Hawks Event

I dig Hawks. It is, in my opinion, one of the best places to dine in the greater Sac area. As such, I'll be at this event. If you're interested in going, call now to get a place. Great food and you can give back a bit to charity in the process. Win-win. Cannot wait to see you all there.

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HAWKS TOASTS ITS FIRST YEAR WITH AN EVENING OF FOOD AND DRINK TO BENEFIT THE PLACER AG FUTURE PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP FUND FOR BEGINNING FARMERS

Local restaurant to celebrate one- year mark by giving back to the local farmers association whose members have helped make their menu a success

WHAT: Hawks will commemorate a triumphant first year with an evening soiree of food, libations and philanthropy, partnering with the Foothill Farmers’ Market Association. All donations will benefit the Placer Ag Future Project Scholarship fund for Beginning Farmers, to encourage youth involvement in agriculture. For guests enjoying dinner at Hawks that evening, a portion of their check will also go to support this cause.

WHEN: Thursday, August 21, 2008 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.; regular dinner service from 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm.

WHERE: HAWKS

Quarry Ponds

5530 Douglas Blvd., #110

Granite Bay, CA 95746

DETAILS: Guests will indulge in a delicious menu of Mike and Molly Fagnoni’s most requested items including Green Bean Beignets and Short Rib Sliders. Specialty cocktails will be available for the evening, as well as their signature ice cold Hawks Brau.

The Foothill Farmers’ Market Association (FFMA) is an organization devoted to supporting local agriculture through Certified Farmers' Markets and educational programs. Sponsoring and operating fifteen marketplaces throughout the region, their goal is to provide consumers with access to fresh, high quality agricultural products directly from the producer while fostering community spirit and educating the public. The evening’s donations will benefit the FFMA on behalf of the PlacerAg Future Project Scholarship Fund for Beginning Farmers. For more information, visit www.foothillfarmersmarket.com.

TICKETS: $25 per person requested donation in advance or at the door. For tickets and additional information please call 916.791.6221 or visit www.hawksrestaurant.com

INFORMATION: Please contact Taylor Brekke at Wagstaff Worldwide, 415.274.2510; taylor@wagstaffworldwide.com.

Thoughts on Cooking for One - A Stream of Consciousness Bit of Writing

The way some people appear to cook by the way their food blogs read amazes me sometimes. Maybe amaze isn't the right word? Befuddle might be better. Or even bemuse or astound.

Who are these people with these infinite budgets, superior cameras, and affluent amounts of time on their hands? Reading something like, "Oh, I found a lovely bit of rhubarb today, so I whipped up this tagine of wild duck with rhubarb compote. So simple!" which is then followed by a recipe that is double the length of the actual introduction.

It is, as they say, to laugh. Really? You actually had the time to throw that together in the middle of the day for that perfect outside lighting? Ass. But that's jealousy talking.

My cooking is for the most part dictated by how tired (or lazy) I am and if impending deadlines are threatening my pay check or grades. How do these people do it? If it's your job, I understand, but between the full time job, grad school and three part time jobs I pull, fancy-shmancy food has as little chance of happening as aurora borealis spontaneously lighting up my living room.

Given, I'll treat myself once in a while. I'll make a coq au vin or braise some lamb shanks and serve them with a fresh salad. For company, I'll make a delicious curried soup with manchego palmiers served with a tame Shiraz. My desserts are usually never anything to scoff about. Most of this you readers never see though because, damn it, my camera sucks and can't do pictures inside with bad yellow light when it's dark outside. Plus, this isn't a recipe food blog. Resulting pictures I do attempt to take are more I vomit than eye candy, and regardless how well I praise the recipe people won't try it unless a purty picture is there to seduce you. So as such, most recipes rarely make it here.

But photography is a bit off topic right now.

For the most part, I cook alone. For one. Well, actually, I cook for three. It's just me at different times. Dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow, and then dinner tomorrow night because I'll probably be too tired to cook after classes or the gym. As such it's simple food that I doubt would intrigue most of you. Partially because much of it is adapted to my own quirky tastes.

