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August, 2009

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Eat Real Food Festival: Jack London Square Oakland

Monday, August 31st, 2009

We traveled to the East Bay to check out the Eat Real Food Festival this weekend in Oakland.  The bill included many local street food vendors and a beer shed featuring some of Northern California’s best breweries.  It was an extremely hot Saturday afternoon and Jack London Square was packed with people.  We were all starving and the smell coming from the food trucks was making the situation that much more immediate.  We passed up the first couple of vendors to check out the full line up before we decided to dig in.  It was only so long before we gave in, as everything looked so good.  Our hunger drove our decision to just tough it out with the long lines.  There were too many delicious things to give general assessments on so I’ll just let everyone give their own personal comments on the hot, sweaty, crowded deliciousness that was the Eat Real Fest.

Here is a quick list of the vendors we had a chance to check out:

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Posted in Eating Out, Oakland | No Comments »
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Taqueria de Amigos: Off Hwy 1 in Pescadero

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Once in a while when a couple of us here at BIOTF get some free time on a nice day during the week we like to head out to one of California’s many beautiful beaches.  Last week John and I headed up Hwy 1 to San Gregario beach just north of Pescadero.  A while back we had stopped at Duarte’s Tavern to check out the artichoke soup, which was decent but pricey, so on the way out we stopped at the gas station across the street to fill ‘er up with some tacos.  Pretty much what you would expect a gas station/taqueria to be.  If I recall correctly the tacos ran about $2 a piece and came with a decent amount of meat for small tacos.  The people behind the counter were friendly and the service was good.  The meat is always pretty tasty, but the salsa in the salsa bar is seriously lacking.  The Pico de Gallo seemed a little old as the vegetables in it were almost completely white from the juices having run out of them.  The chipotle salsa was just ok; nothing special.  All of the bottles of hot sauce also happened to be empty, which was kind of disappointing but not a deal breaker for me.

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Posted in Around California, Eating Out | 1 Response »
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Party-Time: Wine Tasting Party

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

We love to have wine tasting parties with a mixture of guests ranging in age from their later 20’s to their 60’s.  That way you are sure to get a good variety of wines from less than $10 bottles to more than $50 bottles!

This is one of our wine tasting party ideas that we executed last month.  It was a big success!

•8 bottles with a mixture of reds & whites for 16 people

How we constructed our tasting:

  1. Wrapped each bottle with brown paper bags to hide the labels.  We then put a # on each one.  This way our tasting could be somewhat blind.
  2. Asked everyone to bring their own wine glass and to wear something funny.
  3. Organized appetizers of cheese and crackers, fruits, and a pitcher of water.  We also gave each person a piece of paper and a pen to rate the wines from 1 (least favorite) to 5 (exceptional).
  4. Gave everyone a number from 1 to 4 and got into 4 groups of 4 for the tasting.  This way people who don’t know each other get to meet and chat.  By the end of the night they are buddies, trust me!
  5. Group 1 started with wine #1, group 2 with wine #2 and so on.
  6. Each group discussed the wine together and then individually rated it on their piece of paper.
  7. At the end of the tasting we collected each taster’s wine ratings and our “Mathematician” averaged the scores to find the group favorite.

2009 Wine Tasting Party Winner:  Forty-Five North, Pinot Noir Rose ($18)

Posted in Cheese OR Wine Party Ideas, Drinks | 1 Response »
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Mango Caribbean: Palo Alto

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

John and his friends love this spot.  I think it is because of the combination of the drinks and the reggae wraps.  The jerk chicken is kind of bland tasting and so Zach and John drown it in hot sauce.  However, they do love the goat stew and oxtail soup.  The decor and atmosphere is nice and the owner has always been there when I go to eat at Mango.  They do have some outdoor seating in the front.  This is a good spot for large groups and even a first date.  Call ahead for reservations for large groups.  Their deserts are tasty such as the BANANA TREE (sweetly grilled bananas served with coconut ice cream and topped with chocolate syrup).

Lesley: I would go to this place just for the Dill Dressing!!!  It rules.  You can have it with your salad or use it for dipping your meal.  For a good meal I suggest the WELCOME HALL appetizer (plantain chips with cucumber honey dipping sauce and citrus guacamole), a REGGAE WRAP  (jerk chicken, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheese and cucumber that is a “Build your Own” wraps made with roti bread and served with red beans & rice and salad) + dill dressing for dipping, and a rum punch ($4 all summer).  Then possibly a Banana tree for desert to share, but you will be stuffed.

Zach: The Rum punch was tasty and you can’t beat it for $4.  It has a decent amount of guava juice in it which I like. Most of the other drinks on the menu were around $7.  For dinner I ordered the Reggae Platter which consisted of jerk chicken and red beans and rice.  I was expecting a whole leg and thigh of spice rubbed chicken, but it was just some shredded pieces of dark meat.  The meat itself was juicy but lacking in spices.  The beans and rice were made with coconut milk which made them really tasty.  It’s at least worth another try, but if you’re looking for authentic jerk chicken you will be disappointed.

