Fruity Yogurt Pancakes:Recipe

What makes American food, American? I've been thinking about this recently. There are a few obvious answers--it's made in America, it uses American ingredients, the recipes were developed in America. There's also the whole "melting pot" thing. But I think it's actually something else.

We are blessed in this country with a plentiful and huge variety of wonderful foodstuffs. In the San Francisco bay area there is so much that I can find that inspires me to cook. While there have been times of frugality and poverty, Americans have often lived lives much richer than their counterparts in other countries. Immigrants have brought their traditional recipes here and made them American by being more generous with ingredients than they might have been in the old country. Just look at pizza as a good example of this. For better or for worse, it is often much "richer" here than in Italy. So I think bounty is one important element in American food.

The other is individuality. As Americans we value this more than other cultures, in my experience. And look at the way we cook! Everyone has their own recipe for the most standard of items. Even things like meatloaf or mashed potatoes or apple pie. While these are classic American dishes, I'm not sure that there is a definitive version of any of them. There are seemingly endless variations on these dishes. We value individuality and so we celebrate it in our cooking.

Here is a twist on an American classic--breakfast pancakes. You customize it to taste by using whatever flavor of yogurt you like.

Fruity Yogurt Pancakes
1 egg (or egg substitute)
1/2 cup fruit flavored yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix all the wet ingredients plus the sugar in one bowl. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the liquid and mix. The batter will be fairly thick and a little lumpy. Grease a pan or griddle and put one tablespoon of batter on to cook at a time. Cook slowly over low heat until the pancakes bubble, then flip. Serve with a dab of yogurt and sliced fresh fruit on top.

Suggestions for fruit flavors: Strawberry, raspberry, lemon, banana, boysenberry, cherry, peach. I haven't tried this recipe with vanilla yogurt but I bet it would be good too. If you do try it with vanilla, I'll leave it up to you to change the name!

Photo du Jour

St George and the Dragon?
Taken in Mougins.

Destino:Restaurant

I don't know much about Peruvian food, but I'm determined to learn more. I have been wanting to try some more of the "nuevo latino" restaurants that have opened up around town recently so this past Friday we ate at Destino . Destino is Peruvian by way of the chef's mother. The menu is comprised of small plates and big plates and many of the dishes are contemporary takes on some very traditional Peruvian fare.



We stuck with the small plates and enjoyed every single dish we tried. The menu consisted of some familiar latin dishes like arepas, empanadas and ceviche. On the other hand it also included some ingredients and dishes that were new to me--lomo saltado, pastel de choclo, aji peppers, canchas and anticuchos for example.



The arepas were actually a Venezuelan recipe and while described as cornmeal biscuits on the menu, they were really something much more ethereal. Light and crispy at the same time, filled with a mild fontina cheese and topped with a cool crisp grilled corn and tomato salsa. Empanadas I have had at many other latin restaurants and I'm sorry to say I'm often disappointed. But these were the perfect balance of thin, crisp crust and picante picadillo filling with a unusual savory cinnamon sauce on the side. The chile relleno was also memorable, a mild poblano pepper was roasted not fried, filled with ground sirloin, sharp cheddar and a variety of sauces on top, making it full of flavors and fresh tasting.



Another couple of dishes worth mentioning were the ceviche, a Peruvian mainstay and the blackened duck breast. The menu featured two different ceviches and we chose one made with pacific sea bass. It was citrusy with lime and smoky from the addition of the "canchas" which are a bit like corn nuts only less oily and salty and more toasty. The duck was coated with a sophisticated blend of spices, not your typical cajun style blackened spice mix, and served with a plantain puree that was similar to applesauce, and a perfect foil to the medium rare duck slices.



While the restaurant was rather noisy, it was cosy and comfortable, the service was outstanding and the prices quite reasonable. I look forward to my next visit and a chance to try even more of the small plates and perhaps some of the large plates...



Destino Restaurant

1815 Market Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

415-552-4451



Mon- Fri 11:30 - 2

Mon- Thurs 5:00 - 10:00

Fri & Sat 5:00 - 11:00

Photo du Jour

Beautiful blue doors in Albi.

Interview with Scott Gold & Shameless Carnivore Giveaway

According to Scott Gold, author of The Shameless Carnivore, "lately eating meat has become somewhat déclassé" and yet I can't help but notice, it's the topic of discussion, everywhere I turn. Whether it's the hotly anticipated issue of Meatpaper, dining nose to tail, or the latest e.coli scare it seems we are obsessed with meat. This week is even "Meat Week" over at Chow.

