I love sushi, but I don’t always love to pay the premium price that we often see in Japanese restaurants. Luckily they sell sashimi-grade fish at groceries stores such as Berkeley Bowl, and for $14, you get a whole freaking pound of ahi tuna! And even less for a pound of salmon! I don’t think you understand how much fish you get for a pound…I certainly didn’t. We had way too much fish and leftover sashimi is not the best.

I made tuna poke with the ahi tuna, but I used a tuna poke mix, which ended up being way too salty. Next time, I will try this recipe for tuna poke.

Give it a try! Sushi at home!

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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James Syhabout

His restaurant Commis in Oakland, has propelled Chef/Owner James Syhabout to culinary stardom. He won a Michelin star for it in 2010, just one year after opening. Ironically, Commis is French for the lowliest of chefs in a kitchen, but once you’ve watched James work behind the counter of his open kitchen, irony becomes common sense. He is quiet, meticulous and had I not seen his face many times in various magazines and online, I would have never guessed he was the owner.

We came to Commis for a birthday dinner last Saturday. This was our second time, but having toasted our anniversary with several bottles of champagne before dinner the last time, we hadn’t really remembered much…Commis is not the kind of place to go with a rowdy crowd, or when you want to have loud, political debates. Go to Commis with a loved one or two that you can be quiet with and sit at the counter if you can. It’s like watching a ballet. All the chefs have a special apron that has a pocket for tweezers and most of the work is tweezed into place with an eye towards artistry.

I find more and more that I appreciate the prix fixed menu, especially when that’s the only thing on offer. I like putting my palette wholly in the hands of a chef I trust. It’s like letting a stylist to the starts do your hair and makeup and dress you from head to toe. Commis offers an ever changing $75 8-course prix fixe that is dictated by what’s to be found at the market. The only things that never change are the “rocks” appetizer (cheesy cracker nibblets coated in ash)-

Guess which two are edible!

and the famed poached (or more accurately sous-vide cooked egg). Sous-vide means under vacuum and it is a cooking method that requires a pricey device that cooks food very slowly at a very low temperature in a sealed, pressured environment. The result is incredibly velvety texture and rich, concentrated taste. James serves the slowly-cooked egg yolk over a puree of dates and creamy onion soup (that resembles egg whites) with toasted steel-cut oats to add crunch to the list of flavors and textures. The result is yum. So yum that even through our champagne haze this was the only dish we remembered from last time.

I will not bore you with minute details of each of the ingredients of each of the gorgeous dishes we were served, but my absolute favorites of the evening were the rich egg, the delicate as sea foam oyster, and the raw sea scallop perfumed with fresh bergamot. I also loved the fact that dessert was light and refreshing (not to mention that it was the best frozen yogurt I’d ever had). So here, without further ado, is the meal in pictures in the order in which we had it. I highly recommend you try it for yourself!

Oyster with pickled celery jelly and sea foam

Sea scallops perfumed with bergamot

Roasted asparagus with dried herring roe

Grilled cod with ginger mustard

Lamb with confit beetroot

Candied rhubarb with frozen yogurt

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Naughty Doughnut Queen Hannah Hoffman

Everyone deserves to have access to a place that makes sweet treats called  “Naughty Doughnuts”.  This is why I urge everyone to pitch in and help Hannah Hoffman’s Kickstarter campaign  so that she can open her doughnut shop “Doughnut Dolly”.

As a head over heels food lover, I am crazy for chefs and their never ending drive to bring delicious morsels to the plates of total strangers. I am especially crazy for chefs who are passionate enough to start their own restaurants on shoestring budgets, giving it an all or nothing go. Hannah Hoffman is one such chef. Her creation—the Naughty Doughnut is something that everyone should try at least once, or better yet many many many times. Naughty Doughnuts, lovingly made by hand from the best ingredients available, are so good the last time I ate one I got some in my hair. And I am not ashamed to admit to it.

The Naughty Doughnut In All Its Glory

Hannah has signed a lease in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland and is ready to give a sweet dusting of sugar to an area that is abundant in food goodness, but sadly lacking in places where one can pop in for a sweet treat and a cup of coffee. In order to open her business she needs to raise $12,000 before April 9th. She only has a little ways to go, but needs all of your help. Helping this campaign is like helping yourself. Hannah, the city of Oakland, and most importantly YOU all deserve to spread and indulge in the Naughty Doughnut goodness. Here’s to Doughnut Dolly being the latest Temescal addition soon!

Click Here to Spread Some Naughty Doughnut Love.

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Premium Pork Ramen

Ajisen Ramen

Westfield San Francisco Centre
865 Market St
San Francisco, CA 94103

I’ve noticed an influx of great restaurants in our…mall. Yes, shopping mall. Our San Francisco Westfield Shopping Center is home to Beard Papa’s, Cupola, and now Ajisen Ramen. I’ve heard about this ramen place, but it took me a while to find it, not realizing it was located in the old food court.

