Culinary Muse

THE WELL STOCKED DESSERT PANTRY

In the next few months I plan to give you an idea of what the New Pantry of the 21st Century should look like. Some of it will seem exotic (hearts of palm), some of it is a matter of personal choice (only Tellicherry black peppercorns, please) but all of it will enable you to fix something delicious fast.  Let's be honest - life in the kitchen is mostly about 'I am so hungry right now I could eat that tuna right out of the can with my bare hands' and 'Have I really spent $100 on take-out food this week?'.  You need a PAR list of foods that have a long shelf life and can be combined to serve up something delicious on short notice.
I am inspired by my long time friend, NA, who has always said we should write a cookbook together.  She and I have had hour long conversations on the phone about what a well stocked pantry must contain. She speaks from experience. She is the first person I had ever met that always had heavy cream in her refrigerator ‘just in case’.  A little background: NA came of age in New York City during the Swingin’ Sixties.  With a husband in advertising and her job as a booker for one of the top modeling agencies in the country, every evening held the potential of a party and she was always prepared. I imagine her hosting many an impromptu cocktail party at their apartment on Riverside Drive before departing for dinner at La Pavilion.  In her honor we are going to start with the Dessert Pantry for two reasons.  NA and I are both confirmed Chocoholics and who couldn’t use a little sweetness during tax week?

The Dessert Pantry: Even the most basic cookbook will tell you that you need basic ingredients like flour, salt, sugar, baking powder in your pantry if you plan on baking.  We agree.  But you also need some ready-made ingredients that can be combined to create last minute desserts.  This list of ingredients will give you the tools to create something sweet that is more than a candy bar but not as elaborate as a four layer cake.
Non-perishable:
Sweetened condensed milk , 2 cans (makes fudge fast and easy.  See recipe below)
Dark chocolate chips, 2 - 12 ounce packages or at least 1 ½ pounds Purchase the best quality you can afford and as far as we are concerned, the darker, the better! Chips come in handy for eating out of hand or for topping ice cream.  Sometimes I just melt a quarter cup in the microwave and pour on top of a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream.
Lemon curd (can be spread on or sandwiched between shortbread cookies for a quick treat)
Shortbread cookies (good dipped in melted chocolate)
Raspberry jam (can be warmed up to use as a topping for premium vanilla ice cream)
Unsweetened chocolate
Cake flour
Baking powder, baking soda, salt
Sugar
Vanilla extract, Bourbon or Tahitian
The recipe for Bittersweet Chocolate Cake from the first Silver Palate cookbook, page 291.
Perishable: (you will note that even these perishables have a long refrigerator life)
Eggs       
Heavy Cream (at least 8 ounces)
Vanilla ice cream
Butter, sweet (no salt)
Nuts (shelled whole walnuts are the most versatile, store in freezer).  It is a nice touch to toast nuts before using.  Spread nuts on a baking sheet, place in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring every five minutes.  When nicely toasted (not burnt), immediately turn out into a shallow bowl to cool.

Favorite Easy Recipe:
During times of high stress I can be found, late at night, standing over the sink with a spoon in one hand and a can of sweetened condensed milk in the other muttering to myself ‘Why in the world don't they put pull tops on these f%*$! cans?!?!’. I am not suggesting that YOU eat sweetened condensed milk right out of the can. Nor should you consider serving it to your guests. Just know that it is a great staple for your pantry and the short cut to this ultra creamy fudge.  This very adult fudge is the just the post-tax treat you are looking for. And for those of you who have filed an extension, keep this recipe handy for July 15th!

ESPRESSO FUDGE
16 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips, MELTED
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons freshly ground espresso
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Stir together all of the above. Pour into a buttered 8" x 8" pan. Chill one hour. Cut into any size square you want. Or just cut it in half and dig in. No one is watching and you have our blessing!

SKINNY SOUP

This recipe first appeared on Culinary Muse over two years ago.  It continues to receive hits every single day.  Amazing?  Not really.  It is the perfect soup.  Hearty, healthy, delicious. 

SKINNY SOUP

1 pound French lentils (green)
2 large leeks, white part only, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
2 T garlic, minced
3 T olive oil
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 cups celery, diced (more if you would like)
2 cups carrots, diced (more if you would like)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper (I prefer Tellicherry, freshly ground)
3 T tomato paste
1 T port, sherry or Madeira
3 quarts good quality chicken stock

Prepare lentils: Place lentils in a bowl. Cover with boiling water.
Set aside for 15 minutes. Drain.

