A Blast for Breakfast

Has it really been nearly a month since I last posted? I guess that time really flies when you are busy with work and wedding planning. Even the extra day in February didn't seem to buy me any free time to write. Anyway...

A few weeks ago, I read an article about a new entry into the breakfast food market, Batter Blaster. Yes, what you've always wanted, pancake batter conveniently sold in an aerosol can. After hearing some more buzz about this product on the radio later that week, I decided that I wanted to give it a try.

An opportunity came up a few days later when Jeremiah invited Karen and me over for Sunday morning brunch. I eagerly offered to bring the ready-made pancake batter as my contribution to the meal. Jeremiah seemed a bit skeptical about the batter, but told me to go ahead and bring some, no doubt swayed by the fact, which I repeated multiple times, that Batter Blaster is USDA certified organic.

When Sunday morning came around, Karen and I dropped by a neighborhood grocery store to pick up a "fresh" can of batter. As I was checking out, the clerk mentioned that the pre-made pancake batter had been flying off the shelves ever since they started stocking it. I guess that Batter Blaster had been selling like, well, like hotcakes...

When we got over to Jeremiah's place, he had already fired up the griddle on his Viking stove and had started browning up a batch of home fries. Fortunately for me, he had reserved some room on the griddle for some hotcakes. So, I shook up the aerosol can of batter and pressed the nozzle, forming neat, little circles of soon-to-pancakes on the hot cooking surface.


Just like that - quick and easy with no mess. (Well, you do need to clean off the nozzle, but that's a snap - just run it under some hot water.)


A short while later, after Jeremiah cooked up some bacon and eggs to go with the home fries and stack of pancakes, we were ready to eat.

The verdict? Eh, honestly I was a bit disappointed. The pancakes had a distinct sweetness to them, not like the flavor that you get from maple syrup, but more like that of straight sugar. I guess that I could have expected that, given the third largest ingredient in that batter (after filtered water and organic wheat flour) is organic cane sugar. However, it probably would have been fine for waffles, which is an alternate recommended use for Batter Blaster. Also, the product information indicates that you should be able to get approximately 28 4-inch pancakes from a single can, but we did not get nearly as many, even though we nearly exhausted the can. However, that could have been due to user error, as I may not have shaken the can enough, especially for the last few cakes that I made.

Well, it was worth a try, but at $5.99 a can, I had really hoped for more.

"Hey, did you go to Carleton?"

For whatever reason, I seem to hear this question quite often when I am wearing the attire of my alma mater. Karen is amazed at the number of random places where people, seeing me wearing a Carleton shirt, ask me if I actually attended the college in Northfied, Minnesota. The encounters have occurred in many different situations including, while eating lunch in Maui just before exploring a volcano, during a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park on a trip to Boulder, and while seeing the terra cotta soldiers in Xi'an. Of course, there have also been a lot of Carleton call outs during my eight years in the Bay Area, including shout-outs on the streets of San Francisco and a few brief exchanges in various locations in Wine Country. You might think that my entire wardrobe consists of college gear, but, in reality, I only have a t-shirt and a sweatshirt. (Okay, I do have more Carleton shirts lying around, but none that I ever wear; I doubt the '89-'90 Third Myers floor t-shirt even fits anyway.)

Yesterday, while wearing my Carleton sweatshirt, I went over to the Ferry Building's Saturday morning farmers' market in search of some Fatted Calf bacon. While wandering around the stalls, I was asked not once, not twice, but three separate times in the course of an hour if I attended the small liberal arts college. One of the people who asked me, Dave, is actually a vendor at the market. After procuring some bacon, I stopped by his booth, Andante Dairy, to check out his offerings and picked up some butter, which was hand-churned by Dave himself. After trying some of the butter on some crusty bread that I picked up from the Acme Bread Company, I can attest to the quality of this delectable, creamy, high-fat content butter. I'll definitely go back for some more butter in the future.

One place where I haven't gotten a Carleton shout-out is in Europe, even though I've been there almost a dozen times over the past few years. I guess that it's a function of me not really wearing much Carleton gear during my business trips over to the Continent. Perhaps I'll have to include one of my Carleton shirts to wear during one of my forays into Heidelberg after working hours. I'll let ya know when happens.

Alive and Kicking

Lest you think that my recent lack of posts means that I have been not eating (as my friend Doug seems to think, at least judging from his comments in a recent post), let me reassure you that I am alive and well, but simply quite busy. Despite our somewhat hectic schedules, Karen and I have managed to fit in a few dining outings here and there.

