8/10/09|Whip Up Something Spectacular With Recipes from Top Chefs at SF Chefs. Food. Wine.
If you follow us on Twitter, you know we were mixing and mingling with San Franciscoís finest at SF Chefs. Food. Wine. on August 6-9. On Thursday evening, FIJI Water co-hosted the Rising Star Chefs Reunion, which brought together Rising Star Chefs and Bar Stars as recognized by the San Francisco Chronicle to sample one-of-a-kind tastes celebrating Americaís most competitive food city.
SF Chefs. Food. Wine.
SF Chefs. Food. Wine. is a four-day food and wine event celebrating the unique flavor, diversity, and bounty of Northern California. Classes and seminars offered interactive opportunities for the public to participate with local farmers, ranchers, chefs, winemakers, distillers, media, luminaries, authors, vintners, mixologists, and culinary experts in an entertaining forum. But keep reading — we’ll be giving away some yummy trade secrets of the chefs after the jump.
This event is not only a delicious way to spend some time overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. It also benefits four charities. San Francisco Food Bank (a member of Feeding America) provides food to more than 133,000 people every year through more than 600 community programs. Meals on Wheels provides food and meal delivery, with a focus on seniors and others with mobility issues. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association Scholarship Foundation provides funding for culinary and hospitality students based upon economic need. And Project Open Hand provides Meals with Love to people living with HIV/Aids in San Francisco. All four charities will receive funding from the weekendís activities.
Star chefs agree amazing taste begins with using ingredients of the highest quality. With its unique clean taste and soft feel on the palate, FIJI Water is the perfect starting ingredient or accompaniment to the worldís greatest cuisine. Here are some of our favorite recipes of the night. Grab your chef hat and apron, and a few liters of FIJI Water and tryout one of the below recipes.† Then let us know, can you taste the difference?
Prepare your own gourmet meal at home with a recipe from Chef Jamie Lauren.
Chef Jamie Lauren: Strawberry Gazpacho with Crab and Cucumber
Absinthe Brasserie and Bar
398 Hayes Street, San Francisco
INGREDIENTS
Gazpacho (Yields 2 quarts)
6 cups seascape strawberries, cut into quarters
1 large English cucumber, peeled and chopped into large chunks
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup FIJI Water
2 Tbs sherry vinegar
1 Tbs sugar
2 cups pure California olive oil
salt to taste
Cucumber and Crab Salad (Yields 1 pint)
1 small Persian cucumber, peeled and cut into very small dice
1 small red onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, small diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, small diced
1 small jalapeno, seeded and cut into small dice
1/4 cup lemon agrumato (lemon-flavored olive oil)
1/2# cleaned Dungeness crab meat
salt to taste
Gazpacho Method: Place the garlic, cucumber, strawberries, and FIJI Water in a blender. Puree on high speed until smooth. In a slow and steady stream, add the olive oil until the soup begins to lighten in color. It will start to look emulsified and creamy. Add the vinegar and sugar and adjust seasoning with salt.† It should be a balance of tart and sweet with the subtle cucumber flavor coming through.
Crab and Cucumber Salad Method: Combine all ingredients and season with salt. Allow to sit for at least an hour or so before serving.
To serve: Place 6 ounces of chilled gazpacho (it may thicken as it sits, in which case, just add a little FIJI Water and adjust seasoning again) in a chilled bowl. Top with 2 tablespoons of the crab salad and and drizzle with 1 teaspoon lemon agrumato.†† Garnish with a leaf of sliced basil.
Chef Tim Luym: Braised Oxtail in Peanut Sauce (Kare Kare)
Poleng Lounge
1751 Fulton Street, San Francisco
INGREDIENTS
Braised Oxtail in Peanut Sauce (Yields 4-6 servings)
3 oxtails cut into 2-inch pieces
1/3 Japanese eggplant
1/3 Chinese long beans
1/3 banana blossoms or bok choy (optional)
1/2 cup light beer
1 1/2 quarts FIJI Water
3/4 cup yellow onion, small diced
1 Tbs garlic, minced
1/8 cup rice flour, toasted
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 Tbs aceite seeds
4 Tbs canola oil
salt to taste
Method: In a medium stockpot, infuse 2 tablespoons canola oil with the aceite seeds over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove the seeds and sweat the onions and garlic in the infused oil.
In a large skillet, brown oxtails on all sides with 2 tablespoons canola oil over high heat. Transfer to the large stockpot with the onions and garlic. Deglaze the pan with the beer and add liquid to the stockpot. Add the FIJI Water, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for 3 hours or until soft and pulling off the bone. After 2 hours of cooking, add the peanut butter and rice flour to the stockpot. During the last half hour of cooking, add the vegetables. Season with salt to taste.
To Serve: Once the vegetables are tender, transfer to a bowl and serve with rice and shrimp paste on the side.
