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All's Fair in Love and Gluttony
“The Midwest is State Fair Central, and it thrives here because we are the breadbasket of America, Hog Butcher, Machinemaker, Stacker of Particleboard, Player With Chain Saws, Land of the Big Haunches. And also because Midwesterners are insular, industrious, abstemious, introspective people skittish about body contact, and a state fair is liberation from all of that, a plunge into the pool of self-indulgence, starting with a thick pork chop hot off the grill and served on a stick with a band of crisp brown fat along one side. The fat is not good for you. You eat the pork chop, fat and all, and your child eats her pork chop, and then you score a giant vanilla shake from the Dairy Bar to cushion the fall of a bagful of tiny doughnuts. Now you’re warmed up and ready to move on to the corn dog course.”
You want reflections on the great institution that is the state fair? A Prairie Home Companion’s Garrison Keillor has got your reflections right here, over on National Geographic’s website.
Image source: Flickr member Joe Shlabotnik under Creative Commons
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Donato Scotti's New Digs
Donato Scotti, formerly of La Strada, recently opened his own place in Redwood City: Donato Enoteca.
The overall ambience says “elegant farmhouse,” says DeeGlaze, while Melanie Wong notes the progression from the casual tables and open kitchen near the entrance to the more formal dining area deeper inside. The wine room also spills onto the patio.
The menu is less casual than La Strada, Melanie says, but prices are reasonable in this recession-sensitive time. A great example: bruschetta di cinghiale, $8, topped with hand-pulled braised wild boar, onion, “and a bite of Chianti vinegar.” “The meat definitely took center stage, and it was flavorful and abundant,” DeeGlaze says. It’s served on grilled thin slices of the house-made ciabatta.
Ravioli di fave, filled with a mixture of fava beans and ricotta and topped with more fresh favas, peeled cherry tomatoes, and a drizzle of arugula pesto, are “light, green-tasting, and flavorful” says DeeGlaze.
Melanie Wong liked the side dish bianchi di spagna, big white beans with crispy bits of guanciale. “Fragrant with garlic and rosemary, the beans were creamy and then seemed to be browned at high heat, crisping and splitting the skins. The flavor of the cured meat seeped deep into the tasty beans.”
Pizza crust tends to be underdone, but the margherita uses sweet, ripe crushed tomatoes and a touch of dried oregano as well as fresh basil, Melanie Wong says. The fresh mozzarella is flavorful, with “some of the tastiest bites being the margins where cheese meets tomato with the milky richness transferring a creamy flavor and texture to the sauce.”
Housemade pastas like spaghetti con cipollotti gamberoni and bigoli e coda (oxtail pasta) are recommended, and portions are large enough to serve as a main course. Fish dishes go over well too: grilled sea bass with grilled fennel and tomato, and sea bream in flavorful tomato sauce.
For dessert, DeeGlaze was happier with shortbread with grilled peaches and basil cream than Melanie was with her panna cotta and mango sorbetto. Vanilla gelato is nice and custardy, though.
Donato Enoteca [Peninsula]
1041 Middlefield Road, Redwood City
650-701-1000
Board Link: Donato Enoteca, Redwood City
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Mediterranean, With Accent on the Greek
The owners of the top-notch International Food Bazaar in San Jose have opened a restaurant, which is “perhaps the beginning of a benevolent culinary empire,” says Ken Hoffman.
International Kabob House is a spiffy place with new tile floors, an open kitchen and more seating than its previous incarnation, Palms. The Mediterranean menu has Middle Eastern kebabs and fresh fish, but leans markedly toward the Greek.
A dramatic starter is the saganaki (Greek fried cheese), which is “superb, as good as the upscale Greek houses in the area,” Ken says. Beef souvlaki (skewered chunks of meat) is nicely charred and very flavorful. Well-fried falafel are made with favas as well as garbanzos. And the pita is something else, Ken says: soft, warm, “glazed with olive oil and sprinkled with za’atar” (a spice and herb mix that owes much of its flavor to marjoram or oregano).
