Also, I don’t care if your cows were hand-fed organic grain to fatten them up before they end up as a steak; I want a steak that has spent its life eating grass. Cows dig grass. They’re built to eat grass. Grain is not a natural thing for cows to eat. They can’t digest it properly. Jeez, this isn’t rocket science. I also don’t care if they’re Wagyu breed cows; if you make them eat grain & cram them into a pen, shank-deep in their own filth, then I don’t want to eat that either. The humane treatment of animals is more important than a quick buck. I have no problems with responsible animal husbandry, I love to eat meat, most of my many shoes & handbags are leather, but the idea of forcing an animal to eat something it can’t digest without the aid of medication, just to make it fatter and ready for slaughter faster is just plain mean. For the record, yes I will eat foie gras, but that’s a whole other battle against the hippies…..

See! This grass-eating cow is as happy as a pig in mud.

*Disclaimer: this blog entry is not based on any scientific research into current animal husbandry or farming techniques. I do realise that the leather goods I buy are probably not made from organic leather, but I figure I eat more meat than I buy shoes, so it’s a start.

*Disclaimer #2. I may indeed have more leather shoes & bags than I realised, but I simply refuse to wear plastic, or Polyurethane, which is probably made from horrid chemicals anyway.

Commonwealth follows a benevolent business model, wherein $10 from every sale of their tasting menu (a ridiculously modest $65) is donated to local charity. The charities vary from month to month, and is, I think, a very generous proportion of the total menu cost to contribute. The calibre of the menu, and the integrity and quality of ingredients used here certainly don’t indicate a not-for-profit, PC charity-case experience, and indeed it is not! Rather it is a very stylish, “Progressive American” restaurant whose cuisine relies on local, seasonal, sustainable, carefully selected and prepared ingredients, a thoughtful and reasonably priced wine list, and respectful and  caring attitude for the city in which it prospers.

Off to a cracking start! A light, tasty amuse bouche to share!

You know you are in for a treat when you sit down, glass of excellent Californian Chardonnay in hand, waiting for the meal, and a bowl of house made potato chips, dusted with seaweed, and served with a bowl of lighter than air malt vinegar mousse hits the table to whet your appetite. Salt & Vinegar chips! Yes! I’d be happy to eat this with every aperitif I ever have.

The a la carte menu is an intoxicatingly appealing selection of “mid” dishes, of which one can choose as many or as few as one would like. I wanted to eat every single one of them, and at between $11 and $16 a plate, if I had the appetite, it wouldn’t have been a ridiculous strain on the wallet.

First dish; radishes three ways with salad, sunflower seeds & freeze-dried goat milk butter

We chose three courses each, (with only one double up I think between the three of us) and after the second course there were murmurs across the table that one visit wasn’t going to be enough.

My only criticism of my first course was there was too much! It was presented on a slate platter, and the freeze-dried goat milk butter was sublime; airy & light on the palate, with a lovely gentle goaty flavour. I adore radishes, especially with butter, so this was right up my alley.

Another of my "Oh wait, photo!" half eaten shots. I like to think it adds a feeling of being there to the shot.....

My next course was grilled squid, ham hock, bacalao croquette, cilantro pesto. Fantastic!

After another bottle of sublime Californian wine ( small vineyard Verdelho), another course, and a shared dessert of Lemon Sponge Cake, Thyme Ice Cream, Candied Honey & Creme Fraiche, all delightfully strewn in artful abandon about the plate, and a freebie from our delightful waiter of Tonka Bean Frozen Yoghurt, Strawberries, Rhubarb & Anise Stresuel, we were done. And ready for more. We asked if there were any tables free for the following night, because, we were nowhere near done with eating that menu! Luckily, we could come again the following night at 9pm. HURRAH!

Ocean Trout Tartare, purlsane, beets, sorrel, frozen horseradish & creme fraiche

The next night was just as good, and the welcome even warmer. It may have been this dish which was part of the tasting menu which we saw land on the table next to us, and which my sister was graciously allowed to have as an a la carte dish the second night, which tempted us for a second sitting, but everything was great. If we had the time, I would have been up for thirds.

Morel mushrooms, snap peas, smoked turnip, amaranth, sheep milk veil. Utterly delicious.

The quality of the produce, and the care and pride with which they were served were extraordinary, and the floor staff were warm, relaxed, friendly and knowledgable. Plus I had a sublime dish featuring fresh morels, which are almost unobtainable in Australia, not to mention breathtakingly expensive.