Gold is just the most recent to look more closely at our relationship to eating meat but his look is an intelligent and sometimes very funny one. As an avid meat eater, I was especially curious to hear his take on women and all things meaty. Thanks to Scott for taking the time to talk to me about eating meat and how women fit in, among other things.

1) Is eating meat macho?

In general, I don't see carnivorism as particularly macho...then again, I think it all depends on what meat one is eating. Chicken salad on wheat toast? Perhaps a little on the "yin" side. On the other hand, eating a rattlesnake, alligator or wild boar that you stalked and dispatched yourself -- any animal that would very readily kill you if it had the opportunity -- that's about as hardcore "yang" as dining gets.

If there's a stereotype of carnivorism being a macho behavior, it exists for a reason: when you look into the hunting and meat-sharing behavior of chimps (our closest evolutionary relatives), you'll find that only the biggest, baddest males get to have more than just a scrap of meat in their diet on a regular basis. And that meat becomes a commodity that they'll fight over, trade with comerades, snub rivals, and offer to females they're looking to mate with. For them, meat is the ultimate currency, and the strong males control it.

But for me, being a human, enjoying a steak or a turkey sandwich or beautiful osso bucco doesn't seem macho at all - just appreciation of fine ingredients, which any discerning eater, male of female, macho or wimpy, participates in.


2) What do you think of women who are "shameless carnivores?"

I want to marry them. Again, I don't feel that relishing good meat is an overly manly thing, and I feel sorry for any woman who chooses the salad over the steak she's lusting after because she fears in might seem unfeminine. Bullocks to that! In fact, the NY Times recently noted a growing trend of women ordering meat on dates because men are attracted to that shared experience.

I'm drawn to people with adventurous appetites, and who are passionate about good food. And, yes, much good food has meat in it (or is meat). There's something decidedly fuddy-duddy and killjoy (not to mention unsexy) about picky eaters. Women who are bold, shameless carnivores, who revel in great food with unabashed gusto, have a very special place in my heart.


3) Now that you have revealed your love for meat, do you expect others will follow your lead?

More than anything, I'd hope that people who already enjoy meat will consider it with a little more perspicacity - to not only look into where their meat comes from (happy, healthy animals make the best meat, of course) and choose it wisely, but also to explore meats that they might not normally come by. Instead of grilling a beef steak, why not give buffalo or kangaroo a try? Substitute rabbit for chicken, see how the recipe can change in a lovely, gratifying way. The way I see it, if you've made the decision to eat meat, eat meat! Eat good meat, and don't be afraid to explore new territories.


4) Authors like Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan have made us look more closely at where meat comes from as well as how environmentally sustainable it is. Mark Bittman in his most recent book said "our current rate of meat and fish consumption simply cannot be justified." Do you agree?

Absolutely. There's no doubt that our current meat-consumption practices are on an unsustainable trajectory. Because meat is less expensive and more prevalent than at any time in American history, we wind up eating way too much of it, and that's neither good for us nor the animals, not to mention the environment. Still, that doesn't mean we should all become vegetarians. There are plenty of ways to enjoy meat and reduce your negative impact on Mama Earth. Mostly, that involves trying to eat local, humanely raised (and, if it's beef, grass-fed), conscientiously grown meat. And yes, eating less of it. But you know what? I've found that if you eat meat at fewer meals, when you do have a meaty meal it's of superior quality, you'll appreciate it so much more. And you can sleep soundly knowing that you're killing the environment a little less...depending on the state of your gasoline consumption, of course.

For a chance to win a copy of Scott Gold's new book, The Shameless Carnivore, head to GlamDish now!

A Different Sort of Plum Cake

(I'm sending this photo in to the Click event.  More information at the bottom of this post)

When I was growing up, we had an Italian prune plum tree in our backyard.  My mom also had an heirloom recipe for pflaumekuchen, a German plum cake which called for just this sort of plum and which had been passed down by my paternal great-grandmother who immigrated to American from Germany.  We had only a few culinary traditions in my family, and autumnal pflaumekuchen was one of them.  So when I saw prune plums the other day, I was reminded that we're right in the midst of their relatively short season.  

I've made my family's recipe before, but was wondering what other versions were out there.  I turned to a couple of german cookbooks I have to look for other options and found another version, called zwetschgenkucken.  Now, I'm notorious for my struggle with the German language, but handy enough with a dictionary to discover that zwetschge means, quite specifically, Italian prune plum, whereas pflaume is the more general word for plum.  In The New German Cookbook, Jean Anderson and Hedy Würz maintain that "what we would call a tart or open-face pie, Germans often call a cake."  The recipe they give is indeed made with a baking powder pastry pressed into a tart pan, and originates from the historical Swabian region of Germany which now includes parts of present-day France and Switzerland.  My family's recipe is not so much a crust, it's a bit more cake-like, although the dough is spread rather thinly. My family's kuchen is spread in a 9x13" pan, the batter so moist from a full stick of butter and 1/4 cup shortening (presumably this would have been lard in the kuchen's original incarnation in Germany), and heavy from the plums, that only small pieces were ever cut.  More often than not, the pan just sat on the counter, waiting for us to walk by and furtively sneak small tastes until it was gone.

