When Professor Silver gave our class our final assignment, Ill admit I was worried. We were to bring a dish to our final class that was both seasonal and regional in its ingredients. We(Jessie and Jessica) decided to pair up and work together to bring this assignment to life. Deciding to make Napoleons, a recipe that Jessica had learned from her grandmother, we set out to find out local and seasonal ingredients. Our produce was purchased at the Ferry Building's farmers market as was out feta cheese. The basil came from Jessica's basil plant, and the bread and pesto came from Trader Joe's.
The Ingredients are...
Cherry or Heirloom Tomatoes (small)
Feta Cheese
Sourdough Bread
Basil
Pesto
Red Onions
First you must cut the tomatoes into thin slices, the feta into thin squares, and mince the red onion.
Once you have sliced and diced, cut the bread into bite size pieces and then lightly toast.
After the bread is toasted begin assembling. Lightly spread the pesto onto the toasted bread and then add the feta, basil and tomato. Sprinkle a few pieces of onion to the top of each Napoleon and enjoy!
Here was the video that Jessie, Katie, and I put together in response to our trip to the mission! It was originally posted by Jessie March 11th but I wanted to be sure to have it on my blog as well. I went for a more traditional radio show and the other two... just take a peak at their creativity!http://tinyurl.com/amyg2v
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
It’s hard to believe that the semester is drawing to a swift yet chaotic end and that ESF Spring 2009 has taken our last field trip. For our last hurrah we ventured to Cole Valley and Haight Street eating at establishments one could say i representative of each vastly different neighborhood. First on the agenda was to meet promptly at 6pm at Zazie, a charming, warm, and inviting French bistro, where one of our ESFers, Nick, currently works and hooked us up. Zazie is well known for its delicious food, use of free-range meats, and friendly atmosphere, so needless to say everyone looked forward to devouring this delicious meal.
photo by david silver http://tinyurl.com/qgqzj7
Seated at a long rectangular table the group began scouring the menu trying to decide what would they would share, or perhaps decadently have all to themselves! Jessie and I decided that we would share the Chicken and a side of Macaroni and Cheese as well as share a half bottle of Cabernet. When our food arrived we were by no means disappointed. Our chicken was tender, flavorful and moist accompanied with spinach and heavenly creamy mash potatoes. The Mac and Cheese was outstanding with a backed cheese top that gave way to the warm and gooey world of cheesy goodness.
photo by http://tinyurl.com/q2kqdp
As I ate my chicken I couldn’t help but think of the Omnivores Dilema by Michael Pollan. While I knew that Zazie used free-ranged chicken I still couldn’t help but think of the wonder that is Polyface farm. At Polyface owner Joel Salatin, not only allows for his animals to roam outside and eat grass and bugs, but he gives his animals and their lives purpose. Salatin takes the approach of not merely raising chickens but, pigs, cattle, turkeys, and rabbits, and focuses on how to take advantage of their symbiotic relationships. By allowing and helping to facilitate these natural relationships Salatin’s livestock helps to take care of each other while restoring nourishment to the land. For example three days after the Cattle graze an area the chickens are brought in to fertilize the soil with their manure which is high in nitrogen. The chickens also act a cleaning crew that eats the fly larva that reside in the cow patties and thus help to control the fly populations that pester the cows. So the cows feed the chickens with their waste and in turn the chickens use their waste to grow the food for the cows. In this “Circle of Life” the animals are not just a commodity to be consumed by humans, they are instrumental in helping one and other survive, and thus they are allowed to live lives as nature had intended, lives with purpose. Here a a link where Daniel (son of owner) explains how they do it check it out! http://tinyurl.com/r63v2b
After finishing our meal at Zazie we headed on over to the McDonalds on Haight and decided to indulge ourselves in some desert be it sweet or savory. After reading about the horrors of industrial corn in the Omnivores Dilemma I thought for sure some people would be apprehensive about ordering a tasty treat. Much to my surprise everyone jumped right in and enjoyed not only ice cream and McFluries but also the infamous French fries. As we watched the colorful characters that frequent this McDonalds and enjoyed the last few moments of our trip I couldn’t help but wish I was not in this dirty, crowded, and commercialized space, and instead was roaming the pastoral hills of Polyface farm.
