Local Lemons blogger Allison moved from Brooklyn to Berkeley and loved the smell ― of the flora wafting through the air, that is, not of the crust-caked bud aficionados camped out in People's Park. She especially liked the aroma of the neighborhood lemon trees. Hence the tag for her fine blog.
Last week, Allison embarked on a new series: Fast Food Slow, which involves remaking tasty but toxic junk foods at home, with prime ingredients. Like ― prime. Her first try was ambitious: the Big Mac. But she rocked it, judging by photo evidence, with a Special Sauce of olive oil aïoli mashed up with homemade French dressing and organic shallots. Genius.
On Monday, she took on chicken nuggets with honey mustard sauce, and again ― she killed. Mooch the recipe here. You can even let Allison know what factory favorite you want her to tackle next.
Any other votes for Arby's potato cakes with horsey sauce?
We needed one right away to take the edge off the crowd roar and cramped communal seating. Next time we'll wheedle into one of the relatively private two- or four-tops in the 100-seat dining room. Our neighbors were close enough to smell our order of wilted winter chicories and cauliflower ($6), brought to life with crumbly hazelnuts and sweet balsamic. A less impressive sliced chicken sausage ($7) mingled with halved red grapes in a bowl. Its side of homemade mustard helped, but not enough.
When: Thurs., Dec. 24
Time: 5:30-9 p.m.
The deal: Five-course menu of Dungeness crab salad; whole roasted North Atlantic turbot with brown butter salsify and maitake (a.k.a. hen of the wood mushrooms); pan-roasted Cavendish Ranch quail with roasted chestnuts; orange-cranberry cocktail "Slurpee"; and gingerbread cake with poached pears and cinnamon sherbet
Cost: $105
Add-ons: Sommelier Alan Murray's wine pairings, $59
Ryan Ostler and Kat Zacher took over the kitchen at Bruno's (2389 Mission at 20th St.) in late October, laying down a roster of Southern roadhouse dishes that combine the food's snarly roots with the finesse of talented chefs. Ostler's collard greens with bacon, smoked paprika, and vinegar mesh seamlessly with a holiday dinner of classic comfort dishes rocking surprising nuance. Along with the rice-and-bean set piece Hoppin' John, collards were something Ostler says he grew up eating in the hope they'd bring good fortune and prosperity in the new year. This particular recipe for greens? "I don't know if it will bring you good luck," Ostler said, "but it will give you good eats." Agreed.
Ryan Ostler's Collard Greens
Makes 8-10 servings
½ pound thick-cut bacon, chopped
6 shallots, julienned
8 cloves garlic, slivered
1/2 cup white wine
8 bunches collards, picked clean of stems
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
In a cast-iron skillet, sauté the bacon to your preferred level of doneness. Reserve the bacon, and in the pan drippings, sauté the shallots and garlic until translucent. Deglaze the pan with the wine, making sure to pull up all the fond ― or brown bits ― from the bottom.
Golden Gate Park in San Francisco," Waters told KCRW host Tom Schnabel. "I just wasn't paying any attention
to it, but everybody at Chez Panisse said, 'If you do not take those
tickets, I want them. I want them.' I was grabbed by the hand
with a young friend and we raced over to San Francisco at the last
minute and we were late. He said, 'Stop at a hotel in downtown San
Francisco because there are no taxis that are going to take you out to
Golden Gate Park.' So we stopped at this place and had to bribe the
taxi. He said 'I'm not getting anywhere near it because it's just so
congested,' and I had to talk him into having dinners at Chez Panisse
and we got taken up fairly close and we ran the rest of the way into
the park and we made it. As we were entering we could hear the music
of 'Reckoner.'"
Ah, if only we had something so gastronomically lucrative with which to bribe cabbies . . .
(Thanks to Eater SF/Grub Street for the tip)
2009 is almost over, so the Weekly asked me to do a little cheesemonger reflection upon this past year in cheese. If you love the cheese, a few new cheeses and dairy trends have surfaced that are worth checking out:
1. The New Swiss: Because of changes in Swiss government dairy subsidies, a lot of milk that used to go to Emmenthal and Gruyère is now available for creative cheesemakers. My favorite among the New Swiss is Challerhocker, a cheese with all the amazing sweet, nutty, slightly pungent flavor of a well-aged Gruyère, but with a creamy, semisoft texture (and including those amazing aging crystals). Besides Challerhocker, a plethora of new Swiss cheeses are available in select Bay Area shops: Nidelchas, Scharfer Max, Brebis Rossinière, Selun, Försterkäse, Dallenwiller, and Heublumen, to name just a few. 2. Dunbarton Blue: Made by the Roelli Cheese Company in Shullsburg, Wis., this cheese is basically a beautifully aged farmhouse cheddar with blue veins running throughout. No blue out there compares to this, except for the accidental veining found at times in other traditionally made cheddars (like Neal's Yard Montgomery or Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped). Sharp and earthy, with a mild- to medium-strength taste of blue.If you'd like some expert advice about constructing and decorating your own, sign up for the class next Monday, Dec. 21, at green print shop Autumn Express (2071 Mission at 17th St.). Artist and sweets crafter Michele Simons will run the show. The cost is $40 (adults and children both welcome). House-building is slated to go on from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Call 824-2222.
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