Get out your largest soup pot that has a lid. Pour in the olive oil. Place over medium heat. Allow oil to heat through. Add leeks, onions, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, cumin and coriander. Saute until vegetables are limp. Add celery, carrots and saute for five more minutes. Add chicken stock, tomato paste and lentils. Cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for one hour, with lid slightly ajar. Stir occasionally. Soup is done when lentils are just soft. (Do not cook too long or they will get mushy).

Adjust seasonings. Add the port, sherry or Madeira. Serve.

Warm Apple Crisp

In the September 26, 2001 New York Times, Stephen Jay Gould wrote a wonderful editorial entitled "A Time of Gifts". He talks about the rescue effort at the World Trade Center and the power of "Twelve, warm, apple brown bettys". Here is our recipe for a warm apple crisp:

3 pounds green apples (Granny Smith), peeled and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 cup flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats, uncooked
1 cube unsalted butter, cold, cut into slices

1) Place sliced apples in a buttered 9 x 13 baking dish. Set aside.

2) To make crisp topping: In a bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients, except butter.

3) Add butter and with your fingers, rub together with the dry ingredients until butter pieces are the size of peas

4) Cover apples with crisp topping. Bake 350, 45-50 minutes or until mixture is bubbling and browned on top. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or heavy cream poured on each serving.

Serves 6-8

This is a reprint of a posting from the October issue of Enokiworld on-line Magazine, October 2001. I have been unable to find a link to Mr. Gould's wonderful editorial.

UPDATE: Mr. Gould's widow kindly shares the link to his article in comment section below.

It reminded me, yet again, of the power of food. The power to comfort and the power to connect. I encourage you to have a meal with family and friends this week. And be sure to eat out at least once. Our colleagues in the food biz need your help right now. If you want your favorite restaurant to be around next month, you need to visit them tonight. And leave a big tip - they will love you for it.

Live Today at 3!

Join us today on ABC local station KGO’s THE VIEW FROM THE BAY where I will be demonstrating how to make the amazing ‘Chocolate and Sea Salt Cookies’ recipe that I developed a couple of years ago. If you aren’t near a television you can watch it streaming live on your computer.

Here is a sneak preview of the recipe:

Chocolate and Sea Salt Cookies yield: 30

3 cups chocolate chips or your favorite premium dark chocolate chopped into small chunks

¼ c (2 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

½ c flour

¼ tsp baking powder

1 ½ c chopped walnuts

Maldon Sea Salt (flaky sea salt)

1.Place 1 1/3 cups of chocolate chunks in a bowl and melt in microwave or over a double boiler.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside. Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.

3. Once chocolate has melted, stir in butter until completely incorporated. Add brown sugar, egg and vanilla mixture, mixing well. Add the flour mixture, mixing until smooth.

4. Stir in remaining chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a small ice cream scoop (capacity about a heaping tablespoon), scoop on to a greased baking sheet. Flatten with the palm of your hand. Sprinkle generously with fleur de sel then pat in gently. Bake on middle rack of oven for 13-14 minutes. Remove from oven. Rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool.

SKINNY SOUP

This recipe first appeared on Culinary Muse over two years ago.  It continues to receive hits every single day.  Amazing?  Not really.  It is the perfect soup.  Hearty, healthy, delicious. 

SKINNY SOUP

1 pound French lentils (green)
2 large leeks, white part only, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
2 T garlic, minced
3 T olive oil
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 cups celery, diced (more if you would like)
2 cups carrots, diced (more if you would like)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper (I prefer Tellicherry, freshly ground)
3 T tomato paste
1 T port, sherry or Madeira
3 quarts good quality chicken stock

Prepare lentils: Place lentils in a bowl. Cover with boiling water.
Set aside for 15 minutes. Drain.

Get out your largest soup pot that has a lid. Pour in the olive oil. Place over medium heat. Allow oil to heat through. Add leeks, onions, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, cumin and coriander. Saute until vegetables are limp. Add celery, carrots and saute for five more minutes. Add chicken stock, tomato paste and lentils. Cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for one hour, with lid slightly ajar. Stir occasionally. Soup is done when lentils are just soft. (Do not cook too long or they will get mushy).

Adjust seasonings. Add the port, sherry or Madeira. Serve.

