Mad for Mushrooms on Top

I've always loved mushrooms, even when I was a little girl. Their earthy, fragrant flavor and chewy texture have always enticed my taste buds. Even knowing mushrooms are fungi and sometimes poisonous does not deter me one bit from wanting to eat them.

I have devised an easy way to incorporate lots of mushrooms into various dishes. Or should I say incorporate them ONTO various dishes? My technique is to saute in-season, locally grown mushrooms in olive oil and a little butter and then simply pour them over whatever edible I feel like having that day. For instance, a large serving of sauteed mushrooms goes nicely over:

- good buttered bread (I'm partial to Il Fornaio Rosemary Bread)
- cooked pasta, along with some marinara or cream sauce with parmesan
- cheese quesadillas
- scrambled eggs, omelets, quiche or fritatta
- pizza

I like the mushrooms on top technique because I don't have to worry about making them to fit a recipe. Mushrooms on top makes them the emphatic focus of these dishes so I can make and eat as much as I like, and use whatever variety of mushroom I want.

A simple technique to saute mushrooms:

1. Clean mushrooms by putting them in a colander and quickly rinsing with cold water. Blot dry with a towel.
2. Cut into bite sized pieces.
3. Saute in pan on medium heat in extra virgin olive oil until the mushrooms release their water.
4. After the water evaporates, add a pat of butter and continue to saute for a total of about 10 minutes.
5. Salt to taste.

If you haven't tried them, check out the chanterelles now in season at your farmers' market, the Ferry Building mushroom store, or at Sigona's Market. Saute a big serving and pour over your favorite mushroom delivery dish. You'll discover why chanterelles are called Queen of the Forest.

Marvelous Manresa

Every year for my birthday I choose a special place to enjoy a meal with my husband. This year I already knew months in advance what my choice would be: Manresa in Los Gatos. Manresa boasts two Michelin stars among its accolades and the inventive cuisine of Executive Chef David Kinch.  It's also received outstanding Zagat ratings (27 out of 30 for food, 25 for decor, and 27 for service) and has won OpenTable's designations for best ambiance, best food, and best overall restaurant in Silicon Valley.

The restaurant doesn't look like much on the outside, but feels warm and inviting inside. The comfortable, elegant interior combines refined lighting, crisp white tablecloths, and Asian rugs.

One of the secrets to Manresa's success is its fresh vegetables grown exclusively for the restaurant at the Love Apple Farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The menu only hints at these secret ingredients, a tease of the unexpected flavors and simple visual beauty set on the table. One of my chosen courses was risotto without rice. It looked like risotto, but it felt and tasted different, made from some kind of vegetable. I still don't know what it was made from, and that's part of the fun.

My husband and I ordered the four course menu, choosing from an enticing list of options. The waitress informed us that the larger and more expensive tasting menu added up to about the same amount of food but with more courses. Brad ordered the wine pairings and I went with still bottled water. We also enjoyed the extras: amuse-bouche, bread, and palate cleansers.

Everything tasted lovely and different. Besides the bread, I can say that everything offered a new experience to my senses. It all felt elegant and elevated, subtle yet daring, like caring creations from a perfectionist artist who doesn't shout his achievements for all to hear but simply shows his work and lets it speak for itself. I appreciated the impeccable service, a chorus of wait staff circling throughout the restaurant in an almost constant rhythm, smoothly and efficiently refilling water glasses, removing dishes, and presenting food for the entire table at once.

When I made the reservation on OpenTable I hesitatingly admitted that it was my birthday. The waitress gently inquired if this night was a special occasion, a light and simple confirmation of the evening's import. I knew they wouldn't do anything too embarrassing to mark the occasion, and I was right. We enjoyed and ate up every bite of our meal:

- pear gelato with avocado cream and salty crunch topping
- brown egg yolk cup with maple syrup and red wine vinegar
- green garden soup with variety of vegetable purees, flowers, and herbs, presented first with the solid ingredients before the soup was poured over
- assorted breads with butter (my favorite was the little brioche bun)
- risotto without rice, and with green sauce and mushrooms
- salad with vegetable foam and puree (this description sadly doesn't even begin to do the dish justice)
- wagyu beef ribbons with mushrooms, greens, and black tea broth
- meyer lemon gelato with grapefruit palate cleanser
- chocolate disk melted by warm caramel sea salt sauce, revealing vanilla shortbread with dark chocolate ganache and coconut ice cream
- apple, quince, and cranberry compote with oatmeal ice cream and sugared vanilla bean strip
- green tea cake with yuzu icing for my birthday

