Monthly Archives: April 2007

04.28.07
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Can’t Eat Film

Last July I volunteered to become an intern in the Publicity Department of the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS), knowing that my service would reach fulfillment in the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF50). Having worked the 49th as a Festival Volunteer, I wanted to experience the 50th from the inside.

My group’s major activity culminated with a Press Conference on April 3rd, when all of the Festival films were announced to the public.

Now, we’re “in the field.” On April 25th, our office moved lock, stock, computers, catalogs and screeners to the Sundance Cinemas Kabuki, an old 8 screen theater in Japantown, recently bought and remodeled by Sundance Cinemas, a spin-off, along with the Sundance Channel, of Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival.

So now I’ll be either working at the festival or watching some films, so there won’t be much cooking and eating, let alone writing about it.

On the other hand, you’re invited to visit my family website, where I’m writing about my film experiences.

Remember that menu of the week that filled this space a while back?
Here’s what it looks like this week.

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Where’s the eats?

04.23.07
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Primo’s Saltimbocca

“Melissa’s grandfather Primo ate the Saltimbocca on a regular basis—his favorite dish, in fact— and the one dish Melissa never takes off the menu, for this reason.“Pork loin pounded thin, sautéed, served on a tall bed of garlic mashed potatoes with a sage Madeira shiitake sauce and a garnish of shaved Parma ham on top. The way Primo liked to eat it.”

Primo’s Saltimbocca as described in the story of Melissa Kelly’s Primo Restaurant in Rockland, Maine, in The Reach of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman.

Made me hungry, so I assembled the ingredients.

Here’s what I did:

Pounded two boneless pork loin chops thin

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pounded_pork.jpg Continue reading →

04.20.07
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Tale of Two Salads

Sometime in 2001

Before leaving for work, Carol said, “I’m going to be late coming home and you’re going to be late, so we’ve got all the stuff, there’s the leftover Flank Steak, and a bag of spinach, that avocado, cherry tomatoes and stuff in the vegetable drawer, so we’ll throw together a Steak Salad.”

“Great,” sez I.

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I was tired coming home, after closing the store at nine. It was about quarter to ten and Carol was watching The West Wing, the recipient of many Emmy Awards, recently. She said she had been too hungry, and had eaten about 9 o’clock, and presented me with the big wooden salad bowl. In it was lots of spinach, some cherry tomatoes, bits of celery and scallion. Near the stove, she pointed to a plate with some steak and mushrooms that had been sauteed in butter. “Just heat these in the skillet, throw them warm on the greens, slice this half-avocado on top, throw on some Newman’s, and there you have it.” Continue reading →

04.14.07
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Hungry and Tired? Go for the Pasta

Kinda Sorta Pasta Primavera
Tuesday’s Dinner

I got home late from the Film Society, hungry. Carol is off at the toney Westerbeke Ranch on a “retreat” with her cohorts, no doubt dining on a gourmet dinner.

My weekly menu says leftover something. So I do what any guy would do, open the refrigerator. (Some guys might reach for the Chinese delivery menu, and I have done that on many occasions such as this.) Here’s what I found:

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Some leftover spaghetti from last Thursday’s spaghetti with Tuscan meat sauce, A partial head of cauliflower and a partial head of broccoli from Saturday’s salmon dish. About a cup of my San Marzano tomato sauce, pretty much always on hand, stored in one of the handy POM Tea jars.

I can put together a kinda sorta pasta primavera, and add some ever-present Jimmy Dean hot sausage from the meat drawer.

This looks a lot my Saturday Brunch entry or Sunday Supper from a while back, but it just goes to show that eats for one has an enduring life, from the planned and precise to the thrown-together quickly, as long as I remember to take pictures. Continue reading →

04.09.07
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Dinner This Week

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A ways back, I wrote about my Food Book.

Well, the electronic age caught up with me. I now have a folder on the iMac that contains recipes for the meals I want to cook this week, a menu document and a menu history document. The menu history may seem a little narcissistic but sometimes I remember something for dinner a few weeks ago—what the hell was it—and I can page back and find it. Or, what did we have the last time whosis was here?

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Menu posted.

(On the right, time of day in San Francisco and France.) Continue reading →

04.07.07
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Saturday Brunch

On Saturdays I have time to make whatever I want to eat after the Market. When putting away stuff in the refrigerator, old stuff has to be juggled or taken out so the new stuff fits. This taking out can be an opportunity for what to eat for brunch. (I do this alone, as C will already have eaten a big breakfast while I’m at the Market.) And there’s also the possibility of throwing stuff out, but I hate to do that.

So today, I threw out some leftover garlic mashed potatoes, about half a cup in a way too large container, taking up way too much space, which weren’t very good in the first place.

Oh, but look what I found:

sat_brunch_prep.jpg Continue reading →

04.04.07
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Chili: My Top Five

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I am a chili lover.

Having “discovered” the slow cooker for perfectly cooked beans (thanks Joan), I spied a recipe for Rancho Gordo Chili Con Carne on the Rancho Gordo blog. It was Friday, so the next day, Market Day at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, I stopped by the Rancho Gordo stand and got the necessary Good Mother Stallard Beans and Mexican Oregano. I was able to find the Negra Modelo beer at Whole Food.

I slow cooked the beans and then assembled the chili in a conventional pot. Yum.

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Over the years, I settled on my top four chili recipes, dating back to the 80’s and 90’s, but I’m always on the lookout for a new one. The Rancho Gordo just made the list for its simplicity and pure, rich chili taste. Now I have a Top Five. Here they are, listed alphabetically. I can’t rank them because though they are all built around chili powder, they are very different from one another. The recipes for each follow the discussion.
Continue reading →