John: This is one of my favorite restaurants on the peninsula, with some very tasty food and interesting beverages.  Now, I haven’t had the jerk chicken because I enjoy the other dishes so much, so I can’t comment on what the other two have.  It’s a toss up between the oxtail soup or the goat curry for my favorite dish here.  Both dishes are spiced well and can be ordered with more spice if desired.  The rum punch is tasty and affordable, but go on a Thursday or Saturday night to get the Red Stripe deals: $2 for a regular 12 oz and $4 for a 22 oz big boy.  There are usually other drink specials on these nights, but they change with the season or whim of the owner.  All in all, a good place to grab a bite and a drink.

www.mangocaribbean.com

(GoogleMaps)

Posted in Eating Out, South Bay - Silicon Valley | No Comments »
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Home Cookin’: Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

This is one of my favorite new salsa recipes.  It has only a few ingredients and can be made in minutes.  The tomatillos add a nice tang that compliments the chipotles very well.  I like to use this salsa on just about everything.  It adds a great smoky, tangy flavor to a sandwich, steak, chicken, soup, pizza, tacos and of course chips.

4-5 garlic cloves

5 medium tomatillos husked, rinsed and cut in half

2-3 canned chipotle chilies in adobo (I use more because I’m a spice freak)

Salt to taste

Onions and cilantro are optional but work very well too

Roast garlic and tomatillos cut side down in a large non-stick skillet on medium-high for about 4-5 minutes until they are browned very well.  Flip and roast other side until tomatillos are very soft.  Put tomatillos, garlic, chipotles, onion, cilantro and salt in blender and process to a nice puree.  It may be necessary to add a little bit of water depending on the consistency you like.  Put into a dish or old salsa jar and cool.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Posted in Appetizers, Home Cookin' | 1 Response »
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Primavera Tamales of Sonoma

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

A friend turned me onto these quick eats for lunch, Primevera Tamales from Whole Foods, after I had told her about the Trader Joe’s frozen macaroni and cheese.  They are really tasty with hot sauce as they are pretty mild but with a great flavor.  I would strongly recommend them as I usually don’t love tamales because of their bland taste, but do love these.  I like the Roasted Green Chile & Jack Cheese Tamales and you can buy them at Whole Foods, Andronico’s, the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market in SF and other groceries in NorCal.  They are in a refrigerated case at the end of an aisle, usually near the salsas (try Casa Sanchez Mild Tomate Verde Salsa too, it is tasty: www.casasanchezfood.com/parent.htm).

www.primaveratamales.com
www.casasanchezfood.com

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Underberg Digestive Bitters: Packs a punch

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Some of you may be familiar with Underberg.  Maybe you’ve seen it at a bar or passed it by when browsing through BevMo.  My recent fascination with bitters led me to pick up a pack of three little bottles of this stuff while wondering aimlessly through the local liquor store.  There are many digestive bitters out there with magical claims on the package describing how they will alleviate whichever food induced malady you may have.  As an eater of foods, I know these symptoms all too well.  Having tried it out on a few occasions I can attest to it’s digestion-aiding properties.  I recommend taking it all at once as the taste is quite powerful, with strong medicinal flavors of cloves, allspice and herbs.  It’s 44% alcohol and runs about $6 for a 3 pack.  Give it a try after a hefty meal and decide for yourself.

John: Underberg’s advertisements in bars state that it is the drink to have at the end of a night of alcohol enjoyment to avoid a hangover.  While we have not put this claim to the test, it is weakened by Underberg’s similarity to other drinks like Jaegermeister and Fernet Branca, which I’m sure one or two of our readers may know produce some classic hangovers.

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Out of Town: Northern Michigan

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Our Top Picks for Northern Michigan EATS for Summer, 2009:
• Corner Market @ Higgins Lake, MI (near Grayling, MI) for: Doughnuts: “Fry Cakes.”
-These doughnuts are not like the puffy, raised doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.  These doughnuts are the old-fashioned dense cake doughnuts that are fried to delight and dipped in such toppings as cinnamon & sugar, maple glazed, chocolate glazed, and coconut-chocolate glazed!  We spend the night here at our family’s cottage on our way up north just to get the doughnuts. They told us this year that other places in the area are starting to copy their doughnuts just to compete with them; that is how good they are! Cheap!
• Riverside Inn @ Leland, MI (North of Traverse City, MI) for: Drinks on the Dock.
-We only ordered drinks to take down to the river dock.  There, we watched locals drive by in great vintage wooden speedboats and alumacraft dinghies.  In the past, I have always had a good dinner at the Riverside Inn but this year we just had drinks before our fish dinner down at the Michigan lodge-style Bluebird.  The dinners are expensive and we actually had to pay for it; maybe that’s why we just got drinks!  I ordered the Pama-Margarita from the Cocktail Menu and it made me realize that a sugared rim best complements a pomegranate margarita and salted rim for the traditional marg.’s.  The salt with the pomegranate just wasn’t working; I bet the Cosmo or Mojito is a better choice.  John had the Belgoo Magus 4-Grain, Belgian Bottled Beer that we hadn’t tried before and it had a more complex flavor, due to the four grains used in its creation.  If you like Belgian-style brews, definitely check it out.
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Posted in Eating Out, Northern Michigan, Out of Town | 5 Comments »
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