spicetart

Fresh Cheese in Action

So Tuesday I wrote about my visit to Point Reyes, and Biggles wrote about his heathen adventures in the sand with chicken, but what would a trip to Point Reyes be without a stop at Cowgirl Creamery? Just off of main street in Point Reyes Station, Cowgirl Creamery is in a beautiful, old renovated barn. Part of the Tomales Bay Foods group (a cool history of their beginnings in 1993 is here), Cowgirl Creamery consists of their cheese making facility and cheese counter, and shares the barn space with a natural fabric clothing boutique, an organic produce stand, and a healthy foods deli. The main attraction is easily the windows that overlook the cheese makers doing their thang. We got their just in time to see the process from curds to, um, cheese formed things. Just see the pictures.

My favorite of their cheeses is the Mt. Tam, I could easily put away the whole thing in a sitting.  It's a smooth and buttery triple-cream cheese that just melts in your mouth.  I've also tried the award winning Red Hawk and decided that I am not quite at the advanced cheese tasting level to enjoy this cheese.  It's a washed-rind cheese so it's got that -WOW- that's a kicker of a cheese, yeah!  They call it "fully-flavored" - can't argue with that assessment at all. Red Hawk won Best-In-Show at the American Cheese Society's Annual Conference in 2003.  Impressive.  Go pay 'em a visit.

COWGIRL CREAMERY AT TOMALES BAY FOODS
80 Fourth Street
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
Phone (415) 663-9335

You can also find Cowgirl Creamery cheeses at their store front in the Ferry Building and at Whole Foods, Draegers, the Pasta Shop and probably at Andronicos.

Food gnus is good gnus

Lots of decent food news in today's San Jose Mercury News.  You need to register to view anything, you decide if it's worth it.  A few tidbits:

• Another breakdown of the confusing and somewhat useless new food pyramid, with some recipes as examples of what to eat and how to do it.  I'm going to choose clean living and constant prayer over the pyramid.
• Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noirs are getting more well-deserved love from the masses.  That's good news to me, I'm a big fan of Byington, Kathryn Kennedy and Thomas Fogarty.
• Competitive cooking shows have exploded all over the networks:

1. "Cooking Under Fire", which features 12 contestants looking to become the next American Idol  New Top Model  get a job with Todd English in New York, it starts tonight at 8:00 on PBS (KQED)
2. "The Million Dollar Recipe" about the 2004 Pillsbury Bake-Off, Monday May 2, 8:00 on Bravo
3. "Food Network Challenge", which features the "best" chefs in various food specialties competing for the title of "best", the Merc says this starts May 22, but it's already on, so I don't know.
4. "Hells Kitchen" hosted by the scary Gordon Ramsay, tests chefs' skills while verbally abusing them.  Sounds good and you know it must be on Fox if someone is crying on a reality show, May 30, 9:00.

• Healthy Handfuls is a great company in Grass Valley that are making certified organic wholesome treats with none of the toxic poison (trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives).  And perfect for midgets (kids) cause they make cookies shaped like critters.
• Local chef David Cohen of Willow Street Pizzeria won the first ever Italian Chef Wars in Las Vegas this month.  He's not Italian so I'm skeptical about the title, and his stiffest competition was from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I guess it makes sense since it was sponsored by two industry magazines, Pizza Today from the U.S. and Canadian Pizza.  There's a whole magazine called "Canadian Pizza"?  Hmmm.....

Flowers and Pie

What do you do after a 5-mile wildflower hike down to the ocean and back? Well, you eat pie of course. Actually, a bacon cheeseburger, a Boont Amber and then pie. Hunting for wildflowers really works up an appetite. Or was it the mile practically straight UP, through bogs and marshes with squishy mud and wet socks? Ah, the natural beauty of Point Reyes is not to be compared. That fresh ocean air gets all the juices flowing, and meat and sugar is a well-deserved reward.

The Station House Cafe is along the main strip in Point Reyes Station, and, from the outside, looks like a regular small-town diner. But entering through the lush backyard, you see that this is not your typical restaurant. The menu is full of the normal lunch fare, hamburgers, sandwiches, and salads, but also includes a variety of oysters, steamed mussels, spanikopita and meatloaf. The menu actually made it hard to choose. Another plus for the Station House is that their beef, pork, and lamb is from Niman Ranch, their chicken are fresh Rocky or Rosie chickens, their bread is La Brea Bakery bread baked fresh every day, and they bake corn bread and popovers throughout the day. They also have an organic garden in the back. All these things meant I didn't want to leave until I had tried everything on the menu. Alas, I chose a bacon cheeseburger (I mean it had a whole wheat bun, how could I NOT choose that?) It came with country fries, which I'm not a huge fan of, so I got my usual, salad on the side with vinaigrette.

You know how every now and then you have one of those food moments, when the thing you are eating becomes the center of your sensual universe and all of your senses are focused on the wonder of this one thing? Yeah, it was like that. Perfect, thick bacon, perfect burger, and perfectly accompanied by pickles (a necessity). It's now in my top 5 best hamburgers ever.

