Jennifer Jeffrey, Writer & Editor

Got Crab? (the cookbook is out!)

Guess what just hit the shelves? The CRAB cookbook!

CRAB: Buying, Cooking, Cracking was just released by Ten Speed Press. I'm delighted with the production quality - the photos are beautiful, and it contains just 35 recipes - enough to give you lots of options, not too many to make you feel overwhelmed.

I'm a huge crab fan, especially since Dungeness crab is sustainably harvested, and therefore doesn't provoke spasms of guilt upon consumption. Over the next few weeks, I'll post a few crab tips & recipes & a photo or two. In November, I'm going to sail out on the Bay on a crab boat to see how these rosy pink critters are hauled in and brought to shore.

In the meanwhile, I've got three CRAB cookbooks (signed by Andrea Froncillo and myself) to give away to the first three people who e-mail me with the name of your favorite crab dish. Go for it!

The Inside Scoop on San Francisco Chefs

Last night, I pressed the send key on the last write-up of the last chef I was assigned to cover for the upcoming issue of San Francisco Chefs. I felt a tinge of sadness hitting that key; the project was one of the highlights of my summer.

Last year, when I read about the publication on Catherine Nash’s blog, I asked for a copy, and eagerly read it from cover to cover. Due in no small part to Catherine’s sharp, witty writing, the pieces were engaging and distinct, a window into the life stories of our local chefs. Even better: the piece benefits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, one of the finest institutions dedicated to helping children and their parents cope with life-threatening diseases.

I felt like a kid in a candy store when I got to be involved in the publication this year. Sit down with some of my favorite chefs and talk to them about the creative process? Twist my arm!

From Corey Lee at the French Laundry to Cal Stamenov at Marinus in the Bernardus Lodge in Carmel to Xavier Solomon at The Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, every single person I sat down with was gracious and engaging.

One of my favorite moments occurred when I was chatting with Ron Siegel at The Dining Room (you know how much I love TDR; big balloon hearts everywhere!), and I got to ask him about how they made my favorite amuse – a perfectly poached quail egg perched atop a glass dish of wood smoke and garnished with brioche croutons and caviar – and he animatedly described the whole process. It was far more involved than I had guessed, and now I’m an even bigger fan, if that is even possible.

You can have a complimentary copy of this year’s edition if you’d like – just send an e-mail to info@sf-chefs.com by October 5 with your name and full mailing address, and you’ll get to read about what inspires these men and women in the kitchen, and what they do when they’re not slaving over a hot stove.

Fear not: your name and address will not be given away, sold or shared. Not for any reason, ever.

If you need a bit more convincing, here’s the full list of chefs included in this year’s edition:

• Acquerello – Suzette Gresham
• Aqua – Laurent Manrique
• Auberge du Soleil – Robert Curry
• Bernardus Lodge – Cal Stamenov      
• Boulevard – Nancy Oakes/Pam Mazzola
• Dry Creek Kitchen – Charlie Palmer/Mike Ellis
• Manresa – David Kinch
• Michael Mina – Michael Mina
• Myth – Sean O’Brien
• Piperade – Gerald Hirigoyen
• Quince – Michael Tusk
• Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay – Xavier Salomon
• Silks Mandarin Oriental – Joel Huff
• The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton (SF) – Ron Siegel
• The French Laundry – Corey Lee

Go ahead, ask for your own copy... 'cause I'm not parting with mine!

Chocolate love on tuttiefoodie

If you arrived at my blog via the tuttiefoodie hot sheet, welcome!

If you haven't yet subscribed to tuttiefoodie, you might want to take a minute to check it out.  I always look forward to seeing it pop up in my Inbox; these twice-weekly e-mails always contain something delicious, from recipes to food-themed events to information about culinary destinations around the globe.

As if you needed further motivation, today's edition contains my recipe for Chocolate-Dipped Brownies Rolled in Chili-Cocoa Nib Crumbs! This is my go-to chocolate recipe for occasions of all kinds; I made them again a couple of weeks ago in preparation for the article, and suddenly had a surplus of these sumptuous treats on my kitchen counter, so I had to play chocolate fairy. To everyone who said: "I can't; I'm on a diet" - you missed out. Seriously. These are capital-A-mazing.

Tuttiefoodie is currently sponsoring a Chocolate Adventure Contest together with Scharffen Berger... what better excuse than to pull out your favorite chocolate and play?

P.S. I know it looks funny to have a fresh juice post next to a decadent chocolate post, but hey:  it's all about balance, people.

Feeling Juicy?

Of all the machines and gadgety things I have stashed behind my cupboard doors, this just might be my favorite: a chrome and white Acme SUPREME JUICERator. My mother gave it to me a few years ago; she just happened to have an extra one lying around. That's my mom for you. Look at those red rubber feet! Aren't they adorable?

