ProfessionalHobbit
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Posts posted by ProfessionalHobbit
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6 hours ago, rotuts said:
disconnect your smoke alarm , temporarily.
pan '-fry-saute '
broiled burgers are about as bad as you can get
not enough heat to get a crust and a fairly rare interior
should you broil as an only option
you will never make a burger again
so there is that to think about , good or bad.
Many thanks for your input but we won't be doing this because it's
(1) technically illegal per SF's fire codes and
(2) the property isn't ours; we're renters and our landlord has final say. At the moment, he's not here...and we're not going to bother him on his vacation just so I can cook a burger.
I understand you mean well but in this specific instance, this is really unhelpful advice.
B prefers them broiled anyway, so the above is moot.
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I've decided to make hamburgers and potato salad this year.
It's my first time making a hamburger. Most recipes call for pan-frying but we'll probably broil ours, mostly because our smoke alarm is sensitive. Even then, we'll probably have to open the windows just to be safe.
Pix later.
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And tonight (Sunday) we had
Spaghetti con sugo di pomodoro
Slow-cooked broccoli with anchovy, lemon and cheese
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On Saturday, we had
Minestrone
Peach-nectarine crisp with heavy cream
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I have the Hachisu cookbook on Japan and Shaya's volume. Will probably get the one on Islam in the near future as well, or more likely for Xmas.
I've been meaning to cook from the Japan book but I keep getting distracted by my preference for Italian and Mediterranean....so many choices, not enough stomach space.
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6 hours ago, kayb said:
@ProfessionalHobbit, that looks absolutely amazing. The smoked sturgeon with caviar really got my attention. Was it as wonderful as my imagination makes it?
@kayb - it was definitely a high point.
@MetsFan5 - thanks!
@MSRadell - that refers to http://ggra.org/issues-advocacy/healthcare/
QuoteA business has the discretion to charge a surcharge for any purpose as long as it is disclosed to the customer prior to purchase. Businesses that choose to label a surcharge for health care expenses, HCSO, etc., will need to report to OLSE what percentage of that surcharge was allocated to health care expenditures and will need to report their expenditures, which need to be equal to or less than the amount collected. If the amount collected from the surcharge for employee health care is greater than the amount spent on employee health care, the employer must irrevocably pay or designate an amount equal to that difference for employee health care. Surcharges are sales taxable.
The surcharge disclosures are designed to prevent consumer fraud; you should include any surcharges on your menu as well as label them on the bill representing the percentage or fee amount. If you have a surcharge for “Healthy SF” or “Health Care”, your customers (and the City) expect 100% of that money to be spent on healthcare. If you have an “SF Employer Mandate(s)” surcharge and some portion of that surcharge is used to cover the cost of the ordinance, you will need to allocate the appropriate percentage of the surcharge to cover costs of the Health Care Security Ordinance and report that on your annual form to the City.
I'm happy to pay the extra cost since it will go to a good cause. It doesn't bother me in the least.
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3 hours ago, heidih said:
@ProfessionalHobbit wow! I'm more of a rustic girl but the dishes really appeal to me. It was overwhelming so I'll go back and re-read. How long did you guys linger? Seems like a "several hour tour"
We had a 9:45 pm reservation and showed up a half hour early. We didn't get out of there until 5 minutes to midnight.
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We celebrated my hubby's 60th birthday tonight at Acquerello.
Highly recommended and much better execution than our recent experience at SPQR which is another place that does "new-style Italian cuisine".
Orange juice and vermouth
Smoked mascarpone and herb financiers
Lobster beignets with espelette pepper
Savory egg custard, mint and pea puree, white chocolate-almond dust", pea shoots
The custard was lighter than air which told me that someone in the kitchen has serious attention to detail. It made me sit up and take notice.
Butter is house-made, topped with lava salt. The dish with the sea salt has a mother-of-pearl spoon.
I judge restaurants by the bread they serve. At Acquerello, it's piping hot, fresh from the oven.
Venetian seafood salad - with mackerel, pickled shrimp, calamari, trout roe and finger lime
Smoked sturgeon galetta with leeks, crème fraiche, brioche and ossetra caviar
Risotto with abalone, roasted turnips and seaweed.
B prononced it one of the best he's ever eaten. Each grain of rice was distinct and fused with flavor.
Raviolo with slow-roasted tomato, ricotta and Parmigiano-Reggiano crema, served with brown butter and balsamic.
Turbot with Taggiasca olives, potato, clams and brown butter.
Not very visually appealing but it did taste wonderful.
Sea scallops, cauliflower, blood orange, candied kumquats.