Since the family recipe is normally my mother's domain, I decided to try one of the variations I'd come across, although I didn't want to stray too far from what I was used to.  That means my thin dough would be covered only by plums, not by any custards or additional ingredients I'd seen given as other options.  This recipe comes from The New German Cookbook by Jean Anderson (a James Beard Hall of Famer) and Hedy Würz, and they call it a Zwetschgenkuchen.

  

Zwetschgenkuchen

Baking Powder Pastry

6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk

1 extra-large egg yolk blended with 1 tablespoon milk (for glaze)

Filling

2 pounds Italian prune plums, pitted (not peeled!), then quartered

1/4 cup soft white bread crumbs (optional)

1/3 cup sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

11" tart pan with a removable bottom (or, if you're like me, whatever size tart pan you happen to have plus a little mini to pick up the slack)

Oven preheated to 350, grease the tart pan.

For the pastry: cream the butter in a standing mixer at high speed for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Beat 2-3 minutes longer.  By hand, mix in the flour, baking posder, and salt.  Then add the milk.  Stir after each addition only enough to combine.  Press the crust into the pan (bottom and sides), and brush with the egg glaze.

For the filling: Scatter the bread crumbs over the bottom of the tart if your plums are particularly juicy (I didn't need to include this step). Arrange the plums on the crust, skin side down and sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar.  Place the tart on a baking sheet and position it in the lower 1/3 of the oven.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until the pastry is brown and the filling bubbly.  If your oven is insane like mine, and only heats in some spots, you might consider rotating the pan halfway through baking.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack before serving.

This was good.  The plums were nice and tart (perfect for me, too much for the fiance) and the crust was subtle and crumbly.  Not earth-shattering, but certainly edible.  However, next time, I think I'll return to the old family version.  After all, there's a reason it became a tradition.

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Also, I'm sending the lead picture in to Jugalbandi for the monthly Click event.  This month's theme is crust!

BonBonBar: Favorite things

So on the day I vow to return to the gym there is a severe weather alert, bridges close, roofs and scaffolding blows into roadways as rain pours and winds approach 80 miles per hour. I dunno. Perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something? I'm pretty sure the message is "stay home and eat candy."

I've been following the blog Sweet Napa for ages and have to admit I was taken with Nina's idea for creating really high quality candy bars and confections from the moment she shared it with her readers. Now many moons later her company, BonBonBar is a reality. The philosophy behind the company is to use fresh ingredients that are organic and local whenever possible, that chocolate should only mingle with equally spectacular ingredients, like butter, cream, California nuts, vanilla beans, and sea salt and to banish artificial ingredients, including high-fructose corn syrup.

When Nina offered to send me some of her products I was thrilled. Of course my house was filled with candy and chocolate at the time but being the professional I am, I managed to give it a try nonetheless. Ah the sacrifices I make! One bite and I was smitten.

BonBonBar is selling only a few items at the moment and I can proudly say I have tried them all. The Malt Bar is like the world's best Kit Kat bar. It comes in both dark and milk chocolate and I was amazed that I actually liked the milk chocolate version best. The shortbread is crisp and buttery, the malty layer is rich and the chocolate coating just the right balance.



The Caramel Nut Bar is a combination of fresh and toasty mixed nuts, cocoa nibs, with a slightly salty caramel filling that is soft and gooey all covered in a deep dark chocolate.



The bars are a bit pricey at $5 a pop, but a really decadent treat. I shared them and found a little goes a long way. The marshmallows which come in passion fruit and vanilla were the biggest revelation. Frankly, I've not been impressed by "artisanal" marshmallows in the past. The ones I've tried have always been too rubbery and didn't have that strong a flavor. Worst of all, they didn't melt well in hot chocolate or in s'mores. The BonBonBar versions are light and fluffy and have a lovely texture, just like I was hoping for, and in addition they actually smell and taste like the flavors listed on the package.



None of these treats are fancy pants sophisticated confections, but are like idealized versions of things you probably loved as a child. For me, BonBonBar offers not just delicious and high quality treats, but the cure for candy nostalgia. Here's hoping Nina takes on a few of my other childhood favorites, a Chunky bar, and a Violet Crumble...