I do not have the time for complicated meals using hoity-toity ingredients like fresh parsley (yeah, I know what you're thinking, shut it, the dried-n-shredded stuff is fine). My meals must meet certain criteria in my kitchen: It must be fast. It must be tasty. It must be nutritious. It must be cheap.

The fourth part of my Mantra for Mastication is particularly important to me. My budget every week for food is about $25 (it could be more but I'm saving), which at the Farmer's Market can easily get you enough produce, rice, and fresh eggs to last you a week or more for one person. Meat is a luxury so tofu makes many appearances in my food and I keep a bag of frozen chicken tenders around because they're easy to portion. Thus my diet is mostly vegetarian, not out of compassion for any of God's tasty creatures but out of my near-hermit like frugality. I do keep a ready supply of bacon because sometimes the air around the stove just seems to plead to be aroused with it's delicious, salty smell.

I find that Asian food is by and far the quickest and easiest of cuisines dictated by economic hardship. Jennifer 8. Lee noted in her book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles that traditional Chinese food is a fairly simple vegetarian fare. A lot of stir-fry and a lot of soups, all for the most part consisting of a few vegetables and one or two spices to flavor the oil or broth. This practical style of cooking has made me a near expert at Asian cooking techniques, or so I boast.

The wok is by far the best kitchen investment I ever made. It's used at least twice a week which equals four dinners and two lunches for me. It's perfect for boiling, stewing, soups, braising, deep frying, and steaming. Let's see George Foreman beat that.

It is my opinion that any intelligent boy on a budget (or girl, if you are so inclined) should immediately invest in taking time to explore the wok. However, some days even I dread the chopping, cleaning, heat, and so on that preparing food seems to employ.

One of my favorite things to make is what I call my cracker stacks. I open a can of tuna and squeeze in a bit of mayo and mix, chop a few slices off a block of orange cheddar, and break out the saltines. I then place a piece of cheese on the saltine and top it with a dollop of the tuna. If I feel crazy, I add a bit of curry powder to the tuna. Freaking delicious. I have many happy memories of locking myself into my closet sized dorm room with my homework and munching these with a tall glass of milk. It's something I still make today.

Still, I think I eat very well. My leftovers are nothing to scoff at. My last sammich consisted of last night's antelope, heirloom tomato, homemade mayo, and crisp arugula from a friend's garden on slices of stale sourdough that I toasted. No complaints here. My leftovers are 'effing bistro, yo.

I've learned that one can be a foodie and eat well on a budget, it just takes time to find your step. Like walking, you have to learn to take a step before you can walk. Soon enough you're running to the stall that has the fresh Chinese long beans for a dollar, then zoom! off to the grocer with the cheap chicken feet to make stock with, then ping! a short drive to your friend's place who has the fruit trees producing way too much for them to eat alone.

After this its a sort of fun bit of amusement to see what sorts of alchemy I can whip up over the wok. Plums with the last star anise and a splash of the red wine a friend brought over that we didn't finish last night? Stir fry that up into a tasty dessert, my friend.

Eating alone has become more of a journey of self-discovery, I find it as time to reflect on my day, my (blossoming?) career(s), what I've learned, the people I've talked too, and what I want from life.

Any other simple meals you make alone in the kitchen for one or thoughts on cooking for one or dining alone? Leave them in the comments as I would love to hear them!

This little incohesive rant was inspired by the essay collection, Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant. Fabulous read and, like, $6 used on Amazon.

Wifebeater Party!

Hank and Holly recently hosted their annual Wifebeater Party. It's a pretty straightforward gig. Good wild game BBQ such as antelope heart with cracked pepper and lemon and grilled wild duck, lots of beer and wine and vodka and champagne and cocktails, and everyone in a wifebeater for a deliciously redneck sort of theme. Really, hunters who can cook throw some of the best parties.Even more awesome and funny? I found out later I was drinking with a professor from my department in grad school. All decked out in a trailer trash ensemble. Hi-LARIOUS. (No pictures or names for ya'll, sorry.)Good times with good people.

