Ingredients: An Unlikely Place for A Sweetner

One of my favorite foods right now is Gyoza or Pot Stickers. I especially love the dipping sauce - a blend of 2/3 part Rice Vinegar and Soy Sauce with 1/3 part Chili Oil. Recently, I was surprised to find out the packets included with our Chinese delivery contained another ingredient.

I typically make our dipping sauce, except when I've run out of an ingredient and then use the provided packets. As I was tossing out the packets, I noticed Molasses as one of the ingredients. Boy was I surprised! I can't believe I never thought to check the ingredients before. The next time I order Pot Stickers at a restaurant and a dipping sauce is provided, you can bet I'm going to ask what's in their sauce.

Have you found sweeteners in odd places?

I've got a lot planned for this short Holiday week. Tuesday is all about toys, specifically those I grew up with and want to share with Gates. Wednesday, I reveal some of my best and worst experiences with Pot Stickers in the Bay Area. Thursday, I'll be back in the kitchen, bringing stuffing to our friends' Thanksgiving potluck, so you'll be treated to a recipe! Shocking, I know. And on Friday I'll share a couple more illustrations from The New Wolf in Chef's Clothing along with tips on entertaining.

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Weekly Wrap: We're Pregnant

In case you missed our news on Wednesday, neatly buried in a post about a dipping sauce, cubes and I are expecting a baby girl this coming March.

Since finding out we're pregnant and having a healthy baby, we've begun making baby-related purchases. Our first purchase showcases food, it's a counting book featuring Wayne Thiebaud's art.

Our second purchase is more practical: a couple of onesies.

What were the first things you got for your baby?

This week on the blog, I'll be sharing our Labor Day roadtrip, what I'm craving, a White Truffle dinner at Farina, my recent food book purchases, and some retro funnies.

Bon Apetit!

Eden

P.S. If you'd like to see some images of Gates, head over to my other blog, A Timeless Affair, today.

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Ingredients: What Do Balsamic Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, & Maple Syrup Have in Common?

These ingredients - Bistro Blends Heirloom Balsamic Vinegar, Maille Dijon Originale, and Noble Handcrafted Tuthilltown Bourbon Barrel Matured Maple Syrup - make up the most unlikely french fry dipping sauce I've tried while pregnant. I concocted it to satisfy a craving I was having for Rebel's Carolina Mustard sauce which unfortunately was off limits in my first trimester (cayenne).

Yep you read that right; cubes and I are expecting a baby girl this coming March.

Sweet Dijon Mustard French Fry Dipping Sauce (created August 6, 2011, 4:36pm)

• Take 1 tablespoon Heirloom Balsamic Vinegar, 2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon Maple Syrup; blend thoroughly.

Over the next eighteen weeks, I'll be revealing my favorite pregnancy foods, catching you up on my recent food book purchases, and sharing the transformation of cubes' office (also known as the storage closet) into a nursery.

If you've been wondering why this blog went silent, now you know. I can't keep a secret and I was afraid I'd accidentally let our news slip if I continued writing. Sorry for keeping everyone in suspense. I promise it won't happen again.

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

What I Crave: Tostones

The day we toured Old San Juan it was hot and humid - oppressively so.

Instead of venturing to the next fort, to escape the heat, we headed for El San Juan Hotel and Casino in Puerto Rico. When we entered the sliding glass doors it was as if we'd stepped back in time; the hotel and casino were built in 1958 (renovated in 1999 and 2006). Check out my Flickr set to see all the glamour!

While the boys went to the casino, the girls settled at the bar for some wine and nosh. My favorite bites were the Tostones with Ropa Vieja. The Ropa Vieja reminded me of a Texan chili (in Texas chili doesn't include beans). The tostones - fried plantains - were crisp and not at all greasy, a nice texture contrast to the Ropa Vieja.

I shared one of the bites with cubes - wolfing down the other three myself.

