Holiday Gift Fairs 2011

Having gone to one good and one particularly lousy fair last weekend, I'd like to steer you in the right direction. Here are three holiday gift fairs I highly recommend you check out!


Sorry for the late notice, La Cocina's Annual Gift Fair is TONIGHT, December 9th from 5-9 pm at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. This is one of my favorite non-profit organizations in the City. They help women and minorities get into legitimate food businesses. You'll find awesomely delicious goodies from folks like Happy Girl Kitchen - Preserves, Back to the Roots – Mushrooms, Estrellita’s Snacks - Yucca, Plantain Chips, and Tamales, Love and Hummus Co - Organic Hummus, Sweets Collection - Mexican Gellatins, Neo Cocoa - Truffles, Wise Sons – Jewish Delicatessen, McEvoy – Olive Oil, Mattarello Pasta – Artisanal Handmade Pasta and more…

Go and get goodies for yourself or to give away. There will also be a silent auction, a tamale alley and more....








The Renegade Craft Fair
If you've been to this craft fair you know how much fun it is! It's heavily juried so the quality is extremely high. In the past I've found gorgeous porcelain bowls, cutting boards, jewelry, kitchen towels, toys, kids clothes, etc.

On December 17 + 18, 2011, from 11am – 6pm, the 3rd Annual Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market in San Francisco will return to the Concourse Exhibition Center! Always free-to-attend, holiday shopping has never been more fun than with the work of over 250 of today’s finest makers of handmade goods to peruse and several hands-on crafting activities to get involved with! Food, beverages and libations will also be available! Check out the artist lineup.


Koutáli’s Union Square Pop-Up Christmas Party "Debonnaire" at the Kensington Park Hotel on Sunday December 18th (2-6PM).

This is the first year for this event, a lodge-like lounge party includes a full bar, pool table, and football on several flat screens. You will have the chance to check out curated mini-boutiques by some of SF’s coolest shops and artisans while sipping holiday cocktails and sampling amazing artisan faire.

Boutiques at the event will include Mira Mira, Revolver, Omnivore Books, Alphyn Industries, Foodzie, and several others. In addition Koutali will be hosting a special holiday kitchen gifts store with brands including Wusthof, Bodum, Reidel, and Cuisinart. Hearty holiday food and refined delicacies will be provided by: Do S’more, McEvoy Olive Ranch, Cibo Per Strada, Jablow’s Meats, Bavarian Pretzel works, Rockwall Wines, The Mustard, and Jarred.

To keep the event merry there will be a full bar with holiday Sunday drink specials like $5 Bourbon Cider, Mulled Wine, and Bacon Bloody Mary’s, and free gift-wrapping!

Standard tickets are $10 and include discounts and samples from the participating artisans and boutiques and free gift-wrapping. VIP tickets include two specialty cocktails, an artisan sandwich, and the rest of the perks above.

Use the code DAPPERELF on checkout to receive 30% off their VIP tickets.

Blackberry Mini Tarts Recipe

Last week Driscoll's held a wonderful event for bloggers that I got to have a hand in planning. Bloggers brought dishes made with fresh blackberries, got insider cooking tips from cookbook author and cooking teacher Rick Rodgers and an inspiring food photography tutorial and demo from food photographer Caren Alpert.

I learned about pastry tampers, (the secret to quickly forming small tart shells in mini muffin pans) improvising with FedEx boxes and tin foil to get more light in food photos, ate a fabulous of dinner made from Rick's recipes, and tasted some divine desserts from some of my fellow bloggers. I particularly loved Irvin's tangy lemon and blackberry pie. I hope he posts the recipe soon! Rick made a cream cheese crust pastry with a savory filling and a blackberry topping. It was surprisingly similar to my dessert recipe.

I got the original recipe from the Land 'O Lakes website. I adapted it for Thanksgiving using cranberries and no nuts or glaze, then tweaked both the ingredients and the techniques to make it work with blackberries. Driscoll's blackberries are so good right now that I wanted to use them raw. I like desserts with at least some tangy flavor and blackberries have such a great balance of sweet and sour, thanks to a good ratio of natural sugars and organic acids. You could top the custard filled tarts with any kind of fresh berry you like. What makes this recipe so easy is that you mix the dough and the filling in a food processor. You could probably do it using a stand mixer if you prefer.



