Tips for attending Cochon555

Last week was very exciting because my Hog Haiku was picked as the winner by Jessica Battilana of 7x7 in their contest for 2 tickets to Cochon555!! Here it is below

Two Lard Jars in Fridge
From Mariquita Farm Pig
Tasty Pie for friends

If you are too lazy to click above what Cochon 555 is, then just look at what the sticker below says because I'm too lazy to type it.

The 5 chefs were from Delfina, Namu, Flour + Water, Bi-Rite, and Perbacco. Each chef has to prepare a heritage breed hog into a variety of dishes! For more great info on the types of hogs, check out Carolyn Jung's blog or this Bay Citizen Article.

I have to say the BEST part of the night was not the food, wine, or even Rancho Gordo Cannellini Beans, it was our PARKING SPACE. We found a meter NEXT to the Fairmont Hotel (which was where Cochon 555 was being hosted) This is CRAZY if you know this area. We seriously cried.
BUT back to the Rancho Gordo Cannellini Beans. These were sooo good. I need to get a Clay pot and make beans every day! (I had no idea I'd be raving about Beans at a Pork Event. We were even naughty and mixed it in with Namu's Braised Shoulder Trotter Mole. (But really, can you blame us...) I think I'm going to buy some of their beans and Ryan Farr's Hot Dogs to make fancy pork & beans.
Speaking of Ryan Farr, he was there butchering a whole hog. Sunday was certainly a treat because earlier we said hello to him at the Sunset Celebration Weekend in Menlo Park. There we had waited in line to have him serve us samples of his Cheddar Brats. ( We would of gone thru te line 10 times!! Those sausages were soooo good. BUT we were saving ourselves for Cochon.)
Here is his recipe for Cheddar Brats from the Sunset Recipe Booklet!
So back to Cochon555, my favorite booth was NAMU, but just because I loved how they reused their Soybean paste containers. Each one had different pickled items in them to eat with your porchettita! Butttttt, I don't think I could pick an ACTUAL favorite booth food-wise. I had too many favorite items from each place. hmmmm I wish all the booths could combine together like a bunch of Transformers to make an ultimate PIG BOOTH.
Some favorites for me were Bi-Rite’s Focaccia blood sausage sandwich, Namu's mole, Delfina's Chicarones, and Flour & Water's thinly sliced ham.(Was this a proscuitto? I forgot to take a picture of the menu...) BUT I must admit Perbacco did KILL with their Ndjua Spread (calabrian spreadable salami) on a crostini, and pig blood cupcakes with lard frosting & BACON MARSHMELLOWS. (when I think of all the times I've pulled the blood cubes out of my bun bo hue!)


Another big extra besides the Rancho Gordo beans was Avedanos Butcher Shop in attendance. They were serving up WOOLY PIG and other heritage varieties! But I was most excited for the Wooly and it was just as good as I had read. I even ended up talking to the Wooly Pig's VP of Bay Area Operation's girlfriend. We now have plans to make pecan pie with Wooly Pig Lard. (Ok this maybe tops the parking space...)



So a great time was had and I even did a small comic for tips to those who attend next year....

Wines I have liked....

So here are a few wines that I have liked lately or just have an opinion on.....

When I go for wine I go for Jammy, fruity, rich, deep....Not really a spicy girl except when it comes to my cheeto preference ( I love a wine review with a cheetos reference lol....)

The wine that had me figure out what I go for is Tres Sabores 2007 Por Que No? which I had at Fish & Farm. This was the wine pairing that went with their burger which is really good. I'm still in the 4505 meats camp when it comes to the best burger though.....


Another wine that was soooo fruity and jammy was Poppy 2008 Pinot Noir !! We were really shocked how good it was for $15 at Whole Foods

We asked a lady in wine at Whole Foods San Mateo if she recommended a wine that was similar. She said to try Adesso Nero D'Avola and we thought it was good. But still preferred Poppy. (I don't think she was too into helping us tbh......)

I mentioned in the previous peach post how we had an amazing Copain Rose at Flea Street Cafe. When I tracked down the Rose to the Whole Foods San Mateo, I was pleasantly surprised to see they had Copain's 2007 Syrah as well. We don't usually buy a Syrah but had been so happy with Copain's Rose, we thought "por que no?" (sorry for pun :P ) It was great and we will definitely purchase more wines from Copain in the future.