And what is a delicious hamburger without pie? Triple Berry Pie with Straus Whipped Cream.  I was in heaven, this flaky, dense, tart pie was a symphony of flavors, and I don't even really have a sweet tooth.  You must order this when you go.  Or the butterscotch pudding, I think I'll have to try that next time.

The Station House Café
11180 State Route One (Main Street)
Point Reyes Station, California 94956
415.663.1515

When Tequila Is Food

Ok, so nobody specifically said that Is My Blog Burning had to be a food. Or did they? I didn't read the details on purpose. I do know that IMBB #14 is about the color orange. And if need be, I can certainly argue the merits that Mango and Orange Margaritas are, indeed, food. Here goes:

1) Mangoes. Mangoes are a fruit and are indeed orange, they qualify as food, so right there, I got it sealed. Plus, mangoes are chock full of nutritiony goodness, like most orange foods, they contain vitamins A and C, and moderate amounts of calcium and potassium. See, four whole types of vitamins and we haven't even gotten to the orange yet.

2) Oranges. Oranges are also a fruit and are, duh, orange, and are also a food. Vitamin-wise, it's all good, with lots-o-Vitamin C, some folate and cancer-fighting superpowers. Interestingly, mangoes are actually a better source of Vitamin C as they contain almost twice what the orange does. Still, oranges are food, so I'm two-for-two.

3) Limes. Limes are totally food, everybody knows that, and even if they aren't orange, I already got orange covered (see 1 and 2). Limes rock because they make food taste better, and like other citrus fruit (see 2) are a good source for Vitamin C and phyto-chemicals. Sweet. Three-for-three.

4) Cazadores Tequila - Yum, cactus! Ok, blue agave is not orange (see 1 and 2) but some folks actually eat cacti, so I can almost qualify Tequila as food...Ok, still, three-out-of-four isn't terrible.

5) Grand Marnier - Hellloooo? Can you say "orange liqueur"? Totally food. Ok, so current score: food = 4, non-food = only one silly little one.

6) Ice. Ice is neither food nor orange, I'm not going to try to fool you. But water is the essence of life (and air and some other stuff) and is awfully important, so let's just call ice neutral, shall we?

Final score: Food = 4, Non-food = I can't remember, maybe one, Neutral = one.

So enjoy this very ORANGEY and very FOOD FILLED Mango and Orange Margarita.

A cup of frozen mango
1/2 cup ORANGE juice
Juice of one lime
4 ounces of Cazadores Tequila
2 ounces of Grand Marnier (Cointreau, Citronnage, or any other Triple Sec can be used)
A couple handfuls of ice

Put everything in a blender and, well, blend. Until margarita-ey. Lime slice to garnish. Then eat.

What am I doing?

I have no idea.  The lady at the Riverdog Farms stand at the Berkeley farmers' market said that this was a variety of radicchio, so even though it looks like plain old lettuce, it's really a much hardier and MUCH more bitter green.  It definitely deserved to be cooked.  It deserved to be cooked and eaten and it deserved to taste good.  So I treated it bad, so so bad.  Olive oil in a hot pan, funny radicchio variety in the olive oil, salt and pepper on top, swirl it around a bit, and then add some good chicken stock and braise for about 15 minutes with the lid tightly on.  Conclusion: Good but VERY bitter, could probably have used a chopping before braising.  Trying to braise these bad boys whole was really out there.  Crazy. I'm wild like that.

Riverdog Farms
At the Berkeley Farmers' Markets on Saturdays at Center & MLK and on Tuesdays at Derby & MLK

Plate-licking Strawberries

My mother will be so happy to know that, despite my incredible sweet tooth as a child, and despite having spent all my allowance on as many candy bars, Jolly Rancher sticks and Laffy Taffy that I could afford, and despite me turning my nose up at fruit offered as dessert in foot-stomping refusal, despite all that, I often eat fruit for dessert.  If there is no ice cream in the house.  So for Sugar High Friday #7: Molasses, hosted by Derrick over at An Obsession With Food, I settled on fruit, but better. 

Strawberry season hits like a bang, the rows at the farmer's market sporting that ripe scent, and I knew my basket wouldn't last another day.  I used to eat strawberries dipped in white sugar, crunchy and sweet, strawberries were a sugar delivery vehicle.  I graduated to dipping strawberries in chocolate and, when chocolate was not available, sour cream sweetened with vanilla and sugar.  Sour cream with molasses instead of sugar seemed a logical step.  Epicurious apparently already stole my idea 10 years ago, so this is not an original recipe, although I thought it was when I made it.

