Day 362: Thanks for the Memories, Balboa!

One of the restaurants we've visited most frequently over the past year (and since moving to SF 2.5 years ago), is the Balboa Cafe, a staple in our neighborhood.

As I've done during nearly every other visit to The Bal, I ordered the field green salad (mixed greens, raisins, sliced apple, candied pecans, and a crostini smeared with goat cheese) and the fish dish. The Bal always has a fish option on the menu, usually either halibut or salmon, plated on top of seasonal vegetables. The cooks at the restaurant really know how to cook fish. There is always a beautiful crust on top while instead remains soft and moist.

Tonight's fish option was halibut with fresh spinach and fingerling potatoes and crabmeat beurre blanc. I asked the restaurant to leave the potatoes off and double the spinach, which they gladly did (and always do for me). This was a delicious meal, due in no small part to the buttery crabby sauce which was absolutely divine.

Thank you, Balboa Cafe for serving so many amazing dinners to me this year. I look forward to continuing to enjoy your food for many years to come!

Day 358: Geez Louise - That Was Tasty!!

I had the urge to leave the 'hood for dinner tonight so we tried a restaurant we had never been to in Russian Hill - 1550 Hyde Cafe & Wine Bar.  Looking at their menu online, the numerous salads and fish entree appealed to me.

I loved the restaurant's setting right away.  It's small with simple decor - warm and welcoming with a very friendly staff.  The menu is somewhat limited - about 5 appetizers and entrees to choose from, but the menu changes regularly to reflect what's in season.

My salad was composed of baby greens with bing cherries, toasted almonds, and fiore sardo cheese.  I'd never tried fiore sardo before and as it turns out, this sheep's milk cheese was too strong for me.  When I ate it with a bit of each of the other components of the salad, it was okay - but otherwise it was just too much.  I wound up giving most of it to my hubby.  On the other hand, the almonds were among the most delicious I had ever had. 

I followed up the salad with salmon, served on top of a mix of fresh chickpeas, corn, and spinach.  I absolutely loved the veggies - the fish was okay.

The star of the meal, though, was dessert.  I rarely indulge in sweets after dinner but tonight's special could not be ignored:  nectarine and chocolate bread pudding with almonds, topped with vanilla ice cream.  Geez Louise - this dish was ridiculous!!  It had the perfect amount of chocolate and the nuts offered a bit of crunch.  It could have used a bit more nectarine, but it was amazing.

I adore restaurants that support local farmers and change their menu frequently to include seasonally relevant dishes.  We'll definitely be returning to 1550 Hyde Cafe and I'm glad I was able to include them in this blog before the 365 days are up!

Day 352: Too Pooped to Cook

What a hectic weekend!  Having been on the go from Friday night through early this evening, I was unprepared (and unenthusiastic) for dinner.  So, I popped the lid on a can of Trader Joe's lowfat chicken noodle soup and heated it up with ground pepper.  I also cut up some veggies and dipped them into Trader Joe's spinach dip.  Dinner was ready in no time, with little effort and clean up.  Gotta love that!

Day 337: Three for Three!

I'm a carnivore.  I swear I am.  But you sure wouldn't know it by looking at my last three entries from Izzy's Steaks & Chops.  I had swordfish every time.  What's up with that???

My excuse this time is that I'm still recuperating from a wisdom tooth extraction gone bad.  I can only manage to eat food that require little chewing and fish really seems to fit the bill.  As much as I would love to tie into a prime rib right now, it just isn't in the cards.  So, I went with good old swordfish with a side of creamed spinach and steamed broccoli, which I cut into tiny pieces.

The one thing that very rarely changes about my Izzy's visits is my appetizer order.  The prawn cocktail comes with 5 enormous prawns and Izzy's own cocktail sauce and is completely irresistible.  It's one of those dishes I dream about.

Next time I'm craving red meat, I'll have to find my way to Izzy's for my beloved prime rib.  It'll probably taste better than ever.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Day 321: Leftovers Supreme

With lots of tasty things in the house, there was no need to buy anything for dinner tonight.  Instead, I made a warm quinoa salad with the following items that we had on hand:

- vinaigrette made from juice of 1.5 lemons, 2 T olive oil, and S&P

- leftover rotisserie chicken

- corn scraped off a leftover cob

- half a bag of frozen spinach, defrosted (this is easy to do by running it under lukewarm water)

- some chopped up roasted tomatoes

- a handful of sliced almonds

Lots of tasty things could have gone into this dish:  frozen peas, crumbled goat cheese, chopped avocado.  Whatever!!  It felt good to use up some stuff we had on hand and to create such a tasty and healthful dinner.  Leftovers rule!

