. You may choose to add a little water at a time, tasting the broth as you go. 2 cups ended up being just the right amount of extra liquid needed for the amount of vegetables and noodles. This will vary on what you add to your soup.

Sprinkle in red pepper flakes. Add mushrooms, celery, and radishes, and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Add the tofu, and allow the soup to return to a simmer. Remove the soup from the heat and add the udon noodles. Serve topped with fresh cilantro. I can't eat soup without something crunchy, so I toasted slices of a baguette to serve along side.

If all goes as planned, this should serve 4.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Treats

I've never been very keen on fake, made-up holidays like Valentine's Day. It was always cute when we were kids, giving out little cards with generic sentiments spoken by our favorite cartoon characters attached to tiny packets of inedible candy that we would all enthusiastically try to break our teeth on later. It was fun then, and I'm sure it was hilarious for the teachers to watch all of the little boys shyly trying to give the girls their Valentine's, and hoping for one in return.

Since those days, I've grown somewhat wiser, and a little bitter, and realized that Valentine's Day is just a way for greeting card companies to make their quarterly profits and for restaurants to spike their prices on indulgent and pretentious prix fix menus. I also understand that showing the person you love how much you care about them is immensely important; however I don't need nor want Hallmark, Nestle, or FTD to tell me when I am expected to do so. Luckily, Mrs. Rosewater does not subscribe to the doctrine of St. Valentine either, and as the anniversary of our very first date is the next day, we have a much better reason to celebrate and dote on one another.



Ok, enough Proselytizing. Sorry, I kind of went on a rant there. In spite of my obvious disdain for this "holiday", it is always a good excuse to enjoy something sweet with my sweetie. We decided to try our hand at making crepes with Nutella, that famed Parisian street food and favorite treat of Nutella lovers everywhere. I've never made crepes before, and the craft has a certain learning curve to it. To add to the handicap, we do not have an actual crepe pan or that handy little wooden spreader thingy used to evenly cover said pan with batter. About halfway through the bowl of batter, we realized we should be spooning the Nutella onto the crepe whilst it was still in the pan, ensuring it was hot enough to melt the spread.

Throw a couple of strawberry slices inside, fold, and serve topped with powdered sugar. Or more strawberries. My first try at crepe making was pretty successful, if I do say so myself. And no, the fact that this is my second post in a row to include Nutella is not lost on me. What can I say? We had plenty left over from World Nutella Day 2009. I hope everyone's Valentine's or Anti-Valentine's Day were just what you hoped they would be. Enjoy!

World Nutella Day 2009

I do not have a sweet tooth. Never have. So, in general, things like Nutella don't often show up on my radar. My wife, on the other hand has a sweet tooth big enough for the both of us. She loves Nutella, and is gingerly licking it off of her fingers with a sly smile on her face as I write this sentence.

Several weeks ago, she was reading two of our favorite blogs, Bleeding Espresso and Ms. Adventures in Italy and noticed that Michelle and Sara would soon be celebrating "World Nutella Day 2009" with many Nutella-loving food bloggers around the world. She said "you should write a post about this. You might actually like it."

Up until this evening, I had never tried Nutella. Even though I know they are two completely different things, I have always thought Nutella was exactly the same thing as Vegemite. (If you don't know what Vegemite is, you're probably better off.) Despite my irrational aversion to jars of gelatinous brown food-stuff, the missus convinced me to partake in World Nutella Day 2009. And continue enabling her addiction to chocolate.



Keeping things nice and simple, we bought some LU Shortbread Cookies to spoon the Nutella onto. Not a bad choice.

So I may not become a full on Nutella addict like some of my foodie friends out there, but now that I have tasted it I have seen the light. Although now I have this big jar of chocolate hazelnut goodness loitering in my kitchen, waiting to be eaten. Here's looking forward to next year!

Tastemaker Review: Quaker True Delights granola bars

From time to time our friends at Foodbuzz headquarters will open up their stash of great foodie delights, and shares some with the rest of the class. Recently, I opened up the mailbox to find a large white envelope from Foodbuzz stuffed with the first flavors of a new line of granola bars from Quaker.

Quaker's True Delights granola bars are being introduced in three tasty new flavors, Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut, Honey Roasted Cashew Mixed Berry, and Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond. The bars are being billed as "an indulgent combination of real fruit, whole nuts and dark chocolate, mixed into wholesome honey-drizzled Quaker oats."

I always enjoy having something to snack on during the drive to work, and these little bars hit the spot. Filling they are not, but they do take the edge off of the morning hunger pangs when you don't have time for a real breakfast. These little guys are tasty, definitely a step up from your average granola bar. While they are by no means "all natural", (nor are they billed as such), but there are only a couple of ingredients with more than 3 syllables. They aren't the healthiest treats in the world at 4.5 of grams of fat per bar, but as long as you don't eat the whole box all at once, I think you'll be alright.

All in all, not a bad turn from the folks at Quaker. Thanks, Foodbuzz!

Super Bowl Indigestion

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday, our pseudo-national holiday of greasy food & cold beer, rampant gambling, million-dollar television commercials, and I think there was a football game on, too.

The Super Bowl party has become a national past time, almost as much so as the actual game itself. People come together bearing cases of beer, chips and dip, and crock pots bubbling with cheesy, spicy delights. Our good friends Rick and Erin hosted us again this year, and they had their house fully prepped for the big game. The couch was even arranged into stadium seating complete with 3-D glasses and penalty flags for the ultimate viewing experience.



But on to the food. I didn't actually cook anything; I still haven't mastered cooking for large groups. So, we headed up to Sonoma county with some snacks from Trader Joe's and our winning personalities. Everyone brought something to snack on, from multi-layered dips, peanut butter & chocolate cupcakes, barbeque pork, and a cheesy buffalo chicken dip that I can only liken to crack. It's just that good.








Oh, and in case you missed the game, the Steelers won. It ended up being a pretty exciting Super Bowl. I hope everyone had a great time, where ever you were.