Consuming Ambitions

Toasted Pumpkin Seed Recipes

If you're carving pumpkins this weekend, don't throw out the seeds! When I was a kid, my mom always toasted the pumpkin seeds to make a tasty snack that was far more healthy than the sugary treats we collected trick-or-treating. To this day I still like to roast pumpkin seeds. I dug up a few recipes and found that technique varies widely. Classic roast pumpkin seeds are simply tossed with oil (I prefer extra virgin olive oil) and sprinkled with sea salt, then baked in a 300 degree oven for 30-60 minutes until golden brown. The Whole Foods recipe suggests boiling the seeds in salty water before roasting, a step which makes the salt flavor more balanced, and also includes variations for spicy (garlic salt, cumin, coriander, and cardamom) or sweet (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and brown sugar). Some recipes go gourmet by incorporating ingredients such as curry or black tea. Some use a hotter oven and shorter time. Frankly it's hard to screw up, unless you lose track of how long the seeds have been in the oven and burn them. The other way to go wrong is simply not roasting them evenly enough or for sufficient duration, so that they don't get crunchy. Putting the baking sheet on the top rack, stirring the seeds once or twice during roasting and making sure they are browned and crunchy before removing from the oven should do the trick.

This year when we roasted seeds, a couple of friends asked whether I eat the shell or not. I recommend popping the whole thing into the mouth, both because I'm too lazy to shell the seed, and also because all the seasoning is on the outside. But shelling the seeds is certainly acceptable; you probably get the "negative calorie" effect whereby you burn more calories trying to extricate the tiny seed from the shell than you take in from ingesting it. Move over, Atkins and South Beach -- the Consuming Ambitions You-Shell-It Pumpkin Seed diet is here! Now you know why I'm not in marketing.

Taqueria El Aguila

My Trinity colleague Alexandra tipped me off to a great little Mexican joint called Taqueria El Aguila ("The Eagle"). It's a place that would be hard to discover without being referred, a tiny building in San Mateo on a part of El Camino Real that few would happen to pass by (and even if you did, you may not notice it). The taqueria is located a couple of blocks south of Hillsdale Boulevard and the Shopping Center, right across the street from Starbuck's. The restaurant's namesake eagle is depicted on the menu's rendition of the coat of arms of Mexico, an eagle perched on a cactus, grasping a serpent in its beak. My wife asked why the bird was eating a snake and I took the opportunity to make up an outlandish tale about Mexican wanderers seeing the majestic creature killing vermin while balancing on native vegetation as a fortuitous sign, and hence deciding to build Mexico City on that spot. My faulty rendition is something that I thought I remembered from 4th grade but in retrospect is probably some amalgamation of various stories and histories I've heard over the years.

The food at El Aguila is solid. Two things I particularly liked: First and foremost, the portions of meat on the tacos were good sized, much more generous than other taquerias I've tried; meat in every bite. Secondly, the salsa bar is both covered and refrigerated, which makes for a very fresh and clean collection of sauces and toppings. Plus there are free unlimited tortilla chips on top, kept toasty under the warming lamp. Cool salsa, warm chips -- El Aguila has the temperature thing nailed!

We tried tacos Carnitas (fried pork), Chile Verde (pork in green sauce), and Pollo en Salsa Roja (chicken in red sauce) -- and everything was tasty. I also tried a flauta, which as near as I can tell is Spanish for "taquito." Ally particularly recommends anything with prawns (which are offered in tacos, burritos, and fajitas, or individually as a side order). And no, snake is not on the menu!

Taqueria El Aguila
3733 S El Camino Real
San Mateo, CA 94403
(650) 571-7725

Molino Creek Farm Tomatoes

On my weekly visits to the Palo Alto Farmer's Market, I always stock up on tomatoes when they're in season. My favorites are the varied heirloom tomatoes available from Full Belly Farm and other organic farmers. But recently I started making a point of always stopping by the Molino Creek Farm table, which is usually all the way at the back of the middle aisle; they sell right out of the side of a two-tone brown and white van. Not only are their tomatoes reliably good, but also the ladies selling them are very friendly and pleasant. Molino Creek also sells at the farmer's markets in Santa Cruz (Wednesday afternoons), Aptos / Cabrillo College (Saturday mornings), and Campbell (Sunday mornings); beyond these venues, the produce can be found at Whole Foods, New Leaf Markets, and other local grocery stores.

The Molino Creek tomatoes are not heirlooms, but are grown using a "dry farming" technique which only uses moisture naturally occurring in the soil:

We have specialized in dry farmed tomatoes since 1982. Dry farming utilizes soil moisture from the prior winters rain as the only irrigation. The advantages are concentrated flavor with a sugar/acid balance many people rave about. The disadvantages are thicker skins, smaller and fewer fruit with increased disease pressure due to water stress. Difficult to grow, yes, but worth it for the exceptional flavor.