Use

I'm in line at the nearby Chick-Fil-A because my lunch, a delicious North Indian curry I made the night before, was accidentally thrown out in the garbage at work. We all take turns cleaning the fridge out on Fridays, but apparently one of my co-workers forgot and in a quick panic did it on Monday morning without pause to think that brand new Monday lunches may be in there. As such, a few of us are eating out today.

It was a simple mistake, it happens. I didn't label my tupperware, that's my fault, but my roommate and I share it so it doesn't make sense for us too. Anyways, what's done is done, so now I'm in line to get a chicken salad sammich on whole wheat. I have to admit, for fast food, the place is surprisingly healthy.

I look over to the line next to me and am immediately caught off guard by the sour smell of the guy beside me. His hair is matted and greasy, his face has a slick sheen that reflects the fluorescent light overhead. I can tell his clothes haven't been changed in a few days. Judging by his rheumy, bloodshot eyes and the blistered cracked lips I would surmise that he's just woken up from a hard drug run.

I've had my drug using days myself. Nothing too crazy or extreme, but getting sick with an awful hangover and the depression that ensued from me burning through any reserve of dopamine my brain had for the next few days was enough to make me quit quickly. The same experience most kids in college have. I remember the story my dad told me of trying Mellow Yellow back in the seventies and telling me it just tasted bad and left your breath rancid for days.

Still, aside from the bodily pains foreign chemicals can deliver and physical addiction that some drugs exact on you, the emotional subservience to them is far worse. There is nothing as great as the false but irrefutable personal belief you have of being the sexiest and most immortal, invincible creature in the world. It's intoxicating. It's a feeling not equaled in many instances of sobriety. No matter how great your job, love life, schooling, family or anything else is in life your brain always niggles at the back of your brain some inadequacy there is. Some hurdle left to jump. Some inauspicious crack to smooth over in order to achieve that always out of reach goal we call a complete life.

But on strange substances? You don't think that. Those little annoyances go away for just a moment and you really are The Ultimate. It's no wonder people become addicted. The supersonic rush you feel is intense and breathtaking. Enough to make you ignore and put up with all the epic amounts of crap you deal with afterwards. The physical breakdown. The eventual loss of friends, family, money, time and employment. The gamble you play every time you light up, or stick, or drink, or pop for the few moments of near-Norn like clarity in your own foggy mind. I have seen plenty of people go through it, even one die by it.

I've seen a lot of this due to my work in social work, and sadly it's not exactly uncommon in the gay community to see it happen either. I see this kind of thing far too often sadly; in people as young as 15 even.

This guy in the line next to me is no exception. He's hungry. Tough thing too. He probably can't taste shit. A side effect from drugs is the lack of taste. Things taste like cardboard and chewing a burger is like gnawing down a sweat sock filled with sawdust.

It's a main reason a few people I know have actually quit. When something as primal and decadent and enjoyable and sustaining as food is turned into a chore, you know it's bad. Something that becomes unpleasant and gag-inducing, well, it's a salivary slap in the face that some part of your life is very 'effed up.

Suddenly the guy next to me nose begins to bleed. I guess a deviated septum.

"Hey guy," I tap his shoulder, "you're nose is running pretty bad." What started as a trickle is now a high powered faucet of bright red streaming down his face and on to his shirt.

"Oh..." a pause and he turns and in a swarthy manner turns to get some napkins nearby. He grabs a handful of them and covers his nose. He tilts his head forward and pinches hard below the bridge; at least he knows how to take care of the problem. Must not be the first time. Guessing by the gush, it's definitely a deviated septum brought on by snorting coke or tina.

There is no way he'll be able to taste a damn thing today. That's the other thing, his body is demanding food, but it's going to be a real labor trying to choke down those tasteless wads of fuel he needs. A pepsi (not diet) would do him well too, he desperately needs the calories. Calories and sleep.

I order my food and get back on my way to work. It's a shame, that guy. Hope that he can get his shit together sometime. Maybe those bland fries will hit home for him, but I doubt it. It only took a few tries of drugs and some trying-to-choke-it-down meals for me to quit. This guy is a chronic user, so it'll take more than a few bits of fried potato to do it more likely than not. I bite into my sammich and pull into the parking space and go back to my day.