This was interesting and well-prepared but not something I would order again. Flavors were on point though. FYI, Acquerello's food is "modern Italian". I thought it was operating at a higher level than that of SPQR.
Cheese cart.
All selections are Italian. The cart is arranged so that cheeses in the background are hard and those in the foreground are soft. Cheeses on the left side are the most intense and those on the right side are fairly mild.
Vin santo
Cheese plate.
Clockwise from upper left: buffalo milk cheese; aged cow's milk and sheep's milk cheese mixed with Barolo wine; sheep's milk cheese; hazelnuts and raisins mixed with chestnut honey; apricot marmellata; candied fennel.
Napoletano - strawberry mousse layered over pistachio mousse, surrounded by chocolate mousse, covered with white chocolate and served with 66% dark Caraïbe chocolate.
When I reserved, I mentioned to staff that my hubby's birthday was the occasion and they pulled out all the stops.
Birthday dessert plate.
Clockwise from left: lychee-apricot panna cotta with apricot coulis; meringue; dark chocolate truffle over chocolate ganache; chocolate bar.
Clockwise from foreground: vanilla spongecake stuffed with pastry cream, soaked in Italian liqueur; chocolate caramel; almond cookie.
Total bill was $459 (including tax and 20% tip) for two people.This place is definitely on our "return" list. Simply lovely.-
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Click the link to read the thread. There's much more.
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As an aside, thank you to Invision for making it possible for me to post Twitter threads directly without having to do the screenshot thing...
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Pete Wells (NYT main restaurant critic for those of you not in the know) writes about "the communication breakdown" between Hamilton and Twitter:
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Perhaps this comment deserves its own thread...but I was wondering if anyone on eGullet had ever looked into the possibility of duplicating junk food at home, including, yes, KFC's famous recipe.
Don't laugh - apparently this is a thing that I never knew existed. There is a not-insignificant-percentage of food bloggers who regularly write about homemade Big Macs for example.
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I'll have to read through this from the very beginning later, but a recent flight on *gag* United made me pleasantly surprised since that airline is known for costcutting as a way of life. It was an early morning flight from NOLA to SFO and we had a choice of hot breakfast sandwiches ... in economy, no less, along with the usual selection of fruit juices, coffee and tea.
Perhaps it's to compete with Delta which seems to have stepped up their food service game in recent years. I recall a flight from SFO to JFK last year where they literally showered us with food for the entire duration of the trip - from lunch to snacks which included ice cream bars and fruit. I can only imagine what the folks in business class and first class receive.
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On 4/13/2018 at 5:27 PM, Katie Meadow said:
I don't watch the Food Network, nor do I jump into "challenges" readily. I'm challenged enough, thank you! But I can see how some challenges could be fun, if you like that sort of thing, and as pointed out, clicking on a thread is a choice.
However, there was something very basically wrong with the $5 challenge, and it speaks to the points above about whether a meal for $5 is a useful topic. Yes, plenty of people don't have the luxury of buying whatever strikes their fancy, or are on a tight budget. If we wish to serve that need it can't be a game. Buying all the ingredients for one $5 dinner is in no way a practical solution to eating as well as possible on $15 a day (or something like that.) No one wants to eat badly for $5 a meal. Some people can use help figuring out how to make a week's worth of decent meals for an average of $5 per meal: in other words, how to plan and shop for real value, learning how to cook large amounts at a time, learning to re-purpose leftovers, learning to cook less expensive cuts of meat, etc. Really, like other aspects of cooking, these are skills that go far beyond looking at the price on a package.
So, on the topic of what makes a good challenge, it helps to think it through.
It's never going to be "only" $5.
That premise also ignores:
* the cost of getting the ingredients if a corner store or supermarket isn't convenient;
* the costs involved in preparing the ingredients (i.e., the electricity you use, the amount of heat you use);
* the items you use in preparing the food.
Someone who doesn't know how to cook would not be well served by this either but I suspect I'm getting far afield.
As a long-time member who has been around since 2002, eGullet isn't in any danger of becoming Food Network.
This site has everything from the silly to the serious and the sublime. No worries at all.
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Another standby is
green beans braised in tomato sauce. This version has onion and yellow bell pepper in the mix and is from one of Marcella Hazan's cookbooks. My version usually has green beans, garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper. Same difference - the idea is to prepare the tomato sauce first, then add the green beans. Braise the beans in the tomatoes for about an hour, after which it's done.
We also tend to have this in the summer when both green beans and tomatoes are abundant in Bay Area farmers' markets.
