Yountville

These days seem to be going by rather quickly. Which is why it's nice to getaway once in a while to a place where time seems to stand still. A place surrounded by rolling green hills, nature, wine, great food, and extremely friendly people. This past weekend, Matt and I took a relaxing trip to the North Bay to explore Yountville and other parts of Napa. (The above picture was taken behind the Yountville Dean & Deluca. Looks like something out of the French countryside doesn't it?) This is going to be a rather long post, since I have so many pictures to share.

Speaking of Dean & Deluca, I had been pestering Matt about coming here since we started planning the trip. I don't know what my obsession is with this store, it's probably because I'm notorious for being willing to pay gross amounts of money on "specialty" food items, especially cookies and candies. That, plus I just really enjoy the layout and the feel of the store.

I was hard to resist picking up some cold cuts for a nice little picnic since we were lucky enough to catch the good weather, but we had to save our appetite for what would be a delicious and very hearty lunch.

I adore the presentations of their desserts! They're so creative and just so darn cute.

Ok, so we did walk out of the store with a few things--cheesecake caramels and nougat.

We probably could have stayed at Dean & Deluca for a little while longer but to avoid buying anymore goodies, we made a quick getaway and left with about 10% of what we had originally had in our hands. Matt and I made it to our lunch spot a little early, so we walked around the property to look at some of the small lettuce and herb plots they had growing around the side of and behind the restaurant. We even found a tree swing! That pretty much occupied our 15 minutes before the restaurant opened.

I really like the concept of Farmstead. They feature farm to table meals using seasonal and local ingredients in each dish. From the veggies, to the herbs, to the meat, everything comes from either Long Meadow Ranch or other local purveyors. To me it was like cozy, hearty, farm house food but dressed up. I could totally see myself becoming a farmer if this was fed to me on a daily basis.

"Potted Pig"

This was such an amazing appetizer. It was a pork riette with a fat cap on top served with honey mustard and crispy, buttery crostini. I could have seriously sat here all day drinking wine and eating potted pig.

I had the gnocchi with beef ragu.

Very well prepared gnocchi with tender beef and tangy, rich tomato sauce.

LMR Burger.

Best burger ever. Both Matt and I have had our fair share of $15+ burgers that weren't worth their money, but this burger is a different story. I could taste the burger before I even took a bite. It smelled so rich and beefy--it was delicious. And the potatoes with the fried sage were also amazing. I'm definitely a French fry person, but these potatoes really caught me off guard and I didn't miss the fries at all.

Lunch was so filling that we could barely fit anything else in our bellies...including wine. But we were in Napa, and this is what we came for--the food and wine.

We tasted some really great local olive oils, sauces, balsamic vinegars, and many different types of imported salts. We even picked up a few jars of heirloom tomato sauce and butternut squash sauce. Both were well worth it.

Robert Mondavi

I know you see Robert Mondavi everywhere. It's no secret that it's massed produced and some even talk down on the quality of wine. But like it's other mass produced competitor, Gallo, they were among the first to produce wine in Napa Valley and that deserves a great amount of respect and recognition. Plus, if you're a fan of the pricey Opus One wine you'll be surprised to learn that Opus one is a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and Baron Phillippe de Rothschild.

Robert Mondavi has a beautiful property, with hectares and hectares of vineyards located at the foot of Napa's rolling green hills.

It's a great way to enjoy a glass of wine and maybe a picnic...if we weren't so full.

After all that food and wine we were experiencing a serious food coma and decide to go back to the hotel to rest up before dinner at Bouchon.

The moment that I had been waiting for all day, Bouchon! A visit to Napa wouldn't be complete without a visit to a Thomas Keller creation, right? It's no French Laundry, but we're slowly (VERY slowly) eating out way up the restaurant hierarchy.

I love brasserie food. I guess what I really mean is that I love a good steak frites.

The seating is a bit snug, but not quite as snug and uncomfortable as Les Halles in New York. And the food was much better, especially the fries.