DUNGENESS CRAB, HOT

We have a couple holiday food rituals in our home. The best one is the Dungeness Crab Feast. This involves the kitchen table spread with newspaper, a loaf of sourdough bread, a jar of Best Food’s mayonnaise, a couple sliced lemons and a whole cracked crab at each person’s place. And a very cold bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

I was in my twenties before I realized that people ate crab any other way. Sure you could add mayonnaise to crab or even indulge in a crab sandwich at Fenton’s. But hot crab? Why? Here is the dish that introduced me to the pleasures of cooking with crab. It is an elegant dish served to me by one of the first real gourmets I ever knew. Once I get my fill of crab a la kitchen table this is where I turn for my Dungeness fix.

The Power of a Warm Apple Crisp

Dear Readers: Below is a reprint of an article I wrote in September 2001 for the on-line zine SPACE, part of enokiworld.com.  It is still pertinent today.

In the September 26, 2001 New York Times, Stephen Jay Gould wrote a wonderful editorial entitled "A Time of Gifts". He talks about the rescue effort at the World Trade Center and the power of "Twelve, warm, apple brown bettys". Read it here.

It reminded me, yet again, of the power of food. The power to comfort and the power to connect. I encourage you to have a meal with family and friends this week. And be sure to eat out at least once. Our colleagues in the food biz need your help right now. If you want your favorite restaurant to be around next month, you need to visit them tonight. And leave a big tip - they will love you for it.

SUMMER FRUIT CRISP

The Muse never leaves town in the summer without a cooler packed with ice. One can never tell when a farm stand will pop up along the road. Or a flatbed truck loaded with bags of oranges or flats of strawberries will be parked at the side of the road or a rest stop.

An embarrassment of riches? Or just pure greed? When the Muse got home last night from a day trip to the Central Valley it took more than one trip from the car to unload all the fruit. No wonder the woman at the CIPPONERI FAMILY FARMS fruit stand in Turlock asked if I was going to make jam. Apricots, nectarines (two types), white peaches, yellow peaches.

Mr. Weil, Fantasia, Blums and me

It was one of those marvelous life moments when you realize that all the stars, moons and planets have somehow aligned themselves in your favor.  There I was, sitting with Ernest Weil and his charming daughters, sipping tea and eating his famous Florentines and Almond Macaroons which he had baked just for us.  A little background: Mr. Weil is the man who created the Coffee Crunch Cake and he is the man who founded FANTASIA BAKERY in San Francisco.  When I wrote an article a few months ago entitled "Blums, Where are you?" I was contacted by one of his daughters, Sandy.  She was pleased to tell me that he was writing a cookbook which would be out in the Spring, 2006.  I had to meet this legend.  And I did.  An appointment that was only scheduled to last one hour was still going strong three hours later.  Only a previous engagement tore us away.  I am so honored to have been in his company for this time and to hear him share the stories of his emigration from Germany, his time in a French orphanage, his education at the Cordon Bleu and his arrival in America.  His is the story of so many of our own grandparents fleeing for their lives from Europe with only the clothes on their back. With luck a guardian angel lends a helping hand once they arrive in this country and then their own hard work that resulted in great success. 

The cookbook is now available through the website LOVE TO BAKE COOKBOOK.  It is a must for anyone who wants the original recipe for Coffee Crunch Cake, Florentines and great stories about San Francisco's beloved Fantasia Bakery.

OF SKIRTS, HANGERS AND IRON...STEAKS, THAT IS

A cook in the city has to be especially resourceful. While there is a bounty of interesting ingredients to choose from, actual cooking space is limited. Therefore our choice of cooking methods is limited. Many of us left behind the spacious brick patios of our childhood where there was always a Weber Kettle ready to fire up and slap a thick steak or burger on. If we contemplate the purchase of a thick steak at the butchers tonight, we urban carnivores have to debate whether or not we should buy a GF Grill or can we get a hot enough fire going in that illegal hibachi on the fire escape before the apartment manager comes knocking on the door? Good sense tells us that the celebrity grill is really a glorified waffle iron and that the hibachi will never get hot enough.

What will get hot enough to sear the outside of a steak to insure its juiciness is a cast iron skillet. Most friends laugh the first time they hear the Muse describe how to cook a steak perfectly. Especially our friend W who was clearly unwilling to hand over his 2 one-pound perfectly aged Porterhouse steaks to so plebeian a cooking method. But he is an adventurous lad who is willing to listen to the experts. He reported the next day that it was one of the best steaks he had ever eaten. We rest our case.

