SOME FAVE OAKTOWN EATS: FALAFEL, VIETNAMESE, & KOREAN

Here are some of our food faves in Oakland; each one is our fave for that type of food in the Bay Area:

Oasis Market: Even though I really like the humorously-named Ali Baba's Cave in The Mission for shwerma and wraps and appetizers, I think the best falafel I have ever had are at the Oasis, a newish Yemeni market at Telegrah and 31st in Oakland's Pill Hill neighborhood: they're light, crunchy, and full of flavor and texture, with no oiliness; really a joy to pop in your mouth.  I'm eager to try some of their Yemeni specialties, desserts, olives, and cheeses.

Ohgane: If you saw my recent post on about being served eighteen (!!!) amazing panchan at a recent dinner at Ohgane, at 40th and Broadway, you know I think they have the best Korean food in the Bay Area.  Great and generous panchan, but everything else we've had has also been first-rate, including appetizer pancakes, soups, and bibimbop in all its variations.  It can get quite crowded and smokey late in the evening with big Korean parties.

Pho 84: For awhile, this was our fave Friday evening take-out spot, and Pho 84, downtown (or Uptown?) at 17th and Franklin is still our fave Vietnamese place in the Bay Area.  They have great soups, appetizers, curries, and claypot dishes, and make their own lemonade.  Michelle or her husband, sister, or mother are usually there and everyone's always welcoming.  They have a sister restaurant, Ba Vo, on 13th Street, with the same menu, that's busier at lunch; and are opening another in Walnut Creek.  They can get really busy at dinner.

Any faves (Oaktown or otherwise) you wanna share, or comments or additions?

A GOOD HOMEMADE BAGEL ("and from a deli-owner that's a rave...")

Over the holidays I decided to try my hand at making home-made, whole-wheat bagels. My recent New York City sojourn was the impetus: having regular access to real bagels made we want to see if I could re-create them at home in San Francisco, where pretty much all we have are typical, 21st-century, American pseudo-bagels that are fist-sized and spongey.  I wanted to see if I could create the small, dense, chewy authentic bagels I remember fondly from the Sunday brunches of my New York youth.  And I wanted to see if I could do it with whole-wheat flour.

With a little experimentation, trial-and-error (the first batch resembled pretzels more than bagels), and tweaking of recipes, I think I crafted apretty good version in terms of taste, consistency, density, and look.  And people, including other native New Yorkers seemed to agree.  The multi-step process of kneading, proofing, boiling, and baking was more fun than hard.  I'll definitely be doing them again, and a couple of people have expressed interest in learning, so I may host some sort of bagel-making get-together-cum-workshop!  Especially if there's real interest...

Of course, it being me, Project Bagel steamrolled from there to include making home-made soy cream cheeses, home-made whitefish salad, home-made braunschweiger (liverwurst), and home-brined pickled onions and kosher-style dill pickles.  And of course I had to include two old favorite go-alongs: home-cured gravlax and home-made chopped liver.  I'll post the bagel and other recipes soon.

It was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.  "And from a deli owner, that's a rave!"  Anyone know where that's from?

BACHELOR BREAKFASTS: SECRET MEALS FOR ONE

The Fiancé had a workshop the other weekend, so The Omnivore got to make a Bachelor Breakfast: real, smoked pork bacon--two whole slices!--and two slices of red onion; two eggs added to the cast iron skillet when the bacon and onions are turned and almost done; and a handful of fresh spinach added and tossed with the onions just before turning off the flame.  And then served--to myself--by bringing the skillet to table.  I do love it.  And you know the sin of omission in the description above is that everything's cooked in the bacon renderings and nothing's drained, right?

What constitutes a Bachelor Meal?  It's a one-pot dish that's quick, easy, and cooked and ideally served--or eaten--from the pot.  And if it has the slight whiff of treyf, all the better.  My dear friend Dena's food blog has a bunch of great posts illuminating the genre.  An old favorite of mine used to be packaged mac 'n' cheese with hotdogs cooked in the same water; with frozen peas added just before draining, slicing the 'dogs, and finishing it off, and--maybe--dishing it all out into a bowl.  Even with Annie's mac-in-cheese, turkey dogs, and soy milk; the treyf's still the processed, packaged food and white pasta.  But the real deterent is that it's unbelievably hard not to treat the whole shebang as a single serving.

