Mary Ladd

Champagne: Ready, set, pair!

Champagne shouldn’t be used just for the holidays. It can make the every day happy hour at home seem over the top special. Champagne’s sparkling bubbles lighten the palate, and work with both starters and well into the main course. Try pairing some bubbly with:            

Hearts of palm with prosciutto and Parmesan,

Smoked salmon with crispy vegetables,

Grilled brie and smoked duck breast with fig jam,

Hamachi tartare,

And with dessert:

Dark chocolate mousse with white chocolate whipped cream,

Warm apple and walnut with caramel ice cream,

Chocolate truffles

          

Chocolate Salon at Fort Mason this Sunday

Yum! The second annual San Francisco Chocolate Salon is here on Sunday. Tickets are $20 and include lots of chocolate and espresso samples. It's enjoyable and worth the trip for any chocolate fiend.

Hot Stuff Chocolate Happenings

More chocolate fun!

Chocolate Documentary Screening

My Dad rolled his eyes when I said I was going to see a "chocumentary" next month. His loss! There are two screenings to choose from, and the film runs almost half an hour. Check out the website, which is colorful and appealing.

IN SEARCH OF THE HEART OF CHOCOLATE- a filmmaker, a
chocolate shop, assorted chocoholics, and lots and
lots of chocolate

FEBRUARY 12th, DELANCEY STREET 6:30 & 7:30 PM
600 Embarcadero Street San Francisco, CA 94107

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Bay Area filmmaker
Sarah Feinbloom is screening her new chocumentary
featuring the Bay Area’s own Jack  Epstein of Chocolate
Covered in Noe Valley, and his customers, Richard
Anderson, Suzanne McKee, and many others at the
Delancey Street Screening Room, in San Francisco on
February 12th, 2008. Featuring chocolate from Charles
Chocolates and Noe Valley Bakery, art by Liz Mamorsky,
sound by Robert Berke Sound and animation by Kaitlin
Chong,  and editing by Anne Flatté, this melt in your
mouth experience celebrates the Bay Area’s finest. A
perfect evening for anyone who loves chocolate and
film, followed by a delicious chocolate reception by
Joshua Charles Catering.

6:30 PM & 7:30 PM SCREENINGS, followed by a chocolate
reception. Please reserve seats by emailing
info@chocumentary.com
Tickets are $10, and DVD’s will be available for
purchase

In Search of The Heart of Chocolate is a delicious
romp through the rich and creamy, melt in your mouth,
passionate world of chocolate. Follow filmmaker  Sarah
Feinbloom as she searches for the origins of her
chocolate obsession, interviewing chocolate
enthusiasts along the way, delving into chocolate
cake, art, fantasy, chocolate croissants,
spirituality, sex, love and hot fudge, and journeying
into the past to uncover chocolate’s special place in
our hearts.

Sarah Feinbloom is an award-winning Bay Area filmmaker
whose work includes documentaries, dramatic narrative,
and fundraising videos. Her film on the religious
lives of teenagers, What Do You Believe? was featured
on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle Date Book,
and screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival, on PBS,
and at festivals nationally and internationally.
Recently she completed a documentary on child
trafficking in Thailand called Daughters and Sons that
was featured on NPR and won the Best Short Film on
Child Advocacy at the Artivist Film Festival. Sarah
thoroughly enjoyed making her latest  film, a
chocumentary-In Search of The Heart of Chocolate,
which involved lots of taste-testing and sampling.

www.chocumentary.com

Bananas Foster? Share the Love.

Sampling Bananas Foster at Jen Leo's Vegas wedding recently got me thinking. I shared the excitement of watching the wait staff prepare the sweet dessert. There was lots of eager anticipation, and people would say to each other with awe and surprise, "Bananas Foster? They're making it?" True, it can be so much fun to see the alcohol flames quickly shoot up and die out as the bananas caramelize. Bananas Foster should be made for friends and family on festive occasions. In my past, I had let it turn into something else.