The chicken salad sammich isn't amazing, but tastes pretty darned good.

I Heart Teaching

It's been a while since I was in a classroom teaching. When was the last time?

I think it had to be about three years ago. I was in front of a brand new giant cubicle-like classroom, one of those types with the squishy ready-for-new-push pin walls and the micro-central air which is always set to slightly below "Arctic Death". It was the new building at the Davis High School and I was trying to relay to a bunch of high school juniors why they should care about the green light at the end of The Great Gatsby.

For the most part it was a failure, not my teaching per se' but trying to make them care because high school juniors just want to go hang out or play ping-pong or do whatever underage young people do now.* I learned I wanted to teach college classes in my future. At least the students there are paying to be there and care to one effect or another. Not to dog high school students, it's just after dealing with parents and the fact that 50% of a class of juniors don't give a shit, I just wanted to teach older students. Plus, I want to talk on equal level with students and I hate curbing my swearing.

But this class was different. Teaching a cooking class kicks major fucking ass. (I said "F" on the blog, which means something here.)

I had roped Shankari and Ann together during the spring in an attempt to put on a cooking class together. I was intrigued and wanted to learn how to instruct a cooking class and wanted some guidance from them as they had experience. After a bit of advanced calculus, astrophysics, divining the stars, and synching our watches we were able to figure out a time to meet and discuss.

We then cobbled together a perfect little class: Cool Desserts for Hot Summer Nights. A simple hour and a half cooking class that would teach participants six basic desserts and their accompanying techniques which could be used for everyday balmy weather dessert cooking.

I made my poached pear sorbet with its subtle spice and spun silk mouthfeel, and followed it with a very popular espresso granita topped with some freshly whipped cream, which is a textural equivalent to any great oil painting with each and every intricate and monumental brush stroke.

Shankari made some intensely flavorful Indian fruit salad laced with rose water and cardamom, and topped with some toasted coconut and pistachios - a healthy dessert with a sanguine disposition to be sure. Her second dish was a glass of almond milk, barely sweetened and lightly fragranced with more cardamom giving the milk a brusque fullness that coated the senses.

Ann's Kir Royello, a jell-o take on the popular champagne drink, was creative and bubbly full of fresh berries and effervescent perk-u-up. Her summer panzanella salad with a brown sugar and butter reduction scented with bay, and fresh berries and mint was just... fresh. Fresh beyond words. It was this Parisian little dish that, when paired with yogurt, you just want to picnic up to a sunny hill and languish in the laziness of the day as it's fresh flavors can only remind you of sweet smelling summer winds in grassy knolls.

Honestly, we did well together. Our personalities and experiences complimented each other well, and where one of us might have dropped off, the other would pick up, and we all had good advice to give to the class.

It was more than just a learning experience for the students, it was a learning experience for me. I learned I was more than just effective at teaching grammar and literature, but darn it I think I make a good cooking teacher too!

As such, Lynn, the awesome headmaster over at Whole Foods, and I are looking at putting together a children's cupcake class this winter. It should be a lot of fun, so keep your eyes peeled!

*Not to say I didn't love my students. Many of them rocked my socks and I still talk to some of them. Just for the most part I decided I wanted to teach college because all the students in the class want to be there for one purpose or another and will actually pay attention I think.

Nocino Bitters

So the nocino is done. Sort of. It came out a bit bitter. It might have been too little sugar, too much clove, or the cheap vodka but it didn't have that luxurious taste that Elise's nocino had. Hers was drinkable. Mine, not so much.

However it does possess good flavor. When you first taste it you're engulfed in sweet aromas, nutty scents, and enveloping tastes that just wrap around you, sending your mind into a dessert laden haze. Then it disappears, not even vaporous clouds remain. Then suddenly the bitter taste of the alcohol sucker punches you in the tongue, leaving it's bitter coils wrapped tightly for about two seconds, then it too vanishes.

So what we have is nocino bitters. Perfect for flavoring a spot of gin or vodka perhaps. The bitterness will for the most part vanish in the drink, but the distinct nocino flavors will lay delicately underneath. It's what I will call a successful failure. A welcome mishap. I was planning on curing some bitters anyways, so now I just took an early step.

