Latino

Wait...it's the end of June, right? Is it pouring rain anywhere else in the world?

Anyways, look at how beautiful the weather was just the day before the storm.  It was so nice that Matt and I were able to take a walk up and down Piedmont Ave. in Oakland after work and enjoy a nice outdoor dinner at Latino.  If you've ever been to the Piedmont area you'll know what I mean when I say this is kind of an odd place.  I guess you could say that Oakland took a willful stab at gentrifying parts of a city with a bad reputation and, well, Piedmont was one of those areas that had undergone that soil turning.  Even with all the hipster restaurants, the quaint buildings, and the charming antique shops, there are still obvious remnants of a town wrought with homelessness and Oakland just can't seem to shake itself loose from the "ghetto" reputation.  None the less, I love coming here for the food and some of the really fun shops (like A.G. Ferrari Foods, of course)  And now I can add Latino to my growing list of restaurants that I love in Oakland.

Fried Plantains

You should know about my plantain infatuation by now especially when they're cooked this way--fried and carmelized on the outside, but soft and nectar sweet in the center.

Matt's skirt steak

The sauce got me.  I mean the entire dish was great, the steak was meaty and tender and the "shoe string" onion rings were downright addictive.  But it was the chipotle mango sauce that won me over.

Duck tacos

This made me miss Lola Gaspar a lot. A LOT.

Don't get me wrong these were also very good, but it's definitely hard to beat that feeling I got the very first time I had duck tacos at Lola...I swoon. 

Swan Oyster Depot

We've been meaning to try Swan for a very, very, long time now.  It always comes up as a suggestion when we're going down the long list of San Francisco eateries, but then some how we always pass up Swan Oyster Depot for something else.  We of course now know that we have been such idiots for choosing anything but this place for dinner.  Now you may think that I'm being a little bit harsh, but have you been to Swan? Well, have you?  Yes, that's right...I was actually being nice when I said we were "idiots".

This is one place where I don't mind standing in the door way for thirty minutes waiting hungrily and awkwardly for a stool at the bar while our meter is running out.  That says a lot doesn't it?  We arrived just about an hour before they closed, and they were still packed with people--this place is extremely popular.  And again, if you've been, you know exactly why.

One of the things that really drew me into this place is that it is just so relaxed, it's very old school with the bar-only seating and the rickety stools, and I just adore everyone who works there--they all have such quirky and friendly personalities that it just completes the experience.

The single most amazing bowl of clam chowder.
It's not thick and overly creamy, it's a thin soup that's extraordinarily clamy and just very good.  Not what I expected at all from a clam chowder--I've had a few bowls of this stuff in my day, and this my friends, this...is the God of all clam chowders.  

Half dozen Miyagi oysters on the half shell (three different types) 

Matt's exact words after we finished, "UGH, God, why am I so stupid...we should have ordered a whole dozen!"

In my opinion, we should have gotten a dozen...each.

Crab cocktail

Usually, I'm wary of cocktails.  Why?  Well, I'm sure you know why.  Everyone's had a bad seafood cocktail experience--the fishy, definitely-not-fresh-four-day-old-dead-seafood-cocktail flavor that can't even be masked by the most delicious of cocktail sauces...yeah, those.  You've had 'em.  That's why I tend to shy away from ordering pre-made seafood.  But at Swan you don't have to be wary of the cocktails because

1) seafood is their livelihood

and

2) it's guaranteed fresh, g-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e-d.

O, and definitely try their house made horse radish, that stuff will clear your sinuses, your mind, and make you  cry.  I walked out with a bottle myself.  

Enjoy.

Benny and the Jets

I've been depriving you haven't I?  Well, I do apologize.  I just got back from Los Angeles for my cousin's graduation and haven't really had time to sit down and write.  What I really should have done was bring my laptop along with me on the trip, but I was much too lazy to tote around this monster and my phone just wouldn't suffice.  But, the good news is that I have tons to share since it's been so long.

Before I jump into the food part, I just wanted to say that over the weekend I watched 27 Dresses for the second time and now Benny and the Jets is totally stuck in my head--hence it is the namesake for today's post.  So Elton John has nothing to do with this entry other than the simple fact that I'm completely addicted to the song (this, of course, is all in case you were wondering, or if I got your hopes up in anyway because of the amazing post title).

