Monthly Archives: April 2010

Orlando: Backstage Eats at Epcot and A Restaurant Called the Ravenous Pig

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When I wasn’t eating my way through 27 sweet treats as a judge at the recent Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando, I was — well — eating still some more.

You see, the Pillsbury folks wanted to make sure none of the 12 Bake-Off judges were ever in danger of having the slightest hunger pang. Perish the thought.  So we were fed. Then, fed again. And on it went, calorie after lovely calorie.

Here are the highlights:

We were treated to a welcoming party at Epcot, where six of the theme park’s restaurants had set up cooking stations inside a large kitchen area. Epcot Executive Chef Jens Dahlmann was on hand to greet the judges and members of the media.

We mingled as we enjoyed sips of wine and tastes of cute little lamb sliders with tomato marmalade, shrimp in green curry sauce with fragrant basmati rice, duck two ways — smoked breast and leg confit with tomato and egg fettuccine, porcini-dusted beef tenderloin, and a fab fisherman’s stew by “Iron Chef America” Cat Cora’s Kouzzina restaurant.

My favorite nosh, though, had to be the martini glasses of spicy sashimi-grade tuna tartare with cucumber, daikon and pepper salad, and avocado-wasabi sauce and crisp lotus root chips. That dish, from the Hollywood Brown Derby at Epcot,  was so good that I even went back for seconds. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

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New Eats in San Francisco

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Will it be sushi, Spanish, Mexican or California cuisine tonight?

When you’re hanging with a group of friends with varying cravings, it’s sometimes hard to settle on one eatery to satisfy everyone. The new Art’s Tapas & Sushi Lounge in San Francisco’s Marina district, a short drive from the Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square, makes it easy.

At this hip lounge, consulting Executive Chef Taka Yamaguchi, formerly of the Bay Area’s Blowfish Sushi restaurants, serves up a mix of small plates and libations that span the gamut of all those cuisines and more.

Enjoy grilled tofu ($7.50); Japanese-rice paella with vegatables and squid ink ($14); carpaccio with wasabi aioli on a bed of arugula and capers ($9); sushi, including “build-your-own” rolls; and crema catalana ($6).

There’s also a full bar with draft beers, wine, sake, sangria and signature cocktails. During weekday “Happy Hours,” 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. to closing, indulge in 99-cent oysters, too.

Friday nights also just got even more delicious and fun at Show Dogs in San Francisco, the gourmet sausage eatery that’s a short walk from the InterContinental hotel.

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Ad Hoc Cake Mix and Prepared Frosting

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Leave it to uber-Chef Thomas Keller to create the world’s most expensive cake mix.

Just how pricey?

We’re talking $14 for either the Ad Hoc Red Velvet, Chocolate or Yellow cake mixes sold exclusively at Williams-Sonoma. Add another $19.95 for a jar of either the ready-to-spread Ad Hoc Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate frostings, also sold at Williams-Sonoma.

That’s $33.95 to make one cake right there. Not to mention the butter, plus 4 whole eggs AND 4 egg yolks that you mix into the yellow cake batter, which is the one I received a sample of recently to try.

Boy howdy, you could buy a quite decent bakery cake for that price and call it a day.

Ahh, but then, you wouldn’t have the Ad Hoc or Keller prestige attached to it.

The mixes and frostings are made from top-notch ingredients: Guittard cocoa and Nielsen Massey vanilla. I could smell the strong fragrance of the vanilla as the yellow cake batter came together in the bowl of my stand mixer. Unlike so many other cake recipes I’ve used, the directions on the back of this box call for using the whisk attachment for the mixer rather than the paddle. The result is a batter that is very fluffy and silky-creamy — almost as if there’s whipped cream folded into it.

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Berkeley’s Love at First Bite Cupcakes

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This tucked away little bakery in Berkeley definitely has the perfect name.

After friends on Facebook started up a swoon-inducing discussion about Love at First Bite’s strawberry cupcake, I knew I had to make a trip to the East Bay to try one.

If you didn’t know this bakery existed, you’d be hard pressed to just stumble upon it, as it’s located at the back of a small retail plaza on a largely residential street.

But being that I have a nose for cupcakes, I found it handily with the help of my husband.

Love at First Bite sells 12 to 15 different cupcakes each day, priced from $2.75 to $2.95 each.

Of course, my eyes zeroed in on the “Pretty in Pink” cupcakes — the famous strawberry cupcakes made with real fruit and topped with swirls of pastel pink strawberry buttercream.

It was every bit as good as I had read. This little cake packs a whopper of strawberry flavor. The frosting was super lush, though I wish the sugar had been dialed back just one tiny notch.

Since I was there, I had to try a few more, right?

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Mark Bittman’s 10-Minute Asian Salad and iPhone App Giveaway

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New York Times food writer Mark Bittman has a way of making cooking effortless.

Take his “Watercress and Sesame Salad,” for instance.

Many times before, I’ve made a similar dressing using soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds, but never thought to pair it with delightful, peppery watercress like this.

It’s a light, bright little salad that comes together in 10 minutes for a quick first-course for any type of Asian meal. You could even make it more substantial by adding sliced cucumbers, carrot slivers, radishes, cherry tomatoes or even poached shrimp or seared tuna.

The recipe (reprinted at the end of this post) is from his classic book, “How to Cook Everything” (Wiley). This weighty, 944-page book is front and center on my bookcase. It’s a handy reference, because its plethora of recipes forms the basics of just about anything you’d want to make.

Now, there’s another handy way to enjoy this massive book — the “How to Cook Everything” iPhone app.

All 2,000 recipes from the book now are available with just a touch of your snazzy phone.  The app even helps you jot down a grocery list.

Five lucky Food Gal readers — located anywhere in the United States — will win a “How to Cook Everything” app, courtesy of John Wily and Sons, and Culinate. Here’s how:

Just tell me what you wish Mark Bittman could make easier in your life. Your answer can be food-related or not. The best five answers win the iPhone app. Deadline to enter is end of the day May 1. Winners will be announced May 3.

Here’s my own answer of what I wish he could make easier for me:

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