Huh, you can grow tomatoes without watering them? Who knew? Molino Creek offers two varieties of tomatoes, red and pink. The pink ones are sweeter, less tart, juicy, and very flavorful (not that the red ones aren't good too -- the pink ones are just more mellow).

This weekend the Molino Creek ladies were passing out a recipe for roasted tomato preserves (because these gems will only be available until Thanksgiving, after which they will only be a fond foodie memory until next summer). I may try this recipe if I can excavate my freezer to make some room for it. My excuse is that I'm waiting for a team of paleontologists from Stanford who have been wanting to come by to examine the fossilized remains of a fruit fly that was trapped in the ice sometime during the Mesozoic era, or maybe sometime after Sears delivered the freezer.

E Z Roasted Tomatoes Frozen Preserves
10 lb. Molino Creek tomatoes
olive oil
peeled garlic cloves
herbs of choice

Wash tomatoes. Halve or quarter them and place in baking pans. Drizzle with olive oil and scatter garlic on them.

Roast uncovered in 250-degree oven for 2 hours. After 1 hour, stir and mash with spoon. Add fresh herbs (basil, oregano, cilantro, or whatever suits).

After 2-4 hours, let cool in oven. Spoon into small freezer containers or Ziplock freezer bags. Note: if you roll the bag, you can slice rounds off later like cookie dough.

Source: Molino Creek Farming Collective

Molino Creek Farm
301 Molino Creek Farm Rd.
Davenport, CA 95017
831-818-2137 (ask for Joe Curry)

Blue Bottle Coffee

Doug Klein, who is a Consuming Ambitions top contributor of great foodie ideas (such as Fisher Farm), tipped me off to some excellent coffee he enjoyed recently at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market. The Blue Bottle Coffee Company describes its "Artisanal Microroasting" process thus:

We take Freshness and small-batch roasting to an extreme not considered practical anywhere else in the coffee business. We use only the best certified organic coffees, occasionally using beautiful coffees that are farmed traditionally without pesticides.

After roasting, coffee beans exhale CO2 for several hours. Instead of keeping our beans in bins, we mix the blends and bag them within 4 hours of roasting to harness the CO2 to keep oxygen (and, hence, oxidation) out of the bags.

We never preblend our coffees thus assuring the ideal roast profile for each bean used in a blend. All varietals are roasted individually, then mixed into our blends.

Blue Bottle is based in Oakland but has "an odd but convivial little coffee kiosk" in San Francisco's Hayes Valley on Linden Street (near Gough) as well as the Ferry Plaza market location. For those of you out of the area, check out the Blue Bottle web store. Based on Doug's recommendation and the rave reviews online, I can't wait to try this coffee. Thanks again, Doug!

Blue Bottle Coffee Company
1552 Beach St. #R
Oakland, CA 94608
510-653-3394

315 Linden Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 252-7535

1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 291-3276

Top Chef Season 2 Starts Tomorrow!

If you didn't watch the inaugural season of the foodie answer to Survivor, your chance at redemption begins Wednesday 10/18 at 11pm (10pm Central) on BravoTV. The program pits 15 aspiring chefs in a battle to win the title of Top Chef, which carries a $100,000 prize plus a spread in Food & Wine magazine. Season 1 highlights included a challenge to prepare a gourmet meal using only ingredients purchased at a gas station convenience store ("for my next dish I'd like to present a nacho cheese soup topped with minced Funyuns"). Actually the best parts, as with any reality TV show, consisted of seeing the fur flying when the volatile personalities mixed like oil and water: for example, competent and organized Lee Anne Wong versus the inconsistent and scattered (but occasionally inspired) Dave Martin; intense bisexual Bostonian Tiffani Faison versus, well, everybody.

Most episodes pose a "quickfire challenge" (say, throwing together an appetizer plate in under 30 minutes using raw, slimy octopus) followed by a more complicated trial testing not only cooking skill but also kitchen management and teamwork abilities. At the end of each week's episode, one contestant is ordered to "pack up your knives" and go home. Season 1 was set in San Francisco, but the second one brings a change in scenery to Los Angeles. I'm looking forward to getting to know the new field of competitors, who range in age from 23 to 46 and include a one-time nuclear submarine chef, a man voted one of New York's ten most sexiest chefs, and a Woman's Professional football player (whom I'd like to see take on Tiffani in a bar brawl in the final episode). Back are judges Tom Colicchio (New York food figure of Gramercy Tavern and Craft fame) and food expert/critic Gail Simmons of Food & Wine. Out is hostess Katie Lee Joel (yes, the better half of music icon Billy), but in is actress/writer Padma Lakshmi who can also be seen discovering baby Moses in the bulrushes in ABC's upcoming mini-series "The Ten Commandments."

