Author Archives: foodgal

The Curated Board, Part I: Herbes de Provence Grissini

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Try your hand at making your own delicious breadsticks.
Try your hand at making your own delicious breadsticks.

Am I the only one who as a kid turned breadsticks into chopsticks?

I bet not.

These days, though, I prefer just happily crunching down on them — wrapped in prosciutto, dunked into a creamy dip or just on their own.

If you’ve never tried making your own, you ought to give “Herbes de Provence Grissini” a whirl.

It’s a simple recipe that provides the pleasure of hand-rolling skinny logs of dough with your hands just like you did as a tot with Play-Doh.

The recipe is from “The Curated Board” (Abrams), of which I received a review copy. It’s by Bebe Black Carminito, a San Francisco food stylist, recipe developer, and professional makeup artist whose Instagram handle is the delightful @champagneandcookies.

Board food is having a big moment, thanks in part to how beautifully they photograph for Instagram likes.

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The Brixton Gets A Revamp in San Francisco

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Dragon roll pressed sushi at The Brixton.
Dragon roll pressed sushi at The Brixton.

After opening in 2011 on Union Street in San Francisco, The Brixton slowly but surely began to evolve into more of a drinking establishment.

But last week, after a revamp, the restaurant, named for an iconic rock and roll venue in London, reopened as a modern gastropub, with as much emphasis placed on the food as the drink.

To redesign and expand the menu, owner Hugo Gamboa brought in long-time Bay Area chef Joey Altman of San Francisco’s Hazie’s as a consultant.

On a prime spot on San Francisco's Union Street.
On a prime spot on San Francisco’s Union Street.
The bar.
The bar.

Last week, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant to try a sampling of the new menu the night before it opened to the public. It’s an eclectic mix with everything from deviled eggs topped with bourbon bacon ($14) and Korean barbecue ribs ($24) to a spicy tuna roll ($21), a Brixton Prime Rib burger ($25), and shrimp scampi and linquine ($28).

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Summer Sips, Part I

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The 2023 Dutcher Crossing Grenache Rosé made for the lazy days of summer.
The 2023 Dutcher Crossing Grenache Rosé made for the lazy days of summer.

2023 Dutcher Crossing Winemakers’ Cellar Grenache Rosé

Wisconsin-born and a teacher by profession, Debra Mathy shared a passion for wine with her father. So much so, that the two of them spent years looking at wineries around the world in hopes of one day buying one.

Sadly, just three months before she would buy Dutcher Crossing Winery in Geyserville in 2007, her father was diagnosed with melanoma cancer and passed away.

She pressed on, though, intent on fulfilling their dream. Indeed, she became the first single woman to own a winery in Sonoma. When she purchased Dutcher Crossing, it made five wines and consisted of 35 acres. Today, it produces more than 30 wines across 75 acres.

I had a chance to sample a bottle of the 2023 Dutcher Crossing Winemakers’ Grenache Rosé ($40) from the Dry Creek Valley. The pale salmon-hued wine is full of the lively flavors of strawberries and raspberries. Tangy and refreshing, it spent four months in neutral French oak barrels, giving it a tad more body.

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Jammy Crumble Crostata

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One dough is used for the top and the bottom of this tart that gets filled with your favorite jam.
One dough is used for the top and the bottom of this tart that gets filled with your favorite jam.

You know those times where you devour something indulgent, then promise yourself that you’ll work out twice as hard in the gym the next day to make up for it?

Well, you needn’t worry about that with “Jammy Crumble Crostata.”

That’s because your biceps and shoulders will feel the burn when you make this buttery, crunchy, tart-like creation that has a hidden filling of your favorite jam.

Yet have no fear. This dessert isn’t complicated or overly time-consuming to make. But it does require that you freeze your dough rock hard, then grate the whole shebang by hand, an endeavor that will make your arms feel the burn. It’s all for a good cause, though — to fashion a unique tart with a crisp cookie-like texture.

This winsome crostata is from “Beatrix Bakes Another Slice” (Hardie Grant), of which I received a review copy.

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New Safe Catch Trout Fillets

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Tender, lightly smoked Safe Catch trout fillets make a great addition to pasta.
Tender, lightly smoked Safe Catch trout fillets make a great addition to pasta.

The name Safe Catch says it all.

The Sausalito canned seafood company purports to be the only brand that tests every catch for mercury. Its newest product, Safe Catch Trout Fillets, is tested to a limit of 0.1ppm, more stringent than the recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration. The product has even been given the nod by the American Pregnancy Association.

I had a chance to try the new products, which come in two varieties: Skinless, Smoked Trout Fillets in Water; and Skinless, Smoked Trout Fillets in Sunflower Oil with Chili. The former contains only trout, water, and salt. The latter has only trout, sunflower oil, salt, and chili.

Two new varieties of trout.
Two new varieties of trout.

The rainbow trout fillets in both are boneless, mild tasting, tender, and flaky.

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