Author Archives: foodgal

Sponsored Post: Savor the Holidays with Farro Salad with Pistachios, Tarragon, and Pazazz Apples

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Enjoy this farro and apple salad on the go or at your holiday table.
Enjoy this farro and apple salad on the go or at your holiday table.

As the holidays roll around, so does our appetite for indulgence. But that doesn’t mean our well-intentioned eating habits have to fall by the wayside even when we treat ourselves lavishly.

“Farro Salad with Pistachios, Tarragon, and Pazazz Apples” is the perfect example of that.

This delicious salad is packed with good-for-you fiber from chewy, nutty tasting farro and fresh, juicy slices of apple. Best yet, most of it can be prepared ahead of time, a real plus when you’re juggling multiple dishes to prepare for your holiday table.

Now’s the perfect time to pick up Pazazz apples at Albertsons, Safeway, and Vons. Grown by a small group of family farmers across North America, this late-season variety that’s related to the Honeycrisp is at its peak now through June.

With shiny red skin like a holiday ornament along with yellow-green striations here and there, these apples are so snappy, and bursting with sweet, tangy juice.

Crunchy, juicy Pazazz apples are at their peak through June.
Crunchy, juicy Pazazz apples are at their peak through June.

What’s more, apples are extremely rich in fiber, with one medium one providing 4.4 grams of dietary fiber or about 16 percent of the recommended daily value. For this grain salad, I purposely don’t peel the apple, as that would slash the fruit’s fiber content by half.

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Japan Eats, Part II: Michelin-Starred Koke

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Playful squid-ink crackers filled with chorizo at Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.
Playful squid-ink crackers filled with chorizo at Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.

Kyoto, JAPAN — One can eat exceedingly well for little in Japan, and goodness knows that my husband and I did. However, we decided to splurge for one dinner during our recent two-week trip to Japan, and that was to Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.

Japan is a dichotomy, where both the ancient and the futuristic are revered. So, when it came to picking a kaiseki restaurant, I chose one that breaks from tradition, one that blends Japanese and Spanish sensibilities in surprising ways.

It serves a 13-course tasting menu with a few of the courses composed of several small bites. You can opt for a regular wine pairing (a total of 700ml) or a small-sized pairing (350ml). The latter is what my husband and I chose.

For all food and drink for the two of us, we paid a grand total of $515 U.S., which is not too bad when you consider that in the Bay Area, many fine-dining tasting menus are easily more than $300 per person for the food alone without gratuity.

The unobtrusive sign to the restaurant.
The unobtrusive sign to the restaurant.
The courtyard that you enter before going inside the restaurant.
The courtyard that you enter before going inside the restaurant.

The restaurant hides behind a wall. On the other side, you’ll find a serene Japanese-style courtyard with a floor-to-ceiling window at one end that has a view into the restaurant’s dining room and kitchen. Koke is the Japanese word for “moss” and you’ll spot patches of it in the courtyard. It’s also a symbol of renewal, resilience, and interconnectedness.

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Japan Eats, Part I: Savoy Pizza

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Seared sushi-grade tuna atop one fantastic pizza at Savoy in Tokyo.
Seared sushi-grade tuna atop one fantastic pizza at Savoy in Tokyo.

Tokyo, JAPAN — I just spent two weeks in Japan, my first time there, in what can only be described as an eating adventure of a lifetime.

Scan my Instagram or Facebook pages, and you’ll get a taste through photos and words of all the fine tempura, sushi, tonkatsu, ramen, pastries, and other specialties I thoroughly enjoyed at a pittance, given the very favorable exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the Japanese yen. Today and Friday, I’ll spotlight two very different restaurants worthy of particular mention.

Though I did online research, and solicited recommendations from friends and chefs who travel to Japan regularly, I don’t think it’s possible to go wrong eating pretty much anywhere in Japan, even if all you do is wing it when you’re there.

Head here when you want to try pizza in Japan.
Head here when you want to try pizza in Japan.

Even eating tiramisu or flan or crustless egg salad sandwiches from a convenience store there is a revelation. Each of those items is less than $2 U.S. at a 7-Eleven or other Japanese convenience store — and the quality just phenomenal.

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Tuna Time

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A tuna sandwich gets a turn with new Tonnino Chipolte Sauce Party Dip.
A tuna sandwich gets a turn with new Tonnino Chipolte Sauce Party Dip.

My go-to canned (jarred) tuna has long been Tonnino’s yellowfin tuna fillets in olive oil, not only because it’s easily found in most well-stocked grocery stores, but more because the tuna is meaty, rich, and flavorful, and its lush olive oil with its potent oceanic taste a delicious bonus.

So, when I had a chance samples of the new Tonnino Party Dip samples, I was intrigued.

Like all Tonnino products, each can carries a nifty lot number that you can enter into the company’s web site to find out what fishing vessel caught the tuna in your can (the Samurai, in the case of one of my cans), from what waters (Costa Rica), and by what method (hooks and lines). It may be more info than you might want if all you’re interested in is putting a sandwich together. But it’s kind of a cool feature.

Ready to use, and already flavored, tuna party dips.
Ready to use, and already flavored, tuna party dips.

The Party Dips are designed to be a ready-to-eat product, combining the yellowfin tuna with vegetable oil, veggies, and seasonings. You can dip tortilla chips into them. Spoon them into lettuce wraps. Or combine with mayo, Greek yogurt, or cream cheese to make a dip.

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A Pasta That’s Elementary and A Wine That’s Elemental

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An easy and nourishing vegetarian pasta dish with the buttery taste of pine nuts.
An easy and nourishing vegetarian pasta dish with the buttery taste of pine nuts.

One can never have too many simple, no-brainer pasta recipes to fall back on during a hectic weeknight. Nor one that goes so perfectly with a freshing wine that’s breaking new ground in packaging.

“Penne with Broccoli, Pine Nuts & Ricotta” is ideal for those times when you have leftover ricotta from baking a sweet treat.

This quick and nourishing vegetarian pasta dish is from the cookbook, “The Mediterranean Cook” (Smith Street Books), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Meni Valle, an Australian cookbook author of Greek heritage who’s an expert on Mediterranean cuisine.

Arranged by the seasons, the no-fuss recipes include “Watermelon & Feta Salad with Flaked almonds, Honey Vinaigrette & Mint” and “Pumpkin & Feta Piet” in spring-summer; and “Green Minestrone” and “Roasted Eggplant with Cannellini Beans” in autumn-winter.

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