I expected a big farmers' market when we decided to visit the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market for our San Francisco trip but I did not even imagine how amazing it would actually be. The Farmers' Market itself was huge from what we could already see as we walked towards the Ferry Building but we didn't know that it wrapped around the back as well as had the brick-and-mortar stores inside. I was in gastronome heaven.


There were so many specialty stores inside. A tea shop, a creamery shop (cheeses), a mushroom shop, several different chocolate shops, an olive oil place, several meat stores, and so forth.


We decided to get some things from Boccalone which sold salumi. We first bought the salame cone which had three different meats. That prompted us to want to get 4 oz. of their brown sugar & fennel salame for later that night. Despite the condescending conversation we had with the cashier while buying it, the experience was good because of the great salame we got.


Outside were a variety of stalls including some with quirky signs! We snagged some honey sticks from one of the many honey stalls as well as brunch at the Rose Pistola booth.


Though we had eaten already, we finally got to have our first freshly shucked oysters. We had the XS Sweetwater and the Kumamoto. I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of seafood; I didn't really like the Kumamoto which I had undressed. The Sweetwater was manageable though. I guess I'll have to keep trying oysters to see if I'll get the hang of them.


They got washed down by these interesting sodas we bought (lavender and rose geranium flavors) which were naturally probiotic and effervescent. Neat bottles. Overall, I was in love with the Ferry Building Marketplace. I wish we had something like this near where we live so I could visit every weekend.

Like I said for my 2012 resolution, I'd celebrate the "food months" and Bread Making is part of January. I don't have a bread machine, so I wanted to figure out some kind of bread I could make that didn't take very long and used ingredients I already had at home. I came across a recipe for Italian Bread Wedges and decided to work with that. I've tweaked the recipe so here's the edited version.

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 12 pieces)

Dough

• 1 cup warm water (110°F-115°F)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsps active dry yeast

Topping

• black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup zesty Italian salad dressing
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning (dried oregano, thyme, basil, etc)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
  

Step 2: Making the dough
Dissolve the yeast into just 1/4 cup of the warm water. Add sugar and let sit for 5 minutes before adding the oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until it is smooth and add in the remaining flour until you've created the dough. Knead until smooth & elastic (approximately 6-8 minutes) on a floured surface before putting into a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover top and place somewhere warm to rise (about double the size).


Step 3: Prepping the dough
Once the dough has risen to a good size (should take about 45 minutes), punch it down and put onto floured surface. Lay it flat for 5 minutes to rest before placing it onto a greased baking sheet. I managed with one that was 13" x 9" or a little smaller - can't remember. Pre-heat the oven to 450°F.

Step 4: Finishing
Top with the salad dressing, herbs, garlic powder, and black pepper. Spread it evenly across the whole dough. Then scatter on your Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. You can top with other ingredients too but then it might go resembling a pizza! This bread is great fresh but loses out on its impact the next day - try making it as a starter or even stuff some salame in between for a "sandwich" bite.

400 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94109 (Neighborhood: Fisherman's Wharf)
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Italian, Seafood
http://www.letseat.at/cioppinos

One of my life goals (and interestingly enough, one of Duc's goals) is to travel to where particular dishes were created and have the "best" one available there. For San Francisco, the dish created there that is most known is cioppino, which is a rich, seafood stew. I looked on Yelp for places that had the highest ratings for cioppino; since we were going to be in Fisherman's Wharf already, we opted to go to Cioppino's, named after its signature dish. It's a good sign, no?


We got seated promptly (came earlier than our reservation), and started off our dinner with some complimentary sourdough bread and an appetizer of dungenness crab cakes. Fantastic! They had a pesto aioli, roasted red peppers, and a tad bit of greens which cut the aioli well. My particular crab cake probably had too much of the aioli but that was just a plating issue. The crab cake itself was quite fine in terms of shredded meat; I'm used to lump crab cakes that fall apart. This was a fairly unified morsel of greatness. Loved it, particularly because it became more nuanced in flavor as I ate more.