BTW, no I am not on the BravoTV payroll, I just think this is must-see TV!

Fleur De Lys

On Thursday I enjoyed the pleasure of accompanying Oren Michels, CEO of stealthy startup Mashery, on a long gastronomic adventure at Fleur De Lys in San Francisco. It was my first ever visit to the celebrated dining spot (if you read this blog regularly, you know my tastes run more to the every-day dining gems, but every once in a while I do treat my tummy to something more refined). Our afternoon started at the Office 2.0 conference, where Oren spoke on a panel, then proceeded to the Mashery offices for a quick demo of the web services startup's product, and finally on to the restaurant. Moments after stepping through the doorway, we grasped a flute of Pommery Brut Royal champagne and the cares of the day melted away. Oren knows Marcus Garcia, the dining room manager and sommelier, back from when Marcus graced the tables of Prima in Walnut Creek. Oren's habit at Fleur De Lys is to completely put himself in the hands of the chef and sommelier; rather than ordering food and wine, he says: just bring it! I signed on for the same deal, reflecting on the irony that the kid who was such a picky eater is now comfortable waltzing into a strange restaurant and eating whatever is put in front of him. In my younger years my mother would pull her hair out trying to cajole me into eating the excellent food she cooked, including even the simplest items such as peas and corn (I would eat the latter only on the cob, not in free niblet form -- such were the daily challenges she faced). I'm sure that somewhere mom is very proud that I now entirely devour the mystery-meal prix fixe.

Marcus and the entire Fleur De Lys staff took excellent care of us. Here's what they brought us:

Wine I: 2000 Domaine Trimbach Pinot Gris Reserve Personelle.

First appetizer: Symphony of smoked salmon tartare, chilled cream of salsify, tartine of foie gras & duck breast, and salad Lyonnaise.

Amuse bouche: Shooter of eggplant, shitake, and basil cream, paired with a hummus salad topped with a pea.

Second appetizer: Tasting of Alsatian choucroute: (1) choucroute soup, toasted spatzle, paprika oil; (2) choucroute fondant with Osetra caviar; (3) choucroute strudel with sauteed foie gras.

Wine II: 2004 Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis.

Fish course: King salmon topped with pistachio, watercress coulis. Caramelized cauliflower, potato blinis, and caviar. (Yes, I took a chomp out of it before Oren reminded me to snap the photo!)

Wine III: (side by side tasting, so actually two wines) 2003 Robert Biale Zappa Red (blend of syrah, petite syrah, zinfandel); 2004 Clos des Papes, Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Tough to beat the Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Meat course: Roasted squab breast filled with foie gras and truffles, with ravioli of squab leg confit, Sauternes ginger sauce.

Wine IV: 2003 Papapietro-Perry, Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, Leras Family Vineyard).

Cheese course: Assortment of artisanal French cheeses, including a pungent and memorable Epoisses (not pictured) served at room temperature with a spoon (as the Cheese Diaries put it, "If angels were cheese, they would be epoisses.").

Dessert course: Oren received the FleurBurger, lightly spiced dark chocolate ganache, home-made Beignet, served with a cherry flavored milkshake and frozen fennel ice cream "pommes frites." I enjoyed Fresh berries on "Genoise" which came with a frozen coconut lollypop, pineapple and peach brochette glazed with vanilla syrup, and lime mousse.

Wine V: 1998 Chateau des Tours, St. Croix du Mont.

Whew! To cap off the meal, we received a nice two-tier plate of mignardises which under normal circumstances would have qualified as a very nice dessert, but we were so stuffed that we could hardly do it justice. Marcus was kind enough to sit down and write out all the wines we had enjoyed, and the charming co-owner Chantal Keller (whose husband Hubert is the chef) emerged to greet us. Evening complete! I stumbled back into the night, overwhelmed but very satisfied.

Fleur De Lys
777 Sutter Street
San Francisco CA 94109
(415) 673-7779

Two Cow Hollow Brunch Spots

I don't make it up to San Francisco for breakfast very often, but my friend David recently reminded me of a great morning meal I enjoyed in Cow Hollow years ago by posting a hearty brunch recommendation for Rose's Cafe. Ah, the memory of organic soft polenta smothered in Niman Ranch bacon, poached eggs, and spicy tomato sauce... Thanks David! One of his readers chimed in with a recommendation for Crepes A Go-Go in the same neighborhood.