A couple of weeks back, Karen took advantage of her half-day Friday to hop on a mid-afternoon train and head down in my direction, meeting up with me just as I was getting off work. We had made plans to meet up with one of our friends, Diana, before she headed out to the other coast for grad school this fall. We left the dining plans up to Diana, who wanted to enjoy some cuisine that she might not be able to get in her new home city. She thought that some Indian food would be nice, so we headed to Amber India (377 Santana Row; 408-248-5400). This was our first visit to the Santana Row location, though we had previously dined at the Mountain View restaurant. I was a bit surprised at the differences in decor between the two locations. The atmosphere at the original restaurant is subdued and traditional, a marked contrast from the new location's trendy and sophisticated decor, which fits in perfectly at Santana Row. For dinner, we decided to share a few entrees: asparagus kofta, maans ki soweta, and butter chicken. The kofta was good, but then again, how could a paneer cheese dumpling not be good? We also liked the maans ki soweta, a lamb curry with yogurt and corn, but our favorite was the butter chicken, which was very rich and quite decadent.

The next morning, we slept in and enjoyed a late breakfast of egg, cheese, and Spam sandwiches (yes, I do like Spam) before heading up to the City to meet up with a group of friends at the Nihonmachi Street Fair in Japantown. It was a nice day for a walk, during which we took in the sights and sounds of the fair. We also liked the smells that were coming from the many food vendors, who were grilling up large quantities of teriyaki chicken and beef over hot coals. Though I was tempted, I refrained from ordering any street food as we had agreed to an early dinner with our friends. After walking around the fair for a bit, we wandered down to Fillmore Street and checked out Pacific Heights, one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Francisco. Soon, all of us were starting to get hungry so we decided to pick a nearby dining establishment for dinner. We settled on The Elite Cafe (2049 Fillmore Street; 415-346-8668), a Cajun/Creole restaurant located in Upper Fillmore. By the time we were seated, all of us were quite hungry. We definitely needed some starters. We ordered a dozen of Doňa Luisa's Infamous deviled eggs for the entire group as well as a mess of cornbread, which we devoured as soon as the food hit the table. For the main course, I ordered the duck confit, shrimp, and andouille sausage jambalaya, while Karen opted for the Niman Ranch pork chop. The jambalaya, which came out in a large steel pan on a big plate, was chock-full of generously-sized portions of duck, shrimp, and sausage and pretty tasty, though I was expecting a bit more spice and heat from this dish. The pork chop was very good as well, but the accompanying side of corn stole the show - it was simply bursting with flavor.

The next morning, Karen and I met up with another group of friends, one of whom was passing through town on her way from Hawaii to Norway. We brunched at Pomelo (1793 Church Street; 415-285-2257), a cozy (35 seat) restaurant located in Noe Valley. The menu at Pomelo features traditional selections from around the globe; the items are named after locations in the countries from which they originated. I picked Cork, aka corned beef hash with eggs, while Karen selected the Altamira, a plate of three white corn buns, each containing a different filling. The Cork was one of the best hash dishes that I've ever had, with huge pieces of delicious corned beef. It would have been the best version of this dish had they omitted the accompanying vinaigrette, whose sharp flavor felt way out of place on this dish. The Altamira was decent, though the egg filling was rather bland. After this delicious brunch, we hung out with our friends for a while before heading off to enjoy an afternoon walk in the Mission District. On our walk, we stopped by La Palma Mexicantessen (2884 24th Street; 415-647-1500), where we picked up some carnitas, which is sold by the pound, and birria, a spicy, stewed goat dish. We also grabbed a dozen fresh corn tortillas, hot off the griddle and better than any tortilla that I've ever eaten previously. We threw in a small order of chicharrón for good measure and brought all of this food back to Karen's place, enjoying it later for a very tasty and filling dinner.

Fast forward to last weekend. Last Friday evening, Karen and I took a relaxing, evening drive down beautiful California Highway 1 from San Francisco down toward Half Moon Bay. Our destination: Mezzaluna (459 Prospect Way; 650-728-8108), a Southern Italian restaurant located in little harbor town of Princeton-by-the-Sea. We started out dinner with an order of calamari, which we quite liked for its very light batter. For our main courses, we ordered a plate of Mezzelune al Salmone, half-moon shaped ravioli filled with salmon in a tomato cream sauce, and a politically incorrect Chilean sea bass dish. Both of these fish dishes were excellent, especially the sea bass, which came with an olive tapenade, grilled polenta, and a pea puree. We were quite happy with our dinner selections as they were not only quite tasty, but also reasonably light.