The standouts for me included the green garden soup, wagyu beef ribbons, and Samoa chocolate-vanilla dessert. The soup's flavors melded together in a swirl of colors, each bite standing on its own as the soup melted into the ingredients first presented in the bowl. The beef dish had an intoxicating umami scent and flavor, a heavenly blending of mushrooms, beef, and black tea. The chocolate vanilla dessert delighted not only in its presentation with the warm salted caramel melting the chocolate disk to reveal the added lusciousness underneath, but also in each and every bite of chocolate, caramel, crunchy vanilla shortbread, and cold, creamy coconut ice cream.

If I could choose my four courses with no witnesses (or only those who really knew me well), I'd be tempted to go with four desserts, it was that good. Brad was equally enthralled with his apple, quince, and cranberry finale. He kept tipping his plates and bowls to scoop up every last bit.

Manresa is marvelous, magical, and mysterious. It earns its customer vote on OpenTable as best overall restaurant in Silicon Valley. I'll be back for more.

Mom's Chinese Turkey Jook

Looking for something different to make with turkey leftovers?  Try Chinese turkey jook, the Asian version of Jewish chicken noodle soup. Also known as congee, jook is a warm, porridge-like comfort food made with leftover turkey meat and bones.  But instead of noodles and carrots, jook incorporates rice and ginger. It's creamy, thick, and oh-so satisfying on cold winter days.

I was fascinated to learn online how many variations of jook people make all across Asia. The version my mom makes is the Cantonese style. A traditional dish that's low on cost but high on flavorful satisfaction, jook can be eaten at any time of day. While simmering for hours on the stove top, jook spreads its comforting smell slowly throughout the house as the rice breaks down into a thick white porridge. It wouldn't surprise me if scientific research showed that turkey jook has the same immunity building and therapeutic properties as its Jewish cousin.

Mom's Chinese Turkey Jook

Turkey bones with bits of meat (use leftover turkey carcass or turkey thighs)
6 cups water plus any leftover turkey pan juices or chicken broth for a total of about 12 cups of liquid (enough liquid to cover turkey)
1 cup uncooked, rinsed white rice
3 tablespoons sliced ginger
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons oyster sauce (a good brand is Lee Kum Kee)
Toppings to taste:  chopped scallions, slivers of ginger, fried sliced won ton strips, or cilantro

1. Simmer turkey bones and all liquids in a large pot on the stove for one hour, covered.
2. Add rice, sliced ginger, salt and oyster sauce. Simmer two more hours, stirring occasionally. Additional liquid may be added for desired consistency.
3. Remove bones and ginger. Ladle soup into bowls.
4. Top with chopped scallions and thin slivers of ginger or other toppings to taste.

If you're planning on roasting a turkey for Christmas or New Year's, consider making Chinese Turkey Jook for a warm and nourishing meal. Create a new tradition out of a centuries-old favorite.

BAUMÈ: French Cuisine Moderne with a Zen Touch

Baume restaurant in Palo Alto recently received a coveted Michelin star. That in itself is enough to get me interested. Then I got the new Zagat San Francisco Bay Area 2011 book and noticed equally impressive ratings for food, service, and decor (28 out of 30 points each). Baume has the same total number of Zagat points as the French Laundry restaurant. Time to get a reservation.

My husband Brad is skeptical when it comes to small tasting portions and molecular gastronomy. But he promised to keep an open mind during our lunch at Baume. I skipped breakfast that day to appreciate each morsel even more.

Stepping into the restaurant, all is calm. The black painted windows create a quiet enclosure with an interior of dramatic orange coloring, curtains, and tasteful decor. The menu takes this simply stylish approach a step further; it is not really a menu but a listing of ingredients used in the dishes. It's a hint at what's to come, the chef artist's palette that could be used to create thousands of different combinations.

