Feed on Cooking With The Single Guy

Mini Dish: Burger Joint

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Burger Bite for the Pre-Baseball Set
242 King St., San Francisco
China Basin
PH: 415.371.1600
Open daily, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
No reservations, credit cards accepted
www.burgerjointsf.com

Today I went to another Giants baseball game and something I learned about non-AT&T Park food options in the neighborhood is that a lot of the fancier options, whether it's South Food + Wine Bar or Tsunami Mission Bay, are all closed on Sundays. It's like everyone doesn't show up in China Basin on a Sunday to eat, except when there are thousands of baseball fans who are tired of paying $8 for a hot dog.

I'm surprised because seems like restaurants could make a killing on a day game. So when my friend David and I looked for options after we got to the game early to claim our Brian Wilson bobblehead, we settled on one of the few options opened, the Burger Joint outlet on King Street just a few yards from "The Yard."

Burger Joint is part of a local chain that has four other locations in the city, SFO and Burlingame. When we walked in, I was actually surprised that the place wasn't more packed given the crowds streaming to the ballpark and the lack of eating options elsewhere. That just meant no major lines for us to deal with.

The restaurant offers a limited menu, mostly a hamburger, cheeseburger, a veggie-burger, grilled chicken sandwich and hot dog. The ingredients boast Niman Ranch beef. The Web site calls itself a 50s-inspired diner, but I have to say I didn't feel like I was in some 50s diner. It just looked like a fancy burger joint. (I guess it's a good thing that's the name.)

David had the turkey burger ($8.95) because he's more health-conscious than I am (he even eats veggie burgers, which I never touch). Burger Joint serves up your burger deconstructed so you can build it yourself along with the tomato slice, red onions, lettuce and pickles. David specifically made sure his burger was a no-mayonnaise zone because he's a mayo hater.

He liked his turkey burger although he wasn't a fan of the tomato, which was a bit mealy and probably the typical hot house tomatoes. But his bun was different than what I had, maybe a wheat bun?

I got the straight-forward hamburger ($7.95) made of Niman Ranch beef and served with French fries. I also got a root beer float ($3.95) because it was a day for something cold and nostalgic. The root beef float had a lot of ice cream, which was nice.

The burger was great but I felt the sesame bun was lacking. It was almost like the buns you buy at the grocery store, and it didn't hold up against the meat juices, causing it to be soggy at the bottom. For the fries, I generally would ignore it on my plate because you know how I don't eat deep fried food, but the menu specifically pointed out that it was prepared with peanut oil. So I figured that must be a healthy option, reasoning that they wouldn't point out the fact that they were made in bad oil, right? So I ate them and it was OK, nothing amazing. They were the thick steak fries, and if I cheat on my healthy eating I feel like it should be with shoestring fries.

Side note: There is a flat screen TV in the back that, of course, shows the game so it does give it a slight sports bar feeling.

They don't ask you how you want your burgers at Burger Joint because it's apparently all made the same degree of doneness, which was fine with me. Also, I did feel there was a slightly longer wait for the food to get to your table than at a fast-food joint, which, yeah I know, this isn't.

Overall, Burger Joint is pretty satisfying even though the menu is limited. It's a nice place to grab a bite before or after a baseball game.

Since this is a mini review, I won't be doing any ratings. But this is a place that serves up a decent burger and is good at a pinch when everything else is closed around town.

Happy Boy Farms Cipolline Italian Onions

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:43:00 +0000

The summer stone fruits are out at the farmers markets right now, but something that caught my eye while strolling the Grand Lake Farmers Market in Oakland were these lovely cipolline Italian onions. First off, they have such an odd, funny shape. But they had the transcendent glow to them that made them seem so enticing. What would you do with them? Do you think it would work in a French onion soup recipe? I bet Italians use this a lot in summer salads.

BTW, the Grand Lake Farmers Market had a new layout to their booths. Basically, they switched all the crafts booth to the other side, giving the farmers' booths more room to show off their produce. Such a simple change and it really made a difference. It no longer feels cramped. Kudos to the smart person who sat there one day and thought, hmmm, wonder what would happen if we just switched sides?

Related posts:
French Onion Soup Recipe
Waffle Mania Truck

Dish on Dining: Flour + Water

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:11:00 +0000

The Personal Touch in Your Pasta
2401 Harrison St., San Francisco
Mission District
PH: 415.826.7000
Dinner daily from 5:30 p.m. to midnight
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
flourandwater.com

People are going crazy for pizza in the Bay Area. It seems like there’s a new pizza place popping up every week, especially ones serving up those thin-crust wood-burning variety.

Flour + Water is the latest establishment creating buzz about its pizza. In the outskirts of the hip Mission neighborhood, this stylish but approachable spot has been the latest white hot destination, filling up its wooden tables and stools on most nights. And before I visited, I read reviews where people were calling the pizza the best in the city. (People are so exultant on the Web.)

I recruited my friend Ken, and we visited last week for an early dinner. You can make reservations on OpenTable, which I did but since we ate early it looked like it wasn’t necessary. (The place seems to get packed around 8 p.m., fitting with the eating schedules of the young hip Missionites.)

The service was friendly, from those who greeted us upfront to our servers at the table. I mention this because some people have complained elsewhere about how Flour + Water is so popular that the service can be lacking. And I admit, we might have had better service because it wasn’t as crowded when we were there. (Another reason to dine on the early side!)

Ken and I both got a glass of Italian red wine to start, and then jumped into the menu with the help of our well-informed server. Ken is a vegetarian who also eats seafood (he told me a term for it and I forgot already), and that night’s menu seemed to cater to him because it was mostly vegetables options with a couple of meat dishes for entrées.

We started by sharing the seasonal White and Yellow Peach Salad ($8), which was made primarily with wild arugula and dressed with hazelnuts and saba. This was the first time I tried saba, which I’m starting to see more often on menus. Saba is a fruity sweet dressing that reminds me a lot of aged balsamic vinegar, but not as tart. It was a nice complement to the ripe peach slices, but I thought the salad was really distinguished by the nuts, which added a nice crunchy texture.

We also shared the Biancoverde pizza ($15), which is a white pizza because it doesn’t use any tomato sauce but uses ricotta and mozzarella cheese as its base. The pizza looked huge and had the puffy, slightly burnt edges you see often from artisan pizzas.

The pizza was topped with summer squash and squash blossoms and a whole lot of arugula. (We should have thought out our orders better considering the salad was mainly arugula as well. Oh well.) Overall, all the flavors were just pitch perfect, with the ricotta blending with the squash and the slight juices accentuated by the salt.

The crust, however, was a bit disappointing. It was already soggy in the center from the ingredients. While I appreciated the fact that the pizza dough had flavor, I didn’t think it was necessarily that different than other good pizzas I’ve had in town. I definitely wouldn’t call it the best.

What may be the best, however, is Flour + Water’s pasta. There’s a nice assortment of pasta dishes, all hand-made. And Ken ordered the special of the day, a Cappelletti ($16) sitting on a sweet corn puree. What was so amazing about this pasta (which looks a lot like won tons to me), was the milky texture of the cheese used as a filling. The flavor was so fresh like drinking milk but still creamy. Ken let me try a piece so I could tell you about it but I so wanted to eat his whole plate.

Instead, I got the Roast Lamb ($20), which was served with spinach, potatoes and figs. The lamb was served in two parts: seared leg and loin pieces. They were nicely cooked, retaining a lot of the juicy elements of the lamb meat, but the flavor wasn’t anything different. It was solid but not as exciting as the pasta.

We ended out dinner by sharing probably one of the most popular dessert at Flour + Water — the Chocolate Budino with Espresso-Caramel Cream and Sea Salt ($7). The budino is a dense chocolate custard similar to crème de pot, but it was so dense that it reminded me of a flourless chocolate cake. I always like any chocolate dessert paired with sea salt (I know it’s so 2007 but I still enjoy the pairing) and I especially like the delicate scoop of espresso-caramel cream that really added to the experience of this dessert.

I’ve tried a few new Italian places lately, but I have to say Flour + Water really delivers in the sophisticated-yet-rustic creations coming from the kitchen under the helm of Chef Thomas McNaughton, formerly of La Folie and Quince. The warm wood interior also adds to the richness of this location, and the communal table and bar in the front are probably the hottest spot to eat and be seen.

I wish this was my neighborhood Italian spot because I really dig its earthy vibe and fantastic pasta. Flour + Water = Satisfaction.

Single guy rating: 3.75 stars (Comforting pasta)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Other similar restaurants:
Beretta: “Hip to Pizza and Cocktails in the Mission”
Pizzeria Delfina: “Showcase for Pizza and More”
Pizzaiolo: “A Pizza Worth the Wait?”

3Bucks: Happy Hour Antipasti

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:48:00 +0000

Here's my latest contribution to the 3 Bucks Bites site, and it's amazingly ZERO dollars. That's right, free food. Well, you have to go during happy hour and you have to buy drinks, but it's so worth it because the happy hour spread at Adesso wine bar in Oakland is so tasty. Get a preview with this 3 Bucks post, but come back next week when I do a full review on Adesso, another neighborhood gem in Oakland.

Test Kitchen: Bucatini Carbonara

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:34:00 +0000

For this month’s Test Kitchen from the pages of Food and Wine Magazine, you guys overwhelmingly voted for me to try the Bucatini Carbonara recipe (more than 51 percent) over the other contenders.

This was also my favorite to try, so I was looking forward to making it.

The recipe comes from Chef Linton Hopkins of the Holeman and Finch Public House, a gastropub in Atlanta. Hopkins was one of 10 people featured as the Best New Chefs 2009 for the cover story. (Bay Area locals included Nate Appleman of A16 in San Francisco, who’s having a fantastic year coming off a James Beard Award win; and Christopher Kostow of Meadowood-Napa Valley in St. Helena.)

Each chef was asked to publish a quick-and-easy recipe. Chef Hopkins offered up his Bucatini Carbonara, which he supposedly adds a Southern twist to this Italian classic by using house-cured pork and local farm fresh eggs from Georgia.

Click here to find the complete recipe. But below you’ll see me tackle this super easy dish.

Your biggest challenge might be finding the bucatini pasta. It’s not normally found at your supermarkets. I actually went to a gourmet store, specifically my neighborhood Pasta Shop at Rockridge’s Market Hall. They have an assortment of fancy dried pasta, but I couldn’t specifically find bucatini. Thankfully, the recipe says you can also look for “perciatelli” and I found a packet of that at the Pasta Shop. It’s like perciatelli and bucatini are interchangeable because on the packet of perciatelli, I saw the instructions sometimes refer to it as bucatini. To be honest, it really just looks like thick spaghetti. The only difference I found is that the perciatelli (or bucatini) had a hollow center, almost like a thin straw.

Pancetta, or Italy’s version of bacon, is another key ingredient. I rarely cook with pancetta because I generally don’t cook with bacon-like products, but pancetta is my favorite of the bacon family because it is more silky and milder in flavor than American bacon. Pancetta can often be found in Italian delis or in the specialty meat sections of your grocery store. (I found it pre-packed in the deli section of Whole Foods.)

As you’re cooking your pasta, you start off by cooking the pancetta to render off the oil. It really creates a lot of oil, so this dish is not for cholesterol-minded people (which I generally am but I’m just cooking what I’m told!). It takes about 10 minutes to render off the fat over medium heat and then you add diced onions and a clove of finely diced garlic.

Another key ingredient to carbonara is the raw egg yolk. Yes, like several Italian specialties (i.e., tiramisu and Caesar salads), you have to add a raw egg, and specifically just the yolk. (I still have the whites wondering what to do with them.) The yolk adds to the creaminess of the dish. Of course, the heavy cream and parmesan reggiano cheese makes it luxurious as well.

Once you add the pasta to the cooked pancetta and onions, you add the heavy cream and cook for a couple of minutes to let it thicken. Then you take the skillet off the heat to add the cheese and yolk (you don’t want scrambled eggs) and then finish the dish off with some chopped Italian parsley. That’s it!

Because it’s such a rich dish (I literally could hear my arteries hardening), you definitely need to eat this with a nice red wine. I happened to have a California merlot in my cabinet, which went nicely. But you can pair with any medium Italian red or even an Argentine malbec. Of course, I also made some garlic bread to go with it.

Chef Hopkins suggests serving these in small bowls as a starter to a dinner. So the recipe makes about four servings. But I bet you could combine two portions and make it a quick weeknight dinner. Here’s how my bucatini carbonara turned out. How do you think it compares to the photo of the one in Food and Wine?

My tips and warnings about this recipe:

If you can’t find bucatini or perciatelli, I think thick spaghetti will do just fine.
The recipe called for four egg yolks, but I felt like that was a lot. You could probably get away with just three or even two if you’re not a fan of raw eggs. In fact, I made the recipe a second night with just the heavy cream without the yolks and it tasted just as good. (The yolk gives your bucatini dish a pastel yellow color, though, if you like that look.)
I know this is probably not very authentic for carbonara, but I think this dish would be helped by adding frozen peas for more substance.
The idea of serving this up in a bowl is smart because the sauce settles to the bottom. I like eating my pasta with sauce partially clinging and not drowned in the sauce. This recipe makes a lot of sauce so it’s nice to just find it at the bottom of your bowl. That’s where the garlic bread comes in!

Ease of cooking: This was super easy like promoted. What I liked about it was that it’s an all-in-one pan dish because you combine the pasta with your sauce (although you still have to wash the pot you cooked your pasta in) and then serve it up. Cooking time is less than 20 minutes.

Taste: You mostly get the flavoring of the pancetta as an underlining smoky flavor in this pasta dish. I enjoyed it but I have to say that how fresh your egg yolks are will really make a difference. My eggs weren’t super fresh, so I could really taste a raw egg flavor in my final product. (Also, cutting back on the egg yolks like I mentioned earlier might also help.) This is an extremely rich dish to eat and is probably not something I’d eat all the time. I do like the simplicity and ease, but it’s not going to do my heart any good.

Overall Grade: B+ (good but not spectacular)

Don’t forget to vote in the poll on the top right column on what recipe from Food and Wine’s August edition you want me to try!

Previous test kitchens:
Mini Corn Cakes with Seared Salmon
Spicy and Sticky Baby Back Ribs
Cabbage, Kielbasa and Rice Soup

NFNS: Season 5, Episode 5

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:32:00 +0000

Healthy Food Apparently Not Yum-O

Previously: Melissa shows she can cook shoulder to shoulder (well, not exactly), and Ty-Flo likes to yell stop to Michael. Katie cooks raw and can’t deliver, and Teddy bums out Susie so he’s leaving since she’s a judge. Tonight: Everyone meets Rachael Ray, Michael is nervous, and Bobby wants someone to cook something. Anything.

So we must be half way through, right? Hope so. Can you believe there’s nothing else showing on Sunday nights? Can’t wait for “Brothers & Sisters” to start up again.

Food Network apparently spent a pretty penny for all the aerial views of Manhattan because we’ve got several lingering shots for the opening. I guess that gives us a better look at Michael a Go-Go’s red streak of hair that still stands up in the morning. Katie knows she messed up last week and wants this week to be her redemption. Let’s see how that plays out. They all march out and head to the Food Network kitchen, and Bobby Flay is already there to greet them.

Bobby says this is their mid-terms (yes, they are half-way through!) and they have to show their culinary skills and tell stories at the same time. And they’ll do it all before a camera. And not just one set up at the Food Network station, but live on Rachael Ray’s daytime show. Everyone laughs when they see Ray on the video. Don’t know if they’re all giddy with excitement or it’s that nervous laughter like they feel awkward around her and don’t know what to say, so they just laugh. I bet Rachael gets that a lot on the street.

Ray talks about her YUM-O work (I bet she trademarked that) and how she likes to cook for kids. She says their challenge is to turn a grown up dish into something kid-friendly. Yes, this is the dreaded kids challenge, so you can bet there’ll be munchkins for judges.

Bobby introduces some adult-like ingredients and gives an ingredient to every two contestant. So Jeffrey and Jamaican Jamika get tofu, and Jeffrey says he’s never cooked with it. How can you live in California and never cook with tofu? Melissa the Mom and Michael a Go-Go™ gets Brussels sprouts and Debbie and the Health Nut gets squid. (I think they’ve got the toughest of the three ingredients.)

They start grabbing ingredients and Katie starts cutting her squid, saying she’s going to marinate them in citrus and make a salad. She thinks this challenge is easy for her because she’s all about making healthy foods for kids. Katie, you have to make the kids eat it!

Debbie’s going to make her squid look like onion rings, which I think is clever. Jeffrey is making chicken nuggets out of his tofu (why haven’t anyone thought of tofu nuggets yet?) and Jamika is going to cut her tofu to look like corn and make what looks like a corn salad (kind of boring I think).

Melissa the Mom of course is all excited about cooking for kids and she talks about texture and how kids like the texture of mashed potatoes so she’s going to puree her Brussels sprouts and hide them in the mashed potatoes. (Does she always just serve her kids side dishes?) But then she says she also does a trick of putting a raw piece of the vegetable on the side, which I’m confused because doesn’t this defeat the purpose of hiding the vegetable in the mashed potatoes in the first place?

When time runs out, Bobby introduces the judges, which, of course, are three little kids (two girls and one boy). And one additional judge: Rachael Ray. That’s so weird that she was there all the time, so not sure why they had her on the video in the first place. So odd. I guess they thought the contestants would be all star-struck that they wouldn’t be able to focus on cooking so bring on the star afterwards? Anyone else notice how the Food Network treats Ray like the queen? Even more so than the Barefoot Contessa, and she’s a Contessa!