On a recent shopping trip, we stopped by were greeted by a host, despite the fast food ambiance. We were seated quickly and we ordered the Premium Pork Ramen, the Spicy Pork Ramen, and some fried chicken.

The Premium Pork Ramen came with a few pieces of chasu in a porky broth. The broth was surprisingly very good with a lot of depth and flavor. The downside, however, were the noodles, which reminded me more of spaghetti noodles, lacking the bite that’s characteristic of ramen noodles. The fried chicken was pretty standard; good, but not memorable.

I would revisit Ajisen Ramen if I wanted something quick and was in the the area, but most likely, I would rather make the trek to nearby Katanaya.

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Burritt Room in Union Square

Everyone likes being in the know, especially when it comes to cool places to drink. And in a small, well-informed city that LOVES to get its drink on, knowing the bars that are somewhat hidden gives people some serious bragging rights. That’s why, when I came across this article in Pinchit by Ryan Boyle I had to mention it in honor of Friday!

The article is fun to read and though I’ve been to 15 Romolo, love Bourbon and Branch and been meaning to try the Hideout, I was not familiar with The Burritt Room, which I will be sure to put to the test the first chance I get. I am also very excited to add Spec’s Twelve Adler Museum Cafe to my list of “Sunday Funday” (North Beach walk around tipsy days) places, my other favorite being The Saloon.

Thanks for the story Pinchit, and for reminding me yet again of what a great city we live in. Happy Friday everyone. Get your drink on!

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Pho noodles and mint

Being a Bay Area resident and having spent time in San Jose, I have eaten a lot of Pho. (For those who don’t know, Pho is a Vietnamese soup dish made with various parts of beef including the shank, the bones and, if you really want to lick your chops—filet mignon.) It has a lot of ingredients and I have always been too intimidated to try and make it although I can think of little else as delicious on a wintry day. This past weekend, under the guidance of my beautiful, very pregnant friend Annabel, I tossed intimidation aside and participated in making the best Pho I’ve ever had. The recipe is from Steamy Kitchen and I am very grateful to Jaden Hair for creating and posting it!

A whole lot of spices!

Ingredients

More ingredients

This green is called "Mexican" cilantro

Ingredients:

THE BROTH
2 onions, halved
4″ nub of ginger, halved lengthwise
5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 lb of beef meat – chuck, brisket, rump, cut into large slices [optional]
6 quarts of water
1 package of Pho Spices [1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbl coriander seeds, 1 tbl fennel seeds, 5 whole star anise, 1 cardamom pod, 6 whole cloves - in mesh bag]
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (halve if using regular table salt)
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar (about 1 oz) – or 1oz of regular sugarTHE BOWLS
2 lbs rice noodles (dried or fresh)
cooked beef from the broth
1/2 lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thin as possible.
big handful of each: mint, cilantro, basil
2 limes, cut into wedges
2-3 chili peppers, sliced
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha hot sauce

Directions:

Onions and ginger

Char: Turn your broiler on high and move rack to the highest spot. Place ginger and onions on baking sheet. Brush just a bit of cooking oil on the cut side of each. Broil on high until ginger and onions begin to char. Turn over and continue to char. This should take a total of 10-15 minutes.

Clean the bones: Before boiling the bones, make sure to rinse them thoroughly until the water runs clear.

Clean bones

Parboil the bones: Fill large pot (12-qt capacity) with cool water. Boil water, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.

Annabel’s variation: Annabel had two pots of water, the large one for the soup, the small one to clean the bones. To get rid of the maximum amount of scum, we first briefly boiled the bones in the first pot then transferred them to pot number two.

Spice ball

Boil broth: Add ginger, onion, spice packet, beef, sugar, fish sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the beef meat and set aside (you’ll be eating this meat later in the bowls) Continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth and return the broth to the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning—this is a crucial step. If the broth’s flavor doesn’t quite shine yet, add 2 teaspoons more of fish sauce, large pinch of salt and a small nugget of rock sugar (or 1 teaspoon of regular sugar). Keep doing this until the broth tastes perfect.

Annabel’s variation: Annabel has a great “spice ball”, which makes adding spices very convenient. It’s like what you would use to steep tea leaves in, but much larger. They are widely available in most Asian markets.

When she said thin, she meant THIN!

Prepare noodles & meat: Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible – try freezing for 15 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. Remember the cooked beef meat that was part of your broth? Cut or shred the meat and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Your guests will “assemble” their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles—there are many different sizes and widths of rice noodles, so make sure you read the directions. For some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 second blanch in hot water is all that’s needed.

