Free Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Tomorrow!

When it comes to ice cream I can be pretty fussy. I like creamy versus chunky and I have a weakness for rich decadent flavors. So a few years ago when Häagen-Dazs introduced Dulce de Leche ice cream I was in heaven. I'd describe it as deliciously intense caramel, set against a backdrop of creaminess. If you check out the ingredients you'll know why it's so yummy, it's made of cream, condensed milk, egg yolks, sugar and not one artifical ingredient.

Häagen-Dazs has recently introduced Cinnamon Dulce de Leche, which has the same luscious caramel and an added hint of cinnamon. I love it! Since both dulce de leche and cinnamon are popular flavors in Latin America this combination makes perfect sense to me.

For lovers of chunky flavors, check out the other newish Häagen-Dazs flavor, Sticky Toffee Pudding, a tribute to the classic British dessert that seems to be getting more and more popular these days. You'll find it on menus coast to coast, from a New York gastropub to San Francisco's own Town Hall. It's also a favorite of food bloggers, near and far. The ice cream version is a mix of creamy vanilla ice cream, chunks of moist, brown sugary cake and swirls of toffee sauce and dates.

Tomorrow only from 4 - 8 pm you can get a free scoop of either of the two new flavors. You can find a shop near you by clicking here.

FOOD

Meet Rick Rodgers

Rick Rodgers has written more cookbooks than just about anyone I know. He's also an award-winning cooking teacher and chef. At this year's IACP conference he was one of the presenters of the The Vanishing Cookbook presentation that I recapped.

He's just recently written the Kingsford Complete Grilling Cookbook where he shares his expert tips and recipe ideas. You can meet Rick and pick up a signed copy of his new book at the Mountain View Costco on Saturday May 12th from 2 - 3 pm. With grilling season kicking into high gear any minute now, this book would make a great Mother's Day or Father's Day present.

What are backyard grillers doing wrong?
Cooking everything over direct heat. Think of your grill as an outdoor oven. You don't cook everything at 300 degrees or 500 degrees. Most grillers are used to cooking directly over the coals, at very high temperatures, which is a great way to incinerate your food! Consider the 4 grilling techniques--direct heat, indirect heat, banked coals, and using pockets, where your dig empty spots in the coals so the fat will drip into the pocket instead of onto the coals.

What does every griller need at their side?
First of all, get rid of the backyard barbecue set you bought for Father's Day! Pick the tools you need individually:

* A long spring-loaded tongs with good grip
* A silicone brush for basting
* A flat turner for burgers, be sure the plate is flexible
* Dedicated oven mitts
* A second pair of tongs for the coals
* A metal thermometer with the glass dial and metal prong, drop it through the lid to get the temperature

No squirt bottle is necessary if you know how to manipulate the coals properly.

How do you spice up the sides?
Make interesting versions of what people expect to have, like coleslaw and potato salad. For instance I make coleslaw with grated granny smith apples, some apple juice concentrate and poppy seeds.

When it comes to potato salad I've been making a Spanish style one lately with sherry vinegar, roasted peppers, saffron and artichoke hearts.

Another good side is mac and cheese which works for most vegetarians and kids. And cook it on the oven, not everything everything has to be cooked on the grill.

What's your favorite recipe from the book?
The backyard barbecue ribs. The challenge is to get them juicy and tender without resorting to boiling or baking them. In this recipe you cook them on the grill wrapped in foil for an hour and 15 minutes then take them out and put them on the grill for a finishing glaze; that way they cook in their own juices.

What books are you working on now?
New additions of Thanksgiving 101 and Christmas 101 are coming out. I love being able to teach people things and make a contribution towards their peace-of-mind. New addition of my Slow Cooker book as 101. We're putting together my fondue and dips book together as Party Dips 101 and a big book called Cooking 101. I'm also doing a quartet of seasonal cookbooks.

FOOD + GRILLING

Marion Nestle on What to Eat

This past weekend I was treated to a Spring Breakfast by the Bay with Marion Nestle, a benefit for CUESA (CUESA operates the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market). It was a most delicious breakfast but I'm not going tell you anything about it because the main attraction was really hearing Marion Nestle speak.

