Spicy, garlicky and rich tasting, Mariam’s Garlic Goodness Chili Pepper dip is irresistible.
How many times have you smacked your lips over a sauce or condiment at a restaurant, and thought, “This is incredible! They should bottle it and sell it.”
Mariam Elghani did just that with the luscious Lebanese garlic dip her family created at their Falafel Bite Mediterranean Grill in Sunnyvale.
Asparagus shines three ways in this composed salad.
With his trademark crisp white shirt, Christmas-red bow tie, and denim overalls that he’s never without (not even at the black-tie Jame Beard Awards), Farmer Lee Jones is a larger-than-life character.
But he is no caricature.
He is the real deal.
When his family nearly lost its soy bean and corn farm in Ohio during the 1980’s economic downturn, he managed to save it by taking a gamble to transform it.
Instead of growing feed crops like soybeans and corn, he downsized to nurture obscure specialty herbs, fruits and vegetables after a chance meeting with a chef looking for someone to grow squash blossoms.
Today, the small, sustainable Chef’s Garden is revered by chefs nationwide, including Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, and Jose Andres. It’s this farm that we have to thank for the whole microgreens movement. During the pandemic, the farm adapted to changing times once again, offering delivery of its produce to consumers so that Jones wouldn’t have to lay off any employees, despite its main customer base, restaurants, ordering far less because of curtailed operations.
Jones’ story is captured in “The Chef’s Garden: A Modern Guide to Common and Unusual Vegetables–with Recipes” (Avery), of which I received a review copy. Written by Jones with Kristin Donnelly, former food editor at Food & Wine magazine, this lavishly photographed 240-page book is not only packed with recipes, but detailed information about selecting, storing, cleaning and using a wealth of produce. The book hones in on both the familiar and the esoteric, from ramps, hearts of palm, and bamboo shoots to amaranth, arrowhead root, and crystal lettuces.
Chef Ravi Kapur of Liholiho Yacht Club designed the new pool-side menu at the Rosewood Sand Hill. (Photo courtesy of the hotel.)
Check Into the Rosewood Sand Hill for Liholiho Yacht Club Noshes
Now, here’s a great excuse for a staycation on the Peninsula if there ever was one.
The Rosewood Sand Hill has partnered with Chef Ravi Kapur of San Francisco’s Liholiho Yacht Club on a new poolside menu that’s available now through the end of summer.
Imagine nibbling on furikake-dusted Kennebec potato chips to dunk into caramelized onion dip; a tuna poke bowl with with avocado, radish, spicy aioli and radish sprouts; a yacht burger crowned with pineapple, bacon and kimchi; and a fried chicken sandwich garnished with cabbage slaw, pickled jalapeno and avocado ranch.
It’s the perfect excuse to relax at the newly redone pool area with flowers galore, plus a beachy-style bar.
The posh pool area at the Rosewood Sand Hill. (Photo courtesy of the hotel.)
And it saves you a trip to San Francisco to enjoy Kapur’s Hawaiian-influenced food, especially with Liholiho temporarily operating out of a Mission District space for takeout and delivery only.
A beautiful beet and goat cheese tart packed with care by Le Papillon.
Le Papillon, San Jose
For an astounding 44 years, Le Papillon has not only endured but thrived during Santa Clara Valley’s metamorphosis from orchard-rich Valley of Heart’s Delight to tech-visionary Silicon Valley.
So, it’s no surprise that even during a pandemic, it’s managed to roll with the punches, successfully offering a three-course menu ($75 per person for pick-up; $85 per person for delivery) that changes each week with two to three options to choose from for each course.
Even if all you do is roll up to the front of the restaurant to have a server place the takeout in your hands or your trunk, there’s still an air of specialness about it all.
It starts with the attention to detail: The hot food comes in one bag; the cold food in another. First courses and desserts that have a bit of intricate plating get cleverly adhered to the bottom of the takeout container with an extra dab of sauce so that even after a few right or left turns in your car, they not only stay upright, but completely intact.
Miso Chilean sea bass with Cape gooseberries.
I was duly impressed when I witnessed that with the chilled beet and puff pastry tart that stood ramrod straight when I opened the container at home, thanks to a tiny bit of goat cheese underneath that acted as mortar.
All the wonderfulness of French toast — in a convenient muffin form.
I love this delectable Christina Tosi recipe for “French Toast Muffins” for so many reasons:
It lets you make a load of “French toast” in one fell swoop.
It is a genius use of all those odds and ends of various bread loaves on the verge of freezer-burn at home.
It’s easy enough for kiddos to do, making it an ideal way to spoil mom with breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day. In fact, it’s featured in the “Milk Bar: Kids Only” cookbook (Clarkson Potter, 2020), of which I received a review copy.
You probably know Pastry Chef Tosi as the founder and owner of the phenomenon known as Milk Bar bakery, as well as for her judging prowess on TV’s “MasterChef.”
Her creations at Milk Bar are beloved for their nostalgic effervescence and joyous kid-like appeal. So, a cookbook like this is a natural. It’s sure to entice kids into the kitchen with recipes such as “Coco Cabana Cereal Squares,” “Compost Pancakes,” “Donut Shakes,” and “Corn Dog Waffles.”
She even instructs how to judge if baked goods are done, by employing cocktail umbrella toothpicks to demonstrate, as well as trouble-shoots problems such as cupcakes or muffins sinking in the middle (You’re opening and closing the oven too much.).
For “French Toast Muffins,” you rip up bread slices into small pieces “as if you were feeding ducks in the park.” (One of the best recipe directions I’ve ever read, by the way.)
