Spice Dish

Flea Market For The Win!

EB — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:46:43 -0800

I love San Francisco (I mean I don't think I'm shocking any of you by saying that), but every once in a while a girl just needs to get out of Dodge. I was feeling restless a few weeks ago when I got an email from a friend asking if I was still up for the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market. The what? Where? I emailed her back wanting to know how intoxicated I was when I agreed to this mission. I then immediately emailed her again, to say "Screw it, I'm in!"

http://www.rgcshows.com/

To say the place is massive would not begin to describe it. This thing is HUGE. There are maps, there are sections, there are thousands of vendors. You will get lost (and you will buy a 1$ hot dog and 6$ beer because you don't know when you'll make it out). It happens on the 2nd Sunday of every month and it's the worlds largest flea market! I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into when I said yes. We exhausted ourselves wandering the aisles. I picked up some vintage fashions and a few amazing cooking pamphlets (more on those later) and my friend got a pair of foo dogs she just couldn't live without. My most fabulous purchase of the day? These:

Kitschy, creepy and perfectly at home in the bathroom. So, if you have one too many and agree to a weekend road trip to Pasadena, don't question it... just go. You won't be disappointed.

Happy shopping!

That's it. I'm a hippie.

EB — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:50:36 -0800

Crunchy

I have no idea when I got so "crunchy." Seriously folks... when I got home last night I couldn't decide between baking bread and going to yoga. Uh huh. So, I decided to whip up a quick no-knead bread AND do yoga. No compromising for me. Sheesh. I am glad I did though, because I had a fabulous breakfast of toasty warm English Muffin Bread with jam. Delicious. It's so so simple. Give it a shot (no yoga required).

English Muffin Bread

1 packet active dry yeast

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1-1/4 cup warm tap water

1/8 cup yellow cornmeal

In a large bowl, combine the yeast, flour, sugar, salt and water. Combine with wooden spoon until a soft dough ball forms.

Grease a 2-quart casserole dish and dust with cornmeal. Add dough and sprinkle top with cornmeal.

Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, until bread doubles in size. Bake at 400* for 30 – 45 minutes until top is golden (place foil on top if browning too quickly). Place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Whoopie! (Pies that is...)

EB — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:10:33 -0800

Whoopie!

I know Whoopie Pies are soooo last year in terms of food trendiness, but lets face it, they are tasty treats. That and Super Bowl parties are not known for 'of the moment' foods (7 layer bean dip anyone?). I did sassy these up a little by adding bourbon, but other than that... they are plain, simple and delicious.

Makes everything better

Bourbon Cream Whoopie Pies

Cakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

Cream:

1/2 cup butter softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup warmed whole milk

1 tsp bourbon

(Optional)- ¼ cup jimmies, sprinkles, colored sugar etc.

Cake army!

For the cakes:

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Then add the egg, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until smooth.

Spoon rounded tbs mounds of batter 2 inches apart onto large baking sheets with silpat mats or greased. Flatten mounds a bit with the back of a spoon. Bake for 8 minutes-- until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mmm bourbon-y

For the filling:

In a large bowl, with and electric mixer, beat together the shortening, butter and sugar until fluffy. Add flour, vanilla and milk. Beat until creamy and smooth. Whisk in bourbon.

To make the pies, spread a rounded tbs of filling on flat sides of half of cakes then top with remaining cakes. If desired, roll completed pies in a bowl of sprinkles.

Enjoy!

Sad State of Affairs

EB — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:09:30 -0800

Sad isn’t it? For all my spouting off about CSA boxes and big Sunday meals and the goodness of fresh ingredients…. that is my fridge. AND I don’t live alone. That is a two person fridge. No I’m not on some juice cleanse, or fast or diet of any sort. That’s just what our fridge generally looks like. Champagne? Check. Sriracha sauce? Always. There’s some Cowgirl Creamery Wagon Wheel and real parmigiano reggiano from Lucca in there, but not much else.

Yes, there are remnants of food projects in there… some roasted cauliflower, a half a jar of carrots I pickled, a drizzle of homemade tomato soup. But honestly that is a sad sad showing. Why does my fridge look like this? Does yours?

