Summer Solstice Party 2009

Well, summer is here and that means one thing! My Summer Solstice party. Truth be told, this year’s was only the second annual summer solstice party, but I have decided to make this an annual event. Last year, we were in San Diego. My dear friend Sara France was kind enough to host the event in her beautiful home. This year, my friends Lars and Leilani Larson hosted the small intimate event in their home here in San Francisco. The weather cooperated. Good people, good wine, and good food were enjoyed by all. Now…just to get this straight, I don’t get to invite a ton of my friends to these events. The premise is that I pick a friend (this year it was Lars and Leilani) and they create a guest list of their closest foodie friends and I come in as a guest chef and I prepare a multi-course meal for all to enjoy. So if I didn’t invite you…it’s technical not MY party:) Sorry. Besides…if you’re a friend of mine, you have PLENTY of chances to have some food cooked by me. I’m a food slut that way;)

Anyway, on to the pictures! 

This first course was fun. It’s a baked wonton wrapper. Topped with spicy tuna tartare, fresh scallions, and drizzled with a little lemon aioli. Being the first course, we decided to pair it with a cocktail. In this case, we paired the “Amuse Bouche” with a plum wine and sake shooter. Sweet, clean, and it balanced the spicyness of the tartare nicely. Definitely something to add to the cook book.

Next, came a personal favorite if mine. It’s a play off the traditional “Gambas al Aijillo”. “Gambas” is a traditional spanish tapas of shrimp that are poached/fried in garlic infused olive oil. It’s usually served in an earthenware dish with crusty bread to sop up the oil. My play on it was to take some sourdough croutons and top it with the poached shrimp. I take the garlic infused oil and drizzle it over the whole plate, then I top it off with a citrus/shallot vinaigrette, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and fresh parsley.

The fourth course (yes there was a third, but we didn’t take a picture of it. It was a watermelon/mint shooter to cleanse the palate), was a fun play on scallops. We took scallops and seared them in a cast iron skillet. We then paired it with a rich avocado guacamole. The twist comes when we drizzle the whole plate with a cuban mojo marinade that I modified into a vinaigrette. The scallop shells were courtesy of Leilani. She has a flair for presentation and I thought this was really fun.

My last course was a quickly broiled Basa filet. It is served on top of a basil/lemon dressed orzo pasta. The whole thing is topped with a mediterreanean style cucumber and tomato salad and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

 

All in all, I think the event was quite successful. I got to meet quite a few new friends and I look forward to throwing more of these kinds of events in the future.

Jag Daria

Some of you may know that I have a dog. Unfortunately, he’s not able to live with his daddy (me), so he’s been living with grandma and grandpa (my wonderful folks). So while I am sad that I can’t play with my puppster everyday, I am comforted by the fact that his grandparents love him so much and they spoil the bejeesus out of him. My parents also do a great job of sending me pictures and updating me in between my visits to San Diego. I appreciate it so very much. Well Jag buddy, daddy will be home soon and I can’t wait to see you!

The Return to Sushidom

Most of you know that I was recently in a motorcycle accident that required some pretty extensive surgery on my right shoulder. Having been in rehab for the majority of the beginning of the year, a lot of my cooking had to go on the shelf.

Well now that I am all better, I was excited to get back into cooking. As amitious as it was, I decided that sushi be one of the first things for me to try to do again. It had been a good 6 months since the last time I made sushi, but I was hoping it would be similar to riding a bike. Well, I fell a little bit, but in the end, I think I was relatively succesful.

Closest to you, you will find a spicy tuna roll. My spicy tuna included both minced and chopped Ahi tuna (Maguro). I add japanese mayonnaise, togarashi pepper mix, and sriracha (Thai chili paste) to liven it up. The roll is wrapped “traditional” (nori on the outside), and I topped it with sliced scallions.

