Bay Area Cooking

  It’s a good thing I don’t live close to the new B. Patisserie in San Francisco’s lower Pacific Heights neighborhood — or I’d be 300 pounds. If I lived within walking distance, it would be a far, far dangerous thing. That’s because these are pastries worth every single calorie. Pastry Chef Belinda Leong and [...]

The car is hot. The windows are down but the heat bangs through anyway. In a minute or two I'll get out of the car and go join the other parents. We're all waiting for the bus carrying our kids back from a weeklong hiking trip. I pinch my shirt between my thumb and forefinger, pulling the fabric out then in, trying to cool myself off. I should just get out of the car. It's breezier out there, I can tell. I close my eyes. I'm 10 minutes early. I know I won't miss the bus when it pulls in. My mind swerves. . I'm back at summer camp, waiting for my parents. Soon, they'll walk across the soccer field with the other dads and moms, bags in their arms. The bags will be filled with the treats I requested: candy, gum, chips, cookies, maybe boring things, too, like extra socks or that sweatshirt I forgot to pack back in June. I wait for them, my heart bouncing like a superball, beating doubletime. I spot my parents. I start to run. I can't help it. I know it's not cool, but I start to run because it's been a while, and I've missed them. I don't think about how they felt. I just think of myself. I'm the kid, I've been away from home, I'm out of my element, I'm homesick, I, I, I. We reunite. I take the bags. I am happy. . I think I hear the bus, distant, but on approach. My heart bounces like a superball, beating doubletime. I've missed my kids. Turns out, I've missed them a lot. I join the other parents. How'd you do? Was your house quiet? Do you think they had fun? My boys climb off the bus. They're sweaty. They're dirty. They see me now, and jog a bit my way.  I hug them. I kiss them. I take their backpacks. We get in the car, and head on home. ... Recipe for Sumac-Rubbed Butterflied Chicken I knew my kids were eating boil-in-bag food they could carry in their packs all week. I wanted to make them something homey, rustic, and comforting for their first night home. I'd been traveling, too, so I couldn't spend all day cooking (nor did I particularly want to). Butterflying is a technique that speeds up the chicken-roasting process. By removing the backbone and flattening the bird with a firm palm, you're able to cook the white meat and dark meat more evenly, and in less time, than roasting a bird whole. A quick rub-down with sumac-butter added a rustic burnish and Middle Eastern flavor. (Don't have sumac? Try smoked or regular paprika instead. The flavor profile's wholly different -- sumac is sour and lemony -- but they all go beautifully with chicken.) Serves 6 (leftovers are great) One 4-1/2- to 5-pound whole chicken, preferably organic2-3 tablespoons soft butter2-3 teaspoons sumac (available in Middle Eastern markets)Salt and pepperLemon halves and plain, whole milk yogurt, for serving Prep the chicken at least 2 hours before roasting. Remove the goody bag from the chicken's cavity. (You can decide how to handle this.) Flip the bird breast-side down, back facing up. Using kitchen shears, cut along either side of the backbone from cavity to cavity. Remove the backbone and freeze for stock. Set the chicken breast-side-up now on a parchment-lined baking sheet, easing the now split-back slightly open. Pat very dry with paper towels. With the heel of your dominant hand, lean onto the chicken so it flattens. In a small bowl, shmush the butter with the sumac. Season the butter liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle a generous five-fingerful of salt and pepper directly into the cavity as well. Now rub the chicken all over with the sumac butter. Loosen the skin over the breasts slightly and work your way onto the breast meat, too, rubbing with sumac butter as you go. Sprinkle the outside of the bird with coarse salt, if you like a bit of crunch and haven't already oversalted. Set the bird in the refrigerator for a few hours, uncovered. I find this sets the butter and makes for crisper skin

I hope you all had a fabulous Father’s Day weekend.  Did you fire up the grill for burgers and barbecue?  Or did you visit dad’s favorite restaurant and participate in his favorite activities?  My family drove up to Yountville and St. Helena Saturday for brunch and much-enjoyed quality time with my husband, my parents, [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  After leaving Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc in Yountville, where he was head chef for seven years, Dave Cruz has some big plans of his own. Look for Cruz to open his own restaurant late this year or sometime next year. He’s been scouting locations in Napa to open Miles Restaurant, a casual spot serving [...]