We shared a bowl of the small cioppino which made us ridiculously full! I'm guessing we wouldn't have finished the regular size. I think it had to do with how hearty they made it. It had dungenness crab, mussels, clams, snapper, calamari, shrimp, and tomatoes in a stew. Talk about loading up on the EVERYTHING! I admit that I have no other dish of cioppino to compare this to but it was alright for what it was. I thought the fennel was quite heavily used in this dish's preparation but hey, maybe that's how it's supposed to go. I'm also unfortunately not a big fan of seafood but for what it was, pretty good. We were bursting at the end too - a fun, diverse dinner to end our day with.

900 N Point St, San Francisco, CA 94109 (Neighborhood: Fisherman's Wharf)
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Ice Cream, Chocolatier
http://www.ghirardellisq.com/ghirardellisq/index.htm

Because of Yelp reviews, I knew to head over here through the retail side so that I could get a free sample. When I walked in, yep - I got a milk chocolate truffle sample and was nearly overwhelmed by all the chocolate all around. I didn't actually buy anything though.


It was neat to see the displays in the amazing various colors they had. I actually didn't know that Ghirardelli was based in San Francisco until I came into town. Guess I had never looked hard enough at the logo! Anyhow, they have a brief machine set-up in the soda fountain area that showed how chocolate is made Ghirardelli's way. It was pretty neat to check out.


Duc and I wanted to make sure we got something good here so we ended up choosing the Gold Rush Sundae. I knew he loved peanut butter, so it was the choice. Vanilla ice cream with melted peanut butter, hot fudge, caramel, whipped cream, and a Maraschino cherry on top - how do you not feel guilty about that? However, the melted peanut butter was just a brilliant idea because it really mellowed out the entire dessert. Usually peanut butter and chocolate desserts have one overpowering the other but this was just perfect. I'm pretty sure I lost his heart over this dessert - I even caught him at some point during the rest of our day daydreaming about the dessert and not me. Too good - worth the ~$9.

160 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94133 (Neighborhood: Fisherman's Wharf)
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Bakery, American
www.boudinbakery.com

My first real food stop on my vacation in San Francisco! Duc and I were hungry after our delayed flight, the BART travel, and the walk to where we were staying. We wanted to hit up Fisherman's Wharf so some kind of seafood-y lunch was in order. I spotted Boudin and knew it would be a great place to hit up.


Aside from the huge sourdough animals they have in a floor-to-ceiling window near the bakery, they also had fresh breads inside as well as bread baskets that were circling around above us to reach the people putting foods together to-go at the cafe. We opted to eat there so we didn't have to wait at a table since we wanted a quick food grab. While waiting for food, we browsed (and couldn't stop ourselves from buying) through the neat kitchen items they had on various themed stands.


Uh, who can resist clam chowder in a sourdough bowl? That was what caught our eyes and led us into a sated bliss. We both thoroughly enjoyed it because the bread really made it superb. Such good sourdough - I'd have to say that it was probably the best sourdough and clam chowder I had (or at least one of the best clam chowders I'd had). The bread was the right amount of fluffiness and moistness; the sour taste associated with sourdough was just perfect. As for the chowder, it had a tad less clams than I expected but the base was not overly thick and the flavoring was just delightful. What a great first meal here!

Following awesome pictures taken by Duc:

So for Chinese New Year, I decided to try and make dan ta (Chinese egg tart). These were definitely a favorite whenever my family and I went out to have dim sum; I used to order these first all the time when I was a child. Though I've grown out of the obsession with them, my younger brother is now in it so I figured I'd give it a try. I followed the recipe listed here and ended up with way too much custard for the amount of dough that was made. I also realized that these were Hong Kong style which I haven't had before. I guess it meant that the crust was not a flaky pastry type? I found the dough recipe to be quite similar to shortbread. It was still delicious; don't get me wrong. I just think that I need to find another. As for how they turned out in others' opinions - the flavor was pretty much spot-on but my crust was too thick per tart (I had to use a muffin tin anyhow so my judgment of thickness was off). I would post a recipe but I'm going to still experiment with this yummy treat until I get it right!

(Here's a quickie since it's my mom's birthday, and I'm busy.) Is your food allergy truly an allergy or are you comparing it to food intolerance? There's a difference you know. Many people don't know the difference and will often say that they are allergic to something (~25% of adults think they have food allergies while medically, doctors estimate about 1-2% of all adults actually do).