Speaking of bread, the market has started offering freshly baked Persian bread. “The bread is soft and springy with black blisters and has a slightly sweet flavor,” says Ken. “It is best eaten straight from the oven and if your timing is good it can be snagged straight from the baker’s hand.”
Maybe they’re challenging Anwar Bazaar & Bakery across the street to a flatbread throwdown. At about a yard long and half an inch thick, Anwar’s freshly baked Afghan bread gives the impression of crustiness while remaining pliable and has the hearty flavor of whole wheat.
International Food Bazaar [South Bay]
2052 Curtner Avenue, San Jose
408-559-3397
International Kabob House [South Bay]
2707 Union Avenue, San Jose
408-626-7211
Anwar Bazaar & Bakery [South Bay]
2626 Union Avenue, San Jose
No phone available
Board Links: International Kebab House and house made Persian bread
Afghan food: Anwar Bazaar and Cafe Sophia
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Pizza Master Opens Pizza Place
Nine-time champion pizza tosser. Certified pizzaiolo. Master instructor (at his International School of Pizza) in the way of sauce and crust. And now Tony Gemignani is actually making pizza that we can eat.
At Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, there are four ovens producing four kinds of pizza, says Foodnut8: Napoletano comes from the 900-degree wood-fired oven; classic Italian is made in a domed brick oven; Teglia/Sicilian style is baked in another kind of Italian brick oven; and classic American is done in a New York–style flat-top brick oven.
Pizza margherita, Napoletana style, lords it over the rest of the menu. Its description reads like a syllabus: dough mixed by hand using San Felice flour and proofed in Neapolitan wood boxes; San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella fior de latte (made from fresh cow’s milk), etc. What does all this mean? Well, the crust isn’t the extra-thin crunchy type, but rather fluffy, says Foodnut8. According to Tony, this is authentic: It’s designed to be foldable. The mozzarella, the other major player, is very good indeed.
Tony’s Pizza Napoletana [North Beach]
1570 Stockton Street, San Francisco
415-835-9888
Board Link: Tony’s Pizza Napoletana Restaurant Review, San Francisco
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Fresh and Minty
Mint lends a summery flavor to savory and sweet cooking, and perks up drinks.
Mint is great in condiments, and is a classic pairing with lamb. BeckyAndTheBeanstock makes an easy mint chutney: Purée 3 cups mint leaves, 2 cups cilantro leaves, a sprinkle of sugar, a jalapeño, some lemon juice, and salt and pepper in a food processor, then serve as a dip for bread and veggies. Erika L makes a sauce for leg of lamb with chopped mint and basil, olive oil, and garlic; brush it on the lamb while cooking, and serve more on the side. Or try CHOW’s Braised Lamb Shanks with Mint-Parsley Pesto.
morwen buries mint leaves in sugar for easy mint flavoring, and steeps mint in vinegar, which she uses to dress fruit salads. Sooeygun says, “We grow ours pretty much exclusively for ice cream.” “The ice cream with real mint is so much better than what you buy,” agrees karykat. “No comparison.” Steep the leaves in the hot milk and cream, then strain and use to make the custard. lfirebrand makes lemon-mint granita. “Can’t get easier or more refreshing than that!” he says.
Or maybe you can: CHOW’s sweet Southern-style Mint and Lime Iced Tea uses green tea.
Board Links: Tons of mint -- seeking creative suggestions
Mint help please
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Birds on the Brain
“In this story, it was the chicken that came first,” says the New York Times in its endearing profile of artist Hope Sandrow, who’s made her chickens her life’s work.
A chance encounter with a rooster in the woods led Sandrow to bring it home and start a flock. Three years later, the artist’s work centers almost entirely around said flock: Sandrow is known for her poultry portraits (Agnes Gund, president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art, ordered 40 rooster paintings to give away as Christmas gifts last year), and for the cartons of eggs she sends regularly to art world luminaries with a card that documents the family tree of each egg. “The challenge, Ms. Sandrow said, is for the recipient to figure out whether to eat or save the eggs.”
Want to take a look at Sandrow’s flock? She has four webcams trained on the chickens.
Image source: Flickr member Just chaos under Creative Commons
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Tagged with: media, new york times, hope sandrow, eggs, shinnecock, chickens