I'm thrilled to have new memories associated with Bananas Foster. I first learned to make the dessert table side in cooking school. The instructor was a retired restaurateur who loved to freely sample booze before and during class.  Not that I judged him too much. My own reality felt only slightly less pitiful. I had broken up with a long term live-in boyfriend and moved home to my folks place ("just for a few months" I said). I felt like a loser for many reasons. By the time I'd reach their house late each night after class, the family oddball cat would sit with me in the dark, with the TV usually glazing in the background. Sometimes I'd read notes from class, or thumb through cookbooks. I also went through a serious Bananas Foster phase, where I decided  to whip up the dessert for myself at midnight. Repeat almost every other night for two weeks. This was even if I had cooked it for restaurant guests at school. I remember feeling dull, tired, and lonely when I cooked the Bananas Foster for myself those nights. I tried to cheer myself into thinking I was becoming something of an expert in its preparation. But really, how high is the demand for that "skill"?

As the Golden Steer staff passed us our Bananas Foster, I bragged to Oscar, "I know how to make this. I can make it for you." Perhaps because he had been freely drinking all day, he answered in a sassy laugh, "But you won't." Oh, the challenge was on!

When I made it for us at home, he wanted to know the exact recipe, and even started looking around the kitchen for a cookbook. The man is a stickler for recipes and cooking process. He doesn't fully realize I've got the Bananas Foster thing down. Or that it's like riding a bike. Yes, it's a skill that returns easily even if it's been many years. I pointed to my mise-en-place of orange zest, 1 mildly spotted banana, brandy (no rum in the house. Time to explore), Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream, and brown sugar. I was hungry for the dessert and we both were excited to watch the bananas caramelize and cook.

Oscar was eying my outfit and scolded me, "You shouldn't be wearing baggy clothes on this one. What if you catch on fire?" Nope, I wasn't going to change. The cooking had already started, and my long sleeved purple cotton PJ's were comfy if not too sexy. I'll cop to one mistake on this joyful night: using too big of a skillet and getting overzealous with the brandy. When I touched the match to the skillet, a loud and fast WHOOSH of flames went out and over. I jerked my arm back quickly and turned my face away. Oscar claimed I "looked really scared" in those 2 seconds, but there's no way of confirming that.

We ate the sticky, gooey, creamy dessert in peace. There wasn't a lot of talking, but we were both definitely happy. Our plan is to make the dessert for family in San Diego, when we visit them next month. Share the Bananas Foster love. So much better than sitting in the dark, eating glumly, and talking to the TV, and a cat.

Chocolate Salon

Loved today's chocolate salon adventure at Fort Mason. More Flickr pics here.

Ukiah Brewing Company's Beer Ice Cream

Beer ice cream? Intriguing, odd, and interesting. Our waitress at the Ukiah Brewing Company--which is touted as the first organic brewPub in the nation-- recommended it, so we decided to give it a go. There were two beer ice creams, stout and porter. All flavors are handmade by the chef. As a dessert, beer ice cream tasted surprisingly good. I tasted a nice melange of flavors: nutty, sweet, vanilla, and of course, stout beer. The beer taste came through at the end, but it wasn't overly strong, bitter or off. It may be that using beer in ice cream effects the texture, which was a bit too icy. Once we stirred it up, it became creamier and more like what one can expect from ice cream.

Not to worry if beer ice cream is not your thing. They also have mainstream sorbet and ice cream flavors. Or try what I found to be tasty cheesecake from Cheesecake Momma. Peanut butter fans may rightfully freak over the restaurants version of peanut butter pie.

The Ukiah Brewing Company & Restaurant has turned into a hang out for the Pig Hunt crew. The brewpub has good, sustainable food and a mellow vibe. There are tables on a pleasant patio in back. On a grooming/fashion note, a majority of the men working and hanging out on one visit had ponytails or shoulder length hair. 

Ukiah Brewing Company & Restaurant
102 South State Street
Ukiah, CA 95482
T: 707-468-5898

Sniff this, Super Taster

Someone recently asked me if I am a Super Taster, which is someone with high levels of taste perception. Uh, sure. As a consumer and foodservice product judge, I did receive info that helped fine tune my palate towards Super Taster levels. In those weekly three hour judging sessions, I was required to speak and write my thoughts on what was in the food, as well as a product's flavor and tastes. Going without alchohol, coffee, cigs, garlic and other strong foods in the hours or even night before the session made Super Tasting even easier.

