Crispy fries are the greatest. When cooked well, French fries can be the highlight of an entire meal. The opposite is also true, however. Bad French fries are disappointing. Soggy French fries are disgusting. Both can ruin an otherwise good lunch or dinner. For years I was disappointed with my homemade French fries. I tried using different types of oils and frying them twice, but they always turned out slightly soggy and never had the crispy exterior I was looking for. I’ve been told that this problem is easily rectified if you own a deep fryer, but I have never wanted to purchase one of those contraptions. It wasn't until I stopped frying all together that I ended up with the crispiest fries of all. Yes, I realize you are wondering how in the world I could make crispy French fries without actually frying my potatoes, but the answer is quite simple: roasting!

My discovery occurred one day when my husband was grilling burgers. I really wanted French fries, but only had about ten minutes before dinner. I threw a few potatoes in the microwave for five minutes so they half baked. I then sliced up the potatoes. Just as I was going to fry them, I remembered I had just used the oven to bake a pie and figured I might as well see how they turned out baked. I laid the potato wedges on an oiled baking sheet and then sprayed them with olive oil and dusted them with salt and some chili powder. Tossing them into the oven, I hoped for the best. 7 minutes later, I took out the tray and was pleasantly surprised. These fries were crispier than any “fried” French fries I had ever made. The centers were fluffy and the outsides crunchy. Ever since that day I’ve turned my back on frying my fries. I now use only partially baked potatoes and then roast in a nice hot oven. A nice side benefit is that these fries are also much healthier than the fried variety and you also won’t get splattered with hot oil making them.

Roasted French: "Fried" Potatoes

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
4 Baking potatoes
Olive oil
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Chili powder

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Poke potatoes with holes and microwave for five minutes. Note: I don’t peel my potatoes as they don’t bake as nicely in the microwave if they are peeled. If you prefer to have the skin removed on your fries, just let the half baked potatoes cool a bit and then peel them before slicing.

3. Slice potatoes into wedges or julienne pieces (whichever you prefer). Be careful not to burn yourself as the inside of the potatoes are hot. You can also microwave the potatoes ahead of time.

4. Oil a baking sheet

5. Lay potato slices on the baking sheet and spray some olive oil on top. If you don’t have a sprayer, just toss the potatoes in some extra oil from the pan.

6. Top with salt and a dusting of chili powder

7. Bake for about 7 minutes, or until the fries are crispy

8. Serve

I can't recall a month with more spectacular culinary programs and special events than this August. In fact, for the entire month of August the Commonwealth Club is hosting their Bay Gourmet series called "How We Eat" with what must be a record-breaking 31 events! The events actually begin tomorrow, the last day of July. It includes dinners, demonstrations, panel discussions, authors, chefs, nutritionists and more.

If you've never seen the Hungry Planet book (now out in paperback), do check out this online slideshow.


Here are a few programs that particularly caught our eye. Check out the entire schedule online.

Eating the Right Way

A panel discussion focused on optimal nutrition and minimizing the hype. Panelists will be:

Kevin Lunny, Owner, Drakes Bay Oyster Company
Jessica Prentice, Author, Full Moon Feast; Co-owner, Three Stone Hearth Community Supported Kitchen
Helene York, Director, Bon Appetit Management Company Foundation
Naomi Starkman, Communications Director, Slow Food Nation - Moderator

Where: Club Office 595 Market St., 2nd Floor San Francisco
When: August 6, 2008, 5:30 p.m. wine and cheese reception, 6 p.m. program
How: $12 Club/Slow Food Nation members, $18 non-members. Purchase tickets.

The "Other" Chinatown: Shopping with Naomi Friedman

Explore the cultural, commercial and gastronomical treats of San Francisco's Inner Richmond with Naomi Friedman, Culinary Educator. Includes lunch.

Where: Corner of Clement and 11th Ave.
When: August 9, 2008, 9:15 a.m. check-in, 9:30 a.m.- 1 p.m. program
How: Cost: $70 members, $82 non-members. Purchase tickets.

