Bon Appetit Banh Mi

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-Meatball-Banh-Mi-356790

Banh Mi ("bun me") may be the best thing to come from colonialism.  In general, these eclectic subs are fantastic.  Inexpensive cuts of flavorful meat, fresh vegetables and a little heat on a lightly toasted roll.  Though these homemade Banh Mi can't compete with the sandwiches available for $2.50 in downtown Oakland, they offer an easy alternative to the meatball sandwich at home.

I followed the recipe fairly accurately.  The meatballs were savory, very moist, and though the basil was not perceptible the first night, it became more pronounced in the leftovers the next day.  There's no fishy taste despite the fish sauce, and the Sriracha adds more flavor than heat.  The only adjustment I'd make would be to skip the sugar.  I know that, like pork buns, a lot of Vietnamese meats are sweet, but these were too sweet.

I added some shredded romaine (I like my sandwiches crunchy) and more Sriracha to the sauce because, and I know this shreds my credibility, I forgot to buy jalapenos.  Regardless, the sauce as it was portioned, had way too much mayo and not enough flavor.

I could see making these for an outdoor barbecue--an unusual foil for hotdogs and hamburgers that is still neatly enclosed in a bun--however, I don't think I'll repeat this recipe for a dinner at home.  The cheap ones on International, with the cracked linoleum floors and imported durian products, are just too perfect and too cheap to waste my time on a lesser version. 

Joy of Cooking Peanut Butter Cookies

Along with the Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Joy of Cooking, these Peanut Butter Cookies did quite well.

I used MaraNatha unsalted creamy peanut butter.  It is wetter than most peanut butters--it doesn't set up in the fridge, and can even be a bit too runny for a PB&J.  But it worked well in this recipe, making a wet dough that I spooned onto the cookie sheet, hoping to spare my hands.

The cookies were unusually moist.  They had a very fine crumb and a consistent texture (no gooey mess in the center) and baked up to proportionally engorged versions of what went into the oven, including homey hatch-marks and rough edges.  They were also uncommonly sweet: not cloying, but with an almost Reese's-like sweet peanut butter taste.

These were very good and gone quickly.  I would definitely refer to this recipe again.

Gioia Pizzeria

Let the Pizza Battle begin.

Gioia

1586 Hopkins Street

Berkeley, CA

Up the street from Monterey Market

http://www.gioiapizzeria.com/

I love pizza.  As has been quoted by me in a few too many awkward situations, pizza is like sex.  When it's good, it's really good.  When it's bad, it's still kind of good.  Gioia is really, really good.  I can't attest to its New York authenticity, having only had the real stuff twice.  What I can say is that the crust is thin, crisp and really chewy, without a hint of char, and I find myself enjoying the plain, bready, bubbled, end piece as much as the middle.

And the middle is good, too.  My boyfriend, Jesse, loves anchovies, a culinary adventure catalyzed by an episode of Futurama ("A Fishful of Dollars"), and doomed to end with a trip to Porky's Pizza Palace in San Leandro.  There, the anchovies were one per slice and still so salty that I picked mine out, resenting the silvery residue left on the cheese.  Not so at Gioia.  Here, the anchovies are soaked, or rinsed, or something, to make them mild.  The bones are unnoticeable, and each creepy, elongated silver bite can be mistaken for a creamy cheese.  Ever the pizza purist, Jesse asked why the anchovies weren't baked into the pizza, but laid out, ever so carefully, after the oven.  Art Kinsey answered that putting them on later made the flavor milder.  Accompanied with chiles and less-than-pungent fresh oregano, the Acciughe has a little bite, a little salt and that eat-the-first-piece-on-the-bench-outside-even-though-you'll-be-home-in-twenty quality.

My only complaint?  A little too much cheese.  Heresy?  Maybe.  But I grew up on a faux-New York pizza that showed its tomatoes through the cheese, and the thick, greasy layer at Gioia is unpleasantly chewy.  It hides the chile spice and produces an unpleasant fount of orange grease.  Eat over a table or the pavement, not your lap.

