Last October the BF and I were invited to dinner at the house of some dear friends. Husband, wife, and two adorable kids. The hubs is a grill-master, and the wife is a wonderful cook who treated us to Indian-spiced grilled chicken, roasted yams and a kale salad that was so good I asked if we could use it for a future blog, and she was kind enough to say yes. She does not know the specific origins of the recipe as it came to her from a friend. No matter. Our benefit, and yours.

Since that dinner the salad has accompanied many meals for the meat-loving BF, and was a highlight of our last Thanksgiving feast. It's almost too easy to assemble, and could not be ​healthier.

NOTE: Okay, maybe a little healthier. To make this vegetarian dish vegan, simply substitute the mayonnaise with Vegenaise eggless or other vegan substitute.

Adapted from: Our dear friends around the corner!
Number of servings: 2-4

Dressing
Ingredients

• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely grated
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ¼ cup sesame oil
• ¼-½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (use less if you don't like too much heat)
• Dash of cumin

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Salad
Ingredients

• 1 bunch Lacinato kale (aka Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale, not the curly kind), rinsed and thoroughly dried
• ¼-½ cup cilantro, rinsed, dried and roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot, shredded 
• ¼ -½ cup sunflower seeds (salted was used here)
• Salt, to taste

Directions

1. Use a sharp knife to cut out the mid rib and stem of each kale leaf, and discard. Stack all the leaves on top of one another and slice crosswise into thin slices.
2. Throw all salad ingredients into a bowl.
3. Drizzle the dressing into the kale mix and toss. You might not need all the dressing.
4. Salt if needed.

[Ed. note: Quick addendum to give a heartfelt farewell to a man who REALLY loves his kale, former San Francisco Giant outfielder Hunter Pence. As a bay area kid who grew up experiencing a lot of awful Giants baseball (Boo LeMaster!), it was thrilling to watch you patrol AT&T Park's angular right field, preach the championship blood through two World Series victories (2012, 2014), and get that ridiculous three-stage hit that people here will forever be talking about. All love and best of luck to you as you play for your Arlington-hometown Texas Rangers. Yes. Yes. Yes.]

They say, "Don't meet your heroes." They say a lot of things.

Hi, it's the [bracket-happy] BF-editor again. Please forgive the brief indulgence, but another great food date was punctuated by a seriously cool moment I can relate to.

For about a quarter century, in the music-journalist former life I was fortunate enough to meet or interview many people. Some were bona fide celebrities (Adam Levine, Lars Ulrich, Lionel Richie, Alice Cooper), but the ones that hit closer to home were non-household names—serious musicians, producers, or industry business-people.

Like Jac Holzman, who founded Elektra Records. He discovered The Doors, and signed everyone from MC5 and Carly Simon to Queen (in the US). Or Jack Douglass, a producer who spun knobs for John Lennon, Aerosmith, Miles Davis and The Who. Vinnie Colaiuta, a teenage hero of mine who drummers know by his first name alone, has toured with more artists and played on more albums than your phone's cloud account can hold. Among musicians, he achieved legendary status for his otherworldly drumming on Frank Zappa's 1979 album Joe's Garage. Interviewing and later meeting Vinnie at a music-industry trade show, not small thrills.

Last night I got to watch Jacquie meet her Vinnie.

April Bloomfield is a British chef probably best known for her New York gastropub The Spotted Pig and books A Girl and Her Pig and A Girl and Her Greens. The Birmingham, England native studied at Birmingham College and has a staggering culinary teeth-cutting pedigree. She apprenticed under Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray at The River Café (London), spent a summer in Berkeley at Chez Panisse, kicked butt on Iron Chef America, and has Michelin stars and accolades from every food periodical imaginable. She also, along with restauranteur Ken Friedman (the two behind The Spotted Pig), saved the near-century-old San Francisco staple Tosca Café (242 Columbus, North Beach) from imminent-eviction doom in 2012.

Politicians, writers, actors, models and rock stars have graced this former speakeasy for decades.