The Perfect Steak

One 10" cast iron skillet

Kosher or fine grain sea salt

soy sauce

vegetable oil

Steak (this method works with any cut. We prefer Hanger Steak from Golden Gate Meat Company, Skirt Steak from Niman Ranch or Flat Iron from Prather Meat) brought to room temperature

Preheat oven 425 degrees. Once the oven is at 425 degrees you may proceed. Lightly sprinkle bottom of skillet with a thin layer of salt. Place over high heat. Watch carefully as the salt begins to turn light brown and the skillet begins to smoke. While skillet is heating, brush one side of steak with soy sauce and then vegetable oil. When the skillet begins to smoke, lower the heat to medium high and place seasoned side of steak down first in skillet. Do not touch for exactly 3 minutes (not 2 and not 4). After 3 minutes, brush the top with soy sauce and vegetable oil. Turn over. Wait 1 minute. Place skillet in preheated oven and set timer for 3 minutes. Remove skillet from oven. Remove steak from skillet. Cover steak loosely with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Voila, a perfect rare steak. If you prefer your steak medium, leave in oven for 4 to 5 minutes before removing.

A note about selecting meat: Go to the best butcher you can find.  Yes, there is a vast difference between a grocery store meat counter and a good meat purveyor.  We love Golden Gate Meat Company, Prather Ranch Meat Company and Niman Ranch.  You will pay more but it is worth it.  So instead of serving meat four times this week, serve it twice but enjoy it ten times as much.

EATING CHEAP, AT HOME, IN SAN FRANCISCO OR WHY I LOVE MY CAST IRON SKILLET WITH SPANISH ROASTED POTATO RECIPE

For a very long time it lived in the dark, tucked away in the back of the cupboard that holds all of the seldom used cookware.  Once in a while it would get unearthed for baking a Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  But lately it has held forth front and center in the kitchen.  The ten-inch cast iron skillet.  Seasoned to a shiny black by someone else's grandmother it is the kitchen workhorse of the hour.  Need to dry out a few slices of bread for breadcrumbs?  Place them in the skillet in a 400-degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Feeling guilty about wasting the last quarter loaf of that great ACME Walnut Bread?  Cut it into 2" squares, place in the skillet in a 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes, tossing every five minutes.  But what has really kept the skillet front and center this week is the recipe below. This is a deeply satisfying and easy meal to make after a long day at work.  It also fits into the category that we can all relate to:  THE BUDGET MEAL.

Maybe you need to eat home all this week.  Your next paycheck doesn't arrive until next Friday and you can't quite justify or afford a 'cheap' $20 meal out every night this week.  The solution is a pantry stocked with Russet potatoes, good olive oil, kosher salt, Spanish Smoked Paprika and eggs.

THE MUSE'S SPANISH ROASTED POTATOES
Preheat oven to 400-degrees. 
4 Russet potatoes, washed, dried and cut into 1-inch chunks
Place potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Add about 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, 1 teaspoon Spanish Smoked Paprika (sweet), 1/2-teaspoon garlic powder. 
Toss well until the mixture turns a deep mahogany red. 
Place in cast iron pan.  Roast for 30 minutes.  Using a metal spatula carefully turn the potatoes over being sure to scrape the great crust that is forming on the bottom.  Return to oven for at least 30 more minutes or until they are nice and crisp. Remove from oven.

Poach 4 eggs.  Place roasted potatoes on plate.  Top with poached eggs. 

Yield: two servings

Spice Cake

Okay, how lazy can I get?  Sunday I craved spice cake.  Not a fancy spice cake, just a 'from the box' spice cake.  Have you cruised the cake mix aisle lately at a regular (not Whole Foods type) grocery store?  There are lots of chocolate, yellow, white and lemon (?) cake mixes.  Lots of brownie mixes.  (Even a nightmarish confetti cake mix which looks like an adult's idea of what a child would think is fun.  I may be jaded but the children that I know are purists.  No confetti, no glitter, just hand over the chocolate, thank you.)  The nearest facsimile to a spice cake mix that I could find was a carrot cake mix.  Now I had to weigh how desperate I was.  What itch was I really trying to scratch?  Was it my need to approximate a fond childhood memory of a cake straight out of a box or a chef's quest for a culinary revelation?  Could I trust Betty Crocker to deliver?  And what would bits of dehydrated carrot in a cake mix taste and look like?  My ingenious food stylist side said, "just sift out the orangey bits".  My food consulting side said "you know what dehydrated carrot tastes like when reconstituted - soap". My carefree, take a chance side said "just buy the damn cake mix and get on with it".  So I did.

