paella

what goes better with good spanish wine than a good spanish paella? nothing that i know of. and so when i scored a couple bottles of good spanish wine from a tasting for an event i knew paella was the thing to make. i've never made paella before, so forgive me if this doesn't stick to tradition. but i find experimenting with ethnic dishes all the more fun when you just go with the flow.

i started off by browning 6 chicken legs in the rendered fat of a few strips of bacon.

danna, who joined me for diner, helped out by shelling a pound of shrimp.

i used 31/40 count shrimp for this because that's what i had in the freezer. i recommend using larger shrimp because they shrink considerably in the oven.

after browning, the chicken and bacon are lifted and drained on paper towels and 1 chopped white onion and a 1/2 pound of ground chorizo goes in to brown.

a cup of aboria (short grain risotta) rice is added and toasted in the oil for a minute.

a teaspoon of saffron threads is crushed and added to the rice. saffron threads are the stigma stems of the crocus sativus flower. the world's most expensive spice, it takes over 200,000 stigmas to make a pound of saffron.

a couple cups of chicken broth are added to the rice mixture and then the chicken and bacon go back in. a pound of clams, and a pound of bay scallops (the little ones) are added and mixed.

the bacon tops the pan and the whole thing pops into a 350* oven with a tight lid for about 45 min.

halfway through, you'll want to tuck the raw shrimp in. the later add time is to ensure the shrimp doesn't get overcooked. after the clams opened and the rice was cooked, i took the pan out and topped it all with fresh cilantro.

you'll see that the clams have all opened and the shrimp are nice and orange-pink (although a little overcooked to my tastes).

i used a 12" saute pan for this instead of a paella pan. the recipe makes more than enough food for... well, let's just say i had enough for lunch and dinner for a week. but unfortunately, with such a thick layer of rice, i didn't get the nicely toasted layer that many paella-eating revelers enjoy.

but the paella was very well seasoned and the seafood great. i would reconsider using so much bacon alongside the chroizo next time since it was a little too smoky. but other than that, i'd say this was a pretty good first paella.

how do you do paella??

how clean is your corn?

2 years ago at a bday bbq, i engaged in a contest with my friend, janelle. the contest was to see who could finish his/her cob of corn the fastest and cleanest. we're talking about every last kernel picked off the cob. i went in my usual typewriter fashion. janelle curiously chewed on the cob vertically. after about a minute, janelle emerged victorious. sad. i never lose.

how do you eat your corn? is it picked clean? or are there sloppy scraps and broken kernels all over the cob?

janelle says, "there's only one way to eat corn. and it should look like this..."

"any other way, and it's not respecting the corn."

amen, sistah.

cafe lo cubano

cafe lo cubano is one of my favorite cafes in the city right now because 1) it's comfortable and there's a good amount of seating, 2) there's free wifi, and 3) it's got friendly staffers and tasty food and drinks. what more can you ask for?

my first visit to lo cubano was a drink-only affair. starving this time, i tried their havana chicken sandwich which is grilled chicken breast, plantains, and homemade cilantro aioli on cuban bread pressed in a panini grill.

the plantains were unexpected and totally made the dish, being a sweet and sticky compliment to the chicken. the cilantro wasn't overpowering and added just enough moisture to the bread. very well done and only 7.50.

i subbed a house salad for an additional 1.50 which was very fresh mixed greens, corn, goat cheese and walnuts lightly dressed. i'm not sure how this was "cuban" but it worked for me.

a tall glass of iced chai latte washed this all down as i caught up on my blogs with the free wifi. a much better way to spend the evening instead of passed out from a whirlwind weekend.

summer herb linguine with grilled garlic shrimp

sometimes, the simplest preparation yields the freshest and best tasting dish. with summer cranking up many chefs will shy away from fussy, complex dishes drowned in fancy sauces and instead take advantage of the ripe, fresh produce available this season and let those flavors shine through on their own. this method, popular in california-mediterranean cooking, highlights things like fresh herbs and lightly cooked seafood, among other things. and it's certainly easier and simpler on the home cook!

this recipe is adapted from the book easy entertaining. i pretty much follow it to the T, but added a couple other things i had lying in the fridge that needed using. what's great about this style of cooking is that you can pretty much sub anything, so long as it's fresh. so here we go.

i first prepared a pound of linguine according to package directions. i tend to like barilla because it's usually on sale and i like their packaging. haha. anyway, make sure you moderately salt the water to season the linguine properly.

while that was going i thawed and shelled about 1 pound shrimp, 31/40 count. feel free to use larger shrimp if that's what's available and is inexpensive. i then combined it with 2 cloves minced garlic, a couple dashes of red pepper flakes, 1 T olive oil, and salt and pepper.