Day 309: Habit Forming

Don't get me wrong.  I am a meat eater.  I love a steak as much as the next person.  But lately, I've been trading in my beloved prime rib for swordfish when I go to Izzy's Steaks & Chops.  It's becoming a habit!

Unfortunately, I forgot to request that they hold the sauce last night, so I tried my best to brush it off.  Other than that, the fish was tender, juicy, and very tasty.  And since I went with the healthier, lower fat, lower calorie fish option, I decided that instead of a double order of steamed broccoli, I would treat myself to some of Izzy's to die for creamed spinach.

I'm sure that eventually, I'll return to the succulent and amazing prime rib.  But meanwhile, I'm grateful that Izzy's isn't a one trick pony.  Their fish rocks as much as their beef!

Day 292: Potatoes? Or Marshmallows?

With a redeye flight to catch tonight, there wasn't time for cooking and cleaning up afterwards, so off we went to Balboa Cafe for dinner.

I almost always order fish at the Bal, because it's always damn good. I don't know what their trick is, but it's always tender, flavorful, and crispy on the outside. Normally, they have a salmon dish, but recently they switched things up and they offer halibut now instead.

The halibut filet sat atop a bed or spinach and a couple of fingerling potatoes that tasted oddly like toasted marshmallows. I can't explain it and the Bal may not be able to either, but their flavor definitely took me back to sticking marshmallows at the end of a branch and toasting them over the grill.

All of this was served with crabmeat beurre blanc sauce and bits of crab on top. Yummers. Add a bottle of wine (split with my hubby, of course), and I was in good shape to sleep soundly on my flight!

Day 285: The End of Passover (thank goodness!!)

Tonight is the last night of Passover and although I've kept to the rules (for the most part), the only Passover specific dish I've prepared this week was matzoh ball soup.  I decided to end the holiday with a Spinach Matzoh Pie recipe that I found on Epicurious.com.

I followed the recipe almost to a T, prepping the dish last night and fridging it until tonight at which point I baked it.  The only changes I made to the recipe were:

- lowfat cottage cheese

- skim milk

- 16 oz frozen spinach and a small bag of fresh spinach (which I chopped and sauteed with the onion) because that's what I had in the house

- 8 ounces of feta

This was a great way to use up all of our leftover matzoh.  And, because it could be prepared the day before, it made it easy to get dinner quickly to the table tonight.

Will I miss Passover?  No way!!  But, this recipe was a great find and I'll definitely use it again in the future.

Day 279: TGIT!

It's been a long and arduous week at the office.  No time for shopping or cooking so the fridge is empty and the cabinets are bare.  Plus, I'm trying to keep Passover which means I cannot have grains, pasta, corn, beans...  Makes eating (and cooking) though.

We decided to head to Izzy's but once there, I realized I wasn't really in the mood for my usual giant prime rib.  I had ordered swordfish at Izzy's before and really enjoyed it, so I went with that.  In fact, tonight's photo is actually from January - tonight I had steamed broccoli and creamed spinach as my sides.

Tomorrow is Good Friday and my office is closed.  This meal was a great way to kick off a long weekend.

Day 268: Balancing Act

We had a killer lunch today.  We ventured down to Pacifica and had loads of yummy eats at Gorilla BBQ, recently featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives.  After pulled pork, BBQ chicken, mac & cheese, cole slaw and cornbread I just knew that the system was going to demand some light, healthy fare tonight.

Fortunately, our friend Julie invited us to her place for dinner and she made a delicious, low fat meal.  She pan fried tilapia filets and served them over steamed spinach with some baby heirloom tomatoes that she had sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

We finished the meal with some tiny assorted fruit tarts and mini eclairs from Emporio Rulli, which has become my de facto source for beautiful and tasty sweet treats.

So the name of the game today was balance.  It's okay to splurge and have some fun - hell, when it's BBQ, it's a must!  

Day 263: Hi, Jeanne's Mom!!

We were very fortunate to have a wonderful house guest tonight, my college friend Jeanne.  Like me, she likes to eat healthy.  Lucky for us, we had a nice sunny day today and with the time change, we can use our grill in the daylight!  Woohoo!  And since Jeanne's mom is a loyal follower of this blog, I am dedicating tonight's entry to her!  Hi, Jeanne's mom!

I pounded three boneless chicken breasts so they would cook more quickly.  I placed them in a Ziploc bag with the following marinade:  1/4 cup orange juice, juice of 1/2 a lemon, 5 smashed cloves of garlic, 2 T olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 onion cut into large chunks.

