It has been way too long since I last wrote. I have been on a roller coaster ride since the new year began, and from the looks of it, it does not seem to be slowing down. I thought I would use this blog to give you a little update of what we have been up to!

We had a great posting by Daily Candy at the beginning of the year which led to many of you discovering Cook! SF for the first time. I love the illustration that they have done.

Following this, I had a little cooking session with Nick Smith on View From The Bay. He came over to our kitchen and made a really yummy Valentines dinner with Stuffed Quails, and Valhorna Molten Chocolate Cakes – the works! If you are interested, you can still check out the video.

I have most recently been pre-occupied with the launch of our Family Dinners. Children rejoice! Following emails and feedback from some of our dedicated subscribers looking for more options each week, and dinners that their children can indulge in, we are launching Family Dinners in May.

Still using the same fresh organic ingredients, prepped and ready for you to cook, Family Dinners is about food that the family can enjoy together, larger portions priced for the whole family. Familiar favorites such as Mom’s Meatloaf made with all-natural beef should be a winner, and dinners such as fajitas and tacos that children can have fun putting together should make dinner a light-hearted affair.

It has been great over the last few months as we designed and cook all the different entrées, taking photographs so that we can share with you our mouth-watering dinners. We have also partnered up with Michelle Stern from What’s Cooking to bring to you some of her family friendly recipes. I am really excited about what Michelle does. She offers healthy cooking classes for kids all throughout the Bay Area. This is such a great way to introduce children to cooking as a fun activity, and eating healthy too.

Do check out our family menu and I would love to hear from you if you have any family favorites you would like us to feature!

Bon Appetit!

Looks like the Christmas gift buying season is in full gear this year before our Thanksgiving turkey is digested. So I’m trying to get my act together when it comes to holiday gifts before I hear carols on the radio.

Plus, I’m competing in a week-long fencing tournament in Singapore in early December, which really cuts down on my shopping time. I’ll tell you more about my tournament and what I eat in Singapore in a later blog.

Selecting the perfect gift is nearly impossible when it seems as though a loved one already has everything. So rather than another scarf, book or spatula, I now give experiential gifts. For me, gifts that provide an experience are much more fun to give – because I’ve done more than just plunk down my credit card. And the recipient is getting something they’ll truly enjoy. Even better, these types of gifts can also create shared memories that last a lifetime.

First on my list is my mother-in-law (hey, I’m no dummy!) My husband and I know what kind of music she likes, so we’re going to create some compilation CDs for her. She works from her home office, so these will be wonderful background music during her busy day. Her next Christmas gift - since she’s visiting from Boston - is a long weekend with us in Healdsburg .

We’ve lined up a dinner at Cyrus one of my favorite Bay Area restaurants – and a Michelin two star winner. The food is excellent, the service is conscientious with a sense of humor, and the entire place is classy without being ostentatious or pretentious.

We have also planned a wine-tasting event at Swansons Vineyards in Oakville, which is great for their cabernet sauvignon, Alexis. They do a fancy sit-down wine-tastings with hors d’oeuvres and caviar a real step-up from most wine tastings.

So this holiday season, if you want to join my quest for experiential gifts, here are some great ideas:

• Something for the Belly – A gift certificate from Cook! SF is a great stocking stuffer! For new parents, this is a godsend as it means they can enjoy a restaurant quality dinner at home while still adjusting to the schedule of taking care of a baby. It is also great for someone who may be making a New Year’s resolution to eat healthy or to start cooking more at home. We use organic and natural ingredients, and we also introduce new dishes every month so it is a perfect way to ease into cooking at home.

• Something for the Body - Give a gift certificate for a massage, a facial, a pilates class, a yoga class, or weight training sessions with a personal instructor. These are all great ways to help your loved one get healthy in the New Year! Bernal Heights Yoga has a very dedicated following in my neighborhood. I am also a big fan of the triple oxygen treatment at Bliss.

• Something for the Mind –Give your favorite entrepreneur a gift certificate at Kiva.org. an organization that connects the giver to the receiver in the form of micro-loans. You lend money to aspiring entrepreneurs from around the world so they can start their own business and get out of poverty. This is all about teaching someone to fish instead of just giving them fish – with a concept that rocks! Go to www.kiva.org to learn more.

• Something for the Earth - Lindsay Olives launches a new holiday giving tradition – a beautiful Manzanilla olive tree that adds a natural touch to this year’s gift giving and festive décor. The live tree delivers two gifts at once – in addition to being a beautiful gift for home or garden, proceeds from the tree sales go to the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (FTPF), a unique non-profit charity dedicated to planting edible, fruitful trees and plants worldwide to help needy populations and benefit the environment. The tree is $50 plus shipping and available at www.lindsayolives.com or by calling 800-765-2029. Learn more about FTPF at www.ftpf.org

What are you giving this year – I’d love to know.

