Monthly Archives: March 2013

Best-Ever Browned Butter-Pecan Shortbread Domes

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Buttery shortbread with pecans and plenty of browned butter.

Buttery shortbread with pecans and plenty of browned butter.

 

Your honor, I can’t say I’ve sampled every pecan shortbread cookie in the world. But this one sure does pose a strong case for being the best, as it so claims.

Let me call my first witness — the cookie, itself.

Here you have the melt-in-your-mouth, crumbly evidence. It’s chock-full of pecans, then crowned gloriously with one perfect pecan half.

What makes this cookie even more decadent is that you coat the chopped pecans that get stirred into the dough in two stick of butter that you slowly and ever so carefully melt on the stovetop until the butter turns deeply golden and fragrantly toasty.

Then, add all the other ingredients straight into that pot to finish making the dough — all without a mixer. How easy is that, your honor?
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Some Like It Hot

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Artisan hot sauces that explode on the palate.

Artisan hot sauces that explode on the palate.

 

If you do, have I got the hot sauces for you.

Bob Henry of Henry Family Farm has been growing chiles in Virginia’s Shenendoah Valley for more than 30 years. Now, he’s bottling all that heat in a most pure form.

Henry allows the peppers to ripen on the vine, then hand picks them before extracting them within 24 hours of harvest. The extracts are bottled, with no additional spices or flavors, so that each pepper’s distinctiveness really shines through.

Henry Family Farm Chile Pepper Extracts are now getting a lot of attention, thanks to food and wine critic, David Rosengarten, who has been spreading the word about them and making them more widely available.

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Donostia Debuts in Los Gatos

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A simple, yet sublime, mushroom brocheta at the new Donostia in Los Gatos.

A simple, yet sublime, mushroom brocheta at the new Donostia in Los Gatos.

 

If you had any doubt that Spanish food remains one of the hottest crazes around even years after El Bulli’s Ferran Adria introduced the world to foams, just take a look at what’s happening in the Bay Area.

In January, Chef Paul Canales, formerly of Oliveto, opened Restaurant Duende & Bodega in Oakland. This spring, look for celebrity chef, Michael Chiarello of Bottega in Yountville, to open the splashy Coqueta on San Francisco’s Embarcadero.

Thankfully, the South Bay has not been left behind in all of this. Donostia (the Basque name for San Sebastian) opened last month at 424 Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos to serve up tapas alongside Spanish wines and beers.

The new restaurant is by the same duo behind Enoteca La Storia, just a couple doors away in the same retail-business center. Owners Joe Cannistraci and Michael Guerra, couldn’t resist when this long, narrow 1,000-square-foot space became available.

The two Italian guys traveled to San Sebastian to familiarize themselves with authentic tapas. That’s where they met Agustin Elbert, a native Argentinian who has spent the past dozen years cooking in Spain, including at a number of well-known tapas places. They lured him to Los Gatos to be their consulting chef.

The long, narrow space features a bar with seating, as well as bar-height tables.

The long, narrow space features a bar with seating, as well as bar-height tables.

Last week, I had a chance to visit Donostia as a guest of the restaurant. With a built-in clientele who often spill over from sister establishment, Enoteca La Storia, Donostia is already packing in regulars even if it’s only been open a couple of weeks.

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Sensual Spinach Baked with Ricotta & Nutmeg

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A less rich -- but no less satisfying -- version of creamed spinach.

A less rich — but no less satisfying — version of creamed spinach.

 

This dish is rather cheeky.

It combines the voluptuousness of soft ricotta with the pert green of spinach.

Eggs, whipped to a luscious froth, add a custardy body. And grated parmesan a delicious saltiness.

I rather fancy it, especially late at night when everyone else is asleep, and I saunter silently downstairs in my silk robe to eat it brazenly with fingertips straight out of the fridge.

Forgive me my Nigella impersonation. But I can’t help myself, as this dish surely will have you feeling a little like that British culinary bombshell. “Spinach Baked with Ricotta & Nutmeg” is from Nigella Lawson’s newest cookbook, “Nigellissima” (Clarkson Potter).

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Food Photo Exhibit, Tea Fest & More

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"Watermelon Radishes'' by Paulette Tavormina. (Image courtesy of the artist)

“Watermelon Radishes” by Paulette Tavormina. (Image courtesy of the artist)

March Debuts Food Photo Exhibit

Gourmet kitchen and pantry retailer, March, in San Francisco will feature an exhibition by food photographer, Paulette Tavormina.

The New York City artist creates sumptuous food photos that have the air of 17th century Old Master still-life paintings of food and flora. Tavormina styles each photograph with the utmost of detail and makes dramatic use of light.

March will display 16 of her works from March 14 to June 1.

Just think: You can take in an art show, then shop for table linens, cast iron cookware and gourmet jams to create your own tableau at home.

"Pears'' by Paulette Tavormina. (Image courtesy of the artist)

“Pears” by Paulette Tavormina. (Image courtesy of the artist)

San Francisco International Tea Festival

Enjoy the soothing and fascinating world of tea at the San Francisco International Tea Festival, March 10 at the Ferry Building.

The event includes seminars on the history of tea in the United States, tea as medicine and the green teas of Japan. There will be plenty to taste, too.

Exhibitors include the Imperial Tea Court, owned by festival host, Roy Fong; as well as Chado, Sky Tea and Alegio Chocolate.

General admission, which includes a commemorative tote bag and ceramic tasting cup, is $20 each. Seminars are $5 each.

“Taste of the Nation” Coming to San Francisco

A bevy of stellar chefs will be featured in the Taste of the Nation event, March 21, at the Bentley Reserve in San Francisco.

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