The holidays are over. Although I have several marzipan pigs and some cranberry sparklers hanging around, everything else is a memory. The turkey. The New York strip roast. Many cheeses. The creamed spinach and Yorkshire pudding. God knows how many cookies. All gone.

My final holiday act will be to tell you about a twisted Thanksgiving recipe.

While perusing the coupon insert in my local newspaper ’round November, I caught the words “stuffing” and “White Castle” in the same glance. “No,” I thought. “It can’t be.” It was. A stuffing recipe calling for 10 broken up White Castle hamburgers.

The recipe includes celery, spices and chicken broth and is cooked in the cavity of the bird. It was the 1991 White Castle Cook-off winner.

You know about White Castle, right? If you grew up in the New York metropolitan area or another city the company set up shop, you know it isn’t just about boxes of frozen burgers at supermarkets. Or a Harold and Kumar movie.

White Castle was the first fast food burger chain in the US. It opened its inaugural stand in Wichita, Kansas in 1921. The company is still family-owned, according to its website, and continues to crank out small, malleable — they’re “steam-grilled” — and distinctively potent and addictive hamburgers. Lest you think the product is ”less than,” know that these people served their billionth hamburger in 1961.

Nowadays the company calls its basic, cheeseless burger “The Original Slider.”

The frozen supermarket jobs didn’t come on the scene until 1987. Brilliant idea, really. A frozen White Castle burger is the one food in the universe that’s just about as good microwaved as served hot off the line.

Still, White Castle burger stuffing pushes the boundaries of product-driven recipe development to a place few may wish to venture.

Consider Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbooks. While you can add Philadelphia Cream Cheese to just about any dish to its benefit or at least without causing harm, White Castle hamburgers are a whole other ball game.

The mere mention of this brand — synonymous in my house with “belly bomb” — tends to evoke strong feelings in the initiated. My parents used to go to the White Castle in Bayside, Queens, when they dated in the 1950s. They’d eat 25 oniony burgers between them — bringing to life the old White Castle slogan, “Buy ‘em by the sack.”

As a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, they took me to the same White Castle — and it’s still there. Until 1972, when the company discontinued curbside service, we’d eat in the Cutlass Supreme, courtesy of the carhops.

It’s difficult to describe the White Castle hamburger experience. Because they’re small, you can eat quite a few. Because they’re savory, it’s hard to stop. When you’ve had one slider too many things start to unravel without warning. It’s like drinking tequila. One goes from partying hearty to collapsing on a pile of coats in a strange bedroom in seconds.

The stuffing, well, I may have to give it a try next year just for insanity of it.

Prime Ribeye at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

Prime beef is about the only thing that’ll get me on a freeway, over a bridge or through a tunnel — even as a passenger. So, it was with alternating visions of rare ribeye and my lifeless body being pried off SR 24 that I sat in our Honda Civic as it barrelled through the Caldecott Tunnel toward Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek recently.

Hubby Steve and I were treated to a phenomonal media dinner there.

Fleming’s is a smallish, upscale national brand with some 65 locations. It’s owned by OSI Restaurants, which also owns Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Grill, Bonefish Grill and Roy’s.

Because it was early in the week and early in the evening, parking was a breeze. Fleming’s offers valet service, however, so you don’t ever have to worry about it.

It’s a comfy, dimly lit fine steakhouse. Not manly, but lots of wood and a rich color scheme.

Hanging bowl lighting fixtures of an impressive diameter cast a burnished glow over the large dining room as we were warmly greeted and escorted to a plush corner booth near the semi-open kitchen.

Interior of Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

Our server, Erin, introduced herself, menued us and pointed out the chardonnay-feta and sun-dried tomato butters that came with the warm bread she hooked us up with right off the bat. Steve ordered iced tea and I asked for a glass of wine along the lines of a Sangiovese, which turned out to be a nicely bodied, mildly acidic, berry-noted Spanish red: Palacios Remondo Rioja Vendimia 2009.

Fleming’s offers 100 wines by the glass — handy for those of us who eat with people who don’t drink wine.

We liked the chardonnay-feta spread. The mellow funk and mild bite of feta is always nice with bread and wine.

Steven at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

We stretched out in our roomy booth and took in the space, enjoying the vibe and quiet, friendly service. The music was pleasant and unobtrusive. We were seriously relaxed.

Fine steakhouses are big comfort all the way. In old movies men like Robert Mitchum took women to steakhouses. “Let’s go for a juicy steak,” they’d say. They always got the girl.