Annabel’s variation: Annabel and I went all out and used a beautiful cut of filet mignon, which made the soup all the more rich and buttery-tasting. It may take a while to get the meat-slicing just right, because when Annabel asked me to slice it thin, she meant paper-thin and I couldn’t quite do it. A more practiced friend had to take over for the sake of time, but I’m sure I’ll get it with a bit of practice. The meat has to be thin in order to cook properly in the soup. As far as the noodles go, the ones that we got were delicious, but I was warned that they had to be eaten that day or they would start to stick together. Before boiling them for a few seconds, Annabel separated them all.

Delicious noodles

Ladling: Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests can garnish their own bowls as they wish.

All the ingredients are in, now we just have to wait 3 hours!

The best Pho ever!

This was a very fun day and I highly recommend that you get a few friends together and make this on a blustery day. There is enough activity for several people, and the three hour wait ensures that you’ll have plenty of time to snack, drink wine and just hang out. Happy Pho making!

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Yuzu oyster shots with uni

Tokyo Go Go has been pouring sake and rolling hand rolls on 16th street in the Mission since 1998. As one would expect from a 14-year old restaurant, (restaurant years are like dog years), it’s not looking as fresh as it once used to. The movies are still being projected on the wall and the staff is still hip, but the interior is looking a bit scruffy. It’s one of those places that really shows best when it is full on a Friday or Saturday night and gets a little depressing if you look too hard when it’s empty. It’s a place that I’ve been to and will keep going to again and again when I don’t feel like having super authentic Japanese food, but crave something sushi-like.

Must-order kobe beef tataki

The kobe beef tataki is always delicious and one of those foods I have an insane craving for once in a while. And while all the other food is decent, I feel like the effort is not quite there anymore like it used to be.  Dinner last night was absolutely delightful because of the company, but somewhat lackluster in terms of food. The beef was insanely good as always, but the fish didn’t sparkle with freshness the way it sometimes can, and the usually yummy marinated miso black cod was a bit dry.

Miso marinated black cod

Goma Ae

Cucumber takes the place of rice

Still, Tokyo Go Go is always fun during crowded happy hour (M-Sat 5:30-7, Sun 5-6:30), when they serve an array of great hand rolls for $3.50 (I recommend anything with a quail egg on top), and beer and sake for $3. So if you feel like some creative sushi surrounded by hipsters, check it out.

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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With the New Year, everyone is on a diet or cleanse. Everyone.

Not me. But this Bon Appétit’s 2012 Food Lover’s Cleanse looks totally doable. Just look at the pictures above! Drooling with hunger yet?

Omelet with Fennel-Meyer Lemon Relish, Braised Greens with Leeks, Pumpkin-Shrimp Curry…yes, yes, yes! I can eat like this everyday!

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Oh James Dean.

I think it’s safe to say that few if any men look better in a black sweater, with a camera, in glasses, leaning up against a wall, with a cigarette dangling carelessly between their lips, in a leather jacket or simply wearing a look of angst. Yes, James Dean is the one and only, the original rebel without a cause, the eternal boy who will always make the hearts of young girls and boys flutter with desire.

We love you.

Who else could become the style icon of effortless, thrown together chic. Do you think he spent hours mussing his hair in the mirror, turning up his collar just so or putting a crease in his pants or a cuff in his jeans? Maybe sometimes, but then again probably never. I picture James Dean rolling out of bed, bare feet slapping the hardwood floor, hair perfectly sexy, throwing on a sweater from a pile lying on the floor next to the bed, smelling slightly of cigarettes, grabbing his camera, then walking out the door kissing his smokes.

James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana on February 8th 1931, then moved to Santa Monica when his father decided to give up farming to become a dental technician.  James, who was never close with his father, was devastated when his mother died. He was nine years old. After her death, James’ father Winton sent James to live on a farm with Winton’s sister in Indiana.

James came back to L.A. in 1949 after graduating high school and discovered acting. He moved to New York in 1951. Although he appeared on many television shows, he was only in three movies: East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, which came out after his death. He was great in all three.

On September 30 1955, James was 24 years old and heading to a race track in Salinas, CA. He drove his brand new Porsche 550 Spyder and the wind caressed his hair. He was sure that the  black-and-white Ford Tudor coupe, driven from the opposite direction by 23-year-old  Donald Turnupseed, who had moved to take the fork onto State Route 41 and crossed into Dean’s lane, would stop. It did not. They had a head on collision and 10 minutes later James Dean was dead.

He had a romantically tortured and brilliant life, an unclear sexuality, a love of cars, leather jackets and cigarettes and was everything a legend should be. He looked good in everything he wore without trying and his style has been imitated by thousands. But he remains forever alone, unsurpassed, the epitome of tragic cool. James Dean, a style icon.

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Here is what I’ve been pining for. Oh Santa, I’ve been a good girl this year! I swear!

©2012 couture au chocolat: A Food and Fashion Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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