Marion Nestle is the author of What to Eat, (just now out in paperback) Food Politics, and Safe Food. She is Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She has strong links to the Bay Area having received her BA, PhD and MPH from UC Berkeley, she also spent a decade on the faculty of UC San Francisco's School of Medicine.

This past Saturday she talked about her latest book What to Eat and how it came to be written after people kept asking her, what should they be eating? She thought the answer was simple enough until she began visiting supermarkets. From the moment she walked in she saw the flowers and produce and was aware of how stores try to keep consumers shopping as long as possible and buying as much as possible. The romance begins from the minute you walk in.

Her visits to supermarkets proved to be very confusing and she described using a scale and a calculator to try to understand how much products actually cost. Romaine lettuce for example was to be found in 7 different forms in the produce section--packaged, organic, conventional, etc. She wanted simple answers to questions like was the food in the store genetically modified, and was organic worth the price difference, but answers proved impossible to find.

While most of what she talked about was not new information, the way she wove it together was very new. For example she talked about how many things are frustrating in our lives and how we feel we can do nothing about big issues like the war in Iraq or terrorism. But we can have an impact on the food we eat and what we buy. She talked about how the school food movement, the animal rights movement, the slow food movement and the organic movement are all coming together to form a new consciousness about food that seems to be sweeping the country.

How can we see an improvement in the food we eat? Many factors need to be addressed--she pointed to the fact that the FDA only inspects 1% of food coming into the US, that we produce much more food than we should be eating, and that the pressure on big food companies to sell more to please shareholders are all impacting our food choices. Her belief is that food marketing aimed at children crosses an ethical line and should be limited. She also believes that smaller portion sizes will help curb obesity in adults as well as children. But ultimately she pointed to election reform as necessary to counterbalance the influence of big companies in government. What to Eat has been on my reading list for a while now, and after hearing Dr. Nestle speak, I am even more eager to read it. You can read some exerpts from the book here. A special thanks to Alison for the invitation to breakfast.

FOOD

Portabello & Sausage French Bread Pizza: Recipe

Last week on the Epicurious blog Tanya Steel wrote about serving a Proscuitto and Taleggio macaroni and cheese to a friend who it turned out, preferred the blue boxed verson. When I was little I enjoyed that mac and cheese that comes in a box too. But years later when I tried it again, I realized it wasn't very good. The sauce made from powder was artificial tasting and the macaroni was pasty. As an adult there is no question, my tastes had changed.

The other packaged food I remember liking way back when, was Stouffer's French Bread Pizza. I still remember how tasty that crunchy pizza was. Of course, if I tried it now I would probably not be as impressed, but as a 13 year old babysitter, it seemed like a very delicious treat.

I'd rather recreate what I loved about those french bread pizzas than be disappointed trying the original version. This recipe took a couple of tries to get right. It's a little messy but also savory, crisp and cheesy. In other words, delicious! Once you have the technique down, you could probably make other versions too. I developed this recipe to go with an Argentinean Malbec.

Portabello & Sausage French Bread Pizza

4 to 6 Servings

1 loaf French bread
3 Italian sausages, hot or mild
1 Tablespoon flour
1/4 cup red wine (Malbec is perfect)
2 large Portabello mushrooms
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
8 slices Provolone cheese, about 8 ounces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the bread lengthwise and in half so you have four equal portions. Place on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about five minutes then remove while preparing the topping. Meanwhile prepare the mushrooms by wiping clean with a paper towel and removing the stem. Thinly slice the mushrooms and set aside.

Remove casing from sausages and crumble into a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and continue cooking for another minute or two. Add the wine and stir the mixture then add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping up the bottom of the pan. Mushrooms will release their juices and turn brown. Cook another few minutes until mushrooms are cooked through. Take skillet off the heat and mix in the Parmesan cheese.

Spread the sausage and mushroom mixture evenly on top of the bread halves. Cut each slice of cheese in half and place on top. Bake for five to ten minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut each piece in thirds to serve.

Enjoy!

FOOD

Chocolatiers come to town

Ever since Lee's doctor told him to eat a little chocolate everyday, I've kept a stash of over 70% cocoa chocolate bars in a drawer in the kitchen. My everyday bar is Chocovic's Ocumare which uses Venezuelan criollo beans. That's probably why I am so fond of Michael Mischer's chocolate bars which also rely on the Venezuelan criollo. They aren't easy to find in San Francisco but today you can not only find them, but also find Michael Mischer of Michael Mischer Chocolates from noon until 2 at Fog City News. You just know there are going to be samples, right?

Fog City News sells one of the largest selection of chocolate bars anywhere. They sell all kinds of chocolate and are a good place to find something unusual or hard-to-find from the world over, including Valrhona’s new 2006 Vintage Estate Grown chocolate bars, Coppeneur of Germany, Rococo of London, Domori of Italy, and more. The shop is located downtown just a hop skip and a jump from the Ferry Building. If you are in the neighborhood stop by and pick up something to add to your stash. After all, variety is the spice of life and one great chocolate bar deserves another.

Next Monday, May 7th from noon to 2 you can meet Lloyd and Lindy Marin of Chocolate Visions in Scotts Valley. I know nothing about their chocolate so if you do check it out, report back! It does appear they make confections as well as bars so perhaps you'll find something for Mother's Day?

On Wednesday May 9th one of the great American chocolate innovators, Katrina Markoff of Vosge Haut Chocolate will be in the shop from noon until 2.

And finally on May 10th you can meet another local chocolatier who actually supplies the chocolate to many local confectioners like Charles Chocolates and Recchiuti. Gary Guittard of E. Guittard line of chocolates will be at the shop from 1 until 2:30.

Fog City News
455 Market Street (between First and Fremont)
San Francisco
415.543.7400
Monday – Friday 8 am – 6 pm
First Saturday of the Month from 11 am – 5 pm

FOOD + CHOCOLATE

Returning to the emerald isle

Well folks after about 5 years of travelling around the world cooking and eating wonderful food i am back in Ireland and ready in 3 days to start filming iFoods! We are just making last minute preparations at the moment with sourcing the food and fine tuning the last few recipes! What does it mean for this blog? Well basically we will be posting a few sneak previews of the new videos here over the next month! Also thank you all for your recipe suggestions and do keep them coming! I've got to run and start perfecting my "perfect Burger" for filming on Monday!

In Search of My Perfect Scoop...

I have ice cream on the brain. And it's not that headache you get from eating too much of the stuff, it's the feeling that everywhere I turn, there it is again. Symptoms include a combination of the publication of The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and A Passion for Ice Cream by Emily Luchetti plus several newish places that have sprung up where you can get premium crack ice cream. I'm beginning to think ice cream is the new cupcake.

So what's a girl to do? I have no room in my packed freezer for a canister to make ice cream, I barely have room for a pint. The idea of an old-fashioned ice cream maker or even an electric version that uses rock salt and ice won't work for me. It's just not apartment friendly. I desperately want that Glace-A-Tron 6000 that Derrick keeps talking about. Speaking of which, cut it out, Derrick! Even on sale the monster costs over $200. The ice cream in David's book are really what have me itching to make it myself, especially the chic flavors like Roquefort-Honey, Prune-Armagnac and Orange-Szechuan pepper.

For now I'm stuck getting the fabulous fresh banana ice cream from the Original Swenson's (not affiliated with the Swenson's chain) just up the block from my house and ordering Bi-Rite Creamery ice cream when I happen to be somewhere that serves it like Gialina in Glen Park. When I find myself around Fourth Street in Berkeley there's a good chance I'll be at Sketch, my favorite Italian style ice cream shop. But if anyone wants to sell really top-notch ice cream in San Francisco, please come to my neighborhood. Swenson's could use the competition.

READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites is my take on a new computer game called Chocolatier.