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Cheese and Antipasto Tasting Party, Part 2

Our original plan for SpriteKat's party had us stopping by the Italian market and picking up cold cuts. When scheduling conflicts prevailed, we went instead to the cold cases at Trader Joe's and Bi-Rite. Both had lots of options and we served up three platters filled with antipasto.

We asked our guests to choose their favorite meat and to choose the best in each category. We served the following meats. Platter 1: A Prosciutto Comparison: Trader Joe's, La Quercia, and Daniele. Platter 2: Daniele Cabrese Salame, Applegate Genoa Salami, Fra Mani Salmetto, and Daniele Capocollo, and Applegate Soppressata. Platter 3: Daniele Salchichon, La Quercia Pancetta Americana, Daniele Chorizo Cantimpalo, La Quercia Speck Americano, and Daniele President's Jamon Serrano.

The Winners:

• La Quercia Speck Americano: Hands down everyone's favorite; great flavor, nice mouth feel; will be one of our staples from  now on when we entertain.
• The offerings from Daniele, Inc. were the most consistent, great flavor without being too salty. The only criticism in their trio offerings would be that there's not enough of the President's Jamon Serrano or the President's Prosciutto Naturale. If they offer these two meats singly, I'd highly recommend getting the single packs in addition to the trio packs. We got two of each trio pack so that we'd have enough for everyone. 

• Trader Joe's Prosciutto: Surprise favorite; good flavor, not too salty, sliced thin but not transparent.

The Losers:

• La Quercia Pancetta Americana: very fatty, not a lot of flavor, not a meat we'll serve again on an antipasto platter
• Fratelli Beretta Prosciutto di Parma: too salty; we eliminated during initial taste testing
• Volpi Mortadella, Genova Salame, Coppa Trio: too salty, only the Genova Salame was passable; we eliminated during initial taste testing

To see more of the antipasto we sampled when planning our dinner as well as the antipasto platters we served, check out the Flickr set.

What are your favorite antipasto meats? Any brands we missed that we should try?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Cheese and Antipasto Tasting Party, Part 1

For SpriteKat's party we inadvertently picked two things that were of little interest to her, cheese and antipasto. (She'd already investigated and played with the mice, even misplacing the cute vintage wind up toys somewhere in our apartment.) Typically when food is out and guests are around, SpriteKat is begging for nibbles.

After months of sampling and comparing various deli meats and cheeses we arrived at our spread (modified slightly due to the craziness Rainbow Grocery's Customer Appreciation Day brought to their cheese counter).

A Sampling of Cheeses from Bi-Rite

We plated the following cheeses:

• Petit Basque
  Pasteurized Sheep’s milk, created in 1997 by the French dairy giant Lactalis, produced in the Pyrenees Mountains of France from December to July.
  Firm, washed rind cheese with mild, nutty and slightly sweet fruity flavor with caramel notes. Pairs nicely with sliced apples and pears or stone fruits such as peaches, apricots or cherries. Can also be served with olives and pate.
• Idiazabal (pronounced Eee-dee-ya-ZA-bal)
  Unpasteurized Sheep’s milk from a village located in Goierri Valley, Basque region of Spain.
  Semi-soft pressed cheese, sometimes smoked over beechwood, hawthorn or cherry, with a rich nutty, buttery flavor. Often eaten with quince jam.
• Arte Queso Manchego
  Pasteurized Sheep’s milk produced in the La Mancha region of Spain.
  Semi-firm pressed cheese aged for 4 to 12 months with well developed, but not too strong buttery flavor, nutty piquancy, and peppery body. In antipasto plates, serve with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, crusty bread, and robust red wine or dry Sherry.
• Garrotxa (pronounced gah-ROH-chuh)
  Unpasteurized Goat’s milk made in Girona, a north-central Catalonia province in Spain.
  Semi-firm pressed cheese with mildly herbal and tangy flavor with hints of hazelnuts in the aftertaste as well as white pepper.
• Gouda – a comparison
  (on the left in the photo above) Semi-firm cheese from pasteurized Goat’s milk, aged for 2 to 4 months, with mild nutty flavor and peppery aftertaste.
  (on the right in the photo above) Ewephoria, Semi-firm cheese from pasteurized Sheep’s milk, aged for 10 months, with sweet, nutty, buttery flavor.
• Fiore Sardo
  Raw Sheep’s milk from Sardinia, the island north of Sicily, off the Italian Coast.
  Firm cheese that’s sharp and savory with wet smoke, salty tang, and piquant, nutty finish.
• Pepato
  Raw sheep’s milk made with whole black peppercorns at Bellwether Farms in Sonoma County in California, USA. Awarded first place in the Flavored Cheese Open Category made from Sheep’s Milk at the American Cheese Society Competition of 2009. Originated in Sicily.
  Semi-soft cheese with peppercorns.

