Cooking Rule #1 (or maybe #2 - #1 might involve knives)

When you are using an aluminum skillet whose handle is part of the same piece of metal as the pan itself, remember that it can get very hot. Especially when you have heated the whole thing almost to glowing.

If you need to stabilize the pan as you use a spatula on it, use a potholder.

This is a basic rule of cooking. Do not violate it. The consequences will be dire.

Violating such a basic rule is something that only rank beginners do.

Aw, shuddup. Go put some aloe on that thing. At least cover it up, so no one has to look at it. Ew.

Seriously, though. In the last two months I have cut myself four times, and have given myself second degree burns twice. I probably am not getting enough sleep, but these things do tend to multiply themselves for a period.

I just can't wait until this one is over.

When it comes right down to it...

There are a whole bunch of wonderful foods out there, and I enjoy eating almost all of them. I have particularly fond memories of a seared foie gras here or a perfect pumpkin soup there, or a certain summer day in Beaune with a pear, a baguette, and a chunk of cheese (and a bottle of burgundy, of course). I can remember, with precision, dishes that I had at the French Laundry or Chez Panisse many years ago.

But, there is nothing that can satisfy me just about any place, any time of day, and as often as once a day for a really long time, as pizza. Now, it can't be cardboard Domino's junk. That doesn't count. But most towns have a few (or more) decent pizza parlors that can put together a pretty tasty pizza. It doesn't have to be breathtaking in its originality, nor perfectly reflect the fruits of the land when properly cared for, nor does it have to be entirely made from fresh, seasonal produce. Pizza offers a certain leniency that few other foods do. Too heavy on the salt? It's why God created beer. A little too bland? Sprinkle on some red chili flakes and dried oregano, and you have a John Phillips Sousa experience going on in your mouth.

We have several local places that we like. LoCoco, Porky's Pizza Palace in San Leandro, Paysano's in Castro Valley, Fellini in Berkeley, Zachary's in Berkeley and Oakland (this one is the disputed one. I really like them. Melanie only likes a couple of their specialties). But, the problem with these places is that none of them deliver.

You see, when I am particularly in the mood for pizza, it is usually because I am too tired to cook (often not because I don't want to cook, but because to do so means a trip to the grocery store first, and that is what I dread when I am exhausted). So, we want our pizza brought to us. And for that, Oakland's Leaning Tower of Pizza is the place to go. We have not actually been there for many years. I hear that it is now a really pleasant place, sort of a neighborhood hangout with good microbrews and all that. It wasn't when we went. It was clean and nicely decorated, but the only other people in there were the cooks, the cashier, and the brief respites the delivery drivers got when they outpaced the kitchen.

Maybe one of these days we will go in and have a pizza there. Meanwhile, they say 40 minutes, generally get it here in 30, and it is always tasty, and that is good enough for me.

I bet that one of my readers is astute enough to guess what I will be eating for breakfast tomorrow, too.

Olfactory Hallucinations

I don't know if others get these, but once in awhile I get strong olfactory hallucinations. I should probably call them olfactory flashbacks or something, because they are not full blown hallucinations in that they trigger the brain directly, and don't masquerade as coming through my smell receptors in my nose. There are a couple of strange things about them:

1. They can be quite strong, yet never interfere with my actual sense of smell, so that I can have, for instance, a strong olfactory hallucination of bubblegum, but can still effectively taste wine and not miss anything, while still having this intense bubblegum sensation. In fact, sometimes when I am having these things, my sense of smell is particularly acute.

2. I tend to get them when I have a cold, though, which means that either my mind is making up for a lack of olfactory stimulus, or that these things do get masked by actual smells.

3. They often hit me when hungry, and often are of things that I have not eaten or thought about in awhile.

For instance, right now, as I was getting ready to reheat some turkey pot pie, I had an intense smell of barbecue pork raging, which was then joined by cinnamon candy (atomic fireball, after sucking on it for about 20 seconds). Now they are alternating. My sense of smell is not quite at my usual level, but it is not altogether gone, either.

Strange. I am going to eat lunch and will see what happens.