If you had not guessed from my multiple mention of Whole Foods from above, we have been taking advantage of their buy 6, get 10% off deal. (although i feel more taken advantage of lol) I hope they bring back their Quail Creek Case for $25 deal sometime this summer. That was amazing last year. Actually good $2 red or white table wines. Insanittyyyyyyyyy (Now that I just read the wiki page about it, I don't think I will buy again because of the treatment of their farm workers....back to the drawing board for cheap drinkable wines! )

oh Peaches!

Been too busy with my THESIS animation lately to post. (If you are interested in checking out some of my work, go here.) Instead of whining about my huge amount of food notes, I will jump right in and post. This one is dedicated to my friend Jeanette!

Last month, I found out about a Peach Tasting Dinner on April 11 at Flea Street Cafe through my Slow Food Chapter. Peaches are my absolute favorite stone fruit (I hope any Pluots had their hands over their ears...) and this was prefect for a late birthday dinner. I had wanted to get a Peach tasting menu about 2 years back at Craft since they had shares in a peach orchard, unfortunately I missed it. So this dinner looked like it would fix that incident, plus it looked even better with the ultimate Peach Farmer Mas Masumoto being in attendance.

We arrived at Flea Street the night of the dinner to find an anxious crowd all trying to fit in the tiny hallway while they waited to be seated. (It was sooo cold, so I can understand the push and shove not to be outside.) As we were seated, my dear Mr.Phi was handed a glass of Copain Rose, since he had chosen the wine tasting menu. This Rose had such brilliants overtones of peach that it set the perfect mood for the meal. (I actually called and found out I could buy it at the Whole Foods in San Mateo)

I almost ordered a glass of the Rose for myself but instead I requested a cocktail in peach form which our waitress excitedly provided as a peach martini. This was not as good as the Peach Sangria I had at Craft but I think that was because I was craving more peach flavor/sweetness.

They gave us the menu which sometimes I think is more exciting for me then getting the food. I get pretty giddy with anticipation!! Flea Street Cafe had adopted one of Mas Masumoto's peach trees last year and received 600 pounds of peaches from it!! All the peaches were from this harvest and had been dried, or frozen.

The first dishes to arrive at our table were a trio of amuse bouches. The Chef chose a perfect start for the meal with the Boccolone Salumi Mini Wrap. So perfectly seasoned. Just how you want your first bite to be of a tasting menu. The other items of Mini Dungeness Crab Cocktail and a Peppered Harley Farms Goat Cheese Turnover were excellent as well! (On a side note, I LOVE when they name the Farm where the cheese is made at. Way to give props to the cheesemakers!!)




























Then the first course of a Suncrest Peach Soup with Spicy Short Ribs was served. I think this is where I ran back into the problem of wanting items to have more peach flavor. I know they were going for a hint of peach but I wanted full on PEACH lol. But it was still a yummy soup and I'm all of for more spicy in tasting courses.

The Second course was a Chicorie Parsley Salad with Elberta Peach Fritters (My other favorite thing is when they identify fruit varieties!!) Andddd omg, I love anything that involves fritters and then when you combine it with peaches. I actually ate a whole fritter before I took a picture and ended up grabbing one of Mr.Phi's for the picture. Plus I have to say I thought Parsley Salad sounded disgusting but once I took a bite, it was L-O-V-E! Maybe it was the shaved egg....I wonder where they get their eggs....


The entree course arrived which I always find makes me sad....BECAUSE it means the meal is almost over!! le sighh....But once I taste the entree all is forgotten and I went into complete anmesia after the Marin Sun Pasture Raised Loin of Pork was served. (AND OF COURSE, I love when they say where the meat is from. Saves me the trouble of asking but I trust Flea Street to choose sustainable food) The sides were Carrot-Potato Cake, Wilted Greens with Pork Belly and Marcy Masumoto's Peach Chutney. All I can say is when you say a dish has pork belly, add a LOT of pork belly lol. My Mr.Phi didn't get any and I hate to share! (But I diddddd...)

