A Dinner Party with Vietnamese Salmon

Last night my step-mom and dad came to see my place in North Beach and have dinner. They're bigger foodies than me and I wanted to make sure I made something tasty that I also couldn't mess up too badly. Plus, my dad showed up in a suit (he came from work, but still. If your dad shows up to dinner at your house wearing a suit, you better have something nice to serve him that you can make under pressure!)

One of my old fallbacks is a recipe from the SF Chronicle from a couple years ago, before salmon became as scarce as they are this season. This is such a great dish though, that I had to make it.

The recipe for seared salmon with spicy mango sauce was provided by Ana Mandara, a Vietnamese fusion restaurant in the city. I follow the recipe exactly (except for the amount of time it cooks. My pan must have never gotten that hot so I've always had to cook it a bit longer than 2 minutes per side).

One note--fish sauce smells not so nice out of the bottle but added to the sauce it makes a comforting, savory smell and taste. Don't omit it! The mango sauce on its own is delicious, and it's a perfect complement to the salmon.

Adding the sauce to the fillets

I added jasmine rice and a seaweed/kale deli salad from Whole Foods, plus fresh berries drizzled with a little meyer lemon syrup for dessert (Reid says he's never heard me talk more about any food than meyer lemons. I say for good reason, they're amazing!).

We all had a good time, and talk turned to our next meal together for the first night of Passover, this weekend.



I have to say, I've never cooked for my parents before but it's a very satisfying feeling to cook for your family and provide them with nourishing and tasty food.

Happy eater

Sunshine in a Bottle

The summery weather this past weekend has gotten me thinking about foods for warmer weather.

One fun and easy thing I like to make is Meyer lemon syrup.

I love Meyer lemons. A cross between a tangerine and a lemon, they're not too tart or too sweet. They have an amazing, perfume-like scent. For me, even if they aren't the fruit that symbolizes summer, they're summer in a fruit.

Here's the recipe, adapted from this one on Epicurious.

2 cups fresh meyer lemon juice
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Combine and bring to a boil.
When boiling point has been reached, remove from heat and let cool, then bottle how you please.

I like all the little bottles they have at Cost Plus to give the syrup as gifts.
The labels in the picture are stickers from Chronicle Books, hole-punched and tied with raffia for extra Martha credit.

A little Meyer lemon syrup and plain soda is guaranteed to make you think of summer and put a smile on your face.

And if that doesn't work, add a little vodka!

Other uses are as a marinade on meats or fish, or you can drizzle over yogurt or hard cheeses, or fruit or cakes.

The syrup lasts, refrigerated, for about a week.

The Delight That is Warm Nights and Warm Days in San Francisco

This past weekend in San Francisco was one of those truly incredible weekends of amazing weather that comes so rarely in the city that it inspires something of a frantic disposition in its denizens.

"Must do something!!!! Must be outside and make most of every single ounce of sunshine and warmth! Warm weather will not last! Every man for himself, except that we must enjoy this gloriousness collectively!"

I’m predisposed to this frantic nature as well.

I have to say, though, that I had such a fun weekend!

On Friday Reid and I had a date (tee hee) and after dinner and a movie we went to the Tonga room at the Fairmont to enjoy drinks and middle-aged people dancing, while it rained from the ceiling into a pool where the band played on a little boat.

Afterwards, we scooted around the city. The night was so warm that we didn’t even have to wear jackets. We scooted past Grace Catherdral, through Nob Hill where we saw the San Francisco Twins walking arm in arm as always, down Polk Street where we saw the Friday night rollerskaters and people out walking around. We rode all the way down to Crissy Field where the bay water was like glass, reflecting the bridge lights in straight lines.

Saturday was hanging out on the Jo-tel roof,


in the Rogue Brewery patio,



and grilling at Reid’s.




Sunday was an amazing bike ride with Shannon from North Beach through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach and Beach Chalet, which shall be called, from here on out, Babies n’ Beer.