Okay, so off the tangent, and back on track.

If you've been following my blog for a while or if you just know me, you'll know that every time (and I do mean every time) my family and I make a trip down to southern California, we always stop at Harris Ranch for a meal.  (It used to be that you'd know when you were close because it's smelled to heavily of cow poo, but it's gotten much better since).  The reason why we come here during every trip is because not only is it a novelty but it's also a place to get incredibly meaty and well-prepared steaks. Admittedly, I have now gotten a soft spot for Harris Ranch...I guess because part of me wants to be a cow girl and eat steaks all day, but that's another story that you can probably live without.

 Berry Boost Smoothy

I get this every time.  It's so good and it's such a nice refreshing drink paired with a heavy steak.

Warm Spinach Salad

Not to be confused with the spinach salad 

(that happened to my dad when we went back to Harris for round two on the way home from LA)

I think it's the best salad on the menu.  I'm usually wary of warm spinach salads because they tend to over wilt the spinach.  But not in this case.  It's served with a light, tangy vinaigrette, mild blue cheese, sweet onions, and cinnamon almonds.  

Blueberry Sauce Short Rib with Shoe String Fries

This is a new item on their menu.  Although, I tend to stick with my steak only rule when eating at Harris Ranch, this was definitely a great dish.

Baseball Cut Sirloin with Yam

A perfect, juicy med rare--it had a nice crust on the outside and it was just so meaty and flavorful.  

Pot Roast with Garlic Mashed Potatoes (and my dad added mustard before I could snap a photo)

Their garlic mashed potatoes are a garlic lovers dream come true--whole cloves of perfectly cooked-until-sweet garlic whipped into creamy mashed potatoes.  Just try and convince me that that doesn't sound like heaven...

Farmer's Market

The only thing that I'll voluntarily wake up early for is the Farmer's Market.

Well, even that sometimes isn't true...

I offered to make Sunday dinner since we had a large bag of rigatoni that no one had any idea what to do with other than ask me if I wanted to cook, apparently.  I saw it as motivation to get my ass up and out early and not waste away in bed all Sunday afternoon.  What I love about the farmer's market is, other than the smell and the taste of fresh kettle corn, the chance to walk around outdoors and shop for some of the freshest fruits and veggies of the season.  There's something about eating produce and even coffee cakes from the farmer's market that makes me feel better about what I'm putting in my body (not that cake for breakfast outdoors is any better for you than at Sprinkles) I do, I do feel less guilty about eating sweets at a farmer's market than I would at say, Starbucks. Go figure.

I made a really simple pasta sauced only by what liquid was given off by the cherry tomatoes and the slowly infused garlic and olive oil that I made.  Tossed the pasta in that with sauteed eggplant, mushrooms, fresh snap peas with tons of basil and red chili flakes.  

Spoonfuls of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top didn't hurt either.  Although next time I make this, I think I'm going to just chunk up the Parm instead.

Construction

Hello.  I've finally joined 2011, and updated my blog settings.  I know, what took me so long, right?  Well I was happy with the way it looked up until today when I wished that I could make my title photo and my body photos larger but my old "2000 and singles" template wouldn't let me...so here I am now with a disproportionately laid out page.  But hopefully come Monday, my blog will have gotten a face lift and have its act together.  In the mean time, "Tougher Than It Is"--Cake this is the song I've been putting on repeat for the past week.  It's gotten me back up on my feet after a series of disappointments.  Hopefully, it'll be of some inspiration to you too!

NightLife

Last night a few friends and I went to Night Life at the Academy of Sciences. I grew up going there on field trips and for family trips but it's changed a lot over the years. What I love about Night Life is it gives us older folk a chance to enjoy the Academy of Sciences without children running around. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, but sometimes it's nice just to sip on a glass of wine and roam the exhibits.

What does all of this have to do with food?

Well, in addition to the food that they sell in the main room and in their cafeteria, last night they were promoting sustainable fishing and Hog Island was invited to the event to serve their Hog Island Sweet oysters. Free oysters? Why yes, I'd love some.