Each contestant come up to do a two-minute demo. Katie the Health Nut is up first and she’s being really animated and sounds like she’s right off of Sesame Street. She demonstrates using a hollowed-out yellow bellpepper to hold her citrus calamari salad and she throws in Yum-O for good measure. The kids think she’s funny and most seem to eat the dish.

Debbie does her demo, making squid rings, but as she’s talking she’s having technical difficulties with her products and then runs out of time. One kid eats her dish and so cute calls the squid an octopus. I guess all squirmy seafood is the same in a kid’s eyes.

Melissa the Mom comes in and does her mashed potatoes with a Brussels sprout puree with cream cheese. But I guess she’s talking so much she doesn’t realize that she’s running out of time so she never explained her trick about the raw Brussels sprout. The boy judge likes her presentation but Rachael thinks it’s weird eating the raw Brussels sprouts on the side.

Next up is Michael a Go-Go™ and he’s making tomato soup and uses the Brussels sprouts to make these cute fried puppets. He realizes that he’s repeating himself on camera and in his mind it’s a crash and burn situation. But he drew a happy face and that always does the trick, right? The boy judge says the food wasn’t fried enough. BTW, this boy talks a lot. He’s the only one speaking most of the time. The other girl might thrown in a “it’s good” now and then. Plus, all the kids seem to be good about trying the dishes. They should have gotten more picky-eaters.

Jeffrey comes on and talks about making spaghetti with his daughter but his son likes chicken nuggets, so he’s combining the two to make a tofu nugget pasta dish. He starts talking about breading the tofu like a beach scene with the tofu jumping in oil and then swimming in breading. It’s kind of overkill in my mind because I think the kids get the concept of breading a tofu. But that kills his time.

Last is Jamaican Jamika and she’s really even keeled. In fact, it’s almost lackluster in emotions. She talks about cooking for her nephew, CJ, and she makes her corn salad with tofu bits. Although she spends a whole lot of time playing with the corn husk. Cute for the kids, but she starts to run out of time. Rachael Ray looks more bored than the kids.

The contestants return and Rachael give them each a brief summary. She pretty much gives positive reports to everyone except Jamika, who she says needs to learn to cook and speak at the same time. Jamaican Jamika has really dropped to the bottom after weeks on the top. What happened?

Commercials. Meatloaf, the singer, is singing for A-1 steak sauce being poured on a meatloaf. Where was this synergy back in 1989? BTW, Meatloaf is still weird.

Rachael Ray tells the contestants their next challenge is to do a live demo on her show, but this time they have to think of an adult version of a popular kid meal. And they have to work in teams. I don’t think working on teams are very fair for a cooking demo on live TV. Already you’re nervous and then now you have to worry about sharing the spotlight with someone else. This is a disaster cooked up by the Food Network producers, I’m sure.

The teams are the same as this morning, so Katie and Debbie are working together to adultify chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, Michael and Melissa are doing tomato soup and grilled cheese (I’ve seen this done on fancy restaurant menus all the time) and Jamika and Jeffrey are teamed to redo hot dogs and baked beans, which sounds more like camp food than kid meals.

The contestants head off to shop for their groceries and of course Melissa the Mom is manic while Michael is drifting every where, Katie is pushing healthier choices on Debbie and Jamika and Jeffrey are playing the passive-aggressive game with their menu planning.

Back at the studio, they have an hour and a half to prep their demo. We get a little bit more about what they’re planning to make and Michael is doing something with lardon, which sounds really bad for you. This is the kind of things I avoid on a menu.

Jeffrey’s awkward relationship with Jamika continues in the kitchen. I can’t tell why they’re not getting along. Jeffrey’s friendly enough and Jamika used to be really confident in her cooking. But it’s like Jamika shut down this episode and is on cruise control and Jeffrey just wants to work by himself and just doesn’t want to deal with Jamika. Anywho, they’re making baked beans with chorizo and shrimp. Debbie and Katie get nosey and look over to ask what they’re making and when Jeffrey and Jamika tell them in their lackluster way, Debbie and Katie lie and says “oh, that sounds terrific.” Sabotage.

They had back to the apartments and Jamika is having a little breakdown with the girls. She’s all worried about her presentation, and Melissa the Mom and the Health Nut are trying to support her, but all Jamika can do is cry saying she feels like she’s coming up short on the recent challenges. She says she wants to hear the crowd cheer her name. Honey, we all want that. I have a tape recording of applause on my iPod right now.

Commercials. This woman in the Special K commercial is hungry and her stomach is growling really loud. That happens to me at work sometimes even after I eat breakfast. What’s up with that?

It’s the next morning and the contestants arrive at Rachael Ray’s really orange studio. They’re all nervous, but when Ray comes to greet them and ask how they are, they all say they’re doing great. Rachael asks the pointed question of whether they all got along in their teams and the camera zeroes in on Jamika and Jeffrey, but they lie of course and say they got along peaches.

The show starts and Ray introduces the judges, who are sitting back stage watching. Melissa the Mom and Michael a Go-Go™ are up first, doing grown-up grilled cheese skewers and tomato soup with lardons. They have five minutes to do their presentation, and Melissa goes off and running doing most of the talking because she’s demonstrating a mornay sauce first. Melissa brings up her kids again and Susie for some reason just eat that shit up. She’s already nodding her head like Melissa’s the bomb. You know who’s not the bomb? Michael. Suddenly he’s all quiet just doing nothing, and then he starts to make weird yummy sounds, you know, like Mmm good. Bobby yells at the TV: “cook something man!” He’s so frustrated at Michael, who’s not doing anything.

Finally near the end Michael does get playful as he lets Melissa feed him a skewer, and the three judges just crack up like Michael is the funniest man on earth. I don’t get it. It was cute but not fall on the ground laughing funny. Bob Tuschman says they’re both very likeable personalities, but they didn’t look like they were having fun during the demo. Bobby does like the food and says it was well seasoned.

Debbie and Katie the Health Nut are up next and they do a soy-dijon chicken tender with baked shrimp mac and cheese. Debbie starts off by making the cheese sauce and she says she has to use soy because she’s Korean, like that’s a rule. And Bobby comments that he knows she’s Korean already, but she always make that statement but don’t follow up with what does it mean in the cooking. I agree. It’s like she’s labeling herself.

Then they switch off to Katie, and it was pretty seamless and well choreographed. But once Katie starts doing her part of the demo, she doesn’t look up and that’s what the judges notice. They do end on time and they’re very happy with their presentation. But when they go back all happy, it totally gets Jeffrey and Jamika worried about their presentation.

Commercials. What’s the 50 million pound challenge? That guy at the drive thru window is intimidating.

Jeffrey and Jamaican Jamika are next. (You know, I feel like I nicknamed Jamika Jamaican Jamika for fun but she really hasn’t cooked much Jamaican dishes.) They’re making Spanish hot dogs and sweet baked beans, and Jeffrey starts off talking about his kids or something about his wife. I’m not really sure because he’s talking fast. But he’s the only one talking and Jamika is standing next to him almost like Vanna White. But she doesn’t even smile, she looks super serious. The judges are confused about what’s going on and people are saying things like Jeffrey’s hogging the spotlight or Jamika has shut down. All true. They run out of time and don’t really finish plating their dish, and all the judges in the back look so disappointed and frustrated. This was the worst presentation of the three, and everyone knows it. What’s worse is the judges eat the hot dogs and baked beans and don’t like it.

Rachael catches up with the judges back stage and gives her thoughts, but it really doesn’t matter since she won’t be joining them at judgment table. Back on her show, Ray announces to the contestants that the surviving five will move on to next week’s show which will be in Miami. What’s with this traveling show? Why can’t they stay in New York? They so want to be like “Top Chef.”

Commercials. Big Daddy’s House is coming back for another season. Did anyone watch the first season?

It’s judgment time and they’re all nervous going down to the judges’ room. This week pretty much any one of them could go. Well, except Melissa because she’s now the front runner and she knows it.

They go through each team and this is how it broke down:

Katie and Debbie: Katie needs to engage with the audience more and her chicken tasted dry. Bobby wants Debbie to go beyond her Korean-ness. She cries a bit.

Melissa and Michael: Michael bummed out Bobby because he didn’t show his personality and Melissa explained her raw vegetable theory of how kids like crunchy things like apples. Bob loves that tip and wished she shared it, but I kind of think it’s a stupid tip because crunchy Brussels sprouts are no way like crunchy apples. Bobby asks Michael what he sees when he looks into the camera and he replies “the depths of hell.” A wee bit dramatic, aren’t we? He also calls the camera “judge-y.”

Jamika and Jeffrey: The judges go back and forth about who’s at fault in their failed presentation, the scene-stealing Jeffrey or the shutdown Jamika. Jamika is at a loss and says she’s had a tough week and her confidence’s shot.

The judges announces who will stay (notice they don’t say winner of this challenge?) and first to stay is Debbie, whom Susie says needs to “bring it.” Then also safe is Melissa (of course) and Jeffrey (probably the only safe bet for the guys).

The bottom three—Katie, Jamika and Michael—are sent back upstairs so the judges can talk behind their back. When they go up, Katie starts crying about how she had so much fun this week and still can’t get the judges to love her.

The judges are frustrated by Jamika, who checked out this week. Susie questions whether Michael is really star potential when he has a fear of cameras. Bob thought Katie’s demo to the kids was hard to watch, although I thought it was OK.

The three return and Bobby tells Michael he’s safe and then Susie sends Katie home. Jamika acts really shocked and there are hugs all around. Katie says the judges were looking for a certain person, and it wasn’t her. So why did they make her a finalist? This is the dilemma of a reality show. But the former gymnast says she still has gold in her sight. Or is that quinoa that she sees?

Next week: They’re in Miami, and Ted Allen is hosting a cocktail party. Someone’s food is sloppy, and Melissa plays the diva.

The Next Food Network Star airs 9 p.m. Sundays (and repeats at the same time Thursdays) on the Food Network. Check your local listing. Photos courtesy of the Food Network Web site.

Previous recaps:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4

Baseball + Hot Dog = Independence

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:58:00 +0000

Spent my Fourth of July at a Giants baseball game, and boy are they on a roll! Today's game featured ACE and Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, who's turning out to be as big as a draw for the Giants since the Bond years. Since it was the 4th, I had to get myself a hot dog. And this time I got one of those Hebrew National's hot dogs. This is the "San Francisco" hot dog ($6.75) that's topped with onions, saukerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing and served with a pickle. It was my first time having a Hebrew National. I know, I must have just passed by the counter on the promenade level on the way to my seat. It's also my first time eating saukerkraut and I like it. With perfect weather and a Giants win against the Houston Astros, it was a classic Fourth of July. Hope you're enjoying your holiday!

Firecracker Shrimp and Humita Recipe

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:01:00 +0000

The fourth of July falls on a weekend, which works out nicely for a lot of picnics and grilling. I am not going to either but will be at a baseball game instead. But I’ll be with you in spirit, and I can have more of a presence at your event if you make this simple and easy shrimp dish below.

This is a great time to get sweet corn, and that reminded me of this slightly spicy corn dish I learned to make in Buenos Aires. It’s called humita, and it’s traditionally used as a filling for sweet empanadas. But they taste so good and is so simple to make that I think it makes a great side dish, and in this case a base for my Spanish-style shrimp.

The shrimp is really simple too, basically just seasoned with the Spanish pimentón spice, which you can find easily these days at any gourmet store. It gives it lots of color and a spicy flavor. Throw in some garlic and it’s good to go.

I finish this dish off with some microgreens just to add more color to the dish as if the fiery shrimp wasn’t enough. I got these beet tops at Whole Foods that are so colorful for the holiday, but you can substitute with any kind of microgreens or sprouts.

Have a great Fourth of July! Enjoy!

Pimenton Garlic Shrimp with Humita Recipe

Copyright 2009 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients for humita
1 onion, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, small diced
2-3 ears of corn
1 T butter
1 T extra virgin olive oil
½ cup milk
1 t crushed red pepper
2 t sugar
black pepper
salt
1 T flour

Remove corn from the cob. In a saucepan, warm butter and oil over medium high heat and then add onion and bell pepper. Cook until the onion is translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then add all the remaining ingredients except the flour. Cook the corn for about 10 minutes to soften. Then slowly sprinkle in the flour to thicken the humita.

Ingredients for shrimp
A dozen jumbo shrimp or gulf shrimp, shelled and deveined (but keep tail on for looks) (about half a pound)
1 T pimentón (Spanish sweet smoked paprika)
1 clove garlic, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Season your shrimp with salt and the drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pimentón to lightly coat. Then warm up a skillet over medium heat and add shrimp and garlic to cook (add more olive oil if needed). Shrimp is done when they’re opaque (about 6 to 10 minutes).

Ingredients for salad
1 cup beet tops or other microgreens like sprouts
Juice from one lemon
Pinch of salt and pepper
¼ cup olive oil
1 T sugar

Combine lemon, sugar, olive oil and salt and whisk together until well blended. Then drizzle a little at a time in your beet tops to lightly dress.

Now assemble your plate, starting with a base of the humita. Then add shrimp and top off with your salad.

Makes two servings.

Pair with a glass of Torrontes.

Related stories and recipes
Vote for the Argentine Empanada
Artichoke Shrimp Salad Recipe
Grilled Shrimp and Vegetable Kebob Recipe

Dish on Dining: Commis

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:06:00 +0000

Innovative Tasting Arrives in Oakland Neighborhood
3859 Piedmont Ave., Oakland
Piedmont Avenue neighborhood
PH: 510.653.3902
Prix-fixe dinner only from 5:30 p.m., Wed.–Sun.
Reservations recommended, major credit cards accepted
www.commisrestaurant.com

I usually wait for a restaurant to be open for at least a couple of weeks before I go and check it out. But when a restaurant is headed by a “Rising Star” chef who once cooked at a two-Michelin-star restaurant, I knew I had to get in a visit before it becomes too hot to even ask about a reservation.

That restaurant is Commis, the long-awaited solo venture of James Syhabout, a 29-year-old chef who was named one of San Francisco Chronicle’s 2007 Rising Star Chefs. Commis was the chef de cuisine at the noted Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos and garnered rave reviews when he headed the kitchen in San Francisco’s Plumpjack Café.

Commis also happens to be in my Oakland neighborhood, so when I heard that it officially opened its doors last Thursday, I walked in for dinner the next night on my way home from the gym.

The restaurant is in the former Jojo space, a cozy neighborhood restaurant that closed down a few months ago when the owners decided to leave at the height of its popularity. While some wonder if anyone can fill the shoes of the popular Jojo, I believe the foodies in the area are going to go crazy for Commis.

I don’t know if it was planned this way, but the exterior is very minimal with no signage out front. When I walked in, I was able to score the last walk-in table despite the fact that the restaurant was nearly 90 percent empty. That’s because many of the tables in the tiny space were already reserved.

Commis is French for “apprentice” or “trainee,” which I guess is Chef Syhabout’s humble way of saying that he’s still honing his craft, constantly learning and evolving. But with the design of the restaurant, there’s no doubt that he’s commanding the show as Syhabout cooks with his chef de cuisine in an open kitchen right in the center of the room, surrounded by counter seating.

Despite being just two days old, you sense that Syhabout’s experience in fine dining has been drilled into his staff. The servers are all very professional and friendly, and are all well-suited to explaining the restaurant’s concept and its menu.

Commis offers only a $49 three-course, prix-fixe dinner showcasing seasonal ingredients, some foraged from the nearby Oakland hills. The server says the menu will stay the same during these early days, but the chef plans to change it regularly, even daily, down the road.

On its opening menu, each course offered about three to four options. The only course with limited options was dessert, which offered just two choices.

I also opted for the wine pairings for $29. Because I was doing the wine tasting, I was brought out this glass of German sparkling wine as an apéritif. It was infused with a slice of ginger and some peppercorns. I wasn’t a big fan of the flavor of the wine, but loved the idea of the fresh ginger.

My dinner started with this amuse bouche, a shot glass filled with a pretty peach puree topped off with green foam. The green foam was made using a native plant that starts with an “N.” The server pretty much said the name four times and I still couldn’t recognize it or understand how to spell it. All I know is that the bright orange petal on top comes from the plant and it’s grown in the wild in the East Bay. Whatever it’s called, it provided an herbal-like contrast to the sweet peach puree underneath. The two flavors complemented each other beautifully and it was a refreshing drink on what was a very warm summer night.

The wine that went with my first course was a French Chardonnay. I wish I had all the specifics about the winery and vintage, but it all went by so fast. This particular French wine was slightly dry but buttery with a sweet undertone. This and all the other wine pairings worked well with each course.

For my first course, I had the option of a squash soup, gem lettuce salad or smoked mackerel. But I went with the Soft Farm Egg with Potato and Alliums because it contained crispy pork jowl, which is the cheeks of the pig.

The plate came out looking like a playground of flavors. There were cubes of pork jowl with golden potatoes topped with the soft egg and grilled scallion. Off to one side was a smear of black garlic with pretty purple flowers that I’m guessing came from the alliums.

I really enjoyed the pork jowl, which was slightly crispy but so creamy when you bit into it. The farm egg was soft boiled, so it didn’t necessarily ooze out as much as it was just tender. I would sometimes drag my fork into the black garlic just to get a burst of flavor that I’ve never experienced before. Even the potato cubes had an added dimension of flavor that I couldn’t detect but enjoyed. This emerged as a theme for the night as Chef Syhabout sent out dishes that were complex yet beautiful.

For the main course, there was an offering of roasted chicken or aged beef loin but I settled for the Morro Bay Cod with English Pea Porridge. Another beautifully plated dish with coriander blossoms highlighted the perfectly seared cod, which still had its crispy skin intact, and which I ate every bit of. But I really felt the star of the plate was the English pea porridge that was bright in flavor and smooth in sweetness.