Chef Richard J. Corbo: Spiced Eden Farms Pork Sausage & White Friulana Polenta
Pizzeria Zanna Bianca (Opening in early 2010)
Jack London Square† Markets
INGREDIENTS
Farce (Yields 18-20 sausages)
1 pound lean pork meat, Eden Farms Berkshire
12 oz pork back fat
2 Tbs white wine
1 Ω tsp garlic
æ oz salt
Ω† tsp sodium nitrite
10 oz FIJI Water, frozen, crushed
Ω cup nonfat dry milk powder
Ω pound lamb casing
Spice Mixture
Ω tsp white pepper
Ω tsp mace
1 tsp coriander
º tsp bay leaf
Ω tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
º tsp cinnamon
1 tsp licorice
Polenta Batter
1 cup polenta bianca friulana
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
º tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup corn milk (or creamed corn)
1 cup buttermilk
Spiced Eden Farms Pork Sausage Method: Combine the pork with the wine, garlic, salt, and sodium nitrite and grind through a small die.† Separately, grind the fat through the same die, then immediately freeze the two, separately.
Place the meat into a food processor with the spice mix and all of the frozen and crushed FIJI Water.† Process until meat temperature is 40 degrees F. ( This should take approximately five minutes.)† Add the fat, then process till 45 degrees. Finally, add the milk powder and process till 55 degrees F.
Check seasoning.† Using a sausage stuffer, stuff 2-3 ounces of the farce into lamb casing.† Tie or twist off approximately 4-inch links, being careful not to allow your mix to exceed 58 degrees F.† Poach to internal temperature of 150 degrees F, then chill immediately.
White Friulana Polenta Method: To prepare the polenta batter, combine all dry ingredients in a bowl.† Separately, combine the wet.† Then combine the two and fold together.† Allow to rest for ten minutes before using.
To serve: Skewer the sausage links lengthwise individually, and dip into the batter to coat.† Deep fry at 375 degrees F.†† Serve immediately crisp and hot.† Yields 18-20 sausages.
Chef Robert Lam: Vietnamese Chicken and Ginger Noodle Soup
- Recipe secrets from Chef Robert Lam.
Butterfly Restaurant
Pier 33 at Bay Street, San Francisco
INGREDIENTS
Consomee Raft (Yields 2 quarts or 8 bowls)
2 qts FIJI Water
2 qts *chicken stock
3 lbs chicken, thigh and breast meat, ground
2 Tbs garlic, peeled and minced
2 Tbs ginger, peeled and minced
º† bunch cilantro, chopped
º† bunch green onion, chopped
2† tomatoes, rough chopped
Ω† lemon, juiced
3 Tbs oyster sauce
3 Tbs soy sauce
Ω cup fish sauce
14 egg whites
*Chicken Stock (Yields 4 gallons)
15 lbs organic chicken bones
5 gallons FIJI Water, ice cold
Ω lb ginger, bruleÈd
3 onions, halved and bruleÈd
4† shallots, bruleÈd
2 cinnamon sticks
4 carrots, peeled, chopped
3 cloves
8 black peppercorns
8 white peppercorns
8 coriander seeds
8 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups fish sauce
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch celery, chopped, no leaves
4 bay leaves
4 onions, peeled, rough chopped
Chicken Stock Method: BruleÈ the shallots, onion, and ginger by placing cut halves onto a skillet or sautÈ pan and cook until burnt.† Add all ingredients together in a stock pot with FIJI Water and bring to a boil.† Once boiling, immediately pull off to the side of the burners and skim.† Lower to a simmer.† Strain the stock and chill.
Consomee Raft Method: Combine chilled chicken stock and ice cold FIJI Water in a large stock pot.† Combine ground chicken with all ingredients and mix thoroughly, making sure that the egg whites are evenly dispersed through the mix.† Add to the stock and put on medium-high heat.† It is very important that you stir with frequency at this point on. Stir and scrape from the bottom of the pot for as long as it takes for the stock to reach bath-water temperature. Stir every 2-4 minutes.
Once the ìraftî has started to form (when you can see the egg whites starting to cook and look like a round stage on top of the pot), stop stirring and pull the pot off to the side of the burners. This will facilitate in the stock not getting too much direct heat underneath it and allow it to simmer without burning the bottom.† Cook for up to another 1 hour once the raft is formed.
Strain the stock by gently discarding the raft with a large slotted kitchen spoon or a large iron-mesh skimmer and then pouring the stock thru a coffee filter or chinois.† Adjust the seasoning and chill.
To serve: Poach a whole 2-pound chicken in some leftover chicken stock.† (Lam prefers to brine his chickens before he poaches them.† Typical brines are 60% salt, 40% water with aromatics — garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme, pepper flakes.).† Brine/marinate the chicken for 2 hours and poach in the stock till done.† Chill and shred the meat.† Place meat over boiled rice noodles (fat or skinny), pour hot broth over the top† and serve with blanched rice noodles, bean sprouts, cilantro† leaf, basil leaf, jalapeno, hoisin sauce, and garlic chili sauce.
Bon AppÈtit!
Photo courtesy of heitzie