Being the oyster-loving freaks we are, Matt and I got in line 3 or 4 times for the o-so-good oysters with hog wash. O, you know you would have done the same!

Fresca

A quick post before I run out the door.

Tuesdays are my mom's day off, which means it's our little excuse to have a girls lunch out with my aunt. This week, we went to Fresca on Fillmore. I remember in high school my friends and I would frequent Fresca--finding this place (we went to the one in West Portal) was like finding gold. Eating there now brings back so many memories of dining about town, finding great restaurants like Fresca and thinking we knew about the best of the best. I now know that was not true. But in any case, those were some of the best years of my life to date.

To be honest, I haven't been to Fresca since...well, maybe once. I used to always get the chicken pesto sandwich and for old times sake we got it again on Tuesday. We also tried the ahi ceviche and the paella. The food is just as good as I remembered it. Makes me want to catch up with old friends again. How nostalgic of me.

Ceviche

Chicken pesto

Love their fries! They remind me of In n Out but thicker cut. No complaining here.

Amazing Paella

Don't forget to ask for hot sauce. Don't worry, it's not Tapatio or Tobasco, that is unless you like that over the real deal.

Time to brave the weather--wish me luck!

Delarosa Before the Rain

As we speak, the sky is falling. Well, no, not literally...but it might as well--it's pouring out! Happy June 1st to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Before this relentless storm hit, Matt and I were able to enjoy Sunday lunching out on the sidewalk, and what better place in the city to do this than in the Marina. I love the Marina, it's like our own little Balboa Island but bigger and better (take that, Newport!). It's a great place to eat, shop, and people watch--especially when it's sunny. Needless to say, it was busy out. For a city that's foggy and cold 99% of the time, we tend to all come out as soon as the sun peeks through. Yes, we're that sun deprived.

Matt and I just happened to stumble upon Delarosa--there was plenty of sidewalk seating, they had electric orange chairs, and it seemed to be fairly busy (minus the wait we saw at other restaurants that day). Luckily for us, we got a table outside. The outdoor seating is a bit snug, our first thought when we sat down, practically elbow flirting with the table next to us, was "This is awkward". But the draw of this place is the intimate seating and the good rustic food. So what else is there to do but suck it up and enjoy the weather and the food?

So here's what I was talking about in my last post: our paparadelle obsession--a totally unnecessary bowl of pasta. We ordered a prosciutto di parma pizza with mozzerella and arugula, and beer steamed mussels...did we really need the pasta? Apparently, yes.

Everything was incredibly good and only made better by the sun and the outdoor seating. The pizza was my favorite part of the meal; it was cracker thin and super crispy. Can you say "mMM Mmm good" to prosciutto di parma? We'll definitely be back for more pizza and for the burrata--something I've recently fallen in love with because of work.

O and look, the sun decided to come out after all. I don't think it'll last though, but I guess we'll see.

Eat up!

Beast and the Hare

Last week was a crazy and depressing week, of which I will spare you the details. Matt came out to the city on Thursday afternoon and we spent the afternoon at a cafe down the street from my place. He worked while I tirelessly tried to find a place for dinner. Can you believe that practically every fancy, semi-nice, American (new), Italian restaurant in the entire city of San Francisco is booked before 9pm on a Thursday night. Can you?

Anyways, I finally called Beast and the Hare where I left a desperate message requesting a table for two at 7. Then, I crossed my fingers and waited.

Lo and behold, they called me back an hour later to let me know that they had a table! I guess they knew I was having a bad week.

So here we go. Beast and the Hare. Not only do I now love the restaurant (located in the Mission), but their website is what drew me to them in the first place. They have a condensed menu which I love, but it's filled with amazing charcuterie, pastas, entrees, beers and wines.

We started with their house made spicy beef jerky which was on their happy hour menu. It definitely tasted of soy sauce, red chili flakes and it was very meaty. Matt and I think that they dried this in the oven because it was so dry in texture, but still very good.