The Provenance of Beef (The Great Steak-Wine Adventure)

Enjoy an evening sure to delight the senses: an interactive steak-tasting event featuring four signature styles of beef from artisan producers of natural or organic beef, paired with four fabulous wines. Panelists:

Armand De Maigret, General Manager, Atalon, Napa Valley
Mac Magruder, Grass-Finished Beef and Pastured Pork Producer, Potter Valley
Marsha McBride, Executive Chef and Owner, Cafe Rouge
Carrie C. Oliver, Founder & CEO, The Oliver Ranch Company & Artisan Beef Institute

Where: Teatro ZinZanni, Pier 27/29, San Francisco
When: August 11, 2008, 6 p.m. check-in, 6:15-8:30 p.m. program
How: $65 members, $80 non-members. Purchase tickets

Saturday morning, market day, is a jumble of visiting with friends, purchasing food for the week, jostling with tourists, and talking to farmers. There are some weekends when the amount of energy needed for the market -- including lugging my goods home on the bus -- takes its toll. While on wintry days the market almost feels like a whisper, on summer days the market shouts at the top of its lungs for hours on end. Summer food is amplified, summer crowds are amplified, and even the number of farm booths is amplified.

Most of the local, hard-core market goers that I know won't be seen at the market after 9am on a summer Saturday morning. I tend to gamble with that rule some weeks. Sometimes it's more important to sleep in than to be the first at the market, and sometimes I have market obligations that require me to be there later. And then, all you can do is just go with the flow and be as patient as possible.

This weekend, I was at the market late. I had interviewed Ed George of the Peach Farm for CUESA's Meet the Producer series at 10.30, and wasn't at the market early enough to shop before the interview. That meant that I was still shopping close to noon. Interviewing Ed was fun -- he's a really dedicated farmer who provides produce to some of the city's best restaurants. His major crop is heirloom tomatoes, and they were beautiful on Sunday. I picked up some very small eggplants from him that I still haven't decided how to prepare.

Even at the height of the market, farmers are usually in a good mood and talkative. I purchased fresh garbanzo beans, off the stalk, from one of the Catalan daughters at Catalan Farm. I asked her if she was the one who had to de-stalk them. It's a tedious process without much yield to show for your trouble. "No, and it's a good thing," she said. "I would just throw them at my brother. We get in fights with them."

If you blink, you'll miss Short Night Farm. They are a small booth in the front of the market, and they usually only have a small amount of produce on their table. Short Night has never disappointed me and I look forward to their produce every week, so I stopped to see what they had: beautiful melons that I didn't want to carry around the market. Deciding to take the gamble that there would be some left at the end of my trip, I passed them up. "But I'll take these," I told the vendor, grabbing some lemons. She laughed that the lemons were important enough to carry but the melon wasn't. It was no joke to me -- finding locally grown citrus in July is difficult, and they were the only vendor at the market selling lemons that day.

The Hunter Orchards farmers were in the back of the market, selling lavender and dried garlic. They are a vendor that we only see for about a month a year, when they bring their beautiful Rocambole garlic to the market. The garlic that I bought on Saturday will last until Valentine's Day, they said. I bid them good-bye until next year, and strategized a cool,dark place for my two bags of newly purchased dried garlic.

By the time I ran into a couple of bloggers, I had visions of going home for a post-market meal. "The tostadas at Primavera are really good today," Tea mentioned referring to the amazing Mexican food stand at the back of the market. "I'm going to skip it", I said. "I'm plotting a BLT." BLT's always make me think of Cookie and Cranky, my blogger friends in Marin, and I had them in mind as I ran to pick up bacon, perfect tomatoes, tiny little heads of romaine lettuce, and my BLT bun of choice.

Arriving back home, I unpacked and made my meal within 20 minutes, then sat and watched mindless television as I decompressed from my market day.