A bottle of Chateauneuf-du Pape that we brought with us, and thank goodness we did because a bottle from the same estate would have cost us double at Bouchon.

Lobster Bisque.

This had really deep lobster flavor, and the lobster croquette was so good. I don't know if it's just because I haven't had lobster in a long time of if this was really THAT good. But we pretty much licked the plate clean.

Matt had the Berkshire Pork Loin

And I of course had the Steak Frites.

The flat iron steak was cooked to a perfect med. rare, and maybe even a little under that which was great. And there was a MOUNTAIN of perfectly cooked fries. I don't know if Thomas Keller would be insulted by this, but they were like McDonald's fries that held their crisp better. I was in French fry heaven.

Pot du Creme with Lime Curd

Delicious. I'm a sucker for custards and really any dessert with an eggy taste, and this went really well with the thick, tangy, lime curd cap.

I usually don't drink coffee (mostly because Starbucks' sour coffee has turned me off to all coffee), but if it's at a nice restaurant I'm usually compelled to get a cup because I know I won't be disappointed.

I have to say, this was a rather successful trip!

I have a feeling we'll be going back to Napa real soon.

Bailey's (Irish Coffee) Marbled Cheesecake

For the sake of St. Patties day, I thought I'd pick up baking again just for a day.

Though it doesn't look festively St. Patrick's Day (as in, you won't find clovers or green sprinkles here). It's definitely Irish to the core. What do I mean? Well, I've taken a Bailey's marbled cheesecake recipe from cooks.com (which I suppose already implies "St. Patties Day treat") and made it my own by adding espresso for kind of an Irish coffee feel. Minus the Jameson. Sorry, whiskey folk.

Crust:

4Tbs unsalted sweet cream butter, melted

3Tbs sugar

1/4C unsweetened cocoa powder

2Tbs ground instant espresso

1 pkg Honey Maid Graham Crackers, ground to crumbs

Combine butter, sugar, espresso, cocoa, and crumbs.

Press evenly in bottom of a 9in. spring form pan

Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

Let cool.

Grease the sides of pan.

Filling:

3 8 ounce pkgs cream cheese, softened

3/4 C sugar

3 eggs

3/4 C Bailey's Irish Cream

2 Squares (2 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

3-4 Tbs ground instant espresso

Beat cream cheese until smooth.

Gradually beat in sugar.

Beat in eggs one at a time.

Blend in Bailey's.

Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the melted chocolate, and stir in espresso

Pour 1/2 of the plain mixture into prepared pan.

Drizzle with half of the chocolate mixture.

Repeat layers.

Create desired marbled design with a butter knife.

As you can tell from the picture, I had some cosmetic issues with my cake (I'm definitely not an avid baker)--the more my cheesecake cooled the more cracked it became, any suggestions on how to prevent that?

As much as I love espresso, I think I was a little too generous with the amount in both the crust and the filling--I'll look into tweaking that this weekend.

P.S.: Stay posted for pics from my trip to Yountville. It includes pictures of what Matt and I had at Bouchon!

Guilty Pleasures

We all have our guilty pleasures. Mine being the occasional blasting of the high school pop songs driving down Highway 1 with the windows rolled down and singing (or...screaming) the lyrics at the top of my lungs, splurging on cocktail rings and shoes (and these days I've managed to throw in a couple of guilty pleasure skirts as well), and of course food.

The two guilty pleasures today are of course, food related.

Why are they guilty pleasures? Not only are they filled with pork fat, carbs, cream, butter, and sweet tooth melting deliciousness, but also because this job makes it difficult to commit to lent.

A.G. Ferrari Foods potato, leek and panchetta torte

"Savory torte?" I know, I can't believe I didn't know about this either.

I could seriously eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Ooo, can you imagine this with a fried egg? Now, that's a breakfast of champs!) It's like a potato quiche in an open face calzone. The only thing that's keeping me from going back to the kitchen for seconds is that there probably isn't anymore.