And then there was the sea urchin dish.

Again. Too greedy to take a photo of the dish in it's "chef-fresh" glory. I think you get the idea though...

A generous serve of rich, luscious sea urchin roe atop soft scrambled eggs, asparagus, and seaweed brioche, with the subtle bite of jalapeno peppers, and brown butter as the finishing touch to a truly delectable plate.

Next time I’m planning to be in San Francisco, I’m booking a table for the tasting menu here before I book my flight. There are a couple of other bookings I’ll be making too, but that’s another story….

Despite it's hip, progressive vibe, San Francisco still lures in those looking to "tune in, turn on and drop out". And wear tie-dye.

The really exciting thing for me, though, was to eat Californian Cuisine. The whole idea of fusing different cultures on a plate, eating locally, sustainably & seasonally was arguably born here, and brought to the fore by luminaries of the food world such as Alice Waters and Thomas Keller. And I wasn’t disappointed. We ate like kings, for not very much money, and for this reason alone I would travel back to San Francisco time and time again.

Toasted Walnut bread with Humboldt Fog goat cheese at Tartine Bakery. Fresh apple slices on the side. Simple, and so very very good.

From pizza, toasted sandwiches, ice-cream cones, and salad bar lunches, to multi-course restaurant menus, everything was delicious. The emphasis and pride in locally grown and produced ingredients was evident everywhere, and I rejoiced in tasting fresh morel mushrooms, local cheeses and breads, wines, fruit, vegetables, meats, seafoods and more!

A visit to a small weekday Farmer’s Market revealed sublime cherries & peaches, a myriad of heirloom tomato varieties, and gorgeous little new potatoes, leeks, carrots, radishes, mushrooms &  a whole lot more. Despite having a full kitchen at our disposal, we chose mostly to eat out, as it was so cheap, and so very, very good.

Gorgeous baby carrots. Almost the colours of the rainbow. Very San Francisco.

I will write some individual posts on some of the outstanding meals we enjoyed, and leave you in the meantime with some lovely pictures of glorious San Francisco produce. I salute you San Francisco! Your commitment to the environment is commendable by means of your unsurpassed recycling programme, in which not only paper, glass, & plastic are recycled, but wherein composting bins are provided for every household, hotel, and even food court, which are collected and mass-composted by the city. BRAVO!

The imperfections in these heirloom tomatoes, make them the perfect tomatoes to me.

I wanted to grab these radishes, cut them in half, smear them with creamy cultured butter, season wildly with sea salt and eat until I could physically eat no more.

It was a faithful travel companion, never whining, always happy to do exactly what I wanted to do, and to record the events for posterity. Unfortunately, posterity can only be achieved when one has a back-up friend to store all of those lovely memories in photo form. Sadly, when my travel companion bit the dust in a puddle of Pinot Gris, all of those lovely photos went with it.

I’m afraid I am a hard-hearted Hannah, because my first course of action the next day was to hot-foot it to the Apple Store to replace my loyal friend. Cold? Maybe. But I have a new friend now, and soon to come an external hard-drive thingy ( or whatever the iNerd techno-term for it is) to preserve these precious memories forever. Of course, I never had this problem with old-school photo albums, but I am determined to shed my Luddite tendencies, and move with the times, baby! Of course, like a true Luddite, I’m already behind the times; I don’t even have an iPhone! Hard to believe I know, but I’m making great leaps with my new friend the MacBook Pro. Shiny. New. Fast. Lovely.

We’re firm friends already, although Monsieur Pro is a wee bit demanding, already asking where to store the back-up info he already has  ready & waiting in the Time Machine. Don’t you love that? He has a Time Machine for all my stuff, and wants to know where to put it already! After only 4 days together. He’s a keeper. Can’t wait to give him new photos, music & TV shows, and to take him to Paris. Just think of the things he can share & store for me!

I think Alice sums it up quite nicely.

She really laid the foundations for the way in which we eat today, and I see her much as a modern-day Elizabeth David, in that her way of thinking about food released us from fuddy-duddy traditions, and celebrates fresh, simple food. Her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in the university town of Berkeley, California, has been feeding happy diners fresh, local, simply cooked food since 1971, and in 1996 established the Chez Panisse Foundation, the main focus of which was the Edible Schoolyard programme at the Martin Luther King Jr Middle School in Berkeley, and a push for healthy school lunches. A one acre kitchen garden was established, and students grow and cook their own food in the garden and adjoining kitchen. This idea has certainly influenced Stephanie Alexander’s  School Kitchen Garden Project in Melbourne, Michelle Obama’s White House kitchen garden, and even Jamie Oliver’s crusade to transform school lunches in the UK and the US.

