Birthday Dinner At San Francisco's A16

Alright, it's official.  I'm getting older.  Not old, mind you, just older.  The inevitably steady always forward never backward progression of time is a typical and well-worn source of worry.  But really, when a birthday comes around, I say enjoy yourself, eat, drink, and be merry.  No reason to fuss and fret over gaining yet another year, but take one day, or two, or five, and worry about celebrating, well, yourself.

In that spirit, as I went from being 30 to being "in my 30's", I wanted to enjoy an amazing dinner with my favorite girl at a spot I have been aching to try for some time.  That spot was A16 in San Francisco's Marina District, and believe me, it was worth the wait.

We started off by ordering a carafe of Terredora di paolo red wine, recommended by the waiter as being the quintessential pizza wine.  Starters came in short order; the missus getting the roasted asparagus with black olives, ricotta and lemon, and I the roasted calamari.

The calamari was fresh and flavorful, a very bright and uncomplicated dish.  Wilted greens completed the plate, adding a little bitterness to the calamari and sharp lemon flavor.

If A16 is known for anything, it is their pizza.  If the wood fired oven blazing away in the open kitchen was any indication, I could tell they take their pizza seriously.  I ordered the Salsiccia pizza with fennel sausage, roasted spring onions, mozzarella, grana, garlic, chilies and olive oil.  The waited brought us a small jar of chili oil, proclaiming he loved it and put it on everything.  The chili oil was ferociously hot, but with a great flavor to back it up.  In small drops, it added just the right amount of heat.

But this pizza didn't need any doctoring.  Perfect from first bite to last, this was honestly the best pizza I have had this side of the Atlantic.  The sausage was fresh and flavorful, the cheese creamy and light. Although the pizza was huge, it would have been a sin to not devour it completely and lick my plate clean.  You can rest assured there was not a speck of pizza left on my plate.

 And finally, thinking there would be no way to fit any more in, we came to desert.  I've mentioned before that I am not a huge sweet tooth, but sometimes, like on my birthday, I feel inclined to indulge.  We shared an apricot and pistachio tart with honey ice cream that topped the meal off perfectly.  Not too sweet or indulgent, just a simple, crispy tart with the tang of apricot, the crunch of pistachios and the cool sweetness of ice cream.  Just a few simple ingredients and I am a happy man.

It was, to say the least, a fabulous birthday dinner with my beautiful wife.  I don't think I will wait for another birthday to come around before I visit A16 again.

Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Recently we have begun to discover the wonders of quinoa, and have enjoyed making all sorts of simple, savory dishes with this super-healthy grain.  Any dish made with quinoa is bound to be hearty and filling; a deceptively small amount will keep your appetite sated and your tastebuds happy.

So when the missus discovered a recipe on one of our favorite blogs, Cooking With Amy, we figured we like quinoa, we like peppers, and we definitely like mushrooms, so why not give this a shot?  The great thing about this dish is how easy it is to make; very little preparation in needed beyond chopping a few veggies and rinsing the quinoa.

For those uninitiated into the realm of quinoa, first thing to note is that it has to be rinsed, thoroughly.  Second, quinoa absorbs an astounding amount of water, so figure on your water to grain ratio being somewhere around 2:1.  As part of an entree for 2 people, 1/2 cup of quinoa is just about right to make your tummy full and happy.  However, there is nothing wrong with making more and having some left over for lunch the next day.

But lets move on to the recipe at hand, shall we?

Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Ingredients:

2 Poblano peppers, cut in half, seeds removed

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of red or white quinoa

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

2 cups swiss chard leaves, shredded

1/4 cup pistachios, chopped

1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes, liquid included

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine water and quinoa in a saucepan, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.  Cover; cook for 15 to 18 minutes until water is completely absorbed.  Remove from heat.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add your olive oil.  Saute onions, mushroom, and garlic for about 8 minutes, until onion is tender.  Add the chard and allow to wilt, it will reduce in volume by more than half.  Add the cooked quinoa and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Once combined, spoon the mixture into the pepper halves.

In a casserole dish large enough to hold the peppers, (an 8 x 8 should do) pour in the canned tomatoes and liquid.  Nestle the peppers into the sauce and top each with a few pinches of chopped pistachio.  Bake for about 30 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

This is a hearty, warm, and simple dish great for a weeknight.  We ate it as our main course, but the peppers could easily be served as a side dish as well.  The one change I would make next time around would be to roast the peppers first and remove the skin; once they had baked the skin was tough and a little bitter, roasting them first would have brought out the sweetness of the peppers.  We used fairly small peppers, which made stuffing a little bit difficult; if you can, find fat peppers that will give you plenty of room to stuff all the goodies inside.