(see Shannon with Ocean Beach windmill in the background!)

Babies 'n' Beer! (both were everywhere)


On the way back I stopped at a BBQ in the Haight at Allison and Ellen's house (sometimes called the Haigh-tel but they're not so into that).




But, what happens when the weather is nice in the city is that you get three days where the city enjoys itself in sunshine, and then

suddenly

it tires of it

and the fog rushes back in off the bay.

A welcome respite and pleasant ending to the heat and frantic-ism that the lovely and temporary weather inspires.

It's as if the city is saying, that's it, I've given you this lovely gift. You can go home now, relax, and relish your memories of these wonderful days.

Only in San Francisco

I've been getting a little project off the ground this week.

While I was in a convenience store the other day I heard Bill O'Reilly on a tv giving a tease to an upcoming segment about a Jesus look-a-like contest. The last statement before the commercial was "Only in San Francisco!"

The convenience store owner and I looked at each other and I said "thank goodness for that!"

The quirks of this city are what makes it the character it is. From the buffalo in Golden Gate Park, to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Bay to Breakers, this place is full of color and people doing just what they want to.

I see evidence of it every day, including this photo from a walk home through Chinatown.

So, inspired by the great blog Paris Daily Photo, I'm starting a new blog dedicated to the quirks of SF with a photo posted as often as I can. I'm not abandoning this blog, though. This one stays as my personal blog.

Here's the new blog: Only in San Francisco!

Panty Party in the Park!

(click this one to view bigger!)


Sunday afternoon a group of girls who normally don't get together without the boys of the Jo-tel gathered in Dolores Park to give Patsy a wedding shower. It's not a great leap to figure out that we were going to drink a lot and get a little crazy.

Patsy's friend Kristin surrounded our blankets with mini-clotheslines of the undies we brought for Patsy. People kept stopping to ask if it was an art project, if they could take a pair for a dare, etc.

We dined on Patsy's favorite foods: Flaming Hot Cheetos, baloney and pickle sandwiches, carrot cake cupcakes, pigs in a blanket. Drinks were champagne, strawberry soda (or Dr. Pepper) and vodka.

Hanging out in the park was fun. We listened to music, talked to each other and the people around us, and experienced not one but TWO naked men.

Lady of the hour


The girls (a few other SF natives--that's rare!)


Little scruffy chihuahua and froofy dog playing.


Deepa

There was a birthday party going on next to us in the park with a bunch of cute gay guys and (we think) cute formerly-guy gals. They were having fun, too. This cowboy decided that we needed a stripper at our bachelorette party and after a few visits, he came over and showed us his (as apparent from this photo) blindingly white ass.


We'd been drinking at the park for about 3 or 4 hours when suddenly, Hip E showed up (Patsy's roommate from the Jo-tel).
Question: What happens when you get a bunch of girls together to celebrate a friend getting married, they get drunk, and then one of your guy friends show up? He becomes the impromptu stripper.
(and entertains not just you guys, but the entire south side of the park)

By the way, at the end that's the cowboy guy from before. He came back over from the birthday party and shook Hip E's hand and told him he had a nice penis.

People around us watching the show...

These people went up the hill to get a better view...

After Patsy threw his boxers up the hill someone was nice enough to give him one of Patsy's new pink-and-frillies to cover up.

Hip E hangs with the girls.




Lounging at the end of the day.

France-Inspired Food for Springtime

I'm feeling another round of cooking coming on.

There are a few meals I ate in France at restaurants and people's houses that have been impossible to find here in the US so lately I've been trying to make them here, or at least food inspired by them.

#1 French Meal--Sausages with Lentils
This is the most simple, and a standard restaurant dish, but somehow I haven't quite gotten it yet. I don't remember all the elements of this dish except that the lentils were saucy and had lardons in them (thick chopped bacon).
This is a really quick-to-make meal. Trader Joe's is carrying pre-cooked and seasoned lentils that are amazing, firm and tasty. So, all you have to do is grill the sausages and serve with the lentils, which can be Frenchly yummified if you chop up a slice or two of bacon, cook that in the pan, and add the lentils to heat without draining off the bacon fat.
It's basically fancy French franks-n-beans.

