Simply chocolate chip.

Simple, delicious, perfect, not too many foods can instantly transport you back to your childhood like a chocolate chip cookie can. You take that first soft, warm, decadent bite right out of the hot oven and your four years old again… your transported back to your childhood kitchen, the wonderful scent of cookies baking in the oven swirling in the air, with tiny hands grasping an enormous cookie nearly as big as your head, and all is right in the world.
There are endless recipes for this most basic of treats, yet all of them are delicious, ranging from the standard nine ingredient chocolate chip, to cookies with walnuts, macadamia nuts, white chocolate, caramel, oatmeal and peanut butter.
Yet no matter how many things you cram into a cookie, the simple chocolate chip will always remain my favorite; the soft chewy, sugary cookie with creamy melting chocolate pieces coating your mouth, just beckoning, demanding a cool glass of cold milk to wash it all down. Simply chocolate chip, always satisfying.

I could insert a recipe here but everyone already has there favorite. I hope you get to enjoy yours soon and are transported back to a simpler time.

Happy eating!

A Porktastic adventure, Part three: The conclusion of my beast feast.

Cured meats…bacons, salumi, hams, lardo, Guanciale some of the tastiest foods on the planet are cured meats and cured pork cheeks or guanciale are among the best of them.

When cooked properly cheeks can fall apart and be even more tender than slow cooked shoulder, or when cured, diced and pan fried, make a great alternative to bacon, and when used for Spaghetti Carbonara nothing is better!
That’s exactly how I concluded my day with a very simple, delicious Spaghetti Carbonara with guanciale.

All you really need for a great Carbonara is Spaghetti cooked al dente of course, Egg yokes buy free range organic, Salt & Pepper, some proper Guanciale (or bacon/panchetta if you can't find guanciale) and as much  Parmigiano-Reggiano as you like...I perfer a good deal of Parmesan in my Carbonara.

Bring water to a Boil, toss in spaghetti,
as the spaghetti is cooking.
Cut the meat into cubes, fry until crisp 4-5min.
Drain off the fat.
Grate the Parmesan into a mixing bowl, beat 2 egg yokes in a seperate bowl, add the Salt & Pepper.
When the spaghetti is cooked to your liking, drain and put back in the pot.
Add the egg yokes to the parmesan and mix well, pour the mixture over the hot spaghetti and toss to coat the pasta.
Toss in the Guanciale, check the seasoning. and serve!

The eggs and cheese make a great creamy sauce and the sweet, salty, crispy pork contrast beautifully with the tender pasta, a little kick from the pepper and what else could you ask for...a cold beer perhaps? Perfect quick dinner, and exellent end to my Porktastic adventure.
Spaghetti Carbonara is a very simple, inexpensive and quick dish to make. Its a comforting dish when you need it, and faster that take-out. Give it a go!
Cheers!

A Porktastic adventure, Part two: Flying pigs & a big mouth.

After indulging in a couple of donuts and curing my morning sweet tooth, I'm craving something meatier. I need look no further than San Francisco's own Boccalone, where they specialize in "Tasty salted pig parts".

This fine salumeria is solely devoted to the majestic pig, their heritage pigs are pasture raised, antibiotic and hormone free, sustainable, hand butchered and cured in small batches.

When you walk into Boccalone you smell the wonderful aroma of salumi and see an aging room with glass doors adorn with beautiful cured meats. There is a great assortment of fresh sausages, cured meats, and rare specialties like porchetta di testa, ciccioli, and sanguinaccio, the later which will soon become my lunch, but not before I sample the salumi cone as a quick snack.

Sanguinaccio, black pudding, blood sausage, boudin noir what ever you call it, what ever the origin, it is all delicious! This delectable treat has to be one of my top five favorite foods, and the sanguinaccio from Boccalone is among the best I've had. Its made up of pork blood, pork heart, buckwheat kernels, spices, a touch of chili and love...it's so good.

I gently cooked the sausages over a low heat in a skillet and served it with sauteed apples, both on top a crispy golden boxty...almost too good with a pint of cider.

Boccalone is co-owned by Chef Chris Cosentino and Mark Pastore of Incanto restaurant in San Francisco.

Boccalone salumeria

Ferry building marketplace

Shop 21

San Francisco, CA 94111

http://www.boccalone.com/

http://www.incanto.biz/

A Porktastic adventure, Part one: in the wee hours.