The next morning, we caught up on some much needed sleep before we got up and headed out to Le Village for its monthly open house. We picked up some pâté, cheese, and crackers, which we enjoyed for lunch after we returned home. We also picked up some Veuve Amiot champagne sparkling wine at the spectacular price of $84 for an entire case. After lunch, we spent the afternoon doing absolutely nothing, which was great - both of us continued working away at our sleep debt by catching a cat nap. That evening, Karen had plans with her friends, so I headed back down toward my place in the South Bay, but not before grabbing a Matisse crepe with her at Frjtz Fries (570 Hayes Street; 415-864-7654) in Hayes Valley. After I got home that evening, I whipped up a batch of macaroni and cheese using a recipe from the new issue of Bon Appétit. Karen had requested this dish, which I was more than happy to make and take up to her.

The next day, I putzed around my place, doing some of the mundane chores that I had neglected for the past few weeks, before heading back up to Karen's place, with a Pyrex pan of mac and cheese in hand. Of course, I already knew that I would not be tasting the macaroni dish that evening, as we had dinner reservations at Zuni Cafe (1658 Market Street; 415-552-2522), the James Beard award-winning restaurant featuring Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. You would think that as self-proclaimed Bay Area-based foodies, we would have been to Zuni already, but this was my first visit there. Zuni is very well-known for its roasted chicken for two. This dish, which comes with a panzanella salad and dressed with mustard greens, is roasted to order in a wood oven. As you might expect from a roasted-to-order chicken dish, you have to endure a long wait (up to an hour, according to the menu) for your dish to arrive, but it is well worth the wait. The moist chicken and nicely roasted skin is absolutely delicious. The best part is that since you get an entire chicken, there'll be leftovers for the next day. The only drawback, in my opinion, is the cost; the roasted chicken dish for two will set you back more than four sawbucks, which is quite steep, even for this delectable dish.

So, dear readers, no need to worry about whether we are eating or not. (This means you, Doctor No.) Our Bay Area dining adventures continue.

A Visit to the Kwik-E-Mart

On the way home from work tonight, I stopped at the local Kwik-E-Mart. Yes, the Kwik-E-Mart. In conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox, 7-Eleven has transformed 11 of its convenience store locations into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the upcoming The Simpsons Movie, which opens nationwide later this month. One of these temporary Kwik-E-Marts is located in Mountain View, CA, just around the curve from the Googleplex and, fortunately for me, on my way home from work.

As I drove up to the store, I noticed that the 7-Eleven signs next to the parking lot had been liberated of their newly applied store logos, undoubtedly the work of souvenir-seeking scofflaws. However the store itself, with its new facade, was left unscathed.


Not surprisingly, a lot of other people were also checking out the newly transformed store. I counted at least 25 people, both outside the Kwik-E-Mart, snapping photos and loitering about a la Nelson Muntz and crew, and inside the store, taking in the new decor.


In addition to the cosmetic changes, 7-Eleven Stores are also selling a special line of Simpsons-inspired products, including Buzz Cola and KrustyO's cereal. Unfortunately, this particular location had run out of many of these specialty items for the day. However, I was able to procure a Squishee (although not the all-syrup Super Squishee which I had wanted):


The Squishee helped to wash down the pink frosted doughnuts that I picked up. Mmm.... sprinkles.


While my mission for KrustyO's and Radioactive Man comics was left unfulfilled, I'm sure that I will have ample opportunity to pick some up. These Simpsons specialty items will be sold at 7-Eleven stores across the country, so even if you don't live by one of these Kwik-E-Marts, you too can pick up some of your favorite products from the town of Springfield.

Staying Sharp

A couple of weekends ago, I took my two favorite kitchen knives (an 8" Wüsthof Classic Cook's Knife and a 6.5" Kershaw Shun Classic Santoku) for a long-overdue sharpening. On the recommendation of several people on the Good Eats Message Board, I brought my blades to Perfect Edge Cutlery in San Mateo, located about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose.