Everyone voted for their favorite or favorites. Ewephoria, Fiore Sardo, Pepato, and Garrotxa all received a nod, but Petit Basque was the clear stand out with three times as many votes.

Have you tried the cheeses we served? Which is your favorite?

I'll reveal which deli meats we picked (and highlight the ones we sampled but declined to serve) tomorrow and share the Gluten-free snacks we served with Eggplant Hummus and Olive Tapenade on Monday. Two spoilers: the bread pictured was not Gluten-free, and the Salt and Vinegar chips that I wrote about on Wednesday were not one of the snacks served.

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Daydreaming, Part 2

Finding the perfect place to live in San Francisco is a challenge. For the time being, we're taking a break. Demand for rentals always exceeds supply and right now is no different. It's not as bad as the mid-1990s when you'd camp out overnight at an open house, credit reports, deposit checks in hand, but it's close.

Our search has been a roller coaster ride of emotions. We'd found three places and submitted applications at three places. With the last place (pictured here), we'd thought we'd gotten it. We even went as far as transferring funds so that we could get a cashier's check cut for the deposit as well as first and last month's rent. Then we received news that someone else also applied and they were being considered as well.

And with that we decided that we're in no hurry to move and withdrew our application. Right now we're pretty spoiled, our landlord is responsive when there's a problem, doesn't play games, and follows all of the housing ordinances (we're in a rent controlled building that's well maintained - most units have recently renovated bathrooms and kitchens as well as double-pane windows). I'm confident that when the time is right, we'll find the right place with the right landlord.

In the meantime, we're going through all of the boxes that haven't gotten unpacked from our last move (and my previous moves). Our hallway is beginning to look a lot less cluttered as the boxes disappear. Also, it'll be nice when the office is no longer a storage closet. I'll show you our home in the next couple of weeks after we've finished all the unpacking/sorting. I'm pretty excited to have a clutter free space.

Have you had moving adventures?

Or did your dream home just fall in your lap?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

On the Road: The Loquillo Kioskos, Part 1

One attraction in Puerto Rico that's open rain or shine was minutes away from our rental: The Loquillo Kioskos. The kiosks are 60 or so storefronts owned by individual proprietors and range from seaside trinkets to typical Puerto Rican food to upscale foodie destinations.

Because we were visiting in the off season and while it was raining, the kiosks weren't packed with seaside daytrippers; we had our pick of places each time we visited. We came here three times for dinner, once for lunch, and once for drinks our first night in Puerto Rico. In many cases we had the restaurant or bar completely to ourselves.

With the exception of the kiosk we visited our first night in Puerto Rico, we sampled Sangria from all of the kiosks we visited. Ceviche Hut served Sabrina Sangria, a wine cocktail made and bottled in Loquillo. It reminded me a little of Minute Maid Fruit Punch.

My favorite sangria was from Tapas 13 and made with sparkling wine rather than still wine (in the collage above it's the two glasses on the bottom right). It was light and refreshing. All of the Puerto Rican sangrias were sweeter than the sangrias served in San Francisco bars.