Chef Bloomfield is known for loving pig, and using every bit of the animal in her dishes. All apologies for lack of food photographs, as again the proper modeling releases were not served. Also, it's dang dark (technical term) in there. A quick rundown of what we sampled:

• Crispy Pig Tails. Basically pig candy that will make your dentist furious, such is its teeth-sticktuitiveness.
• Bucatini with Tomato, Guanciale (pig cheeks), and Chili. Salty and savory enough to be main course, for us. The homemade pasta, brilliant.
• Roasted Chicken for Two with Ricotta, Pine Nuts and Marsala. A departure from pig, but it's a sophisticated, rustic staple dish that kicks the chicken-on-bread concept up incalculable notches. As good as the Marsala is (Jacquie buzzed loudly here), the ricotta is the secret, as it allows the crouton toast underneath to soak up the sauce without getting mushy. So deceptively simple (and we know it's not), we were laughing at how good it was.
  
• Crispy Potatoes in Pork Fat, Garlic and Rosemary. A perfect side to the chicken, crispy outside creamy inside, of course using more pig essence.

Basking in the pig-poultry afterglow, Jacquie then got the chance to be escorted to the front of the kitchen, and exchanged pleasantries and kudos with Chef Bloomfield, who we honestly did not expect to be in house. Very thankful she got to do that, considering the kitchen's bustling chaos. They even allowed a quick picture of the crew in full flight.

These guys don't mess around.

Many thanks to Chef Bloomfield and Tosca Café staff. We'll be back for dessert and that House "Cappuccino."

Oh, and that bit they say about "Don't meet your heroes?" Don't listen to them.

Your humble editor with Vinnie at National Association of Music Merchants, 2002.

Pasta. Parmesan cheese. Cream. Prosciutto. Four ingredients. [Ed. note: Can't get The Count from Sesame Street out of my head, "One, two, three, four ingredients heh heh heh."]

Make it vegetarian by omitting the prosciutto. Three ingredients. You're welcome.

An indulgent winter meal that reheats very well, I make it once a year for the BF and he goes clinically insane over it. [Ed. note: Do I need to concur? Folks, she doesn't lie.]

NOTES:

• Use good quality, salty parmesan.
• I halved the recipe and it served three people.
• Changes made include: upping the cream and parmesan a bit, crisping the prosciutto, and adding a touch of cayenne.
• This is not an alfredo. It will not be super saucy once baked. If you use good parmesan and season the sauce well, the pasta should look like a crispy, crunchy blanket, infused with flavor.

Adapted from: Gourmet, December 2006
Number of servings: 6 (main course) or 8 (side dish)

Ingredients

• 2 ¾ cups heavy whipping cream 
• 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano parmesan cheese (4 ounces)
• 1 pound penne
• 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
• Pinch of cayenne (optional)

Directions

1. Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 375 °F.
2. Sauté chopped prosciutto in heavy saucepan and cook over moderate heat until lightly crisp (should not take long). Remove prosciutto and place on paper towel. Wipe pan clean with paper towel to remove grease.
   
3. Using the same saucepan, bring cream, 1 ¾ cups cheese, ¾ teaspoon black pepper, ¾ teaspoon salt and cayenne (if using) just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Taste it. It might need more salt. Remove from heat.
4. Cook pasta in a 6-8 quart pot of boiling salted water, until al dente [Ed. note: Who the bleep is Al Dente?], then drain in a colander. Return pasta to pot, stir in parmesan cream and prosciutto, tossing to coat. Transfer mixture to a 2-quart shallow flameproof gratin or baking dish (about 11 x 8 x 2 inches; not glass) and bake 15 minutes.
   
5. Stir pasta well to coat evenly with sauce, then sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons cheese.
6. Turn on broiler and broil pasta 4-5 inches from heat until top is lightly browned, 2-4 minutes.

PS: A year ago we stepped it up to four ingredients to satisfy the sweet tooth with this sumptuous café au lait pudding adapted from Ashley Rodriguez's Date Night In (www.moveablefeast.me/blog/cafe-au-lait-pudding).

So, Valentine's Day is this week, and at some point I usually make a dinner the BF really loves. [Ed. note: Hey we're going out too! Cripes, now we'll get letters.] The main course is a no-brainer: prime ribeye. [Ed. note: Changing reservation to a more expensive place.] For dessert, want to make a treat that we both swoon over. Well aware that chocolate and Valentine's Day are synonymous, it's just not always the case in our house. Now, the BF likes chocolate but, unlike me, he really has to be in the mood for something super-rich chocolatey. He actually can say no to chocolate—I know, gasp! [Ed. note: Watches hate mail pile up.]

This pot de crème is like a turbo-charged version of butterscotch pudding. A decadent custard that's silky, butterscotchy, caramelly, salty-sweet, with deep notes of brown sugar. Squarely in the BF's wheelhouse, and I definitely don't feel like we have to have chocolate every night. Got to spice things up sometimes, right?

Truthfully, this is a solid go-to dessert for guests as it takes no time at all to prep (talking about ten minutes) and looks-tastes pedantically fancy. As easy and straightforward as the directions are, the only vexing part is dirtying two pots and two mixing bowls. It's worth it.

An added bonus, can halve the recipe so it just makes two small ramekins.  

This recipe is adapted from Molly of Orangette, who describes these pots de crème as "Cold and rich and almost hyperbolically creamy, the custard yields under the spoon the way a good down pillow does under your head: with a welcoming, slippery whoosh. The gates to heaven have never opened so easily."

She is not lying.

NOTES:

• ​This custard gets its deep flavor from the presence of two special sugars: muscovado and demerara. It may sound fussy to call for fancy sugars, but it's truly worth it if you have them on hand. If you don't, you can substitute dark brown sugar for the muscovado and light brown sugar or granulated sugar for the demerara.
• For the water-and-demerara step, be sure to use a light-colored saucepan. If your pan is made of something dark, it will be almost impossible to see the color of the mixture as it caramelizes.
• Prep everything before you start cooking.
• Don't over bake.

Adapted from: Orangette
Number of servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 6 tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons demerara sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Fleur de sel (optional)

​
Directions

1. Set an oven rack in the middle position, and preheat the oven to 300 °F.
2. In a small heavy saucepan, combine cream, muscovado sugar and salt. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.
3. Meanwhile, combine water and demerara sugar in a medium heavy (2-quart) saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and bubbly, about 5 minutes. (To gauge the color of the mixture, it may help to tilt the pan a little, so that the liquid pools on one side.) Remove from heat and carefully add the cream mixture, whisking until combined.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and vanilla. Add hot cream mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a 1-quart glass measuring cup, and pour the custard through the sieve. Skim off any foam with a spoon.
5. Divide the custard among four 4-ounce ramekins or other oven-safe vessels. Select a baking dish, one large enough to hold the ramekins without any of them touching. (I used a 9” x 13.”) Fold a dish towel to line the bottom of the baking dish; this will protect the delicate custards from touching the hot bottom of the pan. Arrange the ramekins in the pan. Seal the top of each ramekin with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent a skin from forming as they bake.
6. Slide the pan into the oven, and immediately pour hot tap water into the pan to reach halfway up the side of the ramekins. Bake until custards are set around the edges but still jiggle lightly in the centers when shaken, like firm gelatin, about 40 minutes. (You will have to move the foil to see this.) Using tongs, transfer the ramekins to a rack. Discard foil tops and cool to room temperature. [Ed. note: ROOM TEMPERATURE] The custards will continue to set as they cool. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, or until you’re ready to serve them.
7. Serve plain or topped with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. (I opted to sprinkle with Fleur de sel.)

NOTE: These are best on the first day, but they’ll keep for up to two days, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated. The texture slowly declines and they develop a thin skin on top.

PS: A year ago I broke out the Paderno Brand 3-Blade Spiralizer for some kohlrabi "noodles" with bacon, carmelized onion and shaved parmesan (www.moveablefeast.me/blog/kohlrabi-noodles-bacon-caramelized-onion-shaved-parmesan).

PPS: For those of you muttering to yourselves through clenched teeth, "Fake vegetable noodles? Forget that and this butterscotch deal, I want chocolate," let's revisit this chocolate oblivion truffle torte (www.moveablefeast.me/blog/chocolate-oblivion-truffle-torte).

After a wonderful birthday meal at San Francisco's China Live (chinalivesf.com/), detailed in the last blog, am happy to say gong hey fat choy!

Truth be told, the BF and I could eat Chinese food every day of the week. [Ed. note: Confirming.]

Yu choy is a long, leafy Chinese green with yellow flowers and tender stalks. Very mild, with a little sweetness to it. Am very lucky I can find it in almost all of my local grocery stores, as well as farmers markets. It's one of my favorite greens (BF loves it too). It's also easily stir fried, sautéed or steamed, and you can prepare it as a healthy side dish or main course. Serve it alone, as in the picture above, or with a protein like steak, as below.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Pig!

NOTE: I made the dish exactly as written below (although streamlined some of the directions). You can also sauté the greens as opposed to blanching. Either way it's easy and delicious.