NOTE: Due to the fact that this post has become a spam magnet, comments have been closed. Please feel free to email me at EKeilholtz [at] aol [dot] com if you have any comment, question, addition, etc.

Mincemeat

You ever had real mincemeat?

Not the kind with wax fruit and no, well, MEAT, but rather a concoction of home-candied citrus peel, apples, boiled beef heart, fat, nuts, brandy, rum, Marsala, and lots of spices?

Me either. But after our mixture has sat for a month, we will bake it into pies and I will give you a full report. It is a lot of chopping, so I hope it is tasty.

If not, well, you learn something every day.

Tomatoes! Still!

A month after morosely proclaiming the end of the season for good tomatoes, guess what still is in the market. Yes, dry farmed tomatoes are still there, still good, and probably will be for another two weeks.

This means that the BLT season goes into extra innings, and that puts a big smile on my face.

It's Pumpkin Time!

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday. Pumpkin risotto, pumpkin soup, pumpkin seeds (fried with the pulp, Worchester Sauce, and butter. Add freshly ground pepper and enjoy), pumpkin panna cotta with a candied acorn crust, pumpkin...???... This season, like last year's successful foray into the world of winter squashes, I am going to focus on the pumpkin. I will post things sporadically, as per usual. If you want details on any thing that I describe too hastily, holler.

The tomato

Earlier I mentioned the bowl of tomatoes.

Lunch was the best BLT I have ever eaten. Perfect. Perhaps tomorrow will be a repeat performance.

The secret (besides the best tomatoes known to man, and Niman Ranch uncured bacon)? Potato bread. The texture, when toasted, is exactly the right support for a BLT.

Also, I figured out the autumn replacement for a BLT: Bacon, Arugula, Goat cheese, and Persimmon sandwich. I will report in, probably, three weeks (still have not seen a persimmon).

Did I mention that I had a California bay leaf creme brulee the other evening? It was interesting, quite good, even though I use Bay Rum as my aftershave, and could not help but think that some cook grabbed the wrong bottle.

Finally, if you make chicken in a green pumpkin seed sauce (recipe from Rick Bayless), and you have leftover sauce, but not chicken, use it to simmer chicharrones (fried pork rinds). Just add a little lime juice, a little water, a pinch of salt, and simmer for about five minutes. Serve on a hot corn tortilla. With beer. Definitely with beer. You can add a little salsa verde if you want it to have more kick.

Tomatoes

As I sit, catching my breath after an overly-productive morning, I am enticed by the victims of my lunch: a bowl of dry-farmed, organic, tomatoes. Tomatoes this good are a bittersweet affair: each bite is perfect, but each bite brings us closer to the end, to the gustatory hibernation that we go through every year.

But it won't seem like darkness or gloom, because we will have fall mushrooms, persimmons, pomegranates (already have had those), chestnuts (been roasting at least five a day). The end of the tomatoes will hit sometime in late November, when the fall bounty is tapering off, and the reality of root veggie-dom starts to hit.

By March, we will tear our hair and gnash our teeth, which will be a good thing since it will be Lent, and that is a good time to really enjoy penance.

Today, you see, is another grey, gloomy day, unlike yesterday's glorious splendor of sparkling blue, and a lot like the weather on Friday (or was that Thursday), a grey, post-drizzling day when we went to the Monterrey Market.

The contrast between the overcast sky, the bundled customers and the piles of bright red, fragrant, round tomatoes could not have been more stark. With the mounds of orange, white and green pumpkins, the piles of green pears, the last anemic plums, autumn is definitely blowing its trumpet, but those tomatoes, those plump berries of joy, those tomatoes held up the standard, however Quixotic, of summer.

It gets dark earlier now, and the mornings are starting to sort of make me wish they'd pull the plug on Daylight Savings Time. Talk around here centers on duck confit, roasted pumpkin, hearty risotto, so, as I mentioned earlier, I can't really get too overwrought about the end of summer.

Anyway, if your area still has 'em, go out now and get the last of the organic, heirloom tomatoes and enjoy every bite, every drop of juice, every seed stuck in your molar.

And of course...

I should also point you in the direction of one of my long-time favorite food blogs: Chocolate and Zucchini.

