Just Chicken, Kale and Pancetta

Sometimes less is more. In the case of a quick week night dinner, it's very true. I wanted to cook something using only a few ingredients and I came up with oven-roasted chicken thighs cooked in diced pancetta.
The best part about using chicken thighs, is the richer flavor that I prefer over milder chicken breasts, and they stay moist when cooked. Using pancetta, which is a form of cured bacon that is not smoked, provides lots of flavor, but you have to be careful with it because it can be salty. I suggest either blanching it to remove some of its saltiness, or use it as the only salty ingredient in the dish. After it has cooked in the oven the pan juices become the cooking liquid for the kale, and they absorb all that flavor too. It's a great colorful winter dish that does not require a lot of fuss.

Oven Roasted Chicken Thighs with Kale

Chicken Thighs with Pancetta and Kale

Ingredients:
4 organic chicken thighs
1 ounce pancetta, diced
1 bunch Kale, cleaned (I used "Dino")
dash olive oil

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. In a hot pan place a dash of olive oil in and arrange the chicken skin side down.
3. Cook on top of stove for a minute then place in oven for 30 minutes.
4. Add the diced Pancetta to pan, continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and keep chicken warm, add kale to pan.
6. Cook kale with the pancetta on stove top till wilted and tender.
7. Arrange the kale on platter or plates, add chicken.

Note: A starch like roast or mashed potatoes works great with it and I hope you are drinking a glass of good wine while it cooks.

California Little Neck Clams

Northern California Little Neck Clams

I love eating these tender little neck clams whenever I get a chance and I had the chance this last weekend. It was a quick local road trip to Tomales Bay, California where our group visited the popular Tomales Bay Oyster Company. This company is more of a blue-collar company then the expensive Hog Island Oyster Company down the road. It is a fully self-contained area with picnic tables, BBQ grills, ice and lots of oysters. A good find on this trip were little neck clams which are ready to harvest and available now. I bought a dozen to eat raw and some more to take home to cook. These clams when eaten raw have a nice firm texture with a sweet, briny flavor. The ones I took home were simply cooked with diced smoky bacon, sliced garlic, thyme, green beans and white wine. They quickly steamed open and were served with crusty bread for sopping up all the good juices; delicious.

San Francisco Fall Fest 2012

San Francisco Style Crab Cakes 

Beets and Goat Cheese

"The crowd favorite" BBQ Pork Belly

Smoked Trout with Plantain

San Francisco Skyline

On a recent Saturday I attended San Francisco Magazine's Fall Fest at Justin Herman Plaza. This was a perfect spot for it with the historic Ferry Building just across the street. Its a nice event and a way to enjoy some of the best local restaurant foods and wines while benefiting its charity Meals on Wheels, this great organization delivers food to people in need. It seemed like the crowd favorites this year were no surprise all the seafood dishes and the two booths serving crispy seared pork bellies. They were my favorites too.

Just a Simple Weeknight Salmon Dish

Salmon with Vegetables

I like when my refrigerator is fully stocked with food; it makes fixing a meal really easy with a wide range of ingredients available. Last night it was Seared Salmon with a sauté of spinach, artichokes, potatoes and bacon. It can all be cooked in the same pan to make cleaning up just as easy.

Weeknight Salmon

Ingredients:
2 4oz Salmon Fillet
1 small russet potato, diced
2 strips Smoky Bacon, diced
3-4 small cooked Artichokes, quartered
1 handful Spinach
1 dash olive oil
Salt/Pepper

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. In a large oven proof pan, sauté the bacon and Potatoes till crisp.
3. Add the artichokes and spinach, move mixture to one side.
4. Season the Fish and place in pan.
5. Put pan in oven till fish is cooked, about eight minutes.
6. Remove pan and place a mound of vegetables in center of plates, add fish on top.
7. Drizzle with Olive oil.

Yield = 2

Chicken Ballotine with a Spicy Twist

Just this past weekend at my local market, I was eyeing the whole chickens and came up with an idea for my dinner. The famous old-school recipe of chicken Ballotine which is close to a Galantine, but not poached and served cold. A ballontine is a whole bird or leg with all the bones carefully removed leaving the skin intact with the meat; it's then stuffed, roasted and served hot or cold. Many years ago when I last did this recipe for my mom, she was shocked when I was able to slice the cooked chicken and there were not any bones!
For this recipe I decided on a Spanish theme by using rice, chorizo sausage and smoked paprika for the filling. The hardest part was carefully cutting the bones out with removing the meat or cutting the skin, known in the industry as "tunnel boning" because it's like a tunnel going through the bird. Next I cooked the stuffing with garlic, onions, rice, paprika, chorizo, parsley and chicken stock made with the bones. The filling is placed inside and the bird is trussed up and slowly roasted till fully cooked. It's ready to serve and will make a dramatic presentation at the dinner table.

