Marmalade chicken

• 4 breasts chicken, butterflied and (optionally) pounded thin with a meat tenderizer
• salt, pepper
• olive oil
• marsala or sherry, for deglazing
• 2 tbsp butter (optional)
• 1 tbsp dried rubbed sage
• 1/4 of a white onion, minced
• 1 c chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c marmalade*

Pat the chicken breasts dry, season with salt and pepper, and brown in a skillet with some olive oil until just about done through. Remove the chicken and deglaze the pan with some sherry, turning the heat down to medium. Add the butter (opt.), sage, onion, broth, and marmalade, and let the sauce reduce for about 20 minutes. Add more broth and marmalade if it isn’t voluminous enough for you. Finally, replace the chicken in the pan, coat it with the sauce, and let it cook, covered, for an additional 10 minutes on low heat.

Variation: Use 2 duck breasts instead. Score the fatty side of the breast, sear it on both sides 5 min each, then keep warm in a 200˚F oven. Make the sauce using the rendered duck fat and no butter (unless you feel like it). Skip the last step and instead reduce 5 minutes more. Slice the breasts against the grain and pour the reduction over top to serve. This seems like a very good idea to me.

* We used Safeway’s Seville orange marmalade, which is a tad on the bitter side, but pleasantly so. Use your discretion: I believe in you!

• 5 large potatoes, cubed (skinned optional)
• olive oil
• buttermilk
• salt and pepper

Put potato cubes in a pot of warm water, bring to a boil, and then let simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain, add olive oil and buttermilk, and mash. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Wilted spinach with garlic

• 4 large cloves garlic, sliced into thin slivers
• 1 lb fresh spinach
• olive oil

Heat olive oil and a little bit of salt in a small skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the spinach and cook about 10 minutes, stirring with a spatula so it cooks evenly.

Anyway, we really wanted to go to Uva, my favorite place in SF ever—it’s an Italian small plates/wine place (an “enoteca”) in Upper Haight. Cav was much closer to Davies Symphony Hall, so we ended up eating there instead (after deciding Bistro Clovis was not “for us”). I had never been or had any reason to believe Cav would be any good, but it was amazing. The waitress had lots of opinions and advice to offer, and she was SASSY as all get out. (Also I’m pretty sure she was flirting with Chris! the hussy!) We took her advice and had a selection of the appetizers, followed by the cheese and charcuterie plates. No pictures of the appetizers, unfort (*sniffle*) but they were:

• Braised baby octopus with roasted garbanzo beans and cherry tomatoes. Delicious! The garbanzo beans were still somewhat green; this gives your teeth just enough resistance and keeps its flavor “nutty.” The other stuff on the plate was really good too.
• Beer-batter tempura squash blossoms with mahi mahi ceviche and tempura zucchini. Good, but honestly was somewhat over-fancy. Maybe I’m just not easily impressed with $12 plates of “deep fried stuff,” but it was definitely the best of this time-honored appetizer genre I have tasted. Also, I’m not a huge fan of ceviche, mostly because I can never tell if it’s too citrusy.
• Crispy pig trotters with poached quail eggs, frisée, pickled vegetables, and mustard vinaigrette. Om nom nom. I was scared they were going to bring us a whole pig foot, but no, it was three circular disks of deep fried pork… and it was oh so good. The quail egg went perfectly with the pork (though I was sad there were only two of them), and the vegetables also matched quite well. The vinaigrette might have been a tad more sour than I would like in an ideal world, but in our imperfect world this was a formidable appetizer.

The cheese plate! (A choice of three from the list.)

(Picture was on Chris’ phone, which was not made by Steve Jobs… for shame.) There’s lots more than cheese on the plate, obviously. The cheeses were (from left to right)

• Queso Azul de Cabrales. (The cheese of my people!*) A Spanish blue made from a mix of sheep and goat milk! Ours was this interesting deep brown color, and true to both its blue cheese and Spanish cheese roots, it was very very strong. Chris figured out that you have to close your mouth and just let it sit a while, because the pungency sort of tingles your tongue and stimulates different taste buds as it melts… some sort of interesting, unfolding evolution of flavor. The wikipedia entry reports that some cheese tasters report a “numbing sensation” to the tip of the tongue after eating it, and I totally believe this. A++, would buy again.
• Brillat Savarin. A triple cream brie from Normandy named after a French political figure and gastronome (thanks WP!). The texture was amazingly rich and velvety, and it tasted like heaven. It reportedly pairs perfectly with champagne, and I’m going to have to try that sometime if I can hunt some of this cheese down. :9 Maybe the Cheeseboard stocks it? Preparing it en croûte (baked in a pastry shell) would make it even better I imagine… it would come out all nice and oozy. (Oh god.)
• Québec Seven Year Vintage Cheddar. The name says it all… this was our waitress’ choice, and she did not disappoint us. Certainly you all know the difference between the cheez-its white cheddar and the much tastier stuff you can get in blocks at Whole Foods—this cheese was light years away from all that. It was set seven years ago and this is definitely reflected in the taste.