Blackberry Mini TartsMakes 36

Crust;
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt

2 6-oz packages blackberries, each berry cut into two or three pieces

Heat oven to 325°F. Combine flour, butter, cream cheese and salt in food processor. Blend until dough forms a ball.

Divide dough into 36 equal pieces. Place 1 piece of dough into each ungreased mini muffin pan cup. Press dough evenly onto bottom and up sides of cup or use a pastry tamper! Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a bowl or food processor, cream together the sugar and butter then mix in egg, vanilla and salt. Spoon about a teaspoon into each tart crust then bake another 10-12 minutes until the crust is golden and the top of the custard begins to brown. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes then remove from pans using a knife if necessary. Place about 3 pieces of berry in each tart shell.

Enjoy!

The Three Must Buy Cookbooks of 2011

I always write a series of "best of" cookbook posts around this time of year. I've recommended a lot of cookbooks in 2011*, but there are three, you simply must add to your collection. They are written by three amazing women who I admire tremendously and feel honored to have gotten to interview or at least meet. They are not just wonderful cooks and writers but cultural anthropologists who dig deep into how people cook, preserving traditions and making food from other places accessible. These books would make great gifts, but really, I recommend buying them for your own collections, that's how good they are.


There are lots of books about Spanish food. I know, because I have plenty of them, but The Food of Spain
is truly the mother of all Spanish cookbooks with over 600 pages. It has stories, history--it's a true treasury that took years of work to complete. I know this because Claudia Roden told me about the work that went into the book when I interviewed her last year (Claudia Roden interview part 1 and 2)

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Claudia Roden's recipes work. They make sense and give just the right level of detail. In this massive tome she uncovers so many more recipes than what you will find in run of the mill restaurants. In The Food of Spain you will discover many fascinating cultures that have influenced Spanish cuisine and recipes both familiar and rare. It's as much a book about food as it is a cookbook.

Dishes you will want to try include Eggplant with Bechamel and Cheese, Fish Stew with Peppers and Tomatoes, Migas with Bacon, Onion Coca.






What can I say about Paula Wolfert that hasn't already been said? She is the most well-known authority on Moroccan food and The Food of Morocco is one of her most important books. Having lived in Morocco for years, she has a depth of knowledge that is just unparalleled. But if you have spent any time with her, you will be struck by her genuine enthusiasm for capturing the details of the cuisine and her drive for perfection. Her recipes are meticulous. Like Claudia Roden, she goes well beyond the surface to discover the history and varied influences that make for such a rich cuisine. Her latest book is over 500 pages. You can read my interview with her from 2009 here.

The book also has plenty of tips and advice to help you get it right, from the different types of couscous to explanations as to why steaming is better than boiling. There are lots of shopping resources too.

Dishes you will want to try include Lamb with Onions, Riffian Split Pea Soup with Paprika Oil, Almonds and Hard Cooked Eggs, Double Cooked Red Chicken Marrakech Style, Barley Grits Couscous with Fresh Fava Beans





It might seem surprising that I put Lisa Fain in the same category as Claudia Roden and Paula Wolfert, but if you spend some time at her blog or reading her wonderful cookbook, The Homesick Texan
, you will see why I do. Lisa Fain's passion and connection to her Texas heritage and food shines through in everything she writes. She treats the cuisine of Texas with such respect and warmth that you can't help but appreciate it too, even if you are not "homesick" for it.

Unlike Roden or Wolfert, Lisa Fain is not an outsider, but a native who shares her own personal stories. And if she can make Texas recipes work in a New York apartment kitchen you have to know they will work for you too. Her book is a little over 350 pages.

Dishes you will want to try include Calabacitas (Squash and Pork Stew), Poblano Macaroni and Cheese, Coffee Chipotle Oven Brisket and Watermelon Salsa.


*Other cookbooks I reviewed and recommended in 2011:
Cooking My Way Back Home, Kokkari, Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food, The Family Meal:Home Cooking with Ferran Adria, 100 Perfect Pairings, Basic to Brilliant, Y'all


The Homesick Texan and The Food of Spain were review copies, I purchased The Food of Morocco