Thanks to fellow San Francisco foodie Amy Sherman for the great recipe.  I hope you all will give this a try and don't be afraid to add your own spin on it.  That's what cooking is all about.  Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Burritos

I absolutely love Mexican food. Of all the ethnic cuisines we have available to us in this amazing city of ours, few have the ravenous loyalty and array of choices that Mexican has. Second maybe only to Chinese cuisine, there are more Mexican restaurants, taquerias, pupuserias, and taco trucks than any other one ethnic food in the city. Everyone has their favorite spot and their favorite dish, and will defend their favorite with rabid dedication.

Of all my favorite dishes on the classic Mexican food menu, the burrito stands atop the heap as a perfect mixture of all the best flavors of mexican cuisine rolled neatly into a tidy little bundle. Beans, rice, crispy vegetables, cool guacamole, slow-cooked meat, and spicy sauce all layered together in a perfect (and portable) roll of delciousness.

One of my new favorites in the exciting world of burrito-ology is of the vegetarian variety. Now, usually when you order a vegetarian burrito, what arrives is pretty uninspired.  A lukewarm heap of rice and beans, occasionally dressed up with an extra-large helping of guacamole and cheese.  Pretty boring, to say the least. But I recently stumbled upon a rather brilliant take on the vegetarian burrito, one chalk full of butternut squash, onions, avacado and the ubiquitous beans and rice.  After discovering this brilliant new rendition at Picante Taqueria in San Rafael, I knew it was something I had to try and re-create at home.  I gave it a go despite my wife's reservations, and here is what we came up with:

Butternut Squash Burritos


Ingredients:
3-4 soft avacados (for the guacamole)
1 lime
A pinch or two of salt
1 medium red onion
1 medium butternut squash, seeds and outer skin removed, chopped into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped into tiny bits
1 can of black beans, drained
1 cup of white rice
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
2-3 Tablespoons of Mexican seasoning paste (usually found in the cooler next to the bags of pre-washed salad.)
Cumin, paprika, chili powder to taste
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
Your favorite melty cheese, shredded or grated.  No measurement here, use as much as your hear desires.

4 burrito-sized tortillas (we liked the spinach & herb variety)

Make the guacamole first to allow time for the flavors to combine.  Chop 1/2 of the red onion fine, add to a medium mixing bowl.  Add your avacado, broken up to allow for easier mashing.  Using a pastry cutter, mash up the avacado, combining it with the chopped onion until it has the consistency of, well guacamole.  Chunky or smooth is your choice, I prefer mine a little chunky.

Add half of the chopped cilantro and squeeze the juice of the lime into the guacamole, stirring to combine.  Set this aside while you get everything else ready to go.

Prepare the rice, boiling in 1 1/2 cups of water or vegetable broth until liquid is gone and rice is cooked through.  Add the Mexican spice paste and stir together, add more or less to taste.  In a separate pot or a bowl in the microwave, warm the black beans.  If you like it spicy, add a few dashes of hot sauce to the beans.

While the rice cooks, sautee the butternut squash and red onion.  Slice the other half of the onion into 1/4 inch ribbons and add to a hot sautee pan with a little canola oil.  As the onion becomes translucent, add the butternut squash and cover.  Allow the squash to cook until it is soft, and add a few squeezes of your Mexican seasoning paste.  About half way through the squash cooking, toss in your chopped jalapeño. Stir in a few dashes of cumin, paprika and chili powder, or any of your favorite spices or hot sauce, and taste as you go.  There really is no science to this, just season until it tastes right to you.

Now it's time to assemble.  I have a bad habit of over stuffing, but the basic idea is to layer your ingredients on top of one another.  When I see it done in taquerias, they usually pile the goods just off the center of the tortilla, probably so there is enough room to wrap all the way around.  Start with the beans, add the rice and then your butternut squash and onions.  Top with melty cheese (we used Monterey Jack), guacamole, and a little fresh cilantro.  Roll this beast up to the best of your abilities, and start enjoying your new favorite burrito.

This should make about 4 good sized burritos, but you might have some goodies left over for lunch the next day.  While the missus was skeptical this would work, I managed to win her over in the end.  Now we have a new recipe in our arsenal whenever butternut squash arrives in our CSA box, or for when I get a hankering for something different.  I hope you all enjoy this as much as we did.