UPDATE: I totally lied. There was more, and I cut myself another small (SMALL) wedge. Kudos to me for resisting temptation--the temptation to devour the rest!

Birthday Otis Spunkmeyer cookies

They make some of the most scrumptious cookies (white chocolate macadamia nuts, who can say no?)If you're a soft and chewy cookie loving type (like me!), I have two words for you: Otis Spunkmeyer!

There were about a dozen...I ate four of them...and counting.

Chicken Giblet Pho

I've always favored beef pho--don't know why, just have. I have given chicken pho a chance before...but it was bland and only had white meat. I didn't see why anyone would crave chicken pho when you can have bold beef broth, tripe, raw steak, and brisket (that is, until I found Bun Bo Hue, but that's a whole nother story).

Then a friend of mine took me to Turtle Tower in High School, a place that specializes in chicken pho. "Really?" I thought to myself, "A chicken pho place?"

My previous misconceptions about chicken pho quickly vanished with one taste of Turtle Tower. The broth was rich and concentrated with chicken flavor, the noodles were like a hybrid of pho and ho fun noodles, and they have chicken giblet pho. Ok, this place is a keeper.

Chicken giblet pho with gizzard, liver, intestine, unlayed egg, white and dark meat, and tons of cilantro and scallions.

Beef pho just got the boot.

Snow Day! (...or weekend, rather)

I had a nice relaxing snow filled weekend in Tahoe. Saying so long to 22 and hello to 23, there's no better way, that I can think of, to spend the day I get closer to a quarter centennial than snowboarding with my parents and enjoying chili dogs, garlic fries, NorthStar Belgian waffles (that's my favorite part of all! Regrettably, I left my camera in the car that day), cozy complementary hot chocolates, burgers and buffets.

Every time we make a trip up to Tahoe we always make a pit stop at Ikedas (we also stop there on the way back down to buy goodies to take home--that's how much we love them!). They boast some of the best pies in Auburn, and quite possibly all of Nevada. Not only are their pies a huge hit, but their connecting truck stop-eque restaurant is almost always filled with people.

Mushroom burger

I'm probably not the first to admit that I am not a fan of the good ole' sesame burger bun. But I am a huge fan of burgers served on a French roll, which is how Ikedas makes theirs. It's a burger after my own heart.

This was the first time I've ever tried a strawberry rhubarb pie. I've always wanted to try it, but surprisingly, I haven't seen it in many bakeries. But I guess I haven't really been on a serious pie hunt.

I'm aware that I'm stupidly stating the obvious when I say that this is a delicious combination of flavors, seeing as how it's a classic duo for pie. Nonetheless, I was very impressed by the balance of sweet and tart that just makes you salivate the moment you take a bite.

And of course we had to stop by on our way back to pick up some of their amazing chicken pot pies, honey, dried fruit, and this to-die-for peach cobbler--which I must mention was still piping hot when we bought it.

(It has the most amazing crumble on top...is that a hind of almond I taste?)

I cannot wait for my birthday Yountville trip next weekend with Matt! I'll keep you posted.

Until then, one more bite of cobbler before bed...

Over and Out.

Boccalone

Can't go wrong with 5 different types of cured meats from Boccalone for dinner.

...Kudos Chris Cosentino.

Skyr: Icelandic Strained Yogurt

I'm a sucker for packaging.

First off, I wanted to apologize for the dirty window in the background.

That's Kona's fault (my dog).

Second, I wanted to apologize for the poor lighting. It's my spring resolution to take more photos with natural lighting, but its was muggy and rainy yesterday.

I saw this at Whole Foods yesterday after a rainy shopping day on Haight.

Tangent: If you're a San Franciscan and are tired of driving downtown to get to Whole Foods, the new one on Haight and Stanyan just opened! So much more convenient. Woohoo!