Okay, get ready for this. If you're looking for a place that has the most amazing bone marrow for a great price, come here! Their bone marrow is served with grilled, crusty bread, a side of salt, and a salsa verde of shallots and parsley. I think this is the best bone marrow I've had to date. It was so flavorful--perfectly salted and the bread crumbs on top didn't hurt either. The salsa verde did a great job of cutting the richness of the fat, which was necessary by the time we got down to the third half of bone marrow.

We also got the fritto misto, which I could have done without. Although, the spicy aioli, the fried lemon slices, and the fried avocado were forces to be reckoned with. I think I prefer my lemon and avocado fried, now.

Paparadelle with bacon and english peas. So here's where the suckers for fresh pasta cave--more like fresh paparadelle obsessed, I guess. (If you haven't noticed this already, the post tomorrow will definitely point to our obsession.)

And to round it all off, vanilla panna cotta with cherry preserves. I love it, Matt was impartial to the sweetness of the cherry jam, so he would dig down deep to just get the panna cotta. But I liked the combination of the two--admittedly the cherry was probably a little bit too sweet, but the flavor was too good to pass up. We paired that with a Gwertz, which ended up not being a very good pairing because the cherry preserve was far sweeter than the wine. But the two on their own were fantastic.

If you're looking for a nice down to earth eatery--a little hipster, a taste of the Mission culture, a little fancy--try Beast and the Hare!

Strawberry Mint Sorbet

Today was a good day. Kona and I woke up bright and early to get groomed (a dog grooming to be exact). This is the face of a happily groomed akita, but a less than enthused model.

If you look closely in the background you'll see a box. What could it be? The ole' reliable ice cream maker! Yes, today I dusted of the darned thing and decided to make something out of the 4lbs box of strawberries I bought from the grocery store earlier this week. The weather wasn't exactly ideal for something frosty, but the weather can't stand between me and my ice cream (or sorbet).

This is my own recipe and it's just to give you a foundation for a strawberry sorbet. I'm enjoying a large scoop as we speak! I couldn't resist but to scoop myself a taste before popping it in the freezer for a final set. This is an incredibly easy recipe, everything other than the measurements of the strawberries really just depends on how sweet your strawberries are and how much you like mint. So here goes.

My ice cream maker makes roughly 1 1/2 quarts of sorbet.

2lbs strawberries rinsed, remove the stems

Quarter the strawberries

You will need the juice of one lemon, two if they're rather small

Add 3-4 heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar to the lemon juice and stir until dissolved, add more or less depending on how tart your strawberries are

Finely chop about 10-15 large leaves of mint you should end up with about 3 tablespoons

Throw the mint into the lemon and sugar mixture and let sit while you finish preparing the strawberries

Add a pinch of kosher salt and stir until dissolved

Throw your strawberries into a food processor and puree until smooth, I like my puree to be a little bit chunky, but it's really up to you

Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker.

For my ice cream maker, I let it start churning then pour the puree immediately in and let the ice cream maker begin to work its magic. Then, I slowly pour in the lemon juice with the chopped mint.

It takes about 15-20 minutes for my ice cream maker to turn my mixture into a smooth icy treat. So in the mean time, I usually clean up the huge mess I've made.

And voila!

The little cup of strawberry mint sorbet that I've impatiently scooped for myself.

I wonder if the tub in the freezer has frozen up enough to make a prettier scoop.

Well, there's only one way to find out.

Enjoy!

Barlata

I watched Julie and Julia last night with my mom...per my suggestion, of course. To say the least it was boring and to be completely honest it was an utter waste of time--I give it a 5 yawns. I was disappointed. Despite what my friends were saying about the screen writing and despite ignoring critics' reviews, I was hopeful. So in the end, I guess it was my fault for subjecting both my mom (who fell asleep half way through) and I to the pain that is Julie & Julia.

The only three things I love about that movie:

1) Meryl Streep as Julia Child--amazing!

2) Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon--looking that up now, and try that soon

3) The white eyelet dress that "Julie" wears at her rooftop party when she serves her final dish from the cookbook--finding that dress pronto

On a brighter note, it did give me the kick in the butt I needed to blog this morning about the best tapas bar I've ever been to.