 The seasonal Pomegranate Lemonade is a spritzer of fountain Sprite and hot pink liquid from an agua fresca jar, and it is delicious.  Almost tasted a little too tart  on the first sip, but as I ate my pizza, and the ice mellowed the drink, it became the perfect accompaniment.  Like champagne and fried chicken.

Next Time: Maybe I'll mix it up and get something other than the Acciughe.  But that's not likely.  I'll also try the cannoli.

Joy of Cooking CCCs

Thus begins the Cookie Battle.  I am on the hunt for the best recipes for various staple foods: roast chicken, biscuits, flourless chocolate cake.  It's a matter of taste and authenticity, making sure that the recipe speaks to what we've eaten and liked in the past.  And what better place to begin than The Joy of Cooking: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Forgive me for my blatant disregard for copyright, (Simon & Schuster Inc., 2006) but who's reading this blog anyway?

yield: 36 2 1/2 in. cookies

1c + 2T all-purpose flour

1/2 t baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 t salt

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 c chocolate chips

opt: 3/4 c chopped walnuts or pecans

375 F

-Grease 2 cookie sheets.

-Whisk together flour and baking soda

-In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar

->Add egg, salt and vanilla

->Add flour mixture

->Stir in chocolate chips and pecans

-Measure out heaping teaspoonfuls, 2 in. apart.  Bake one sheet at a time until slightly colored on top and edges are brown, 8-10 minutes.  

This recipe yielded about 22 3 1/2 in. cookies.  They were the flat, chewy kind with crisp edges, with little chocolate chip islands surrounded by dark cookie moats.  They have a nice caramel flavor that is rich but not too sweet.  

Next time: I'll refrigerate the balled dough before baking to reduce spreading (the chocolate chips were stranded in the middle of each cookie).  I also added pecans to half the cookies, and probably won't next time: they stick out and don't really add anything texture or flavor wise. 

Delicious Twist: Making the cookie without chocolate chips, then sandwiching them with melted chocolate to make florentines.

Bar Night

I don't go bar hopping, bar crawling, bar going, really.  But, I went on what, for me, is a major bar outing last Saturday, February 6th, to The Graduate and The Avenue.

The Graduate

Claremont x College Ave (across the street from the Safeway)

The Graduate wanted to be a dive bar and failed.  Sure, it has student specials for $1.50 PBR and $3 well drinks.  Sure, it has a cheap boilermaker.  But the dive-ness ends there.  They have specialty drinks, for one: on Saturday they offered a fresh fruit margarita and a "Salty Snoop": well gin, grapefruit juice from a 5.5oz can, and a salted rim in an old fashioned glass.  And it was tasty.  Simple, not particularly special, but a nice beverage altogether.  The Ace cider was what it was right out of the bottle: it's not sweet like Wyder's, it's adult cider for adults.  My friends got strong whiskey cokes and gin and tonics from the nice bartender in the "Bartenders Are Gods" t-shirt, a proficient multi-tasker.

But The Graduate is plagued by a bad bartender.  She stood in the midst of the bottles, staring off, looking confused, when I walked up to the bar.  After a few minutes watching her walk around, serving one drink, counting bills, I said "Hi."

"Hi," she said, and walked away.

Hmm.  Eventually she took our order, in shifts because she didn't seem willing to take the whole order at once.  In the end we got our drinks.

Later my friends ordered Chili Bombs, an abominable combination of Whiskey and Tobasco in a Red Bull.  The first time, two and a whiskey coke cost $19.  The next time, three chili bombs cost $27.  Well thanks, lady.  That is a cheap whiskey coke.

Enjoy the free popcorn with Sriracha, an exceptional combination.  Enjoy the one bartender, the ever-louder jukebox, the clean cut, Cal t-shirt and hoodie wearing clientele.  Enjoy the people who walk by every 20 minutes and clean off the table.  Dive bar?  I don't think so.  But the Avenue is.

The Avenue

4822 Telegraph Ave x 48th

Much older clients, duct tape on the ceiling.  Granted, we didn't arrive until 1am, but the crowd was thin and unenthusiastic.  I think there were two other females in the room at the time.  The pool table was soon unattended--where does that happen?  We enjoyed a quick drink in the stained arm chairs around the fireplace, keeping quiet so as not to disturb the man sleeping contentedly at the table next to ours.  Lovely.

