Category: Blog Post

Spaghetti&Meatballs á la Chez Panisse Café

There’s nothing like a little help from Alice Waters and her Chez Panisse Café Cookbook to wipe out childhood memories of dry, overcooked meatballs with a savory herb meatball recipe. These tender dumplings floated in a simple tomato sauce made from Campari tomatoes and then sauteed in red onion, garlic and parsley. The meatballs and sauce crowned a bed of whole wheat spaghetti. Fresh spring greens and artichoke hearts, enhanced with a little sea salt and Meyer lemon juice, were a great complement to the pasta. The 25th Avenue & Clement St. Produce Market, AK Meats and Costco all played roles in my hunting and gathering. An Italian wine seemed like the perfect pairing for our meal and, indeed, A.G. Ferrari‘s house red elevated the meal even further!

Silver Seder


Our Silver Seder celebrated several milestone occasions, the most important, of course, the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Non-traditional recipes from The Sephardic Kitchen provided the perfect inspiration for our feast that evening. From charoset, made with figs, dates, apples and walnuts and rolled in cinnamon, resembling truffles (thank you Arielle) to a seared ahi tuna salad with arugula and capers to braised chicken made with honey, cinnamon sticks and San Marzano tomatoes from A.G. Ferrari. This chicken dish is a specialty of the Moroccan Jews with saffron adding an incredible fragrance and color. Whole wheat couscous, steamed vegetables and Josh’s delicious hummus accompanied the dish. Lest I forget, we began the meal with Joan’s heavenly matzo ball soup. For dessert, we delighted in a Moroccan Passover torte made with coconut, walnuts and an intoxicating orange flavor thanks to fresh-squeezed orange juice and Grand Marnier, then garnished with Michael Recchiuti bittersweet chocolate shavings and whipped cream. HolyLand Matzot from Trader Joe’s were the ubiquitous symbol throughout the ceremony, from their place on the seder plate to the concluding afikomen – “that which comes after dessert” – and results in a gift. That night, a special birthday gift for Josh!

Spring Salad

This salad captures the light of the new season with albacore tuna as the central ingredient, “springing forward” thanks to the petite nonpareil capers, kalamata olives and sweet Campari tomatoes. Roasted fingerling potatoes from Zuckerman’s Farms surround the bed of organic arugula and parsley. A combination of minced shallots, Meyer lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil dressed our spring salad. No special recipes used here, simply a culmination of shopping at Costco, Trader Joe’s, Richmond Produce Market and the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market – a testament to the age-old thinking that it takes a lot to make something look simple. Here is to enjoying this time of rebirth and renewal!

Quinoa and the Queen

A recent feature in the “San Francisco Chronicle’s ” Food & Wine section presented a Red Quinoa, Garbanzo Bean, Spinach and Fried Egg dish that caught my eye with its “Fast & Fresh” title. Substituting what I actually have on hand with the suggested ingredients is always the game at ChezHelvetica. Not red, yet organic quinoa, and arugula instead of spinach, made a delectable combination with onions sauteed in butter, extra virgin olive oil and wine. The final suggested recipe ingredient was harissa. Thanks to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, her fiery salsa ignited the dish. Sabra Hummus and Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips completed the meal. Since I was “forced” to buy red wine for the recipe, we happily imbimbed on Peachy Canyon‘s Incredible Red Zinfandel. Medjool dates and almonds crowned the evening!

Beans & Beyond

This Tuesday night meal actually started on Sunday with recipe inspiration from bon appétit magazine’s March issue. We grilled a sirloin steak seasoned with Emeril’s Rustic Vegetarian Rub and paired it with cannelini beans and cherry tomatoes, sauteed with garlic and cumin. (Did you know beans are credited with being great brain food?!) Leftovers received new life on crisp romaine hearts. The wonderfully fragrant beans and tomatoes became a dressing with added balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Fresh beans, cherry tomatoes and parsley garnished the salad. My recipe archives yielded a favorite 2007 Food & Wine recipe for Lemony Asparagus Soup, the perfect use for the asparagus – and some celery – in my vegetable bin. After feeling proud for eating this healthy meal, we splurged on delicious poppy seed hamentashen for dessert!