It is hard for a student to envision a course like Eating San Francisco.A course that is challenging, groundbreaking, hands on, and enjoyable.A class with an environment and structure that not only encourages creativity but, individuality, and thinking outside of the box, all while its students are exploring a diverse city through its rich culinary history.Lucky for the students at the University of San Francisco there is no dreaming required, for the course is alive and well affording its students not only amazing first hand experiences but the opportunity to create unique works of multimedia to share with the public.As a student at USF and a member of the inaugural ESF class I had the chance to see firsthand the compelling and remarkable work of my fellow classmates as they have evolved over the semester.
The course is centered on field trips about every other week that allow the class to explore the neighborhoods of San Francisco through their unique food and culture.Before each field trip we are assigned readings which help to give the class some common ground as well as some frame of reference about the neighborhood’s history before our adventures. There have also been opportunities for students to become more aware about their eating habits through assigned readings such as The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and the assignment to document what you eat over the course of a day.We have also had the opportunity to participate in our university’s organic garden as well as have the chance experiment with documenting food and its preparation through the assignment, “How to Prepare a Delicious Meal”.The final project for ESF will be to prepare and document a meal that is both seasonal and regional.As far as our adventures in the city go we have traveled to Northbeach, The Mission, The Castro, and most recently Chinatown, with only a trip to Noe Valley and McDonald's on Haight remaining.
Unfortunately I was not able to attend the class’s most recent field trip to China town and I must admit I was really bummed out.It wasn’t just because everyone would be eating yummy Dim Sum without me, it was because I would be missing out on the chance to explore a part of the city with the “ESF Paparazzi”.I think most in the ESF crew would agree that there is something really special about traveling around with so many creative minds.It is as if the creativity it contagious and is constantly challenging everyone to step up their game and examine things in a new and more interesting way.However there was something good that came out of missing the Chinatown trip and that was I had the opportunity to examine the work of my peers from a different perspective, and that was as an outsider.
As I perused through the various projects it was as though each project was an individual bulb that made up an television screen, alone they each shined brightly but together they illuminated a more complete and complex picture.Two of the most interesting themes that seemed to keep popping up were this feeling of being a foreigner, and chicken feet.
It is easy to see why one might feel as if they have been transported to another place and time when they walk the streets of Chinatown.The students of ESF picked up on the drastic change in architecture, store layouts, colors, smells, goods sold, and the demographics, all of which were carefully analyzed by some of the students in their quest for understanding why they perhaps felt out of place.This is where I believe the chicken feet played a role.At Dim Sum there was the opportunity for the class to try one of the Chinese delicacies often referred to as “Phoenix Talons” .It was pretty apparent from both the pictures and video that most were a little uncomfortable or at least intrigued by the prospect of trying this foreign delicacy.While the response to their taste varied (some people really liked them), some found the chicken feet texture, and the fact that they were clearly recognizable as feet, to be a little too much for their taste.I found it particularly interesting given our readings from The Omnivores Dilemma where one of the main themes/problems is that Americans are too detached from their food, whether it’s where it comes from, or what it actually is that we are putting into our bodies.For those who commented that the feet looking like feet was what turned them off from trying it, or perhaps liking it, they further supported that the culinary culture in the United States is not predominately concerned with the average person knowing exactly what they are eating, instead ignorance is bliss and one should enjoy consuming their anonymous meal.This cultural difference could be another contributing factor as to why some felt like foreigners. It speaks volumes of the caliber of work the students of ESF put into their Chinatown projects that an “outsider” can begin to make cultural distinctions based on their experiences without even being there.
Please take the opportunity to check out the amazing projects (links below) and please leave your comments so that everyone has the opportunity to sit with their work and feedback!