This is a tapas bar that I've been dying to tell you all about. It is in Oakland but you should know by now how I've come to adore the city...well, parts of it.

This is Barlata. For those of you who love yelping and view it as the Bible of restaurants...I'm telling you right now: don't trust the rating! Barlata is fantastic, and it's fantastic because they serve latas (carefully prepared canned seafood) just like we saw on, where else, No Reservations. Ok, that's not the ONLY reason this place is great. Every dish we've had there thus far has been an exciting burst of flavors and great pairings of textures. From the bread to the dessert to the glasses of wine (which turn out to be carafes of wine), Barlata rocks.

Olive spread with warm, soft bread

Pulpo

Octopus cooked for two hours with fingerling potatoes and adobo oil

This is my favorite Barlata dish to date. The octopus was incredibly tender, the potatoes absorbed all the wonderful seasonings, and hello! adobo oil. I don't think you can go wrong.

Morcilla

Blood sausage with baby white beans and aioli

I love the aioli, probably because it's tasted like garlic and kewpie! I don't know what they cook those beans in but I want that recipe!

Chorizo with garbanzo beans

The chorizo (as with the blood sausage) was amazing, but what really grabbed my attention were, again, the beans--so full of flavor!

Roasted pig's feet terrine with, green beans, mustard, and juice sauce (Yes! and juice sauce. That is verbatim from the Barlatta menu. I'll have a glass of that, thanks!)

This was a great way to end the meal! Spread this on their warm soft bread, o, so good! It's incredibly flavorful, especially with the sauce--I think I have a growing infatuation with terrines.

Homemade Buffalo Wings

I'm almost certain that this is the easiest and most successful recipe I've made in...I don't know how long. I've been accustomed to buying frozen buffalo wings and shoving them to the back of my freezer for "one of those days" when I have a hankering for spicy wings. Now it's time to toss that bag of overly sauced wings out and never buy them again! I've found the recipe of the century--Baked hot wings!

This is a recipe inspired by one that I found on All Recipes. I modified it just a tad, it was mostly to taste and it was also based on how much prep time I had. So here goes:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 20 chicken wings
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/3 cup hot pepper sauce (I used one that I found at Trader Joe's which worked perfectly in this recipe)
• 
  
• Instructions:
• 
  
• 1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (if you only have aluminum foil, that's fine, just make sure you spray it with lightly with cooking oil). Place the flour, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt on to a shallow dish and mix thoroughly. Add the chicken wings (a few at a time), and lightly coat with the flour mixture. Tap off the excess flour. Place the wings onto the prepared baking sheet, and place into the refrigerator. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. (Refrigeration is crucial because pulls off all the moisture from the wings, so that when you bake them, they become light an crispy rather than soggy.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  3. In a small pot melt the butter and stir in the hot sauce. Dip the wings into the butter mixture, and place back on the lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until the wings are golden and crispy on the outside, about 20 minutes. Turn the wings over halfway during cooking so they cook evenly and then bake again for another 20 minutes.
  4. Optional: place the wings under the broiler for 5 minutes just to be sure that they're nice and crispy.
• 
  

Seriously, the best wings ever.

No Boots Here

I honestly can't say that I crave German food all that often.

1) I'm not a huge fan of spaetzle, brauts, or beer

2) German food puts me in a serious food coma

So what made us seek out hofbrauhaus on a weekday after work?

The novelty of drinking lots of beer out of a boot...which by the way, this hofbrau didn't even have...(and I've still never had the opportunity to do).

Despite that, I'm so glad we went, because the food is incredible! I think we'll be having German food again real soon...especially because we didn't satisfy our boot craving.

Homemade Gravlax

I adore gravlax. I remember when Matt and I first found out about it, we really wanted to take a stab at making our own but we never got around to doing it. This definitely lit a fire under our butts to really give it a try.

Spaetzle with Ham

Move over mac n cheese, this spaetzle is amazing!

I've never had spaetzle like this, heck, I didn't even like spaetzle until this crusty, cheesy dish came out. I am crazy about mac n cheese, especially when it's baked and golden brown on top, it's irresistible. Now I think I'm in love, but only because it disguised itself as mac n cheese.