But I swear, my weekday breakfast is much healthier:

And some of the more usual weekend breakfasts of turkey hash, breakfast quesadillas, and homemade turkey sausage chez nous:

I'll have to post about my recent re-obsession with omelet-making...

GREAT FINDS: FAVE DOUGHNUTS, BURGERS, AND ICE CREAM IN THE BAY AREA

No surprise that all this good food's in San Francisco's Mission. None of these three places are brand-new, but if you haven't tried them you owe yourself a visit; each has great food and focuses on sourcing ingredients locally and from organic providers.  Any faves you wanna share?

Best Doughnuts:  It's weird the Bay Area doesn't have that many great doughnuts (though the vegan doughnuts at Awaken Cafe in Oakland are yum-my). We've only tried a quarter of the varieties Dynamo Donuts carries, but they've all been amazing: spiced chocolate with cinnamon and chipotle, pistachio and lemon, coconut and coconut milk (needless to say only the person who doesn't think coconut tastes like nail clippings really savored that one), and maple-glazed bacon apple (obviously only The Omnivore devoured that one.) They're on 24th Street between York and Hampshire (why, even before PDAs, Google, and Yelp, have Bay Area papers never listed cross streets in reviews???!!!) and their storefront window is always hopping and the staff is really friendly.

Best Burger:  Urbun Burger (NOT Urban Burger) is now my fave non-restaurant burger--heads above local mini-chains Bistro Burger, Barney's, and Burger Joint--and while the food at Mission Burger may be good, the the distracted, blank stares from the greasy-haired hipster cooks kinda spoils the experience--and besides it's only to-go.  The beef and turkey burgers here are great, as are the whole-wheat buns, and the sweet-potato fries and onion rings.  The burgers are customizable, they have veggie burgers, and the staff is really helpful.  They're on Valencia near 17th Street.

Best Ice Cream: Okay, by now everybody, even friends and strangers in fa-flung places like Eugene, New York, and France know about Bi-Rite Creamery and their great flavors, combinations, cones, ice-cream sandwiches and other treats.  And you may even be hip to their recent expansion and additional seating.  But did you know that any day now, their store-front window dispensing soft-serve (or custard ) will open ???!!! Yes.  Everything Sam and his family does is wonderful from the grocery to his gallery, so I have no doubts about this new addition, at 18th Street near Dolores.  They have great sorbets and soy ice cream options, so I'm hoping against hope they've figured out a custard (as we used to call it in New York) for the lactose-intolerant...

Q.W.E.P.*: TWO MEDIA FINDS + THAT 'OTHER' DEXTER

"The Most Dangerous Man in America:" I really recommend this documentary about Daniel Ellsberg and the "Pentagon Papers" that my friend Tom and I saw recently; I'm embarrassed to say that I had only a very general understanding and the vaguest childhood recollection about this pivotal episode in American history and the major role it played in the Vietnam War, the downfall of the Nixon administration, and freedom of the press. (Fellow Hunter College High School Alumnae/i: Did we spend time on this in American History??? Or was I just cutting class that day/week/month/year?) I thought it told a great story about one "establishment" man's evolution, choices, and eventual devotion to peace.

"This Emotional Life:" David and I really enjoyed this PBS three-part, six-hour series produced by Nova and created by Harvard social psychologist Dan Gilbert; it goes beyond the recent 'happiness studies' to really examine the scientific basis of how we live in this world, interact with others, and react to and change our circumstances. It explains new scientific discoveries as well as common perceptions and misperceptions; shows real-life, powerful, case studies; and includes short comments from well-known, popular-culture individuals who talk about or use their emotional stories in their writing, acting, or work. Gilbert's personal/professional story's also pretty cool: high-school drop-out to Harvard professor and Guggenheim Fellow.