For the Finale aka dessert aka my favoritest, they served a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. I have had a long standing love affair with crisps. From being raised on my Mama's peach crisps in Texas is where the root took deep hold of me. Since then, I can never pass up a peach crisp or cobbler. BUT this is a strawberry cobbler with peach cream. I hope the next peach tasting dinner they will CAN some peaches so they can serve it in the dessert. Though I understand not wanting to do the Canning, sometimes its such a hot mess of a chore. And then I thought about why is Rhubarb so HARD To find!! I looked and looked for it at Farmers Markets but have not been able to find any.... I didn't toture myself much more with these thoughts after they served the Chocolcate Sunset Peach Truffles. The silky chocolate and deep peach flavors melted away any ill thoughts and just ones of anticipation for Peach season to actually begin!!















So the overall meal was amazing but I have to say the peaches that were dried had way more flavor than the frozen peaches. I'm not sure if they were frozen too long but just didn't seem like enough flavor. BUT maybe my palette is still too young and wants too MUCH peach flavor lol.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention how I loved that Marcy Masumoto handed out her homemade Suncrest Peach Jams for everyone to take home. Was a perfect treat for the next morning with a hot scone!! (Reminded me of how we handed out our own homemade jams at our wedding!)

Through out the evening, they handed out Mailing List Cards which we filled out and then I doodled peaches on. (See above and over to the rt) Mas & Marcy Masumoto and the owner Jesse Cool came over to our table after we turned our card in to tell us how funny they were. During the night, all 3 of them spoke which provided great info about where our food was from and the work involved so all of us could enjoy it! Also I really enjoyed hearing Mas Masumoto reading from his new book "Wisdom of the Last Farmer" We liked it so much we bought the book! I wonder if he does audiobooks.....

PS
The dinner reminded me of how Mr.Masumoto runs a Peach tree adoption program at his farm. Basically you pay $500 to get a beautiful Elberta Peach Tree that will yield 400-600 pounds of fruit. With the small fortune I spend on peaches every year, this seemed like a great deal to me and a fun activity to share with others. So I did a peach video for my group's application and luckily was able to squeeze in to be one of the lucky adoptees!!

Banana Jam

Wow! It has definitely been a while since I posted almost Thanksgiving! So many posts to catch up on so I will just go ahead and start out from the middle.

This year my Mr.Phi and I have made the valiant attempt to eat mostly locally. It's much harder than I had ever anticipated, especially when dealing with a certain favorite fruit. That is the BANANA!! Oh precious Banana, we thought we had wished you goodbye forever. UNTIL I met the lovely Banana Lady at the San Carlos Farmers Market. Not only does she grow mini "golden finger" Bananas but she grows HAWAIIAN APPLE-BANANAS!!! My favorite Banana of all time...drool.



So she saved my life and Mr.Phi's as well since hes nutso for banana bread. Recently at the Farmer Market, she informed me that the Apple-Bananas were at the end of their season and wouldn't be back till May of 2010! So I bought all the Apple-Bananas and decided to make Jam with them.

I found this recipe for Banana Jam and altered it a lil for my preferences.

Banana Jam
2 lbs ripe bananas or even better APPLE-BANANAS
2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup Honey
1 Cup water
juice of 3 limes (or lemons)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract
1 dash of ginger powder
1/4 Cup of rum (1/2 dl)

Peel and mash the bananas. Mix water, lime juice, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger over moderate heat and stir until syrup thickens. Add the mashed bananas and let cook 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rum during the last few minutes of cooking to let alcohol burn off. Immediately place in jam jars and seal.

I had given away a couple of jars of the jam and finally opened one for myself. Some may like it sweeter and I would suggest the original recipe for that. But I prefer a not too sweet. Thats a big turn-off in jams for me. I think this jam is amazing for peanut butter sandwiches and add some honey for a lil extra sweetness. Yum.

Detox or "How to not fart for 2 whole weeks..."

Holy Canoli! I never thought I would be on one of these. Me + Detox= rather diAt!

I had tried a few and every time on the second day I would throw up, eat a muffin and say DONE&done!!"

