That's Gastrotainment!

Well our little Burg of Santa Rosa has another celebrity chef in its midst: Andrea Mikiami Ballus, owner/operator of Sift Cupcakes and Desert Bar. This week on Cupcake Wars, she kicked some major butt and took the Grand Prize - and it wasn't really close. Andrea repeatedly drew on her wine country roots and wowed the judges, especially wedding designer Amy Weiss. The final challenge was to create a wedding display employing 2000 cupcakes. Andrea's creation destroyed the competition. Not. Even. Close. So bartender - a round of frosting shots for all my frieeeeeeeeeeeeeends.

The good news just keeps coming. It was officially announced this week that Spike TV has purchased all 52 episodes of Three Sheets. The series will begin airing on Feb. 8th at 10:30 pm EST, and will continue every Tuesday at that slot. Kudos to the fans who truly saved this show and also to Spike for recognizing a real gem of an opportunity. It's a good show.

The new season of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods is set to launch on Tuesday, Feb 18th, so Tuesdays are looking like Gastrotainment Central. We've still no idea on whether our spots ended up in the final cut of the San Francisco episode. It's a must watch either way as that episode is something of a departure from his usual shtick.

Sonoma County's Bette Noir, Guy Fieri, is hosting a sneak peak of a new episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives at a local theater. The event is a fundraiser for a local operation, Worth Our Weight, which he features in the episode. Worth Our Weight offers culinary apprenticeships to kids and young adults who are struggling with significant challenges such as legal troubles, foster care, family disruption and even homelessness. It functions as a school and catering service. It's a great program and they also just happen to pump out some great food. They also operate a cafe on Sundays, and a booth at the local Farmer's Market which I'll be heading to shortly.

Happy viewing chow hounds.

Happy New Year!

I love the holidays. Home chefs bust out the skills to plate some serious chow. This year was no different as Christmas dinner was staged at my brother's house. Sis' in law did a pork tenderloin with a dry rub featuring cinnamon. She then finished with a sauce that incorporated caramelized onions and fresh ginger. Damn that was good! And best of all, the porky goodness of the tenderloin was still evident. Most tasty. Sad note, I was demoted to Salad Boy. I still managed a citrus vinagarette and home made croutons.

And that really is what the holidays is about - comfort food. Everyone has their own idea of what comfort food is. Where I live, the Latino community has beef head. Seriously, each Christmas season one can purchase an entire beef head for about $35. You know you're at an authentic Mexican eatery when cabeza (head meat) and buche(beef neck)are offered. Both are quite tasty. But how does one even begin to prepare such a cut? Well, here ya go: courtesy of a poster at Chowhounds:

Barbacoa de cabeza is a delicacy, traditionally eaten for Sunday brunch. Here's the recipe, such as it is.
Ingredients:
1 cow's head, tongue removed and reserved. If desired, remove and discard the eyes, ears, and (if the head is split) brain.
2 or 3 gallon jugs of vinegar (white or cider)
Beer. Lots and lots of beer.
Special equipment:
Burlap bags
5-gallon bucket
Shovels
Lawn chairs
Directions:
On Saturday around lunchtime, grab some friends, a couple of shovels, lawn chairs for everybody, and a cooler full of beer. Find a likely spot and start digging a hole wide enough to easily hold the head. Only one or two people at a time should be digging; the others sit around, drink beer, and critique the diggers' technique. After a few minutes, switch places. Repeat as necessary until the hole is hip-deep.
Put the burlap bags in the 5-gallon bucket and cover with vinegar. Let soak.
Build a good-sized fire in the bottom of the hole and sit around drinking beer and telling lies until it has burned down to embers.
Liberally season the cow's head with salt, pepper, and chile flakes, then wrap in multiple layers of vinegar-soaked burlap. Include a couple of onions and a head or two of garlic if you want. Put the wrapped cabeza on top of the coals, then shovel the dirt back into the hole. Go eat dinner. (Remember that tongue? How 'bout tacos de lengua?) When the beer runs out, go to bed.
The next morning, go dig up brunch. Not too early; it should have cooked for at least 12 hours. More is better. And besides, you're probably going to want to be sleeping in (if you know what I mean).
Unwrap the head (carefully, now; the meat will be falling off the bone). Put it in the middle of a picnic table. Serve with big stacks of tortillas and bowls of chopped onion, cilantro, and various salsas. No plates or utensils are involved; the diners use tortillas to grab chunks of meat off the head, then garnish as desired.
Seriously good food.