On the far side of the plate, is a play on the local 49’er roll. Inside, I have crab salad and cucumber. I roll it inside-out and I top it with fresh salmon. The “kicker” so-to-speak is the candied lemon slices I add to the top. I create a simple sugar syrup and I cook paper thin slices of lemon in it for about 5 minutes. Once the slices of lemon are cooked, I chill them and they turn into little cummy pieces of candy. Additionally, I take the (now lemon flavored) symple syrup and I cook it down into a caramel. To the caramel, I add japanese soy (shoyu). The resulting sauce is then drizzled onto the  roll.

Anyway, my dear friends Lars and Leilani were on hand to try it all out. Aside from some overcooked rice, I would say it was a success! I DO need to buy a ricecooker though. If anyone out there would like to donate one to me, that would be awesome!!!

Lunch at Brother’s

Many of my adventures revolve around food. Living in San Francisco, adventures happen everyday and today was no exception! Recently, I had heard about a Korean barbecue restaurant here in the city named “Brother’s Restaurant“. Intrigued by what I had heard, I suggested to my friends Jeannie and Greg, that we should have lunch there. Well today was the day and I would not be disappointed!

Located at 4128 Geary Boulevard, Brother’s Restaurant is a Korean BBQ joint that promises a fun experience for those looking for one. The restaurant is unassuming, and if you weren’t looking for it, I would be hard pressed to notice anything about it. Inside, the decor is minimal. Rows of tables line either side of the restaurant and above each table lives a giant hood vent hinting at the mini adventure to be had. Unlike many Korean BBQ restaurants, Brother’s allows you to cook your own food. Now, I know what you’ll say. There’s a million places like that with a gas grill in the middle of the table. Blah, Blah, Blah. But at this particular restaurant, they’ve done away with gas or electric grills…these bad boys use charcoal! That’s right. Real fire. And for a foodie and wannabe chef like me…it adds another layer of excitement. The charcoal adds a flavor to the BBQ that I am pretty sure you wouldn’t get on a gas grill. As I understand it, Brothers Restaurant is the only place in San Francisco that still uses charcoal grills. I am sure there are health and safety code issues that prevent other restaurants from trying the same:)

So on to the food! Shortly after placing our order, a gentleman emerges from the back of the restaurant holding a giant steel box with what look like giant steal tongs. Inside the steel box are two bins. Each brimming with red hot charcoal. As he reaches us, he opens the metal panel in the center of our table and he carefully places the two bins of burning charcoal insde. The heat is instantaneous and VERY obvious. It was like walking across the face of a pizza oven. For those of you that don’t know what that’s like…you’re not really missing anything. Unless having your face break out in an instant sweat is something you enjoy.

After the charcoal and grill have been placed in the middle of our table, the waitress arrives with the traditional barrage of Korean side dishes. There must have been 15 small plates. Each with some form of pickled, spiced, preserved vegetable. The only exceptions being some squid, fishcake, and some small, dried fish. Think minnows. I didn’t care to try any of it.

We had the beef and spicy pork and if you’re wondering why I don’t have any pictures of anything: Surprise! I was too busy eating. Sorry. Cooking the meet was fun. They give you a pair of scissors to cut the meat with after you have cooked it. I had never cut meat with scissors and after I had tried it, I wondered why I didn’t have meat scissors in my own kitchen.

Anyway, it was quite a delight and I definitely recommend going to Brother’s Restaurant. If you come hungry, you will leave satisfied…and reeking of smoke and korean spices.

Magnolia Pub and Brewery

On Haight and Masonic in San Francisco lives a pub and brewery that I think is amazing. Magnolia Pub and Brewery brews their own beer downstairs and their bar food is top notch. It’s upscale, but still familiar. We decided to have the duck wings, the thick-cut fries, and the sweet potatoes. I chose to wash everything down with the Weather Report Wheat. It’s a light beer, but definitely crisp and clean as wheat beers tend to be. The tasty tidbits were an excellent way to close out a fun-filled day. Thanks goes out to my dear friend Ivy Valerianne Young and her (and now my) friend Emma. You guys know how to make a Saturday awesome.