Although the training helped me identify ingredients and tastes, there are other ways to become a Super Taster. Get knocked up! Being four months pregnant** has meant that smells and tastes are stronger for me than they have ever been before. Grilled meat smells fill my nose whenever I walk the Miracle Mile stretch on Mission Street. Those meaty smells are in full effect if it's a Friday and the hot dog vendors are out. (It's easy to have a hot dog and finish with a churro on those Fridays). Salt, smoke, and sweet notes are much easier to catch. I seem to be able to taste salt during and throughout a meal, and am using less of it while cooking. It's probably not that the food is saltier, it's that my tongue picks up the presence of salt quicker and sharper.

There are drawbacks, of course. Constant faux bread smells from the Subway at my work's entrance make me irritated throughout the day. Subway's bread always smells overly sweet. It's not even close to what bread should smell (or taste) like. Whiffs of other foods that don't belong together are jarring. Take this afternoon. I was enjoying a post-lunch chocolate chip and milk break at a bakery. Sweet, chocolate-y, baked notes made me smile. For a brief little while. The bakery also makes gyros (weird, huh?), and lamb-y spicy notes suddenly swirled around me as the owner prepared an order. Rather than spit my milk out, I gobbled the last cookie bite and hightailed it outta there.

**This will never turn into a pregnancy or baby blog. Gag! Boring! No way!

Free Chocolate Exhibit Opening

Update: more pics and info on my December 8th SFist post. Also, check out my SFist colleague Derrick's post on this at his blog, An Obsession with Food.
 

Chocolate has its politics, too. So says one artist. I checked out an exhibition by April Banks last night, and learned more about the global economy that feeds our chocolate demands. Banks seems to offer explanations on why chocolate is a luxury item that is produced and farmed by some of the poorest countries in the world. Some of her glossy images had a creepier side to them, and there were photos, sculptures, and graphic design to take in. She also had two ladies passing out chocolates, wearing t-shirts that said "Free Chocolate" and were available for $25 a pop.

Upcoming related events for this exhibition will be a (free) conversation with Banks on Saturday January 27, at 1 p.m. There's also a (free) Fair Trade & Chocolate discussion on Wednesday February 7, at 7 p.m. with Tex Dworkin (Global Exchange), Ella Silverman (TransFair USA) and Tom Neuhaus (Project Hope & Fairness, Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates). I may go to the Thursday February 8, at 7 p.m. Heart Shaped Box Truffle Making Workshop, that is $5 to $20 sliding scale.

Where I'll Be: Fog City News Chocolatier Visit

Holiday 2006 Chocolatier Visits at Fog City News

Where: 455 Market Street (between First and Fremont), San Francisco

When: 12noon – 2 pm, Friday Dec 1st

In-store appearance and tastings by:

Michael Mischer, Friday, December 1st, 12 noon –2 pm

Michael Mischer Chocolates of Oakland

Taste his fresh, holiday truffles including Hot Cinnamon and Lebkuchen (Gingerbread).

Village Imports/Made in France sale this weekend

Where's my clone when I need her? I am pining for a trip to Brisbane, to visit the Village Imports warehouse sale starting tomorrow. Sausages, wine, oils, vinegars, herbs, lemonade, cured meats, alcoholic cider, chocolates, and cheeses, come to Momma!

One tip I picked up from my last shopping excursion there? On Friday, it's possible to "beat the crowds" by hitting the warehouse after 5 p.m. A super helpful clerk told me that everyone rushes on Friday to be there between 2 to around 4:45 p.m., and after that, it is more of a breeze. Less of a wait in line (wear a wool beret and bring an intellectual book or newspaper to really fit in), fewer people, all around better. The problem of 280 or 101 traffic once you pay and load up your car? Well, you'll just have to eat a cheese and chocolate snack before you hit the road. Believe me, it is worth the time and traffic to get all that Euro loot.