After conferring with Erin, who helped us choose menu items that would give us a good overview in one meal, we went with a small plate, a salad, two steaks, two sides and a dessert. We were going to order one steak but thought it best to try two different cuts. The truth is I wanted my own steak. I don’t eat steak very often. You know how it is.

Lobster Tempura at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

The small-plate-cum-appetizer we selected was Lobster Tempura ($23.50). Four little lobster tails partially attached to their shells were lightly coated and flash-fried. They were sweet, tender and moist. A little jicama and apple salad and a soy-ginger dipping sauce with a toasted sesame oil backdrop accompanied the nice presentation.

This plate o’tails plus a side would make a lovely meal for a person who doesn’t want steak.

Lobster Tempura at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

I don’t mean to go on and on, but I’ve had numerous ill-conceived and poorly executed lobster concoctions and approach this kind of dish with the assumption that it’s going to be a waste of lobster. This, however, was spot on. A simple preparation done perfectly.

The Wedge salad ($9.50) arrived next — on a chilled plate with a chilled fork. A section of crisp iceberg lettuce was enrobed in a rich blue cheese dressing and then topped with slivers of red onion, whole grape tomatoes and extra crumbled blue cheese.

A classic steakhouse wedge salad is, in my opinion, one of the greats — and Fleming’s' take was excellent. Hearty iceberg lettuce, with all its nooks and crannies, served as the backbone. Each addition offered unique sweetness and contrasting texture. Acidity, deep and slightly funky creaminess, sweetness, crunch, bite — they were all there.

Never had a wedge salad? It may not seem like much, but it defines that old saw about something being more than the sum of its parts.

Wedge salad at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

Then the steaks came. Steve’s Prime Ribeye ($42.95) and my Bone-in New York ($48.95), a special that night, arrived sizzling and rare. Truly rare. Not rare plus five degrees.

Bone-in New York steak at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

The ribeye was deeply flavored, silky and tender as buttah. The New York had a little chew, as it should, great beefy flavor, and its ring of fat was nicely crisped-up — courtesy of Fleming’s’ 1600 deg. F. broiler.

They were big, too. My New York was 20 ounces.

Fleming’s beef is USDA Prime — the top of the grading heap. It’s corn-fed and “aged up to four weeks,” according to their website. Ribeye in particular benefits from the significant marbling that defines Prime grade and bumps it into that never-never land of steak fabulousness.

Rare New York steak at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

Steaks at Fleming’s are seasoned with kosher salt and black pepper and finished with butter. Sauces are available, gratis. We tried all four: Béarnaise, peppercorn, chimichurri and Madeira.

Steak sauces at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

A great steak wants no sauce, but go with the Madeira, if you insist.

Sides are an à la Carte proposition at a steakhouse, and each is usually enough for two — though it’s good to order both the house potatoes, which are generally scalloped, and the house creamed spinach. They’re almost always signature dishes.

We ordered both.

Right after our steaks touched down, two casseroles arrived hot and bubbling over — each with copious amounts of melted cheese on top.

The creamed spinach ($8.50) was the bomb. No kidding. The Fleming’s Potatoes ($8.95), which had a jalapeño kick, were very good, but we fought over the spinach. It was deeply savory and übercreamy — by far the most decadent spinach I ever ate. I’m still trying to recreate it.

Creamed Spinach and Fleming's Potatoes at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

We shared a slice of Turtle Pie ($8.50), which was loaded with walnuts. Although it looked as if it would make our teeth scream, the bitter chocolate notes provided balance. Once slice is enough for a party of four après steak and sides.

Turtle Pie at Fleming's Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Walnut Creek, CA

Erin, who made our meal something special, packed up the leftovers, and we slowly extricated ourselves from our plush coccoon.

We’re definitely going back. For a couple of ex-New Yorkers who hate to drive, that says something.

Guess who got to work on the bone?

Silicone bakeware used for garlic confit hangs on a line so the smell of garlic eventually wears out

Don’t let this happen to you.

I made garlic confit and used some of my silicone bakeware to freeze it. Bad idea. It all smells like garlic, and my only option is to hang it out in the elements for a couple of weeks to salvage it. A few days and the garlic is still prominent.

I may have to dedicate this ware to garlic.

Note to self: Buy old school ice cube trays.

Oak Roasted Salmon from Santa Barbara Smokehouse

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but I wanted to quickly give you the skinny on a new product I’ve seen at the Richmond, CA Costco my last few visits.

