This afternoon we discussed heading into downtown to pick up an Apple TV and grabbing dinner somewhere. “Oh wait,” said Suzanne, “It’s Valentine’s Day. Everything will be packed.” Having eschewed the occasion… really, pick one day to be nice to each other? Fuck, people, Bill & Ted had it right “be excellent to each other”. And that means all the time. Not just one arbitrary day a year picked by a greeting card company. Anyway, I digress. We decided to go out on Monday instead (see tomorrow’s post).

So that left us with dinner to make. Improvisation time. I knew there were anchovies left from a previous meal. And we had green olives (ok.. we had kalamatas as well.. unknown to me). And capers. Oh! @daksis gave me some Faro pasta to try. It’s starting to sound something like Linguine alla Puttanesca. No tomatoes. No problem: use some tomato paste. Garlic, onions.

So that’s what I did. Very close to a classic puttanesca:

We had guests for dinner tonight, and Suzanne made a stellar risotto. What was the star ingrediants, you might ask. Well… um… squash (hmm) and… kale (gulp).

You might correctly jump to the conclusion that I am not fan of either. You would be largely correct. At least until last night. I’ve never overly liked squash. I’ve tolerated it in some dishes (curries, for example), and mildly enjoyed it in others (notable a tex-mex style squash soup). Kale is another story entirely. I have actively despised it in any form.

So you can imagine that I was skeptical when Suzanne said she was making risotto (yum) with squash & kale (hrumph). But given other things she’d made, I was prepared to be pleasantly surprised. And that I was.

She started with a recipe at Epicurious: Risotto with Tuscan Kale and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds:

Ingrediants:

4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 bunch baby Tuscan kale, rib removed (also called cavolo nero or lacinato kale or dino kale)
4 cups butternut squash, coarsely chopped
4 medium leeks, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/3 cup dry white wine
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste

Accompaniment:toasted pumpkin seeds

Method:

Make the risotto as usual, adding the squash after having added 2 cups of liquid. Add the kale after all the liquid has been added.

My buddy @stesla and I had some bro time tonight. Meeting up after work for a beer at 21st Amendment. We settled for a single glass each as we were on your way into the Mission for food.

I had the Imperial Jack (Big ESB. malty with a hoppy edge: 8.7% abv / 45 IBUs). This is one nice ESB.

@tesla had the Blind Lust (Belgian Strong w/oak aged framboise: 9.5% abv / 35 IBUs). I had this the other night. It has a lovely flavor and slightly amber color.

After beer we hopped the #12 into the Mission and dropped into Taqueria Guadalajara for a Super Carnitas Burrito. Seriously one of the tastiest Carnitas Burritos I’ve had in the Bay Area. I’ve been told the taco truck at our corner is good as well, but I have yet to check that.

Then it was over to Humphry Slocombe for ice cream where I had the Pepper-Mint and the Beer-week “Napa Smith Bon Fire Imperial Porter”. Unlike the beer ice cream I had on Sunday, I liked this one. It wasn’t noticably yeasty or hoppy, but was pleasantly malty.

My (now ‘our’) February dinner party is starting to take shape. This month it will be an Italian meal. French might have been a stretch, but I’m largely in my element with Italian cooking.

The plan is to start with a spread of antipasti: roasted peppers, olives, cold meat, …

The plan is to have some pasta:

Not that much variety!

I’m thinking of making homemade fettuccini and gnocchi.

I’ll also make a selection of sauces.

A tomato based:

Of course, a pesto:

Add a salad, bread and some Italian wine.

And for desert: Tiramisu.

This part will be something new.

This is part 1 of a post… since I neglected to take pics today at lunch.

The Chaat Cafe is a regular lunch spot for the crew at Engine Yard, especially for @stesla and I. Generous portions of really good, North Indian food that’s reasonably priced. It’s a nice place, with bright colors abounding. Staff is always friendly. It’s very spare dining. You come in, order and pay. You get a number card to place at your table and food eventually shows up. Grab water, napkins and silverware on your way to a table. No seating… take what you can get. We’ve been aiming to have lunch about 11:30 so there are always seats.

Two of my favourites are the Paneer Vindaloo and Saag Paneer. @stesla is a man of habit and lately that habit has taken the form of Malai Kofta: Vegetarian dumplings made with a mixture of potatoes, carrots, paneer, and other vegetables, simmered in our tikka masala sauce. It’s looked and smelled so good the times he’s gotten it in the past that I had to try it today. And evidently tomorrow so I can get some pics.

