Monthly Archives: March 2013

Aida Mollenkamp’s Shrimp Simmered in Garlicky Beer Sauce

Posted on by 12 comments

Pour yourself a cold beer to enjoy this easy shrimp dish heady with your favorite bar food-flavors.

Does the thought of noshing on handful after handful of honey-mustard pretzels chased with a frosty beer sound like bliss?

Then, you’re sure to go wild for this dish from Food Network host Aida Mollenkamp that boasts all of those favorite bar-food flavors.

“Shrimp Simmered in Garlicky Beer Sauce” is from her cookbook, “Keys to the Kitchen” (Chronicle Books), of which I received a review copy. The host of “Ask Aida,” who studied at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, has created a reference book to put you at ease in the kitchen. The book includes 305 recipes for straightforward dishes that will take you through morning, noon and night.  Also included are primers on various cuts of protein, cooking equipment, spices to keep on hand, and illustrations on how to expertly cut up a chicken and fillet a whole fish.

This shrimp dish is simple enough to make on a weeknight as it cooks up in less than half an hour. Large shrimp are simmered in butter, loads of garlic, a pinch of cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, a drizzle of honey and some lager beer. Mollenkamp calls for light lager, but I just used regular lager.

Read more

Richard Blais To Appear at Santana Row’s Sur La Table, Justin’s Restaurant To Finally Open in Santa Clara, and More

Posted on by 3 comments

The whimsical cover of Richard Blais' debut cookbook.

Meet Top Chef’s Richard Blais

Richard Blais, winner of  “Top Chef: All-Stars,” will be appearing at Sur La Table in San Jose’s Santana Row on March 3.

The chef, known for his way with liquid nitrogen and other molecular cooking techniques, will headline a Q&A session at Santana Row Park at 11:30 a.m. At noon, he will sign copies of his new book at Sur La Table.

“Try This at Home: Recipes from My Head to Your Plate” (Clarkson Potter) is his first cookbook. It features 125 recipes that highlight his inventive approach to cooking, including adding coffee to butter for pancakes, cooking lamb shanks in root beer and making cheese foam for your favorite burger.

The book signing is a ticketed event and seats are limited. Tickets will be given out upon purchase of “Try This at Home” at Sur La Table.

Justin’s to Open in Santa Clara in March

It’s taken nearly three years, but Chef Justin Perez is finally poised to open his restaurant at the old Wilson’s Jewel Bakery site on Homestead Road in Santa Clara.

Only now, it won’t be called Restaurant O, after his former restaurant in Campbell. It’ll be Justin’s Appetite for Expression. Plagued by permit and construction delays, the new restaurant is expected to open March 5, if all goes according to plan.

Read more

Merci Chocolates & A Food Gal Giveaway

Posted on by 10 comments

Merci Hazelnut-Almond chocolate ingot is chockful of bits of nuts.

I admit that a drug store is not the first place I would think of to buy fine chocolates.

But Merci has me just about eating those words.

The German-made chocolates are available at select drug stores, including CVS. They are definitely a cut above a lot of chocolate confections found in the bins there.

Recently, I had a chance to try an 8.8-ounce assortment of its European chocolates, which retails for about $13.

The flat box opens up to reveal small ingots of chocolates in seven varieties. Each is individually wrapped in cellophane, so you can put a bunch on a candy plate to let guests choose their favorite.

The slender bars are coated in either smooth milk or dark chocolate. They have wonderful mouth-feel and are small enough to satisfy a chocolate craving without going overboard.

Among my favorites were the Dark Mousse, which has a fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth filling akin to an U-No bar. The Hazel-Almond is the perfect pick for nut fans like myself, what with its profusion of crunchy bits of nuts. The Coffee and Cream, which sports a dark top layer and a white bottom one, tastes very much like a shot of espresso with milky foam on top.

Who knew drug store chocolates could be so gourmet?

They come conveniently individually wrapped.

CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win an 8.8-ounce assortment of Merci chocolates, along with a fun “Red Carpet Kit.” It includes four champagne flutes, popcorn containers and a list of tips for making toasts.

Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST March 2. Winner will be announced March 4.

How to win?

Read more

Alexander’s Steakhouse Gets In the Porky Mood

Posted on by 6 comments

Mangalitsa pork terrine at Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino.

Alexander’s Steakhouse of Cupertino may be famous for its princely Wagyu steaks and playful puffs of cotton candy.

Now, it’s adding another lure: Mangalitsa pork.

The heritage breed pig with the distinct wooly hair is originally from Hungary. It is known for its lush fat. So much so that it was once raised for its lard, which is supposedly very clean and pure tasting.

Executive Chef Gerardo Naranjo already has been playing around with various cuts from the half pig he got in a few weeks ago. He can barely contain his excitement about the whole 400-pound Mangalitsa that the restaurant will be receiving this week.

The Mangalitsas are from Csarda Haz, a family-owned farm in Davis. The free-range pigs are nourished on a diet of cover crops of peas and oats, as well as English walnuts from trees on the farm that are nearly 60 years old.

Look for the Cupertino restaurant to feature nightly specials of Mangalitsa in various preparations, including a 12-ounce loin chop for $80. With the restaurant set to get regular shipments of Mangalitsa (also known as Mangalica in Hungary), the artisan pork also is expected to be featured eventually at its sister restaurants, Alexander’s Steakhouse in San Francisco and The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse in Palo Alto.

The dining room.

Last week, I was invited in for a sneak peek and taste of this fabulous pork in a few preparations Naranjo has been playing around with.

Read more

Gourmet Beef Jerky and A Food Gal Giveaway

Posted on by 12 comments

Look closely and you'll see real orange peel on this variety of Jeff's Famous Beef Jerky.

I had to chuckle upon clicking on Jeff’s Famous Beef Jerky site to hear a rousing and rather whimsical tune about kissing away the “Shoe-Leather Beef Jerky Blues.”

Owner Jeff Richards is that confident that his jerky will banish any blues or horror experiences you’ve had with convenience-store jerky that nearly took out your molars.

He’s sure his will convince you that jerky can actually taste good and be kind to your teeth.

Richards made his jerky for years as a gift for family and friends during the holidays. Finally, in 2006, after giving away more than 25 pounds of the beefy stuff, he decided to give it a go as a business.

Jeff’s Famous Jerky, made in Mission Viejo, CA, now comes in eight different flavors, including Jalapeno Carne Asada and Habanero Heatwave. Recently, I had a chance to try some samples.

The jerky is toothsome with some chew, but not so much as to cause your jaw to ache. The first thing you notice is the richness of this jerky. It tastes like real marbled beef. That’s because Richards uses sliced, whole muscle beef rather than the highly process, extruded meat that other manufacturers do.

This jerky also doesn’t taste primarily of salt, as so many others do. Instead, the Orange Peel variety actually has bits of real orange rind still sticking to the meat, giving it a subtle, rounded citrus flavor. The Sweet Teriyaki tastes of soy, sesame oil and brown sugar. The Cranberry Jalapeno is mid, with the pepper adding more of a grassy note than full-on heat. Indeed, the Black Pepper and Sea Salt carried much more of a kick, with its coating of ground peppercorns. It’s tongue-tingling, but balanced by the sweetness of brown sugar and pineapple juice, and the fruitiness of tamarind.

A serving is about 70 calories with 20 percent of that from fat. Sodium content is 80mg to 560mg, depending upon the variety.

A 2-pack of jerky (in two 3-ounce bags) is $13.95. Every few months, Richards also donates a box of jerky to U.S. troops to share the jerky love.

The contest winner will get to try three different flavors of their choosing.

CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win three free bags of Jeff’s Famous Beef Jerky in the flavors of your choice. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST March 2. Winner will be announced March 4.

How to win?

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »