When I was in Seattle recently I ate at Michael Mina's RN74 and ordered the corn chowder.  It was poured for me tableside and in the bowl was some popcorn as garnish. I found that an interesting and sensible garnish, one I had not thought of doing before.  So I've taken that and twisted it into a Thai version.

For the Srirach popcorn might I suggest that you use coconut oil instead of butter?  This is how I now eat my popcorn because it is a healthier alternative than butter. For this recipe, I actually had about 1/4 of coconut oil left in a jar and so I just nuked the jar in the microwave to melt it to a liquid state and then added the sriracha, closed and shook the jar vigorously to mix the two together, and then used that to drizzle over the popcorn.  This is the first time I've made sriracha popcorn and I am now a fan.  It's important that you are able to vigorously shake the two in a container because trying to whip them together with a whisk was not enough to blend them.  The sriracha stayed in globules when I tried it that way.

As to popcorn, I have given up microwave popcorn and instead have a West Bend electric popcorn popper that I love. It will pop every single kernel and the texture is better than from the microwave.  I highly recommend it.

If you've ever been in a Sur la Table, it's downright overwhelming.  If you have a lot of time and money, you could spend plenty of both there.  I tend to be a tightwad and am easily overwhelmed by their abundance. Therefore, I don't venture in too often. (Plus there's none really close by.) But this weekend I was privileged to go to the new Sur la Table headquarters in Seattle, Washington and they successfully made me want some new great items.

Our host was Doralece Dullaghan, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Public Relations. Doralece has been with Sur la Table for many years, starting with opening their second store in Berkeley. We also met with the CEO, Jack Schwefel, who talked about his history in retail and where the company has been and is going. 

But it was Jacob Maurer, their top merchandiser, that got me really excited by introducing us to some of the key products for the fall of 2014. I also learned some interesting new tips along the way.

KitchenAid's new items

These days it is tough to stay competitive when everybody can sell the same items at competing prices. To combat this, Sur la Table has agreements with companies to be the sole distributor of certain products. They have such an agreement with KitchenAid to be the only one to sell the Pro Line series and certain colors. The Pro Line series is designed with a retro look with rugged, sturdy construction. All of their pieces are heavy to ensure there is no wobbling or crawling on your counter top while in operation.

There's a new Peruvian joint in town and it is worth a visit! Jimmy's Peruvian is a true hole-in-the-wall joint at 3032 Auburn Blvd. Be careful. You'll drive right past it, especially since it's signage says Taqueria. In fact, it's pulling double duty serving both Mexican and Peruvian menus.

I don't know much about Peruvian food, but I do know that since it has a huge coastline, there is a lot of seafood consumption. This is what you'll find at Jimmy's, with the focus on seafood.

Another Peruvian influence is Japan. In the late 1800s Japanese went to Peru after hearing stories of gold and great farming. The gold turned out to be a lie, but the farming wasn't. Many ended up settling there and thus a small ethnic minority of Japanese were now in  Peru.

ceviche

I started with the ceviche. I love ceviche and will often make it at home because it is easy and super healthy.  I was really pleased with Jimmy's.  It was plentiful, the fish had great texture, and there was a good kick to it.  If you don't like spicy foods, you might need to steer clear. I found it interesting that they also added hominy corn as part of the vegetable component.  I didn't care for those as the texture was too close to lima beans. (yuk).  Overall, a great ceviche.

Years ago my then boyfriend and I went to the Winchester Mystery House for a Halloween night tour. Having arrived early, we were hungry and looked across the street at the Santana Row shopping/condo complex and ended up at Maggiano's for a fantastic Italian dinner.  It was so good, that even though I had no idea if they were independent or a chain or what, I remembered them.

Turns out they are a group of over 40 restaurants now and the latest one, and the fifth for California, has just come to Arden Fair Mall.

Here are some reasons Maggiano's is going to become your new favorite Italian restaurant.