Leeks | Burgundy Truffle | Gigha Halibut | Shiso

Grass Fed Beef | Celeriac | Garlic | Ginger

Lantern Scallop | Lichee | Lilikoi | Chocolate

Champignons Sauvages | Foie Gras | Pumpkin | Kabocha

Fromages | Liquid Nitrogen | Maui Pineapple | Apple | 62˚ Egg

Alba White Truffle (Supplement)

Le Degustation $ 58
With Drinks and Wines Pairing $ 88

L’Experience $ 98
With Drinks and Wines Pairing $ 158

The waiter explained that the more traditional Le Degustation had four courses, while L'Experience had twice as many courses and more innovative flavors and preparations. We both ordered L'Experience without the drinks and wine pairing. The name of this eight course meal is brilliant. Coming to a restaurant like Baume is all about the experience and the food. Bring on the bold.

The ingredient list only hinted at the marvelous dishes that arrived, one after one, bite after glorious bite. I may not remember all these dishes correctly, but this is my best recollection. We didn't get the scallops because Brad is allergic, and I'm not sure what we got instead. Even though the list looks incredibly long, the small, precious portions allowed our stomachs to slowly expand in accommodating each and every bite. Using moderate portion sizes ensures maximum satisfaction and a wide variety of flavors. We got a lot of welcome extras on top of our eight courses.

- steamed wheat bun filled with leek and topped with gold leaf

- vegetable terrine with exploded orange (made icy with liquid nitrogen)

- rosemary and French breads with two spreads: parsley tofu and balsamic olive oil

- miso crunch squash soup

- foie gras with citrus gelee, quince, and cinnamon

- 62˚ egg with champignons sauvages, carrot puree, tarragon sauce and Burgundy truffle

- grass fed beef with celeriac, celery sponge and puree

- halibut with tapioca pearls and citrus

- orange segment with tangerine sorbet palate cleanser

- fromage plate (French cheese, goat cheese, and Point Reyes bleu cheese) with walnut toast and honey lavender pearls

- pumpkin cake with cranberry gelee topping, pumpkin brittle, ginger, and green apple sorbet

- squirting pineapple upside down gingerbread cake

- marshmallow confection to go in 3 flavors: mango, coconut, and green tea

It's difficult to describe the many flavors, presentations, textures, and aromas of our meal. It would be like trying to describe the movie 'Inception' with its unprecedented visual intricacies and plot levels. It's better just to see the movie. Several dishes arrived in one condition only to be transformed by the addition of another ingredient by the waiter. Impeccable service and attention to detail plus audacious creativity equals an outstanding meal. My favorite dishes that still linger in memory include the soup, foie gras, grass fed beef, tangerine-orange palate cleanser, bleu cheese and honey lavender pearls on walnut toast, and pumpkin cake. I loved having the little soft, fragrant marshmallow strips to enjoy at home hours later.

I've used Baume's menu ingredient format to create a poem of my experience with L'Experience. So many words, the ingredients of a writer's palette, come to mind, but how to combine them just so? It must be experienced to be known.

Mon Expérience

Michelin star | Open Table | Anticipation | Salivation

Elegant | Modern | Classy | Vibrant

Original | Fun | Exquisite | Delectable

Surprising | Sublime | Captivating | Daring

Artistic | Exceptional | Inspiring | Dizzying | Wow

Sinfully Rich Scharffen Berger Brownies

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker is the first U.S. bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer established in the past fifty years. Its founding goal was to "create the richest, most flavorful chocolate by sourcing the best cacao in the world and using artisan chocolate-making methods." I remember clearly taking my son to a Scharffen Berger factory tour in Berkeley many years ago, our own little home grown version of Willy Wonka's. Things change: the company has since been acquired by Hershey's and closed its local factory, but we can still enjoy the chocolate which is obviously the most important thing.

I also clearly remember enjoying an unbelievable Scharffen Berger Chocolate dinner with my husband at Google's Cafe 7 featuring recipes inspired from 'The Essence of Chocolate' cookbook by company co-founders John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. I enjoy poring over my cookbook autographed there by John Scharffenberger, remembering the fireworks of flavor from that choco-gastronomic meal. I kept the menu, not knowing that almost four years later I would use it for this blog:

- Goat Cheese Crostini and Nibs: Grilled pain levain, Laura Chenel Boursin cheese, candied orange zest, cocoa nibs

- Tortilla Soup Espumoso: Light puree of chipotle peppers, mirepois of vegetables, Latin spices, tomato, Scharffen Berger Chocolate, crisp tortilla, avocado, lime and sweet corn foam