Dexter Wells: Does anyone else who reads The Sunday New York Times Magazine regularly get weirded out by Pete Wells' regular column about his experiences cooking with and for his son Dexter? Food, and the growing, cooking, and eating of it is a very, very, very big thing in my life; and a kid who enjoys food, eating, and cooking is great; but Wells' obsession with how his life is being shaped by how his child's life is being shaped by food makes the child seem almost ... Damien-esque. Or Wells himself like Shirley Partridge chasing after the schoolbus to keep up with her hipster kids. Anyway, what reminded me about that was that this week's column had a recipe for Cuban Black Beans (and in my earlier black beans post I forgot to link you to my dear friend Dena's great recipe too...).

And, Oops, Actual Affordability: Lastly, I updated yesterday's post, because I neglected to mention the important point that, in addition to not being TOD or green, how 'affordable' is affordable housing that's sited where residents will need to own and run cars to get anyplace?

*quick week's end post

SPILLING THE BEANS + A QUICK MAGAZINE RANT

Carbs of Color: My dear friend Dena's mention in her great food blog about a recent post of mine made me realize that, in typical fashion, when I talked about our "non-white food diet" (i.e. whole foods and grains as much as possible, processed foods and 'white' carbs as little as possible), I alluded to the increasingly well-known health benefits, but neglected to mention the equally important personal reason was, as time went by, whenever I ate processed carbs, I would fall into a "carb coma," feeling tired and sluggish after meals. Now, even with whole grains and less processed carbs, I try to limit grains and starches at breakfast and lunch, since feeling a little sleepy after dinner is actually a good thing :-P And yes, that does mean no white potatoes, too.


Ecumenical Beans: To follow up that explanation and requests, here's another legume meal that we love: Black Bean Soup over brown rice (often called Moors and Christians in Latin America) and Braised Broccoli Rabe. The little egghead-y touch we love is the Chinese fermented black beans or sauce I add--I kinda love the idea of black beans and black beans--and it adds a nice salty/smokiness.


Soaking the dried beans overnight results in an approximately 45 minute cooking time the next day: I brown sliced turkey bacon in hot olive oil in a hot pot; saute large-diced onions, carrots, and celery until soft; stir in diced green pepper, sliced cremini mushrooms, minced garlic, and ginger, fermented black beans or sauce, sage, and bay leaves; stir in some diced tomatoes or tomato paste and red wine; add the drained black beans and stock to cover; bring to a boil and lower to a simmer until the beans are tender; adjust the salt and pepper added at each stage. Serve with parsley and lemon wedges over brown rice.


Slice off any tough parts of broccoli rabe stems. Heat olive oil in a hot pan; add sliced garlic, ginger, and hot pepper flakes; add broccoli rabe (no need to dry from rinsing) and salt and pepper and cook until tender; squeeze some lemon and serve.


The Ultimate Food City???: Dena's post also reminded me about March's Saveur, a magazine I usually love because of the great way the focus on the food of a place and culture in each issue. But this cover story focused on L.A. as the "ultimate food city," and waxed poetic about their pizza, farmers' markets, Asian cuisines, and local food. Um, at the risk of offending you Angelenos, NOT. I admit I have a strange love-hate relationship with Lala-land, but compared to San Francisco, New York, smaller places like Portland (OR and ME) and many, many other places, there is good, innovative food, but definitely not the best and not even a place incubating new trends or tastes (unless you count 80's Wolfgang Puck pizzas as a good thing)--and how can anything be local when you have to drive thirty miles of seven-lane highways just to get to dinner?

ORGANIC FARM IRON CHEF, or LIVING (LARGE) OFF THE LAND: GETAWAY PART III

As good as getting to see the farm animals up close was the Full House Farm organic vegetable garden just for guests where we (literally) had the pick of beautiful, cool weather produce.



I'd decided not to bring any food, supplies, or equipment (not even my trusty cast-iron skillet)--or spices, herbs, oils, or vinegars. For those who know me, this was big, especially because we were hoping to eat in quite a bit: but I decided it was a lesson in trust--that the garden would provide, that a 'fully-equipped kitchen' meant just that, and that we could create good meals with whatever we found.


What we found, cooked, and ate was great: broccoli, cauliflower, onions, carrots, and beets for roasting; swiss chard and beet and mustard greens for sauteing; all different types of kale for soup; and arugula, mesclun, mizuna, and other greens for salads topped by broccoli flowers. And plenty of rosemary, thyme, and other herbs.