Quinoa with Asparagus & Tabasco

As springtime slowly, very slowly, begins to break through the layers of clouds and rain and cold, it is time for us to put away the warm comfort foods of winter and get ready for the green flush of spring vegetables. While the roots and squashes of winter keep us warm and happy through the chilly months, I am always a little giddy when the weather starts to warm and we begin to see piles of vibrant green stuffed into our bi-weekly CSA box. And early spring means one favorite green thing in particular: Asparagus.

Since asparagus has such a short season, it is always a gift to get it fresh from the farm where it was grown. We have enjoyed asparagus in many, many different ways over the years here in the Tiny Kitchen, but thought we might mix it up a bit with a recent recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks, a favorite go-to of ours for delicious and healthy meals.


We jumped onto the quinoa bandwagon sometime ago, (again, thanks Heidi) and after we discovered this filling, hearty and delicious grain, we have been preaching the gospel ever since. Quinoa is amazingly simple to prepare and can be paired with just about anything you would eat with rice or couscous, that is to say just about anything at all. For this recipe, the addition of the tabasco butter makes the quinoa creamy and stands apart nicely from the slightly bitter asparagus and earthiness of the pine nuts. I have shaved the ingredient measurements down a bit to fit making this dish for only two people; the orginal serves 6. When making the butter, add or subtract the tabasco and dijon mustard to suit your tastes, we like things a bit spicy here in the Tiny Kitchen so we my have been generous in our pours. Keep in mind the butter cuts the heat of the hot sauce nicely, so don't be afraid to add a few extra drops.

Quinoa with Asparagus & Tabasco

Ingredients:

Tabasco Butter:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
15 - 20 drops of Tabasco
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Pinch of sea salt

1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1 inch lengths
1/4 cup of pine nuts, slightly toasted over low heat
1/2 cup of red or white quinoa

To cook the quinoa, first rinse well through a very fine mesh strainer. Quinoa cooks at about a 1 to 3 ratio to water, so bring 1 1/2 cups of water or vegetable stock to a boil and add quinoa. Cover, lower heat, and allow to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the little grains let out their little white tails.

To prepare the tabasco butter, add the butter, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and Tabasco sauce in a mixing bowl. While the original recipe calls to use a mixer, this is such a small amount of ingredients that was really just easier to do by hand. Using two forks, smash, whip and stir the ingredients together until the butter is soft and has been completely combined with the other ingredients. Stir about 2/3 of this into your waiting quinoa and set the rest aside to dollop a little into your bowl.

Finally, get a small pot of water going to a slow boil and add your asparagus pieces. Let them cook for no more than a minute, or minute and a half. Keep an eye out, they will begin to get even darker and more vibrantly green. Once the asparagus has cook for just a short time, pull them out with a spider or strainer and add them directly to your quinoa. Stir into the buttery quinoa along with the pine nuts and serve.

Quinoa is deceptively filling and incredibly nutricious; just a small bowl of this is all you really need for a complete, healthy dinner. This dish was a delightful way to celebrate the arrival of asparagus and, slowly but surely, the coming of spring. Thanks once again to Heidi at 101 Cookbooks for the great recipe, it is always a pleasure to see what she will think of next. Enoy!

A Day At The Market

Yesterday, the sun graced us with her presence, and locals took the opportunity to stow their umbrellas and enjoy a day outside.  No where in San Francisco is a better gathering place on a Saturday than at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, basking in rare rays of sunlight and awash in the cool breeze from the bay.  The missus and I spent our morning walking the market, searching for fresh fruits and veggies for the upcoming week, and a little something special for lunch.

Since the missus is rocking her 21 day vegan kickstart, she tucked in to a raw pumpkin lasagna from Alive!, a local raw restaurant with their own tent at the outdoor market.  I had designs of my own, and they were very, very un-vegan.  Craving the chicharrones of 4505 Meats, and giddy with excitement that they had opened up a tent at the Saturday market, I couldn't wait to see what they had to offer, and I was not disappointed.

With child-like glee, I ordered the 4505 Hot Dog made "Zilla style", the hot dog topped with Namu kimchi, green onions, money sauce, and 4505 chicharrones.  This is, and I don't think I'm overstating this, the greatest hot dog ever created in the history of ever.  The Zilla style toppings can be ordered on any sausage or hot dog at the 4505 Meats tent.  And, since they are like little pieces of piggy crack, I walked away with a bag of chicharrones to enjoy at home.

This was definitely not dainty finger food.  It was messy, and I'm not even a little bit ashamed about stuffing this monstrosity into my face.  It's  just that good.  In fact, I could go for another one right about now.