Each week when I get home, I scribble down my market list before I put it away. In addition to the produce mentioned above, I also purchased:

Orach, nopales, and cilantro from Heirloom Organics
Pasilla peppers from Catalan Farms Corn from G & S Corn
Nectarines from Blossom Bluff Orchards
Avocados from Brokaw Nursery
Butter from Spring Hill Cheese

My visits to New York City are usually hectic, overscheduled, and downright tiring. Between friends and family, the pressures of "researching" restaurants and visiting everyone's favorite museum, vacations to the Big Apple are hardly leisurely affairs. This time, though, I resolved to take it easy.

Fortunately, it's not hard to find good food as long as you schedule meetings for mealtime. Even a late-night rendezvous will uncover good eats.

Two places that I was delighted to try this past weekend, with the guidance of friends, are Gazala Place in Hell's Kitchen (or, as the real estate agents have been calling it since the new high-rises came in: Midtown West) and the infamous Bonchon Chicken in Koreatown.


GAZALA PLACE

Named for its Isreali chef-owner, Gazala Halabi, Gazala Place is a narrow, friendly restaurant that specializes in Druze cuisine. Followers of an ancient sect that branched off from the Muslim religion, the Druze played a little known yet very important role in the politics of Syria and Lebanon, and a small community continues to live as a distinct, designated ethnic group in Israel.

This New York outpost is barely wide enough to slip through walking sideways, and of course, its handful of tables are often full. Up front is a special curved griddle for making pita--a lovely bread that does not at all resemble the convenient sandwich pockets many of us conjure. Rather, the housemade pita is a thin, delicate expanse of crepe-like bread, an edible whole-wheat handkerchief that piles and folds and wraps around an endless array of Gazala's savory bites.

The food, billed as authentic Mediterranean, leans more toward the Middle East: amazingly tender kababs of lamb, chicken and beef cooked over a searing flame, expertly shaped kibbe, and flakey pastry pies filled with spinach or feta. Absolute must tries on the appetizer menu include the brilliantly red "Turkish salad" made from sun-dried red peppers, the luscious goat-cheese labanee spread, and the foule moudammas, a garlicky dip made from fava beans. All are properly, generously drizzled with fruity olive oil. Fortunately, there's no end of bread refills for scooping up the vibrant flavors.

While you're finishing your meal with date cake or honey-soaked kenafi accompanied with thick, strong Arabic coffee or a pot of the minty house tea, expect Gazala herself to stop by your table to chat. She might not tell you her secret recipe for that unforgettable red pepper spread, but her friendly smile will be the perfect cap to a unique lunch.

Gazala Place
709 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10036
(212) 245-0709
Map


BONCHON CHICKEN

In the past couple of decades, West 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue has sprouted neon galore. This main strip of Koreantown, once the source of wigs and fashion accessories became known informally as Kimchi Alley and more officially as Korea Way. It's a business district only--look to Flushing for Korean residential enclaves--but this is still the street to come in Manhattan for mandoo dumplings, oxtail soup, soju bars, and both Pinkberry and Red Mango duking it out on the frozen yogurt front.

Koreatown has built up, literally, so second, third, fourth, and even rooftop businesses are the places to be. Getting to a table at hot spot, Bonchon Chicken, requires trekking a creaky, questionable walk-up that magically opens to a sleek lounge of distressed concrete and pulsating music. Young Koreans in date mode, sipping elegant cocktails, belie the real reason everyone comes to this hip lounge bar: the fried chicken.

Made to order, Bonchon's claim to fame is an unassuming plateful of crisp skin, juicy dark meat (pick wings or drumsticks), and a choice of garlic or spicy glaze. Sweet-tart daikon pickles and a cabbage salad offer some foil, but beer or soju is the popular complement.

There's an extensive menu of savory nibbles, and while everyone means to try the other stuff, a quick look around the room reveals the inevitable platter of chicken. For those who prefer to converse without shouting, ask for a table in one of the back rooms or settle for a seat at the bar. The lounge up front, though, is the main scene.