An intolerance is based on your body not having the proper enzymes to digest a certain food. You may experience abdominal pain, gas, and diarrhea as this stems from problems in the stomach. Lactose intolerance is probably one of the most common you hear about, particularly amongst Asians (I myself am just milk intolerant...how weird). On the other hand, an allergy is associated with the immune system which reacts towards the food item as if it were attacking the body; your system attempts to create antibodies to combat it. Any contact, however brief, will trigger some kind of response, and common reactions include hives, vomiting, and asthma. The intolerance makes life uncomfortable but the allergy can end life. The more you know!

My favorite holiday is tomorrow - Chinese New Year! Well technically it's the Lunar New Year but I'll lay claim to it because of my ethnicity. Whee-hee. When I realized that the day was going to fall on a Monday this year, I knew that the weekend before would be full of cooking and food-making at home. Of course, my mom does a mish-mash of both Chinese and Vietnamese foods but here is some information on things that are considered "good luck" for the Chinese during this festive time (who else has a 15-day long "holiday"?).

1. Tangerines and Oranges
Oh so true - our house is chock-full of them right now. The fruits symbolize wealth and luck and probably stem from how the Chinese words for gold and orange are very similar as well as how tangerine almost sounds like luck. Leaves are a plus atop the fruits as they symbolize longevity. It also helps that oranges are quite abundant in China. However, keep in mind that you shouldn't put four of them together as it's usually linked to death then.

2. Nian Gao 
A year cake whose name gao sounds similar to tall/high, it symbolizes reaching new heights. These are steamed, sweet, and contain glutinous rice flour, brown sugar, and oil. I don't think I've really had many of these though. Maybe next year?

3. Yuanbao (Jiaozi)
These are dumplings! Delicious and great symbols of prosperity as they look like the ancient Chinese currency with their ingot shapes and are also called jiaozi which was the name of the first Chinese bank note. These are most popular in northern China.

4. Long Noodles
This should have been a no-brainer if you are familiar with Chinese culture. The longer the noodle, the better - they represent life's longevity!

5. Pomelo
Thought to bring both prosperity and status for years to come, this fruit (similar to grapefruit) sounds like prosperity and status when the three words are said in Cantonese. I've got quite a lot of these in my garage right now from our tree - hopefully an auspicious year? 

6. Whole Fish
Fish is similar to abundance in Chinese, and the whole fish must be served to guarantee a good beginning and end to the year. However, the whole fish does not necessarily have to be eaten as any remainder eaten the second day represents spare.

7. The Tray of Togetherness
I had actually never heard of this until I looked up some things on Chinese New Year. It's a tray with eight compartments that are filled with symbolic snack foods for visitors during the holiday celebrations. Examples include preserved kumquats for prosperity, coconut for togetherness, longans to bring many sons, and red melon seeds for happiness.

In general, there is also a lot of sweets involved and eating jai (vegetarian), particularly if you are Buddhist. My mom prepares a lot of vegetarian stuff during the holiday which I love. Hope these help get you ready to celebrate the next coming weeks with lots of good luck foods and happy eating!

After buying things at the Garden Grove Farmers' Market and being determined to cook everything I purchased, I realized that the carrots I had gotten still had their greens on top. "Neato," thought I until I realized I had never really worked with them before. So what to do? As luck would have it, my mom was in the kitchen that day I was contemplating the greens, and she was about to stir-fry a bunch of vegetables with pasta because she didn't know what else to do. My mom's a great cook but anything that is out of the Asian cuisine escapes her prowess, so I said I'd handle the pasta. One look around the kitchen set my eyes on the walnuts I had gotten a little while back. Carrot top greens pesto it was! I discovered that the greens themselves have got quite a raw spiciness to them but heating/wilting them a bit will cut that taste down.


Step 1: Ingredients (yields approximately 1 cup)

• garlic salt, to taste
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 bunch carrot top greens, no stems
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

Step 2: Preparing the ingredients
Remove the carrot top greens from the carrots. I would recommend not including the stems in your recipe because they ended up being quite stringy and hard to eat. Chop it up for easier usage in your food processor later. I had to do two batches. I would've used the traditional mortar and pestle if I weren't pressed for time. Mince the garlic and chop the walnuts (toasting the walnuts is optional)

Step 3: Finishing
I put the greens in first to make sure they were well-chopped. Then I added the garlic and walnuts with a drizzle of the olive oil. It helps lubricate the whole process as well. As I said, I did this all in two batches so it's sort of a repeating process depending on how big your processor is. The garlic salt was to taste. I then tossed it with pasta for a delicious and healthy-tasting meal (topped with carmelized red onions).

