Boots in the Oven

Boozin' it up at St. George's!

Yes, yes, we've been here before too (Check out that last post, from May of 09, for a slightly more informative time.)  And changed clothes in the bathroom after making friendly with the folks pouring the tastings.  But the place is just too cool and has such a nice view of the city (when the day is sparklingly clear, which it happened to be on this visit) and offers tastes of such tasty spirits, we knew we just had to go back and drag Auntie, her friend Kathy, my brother David, and his girlfriend Courtney.

We tried to go on the tour, but apparently had failed to reserve our place correctly and were summarily (and not very nicely, I have to say) de-nied.  I totally over-reacted to this and stomped angrily around the parking lot seething for a little while.  My moral here?  Cymbalta is a terrible hose-beast and I should never have been put on it.

ANYWAY.  We missed the tour, I was a giant bitch, and then we got to do some tastings.  In retrospect, it was actually a good thing that we missed the tour, because you can see basically everything from inside the tasting room, we didn't get herded around like sheep, and we didn't have to wait an hour after the tour to have our tastings.  DUH!  WINNING!

The actual boozes on offer differed slightly from our previous visit, but we still got to taste a couple of lovely eau-de-vies (eaus-de-vie?  Hrumph) and a large selection of Hangar One Vodkas, which are infused with actual fruits instead of having perfumey chemicals dumped into them.

We also were given a taste of the Firelit Coffee Liqueur, which was totally less interesting than the smoky dark Qi tea liqueur we tasted last time.  But it was good, if you're a coffee person - not too sweet, with real coffee flavor.

I think people had a good time.

We even tried the absinthe again.  Such good, sharp flavors; it's like rolling around in a particularly fragrant meadow.  Here is is louching all sexily.

St. George, I forgive you for being a little bitchy this go-around, partly because you were SO nice last time and partly because the folks pouring in the tasting room were so very on the ball and knowledgeable.  So maybe it's just the hipster-girl who was working the ticket area on that particular day that I should be pissy at.  Harrumph.

Also, I love that you kept this sign, though I doubt it's still true.

St. George Spirits is located at 2601 Monarch Street (though really, this is in the middle of the old Alameda Air Force Base).  Call to reserve space on a tour, though apparently leaving a message won't work and will make the girl at the front act extra cooler-than-thou with you while snottily saying "Well, if you didn't talk to an actual PERSON" while rolling her eyes.  Ah well. 510.769.1601.

De Afghanan, Berkeley CA

Apparently since we went to Fremont's De Afghanan a couple of years back, they've developed into some sort of crazy food serving empire with several locations in the Bay Area.

So we went to Berkeley to eat some bolani.

This time, there were six of us, so we were able to do some serious ordering.  And the joint was a little more amenable to a slightly more leisurely time - we weren't sitting basically in the kitchen, like we were in Fremont.

BOLANI!  Of course.  I love flatbreads.  All breads.  And this one, like an aloo paratha, was stuffed with potato and greens.  It's served with a nice homemade yogurt, tart and thick, and there's a spicy red chutney and a sweeter mint-green chutney on the table.

We also had dainty little cups of cardamom-scented tea and hearty glasses of dogh (or doogh), an afghan version of a salty lassi with cucumber and mint.

The Shor Nakhod, a chickpea and potato salad with a lemony punch, went nicely with the bolani.

And then dishes started coming out hot and heavy, or fast and furious, or whatever your choice of idiom may be.

Mantu - dumplings filled with spiced ground beef and onions, and topped with lentils and more beef and more onions and a drizzle of that beautiful homemade yogurt.  A little bland for my taste, though still tasty.

Sabzi (a cooked spinach mixture similar in taste and texture to India's palak paneer, though minus the cubes of cheese) and teka kabob, cubes of beef cooked over an open flame.  By the way, their rice was freaking great.  Perfectly moist, yet separate.  I think a lot of butter might have been involved?

Borani Kadoo, my favorite - seasoned pumpkin (our waiter, who I think might also have been the owner, was insistent this pumpkin was called "butter squash") topped with yogurt and herbs.  The herbs tasted like they included sumac and possibly oregano, but what really stood out about this dish was the creaminess of the squash and the striking COLOR.  Beautiful!  And more delicious yogurt, too!