Toss it?

EB — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:28:58 -0800

smashion.com

I'm in a new phase in my life I think. It definitely wasn't brought on by New Year's resolutions, but something definitely shifted towards the end of last year. I decided (consciously or not) that I needed less stuff in my life, not more. I'm not sure what brought this on. I mean I'm a good consuming American, but I kind of reached a saturation point I guess. I started by purging storage boxes, then my closet, then swapped my large dresser for a small desk and recycled stacks of periodicals I was saving (for what I have no idea). I felt lighter. Instantly. Then Christmas came. While for the most part I made it clear to the gift givers in my life that I would prefer an experience or time with them instead of stuff, I still received a few gifts meant for the kitchen.

The kitchen had been next on my list to purge. Now I was kind of stuck. While my dress collection was easy enough to whittle down, deciding between a bamboo steamer and a pate terrine seemed to put me into a spin. In the end, I cleaned up and organized but purged nothing. This leaves me with a with a question though: What makes something a kitchen essential and what is just a toy? I mean some of the gifts I've received are clearly toys. Case in point, This PB&J cake pan:

And clearly this knife in my arsenal is essential.

But where does this espresso pump fit?

Or my Silpats?

And what about the fact that I still really want this vintage slow cooker?

What about you? Any new year purging? What are your kitchen toys that you can't live without?

What's the Sign for Pizza?

EB — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:41:58 -0800

mozzeria.com

There’s been a lot of chatter about Mozzeria. A new little joint in the mission that specializes in Neapolitan style pizzas and happens to be owned and operated by a deaf couple. The fact that the bulk of the staff/patrons are non-hearing makes for a quieter dining experience than you might be used to in the Mission, but whether hearing or not, a draw for any restaurant is the food.

mozzeria.com

The reviews have been mixed but my dining companions and I enjoyed pretty much everything about our meal. Knowing that pizza was the star, and wanting to try whatever came out of the Stefano Ferrara wood-burning oven, we ordered the margherita w/buffalo milk mozzarella, the eggplant/cherry tomato special and the roast duck with hoisin sauce special. Unfortunately the duck pizza was sold out. Ho hum, more room for cheese. We also ordered the crab ravioli, pecorino cheese which came with a lovely, buttery crouton and the Mozzeria Bar. Which is, for all intents and purposes, a giant, fried mozzarella stick-- a very delicious, giant, fried mozzarella stick. The pizza crusts were perfect. Thin, chewy and with a slight saltiness. The ravioli was creamy and lovely too. Our only real disappointment was the ricotta cheesecake. The flavor was great, but it was frozen solid.

There were a few tiny kinks in service, but there always are with new restaurants and nothing serious enough to complain about here.

mozzeria.com

The next day, I did get the chef’s take on what it’s like to work there, produce usage and what he wants the menu to be (versus what it is), but cocktails were involved and we all blow off work steam at the bar right?

I really enjoyed my dinner and will most definitely go back. It seems like I’m not the only one either, lines and crowds can continually be found at their door already.

Enjoy!

You can find Mozzeria at:

3228 16th Street (at Guerrero Street)
San Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 489-0963

Still Craving the Sweets?

EB — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:48:00 -0800

Buzz!

It's that paradoxical time of year when our bodies crave lighter foods after months of feasting but we still have those cravings for sweet treats that became habitual. This is the perfect thing for these January days. It's sweet, but not too sweet, tart but not too tart, creamy but not too creamy.... you get the idea. It's also possibly one of the easiest recipes ever!

Espresso Chip Frozen Yogurt

1cup greek yogurt (either plain or vanilla)

¾ cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

¾ cup whole milk

1 cup cold espresso

1 tbs crushed chocolate covered coffee beans

Whisk together all ingredients and chill completely. Freeze in your ice cream maker, 10 minutes for a shake, 20 for frozen yogurt.

Enjoy!

Resolutions 2012!

EB — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:36:42 -0800

Happy New Year's!