The star of the show, in terms of alcoholic beverages, for me was the Loquillo Sunset, made at Bohio de Loquillo. It was served with a float of Bacardi 151 on top and lit on fire.

While not everyone at our table was a fan, I was. We were able to get the secret recipe from the bartender, so look for it to appear at one of our cocktail parties. Tomorrow I'll talk about the food we ate at The Loquillo Kioskos. If you're impatient, to see photos of the food we ate at the kioskos, visit Flickr, else check back tomorrow.

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

On the Road: Food Made with Love

To say that I'm a little tired of rain is an understatement. We had rain during our honeymoon, and we returned to the Bay Area to more rain. Rather than complain, I'm going to imagine that we're back in Puerto Rico, gathered around a table about to enjoy amazing hospitality and a bounty of food.

For you see, the night we visited Pasta y Puebla, it was raining cats and dogs (had been raining all day). This was arguably our best meal in Puerto Rico. Let me rewind a little bit. Our friend's uncle recommended this restaurant in Loquillo; it was billed as a warehouse. Coming from the Bay Area, my idea of a warehouse was different than a Puerto Rican warehouse. Pasta y Puebla is less than a block from the seawall and is closer in appearance to that of the old fish shacks I frequented in Morro Bay, CA as a kid than a warehouse.

When the kitchen is closed you wouldn't guess it's a restaurant; the windows are squares cut into the walls covered with boards on hinges. (We drove by it at lunch - they're only open for dinner.) At full capacity, they can accommodate maybe 16 people.

A brief aside, everything basically shuts down during the rain. We came by Pasta y Puebla two nights before we were to leave and discovered we were too late, they'd just shut down the kitchen and turned off the gas. The owners were very apologetic and asked us to come back the next night, promising us some appetizers.

The next night - our last night in Puerto Rico - we returned to Pasta y Puebla. Having read Yelp reviews, we were excited to try the food and had high expectations. It was still raining, so tables were arranged to avoid to leaks in the roof.

Our expectations were not high enough. The first appetizer brought out were Mussels.

The mussels were perfectly cooked - not chewy but melt in your mouth amazing. They were presented with a little garlic, tomato, basil, and oregano - all of which were balanced so nothing overpowered.

Next up was baked eggplant sprinkled with Italian seasoned breadcrumbs and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

To finish off the appetizer course, they surprised us with Escargot. (I could have eaten an entire dinner just of the appetizers!)

For my entree, I chose grilled chicken. For sides there were two options, Coconut Rice or Penne Pasta with choice of sauce; I selected penne pasta with the garlic and oil sauce.

The chicken was moist with a nice sear. I'd not thought of tossing pasta with garlic and oil; I'm definitely a fan. It was light, yet flavorful. It's a sauce I'm going to add to my repertoire. cubes chose the scallops with penne pasta in an Alfredo sauce.

The scallops were seared nicely and cooked evenly through; a feat one of the restaurants we ate at on our mini-moon wasn't able to accomplish.

Hopefully the sun is shining where you are, or, if not, you're staying warm and dry. More details of what we ate and where we visited later this week, stay tuned!

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken via iPhone by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life. More photos from the dinner on Flickr.

Daydreaming

Since beginning the hunt for a new place, we've put in an application for two flats. We found out while we were in Puerto Rico on our honeymoon that we didn't get the first place. So it was back to scouring Craigslist for us. Wednesday night we had dinner over at our friends' place and we were talking about our dream apartment - what we jokingly call "The Jesus Apartment." (Our current place was "The Moses Apartment.")

After we got home, a candidate for "The Jesus Apartment" appeared on Craigslist. It didn't stay there long, like any almost too good to be true place in The Mission, demand far outweighs supply. This time we were lucky enough to at least be among the group who'd be able to view and to potentially apply. (We'd missed two other places by less than ten minutes.)