I was recently lucky enough, thanks to my friend Penny, to visit the Edible Schoolyard, and later dine at Chez Panisse. The kitchen garden was fantastic, and in the late afternoon when we visited, the wood-fired oven was still warm, presumably from the student’s lunch. Lovely.

Wood-fired oven still warm from some lucky students' lunch.

Artichokes ready for harvest, and lunch, in the Edible Schoolyard.

Dinner at Chez Panisse was delicious. I started with a very simple Baked Andante Dairy goat cheese with garden lettuces ($10). Two rounds of goat cheese, crumbed with sourdough crumbs, baked until warm & slightly oozy, with a beautifully dressed selection of lettuce leaves. A nod to the classic French Salade au Fromage de Chevre, with the breadcrumbs replacing the crouton. One of my favourite things to make at home, and this version was superb.

Main course was Wood-oven Roasted Spicy Squid with Fennel, Cannellini Beans, Chorizo & Chilli & Parsley Oil ($19.00). The squid was tender and damned tasty, and the spice of the oil combined beautifully with the perfectly cooked cannellini beans, smoky chorizo & meltingly soft fennel.

So very, very tasty.

The food here is certainly not innovative, or groundbreaking, but that’s not the point. It is food prepared simply, with care, using excellent produce, and this is really what Alice Waters is talking about. Of course, her approach is quite European in using local, seasonal ingredients and preparing them in a way to enhance their natural flavour and texture rather than smother or transform them, but in a country like America, where convenience is king, she, like Elizabeth David, brought these simple ideas to the fore, and encouraged people to eat this way, and I thank her for that.

I was beguiled at work today by some new packets of sliced San Daniele Prosciutto, and envisaged a lovely plate of salad leaves, dotted here and there with torn pieces of Fior di Latte cheese, a few basil leaves, and the lovely prosciutto draped lovingly over the top, drizzled with a vinaigrette. Sounds lovely doesn’t it? Simple, tasty, quick to prepare; indeed the perfect dinner.

Gossamer thin, beautifully pink with a lovely binding of white fat, begging to be eaten

Were it not for the cool weather, and a slight sniffle, I would have enjoyed this very much for dinner. Prevailing conditions, however, called for something hot & comforting. My Guide-y senses sprang into action, and I turned some caramelised onions loitering in the fridge, wine, pepper, beef stock, bread & cheese into this:

The pear is just to pretend that this meal had a healthy component.

The moral of this story is twofold. Firstly BE PREPARED! It will save your life, and more importantly, it will make you a delicious dinner. Secondly, when you’re caramelising onions, make plenty because you can keep the leftovers in the fridge and make quick French Onion Soup to soothe your soul and warm you up on a cool Autumn night. They’re also good as a base for a quick pasta sauce, casserole, or warmed and spooned over a grilled steak.

I’m thinking of starting my very own Guide troop for grown-ups, emphasising the importance of the “Be Prepared” motto. The uniform will, of course, be something fabulous in basic black, and merit badges will be awarded for the following:

*Pantry Badge. – for having adequate stocks in both fridge & pantry to make a number of meals. (NB: additional badge available for booze preparedness).

* Smart Traveller Badge – bulk buying favourite French cosmetics, socks, tights, sea salt etc cheaply whilst abroad.

* Leftover Badge – for demonstrating making an entirely new dish from leftovers.

* Blackout Badge – for having torch, candles, charged mobile & laptop, and plenty of ice for G&T in case of blackout.

* G&T Badge – for having plenty of gin and tonic on hand. NB: Booze Badge is for wine, champagne & other spirits only.

Any suggestions for other grown-up Be Prepared Badges? Please do let me know and I might might make you a Patrol Leader. You will have to supply your own whistle though I’m afraid.