Rose's Café
2298 Union (at Steiner)
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 775-2200

Crepes Á-Go-Go
2165 Union Street
San Francisco , CA 94123
(415) 928-1919

Karkade: Egyptian Hibiscus Tea

I love to drink tea, and am constantly on the prowl for new varieties. Recently I was sitting down with a colleague at Coupa Cafe and decided to ask the cashier whether Coupa offers any unusual varieties of tea. Lo and behold, I found myself with an ice cold glass of karkade. Karkade, a traditional Egyptian tea, consists of brewed hibiscus flowers and copious quantities of sugar. Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), an ugly stepsister to the comely variety we know as Hawaii's state flower, is used for a variety of vegetable purposes including jams and teas. The appearance of the tea is very similar to that of pomegranate juice, but its flavor is much less tart (due to all the sugar). I have found that foods and beverages with a deep red color seem to have a correlation with high antioxidant content (e.g. cranberries, pomegranate, red wine), so my intuition told me that this tea, like most others, would have those properties. Some quick research on Google confirmed that indeed, the hibiscus flower contains antioxidant chemicals such as flavonoids, polyphenolics, and anthocyanins which may prevent atherosclerosis. Next time you're at Coupa or in Northern Africa, give karkade a try!

Hoarding Lentils

Ajay Chopra, Pinnacle Systems co-founder and currently a Venture Partner at Trinity, tipped me off to the lentil shortage in India that has led that country in June to ban exports until December 2006. For me the most interesting aspect was not the ban itself, which makes sense given the domestic shortage, but rather the importance that Indians place on the lentil. Since I am only beginning to learn the richness and breadth of Indian cuisine, I tended to equate lentils with the simple dish typically identified on Indian restaurant menus as dal (which just means lentil), a stew-like preparation simmered with spices. But in talking with friends and reading a bit about the ban, I learned that lentils are a fundamental part of the Indian diet. Apparently the typical Indian household stocks a variety of different lentils: red, green, yellow, and other colors; various shapes and sizes. The lentils are used for many types of preparations, including idlis (steamed cakes made of lentils and rice), vadai (lentil doughnuts), papadum (crispy lentil wafers typically served at the beginning of the meal in many Indian restaurants), and crepes and pancakes such as dosas, adais, and uthappams.

The lentil shortage has led to desperate measures. Some folks, on the return trip from their summer travels to visit family and friends in India, have taken to loading up their suitcases with banned lentils to ride out the storm. Some Indian markets here have resorted to rationing the quantity of lentils each customer is allowed to purchase. All hail the lowly legume!

The Mercury News and Boston Globe put together nice articles describing the lentil shortage. By reading the Globe piece I came across Mahanandi's excellent blog featuring descriptions, photographs, and recipes for lentils. I happened to eat dinner at Shiva's in Mountain View last Friday and the waitress claimed that the lunch buffet still features their tasty halwa -- get it while you can!

Dumpling Manifesto

When I lived in Taiwan in the early 1990's, sometimes after school let out my classmates and I would take in a quick, inexpensive meal at one of the tiny dumpling shops found in the maze of shops and restaurants near the Mandarin Training Center (a.k.a. Shi Da) where we studied Chinese. These shops would crank out jiaozi, commonly called "potstickers" here, by the hundreds and line up the fresh, crescent-shaped dumplings on trays awaiting cooking to order. Each one cost $3 NT, the equivalent of about twelve cents in U.S. dollars. A solid meal consisted of ten jiaozi, though in my ravenous moods I would occasionally down twenty at a sitting. As a "fiscally challenged" student, I loved being able to eat for a buck twenty U.S. There was no tipping, and hot tea was complimentary, so you were out the door leaving only three $10 NT coins on the table. Eating out at a restaurant for only three coins? That's medieval! There was even free entertainment in the form of chihuahua-sized rats darting through the dark nether regions of the restaurant (unfortunately eating medievally came with lower hygeine standards).

Classically the jiaozi is filled with pork and minced vegetables, but often they were available in other variations such as lamb or vegetarian. The jiaozi were prepared simply, either pan-fried, or boiled. If the latter, you optionally could enjoy your dumplings dunked into hot and sour soup (a style of eating I have never seen elsewhere actually). My favorite way was "straight up," simply boiled and dipped into soy sauce and vinegar at the table. Ah, those were good eats!

Back home the quality of dumplings can be much more uneven. A Consuming Ambitions reader forwarded me a humorous article in which the author vents his "dumpling rage":

Dumpling rage, like road rage, strikes without warning. My first attack came in my mid-20s, while dining at Raku, a Washington, D.C., "pan-Asian" restaurant. I made the mistake of ordering something called Chinese dumplings. Out came a bamboo steamer containing what resembled aged marshmallows-dumplings cooked so long they were practically glued to the bottom of the container. Try as I might, I could not pry them loose, until one ripped in half, yielding a small meatball of dubious composition.

It was an outrage. To my friends' embarrassment, I stood up and shouted at our waiter... [Read more: A Dumpling Manifesto]