annachan

I really like Takara in Japantown. There's a tank right outside the place with live prawns. When you order your amaebi, the prawns are fished out and on your table in minutes. Though I haven't been, Bushi-Tei seems to be popular. Kappa is another one. Both offer omakase.

That's what mom usually does, but she waits till we get home. She always make us eat all the skin the day we get the roast pork because it won't be good the next day! I actually like the soggy skin in the stew/soup though....

You may want to head over to Japantown. I think you'll be able to find some Japanese knives there. If you can't get reservations at French Laundry, give La Toque (Rutherford, Napa Valley) a try. Some other high end places in SF: Michael Mina and Dining Room at the Ritz. Cafe Jacqueline in North Beach, SF is a wonderful - souffle only. The only thing is that you have to plan for a long dinner, at least 2.5 hours. Fringale is a really nice French bistro in the SOMA area of SF.

American Chinese food???? That's how we used to heat up left over BBQ in Hong Kong all the time. We use the same method with roast duck, soy chicken, bbq pork, etc. And we had left over BBQ a lot since my late grandfather owned a Cantonese BBQ shop....

My favorite thing to do is to make soup or stew with wintermelon. The roast pork gives the stew nice flavor. The other thing I do is to quick saute the left over pork with a little soy sauce, sugar and maybe some green onion.

Looks like you had a great time. You got some really nice pictures!

For a nice meal that isn't going to break the bank, try B44 on Belden Place. It's a really cute little alley with about 8 restaurants. It's closed off to traffic and all the restaurants have outdoor tables. It's great atmosphere dining outdoor at night with the street all lit up. If it's cold, there are heaters. B44 happens to be one of my favorite in the city, serving wonderful Spanish and Catalan food. Delancey Street Restaurant is another great place. It is part of the Delancey Street Foundation which does great work in San Francisco. Prices are rock bottom (the most expensive dish is $13.95 for lamb chops), but it's far from a dive. It's located in the very nice South Beach area, right across the street from the waterfront. It is set up like a pricey restaurant with white tablecloth and a nice patio that is sheltered and has heaters. Ferry Building is a great place to browse. The restaurants there are pricey, but you can get some great to-go items and have a picnic outside by the water. Get some bread from Acme Bread Company, cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, house-made potato chips from Petite Lulu, gelato from Ciao Bella and a few pieces of the best artisan chocolate around from Recchiuti Confections. Other neighborhoods that offer cheap eats: Chinatown, Mission/Valencia. All the places I mentioned are easily accessible by public transportation. Have a great time in SF!

My favorite neighborhood bistro is Chouchou in Forest Hill. It's one of those places where service is friendly, food is good and you'll feel comfortable in jeans or dressed up. Another place I really like is B44 (Spanish/Catalan food) on Belden Place. It's not really a neighborhood place, but it's in an alley (along with about 7 or 8 other restaurants) that is lined with outdoor seating, which has a very European feel to it.

We went about 2 years ago. The food was ok and the service was strange. If you're there for the theme parks, the Vineyard Room inside California Adventure has much better food. We went to Napa Rose one night and the Vineyard Room the next, and enjoyed the food, the service and the atmosphere much more for the same price. If you're not going inside the parks, another option close by is the White House. The food was also better than the Napa Rose for about the same price. Service was kind of slow toward the end of our meal, but that was the only downside.

Chocolate Obsession by Michael Recchiuti.

This is my source for Vanilla Bean: Marque Foods I can't remember the exact price, but I think I paid about $22 for a pack, which had about 20-25 bourbon beans. This was in December last year.

At home and in restaurants, we usually look for a balance of dishes(series of courses) rather than looking at have a main dish and side dishes as accompaniments. I would definitely recommend making whatever seasonal vegetables you can get that is fresh to make a vegetable dish. Another option is a mushroom, tofu and vegetable claypot. I would also suggest another protein. If you want something other than plain rice, maybe a chow mein or a fried rice dish.

Jessica's Biscuit is great! Not only are the books cheaper than Amazon, it offers free shipping for $25 or more, a free gift for $40 or more (a selection of books, t-shirts, and 1/2 lb coffee-which is what I got) and a free 1 year subscription of magazine for $50 or more (I got Gourmet). Thanks again, Kerry!

THANK YOU! It's even cheaper than Amazon! I'm definitely getting this book along with a few others!

Just what I was thinking. There are just so many places in the city. I assume that your (OP's) friend is here to visit the city and it may not make sense for him to go all over the city just for meals. If you friend knows which part of the city he will be visiting, then people here can make more specific recommendations in the area where he'll be.

ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America) maybe a useful website for you. The annual book fair is coming to San Francisco next weekend. I've always been able to get some great collectible cookbooks at the fair. You may be able to find some dealers on the website.

No, it doesn't take 12 hours for the oxtail to cook through and falls off the bone. 4-6 hours should be plenty of time. In a crockpot though, it may take longer.

Check Food Network's website. I remember Michael Chiarello (Easy Entertaining) did a show on chocolate which included savory dishes. I believe there is a salad and a pork roast that feature chocolate.

It think that should be enough time. Just check it after the 4 hours and see if the meat is falling off the bone or close to it. The small pieces should be fine, but the larger pieces may take longer. Enjoy!

If you're looking for something traditional, I would say one of the Chinese dessert "soups". My favorite is tapioca in coconut milk. Red bean soup is a popular one, with many variations.

Hey, I'm cooking oxtail right now! If you have a large enough crockpot, that would be the easiest, if not, you can make it on the stove. I start with making a stock: Oxtail Onion Carrot Celery Few cloves of garlic Enough water to cover the ingredients I let that come to a boil and let it simmer for about 4-5 hours. (Or in the crockpot overnight) Once I have the stock, I either make soup by adding more vegetables to the stock (usually more onion, carrot and celery along with cabbage, tomato and potato) or made a stew (about one or two cups of the stock with tomato puree, diced onion, carrot and celery, red wine and seasonings and braise until the liquid thicken/reduced to a sauce).

I like monkfish simply prepared. For easy clean up, what about monkfish papillote? Monkfish with some vegetables in a lemon/white wine type sauce maybe. You can definitely do that with other fish like salmon or sea bass.

That sounds really good. How? Do I just steep it in milk?

Getting some great ideas! Keep them coming! 10 lb is a lot of coconut....

Over the holiday, I picked up a 10 lb box of coconut flakes, thinking I would use it for toasted coconut marshmallows. Plans changed and we made all truffles instead. No coconut usage. So, what now? I was watching Food TV the other night and saw these Coconut Strips. Anyone have an idea how to make some? I'm thinking that would use up a good portion of my coconut.