The chaplee kabob is a flattened patty of spicy beef, flavored with cardamom and lemon and cumin (?) and topped with green onions.  Extra-popular at our table.

Afghan bread!  It's a bit thicker than most Indian breads or Middle Eastern pitas, and has a nice sesame flavor.

Dude.

We were all more than pleased with our delicious lunch, but the extremely nice man who'd been waiting on us insisted we try the menu's single dessert, firni.  It's a creamy, thick pudding flavored with rosewater, pistachio, and cardamom, and is incredibly delicate in flavor.  I think it's fair to say this tasted fancy.

Thanks (again), De Afghanan, for your wonderful food and extra patience with people who want to order your whole menu!

De Afghanan (Berkeley location) is at 1160 University Drive. 510.549.3781.

Indian Pizza: New Hotness

Really!  It's like... well, how do I describe it.  Take a solid, fairly thick-crusted pizza, and top with some seriously tasty Indian ingredients, from mutton to paneer to cilantro.  

Apparently, this is a bit of a thing in the Bay Area, so we sent the boys out to pick up a sample at Pizza and Curry in Fremont, just down the road from my aunt's house.  Auntie says her neighborhood is very heavily Indian, so perhaps this is why you can get such an odd fusion there?

It would be an interesting phenomenon to research, is all I'm saying.  It makes sense, when you think about it... some naan and uttapams have enough toppings to almost pass as Indian pizzas.  So why not add some cheese and just go for it?

The guys came home with all sorts of goodness. Luckily Pizza and Curry lets you get half and half pizzas (except for the mango chaat) so we were able to try a LOT.

Here we have, on the left, a half tandoori chicken pizza "tandoori chicken, red onions, tomatoes, fresh cilantro, and mozzarella cheese with our own creamy garlic sauce" and half mutton masala "spicy curry sauce, spiced lamb, green peppers, red onions, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and fresh cilantro".  I have to admit I didn't try the chicken pizza the night of, because it sounded the least interesting, but I can vouch it made great leftovers.  It was also the least spicy of the bunch.  The mutton pizza had a wonderful variety of textures, between the chewy meat and the crunchy peppers and onions, and their spicy curry sauce tasted less stereotypically "curry" and more balanced between a nice mix of Indian spices.

My favorite combination was the half masala eggplant "spicy red sauce, masala eggplant & EVOO, cauliflower, mozzarella cheese and topped with fresh cilantro" and half malai paneer "our own original curry sauce, spiced paneer, green peppers, red onions, diced tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and topped with fresh cilantro."  I love vegetables on my pizza - eggplant is one of my favorite toppings - so both of these were made for me.  Both were spicy hot, but not overwhelming.  I loved how the tenderness of the eggplant played off the slight crunch of the cauliflower.  And paneer should be on every pizza from now on, I'm just saying. As should cilantro; sorry, crazy cilantro-haters.

But now we come to the piece de resistance, the pizza that cannot be ordered as a halfsie with any other, the MANGO CHAAT PIZZA.  (I could really use some trumpets blaring right about now.)  What you see before you is a pizza topped with mozzarella, spiced mangoes, onions and bell peppers on "our own extra spicy Curry Sauce".  I notice the menu neglects to mention the crazy spicy peppers strewn all over the pizza, nestled between the cubes of mango.  Mango.  On pizza.  

I wanted to love it, but this version was just too hot for me!  It was easy to tell that these completely disparate flavors did, somehow, come together in a stupid delicious fashion, but I could only manage a few bites before my head blew off.  I have a lot of work to do before we get to spicy climates on our trip, that's for sure.  

Hanging out next to the mango chaat pizza (that still blows my mind) is Desi bread, or cheese bread spread liberally with mint chutney and served with marinara.  Very good and very addictive.

Now how the hell am I supposed to go back to regular old pizza and cheesy bread?  I think I'm going to have to put in a request to our local pizza houses to start branching out in this direction.  Mmmm.

Pizza and Curry is at 42136 Blacow Road in Fremont, CA. (510) 687-0000, and they also take orders by phone.

Beachside in Half Moon Bay

California!  Northern California, with its wind and gray and beautiful fog, and wonderful local food, and wine... love.

