Jalapeño Girl

Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up

Where have all the kitchen towels gone? What is that on the grill? All answered on this week's SFist Food Blog Round Up. Follow the link.

Hot Stuff Food Section Round Up

Can be found today on SFist.

Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up

See ya over at SFist for this week's food blog round up.

Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up

Is here....

Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up

It's not high brow, but frank and beans are darn tasty. Or maybe you want a serving of kohlrabi with salad? It's all there on this week's food blog round up.

I'm off to El Metate, in the Mission.

Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up

Time for pizza, salt, and Ma Po Tofu over at SFist.

Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up

Dreamy Pavlova pic heads up this week's food blog round up on SFist. We ate a homemade "Pav" after our New Zealand hangi and it was sweet and memorable, made by my cousin's 80+ year old grandmum.

Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up

The best Bay Area food blogs this week are.... here.

Hot Stuff Food Section Round Up

Did you read today's food sections? Check out my food section round up here.

Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up is baaaaaaaaaaaack

What's on your stove these days? Get some creative ideas in this week's food blog round up from SFist.

Hot Stuff: Food Section Round Up

Dine About Town, crab cakes, schnitzel, and more on today's Hot Stuff food section round up.

Hot Stuff: Time for some Chocolate Porn

You know you want to. Read about The Chocolate Guide, that is. My Hot Stuff writing returns to SFist as of today, and will appear weekly. 

Breakity-Break

I have been told I need to slow down and rest because I have a son on the way, due in early October. Since this is our first (maybe only?) kiddo, I can't say for sure how long I'll be away. But I look forward to returning soon with more exciting food, drink, and related tidbits. Until then, cheers.

Hot Stuff: Food Blog Round Up

This week's food blog round up is now up for your reading pleasure on SFist.

Hot Stuff: Food Section Round Up

This week's SFist food section round up is here.

Scharffen Berger & TuttiFoodie's Chocolate Adventure Recipe Contest

Spending two hours in a chocolate scented room at Campton Place is not a bad way to pass a Monday afternoon. I was at the posh Union Square outpost to learn about the fast approaching Chocolate Adventure Recipe Contest for home cooks. A Campton Place staffer directed me to the second floor and smiled as he clued me in to one of the twenty unique "adventure" ingredients, wasabi. (Other ingredients pictured at right.)

It helps that there were cuties involved with the contest event -- warm and gregarious Marcia the tablehopper, sweet and welcoming Lisa Schiffman of TuttiFoodie.com, sexy and funny chocolate maker John Scharffenberger and the sweet and smart Campton Place Pastry Chef Boris Portnoy. Scharffenberger gave a tutorial on many realms of chocolate: growing, fermenting, making and history. The twenty-five or so attendees sampled cacao and chocolate in various forms. Two rough samples that lacked any salt and sugar meant taking tiny nibbles. Nice to learn about and taste, but definitely not a ready for prime time product. We did work our way to a piece of finished 70% signature blend, which was a smooth and fruity reward with a long finish.

Then Portnoy played with some chocolate. A female food blogger whispered to me, "I want to marry him," when the thirty year old, Moscow born Portnoy was doing a demo (slang for demonstration) of how to make cocoa nib praline. As he worked the cocoa nibs, the room started to smell more nutty and toastier, and folks were sniffing and smiling.

Now to the contest and it's twenty ingredients. Cheffie and restaurant professionals, stand back. This one's for the home cooks only. The contest offers cash prizes of 5K and 1K, and one month of exposure at the Cafe Cacao restaurant located in Berkeley. It runs from September 1 to December 1, 2007. Cooks can create an app, entree, dessert, or drink (the tablehopper saucily offered up her services as a bevvie taster) using Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker dark chocolate that is 62% to 99% cacao and at least one adventure ingredient. The Adventure Ingredients include: ancho chili powder, amchur powder (powder from a dried unripe mango), cacao nibs, cardomon, cloves, curry, ginger, green tea, grapefruit, lavender, lemongrass, lemon verbena, mastiha (a Greek resin), quince or quince paste, pomegranate, rosemary, saffron, sea salt, star anise or.... wasabi. Sweet or savory are both suitable, and there's no limit on prep method. Bake, roast, fry, blend, and on and on.

Bay Area Bites write ups here and here.

Complete contest details are here.

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker site here.

TuttiFoodie here.

tablehopper here.

Hot Stuff: Food Blog Round Up

Brunch, salads, cucumbers and a Wienermobile make this week's food blog round up for SFist.

Hot Stuff: Food Blog Round Up

Aw yes. Today's food blog round up from SFist.

Hot Stuff: Food Section Round Up

Food section round up from today's SFist.

Hot Stuff: Food Section Round Up

Breadstick baking is explained, camp eats are demystified and an East Bay chef cherry battle happens. All on SFist.