- Grilled Scallop with Mild Thai Flavors: Mini local scallop brochette with coconut-chile and cocoa glaze

- Chocolate Martini

- Bread with Chocolate Butter

- Spinach and Almond Salad with Pears and Nib Vinaigrette: Organic field greens tossed with cocoa glazed almonds, dressed in a light balsamic-shallot dressing

- Chile-Marinated Harris Ranch Flank Steak with Mole Flavors: Served over baked navy beans with Applewood smoked bacon and unsweetened Scharffen Berger Chocolate

- Grilled Tofu Scallops and Roasted Squash: Three grain pilaf, vegetable medley and cocoa nib vinaigrette

- Chocolate Souffle: Bittersweet chocolate souffle, brandy liquor, sweet meringue, and chocolate cinnamon ganache center

- Petit Sirah Swirled Ice Cream: Housemade vanilla bean ice cream, swirled with Petit Sirah syrup, fresh blueberries and fresh raspberries

As I read this menu I can't believe we ate all of this at one meal! And now a link to the coup de grace, a sinfully rich New Classic Brownie recipe using unsweetened 99% cacao chocolate. I discovered this recipe on the Scharffen Berger website, written by Alice Medrich and featured in her book 'Cookies and Brownies'.  Company staff taste tasters liked this recipe best of three brownie recipes.

Fair warning:  These brownies are INTENSE. Brace yourself before taking a bite. These are not your everyday brownies, not the kind to bring to a potluck on the 4th of July or the school's bake sale.  These are grown-up, rated R, only for those strong enough to imbibe. They should be served with a warning that they may cause a temporary cocoa-induced stupor, and chocolate hallucinations for the weak-willed and knock-kneed. Eat at your own risk.

We made the brownies without nuts but I'm sure the toasted walnuts would provide a delicious balance to the extreme chocolate flavor. Also, I'd recommend using parchment paper instead of foil in the pan, as our brownies got stubbornly stuck to parts of the foil. Be patient while the brownies cool in the ice bath. And don't forget to share. You could possibly overdose on these if you don't.

Stanford Kitchen Confidential

I love heading back to the Stanford University campus every five years for my reunion activities. Besides parties, round table discussions, and the architectural sea of red, I enjoy taking classes and learning what's new. This year I took a fun and informative tour called 'Stanford Kitchen Confidential: Dorm Dining Today'. I was curious to find out how meal service has changed since my years of dorm eating so very long ago. I will never forget the California Surprise: a casserole composed of eggs and all the leftovers from the week, a concoction that kept us guessing each time it was served.  I will also not soon forget how the meals during critical finals weeks seemed to be the least tasty and nutritious.  The rumor was that the meal service staff had to use up all the leftovers each quarter before breaks, resulting in the worst meals just when we needed the best.

How things have changed! Stanford Dining supports the academic mission of the university in serving great tasting, healthy, sustainable food in a fiscally responsible manner. Its vision is nothing less than being the best in the industry. From all indications they are achieving this mission. I'm all the more grateful since my son Jacob is a freshman there now. Stanford Dining sees its role as food providers for students, which has a direct effect on quality of life, physical well being, and mental performance.  Some interesting facts about Stanford Dining, a nonprofit department of the university:

- They serve 12,000 meals a day in 10 dining halls
- Food includes grass-fed beef, wild Alaskan salmon, and locally, organic grown produce
- They figured out how to pay for cage-free eggs by turning on fewer lights during meals
- Besides the typical pizza and American fare, they offer Indian, Thai, vegan, and Mexican food every day
- One dorm is completely nut-free for those with allergies
- They have a no garbage policy; everything is compostable
- They've gone practically trayless which results in less labor, water, and energy to wash trays, in addition to cutting on food waste
- Smaller plates mean less food eaten and wasted
- Leftover food is donated to the homeless, and leftover oil is used for biodiesel fuel
- They collaborate with the Medical School and Center for Society & Ethics to provide programs on wellness, nutrition, and sustainability
- Student liaison Dining Ambassadors help the dining staff make changes
- Late night food is available from 9 pm to 2 am for night owls
- The football team has a special menu since the players eat four types of protein at every meal and LOTS of berries
- Summer camps and conferences don't provide the same menus, but subsidize much of the school year programs
- All dining halls are open to the public; you can pay cash and try out the meals
- A year of 19 meals a week costs students $5600, not at all cheap but IMHO worth it to ensure my son's nutritional needs are met

The many restaurants on campus are not run by Stanford Dining but provide a nice alternative for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. I was surprised to find out that the Subway sandwich restaurant in Tresidder Union is the highest grossing Subway in California. Tresidder also houses a Fraiche frozen yogurt shop, Peet's Coffee, Jamba Juice, and the CoHo (Coffee House).