The place has a few flaws. There's no dishwasher. There are no granite or stone countertops; they're formica. There are no period cabinets in the kitchen. There's no tile floor in the kitchen or mudroom; it's linoleum. There are no double pane windows. For these flaws, we've nicknamed the flat, "The Moses Apartment Version 2.0."

Here's a tour of the flat. Keep your fingers and toes crossed we get it. (We need all the luck we can get, another applicant offered to pay more than the listed rent.)

Hope you're having a great holiday weekend!

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All collages created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life. In the first collage, photos on the right are from the Craigslist listing. In the third collage, top right photo is from the Craigslist listing. All other photos taken via iPhone by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

What I Crave: Fried Corn Kernels

I love salt and can never get enough. My favorite snack from Puerto Rico, which I was lucky (or is it unlucky?) to have twice, was these fried corn kernels from the Ceviche Hut at the Loquillo Kioskos.

I think all movie theaters should switch from popcorn to this treat. Totally not feasible, but I could see myself eating these by the handfuls at home on lazy Sunday mornings or at the movies (they're so good I'd risk smuggling them in!).

Does anyone know what this type of corn is? And if you can find it in Northern California?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

On the Road: Puerto Rican Flavors

Whenever I travel some place, I like to sample the local cuisine. I devoured local dishes in Costa Rica and Chile (and really really wish a restaurant with these traditional dishes would open in the Bay Area). Surprisingly I try to go to a place without any preconceptions; I went to Puerto Rico without researching the typical cuisine.

According to Scott Rosenbaum, Executive Chef at Wilde Roast Café in Minneapolis,

"Puerto Rican food ... [is] equate[d] .. with Mexican cuisine. Although some of the ingredients are the same, the flavors could not be more different. The deeply flavored cuisine is a result of a hodgepodge of cultural influences on the island. Roots like yams, yuca and taro were cultivated by the Tainos, the native population of Amerindians. The Spanish arrived with coconuts, eggplant and seasonings like cilantro, onion and garlic. African slaves brought okra and plantains."

Based on my experiences in Costa Rica and Chile and at local Peruvian restaurants, I wasn't expecting Mexican food in Puerto Rico. When I stepped off the plane I was ready to get started sampling the food; rather than find what we were looking for, my husband, friends, and I entered The Twilight Zone (a story for another time). Our second night, we had our first taste of Puerto Rican cuisine.

Two typical dishes we tried in both Old San Juan and the Loquillo Kioskos were Mofongo and Tostones (both made with plantains).

Pollo (Chicken) Mofongo Relleno, El Balcon Del Moreno

Bacalao (Codfish) Mofongo Relleno, El Balcon Del Moreno

Mofongo de Camarones, Ceviche Hut

Tostones aka Fried Plantain, Ceviche Hut

One thing that surprised me was the lightness of both the Mofongo and the Tostones; neither tasted like oil. I was so impressed that I've ordered two highly recommended Puerto Rican cookbooks. Luckily here in the Mission, we have lots of corner markets specializing in Latin American groceries, and they typically have lots of green plantains in stock so practicing shouldn't be a problem. (I also really hope I can find cassava (or yuca), but again that's a story for another post.)

Did you bring back any foods from your honeymoon?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

On the Road: Puerto Rico

I've been a horrible blogger, but I have an excuse, a really good one; I promise. After traveling to Las Vegas for work two weeks ago, my husband and I went to Puerto Rico for our honeymoon. See? Really good excuse. The Internet at the house we rented was out due to the storm so my well-thought out plan of sending trip reports via my new iPad didn't work out.

Throughout the rest of the week and some of next week, I'll take you on a tour of the Kioskos (we ate at three), walk you through our last meal in Puerto Rico where we dined at Pasta y Pueblo (hands down the best meal of the trip), show you some of my favorite architectural details from around Old San Juan, and review our adventures with airport food (yes I really did photograph the food we ate in the airport). In case you're impatient and want to see more of our honeymoon now, I've created a gallery on Flickr.