Apologies for the Cluedo references, I got a little carried away! Anyway, I do love mustard and use it in sandwiches, casseroles, braises, dressings & sauces; hell, I’d eat it straight from the jar in heaping spoonfuls if the ensuing heartburn wasn’t guaranteed to kill me! I am somewhat of a mustard purist though, preferring good old Dijon, or French grain mustard. Not for me, thank you, those infused with semi-dried tomatoes, honey, herbs or whatnot. If I want those flavours, I can add them myself thank you very much. With the obvious exception of semi-dried tomatoes; I don’t live in 1986. Of course, with every stringent rule I apply to my kitchen and pantry, there is an exception which breaks this rule.

I left the fingerprints on the lid as evidence for the excellent Colonel Mustard

The esteemed Tetsuya Wakuda-San sure knows how to pick them! This is made in Tasmania, using locally grown mustard seeds and wasabi, and is bursting with the flavour of fresh mustard seed, and the slow, languid burn of just enough wasabi, although it is perhaps the tiniest bit sweet for my taste. No matter, it’s really good straight from the jar adorning a juicy piece of grilled steak or salmon. Because there are no preservatives, I will have to use this rather quickly before it loses its pungency and colour, although, frankly, it’s so delicious I don’t see it lingering for long before I have to buy another jar.

Tetsuya’s Tasmanian Wasabi Mustard, I hereby promote you to Brigadier Mustard, and despite your slightly sweet nature, I’m sure you will prove invaluable in the trenches.

So I am deeeeeelighted now that the evenings have turned cooler, and I really feel like cooking again. In honour of Autumn, I made soup tonight. A lovely green soup of watercress, pea and mint. To counter the austerity of all green vegetables and herbs, I slowly sautéed some onions in some butter (who am I kidding? It was a lot of butter), and when they were melty and fragrant, but not browned, I added some diced potato, chicken stock, a smashed garlic clove, salt & pepper. When the potatoes were almost cooked through, in went some picked watercress, frozen peas & a few mint leaves. On a side note, picking watercress off the plant is one of those really annoying, fiddly jobs, like stripping thyme leaves, which I abhor. The effort, though is worth it because I do love the peppery zing of watercress, and the “good with everything” herbiness of thyme.

A little creme fraiche, some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and you're good to go

After simmering for about 15 minutes, and a good old whizzing in the faithful blender, it went green and luscious into the bowl with some creme fraiche, a little olive oil, and the obligatory herb sprig. Naturally, one cannot eat soup with a little Chouquette baguette on the side. So, I had a little baguette on the side because I am firmly on the side  of sticking to protocol.

Thank you Autumn for finally arriving. I have many, many more kitchen plans for you which involve braising, stewing, stock simmering, soup making and roasting. Better get some more baguettes with which to mop it all up. It’s good for the environment you know; saves water when washing up….

Doing my bit for the environment. Green soup and a clean bowl.

Tasty!

On a balmy evening in BrisVegas, I decided to make some Vietnamese-esque cold rolls as I couldn’t face anything hot. I found the bargain of the day accompaniment at Woolies of all places. Poonsin (this makes me giggle, don’t ask me why) Spring Roll Dipping Sauce. This is not something I would usually buy, preferring to concoct my own, but I present the case for the defence in the matter of Poonsin V Homemade:

Ingredients: Water, Fructose, Sugar, Fish Sauce, Vinegar, Carrot, Chilli, Garlic, Tapioca Starch, Salt.

No scary stuff, No MSG or unidentifiable chemical ingredients, pretty dang tasty as a dipping sauce, no chopping of eye and nose searing chillies, no measuring. The best part, though, is the price tag. $2.06.

I rest my case.

Parisienne Baguettes - they know they're the best.

The most memorable thing I ate in Paris on my last trip was not a slab of silky foie gras glistening with Fleur de Sel, nor the Ladurée macarons, nor the incomparable Steak Frites at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte, but a sandwich. A sandwich I made in my tiny studio apartment before I left for the airport with the last of my Paris baguette, some raw-milk salted butter, and some saucisson. I took this precious sandwich to the airport with me, knowing that airport food is dire, and that I would have an hour or so to kill after check-in, before boarding.

I sat in possibly the world’s ugliest airport, just outside possibly the world’s most beautiful city, on a plastic bench, hand luggage at my feet, feeling quite disconsolate at having to leave, and ate a delicious sandwich.  Call me a sentimental old fool if you like, but the sheer quality of those three simple ingredients: great bread, hand-made raw-milk butter, and fat slices of a saucisson (cured pork sausage) seasoned to perfection with the finest French salt, Fleur de Sel, still brings a tear to my eye. The glass of cheap Rosé I bought to accompany the feast didn’t help either….