ludja

Was the quality you disliked in Roses too much sweetness or excessive dryness? I can't give you a specific bottle, but in general the French roses are much dryer than their American counterparts. (I don't mean American Pink Zinfandels, but the newer breed of "dryer" American Roses that are still usually sweeter.) While dry, the French Roses often have beautiful floral/strawberry overtones. I've had consistently good luck with many French Roses. If you like a Rose to be a little sweeter than some of the French bottles you could try Bonny Doon's Rose. Make sure the wine is pretty cool when you serve it. I usually have it in the fridge and take it out 1/2 and hour or so before serving.

Less well known neighborhood places would be great to hear about as well. I just listed some placss that are written up. I sometimes go to a pretty good old-style pizza place in the Sunset on Irving on the corner of 8th or 7th Avenue but I can't remember the name. The restaurant has an East coast pizzeria feel to it which I like. They have a tasty sauce and the crust is good but a little thick for my preference. They also serve a great traditional antipasti platter. Price are very reasonable as well for Bay Area pizza.

Well, from the list below I've only been to A16 so far. I enjoyed their pizza, crust and toppoings, although on two visits the crusts did get a little soggy as time went on with some of the moister toppings. (To be fair, I didn't mark this on my own during the first visit b/c I was enjoying the toppings and other foods, but did realize it after people's comments on eGullet.) I ate at A16 last about a year ago. I'd like to try some other places and would be interested in people's comments. Pizzeria Delfina is definately on my list so far. Also, are there any other other favorites not on this list? I tend to enjoy Neapolitan style but discussion of all SF pizza favorites would be great. A16 Pizetta Incanto Pizzeria Delfina Tommaso's Pauline's Pizza Pizzaiolo and Pizzeria Picco (Michael Bauer wrote glowingly of these new places earlier in the year)

I would also probably take advantage of the early hour to procure a table at Tartine and enjoy their pastries and and other goods with coffee. There are some great ideas given by others upthread as well. I like the downscale, comfortable ambience at Red's Java House. While located right off of the Embarcadero, it's peaceful to sit and eat in view of the Bay. Coit Tower early in the day does sound beautiful and peaceful as well. You could park between the Ferry Building and the southeast side of Coit Tower and walk up Telegraph Hill starting at Battery St. through the beautiful private gardens surrounding the Filbert Steps. There is also a nice park and beautiful water fountain complex on the bottom of Telegraph Hill (East side of Coit tower) at the Levy Strauss Plaza. I believe there is a bakery located right next to Levy Strauss plaza as well although I can't remember which one right now.

For additional background, here is a thread on Michael Pollan's recently released book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. click

Sorry for the loss of your friend, Marlene. Spinach and Cheese Calzones with a tomato sauce on the side. A green salad or a nice cold broccoli "salad" dressed with olive oil, crushed red pepper and lemon juice. A simple blueberry cake. Hmmm... you also mentioned not too much dairy. My next thought was aritchoke and mushroom but maybe there are some other options. They are easy to transport and reheat. Another idea would be a nice soup maybe made with corn or with broccoli or carrots.. Taboulleh stuffed pitas that they can fill themselves. (This can be enriched with feta cheese for the people that are ok with dairy. Shrimp is also nice in taboulleh but this option may not be viable for them.) Pineapple and strawberry salad for dessert.

Thanks for tracking this down. This looks to be an open letter written by Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, on May 26, 2006. I guess that Pollan's letter is a response to this and to his meetings with Mackay in the spring after the book was published.

Blueberries! I can't wait to start using them with a vengeance in desserts and baked goods. They are a seasonal treat I look forward to all year long. Your dessert sounds delicious.

You could make a coleslaw with the cabbage, dressed with oil and vinegar and crumbled blue cheese. If you want a creamy dressing you could make a mayonaise or boiled dressing for it and also use some the eggs. Other vegetables could also be incorporated if you have them; tomatoes or grated carrots. Sauteed cabbage and onion might both be able to be incorporate into the blue cheese-topped tarts, galette, individual pizza idea that Kerry Beal mentions above.

Thanks so much for posting this. Here is a great quote from the end of the letter:

I agree by and large with people's criticism of the article. Besides the issue of whether trans fats are worse than regular fats, I think a good reason to become aware of them and to avoid them is because they are often hidden and empty calories in processed food. By avoiding excessive consumption of commercial crackers, cookies, and other processed foods you will naturally cut down on the trans fats--and a lot of "hidden" calories along the way.

If you are looking for something more than restaurants, you could do some very nice food tours in San Francisco and area: factory tour of Scharffenberger Chocolate (in Oakland, east of SF) Hog Island oyster farm (Tomales Bay, north of SF) ... ← Nice suggestions, waldrons. Another great tour in San Francisco is the Anchor Steam Brewery. The working factory is in a beautiful old building and you get to taste the whole range of interesting beers they have at the end. And while you're up in the Tomales Bay area, stop in and visit Tomales Bay Foods/Cow Girl Creamery in the quaint town of Point Reyes Station. I've stayed at a nice B&B in Pt. Reyes station if you're interested in staying in that area which I think is one of the most beautiful coastal areas in CA--well, it's hard to choose... If you stay in Pt. Reyes Station area you are right next to Pt. Reyes National Park and will also be close to wineries in Sonoma.

I can't recall where I've seen this, but one variation that sounds good is to make a standard BLT and use basil mayonaise. I could also picture the substitution of a more assertive green like arugula or frisee for the iceberg lettuce. I personally haven't experimented much b/c the classic is so damn good. The avocado and the fried green tomato versions also sound tempting though. Ok, maybe another good variation would be to include a fried egg in there... Or to make a cross between a frisee aux lardons salad and a deconstructed BLT with greens, tomatoes, bacon lardons, croutons, basil vinagrette and a fried egg. No interesting stories or experience with these versions yet, though. It sounds like the premise of a satisfying summerlong experiment.