But this time it was different. I hadn't been feeling like my usual peppy self and I was tired/laggy a lot of the time. What was worse is that my usual foodie fare was tasting blazah. Nothing sounded good to eat. And I had gained a 5 pounds in addition to that 5 pounds you are always constantly trying to lose. Plus I have been wanting to cut down the meat in our diets. Not that I don't LOVE good quality meat. Oooooh I do, idoidoidoidoooooo.....BUT I don't think its healthy of us to eat it all the time and we had been wanting to switch over completely to farm raised meats. Specifically the type that Eat Wilds website explains much better than I can.

From there I started trying to figure out what to do. There are a lot of detox diets out there. And I really wasn't looking for a diet, more just to flush out my system. First I started looking for recipes because I didn't want to be stuck in the kitchen all day. That led me to raw food which I wasn't completely in to. I'm really a hot soup type of girl. I had heard of the lemonade diet and definitely wasn't into that. Then my hairdresser told me how she did it for 34 days and felt awesome. From there I decided I SHOULD definitely do the lemonade diet. lol

So I started looking at this site for the lemonade and got a couple of books at the library. I was all ready to do it when I realized I am signed up for CSA deliveries which cannot be put on hold. So I would be letting boxes of these beautiful vegetables wither right during the peak of season too!! Or worse give them to someone else to enjoy. Maybe I should do the Raw Food diet I thought again..... So I tried making a recipe for raw tomato soup. DO NOT WANT is all I can say about that!

Well by now I was on Day 2 of a start of some kind of detox diet. I'd eaten a plain vegetable soup. (I actually cheated on this the whole time by using chicken stocks for the soups but cmonnnnnnn) BUT I had no game plan at all, just a bunch of different ideas. So I decided to try the pills option and walked over to Whole Foods to check out kits.

Now one of my botched attempts at a Detox was when I bought a kit from Whole Foods with a Fiber Blend that I was supposed to drink every night before bed. It tasted like a glass of wet sand and I threw up the second day. So you can understand my hesitation on getting another kit. Luckily a nice man with multiple piercings and a tattooed head was working the Herbal remedies section at WF and provided me with excellent advice. I told him how THIS was basically my first serious attempt at a Detox. He went over the kits with me and what did what or focused on some kind of problem. Since I wasn't focused on a specific area, and it was my first time, he suggested the WF store brand "365 Complete Body Cleanse Kit" or the Whole Body Cleanse Kit. Both were the same, except the 365 Kit included basically no instructions on how to eat, but I could deal with that for $13 less. Especially since I'd been reading and researching for about a week now. I definitely was aware of what NOT to eat. "Et tu, cupcake?!"

So I skipped home with two "365 Complete Body Cleanse Kits!" Oh I forgot to mention, my dear Mr.Phi decided to do the detox with me. He'd been wanting to lose some weight and thought this would be a good way. So he'd been going along with all my schemes and said he was game for pills now too. What a dear sheep that is until he saw the amount of pills we had to take. Felt like Valley of the Dolls.

Now I bet you're wondering what kind of diet we did. Basically it was cutting out everything we like to eat rofl! No Meat, No Gluten, No Wheat, No Sugar, No processed foods, No dairy, No caffeine, and No alcohol sob!! What is even harder is we try to eat locally, so there was additional stuff we could no eat. boooo Oh and in addition to this , we would try to eat 1 raw meal a day. Usually a salad of some sort.

So begin the CSA Vegetable diet, some tofu and tempeh tagged along ANDDDDD it actually wasn't as bad as we thought. Except for the fact Mr.Phi had to start a week later than me on the pills. That was annoying because we had to stay on the diet an extra week. The pills were not bad, but make sure you read the instructions on the side of the bottle as well. I actually ended up lowering my dosage to 1 of the Herbal Laxative Forumal a night because it got a lil too INTENSE for me. But the bottle said to do that if it does. Still it was a ton of pills to take in morning and night. I think all the water alone it takes to choke down the pills is enough to cleanses your system.

MY CHEATS
How can you NOT have some cheats. Its really impossible. I was more impressed by Mr.Phi's willpower since he has catered lunches at work every day. What a trooper!

Our first cheat was at the Opera at the Ballpark after 6 days of goodness. We could not resist a a glass of red wine with some Gilroy Garlic fries. I mean it junkfood madness around us and here we were munching on salads with lentil soup. There are worse things we could of done.

