Foie Gras & Flannel

I met Amanda several years back, when we both served on the board for Creative Fresno (Amanda still serves). Her husband, Steve, went to high school with Kim.

When I first started talking about the Legacy Project with Kim, she mentioned Amanda’s affinity for baking—what we didn’t know at the time was her deep connection to her Danish ancestry. I sent an initial email to small group of friends to test the waters, and Amanda was one of the first to respond:

I was brought to tears just remembering how much I loved cooking with my Grandma. Those were such sacred moments and always made me feel connected to my family.

The history that Amanda outlined for me traces her mom’s side of the family. Her mother’s grandparents, both from Denmark, immigrated separately to America at the turn of the century. “My great-grandfather worked as a servant and then in the gold mines, finally making his way across America to San Francisco where he met my great-grandmother, another Danish immigrant working as a house maid. Together they had nine kids, including my grandma.”

Amanda flipped through a recipe binder, each plastic page protecting a hand-written recipe.

There are quite a few traditional Danish foods that have been passed down (almost all involving copious amounts of butter and cream) but the one that stands out the most is aebelskivers. Aebelskivers, round pancake like concoctions laced with cardamon, are the central dish at all of our family gatherings.

With her ingredients arranged on the counter, we she started cooking. Though aebelskivers start with common ingredients—flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla—the cardamom adds depth of flavor, and the whipped egg whites keep the batter light and fluffy.

Growing up, my job was to mix the dry ingredients. Only the senior members of the family were allowed to actually cook the aebelskivers (it is quite a technique).

As the baby of the family, Amanda’s still not allowed to cook the aebelskivers at family gatherings. If her family’s reading this, I hope they’ll reconsider—she made it look easy!

The family recipe book contains two recipes, side by side—one for aebelskivers (below), and one for ebelskivers. By trying both, “We’ve determined [the former] to be authentic.”

I asked how often she made these: “It’s something that’s always been for special occasions—we usually make them for Christmas and birthdays.” But Amanda believes that aebelskivers may have started as a traditional breakfast dish in Denmark. The flavor and texture work well for breakfast, though they’d work just as well for a light dessert.

One thing I learned about Amanda through our time together is that she’s a bit camera shy, though to be fair, I’m not sure I gave her fair warning about how close I like to get when I’m taking pictures. Still, she couldn’t hold back a smile as she cooked. Whether this was from fond memories of her grandmother, or from the satisfaction of not having to hand over the pan to an older sibling, I’ll never know.

Thanks for sharing, Amanda, and for agreeing to go first!

Aebelskivers

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tbsp. melted butter
• 2 egg whites, whipped

Instructions

Blend dry ingredients. Add egg yolks and buttermilk, mix. Fold in vanilla, butter and egg.

Butter wells of heated pan before each aebelskiver is poured 2/3 full. Cook until bubbles formed; turn and cook until golden.

Note (at bottom of card): “temp between med and med low”

(Also, if you’re going to try these, you’ll need a specialty pan—they’re pretty easy to find, though.)

This is Amanda’s cat, Rufus—I couldn’t resist.

It started with berrocks.

Since that dinner, I’ve been fixated on tradition, and on understanding the role it plays in establishing or reinforcing “food culture.” I’ve also been reflecting on the impact of living at such a fast pace—in a society that’s reliant on fast food and microwaves. I wonder, what will happen to the recipes that were penned by our grandparents and great grandparents, or to the traditions that were familiar to them?

To better understand tradition—better yet, to celebrate it—I’ve asked friends to cook for me, and to let me follow them around in the kitchen as they cook the recipes of previous generations.

I’m calling the collection of these stories the Legacy Project. The exact format and purpose may shift along the journey, but rest assured there will plenty of food and photographs.

Have a story you want to tell? Talk to me.

I don’t like to brag¹, but I really do have an awesome job. Thursday night I was working late, and I received a text from Chris (sommelier and co-owner of Trelio):

You want to be a professional wine judge tomorrow…had a judge drop off…

I received the same invitation last year (also the night before, I believe), so I couldn’t decline again.

Now, I’d label myself more of a wine enthusiast, but Chris knows my palette. I showed up at 8:00 a.m. to start tasting, and was placed on the expert panel—there were six panels, two each in three categories: Expert, Millennial and Hispanic.