Even with a busy college schedule I have always been able to, until this semester tore through my life, take the time to give myself the gift of cooking dinner. In the words of Rachel Ray, “you deserve to dedicate some time to yourself and there is no doubt that after a long day at work we should pamper ourselves with a home cooked meal”. But what happens when you really can’t take the time? What if all the time you can take for yourself is a forty-five minute cat nap, a five minute shower, a quick scan of you facebook, or simply a deep breath? Unfortunately this is the situation I have been enduring this semester and let me tell you I have never missed my dinners more. That is why I was so utterly enthralled when my Eating San Francisco class was canceled and we were given the assignment to cook and document a delicious meal and hopefully share it with someone else. As I racked my brain for what I should prepare for my feast, my mouth began to salivate and a good old recipe that I adopted from Rachel Ray popped into mind. If I do recall correctly Rachel refers to this dish as an open-faced steak sandwich, however in my apartment we affectionately call it “our favorite meal”. We first encountered our favorite meal (my roommate Ryan and I) our first semester living off campus while watching Rachel Ray’s “30 minuet meals”.
To begin you will need the following o A bag of Baby Spinach o A cluster of Asparagus o 4 cloves of garlic o Fresh Rosemary o 2 small Sirloin steaks (any cut of beef is okay so whatever fits your budget) o Crumbled Blue Cheese o Box of Frozen Puffed Pastry Dough o Salt o Pepper o Olive Oil o Balsamic Vinaigrette
Lets Get Started!
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Then chop the 4 cloves of garlic with about 3 tablespoons of chopped rosemary and combine into large bowl with the steaks, a light drizzle of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of pepper, and half a tablespoon of salt and let sit while you get the other components into the oven.
3. Lay out the Puff Pastry dough and cut into 4 squares. Place on cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
4. Wash Asparagus and pat dry. Then snap the ends off with your hands and see where they break when you apply pressure this ensures that the toughest parts are removed.
5. Place Asparagus on oiled cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, salt, and pepper.
6. Place both puff pastries and Asparagus in oven for 10min until pastry rises. Check ever 3 min to move Asparagus around.
7. Next heat a skillet with some olive oil in it and cook your takes to your desired level. For this dish I prefer medium rare.
8. By the time the steaks are finished your Asparagus and Puff Pastries should be ready , now its time to move onto the salad component.
9. Dice the Asparagus into about ½ inch long sections and add in a bowl with Spinach and a handful of blue cheese.
10. Now it is time to make the dressing. Combine 1 table spoon of Mayo, ¼ cup of Champagne dressing, and ½ tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.
11. Once you dress the salad, toss, and get ready to assemble our sandwich.
12. Place the Puff Pastry on the bottom, place enough salad on top to cover the pastry, then add strips of steak over the top.
13. Once assembled you can use the left over salad for a side dish.
Now all that’s left to do is enjoy the meal with someone and have a night of good conversation, good food, and a respite from a hectic day!
Maybe only once or twice, and might I add always during the day, have I wandered this neighborhood.Never once did I give a second thought to what historical wonders lay beneath the surface of what I had deemed a crowded tourist hub, where smells of spiced cream, starch and a hint of damp garbage fill the air.But on this evening I have come to the west coast stomping grounds of the literary geniuses The Beats.I am here to try and understand, to uncover, the trampled history buried under the feet of feverish consumers in search of trinkets, snapshots, and the forty-five second authentic gist of some area they have heard they ought to pass by once in their life.Under the cover of darkness ,and with half an hour to kill before we are to meet our crew, to formally begin our exploration of North Beach, my carpool and I haphazardly wander into the tavern that is next to the famed City Lights Bookstore.The bar is named Vesuvio, there are a handful of patrons inside, tons of cool pictures, posters, and plaques on the walls, a grizzly looking bartender, and three open stools at the bar.To my left I can hear two young French travelers going over a map of the city and can see that they are crossing off and highlighting various parts of it.One of the tourists calls the bartender over and inquires where they would be able to find an authentic Italian meal , void of tourists.The bartender smiles and informs them that there are many restaurants to choose from on Columbus Street.