Hello my name is the Gastronome, and I’m a porkaholic…
I woke up in the wee hours Saturday morning and had an insatiable craving for some pork. I decided to dedicate the day to my love of all things pig.
First stop Dynamo Donuts, San Francisco. Some of you might be thinking wait…this is supposed to be about pork…if you’ve been to Dynamo Donuts you know where this is headed, if you haven’t been there, its time to go!

Behold the maple glazed, bacon, apple donut! Oooh yeah… this is what dreams are made of (my dreams anyway). Hand made, cakey, light, soft, moist donuts with tart apples sauted in bacon fat mixed into the batter, a sweet maple glaze on top, sprinkled with salty, crunchy bacon…Mmmm, The perfect union of salty and sweet.
Order a couple, they go down easy.

2760 24th Street

San Francisco, CA 94110

http://www.dynamodonut.com/

Enkidu and Humbaba

Enkidu winery…what a fantastic place! I haven’t been this excited for a new winery for a long time, and we seem to have plenty around here. Enkidu is a small boutique winery in Sonoma Valley off of Hwy 12, in Santa Rosa. Ok the wine, every single wine I had was superb, from the crisp refreshing Kick Ranch Sauvignon Blanc, to the luscious E Cabernet Sauvignon, and all three Pinots I had in between; even the Rosé was delicious!
The wine we opened last night Humbaba was particularly interesting.
Humbaba is a Rhone style blend, made up of 70% Syrah and 30% Petite Syrah from four different local appellations.
From the Russian river and Rincon Valleys cool climates they get there Syrah, the Petite Syrah came from both the Southern Napa Valley and from Lake County in the Red hills appellation.

Aromas of raspberries, blackberries, white pepper, and a lot of people might say vanilla here, but it’s chewier than that…like marshmallow, herbs like mint and tarragon. Big flavors with loads of ripe fruit full bodied and jammy; like biting into a berry pie. Soft tannins very drinkable now but can definitely be cellared for a few years.
Humbaba runs $25.00 for a 750 ml bottle…well worth it!

Enkidu winery
8910 Sonoma Hwy, Kenwood
http://www.enkiduwines.com/

Garden Court Cafe & Bakery, Glen Ellen

Breakfast, by far the most important meal of the day-not to undervalue any of the other six meals- I've always found that having the Valley of the Moon Benedict (Named after Sonoma Valley, Valley of the Moon, named by Author Jack London) is a great way to start the day. Freshly baked English muffins, sauteed Portobello mushrooms, deliciously tender and smokey ham, perfectly poached eggs and a nice creamy slightly tart and rich hollandaise. Paired with some of the best potatoes ever (really, they are) and you've got yourself a gorgeous breakfast! At the Garden court cafe & bakery they really put some country soul into their food, they care about the ingredients and they make all their breads, jams and sausages from scratch too. I've never been disappointed with the quality, quantity or price of the food and would recommend it to anyone.
A closing word to the wise...and hungry. You may have to wait a few minutes for a table (5-15), but the wait will be well worth it. While you wait they provide free coffee for the sleepy patron.
Cheers!

The Garden court cafe & bakery
13647 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen, California
http://www.gardencourtcafe.com/

Fat & Happy

This is my first blog. I hope it doesn't get to serious, for I am not usually too serious a fellow. It's been on my mind for a little while and I need to write it...so here we go.

What are some of your favorite memories? If your like me a lot of them are probably spent around the table with family and friends. It could be a holiday, or just a barbecue, but most of the time (unless your a vegetarian) the gathering was set around some type of meat. Who prepared that meat? Was it prepared with love and attention? Maybe you prepared the feast; what spices or herbs did you use? were they grown in your own garden? Lets say its Christmas, and your family is having a beautiful ham that you cooked yourself. Where did that ham come from? I don't mean what market. I mean where did that pig grow? was it cared for with the respect and attention you gave your Christmas dinner? If you know the answer and can say, "Yes, I bought this Gloucester old spot from the McCarthy's farm down the road"; then wonderful! If you can't and you really don't know where the meat came from, or if the pig had open pastures to roam and forage, living off the land on roots, grass, grains, acorns and occasionally fresh vegetables and whey from the loving farmer; Then wouldn't it be better to know? buying from local organic farms, means buying from farms that use the highest quality feeds to insure the best tasting hormone free meat. In caring for the meat you consume, your caring for yourself, your family and the animal, and maybe giving a rare breed a chance to thrive. We all know buying local organic produce is very important, (and good for us too!) lets all take the time to source good quality local free range meat products too. Lets all live Fat & Happy!