Sounds tasty, but I'm sure many readers will be appalled. Good, as this is a perfect launch for a series of posts I'll be calling Food that Scares Me. Trust me, the cow's head will be a happy memory in comparison to what's coming, LOL. Here's a little sampler, me eating a slice of pizza at a local dive.



This slice had been on the warmer for at least 8 hours. Note how the styro plate has been warped by the long exposure. Note too the congealed grease. Nothing sez New Year's Eve eve like cardboard pizza. It was so old I offered the bartender 50 cents for it. We settled on a buck and I tucked in. To quote Bourdain "... the texture was somewhere between fried sneaker and oven dried trojan". The flavor was similar. And yes, if you look closely at the pic, you can pick out my can of PBR. Serious slumming!

Andrew Zimmern and Gastrohounds go Off The Grid

I've been sitting on this way too long, such is the amount of material I've got backlogged.

It's Friday, Oct. 15th. I'm puttering at the computer during lunch break and catch blurb at BiteClub blog that Andrew Zimmern is bringing the Bizarre Foods crew to SF for a shoot the very next day. They would take over the setting of Off The Grid - a a roaming, mobile food service that features a revolving schedule of food trucks that park in various locations and offer up their wares to a dedicated band followers. And what's not to love - the food is cheap and killer-good. Oh, and it got better. Zimmern was to team up with Chris Cosentino of Incanto as they hijack one of the wheeled kitchens known affectionately as the "Gastrobus" (heh), and transform it into Le Gut Truc. A quick call to Mrs. Gastrohound and we're set to head out early the next morning for what would turn out to be a fantastic day made even more memorable by a surprise visit of Aaron Sanchez.

We arrived early, got parking right across the street (no small miracle) and quickly made our way to what was at the time, a very small gathering of folk curious to see what was going to happen. It wasn't long before Mrs. Gastrohound and I found ourselves being interviewed on camera. The producer was seemingly impressed that we'd drive all the way from Santa Rosa to take part and spent a good amount of time with us throughout the day - even getting a shot of the Mrs chomping down on some gut grub. Speaking of which, let's get to what was being offered up by the Zimmern team. First up, a veal tongue slider with tuna-caper sauce. Next, a chitlin taco with the usual salsa, and what would be the star of the menu - something called Hoof and Mouth. A creation of Cosentino's, it consisted of crispy fried pig's head and pig trotter meat balls, all loving encased with a loving dollop of something called "brainaise". Yep, it's exactly what you think it is. It also hap pend to be fantastic.

The crowd eventually grew to about 150. The die hard foodies busied themselves with snappping pics of the various dishes and getting words in with the celeb chefs while the "I'm a big fan but frightened of brains" set girded their loins in hopes of measuring up to the challenge that was before them. Total strangers compared their experiences and offered up encouragement to those that were queued up for their first try of offal. There was a palpable sense of camaraderie in the shared moment of discovery made even more special by Zimmern, Cosentino and Sanchez as they worked the crowd. We especially enjoyed taking time with Cosentino and Sanchez who are the real deal. Humble and truly happy to be part of the scene. I also spent extended time with Hugh Schick, the owner and Chef de Cuisine of the Gastrobus, which goes be the official name of Le Truc. He was quite a character, and very gracious. Zimmern, as this was his gig was mostly all business, not surprisingly. At one point though, he emerged from the back of the bus to share a rare treat: a fresh abalone caught just that morning and treated only with an hour long soak in lime juice. Abalone ceviche, which I love. I was able to confirm for one the local denizens that it was indeed raw just as he was putting it down. "Raw - you said raw?. Oh damn, man that thing was raw!" Welcome to my 'hood, homie... LOL.

We took a ton of pics, and what follows is a brief offering. I'm putting up a slide show of the full event on the sidebar, so do check it out. And if you are ever in SF, definitely seek out Off The Grid, it is definitely worth the effort. Cheap eats at its best.


Piatto di Giorno


Mrs. Gastrohound and Andrew Zimmern


Eat brains... 2 billion zombies can't be wrong!



Veal tongue slider. Zimmern scores big with this. The tongue had an uncious quality to it, tender and juicy. The tuna-caper sauce was the perfect condiment offering.


On hand to check out the scene in a blue hoodie is Food Network exec Bob Tuschman, host and judge of Next Food Network Star.