#2 French version of Moroccan Dish--Lamb and Vegetable Stew with Couscous
This one's complicated. You know how Chinese food and Indian food in America are really Americanized versions of those cuisines (more cream, more fried)? I have a theory that Moroccan food in France (which was ubiquitous) is really a Frenchified version, because I haven't seen this dish anywhere (actually, there aren't that many Moroccan restaurants to begin with). I watched a Moroccan-born French woman prepare part of this and all I really took away was that she used a huge pot to cook the stew that had a steamer in the top for the couscous. And there was a lot of butter in the couscous. I remember that.

Personally, I hate couscous salad. I think it's gross. It's cold, greasy, and way too herby. But warm buttery couscous as a side dish for an earthy meat like lamb is amazing, especially if the meat is juicy and it can soak up some of that.

I have no idea how to make the stew, so I made lamb patties instead with a recipe taken from Food and Wine.
Chopped jalapeno, mint, and green onion mix up the burger. I didn't make the yogurt sauce (I'm simple, I served plain yogurt on the side) but if I was doing it again, I would. Don't overcook the lamb, it should really be pink.

#3 French side dish--Mache salad
The simplest of simple. Mache is an heirloom lettuce that I am SO glad to find in California. I'd never seen it before when I went to France and it was everywhere. I couldn't figure out what it was. They are tiny little leaves with the roots usually still partly on (more like tiny plants). It has a very delicate nutty flavor and all you have to do is drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle a little sea salt on top, then serve. If you want to California-fy it, add a couple slices of avocado.
Yum.

Silliness

Since I've been sick and not doing a whole lot, I'll post some of my favorites from Reid's camera from the past year. There is a lot of silliness.
The one above is my failed attempt to scare Reid around Halloween. That's an Ikea cleaver, by the way. It's sharp.

Fake lashes on a trip to SF when I was still in Colorado. We were at the Balboa Cafe (an SF institution, with bartenders dressed in white jackets and black ties where a lot of SF natives seem to congregate, especially around the holidays).


The NY trip on New Year's, in front of the Rockefeller ice skating rink.


Reid in front of the Museum of Natural History, providing a dramatic glimpse of natural history from the prehistoric era.


In front of the concrete slides above Castro, on a trip back to SF.


The slides.


This was part of a series of photos, but I'm really glad this one in particular was taken because it captured a look that I get from Reid all the time, that simply says, You're bonkers, woman.


Inside a metal sculpture from the amazing Olafur Eliasson exhibit that ended a little while ago at SFMOMA, perfectly titled "Take Your Time".


Dinner after the exhibit. Big lippies!



Halloween party at the Jo-tel. Reid, dressed like this, got out of the cab (which we shared with a crazy lady who covered her ears and rocked when we went through the Broadway tunnel) and a girl on Polk street screamed at him "You're bleeding!" with no humor or irony. People are weird sometimes, I tell ya.


The Hog Island Oyster Company in Inverness, a working oyster farm where you can reserve a picnic table and bbq, and buy oysters straight from the farm. I highly recommend it, but bring blankets; it can get cold!


On a hill near the Randall Museum (in Twin Peaks?).


Another typical Reid-Sosia photo, this from a New Year's party in NY.


Reid's Valentine's Day surprise to me: he grilled steaks at a secret park in Fort Mason with an amazing view of the water. There were candles and tealights all over.


A rare occasion--my brother and his girlfriend in town while I was visiting over the summer. We always end up at Liverpool Lil's when we're together, another SF institution that fits the city perfectly for its cozy warm hippiness (wonderful to come into out of the foggy Presidio), wood-paneled walls, and great drinks.


Here's to being healthy now and doing something fun this weekend!