Again, I'm not a New Years resolution kind of gal, just never have been. But lovely Marisa, of Food In Jars inspired me this morning. Just because I don't do personal resolutions doesn't mean I can't make some bloggy ones! So here goes, my Blog Resolutions for 2012:

1- To post more vintage cookbooks (you guys seem to like those)

2- Maybe a little re-design (change is good right?)

3- In general, just be more consistent with my posting (I can do it!)

Sound good? Ok then. Happy 2012!

Most Popular Holiday Recipes

EB — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:54:00 -0800

It’s holiday recipe time around the interwebs and SpiceDish always sees a bump in traffic during these dark days of winter. I've rounded up the top 3 searched recipes here for you. I say give them all a go. A San Francisco-esque pasta and two desserts. What could make a better meal?

mmm crabby

The first most popular is my Crab Ravioli. It seems that people are up to trying something a bit more fancy-pants than they normally would and these are just the ticket. They are actually pretty easy and offer a big payoff in flavor.

mushy!

The second most popular recipe is for this Chocolate Banana Bread. It really is amazing. I haven’t made it myself in a long time, but I just might have to. For grandma’s sake.

crack!

Last, but most certainly NOT least, is one of my all-time favorite recipes. I don't mean it ranks on top for my ice cream recipes, but I mean tops for all recipes. It’s just so, so, so addictively good. Peppermint Crack’ed Ice Cream.

Enjoy!

Man on a Mission

EB — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:54:14 -0800

This man wants to change the world. Jonathan Lewis is on a mission, one he fell into by accident but that he’s adopted with the vigor of a religious pilgrim. He is willing to educate one person at a time to fulfill his dream of people knowing, truly knowing, where their food comes from.

He says “good food does not come cheap.” Simply put, yet his point highlights the disparity between the have and have-nots in this country, the sick and the healthy, those with access to ‘good food’ and those without. As one of the growing number who understands that this nation must change its food ways, he advocates that it can—if consumers take action with our wallets. If only a fraction of us banded together we could hold food chains accountable for how animals are raised, slaughtered and packaged.

His equation is simple: consumer demand + thriving family farms = good food for all. His meat CSA, Pastoral Plate, is a tiny operation, and most definitely not a big money venture. He is working for 'social capital'-- making sure truly organic farmers stay in business and that the community is made better by those businesses. He doesn’t just talk the talk, he puts his money where his mouth is. He has invested in a chicken farm and expects to be paid not in fat dividends, but in fat chickens. Yes. He expects to be paid in fowl.

Jonathan wants to understand why, for a culture that claims to understand the need for local, organic, sustainable foods there is a disconnect between that and our real life actions (he uses the bestseller status of The Omnivores Dilemma as an example). He wants people to understand how our food becomes our food. He wants everyone to visit the farms where there food is from. In his opinion, if you can’t visit the farm, you shouldn't be eating it.

Now that's free range!

The Pastoral Plate website contains not just cute pictures of chickens, but a full blown manifesto that states: “The goal of Pastoral Plate is to bring people together so that we can act collectively to influence the quality of our food, and work to improve the functioning of our local food economy.” He believes that “consumers are the most potent force in the food supply chain – but only if we want to be.” Unfortunately however, most Americans have become lazy and ignorant when it comes to their food sources. We put the power in someone else’s hands, trusting that we would be given back good product. But that has led to giant agribusiness with one concern: profit.

Since the health of consumers and communities is not a concern in the big American food production chain, Lewis suggests we go around that system and straight to the source. The farms he works with are all family owned and operated. He acknowledges that these farms are in “a tough and exacting business; and they need our support.” Pastoral Plate supports these farms and strengthens the community by having created “a simple and transparent distribution method” that ensures your food has not been “polluted, poisoned, diluted, mislabeled, or obscured while traveling through the industrialized distribution chain” of standard food production.

He is charming, affable and adamant. Adamant that: we need to know, we need to take responsibility for knowing and we need to speak up. Above all he is a proponent of asking questions. Where does the food come from, why is it raised in the way it is, who butchers it and how? Because ultimately he believes you should be “connected, involved and informed.”

Get in on Jonathan’s mission here.