The great Wild Flour Breads also got turned into croutons for salad and soup, and the freshly-laid eggs (can you tell which ones came from the araucanas?) made great omelets and breakfasts (can you see the color and height of those yolks??). Christine's homemade goat cheese was great on the beets and toast, and we got to sample her homemade goat ice milk and yoghurt too.



It was fun trying a completely vegetarian getaway with such incredible materials at hand. We heartily recommend the Full House Farm experience; we found it on the Weekend Sherpa blog, a favorite resource for Bay Area outdoor adventures.


And to end this trip, some veggie porn (or truly raw food): "Aloha, from Carrot Man!" (May not be suitable for all ages! :-P )

THREE GREAT WEST SONOMA FINDS: RECENT GETAWAY PART I

We recently had a great getaway in West Sonoma County, and on our first day's transition to a slower pace, we made a couple of stops along the way:


A winery, a general store, day spa, and Wild Flour Bread make up the entire town of Freestone, but it's worth a detour just for the bakery: all of the baked goods that come out of their wood-fired, brick oven are incredible--we stocked up on savory breads and sweet rolls that we enjoyed our whole trip--and the staff is so warm, they have a beautiful organic garden to tour, and the place is a treat for all your senses.


The old railroad town of Occidental isn't much larger, but it is at one end of my favorite country drive in California--Coleman Valley Road--and home to two, competing, old-fashioned, family-run, Italian-American, red-sauce eateries of the kind that have disappeared from San Francisco's North Beach. They're both good, fun, and historic, but my vote goes to Negri's: it's not fancy or specifically organic, but it's incredibly good, generous, and everything's served with open arms and smiles, original 50's decor and music--and it's the kind of honest, homemade food I remember feasting on as a kid on visits to New York's Little Italy. Full dinners are served family-style with (a tureen of) minestrone, salads, antipasti, salami, ravioli, and zucchini fritters, all included and brought to the table to share. And it's reasonable and they work hard to accommodate any dietary needs.


Patrick Amiot is a Sebastopol artist who works with found objects, and his larger pieces can be seen all over town and West Sonoma. A great treat is to stop at Screamin' Mimi's for some all-natural ice cream cones and walk down four-block long Florence Avenue, where Patrick lives and works, and where he creates smaller-scaled sculptures for his neighbors' front lawns. Neighbors bring him parts, and many of the sculptures reflect his neighbors' vocations or avocations.

At the south end of the street are the Florence Lofts, a well-designed, small live-work development that nicely separates and integrates retail, offices, and homes; public and private space, parking and walkability, and storm and graywater remediation. The aesthetics aren't mine, but the design and scale are great, with a larger building with retail facing busier Bodega Avenue, and the office/residential along Florence, with good land-, hard-, and waterscape details throughout.

QUICK FOOD POST: LENTILS, CROQUETTES, and BREAKFAST SAMMIES

After seeing an article that referred to some actor's "weird, no-white food diet," I felt like I wanted to show some of the ways we've been trying to eliminate as much processing as possible in our diet, and focusing on whole food and grains, and combos of ingredients and cooking that help us better access nutrients. And my dear friend Dena and other friends exploring gluten-free diets got me thinking about how much we like beans and legumes. So here's a dinner and breakfast from a recent weekend:


Braised Lentils
I browned turkey bacon and turkey kielbasa in hot olive oil; and added cut celery, carrots, leeks, and red onion, and salt and pepper and cooked until softened; and stirred in garlic, bay leaves, sage, and thyme; and added sliced mustard and turnip greens and kale to wilt, and then lentils, chicken stock, red wine, and water to cover, and brought to a boil and simmered for about 30 minutes until lentils were tender. We had it over barley, followed by an arugula and spinach salad.


Whole-Wheat/Yoghurt Biscuits
I mixed 1 cup whole-wheat flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and salt and pepper in the food processor; thoroughly mixed in 2 tablespoons cut-up, cold butter, and mixed in 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt until the dough gathered together. I kneaded it briefly, and formed the dough into 4 1/2 thick circles and baked on parchment paper in a 450' oven for 10 minutes.