The store is well-known in some Bay Area culinary circles as the place to go for knife sharpening. I had to drop off the knives and pick them up later in the week, as they only do the sharpening work in the morning before the store opens. When I came back to pick up the knives a few days later, I took the opportunity to test drive a few of the many blades they have in their vast inventory. The salesman to whom I spoke was very knowledgeable (at the very least, he knew that my German and Japanese knives have different sharpening requirements, which is more than I can say about the folks at the high-end culinary shops that also provide sharpening services), friendly, and helpful. Overall, I was very pleased with the shopping experience and the job that they did reshaping and sharpening the knives.

Of course, the proof of their workmanship came across when I used the newly sharpened blades to take apart a pineapple. Both of the knives cut through the tough outer skin of the fruit like a hot knife through butter. The Shun felt especially good - it was like getting my hands on a brand new knife. I'll definitely go back to Perfect Edge for my future knife sharpening needs.

Midwestern Strata?

Today, I decided to make some Wild Rice Hotdish. My girlfriend had it on her list of food requests for a little while now and, with the rainy season upon us, I figured that it was the perfect time to make it.

The funny thing is that within a two hour span today, I was twice questioned whether or not this delicious dish was truly a hotdish. Both my sister and my friend Terence asked me the exact same two questions: (1) Did I cover it with Tater Tots? (2) Did I use cream of mushroom soup? Having answered in the negative to both questions, I was accused of fraudulently passing off a non-hotdish item as a true Minnesotan hotdish. Terence, whose experience in Minnesotan cuisine comes solely from his experience with the Marriott industrial food service professionals during his college years in Northfield, went so far to say that what I was making was, in fact, not hotdish, but merely some sort of Midwestern strata.

Tater Tots? What happened to French fried onion rings?

Shopping at Le Village

Yesterday, my sweetie and I paid a visit to Le Village (211 South Hill Drive, Brisbane), a gourmet food wholesaler located just south of San Francisco. We had heard about this distributor from our friends Tesha and Jeremiah and had been looking forward to seeing it for ourselves for the past couple of months. Lauded by Thomas Keller and Anthony Bourdain, Le Village caters primarily to institutional or commercial buyers. Indeed, private consumers can usually only purchase items via mail-order through the company web site. However from time to time, usually about one weekend a month, Le Village opens its warehouse doors to the general public. This was one such weekend, so we took advantage of me being in town (instead on a flight to Europe) to check it out.

On Saturday, we made the short drive from the City down to Brisbane. We found our way to the warehouse, which is nestled in deep in an office park next to San Bruno Mountain.


We had only intended to take a look around to see what was available, but we grabbed a shopping cart in case there was anything that might we want to pick up. Within a few minutes of entering the warehouse, it was apparent that we would be putting the cart to a fair amount of use. There were so many tasty things that caught our eye - pallets of imported chocolate; rows and rows of French lemonade and cider bottles; a huge walk-in refrigerator filled with cured meats, stinky cheeses, and imported yogurts. It was a food lover's fantasy.

A hour after we walked in, we walked out with a cart full of goodness and a significantly lighter wallet. We bought a bunch of Mamie Nova French yogurts which were highly recommended by Jeremiah and Tesha. We also found ourselves with a smoked duck breast, some duck confit, and a round of stinky cheese (whose name escapes me right now), as well as several bottles of French lemonade and cider. We also bought a case of petit fours, which are currently residing in my freezer, awaiting my next dinner party. We picked up a case of mix and match French wines, which included some white and red Burgandies, a couple bottles of Bordeaux, and some wine from the Rhône region. I did a quick online check and saw that many of the bottles were retailing for twice the price that we paid per bottle.

On top of all of the great food, the service was excellent. Everyone there was very friendly and helpful. One of the guys, who was passing out samples of cured dry salami, stopped what he was doing, went out of his way to help us find the items that we wanted, and took the time to answer our questions. It was a far cry from the service that you usually get at your local megamart. I'm looking forward to the next open warehouse weekend. If you are interested in visiting yourself, check out their open warehouse events page.

My Newest Addition to the Kitchen

I bought one of these last night on sale - almost 1/3 off of the list price. I could have purchased the mocha version of this Dutch oven (Le Creuset calls them 'French ovens') for a pittance, but I didn't want to have an ugly brown pot sitting on top of my stove. I figured that the 7 1/4 quart version should be big enough to handle almost any cooking task that I would attempt in my smallish kitchen.

I think that the first dish that I will make in the Dutch oven is one that my sweetie has requested: Braised Short Ribs with Chocolate and Rosemary.