This is a chunk of hot smoked, oak roasted Norweigan salmon from the Santa Barbara Smokehouse, an outfit actually located in Santa Barbara. They smoke their stuff over open wood fires, old school.

Costco had this on sample a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn’t believe how good it was. Normally I stay away from hot smoked salmon because I find it too dry.

This one is tender, silky, fatty, salty and not too sweet — übersweetness being another of my kvetches when it comes to hot smoked salmon.

Oak Roasted Salmon from Santa Barbara Smokehouse (back view)

I should have realized from the get-go that this was made from farmed Atlantic salmon. Farmed salmon is fattier than wild salmon. Since I don’t buy farmed salmon unless it’s sustainable, I’ll hold off buying this again until I find out what the deal is.  The company’s website consists of only a placeholder right now.

We had this with some crusty bread and it was a big hit. The skin had been left on, which helps keep the product moist and tastes good in its own right. Berry, our companion Akita, was all over it.

It’s $11.59 per pound, but our 1.2 pound section fed four people.

All you need is plenty of good bread and wine.

Oak Roasted Salmon from Santa Barbara Smokehouse being served

I think I’ve officially rounded the bend when it comes to my current obsession:  TEPCOware.  I have been incorporating the dishes into my art, as you can see from the marker drawing I attached to this post.

By TEPCO I mean The Technical Porcelain & Chinaware Company, not Tokyo Electric Power Company.

While doing research for a piece I wrote for El Cerrito Patch, I fell in love with the ware this now-defunct El Cerrito, California, company produced.

Methinks I’ll start borrowing some dishes to draw so I don’t wind up with 200 variations of Needles & Pine.

Easter Eggs for 2011

Although my Mom pulled herself together to produce a respectable plate of Easter eggs this morning, we’ll be having our roast duck dinner next week.

Let me explain.

About three weeks ago my son, Matthew, came down with a cold. It turned out to be a nasty, long, viral affair that was passed to my Mother about two weeks ago, to me three days ago, and to my husband two days ago.

We’re all down.  Matthew’s birthday dinner, which was to be held last Saturday, was postponed to this Saturday—then postponed again to next Saturday.  Steve pulled himself together enough to go to Nation’s to get an apple pie, which we decked out with candles and sang a lame Happy Birthday over yesterday afternoon.

If we’re ill next week we’ll be in serious trouble because of Mother’s Day on May 8th and then Steve’s birthday on May 11th. It is not acceptable in my family to combine events, so here’s hoping we’re able to take Matthew out to Solano Grill & Bar for birthday 24 next Saturday and then cook a roast duck, mashed potato and red cabbage Easter dinner the next day.

Now that I’m carrying on, let me go the whole distance:  This week was spring break and I had off from art class and wanted to focus on working ahead on El Cerrito Eats, but no go.  Matt’s not too happy to have a cold during spring break, either.

Have a great day, everyone!

“Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste–so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.”

One tasty thing to make with some of your matzo boards is matzo brei (rhymes with “spry”), which is scrambled eggs cooked with matzo shards. Since I don’t have to worry about keeping Kosher, I add whatever I have on hand to the mix to make it interesting. Salami chunks are good, for example.

My favorite is turkey pastrami and aged cheddar matzo brei, so I’ll give you the recipe for that, but you can substitute whatever meat you like–or none.

Acme smoked whitefish salad at Costco—sold under the Blue Hill Bay label. ~$9 for a 2-pund tub!!

26 March 2011

Costco Wholesale Corporation
Attn:  Customer Service
P. O. Box 34331
Seattle, WA 98124

Re: My letter of 5 December 2010 concerning a lack of Acme Fish Corporation’s smoked whitefish products at your Richmond, California, store

Dear Costco:

It’s me again, your biggest fan.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for carrying Acme Fish Corporation’s smoked whitefish salad, sold under their Blue Hill Bay label, for Passover this year.  This product is an important part of our celebration, so we really appreciate it.

With best wishes for a wonderful holiday,
The Akitachow household

PS:  Thanks also for the other Kosher products I found in the store, and for the extra-nice selection of cheeses I’ve been seeing

Acme's smoked whitefish salad on a bagel

Merrit Restaurant & Bakery in Oakland

A little over a week ago Matthew, my son, Paul, my friend, and I went to Merritt Restaurant & Bakery in Oakland.  I’d always wanted to go there, but I don’t like to drive, and driving anywhere near Lake Merritt or on 880 represents the most challenging kind of driving there is, so it was not going to happen unless someone provided transport.  Happily, Paul took care of that for us.