I didn't add cheese, shallots, or chives to the dough because I was using in breakfast sandwiches: I sliced the biscuits in half and melted muenster on them, and added spinach, caramelized onions, turkey bacon, and a fried egg to each.

Sweet Potato Croquettes
I mashed sweet potatoes boiled until tender with grated asiago, pinches of nutmeg and sage, salt and pepper, an egg, and enough whole-wheat flour to form croquettes; coated them with panko crumbs, and pan fried them in hot olive oil until browned.


I'm sure I'll have new recipe and menu ideas after finishing Michael Pollan's Food Rules; it's next up on my nightstand. In the meantime, any good-food-choice strategies you use? Or gluten-free ideas I can pass along to friends?

QUICK POSTS: YOGA TOES + THE PLOT THICKENS + 18 PANCHAN!

YOGA TOES: I'm feeling very grateful for yoga this week. We take a regular restorative hatha yoga class, and I am constantly amazed at how such a gentle practice challenges, strengthens, centers, and opens me. It's a great class: people are serious and committed but low-key, and there's no jockeying for a spot and no 'yoga' clothing. One man brings lemons from his tree, and I've brought lemon bars and lemon shortbread made from them to share, and people came to see my "Catching The Sun" show, but the class is too small to be cliquish. And I love our teacher Erin, who really thinks about and explains the poses, how we progress through them, why we are doing them, how they should feel, and how we can ease or extend them. And I really appreciate taking the class with David: as something to share, and also for the place I am for the yoga.

But my feet get cold in class (this is NOT bikram!) and I've seen some special yoga socks--anyone have recommendations???


THE PLOT THICKENS: Week Two at the community garden plot. I know you can barely see the little lettuce and greens sprouts, but I get a certain frisson...from germinating frisée. And one of the fun things about lettuces is how fast they sprout. I'm glad these older seeds are still viable, and I'm very happy with my cage and screen: when I've stopped by the birds have been voraciously partaking of the garden buffet in other plots, and my seeds have been undisturbed by them or our heavy rains (but nicely damp).


18 PANCHAN: I love, love, love Korean food, and one of the ways I judge Korean restaurants is by the quality and generosity of panchan, the little tastes that come with and are incorporated into every meal. Our favorite place in the Bay Area is Ohgane in Oakland, and I just had to share this quick pic of...18 panchan! That's the most I've ever been served anywhere, including there, and every single one--including the scary little fishies--was the tastiest, freshest morsel of goodness!

KEEP TO THE PLOT: ADVENTURES IN COMMUNITY GARDENING

After three years on a waiting list, I finally got a plot in a neighborhood community garden!  The plots in this garden are small, but it's a brand new, raised bed in a nice, small, sunny garden attached to a Mission District mini-park a couple of blocks from me.

The other gardeners I've met are great, and small world that San Francisco is, among them is the father of David's son's brother, his partner, my ex-co-worker's ex-roommate, and a participant in a green planning "salon" that I once moderated.

WEEK ONE:

My plan is to grow vegetables that need more room, sun, warmth, and soil in my garden plot, and keep growing lettuces, greens, and herbs in my kitchen and back porch windowboxes.  

That said, in this cooler weather I decided to do a first crop of lettuces and greens in my new bed, using up half-used packets of seeds, and overseeding because germination may be lower because the seeds are older.

Lettuce and greens seeds are planted very shallow, so I decided to build a cage to protect them from the many birds in the park.  I can keep it on while the seedlings are small, and re-use it for any sowings or small transplants.  I used wire snips to cut and shape the cage from 4-foot width chicken wire.

I also attached some screening to the top of the cage, to diffuse the heavy rain we're expecting, so the seeds wouldn't wash away.  And I can leave it on as a shade cloth for the tender lettuces. 

One of the longtime gardeners clued me in to the snails that like to hide out under the top edges of the beds, so I decided to staple some copper strapping over the outer edges; the theory is that the small electrical charge in the copper deters snails and slugs.  The strapping is much cheaper than the copper tape sold for this purpose.

It felt good to be digging in the dirt again, building things, and planting. Stay tuned as the plot thickens...I'm hoping to document here the growing, harvesting, cooking, and eating of vegetables from the garden.