The chicken marinated for about an hour - certainly, it could have stayed longer, but by then it was after 7pm and we were hungry!  As usual, my husband took care of the grilling, cooking the chicken for 18 or 20 minutes.

I made a quinoa salad as a side dish.  See entry #247 for tips on how to steam quinoa.  I mixed the quinoa into the juice and zest of a large lemon, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 T olive oil.  I also added half a bag of frozen spinach (defrosted with all liquid squeezed out), half a diced yellow bell pepper, and about 1/4  cup of toasted pine nuts.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  If it needs a little more bit or saltiness, try sprinkling in some rice vinegar.

A midweek house guest is a joy, especially one that we love so dearly.  The good food was just icing on the cake tonight!

Day 247: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Tonight's dinner comprised of two of my new favorite things:  quinoa and a Moroccan chicken recipe from Epicurious.com.

For the chicken, I followed the Epi.com recipe with the following exceptions:  I made my own harissa, I used only chicken thighs and legs, and I used chicken broth instead of water.  This healthy, easy to make dish is full of flavor.  I guarantee you'll love it.  Click this link for the chicken recipe and see entry #227 "Yay!  I Remember How to Cook!" for the harissa recipe.

I strongly recommend you make some rice, couscous, or something else to soak up all the great sauce the chicken cooks in.  I, of course, went with quinoa - my new favorite grain.

I steamed a cup of quinoa (click here for the best method I've found) and then mixed it into a vinaigrette of 2 T olive oil, the zest and juice of 1 lemon, a 1 tsp of sugar.  Into that, I mixed a bag of defrosted frozen spinach, from which I squeezed all of the liquid.  I also added 3 T of toasted sliced almonds.  Served as a bed underneath the chicken, this little salad did a great job of soaking up all of the delicious sauce and adding some additional nutrition of our meal.

This dinner was so good, I may need to make it again next weekend!  Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

Day 233: And the Oscar Goes To...

Our friends Hugo & David hosted a really fun Oscar party tonight.  The bad news:  I came in SECOND in the pool.  The good news:  there were lots of good eats!

Most of the food was ordered in:  hummus, artichoke dip, dolmas, spanakopita, fried ravioli, and as you can see - a giant cheese plate.  Other stuff was brought by friends:  spinach pie, fruit, and pie.  Of course, we were in charge of bringing the wine.

The Oscars is one of those things that is much more enjoyable in a group.  We had lots of fun and good laughs - even though I was so close and yet so far from winning the pool!!

Day 203: Thank Goodness for the Walk Home

We live in an an awesome neighborhood with lots and lots of phenomenal restaurants.  The problem is, we rarely leave the neighborhood due to the lack of taxis in this city and our mutual refusal to act as a designated driver.  So, once in a while I start to get tired of the same old same old, no matter how delicious it is.  Such was the case tonight.  Fortunately, I remembered a neighborhood joint that we hadn't visited in 157 days (a side benefit of keeping this blog is the ability to easily recall such details!).

The Baker Street Bistro has very good food, but what I like best is the atmosphere.  Step into this restaurant and you will feel as though you've been instantly transported to France.  Who doesn't need a little mini-vacation on a Friday night?

My husband and I shared a green salad and the cheese plate to start.  The highlight for me was the disc of walnut crusted goat cheese, followed by deliciously sharp cheddar.  A big wedge of blue cheese offered the pleasant surprise of not being TOO bluey for me (I'm a bit of a blue cheese wimp).  The Emmentaler was the one we both liked least, but to fair, that mild cheese had a lot to compete against compared to the other stronger flavored wedges on the plate.

We also shared our entrees.  I opted for the lamb stew, which was just so appealing after a long, rainy SF day.  It was okay, but lacked the elusive "something".  I probably wouldn't order it again.

My husband chose something from the specials list:  quail stuffed with mushrooms (pictured).  It sat atop a bed of mushrooms, spinach, and diced potatoes - all blessed with super garlicky flavor.  The technique used to prepare the quail was really interesting.  All of the meat had been removed from the quail, minced and seasoned, and returned.  So, the quail looked whole until we cut into it.  Unfortunately, the result was kind of dry, but once it was mixed with the veggies, it was really good.

Of course, as you can imagine, I was totally stuffed after this meal.  Fortunately for us, Baker Street Bistro is a longer walk than most of our usual dinner places.  That walk was much  needed tonight!!

Day 184: It's Pronounced KEEN-wah

Quinoa has been all the rage for the past year or two.  This protein packed whole grain is totally up my nutritional alley but oddly enough, I had never given it a taste until tonight.