By 2:00 p.m., we had each judged over 60 wines. Sure, we took a lunch break, but I think I coined a new term: wine fatigue. My taste buds still hurt.

Still, not a bad way to spend a Friday! (Also, the comments were quite positive about that box.) Results will be published by the competition host, San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers Association.

¹ Okay, I really do like to brag.

By now you probably know that Kim and I celebrated our anniversary a week or so ago. And I’ve mentioned in the last few posts that we actually have two anniversaries; the friend that we asked to marry us was not able to obtain the proper credentials from the county, so we faked the formal ceremony. Tomorrow marks the anniversary of our visit to the courthouse to make things legal.

Anyway, I’ve been outlining all of the food stops on our anniversary trip to San Francisco (see previous: Cutija, Tartine, Brindisi Cucina di Mare and Cotogna). But the trip started with Hot City Barbecue in Los Banos. We brought some friends along to share the experience with TasteFresno, which will air on NoNetwork later this week.

This place is not to be missed. Honestly, it’s worth the drive, even if that’s your only destination (right, Nicole and Phillip?). So don’t even bother looking at my photos—just go. I highly recommend the pulled pork.

Kim and I celebrated six years of “marriage” ¹ this weekend with a trip to our favorite city by the bay. Each of our four meals on the road was memorable, so I’m sharing.

Previous: Brindisi Cucina di Mare | Tartine | Cutija Taco Shop

One of the things I love about San Francisco is that you’re never far away from something good to eat. So instead of wasting a meal on something boring, you can walk down the street and find something that excites you.

After paying our tab at Brindisi Cucina di Mare, I pulled up a recent list of recommendations from friends for a lunch spots in the Financial District. David (The Cured Ham) mentioned a couple in North Beach, so that’s where we headed, first stopping at Bix. The place was packed.

We walked a block further to find another crowd at Cotogna, but they had a table open. After a quick glance at the menu, we knew we had come to the right place.

First, the wine. The back of the menu listed dozens of imported Italian wines, which was a little intimidating at first. Every wine on the list is sold at $40 a bottle, so price doesn’t distract you from picking out something that pairs with the meal. We asked the waitress for a recommendation, and she steered us toward the Cortona syrah; a heavier, fruit-forward wine with notes of tart, young fruit.

For dinner, Kim ordered gnocchi with duck; it didn’t photograph well, but it tasted incredible—the gnocchi were like little cloud puffs. At the recommendation of our waitress, I ordered skirt steak with fingerling potatoes and green garlic (pictured at top). Skirt steak is a difficult cut; what impressed me about the dish was not that this was fork-tender, but that the chef didn’t use a heavily salted marinade, which is what I usually find. He let the flavor of the meat speak for itself.

We also ordered carrots roasted with anise and rooftop honey. When I asked about the source of the honey, the waitress pointed up, saying, “It comes from our rooftop. We keep our own bees up there.” As simple as it was, this may have been our favorite dish.

Dessert was bomboloni—think donut holes, with sliced kumquat and sweet milk to dip them in. Yum!

Overall, an incredible meal, and a memorable anniversary dinner. The lesson: Trust your friends first, and Yelp second.

Up next (and last): Hot City Barbecue.

¹ We asked a friend and missionary to marry us in front of our families, but due to a misunderstanding with the County of Fresno, he could only go through the motions. So we were married legally at the courthouse 11 days later.

Kim and I celebrated six years of “marriage” ¹ this weekend with a trip to our favorite city by the bay. Each of our four meals on the road was memorable, so I’m sharing.

Previous: Tartine | Cutija Taco Shop

Note: this is not one of the four meals referenced above. Let’s call this a lesson in convenience.

Kim and I sat in traffic at the base of the Bay Bridge for two and half hours thanks to a guy that thought he wanted to jump, so by the time we settled into the hotel, we were in desperate need of a drink. The wine bar down the block offered that, but six ounces later, we were hungry. We scrapped our plans to trek across town to A 16, and instead typed “Italian” into Yelp. I’m not even sure we read the reviews—we just saw that Brindisi Cucina di Mare was around the corner.

