It was cold, rainy & quite nasty for mid June here in the San Francisco Bay Area. And the bald tires on my old pickup weren’t doing me any favors either. What’s a perfect thing to do on such an afternoon? That’s right, attend some fancy cooking demonstration in The Cellar at Macy’s in San Francisco.
Author Archives: Biggles
Arista Panzanese, Duck Rillettes, Duck Pate with Brandied Prunes – Fatted Calf News
Biggles took the day off, I’d had enough. It’s been two years since I’ve taken a little vacation and now seemed a good time as any. I started the day by heading off to Marin with Paul and Tiny E for some Farmer’s Market Action. I have to say, Paul was right. Thursday rules there, the spread was far better than good. With markets in mind, Saturday’s at Berkeley will be sporting the: Arista Panzanese.We haven’t seen this wonderful roast in quite some time. What this means is you need to show up extra early, pre-10am to get yours secured. Or give them a call. I vouch for the roast personally, it’s amazing. When roasted in the oven the fat skin is crunchy! I used a fancy bread knife to make it go, very nice. The Pork Crepinettes with Duck Liver and Pistachios is something you’d want to consider as well. I can’t pass up even ONE Crepinette, they are the world’s gift to meat. Please take the time to check out their newsletter and get what you love …
New !!! Brianna’s The New American Dressing
Before I come right out and say how much this new salad dressing blows chunks, I feel there is some business to take care of.
First of which is that I’m still not eating much, if any, meat. You bet I’ve had some pork and chicken and goodies in the last month or so, but NOTHING like the previous days. I would also like to add that expect the photography around here to change a bit and this is the first issue (this doesn’t mean it will get better, just different). I know I blew some highlights and could have used a tad more depth of field, but this is what you get when you don’t pay. Over the last 3 weeks I’ve spent some time in the detached garage cleaning, tossing and making a place where anyone can come in and USE it. It will never be a place to dump crap again, that’s saved for the new 10×20 barn. Not only do I have a nice PC installed, but an earthshattering (no kidding) bachelor type stereo system installed and working fine. Along with this all is a place where I can set up a small studio and get some shots done. This one is too basic, one direct light source (the setting sun), sitting on a speaker stand a close friend made 24 years ago with my D70 set up on a tripod. I used the spot metering off the neck and pow, here we are.
Brianna’s New American Dressing doesn’t really taste like much. I waited until we used the entire bottle to say anything. The last week I’ve added more evoo, fancy red wine vinegar and herbs and pepper and and and and. You get the idea. I checked out the ingredients and it isn’t much of anything. Canola oil, herbs spices and stuff that apparently doesn’t matter. Oh, but it says that’s it’s a good source of Vitamin E and there’s no MSG. Oh joy, they care so much. If you care so much, how come you don’t care that it doesn’t taste?
Steer Clear.
Biggles
Deep Thoughts – Meat from Above
He who wants pork, knocks at the gate; he who loves pork finds the gates open.
–Sir Rabindranath Tagore Thakur (1861-1941)
Biggles Eats Salad – It’s got oranges & red onion!
That’s not my plate.
Mama gets the credit for making this one. I picked up a few goodies on the way home. And speaking of stopping by a local market to get some ingredients, what’s up with grocers and where they decide things should go? If I can get away with it, I usually stop by Giovanni’s Produce in El Cerrito. It’s a smallish little neighborhood store with decent stuff and of course, Rick’s Quality Meats. Okay, so we’re talking just a few rows of canned/bottled/boxed goods here, not much. If you want tomato sauce you only have a few choices, which is fine. Okay, one of the things on my list was Red Wine Vinegar. That’s an easy one, the vinegars are over here with the salad dressings, oils AND OTHER VINEGARS, right? Nope. No sir, ain’t there. They got white vinegar and cider, but no red wine vinegar. Looks as though I’m going to have to make another stop, which I don’t want to do. I’m weary from working all day and want to go home. At this point I remember some other things on another shelf on the other side of the store. I’ll check there, just to see. Bingo! There it is, next to all the expensive balsamic vinegar and imported olive oils (2 kinds). GOLDANGIT MAN !!! Why the hell can’t they put the vinegars with the damned vinegars !?!
Wanna see what’s in the salad? Yes, there’s red wine vinegar in it.
Fatted Calf News – Wild Mushroom Crepinettes, Glace de Viande, Pancetta!
Here is a preview of Uncle Wiggly’s Goodtime Sausage, a custom sausage from Taylor at Fatted Calf. I had a meat epiphany the other week and knew what I needed. It’s got 30% fat in there, now that’s love.
