Sausalito Breakfast at Fred's Coffee Shop

Florentine Eggs Benedict

I think most people will agree that some of the best places for breakfast are little "Mom and Pop" restaurants. Sausalito, California has a few popular ones, and the one I visit on a regular basis is Fred's. It just might be the oldest restaurant there with 40 years and counting. Located on Bridgeway St., which is just down the road from the town's tourist area. The interior of the restaurant is a just a big open room with kitchen and counter seating on one side, small and community tables on the other side. Local vintage photos and art hang on the walls with copies of the morning paper passed from table to table. The menu is a straight forward breakfast and basic lunch menu including lots of egg dishes prepared in a variety of ways. I normally go with a spicy meat omelet or a form of potato hash. One of the culinary tricks they use is to blend eggs until frothy in a old style milkshake blender before they cook with them, resulting in light and airy eggs that are never hard and rubbery. It's a popular restaurant with the locals and the few stray tourists that wonder by; go check it out. Open every day 7am to 230pm.

Fred's Coffee Shop
1917 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA
415 332 4575

Crispy Pork Belly Rice Bowl

Pork Belly, Shiitake and Kimchee Rice Bowl

Slow Braise Pork Belly Crisping in pan

Pork Belly, a old meat cut enjoyed in a new way. For most people, strips of bacon have been the only way they have eaten or even heard of pork belly. It has now become trendy with food lovers and chefs everywhere. By cooking a big cut of this meat you have more options on how to serve it, but having these large cuts will change the way you have to cook it. I like to braise it in a flavorful liquid using my pressure cooker; what would take hours in a conventional pot takes a third of the time. After it's cooked to a falling- apart tenderness, it can be cut and put in a pan to crisp it. In this recipe I used a mixture of soy sauce, ginger, garlic and sake for the braising liquid. After cooking and crisping it in a pan, I added sauteed Shiitake mushrooms which I spooned over steamed jasmine rice and a big scoop of spicy kimchee finished the dish. I enjoyed, and recommend a cold Asian beer to go with it.

Potato Cakes

A favorite side dish for me are potato cakes. They are a easy to make ahead and serve when you are ready for them. The basic idea is to cook any kind of potato till just done, but still with some firmness. When cooled, you break them up into small chunks. At this point any seasoning or filling can be mixed in; try using chopped fresh herbs, chopped bacon, ham or maybe caramelized onions? I like to add diced and cooked sweet potatoes for flavor and a nice color. Once all the ingredients are mixed in, you may scoop into ring molds or some kind of container to form a round and flat shape. Now formed, it's easy to freeze them or just store in the fridge until ready to use. A non-stick or cast iron pan is great for reheating and gives them a nice golden brown color. These in the photo had a filling of sweet potatoes, cooked bacon, caramelized onions and fresh sage and were cooked in butter with more fresh sage. Give them a try -I promise you will like them.

Crispy Potato Cakes cooked in butter with sage

Locally Caught Fresh Squid with Pasta

Fresh Squid Pasta with Tomatoes and Chili Flakes

Today while driving through San Francisco on my way home from work, I had the idea of visiting one of my favorite Asian markets The New May Wah on Clement Street. Great for all things Asian and with excellent seafood too. I had in mind fresh squid caught locally just South of here in the very deep Monterey Bay.
At only $1.99 a pound it was no problem buying a few pounds to take home. After cleaning the squid the question is "How long to cook it?" There are only two ways to cook squid-very quickly, or slowly for a long time because anything in between will be just too tough and chewy. I went with a long, slow braise with white wine, fresh tomatoes, garlic and olive oil that was all tossed in freshly cooked spaghetti. It turned out great and was perfect for a quiet Monday night.

Stuffed Pork Loin with Beet Greens and Sweet Potatoes

Getting ready for Winter with a pork loin chop stuffed with caramelized onions, served with sweet potato mash and braised beet greens. Yes- the tops of beets should never be thrown away, but cooked with maybe a splash of vinegar and a touch of bacon- delicious. The pork is easy to make with a slit cut in the side and stuffed with a few tablespoons of slow cooked caramelized onions then into a hot pan and into a 400F oven to finish cooking. In the same hot oven go the sweet potatoes to cook in their skins till soft, then the potato is scooped out and mixed with cream and a touch of butter.

An Almost Vegetarian Meal

I made a dish tonight using almost all vegetables and grains, but with my weakness for smoked bacon or Italian pancetta I had to add a little. Bacon gives a lot of flavor, and a little bit will go a long way. I started by making a Faro pilaf with sliced yellow onions, garlic, fresh thyme and faro. I sauteed the onion and garlic then added the herbs and faro with water to cover. While this was simmering, I peeled baby carrots, shaved the Brussel sprouts and diced pancetta. This all went into a saute pan to slowly cook till all the vegetables were tender and had a slight char to them. By this time the faro was done and it all goes onto a plate. Good stuff and feeling good about eating my veggies.

Sauted Vegetables and Faro Pilaf

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.