I get the feeling that quinoa doesn't offer up much flavor of its own but that its tastiness depends on how and with what it is prepared.  Luckily, I found a really good recipe on Epicurious.com and my quinoa dish was infused with lots of yummy fresh lime juice and tossed with black beans and tiny, sweet pear tomatoes.  If you try the recipe yourself, note that I replaced the butter with olive oil and skipped the vegetable oil.  This increased the healthfulness of the dish while not decreasing the delish factor.

Our other side dish was fresh spinach, sauteed in butter with freshly minced oregano and half a sliced shallot.

I mention our main course last because frankly, it wasn't all that.  We had purchased a whole whack of limes recently and I was looking for a way to use them and so I prepared tequila lime chicken.  What saved this recipe was that I soaked the chicken in only half of the marinade and reduced the other half into a sauce that added a ton of extra flavor when drizzled over the dish.

So that was our dinner - the highs and the lows.  And while this is not 365 Days of LUNCH, I do want to mention Michael Chiarello's new restaurant "Bottega" in Yountville.  We had an absolutely lovely and memorable lunch there today.  If you find yourself in wine country, I highly recommend you give it a try for lunch or dinner.

Well, I'm halfway through this blog project now and am looking forward to another 181 days of good food ahead!!

Day 180: A New Year - A New Cuisinart

Happy New Year!!

We spent the last night of 2008 at a dinner party at our friend Julie's house.  She made a delicious lasagna with ground pork and lots of creamy ricotta.  It really was fab.

To accompany the main dish, I made a spinach salad with tiny tomatoes, orange bell pepper, raw mushrooms, toasted pine nuts, and sliced apple.

I also made cheesy garlic bread which, to be honest, was too garlicky.  Next time I'll roast the garlic first to cut down on its sharpness.

Cheesy Garlic Bread:

French baguette, sliced in half lengthwise

1/2 stick of butter, softened

1 T chopped fresh oregano

Several cloves of roasted garlic

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Combine the oregano and butter and mix.  You may find it helpful to do this with a fork.

Fold the bread back to expose the inside.  Be careful not to tear the top from the bottom.  Spread herbed butter liberally on the top and the bottom the inside of the bread.

Add a thin layer of mashed roasted garlic (or finely minced/pressed raw garlic, if you prefer) on top of the buttered bottom of the bread.  Sprinkle a layer of parmesan cheese over the garlic.  Add the shredded mozzarella, fold the bread back over, and wrap tightly in foil.  

Bake bread for 15-20 minutes on 375 degrees.

The last dish I made was chocolate mousse.  Eventually it was tasty, but the preparation was fraught with disaster.  

The recipe called for 12 oz. of imported milk chocolate but I decided to get fancy and use chocolate with hazelnuts.  I broke up the bars into my Cuisinart to chop the chocolate but either I overloaded it, or the nuts were too hard for the machine, or perhaps there was another reason but next thing I knew, the processor was making a strange sound.  I stopped it, opened it up, and realized that the blade had broken in half and the loose piece was sticking into the side of the bowl of the processor!!  I didn't know something like that was even possible!  Guess I'll be welcoming a new Cuisinart to our household in 2009!

My milk was already simmering, but I needed to go to the store for new chocolate, so essentially, I needed to start from scratch.  Once all of the ingredients had been replaced, I still found the mousse somewhat difficult to make.  It's very delicate and there are several opportunity to screw it up by overcooking the milk or overmixing.  It wasn't easy, but it turned out very good.  We served in small dark chocolate cups - bit sized luxury!

I hope you all enjoyed your New Year celebration and wish you all lots of good food and tasty treats in 2009!!

Day 163: Baked Pasta, How Do I Love Thee

I'm not sure what the best thing is about this dinner.  The flavor?  The fact that it incorporates ingredients from 5 of the 6 food pyramid areas?  The leftovers, good for lunch or dinner later in the week?  It's so hard to choose...

I never make baked pasta the same way twice.  Some components are consistent:  whole grain pasta and ground turkey, to be exact.  But the additional ingredients vary based on what I have on hand.

I boil the pasta in salted water with olive oil until cooked al dente.  While that's happening, I brown 1.25 to 1.5 lbs of ground turkey (buy ground turkey breast and you reduce the fat content further!) with 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1/2 a chopped onion, diced red bell pepper and/or zucchini, red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp dried oregano, and S&P.  This time, I also added what remained of a bag of fresh spinach leaves - maybe 2 cups, which I chopped and added once the turkey was browned.

In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, the turkey mixture, and 2 cups of tomato sauce (one of my favorite jarred sauces is Classico Tomato & Basil).