Chorizo and Rice Stuffing

Fully Cooked and Ready to Slice

Completely Deboned and Stuffed

More Food Trucks Giving More Dining Choices

Off the Grid Presents Food Trucks

Trucks lined up at Marin Country Mart in Larkspur

The Chairman's Pork Belly Steamed Bun with Pickled Radish

The Taco Guys doing what they do best

Food trucks are defiantly not a fad anymore and seem to be here to stay. This is a good option when you need a quick bite of food and do not want to sit down in a restaurant or even lower yourself to eating in a fast-food place. The San Francisco Bay area has a organization called Off the Grid; it's almost like a co-op for food trunks and groups them together in high traffic areas or near a sponsored event like farmers markets. Locally here in Marin County on Sunday is a gathering of these food trucks at the Larkspur Country Mart which is directly across the street from the Golden Gate Ferry Terminal. It is a good spot because of easy parking and great views of the Bay and Marin's famous Mt. Tam. This last week we went right to The Taco Guys truck for fish tacos and The Chairman for pork belly steamed buns- the perfect amount of good food on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Business Dining, Not Your Average Cafeteria Food Anymore

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area it's not new anymore for big companies to have onsite dining for their employees that could rival some of the best restaurants in town. Gone are the days when a company calls all the shots; now to attract and keep talent, a company needs to have good perks for the employee such as top-notch food. Food service companies catering to the needs of these corporations will feature elaborate restaurants offering all kinds of cuisine such as sushi and noodle bars to real Texas style BBQ, which one bay area company uses on a regular basis. On today's menu is dry rubbed and smoked whole organic chicken, pork baby back ribs and beef brisket. First, a special "secret" blend of spices is rubbed all over the meats and allowed to marinate and cure for 24 hours. Then it's time to spend a specified period in the semi-cool almond smoke to give flavor before going into the oven to finish cooking at a low temperature till fully cooked. We served these meats with a house made BBQ sauce and classic sides of corn on the cob, coleslaw and potato salad. It was a huge hit and the last taste of Summer for most of the employees.

Whole Chickens Smoking

Smoked Chickens and Ribs ready for the oven

Beef Brisket with Sauce ready to serve

Twice Baked Potatoes, a healthy upgrade

It was a classic 'what to make for dinner"moment the other night, I searched all of my ingredients on hand and came up with these baked and stuffed potatoes. These are close to the common ones you will find in restaurants but are not greasy and fatty with lots of cheap cheese. My version used only a little bacon and a touch of Parmesan cheese for flavor. To start I used russet potatoes wrapped in foil and baked at 400F for about a hour till soft and tender, next when they were cool to the touch they are cut in half and the inside potato pulp is scooped out and reserved, while the potatoes were cooking I shaved brussel sprouts and cooked them with olive oil, diced onions, garlic, chopped herbs and smoked bacon. The reserved potato pulp is mashed into the brussel sprout mixture with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. The hollow potato skins go back into the oven for about 15 minutes to brown and crisp up before being removed to be filled with the mashed potato, then back into the oven to brown on top with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. They are now ready to eat and served with a salad for a delicious and healthy meal.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Mini Scallop Tostadas

Bite Size Scallop Tostadas

Mini Crispy Fried Corn Tortillas

Scallop and Corn Saute

Going to my local market is always a mystery because I never really know what I will buy; on a recent trip it was small bay scallops that caught my eye. Their small size gave me two ideas, one idea was a pasta tossed with them using Summer's best heirloom tomatoes and some of that home made basil pesto in my fridge. My second idea was Mexican seafood ceviche with plenty of jalapeno and cilantro. In the end I used that idea to make a cooked version. I started by making a sauté of the small scallops, fresh yellow corn, lime juice and cilantro. Next I cut small rounds out of corn tortillas and fried them till crisp, and then topped with mashed black beans and the scallop mixture. They turned out great, and a sprinkle of hot sauce hit the spot. I think they would be a hit at a party.