Bonchon Chicken
314 5th Ave., 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10018
(212) 221-2222
Map

I love this time of year. It’s often a bit warmer out, the kids are out of school, and zucchinis are in season. Although you can easily get zucchinis all year long, they just aren’t as fresh when shipped from hundreds of miles away (usually from Mexico) in the winter. As a fan of this versatile squash variety, I have been indulging in its seasonality, purchasing and eating it pretty much every week, all summer long. I prefer to buy zucchini at my local farmer’s market, where there are a range of varieties (light green, dark green, with a ribbed exterior, with yellow stripes, and the list goes on) that are usually just-picked and on the small side. They are also pretty easy to grow at home.

Zucchini is best barely cooked. Baked, fried, or simmered too long, and it looses its moisture content and becomes soggy. Al dente and raw zucchini recipes highlight the squash’s naturally subtle sweetness and crisp texture. It's unfortunate that so many people overcook their vegetables anyway, but with zucchini, it is -- as my mother would say -- a sin because you lose its innate nutty sweetness. Following are four of my favorite recipes which I think capture the summer flavor of zucchini best. I hope you like them.

The first recipe uses zucchini flowers, which are usually available at your local farmer’s market, or you can grow them yourself. Sweet and earthy, with a light texture, these are really the perfect vehicles for containing soft cheeses I recently made this dish on a few separate occasions, once using goat cheese, another time ricotta and the third time with brie. Eaten on its own, or in crusty bread as a sandwich, these little morsels epitomize summer.

The second recipe is for a raw zucchini salad. It is simplicity incarnate. When made with just picked squash, the tenderness of the vegetable meat creates a subtle flavor that beautifully pairs with the sweetness of vine-ripened cherry tomatoes. And, with only splash of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkling of salt, the freshness of the zucchini is the real star.

The third recipe is my mother’s favorite. Just thinly slice zucchini and lightly sauté it in extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle on some red wine vinegar and salt and then serve room temperature or chilled. It’s a great alternative to a standard dinner salad. When I was a kid, my mom would eat so many freshly fried zucchini pieces fresh out of the pan that our salads were often on the small side, so be sure to cut up enough slices.

Finally, my daughters’ new favorite dinner: zucchini calzones. This is a take on the standard spinach pie. Accompanied with fresh ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan and then stuffed into fresh pizza dough and baked, it’s a little pillow of happiness.

Oh, zucchini. How do I love thee. Let me count the ways…

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

Serves: 4-6 as an Appetizer or Makes 2-4 Sandwiches

Ingredients:
12 Zucchini Flowers
8 oz. Goat cheese, ricotta cheese, or brie
1 Tbsp Basil chopped (optional)
1 Egg
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Soak flowers in a bowl of water and thoroughly rinse the inside of each one by gently opening them. When finished, pat flowers dry and lightly salt.
2. Mix cheese with some salt and pepper to taste and add the basil (if using).
3. Fill each flower with enough cheese to cover the inside width, being sure not to overfill, and then twist the petals to close it.
4. Scramble the egg, season it with some salt and pepper, and then dip each stuffed flower in the egg.
5. In a medium to large pan, heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom about a 1/4-inch deep.
6. When pan is hot (but not scalding), add the egg-dipped flowers and sauté on each side until golden brown.
7. Drain on paper and serve either as an appetizer or in Italian bread as a sandwich.

Raw Zucchini Salad with Tomatoes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 smallish or 2 large zucchinis
A half pint of cherry tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil (the good stuff, if you have it)
About a half lemon
Kosher or sea salt

Preparation:
1. Wash zucchini and grate it using the coarse side of your cheese grater.
2. Set zucchini in a bowl and sprinkle on enough olive oil to lightly coat. Squeeze on the lemon juice and season with salt.
3. Divide zucchini onto salad plates, lay the tomatoes on top, and serve.