And speaking of love, Fatted Calf is doing up some Wild Mushroom Crepinettes this week. I like these cause the mushrooms are left in a fairly decent size, not all minced up and gone. Pick up at least two of those. OH, i’ll be doing something else on Saturday and won’t be attending this week’s Berkeley Farmer Market. Would you go and take my place, please? [pause & reflect] Oh look! They’ve got some Savory Pork Sausage with Greens listed too! Oh, man. Those are delightful, the greens give it such a nice sweet dimension. It’s like eating your vegies and meat all at once! A balanced meal in a casing, how smart is that? Very. Hey, since many of us are going to outdoor parties this weekend, pick up a Guinea Hen Terrine and … HEY, what’s this? Down under the Salumi header, it says, “Petit Sec aux herbs”. Well, Petit is French for small and Sec is French for dry or dryness. So, it’s gotta be some dried, cured meaty treat with herbs in it! I want that NOW. I’ll have to find a way to get me somes. Take care and hope you get out to your local Farmer Market this coming weekend,
Biggles
Our plucky hero is taking a much needed breather, relaxation central.
I wanted to stop by and send my love to ya’ll. By no means is Meathenge Labs in a slump, we’re doing very well. And I have to say, it’s a Big Well. Not only have I asked & received from Fatted Calf my very own customized sausage, but am taking regular days off during the week to hang out and grill and or smoke. I’ve spent more than 7 hours in the garden wreaking havoc with those damned sticky bushes and whatever else was in my way. We have a substantial yard here and it’s a bare slate. So just planting trees and goodies all pell mell won’t do, I have to consider each planting. I’m wanting to do good here, it takes Deep Thought. If that wasn’t enough, I finally (after 5.5 years) have a computer at home! No big deal for most, but it took me over 2 weeks of cleaning, tossing and scrubbing out 20′ x 20′ detached garage to get that going. Today? I’m doing more in the polishing department.
What do I need? I need a certified electrician and all around great person to come by and upgrade the power and help me build a kitchen out here. Anyone hip? I have sausage.
Hugs and love to everyone, Meathenge Cares.
Biggles
Meathenge History Strikes !!!
I’ve been absolutely swamped here at the Labs. So many things going on all day long and into the night, every day. For weeks. One of the many things I’ve been doing is cleaning and going through some family item boxes I’ve been carrying around for over 20 years. Look what my sister found in one of the boxes! I can’t be sure, but this looks my Grampa from way too many years ago. Check out that grill, kinda portable looking huh? It’s too bad those things rust out and go away. That’d be one fine grill to have today.
I promise more real cooking in the near future, but for now? Meatabilia. Enjoy.
Lamb Crepinettes, Stuffed Quail, Duck Pate – Fatted Calf News!
Ms. Tallulah flew in from New Zealand with her parents in tow to find the San Francisco Bay Area having some balmy weather. This spelled GRILL TIME for Biggles. Since I can’t eat meat or very little, any chance to grill a load gives me the chills. I felt bad though, I’m supposed to be taking pictures for Nick, sorry about that. It’s been a far busier week than expected. As you can see, we’re suffering. Hope ya’ll are enjoying the good weather as much as we are. Onward.
OH dear, I was doing fine when I received the Fatted Calf Newsletter. I sawr the stuffed quail and smiled. But it was when my eyes dropped to the Lamb Crepinettes with Nicoise Olives and Red Wine that I came to pieces. Lamb ?!?!??! Nicoise Olives !?! Do you have any idea how good those olives are in sausage? Do you? It’s an amazing, completely unexpected bite. The texture moves right in and gives you a little salty thrill. Don’t miss out, if you only go for the Crepinettes you’re doing better than most. Fatted Calf is sportin’ plenty of great things week, please follow on and read their newsletter. It’s a goodin’.
Summer Berry Baking Class – Shuna Lydon in Santa Rosa California
Ooo, looks like a hands on class too. The rumor is Shuna will be making a galette, crisp, pie and a shortcake. She’s bonkers over Anson Mills flours, so I’m sure this will be a key ingredient.
If you’re on the fence, deciding whether to go or not, jump now. Shuna continues on a regular basis to get rave reviews from her students. You can’t miss, not even once. Heck, if you have a group of your friends that would like to be instructed in your own home, contanct Shuna. She’ll be there. Besides, who doesn’t love berries? This is a chance to see how it’s done or polish your already intact skill set. She can help.
Date: Monday June 6th
Time: 6pm Sharp!
Where: Sur La Table in Santa Rosa
Price: $65
Register Today!
Biggles
Side Dish Comin’ – Bake Fried Taters – Breakfast & Supper
OoooOo, there’s nothing earth shattering here. I was having such a good afternoon a few days ago. It turns out there is ONE thing on FoodTV that I found worth watching. Jamie Oliver’s first season is being shown again. And before you go off on your Jamie hate spew (he deserves it), his first season rocks. He had the same production crew that the Two Fat Ladies used (I miss them SO MUCH). Anyhoo, Jamie was roasting sliced potatoes in a large roaster. I believe he was going to layer in some kind of fish situation. Man, that sounded like such an easy way to have Fried Potatoes. And it was, easy. And it was, yummy. Interested?