Below is the text of an email Village Imports sent me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mary

Just a friendly reminder that Made in France / Village Imports
is holding a gourmet food and wine warehouse sales on:

- Friday November 17th from 02:00pm to 06:00pm

- Saturday November 18th from 08:30am to 01:30pm


Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

Looking forward to seeing you.

Sincerely,

The Team at Made in France / Village Imports

            This message is an advertisement from Village Imports. You may opt-out from receiving future messages about our open warehouse events by Clicking Here. Village Imports will respectfully comply with your             request within 24 hours. Village Imports understands the importance you place on the privacy of information that personally identifies you. You may access our Privacy Statement and read how Village Imports considers the responsible use of personal information to be an essential element in respecting your privacy.

©2006  Village Imports, 211 South Hill Drive, Brisbane, CA 94005-1255.   All Rights Reserved.

Happy Halloween

I haven't been much of a participant in this year's Halloween. No time for visits to my favorite pumpkin festival, pumpkin carvings, or squash decorations (Litquake, I am yours!). I don't want the day to go by without eating candy, though. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, to be precise. I bought four different bags of candy today, to share with Oscar and my sister-in-law, Claudia. First, Oscar and I are walking around Noe Valley tonight with some friends. No costumes for either of us, although my eyeliner is Siouxsie/Elvira style: heavy, black, and rich. Our late(r) night plans may be either to return home to watch scary movies, or perhaps wander over to Mission Dolores.

Churro Vision

Everything in moderation. Small portions. Great ideas, but boring, tough and frustrating to achieve. If I'm super hungry, tired, overworked, tipsy, or otherwise zonked, "healthy" dining options are rarely of interest. I'm not dreaming of veggies, fruit and tofu then. No. Gimme my meat, spicy stuff, or cheese.

Last night is a great example. We were trying to leave Medjool, which has one of the best rooftop views of San Francisco. We took the stairs down to Medjool's mezzanine level, to use the restrooms. I grabbed Oscar's arm and stage whispered, "It smells like cheeseburgers in here! I can't go to another bar after this. I need a churro." That was total crazy talk on my part. We had eaten paella and other Sengalese fare at Bissap Baobab a few hours earlier. Maybe I was a teeny bit hungry, but it was likely the booze talking.

He assured me that we would get out of there since the rest of our group was headed home. After saying our goodbyes, Oscar and I started walking down Mission. My mind was on some of my favorite foods: cheeseburgers and pizza. I was also open to finding a churro vendor,  who populate the Mission street corners during the day, selling freshly made churros from a large, silver lined, food service delivery type bag. The churro obsession is because I have not been able to sample one in at least a year. It's more of a timing thing: the churros always look and smell divine, but I am usually headed somewhere, or decide I shouldn't have one if I am full (and sober).

Sadly, there were no churros to be had. Instead, we bought some honey nut Cheerios, cookies, orange juice, and other snacks. By the time we got home, I admitted a few glasses of water would be a good idea, first. Once I finished getting ready to sleep, I was too exhausted to check out our fridge and pantry for snack ideas. Maybe I do sometimes get that everything in moderation mantra.

Waiting at Tartine

When I was freelancing and juggling several jobs, I somehow had the leisurely time for what I came to think of as the Tartine experiments. As in, let's see if I can succeed in not getting frustrated at Tartine. One foggy Wednesday afternoon at 2:30, I guessed to myself, "Surely this will be the day when I can go in, order without waiting, and sit in the coveted corner table by the espresso stand that so alludes me." Images of leisurely eating and coffee drinking filled my head.

Alas, even when I mixed it up a little and changed the days and times of my visit, I'd get stuck in a ten plus person line, craning my neck to see which Tartine treats were in stock. The food kept me coming back, but I felt the Tartine experiments were somewhat of a failure. It's frustrating as hell to place an order with one gal (yes, the Tartine staff seem to be young hot, hipster gals. Do any boys work there?), and then repeat the order to a different gal at the register. If you're ordering for a big group or to go, the chaos only multiplies.