Fried Zucchini Salad

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients:
4 Medium zucchinis
Extra virgin olive oil
Red Wine Vinegar
Salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Cut zucchinis into 1/4-inch slices.
2. In a medium to large pan, heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom about a 1/4-inch deep.
3. When the oil is medium-high heat (but not scalding), cook the zucchini slices in batches until golden brown on each side.
4. Remove the zucchini from the pan and lay in a platter. Sprinkle on enough red wine vinegar to lightly coat the zucchini.
5. Season with salt and serve either room temperature or chilled.

Zucchini Calzones

Makes: 6 calzones

Ingredients:
4 Medium zucchinis
Extra virgin olive oil
1 lb Fresh pizza dough, rested at room temperature
8 oz Fresh ricotta cheese
4 oz Freshly grated mozzarella
2 oz Freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash zucchini and grate it using the coarse side of your cheese grater.
3. Place ricotta in a bowl and season with some salt and pepper. Set grated mozzarella and grated Parmesan next to the ricotta so you have an assembly line of cheese ready to go. Oil a large baking sheet and set at the end of the assembly line.
4. In a large pan on medium to high heat, add 1 Tbsp olive oil and add zucchini when the pan is hot.
5. Salt zucchini and then sauté on high heat so it crisps a little on the ends. Cook until al dente.
6. Meanwhile, divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Spread some flour on a counter top or cutting board and then stretch each piece into a round circle, thinning (but not ripping) the dough as you gently tug it.
7. When the dough is about the size of your hand, set about a 1/8 - 1/4 cup of zucchini inside it, along with an equal measure of ricotta, about 2 Tbsp grated mozzarella and a sprinkling of Parmesan.
8. Fold the dough over the fillings and press the ends tight so there aren’t any leaks. Set each piece on the oiled pan when finished.
9. Rub olive oil on top of the calzones and then set in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden and crispy.
10. Serve all hot and gooey.

I am entering into high birthday season. Not only my own, but about half of the people I know. We’re Summer babies-- the product of cold-weather snuggling and perhaps a little too much Holiday Cheer. I suspect that my own conception had something to do with Nixon's 1968 presidential victory. I shudder, yet I am grateful. And, as I type this, I realize that today is the 100th anniversary of my paternal grandmother's birth (the smiling profile at the lower right of the photo, eleven months before I was born). Of course, she hasn't been celebrating it herself for some years, which isn't surprising-- she's dead.

When I hit the one-year mark, my mother (Mia Farrow-circa-Rosemary's Baby haircut, second left) thought it would be a fun idea to have a joint birthday party for my grandmother, and myself since our birthdays were so close together. The birthday cake read "Happy birthday Mom and Michael!" I'm sure I was delighted with the cake, as I am sure there are photos of me with icing smeared all over my face and body. My grandmother, however, was not. "Don't ever do that again" was all she said. She didn't enjoy having her special day shared, nor did she like the fact that her birthday wishes would be diluted by those of a small, frog-like newcomer who frequently soiled his onesies.

And I don't blame her one bit. On average (unless you happen to be someone who enjoys multiple birthday parties), you get one shot a year at your own cake and birthday wish. That thought makes me weep for all the twins and triplets in the world.

So where and when did this dessert become imbued with the power to single out one's specialness, grant wishes, and divide families?

What an excellent question.

The Birth of the Birthday Cake

Both the Greeks and the Germans lay claim to inventing the birthday cake. Of course, the Greeks claim to have invented everything, so I'm not surprised.

In Ancient Greece, flat, round cakes of honey and nut meats called plakous were given in offering to the moon goddess Artemis on her special day of celebration-- the world's first Moon Pie, if you will.

The Romans, as was their habit, adopted this Greek custom, but latinized the cake's name to placenta and expanded upon the idea of annual celebrations. Whereas the Greeks had limited their cake offerings to the gods, the Romans took a shining to the idea of the birthday, celebrating those belonging to their Emperor-du-jour and his family, to important military heroes, even to one's own city. One's50th year is said to have been celebrated with a cake make of flour, cheese, honey, and olive oil. Placenta, delicious placenta.