Spray a large glass baking dish with Pam (or use olive oil, if you prefer) and then add half of your pasta mixture and spread evenly.  Lay slices of provolone cheese over the top and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.  Add the rest of your pasta, followed by another layer of provolone. Bake in the oven on 350 degrees until the cheese is melted.  Pull the dish out, sprinkle another layer of shredded mozzarella over the top, and return to the oven until the cheese is melted.

If you have fresh basil on hand, it adds great color and a punch of additional flavor when chopped and sprinkled over the top.  Or, you sprinkle some freshly grated parmesan over the top.  You can never have too much cheese.

Give this recipe a try on a cold wet day and you'll feel warm and cozy and happy.  I promise!

Day 156: Not Baaaaaad

The chill is on here in San Francisco.  I know those of you on the East Coast have zero sympathy, but as my husband says all the time - I've gone soft.  When the mercury dips below 60 degrees, I am COLD!!

I decided to make some stew tonight and found a yummy sounding recipe on Epicurious.com.  Generally, I prefer lamb to beef in stew and this one, with chickpeas and spinach sounded like a winner.

I had nearly all of the ingredients called for - just needed the lamb shoulder, so I visited my neighborhood meat market.  What I wasn't prepared for was for him to be out of stew-able lamb.  What to do?  After talking with the butcher, I was somehow convinced to buy goat instead!!  A friend of mine has talked up goat many time before and without a clear back-up plan in mind, I just went for it.  And it was good!

Overall, I'd give the stew a "fair" rating, but that didn't have anything to do with the meat.  The dish had decent flavor, but because it didn't call for any spices, it was a bit one dimensional.  I added a couple of drops of my beloved Sriracha to the broth, mixed it up, and that really helped.

I think there are lots of tastier stew recipes out there and so I don't foresee making this one again anytime soon.  The goat?  THAT I may need to try again.  Any recipes or ideas?

Day 151: Most Impressive Entry Yet?

I'm not sure how to say this without sounding like I'm bragging, but...  I cooked one kick-ass dinner tonight!!!  I am really quite impressed with myself.

As you may have read in Saturday's entry, our favorite neighborhood restaurant made the unfortunate choice to mess with one of their best dishes - butterfish baked in parchment paper.  Since that is no longer a dish we will be enjoying there, I decided to take matters into my own hands and figure out how to make it at home.

I conducted some research on Epicurious.com and polled some friends and gathered enough information that I was comfortable testing it out tonight with some halibut filets - fortunately, to great success.

Our inspiration for this dish was the herb rub that we used on our Turkey last week for Thanksgiving.  I used up all of our sage last week, but I still had lots of parsley, rosemary, and thyme on hand - and of course, we always have garlic, so I recreated the rub and coated each piece of fish with that.

For such an impressive looking dish, the preparation was actually quite easy.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the parchment paper into heart shaped pieces and coat the area that will touch the fish with olive oil.  Place the fish in the center of one half of the heart and start to roll up the edges.  Start with the fat end of the heart and keep rolling until you get to the tip.  Just before you complete the rolling process, throw in a tablespoon of liquid.  I used white wine, but you could use lemon juice or broth or whatever you have on hand that will compliment the herbs, spices, or accompaniments you'll be eating with the fish.

Place the closed packets on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 18 minutes for a thick fish like halibut.  Obviously, if you are using thinner fish filets, the cooking time will be reduced, possibly dramatically.  As always with fish, you do not want to overcook it or you'll wind up with mush and the tricky thing with this preparation method is that you can't easily check on it since it's all wrapped up.  I was glad that my first attempt worked out, but I can see how a failure or two could be possible before mastering the technique.

Our side was a mix of steamed broccoli and sauteed fresh spinach & garlic.  The simplicity and familiarity was enormously appreciated considering how stressed I was that I might have been potentially ruining the main course.

Once in awhile, it is really fun to reach outside of your comfort zone and try something new.  When's the last time you did that and was it a success?

Day 150: The Thanks That Just Keep Giving

Here we are, four days after Thanksgiving, and we are STILL eating leftovers!!  Thankfully, we polished them all off tonight.

Witness our Butternut Squash and Creamed Spinach Gratin - given new life with a topping of freshly grated parmesan cheese and thrown under the broiler.  The wild rice was still tasty, too, and only required a quick little reheat in the microwave.

Our protein tonight was not the flying kind.  I've had enough of that for awhile.  Instead, we had pork tenderloin marinated and purchased at our local neighborhood grocery store.  It's one of our favorite midweek meals since most of the work is done for us - we just throw it on the grill for 10-12 minutes and voila!  Dinner!

I must say, however, that a quickly and easily prepared dinner is not nearly as exciting as finally finishing all of our Thanksgiving fare.  Time to start planning the next holiday.  Any recommendations for Christmas dinner?