Father and son Eric and Sprocket Downing in the 2010 Supermarket Street Sweep. Photo by Koshi.

I've only been a resident of the Bay Area since 2006, but it's felt like home the moment I ditched my New York City zip code for the "Best Coast." One of the reasons I moved out here is because it's a mecca for folks who love the great outdoors, and as a lifelong cyclist, I can't imagine another place I'd rather live and play.

Ironically enough, it wasn't until I left New York that I heard about Cranksgiving. This is an annual food drive that's been going strong since 1999. It was originally organized by a group of NYC bike messengers and follows the "alley cat" format of street racing. Alleycats emulate a typical bike messenger's day. There is a "manifest" that lists the "checkpoints" -- rather like the multiple stops messengers make on their delivery route. During a typical alleycat, an individual stationed at the checkpoint will sign the manifest as proof that the participant came by. With Cranksgiving, the supermarkets serve as the checkpoints, and racers buy a list of groceries that goes directly to food pantries and other non-profit organizations.

Cranksgiving has spread around the country, and there are now over 30 benefit races at last count. San Francisco didn't have one in 2006, so I and a group of bike-fanatic friends launched the Supermarket Street Sweep (yes, the name is a riff on the old game show) to help the San Francisco Food Bank. The Sweep also adheres to the alleycat street race style, but there are two categories: Speed and Cargo. For the Speed category, cyclists race to supermarkets as fast as they can to buy all of the items on their list.

And in a hilly city like San Francisco, that's no easy feat. Contestants who'd like to be winning contenders are not only fit, but also possess excellent navigational skills and the ability to plot the best route just like a regular bicycle messenger. And it doesn't hurt to be able to charm your way to the front of the checkout line to expedite paying for your groceries ahead of your competitors.

The Cargo category focuses on racers bringing back as much food as humanly possible from five supermarkets around the city. (The route isn't nearly as challenging as the Speed category as the emphasis is on the amount of food competitors are able to bring back.) One notable winner in 2009, Jeremiah Ducate, brought in a whopping 962 lbs. You can watch him pedaling to victory in this video.

While not everyone is a he-man like Jeremiah, it's pretty impressive how much food folks are able to stuff in panniers, baskets and backpacks. The Sweep has raised over 20,000 pounds of food and close to $5000 in cash, which is the equivalent of 37,333 meals. And with families in California struggling in this tough economy to put dinner on the table, every can and box of food matters.

All manner of cyclists come out to support the SF Food Bank: commuters, families, amateur racers from local teams and other cycling enthusiasts. It's great to see the Bay Area community come out every year to support an important local charity while having fun. There's also an after party with a raffle and prize ceremony for the participants. The event is supported by a wonderful list of generous sponsors every year; this year there's several bike frames, trailers and other great prizes to give away to top winners.

Interested in participating in this year's event? Come out to the Claes Oldenberg Cupid's Span sculpture at Embarcadero and Folsom Streets at high noon this Saturday, December 3. No need to pre-register as participants are checked in and given directions that day. Learn more about the rules and list of what to bring on our blog.

The Supermarket Street Sweep
Saturday, December 3
Registration: High Noon at the Cupid's Span sculpture at Folsom and Embarcadero
After party begins at 6PM
Facebook: Supermarket Street Sweep
Twitter: SFStreetSweep
All proceeds benefit the San Francisco Food Bank

Michael Ruhlman -- you've heard his name before -- is in love with numbers. His previous book, Ratio, focused less on hard-and-fast recipes and more on the proportions of ingredients to one another.

With his latest book, Ruhlman's Twenty, he zeroes in on twenty culinary techniques and ingredients over the course of 100 recipes. While I haven't read his first instructional cookbook "The Elements of Cooking," his new work seems to be a more expansive, visually-rich book filled with glossy photos taken by his photographer wife, Donna Turner Ruhlman.

From salt to water, roast to braise, Michael gives a thorough run down of methods and terms before launching into the recipes. There's nothing in the book that the average home cook couldn't successfully attempt with a modest amount of effort, and "Ruhlman's Twenty" seems geared more for the beginner cook who'd like to add more sparkle to old favorites. The recipes are a collection of comfort food standards, from "Perfect Meat Loaf with Chipotle Ketchup," "Pulled Pork with Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Sauce," "Mac and Cheese with Soubise" and "Rosemary-Brined Buttermilk Fried Chicken" to basic fare such as "Scrambled Eggs with Goat Cheese and Chives" and "Tomato Sauce." There's nothing too complicated or exotic within its pages, and it would be a good addition to the bookshelf for any aspiring foodie looking to step up their culinary game.

Under "Soup: The Easiest Meal" -- because he agrees with former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl's assertion that, "You know what they say, if you've got chicken stock, you've got a meal." -- he includes a recipe for "Sweet Bell Pepper Soup" that includes just four ingredients.

Sweet Bell Pepper Soup
Serves 5

1 pound / 455 grams red, orange, and/or yellow bell peppers / capsicums, seeded and cut into 2-inch/5-centimeter pieces
1 cup / 240 milliliters heavy / double cream
Kosher salt
Lemon juice

Combine the vegetables and cream in a saucepan and bring the cream to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook the vegetables until tender, about 5 minutes. Puree, adding a three-finger pinch of salt and leaving the blender cap off and covering the the blender with a kitchen towel until the contents are thoroughly pureed, about 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed. Add a squeeze of lemon. Pass the soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pan or bowl. Taste again for seasoning and adjust if neceessary. Serve 1/2-cup/60 milliter portions.

Ruhlman says, "The same method works with nearly any vegetable, but the best choices are nongreen vegetables such as root vegetables, fennel, cauliflower, and mushrooms."

If you'd like to meet the author in person, Michael will be appearing at Omnivore Books this Wednesday, November 30, from 6-7 PM. A celebratory dinner at Incanto will follow afterwards, and he'll be present to sign copies for guests. The dinner is standard seating, so reservations can be made online or by phone at 415-641-4500.

In the vibrant neighborhood around 16th Street and Guerrero, a new Italian restaurant is taking shape. As opening day draws closer, construction continues around the clock. Come by and you may hear the squeal of the electric saw, the clattering of lumber, the whine of an electric drill. But, despite the fact that several people are conversing simultaneously, one noise that’s notably absent is the sound of voices. That’s because the conversations are all in sign language. The owners and operators of Mozzeria, Melody and Russell Stein, and many of their workers are deaf.

For this food writer—whose other job as a sign language interpreter has given her the gift of another language and a window into a fascinating culture—this is the dream interview. As I visit with Melody and Russ, we effortlessly chat in ASL (American Sign Language).

Make no mistake, however, the Steins are designing their restaurant and menu for the general public. And Melody has done her homework: besides studying Hospitality Management, she did a tour of Italy in 2010, taking cooking classes in several Italian cities to hone her recipes and perfect her pizza technique.

Melody also draws on support and inspiration from her father, who ran two successful restaurants in Hong Kong, where she was born. When her parents realized that Melody and her younger brother were both deaf, they began a search for the best school for their children. After short stints in deaf schools in the Philippines and Singapore, the whole family relocated to Northern California, where Melody and her brother attended CSD (California School for the Deaf in Fremont) and her father opened another branch of his Wu Kong restaurant in San Francisco’s Rincon Center.

Actually, Russ is the reason behind the pizza. Growing up in a large deaf family in New York City, Russ has always been a pizza addict, devouring cheesy slices almost every day. Melody and Russ met when they were both studying Business Administration at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. (the world’s only university specifically designed for deaf people).

After they married and had two children (now 10 and 12) and worked for a large non-profit in South Dakota for 10 years, they moved back to California (partly because they missed the food) and started a management consulting company. Melody’s dream, however, was to open a restaurant. “So the compromise,” she jokes, “is that to please Russ it had to be a pizza restaurant. Now I know that my husband will be happy every day.”

Of course, only the world’s best pizza would satisfy this pizza gourmet and that’s why Mozzeria will be serving Neapolitan style pizza made in their new 5,000 pound Stefano Ferrara wood-burning oven, imported from Italy. Russ will use almond, oak or apple wood to feed the shiny black-tiled mountain that dominates the dining room of their cozy 49-seat space. As for the rest of the décor, Melody uses the vivid economy of ASL signs to paint a quick picture of the kind of Italian restaurant this is NOT going to be. She deftly describes a red-and-white-checkered tablecloth and old wine bottle overflowing with colored wax drippings, then gently shakes her head as she smiles sweetly.

Instead, Melody envisions a combination of modern and vintage styles. The vintage is inherently part of this historic 1908 building and is stunningly represented in the 100 year old hardwood floor they were thrilled to discover hiding under grungy old tile.

As is the custom in collectivist Deaf Culture, the Steins looked first for deaf artisans or laborers to fill their needs and found Michael E. Sharnov and Samuel Reynolds, deaf wood refinishers who brought out the warm luster in the dark brown Douglas fir floor. They also hired Nathan Dingel, a deaf electrician and HVAC professional who was Melody’s classmate at CSD and Ron Trumble, a deaf woodworker, to design and make their door, tables, shelves, banquette seating and a counter topped with marble. Interior designer, Patty Foo Hampton, who has deaf parents, created a stark black and white color scheme, set off by shiny red chairs that are sitting in patient stacks, waiting for opening night, which is planned for December 9.

As for the menu, Melody is keeping some surprises up her sleeve until the big day. She does say that Mozzeria will feature “traditional and non-traditional pizzas to celebrate San Francisco’s cultural diversity.” Pasta and inventive small plates (developed by lead cook Justin Belluomini) will be served with local beer on tap, Californian and Italian wine and vintage sodas. Their wood fired oven will reach a temperature of 1000 degrees and bake pizzas to crispy, melty goodness in a flash—60-90 seconds. Dinner will be offered Tuesday-Sunday nights with addition of brunch on the weekends.

“There are only a handful of deaf owned restaurants around the country, “ says Russell proudly, “ We are the first one in a major city—and a famous food city too.” Although, the Steins expect that most of their customers will be “hearing” (the ASL term for those who are not deaf), they want to make sure their deaf supporters, many of whom have been cheering on Mozzeria’s progress over the past year on their blog, are comfortable too.

Lighting is the most important component for deaf diners and Russ says that Mozzeria will have plenty of lighting. Melody adds that dim interiors make her eyes tired and teases that candle-lit tables could be dangerous during an emphatically signed exchange. Their big screen TV will have its captions on permanently, emergency lights will be strobe-enabled and flashing light signals will alert them when the phone rings or someone is at the door.

Customers can make reservations online using Open Table and the restaurant is also equipped with a videophone which hearing customers can access through a video-relay service.

Melody has already hired two deaf dishwashers through CSD’s Work Readiness program and hopes to hire servers who can sign. Communication is not expected to be a big problem as Melody and Russ are both comfortable writing notes with their hearing vendors and customers. “Our UPS man has gotten used to Deaf culture now that he has been making so many deliveries here,” says Melody, smiling. “He knows to wave his arms outside the window to get my attention when there is a package for me.”

