Scenes from the 2nd Annual SF Food Blogger’s picnic

Kim Laidlaw | August 27, 2006 | 4 Comments

Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks

It’s not often that over 50 food bloggers get together. Crowded under a shady bay laurel tree, hiding from the hot Lafayette sun, Bay Area foodies sampled each others best at the 2nd Annual SF Food Blogger’s picnic. Dishes like spicy steak salad, smoked pork, pate de campagne, local cheeses, thai noodles, quinoa-mango salad, nectarine-blueberry cobbler, little almond cakes, and so much more were gobbled up.

Pate de campagne made by Derrick of An Obsession with Food

Pim! Who made addictive little crispy rice cakes topped with a Thai pork and shrimp delight. Chez Pim

Succulent almond and jam cake-tart made by Sam of Becks & Posh

Cheesy deliciousness.

Spicy Steak Salad made by the lovely Davina Baum, of CHOW fame.
*recipe from Chow.com, which is rolling out it’s beta site this week!

For the tomato vinaigrette
1 cup cherry or pear-shaped tomatoes
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon grapeseed or other neutral oil
1 medium clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 medium shallot, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or chives

Grilled flank steak, cut into cubes
Yellow, red, and green bell pepper, seeded and cut into slivers
2 ears corn, kernels cut from the cobb
Italian parsley, for garnish

Heat 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil in a small fry pan over high Heat until hot. Add the tomatoes and sear until the skins pucker and begin to color, about 2 minutes. (Be careful: when the tomatoes get hot, some might burst.) Add the garlic and shallot and cook until slightly softened, about 1 minute more.

Transfer to a small, deep mixing bowl, add the vinegar, and purée with an immersion blender. Slowly add the remaining grapeseed and olive oils in a thin, steady stream, blending constantly with the immersion blender, until smooth. Season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper and add the herbs.

Add the grilled flank steak, yellow, red, and green peppers, and corn. Stir to combine. Garnish with parsley leaves and serve.

Nectarine-Blueberry CrackClafoutisCobbler
*adapted from Nancy Silverton’s delicious “everyone’s mother’s berry cobber”

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole plain yogurt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups blueberries
3 cups nectarines, cut into chunks
3 tablespoons demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and use the tip of the knife to scrape out the vanilla bean seeds. Add the pod and the seeds to the butter. Cook the butter over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until browned, about 4 minutes. Pour into a large 9×13-inch baking dish.

Sift together the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar with a whisk. Add the buttermilk, yogurt, and vanilla extract and stir just until combined. Spread the batter in the pan on top of the browned butter. Scatter the fruit over the top of the batter. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar.

Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the cake is cooked through when checked with a toothpick, about 1 hour. Eat.

Thanks Wendy for taking all the pictures!

Category: Bay Area Bites Food + Drink

About the Author (Author Archive)

My life is, in a lot of ways, devoted to food. I've been a baker, a cook, a bartender, a waiter, a restaurant host, a restaurant critic, a food writer, a caterer, a food stylist, a prop stylist, a hand model, a food photographer, and an editor (all with varying degrees of success). I currently make my living as a cookbook editor and a writer. I'm addicted to cookbooks. I even have a (small) room nearly devoted to them. Well that and my baking table. I love British chefs. They are so where it's at. And they make gorgeous cookbooks. I love Fergus Henderson, Nigel Slater, Jamie Oliver, and Anthony Bourdain (even though he's not a Brit). I cannot wait to eat at Kitchin in Edinburgh. Someday I'd love to meet Ferran Adria. I'm incredibly opinionated about food, and probably a wee bit arrogant (about food that is). I am a huge believer in local, seasonal, sustainable, organic food and a big supporter of small farms and artisan producers. I love farmers' markets, and not just the one at the Ferry Building. I feel very lucky to be able to live in San Francisco, and have access to such an incredible array of artisan foodstuffs, produce, meats and seafoods. I like culinary adventures and I'll try (just about) anything once. Some of my more memorable food adventures: digging a deep BBQ pit and burying a whole pig; roasting a whole pig on a spit; making a paella for 150 people over an open fire on the hottest day of the summer, but really enjoying the frozen margaritas that were handed to me; clam digging on Puget Sound; the Pig Dinner at Manresa; curing my own charcuterie; making beer that was actually quite good; and slinging spirits at St. George. (I'm finally starting to learn more about wine and spirits, in particular, Italian wine and Scotch whisky, two new loves in my life.)

shuna fish lydon

WOW! And to think the picnic was still going on when this post went up! Speed-blogging indeed!

The almond tart from Sam was actually a traditional British treat called Bakewell Tart. Here is a link to one of her posts about bringing back the tradition of making them from scratch:

http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-to-make-bakewell-tarts.html
Mary Ladd

It was all divine! Beautiful setting, interesting folks, good food and wine. …Did you try those chocolate tartlets? My fave.
sam

thanks for spreading the Bakewell love. Us Brits are trying to save them from extinction so the more fans they gain along the way, the better.
cucina testa rossa

that claufoutis was indeed crack! thanks for including the recipe!!!