So today I, did indeed, get the Malai Kofta. It was as good as anticipated. This really was no surprise as I’ve yet to be dissappointed by the food here. I’ll aim to have a more detailed review tomorrow, but if you ar ein the mood for some fine North Indian food and are in SOMA, head over to Chaat Cafe at 3rd & Folsom.

Oh Beer, lovely beer.

Yes, I’m writing with with a bit of a buzz on. I spent some time at 21st Amendment with @stesla this evening enjoying their “strong beer month” offerings.

We both started with Two Lane Blacktop. Very dark, malty, hoppy IPA. Lots of body, nice dark color and intense hopiness.

@stesla went on to the Lower De Boom Barley Wine, which all he can manage now is “it was delicious”.

I had the Imperial Jack – Big ESB. (which @stesla finished with). Brilliant. Lovely bitterness. I loves me an ESB.

I finished up with a Blind Lust – Belgian Strong w/oak aged framboise. This was really nice. Beautiful color and lovely flavor.

So get to 21A and have some yummy beer!

We had some potatoes and lettuce left from a previous produce delivery, some eggs left from saturday’s brunch, some tuna from the fancy food show. And so, after a quick grocery run for a few things we were missing (like anchovies, nicoise olives, etc), Suzanne made Salade Niçoise tonight, loosely based on this Tyler Florence recipe from the Food Network.

The tuna we had was in oil with Jalapenos so it gave a slight heat to the salad. Unusual but nice. It turned out fabulously. Here it is in all it’s glory:

Salade Niçoise

Vinaigrette:

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoons dried thyme
• Sel gris and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, including some from the tuna and anchovies
• jalapenos from the tuna, chopped

Salad:

• lettuce
• some small red new potatoes, scrubbed and halved, boiled
• 3 large eggs, boiled and quartered
• 1/2 pound haricots verts or French green beans, stems trimmed, steamed
• bottle of Tonnino tuna, with oil, chunked
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Sel gris and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pint teardrop or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup nicoise olives, chopped
• 4 anchovy fillets, chopped
• capers
• green onions, chopped

Today was a beautiful day in San Francisco! So, naturally, we went for a walk, this time around Potrero Hill. The last stop on the way home was Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream. This is San Francisco Beer Week, and Humphry Slocombe is doing 6 custom beer flavored ice creams every day. Todays was: Albino Python, Hop Stoopid, Wassail, Hairy Eyeball, Old Thunderpussy and Smokestack.

I tried the ‘Hairy Eyeball‘ (from Lagunitas). Beer ice cream… honestly I wasn’t that impressed. I felt somewhat let down.

However, I didn’t stop at that. I also had a scoop of the ‘Chocolate & Smoked Salt’. OMFG… incredible depth of flavor.

Suzanne opted for ‘Cinnamon Brittle’ and ‘Blue Bootle Vietnamese Coffee’. ‘Cinnamon Brittle’ was ok, but not as intense of a flavor as I prefer, especially for cinnamon. The ‘Blue Bootle Vietnamese Coffee’, on the other hand, was incredible. @stesla had previously made a similar comment, but WOW it was good.

We’d dropped in last week as well and had ‘Secret Breakfast’ (Bourbon and Cornflakes) and ‘Balsamic Caramel’. Both were over the top good. I especially loved the ‘Balsamic Caramel’.

I’ll be making a habit of dropping into Humphry Slocombe semi-regularly. The best (and maybe worst) thing is that it’s only 2 blocks from home!

I made brunch for “the girls” again. Once again, scrambled eggs with toasted french bread.

We did a different take on crepes this morning: folded over a blend of mascarpone and crème fraiche with a touch of vanilla:

These were topped with a caramelized honeycrisp apple and raspberry mix:

I finished them with a dollop of crème fraiche.

And finally here’s an action shot:

Although I’ve been here repeatedly since @atmos introduced me to it, I’ve not written about it yet. Time to solve that as I actually sit here waiting to head over to 21st Amendment for dinner with @stesla and @xagile.

Unlike many of the cafes in San Francisco, Epicenter does not brew Bluebottle, Fourbarrel, or Ritual beans. They use they use beans from San Jose based Barefoot Coffee. Incidentally, Barefoot’s “The Boss” is my preferred beans for home use. So tasty I tend to have straight espresso rather than cappuccino.

Epicenter not only does a superlative job with the coffee, but is also has beer & wine, as well as a selection of food and pastries. The baristas here have mad skillz, their latte art creations are always impressive. For example:

The atmosphere is excellent for relaxing with a drink & snack, or having a meeting with potential biz partners. It’s a very startup-friendly spot. Free wifi (as expected), quiet background music and friendly staff.