When I got home I assembled all the necessary ingredients: three eggs, vegetable oil, water. I dumped the mix into a wire sieve and sifted out as many of the karrot bits as I could catch.  This process proved what I have always suspected.  There are many foods that one should not inspect too closely before consuming.  This is especially true in the world of packaged foods.  Then I went to work adding my own additions: ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cardamom.  Half way through this process I did realize that with very little effort I could have just made a cake from scratch.  Too late now.  I poured the batter into a well-greased bundt pan and then placed it into the oven. About 30 minutes later I it occurred to me what I was really hunting for in this great spice cake caper.  The heady aroma of dark spices wafting through the kitchen announced the arrival of fall, my favorite season, like nothing else could. 

Walnut Oil

I have always loved walnut oil.  But it is one of those ingredients that I forget I have on hand – probably because I store it in the refrigerator and who remembers they have oil in the refrigerator until it is too late and it becomes rancid? And then, like most things, out of site (pantry), out of mind. I was reminded of this wonderful ingredient recently when I read that La Tourangelle Roasted Walnut Oil had been inducted into the San Francisco Chronicle Taster’s Choice Hall of Fame. La Tourangelle, California Gourmet Oils, as the website tells us, is a partnership between Les Huileries de la Croix Verte et la Tourangelle based in Saumer, France and California Oils Corporation based in South Richmond California. The oil mill is in Woodland, California. 

Recipe: Potato and Onion Wedges

I keep a file of recipes clipped along the way.  They range from old New York Times Magazine recipes by Molly O’Neill to the ones from the utility companies, like PG&E, which were included in the newsletter that accompanies the monthly bill. Who made up those recipes?  Did they have home economists on staff whose sole wacky purpose it was to come up with recipes that used a lot of fuel to prepare?   Was there a set of guidelines that established that no recipe would be acceptable unless it took at least an hour to bake at 350 degrees?   Perhaps that is how ‘Potato Wedges’ was born.  So easy, so delicious.  Sunday night I served it with fried chicken.  Tonight with a pan-fried rib-eye steak.

Recipes: Soft, delicious food

For reasons that would only bore you, the Culinary Muse unexpectedly had to come up with some clever ways to turn delicious food soft this past weekend. Or, to put it a better way, to make soft, delicious food.  No nasty gelatin desserts, thank you.  And milk shakes, while delicious, would even get old.  Given that I had done a big ‘get ready for a weekend of cooking’ shopping the day before, I had lots of food to work with.   Luckily I had friends who pitched in to cook while I dictated recipe ideas and instructions.

Saturday morning breakfast:  Polenta made with half and half.  When you are feeling rotten, you need the ultimate in comfort food.  Heat 2 cups of half and half to simmering.  Gradually add 1 cup polenta.  Whisk until thick and cooked through.  Serve with brown sugar swirled in.

Saturday lunch:  By now, I needed a little protein.  Egg salad!  Three eggs, hard-boiled and grated fine, mayo, Dijon mustard, Maldon sea salt, freshly ground Tellicherry Black pepper.  Stir together.

Saturday dinner:  Broccoli.  Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche.  Of course you know where I am going with this.  Steam 1 pound broccoli florets until just tender.  Place in food processor.  Slowly add whole milk until a thick paste forms (remember, this is soft food).  In a large saucepan, melt 2 T butter.  Sauté one crushed clove of garlic for 1 minute.  Add broccoli mixture and heat through. 

Remove from heat.  Stir in one half cup Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche.  Season with Maldon sea salt and lots of freshly ground Tellicherry Black pepper.  Top with sliced hard-boiled egg on top.   

Stay tuned for more soft ideas.....Do you have any of your own that you could offer to help the muse out?

Recipes: I'm a fool for you Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche Strawberry Fool

“Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche is the paradigm of crème fraiche.” Thomas Keller, The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon

If you have made it all the way through the April 2005 issue of SAVEUR magazine on ‘American Artisanal Cheese’ you will have read about the remarkable Sadie Kendall (page 50 and 51).   Sadie Kendall made the first artisanal cheeses in America.  She now makes, in my opinion, the best crème fraiche.   

Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche has a fresh flavor with a slight acidity that results in a bright taste.  The texture is velvety smooth.  Amanda Hesser in The New York Times described it as “all silk and cream with a delicate hint of hazelnut”. It is the food of angels.  But it is also a real kitchen workhorse.  Because of the fine emulsion that Sadie is able to achieve, this crème fraiche does not break at even the highest temperatures.  Chefs use it to make pan sauces.  Hollandaise broken?  Whip in some Kendall Farms Crème fraiche and it comes right back.