Now, I have to admit that I picked this dish because one of the ingredients listed was “delta crayfish.” And I just liked the idea of seeing a little crayfish on my plate. But as you can see on the picture, there wasn’t one. And I didn’t think about asking about it because I was so intrigued by the different flavors.

Partly I was also too self-conscious to ask my server. Sometimes at a fancy and pricey restaurant, I feel like I’m asking too much if I almost question the chef. Where’s my crayfish? Why did he say crayfish but I don’t see any on my plate!? Yes, I’m sure there’s a polite way to bring it up. But I didn’t want to look stupid. I will say, however, that the foam in the dish had a distinct shellfish flavor, so maybe the crayfish was meant to be only in the broth? What would you have done? If you go to Commis in the next few days, let me know what you find out if you’re brave enough or smart enough to inquire.

The wine with the fish was also another one from France; this time a sauvignon blanc that I enjoyed more than the first wine. It was crisp and young and perfect for the weather and food.

The final course was dessert, which was a Chilled Strawberry-Watermelon Soup with fino basil, black pepper ice cream and bits of vanilla. (The other option was a semi-frozen homemade crème fraice.) The soup was served with the same German sparkling wine that came as an apéritif but served naked without any added elements like ginger or peppercorns.

The strawberry-watermelon soup was very enjoyable and, again, really perfect for the warm evening. It tasted more watermelon than strawberry, but that’s a minor point. I enjoyed the little pearls of watermelon and the ice cream was a luxurious addition (although it didn’t really taste that peppery). Overall, it was an elegant ending to a delightful dinner.

Keep in mind that Commis’ three-course dinner is very French in presentation, which means creativity in small portions. I consider this more of a tasting menu instead of your typical three-course dinner you’d get at a neighborhood joint. But if you’re open to the innovations of Chef Syhabout, then you’ll be treated like a prince (or princess) as you dine on elegance and complexity.

Syhabout’s venture reminds me a lot of Chef Dennis Leary’s Canteen in the city. These two remarkable chefs are hands-on, making fantastic dinners for their customers in a tiny spot. Granted, Syhabout’s space is more refined and fancy than Leary’s homey and eclectic diner, but the intimacy is there.

I think I was smart to try Syhabout’s dinner so soon after his opening because with his experience, the meal was perfectly timed and orchestrated. The problem now is if I want to come back for more, I’m sure I won’t be as lucky in scoring an open table.

Commis’ entry to the neighborly Piedmont Avenue may seem like an odd location for Syhabout’s first restaurant. For years the nearby Bay Wolf (just a few yards away) was the recognized leader of fine dining on the street, but now it can only dream to plate dishes like Commis. What Syhabout has done by opening up in a tiny indiscreet location is create an emerging food destination with Commis at the heart.

Single guy rating: 4.5 stars (A special place)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Related reviews:
Canteen: “Make Dennis Leary Your Personal Chef”
Coi: “The High Price of Eating with All Your Senses”
La Vineria de Gualterio Bolivar: “Nine (Plus) Courses to Remember for a Lifetime”

NFNS: Season 5, Episode 4

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Always Remember to Say ‘Behind’

Previously: The contestants offer their money-saving tips, but Teddy is over-the-top. Jeffrey wins, like, three times? Teddy is sorry about his integrity, or lack thereof. Eddie is sent packin’.

Opening sequence: Whatever happened to the breaking glass sound effect with the music? It was oddly intriguing to me. Now they just play the cliché chef knife sound like “Top Chef.” Copycat.

Opening scene looks really early because I don’t even see the sunrise, but everyone’s getting ready. Jeffrey is doing some karate kick. That guy has long legs. Teddy is excited to being better. It’s always nice to start off your day with that resolve.

The contestants head to the Food Network Kitchen and there’s Bobby Flay already there. Jamaican Jamika is scared of Bobby and his domed platters. He tells them that he’s opening a restaurant in Connecticut this weekend called Bobby’s Burger Palace (everyone’s into burgers) and their challenge is to make the ultimate burger (hey, I thought that was Tyler’s gig) for his new menu.

They have 20 minutes to make a burger that reflects a regional cuisine. Go!

They start grabbing ingredients and then start talking about their ideas for burger. They all sounds pretty interesting: Melissa the Mom is making a Burlington, Vt. burger, Michael a Go-Go™ is making New York Italian burger, Jamaican Jamika is going New Orleans, and Debbie is making Cal-Asian with a Korean bulgogi twist.

What doesn’t sound appetizing is Teddy’s Pennsylvania burger that’s an homage to Amish country. WTF? Doesn’t that mean he can’t use electricity to cook it?

The Health Nut is actually making a San Francisco burger, which is my neck of the woods. And while when you think San Francisco you think crab and Italian influences, she’s going fresh market ingredients and turkey. Doesn’t remind me of San Francisco at all. The grill isn’t hot enough for her and since she’s using ground turkey, she needs to cook it through unlike beef that can be juicy and rare. So she throws the turkey burgers into the oven but still it’s not cooked through. She decides to serve it up anyway. “What can I do? Not serve a hamburger?” she says. I think to myself, hmmm, choice 1: not serve a plate and get major deductions, or choice 2: give food poisoning to the judges. Yeah, smart choice.

They each have to present to the camera and the judges’ panel. Melissa the Mom is up first and she is really on, with her story about college and chili and her Vermont burger with Vermont cheese. And she ends exactly at the 30 second mark. Perfect. Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson are nodding their heads in delight, and all the other contestants are like “oooh, you’re the bomb” when she heads on back.

Jeffrey is all nervous because he’s following Melissa, who did a great presentation, and he doesn’t have a story like Melissa. What? You don’t have any life experiences that involved California and burgers? So he just spends his 30 seconds talking about the flavors of his ingredients in his California burger with a Mexican twist. Susie says she’s not learning anything about Jeffrey’s personality. Bobby says the burger’s taste is sooo Jeffrey, the heat-sweet thang.

Teddy goes up next and tries to “be himself” and talks about Pennsylvania’s Amish country and their fresh produce. In the back, all the contestants are watching with their mouths open in shock at how poorly he does. Bob says he doesn’t like his energy. When Teddy goes back to the other contestants, Jamika tells him point-blank that he comes off like a game show host, which is actually a really spot-on description.

Debbie does her Cal-Asian thing and talks about Korean marinade for her burger, and it’s typical Debbie does Asian. It’s good but it’s now getting predictable like Jeffrey. Susie likes her presentation, though, but Bobby thinks the burger doesn’t have a strong enough Asian flavor. It’s so funny to hear Bobby Flay judging whether something tastes Asian enough.

Michael comes on and talks about growing up in New York and the flavors of Mulberry Street, which is Little Italy. He made a burger with fresh mozzarella and basil and Susie likes his energy and Bobby thinks the burger tastes good with classic Italian ingredients.

Jamaican Jamika is up next and this episode her hair is super curly. I don’t like that look. She’s calm like she usually is talking about her New Orleans burger, but it seems a bit like she’s trying too hard. Bob says it felt like a 30-second informercial. Bobby’s not digging the flavors in the burger.

Next up, Katie and her undercooked burger. She does a straight-forward presentation and doesn’t say anything about the raw meat she’s serving. But Susie notices it right away and is afraid to eat it. Smart woman. She questions The Health Nut’s cooking credibility.

They gather the contestants and Susie announces the bottom two: Katie (no surprise) and Jamika (fall from grace). Bobby announces the top two: Melissa the Mom and Michael. Then he names Michael’s Mulberry Street burger as the winner, and Michael gets all ferklempt.

In the back, the contestants look all stressed and Katie is upset that she knew her turkey burger wasn’t cooked. She gets teary as she talks about how hard she’s trying but the food gods aren’t helping her out.

Commercials. What’s with all the food at Walmart? Now they’re advertising steak. Don’t they sell housewares anymore?

It’s the next day, and the contestants look tired and bored. They really are so out of it at this point. Katie the Health Nut talks about being a gymnast and how she’s still competitive, so she’s going to put more pressure on herself. Jamika on the other hand just doesn’t want to be robotic.

They arrive at the U.S.S. Intrepid, so you know this is the episode where they cook for our men and women in uniform. The color guards march in and right behind them is Guy Fieri, who’s hair still looks like fireworks, but without the red or blue. Katie gets excited because she says one of them could be just like Guy. True, if you spiked your hair and wore your sunglasses behind your neck.

Fieri tells them they have to make a homecoming dinner for soldiers coming home from Iraq and their families. They each have to make a comfort dish from the pot of ingredients that represent a particular region in America. I spot Hawaii right away and of course I see a pineapple in the pot. Fieri says they have to present to the audience and judges and he reminds them to be sure to tell a story, blah blah blah. Anyone who enters this contest should know already that they should have personal stories galore.

Then Fieri introduces an editor from USA Weekend and it’s the only time we see him so who cares. Basically the winner will be featured in this weekend’s USA Weekend magazine.

Because they’re cooking on a ship, they have limited space so they cook in shifts in pairs. First up are Teddy and Jeffrey.

Teddy gets New York, and the bucket includes apples and duck. He decides to make a BLT but with duck instead of bacon.

Jeffrey gets Maine and there are lobsters and blueberries. He’s totally stumped and spends a lot of time staring at the ingredients. Teddy’s worried for him, but then Jeffrey gets the idea of making pot pies with some kind of blueberry sauce.

Jeffrey’s spending a lot of time on his sauce, and then someone (a production assistant?) tells him he has one hour left, so then he starts scrambling to cook his lobsters. Then he basically throws the lobster with his béchamel sauce and just put pastry dough on top of the pans. I’ve seen pot pies cooked in ceramic bowls but this is the first time I saw it in a saucepan. It doesn’t look appealing. And when it comes out, it looks like glop.

Teddy’s dish, amazingly enough, looks really pretty. And he’s the first to present so he goes out and starts talking about his grandfather who served in WWII and then he loses his train of thought. Then he looks at his hand like he has crib notes but that still doesn’t help him. People seem to like the food, but nobody liked his presentation.

BTW, Guy Fieri looks upset. It’s weird how these Food Network stars think just because they’re not in front of the camera they forget that they’re still being filmed. It’s like Fieri only has that personality when he’s doing his show. Otherwise, he comes off really serious and doesn’t even crack a smile.

Jeffrey serves his lobster-blueberry pot pie and Susie calls it disgusting. Nobody wanted to eat it.

Commercials. That Dove silk chocolate commercial needs a condom. Talk about X-rated ads.

Melissa the Mom and the Health Nut are cooking next. Melissa gets New Mexico, which somehow means skirt steak, honey and chilies? She doesn’t usually cook with chilies, so she tries each one to see what it tastes like. Katie gets Georgia, and she makes a panko-encrusted catfish.

Melissa made a tostada with a mango salsa, and she’s super perky. What’s really odd is she’s still kind of perky when she’s talking about her mom dying when she was 20 and how she grew up in Tucson. She says skirt steak was a big treat for her growing up. Susie eats up Melissa’s presentation, saying she revealed more about herself.

The Health Nut presents her southern meal, and she talks about a cousin who graduated from West Point and how he’s in training and will go to the war in the spring, then she gets all choked up and teary. Then she talks about her catfish and sweet Vidalia greens and squash. Talk about a 360. Fieri liked her story that connected with the audience, and Bobby liked the catfish, but says Katie is in the middle of the pack and they can’t decide if she’s star material.

Jamika gets Wisconsin and that mean potatoes, sausage and beer. She decides to make a casserole but her potatoes aren’t cooking, so she puts them in a food processor. Being a chef, she explains that she already knows what will happen next, which is the texture of the potatoes will be all gooey. Not having a food processor, I never knew this. And that made me think, if Jamika already knew this, why do it? Why not just cut the potatoes more and try to boil them again? It’s like Katie serving raw turkey, you know it’s wrong but you do it anyway? Thus is life on Desperation Road.

Commercials. Jif, the girl making a peanut butter sandwich for her dad is cute and all but how about some jelly next time? It’s a classic, you know.

Jamaican Jamika brings out her dish and she says it looks like slop. “It is what it is” and she does her presentation all cheerful hoping no one will notice the food. She’s actually really funny and puts everyone in the party mood. Bob loves the presentation, and Guy actually likes the flavor of Jamika’s gloop, but doesn’t like the texture.

Michael a Go-Go™ gets Hawaii, my home state. And he hits the jackpot with kampachi (that’s a great fish), macadamia nuts and the ubiquitous pineapple. He’s cooking with Debbie and she gets California, which was just chicken, zinfandel wine and almonds. She decides to make a simple home-cooked chicken dish.

Michael is taking out his fish from the oven on those huge trays and Debbie walks up behind him to check on her chicken. Then WHACK! Michael swings the tray right into Debbie’s eye, or probably more her cheek. She goes down and is hurting, but says she’s fine while Michael is all worried that he just blinded his friend. Michael tells her that she has to remember to say “behind” when approaching someone in the kitchen, and Debbie says she’s sorry that she forgot and that he’s a bumbling idiot. She really looks like she needs ice at this point. She says she hurts so much she can’t concentrate, and Michael a Go-Go™ is all frazzled because he feels terrible.

Which means perfect time to go make your presentation. He goes in and yells “aloha” and then starts talking about how relatives would bring back macadamia nuts to the Bronx and he would get so excited. I don’t believe him. Bob likes his personality and Guy liked his presentation. Bobby Flay says the dish looks like Hawaii and tastes like Hawaii.

Michael goes to the waiting room with the rest of the contestants and tells them that he wants to cry because everything went well but he injured Debbie. I’m sure everyone now thinks he sabotaged her and no one wants to be working near him anytime soon.

Debbie now has ice and of course she’s freaking out. She does her presentation and talks about growing up in the south and being raised Asian. But I don’t see how this connects with California. Bob starts telling the judges about how Debbie was whacked in the face, and again, Bob gets all the insider scoop from behind the scenes. I’m not sure if the judges really should take these things into account. Bobby and Fieri think the dish was bland and needed to be at a higher level.

In the back, all the contestants look dejected and talk about how difficult the challenge was. Geesh, what a bunch of sad sacks.

Commercials. State Farm really has some great commercials. Just saw the one with the cute little girl in the back seat. So sweet! They had that Michael Jackson commercial earlier with the “I’ll Be There” song. Just really emotionally-tugging stuff.

Judgment time. Susie does the spiel on storytelling, saying you can’t be a Food Network star without connecting to the audience. (Got it, think of stories about Aunt Bertha.) Then they critique each of the remaining seven, and it went like this:

Jamaican Jamika: Bob called her presentation delightful, but Bobby didn’t like the whipped potatoes and calls them unappealing. Bob says he was shocked the dish came from her.

Katie the Health Nut: Everyone appreciated how she didn’t jam health down their throats, but still wanted a blend. The soldiers thought she was the girl next door, but apparently one who keeps cooking raw food. Must be that raw veggie movement. Katie says she’s embarrassed and tears up.

Michael a Go-Go™: Bob says he’s fun and delicious in front of a live audience but needs to make friends with the camera (I guess that’s better than making love to the camera).

Jeffrey: Bobby thinks his pot pie dish was surprisingly awful coming from him. Bob likes his personality with an edge, but wants to see more.

Melissa the Mom: Bob thinks she’s getting close to finding the right energy for the camera. Susie, of course, loves how Melissa gets personal. They talk about cooking with chilies and Melissa talks about how she tested each one before cooking them and Bob is so impressed that a chef actually tries an ingredient before cooking it.

Teddy: Bobby says the duck-L-T was tasty, but his presentation makes him nervous. Teddy’s face goes from smiles to dejection. He is like a cartoon character.

Debbie: Bobby tried to be sympathetic about the kitchen accident but basically tells her to buck up and rise above the adversity.

Then Bobby turns to all of them and tells them that it’s time to grab the brass ring, reach for the gold, go for broke. Because basically nobody’s doing it right now.

Commercials. There sure are a lot of car commercials now. Hope that means the economy is getting better. Please?

Decision time. The judges name Melissa the Mom the winner. She’s like the one to beat now. Doesn’t she remind you of Sara Moulton? She’ll be featured on USA Weekend and is also safe, so she’s excused.

Also safe is Michael and Debbie. Debbie breathes a huge sigh of relief. Funny how both Debbie and Michael cooked together and now they’re safe together. Guess Debbie doesn’t mind that whack in the face right about now.

Susie excuses the remaining four so the judges can deliberate more. It was so weird right now when she said, “Bobby, Bob and I” because when you say Bobby followed by Bob really fast, it just sounds funny. Bobby Bob. Bob Bobby. Bubbly Bob. Bep Babaluba. I know, it’s these little things that get me through these hour-long recaps.

The three talk about how Teddy is fake and nervous and how Jamika’s dish was awful. But Susie can’t forgive Katie for serving raw food. And they’re starting to get bored of Jeffrey.

The four return, and Bob sends Teddy home right off the back. No discussion or explanation. It’s almost like residual from last week’s elimination because it did look like week Teddy’s food tasted good. Teddy talks about how he kept digging but he never found the real Teddy. I didn’t either, but then again I didn’t dig as hard.

Jamika says this is her wake-up call because she’s never been in the bottom. So she’s going to fight to stay. Can you see her and Michael in a fist fight? I’d pay money for that.

Next time: It’s near the end so you know what that means. That’s right, the live appearance on Rachel Ray’s talk show. Looks like Jamika freezes up and Bobby’s screaming like “cook something” into the TV. Bobby is bummed.