Fatted Calf Memorial Day Meat – Fatted Calf Newsletter
It’s all I can do from going on a long unintelligible rant at this moment. Oops, too late. I’ll be as brief as I can, then on to MEAT.
The Launch: Day Two – The Lafayette Bookstore
No yelling this time and we’ll get back to talking about meat very soon, I promise.
After Saturday’s hurried pace I thought I should wrap things up and let everyone know how Day 2 went. The pace for the entire day was far nicer for me, it started with a 3 hour hike out at Pt. Pinole with the family. This put me home with just enough time to shower, pack up and get out the door. I knew HWY 80 would be packed, back out through El Sobrante I went. The temperature hung out at about 76 degrees all the way, very nice. The Lafayette Bookstore is right off HWY 24 and very easy to get to, I even got to park right out front. Not like Berkeley, where you need to park, then hike in. Stephanie and her husband Mark were out front relaxing. Owen our publisher/author showed up and got things moving. Ellen showed up soon after. Dave, Mr. Bookstore owner, set up about 20 chairs, made the place real official looking. Owen announced he was going to do a demonstration on how to make tea properly, since he was born in Michigan after all.
It was time to begin! We had our schtick down pretty well after Saturday’s long haul. Each author got up and got to read a selection from the book, Owen demonstrated his fancy tea makings and after we did a little question & answer period. We even got to talk about our worst screw up ever. Stephanie panicked when she couldn’t find the legs or wings on a turkey breast and I shared about the time I country fried a pork spare rib. Eeek.
Unlike Saturday, this jaunt was only an hour and a half or so. It was a good time had by all, we got to sign books and talk with customers that wandered in. Speaking of wandering in, Big D and the Bitner family showed up! Very nice cause we went out to dinner aftwards, enjoyable.
Owen is smart, very smart. He chose the best authors’ best writings to publish. How can you go wrong with that? I suppose you could, but not very bloody likely. The layout and design of the book has been very well thought out. The indexing (a very important point, it’ll make or break you) is done 3 different ways. You can search by blog, by title of recipe and by main ingredient. 3 indexes pally boy, that’s very cool. This book is filled with recipes and stories both silly, serious and prolific. This book will do well.
Owen has most certainly learned a lot and will continue doing well. If you are interested in purchasing a book here, please place your a Order.
And that, pretty much handles that. I’m sure there will be more public signings down the road. Take care and keep yer ears peeled.
Biggles
Digital Dish Book Signing, Saturday done!
Photograph courtesy of Peggy the most awesome woman of all time.
Wow, is pretty much how that went. The Berkeley Farmers’ Market is a pretty low key situtation to begin with. This is one of the reasons I choose to hang out here, the quality of the vendors and customers is quite high. The prices vary quite a bit, but this is to be expected. The best part was that I got to hang out in my home town/market for the offical celebration day.
Our crew were nestled in with the regular vendors (it was free Strawberry Tasting Day), we had theatre seating along with some loudspeaker setup. We stood out, but it was okay. Owen took the head and lead us through readings, demonstrations and the handing out of literature. Biggles don’t know nothin’, I got two strong arms. Biggles can help.
The best part was when my friend Paul and his wife Peggy showed up with his home smoked Chipotle chile peppers. Not only did I score big time (he included a great recipe) but this gave Owen some unexpected ingredients for his surprise Strawberry Salsa (I have penty left Paul, thanks mang).
Thank you,
Biggles
Digital Dish – Public Book Signing Events !!!
Busy day around here eh? Oui. This coming weekend, May 21 & 22nd 4 of us Authors (because we’re local to the publisher) will be hanging out signing Digital Dish books for everyone who buys one. Read on:
Press For Change Publishing Presents …
Five Seasons of the Freshest Recipes and Writing from Food Blogs Around the World
Saturday May 21st at 11:30AM at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market at Center Ave and M. L. King Way in downtown Berkeley, two blocks from Berkeley BART station. Four of the authors who live in the Bay Area will talk about the book and do signings.
Come stop by your local Farmer’s Market, take a tour around the world of cooking from Singapore, Australia, France, Austria, England, Canada, the US and more. Find out about how to fry wine or create a traditional Singapore New Year’s feast, throw a South African Braai or even what to do with Marmite! Get a copy of the book, buy some farm-fresh organic produce and give your cooking a jolt!
AND !!!
Sunday May 22nd at 4PM at the Lafayette Bookstore, 3579 Mt. Diablo Boulevard in downtown Lafayette.
Digital Dish is published right here in Lafayette, so why not stop by your local independent bookstore? Four of the authors who live in the Bay Area will talk about the book and do signings.
Show your support and comon by!
Biggles