Happy cooking,

Nona

Bread stuffing is one of my all-time favorite Thanksgiving dishes. I always loved the stuffing in the turkey – because it ‘soaks up’ the turkey flavor - better than when it’s cooked as separate casserole. However, a few years ago I abandoned stuffing the bird in favor of getting a juicier breast. Having the stuffing in the turkey means that the stuffing needs to be cooked thoroughly – which requires a longer time in the oven. And this often translates to a dry, overcooked breast. But I’ve learned how to prepare really flavorful stuffing, even if it is cooked in a casserole dish.

I still remember my first bread stuffing. A disaster. I used supermarket ‘breadcrumbs-in-a-box’ – these over salted crumbs are too small for stuffing, so it didn’t ‘hold together.’ It was an absolute disaster and had to be thrown out. Even if we had a dog, I’m not sure she would have eaten it! Since then, I have learned a few tricks from chef friends about making delicious bread stuffing. I’m happy to share them:

• Obviously, DO NOT buy boxed stuffing or bread crumbs from the supermarket.
• Use stale bread. Stale bread is dryer and soaks up liquid better. (This is the same concept when making French toast or English bread pudding. They soak up the liquid better and taste much better.)
• If you only have fresh bread, dry it out in the oven at low temperature - 300 for about 20 minutes.
• Not for white bread only – use any type of bread from sourdough to whole meal with walnuts – even chestnut bread! I made a wonderful chestnut bread stuffing for Christmas a few years ago. The flavor of the bread boosts the flavor of the gravy. Try cornbread!
• Once the bread is dry or stale, don’t turn the bread into crumbs. Instead, cube it.!
• Remember to add chicken stock or turkey stock to your bread stuffing. This helps the stuffing stick together and become moist and tasty as it bakes. You can even add little stock during the baking time to mimic the juices the stuffing absorbs when it’s in the turkey.
• Bacon or sausages? The advantage to using sausages is that they continue to ooze out juices while stuffing is baking, whereas bacon is either crisp already or oozes fat and oil into the stuffing. Sausage is much tastier!
• Be bold - jazz up your stuffing with nuts – pine nuts, walnuts, pecans, or even peanuts add delicious flavor and crunch.
• Fruity stuffing? If you like your stuffing on the sweet side simply add raisins, chestnuts, dates or chopped dried apricots.

For more interesting ideas about bread stuffings, be sure to see November’s issue of Bon Appetit. http://www.epicurious.com/bonappetit/features/ultimate_thanksgiving_guide#stuffing

I’d love to learn your stuffing secrets – are you an ‘innie’ or an ‘outie’?
My family wishes yours a very happy thanksgiving,

I’m a Singapore native, so I didn’t grow up with American holidays. But from my first bite of roasted turkey and cranberry, I took to Thanksgiving like gravy on mashed potatoes.

My first American Thanksgiving was almost a decade ago when I visited my boyfriend’s (Derek - now my husband) family in Lexington, Massachusetts. There, I experienced the whole shebang – with roasted turkey, smooth-as-silk gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans, Brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes. Dinner stretched out over four hours. Fortunately, this feast was followed by an hour walk to the Minuteman Statue on the Lexington Battle Green before we tucked into my future mother-in-law’s home-made pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pecan pie.

I roasted my first turkey on Christmas Day in London several years ago and learned a lesson that rings true today: instant-read thermometers rule! Unfortunately I didn’t have one, so Derek and I argued about whether or not the turkey was cooked, poking and prodding it until we were both satisfied. An instant-read thermometer would have answered the ‘is it done yet?’ question immediately.

Instant-read thermometers are key to a perfectly roasted turkey. The most convenient, but most expensive, is the remote controlled digital thermometer with a probe. You stick the probe into the turkey, and then set the temperature before putting the turkey in the oven. The remote control beeps when the turkey reaches the temperature you’ve set. This is a dinner-saver for the forgetful and eliminates opening and closing the oven to regularly take the turkey’s temperature.. However, a basic instant-read thermometer will still do the job.

Here are some other helpful tips learned from my in-laws:

• Estimate about 1 lb of turkey per person. But no matter how many you’re serving, be sure the bird is at least 10-12lbs - any smaller and you will end up with a lot of bones and not much meat.

• If you’re feeding a crowd, roast two smaller turkeys rather than one large turkey. Larger turkeys take longer to cook, so there is a higher risk of the breast drying out . Two 12 lb turkeys will be much tastier than one 24 lb turkey.