Sweet Beauregard Soup

With the New Orleans Saints and Mardi Gras still on my brain and rain on my head, a southern inspired menu featuring soup seemed like the perfect way to go. A huge Beauregard Yam was transformed using a Food Network recipe for sweet potato soup. Deliciously spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and freshly grated ginger from our garden, the soup is delightfully sweet from slow roasting the yam and adding just a bit of golden grown sugar. My favorite “Polenta” cookbook from Chronicle Books provided the inspiration for the herbed polenta muffins that accompanied the soup. For an easy green side, I relied on a favorite celery salad recipe from Saveur Magazine. Always in the freezer, Aidell’s Chicken and Apple sausages (purchased at Costco) completed our casual dinner. Oh yes, the new Reese’s Peanut Butter cups with Dark Chocolate now seemed like an almost healthy dessert to conclude our meal!

New Decade Dinner

To usher in Twenty-Ten, a healthy vegetarian dinner seemed like the appropriate thing to prepare. With eggplants overflowing from shelves all over the city, I found an amazing offer of two for $1.00 at our neighborhood Richmond Produce Market. Quickly accessing my Google dashboard for eggplant parmesan recipes, this traditional favorite was delightfully lightened using safflower oil instead of olive oil. Homemade tomato sauce with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses gave it the decisive yum factor. What better than a spinach salad (love that baby spinach from Trader Joe‘s) with radishes and a citrus dressing (one of Food and Wine’s 5-minute dressing recipes) to accompany the eggplant parmesan?! A surprisingly good Trader Joe’s label Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel bridged the holiday imbibing of the past weeks and the forthcoming ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) Grand Tasting. Happy New Decade!

A Night of Two Miracles

Acclaimed New York chef Mark Bittman presented a marvelous alternative to potato latkes – a potato nik. The grated potatoes, onion and egg mixture simply fill a large non-stick pan (with 1/8″ of healthy safflower oil), cook for 15 minutes, flip and voila – done! The customary sour cream accompaniment met a new partner this evening. Instead of apple sauce, I made a persimmon sauce. My recipe creation included persimmons, Muscat raisins (thanks to Tory Farms), a cinnamon stick, honey and lemon.OMG – delicious, Miracle #1! Filet Mignon and artichokes, grilled stovetop, completed the entree. A velvety Alexander Valley Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon on this second night of Chanukah was Miracle #2!

Persimmon Salsa

An adventure in food and Greek mythology! According to Wikipedia, a persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros, in the ebony wood family. The word Diospyros means “the fruit of the gods” in ancient Greek. We feasted on a manifestation of this fruit of the gods — a persimmon salsa. With thanks to Carole for the fruit and Rachael for the recipe, the sweet Fuyu persimmon was transformed with a combination of onion, lime, ginger, parsley and mint. Braving 35 degrees, I found the last sprig of mint in our garden! The salsa topped a grilled chicken breast, served on a bed of whole wheat couscous. Both the kosher chicken and couscous were purchased at Trader Joe’s. Our dessert of dark chocolate disks from TCHO would have delighted the Greek gods too!

Spaghetti Squash with Prawns

Never Before Eaten – Spaghetti Squash! A new culinary adventure beckoned with a recipe from Everyday Food, a Martha Stewart publication. After baking, you use a fork to remove the squash creating spaghetti-like strands. Combined with roasted prawns, lemon, extra virgin olive oil and parsley, and voila! a delicious, healthy dish. The wonderful Pezzini Farms market in Monterey yielded the squash as well as the artichokes we ate with this. Pumpkin pie from Swanton Farms, lush with spice and a delicious crust, was devoured afterwards.