Of course, neither the Greeks nor the Romans bothered to come up with a new word for cake, since little distinction was made between these cakes and bread.

No, it is rumored that our word for cake is derived from a 13th Century Norse word: kaka. Cake, it would seem, was in need of a greater marketing strategy.

It was the Germans who really put the concept of the modern birthday cake on the map. In the Middle Ages, sweetened bread dough was made into the shape of the Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and eaten cannibalistically on that biggest of all birthdays, Christmas. I am reminded of the story a friend once told me of how is family celebrates that holiday every year. His mother walks into the dining room carrying a peppermint-frosted birthday cake (because Jesus loves both you and peppermint) and everyone bursts into a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday". Not, I hope, "Happy Birthday, Jesus".

Mercifully, the idea of a bready Christ-child lost some of its appeal, but the tie-in of child + birthday = celebration survived in the form of the Kinderfest-- a child's birthday party. In centuries past, it was usually the custom to regard children as either mini-grown-ups, free sources of labor, or simply not at all, since it was most likely that he or she would not survive into adulthood. It was the Germans, with their proto-modern Geburtstagtorten, who helped to pioneer the warm and fuzzy regard with which we now regard the young. At least our own. And the birthday cake.

Candle Power

It's impossible to talk about birthday cakes without regarding their source of power-- the birthday candle.

Fire is, of course, a source of both light and heat. It is therefore symbolic of the sun's power and, as such, the use of it in religious rights is not at all surprising. The smoke from these fires -- from candles or burnt sacrifices-- would rise, curling its way up to Heaven, to whichever god one was worshipping at the time. The Greeks sometimes placed candles upon their cakes, as they did with Artemis, and lit them as they prayed. With the round cakes glowing like the moon, they sent their prayers skyward with the smoke. It is essentially that tradition we still follow, though we no longer call them prayers, but wishes, which sounds less religious, yet more unreasonably hopeful, and we light up German Chocolate or Wacky Cakes instead of Moon Pies, because that somehow seems more comfortable to us.

We place the same number of candles on our cakes as the number of years we have lived but, no matter how many candles there might be, we get just one wish. The more candles on the cake, the more difficult it is to blow them out in a single breath, as is the wish-making custom. If anything, this symbolizes not only the complexities of aging, but also the growing unlikelihood of our ever getting what we wish for. For the young, the act of blowing out candles is one of hope. For the elderly, it can be an exercise in frustration and futility, which might explain why my family stops counting candles for someone when their age exceeds the number of candles in a standard box-- 24.

Whatever you might read into the tone of this post, I am not completely cynical about the birthday cake, its traditions, and its powers. I don't believe so much in the making of wishes by blowing out candles, though I enjoy the symbolism behind the act. The real power of the birthday cake comes from the fact that, if it is made from scratch, it tells the recipient that he or she has been thought of in advance, is loved.

And, of course, I love the fact that I, as the birthday boy, am essentially coating the entire surface of the cake with a fine mist of my own spittle, sharing a little bit of myself with all my co-celebrants. It's better to give than to receive, you know. That's why this year, I shall joyfully close my eyes, put my lips together, and blow.

Summer's bounty is upon us in full force, demanding our attention, and there is nothing I like more than a simple farmers' market supper -- as fresh as you can get, barely cooked, with very little fuss.

I've compiled some of my favorite market meals of late here. These are not so much recipe as they are ideas, so there may or may not be exact measurements because frankly, when you are doing something this simple, you really don't need a recipe. Don't be intimidated by cooking like this, just keep tasting as you go...


Caprese salad
Slice ripe tomatoes and fresh buffalo milk mozzarella and layer on a plate. Sprinkle with thin ribbons of basil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle with a gorgeous olive oil.

Caprese bruschetta
Brush slices of levain bread with olive oil and toast in the oven or under the broiler. Top with slices of fresh mozzarella and chopped cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle with thin ribbons of basil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle with more olive oil.