• They make all their pasta, sauces, and dressings, etc. fresh daily from scratch.
• They have a new Lighter Take menu where they take some of your favorites and they lighten the calorie load. In my case, I ordered the chicken piccata and it seemed they reduced it by only giving a little fettuccine and instead added nice sauteed spinach. Loved it! 
• They have gluten-free pasta.
• They have a thing called On the House Classic Pastas.  You order a pasta dish to eat in the restaurant and then they give you ANOTHER one to take home!  Two for the price of one!  Update: They don't have to be the same!  I had Alfredo to eat and took home lasagna!
• If you sign up for their e-newsletter you'll get a $10 coupon to your next visit. And if you complete your profile, you get a free dessert!

There really are no better conferences to go to than those that have some relationship to food.  In my case, I go to food blogger conferences. While there are a few different ones around the country each year, large and small, I can definitively say that IFBC, or the International Food Blogger Conference, is the best that I've gone to and, from what I've heard from others, the best overall in the United States. 

This year it is the sixth one held from Sept 19-21 in Seattle, Washington.  This is where the very first one was held and is where Foodista, the organizers, are headquartered. Since then I've been to almost all of them, including Portland and Santa Monica. It is getting a little bit more difficult for me now that we have Farm to Fork during the same period. 

A very important factor for many is the price. Active bloggers can register for only $95. This compared to other conferences that are in the $300-500 range. 

James Oseland

In past years they have had high quality speakers such as filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, James Oseland (then editor of Saveur Magazine), Dorie Greenspan (one of my favorite cookbook authors), and Jonathan Gold (Pulitzer winning food critic).  

And, of course, there's the food. Top brands such as Rodelle, Bob's Red Mill, and Sahale Snacks stop by and supply samples either in our swag bags or via some of our included meals. I see that this year our own local California Endive will be there. So I guess I won't be surprised if I run into owner Rich Collins there. Also sponsoring, my friends from Redwood Hill Farm and Green Valley Organics. 

There's some great sessions this year, including how to self publish an e-book on Amazon.com and how to create good video postings. 

The very best reason to go - to make new friends from all around the country. 

If you are a food blogger and want the best experience with some of the best in the business, then IFBC is for you. And if you are new, look me up and introduce yourself!

Korean fried chicken and waffles

We all know the phrase "out of the box thinking" whereby you think of new and innovative ways to approach a problem or idea. To say that Waffle Experience is out of the box definitely refers to their taking of waffles to a whole new level than just breakfast. It can also refer to the fact that we aren't talking about Eggo toaster waffles either.

No. At Waffle Experience the waffle universe has been expanded to a whole new level...even beyond just the savory and sweet distinctions. The owners are making you think of waffles in a new and exciting way. In fact, in a minor way, they want you to think of waffles as just a crater-filled piece of bread and, like bread, can be used in every meal of the day as a super versatile ingredient.

Smor'tella

All this waffling started between two Marine veterans. Like so many military personnel, Jeff Belaski and Michael Donoho developed a brotherly bond that has stretched for 30 years. After their military stints, Michael started cooking and eventually ended up at the Waldorf Astoria in Boca Raton, Florida. He's even cooked alongside some famous names: alongside Iron Chef Morimoto, Emeril Lagasse, Anthony Bourdain, David Burke, Charlie Trotter, and Julia Childs.

Michael called up his buddy Jeff and sprang his idea - a waffle restaurant. But not some House of Pancakes type waffle place. No. Something bigger.

Back in July, when sweet corn was just coming out, I made a batch of chow chow, a Southern relish that often has corn and green tomatoes. I knew I would want to eventually make a batch of deviled eggs.

Well, here they are. They are some of the best deviled eggs I've ever had and only have a couple of ingredients.

Chow Chow Deviled Eggs

6 hard boiled eggs, split in half
2 T of mayonnaise
1/3 cup of chow chow
1/8 t salt

Scoop the yolks into a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, chow chow, and salt. Mix well until the mixture is nice and smooth. Scoop teaspoonfuls into the yolk voids in the egg whites. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika for color. Chill for an hour before serving.