Our tour ended with a nice breakfast. I had steel-cut oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, while other reunion attendees enjoyed fresh Belgian waffles, egg scrambles, bagels and muffins, cereal, or yogurt and fruit. This isn't your typical institutional food, and Stanford Dining leads the way in innovating and transforming college meal service. Go Cardinal!

My First Food Blogging Conference

It's been a year since I started this food blog. In that time I've eaten, written, and learned a lot. But I truly didn't know how much I don't know about the world of food blogging until I attended the BlogHer Food conference in San Francisco. On this brilliantly sunny Saturday in October, I played sponge for a day, soaking in ideas, words of wisdom, tastes, and tips.

Some key learnings and insights:

- Food blogging really hasn't been around that long. It's estimated that fewer than twenty food bloggers existed in 2003.  Many old-timers have been blogging only since 2006. So this whole world has exploded in just the past four years or so.

- Many very successful food blog sites exist that I had never even heard of. Some get over 100,000 hits a day, or have over 200,000 registered users. We even have food blogger celebrities. Check out some of the blogs from people who spoke at the conference: Michael Ruhlman (he even has groupies), Serious Eats, Simply Recipes, Gluten-Free Girl, and the Pioneer Woman. We newbies have a lot to learn from these leaders in the field.

- I sat down at breakfast next to a nice looking woman. What a delight when I found out she is probably the world's #1 food stylist. Delores Custer is a legend, having worked and taught in the field for thirty years, including teaching at NYU and The Culinary Institute of America, and with Julia Child on her baking cookbook. I loved learning so many tips and tricks about what makes food look mouthwatering, such as white plates best highlighting food visually, using tools like steam irons to make cheese melt just so on top of chili, and how food styling has changed since the 50s. What a treat to meet Delores and learn from her wealth of experience. 


- We took a tour of the Ferry Building and learned a lot about its history, architecture, and incredible array of food available there. We also participated in a fun scavenger hunt, taking photos of various food items in the building. For lunch I had a delicious and quick steamed chicken bao and iced Vietnamese coffee from Out the Door. I ate it outside by the bay while people watching. What could be better?

- Food bloggers are a fun and passionate group of people: mostly female (at least at this conference), interesting, supportive, and in love with food and writing. Here no one had to apologize for their foodie obsessions, sharing in minute detail what they ate for lunch, the latest recipe under development, or how to make homemade almond milk. We could talk about the craft of writing, sharing our anxieties and triumphs in the way that writers do. We're all unraveling the technology, potential, and platform of blogs. I loved learning what other bloggers are passionate about and what they're doing, learning from a variety of seminars: recipe writing, storytelling, building a blog brand, food styling, writing tips, food photography, and building an online community.

- I ordered three books after the conference. Dianne Jacob has written a new edition of 'Will Write For Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More' which includes an entirely new section about blogging.   I've already read the first edition of her book but wanted to order the new version with its blogging guide. I also ordered Anthony Bourdain's new book 'Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook', after reading an interesting and convincing review on Michael Ruhlman's blog.   I have Bourdain's 'Kitchen Confidential' and 'No Reservations' books and enjoyed them both, and had a memorable Kepler's Bookstore sponsored dinner with him at the Left Bank restaurant a couple of years ago. Finally, I ordered Delores Custer's 'Food Styling: The Art of Preparing Food for the Camera' which took her fifteen years to write. It looks absolutely gorgeous, inspiring, and extremely informative. And I'm still so thrilled that I got to have breakfast with her.

I love discovering that there's so much more to discover about food blogging. For me it's a hobby, a creative outlet that combines writing, food, the Internet, and phototography. Now I see it's also a community, both in person and online, and a way to connect with others. The conference exceeded my expectations: I learned what I need to learn and do next to cultivate this blog. Time to get started.