« October 2008 | Main | December 2008 »
My friends Nate and Jim were visiting Pittsburgh over the weekend and Nate really wanted a sandwich so I sent him to Primanti Bros. Primanti Brothers, founded in 1934, is a chain of sandwich shops found throughout Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and its suburbs, with an additional two locations in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Its signature item are its sandwiches, which consists of grilled meat, a vinegar-based cole slaw, tomato slices, and French fries between two pieces of Italian bread.
The above photo is a cross section of the sandwich that Nate had. You can make one of these at home. Just get your favorite lunch meat, some french fries, cole slaw and a tomato slice and stack all this in between two slices of thick cut Italian bread.
The sandwiches are amazing and nothing can beat the real thing, but if you are in San Francisco you can visit Giordano Bros. For something similar. They copied the famous Pittsburgh sandwich and have done a pretty good job.
A few weekends ago my friends Dan and Steve invited Courtney, Chris, Chip and I for a few days at their home in Sonoma. Nestled on top of a hill, the house sits on one of the Martinelli vineyards and has beautiful views of the Sonoma Valley. The weekend was spent cooking, playing games, laughing and of course drinking great wine.
Steve and I decided to leave early on Friday and meandered through San Anselmo on Sir Francis Drake Rd. (one amazing drive) through Olema to Pt. Reyes Station. Both of us wanted to purchase the food for the weekend from the local purveyors that are perched in the little towns along Rt. 1. Our first stop was Marin Sun Farms. All of their meat is organically raised, grass fed and is free of antibiotics and the other icky stuff that is fed to animals in mass animal raising factories. We purchased a 9 lb roast, which Steve planned to cook in a crock pot for hours upon hours, two chickens that I wanted to roast, fresh bacon, which would be used for breakfast one morning and a dozen eggs, which cost us a whopping $7.00 -- yes buying this way can be expensive, but we figured it was all justified in flavor and environmental friendliness.
From there we moved on to Cowgirl Creamery and purchased a few cheeses with one of them being rather stinky, but of course awfully tasty. The Red Hawk ranks as one of their most famous cheeses and is best served alone, but we planned to drizzle ours with honey (more on the honey later). Our next stop was the Tomales Bay Oyster Company where we purchased 3 dozen oysters to make one of my favorites Oysters Sha-Lou-Mi.
And what would a trip up North be without a stop at a winery. It was 4:20 and since the wineries close at 4:30 we only had ten minutes to spare. Steve and I pulled into Graton Ridge winery for a taste or two (or seven) and met the family in charge. They have owned the land for many many years and operated it as an apple orchard. A few years ago they decided to try their hands at wine. From the taste of their wines you would think that they have been at it for a while. Their Chardonnay was incredible and not too heavy or oaky. It has some wonderful fruity Sauvignon Blanc characteristics to it. Their Pinot Noir was also delicious in addition to their apple wine, which was delicious, not too sweet and inspired by their grandson.
Finally making it to the house, we began cooking immediately and lost ourselves in our respective dishes. Steve was busy preparing his Crock Pot dish, while I started in on the chickens. I cooked them my mom's way -- liberally coat with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and then place in over for one hour at 400 degrees, take out and cover for fifteen minutes -- but this time I added a little twist.
Steve and Dan recently began keeping bees. They have two big hives on their property and over 20,000 bees living and working right in their back yard. The benefit of having bees is that you get lots of honey, amazing honey. Since they are perched on a vineyard, have a huge garden and lots of vegetation around them there is more than enough healthy pollen to go around. Their honey is not golden like you see in the grocery store (this is a sign that the honey has been pasteurized), but a deep golden brown color. When the honey sits for a while it emits a white foam-like substance at the top. A quick search on Wikipedia and we learned that this is the sign of an exceptional product. Thank you mother nature for these amazing bees.
My inner recipe developer told me to use that honey all weekend long. Besides drizzling it onto the Red Hawk cheese and gobbling it down, I decided that a honey glaze for the chicken was in order. I used the Chardonnay from Graton Ridge, a bunch of rosemary and heaping helping of Piper Down's Golden Brown Honey (the name they have bestowed upon this amazing treat).
To make my chicken I used the method above and while it was roasting in the oven I combined the following into a stock pot:
- 1 cup of honey
- 1 cup of Chardonnay
- 1 handful of fresh rosemary
I turned the heat onto medium and brought the mixture to a slow simmer.
While that was heating up I took a tbsp of corn starch and dissolved it in a 1/4 cup of hot water and then drizzled it, while whisking, into the pan. This helped to thicken the mixture and give it a glaze consistency.
About 10 minutes before the chickens were done roasting I liberally brushed them with the glaze, which created a wonderful sugary crust.
They turned out to be absolutely amazing. And although I am sure you could get a similar result with store bought honey I urge you to find the highest quality product you can buy. Amazing ingredients always make for amazing food.
If you live in San Francisco and close to the Castro or in the Castro and want to purchase a free range, no hormones, no antibiotics turkey for Thanksgiving then stop by Buffalo Whole Foods at the corner of 19th and Castro.
The turkeys come from the Diestel Family Turkey Ranch in Sonora, CA.
Buffalo whole foods is a unique neighborhood natural products market located in san francisco's famed castro District.
Owner operated since 1975, tthe store is known for its skillfully-chosen selection of products with a strong commitment to organic foods. Featuring premium vitamins, natural bodycare, fresh dairy, bakery and deli foods, organically-grown produce, and a great mix of natural and gourmet groceries, Buffalo Whole Foods delivers big store convenience with small store service.
Buffalo Whole Food & Grain Co. is located at 598 Castro Street at 19th Street two blocks south of Market Street. Muni lines 24 and 35 stop right at our front door, and Muni Metro Castro Station and F Streetcar lines are two blocks away. Street parking is usually not difficult (for San Francisco!) before noon.
Last night my friends Nick, Dan and Earl came over for dinner. The three of us were tired from two years of presidential campaigning and hoping that Obama (and his gorgeous wife and daughters) would be moving into the White House.
So to celebrate an incredible victory we decided to have dinner at my place and keep it simple. During the day I made my way up to Mollie Stones and found myself drawn to the Chateaubriand. Most of the cuts in their meat department are grass fed and antibiotic free so I usually try to buy from them when I cannot make it to the farmer's market.
The meat man at the counter told me to roast the meat in the oven at 400 degree for 20 minutes. It was so very simple and reminded me of meals that we ate when I was a child. A delicious cut of meat, rice (cooked in chicken broth) a veggie and a salad. Simple and delicious.
For the Chateaubriand...
Get yourself a 3lb piece of meat (this should serve 5-6 people) and liberally coat with Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet or frying pan brown the meat on both sides and then toss into the oven for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 120-125 (this is for medium rare). Take out of the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Slice on the bias and serve.
We served our meat with chicken broth rice tossed with parsley and lemon zest and seasoned with salt and pepper, simple salad of romaine, cucumbers, olive oil and red wine vinegar and sauteed onions and mushrooms with sage butter.