For updates and to check opening date, go to mozzeria.com.
Address: 3228 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Twitter: @MozzeriaSF
Facebook: Mozzeria

Occupy Oakland General Strike on November 2, 2011. Photo: Wendy Goodfriend

Have you moved your money yet? A lot of imperatives have come out of the Occupy movement of late; this one is both concrete and far-ranging, something that anyone can do.

What does it mean? It started with a call to action for people to pull their money and investments out of the big banks, and put them into smaller, locally-owned and locally-responsible credit unions and community banks. It's like voting; the amount in my tiny checking and savings accounts means nothing to MegaBankUSA, but add my numbers to thousands and thousands of others, and suddenly a bank could feel some impact.

That's just one part. Like the concept of eating locally, which started with food miles and then grew into a much larger movement, even revolution, about how and what we eat, the idea of "moving your money" can be applied in so many ways.

And it's not limited to how or where you spend your actual cash. On the style blog Ironing Board Collective, my friend, writer and health coach Sara Seinberg, has posted a great Move Your Money gift guide, with suggestions for everything from art-museum memberships to shared activities and bartered services. Her list, and the fact that right now, like so many of us, I am luckily rich in friends, family, and good intentions, and not-so-rich in disposable income, have got me thinking even more about value this time of year. About surplus. About what we use to get what we need, and how we can support the needs of others--friends, family, your community, your neighborhood and beyond. This holiday season, what do you have that can bring delight and deliciousness to those you love, while keeping your money out of the coffers of the big corporations?

How about chocolate? There are lots of locally-made chocolate treats available to sweeten your holidays. Or you can make your own with this easy chocolate truffle recipe. Dandelion's bean-to-bar chocolate store will be opening in San Francisco next month or early next year; until then, find them at local farmers' markets, including the Mission Community Market and the Noe Valley Farmers' Market.

With the explosion of books, classes, and blogs dedicated to food preservation for fun (or profit), it's easy to spend a little time whipping up a gift batch of something, especially if you turn the simmering or brewing into an all-afternoon stir-and-gossip session. What do you like best to make? It's a little late in the season to make jam, but there's always apple butter, pear butter, slow-roasted quince paste (so tasty with cheese), Meyer lemon marmalade or tangy lemon chutney. WorkshopSF has classes in beer-making, tea-blending, cheese-making, even vintage apron sewing coming up in December; take one yourself, or take a friend along.

Does everyone rave about your ramen, your cranberry bread, your caramel apple pie? Do you want to share your mom's recipes with everyone who loves her? There are dozens of print-on-demand services that let you turn those scribbled-on recipe cards into a surprisingly chic and stylish personal cookbook. Pop-up holiday markets are also a good place to find quirkily perfect host/ess gifts made by your friends and neighbors. On Dec. 9, La Cocina is holding its 3rd Annual Gift Bazaar, featuring unique products developed in La Cocina's incubator kitchen in the Mission.

Or, depending on what you have to spare, you can give money, time, or expertise to organizations who redistribute the wealth across the Bay Area's tables. Did one (or ten) of your Facebook friends and Twitter followers post Mary Risley's hysterically practical YouTube video, Just Put the F*cking Turkey in the Oven? Now, with over 100,000 hits, let's hope she can make the follow-up, Just Give Your F*cking Leftovers to Food Runners.

Risley isn't just a cooking teacher, she's the founder of Food Runners, which moves thousands of pounds of fresh, useful leftover food from restaurants, grocery stores, and catering businesses into the kitchens of shelters, low-income senior and youth programs, and other organizations that serve the needy. Mary talks about Food Runners on this episode of Food & Wine This Week in Northern California.

Tomato pickers in Immokalee, Florida. Photo: Scott Robertson

As the nation's annual food fest approaches, let's take a moment to express gratitude for farmworkers, the hard-working field hands who grow and harvest the abundance we're about to eat on Thanksgiving.

It's so easy in the food-obsessed Bay Area to focus on whether our D.I.Y., made-from-scratch meals are perfect or if the raw ingredients of our culinary creations have a pristine pedigree.

But enough food narcissism already: let's talk about the plight of the people who make this holiday possible.

Some food for thought:
• Check out the videos from the recent conference TedxFruitvale: Harvesting Change hosted by the foundation wing of the sustainable-food focused Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO). The event, held at Mills College in Oakland, revealed in sharp relief and from first-hand accounts the back-breaking labor of those in the fields, many of whom are still exposed to life-threatening pesticides and labor in shocking conditions. But this day-long event was anything but a downer: The program also highlighted farmworker success stories and alternative ownership models to BigAg.

  The well-curated program (hat tip to BAMCO's Maisie Greenawalt, Bonnie Powell, Haven Bourque and crew) featured a diverse group of speakers that went well beyond the usual suspects who typically wax on at such meet ups -- along with great food, good music, and an inclusive vibe. There were breast-feeding activists and Spanish-speaking farmhands and everyone found a place on the stage and at the table.

  Recurring themes from the day: Hard work, determination in the face of adversity, and the importance of family ties, which seems fitting to mention in a Thanksgiving post. Local organic farmers' market regular Maria Catalán, one of the first Latina farm owners in the country, talked about giving back to her community and the pleasures of working with her children, as did Napa grape grower and wine maker Amelia Ceja.

  Adelfo Antonio of Swanton Berry Farm recounted the benefits of working on a unionized organic farm (one with panoramic ocean views, no less). Former farmworker, José Gutierrez, who once toiled alongside his father in the fields now studies agromedicine, so that workers like his dad can have a healthier life. Reporter Roberto Romano simply let his film La Cosecha/The Harvest, which chronicles the plight of three teenage migrant workers, speak for itself.