Adapted from: The Woks of Life
Number of servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb yu choy, washed and stems trimmed (if stems are exceptionally thick, cut yu choy in half lengthwise)
• 2 tablespoons oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce (or vegetarian oyster sauce)
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• Pinch of ground white pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Throw in some salt.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, wash yu choy well. I recommend that yu choy and all leafy green vegetables be washed three times to rid leaves and stems of hidden dirt and sand. 
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan over low heat for 30 seconds. Stir in oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then immediately turn off the heat and set aside.
4. Have a colander sitting on a plate to the side of your stove (by your water pot). Once water is boiling, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add in the yu choy and remove after 30 seconds. The yu choy will turn dark green in color. The blanching process takes only 30 seconds, but if your yu choy has thick stems, or if you like your vegetables to be more tender, you may want to cook them a little longer—up to a minute or so. Fish out a piece to taste (like when cooking pasta) if you're unsure.
   
5. Once ready, use a pair of tongs to remove them from the pot and place in colander. Shake to remove as much water as possible. Arrange yu choy on a platter. After you have plated the hot vegetables, some water may have drained off onto your platter. Be sure to carefully pour this off, or your sauce may get watery.
6. Pour the warm sauce over the veggies and serve.

Pictures below are from my celebratory birthday trip through San Francisco and China Town.

Hey there, folks. Guest blogger here. It's the editor. You know, the guy who chirps pithy, yet spectacularly irrelevant input [in brackets]. 

Wanted to detail a wonderful birthday meal that came a day early for Chef Jacquie, who of course will be working on her birthday (today) for a client, incidentally one of the first attorneys for Facebook. Goes without saying: please click the ad links, visit a sponsor, like the blogs, share them, spread them far and wide, and thank you so much. It comes out to literally dollars of revenue. Lamborghinis on layaway. But I digress.

Won't lie. Jacquie spoils me with food that makes it difficult for restaurants to impress. Often we visit a place that has high marks from the San Francisco Chronicle, yet find ourselves looking at each other like a deer staring at an oncoming truck, eyes screaming, "Meh."

China Live (644 Broadway), the brainchild of George Chen, is a 30,000-square-foot "education in Chinese cuisine" in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown. Sporting everything from a retail store to a bakery, high-end bourbon bar, demonstration kitchen, flower mart, and multiple restaurants, it's the polar opposite of meh.

For our midday meal we sampled a wide array of their sophisticated–this isn't your grandma's Chinese takeout–dishes. Mostly smaller starters, but we did partake in the highly recommended Crackling Skin Cantonese Fragrant Garlic Chicken, which did not disappoint. Gorgeous.

​However, the starters-appetizers stole the show. Am not just saying that because we enjoyed a Szechaun Starlet* during.

Below, Kurobuta Pork Char Siu with Hot Mustard. Food porn that tasted as good as it looked.

Shan Dong Shui Jiao "Water Dumplings" (Chive and Pork) with Dipping Sauce.

​The favorite, Dungeness Crab and Shrimp Spring Handrolls with Dual Dipping Sauce. Am considering driving back to San Francisco to order about 400 of these for Sunday's Super Bowl. Again, please like, share, and click those ads. [deadpan-face emoji]

Not pictured, we also had some lovely Peking Duck in Sesame Pockets with Kumquat Glaze and Traditional Condiments. We couldn't get a picture because the kumquats refused to sign the appropriate model release form.

Silliness aside, it's always special to share amazing food with someone who truly knows something about amazing food.

Chef, I love you, and your short arms (#selfieproblems). Happy birthday.

By the way, she is 27.

*Szechaun Starlet: Black Tea-infused Angel's Envy Bourbon, Cardamaro Amaro, Campari, Szechuan Peppercorn Bitters and a splash of bubbles

PS: Hey, the dog writes, too. Marlowe, you're hired. You also look especially cute as a UPS driver. (www.moveablefeast.me/blog/mini-butterscotch-apples)
​
PPS: A year ago, she made her own chocolate birthday cake. Because she was tired of cakes that looked better than they tasted. (www.moveablefeast.me/blog/happy-birthday-to-me-chocolate-cake-and-chocolate-sour-cream-frosting)

PPPS: Plans are in place to relaunch this blog in a newer format, where we may or may not start including subjects outside of the regular recipes. This originated out of a sole proprietership business that Chef Jacquie built, which is a big part of the story. So we're considering the occasional foray into the business-side, or an occasional restaurant-meal review. We're an open book, so please comment below on what you would like to see in the future. And again, thank you.