Yesterday, I offered to pick up pastries for work. Not a selfless move, don't be fooled. It's all about the cravings for this one! There are reports of an express counter that's in the works, but I knew it isn't yet ready. I drive and walk by often, after all. The smells tempt, the lines deter. I decided to try the Tartine online order form, which is slightly ridiculous in its assumption that people order at least 48 hours in advance. I'd understand 24 hours but 48? Online? Is it 1999? They specify on the site that Tartine will call to get your credit card number and only then is your order confirmed. There was no call back and I didn't give them 48 hours notice, so I knew the chances were dicey that a big box of pastries would be ready.

It was 8:10, so the line was only 4 deep. I'll take it! It took almost ten minutes from start to finish to order the pastries, watch the gal pack them up, tell the counter gal I had 12 pastries, get rung up, and fill up my coffee. For this experiment, I rewarded myself with a morning bun with sticky sugar and Cinnamon and lovely hints of orange. It's my go-to Tartine item, but I sometimes mix it up and get a chocolate or almond croissant. Sitting on the sidewalk (due to no tables inside) breathing exhaust fumes and watching people rush by suited me just fine. The Delfina guys were washing down the sidewalk, getting ready for the big weekend. The wait ended up being worth it: the dozen pastries were a hit. In the afternoon, I did the most indulgent thing, and sampled half, then all of one of the famed Tartine gougeres. Savory, peppery, cheesey deliciousness.

Cobbler Complaint

Don't get the cobbler at Highpockety Ox Restaurant in Boonville. Unless you enjoy disappointment. They break the rules and serve it cold, from the fridge. The fruit on a recent tasting was more like poached peaches that were far too firm. It was all wrong, wrong, wrong. The cold temperature and texture made me grumpy, and I only had a few bites. I asked the bartender (our server) if they always served the cobbler cold and he said, "Yes." Heresy!

Cobbler should usually offer warm, fruity, homey sweetness. It is a baked, deep dish fruit concoction with a biscuit or crust topping, sometimes sprinkled with sugar, and served with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche. The best part of a cobbler is the melded flavors and textures of warm fruit mixed with the dough. Berry cobblers can be especially nice to look at, because the fruit seeps into the dough in varying shades of red, pink, and purple. Although this week is busy, the cobbler cold experience is in my thoughts. I am determined to make a peach cobbler at home soon, so I can taste one that is correctly made.

Cheers and Beers: Italy takes the World Cup

Watching a drunken elderly Chinese man hand crank an old horn, smiling and cheering the whole time, started off our Sunday morning. We were sitting with hundreds (thousands?) of other soccer fans, ranging from "fair-weather" to die-hard jersey clad. Dolores Park was the setting, and it felt gleeful, happy, and exciting to be there. A giant screen was set up for the broadcast and it was free to all, although donation boxes made the rounds a few times. The ratio of French to Italian flags favored France. The Italians were elsewhere: I found out later that many were in North Beach, at places like Steps of Rome, Macaroni Grill and the San Francisco Brewing Company.

We brought Dianda's Italian American pastries (raspberry rings, raisin rolls, and apple turnovers) and Corona beer to tide us over til the match was over, after lunch. The liquor store was sold out of Italian beer, so Corona fit the bill of cold, light and refreshing. David & Anna were our links to the group, which also included other SF folks in their twenties and thirties. Someone said Amanda Berne would be joining us. She writes the Inside Scoop column for the San Francisco Chronicle. We used to talk often in cooking school when she worked in the vast library there. She's smart and sweet, and a whiz in the kitchen-we've catered together.

Our sweets balanced the offerings of Kettle salt and pepper potato chips, hummus, Tostitos, edamame, cherries, sandwiches, champagne, juice, water, vodka, and more beer. The organizers announced over and over the rules: no drinking alcohol or parking on the left side of the street. Breaking the law was easy because there were only two cops on patrol to cite drinkers. Strategy was simple: keep an eye out for the cops, who only made their way through the outer edges of the masses. I tucked a bottle under my bare leg a few times when a cop was within thirty feet.