• Stay tuned for the pending posting of the Edible Education 101 lecture that included Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser. Not one to mince words, Schlosser says simply that racism is at the heart of the long history of exploitation and abuse that characterizes farmworkers' struggles. He urges us all to stop being consumers, start being citizens, and take some personal responsibility for what we eat.

  Also speaking that evening, the man Schlosser refers to as the next Cesar Chavez, Lucas Benitez, co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), an organized group of tomato pickers from Florida who have made great strides in improving simply horrendous living and working conditions for produce pickers. (A detailed account of the squalor, abuse, and danger these workers encounter can be found in Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook, who first brought national attention to this issue in a James Beard award-winning story for the late Gourmet magazine.)

  In the past decade, the CIW's widely cited Campaign For Fair Food has forced major fast food restaurants, food service companies, and tomato growers to agree to a pay increase for workers and a code of conduct that recognizes workers' rights. (Still to come to the table: grocery store chains such as Kroger, Publix, Walmart, and Trader Joe's, see below.) The Oakland-based Just Harvest USA is a CIW partner and works on fair food campaigns close to home.

• Take action: Get to know your local farmers. Visit your favorite farms (a green tour guide has been amazed to discover how many people -- Bay Area residents no less -- have never set foot on a farm.)

  Even heavy hitters like farmer friend Alice Waters, who herself had a recent epiphany about the plight of farmworkers, are showing support for farmworkers' struggles. Waters sent snacks from Chez Panisse to feed protesters at the recent Trader Joe's rally (covered on Bay Area Bites).


Protest march to Trader Joe's for farmworker justice in Oakland. Photo: Wendy Goodfriend

• Try farming: Got what it takes to harvest in the heat under difficult conditions for low pay and no benefits? The United Farm Workers invites American citizens who think immigrant and undocumented farm workers are stealing all the good jobs to sign up for field work as part of their Take Our Jobs campaign, which caught the attention of The Colbert Report, among others, last year.

Have ideas about how to stay connected to farmworkers and their concerns? Bring 'em on below.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Not too far back in the past a vegan had very few options for a store-bought holiday main dish outside of a Tofurkey or for recipes beyond a bland grain-stuffed squash. Boy, have times changed! Vegan food companies and vegan foodies have become incredibly creative in inventing "turkey replacements." I've usually gone store-bought in the past, but this year I just can't resist making Karina Allrich's incredibly flavorful Vegetarian Garden Loaf (with a few twists added), not only because it's incredibly delicious, but also because my family includes two vegans, one vegetarian, and a celiac. Karina is a cookbook author and creator of the gluten-free blog, gluten-free goddess, where she has lots and lots of vegetarian and vegan recipes, some inspired by her pre-celiac cookbook, Recipes from a Vegetarian Goddess.

However, if you are still on the lookout for something a little less maintenance, check out this list of delectable store-bought options to make your holiday table thoroughly Tofurkey-less:
• Gardein's Savory Stuffed Turk'y
• Field Roast Grain Meat Co.'s Stuffed Celebration Roast
• Field Roast Grain Meat Co.'s Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute
• Vegetarian Plus' Vegan Whole Turkey (Here's a review of it on vegansaurus.)

Vegan (and Gluten-Free) Garden Loaf with Cranberry-Maple Glaze
(Based on Karina Allrich's Vegetarian Garden Loaf with Maple Apricot Glaze from gluten-free goddess, altered with permission from Karina Allrich.)

Makes: 1 loaf/6 slices
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion- red or sweet
2 heaping cups chopped Baby Bella or Cremini mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
5 cups loosely packed baby spinach leaves
Sea salt and ground pepper

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup toasted gluten-free bread or waffle crumbs (I used Vans Wheat/Gluten Free Waffles, which I toasted and then made into crumbs in my food processor.)
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix -- basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, marjoram
1 teaspoon fresh minced rosemary
3-4 scallions sliced thin
1 baked orange sweet potato or yam, peeled and diced (take it out before it's cooked too much or too soft)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a glass loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper that extends up above the longer sides. When the loaf has baked, and set a bit, you will be able to lift out the loaf in one whole piece.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and cook the onion until it is translucent. Add the mushrooms and garlic; stir until softened. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir. Add the spinach. Season with sea salt and ground pepper. Stir and cook down until the mixture is soft -- about seven minutes or so.

Spoon the skillet vegetables into a food processor and pulse to make a grainy mixture. Don't over-process it -- you want some texture.

Place the mixture into a large bowl. Add the cooked quinoa, gluten-free breadcrumbs, ketchup, molasses, and olive oil and stir to combine. Add in your dried herbs, rosemary, scallions, and mix to distribute. You want a moist mixture that sticks together when you press it with a spoon. If you need more ketchup to hold it together, add it now, maybe a tablespoon.

Add in the diced sweet potato and fold in gently. At this point, taste the mixture and see if you need to add salt and pepper.

Spoon the loaf mixture into the oiled loaf pan and shape it with moist fingers, pressing it tight into the pan. Smooth the top.

Make your glaze.

Combine:

1/4 cup jellied cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
A sprinkle of cinnamon and cumin
Hot red chili flakes, to taste

(I made two batches of this to have extra as a drizzle for individual slices of the loaf.)

Pour the glaze all over the top of the loaf.