Anyone who knows me knows I miss diners.  Of all the things I miss about the East Coast, diners top the list.

Merritt is a diner in that there are booths and a long, plasticized menu, but I found the food to be average, at best, and tremendously overpriced.  I was also annoyed that they had a one-stall women’s room.  It drives me nuts when restaurants that pack ‘em in are too cheap to provide multi-stall restrooms and would rather their customers wait on line to use the facilities.  They clearly know how to charge here, so they might want to invest in a little convenience for patrons.  Cost of doing business, as far as I’m concerned.

Fried chicken breasts at Merritt Restaurant & Bakery in Oakland (a little blurry—sorry!)

I ordered the waffle and 1 breast of fried chicken ($8.95), and added an extra breast ($2.95).  The large waffle was good. Nothing to write home about, but fine as far as waffles go.  The breasts were overcooked and dry.  While the flavor and crust of their “famous” fried chicken was excellent, these pieces should have been taken out of the fryer sooner.  There were no off-flavors, so the fryer fat was clean. 

Paul duplicated my order and said his chicken was “a little dry.”  He liked his waffle.

Waffle at Merritt Restaurant & Bakery

The side of cornbread we split tasted like chicken base or Kitchen Bouquet—something along those lines. Savory in an unnatural kind of way, if you know what I mean.  I’m not sure how much this was, because we were not charged for it, but most likely something on the order of $3.

Fisherman Sandwich at Merritt Restaurant & Bakery in Oakland

Matthew’s Fisherman Sandwich ($11.50) was supposed to be sole, but they said they were using tilapia.  Matt said “OK,” figuring that, in the spirit of generosity that is at the heart of most diners—at this point we thought we were dealing with a real diner—and the fact that they were substituting a cheaper fish, he would get a nice sandwich.  Not so.  It was a lame affair lost on the plate.  There was so little fish it wasn’t able to retain much heat during its trip from kitchen to table.  Never again. 

Paul & Matt at Merritt Restaurant & Bakery in Oakland

The iceberg side salad served with the sandwich was fine.

With one coffee ($2.25) and two iced teas ($2.50 each), the bill, without tip and without the side of stuffing, was $43.95.  Please.

We should have gone to Nibs.

"Alex in the Morning" breakfast combo at Cafe Leila in Berkeley. You also get coffee and a small OJ.

Alex in the morning?  Yes, Please! 

So proclaimed my Mother the other day when I took her out for ‘fast at one of my favorite places:  Cafe Leila (1724 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley). 

This is a funky, loft-type, industrial space (’twas a plumbing business for some 80 years) with a lovely and large outdoor dining area in the back complete with fountain and really nice landscaping. Since you can get to the back without going through the establishment, feel free to bring your friendly dog and hang out with him as you have your meal—or just “coffee and.” It’s a great place to sit, think, and take in the surroundings as you sip a hot beverage. You don’t have to be doing something every second of your life. 

The full and varied menu has a Mediterranean twist, and you’ll find everything from eggs to wraps. They feature live jazz in the evening, and run a very friendly shop. 

Mutti (that’s Mommy in German) selected Alex in the Morning ($9.95), which includes two eggs, home fries, bacon, fruit, a small freshly-squeezed orange juice and organic coffee. The bacon had some substance to it, and the fruit, in the form of a composed fruit salad with banana, orange and apple slices over melon chunks, was fresh as can be.  Nice.  The home fries had onion and were very savory.  I wish other places would use onion in their home fries. 

The only problem I have is that they use Noah’s Bagels which, in my opinion, are little more than low-quality, round, flat, monolithic, cellulose-like rolls with a hole. A bagel needs to be boiled before being baked in order to have that chewy texture, which is one of the hallmarks of a good bagel. Why can’t they buy bagels from Berkeley Bagels, or even Manhattan Bagel? 

The reason I’m kvetching about the bagels is that one of my favorite breakfasts is a bagel with cream cheese, sliced red onion and sliced tomato.  They suggested I take the asiago, which I did—toasted, which is the only way to deal with a subprime bagel, in my opinion.  

It turned out fine. If you’ve never had a bagel this way, I highly recommend it.

Toasted asiago bagel with cream cheese, onion and tomato at Cafe Leila in Berkeley

There’s a little parking lot on the side for those with four wheels. 

If you have an oddball work schedule like I do, take advantage of Cafe Leila early in the day during the week to optimize your back garden experience.