Every year, we keep out-doing ourselves when creating Food Blog Forum events. It’s a great thing (I’m not complaining), but one of these days, there will be no way to “wow” food bloggers unless we host the event on a cruise ship to the Caribbean. Hmmm…..maybe…one day. What Todd, Diane, Scott and I love most about FBF is that the entire family is always invited. We try to make our events at fun locations and affordable enough so that you could bring your entire clan. Which is why we were thrilled that our gracious host for 2nd year in a row was Walt Disney World. Family is so important to us that our portion of the day included my entire family up on stage. We talked about how we restructured our business to fit our lives, and how important it was to align our blog+business strategy to our family motto of “Magical Moments.” Andrew was up on stage, fearless. He wrote and read his speech “What Steamy Kitchen means to me” He’s amazing. Oh, and my baby, Nathan, discovered that girls like wheelchairs! He was in the hospital just days before the event so we had a wheelchair for him. Who knew? Wheelchair! Chick Magnet! Nathan tried so hard to keep up with everything – listening to every speaker, drawing giveaway names, giving hugs to people – finally succumbing to a little nap in front of the room. I’m grateful for the awesome sponsors of Food Blog Forum: KitchenAid, OXO, Florida Dairy Farmers, GIR and Whole Foods Market Orlando along with our host, Walt Disney World. These generous sponsors helped keep the event costs to a bare minimum for food bloggers and provided great prizes for everyone. Most of all, thank you to everyone who attended – we loved meeting your families and hanging out with you! A note from Andrew & Nathan “Next time, I want to lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. I was a little too shy and wasn’t feeling that great in the morning” – Nathan “Hi everyone! Thank you for letting us be with you at Food Blog Forum. We had a very fun time at Disney World. Meeting new people was fun.” – Andrew “We loved this trip to Disney World because we got to start our pin collection. We just love collecting pins!  Here is a picture of someone’s collection at Epcot. They have an area where pin traders can show off their collection and you can trade with them.  Do you have pins that you would like to trade with us? ” – Andrew & Nathan More Food Blog Forum Check out everyone else’s posts from our event! Todd & Diane from White on Rice Couple Lindsay from Love & Olive Oil Julie from The Little Kitchen Alicia from Alicia Carlson Photography Part 1 Part 2 Brunch Amanda from Kevin & Amanda Amy from The Nifty Foodie Angie from Big Bear’s Wife Camille from A Girl, A Granny & A Goal Carla from Carla’s Confections Caroline from Chocolate & Carrots Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Cheryl from Pook’s Pantry Cindy from Hungry Girl por Vida Damaris from Kitchen Corners Denise from addicted 2 recipes Dianna from The Kitchen Prep Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Erin from Eat Bake Drink Cook Erin from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts Janet from Captain’s Daughter to Army Mom Jenn from justJENN recipes Panels Food Grand Floridian Star Wars Weekends Jessica from My Baking Heart Joelen from What’s Cookin, Chicago Julie from Table for Two Kasey from Kasey’s Kitchen Katie from Ruffles & Truffles Katrina from In Katrina’s Kitchen Kim from KC Bakes Lauren from Healthy. Delicious. Liz from The Lemon Bowl Michelle from The Domestic Mama & The Village Cook Rachel from Baked by Rachel Ricky from TastyChomps The Orlando Food Blog Robin from Simply Southern Baking Part 1 Part 2 Sarah from Sarah’s Cucina Bella FBF Video Stephanie from Macaroni and Cheesecake Yelena from Cooking Melangery FBF Brunch ©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2013. | Permalink |

A few months ago I went to a food writing conference in San Francisco and attended a session on managing to make good money as a cookbook author or freelance writer. It was a late night session and I hadn’t had a chance to grab dinner (or lunch, for that matter), so my friend Sarah and I slurped down a quick bowl of tortilla soup at the lobby bar and jetted over to grab our seats. In addition to questions about payment and negotiation, the organizers asked us to confidentially rate our level of happiness in our field of work. During the session, I soon realized I was the only one who rated my happiness below an 8. My reason — which I happily shared that night: it’s lonely work. There are days when I don’t see anyone besides Sam and the woman at the grocery check-out line. You’d think a nice antidote to this would be the work I do with Marge where I’m on my feet in a very physical production kitchen — and it is. But I’m still the main baker and, until quite recently, I was alone in the kitchen. So I generally go from writing at home in my office to baking alone in a commercial kitchen. For a person who generally likes people and enjoys talking and sharing ideas and inspiration, I’m out of luck on both counts. But slowly, over the past few weeks, I’ve started to realize things are changing. For the better — and for good, I think.(...)Read the rest of New Circles (2,005 words) © megang for A Sweet Spoonful, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: breakfast, farmer's market, Gluten-Free Girl, grain mill, Marge, Nutrimill, waffles, whole grains Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

  By now, you probably know how much of an almond addict that I am. I love to eat them by the handful, of course. But I also love to bake with almond flour, smear almond butter on toast, dig into spoonfuls of almond jello at Chinese restaurants,  and nosh on any cookie made with [...]

I parked myself on a bistro table and enjoyed a leisurely lunch of a salad, a baguette and an iced tea.  I was so happy to be seated outside the European bakery in Santana Row on a gorgeous sunny day like today as I toggled my attention between my Kindle and the people walking [...] [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  When my Dad was still alive, he loved nothing more than embarking on cruises with my Mom. He’d return from sailing around places like the Hawaiian islands with a scrapbook full of photos. Of their room on the ship. Of the breakfast buffet on the ship. Of the fancy dinners on the ship. And [...]

We order Coconut Milk by the dozen since we love it so much and when we ran out last week, I was in a panic! Not to worry though, Amazon Prime to the rescue! (Seriously, I'm not paid for writing this but it's a LIFE SAVER sometimes!) Anyway, so tonight, I had to make some Coconut Curry Chicken. It's been adapted from many different recipes and I added a few personal touches of my own. Ingredients:2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighsSalt and pepper1 Tbsp oil1/4 c onions, diced1 clove garlic, minced1 tsp ginger, minced1 can unsweetened coconut milkRice, for servingParsley, for garnishPrep:1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down and brown 5 minutes on each side. Remove and keep warm.2. Add onion, garlic and ginger and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and bring to a boil. 3. Add chicken back and turn heat down to medium-low. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 20 minutes.4. Serve over rice and garnish with parsley.