The Next Food Network Star airs 9 p.m. Sundays (and repeats at the same time Thursdays) on the Food Network. Check your local listing. Photos courtesy of the Food Network Web site.

Previous recaps:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3

Proud in the Kitchen: Macy's Big Day Out

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:34:00 +0000

It's Pride weekend in San Francisco, and Macy's put on a special cooking demonstration yesterday at its Union Square store, gathering some of the best gay and lesbian chefs in the city. It was an interesting hour of cooking demonstrations, with the chefs sharing fancy recipes for a perfect Pride brunch.

Jennifer Biesty of Scala's Bistro is probably best remembered as a cheftestant on BRAVO's "Top Chef." She was cooking with the restaurant's pastry chef, Tim Nugent, and together they made a seared ahi tuna dish on a slice of toasted ciabatta. Kind of fancy for brunch, but still really delicious just the same.

You can tell this is a fancy restaurant dish because of all the ingredients. There were ahi tuna encrusted with piment d'espelette and then topped with heirloom cherry tomatoes, chervil, French breakfast radish, olive tapanade, aioli and a quail egg. Try making that for brunch!

The second pair of chefs were Janine Falvo of Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar in Sonoma and Adam Jones of Market Street Grill. They made what they called a "Blinged Out Eggs Benedict" that included butter poached halibut, asparagus, and loster-white truffle hollandaise sauce. Above, they're making the biscuit for the eggs benedict.

The plate, when done, looks like a meal for two. This could serve several go-go boys on Pride day, that's for sure.

The final demonstration was dessert from Yigit Pura, who once cooked for Daniel Boulud in New York. Now he's the chef at a San Francisco catering company called Taste Catering. Not only does he make sweets, but Chef Pura's major eye candy, dontcha think?

He made these strawberry parfaits with buttermilk panna cotta. The samples they passed out tasted amazing. This kind of look perfect for the July 4th weekend coming up, right? I would include the recipe, but it's more than four pages long! Maybe you should just have Pura cater this for you.

Happy Pride Day!

Previous cooking demos
Charcuterie Guy: Taylor Boetticher
Creating Elegant Vegetarian Dishes
Cooking Demo by Joyce Goldstein

What's In My Frig?

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:34:00 +0000

I got a couple of bottles of these Honest Tea on sale at Whole Foods. It's organic. It's made of fair-trade tea. And it's not too sweet. But the real reason why I buy this particular flavor, called Peach Oo-La-Long? Because it has Opus on the label. :)

Opus from the old Bloom County cartoon strip was one of my favorites to read. Apparently, the creator Berkeley Breathed was a big fan of Honest Tea and he went into an agreement with the Bethesda, MD-company to put Opus on this one flavor, and only this one. So I've tried other Honest Tea flavors and, really, this is the only one I like. Come on, it's Opus! Who wouldn't love it?

In the Kitchen: Chicken Curry Recipe

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:01:00 +0000

Here’s another cooking demo for you, and this one is all about curry. I know, you’re thinking, Single Guy, why make curry in hot weather? It’s that age-old Asian belief that in hot weather, you should get your body hot as well and that maintains the equilibrium. Plus, I live in the part of the Bay Area where you still see people wearing scarves at night around this time.

Curry is also one of my favorite things to make because it’s pretty easy, at least the way I make it.

My apologies if this video seems a bit choppy, but I have a tendency to chatter on. And this time I decided I didn’t want to post another two-parter video. So to keep within the YouTube limit, I had to edit down the video to 10 minutes. Hopefully you’ll still get the gist of the demo. If not, I have the full recipe for you below. Enjoy!

Chicken Curry
Copyright 2009 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients
3 boneless and skinless chicken thighs (about ½ lb.)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 sweet onion, diced
1 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1 t white pepper
2 T curry powder
1 t ground cumin
2 carrots, chopped
2-3 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 ½ cup chicken broth (or 1 can Swanson’s chicken broth)
1 cup water
1 cup coconut cream (or coconut milk)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T cornstarch
Salt to taste

In a small bowl, marinate the chicken with the white pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil. Set aside.

In a large saucepan or pot, warm the oil over medium high heat and add the chicken to brown on both sides. (About 1 to 2 minutes on each side.) Then toss in garlic and onion and cook until onions soften (about 3 to 5 minutes).

Add chicken broth and water. Cover and bring to a medium simmer.

In a small saucepan, warm the curry powder and ground cumin. Then throw everything in with the chicken. Add carrots and cook for about 10 minutes, then add potatoes and cook until all the vegetables are almost tender (about 15-20 minutes, the length depends on how chunky you cut your vegetables).

Just when the vegetables are almost done, add the sugar snap peas and coconut cream. In small bowl create a cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornstarch with a bit of water. Slowly add this to your curry (you might want to bring up the heat so the curry is near boiling) until thickened to the consistency you like. Taste the curry and add salt as needed for taste. Serve with steamed rice.

Makes 6 servings. Pair with a glass of Riesling.

TIP: There’s a variety of curry powder. I personally like this brand called S&B Oriental Curry Powder that you can find at most Safeway stores. The can has a yellow and red label. The curry itself is a yellow curry and on a milder side. If you want spicier curry, try something from the Asian or Indian grocery stores.

WATCH THE HEAT: When adding the vegetables, you’re going to bring down the temperature of your curry pot so you may need to adjust the heat to bring the pot back to a nice simmer, and then you can lower if needed.

Other cooking demos:
Making Mapo Tofu
Making Won Tons
Making Paella in Two Parts

Back for Seconds: Barlata Tapas Bar

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:03:00 +0000

This is an occasional report on return visits to restaurants that I’ve already reviewed.

Settling in Nicely in Temescal
4901 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
Temescal neighborhood
PH: 510.450.0678
Open daily, 5 to 11 p.m.
No reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.barlata.com

Original visit: March 2009

I was happy to see the addition of Barlata and its Spanish tapas in the Temescal neighborhood in Oakland when it opened earlier this year, and recently I returned with my neighbor Joe for an early Sunday dinner.

The interior remains fresh and festive, with the brightly colored decor and a long chalkboard menu on one wall.

Everyone had the same plan as we did and arrived early for dinner, so the room was already packed. But we only had to wait about 20 minutes before a table opened up.

(An interesting observation is that the room was very packed when we started to eat, but by the time we left around 8 p.m., which I consider the prime dining hour, there were quite a few open tables. So maybe eating early isn’t necessarily the best bet here.)

Looking at the restaurant’s all-Spanish wine list, I went for a different wine than the last time and selected the Marques de Campo Nuble crianza, a Rioja. It was well-rounded and full of body, but went nicely with my meal.

It was the first time for Joe at Barlata, so we ended up getting a couple of dishes that I ate the last time. But I also pushed for some new items.

Joe got the soup of the day ($5), which was butternut squash. It was a beautiful color and well seasoned, but the texture was a bit thick. I did like the drizzle of olive oil on top.

The Xato Salad Frisee ($8) was a beautiful plate of frisee mixed with bright orange bonito tuna chunks with salted cod and olives. A couple of anchovies lay on top. The dressing was a light tangy vinaigrette that balanced well with all the ingredients, which were everything I enjoyed in a salad so this was a winner in my book.

Pincho Moruno (Lamb Brochette, $7) were two skewers that lay on top of a cucumber salad and topped with a red pepper sauce. I thought the lamb was perfectly cooked and still had the slight, deep lamb flavor that I like. The cucumber salad was a refreshing counter to the intense flavoring of the lamb.

Mar I Muntanya (Lamb Meatballs with squid and chocolate and tomato sauce, $8) was a dish I had last time and enjoyed, so I recommended it again for Joe. Even though we already had the lamb skewers, the meatballs were slightly different with the chocolate-tomato sauce and the squid on top. The flavor was a bit lacking this time from what I remember, with less oomp.

Lata de Chipirones (Baby Squid Stuffed with Fennel Sausage with ink sauce, $8) is another repeat dish. I really remembered the interesting presentation in the lata can and the tasty sausage stuffed inside the squid. This dish was perfect once again for its taste and presentation.

A new dish we tried was the Gambas Ajillo (Tiger shrimp with garlic, olive oil and adobo sauce, $10). Apparently, this is a popular dish to order and it creates quite a commotion when it comes sizzling on a platter onto your table. The women next to us watched it settled down and asked us if the shrimp were spicy. After a few bites, we told them they weren’t but that they were very tasty. Despite the fiery color, the shrimp had a stronger garlic flavor with just a hint of Spanish seasoning.

All the small plates added up to a fun night of eating a variety of dishes at an excellent pace. The servers didn’t rush us and they brought out — at the most — two orders at a time so that our table wouldn’t get crowded.

After two visits, though, I felt like I’d nearly tried everything I probably would order on Barlata’s extensive menu, which made me hope that more seasonal dishes will be introduced down the road for some variety.

Still, Barlata continues to draw the crowds, and the combination of Spanish wine and delectable tapas is leaving a strong mark on this emerging foodie neighborhood.

Update experience (previous 3.75 stars): Holding strong at 3.75

Related posts:
Barlata: Small Bites Make a Big Splash in Oakland
César: Spanish Flavors Wake Up Piedmont Avenue
Laïola: Scrumptious Small Bites with the Neighborhood Crowd

NFNS: Season 5, Episode 3

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:37:00 +0000

Summering with the Barefoot Contessa

Previously: It was a holiday celebration, but Teddy and Brett didn’t give any holiday cheer to Melissa, whom they helped plate her dish and then took all the credit for it. Karma’s a bitch, so that meant it bit Brett in the butt and he’s out. Tonight: Ty-Flo’s in the grocery store and the Barefoot Contessa has some friends coming over. Is Melissa planning to serve raw chicken? And more tears to come.

Is it just me but does it seem like there are fewer Food Network stars in the opening promo? It’s like they’re running out of big names. They better get cranking on the star-making machine.

Opening scenes of food carts in Manhattan. The contestants are waking up and Melissa feels the tension after Teddy threw her under the bus. (It was actually more Brett who did the throwing, and Teddy went along for the ride.) Michael misses home, and yes, his hair does stand up when he wakes up.

The contestants arrive at a grocery store called Stew Leonards and there’s Tyler Florence looking like he’s ready for a ski trip. He tells them “settle down.” Class is in session. Professor Ty-Flo tells them they have to shop for a budget dinner party, spending only $60 for 12 people. (That’s $5 per person, which is how much I spend for lunch, not dinner.) He also tells them they have to record a 30-second tip in front of the camera on how to stretch your food dollar. Melissa the Mom is stoked because you know moms and coupons.

They start scrambling to find things to buy and each contestant takes turns going up to Ty-Flo to record their tip. First up is Teddy, and he starts screaming into the camera. STOP says Ty-Flo, and he’s like, “are you always like this?” Teddy gives some tip about ground beef and meatloaf but I didn’t really understand it. Doesn’t matter because Ty-Flo thinks Teddy is cartoonish. Teddy’s like, OK.

Next is Jeffrey, and he talks about making crepes for dessert, which sounds difficult but he says can be cheap because you can just use Nutella instead of spending money on fruits. He says he makes it with his daughter for breakfast. Tyler likes Jeffrey’s smooth presentation, and I was impressed that he said a lot and was still able to come in under 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, Michael a Go-Go™ is busy trying to figure out what to buy. And then he says most of his dinner parties include tons of cheese and appetizers and typically costs $1,000. Um, are you sure that’s not your bar tab, Michael?

Melissa the Mom does her tip about green onions and how you can keep the roots and the white parts and put them in a glass of water and it’ll regenerate and you’ll have more green onions. Ty-Flo liked the tip, but I’m thinking, um, you usually get more flavor with the white parts so if you don’t use it because you’re busy growing green onions, then really you’re missing out lady.

Michael a Go-Go™ is up with his tip and he starts talking about entertaining on a budget, and he seems all over the place. He’s not even looking at the camera and Ty-Flo has to point him in the right direction. STOP. Tyler tells Michael that he’s not making any sense. Michael admits to that, and Ty-Flo mutters to himself, “utter nonsense” but it sounded like “udder nonsense” to me. Ha! That would be funny huh? You know, Ty-Flo is in cow country now that he lives in Marin, Calif., so maybe he did mean “udder” nonsense. Ha! I crack myself up.

Jamaican Jamika can’t find anything she wants at the store for her salmon. Ugh, salmon? She just made that for the Good Housekeeping magazine feature. I’m getting bored of salmon. Then she does her tip about re-using marinade, and even she realizes that that was a stupid tip because marinade that had raw meat sitting in it will still have the bacteria even after you remove the meat.

Debbie does her tip about using squash and zucchini, and Tyler tells her “you have no message.” Ty-Flo is brutally honest today and I love it. He’s like a grouchy law professor. Ty-Flo: “Ms. Debbie, cite the relevant case to support your argument.” Debbie: “But Professor Tyler, I just want to make dumplings.” Ty-Flo: “STOP. This is just udder nonsense.”

Eddie is next and he says he’s more nervous to be in front of Ty-Flo. He says something about using fresh herbs as a garnish, and I didn’t really get how that saves money. Tyler doesn’t think Eddie’s message is clear either.

Katie the Health Nut seems frazzled but she does her tip and starts talking about shopping for organic. STOP. Ty-Flo says she’s off point. Then she talks about how protein can be expensive so you should focus on grains and beans. Ty-Flo’s like “hallelujah” but I was more like, really?

After they pay for their groceries at the checkout, Ty-Flo tells them that Michael a Go-Go™, Jamaican Jamika and Teddy didn’t get the challenge. Tyler says Jamika’s tip about reusing marinade is going to kill someone, but he does like her energy. He tells Michael he’s lost and Teddy is a used car salesman. Teddy says he’s going to tone it done, although it sounded like he says he’s going to tune it down.

After all that, Ty-Flo names Jeffrey the winner and he gets an advantage but of course he won’t know what the advantage is until later.

Commercials. Today’s trivial tip from Terminix: cockroaches carry 3,000 infectious diseases. Doh.

It’s the next morning, or they’re using the same wake-up footage from earlier in the hour because they’re showing Melissa the Mom putting on makeup again. I mean, yeah, she probably puts on make-up every morning, but do we have to be treated to two scenes of her putting on makeup?

They jump in the van and head to East Hampton. Everyone’s trying to figure out where they’re going, but some of them already have a feeling that they’re heading to, no, not Martha’s, but to Ina’s place, better known as the Barefoot Contessa. (Even though Ina Garten’s laugh has had to grow on me over the years, I have to say her show is one of the few cooking shows that I watch consistently. And she hasn’t wavered from her demonstrating cooking unlike other stars who have hit the road, although sometimes she does do travelogues from Paris.)

They walk into the Barefoot Contessa’s beautiful home (which actually might not be her real home but just her studio home, but knowing her she probably owns several homes), which she calls her barn. Garten tells them they have to cook for her friends and the judges. Everyone gets excited until Bobby says they have to work in teams, making three courses.

Jeffrey gets to pick his teammate since he won the shopping challenge so he picks Michael (I would have picked Debbie). Speaking of Debbie, she’s worried she’ll be paired with Teddy (I’m guessing everyone interviewed they didn’t want to be with Teddy) and of course, Bobby names Debbie and Teddy as the first team. Other teams are Eddie and Melissa the Mom, and Jamaican Jamika and Health Nut Katie.

They have one hour to cook their dishes and then two minutes to present to the dinner guests. But the Food Network is really walking on egg shells around Garten (I guess when you’re a Contessa you get that royal treatment) and Bobby says they don’t want to mess up her set so instead of all four teams cooking at once, they’re going to cook in shifts. Which seems weird for the dinner guests because that must mean they eat twice with one hour between each sitting. (I bet a lot of booze was passed around between servings.)

Cooking first is Teddy and Debbie’s team and Eddie and Melissa. They plan out their menu and Debbie decides to do a vegetable linguine for an appetizer and they decide to collaborate on a Pan-Asian meatloaf for the entrée. Teddy agrees to do the dessert as his dish, and he’s going to make an English trifle.

Over at Eddie and Melissa’s world, Eddie plans on a watermelon-sweet onion salad and Melissa does a lemon-thyme chicken. They agree to work together on the dessert.

So far Teddy seems to be getting along with Debbie. They’re actually working really well together as they mold the meat loaf, and they’re loving the sweet-sour sauce they’re creating to go with it. But over at Eddie and Melissa’s, Eddie is constantly talking about how he doesn’t want to be with Melissa and how he’s just looking out for himself. There’s no I in “team,” Eddie.

Commercials. Dixie, please stop pushing your paper plates. You’re clogging the landfills with your seduction of America’s lazy people.

Back in the kitchen, Melissa’s stressing out as usual about cooking her chicken because she doesn’t want to serve raw chicken. Um, good plan. Eddie’s proud of his watermelon-sweet onion salad and I’m kind of wondering about it. I’m not a fan of onions, but I do like watermelon salad. I think the combo, though, isn’t going to work no matter how much feta cheese you put in it.

Melissa the Mom is picking up on the fact that Eddie doesn’t like her. She says he’s talking mean to her, and I have to agree. In fact, Eddie’s kind of being a jerk.

Teddy is all excited about “his” meatloaf, until he remembers that he’s working with Debbie. Then they have five minutes left to cook and that’s when Teddy remembers that he has to make the dessert. OMG, talk about absent-minded professor. How can you make a good dessert in five minutes? Apparently you can’t because Teddy whips together some pudding and cuts up some cake (I bet it’s angel food cake because you know how Debbie loves that) and then slaps some strawberries on top.

The Barefoot Contessa greets all her guests in the friendly, hugging way she always does and they sit down with the judges (Bobby, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson) for the first presentation.