• Free-range, organic, or just regular? I’ve tried ‘em all.. Just recently, I celebrated Canada’s Thanksgiving and roasted a natural free-range turkey. The flavor of the turkey breast’s white meat was incredible – delicious, juicy and tender. Typically, I’m a dark meat lover, but this turkey’s white meat may have converted me! I love dark meat as I find that is where the flavor is, and with a little more fat, dark meat is actually really juicy. However, these free-range turkeys with their outdoor ‘exercises’ tend to be more muscular and have less fat so the dark meat can be more chewy and a little tougher. I have found that a regular turkey is not as flavorsome but the dark meat is tenderer. But they’re often injected with hormones, so to avoid this, stick with a natural or organic bird.

• The best way to get succulent breasts (on turkeys, at least), is to follow Mark Bittman’s advice in his book, How to Cook Everything. Start roasting the turkey at 350 degrees - 50 degrees less than most recipes and then increase it to 400 degrees in the last hour. Cover the turkey with aluminum foil while it is at 350 degrees to keep it from drying out. This valuable book was a Christmas present from my father-in-law, John, years ago – one of my first introductions to American cooking!

• So why let the turkey ‘rest’ for 30 minutes before carving? One theory is that the juices will flow back into the meat. According to Hervé This in Molecular Gastronomy, letting the turkey rest allows the cooked center to redistribute juices to the outer parts so they regain their tenderness.

• One last tip on roasting the perfect turkey – I have always loved cooking stuffing in the turkey better than the stuffing in a separate casserole. However, I abandoned that practice in favor of getting a juicier breast. Putting stuffing in the turkey means a longer time in the oven, which translates to a higher risk of an overcooked breast.

It’s a challenge to put together the perfect Thanksgiving dinner – imagine doing it without making long grocery lists, shopping, endless chopping and measuring. Our Thanksgiving Feast Ready to Cook! is a feast for 10 – simple and easy. And since you roast the turkey, you’re house is filled with wonderful Thanksgiving aromas!

We’re preparing a limited quantity, so order now at http://www.cook-sf.com/thanksgiving.html

Here’s to a delicious Fall season,

Nona

Although America’s Thanksgiving is more than a month away, I’ve already celebrated and feasted - at least on behalf of our neighbors to the North! Recently I invited some Canadian friends to celebrate the Maple Leaf nation’s thanksgiving.

Actually, it was a dry run for my Thanksgiving Feast Ready to Cook! Kit. The Kit includes everything from a marinated organic turkey, to gravy, cranberry relish, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes casserole, corn bread, pie and more – all measured, chopped and prepped and ready to cook! Our mouthwatering menu is at http://www.cook-sf.com/thanksgiving.html

The test-drive was designed to make sure that when you get our Thanksgiving Feast not only does it look beautiful and taste great, but that the directions are clear and simple to follow.

All Cook! meal kits are prepared either the day of delivery or the day before – so I was also testing my recipes to make sure that what I’m sending to you to cook or heat will be perfect.

The biggest endeavor was making the gravy. When you open your Thanksgiving Feast kit, you’re getting gravy made from scratch – nothing from a package or a jar!

Here’s how I made it: First I cooked a pot of stock using chicken bones, giblets, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, celery, carrots, and onions. Then I created drippings by roasting turkey necks, more chicken carcasses, chopped onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, and thyme. While this roasted for a couple of hours, I regularly basted with stock to ensure that nothing burned.

Once I had my drippings, I removed the carcasses and chunky vegetables. With the roasting pan over medium heat on the stove, I added flour to soak up the oil in the drippings, dissolved the flour mixture with a little white wine (champagne works too), and then added the stock. After whisking and simmering for 15 minutes, I thickened the gravy by adding roasted bits of veggies (first finely chopped in the food processor) However, this gave off quite a strong veggie flavor, so I balanced it by adding ground giblets.

Giblets can be a challenge – which is why so many home cooks skip this step - because they end up as little floating pieces in the gravy. A long simmer – two hours at least – dissolves the giblets into the gravy. In the meantime, I continued topping up the pan with more stock to maintain a nice balanced texture. Once I was happy with the flavor and texture, I let the gravy cool, poured it into plastic containers and popped into the refrigerator until the next day’s feast.

When reheating the gravy for our Canadian Thanksgiving, I realized our directions needed to be changed - the gravy needed to be reheated at very low heat for almost an hour so that it wasn’t too thick and adding the drippings from the turkey roasting pan and juices that seeped out after carving the turkey made the gravy even more delicious.

The test-drive was a terrific success – and with the few lessons we learned and adjustments we made, we know you’re going to have the most delicious, easiest Thanksgiving Feast ever!

If you have tips about making gravy, let me know - I would love to hear them!