Figs and proscuitto
Cut very ripe figs in half lengthwise and drape with thin slices of prosciutto. The prosciutto-fruit pairing also works exceedingly well with sliced nectarines, peaches, and cantalope.

Zucchini salad
Using a vegetable peeler, shave long shards of zucchini or summer squash (or a mixture) into a bowl. Toss with lemon juice, olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. The lemon juice will help "cook" the zucchini. I also like to add shards of aged pecorino or Parmesan, or crumbled fresh goat's cheese and toasted almonds.

Fresh pesto
Blanch a large bunch of basil leaves. Add to a food processor with 1 garlic clove, lightly toasted pine nuts, shredded Parmesan and chop finely. Drizzle in olive oil until it's a nice consistency. Toss with warm pasta and julienned zucchini. Sprinkle some more toasted pine nuts on top for garnish.

Salad with nectarines
Toss together butter lettuce, sliced nectarines, toasted almonds, and fresh goat's cheese. Drizzle with some olive oil and champagne vinegar, and grind some black pepper on top.

Green goddess
In a blender, puree 1/2 avocado, some basil leaves, the juice of 1/2 lime, about 1/4 cup thick plain yogurt, a splash of white wine vinegar. Drizzle in about 1/4 cup of olive oil with the blender running. If the dressing doesn't emulsify, put it in a bowl and whisk it together. If it's too thick, add a little water. Season it to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss it with really fresh butter lettuce and julienned raw zucchini.

Zucchini blossoms
Gently stuff fresh zucchini blossoms with sheep's milk ricotta or fresh farmers' cheese. Dust with flour and fry in about 1/4-inch of hot olive oil just until golden. Top with chopped basil and serve.

Grilled stone fruits
Stone fruits—peaches, nectarines, pluots, apricots, and plums—are fantastic when grilled. Cut them in half, remove the pit, and brush them with a light oil. Grill both sides just until they start to get tender. Don't use overly ripe fruit. Serve these alongside roast or grilled pork or chicken, or as dessert with whipped cream or crème fraiche.

Hopefully some of these ideas with spark your imagination and you'll just start experimenting in the kitchen with whatever gorgeous fruits and vegetables you bring home from the market. Keep it simple, and let the flavors of the season star, and it's hard to go wrong.

Next week is the third annual San Francisco Wine. Dine. Donate dinner. It's a fundraiser for America's Second Harvest and our own San Francisco Food Bank in particular. Each year the venue changes, but it always includes a fantastic multi-course meal, a chance to meet Tanya Steel, editor in chief of Epicurious and to learn a bit about the programs of the food bank. Last year there was even a snazzy gift bag.


This year's dinner is being held at Acme Chophouse and it reunites friends and chef colleagues--Traci des Jardins and Elizabeth Falkner. Here is a sneak peek at the "From Farm to Table" menu:

Passed Hors d'oeuvres:
Tomales Bay Oysters
Craig's Charcutiere
Steak Tartare

First Course:
Cured anchovies boquerones style, squid-charred and marinated with local shelling beans and a sardine a la escabeche. Family style with Grilled Breads and marinated seasonal vegetables.

Second Course:
Spit Roasted Porchetta, Devil's Gulch Pork, Slow Cooked Kale with Lemon, Romano and Wax Beans with Tomato

Cheese:
Andanate Dairy Cheese with Breads

Dessert:
Elizabeth's Dessert olive oil crema, summer fruits (pieces of peach, and or plum) berries, pine nut streusel, and avocado ice cream with a grating of spicy chocolate

What: Wine. Dine. Donate Dinner

Where: ACME Chophouse, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco

When: Wednesday, July 30th 2008 Reception 6:15 p.m. Dinner 7:15 p.m.

How: Tickets are $125 and include a donation to America's Second Harvest The Nation's Food Bank Network. Purchase tickets.

Why: Support a cause that serves many in our own community, experience a collaboration between two great chefs and enjoy one great local meal.