Tent loosely with a piece of foil. Bake in the center of a preheated oven until heated through and the edges of the glaze are bubbling—about 30 minutes.

Allow the loaf to set for ten minutes, tented with foil. This helps it to settle, and makes it easier to slice. Slice into portions (the loaf yields about 6 slices) and lift out with a thin spatula. Enjoy!

How do you conceptualize your Thanksgiving practice? Do you loll in the warm gravy-filled bathtub of tradition, splashing between the green bean casserole and the marshmallow-topped yams? Do you light out for the territories with Thai-spiced vegan pumpkin soup? Do you skip the whole thing, go out for dim sum, then roast a turkey on Friday just for the joy of standing in front of the fridge, making sandwiches, picking at leftovers or frying up hash? Why Brussels sprouts? And how?

At times like these, a cookbook, an app, the Food Network, even Mark Bittman is not enough. For inspiration, for solace, for getting you through your kitchen's long dark night of the soul, only poetry will do. (Philosophy, the big gun typically aimed at life's meatier questions, is distressingly silent on crucial issues like do I brine or do I fry?) For all the koan-like beauty of his work, poet Wallace Stevens never made the most obvious suggestion to readers of Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, one known to every kid since their days of playground double-Dutch: get yourself eleven more birds, mister, and you got yourself a pie.

Not that all poets should bake pies, but, as Grace Paley has pointed out, it's a valid occasional alternative, even for a poet. As Paley writes,

I was going to write a poem
I made a pie instead
...
everybody will like this pie
it will have apples and cranberries
dried apricots in it many friends
will say why in the world did you
make only one

this doesn't happen with poems

So, pace Mr. Stevens, we offer 13 Ways of Looking at a Brussels Sprout, our poem of recipes for you and your pre-holiday kitchen.

I
Among twenty winter squashes
The only moving thing
Was the cleaver heading towards your fingers.

Aida Mollencamp, CHOW, How to Cut Hard Squash

II
I was of three minds
Like a refrigerator
In which there are three slaws.

Mark Bittman, New York Times, Slaws Eight Ways

III
The pureed pumpkin whirled in the coconut milk.
It was a small part of the dairy-free, gluten-free pantomime.

Pim Techamuanvivit, Chez Pim, Pumpkin Panna Cotta

IV
A man and a woman
Are hungry.
A man and a woman and a Brussels sprout salad
Are happy.

Heidi Swanson, 101 Cookbooks, Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Apples

V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of chestnuts
Or the beauty of butter.
The pie coming out of the oven,
Or pie the morning after.

Bay Area Bites, KQED, Chestnut Soup for the Holidays
Bay Area Bites, KQED, Sweet Potato Pie

VI
Pies filled the long window
With buttery shards.
The shadow of you on your bicycle
Crossed it, to and fro, wishing you had pre-ordered your Thanksgiving dessert.
The mood
Traced on the glass
Sugared with longing.

Bay Area Bites, KQED, Food Secrets of Mission Pie’s Karen Heisler and Krystin Rubin
Bay Area Bites, KQED, A Day with 3 Babes’ Bakeshop

VII
O vegan teens of Haight Street,
Why do you imagine golden tofurkys?
Do you not see how the bacon
Whispers to the Brussels sprouts
Of the Whole Foods around you?

Chef Zac Palaccio, New York Times, Fatty ‘Cue Brussels Sprouts
Chef Erik Cosselmon, 7x7, Kokkari's Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Lemon

VIII
I know Burning Man
And its lurid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That fried onions in a can are involved
In what I know.

Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Post Punk Kitchen, Vegan Green Bean-Mushroom Casserole
Tori Richie, Tuesday Recipe, Green Beans with Brown Butter and Lemon

IX
When the Brussels sprout rolled under the table,
It came out fuzzied in cat hair
The five-second rule, debatable.

Bay Area Bites, KQED, Food Safety on Thanksgiving

X
At the sight of Brussels sprout leaves
Wilting in a skillet with red grapes and bacon
Even the ennui’d of brassicas
Would cry out sharply.

Chef Rene Ortiz, SF Chronicle, La Condesa's Coles de Brussels

XI
He rode over to the coast
In a Zipcar Mini.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The false chanterelles
For chanterelles.

Iso Rabins, Forage SF, Wild Mushroom Box

XII
The lard is melting
the pigs must be flying.

Jessica Prentice, Edible East Bay, Cream of Celery Root Soup with Leeks and Lard
Sara Seinberg, Seinberg Holistic Health Coaching, Spicy Cauliflower and Japanese Sweet Potato Soup

XIII
It was dinnertime all afternoon.
The dishwasher was running.
And it was going to run.

(with thanks to Amy Rosenbaum Clark)

Greg La Follette. Photo: La Follette Wines.

Greg La Follette ‘listens’ to his wines and that may be why they ‘speak’ to some of us. Earlier this year I tried a La Follette Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and was hooked. It was a lovely wine with great acidity and subtle tastes of raspberries and spice. I later found out the winemaker was a kind and quirky scientist, with a reverence for the land and a knack for the bagpipes. With his chatty personality, and jamming wines, La Follette could easily be one of those rock star winemakers but he may be too humble for the limelight.

La Follette started at Beaulieu Vineyards in 1991 and spent time overseas as a wine consultant. His work included being a consultant at Yarra Ridge in Australia. Back in California he made a name for himself at Flowers and then at Tandem wines. Last year La Follette went out on his own to make cool climate, Burgundian style, Sonoma Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. I recently found a few reasonably priced La Follette Pinots at Bottle Barn in Sebastopol and plan on breaking them out for Thanksgiving.