Sounds interesting, and thanks for the tip regarding Absinthe having the liqueur. I may stop by there and try some of it straight up to get get an idea of how it tastes on its own. Sounds like there a few places to check it out in SF including the Orbit Room as Friend of the Farmer suggested. Meyer lemons really do have a lot less acidity than regular lemons, besides the extra orange-floral taste they provide so I can see how that could make a difference in a carefully balanced cocktail.

Good ideas, I might go for a lighter approach as well--using pancetta which is less heavily smoked and a more delicate member of the onion famliy--shallots or spring onions. I'd happily use the bacon and onions with green beans for example. Saute chopped pancetta in some butter and remove when it is partly rendered but still soft. Saute some shallots or spring onion (finely chopped). Add the peas and either chicken or vegetable stock. and cook. Taste for salt and also add a pinch of sugar. Add the soft pancetta back in. Use enough water/stock to cook the peas but not too much so that the peas at the end are coated with a "sauce" and not swimming in liquid. Add some chopped parsley or mint right at the end. If it was me, I would likely use water if I did not have homemade chicken or vegetable stock. The stock flavor is particularly important in this application with the delicate peas. This is also simllar to the approach I would use if I was making risi i bisi. (liquidy risotto-like dish with peas and rice).

I was speaking with my Mom today about all things Austrian and porcine and got some new information. There is also a spread called (in Austria): "Bratlfett". This is somewhat of a dialect word where "Bratl" derives from "braten", i.e. "to roast" and "fett" is 'fat'. The spread is smooth in texture and brown in color and it consists of the pork fat and the leftover drippings from a pork roast (what you would use to make gravy). Roast pork is also very big in the Czech Republic so it may in fact have been something more like this. The small casual Central European "bistro" type places would likely always be roasting a lot of pork and it is yet another spread type product you can make. These types of spreads are typically served not only on rye bread but also on other dark or black country-style breads of the region. Hope this helps, Kaffirlime. I'd be interested to know if you give this a try for your friends on Friday and how it is received!

What are chicharoncitos? Somehow related to pork rinds? (Googling didn't help me since I don't speak Spanish.) Thanks!

I've been reading a bunch of my Southern cookbooks and am developing a hankering for all sort of fresh shell beans/peas. Any recommendations for which farmer's markets have them and which varieties are on offer? Typically I've seen fresh fava and cranberry beans but am wondering it there are any purveyors or sources for things like green crowder peas, butter (lima) beans, pink-eyed peas, lady peas, etc. Maybe there are also other fresh beans from Italy or other places. I'll personally appreciate any information on Bay Area Farmer's Markets or vendors but thought it would be great to open this up to the whole state to get a sense for what is on offer within California. Please share if you're growing these in your garden as well!

Does your family have a garden this year? If so, do you mind sharing what you are growing? I think it's great that your dinner prep/cleanup is so consistently a family effort.

Here's a current thread discussing the effect of breed, feed and treatment of pigs on the ultimate flavor of the meat. cllick It would be interesting to hear more from anyone that attended the seminar and can contribute to that thread.

Depending how far north you are going there are nice places to stay on the coast level with and north of Sonoma up to Mendocino.

Does it have bones, skin? What part of the chicken? ← Boneless, skinless chicken breast. I really am leaning towards making something like your dish since I have asparagus and corn. I may use pasta or beans as the starch. I have some extra yolks and Meyer lemons leftover from an almond lemon cake I made this weekend so I'm also going to make some lemon puddings. ← Ooooh, sounds good! As to my dish, do it! It really hit the spot - spicy and fragrant. Yum. ← Chicken linguine with vegetables I browned the chicken in olive oil and butter. Added in red pepper, corn and some garlic, capers and crushed red pepper and deglazed with some red wine vinegar. Added a simple vegetable stock made earlier from the corn cob and green onions, I finished cooking the chicken and thickened the sauce with some dried bread crumbs and then added in the asparagus. Thanks for the inspiration, Megan! I didn’t have limes or basil at home but I’ll try your spicy Asian inspired version another time. edited to add: Everything in the dish was already in my fridge, pantry or freezer.

I"m not sure if they meant to imply this in the article or not, but do the cheesecakes have transfats in them? If so, what ingredient would they use that has transfats? Margarine instead of butter? I guess the crusts could use margarine. I wouldn't think there would be transfats in the cheesecake portion.

For each post you want to cite from click the " add"" " button on the lower right hand side of the post. The button will be highlighted after you select it. When you have selected all the posts you want to quote, scroll down to the bottom of the page and select the "add reply" button. A reply box will appear with all the posts you selected. You can then trim down the quotes; remove photos, etc and reply. I can't wait for the chicken fried steak tonight. Your mention of it means it is going to be on my menu soon; it's been too long.

We often have 4-5 hour meals with certain of our friends that also enjoy long leisurely meals and good wine. On Sunday we went for a short hike first; then came back and had some nibbles while we finieshed up the prep, got the grill going etc. The leisurely pace does allow for many nice wines to be sampled, cheese course, dessert, coffee and liqueurs and good conversation. That is pretty much our standard approach with like-minded friends. I like to have meals like this on the weekend where we can start early. I haven't had a tasting menu meal at a restaurant yet so the longest meal out would be probably be 3 hrs or so. We often take the later booking so we can have a more leisturely meal.