That’s Melissa and Eddie, and Eddie puts on his smiling face, which is so weird because he didn’t smile at all when working with Melissa. Melissa is bubbling as usual and talks about how she’s the pantry queen and makes dinner out of desperation by looking at what’s in the pantry. For their dessert, they collaborated on a banana fosters Nutella quesadilla.

Ina says Melissa glows in the dark, which is a compliment about her presence. But she doesn’t like her chicken, which is cooked but has no flavor. She likes the quesadilla, but people didn’t like the salad because, duh, the onions overpowered the watermelon. One guy says their personalities were better than the food, so they’re lucky we still haven’t invented taste television.

Debbie and Teddy present their dishes and he’s like another person. He’s totally calm, and he credits Debbie’s calmness for bringing him to a zen moment. Debbie says she’s proud of Teddy because he came off the most real so far. Bob likes their meatloaf but Bobby hated the dessert that really came off store bought. But watching these critiques, I really noticed that most people were differing to Garten and letting her do most of the commenting. She really is like a goddess on the Food Network.

After the commercial break, it’s the second shift and Michael and Jeffrey starts planning their food. (I wonder how they kept them from talking about their food for an hour while the first teams cooked?) Jamaican Jamika says she doesn’t feel like she’s melding with Health Nut Katie. Their dishes are clashing with her making an Asian marinated salmon and Katie making Italian pasta with chicken sausage.

Jamaican Jamika is worried weather the store-bought marinade will have enough sweetness, so she squirts an orange onto her baby salmon slices. (They do look pretty small, but I like that trick for a quick citrus bite to the salmon.)

While Jamika worries about sweetness, Jeffrey’s worried about spice. His soup might not have enough of it so he adds back the seeds from his chilies.

Nine minutes left to cook and Michael a Go-Go™ is falling apart. He cuts himself with his knife and then smoke is in his eyes and his mascara is running. Yep, you read that right. He says he’s off today, or more correctly he says he’s “oweoff.”

Seeing that Michael’s a mess, Jeffrey tries to prep him so that Michael doesn’t drag him down with him. They’re up first so they present their tomato soup, which was their combo effort, and then Michael’s broccoli rabe with sausage and grilled chicken. Jeffrey has to prompt him to talk about boiling the broccoli rabe. For dessert, Jeffrey made his Nutella crepes and he talks again about how he and his daughter would make it for breakfast together.

One of the guests asks Michael what’s on top of the soup and he totally blanks out and flummoxes for a bit until Jeffrey jumps in to explain the crouton.

The Barefoot Contessa likes the presentation of their dishes, calling them elegant. And Bob Tuschman says he couldn’t tell that these were budget dishes. Most people wanted more heat in the soup, while most liked the entrée. Garten thinks Michael was all over the place in his presentation but Jeffrey was able to connect with her.

Jamika and the Health Nut are next, and Jamika is smooth as usual. She’s always so warm and friendly in her presentations. They mostly just talk about their dishes.

Garten says she likes the salmon and that they were cooked really well, but she didn’t like the two dishes together. She feels the collaboration wasn’t there. Tuschman is still bothered by the Health Nut’s healthy eating messages. This is why he’s not working at Cooking Light.

Commercials. What’s with Superpages.com? Why can’t they call themselves the Yellow Pages any more? I don’t need Superman to help me Google something.

Judgment time. Melissa the Mom is still nervous about her chicken and Eddie looks bored.

At the judges’ table, Bob says Garten is the most beloved Food Network star, which is probably true although I bet Paula Deen is battling for that title. Then they get into the team critiques and it went along these lines:

Jamaican Jamika and The Health Nut: They didn’t have any collaboration and their “international” theme was a cop-out. Still, everyone loved the well-cooked salmon by Jamika. Katie, not so much.

Jeffrey and Michael a Go-Go™: Couldn’t tell the dishes had a budget, but soup not spicy enough after all the promo, and Bob dinged Jeffrey for telling the story again about his daughter making crepes with him for breakfast. (In Jeffrey’s defense, there’s no way to know that the 30-second tip he taped would be seen by Garten’s guests, and I’m not even sure if it was. So it may just be Bob who heard the story twice, but to others it’s brand new.) Michael, on the other hand, is off his game and he blames it on being homesick.

Eddie and Melissa: Bobby calls Eddie on his eye rolls, which Bobby saw on the tape from their work in the kitchen. BUSTED! Bobby tells Eddie to have some chivalry in the kitchen. They felt Melissa’s chicken dish needed more seasoning and Eddie’s onion-watermelon dish was overpowered by the onions, and that’s when Eddie says he made this many times from a Paula Deen cookbook, which makes everyone drop their jaws and roll their eyes. (Eddie is really in this, I-don’t-have-a-clue mode huh? If you’re going to compete, don’t plagiarize other people’s recipes.)

Debbie and Teddy: They liked Debbie’s dish but Susie calls Teddy’s dessert “an abomination.” Then Teddy tries to distance himself from the dessert by saying the meatloaf was more his dish. That is so uncool because he worked with Debbie on the meatloaf and now he’s trying to pass it off as his own. Oooh, he’s a real cheater. Debbie calls him on it and says she has a problem with his honesty and integrity. I do to. So do the rest of the judges, and the viewing public. Teddy, you’ve sunk lower than any Next Food Network Star contestant has ever sunk. And that includes the whole JAG false resume fiasco. Teddy the Cheat cries a bit.

Commercials. Bank of America is pushing its “clarity commitment,” which supposedly are home loans that are easy to understand and clearly stated. Yeah, it’s clear you’re charging an arm-and-a-leg in interest.

Bobby names Jeffrey and Michael the winning team. They’re both safe and excused from the room. Also excused are Debbie, Jamika, Melissa and Katie. That’s all the girls, so that means Teddy and Eddie are left.

Upstairs, the safe contestants chat about the Teddy fiasco and Jeffrey calls Teddy self-destructive. Jamika is all like “here we go again” and they talk about how Teddy threw Melissa under the bus last week. Debbie feels like she’s been sucker-punched after having a mildly pleasant time working with Teddy the Cheat.

The judges talk about the two guys after they’re excused for a moment. It’s interesting how the judges are actually saying who they want out, I guess because it’s obvious that both men are pretty much goners in the next two weeks. Susie is frustrated with Eddie, saying he’s amateurish in the kitchen. Bob votes for Teddy and Bobby wants to kick out Eddie.

Upstairs, Teddy the Cheat apologizes and cries in front of the group. He blames the cameras for bringing out the bad in him and he says he’ll now try to bring the good. Yeah, it’s always the camera with these folks. Or the editing.

The two guys return for judgment and Bobby sends Eddie home, and Eddie says “no problem.” I would have rather seen Teddy go first before Eddie, but I guess the producers wanted to see what scheming, screwed up mess he’ll get himself into next week.

Teddy, of course, is all relieved and he admits to making some bad decisions to the group. Debbie says she hoped he learned from his experience. I wouldn’t put any money on it.

Next time: Guy Fieri and his big hair shows up, and they all go on a big Navy ship. Must be Fleet Week. Debbie gets whacked in the eye with a pan, and Bobby says no one is grabbing the title. (Really? I thought Jamika and Jeffrey have been doing pretty well so far. I guess that’s not saying much in Bobby’s eyes.)

The Next Food Network Star airs 9 p.m. Sundays (and repeats at the same time Thursdays) on the Food Network. Check your local listing. Photos courtesy of the Food Network Web site.

Are you a star?
We're not even half-way through Season 5 and the Food Network has just announced a call for applicants for "The Next Food Network Star" Season 6! If you think you have it to be on the Food Network, go to www.foodnetwork.com/star to submit your application. They're also having open calls in select cities. San Francisco is a logical stop, and casting directors will be here on July 26 at the W Hotel. Spruce up that frying pan!

Previous recaps:
Episode 1
Episode 2

A Food Gal Dinner

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:27:00 +0000

I rarely make it down to the South Bay, but when you get an invitation to a home-cooked dinner from Food Gal, you find any means to get there. So that's where I was last night for a lovely dinner by my friend Carolyn, who pens the delightful Food Gal blog.

If you're a regular reader of Food Gal, you know that she loves to bake. That's why I decided to showcase first this beautiful peach-and-blueberry cake Carolyn made for dessert. Doesn't it look perfect for summer? The evening was an actual perfect summertime dinner. But I'm getting waaay ahead of myself. There were other great food before we got to dessert.

When we arrived, Carolyn had some snacks for us, including a plate of salumi and this spread made of goat cheese and pesto and topped with bay shrimp. I liked how the goat cheese softened the taste of the pesto and also creating a beautiful shade of green to play off the pink shrimp.

Carolyn's married to Meat Boy, so of course he was manning the grill cooking this toploin that he marinaded himself and cooked to the perfect temperature. (Oh, speaking of meat, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Hope someone's grilling for you today!)

Joining us at dinner were other food bloggers, including Nate and Annie of The House of Annie and Andrea Nguyen and her husband. Andrea is the noted cookbook author of "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen" and has two blogs. One called Viet World Kitchen and her new blog Asian Dumpling Tips, which she started in conjunction with her latest book about dumplings coming out in August. Rounding out the table was Terrence Khuu, a Bay Area chef who has cooked at places as Le Colonial.

BTW, you're probably wonder what I cooked for this dinner, and I didn't. When Carolyn plans a dinner, she thinks of everything. So I brought a bottle of wine, which was a white Torrontes wine from Argentina. You know I've fallen in love with Argentine wine since my trip last year, and the Torrontes is a bright floral and fruity wine that's ideal for warm weather. You should look for it at stores and try it!

Among the food served at dinner was this tasty chicken dish, which added a real Mediterranean feel to the dinner. And why not? Carolyn used a recipe from the Pinxtos cookbook by Piperade Chef and Owner Gerald Hirigoyen.

The chicken thighs were cooked on the grill by Meat Boy and then sat in a bed of sauce made of peppers and tomatoes. I know people say food bloggers use the word yummy too often, but YUM-MY!

At the end of dinner, Carolyn brought out a bottle of absinthe that she blogged about awhile back. Since she and Meat Boy aren't big drinkers, they've been trying to get rid of this bottle of absinthe by offering it to anyone who comes to their home. Three of us decided to give it a try. Carolyn said the proper way to drink absinthe (this alcohol was popular in France and then banned for many years before it came back a couple of years ago) is to pour it in a glass with ice. Then the olive-colored liquor turns cloudy.

The absinthe has a really strong licorice flavor, or sometimes like fennel (both tastes very related). I didn't think the alcohol was necessarily very strong and wondered what the big whoop-de-do was all these years. I actually liked drinking it without ice as a shot (yeah, I'm a lush like that) because you get a tingle and the licorice flavor isn't as dominant.

Speaking of unusual food and drink, Chef Terrence brought this jackfruit for dessert. Popular in Southeast Asia, this fruit is very hard to explain. To me, it looks like Hawaiian breadfruit, and it can grow to humungous sizes. Above, Andrea prepares to take out the fruit. I know, it's like major surgery, but really she's wearing the glove because the fruit has a web-like stickiness to it so the gloves just makes it easier to handle.

Chef Terrence and Annie jumped in to help get the most out of the jackfruit. Annie, who's originally from Malaysia, is a big fan of jackfruit, and describes it as "heavenly." But for me, I have to disagree. The fruit isn't one of my favorite Southeast Asian fruit. I first tried it in Vietnam and thought it was weird, and the same again last night. It's creamy with slight hints of banana, but doesn't a bowl of it look like eyeballs at a Halloween party?

This is the kind of dessert that's more my style, and we get back to Carolyn's peach-and-blueberry cake, which she served with some whipped cream. The cake was like a cross between a pound cake and a fruit pie because of the soft interior and crispy exterior. The fresh peaches cooked down to create a custard-like filling right in the center. It was both beautiful and refreshing to eat.

It was a fun evening of good food and lots of talk about, well, food. Thanks Carolyn for including me and for a wonderful evening. Cheers to you!

Related dinner posts:
"Sunday Supper at Jessie's"
"The Makings of a Seductive Supper"
"Home Cooking: A Conversation with Dan Perlman of Casa Salt Shaker"

Father’s Day Grilling Class at Two

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:04:00 +0000

Two is the San Francisco restaurant that for many years was known as Hawthorne Lane. (The restaurant is on the tiny Hawthorne Lane alley in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood, and its address is 22 Hawthorne, thus the focus on the number 2.)

What some of you might not know is Two’s chef and owner, David Gingrass, teaches a monthly cooking class on Saturdays right in the restaurant’s kitchen. I read about the classes a couple of years ago after eating at the restaurant, but because the size is limited and pretty popular, you have to enter your name in a “lottery” to even get a chance to enroll.

I put my name in on Two’s Web site and never heard back, which is typical since I never win in Super Lotto either. But a few months ago I tried again, and this time I got an email saying I was selected for the June class with the theme, “Father’s Day Grilling.” Even though I still had to pay for the class ($80 per person), I still felt like I had won the lottery.

So last Saturday I showed up at 10:30 a.m. at the restaurant along with 18 other students (the class is limited to 20). We were served coffee or mimosas (I don’t drink coffee so I went for a mimosa) at the bar as we met our fellow classmates. Eventually Chef Gingrass showed up and took us back to the kitchen to start our class. (Gingrass initially thought of doing the grilling class outside but because of the overcast weather last weekend, we stayed in the kitchen.)

Chef Gingrass was behind the counter and encouraged others to join him and get our hands dirty in the kitchen. A few hung around the other side of the counter observing, and two friendly servers regularly refilled our glasses of mimosas and wine. We were making six different dishes that day, all related to a summer barbeque that would be perfect for any Father’s Day celebration.

First we made a dish Gingrass called “Peel and Eat Shrimp” served with toasted garlic bread and a dipping sauce. This was fairly easy by shelling the huge shrimp he had and then boiling it in a big pot of water infused with a variety of ingredients like celery, onions, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, fennel, vinegar, ginger powder, mustard seeds, bay leaves, cloves and garlic. I was glad others jumped in to peel the shrimp because I didn’t want my fingers to get dirty so I could keep snapping pictures.

Since the shrimp was so easy to make, it was the first dish ready for us to eat. We passed around plates of shrimp and garlic bread. The bread was so perfectly golden brown I knew it would be hard for me to duplicate at home because we were using Two’s industrial-strength appliances. The shrimp was amazing on its own that few of us even bothered dipping it in the butter sauce.

Our main dish was barbequed baby back ribs, and Chef Gingrass put a few slabs of them covered with foil into the oven. (Although we were encouraged to jump in, the class was really watching Gingrass demonstrate the recipes. I didn’t mind though because it’s always interesting seeing how different chefs work.) While the ribs were cooking, we got down to making the sides: an apple slaw with savoy cabbage and a bow-tie pasta salad.

A meal can’t go without dessert, so Two’s pastry chef Bryn Robson (formerly of Cortez) joined our class to show us how to make a peach and blackberry “buckle.” It was the first time I ever heard of a buckle, but it’s similar to a cobbler except you put the crust on the bottom and throughout the fruit, and not just the top. Chef Robson showed us how to make a mini version in a ramekin but she had already made a huge tray of the buckle for our class.

Men like their meat so Chef Gingrass also showed us how to grill a pepper-crusted New York strip loin. He salted the meat at the last minute and then threw the beef into his wood-burning grill. I bet you guys all wish you could have this grill at your home huh?

We also watched as Chef Gingrass prepared a basic barbeque sauce, and then when the ribs were cooked, he slathered the sauce on the racks before throwing them on the grill to give them that nice color.

Don’t these ribs just make your mouth water? They were ri-dic-u-lous! I was so glad we were about to eat.

The class went by fast and I didn’t realize it was already 12:30 p.m. when we sat down in the restaurant to eat. It was buffet style and we just grabbed our food and went into the dining room to enjoy our work (well, mostly Chef Gingrass’ work).

Here’s my plate. Everything was so amazing and really pretty simple when you look at the recipe. I don’t have a picture of the New York strip loin because Chef Gingrass wanted it to rest for awhile, but the servers brought us some slices later. The meat turned out really tender and juicy.

Here’s Chef Robson’s peach and blackberry buckle with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. This definitely tasted like it came out of a restaurant kitchen because the crust and crumble on top was so perfectly crunchy. This was really sooo good. I’m going to try and make it at home, but I don’t know if it’ll compare.

The class was a really fun way to spend my Saturday. It was also fun to meet other people in the class and to help each other cook. I heard next month’s class in on lobsters. That’s definitely winning the lottery!

Two restaurant, 22 Hawthorne Street (at Howard). PH: 415.777.9779. www.two-sf.com

Other cooking experiences:
Cooking Up Dinner and a Date
Vote for the Argentine Empanada ’08
Creating Elegant Vegetarian Dishes

Dish on Dining: Luce

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:46:00 +0000

A Taste of Elegance and Style
888 Howard St. (inside InterContinental Hotel), San Francisco
SOMA
PH: 415.616.6566
Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner (with weekend brunch)
Major credit cards, reservations accepted
www.lucewinerestaurant.com

The last couple of weeks wrapped up the second half of Dine About Town for the year — the annual showcase of Bay Area restaurants with three-course lunch and dinner deals at $21.95 and $34.95, respectively.

I took the opportunity to try a place I normally wouldn’t go to, and planned a get-together with my Single Guys dinner group (Billy, Ken and Doug). After throwing out some options and doing some American Idol-style voting, we ended up at Luce restaurant on the ground floor of the relatively new InterContinental Hotel at Fifth and Howard Streets.

The hotel’s exterior looks like a huge white parking tower, and the indiscreet appearance becomes a poor showcase for the corner restaurant. The windows are darkened so you can’t look in, and the grand front entrance on Howard is unexplainably locked. After feeling like a fool jiggling the big glass door, I walked around to the driveway to enter the hotel and find the restaurant’s reception area past the front desk and the bar.