once mixed, the shrimp went onto a hot grill pan (make sure you use non-stick) for a couple minutes per side or until golden brown. don't overcook. doing so will result in rubbery meat. this should be the finished result. perfectly cooked shrimp should have a bright, spongy-firm texture.

as that cooked, i prepped a bunch of herbs and such to be tossed in with the linguine. 1 T fresh chopped rosemary, 1/4 white onion thinly sliced (red onion would be better but i didn't have one), 2 T chopped italian parsley, 1 T minced mint, and a package of arugula hand torn.

once the pasta is cooked al dente and drained, return it to the warm pot, add 1/4 cup good extra olive oil (yes, use the expensive green-tasting stuff. it's worth it.), season with salt and pepper, then toss with all the herbs.

after the shrimp come off the grill, slice a juicy lemon into sixths and grill directly on the hot pan until browned.

plate a couple tongs of pasta with some grilled shrimp and garnish with a lemon wedge. voila!

looks light and fresh doesn't it? it's also very tasty and all the flavors complement nicely.

when cooking with just warm olive oil as the "sauce," i cannot stress how important it is to have high quality extra virgin olive oil. this stuff is not to be used as a cooking oil, but in dressings, pesto, or simply tossed with pasta. you want something with a great green aroma and taste. last year fran and ali surprised me with a huge 5 liter can of oleificio andreassi "del poggio" extra virgin olive oil.

this stuff is wow. italian import only, very high price point, and just wow. if you can get your hands on this stuff, i highly recommend.

anyway, this recipe yielded 4 more servings. guess what i'm having for lunch and dinner the next few couple of days? and i'm not complaining...

time for sharing! what's your go-to summer dish? leave a comment below...

what's up dog!?

when i'm hungry at lunch, the last thing i think about getting is a hot dog. it just doesn't sound filling nor appetizing to me. but what's up dog capitalizes on financial district salaries by serving up 3 to 6 dollar gourmet links on warm, toasted buns. with special toppings, a side, and a soda, you wind up shelling out 7 or 8 buckaroos. for hot dogs.

but i must admit, what's up dogs are pretty damn good. and filling. last friday, i met up jared, my roommate, at the location on howard and and beale, for a chicken linguica sausage topped with mustard, mayo, onions and sauerkraut.

onion rings and a lipton iced tea rounded off the meal under a hot sf sun.

ah yes. stuffed to the brim on a hot dog. who knew? thank gawd i had a few blocks to walk the dog off.

quickly daly city

sometimes, when i've been eating healthy, i get cravings for bad food. sometimes, i just want fried chicken.

so last week, i indulged. popcorn fried chicken and a pudding milk tea from quickly, an asian tea house serving popular boba milk teas and snack foods.



my partner in fried food crime, ellington, opted for fried calamari and almond milk tea.

fried chicken craving cured.

just for you cafe

good, inexpensive, homely brunch places are hard to come by. brunch seems to be a hot trend these days and you find more and more nice restaurants developing brunch menus for the weekend. the problem i find is these restaurants end up charging ridiculous amounts of money for brunch items. eggs benedict for 12 dollars?? i could make that for 3. send me your money.

but, brunch is popular and i do enjoy being able to eat a hearty breakfast-ish meal on my schedule of a 11am wake up call. my current favorite brunch place is mabel's just for you cafe, a very small, kinda dingy joint located in the quiet, developing neighborhood called the dog patch. the wait can be lengthy, up to 20-3o min at peak time, and don't expect much elbow space when you do sit. but you're here for the hearty, homey food and friendly service.

and the beignets! omg. after picking up my college friend, jenny, from the beacon, we sat down to a hot plate of beignets, freshly-fried square donuts dusted with powdered sugar and posessing notes of rum in the dough. a pool of rich syrup rounds it out. 3 for 4 dollars. worth every penny. do not leave here without eating beignets. order it as soon as you sit down.

jenny ordered the vegetarian fritatta, a slow-cooked open-faced omelette with various vegetables and cheese. house potatoes and biscuits were on the side

i had my usual, greg's scramble with chorizo, grits and cornbread. the scramble consists of 3 perfectly scrambled eggs, spinach, onions, and parmesean cheese, with your choice of meat. so good. the grits i get mainly because i never see grits on the menu elsewhere. and it feels healthier than a spoonful of roasted potatoes. the cornbread, i never finish. just way too big. but great with butter. about 8 buckaroos.

the service is quick and friendly, total neighborhood feel. to me it's distinctly san franciscan. you'd think with all the business they get from all over the city they'd consider expanding or rennovating to be like those other brunch joints. but just for you cafe's charm is exactly that old, friendly neighbor that will lend you a cup of sugar if you asked nicely. i don't want it to change, ever.