Besides eavesdropping on his fermentations, La Follette generally avoids commercial yeasts, gravitates toward unconventional equipment built by hand using pieces from salvage yards, and experiments with practices such as fluff racking.

Greg La Follette was born in Iceland. His wife came to the U.S. from Germany and together they have six children. I recently had a chance to talk with La Follette at his shared winemaking facility in Sebastopol.

How do you describe your style of winemaking?

I see myself as more of a translator of the land rather than a dictator or someone who just wants to do everything in a prescribed way. I let the land take the lead on things. I have a strong collaboration with growers and am on call 24/7 with them. A lot of winemakers don't have the plant biology training that I do. Nowadays many more winemakers are realizing that wine is best made in the vineyard and so winemakers are getting more viticulture training.

Why do you say you practice unsafe winemaking?

Well, we take risks. Safe winemaking is when you inoculate something, put in plenty of sulpher dioxide to knock out the bad guys, you put it at a temperature where its going to go through safely, you follow a formula. For us, frequently our fermentations don't finish until June, the following year from harvest, which adds layers of richness. If you like the taste of forest floor and mushrooms in your pinot, that’s a compound produced by grapes and it's brought forward when you provide oxygen at just the right time. It’s also about using your body, I have had broken ribs, torn rotator cuffs, concussions and other injuries. Our style of winemaking is a full contact sport.

Speaking of dialogues with your wines, why do you listen to your fermentations?

I am listening for the activity in the wine. That is a good clue for us to tell when we need to do things like add sulphur dioxide. Most winemakers, when the malolactic is done they say, “ok, lets add the sulphur dioxide now." And I say, “no, let's wait until they quiet down.” I am really focused on mouth feel, which means getting away from the hardness. By the way, the secondary fermentation has a different sound than the primary fermentation. But you have to spend the time listening, it's not that different than listening to your spouse or your kids. It makes for better relationships.

How do you describe mouthfeel?

It’s what I focused on when I was getting my Masters at U.C. Davis. Mouthfeel is how all the parts in the wine work together. It’s what brings pleasure to your mouth. They are broken down into three parts, entry, mid-palate and late palate. You have to tie together the whole union of the wine.

You follow some natural winemaking techniques which include using native yeasts and little filtration. What do you think of this trend which has received so much buzz?

Well, I think of minimalist interventions. But here is the problem, there is less manipulation with the more commercial style of winemaking. We are playing with our wines all of the time. We really and truly live the wine and are on top of our fermentations, literally, several times a day, smelling, looking, tasting.

La Follette with assistant winemaker Simone Sequeria. Photo: La Follette Wines.

How did you choose Pinot Noir as your grape, it is so challenging to make.

I like introducing people to what Pinot Noir can do. It can just love and caress your tongue. I finally had to surrender to it and say "take me I'm yours." Pinot is great to make if you have Chardonnay to give you a rudder of sanity. I wanted it to have weight and structure but be light and have it at a price point where we can make friends. It's a new label so that's important. (La Follette’s wines range from $29.99 to $49.99).

La Follette’s talent as a Pinot Noir maker may never have come to fruition had he not reached the conclusion that his first love, playing the bagpipes, was not a practical career. His dream as a teenager did not match his parents' career expectations of him. La Follette saved his milk money to pay, secretly, for lessons and eventually became a ship's piper on the Queen Mary. Now the bagpipes are a hobby to wind down from winemaking.

Since I have Scottish ancestry I assumed the bagpipes might be something I could pick up, after all, I can blow a lot of hot air. But I was quickly humbled after one short lesson from La Follette.

You can meet Greg La Follette and check out his wines at the “In the Cellar with Greg” series. The next one is scheduled for Friday, December 2. For more information you can go to "events" on his website.

This event is one in an occasional series on California winemakers.

La Follette Wines
4900 West Dry Creek Road
Healdsburg, California 95448
Phone: 707.395.3902
info@lafollettewines.com
Facebook: La Follette Wines

Mitch Rosenthal. Photo credit: Paige Green © 2011

Mitch Rosenthal is the chef and owner of three of San Francisco's most beloved restaurants, Town Hall, Salt House, and Anchor & Hope, as well as Irving Street Kitchen in Portland, Oregon. Mitch hails from Edison, New Jersey, and was a chef at the Four Seasons in New York City, Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio in San Francisco, and Paul Prudhomme’s K-Paul’s in New Orleans. Through the years and through many kitchens, Mitch developed an adventurous philosophy not bound to a single cuisine, blending Jewish deli roots with Southern-inspired comfort food, updated regional favorites and urban sophistication.

The recipes for many of his favorite dishes appear in his newly published cookbook, Cooking My Way Back Home (2011, Ten Speed Press), and reflect the Southern exuberance of Town Hall, the contemporary approach of Salt House, and the focus on fresh seafood of Anchor & Hope. The book draws upon Mitch’s 35 years of restaurant experience but is geared toward the home chef—he tested every single recipe in his own home kitchen. Readers can cook up one of the book’s recipes, the Cheesy Rosti Potato Cake, at the end of this piece. Mitch lives in Mill Valley with his wife, Mary, and two children, Eli and Athena.

What do you have planned for Thanksgiving?

We’re having 30 people over at our house, and the menu will probably be a little different this year. We’re thinking of doing the turkey porchetta style: boneless, rolled up with lots of traditional spices, and roasted. This way, we’ll have more time to do other things -- maybe a seafood paella. Both are untraditional for us, we’ve never done this before. Since we’re having a lot of people over and have a pretty small house, we can cook the paella outside over the grill and just roast the porchetta. The porchetta will take less time to cook and be much easier to carve than a traditional turkey. We’re still discussing sides, as the flavors from the fennel and other spices used on the porchetta will change what will go with it. For example, we’ll probably skip the cranberry sauce and use something like Italian mustard fruits instead. But my wife Mary will still make her apple-sausage stuffing, as she does every year.