This is the perfect season for juice; the market is full of the veggies I like best for my favorite juice blend - crisp apples, thick carrots, fat-bottomed beets, dark leafy greens. I've been making juice every day for the past few days; not only is it fast and easy, but it looks and tastes fabulous, and I feel like I'm getting far more nutritional impact than I would from swallowing vitamin tablets or stopping by a juice chain, where the quality of ingredients is questionable, and most of the "smoothies" contain copious amounts of sorbet, ice cream or yogurt, which jacks up the calorie count.

Want to play along? Here's how to do it.

Make Your Own {delicious} Fresh, Organic Juice in 3 Easy Steps

1. Assemble your vegetables. Since this is raw juice, only the best will do. Organic, local, seasonal: you know the drill.

2. Chop them to fit the feeder on your juicer. I don't peel mine; I just give them a good scrub. I want every last molecule of goodness contained in that bowl full of produce, so the skins (and stems, and etc.) go in.

rave: *ubuntu* in downtown napa

I had a marvelous lunch today at a new restaurant- slash- yoga studio in Napa called ubuntu.

Before you sigh at the patent gimmickry involved in combining yoga with food, let me assure you: it works.

The restaurant is located on Main Street in Napa, in a space with exposed concrete walls, soaring ceilings, and bright photo collages that hang on the walls blending global images with provocative thoughts. From the dining room floor, one can look up and glimpse the frosted doors of the yoga studio on the second floor, where classes are held 5 or 6 times a day (the yoga schedule is mouthwatering - candlelight flow on Wednesday nights? Yes, please!), imparting an air of serenity to what is already a visually arresting space.

Star dish: ratatouille with zucchini bread croutons (thick cubes of moist green zucchini bread with a crisp exterior, oh!), garnished with burrata cheese and herbs.  Hours later, I'm still thinking about it. Close second: fig pizza with caramelized shallots.

Chef Jeremy Fox (formerly of Manresa) has created a vegetarian menu, but please discard any notion of austerity or lack - the flavors are sumptuous and decadent, and the ingredients are exquisitely fresh. According to the restaurant web site, "Ubuntu is less about a philosophy of no meat and instead a celebration of our own biodynamic gardens, what shows up at the door, and relationships with the local farms in Napa."

"Celebration" is precisely the word that comes to mind upon dining here.

My mouth is still dancing. I'm already planning my next visit.

Ubuntu
1140 Main St. (near Pearl)
Napa, CA
(707) 251-5656

P.S. Sorry about the absence of pictures; I wish I had taken my camera, because the space is gorgeous.

One Year with Petra

One year ago, I signed my name on a stack of papers that made me the legal owner of a white greyhound with pink, spotted skin and black-tipped ears. That same day, she had flown into the Oakland Airport from Colorado, where she was a regular on the racetrack. She was woozy and out of sorts from the flight.

She and I looked each other over, wondering what lay ahead. I was still uncertain if I was making the right choice; did I really want a creature who would rely on me for food and water and exercise and entertainment? I wasn’t sure, but her gentle brown eyes made me feel like it was worth a try.

The woman who facilitated the adoption advised me to purchase a collection of toys – her greyhound was addicted to toys, she told me, and carried them from room to room.

Determined to be the best greyhound mama ever, I bought squeaky toys, fluffy toys, toys in funny shapes. Petra eyed them suspiciously, then proceeded to ignore them. According to what I’ve learned about these racing hounds, she spent the first three years of her life in a small, 3 x 4 foot crate. Once a day, she was let out to go to the bathroom. Once a week, she got to escape her little world and race. Race day was the best day, because she was fed twice a day instead of the usual single time.

Of course she didn’t know how to play with toys. Clearly, I had to teach her, and so I got down on the floor and played with them myself.

Look! This toy is squeaking! Haaa! I’m flopping around on the floor with a stuffed octopus! This is so much fun, I can hardly stand it!

She looked at me sternly, as if to say: this isn’t very mama-like behavior, you know, and then she put her head between her paws.

I can take a hint.

Cranberry Beans from Iacopi Farms (Half Moon Bay)

Slipping into September

Outside my window, the mercury has inched well past the 90° mark. It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over, but it must be true: leaves are turning from green to gold, and kids are marching along the sidewalk with backpacks looped over their shoulders. The seasons are gently blurring from one into the next.

That’s perfectly fine with me. I’m not wishing for snow flurries or rain showers; stormy weather has been bearing down on my head and heart for several long weeks, and I’m already drenched to the core.

I tend to shy away from revealing the intimate details of my life on my blog, but I will say that the personal side of my summer wasn’t a whole lot of fun. There were no picnics in the park or long walks on the beach; rather, these months have been full of painful discoveries and long silences and nights spent staring at the ceiling.