Next Thursday, April 14, Sadie and I are going to be teaching a class about her crème fraiche at Andronico's in Danville, California, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m..  As of this posting there were still a few spots available. 

In the meantime, enjoy this lovely Fool, from the French verb 'fouler', to crush. Only very ripe strawberries please.

KENDALL FARMS CRÈME FRAICHE STRAWBERRY FOOL

From The Crème Fraiche Cookbook by Sadie Kendall (out of print)

1 cup Kendall Farms Crème Fraiche

10 large strawberries, stems removed

6 to 8 tablespoons white sugar, to taste

4 heaping teaspoons brown sugar

1. Using a fork or pastry blender, mash the strawberries with the white sugar.

2. Place 4 tablespoons of crème fraiche in each dessert dish.

3. Top the crème fraiche with the 2 tablespoons of mashed strawberries.  Swirl strawberries into the crème fraiche, but not completely

4. Top each dish with 1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar.  Serve at once.

Serves 4

Sadie likes to warm the fruit-sugar mixture and serve it over a mound of cold crème fraiche.  The contrast of the warm fruit and the cold, velvety denseness of the crème fraiche is another ‘dimension of pleasure’.

Spring has arrived...

Spring has arrived in San Francisco.  It may still say winter on the calendar but who cares?  People emerged out of their grayness yesterday.  Pale legs revealed themselves for the first time since September.  A pair of robins returned to Nob Hill to nest in the same Victorian Boxwood tree that they have been setting up household in for the past 12 springs.   Even the parrots of Telegraph Hill swooped by.  Unlike the East Coast where spring can arrive while there are still drifts of dirty snow hiding under the eaves, there is nothing here to remind us of winter.  The hills turn green instantly, the bulbs bloom and folks go swimming at Ocean Beach.

What to cook?  In fashion there are ‘transitional’ articles of clothing that bridge the gap between seasons.  One might wear dark cottons after Labor Day when it is cool but not cold enough for wool.  There are dishes that do the same thing.  They ease the cook out of one season while celebrating the season to come.  Spring days in San Francisco can be cool so a pot of soup that takes only an hour to prepare is perfect.  ‘Poule au Pot d’Henri Soule’ from The New York Times 60 minute Gourmet by Pierre Franey is such a soup.  Root vegetables like carrots, turnips and leeks remind you of winter but a nice fresh chicken and zucchini or peas (my suggestion) celebrate spring.  This is a pretty soup.  Due to copyright laws, I cannot reprint the recipe.  I know that the book is still in print and is one of my favorites.  Even if the title seems a bit dated, remember there was a time when people actually had 60 minutes to prepare a meal. 

Recipes: Hot Chocolate for One

This is the hot chocolate of tearooms in Paris on cold winter afternoons - the kind of hot chocolate that a spoon stands up in. Some might even call it pudding. The first time that I had the sublime pleasure of this version of hot chocolate was at Angelina in the first arrondisement. It had been raining all day and Paris was the grayest place this California girl had ever seen. As I was wandering down the rue de Rivoli trying to figure out how it was possible to get so depressed in such an amazing city, I remembered the list of 'tearooms' that a friend had given me. Her only note next to the entry for Angelina was 'hot chocolate'. Sounded good to me. I was ushered into a very proper looking dining room, filled with well dressed ladies sipping hot chocolate and nibbling on lovely French patisserie. The hot chocolate arrived in a white porcelain 'hot chocolate' pot with a small bowl of whipped heavy cream on the side. And a pitcher of water. One sip and I knew that this was the cure for my blues.

Recipe: Chocolate, Sea Salt and the Knitters of Nob Hill

I promise not to bore you with the details of my new obsession: knitting.  Suffice it to say that the quiet, meditative hobby of knitting gives one plenty of time to think about food.  And when you get a group of knitters together, at least my Knitters of Nob Hill, we love to eat, especially all things chocolate.  I once thought that I would suggest everyone knit with only brown yarn when we meet so that the tell tale crumbs of brownies and cookies and the spills of hot chocolate would not be quite so noticeable.

This is our cookie. The little grains of salt get stuck in your molars and slowly melt after the initial hit of chocolate slips past your tongue, an amazing sensation.  I wanted a cookie with a little more texture.  While the following recipe will work with any fleur de sel, I recommend Maldon Sea Salt, from Maldon, Essex, England.  This particular sea salt's soft, flaky, pyramid shaped crystals add just the right amount of texture to the top.