After eating and picking up a few necessities for home, like that pig candy there, we left the sunny Ferry Building to get ready for the dark and seedy underbelly of San Francisco food, the SF Underground Farmer's Market.  The Underground Market is a gathering of local foodies and small, artisan producers of everything from granola to pickled grapes.  During it's short existence, the market has become incredibly popular, no surprise for something that is supposed to be "underground".  While at one point the market was crammed into a small apartment, this market was held in a loft space in SOMA, and the line to get in stretched down the block.

Tables of home made preserves, pulled pork sandwiches, freshly foraged mushrooms, and much, much more crowded this small space for people to peruse, purchase, and dine on their fine creations.  Iso Rabins of Forage SF served a delicious pork belly bun and Fat Alley Foods served an aromatic variety of gumbos, including a vegan okra gumbo that was surprisingly flavorful and just spicy enough.

The vegan okra gumbo of Fat Alley Foods:

For our first time at the SF Underground Farmers Market, we had a fantastic time.  It took us almost 45 minutes before we got in, and got out of there in just under that long.  The downside to the popular market being in such a small space is that there is literally no room to move around, making it tough to make a stop at every table.  However, with so many delicious things to choose from, you will hardly leave hungry.  The mob of hungry people was pretty well behaved, all in all, everyone accepting the ebb and flow of the crowd as people pushed through to the next table.  

Keep an eye out for the next Underground Farmer's Market at the ForageSF blog.

A Month of Vegan

For the next 21 days, my lovely wife will be conducting an exciting lifestyle experiment. For these first 3 weeks of March, she will be eating a completely vegan diet, exploring the many challenges and benefits of eating completely animal free. To be fair, I will be participating in this experiment when we eat at home, as we enjoy trying new things in the kitchen and sharing meals together. But for the rest of the time, I will be sort of the "control" portion of this test, so we can compare how much better she feels than I do after the 21 days.

I feel I should mention that we are not ravenous meat eaters; our typical diet is largely plant based, and the meat we do eat is generally humanely raised and organically fed. The difficult part will come from the other animal products, such as eggs and dairy and products like pasta that are such a staple of our regular diet it will be a challenge to replace them.  

The inspiration for this challenge came from Her Highness Oprah, and her own well publicized 3 week vegan challenge.  After watching Oprah's episode with actress Alicia Sliverstone and Michael Pollan, the missus joined the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart program which offers support through advice, recipes, meal plans and diet tips.  She bought a great cookbook, "The Conscious Cook" by Tal Ronnen which we are excited about exploring.

So during these 21 days of eating vegan, we'll share some recipes, some challenges, and ultimately how my wife feels after 3 weeks of eating no animal stuffs.  Enjoy!

Tal Ronnen's Vegan Chicken Scaloppini

European Vacation: Paris

Ah, Paris. What can I say about you that hasn't been said a thousand times before. Your beautiful lights, your deep and colorful history, your passionate people, and your food. Oh, your food.  There is no city in the world that celebrates food the way Paris does.  Our time in Paris was far too short, but we managed to see a lot of this beautiful city and eat some incredible food along the way.

We were lucky enough to see Paris blanketed in snow; a soft layer of white covering rooftops and sidewalks, typically busy cafe patios were empty but for the tables huddled under the heat lamps.  Everywhere we walked, the food of Paris lept out at us from manicured window displays and sidewalk produce stands.  The smell of freshly baked bread and pastries was everywhere, especially in the morning as busy Parisians picked up their morning baguette on the way to work.

Our first morning in Paris, we took a French pastry cooking class with Pino of Cook'n With Class near our little apartment in Montmarte.  We learned the art of making croissants, pain au chocolat, a raisin bread, and a fougasse.  And yes, we used a lot of butter.  The rest of the small class was made up of a family also from the Bay Area, so we immediately felt at ease with each other, something familiar so far from home.

The missus, enjoying a delicious ham sandwich:

A temple of fine food, Le Grand Epicerie has just about everything you could possibly imagine.

While our stay in Paris took us to many of the famous destinations of art and culture this city has to offer, no museum or palace would top the evening we spent with our friends Helene and Christophe, walking the city and finally ending our night with one of the most amazing meals I have ever had.