Isa Restaurant

Isa

3324 Steiner St.

San Francisco, CA 94123

(415) 567-9588

http://www.isarestaurant.com/

Isa is a predominately French, family-style, small-plates restaurant with a fully weather-proof patio, an uncommon batch of middle aged, male servers, and fantastic food.  We ate there on Monday, February 1 and, arriving at 6, had no trouble getting a table, though the restaurant was filling when we left.

We were led past the open kitchen (noticed a shelf of celebrity cookbooks and bottles of Sriracha) onto the back patio which, despite feeling like a backyard deck with planters and strings of light, is fully covered, and replete with heat lamps and antique sconces.  Happy Hour doesn't end until 7 so we each enjoyed a $5 glass of wine (specialty Soju cocktails also available).  A 2-course selectable prix fixe is $24, 3-course is $28 and includes much of the main menu, including the daily special.  On the other hand, items on the menu range from $7-23, so I would advise  you to do the math, especially because everything is served family style.

Prince Edward Island Mussels: The mussels were something classic, almost common, done exceptionally.  The mussels were tender, almost like the bellies of raw oysters.  The steaming liquid was unusually rich, with a little tang of wine, and far surpassed the normal parsley and butter.  The grilled bread served with the mussels was in fact burned, overpowering and inedible, but the warm sourdough baguette already on the table was a nice substitute.

Baked Laura Chenel Goat Cheese: This dish didn't seem that exciting, but, like the mussels, was pleasantly surprising and unusual.  Served on tomato concasse (peeled, seeded and chopped...I learned something new today) with basil, pine nuts and olive oil, the baked cheese didn't have breading or crust.  Instead of being dolled up, the goat cheese remained a strong flavor with a delicate whipped texture.  It, too, went well with the warm bread and I plan to attempt to replicate it at home.  Being a small and light dish, I think it should have come before the mussels, instead of just a few minutes after.  The restaurant's philosophy of serving lightest to heaviest seemed to be offset by kitchen timing.

Daily Special: Grilled Hamachi:  Hamachi grilled to a slight char like a steak, served with olive tapenade, clams and calamari.  A little much, no?  And it was, especially after cheese and mussels.  But I cannot fault them for how I ordered and the dish was good.  I am not partial to fish, but it was really nice and pink on the inside, and the tapenade covering it was mild.  The calamari was unbelievably tender, really, like custard.  But what I really enjoyed were the clams.  Like the mussels, they were tender, and each had its own little pool of buttery jus.

Dutch Valley Veal Sweetbreads:  The last thing to come, and by far the heaviest, was the veal sweetbreads.  The varied, wild mushrooms were all good, but mostly overpowered by the really overwhelming scent of truffles.  The sweetbreads were tender, creamy, and, thankfully, were cut to small pieces that looked less like brain.  This is my second time having sweetbreads and I'm really just not all there  yet.  The potato was smooth and soaked up the delicious, rich mushroom broth that turned to a proteinous blob in my refrigerator overnight (a good thing, despite the image).  Unfortunately, the potato pancake was very dense and not crispy, and didn't help allay the weight of the rest of the dish.

They recommended that we order two dishes per person which was really too much (as exemplified by the sweetbreads I just had for breakfast.  mmm) as both the hamachi and the sweetbreads were more than generous entree portions.  As a duo that usually tempers our appetites by perhaps sharing an appetizer, four dishes made for a giant doggy bag of food that doesn't necessarily reheat well (potato pancake).  I also feel that the dishes would be better served as courses taken away at completion, rather than a conglomerate of dishes.  At one point, all four were on the table at the same time which, besides being cramped on a two person table, did not showcase the food well.  Lastly, we ate no vegetables.  Most of the menu items had a base of mashed potatoes or mushrooms, and I'm all for umami.  But next time, I'll make room for a salad.

Overall, the food was exceptional, the service attentive but not obsequious, and, the highest compliment I can give: I would take my parents here.

-Arrive before 7 for Happy Hour $5 drinks

-Double check the Prix Fixe menu for prices

-Grab a mint on your way out.  They are anise flavored and each cellophane wrapper says "Bye."