Pop Up Restaurants, The New Trend

Chef's Jonathan Sutton and Tony Ferari

Local Halibut with Orzo Pasta

I recently visited a Chef friends pop up restaurant, the Hillside Supper Club in San Francisco. What makes this restaurant different is that it shares the space with a full-time restaurant; it's a very clever idea of opening a restaurant without the stress of buying or leasing a property, and all the problems that can come from owning a place full time. "Pop ups" take over a restaurant on the days the place would normally be closed, so it's win-win for everyone. The guest chef gets to cook his food in a public setting, the restaurant owner gets a small fee for the nights he's closed and the public gets to eat in both restaurants. My Chef friend Jonathan Sutton who is one of the Chef/owners is a veteran of many well known eateries, and now after doing the pop up is ready to take over and buy the restaurant in a few weeks. It has been a lot of hard work but has paid off with a loyal following that has grown over the year. Give this place a try and support the restaurant dream for these young chefs.

Hillside Supper Club
Open Evenings, Monday and Tuesday
300 Precita Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94110
1 513 910 8896

A favorite Side Dish

Often when I cook a piece of fish or chicken I will do a one pan side to go along with it; it's much easier to cook and clean that way. Tonight I cooked Coho Salmon and I chose to do a side dish with a combination of sliced Yukon gold potatoes, shaved brussel sprouts, yellow onion and smoked bacon. It all cooks together and is done when the bacon is crispy and the potatoes are tender. Any combination of potatoes and vegetables will work, so give it a try.

Oca Potatoes

New Zealand Oca Potatoes

While visiting the city of Berkeley, California today I just had to stop by my favorite market, Berkeley Bowl. It's an amazing place with one of the biggest well-stocked produce departments in the country. Today I bought lots of summer foods, but what really caught my eye this trip was a colorful variety of potato called Oca. It's native to the Andes in South America but fairly common in New Zealand where it is simply known as a yam. The potato is really not much different then a regular waxy potato but the colors are unreal. To cook them I simply roasted with herbs in olive oil and served them along side a piece of salmon.

Oca Ready to Roast

Breakfast Tart Treat

Homemade Breakfast tart

There is a well known pastry tart that's eaten by kids during breakfast; I am sure it's made with a lot of ingredients that aren't great for you. I decided to made my own using local picked black berries and a homemade short dough crust. To assemble, it's very simple- a square layer of pastry covered with a slightly sweetened layer of cooked blackberries that is again topped with another layer of pastry. Edges are crimped and a egg wash is brushed on top. It bakes at 350F till golden and then into the waiting hands of your kids. Its like eating pie with your hands without the mess.

Beer Can Roasted Chicken

Beer Can Chicken

They say that roasting a perfect chicken is the true test of a accomplished cook, creating a perfectly browned chicken with crisp skin on the outside and moist meat on the inside. There is a method that might seem odd and that is to put a open can of beer inside the chicken while it cooks. It works because it holds the chicken upright so the heat will evenly cook the chicken from all sides and make the skin crisp. The beer inside the can will simmer creating steam that will help cook the chicken on the inside while giving good flavor too. Surprisingly it really works. Imagine maybe a group of guys standing around a barbecue cooking and drinking beer and someone says, "Hey let's prop the chicken up with one of these beers." It all has to start somewhere and maybe that was it? For this chicken I used a dry rub of achiote paste along with salt, pepper and a can of Mexican Modelo beer. When it was done I served it with corn tortillas and cumin-scented black beans.

Nonna's Stuffed Zucchini

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

Last weekend I was driving back home from visiting with my mom, she is known as "Nonna" to my kids which means Grandmother in Italian. I always stop at a my favorite roadside produce market and on this day I bought lots of fresh vegetables including some beautiful green zucchini. At first I thought of making a form of ratatouille but instead decided to stuff them like my moms use to do when I was a kid. I of course made some changes to be able to use some of the ingredients I had on hand. They in the end turned out great and helped keep my moms cooking memories alive.

Nonna's Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:

4 Medium zucchini

2 Italian Sausage links or the same weight in bulk sausage

1 Egg

2 T Bread Crumbs or Panko

1 T Parsley, chopped

1 Corn, kernels removed

1 T Pine nuts (Optional)

Salt/Pepper

Method:

1. Cut Zucchini in half length wise and hollow out the center with a Mellon baller, reserve pulp.

2. Put all the rest of the ingredients including the zucchini pulp into a electric mixer with paddle attachment, slowly mix till well blended but without becoming gummy.

3. Spoon the filling into the hallowed out cavity of the zucchini, Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over them.

4. At this point they can be cooked by themselves on a baking sheet or in a saute pan on a bed of fresh tomato sauce.

5. Cook at 375F for about 20 minutes or till the stuffing becomes golden brown.

Serve hot with the tomato sauce or at room temperature.

Yield=3-4