Billy, Ken and Doug had beaten me to the restaurant, so once I arrived we were ready to order. Luce (pronounced “LOO-chay”) is headed by Chef Dominique Crenn, a French-reared female chef who was named last year as the “Best Chef of the Year” by Esquire magazine. That’s a big reputation for Chef Crenn to uphold, but she does have the kitchen chops, having worked at such places as the former Stars, Campton Place and 2223 Market.

The Dine About Town menu for the night offered two options for the starter and entrée and one dessert. Ken and Doug started with the County Line Baby Lettuce Spring Vegetable Salad with a light vinaigrette. It was a simple green salad that was elegant plated on an ash grey slate slab.

Billy and I went for the White Asparagus Velouté (pronounced “veh-LOO-tay”), which we learned is a stock-based sauce like a soup. A big white shallow bowl with a few sprigs of white asparagus and tiny wild flowers was placed in front of me and then the server poured the velouté at the table.

While the velouté was thicker than most soups I’ve had, the taste was distinctively enticing. With each spoonful, I enjoyed a rich mixture of tastes — from sweet to savory to tangy. The complexity of the velouté was nicely balanced.

For the entrée, the DAT menu offered a Niman Ranch Braised Short Ribs and a Halibut with Wild Mushrooms and Glazed Leeks. Everyone on our table went with the halibut, so unfortunately I don’t have any photos of the ribs.

But there was a good reason why the halibut was the choice of the night. The beautifully plated and nicely seared halibut steak was peppered with colorful ingredients that provided (like the velouté) a complexity of flavors and tastes. I liked that the menu didn’t list all the ingredients because it gave our table the chance to discuss the different items we ate and guessing what it could be.

The fish itself was incredibly prepared, almost like it was poached in butter because the texture was silken like soft tofu. The light sauce benefited from the mix of ingredients, which included the likes of morel and porcini mushrooms, baby leeks, thinly sliced kumquats and a quarter onion. The dish screamed spring till the very end, when my last scoop of the sauce provided a zing of citrus to remind me that this was no ordinary fish plate.

I don’t have to say that the halibut was a hit with everyone at the table. (Oh, I guess I did just say it. Well, it was.)

The final course was dessert, which was a Nutella Pot de Crème. The rich nutty-chocolate custard was served topped with whipped cream. The texture was thick and smooth, but it still tasted light although it probably wasn’t. The flavor leaned heavily on the chocolate rather than the nutty, but it was still enjoyable.

Luce restaurant is an elegant space with a spa feel, but still can’t get away from the feeling of being a hotel restaurant. I imagine it as a popular spot for business travelers, and the high-end feel makes it more likely to be a destination for celebratory dinners.

Side note: The service is friendly and efficient, but leans more toward the less visible and intrusive. They were really in the background. Even the kitchen is seen but not seen. The open kitchen is actually behind a glass wall displaying bottles of wine.

Dine About Town allows people to try restaurants they normally wouldn’t and offers just a taste of what the chef can do. If Luce’s DAT menu is any indication, I will definitely make plans to return for either Chef Crenn’s regular menu or Sunday tasting menu because the food is definitely playful, refined and tasty.

Single guy rating: 4.25 stars (Refined and refreshing)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Other spots with similar rankings:
RN74: “All Aboard on a Glamorous Wine Bar”
Jardiniere: “Eat Away the Monday Blues in Luxury”
La Mar: “A Continuing Lesson on Peruvian Cuisine”

Asian Chefs Shine at East West Eats

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:24:00 +0000

Slowly but surely, Asians are becoming more visible in society. I’m seeing more Asian male broadcast anchors after years of the Connie Chung factor, and more Asian actors are being cast in mainstream TV roles (B.W. Wong on “Law and Order: SVU” and more recently Tim Kang on “The Mentalist.”)

In the Bay Area, there are several notable Asian chefs, but few of them get the widespread recognition enjoyed by the likes of Hubert Keller or Nate Appleman. But this past Sunday, many of the area’s best Asian chefs got some face time as they were featured in a fund-raising event at the War Memorial in San Francisco.

“East West Eats” raised scholarship money for the local chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association with an elegant party featuring small bites from popular restaurants such as Betelnut, Le Colonial, Namu, Poleng Lounge, Slanted Door and Shanghai 1930, just to name a few.

There were a variety of stations with the restaurants and chefs plating up their featured dishes. Also making the rounds were a few items created by a catering company called Living Room Events. Above, I tried the cod with grape tomato. It was light and beautifully presented on a lime-green lacquer tray.

It was kind of overwhelming seeing all the food there. I’ve been to food events where the food were mostly gone by the time I wanted to take pictures, but I was impressed by the crowd control and pacing of East West Eats. There was definitely enough food to go around. The Sichuan chili dumpling from Shanghai 1930 was tasty with a slight kick, and someone made a salmon/watermelon roll that was very easy to eat. The Slanted Door’s Vietnamese imperial rolls with peanut sauce was very straight-forward but filling, and the chef at Silverado Vineyards served up a Wild Oregon bay shrimp salad with microgreens and mustard aioli.

Poleng Lounge’s Tim Luym served up two dishes: a tofu vegetarian dish on a spoon and beer-braised beef tongue with mushrooms on a bamboo skewer. I tried the beef tongue cubed and loved the tenderness of it. Some guests were a bit put off by the beef tongue, but I thought it took a lot of balls for Chef Luym to serve it at a party.

One of the highlights of the evening was running into fellow food blogger Passionate Eater, who was there with her husband. Passionate Eater is always so funny when it comes to hunting down food, and she was also very helpful in helping me style my food before I photographed them. Here she is giving me a hand.

This is the third year of this East West Eats event, and the first time at the War Memorial (last year it was at the Ferry Building). The second-floor event room had a balcony that looked onto San Francisco City Hall. This is a great venue for events, IMHO.

Other fun bites were an ahi tartare from Ponzu with baked wonton chip. Namu’s Korean-style kimbap “taco” was very popular, although I questioned whether it was really a “taco” and not more of a deconstructed roll sitting on nori sheets. Still, it had incredible flavor and tender meat with this great sauce binding them all together. Le Colonial presented a honey-ginger glazed spare rib that was nicely cooked. The meat easily pulled from the bone, and I liked how the glaze wasn’t wet and sticky but more on the dry side which made it easier to eat with your fingers at a public event like this. There was a crispy aloo tikkis from an Indian restaurant called Maharani. It’s a potato cake but the one I tried was a bit soggy while others said theirs were crispy. I guess it depended on when you got there.

A nice spread of desserts was presented by Hilton San Francisco (I’ve been at other food events where the Hilton chefs made desserts so they must be proud of their pastry chefs). I was a bit bummed because you can see in this picture, which I snapped early in the evening, that there was a tray of French macarons (bottom left) but by the time I was ready for dessert they were all gone! Still, I tried the “chocolate pillow,” which was this super-soft brownie-like thing that was dusted in powdered sugar and it was fantastic.

The legendary Martin Yan also did a cooking demonstration. Yan and his “Yan Can Cook” cooking series on PBS is probably most Americans’ introduction to an Asian celebrity chef. Yan didn’t disappoint the crowd, showing off his chopping technique and trademark smile.

He did two demonstrations, and at the second demonstration Passionate Eater and I were able to get a seat in the front row. That meant we also got to try the dish he made, which was a shrimp pineapple stir fry. It’s your typical Chinese sweet-sour seafood dish, but I loved the freshness of his ingredients and the ease he showed in balancing the flavors.

There were many more dishes that I either didn’t get to try or didn’t photograph well. One of my favorites was the Vietnamese pho from Butterfly. The chicken soup with pho noodles was perfectly cooked and so hearty. It’s rare to find this type of dishes served up at other food events around town.

It was a fun evening of trying Asian classics with a new twist, and hanging out with friends. As word gets around, I bet this annual event will get even more popular, raising the profiles even more for Asian chefs.

Recent events I’ve explored:
Big Idea Party at YBCA
San Francisco Oysterfest

NFNS: Season 5, Episode 2

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:12:00 +0000

Sent Packin’ Home for the Holidays

Previously: The contestants arrive and are thrown into catering mode as they throw a party for the Food Network’s 16th anniversary. Katie talks to Ted Allen about his digestive track, and Eddie needs to bring it so he can brought it as promised. Tonight: Giada DeLaurentiis spreads the holiday joy and Melissa is a loose canon in the kitchen. That feeds into drama in the judgment room.

You know, it’s only been a week and I already forgot all these people’s name. Thanks to the opening I know we have Teddy, Melissa the Mom, Michael a Go-Go™ (because he’s global cuisine), Brett, Debbie, Edward (Eddie, really), Katie, Jeffrey, Jen (goner) and Jamaican Jamika.

Opening scenes: Wow, that’s some pretty hard rock music playing on the Food Network. We know, you want to attract the tweens. But can you turn it down?

The contestants wake up and arrive at the Food Network kitchen where there’s a row of shiny domed platters. In comes Bobby Flay and Ryan D’Agostino, articles editor at Esquire magazine. (I wonder if he’s related to all those D’Agostino markets in New York? Food must be in his blood.) Bobby says their challenge is to bring food to life in the rapidly dying industry of print journalism. D’Agostino says the winner of today’s challenge will be featured in Esquire magazine, and Michael is quick to point out that he’s not the “Esquire man.”

Bobby says under each domed platter are ingredients that are typically found in the pantry of the Esquire man. They lift off the domes and I was sure they’d find condoms and negligee, but instead there are a lot of different cuts of meat and supposedly odd-matching ingredients like pistachio, pickles, and maple syrup.

They have 45 minutes to whip up a dish and they all start grabbing ingredients and cooking. Each of them starts talking about what they’re planning to make and they all seem pretty straight-forward. Katie grabs some cereal and says that’s how she’s going to make her rack of lamb healthy, while Brett is going to make hamburgers with pickles on the side. I can already hear the judges complaining how he’s not incorporating it into the dish. I would have chopped up the pickles and made a cole slaw topping that goes with the burger. It’s not that original, I’ve seen Bobby Flay do it before. But it’s better than just saying, “um, yeah, I opened the pickle jar and placed them on the side of the dish.”

Speaking of garnish, Melissa the Mom also has a similar problem with her ingredient, which is maraschino cherries, which is really a garnish too. She at least chops them up and blends them into a sauce for her tajine.

Michael is making some kind of Colombia coffee rub for his pork chop, and he’s really into doing that Jersey accent where he says coffee like “kwaffey” like those ladies from the Coffee Talk time on SNL.

Katie cuts into her lamb and it’s rare. And we’re not just talking about some pink here and there. I think I just heard it go “baaaah.”

You can tell the time crunch is really affecting a few contestants who are still getting used to cooking under pressure, especially Melissa the Mom. She didn’t even have time to throw her maraschino cherries into the sauce and instead when time is up she plops two cherries on top of her dish like they were ice cream sundaes. What’s even worst is that she doesn’t even bother to cover up and actually tells the judges later that, yeah, they look like sundaes, don’t they?

When time is up, Bobby tells them they now have to do a one-minute presentation in front of the camera and for some reason Eddie is jumping up and down like he’s either really jazzed about the prospects or he really needs to use the bathroom.

Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson join Bobby and that Esquire editor to watch the presentation, and up first is Jumpin’ Eddie. And you know what? He’s a totally different person. He actually comes off energetic and personable, and not the drone that he was last week. He talks about his steak and fat for flavor and appealing to the manly man readers of Esquire. The only comment the judges have is Tuschman calling Eddie “twitchy” but he can dial it down for broadcast. (“Twitchy” is the new favorite word for judges to describe nervous contestants, I’ve noticed.)

Melissa the Mom is next and her sundae plates look like a mess, then she starts talking about how it’s so simple that you can feed it to a baby or a toddler. I don’t know what kind of Amazon children she’s raising but I don’t think any baby would eat through all that meat. All the judges are baffled, and Tuschman says the food has no flavor.

Jamaican Jamika presents her porterhouse steak with whiskey and molasses glaze and she’s so good. She comes off really warm and friendly and smooth — ooops — spoke too soon because she forgot what she was going to say, now she’s struggling with her words, oh, the time is running out. Oh no this is terrible I can’t NOT watch. She basically wraps it up with some more mumbling and then gives off an exasperated flubbing noise at the end. Bobby, the only guy on the judges’ panel with on-air experience, feels for her. But the judges do say the dish tastes good.

Jeffrey is up next and he’s super casual and calm, and he really talks about food like sex. You really want it, and you want it NOW! But in the end, he never shares anything about himself and that’s what Susie jumps all over.

Next is a Guy Fieri-wannabe as Teddy comes on really loud and strong, thinking loud and strong means a lot of personality but all it seems like is a kid trying to get attention at a party. And I still don’t get his tagline of “the mind of a chef.” WTF is that supposed to mean? I don’t want to hear from the mind of a chef if I’m not a professional chef. Bobby says he wants Teddy to stop yelling at him.

From weird to weirder, Brett comes on and tries to show his personality but he also talks really slow and mouths his word like he’s talking to an 8-year-old. I’m not even sure what he made, but Bobby thinks Brett is goofy in a strange funny way. Of course, he mentions how he didn’t incorporate the pickles into his dish and just left them as garnish.

Michael does his presentation and he’s all colorful and expressive in his “This is Pride Month” way, but then he’s done and the stage director tells him to stretch because he has 20 seconds left. Then he acts all befuddled and just basically says gibberish and then, time.

Debbie does her thing for men, and she’s very upbeat and smiles a lot. She made a Korean barbeque dish, and the Esquire editor thought it was tasty but not really creative since they’re just skewers.

Then Katie comes on with her rare lamb. She comes on and talks about healthiness again and more about antioxidants and everyone’s eyes glaze over. I guess she was trying to distract them from looking at the raw lamb. Did she even cook it?

The Esquire editor names the winner, and he picks Eddie, who jumps up and down and screams. Bobby says he brought more of himself this time around, and now Eddie knows the trick to winning is to drink a lot of liquids and not go to the bathroom before a challenge. Let’s see if he can keep that up.

Commercials. Hey, hot Asian guy in the Impreza Subaru commercial. I love hot Asian men! ;-)

The contestants arrive at Hearst Tower in Manhattan, and everyone knows that Hearst is the media empire that owns a whole bunch of magazines. Wow, that escalator and interior of the building looks like a castle. I’m so jealous, I want to work there.

Then we see them walk through the offices of Good Housekeeping, so everyone’s guessing the challenge has something to do with that. Of course, Melissa the Mom is all excited because she’s probably been reading Good Housekeeping since she was 7. (I actually used to read the magazine too. My older sister subscribed to it and I always flipped through it looking at all the food. Even then I liked the idea of pretty food, and no, I didn’t read the sewing articles.)

In walks Giada DeLaurentiis and a woman named Rosemary Ellis who’s the editor in chief of Good Housekeeping. Ellis brags that the magazine has 25 million readers (most of them from the previous generation) and she tells them the winner of this challenge will be featured in the June edition.

Everyone gets excited, and Giada tells them the challenge is to bring to life a holiday celebration. But I was thinking they all had to do a Christmas dish, but turns out each will have their own holiday to feature. Jumpin’ Eddie, having one the earlier challenge, gets to assign the different holidays to his fellow contestants and he was totally nice about it matching people mostly in alignment with the holidays.

This is how the assignments went:

Debbie: Mardi Gras

Michael: Halloween

Katie: Earth Day

Brett: April Fool’s Day

Eddie: Valentines Day

Teddy: Labor Day

Melissa: Mother’s Day

Jamika: New Year’s Eve

Jeffrey: Groundhog day (I think he got the short end of the stick, although Brett is pretty close with April fool’s.)

They all start grabbing props for their tray and start cooking. Good Housekeeping sure has a beautiful kitchen. They must make mega bucks. Everyone starts talking about what they’re making and it’s not really a surprise. But the people who have the tough holidays like Jeffrey and Brett are actually just ignoring the theme and pretty much just making a dish and forcing a story to back up the holiday. I predict that’ll blow up in their faces.

Teddy is really trying to show he has personality in this show, so he’s doing this weird dancing while he’s cooking, and he also dances while doing his background interviews. Now I’m taking Teddy off my list as the lead contender. I predict he’ll stay for another couple of weeks but will be eliminated. So far my lead contenders are Jamaican Jamika and Jeffrey.

Melissa the Mom, just like last week, is having problems using the industrial oven and equipment and she’s scrambling around like a tornado. Brett, who’s generally commanding a kitchen staff at a hotel, feels like he needs to help her out to finish prepping her dish and he and Teddy pitch in since apparently they’re done with their dishes. But instead of helping, the two are basically yelling at Melissa about what to do next. Even Jamaican Jamika comments that the two guys should respect Melissa more.

Commercials. Best Buy, are you the only electronics store around these days? I miss competition.

Brett and Teddy are still yelling at Melissa, and then time is up and the two guys hug each other like they just scored a touchdown. Meanwhile, Melissa is up first in her presentation so she goes to another room with all the judges and the Good Housekeeping editor and another one named Susan Westmoreland, who I guess is the food director.

Here’s a recap of Melissa’s presentation and the rest of the gang:

Melissa’s Mother’s Day dish is breakfast in bed with oven-scrambled egg dish she created. They like the food but thinks she needs to harness her energy so she won’t scare off audiences.

Jeffrey’s Groundhog dish was some Mexican food because he says it was springtime like ground hog day. Nobody gets it and he admits there’s no connecting, but everyone smiles and they think he’s charming. Hmm, if I was making something for Groundhog day, I would make a salad with root vegetables to play on the idea that groundhog, being underground, eats all this stuff.