The Alembic Bar

After the de Young Museum, Ivy and I walked over to the Haight, to a bar called “The Alembic”. There I met Ivy’s friend Emma. After the introduction, all three of us sat down for a cocktail. The Alembic is an upscale bar. Their specialty seems to be in complex tasty cocktails and exotic treats. Their appetizer menu ranges from Za’atar (a middle eastern spice blend) spiced potato chips to jerk spiced duck hearts to pickled quail eggs. But we weren’t there for the food…we were there for a drink…and oooooh what a drink it was. All of the cocktails are either $9 or $10. The cocktail menu is a two-sided sheet of paper and on one side, you’ll find the more expensive drinks..and on the other, the cheaper. I decided to “take my chances”. On the $10 side of the cocktail menu, you’ll find a drink called “Take Your Chances”. When you order this drink, the waitress will ask you what your spirit of choice is and one of the bartenders will make a one off drink using your choice. I chose bourbon. A few moments later, our waitress arrived and handed me a chilled mix of bourbon, orange liqeur, bitter, and a squeeze of lemon juice and a strip of zest…bravo bartender…bravo.

Bouqets. Yes, Bouqets. Bouqets to Art

Now normally, I don’t get excited one bit for flowers. I get that they’re beautiful. But to get up and spend your Saturday looking at them…not really my cup o’ tea. That is, unless these flowers are part of the “Bouqets to Art” exhibit at the deYoung Museum.

The Bouquets to Art exhibition is a once-a-year show where local florists create flower arrangements that are inspired by artworks from the deYoung’s permanent collection. So needless, to say, it struck the art geek nerve in my brain and I was excited to see it.

Yum Yum Sushi

Sushi so good, it’s Yum….Yum.

My good friend Ivy Young and I had an adventurous Saturday. Before heading to the de Young Museum for the Bouquets to Art exhibition, we traveled south to the Sunset area of San Francisco. Yum Yum Sushi was the name and super fresh and delicious was its game. Yum Yum sushi is a small restaurant. There are only 8 or 9 seats inside. Once inside, you are greeted with a giant fresh fish case. It’s packed with Yellowtail, Bluefin, and Albacore tuna. There are also sea urchins and octopus arms. All ready to buy by the pound. The menu is simple. Printed on pink paper, it lacks the glamour and dazzle of menus found in the “hoity-toidy” sushi restaurants elsewhere in the city. The ambience is more fish market than restaurant. That’s probably because it’s a fish market first and a restaurant second. The rolls are dynamite…the dynamite roll especially. The fish is fresh and the ingredients are simple. The best kind of sushi. Ivy and I split 5 rolls, miso soup, some ahi nigiri and tea. I don’t think we spent more than $27. Alright! <-Think Quagmire.

Once upon a time

A long time ago, in a place not-too-far away, I was an art student. In the years since I dropped out of art school, I have definitely put the art on the back burner. Recently though, I have kept a sketch book for all my little doodles. Anyway, I just wanted to share some sketches with the rest of the world. None of them are too fancy. Let me know what you think!

Go ahead punk. Maki my day.

Lately I’ve been focusing more on my sushi repertoir. Specifically some new maki recipes. For those uninitiated, sushi is typically divided into 4 categories:
Sashimi – this is simply sliced raw fish.
Nigiri- this is raw fish (and other delicacies) served on a small rice ball.
Maki – these are rolls that consist of a sheet of nori (roasted seaweed), sushi rice, and assorted fillings. Although makis are not traditional restaurant fare in Japan, American sushi menus are predominantly made of these rolls.
Teka-maki – these are hand rolls. Typically consisting of the same ingredients as the makis, these hand rolls are shaped into cones and served as individual items (where makis are generally sliced into 4-8 segments).

Since a lot of my sushi menu consists of makis, I’ve wanted to expand on that and make some real signature rolls. I’ve been finding the creative process to be more difficult than I had initially hoped.

Below, you’ll find a pic of a roll that I did a couple months ago. It’s a traditional California roll. I roll it inside-out and slice it. Then I top each slice with an ahi tuna ceviche. The ceviche is made with tuna, lime juice, chili, and scallion.

Anyway, I’m always looking for more inspiration, so please let me know if you have any ideas!