Strawberries Bathed in Molasses Sour Cream
You can follow the Epicurious recipe or do what I did

Strawberries, cleaned, hulled, halved or quartered
Sour cream
Molasses
Vanilla

Put some sour cream in a bowl, as much as you want. Add a bit of vanilla.  Add some molasses, probably a tablespoon or so at a time until is tastes just right.  Mix well.  Slowly drizzle some molasses on top so you can take a fancy picture and your entry for Sugar High Friday looks tight. Eats.  Lick bowl.  Serves 1-4 depending on your gluttony level.

Farmers Storm Montclair Village

You know a town has come into its own when they have a farmer's market there.  Right?  I mean that tells you  people have made this place a home and a destination spot.  I was excited to hear that my hometown, Montclair, which resides in my bigger hometown Oakland, is starting a Farmer's Market May 1 right there in downtown Montclair Village (3 blocks long, 5 blocks wide).  I cried when the evil trio Starbucks, Noahs Bagels and Jamba Juice came to town, and when Icehouse and the original Colonial Donuts closed down, but I'm happy about the arrival of the new Farmer's Market.  Welcome farmers!  Don't let the yuppies scare you away!

Montclair Village Farmer's Market
Sundays from 9 am to 1 pm
On La Salle Ave between Mountain Blvd. and Moraga Ave.
MAP

And the beet goes on

I am sure they have been doing it for centuries, "they" being either people without food coloring or people who hate food coloring and "it" being coloring things with beet juice.  Fabrics and paints were dyed naturally by the Egyptians and Chinese, and right here in America, betalain is produced from a specially bred "high pigment beet" to be used as a natural food dye in the food industry.

I have accidentally "dyed" many things with beet juice, towels, tile grout, carpets, but had yet to use it for coloring something on purpose.  So when I was recently in the throws of pickling some beets, it occurred to me that they could be used to liven up the butter-cream frosting that was at that very moment being whipped up in my Kitchen Aid.  I did a quick test by squeezing a handful of beets skins into a tiny bowl with a tablespoon of frosting.  This resulted in a beautiful, soft pink and no beet flavor which was exactly what I wanted for the cupcakes Chris was making (yep, and he makes the best cupcakes on the planet).  So I squeezed away (squozed? squeezeded?), and whipped away until we got the perfect color.  What simple pleasure I get out of this discovery, to be able to use a food I love to naturally enhance the beauty of another food I love makes me giddy.  No, I'm not totally nuts.  I just have this crazy thing about beets.

New Food Reviews

I visit McSweeneys site regularly, chock full of witty banter and news of the current and interesting in writing.  Today I see that Reviews of New Foods is updated.  Pages and pages to scroll through, I already have a few favorite reviews, such as

Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
Submitted by Pat Roath

"Aside from its having far too many syllables for a soft drink, my skepticism toward the new Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper began when someone informed me that "it probably won't make you vomit"...

and

Reese's Pieces Peanuts & Peanut Butter With Nuts!
Submitted by Eric Black

"See where you say "Limited Edition" in your upper left corner? You're just playing on my fear of scarcity. There's really nothing limited about you at all, but here I am, falling for your cheap candy-aisle come-on, because I'm suddenly terrified the rest of my life will seem like a long, grim march toward death if I can never have peanuts and peanut butter together in a crunchy candy shell."

and

The Wild Mountain Chicken Sandwich at Wendy's
Submitted by Rachel DuBois

"If anyone ever tells you that you should eat a Wild Mountain Chicken Sandwich from Wendy's, what they really mean is "I secretly hate you and now revenge is mine."

You can also submit your own...

La Fonda: A Finda

It happens every now and then, when you take a chance on that family-style Mexican restaurant that you have driven by a hundred times, you go in, suspiciously look around, take a seat at the bar and two margaritas and some carnitas later, you realize you have discovered a hidden gem.

La Fonda in San Mateo is such a gem.  Family owned and operated, mom, pop, uncle and three adult children, La Fonda is bustling and friendly and serving great, fresh traditional Mexican cuisine.  The vibe is warm and even newcomers like us felt welcome - they have been serving their regulars since 1976.  The people sitting next to us had been coming every Friday night for twenty years.  They order the mole or the enchiladas.

Everyone gets a bowl of soup to start.  It is called bean soup but no beans were to be found.  Brothy with tomato and plenty of cilantro, I suspect that the base is the bean cooking liquid.  And it is delicious, a great precursor of things to come.  My carnitas arrives, Chris ordered the chile verde.  Whole beans, a scoop of guacamole, cabbage salad, fresh tortillas and a pile of hot, salty carnitas.  I was very pleased and set about rolling the pork and beans in the tortillas and munching happily away.  Then I tried Chris's chile verde.  A unique sauce, it was thinner than I was used to and had tomatoes in it which made it red, not the usual tomatillo green.  But what made it different made it incredible.  Did I detect a bit of cinnamon? Allspice? But just a hint, it was perhaps the best chile verde I have ever had.

When in need of comfort food, this is the spot.  Check it out, order some mole while Maureen and Pablo make you feel at home.

La Fonda
2310 South El Camino Real,
San Mateo, CA 94403
650-574-9699