Farmer's Market Report: Winter Chard And Tomato Soup? Stew?

Winter days in San Francisco are bright, cold and clear.  A chilly walk through the Farmer’s Market yields only the heartiest of produce: chards, kales, and cabbages.  Some folks find the sparse offerings in the stalls a little depressing.  I prefer to see these lavish deep greens as a testament to the earth's bounty and hard working farmers.

The chards are my favorite.  Both red and rainbow will work in this delicious, easy and fast recipe. Especially comforting if served in an oversized soup bowl with a big spoon.

To Drink Before Noon

From Mimosas at the JC to Kir Royales at La Garenne in Reims, and a Ramos Gin Fizz at NOHO STAR to the Royal Hawaiian's Pina Coladas, we never miss a chance to indulge ourselves with a buzz-inducing cocktail in the morning.

Brunch offers the perfect excuse to drink alcohol before noon. Your boyfriend's mother might raise an eyebrow if you were to order a beer with your breakfast of ham and eggs. Call it 'brunch' and we promise that this same woman will jump right in and join you in a cocktail or two or three.

Comforting Casseroles

In the 90's it was a sure bet that I could silence a table full of my foodie friends by simply uttering the word 'casserole'. I would whisper, "I love casseroles" and people would shriek, "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!". Well, I am here to report that those same folks that just a couple of years ago could be found gathering up the latest baby vegetable at the organic Farmer's Market on Saturday morning now have real babies of their own. And no time. But they still need to eat and, on occasion, entertain. This is where the casserole fits in perfectly.

A casserole needs to be carefully composed. It is not a garbage dump. Think French 'cassoulet' and you will get the idea. A variety of different, often already cooked items, are tossed together, arranged in a casserole and placed in a hot oven where their flavors meld.

Cocktail Nibbles

It's cocktail time! And whether you are pouring a traditional yuletide eggnog or a scotch on the rocks, you will need a 'little something' to munch on. No, we are not talking hors d'oeuvres here. This is not something for guests to fill up on before dinner because they know their hostess is a terrible cook and they had better eat now or never. 'Nibbles' are about a mouthful of something savory. Something that gets passed around in a silver bowl; you grab a few, place them on your cocktail napkin and nibble. The following two recipes are a Southern tradition. They both make a lot which you will be happy to have on hand when an unexpected guest shows up.

Warm Apple Crisp

In the September 26, 2001 New York Times, Stephen Jay Gould wrote a wonderful editorial entitled "A Time of Gifts". He talks about the rescue effort at the World Trade Center and the power of "Twelve, warm, apple brown bettys". It can be read 'on-line'.

It reminded me, yet again, of the power of food. The power to comfort and the power to connect. I encourage you to have a meal with family and friends this week. And be sure to eat out at least once. Our colleagues in the food biz need your help right now. If you want your favorite restaurant to be around next month, you need to visit them tonight. And leave a big tip - they will love you for it.

The Dessert Pantry

This article originally appeared in the on line zine SPACE published by the wonderful vintage clothing website 'enokiworld'.

Lots of basic cookbooks will have lists of what you should have in your pantry. Things like flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, etc., which is fine if you really are a cook. And you really do anticipate baking in the next six months. And you have the luxury of planning ahead. But let's be honest - life in the kitchen is mostly about 'I am so hungry right now I could eat that tuna right out of the can' and 'Have I really spent $100 on take-out food this week?'. In the next few months we will give you an idea of what the New Pantry of the 21st century should look like. Some of it will seem exotic (hearts of palm), some of it is a matter of personal choice (only Tellicherry black peppercorns, please) but all of it will enable you to fix something delicious. Fast. Your closet looks great. Why shouldn't your pantry?

Green Goddess

Once upon at time it was very fashionable to name a dish after a famous person: Turkey Tetrazzini, Oysters Rockefeller, Peach Melba. From what I can tell, these dishes usually came out of the kitchens of hotels. I am guessing that a note was passed from the Concierge to the Food and Beverage Director to the Executive Chef. The note probably read: (Karletta Moniz is in town. She loves chocolate. Create a new chocolate dessert NOW). Knowing all too well how the back of the house reacts to suggestions from the front of the house, I can only imagine what the Executive Chef's reaction was when he was expected to create a dish in honor of someone named Karletta Moniz. Or George Arliss. Now, George Arliss was an actor that visited San Francisco in 1915 and stayed at the Palace Hotel. Luckily for us, the Executive Chef had the good sense to name the following dressing for the play that Arliss was in town performing in, "The Green Goddess", and not for Arliss himself.