Anyways, my friend and I decided to check out this new location. And the best way to check out a new location is to walk up and down every single isle-- it's a proven scientific fact, people--and even knowing that every Whole Foods stocks pretty much the same thing (and if they didn't, we probably wouldn't even notice because the stores are so huge), we did it just for kicks and to avoid the rain.

As we were walking past the yogurt section something caught my eye: Skyr.

I've always wanted to try Skyr. If you've never heard of it before, it's traditional Icelandic strained yogurt--much more dense than your everyday yoplait and if you're drawn to that really tart yogurt flavor, this is the tart treat for you!

Like I said earlier, I'm a sucker for packaging--isn't it darling? I fell more in love with Siggi's when I tore away the little tab to reveal a blurb about Skyr on the inside label:

Skyr is the traditional yogurt of Iceland. It is made by incubating skim milk with live active cultures. The whey, the water naturally found in milk, is then strained away to make for a much thicker, creamier, concentrated yogurt. So to make just one cup of skyr, with all that water going out, you need 3 - 4 times the amount of milk required to make a regular cup of yogurt. As a result of this process skyr comes out with 2-3 times the protein count of standard yogurt.

I tried both this orange ginger (Which was very interesting, it was a really unique flavor idea. I'm not quite sure if it's a combination I love, but it's definitely a potential repurchase.) as well as the plain. When I try something new I always try the plain...I guess I want to make sure they can crawl before they walk...so to speak.

The plain is extremely tart, much more tart than Greek yogurt perhaps that's why they eat skyr with cream and sugar in Iceland. Note to self: Try with sugar and cream. The thing I like the most is texture of skyr--it's much more substantial and satisfying than regular yogurt. I will definitely be back to try more flavors soon!

In Case You Were Wondering...

...the delectable looking cookies in my "banner" are from

Feel Good Bakery at the Marketplace in Alameda.

The Marketplace has slowly, but surely, become one of my favorite places to buy things like granola (from their bins, of course) and kale chips. Although, their products are a tad pricey, I wouldn't expect any less from a health food store...and in Alameda no less.

Some of my favorite finds at Feel Good Bakery are these raspberry jam cookies, lemon icing cookies, macarons, cheese-y all-seed bread sticks, French bread, and their apricot almond tart. I've also been meaning to try their pomegranate mousse tart but every time I go they either run out, or I'm not really in the mood for a tart.

Habana's: Cuban Food

To round out a long day roaming about the East Bay, Matt and I decide to finally pay a visit to Habanas in Alameda. I've heard some really great things about their mojitos (and they have pitchers of mojitos too!), which is incentive enough to go. But most every weekend night we drive by Habanas there seems to be hoards of people at the bar and waiting for a table. Suffice it to say, I was curious as to what all the fuss was about.

Yes, mojitos! Like I said, it's a Habana's specialty and I just love the fresh, clean flavor of mint and lime. Not to mention it tastes like juice...which I guess makes this a rather mischievous drink.

Shrimp Ceviche

I was underwhelmed. After going to Matt's local Border's store closing sale (in an attempt to stock up on cookbooks for 20% off) and stumbling over a ceviche book, we decided to eat here. But, this turned out to be more of a salsa than a ceviche. I'm almost certain that I can count the number of shrimp they put in here on one hand. And they were cut up so small that you could hardly tell if you got a bite with shrimp or not. If it were a salsa, I'd give it two thumbs up, because I really have nothing bad to say about the flavor. However, to my recollection, it was a shrimp ceviche, and it barely had any shrimp.

Fried Plantains with Pineapple Salsa

They're my weakness. I don't know why, but every time we eat somewhere with plantains on the menu, I instantly gravitate towards it. In this particular instance, they don't stray too far from eating rice or potatoes as they are incredibly filling. And the only real flavor they've got is a subtle, and by that I mean VERY subtle, sweetness. But with that pineapple salsa on top, I could call it a meal.