Jamaican Jamika makes collard greens and corn bread of her New Year’s eve traditional Southern celebration and everyone loves the food and she comes off really smooth and friendly. And she talks a lot about her family traditions and you know the Food Network looooves that shit.

Katie’s Earth Day celebration was roasted shrimp with white beans and she kept rambling on about the health benefits that everyone got bored, plus the food had not flavor.

Commercials. Wow, that HP printer commercial with the peacocks is so graphically beautiful. Well done. (applause)

Teddy’s Labor Day dish is potato salad and crab cakes, ala summer beach food. He does this weird thing about the crab talking to him, making voices and that creeps out Bobby.

Brett does this really good fake out for his April Fool’s thing, and tells the group that he’s going to quit the competition and yells “April Fools.” I have to say, that was some good acting and the judges really fell for it. It got them all to laugh but they all don’t get how the holiday is connected to his mom, and then everything unravels from there.

Debbie makes Korean mandu for her Mardi Gras celebration and she talks about family (points for her) and smiles a lot. Giada likes the filling but the editors thought the recipe might be too complicated.

Michael wears a witch’s hat when he comes in with his Mexican salad dish for Halloween and when he takes off the hate he has this fiery coloring in his hair. It’s wild, like his presentation but everyone likes him as the funny guy. And he emphasizes that he’s the Good Housekeeping Woman (since he’s already established he’s not the Esquire Man).

Jumpin’ Eddie comes in and he apparently forgot to drink liquids because he’s back to his old boring self, making a board presentation and saying some stupid thing about the magazine’s demographics and how women eat differently than men. Then in the end he does this weird message to his girlfriend, wish her a Happy Valentine’s, which I’m sure it’s probably not and it seems almost forced.

Commercials. I’m sure many people have already talked about Rachel Ray selling dog food. Oh Rachel. What were you thinking? I know you love dogs and all, but really, endorsing dog food? Did you make it in 30 minutes?

It’s dark outside so that means they’re all back at the apartment and waiting to go to judgment. What is that big picture of two red pear-shaped blobs on that painting? It’s so distracting.

They all walk into the judgment room and I don’t know why they’re all smiling. Giada is there with Bobby, Bob and Susie. Then they go over each person’s positives and negatives. They like Jeffrey (charmer), Debbie (even though Giada called her Korean mandu “won tons” which is Chinese) and Jamaican Jamika.

But they didn’t like Katie, who keeps talking about healthy stuff that everyone is soooo tired of it, even herself as she cries about how she’s trying to get the unhealthy Kathy inside her to come out.

Susie tells Eddie that he shared too much information in his presentation and was a bit insincere about the demographics, prompting him to apologize to all womankind. Other people who made fools of themselves were Teddy and his weird talking vegetables and Brett’s awkward April food’s presentation. Bob Tuschman asks Brett if he really wants to be on TV, and he says his friends suggested he apply for the show.

Then Bob talks about “mommy mayhem” with Melissa, which again makes me think he reviews the daily tapes and knows how the contestants are working in the kitchen. She admits she’s still feeling a bit overwhelmed but the judges say they like her food. Then there’s this awkward moment where Brett is nudging Teddy to say something, and finally Giada gets them to spit out, and mostly it’s Brett who says that he and Teddy had to help Melissa finish her dishes.

It does come off that Brett is implying that Melissa isn’t doing the work from beginning to end, and she looks like she was just ambushed by Brett. Bob asks Melissa if she’s really making her own dish, which is a big leap from Brett saying he helped plate her food to Melissa not cooking. Melissa says Teddy and Brett did help her but she did cook the food. (Teddy through all of this doesn’t say anything because he doesn’t want to “throw anyone under the bus” but you can tell by his expression that he does feel like he contributed to Melissa’s success.)

Commercials. State Farm, congratulations on a great commercial. I’m talking about the “I’ll be There” commercial. Yeah, it’s predictable and gimmicky but we watch commercials for these emotional tugs, don’t we?

Susie names the top three, Debbie, Melissa and Jamaican Jamika. Giada says the winner is Jamika. All three are safe. Other finalists are Jeffrey, Michael a Go Go, and Teddy. They all leave, and Melissa the Mom is still seething about the ambush by Brett.

Left behind is Katie, Brett and Jumpin’ Eddie, but they’re dismissed as the judges need time to talk behind their backs. Basically they say Eddie is passionate, but is hot and cold with the presentation. Brett is likeable, but Tucshman doesn’t know who he is, and Katie’s constant healthy food pitch is forcing Bob to crave ice cream and fudge.

The three return and Bobby says Katie is safe. She almost cries again. Susie tells Brett that he’s leaving today, and he seems OK about it. He says he’s a stronger person, but not sure if he really showed the real Brett. Too late now.

Since Jamaican Jamika is the winner, the next morning she goes to Good Housekeeping’s headquarters to develop a recipe to feature. I thought it was supposed to be the holiday dish, but they create an easy weeknight dinner. Jamika makes grilled salmon and puts it over a huge bed of spinach, and I think that’s pineapple that she’s placing around the fish. I hope it tastes better than it looks. I guess you can find out more in this month’s issue of the magazine.

Next: Ty-Flo makes an appearance and everyone goes ga-ga over the Barefoot Contessa (I don’t blame them). Debbie can’t trust one of her teammate and there’s more drama in the judgment room.

The Next Food Network Star airs 9 p.m. Sundays (and repeats at the same time Thursdays) on the Food Network. Check your local listing. Photos courtesy of the Food Network Web site.

Previous posts:
Episode 1

Single Guy's Planner

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:45:00 +0000

We’re near the heart of summer, so that means a lot of street festivals and food events. Here’s my regular planner to help you keep up with it all!

June 15, Monday. Screening and panel discussion surrounding the documentary “Fresh,” 7 p.m. at the Gaia Arts Center, 2116 Allston Way., Ste. 1, in Berkeley. Following the screening, a panel discussion will include speakers like Nicole Henderson, Green for All; Jason Mark, co-manager of Alemany Farm; Jason Harvey, director of Oakland Food Connection; and Ana Joanes, director of “Fresh.” Panel moderated by Ari Derfel, co-founder of Back to Earth and Terrain Restaurant. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here. See a trailer of the documentary here.

June 16, Tuesday. New Orleans Crawfish Boil at Magnolia Pub. This landmark Haight/Ashbury eatery will be hosting a down home crawfish boil, selling the spicy critters by the pound. This night of eating also falls on Magnolia’s regular $3 Tuesday Beers. What a combo, right? Learn more here, or better yet just grab your napkins and go!

June 18, Thursday. Uptown Unveiled Street Fair. For the first time, Oakland is throwing a party for its newest neighborhood, Uptown. And fortunately for me, that’s close to where I work. From 5 to 10 p.m., you can stroll along Telegraph Avenue from about 16th Street to West Grand/Broadway. There’ll be music, street performances, food booths and tours of the refurbished Fox and Paramount theatres as well as visits to art galleries. Area restaurants will also be offering specials that night. The event is free, but you pay for what you eat. For more information, go to www.meetdowntownoak.com.

June 20, Saturday. Summer Solstice Food Festival at Cheese Plus. Celebrating this Nob Hill gourmet store’s fourth anniversary, a gathering of food artisans will let you sample their food from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. There’ll also be live music and gelato! Store’s located at 2001 Polk St. in San Francisco.

June 21, Sunday (Father’s Day). Slow Food San Francisco’s Golden Glass Wine Event. This wine event at Fort Mason features more than 100 international and local wine and nibbles to munch with. Tickets cost $60 advanced, $70 at the door, or $20 if you want the food without wine tasting. Purchase your tickets here.

June 23, Tuesday. “What to Eat: A Revolutionary Act” is part of a series of Kitchen Table Talks put on by 18 Reasons, the food community group in the Mission. The talk (put on with Civil Eats) takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the offices of Sagan Piechota Architecture, 315 Linden St., and features chef Jessica Prentice. A clip from the documentary “Edible City” about the Bay Area’s foodie community will also be shown. Recommended $10 donation at the door. To RSVP, e-mail ktt@civileats.com or leave a message at 925.785.0713.

June 25, Thursday. Women and Chocolate. This Commonwealth Club event is preserving the myth that women go crazy for chocolates more than men. OK, maybe there’s some truth in that since I do like chocolate but I don’t crave it. If you want to hear more about the perfect combination of women and chocolate, then get a ticket ($20) at this chocolate and wine tasting event featuring chocolatiers from Cosmic Chocolate, Neo Cocoa, Xocolate Bar and Poco Dolce. Visit the Commonwealth Club site for more information and to purchase tickets.

June 27, Saturday. Macy’s Cooking Demo for Pride Month. This free demonstration takes place at the Cellar of Macy’s in Union Square (San Francisco) in time for Pride Month (the actually parade is the next day). Guests include: Adam Jones, Market Street Grill; Yigit Pura, Taste Catering; Jennifer Biesty (pictured left), Scala’s Bistro and former Top Chef contestant; Tim Nugent, Scala’s Bistro; and Janine Falvo, Carneros Bistro and Wine Bar. The Cellar is in the basement of 170 O’Farrell St. and demo starts at noon.

And it’s never too early to mark your calendars for next month:

July 4, Saturday. Jardiniere’s Fourth of July Dinner. This San Francisco institution will be open to help you celebrate independence day, and for the evening it’ll feature a $55 dinner that includes festive picnic fare like pickled watermelon, lobster rolls, fried chicken, and pork ribs. There’ll also be fixins like cole slaw, potato salad, mac n’ cheese (can you just imagine Jardiniere’s mac n’ cheese?) corn bread, biscuits and corn on the cob. Oh, and throw in some cherry ala mode and root beer floats and you’ve got a celebration! Call 415.861.5555 or book a reservation on the restaurant’s Web site.

Get out there and eat!

Dish on Dining: Anh Hong

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:02:00 +0000

Big Locale for a Few Select Dishes
2067 University Ave., Berkeley
Downtown
PH: 510.981.1789
Open daily for dinner, 5–10:30 p.m.; lunch, Mon. –Sat., 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Major credit card, reservations accepted
www.anhhong.com

I spotted the grand opening sign for Anh Hong in downtown Berkeley last year while riding on the bus, and the Vietnamese restaurant still has a temporary sign in the front when I visited recently.

The first time was for dinner with my friend Peter after we visited the new David Brower Center. When we walked in, we noticed how huge the space was. It probably seemed more expansive to us since the place was nearly empty.

Anh Hong is decorated nicely with contemporary furnishings painted in bright colors. But the layout was confusing to us. With a bar in the middle of the room (and never really in use it seems), it had the feel of a sports bar especially because of the flat screen TVs on the walls.

Looking over the menu, Anh Hong promotes a seven-course beef dinner, which sounds interesting if we were heavy meat eaters, but we’re not. So instead we started with an order of the Chim Cút Quay or Roasted Quails ($9).

The two half pieces of quail had a nice dark coloring, and tasted fine with its tender bits of meat and crispy skin. I did feel like the quail seemed deep-fry instead of roasted because of the shimmering skin and oily feeling it had as I used my fingers to eat them.

Peter ordered the Gà Cari or Chicken Curry ($10.25), which seemed elegantly plated than what I normally see at local Vietnamese places. I got a sense that Anh Hong wanted to be classier than just a pho shop. The curry, with a variety of vegetables, was tasty but it was on the watery side.

I ordered the Com Tay Câm or Claypot Combination ($10.50). I’ve been on the search for a really good Vietnamese claypot rice dish since the one I tried at Xyclo in Oakland. But so far nothing has compared, and Anh Hong’s version didn’t put up much of a challenge. While the ingredients were fresh, the juices of the chicken and shrimp didn’t seem like they had time to meld together. The vegetables used were also pretty mundane.

I feel like I can’t visit a Vietnamese place without trying their pho, the soup noodle dish that I love because of the thin noodles and rich broth. So I returned to Anh Hong by myself one Saturday for lunch.

Again, the place was relatively empty. I would guess that both times I was there, the room was maybe 10 percent filled.

Surveying its lunch menu, I found that Anh Hong served just one pho called the Pho Combination with meatballs, flank steak, beef steak and beef brisket. (The pho is listed at $7.95 for regular size and $8.95 for a large, but they’re running a special right now taking a $1 off.) I was disappointed that they offered only one option for pho during lunch (most of the other items on the lunch menu were rice plates) but then I realized that I typically get the beef combination when I go out eating pho anyway.

The pho came with the side plate of bean sprouts, basil, jalapeno slices and a lemon wedge, and the bowl itself with steaming with meatballs, beef slices and thinly sliced red onions. The thin beef slices weren’t near the pinkish side that I like, but they were good and tender. What was significant about the pho was the broth was unusually sweet. Not sweet like dessert, but almost like they added a dash of sugar. I’m sure it could be the hours of simmer beef bones or possible a dash of MSG, but I thought it was addictive. While it’s not the best pho bowl I had, it was decent.

After these two visits, I’m still not sure what’s the deal with Anh Hong. I found on its Web site that they have several locations (one in San Francisco, Milpitas and San Jose), including a Las Vegas location. The food attempts to be ambitious with its plating, but the taste is just average and the choices seem limited (definitely if you’re looking for pho). I guess this confusion (and the slightly higher prices when compared to other ethnic restaurants in Berkeley) may explain why their huge space is never bustling with customers.

Now I’m wondering if they’ll ever replace that temporary sign.

Single guy rating: 2.5 stars (Quiet dining)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Recent reviews:
Rn74: “All Aboard on a Glamorous Wine Bar”
Otoro: “Latest Hip Addition to Hayes Valley”
Bund Shanghai: “Hearty Northern Chinese Cuisine Done Right”

Test Kitchen: Mini Corn Cakes with Seared Salmon

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:12:00 +0000

This month's Food and Wine Magazine Test Kitchen really worked out well for the summer. It was a close vote, but more than 40 percent of you said you wanted me to make the Mini Corn Cakes with Seared Salmon recipe from the magazine's June issue.

When I was flipping through the magazine and saw the words "mini corn cakes," I knew I had to put this up for a vote because I've loved corn since I was a little kid. And even though my teachers told me that corn wasn't nutritious because you can't digest it (another weird thing about nature), I still loved eating it.

The recipe is from the chef Francis Mallmann who cooked around South America and now likes to cook with a wood fire for intense heat. I didn't have a wood fire, so I just had to crank up my electric stove top.

What I didn't realize after reading the recipe more carefully was that the corn cakes are pan fried, just like crab cakes. I guess I should have realized that, but for some reason I thought it was baked. Anywho, here's how the testing went this past weekend.

You can find the complete recipe on the Food and Wine magazine site here.

Just a reminder that I test the recipes from the magazine by cutting all the ingredients in half because I'm the Single Guy and don't need that much food. The recipe called for six ears of corn, so I bought three from the store. They are so cheap now, just 50 cents each. Most times I see white corn, which is really sweet, although the magazine probably used yellow corn for the color. You can use what you can find, but I found that I didn't really need all three ears. So if you're following the recipe, you could probably get away with one or two ears less than what it asks for.

After cooking the corn, I had to cut it off the cobb and then create the batter for the cakes. It was really super easy with minimal ingredients.

Like I said earlier, I had to pan fry the corn cakes. The batter with the corn kernels is a bit watery, so it was hard to really create a shape. And what was even harder was flipping the cakes.

Even though this isn't deep frying, I'm still not a fan of all this frying. I just feel it makes everything oily, especially my kitchen floor from all the oil splatter. Another thing I realized: the recipe calls for a super hot pan to do the frying, so you run the risk of burning the cakes AND the corn can actually POP like popcorn so be careful that it doesn't splatter on you. Use a splatter guard. I didn't only because I wanted to take pictures.

After I was done with the cakes (and placed them in the oven to stay warm like the recipe suggests), I seared the salmon. Mallmann's technique calls for searing just one side and leaving the other side raw. Also, he instructs you to remove the skin so that all you have is the meat to sear. I'm not sure why he got rid of the skin because I know Japanese cooking likes the crispy skin. I can go either way.

Here's the finished dish. Pretty easy to make although a bit messy with the frying of the corn cakes. My dish isn't as dressed up as the Food & Wine shot above, but I wasn't about to buy a bunch of parsley JUST FOR GARNISH!

My tips and warnings about this recipe:

You don't need as many ears of corn to get the cups of kernels needed. Play it by ear. :P
Watch out for the splattering, especially the popping corn. Use a splatter guard.
Slicing the seared salmon can be difficult if you don't cut it the right way. I didn't, so mines look like a mess. I think maybe it helps to go with the grain? Or better yet, just keep it whole!

Ease of cooking: This was definitely a simple recipe, but I think maybe too simple because I felt the corn cakes needed something more than just milk and flour. Maybe some bread crumbs? It just didn't have enough body. But this is something you can make fast and use very little ingredients.

Taste: The main part of this recipe is the corn cake and while I love corn, and mines did taste fresh and sweet because they were in season, the corn cakes itself tasted like flabby pancakes. There were some crispy parts that I liked, but most places tasted soggy from the oil. As for the salmon, I don't like the suggestion of searing just one side and keeping the other side raw. I don't like fish that's half and half. I want mines either cooked through or served completely raw. This half-way salmon created an odd experience for me. When I bit the roasted part, my mouth was expecting tender moist flesh but got the mushy raw flesh, so overall I couldn't enjoy the dish.

Overall Grade: C+ (mostly because I love corn)

Take a minute to vote for next month's test kitchen with the choices in the poll on the upper right corner.