Now, read away as I go off to the farmers' market. We might be at the very last week of outstanding tomatoes, and I don't want to miss a day of them. not when I am facing a nine-month dry spell where there will be no tomatoes.

At least with autumn we get all sorts of other lovely things to keep us happy when nature cruelly rips the tomatoes, peaches, and pluots out of my warm, alive fingers.

Speaking of seasonal food, if you are in Northern California, get your fishing equipment out, because the time is coming for some good, fresh fish.

Food blog

I just found out about Chez Pim, which seems to be a well-written, entertaining food blog. So, instead of griping that I am not posting enough recipes or food musings, go there and read away until I get back to writing about food in here (soon, I assure you).

Via Julie.

The Perfect Fruit

This is probably not of too much interest to those who live in distant places, but if you are looking for the best fruit in the world, check out Frog Hollow Farm. They have a store in the San Francisco Ferry Building that sells their produce as well as the great pastries that they make with their fruit, but we have been buying their stuff in the Tuesday evening Farmers' Market in Berkeley.

I will warn you that Frog Hollow is more expensive than anyone, but it is the Rolls Royce of produce. Yesterday we just bought apricots that were better tasting than any I have had in years. I highly recommend their peaches, as well. In fact there was an article in Gastronomica last year where the author was going around looking for the best peach in the world. He found it at Frog Hollow (and his search used both scientific criteria (degrees brix, pH and so forth) as well as subjective).

Now, if you will excuse me, I have some stone fruit that is just begging me to eat it.

Question...and Answer

Q: Why is Erik smiling?

A: Chocolate Covered Banana Chips. Available at Trader Joe's. Yum. Yum. Yum. They are like miniature banana splits without the ice cream or mess.

And while we are at it...Corti Brothers

Turns out Corti Brothers have a website, and they ship. If you ever need the best wine advice in the world, this is where to go.

They also have a great meat counter, but I prefer Taylor's.

Anyway, here is the Corti Brothers website.

Oh yes, the other Taylor's...

I forgot to mention one of my favorite sausage and pork vendors in Oakland: Taylor's (no relation to the Taylor's Market in Sacramento).

They don't have a website, but you can find them at the Swan's Market, the current home of Oakland's historic Housewives Marketplace. If you visit, be sure to check the amazing museum of strange meat that is Jack's Meats. You can guess where I go when I just have to have a bucket of hog maws.

Taylor's Market in Sacramento

I have mentioned Taylor's Market in Sacramento several times. Along with Corti Brothers (the foodie Mecca, also in Sacramento) and Shopper's Corner in Santa Cruz (not to mention Berkeley Bowl and Monterrey Market in Berkeley, Farmer Joe's, Ver Brugge Meats, the Pasta Shop in Market Hall in Oakland, and Galvan's in San Leandro), Taylor's is definitely on my preferred vendor list.

Looking to find details of their meat special (and Taylor's does meat very well. In fact they were offering Bird and Schell meats years and years ago, back when a few people were starting to notice that standard supermarket meat was tasting blander and blander. Bird and Schell became Niman Schell, which is now Niman Ranch), I found that they have a good website and that they do mail order.

Their meat might be pricey, but it is worth every bit. Yum. Yum. Yum. and more Yum.

Also, try their honey truffle mustard. It turns a B sandwich into an A sandwich.

You will find them here. Buon appetito!

Interest in food topics...

Two entries that have consistantly drawn comment, long after their initial posting have been about pink popcorn (just had some yesterday, and, yes, we were at the zoo) and grappa. Just today or yesterday, a fellow from Bulgaria posted a very interesting comment about Bulgarian grappa, known as Rakia (fans of Middle Eastern beverages will note the similarity to the word Arak, the wonderful anise liqueur of the Middle East). According to Ivo, our correspondent, rakia is made of all sorts of things (when it is made out of plums it is known as Slivovica, which I have had and highly recommend. It is a fragrant, bone dry eau de vie similar to the Western European prunus brandies), most often muscat (which would make it a kissing cousin of Peru's famed Pisco) and then oak aged, giving it wood nuances and color.

Anyway, peruse the archives for the grappa post and be sure to read the comments from time to time.