Please tell the story of closing Salt House and using it for a special Thanksgiving...

It was a disaster. Fun, but a disaster. Originally it was supposed to be a dinner for close friends and family, but then we had people inviting others and suddenly there were about 70 people at dinner. We had to put all of our tables in the restaurant together to fit everyone. The menu was very traditional: roast turkey with all the trimmings, Mary’s apple-sausage stuffing, and cranberry sauce. We did have jambalaya, though, and my brother Steve made his chopped liver, which he does every year. We had a lot of wine. It was fun, but there’s a point when you’re cooking for a group where you start to feel like the hired help instead of the host. I never got to sit down. We had a good time, but it was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Any dishes that have special meaning?

The chopped chicken liver that my brother makes every year is our grandmother’s recipe. It’s in the cookbook. And Mary cooks a lot of recipes that were handed down -- her apple-sausage stuffing is from her mother. We also serve latkes with smoked salmon at Thanksgiving as an hors d’oeuvre, which I learned from Tom Plajanis, the chef at the Jewish deli I worked at in New Jersey. The latke recipe is in the cookbook as well.

How is the book tour going?

The book tour really just started, but I’m always surprised by how many people show up. The biggest surprise so far was probably earlier this month at Powell’s Books in Portland, which was my first big talk during a book signing. I was really nervous, but it was great -- I was able to go on for over an hour talking and had to cut myself off. It’s so easy to talk about food and the stories around it. The other big surprise has been all of the emails I’m getting from long-lost friends, lots from the East Coast. Ever since the cookbook was published, I’m hearing from some great old friends that I haven’t talked to in years.

How did your cookbook come about?

Honestly, I was pushed into writing a cookbook. Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson of Tartine pushed me into it -- they’ve been bugging me for years. The funny thing is that’s how I got into the restaurant business: my mother pushed me into it.

One of the biggest surprises to me while writing the cookbook was how little it affected my marriage. With Mary being a chef, we got into very few fights while testing recipes at home -- basically I just let her be the boss. The big thing about testing recipes at home was that it brought me closer to the overall experience of cooking at home, which was a first. I’ve spent my life cooking in restaurant kitchens, and cooking out of my house brought me closer to the home cook. But I’m hoping that the book will do the opposite for the home chef, giving people the skills for more restaurant-level cooking.

What are you favorite off-night food & drink spots?

The reality is that I don’t go out that often, but when I do, I love R&G Lounge for their salt and pepper fried crab. Or the original Shalimar restaurant in the Tenderloin, for their lamb and spinach stew.

Favorite date night spots?

We like to visit Redd, a friend’s restaurant, in Yountville for special occasions, and have actually been to Aziza a few times in the last couple of months. They have these great vegetable spreads made with charred eggplant and yogurt dill. I had calamari with a saffron sauce that was amazing.

What is your favorite meal to have with friends and/or family?

When I go out to eat we usually go out with my family. We love Tony’s Pizza Napoletana. I always get the Jersey Original, and we always order the meatballs -- they’re amazing. Our new favorite place to eat out as a family is Super Duper burgers. I get the Double. We also love Yank Sing for any of their dumplings -- my kids go crazy there.

Mitch Rosenthal. Photo: Paige Green

Guiltiest food pleasure?

I love it and it’s gross: a Jersey Taylor pork roll. The way they’re made is very specific. It’s pork on a Kaiser roll, topped with fried egg, ketchup and American cheese. You only ever see them in Jersey. They’re so bad for you that I rarely eat them anymore, but last time I was in Jersey I had one.

How did you and your wife meet?

Mary worked for me in the kitchen at Postrio. The longer story is that she went on to become chef at the Liberty Café, but we had a mutual friend, Robin, who cooked with us and stayed on in the kitchen after Mary left. Robin thought that Mary and I would make a great couple and told Mary that I kept asking about her, all the while telling me that Mary was asking about me. None of this was true, but she ended up setting us up on a date. True story.

Tell us about your kids? Do they have favorite foods?

My son Eli is 12 and my daughter Athena is 8. Eli’s favorite food is pizza. Athena is a big fan of any soup, especially brothy soup. When they come to Town Hall, Eli has the BBQ shrimp. Athena has a broader palate, and loves ribs, fried chicken and meatballs.

Any advice for cooks during the holidays?

Test dishes you’ve never made before. Like with the Thanksgiving turkey porchetta, which is something we’ve never done, I’m not going to wait until the day-of to figure out the details. Look through what you’re planning to cook and see what you can prepare a day or two early so you’re not cooking everything all at once. Start early, and have a cocktail. Or a beer. And invite people that you like.

Recipe: Cheesy Rösti Potato Cake with Roasted Garlic and Thyme

Serves 6 to 8

2 heads garlic
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large russet potatoes
4 ounces fontina cheese, grated
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F.
to roast the garlic, cut the top off of each head of garlic, about 1/8 of an inch to expose the cloves. Put in a shallow pan and drizzle a tablespoon of the olive oil over each, season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with foil and roast in the oven until cloves are soft and creamy, about 45 minutes to an hour. When done, and cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves from their papery skin and set aside.

to steam the potatoes, place a collapsible metal vegetable steamer basket in a large heavy-bottomed pot with an inch of water. Bring the water to a boil, add the whole, unpeeled potatoes and steam for 16 minutes. Set the potatoes aside to cool.