Because Mexico is out of the World Cup, our allegiance fell to Italy, who David has been rooting for all along. He promised he'd bring a "real Italian" and his feisty, spirited Mom showed up later. It was fun to watch and ultimately join them in cheering, despairing and finally jumping up and down over the game. I guess we ran out of champagne, because David's Mom sprayed a small bottle of beer on those standing close enough to David. I liked the cold liquid after hours in the hot sun, but the smell stayed in my hair the rest of the day. A reminder of all that beer, soccer, and excitement.

Our next stop: cab it to North Beach, where throngs of Italians jumped up and down, cheered, sang, danced and smiled. It looked fun but I was hungry and needed real food. The idea of eating standing up in a bar didn't appeal to me the way it did Oscar. We signed up for a table at North Beach Pizza, where we waited and waited. The scowls and shrugs we exchanged with each other! My sister in law Claudia was a good buffer, and reminded us we were just hungry and grumpy. Once we were seated and our Ceasar Salad and Large Pepperoni-Sausage pie arrived, it was all good in the neighborhood. The wonders of pizza after a half day baking and drinking in the sun....

Mega Mouth Fries with a Mitchell's chocolate shake

Strong cravings for salty fries had me calling Oscar at work, borderline begging for him to make a pit stop at Mega Mouth burgers on his way home. I was craving the fresh, chunky fries, washed down with a chocolate shake. Their fries are a marvel-thick cut with just enough brown skin left on, crispy on the outside, tender and hot on the inside. We went through a lot of ketchup dipping our fries, but we still weren't able to finish two orders, piled high on a big plate. An hour later, our apartment still smelled like fried potatoes, which made me smile and sigh with pleasure even more.

Big Mouth Burgers, 3392 24th St (near Valencia), SF. T: 415-821-4821.

Hot Cross Buns

It's easy to get out of bed and hit the road for work when a Dianda's Hot Cross Bun pitstop is on the schedule. For the next five weeks (until Easter, natch), the plan is to consume as many of the sweet yeasty pastries as possible. A Hot Cross Bun is a glazed, currant studded wonder, topped with a lemony custard frosting. The cross is a religious symbol for Good Friday. In Christian School as a child, I was taught the song "Hot Cross Buns," which reinforced the food-celebration connection in my young mind. Dianda's Hot Cross Buns include mildly sweet red and green candied fruit that seems like a gentle throwback. Hot Cross Buns make for a sweet beginning to the day, but can easily fill in your dessert table.

Pucker Up

The cheese platter has just gotten more exciting. Kumquats offer a pinch of puckery tart sunshine to any cheese course. Kumquats are small, compact orange colored fruit, meant to be eaten with the skin on (just be sure to give them a good rinse first).  A chunk of Semifreddi's Fred Bread with a kumquat and runny brie is a particularly delicious combo. Although the kumquats look like tiny oranges, they are definitely more tart and strongly flavored. Biting into the citrus skin gives an initial rush of strong pucker power that lasts. I look forward to preserving some in sugar syrup, as well as introducing the kumquat to vodka. Pre-dinner cocktails never looked so good.

NYC: Witching Hour Cookies

The West Village store clerk guessed (hoped?) we were up to some debauchery as he rang up our 12 pack and Le Petit Ecolier dark chocolate cookies. Chocolate. Beer. Dessert of Champions. His eyebrows went up as he asked Oscar, "Both these girls... they are with you?" We all giggled awkwardly in response.

A few minutes later, our host, Miss S, was "resting" (passing out) on her bed, in her cozy (small by our SF standards) West Village apartment. I put the beer away and opened the pack of cookies. Oscar and I sat on our own bed, in the dark, waiting to see if Miss S was out for the night. We nibbled away at the deep dark buttery chocolate cookies from Le Petit Ecolier. The thick chocolate is smooth, rich and balanced, without any offnotes. Having a cookie crumble and melt in my mouth just so was a sweet ending to a wonderful night in the city.

Days later, Miss S claimed to not like chocolate cookies, and insisted we pack them for the trip home. (She also mentioned not wanting to get fat.) Vacation memories continued as we nibbled the chocolate cookie treats while sitting on our faded couch back at home in SF. "They're so good," Oscar said, as we dabbed our mouths with napkins, and giggled at finally finishing the package. The "Little School Boy" is welcome to visit us anytime.