Me and Chris Cosentino: Los dos Malos!

Don't forget to check out the slide show for all the pics from Off The Grid. The frame size is small, so if you see a pic you like, click on it to enlarte. Use your browser's "back" button to return to Gastrohounds. Projected air time for the next season of Bizarre Foods is April 2011. We'll keep you posted.

Happy Thanksgiving

This pic was from Thanksgiving '93. I'm plucking 2 turkeys that I had just shot 3 days prior. There to help is the Gastropup - all of 6 months old and chompin' down on a savory binky. Savory too was the bird. The flavor was much more akin to pheasant - much more of a game bird quality to it. The birds themselves had been gorging on over ripe sauvignon blanc grapes. An incredible meal made possible by a century old cookbook that belonged to MamaRoux's grandmother. It took me step by step from field dressing, hanging the birds for 2 days, plucking and then prepping for roasting. Best. Bird. Ever.

Hope yours is too.

Own it!

...and when it comes to the BBQ Sauce competition at the Sonoma County Harvest Festival - I do. For the 2nd year in a row, my Char-B-Q Sauce took 1st prize. After winning last year, I had something of a disappointing showing during the summer after having tinkered with t he recipe slightly. I was still placing, but 4th Place just doesn't cut it. After some soul searching and a few swift kicks to the rear from Mrs. Gastrohound, I went back to the original recipe but I still wanted to shake things up. As contestants are allowed a maximum of 2 entries, I decided to put up another entry and go with something very different. I recalled some writings by Chris Lilly talking about the popularity of peaches and pork in Alabama. I quickly came up with a recipe for a bourbon-peach BBQ Sauce. A couple of test runs were quite successful with many tasters enjoying the fact it was not as spicy as the Char-B-Q Sauce. The results speak for themselves, with my Char-B-Q Sauce taking the overall honors, and my Peach-Bourbon BBQ Sauce taking 3rd! Not a bad showing at all. A great way to close out the BBQ competition season.

Harvest time is well passed, officially coming to an end a couple weeks back as our wine making group picked over the mouldering remains of 2nd crop pinot noir at Devaux and Truchard vineyards in the Southern Corneros region. It was grim work, and we are somewhat dubious about the eventual product. On a good note, I received my allotment of our 2008 Obsidian Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged for 21 months in a Hungarian Kadar barrel, it is an 88%/12% blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Made entirely from Lake County grapes, it clocks in with an alcohol content of 15.5 percent. We also updated our label and used a taller than usual Bordeaux bottle making for a very impressive package. No doubt this will be featured at many local tables during the holidays season.

It has been about 5 weeks since my last post, but I've not been shirking my duties. In fact, I've been quite busy and have amassed a metric crapload of material that I shall begin offload in quick order, so stay tuned in. What's in store? Brains, intestines, celebrity chef cavorting, more meat butchery, possible TV appearances, and 2010 may still hold some surprises.

Gastrohounds would like to throw out some savory birthday wishes to Lucullus, the Delicacy Ape. Call it an informed hunch, but something tells me that Lucullus does not dine alone tonight.

When you live where I do, it's good to be hungry.

Animalgeddon

It can be tough in the city for a pig, goat or occasional PETA member. There was a harmonic convergence of sorts during the weekend of 9/26 & 9/27. First off, Protein University rolled into Napa for their continuing series: Primal! A celebration of the magic that occurs when animal flesh meets fire. This event is open to the public and yours truly would have loved to attend, but as you'll soon see I was already booked. As the named suggests, Primal celebrates that primitive urge to consume charred flesh. Behold, from 2009 (watch for Chris Cosentino)



I WILL be in attendance next year. Check out my link to Protein University at the sidebar under "For Every Animal You Don't Eat, I'll Eat Three". You'll thank me.

So as mentioned, I was previously booked. Occurring that same weekend was the Handcar Regatta at the old Railroad Square in Santa Rosa. A very cool event with a "steam punk" theme which is best described as Sweeney Todd meets Mad Max. What made this a food event is that local foodblog Bite Club sponsored a demonstration booth that would feature such gems as how to make such tasty bits as paneer and watermelon kimchee. But the star attraction was Chef Roger of La Gare, who was booked to deconstruct a 60 lb pig. FYI, Chef Roger is probably the only Cordon Bleu trained chef in Sonoma County. Accompanying Chef Roger was his son, who obviously had done this sort of thing more than once and relished the limelight. Mrs. Gastrohound was on hand to document the event while I engaged Chef Roger with witty banter and well thought out queries. Our enthusiasm would be well rewarded. But 1st, Mrs. Gastrohound's photo blandishments:


The guest of honor.