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Here's one standby:
Insalata cruda e cotta ("salad of raw and cooked vegetables")
This one has raw Little Gem lettuce, raw diced tomatoes, diced boiled new potatoes, roasted onion, steamed green beans; capers; pickled cherry peppers; marinated artichoke hearts; and olives. Dressing consists of a 1:3 ratio of vinegar to oil, seasoned with salt, and black pepper.
B and I usually have this once every couple of weeks, typically during the summer months. The vegetables will vary depending on what looks good at the market.
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We had a work lunch and a birthday party at this place about a 10 minute walk from the office earlier today...
It's a handsome room and the food is great, and I'll probably return with B at some future point.
Smoked salmon crostini, queso fresco, truffle honey
Kale salad, hazelnut, corn confitura, pickled cherries.
Not bad, and I usually hate kale salads. This one, I cleaned off my plate.
Chicaron crusted chicken and English pea croquetas, seasonal citrus.
Spinach tortilla, herb salad, piquillo puree.
Duck and pork meatballs, cherry tempranillo, crispy shallots.
There was much more than what's shown here. Definitely worth a return visit.
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We went to a potluck on Sunday where all of the dishes on offer were from Marcella Hazan's cookbooks.
My contribution was
Green beans with sweet pepper, tomato and chile pepper, from "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking", pages 474-475.
It's tasty but to be perfectly frank, not as good as my version of fagiolini e pomodoro. If you want, I can demo that the next time I get a chance to make it. It's pretty simple by comparison - has lard, tomato, garlic, green beans, salt, pepper. Marcella's has olive oil, onion, yellow bell pepper, tomato, green beans, salt, pepper AND chile pepper flakes. She also has a few more steps than what I would have done: she has you prep the vegetables a certain way whereas I dispense with most of it. She also doesn't braise the beans as long as I do.
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Deep Run Roots is wonderful for all the stories. I haven't looked at her recipes yet, although a few have stood out such as the blueberry BBQ chicken. If you recall, I bought that during my stay in NOLA.
I also recently obtained Nancy Singleton Hachisu's cookbook Japan: the Cookbook because I want to start exploring that cuisine. B is a Japan-o-phile and he's expressed interest in some of the chanko-nabe dishes. It's a very handsome book of the kind of quality I've come to expect of Phaidon.
and the Marion Nestle book pictured here is on my back burner. So many things to read and not enough time...
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Insalata cruda e cotta ("raw and cooked vegetable salad")
This version has Little Gem lettuces; boiled potato and green beans; roasted onions; diced tomato; capers, pickled cherry peppers; marinated artichoke hearts and olives.
Then we had
chicken braised in wine with garlic, rosemary, olives and vinegar.
also great if made with rabbit
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Spring is in full swing here in the SF Bay Area.
I haven't been to the market in a while due to the weather and traveling, so making up lost time:
New potatoes
Goose eggs - each egg was selling for $4 and are the size of your palm.
this weekend we bought: chicken, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, rosemary, new potatoes, Little Gem lettuces and young onions.
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We went to one of B's favorite fish restaurants for brunch today (Memorial Day):
Barbara's Fishtrap
281 Capistrano Road
Half Moon Bay
B says that this other place - which is located 100 feet away from Barbara's Fishtrap is not as good since the menu is more pedestrian although they do take credit cards. Anyway, you decide if you ever make it out to my neck of the woods.
On to the food:
Wedge salad with bacon and blue cheese dressing
Scallops with garlic and white wine, served with rice and fried zucchini sticks
Half-order of steamed clams, served with green sauce and lemon
Tres leches cake
With coffee and tea, the bill came out to $120 (tax and 20% tip included) for two people. Pretty good.
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Spaghetti puttanesca
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On Saturday, we went to one of the more unusual Chinese restaurants in San Francisco.
Apparently they're in a Michelin guide which is good to know.
We had lamb hot pot along with a scallion pancake. The pancake was one of the best I've ever had and HUGE, as in literally the size of a dinner plate. Soft on the inside, crispy on the outside.
The stock is flavored with ginger, scallion and star anise. Dip the vegetables and meat to cook, then retrieve with a strainer and dip into sauce and eat. Then later, drink the stock which has now been flavored with the ingredients as a kind of soup.
Clockwise from top: lamb kidney and liver; fish balls; Napa cabbage; tea; preserved tofu; chive dressing; pickled garlic; winter melon; enoki mushrooms.
Lamb slices.
There's chile sauce in the ceramic jar at top.-
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Breakfast! 2018
in Cooking
Posted
Scones with currants, served with melted butter and grapefruit-Meyer lemon marmalade