I found his response odd, after all they had specifically asked for an authentic restaurant away from the tourist track and now he was sending them into the lion’s den, the Mecca of all things processed and packaged for mass consumption.With only a few moments to spare I quickly left my contemplation with my empty glass on the bar and we bopped off to City Lights.
It is nice to meet up with the ESF crew and become the paparazzi blob, although those we have to share the sidewalk with may not share my enthusiasm.We are a force to be reckoned with our cameras flashing, video rolling, and good old pen and paper documenting what catches ones eye.Our various vantage points and choices of media will leave no stone unturned in this experience.It takes but only five minutes or so to walk to our culinary destination for the evening, Bocce Café.
With the entrance to the restaurant tucked inside a tunnel of foliage it feels like you are worlds away from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco.The crew whirls in like a tornado complete with the lighting to find, tall ceilings adorned with beautiful beams, a warm Tuscan palette of color, and with one large family style table for the crew to gather around the evening already looks extremely promising.Our service is quick, to the point, and free of corny sales pitches.Many of the crew are in the sprit of sharing and decided to split two dishes to keep the check light and bellies full.The food was superb, filling, and extremely photogenic.Then just as our tornado had blown in we made a similar exit and where then off to take advantage of one of the crew’s connections and ability to “hustle”.
Yet another five minute walk was all it took and we arrive here at the Italian French Bakery, where were are about to get a behind the scenes tour.We are greeted on the curb outside the bakery and escorted in through the back.Once inside we are treated to the delightful scent of freshly baked goods and immense warmth from the immensely large original oven.As we are informed of the inner workings and history of this amazing bakery by one of the owners, the bakers are busily working large mountains of dough in preparation for the busy day they will no doubt be waiting for them in the morning.Each member of the crew is kindly given a delicious freshly baked loaf of bread on our way out of this warm haven.We are off now to our final destination, Washington Square.
Walking into the wet and mushy grass the grew gathers to break breadand discuss what our overall feelings about our first exploration are ,and how we can best capture and share what we have seen, experienced, and perhaps even learned from north beach.The crew breaks camp and then I am back in cahoots with my carpool, heading home to make sense of the evening.
As I sit down to my computer to try and pull all my thoughts and ideas together I being to do a little research on the pub, Vesuvio.After all this is where the wonderful night began and the atmosphere was so cool and original.It was a pub that seemed like a place were creative’s would come to discuss life or watch it walk by, and where locals would come to kick up there heals.It felt like perhaps one of the most authentic parts of our evening, and looking at their website I now know why!
It was founded in 1948 and is known worldwide for being one of San Francisco’s best saloons.From its beginning it has hosted a wide array of clientele from musicians, artists, foreigners, business folk, and locals.It is now a stop for many who wish to trace the trail of The Beat Generation for it became a regular place for Jack Kerouac and other famous beat poets to perform, and interact with patrons.According to Vesuvio’s website, “It was here that Jack Kerouac once spent a long night in 1960 when he should have been on his way to Big Sur to meet with Henry Miller. Miller had written Kerouac that he enjoyed reading The Dharma Bums and would enjoy a visit from the emerging writer. Kerouac, however, had other plans. He continued to hoist drinks and called Miller every hour telling him that he was just a bit delayed in leaving the city,”(http://www.vesuvio.com/index2.html).
What an amazing place, and best of all no one had to tell my carpool about it, or its history before we entered its doors.We were merely intrigued by its vibe and drawn to it, with no expectations of what we would see, experience, or enjoy.We were allowed to draw our own conclusions and create a truly authentic memory that was all our own.
Perhaps this had motivated the bartender to lead the French visitors astray.North Beach is just like any other neighborhood is full of authentic people, experiences, and history.However, there is no formula or road map for finding the things in life that are truly authentic and will resonate with you as an individual.One must simply get off your duff, go out into the world, wander around, and see what speaks to you.