More than anything, the dinner is a chance to focus on those at risk of going hungry in our community. Undoubtedly you have seen the headlines in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle about soaring food costs and food banks "feeling the pinch." The numbers tell a sad story, in 2007 the San Francisco Food Bank served 118,000 people and today they are serving 124,000.

Here's a great recipe from Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts cookbook, that uses luscious ripe cherries. Spoon them over ice cream, cake or cheesecake.

Wine-Soaked Cherries
Makes about 1 cup

1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar (about 1 1/4 ounces)
1 cup halved and pitted Bing cherries (about 4 ounces)
Small pinch of freshly ground black pepper

In a saucepan, combine the wine and sugar and place over medium-high heat. Heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, for about 2 minutes or until the mixture comes to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half, forming a syrup. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool for 2 minutes.

Stir the cherries and pepper into the syrup and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Serve the cherries right away, or cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 months.

Recipe reprinted from Elizabeth Falkner’s Demolition Desserts, Copyright 2007 Tenspeed Press

This weekend, I attended the Taste3 conference in Napa. Taste is an unusually structured conference focused on food, wine, and art: each speaker has 18 minutes to present on his or her topic, and then we move on to the next speaker. No panels, no audience questions. Just presentation after presentation after presentation. Then we eat (and eat and eat).

Presentations ranged from earthworm farming to molecular gastronomy in the pastry kitchen to the ravaging of the kauri forests in New Zealand. Our own Thy Tran gave an engrossing presentation about the Sikh community in California. All in all, the conference was approximately thirty presentations over two intense, inspiring days.

Early on the first day, Rene Koster presented. He is director of the Restaurant of the Future Research Foundation in the Netherlands. The restaurant of the future is an actual restaurant in the Netherlands that is basically a lab in which researchers can test all sorts of environmental factors and their affect on consumers.

The New York Times reported on the restaurant of the future in November: "How will people behave if we put out fresh flowers, or shine a red light on a dish?" asked Nico Heukels, research director of Sodexho, a leading food services company and partner in the project. "What if we put out square or colored plates? Will they choose healthier things if we spray fruity scent in the air?"

In a move that elicited gasps from the audience members, Koster showed us that each cash register has a discreet scale underneath it so that the researchers can study a customer's weight vs. how much they eat, and how much they purchase.

While there is a lab contingent to the research (which tests eye movement, chewing habits, and facial expressions), the fascinating part of the restaurant of the future is the actual restaurant. Everything is modular, so researches can test the effects of a long buffet vs. center islands, lighting, waiter service vs. self-service, abundant service plates vs. sparse, table size, and chair type among other things -- basically anything that can be changed in a restaurant, they change and test.

I have no doubt that labs such as these will trickle down to choices that restaurateurs make in future restaurants. After all, restaurants are big business -- they may as well give us what we want, whether we consciously know what that is or not!

My drink of choice at taquerias has always been a large, refreshing glass of jamaica, the brightest and probably healthiest agua fresca in the glass barrel lineup. The beautifully scarlet infusion of hibiscus flowers is rich in Vitamin C and carries a tartness that I love. The dried flowers can be found in any Latino market, or, if you prefer, organic flowers are sold in bulk at markets like Rainbow Grocery. Brewed in boiling water, sweetened with honey, spritzed with a touch of fresh lime or orange, and then served over ice, it's a delicious and healthful way to banish soda and other bottled drinks.

Abundant in Australia, where it's known as roselle, hibiscus has recently been exchanging its Mexican and health-food togs for an elegant spin in the world of cocktails. A Sydney-based company, Wild Hibiscus, has begun preserving the whole flowers in syrup. A single bud and a spoonful of its sweet, rosy syrup transform a glass of prosecco into one of the prettiest drinks around. It's just as easy to dress up a seasonal bellini or brighten a vodka martini.

For now, you can order online -- a small jar of 11 flowers and a serious party pack of 50 -- but keep an eye out for the jars soon in local markets.