First of all, it's National Bake for Family Fun Month and second of all, I needed to use the awesome lavender vanilla bean sugar I got from the Savory Spice Shop. I committed myself to making something this past weekend by telling my co-workers I'd bring sweets to the wedding we were setting up. So what tickled my fancy? Lavender shortbread cookies. They were mother-approved/family-approved and great since there are few ingredients. If you don't have lavender sugar on hand, try using other subtly scented sugars or even making your own mix (lemon zest is a potential!).

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: varies by shape)

• lavender sugar, to dust
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup confectioner's/powdered sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Step 2: Preparing the dry ingredients
Combine the white sugar, powdered sugar, and all-purpose flour in a bowl. The recipe I had been using asked for 1/4 tsp of kosher salt but I found that it made certain areas too salty in the cookie.

Step 3: Adding wet ingredients
Pour the vanilla extract into the bowl. Cut in the cold butter. I got to use the pastry blender that my brother got me for Christmas while doing this - so much quicker than using two forks! Now the next step just depends on the shape you want your cookies. You can roll the dough and refrigerate until hard so you can slice round cookies (~40) or be lazy like me and just dump all onto a greased baking sheet to cut into bars later (12-16). Your choice!

Step 4: Finishing
Preheat the oven to 325°F. If using logs of dough, roll them into lavender sugar. If making bars, dust on top heavily enough that you can see the flecks of lavender on top. These will make them nice and presentable! OPTIONAL: I found that using the spring wildflower honey I got from the GG Farmers' Market made the cookies immensely tastier. Try adding honey!

887 S Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92805
Pricing - $$$/$$$$ | Dining - Dressy | Cuisine - Italian, American
www.anaheimwhitehouse.com

I remembered hearing about this place a long time ago as a restaurant of high caliber. It was pricey to go here, and the food was said to be superb. I had put it on my list of places to go but never made the commitment until recently when there was a Groupon for it. Duc snagged one, and we finally made time to get a little fancied up to eat. On a Thursday night, it was quite empty at 6pm but toward the end of the night, it got much busier. If it got any busier, we would've had a lot of trouble with other guests since the tables were so close to each other. The decor, as others on Yelp mentioned, was a tad tacky but I wouldn't say it was gag-inducing. It just wasn't as classy as hoped.


We started with the portobello mushroom ravioli. Two pieces for over $10 is quite expensive, particularly for ravioli that wasn't anything special. It was served with glace and green peppercorns over sautéed locally grown spinach but really, the peppercorn was the most flavorful part. We both felt that it was okay but nothing to rave about.


My entree was the 7 oz. Romeo & Juliet filet mignon served on polenta with mashed potatoes on the side and some sort of crisp, cracker structure. I think it was supposed to be a swan? Anyhow, the presentation was a bit over-the-top considering the food. There were also diced green and red bell peppers scattered on the plate for, in my opinion, no reason whatsoever. So the mashed potatoes tasted instant, and the polenta basic. The steak was actually cooked well; I had asked for medium rare and except for the very center of it (slightly raw), it was prepared as asked. I didn't really taste the cheesy sauce on top but the surface of the steak itself had a nice flavor. Was it worth the $34 though? Hardly.


Duc got the Brasato Piemontese (he made me order it so I could pronounce it in Italian, hah) which is their signature dish - boneless beef short ribs braised three hours in an Italian Barolo reduction topped with a touch of a horseradish. It was pretty good, and I actually liked the reduction on it. Worth the money? Again, sorry to the chef but it can't really be all that costly can it?


Per suggestions from Yelpers, we had the chocolate soufflé complete with Crème Anglaise, chocolate ganache, and Chantilly whipped cream which were added on by our waiter. Delicious. Really. I think it was a great finish to a meal that was good but not great. Afterward, Duc shared with me one of his favorites wines at home which I thoroughly enjoyed; one of my favorite now too! I mean, you know what they say, "Once you have Gewürztraminer, other wines seem obscener."