Although the calendar says Fall is officially here, we still have a few weeks to enjoy the last of Summer’s abundant fruits.

Not only are they delicious on their own, they are a refreshing addition to salads. For the last couple of months, we accessorized our salads with organic strawberries, watermelon, peaches, and nectarines. One of my favorite Summer salads is organic greens, such as arugula, endive, frisee and butter lettuce, tossed with bite-sized chunks of watermelon, cherry tomatoes, chives, sliced red onions and candied walnuts, drizzled with a watermelon dressing.

We use red seedless watermelons from Hungry Hollow, so we don’t spend hours picking those elusive black or white seeds out of our salads and dressings. It’s easy to overpower watermelon’s soft flavor, so we use just a little extra virgin olive oil and champagne vinegar to bring out the fruit’s fragrance.

I learned a couple of things about using peaches and nectarines in salads and salsa this past Summer. I always thought peaches and nectarines with a heavy aroma and tender-to-touch would be perfect for salads. Wrong. Overripe peaches are impossible to twist to easily remove the pit. Instead, I ended up “mushing” the peaches… making them perfect for a delicious relish, but not salad-ready.

So, when making salads with stone fruits, select those with a nice aroma but with just a little ‘give’ or ‘spring’ when you touch them. The aroma will ensure that the fruits are not unripe and flavorless. The firmness means they will slice easily and hold their shape in the salads. And because they’re not overripe, they have a little crunch that adds a lovely texture to the salad. The same goes for salsa. Use relatively firm but not unripe peaches and mangoes when making a salsa. Smell is really important in the fruits. If you can’t smell anything, chances are you won’t be able to taste much either. Use firm avocadoes if making an avocado salsa. Use only really ripe avocadoes for making guacamole.

We had tons of fun with tomatoes this year. We made a wonderful roasted tomato soup with basil using organic plum tomatoes. Just last week, we also used gigantic organic Heirloom Brandywine tomatoes for a vegetarian dish. We stuffed the tomato with couscous, toasted pine nuts, parsley, basil, and the chopped tomato flesh that we had scooped out from the huge tomatoes. It was yummy-licious!

Tomatoes become more acidic later in the season, making them perfect for sauces. In my kitchen we’ll be making our marinara sauce to serve with grilled eggplant –watch for it. What will you be cooking?

I first came across Butterfish at Boulevard Restaurant when I moved to San Francisco from London a couple of years ago.

Since then, I’ve had it as sushi, at Roy’s, the Hawaiian restaurant, and have seen it on a few Bay Area restaurant menus. And each time, the description of this yummy fish is different – and confusing. I’ve also read that Butterfish is one of the following: black cod, sablefish, Escolar or Walu in Hawaii. Since I wanted to put Butterfish on our menu, I decided to do a little a little digging to fish out the real definition.

Would the real Butterfish please raise a fin?

The Black Cod that we often enjoy in Japanese restaurants is actually a sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria), but is also often called Butterfish. The name reflects the fish’s high oil content which results in a ‘buttery’ flavor. According to Wikipedia, it was featured on Food Network’s “Iron Chef” in “Morimoto vs. Linton Hopkins.” It is a long, slender fish about two-three feet in length and has a black, furry skin. When cooked, the meat is tender, white, and flakes off, melting in your mouth.

Escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) is sometimes labeled as Hawaiian Butterfish, also known as Walu. The Escolar is actually a snake mackerel. It is an oily, white fish, and is sometimes served as sushi or is grilled. However, some say it should only be eaten in small portions (6 to 7 oz) because the heavy oil content of the fish may cause diarrhea-like symptoms in some people if eaten in large quantities.

Wait a minute – that’s really nasty. Hmmm, let me find out more about this Escolar.

Accordingly to a 2004 article in Seafood Business: (http://www.seafoodbusiness.com/archives/12_2004/product.asp), Escolar’s dicey reputation is undeserved - the true culprit of this intestinal irritant is actually the Oil Fish (Ruvettus pretiosus), which has often been mislabeled as the Escolar.

Then, there is the real Butterfish (Poronotus triacanthus), which is also often called dollarfish, skipjack, or Pacific pompano (it’s called ‘Pacific’ but it’s only found in the Atlantic). This fish looks like a flounder, is generally nine inches long, shiny, flat, and similar to the European pomfret. Typically they can only be found in the waters off New England in the summer. I’ve never seen them in the Bay Area – if you have, please let me know!

Just so that you know, the tasty Miso Butterfish that we have on the menu is the Black Cod or the sable fish. Enjoy!

To read more about the Butterfish, please visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oilfish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sablefish
http://www.gma.org/fogm/Poronotus_triacanthus.htm