30-minute Six Hour Spaghetti Sauce

One of my favorite food related housewife tales from the 50's is about a friend of a friend of mine named Bunny. Bunny was a doctor's wife, which in those days meant that she did not even dare think of having a job outside the home. The happiness of her husband and children was her job. Apparently, she was satisfied with this arrangement - her children were nice, and her doctor husband only demanded that she be faithful, limit her martini intake at parties to three and have dinner on the table every night at 6:00 pm. Well, Bunny loved her bridge, she loved her tennis, and she loved her martinis. After a hard game of tennis at the club or bridge at Joan's and a martini, or two, she would fall fast asleep. In order to extend the length of these naps as long as possible she needed to figure out a way to make it seem as though she had slavedâ over the stove all day, even though all she had really done was play a couple of hands of bridge and have a few laughs with the girls. Now, you and I know that this can be exhausting, but it was harder to convince Dr. Husband. So this is what Bunny devised: At 5:00, she would put a small saucepan, filled with water and a peeled onion on the back burner of the stove and crank up the gas to high. Voila! Within minutes, the fragrant aroma of something cookingâ would waft throughout the house. Dr. Husband was satisfied when he walked in the front door that a hot meal would soon be in front of him (don't worry, he never went into the kitchen) and Bunny got an extra hour of naptime.

Egg Salad

This article previously appeared in the on line zine SPACE on the vintage clothing website 'enokiworld'.

The fashion and food theory that 'less is more' does not apply to an egg salad sandwich. When I decided to work on a new recipe for enokiworld this month, I had assumed that a couple of boiled eggs, a little mayo, mustard, salt and pepper would be enough to satisfy. Not so. This egg salad was lacking a certain something. This egg salad tasted like my 8th grade home ec class. BORING. So I did what every self respecting food consultant does - I opened up the refrigerator door and stared in. (Other consultants will lie to you and tell you that they just book a flight to an exotic land, either Morocco or Thailand, for inspiration. This is not true. They are all standing in front of their open refrigerator doors murmuring "Now what..."). Back to the refrigerator... Green olives? Why not? Arugula? Sure. Walnuts? Crunchy. We like that... Then I moved on to the kitchen counter. La Brea Bakery Sourdough Baguette. Perfect.

The Perfect Baked Potato

A perfectly baked potato is the little black dress of the food world. You can dress it up (caviar and creme fraiche), dress it down (top with chili, a shaving of extra sharp cheddar cheese and chopped red onion) or leave it plain. Always appropriate and never out of fashion, but only if baked to perfection. Here's how:

First, you need to spend a little extra time in the produce department than you are probably used to. Having spent many years as a food stylist, I have become accustomed to the stares of the produce guys and other customers as I spend time sizing up each and every carrot or bunch of broccoli for a photo shoot. So what if they think I am a neurotic housewife with clearly too much time on my hands? Just remember: you are on a mission.

Skinny Soup

If you are feeling a bit 'over-stuffed' lately, you are probably right. Chances are that you, along with all of your fellow Americans, gained a little extra weight during the holidays. But who cares? It was worth it. That warm piece of pecan pie just would not have been complete without that scoop of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream. And what other time of year can you get an eggnog latte? I offer to all of you, who have now renewed your lapsed membership at the gym, my favorite soup recipe. I call it 'Skinny Soup'. Make a big batch. Freeze some. Eat it for lunch or dinner. Not only is it delicious, it will make you feel virtuous at the same time because it is so good for you. If you want to make your own chicken stock, feel free. I get mine at Whole Foods in the deli department and it is delicious. Swanson's canned will do in a pinch but watch out for the salt levels. All I ask is that you use French green lentils. There is a difference.

Pumpkin Rocks

This article previously appeared in the on line zine SPACE on the vintage clothing website 'enokiworld'.

Karletta : All of your Bonnie Cashin items have been a real treat to look at. Not to mention the Trigere. Do you know what movie she worked on? A bit of trivia...If you guess correctly I will send you my pumpkin spice cookie recipe (with lemon glaze, to die!).

Madeline : 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.

Karletta : Oooh, you got it right. Trigere designed Patricia O'Neal's costumes.

These are wonderful, spicy little mounds of moist pumpkin. I suggest toasting the walnuts before adding to the batter. Delicious with a hot cup of thick, black coffee. They have cardamom in them...a very rustic, homey kind of cookie.