We sat down at Le Chardenoux around 11pm, after an aperitif and a few bites of freshly sliced prosciutto.  We decided on a spectacular bottle of Bordeaux, and waited for the cuisine of chef Cyril Lignac to arrive.  Not knowing who exactly this chef is or just how special a place we were sitting in, we had no idea how incredible this meal was going to be.  Fois gras ravioli, scallops with chorizo and a sweet potato puree, shepherd's pie with duck confit, the list goes on and on.  Each bite was absolute perfection; I actually started getting sad as the few remaining bites disappeared from my plate.

This was the experience in Paris I had been looking for.  You can have the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triumph; my Paris is sitting around a table, sharing wine with friends and savoring each bite of an amazing meal.  It was hard to let this evening end, but by the time we were done the restaurant was empty and waiting to close, the Paris streets outside were quiet and it was time to be getting home.

It might be a tacky tourist trap, but it had to be done.  This little cafe is where Amelie Poulin daydreamed and served coffee to her colorful cast of customers.  The owners of the cafe know a meal ticket when they see one, and spare no effort letting you know this is Amelie's cafe.  And no, it doesn't look anything like it does in the movie.

Marrons, or chestnuts, are roasted in braziers right on the street and stuffed into rolled up newspaper to eat as you go.  Just one of the many things we discovered here, something we just don't see much of here in California.

A quirky sausage stand in a Christmas market near the Eiffel Tower.

The world famous hot chocolate of Cafe Angelina:

While the hot chocolate was amazing, this busy cafe near the Louvre is snotty and knows they don't need your business.  This is the type of place most Americans think of when they talk about rude Parisians, a waiter who hardly acknowledges your existence and barely conceals his contempt for having to serve you.  Was the hot chocolate worth it?  Yeah, probably.

Food is art in Paris.  This is a pyramid of macarons in a little shop just up the street from our apartment in Montmarte, but it seemed as if every street we walked down had their own unique take on the presentation of their beautiful treats.

Our last day in Paris, with a long overnight train ride in our near future, we needed to pick up some provisions for the trip to Italy.  

At another little Christmas market nestled in a square across from the Seine we found this couple selling artisan cheese and salami, just the thing we needed for our train ride.  Lucky we did, too, we ended up eating most of it at the station while waiting 3 hours for our train.

One of the cherished delicacies of Paris are the macarons, little beautifully colored almond cookies in literally dozens of flavors.  It seems like everyone makes macarons, but some of the finest are found here at Gerard Mulot.  These little guys are almost as enjoyable to look at as they are to eat.  Almost.

How could I write anything about Paris an not mention crepes?  The iconic street food of Paris, little crepe stands can be found all over the city, especially during the winter.  We tried them with jam, with creme de marron, and of course Nutella, our favorite.  A perfect snack to keep your energy up while spending the day walking around town.

Our time in Paris was so amazing, I don't feel writing about it has done it justice.  There are not enough words to thank our friends Helene and Christophe for sharing their city with us, and Aia for her opening up her home and taking us to her favorite haunts.  The experience of Paris was made so much richer by having friends to show us the city they love.  Thank you all so much, we cannot wait for our chance to return.

European Vacation: Bruges

Our next stop was the beautiful medieval town of Bruges in Belgium, a favorite holiday retreat for many Europeans who come for the Christmas markets and, of course, the chocolate. The only reason we knew about this delightful little town was because of the film, In Bruges, starring Colin Farrell and Bredan Gleeson. Even though it is a film about hitmen, it is a glowing advertisement for the city with its beautiful canals and cobblestone streets.

All film references aside, the city of Bruges is a truly magical place, and during the holidays her squares are filled with Christmas markets, selling everything from mulled wine to cozy knit hats. The main square of the city, the Market Square, even has a large ice skating rink set up for all the tourists to test their wobbly legs or watch their friends run into each other while sipping a hot chocolate on the walkway.

The two biggest foodie attractions in Bruges are, no surprise, beer and chocolate. And Bruges does not disappoint with every window advertising delicious Belgian beer and a chocolate shop on very nearly every street. The one remaining brewery within city limits, De Halve Maan brewery, gives walking tours (in various languages) through the brewery's old buildings and brewing facilities, culminating with a tasting of their most popular beer, Brugse Zot.

Keeping warm with a little Jagermeister:

The De Halve Maan Brewery, the only brewery left in Bruges:

Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate:

We couldn't decide if these little guys were here to be someone's pet, or someone's dinner.

The Christmas Market of Market Square:

The best way to end our stay in Bruges:

Bruges was a fantastic place to slow down and enjoy a beautiful, historic city packed with beer, chocolate, and Christmas everywhere.  But we hadn't even hit our stride, up next was Paris.