I guess the type of plantains I was after are the softer, more caramelized kind. The kind that soothes a spice from a blacked catfish or a jerk chicken with tons of scotch bonnet peppers or the kind that cuts through the fattiness of a large hunk of braised pork. Akin to that of Eva's in Laguna beach or Felix in Orange.

Although these were good, they didn't satisfy my plantain craving. But even knowing this, I'm almost certain that if we came back here again, Matt would have to drive a hard bargain to talk me out of ordering this.

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri

Anything with chimichurri on it, I will eat. I think our obsession with it arose after eating at a Peruvian restaurant that served a large tube of green sauce with their bread. Which we fell in love with and later found out that it was chimichurri, the thing that we've heard so much about on...Food Network(?). This particular chimichurri was okay. I prefer ones with a little more kick and a little less creaminess. Matt and I've made our own version of chimichurri before--the recipe can be found here--which turned out really well and tasted almost identical to the one we fell in love with at Inka's in Irvine. After making our own large squeeze tube on it, we quickly became obsessed with chimichurri and put it on almost everything...and to our surprise (or not surprise) it tasted good on pretty much everything.

Pork Skewers

And what would a dinner be without pork...on a stick?

The Morning After

I do believe that the best cure for a hang over is good food. Noodle soup being at the top of the list and taco truck being a close second.

Super Lengua Quesadilla

Queso Pupusa

A monster Torta

Ice Cream Maker

You don't realize how fattening ice cream is until you make it yourself.

But, I'm the kind of girl that just can't say no to ice cream. Even when it's snowy outside.

As I mentioned before, Matt bought me an ice cream maker for Valentines Day. And as meteorologists predicted snow in San Francisco, we whipped out the ice cream maker and prepared for a snowy night in with movies, popcorn, and homemade ice cream.

Originally, we had wanted to be adventurous and make a fun flavor like lemon and sage sorbet or basil, honey, tart yogurt or a pistachio custard ice cream...but when push came to shove and we were shopping for ingredients we decided that we would just break in the new toy with a simple recipe.

So, we present to you: Oreo Ice Cream

The predicted snowfall never happened (well...a light flurry--so I hear, but nothing like the snowfall in 1976 as I had hoped), but the ice cream making did and now we have 1 1/2 pints of delicious ice cream. And as much as I love eating ice cream, I enjoy making it much more. I can't wait to finish this batch and make a whole new one. Any takers on helping us finish this one up?

I was debating whether or not to include a recipe in this post, but I decided against it. It was just a simple vanilla ice cream recipe with crushed oreos. But next time when we make something a little more exciting, I will definitely include what I hope will be a delicious recipe. (Although, this trial run did churn out a homemade frosty treat!)

Easter in February

I honestly cannot say that I haven't been tempted by all those sweet Easter treats in the grocery stores. The fact that they put them right near the cash register is pure evil.

Well...Happy Easter in February to me. I caved. Peeps and Cream Eggs for dessert anyone?

Meat On The Side

I've really been looking for a place that has good bun bo hue in norcal. For some reason, it seemed almost impossible since Matt and I had scoured the entire OC on only found a handful of bun bo hue places that we really enjoyed. I'm not really warranted to say who makes the most authentic bowl of noodle soup (since...I've never been to Vietnam and had the real thing) but I like to think that I'm a good judge of what tastes good and the noodle soup at Tay Ho in Oakland makes some amazing broth.

Bun Hue Tai

The reason why I love this: It's bun bo hue broth with raw steak (and though hesitant, the waitress relented and let me order with meat on the side. Bonus points). O and the waitress's mom is the one making the noodles in the back, uh hello, new bun bo hue place.

The broth is so rich in beef flavor, not to mention their "medium" was kick-butt spicy. I could not get through the bowl without ordering a soy milk to soothe the pain. But it hurt so good.

Matt's dish

Bun Rieu

The place did smell a little bit dank (especially the walk to the bathrooms), BUT who cares, it's Oakland Chinatown and their noodle soup is spectacular...so really, who am I to complain.