To be honest, I really didn't start missing meat till the second week and then it hit me like a ton O' bricks. All I could think of was meat every friggin DAY. So on my second to last night of the detox, I bought a rotisserie chicken at the Farmers Market and had my way with it. Which was sooooo worth it. There was glorious drooling and absorbing every last morsel of meat on the bone. This is how we were supposed to enjoy eating, its supposed to be almost a religious experience of honoring the food. Today we don't get food the credit it deserves and the detox really made me think about that.

What Have I learned?

I think meat makes me fart and gassy. lol Not once did me or Mr.Phi fart the whole time we were on the detox. We noticed it after a week and found it hilarious.

Also, we were dissapointed by HOW AWESOME WE FELT! That was very sad because we love to eat everything. And of course we have since gone back to eatting everything but you don't forget something like that.

And now I am more aware of what I eat. I try to eat healthier and be aware of not mixing too many of the don't eats together. But that is tricky since I love to cook and they are so tasty all mixed together. But as I always say, Food is all about moderation in our society today when everything is so readily available. We know our limits and too much of a good thing can quickly become a veryyyy bad thing. Suddenly its not a treat anymore and that is heartbreaking in a way. I want my chocolate cake to make me go GAGA, not ho-hum.

In conclusion, a Detox is a wonderful to do once or twice a year. Next time I plan on buying a juicer and trying a week long vegetable juice fast. (I know WS is much more expensive but I'm a big believer in lifetime return policies)

Until then I will enjoy my clean slate and I encourage you to clean off yours as well. Cheers! :)

Changing the way we EAT

Well now, I haven't been back in a while. Guess cuz I've been having too much food in my hand lately to type. Which is probably why I'm on a 2-week detox. More about that in another post to immediately follow.

How did all this start you may ask??
My dear Mr.Phi and I have been wanting to change our eating habits. After reading such books as Animal Vegetable Miracle, This Organic Life, and The Omnivore's Dilemma, we've really started changing the way we eat. We joined a CSA and try to buy all our produce strictly at the Farmers Markets now.(We were mostly doing this anyways, cuz seriously its quite a taste difference. ) And since moving up to the Bay area, we have mostly been cooking at home.

Now for the meat arena, we are still investigating into that. I really enjoyed this article which explains what we are after. Well in NoCal, it is very easy to find 100% pasture and ethically raised meats than in other areas of the country but still we are a lil confused starting out. I found a good deal for a lady who sells her chicken eggs on craigslist, but for other meats we still need to do more research. In addition to changing what meats we eat, we want to eat meat less. Which is why we're doing the detox to ween ourselves off meat as often and get used to eating vegetarian/vegan styles. Not only is eating meat less better for you, it is better for the environment and is a lot less expensive. Because if you are buying quality meat, you're going to have to pay a lot more. Which is why some people are forming their own Meat CSAs which is something we may think of doing one day when we have a family and a freezer lol.( So suburban!)

The toughest part of this diet change is eating out. Its not hard to stop eating at chain restaurants since we really don't like the food anyway. Too spoiled from all this wonderful NoCal Food. But we do love our small Mom and Pop Shops so thats has been the hardest part. We feel guilty eating there now, but don't feel we can ask them to change their meats for us. At higher end restaurants, I have no problem asking them what kind of meat they use. But for a small restaurant where the food is $5, I do have a problem asking. Plus I don't speak enough Chinese, Korean, Thai, etc to get the point across.

And finally in addition, we've made a pact to eat whatever we can locally or as nearby CA as possible. To quote "Locally raised and produced food has been called “the new organic" — better tasting, better for the environment, better for local economies, and better for your health." And to keep to it, we try to give ourselves just 10 options for the month of items that are processed/made further away. Of course there are exceptions to the rule like some spices like Vanilla Beans, pineapples and certain grains. But whenever we have the choice, we will buy local. Also it has saved us $$ from buying items we'd usually grab with no afterthought. But I still want my Totopos or other Tortilla Chips!! Why are there no good ones made here in NoCal.