The proud chef and his son.



Rib attack!


I must also mention it was easily in the high 90s that day, so it was not easy work. Yet, somehow me n the Mrs. managed to capture the attention of Chef Roger, particularly Mrs Gastrohound who easily snapped off about 40 pics, all the while embellishing her craft by uttering various "yummy sounds". It seemed at times that chef Roger was actually talking directly to us during the demo. Perhaps he was, for at the end, he neatly wrapped a a full rack of ribs in a towel and handed them to Mrs. Gastrohound. Naturally, we both assumed it was meant for someone behind us, but on turning around - no one was there. We were definitely in in awe and Chef Roger confirmed with a nod and a broad smile that the ribs were indeed meant for us and quickly called out for a container and ice so as to protect the meat from the hot afternoon.


Nice rack! Seriously, though it was Mrs. Gastrohound and her prodigious camera work that brought home the bacon this day... huzzah!

And wouldn't ya know, I just happened to have some of my Char-B-Q Rib Sauce on hand. This was possibly a very good omen a good omen as I had just turned in my entries in to the 2010 Sonoma Country Harvest Fair BBQ Sauce competition. By the following weekend, I'd know the results and hopefully have a winner in which to douse our pig. (Results coming up in my next post!)

Full disclosure: At the time of the event, Chef Roger was unaware that I host a food blog, so no favors were expected on our part. This was just one of those great days in a great place for those who love great food.

Harvest Hits and Misses

No doubt, this has not been a banner harvest. Indeed, for the first time in my 12 years involvement, our wine making group may go without any opportunity to pick grapes. Tomato and pepper plants offer meager rewards if at all. Another huge miss for me was a second year of missing out on the annual late summer sea hunt where a dedicated band miscreants gather to reap the bounty of the sea: abalone, cod... all kinds of sea critters - anything that lives off the coast is fair game. Wolf Eal? No problem - unagi. One person actually had 2 cans of Japanese plum sauce used for grilling the eal. A hardier band of foodies I've rarely come across. Apologies to Lisa and Mike for my no-show.

Yet still, there is bounty to be had and now is the time to take advantage. A recent blast of summer heat has brought what will assuredly be a brief glimpse of what we have taken for granted for sometime. With a prediction of a moderately hot day, Mrs. Gastro Hound and I set out to the Farmer's Market to secure the ingredients for a late afternoon repast. Our treasures in hand, we set off for home to relax and escape the summer heat in the shade of our yard - a bit of Provence on a local level. The result was a pleasing plate of tasty bites highlighting the best of what is especially good this time of year. But nothing speaks to the moment of harvest like the squash blossoms. At best, they are only at market for about 6 weeks. So delicate, they must be picked, sold and consumed all on the same day. The reward for such attention to detail is a truly unique bite. Stuffed with a combination of cheeses including chevre, battered and deep fried, nothing else comes close - except maybe for the rest of what's on our plate.


Franco's Sausages - always good. The Merguez is killer, but today we found a new favorite: Hawaiian-Portuguese Linguica. Pineapple replaces sherry to supply acidity and tropical sugar.


Crescent Moon Farms produces some tasty, hard to find chilis. Bright yellow Ajis and my personal favorite: Padrons - a tiny Spanish frying pepper. A classic tapa offering.


The quality of the produce can't be matched. These squash blossoms were destined for my fry-o-later.


Did I mention I love peppers?


The finished plate: stuffed squash blossoms, fried Padron peppers dusted with sea salt, grilled Hawaiian-Portuguese Linquica, and cherry tomatoes (courtesy of Sean's garden. Thanks Sean!). I don't know how you roll, but this is how we roll on a hot summer afternoon.


A big shout out to MamaRoux for her hand made kitchen towels featured in the photo of our tapas plate. Also check out her summer salad recipe here. This has been a favorite of mine for sometime. She offers up her recipe and some great photos as a showcase. A must. And of course, a big thanks to the Gastro Pup for the bacon n cheese crickets. A tasty n crunchy treat.

I give it a score of 3 out of 5. Great crunch and savory cheese flavor... the bacon flavor was lacking.

Much more to come soon: new BBQ Sauce recipes, and competitions as well as the best damn canned tuna I've ever had.