We were out there for a few days late last month, which wasn't long enough by half to see everyone and do everything we would have wanted to.  But we did get to have a lovely visit with my aunt, and her dynamo friend Kathy (who ditched her husband and came to hang out with us for a few days) and my not so little anymore brother and his wonderful girlfriend Courtney who flew out from freezing Chicago for the occasion.

In fact, their flight was seriously late getting in on Friday night, and it was close to 3 AM before we all got ourselves to bed (for those keeping time score, that's 5 Central).  So we ended up sleeping a good chunk of Saturday away, and then hanging out in our pajamas drinking coffee while the rain came down outside.

Finally, in mid-afternoon, a couple of people got the crazy idea that we should, I dunno, leave the house.  So we did, and drove to Half Moon Bay.  The rain had made everything green and lush, very unlike the brown hills we usually see when we visit.

Crazy people were out in full wetsuits surfing the Waves of Unusual Size (W.O.U.S.'s, for you Princess Bride fans).

Logan got David and Courtney to pose all cute-like.  I still can't believe she was able to take her shoes off in the cold - Texas has made me all soft and fleshy and afraid of the chill. 

I know the Marvin the Martian hat on Auntie will raise many questions.  We think it might have been David's sometime around 1990.  The brim is still remarkably uncurved.  I love this picture; it makes me smile.

And then, we went out for high tea!  Low tea?  Which is the one where you eat a fairly hearty meal around 3 or so?  That.

Auntie has a place she likes just up from the beach, so we went there.  It was just right.

Bright, loudly patterned plastic-backed fabric adorned tables jammed into a small room with the kitchen clanking away in the back.  I kept thinking the waitresses were going to call me "hon", and I imagine if I went back they totally would.

We were cold, so we ordered nice thick soul-warming clam chowder.

The chowder was good - not mind-blowing or anything, just a good chowder.  We love oyster crackers.

The cheesy crabby bread, on the other hand, DID blow our minds.  And it is exactly what it sounds like, except there are loads of butter and garlic involved as well; but cheesy garlicky crabby butterbread doesn't really have the same ring.  This, though, needs to be on your table if you are at the Flying Fish Grill.

That's not a trick of the angle; the crabby cheesy bread is actually taking off from the table directly towards your face.  It has tiger's blood and Adonis DNA, don'cha know.

I had to order a scallop taco, because, well, did you say scallop taco?  Grilled scallop, tasty cabbage slaw, a hit of mayo - my only complaint is that the tortilla could have been better, but I do live 7.1 miles from El Milagro Tortilleria.

A basket of fish and chips hit the spot - the five of us shared it and were very happy with the level of snackage.  I also loved the fresh crunch of their slaw and the tart hit of their tartar sauce.  I love tartar sauce.  And mayonnaise.  And fried things.  Sigh.

And then, we drove back to Fremont and ate a crapton (well, probably 15 pounds or so, really) of Indian pizza.  Yes, INDIAN pizza.  This is the new hotness which I will talk about when I get around to doing that post.

For now, Flying Fish Grill is at 99 San Mateo Road (otherwise known as the corner of Main Street and Highway 92) in Half Moon Bay, CA. 650.712.1125.

 

 

 

 

 

De Afghanan - And Yes I Can Spell.

Pretty much nothing. Zero.

I’d say that was an accurate description of the sum total of my knowledge of Afghan food. My knowledge of the country isn’t much more impressive.

I know we all should have gone in the ‘70’s, we’re bombing it now, and the opium is supposed to be amazing. Does that count?

While not totally uninformed (feel the stretch) I was eager to learn more about the place and the people when Rachel and I found ourselves in Fremont, CA- home to the largest Afghani population this side of the ‘Stan itself. Heck, they even call it Little Kabul.

Given a choice, my favorite introduction to a culture is through its food. While not exactly wearing their shoes, a good meal can really open a window on the lives of the people who prepared it. I know we were thousands of miles from all the actual local produce and spices, but I figured California probably grows a few suitable substitutes.

When we started looking around for the best Afghan place to break us in we noticed two things pretty quickly. First, there are a whole freakin’ lot of them. And second, they’re almost all labeled as kebob houses.