PS
Some of my favorite local items at the moment are Straus Milk, because I love returning their milk & cream bottles to the grocery store! Plus their butter makes the pie crusts dreams are made of.....mmmmmm And SpiceHound who I started getting some of my spices from. I like that they will refill my containers, so I don't just keep buying new containers of spices.

Delfina

So if you haven't heard or read my previous post, WE HAVE MOVED TO SAN FRANCISCO!!!

Mr.Phi got a job offer here and we decided it was a good time to move. We miss everyone and all our favorite restaurants in Los Angeles. But now we get to start fresh in a new city with new food adventures.

We've been to a couple places, nothing special, mainly places to keep us nourished as we handle the moving issues. But after some long hard craiglist days of searching for a place, we hit rental gold and decided to celebrate our newest humble home by going out to eat!

Both of us were in the mood for comfort food. Carbolicious Pasta!!!
Living out of suitcases for more than a week does that to anyone. So I started doing research, research, research....
Its a very big deal when you've moved to a new city to find an actual good restaurant. I wanted out first nite out in SF to really be the whole cupcake. Very special!!
After coming across the Chowhound post about "what SF establishment that has the best pasta", I knew we were in the right direction when I chose....

Delfina

We usually make reservations way in advance, but this was all last minute to celebrate so I called and they said that we could probaby get a seat at the bar easily. Tables were reserved till after 10pm. Barseating was fine by us, since we would be riding the Bart in from Millbrae and unsure how long it would take us to get there.

We arrived to the restaurant after walking a few blocks from the station and informed the hostess we would take any seat open. She seated us at the bar and we took in our surroundings. It had a cute, local feel of the restaurant. Very cozy and was exactly what we were looking for. We settled in and ordered a nice bottle of wine. This is the first thing we love about SF!! We can order a ENTIRE bottle of wine, because WE ARE NOT DRIVING HOME!!! Oh happy happy joy! joy!

We ordered a bottle of St. Michael-Eppan Pinot Nero and were very happy with it. I'm either happy with wine or not happy with wine. I ususally enjoy blends. So I'm not sure I'll ever ellaborate more than that. Maybe 5 years down the line when I'm older?.....

Now our first course was gobbled down in mere seconds. Chicken liver spiedini(skewers) w/guanciale & balsalmico!! I forgot to take a foto, but if you know my love of guanciale, YOUKNOW how good it tasted and looked!! Mr.Phi and I split it because we both wanted to save room for dessert!

Now onto the main course. I ordered the risotto of the day which was a Kabocha Squash Risotto with a well of Fontina Cheese in the middle. Almost resembled a fondue with rice to dip in the well instead of bread! This was sooooo amazing, I was about to lick the bowl. I used the bread to do the dirty work of getting every last drop of sauce instead. hehehe

Mr.Phi's dinner of Pacceri and bluenosed seabass all' Amalfitana was good, but maybe a lil too fishy. He even commented on the fishiness, which means it was wayyyyyy too fishy lol. (hes been fishing since he was in diapers, being in a Viet Fishing Family)

Well both of us ate every last bite and still were ready for dessert. And as you can see we didn't even stop to take pictures of these desserts till halfway through eating them to come up for a breather!!

I ordered the Warm Scharffen Berger chocolate torta with olive oil gelato and Maldon sea salt becqause I've been in a chocolate mood for the last few months. This definitely helped with the craving! Wonderfully moist and cakey. I do not dig the ultra creamy deserts. You'll be happy to know after eating chocolate chip cookies every day of the last month(free cookies from hotel), I may be getting over this ailment.

Mr. Phi ordered the Pippin apple crostata rustica with caramel gelato and Pizzuta d'avola almonds. The apples were fresh of the season and the crust was delightfully flakey. Usually I would be all about the crostata, but I already explained my chocolate ailment.

The waitress came(by the way the staff there is wonderful and super duper friendly)and took away our 3rd and final licked clean plate. She asked "How was it?" and Mr. Phi quipped "Horrible, can't you tell!?" She laughed and said"Oh I definitely can"
Mr.Phi commented that I made an excellent choice and I of course agreed with him. The restaurant was wonderful and we will be back to try their pizzeria next door!! A wonderful first restaurant adventure of San Francisco!