It is important that the potatoes are completely cool before continuing. When they are, peel the potatoes and grate on the largest hole of a box grater and season with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, toss together the grated fontina and Parmesan and set aside.

to make the rösti, heat one-half of the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat. Add half of the grated potatoes and distribute them evenly, pushing them down with the spatula and shaping them to the form of the pan. Next layer the roasted garlic cloves evenly on top of the potatoes. Then, layer the grated cheese over the garlic and potatoes in an even circle, leaving about 1/4 inch from the edge of the pan. Pack the cheese down with the spatula, and then sprinkle with the chopped thyme, and cover with the remaining half of the grated potatoes, making sure to cover the garlic and cheese completely and evenly. Pack it down and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the potatoes are crispy and golden brown. When ready, turn the rösti over. This can be accomplished using either a spatula, a quick flick of the wrist, or by turning it out onto a plate, and then back into the pan. After it has been flipped, cook for 5 more minutes, then slip the pan into the oven for another 5 minutes. Slice and serve immediately.

“Reprinted with permission from Cooking My Way Back Home: Recipes from San Francisco’s Town Hall, Anchor & Hope, and Salt House by Mitchell Rosenthal, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.”

It’s been over five months since Natalie Galatzer decided to shutter her bike delivery pie business, Bike Basket Pies. And life already looks a lot different. She’s not schlepping around the Mission doing deliveries, she’s not working well into the night rolling out dough, and she’s not stressing about the seasonality of persimmons or how manageable her to-do list is for the next day. The best thing is that she’s not thinking about tomorrow today—she’s really enjoying today for today, including the ability to make social plans and travel.

Natalie’s currently working at two Bay Area restaurants waiting tables and thinking about what’s next. But the difference is she’s thinking big picture, not about tomorrow’s ingredient lists. And there’s freedom in that space to just breathe, reconsider, and reflect. One thing’s for sure: Natalie’s pretty certain the big picture won't include baking. She always thought that she wanted to be a baker, but isn’t convinced anymore. The act of turning something she loved into a business, made it quickly about the outcome and not the process she once loved. As you can imagine, this eventually killed the joy she once found in baking.

But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t looked back. In between her shifts waiting tables and scheming up new ideas, she needed a creative project and felt like she owed a little something to her loyal pie customers. So she decided to write a pie booklet, entitled Bike Basket Pies: How to Make Handheld Pies for Bicycle Delivery, with 14 of her favorite and most popular recipes and detailed instructions and illustrations on the process of making small (and large) pies. It was time that the recipes lived on somewhere other than within her computer spreadsheets. It was time to give something back.

After two years in business, you can imagine how difficult it was to choose a mere fourteen recipes for the booklet. Natalie organized all of her recipes not just by the seasons but actually by the months she’d make them–heavily dictated by the produce available in the Bay Area during that time. She knew she wanted to structure the book using the seasons, but she also wanted each recipe to be uniquely her own. For instance, in terms of pumpkin pie, there are limited things you can do with a pumpkin pie recipe. Her pumpkin, while wonderful, doesn’t differ all that much from my pumpkin or your mother’s pumpkin. But there are so many of Natalie’s pies that are the exact opposite and that’s what she decided to highlight in her book.

When you hold the booklet in your hands, you’ll notice the charming illustrations by Minty Lewis. They truly make Natalie’s words and recipes come alive: from drawings of the actual pies to step-by-step illustrated instructions on forming small pies and larger pies. Beyond the illustrations, you’ll notice there are 14 recipes (3 for each season along with a few savories). Yes, the Shaker Orange recipe is in there. As is the Pear Ginger. In addition to the recipes, there are little sections on Making Dough, Rolling Out Dough, Forming Small Pies, and Making a 9” Pie. There are clear mini sections on Temperatures and Baking Times, too. You’re in good hands here. While some people find pie-making overwhelming, Natlalie’s assured tone and concise instructions and Minty’s sweet illustrations will force you out of any pie rut. Guaranteed.

The booklet took Natalie a little over a month to write with one of the bigger challenges being how to decide what parts of the pie-making process to illustrate, how much detailed information to provide for the home baker, and how to best layout each step for her readers. The easiest way for her to tackle this was to spend a day making pie and having a friend photograph the process. Then they went through to decide what parts of the process seemed like an actual step and what they could assume the reader would already understand.

When asked about proprietary recipes and whether she was nervous about them being out and available to the public, Natalie replied, “What am I going to do with them? A lot about it is technique and practice anyway, and I’m no longer making pies for people so now I can give then the tools to do it on their own and still enjoy what I make.”

So is Natalie’s day-to-day life one without pie? Largely, yes. She doesn’t make them anymore and doesn’t find herself craving them. That will probably come back in time. For now, she’s excited to produce something tangible that’s different in the sense that it’s a living, lasting artifact. A piece of pie, while lovely in the moment, won’t last for generations. Natalie’s book of recipes will. And lucky for us, she’s decided to share.

Buy the Booklet: Bike Basket Pies: How to Make Handheld Pies for Bicycle Delivery is available for order now on Natalie's website. Orders placed from now until November 29th will be shipped on December 1st. In addition, keep your eyes peeled as Natalie has plans to approach area book shops who may be interested in stocking it.

Join Natalie at Pot + Pantry to help celebrate the release of the booklet. The party is BYOPie with champagne provided, and booklets for sale. Tuesday, November 29th, 6:30 to 8 pm. RSVP here.