The charcuterie plate!

I have less to say about the plate of meats, though it was also quite good. Cheese is just so interesting and fun to describe (despite the difficulty of conveying gustation and olfaction through clumsy ol’ words). Anyway! Counter-clockwise from the center bottom: (1) Prosciutto, (2) Coppa, (3) Leonese chorizo (The sausage of my people!), (4) Duck prosciutto (I think), (5) Salami, (6) Pancetta, (7) Duck liver pâté, (8) Pork liver terrine, (9) Roast beef tongue with horseradish, (10) Another liver pâté (?), (11) Head cheese, (12) Pheasant gallantine. If it’s not clear, (1-3,5,6) are pork and (11) is beef. In the center of the plate are a bunch of garnishes, including pickled pearl onions, shallots, gherkins, fig jam, and olives, and three mustards: A smooth dijon, a whole grain with crème fraîche, and a whole grain with apple cider.

Steve (the one on the left in the first picture) is from England, so he got to eat most of the stuff I wouldn’t touch (Chris is braver than I), including (11), which sounds pretty gross already (if you don’t know what it is, I do not suggest looking it up). I also shied away from (9), only because I don’t really like the texture of tongue. Everything else was very good though! Number (12) was probably my favorite (first time eating pheasant!), and (4) definitely wins the “decadent sounding food product” prize. I also discovered while in Germany that I really like mustard now. My favorite on this plate was the apple cider one. :v

Unfortunately I had to run out the door before we got to dessert (Chris and Steve only got port, though). But I will definitely be back to see what’s on that menu. =D Also, the wine list looked fantastic, even if none of us were in the mood.

Oh, brunch was tasty, too. (And much cheaper.) We went to Sugar Café where I had the “Tex Mex Scramble,” which I ordered because it involves fresh avocado. (Om nom nom.)

* Well, a bit further north from my people… but close enough. I do have cousins who raise pigs and turn them into chorizo and jamón serrano, though. Apprenticing to one of them is Escape From Grad School Plan #344.Lower

Our apartment is conveniently close to Berkeley’s “Gourmet Ghetto,” where places like Chez Panisse (the one-star-in-Michelin birthplace of “California cuisine”) and the Cheese Board Collective (delicious communist pizza) are located. One of my favorite places down in the Gourmet Ghetto is Gregoire, a self-described “artisan takeout” joint. While the term ‘artisan’ makes me barf from over-pretension, this description is pretty apt: During lunch, they principally serve tasty sandwiches with weird ingredients, salads, and quiche. The menu changes monthly, so I try to go at least once every month to try the item that sounds most delicious.

Three cheers for distorted iPhone pictures.

February’s choice was easy: Duck breast and jícama and blood orange salad on Dutch crunch (the Dutch actually call “Dutch crunch” tijgerbrood, which means “BREAD OF THE TIGER”). I was not disappointed—the delicious and unmistakable smoothness of duck meat paired well with the crisp jícama and tart blood orange. Here are some pictures:

My sandwich!

Real ginger ale! Behind the ginger ale, a gaysian couple.

Your food is made for you by attractive short-order cooks with full-sleeve tattoos, and then served through the window. Innovation in the extreme.

I do not live so close to this next restaurant, but my non-grad student friends Caylin and Duncan do. Bakesale Betty is located in the Temescal area of Oakland, one of the more gentrified areas of San Francisco’s scrappy kid sister. Bakesale Betty mainly offers (1) baked goods, (2) fried chicken sandwiches, and (3) iced lemonade. I don’t really know what the deal is with restaurants in this area having limited menus, but the results speak for themselves. I mean, just look at this line:

Here is a shibainu that was in line, not because it was food, but because it was fucking adorable.

The line snakes right past a window with tantalizing sights of the joys to come.

Once inside, you see the sandwich assembly line. Fall to your knees before your new gods.

I got a fried chicken sandwich and two scones: pear-ginger and apricot-almond. I was already full from ricotta and orange pancakes just an hour earlier, so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish my sandwich, but this theory proved to be incorrect. This is what the sandwiches from Bakesale Betty look like on the inside:

And oh my god, but are they fucking amazing. Someday I will reverse engineer this sandwich, but for now I can really only conjecture as to what goes in it: Thin patties of fried chicken breast, seasoned with the usual suspects (black and red pepper, mostly, I expect). This is accompanied with a salad which I believe consists of shredded fresh cabbage, sweet pickled red onion, thinly sliced jalapeños, minced parsley, and possibly some oil and vinegar (not sure). I do not know how these sandwiches are so good, but trust me when I tell you that all other fried chicken sandwiches are pedestrian crap.

The scones are delicious too, though I didn’t eat them until later. :v