What were the best things about Puerto Rico (I'm purposely excluding spending time with my husband and being surrounded by nearest and dearest friends)? Here are my top 3:

1. Friendliness of the Puerto Ricans
2. Food
3. Architecture

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

The Hunt is On!

The apartment shuffle has begun. I'd say it started last year when friends moved from Ingleside to the Mission. It definitely accelerated when we seriously considered moving into our friends' apartment after they bought a place.

So we've started looking. cubes actively scans craigslist daily (almost hourly). Here are some of the amenities that what we're looking for.

Of course our other requirements are close to BART, includes parking, and has a washer and dryer either in the building or unit.

The move is bittersweet as we'll no longer be in walking distance of Bi-Rite and Golden Produce, or just down the street from Mission Beach Cafe and Rebel. It'll also be a hike to the cobbler. On the upside, we're walking distance to our friends' places (which means we could actually have a progressive dinner).

What are your must haves in a place?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images via craigslist. Collages created by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Road Trip: Reno for the Weekend

This past weekend we headed up to Reno to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. There was food - lots of food, spring blossoms, gambling, and thrifting. All in all it was great to escape the Bay Area. Below are some of the highlights. More photos on Flickr.

Did you have a good weekend?

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Around Our Home: Shells Abound

Shells of all sizes, on their own, in candy jars, and in baskets

When I started looking around our house and taking photos, I realized I hadn't shared what our home looks like. There are photos of an empty apartment when we moved in. There are photos of the living room filled with wedding stuff. And there are photos of my attempt to dig out. But I can't believe that aren't any "walk through" photos. Over the next month or so, I'll correct that.

In the meantime, let's start with the bathroom. (It's actually the first room you see when you enter our apartment.)

It's on the east side of the building so it catches a lot of light. I like nice bright naturally lit spaces. This room has the majority of my shell collection. There's shells in the stand.

On the back of the commode. And above the shower.

Shells tucked onto the ledge above our shower.
The two large shells (from left to right) are a pink roller and a sea biscuit.

And of course, there's shells on our counter.

I really like the color palette in the bathroom. It's primarily a warm neutral blend (neutral palette with RGB numbers) with lavender and blue accents.

We'll leave the bathroom now and walk down the hall towards the living room. The bedroom is in the opposite direction but there aren't any shells in it, oddly enough. The kitchen, the utility closet turned office, and the walk-in closet in the living room are the other three areas sans shells.

This cubby is really a catchall and NEVER looks like this. Typically take out menus and coupons are tucked behind the barnacles. Now that it's cleaned up a little, I wonder if a chalkboard or a pin board would be more practical? What would you do with this area?

Immediately following the cubby on the right is our linen closet. Here we find another shell tucked neatly next to our winter scarves. (The dusty blue garbage bin is the one remaining hold out from my early college dorm decor.  I followed the crowd with the Cornflower Blue and Dusty Rose color pairing that was popular in the 80s.)

We end our brief tour in our living room with another pink roller. This is the shell I've had the longest. It was one of my first purchases at the Shell Shoppe in Morro Bay. Growing up we weren't given allowances per se. We got to pick out a new book or magazine weekly at Crown Books. My dad gave us a new Sanrio item for our collections each Friday (or every other Friday, I forget the frequency, it seemed like a lot). My parents purchased new rolls of film and processed the used ones as well as supplying albums and album pages for my photos. So we had an allowance, we just didn't receive it as money. My Pink Roller purchase was special because I had to save money from birthday and holiday gifts to buy it.

I thought I had more shells to show you, but after scouring our apartment that's all we found. In next month's Around Our Home, I'll feature my vintage train case and luggage collection. You'll get to see every room but the kitchen in that tour. I have two sets - one complete and one partial - I use for nearby travel; another almost complete set I use for storage; and many other individual coordinated mismatched pieces I also use for storage.

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.