We waited a good five minutes before our waitress arrived; to her credit, she told us how busy she was, and how she had forgotten to check outside. No sweat! Then she told us how awesomely “not San Francisco” we were and made a few inappropriate jokes.

Still, that wasn’t what turned us. It was the bread—it wasn’t fresh-baked. It was the same fresh-thawed variety found in “Italian” chains around the country. So we ordered drinks and an appetizer to hold us over.

Behold, the clams:

They look tasty, right? Meh. It’s hard to screw up something with clarified butter. The dish confirmed that this was not where we wanted to celebrate our anniversary, so we headed to North Beach to salvage the evening.

Up next: Cotogna.

¹ We asked a friend and missionary to marry us in front of our families, but due to a misunderstanding with the County of Fresno, he could only go through the motions. So we were married legally at the courthouse 11 days later.

Kim and I celebrated six years of “marriage” ¹ this weekend with a trip to our favorite city by the bay. Each of our four meals on the road was memorable, so I’m sharing.

Previous: Cutija Taco Shop

I first heard of Tartine from Laura when we met up for Eat Retreat (recap), and I’ve since received no less than six recommendations from friends in and outside of the city. Kim and I missed out on our last trip, so we headed there for breakfast Sunday.

We weren’t alone; the line was out the door, and wrapped halfway up the block–we interpreted that as a sign that it was worth the drive. And 30 minutes later, we were getting close.

A little closer…

Once we hit the counter things went blurry. We resisted the temptation to buy everything in site, narrowing our selection to a chocolate croissant (pictured below), an almond rocher and the croque monsieur (pictured at top). Oh, and a chocolate hazelnut tart for a friend.

The croque monsieur was the standout for me, but Kim votes for the chocolate croissant.

Up next: Cotogna.

¹ We asked a friend and missionary to marry us in front of our families, but due to a misunderstanding with the County of Fresno, he could only go through the motions. So we were married legally at the courthouse 11 days later.

Kim and I celebrated six years of “marriage” ¹ yesterday with a trip to our favorite city by the bay. Each of our four meals on the road was memorable, so I’m sharing.

Meal #4

On our return trip through Los Banos, Kim and I toyed with another round of barbecue, but settled on tacos, once again turn to Yelp for insight. With 23 reviews, Cutija Taco Shop had an average of 4.5 stars, so we figured it was worth the stop. And excluding the adovada, it was. The asada was good, but the carnitas was the star—chunky, tender, and complemented (not overpowered) by the salsa. The rundown:

• Adovada – 1.5 (out of 5)
• Asada – 3.5
• Carnitas – 4.5

They offer a few other meats, but those will have to wait for another trip.

Up next: Tartine.

¹ We asked a friend and missionary to marry us in front of our families, but due to a misunderstanding with the County of Fresno, he could only go through the motions. So we were married legally at the courthouse 11 days later.

When Pictory launched a theme focused food extremes, I asked my friend Tracy if I could follow her around with a camera on a food adventure. The challenge:

“Share your captioned photos of still-wriggling octopus, radioactive energy drink, grandma’s traditional pickled vegetables, your aunt’s raw vegan concoctions, or whatever it is that makes you think again before digging in.”

First up: foraging for mulberries. Okay, it’s not quite the same as a live octopus, but it is illegal—when you trespass to find the honey hole, that is. These little morsels are easily overlooked, but Tracy promises that once you’ve found a few trees to pick, you’ll notice them all over. (And Tracy doesn’t let the fallen berries go to waste—she’ll eat those straight off the side of the road)

Fresh berry supply in hand, we ventured back to my office to meet up with…well, let’s just call him E. An experienced brewer of craft beer, E brought a sampling from his latest experiment: gin. And once he convinced us that we wouldn’t go blind, we imbibed. (Note: I’ve had homemade alcohol before, but not like this—it was impressive.) We tried it straight, then with fresh lime and tonic.

E also shared some of his beer creations, and brought a bottle of fernet to chase everything down. Thanks for sharing, E!

And that’s Round 1. For the next leg of the adventure, we’re talking about a raw beef Armenian sandwich, or colostrum from the nearby raw dairy. I’m still not sold on that last one…

Today I had fried basa with mustard greens, red beans and rice, and a cornbread muffin.

It made me smile.