If you are into the paleo diet than you really needed to be at Heritage Fire on Sunday. This meat fest is part of the Cochon555 series of events and basically includes any type of animal protein that can be cooked over open flame. There is everything from sturgeon, pork, beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit, and more.


The cooking is being done by some of Northern California's best chefs. And this year Sacramento had good representation. The Selland Group sent John Griffiths and Randall Selland with assistance from Ravin Patel (Ella) and other Kitchen/Ella staff.  Michael Tuohy was there representing Lowbrau/Block Butcher Bar. Michael Thiemann was there as a pre-view of his upcoming Empress, the new rotisserie place going in on K Street.  He had a crew of Mother employees with him. Michael Passmore was there with his sturgeon and other fish and had assistance from Bill Ngo and Tyler Bond from Kru.

Thiemann, Florence, Selland

There were other familiar faces as well. Tyler Florence made an appearance. If you recall, Florence had temporarily stolen Thiemann from us until Michael decided to come back home. Also, Kelly McCown, Ella's first Executive Chef. He was one of the main organizers of the event and hosted many of the chefs during prep and at the after party at his restaurant Goose & Gander in St. Helena.

So here are images from the event.

If you love cheese, then Sacramento was the place you needed to be. Over the last 10 days the American Cheese Society was in town to hold their annual conference. Along with typical seminars and mixers, they also determine the best cheeses of the year for the Americas, both North and South.

As soon as I heard they were coming to Sacramento I immediately emailed them to see if they would need volunteers. Turns out they rely heavily on volunteers and there were plenty of jobs and shifts to choose from.  I worked on three different days and got a good look at the behind the scenes in regards to the actual handling and judging of the cheeses.

The first two days dealt with the arrival of cheeses shipped overnight from all over the United States and other American countries. Over 1,600 cheeses from about 250 cheesemakers are arriving by the truckload in ice chests and other makeshift packaging. 

The sorting takes place in a VERY cold part of the convention center to help keep the cheeses cold. They had the air conditioning cranked! The trucks would come in and we would sort the boxes alphabetically. Someone opens the box and checks the inventory, makes sure the cheeses have arrived within an acceptable temperature range, and then the cheeses are sorted by type. Most of the cheeses had been well packed with ice packs and in Styrofoam coolers, but the most creative and "green" cheesemaker sent his cheeses chilled by recycled soda bottles filled with ice. 


The judging is split into 160 categories and so the cheeses need to be separated.  All of the cheeses have coding on them and are not supposed to have any names, brands, logos, or identifying marks on them if they want to be judged. The code indicates the category, the number assigned for the company, and then a number indicating the number cheese entry it is.  Let's say Cowgirl Creamery is the 152nd company to send in their entry registration months ago, they get a 2 letter code for the category, their number, and the number for the cheese. So an example would be XX-152-09, meaning they sent at least nine cheeses to the conference.

Bosc pears

I was a bit naive last year when I sat down to dinner with members of the California Pear Board. It was last September and we were at the Tower Bridge Dinner. The Board had been kind enough to invite me to be their guest and I had promised to write about pears. The problem? Pear season was already over.

I had always thought of pears as a fall fruit. Like apples. I think most of us put apples and pears into the same mental basket in terms of their growing season. Turns out that pears get harvested in July and August and are kept in cold storage and shipped throughout the fall and into winter. Considering this, it's almost a year since that dinner before I could watch the pear harvest and write about it. Here in the valley the main pear harvest is ending this week. Starting in August the harvesting will move to the other pear areas of Lake and Mendocino counties. 


All along the Sacramento river, from Sac into the Delta, there are pear orchards. The first pear trees came with the settlers and were planted in the 1850's. My harvest visit was at the properties of David J. Elliot and Son and their Stillwater Orchards near Courtland. The family is now into their sixth generation with their oldest pear trees being 160 years old! That's right. They have 160 year old trees still going strong.

My visit started in reverse in that we started at the packing facility with a guided tour by Richard Elliot. He tells me they have 1,500 acres of orchards with 1,100 of those being pear. The other 400 acres have cherries, apples, and kiwi. But for now they are full swing into pear harvest season and the packing shed is bustling.