Previous test kitchens:
Spicy and Sticky Baby Back Ribs
Cabbage, Kielbasa and Rice Soup

Big Idea Party at YBCA

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:35:00 +0000

So last weekend I attended Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ last Big Idea party for the 2008-09 season. And while it’s not totally a food event, it’s just rare for me to go out late on a Saturday night so I’m going to make a post out of it no matter what!

San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is such a beautiful facility, it’s a shame that more people don’t turn out for their regular contemporary art exhibits and performances. But the crowds came out in force for the “What’s the Big Idea?” party on Saturday, which was free to enter but the crowds were controlled by only letting in people who RSVP’d in advance.

The doors opened after 9 p.m. and I got there closer to 10 p.m. It was an eclectic evening of edgy art (there were some weird objects made of fur), edgy music, and lots of people with tattoos. See above even the girl tending bar had some nice skin art. Campari appeared to be the main offering for drinks.

I, of course, went straight to the food, which was a celebration of street food put on by the people behind Mission Street Food. Several tables were set up in the patio area off to the back of the YBCA, and it was a lot of fun eating under the full moon that night.

There were a variety of items to munch on, and most of them were pretty reasonably priced, as is the tradition of Mission Street Food. There were fancy BLT burgers (which I avoided because of all the bacon), fennel sausage (which I also avoided because it was battered and deep-fried), and a couple of tacos sold from the taco truck that was parked off to the side of the building.

So what did I eat? I ended up trying what was called the “Blasian Chicken” ($6), a bowl of charred chicken meat served on top of bread pieces with mint juice. I’ve never had chicken served this way. The chicken had amazing spices on the skin that was blackened, creating a tasty texture against the meat. But I have to say I had an odd reaction to the bread that was soaked in the mint juices. Chomping on mint-soaked bread crumbs wasn’t very pleasant to me. I would have just liked the chicken over a bowl of rice.

I always tried the Garlic Glass Noodles ($4), which were clear noodles nicely dressed with sesame oil and a few tiny pieces of roasted cauliflower. They served it with chopped peanuts as a garnish.

Here’s the taco truck. It didn’t really have a line at the time I went because it was probably still early. I ended up not getting anything from the truck because they served a duck confit taco that sounded amazing but I’m generally against the idea of eating food that’s been submerged in its own fat. I know, I’m weird. But they’re my idiosyncrasies and I’m owning them.

Speaking of idiosyncratic eating, here was some kind of eggplant dish. Did I eat them? What do you think?

I like having parties at museums or art spaces because the environment is so creative. The YBCA party was especially colorful because they invited a bunch of drag queens to perform. The party went into the early morning, but I left way before then because I had to catch BART home before the system shut down. (How I wish this was New York when subways stay open all night!)

It was a fun time, so you should check the YBCA events calendar to keep up with unique events like this. (Or I’ll try to at least keep you informed on my blog.) And one more thing, if you see me at events and you walk in front of me while I’m snapping a picture, then, hey, I’m going to put you on my blog! Thanks buddy!

Recent events I’ve explored:
San Francisco Oysterfest
Taste of Tamales by the Bay

The Next Food Network Star: Season 5, Episode 1

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:27:00 +0000

A 16th Birthday Party That’s Not So Sweet

OK, so the Next Food Network Star is off and running for the fifth time in New York and we get scenes of the upcoming season: Some military challenge (again), Miss Rachel making an appearance even though she probably doesn’t have any new shows with the network anymore, and did someone just get slapped?! Wow, this season’s contestants are really cutthroat.

So we find out that not only does the winner get his or her own Food Network TV show, the winner also gets a feature in the Food Network magazine (not Food and Wine Magazine) and an appearance at the New York Wine and Food Festival (not Aspen). All they need is some Glad products and Padma and we could be watching Top Chef.

Then we get the typical run through of current Food Network stars who asks, “Who will be…?’’ except Fieri has to jack it up by saying “Who’s got what it takes to be …” Stick to the script, Guy.

Opening scenes of New York (oh, did I tell you guys I’m going to the Big Apple around Labor Day? I’m so psyched.) and they’re playing a jazzier song this season. I like it. We jump into the contestants arriving, and this always makes me think fondly of “The Real World” early on when it was a real social experiment of society’s misfits coming together to give a little of each of themselves and not the hot-body-who-can-get-the-most-effed-up little program it is now. But that’s another channel.

Here we get Jen arriving first. She calls herself the modern-day housewife and the only good part about her being a housewife is that she’s married to some hot hunk.

In comes Jamika, who I’m going to call Jamaican Jamika just because it sounds cute and she’s going to cook Caribbean food. She calls Jen a Barbie, which isn’t too far off the mark. Then we get Katie from Philly, who’s a dietitian and a personal chef, and Brett, who’s a really tall guy who says he has a lot of energy and even more so when he’s on camera. I’m scared already for him.

Then we have Michael, who if you can’t tell already, is very colorful. He wants to pizzazz up the show, which if he really wants to do that then he shouldn’t use words like pizzazz.

More contestant arrivals: Eddie from LA but he looks more like he’s from London probably because I think he looks like the actor Alan Cummings; Melissa from Texas, a stay-at-home mom; and Teddy, who’s sporting a really orange shirt with big collars. All he needs is a Zoot suit and he’s all set for the animated version of The Next Food Network Star.

Rounding off the arrivals are Debbie from Los Angeles who’s emphasizing soul food and Jeffrey, also from LA (wonder if she and Debbie caught the same flight?).

Jeffrey finds a note on the dining table and it tells them to all get to the Food Network studio. They all act really shocked that they’re already having to jump right into the competition. Yes, I’m sure the Food Network selected you all from thousands of applicants so you can tour New York city and have facials with your new BFFs BEFORE competing. Ugh, what a lazy-ass cast.

They arrive at the shiny Food Network kitchen and in comes Bobby Flay (host and judge) along with the dynamic duo from every season, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson (network muckity mucks). They actually look really dressed up, which gives a hint of the upcoming challenge.

We all hear the typical little snippets of what the contestants are thinking, things like “This is my once-in-a lifetime chance,” “I’m standing in front of Bobby Flay, my hero,” or “It’s make or break time.” Meh, if I were standing there I would probably be thinking “I wonder how many hours Bobby spends in the makeup chair?” or “Bob and Susie have been in their same jobs for the last five years, don’t they promote people around here?”

Bobby explains that their first challenge is to cater a celebration dinner for the Food Network’s 16th anniversary and they have just five hours to do it. They’ll split into two teams to create dishes for 75 people, including a whole litany of food stars like Giada DiiLaurentis, Alton Brown, Ted Allen, Masaharu Morimoto, and last year’s winner Aaron Big Daddy. (I call him Aaron Big Daddy because I can’t remember his last name and am too tired to look it up.)

Bobby assigns the teams, Green and Red, and gives them $1,200 each to shop. The challenge begins and they break into their teams to start planning.

At team Green, Brett becomes the natural leader because, well, he’s tall and loud. But he does have a take-charge attitude that I like. It must be all the banquets he’s had to plan at the hotel restaurant he works at. They all talk about what they’re going to make: Brett will make beef tenderloin with wild mushrooms, Teddy contributes a potato gratin, Jamaican Jamika plans a shrimp dish with mango, Melissa The Mom says she makes the best apple tart that her children just loves, and Jen is doing green beans. Can you hear the guests talking to their friends the next morning?

Co-worker: “Oh, how was the Food Network’s 16th anniversary dinner?”

Guest: “It was OK. I got to see Iron Chefs Morimoto and Bobby Flay.”

Co-worker: “But what about the food? What did you eat?”

Guest: “Beef tenderloin with potatoes, green beans and an apple tart.”

Co-worker: “Woah, green beans. Living the high life, aren’t we, Susie?”

For the Red Team, Debbie says she’s done catering so she becomes the team leader. Michael says he’ll do a tenderloin, Debbie throws out her crab cakes with a spicy sauce, Katie does a salad (she tries to dress it up with roasted beets and pomegranates), and Jeffrey is making something that requires something called “achiote.” He said what it was but I still didn’t get it. Is it a spice? Is it a way of living? Who knows. Eddie picks up the rear with his contribution of beignets.

The team leaders and assistants go shopping, and Debbie is throwing all kinds of ingredients in the cart without paying attention to the budget. Michael looks at her like “I am with Driving Miss Crazy” and then Debbie can’t find the pastry she needs for Eddie’s beignets so she makes the “executive decision” to buy pre-made angel food cake and says they can dress it up my drizzling jam on top. Yes, because when I can’t find beignets on the menu, I immediately think angel food cake.

Brett’s team does better with the shopping and comes under budget while Debbie and Michael are busy throwing out ingredients from the carts so they can come under budget. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to what she removes, so you can tell already that Debbie will not be popular back at the kitchen.

Commercials. Dear Dish Network: No, I am not going to subscribe so you can come and put up some ugly-looking dish up in my apartment. And since when did Manwich Sloppy Joes become Jamaican?

Debbie returns to the kitchen, waltzing in like she did such a great job at coming in under budget, but already Jeffrey is complaining that he can’t find his achiote (because NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THAT IS) or any other of his top five ingredients.

Bobby Flay comes in and does his Tom Colicchio act. He chats with Jamika, who’s making Jamaican-inspired shrimp but she tells Bobby that it’s going to be served cold. I like Jamika’s thinking because she figures if she gets her dish done early, she can help her other teammates. I like Jamaican Jamika.

When Bobby visits with Teddy, he’s placing black truffle slices on his potato gratin, which I don’t know how they could afford black truffles with their budget. Bobby talks to Michael and he tells him that his style of cooking is “Global A-Go-Go,” and Bobby tells him to trademark that.

Eddie, who said he was going to make beignets until Debbie upended him with an angel food cake, is now making something called BLAST bowl, which is a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich without the bread. He’s definitely working under the theory that anything’s good with bacon.

Melissa the Mom is really turning out to be the problem child in the kitchen because she doesn’t understand how to use the industrial appliances, and her tarts are sitting out too long and that has something to do with the fat and how flaky it’ll turn out. Brett takes charge and everyone helps Melissa get the tarts ready for the oven.

On the other team, Katie can’t find any Dijon mustard for her salad dressing and Debbie says she’s sure she bought some, but she’s too busy with her crab cakes to help her look for it. Still not finding it in any of the bags, Katie borrows some from the other team.

The apple tarts come out and I’m just going to say that they look very, um … rustic? Yeah, go with that.

Commercials. The current economy has really sucked the life out of commercials. That Liberty Mutual and GM car commercials are so depressing. Thank God for Hershey’s. Yay, give me a kiss!

We get scenes of Times Square and then the contestants arrive at a restaurant called Butter. Oooh, what a cool name for a restaurant. Turns out the restaurant belongs to Alex Guarnaschelli, who has a show on the Food Network and also appears as a guest judge on other shows.

Other Food Network stars arrive for the party, including the network president Brooke Johnson (we usually don’t see her until the finale).

After the contestants set up in the kitchen and put the final touches on their food, we go back outside as Bobby Flay introduces the Green Team who will serve their food first. Bobby pumps up Brett a bit, you know, like how someone introduces you and says, “this guy is soooo he-larry-us, wait till you hear his stories.”

Of course, when Brett comes to the microphone, he is anything but funny, and a wee bit condescending to women. But luckily, the rest of his team picks him up, like Jamaican Jamika who’s really bright and sunny and talks about her shrimp cocktail with a jicama-mango slaw. Then Teddy, who actually isn’t that sunny and totally nervous talking about how his potato gratin is coming from the mind of a chef. Jen says she made green beans and leaves it at that.

Then comes Melissa the Mom. The same woman who was nervous and fretted about how her apple tarts will turn out comes out all confident and loud during her presentation. She’s all smiles and talks about her girls and you know those Food Network muckity mucks eat that shit up.

The stars go to the buffet line and there’s Nancy O’Dell from Access Hollywood. Brett puts his foot in his mouth and tells one of the stars about how they had limited space to work in the kitchen so don’t be so critical about their food. Of course, he would be telling that to Chef Guarnaschelli, who runs that very same kitchen. Yikes! She tells Brett: “Don’t talk smack about my kitchen.” But she says it in a good-natured fun way like she always does. Whew!

The stars eat and comment about the food. Bobby loves the apple tart, and even the guy from Ace of Cakes says he liked the dough. Anne Burrell calls Melissa “twitchy” and Giada says people can connect with Jamika. But nobody likes her shrimp, but they do like the slaw. Someone calls Jen’s green beans “ugly and unpleasant” and Teddy’s gratin would be magnificent if the potatoes were cooked. Giada says the mushrooms in Brett’s beef tenderloin were spongy.

Commercials. Red Lobsters, don’t you know you’re just polluting the air with your new wood-fire grilling? Haven’t anyone learned anything from mesquite grilling in the 80s?

Now it’s the Red Team’s turn to serve up their dishes, and Jeffrey and Katie are trying to “prepare” the angel food cake. Funny how it was Debbie’s idea for dessert but she’s no where near it when time comes to making it. It really looks awful, almost like bread pudding because I guess angel food cake doesn’t slice easily (I don’t know because I’m not a fan of the cake). And Katie, throwing on mint doesn’t always make a dessert pretty.

In front of the guests, Debbie goes first as the team leader and the girl can talk. Must be the southerner in her. She talks about fried chicken and not making kim chee (what? I love kim chee!) and yada yada yada. Giada loves the yada. Ha!

Jeffrey talks about his zucchini dish as an explosion of citrus with the creeping heat of red chili. I hate it when chili creeps.

When Eddie goes up to speak, he looks so dang serious. Maybe it’s because he wanted to talk about fluffy tasty beignets but now he has to talk about bacon and lettuce sitting on half a tomato. I’d be depressed too if I had to present that dish. The guy is so boring it’s like a train wreck that you can’t turn away from.

The judges get some food, and I think Katie just told Ted Allen that eating her salad would be good to help him with No. 1 in the bathroom. TMI on the buffet line!

The stars talk about the dishes, and everyone loves Debbie’s personality and they like Jeffrey’s zucchini dish. Chef Guarnaschelli says Katie’s contribution was just piling some vegetables onto a plate (well, she did have to roast the beets) and that the swiss chard looks awful. Of course, Susie says the angel food cake was an embarrassment and this time I have to agree with her. Everyone can tell it’s store bought and they question the credibility of the chefs behind the idea.

BTW, did you notice Aaron Big Daddy only said one thing during this entire segment? I think it had something to do with the beef tenderloin. I haven’t watched his shows and I can’t believe the Food Network renewed it for another season.

Commercials. What is that Lion King ride? Oh, Busch Gardens. Are you guys still open?

The contestants head into the judgment room, which this season actually looks a bit brighter and cheery. Eddie looks so serious it almost comes off like he could care less.

Bob Tuschman starts off by talking to the Red Team and you can tell he’s reviewed the tape because he knows all about Debbie’s overstuffing the carts then unstuffing them then pretending like she did such a great job with the budget. He gives her a stern lecture (or maybe it just looks stern because of his expression) about credibility. Basically, Food Network doesn’t like liars (that means you, Chef Robert Irvine. Oh wait, not you because you’re still on the network, never mind!).

Susie talks about being embarrassed again by the angel food cake and Bobby says as the leader one has to take the buck because it has to be stopped or whatever that saying goes. Of course, Debbie immediately apologizes. But to me, it’s not really taking ownership if you say it only after you were just told you should take ownership. But whatevs, because Tuschman loves Debbie’s crab cakes so you know she’s not leaving.

Here are the thoughts on the rest of the gang:

Michael: People think he’s funny and want to see more of him.

Katie: Salad was a throwaway dish and she lacks authority.

Eddie: Came off like he was doing a Powerpoint presentation. Tuschman calls him a student council president when he really wants a cheerleader. (Don’t we all?)

Jeffrey: Made a great presentation that got Bobby hungry.

Brett: Soggy mushrooms in his beef tenderloin and soggy personality to go with it.

Jamaican Jamika: Refreshing slaw but bad shrimp on top. Still, she has a lovely way about her.

Melissa the Mom: Winning tart (although Tuschman calls it a “cookie”) and winning personality, but needs to self-edit for Anne Burrell’s sake.

Jen: Not sophisticated enough for the Food Network.

Teddy: Raw potatoes in the gratin and needs to calm down and relax.

Commercials. Doesn’t that guy in the Marshall’s commercial (“Bjorn,” the fashion designer) look like Michael C. Hall from Dexter?

Bob Tuschman says since this is a team challenge, usually they’d declare one team the winner. But apparently some of them sucked so bad that they couldn’t name one team that shined all around, so instead they highlight three people: Jeffrey, Michael and Melissa. Then overall the winner is Jeffrey. The judges don’t say any more about why they’re great and instead just excuse them from the room.

The judges also don’t say much about the rest of the group as they learn whether they’re safe or not. So basically the people who are safe include Jamika, Teddy, Katie (who cries “tears of joy”), Debbie and Brett. Leaving just Eddie and Jen, and since it’s too early in the season to create any dramatic tension, the judges just rip the band-aid and send Jen home.

And can I just say, who was it that predicted Jen would be the first one to go? Hmmm, I wonder if it could just be an insightful food blogger and dedicated recapper? LOL.

Next: Giada wants the contestants to bring the holidays to life, and Eddie is stoked — or as excited as any corporate powerpoint presenter can be. Brett and Melissa gets into a fight in the judgment room and someone’s going to cry.

The Next Food Network Star airs 9 p.m. Sundays (and repeats at the same time Thursdays) on the Food Network. Photos courtesy of the Food Network Web site.

Related posts:
Cooking Up Food Network Stars
Go Big or Go Home (Season 4 finale)