Cheers!

Apple Cardamom Cupcakes with Salted Caramel

From the Cupcake Archives...

This is a recipe I've long looked forward to doing once apples came into season. Fuji apples, cardamom, and caramel. A fantastic combination that just goes so well together. Plus, the apples the Elise gave me were just begging to be baked into a cupcake.

This was also a lesson for me as my friend Ann, one of the writers for Sacatomato, Edible Sacramento, and author of the cookbook Hands-Off Cooking taught me how to make caramel. The recipe was actually very easy and the use of a candy thermometer wasn't even necessary.

The cupcake is sweet & sticky, with the cardamom giving it just the right amount of spice. The cake itself is certainly toothsome, so the salted caramel really just acts as the perfect accoutrement to balance the whole thing out. We were both literally scraping (in my case using my finger and tongue) to get every little last bit of caramel off the plate. Using really fresh apples is key here, and the recipe is very forgiving, we over baked a few and they still came out fantastic. A perfect harvest treat now that September is here.
Apple Cardamom Cupcakes
Makes 22 cupcakes / 350F oven

What You'll Need...
4 cups chopped apples (varieties that are good for baking - i.e. granny smith, gravenstein, Fuji)
2/3 cups vegetable oil
2 cups of sugar
4 egg whites
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of ginger

What You'll Do...
1) Chop the apples and combine them with the sugar and let them macerate for one hour. Next add the oil and stir.

2) Preheat over to 350 degrees F (165 C).

3) Slightly beat egg whites just until a light foam appears. Combine them with the oil and apple mixture.

4) Sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices together. Stir into the apple mixture, and then place into cupcake papers about 3/4ths full.

5) Bake for 15 minutes undisturbed, then rotate the pan and cook for another 3-7 minutes, testing with a toothpick for doneness. Careful, as if the toothpick goes into an apple it will not come out clean, but cupcake may be done.

Salted Caramel
What You'll Need...
6 tablespoons of butter
3/4 cup of sugar or vanilla sugar
1 cup of heavy cream
1 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt

What You'll Do...
1) Melt the butter in a large, deep heavy-duty saucepan. Stir in the sugar and and stir until golden brown.

2) Take off the heat and pour in half the cream and whisk like a crazy person until the caramel is smooth. Whisk in the rest of the cream and the salt. Strain into a bowl and then spoon over cupcakes. (The caramel will thicken if you let it sit in the fridge, which is also yummy.)

Variations
Feel free to switch out the cardamom for cinnamon, or apples for pears. The recipe is flexible and forgiving. Freshly whipped cream is also an ideal pairing.

Similar Cupcakes
Pistachio Cardamom Cupcakes with Vanilla Rice Pudding Filling
Pear Cranberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Ganache

Great Big Vegetable Challenge - The Book!

You all know I love Charlotte, she's a riot and sharp as a knife when it comes to creative ways to get veggie-phobic kiddies to eat their greens.

As you may have read, she has finally gotten through the alphabet of vegetables, and along this amazing journey has ended with a book deal. It's quite a great resource. A lot of the popular recipes from the blog, plus some new ones, all in one delightful and colorful resource. She took the pea-frightened Freddie, and made his a culinary celebrity and spokesperson for all things farmed from the ground!

I, personally, have a bit of a personal pride in this cookbook of hers though. Two recipes are inspired from recipes here. The Petit-Pois Muffins and the Zucchini Muffins. Both started out here as cupcakes, the Sweat Pea Cupcakes and the Zucchini Cupcakes. In my opinion, I think she made them a bit better than I did originally. The Petit-Pois is a lot fluffier and has a fresher personality than my original using butter, creme fraiche, milk and self rising flour.

Honestly, I am honored that she used the two recipes and gave me and Vanilla Garlic some mention in the book. It's crazy to me, my name is in an actual published cookbook. *girlish squeal*

So thank you so much Charlotte and Freddie! I'm getting a second copy for my nephew David, never to young to learn to start cooking and this masterpiece is a great first cookbook for any child!